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Gang violence takes toll on Haiti health facilities: UN

Xinhua) 10:00, April 04, 2024

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Health facilities in Port-au-Prince metropolitan areas continue to be impacted by the ongoing violence, further restricting access to life-saving care for people in and around the Haitian capital, said UN humanitarians on Wednesday.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that armed groups last week looted two health care facilities -- Delmas 18 Hospital and the Saint Martin health center.

While La Paix University hospital remains open and the World Health Organization continues to support it by providing medicine, medical supplies and fuel, La Paix faces significant strain amid increased workloads for staff following the closing of Port-au-Prince State Hospital, said the office.

OCHA also reports the looting last week of 10 pharmacies in the capital, making it even more difficult for people to get their medication.

Despite the difficulties, UN response efforts continued. The World Food Programme on Tuesday distributed hot meals to more than 27,000 people in Port-au-Prince, said OCHA.

Last week, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Pan American Health Organization and local partners carried out nearly 600 medical consultations in displacement sites through their mobile clinics. UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration, and partners distributed nearly 300,000 liters of drinking water from March 23 through April 1. Partners have also delivered hygiene kits in displacement sites, said OCHA.

By March 31, more than 362,000 people were displaced in Haiti, and 160,000 of them were in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, according to OCHA figures.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
by Jeffrey Sachs

The Western press is filled with stories of foreboding about the Chinese economy. We are told regularly that China's fast growth is over, that China's data are manipulated, that a Chinese financial crisis looms, and that China will suffer the same stagnation as Japan during the past quarter century. This is U.S. propaganda, not reality. Yes, the Chinese economy faces headwinds -- mainly created by the United States. Yet China can -- and I believe will -- overcome the U.S.-created headwinds and continue on its path of rapid economic development.

The basic fact is that China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 5.2 percent in 2023, compared with 2.5 percent in the United States. On a per capita basis, the growth gap is even larger: 5.4 percent in China compared with 2 percent in the United States. In 2024, China will again significantly outpace the United States. There is no great growth crisis despite the fervid rhetoric in the U.S. press. Yes, China is slowing as it gets richer, but it is still growing considerably faster than in the United States and Europe.

There are problems to be sure, but the main ones come from the United States, not from inside China's economy.

First, there is the perception problem. The United States is pushing a negative narrative about China. We actually learned recently that former U.S. President Donald Trump tasked the CIA with spreading malicious propaganda about the Chinese economy on social media starting back in 2019. One specific CIA tactic was to bad-mouth China's important Belt and Road Initiative.

Second, there is the rise of U.S. protectionism. During the 20 years from 2000 to 2020, China was busy building up its new green and digital industries: mastering electric vehicles, 5G, battery supply chains, solar modules, wind turbines, fourth-generation nuclear power, long-distance power transmission, and other cutting-edge technologies. The White House and Congress, in the meantime, were in the hands of the oil, gas, and coal lobbies, and therefore without a strategy for the new energy technologies. Finally, U.S. President Joe Biden and Congress agreed to protect U.S. industries to give America time to recover some lost ground.

Third, there is the U.S. "Grand Strategy" to maintain U.S. "primacy" over China. For the U.S. security establishment, it's not good enough to compete with China on an honest basis. The U.S. government also puts obstacles in the way of China's economy. It seems incredible that the United States would go out of its way to undermine China's economy, and yet it actually does so. Such an approach was spelled out by a senior U.S. diplomat, former Ambassador Robert Blackwill, in March 2015, in an article for the Council on Foreign Relations published with co-author Ashley Tellis. The article, in my view, was the public launch of a new Washington policy towards China, one that has been followed by Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden.

It is worth quoting Blackwill and Tellis at length to understand the U.S. game plan:

Since its founding, the United States has consistently pursued a grand strategy focused on acquiring and maintaining preeminent power over various rivals, first on the North American continent, then in the Western hemisphere, and finally globally...

Because the American effort to "integrate" China into the liberal international order has now generated new threats to U.S. primacy in Asia -- and could eventually result in a consequential challenge to American power globally -- Washington needs a new grand strategy toward China that centers on balancing the rise of Chinese power rather than continuing to assist its ascendancy.

These changes, which constitute the heart of an alternative balancing strategy, must derive from the clear recognition that preserving U.S. primacy in the global system ought to remain the central objective of the United States' grand strategy in the twenty-first century.

Sustaining this status in the face of rising Chinese power requires, among other things, revitalizing the U.S. economy to nurture those disruptive innovations that bestow on the United States asymmetric economic advantages over others; creating new preferential trading arrangements among U.S. friends and allies to increase their mutual gains through instruments that consciously exclude China; recreating a technology-control regime involving U.S. allies that prevents China from acquiring military and strategic capabilities enabling it to inflict "high-leverage strategic harm" on the United States and its partners; concertedly building up the power-political capacities of U.S. friends and allies on China's periphery; and improving the capability of U.S. military forces to effectively project power along the Asian rimlands despite any Chinese opposition -- all the while continuing to work with China in diverse ways that befit its importance to U.S. national interests.

These statements by Blackwill and Tellis are remarkable for two reasons. First, they explicitly spell out America's "Grand Strategy" in no uncertain terms: to preserve America's "primacy" in the global system, including over China. Second, they listed -- already in March 2015 -- the actual policies pursued by the United States during the past decade.

Consider the five policies recommended by Blackwill and Tellis.

First, revitalize the U.S. economy. Okay, that's fair enough. The United States needs to get its economic house in order.

Second, create new U.S. trade arrangements with Asia that "consciously exclude China." That's an absurd idea, since China is the largest economy in Asia, yet Obama tried (and failed) to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership to exclude China, while both Trump and Biden pursued blatant protectionism against China, especially in the form of unilateral tariff increases in violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments.

Third, recreate a "technology-control regime" to limit China's access to high-tech. That is currently underway, most notably with the new limits on the export of advanced semiconductor technology to China.

Fourth, build up political-military alliances on China's borders. This is the U.S. strategy with AUKUS (Australia-UK-United States), the Quad (Australia-India-Japan-United States), and the United States-Japan-Philippines Triad.

Fifth, build up the U.S. military along the Asian rimlands "despite Chinese opposition." This too is happening with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and elsewhere.

America's aim of "primacy" is dangerously misguided. Since China has four times the U.S. population, the only way for the U.S. economy to stay larger than China's would be for China to remain stuck at less than one-fourth of the U.S. GDP per person. There is no reason for that to happen. If it did, it would mean a lot of suffering in China and a great loss of global dynamism.

Primacy should not be the U.S. goal, or China's goal, or indeed the goal of any country. The only sensible goal for the major powers is mutual prosperity, common security, and global cooperation regarding common challenges such as environmental sustainability and peace.

The American playbook -- using trade, technology, financial, and military policies to stop another country -- is not new for the United States. It was, of course, the U.S. game plan to "contain" the Soviet Union during the 1950s-1980s. It was rolled out again in the late 1980s to stop the rapid growth of Japan, an American ally, because Japan was outcompeting the U.S. industry. The United States forced Japan to agree to "voluntary" export restraints and an overvalued Yen. Thus, Japan's economic growth plummeted and Japan entered a prolonged financial crisis.

China, however, is not Japan. It is far larger, more powerful, and not subservient to the United States. Unlike Japan in the 1990s, China need not and will not sit idly by as the United States pursues trade and technology policies to slow China's economic growth.

To understand China's policy choices, recall the national income account identity that GDP equals C+I+G+X-M. That is, China's GDP can be consumed, C; invested, I; consumed by the government, G; exported, X; or used to replace imports, M; China's exports can go to the United States and Europe or to the rest of the world.

In recent years, the U.S. and European markets have become increasingly closed to China's exports. In 2023, the United States imported 427 billion U.S. dollars of goods from China, down from 536 billion dollars in 2022. As a share of U.S. GDP, imports from China were 2.6 percent in 2018, but have declined to only 1.6 percent in 2023, as the result of U.S. protectionism under Trump and Biden.

Now, here then are the policy choices facing China. With the production of goods and services continuing to rise in China, and with exports to the United States falling, China faces an overall excess supply of goods. That excess supply will lower GDP and could even create a recession in China if policy measures are not taken to offset it.

The United States tells China to increase consumption to offset the fall in its exports. For example, China could cut taxes to stimulate consumption. The problem with the U.S. recommendation is that China would likely shift to lower growth and higher budget deficits, as in the United States.

A second option would be for China to increase domestic investments, for example to accelerate China's shift to a zero-carbon economy. There is some merit to boosting domestic investment to offset part of the reduction of exports to the United States.

A third option would be to boost government consumption. That policy too would likely entail slower growth and higher budget deficits.

A fourth option is to increase exports to the developing countries. That approach has a great deal of merit. If the U.S. market is closed, and the European market is closing (as Europe becomes more protectionist), then China can shift exports to the emerging markets. Some of that will happen automatically. As the United States buys less from China and more, say, from Vietnam, then Vietnam will buy more intermediate goods from China to process and export to the United States.

Some of the reorientation of exports, however, will require new Chinese policies. The purchasing power of the emerging economies is generally lower than in the United States and Europe. Yes, the emerging economies would like to buy what China has on offer -- solar modules, wind turbines, 5G, and the rest -- but will need more loans to do so. For China to sell substantially more to the emerging economies, it will have to boost loans and foreign direct investments to those economies, for example by expanding the Belt and Road Initiative and lending by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank.

There may be some resistance among China's policy-makers to increasing loans to the emerging economies, since some of those economies are already debt-distressed. Yet, the emerging economies generally have a very high growth potential. Their debt is not too high -- as long as the debt has a long enough pay-back period (maturity). The emerging economies mainly need time to grow and thereby to be able to repay China for the loans.

Here, then, is my own summary of the economic situation in China. The supply side of China's economy continues to grow rapidly. China's potential GDP continues to rise at 5 percent per year or faster. Moreover, the quality of that output is high and rising. China is the world's low-cost producer of goods that the rest of the world needs: zero-carbon energy systems, 5G digital networks, and high-quality infrastructure (such as fast inter-city rail).

China's problem is not on the supply side, but on the demand side. China faces demand constraints mainly because the United States has put up barriers against China's exports to the U.S. market, and Europe seems likely to follow the United States in this. While China could potentially offset that slowdown in exports by increasing domestic consumption, it would be well advised to increase its exports to the emerging economies, in part by expanding important programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative. To do so prudently, China would have to increase its long-term lending to the emerging economies.

I don't deny that there are other challenges facing China's economy, such as some temporary over-investment in real estate, or some over-borrowing by some local governments. Yet, I believe that such problems are short-term and cyclical, not long-term and structural. There are also areas that need further reform, to be sure, such as the hukou (urban residence) system. Yet here too, such reform challenges are ongoing and very likely to be solved successfully.

I would like to see China continue its rapid growth, and yes, overtake the United States in GDP at current market prices and exchange rates, befitting a country that is four times larger than the United States in population. I note that in purchasing-power terms, China already overtook the United States in 2017 (according to IMF data) and nothing awful befell the United States.

China's economic growth benefits not only China but the whole world. China has brought forward new and effective technologies ranging from a modern cure for malaria (artemisinin) to low-cost zero-carbon energy systems and low-cost 5G systems. We should be rooting for China's continued rapid development. We should put aside childish ideas of "primacy" and adopt adult ideas of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and global cooperation to protect the planet. The world does not want or need a single dominant country. Indeed, that's not even feasible in our world today. The absolute best solution for the world economy would be for China, the United States, and Europe to maintain open trade and mutually agreed industrial policies. Yet if the United States and Europe turn strongly protectionist against China, then the best response for China is to hasten its successful and growing trade and financial relations with the emerging economies.

Editor's note: Jeffrey Sachs is a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Xinhua News Agency.
The Assam Rifles paid tribute to late Subedar Thanseia, a distinguished World War II veteran of the Indian Army's Assam regiment at Tlangnuam in Aizawl on Wednesday. Subedar Thanseia passed away at the age of 102 on March 31 in Aizawl after a brief illness. The World War II veteran of the Battle of Kohima had a glorious military career of 28 years, according to the official press release of Assam Rifles. "Upon retiring, Thanseia worked as Tlangnuam Village Council President. He also actively participated in veteran affairs and educational initiatives for his locality. He was felicitated for his efforts by Assam Rifles during the ESM Rally at Aizawl in 2022. As a mark of respect, Assam Rifles laid wreaths on behalf of Director General Assam Rifles and paid tribute to the braveheart," reads the release. The family held a prayer ceremony on April 3, wherein ex-servicemen and serving soldiers of the Assam Rifles gathered to pray for the departed soul. According to the Ministry of Defence's official release, Subedar Thanseia belonged to the state of Mizoram. His remarkable life was defined by his valour at the Battle of Kohima, a crucial confrontation in World War II, and his significant role in establishing the legacy of the 1st Assam Regiment during their critical deployment at Jessami. His actions at Kohima, against formidable odds, contributed to a pivotal victory for the Allied forces, marking a turning point in the conflict in the East. Throughout his service, Subedar Thanseia demonstrated a commitment to the nation that went beyond the call of duty, earning him a revered place in the annals of India's military history, stated the press release. After his retirement, Subedar Thanseia continued to inspire with his dedication to the community and country, actively participating in veteran affairs and educational initiatives. His life after service was as impactful, fostering a spirit of patriotism and resilience in younger generations, the release said. The release further said the tribute to Subedar Thanseia witnessed an overwhelming turnout from the Army and civil fraternities, including comrades from the Assam Regiment, who came together to pay their respects.His legacy leaves an indelible mark on the Indian Army, the Assam Regiment and the people of the North East, reminding us of the sacrifices made by the soldiers in the quest for peace and freedom. Subedar Thanseia's story is not just a testament to the past but a continuing source of inspiration for the future, honouring the legacy of all Indian soldiers who have served with distinction, said the release. In remembrance of Subedar Thanseia, we are reminded of the courage and determination of those who have served before us, their stories shaping the foundation of our present and future. His memory will live on, a guiding light for generations to come, embodying the spirit of service and sacrifice that defines the best of humanity. (ANI)
Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa returned empty handed after he failed to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday. Eshwarappa who has rebelled against the Karnataka state leadership then returned to Shivamogga. After this, Eshwarappa reiterated that he is going to contest against former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's son and incumbent MP B Y Raghavendra in Shivamogga as he had announced earlier. He said "No more talks and will take his fight to a logical end and he will contest from Shivamogga." Putting up a condition he said, State BJP president B Y Vijayendra must be removed from president post then only he will agree to withdraw his decision not to contest in Shivamogga. Attacking BS Yediyurappa and family saying "One family holding powers of state BJP which is hurting the sentiments of Hindu karyakarthas and BJP workers." Earlier, ahead of the seeking the meeting with Amit Shah, Eshwarappa had made it clear that he will not change his decision to contest the election unless the state BJP president BY Vijayendra, son of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, is replaced before the polls. Eshwarappa said his fight is against the control of the BJP in the state "by one family". "Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to say that Congress has a family culture. Similarly, the BJP is in the hands of one family in the state. The party should be freed from that family. Party workers are hurt. I will compete and contest to relieve the pain of workers," he said. He said the work of those who fought for Hindutva ideology and the organization should be respected. "I'm contesting to fix the mess. I will not step back from the decision, I will pay my respects to you and come to Delhi," the BJP leader said. Eshwarappa said his son had told him that even if he does not get a political future, "the party should be cleansed". Voting for Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies. Shivamogga will go to the polls on May 7. (ANI)
Ahead of his visit to West Bengal's Cooch Behar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed confidence that the people of the constituency will once again place their faith in the Bharatiya Janata Party. "I look forward to being among the people of Cooch Behar to address a @BJP4Bengal rally later today at around 3:30 PM. The people there have been greatly supportive of our development agenda and I am confident they will again place their faith in the BJP," PM Modi posted on X. Sitting MP and BJP leader Nisith Pramanik has been re-nominated by the party from Cooch Behar. Cooch Behar located in north Bengal along with Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri in the state are the three constituencies that will vote on April 19, in the first of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls. There are 42 Parliamentary Constituencies in West Bengal. The Prime Minister will also be campaigning in Jamui for the LJP (Ram Vilas) candidate. Ahead of his visit the PM was confident of a good showing by the party in the state. "Bihar's role in the Lok Sabha elections is going to be very important this time too. My family members here have pledged to ensure the victory of BJP-NDA candidates on all the seats in the state. Today at around 12 noon, I will get a good opportunity to interact with the people in the public meeting of Jamui," he posted on X. Speaking on PM Modi's visit to Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan on Thursday said that it is a very "fortunate" occasion that the Prime Minister will begin his election rally from Jamui. "In the last General elections, PM Narendra Modi started his Bihar campaign from Jamui and this proved lucky for the alliance as we won 39 out of 40 seats in the state. And today again, PM Narendra Modi is starting with election rallies in Bihar from Jamui and this is a very fortunate event not just for the alliance but for all the people of Jamui," he said. Paswan, who is the sitting MP from the Jamui seat has given the seat to his brother-in-law Arun Bharti this time. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD (U), and LJP, dominated the 2019 elections by winning 39 out of 40 seats in Bihar. In contrast, the Mahagathbandhan, led by RJD, INC, and RLSP, managed to secure only one seat. The BJP won 17 seats with a vote share of 24.1 per cent, JD(U) won 16 seats with a vote share of 22.3 per cent, and LJP won 6 seats with a vote share of 8 per cent. The INC could only secure one seat with a vote share of 7.9 per cent. Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The first phase of polling will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, the sixth phase on May 25, and the seventh phase on June 1. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 303 seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) managed to get only 52 seats. The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the general election. (ANI)
Former Bihar Congress president Anil Sharma who resigned from the party last month, is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, sources said. In a setback to the Congress in Bihar ahead of Lok Sabha polls, former state president Anil Sharma on March 31 quit the party, claiming that it was stuck in a "disastrous" partnership with the RJD. Sharma became the fourth former Bihar Congress president to have quit the party in nearly a decade. The latest instance was that of Ashok Chaudhary, who quit the party and joined JD(U) in 2018, a few months after a factional feud caused him to give up the state president's post. Earlier, in 2015, Ram Jatan Sinha had quit the Congress and after a brief stint in JD(U), he has been in political wilderness. The year before saw Mehboob Ali Kaiser joining late Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP which helped him enjoy two consecutive terms in Lok Sabha from Khagaria. The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left parties, recently announced that the RJD, its largest constituent, will contest 26 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats, including Purnia, in the upcoming elections. The Congress will contest nine seats, followed by CPI (ML) on 3 seats, and CPI and CPI (M) with one seat each. Bihar will see polling in seven phases. The first phase of polling will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, the sixth phase on May 25, and the seventh phase on June 1. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA, consisting of BJP, JDU ( (Janata Dal-United), and LJP (Lok Janshakti Party), secured victory by taking the lead on 39 out of 40 seats. Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan, led by RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal), INC (Indian National Congress), and RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party), only managed to secure one seat. The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases from April 19. Counting of votes on June 4. (ANI)
The sacred relics were located at RajaGuru Sri Subuthi Waskaduwa Maha Viharaya, a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Subhuthi Maha Viharaya in Waskaduwa houses 21 relics of the Lord Buddha.

Notably, the Kapilavastu relics hold immense historical and spiritual significance, connecting the devotees to the profound legacy of Lord Buddha.

'Waskaduwe Mahindawamsa Nayaka Thero' is the custodian of these precious Kapilawasthu relics, which have been preserved and protected for generations till now at Sri Subhuthi Maha Viharaya in Waskaduwa, Sri Lanka.

Earlier in March, the relics of Lord Buddha and those of his two main disciples, Arahant Sariputta and Maha Moggallana, were sent on a 25-day exposition across four cities in Thailand.

The exposition drew a phenomenal response, during which over 4 million devotees from Thailand and other countries in the Mekong region paid homage to the relics.

The revered relics' exposition, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), travelled to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani and Krabi provinces, starting from New Delhi on February 22.

In February, the Dalai Lama, on the occasion of Chotrul Duechen, gave a short general teaching from the Jataka Tales at the Main Tibetan Temple, Tsuglagkhang, in the Himachal Pradesh hill town of Dharamshala, which was attended by over 3000 Tibetan followers, including Buddhist monks, nuns and foreigners from different parts of the world.

Chotrul Duechen is the day of offerings and is celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st Tibetan month. The day, which means Great Day of Miraculous Manifestations," is one of the four Buddhist festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Buddha. (ANI)
BJP MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi slammed the Congress after one of his leaders made a controversial remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged Congress of losing mental balance as people's love and support is keeps on growing for PM Modi. Earlier, Congress leader Charan Das Mahant triggered a controversy at a rally held on Tuesday at Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh when he said that they needed someone who could hold a stick and confront PM Narendra Modi. "It is expected that after being opposed by the people and ever-increasing support and affection towards PM Modi, opposition leaders mainly Congress seem to have lost their mental balance. Chhattisgarh LoP has once again used derogatory language for PM Modi which has been a habit of Congress," Sudanshu Trivedi said. "Such language is saddening in democracy... I want to ask, 'Ye Mohabbat Ki Dukaan Se Kon Kon Se Farmaan Hai?'. Congress claims to hold exclusive copyright and be from the tradition of Gandhi, did Gandhi use to have a stick for this reason? And this not just a slip of tongue but a statement made deliberately and this is all happening from 2014 elections, he added. Mahant was speaking in support of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, the party's Lok Sabha candidate. Mahant, the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, called for support for Baghel's victory in the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, hailing him as a champion of women and farmers. During his speech in the local dialect, Mahant urged the public to ensure Baghel's success for their future well-being. ''We need a protector who can stand up against Narendra Modi, and your MP (referring to Baghel) is that person. We want someone who can hold a stick and confront Narendra Modi'', he said. These remarks stirred controversy, drawing a swift response from the ruling BJP. Sudhanshu Trivedi also recalled a statement made by Congress leader Imran Masood, who is also a Congress candidate from Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat for this Lok Sabha poll, Trivedi said "In the 2014 election, Imran Masood has said cut Modi in pieces. I want to ask Congress party that to what extent they are willing to stoop down," said Masood. Elections in the 11 parliamentary constituencies of Chhattisgarh will take place in three phases on April 19, 26 and May 7. The counting of votes will be done on June 4. The BJP, which has a stronghold in Chhattisgarh, won 9 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha, while the Indian National Congress (INC) was limited to only 2 seats. In the 2014 election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 10 seats, while the INC only managed to win one seat. (ANI)
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh paid a visit to the Raj Ghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi along with his wife, Anita Singh and party workers, day after he was released from Tihar Jail on bail after six months in the Delhi Excise Policy case. "We are here to seek strength for volunteers, party cadres and my leader," Anita Singh said speaking to ANI. Earlier in the day, Singh was seen offering prayers at Hanuman Temple in Delhi along with his wife. "...By god''s grace I was granted relief... I prayed with my family and party workers for the early release of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain from jail...," Singh said speaking to reporters after offering prayers at the Hanuman Temple. Singh is also expected to visit Satyendar Jain and Arvind Kejriwal''s residence later in the day. "Firstly I will go and take blessing from Bajrangbali and then I will also visit Rajghat. Later, in the day I will visit the residence of Satyendra Jain and Arvind Kejriwal...," Singh said speaking to ANI earlier in the day. Exuding confidence in the strength of his party to fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Singh said, "AAP workers are ready to fight against injustice and dictatorship. All of us stand with our leader Arvind Kejriwal." After walking out of jail, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said it was not the time to celebrate but to "fight" as other AAP leaders including the "topmost leader" Arvind Kejriwal are in jail. Hailing Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently serving jail in the case, Singh said, "Jail ke taale tootenge, Arvind Kejriwal chootenge." Singh was welcomed by loud cheers and slogans as soon as he walked out of jail. The AAP leader was seen climbing atop a vehicle parked outside the jail and addressing the supporters gathered there. Singh was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam earlier on Tuesday. (ANI)
Hailing the governance of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre over the last 10 years under his leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said all that happened over the decade gone by was just a 'trailer' as a lot more would follow if he is elected for a third, straight term in office. Addressing a campaign rally in Jamui on Thursday, PM Modi said, "Echoes in favour of the BJP and the NDA are not only renting the air across Bihar but also sounding in the far corners of the country. What happened in the last 10 years is just a trailer, as there's plenty more still to be done. We all have to come together to take the country forward." Ripping into the Opposition bloc--INDIA, he said back in the day when the partners in the 'Ghamandia' alliance were in power at the Centre, "the trains that plied on our tracks were rickety at best. Now, the people of Bihar are travelling in the Vande Bharat". "Those who gobbled up land in the name of giving jobs to the poor in the Railways can never do any good for the people of Bihar," PM Modi said, in a scathing takedown of the Opposition bloc. He said India was considered 'weak' in the eyes of the world during the Opposition rule at the Centre but now, the country is a global leader. "Congress and RJD tarnished the country's image before the world during their rule. The BJP and NDA are working towards one goal, which is to build a 'Viksit Bharat' (a developed India) and a prosperous Bihar. You all are, perhaps, aware of what the world used to think of us in the previous years. During the rule of Congress, India was considered a weak and poor country. Today, we are showing the way to the world...the whole world is watching us. How did our global profile and prestige rise by leaps and bounds? Today, we are the fifth-largest global economy," he said. "On one side is the NDA government, which talks about setting up new industries. On the other, there are these people whose only claim to fame is the kidnapping industry. On one side is the NDA government, which talks about solar power and LED lights. On the other are these arrogant leaders in the Opposition coalition, who want to take Bihar back to the age of the lantern," Prime Minister Modi added. Invoking late NDA partner and the chief of the undivided Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Ram Vilas Paswan, PM Modi said he was satisfied that his son Chirag Paswan is carrying forward his ideas and vision with full sincerity and devotion. "We are all feeling his loss today. This is the first election where Bihar's proud son and Padma Bhushan recipient Ram Vilas Paswan ji is not among us. However, I am happy that my younger brother Chirag Paswan is carrying forward the ideas and vision of his father with absolute seriousness and devotion," he said. He added that both Congress and RJD hurt Bihar's pride and insulted the state's luminaries, including former CM and Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur. "Both the Congress and RJD insulted Bihar and Bihari pride at every opportunity. They insulted Karpoori Thakur. Just some time ago, our government conferred the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Karpoori Thakur (posthumously). Even then, they scoffed at our decision. It was under our government that the 500-year dream of a Ram Mandir was fulfilled. The Congress and the RJD had used all their might to stop the Ram Mandir from becoming a reality. Even today, these people don't tire of hurling insults at Ram Bhakts and the Ram Mandir," PM Modi said. (ANI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, read out a message from her husband asking his MLAs to visit their areas every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out. What made the video statement noteworthy was the background, in which a photo of the Delhi Chief Minister behind bars was placed in between the portraits of BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. "Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out," Kejriwal said in his letter read out by his wife in a video statement. "I am not just talking about solving their government problems. We should solve other problems too. Delhi's two crore people are my family. No one should be unhappy because of me. God bless all of them. Jai Hind," Kejriwal added. Earlier in March, Sunita Kejriwal read out a message by her husband, in which he said that no prison can keep him inside and he will come out "very soon" and fulfil his promises. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody till April 15 after he was produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja at Rouse Avenue Court on Monday. Kejriwal was produced before the court at the end of his remand period in the Delhi Excise policy money laundering case. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh paid a visit to the Raj Ghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi along with his wife, Anita Singh and party workers, day after he was released from Tihar Jail on bail after six months in the Delhi Excise Policy case. "We are here to seek strength for volunteers, party cadres and my leader," Anita Singh said speaking to ANI. Earlier in the day, Singh was seen offering prayers at Hanuman Temple in Delhi along with his wife. "...By god's grace I was granted relief... I prayed with my family and party workers for the early release of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain from jail...," Singh said speaking to reporters after offering prayers at the Hanuman Temple. Singh is also expected to visit Satyendar Jain and Arvind Kejriwal's residence later in the day. Exuding confidence in the strength of his party to fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Singh said, "AAP workers are ready to fight against injustice and dictatorship. All of us stand with our leader Arvind Kejriwal." After walking out of jail, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said it was not the time to celebrate but to "fight" as other AAP leaders including the "topmost leader" Arvind Kejriwal are in jail. Singh was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam earlier on Tuesday. (ANI)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who recently took a 'U' turn to join former ally National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Thursday said that he would stay permanently with the alliance (Ab kabhi idhar udhar nahi hone wale hain). Addressing a public rally in Jamui where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on the dias, Nitish Kumar said "Woh toh jhooth-mooth ka hum beech mein ek baar saath kar liye the toh aaj woh baat karta hai', but when I saw that he is doing wrong, I left them (RJD). And we are together forever now. 'Ab kabhi idhar udhar nahi hone waale hain'." Kumar applauded PM Modi-led central government stating that ever since it came to power Hindu-Muslim riots had stopped. "PM Modi has been in the central government for 10 years and he has done so much work for Bihar and the country. Since we assumed power, Hindu-Muslim riots have stopped, I would like to appeal to the Muslim community that if you mistakenly vote for them (opposition), those riots will start again," the Bihar Chief Minister said. Highlighting the Bharat Ratna award conferred to former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur, the Chief Minister said, "You (PM Modi) have done so much work. You awarded Bharat Ratna to Karpoori Thakur which has been our demand, people won't forget this. We (NDA) have been working together since 2005, and the pace with which the work has been done is immense." "Today, they (RJD) can only talk but when they got 15 years, they did nothing. People couldn't even go outside their houses after evenings in their tenure," Chief Minister Kumar said. Janata Dal (United) supremo dumped the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and the INDIA bloc to form a new government with the support of the BJP in Bihar in January this year. Bihar will poll for the Lok Sabha in all seven phases, with the first scheduled to be held on April 19. The second phase is scheduled on April 26, the third on May 7, the fourth on May 13, the fifth on May 20, the sixth on May 25, and the seventh and final phase of polling on June 1. (ANI)
NAIROBI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday announced plans to use the local co-operatives network to position the east African nation as a superfood producer and exporter.

Simon Chelugui, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development, said the government is focusing on sustainable agricultural value chain reforms, including global market access for Kenyan avocado, macadamia, and blueberry farmers, by harnessing the latent power of co-op societies and MSMEs as the global demand for superfoods continues to grow.

"Kenya is already doing well in producing superfoods such as avocado, macadamia, and blueberries, which are also beginning to feature," Chelagui said in a statement issued after a fact-finding tour of orchards and packhouses of Kakuzi, a listed agribusiness and superfoods producer in Murang'a County, central Kenya.

"We are number five in avocado exports and can easily get to number one, but only if we maintain global standards relating to crop husbandry, traceability, and sustainability, as every fruit exported carries Kenya's reputation," he added.

According to Chelugui, the government is zeroing in on the 171.8 billion U.S. dollar global superfoods market as part of the agricultural transformation deliverables.

Besides the nutritional benefits, superfoods also assist in improving digestion, reducing blood glucose, minimizing inflammation, lowering blood cholesterol, and preventing chronic health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Chelugui said the government will adopt a public-private partnership with leading growers such as Kakuzi to provide much-needed technical capacity-building for local farmers under the co-operatives movement.

"Our co-operative societies and other MSME agribusiness players have an opportunity to learn and forge partnerships with large players such as Kakuzi, who are willing to provide capacity-building in farmer training, marketing, and extension services to enable us to play in the top league as quality superfoods producers and exporters," he said.

Chris Flowers, managing director at Kakuzi, said the firm is the single largest producer of avocados and macadamia nuts in Kenya, accounting for an estimated 12 percent of all avocados exported from Kenya.

According to Flowers, as part of Kakuzi's superfoods market development strategy beyond avocados, the company was also the first Kenyan company to undertake commercial blueberry production.

"We believe blueberries are yet another key crop that will build Kenya's export earnings and international reputation as a key agricultural producer of superfoods," Flowers said. 
Prime Minister will also visit the state on April 14 to address a rally in Ramtek.

Before addressing the rally in Ramtek, PM Modi will pay tributes to Babasaheb Ambedkar at Dikhsha Bhoomi in Nagpur. Chandrapur and Ramtek face polling on April 19, the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats, second-largest after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 seats it contested in alliance with undivided Shiv Sena.

Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.

PM Modi has been addressing rallies in different parts of the country to boost the BJP's Lok Sabha prospects.

Addressing a rally at Jamui in Bihar on Thursday, he referred to the development work carried out by his government and said all that happened over the past decade was just a "trailer" and a lot more will happen if he is elected for a third straight term in office.

PM Modi also addressed a rally at Cooch Behar in West Bengal on Thursday. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to ensure that more prominent disclaimers are published in its election advertisements notifying that the allocation of the 'clock' symbol to it is sub-judice. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan also cautioned the Sharad Pawar NCP faction to not use the NCP 'clock' symbol anywhere and to use the 'man blowing turha' symbol (allocated to it) for the upcoming polls. It said the Sharad Pawar faction, its party office bearers, workers and supporters shall only use the name 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar' for upcoming elections and the "man blowing turha" symbol. "In other words, the applicant-petitioner (Sharad Pawar) or supporters shall not use the symbol clock," said the bench while saying that its March 19 order shall be abide by both the factions. "It is suffice to clarify and reiterate that the petitioner (Sharad Pawar) and party office bearers and workers supporters shall abide by directions in para 3 in terms thereof. The respondents (Ajit Pawar faction), the office bearers of the political party, and the workers are obligated to meticulously follow directions contained in the order," the bench recorded in its order. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Ajit Pawar group assured the Supreme Court that office-bearers, candidates, and supporters shall be sensitised to ensure that there is no defiance of the court's order and to issue public notices with more prominent space in the newspapers. During the hearing today, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Sharad Pawar group presented certain advertisements and posters published by the Ajit Pawar group, in print, electronic and social media, and claimed that none of them carried the disclaimer that the use 'clock' symbol was sub-judice. Rohatgi representing the Ajit Pawar group alleged that the Sharad Pawar group was still using the 'clock' symbol. The apex court on March 19 directed the Ajit Pawar faction to issue a public notice in English, Hindi, Marathi media and mention in all its campaign ads that the 'clock' symbol allotted to it is subject to the outcome of the case pending before it on challenge to the ECI order of recognising Ajit Pawar's group as 'real NCP'. It had also directed that the undertaking made by the Ajit Pawar faction to not use the name and pictures of Sharad Pawar in election posters will apply not just to the State of Maharashtra but also to other States. The top court had also asked the Sharad Pawar faction to use the 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar's name for upcoming elections and the "man blowing turha" symbol. Earlier, the apex court had directed that the Election Commission's order of February 7 allotting 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar' as the party name for the Sharad Pawar faction will continue till further orders. (ANI)
After the picture of jailed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal placed between Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar went viral during a video briefing of Sunita Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has said that Kejriwal is the symbol of the struggle going on today against the dictatorship of BJP and his picture is proof of this. "Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested by the central government of Bharatiya Janata Party on false charges. Arvind Kejriwal is the symbol of the struggle going on today against the dictatorship of the BJP, and his picture is proof of this. This is to remind us that the struggle that is going on today against the BJP is no less than a freedom struggle. There was a time when the people of the country used to fight against the British. Today is a time when we have to struggle against the dictatorship of BJP and Arvind Kejriwal is doing the same," Atishi said. AAP also faced backlash on the social media platforms for equating Arvind Kejriwal with Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar. The BJP too slammed AAP and said that the public will not be misled by Kejriwal's party. Delhi BJP president, Virendra Sachdeva said on X, "It is very regrettable to put the photo of a staunch corrupt Arvind Kejriwal between Bhagat Singh ji and Babasaheb Ambedkar ji. Earlier the husband used to lie in front of the camera. Now that he is in jail, he is making his wife lie. The public is not going to be misled by AAP," he said. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, read out a message from her husband asking his MLAs to visit their areas every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out. "Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out," Kejriwal said in his letter read out by his wife in a video statement. "I am not just talking about solving their government problems. We should solve other problems too. Delhi's two crore people are my family. No one should be unhappy because of me. God bless all of them. Jai Hind," Kejriwal added. (ANI)
The Security Unit of Delhi Police organised a conference on Wednesday to deliberate upon the strategies to strengthen the security arrangements for the ensuing General Elections, Delhi Police said in a press release. The conference presided by Sanjay Arora, Commissioner of Police, Delhi was held at Conference Hall, Security Headquarters, Bapu Dham, Chanakyapuri, Delhi. Senior officers from Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) participated in the conference. Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police, Protective Security Division highlighted the challenges before the Police in ensuring full-proof VIP security during election times and strategies for professionally handling the VIP programmes during the election campaign in his inaugural address. During the conference, there were sessions that included presentations and deliberations by officers from Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) on different aspects of Security arrangements. Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Arora, Commissioner of Police, Delhi emphasised proper coordination between Delhi Police and CAPFs in providing a comprehensive security cover to protected persons during the election process. The Commissioner reiterated that security agencies have to plan and act professionally and ingeniously to tackle emerging security challenges. He further highlighted the fact that the security agencies need to smoothen public interface by political figures during the roadshows and mass contact programmes involving high-risk dignitaries without compromising on the safety and security aspects. Senior officers from CAPFs also shared their valuable insights, effective strategies and best practices adopted to mitigate risks and enhance preparedness for security cover. The Half-Day Conference will ensure greater bonhomie and coordination amongst various sister agencies and Delhi Police. Valuable insights have been gained and the same shall be translated into action in the days to come for fine-tuning the adaptive strategies and collaborative efforts on the ground. (ANI)
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday urged people to ensure the BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha elections and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the guarantor of development. "The lotus symbol is the beacon for the genuine development of the people of Tripura. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the guarantor of development. Through the Prime Minister's Act East Policy, North Eastern states including Tripura are witnessing rapid development. He is committed to the overall welfare of people from all walks of life, irrespective of caste and religion. The people of this state extend their blessings to the Prime Minister and should ensure the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party candidates in the upcoming elections," he said. CM Saha said while addressing a massive election campaign organized by Baradowali Mandal in support of BJP-nominated candidate Biplab Kumar Deb from the West Tripura seat ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He appealed to all voters in the area to vote in favour of development. The Chief Minister stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of 370 seats for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "With this goal in mind, Bharatiya Janata Party officials are reaching out to people across the country to highlight the benefits of the Prime Minister's various development schemes. Efforts are ongoing to convey the message of the Prime Minister's commitment to the common people. Not only in Tripura but also in West Bengal, the BJP enjoys the support of the people. I visited Balurghat in West Bengal yesterday and witnessed massive support from the people," the Tripura CM said. He mentioned that the turnout during the nomination filing of BJP candidates in Tripura has already indicated the victory of the BJP. "BJP candidates are poised to win decisively. As the chief minister of the state, I must traverse the entire state. Our focus remains on the comprehensive welfare of the people. Our sole objective is to further develop the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tirelessly works for the people day and night. The Prime Minister advocates for transparency nationwide, inspiring citizens to think patriotically. Therefore, to bolster the Prime Minister's efforts in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidates must step forward and secure victory with significant margins," he said. Hitting out at the opposition parties, Saha said, "A large number from everywhere are joining (BJP). Congress and CPI (M) alliance, especially in Tripura, people will not accept it...Soon in the INDIA alliance only 'I' will be left...". (ANI)
Drawing a comparison between the UPA and the NDA governments at the Centre, BJP national president JP Nadda on Thursday said that now only the politics of work and performance will work in the country and not the politics of appeasement. Addressing a gathering in Uttarakhand's Vikasnagar, Nadda said, "Now the definition of politics has changed. Now no person can win by doing politics of caste, separatism, or appeasement. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, only the politics of development will work, politics of performance, politics of report card will work. The politics of appeasement, casteism, vote bank will not work anymore, now the politics of accountability will work". "PM Modi's politics needs your blessings and support. What was politics all about earlier? seeking votes in the name of minority and majority, vote bank and appeasement politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed the definition of politics," he said. Nadda emphasized the accomplishments of the BJP in recent years, particularly in areas such as electricity provision and the 'Har Ghar Jal' initiative, highlighting the developmental strides made under the party's governance. "When PM Modi became the Prime minister, 18000 villages did not have electricity. After Narendra Modi became the PM, within 1000 days, 18000 villages were lit up," he said. Earlier people used to walk three-three kilometres to bring water, today PM Modi has fulfilled the promise of 'Har ghar jal, har ghar nal," Nadda said. BJP National President JP Nadda is on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand. The BJP top leader is scheduled hold the BJP core committee meeting of Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency in Dehradun ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. On Friday, April 5, the BJP National President Nadda will visit Maya Devi Temple in Haridwar at 10:50 am and offer prayers there. Immediately after this, he will seek blessings from sages and saints in Maya Devi temple. Notably, among the 543 Lok Sabha seats, Uttarakhand contributes just five seats and the BJP has fielded Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Anil Baluni, Ajay Tamta, Ajay Bhatt, and Trivendra Singh Rawat for these seats. The people of Uttarakhand will cast their votes in a single phase on April 19, according to the Election Commission of India. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa has lashed out at the Congress party over 'dynasty politics' amid Robert Vadra showing interest in contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. Taking a strong jibe at the businessman and husband of Priyanka Gandhi, Sirsa asked who is Vadra other than the son-in-law of the Gandhi family. Speaking to ANI, Sirsa said, "Whatever he said, one thing is very clear they (Congress) can never come out of dynastic politics. Robert Vadra said that people expect him to contest from Amethi. Who is he that people will expect from him? What certificate does he have apart from being the son-in-law of the Gandhi family?" He further said that the grand old party has "ruined" the country with dynastic politics and there are 4-5 power centres within the party. "They can never get out of dynastic politics. That's why people are saying that today there are 4-5 power centres in the party. One is of Sonia Gandhi, one of Rahul Gandhi, one of Priyanka Gandhi, one of Mallikarjun Kharge and one of KC Venugopal," the BJP leader said. "These people have ruined this country because of nepotism and still they do not want to change themselves and want only their family to stay at the top," he added. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak also took a dig at the Congress party over Robert Vadra. Pathak said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has not received any application from his side, and if he will contest from Congress, it is a concern of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Speaking to ANI, Pathak said, "We have not yet received any application from Robert Vadra's side. If he has applied to the Congress Party then it is the concern of his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law. Bharatiya Janata Party has also not received any application." This comes after Robert Vadra dropped a strong hint of contesting the upcoming general elections from Amethi, a seat that was a strong Nehru-Gandhi stronghold till 2019. In an interview with ANI, Vadra said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament, adding that the Gandhi family has worked hard in Amethi and surrounding areas. "They want a member of the Gandhi family to return, they will ensure the person's victory with a huge margin, they also expect that if I take my first step in politics, and think of becoming an MP, then I should represent Amethi," he said. However, Vadra also said he wants the party's general secretary Priyanka Gandhi should become MP first and he can follow her. "I want Priyanka (Gandhi) to become an MP first and then I feel I can also come...I interact with people and there are MPs from different parties. They (MPs) ask me to come along with their party and ask me the reasons for the delay. They also assure me of their support...so different parties across the country are asking me to come along...I have friendships with a lot of people above the party lines," he said. Congress has not yet named its candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Samajwadi Party. The Congress election committee in Uttar Pradesh had last month unanimously recommended that members of the Gandhi family should contest from Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha constituencies. (ANI)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Part of the proceeds of the crime was transferred by former Delhi Jal Board Chief Engineer and other officers for election funding of Aam Aadmi Party. The ED has said that the investigation is ongoing. This case is related to alleged irregularities in the tendering process for procurement of electromagnetic flow metres of Delhi Jal Board. ED lodged a case of money laundering on the basis of the case of CBI. Special judge Bhupinder Singh has taken cognizance of the charge sheet filed by ED. ED charge sheet said, "Further, the investigation revealed that out of Proceed of Crime (Bribe) to the tune of Rs 2,00,78,242, which had been acquired by Jagdish Kumar Arora, was transferred by him through Tajinder Pal Singh to various persons including other officers of Delhi Jal Board." "Investigation also revealed that Jagdish Kumar Arora and other officers of Delhi Jal Board further transferred part of said PoC for election funding of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)," ED said. ED added that Investigation with respect to final utilisation of the proceeds of crime (PoC) amounting to Rs 2,00,78,242 which was transferred to various persons including officers of Delhi Jal Board and for election funding of AAP. It is alleged that former DJB Chief Engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora received Proceed of Crime Rs. 3.19 crores through CA Tajinder Pal Singh. ED said that in respect of the said DJB contract of Rs 38 Cr, out of total the payments of Rs. 24,74,71,376 disbursed by DJB, funds to the tune of Rs. 10,62,22,694 were not utilized in the performance of the contract and were either retained by Integral Screw Industries and lws NKG Infrastructure Ltd or were paid to Jagdish Kumar Arora as illegal gratification/bribe and is therefore proceeds of crime within the terms of Section 2(1)(u) of PMLA, 2002 as the same was derived or obtained as a result of criminal activity of award of contract on the basis of false documents. It is also stated that residence of Bibhav Kumar was also raided during the investigation. "Thus, Jagdish Kumar Arora was actually and knowingly involved in concealment of PoC to the tune of Rs. 3.19 Crores. Jagdish Kumar Arora was also actually and knowingly involved in concealment of PoC of Rs.36, 35,368 by covertly investing the same in immovable property by inter-mingling with funds (Rs 28,60,250) from other sources," the charge sheet said. During the hearing, Tejinder Pal Singh appeared in the Court on summons. Devender Mittal was exempted for today as he was hospitalized. Accused Tejinder Pal Singh and Devender Mittal have moved bail applications and the same is likely to be taken up tomorrow by the court. The other two accused Jagdish Arora and Anil Agarwal were produced from Judicial custody. The Court directed the ED to supply a copy of the charge sheet along with documents to the accused persons. The date for the scrutiny of documents is April 20. The Rouse Avenue court on April 3, took cognizance of Enforcement Directorate's Charge sheet filed in an alleged money laundering case against a former Chief Engineer of Delhi Jal Board (DJB), a contractor, a CA Tejinder Pal Singh, a former NBCC officer Devender Mittal and a firm namely NKG Infrastructure Ltd. ED had arrested former chief Engineer Jagdish Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Agarwal in this case. Other two accused have been charged sheeted without arrest. After taking cognizance, Special judge Bhupinder Singh issued summons to the accused and production warrant of Arora and Agarwal accused who are in judicial custody. Special Judge Singh had said, "As such, cognizance of offence of Money Laundering as defined Under section 3 read with Section 70 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, punishable under Section 4 of the said Act is hereby taken by this Court." "Accordingly, NKG Infrastructure Ltd. (through its authorized representative) which is a Company, Tajinder Pal Singh and Devender Kumar Mittal, who have not been arrested in the present case be summoned and production warrants be issued against Accused Jagdish Kumar Arora and Anil Kumar Aggarwal, who are in custody in the present matter, through concerned Jail Superintendent to appear in person for facing the trial for the aforesaid offence, for the next date of hearing," the special ordered on April 3 said. "From the material placed on record, it appears that all the Accused persons/Company are either directly or indirectly found to be indulged or knowingly assisted or have been a party to or actually involved in the process or activities relating to the relation of the proceeds of crime or its concealment, possession, acquisition, use and projecting or claiming the same as untainted property," the court observed. The court said in the order of cognizance that in the opinion of the court, there is sufficient material on record to proceed against the Accused persons for the charges mentioned against them in the complaint." As per ED's complaint Accused NKG Infrastructure Ltd. got the tender for Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning (SITC) of electromagnetic flow meters and corresponding O&M Operations for five years which was floated by Delhi Jal Board through Notice Inviting Tender (NIT), on the basis of false performance certificates issued by Accused D.K. Mittal, the then General Manager (Faridabad Zone) NBCC (India Ltd.). Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Manish Jain along with advocate Snehal Sharda and Ishan Baisla appeared for ED. SPP Jain further alleged that the work was sub-contracted to Integral Screw Industries Ltd., Proprietorship Firm of Accused Anil Kumar Aggarwal. It is also stated that out of the amount of Rs.24,74,71,376/- released by Delhi Jal Board to NKG Infrastructure Ltd. against the work awarded to it, Rs. 10,62,22,694 was generated into proceeds of crime, and shared by NKG Infrastructure Ltd., Accused Anil Kumar Aggarwal, Accused Jagdish Kumar Arora, the then Chief Engineer, Delhi Jal Board who awarded the contract to NKG Infrastructure Ltd., which was transferred/routed to him through Accused Tajinder Pal Singh. (ANI)
With several prominent faces leaving Congress, businessman Robert Vadra, who is the son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, has said that these leaders were after "power and position" and exuded confidence of the party putting up a good fight in the Lok Sabha polls. "It is not right to say that there is no trust in Congress. I have met these people, they have experience. Right now they feel like they need power or a ticket or seat but they don't put efforts into that. It needs effort. If you feel that your identity is based on being a minister and if that's not there...they shouldn't be worried. If they don't get the ticket, it doesn't mean that if any other party invites them, they run away," Vadra told ANI in an interview. "There is a legacy, the Congress has offered them a lot, have done lot of things for them, their family. When they are with Congress for generations, they should have some patience even if they feel difficulties or if it takes long to come back to power...power is not everything. We don't get angry with them, we bid them adieu for a good future. But people will see them and feel that they do not belong to any particular party and go where there is power or position. Only position matters to them," he added. Vadra was responding to a query about some prominent faces such as Vijender Singh, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Gaurav Vallabh leaving the party to join BJP. He said some leaders leave on not getting a ticket to contest polls. "They don't think what Congress has done for them. They feel there should be position and identity so they leave when they do not get the ticket or if any other party makes an offer. We have been witness to this coming and going for years. When the times change, you will see many people will return. But the Congress party, INDIA bloc and the Gandhi family will raise their voice, fight for the people... I believe that we will be able to put up a good fight. We will work hard for the people and those who desire for change will support us. We will talk about women's safety, unemployment and development," he said. Spelling out his interest to contest the Lok Sabha polls, Vadra, has said that he gets to meet MPs from other political parties who make him offer to join their parties and also assure that they will ensure his victory in the election. Vadra also said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament. Vadra said he wants Priyanka Gandhi, who is Congress general secretary, should become MP first and he can follow her."I always want that Priyanka (Gandhi) should become an MP first and she reaches parliament, and then I feel, I can also come. I feel that I should become (MP) with my hard work, with blessings of Sonia Gandhi and Congress party," he said. "I will also say that because for so much time, I have been meeting people and there are MPs from other parties, when I meet them, they speak with me with love also and say come (to parliament) from our party and why are you taking so long and we will ensure that you win with a huge margin," he added. While stating his ambitions to be an MP, Vadra also talked of the leaders he meets understating "the troubles" he faces "every day". Vadra indicated that he will join active politics "at the right time". "It is not that from different places in country, there are invites, it is also coming from different parties that you come from our side and we will support you because I have friendship with several people beyond party lines, they see my hard work, understand it, and the trouble I face everyday, they understand it. They feel that if you are in Parliament then the replies you give, you will be able to give on a big platform, and the work you am doing can be done on a large scale if you are in parliament. There are several invites, there is pressure and my thinking is to work harder and stay among people and I will take part definitely at the right time," he said. Vadra targeted Union Minister Smriti Irani, who represents Amethi, saying she does not visit the constituency frequently and people feel they made a mistake by electing her. Smriti Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi, a Nehru-Gandhi family stronghold, in one of the biggest upsets of the polls.Vadra, who has indicated his electoral ambitions earlier too, said the Gandhi family has worked hard in Amethi and surrounding areas. "They want a member of the Gandhi family returns, they will make him the person's victory with a huge margin, they also expect that if I take my first step in politics, and think of becoming an MP, then I should represent Amethi," he said.Vadra said that the decision on Amethi and Rae Bareli will be taken by the Congress leadership."I'm not saying that I will contest from Amethi or Priyanka will contest from Rae Bareli. The decision will taken by the Congress party," he said. Vadra said he joined hands with Priyanka Gandhi for Congress campaign in Amethi in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. "That time politics was very different, fear was sought to be created among people. We use to visit sensitive areas at night, put up posters, distributed bags, worked hard with our workers day and night and gave them trust that we are there and they should keep working in their areas and booths. They know how we hard we worked and there was brotherhood and love, which is still there," he said. "The people with whom I worked...outside my office, residence...they send message through social media, they cut cake on my birthday, arrange langar or other service for people because they know I like this. People in the country see that I stay among people, work hard as much as possible for the disabled and blind children and spend all n charity. I visit on religious tour and they celebrate my birthday and celebrate festivals in my name and distribute among people there," he added. Vadra was asked if he could be a candidate from Amethi. Congress has not yet named its candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Samajwadi Party. Rahul Gandhi won the last Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala and is recontesting from the seat. The Congress election committee in Uttar Pradesh had last month "unanimously recommended" that members of the Gandhi family should contest from Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha constituencies. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been representing Rae Bareli since 2004. She has now been elected to Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. (ANI)
Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin hailed India's remarkable achievements in space exploration and underscored Russia's unwavering support for its space endeavours. On the 40th Anniversary of the spaceflight of the first Indian cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma, aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11 in 1984, Babushkin emphasised the enduring partnership between Russia and India in the space sector. Babushkin's remarks also highlight the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and the collaborative efforts in the Gaganyan project. "Russia has always been favouring Indian success," Babushkin told ANI, emphasising the historic collaboration symbolised by figures like Rakesh Sharma. Notably, he commemorated the achievement of Rakesh Sharma, who etched his name in history as India's first astronaut. He lauded India's independent space research programme, which not only benefits the nation but also extends assistance to other countries in satellite launches. Speaking ahead of the 77th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Babushkin highlighted Russia's unwavering support for India's space endeavours, emphasising India's significant milestones in the field. From Chandrayaan-3's recent triumph to the ambitious Gaganyan mission, Russia has played a pivotal role in nurturing India's space capabilities, including training astronauts and aiding in spacecraft development. "The space domain stands as a testament to our special and privileged strategic partnership," he also said, addressing the gathering at the Russian embassy here on the occasion. "Russia, as a pioneer in space exploration, has always favoured Indian success. Our engagements date back to 1975, when the Soviet Union helped launch Aryabhata, India's first satellite. The second satellite, Bhaskara, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1979," he added. Mentioning India's Chandrayaan Mission, he went on to say, "Now India, having developed its robust national space programme, by right enjoys the status of a space super-power, well-reputed, reliable and preferred global partner for space science and satellite launching. The successful Chandrayaan-3 project is a huge landmark." Speaking further on the India-Russia space collaboration, Babushkin underlined the ISRO and Roscosmos cooperation. "Russia remains one of India's leading partners. The Russian State Corporation 'Roscosmos' and ISRO are deeply involved in the implementation of the Indian Gaganyan mission by training astronauts, providing assistance in the development of manned spacecraft, supplying life-support and crew-escape systems, flight suits, couches, rate sensors, cooperating on thermal protection coatings, applied materials and space medicine capacity building," the diplomat said. "Our vibrant partnership includes space propulsion engineering, cryogen engine construction, satellite navigation, and establishing ground stations for receiving communication signals. We are exploring new tracks emanating from the prospects of wider involvement of the private sector and start-ups," he added. Babushkin further highlighted how India and Russia 'closely coordinate' at the dedicated multilateral platforms, first of all the UN and its Outer Space Committee. He also went on to underline how the month of April holds a reason to celebrate. "We maintain in-depth dialogue to prevent arms races in outer space and promote the Russian initiative of non-placement of weapons in outer space. This is also part of our agenda in BRICS, including the agreement on the remote satellite constellation', he said. "We have many reasons to celebrate this month, including the 63rd anniversary of the first human space journey by the legend Yury Gagarin on April 12 as well as the 77th anniversary of the establishment of Russia-India diplomatic relations on April 13. More and the Russian presidency in the expanded BRICS. However, the theme of space and the historic importance of the great deed by Rakesh Sharma epitomising the spirit of our friendship deserves to be an undoubted background for our overall cooperation in 2024," he added. On Wednesday, the Russian Embassy and TASS News Agency jointly arranged a dedicated photo exhibition that included a unique archive of photographic materials, along with the screening of the documentary "How I Became a Cosmonaut." Rakesh Sharma went on to become the first Indian citizen to reach outer space when he flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. He spent 7 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space and took India to become the 14th nation to travel to outer space. Sharma's work was mainly in the fields of biomedicine and remote sensing. Sharma conducted several scientific studies and experiments, including remote sensing and biomedicine. The crew even held a conference with officials from space. When the then PM of India, Indira Gandhi, asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, Sharma said, "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha. (ANI)
BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China observes this year's Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, on Thursday.

As a traditional Chinese festival that pays tribute to the dead and a time for people to worship their ancestors, this Qingming may find more novel and green ritual options favored by Chinese citizens.

ALL THAT MATTERS

At Lianhuashan public cemetery in Nan'an District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, many citizens gathered to pay their respects to their deceased relatives.

Hu Defang runs a small shop at the entrance of the public cemetery, selling sacrificial offerings and ritual objects. This year, instead of selling traditional incense sticks and paper money, she places a large selection of electric lotus lanterns and electric candles in her booth.

"This year's Qingming allows no burning of incense and paper money, so some customers would like to buy this new type of sacrificial products to express their grief," Hu explained.

She added that the electric candle can shine continuously for about a week, and the lotus lamp, while priced at 30 yuan (about 4 U.S. dollars), is equipped with a solar charger and can automatically charge itself when it runs out of power.

The civil affairs bureau in Chongqing has issued a proposal calling upon its residents to adopt more civilized and eco-friendly worship and tomb-sweeping practices this Qingming, including abandoning some funeral customs such as burning tinfoil paper, paper money and other paper-made sacrificial offerings, offering their sacrifices online, choosing flowers instead, and reading eulogies to the deceased.

Similarly, the Tianqiao cemetery in Lanzhou, the capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, which can receive up to 6,000 visitors per day on such occasions, sees more bouquets casting mottled shadows on the tombstones, rather than the choking smoke caused by burning paper money as in the past.

"It is a new sacrificial offering way widely accepted by the public. As public cemeteries are often surrounded by forests, bulks of paper-made offerings and their burning are hard to clean up and can easily cause forest fire," said Wang Wei, who has worked at the cemetery for 16 years.

"After all, it is their love and care that matters to the deceased and ancestors, not the form and number of their offerings," Wang added.

Many citizens have gradually adapted to the new way of spending their Qingming, as some youngsters working in other cities turn to offering sacrifices and tomb-sweeping online.

Zhao Qing, 30, a Chongqing resident who works in Shanghai, completed her "cloud tomb-sweeping" on the website designed by a local public cemetery, after realizing she would be unable to return to her hometown this Qingming.

Zhao said that with a few clicks on the screen, a bouquet of flowers can be easily "presented" to her deceased family member, attached with photos of the deceased, their biographical descriptions and tributes written by herself. "You can even share the website link with your relatives and friends far away to express condolences together," Zhao added.

Lanzhou funeral parlor in Gansu has also launched novel services like offering ribbons to the deceased and setting up mailboxes online.

Liu Wansheng, in charge of the Lanzhou funeral parlor, said that those unable to return to the graveyard to pay their respects can use the five public cemeteries administered by the parlor for proxy worship and proxy tomb-sweeping services. Notably, online commemorative services are gaining more traction.

By the end of March, more than 1,200 online memorial services had been carried out by the parlor, with over 300 online memorial halls established for the deceased.

GRIEF IN GREEN

In the run-up to this Qingming, an ecological burial public welfare activity was held in the Longjushan public cemetery of Chongqing. Many families gathered at the cemetery to bury the ashes of their deceased members.

The concept of ecological burials, which is aimed at bringing the deceased back to nature, is gaining more popularity among Chinese people. In 2016, the country's Ministry of Civil Affairs issued guidelines to promote eco-burials, encouraging people to bury ashes or bodies through methods such as tree burials and sea burials.

In the solemn ceremony, the cemetery staff placed the ashes of the deceased in containers made from degradable materials and buried the containers into the flower bed, instead of setting up steles or keeping the ashes on shelves.

"This way of flower bed burial not only conforms to the traditional funeral concept, but also helps achieve the purpose of environmental protection," said Xi Weijun, general manager of the Longjushan cemetery operator.

Eco-burials in China comprise different forms, including lawn burials, flowerbed burials as well as tree burials, all of which require minimal land. Sea burials and biodegradable urn burials that require no land are also popular options.

Ma Jing, a Beijing resident, said that her husband who died many years ago had opted for sea burial himself, because it saves resources and protects the environment, as well as satisfying his desire to return to Mother Nature.

In recent years, the Chinese capital has subsidized sea-burial procedures to encourage more people to embrace the novel but greener way of saying goodbye. 
According to Lahore police, Ayyan pleaded with his mother for the phone, but she declined and left for a neighbour's house.

Upon her return, she discovered her son's lifeless body hanging from the ceiling. It appeared that the boy had used a rope tied to a bamboo pole on the wall to take his own life, as reported by ARY News.

Meanwhile, police have launched an investigation into the incident and are gathering evidence from the scene.

This tragic incident follows another recent suicide case in Mughalpura, Lahore, where a 33-year-old female doctor, Bushra Suhail, reportedly took her life following a heated argument with her mother on March 27.

According to her sister Rabia, Bushra locked herself in her room after the argument, and later she was found hanging from a ceiling fan, ARY News reported. (ANI)
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud confirmed to the media that the "prime minister will visit India after the elections. The official schedule is yet to be fixed".

The announcement comes amidst recent speculation sparked by several media reports suggesting that Sheikh Hasina's visit to India is scheduled for June.

If realised, this visit would mark her first official trip to India following her victory in the national elections on January 7.

The visit holds significant diplomatic implications, as it underscores the continued strengthening of bilateral ties between Bangladesh and India.

Both nations have maintained close diplomatic relations over the years, collaborating on various fronts including trade, security, and regional cooperation.

Details regarding the agenda of Sheikh Hasina's visit and specific engagements are yet to be disclosed.

However, given the strategic importance of the relationship between Bangladesh and India, the visit is expected to address a range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

As preparations for the visit unfold, anticipation mounts among stakeholders in both countries, eager to witness further advancements in the longstanding partnership between Bangladesh and India. (ANI)
All nine pirates involved in piracy were apprehended on Wednesday after Indian Navy ships INS Trishul and INS Sumedha conducted successful anti-piracy operations east of Somalia on 29 March. The operations resulted in the rescue of FV Al Kambar and its crew of 23 Pakistani nationals. https://twitter.com/indiannavy/status/1775740476446191823?s=20 In an official post on X, the Indian Navy said, Robust actions by #IndianNavy ships Trishul & Sumedha during #antipiracy ops East of Somalia on #29Mar 24 had resulted in the successful rescue of FV Al Kambar & its crew of 23 Pakistani nationals. All nine pirates involved in piracy were apprehended for further transit to India." "INS Trishul arrived in Mumbai on 3 April and handed over all nine pirates to the local police for further legal action by the Indian laws, specifically the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act 2022," Indian Navy added. Indian Navy reaffirms its resolve to safeguard all merchant shipping and seafarers transiting in IOR irrespective of their nationality. On March 30, 23 Pakistani nationals were rescued from the clutches of Somali pirates during a daring 12-hour-long operation in the Arabian Sea, said the Indian Navy. The rescue unfolded in the early hours of March 29, 2024, when the Indian Navy warship INS Sumedha intercepted the hijacked vessel, FV Al-Kambar, as it was being held captive by pirates. Acting swiftly, INS Sumedha was soon joined by the guided missile frigate INS Trishul to bolster the operation. Utilising their tactical expertise and strategic coordination, Indian naval forces initiated negotiations with the pirates, compelling them to surrender without bloodshed. Following the successful apprehension of the pirates, Indian Naval specialist teams embarked on the FV Al-Kambar to undertake thorough sanitisation and seaworthiness checks. These meticulous examinations aim to ensure the vessel's safety before escorting it to a secure area, enabling the resumption of normal fishing activities for its crew. On March 29, the Indian Navy responded to a potential piracy attack on an Iranian fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea and diverted two naval ships to intercept the hijacked vessel. The Indian Navy received input regarding a potential piracy incident onboard the Iranian fishing vessel 'Al Kambar'. Following this, two Indian Naval ships deployed in the Arabian Sea for maritime security operations were diverted to intercept the hijacked fishing vessel. At the time of the incident, the Iranian vessel was approximately 90 km southwest of Socotra and was reported to have been boarded by nine armed pirates. The hijacked fishing vessel was intercepted on March 29. "Indian Navy remains committed to ensuring maritime security in the region and safety of seafarers, irrespective of nationalities," the statement added. (ANI)
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to speak today in their first phone call since an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, CNN reported. Due to this incident, Biden is "angry" and "increasingly frustrated" - and fully prepared to make all of that known to Netanyahu in their conversation, according to a senior administration official. "He will express those frustrations," they said. According to CNN, White House officials have emphasized in the wake of the aid workers' deaths that the US stance in supporting Israel's current military operation remains unchanged. There has simply been no "shift in policy," the senior administration official said. "What there has been is a shift in the president's frustrations." While the deaths of the World Central Kitchen aid workers will serve as the urgent tone for Thursday's discussion, President Biden is anticipated to address several other issues during his conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu which includes enhancing humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza, ongoing negotiations regarding hostages and a ceasefire agreement, and the United States' concerns regarding a potential ground incursion into Rafah, as per CNN. The Biden administration, in private conversations with the Israel Defense Forces and members of the Israeli government, has demanded that the military make changes to the way information is transmitted about where aid workers are stationed, according to a US official, and the president plans to communicate that in no uncertain terms in his phone call Thursday with Netanyahu. "Either the information [about the convoy] didn't make it past the targeting team, or it was disregarded. Either way, it's a problem," the US official told CNN. Israel has taken responsibility for the attack, with Netanyahu saying Tuesday that Israeli forces had "unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip." World Central Kitchen said it had coordinated the convoy's movements with the Israeli military. "Maintain an open and transparent line of communication" with international organizations on actions being taken after the attack on the convoy," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed forces on Tuesday. Gallant also ordered that a "joint situation room" be opened "promptly" to coordinate aid distributions between international organizations and the IDF's Southern Command, according to a media statement published after Gallant held a meeting with senior Israeli defence officials. As the rhetoric from the White House intensifies, it's become increasingly divorced from the Biden administration's stated policy on Israel, which continues to receive steadfast, unconditioned support in the form of billions of dollars of military aid. Asked why there had not been "consequences" for Israel as a result of the strike, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "We are having conversations with the Israeli government ... those conversations have been tough." (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday shed light on the impact of the "Modi ki guarantee" on Indian citizens residing abroad while holding a press conference on Thursday at Thiruvananthapuram, kerala. EAM Jaishankar said, "Most of the people abroad have seen what is 'Modi ki guarantee', nurses who have come back from Iraq or Syria, people who have returned from Yemen, and students who have returned from Ukraine." "Today Indians can be very confident when they go abroad. And I think because Kerala is such a global state, so many people from Kerala go abroad, it is something which should be appreciated. And supporting people, bringing them back is one part of it," Jaishankar added. Speaking on PM Modi's accomplishments, Jaishankar highlighted the remarkable economic transformation from India's inclusion among the 'fragile five' economies in 2014 to its current status among the top five globally. "I think as Modi government we feel there is a solid 10-year record. In 2014 India was among the fragile five economies of the world. Today we are among the top five economies of the world and this is even though during this period there was covid, there was fighting in Ukraine increase in oil prices, and there was a Middle East problem. But despite all the challenges, I think, under Modi ji's leadership, we have steered the country very well," he affirmed. Additionally, EAM Jaishankar spoke on the importance of reinforcing PM Modi's leadership and emphasises the need to strengthen his hands as the nation charts a course towards a prosperous future. "So I think what is important right now because we have 10 years of foundation and we have looked ahead next 25 years, how do we make a Viksit Bharat, it is important that we strengthen Modiji's hands and sends a member of parliament like Union Minister and BJP candidate, Rajeev Chandrasekhar to the parliament, I think that is something which would very much make a difference at the national level, he said while supporting his colleague friend at the important day when he is filling his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Furthermore, he talked about the relationship that has witnessed a profound transformation is that between India and the Gulf countries, particularly with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) He also highlighted this significant shift, noting that after Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian leader to visit the Gulf region, symbolizing a new era of engagement. "In these 10 years, if there is one relationship that has undergone a very big change, it is that between India and the Gulf, particularly with the UAE. After Indira Gandhi, no other PM went there but PM Modi. Be it the UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait or Bahrain, these relations are very strong today. During COVID-19 times, these countries gave special treatment to our people," he said. (ANI) .
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has accomplished more for Buddhism than anyone in history and thus makes him the most eligible person to recieve Lord Buddha's sacred Kapilavastu relics according to Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Waskaduwe Mahindawansa Mahanayake Thero. The Dalai Lama was on Thursday presented with the relics preserved and protected for generations at RajaGuru Sri Subuthi Waskaduwa Maha Viharaya, a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka.The Lankan Buddhist monk had earlier said that the rare relic presented to the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was discovered during the British reign in India in the Piprahwa excavations and holds immense significance for Buddhists worldwide. "For several years, we have held a strong intention to offer a precious Buddha relic to His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, who is a symbol of peace, kindness and compassion in this world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has accomplished more for Buddhism than anyone in history," he said in a statement. "Recognising His Holiness the Dalai Lama's revered status as a living Bodhisattva and a cherished spiritual leader in the global Buddhist community, it is with great honour and reverence that these unique and rare authentic relics, discovered during the British reign in India in the Piprahwa excavations, are being offered to him. His Holiness the Dalai Lama explicitly exhibits the core Buddhist teachings such as compassion, wisdom, and peace, making him the most eligible recipient of this sacred offering," he added. Expressing his deep admiration for Dalai Lama, Mahanayake Thero shared that the idea to present a Kapilavastu relic to the leader was initiated by Damenda Porage, Founder President of the Sri Lanka-Tibetan Buddhist Brotherhood, in 2017. After six years of meticulous planning and preparation, the long-cherished wish has finally come to fruition. "His Holiness embodies the teachings of the Buddha through his actions, teachings and way of life. We have always felt the strong need to reciprocate His Holiness the Dalai Lama's boundless kindness. Hence, we have fervently wished and prayed to present this precious relic as a token of my immeasurable gratitude and admiration," the Lankan spiritual leader said. "I gift this valuable relic to His Holiness on behalf the entire Sangha community in Sri Lanka. Dr. Damenda Porage, Founder President of the Sri Lanka-Tibetan Buddhist Brotherhood in Sri Lanka, approached me back in 2017 with the idea of presenting a Kapilavastu relic to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After six years of planning and preparation, we have finally been able to fulfill this request," he added. The leader highlighted that the relics, originally gifted to the erudite Sri Lankan monk, Most Venerable Waskaduwe Sri Subhuthi Mahanayake Thero, in 1898. "These sacred relics, discovered during the British reign in India in the Piprahwa excavations, hold profound significance for millions of Buddhists worldwide. British official William Peppe gifted the authentic and sacred relics to the erudite Sri Lankan monk, Most Venerable Waskaduwe Sri Subhuthi Mahanayake Thero in 1898. These relics of the Buddha had been enshrined in Piprahwa by Shakyan relatives of the Buddha in Kapilavastu," the statement read. "It is with the utmost joy and a deep sense of fulfilment that I announce this long-awaited and cherished occasion today. After many years of unwavering effort and a profound desire, our wish to offer this precious relic of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is finally fulfilled," it added. The sacred relics are located at RajaGuru Sri Subuthi Waskaduwa Maha Viharaya, a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka.Notably, the Kapilavastu relics hold immense historical and spiritual significance, connecting the devotees to the profound legacy of Lord Buddha. The Sri Subhuthi Maha Viharaya in Waskaduwa houses 21 relics of the Lord Buddha. In February, Dalai Lama, on the occasion of Chotrul Duechen, gave a short general teaching from the Jataka Tales at the Main Tibetan Temple, Tsuglagkhang, in the Himachal Pradesh hill town of Dharamshala, which was attended by over 3000 Tibetan followers, including Buddhist monks, nuns and foreigners from different parts of the world. Chotrul Duechen is the day of offerings and is celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st Tibetan month. The day, which means Great Day of Miraculous Manifestations," is one of the four Buddhist festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Buddha. Earlier in March, the relics of Lord Buddha and those of his two main disciples, Arahant Sariputta and Maha Moggallana, were sent on a 25-day exposition across four cities in Thailand. The exposition drew a phenomenal response, during which over 4 million devotees from Thailand and other countries in the Mekong region paid homage to the relics. The revered relics' exposition, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), travelled to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani and Krabi provinces, starting from New Delhi on February 22. (ANI)
The security officials of both countries discussed cooperation between Tehran and New Delhi in the fields of security and economy, the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi said in a statement.

During the meeting, "the two sides agreed that attacking diplomatic places should be costly for criminals," the statement read.

NSA Ajit Doval expressed condolences over the killing of Iranian advisors in an Israeli strike in Damascus.

"Doval, for his part, expressed condolences over the martyrdom of Iranian advisors in an Israeli strike on the building of Iran's consulate in Damascus on Monday," the statement stated.

The Israeli regime attacked Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Monday evening.

The Israeli aggression led to the destruction of the entire building and the martyrdom and injury of the entire people inside it.

According to the embassy's statement, "Seven of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military advisors were martyred following the Israeli attack on Iran's consulate in Damascus on Monday, IRGC said in a statement."

Reacting to the Israeli aggression, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kan'ani said that Iran, while reserving its rights to take countermeasures, decides on the "type of reaction and punishment of the aggressor."

Earlier on Monday, Iran's Ambassador to Syria also emphasised that the country will give a decisive response to the Israeli regime, the statement read.

Ajit Doval held talks with his Kazakhstan counterpart Gizat Nurdauletov on Monday about deepening existing cooperation and launching initiatives in new and emerging areas on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Astana.

NSA Doval led a delegation at the 19th Meeting of Secretaries of the Security Council of the SCO in Astana.

In his address, he highlighted the need to shun double standards and hold sponsors, financiers and facilitators of terrorism accountable.

Doval stated that any act of terror committed by whomsoever, whenever and for whatever reasons is not justified.

He asserted that perpetrators of terrorism should be effectively and expeditiously dealt with, including those involved in cross-border terrorism. (ANI)
Heaping praise on Bharatiya Janata Party leader V Muraleedharan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that through his work as a Minister of State, he has served as a bridge between India and the Gulf region. He recalled MoS Muraleedharan's work in ensuring the smooth issuance of passports and being ready to go to conflict regions to evacuate Indians. Jaishankar unveiled a draft development document for the Attingal constituency on Thursday. Speaking at an interaction, Jaishankar said, "Please see, how much respect we are getting today. What it was 10 years before and how it is today. All of you have travelled to the Gulf, please see today how much respect we are getting in the Gulf." "To do that you have to continuously go there, build relations, look at the community problems...and that is something he (V Muraleedharan) has been doing," he said. The EAM recalled how the Indians were treated nicely in the Gulf countries even during the Covid pandemic and stated that this was because of India's relations with the Gulf. He added that the person who served as a bridge at that time to the region was MoS Muraleedharan "Secondly, during the Covid time, from many countries in the Gulf, they sent back a large number of people; actually, for India, we were treated very nicely and very few people had to come back. They gave vaccines to our people, in many cases the told employers not to ask the employees to leave," Jaishankar said. He added, "They went so much out of the way that PM Modi thanked many of these Gulf countries for what they did on Independence Day. They did all of this because all the time somebody was going on behalf of PM Modi to the Gulf regularly. We also did things for them, we kept food supplies and other things going. The person who served as a bridge at that time to the Gulf was again V Muraleedharan." Further heaping praise on the PM Modi-led government, Jaishankar said that the Centre has made every Indian feel that the country is there for them in crisis situations. "One of the big achievements of the Modi government is that we tell every Indian, please feel safe about going outside because when you leave India we are there for you. But by saying you cannot convince people, you have to do it. In the last 10 years, we have done it again and again...in Sudan, Nepal, Iraq, Ukraine, Israel," the EAM said. Recalling the evacuation of Indians from Sudan, Jaishankar said that Muraleedharan went to the conflict-hit region without any hesitation. "During Sudan crisis, I remember, I called V Muraleedharan and told him 'Tonight you need to leave for Sudan'. So for me to have a partner and colleague who could move...no hesitation, he will go there, spend time, go into details, even the most basic details," he said. Further elaborating on the responsibilities of MEA, he said that MoS Muraleedharan has worked a lot for the smooth issuing of passports. "One of the big responsibilities of the Ministry of External Affairs is to ensure that passports are given smoothly. How to run a passport system? He (Muraleedharan) has been dealing with it directly...I think every year, 15 lakh people from Kerala take new passports...I am today a sakshi (witness) to all the work that he has done, all the respect he has commanded, all the impact he has in the Gulf," he said. Jaishankar urged the people of the state to elect someone like V Muraleedharan to the Lok Sabha. "The biggest thing you can do to strengthen PM Modi's hands to make sure that all that we want to achieve in Viksit Bharat in the coming time, you can do by sending a person like V Muraleedharan to the Lok Sabha," he added. (ANI)
Gambia Ambassador Mustapha Jawara visited Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia on Thursday to pay homage to the esteemed Sufi saint, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. Speaking exclusively with ANI, Gambia Ambassador Mustapha Jawara called the Dargah "amazing" and said, "This is an amazing visit. I have been in India for three years now and I have visited Nizamuddin. I thought it was all shopping. I never knew that there was something like a mausoleum inside. This is the first time I have come to this amazing place." "It is a wonder that after 800 years, the culture is preserved for all to celebrate, especially during the month of Ramadan. We hope that the blessing of Ramadan will be on all of us," he added. Further highlighting the relations between India and Gambia, he emphasised that a new chapter has been opened between the two countries. "A new chapter has been opened between the Gambia and India, especially in the spiritual journey. This place is a Muslim shrine and as Muslims, we are part of them like one family. We always say in Sanskrit, 'Vasudeva Kutumbhkam'," he added. Emphasising the India-Gambia relationship, Jawara said that the relationship has grown tremendously. "India and Gambia's relationship has grown tremendously, especially during the past two years. We thank the Indian government. In fact, two weeks ago, I just came back from Gambia," he said. He further highlighted that the Indian government donated several health equipment to Gambia. "The Indian government donated to the Gambia 40 dialysis machines, 50 dialysis chairs and 2 portable ultrasound machines for the health sector. This is a transformative gesture that the Indian government offered to the Gambia government in the health arena. So, we really appreciate the Indian government for that," he added. (ANI)
Japan's Shinto religion contributed to the global dialogue at the "Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions" held in Astana, Kazakhstan, the Embassy of Kazakhstan said in a release. The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions has been held in Kazakhstan for over 20 years. Once every three years, leaders of religions that are followed globally or as the tradition of particular nations gather and engage in dialogue between their faiths and civilizations, Shinsaku Mitsui, head of the International Section of the Japan Shrine Association, said. Japan's religion Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan. While, it is practiced by more people than any other religion within Japan, it is scarcely known outside its borders because of its distinctive character. Japan, after accepting the special invitation of the Kazakhstan President to participate in this Congress, found themselves in full agreement with the aims of the meeting, and "came to feel that it would be an honour if the spirit of Shinto could contribute in some way, however small, to these dialogues in search of truth," the Embassy of Kazakhstan stated. Mitsui further expressed gratitude and said, "We have come this far, which is a tribute to the dynamic leadership of the President of Kazakhstan and the understanding of the people of the nation." At last year's 21st meeting of the Congress Secretariat, a development concept for the years 2023-2033 was adopted, building on the success of 20 years of dialogue between religions and civilizations, the release said. This concept is of the utmost importance for the future of the world; Japan welcomed it and expressed gratitude for the leadership shown by Kazakhstan. Mitsui further expressed confidence that the practical actions launched under this concept will advance the search for truth and sympathy that underlies all religions and nurture tolerance. "The desire for peace held by the representatives of religions across the world will, together with their prayers, spread to the rest of society, and another door to global peace will open," the release stated. Shinto has no sacred text, strict doctrines or interest in evangelism. It is, rather, inextricably blended into the daily life and culture of the Japanese, and is one of the sources of the spirit, philosophy, and identity of the Japanese people. Further, Shinto sees sacred mysteries that transcend human understanding in fire and water, the sun and moon, the winds and the earth, and in all things. These mysteries are venerated as "kami," and through ceremonies called "matsuri," practitioners of Shinto have time and again calmed the threats of nature and prayed for abundant harvests and enduring peace, the Embassy of Kazakhstan said. In this way, Japan has been bound together through a spirit of gratitude to the kami, and a religious practice that prizes harmony. "Shinto's lack of concern with spreading the religion had a further consequences. Until recently, even if events were held around the world to gather representatives of various religions, Shinto did not take an active part," it added. Moreover, the embassy of Kazakhstan, in their release, noted that the secretariat will meet again in Astana this autumn, and further hoped to continue to support this globally important endeavour. (ANI)
MANILA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Imee Marcos, chair of the Philippine Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has voiced her disagreement with the government's recent measures to counter China in the South China Sea, saying that such actions are leading the country down a "dangerous path."

"Emotion rather than reason has prevailed in our maritime conflict with China and is leading us down a dangerous path that will cost us more than just Filipino pride," the senator said in a statement released on Monday.

The statement came after an executive order was signed to create a National Maritime Council, allowing the Philippines to accept "donations, contributions, grants, bequests or gifts from domestic and foreign sources" to enhance its defense build-up.

"Such largesse has been the fuel to never-ending conflict," said the lawmaker, who is also sister to Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos.

She added that her country should instead seek solutions for peace, warning that every action that may put Filipinos in danger is a "gross irresponsibility and must be avoided at all costs."

"To prevent yet another regional conflict, what we need instead are solutions for peace from those who claim to be our genuine allies," she said. 
Mar 10, 2021; Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; House Representatives during a session at the Arkansas State Capitol. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY NETWORK

Under a proposed budget released in March by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, public funding for higher education in Arkansas would be reduced by more than $2.4 million.

Nearly all of the schools in the University of Arkansas system would each see funding cuts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with cuts for two-year state institutions.

University of Arkansas-Fayetteville was the only four-year state university campus that saw its funding increase in the budget proposal  a modest by 0.29%.

University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff will receive an increase in funding, as is required by federal law because of its status as a land-grant university.

The proposed budget would also increase the Childrens Education Freedom Account, which funds vouchers for private and parochial K-12 education, by nearly $66 million, or over 200%.

Arkansas: Old Main was the first permanent building erected on the University of Arkansas campus. The south tower contains a clock and the north tower houses the bell.

"I am proud that this years budget puts an end to governments spiraling growth, while still fulfilling the priorities Arkansans elected me to implement," Sanders wrote in a March letter to the General Assembly's Joint Budget Committee.

In the letter, the governor also touted the increased funding for University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

But not everyone is pleased with the proposal.

Hershel Hartford, president of the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Education Association, said that these funding cuts are part of a pattern across the country of programs and even departments being shut down or consolidated because the programs are not profitable.  That concerns me.

The University of Arkansas-Fort Smith recently cut at least four majors, he said, including political science.

He said he sees changes to the structure or offerings of a university because of funding concerns as a case where public policy is deciding what research should be done.

April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, said the state has been running a budget surplus for several years. She said that money should be used to broadly expand funding for education.

Taking budget cuts from higher ed, instead of using the surplus to help higher ed to be more effective is just a gut punch, she said. It's a slap in the face.

How does the states funding model work?

The outcome-based model of funding, first adopted in Arkansas for fiscal year 2018, uses factors like graduation rates and amount of time to complete a degree.

According to documents from the Department of Higher Educations website, productivity is measured based on effectiveness and affordability.

Effectiveness takes into account credentials awarded, progression and transfer success and is weighted to account for 80% of productivity.

Affordability, which makes up another 20%, is based on time to degree and credentials at completion.

Nick Fuller, assistant director of finance at the Arkansas Division of Higher Education, said Monday that colleges and universities are evaluated based on a three-year rolling average.

This year, the average for 2020, 2021 and 2022 was analyzed next to the baseline average productivity from 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Fiscal year 2025 will be the first time that the comparative average is taken all from years during the height of the COVID pandemic, which suppressed enrollment and graduation rates.

This is the seventh year weve been using this model, Fuller said. This is the first year weve been negative since the model was adopted for fiscal year 2018.

More than likely, Fuller said, productivity will rebound when statistics from 2023 are swapped out for those from 2020 in the three-year average.

Even with that year added, were just barely negative, Fuller said, citing a decrease in productivity of 0.14% between the two averages. Funding will be cut proportionally on a school-by-school basis.

I dont expect it to be devastating for the universities, he said, noting that outcome-based funding cuts are capped at 2%. Most of them are really good at making do with what they have.

Officials of the University of Arkansas system did not respond to requests for comment.

What does this mean for the state university system?

Mike Pierce, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, said that cuts like these are part of a pattern of public policy going back to the 1980s.

Under a new pattern of austerity that emerged during that time, Colleges and Universities weren't seen as providing essential services that would lead to the prosperity of the state but were seen as drains on the state's coffers," he said.

The funding decreases are not death blows, Pierce said, but thousands of cuts, if added up, will really strike at the heart of these institutions.

"The leaders of these institutions are not going to say anything critical about the state government, but these are significant cuts," he went on. "Half a million dollars at UALR? That [means] laying off several people, including instructors."

Pierce said that, while the leaders of the university system signed off on the outcome-based funding model when it was adopted, that was because they didnt have any practical ability to push back against the plan.

University leaders were faced with a message from the state, he said.

"'We're going to cut your funding, tell us how you want us to cut it,'" Pierce said. "The Hutchinson administration forced the college chancellors and presidents to come up with a formula rather than to fight it out.

"It's a signal to the state schools, that they need to look elsewhere if they want to increase revenue," he said, "that the state is not going to help them."

The governors proposed budget will go before the General Assembly during its next fiscal session, which begins on April 10.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas higher education faces reduction budget proposal
Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman prominently touted his political status on his personal consulting firm's website as recently as a week ago, prompting government ethics experts to question whether he was promoting his official position for personal gain.

"Book Senator Hoffman to speak," a tab at the top of his Hoffman Strategic Advisors website read. The website's homepage featured a posed photo of Hoffman inside the Minnesota State Capitol.

"Imagine the dynamic synergy of industry expertise and political acumen. Senator John Hoffman, alongside Hoffman Strategic Advisors, brings a unique blend of public service insights and strategic business brilliance. When you book our speaker duo, you're not just hosting an event; you're orchestrating an unforgettable experience," read a blurb on Hoffman's consulting website.

But after the Star Tribune questioned him about it late last week, Hoffman scrubbed most mentions of his Senate status and the Capitol photo from the website. He said in an interview that he always considers himself a senator and he hadn't thought about the optics of promoting his position on his personal website. Hoffman acknowledged the concerns being raised and said he's made no money from the business.

Hamline University political science Prof. David Schultz reviewed Hoffman's website before it changed and said he thought it looked like the senator was "using his official position for the purposes of potential personal financial gain."

Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota, a nonprofit that advocates for government transparency, also had concerns. She said, "Sen. Hoffman's use of this title for marketing his consulting business as 'senator,' along with the use of pictures taken while at the Capitol campus, can arguably be seen as him leveraging his public role for private gain."

Hoffman told the Star Tribune his consulting firm hasn't had any paying clients to date, despite listing Hoffman Strategic Advisors as a source of income on his economic disclosure with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.

The senator said he's always disclosed his associated businesses even if he didn't make money from them.

Hoffman did not appear to have violated any laws or rules by promoting his Senate status on his private business website. But Schultz and Belladonna-Carrera both said the legislative branch could benefit from having clearer rules for lawmakers. The executive branch has an ethics statute that could have prohibited this type of scenario.

The executive branch's code of ethics considers the following a conflict of interest: "The use for private gain or advantage of state time, facilities, equipment or supplies or badge, uniform, prestige or influence of state office or employment."

"This branch of government  I would argue the most public facing and accountable to the people particularly because of what it does and who it is supposed to be working for  is once again the one with the least accountability and transparency," Belladonna-Carrera said of the Legislature.

Staff writer Rochelle Olson contributed to this report.
Two Mexican-American labor leaders and civil rights activists who worked on behalf of farm laborers across the country will be celebrated Saturday in Fort Worth.

The Cesar Chavez Committee of Tarrant County, in partnership with LULAC Council 4743 and LULAC Council 4568, will have a birthday celebration for Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta at 11 a.m. April 6 at 1409 Ellis Ave., Suite 105. It will include speakers, community organizations, a food giveaway and music.

The Cesar Chavez Committee of Tarrant County has been a nonprofit organization since 2016 and is committed to promoting education, social justice, the community and civil rights.

Marciela Jimenez, president of the organization, says Chavez and Huerta were pioneers whose legacies should be learned by generations to come.

If we look at what drove them, what their values were, what their passion was, we can still take from that and move forward to help bring our community or community at large to a higher level, Jimenez said.

Who were Chavez and Huerta?

Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona, as a first-generation Mexican American. After his family lost its farm during the Great Depression, it moved to California, where Chavez began to work as a migrant field worker to help support his family. While traveling and working throughout California in the fields, orchards and vineyards he experienced unlivable wages and unjust working conditions.

In 1952, he joined the San Jose chapter of the Community Service Organization, a prominent Latino civil rights group, where he coordinated voter registrations and led campaigns against racial and economic discrimination.

In the late 50s he met Dolores Huerta, who shared an interest in organizing farm workers.

Huerta was born in Dawson, New Mexico, and left for Stockton, California, with her mother and siblings at 3 years old. She was influenced by her mothers community activism and was shaped by the discrimination experienced by Hispanic people. She also co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization.

After leaving the Community Service Organization in 1962, Chavez and Huerta helped found the National Farm Workers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers labor union. United Farm Workers aims to empower migrant workers through nonviolent tactics to have liveable wages and safe working conditions.

A strike against the grape growers in Delano, California, that began in 1965 represented a major victory. It lasted for five years. and workers endured a 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento to draw attention to the plight of farm workers.

By 1970, 26 grape grower corporations signed contracts with United Farm Workers, resulting in better wages, working conditions, unemployment insurance, paid vacation days, and other benefits.

It led to the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, the first law guaranteeing collective bargaining for farm workers.

Recognized in Fort Worth

Chavez and Huerta continued their work in fighting for the rights of farm workers and future Latino leaders.

Chavez died on April 13, 1993, and in the following year was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States. Huerta continued her activism, establishing the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which helps underrepresented and under-resourced communities with voting. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

In 2018, Fort Worth ISD voted unanimously to add a new holiday, Cesar Chavez-Dolores Huerta Day, which is recognized annually on the Monday before Chavezs birth date on March 31.

In 2020, the city voted to honorarily rename portions of 28th Street/Ephriham Avenue after Chavez and Huerta.

Toni Ruiz grew up in Porterville, California, and remembers as a young teenager in the 60s picking oranges and grapes with her father, who was a farmer. She remembers the 340-mile march of the Delano grape strike that came through her city. Her parents took her to support the strikers.

Now living in Kennedale, she became a member of the Cesar Chavez Committee of Tarrant County to remember the legacy of Chavez and Huerta and to teach the next generation about them.

We dont want them to be forgotten, Ruiz said. We want their history to keep going and for people to teach their children about them. These were important activists that did something for everyone and they touched everybodys life.
Coast Guard searching for man who went overboard from cruise ship near Bahamas

U.S. Coast Guard boats and aircraft are searching for a 20-year-old man who went overboard of the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship Thursday morning as it sailed passed the Bahamas.

The ship, operated by Royal Caribbean, was about 57 miles off Great Inagua, the southernmost island of the Bahamas, located near the eastern tip of Cuba, the Coast Guard said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Royal Caribbean issued a statement that the ships crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the Coast Guard, who has taken over the search.

Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guests family during this difficult time, the statement reads. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.

#Breaking @USCG crews are searching for a 20-year-old man who went overboard from the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship 57 miles from Great Inagua this morning.



USCG Cutter Seneca and Air Station Miami HC-144 crews are conducting the search.#USCG #SAR pic.twitter.com/zZPpKOdyCn  USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 4, 2024

According to the Coast Guard, assets involved in the search include the Cutter Seneca and an HC-144 patrol plane.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
The first time I interviewed Sen. Whitney Westerfield in 2019, it was about domestic violence. Specifically, why Kentucky didnt track any domestic violence statistics, including how many people die from it every year.

My colleagues and I had been writing about this issue for a decade, but Westerfield, a Republican from Fruit Hill, was the first legislator to appear to be genuinely shocked and appalled that advocates used a newspaper clipping service to find out how many people died at the hands of intimate partners.

For the next three years, he worked on a bill that would link state and local law enforcement, courts and advocates to get annual reporting data. In 2022, Senate Bill 271 passed both the House and Senate unanimously, an almost unheard of bipartisan agreement on an issue than has in the past been highly divisive.

The best bills are those with cooperation and collaboration, Westerfield said.

As he prepares to retire after his 12-year stint in the General Assembly, this is an incomplete list of work Westerfield is most proud of, some of which didnt even make it through legislation.

 Senate Bill 200 in 2014: A juvenile justice reform bill adopted after a year-long bipartisan task force thats been used a model in other states. It focused on keeping low-level offenders out of expensive juvenile justice facilities, improved pre-court processes and created an oversight board.

 House Bill 8: In 2015, Democratic Rep. John Tilly sponsored a bill that extended domestic violence protections to dating couples. Westerfield ushered the bill through the Senate.

 Senate Bill 15: Marsys Law was a constitutional amendment that created constitutional rights for crime victims. It passed twice with voters, but was rejected the first time by the state Supreme Court because the entire text of the amendment had not been printed on the ballot.

 Westerfield said hes also proud of the CROWN Act, which gives protections for natural hair, which failed two years in a row, and Senate Bill 34, the ALPHA Act, to require health care plans to cover many more of the costs associated with childbirth, including breast feeding services.
An Easter Sunday burglary at a San Fernando Valley money storage facility netted thieves as much as $30 million in cash in an operation that has, at least for now, left authorities baffled, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The March 31 heist, which is among the biggest in L.A.s history, occurred at an undisclosed Sylmar facility that handles cash from businesses across Southern California, L.A. police shared with The Times.

While its unclear how thieves knew about the massive amount of money held in the facilitys safe, the break-in was considered complex, suggesting a highly experienced burglary crew that managed to breach the building through the roof and gain access to the vault without activating the alarm system.

There were no signs of the break-in outside of the vault itself, and officials at the facility werent even aware of the heist until the safe was opened Monday.

Officials at the Sylmar facility alerted LAPD and detectives from the departments Mission Division arrived to search for and gather evidence.

Law enforcement sources told The Times that the burglary is one of the largest cash heists in the citys history and that the $30 million theft beats any armored-car robberies in Southern California.

In a July 2022 heist, jewelry exhibitors who hired Brinks Security Company to transport their merchandise from Northern to Southern California were robbed of what they claimed was $150 million in jewels.

While parked at a rest stop in Lebec, one of the security guards on duty was sleeping as the second guard was eating a meal inside the truck stop.

Thats when thieves seized the opportunity to grab nearly two dozen bags of vintage jewelry, gems and luxury watches from the tractor-trailer.

Nude body of missing California woman found in Arizona desert a month after she called 911

After the victims took legal action against the security company, Brinks retaliated with a suit of its own, disputing the value of the stolen merchandise.

No arrests have been made in that case.

As for the record-setting burglary in Sylmar, police told KTLA that they are not currently providing any information on the case. An official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation would only confirm that they are working with LAPD on the matter but would not comment further.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Pressure on Rishi Sunak to act against Israel after the death of seven aid workers has grown after a former British spy chief condemned the reckless way they were killed.

Sir Alex Younger, ex-head of M16, said the incident showed Israel was using systematic targeting that risked slaughtering innocent people by mistake.

It was in danger of losing its right to claim a moral purpose in the war with Hamas, he claimed in an outspoken intervention.

Sir Alex said: My view is that what happened is essentially systematic - of an approach to targeting that has on occasion bordered on the reckless and therefore fundamentally undermines what must be Israels political objectives which is to sustain some moral high ground and moral purpose.

Sir Alex, who ran MI6 from 2014 to 2020, was asked if he thought the seven aid workers, including three Britons, died because Israel was prepared to risk blowing up the wrong people if it thinks there is just a chance there is a bad guy among them.

Sir Alex Younger said the incident showed Israel was using systematic targeting (Crown)

He replied: It is hard not to conclude that insufficient care is being paid to the collateral risk of these operations one way or another.

It really hits home because these people are from our country, Sir Alex, the longest serving Chief - or C - of the intelligence service for 50 years, told the BBC Radio Four Today Podcast.

He added: It is a reminder of how many thousands of innocent people have been caught up in this conflict.

Sir Alex said Britain must use its influence with the US to force Israel to change its military tactics.We want to look at ways we can achieve leverage and creative incentives for more focus on collateral damage - killing innocent civilians.

A lot depends on whether we conclude Israel understands the risks of its approach - not just in ethical and legal terms - but also in a way that likely undermines its own objectives and shows a willingness to change course.

He added that the UK should consider how it could influence the US and make this a point of leverage that changes stuff on the ground.

Rishi Sunak said the situation in Gaza is growing increasingly intolerable (AP)

The former MI6 chiefs comments come amid growing calls for Britain and other countries to respond to the attack by a range of measures including stopping arms sales to Israel. More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court President Lady Hale, have signed a letter to the prime minister warning that the government risks breaching international law by continuing to export weapons to Israel.

The signatories said the worsening situation in Gaza and the International Court of Justices conclusion that there was a plausible risk of genocide obliged the UK to suspend arms sales to the country.

Meanwhile, Labours shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, urged the government to publish any legal advice it had received on whether Israel had broken international law, and to suspend arms sales if there was a risk weapons could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law. The SNP and the Liberal Democrats have also called for arms exports to be suspended.

Sir Alan Duncan, who served as a minister between 2010 and 2019, joined concerns from Conservative ranks to strongly condemn Israels killing of seven aid workers - three of whom were British - as merciless. Conservative MPs Flick Drummond and David Jones also called on the government to suspend arms.

A vehicle damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza (REUTERS)

On Tuesday, Downing Street declined to say whether it believed Israel was operating within international humanitarian law, saying it would not comment on legal advice but added ministers acted in accordance with any advice.

But Mr Sunak told the Suns Never Mind The Ballots show that he had warned Benjamin Netanyahu that Israels war in Gaza is growing increasingly intolerable and maintained he had been consistently clear with the prime minister since the start of this conflict that while, of course, we defend Israels right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives and, sadly, too many civilians have already lost their lives.

Meanwhile, the World Central Kitchen charity has said it is calling for an independent investigation into the IDF strikes that killed seven members of its team in Gaza on Monday.

The Israeli government has denied targeting the World Central Kitchen food convoy.
Claim:

In March 2024, internet users shared an image that accurately showed a list of countries where mail-in voting is banned: France, Mexico, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, the Middle East and "Latin" countries.

Rating:

Rating: Mixture

What's True:

While most of these countries do not allow for resident citizens to vote by mail 

What's False:

 many of them do include this voting method in their mix, in large part to accommodate their citizens abroad. Japan also allows it for its residents, under certain conditions.

On March 27, 2024, an X (formerly Twitter) user shared an image with the following text (archived) claiming that a number of countries around the world do not allow voting by mail:

France banned mail-in voting in 1975  due to fraud Mexico banned mail-in voting in 1992  due to fraud Belgium banned mail-in voting in 2018  due to fraud. Sweden does not permit mail-in voting. Italy does not permit mail-in voting. Ukraine does not permit mail-in voting. Russia does not permit mail-in voting. No middle eastern country permits mail-in voting. No Latin country permits mail-in voting.

The post had gained 46.5 million views and 22,500 likes and had been reshared nearly 9,000 times as of this writing. One of the people who amplified it was X owner Elon Musk (archived):

Not That Simple

In reality, many of the countries in this list have adopted a mix of voting methods that include mail-in voting, especially important for countries with large diasporas. Therefore, we've rated this claim a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Here's a detailed breakdown:

France: Banned in 1975 because of a few instances of fraud (particularly in Corsica), mail-in voting was partially reintroduced for French people living abroad to elect their representatives in the National Assembly, along with voting by internet. France holds elections on Sundays to make sure the maximum number of people can take part, and it allows voting by proxy.

Mexico: The country banned all types of banned absentee voting methods in 1991 to combat fraud and intimidation by the party that was then in power. In 2006, however, authorities reintroduced them for some voters. While residents cannot vote by mail, all Mexicans abroad can do so, as well as vote online or in person at a Mexican consulate in the U.S., Canada, France or Spain, according to the Instituto Nacional Electoral, the government agency that supervises the organization of elections. Also, for the first time in 2024, the government will allow early voting for people who cannot physically go to the polls.

Belgium: While mail-in voting and voting by internet are not allowed for residents of Belgium, Belgians abroad can mail their ballots. We have found no indication that domestic mail-in votes were ever allowed for government elections. All Belgians can vote by proxy. Beyond this, voting is compulsory from the age of 16  no-shows risk fines of 40 to 80 euros, and up to 200 euros and a voting ban for repeat offenders.

Sweden: While the nation does not allow mail-in voting for residents, Swedes abroad can use this method. Still, for residents, voting is greatly facilitated by measures including early voting and automatic registration. In most cases, people can even vote early in a locality that isn't their own simply by showing an ID. Sweden also allows voting by proxy. Christian Christensen, a professor at Stockholm University, clarified one of those details in an X post in response to Musk (archived):

Hey @elonmusk: know why Sweden doesn't have postal voting? No need. Sweden opens voting stations 18 DAYS before election day so people can vote when they want. In 2022 half of votes cast early. Voter turnout? 84.2%. Unlike US, Sweden makes voting easy because it values democracy. pic.twitter.com/J0ybpxftdF  Christian Christensen (@ChrChristensen) March 29, 2024

Italy: Italians who live abroad can vote by mail. Residents may not. Italy does not allow vote by proxy. If the voter is in a hospital or a care home, these institutions might offer a poll site on the premises.

Ukraine: As of this writing, mail-in and electronic ballots were out of the question because of the enormous security risk from Russia. Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been under martial law, which canceled two national elections and four local elections. In 1991, when it became independent, Ukraine allowed voting by Ukrainians abroad at polling stations in consulates and embassies. Internally, citizens are able to permanently change their preferred address (which does not have to be their residence) to be assigned a more convenient polling station for both local and national elections. For national elections, they can also ask for a temporary change of address up to five days before the vote (Article 43). For incapacitated people there are mobile ballot boxes election officials take from house to house to make sure all voters can exercise their rights. Hospitals can also set up ballot boxes (Article 30). For all citizens, registration is automatic. Still, experts are discussing changes in voting methods to better serve the estimated 5 million Ukrainians now living abroad and the 6 million internally displaced citizens once the war is over.

Russia: Russia does not allow mail-in voting, either for citizens abroad or for residents. A 2020 change in voting laws relaxed some rules, allowing elections to take place over three days, and for online voting in 27 regions and Crimea, according to The Associated Press. Abroad, Russians can go to embassies and consulates to cast their votes. In the March 2024 election, Russia's government also organized poll sites in the four Ukrainian regions annexed when Russia invaded the country in 2022. It should be noted, however, that external observers largely contested the legitimacy of Russian elections. Theodoros Rousopoulos, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly and Council of Europe, used quotation marks to refer to Russia's 2024 "election" and called for the international community not to recognize Vladimir Putin as the president of the Russian Federation.

Japan: Japanese people abroad can cast their votes by mail, as can Japanese residents under certain conditions, such as having a specific type of disability (mobility impairment, organ disorders or immunity disorders). Residents who know they will not be able to appear on election days  for reasons such as planned trips or medical procedures  may vote early.

Middle East: According to the Democracy Index 2023 report by The Economist's Intelligence Unit, this region "remains firmly at the bottom" of its rankings. The report goes on to mention three countries whose processes may be worth considering:

The region remains an outlier (alongside Eastern Europe) in having no "full democracies" among its constituent states: only one, Israel, is classed as a "flawed democracy". With the exception of Tunisia and Morocco, classified as "hybrid regimes", the rest of the region's 20 countries are ranked as "authoritarian" regimes.

We'll focus on the three countries mentioned above, starting with Israel, which has scored highest (9.58 out of 10, according to the EIU) in electoral process and pluralism:

Israel: Citizens abroad may not vote. Registration is automatic. The country also does not allow for domestic mail-in vote. Special polling sites may be set up for those who cannot physically appear at the polls, including for the incarcerated, who are allowed to vote.

Morocco: Moroccans abroad cannot vote. Resident Moroccans have to appear at polling stations.

Tunisia: While Tunisian citizens can vote abroad, they cannot do so by mail. They must go to polling stations established in embassies and consulates. Resident Tunisians cannot vote by mail either.

"Latin" countries: We worked on the assumption that the maker of this list meant "countries of Latin America." We looked at those that scored highest in electoral process and pluralism in the EIU Democracy Index 2023 report (8 and above), excluding Mexico and French Guiana (a territory that belongs to France):

Sources:

'Belgique - Comment Voter'. Elections Europeennes 2024: Tout Ce Qu'il Faut Savoir, https://elections.europa.eu/fr/how-to-vote/be/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

'Convoca INE a ciudadanas y ciudadanos con discapacidad de todo el pais, a solicitar su credencializacion domiciliaria'. Central Electoral, 3 Aug. 2023, https://centralelectoral.ine.mx/2023/08/03/convoca-ine-a-ciudadanas-y-ciudadanos-con-discapacidad-de-todo-el-pais-a-solicitar-su-credencializacion-domiciliaria/.

Democracy Index 2023. Economist Intelligence Unit, https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy-Index-2023-Final-report.pdf?version=0&mkt_tok=NzUzLVJJUS00MzgAAAGSOkvWeAOomwem8bU28pcCCUM3fqN9oYGpb6nFCXC8FFJD-_sCbsS2Mr65FmxT8-nCw6xw3anU2pqLlFObgEbUGDHUSuptzC9D79y-3-RYULew0g.

'Desintox. Belgique : les abstentionnistes doivent-ils payer une amende ?' Franceinfo, 2 July 2021, https://www.francetvinfo.fr/elections/departementales/desintox-belgique-les-abstentionnistes-doivent-ils-payer-une-amende_4687269.html.

'Early Results in, Suriname Opposition Predicts Election Win'. France 24, 26 May 2020, https://www.france24.com/en/20200526-early-results-in-suriname-opposition-predicts-election-win.

Election Code of Ukraine. https://cvk.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Election-Code-of-Ukraine.pdf.

Elections 2021 Au Maroc. La Reponse a Vos Questions Avant d'aller Voter | Challenge.Ma. https://archive.challenge.ma/elections-ce-quil-faut-retenir-la-reponse-a-vos-questions-avant-daller-voter-197778/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

Elections in Tunisia: 2022 Parliamentary Elections. 12 Dec. 2023, https://www.ifes.org/tools-resources/election-snapshots/elections-tunisia-2022-parliamentary-elections.

etrangeres, Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires. 'Vote par correspondance'. France Diplomatie - Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres, https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-francais/voter-a-l-etranger/modalites-de-vote/vote-par-correspondance/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

---. 'Vote par internet'. France Diplomatie - Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres, https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-francais/voter-a-l-etranger/modalites-de-vote/vote-par-internet/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

Fonnegra, Maria Isabel Ortiz. 'Los presos en Colombia pueden votar en las elecciones?' El Tiempo, 19 Apr. 2022, https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/servicios/presos-podran-votar-en-elecciones-presidenciales-666062.

Global In-Country Postal Voting Data | International IDEA. https://www.idea.int/data-tools/tools/special-voting-arrangements/postal-in-country. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

IDPs and Other Mobile Groups Elect Local Representatives First Time. 17 Feb. 2021, https://www.ifesukraine.org/en/media/success-stories/vpo-ta-trudovi-migranty-vpershe-progolosuvaly-na-misczevyh-vyborah-2020/.

'Italy - How to Vote'. European Elections 2024: All You Need to Know, https://elections.europa.eu/en/how-to-vote/it/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

Keller-Lynn, Carrie. 'Israel Goes to the Polls on Tuesday. Here's How to Cast Your Ballot'. The Times of Israel, 30 Oct. 2022, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-goes-to-the-polls-on-tuesday-heres-how-to-cast-your-ballot/.

Plebiscito/ Referendum Voto Epistolar | LATINNO. https://latinno.net/es/case/18091/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

'Presidential "election" in Russia: "Let's Not Recognise Putin's Legitimacy as President", PACE President Says'. Council of Europe, Council of Europe, 18 Mar. 2024, https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/presidential-election-in-russia-let-s-not-recognise-putin-s-legitimacy-as-president-pace-president-says.

'Russians Are Voting in an Election That Holds Little Suspense after Putin Crushed Dissent'. AP News, 14 Mar. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/russia-election-2024-updates-227e65cb2a3f2c4cfdb58a9525fbe884.

Technical Assessment Report: Out-of-Country Voting in Ukraine. IFES Ukraine, Jan. 2023, https://ifesukraine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ifes-ukraine-ocv-technical-assessment-report-v1-2023-05-11-eng.pdf.

'Tramite credencial tipo'. Instituto Nacional Electoral, https://www.ine.mx/credencial/tramite-credencial-tipo/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

'Voce sabia? Brasileiros que residem no exterior tambem sao obrigados a votar'. Justica Eleitoral, https://www.tre-sc.jus.br/comunicacao/noticias/2020/Abril/voce-sabia-brasileiros-que-residem-no-exterior-tambem-sao-obrigados-a-votar. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

'Voting Ahead of Time'. How to Vote in Sweden, 31 Aug. 2014, https://howtovote.se/voting-ahead-of-time/.

'Voting by Courier'. How to Vote in Sweden, 3 Sept. 2022, https://howtovote.se/voting-by-courier/.

Voting from Abroad. https://val.se/servicelankar/servicelankar/other-languages/english-engelska/voting/voting-from-abroad.html. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

Voting from Abroad Database | International IDEA. https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voting-abroad-database. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

VOTO PER CORRISPONDENZA DEI CITTADINI ITALIANI RESIDENTI ALL'ESTERO  Ambasciata d'Italia Nairobi. https://ambnairobi.esteri.it/it/news/dall_ambasciata/2022/04/voto-per-corrispondenza-dei-cittadini_0/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

'What to Know about Russia's Presidential Election, Set to Give Putin Another Six-Year Term'. AP News, 28 Feb. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/russia-presidential-election-2024-what-to-know-04a363dd56d4b3f15d3048ed8585fe55.

 |  | . https://www.city.shibuya.tokyo.jp/kusei/senkyo/senkyo/senkyo.html. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.
MOGADISHU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) on Thursday vowed to sustain efforts to make Somalia free of explosive remnants of war (ERW).

UNMAS said it will enhance the capacity of the Somalia Explosive Management Authority (SEMA), in charge of oversight and operational coordination in these areas, noting that landmines and ERW continue to endanger the lives of the Somali people, causing severe accidents and injuries.

"The explosive contamination not only impacts the safety of communities but also hampers economic development as they restrict access to land and resources and prevent socio-economic activities," UNMAS said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

It said humanitarian mine action partners have recorded 1,390 civilian casualties due to landmines and ERW incidents since 2004.

UNMAS said it has secured 240,000 U.S. dollars which will go toward its "humanitarian mine action to promote peace and safety in Somalia" project.

It said the funds will contribute to further enhancing the protection of civilians from the impact of explosive ordnance by supporting the government to effectively manage the mine action sector through capacity-building of SEMA, the authority responsible for managing the mine action sector.

UNMAS Chief of Mine Action in Somalia Justin Smith said: "National mine action capacity development is an essential component of UNMAS' work in Somalia, contributing to the overarching goal of creating a safer, more stable environment for all."

UNMAS said the national capacity is crucial to monitor the effectiveness of mine action interventions in Somalia and to contribute to enhancing the safety and security of communities.

It said that due to recent military operations, vast areas of Somalia may be exposed to new explosive contamination and as a result, the government will need to ensure an effective humanitarian mine action response that protects civilians and reduces the dangers posed by newly contaminated areas.

The UN body said it will conduct activities to support SEMA to strengthen and sustain its technical and management capability to effectively coordinate humanitarian mine action interventions in Somalia.

Somalia, which has been a state party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention since 2012, was granted a five-year extension of applicable mine clearance obligations to 2027. 
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) arrested five men for their alleged participation in an organized retail crime ring, it announced Tuesday.

The suspects, Maike Acosta De Armas, 47; Lazaro Santiago Acosta De Armas, 45, Yusser Echemendia Rodriguez, 42, Elias Ramos Hernandez, 48, and Honasi Diaz Santos, 47, are all residents of Miami-Dade County.

More from Sourcing Journal

However, according to the FDLE, their alleged crimes spanned 13 counties in Florida, including Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Orange, Palm Beach and more. The department alleges that the five suspects were involved in 53 incidents that resulted in over $55,000 in losses.

The FDLE has charged the men with several felonies, including organized scheme to defraud $50,000 or more and retail theft of multiple items and retail theft of multiple items within 30 days at different physical locations.

A spokesperson for the FDLE told Sourcing Journal that all of the alleged thefts occurred in Home Depot stores throughout the state. The spokesperson confirmed that the De Armases, Echemendia Rodriguez, Ramos Hernandez and Diaz Santos have not been connected to any other retailer in the state at this time.

According to the FDLE, police began investigating the alleged crime ring in July 2022, after Home Depots organized retail crime investigator contacted them with a complaint accusing the men of an ORC operation spanning several Florida counties.

Police said the investigation has thus far yielded evidence that the suspects stole items that they said they had already purchased online, as well as returning stolen merchandise using e-commerce receipts.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said the bust and subsequent charges have been a collaborative effort among multiple state agencies.

This criminal group committed more than 53 thefts in 13 Florida counties, stealing thousands worth of merchandise in a fraudulent systematic scheme. In Florida, we go after organized retail thieves, and now this nefarious group, thanks to the work of our law enforcement partners, will be held accountable for their crimes, Moody said in a statement.

The bust comes about six weeks after Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, said he would work to ensure Florida enforced stringent punishment for retail thieves.

Felipe Williams, FDLE Miami special agent in charge, said those measures will continue to allow police to apprehend ORC suspects.

The South Florida community can rest easy knowing the policies implemented by Governor DeSantis earlier this year for stricter punishment for organized retail theft cases will make sure this group of scheming criminals will face the consequences of their actions, Williams said in a statement. This group hit a large business across the state resulting in profit losses for its stores directly affecting Floridas consumer population. The State of Florida and FDLE will not take those crimes lightly.

The five arrestees have been booked in various detention centers and jails, all without bond.

In late February, Florida officials apprehended three men accused of stealing over $100,000 worth of goods from Home Depot locations.

The FDLE spokesperson declined to comment further, stating that police continue to investigate.
Israel has admitted that serious failures were made by its forces after seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in an airstrike in Gaza.

The IDF announced on Friday that its internal investigation into the incident had concluded.

While admitting that a grave mistake was made, the IDF continued to claim innocence over the attack  insisting that the WCK workers were misidentified as Hamas militants. Two military officers have been dismissed from their positions following the findings, the IDF said.

More than 220 humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN. Scott Paul of Oxfam said on Thursday: The killing of aid workers in Gaza has been systemic.

The announcement comes hours after Israel agreed to reopen two border crossings into Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid, after President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call that future US support for Israel would be determined by its efforts to protect civilians and aid workers.

Meanwhile, former UK foreign secretary Alan Duncan is being investigated by Tory chiefs after he said pro-Israel extremists in the party should be kicked out over their refusal to support international law.

Key points

Israel admits grave mistake after seven aid workers killed in strike in Gaza

Israel approves opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza after call with Biden

Calls grow for Rishi Sunak to stop UK arms trade to Israel

Alan Duncan faces expulsion from Tory party for attacking pro Israel extremist Conservatives

Former officials speak out against Bidens Israel support after aid worker killings

World Central Kitchen calls for independent probe into Israeli air strike

Trump makes no mention of aid workers killed in Gaza and lashes out at Biden over Israel

22:00 , Holly Evans

Donald Trump criticised President Joe Bidens handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict and seemingly stepped back his support for the country as they wage war in Gaza  but made no mention of the seven World Central Kitchen workers killed by Isaraeli airstrikes on Wednesday.

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, the former president asserted that Mr Biden was grossly incompetent  citing the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan  and advised Israel not to follow the presidents advice as tensions heat up between Israel and the US.

I wouldnt listen to them. I wouldnt take any instruction from them. Israel knows what theyre doing, Mr Trump said.

Read the full article:

Trump doesnt mention aid workers killed in Gaza while speaking about Israel

Chaos, distrust and indiscipline are undermining Israels war, say insiders

21:40 , Holly Evans

As Benjamin Netanyahus government bows to pressure to open another entry point for aid into Gaza, some Israeli officials have warned that there could be a repeat of the deadly convoy airstrike blunder because of fundamental flaws in the aims and conduct of the war.

Two officers of the Israel Defense Forces  a colonel and a major  are to be dismissed over the attack on vehicles belonging to World Central Kitchen (WCK). The incident killed seven charity employees  three of them British  and drew international condemnation.

But a number of officials, some in the security sphere, have told The Independent that the conditions for what happened were created by a number of factors, including unclear rules of engagement in Gaza; indiscipline and a sense of impunity among soldiers; inflammatory rhetoric from hard-right politicians; and the disdain of some in the military for a defence ministry unit known as Cogat  the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories  because the liaison group is deemed to be too soft on Palestinians.

Read the full article from our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta here:

Chaos, distrust and indiscipline are undermining Israels war, say insiders

Biden urges Egypt, Qatar leaders to press Hamas to come to agreement for Israeli hostages in Gaza

21:14 , Holly Evans

President Joe Biden on Friday wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas for hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, one day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to redouble efforts to reach a cease-fire in the six-month-old war in Gaza.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private letters, said Bidens national security adviser will meet Monday with family members of some of the estimated 100 hostages who are believed to still be in Gaza.

The letters come as Biden has deployed CIA Director Bill Burns to Cairo for talks this weekend about the hostage crisis.

Colombia seeks to join Gaza genocide case against Israel at World Court

21:00 , Holly Evans

Colombia has asked the International Court of Justice to allow the country to intervene in South Africas case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, the court said Friday.

In its application, Colombia called on the court to ensure the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people.

The ICJ, the highest U.N. court, can allow states to intervene and give their views. Several states have said they would also seek to intervene in the case but so far only Colombia and Nicaragua have filed a public request.

Last week ICJ judges ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to Palestinians in Gaza.

In January the ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the genocide convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza.

Egyptian authorities arrest 10 after a pro-Gaza rally calling for severing ties with Israel

20:30 , Holly Evans

Egyptian authorities this week arrested 10 activists who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest where they accused the government of contributing to the siege of Gaza and called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, a human rights lawyer said.

Egypts government has condemned Israels campaign in Gaza and has played a central role, along with the U.S. and Qatar, in trying to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. But it has largely banned public protests, and criticism of the countrys ties with Israel is highly sensitive.

On Wednesday, nearly 200 people rallied outside the building of the Journalist Syndicate in Cairo, waving the Palestinian flag and chanting slogans: What a disgrace! Egypt is helping the siege! and No to the Israeli Embassy! No to normalization. They also raised banners reading Open the Rafah crossing and Glory to the Palestinian resistance.

Read the full article here:

Egyptian authorities arrest 10 after a pro-Gaza rally calling for severing ties with Israel

New Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages talks set for Cairo this weekend

20:00 , Holly Evans

A fresh round of talks aimed at arranging a Gaza ceasefire in exchange for hostages held by Hamas militants is being planned for Cairo this weekend with U.S. representation, the White House said on Friday.

CIA Director Bill Burns will lead the U.S. delegation, a U.S. official said.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday to empower his negotiators in Cairo so that a deal can be reached as soon as possible.

A fresh round of Gaza ceasefire talks are due to take place (AFP via Getty Images)

The United States and its allies view a ceasefire as essential to allowing more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza amid fears of famine among the Palestinians there.

Under the most recent proposal, Israel and Hamas would agree to a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of sick, elderly and wounded hostages held by Hamas. Progress on a deal has been stalled for weeks.

Amnesty International calls for UK to stop trade of arms to Israel

19:30 , Holly Evans

Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UKs Crisis Response Manager, said: These killings were only the latest in a sickening death toll of aid workers in Gaza, and the Israeli authorities have a decades-long history of cover-ups.

Years of so-called investigations by Israel into abuses committed by its forces in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have worked to deny justice for grieving families.

The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and other ministers need to finally start confronting the reality of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and take action now to ensure there are consequences.

The UK should immediately stop transfers of arms to Israel and fully support efforts by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to examine the long catalogue of Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Mood in State Department is worse than Iraq over Bidens Gaza policy

18:57 , Holly Evans

The mood among staff in the State Department is worse than during the disastrous American invasion of Iraq, according to a former staffer, as seven international aid workers were killed by Israel in Gaza.

I have never seen this much dissent, Charles Blaha, former director of the State Departments Office of Security and Human Rights, told The Independent, amid growing disquiet over president Joe Bidens Gaza policy.

I was in the State Department for 32 years, including during the Iraq War, and I have never seen this much unhappiness. It was even worse than Iraq. So yeah, people are concerned, Mr Blaha, who maintains contact with current staffers, said.

Read the full article here:

Mood in State Department is worse than Iraq over Bidens Gaza policy

In pictures: Pro-Palestine protest in London

17:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Pro-Palestinian protesters take part at a demonstration on Al Quds Day in London.

(AP)

(AP)

(AP)

Families in north Gaza forced to survive on a less than a can of beans a day

17:19 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Families in north Gaza are forced to live on less than a can of fava beans a day, Oxfam has said as senior UN officials described malnourished newborns so small that they weigh little more than a kilo.

Over 300,000 people are still believed to be trapped in the north of the besieged strip, which has seen the worst of Israels ferocious bombardment and where little to no aid has been getting in.

There, since January, families have been surviving on an average of 245 calories a day, according to Oxfam - less than 12 percent of the average recommended daily calorie needs.

Families in Gaza living on a less than a can of beans a day

Cameron urges Israel to follow investigation into deadly strikes on aid workers with independent review

16:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israel must follow up its report into how three British aid workers were killed with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency, Lord David Cameron has said.

The UK will carefully review the findings of the initial Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) report into the incident released on Friday, the Foreign Secretary added.

Three Britons were among the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers who died in air strikes by the IDF on Monday - John Chapman, 57, James Jim Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

The Israeli forces dismissed two officers over the strikes, which it described as a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure.

Three other senior officers were also reprimanded for their roles in the strike, which took place in Gaza.

The attack on the WCK aid convoy has resulted in rebukes from Israels allies, while MPs from across the political spectrum have questioned whether the UK should continue exporting arms to the Middle Eastern country.

EU's Borrell: Israel's new aid corridors are not enough to stop starvation in Gaza

16:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israels decision to open up some new corridors for humanitarian aid in Gaza will still not be enough to prevent starvation in Gaza, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday.

Following widespread condemnation of the killing of 7 @WCKitchen staffers by IDF and mounting international pressure, the Israeli gov will open some corridors for humanitarian aid. Its not enough to prevent starvation in #Gaza, wrote Borrell on X.

The binding UN Security Council Resolution 2728 must be implemented. Now. he added.

Following widespread condemnation of the killing of 7 @WCKitchen staffers by IDF and mounting international pressure, the Israeli gov will open some corridors for humanitarian aid. It's not enough to prevent starvation in #Gaza.



The binding UNSCR 2728 must be implemented. Now. https://t.co/d3oq4wrh5d  Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 5, 2024

UN human rights body calls for halt to weapons shipments to Israel as concerns about Gaza war mount

16:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The U.N.s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel in a resolution passed Friday that aims to help prevent rights violations against Palestinians amid Israels blistering military campaign in Gaza.

The 47-member-country Human Rights Council voted 28-6 in favor of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.

The sweeping measure takes aim at an array of Israeli actions such as impeding access to water and limiting shipments of humanitarian aid into Palestinian areas. It also calls on U.N.-backed independent investigators to report on shipments of weapons, munitions and dual use items  that have both civilian and military applications  that could be used by Israel against Palestinians.

UN human rights body calls for halt to weapons shipments to Israel as concerns about Gaza war mount

Israel admits grave mistake and sacks senior officers after Gaza bombing kills seven aid workers

16:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israel has admitted its forces made a grave mistake after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an airstrike.

The humanitarian group, which delivers food aid to war and disaster zones, said the seven were returning from coordinating an aid shipment in central Gaza when their three-car convoy was struck and they were killed.

Their deaths triggered a wave of international condemnation and shone a fresh spotlight on the dire conditions that Gazas besieged population is suffering from in the embattled enclave.

Israel admits grave mistake after bombing kills seven aid workers in Gaza

If ever there was a time for America to use its might to make Israel do right, it is now

15:35 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Editorial: To dissuade Benjamin Netanyahu from his current deadly course in Gaza, and possibly beyond, it falls to Joe Biden to make Americas diplomatic, financial and military support firmly conditional. Depriving the US ally of its weapons of war  and adding to its international isolation  is becoming, sadly, inevitable:

Stop it  stop it now. It is not just Jill Biden who is begging her husband to act decisively to end the war in Gaza. The deaths of the seven heroic international aid workers have triggered a global howl of humanitarian anguish.

In all likelihood, Joe Biden, a compassionate and emotional man, doesnt need Flotus to tell him what needs to be done. He has struggled with the painful dilemmas the present crisis has created for many months. He was as shocked as anyone at the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October.

Instinctively, the president stood by Israel. So did the world. But the president has also clearly been increasingly troubled by the conduct of the war. He has grown more outspoken about the casualties and breaches of international law. He has lifted the US veto at the UN and called for a ceasefire.

If ever there was a time for America to force Israel to do right, it is now

UN chief hopes Israel effectively boosts Gaza aid access

15:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that he sincerely hopes Israel quickly and effectively boosts aid access to the Gaza Strip, describing the situation in the Palestinian enclave after six months of war as absolutely desperate.

When the gates to aid are closed, the doors to starvation are opened. More than half the population - over a million people - are facing catastrophic hunger. Children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water, Guterres told reporters.

This is incomprehensible, and entirely avoidable, he said. Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

The Israeli government has acknowledged mistakes, Guterres said. But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again.

Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable changes on the ground, he said. 196 humanitarian workers have been killed and we want to know why each one of them was killed.

Guterres also said he was deeply troubled by reports that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza. The Israeli military denies AI was used to identify suspected extremists and targets.

No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms, Guterres said.

Gaza war shatters Palestinian family and its simple dream of opening a pizzeria

14:53 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Palestinian Redwan Abu Alkas lost his daughter in an Israeli airstrike. His home was destroyed and the familys dream of opening its own business, a pizzeria in the once bustling Gaza Strip, was shattered.

The family had saved up the money and bought all the equipment. That was before the Israeli bombardment of one of the most densely populated areas in the world began in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militants who rule Gaza.

In this war, I lost my daughter, first of all. I used to have money to start a good project. I had gained enough experience from working in restaurants in Gaza Strip - I worked in most of the restaurants in Gaza - and now there is nothing, Redwan told Reuters at a U.N.-run school being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.

...I had a brother who was going to be my partner, he is now wounded. He might get better, he might not. All the money that I had for the project is gone because of price rises.

Redwans brother, Hamza, is confined to a wheelchair. He was wounded while trying to secure food aid.

I stopped going out and seeing people. Im sitting in a wheelchair and in bed, being treated and sometimes circumstances prevent me from getting to the hospital to get treatment because of the occupation, he said.

(REUTERS)

Israels war has reached a tipping point  and risks spinning out of control

14:27 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The US has made it clear it no longer trusts Israels actions in Gaza, writes Nomi Bar-Yaacov. The only way to get humanitarian aid safely in is with an immediate ceasefire, and an end to the war:

The Israeli armys killing of seven international aid workers from the World Central Kitchen serves as a terrible reminder that the Israel-Hamas war has gone on for far too long.

Now is the time to end it with a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, the release of all the hostages, a return of the displaced Gazan population to their towns and villages, and the opening of a land crossing to allow unhindered flow of humanitarian aid.

Plans for the rehabilitation of Gaza coupled with a carefully mapped out plan for Palestinian statehood and Israeli normalisation with Arab states must follow suit.

Read more here:

Israels war has reached a tipping point  and risks spinning out of control

Ireland pulls multi-million euro investment in six Israeli companies

14:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Irish government has pulled millions of euros of investment from several Israeli companies.

The Irish National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) confirmed that it had made the decision to divest almost three million euros from its global equity portfolio in the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

The divestment decision relates to shareholdings with a total value of 2.95 million euros in the following six companies: Bank Hapoalim BM; Bank Leumi-le Israel BM; Israel Discount Bank; Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd; First International Bank and Rami Levi CN Stores.

Irish finance minister Michael McGrath said it was the "correct decision".

He said: "ISIF has determined that the risk profile of these investments is no longer within its investment parameters and that the commercial objectives of these investments can be achieved via other investments.

"The decision will be implemented as soon as possible over the coming weeks.

"I am advised ISIF will keep under review the alignment of relevant investments within its investment parameters and commercial objectives.

"While recognising the independence of ISIF in the management of the investment portfolio, I believe this is the correct investment decision in respect of the assets it manages on behalf of the State."

Labour calls for government to publish evidence on how UK arms exports are being used

13:35 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Labours shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves called for the government to publish all the evidence about how UK arms exports were being used.

She said: I think it is really important that policy is based on evidence, and it is the governments duty to publish this evidence.

It is not just Labour MPs that are calling for this: many people across the political spectrum and beyond are saying that the government must publish this evidence so that the right decisions can be made.

UK law is really clear about this. If there is a risk that UK arms exports are going to be used in a way that risks breaching international law, the licences cannot be granted and thats why it is now so important that they publish that evidence.

She added: I am incredibly concerned about the scenes that we are seeing unfold in Gaza, the failure to get aid in, the attacks on the aid convoys. The situation is of utmost concern.

I was pleased to see that in the last few hours President Biden has called for an immediate ceasefire. That is right and proper. It is the only way now to get the much-needed aid into Gaza and avoid a man-made famine and it is the only way to get the Israeli hostages out of Gaza. That ceasefire must happen and it must happen now.

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war

13:17 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

More than 500 officers are being deployed in central London to police an annual march in support of Palestine and a pro-Isreal counter protest outside the House of Parliament.

The Metropolitan Police announced details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations on Friday amid tensions over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The force said it has been in discussion with the organisers of both demonstrations  which are each subject to conditions under the Public Order Act.

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war

What would President Trump 2.0 look like?

13:00 , Josh Marcus

The US is Israels most important ally, and the man managing that relationship could be Donald Trump in the coming months.

In our latest Behind The Headlines, we examine what another four years of Trump could look like, with reporting from Andrew Feinberg.

What would a President Trump 2.0 look like?

World Central Kitchen demands independent probe into air worker killings

12:32 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

World Central Kitchen demands the creation of an independent commission to investigate killings of its aid workers by Israels Defence Forces (IDF), the aid charity said in a statement.

The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza, it said.

Blood-stained British, Polish, and Australian passports after an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers in Gaza (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

World Central Kitchen releases statament following Israels investigation into death of aid workers

12:21 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

In a statement after the Israeli military dismissed two officers over drone strikes that killed seven workers from World Central Kitchen, the aid organisation said: The IDF has acknowledged its responsibility and its fatal errors in the deadly attack on our convoy in Gaza.

It is also taking disciplinary action against those in command, and committed to other reforms. These are important steps forward.

However, it is also clear from their preliminary investigation that the IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement.

The IDF has acknowledged that our teams followed all proper communications procedures. The IDFs own video fails to show any cause to fire on our personnel convoy, which carried no weapons and posed no threat.

Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families.

The root cause of the unjustified rocket fire on our convoy is the severe lack of food in Gaza.

Israel needs to dramatically increase the volume of food and medicine traveling by land if it is serious about supporting humanitarian aid.

Whats even more shocking than three Britons killed in Gaza? They take the death toll of aid workers past 200

12:09 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Humanitarian volunteers have paid a terrible price for delivering vital aid to people trapped in Gazas danger zones.

As experts say the UN has recorded the highest number of staff fatalities since the Second World War, Bel Trew assesses the chilling impact of Israeli airstrikes on the food charity convoy:

The group of aid workers were coming back from a long day coordinating the latest delivery of supplies to Gaza via a new maritime corridor to help fight a looming famine in the 42km strip. The aid, coordinated with Israel and Cyprus, was handled by World Central Kitchen (WCK), a US-based charity which feeds people across the worlds front lines and disaster zones.

A Palestinian aid worker back at their base in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, told The Independent he was waiting for the team to get home.

But just after 10pm local time, Israel pounded the three-vehicle convoy, killing all seven aid workers including three British citizens. This, despite the fact they were travelling in a deconflicted zone in cars branded with the WCK logo and their movements were coordinated with the Israelis.

The deaths of British aid workers in Gaza is part of a deadly pattern

Over 220 humanitarian workers killed in Israel-Gaza war

11:57 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

More than 220 humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict, according to the U.N.

Lets be very clear. This is tragic, but it is not an anomaly, Scott Paul, of the humanitarian group Oxfam, said Thursday in a briefing with other relief organizations before the results of Israels investigation were released. The killing of aid workers in Gaza has been systemic.

The army declined to answer questions about whether similar violations of rules of engagement have taken place during the war  in which Palestinians, aid workers and international rights groups have repeatedly accused the army of recklessly striking civilians.

11:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israels investigation into the incident was led by Yoav Har-Even, a retired military officer.

He said: The investigations findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees.

The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.

What Israel claims led to the bombing of the aid trucks

11:48 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israels findings into the incident claim that they identified two gunmen on one of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid trucks.

They claimed that one of their commanders assumed the gunmen were Hamas militants. Following this assumption, they did not identify the aid trucks as WCK.

They then targeted the three WCK trucks.

Two military officers dismissed over deadly attack on aid workers

11:42 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israels investigation into the bombing of seven aid workers was led by Yoav Har-Even, a retired military officer, who on Friday said two military officers have been dismissed over the drone strikes on aid workers.

(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Israel admits grave mistake after bombing kills seven aid workers in Gaza

11:36 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israel has admitted its forces made a grave mistake after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike.

The humanitarian group, which delivers food aid to war and disaster zones, said the seven were returning from coordinating an aid shipment in central Gaza when their three car convoy was struck and they were killed.

Follow this breaking news story here:

Israel admits grave mistake after bombing kills seven aid workers in Gaza

Opinion | Its time to put Conservatives links with Israel under the spotlight

11:23 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Conservative Friends of Israel, the long-standing parliamentary lobby group, is beginning to resemble the Westminster outpost for Netanyahus right-wing Likud coalition, says Peter Oborne.

He writes: Conservative Friends of Israel boasts that its membership includes 80 per cent of Tory MPs. It can whistle up cabinet ministers for its lunches and dinners, and has superb access to Downing Street, Westminster and Whitehall. There are queues round the block to its famous party at the annual Tory conference.

The Conservative historian and politician Robert Rhodes James defined the CFI as the largest organisation in Western Europe dedicated to the cause of the people of Israel.

That was 40 years ago. Its influence has grown substantially since.

Read the full article here:

Its time to put Conservatives links with Israel under the spotlight

Israel approves reopening of Erez crossing into Gaza

11:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israel said it approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel, following U.S. demands to increase humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza.

During a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night, U.S. President Joe Biden demanded specific, concrete steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on U.S. aid if Israel did not respond.

A meeting of the security cabinet late on Thursday approved immediate steps to increase humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, a statement said.

In addition to reopening the Erez crossing point, which has been closed since it was destroyed during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the security cabinet also approved increasing Jordanian aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing point, the statement said.

The move was welcomed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said the impact of the move would have to be measured in an improved situation on the ground in Gaza, where aid agencies have warned of an increasing risk of famine.

Really the proof is in the results, and we will see those unfold in the coming days, in the coming weeks, Blinken said, speaking alongside European Union leaders in Belgium.

A general view of Erez Crossing with the Gaza Strip in the background, as seen from southern Israel (REUTERS)

Three British aid workers killed by Israeli strike in Gaza named as Sunak demands investigation from Netanyahu

10:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

In case you missed it...

Three British citizens killed in an Israeli airstrike on an aid mission travelling through Gaza have been named as Rishi Sunak demanded a thorough and transparent investigation from Israel.

James Henderson, John Chapman and James Kirby were among seven aid workers employed by charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) who died in the attack on the three-vehicle convoy on Monday.

On Tuesday evening, Mr Sunak telephoned Benjamin Netanyahu to say that far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and that the situation there is increasingly intolerable.

The White House said it was also outraged by the incident, which killed workers and volunteers WCK, a charity that was supplying food to starving Palestinians.

Bel Trew and Alastair Jamieson report.

All seven aid workers killed by Israeli strike in Gaza named

UK has no choice but to suspend arms sales to Israel, Tory MP says

10:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Alicia Kearns MP said the UK has no choice but to suspend arms sales to Israel.

Speaking to BBC Radio today, the Chair of Foreign Affairs and Select Committee, said: I believe we have no choice but to suspend arm sales to Israel, and its important the public understands this isnt a political decision.

UK arms export licenses require a recipient to comply with international humanitarian law, and thats why emergency handbrakes exist in a change of circumstances.

(AP)

UN rights body adopts resolution on Israel accountability for possible war crimes

10:13 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip.

Twenty-eight countries voted in favour, 13 abstained and six voted against the resolution.

How AI is fueling Israels target list

10:00 , Josh Marcus

In the weeks immediately after Hamass 7 October surprise attack on Israel, the Israel Defense Forces allegedly intentionally targeted civilian homes and allegedly used an AI-based programme called Lavender to generate targets for assassination, generating scores of bombings based on decisions made with scant human review.

At one point, the system used mass surveillance in Gaza to generate a list of 37,000 bombing targets, including numerous low-level alleged Hamas operatives who wouldnt typically be the targets of bombing operations, according to a report.

The allegations, uncovered by +972 Magazine and Local Call, are based on interviews with six Israeli intelligence officers who served during the conflict with Hamas in Gaza and were involved in the use of AI to investigate targets.

One officer said his role in the system was as a mere rubber stamp on Lavenders targeting decisions, spending only a few seconds personally reviewing the systems recommendations.

More details in our full story.

Israel reportedly used Lavender AI system to ID thousands of targets in Gaza war

The article that triggered Tory civil war over Israel

09:49 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

An outspoken attack on Israel by former Tory foreign minister Alan Duncan first reported in The Independent has now led to the prospect of him being expelled from the party.

Writing for this newspaper, Sir Alan said: Challenging the right of Israel to exist, or failing to condemn antisemitism and the atrocity of 7 October, are all inexcusable  but the noise around any of these issues should not be allowed to disguise the appalling conduct of Israel itself.

In all the months before Hamas slaughtered hundreds of innocent Israelis, there was hardly a squeak of condemnation from world leaders about the growing extremism of Benjamin Netanyahus government, both within and outside Israel.

His judicial reforms were an attack on freedom and justice within his own country, while ever more violent settler activity against Palestinians in the West Bank accelerated under the watchful and supportive gaze of the Israeli Defence Forces.

Read the full article here:

Sir Alan Duncan: How can we still call Israel an ally?

Israel approves opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza after call with Biden

09:32 , Joe Middleton

Israel has agreed to reopen two border crossings into Gaza after the cabinet approved a series of immediate steps amid pressure over the escalating humanitarian crisis in the Strip.

The Erez crossing in northern Gaza will be opened for the first time since the conflict began on 7 October and Ashdod Port will be opened to allow aid shipments, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said on Friday.

This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war, Mr Netanyahus office said.

Israel approves opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza after call with Biden

Are Jill and Joe Biden clashing over Gaza war?

09:10 , Rachel Sharp

First Lady Dr Jill Biden is reportedly one of the strongest voices calling for the end of civilian deaths in Gaza in the White House and has been urging her husband, President Joe Biden, to help cease the violence.

Earlier this week, Mr Biden met with Muslim community members  something the first lady allegedly said she disapproved of because of Mr Bidens support of Israel in the conflict with Hamas, according to a New York Times report.

One meeting attendee, Salima Suswell, the founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, said that Mr Biden recounted that Dr Biden had been urging him to, stop it, stop it now.

The first ladys plea comes as human rights organisations warn world leaders that innocent Palestinians are facing threats of starvation and disease with little access to humanitarian aid. Just this week, seven World Central Kitchen workers who were delivering food to civilians in Gaza were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Ariana Baio reports.

Jill Biden privately pleads with Joe to stop Gazas suffering, report says

Calls grow for Rishi Sunak to stop UK arms trade to Israel NOW

08:58 , Joe Middleton

Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure  including from within his own party  to immediately suspend arms sales to Israel amid a growing chorus of opposition to the number of civilians killed in its war on Hamas.

The prime minister faces calls from Tory grandees, hundreds of lawyers, dozens of MPs and peers from across the political spectrum, as well as top military commanders to halt arms exports to the nation.

Mr Sunak has also been urged to exert Britains influence on Israel to force a change of approach in how Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conducts the invasion.

Bel Trew and Archie Mitchell report

Calls grow for Rishi Sunak to stop UK arms trade to Israel NOW

Alan Duncan faces expulsion from Tory party for attacking pro Israel extremist Conservatives

08:53 , Joe Middleton

Former foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan is being investigated by Tory chiefs after he said pro-Israel extremists in the party should be kicked out because they refused to support international law.

Sir Alan said ex-cabinet minister Eric Pickles and Tory peer Stuart Polak, both members of the powerful Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) organisation, should both be thrown out of the party.

The CFI was being used to exercise the interests of another country by lobbying for Israel, he said.

He also branded Michael Gove, Oliver Dowden, Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Priti Patel extremists for failing to denounce unlawful Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

Archie Mitchell reports

Alan Duncan faces expulsion from party for attacking pro-Israel extremist Tories

NSC responds to steps announced by Israel to increase aid flow to Gaza

08:50 , Rachel Sharp

The National Security Council has responded to the steps announced by Israel to increase aid flow to Gaza.

Read the statement in full:

We welcome the steps announced by the Israeli government tonight at the Presidents request following his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

These steps, including a commitment to open the Ashdod port for the direct delivery of assistance into Gaza, to open the Erez crossing for a new route for assistance to reach north Gaza, and to significantly increase deliveries from Jordan directly into Gaza, must now be fully and rapidly implemented.

As the President said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers.

We are prepared to work in full coordination with the Government of Israel, the Governments of Jordan and Egypt, the United Nations, and humanitarian organizations, to ensure that these important steps are implemented and result in a significant increase in humanitarian assistance reaching civilians in dire need throughout Gaza over the coming days and weeks.

Israel approves opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza after call with Biden

08:28 , Rachel Sharp

Israel has agreed to reopen two border crossings into Gaza after the cabinet approved a series of immediate steps amid pressure over the escalating humanitarian crisis in the Strip.

The Erez crossing in northern Gaza will be opened for the first time since the conflict began on 7 October and Ashdod Port will be opened to allow aid shipments, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said on Friday.

This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war, Mr Netanyahus office said.

The decision follows US president Joe Bidens first phone call to the Israeli prime minister since the drone strike on the vehicles of seven charity workers killed in Gaza.

Read the full story:

Israel approves opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza after call with Biden

No one can change his mind

07:30 , Josh Marcus

Investigations into potential Israeli war crimes and violations of international law are being undermined by President Joe Bidens insistence on providing his close ally with billions of dollars in unconditional military support, several former State Department and Pentagon officials told The Independent.

Speaking out after the killing of seven international aid workers by Israel in Gaza, among them an American citizen, one former Pentagon attorney said that any US investigations into Israels actions were perfunctory and performative due to pressure from the White House.

The former officials say the presidents decades-long and deeply held personal connection to Israel renders US laws and regulations concerning US arms sales essentially toothless.

Theres no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional, said Brian Finucane, who worked for a decade in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the State Department advising on arms transfers and the laws of war.

Richard Hall reports.

Former officials speak out against Bidens unconditional support for Israel

ICYMI: World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres says aid workers were systematically targeted

05:45 , Josh Marcus

World Central Kitchen founder and renowned chef Jose Andres accused Israel of targeting the seven aid workers who were killed by an IDF airstrike in Gaza, systematically, car by car.

Mr Andres told Reuters that World Central Kitchen (WCK), a charity that provides food to people in disaster zones including Gaza, was transparent about its movements in the besieged strip.

The seven staff were killed in Gaza in a marked convoy after unloading 100 tonnes of food aid from a barge.

This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place, Mr Andres said. Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.

Kelly Rissman reports.

World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres says workers were systematically targeted

What comes next in the World Central Kitchen investigation?

04:15 , Josh Marcus

World leaders from multiple nations have called on Israeli officials to investigation the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza in an IDF air strike.

Katie Hawkinson reports on what an investigation could look like.

What does an investigation into World Central Kitchen workers deaths really mean?

ICYMI: Biden warns Netanyahu US support for Gaza war now depends on Israel protecting civilians and aid workers

03:00 , Josh Marcus

President Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future US policy towards Israel will be determined by whether its government takes action to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza.

The warning came in their first telephone conversation since Israel Defense Force drones fired three missiles into a World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

Andrew Feinberg and Richard Hall report.

Biden warns Netanyahu US support for Gaza war depends on Israel protecting civilians

Why The Independent is calling on the US to slow down Israels war machine

02:00 , Josh Marcus

To dissuade the Israelis from following their current plan, the president will have to use more than words: he must make Americas diplomatic, financial and military support for Israel firmly conditional. American aircraft, tanks and missiles used in combat in Gaza must now have a new fitment  some political strings attached. If they do not, then the flow of American armaments and technology to Israel will have to cease. Indeed, depriving Israel of the weapons of war, and adding to its international isolation, is becoming, sadly, inevitable. If need be  and that seems highly likely  America must stop sending arms to Israel.

Read the full editorial here.

If ever there was a time for America to force Israel to do right, it is now

How many civilians have died in the Israel-Hamas war?

01:45 , Josh Marcus

Mondays deadly IDF strike on a group of aid workers in Gaza is bringing attention to the high civilian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war.

Just how many innocents have been affected?

According to the UN, at least 32,623 Palestinians overall have been killed since the fighting began, with seventy percent of the dead women and children.

Israel, meanwhile, claims that it has killed between 11,500 and 13,000 Palestinian militants since the war began.

During Hamass initial 7 October attack on Israel, another roughly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed.

Will aid workers be safer with new Israeli tactics

01:30 , Josh Marcus

Amid the fallout of a disasterous strike on seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, Israel has promised to adjust its tactics.

To start, Israel says it will establish a joint operational coordination room inside of its Southern Command to work alongside humanitarian agencies and coordinate safe movements.

The country has also said it will release an investigative report on the airstrike to the public, according to Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who gave a public briefing on Thursday.

And I believe that, after we present this to the ambassadors from the respective countries, and to the members of the WCK organisation, we will make it public in a clear, transparent manner - and that will happen soon, he said.

The DOJs divergent approach on war crimes in Ukraine vs Gaza

01:15 , Josh Marcus

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the US was quick to assist the Ukrainians in prosecuting war crimes, and in bringing charges itself against four Russian-allied troops in December.

However, Attorney General Merrick Garland has barely spoken in public about potential war crimes in the Israel-Hamas war, despite numerous instances during the conflict that rights group believe have crossed the line.

As NPR notes, Mr Garland has said just 29 words in public about war crimes in the conflict in Gaza.

Hamas murdered more than 30 Americans and kidnapped more during their terrorist attack on Oct. 7. We are investigating those heinous crimes, and we will hold those people accountable, he said in December.

Jacob Flickingers parents dont believe IDF strike on aid workers was accident

Friday 5 April 2024 00:55 , Josh Marcus

The parents of Jacob Flickinger, one of seven aid workers killed this week in an Israeli airstrike, dont believe the incident in Gaza was an accident.

They were aware, the entire world was aware, this food shipment was coming in, John Flickinger told CBS News on Thursday. Its been international news for days. They were aware the food was picked up at the ship on the coast of Gaza and delivered to a warehouse along an approved humanitarian route approved by Israel. Soon after they dropped the food off, we know they were targeted. The convoy was clearly marked. The vehicles were clearly marked. The facts on the ground seemed to indicate it wasnt a tragic accident.

Survivors of Al-Shifa siege recount horrifying experiences

Friday 5 April 2024 00:40 , Josh Marcus

Earlier this week, Israel withdrew from Gazas largest hospital after two weeks of close-quarter fighting in which it claimed hundreds of militants were killed or arrested.

Civilians who survived the fighting at the Shifa hospital said the violence left them without food and medicine, and caused them deep psychological trauma.

My psyche has been shattered from within.



Some patients who were inside Al-Shifa Hospital in #Gaza during the latest siege recount their experience.#CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/gJa1WlOTse  WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) April 4, 2024

One patient told the World Health Organization, My psyche has been shattered from within.

Read more of our reporting on the siege.

Israeli military withdraws from Shifa Hospital amid Netanyahu protests

Israel approves reopening of Erez border crossing

Friday 5 April 2024 00:25 , Josh Marcus

Israels war cabinet has agreed to reopen the Erez border crossing between Israel and northern Gaza for the first time since the war with Hamas began last year, CNN reports, citing an Israeli official.

The decision was made to allow the reopening to let more humanitarian aid into the besieged strip.

Biden shares photo of call with Netanyahu

Friday 5 April 2024 00:10 , Josh Marcus

Joe Biden on Thursday shared a photo of his recent high-stakes call with Benjamin Netanyahu, the first between the two men since seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed this week by an Israeli air strike in Gaza.

Today, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu to emphasize that strikes on aid workers and the humanitarian situation in Gaza are unacceptable.



Israel must implement steps to address civilian harm and the safety of workers  and work toward a ceasefire to bring hostages home. pic.twitter.com/c7yB0jwq06  President Biden (@POTUS) April 4, 2024

Read more on their conversation from Andrew Feinberg and Richard Hall.

Biden warns Netanyahu US support for Gaza war depends on Israel protecting civilians

Mourners in Poland celebrate World Central Kitchen worker killed in IDF strike

Thursday 4 April 2024 23:55 , Josh Marcus

Mourners gathered in the Polish city of Przemysl on Thursday to pay tribute to Damian Sobol, 35, a World Central Kitchen humanitarian worker who was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza on Monday in an airstrike.

There is no consent for killing innocent people, lets remember this and lets remember that Damian was helping so that other people would not die of hunger, Waldemar, a local who works with Ukrainian refugees and previously worked with Sobol, told broadcaster TVN.

We started here as volunteers. Damian set off further on the volunteering path and unfortunately was murdered by Israeli services.

Mourners placed candles and flowers in a central plaza on Thursday in honour of Sobol.

Biden and Netanyahu didnt discuss disaster of potential Rafah invasion

Thursday 4 April 2024 23:40 , Josh Marcus

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president Joe Biden reportedly did not discuss the IDFs hinted-at invasion of Rafah during their call on Thursday.

A US official told Al Jazeera that the US president refused to broach the topic.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has said it will be impossible to defeat Hamas without entering the southern Gazan city, where over 1m people are now living, many of whom were told by the IDF to evacuate south at the beginning of the war with Hamas.

US officials, meanwhile, have reportedly warned that an invasion of Rafah would be a disaster and argued for alternative options.

Over 600 UK legal experts call on UK to halt arms transfers to Israel

Thursday 4 April 2024 23:11 , Josh Marcus

A group of over 600 UK legal experts is calling on the government to suspend weapons transfers to Israel, amid increasing scrunity of the thousands of civilians killed in the IDFs campaign against Hamas.

At least 32,623 Palestinians have now been killed and 75,092 injured in Gaza, the letter reads. Seventy percent of recorded deaths have consistently been women and children.

The letter also made mention of the recent strike on World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers.

Strikes on [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] facilities have led to the deaths of 400 people seeking shelter under the UN flag, the letter continues. At least 165 employees of the [UNRWA] workers have been killed. 18 In addition to UNRWA staff, other humanitarian workers and volunteers have been killed.

Member of Netanyahus war cabinet calls for early elections

Thursday 4 April 2024 22:58 , Josh Marcus

A member of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus war cabinet has called for early elections, further ratcheting up the domestic pressure on the wartime leader.

New elections arent required until October 2026, but Benny Gantz said earlier elections will stop a rupture among the people.

This agreed-upon date for elections will leave us time to continue the security effort, and it will allow Israeli citizens to know that we will soon need to renew the trust between us, Mr Gantz said Thursday, The New York Times reports.

Even before the 7 October war, Mr Netanyahu was under intense domestic pressure, facing unprecedented protests in the midst of an attempted judicial reform and a corruption trial.

Trump says Israel losing the PR war in Hamas conflict

Thursday 4 April 2024 22:40 , Josh Marcus

Donald Trump has joined the chorus of those criticising Israel this week, though from a slightly different angle than most.

Israels strike on a convoy of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza has inspired widespread shock and outrage, but Mr Trumps issue appears to be more with how the IDF is marketing its campaign to the world.

During a Thursday interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee urged Israel to finish its conflict quickly and said the country was losing world opinion the more heinous videos went public of it destroying buildings and harming civilians in Gaza.

Youve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy. And Im not sure that Im loving the way theyre doing it, because youve got to have victory. You have to have a victory, and its taking a long time, Mr Trump said.

And the other thing is I hate, they put out tapes all the time, he continued. Every night, theyre releasing tapes of a building falling down. They shouldnt be releasing tapes like that. Theyre doing, thats why theyre losing the PR war. They, Israel is absolutely losing the PR war.

The whole transcript of the interview can be found here.
In the weeks immediately after Hamass 7 October surprise attack on Israel, the Israel Defense Forces allegedly intentionally targeted civilian homes and allegedly used an AI-based programme called Lavender to generate targets for assassination, generating scores of bombings based on decisions made with scant human review.

At one point, the system used mass surveillance in Gaza to generate a list of 37,000 bombing targets, including numerous low-level alleged Hamas operatives who wouldnt typically be the targets of bombing operations, according to a report.

The allegations, uncovered by +972 Magazine and Local Call, are based on interviews with six Israeli intelligence officers who served during the conflict with Hamas in Gaza and were involved in the use of AI to investigate targets.

One officer said his role in the system was as a mere rubber stamp on Lavenders targeting decisions, spending only a few seconds personally reviewing the systems recommendations.

The officers also described decisions to go after the scores of Hamas targets in their homes while they were alongside civilians, as the location made it easier to confirm their location with intelligence tools. Planners considering strikes allegedly were willing to allow up to 15 or 20 civilians to be potentially killed in the process of pursuing a single low-level Hamas operative.

We were not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity, one of the anonymous officers told the publications. On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option. Its much easier to bomb a familys home. The system is built to look for them in these situations.

An independent examination by an [intelligence] analyst is required, which verifies that the identified targets are legitimate targets for attack, in accordance with the conditions set forth in IDF directives and international law, the IDF told the outlets in response to the investigation.

Observers criticised the tactics as inhumane.

Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a fellow at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, called the reports sickening.

Alex Hanna of the Distributed AI Research Institute, meanwhile, wrote on X, This is sick and the future of AI warfare for US Empire.

Soldiers often trusted the system more than the judgement of their own grieving colleagues after 7 October, one intelligence officer who used Lavender, which was developed by Israels elite Unit 8200, told The Guardian.

This is unparalleled, in my memory, the officer said, adding. Everyone there, including me, lost people on October 7. The machine did it coldly. And that made it easier.

In a statement to The Guardian, the IDF denied using AI to generate confirmed military targets, and said Lavender was used to cross-reference intelligence sources, in order to produce up-to-date layers of information on the military operatives of terrorist organisations.

The IDF does not use an artificial intelligence system that identifies terrorist operatives or tries to predict whether a person is a terrorist, it added. Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the target identification process.

An estimated 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels campaign in Gaza, according to the territorys health ministry, the majority of them civilians.

Israel has faced continued scrutiny for the high civilian death toll of its operations, which have targeted residential areas, hospitals, and refugee camps. The IDF says Hamas frequently stations military activities in civilian areas as a means of using human shields.

The IDFs targeting tactics have come under a new round of international criticism after Israel killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza on Monday.
One of the owners of a popular boutique winery and bar in Over-the-Rhine has died.

John Coleman, co-owner of Revel OTR Urban Winery, died March 27 in a "tragic accident" while vacationing in Panama City Beach, Florida, his business partner said. He was 51 years old.

Revel OTR announced his death on social media.

John Coleman, co-owner of Revel OTR Urban Winery, died March 27 in a "tragic accident" while vacationing in Panama City Beach, Florida. He was 51 years old.

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of John Wesly Coleman Jr.," the winery posted. "His passing leaves a void in our hearts and community that will be deeply felt. JC was more than a business owner; he was a community leader, a friend and family man who touched the lives of all who knew him."

Coleman, his wife Amy, and their business partners Anthony and Jodi Maieron opened Revel OTR, located at 111 East 12th St., in 2017. The entrepreneurs previously told The Enquirer that winemaking started off as a hobby but quickly grew into a passion project for the two couples.

"He was very well respected in this community, always had a smile. He had a very infectious way of making people welcome and happy," Anthony Maieron told The Enquirer. "Even though he is not with us physically, we feel like he's with us spiritually, and our goal is to make sure that he's continuing to make an impact in other people's lives."

Anthony Maieron, left, and John Coleman, right, founded Revel OTR, an urban winery, that opened at 111 East 12th St. in Over-the-Rhine in 2016.

In addition to Revel, Coleman worked as a lead sales engineer for Lumen Technologies, a telecommunications company, for six years. He also worked for CBTS for nearly 15 years as a senior product sales specialist and a senior network specialist.

Coleman also served as vice chair of the OTR Chamber of Commerce board. The commerce posted on social media following Coleman's death.

"JC had a gift. It was impossible to leave him feeling anything but better than you did before you were with him," Board chair Mike Sullivan wrote. "His infectious laughter, genuine personality and thoughtful approach to challenges and opportunities were an asset to the Chamber and the OTR neighborhood. He will be deeply, deeply missed."

Coleman was a Cincinnati native and a 1990 graduate of Finneytown High School, according to his obituary. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, poetry, and drama from Ohio State University, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Coleman is survived by his wife, Amy, and two sons, Wesly and Langston.

Instead of flowers, his family requests that donations be made to the John Wesly Coleman Jr Memorial Scholarship Fund, a memorial set up in Coleman's name at Finneytown High School.

Visitations for Coleman will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Spring Grove Funeral Homes and from 11 a.m. to noon on Saturday at The Vineyard Church. The funeral will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at The Vineyard Church.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: John Coleman, co-owner of Revel OTR Urban Winery, dead at 51
A 23-year-old Lexington man has been convicted of shooting a Kentucky State Police trooper.

A jury found LeeQuan Taylor guilty of criminal attempt to commit first-degree manslaughter, assault, possession of a controlled substance, and fleeing and evading police, according to WKYT, the Herald-Leaders news partner.

The jury recommended a sentence of 55 years, WKYT reported.

The charges stemmed from a January 2022 shooting at a park on Delta Court in Cynthiana.

The trooper was shot six times, state police said, but three of the shots hit his ballistic vest. One of the shots hit his taser, one hit his body-worn radio and the sixth shot struck him in his shoulder. The trooper was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital and discharged to recover at home.

Taylor was originally charged with attempted murder of a police officer, first-degree assault and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

According to court records, the trial lasted seven days and concluded on Tuesday.
What you need to know about bird flu after person became infected in Texas

Bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus, was first detected in 1996 among birds in China, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One year later, an outbreak occurred in Hong Kong that resulted in 18 human cases, including 6 deaths, after the people were infected directly by birds.

In late 2021, a version of the virus arrived on U.S. shores and was detected in wild birds. Since February of 2022, the virus has been causing outbreaks in commercial poultry supply  leaving over 80 million birds affected in nearly all states, according to the CDC. Nearly 10,000 wild birds have also been impacted.

While the virus is most common in birds it has more recently spread to some other animal populations such as harbor seals, mountain lions, raccoons, polar bears, red foxes, as well as striped skunks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Rarely, the virus can infect humans after interacting with an animal. Most recently, a dairy worker in Texas was presumed to be infected by sick cattle, according to the CDC. This is the second human case ever to be reported in the U.S.

MORE: Colorado inmate is 1st human case of bird flu in US

There has not been any spread of the virus between people in the U.S., according to CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen. The risk to the public remains low, she added.

A total of nearly 900 human cases have been identified since 2003, with about half dying from the infection, according to the World Health Organization. Almost all the human cases were linked to close contact with infected birds or contaminated environments.

PHOTO: Colorized transmission electron micrograph of Avian influenza, H5N1 viruses (seen in gold) grown in MDCK cells (seen in green). (Smith Collection/GADO/Getty Images)

"I want folks to know that for 20 years, the United States government has been preparing and trying to learn about avian flu," Cohen told ABC News.

The sick patient out of Texas reported eye redness as their only symptom and is recovering after isolating and being treated with an antiviral drug, according to the public health agency.

"We have treatment that is available, things like Tamiflu. Not only do we have that in pharmacies, but we have it in stockpile, here in the country. And we have vaccine candidates that are matched to the current virus," Cohen said.

She maintained that the U.S. government is closely monitoring the situation. "The fact that it spread to one human case is certainly making us want to take this very seriously. But folks should know that right now, the risk to them is very low," Cohen said.

"These are the things that reassure me: 20 years of preparation, no genetic changes to this virus, no human-to-human spread and nothing in the virus in terms of adaptations that would make us think it is more adaptive to human spread," she added.

Recent analyses from the CDC indicate that the virus has not adapted to better infect humans.

MORE: What to know about the deadliest bird flu outbreak in history

"As we look more closely at the virus's genetics, it is very similar to the virus that we've seen spread in bird populations. And so, we're not seeing an important change in the virus that would increase our alarm," said Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor.

Those who work with wild animals or livestock may be at higher risk of being exposed and infected with bird flu, according to the CDC.

People should avoid direct contact with wild birds and observe them from a distance, according to the CDC. It is also important to avoid contact with sick or dead animals, in general. Human infections can occur when the virus gets into a person's eyes nose or mouth, or is inhaled, typically after prolonged contact.

"The risk really is concentrated in those that are working in close proximity to animals and birds," Brownstein said.

"And those are the people that we, of course, need to improve our surveillance and make sure that we identify any case as early as possible," he added.

Because milk products are pasteurized, there is no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply, according to the USDA. Other federal agencies like the FDA and CDC warn against drinking raw milk or products made from it, due to the risk of viruses and bacteria, which may lead to infection or foodborne illnesses.

"So far, there is no concern for food in our supply chain. There is no risk to those that are consuming dairy and meat products," Brownstein said.

The USDA also remains confident that the meat supply is safe and reminds us that cooking to a safe internal temperature kills bacteria and viruses, including bird flu.

"We feel in a good place to be able to understand this, learn more, and be prepared. But we are taking it very seriously. And so, you are seeing a mobilization of all of the government levers that we have to make sure that we are prepared," Cohen said.

What you need to know about bird flu after person became infected in Texas originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Destroyed and deserted hotels line the shore in the abandoned Turkish-occupied city of Varosha in Cyprus - KATIA CHRISTODOULOU/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Turkey will not accept a one-state solution for Cyprus and a little flare-up on the divided island could spark a conflict similar to those in Gaza and Ukraine, the leader of the breakaway north has warned ahead of a meeting with the head of the UN.

A mistake or misunderstanding such as the shooting of a Turkish soldier on the Green Line that divides the two sides would provoke a bomb between the two populations, who have been at loggerheads for decades, said Ersin Tatar.

If you shoot one Turkish soldier you will have 10,000 soldiers on the ground, Mr Tatar, the Cambridge-educated president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), told The Telegraph in an interview at his colonial-era mansion in the divided capital of Nicosia.

Everybody should be calm and reasonable. Turkish Cypriots are not alone  we have got 85 million Turks behind us and they are just 40 miles away.

A little flare-up, that is what people are fearing. Look at what happened in Gaza. And before that, Ukraine. Before that, Bosnia.

Mr Tatars warning comes ahead of his meeting with Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, in New York on Friday, amid renewed efforts to solve the frozen conflict 50 years after it first erupted.

They are expected to discuss the work so far of Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, a Colombian diplomat and Mr Guterres personal envoy, who has been sent to Cyprus to try to kickstart talks after years of stalemate.

Ersin Tatar (pictured), the president of the TRNC, will meet with Antonio Guterres to solve the frozen Turkey-Cyprus conflict - Sam Tarling

Greek Cypriots want to see the island united under the flag of the Republic of Cyprus. That would involve Turkey giving back the northern territory it seized during what Turkish Cypriots call the intervention in response to a Greek military coup and attempted union with Greece in 1974.

The Greek Cypriots regard the TRNC as a rogue state and say the tens of thousands of Turkish troops who are stationed there must leave the island. The breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not recognised by any country other than Turkey.

I will spare no effort to realise the common dream of reunification, Nikos Christodoulides, the president of the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, said recently.

That plan is backed by Britain, the former colonial power, as well as the UN, the United States and the EU, all of whom have spent decades trying to bring the two sides together for negotiations.

But Mr Tatar, who was elected in 2020, dismissed such efforts as a waste of time.

Thats all past. All those opportunities have been exhausted, he said.

How can you unite an island like this after so many years? You cannot possibly unite Cyprus. You have to face the facts and accept reality.

Two-state solution

The only option now is a two-state solution in which TRNC is accepted as an independent state, said Mr Tatar, a hardline nationalist who is close to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the authoritarian leader of Turkey.

Since 1974 we have had two states, two regions, two sovereign powers in Cyprus living side by side, coexisting. The only way forward is a two-state solution, he said.

Recognition might take time but as time goes by, we consolidate more.

He suggested that Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Bangladesh may soon recognise the TRNC as an independent country.

At stake is peace on the island of 1.2 million people, where the British army has two key military bases under UK sovereign control, RAF Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

The bases provide the UK with a permanent presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and offer a staging post for military and humanitarian operations.

Greece and Turkey are also both members of Nato.

Recent clashes

Although the island is considered safe to travel around, there have been incidents of violence recently.

In February, a group of eight Turkish Cypriot students were allegedly attacked with sticks and stones by Greek Cypriots during a trip to the Troodos Mountains in the south.

Last August, several UN peacekeepers, including British soldiers, were injured in a clash with Turkish Cypriots who were trying to build a new road to a village in the buffer zone that divides the island.

We dont want a clash and they [Greek Cypriots] shouldnt want a clash, said Mr Tatar.

They have five million tourists visiting them each year, especially from the UK. If there is a bomb going off  pop!  not one tourist will come. They will go bankrupt.

Cyprus has become one of the worlds most intractable diplomatic problems, with each side blaming the other for the failure to find a settlement.

Amid decades of animosity, the two sides argue over how they will share the huge reserves of offshore oil and gas in Cypriot waters as well as the future of Varosha, the once glamorous beach resort that was abandoned by Greek Cypriots and occupied by the Turks during the war in 1974.

Varosha has been left abandoned for 50 years - Sam Tarling

For 50 years it has been a ghost town, its perimeter guarded by barbed wire and Turkish troops while the once glitzy hotels and restaurants that line a long sweep of golden beach slowly decay.

In 2020, the Turkish Cypriots unilaterally opened up part of the ghost town, to the fury of the Greek Cypriots, who owned most of the property in the area.

The Turkish Cypriots want to develop the abandoned resort, despite a UN resolution condemning any attempt to resettle it by anyone other than the Greek Cypriots who were forced out half a century ago.

Turkish Cypriots complain bitterly that they are subject to trade embargos and travel restrictions  it is only possible to fly to Northern Cyprus via Istanbul, for instance, a hassle which deters many potential tourists.

That will not change until there is a solution to the conflict, however.

Turkish Cypriots complain that they are subject to travel restrictions, deterring tourists - Alp Galip/Shutterstock

James Ker-Lindsay, a British expert on Cyprus from the London School of Economics, said a federal, unified state remains the only viable solution for Cyprus and that the chances of the TRNC being recognised as an independent country by the rest of the world are zero.

Its not going to happen. In the context of everything we are seeing in Ukraine, the EU and US will not want to be seen to legitimise territorial changes that took place as a result of military action.

But it is not just politicians from the north who feel that the push for a unified island is now a hopeless cause.

Some of the 15,000 British expats living in the TRNC also sympathise with the Turkish Cypriots.

Many of them live in the mountains overlooking the ancient harbour town of Kyrenia, where they look after the old British Cemetery and a memorial to the 371 British servicemen who lost their lives in the late 1950s during clashes with EOKA, the Greek Cypriot nationalist guerilla organisation that fought against British rule.

The Turkish Cypriots have tried, they really have. I think the two-state solution is now the only way, said Peter Wilkins, a former police officer from London who moved to the island eight years ago.

Mike Diplock, a retired policeman and a member of the British Residents Society who has lived in Northern Cyprus since 2007, said: After such a long time, the federal arrangement is just not going to work. You cant keep flogging a dead horse.

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The U.S. mission to the Organization of American States, in partnership with the U.S. State Department and the Cuban American Bar Association, launched a campaign in Miami on Thursday calling for the release of women being held as political prisoners held in Cuba, part of a broader effort to press Cuban authorities to release the nearly 1,000 political prisoners on the island.

We call on the government of Cuba for the immediate and unconditional release of those unjustly detained, said Frank Mora, U.S. ambassador to the OAS at the event held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity. We stand with the people of Cuba and call on the regime in Havana to allow its citizens to freely and openly express themselves.

There are as many as 110 women political prisoners in Cuba, most of them peaceful protesters who were detained after mass anti-government demonstrations on July 11, 2024. Many are mothers or the sole caretakers of their families.

Women have had a leading role in protests and in the opposition movement in Cuba and have disproportionately suffered from repressive government tactics, said Enrique Roig, deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. They are at higher risk of gender violence, and their detention has a significant effect on their dependents, he added.

One thing that has not changed in Cuba for 65 years is the governments abysmal human-rights record, said Karin Lang, coordinator for Cuban affairs at the State Department. Many of these women had never attempted to exercise their political rights before July 2021. They joined protests to express their frustration at the governments failed policies. They are now serving sentences of 10 or 15 years in dreadful prison conditions. This is inhumane.

According to the president of the Cuban American Bar Association, Javier Alejandro Ley-Soto, the groups lawyers are representing 52 men and women imprisoned during the July 11 protests. He said they are subjected to harsh conditions, denied due process and are unable to communicate with their families. The association filed a petition on behalf of the prisoners to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an OAS group.

Frank Mora, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States, presents a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Maritza Lugo (far left) and Carmen Julia Arias Yglesias, part of a group of Cuban women former political prisoners,during an event organized by the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA), to call for the Release of Women Political Prisoners in Cuba.

Lizandra Gongora, one of the women they represent, is a mother of five who has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for joining the July 11 protests. She is currently in a hospital with severe abdominal pain. Another one, Lisdany Rodriguez, a member of the religious group the Free Yorubas of Cuba, is currently pregnant and has been pressure by Cuban state security members to have an abortion, Ley-Soto said.

We cant turn a blind eye to these human-rights abuses, he said, a message echoed by Miami Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who added that she stands unequivocally with those speaking out in Cuba for their pursuit of freedom, specifically for these women who have risked their lives.

We must support them, she said.

American and European officials have been pressing the Cuban government for the release of political prisoners, including high-profile dissidents and artists like Jose Daniel Ferrer, Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, Felix Navarro and Maykel Castillo Perez. But so far, Cuban authorities have shut down any potential disucssions on the subject.

Diplomatic tensions have escalated recently, at least publicly, after the Cuban government blamed the United States for recent protests in Santiago de Cuba and other cities driven by the lack of food, oil and other basic necessities on the island.

Weve witnessed protests in Santiago related to the regimes inability to provide even the most basic goods and services such as electricity, along with fuel and food, Mora said. But we should not be surprised. The regimes insistence on maintaining its antiquated, centrally planned and grossly inefficient economic system remains the culprit.

But the administration seeks an opening by focusing on the humanitarian aspect of releasing female prisoners. Previously, when Sara Minkara, the State Departments Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, inquired during a trip to the island earlier this eyar about the well-being of political prisoners with disabilities, she said Cuban authorities reacted with openness on the issue.

How a disability rights advocate found points of agreement between the U.S. and Cuba

The speakers Thursday also paid homage to women who were imprisoned for several years during the early days of the revolution headed by Fidel Castro and who were forced into exile in the United States, including Ana Lazara Rodriguez and Genoveva Canabal. They also honored former political prisoners Maritza Lugo Fernandez and Carmen Arias Iglesias.

The women shared dramatic accounts of their time in prison and the suffering caused to their families.

Former Cuban political prisoners displayed several banners during an event organized by the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA), to call for the Release of Women Political Prisoners in Cuba

I was a girl; they did horrors to us; they destroyed our lives, said Canabal, who was in high school when she was arrested. They treated us like animals, like beasts, and almost all of us were almost girls, very young.

The animals in the United States are better fed than what we were in prison in Cuba, she said.

Rodriguez, who was studying to become a doctor when she was arrested, spent 19 years in prison. She said the female prisoners were hit by men. We suffered all the humiliations you can imagine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter to the four women thanking them for their courage and resilience in advocating for human rights in Cuba.

I recognize your bravery in facing an authoritarian governments repression, Blinken wrote to Rodriguez. Together, we will continue to support Cubans, including by defending their human rights and fundamental freedoms and enhancing their political and economic well-being.
The News

Nebraska Republicans mobilized to change how their state awards electoral votes on Wednesday, with key legislators in Lincoln endorsing the plan and Democrats scrambling to stop it.

As the end of the legislative session approached, Republicans were looking for a way to pass LB764, which would assign all five Nebraska electors to the winner of the statewide vote. Republican Sen. Julie Slama said on Wednesday that shed add winner-take-all to a bill already headed to the floor, before Fridays deadline for moving it. Democrats said that they still had the votes, and time, to block that.

The amount of chaos that Trump and his online cronies have created in the last few days of the legislative session where serious bills are being debated is a perfect snapshot of his bullying leadership, Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb told Semafor. The bill to remove a fair electoral vote process didnt have the votes two months ago, two days ago or today. Nebraskans like our unique unicameral, public power and split electoral vote system.

Lippincotts bill, which had not moved through committee after it was introduced last year, got new life after Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk endorsed it. In a Tuesday episode of his podcast, and in a post on X, Kirk urged listeners to call key Republicans in the state senate and pressure them to move the bill before the deadline.

Within hours, Gov. Jim Pillen and Donald Trump both endorsed the legislation. On Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Ray Aguilar, who Kirk had told listeners could get the idea out of committee, put out a statement supporting it.

This gives Donald Trump a much bigger and better path to the presidency, Kirk told Steve Bannon on the Wednesday episode of his War Room podcast. Its a no brainer.

Since 1991, Nebraska has awarded two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote, and one vote for the winner of each congressional district. In 2008 and 2020, Democrats won the Omaha-based 2nd District, while losing the rest of the state by double digits.

That electoral vote could be especially crucial this cycle, because Biden has a highly plausible path to a 270-268 electoral victory if he wins Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania again, while losing Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona. Under a Nebraska winner-take-all system, that scenario would produce a 269-269 tie that sends the results to the incoming House of Representatives state delegations.

My staff and I are doing everything we can to seek options for getting this to the finish line, state Sen. Loren Lippincott, the bills Republican sponsor, told Semafor in a statement. The harsh reality of a 2-day time frame is limiting. I stand in support of this bill and will continue to fight for this in the Nebraska Legislature.

Davids view

Democrats were initially dismissive of this campaign yesterday, counting their votes and predicting that Republicans wouldnt be able to pass it. Even after state Sen. Mike McDonnell left the party on Wednesday, explaining that his Christian beliefs aligned more with the GOP, he told Kleeb that he would oppose the electoral vote change, as well as procedural steps to advance it.

The conservative pressure campaign has shaken that confidence, and Democrats are now talking about ways they could stop the bill. They could filibuster it; if it passes, they could exercise the Peoples Right to Referendum, a statute that stops a law from going into effect if 5% of registered voters sign a petition in favor of suspending it.

The View From The Nebraska GOP Chairman

Eric Underwood, the chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party, told Semafor that he had been lobbying for months for conservatives to get behind the bill, even meeting with then-Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel in November 2023. She did not want the national organization involved in a state issue, he recalled; Underwood had previously opposed her bid for a fourth term leading the committee.

I have a state Im trying to protect, and I have a party I want to represent, said Underwood. This is in our state platform. My goal was to get this done.

Everything changed on Tuesday morning, when Underwood got a text from Tyler Bowyer, the COO of Turning Point Action, checking that the legislature was still in session. He talked to Kirk, who urged listeners to melt the phones in the state capitol. Kirk and the state GOP are planning to team up for a rally in Omaha this coming Tuesday, which Kirk said would either put pressure on Republicans to move or celebrate a surprise victory that would neuter the Biden campaign in the state.

If Democrats can hold onto that electoral vote, money can keep flowing into the Nebraska Democratic Party, said Underwood. If the state switches to winner take all, why would anybody outside Nebraska donate to them?

Notable

In Politico, Elena Schneider, Madison Fernandez and Jonathan Lemire report that the Biden campaign has reached out privately to Nebraska Democrats about the Republican effort, while declining to comment on it  evidence that its begun to take more seriously the possibility of the legislation passing.
Updated 3:14 p.m. Thursday: South Dakota Department of Corrections released an updated memo Thursday on phone and tablet-based call limits for state prison inmates.

According to the DOC memo, the department will reinstate the ability for offenders to place calls using their personal tablets starting Friday.

Additionally, offenders will be able to make up to five 20-minute phone calls on tablets and in-house wall phones following a "discussion with the executive team and to promote offender communication with family and loved ones," the Thursday release states. An earlier memo sent to inmates Tuesday originally limited the number of calls prison residents could place per day to three.

Earlier story: Inmates at one of South Dakota's prison facilities say tensions are rising as residents prepare to lose a lifeline to their outside support systems.

The South Dakota Department of Corrections intends to limit the amount of phone calls that state inmates can make per day, as well as how long those calls can be, according to a Tuesday memo from Amber Pirraglia, DOC director of corrections.

The decision comes nearly a month after the DOC suspended phone calls and messaging services on inmate tablets as part of an investigation into what Gov. Kristi Noem has called "nefarious" uses of the functions, and several days after what state department leaders have called "disturbances" on back-to-back nights at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.

The ripple effects are now being felt at Mike Durfee State Prison, a medium security facility in Springfield, where inmates like Brian Anderson are transitioning from a paid instant messaging app to a more limited phone call allowance.

"I feel like these people are cutting me off from my support group, people that actually helped me rehabilitate, and are helping me to cope and help me want to be better to get back into society and do good," Anderson told the Argus Leader this week. "It's almost dehumanizing."

Anderson and other inmates received the memo earlier this week, which stated the department and the Inspector General's office "have worked to resolve an investigation" that led to the suspended features.

"In response to the investigation, the messaging app will continue to be disabled, indefinitely," Pirraglia wrote in the memo.

The statement also said the departments have worked to "establish appropriate guidelines for phone calls on tablets," which include limiting inmates to three phone calls a day, limiting the calls to 20 minutes in length and allowing calls to be made on either tablets or wall phones.

The South Dakota State Penitentiary on Friday, March 29, 2024 in Sioux Falls.

More: DCI will investigate both nights of 'disturbance' at the South Dakota State Penitentiary

"Phone calls could be reinstated as early as this week as we finalize the rollout schedule," Pirraglia wrote in a similar memo sent to DOC staff Sunday.

The Argus Leader reached Anderson on Tuesday evening, when he and other inmates received the new call guidelines on their tablet devices.

As of Wednesday morning, the more restrictive calling allowances have not been implemented at the Springfield prison.

However, the looming changes remain a source of frustration for some of the prison's residents, Anderson said.

"A lot of guys are starting to stress out over it," Anderson said. "You can already hear guys talking about, you know, retaliating against  I don't want to say it  non-inmates."

State inmates, prior to the March 8 suspension of tablet-based communication, had used the devices to communicate with friends and family members outside of prison. Both services were offered by GTL, a private company which contracts with the DOC.

Calls made through an inmate's tablet could last up to one hour. Inmates could also send text and photo messages through the app.

These messages are supposed to be subject to monitoring, according to the DOC's inmate access to telephones and tablets guidelines.

But Anderson alleged some inmates and their loved ones transitioned as early as September away from GTL's ConnectNetwork service to GettingOut, a GTL messaging app.

While they serve the same purpose, Anderson said he's noticed differences in how the app is monitored. Messages sent through ConnectNetwork, Anderson said, often needed to be approved, which could take hours or even days.

However, when the prison tablets began offering the GettingOut app, Anderson said messages to and from his contacts would often go through instantaneously.

Jade Chipps poses for a photo with the cardboard cutout of her husband.

Jade Chipps, a Florida resident whose partner resides at Mike Durfee State Prison, also said the inmate tablets began using GettingOut around that time.

"It's been nice, because, in the past, if you texted on a weekend when there wasn't a security guard monitoring the messages, it could take days for your text to get through," Chipps said.

Few details have been released about what led to the statewide investigation of the tablet usage, or the two "disturbances" at the South Dakota State Penitentiary within the last week.

A statement from DOC Secretary Kellie Wasko on March 27 noted at least one staff member had been assaulted in the first disturbance at the South Dakota State Penitentiary, but to what extent injuries were remains unclear. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley directed the state's Division of Criminal Investigation to investigate both nights of disturbances and prosecute anyone responsible for harming correctional officers, inmates or state property.

Wasko also said Friday the state penitentiary was undergoing a search for contraband.

Anderson said the loss of privileges afforded by the tablets follows other restrictive measures taken by the DOC.

In late 2022, DOC facilities reduced a weekly cap on commissary purchases from $40 to $25. This has forced some inmates to choose between hygiene or medical products and food each week.

"If you have to buy Tylenol or medication or vitamins, they're so expensive," Anderson said. "You're sacrificing your commissary and you're forced to go eat nasty chow hall food, which they claim is better, but I can promise you it's not."

An anonymous inmate said this has led some Mike Durfee State Prison residents to extort fellow offenders for their commissary money.

The Argus Leader has chosen not to release the name of the inmate, who expressed concerns their physical safety could be compromised by inmates and prison staff for speaking about the extortion, as well as affect their ability to receive commutation for their sentence and an upcoming parole hearing.

"That's kind of important to us, because that's what we live on," the inmate said. "You're reducing our commissary, reducing our phone time. You're just progressing us to be hardened."

The inmate said other offenders who are seen as more vulnerable and those who have committed sex offenses are being targeted in particular.

"Now, they don't have much, so now they're going to go try and find more," the inmate said. "You're going to find a reason to get more."

More: DOC Secretary says large search for contraband at State Penitentiary ongoing

The Argus Leader has reached out to the DOC and Gov. Kristi Noem's office multiple times since March 28 to ask about the events, including what happened during and since the incidents, how "order was restored," and what policies the prison has regarding "disturbances."

The Argus Leader had yet to receive a response as of Wednesday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Mike Durfee State Prison inmates' phone calls limited by DOC
MANILA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and two others injured after a tricycle was hit by a bus early Thursday in Pangasinan province in northern Philippines, police said.

Local police said the bus hit the tricycle as the bus tried to enter the highway in Binalonan town.

The victims, including a 66-year-old male, a 23-year-old female, and a 16-year-old male, were declared dead at a local hospital.

Two other tricycle passengers, both teens, were severely injured, police added. People on the bus were unharmed.

Tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle and a typical means of public and private transport in the Philippines. 
Amnesty International is calling on the government of the Dominican Republic to end immigration policies toward Haitians that the agency says include mass, discriminatory expulsions and racial profiling of Black Dominicans of Haitian descent.

In an open letter to Dominican President Luis Abinader, the human rights organization said it has documented instances where the rights of both Haitians and Black Dominicans are being violated.

The information received by Amnesty International and civil society organizations in the Dominican Republic reveal worrying violations of human rights committed through measures of racialized exclusion of Haitian and Dominican people of Haitian descent by immigration agents, police and members of the security forces armed forces that assist the General Directorate of Immigration in immigration operations, the human rights organization said.

Since the beginning of the year, the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has expelled more than 30,000 Haitians to Haiti, according to data from the United Nations International Organization for Migration, which tracks deportations. Among those returned to Haiti are 12,598 Haitians who were expelled from the Dominican Republic in March.

Following the latest violent uprising by an alliance of armed groups in Port-au-Prince, Abinader said that he would not allow refugee camps in his country for Haitians seeking refuge. He has continued with expulsions despite calls by human rights groups that deportations should cease. Efforts to reach Dominican officials were unsuccessful.

Amnesty International is seeking a meeting with the president, who is currently running for reelection. The agencys concerns include complaints by artists, civil society organizations, activists and members of the diplomatic corps in the Dominican Republic that they are being harassed online, and are the targets of threats and boycotts of their activities by groups that operate based on racist and xenophobic rhetoric.

The Dominican Republic has not taken measures to prevent xenophobia, racism, discrimination and intolerance based on national, racial or ethnic origin, Amnesty said. It is also of utmost importance that the State authorities must refrain from stigmatizing Haitian people on the move as an economic burden for the State and as a threat to sovereignty and national security.

Amnesty says Haitian asylum seekers are being arbitrarily arrested and deported, and that certificates granting protection are not being renewed. From October 2023 to January 2024, no permanent residencies have been renewed or issued to nationals of Haiti. Only four Haitians have received permanent residence and one was granted temporary residence, Amnesty said.

The Dominican government has suspended legal means for people from Haiti to enter the country and renew their study, residence or work visas. This suspension has left people in a situation of irregular immigration status and has separated families, Amnesty said.

Tensions between both countries flared up last fall after Haitians began constructing a canal along the Massacre River in northeast Haiti on the border. Objecting to the construction, Dominican authorities shut down their entire border with Haiti and suspended the processing and issuance of visas, residence permits and other immigration relief to Haitians until further notice.

Amid the controversy, at least one Black Dominican of Haitian descent was arrested and, after being mistaken for a Haitian national, she was deported to Haiti, according to her family. Cristina Martinez Lorenzo finally re-emerged in the Dominican Republic after going missing for 23 days.

Measures must be urgently adopted to avoid racial profiling in the arrests of people, whether Dominican or foreign, Amnesty said.

In its report, the agency said there are other troubling practices including the deportation of pregnant women and children from the Dominican Republic, and the existing barriers confronting those seeking international protection, including at the border with Haiti.

Amnesty said that Haitians seeking asylum in the Dominican Republic continue to have their applications overwhelming rejected, according to data that was submitted to the U.S. State Department by the National Refugee Commission.

The 2018 report of said organization mentions that according to United Nations officials, the rejection rate of applications submitted since 2013 was 96%. The same report highlights that, according to UNHCR, of the more than 300 cases of asylum seekers between 2012 and 2016 that received a final decision, the government rejected 99% with the vague justification of lack of evidence, Amnesty said. Furthermore, 99% of the applicants were of Haitian origin.

The data, Amnesty said, along with other information from later years is alarming, and together with the barriers to access to asylum, they raise fears that there will be even fewer cases are being effectively processed, and the way in which the Dominican government is applying the standards international matters of asylum and refuge.

The agency asked that the Dominican Republic use recognized international standards to decide the status of Haitian refugees.
NH bill to bar guns at schools after Portsmouth High threat faces near certain defeat

CONCORD  When Kyle Hendrickson threatened to shoot up Portsmouth High School last year, he legally had possession of a firearm in his car on school grounds outside the building.

Hendrickson later pleaded guilty to the threat and is scheduled to be sentenced May 14.

Senate Bill 593, sponsored by Sen. Donavan Fenton, D-Keene, would change the New Hampshire state law by prohibiting carrying a firearm in a school zone. But its unlikely to pass when it comes before the Republican-majority Senate on Friday.

Still shots of the Snapchat video made by Kyle Hendrickson, who pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot up Portsmouth High School.

What is SB 593?

SB 593 would prohibit knowingly carrying a firearm in a safe school zone. If found guilty, the violator would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, which could result in jail time.

The bill stipulates it would not apply to anyone authorized by the School Board to possess a firearm or a law enforcement officer. It also allows parents or another person picking up or dropping off a student to have a firearm, as long as it remains in a locked container in the car and is not loaded.

As a concerned citizen, legislator and most importantly, a parent with young children I believe that this legislation is crucial for the safety and well-being of our schools and communities, Fenton said in testimony on the bill. He spoke about his own experience as a sixth-grader in New Hampshire, when the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado in 1999, and the subsequent lockdowns, drills, and evacuations schools undertook.

Fenton said he is a gun owner and supports constitutional gun rights, but believes certain environments require special consideration.

I dont want my kids to live in fear and this is the direction we are heading, he said.

Portsmouth High School shooting threat leads parent to speak out

Kathleen Slover, a Portsmouth resident and a member of Moms Demand Action, a gun violence prevention advocacy group, testified people were shocked and outraged to learn New Hampshire didnt already have a law prohibiting firearms on school grounds after the incident at Portsmouth High School.

In April 2023, then 25-year-old Hendrickson shared a video on Snapchat with the message, imma gonna shoot up the school. The video shows him holding up a handgun with the Portsmouth High School sign visible in the background.

Slover testified, the superintendent needed to work with the federal attorney generals office in order to find charges 'that would stick' because New Hampshires laws were so loose.

The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act bans individuals from knowingly possessing a firearm in a school zone, but New Hampshire has no such law preventing non-students from possessing a firearm in a school zone.

David Trumble of Weare, who ran for state representative in 2022, also brought up the Portsmouth event in his testimony in favor of the bill, saying New Hampshire does not live in a bubble. He cited other incidents as well, including a recent event in March at Lebanon High School, where officers found a parent outside the school with several loaded firearms in his car.

Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth, said in his testimony the bill is not just about punishment, but deterrence.

I cant think of a more important line to draw than a line that separates kids in our schools from people who think in this day in age  after Uvalde, after Parkland, and after Newtown  that its ever OK to bring a loaded firearm onto school grounds, he said.

Opposition to gun control strong in Republican majority New Hampshire legislature

At the Judiciary Committee hearing in late March, when testimony on the bill was heard, Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Windham, said the bill was the ultimate feel-good legislation.

He said someone intent on murdering children would not be deterred by this bill. Instead, Lynn said, he feels safer around responsible gun owners, and relayed his own experience learning to shoot at a rifle range in the basement of his high school in Connecticut.

SB 593 is likely to meet a similar fate as other gun violence prevention bills in the Republican-majority state government as the committee report recommended it inexpedient to legislate, 3-2.

In 2019, lawmakers passed a similar bill to prohibit the possession of firearms on school property. However, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed the bill, HB 564.

These bills would not solve our national issues nor would they prevent evil individuals from doing harm, but they would further restrict the constitutional rights of law abiding New Hampshire citizens, he wrote in a post on X at the time.

In 2019, the New Hampshire legislature was controlled by Democrats, when HB 564 was passed. But in recent years, the legislature has had a Republican majority who, along with Sununu, have worked to expand gun rights.

So far in 2024, almost all of the proposed gun violence prevention bills that have been voted on so far have failed, including one to repeal limited liability and another establishing a red flag law. In contrast, bills to expand gun rights, like one to allow employees to keep their firearms in their locked vehicles when they go to work, have passed.

One exception is a bipartisan bill to require serious mental health information to reported to the federal background check system for firearm purchases, known as Bradley's Law, as it passed the House last week. The bill followed the shooting death of an unarmed security officer at New Hampshire Hospital in Concord.

Ian Lenahan contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH bill to bar guns at schools after Portsmouth threat opposed by GOP
Theres no record of me doing anything: Vet one of many struggling to get copy of important military doc

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (WFLA)  It is a Department of Defense document identified by two letters and three numbers that spells delay and denial if you need yours but cannot find it.

Don Fowler, 85, has vivid memories of his time in the Army Reserves during the Vietnam War era. But he is among many veterans across Florida and the country who do not have copies of their DD-214 discharge paperwork to prove they served.

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Fowler saved what he thought would be proof of his seven years in the Army, including pictures in uniform as a corpsman.



My discharged letters, even my old selective service card, Fowler said while pulling items out of an envelope. My dog tags. Not enough.



His paperwork includes a letter, thanking him for his time in the military.

The certificate of discharge is presented to you in grateful appreciation of your faithful military service to the Nation, the letters states.

Without a [DD-214], Fowler said. I dont seem to exist.

Fowler discovered his document deficiency while requesting a discount for veterans at a local chain store. He has spent over a year waiting for a copy of what is the holy grail of military documents.

The VA does offer updates when Fowler calls.



He says your name and number are still in there. I guess their working on it, Fowler said. Its been a year.

Disastrous 1973 fire continues to burn Tampa Bay veterans trying to claim benefits

But does he think someone is actually looking for the Donald M. Fowler DD-214?

I dont think so, he said.



One fate for countless DD-214s was a huge fire in 1973 at the Military Records Center in St. Louis. Between 16 million and 18 million personnel files were destroyed.



Im thinking that must be what happened to mine. There are different people who will say they blame everything on that fire, Fowler said with a chuckle. The fire caused it all.



Attorney Will Sterbinsky specializes in helping veterans navigate the VA benefits system.



Its a monumental barrier if the DD-214 cannot be found, Sterbinsky said.

The DD-214 includes where someone served, how long they were there, when they were discharged, medals and commendations, special training and a boatload of other details.

Sterbinsky recommends saving multiple copies on paper and electronically. He said its also vital to double check accuracy on the document before discharge.



Figure out if all of the is are dotted and ts are crossed. Its very, very important because its easier to correct while youre in, Sterbinsky said. More difficult to correct it later. Then, you file an application, and you get in a line and you wait a year or more for a determination.

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Fowler does not need to apply for any benefits right now, but he said he would still like to be recognized by the country he volunteered to serve.

Its the fact that I did seven to eight years, and theres no record of me doing anything, Fowler said. Its like they dont believe me.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners are weighing how to address homelessness in the wake of a new Florida law that bans people from sleeping or camping in public places.

During a city commission conference Tuesday afternoon, commissioners expressed concerns about arresting people who are homeless, an approach that could lead to overcrowding at the jails. The legislation, House Bill 1365, prohibits municipalities from allowing people to sleep or camp in public places, such as parks and on the beach. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the law will allow people to file lawsuits against local governments if they fail to remove homeless people.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis, who previously said he was against the legislation, worried what the consequence would be if the city doesnt act, adding that Fort Lauderdale has been the subject of litigation in the past regarding its aggressive approaches to homelessness. The city was sued by the nonprofit Food Not Bombs in 2015 after it banned the practice of feeding homeless people in public parks and faced another lawsuit in 2017 for clearing a downtown homeless encampment, which resulted in homeless residents property being destroyed.

We cannot suffer those challenges ever again, Trantalis said.

Arnold Abbott (center) and his Love Thy Neighbor volunteers feed the homeless in Fort Lauderdale in 2014.

The city has six months to firm up plans regarding the legislation, which goes into effect Oct. 1. City Attorney Thomas J. Ansbro said that he has met with Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Bill Schultz and two city prosecutors on how to address the new law and that he has a call in to the Broward County attorney to discuss it.

Im hopeful that we dont end up in a position of having to arrest people for homelessness, he said during the city commission conference.

READ: Touting law and order, DeSantis signs bill allowing homeless camps in South Florida

In 2023, Fort Lauderdale had 780 homeless residents, up substantially from 2022s count of 415, according to the citys online dashboard. The city has a goal of reducing homelessness by 250 for this year.

Trantalis noted that if homeless people are arrested in another city and brought to the Broward County Jail, they are typically released onto Fort Lauderdales streets. If you have a law that says its criminal activity to sleep in a public place, all it does is it takes the shelter from the public place to the jail, Trantalis told the Miami Herald after the meeting.

So now the jail becomes an encampment for the homeless people, and thats not a solution, he continued. Criminalizing homelessness is not ever a solution. So how long are we going to keep the homeless person in jail? Theyll be booked for violating the new statute, and then within an hour, theyre [released], and theyre back on the streets again. So it doesnt really think through the real problem.

Trantalis said the release of homeless residents from county hospitals also contributes to the uptick in Fort Lauderdales homeless population.

A person goes to an emergency room, trauma or otherwise, is triaged, and when the person is released, theyre released on the streets of Fort Lauderdale, even though they may have originated in Hollywood, Davie, Coral Springs or wherever, he said during the meeting.

RELATED: DeSantis praised a Miami Beach homeless law. Is it as compassionate as the mayor says?

Commissioner John Herbst said that he consistently gets complaints from residents in District 1 about people sleeping on park benches along Commercial Boulevard and Federal Highway and Oakland Park Boulevard and Federal Highway.

Its unsustainable, and its an inordinate burden on the residents, but our hands have been tied, Herbst said. I think this legislation is going to force us to address it, but its like, now what?

Herbst suggested the city hold a joint workshop with Broward County and other municipalities to address the problem and ask how they interpret the legislation and what their plan is.

This is a regional problem that cries out for a regional solution, he said.

Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman agreed with Herbst that the issue isnt solely a Fort Lauderdale problem and that the city should be in conversation with Broward County officials.

Its an issue that were all experiencing, and we know its not because people choose to be homeless. Its an issue of wraparound services, Beasley-Pittman said, adding that there are many reasons people become homeless, including ongoing issues with finding affordable housing.

Like Herbst, Commissioner Steven Glassman said he often receives emails about homelessness in his community. He urged the city manager and city attorney to determine what Fort Lauderdale is going to do.

I never want to see us get to the point of Los Angeles or San Francisco or San Diego, he said. Weve just got to come up with a plan on how were going to address this.
Retail shops caught possessing or selling illicit cannabis in New York would lose their licenses to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, alcohol and lottery tickets under a bill being debated in Albany.

Retail shops caught possessing or selling illicit cannabis in New York would lose their licenses to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, alcohol and lottery tickets under a bill being debated in Albany.

Lawmakers are considering the bill to expand upon measures approved last year to crack down on the thousands of shops statewide selling illicit marijuana, which has undermined the legal adult-use market.

What are the stakes for shops selling illegal weed products?

Retail shops cannot possess or sell illicit cannabis, which is defined, in part, as cannabis-based drugs and products that have not received all the proper state approvals, according to the bill.

A first illicit pot violation carries a one-year revocation of state licenses to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, alcohol, and lottery tickets. A second offense and third offense carry three- and five-year license revocations, respectively.

The legislation amends existing state law that revokes the same licenses for retail shops caught possessing or selling unstamped and illicit cigarettes.

During a media briefing in Brooklyn, Gov. Kathy Hochul displayed photos of some of the 1,000 pounds of illicit marijuana seized by authorities as part of a crackdown on shops illegally selling cannabis without a state-issued license.

Why illegal pot keeps flowing

Last spring, state regulators launched a crackdown on illicit cannabis shops, using recently passed state laws that allowed for seizing the drugs and seeking injunctions to shutter the shops. Those laws also allowed for issuing higher civil and tax penalties for the illicit marijuana sales.

By December, authorities statewide conducted about 370 inspections, including 103 re-inspections, of suspected illicit cannabis shops. That led to 305 notices of violations and the seizure of nearly 11,600 pounds of illicit marijuana products, with a street value of more than $56 million, state records show.

Still, illicit marijuana has continued to flow, including at scores of retails shops  most of which are in New York City. In February, officials at a state Office of Cannabis Management meeting cited New York City estimates of 2,000 illicit cannabis shops.

New York City officials noted their enforcement task force issued $40 million in fines and seized $20 million worth of illicit drugs, adding that was still not enough to curb the illegal marketplace that posed a public health threat, meeting records show.

Are you too high to drive? NY cannabis impairment laws explained

A customer walks into retail cannabis dispensary Willam Jane in Ithaca NY, Sept, 28 2023.

How much legal pot gets sold in NY

State regulators this year have approved far more legal marijuana dispensary licenses than any other period since the state legalized adult-use marijuana in 2021.

Regulators approved 45 new dispensaries last month, building upon 38 approved in February. Those will be joining the 70 dispensaries that had opened prior to the wave of approvals, which were stymied by regulatory delays and lawsuits.

From January to late March of this year, legal dispensaries sold $77 million worth of cannabis, regulators noted, which is half of what was sold in all of last year.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY could strip illicit weed shops of tobacco, booze, lotto licenses
Obama aides say Biden isnt exerting enough pressure on Israel. Outrage does nothing

President Joe Biden, in an April 2 statement, said he was outraged and heartbroken about Israels killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza.

Privately, he is enraged by Israels bombing of World Central Kitchen aid workers delivering food and believes the Israeli government is not listening to his advice, according to Politico.

But his words alone  whether spoken publicly or privately  are far from enough, according to two prominent officials from former President Barack Obamas administration.

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The President doesnt get credit for being privately enraged when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people, Jon Favreau, a onetime speechwriter for Obama, wrote in an April 3 post on X, formerly Twitter.

These stories only make him look weak, Favreau, now a host of popular podcast Pod Save America, added.

Favreau clarified in a subsequent post that he supports most of Bidens policies but hate(s) his Israel policy.

Hours later, Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to Obama, expressed similar criticism.

The U.S. government is still supplying 2 thousand pound bombs and ammunition to support Israels policy, Rhodes wrote in a post on X. Until there are substantive consequences, this outrage does nothing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obviously doesnt care what the U.S. says, Rhodes said. (Its) about what the U.S. does.

The comments from the ex-Obama aides come just days after Obama voiced his support for Bidens Israel policy, according to the Financial Times.

Biden has demonstrated moral conviction and clarity through his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, Obama said at a March 28 fundraiser in New York City, according to the outlet.

Hes also willing to acknowledge that the world is complicated and that hes willing to listen to all sides in this debate, the former president said, according to the outlet.

More than 30,000 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children have been killed during Israels war in Gaza, which has now entered its sixth month, according to The Associated Press, citing Gazan officials, who dont distinguish between combatant and non-combatant casualties.

The majority of Gazas 2.3 million people have been displaced, and about 25% of them now face starvation, according to the AP.

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Gov. Tina Kotek, in September 2023 at Mahonia Hall with First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson and their dog, Teddy, said Wednesday she will ask the Oregon Government Ethics Commission what is appropriate for the role of the first spouse.

Gov. Tina Kotek said Wednesday that she is sending questions seeking clarification on what is appropriate for the role of the first spouse to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which is reviewing a complaint against the governor related to questions about her wife's role in her administration.

Details about the complaint, including when it was filed and exactly what the complaint alleges, are not yet publicly available. The commission has 60 days to complete a preliminary review of the complaint and determine if it will investigate. A report of the preliminary review will be presented during an executive session of the commission.

The questions the governor's office is preparing for the ethics commission and its response will be public.

We hope that will provide clarity for everybody, Kotek said.

Role of governor's spouses differs from state to state

Kotek reiterated seeking guidance on understanding the role of the first spouse, in part, after seeing what other first spouses were doing while traveling to National Governors Association meetings. First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson attended the 2024 NGA First Spouses Retreat in Salt Lake City last week.

In neighboring California, First Partner Jennifer Siebel has several staff members supporting her. The California governors office confirmed six members including a chief of staff assist the office. In Washington, there is one staff member  the executive residence administrator  who helps Trudi Inslee manage her calendar, according to Inslee's office.

In Utah, the first lady has three staff members including an assistant, director of initiatives and a governor's mansion manager.

3 top aides depart from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek's office

OPB and Willamette Week reports tied the departure of three of Koteks top aides to friction over Kotek Wilson's involvement in the governor's office. Kotek declined to comment Wednesday on the departures.

March 29 was the last day for Koteks chief of staff, Andrea Cooper, who also worked as former Gov. Kate Browns deputy chief of staff and joined Koteks office after her 2022 election. On Monday, special advisor Abby Tibbs returned to Oregon Health and Science University, and on Friday, deputy chief of staff Lindsey OBrien is scheduled to go on leave.

In a March 22 release announcing Coopers departure, Kotek thanked her and wished her well in future endeavors.

Chris Warner, deputy chief of staff for public administration, is acting chief of staff during the leadership transitions.

New aide joins office to explore creation of Office of First Spouse

Meliah Masiba, the Department of Administrative Services' legislative director, joined the governors office on March 25 as a temporary advisor for six months.

The governor's office has said Masiba's salary will remain the same  nearly $12,000 a month  while solely exploring "the establishment of the office of the First Spouse" and supporting Kotek Wilson in her official capacity as a public official.

Kotek's office did not respond directly to questions from the Statesman Journal about how and why Masiba was selected for the temporary role. A public records request is under review.

What is First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson's official capacity?

Kotek Wilson is not a paid state employee and does not hold outside employment. She has a master's degree of social work from Portland State University. The governor's website states: "Aimee is using her role as First Lady to continue her work on behalf of Oregonians struggling with mental illness or other barriers to a safe and healthy life."

Masiba nor Kotek Wilson's scheduler reports directly to the first lady. Her scheduler reports to the director of operations and Masiba reports to Warner, the governor's acting chief of staff.

Kotek Wilson joined Kotek on a tour visiting every county in Oregon during Kotek's first year as governor, and shes joining Kotek as she visits all of the states nine federally recognized tribal nations.

Last week, during a day-long visit with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, Kotek Wilson sat in on a conversation about behavioral health and what the Confederated Tribes of Siletz is doing to address fentanyl in the community, Kotek said.

Kotek Wilson also has attended several behavioral health meetings, attends weekly meetings related to Kotek's schedule and travel, and occasionally attends events on behalf of the governor's office.

"But at the end of the day, I make all the policy decisions. I was elected. I'm the governor, the buck stops with me. Policy decisions and choices are mine and mine alone," Kotek said Wednesday.

Kotek also directed the Oregon State Police in March to provide protective security for Kotek Wilson for events when she represents the governor's office. The governor said Wednesday that her request is in line with state policy to keep members of the first family safe.

It is commonplace in other states that first spouses have security protection, Kotek said.

Additional clear policies and procedures around Kotek Wilson's role in her wife's administration are a work in progress, the governor said.

There has been no guidance from the OGEC on what is appropriate for the role of a first spouse since the first spouse was made a public official, Kotek said.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLu

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Tina Kotek working with ethics commission on first lady's role
How would you prefer to hunt SC feral hogs? By helicopter or a $500K contest

Would you rather shoot hogs from the air or engage in a hog hunting competition on the ground for a $500,000 prize pool?

If you live in the Palmetto State, you may soon be able to do both.

Hogs are wreaking havoc on South Carolina crops, land and property. Their population has remained stagnant, and lawmakers are proposing a few ideas to reduce the population.

One bill that has already passed in the House would allow the Department of Natural Resources to issue permits for hunting hogs by helicopter for protection, but not for sport. The hunting of feral hogs by helicopter would be restricted to areas of 500 acres or more. Its already being done in Georgia, Texas and Louisiana. Breaking these rules could result in a misdemeanor.

Not only are feral hogs destructive to farming, they can also harm native species.

Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, said in an interview with The State while safety is always an issue when aerial hunting, he isnt too concerned. He said the helicopter would fly low, and that he has seen it happen before with professionals, even near his property, and he is never concerned for his safety.

The bill moved out of full committee Wednesday and will be making its way to the Senate floor.

The committee also discussed the hog management program bill, which would propose using the revenue from the sale of antlered deer tags for the coyote and hog hunting program.

Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, suggested a competition splitting up the half million dollars in funds into prizes for the people who could kill the most hogs or coyotes.

Chales Ruth, DNR Big Game Program coordinator, said the department supports the bill, specifically because DNR intends on using the money to pay professional trappers to trap hogs on state forest land. The state already does this with coyotes, under a 2017 law that also allows research on coyote control. DNR proposed allowing hogs to be hunted through this initiative as well.

I think we can all agree coyotes and hogs can be destructive, Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown said. What I think the intent of this is, and the intent of the original management program was to knock them in the teeth.

Ruth said hired professionals would have guidance and experience, hence, would be better for DNR to regulate versus the general public.

Hutto suggested taking the half million dollars, picking a month and saying whoever kills the most coyotes and hogs gets the money.

Wouldnt we get rid of more like that? Hutto asked. Although an incentive program already is in place, Hutto said that incentive is not the same as competition.

Ruth, however, said bounty approaches simply dont work.

You havent tried one that big, though, Hutto said. Youre the expert and I respect that. I just suggest that, we may never win the war, but we will have a better chance of winning the battle if we get rid of more of them on private land.

Ruth questioned how to administer or manage such a competition so that people werent lying or cheating to get the money. Hutto and the other senators suggested using time stamps on cell phones as proof.

The committee voted to carry the bill over.
How can we prevent child abuse? Tougher rules for home-school families would help.

Home-schooling is the fastest-growing type of education in the United States, with roughly 3.7 million kids home-schooled last fall, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's even more than are enrolled in Catholic schools.

Contrary to stereotype, a Washington Postanalysis found that families who choose home-schooling increasingly come from diverse socioeconomic, political, religious, racial and geographic backgrounds. Families who have started home-schooling since 2020 are roughly split between Republicans and Democrats. Only 34% of home-schooling parents cite religious reasons for their choice, down from 63% in 2012.

Nor is home-schooling necessarily a rural or small-town phenomenon. Per the Post's analysis, since 2018, the number of kids being taught at home has grown by more than 350% in neighborhoods in both rural South Carolina and New York City.

For many families, home-schooling can address their child's unique needs that would be challenging to support in a conventional classroom. Some studies also have shown that home-schooled kids perform better on standardized exams and are more socially and emotionally developed than their classroom-educated peers.

Home-schooling can make it harder to identify child abuse

Yet, we're allowing too many home-schooled children to remain in unsafe situations. Home-schooled kids are not more likely to be abused or neglected than other children. But when home-schooled children are abused, it's harder to identify and stop.

We must act now to protect those kids.

Parenting styles: My 8-year-old daughter got her first sleepover invite. There's no way she's going.

Occasionally, when cases of abuse escalate, they make national news. Gypsy Rose Blanchard, subject of a recent documentary, was abused for years under the guise of home-schooling.

So were the 13 Turpin siblings, who were imprisoned and starved by their parents.

But for every high-profile case, thousands of other children suffer in isolation. The Coalition for Responsible Home Education is building a database of abuse and neglect among home-schooled kids. So far, it has documented more than 400 cases, including some involving multiple children, and more than 200 fatalities.

Law enforcement, child care advocacy centers, school representatives and community representatives plant pinwheels in Amarillo, Texas, on April 2, 2024, to mark Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Kids in public and private schools are less vulnerable than their home-schooled peers because the staff have opportunities to identify the signs and symptoms of child abuse and to notify authorities. Across the country, teachers, day care instructors and health care providers are required by state laws to report suspected abuse. School personnel identify more than half of all cases.

When home-schooled children are isolated from adults who are required to report, abuse can go undetected. When it does, it's more likely to escalate to severe or fatal forms. In a study of child victims of torture, 13 of the 17 school-age victims were home-schooled or never allowed to attend school.

States need to strengthen reporting requirements

As home-schooling continues to grow in popularity, all 50 states need to adopt legislation that prevents children from falling through the cracks, especially given that a growing number of states, including Arizona and Florida, allow home-schooling families to use publicly funded vouchers.

We all have a stake in ensuring that the money is not being misused to conceal abused children.

Social media emboldens abusers: Child sex abuse content is exploding online. We're losing the fight against it.

For a start, home-schooling parents must be required to notify officials of their choice. In 11 states, including Texas, Illinois and New Jersey, parents don't have to notify anyone that they've decided to home-school their kids.

States also need to make sure that home-schooling families know how to spot and report abuse. In 38 states, Erin's Law, named for abuse survivor and activist Erin Merryn, requires public schools to implement programs that teach students, staff and parents to recognize abuse.

The courses work: Educators in Texas increased their reporting of previously unrecognized child abuse by 82% after training.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

But the requirements of Erin's Law don't extend to home-schooled children. These families need to receive the same education on abuse that public schools provide.

Finally, there is currently no law to prevent parents from withdrawing their child from public school during the course of an abuse case. Some of the most tragic instances of child abuse have occurred after an educator reported the signs and a parent subsequently initiated home-schooling. We need regulations to keep kids in school during an active investigation until authorities can be sure that the home is safe.

Horrific stories of harm are by no means representative of the home-schooling movement. But without commonsense protections, abusers can use home-schooling as a tool to hide their crimes until it's too late.

Teresa Huizar is CEO of the National Children's Alliance, America's largest network of care centers for child abuse victims.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Homeschool can hide child abuse. We need tougher laws to protect kids
BEIRUT, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and four others were seriously injured in a major fire that broke out at a warehouse in eastern Lebanon's Beqaa Governorate, the local Elnashra news website reported.

Civil defense teams had rushed to the Al-Marj village in the governorate's Western Beqaa District to extinguish the fire in the warehouse that stores flower decorations, according to the report.

An investigation into the incident has been initiated, with the cause of the fire not yet reported. 
Russia made a threatening call to France warning that it hopes French secret service agents were not involved in last months terror attack in Moscow.

The comments by the Russian side were bizarre and threatening, Emanuel Macron, the French president, told reporters, adding that any suggestions France might have been involved in the deadly attack were ridiculous.



Details of the call came as Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that relations between Russia and Nato have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation on the 75th anniversary of Nato.



On Wednesday, Sebastien Lecornu, the French defence minister, reached out to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, saying France was ready to step up exchanges to battle terrorism, the French defence ministry reported.



The talks, the first between the two countries since 2022, were intended to express solidarity following the attack, in which at least 144 people were killed at a concert venue outside Moscow, and to share intelligence on its origin, Mr Macron said.

Follow the latest updates below

03:06 PM BST

Thats all for today

Thank you for tuning in to todays live blog. Well be back tomorrow to bring you all the latest from the war in Ukraine.

Key moments from today:

Russia and Nato are now in direct confrontation, the Kremlin has said, as the US-led alliance marks its 75th anniversary.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has ruled out sending Nato troops to Ukraine.

At least five people have been killed and 12 others injured in a Russian double-tap strike in Kharkiv, the regional governor has said.

Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, the only US lawmaker born in Ukraine, said she would not vote for a foreign aid bill that contains more than $60 billion in support for Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

Around 350,000 residents have been cut off from power supply in Kharkiv and the surrounding region after an overnight Russian drone attack, Ukraines energy ministry posted on Telegram.

A US House vote on Ukraine aid isnt likely until at least mid-April and possibly later, multiple Republican officials have said.

02:50 PM BST

Finland to close Russian land border indefinitely

Finland will indefinitely extend the closure of land border crossings with Russia, Helsinki has said.

Finnish authorities see this as a long-term situation. We have not seen anything this spring that would lead us to conclude that the situation has changed meaningfully, Mari Rantanen, the Finnish interior minister, said in a statement.

Finland shut its land borders with Russia late last year amid a growing number of arrivals from countries including Syria and Somalia. It has accused Moscow of weaponising migration against the Nordic nation, an assertion the Kremlin denies.

The government had said in February that the border closure was set to last until April 14.

Finland aggravated Russia last year by abandoning its long-held stance of military non-alignment and joining Nato in response to Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

02:45 PM BST

Islamic fundamentalists cannot be behind Moscow terror attack, says Putin

Islamic fundamentalists cannot be behind last months terror attack at a concert venue near Moscow, Vladimir Putin has said.

We have every reason to believe that the main goal of those who ordered the bloody, awful terrorist act in Moscow was to damage our unity, Putin said in televised comments.

There are no other goals visible, there are none, because Russia cannot be the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists. We are a country that demonstrates a unique example of interfaith harmony and unity, of inter-religious and inter-ethnic unity.

Putin has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that the attack was ordered by Ukraine - an assertion Kyiv has flatly denied. US intelligence suggests the attack was orchestrated by the militant group Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility.

02:40 PM BST

Pictured: Ukraines demining operation

A Ukrainian military sapper places red flags next to a part of a Russian cluster bomb while demining a field - Ivan Antypenko/REUTERS

A Ukrainian military sapper inspects a field for explosive devices - Ivan Antypenko/REUTERS

02:29 PM BST

Russia and Nato now in direct confrontation, says Kremlin

Russia and Nato are now in direct confrontation, the Kremlin has said, as the US-led alliance marks its 75th anniversary.

Relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters, adding that Nato was already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine [and] continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders.

His comments came as Lord Cameron ruled out sending troops to Ukraine. Speaking at a summit of world leaders in Brussels, the Foreign Secretary channelled concerns that putting Nato boots on the ground risked triggering direct confrontation with Moscow.

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the alliance against direct involvement in Ukraine while claiming that providing weapons and training to Kyiv makes the West a de facto party to the conflict.

02:25 PM BST

China proposes reasonable Ukraine peace plan, says Kremlin

China has proposed the most reasonable peace plan so far for resolving the war in Ukraine, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has said.

The most important thing for us is that the Chinese document is based on an analysis of the reasons for what is happening and the need to eliminate these root causes. It is structured in logic from the general to the specific, state news agency RIA quoted Lavrov as telling reporters. This plan was criticized for being vague... But this is a reasonable plan that the great Chinese civilization proposed for discussion.

Given Beijings peace plan was put forward more than a year ago and was met with a lukewarm reception from both Ukraine and Russia at the time, Mr Lavrovs comments have been viewed as a gesture of goodwill as he prepares to meet his Chinese counterpart in the coming weeks.

Russia says it is willing to enter talks about Ukraine but that these must reflect what it calls the new realities on the ground, where Moscow has claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own.

Volodymyr Zelensky has put forward his own peace formula that calls for a cessation of hostilities and a full Russian withdrawal from all occupied territory.

02:15 PM BST

EU raises serious concerns over Georgia crackdown on foreign agents

The European Union has criticised Georgia for resurrecting a bill to crackdown on foreign agents.

The EU, which granted Georgia candidate membership status in December but said progress would be subject to further reforms, said it regrets the decision to re-introduce the bill, adding that the proposed legislation raised serious concerns.

The bill, which was abandoned amid protests last year, is supported by the Kremlin and would require organisations receiving more than 20 per cent of their funding from overseas to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power.

Labelled the Russian Law, as it closely mirrors legislation in Moscow used to crack down on dissent, the bill has been viewed as symptomatic of deepening ties between Tbilisi and the Kremlin since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that Russia wants stability and predictability in Georgia, and defended the proposed law, stating: No state wants interference from other countries in domestic politics; this is normal practice.

01:53 PM BST

Alexei Navalny murder allegations make no sense, says Russian ambassador

Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the UK, has dismissed allegations of Kremlin involvement in the death of Alexei Navalny in February, branding widespread speculation as absolutely wrong.

President Putin had said he was prepared to exchange him [Navalny] for some others and it is absolutely wrong to think that he, or something difficult happened, Mr Kelin told LBC. He simply died. These things happen.

When pressed on allegations from Navalnys widow, Yulia, and echoed by numerous Western officials, that the Russian opposition leader was murdered in an arctic penal colony, Mr Kelin said the accusation made no sense at all.

01:14 PM BST

Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers at the front and in Kyiv

Service members of the 37th Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces ride atop a French armoured fighting vehicle in southern Ukraine - Reuters/Ivan Antypenko

A couple embraces on a street as Ukrainian servicemen walk nearby in central Kyiv - Gleb Garanich/REUTERS

12:11 PM BST

Cameron rules out Nato boots on the ground in Ukraine

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has ruled out sending Nato troops to Ukraine.

What Nato is looking at is a Nato mission for Ukraine, not a Nato mission in Ukraine, the former prime minister told the BBC, amid concerns that having boots on the ground could lead to direct conflict with Moscow.



Asked directly whether he could see Nato troops on Ukrainian soil, Lord Cameron said No, adding: I think that we dont want to give [Vladimir] Putin a target like that, and Nato can do lots of things to better coordinate the help we give to Ukraine.



His comments come ahead of a summit in Brussels to mark the 75th anniversary of Nato, as Ukraines allies weigh up providing further support to the war torn country in the face of Russian aggression.

Fundamentally, for countries like Britain and all those supportive of Ukraine, this is a question of political will. Do we have the patience? Do we have the will? Are we prepared to give the resources? Now, in Britains case, definitely the answer is yes, said Lord Cameron.

11:47 AM BST

Watch: Firefighting son mourns father in Kharkiv

Ukrainian firefighter Volodymyr Loginov cries for his 52-year-old father and colleague Vladyskav, who was killed in a Russian strike at Kharkiv.

.... pic.twitter.com/kyDLMkZWUn  Illia Ponomarenko  (@IAPonomarenko) April 4, 2024

11:08 AM BST

Czech Republic pledges tens of millions for Ukraine ammunition initiative

The Czech Republic will donate tens of millions of euros to an initiative it is leading to buy hundreds of thousands of artillery ammunition rounds for Ukraine, prime minister Petr Fiala said.

Mr Fiala said that the Czech contribution would be in the higher hundreds of millions of crowns, which equals low tens of millions of pounds. This roughly corresponds to the share that a country of our size and prosperity should put in, he said.

The Czechs, through a team of government officials and private companies, have sought at least 800,000 large-calibre ammunition rounds from 18 countries around the world, with first deliveries to Ukraine expected by June. Germany has pledged the highest contribution so far: 576 million euros for 180,000 artillery rounds.

Czech officials have said the number is not final, and there is more ammunition available globally if more funding can be secured.

10:30 AM BST

Zelensky slams despicable and cynical attack on Kharkiv

A strike on Kharkiv, just an ordinary apartment building. With three Shaheds. A despicable and cynical attack, when the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists attacked again.



As a result of the attack, 4 people were killed. Among them were our rescuers: pic.twitter.com/SgIKCdxG0U  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 4, 2024

10:14 AM BST

Russian double-tap strike kills five in Kharkiv

At least five people have been killed and 12 others injured in a Russian double-tap strike in Kharkiv, the regional governor has said.

Three rescue workers were among those killed when Russia struck a multistorey building that had already been damaged in an earlier drone strike, in what is known as a double-tap attack, Oleh Syniehubov added.

Six people were wounded at that location, while another multi-story building was hit by a drone, killing a 69-year-old woman, local officials reported. The remaining injuries were caused by missile strikes and shelling elsewhere in in the war-torn region, with 15 Russian drones recorded in total, Mr Syniehubov said.



Each manifestation of Russian terror once again proves that the country-terrorist deserves only one thing  a tribunal, Ukraine human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, published on Telegram in response to the attack.

09:59 AM BST

Ukrainian-born US congresswoman says she wont vote for Ukraine aid bill

Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, the only US lawmaker born in Ukraine, said she would not vote for a foreign aid bill that contains more than $60 billion in support for Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

While Ms Spartz, who immigrated to the US in 2000 from a small city in Chrernihiv, did not says she categorically opposes further aid, she emphasized that there is a lack of clarity from President Joe Biden about how the funds are being spent.

I understand the importance of this battle and the implications if Russia is going to prevail, but Im also not very naive. If we dont have proper oversight, we are not going to achieve our goals, Ms Spartz said.

She also supports the idea of Ukraine aid being delivered in the form of a loan, as suggested by House Republicans.

09:35 AM BST

Lord Cameron meets with Ukraines foreign minister in Brussels

I met with @David_Cameron to thank the UK for its unwavering support for Ukraine.



I appreciate the UK's willingness to push for the most ambitious G7 decision on frozen Russian assets. We anticipate significant progress on this issue this year and urge all partners to find pic.twitter.com/2L1IO5tw25  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 3, 2024

09:14 AM BST

350,000 people without power in Kharkiv

Around 350,000 residents have been cut off from power supply in Kharkiv and the surrounding region after an overnight Russian drone attack, Ukraines energy ministry posted on Telegram.

Hourly blackout schedules were used in Kharkiv in the past days - about 100,000 subscribers were cut off, the ministry said. Restrictions were also applied this morning - about 350,000 consumers were disconnected in the city of Kharkiv and the regions of the region.

Last nights strike, which killed at least five, comes after Kharkivs energy structure came under heavy bombardment amid a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraines energy infrastructure that plunged parts of the city into blackout.

Elsewhere in Zaporizhzhia, a high-voltage power line supplying the regions Russian-occupied nuclear power plant has gone down, the management of the plant said.

The reasons for the outage, which had not caused any change in the radiation level, is reportedly being investigated.

08:54 AM BST

Russia bombards Sumy with 46 strikes

Russian forces have attacked Sumy 46 times in 11 separate attacks over the past 24 hours, the regional military administration reported.

Throughout yesterday, Russia pounded the border region with mortar, artillery, drone, grenade launcher, and missile attacks, with the town of Velyka Pysarivka experienced the worst of the strikes as 26 explosions were recorded in the area.

The barrage comes after a Russian missile attack against the village of Krasnopillia killed one and injured two more, including a three-year-old girl.

Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Sumy in recent weeks amid increasing reports of Moscow using destructive glide bombs to target the beleaguered region.

08:27 AM BST

US vote on Ukraine aid still weeks away, say Republican officials

A US House vote on Ukraine aid isnt likely until at least mid-April and possibly later, multiple Republican officials have said.

Speaker Mike Johnson previously said a vote might be held right after Easter but has been delayed further as Mr Johnson searches for ways to assuage opposition from Republican hardliners, the officials reported.

Mr Johnsons team hasnt shared any detailed plan on the aid package with Republican lawmakers and appears not to have settled on what concessions he would insist on from the Biden administration, making it difficult for him to muster support in time for a vote next week, the party officials said.

Ukraine troops have suffered from acute shell hunger in recent months as a $60 billion package of aid remains tied up in US congress amid concerns from Republican lawmakers, swayed by Donald Trump, that the broader bill fails to address concerns over security on the US southern border.

08:11 AM BST

Pictured: Devastation in Kharkiv

A damaged multi-storey building following a Russian drone attack on a residential area of Kharkiv - Reuters

A fire engine is blown to pieces following Russian drone strikes - Reuters

07:44 AM BST

Allies must accept we are in a pre-war world, says Shapps

Nato countries that do not spend two per cent of GDP on defence spending are playing Russian roulette with the Wests future, Grant Shapps has warned, write Ben Riley-Smith and Joe Barnes.

In an article for The Telegraph to mark the military alliances 75th anniversary, the Defence Secretary argued that allies must accept that we are now in a pre-war world.

Last year, just 11 Nato members met its two per cent target, first set almost two decades ago, with France and Germany among the nations that spent less on defence.

That figure is expected to rise to 18 this year, with Paris and Berlin recently announcing that they will hit the target in 2024  but others in the 32-nation alliance have not done so.

Read the full story here.

07:42 AM BST

France defence minister talks to Russian counterpart for first time since 2022

Frances defence minister shared his first phone call in 22 months with his Russian counterpart to signal his countrys willingness to increase communication to battle terrorism after the deadly Moscow attack.

The pair also discussed the war in Ukraine, with Sebastien Lecornu reaffirming French support for Ukraines fight against Russia, the French defence ministry said.

Such high-level contact between a senior Russian official close to Vladimir Putin, and a top minister from a European power, has been rare in the two years since Russias invasion.

Mr Lecornu and Sergei Shoigu last held phone talks in October 2022.

Read the full story here.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Trouble, oh we got trouble, right here in River City!

"With a capital 'T' that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for POOL!"

The central figure in "The Music Man" is Harold Hill, a con man who convinces the naive townsfolk of River City that playing billiards is influencing their young boys into a life of immorality. Once he creates fervor in the community, he pitches the con of starting a band to divert the youths from a life of sin. Upon arranging for the purchase of expensive band uniforms and instruments, he plans to skip town.

Substitute porn for pool, and it looks like state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters is selling a con to Oklahomans. Walters claims our schools are filled with groomers, and libraries full of pornographic books being proffered to our kids by the woke boogeyman. Walters' sales pitch is a solution in search of a problem, which has little to do with getting our schools off rock-bottom status. Even worse, his rhetoric has harmed children, teachers, public schools and our state. Inappropriate books in Oklahoma school libraries is not even a top 10 problem for our bottom 10 schools.

More: Ryan Walters' response to Nex Benedict's death only causes more pain for Oklahoma's LGTBQ+ families | Editorial

Whats Walters selling? Its pretty simple. Hes selling himself to right-wing extremists and unknowing voters in Oklahoma to gain further power on a national stage. His list of priorities are all about speaking engagements, television appearances and riling Oklahomans to promote his brand of politics. The recent news of the Oklahoma State Department of Education spending tax dollars for a consulting firm to garner national TV spots for Walters points to a much different set of priorities than Oklahomans should desire. Putting aside a laundry list of harmful things hes done, Oklahomans deserve to know what is being done to make our schools a better place for students to learn and grow and a place where teachers feel appreciated.

In spite of having approval ratings lower than Joe Biden among Oklahomans, Walters appears to be emboldened by the 17% of our state who think hes doing a good job. Based on his performance and approval ratings, Walters deserves to be removed from office, and seems quite vulnerable to much more serious legal problems. This list of questionable behavior and antics is getting longer by the week. Meanwhile, the state Education Department is in shambles, with almost every key staff member having resigned since Walters took over, little more than one year ago.

While Walters seems to see pornography everywhere he looks, there is no leadership to be found in his administration. Our school superintendents have made it clear he is not in communication with them, and is completely out of touch with whats happening in our schools. In the absence of leadership, our public schools will soon perish. Walters has become the main attraction in this circus, when we should be focusing on how to get our schools back to top 20 status, as was the case just 12 years ago.

More: Legislators, remove Ryan Walters. End his toxic crusade against Oklahoma teachers

It's time for our Republican legislators to realize Ryan Walters is their problem. This affects all of us and will leave a mark on our state for many years to come. Common-sense conservatives need to speak up. Walters has failed on every level to be a leader. There is no strategic plan to help Oklahoma schools prosper, and his rhetoric is making Oklahoma look like a rather backward and unwelcoming place to live. Walters and the ultra-right extremist agenda of his and other legislators will take our state to a place we dont want to go. Oklahoma will be excluded from many future opportunities, by virtue of having the worst schools, being the worst state for women and by being one of the least inclusive states on the map. Walters, and others like him, will be responsible for these looming problems.

This performance will not end well for Oklahoma. Our leaders need to act, and have good reason to do so. The only viable option is a change of leadership at the state Education Department. For Ryan Walters, the music must stop.

Drew Williamson

Drew Williamson, a private wealth adviser, is a lifelong Oklahoman and graduate of Noble Public Schools and Oklahoma City University. He is an advocate for public schools, as a substitute teacher and a former trustee for Teachers Retirement Systems of Oklahoma.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters a problem; Oklahoma education leadership change needed
Authorities on Wednesday closed at least one westbound lane on Highway 50 in West Sacramento after drivers discovered a sinkhole on the freeway.

The sinkhole was found shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday in the far right lane on Highway 50, just east of the Harbor Boulevard on-ramp, according to California Highway Patrol online dispatch records.

The sinkhole was initially reported as a large pothole, before the CHP began receiving reports that the asphalt in the right side of the lane asphalt was failing.

Subsequent reports indicated that the asphalt was crumbling, the roadway was broken away and the lane would need to be closed, according to the CHP.

At least one driver reported the sinkhole indicated their vehicles front passenger-side tire had been blown out after driving over the large hole. The CHP said the westbound lane would have to be closed as crews conducted emergency road repairs.

Shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday, Caltrans urged drivers to watch for slow traffic on the westbound lanes of Highway 50 between Harbor and Jefferson boulevards in West Sacramento. Crews were conducting emergency work there, and there was no estimate for when the work will be completed, Caltrans announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum speaks at the daily police briefing meeting on Friday, April 5, 2024 at Police Law Enforcement Center in Sioux Falls.

Officials with the Sioux Falls Police Department revealed new details about what led to police shooting a man Thursday afternoon near the Cayman Court Assisted Living Facility in the northwest part of the city.

Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum addressed the incident during a Friday morning press conference at the city's Law Enforcement Center downtown.

Thum told media the shooting occurred at about 1:40 p.m. while officers were assisting deputies with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office at a building in the 4100 block of West Cayman Avenue. While inside the building, the man connected with the initial response allegedly threatened officers with two knives, Thum said.

This is the first shooting involving Sioux Falls Police Department officers this year. Before an October 2021 incident that left a man with a knife dead, there had only been eight "officer-involved shootings" in the city since 2004. As of Thursday, there have been a total of 19. Of those, four have involved the death of a person, according to Argus Leader reporting.

Thum did not reveal the nature of the initial call that prompted a police presence, but he said a 42-year-old man was armed with two knives. The incident occurred while other people were inside the building. He did not specify whether the building was the assisted living facility or the building across the street.

"There were other people occupying the building, and so there was a multiple kind of dimension there, as we had one individual, but then other people that had to be moved to safe locations while that was all unfolding," Thum said.

Thum said police made numerous attempts to negotiate with the man to drop the knives he was wielding, but those were unsuccessful.

Officers then used less lethal 40 millimeter sponge-round launchers to force the man's compliance, but this measure was also unsuccessful, Thum said.

Asked why a taser was not used to subdue the man, Thum, speaking generally, said tasers have limitations based on environmental and other factors, and impact launchers can be a more appropriate tool for achieving non-lethal compliance depending on the situation.

"Our officers have access to the 40 millimeter sponge-round launchers, the tasers, pepper sprays and batons," Thum said. "When you have kind of a variety of options to choose from, you can kind of choose what's best for the situation."

Sioux Falls Police Department officers and South Dakota Highway Patrol respond to a developing situation Thursday, April 4, 2024, near Cayman Court Assisted Living Facility in the 4100 block of W. Cayman Street in Sioux Falls.

The man, who is white, then began to move toward the officers while wielding the knives.

Two officers fired at the man, Thum said. The subject was struck at least once and dropped his weapons, and officers began to provide immediate medical aid. The man was then taken to an area hospital for treatment for his injuries. The man's condition was not released, and it's unclear to what extent his injuries may be.

No officers or other individuals were injured during the incident.

Video

Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, a standard measure for the department following all police shootings. The investigation into the shooting has been turned over to the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, a division under the South Dakota Attorney General's Office which handles internal investigations into shootings tied to law enforcement. Names of the officers involved have also not been released.

"The Sioux Falls Police Department is cooperating with the investigation," a Thursday DCI release states. "The DCI will process the crime scene, conduct a forensic examination of all collected evidence, interview officers and witnesses, and review all video cameras from the area."

The evidence includes DCI determining how close the man was to officers at the time of the shooting, department spokesperson Sam Clemens said.

Law enforcement had parts of West Cayman Avenue, North Career Avenue and North Potter Avenue closed off to the public during the incident.

The assisted living facility is part of Southeastern Behavioral HealthCare, but officials with the facility were not immediately available for comment.

"At Cayman Court, adults ages eighteen and up receive compassionate care for severe mental illness. Our staff is always on-site and they're specially trained to support residents," the facility's website states.

Sioux Falls Police Department officers and South Dakota Highway Patrol respond to a developing situation Thursday, April 4, 2024, near Cayman Court Assisted Living Facility in the 4100 block of W. Cayman Street in Sioux Falls.

Yellow crime scene tape was seen blocking off parts of the parking lot and the street in front of the assisted living facility.

DCI will issue a summary of its findings once the investigation is complete, which can take sometimes a month or longer.

"It's important to stress a confrontation like this is not one we desire at all," Thum said. "It really is one we seek to avoid, and we try to use that less lethal option as a way to not have it get to the point where firearms are used when at all feasible."

Thum also enphasized the department has responded more than 400,000 calls under his leadership, the vast majority of which do not end with officers shooting people.

 Argus Leader news director Shelly Conlon contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: 2 Sioux Falls police officers on administrative leave following shooting
What are you, about sixty? Longtime store worker wasnt promoted due to age, suit says

A man regularly worked more than 45 hours a week as a part-time supermarket employee, but his manager refused to promote him to full-time status because of his age, according to a federal lawsuit.

Now, a federal jury has sided with Rodney Martinez and awarded him more than $134,000 after he sued Market Basket, a grocery store chain based in New England, for age discrimination, court records show.

Martinez was 62 when several age-related comments were made toward him as he sought a promotion at Market Basket in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2019, his lawsuit filed in 2022 says.

What are you, about sixty?, Martinezs manager is accused of asking him in July 2019.

Martinez, who worked as a Market Basket produce associate since March 2012, was taken aback by this question, according to the complaint, which says he repeatedly asked the manager about a promotion that year.

Then, his manager stunned him with another question, the complaint says.

He informed Martinez that Market Baskets store director and supervisor had asked: Would (Martinez) agree to step down to part-time status again when he gets too old?, the complaint states.

Months later, a 22-year-old employee was promoted from part-time to full-time  but Martinez never was, the complaint says.

In 2019, 16 employees  13 who were younger than 37 and three who were older than 40  were promoted from part-time to full-time at the Market Basket store in Manchester, a New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights investigation found.

The store has promoted younger employees into full-time positions and passed over older employees, the lawsuit says.

The comments Martinezs manager made to him before he wouldnt promote him are evidence of ageist animus, motive, and direct evidence of age discrimination, the complaint says.

Eventually, different managers promoted Martinez to full-time at another store in the summer of 2022, according to the suit.

Before the promotion, he missed out on the benefits a full-time position provides  including higher pay and bonuses, paid vacation and sick leave, and dental insurance, the complaint says.

The outcome of the case

Following a trial, the jury awarded Martinez $134,749 in back pay and compensatory damages, a judgment filed April 1 shows.

Market Basket is responsible for paying the full amount to Martinez  as well as interest, his attorney, Chad T. Hansen, told McClatchy News on April 4. Martinez is entitled to pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, the judgment shows.

The company also must pay Martinezs attorney fees and costs which will total over $200,000, Hansen said.

We respect the judicial process but are surprised and disappointed by the decision, Market Basket said in a statement to McClatchy News on April 4.

Throughout the trial, there were clear and compelling reasons provided regarding why Mr. Martinez was not promoted sooner, the statement said.

We are currently evaluating whether to take an appeal of the decision, the statement added.

Martinezs lawsuit argued Market Basket violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and the New Hampshire Law Against Discrimination, the complaint shows.

I am very thankful for the judicial process and thankful that the jury was able to figure it out and rule in my favor, Martinez told McClatchy News in a statement.

Before his eventual promotion in 2022, Martinez had filed a discrimination complaint in January 2020, according to his lawsuit.

In August 2022, the New Hampshire Commission on Human Rights found probable cause for discrimination, the complaint says.

The case made its way to New Hampshire Superior Court and rose to federal court, according to the complaint.

In October 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a letter saying Martinez had a right to sue Market Basket, the complaint shows.

Hansen told McClatchy News that over the course of the case, he learned Market Basket lacks an HR department and doesnt notify current employees about open job positions.

The company also doesnt permit current employees to apply for open positions, he said.

Instead, managers discuss potential candidates and then reach out to a single current employee that they choose, Hansen added.

We are hopeful that the jurys verdict will prompt Market Basket to reevaluate its approach to promotions and make changes to prevent discrimination going forward, he said.

Martinez still works for Market Basket full-time following his 2022 promotion, Hansen confirmed.

Walmart kept disabled worker on unpaid leave for 3 years, suit says. Hes owed $70,000

78-year-old employee of the year is fired over her age, stay in hospital, lawsuit says

Company fires woman who wouldnt retire on 65th birthday, suit says. Shes owed $105K

Company refused to hire 49-year-old due to his age, feds say. Now hes owed $90,000
By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump suffered a pair of legal setbacks on Thursday as judges spurned his calls to dismiss criminal charges over the former U.S. president's efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia and his keeping classified records after leaving office.

Separately, one of the Republican presidential candidate's allies, former Justice Department official attorney Jeffrey Clark, faced the risk of disbarment after a Washington panel found he violated some attorney ethics rules in his attempts to enlist the agency to help overturn Trump's loss.

Those cases represent just some of the legal entanglements facing Trump, who has been criminally charged in four cases as he challenges Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election, with the first-ever trial of a sitting or former U.S. president due to get underway in New York on April 15.

"It just shows that everything's moving forward," said Amy Lee Copeland, a former federal prosecutor in Georgia, who noted that progress in many of the cases remains slow.

Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday rejected Trump's argument that the case accusing him of illegally holding onto classified documents should be thrown out on the basis of his argument they were his personal records rather than government property.

Trump had argued that his retention of highly sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in 2021 was authorized under a U.S. law that lets former presidents keep personal records unrelated to their official responsibilities.

Prosecutors in the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith have said the documents relate to U.S. military and intelligence matters, including details about the American nuclear program, and could not be construed as personal.

In an earlier Thursday setback, a Georgia judge rejected Trump's bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state's 2020 election interference case against him, which Trump argued violate his free speech rights.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made "in furtherance of criminal activity" and are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Trump, who has called all four criminal indictments against him politically motivated, still has several pending challenges to the documents case, including arguments that he has presidential immunity from prosecution and that he was selectively targeted by prosecutors.

A lawyer for Trump in the Georgia case said Trump and his co-defendants disagree with the ruling. A Trump campaign spokesperson said the Florida ruling represented Cannon standing up to "intimidation," without providing further detail.

The U.S. Supreme Court late this month will hear arguments in his immunity claim in a federal case in Washington, D.C., related to his attempts to overturn his election defeat.

Trump has delayed trials in three of the four criminal cases. It is unclear if any besides the one in New York will reach a jury before the November election.

TRUMP-APPOINTED JUDGE

In the Florida case, Cannon had expressed skepticism at a March 14 court hearing that the case should be dismissed based on Trump's argument, but said at that time it may have "some force" as a defense at trial. The judge on March 18 then directed the prosecution and defense to propose jury instructions based on two legal scenarios assuming Trump's argument would play a role at trial.

Smith pushed back on that order, which prosecutors argued was based on a flawed premise that the presidential records law is relevant to whether Trump was authorized to keep classified documents.

Cannon responded to that criticism on Thursday, saying her prior order was a "genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties' competing positions."

The judge spurned Smith's demand that she quickly decide whether the personal documents claim will be relevant to the trial, saying making a decision at this stage would be "unprecedented and unjust." Smith has said prosecutors would need time to appeal any such ruling.

Trump on his Truth Social site assailed Smith over his office's criticism of Cannon in its court filing. Trump called Cannon, whom he appointed to the bench, "highly respected."

Trump was not authorized to keep secret information related to U.S. national security after leaving the White House even if he viewed the records as personal, according to prosecutors.

Cannon previously rejected Trump's bid to throw out the central charge against him - violating a portion of a federal law called the Espionage Act concerning willful retention of national security records - based on claims the charge was improperly vague.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Will Dunham, Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)
U.S. Army Huey Crew Chief retrieved damaged aircraft from the jungles of Vietnam

DERBY, Kan. (KSNW)  Carl Woods knows everything there is to know about Hueys. He fell in love flying in them during his days in Vietnam. Today, he dedicates his time to making sure we dont forget the men and women who didnt come home from Vietnam.

The product of tiny LaTour in western Missouri, Woods graduated from Holden High School in 1965. He couldnt find a job in the small town, so he decided to go down to the recruiting office.

First, Woods wants to make something clear:

Im not doing this to bring anything all to myself, he said. I dont want anybody to forget about the 58,479 men and women that didnt come back.

Pratt native served two tours to Vietnam, jumped in the wars largest allied operation

Before Woods was sent to the jungles of Vietnam, he walked into that U.S. Army recruiting office in Holden, Missouri.

The sergeant in the office looked at the young man and said, What do you want to be, boy?

I dont know. I just dont want to be an infantry, Woods said.

Were gonna make you a helicopter mechanic, said the sergeant.

I swear on a stack of bibles, I said, What is a helicopter? because back in those days, you didnt see them flying around or anything like you do today, said Woods.

Thus began Woods training on Huey and Chinook helicopters at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and at Fort Eustis, Virginia.

So my actual MOS in the Army, or my job in the Army, was a flight engineer for a Chinook. So anyway, I was with the 196th. I got orders for Vietnam, and I shipped to Vietnam in September of 1966, recalled Woods.

Woods was deployed as a mechanic and assigned to the 335th Aviation Transportation Company at Dong Ba Thin. Then, he was transferred to the 610 transportation company.

So, the 610 stayed at Dong Ba Thin for about three months, and then the whole unit was transferred to An Khe, Vietnam, which was in the Central Highlands, which was the division headquarters for the 1st Cav. (U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division), said Woods.

It was at An Khe where Woods found his true love.

I love flying in that Huey. So, I took every test flight at the 335th. We did after maintenance. I took every test flight that we did with the 610 after maintenance, said Woods. So, they finally decided, the companies finally decided that I liked to fly. So, they promoted me to crew chief on a Huey.

Courtesy: Carl Woods

Woods primary responsibility for the next 18 months was delivering supplies to forward bases in his Huey, Number 65-10001, or Double Aught One.

The primary role, my role, my ship and the companys role as far as getting into combat situations where we had to go out and retrieve aircraft that had been shot down or failed for mechanical reasons. Because you dont leave with helicopters sitting out in the middle of the jungle, said Woods.

Woods figures he flew over 800 hours in Double Aught One, 253 of those hours were in combat.

I had Double Aught One. She always brought us home, he said.

Sitting in a recliner with an iPad in his hands, Woods looked up the flight records for Double Aught One.

Courtesy: Carl Woods

Checking the crash record, they crashed in 08 of 70. So, they fixed it, shipped it back, and they crashed the damn thing, he said with a laugh.

Woods served for three years. He was discharged in 1968. He says adjusting to civilian life wasnt easy.

It wasnt good. You know, because I dont care, if you go into a combat situation, it affects you for the rest of your life, he said.

When Woods sees pictures of his Huey, Double Aught One, he still gets choked up.

Oh God  Love. Love, he said. She never let me down.

Once Woods came back to the States, he returned to the Kansas City area and worked as a millwright for the Thomas J. Lipton Company in Independence, Missouri, for 21 years. Then he moved to Attica, Kansas, and went to work selling fire trucks and equipment for Danko in Hutchinson for 14 years.

He is also the commander of the American Legion post in Attica.

Marine from Augusta supported Vietnam combat troops from behind the scenes

These days, Woods lives with his wife, Joyce, in Derby. He stays busy in his garage carving wood.

Woods has become so good at his hobby that he teaches a wood carving class through the Derby Rec Center.

One thought Woods left with me is this. He says humans are adaptable. Were products of our environment. He says he never went into a warzone afraid of dying or expecting to die because he was just doing a job.

If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, email KSN reporter Jason Lamb at jason.lamb@ksn.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
A Tri-Cities lawmaker drawn out of her home legislative district last month by a federal judge in Seattle says shes considering everything as she looks forward to the final two years serving in her seat.

And on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined an emergency stay that would have blocked the new map from being used in elections this year. Associate Justice Elena Kagan referred it to the high court, which rejected it without comment.

A lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit will resume, though, with briefs expected in the next couple months, according to reporting from the Washington State Standard.

The legal scramble is a result of the March 15 order by Judge Robert Lasnik, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, in the Trevino v. Palmer case.

Lasnik mandated the use of a new and remedial map after his court determined on Aug. 10 that the redrawn legislative district boundaries made by the Washington Redistricting Commission in 2021 violated the Voting Rights Act and diluted Latino electoral influence in Yakima Valley.

The court ruling and new map have become a lightning rod for Washington state politicians, with Republicans denouncing it as a partisan gerrymander and Democrats blessing the decisions as a benefit to Central Washington Latinos.

Thirteen of Washingtons 49 legislative districts saw changes with the court-appointed map.

And it also had some unintended consequences, too: Five state lawmakers  including state Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco  found their properties and homes drawn out of the districts they represent.

Nikki Torres

In an interview a few days before the Supreme Court denial, Torres told the Tri-City Herald she wasnt planning to make any hasty decisions in response to this legal issue thats been percolating for more than two years.

Im just looking at whats feasible and whats going to work the best for me and my family, said Torres, a Latina.

I wont have a decision this year. Im just going to play it by ear and see what we decide, me and my family. For now, its not feasible to up and do anything crazy, she continued.

Torres was drawn out of Washingtons 15th Legislative District. If she doesnt move, she may have to challenge fellow Republican lawmakers in the 16th Legislative District to remain in Olympia.

Central WAs first Latina senator

The Pasco lawmaker has been one of the most productive freshman senators in the Washington Legislature. Shes also the first Latina senator to ever represent Central Washington, and the only Republican Latina in the Legislature.

She was the primary sponsor on roughly 38 bills in her first two years in the Legislature, working at the state level to address issues related to housing, public safety, the economy and public schools.

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed four of Torres bills into law in the weeks after the 2024 session.

Those include changes, as well as new funds and programs, to help hire more public defenders, especially in rural and underserved communities (SB 5780); expand safety training to include substitute teachers and other temporary school employees (SB 5647); increase per diem days for the states largest fire departments (SB 5925); and streamline government land annexations (SB 5885).

She is someone who can work in a bipartisan fashion, said Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, in an email.

Salomon serves as vice chair of the Local Government, Land Use and Tribal Affairs Committee, where Torres also serves as a ranking member.

She worked to pass a bill to get more public defenders to work on the east side of the mountains. That is a bipartisan issues, he continued.

Since coming into office, Torres has tried to pass a bill that would require state agencies to clearly identify programs and services that can be utilized by undocumented children whose families immigrated to the U.S., also known as the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA).

A U.S. District Court judge on Friday, March 15, ordered the Washington Secretary of State to use a new map for state elections that included significant changes to the Yakima Valley and Tri-Cities. The new map creates legislative districts for more Latino voters to elect candidates of their choice, but also unseats one of the most productive freshman lawmakers in Washington, state Sen. Nikki Torres, a Republican from Pasco.

A comparison of the old legislative map, left, and the new.

When I used to work for the (Tri-Cities) Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I used to meet with groups. One of the groups I met with included a couple students, young adults. They mentioned, Were DACA recipients. We cant get professional licenses, Torres said.

She describes the bill, SB 5631, as a government efficiency bill that lends a hand to Washingtons 30,000 DACA recipients.

Torres said shes intentional about introducing sensible, bi-partisan bills that benefit everyday Washingtonians and helps keep workers and residents safer.

Shes a first-generation American whose family came from Mexico without documentation, and she grew up in a family of agriculture workers.

I have a lot of family here and cousins. Some are DACA and some are born here. Just having that representation, too, I think thats what really pushed me to run for the (the Legislature), she said.

Pending any substantial legal changes, Torres will be allowed to serve out the rest of her term, which expires at the end of 2026, as Senator of Washingtons 15th Legislative District.

Her priorities over the next two years include changes to child care, combating human trafficking, seeing what comes of the state Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force, and continuing work to retain and recruit public defenders.

U.S. Supreme Court request

Although Democrat-appointed state redistricting commissioners turned down an opportunity by the U.S. District Court to reconvene and draw up a more fair map, Torres said she still believes the bi-partisan redistricting model remains the best method that Washington can use to redraw its boundaries every 10 years after the U.S. census.

It provides transparency and it gives people from both sides (the opportunity) to choose members who can be part of that committee, she said, adding that it tapers expectations from outside special interest groups.

But she argues Judge Lasniks map disenfranchises Hispanics while helping Washington Democrats make gains in Central Washington.

The judges new map swaps Latino voters and Democratic voters between the 14th and 15th Legislative Districts, giving Democrats a new 15-point advantage in the 14th. Additionally, the percent of Hispanic voting age population in Torres district, the 15th, dropped by 38 points to create a new majority-minority district in the 14th.

The Latino community of interest that stretches from east Yakima, through the smaller Latino population centers along the Yakima River, to Pasco is unified in a single legislative district, Lasnik asserted in his March 15 order.

... the new configuration provides Latino voters with an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the state Legislature, especially with the shift into an even-numbered district, which ensures that state Senate elections will fall on a presidential year when Latino voter turnout is generally higher, he continued.

In the emergency stay request filed to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys representing Jose Trevino, Ismael Campos and state Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, described the states new 14th as an octopus slithering along the ocean floor with its tentacles strewn about.

The attorneys also included details of Torres 2022 general election victory as an example that Latinos could handily win the district  she trounced an opponent in a 36-point landslide to earn her first term.
A sizable list of US academics is urging President Joe Biden to take a firmer stance against Iran and come out in support of democratic resistance aimed at overthrowing the countrys autocratic government in response to the chaos enveloping much of the Middle East after 7 October.

The date, which marked a deadly attack by Hamas militants against civilian and military targets in Israel, has also come to signify the beginning of a new era for the Middle East which has been thrown into disarray by the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip. Violence stemming from the conflict has already spread to nearby Jordan and Lebanon, while in the Red Sea militants linked to Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked merchant ships bound for Israel and other vessels including US warships.

Several of the militant groups on the edge of being drawn into the fighting including the Houthis and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon are thought to be supported tactically and financially by Tehran, a factor the US once tried to mitigate through the now-abandoned 2015 nuclear accord. Now, with little cooperation between the US and Iran to speak of, many groups backed by Iran remain in a sort of soft conflict with the West.

This week, a group of US academics including some with Iranian-American backgrounds re-issued a letter to the US president urging him to formally support democratic resistance movements within Iran and cease efforts to appease the regime in Tehran through diplomatic means. Some Iran hawks with allies in the former Trump administration have pushed for such a policy to be the official course pursued by the US for years, arguing that Washington should follow a path of maximum pressure including sanctions against the Iranian government and support for popular movements holding the stated goal of overthrowing it.

Originally put together over 2022-2023, the letter was re-issued to the president this week with a larger number of signatories (more than 4,400) in response to the carnage that has developed over the region since October. More than 30,000 people have died just in Gaza, the majority as a result of Israeli strikes, since the initial Hamas attack.

Those same groups, including the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), state their opposition to direct US involvement in regime change.

The Middle East is at an inflection point. Unfortunately, the current policies are only obstacles to the noble cause of the people of Iran. At this critical juncture, the United States must instead choose to stand with them and adopt an unyielding policy of firmness and decisiveness against the mullahs, the letter to the president reads.

We assert that the real power to sever the heads of the snake in Tehran and bring about a just peace to the Middle East lies with the Iranian people, it continues.

It would be a risky course for the US and the State Department, which remains stung by the failure under Barack Obama of the Syrian democratic resistance forces to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, the authoritarian leader of that country who remains in power after a bloody civil war tore apart his country and being accused of war crimes at the international level.

My colleagues and I from across the United States are advocating for a decisive stance on Tehrans regime. To date, US policies have not achieved a peaceful and prosperous Middle East. The time for a change in policy towards Iran, addressing the head of the snake in Tehran, is long overdue, Kazem Kazerounian, the dean of the school of engineering at the University of Connecticut who spearheaded the recent effort, told The Independent.

The US public also remains heavily sceptical of any sustained military involvement in the Middle East following the controversial and messy withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, which came as the country was retaken by Taliban forces after two decades of fighting. Many Americans question whether a more direct approach against Iran would inevitably draw the US into a military conflict.

In the months before Hamass deadly attack last fall, US officials were thought to be continuing informal talks with representatives of Irans government around the issues of Tehrans nuclear programme and support of militant groups. However, State Department officials have acknowledged that there remains little political will to resume any kind of formal negotiations amid the renewed conflict in the region.
ACCRA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President William Ruto has called for the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote technology as a key driver of free trade in Africa.

Ruto made this call on Wednesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the AfCFTA secretariat in Accra, the capital of Ghana, saying technology would accelerate the realization of the goals of AfCFTA and create prosperity that leaves nobody behind and shared prosperity that brings on board the majority of the people.

"Technology is going to dictate the pace at which we move our goods, our services, our products, and our progress," the Kenyan president stressed.

"I want to encourage the AfCFTA to work with each of the agencies of the African Union in leveraging technology to accelerate the movement of goods and services across our countries and accelerate progress in all other fields," Ruto said.

Ruto pledged to work hand-in-hand with Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to build the necessary financial ecosystem to support trade, investment, and business in Africa.

Welcoming President Ruto, AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene said the continental free trade agreement presents Africa with an unprecedented opportunity to break the legacy of colonialism.

Mene said that despite the achievements over the past four years, there is a lot more to do to accelerate the implementation of free trade on the continent.

He lauded Kenya for being one of the countries playing the leading advocacy roles for the successful implementation of the AfCFTA and being one of the first countries to trade under the AfCFTA-guided trade initiative, exporting value-added products to Ghana, Nigeria, and other African countries. 
Police are warning Charlotte commuters to anticipate traffic delays and road closures Thursday afternoon because of Vice President Kamala Harris visit.

According to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police alert, uptown and southeast Charlotte will be impacted by the closures and delays, as well as roads near Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

This is Harris second visit to the city in two weeks as the Biden-Harris administration ramps up its re-election campaign in North Carolina. Former president Donald Trump won North Carolina in 2016 and again in 2020 despite losing that contest to President Joe Biden.

On Thursday, Harris is scheduled to make an announcement about investments in climate action by the administration and speak at a campaign reception.

The vice president is scheduled to depart from Charlotte Douglas for Washington around 5:15 p.m.

CMPD spokesperson Michael Allinger said the delays should clear up by 5 p.m. or 6 p.m.

TRAFFIC ALERT

Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting Charlotte today. Expect temporary road closures and traffic detours this afternoon in southeast Charlotte and in Uptown. Motorists can also expect traffic delays near Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Please pic.twitter.com/uVdFXH7cpB  CMPD News (@CMPD) April 4, 2024
Humanitarian food charity World Central Kitchen has called for an independent investigation into the Israeli air strike that killed seven of its aid workers, including three British nationals, in Gaza on Monday.

WCK issued a statement on Thursday morning calling for the governments of Australia, Canada, the US, the UK and Poland  the countries from which six of the workers hailed  to join a third-party investigation into the drone bombardment on the charitys convoy.

The investigation must establish whether [the drone strikes] were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The charity has said seven of its workers, including a Palestinian driver, were killed by a sustained drone barrage against their marked convoy, after unloading 100 tonnes of food aid from a barge on 1 April.

The victims include British nationals John Chapman, 57, James Jim Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

The killings have drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders, including rare and forthright criticism of Israel from US president Joe Biden, who said he was outraged and heartbroken and accused his ally of not doing enough to protect aid workers.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog has apologised for the deaths and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was unintended and tragic while pledging an inquiry.

The charity said it has asked the Israeli government to immediately keep all the records, including documents, communications, and video and audio recordings relevant to the strikes.

A Palestinian man rides a bicycle past a damaged vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip on 2 April 2024 (REUTERS)

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers, the statement added.

The joint statement by chief executive Erin Gore and executive co-chairman Javier Garcia said the Israeli Defence Forces killed seven humanitarian aid workers employed by the WCK.

The aid workers killed were nationals of Australia, Canada/US (dual citizen), Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom, it said.

Undated handout photo issued by World Central Kitchen of Briton James "Jim" Henderson, one of the World Central Kitchen seven aid workers who were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Issue date: Wednesday 3 April 2024 (World Central Kitchen/WCK.org/PA Wire)

Israel has admitted to the killings but called it a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants and something that happens in war, the statement noted.

The three vehicles which were carrying the civilians were clearly marked with WCK logos and targeted with multiple strikes, it said.

A vehicle damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, 2 April 2024 (REUTERS)

Their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission, they said.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak has demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation into the killings in Gaza.

Downing Street said Mr Sunak spoke to Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday evening and conveyed that he was appalled by the drone strike. The prime minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable, it said.

Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, 2 April 2024 (AP)

Mr Biden, who has been criticised for providing American military, financial and diplomatic support to Mr Netanyahu throughout Israels military campaign in Gaza, said: The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties.

It comes as the US and the UK governments are under intense pressure to suspend arms sales to Israel.

More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court justices, have signed a letter to demand that the British government cut off defence exports to Israel amid the war in Gaza. The letter said the government risks breaching international law by continuing to allow the export of weapons.

Britain is accused of being complicit in the strike following claims by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) that weapons used in the attack were powered by UK-made engines. It said the Israeli army struck the convoy with a Hermes 450 drone  known as a Zik drone in Israel  which could have been powered by a British component.

The remains of six foreign WCK workers have been transported to Egypt for repatriation, while their 25-year-old Palestinian colleague was laid to rest in his hometown of Rafah, located in southern Gaza, on Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra is inviting high school students across Iowas 4th Congressional District to submit artwork for the 2024 Congressional Art Competition.

The competition is conducted by members of the U.S. House of Representatives to encourage students from across the country to express their artistic talents, according to a news release.

A winner will have the opportunity to attend a congressional reception honoring artwork from across the country in Washington, D.C. The winner will also have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Three runners-up will have their artwork displayed in Feenstras district offices in Sioux City, Fort Dodge and Council Bluffs.

The Congressional Art Competition is a great opportunity for students to showcase their artistic talents and compete for a chance to have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol or one of my three offices across the district, Feenstra said in the release. I encourage students across the 4th Congressional District to participate and have fun with this contest.

Artwork will be judged based on originality, concept, technique, creativity and the artist's representation of the 4th District.

Find instructions and rules at tinyurl.com/4thartrules. Entries must include a release form available at tinyurl.com/4thartform.

Mail submissions to Congressman Randy Feenstra, 723 Central Ave., Fort Dodge, IA 50501.

Submissions may also be made by emailing a minimum of two pictures of the artwork to Geo Marcial at Geornalier.Marcial@mail.house.gov. Submitted artwork photos must be clear and taken from multiple angles. Photos should be in a well-lit environment without stands.

Submissions are due Sunday, April 28, by 5 p.m.
Iowa PBS's new series "Road Trip Iowa" takes viewers on an adventure across Iowa's scenic byways, showcasing the historic sites, unique attractions and natural beauty along the way.

This new, weekly travel show is running Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. with rebroadcasts Saturdays at 9 a.m. and on-demand streaming at iowapbs.org and the PBS app, according to a news release.

Each 30-minute episode features businesses, towns and landscapes along the byways of Iowa. Viewers will venture to the Mines of Spain in Dubuque, the Banner Lakes at Summerset State Park, the Salt and Pepper Shaker Gallery in Traer and other destinations around the state.

"Road Trip Iowa is designed for Iowans who enjoy taking the scenic route. We're inviting viewers to get off the interstate and discover the rewards found along the longer path," Tyler Brinegar, Iowa PBS senior producer and director, said in the release. "It contains a mix of the small towns that made Iowa what it is today as well as the natural wonders that were here long before us."

Iowa PBS will host three trivia nights to celebrate the launch of the series, including an event Friday, May 10, in Harlan. Advanced registration is required. The top three teams at each event will be awarded prizes intended to inspire their own Iowa road trip.
Food security outlook has been seriously undermined in southern Africa due to the disastrous impact of the El Nino weather, which triggered extreme droughts and heatwaves that destroyed crops.

Zimbabwe is on the brink of declaring a drought emergency, following the example of neighboring Zambia and Malawi.

Water shortage in Africas south means millions risk facing hunger in countries that have been already suffering from weak food security apparatus.

The World Food Program has warned that February was the driest month for a huge area stretching from the Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana border.

Farmers in this area rely on rain to grow staples such as maize. Their way of life is now threatened by the severe drought which could trigger migrations and worsen poverty.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said that almost half of the two million hectares of his countrys staple corn crop have been destroyed.
RIGA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The total amount of aid pledged by Latvia to Ukraine will reach 850 million euros (923 million U.S. dollars) this year, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said here on Thursday.

At a news conference after a meeting with visiting Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Silina said that in 2024, Latvia's assistance to Ukraine will exceed 200 million euros.

"Latvia is determined to provide such annual support also in 2025 and 2026," the Latvian prime minister said.

During Shmyhal's visit to Riga, the two leaders also discussed the rebuilding of Ukraine, and its accession to the European Union (EU).

While in Riga, Shmyhal also met with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who assured Shmyhal of Latvia's support for opening EU accession negotiations with Ukraine as soon as possible. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollar) 
Botswanas President strongly protested against a German plan to restrict imports of hunting trophies from the African country.

Germany raised sustainability and poaching concern for its hunting trophy restrictions.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi responded to the decision saying he would send 20,000 elephants as a gift to Germany, complaining of an over elephant population.

It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world, he told German Daily Bild.

He argued that hunting was a means to ensure the animal population was in control, and that conservation efforts made Botswana home to the worlds largest elephant population.

With some 130,000 elephants, Botswana had already offered 8000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique.

Botswana had banned hunting trophies in 2014, but backtracked on the decision under pressure from local population complaining that a growing number of elephants were damaging their crops and property.
The U.S. government has decided to finance economic empowerment projects in the Moroccan Saharan cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, confirming Washingtons recognition of Moroccos sovereignty over its entire Saharan territory.

An estimated total budget of $1.5 million has been earmarked for projects seeking to improve employment, labor, and training in the two Moroccan Saharan cities.

According to the American embassy in Rabat, the U.S. grants will support activities targeting women, youth, and People with Disabilities (PWD). The beneficiaries will receive soft job skills and entrepreneurship training.

Eligible projects will benefit from funding of up $500,000 within the frame of the Middle East Partnership Initiative. The U.S. program seeks to support civil society in the Dakhla and Laayoune regions by developing the professional skills of the participants.

It also aims to help create the economic conditions enabling associations and businesses to organize and improve performance, income, gender equity, and productivity.

For its part, France has decided to invest in the Moroccan Sahara, a move that implies Paris recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.

The French decision comes after seeing Spain, Germany and other European countries strengthening their economic and political partnership with the North African Kingdom, a gateway for investment in Africa and a competitive industrial hub for exports.
Ghana, the worlds second-largest cocoa producer, considers doubling farmgate price of the crop to combat smuggling amid a global shortage, as the countrys share of the whole sale market price shrinks to 16% from 44% in mid last year.

The Ghana Cocoa Board and the countrys government are reportedly muling a significant increase  potentially by 50-100%  in the farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers, aiming to curb the smuggling of cocoa beans to neighboring countries, where farmers can fetch higher prices. If approved by the government, this would follow a previous 63.5% increase to 20,928 cedis ($1,567) a ton at the start of the main crop season in September. Ghanas decision to increase the farmgate cocoa price may also be influenced by Ivory Coasts recent 50% pay hike for its cocoa farmers amidst a global shortage of the crop.

Cocoa futures in New York have more than doubled this year, driven by a global cocoa shortage, exacerbated by adverse weather conditions and disease affecting African output. These soaring prices have significantly shrunk the share of the wholesale market price received by Ghanaian farmers to 16% from 44% seven months ago. Long the worlds undisputed cocoa powerhouses, accounting for more than 60% of global supply, Ghana and its neighbor Ivory Coast are both facing catastrophic harvests this season, driven by a perfect storm of challenges, including climate change, rampant illegal gold mining, sector mismanagement and rapidly spreading disease is to blame.
Angered by a proposal in Berlin to restrict the import of hunting trophies, Botswanas President Mokgweetsi Masisi has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany, claiming that, contrary to some misconceptions in Europe, an explosion in the number of the mammals roaming his country has produced a plague.

In comments published by German tabloid Bild on Wednesday (3 April), Botswanas president offered to send the animals as a gift to Berlin, saying Germans should try to live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to. The African leaders comments came in response to a proposal earlier this year by Germanys environment ministry, headed up by Steffi Lemke of the Green party, which raised the possibility of stricter limits on the import of hunting trophies due to poaching concerns. President Masisi thus criticized the German government for seeking to ban the import of trophies despite Botswanas overpopulation of elephants.

To tackle the countrys overpopulation of the elephants whose population has grown to some 130,000 animals due to successful conservation efforts, Botswana has already offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique, Masisi noted. It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world  and even for Lemkes (Green) party, the president said, adding that the latter could learn to cohabitate with elephants without hunting them. The southern African nation banned trophy hunting in 2014 to help declining elephant numbers recover from poaching and shrinking habitats, but the ban was scrapped in 2019 after pressure from local communities, and Botswana now issues annual hunting quotas.
Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

During their first phone call since Israeli forces killed seven members of a food-aid group, President Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was unacceptable and said Israel needed to implement concrete steps to protect civilians and ease humanitarian suffering. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, per a White House readout of the call. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.

The president has been facing increasingly intense pressure to limit military aid to Israel, and it has recently come from allies who are usually aligned with him on the issue.

During an interview Thursday, CNNs Sara Sidner asked Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, one of Bidens top congressional allies, when the administrations policy will change and whether he personally supported placing conditions on aid to Israel.

I think were at that point, he said. If Netanyahu were to order the IDF into the city of Rafah without allowing humanitarian aid, Coons said, he would vote to condition aid to Israel.

Coons raised the possibility of such conditions back in February, but his words took on greater significance after Israeli forces killed seven aid workers who were part of chef Jose Andress World Central Kitchen. Israel has maintained that the strike was unintentional and said it was conducting an investigation into what happened.

Senator Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish official and a consistent supporter of Israel, singled out Netanyahu in a floor speech last month, calling him an obstacle to peace. He even called upon Israel to hold elections to find new leadership.

And two Democratic members havent officially signed off on a deal that would provide military planes to Israel. According to the New York Times, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York havent yet given their approval of the $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets while their Republican counterparts on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees have.

Some influential foreign-policy voices outside of government are also expressing concerns. Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and a veteran diplomat who served in both Bush administrations, criticized Bidens approach in Israel and supported the idea of sanctions. At some point, the words become empty, he said during an interview on MSNBC.

Biden has expressed frustration with Israels actions in recent weeks. In a statement following the killing of the aid workers, Biden said he was outraged and heartbroken and appeared to call out Israel for not doing enough to protect civilians in Gaza. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult  because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians, he said. Incidents like yesterdays simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians.

But the Washington Post reported that the administration approved the transfer of more bombs to Israel on the same day as the air strike on the aid convoy, though the authorization came before the attack.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated Bidens words to Netanyahu on the potential changes to the administrations Gaza policy if Israel doesnt do more to protect civilians. If we dont see changes from their side there will have to be changes from our side, he told reporters Thursday.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP

In one of the less surprising developments of the political year, the nonpartisan No Labels organization is abandoning its plans to run a presidential unity ticket in November. The group confirmed the news via a statement emailed out on April 4:

Today, No Labels is ending our effort to put forth a Unity ticket in the 2024 presidential election.

Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before. But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.

The statement was probably triggered by a report from The Wall Street Journal:

Nancy Jacobson, No Labels founder and CEO, told allies this week that the group would announce Monday that it wont pursue a presidential campaign this year because it hasnt been able to recruit a credible ticket that could win the election, the people said.

Jacobson told supporters that the organization had reached out to 30 potential candidates during its process.

The precise number of rejections No Labels encountered is both newsy and embarrassing. The procession of high-to-medium-profile politicians publicly expressing a lack of interest in joining the unity ticket had become a regular drumbeat in recent weeks. My own running list of announced No Labels no-thank-yous included Larry Hogan, Joe Manchin, Liz Cheney, Nikki Haley, Deval Patrick, Brian Kemp, Chris Sununu, Chris Christie, Geoff Duncan, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman. I may have missed a few; NBC News indicated recently that the organization had fruitlessly gone well off-road in the search for a presidential candidate:

Well-known non-politicians like businessman Mark Cuban and retired Navy Adm. William McRaven did not reciprocate interest from No Labels, either. No Labels search has gone far and wide  it even tried to make overtures to Dwayne The Rock Johnson.

Its easy to mock No Labels for its fecklessness, but the group did make good on its promise to bag the whole thing if it could not identify a ticket positioned to actually win 270 electoral votes. Polls consistently showed that the idea of a unity ticket was more popular than an actual unity ticket, so it made sense that as the group proceeded down its wish list of candidates, the weak case for the whole enterprise would begin to vanish. In the end, the intense pressure the groups leadership was under to avoid a spoiler scenario that could help Donald Trump get back into the White House despite a weak popular-vote performance was a crucial factor in the No Labels No Go decision. The late No Labels leader Joe Lieberman consistently said that the last thing Id ever want to be part of is bringing Donald Trump back to the Oval Office. He can now rest in peace in the certainty that wont happen, and Joe Bidens team also has one less major problem to address.

No Labels retires from the 2024 field having achieved ballot access in 19 states. That accomplishment will be looked on enviously by remaining non-major-party candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein. It remains to be seen if the perennial fantasy of a centrist third party  or as No Labels insisted it represented, a centrist bipartisan effort to force the major parties to work together  will live on.
Donald Trump is almost totally immune to human suffering. But he is surprisingly affected by images of buildings collapsing. In an interview with Republican apparatchik Hugh Hewitt, Trump responds to questions about Israel by complaining, Theyre releasing the most heinous, most horrible tapes of buildings falling down.

At no point in the interview does Trump refer to images of Palestinian people dying or starving. It is the damage to the buildings that unsettles him.

Trump made a similar comment about Ukraine earlier this year, saying, People are killed and culture is destroyed. You will never be able to replace thousand-year-old buildings with the most beautiful golden domes and churches  now its all just collapsed. This sentence does briefly refer to human death, but Trump zooms past it to linger on the harm to the structures.

Trumps inability to muster genuine feelings about pain experienced by other people  with the partial exception of people suffering because they helped him  is a consequence of his undiagnosed narcissistic sociopathy. But it is slightly mitigated by his legacy as a developer, which has left him sensitive to the loss of commercial and residential assets. (Perhaps too much attention is paid to the possibility Trump will start a nuclear war, and too little to the possibility he would deploy a neutron bomb.)

The interview is otherwise notable for a handful of reasons. Hewitt twice prods Trump to say he is 100 percent with Israel, but Trump declines to repeat the line Hewitt feeds him. (Trump has likely noticed that left-wing protesters are taking a chunk out of Joe Bidens vote total and understands that refusing to be pinned down on the issue makes for better politics  which is not to say he will alter his Likudnik policy agenda if he wins.)

Asked whom he will choose as vice-president, Trump deflects the question to go on his umpteenth rant about how the election was stolen from him, to which Hewitt concurs:

Trump:  Will they do it again, meaning cheat? And that ones a simple one. Theyre going to try like hell. And we think weve got them checkmated, but well see what happens. But its a disgrace. One way you win is if you just swamp them, you know? You swamp them, theres nothing they can do. And thats what I think is going to happen with this election.

Hewitt: Well, that was the title of a book I wrote 20 years ago. If Its Not Close, They Cant Cheat. So just dont make it close.

Hewitt did, indeed, write a book by that title. It is a reminder that Trumps deranged claims of a stolen election did not spring fully formed from his own brain, but were nurtured in a soil cultivated by respectable Republicans who spread lies for years that Democrats routinely engage in wide-scale undetected vote fraud. Trumps innovation was to believe and act on the lie rather than merely use it as agitprop to justify vote-suppression measures.

And then, when asked about debating Biden, Trump insisted the president had been on cocaine when he delivered the State of the Union address:

Trump: I dont think so, but I hope he does. I think what happened is, you know, that white stuff that they happened to find, which happened to be cocaine in the White House, I dont know, I think somethings going on there, because I watched this State of the Union, and he was all jacked up at the beginning. By the end, he was fading fast. Theres something going on there. I want to debate. And I think debates, with him, at least, should be drug-tested. I want a drug test.

Hewitt: Mr. President, are you suggesting President Bidens using cocaine?

Trump: I dont know what hes using, but that was not, hey, he was higher than a kite. And by the way, it was the worst, it was the worst address Ive ever seen, the State of the Nation. Ill tell you, State of the Union, thats not State of the Union, because he doesnt represent us properly. That, I can tell you. But hes obviously, hes being helped some way, because most of the time, he looks like hes falling asleep. And all of a sudden, he walked up there and did a poor job. But he was all jacked up.

Cocaine is the explanation Republicans gave for how a man they claimed was in a state of advanced dementia delivered a vigorous performance. It is interesting to see that this is where Trumps mind went immediately when presented with a question about debating. Trump insists he will debate Biden because Biden is unable to stand erect and speak English. But he is already supplying excuses for when this fails to occur.
Zimbabwe has joined Zambia and Malawi in declaring a state of disaster over a devastating drought sweeping across much of southern Africa.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa made the emergency declaration in a speech on Wednesday and called for two billion dollars (1.6bn) in humanitarian aid.

He said more than 80% of the country had received "below-normal rainfall" due to an "El Nino-induced drought".

El Nino is a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific Ocean every two to seven years.

While it has varied effects on the world's weather, in southern Africa it typically causes below-average rainfall.

However, this year has seen the worst drought in decades, with El Nino amplifying the impacts of human-induced climate change, according to experts.

A delayed start to the rainy season, followed by general low rainfall, has devastated harvests in large parts of southern Africa, and, according to humanitarian groups, left millions of people in need of food assistance.

An estimated nine million people have been impacted by the drought in Malawi, along with more than six million in Zambia, UNICEF said.

Both countries declared a state of emergency last month.

Mr Mnangagwa said the top priority of the government of Zimbabwe - a country home to more than 15 million people - was to "secure food for all Zimbabweans".

"No Zimbabwean must succumb to, or die from, hunger," he said.

He appealed to United Nations agencies, local businesses and faith organisations to contribute towards humanitarian assistance.

Approximately 2.7 million people are at risk of hunger in Zimbabwe, according to aid groups.

Read more from Sky News:

At least 100 elephants die in national park amid drought

Fast-fashion firms sign agreement after greenwashing concerns

In Zimbabwe, the United Nations' World Food Programme has already rolled out a food assistance programme targeting those at risk from January to March.

More than 60% of the population in Zimbabwe live in rural areas, growing the food they eat, and sometimes small surpluses that can be sold to cover expenses such as school fees.

Mr Mnangagwa's declaration will open the way for aid agencies to mobilise international support for more aid, but many people may still fail to get assistance, which is likely to be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - the US government's foreign aid agency - has estimated through its Famine Early Warning Systems Network that 20 million people in southern Africa needed food relief between January and March.

These needs could extend into early 2025 for many people in areas of highest concern such as Zimbabwe, southern Malawi, parts of Mozambique and southern Madagascar because of El Nino, USAID said.
A UN Security Council briefing on the situation of Rakhine State of Myanmar is held at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 4, 2024. China on Thursday pledged to continue to play "a constructive role" in stabilizing the situation on the ground as soon as possible in Myanmar's Rakhine State, amidst the recent renewal of fighting. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday pledged to continue to play "a constructive role" in stabilizing the situation on the ground as soon as possible in Myanmar's Rakhine State, amidst the recent renewal of fighting.

Addressing the UN Security Council briefing on the situation of Rakhine State of Myanmar, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, detailed China's stance on the ongoing conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

With recent escalations drawing international concern, Geng emphasized the conflict as Myanmar's internal affair, urging the global community to respect Myanmar's sovereignty and facilitate dialogue among the involved parties.

"As a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, China has been closely following the developments in the Rakhine State," Geng stated, highlighting China's dedication to promoting peace through "multiple channels."

A Chinese delegation is currently in Myanmar to mediate and communicate, demonstrating China's proactive approach to resolving the conflict, said the ambassador.

Geng reiterated China's deep connection with Myanmar and its commitment to supporting Myanmar's stability, development, and well-being. "China's policy of friendship with Myanmar extends to all people of Myanmar," he affirmed, promising continued assistance and "a constructive role" in seeking a peaceful resolution to the crisis in the Rakhine State.

The ambassador expressed appreciation for Bangladesh's support to refugees from the Rakhine State since 2017.

Recognizing the challenges in repatriation exacerbated by the conflict's resurgence, Geng praised the foundational work by Myanmar and Bangladesh, supported by regional countries and the UN, to facilitate the return of displaced individuals.

"China has been actively undertaking diplomatic efforts to facilitate repatriation," Geng mentioned, reaffirming China's commitment to assist both nations in achieving an early resolution to the repatriation issue.

Highlighting China's long-standing relationship with both Myanmar and Bangladesh, Geng voiced opposition to proposed sanctions on Myanmar, arguing they would "only aggravate hostilities and confrontation." Instead, he advocated for dialogue, mutual understanding, and trust-building measures to create a conducive environment for repatriation and conflict resolution.

Geng also pointed out the essential role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the process, commending its positive progress in engaging Myanmar and providing humanitarian aid.

He urged continued international support for ASEAN's leadership, emphasizing respect for the "ASEAN way" of solidarity and dialogue. 
End Users Rally Behind Global Lifting Awareness Day 2024 Campaign

The annual observance takes place on July 18, 2024.

End users of lifting equipment are rallying behind the #GLAD2024 campaign, taking place on Thursday, July 18, 2024. Organized by the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), #GLAD2024 aims to promote safe load-lifting practices worldwide.





According to a recent release, the campaignwhich includes social media posts, videos, articles and in-person activitiesurges industries that heavily rely on lifting equipment to join forces in support of this global initiative. Moreso than in previous years, LEEA emphasizes that end users, such as crane operators, riggers and construction workers, too carry a responsibility for promoting safe lifting practices.





To take GLAD from an idea to a globally recognised movement required us to garner support from major stakeholders in our industry, many of which are LEEA members and long-time collaborators, LEEA CEO Ross Moloney said in a statement. Empowered by their support, and that of fellow trade authorities, media, and a select group of users, we must now energize more people with lifting equipment in their hands and on their person, as well as those responsible for sourcing it.





As part of the campaign, LEEA has launched new promotional graphics with slogans emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between the lifting industry and end users. The campaign also focuses on promoting skills development, employment and diversity within the industry. Industry representatives are encouraged to share their content using the #GLAD2024 hashtag, which will be featured on the campaign website.





Celebrate Global Lifting Awareness Day on July 18 by joining the #GLAD2024 campaign and promoting safe lifting practices.
Back in 2022, two insurance majors said they would reduce the amount of business they do with Big Oil. Allianz and Swiss Re both motivated the move with their net-zero efforts that they wanted to extend to their clients if they wanted to continue being their clients.

One would think this could be a pretty effective strategy to get oil companies to become cleaner, but climate activists disagree. For them, what the insurance industry is doing is not enough. So they're staging protests to force more radical change: a complete drop of oil and gas companies by the insurers.

Euronews called insurance "the Achilles heel of the fossil fuel industry" back in February, citing an Extinction Rebellion activist as the radical climate group staged a week-long push against insurers to stop insuring oil and gas projects.

"If fossil fuel companies have no insurance for their massive projects, the entire financial risk falls on their shoulders, so if something goes wrong, they are liable for whatever happens," Steve Tooze told Euronews at the time.

It is difficult to argue with the point. Indeed, companies that are solely responsible for the entire financial risk of a project would be a lot more careful in how they handle that project. They would, in fact, be very careful when deciding whether to take on the project at allwhich is what the activists are banking on. Related: SLB Announces $8-Billion Deal as Mergers Extend to Oilfield Sector

What is doubtful in this scenario, however, is that the insurance industry would be willing to drop clients that bring it between $1.6 billion and over $2 billion in premium income annually, per the Euronews report. And that's just insurers on the Lloyd's of London market. According to British consultancy Insuramore, as cited by Energy Voice, in 2022, total gross premiums from the oil and gas industry were at $21.25 billion.

"The insurance industries have a kind of superpower and they could make it almost impossible for fossil fuels to continue to operate," Extinction Rebellion's Steve Tooze said back in February. They probably can. But will they?

"By 2030, Swiss Re's oil and gas re/insurance portfolios will only contain companies that are aligned with net zero by mid-century. For our treaty business we are developing an oil and gas approach by 2023," the insurance major said in 2022.

Allianz will "no longer invest in and underwrite new single-site or stand-alone oil and selected gas risks, oil and gas activities related to the Arctic and the Antarctic as well as extra-heavy oil and ultra-deep sea risks," the other major declared.

Neither company, then, is willing to give up oil and gas entirely, possibly thanks to the premiums that business brings in. There is a simple reason for that. There is no other business that can fully replace those premiums.

On the contrary, insurers are losing money on the business they do with wind and solar companies because of weather-related events and, in the case of offshore wind, what one publication called "engineering deficiencies." That goes hand in hand with the higher premiums insurers are slapping on EVs because of the huge write-off risk for these vehicles compared to ICE cars.

So, what Extinction Rebellion's Tooze says about the insurance industry's superpower may be right, but the threat of reputation damage is unlikely to be enough to make that industry use its superpower to kill oil and gas. Because oil and gas are cash cows in troubled times of mounting losses because of "engineering deficiencies" and hail.

Even so, insurers are caving, whether due to the fear of reputational damage or because they genuinely believe it is immoral to cover oil and gas projects. As many as 28 insurance companies last year declared they would not provide coverage for the Eastern African Crude Oil Pipeline project.

The declaration came after climate activist protests against the infrastructure project that is set to be the biggest one in Africa, and that will transport oil from Uganda to the coast of Tanzania. It was a development that radical activists such as XR should celebrate because, without insurance coverage, the EACOP may never get completedthere are not a lot of insurance companies that can afford to cover such a massive project.

However, the one thing that those calling for insurers to stop doing business with oil and gas seem to forget is the number one rule of markets. Where there's demand, supply will find a way. The world's oil demand keeps breaking records even as the transition away from hydrocarbons gathers pace. And this means that producers will find a way to get their projects done despite insurers' net-zero declarations.

Lending is a case in point. As some banks started reducing their exposure to the oil and gas industry under net-zero pressure, private equity stepped in to fill the void. Insurance is trickier because there is no private equity equivalent in that industry, but then again, insurers would be hard pressed to give up a business that brings in billions every year. They need these billions, too, for payouts for the engineering deficiencies of offshore wind and the hail storm devastation of solar installations.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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It has now been just over a year since the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) centred in Baghdad imposed an embargo on oil exports from the countrys semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan (KRI) based in Erbil. Over this time, there have been many comments from politicians, analysts, and executives of international oil companies working in Kurdistan who have decried the embargo as making no sense for any party involved. As highlighted by OilPrice.com, though, it makes perfect sense if it is understood that the FGI does not want Kurdistan to exist anymore with any semblance of independence whatsoever. Destroying all financial independence for the region, which is reliant on ongoing independent oil supplies, is the key mechanism for achieving this aim. Once Kurdistans ability to function independently has been dismantled, then the region can simply be rolled back into one unified Iraq, with all its oil and gas resources absorbed into those administered from Baghdad under the new unified oil law. Not only does it make perfect sense if the motivation is understood, but it also then becomes clear why the embargo happened shortly after the 10 March 2023 signing of the Iran-Saudi Arabia relationship resumption deal, brokered by China, as analysed in full in my new book on the new global oil market order. As a very high-ranking Kremlin official told senior Iranian government figures just before the 25 March Kurdistan oil export embargo was imposed, which was then exclusively relayed to OilPrice.com: By keeping the West out of energy deals in Iraq  and closer to the new Iran-Saudi axis - the end of Western hegemony in the Middle East will become the decisive chapter in the Wests final demise. Related: U.S. Gasoline Prices Hit Highest Level in Six Months

The latest tactic of blaming international oil companies for the embargo still being in place is just another element by which Iraqs Oil Ministry can obfuscate the real reason for the cessation of oil supplies from Kurdistan, and keep delaying it, a senior source who works closely with Irans Petroleum Ministry exclusively told OilPrice.com last week. It [Iraqs Oil Ministry] is prepared to keep this [embargo] running until Kurdistan is bankrupt and has no choice but to accept any deal that Baghdad offers it for its own survival, but that deal ultimately will be that it effectively it loses any of its independence and functions just like any other province in Iraq, run and administered out of Baghdad, he said. Its a good delaying tactic, because as far as Baghdad is concerned, the IOCs [international oil companies] operating in Kurdistan are doing so illegally, aside from holding up the reunification of Iraq as they see it, he added. Baghdads belief that Kurdistans oil exports are illegal  and that the IOCs facilitating those flows are complicit in breaking the law  is founded on its interpretation of the Iraq Constitution, adopted by referendum in 2005. In this, it is clearly stated under Article 111 that oil and gas is under the ownership of all the people of Iraq in all the regions and governorates. Consequently, Baghdad argues, any IOC that has not so far submitted contracts originally drawn up with the government of the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRG) for them to be revised now by the Iraq Oil Ministry  so that they can revised in accordance with the Iraq Constitution  have no right to use independent Kurdish routes to export the oil they produce. The KRG, however, believes it has authority under Articles 112 and 115 of the Constitution to manage oil and gas in the Kurdistan Region extracted from fields that were not in production in 2005.

Unsurprisingly, the financial castration of the Kurdistan region of Iraq is wholeheartedly supported by Iran, Russia, and China, which also do not want it continuing to function independently in any meaningful way. For Iran  and Turkey, and Syria, incidentally, which all vehemently opposed Kurdistans 2017 independence referendum, as also analysed in my new book on the new global oil market order  allowing Iraqi Kurdistan to continue exercising any independence sets a dangerous precedent for its own sizeable Kurdish population (around 9 percent of its total). Syrias Kurdish population is around 10 percent of the total, and Turkeys about 18 percent. This is why after Kurdistans 25 September 2017 independence vote  in which the 92.73 percent voted for full independence  special elements of Irans Al Quds force rolled into the region, including the prime oil-rich areas. Additionally, very senior officers from the Vezarat-e Ettelaat Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran intelligence service made it clear to several of Iraq Kurdistans leading politicians that it would not be in their best interests to continue to push for independence from Iraq. At the same time, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called for a blockade on Iraq Kurdistans land borders. Turkish President then as now, Recep Erdogan, also threatened to invade the Iraqi Kurdish area. He added even back then that Turkey could also cut off the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline for exports of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan.

For Russia and China, a fractious would-be breakaway region with previously strong ties to the U.S. makes the administration of Iraqs massive oil and gas sector much more difficult. So deep at one time had these ties between the U.S. and Kurdistan been that Washington had quietly promised Iraqi Kurdistan that it would help with the push for independence in exchange for Kurdistans fearsome Peshmerga army being the boots on the ground in the fight against then then-rampant Islamic State. After the 2017 independence vote, Moscow took control of Iraqi Kurdistans oil sector with a view to reintegrating it back into the rest of Iraq, as also analysed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market order. In tandem with this, China has been building up its influence in southern Iraq through multiple deals done in the oil and gas sector that have then been leveraged into bigger infrastructure deals across the south. The apotheosis of Beijings vision for China is all-encompassing Iraq-China Framework Agreement of 2021. This, in turn, was an extension in scale and scope of the Oil for Reconstruction and Investment agreement signed by Baghdad and Beijing in September 2019, which allowed Chinese firms to invest in infrastructure projects in Iraq in exchange for oil.

Back in early April last year, OilPrice.com highlighted that oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan would only go ahead with the full blessing of Iran, Russia, and China. That has not been given, so there is no reason to expect it to end in any sustainable fashion any time soon. Conversely, however, the move to destroy any last vestiges of Iraqi Kurdistan independence remain in full swing. A clear statement on 3 August last year from Iraq Prime Minister, Mohammed Al-Sudani, highlighted that the new unified oil law  run, in every way that matters, out of Baghdad - will govern all oil and gas production and investments in both Iraq and its autonomous Kurdistan region and will constitute a strong factor for Iraqs unity. As a senior European Union energy security source exclusively told OilPrice.com: Baghdad does not see an independent Kurdistan in the future of Iraq, so it has no interest in it resuming its independent oil sales, and it is not concerned whether all the IOCs operating there just leave.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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Two warmer winters in a row have lifted natural gas inventories in the United States and Europe and have eased concerns about supply, which were sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cutoff of most of Russias pipeline gas supply to the EU.

U.S. inventories of natural gas in the week to March 22 were 41% more than the five-year average and 23% higher than last year at this time, per the latest EIA data.

Europe, for its part, just exited the winter heating season with its highest level of natural gas left in storage. As of April 1, the EUs natural gas storage capacity was 58.7% full, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe. Thats a record-high level of stocks at the end of any winter in any year so far.

Weaker demand due to milder 2023 and 2024 winters, the energy-saving targets, and sluggish industrial demand in the EU sent natural gas stocks higher and prices lower.

As LNG exporters, most notably Qatar, announced major new expansion projects, the world could soon face a gas glut, analysts say.

We expect gas market oversupply to reach multi-decade highs over the coming years, Morgan Stanley said in a recent note carried by CNBC. Related: Gold Prices Have Surged 23.3% in the Last Six Months

Currently, the global LNG market capacity is around 400 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). But another 150 mtpa are under construction now, which would be a record wave of expansion, according to Morgan Stanleys commodity strategists.

A comfortable supply of natural gas would be good news for consumers everywhere. If lower prices persist, they could incentivize more demand across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, thus leading to higher prices and higher gas output in the United States, where gas producers are preparing to turn in line nearly finished wells as soon as prices start moving higher.

The oversupply and low natural gas prices in the U.S. have prompted many producers to start reducing production. But some are also stocking up inventories of wells ready to start pumping as soon as prices rebound. Producers expect natural gas prices to recover next year amid growing demand for LNG exports and new LNG export plants that are slated to begin operations in 2025.

Despite multi-year low natural gas prices in the United States, domestic producers continue to be optimistic about the long-term prospects of gas as a fuel, both in America and abroad.

In Europe, the EU member states agreed last month on a recommendation to continue voluntary demand reduction measures, encouraging the countries to continue reducing their gas consumption until March 31, 2025, by at least 15% compared to their average gas consumption between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2022.

Although the volume of 100% full storage sites accounts for only about a quarter of EU consumption during the winter, the high EU stock levelsat over 58% fullat the start of the refill season in April would make it easier for Europe to reach in advance, again, its target to have capacity 90% full by November 1.

This year, however, could be the last for Russian pipeline supply via Ukraine as the multi-year transit deal ends on December 31. Both Ukraine and the EU have signaled they wouldnt extend the transit agreement, which puts some central European EU members, such as Austria and Slovakia, in the most vulnerable position for gas supply.

Gas prices in Europe could plunge as low as $6.70 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) this summer thanks to a mild winter and ample gas inventories, Wood Mackenzie said in a report last month.

High storage levels create downside risk to prices as the summer progresses. With storage levels close to full capacity, we estimate there will be up to 10 bcm of excess supply, said Mauro Chavez, Head of European Gas and LNG markets at WoodMac.

The excess supply will have to be absorbed either through floating LNG or using available storage in Ukraine, and this requires a summer-winter differential of more than $2/MMBtu, the consultancy says.

In Asia, ample LNG availability could spur purchases from the price-sensitive buyers in south and Southeast Asia, such as India and Thailand.

Low prices and sufficient supply could create more demand, which would absorb the currently predicted glut in the global gas market.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Uzbekistan is grappling with a natural gas production crunch, putting pressure on state coffers.

In February, Tashkent sharply reduced gas supplies to China, according to a March 28 report published by the UzDaily.uz website. The drop in export volume resulted in a sharp downturn in earnings, from $38.77 million in January to $18.6 million in February, according to data published by Chinas General Customs Administration. The February 2024 figure was still better than earnings during the same month the previous year, during which no gas export earnings were recorded.

The Chinese export totals differed significantly from the amounts published by Uzbekistans States Statistical Agency, which showed gas export earnings of $21 million in January and $5.7 million in February. Uzbek officials attributed the discrepancy in earnings data to Beijings tendency to include revenue from the transit of Turkmen gas via Uzbekistan in the totals, Gazeta.uz reported. But that explanation, the outlet added, still doesnt square the numbers.

Uzbekistan has traditionally relied on gas exports to generate a significant chunk of revenue for the state. But for the first time in its post-Soviet history, the country became a net importer of gas in 2023. Last fall, Uzbek officials signed a two-year deal to import up to 9 million cubic meters of Russian gas per day. The import-export deficit totaled about $165 million in 2023.

By Eurasianet.org

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After months of delays that have sapped the strength of Ukraines fight against the Russian invasion, a multibillion-dollar aid bill may soon be headed toward passage by the U.S. Congress, albeit with substantial challenges still in its path.

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, told Fox News on March 31 that he wants new Ukraine aid approved right now and suggested he would propose a package soon after Congress returns from recess on April 9.

Johnson said the proposal would include important innovations, indicating it would differ substantially from the bill that was passed by the Senate in February following months of wrangling and the rejection by Republicans of a package that President Joe Biden requested in October.

The bill passed by the Senate authorizes about $60 billion in support for Ukraine, most of it for weapons and other military aid.

Johnson did not describe plans for his version of the bill in detail, but he suggested lawmakers would consider at least three potential elements: providing aid in the form of loans; using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine; and ramping up U.S. natural-gas exports to squeeze Russias budget revenue.

Heres a look at what the proposal might contain and how it could fare in Congress.

Loans

A vocal group of right-wing Republicans in the House has raised concern about aid to Ukraine, financial support in particular, highlighting the countrys long-standing reputation for corruption. They also say that money is better spent at home.

While most of the proposed $60 billion consists of weapons and military services, such as training and intelligence sharing, a portion consists of financial aid. Ukraines economy has been battered by Russias full-scale invasion, now in its third year, and Kyiv needs foreign aid to help pay soldiers salaries and keep the lights on amid intense attacks on energy infrastructure.

Former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican Party nominee to face Biden in the election in November and has enormous influence over the party, has expressed reservations about aid to Ukraine but said he would support loans to the embattled country, an idea Johnson has seized on.

Even President Trump has talked about the loan concept, wherewere not just giving foreign aid, were setting it up in a relationship where they can provide it back to us when the time is right, Johnson told Fox News. He did not say whether he wants all of the aid in the bill to be subject to repayment or only the financial support, though some experts have said it is likely to be just the latter.

Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican who backed the Senate bill, called the idea of loaning money to Ukraine a fig leaf, saying Kyiv would not be able to pay it back due to the devastation caused by the war. International financial institutions have put the cost of rebuilding Ukraine in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

REPO Act

Some in the United States want to make Russia finance reconstruction in Ukraine by seizing its central bank reserves held in the West and using them to support Kyiv, a controversial move as experts say it could undermine trust in the U.S. dollar.

Senators last year introduced Rebuilding, Economic Prosperity, and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act (REPO), which would give the U.S. president the authority to seize the assets and transfer them to Ukraine.

However, most of the Central Bank reserves are held in the European Union, requiring Brussels to be on board. The EU is studying the idea of seizing only the interest income from the principal, which stands at around $300 billion. The Russian central bank reserves are generating a few billion dollars a year in interest.

In his comments to Fox News, Johnson said that using seized Russian assets to help Ukraine fight Russia would be pure poetry.

LNG Exports

The United States and the European Union have sought to undermine Russias ability to fund its war on Ukraine by sanctioning its energy exports, which generate more than 30 percent of federal budget revenues. While oil exports account for the lions share of that, natural gas exports are a significant source of revenue for Russia.

The United States, the worlds largest natural-gas producer, has the resources to export greater volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and thereby decrease Russias market share. However, it does not have sufficient infrastructure to do so, specifically LNG export terminals.

Earlier this year, Biden paused the issuance of new LNG export terminal licenses following protests from environmentalists, who are a key constituency for Democrats, and voiced concerns that building new facilities would exacerbate the pollution that contributes to climate change.

Trump and other Republicans favor fewer restrictions on energy production. Republican attorneys general from 16 states -- led by Louisiana, Johnsons home state -- sued the Biden administration over its decision.

In his comments to Fox News, Johnson said he wants to have natural-gas exports that will help unfund Vladimir Putins war effort.

Congressional Reaction

Johnsons plan to submit a bill that potentially differs significantly from the Senate bill has caused concern among Ukraine backers on both sides of the political spectrum in the upper chamber of Congress.

California Senator Laphonza Butler, a Democrat, said some of Johnsons potential changes to the Ukraine aid bill, such as ending the moratorium on new LNG terminal licenses, could trigger a lengthy debate, warning that time is not on Ukraines side at the moment.

I think opening up new cans at this point is probably one of the things thats going to take the most time and, to me, opening up avenues like that is another delay, she told reporters on April 1.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who co-authored the REPO Act, said he could accept most potential changes but expressed opposition to ending the LNG moratorium.

Im glad it looks like Ukraine aid will move. Im glad my REPO bill is part of the package. I dont mind a loan if the president can waive it. But its just plain gross that Republicans need extraneous tribute for their fossil fuel donors. Yuck, he said in an April 2 tweet.

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is the leader of Republicans in the Senate and played a crucial role in getting the Ukraine aid bill through the upper chamber in February, has expressed frustration with Johnsons plan to submit his own bill, saying, Were running out of time.

The Republicans have a razor-thin 218-213 majority in the House of Representatives at the moment. However, some right-wing Republicans in the lower chamber are outright opponents of aid to Ukraine, requiring Johnson to win support from Democratic lawmakers.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican-Georgia), who is one of the most vocal critics of aid to Ukraine in the House, filed a resolution last month to oust Johnson from the post of speaker. In an unprecedented move, right-wing Republicans helped topple fellow party member Kevin McCarthy from the speakership in October after cooperating with Democrats to pass a spending bill that avoided a government shutdown. Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, another vocal opponent of aid to Ukraine, said he wants the new bill to include spending cuts amid a ballooning budget deficit.

If there were no offsets, wed be disappointed. I think we need to not deficit-spend to fund Ukraine. I also think we need to have our own border prioritized, Gaetz told CNN.

It is unclear whether Johnson and his colleagues will seek to include funding for changes on the U.S. border with Mexico, the subject of a dispute that has been a major factor in bitter debates and the blockage of new aid to Ukraine since last year.

Discharge Petition

Should Johnson refuse to bring a bill to the House floor amid fear of his ouster by hard-liners, there would still be a chance that aid for Ukraine could be approved.

Ukraine supporters in the House are advancing an initiative known as a discharge petition, which would permit the lower chamber to vote on the Senate bill, overriding Johnsons authority.

Experts say that there is sufficient support among Democrats and Republicans in the House to complete this process and pass the bill in its current form.

By RFE/RL

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State-run Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co is planning to lease a natural gas import terminal from providers of FLNG units, anonymous sources told Reuters this week.

EGAS is hoping to find a willing participant for a five-year contract with the option of extending it, the source suggested.

So far, Egypt has already purchased one LNG shipment scheduled to deliver sometime in May, but it has plans to purchase more in an attempt to get ahead of the scorching summer season that routinely triggers power blackouts due to the heavier load.

This batch of LNG will be imported through the Aqaba terminal in Jordan after its previous agreement to lease the BW Singapore floating storage and regasification unit ended in 2023.

Egypt had largely moved away from heavy natural gas imports several years ago after its giant Zohr gas field increased its domestic production. But, Egypts domestic production has since declined, reaching the lowest level in years due to a natural decline in the fields.

Late last year, Chevron shut down its production from the Tamar gasfield offshore Israel per the Israeli energy ministry due to the Hamas-Israel war. It had been a major source of natural gas to Egypt through the EMG pipeline, but the production outage suspended the flow of gas to Egypt.

Some gas exports from Tamar were then rerouted through Jordan, but not enough to allow for exports from Egypt. As a result, Egypt had to supend its LNG exports that had been heading into Europe, thwarting its plansat least temporarilyto become a regional gas hub. Last summer, Egypt didnt export any LNG in June, July, or September due to its own high demand for power during the hot months.

Egypt was struggling with its own domestic gas production even before the Israeli/Hamas conflict.

Egypt, Israel, and the EU signed an MOU in June of 2022 to deliver a higher gas supply to the EUa deal that is now impossible.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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At this point Israel's ties with key Gulf countries like the UAE are near breaking point, after only a few short years ago diplomatic normalization was hailed through Trump's Abraham accords. But international and Israeli press reports are confirming the UAE has announced it is halting all coordination on humanitarian aid with Israel.

Further, as Israeli media reports: "The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a suspension of diplomatic coordination with Israel in the wake of the death of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers in Gaza." Simultaneously, Israel is busy putting its embassies across the world on high security alert due to the "heightened Iranian response threat" in the wake of Monday's Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. All of this served to send Brent soaring in the last two hours, with Brent spiking above $90 for the first time since October....

... and sending stocks tumbling to session lows.

With Iran vowing that its retaliation is coming at any moment, Israel's military is scrambling for readiness, with the latest measure being to pause all home leave for all combat troops.

"The IDF is at war and the issue of the deployment of forces is constantly reviewed as needed," the Israeli military said.

President Biden is meanwhile is said to be "pissed" with PM Netanyahu over the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, though Israel acknowledged that it was a "grave mistake".

#BREAKING: Israel raises alert level at embassies worldwide to maximum, evacuates missions in several countries, and relocates representatives to secure locations due to heightened Iranian response threat, according to Hebrew media reports. pic.twitter.com/IZGOxl34Ok  Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) April 4, 2024

So far this sounds like more mere empty words of "concern" - a talking point that's been on repeat from the White House even as its Gaza policy continues slowly fracturing the Democratic base - but Biden is said to have pressed Bibi for "an immediate ceasefire".

The call readout further said ceasefire is needed to "protect innocent civilians" in Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation. Axios writes that Biden gave his Israeli counterpart an "ultimatum" as the US president "emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable."

By Zerohedge.com

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Commodity exports from Chile, a top producer of copper and lithium, could be delayed amid a workers strike that began early on Thursday, which disrupted loading and unloading of vessels.

Members of the UPC and FTPC trade unions started a 24-hour strike on Thursday morning local time, Bloomberg reports.

The strike is intended to draw the attention of the government regarding the union's demands related to decarbonization and unemployment in ports, Albatrans International Freight Forwarders said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.

We are still waiting on the information about which ports the strikes will impact, but it is possible that the work stoppage will have an impact on vessel operations and the gate in/gate out of containers at terminals.

Strike actions have been seen at the port of Ventanas, the most important port in central Chile. Port workers have also blocked roads near the Port of Valparaiso, the biggest port and the second-largest in Chile in terms of container handling after San Antonio.

Port workers are also protesting in the town of Talcahuano, according to Chilean media.

Workers are set to resume work on Friday but the unions have said that the 24-hour strike is a warning and more industrial actions could follow. Workers are dissatisfied with recent layoffs at coal-handling terminals and want improved safety conditions at work.

So far, none of the major commodity producers in Chile has reported any impact of the strike on their operations.

Chile is the worlds biggest copper producer, the second-largest producer of lithium, and a major exporter of both commodities that are considered crucial for the energy transition.

Recently, India has bet on acquiring lithium and copper assets overseas and has sent a delegation to search for such resources in Chile.

India has already signed an agreement with Chiles neighbor Argentina, also a large lithium producer. Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia have large resources in the so-called Lithium Trianglea lithium-rich region of the Andes, encompassed by the borders of the three South American countries.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Russia slashed in half its gasoline exports via railway after imposing a six-month ban on exports from March 1 to ensure sufficient domestic supply in peak demand season, while several refineries are undergoing regular maintenance and urgent repairs after Ukrainian drone strikes.

Russian shipments of gasoline from refineries via railway were around 323,000 metric tons in March, according to Reuters calculations based on data from market sources. Most of these went to countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) led by Russia and countries with which Russia has inter-governmental agreements to supply fuel, per the data Reuters has analyzed.

Russia suspended gasoline exports from March 1 until August 31, 2024, to ensure supply for the domestic market in peak demand season, in a second such export ban in just a few months. In the autumn of 2023, Russia banned exports of diesel and gasoline in an effort to stabilize domestic fuel prices in the face of soaring prices and shortages as crude oil rallied and the Russian ruble weakened.

The current ban on gasoline exports aims to ensure there wont be shortages as demand rises in the spring and summer, while refining capacity is below projections, due to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries.

Russia has seen its refining capacity diminished in recent weeks, due to seasonal maintenance, but most of all due to drone attacks from Ukraine, which have damaged several refineries that have shut down for repairs.

According to Reuters estimates, the amount of Russian oil refining capacity that has been taken offline due to Ukrainian drone strikes is 14% of Russias total refining capacity. Calculations show that 900,000 barrels per day of refining capacity have been taken offline by drone strikes, Reuters reported last month.

At the end of last month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the government doesnt plan to ban diesel exports again.

If we ban exports, we wont have anywhere to put the diesel, Novak said, adding that the Russian fuel market is stable, both in supply and prices.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Feature: Rafah drowning in tears as Palestinians bid farewell to loved ones for survival

Xinhua) 10:01, April 04, 2024

GAZA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- It should be a happy day. Ghazal Bseiso was finally able to leave Gaza, the war-torn enclave. Yet the departure only tortures the mother of four, who can leave with only two of her children.

At the Rafah border crossing that separates Gaza and Egypt, Bseiso couldn't help but burst into tears as she let go of the hand of her daughter, who had to stay behind.

"I paid everything ... to be able to flee the war," Bseiso told Xinhua while trying to control her tears. "I don't know why they prevented me from taking all my children. We are subjected to injustice all the time."

"How will my two young children live without me, and how will I bear being away from them? What sin have we committed to be displaced in this tragic way?" exclaimed the mother.

The 35-year-old mother moved to Gaza from Egypt after she married a Palestinian man ten years ago. She told Xinhua that her life had been happy until everything was shattered after the conflict broke out in Gaza in October last year.

Since then, Bseiso had been applying through her family in Egypt for a permit to leave the Strip. After a prolonged wait, the permit finally came, albeit an incomplete and heart-breaking one.

Hadir Abu Shamala underwent a similar tragedy. An Israeli bombing injured her mother, and took the lives of the rest of their family.

In a heart-wrenching moment at the Rafah crossing, the 12-year-old girl pleaded and cried out, desperately seeking permission to accompany her mother on her journey for medical treatment.

However, according to Palestinian officials at the crossing, the child was not allowed to travel because her name was not on the passenger list.

Abu Shamala had no choice but to return to live with her uncle's family in a makeshift tent located in Mawasi Rafah, in the southern region of the Strip.

"I don't want to stay here. I want to be with my mother in Egypt. I miss my mother very much," she said before tears welled up in her eyes.

Every day, the sad parting scenes reoccur at the Rafah crossing as numerous Palestinians depart the Strip, fleeing the looming threat of death that has persisted in the region for the past six months.

The Rafah crossing is what separates life and death for the people in Gaza, said Mohammed Al-Shaer, a Palestinian from Gaza City.

"I do not support what Hamas did on October 7 (2023), but why must we always pay the price of political crises? We want to live, we want to survive, and we want to travel," grumbled the 25-year-old young man.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, the Israeli army has killed 32,975 and injured 75,577 Palestinians as of Wednesday in its military operations in the enclave.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
BANGKOK, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 100 people on board were all safely rescued after a night ferry caught fire in southern Thailand on Thursday, local media reported.

According to public broadcaster Thai PBS, the fire broke out at around 6:40 a.m. local time, about two nautical miles off the popular tourist island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. The sleeper boat, carrying 90 passengers and eight crew members, was en route from Surat Thani province to the island.

Nearby boats were dispatched to assist the passengers and crew, and all the people on board were brought to safety, Marine Department Director General Kritpetch Chaichuay told Thai PBS.

The blaze, which started in the engine room, was later brought under control, and the cause of the incident is under investigation, the official added. 
Due to the sanctions, Russia cannot access spare parts from Western engineering companies that have provided refinery equipment in the past, leaving Russian refiners struggling to repair damaged units, multiple industry sources in Russia have told Reuters.

Western firms including Americas UOP and Swiss ABB have supplied parts and equipment to major Russian refineries in the past. After the invasion of Ukraine, they no longer fulfill new orders from Russia, leaving local engineers scrambling to find spare parts and equipment.

One example of such difficulty is Lukoils Norsi refinery in Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga River. A turbine malfunctioned there in early January and Russian engineers have struggled to have the equipment replaced since then, according to Reuters sources.

This has left the refinery with a reduced capacity to produce gasoline.

The malfunction at the refinery compounded last month after a fire broke out at the facility following a drone attack.

Since all major Russian refineries use at least some part of Western technology, they could struggle to repair equipment and units that broke down or have been damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks, which have intensified in recent weeks and have taken an estimated 14% of Russias refining capacity offline.

Russia claims it can repair all damaged units within two months.

On Wednesday, Russias Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said that all damaged refineries in the country would be restarted by the beginning of June.

Repairs are underway at the refineries. We plan to re-launch a number of refineries after repairs in April-May, possibly before the beginning of June, Russian news agency Interfax quoted Shulginov as saying.

All facilities that were damaged will be re-commissioned, the minister added.

Due to refinery damage as a result of the drone attacks, Russias gasoline production fell by 12% in the last week of March compared to the February average, Russian daily Kommersant reported on Thursday, quoting the Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat. The domestic market hasnt felt the impact, yet, also thanks to higher fuel imports from Belarus, Kommersant notes.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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(Photo Courtesy of photoAC)

Traveling to Thailand just got easier if youre stationed on Okinawa. A new direct flight connection between Naha Airport (OKA) and Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) in Bangkok is now operating through low-cost airline Thai AirAsia.

Thai AirAsia is a subsidiary of the Malaysian low-fare airline AirAsia and Thailands Asia Aviation.

The flights, which started April 2, will connect Naha and Bangkok four times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Tickets can be booked online and as of April 4, a one-way ticket is priced at about 15,600 yen or more and roundtrip tickets for about 30,500 or more.

The opening of the Naha connection follows a 2022 addition between Fukuoka and Bangkok by the airline.

Make plans and take advantage of a great opportunity to explore while youre stationed on Okinawa.

More information: https://www.airasia.com/flights/
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers easily advanced a bill Wednesday intended to drive down property taxes by doubling the amount of state aid going to schools.

Legislative Bill 1331 cleared first-round consideration on a 45-0 vote. State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, who introduced the measure, urged the bills advancement but told colleagues it cannot pass without a companion bill to raise state revenue.

We need a funding source so we can do this, he said.

The fate of the companion bill remained in limbo Wednesday. LB 388, as amended by the Revenue Committee, would have carried out the tax-related portions of Gov. Jim Pillens plan to cut property tax payments.

The amendment would have increased the state sales and other taxes and imposed property tax revenue caps on city and county governments. But lawmakers advanced LB 388 without the amendment Tuesday, after it became clear the bill would not survive otherwise.

The move gave supporters time to work on finding agreement about ways to pay for the $1.17 billion school aid increase proposed in LB 1331. If agreement is reached, it could be amended into LB 388 during second-round debate. If no agreement can be found, both portions of the tax plan will die, according to Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Omaha area, the Revenue Committee chairwoman.

LB 1331 embodies the school-related portions of Pillens tax plan. It would double the amount of foundation aid sent to school districts, boosting it from $1,500 per student to $3,000. It also would redistribute money to schools that is now allocated for a program offering income tax credits to school property tax payers.

Because of revenue caps on schools, the resulting increase in state aid would drive down school property taxes.

Estimates from the Governors Office said the plan would reduce school taxes by more than 45% statewide and move Nebraska into the top 10 states for state support of public K-12 education. The state has ranked near the bottom for years.

Some lawmakers raised concerns about the proposal to distribute more school aid on a flat per-pupil basis. Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington said such foundation aid provides the same amount for all students, no matter the amount of needs or resources at their schools. The states long-standing aid formula, by contrast, is intended to fill the gap between a schools needs and its resources.

Others objected to seeing the proposal only one day after it had been advanced from committee. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard said it was difficult to analyze a major change when it is brought on the 54th day of a 60-day session.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2024
The father of one Junaid Adewale, identified simply as Mr Owenco, allegedly lost his life when suspected members of the One Million Boys terrorised residents of Ijesha in the Surulere area of Lagos State on Saturday.

However, the alleged killing is shrouded in confusion as the state police command denied knowledge of the incident.

The suspected gang members created tension in the area around 7pm and allegedly used weapons to attack the residents they encountered on their way.

Owenco, who was said to be elderly, was reported to be on his way to a destination, when the crisis suddenly started, but while he was attempting to escape with other residents, he was said to have stumbled and fell to the ground in the process.

While trying to get back on his feet, it was learnt that the rampaging hoodlums caught up with Owenco and allegedly dealt several machete blows on him and left him for dead.

Afterwards, some good Samaritans reportedly rushed Owenco to a nearby hospital for treatment, but he, however, died on Sunday due to the extent of the injuries he sustained during the attack.

In a Facebook post that chronicled the circumstances surrounding Owencos death, Adewales friend, Samuel Salami, explained that the One Million Boys were responsible for the death, adding that the victims remains had been buried.

Salami wrote on his Facebook page, While the nation is bereaved of Presidents Chief of Staff Abba Kyari, my bosom friend Adewale Junaid lost his Dad in the hands of the notorious 1 Million Boys at Ijesha, Surulere, Lagos.

The nefarious gang was on rampage on the street at about 7pm yesterday evening, machete anyone on their way, my friend Dad stumbled and fell to the ground due to old age and before he could stand up, he was caught and machete all over his body.

He was rushed to the Funto Hospital along Ijesha Road but unfortunately gave up the ghost early this morning due to the multiple machetes cuts all over his body and head.

1 million boys nefarious activity is real, in case anyone is still in doubt and believe the news are speculations or false information as concluded by the Nigeria Police Lagos CP Hakeem Odunosu and many others.

The remains of my bosom friend Dad is hereby laid to rest, we wish him eternal rest, Lagosians be on RED ALERT, protect and guide yourself with all that you can and you have, those boys are real, mean and heartless bloodthirsty gang. R.I.P Owenco.

Attached to the post was a picture that showed Owencos remains wrapped in a black body bag in the boot of a hearse.

No fewer than six persons were seen in the picture attached to the post that had as of the time this report garnered over 2,658 comments.

Reacting to Salamis post, one Emem Moses, condemned the events surrounding Owencos death and blamed the gang members for attacking the poor masses.

This is very sad. I know ijesha very well.. I know funto hospital too. Its so painful! What did the poor man do to them? Instead of them to go to Aso Rock and go and rob them there, they are disturbing poor, innocent citizens! Moses wrote.

Oluremi Awojinrin commiserated with the bereaved family and described Owencos death as a big loss.

She wrote, What kind of country is this? big loss to the family and a painful death to the old man. I dont know him but I am sadden for the painful death may your soul rest in peace sir.

In his reaction, Suleiman Iwalaka, however, said the activities of the gang preceded the current police administration, adding that most of the suspects were members of the affected communities.

Iwalaka wrote, Rest in peace Papa. Ijesha, Itire and Aguda axis has been known as Hot spot before CP Odumosu came on board and these boys are members of that community. If theres anything like one million boys and theyre untouchable by the police why are they not in places like Ikoyi, lekki and Ikeja?

Itire and Ijesha boys have been engaging themselves in a street fight for a while, many have been arrested and charged to court, while the stakeholders in the community sit down, fold their arms and left the fight for the police alone. Always contribute your quota to the security of your environment.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said there was a clash between hoodlums from three areas, but insisted that no death was recorded and confirmed that nine suspects had been arrested.

Elkana stated, We have Ijesha, Aguda and Itire boys, who had been clashing among themselves. They took advantage of the rumour about the One Million Boys and youths coming out in the name of protecting their areas to attack themselves again, because they share boundaries. When they clashed, we quickly responded and arrested nine suspects.

We dont have the report of anybody killed and I cant speak on what I cannot substantiate. I cannot respond to an online post, because I speak for an organisation and if there is a death recorded and we are aware of it, I will speak on it.

Yes, there was a clash and we brought it under control and made some arrests; the suspects all confessed to the crime.

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A Nigerian woman, Mrs Uchenna Okeigbo is currently stranded in Kogi State after she delivered quintuplets (2boys and 3 girls) on Thursday at Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

The woman is from Abia State but residing in Kogi State with her husband, Mr. James Okeigbo.

Speaking with Igbere TV correspondent, Mr. Okeigbo said he has been running around to make sure that he takes care of his wife since she gave birth to the five babies and asked Nigerians to help him so that his wife can leave the hospital.

In his words, I want to God for making my wife to deliver the five babies safely without any problem but the truth is, it has not been easy for me.

I have been trying my best to get the money to pay for the hospital bills but Im completely dejected because of my inability to get the bills cleared. Im begging Nigerians and the State government to please come to our rescue and help out.

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The lawyer of the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu has walked out on the panel instituted to hear impeachment allegations against Shaibu.

The issue caused a mild drama at the inaugural sitting of the impeachment panel set up by the Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa.

The constitution of the panel followed the impeachment notice served on Shaibu by the State House of Assembly.

Recall that the panel commenced its sitting at the Judges Conference Hall in Benin City, on Wednesday.

The panel has retired Justice S.A. Omonua (rtd) as chairman, while other members are Professor Theresa Akpoghome, Oghogho Ayodele Oviasu, Surveyor Andrew Oliha, Idris Abdulkareen, President Aigbokhian and Mariam Erakhoba Ilavbare.

The deputy governor was represented by his counsel, Prof Oladoyin Awoyale, SAN, while Joe Ohiafi, the Deputy Clerk, Legal, represented the State House of Assembly.

At the commencement of the sitting, Awoyale drew attention to an Abuja Federal High Court ruling that ordered the panel to show cause on why an interlocutory injunction to maintain status quo on the impeachment proceedings, pending the determination of the suit, should not be granted to the plaintiff (Philip Shaibu).

Awoyale averred that the order was given by the court on March 28, 2024 while the case had been adjourned to April 8, 2024.

He opined that in line with the Federal High Court order, his client would not be able to participate in the panels proceedings, until the court decides otherwise.

I submit respectfully that further taking part in this proceeding will amount to fait accompli, a situation of hopelessness, he said.

He urged the panel to wait for the courts decision.

In his objection, counsel to the State House of Assembly, Joe Ohiafi, cited the provisions of Section 188 Sub-section 10 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.

Ohiafi, who said the panel is sui generic as its proceedings cannot be frustrated by anybody, added that by the section of the constitution, no proceedings or determination of the panel of this nature set up by the House of Assembly shall be questioned by any court.

The panel, in its ruling after a short adjournment, overruled the submission of the deputy governors counsel and upheld the submission of counsel to the House of Assembly.

The chairman of the panel, Justice Omonua ruled that the issues raised by the deputy governors counsel bordered on his clients fundamental human rights and not that the panel should stop its proceedings.

Drama, however, ensued immediately after the panels ruling as Shaibus counsel withdrew from participating in the proceeding.

We will not be able to take part in this proceeding when the order of a competent court was not complied with by the panel.

All we are saying is that parties should obey orders of competent courts, he added.

Another drama also ensued as the counsel to the House of Assembly suddenly turned to a witness.

In his response, the deputy clerk, who had earlier introduced himself as counsel to the House, suddenly introduced himself as a witness to the complainant, the Assembly.

This, however, left the Assembly without a counsel.

However, despite the development, the panel continued with its proceedings.

Testifying as a witness, the deputy clerk tendered a Vanguard newspaper publication dated March 12, 2024, which served as a substituted impeachment notice on the deputy governor by the State House of Assembly.

He also tendered a suit filed against the Inspector General of Police and four others by the deputy governor in 2023 over his alleged non-invitation to attend the State Executive Council meeting by the governor, as well as other government activities and functions.

Also tendered by the witness as evidence was the attendance record of the State Executive Council meeting dated July 19, 2023.

The panel admitted all the documents and marked them as exhibits.

When asked of the original copies of the State Executive Council meeting attendance sheet, he promised to make them available at the next sitting.

When also asked how, as a staff of the House of Assembly, he knew what is happening in the Government House, particularly the date for EXCO meetings, he added that the House has a daily routine of what is going on in Government House.

He alleged that the suit instituted against the Inspector General of Police and four others by the deputy governor, where he divulged official secrets of the State Government, was a violation of the Oath of Office he took and the 7th schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He also told the panel that the complainant is not calling any other witness.

Chairman of the panel, Justice Omonua, adjourned sitting to Thursday, April 4, 2024, to enable the respondent, Shaibu, to respond to all the allegations levelled against him.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike has been given an ultimatum to apologize over alleged derogatory comments he made against the Igbos during the demolition of a housing estate belonging to Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu.

The ultimatum was given by the Chairman, Igbo Community Assembly, Apo in Abuja, Ositadinma Patrick Nwoye.

The group gave Wike a seven-day ultimatum to issue a public apology to the Igbos or face the wrath of all Igbos and the gods of Igbo land.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, Nwoye pointed out that Wike allegedly said Why should an Igbo man be given such massive land there? and that he has dealt with Igbos in Port Harcourt, that he will do same here in Abuja.

He stressed that such negative comments was not in the best interest of the country where there is an urgent need for peace and unity.

It has come to our notice about the alleged derogatory statement of Hon. Minister of Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Ezenwo Wike when he went to demolish the property of one of our illustrious sons in person of Hon. Evangelist Prince Nicholas Chukwujekwu Ukachukwu.

Such derogatory statement is totally uncalled for and should not be swept under the carpet. Because we the Igbos are not commoners in this country Nigeria and the world at large. Which is why we have to address this world Press Conference to keep the records straight.

Wike should apologise to the Igbos for using the alleged derogatory language.

That why should an Igbo man be given such massive land and there? and that he has dealt with Igbos in Port Harcourt that he will do same here in Abuja.

We want to remind him that Abuja is not Port Harcourt, Nwoye said.

Nwoye said that there was a court order stopping the demolition which the FCT Minister had violated.

We also want to ask Nyesom Ezenwo Wike other fundamental questions on the said Asokoro land matter.

Question No. 1. Was there a court order restraining the demolition? Question No. 2 If there was, why was it not obeyed?

Nwoye presented copies of ministerial approvals for the Asokoro Estate as well as copies of the court order preventing the demolition of the estate.

He told Nigerians that their was no ministerial approval for the said Asokoro land but with me here is a copy of the ministerial approval.

He (Wike) is lying. We also have copies of the court orders. We also have copies of proof of service to show that he was duly served.

The group described Wikes action as mere intimidation, hatred and envy for the Igbos and called on President Bola Tinubu to call the minister to order.
The Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Wednesday vowed to surprise those who consider his decision to implement the presidential peace agreement as a sign of weakness.

President Bola Tinubu had in December last year invited the governor, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and other political leaders in Rivers to a meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in a bid to find a lasting solution to the political crisis in the state.

Despite opposition to the agreements signed at the meeting, including the reinstatement of the 26 loyalists of the FCT minister who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Fubara in a statewide broadcast on Christmas Day promised to implement the peace pacts.

However, the matter has not been fully resolved with the warring parties accusing each other of breaching the peace agreements.

The Assembly last week threatened to resume the impeachment proceedings against Fubara over alleged breach of the constitution.

The governor, who spoke when members of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) from the 23 local government areas of the state visited him at the Government House, Port Harcourt, said he had been inundated with several comments about the implementation of the peace initiative.

READ ALSO: Fubara congratulates Diri on second term inauguration

He added that he chose to be silent on the matter out of maturity and wisdom.

The governor noted that he had commenced implementation of the agreement solely because of his respect for President Tinubu and warned other political actors taking his humility and compliance as a sign of weakness.

Fubara urged the people to continue to support his administration and peacefully obey the rules.

He said: Let me say it here for record purposes: What is happening here in our dear state is somebody who has respect for an elder. Mr. President invited all the parties to Abuja, and came out with a resolution that we should go and implement. That resolution, I am implementing. It is not a constitutional implementation. It is a political solution to a problem.

And I am doing it because of the respect I have for Mr. President. But, let me say it here, if that action that I have accepted to take would be seen as a weakness, I will surprise them. I want this message to go to them.

Some days ago, somebody said we are busy renting a crowd for thanksgiving. But what I have seen here today, its not different from what is happening at those thanksgiving rallies. People are just appreciating God and good governance.
ANKARA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye is increasingly warning of a large-scale military operation in northern Iraq to wipe out hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) while, in the meantime, seeking support from Iraq and Iran to achieve the goal.

"We will resolve the problems on our border with Iraq by the summer," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in mid-March, adding his country has effective plans to root out PKK fighters.

The Turkish leader emphasized the need to establish "a 30 to 40 km security corridor" across the country's border with Iraq and Syria.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, is based in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The Turkish army frequently launches operations against PKK strongholds in the mountainous Qandil region of Iraq.

"The PKK is in a difficult situation in Iraq due to Turkiye's operations since 2019, Ankara wants to deal a final blow to its fighters," Oytun Orhan, a senior expert at the Ankara-based Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.

"Turkiye is seeking a security corridor on the Iraqi border as the PKK has asserted its control of the area, a place with no state authority. Turkiye wants to clean these areas," he said, emphasizing that Ankara needs Baghdad's cooperation and coordination to do so.

In a change of policy, Bagdad officially banned the PKK in mid-March, ahead of Erdogan's planned visit to Iraq this month, which will be the first in a decade.

According to Orhan, there are not only political but also economic arguments behind this "crucial" move.

A successful Turkish army cleanup of the PKK will allow Iraq to strengthen its influence over all of its territory and prevent the group from posing a challenge to the country's security, said Orhan, adding it would also safeguard the "Development Road" project, a highway and railway trade route that would connect the Gulf to Turkiye through Iraq.

Given the unsafe maritime conditions in the Red Sea since last November due to the Yemeni Houthi attacks, this plan is considered by Turkish authorities as potentially important for the shipment of goods between Asia and Europe.

According to an unnamed Turkish source, Ankara's military plan calls for an extensive operation in mountainous regions in northern Iraq, with intelligence support from Baghdad.

This source added that during Erdogan's visit to Bagdad, an agreement is expected to be reached on operational issues, prioritizing joint efforts to eradicate the PKK.

Erdogan is also expected to visit Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, as the regional government's support is seen as essential for a broad anti-PKK operation.

To debilitate permanently the PKK in Iraq, Turkiye is keen on gaining the support of another neighbor, Iran, said analysts.

"At this point, reaching a consensus between Ankara and Tehran on stability is essential," Murat Yesiltas, director of security studies at SETA Foundation, an Ankara-based think tank, said in a recent article in Daily Sabah newspaper.

In the past, during Turkish operations in Iraq, PPK fighters would flee to Iran. Ankara wants to prevent that in its next operation, explained Yesiltas. 
Days after AY rebuilt his burnt-down mansion, he reveals the reason why his house was burnt down.

AY comedian spoke at the Easter Edition of his comedy show AY Live, in Lagos on Sunday. He confessed that his problems began when he announced his support for the Labour Partys (LP) presidential candidate for the last election, Peter Obi. He said despite all his troubles, he didnt regret supporting Obi.

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I supported Peter Obi [in the last presidential election]. I do not regret supporting Peter Obi. That was when my problems started., he revealed.

He revealed the reason why he supported his candidate despite the tribal uproar that was brewing between the Igbos and Yorubas.

The decision I made to support Peter Obi is not because I am a politician but because I want change. I want Nigeria to become better., he added.

He drew a correlation between his burnt house and his support for Obi. AY subtly accused the other contesting parties or cabals of targetting his mansion, as a way to punish him for going against the grain.

After I started campaigning for Obi on social media, my house got burnt. After God, the next person you should fear and respect is the government. Try the government, they will shock you. he accused.

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AY has since rebuilt his mansion. The big gorgeous building stands taller and brighter than it did before.
ACR Global Limited, a foremost Consulting firm that connects Africa businesses to opportunities in the international market is set to host a Webinar for businesses, entrepreneurs who would like to benefit from inorganic business expansion in 2024.

The Webinar which will be held on Wednesday April 24, 2024 will afford participants to get the full benefits of the funding and fund partners who are available to support business growth through unique models.

Speaking on the highly anticipated Webinar, Funmi Bajulaiye, People developer and Business Structure/Ecosystem Builder at ACR Global said speakers at the event include Franchise owners from Romania, Australia, Russia and United States who are to hand hold interested African business owners in the Franchising Model.

Some of our key speakers, she said include, Dr. Arwad Abdeldaem who is a strategic growth architect and President of Dimensions Consulting Ltd. and Educators Learning Solutions from Lebanon; Vasil Mansur-Ulla, Owner Top Franchise; Ayo Adegboye PhD, Group CEO of Arravo; Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa former MD of Pfizer Plc and Neimeth and also a former presidential aspirants; Killian Mayua, regional Head, Adanian Labs, West Africa and Ebun Williams, VP, Business Development and Operations at Juno.

READ ALSO: ACR Global announces date for highly anticipated CEO Drawing Board 6.0 Conference

According to her, the meeting is intended to deepen franchising needs in Africa, encourage mergers and acquisitions, franchising onboarding as well as avail participants of the abundant business opportunities in Africa.

At ACR Global, We help African CEOs with a revenue portfolio of N1billion and above to overcome Staff Retention, Culture and Performance gaps using our 5-Step Team Performance Optimization Model.

We therefore encourage participants to visit: www.acr.farawa.xyz to register for free and listen to all they can benefit from these methods of business expansion, she added.

ACR Global Limited is a foremost Consulting firm focused on building structures and teams within African businesses to elicit their growth on a global scale.
Benue state has continued to be in the news and on Nigerias map of high level insecurity and banditry. The area with the most ferocious attacks and security concerns is Sankera, which comprises Katstina Ala, Ukum and Logo local government areas.

Apart from the fact that there are some ungoverned spaces within this area, the security situation in Sankera has become so complicated and difficult to ascribe appropriate narrative and corresponding security actions. While there are internal security concerns within communities in the area, herdsmen on the other hand have taken maximum advantage of the situation to visit terror and mayhem on the people, killing them in hundreds and destroying property worth billions of naira. Not even the elimination of the most wanted militia lord, Terwase Agwaza, aka Gana, who hailed from Sankera, has enthroned the desired peace in the area.

The militarisation of Sankera is one of the most embarrassing issues that has dotted the chequered history of the people of Benue State. This ugly scenario rose with some politicians within the Sankera area but has unfortunately refused to go down with them. Most of the protagonist still go about as saints.

The resolution of this crisis therefore requires a holistic approach devoid of any sentiments and attempts to achieve personal glory. Genuine afforts to resolve the Sankera crisis will clearly oppose the sustained attempts to villify one of the illustrious sons of the area and ranking member of the Benue State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Jonathan Agbidyeh.

On March 18, this lawmaker was picked for the second time by security agencies relating to high profile charges bordering on insecurity. Agbidyeh has had a robust career in the civil service, climbing through the ranks without blemish before he joined politics. He has benefitted immensely from his many years of goodwill and generosity to the people.

His release again from detention a few days ago apparently shows the lack of willingness by security agencies to be woven into the thick conspiracy to rope Agbidyeh in on purely what seems to be politics taken too far. The courts had also discharged and acquitted him when he was arrested for similar charges in the life span of the 9th Assembly where his colleagues then gave him some moral support even though he was from the opposition APC when PDP steered the state.

It is worrisome however, to note the silence of the 10th Benue Assembly under the leadership of the Speaker, Aondona Dajoh. The assembly is controlled by the APC with Rt. Hon Agbidye as a ranking member, the only one who won the polls twice on the platform of the broom. The silence of the House members during this trying period of one of them is anything but golden.

This is an Assembly that dedicated sessions and passed resolutions suspending a local government council Chairman over allegations of assassination attempt on the Speaker. It is strange that they could not muster any legislative support for their ranking member who was being persecuted in the custody of security agencies for weeks.

It will be dangerous for our system and democracy if the leadership of the Benue State House of Assmbly is buried in such cheap and vindictive politics.

At the end of all the conspiracy, Rt. Hon Agbidyeh is out again! His freedom for the second time should deter his detractors, and as earlier stated , reinforce the fact that politics should be separated from security issues.

The continued trial and attempts to scapegoat Rt Hon Jonathan Agbidyeh is certainly not the way out of the security situation in Sankera and must immediately be stopped by the actors. Let the lawmaker be allowed to face his legislative functions.

Chief Fanen Ihyongo, an activist cum journalist, writes from Makurdi

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Gen. Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, has reversed his stance, asserting that the killing of 17 military personnel in Okuama Community, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, was premeditated by cultists and militants.

According to the CDS, the military officers were deliberately killed because the Commanding Officer of the 181 Amphibious Battalion and his team were ensuring that any act of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and setting up of illegal refineries was completely eradicated from the region.

The CDS said that the Commanding Officer felt that the threat was not high, hence, he went to the community unarmed, stressing that if he had gone armed, he would have erased everybody in the community.

SaharaReporters had reported how residents of the community disclosed what caused the shooting when some Nigerian Army officers visited their community for a peace discussion.

The residents said that the slain military personnel arrived in two gunboats on March 14, purportedly for peace talks with the community chairman and leaders, and the community greeted them warmly and offered them kola nuts, resulting in a peaceful dialogue.

The residents added that the tension in the community escalated after the military personnel insisted on taking away the community chairman and some leaders for further questioning after the peace talks, which the people resisted.

The refusal, it was alleged, enraged the military personnel, who opened fire in the town hall where they were holding a meeting with the residents, resulting in casualties in the village.

The residents accused the soldiers of unexpectedly opening fire on residents and reportedly killing about 50 persons, adding that this led many of the residents to flee the community and hide in forests.

But Musa who spoke while featuring on an Arise News programme said, The attack was premeditated just because there are groups of criminals, cultists and militants that, because they make a lot of money from crude oil theft, believe they are above board.

And they did this deliberately just because the Commanding Officer and his team were ensuring that any act of pipeline vandalisation, crude oil theft, illegal refineries were completely eradicated from that region. That is part of the issues that came up.

For him (the commanding officer) to be killed just like a chicken, beheaded, disembodied is unacceptable; and we are happy that the Commander-in-Chief (President Tinubu) has given us the mandate to recover the arms and to arrest the perpetrators.

I know a lot of comments have been made by different kinds of people, some from lack of understanding.

When you have a joint task force, a joint task force involving members of the armed forces such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, we have the police, the DSS, the DNIA, and every other security agency are part of it.

When we have an arrest, we have a joint investigation team. It is not like the army is taking laws into their hands. I have heard comments about what were they doing.

Once we are deployed on operation, we have the right and the mandate to arrest all acts of criminality within that area. They were there deployed legally. They were doing a legal operation.

It was because the Commanding Officer felt that the threat was not that high, that was why he went there and felt he could discuss it with the individual. He did not go armed. That gallant officer, if he had gone armed, he would have erased everybody in that place.

He felt they were Nigerians he could talk to and when he stepped up to talk to them with his team, they were rounded up and shot. They were not only shot, their body parts were cut. Their hearts and private parts were removed. That is one thing that all Nigerians should stand against.

He continued, Urhobo leaders cannot say they do not know what was going on there. Since they decapitated the bodies of the officers, there is a lot of human sacrifice that is ongoing within that general area. It was just part of them showing that they have strength and that is why they were able to cut the heads, the hands, disembodied them, removed the hearts and other things.

I dont know what was the intent. But whatever the intent is, we remain focused, we remain committed. Our operation was highly regulated. I mean, ideally before now, we would have been in a situation where we would have gone and flattened all that area. But it was measured because we felt not everybody was involved but we knew that a lot of people knew what was going on and kept quiet and that makes them complicit.

We are not animals, we are not barbaric, that we just go around killing people. If they had not touched our armed forces, nobody would have been there.
The Nigerian Labour Congress has kicked against the new electricity tariff increment.

Speaking to DailyTrust, NLC said the increase is insensitive and callous.

It said this would further impoverish the already pauperised Nigerians battling the hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal.

The Head of Information at the NLC headquarters, Benson Upah, said the labour would take a position on the chaotic policy after appropriate organs of the movement meet.

The governments decision is not only insensitive, it is callous. It further pauperises consumers, especially workers whose wages are fixed and insufficient.

It similarly makes the operating environment more hostile for manufacturers with potential for an astronomical rise in cost of goods and services or in the worst-case scenario, more closures and loss of jobs.

The only people who stand to gain from this mindless social violence against the people are the World Bank and IMF. Pity! We will get back to you on that (next step) after the appropriate organs decide.

The Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi, once again slammed the federal government for increasing the electricity tariffs without consulting relevant stakeholders, Especially in light of the ongoing hardships caused by the removal of fuel subsidy and the instability of the Naira.

He alleged that similar to the unilateral removal of petrol subsidy, the government had demonstrated a lack of concern for the welfare of the people in its policies.

In a democratic society, it is expected that the government should prioritise the interests of the people, but when this principle is disregarded, it signifies a regression towards a dictatorial era. In fact, the APC has consistently exhibited an authoritarian political culture, which can be traced back to the General Buhari regime.

This authoritarian culture has now permeated all aspects of social relations in Nigeria, resulting in widespread insecurity, high levels of unemployment, rampant poverty, and the rapid depreciation of the naira.

We have now reached a critical juncture where the people must take charge of their own survival, he stated.

On his part, Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, said the new tariff hike would place An unbearable burden on already struggling Nigerian households, particularly low-income families and vulnerable communities and SMEs.

According to him, it is important for the government to recognise that its decision to remove the fuel subsidy contributed to the current situation.

Therefore, the government should be prepared to bear the brunt of these policy decisions without unduly passing on the burden to Nigerian citizens.

It is important to note that energy security is one of the major areas that contributes to national security and welfare, which explains why nations guide their energy sector seriously and are always up and doing ensuring its availability and affordability.

For instance, the government of Canada is currently providing up to 100 Canadian Dollar subsidy within this year to support homes, following the economic hardship. Mamedu said.

He said the governments priority right now must be to explore alternative solutions that prioritise improving the efficiency of electricity distribution, addressing corruption in the energy sector and promoting renewable energy sources.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and some civil society organisations (CSOs) have kicked against the new hike in electricity tariff in the country.

Those who spoke to Daily Trust yesterday said all the reasons given by government officials on the increase were not tenable, saying even in advanced societies, citizens enjoy subsidies on some basic necessities like fuel and electricity.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday announced a tariff increment from N68 kilowatt hour (kwh) to N225 kwh.

The commission said the increment was made following consultations with the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) as well as the inability of the federal government to pay over N2.9 trillion that would accrue by the end of 2024 as electricity subsidy for failure to enable cost reflective tariff.

With this tariff hike, consumers under the Band A feeders and enjoying an average of 20 hours of power supply daily will pay about N135, 000 monthly.
Effectively, the recapitalization process for Nigerian banks under the Olayemi Cardoso leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) commenced on Monday, April 1, 2024. According the CBNs circular on the latest round of minimum capital requirement for banks in Nigeria (issued on March 28, 2024), All banks are required to meet the minimum capital requirement within a period of 24 months, commencing from April 1, 2024 and terminating on March 31, 2026. In this upward review of banks minimum capital, the apex bank (in the circular) said The prevailing macroeconomic challenges and headwinds occasioned by external and domestic shocks have underscored the need for banks to raise and maintain adequate capital to enhance their resilience, solvency and capacity to continue to support the growth of the Nigerian economy. The apex bank therefore mandated minimum capital of N500 billion, N200 billion, and N50 billion for commercial banks with international, national and regional licenses respectively. It also raised the capitalization baseline for merchant (N50 billion) and non-interest banks (national: N20 billion; regional: N10 billion).The CBN specified that minimum capital for existing banks should comprise only paid-up capital and share premium; and for proposed banks (new banking license applications after April 1, 2024), the paid-up capital should meet the new (capital) requirement.

However, the apex bank said For the avoidance of doubt, the new capital requirement shall not be based on shareholders funds; and additional Tier-1 capital shall not be eligible for the purpose of meeting the new requirement. These, by implication, mean that the retained earnings of the banks (over the past years) shall not be allowed to form part of the new minimum capital.According to Investopedia, retained earnings are the cumulative net profits of a company after accounting for dividend payments. It captures the fact that, because those earnings were not paid out to shareholders as dividends, they were instead retained by the company. Yet, the apex bank, in its circular, definitively rules out deploying such funds (retained earnings) to meeting the latest minimum capital. This, therefore, constricts the elbow room and options available to the banks in pursuit of the new capital base within the next two years.According to the reports filed by some banks with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), most of them have huge retained earnings. Indeed, 12 of the banks, including Access Holding, FBN Holdings, FCMB Group, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa, Sterling Financial Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Wema Bank, Polaris Bank and a non-interest bank, Jaiz Bank have an estimated N4.8 trillion in their retained earnings. This huge sum, however, is not available to them as they scout for fresh funds to meet the mandated capital. Truly, in line with the CBN guidelines, the options open to the banks would include injection of fresh equity capital through private placements, rights issue and/or offer for (public) subscription. The banks could opt for mergers & acquisitions (M & As) and/or choose the downgrade or upgrade of license authorization. For banks with international authorization, the entire local and global financial markets are available to them in mustering the new capital. Thus, while some would be exploring the local market, others would go afield via issuance of Eurobonds and private placements to attract even discerning foreign investors.However, the private placement path is usually subject to detailed scrutiny of the regulatory authorities because it is often the pathway for injecting illicit funds into businesses via bonds/equity purchase. Private placement (after all) is where a business sells corporate bonds or shares to investors without offering them for sale on the open market. The banks, in seeking for funds, would reach out to a select group of local and foreign investors; this time around, the CBN has indicated its stance to thoroughly scrutinize investments coming from all sources.On the other hand, however, given the consistent high returns and earnings recorded by Nigerian banks even in hard times, rights issues and public offers present veritable paths for raising fresh funds for them. Whether gauged by (worth) of dividend payouts or shareholder value appreciation over the years, most of the publicly quoted banks have attained premium grades in the NGX; and remained highly attractive to investors.It should also be pointed out that the stellar performances of the NGX in terms of (general) returns/yield on investment vis-a-vis other African/emerging markets exchanges recommends it as a veritable platform for raising the four or five trillion Naira the CBN directive would entail. The NGX with a market capitalization of about N60 trillion currently, is a leading integrated market infrastructure provider in Africa, servicing the largest economy on the continent. It therefore possesses the breadth and depth necessary to absorb the financial pressure that sourcing of funds for the ongoing recapitalization of banks in Nigeria would engender.Also, the 24 months deadline for the current recapitalization provides ample time for banks to approach the market with their bouquet of offerings. This is unlike about 20 years ago when the last recapitalization took place (under Prof. Charles Soludo as CBN Governor) in a matter of eighteen months; and saw the number of banks shrinking from about ninety to only twenty-five.

This time around, with segregated (new) minimum capital for different categories of banks, each would utilize its unique selling points (USPs) and source for funds. For all these and pride of identity/ownership, there may not be many M & As in achieving the new minimum capital by banks. Howsoever, the emerging banks by March 31, 2026, would likely face the reality of dilution of returns for shareholders. In search of funds in the ongoing recapitalization, many of them could inadvertently have generated bad risk assets or may have engaged in high-risk behaviors to deploy additional liquidity. In the end, there is also the possibility of high industry concentrationas current major shareholders retain/expand their gripcreating an oligopolistic market. The apex bank, from all indications, is already out to pre-empt this eventualityespecially in its effort to position Nigerian banks to effectively play their role in the transmission mechanism.

Finally, in the long-term, the strengthening of the banks via fresh capital is intended to fit them into critical role in the building of a one trillion dollar economy by 2030 as proposed by the President Tinubu administration. The recapitalized banks are most likely to emerge stronger and more resilient entitiesable to fund big ticket transactions that Nigerias infrastructure financing really require. The new banks would also then be better equipped to broadly fund the growth and development of the real sector, and eliminate myriads of Government interventions with their innumerable drawbacks.All said, the potential influx of capital into the Nigerian (domestic) economy through offshore capital-raising endeavors of the banks in the next two years could be the wand to effectively jumpstart the economy. Favorable ratings and high global rankings of most Nigerian banks as well as their performance indicators over the years fully present them as attractive prospective investees. Collectively, therefore, their fresh capital injection drive has great potential to stimulate the currently comatose economy. All things being equal!The author, Okeke, a practising Economist, Business Strategist, Sustainability expert and ex-Chief Economist of Zenith Bank Plc, lives in Lekki, Lagos. He can be reached via: [email protected]
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed the arrest of controversial cross dresser, Idris Okuneye popularly called Bob Risky, reports thegazellenews.com

EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewole, spoke exclusively with this medium this morning, Thursday, 4 April, 2024 on the matter.

Oyewole told thegazellenews.com that Bob Risky was arrested on Wednesday, 3 April, 2024 and is being detained at the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency.

According to him, the controversial cross-dresser was arrested for abuse of Naira, the nations currency.

He stated further that specifically, Bob Risky was arrested for currency mutilation.

Oyewale told thegazellenews.com that Bob Risky will be charged to court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has apprehended controversial cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky, for alleged abuse of the naira, spraying of notes, and currency mutilation.

Bobrisky was detained at the EFCCs Lagos Command following his arrest in Lagos on Wednesday night.

Confirming the arrest on Thursday, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale stated: Bobrisky is with us. He was arrested last night in Lagos and he is at our Lagos command. We arrested him for alleged abuse of naira notes, spraying of naira notes, and currency mutilation, among others. We are very serious about restoring the dignity of the naira.

Oyewale added, Though our investigation is still ongoing, but he will definitely be charged to court soon.

Bobrisky has recently been involved in several controversies, including calls for his arrest by activist Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan, over his transgender lifestyle. Despite his release from police custody, VeryDarkMan expressed determination to ensure Bobrisky faces legal consequences.

However, in response to discussions on cross-dressing and sexuality, Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, clarified on Channels Televisions Politics Today that while cross-dressing may not conform to societal norms, it is not a criminal offense under Nigerian law. Adejobi emphasized the need for evidence to substantiate accusations, noting that individuals accused of cross-dressing often face allegations of other crimes, but cannot be arrested without proof.
Justice John Okoro of Court of a Federal High Court in Abuja has awarded a N5 million damages against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for wrongfully parading a photographer named Nasiru Saidu Ali (Kozzo) as a fraudster.

The incident happened in May 2019 when the photographer was wrongfully arrested from his Abuja home and his photos splashed on the social media accounts of the EFCC alongside those of other alleged internet scammers.

He was later released after his innocence was established but Ali dragged the anti-graft agency to court for criminal defamation of his character.

The photographer, through his lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, had demanded N100m damages from the EFCC but after five years, the court, in a landmark judgment delivered on Friday, March 22, 2024, awarded a N5 million damages against the EFCC and ordered the anti-graft agency to tender a public apology to the photographer.

After the court ruling, Olajengbesi reiterated that it is unlawful and amount to abuse of powers for the EFCC to publicise images of individuals arrested for alleged crimes when such persons have not been convicted by court.

The lawyer said his firm, Law Corridor, took up the photographers case pro bono, and after extensive legal proceedings before the Federal High Court, Abuja, justice was finally served.

He said, Following numerous legal arguments and delays orchestrated by the EFCC, Honorable Justice John Okoro of Court 8 of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered a landmark judgment on Friday, March 22, 2024.

The Court deemed EFCCs actions unconstitutional, as they violated Alis right to human dignity, encroached upon his privacy, and a disregard to the noble and fundamental principle of presumption of innocence to have posted his picture on their social media.

The Court awarded 5 million in exemplary, punitive, and general damages against the EFCC. Additionally, the EFCC was ordered to publicly apologise to the young photographer.

Even though we asked for 100m, the court awarded N5 million and also grant perpetuate order against EFCC from arresting the photographer again.

Related
KanyiDaily recalls that Bobrisky was arrested on Wednesday evening, April 3, and has since been detained at the EFCCs Lagos Command.

The EFCC paraded Bobrisky on Thursday by sharing photos of him in their custody, along with a statement confirming the arrest.

In the statement, EFCC revealed that Bobrisky was summoned following reports of him publicly spraying and displaying new naira notes at the premiere of Ajakaju: Beast of Two Worlds, a film produced by Eniola Ajao.

The statement read: Operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have commenced investigation of Idris Okuneye, a.k.a Bobrisky, for allegedly spraying Naira notes.

The EFCC had invited the 31-year-old following a video report of spraying and flaunting wads of new Naira notes at the premiere of a movie, Ajakaju, produced by Eniola Ajao, a Nollywood actress and producer, at Film One Circle Mall, Lekki, Lagos on March 24, 2024.

Investigation also revealed that he had also committed the alleged offence at some other event centres and parties at different times.

Following the invitation by the Commission, he arrived at the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC in the morning of Wednesday, April 4, 2024 for interrogation and volunteered his statements.

He will soon be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.

EFCC Grills Bobrisky for Naira Abuse Operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have commenced investigation of Idris Okuneye, a.k.a Bobrisky, for allegedly spraying Naira notes. The EFCC had invited the 31-year-old following a pic.twitter.com/1ndxxSPAwY  EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) April 4, 2024

This comes a few days after Bobrisky sparked reactions online following his presence at Ikeja Mall cinema for a meet and greet event associated with the movie Ajakaju.
The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, has made a vow. He promised to re-arrest Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Binance Regional Africa Manager, who escaped from custody in Nigeria.

The IGP said he will realize this with the help of the International Criminal Police Organisation.

Egbetokun said this on Thursday while fielding questions from journalists at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja.

Egbetokun said, I am not going to tell you what INTERPOL is doing, but I must tell you that we are doing a lot. I can assure you that the suspect would be re-arrested.

Anjarwalla, 38, escaped from custody on Friday, March 22, 2024, from a safe house where he and his colleague were detained.

The IG further revealed that kidnapping and murder cases have increased in the past eight weeks, as the Nigeria Police Force recorded 214 cases of kidnapping and 537 homicide cases.

Egbetokun noted that 3,685 suspects were apprehended for their participation in various crimes, while 401 kidnapped victims were rescued.

He said, On the flip-side, we will continue to strive for excellence by being more proactive in our policing approach. Our responses to the current internal security threats require strategic deployments that are not only proactive but also technology and intelligence-driven.

Through meticulous analysis of available information, we shall endeavour to pre-empt criminal activities, disrupt their illicit networks, and apprehend perpetrators swiftly. It is essential that we remain vigilant and adaptive in our approach, continuously refining our strategies to stay ahead of evolving threats.

I am pleased to report a substantial advancement, propelled by the execution of diverse strategies aimed at mitigating the escalating trend of criminal activities across the nation after our last conference held on February 8, 2024.

In the past eight weeks, we recorded 141 cases of terrorism/secessionist attacks, 537 cases of murder, 126 cases of armed robbery, 214 cases of kidnapping, and 39 cases of unlawful possession of firearms.

Also, during the period under review, the Nigeria Police Force arrested 3,685 suspects for their participation in various crimes, 401 kidnapped victims were rescued, 216 various firearms, 3,601 ammunition and 82 vehicles were recovered.

We have in the last nine months cumulatively presented cheques totalling N7,263,391,051.73 to 2,5143 families of deceased police officers.
United States, US, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated that Ukraine will become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO.

He stated this during a chat with journalists on Thursday at a summit to mark NATOs 75th anniversary.

Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership, said Blinken.

The US Secretary of State assured that the support for Ukraine remains rock solid among member states.

European leaders have been anxious about US support for Ukraine as a $60 billion aid package is held up in Congress by Republicans.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attended the summit to press for more air defence systems, which he said they agreed to.

Allies will undertake an exercise of allocating or finding this  identifying these additional air defence systems in order to bring them to Ukraine, to provide them to Ukraine and help defend our skies, he told reporters.

On Wednesday, NATO ministers agreed to start planning to play a greater role in coordinating military aid to Ukraine.

Under a proposal by Stoltenberg, NATO would take over work done by a US-led coalition known as the Ramstein group to guard against any cut in support if Donald Trump is re-elected president in November.

Diplomats said that Stoltenberg also proposed a fund of 100 billion to support Ukraines military over five years.
Pastor Omodele Fatoyinbo, wife of the Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly in Guzape, Abuja, Pastor Abiodun Fatoyinbo, says her husband is not a rapist.

Mrs. Fatoyinbo said, My husband is not a rapist. Even if he was not a believer, he would not be a rapist.



Before she could complete her speech, however, her husband quickly grabbed the microphone and said, the elders are handling the matter.

Our correspondent, who is currently in the church auditorium, reported that although church service usually ends at 12 pm, the service was already rounding before 11 am while no sermon was delivered.

Mrs. Busola Dakolo, the wife of popular musician, Timi Dakolo, had on Friday accused Fatoyinbo of raping her 20 years ago.

The allegation caused a storm over the weekend with groups calling for the arrest of Fatoyinbo while some of his supporters have stayed by his side.

The COZA founder has, however, denied all the allegations levelled against him.
COMEDY comingles with tragedy in brilliant Technicolor in this magical land. It feels like the last days of the old Roman Empire. Just when you think you have had enough of tragedy some amazing comic relief comes your way willy-nilly. Just as yours sincerely was taking a delightful snooze and catching up on newspapers after the dreadful developments of last weekend, Okon and Baba Lekki shambled into the master bedroom early on Friday both reeking of stale palm wine and bush meat.

But more alarming is the fact that they were both carrying a huge bundle of premium grade Atori whips or what is known in ancient Yoruba lingo as pasan. The whole house suddenly looked as if it was about to be invaded by a bicentennial egungun or one of those dreaded ancestral terrorists whose mere presence provoked spine-chilling fright.

Okon, what is going on? Are you now a follower of Alapansanpa or Anikulapa? yours sincerely demanded eyeing the duo with restrained mirth.

Ha, oga, no be like dat at all at all. I no dey follow dem yeye Yoruba masquerade . He get time like dat when police come arrest one like dat for Mushin becos him dey fire ganja for corner. As dem dey take am to station he come dey cry say , ha ara orun nlo, ara orun nlo, so dem people ask him to shut up, abi no be from heaven him say he come from? Okon sniggered.

Okon, I hear you. But what is this occasion? Why all these whips? snooper asked trying to prevent himself from bursting into wild laughter.

Oga I wan quickly reach dem Abuja. Dem yeye honourable and sanitor don dey misbehave again. Dem say make I come be dem chief whip.So, I wan go wire dem well well. He get one of dem like dat from Adamawa who dey slap women any how. When I wire him well well him go smell him own buttock catch fire. That boy with wuruwuru hair I been dey fear make him no come slap Senator Oluremi. Na mad dog and na me go cure him madness, Okon raved.

But Okon what is your own in this matter? What is your locus standi? snooper demanded no longer able to withhold a ringing laughter.

Oga several times I don tell you say locusts no dey stand. Dem dey bite. Na Yoruba people who no fit fight dem mala dey say locust dey stand. You see, enjoyment and feferity don finish Yoruba people. Make dem no try nonsense with mala becos mala no dey carry last, Okon crowed with malice as snooper pushed out the delinquent duo.
John Kanyua claims he lost his wife after the man of God asked her to become an assistant pastor at the church/Nairobi News Source: UGC

Bishop Wangivi of Joy Springs Church in Kiambu, Kenya has been accused of snatching the wife of a man whose wedding he presided over.

The distraught husband, John Kanyua said he lost his wife of 26 years, Leah Wambui to the randy Bishop after he approached her to become an assistant pastor in his church. The businessman admitted not taking the Bishops consistent admiration for his wife seriously until he took off with his wife.

Kanyua revealed that he got suspcious of his wifes amorous relationship with the Bishop after he started visiting his house in the morning, spending the entire day locked in with her. The Bishop however ran away with his wife after he sought the intervention of the local administration and members of the clergy.

This fueled the issue further as the pastor later ran away with my wife and children and rented a house in a nearby market where they live, he said.

He further disclosed that he has been contacted by his wifes parents to accept repayment of the dowry he paid to them to pave way for the new wedding of their daughter. Kanyua hower said he refused the offer.

This is unacceptable and I wouldnt sit back and watch someone take my family. If the government does not intervene, I will choose my ways. It has taken me a lot to grow the family all those years. I will not allow the wedding to continue. I can also seek legal redress. Let her stop soiling her name and ask for forgiveness, then I will take her back, he said.

The Bishops wife of 34 years, Agnes Wangivi also confirmed the incident. The mother of three recalled having Leah over for family dinners though in the absence of her husband and on invitation of her own husband.

I strongly objected the appointment, but he was determined to have his way. I confronted Leah and threatened her not to play games with my husband. She looked innocent, and I gave in.

 I started questioning their friendship. I confronted Kanyua to keep his wife away from my husband, but he seemed blindfolded. My husband developed cold feet on his family and ran away to Leah in 2015, she said.

Agnes said she still cannot understand why her husband got tired of her despite the challenges they went through to build their lives in their younger years.

We have gone through a lot when we started the church to grow it. To have all the property we have, we went through a lot, and then someone wants to throw it away by marrying a stranger. I cant allow this, she said.
NORMAL  U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Moline, visited Heartland Community College on Wednesday to promote agriculture and manufacturing.

Sorensen, who serves on the House's Agricultural Committee, made his first stop at Heartland Community College in Normal to check out the new Agricultural Complex and Advanced Manufacturing Center.

Sorensen said he and others are working on their five-year farm bill for this year to provide a safety net and sustainability not only for farmers, but for other aspects of agricultural industry and agribusiness.

"That's why it's so important to be here at Heartland, because we're learning how the next generation of farmers is learning the craft," Sorensen said. "It isn't just opening a textbook or getting it online, because what we have here at Heartland is the ability for people to get hands-on know-how of how to be successful."

The $23 million Agricultural Complex, situated on the west side of the campus on Raab Road, has both instructional and community education spaces, including the McLean County Farm Bureau Agriculture Lab, the GROWMARK FS Atrium and the Funk Family Foundation Outdoor Learning Center.

The complex will serve over 200 students annually in studies revolving around agriculture, though these will extend outward into other fields of study. The college currently offers about 23 classes and three degree programs related to agriculture, as well as certifications in agriculture business, agronomy, precision agriculture and regenerative agriculture.

Sorensen said the future of agriculture is also about opening doors up for the next generation of farmers, especially those from minority backgrounds, and investing in farmers working on small-scale operations and urban farming plots.

Sorensen said, "I think the idea of when we close our eyes and think of a farmer, it's different today than perhaps what we had in our memory."

Following last week's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Port of Baltimore, Sorensen spoke of farmers in the Midwest having to wait for shipments of fertilizer to reach them as the growing season approaches.

"We need to make sure that supply chain isn't kinked up for too long, because it is going to have an effect on agriculture right here in middle America," he said.

Kortney Watts, associate director of agriculture at Heartland, said the transition into the new center has been great for students to learn everything there is to know about agriculture and get that hands-on experience.

Watts said they are waiting for the right time to plant crops on the 50 acres behind the center, with help from the Illinois Soybean Association. They have future plans to create an edible windbreak with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will have students pick out trees and different plant species to be implemented.

"It's really about bringing agriculture into the building to make sure that the students are able to see it firsthand," Watts said. "We are constantly looking on where we can continue to evolve to make sure we're meeting the needs of the people around us today, but it's really just making sure our students are able to reach their goals."

'New-collar jobs'

Sorensen's visit followed a March 25 visit by Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria. At that time, LaHood said he hears throughout his district about a lack of qualified workforce members in the community. Heartland is preparing students for jobs in various advanced manufacturing and other technical areas.

Theyre not blue-collar jobs, theyre not white-collar jobs. Theyre new-collar jobs where you need some advanced training, and thats being done here at their new center, LaHood said last week. From a public policy standpoint, figuring out how we can help and assist Heartland through PELL grants, through other funding, but also how we can help with tax credits and tax incentives so that we can create a bright future workforce for our community.

The $17 million center incorporates remodeled space to further support programs such as robotics, HVAC, welding and digital media, in addition to high-voltage energy storage, renewable energy and the newly constructed State Farm Electric Vehicle Lab.

The center is funded in part by a $7.5 million Rebuild Illinois capital grant as well as through public and private partnerships from local business leaders, including State Farm, which provided a $1 million grant in August to support the 6,278-square-foot electric vehicle lab and energy storage training facility.

The center is already serving about 350 students this semester, with interest projected to grow as word spreads about the available programs.

Other topics

During the tours, Sorensen and LaHood both fielded questions about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's recent motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Sorensen said he wants a speaker who wants to get the job done, but added he does not think it will serve the communities and his constituents if he and others have to stop what they are doing and spend days voting.

"I mean, this is child's play that's going on today, and we need to make sure that the government is working for the people," Sorensen said. "I want to make sure that we get the things to the floor of the house and have them vote so that we can actually solve problems, and I hope that we'll do that."

LaHood said he could not think of anything dumber than going through that exercise again.

We have a tight governing majority now, its a very partisan atmosphere, but I think using the motion to vacate, to get ride of Speaker Johnson, is a really dumb idea, he said.

In other news, Sorensen said he and LaHood have not heard any specifics from the United States Postal Service about a potential plan to downsize downstate processing centers.

Sorensen said he expects to have something from USPS on his desk Monday, but if not, there will need to be more pressure placed on U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

"We cannot have somebody mail a package from Normal to Peoria and have it go to Bedford Park, Illinois. That does not serve our constituents, whether they live in the 16th District or the 17th," Sorensen said. "There's going to be more pressure to the postmaster general to make sure that we're standing up for these jobs, because it's not just the jobs that work in these mail processing centers, it's the people that need their prescriptions delivered."

As for foreign aid, Sorensen said he hopes Speaker Johnson's pledge to bring up the topic will come to fruition, because allies like Ukraine and Taiwan need the support, and humanitarian aid must be brought to people in Gaza.

"All of those things are on the front burner, they should be, and we should have already tackled a lot of these things," Sorensen said. "The problem so far is Speaker Mike Johnson is playing politics with it all."

LaHood also commented on the United Nations' resolution to call for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, which the United States abstained from.

I dont think we should be getting involved in the politics of another county, LaHood said. I think Israel needs to defend itself We cant trust Hamas. Hamas cant be given the ability to govern in Gaza. In my view, theyre a terrorist network and a terrorist party, and I think we should let Israel make the decision on their own.

LaHood agreed that the United States should play a role in protecting Palestinian civilians, but he places the blame on Hamas.

Theyre hiding behind victims, theyre hiding behind hospital patients. They cannot be trusted as a terrorist network, and we ought to allow Israel to eliminate them and dismantle them, LaHood said. Im in favor of bringing in a governing organization to govern Gaza, but it cannot be Hamas.

Who was there? Photos from Music as Medicine The Performers: Dr. Daniel Brownstone, Dr. Jerry Antonini, Dr. Darrell Looney, Dr. Susan Sheppard, Dr. David Skillrud, David Horine. Dr. Frank Han. Dr. Tom Kelly (standing on piano bench) Dr. Daniel Brownstone Darrin Burnett David Horine. Dr Frank Han Dr Darrell Looney. Dr David Skillrud Dr Frank Han Dr Jerry Antonini Dr Susan Sheppard Dr Tom Kelly Dr. Darrell Looney Laurie Burke, Pam Janssen Dr David Skillrud, Deb Grieco Cheryl and Mike Whelan, Darrin Burnett, Dr Jerry Antonini Dr. Susan Sheppard, Dr. Tom Kelly, Dr. Ric Sabbun Dr David Skillrud. Larry Dietz Dr Kathy Bohn, Dr Tom Nielson, Deb Grieco George and Joy Szmaj, David Horine Larry and Marlene Dietz Peggy Hundley, Joy Szmaj, Kristina Marshall, George Szmaj Dr. David Skillrud Tim Leighton, Frank and Angie Hoffman Tracy and Les Halloway Marlene Gregor, Marilyn Blank Amy and Jeff Otto David Horine Stephen Goodwin, Sandi Zielinski, Marilyn Mertz Carolyn and Duane Yockey Dave and Joan Wochner, Larry Dietz Dr Jerry Grieco and Deb Grieco Laurel Schumacher, Debra Brownstone, Jan Wohlwend, Natalie Dugan Jason Francis, Jenna Francis, Emily Schiller Vicki Tilton, Anne Waldorf, Tim Tilton, Jim Waldorf Dave and Jo Ann Schappaugh John Carter, John Wohlwend Debra and Dr Daniel Brownstone Herm and Fran Brandau John Carter with his Guest Conductor Award Dr Jerry Antonini The Musicians: Dr Daniel Brownstone, Dr Jerry Antonini, Dr Darrell Looney, Dr Tom Kelly, Dr Susan Sheppard, David Horine, David Skillrud and Dr Frank Han
I was sorry to learn of Kent Karraker's passing in The Pantagraph on March 27. As I read the article, many memories came flooding back of our relationship. The one that stands out is when our families were attending the First United Methodist Church in Normal (in the mid-late 60s) and we were in the Adult Koinonia Sunday School class. Kent was working for the Illinois Farm Bureau and I was working at Funk Brothers Seed Company, so agriculture was a common denominator for us.

We learned that the church needed a large Christmas tree for the sanctuary and we agreed to get one. So I borrowed a truck from the Foundation Department-Funk Brothers Seed Company and picked up Kent at his home. As he got in the truck, I asked, 'Kent did you bring a saw?' His reply was, "No, I thought you would," then "I'll get one of our kids' saws." So we headed to the Christmas tree farm. Fortunately the Christmas tree farm loaned us a real saw.

That morning was filled with laughter and much good humor as well as visiting about our families, church, the community, our work etc. What I remember most about Kent was his devotion to his family, the church, the community and agriculture. Yes, he was a visionary but also a fiscal conservative, and his years on the Normal City Council and then as mayor of 'Uptown' Normal is a testimony to his leadership.

I am pleased our paths crossed and am appreciative that I could call him a friend that 'made a difference' in the lives he encountered during his 87 years.

J. Gordon and Sandi Bidner, Carlock

Photos: Former Normal Mayor Kent Karraker Mayor Karraker at Wrigley Karraker, Durbin, Boschini - 2002 Karraker and George W. Bush in Normal Karraker surrounded by press Durbin, Boschini, Karraker - 2002 Kent Karraker - 2002 Karraker, Durbin, Markowitz - 2002
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Foreign Affairs Minister, has encouraged business owners in Kenya to evaluate and explore the Ghanaian market as well as establish synergies with local businesses, assess comparative advantages for the mutual benefit of both countries.



The sector minister made this call while speaking at the Second Session of the Ghana-Kenya Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) convened in Accra on April 2, with a focus on promoting bilateral relations and fostering cooperation across various sectors of the economy.



The Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation sessions witnessed officials from both countries engaging in constructive dialogue and laying down strategies that will promote and enhance mutual progress.



Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey underscored the longstanding friendship between Ghana and Kenya stating, Our bond of friendship has remained steadfast, leading to fruitful collaboration across diverse sectors. She highlighted the importance of high-level visits between officials of Ghana and Kenya in solidifying bilateral ties and fostering economic growth."



In his submission, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of Kenya, H.E. Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, reaffirmed Kenyas commitment to exploring the full potential of bilateral relations. He therefore expressed confidence in the outcomes of the session to make compact, the cooperation in various sectors, stating, Kenya is keen to explore and expand cooperation with Ghana in more areas to create value for our people.



The exchange of high-level visits between officials of both countries was highlighted as a significant factor in strengthening ties. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos delegation to the Africa Climate Summit in Kenya and Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumias recent attendance at H.E. Dr. William Samoei Rutos inaugural ceremony were cited as examples of collaborative efforts to deepen relations.



Additionally, the surge in commercial exchange between Ghana and Kenya was commended, with initiatives such as regular flights by Kenya Airways between Nairobi and Accra contributing to economic growth. The establishment of the Ghana Trade House further underscored the commitment to enhancing economic ties, as noted by Mrs Botchwey: The commercial exchange between our two countries has witnessed a remarkable surge, indicative of the robust growth trajectory in our bilateral economic relations.



In closing, both the foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and H.E. Dr. Mudavadi expressed their utmost pleasure to the senior officials for their collaborative efforts and emphasized the significance of implementing decisions effectively.



The Second Session of the Ghana-Kenya Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation signifies a renewed commitment to bilateral relations, fostering mutual understanding, cooperation, and economic growth for the benefit of both nations and their peoples.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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QNET, a global wellness and lifestyle focused direct selling company, has been made aware of a recent news report by the Ghana News Agency titled: Western Region GIS repatriates 66 Ivorians published on 2nd April 2024. The report mentions that these individuals were living illegally in Ghana and purported to be involved in an online business called QNET.



QNET firmly denies any involvement in this incident.



Biram Fall, Regional Manager for QNET in Sub-Saharan Africa, states:



We are appalled by the misuse of our brand name in connection with these illegal activities, including job scams and illegal migration. QNET is a law-abiding entity, and those who engage in our direct selling business to promote our products to others, do not need to travel from one country to another.



We take allegations of illegal and irregular migration or fraudulent activities very seriously and will take strong action against anyone found to be misrepresenting QNET. We are committed to ethical business practices and strongly condemn such deplorable actions.



It is important for the public to understand that QNET is not an employment agency and does not make offers of guaranteed income or travel opportunities in exchange for money. As a legitimate global direct selling company, QNET provides a safe and legitimate business model where Independent Representatives earn an income only by selling our high-quality, life-enhancing products.



QNET has taken some significant steps in a bid to clear the misinformation about the company, its business model and the direct-selling industry in general in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.



This includes launching the "Say No" campaign in West Africa, both online and offline, to educate and warn the public about the rise in fraudulent activities conducted under the guise of QNET. This campaign is part of the companys ongoing efforts to safeguard the integrity of our brand and protect potential victims from being misled. For more information on our "Say No" campaign and to verify the legitimacy of QNET-related activities, please visit our official website or contact our customer support team.



Say No Campaign is available on www.saynocampaign.org



To reinforce this commitment, the company also launched a Compliance Hotline on WhatsApp (+233256630005) last year, specifically tailored for its operations in Sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Cameroon, Mali, Guinea, Benin, Togo, and others.



QNET collaborates closely with authorities and stakeholders to address and prevent the misuse of our brand name. We urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities that misrepresent QNET .

Source: peacefmonline.com









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Ghanaian students on scholarship in Hungary are calling on the government to pay their stipends owed for over 6 months.



The Ghana Students Association in Hungary expressed in a press release that the Ghanaian government has failed to fulfill its crucial responsibility of providing monthly stipends to approximately 215 students, including undergraduates, masters, and PhDs.



According to them negligence has had profound consequences on students' academic performance and mental well-being.



On the contrary, the Hungarian government has commendably fulfilled all its obligations stipulated in the scholarship agreement.



However, the constant rise in living costs in Hungary exacerbates the hardships faced by students. Despite continuous appeals, the students have yet to receive their owed stipends.



The timely disbursement of stipends and allocation of book allowances at the start of the academic year are essential to restoring hope, enabling academic success, and fulfilling the dreams of these bright Ghanaian students.



Unfortunately, the students have been left in dire straits for the past six months.



They are therefore pleading with the Government of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to expedite their processes for paying the stipends.





Source: Sika Ayim/ Peace FM Newsroom









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NPP National Youth Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye has condemned the customary marriage between the 63-year old Gborbu Wulomo (Ga priest) and a 16-year-old girl.



The marriage sparked controversies after a video surfaced showing the priest named Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII performing marriage rites for the young girl who was initially said to be 12 years old until later clarification from the Nungua traditional leaders stating otherwise concerning the girl's age.



Many people have spoken against this marriage but there are others like former NDC Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, and former Attorney General, Ayikoi Otoo among others who support this custom.



According to Ayikoi Otoo in a statement, this is not a marriage but betrothal in that the child has been betrothed to the deity.



Addressing the issue during a panel discussion on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Henry Nana Boakye, popularly called Nana B, found the clarifications and explanations aimed at justifying the incident to be very alarming.



Quoting some provisions in the Children's Act (1998) and amended in 2016, Nana B stated emphatically the portion that reads that "no person shall force a child to be betrothed, to be the subject of a dowry transaction or to be married. The minimum age of marriage of whatever kind shall be eighteen years" to buttress his point and stressed "whether she is 16 or 12 years, per this law, she is a minor and you can't betroth a minor...It is also so clear that the minimum age of marriage for whatever kind, whether spiritual marriage or marriage to a deity shall be 18 years."



He called for the renunciation of these traditions and customs, asserting "we are not saying that all the customs and all the traditions of our Ga people should be cancelled but this particular one, it is outmoded".



He also disagreed with those calling for the arrest and prosecution of the Gborbu Wulomo and the leaders who performed the marriage rite saying "we cannot be aggressive by application of the law on this particular matter but however, for me, as for this marriage, it should be dissolved as soon as possible".



Watch video below





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Ghana's Ministry of Interior has declared Thursday, April 11, 2024, as a public holiday to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, a significant religious festival observed by Muslims worldwide.



The announcement was made through a press release signed by the Minister for the Interior, Henry Quartey, on April 3, 2024.



"The general public is hereby informed that Thursday, April 11, 2024, which marks Eid-ul-Fitr, is a statutory public holiday and should be observed as such throughout the country," the release stated.



Eid-ul-Fitr, also known as the Festival of Breaking the Fast, is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims globally, signifying the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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The Majority in Parliament has mounted a spirited defence for the government over the 400% increment in the fees for acquiring passports.



According to the NPP MPs, the subsidiary legislation committee of Parliament had to beat down the 700 cedis proposed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.



A section of the public kicked against the increments, which has now seen the cost of a regular passport jump from 100 to 500 cedis.



However, addressing the media in Parliament, Andy Appiah-Kubi, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, said the increment had become necessary to remove the 400 cedis government subsidy per passport.



The Asante Akim North MP questioned the basis for the rejection of the revision of the fees by North Tongu MP and ranking member for the Committee on Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, indicating the LI was passed by consensus when it came to the plenary.



Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Shirley Ayorkor Botwe has justified the four hundred per cent increment, citing the need to improve the processes of passport acquisition for Ghanaians.



According to the minister, the cost of acquiring a passport in Ghana is one of the lowest in the West African region.



Before the increment from one hundred cedis to five hundred cedis, the minister revealed that the state absorbs three hundred cedis on each passport application, a situation she says cannot continue.



Speaking to GHOne News, the minister stated that the one hundred cedis charged is not sustainable as it is even affecting our operations. It is difficult to provide any service to Ghanaians at that cost. Today, as we speak, we have the national identification card, which is working very well. The passport is no longer the primary mode of identification.



Reacting to the concerns being raised by some Ghanaians regarding the high cost of the fees, Foreign Affairs Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botwe urged persons who do not have an immediate need for passports not to go for them now.



I am asking humbly Ghanaians, if you dont have a need for a passport and you cannot afford it please dont go for a passport as it is no longer the primary source of identification. The Ghana card is. We need to ensure that we improve our services which is why Parliament agreed to the increment of fees. It is not to impose financial burden on Ghanaians.





Source: starrfm









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Henry Nana Boakye has condemned the religious comments by the leader of the Movement for Change, Alan Kyerematen, regarding the presidential elections in December.



Addressing a congregation during Easter celebrations, Mr. Kyerematen urged Christians to exercise their voting rights by choosing a candidate who shares their beliefs.



"As a predominately Christian nation and as Christians, it is our responsibility to ensure we elect a Christian leader who is also a Christlike leader", he said, referring to himself as the leader with such qualities.



But the National Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye has cautioned Alan Kyerematen to refrain from creating religious divisions.



According to him, Alan's comments are "not the best. It doesn't unite us; it's not good".



Nana Boakye admonished Alan and every Ghanaian to be tolerant of one another stressing "God can make a Muslim the President of this country and this country could be better. We need to be religiously tolerant. That's what has strengthened our peace".



He also touted the flagbearer of the governing party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as a leader who has proven with his actions and words that he respects all religions and this he has demonstrated through his relation with Christians though he is a Muslim.



"His respect for all manner of faith is overwhelming and he is religiously tolerant", Nana B emphasized on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Saturday, December 7, 2024 marks a very important event in Ghana as millions of Ghanaian electorates will on this day cast their votes for their favorite candidate to become Ghana's next President.



This year's election is seen to be uncommon because it will see two Northern leaders in a head-to-head competition for the presidential seat.



The two, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and Ex-President, John Dramani Mahama, represent the major political parties, the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress; hence the election is described by some political analysts as the "Clash of the Titans" and others call it the "Clash of the Northerners".



Dr. Bawumia seeks to continue the reign of the NPP by breaking the eight-year governance cycle while Mr. Mahama counts on the electorates to make him President again.



As the nation awaits December 7, campaigns by both leaders have begun.



In view of this, Henry Nana Boakye, the National Organizer of the governing New Patriotic Party, is assertive that the party's flagbearer, Dr. Bawumia, will emerge victor in the elections.



According to him, "Bawumia will be the President and he is going to make history. We will all be happy and Ghana is going to move forward".



He made this assertion while speaking to issues broached on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo".





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has said that it will not review the new passport fees.



According to the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, the new fees will help generate revenue to enhance service delivery at passport offices across the country.



It is recalled that On April 1, the Ministry adjusted the fees for passport applications, raising them from GH100 to 500 for the 32-page booklet, and to 644 for the 48-page booklet under the standard service.



Following the increment, Ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament and MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa assured that his side will demand a review of the fees when the Parliament resumes.



According to Ablakwa, "It is a matter we will revisit. We will summon the Ministers and officials from the Ministry to see what can be done because this is really terrible. It is going to add on to the already excruciating hardship and anguish that Ghanaians are going through."



However, speaking on JoyNews The Pulse on April 3, Mr. Ampratwum-Sarpong said If he wants us to come to the committee, we will respect the committee, we will appear before the committee, we will repeat the reasons behind the request and the approval given by parliament for the passport fees.



These figures with the support of the majority of Ghanaians have come to stay. There is nothing he can do about it. He can make his noise out there. If he wants to bring it to the committee, to Parliament, we will meet him on the floor of Parliament. We will discuss it, we will debate it, and at the end of the day, he will fall flat on his face.



The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister reiterated that the new fee being charged would also help in clearing the backlog of passports at the printing centres.



We would have money to be able to invest to buy the equipment, the printers, and whatever other stuff that we need to be able to give excellent service.



With the cash revenue flow, it will become possible for us to approach the suppliers of this equipment and materials and whatever that we need in our work.



So once we get more computers, once we get more laminating machines, once we get more capturing machines, we will be able to capture more biometrics and therefore the six months, seven months, or eight months appointment days would be reduced.



"At the moment, it is out of control because we dont have the capturing machines. We do have some but it is not enough, he added.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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In a rebuttal statement, the National Youth Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), George Opare Addo has threatened to deal with the Member of Parliament for Abetifi and Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong over the comments he made that the ruling New Patriotic Party will never hand over power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2025.



According to the NDC Youth Organiser, Whoever knows Bryan Acheampongs parents should tell them to advise him to revise his comments, because if he is a man and he dares try anything on election day. We will deal with him squarely.



The MP for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong last year during a Unity Walk in Kwahu, where he sounded a warning to the NDC, that the current economic interventions by the government had started yielding positive results, hence the NDC should forget that they are going to win the 2024 general elections because the opposition party will lose and the NPP will do everything possible to remain in power.



Bryan Acheampong stated that the NDC party will collapse. If the NDC dares to use threats, violence, and foolishness in the 2024 election we will let them know we have the men. We will show them that we have the men. We have the men! [He screamed to emphasize]. It will never happen that we the NPP will stand on a platform to hand over power to the NDC. It will never happen! We will make sure NPP remains in government at all costs.



However, on Saturday 30th March 2024, during the Unity Walk held in Kwahu-Mpreaso, the Abetifi Member of Parliament repeated that the NPP will never hand over power to the NDC in the upcoming general elections since they are going to lose and would end up misbehaving.



In response to that, the NDC Youth Organiser, George Opare Addo at a Walk organized in honor of the NDC Flagbearer, John Mahama at Kwahu-Mpreaso also replied to deal with Bryan Acheampong, should the NDC win and the NPP attempt not to hand over power to the NDC.



George Opare Addo also warned the Ghana Police Service, the Electoral Commission, and other stakeholders not to dare to try and do anything in favor of the ruling government on the day of the elections, since every vote cast by the electorate will be counted and accounted for.



He said the NDC is well ready and prepared to win the 2024 general election and hence they wont sit aloof and allow the NPP to overrule them at all, adding that they are ready to face the NPP squarely on the day of the elections.



Meanwhile, the NDC called on the Ghana Police Service to immediately arrest and prosecute the MP for comments the party described as reckless and treasonable.



The Flagbearer of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama, in his address said regardless of the stance taken by the NPP, the NDC will not underplay the role of God in the 2024 elections.



He said the NDC is unfazed by Bryan Acheampongs claim.





Source: Daily Guide









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Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has mentioned that the Vice President and Leader of the party, Dr. mahamudu Bawumia, will boost Ghanas economy when he is voted into power in the December 7, presidential elections.



According to Richard Ahiagbah, the NPP flagbearer has what it takes to hit the road running once he is voted into power as the Ghana's President.



Taking to his X (formerly known as Twitter) page, the Communications Director of the NPP said, "Imagine a Ghana where the cedi remains stable, and the economy thrives . . . Bawumia would increase Ghanas gold reserve to back the cedi. By increasing Ghanas reserve to back the cedi, Bawumia offers an ingenious solution to the perennial depreciation of our currency."



"Its a bold and smart solution to an intractable problem that has plagued our nation for far too long. Lets vote for Bawumia, and together, we can build a stronger and more prosperous Ghana. Lets do it!"



The Communications Director alluded to the fact that the cedi has not been at its best for some time now but added that, with the interventions of the Bawumia led government, the cedi will be brought back to its originally glory.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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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:

Bluestriped grunts and gray snapper, two fish species vital to the local economy, in Belize's Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Credit: Pete Oxford/iLCP

Age matters when determining how to protect life in the ocean; every population needs a strong cohort of adults to produce the next generation. But many marine protected areas (MPAs) are falling short of their most basic purpose: to rebuild struggling fish populations.

In a new study published April 4 in Global Change Biology, scientists looked at the age breakdown of reef fish in marine protected areas for the first time. They discovered in almost all of them, adult fish populations have either flatlined or declined.

"Adult fish are really important," said Steve Canty, marine ecologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and a lead author of the study. "They are the primary catch within commercial fisheries that support livelihoods and food security of coastal communities. Additionally, it is the adults that breed and rebuild the fisheries, and here size matters. Bigger and older female fish produce more and better eggs, and therefore are critical to rebuilding fish populations."

It is a vital lesson as the world races to meet the "30 by 30" target to conserve 30% of Earth's ocean by 2030. Delegates at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference set that ambitious goal in December 2022. However, many experts say the target will mean little unless nations choose sites where marine life can flourish and balance the needs of coastal communities.

The study looked at fish in the Mesoamerican Reef. The longest reef in the Western Hemisphere, it stretches over 600 miles along the coasts of southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The region is a biodiversity hotspot, home to over 500 fish species, 60 kinds of corals and one of the largest whale shark congregations on Earth. The marine resources of the region also support the livelihoods and food security of over 1 million people.

Bluestriped grunts swim around a reef in Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Belize. Credit: Luciano Candisani /iLCP

The scientists examined adult versus juvenile fish biomass in 139 reef sites111 protected and 28 unprotected. Protected sites in the Mesoamerican Reef fall into three categories: "fully protected areas" where fishing is completely banned, "highly protected areas" that allow activities like subsistence and catch-and-release sport fishing and "general use zones" where commercial fishing is often allowed but specific methods or equipment are banned. Of the marine protected areas in the study, a mere 24% were either fully or highly protected.

"It's always difficult to prohibit fishing from any part of the seaas if it goes against a basic human instinct," said Melanie McField, co-author and director of the Healthy Reefs Initiative. "But fully protecting and enforcing these areas is the best way to grow bigger fish that can rebuild the populations and actually increase overall fish catches outside the fully protected areas."

The team took their fish biomass data from the Healthy Reefs Initiative, which uses scuba divers to survey fish at hundreds of reefs throughout the region. The initiative has also evaluated the four countries in the Mesoamerican Reef for enforcement and other management practices in protected sites.

The study included additional data about coastal development, sea surface temperature and other key variables known to affect fish populations. The scientists looked at data over a 12-year timeframe, from 2006 to 2018.

Schoolmaster snapper swim around a coral reef in Honduras. Credit: George Stoyle

The results were troubling. Though marine protected areas exist largely to rebuild fish populations, only 11 sites in the study8% totalsaw significant increases in adult biomass. Most sites saw no change, and 28 sites saw declines.

The sites with declines had several things in common: They all had heavy coastal development nearby and experienced high levels of warming in their waters. They were also all in general use zonesthe weakest type of marine protected areaand even then had only "inadequate or moderate enforcement."

"Minimal protection in the weakest MPAs proved to be more detrimental than no protection at all, because it allowed for continued and concentrated exploitation without effective management," said co-author Abel Valdivia, marine conservation scientist with the World Wildlife Fund.

"Unlike open-access zones, where fishing pressure may be spread out, weakly protected areas faced unchecked coastal development, warming waters and inadequate enforcement, leading to the decline in adult biomass."

However, the 11 sites where adults rebounded also had some common trends. They were all in fully protected areas with adequate enforcement, experienced fewer sea surface temperature spikes and were beside areas with a lower human footprint.

Juvenile grunts school in a reef in Honduras. In the study, juvenile fish did better at sites with high coral cover. Credit: George Stoyle

This 12-year snapshot of the Mesoamerican Reef offers clues for how the rest of the globe can succeed at "30 by 30" conservation. Strong enforcement and effective management are key to a marine protected area's success, as is community buy-in and support. Choosing sites with climate change in mind is also critical, the authors said. While many parts of the ocean cannot escape warming waters, sites that could act as climate refuges for both adult and juvenile life stages need to be top candidates for full protection.

"Our study shows that adults and juvenile fish respond very differently to management and environmental change," said Justin Nowakowski, a lead author and ecologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. "Adults were more sensitive to stressors like climate change, which can undermine the local benefits of MPAs. The big question now is where to locate new MPAs to maximize positive impacts for the regional fishery. To do this, we need to consider the unique requirements of adult and juvenile life stagesotherwise we are missing the full picture."

The Smithsonian Marine Station, Conservation International, Barefoot Ocean, Louisiana State University and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science also contributed to the study.

More information: Interplay of management and environmental drivers shifts size structure of reef fish communities, Global Change Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17257 Journal information: Global Change Biology

Provided by Smithsonian
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

Policy alignment sounds dry. But think of it like this: you want to make suburbs cooler and more liveable, so you plant large trees. But then you find the trees run afoul of fire and safety provisions, and they're cut down.

Such problems are all too common. Policies set by different government departments start with good intentions only to clash with other policies.

At present, the Albanese government is working towards stronger environmental laws, following the scathing 2020 Samuel review of the current Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The review noted planning, funding and regulatory decisions are "not well integrated or clearly directed towards achieving long-term environmental sustainability".

Stronger laws are not a standalone answer. We must find ways to align government policies far better, so progress on one front doesn't lead to a setback elsewhere. As the government prepares to announce once in a generation changes to our main environment laws, it must find ways to reduce these clashes.

Nature vs. cities

All levels of government have policies aimed at increasing canopy cover and biodiversity in cities. How hard can it be to plant trees?

The problems start when you look for places to actually plant street trees. It's common to encounter a wall of obstacles, namely, other policies and regulations. Fire prevention, human safety, visibility for road traffic and provision of footpaths and carparks are often legally binding requirements that can stymie this seemingly simple goal.

Most cities in Australia are now actually losing canopy cover rather than gaining more.

On the biodiversity front, urban sprawl is pushing many species and ecosystems to the brink of extinction.

Last year, conservationists rediscovered the grassland earless dragon on Melbourne's grassy western fringes, which we had believed was extinct. Now we had a second chance to save it, in line with the Australian government's pledge to stop extinctions.

The problem? The grasslands where the dragon was found near Bacchus Marsh, just outside Melbourne, are zoned for housing. Only 1% of the grasslands ecosystems suitable for these reptiles is still intact, and much of it has been earmarked for housing.

From a housing point of view, the continued existence of the dragon now threatens plans for 310,000 homes.

If we had better policy alignment, we would look to achieve both goals: protect the dragon and build more housing through methods such as building sustainable midrise developments in established urban areas.

Protecting the reef while exporting LNG

Meanwhile, the Great Barrier Reef is bleaching again, the fifth bout in just eight years.

Almost all the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases goes into our oceans, triggering marine heat waves and bleaching. If the world's largest living structure bleaches too much, it will begin to die, threatening its rich biodiversity, cultural heritage and industries such as tourism.

On the one hand, Australia wants to protect the reef and has funded efforts to boost water quality.

But on the other hand, supportive government policies contribute to our recent emergence as a top exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is 8595% comprised of the potent greenhouse gas methane. Land clearing in the catchments of rivers which flow to the reef is ongoing due to policy loopholes, which adds more smothering sediment, nutrients and pollutants to the reef's woes.

The shipping sector only has to abide by a voluntary code to avoid invasive species arriving in the ship's bilge water, even though they could be carrying the tissue loss disease devastating reefs in the Caribbean and Florida.

Renewables versus biodiversity

Calls to fast-track clean energy projects and stop them being held up by environmental approvals are risky. We could tackle one crisis (climate change) by making another worse (biodiversity and extinction).

Australia has destroyed nearly 40% of its forests since European colonization, with much of the remaining native vegetation highly fragmented. Because this clearing has already happened, it should be entirely possible to build renewables without damaging the homes of native species.

In fact, we can do betterwe can take degraded farmland, build solar on it and restore low-lying native vegetation around it to actually boost biodiversity. Requiring new renewable projects to be nature positive would encourage creative approaches to delivering infrastructure while benefiting nature.

Policy clashes abound

There is, sadly, no shortage of examples of clashing policies:

Victoria's "wild dog" bounty pays landowners to kill the dingo, a listed threatened native species

relaxing new emissions rules for utes and vans conflicts with government climate efforts to rapidly reduce emissions

exotic plant species such as buffel grass are still routinely used and promoted for use in agriculture, despite the damage they do to biodiversity and their ability to fuel more severe fires, more often.

Why the lack of alignment?

For politicians, the environment ministry is often seen as a poisoned chalice.

Within government, departments often pull in different directions. When resource and agriculture plans conflict with environmental concerns, it's not hard to guess which side tends to win. Case in point: the recent plans to remove gas project oversight from environment minister Tanya Plibersek in favor of resources minister Madeleine King.

How can we make policies work together better for the environment? Governments should sift through all relevant policies and regulations to make sure nature-positive approaches are embedded. Requiring development proposals to benefit nature would go a long way to reducing environment-economy conflict. After all, most businesses are now looking into ways of becoming nature-positive.

Too often, environment policies are seen as opposed to those promoting the economy, jobs and industry. But they don't have to clash.

Tremendous opportunities exist for a safer, more sustainable future, if we address current causes of friction and take a big picture approach to how we develop our policies.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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An example of a probate inventory from England in the late 17th century. This is the inventory of John Booth, a victualler (supplier of food and alcohol) from Macclesfield in the county of Cheshire, dated to 1697. Credit: Reproduced with the permission of Cheshire Archives & Local Studies.

Britain was already well on its way to an industrialized economy under the reign of the Stuarts in the 17th centuryover 100 years before textbooks mark the start of the Industrial Revolutionaccording to the most detailed occupational history of a nation ever constructed.

Built from more than 160 million records and spanning over three centuries, the University of Cambridge's Economies Past website uses census data, parish registers, probate records and more to track changes to the British labor force from the Elizabethan era to the eve of World War One.

The research shows that 17th century Britain saw a steep decline in agricultural peasantry, and a surge in people who manufactured goods: from local artisans like blacksmiths, shoemakers and wheelwrights, to an explosion in networks of home-based weavers producing cloth for wholesale.

Historians say the data suggests that Britain was emerging as the world's first industrial powerhouse several generations before the mills and steam engines of the late 18th centurylong credited as the birth of global industry and economic growth.

"By cataloging and mapping centuries of employment data, we can see that the story we tell ourselves about the history of Britain needs to be rewritten," said Leigh Shaw-Taylor, project leader and Professor of Economic History at Cambridge's Faulty of History.

"We have discovered a shift towards employment in the making of goods that suggests Britain was already industrializing over a century before the Industrial Revolution."

In fact, by the early 1800s, when William Blake was writing of "dark satanic mills," numbers involved in manufacturing had long been flatlining. Many parts of Britain were even "deindustrializing" say researchersas manufacturing drained from much of the nation to concentrate around coalfields.

Instead, the 19th century saw an almost doubling of the service sectora boom often thought to have begun closer to the 1950s. These included sales clerks, domestic staff, professionals such as lawyers and teachers, as well as a huge increase in transport workers on the canals and railways.

By 1911, some 13% of all working men were in transport. In fact, the research suggests that Britain's service sector has been growing almost continuously for three hundred years.

The www.economiespast.org website has compiled and summarized employment statistics at local levels across England and Wales, allowing users to zoom in and trace changes to the workforce across the centuries.

The site also breaks down by sector and, after 1851, by gender as well as agerevealing the extent of child labor. Historians hope the site will prove a valuable classroom resource, so students can explore the history of labor in their area.

The work is launched at the Economic History Society's annual conference on 6 April.

"The question of why the industrial age dawned in Britain is a much-debated one, with coal, technology and empire all major factors," said Prof Shaw-Taylor.

"Our database shows that a groundswell of enterprise and productivity transformed the economy in the 17th century, laying the foundations for the world's first industrial economy. Britain was already a nation of makers by the year 1700."

"A hundred years has been spent studying the Industrial Revolution based on a misconception of what it entailed," he said.

'Factories without machines'

As much of Europe continued to languish in subsistence farming, the number of male agricultural workers in Britain fell by over a third (64% to 42%) from 16001740.

At the same time, from 16001700, the share of the male labor force involved in goods production rose by 50% to just under half of working men (28% to 42%).

According to Shaw-Taylor's estimates, the share of the British labor force in an occupation involving manufacturing rather than agriculture was three times that of France by 1700.

"We can't say for certain why this change occurred in Britain rather than elsewhere," he said. "However, the English economy of the time was more liberal, with fewer tariffs and restrictions, unlike on the continent."

Moving goods within many European countries was subject to tolls from land barons, so markets were often very local. In England there are few records of such levies after the medieval era.

The research team extracted the name of the parish, job occupation and the year for over two million will and probate records across Britain, forming part of the dataset, as highlighted in this image. Credit: Reproduced with the permission of Cheshire Archives & Local Studies.

Shaw-Taylor argues that trade guilds also had more power in other nations. For example, textile production was prohibited in the countryside around the Dutch city of Leiden, and in Sweden no shops were permitted in rural areas within a ten-mile radius of a town until the 19th century.

Yet in the England of 1700, half of all manufacturing employment was in the countryside. "In addition to village artisans, there were networks of weavers in rural areas who would work for merchants that supplied wool and sold the finished articles," said Shaw-Taylor.

Industries of textiles, or metalworkers making nails and scythes, were shaped like "factories without machines spread out over hundreds of households" according to Shaw-Taylorand increasingly produced goods for international markets.

In Gloucestershire, for example, expansions in textiles, footwear and metals saw the share of the male workforce in industry grew from a third (33%) to almost half (48%) over the 17th century.

While in Lancashire, the share of men in manufacturing work grew from 42% in 1660 to 61% in 1750, driven by a doubling of textile workers (from 15% to 30%). This all occurred prior to the Industrial Revolution.

Some networks evolved into workshops, and eventually the mills of Blake's visions as industries migrated to the North of England, where coal was abundant and crops were harder to grow.

This meant that by the mid-18th centuryconsidered the start of the Industrial Revolutionmuch of England's South and East had actually lost its long-established industries, and even returned to farm labor, according to the research.

For example, Norfolk was probably the 17th century's most industrialized county, with 63% of adult men in industry by 1700. But this actually dropped to 39% during the 18th century, while the share of the male workforce in agriculture jumped from less than a third (28%) to over half (51%).

As such, and counter to prevailing historical narratives, shares of the population in manufacturing-type jobs across England and Wales changed very little over the period thought of as the height of the industrial age, but rather it was the nature and location of work that shifted.

Women and children in the workforce

With textile manufacturing moving out of homes and out of the Southeast, far fewer women engaged in the labor market. Adding pre-19th century data for female workers is a major next step for the project, but researchers have devised ways of estimating earlier workforce gender splits.

"We think labor force participation for adult women was somewhere between 6080% in 1760, and back down to 43% by 1851," said Shaw-Taylor. "It didn't return to those mid-18th century levels until the 1980s."

By 1851, Easington on the Durham coalfield had just 17% of adult women in employment. However, in one of the South's remaining industrial hubs, Luton's hat-making district, it was as high as 78%.

The website also allows users to track rates of child labor after 1851. The booming textile mills of Bradford saw huge numbers of young girls put to work, with over 70% of girls aged 1314 working in 1851. Sixty years later this figure was still over 60%.

Over 40% of girls in Bradford aged 1112 were also working in 1851, but this had fallen to nearer 10% by 1911, by which time legislation had created a system of compulsory education for young children.

The 'Economies Past' website is the result of a research project at Cambridge that's been running for over 20 years, the Occupational Structure of Britain 13791911, which has gathered data from late medieval poll tax records to early modern coroner reports.

The main source of data from 16001800 comes from over two million wills and probate inventories: lists of the movable goods of the deceased. The team behind the work aims to keep expanding the datasets.

Alongside vast quantities of digitized census data, researchers also visited 80 records offices to gather data from a further 2.5 million baptism records from the 19th century (when it became compulsory to list the father's occupation).

More information: Economies Past: an online resource on the occupational structure of Britain 1379-1911, www.economiespast.org/
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A schematic diagram of the mechanism by which the silkworm delicately utilizes metal ions and pH gradients to program NSF self-assembly for silk spinning. Credit: Science China Press

Mulberry silk is a natural protein fiber that is light, soft and fine in nature, known as the "second skin of the human body" and "Queen of fibers." China is the origin of the world's sericulture industry.

The earliest use of silk can be traced back to the Jiahu ruins about 8,500 years ago. The world-famous Silk Road opened up the first large-scale exchanges and integration of Eastern and Western civilizations in human history. China is the world's leading silk producer, both in terms of scale and output are among the world's leading.

Silk is a protein fiber with excellent mechanical properties produced by the silkworm with water-soluble silk protein as the raw material at room temperature and under normal pressure. Silk is the core of scientific research on sericulture.

For more than a century, researchers have been dedicated to resolving the spinning mechanism of silk-secreting animals such as the silkworm and spider, hoping to create artificial fibers with properties comparable to or even superior to natural silk by bionic synthesis for textile, biomedicine, military and other fields.

At present, scientists have proposed two models, "liquid crystal" and "micelle" spinning models. The former suggests that the spinning dope is a liquid crystal composed of rod-like structures formed by aggregates of globular fibroin protein, while the latter suggests that the spinning dope is a micelle formed by aggregates of amphiphilic fibroin protein.

Due to the lack of the fine structure of natural silk fibroin (NSF) in the silk gland lumen of the silkworm, the models are still highly controversial. How silkworms spin silk with excellent properties, i.e., the spinning mechanism of the silkworm, has become one of the most pressing scientific issues in sericulture science for more than 100 years.

"In the silk gland lumen of the silkworm, NSF usually remains stable at concentrations of 15%30% (w/v) without aggregation and precipitation," explained Prof. Huawei He, in the integrative science center of germplasm creation in western China (Chongqing) science city/biological science research center (SWU), who led the research.

"However, once purified, NSF quickly aggregates and forms precipitates. Therefore, most studies have used regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) rather than NSF. How to keep NSF stable in vitro, is the primary challenge in deciphering the spinning mechanism of the silkworm."

In the recent study published in Science Bulletin, they found that only amphipol and digitonin can keep NSF stable in vitro for a long term after 4 years of dissection more than 20,000 silkworm larvae and screening more than 1,000 compounds and 5,000 combinations of compounds. Then, the team systematically investigated the morphology, structure and assembly of NSF in the silk gland lumen of the silkworm.

Notably, they found that metal ions reversibly induced NSF to form flexible nanofibrils with a sedimentation coefficient of 5.8 S and a diameter of about 4 nm, instead of micelles or aggregates proposed in previous spinning models. NSF nanofibrils are mainly composed of random coils.

The successive pH decrease from the posterior silk gland (PSG) to the anterior silk gland (ASG) resulted in a gradual increase in NSF hydrophobicity, thus inducing the separation of water molecules from NSF, and the sol-gelation transition of NSF nanofibrils, which increased the concentration of NSF spinning dope thereby promoting silk fiber formation. Inspired by the discovery of graphene, they established the metal shadowing assay to determine the molecular orientation of NSF nanofibrils in situ.

Their study showed that NSF nanofibrils were randomly dispersed as isotropic nanofibrils within the lumen from PSG to ASG-1, and self-assembled into highly ordered herringbone patterns at ASG-2 near the spinneret, which are further packed together to form the anisotropic spinning dope with obvious birefringence ready for silkworm spinning.

"Our findings discovered two landmark events in the silk gland during silkworm spinning, namely, the formation of NSF nanofibrils and the self-assembly of NSF nanofibrils into highly-ordered herringbone pattern architectures programmed by pH gradient and metal ions," said Prof. He.

"Good molecular pre-alignment of NSFs contributes significantly to the toughness of silk fiber. Unlike the alignment formed by post-spinning stretching in artificial spinning, this pre-formed highly ordered molecular alignment may well explain the higher toughness of natural silk compared to that of artificial silk.

"An organized herringbone structure can effectively bear high elongation without sacrificing strength, implying that the herringbone patterns self-assembled by NSF nanofibrils may be crucial to the toughness of silk fiber. The pre-alignment of NSF nanofibrils in silkworm spinning represents a novel strategy for the fabrication of superfibers with higher strength, toughness and stiffness."

More information: Kai Song et al, Decoding silkworm spinning programmed by pH and metal ions, Science Bulletin (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.12.050
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Monsoon clouds over a mountain range in India. Credit: Rabhimb Bardhan

Changing weather patterns induced by climate change are contributing to shifts in the location of terrorist activity, according to new research.

An exploratory study led by extremism expert Dr. Jared Dmello, from the University of Adelaide's School of Social Sciences, found some climatological variables affected terrorist activity in India.

"Suitability analyses indicate that all the climatological variables testedtemperature, precipitation, and elevationrelate to shifting patterns of terrorist activity," says Dr. Dmello.

"Urban centers have increasingly grown in population density, particularly in spaces with favorable climates, and some of the more remote areas once used by extremists have experienced such increasingly dynamic climates that they are no longer fit for human habitation, forcing these groups to migrate elsewhere."

It was not only the intensity of these climatological variables that led to terrorists moving to new locales, this shifting of terrorist activity was also seasonal.

"This research shows that stopping the damaging effects of climate change is not just an environmental issue but one that is directly tied to national security and defense," says Dr. Dmello, who was recently announced as the inaugural recipient of the Early Career Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences' Security and Crime Prevention Section.

"In this study, we focus on attack location, but the data also suggests other forms of extremist behavior, such as training location, are likely shifting in response to climate change as well."

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Security Research, concentrated on terrorist activity in India between 19982017, a period during which there were 9,096 terrorist incidents recorded by the Global Terrorism Database.

"Average temperatures in India reached record highs during our 20-year study period," said Dr. Dmello.

"This time frame represents a broad enough range to demonstrate climate change, while also availing of the most recent reliable data that covers both the climate change and extremism dimensions for the country."

This new and evolving understanding of how climate change affects patterns of terrorism is important knowledge for governments across the world, including Australia's, to inform national security and defense strategies.

"While terrorism and violent extremism manifests differently in Australia, with far lower levels of attacks than India, radicalization is still a salient challenge here and one that the Australian Government has established as a national priority," says Dr. Dmello.

"To effectively mitigate radicalization, other critical issues, such as homelessness, food insecurity, water and energy crises, and enhanced social equity, are essential for ensuring a more secure space for us all."

Dr. Dmello, who joined the University of Adelaide at the beginning of 2024, also recently co-edited a book examining security in the Arctic from a multi-disciplinary lens and will continue his research into terrorism and extremism in the Australian context.

"Some of my recent projects have been trying to understand how emerging issues impact radicalization here in Australia in an effort to find ways to partner with government and law enforcement to prevent engagement with extremist ideologies," he says.

"I am also interested in expanding on my research in this area to investigate the role of water and food inequities on radicalization around the world."

More information: Jared R. Dmello et al, Monsoon Marauders and Summer Violence: Exploring the Spatial Relationship between Climate Change and Terrorist Activity in India, Journal of Applied Security Research (2024). DOI: 10.1080/19361610.2024.2322238
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DESI has made the largest 3D map of our universe to date. Earth is at the center of this thin slice of the full map. In the magnified section, it is easy to see the underlying structure of matter in our universe. Credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration; custom colormap package by cmastro

With 5,000 tiny robots in a mountaintop telescope, researchers can look 11 billion years into the past. The light from far-flung objects in space is just now reaching the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), enabling us to map our cosmos as it was in its youth and trace its growth to what we see today.

Understanding how our universe has evolved is tied to how it ends, and to one of the biggest mysteries in physics: dark energy, the unknown ingredient causing our universe to expand faster and faster.

To study dark energy's effects over the past 11 billion years, DESI has created the largest 3D map of our cosmos ever constructed, with the most precise measurements to date. This is the first time scientists have measured the expansion history of the young universe with a precision better than 1%, giving us our best view yet of how the universe evolved.

Researchers shared the analysis of their first year of collected data in multiple papers that will be posted today on the arXiv pre-print server and in talks at the American Physical Society meeting in the United States and the Rencontres de Moriond in Italy.

"We're incredibly proud of the data, which have produced world-leading cosmology results and are the first to come out of the new generation of dark energy experiments," said Michael Levi, DESI director and a scientist at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), which manages the project.

"So far, we're seeing basic agreement with our best model of the universe, but we're also seeing some potentially interesting differences that could indicate that dark energy is evolving with time. Those may or may not go away with more data, so we're excited to start analyzing our three-year dataset soon."

This animation shows how baryon acoustic oscillations act as a cosmic ruler for measuring the expansion of the universe. Credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration and Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab

Our leading model of the universe is known as Lambda CDM. It includes both a weakly interacting type of matter (cold dark matter, or CDM) and dark energy (Lambda). Both matter and dark energy shape how the universe expandsbut in opposing ways. Matter and dark matter slow the expansion down, while dark energy speeds it up. The amount of each influences how our universe evolves. This model does a good job of describing results from previous experiments and how the universe looks throughout time.

However, when DESI's first-year results are combined with data from other studies, there are some subtle differences with what Lambda CDM would predict. As DESI gathers more information during its five-year survey, these early results will become more precise, shedding light on whether the data are pointing to different explanations for the results we observe or the need to update our model.

More data will also improve DESI's other early results, which weigh in on the Hubble constant (a measure of how fast the universe is expanding today) and the mass of particles called neutrinos.

"No spectroscopic experiment has had this much data before, and we're continuing to gather data from more than a million galaxies every month," said Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, a Berkeley Lab scientist and co-spokesperson for the experiment.

"It's astonishing that with only our first year of data, we can already measure the expansion history of our universe at seven different slices of cosmic time, each with a precision of 1 to 3%. The team put in a tremendous amount of work to account for instrumental and theoretical modeling intricacies, which gives us confidence in the robustness of our first results."

This artist's rendering shows light from quasars passing through intergalactic clouds of hydrogen gas. Researchers can analyze the light to learn about distant cosmic structure. Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld and DESI collaboration

DESI's overall precision on the expansion history across all 11 billion years is 0.5%, and the most distant epoch, covering 811 billion years in the past, has a record-setting precision of 0.82%. That measurement of our young universe is incredibly difficult to make.

Yet within one year, DESI has become twice as powerful at measuring the expansion history at these early times as its predecessor (the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's BOSS/eBOSS), which took more than a decade.

"We are delighted to see cosmology results from DESI's first year of operations," said Gina Rameika, associate director for High Energy Physics at DOE. "DESI continues to amaze us with its stellar performance and is already shaping our understanding of the universe."

Traveling back in time

DESI is an international collaboration of more than 900 researchers from over 70 institutions around the world. The instrument sits atop the U.S. National Science Foundation's Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLab.

As light from a distant quasar passes through gas in space, certain wavelengths of light are absorbed. Plotting the absorption lines reveals the "Lyman-alpha forest" (emphasized here in brown and green) and provides information about the distant clouds of gas between us and the quasar. Credit: David Kirkby/DESI collaboration

Looking at DESI's map, it's easy to see the underlying structure of the universe: strands of galaxies clustered together, separated by voids with fewer objects. Our very early universe, well beyond DESI's view, was quite different: a hot, dense soup of subatomic particles moving too fast to form stable matter like the atoms we know today. Among those particles were hydrogen and helium nuclei, collectively called baryons.

Tiny fluctuations in this early ionized plasma caused pressure waves, moving the baryons into a pattern of ripples that is similar to what you'd see if you tossed a handful of gravel into a pond. As the universe expanded and cooled, neutral atoms formed and the pressure waves stopped, freezing the ripples in three dimensions and increasing clustering of future galaxies in the dense areas.

Billions of years later, we can still see this faint pattern of 3D ripples, or bubbles, in the characteristic separation of galaxiesa feature called Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs).

Researchers use the BAO measurements as a cosmic ruler. By measuring the apparent size of these bubbles, they can determine distances to the matter responsible for this extremely faint pattern on the sky. Mapping the BAO bubbles both near and far lets researchers slice the data into chunks, measuring how fast the universe was expanding at each time in its past and modeling how dark energy affects that expansion.

DESI's Hubble diagram plots a characteristic pattern  baryon acoustic oscillations, or BAO "bubbles"  at different ages of the universe. The amount of dark energy determines how fast the universe grows, and therefore the size of the bubbles. The solid line is how big Lambda CDM predicts the bubbles will be, while the dashed line shows the prediction from a different model where dark energy evolves with time. DESI will gather more data to determine which model is a better description of the universe. Credit: Arnaud de Mattia/DESI collaboration

"We've measured the expansion history over this huge range of cosmic time with a precision that surpasses all of the previous BAO surveys combined," said Hee-Jong Seo, a professor at Ohio University and the co-leader of DESI's BAO analysis. "We're very excited to learn how these new measurements will improve and alter our understanding of the cosmos. Humans have a timeless fascination with our universe, wanting to know both what it is made of and what will happen to it."

Using galaxies to measure the expansion history and better understand dark energy is one technique, but it can only reach so far. At a certain point, light from typical galaxies is too faint, so researchers turn to quasars, extremely distant, bright galactic cores with black holes at their centers. Light from quasars is absorbed as it passes through intergalactic clouds of gas, enabling researchers to map the pockets of dense matter and use them the same way they use galaxiesa technique known as using the "Lyman-alpha forest."

"We use quasars as a backlight to basically see the shadow of the intervening gas between the quasars and us," said Andreu Font-Ribera, a scientist at the Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE) in Spain who co-leads DESI's Lyman-alpha forest analysis. "It lets us look out further to when the universe was very young. It's a really hard measurement to do, and very cool to see it succeed."

Researchers used 450,000 quasars, the largest set ever collected for these Lyman-alpha forest measurements, to extend their BAO measurements all the way out to 11 billion years in the past. By the end of the survey, DESI plans to map 3 million quasars and 37 million galaxies.

A simplified explanation of the different parts of DESI's Hubble diagram. Credit: Claire Lamman/DESI collaboration

State-of-the-art science

DESI is the first spectroscopic experiment to perform a fully "blinded analysis," which conceals the true result from the scientists to avoid any subconscious confirmation bias. Researchers work in the dark with modified data, writing the code to analyze their findings. Once everything is finalized, they apply their analysis to the original data to reveal the actual answer.

"The way we did the analysis gives us confidence in our results, and particularly in showing that the Lyman-alpha forest is a powerful tool for measuring the universe's expansion," said Julien Guy, a scientist at Berkeley Lab and the co-lead for processing information from DESI's spectrographs.

"The dataset we are collecting is exceptional, as is the rate at which we are gathering it. This is the most precise measurement I have ever done in my life."

In this 360-degree video, take an interactive flight through millions of galaxies mapped using coordinate data from DESI. Credit: Fiske Planetarium, CU Boulder and DESI collaboration

DESI's data will be used to complement future sky surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and to prepare for a potential upgrade to DESI (DESI-II) that was recommended in a recent report by the U.S. Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel.

"We are in the golden era of cosmology, with large-scale surveys ongoing and about to be started, and new techniques being developed to make the best use of these datasets," said Arnaud de Mattia, a researcher with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and co-leader of DESI's group interpreting the cosmological data.

"We're all really motivated to see whether new data will confirm the features we saw in our first-year sample and build a better understanding of the dynamics of our universe."

More information: The DESI Year 1 papers are available on the DESI website: https://data.desi.lbl.gov/doc/papers/ Journal information: arXiv
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Artist's impression of the giant impact that shaped the Earth and created the moon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astronomers are pretty sure they know where the moon came from. In the early solar system, a Mars-sized object dubbed Theia smashed into Earth. This cataclysmic collision knocked a huge mass of material into orbit, which coalesced and cooled into the moon. But establishing exactly when this occurred is a difficult task.

At the 55th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2024) last month in The Woodlands, Texas, researchers proposed a new timeline of events that moves the giant impact earlier than previous predictions, at just 50 million years after the formation of the solar system.

Dating the giant impact event is challenging because the existing evidence is conflicting, telling stories that don't line up.

One line of evidence is derived from planetary orbits. The most likely cause of the impact is an instability in Jupiter's orbit, which would have thrown objects like Theia into Earth's path within the first 100 million years of the solar system. If that orbital instability happened any later, the paths of the inner planets would have been disrupted, and Jupiter's trojan asteroids, like binary pair Patroclus and Menoetius, (which NASA's Lucy spacecraft plans to visit in 2033) would not remain where we see them today.

The best estimate based on these orbital observations places the impact between 37 and 62 million years after the formation of the solar system. The moon, researchers believe, would have cooled from a lake of magma into a solid surface within about 10 million years after impact.

Geological evidence, however, seems to be telling a different story. The earliest known moon rocks formed much later, appearing to have crystalized from magma at about 208 million years. Rocks on Earth, similarly, seem to have formed into a proper crust at about 218 million years.

A 2022 simulation of the giant impact that created the moon. Credit: NASA / Durham University / Jacob Kegerreis

A third dating scheme, done by measuring the decay of the element Hafnium into Tungsten, pushes the collision date early again, suggesting the moon's core formed at about 50 million years.

Any explanation for lunar formation needs to account for all of these evidence types.

The scenario proposed at LPSC 55 does just that. They suggest an early collision around 50 million years, followed by a 10 million-year-long period of cooling. But the moon then went through a cycle of reheating before finally cooling again at the 200-million-year mark.

That reheating process is the key to this theory, and if it is correct, it would have been caused by tidal forces. The moon's orbit, according to this theory, was not yet stable around Earth, and its inclination and eccentricity increased in the years following impact, squeezing and stretching the moon and liquifying it. These same tidal processes occur on other moons today: around Jupiter, for example, we see them creating volcanoes on Io and liquid oceans on Europa.

The cooling process was also likely slowed by violent secondary impacts, as leftover material from the initial impact slammed into the moon over millions of years.

The team also added one new piece of evidence that strengthens the case for an early giant impact around 50 million years. Similar to the Hafnium-Tungsten decay method, the team measured the decay of earthly Rubidium sources into Strontium, giving an independent estimate supporting the early date.
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Left: Top view of the moire pattern formed by sandwiching monolayer graphene between top and bottom hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) substrates. One substrate is aligned with the monolayer graphene, while the second hbN substrate is rotated with respect to the monolayer graphene. Right: Side view of the vertical super-moire lattice heterostructure showing top and bottom hBN substrates in red and the monolayer graphene in black. Credit: Mohammed M. Al Ezzi, Junxiong Hu, Ariando Ariando, Francisco Guinea, and Shaffique Adam.

In a new study, scientists from Singapore and Spain have presented a new avenue for exploring exotic physics in graphene. They focus on electronic interactions in graphene when it is sandwiched in a three-layer structure which provides a platform to exploit unique electronic band configurations.

Graphene is a 2D sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice (arrangement) which demonstrates properties like high electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and flexibility. This has grabbed the interest of scientists as a promising candidate for electronic applications.

However, very little has been studied about the electronic properties of monolayer graphene.

In this new Physical Review Letters study, the researchers focused on studying these properties by sandwiching graphene between two bulk boron nitride layers.

The work was part of the first author, Mohammed M. Al Ezzi's Ph.D. at the National University of Singapore (NUS), who is now working as a post-doc under Prof. Shaffique Adam at NUS.

Moire potentials, patterns, and lattices

In material science, different layers of materials are stacked on top of one another to create a new structure known as a moire structure. These layers are misaligned leading to the formation of a moire pattern.

These layers interact with each other through various forces, in this case, through van der Waal forces. This leads to variations in the potential energy experienced by the electron within the material (graphene or boron nitride), known as the moire potential.

So, the moire potential arises from the interference between the atomic arrangements of the two materials, resulting in a periodic modulation of the potential energy within the graphene layer.

This moire potential plays a crucial role in influencing the electronic properties of the material and can lead to the emergence of unique phenomena such as flat bands and topological states.

Three layers and topological bands

The researchers propose a three-layer structure, with the graphene layer in the middle to induce topological bands. The resulting structure is known as a super-moire structure.

It is called a super-moire structure because there are two distinct moire structures, from the top and bottom boron nitride substrates. This gives rise to some exotic physics, which is to say unconventional physics.

Prof. Adam explained, "By situating graphene between the boron nitride substrates and adjusting the alignment to specific twist angles, we can induce topological flat bands in graphene's energy spectrum. These flat bands, in turn, likely host robust strongly correlated electron states."

Topological bands are a unique electronic state in a material that has special properties due to its unusual structure. They represent a departure from conventional electronic states like conductors or insulators.

For their work, the researchers specified twist angles of 0 degrees for the bottom boron nitride layer and around 0.6 degrees for the top boron nitride layer. These angles represent the amount of rotation applied to the layers relative to their original orientations.

The researchers' model for the three-layer structure showed the existence of a topological flat band as a result of the moire potential.

These flat bands represent flat energy levels, meaning that the energy of the electrons within these bands does not change much as their momentum varies (think of it as walking across a plateau).

Correlated physics and generalization

The question that arises now is: What is the significance of these topological flat bands?

The existence of these flat bands is a unique property and can be used to harness different electronic properties and therefore, unique electronic applications.

For example, topological insulators behave as insulators in their bulk but conduct electricity along their surface or edges.

The researchers think these topological flat bands for monolayer graphene could give rise to correlated physics, in which the electrons behave as a collective unit (via Coulombic interactions), giving rise to novel electronic states, such as superconductivity, magnetism, and insulating phases.

Prof. Adam explained, "Various moire systems made of multiple monolayer graphene sheets have shown the emergence of correlated physics and flat bands. However, there is currently no unified understanding of the emergence of flat bands and correlated physics in these different moire systems."

"One way to have a unified understanding of the emergence of flat bands and correlated physics in all the different graphene-based moire systems is to study flat bands in a single monolayer sheet. Studying a single monolayer graphene can tell us the minimum ingredients to show flat bands and correlated phases."

The researchers also demonstrated generalization by extending their findings to graphene bilayer and trilayer configuration, showing potential for superconductivity.

They further showed that these topological flat bands were extremely stable, indicating their robustness and reliability for supporting correlated physics.

Preserving quality and topological transistors

There are several other methods to induce these strong electronic interactions that give rise to correlated physics. But, some of them can affect the graphene quality itself.

"One common method to induce strong electron interactions in graphene involves mechanical deformation. However, this approach often compromises the quality of graphene and poses challenges in control."

"Our method promotes stronger electronic interactions by inducing flat bands while preserving graphene's intrinsic high-quality properties," said Prof. Adam.

The researchers are already involved with a company called FLEET who are developing topological transistors and hope that their work with topological flat bands can help realize new devices.

The findings are exciting for the development of novel graphene-based electronics and also further the understanding of condensed matter physics and exotic physics.

 2024 Science X Network
A Christian couple in India has been sentenced to prison after Hindu extremists instigated a false case of forcible conversion against them, sources said.

A woman they are accused of pressuring denied in court that the Christians tried to forcibly/fraudulently convert her or her husband, but Pastor Ramesh Ahirwar and his wife Sakshi Ahirwar of Viveknagar Bhansa village near Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, were convicted under the states anti-conversion law on March 11. The district court sentenced them to two years in prison and a fine of 25,000 rupees (US$300) each, the pastor said.

I am shocked at the conviction, Pastor Ahirwar told Morning Star News. The charges against us are baseless and utterly untrue.

If the conviction stands, it would be the first under Madhya Pradeshs anti-conversion law.

Pastor Ahirwar was on a trip to Delhi in October 2021 when members of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) instigated a man from the neighboring village, Abhishek Ahirwar, to accuse the couple of abducting his estranged wife and pressuring her to convert to Christianity, the church leader said. Pastor Ahirwar, who had helped arrange the marriage of the Hindu couple, said the wife returned to her parents home when she left her husband.

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The complainant, Abhishek Ahirwar, alleged that the pastor tried to fraudulently convert him as well.

Abhishek said that I kept his wife against her wishes, and that I am not allowing her to go back to her husbands house  also, that I pressured her to convert and offered to construct a house for her and give her 20,000 rupees [US$240] every month in return, Pastor Ahirwar told Morning Star News. The masons son [Abhishek] said that I offered him 20,000 rupees every month if he converted to Christianity.

Abhishek Ahirwars father is a mason the pastor had hired in the construction of his house church in 2021.

I suspect that members of the RSS offered to help the masons son to intervene in saving his marriage and in return asked him to help them frame me in the case, so that my church is shut, Pastor Ahirwar said.

Abhishek Ahirwars Hindu wife testified in court that she was neither coerced into changing her religion nor offered any monetary incentives, the pastor said. She testified that the pastor did not offer any money to her husband either, and she clarified that Pastor Ahirwar did not pressure her to refrain from returning to her husbands house.

There was a lot of chaos and discrepancy among the statements of the complainant, his father, their witnesses  I was very confident that after recording everybodys statement, the court will set us free, Pastor Ahirwar said. But sadly, that did not happen. The court pronounced us guilty.

The judge seemed prejudiced or under duress to convict them, a Christian leader from Madhya Pradesh told Morning Star News on condition of anonymity.

It is not uncommon to have only adverse judgments against religious minorities in lower courts or even high courts nowadays, the source said. It is only in the Supreme Court and in selective cases that justice can be expected.

Abhishek Ahirwar registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the couple and the pastors father-in-law, Nathuram Ahirwar, on Oct. 20, 2021.

Abhishek narrated a completely made-up story in the FIR, stating that on Oct. 10 and 11, 2021, I allured him to convert to Christianity, Pastor Ahirwar said.

Six months after the filing of the FIR, prosecutors produced two new witnesses from the area. They told the court that the pastor was forcing them to convert to Christianity and had offered them 20,000 rupees each. The witnesses testified that they were not there as witnesses for Abhishek Ahirwar in his case, but for themselves.

Pastor Ahirwar said that Abhishek Ahirwar did not provide accurate dates, and that his father, the mason, was not a direct witness to the allegations against the couple.

The pastor and his wife, both 41, have been ministering in Sagar since 2012 and live with their three children, ages 20, 18 and 14. Pastor Ahirwar, who has been leading the independent Prarthana Bhawan (House of Prayer) church since 2018, said the mason had requested he search for a matrimonial match for his then-bachelor son in 2021.

Pastor Ahirwar found a Hindu match for the masons son, and they married. Within the first few months of marriage, the grooms family began to trouble the wife for a dowry. Weary of their demands, she returned to her parents home and refused to go back, the pastor said.

The husbands family repeatedly asked Pastor Ahirwar to intervene, but he insisted they speak with the wifes family directly, he said. The RSS then apparently found the occasion to offer to help the husband regain his wife in exchange for him framing the Christian couple, Pastor Ahirwar said.

Police summoned Pastor Ahirwar on Oct. 20, 2021, and after interrogation he left. Around 20 days later, police arrested the pastor, and the district court released him on a bail bond.

Police arrested Sakshi Ahirwar and her 75-year-old father and presented them before the district court about 10 days after Pastor Ahirwar was detained, and they were sent to jail until they obtained bail three days later.

Pastor Ahirwar, his wife and father-in-law attended court proceedings every month for more than two years.

All three of us had to be present in the courtroom, sometimes once a month and other times twice a month, Pastor Ahirwar said.

In the March 11 verdict, the court acquitted Nathuram Ahirwar for lack of evidence but convicted the couple, Pastor Ahirwar said.

The Christian couples attorney filed a bail application the same day of the verdict, which was subsequently granted, allowing them to remain free until April 12.

An appeal challenging theverdict was filed in the High Court on March 22, and Pastor Ahirwars case was registered with the High Court on Monday (April 1), he said. The next hearing is scheduled for Friday (April 5).

I had no finances to appeal in the High Court, the pastor said. I had to arrange for 50,000 rupees [US$600] before I could appeal. It seemed impossible to arrange, with my current situation, until someone whom I dont want to name offered to help me with the fees and arrange for an attorney for me.

He has been unable to lead his house church since the March 11 verdict, he said.

The right-wing mob has been eyeing me, he said. They came to my house in my absence with sticks and threatened my family of dire consequences if I held the church worship services.

Since the courts judgment on March 11, Hindu nationalist have been circulating messages against Pastor Ahirwar and his family daily.

They are bringing up my matter on social media and newspapers to create pressure on the judiciary and to turn the villagers against me, he said.

Though encouraged by Scripture, the couple fear their children will be left alone. The family has no source of income.

I am not discouraged, because whatever is happening to us is according to the Bible, the pastor said. But, when we look at the children, we fear what will happen to them when we are sent to jail.

He also worries about his wife, who has medical conditions.

My wife has health issues, and I fear how will she manage in the jail, Pastor Ahirwar said. We do fear the uncertainties of the future but choose to trust God.
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The Aureia rerehua fossil. Credit: University of Otago

University of Otago researchers have formally identified and named a fossil dolphin which they discovered has a unique feeding method.

A paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand names the fossil Aureia rerehua.

Lead researcher Shane Meekin, who completed a Master of Science in the Department of Geology, says the fossil was found many years ago, but was recently identified and named after it was studied by researchers.

Aureia was found in a quarry in the Hakataramea Valley and has been housed in Otago's Geology Museum, along with other prehistoric treasures thanks to the work of the late Emeritus Professor R. Ewan Fordyce, colleagues and alumni.

It had widely splayed teeth which are thought to have clasped around fish, like a wide basket, which is unusual because other ancient dolphins in the area usually used their teeth to strike prey, Mr. Meekin says.

"When looking at the teeth of dolphins, it's natural to think the large teeth at the front and center of the mouth would be the main tools for catching prey, stabbing or slashing unfortunate fish. This is how related dolphins did appear to hunt, but Aureia looks to have taken a totally different approach, using these teeth in a more delicate manner," he notes.

The teeth of Aureia rerehua. A series of the best-preserved teeth A are shown along with a section of in situ teeth preserved in the left mandible B. Credit: Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (2024). DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2024.2314505

Aureia was small in size with a weak skull and flexible neck, making it capable of hunting in shallow waters.

Its name comes from the Maori word aurei, meaning cloak pins which resemble its teeth; and rerehua, meaning beautiful, "since it's an exquisitely preserved specimen."

Mr. Meekin says the discovery shows there were many fossil dolphins in one small area, which varied greatly in form.

"This shows that seemingly similar animals can coexist if they explore different ecological niches," he says. "It also further indicates that early prehistoric dolphins used many different feeding strategies to explore different niches, which is why so many different types of extinct dolphins have been retrieved from fossil localities such as Hakataramea valley."

Hakataramea is part of the Waitaki Whitestone geopark, New Zealand's first UNESCO geopark which was created due to the abundance of fossils in the area.

More information: Shane Meekin et al, Aureia rerehua, a new platanistoid dolphin from the Oligocene of New Zealand with a unique feeding method, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (2024). DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2024.2314505
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Invasive species (red) lead to cross-ecosystem effects: (1) Invasive lake trout feed on native trout, causing their population to decline and disrupting their migration from lakes to rivers. This eliminates an important source of prey for bears. This has an impact on the food web on land, as the bears have to feed on other prey, such as young moose. The invasion of lake trout also has an impact on distant lakes: birds that fed on native trout before the invasion of lake trout shift their foraging to lakes with sufficient available prey. (2) The displacement of native algal forests by invasive green macroalgae alters the quality of the dead algae biomass that is washed from coastal to deeper marine ecosystems where it is an important food source. This affects the quantity and diversity of deep ocean organisms. (3) Invasive terrestrial plants, which displace native forest plants  such as the Himalayan balsam  introduce new chemical substances into the forests, which are washed into ponds, where they reduce the growth rate of zooplankton. This changes the dynamics of the food web in the ponds. Credit: Morgane Brosse, Eawag

Invasive species influence biodiversity across larger spatial extents than previously thought. In a recently published study, researchers from Eawag and the University of Zurich show that the impacts of invasive species extend far beyond the ecosystems they invade and that three mechanisms are primarily responsible for this. These findings are of great importance for the management of ecosystems.

Invasive species are widespread around the world and have a profound impact on the ecosystem they invade. They are therefore considered to be one of the five most important threats to global biodiversity and ecosystems.

However, in a study just published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, two researchers from the aquatic research institute Eawag have now shown for the first time that their impact frequently extends beyond the boundaries of the invaded ecosystem.

Postdoctoral researcher Tianna Peller and Florian Altermatt, group leader at Eawag and professor of aquatic ecology at the University of Zurich, have compiled examples of the cross-ecosystem impacts of invasive species worldwide for the first time in a global overview. From this, they have gained insights that shed new light on the extent of the ecological threat posed by invasive species.

"Our work shows that the impact of invasive species across ecosystem boundaries is a ubiquitous phenomenon," explains Tianna Peller, "leading to changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functions around the world." A holistic management of invasive species is therefore necessary, the researchers conclude.

Three main pathways for cross-ecosystem impacts

Interactions between ecosystems are widespread in nature and connect, for example, forests and lakes, grasslands and rivers as well as coral reefs and the deep ocean. In their work, the researchers show that invasive species influence these interactions in three different ways.

Firstly, they can change the amount of organisms and materials that flow across ecosystem boundaries. Secondly, they can change the quality of these flows, which may, for example, influence how valuable they are for the animals that consume them as food. And thirdly, invasive species can cause new spatial flows between ecosystems that did not exist before the invasion of the species, for example through secondary plant substances produced by invasive terrestrial plants, which flow into aquatic ecosystems.

"As a result, invasive species can have ecological impacts that extend up to 100 kilometers beyond the ecosystem they invade," explain the authors of the study. "While we often categorize invasive species as aquatic or terrestrial, our results suggest that the impacts of invasive species often transcend the aquatic-terrestrial interface."

Invasive species examples

How invasive species disrupt spatial processes and set in motion a whole cascade of effects on other ecosystems is well illustrated by the example of rats (Rattus spp.), which were introduced to islands in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The predatory invaders have significantly reduced the bird populations on the islands.

Fewer birds means less bird droppings, which has disrupted the flow of nitrogen from the islands to the coral reefs. This in turn has had an impact on the fish in the reefs, whose biomass has decreased by up to 50 percent. Critical ecosystem functions performed by the fish, such as grazing and bioerosion, have thus been drastically affected.

An example from Switzerland shows how invasive species can introduce new spatial flows between ecosystems. The invasion of the Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), originally native to the Himalayas, has led to the secondary plant substances produced by this species being leached into neighboring aquatic ecosystems and impacting growth and reproductive rates of aquatic organisms.

The invasive lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in the U.S. is another impressive example of the spatially cascading effects an invasive species can trigger. This invasive species voraciously eats the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout, which has interrupted their migration from lakes to rivers. This affects nutrient cycles and food webs in the rivers, but also on land.

Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of considering the broader spatial context when assessing the ecological impacts of invasive species. In particular, it shows that non-native species should not only be considered within conventional ecosystem compartments such as marine, terrestrial or freshwater, but that their management requires a more holistic perspective. "By understanding how invasive species affect exchanges between ecosystems, management efforts can be better targeted to mitigate their effects," says Florian Altermatt.

Provided by EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
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RNA and DNA are indicated with gray (EU; 5-ethynyluridine) and blue (DAPI) staining, respectively. Visible brain regions include the olfactory bulb (OB), rostral migratory stream (RMS), subventricular zone (SVZ), and the dentate gyrus (DG). Credit: Zocher et al./Science

After two decades in the United States, Martin Hetzer returned home to Austria in 2023 to become the 2nd President of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). A year into his new role, the molecular biologist remains engaged in the realm of aging research.

Hetzer is fascinated by the biological puzzles surrounding the aging processes in organs like the brain, heart, and pancreas. Most cells comprising these organs are not renewed throughout a human's entire life span. Nerve cells (neurons) in the human brain, for instance, can be as old as the organism, even up to more than a century, and must function for a lifetime.

This remarkable age of neurons might be a major risk factor for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Crucial to comprehending these kinds of ailments is a deeper understanding of how nerve cells function over time and maintain control. This potentially opens doors to therapeutically counteract the aging processes of these specific cells.

The latest collaborative publication by Hetzer, Tomohisa Toda from the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg (FAU), who is also associated with the Max Planck Center for Physics and Medicine, Erlangen, and colleagues, gives new insights into this underexplored field of intricate mechanisms.

For the first time in mammals, the study shows that RNAan essential group of molecules important for various biological processes inside the cellcan persist throughout life. The scientists identified specific RNAs with genome-protecting functions in the nuclei of nerve cells of mice that remain stable for two years, covering their entire lives. The findings, published in the journal Science, underpin the importance of long-lived key molecules for maintaining a cell's function.

Longevity of key molecules

The inside of cells is a very dynamic place. Some components are constantly renewed and updated; others stay the same their whole lives. It is like a city in which the old buildings blend in with the new ones. DNA found in the nucleusthe city's heartfor instance, is as old as the organism. "DNA in our nerve cells is identical to DNA within the developing nerve cells in our mother's womb," explains Hetzer.

Unlike stable DNA, which is constantly being repaired, RNA, especially messenger RNA (mRNA), which forms proteins upon DNA's information, is characterized by its transient nature. The cellular scope, however, extends beyond mRNA to a group of so-called non-coding RNAs. They do not turn into proteins; instead, they have specific duties to contribute to the overall organization and function of the cell. Intriguingly, their lifespan remained a mystery. Until now.

RNAs that last the whole life

Hetzer and Co. set out to decipher that secret. Therefore, RNAs were labeled, i.e. "marked," in the brains of newborn mice. "For this labeling, we used RNA analogsstructurally similar moleculeswith little chemical hooks that click fluorescent molecules on the actual RNAs," explains Hetzer. This assured efficient tracking of the molecules and powerful microscopic snapshots at any given time point in the mice's lives.

"Surprisingly, our initial images revealed the presence of long-lived RNAs, in various cell types within the brain. We had to further dissect the data to identify the ones in the nerve cells," Hetzer explains. "Fruitful collaboration with Toda's lab enabled us to make sense of that chaos during brain mapping."

Collaboratively, the researchers were able to focus solely on long-lived RNAs in neurons. They quantified the molecules' concentration throughout a mouse's life, examined their composition and analyzed their positions.

While humans have an average life expectancy of around 70 years, the typical lifespan of a mouse is 2.5 years. After one year, the concentration of long-lived RNAs was slightly reduced compared to newborns. However, even after two years, they remained detectable indicating a lifelong persistence of these molecules.

RNAs help protect the genome

Additionally, the scientists proved long-lived RNAs' prominent role in cellular longevity. They found out that long-lived RNAs in neurons consist of mRNAs and non-coding RNAs and accumulate near the heterochromatinthe densely packed region of the genome, typically homing inactive genes. Next they further investigated the function of these long-lived RNAs.

In molecular biology, the most effective approach to achieve this is by reducing the molecule of interest and observing its subsequent effects.

"As their name and our previous experiments suggest, these long-lived RNAs are extremely stable," says Hetzer. The scientists, therefore, employed an in vitro (outside a living organism) approach, using neuronal progenitor cellsstem cells with the capacity to give rise to neural cells, including neurons.

The model system allowed them to effectively intervene with these long-lived RNAs. A lower amount of long-lived RNAs caused problems in the heterochromatin architecture and stability of genetic material, eventually affecting the cells' viability. Thus, the important role of long-lived RNAs' in cellular longevity was clarified.

The study highlights that long-lived RNAs may function in the lasting regulation of genome stability.

"Lifelong cellular maintenance during aging involves an extended life span of key molecules like the long-lived RNAs, we just identified," Hetzer adds. The precise mechanism, however, remains unclear. "Together with unidentified proteins, long-lived RNAs likely form a stable structure that somehow interacts with the heterochromatin."

Upcoming research projects in Hetzer's lab are set on finding these missing links and understanding the biological characteristics of these long-lived RNAs.

More information: S. Zocher, Lifelong persistence of nuclear RNAs in the mouse brain, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adf3481 Journal information: Science
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The trees of Lapland are a unique natural archive for investigating the past behavior of the Sun. Markku Oinonen is drilling a sample containing interesting information on events in the 19th century. Credit: Joonas Uusitalo

A research group coordinated by the University of Helsinki was able to measure a spike in radiocarbon concentration of trees in Lapland that occurred after the Carrington flare. This discovery helps to prepare for dangerous solar storms. The study is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The Carrington Event of 1859 is one of the largest recorded solar storms in the last two centuries. It was seen as white light flares on a giant sunspot group, fires at telegraph stations and disturbances in geomagnetic measurements, as well as auroras even in tropical regions.

In a joint study carried out by the University of Helsinki, Natural Resources Institute Finland and the University of Oulu, a sign of an increase in radiocarbon concentrations following the Carrington storm was detected for the first time in tree rings. Previously, radiocarbon traces have only been detected from far more intense solar storms.

Discovery through a cosmic marker

Encounters between strong magnetized clouds of charged particles released from the sun, known as solar plasma flows, and Earth's geomagnetic field result in geomagnetic storms. The geomagnetic field directs the solar storm particles into the atmosphere primarily through the Polar regions. The most visible consequence of the phenomenon are auroras.

In the upper atmosphere, sufficiently high-energy particles can, through nuclear reactions, also produce radiocarbon (14C), a radioactive isotope of carbon. Over the course of months and years, radiocarbon ends up in the lower atmosphere as part of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and eventually in plants through photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis preserves the information contained in carbon dioxide in the annual rings of trees.

To obtain the information held by radiocarbon, samples are extracted by carving from the wood material grown over individual years. The samples are processed to cellulose and the cellulose into pure carbon by burning and chemical reduction. The fraction of radiocarbon in pure carbon is measured using a particle accelerator.

"Radiocarbon is like a cosmic marker describing phenomena associated with Earth, the solar system and outer space," says Markku Oinonen, Director of the University of Helsinki's Laboratory of Chronology, who headed the study.

Mapping solar storms

A solar storms corresponding to the Carrington event in modern times would disrupt electrical and mobile networks and cause major problems for satellite and navigation systems, leading to problems in, for example, air traffic. This is why accurate knowledge of solar behavior benefits society.

Solar storms smaller and more common than the Carrington storms can be studied with measuring devices and satellites nowadays, while larger ones can be investigated, for example, by measuring radiocarbon concentration in tree rings.

So far, it has not been possible to study specifically medium-sized storms such as the Carrington event, which have not occurred in modern times, using conventional radiocarbon techniques. This recent study opens up a potential new way of investigating the frequency of Carrington-sized storms, which may help to better prepare for future threats.

Increasingly accurate information on the carbon cycle

The results were interpreted using a numerical model of radiocarbon production and transport developed by researchers at the University of Oulu.

"The dynamic atmospheric carbon transport model was specifically developed for describing geographical differences in the distribution of radiocarbon in the atmosphere," says Postdoctoral Researcher Kseniia Golubenko from the University of Oulu.

What was significant in the recently published study was how the radiocarbon content of trees in Lapland differed from that of trees at lower latitudes. The first measurements were carried out at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Helsinki, while repeat measurements conducted in two other laboratories significantly reduced the previous uncertainties.

The discovery can help to better understand atmospheric dynamics and the carbon cycle from the time before human-generated fossil fuel emissions, enabling the development of increasingly detailed carbon cycle models.

"It's possible that the excess of radiocarbon caused by the solar flare was primarily transported to the lower atmosphere through northern regions, contrary to the general understanding of its movement," says Doctoral Researcher Joonas Uusitalo from the Laboratory of Chronology.

Other sources of radiocarbon

"It's also possible that the cyclic change in the production of radiocarbon in the upper atmosphere caused by the variation in solar activity has resulted in the local differences on the ground level seen in our findings," Uusitalo adds.

According to Uusitalo, the dominant fraction of radiocarbon is produced by galactic cosmic rays coming from outside the solar system, even though exceptionally strong solar storms generate individual bursts of the isotope in the atmosphere. Cosmic rays, in turn, are weakened by solar wind, a continuous flux of particles originating in the sun that fluctuates between stronger and weaker in 11-year cycles.

The topic requires further research. Historical records show that significant geomagnetic storms also took place in 1730 and 1770, which is why their tracking is likely to be in focus next.

The study was carried out as a collaborative project of the University of Helsinki's Laboratory of Chronology and Department of Physics, and Natural Resources Institute Finland. Researchers from the University of Oulu, Nagoya University, Yamagata University and ETH Zurich also contributed to the study.

More information: Joonas Uusitalo et al, Transient Offset in 14C After the Carrington Event Recorded by Polar Tree Rings, Geophysical Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL106632 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
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This study explores the impact of human-induced climate change on Northern Hemisphere winter weather, highlighting the dominant role of specific teleconnection patterns and the influence of greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Jin-Ho Yoon from GIST

Western North America seems to be experiencing more extreme weather events more frequently. From scorching droughts to torrential floods, the climate is changing rapidly, with no signs of slowing down. From 2011 to 2015, California and neighboring states experienced extended periods of drought, while 2017 saw heavy rains trigger catastrophic floods.

These events are linked to specific weather patterns. The atmosphere is like a network of interconnected pathways that determine how weather systems move and interact across the globe.

In the Northern Hemisphere, there are three such major teleconnection patterns that affect winter conditions: the Pacific North American pattern (PNA), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the North American winter dipole (NAWD). However, the understanding of how these patterns change over time and their connection to climate change remains limited.

To better understand this phenomenon, a group of scientists led by Professor of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering Jin-Ho Yoon and including Ph.D. student Jueun Lee from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology recently conducted a study to examine the reasons behind changes in these patterns. Their findings have been published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science on 7 March 2024.

The scientists employed a sophisticated Community Earth System model that there is a regular influence of the NAWD for over 70 years (19512020), which is in contrast with the fluctuating influence from PNA and minor impacts from NAO. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a strengthening negative correlation between the PNA and the NAWD: as one exhibits a positive phase, the other tends to exhibit a negative phase.

Variation of the ZE200 during the northern winter (DJF) season and comparison with the corresponding correlation between PNA and NAWD. Credit: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41612-024-00608-2

"This projected intensification of large-scale atmospheric circulation in a warming climate is expected to likely escalate extreme hydroclimatic events in mid-latitude regions like California near western North America," explains Dr. Yoon.

The weather system is like a network of dominos, where one piece can trigger a chain reaction and set off a series of unforeseen events. Using extensive models and numerical simulations, the scientists deduced that these changes in how the PNA and the NAWD interact can be traced back to variations in the jet stream, a band-like flow of air high up in the atmosphere. As the climate warms, the jet stream changes, influencing patterns such as the PNA and the NAWD.

The study notably shows that greenhouse gas emissions play a significant role in driving the shifts. "Climate models consider a range of factors affecting the atmosphere, including changes in greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human activities. By running simulations with and without the influence of greenhouse gases, we can compare the results and see how they differ," explains Dr. Yoon.

The scientists observed an association between higher greenhouse gas levels and the variations in the jet stream: the gases drive the northward drift of the Asia-Pacific jet core. Aided by mountain-related lifting over the Alaskan Range, contributing to the formation of potent high-pressure systems in the vicinity. This phenomenon strengthens the winter stationary wave throughout western North America.

Simply put, the study shows that the rise in temperatures caused by greenhouse gases is changing how air moves in the atmosphere. This, in turn, affects the weather patterns that influence winter conditions in western North America and contribute to recent more frequent extreme weather events. This research thus highlights the urgent need to address climate change.

More information: Jueun Lee et al, Evolving winter atmospheric teleconnection patterns and their potential triggers across western North America, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41612-024-00608-2 Journal information: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
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A Yanomami Indigenous woman carries her child on her back at a Brazilian Air Force field hospital in the city of Boa Vista, Roraima state, Brazil, in January 2023.

Researchers in the Brazilian Amazon found universal mercury contamination among members of the Yanomami Indigenous group living in a region awash in illegal gold mining, said a study published Thursday, warning of devastating health impacts.

The study, led by Brazilian public health institute Fiocruz, took hair samples and mouth swabs from 293 Yanomami in nine villages in the upper Mucajai river region in the northern state of Roraima.

The region is among those hit hardest by illegal gold mining in the Yanomami reservation, a territory bigger than Portugal that is home to around 29,000 Indigenous people.

The study, carried out in October 2022, found 100 percent of participants were contaminated with the toxic metal, including 84 percent with levels above the limit recommended by the World Health Organization, two micrograms per gram of hair.

Another 10.8 percent had mercury levels above six micrograms per gram of hair, which requires special medical attention, the authors said.

"This situation of vulnerability exponentially increases the risk of disease for children who live in the region," especially those under five, lead researcher Paulo Basta said in a statement.

The Yanomami are suffering a devastating health crisis that experts say is driven by an explosion of illegal mining on their land.

Aerial view of the Mucajai river in the Yanomami Indigenous territory.

Indigenous leaders and rights activists accuse wildcat miners of raping and killing Yanomami inhabitants, tearing down the rainforest and triggering a food crisisas well as poisoning rivers with the mercury used to separate gold from sediment.

In 2023, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva deployed the army and police in a bid to evict an estimated 20,000 illegal miners from Yanomami territory. But activists say the isolated Indigenous group remains extremely vulnerable.

The study found average mercury consumption three times above recommended limits, ingested via one of the Yanomami's main food sources, fish.

It found degenerative nerve diseases in about 30 percent of participantsa condition linked to mercury poisoning.

Among children, 55.2 percent showed cognitive deficits, and another 34.5 percent were borderline.

"Mining is the greatest evil we have today in Yanomami land," said Dario Vitorio Kopenawa, vice president of the Hutukara Yanomami Association.

"Our children are being born sick," he said in a statement. "Our people are dying because of gold mining."

 2024 AFP
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This image of our sun was taken in August 2012 by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory. It shows a number of sunspots. Other stars also experience starspots, which cause the stars observed brightness to vary as the spots rotate in and out of view. By measuring those changes in brightness, astronomers can infer the stars rotation period. NASAs Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will collect brightness measurements for hundreds of thousands of stars located in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, yielding information about their rotation rates. Credit: NASA

Guessing your age might be a popular carnival game, but for astronomers it's a real challenge to determine the ages of stars. Once a star like our sun has settled into steady nuclear fusion, or the mature phase of its life, it changes little for billions of years. One exception to that rule is the star's rotation periodhow quickly it spins. By measuring the rotation periods of hundreds of thousands of stars, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope promises to bring new understandings of stellar populations in our Milky Way galaxy after it launches by May 2027.

Stars are born spinning rapidly. However, stars of our sun's mass or smaller will gradually slow down over billions of years. That slowdown is caused by interactions between a stream of charged particles known as the stellar wind and the star's own magnetic field. The interactions remove angular momentum, causing the star to spin more slowly, much like an ice skater will slow down when they extend their arms.

This effect, called magnetic braking, varies depending on the strength of the star's magnetic field. Faster-spinning stars have stronger magnetic fields, which causes them to slow down more rapidly. Due to the influence of these magnetic fields, after about one billion years stars of the same mass and age will spin at the same rate. Therefore, if you know a star's mass and rotation rate, you potentially can estimate its age. By knowing the ages of a large population of stars, we can study how our galaxy formed and evolved over time.

Measuring stellar rotation

How do astronomers measure the rotation rate of a distant star? They look for changes in the star's brightness due to starspots. Starspots, like sunspots on our sun, are cooler, darker patches on a star's surface. When a starspot is in view, the star will be slightly dimmer than when the spot is on the far side of the star.

If a star has a single, large spot on it, it would experience a regular pattern of dimming and brightening as the spot rotated in and out of view. (This dimming can be differentiated from a similar effect caused by a transiting exoplanet.) But a star can have dozens of spots scattered across its surface at any one time, and those spots vary over time, making it much more difficult to tease out periodic signals of dimming from the star's rotation.

This timelapse movie from 2001 shows the suns visible surface, or photosphere, as our star rotates several times. Groups of sunspots are seen appearing, growing, and shrinking over time. Spots on distant stars are expected to evolve as well, complicating efforts to determine the stars rotation period. This movie was taken with the Michelson Doppler Imager instrument on SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Credit: NASA

Applying artificial intelligence

A team of astronomers at the University of Florida is developing new techniques to extract a rotation period from measurements of a star's brightness over time.

They are using a type of artificial intelligence known as a convolutional neural network to analyze light curves, or plots of a star's brightness, over time. To do this, the neural network first must be trained on simulated light curves. University of Florida postdoctoral associate Zachary Claytor, the science principal investigator on the project, wrote a program called "butterpy" to generate such light curves.

"This program lets the user set a number of variables, like the star's rotation rate, the number of spots, and spot lifetimes. Then it will calculate how spots emerge, evolve, and decay as the star rotates and convert that spot evolution to a light curvewhat we would measure from a distance," explained Claytor.

The team has already applied their trained neural network to data from NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). Systematic effects make it more challenging to accurately measure longer stellar rotation periods, yet the team's trained neural network was able to accurately measure these longer rotation periods using the TESS data.

A star can have dozens of spots scattered across its surface at any one time, causing irregular brightness fluctuations that make it difficult to tease out periodic signals of dimming due to the stars rotation. This graph of data from the butterpy program shows how the observed brightness of a simulated star would vary over a single rotation period. NASAs Roman Space Telescope will be able to measure the light curves, and therefore rotation rates, of hundreds of thousands of stars, bringing new insights into stellar populations in our galaxy. Credit: NASA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Roman's star survey

The upcoming Roman Space Telescope will gather data from hundreds of millions of stars through its Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey, one of three core community surveys it will conduct. Roman will look toward our galaxy's centera region crowded with starsto measure how many of these stars change in brightness over time. These measurements will enable multiple science investigations, from searching for distant exoplanets to determining the stars' rotation rates.

The specific survey design is still being developed by the astronomical community. The study on stellar rotation promises to help inform potential survey strategies.

"We can test which things matter and what we can pull out of the Roman data depending on different survey strategies. So when we actually get the data, we'll already have a plan," said Jamie Tayar, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Florida and the program's principal investigator.

"We have a lot of the tools already, and we think they can be adapted to Roman," she added.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Due to its economic growth and large population, the People's Republic of China is widely viewed as a rising economic and military superpower. But declining fertility rates and increased life expectancies over the last few decades have conspired to make China one of the more rapidly aging societies in the world.

Merril Silverstein, the inaugural holder of the Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professorship in Aging (a joint appointment in Syracuse University's Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), is an expert on aging in the context of family life who's uniquely qualified to examine the impact of China's aging population.

Silverstein, a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Falk and chair of the Sociology Department in Maxwell, is editor of the 2022 book "Aging Families in Chinese Society," which was recently released in paperback. The book focuses on the accelerated social and demographic changes in China and examines their implications for family care and support for older adults.

Combining quantitative data from social surveys in China, comparative surveys in Taiwan and Thailand, and qualitative data from in-depth interviews, "Aging Families in Chinese Society" explores the various challenges facing aging families in China as a result of reduced family size, changing gender expectations, rapid economic development and urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, and an emerging but still underdeveloped long-term care system.

To dive into this topic in more detail, we asked Silverstein to discuss this phenomenon and its impact across the globe. Here's that conversation:

What are the factors making China one of the more rapidly aging societies in the world?

Primarily low fertility rates, which are caused to some degree, but not exclusively, by the one-child policy starting in 1978. However, fertility rates have continued to fall since the policy ended in 2016, as preferences for small families have become entrenched. Explanations for these preferences include children becoming more expensive to raise, and women's growing access to higher education and the labor market, which has delayed the timing of fertility and weakened the desire to have large families.

Can you talk more about the impact of the one-child policy, which limited the great majority of family units to one child each and was designed to reduce the growth rate of China's enormous population?

Growth in the older population relative to the declining number of children has increased the proportionate representation of older adults in China. China's population is beginning to shrink in size, producing questions about its future workforce and economic growth.

What are the challenges facing the elderly and their families in China?

Small families may mean less family support available to older adults. Also, high rates of internal migration have separated adult children from their older parents. Currently, there is little public support for long-term care services and pensions are relatively low, making children especially important but possibly less available to care for, and support, older adults.

What are potential solutions to these challenges?

Increase the fertility rate. The government has virtually lifted all restrictions on family size, but to only minor effect. One solution is to provide low-cost daycare, parental leave and child subsidies so people are incentivized to have more children.

What might be the potential political ramifications of this trend and will it ultimately diminish China's standing on the global stage?

The inversion of older and younger populations implies that it will become increasingly difficult for China to fund old-age programs with a diminished labor force. A slowdown in economic growth and reduced military power are also distinct possibilities with fewer workers and trained military personnel in the population.

Why should we in the United States care about this?

Our economies are closely linked in trade and supply chains. Economic decline in China will have consequences for global competition for world markets that has become increasingly acute as China continues to extend its sphere of economic influence and poses a threat to the independence of Taiwan.
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This map shows the path of the 2024 total solar eclipse. The dark path across the continent is the path of totality. By flying along this path, the WB-57s will extend the amount of time they spend in totality. Credit: NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio/Michala Garrison; Eclipse Calculations By Ernie Wright, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will produce stunning views across North America. While anyone along the eclipse path with a clear sky will see the spectacular event, the best view might be 50,000 feet in the air, aboard NASA's WB-57 jet planes. That's where a trio of NASA-funded teams are sending their scientific instruments to take measurements of the eclipse.

Two teams will image the sun's outer atmospherethe coronaand a third will measure the ionosphere, the upper electrically charged layer of Earth's atmosphere. This information will help scientists better understand the structure and temperature of the corona, the effects of the sun on Earth's atmosphere, and even aid in the search of asteroids that may orbit near the sun.

During a total solar eclipse, the moon perfectly blocks the bright face of the sun, casting a small swath of Earth in darkness. With the sun's main light masked, the much dimmer solar corona becomes visible to the naked eye. This provides scientists a unique opportunity to study this mysterious region of the sun. The brief blocking of sunlight also allows scientists to study how the sun's light affects Earth's atmosphere.

The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse will produce stunning views across North America. While anyone along the eclipse path with a clear sky will see the spectacular event, the best view might be 50,000 feet in the air, aboard NASAs WB-57 jet planes. Thats where a trio of NASA-funded teams are sending their scientific instruments to take measurements of the eclipse. Credit: NASA

In the past, solar eclipses have driven numerous scientific discoveries. For this solar eclipse, NASA is funding several scientific experimentsincluding the three using the WB-57sto make measurements during the eclipse. NASA's WB-57s fly much higher than commercial aircraft. This altitude allows the jets to fly above cloudsmeaning no chance of missing the eclipse due to bad weather.

Additionally, the height puts the jets above most of Earth's atmosphere, which allows for the cameras to take crisper images and capture wavelengths, such as infrared light, that don't make it to the ground. Since the planes can travel at 460 miles per hour, they're also able to extend the time they spend in the moon's shadow. While the eclipse will last no more than four and a half minutes at any point on the ground, the planes will see an eclipse that lasts about 25% longer, over 6 minutes and 22 seconds.

"By extending the duration of totality, we're increasing the duration of how much data we can acquire," said Shadia Habbal, a researcher at the University of Hawaii who leads of one of the WB-57 eclipse experiments.

Habbal's experiment will fly spectrometerswhich record specific wavelengths of light and cameras. The instruments will measure the temperature and chemical composition of the corona and coronal mass ejections, which are large bursts of solar material. With this data, scientists aim to better understand the structure of the corona and identify the source of the solar wind, the constant stream of particles emitted by the sun.

Habbal hopes the results of their study will help differentiate between different competing models of how the corona is heated. "This light is our best probe short of sticking a thermometer in the corona," Habbal said.

NASA/ESA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured this video of a coronal mass ejection on March 13, 2023. Credit: NASA/ESA/SOHO

For another team, led by Amir Caspi at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, it's not their first time chasing eclipses by plane. Caspi led a previous trailblazing experiment with the WB-57s during the 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed America from sea to sea. Images taken from the jet were used to study the structure of the corona.

That time was the first the jets had ever been used to study an eclipse. This time, an improved camera setup will allow measurements in more wavelengths from infrared to visible light that will hopefully reveal new information about structures in the middle and lower corona. The observations, taken with a high-resolution, high-speed camera, could also help study a dust ring that circles the sun and help search for asteroids that may orbit near the sun.

"There isn't a lot of data of the sun at some of the wavelengths we'll be studying," Caspi said. "We don't know what we'll find, so it's extra exciting to be making these measurements."

A third experiment will study the effects of the moon's shadow on the ionosphere using an instrument called an ionosonde, which was designed at JHU APL. An ionosonde functions like a simple radar. The device sends out high-frequency radio signals and listens for their echoes rebounding off the ionosphere, which allows the researchers to measure how charged the ionosphere is.

"The eclipse basically serves as a controlled experiment," said Bharat Kunduri, leader of the ionosphere project and a research assistant professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. "It gives us an opportunity to understand how changes in solar radiation can impact the ionosphere, which can in turn impact some of these technologies like radar and GPS that we rely on in our daily lives."

Provided by NASA
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A trio of psychologists at Wilfrid Laurier University, in Canada, has found evidence that at least one type of snake may have self-recognition. In their study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Troy Freiburger, Noam Miller and Morgan Skinner used the olfactory sense rather than vision to test for self-recognition in two kinds of snakes.

Prior research has suggested that several types of animals have some degree of self-recognition. Testing involves putting a mark on an animal's face where they cannot see it and then allowing them to look in a mirror. If they react to the mark by touching, it, they are described as having self-recognition.

The research team notes that this procedure only works with species that use vision as a primary sensethat excludes others, including snakes. To test self-recognition in snakes, the researchers used the sense of smellsnakes rely very strongly on smell to find and capture prey.

To test snakes, the researchers chose two types that were easy to obtaingarters and ball pythons. They obtained 36 of the former and 18 of the latter and tested each of them. Testing consisted of collecting oil samples from each by rubbing a pad along their undersides and then presenting each with five scented pads: one that had the sample, another from the same sample that had been mixed with olive oil, one from a snake of a different species and one with just olive oil. With each presentation, the researchers noted how the snake under study reacted, focusing on tongue flicks.

In watching all the reactions, the research team found that the garter snakes flicked their tongues more when presented with their own scent and the sample with their modified scent. The ball pythons exhibited no differences in tongue flicking when presented with the samples.

The researchers suggest that increased tongue flicking when presented with their altered scent indicates a sign of self-recognitionthey could tell something was off with how they were smelling. They noted also that garter snakes are much more social than ball pythons as a way to help explain the differences in reactions.

More information: Troy Freiburger et al, Olfactory self-recognition in two species of snake, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0125 Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

 2024 Science X Network
Atheist author Richard Dawkins described himself as a "cultural Christian" and lamented the faith's waning cultural influence in Europe, though he still derided its key tenets as "nonsense," during an interview on Easter Sunday.



Speaking with British journalist Rachel Johnson, Dawkins noted that the United Kingdom is "fundamentally a Christian country," and he still personally values the Christian ethos despite not believing the religion from which it emerged.

"I call myself a cultural Christian," said the evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion. "I'm not a believer, but there's a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian. And so, I love hymns and Christmas carols, and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos. I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense."

"If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I'd choose Christianity every single time."



Self-proclaimed 'cultural Christian', @RichardDawkins, tells @RachelSJohnson he's 'slightly horrified' to hear Ramadan lights were hung on Oxford Street rather than Easter lights. pic.twitter.com/ZY2ePfpms1  LBC (@LBC) March 31, 2024

While claiming he is "happy" the number of practicing Christians in the U.K. is plummeting, Dawkins also acknowledged that Islam appears to be gathering strength in Europe as Christianity recedes. He noted he was "slightly horrified" that Ramadan lights adorned London's Oxford Street during Easter.

"If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I choose Christianity every single time," he said. "I mean, it seems to me to be a fundamentally decent religion in a way that, I think, Islam is not."

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Dawkins argued that Islam is less compatible with British values than Christianity, particularly regarding the treatment of women and homosexuals.

"I'm not talking about individual Muslims, who, of course, are quite different," Dawkins said. "But the doctrines of Islam  the Hadith and the Quran  is fundamentally hostile to women, hostile to gays. And I find that I like to live in a culturally Christian country, although I do not believe a single word of the Christian faith."

Johnson, the sister of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, acknowledged that her own Christian faith "waxes and wanes," but asked Dawkins his predictions regarding the effects a culturally dominant Islam would have on bedrock English institutions such as the monarchy.

"I think it would be a terrible thing," Dawkins said. "And insofar as Christianity can be seen as a bulwark against Islam, I think it's a very good thing. In Africa, for example, where you have missionaries of both faiths operating, I'm on 'Team Christians,' as far as that's concerned."

Dawkins nevertheless dismissed the fundamental claims of Christianity, such as the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection, emphasizing his belief that such supernatural assertions are "nonsense," though he acknowledged their importance "from a cultural point of view."

A survey of more than 3,000 U.K. adults commissioned by five Christian organizations in 2022 found that only 6% identify as "practicing Christians," with 42% identifying as "non-practicing Christians."

According to data released by the U.K.s Office for National Statistics in 2022, Christianity is quickly dwindling in the country, with less than half of the population identifying as Christian since the country's first census in 1801.

The data showed that only 46.2%  or 27.5 million of the countrys more than 67 million people  say they are Christian. In the 2011 census, 59.3% of the population  or 33.3 million people  described themselves as Christian.

Islam, by contrast, has surged in the U.K., swelling from 2.7 million in 2011 to 3.9 million in 2021.



Originally published by The Christian Post
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From left: Isaac Wright BS22, Dr. Fabiano Rodrigues and Josemaria Gomez Socola are studying the Earths upper atmosphere with ionospheric scintillation monitors, or ScintPi sensors. On April 8, the researchers will use the sensors to learn more about the effects of eclipses on the ionosphere. Credit: University of Texas at Dallas

Small, low-cost sensors developed by space scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas to study the Earth's upper atmosphere recentlyand unexpectedlyprovided information about the sun, something the devices were not designed to do.

The devices, called ionospheric scintillation monitors, or ScintPi sensors, will be in the spotlight again as UT Dallas researchers deploy them to collect data during the April 8 total solar eclipse and make them available for citizen science projects.

"The ScintPi sensors receive radio signals from satellites, similar to the GPS receivers in cellphones," said Dr. Fabiano Rodrigues, associate professor of physics and Fellow, Eugene McDermott Distinguished Professor in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at UT Dallas.

"They can be easily deployed and maintained and cost about $600 for us to build, which is much less than commercial versions that cost between $10,000 and $15,000."

While ScintPi sensors are not intended to fully replace commercial monitors, they can be used in many educational and scientific applications, Rodrigues said.

Radio signals exchanged between the ground-based devices and satellites travel through a region of the Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere. Solar radiation creates the ionosphere by stripping electrons from atmospheric atoms, which results in a shell of charged particles, or ions, around the Earth.

Disturbances and turbulence in the ionosphere can affect radio communications and the quality of GPS radio signals. A better understanding of the dynamics of the region and the factors affecting it helps scientists develop models to forecast variability more accurately.

"On the daylight side of the Earth, when there is the most solar radiation, there is more ionospherea greater density of electrons. At night, the density of electrons decreases, and there is less ionosphere," said Rodrigues, who uses a variety of ground-based equipment to study the ionosphere.

As part of his graduate studies, Josemaria Gomez Socola, an electrical engineering doctoral student in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, developed the ScintPi sensors so that scientists and citizen scientists around the world could gather data on ion density. The time it takes radio signals to travel to and from satellites is used to determine ion density in the region above a sensor's location. The research was published in the Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate.

The sensors have been deployed at 23 sites across the Western Hemisphere, including in Brazil, Honduras, Peru, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, 12 U.S. states and Iceland, so that scientists can study the ionosphere at low, medium and high latitudes.

Solar science

Isaac Wright BS, a physics doctoral student, analyzed data from the sensors gathered in 2022 and noticed something unusual about Aug. 28, 2022. The data showed a brief degradation of radio signals, but the cause was not a disturbance in the ionosphere.

Josemaria Gomez Socola displays a ScintPi sensor and its antenna. The sensors have been deployed at 23 sites across the Western Hemisphere so that scientists can study the ionosphere at low, medium and high latitudes. Credit: University of Texas at Dallas

The researchers determined that the signal was affected by noise resulting from a short increase in the level of radio signals of a certain frequency emanating from the sun. The solar radio burst (SRB) lasted about 30 minutes.

"This was not what we were looking for," Wright said. "Our sensors are designed to study the ionosphere, not solar events; nevertheless, we detected a solar radio burst, which shows that low-cost sensors like ours could be used for studies beyond just the ionosphere. We've shown that we can quantify how much solar radio bursts and ionospheric disturbances affect signals like GPS."

Only a few solar radio bursts have been reported at the frequency band used by GPS.

"This event was interesting because it was detected at the frequency used by our network of GPS receivers," Rodrigues said. "And it might have been missedone of the main ground-based radio telescopes that detects and reports SRBs was not operational on this day."

Solar eclipse experiment

"Our experimental setup for the April 8 total solar eclipse has two goals: to increase literacy about the Earth's ionosphere and to create new datasets that quantify the effects of eclipses on the ionosphere," said Rodrigues, who directs the Upper Atmosphere Remote Sensing Lab in the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences.

Sensors along the path of the eclipse will gather data from sites that will experience a partial eclipse in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Illinois, as well as at UT Dallas, which is in the path of totality.

Data from the UTD sensor is displayed on a website that captures and plots the concentration of electrons in the ionosphere over 48 hours. Rodrigues plans to project the near-real-time layout of electrons onto a large screen on campus to show viewers the changes in the ionosphere during the total solar eclipse.

During the annular solar eclipse of Oct. 14, 2023, which occurred around midday over much of Texas, ScintPi sensors measured the dip in the electron concentration in the ionosphere as radiation from the sun was partially blocked by the moon and photo-ionization decreased. After the eclipse, it went back up again as solar radiation returned to normal.

"During the total solar eclipse, we expect there to be an even bigger dip in the ionospheric concentration near Dallas because we are in the path of totality, and the Earth will receive much less radiation from the sun," Rodrigues said.

"We have models of the ionosphere, but we want to know how well these models match up with our observations. The research we're doing at UT Dallas and the measurements we make can help to verify and refine those models."

More information: Isaac G. Wright et al, On the detection of a solar radio burst event that occurred on 28 August 2022 and its effect on GNSS signals as observed by ionospheric scintillation monitors distributed over the American sector, Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (2023). DOI: 10.1051/swsc/2023027
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A concept of long-term optical data storage in silicon carbide. The information is written in optically active atomic defects by a focused ion beam (left) and read using the cathodoluminescence or photoluminescence (right). Credit: M. Hollenbach, H. Schulthei

With the development of the internet, social media and cloud computing, the amount of data created worldwide on a daily basis is sky-rocketing. This calls for new technologies that could provide higher storage densities combined with secure long-term data archiving far beyond the capabilities of traditional data storage devices.

An international research team led by the HZDR now proposes a new concept of long-term data storage based on atomic-scale defects in silicon carbide, a semiconducting material. These defects are created by a focused ion beam, providing high spatial resolution, fast writing speed and low energy for storing a single bit. The research is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Latest estimates assume about 330 million terabytes of new data created each day, with 90% of the world's data generated in the last two years alone. If the sheer numbers already suggest the need of advanced data storage technologies, it is by no means the only problem associated to this development.

"The limited storage time of current storage media requires data migration within several years to avoid any data loss. Besides of being trapped in perpetual data migration procedures, this substantially increases the energy consumption, because a significant amount of energy is consumed in the process," says Dr. Georgy Astakhov from the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research at HZDR.

To mitigate this looming crisis, Astakhov's team now introduces a new concept of long-term data storage based on atomic-scale defects in silicon carbide. These defects are inflicted by a focused beam of protons or helium ions and read using luminescence mechanisms associated to the defects.

Traditional storage devices throttled by physics

Currently, magnetic memory is the prime choice when it comes to data storage solutions aiming for large capacities, while the laws of physics set the limits to achievable storage densities. To increase them, the size of the magnetic particles must shrink. But then, thermal fluctuations and diffusion processes in the material gain in importance, with deteriorating impact on storage time.

Tuning magnetic properties of the material might suppress this effect, but this comes with a price tag: a higher energy to store information. Similarly, the performance of optical devices is thwarted by the laws of physics as well. Due to the so-called diffraction limit, the smallest recording bit is restricted in size: It cannot get any smaller than half of the light wavelength, setting the limit of the maximum storage capacity. The way out is multi-dimensional optical recording.

Silicone carbide features atomic-scale defects, especially the absence of silicon atoms in the lattice site. The defects are created by a focused proton or helium ion beam, providing high spatial resolution, fast writing speed and low energy for storing a single bit. "The diffraction limit of storage density inherent to optical media applies as well in our case. We overcome it by 4D encoding schemes.

"Here, the three spatial dimensions and an additional fourth intensity dimension are realized by controlling the lateral position and depth as well as the number of defects. Then we optically read out the stored data by means of photoluminescence provoked by optical excitation.

"Furthermore, the areal storage density can be significantly improved using focused electron-beam excitation causing observable cathodoluminescence," Astakhov states.

Storing data for generations

The stored information could be knocked-out of the defects again, depending on environmental conditions in which the medium is kept, but the scientists have good news considering their material. "The temperature-dependent deactivation of these defects suggests a retention time minimum over a few generations under ambient conditions," says Astakhov.

And there is more. With near-infrared laser excitation, modern encoding techniques and multi-layer data storage, namely the stacking of up to 10 silicon carbide layers on top of one another, the team reaches an areal storage density which corresponds to that of Blu-ray disks.

Switching to electron-beam excitation instead of optical excitation for the data read-out, the limit achievable in this manner corresponds to a currently reported record areal storage density of a prototype magnetic tape, which has, however, shorter storage time and higher energy consumption.

For this work, the Rossendorf scientists joined forces with researchers from Julius-Maximilian University Wurzburg (Germany), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (U.S.), National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (Japan), and Tohoku University (Japan). The team's conceptual approach is not limited to silicon carbide and can be extended to other materials with optically active defects, including 2D materials.

More information: M. Hollenbach et al, UltralongTerm HighDensity Data Storage with Atomic Defects in SiC, Advanced Functional Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202313413 Journal information: Advanced Functional Materials
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Viewers use special glasses to watch from San Antonio, as the moon moves in front of the sun during an annular solar eclipse, or ring of fire, Oct. 14, 2023. The total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 may be weeks away but businesses are ready for the celestial event with oodles of special eclipse glasses for sale, along with T-shirts and other souvenirs. Credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay, File

Monday's total solar eclipse might become one of the most filmed and photographed events of the year.

As the moon passes in front of the sun, plunging a swath of North America into a few minutes of darkness, throngs will take pictures or videos of the moment. But powerful solar rays and drastic changes in lighting pose unique challenges in catching that perfect image.

Here are some pointers on how to get the best shot:

How can I find the best place to capture the eclipse?

First, get in the right position. You'll want to be as close as possible to the path of totality, which passes over Mexico's Pacific coast and ends in eastern Canada. Fifteen U.S. states get to see the full eclipse.

There are online maps to check if you'll be anywhere near the path. NASA's map shows how many minutes of totality there will be if you're inside the path depending on location, and how much of a partial eclipse you'll see if you're outside of it.

For spectators in Mexico and Canada, eclipse expert Xavier Jubier's website overlays the eclipse's path on Google Maps, which allows zooming into street level detail.

Be ready to adapt to changing weather conditions. Use weather forecast and cloud coverage apps, including ones from the National Weather Service and Astrospheric, on the morning or the day before to find locations with clearer skies.

What can I use to plan a good shot?

With so many factors in play including cloud cover and the sun's position in the sky, planning is key to getting the best image.

There are a host of smartphone apps for eclipse chasers. The American Astronomical Society has compiled a list of useful ones for both iOS and Android devices, including its own Totality app that shows your location on a map of the totality path.

The Solar Eclipse Timer uses your phone's GPS to play an audio countdown to the moment of totality and highlights key moments. The app's maker advises using a separate phone for taking photos.

Eclipse Calculator 2 for Android devices uses the phone's camera to depict how the event will look in the sky from your position, using lines overlaid on top of the camera image. For iPhone users, apps like Sky Guide and SkySafari have eclipse simulators. There are other iOS apps that use augmented reality to simulate the eclipse, but they're pricier and not yet on the society's list.

How can I take a great photo of the eclipse?

Digital SLR cameras will produce the best photos. Their manual exposure controls and ability to add zoom lenses and accessories like remote shutter buttons will let you make great pictures.

Associated Press chief photographer Julio Cortez advises using a smaller aperturef11 or f17to keep the focus "a little bit sharper." When he shot the 2017 total solar eclipse, he used an ISO setting of 1250 and 1/500 shutter speed.

People watch a total solar eclipse in La Higuera, Chile, Tuesday, July 2, 2019. Small towns and rural enclaves along the path of Aprils 2024 total solar eclipse are steeling for huge crowds of sun chasers who plan to catch a glimpse of day turning into dusk in North America. Credit: AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File

The rest of us have our smartphones.

NASA published detailed guidelines for smartphone eclipse photography in 2017 with the caveat that "smartphones were never designed to do sun and moon photography." That's because the wide-angle lenses on most devices won't let you capture close-up detail. But new phones released since then come with sophisticated sensors, multiple lenses and image stabilization software that give a better chance.

Some experts suggest HDR, or High Dynamic Range, mode, which takes a series of pictures at different light levels and then blends them into a single shotideal for combining an eclipse's very dark and very bright areas.

But don't use flash. You can spoil the moment by ruining the vision of those around you whose eyes have adapted to darkness.

What will I need to protect against the sun?

The American Astronomical Society advises using a solar filter to protect cameras against intense sunlight and heat.

You can buy a filter that screws onto DSLR lenses, but it will take time to remove when totality happens. Cortez made his own with cardboard, tinted film and fasteners that he can quickly rip off.

For smartphones, you can use a spare pair of eclipse glasses and hold it over the lens, or buy a smartphone filter. There's no international standard, but the society's website has a list of models it considers safe. Make sure macro mode is not on.

If you plan to shoot for an extended time, use a tripod. To line up his camera after mounting it on a tripod, Cortez uses a solar finder, which helps locate the sun without damaging your eyes or equipment.

Cortez also advises bringing a white towel to cover up your gear after setting up to keep it from overheating as you wait for the big moment.

Can I take a selfie with the eclipse?

It's very tempting to make a TikTok or Instagram-friendly eclipse video. Perhaps you want to selfie video, narrating into the camera while the cosmic ballet between sun and moon plays out over your shoulder.

Be careful: While you might think your vision isn't at risk because you're not looking at the sun, your phone's screen could reflect harmful ultraviolet light, eye experts have warned.

And if you're using a solar filter on the selfie camera, it will turn the picture dark and you won't show up.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Climate change is making cherry trees bloom sooner in Japan on average.

Tourists and residents packed Tokyo's top cherry blossom spots on Thursday to enjoy the full bloom that has arrived in the Japanese capital later than usual this year because of cold weather.

The elegant dark branches bursting with pink and white flowersknown as sakura in Japanesespilled over the moat of the Imperial Palace, where people gathered to snap photos or simply take in the view.

"Cherry blossoms are so symbolic and make everything around you feel joyful and beautiful," Michitaka Saito, 68, told AFP.

"It makes me feel that I've made a good start on the year ahead," said Saito, who makes an annual visit to Chidorigafuchi Park beside the moat in central Tokyo.

Sakura season traditionally accompanies the beginning of the new fiscal year in Japan, representing fresh starts but also the fleeting impermanence of life.

Eiko Hirose, 76, said that enjoying the cherry blossoms with her husband Sadao "means I'm healthy, and he's good, and we all have a good time".

"We take it for granted that we can see it next year again, but who knows? Something may happen," she said.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) declared on Thursday that the country's most common and popular "somei yoshino" variety of cherry tree was in full bloom, four days later than average for the city.

Cherry blossom represents fresh starts but also the fleeting impermanence of life.

While the agency attributes this year's tardy blooms to cold weather, it has raised the alarm that climate change is making the delicate petals appear sooner in the long term.

Last year's sakura began to flower on March 14the joint earliest date on record along with 2020 and 2021and hit full bloom on March 22.

"Since 1953, the average start date for cherry blossoms to bloom in Japan has been becoming earlier at the rate of approximately 1.2 days per 10 years," the JMA says.

"The long-term increase in temperature is thought to be a factor" as well as other reasons such as the urban heat island effect, according to the agency.

Tourism to Japan has been booming since pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted, and an international crowd was also out enjoying the scenery on Thursday.

Kamilla Kielbowska, a 35-year-old from New York, planned her third trip to Japan around the blossoms.

In Japan, sakura season traditionally accompanies the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Tourism to Japan has been booming since pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted.

"We arrived here on, I believe, March 23. And I was joking... 'OK, we gotta go to this park straight from the airport, I cannot miss sakura.'"

But "it was super cold, and no trees were blossoming. And I was a little bit sad, but hoping that I'll still see them in full blossom before I leave."

"It definitely lived up to expectations," she said, calling the sight "marvelous" and "very magical".

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor emeritus at Kansai University, estimates the economic impact of cherry blossom season in Japan, from travel to parties held under the flowers, at 1.1 trillion yen ($7.3 billion) this year, up from 616 billion yen in 2023.

 2024 AFP
UPDATE 11 a.m.: One road remains closed in Warren County: State Route 8 between Tannery Road and Market Street in the Town of Horicon, the Warren County Sheriff's Office says.

From a National Grid press release last evening: "National Grids line, tree, and public safety specialists continue to face challenging weather and road conditions as they assess damage, clean up debris and restore power to customers impacted by another round of high winds and heavy, wet snow in Eastern New York." According to the outage map, Warren County, especially the towns of Johnsburg and Chester still has significant outages. The outage map says repairs may take until 8 p.m. today.

The National Grid press release said last evening that "the field force of nearly 1,000 employees has restored service to nearly 61,000 of the more than 72,000 impacted Eastern New York customers.

"Some areas have seen more than a foot and damaging wind gusts which resulted in uprooted trees, snapped tree limbs, broken poles and downed power lines. Tree damage in some locations has made roads impassable and created equipment access issues for company crews."

Public safety is our top priority as our crews are in the field removing debris, repairing widespread damage and restoring service across the region, said Kyle Bentley in a prepared statement. Bentley is the lead director of New York electric operations. We will continue to work as quickly and as safely as possible in the face of difficult conditions.

UPDATE 4:45 a.m. April 5: As many as 1,300 customers are still without power in northern Warren County since a late-season storm delivered up to 16 inches (in Bakers Mills just west of Johnsburg) of wet, heavy snow in the early morning and daytime of April 4. The storm included gusty winds, the National Weather Service says. During the day Thursday, Glens Falls saw sustained winds from 10 to 16 mph and gusts to 28 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Grid Power Outage map shows that the towns of Thurman, Johnsburg and Chester have the bulk of the customers without electricity.

UPDATE 12:45 p.m.: From the Warren County Sheriffs Office, the following roads are closed for winter storm related incidents:

Route 28 by Glen Bridge. There is a tractor trailer in the road just south of the bridge and a downed tree just north of the bridge.

Interstate 87 South by Exit 20 is closed due to a downed tree.

State Route 8 in Chestertown is closed due to a downed powerline.

Fish Hollow Road and Hudson Hollow Road in Chestertown are closed due to a downed tree that has fallen on a powerline. Officials say this has started a fire.

Route 8 just west of Route 28 in Johnsburg. The road is closed due to a tractor trailer in the roadway.

East Schroon River Road in Bolton is closed due to trees and wires down in the roadway.

Maple Street in Glens Falls is closed due to powerlines blocking the roadway.

One land of Alden Avenue in Warrensburg due to a fallen tree.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: Scanner traffic says that "numerous" wires and trees are down in the upper Warren County area from Warrensburg to North Creek and Wevertown through Chestertown along U.S. Route 9 and State Route 28.

From Washington County: Both National Grid and NYSEG have crews assigned to and working on scattered power outages in our area due to downed trees, wires or a combination of both. Here are the current outage numbers as of Noon: National Grid: 797; NYSEG: 173.

UPDATE 10 a.m.: The National Grid Power Outage map is now showing about 4,700 outages in Warren County. 1,185 of 1194 customers are without power in Hague. 667 of the 747 customers in Thurman are without power, according to the map. Thousands were without power in Queensbury, Lake George and Warrensburg just moments before this post, but the map is showing much lower numbers, well under 500 in lower portion of the county, now.

UPDATE, 8a.m.: The Warren County Sheriff's office is reporting a closure of Lake Shore Drive just north of Lake George Village. The state Department of Transportation has blocked off the road from Canada Street at the north end of the village to the Exit 22 ramp where it meets Lake Shore Drive. National Grid has been called as a power line, apparently, has fallen, the sheriff's office said.

New York State police are reporting multiple cars off the road but traffic is not blocked along the Interstate-87 Adirondack Northway in Warren County.

Scattered power outages remain in the readership area.

Original post, April 4, 6:30a.m.: The National Weather Service is reporting that 3 inches of snow fell in Queensbury overnight; 6 inches in North Creek; 3.5 inches in Lake Luzerne; 2.2 inches in Gansevoort; and 5.2 inches in Lake Desolation in Saratoga County.

The weather service is maintaining the winter weather warning through 6 a.m. Friday. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible with a total accumulation of 10 inches possible in the region.

The service is calling for snow, heavy at times, before 3 p.m., then a chance of rain and snow. The high temperature nears 36 degrees. The majority of the activity should taper off by about 8 p.m. but snow and rain are possible overnight. The low temperature will drop just below freezing to 31 degrees.

The National Grid outage map is not showing any major losses of power in our readership area.
A Vineland man who allegedly shot and killed another man outside a city apartment complex last month was ordered held in the Cumberland County jail Thursday.

Angel A. Aguero, 31, is charged with murder, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a handgun in the shooting death of Dashon Lee, 35, of Vineland.

Police responded to the Asselta Acres Apartments on Axtell Avenue at 12:30 a.m. March 9 in reference to a shooting. Lee was found dead in the parking with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Video surveillance showed Aguero and alleged co-defendants Jamin Carney, 28, of Millville, and Chavez Mills, 26, of Vineland, getting into a car in the parking lot at 12:25 a.m. and following another vehicle that Lee was a passenger in, Assistant Prosecutor Lauren Seidel said.

Carney and Mills could be seen pointing at the victims vehicle as it pulled into the parking lot, Seidel said. The three individuals rushed into Carneys vehicle and drove slowly past the victims vehicle as Lee was getting out of the passenger seat. Carney then pulled into a handicap spot where he couldnt be seen by the victim and his friends.

Seidel said Mills and Aguero exited the vehicle and approached Lee and his friends, who shook hands with Aguero before Aguero pulled out a gun, shot Lee in the back of the head and fled the scene with Mills.

Aguero also attempted to shoot Lees friends prior to fleeing, but the gun was believed to have malfunctioned, Seidel said.

All three men in custody in Vineland murder Angel Aguero, 31, of Vineland, who had been on the run for nearly two weeks after he was charged earlier this month in the murder of Dashon Lee, 35, of Vineland, turned himself in to police Friday morning, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office said.

Carney was arrested March 15, while Mills was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and Vineland police March 21. Aguero turned himself in at the Passaic Police Department on March 22.

Aguero has a disorderly persons conviction and failures to appear in court on his criminal record. Due to the severity of the charges Aguero is facing, the state was pushing for him to be held.

Agueros attorney, Sophia Waldstein, argued her client, who has three children, would be better off at home while his case goes through the court system.

He has kids who are 9, 5 and 3, Waldstein said. They live with their mother, but hes an active father and spends most of his time taking care of them while their mother is at work. His children need him the most, and thats why he should be released. I understand that these are serious charges, but his scores on the public safety assessment are low.

Mr. Lees family wouldve benefited having him around and at home, Seidel said. Mr. Aguero is seen on video with two individuals appearing to conspire and go over to the victim in a friendly manner before shooting him point blank in the back of the head while his back was turned. While I agree that he doesnt have much of a prior history, he fled in this case and the marshals had to get involved. It wasnt until a week and a half after the homicide when he was apprehended. The state has zero belief that any of the concerns for criminal justice reform would be met if he were to be released.

Cumberland County Superior Court Judge William Ziegler ruled for Aguero to remain in jail, citing the nature of the charges and the fact that Aguero was a fugitive for nearly two weeks after the murder.
Muslim relatives of the alleged killer of a 20-year-old Christian in Pakistan are threatening the victims family with death if they do not drop charges, sources said.

Muhammad Zubair initially confessed to killing Farhan Ul Qamar in his house in Talwandi Inayat Khan village, Pasrur tehsil of Sialkot District, Punjab Province, shooting him in the presence of the Christians family members on Nov. 9, 2023. He later retracted his confession in court.

The victims father, Noor Ul Qamar, said that on the evening of March 18, his family was busy in their routine chores when six armed Muslims led by the alleged killers father, Afzal Bajwa, intruded into their house and held them all on gunpoint.

The intruders threatened us that if we do not stop pursuing the case and reach a settlement with them to free Zubair from prison, they would kill us all, Ul Qamar told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

The armed Muslims were present in their house when one of Ul Qamars brothers, a pastor who lives in the neighborhood, called police, he said.

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God knows what would have happened to us if the police hadnt come on time and took the intruders into custody, Ul Qamar said. I filed an application for the registration of a case against them, but instead the police released the men after a few hours.

The head of the police station told him that he had let the armed Muslims off with a warning to not intimidate the family again, Ul Qamar said.

The accuseds family has a criminal background and are also politically influential, which is perhaps why the police did not take any legal action against them, he said.

Area residents have advised him not press charges regarding the armed break-in and death threat as it could endanger his family, he said.

Zubairs family started threatening me to withdraw the case a couple of months after they saw that the hype around the murder had settled down, Ul Qamar told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. They first sent reconciliatory messages through different people, but when we refused, their tone became more aggressive, and they threatened to kill me if I did not surrender to their demand.

On the night of the killing, Zubair showed hatred for Christians and Jews, mistakenly referring to the family as Jews as he ranted at them before killing Farhan Ul Qamar, family members said. Police arrested Zubair from his home a few hours later, and while in police custody he confessed to killing the Christian. He is awaiting trial in Sialkot District Jail.

Though shaken, the family is determined to pursue justice for the killer, Ul Qamar said.

Zubairs elder brother and a paternal cousin were gangsters and were killed in police encounters, he added. Zubair also has a police record and was involved in several heinous crimes before he committed my sons murder. We know that if he is not punished in accordance with the law, no Christian family of our village will be safe from his violence.

Among 20-25 other Christian families in the village, Ul Qamars family has resided in the area for generations, often facing religious bias and discrimination.

The youngest of Ul Qamars four children, Farhan Ul Qamar had been enrolled in a four-year medical technician program and was excited about becoming a health care professional after graduation, but all their dreams were shattered in front of their eyes, the grieving father said.

Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy Asia of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, said the crime is a reminder of the vulnerability of Christians in Pakistan.

Mobs and individual are emboldened because, over the years, the Pakistani government has failed to ensure swift prosecution and justice for Christians who have been attacked in their homes and churches, Arora said. Sadly, even after 10 years of the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court directing the government to undertake measures to ensure the protection of religious minorities, little has changed on the ground.

ADF International is supporting the impoverished familys pursuit of justice through its allied lawyer, Lazar Allah Rakha. He expressed concern for the safety of the victims family.

Who will be responsible if any member of Ul Qamars family is harmed by the accused party? Rakha told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Families and friends of such criminals can go to any extent to save them from the law. Its unfortunate that not only the complainants but also their lawyers and judges hearing the cases are threatened and attacked.

He said that Christians were particularly vulnerable in Punjab Province, where they are easily coerced into reaching settlements with suspects belonging to the Muslim majority.

I fear that the situation may become risky for them when the trial begins, because the accused party will try their best to influence and intimidate the complainant and prosecution witnesses, Rakha said. It would be better for them to relocate to a safe place during this crucial time, because one cannot rely on the police for their security.

ADF Internationals Arora added that it was imperative that the Pakistani government take steps to ensure the protection of religious minorities, and that no one is targeted because of their faith.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.
DES MOINES  A bill headed to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds desk would extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to a year for new mothers who qualify, but remove prenatal and postpartum care for hundreds of other Iowans.

House lawmakers passed the bill on Wednesday, along with a bill altering the rules for an anti-abortion pregnancy support program.

The Medicaid bill takes advantage of a federal program giving states the option to extend Medicaid coverage from the 60 days currently required by law to 12 months. The option was made available in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and Iowa is one of the last states to enact the extension.

The maximum income to qualify for coverage would be lowered, though, making some families who are currently eligible for prenatal care under Medicaid no longer eligible.

The income limit for Medicaid eligibility is higher for pregnant women and infants, and the number varies by state. Iowa currently provides birth and postpartum Medicaid coverage for families making up to 375% of the federal poverty line, the highest eligibility limit of any state.

The bill, Senate File 2251, would lower that limit to 215% of the federal poverty line, extending coverage for eligible mothers to 12 months after birth. The change would make Iowas eligibility limit for prenatal and postpartum care around 13th in the nation. The new level would cover single mothers making up to $43,900 a year and a family of four making up to $67,100.

That change would lead to around 1,300 women and 400 infants a month being no longer eligible for prenatal or postpartum care under Iowas Medicaid program, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. Those mothers would need to pay out of pocket for checkups and birth if they do not have private insurance.

Around 2,700 women who would have otherwise lost postpartum coverage after two months would instead remain eligible for the full 12 months, the agency said.

The changes would take effect Jan. 1, and anyone who is pregnant and covered under Medicaid before that date would not lose their coverage.

House lawmakers approved the proposal on Wednesday, moving the bill on to Reynolds, a Republican, for a signature. The bill passed the House 70-25. Ten Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in voting for the measure, while one Republican and 24 Democrats voted no.

Maternal health care experts have lobbied for years to extend the coverage, saying it will improve health outcomes for women during a vulnerable period and address inequities in health care. Problems like postpartum depression, substance abuse and some heart conditions can show up months after giving birth, proponents have said.

Groups like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Iowa Hospital Association registered in favor of the bill.

Reynolds proposed the bill at the beginning of the session, saying it would help new mothers who are struggling to make ends meet. A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats want to keep current income eligibility

Lowering the income eligibility was an attempt to keep the program cost-neutral while providing more coverage for low-income Iowans, Republicans said.

Though the cost increase will be minimal by 2028, the changes are expected to cost the state around $6 million over the next three years, including one-time IT costs and an increase in infants moving from Medicaid to the Healthy and Well Kids of Iowa program, which has a higher eligibility limit.

Democrats said they wanted to keep the current eligibility limit for pregnancy care under Medicaid while extending coverage to 12 months, arguing the state has the funds to cover everyone. An amendment offered by Democrats to keep the eligibility limit at 375% was voted down by Republicans.

Extending the coverage at the current eligibility level would cost about $14 million over four years, according to bills proposed during the last legislative session.

Democrats said the high cost of medical care to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth would be a burden on the thousands of women who will no longer qualify for Medicaid coverage under Iowas program. They argued that Iowa should retain its distinction of having the most generous eligibility limit in the country.

Rep. Sharon Sue Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, argued the bill changes would lower the income of OB-GYNs in the state and worsen the states maternal health care crisis.

Bills like this do not make Iowa a welcoming state, Steckman said. I guess its not any good to be a shining example for all the other states on how to treat moms and children. Were going to go to the bottom of the pile again.

Republican Rep. Devon Wood of New Market, who managed the bill, said it would give vital help to low-income Iowans who need it the most, giving them 10 more months of coverage than they currently receive.

She said new mothers who have mental health problems and substance use issues after two months are falling through the cracks and would be helped under the change.

"With the money that we have in our Medicaid program, were only able to cover 60 days, and I absolutely want to see the most of this money go to the moms and babies who need it the absolute most for a longer period of time, Wood said.

MOMS program changes

House lawmakers also passed a bill Wednesday to allow the state Department of Health and Human Services to independently administer a program set up to fund anti-abortion pregnancy support centers.

The More Options for Maternal Support (MOMS) program was created by state lawmakers in 2022 to direct state funds to crisis pregnancy centers, which are non-medically licensed centers that provide education, support and services for pregnant women. They are often run by religious organizations and discourage abortion.

Opponents of the program argue the centers provide misleading information, are not bound by medical privacy laws and use fear tactics to dissuade patients from receiving abortions.

The HHS department has failed to find an administrator for the program after multiple bid opportunities, and lawmakers hope the legislation will get the program up and running.

The bill, Senate File 2252, would allow the HHS department to directly administer the program and change some of the requirements for a contractor to administer the program, if the department chooses one.

The bill passed the House along party lines on Wednesday. It is now eligible to be signed into law by Reynolds.

Democrats said the centers misrepresent their medical expertise and give inaccurate information about abortion.

Why would we send taxpayer dollars to an organization that promotes medically dangerous misinformation as part of their pregnancy support services? That is a bad idea, said Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny.

Republicans argued that the medical services provided by the centers would be overseen by the states medical boards and that the staff performing the procedures, like ultrasounds, have adequate training.

Rep. Michael Bergan, a Republican from Dorchester, said the bill keeps the requirements for contractors strong and gives the HHS department the oversight authority to ensure the centers are following the law.

We look at this being one more opportunity to provide support and benefits to expecting mothers in Iowa, he said. Theyll be there to provide counseling service and enhance that with other services that are available through referral processes to the communities.
Group O will be laying off employees over the next six months.

The Milan-based business announced Thursday employees in one division of of its business will be "reduced."

Rihannon Nichols, human resources senior director, wrote in an e-mail to the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times that the layoffs impact the supply chain division and will not begin until the end of August.

Nichols said the company is not able to confirm at this time how many employees will be impacted.

"We are hoping to absorb as many employees as we can into other areas of the business as opportunities become available," wrote Nichols.

The layoffs are not included in Illinois' March WARN Act notice.

Gregg Ontiveros, Group O owner, said the shift in workforce is due to one client.

"Although this is a difficult time, Group O plans to seek new opportunities to repurpose this facility in an effort to bring jobs back to the Quad Cities," Ontiveros said the the press release.

Kevin Kotecki, Group O CEO, said the company wanted to provide as much notice as possible for the affected employees so they could pursue other opportunities.

"The Group O team members impacted have been integral to our overall success, many have been with the company for several years," Kotecki said in the release.

The company plans to make an effort to absorb some affected employees into other growing divisions within Group O, the release said. It also plans to aid employees in finding new opportunities and offer counseling services to provide a smooth transition for those affected.

In January of this year, Group O announced 87 layoffs at the Rock Island location due to a client change. The Rock Island office is located at 2916 78th Ave. W.

Group O is headquartered in Milan and employs more than 1,000 people, according to the release. Outside of the Quad-Cities, Group O has additional locations in Texas and Minnesota.

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Additional charges have been filed against an East Moline woman who was arrested last week for allegedly stealing from six Iowa Quad-City Hy-Vee stores and using her juvenile daughter to help in the theft.

The additional charges filed in Scott County District Court against Linaya Michelle Bennett, 40, are three counts of using a juvenile to commit an indictable offense, each a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years, and two counts of third-degree theft, each an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Scott County Sheriffs Department Reserve Deputy Pamela Robertson, Bennett would fill her cart with items and then at the self-checkout she would scan only a few of the items while pretending to scan each item. She then would pay for those items she truly scanned, mostly using her EBT, or Electronic Benefit Transfer, card. Authorities call the ploy skip scanning.

According to the arrest affidavits on the new charges:

Bennett and her juvenile daughter went to the Hy-Vee store at 3019 Rockingham Road in Davenport at 5:49 p.m. on March 19. Bennett and her daughter took items off the shelves totaling 157.79. They left the store with the merchandise without paying.

At 10:13 a.m. on March 9, Bennett went to the Hy-Vee located at 2200 W. Kimberly Road in Davenport and removed items totaling $8.34. She scanned and paid for only $2.78 worth of items using her EBT card.

At 7:51 p.m. on March 15, Bennett went to the Hy-Vee located at 1823 E. Kimberly Road in Davenport and took from the shelves items valued at $150. She paid only $25.74 using her EBT card.

At 3:30 p.m. on March 21, Bennett, her daughter and a boy went to the Hy-Vee at 4064 E. 53rd St. in Davenport and removed items from the shelves valued at about $175. Bennett paid only $2.69 for the merchandise using her EBT card.

At 9:16 p.m. on March 22, Bennett, her daughter and a boy went to the Hy-Vee at 2351 W. Locust St. in Davenport and removed $152.21 worth of merchandise and placed it in their cart. Bennett then scanned only $49.04 worth of the merchandise and paid that amount using her EBT card.

During a first appearance on the new charges held Monday and Tuesday in Scott County District Court, Bennett waived her right to a preliminary hearing. She is to be arraigned on those charges April 25 in Scott County District Court.

Bennett was arrested March 28 on one count of using a juvenile to commit certain offenses, one count of second-degree theft, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years, and two counts of third-degree theft. She was released from the Scott County Jail that day after posting a cash-only bond of $5,200.

The charges Bennett was initially charged with covered dates from Dec. 15, 2023, until about March 14, 2024. In those cases, Bennett went to the Hy-Vee stores on West Locust Street, East Kimberly Road and East 53rd Street, West Kimberly Road and on Devils Glen in Bettendorf on 13 dates. During those times she put items totaling $1,699.88 into her cart but paid only a total of $244.15, according to the affidavit.

She is to be arraigned on those charges April 18 in District Court.

Woman allegedly stole from Iowa Quad-City Hy-Vee locations, used juvenile daughter to help in one incident A woman is facing charges after she allegedly stole numerous items from four Iowa Quad-City Hy-Vee stores and used her juvenile daughter to help in one of the incidents.

According to Rock Island County Circuit Court electronic records, Bennett was convicted of two felony counts of theft. She also has Class A misdemeanor convictions on three charges of retail theft and one charge of using a forged credit card.
Two Australian Pentecostal megachurch pastors have temporarily lost their ministry credentials following allegations that the pair engaged in an adulterous relationship.

Corey Turner, the global senior pastor of Neuma Church, confessed to having an affair with Stacey Hilliar, a female pastor within the megachurch, which has branches in Thailand and the United States.

The Framework, a site that analyzes the inner workings of churches and various groups, shared on social media a copy of an email that Australian Christian Churches President Wayne Alcorn sent to other pastors within the network.

According to ACCs website, the network represents over 1,100 Australia-based churches and more than 385,000 believers.

In the email, Alcorn announced that Turner and Hilliar had lost their ministry credentials for a minimum of two years following an investigation and a personal confession from both parties.

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The next season for them is all about embracing Gods grace as it is outworked in their lives and families, Alcorn stated in the email. We encourage you to pray for all concerned at this time.

According to the ACC president, current and former executive members followed due process when investigating the matter and prayerfully considered their response to the allegations. Alcorn suggested that anyone who accuses the members of anything less is attempting to undermine the credibility of good people serving the Lord.

The Framework was critical of Alcorn's email, taking issue with the statement not being made public and for not permanently barring Turner and Hilliar from leadership.

"Alcorn is committing the same sins of his past regarding transparency in ACC leadership," the group stated. "And for two years? You do not know the scriptures. They are disqualified and need to get on with their lives."

Last month, Turner confirmed in a now-deleted Facebook post that he had resigned from Neuma Church due to a morally inappropriate relationship. The megachurch pastor stated that resigning was a way to take "personal responsibility" for his failures and "prioritize the restoration of our family."

"Out of sincere respect to those who have known me, trusted me and been connected in some way to my ministry as a Christian leader over the past 25 years, it's important that I publicly confess that the recent allegations toward me of my engagement in a morally inappropriate relationship is regrettably true," Turner wrote.

The senior pastor admitted that, toward the end of 2023, he did not guard his heart, seek counsel from spiritual fathers, or attempt to rest as he began to experience what he described as a fatigue on his soul.

"In a fog of deception that clouded my emotions and judgement I sinned and compromised my relationship with God, my marriage covenant, my character, and my calling to ministry, Turner wrote. I have sinned against God, my family and the church and I am deeply sorry and repentant for my part in this and ask God and you for forgiveness."

Neuma Churchs board secretary, Jacomi Du Preez, requested in a Feb. 4 statement that people pray for Turner and his wife, announcing that the two had resigned from the church due to unfortunate circumstances."

"It has become apparent that their health and wellbeing is such that they are no longer able to function in these roles," Du Preez said. "We ask the church to pray for them and their families as they explore the next season of their life and ministry, and we thank them for their service to Neuma."



Originally published by The Christian Post
A Davenport man was taken into custody Wednesday after police investigators said they found a Snapchat video that showed him illegally firing a semi-automatic rifle.

Edward James Armstrong, 22, faces felony charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and eluding. He also faces a number of misdemeanor charges stemming from the alleged eluding incident.

Armstrong is being held in the Scott County Jail on bonds totaling $10,950. Seventh Judicial District Judge Eric Syverud found probable cause and set Armstrong's first appearance for 10 a.m. Friday, April 12.

Investigators say Armstrong was stopped at 8:40 p.m. Jan. 31 by the Iowa State Patrol while driving a black Kia K5 the area of Interstate 74 and Middle Road for a speeding violation.

Armstrong was traveling at an estimated 95 mph when he was pulled over, investigators said. When an officer approached his car, Armstrong "sped off at a high rate of speed" and "continued to elude a fully marked police car with emergency lights and sirens activated."

The officers said Armstrong reached speeds of nearly 140 mph and turned off his headlights before the pursuit was called off " ... due to the reckless driving and complete disregard for the safety of others as we began to travel back into the populated areas of Davenport."

In January, Davenport police executed a search warrant and found a Snapchat video that showed Armstrong firing an "AR-15-style rifle" at a gun range. It is not clear if investigators executed that search warrant before or after Armstrong's traffic stop.

The affidavits do not say if Armstrong fled the traffic because he knew of the video, but at the time of the traffic stop he was a felon, with convictions for trafficking in stolen weapons and burglary.

According to the affidavit: "A video was recovered, of (Armstrong) in possession of and firing a dark colored AR-15 style rifle, at the Princeton Iowa Public Gun Range. The firearm is shown being fired no less than 10 times, capturing the audio of the gun shots, with each shot ejecting a casing. Analysis of the video shows it was captured between the dates of January 9, 2024 and January 11, 2024. This was during a period of time he was prohibited from the possession of firearms."

One city's surprising tactic to reduce gun violence: Solving more nonfatal shootings One city's surprising tactic to reduce gun violence: Solving more nonfatal shootings Other cities have woken up to Denver's example
Richmond police said Wednesday night that detectives were conducting a death investigation after a body was found in Richmonds East End.

Police said officers responded to the 1800 block of North 21st Street for the reports of a person shot. At the scene, officers found an adult male with an apparent gunshot wound who was on the ground outside.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of death. Police are not searching for any suspects.

The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information about this death investigation is asked to call Detective N. Reese at (804) 646-0172 or call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

From the Archives: The egg industry in Richmond 1940s to 1980s
Saying hes still deep into arguments for and against the 1,046 bills the General Assembly send him, Gov. Glenn Youngkin took time Wednesday to sign into law a measure that aims to crack down on labor trafficking  using threats and violence to force people to work against their will.

The measure inspired by a Chesterfield County case, goes beyond federal efforts on the issue because it goes after people who profit from the trafficking, not just those who engage in it, Youngkin said, at a bill signing at the Colonial Heights courthouse.

The bill, House Bill 633, sponsored by Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, also clears the way for victims to sue traffickers, Youngkin said.

Cherry was moved to introduce the measure when he learned of the case of a woman, Maira Butt, forced to work for relations in Chesterfield County for more than a dozen years.

Chesterfield County police and prosecutors knew about the situation for years but were powerless to pursue it under state law.

While Virginias law includes stiff penalties for abduction and extortion, there are times  like Butts case  where it does not cover a case in which force, intimidation or deception, including threats to isolate a person from family, compels that person to work.

A federal judge last year sentenced three members of a Midlothian family to prison terms ranging from five to 12 years for what they did to Butt. Federal prosecutors said in court filings that Butt twice tried to take her own life by consuming rat poison on one occasion and overdosing on sleeping pills on another, and called the case the modern-day equivalent of slavery.

Virginia had been the only state without a forced labor law as part of its statutes against human trafficking.

Oftentimes, things on the federal front move very slowly, Youngkin said, after signing the bill.

And in fact, I think its been one of the frustrations from prosecutors is that we could move very quickly  so it really allows us to get to work, he said.

Youngkin noted that one of his first executive orders, on his first day in office, set up a commission to tackle human trafficking, adding that one of its recommendations was for legislation like Cherrys.

Today we took a firm stand against the crimes of labor trafficking & human trafficking & reaffirmed our commitment to protecting the vulnerable, defending human rights & ensuring that Virginia remains a beacon of justice & a place of opportunity for all. https://t.co/emrbB6K9Zs pic.twitter.com/QK0RHZf64w  Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) April 3, 2024

It is an evil that lurks in the shadows but that many people dont recognize as it exploits the most vulnerable, he said. And dont think for a moment that this is an issue that exists in another place  there are hundreds, hundreds, hundreds of Virginians who have been trafficked over the last four or five years and we need to stop it.

Formally, the bill expands the offense of abduction to include anyone who by force, intimidation or deception obtains the labor or services of another. It includes seizing victims, transporting them, detaining or hiding them, or even threatening to do that.

The bill also expands the section of state law penalizing procuring someone for sexual purposes by expanding it to cover forced labor from such an abduction.

It also allows victims to sue for compensatory and punitive damages.

How technology plays a role in the increase in human trafficking prosecutions How technology plays a role in the increase in human trafficking prosecutions Natural language processing
The Radford University Planetarium is gearing up to become the ultimate celestial hub as it prepares to host an eclipse event on Monday, April 8.

Touted as eclipse central in the New River Valley, the event promises an experience for astronomy enthusiasts of all ages on campus and from the community, according to a university news release.

Organized by planetarium in collaboration with the Artis College of Science and Technology, the event will feature a lineup of eclipse-themed planetarium shows and engaging activities. Held at the Center for the Sciences and in Parking Lot C, attendees can immerse themselves in the cosmos from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m., according to the release.

To ensure everyone can safely witness the celestial spectacle, over 1,000 solar viewing glasses will be available for distribution to event attendees. As the moon moves in front of the sun, Radford University observers will be treated to a display starting at 1:58 p.m., with the maximum eclipse in Radford, covering 87% of the sun, occurring at 3:15 p.m.

This incredible astronomical event will remind us of how we fit into our dynamic and ever-changing 3-dimensional solar system, said Rhett Herman, professor of physics and director of the planetarium. Unlike so many of our distant ancestors, who may have viewed these events with fear and worry, we can view it (safely, with solar glasses!) with simple wonder and awe for our universe.

For more information, see radford.edu.

Numerous other eclipse events are being held in the New River Valley Monday including on Virginia Techs Drillfield and at Claytor Lake and New River Trail state parks.
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Chinese, Lao foreign ministers hold talks

Xinhua) 10:04, April 04, 2024

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

NANNING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Nanning on Wednesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that China and Laos are good comrades, good brothers and good partners who share a common future and common development. Bilateral relations have always maintained a sound momentum of development.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Laos comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. Wang said that China is ready to work with Laos to implement the strategic consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, push for more tangible results in the building of the China-Laos community of shared future, fully support Laos as the rotating chair of ASEAN, enrich the connotation of the China-Asean community of shared future, and jointly safeguard regional peace and development.

Wang said that China will actively support Laos in hosting a series of leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation, work with other parties to promote regional economic integration that benefits all and is inclusive, and build East Asia into a model for a new round of economic globalization.

Saleumxay Kommasith congratulated China on the successful holding of the two sessions, and expressed his belief that China will become more prosperous and stronger through the development of new quality productive forces and the promotion of Chinese modernization. He believes that China will play an exemplary role for other developing countries to achieve modernization.

Saleumxay Kommasith said that Laos firmly pursues the one-China policy and firmly supports China's position on Hong Kong-related and Xinjiang-related issues, adding that Laos will work with China to implement the new version of the action plan for building a Laos-China community with a shared future, promote the Laos-China Railway to achieve greater economic effect, strengthen cooperation in energy, agricultural tourism and other fields, and jointly crack down on cross-border crimes. As the rotating chair of ASEAN, Laos will closely communicate and cooperate with China to jointly advance the East Asia cooperation process.

The two sides also exchanged views on the South China Sea and other issues of common concern.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Finland to keep its border closed with Russia over migration concerns

Finland to keep its border closed with Russia over migration concerns

Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current 14 April deadline until further notice.

The Finnish Interior Ministry posted on X that the decision was made over concerns undocumented migrants were entering the country from Russia.

"Russia is using instrumentalised migration against Finland. Based on information provided by public authorities, the risk that instrumentalised migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely," said the Interior Ministry.

Finland closed the 1,340-kilometer land border late last year after more than 1,300 migrants without proper documentation or visas entered the country.

The surge came in the three months after September, not long after Finland joined the NATO alliance.

Most migrants hail from the Middle East and Africa, especially Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

The vast majority have sought asylum in Finland, a European Union member state with a population of 5.6 million.

Finnish Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has extended the closure of checkpoints several times.

He accuses Russia of deliberately ushering migrants to the normally heavily guarded Russia-Finland border zone that serves also as the EUs external border in the north.

The Kremlin has denied Helsinki's claims, saying the Finnish government is unwilling to engage in dialogue about the border.

All eight Finland-Russia land border crossing points for people have been closed since 15 December.

The southeastern rail checkpoint for cargo trains in Vainikkala remains open but the government said on Thursday it would close three maritime checkpoints starting 15 April.

Migrants can continue to seek asylum in Finland, part of the EUs passport-free Schengen zone, at Finnish airports and harbours, the government said.

Finland acts as the EUs external border in the north and makes up a significant part of NATOs northeastern flank.
Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers.

Home and Away's Levi Fowler is going to face a harsh accusation in scenes set to air in the UK next week.

In scenes that have already aired in Australia, Levi and Mackenzie Booth have a bit of alone time together after convincing Mali Hudson and Tane Parata to give them a bit of space.

Although they are enjoying the moment, Mackenzie soon realises that Levi is still intimate with his wife Imogen. She knows full well that it's an affair, but she still feels uncomfortable.

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away star Matt Evans shares personal story behind new song

Mali also struggles with the fact he has to keep his knowledge of the affair a secret, when his girlfriend Rose Delaney asks him why he's been kicked out of the house. Back at the house, Mackenzie insists to Levi that Mali can be trusted to keep it a secret, but Levi isn't so sure.

Things get tense when Mali asks Levi outright just how many women he is currently sleeping with, which causes Mackenzie to tell Mali that he can move out if he isn't onboard with the affair.

As annoyed as Mali is, he doesn't tell the truth to Felicity Newman when she asks why he's been kicked out.

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away star Tammin Sursok explains hospitalisation

Meanwhile, Levi is uncomfortable with the idea of being known as a guy with multiple women on the go, and Mackenzie eventually asks him where he sees their affair going.

Before he can answer, Felicity arrives and is surprised to see Levi at the house.

Although they manage to give her a cover story, Felicity mentions the run-in to Levi's sister Eden. After that conversation, Levi tells Cash Newman that she thinks her brother is lying to her.

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with repeat screenings at 6pm on 5STAR and first look screenings at 6.30pm on 5STAR. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.

Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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Over 415,000 car travellers scanned their QR codes using the recently-introduced system at the checkpoints during the five-day period

Over the Good Friday long weekend from 28 March to 1 April, close to 2.3 million travellers passed through the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints. (Photo: Yahoo Southeast Asia)

SINGAPORE  During the Good Friday long weekend from 28 March to 1 April, close to 2.3 million travellers cleared the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) also said in a statement on Wednesday (3 April) that over 415,000 car travellers made use of the new QR code system for immigration clearance. This is about 64 per cent of the total number of car travellers using the land checkpoints during the same period.

The QR code system, launched on 19 March, facilitates quicker immigration clearance for car travellers at the checkpoints, as they need only to scan their QR codes without having to present their passports.

A new daily record for the number of travellers using the land checkpoints was set on 28 March, with 510,000 of them crossing the border. The previous record of nearly half a million travellers had been established earlier on 15 March.

ICA said heavy traffic is expected at the land checkpoints during Hari Raya Puasa on 10 April. It added that travellers should check the traffic situation beforehand and factor in additional waiting time for their journeys.

Reminders for car travellers using QR codes

While ICA is encouraging using the QR code system for quicker immigration clearance, it has reminded travellers to ensure their QR codes are not cropped. They should also adjust their phone brightness during scanning.

Travellers should still bring along their passports, as ICA may check them in some cases, and they must still present their passports at Malaysia's checkpoints.

Travellers can update their QR codes via the MyICA mobile application in case of any changes in passport details. The QR codes can be used to clear individual travellers or groups of up to 10 people in the same vehicle.

Travellers can create multiple group QR codes for different groups of travellers, categorising them under different names like "Family" or "Friends". The same group QR code is usable for multiple trips if the same number of travellers with the same passport details travel together.

ICA has advised that QR codes will be rejected if they do not match the details and number of travellers in the vehicle, in which case travellers will have to present their passports for clearance.

Foreign visitors using the QR code or passport to clear immigration at the land checkpoints are still required to submit their Singapore arrival card within three days, including the day of arrival, via the MyICA app or ICA's website.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority rolled out the QR code clearance initiative on 19 March, allowing car travellers arriving and departing from Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints to use QR codes in lieu of passports for immigration clearance. (PHOTO: Yahoo Southeast Asia and ICA/YouTube)

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.
What will you be doing when the eclipse comes to Sioux City April 8?

 Jared McNett: "Repenting, for the end is nigh!"

 Earl Horlyk: "Just carrying on as I normally would. The eclipse is apparently working the same schedule as the cable guy. It will arrive in Sioux City any time between noon and 4:15 p.m."

 Mason Dockter: "To paraphrase the great Larry 'Bud' Melman, while everyone else is staring up at the sky with welders glasses like an idiot, Ill just walk by, real cool, and say, 'Who cares?'"
This post contains spoilers for Ripley.

Filmmakers love Patricia Highsmiths 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, a thriller set on the visually luscious Amalfi Coast, in Rome, and finally in a Venetian palazzo. In both 1960s Purple Noon, directed by Rene Clement and starring Alain Delon, and 1999s The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon and Jude Law, the story has been a showcase for beautiful young actors, tanned and occasionally shirtless in sexually ambiguous situations. The exploits of Tom Ripleya small-time con man who murders and then assumes the identity of the rich wastrel Dickie Greenleaftestify to how far you can rise in life with an aptitude for impersonation and manipulation, a lesson no actor can fail to appreciate.

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The latest adaptationoriginally for Showtime, and now for Netflix, by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindlers List)might at first seem surplus to need, especially at a leisurely eight-episode length, but Zaillian has a striking new take. Ripley is shot in black and white, its cinematic images as precisely etched as Ansel Adams photographs. Zaillians star, Andrew Scott, is no golden boy. Scotts Ripley is a cipher, his eyes like glassy black marbles, his manner blandly pleasant, except when in the presence of some old-world masterpiecethe Grand Canal of Venice, Caravaggios The Calling of Saint Matthew, or a really, really nice hotelwhen he allows ecstasy to wash across his pale face. The choice to film Ripley in black and white at first seems like a nod to Italian neorealism (the series is set in the early 60s), but the frequent cuts to shots of antique statues and carvings, the chiaroscuro shadows swathing Ripleys movements, soon make it clear that this incarnation of Ripley is neither sun-washed thriller nor gritty social commentary. This Ripley is gothic.

The menace always lurking in Scott, used to campy effect when he played Moriarty in Sherlock, flickers to the surface in this role. Hes scary, but still you cant help rooting for him. The series begins by sketching out Ripleys shabby existence in New York, running two-bit frauds by stealing mail from doctors offices and posing as a collection agent on the payphone in the hallway of his squalid boardinghouse. The material world is a veritable character in Zaillians series. Every rusty shower head, portable typewriter, and rickety bus gearshift is presented as vividly as a person. When Ripley, later on in the series, achieves his takeover of Dickies identity, he consecrates each new hotel room or apartment he occupies by ritually setting out four handsome objects stolen from his victim: a travel alarm clock, a bottle of cologne, a cigarette case, and a camera. Things are the nexus of Ripleys universe.

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In New York, he gets his shot at the good stuff when Dickies wealthy father (Kenneth Lonergan), mistakenly believing Ripley to be a good friend of his sons, hires him to travel to the Italian village where Dickie (Johnny Flynn) has rented a villa and persuade him to come back to the States. When he arrives, Ripley is immediately taken with Dickies posh, leisurely lifestyle, but less so with the other mans sort-of girlfriend, Marge (Dakota Fanning), and with Dickies terrible paintings, which serve in part as a justification for tarrying in Italy. Marge doesnt like Ripley much, either, but the nature of her suspicion isnt initially clear. Ripley disarms Dickie by immediately revealing that hes been sent by Dickies father, a calculating choice that sets him up as Dickies ally against his tiresome parents. Dickie, to Marges displeasure, invites Ripley to move into the villa with him.

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In Highsmiths novel, the reader has access to Ripleys thoughts and feelings, at least to the extent that Ripley understands them himself. His sexuality remains murky, but so does Dickies. Marges suspicion that Ripley is a queer really amounts to the fear that Dickie is. In truth, behind his rich mans facade of ease, Dickie is more uncertain than Ripley. In an uncharacteristic (and possibly possessive?) moment of vehemence in the series, Ripley dismisses a friend of Dickies (played by nonbinary actor Eliot Sumner) as such a fraud, a rich dilettante merely posing as a playwright. I come from money, so am I a fraud? Dickie asks Ripley with uncharacteristic vulnerability. Even after Dickie catches Ripley in his room, dressed in Dickies clothes (down to, in a nice touch added by Zaillian, the underwear), acting out a scene of rejecting Marge in Dickies voice, he doesnt throw Ripley out. But is it because Dickie secretly desires Ripley or because he feels affirmed by the fact that someone else wants so badly to be him?

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Well never know. Marge persuades Dickie to embrace coupledom, and to jettison Ripley. Dickie makes the catastrophic decision to tell Ripley this while the two men are on a motorboat in the Mediterranean. Ripley promptly bashes his head in with an oar, ties his body to the anchor and drops it overboard, then sinks the boat and skips town, posing as Dickie and using his forgery skills to draw on Dickies trust fund. He rents a lovely apartment full of antiques in Rome and sends Marge a letter saying he (Dickie) wants some time apart.

From the moment Ripley clubs Dickie with that oar, his romance with objects also becomes a kind of war. Refreshingly, Ripley isnt one of those stories of a brilliant criminal expertly managing and concealing his deeds. The series is committed to depicting the sheer physical difficulty of disposing of a corpse and a bloodstained boat. Later, when Ripley must commit another murder to hide the first one, the job of covering it up is even more arduous and the mess harder to clean. Despite the suspicion he sometimes arouses, Ripley, with a bit of luck, succeeds pretty well at manipulating people. Things are more recalcitrant, and what is a corpse if not an inconvenient person transformed into an even more inconvenient thing? The series lingers over the steps Ripley must take to assume Dickies identity and fortune, and to elude a persistent but not-too-clever police detective. It becomes a procedural for sociopaths.

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Highsmiths Ripley is just that. He believes that he deserves the life that Dickie does not, so he takes it. Highsmith describes him leaving the scene of Dickies murder by train, savoring the accommodations in his first-class berth and enjoying an ecstatic moment when he thought of all the pleasures that lay before him now with Dickies money, other beds, tables, seas, ships, suitcases, shirts, years of freedom, years of pleasure. He goes to sleep, happy, content, and utterly confident, as he had never been before in his life. Zaillians Ripley is much less transparent. On the same train ride, the camera closes in on Scotts face for nearly a minute, inviting the viewer to imagine his feelings. Relief at getting away? Horror at the realization that hes killed a friend, or a man he might have loved? Anticipation of the new life before him? Or just a frantically methodical review of everything he must do to obscure his crime?

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Still, we want him to get away with it. Ripley is a murderer, but also a hero, overcoming daunting obstacles to get what he wants. His struggles upwardone of the series recurring images is of long stairwaysmake him sympathetic in spite of his crimes. In his defense, Highsmiths Ripley would argue that he merits the things he takes from others more than they do, a morally bankrupt position, but he does have a point. Even Marge, who seems to genuinely care for Dickie, ends up exploiting her connection to his disappearance to get her photographs published in magazines and to hobnob with the Venetian socialites who have taken up Ripley as a titillating curiosity. Ripley has nothing but contempt for them and most other rich people, a contempt that is easy to share.

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But how talented is Ripley, really? Zaillian echoes Highsmiths suggestion that Ripleys taste elevates him above his victims, and taste, after all, is a heightened appreciation of things. The series takes this idea further by having Ripley respond to Caravaggios paintings with a nearly spiritual veneration. In the final episodes, the series cuts to scenes from the painters life; he, too, was a murderer and a scoundrel, and most likely a lover of men and boys. But Caravaggio was also a great artist, supremely talented where Ripleys talents are minor. Maybe we think Caravaggios work makes up for his crimes, and perhaps thats not so different from the way the hugely entertaining spectacle of Ripleys cleverness makes us want him to succeed even though hes a monster.

Or maybe thats just something Ripley tells himself, that he is a superior being to whom the usual rules do not apply. (Something, its worth pointing out, that the rich also tend to believe.) By toning down the glamour in his mesmerizing adaptation, Zaillian heightens these unsettling questions. His is the darkest Ripley yet, lonelier and darker even than Highsmiths, and deeper, too.
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.

It would be pure fiction to suggest that highly classified documents created by members of the intelligence community and military and presented to the President of the United States during his term in office were purely private.  Jack Smith, special counsel, in a new court filing in the classified documents case

Special counsel Jack Smith is pissed. As his classified documents case languishes in the hands of Floridas Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, Smith filed a new motion on Wednesday that argues Cannon is pushing a fundamentally flawed legal premise that has nothing to do with the indictment of Donald Trump.

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Cannon asked prosecutors and the defense to come up with two scenarios for a jury to consider: 1) Is Trumps possession of a record considered personal or presidential under the Presidential Records Act? 2) Does Trump have the sole authority to categorize any record(s) as personal or presidential during his presidency?

The exercise came in response to Trumps attorneys argument that the PRA allows the former president to classify any document as personal, and during a pretrial hearing Cannon appeared open to that defense. (The PRA dictates that official records of presidents and vice presidents are officially converted from private to public when they leave office, and it gives the National Archives authority to manage those records.) However, instead of directly ruling on Trumps application of the PRA, Cannon suggested a jury could weigh in on the question. And this week, Smith obliged Cannons request and submitted jury instructions, but he included a massive caveatthis indictment does not charge Trump with violating the PRA.

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The PRAs distinction between personal and presidential records has no bearing on whether a former Presidents possession of documents containing national defense information is authorized under the Espionage Act, wrote Smith. And the PRA should play no role in the jury instructions.

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Smith has charged Trump under Section 793(e) of the Espionage ActSlates Fred Kaplan explains that law hereover Trumps willful retention of classified documents. The indictment does not question whether the documents were classified or notthe FBI found hundreds of documents literally labeled SECRET, TOP SECRET, and CONFIDENTIAL. Yet Cannons jury instruction assignment suggests shes pandering to the former president, since Trumps attorneys have argued that Smiths use of the Espionage Act is overly vague, and instead have argued the PRA justifies Trump taking hundreds of boxes of classified documents to Mar-a-Lago.

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Smith made clear that he disagreed with Cannons approach here. The Court should be aware at the outset that Trumps entire effort to rely on the PRA is not based on any facts, wrote Smith. He explained that Trump didnt claim he designated classified documents as personal until more than a year after he left the White House, which would mean his defense is an after-the-fact excuse made only once the investigation into the documents began and well after he left the White House. Notably, Trumps motion to dismiss the classified documents indictment also made no mention of the PRA.

Related From Slate Aileen Cannon Might Actually Get Herself Kicked Off the Trump Classified Docs Case Read More

Smith also cautioned that Cannons lack of decisionmaking on the PRA issue threatens the prosecutions right to a fair trial and an opportunity to appeal.

Cannons judgment has been overruled before, like when a federal appeals court reversed Cannons order appointing a special master to investigate the thousands of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago in order to determine which ones were off-limits to the special counsel. That was an embarrassing repudiation of Cannons expertise, and given the way shes handled the classified documents case since, Smith may be building a case to try to get her kicked off his trial entirely.
Businesses are increasingly recognizing that earning customer loyalty is not just a nice-to-have but a vital component of their strategy for sustainable growth. Recognizing the importance, impact, and nuances of customer retention and loyalty in todays business landscape is a must. The customer retention statistics in this article will highlight important metrics you need to know to grow your business.

By exploring these insights and customer retention lessons, businesses can better understand the dynamics of customer engagement and craft strategies that not only attract new customers but also keep them coming back.

What is Customer Retention?

Customer retention refers to a companys ability to turn customers into repeat buyers and prevent them from switching to competitors. Its a testament to a businesss customer service, product quality, and overall value proposition. High customer retention rates often indicate a loyal customer base and are crucial for business sustainability and profitability. This section underscores the importance of customer retention for businesses of all sizes, emphasizing its role in driving revenue and fostering long-term success.

The Business Impact of High Customer Retention

High customer retention rates have a profound impact on businesses. This section will discuss the various benefits, including increased revenue, higher lifetime customer value, and cost efficiency in marketing. It will be supported by relevant statistics, such as businesses with high retention rates experiencing a significant percentage increase in profitability compared to those with lower retention.

Cost Savings:

Customer churn costs U.S. providers a staggering $168 billion per year. U.S. companies could save over $35 billion per year by focusing on keeping their existing customers happy. Acquiring new customers costs 6 times more than retaining current ones.

Repeat Customer Behavior:

Repeat customers spend 67% more than new customers. Businesses have a 60% to 70% chance of selling to an existing customer, whereas for a new prospect, its only 5% to 20%. Some 52% of customers intentionally choose to buy from their favorite brand.

Impact on Profits:

84% of companies that work to improve customer experience notice an uplift in revenue. Customer retention is vital for the 61% of small businesses that say over half their revenue comes from repeat customers. Small e-commerce businesses generate 35% of their revenue from the top 5% of loyal, repeat customers.

The Cost of Low Customer Retention

72% of customers switch to a competitor after just one bad experience with a brand. Businesses lose over $75 billion annually due to lost customers resulting from poor customer service. It costs 6 to 7 times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones. Getting a new customer is 5 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. A companys top 10% of most loyal customers spend three times more per purchase than the other 90% of customers. The top 1% of customers spend five times more than the remaining 99%. 60% of U.S. customers choose to do more business with a company after a positive customer service experience. Repeat customers in the apparel industry spend an average of 67% more in the 31-36 months after their first purchase compared to the first six months. The average customer retention rate across all industries is approximately 75.5%. The media and professional service industries have the highest worldwide retention rate at 84% each, while the hospitality, travel, and restaurant industry has the lowest rate at 55%, followed by retail at 63%.

Understanding Customer Retention Through Statistics

In many industries, the top five market players maintain an impressive average customer retention rate of 94%. Acquiring new customers is five times more expensive than retaining existing ones. A mere 5% increase in customer retention can boost company revenue by 25-95%.

Customer Service Impact:

89% of companies recognize that excellent customer service is critical for retention.

Existing customers present a 60-70% chance of making a purchase, while new prospects have only a 5-20% chance.

Brand Loyalty and Small Businesses

Loyal customers tend to spend 67% more on products and services than new customers.

The majority of customers (approximately 54.7%) remain loyal to 1 to 5 brands. Loyal customers make purchases 90% more often than new customers. Acquiring new customers is 5 times more expensive than retaining existing ones. 71% of customers are unlikely to buy from a business that loses their trust.

The Influence of Digital Trends on Customer Retention

A 5% increase in customer retention results in a 25-95% increase in revenue. Loyal customers tend to spend 67% more on products and services than new customers. 90% of consumers will recommend a brand after engaging with it on social media. 44% of businesses use mobile apps and email marketing as key tactics for customer retention.

The Business Benefits of Loyal Customers

65% of a companys business comes from existing customers.

Loyal customers tend to spend 31% more than new customers. The probability of selling to an existing customer is up to 13 times greater than selling to a new customer. 80% of future profits will come from just a fifth of loyal customers.

The Risks of Neglecting Customer Loyalty

74% of loyal customers will switch brands if they are not satisfied. A single bad experience can lead to 80% of customers switching brands. 61% of retail companies cite retention as their biggest challenge. Acquiring new customers is six to seven times more expensive than retaining existing ones. 73% of customers will stop doing business with a brand after three or fewer bad customer service experiences.

Delving into The Latest Customer Loyalty Statistics

Consumers spend 67% more if they are part of a companys loyalty program.

Highly engaged customers make a purchase 90% more often. Loyal customers become valuable brand advocates, recommending your brand to others.

Customer Loyalty in the Context of Small Businesses

82% of companies agree that retention is cheaper than acquisition.

75% of consumers say they favor companies that offer rewards. 56% of customers stay loyal to brands that get them. 65% of a companys business comes from existing customers. 58% of companies pursue personalization strategies for customer retention.

The Role of Technology in Driving Brand Loyalty

Technology significantly influences brand loyalty, influencing consumer behavior and fostering lasting connections. Mobile apps, social media, and loyalty program software are key factors in fostering loyalty. Gen Z values personalization and engagement through mobile apps, while social media presence fosters trust and repeat purchases. Companies allocate significant marketing budgets to loyalty program management and CRM.

Understanding Customer Loyalty Programs

Almost three-quarters of consumers feel loyalty towards a particular brand or company.

Over 55% of consumers are loyal to a brand because they love the product. A third of consumers say it takes three purchases to create brand loyalty.

Loyalty Programs and Their Influence on Customer Behavior

65% of a companys business comes from existing customers.

Retained customers not only spend more but also become valuable brand advocates, generating referrals for your business. Companies with strong brand loyalty experience 2.5 times faster revenue growth compared to their industry peers.

Loyalty Programs in Small Businesses

80% of Americans are loyal to at least one brand.

75% of global consumers would switch brands for a loyalty program with better rewards. Allocating a portion of the marketing budget to loyalty program management and CRM can significantly impact customer retention.

The Rise of Digital Loyalty Programs to Encourage New Customers

Digital loyalty programs have become increasingly popular in recent years, leveraging technology to enhance customer engagement and loyalty. In the US alone, there are 3.8 billion loyalty program memberships, with the average American participating in 17 different programs. However, 81% of consumers believe loyalty programs influence their likelihood of making a purchase, but 72% use only 50% or less of their memberships. Challenges include personalization, differentiation, and privacy concerns. 90% of consumers agree that loyalty programs need improvement, while 91% find many similar. To retain members, brands must keep their programs fresh and exciting, using loyalty amplifiers like trivia, sweepstakes, and instant wins. In exchange for incentives, 66% of consumers are willing to share more personal information to personalize their loyalty program experience.

Customer Retention Rate by Industry

18% of businesses prioritize customer retention over customer acquisition. 44% of companies focus more on customer acquisition, while the remaining 38% balance both equally. Customers spend 43% more at brands they are loyal to. 65% of retail business comes from loyal customers, who spend 67% more on average purchases than new customers.

Average Customer Retention Rates Across Industries

The average customer retention rate across all industries is approximately 75.5%. A 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25-95% increase in company profitability. Loyal customers provide more repeat business and are 50% more likely to try a new product from your brand. 82% of companies agree that retention is cheaper than acquisition. It costs six to seven times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones.

Average Customer Loyalty Levels Across Industries

Surprisingly,44% of businesses fail to measure their customer retention rate. Average retention rates vary significantly across industries:

Insurance: 84%

Banking: 75%

Retail: 63%

Hospitality: 55%

Fintech: 37%

SaaS: 35%

Media: 25%

Edtech: 4%1.

The Influence of Industry Characteristics on Customer Retention and Loyalty

90% of consumers will recommend a brand after engaging with it on social media. 70.7% of global companies believe that ease of resolution enhances customer satisfaction

The Future of Customer Retention and Loyalty

Emerging Trends in Customer Retention

The evolving landscape of customer retention strategies prominently features the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to foster a more personalized and efficient customer experience. Below are key emerging trends in this domain:

AI-Driven Personalization at Scale : Around 90% of businesses are now leveraging AI to personalize customer interactions. This approach is not just limited to product recommendations but extends to personalized content, communication, and user experiences. By analyzing customer data, AI can tailor interactions to match individual preferences, thereby significantly enhancing customer engagement and loyalty.

: Around 90% of businesses are now leveraging AI to personalize customer interactions. This approach is not just limited to product recommendations but extends to personalized content, communication, and user experiences. By analyzing customer data, AI can tailor interactions to match individual preferences, thereby significantly enhancing customer engagement and loyalty. Increased Investment in AI Technologies : Reflecting the value derived from AI-driven personalization, approximately 69% of business leaders are amplifying their investment in AI technologies. This increased funding is directed towards advanced analytics, machine learning models, and AI systems that can better understand and predict customer behavior, enabling more targeted and meaningful interactions.

: Reflecting the value derived from AI-driven personalization, approximately 69% of business leaders are amplifying their investment in AI technologies. This increased funding is directed towards advanced analytics, machine learning models, and AI systems that can better understand and predict customer behavior, enabling more targeted and meaningful interactions. AI-Enhanced Customer Service : The integration of AI in customer service operations is transforming the support landscape. AI-driven tools, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, are automating routine customer service tasks. This automation not only speeds up resolution times but also ensures that human customer service representatives can dedicate more time and resources to addressing complex and high-value customer issues. This shift significantly contributes to overall customer satisfaction and retention, as customers receive timely solutions and feel valued when their more complex concerns are addressed with a personal touch.

: The integration of AI in customer service operations is transforming the support landscape. AI-driven tools, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, are automating routine customer service tasks. This automation not only speeds up resolution times but also ensures that human customer service representatives can dedicate more time and resources to addressing complex and high-value customer issues. This shift significantly contributes to overall customer satisfaction and retention, as customers receive timely solutions and feel valued when their more complex concerns are addressed with a personal touch. Data-Driven Insights for Proactive Engagement : AI technologies enable businesses to analyze vast amounts of customer data in real-time, providing insights that can be used for proactive customer engagement. By predicting customer needs and behaviors, businesses can reach out proactively with personalized offers, support, and content, further cementing customer relationships and loyalty.

: AI technologies enable businesses to analyze vast amounts of customer data in real-time, providing insights that can be used for proactive customer engagement. By predicting customer needs and behaviors, businesses can reach out proactively with personalized offers, support, and content, further cementing customer relationships and loyalty. Enhancing Customer Journey with AI : Every touchpoint in the customer journey, from discovery and purchase to post-purchase support, is being enhanced with AI. This technology is used to create seamless, frictionless experiences that are tailored to the individuals journey, encouraging repeat engagement and fostering a sense of brand loyalty.

: Every touchpoint in the customer journey, from discovery and purchase to post-purchase support, is being enhanced with AI. This technology is used to create seamless, frictionless experiences that are tailored to the individuals journey, encouraging repeat engagement and fostering a sense of brand loyalty. Emotional AI for Deeper Connections : Emerging AI technologies are also capable of recognizing and responding to human emotions. Emotional AI, or affective computing, is being explored to create deeper, more empathetic connections with customers. This could revolutionize customer service and marketing by allowing businesses to respond to not just the explicit but also the emotional needs of their customers.

: Emerging AI technologies are also capable of recognizing and responding to human emotions. Emotional AI, or affective computing, is being explored to create deeper, more empathetic connections with customers. This could revolutionize customer service and marketing by allowing businesses to respond to not just the explicit but also the emotional needs of their customers. Privacy-Centric Personalization: As AI-driven personalization becomes more pervasive, theres a growing emphasis on balancing personalization with privacy. Customers are becoming more conscious of their data privacy, and businesses are responding by developing AI solutions that deliver personalized experiences while also respecting and protecting customer data.

These trends highlight the dynamic interplay between AI technology and customer retention strategies. As AI continues to evolve, it offers businesses innovative ways to engage, understand, and retain customers in a highly competitive market environment.

Feature AI-Driven Personalization Increased Investment in AI AI-Enhanced Customer Service Data-Driven Insights Enhancing Customer Journey Emotional AI Privacy-Centric Personalization Objective Enhance engagement and loyalty Support and expand AI capabilities Improve efficiency and satisfaction Enable proactive customer engagement Streamline and personalize the customer journey Create deeper customer connections Balance personalization with privacy Key Approach Tailoring experiences to individual preferences Allocating more resources to AI technology Automating routine tasks for efficiency Leveraging real-time data for insights Applying AI across all touchpoints Recognizing and responding to emotions Developing AI that respects data privacy Business Impact Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty Enhanced AI-driven customer experiences Elevated customer service quality Improved customer engagement and retention Improved customer satisfaction and retention Strengthened emotional brand loyalty Enhanced trust and loyalty Technology Use Machine learning, predictive analytics Advanced analytics, machine learning models Chatbots, virtual assistants Big data analytics, predictive models AI across discovery, purchase, support Affective computing, emotion recognition Privacy-preserving AI techniques Customer Experience Highly personalized and relevant More sophisticated and targeted interactions Faster resolutions, personalized attention for complex issues Anticipated needs, personalized outreach Cohesive and customized experience Empathetic and emotionally aware interactions Personalized yet discreet Challenges Managing data complexity, avoiding intrusiveness Ensuring ROI, managing AI complexities Balancing automation with human touch Maintaining data accuracy and relevance Integrating AI seamlessly Ensuring accuracy, avoiding misinterpretation Aligning personalization with privacy regulations

Future Directions for Customer Loyalty

Gamification is gaining popularity as it engages users and fosters loyalty. Social media loyalty schemes are being used to create loyalty ecosystems, promoting social interactions and referrals. Virtual Reality (VR) experiences are also being explored to immerse customers in brand narratives and enhance emotional connections. These strategies are expected to drive loyalty and increase brand engagement.

The Future of Loyalty Programs

Wearable tech, blockchain-based loyalty tokens, and AI-powered personalization are transforming the loyalty management market. Wearables track user behavior, enabling personalized rewards and seamless loyalty interactions. Blockchain allows secure, transparent, and cross-industry loyalty point exchanges, while AI analyzes vast data sets for tailored offers and recommendations.

FAQs: Customer Retention Statistics

What is the probability of customer retention?

The average customer retention rate across all industries is approximately 75.5%.

What is the Number 1 driver of customer loyalty?

The #1 driver of customer loyalty is excellent customer service, as recognized by 89% of companies.

What percentage of consumers favor a brand if there is a loyalty program?

Approximately 75% of consumers favor companies that offer rewards, indicating a strong preference for brands with loyalty programs.

What are the benefits of customer retention for a small business?

Customer retention for a small business leads to increased revenue, higher lifetime customer value, cost efficiency in marketing, and a loyal customer base that is more likely to make repeat purchases. While initiatives like advertising and events draw new customers, retention strategies are often less expensive and can lead to ongoing revenue.

How Can a Small Business Encourage Customer Loyalty?

A small business can encourage customer loyalty by offering personalized experiences, high-quality customer service, rewards programs, and consistently exceeding customer expectations.

How does brand loyalty affect a businesss bottom line?

Brand loyalty significantly increases a businesss bottom line by driving repeat purchases, enhancing customer lifetime value, and reducing costs associated with customer acquisition.

How effective are loyalty programs in improving brand loyalty?

Loyalty programs are highly effective in improving brand loyalty, with engaged customers making purchases 90% more often and spending 67% more than new customers.

What role does technology play in enhancing customer retention and loyalty?

Technology plays a crucial role in enhancing customer retention and loyalty by enabling personalized experiences, engaging customers through social media, and facilitating seamless interactions through mobile apps and loyalty program software.

How can a small business improve its customer retention rates?

A small business can improve its customer retention rates by focusing on customer satisfaction, implementing a customer feedback loop, providing exceptional service, and creating a loyalty program that rewards repeat business.

What is the #1 driver of customer loyalty?

The #1 driver of customer loyalty is excellent customer service, with a significant majority of companies acknowledging its critical importance for retention.
Archaeological research has unveiled rich history of Tematin ruins.

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Built in 1250, a few years after the Kingdom of Hungary was invaded by the Tatars, Tematin castle was made of stone because only such structures could withstand and assault from the nomads of the Asian steppe. It changed hands several times, with powerful local rulers and important noble families of Hungary among its former owners.

Tematin is situated between Piestany and Nove Mesto nad Vahom and in the past had a strategic position; it is located at an altitude of 600 metres above sea level and offers a view of the entire Povazie region. In good weather, Trnava, which is 40 kilometres away, can be seen.

A helping hand in the heart of Europe offers a travel guide of Slovakia.

Burnt down

The castle's current form dates back to the early 1700s, when it was owned by the Berceni family. After the defeat of Mikulas Berceni, the chief general of the rebel troops of Francis II Rakoczi who stood against the ruling House of Habsburg, it was burnt down by imperial troops in 1710 to prevent it from being seized by other rebels.

Tematin fell into ruin and has since then been slowly overgrown by nature. However, since 2007 volunteers from the civic association Hrad Tematin have been trying to preserve what is left of it.

Without their effort and intervention, the ruins of the castle would be hard to find these days.

"Although the volunteering group has changed several times over the course of operations, the idea has always remained the same - love for a beautiful place, meaningful work and a pleasant environment," Mojmir Choma from the NGO says.

Archaeological research

Long-term archaeological research is a part of the restoration, and has gradually unveiled the rich history of the place. Not much has been preserved of the castle.

"Tematin is specific in this regard. Little information has been preserved and much is yet to be discovered. It stands on the border of regions, in the mountains, so there were very few people who took care of it," adds Choma.

The castle was constantly on the fringes of interest, as is evidenced by its state. "However, it is important to continue, so we are working to ensure the castle, research and rescue projects gradually move forward."

Much has been saved in the last 17 years. "It was possible to stabilise almost half of the castle buildings, furthermore, to build the so-called 'wailing wall', because it was up to 250 cubic metres of stone masonry," Choma says.

They are currently planning to install windows in the future exhibition spaces, and repair the roof, because the asphalt covering it is too old.

Voluntary entrance fee

The castle is currently open and there is always someone there. There is no official entrance fee but visitors are encouraged to make a voluntary contribution of 2 for the repair of the castle to fund everything from materials, services, food for volunteers, and more.

Several roads lead to Tematin. The easiest, shortest and the one with the best views starts in the Bezovec ski resort, which can be reached either by car or bus. This route is also the most suitable for families with children - the journey along the ridge takes a maximum of 1.5 hours.

You can also get to Tematin by bicycle. The best cycle route leads from the village of Hradok, which volunteers maintain regularly.

My Trnava

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In the first quarter of 2024, Kosice airport processed almost 100,000 passengers.

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Passengers using the services of Kosice airport can now fly to Zurich, Switzerland, and soon can hop on a plane to the Adriatic Sea.

Flights to Switzerland are part of the airport's summer flight schedule, which will be replaced by the winter one at the end of October. Swiss International Air Lines started operating a regular route between Zurich and Kosice three times a week on March 27.

Another novelty is flights to Zadar, Croatia.

"The first flight is scheduled for June 2. There will be flights twice a week - on Wednesdays and Sundays until September 29," explained Juraj Toth, manager

for business development of Kosice airport.

Passengers can also fly from Kosice to Dublin, Vienna, Warsaw, Prague, Liverpool and London (Stansted and Luton).

On Thursday, the airport announced that over 900 charter flights to and from 17 beach resort destinations in 11 countries, including Albania, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus, Tunisia and Italy, are planned for the summer season.



In the first quarter of this year, Kosice airport processed almost 100,000 passengers. Their number increased not only compared to the same period last year, but also the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, this is an increase of 15.4 percent.
They constantly violate human rights, the premier thinks.

From left to right: Justice Minister Boris Susko, PM Robert Fico, advisor Marek Para, and Smer MP Tibor Gaspar. (Source: TASR)

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Premier and Smer party leader Robert Fico, and Defence and Security Parliamentary Chair Tibor Gaspar (Smer), paid a visit to the Justice Ministry on Thursday, announcing retaliatory actions against several judges of the Supreme Court.

Today, we asked the [justice] minister [Boris Susko] a very legitimate and simple question: How is it possible that the body that most frequently violates human rights is one of the chambers of the Supreme Court? Fico said on the inspection day.

Fico indicated the judges who decided the cases linked to Smer, in particular Judge Juraj Kliment, Judge Peter Stifta and Judge Peter Hatala. Fico believes that they should face a disciplinary action because - he said - that they had acted on a political order.

If I were Mr. Kliment, Id probably pack up my stuff today, said Fico.

Paras detention
Gender transition guideline already cancelled last November.

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The Health Ministry has scrapped the standards of transgender healthcare as of Wednesday, April 3, citing problems occurring at the register offices.

We fully identify with the expert content of these standards, which were prepared by a huge team of professionals with many years of experience in caring for transgender adults, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Hlas) said.

The European Psychiatric Association also evaluates these standards as highly professional, she added.

The 35-pages standards specify what processes must take place during diagnosis - for example, mandatory sessions with a psychotherapist or genetic and endocrinological examinations, the public broadcaster RTVS writes.

However, the minister argues that the standards, which she admits are a medical matter, have a significant ethical impact and affect all society. Dolinkova then named administrative problems when a transgender person wants to change their name and birth number at the register office.

However, LGBT+ organisations are questioning the reasoning and stressing that the decision comes several days before the presidential election. Meanwhile, the Slovak Psychiatric Association is considering ending cooperation with the ministry. Its members worked on the standards.

Trade-off

Slovak National Party leader Andrej Danko officially endorsed Speaker of Parliament and Hlas party leader Peter Pellegrini, his coalition partner, in the presidential race on Wednesday, April 3, a day after the ministry announced its decision.

During the Wednesday press conference, he thanked Pellegrini for the support with the gender topic. Dennik N also noticed that Danko granted an interview to the pro-Russian disinformation channel Infovojna on Wednesday morning. On the programme, he confirmed that Hlas agreed to cancel the standards in exchange for SNS support of Pellegrini.

You may not have noticed, but Hlas gave up on gender ideology standards at Dolinkovas yesterday the SNS leader said.

Last November, Dolinkova also cancelled the gender transition guidelines in the interest of the stability of the government coalition. It was the SNS party that requested the scrapping of the three-page guidelines, which didnt list surgery as the condition for gender transition. A medical opinion was supposed to be enough for changing a name at the register office.

Return to forced castration?

Inakost, an LGBT+ organisation, has written in its statement that even without the standards, doctors should proceed and take into account the latest medical practices. In the current legal situation without detailed guidelines, the organisation added, state authorities must accept any medical certificate proving that a person is transgender when changing a birth number or changing their name.

Unfortunately, its likely that the state authorities will begin to illegally require transgender people to undergo forced castration as a condition for changing their identity in documents.

Psychiatrist Michal Patarak warned of the potentially catastrophic impacts of the ministrys decision, telling Dennik N that Slovakia is going back to the 1980s. He is one of those who worked on the cancelled standards.

Can it get worse? Probably not, he said, Health care is no longer decided by experts, but by political will and unwillingness.

Reacting to the alleged ethical problems, he added that an extensive ethical analysis had been worked out alongside the standards.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/hungary-cannot-support-netherlands-rutte-for-nato-secretary-general-1117725498.html

Hungary Cannot Support Netherlands' Rutte for NATO Secretary-General

Hungary Cannot Support Netherlands' Rutte for NATO Secretary-General

Sputnik International

Budapest does not support Dutch PM Mark Rutte to become the next NATO secretary general, believes that it is time for a candidate from Central or Eastern Europe, Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto said.

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"It is clear that most countries support the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Hungary cannot do this, since NATO is a defensive alliance, where a high level of trust in the leadership is necessary. We, on the Hungarian side, cannot trust not only at a high level, but at any level at all, the person who previously spoke about bringing Hungary to its knees. I think this is clear to everyone," Szijjarto told Hungarian reporters after the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. The NATO head has never been from Central or Eastern Europe, Szijjarto said.The top Hungarian diplomat added that it is time to "declare openly about this idea," having welcomed the candidacy of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis for the secretary-general post. The issue should be resolved before the NATO summit in Washington in July, Szijjarto said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/hungary-against-nato-strengthening-coordinating-role-in-supplying-arms-to-ukraine-1117721512.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/israel-attack-on-iran-embassy-a-message-to-americans-1117725985.html

Israel Attack on Iran Embassy A Message To Americans

Israel Attack on Iran Embassy A Message To Americans

Sputnik International

Veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier told radio Sputnik on Wednesday that Israel's attack on Iran's consulate in Syria was a message to the United States.

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iran-israel row

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The unexpected Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic building in Syria was part of a message being sent to the United States that Israel will enlarge the conflict if the US does not come to its rescue, veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier told Sputniks Fault Lines on Wednesday.Bringing Iran, which Magnier pointed out has been demonized since 1979, into the war will force the US to join because of its long-standing policy that Israel is part of American national security.The attack also sent a message to the world that everything is on the table for Israel. If Iran does not respond and the West does not condemn Israel, it means that no embassy in the world can pretend to be safe, Magnier said, adding that Israel is going to hit any target they see and they dont care whos going to burn on the way.Israel wants Iran to respond and bring the US into the war, something Magnier says Iran is aware of, noting that it declined to respond to attacks against its generals who werent in diplomatic buildings. However, this time is different.Magnier noted that Iran will not receive the same support and sympathy that the Palestinians receive from the international community. The Israelis are killing civilians. The Israelis are killing United Nations workers. They are destroying infrastructure, schools, hospitals, universities, theyre starving the population. This is why people around the world are standing with the Palestinian cause.Co-host Melik Abdul noted that there are now protests in the streets of Israel, with some of them demanding a ceasefire to secure the release of the hostages.People are in the street camping in front of his house, in front of the Knesset, in front of the government, Magnier responded, saying that it is very clear to the protesters that the hostages are not his priority.Asked how Iran will ultimately respond, Magnier said that they have a range of options. They have long-range precision missiles. They can flood the interception missiles of the Israelis and hit somewhere in Israel. But they could also hit targets in the Red Sea, or US and Israeli targets in Iraq and Syria.Or they can increase the support to the axis of resistance and supply them with more advanced weapons that can damage Israel, he noted, but added that it is critical that Iran hits Israel directly because it is important for the Iranians to know that their country has responded to the attack.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240402/iran-vows-to-retaliate-after-israeli-attack-on-consulate-in-damascus-1117693749.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/jaish-al-adl-terrorist-group-attacks-two-police-stations-in-southeastern-iran---official-1117727552.html

Jaish al-Adl Terrorist Group Attacks Two Police Stations in Southeastern Iran - Official

Jaish al-Adl Terrorist Group Attacks Two Police Stations in Southeastern Iran - Official

Sputnik International

Members of the Jaish al-Adl terrorist group have attacked two police stations in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Deputy Governor Alireza Markhamati said.

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terrorist attack

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Three security forces officers have been killed in a firefight with Jaish al-Adl terrorists, Deputy Governor Alireza Markhamati stated. Iranian news agency Mehr reported that Abbas Mir, the deputy chief of the 11th police station in Chabahar, was among the killed officers.Markhamati said earlier in the day that the attackers planned to infiltrate the headquarters of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but a shootout with law enforcement officers prevented them from doing so.The deputy governor added that the attack began around 10:00 p.m. local time (18:30 GMT) on Wednesday and emphasized that Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, which is fighting for the independence of the Sistan and Baluchestan province and recognized a terrorist group in Iran, is linked to Israel. His statement came amid a deteriorating situation in the Middle East over Monday's Israeli airstrike on the consular annex of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.Iranian media reported that several terrorists were killed and wounded, but the reported numbers varied.In late February, Iranian news agency Mehr reported that Iranian security forces had eliminated one of the leaders of the Jaish al-Adl terrorist group, Ismail Shahbakhsh, and his associates in an operation carried out in southeastern Pakistan. In mid-December 2023, Jaish al-Adl, which is fighting for the independence of the Sistan and Baluchestan province, claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Rask. At least 12 police department employees had been killed and seven others had been injured in the attack, regional prosecutor Mehdi Shamsabadi then said.

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jaish al-adl, iran police stations attack, iranian province of sistan and baluchestan attack, deputy governor alireza markhamati
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/sy-hersh-us-warning-of-terrorist-attack-in-russia-had-urgent-mark-didnt-mention-crocus-1117727188.html

Sy Hersh: US Warning of Terrorist Attack in Russia Had Urgent Mark, Didnt Mention Crocus

Sy Hersh: US Warning of Terrorist Attack in Russia Had Urgent Mark, Didnt Mention Crocus

Sputnik International

The US warning about an imminent terrorist attack at a concert venue in Russia was marked "urgent," but did not identify Crocus City Hall as the target, Pulitzer Prize-winning Seymour Hersh wrote.

2024-04-03T23:19+0000

2024-04-03T23:19+0000

2024-04-03T23:19+0000

russia

russia

seymour hersh

sy hersh

alexander bortnikov

russian federal security service (fsb)

cia

crocus city hall

moscow concert hall attack

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The CIA allegedly provided the warning to Russian intelligence before the concert at the Crocus City Hall marking it "urgent," meaning that the data in it "was credible and near term," Hersh quoted the official as saying. The warning, however, did not mention Crocus City Hall near Moscow and only said that an attack was being planned at some "public gathering," according to the official. The information provided by the official is contrary to a Washington Post report published on Tuesday claiming that Crocus City Hall was specifically identified in the warning as the target of a terrorist attack. On March 22, several armed men broke into Crocus City Hall, a major concert venue just outside Moscow, and started shooting at people. They also started a fire in one of the auditoriums, which was full of people ahead of a concert. The attack left 695 casualties, including 144 dead, according to the latest data from the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The four main suspects in the case  all of them citizens of Tajikistan  tried to flee the scene in a car but were detained and charged with terrorism. Russian authorities believe the perpetrators planned to flee to Ukraine, where a safe haven had been arranged for them. An investigation is underway. Later in March, The New York Times reported, citing European and US security officials, that the US intelligence agencies did not provide the Russian side with all the information they had about the threat of a terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region out of fear that Russian authorities might learn about their intelligence sources or methods of work. Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov also said that the information transmitted by the United States on the preparation of a terrorist attack was of a general nature, and the Russian special services responded to it.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/crocus-terror-attack-well-organized-accompanied-by-pre-orchestrated-media-blitz-says-top-offical-1117712369.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240402/russia-will-find-all-perpetrators-their-links-beneficiaries-of-crocus-attack---putin-1117697709.html

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crocus city hall attack, did us warn russia about crocus attack, cia crocus info, seymour hersh on crocus
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/us-congresswoman-greene-says-cia-running-conflict-against-russia-in-ukraine-1117726168.html

US Congresswoman Greene Says CIA Running Conflict Against Russia in Ukraine

US Congresswoman Greene Says CIA Running Conflict Against Russia in Ukraine

Sputnik International

The CIA is directing the conflict against Russia on the ground in Ukraine, US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson.

2024-04-03T22:29+0000

2024-04-03T22:29+0000

2024-04-03T22:29+0000

world

us

marjorie taylor greene

tucker carlson

russia

ukraine

cia

ukraine crisis

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To fund a war, to pay for it, to continue it, to advise it, to have our CIA on the ground over there running that war in Ukraine against Russia  nuclear-armed Russia that is a complete departure from anything that is Christian, Greene said on Wednesday. It is contrary to Christian principles to fund wars all over the world, Greene added. Officials and media lie every single day by claiming that Russia intends to take over Europe, Greene said. Such a claim contradicts statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Greene said. In February, US media reported that the CIA created a network of spy bases in Ukraine over the past eight years, including a dozen forward operating bases along the Russian border that engaged in operations against Russia. CIA Director William Burns has personally visited Ukraine at least 10 times since February 2022.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240226/leaked-details-on-cia-ops-in-ukraine-signal-end-is-near-for-kiev-agency-vet-1116996822.html

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cia in ukraine, us cia spec ops, marjorie taylor greene interview with tucker carlson, us intelligence community, us provoke ukraine crisis
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/us-uk-did-not-discuss-russian-unsc-statement-on-attack-on-iranian-consulate---envoy-1117726305.html

US, UK Did Not Discuss Russian UNSC Statement on Attack on Iranian Consulate - Envoy

US, UK Did Not Discuss Russian UNSC Statement on Attack on Iranian Consulate - Envoy

Sputnik International

The US and the UK refused to discuss a draft statement of the UNSC proposed by Russia on Israels attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

2024-04-03T22:48+0000

2024-04-03T22:48+0000

2024-04-03T22:48+0000

world

russia

united kingdom (uk)

us

un security council (unsc)

iran

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Following the results of the Security Council meeting on April 2 on the Israeli attack on the consular department of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Russia prepared a draft Security Council Statement for the press with a standard text for such cases. However, the United States and Great Britain did not even want to discuss it, citing the fact that during the meeting there was no unity in assessments of what happened, Polyansky wrote on his Telegram page. He recalled that at that time only these two delegations, together with the French, did not condemn this obvious violation of international law, but engaged in a verbal balancing act, from which it could be concluded that Iran itself is to blame for everything.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/strike-on-iranian-consulate-sign-of-status-quo-as-us-allies-let-israel-cross-all-red-lines--1117724889.html

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us stand for israel, us protect israel, russian deputy ambassador to the un dmitry polyansky, iranian consulate in damascus, russia statement on israel strike on iranian consulate
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/75th-anniversary-nato-exists-to-respond-to-conflicts-it-caused-1117734976.html

75th Anniversary: NATO Exists to Respond to Conflicts It Caused

75th Anniversary: NATO Exists to Respond to Conflicts It Caused

Sputnik International

Over the last 30 years, NATO has lost its veneer of a "defensive" alliance, turning into an overtly expansionist and interventionist military bloc, Sputnik's interlocutors say.

2024-04-04T13:28+0000

2024-04-04T13:28+0000

2024-04-04T13:28+0000

nato

world

gillbert doctorow

ukraine

russia

north atlantic treaty organization

george h.w. bush

opinion

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Exactly 75 years ago, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded by the US, Canada, and several Western European nations, with the main aim of deterring and confronting the USSR, their former Second World War ally.After the Soviet Union's collapse in December 1991, the conditions for a new inclusive security architecture in Europe and beyond emerged, according to Glenn Diesen, professor of international relations at the University of South-Eastern Norway.The Helsinki Accords, signed during the Cold War by the US, Soviet Union, and several European countries, led to greater cooperation between Eastern and Western Europe. Even though the agreements weren't binding, they significantly contributed to the detente between the East and West.Instead of building on that momentum, the US saw the end of the Cold War as the beginning of its unipolar moment, according to the professor: in 1992, George H.W. Bush proudly declared that the US had "won" the Cold War during his State of the Union address.Overtly Aggressive Military BlocThe next 30 years saw a string of NATO overseas military campaigns, neither of which has seen a comprehensive resolution, resulting in the creation of hotbeds of instability instead."More generally, the United States was at this time preparing NATO to move out of its core geography in Europe and to assist US plans for global domination in the Middle East in the succession of regime change operations and open invasions that the United States planned and led."Doctorow highlighted that these "out-of-region NATO operations were one disaster after another, ending in the withdrawal from Afghanistan after participation in a 20-year-long war directed by Washington."NATO's Expansionism Led to Ukraine ConflictMeanwhile, the alliance's seven waves of post-Cold War eastward expansion accelerated tensions in Europe, according to the Norwegian academic.The academic pointed out that "by going along with NATO expansionism, the Europeans allowed their continent to be re-divided and remilitarized, which has predictably doomed Europe to greater irrelevance." He projected that Europe "will undergo systemic economic decline and become painfully subordinated to the US."Is NATO Sustainable?"NATO exists to respond to the conflicts caused by its own existence," Diesen explained. "The problem now is that NATO is returning to great power conflicts with the same disastrous approach to security, based on hegemony rather than mitigating security competition."Despite the Western mainstream media claims that the North Atlantic Alliance is united like never before amid the Ukrainian conflict, it is in fact not true, according to the professor."There are great tensions within NATO that simmers below the surface, and I do not think the hatred of Russia is enough to ensure unity after the war is over," he said.Doctorow believes that despite all its declared, might the North Atlantic Alliance is on thin ice.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/theres-no-dialogue-with-nato-due-to-blocs-policy-of-undermining-russias-security---ambassador-1117729293.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/macrons-words-on-possible-sending-of-troops-to-ukraine-unacceptable---russias-deputy-fm-grushko-1117727724.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240402/only-a-matter-of-time-before-nato-enters-ukraine-says-analyst-1117689961.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240329/natos-encirclement-of-russia-went-into-high-gear-under-20-year-game-plan-1117632683.html

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nato anniversary, nato 75th anniversary, nato expansion, nato was created to deter the ussr, ukraine war, ukraine conflict, ukraine's imminent defeat
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/botswana-threatens-to-send-20000-elephants-to-germany-in-trophy-hunting-spat-1117732055.html

Botswana Threatens to Send 20,000 Elephants to Germany in Trophy Hunting Spat

Botswana Threatens to Send 20,000 Elephants to Germany in Trophy Hunting Spat

Sputnik International

Botswana is suffering from elephant overpopulation as herds of these animals have wreaked havoc on locals, causing loss of life and property.

2024-04-04T10:01+0000

2024-04-04T10:01+0000

2024-04-04T19:03+0000

beyond politics

mokgweetsi masisi

botswana

germany

berlin

european union (eu)

bild

south africa

elephants

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Botswana has threatened to send 20,00 elephants to Germany after Environment Minister Steffi Lemke from Green Party floated a ban on the import of hunting trophies. Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi criticized Berlin's proposed restrictions, saying they would impoverish Botswanans  pointing out that the southern African country is overrun with the tuskers.Botswana is a home to a third of worldwide elephant population with 130,000 specimens counted and 6,000 added every year.Masisi argued that conservation efforts would only worsen the situation, and authorities viewed hunting as a way to control the booming elephant population.Apart from hunting the only other way is 'deportation'. Botswana has already given away 8,000 elephants to Angola and Mozambique still has to take in its contingent. "And we would like to make such an offer to the Federal Republic of Germany. We don't take no for an answer," Masisi said. The president said he was looking forward to sending the pachyderms to Berlin, adding that he was "dead serious" about the gift.In 2014, the then-president of Botswana, Ian Kharma, banned trophy hunting of elephants. But President Mokgweetsi Masisi rescinded the ban in 2019 under pressure from local communities. The Botswanan government now allocates annual trophy-hunting quotas.Germanys Environment Ministry spokeswoman told media outlets that Botswana had yet to inform Berlin of the issue. She added that in light of the alarming loss of biological diversity, Germany is saddled with ensuring that the import of hunting trophies is sustainable and legal.A 2021 report by the Humane Society International revealed that Germany is the EUs top importer of elephant hunt trophies.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20221218/zimbabwe-farmers-use-chili-bombs-to-deter-elephants-1105569456.html

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african elephants, elephants in botswana, trophy hunting in botswana, elephant conservation in botswana, elephant population in botswana.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/enlargement-made-nato-hostage-to-agenda-pushed-by-eastern-europe---ex-state-dept-adviser-1117730017.html

Eastern Europe Hijacked NATO Agenda After Blocs Expansion - Ex-State Dept Adviser

Eastern Europe Hijacked NATO Agenda After Blocs Expansion - Ex-State Dept Adviser

Sputnik International

The decades-long NATO expansion to all of Central and Eastern Europe has turned the United States into a hostage of the agenda pursued by Eastern European allies in a classic case of "tail-wags-the-dog," James Carden, former adviser to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the Department of State, told Sputnik.

2024-04-04T06:36+0000

2024-04-04T06:36+0000

2024-04-04T11:02+0000

world

vladimir putin

united kingdom (uk)

russia

nato

nato expansion

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The United States together with 31 other NATO members is celebrating the alliance's 75th anniversary this week. That has resulted in the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact states "pushing their parochial agenda on the United States," he said. Even at the height of the Cold War, and a quarter century before the peaceful disintegration of the Soviet Union, NATO's tendencies to over-extend itself to the east and become a tool for the continued US domination and micro-management of Europe had been noted by the great, visionary French statesman President Charles de Gaulle, Carden pointed out. For years, Moscow has objected to NATO's continued expansion and military buildup near Russian borders. Ukraine's plans to join the bloc were among the reasons why Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin said. In response to the latest NATO enlargement, Russia will station its troops and strike systems near the borders of Finland and Sweden, Putin said in a March interview with Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev for the Rossiya 1 broadcaster and RIA Novosti.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/hungary-against-nato-strengthening-coordinating-role-in-supplying-arms-to-ukraine---szijjarto-1117728425.html

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nato expansion to all of central and eastern europe, us-russia bilateral presidential commission, nato hostage
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/fsb-says-detained-in-several-cities-one-citizen-two-foreigners-involved-in-crocus-attack-1117735178.html

FSB Apprehends One Citizen, Two Foreigners Involved in Crocus Attack

FSB Apprehends One Citizen, Two Foreigners Involved in Crocus Attack

Sputnik International

One Russian citizen and two foreigners have been detained in the Russian cities of Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and Omsk for their alleged involvement in the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday.

2024-04-04T12:49+0000

2024-04-04T12:49+0000

2024-04-04T14:32+0000

russia

moscow concert hall attack

federal security service

yekaterinburg

moscow

omsk

russian federal security service (fsb)

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"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the cities of Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Omsk detained a Russian citizen and two foreign citizens  all natives of the Central Asian region  involved in the terrorist attack committed on March 22, 2024 at the Crocus City Hall complex," the statement said. The FSB determined that two of the detainees transferred money for the purchase of firearms and vehicles used in the terrorist attack, while the third one recruited accomplices of the attack and financed its perpetrators.On March 22, several armed men broke into Crocus City Hall, a major concert venue just outside Moscow, and started shooting at people. They also started a fire in one of the auditoriums, which was full of people ahead of a concert. The attack left 695 casualties, including 144 dead, according to the latest data from the Russian Emergencies Ministry.The four main suspects in the case  all of them citizens of Tajikistan  tried to flee the scene in a car but were detained and charged with terrorism. Russian authorities believe the perpetrators planned to flee to Ukraine, where a safe haven had been arranged for them. An investigation is underway.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/source-rejects-western-media-claim-that-us-warned-russia-of-impending-crocus-terror-attack-1117719079.html

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crocus attack, terrorist attack, russian federal security service
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/how-iran-can-avoid-falling-into-netanyahus-trap-as-israel-escalates-shadow-war-1117741166.html

How Iran Can Avoid Falling Into Netanyahus Trap as Israel Escalates Shadow War

How Iran Can Avoid Falling Into Netanyahus Trap as Israel Escalates Shadow War

Sputnik International

Tel Aviv dramatically escalated its covert war against Iran on Monday, targeting the consulate annex to the Islamic Republics Damascus Embassy in a missile strike. Three days later, an al-Qaeda-linked* terror group with suspected ties to Mossad struck police stations in southeastern Iran. Can an all-out war between the regional powers be avoided?

2024-04-04T16:33+0000

2024-04-04T16:33+0000

2024-04-13T12:09+0000

benjamin netanyahu

middle east

ayatollah ali khamenei

iran

israel

tehran

al-qaeda

mossad

islam

analysis

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Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Israel of impending retaliation for Mondays aggression against the Iranian Embassy compound in Syria, indicating in a rare Hebrew-language post on X that with Gods help we will make the Zionists repent of their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate.16 people including two civilians were killed in Mondays missile strike, among them IRGC Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander advising the Syrian military in its counterterrorism operations.Russia and China strongly condemned the attack against their Middle Eastern anti-terror ally, while Washington rushed to insist that it had nothing to do with it, pinning the blame squarely on Israel and urging the Islamic Republic not to target US military bases in the region. Israel neither confirmed nor denied its culpability, but has moved to call up additional army reserves, canceled soldier leave and announced a meeting of the security cabinet.Mondays strike was followed up by run and gun attacks by members of the Jaish al-Adl terrorist group against two police stations in Rask and Chabahar in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan on Wednesday night. The al-Qaeda-linked* terrorist and separatist group has waged a decade-long campaign of low-intensity guerrilla warfare against Iran including, bombings, kidnappings and killings of security personnel and civilians, and Iranian officials have repeatedly pointed to the groups suspected ties to Mossad and Western intelligence services. Five police officers were killed in the Wednesday attack, with the Revolutionary Guards announcing the liquidation of 15 Jaish al-Adl militants.Will Iran Fall Into Netanyahus Trap?I feel quite confident in what Prime Minister Netanyahu is probably aiming, Dr. Marco Carnelos, an Italian former diplomat and prime ministerial advisor specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, told Sputnik regarding this weeks highly concerning escalation of the shadow war between Iran and Israel, which he said puts grave pressure on Tehrans ability to maintain its policy of strategic patience vis-a-vis Tel Aviv.The least that I can say is that Netanyahu is trying to package a trap for Iran, and the latters leadership should be smart enough not to fall into it, Carnelos, who now works as CEO of MC Geopolicy, a Rome-based consultancy, said.Specifically, Carnelos mentioned Netanyahus desire to enlarge the conflict raging in Gaza into a regional conflagration, thus enabling him to prolong his stay in office, and create a situation so dangerous that [it] could push the United States to join Israel in the conflict against Iran.Professor Hossein Askari, professor emeritus at the GW School of Business in Washington, DC, echoed this assessment, emphasizing that the best thing Tehran could do from Netanyahus perspective would be to respond in a symmetrical fashion.Israel secretly views most Arab countries with contempt, according to the academic, with regional leaders seen as weak, money and luxury-craving figures who pose no real threat to Tel Aviv's agenda. Iran, on the other hand, is genuinely feared, because of Irans history and what Iranians can do, Askari said, hence the aggression against it.Measured RetaliationIran is the only Muslim country in the Middle East that is standing up to the United States and its proxy, Israel. Iran is trying to prove its anti-colonialist credentials to all Muslims and supplant regional countries as the defender of Islam and Muslims, Askari said. At the same time, Tehran knows full well that it does not have the military power to guarantee victory over Israel and the US in a direct conflagration, and that it needs to balance domestic needs and foreign ventures.Masters of asymmetric warfare, the Iranians have an array of tools available to respond to aggression without provoking an all-out war with Tel Aviv and its US backers.I think Iran will do a number of things that will hurt Israel and the United States on a continuous basis. Iran will pressure Iraq to expel all US forces and close down their bases in Iraq. Sensing Arab anger against their spineless rulers, the United States and Israel, Iran will support Arab dissidents to attack Israeli and US interests around the world. If Israel can attack an Iranian consulate and the US, France and the UK are okay with that, then Iran will feel free to support Arab dissidents to get revenge for the genocide in Gaza, Askari predicted.* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240402/russian-intel-chief-calls-israeli-strike-on-iranian-consulate-in-syria-terrorist-attack-1117696341.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240402/iran-urges-oic-to-take-action-against-israel-due-to-attack-on-iranian-consulate-1117691397.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231023/what-do-we-know-about-the-axis-of-resistance-1114360533.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/how-israel-iran-conflict-could-shatter-world-economy-1117742951.html

How Israel-Iran Conflict Could Shatter World Economy

How Israel-Iran Conflict Could Shatter World Economy

Sputnik International

The April 1 attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, believed to be carried out by Israel, is widely seen as a major escalation. What if a war between Iran and Israel breaks out?

2024-04-04T18:08+0000

2024-04-04T18:08+0000

2024-04-13T12:09+0000

middle east

opinion

iran

israel

damascus

israel defense forces (idf)

ebrahim raisi

oil prices

world economy

inflation

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Further escalation of tensions between Iran and Israel is fraught with a risk of a large-scale regional conflict which will immediately backfire on the already fragile world economy, Sputnik's pundits say.Oil MarketThe Iran-Israeli hostilities could have a huge impact on the oil market to begin with, according to Marc Ayoub, a Lebanese energy policy researcher and non-resident fellow at the Tahir Institute for Middle East Policy.Ayoub drew attention to the fact that crude prices have been climbing up even before Iran's possible response to Israel over the killing of its elite officers. Immediately after the attack, Brent crude prices rose 1.03 percent to $87.90, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) soared by 1.45 percent to $84.38. All in all, oil prices have already jumped more than 10 percent this year.A spike in hostilities between Iran and Israel could also have geopolitical consequences, affecting their neighbors, including Egypt, Turkiye, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, according to Rodney Shakespeare, visiting professor of binary economics at Trisakti University in Jakarta, Indonesia, and co-founder of the Global Justice Movement.Financial OrderGiven the scale of tensions and significance of the region to the global economy, a series of negative consequences could shatter the established financial order, the academic warned.He added that a sanctioned Russia which has been "forced" by the West to become financially independent would evade the perfect storm.Risk of EscalationIt was reported on April 4, that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has temporarily halted leave for all combat units in the country. Aharon Haliva, the head of the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate, warned about a potential threat of strikes from Iran in the coming days. Earlier, on April 3, the IDF announced it would use Israeli reservists to bolster the Air Force's air defense array, the Jerusalem Post reported.The warning came in the wake of the air strike on the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital on April 1, which killed 12 people. They included General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the Quds Force, elite wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi and five other officers. Iran sees the strike on its embassy as an attack on its sovereign territory in accordance with international law.Although Israel officially denies responsibility for the attack, in private the nation's officials left little doubt about their role, according to The Economist. In an apparent bid to justify the strike, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari claimed to CNN that the embassy premises were in fact military facilities. "This is no consulate, and this is no embassy," Hagari insisted.Irans President Ebrahim Raisi made it clear on April 3 that the Israeli attack "will not remain unanswered."Meanwhile, Washington rushed to distance itself from the Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Pentagon officials asserted to the press that Israel had not notified them about the attack. "Tensions being high in the region, we wanted to make it very clear in private channels that the US had no involvement in the strike in Damascus," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told journalists on April 2. According to the US mainstream media, the Biden administration fears that a series of Israeli military actions in Syria and Gaza could drag Washington further into the Middle Eastern conflict.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/how-iran-can-avoid-falling-into-netanyahus-trap-as-israel-escalates-shadow-war-1117741166.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/israel-attack-on-iran-embassy-a-message-to-americans-1117725985.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240304/algeria-oman-iraq-uae-announce-extension-of-oil-output-cuts-1117117523.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240402/iranian-lawmaker-calls-israels-strike-on-consulate-in-damascus-attack-on-irans-territory-1117693824.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/netanyahu-under-pressure-from-allies-over-israels-deadly-strike-on-gaza-aid-workers-1117711431.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/idf-temporarily-cancels-leave-for-soldiers-in-all-combat-units-1117731705.html

IDF Temporarily Cancels Leave for Soldiers in All Combat Units

IDF Temporarily Cancels Leave for Soldiers in All Combat Units

Sputnik International

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) command, in accordance with an operational assessment of the current situation, said it had ordered the temporary cancellation of leave for soldiers in all combat units.

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"In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF combat units," the IDF said on Telegram on Thursday. The IDF said the Israeli army was at war and the deployment of the military was constantly adjusted according to the relevant security requirements. On Monday, Israel carried out an airstrike on the consular annex of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, destroying the building. Iran's IRGC said seven of its members have been killed in the attack, including two commanders. On Tuesday, the Syrian Health Ministry said that the attack had also killed four Syrians and injured 13 more. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has threatened Israel with reprisals. On Wednesday, the IDF said it had decided to draft more reserve soldiers into the militarys air defense units.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240329/where-is-the-outrage-idf-seen-gunning-down-bulldozing-palestinians-who-wave-white-flag---report-1117648351.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/lack-of-firepower-manpower-dooms-ukraine-as-zelensky-may-seek-escalation-in-moldova-1117747773.html

Lack of Firepower, Manpower Dooms Ukraine as Zelensky May Seek Escalation in Moldova

Lack of Firepower, Manpower Dooms Ukraine as Zelensky May Seek Escalation in Moldova

Sputnik International

Russia is pressing forward in the Donbass conflict almost two weeks after a horrific terrorist attack outside Moscow left 149 dead. Russian intelligence continues to study the incident, recently revealing they believe the Ukrainian regime played some role in its funding or planning.

2024-04-04T21:59+0000

2024-04-04T21:59+0000

2024-04-05T04:31+0000

analysis

mark sleboda

volodymyr zelensky

valery zaluzhny

ukraine

moldova

russia

nato

donbass

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may attempt to escalate his way out of his current struggles on the battlefield by expanding the conflict to a third country, according to one observer.Moldova is probably the most immediate and likely place for the expansion of the conflict in Ukraine, security analyst and international relations expert Mark Sleboda told Sputniks Fault Lines program Thursday.Indeed, there is since the 1990s a separatist region of Transnistria, it's a separatist region of Moldova. It's right up against the border with Ukraine and it's a very pro-Russian area and there are Russian peacekeepers there.Ukraines lack of firepower has become a major problem for its battlefield operations. A lack of recent funding from the United States initially slowed attempts to rearm the country, but its Western benefactors have struggled to keep up with Moscows ability to rapidly produce large amounts of ammunition.The shortfall has led some to propose manufacturing ammunition in Ukraine or resurrecting Europes atrophied defense industry, although such efforts would likely require years to get off the ground.Just over a week ago there was a drone attack that hit Transnistria from Ukraine, Sleboda noted. You could have said that that was perhaps a first salvo fired. And the current president of Moldova is a very pro-NATO, anti-Russian, pro-Ukrainian politician.One of the big possibilities for the expansion of this conflict is to teach Russia that NATO is going to expand no matter what by moving into Moldova and taking over the separatist region, which has been protected for decades now by Russia, the analyst concluded.Sleboda noted the Kiev regime has been launching kamikaze drone attacks on Russian amphibious landing ships of the Black Sea Fleet, perhaps as a way to stymie the countrys ability to respond if the war does indeed expand to Moldova.The expert said Zelensky may be seeking to escalate his way out of the countrys declining fortunes on the battlefield by perhaps obliging NATO or other Western troops to become involved.Yes, it is insane, but that's where we are, he said.Meanwhile, a recent article in US media suggested Ukraines front lines are at risk of a catastrophic collapse. Observers have speculated the source of the claims could be elements in the Ukrainian armed forces loyal to former military chief Valery Zaluzhny; current commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky is reportedly highly unpopular among Kievs troops.The Russian military is learning quickly, Sleboda pointed out, stating Western weapons employed by Ukraine have a one shot chance of effectiveness before Moscow adapts to their usage.Sleboda claimed Ukraine would likely continue to suffer a disadvantage in manpower as attempts to expand the draft have proven politically controversial.Russia for the first time in this conflict actually has a manpower advantage over the last half a year, he said. A big part of that is the Kiev regime's truly egregious casualties and Russia's very low casualty rate and high volunteer contract soldier recruitment rate. Russia's recruiting over a thousand soldiers every day and, amazingly, the Kiev regime is losing over a thousand soldiers any day.Zelensky recently signed a bill lowering the countrys conscription age from 27 to 25. Attempts to draft younger soldiers have proven difficult given the realities of Ukraines demographic situation since the 1990s, with the average age of troops being around 44. The country has taken to forcibly conscripting soldiers off the street, press ganging them into joining the failing military effort.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240229/ukraine-and-moldova-poised-to-ramp-up-pressure-on-transnistria-to-trigger-crisis-1117061939.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240309/europes-arms-industry-decades-behind--dassault-ceo-1117217948.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240330/ukraine-being-destroyed-from-within-by-zelensky-government-corruption--ex-diplomat-1117647839.html

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ukraine transnistria, ukraine romania, rukraine moldova, ukraine escalate moldova, ukraine escalate transnistria, zelensky escalate transnistria, zelensky escalate moldova, ukraine firepower shortage, ukraine manpower shortage, ukraine lowers draft age, ukraine one shot war
Cybersecurity company Peraton is opening an office in Capital Factorys space at Port San Antonio to boost collaboration, among other objectives. Capital Factory, an Austin-based venture capital firm and startup accelerator, expanded its Center for Defense Innovation to the Port in 2022. Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer The design for Port San Antonios new flagship building features an office tower as the gateway to the 1,900-acre technology campus, the regions largest technology center. It was announced in April 2023. Pelli Clarke & Partners/Courtesy Leidos is among the national cybersecurity companies that have established new offices at Port San Antonio. It occupies a 15,000-square-foot facility there. Mark Sobhani/Port San Antonio Lockheed Martin was the first tenant to move into the Project Tech building at Port San Antonio, which the Port built to attract more cybersecurity jobs to the area. Robin Jerstad People attend the FORCECON 2022 gaming event at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in May 2022. Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

A national cybersecurity company at Port San Antonio has expanded its role there  seeking greater collaboration and nimbleness  with an office in a venture capital firm focused on bringing new technological capabilities to the U.S. military.

Its the fourth such company to establish or grow a presence at Port San Antonio since the fall, when IntelliGenesis, Leidos and GDIT announced new developments at the former Kelly Air Force Base.

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With more than 18,000 employees worldwide and 900 already in Texas, Peraton and port officials hope the new office will help the company land more contracts while growing opportunities across the citys cybersecurity industry that spans federal agencies, businesses, research facilities and universities.

The company already has a footprint at the Port with several hundred people supporting Defense Health Agency and military medical system information technology contracts. It also has office space and research agreements with the National Security Collaboration Center at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The new space at Capital Factory, Peraton officials said, will enable it to reach beyond its traditional constraints by having an unclassified space to bring in people for collaborating, recruiting and demonstrating capabilities.

This location enables collaboration with mission stakeholders at the speed of the need unencumbered by physical distance, Tom Afferton, president of Peratons cyber mission sector, said in a statement.

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Capital Factory has that technology incubator ethos to it, said Jeff Berlet, senior technology director for Peratons cyber mission sector. Its all about technology and being innovative, and thats again where were going to be able to bring some of our researchers, some of our research scientists, principal investigators that are doing research from across the company, not necessarily tied to those customers in San Antonio, but bringing best practices and innovations to San Antonio for demonstration.

Will Garrett, the ports vice president of talent and technology development, said port officials have known Peraton  and smaller companies that it has acquired  for about six years. He sees the company opening a new office thats not tied to specific contracts as exciting.

Its bringing their cyber and electronic warfare capabilities to San Antonio in a very meaningful way, Garrett said. What excites the Port is to have Peraton with a formal office in town but also bringing a breadth and depth of their capabilities across the enterprise that really havent been in San Antonio previously.

Capital Factory is one of the biggest venture capital funds in Texas, and companies like Peraton and IntelliGenesis opening offices at the site is good news for future business, Garrett said.

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It allows us to connect founders and entrepreneurs and startups in San Antonio  and specifically from our campus  to a hyperactive venture arm thats looking at deals statewide and engaging enterprises statewide, he said. Its yet another tool that the Port and Capital Factory can use to help small companies develop, test, validate and scale technology right out of the Ports campus.

Peratons new office is part of a larger effort to incorporate other locations into its work, Afferton said. The goal, he said, is to expand some customer relationships, grow new customer relationships and diversify locations.

There is a desire to diversify some of the activities around capability development and systems engineering away from or in addition to the (Washington) D.C. area, and San Antonio is one of those priority locations, he said.

As part of San Antonios tech community, Peraton believes its experience as a mission capability integrator and longtime mission partner can further support the U.S. Air Force and intelligence community, Afferton said in a statement.

Berlet said the new office at the Port will collaborate with the companys researchers at UTSA who are looking at cybersecurity aspects of protecting critical infrastructure and tracking misinformation.

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He said the research is using open source information  effectively social media and other types of unclassified data  and understanding misinformation, thought activity, deep fakes  all that type of misuse of information and finding ways to use artificial intelligence, machine learning and large language models, which UTSA is perfectly suited for.

The company also sponsors the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association annual Alamo ACE conference, which drew roughly 4,000 people last year.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/lavrov-calls-zelenskys-idea-of-talks-starting-without-kiev-getting-1991-borders-absurd-1117734102.html

Lavrov Calls Zelensky's Idea of Talks Starting Without Kiev Getting 1991 Borders Absurd

Lavrov Calls Zelensky's Idea of Talks Starting Without Kiev Getting 1991 Borders Absurd

Sputnik International

The idea of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the possibility of starting negotiations with Russia with Ukraine getting back its borders as of 2022 and not 1991 is "absurd," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

2024-04-04T12:13+0000

2024-04-04T12:13+0000

2024-04-04T13:50+0000

world

sergey lavrov

volodymyr zelensky

ukraine

russia

china

switzerland

ukraine crisis

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"The [Zelensky's] formula is well known, it has been published, it is an ultimatum demanding that Russia surrenders, capitulates, retreats to the 1991 borders. Although, recently, Mr. Zelensky kindly said that it is possible to start from the borders of February 2022. Well, keep dreaming. It is absurd and sounds pathetic," Lavrov told reporters after the round table with ambassadors of over 70 countries dedicated to the Ukrainian crisis.He said that Russia would be "ready" for dialogue if Ukraine managed to restore its pre-conflict border of 2022.Zelensky's recent sentiment runs totally counter to multiple previous statement by Ukrainian authorities that no peace talks between the parties are possible without returning to Ukraine's 1991 borders.Minister Lavrov said China's 12-point peace initiative was "sensible" and the most coherent so far, as it "proceeds from an analysis of the causes of what is happening and the need to eliminate these root causes," rather than a "menu where you pick what you want" as in Zelensky's 10-point plan.Commenting on the upcoming Swiss-hosted peace conference on Ukraine, where Russia will not be represented, Lavrov said that "unlike the West, which tries to forbid participation in the events that we organize, we will not forbid you from participating."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240302/russia-received-no-constructive-proposals-on-ukraine-peace-talks-since-2022--lavrov-1117088921.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240207/china-to-promote-political-solution-to-crisis-in-ukraine---foreign-ministry-1116641439.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230220/munich-security-conference-2023-an-exercise-in-western-self-delusion-1107625453.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/lavrov-says-obvious-that-ukraine-involved-in-terrorist-attack-in-crocus-1117731002.html

Lavrov Says Ukraine Obviously Had Hand in Crocus Terrorist Attack

Lavrov Says Ukraine Obviously Had Hand in Crocus Terrorist Attack

Sputnik International

It is obvious that Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert venue on March 22, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

2024-04-04T08:44+0000

2024-04-04T08:44+0000

2024-04-04T11:31+0000

russia

sergey lavrov

crocus city hall

russia

investigative committee

ukraine

nato

moscow concert hall attack

the united nations (un)

kiev

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"This terrorist attack, as you know, is now being actively investigated by the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office, other competent authorities. It is already obvious ... that there was a Ukrainian trace, especially since Ukraine's involvement in many other terrorist attacks on Russian territory is no longer in doubt," Lavrov said at the round table with ambassadors of over 70 countries dedicated to the Ukrainian crisis.On March 22, several armed men broke into Crocus City Hall and started shooting at people. They also started a fire in one of the auditoriums, which was full of people ahead of a concert. The attack left 695 casualties, including 144 dead, according to the latest data from the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The four main suspects in the case  all of them citizens of Tajikistan  tried to flee the scene in a car but were detained and charged with terrorism. Russian authorities believe their plan was to flee to Ukraine, where the masterminds of the attack had arranged a safe haven for them. An investigation is underway.Aid to Ukraine Planned to Be Made Obligatory for NATO MembersProviding aid to Ukraine is planned to be made obligatory for NATO members, Lavrov added.Western countries have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia.Kiev Has Nothing to tell UN About Protecting Human Rights in UkraineUkraine will have nothing to report to the UN on the issue of respect for human rights, which is why it is shirking this duty, Sergey Lavrov has said. Lavrov stressed that under pressure from the West, the Human Rights Council decided to allow Ukraine not to report on the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2023, as it was supposed to do, the report was postponed to 2027.West to Not Take Into Account Opinion of Global South on 'Zelensky Formula'The West will not take into account the opinion of global south countries during discussions on he peace plan proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "only marginal changes" are possible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday."All this is heard, but not taken into account in any way. And it will not be taken into account. Some marginal clarifications are possible, but the essence of the 'Zelenskyy formula' as an ultimatum remains unchanged," Lavrov said at the round table with ambassadors of over 70 countries dedicated to the Ukrainian crisis.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240330/money-transfers-proof-that-crocus-terrorists-for-hire-followed-orders-from-ukraine-1117652604.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240328/state-department-failing-to-track-44bln-in-us-economic-aid-to-ukraine---gao-report-1117623184.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/macrons-words-on-possible-sending-of-troops-to-ukraine-unacceptable---russias-deputy-fm-grushko-1117727724.html

Conflict May Go Beyond Ukraine if NATO Allies Make 'Adventurous' Moves - Russia's Deputy FM

Conflict May Go Beyond Ukraine if NATO Allies Make 'Adventurous' Moves - Russia's Deputy FM

Sputnik International

Statements of French President Emmanuel Macron about a possible sending of French troops to Ukraine are unacceptable, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.

2024-04-04T01:32+0000

2024-04-04T01:32+0000

2024-04-04T06:07+0000

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russia

nato

ukraine

emmanuel macron

russian foreign ministry

ukraine crisis

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"The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly commented on recent remarks by the French president about a possible sending of military personnel of the alliance's member states to the hostilities zone. Again, these ideas have been immediately disavowed by the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Washington and the majority of other capitals of the bloc's states. Nevertheless, these statements show the readiness to follow the path of escalation at a time when the West itself is suffering a strategic defeat 'on the ground.' Such 'claims,' no matter what foreign or domestic political goals they pursue, are unacceptable for responsible politicians, especially in times of the already heated military and political situation in Europe," Grushko has said. In late February, following a Paris-hosted conference on Ukraine, Macron said that Western leaders had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine and, although no consensus had been reached in this regard, nothing could be ruled out. Following Macron's statement, other EU countries rushed to dismiss such plans, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying that NATO had no intention of sending its troops to Ukraine. The Kremlin, in response to Macrons comments, has said that a deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine would make a direct conflict between the alliance and Russia inevitable.The conflict in Ukraine may go beyond its geographical borders as a result of "adventurous" actions of even one NATO country, Grushko said.According to Grushko, French President Emmanuel Macrons statement about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine shows readiness to follow "the escalation path."The situation in the Russia-NATO relations has been deteriorating "predictably and deliberately," while communication channels have been reduced to a critically low level, Alexander Grushko said.The diplomat recalled that NATO halted civilian and military cooperation with Russia in April 2014."After that, Russian diplomats were expelled from the permanent mission to the alliance under far-fetched pretexts three times. In response to unfriendly steps, Russia was forced to suspend the work of its permanent mission to NATO. At the same time, the accreditation of the staff of the NATO Military Liaison Mission in Moscow was withdrawn, and the activities of the NATO Information Office in the Russian capital were terminated," Grushko said.Russia Not Planning to Engage in Military Conflict With NATORussia has no intentions to engage in a military conflict with NATO or member states of the alliance, Grushko said."Whether the military bloc is ready for an open conflict with Russia, we should ask the NATO members themselves. In any case, we have no such intentions with regard to the member countries of the alliance," Grushko told Sputnik.According to the diplomat, there is no point in discussing possible security agreements with the West as long as NATO considers Russia to be a direct threat.Europe's Future Security Architecture Must Meet Russia's InterestsThe future security architecture in Europe must meet the interests of Russia, NATO will not be able to build it against Moscow, Grushko has said in an interview with Sputnik."But if and when Western capitals realize that they will not be able to dictate their will to our country, just as they will not be able to build security without Russia, much less against it, then, perhaps, the opportunity will open up to talk about a new architecture. The fundamental point for us is that architecture must meet the security interests of Russia," Grushko said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240321/macron-sending-troops-to-ukraine-like-a-dog-urinating-on-odessa-1117460033.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/russian-forces-hit-foreign-tanks-and-instructors-in-kharkov-1117731575.html

Russian Forces Hit Foreign Tanks and Instructors in Kharkov

Russian Forces Hit Foreign Tanks and Instructors in Kharkov

Sputnik International

The Russian military struck a Ukrainian Armed Forces tank school in Kharkiv, where foreign tanks and instructors were stationed, underground network coordinator Sergei Lebedev told RIA Novosti, citing his fellow Kharkov residents.

2024-04-04T12:51+0000

2024-04-04T12:51+0000

2024-04-04T12:51+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

kharkov

ukraine

ukrainian armed forces

russian defense ministry

russia

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The Russian Armed Forces struck a Ukrainian tank school in Kharkov, where foreign tanks and instructors were stationed, underground movement coordinator Sergey Lebedev told Sputnik, citing fellow Kharkov residents. According to him, there were two strikes in the Novye Doma neighborhood in the Slobodsky district of Kharkov. But there are reports that trolleybuses are now running.The Russian military also struck the building of the district internal affairs department on Lyubov Malaya Street.In addition, the Merefa Mechanical Plant in the city of Merefa near Kharkov was hit. According to the underground, UAVs were manufactured and stored at the enterprise. Lebedev added that the plant is adjacent to a railway station. At the time of the attack, as per the underground, a train carrying military equipment, ammunition, and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was being unloaded there; due to the detonation at the plant, the train was also hit.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240324/russian-airstrikes-on-kharkov-eradicate-roughly-30-ukrainian-servicemen---clandestine-operative-1117525627.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/secret-us-army-bases-and-cia-camps-prepare-for-escalation-in-disputed-essequibo-region---maduro-1117730164.html

Secret US Army, CIA Bases Gearing Up for Escalation in Disputed Essequibo Region - Maduro

Secret US Army, CIA Bases Gearing Up for Escalation in Disputed Essequibo Region - Maduro

Sputnik International

The Venezuelan government possesses verified information about secret military bases established by the US Southern Command and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) camps in the territory of the Essequibo region disputed with Guyana, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday.

2024-04-04T06:42+0000

2024-04-04T06:42+0000

2024-04-04T07:26+0000

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venezuela

nicolas maduro

us

central intelligence agency (cia)

cia

venezuelan

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In early December, Venezuelans voted in a referendum to claim sovereignty over the Essequibo. More than half of Venezuela's eligible voters, or 10.55 million people, participated in the referendum, with all five questions on the ballot gaining 95% public support. He added that the disputed region was being governed by the Southern Command, the CIA and the US oil giant, ExxonMobil, which seek to seize Venezuelan resources, adding that they control all the local governing bodies, including the defense and police. During the ceremony, which took place at Maduros presidential residence, the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, he enacted a law for the protection of the region which had been approved by the state parliament in its first reading in December 2023. The legislation establishes a new Venezuelan state west of the Essequibo River, includes the activation of a social assistance plan for the entire population of the territory, and provides for a census and documents. Venezuela gained independence from Spain in 1845, with Essequibo recognized as part of its sovereign territory. In 1899, however, the United Kingdom filed and won an arbitration claim to recognize Essequibo as part of its then-Caribbean colony of British Guiana. Independent Guyana cited this 1899 Arbitral Award in its 2018 International Court of Justice suit against Venezuela, claiming sovereignty over the disputed territory.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/seizing-russian-assets-cannot-undermine-global-monetary-system---imf-1117743757.html

Seizing Russian Assets Cannot Undermine Global Monetary System - IMF

Seizing Russian Assets Cannot Undermine Global Monetary System - IMF

Sputnik International

Western plans to confiscate Russias sovereign assets should have sufficient legal grounds and should not cause the destruction of the global monetary system, International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesperson Julie Kozack said on Thursday.

2024-04-04T18:47+0000

2024-04-04T18:47+0000

2024-04-04T18:47+0000

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imf

ukraine

russia

international monetary fund

ukraine crisis

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russian foreign ministry

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Kozack emphasized that any decisions on potential confiscation of Russian assets should be taken by the authorities of relevant countries and jurisdictions concerned.Moscow has maintained that such an attempt goes against international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed the freezing of Russian assets as theft.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that the EU plan to seize Russian central bank assets was an "escalation of economic aggression" and a trade war, and warned that Russia would respond in a correspondingly harsh manner.She said that any attempt to confiscate Russian assets would be a gross violation of the Wests own law, international rules and bilateral obligations.Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin dubbed the Wests asset seizure as unseemly business, and stressed that stealing other peoples assets has never brought anyone good.IMF Does Not Plan to Consider Restructuring Ukraine's DebtShe also noted that the IMF has no plans to consider the possibility of restructuring Ukraine's debt to the organization.Kozack pointed out that the IMF regularly analyzes Ukraines debt structure under its financing program."Ukraine's debt was deemed to be sustainable on a forward-looking basis," she said.Ukraine's Economic Outlook Remains Extremely UncertainDue to the ongoing conflict and delays in external financing, the economic outlook for Ukraine remains unclear.Risks related to the ongoing war and delays in external financing remain exceptionally high. Timely and predictable financing is critical to sustaining hard-earned economic gains, Kozack said.IMF to Discuss Ukraine Budget Support During Spring MeetingsThe IMF will hold a ministerial-level discussion on budget support for Ukraine during its upcoming spring meetings in Washington.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240125/west-could-face-300bln-boomerang-in-gamble-to-seize-russian-assets-sputnik-estimates-1116380567.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240313/theft-of-frozen-russian-assets-may-lead-to-financial-crisis-in-the-west-1117312032.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/lavrov-calls-zelenskys-idea-of-talks-starting-without-kiev-getting-1991-borders-absurd-1117734102.html

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what are russian frozen assets, how can you take russian frozen assets, whats the deal with russian assets, is seizing russian assets legal, are there implications for taking russian assets, russian assets transferred to ukraine, russian assets transferred to kiev
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/shoigu-france-to-face-problems-if-troops-sent-to-ukraine-1117728624.html

Shoigu: France to Face Problems if Troops Sent to Ukraine

Shoigu: France to Face Problems if Troops Sent to Ukraine

Sputnik International

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held a phone conversation with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu at the urgent request of the French side, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

2024-04-04T04:16+0000

2024-04-04T04:16+0000

2024-04-04T04:16+0000

russia

russia

france

russian defense ministry

sergei shoigu

sebastien lecornu

crocus city hall

moscow concert hall attack

ukraine crisis

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"On April 3, 2024, a phone conversation between Russian Defense Ministry Army Gen. Sergei Shoigu and French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu took place at the urgent request of the French side. French defense minister expresses condolences over terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall on March 22, 2024," the ministry said in a statement.Lecornu made "persistent attempts" to convince Shoigu that Ukraine and the West were not involved in the attack, and blamed it solely on the Islamic State terrorist organization (banned in Russia).There is information about the Ukrainian trace in the organization of the attack, the ministry added.Shoigu pointed out that if Elysee Palace's statements about sending a French contingent to Ukraine are implemented, it would create problems for France itself;Readiness for a dialogue on Ukraine has been noted and the starting points could be based on the Istanbul Peace Initiative, the Russian Defence Ministry stated.*IS (also known as ISIL/ISIS/ISIS-K/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/theres-no-dialogue-with-nato-due-to-blocs-policy-of-undermining-russias-security---ambassador-1117729293.html

No Dialogue With NATO Because Bloc's Policy Endangers Russian Security - Ambassador

No Dialogue With NATO Because Bloc's Policy Endangers Russian Security - Ambassador

Sputnik International

There is currently no dialogue between Russia and NATO due to the alliance's policy to undermine Russia's security, but the channel for information exchange remains open, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin told Sputnik.

2024-04-04T05:21+0000

2024-04-04T05:21+0000

2024-04-04T11:45+0000

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nato

brussels

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alexander tokovinin

sergey lavrov

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"In the current situation, dialogue between Russia and NATO is not maintained. Obviously, it is difficult to talk about its resumption until the United States and its allies abandon their aggressive course of undermining Russias security and inflicting 'strategic defeat' on it," Tokovinin said, noting that "the channel for information exchange, if necessary, through the Russian Embassy in Brussels remains open."At the same time, he noted that the channel remains open in case of emergency. NATO's July Summit to Continue Course on Confrontation With MoscowThe NATO summit, which will be held in Washington in July, will continue the previously established course of confrontation with Russia and increasing tensions in Europe, Alexander Tokovinin said.Having declared Russia the most significant and direct threat to their security, the alliance states are building up their presence near Russian borders and increasing military spending, the ambassador said, adding that it is these approaches that are intended to be confirmed in the decisions of the upcoming meeting of NATO leaders in Washington."Nothing will be said about the level of recklessness of NATOs commitment to escalating the Ukrainian crisis, which is fraught with a slide into a direct military clash between nuclear powers with catastrophic consequences," Tokovinin said.NATO's Hybrid War Against Moscow Has No Analogues in Cold War HistoryThe hybrid war unleashed by NATO against Russia is unprecedented and has no analogues in the history of the Cold War, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin told Sputnik.The current situation is complicated by the fact that almost all the "safety locks" that were designed to ensure restraint during the period of Soviet-American rivalry and prevent the situation from getting out of control are now destroyed, the ambassador said."The paradox is that, if the public of Western European countries in the 1970s and 1980s of the twentieth century was acutely aware of the threat of the destruction of human civilization as a result of a nuclear conflict, and this problem was then an important part of political life, now this topic has been pushed far away to the periphery of the information space," Tokovinin added.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240329/natos-encirclement-of-russia-went-into-high-gear-under-20-year-game-plan-1117632683.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/they-want-famine-israeli-strike-against-wck-workers-intended-as-message-to-deter-aid-for-gaza-1117747189.html

'They Want Famine': Israeli Strike Against WCK Workers Intended as Message to Deter Aid for Gaza

'They Want Famine': Israeli Strike Against WCK Workers Intended as Message to Deter Aid for Gaza

Sputnik International

Chef Jose Andres, the organizations founder, said his WCK team was deliberately targeted by Israels military, adding that his staff were in a deconfliction zone controlled by the IDF.

2024-04-04T22:50+0000

2024-04-04T22:50+0000

2024-04-04T22:49+0000

analysis

israel

israel-gaza conflict

israel defense forces (idf)

humanitarian aid

investigation

independent investigation

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As calls are being made for a thorough investigation into the recent Israeli strikes on the World Central Kitchen's aid convoy, it's unlikely that a rigorous probe will be conducted in the coming weeks and months, an activist told Sputnik, Seven employees with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed on Monday by Israeli airstrikes. Chef Jose Andres, the organizations founder, said his WCK team was deliberately targeted by the Israeli military, adding that his staff were in a deconfliction zone controlled by the Israeli forces and that they had been given prior notice of their presence.Andres is calling on Australia, Canada, Poland, the US and the UK, whose citizens were killed in the attack, to join the WCK in demanding an independent third party inquiry into the strikes. Mondays attack means that at least 196 aid employees have now been killed during the war in Gaza.Speaking with Sputnik Radio's Political Misfits on Thursday, author and activist Yves Engler noted that the recent strike against the group of humanitarian aid workers was no accident, underscoring that a "proper investigation" into the fatal incident may not ultimately pass muster. No, I don't think it's going to be a proper investigation into the matter, said Engler. And the idea that we even need investigationI think it's all pretty straightforward. Israel knowingly killed them because they are trying to send a message that they don't want aid going into Gaza.Israel earlier bombed a building that was part of the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, killing seven people in the process. Iran has vowed to retaliate, which has raised the risk of a wider conflict in the region. Show host Michelle Witte noted that using the strike as a distraction from Israels bombing of the embassy proves a big gamble for Israel, as the WCK could be viewed as an extension of American soft power seeing as Andres is part of the State Departments culinary corps.But Engler says the probability that the attack on the WCKs convoy was a mistake is close to zero.This is totally speculative on my part, but I think you can combine two things at oncethey're really serious about the genocide, they want the famine, they're going to do everything they can to ensure a famine in Gaza, and there's a lot of evidence pointing in that direction, he continued.So, it seems to me that the Israeli government is trying to do everything it can to turn the sort of low mid-level war with Lebanon with Hezbollah into something full fledged and simultaneously draw the US into a war with Iran. I don't see how Iran doesn't respond with a pretty major attack on Israel after that considering the context in Gaza and considering what's going on in Lebanon, he added.Asked if there will be any change after US President Joe Biden speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Engler pointed out that US media reported on continued American arms shipments to Israel about the same time the aid convoy was attacked.Is that where Israel and zionism is at? I don't know, but I think that's certainly possible, and at some point, you think elements in the Biden administration are going to question whether they are going to keep going down this pathway, he added.Following condemnation from several of Israels allies of the IDF strikes on the WCK convoy, Netanyahu has said Israel deeply regrets the tragic incident.UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Israeli leader that he was appalled by the killing of aid workers and urged a thorough and transparent independent investigation into the strikes. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also demanded full accountability from Israel. Biden has said he was outraged and heartbroken, noting that Israel has not done enough to protect civilians in their fight against Hamas.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/us-wants-another-kosovo-in-syrias-northwest-keep-control-of-oil-wheat-in-northeast-1117727871.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/netanyahu-under-pressure-from-allies-over-israels-deadly-strike-on-gaza-aid-workers-1117711431.html

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israel, gaza, world central kitchen, aid workers killed, palestine
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/uk-defense-secretary-says-world-moved-from-post-war-to-pre-war-era-1117730584.html

UK Defense Secretary Says World Moved From Post-War to Pre-War Era

UK Defense Secretary Says World Moved From Post-War to Pre-War Era

Sputnik International

UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said that the world has moved from the post-war to the pre-war era, urging NATO allies to think about the alliance's future.

2024-04-04T07:42+0000

2024-04-04T07:42+0000

2024-04-04T07:42+0000

world

united kingdom (uk)

world

nato

grant shapps

gdp

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"Today we must give urgent thought once again to the Alliances future. We have moved from a post-war to a pre-war world," he said in a column published by The Telegraph newspaper. Shapps listed measures to protect democracy and the alliance, including redoubling efforts to support Ukraine, increasing defense spending by NATO members and strengthening the Euro-Atlantic defense sector. The situation where some allies are unable to spend 2% of GDP on defense can no longer continue because NATO "cant afford to play Russian roulette with our future." Among other things, the defense secretary said that the plot of George Orwell's famous dystopian novel "1984" took place in a world without NATO, but today is an even more dangerous time. Shapps also said that the UK "has always been a prime mover in NATO" and is proud of it.None other than London has gone out of its way to fan the flames of the Ukrainian conflict, and these hypocritical "warnings" come as no surprise. These efforts have ranged from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson thwarting efforts to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in the spring of 2022, to the British government sending billions of dollars worth of lethal and non-lethal weapons there. Moscow has repeatedly said that London is depriving Kiev of the chance to end the conflict through negotiations by using the country as a "geopolitical tool against Russia." The bloc's encirclement of Russia has been in full swing for decades. After a sweeping post-Cold War expansion in violation of the West's pledge not to move closer to Russia's borders, the alliance recently absorbed Finland and Sweden in 2023 and 2024, respectively. In March, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik that the bloc's activities in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region were part of preparations for a possible conflict with Moscow.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240403/hungary-cannot-support-netherlands-rutte-for-nato-secretary-general-1117725498.html

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uk defense secretary, grant shapps, nato allies, pre-war era, alliance's future
Ricardo Delgado covers the Hill Country for the San Antonio Express-News. He can be reached at ricardo.delgado@express-news.net.

He previously worked for The University Star at Texas State University.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/uks-prime-minister-hints-london-could-withdraw-from-echr-to-stop-flow-of-migrants-1117728919.html

UK's Prime Minister Hints London Could Withdraw From ECHR to Stop Flow of Migrants

UK's Prime Minister Hints London Could Withdraw From ECHR to Stop Flow of Migrants

Sputnik International

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the United Kingdom could withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) if it would help stem the flow of undocumented migrants.

2024-04-04T04:46+0000

2024-04-04T04:46+0000

2024-04-04T04:46+0000

world

rishi sunak

united kingdom (uk)

european court of human rights (echr)

uk supreme court

migrants

illegal migrants

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"I believe that all plans are compliant with all of our international obligations, including the ECHR, but I do believe that border security and making sure that we can control illegal migration is more important than membership of a foreign court because its fundamental to our sovereignty as a country," Sunak told The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots politics show on Wednesday. The newspaper reported that it is the strongest warning yet to "meddling Strasbourg judges" who blocked the first deportation flight to Rwanda in 2022. Rwanda and the UK signed a migration agreement in 2022, under which people identified by the UK government as undocumented migrants or asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. The scheme has drawn criticism from human rights organizations, as well as numerous politicians and officials within the UK. The first deportation flight was supposed to take place in June 2022 but never happened due to the intervention of the ECHR, which ruled it unlawful. The UK government had to draft a new deal last year after the UK Supreme Court determined that the initial scheme did not guarantee the safety of asylum seekers.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240301/uks-rwanda-deportation-scheme-may-cost-london-23mln-per-migrant---reports-1117074341.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/us-ready-to-place-medium-range-missiles-in-indo-pacific-to-counter-china---top-army-brass-1117731125.html

US Ready to Place Medium-Range Missiles in Indo-Pacific to Counter China - Top Army Brass

US Ready to Place Medium-Range Missiles in Indo-Pacific to Counter China - Top Army Brass

Sputnik International

The United States intends to deploy medium-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region in the near future, Indo-Pacific Land Forces Cmdr. Gen. Charles Flynn said.

2024-04-04T08:50+0000

2024-04-04T08:50+0000

2024-04-04T08:50+0000

world

china

indo-pacific

us

pacific

missiles

missile

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Finding a way to counter China's modernizing missiles is a critical role for US ground forces, he said in an interview with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. Flynn added that he considered the orbit in which China was moving to be dangerous. In 2023, Flynn had already announced US plans to deploy medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region to potentially deter China over Taiwan.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240223/china-accuses-us-of-containment-strategy-over-taiwan-arms-sales-1116937511.html

china

indo-pacific

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us army pacific chief, medium-range missiles, indo-pacific, counter china
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240404/which-western-countries-are-mired-in-ukraine-proxy-conflict-1117737653.html

Which Western Countries Are Mired in Ukraine Proxy Conflict?

Which Western Countries Are Mired in Ukraine Proxy Conflict?

Sputnik International

Which Western countries are involved in NATO's proxy war in Ukraine?

2024-04-04T17:16+0000

2024-04-04T17:16+0000

2024-04-04T17:16+0000

ukraine

nato

rishi sunak

emmanuel macron

olaf scholz

united kingdom (uk)

european union (eu)

proxy war

military

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While Russia notches up battlefield successes in NATOs proxy war, grinding through billions-worth of sophisticated weaponry funneled to Kiev, the West is again mulling raising the stakes.Some NATO countries are openly discussing the possibility of sending their troops to fight in Ukraine.French President Emmanuel Macron was the first to let the cat out of the bag in late February. At the time, European leaders rushed to dismiss such plans. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that NATO had no intention of sending its troops to Ukraine. But on the 75th anniversary of the alliance, US State Department consultant Edward Luttwak weighed in on the debate. The bloc's member-states will soon have to send soldiers to Ukraine, or else accept catastrophic defeat, he wrote for current affairs site Unherd.The British and French, along with the Nordic countries, are already quietly preparing to send troops  both small elite units and logistics and support personnel  who can remain far from the front, he wrote on April 4. He added that NATO units could also relieve Ukrainians currently tied up in the recovery and repair of damaged equipment, and could take over the technical parts of existing training programmes for new recruits.In reality the presence of NATO military personnel in Ukraine has long been an open secret to the whole world. Sputnik presents some facts and figures that prove this.United StatesThe Biden administration provided approximately $44.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine since early 2022, along with intelligence support. In November 2022, Washington said it would send military "weapons experts" to Ukraine. US media revealed in February 2023 that the Pentagon planned to insert US commandos in the form of "control teams" in Ukraine. Last April an apparent Pentagon leak revealed that at least 97 special forces soldiers from five NATO countries  including 14 US military personnel  have been operating in Ukraine. Furthermore, a NYT report revealed that a network of 12 CIA secret bases have been operating in Ukraine since 2014. NATO special operations teams have been seen in Ukraine on multiple occasions, Sputnik quoted sources as saying this February. Foreign military specialists are believed to be operating NATO-supplied weapons, as well as in the ranks of signalmen, pilots and military consultants.Furthermore, around 1,113 mercenaries have flocked from the US to Ukraine since the start of the conflict, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense stated on March 14, 2024. By the time of the report, 491 of them had been killed.United KingdomThe British government has similarly provided billions-worth of military aid to Ukraine. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Kiev 2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in military funding this year. This will take Londons arms spending on Ukraine to over 7 billion since February 2022.Sunak has also confirmed that there are a small number of British army personnel supporting the armed forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers are also being trained at a specially constructed camp in a secret location in the east of England. Over 60,000 Ukrainian servicemen have received training in the UK since 2014, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said in January.An estimated 822 British mercenaries have arrived in Ukraine since the conflict escalated in early 2022, with 360 killed as of mid-March, according to Russias MoD.CanadaCanada claims to have kept a small military presence in Ukraine to protect its diplomatic personnel. It also contributed to the training of Ukrainian soldiers through various initiatives, such as Operation Unifier since 2014. This mission was relocated from Ukraine to other countries after February 2022. However, Minister of National Defense Bill Blair hinted in an interview with Toronto Star that Canadian instructors may return to Ukraine under the newly-signed security agreement between Ottawa and Kiev "when conditions allow." As for Canadian mercenaries, they have numbered around 1,005, with 422 killed by mid-march, 2024.FranceFrance is preparing to deploy a contingent of troops in Ukraine, with the first echelon to include about 2,000 soldiers, according to information received by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.As for those French nationals already in Ukraine fighting as mercenaries, they have suffered huge losses. The Russian MoD reports that out of around 356 French soldiers of fortune, 147 have been wiped out. On January 17, the Russian armed forces destroyed a temporary deployment point for foreign fighters in Kharkov, most of whom were French mercenaries, with about 60 soldiers killed.PolandWarsaw has been an avid supporter of Ukraine, providing military aid and hosting international efforts to train the Kiev regimes forces. On March 10, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski revealed that NATO troops were already present in Ukraine, but stopped short of clarifying their numbers or countries of origin. Poland has been at the forefront of the soldiers-for-hire trend in the conflict, with around 2,960 of its citizens reportedly fighting for Ukraine. The Russian MoD says 1,497 of them have been killed.GermanyGermany, along with Poland, has taken on the bulk of responsibility for training Kievs troops. It was announced last year that over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in over 260 training modules on weapons systems such as the Leopard A1 tank, the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, the Patriot air defense system or the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer were provided by the Bundeswehr. From the 235 mercenaries that left Germany for Ukraine, 88 have since been eliminated.RomaniaMercenaries from the Romanian battlegroup "Getica" claim they participated in the recent spate of attacks on Russian border regions together with the Russian Volunteer Corps*. Of around 784 Romanian mercenaries, 349 have been killed, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in March.SpainSpain has been one of the EU's key providers of training for Ukrainian servicemen at its Toledo Training Command center. The instruction is part of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM), set up in October 2022. As for mercenaries, out of the 149 that travelled to Ukraine, 56 were killed by mid-March.LithuaniaIn Lithuania, 1,600 Ukrainians were trained this year in 88 course programs of a training cycle conducted at the Land Force, Air Force and the Special Operations Forces, Military Police, Logistics Command, Training and Doctrine Command an Military Academy of Lithuania.Lithuanian officials are also considering the possibility of sending Lithuanian troops to Ukraine to train the countrys troops, Kestutis Budrys, a presidential adviser, has said. Of the 147 guns for hire that went to Ukraine, 81 have been killed.LatviaLatvia plans to train 2,000 soldiers of different ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces this year, which will be twice as many as last year, the LETA newswire reported January 21, citing the Ministry of Defense. Of its 109 mercenaries in Ukraine, 95 have since been killed.EstoniaEstonia joined the UK-led Operation Interflex to provide combat training to Ukrainian soldiers. According to Estonias Defense Ministry, Estonian instructors will train Ukrainian volunteers at UK military bases, while cooperating with Ukrainian soldiers under the EUs EUMAM training mission in Estonia.FinlandFinland has also been sending its service personnel to the UK to take part in a training program for the Ukrainian armed forces. As for mercenaries, out of 135 that headed to Ukraine, 44 have reportedly been killed.DenmarkDanish military experts have been training Ukrainian technicians and pilots at the Skrydstrup Air Base in Denmark to operate the F-16 fighter jets the Kiev regime expects to receive later this year.SwedenMoscow is aware of the participation of the Swedish military in hostilities on the side of Kiev regime, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on April 3. The ministry noted that, according to the Russian MoD, up to 90 Swedish mercenaries served in Ukraine, 25 of whom were killed.The Russian Defense Ministry has said on numerous occasions that the Kiev regime is using foreign mercenaries as "cannon fodder," warning that the Russian military will continue to destroy them throughout Ukraine.As for Emmanuel Macrons comments, Moscow has reiterated that a deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine would make a direct conflict between the alliance and Russia inevitable.Macron's words were branded "unacceptable" by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. He pointed out in an interview with Sputnik that such statements "show the readiness to follow the path of escalation at a time when the West itself is suffering a strategic defeat 'on the ground.' *a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240115/uk-trained-over-60000-ukrainian-troops-since-2014---defense-minister-1116181456.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240124/moscow-insists-on-having-reliable-information-about-french-mercenaries-in-ukraine--kremlin-1116353409.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240319/eu-summit-may-discuss-idea-of-possibility-of-sending-troops-to-ukraine---senior-official-1117431013.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240301/us-uk-french-military-officers-present-in-ukraine---russian-fm-lavrov-1117075498.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240328/ukraine-may-use-f-16s-as-kamikazes-to-rev-up-rockets-but-russia-has-means-to-counter-threat-1117614782.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240228/how-nato-has-enhanced-its-presence-in-ukraine-1117040336.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240318/nato-forces-in-ukraine-refrain-from-combat-but-keep-informants-on-battlefield---reports-1117408338.html

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Svetlana Ekimenko

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russian special military operation, ukrainian crisis, ukrainian conflict, war in ukraine, foreign mercenaries, foreign mercenary killed in ukraine, nato forces in ukraine, will nato send troops to fight in ukraine
Imprincessgemma A was the queen at Buffalo Raceway on a soggy Wednesday afternoon (April 3) as she held on for a head victory over a stubborn Summer Slash in the $18,919 Open Pace for the fillies and mares.

Imprincessgemma A and Billy Davis Jr. wasted little time in getting to the top over the "good" track as they showed the way with splits of :29.2, :58.3 and 1:27.1. From there, it was a two-horse break away as Summer Slash (Ray Fisher Jr.) pulled on nearly even terms with Imprincessgemma A turning for home. The two went stride for stride but Imprincessgemma A never gave up the advantage and hung on for the narrow score in 1:56.1. Summer Slash had to settle for the tough luck second-place cheque while Magical Mistress (Kevin Cummings) was third.

Owned by Elite Harness Racing LLC and conditioned by Shawn McDonough, the 10-year-old Village Jolt-Melody Stride daughter earned her second win in eight starts this season. Imprincessgemma A moved her bankroll to $26,486 in 2024 and $616,026 lifetime.

Davis Jr. made the journey from Northfield Park for the matinee worthwhile as he steered Imprincessgemma A to the surprising $27.60 win. He finished the day with a triple, registering a $2.90 victory aboard Century Grizzly and adding a $15.80 score with Traffic Citation.

Cummings had a driving triple while Samuel Smith had three training wins and McDonough two.

Racing will resume on Friday, April 5 at 2:30 p.m. with an 11-race program set.

(With files from Buffalo Raceway)
The Alberta Standardbred Horse Association (ASHA) announced on Wednesday, April 3 the appointment of Nancy Retzlaff as its new Executive Director. The appointment came into effect on April 1.

Retzlaff succeeds Fred Gillis, who recently retired after 15+ years of service.

Retzlaff previously served on the ASHA Board of Directors as Owners Chair and held the position of Marketing and Social Media Director with ASHA prior to her new appointment. Retzlaff is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of business and marketing leadership experience, coupled with a lifelong passion and family history in Standardbred horse racing.

Born and raised in Saskatoon, Sask., Retzlaff's journey into the world of horse racing began when her sister married Doug Stout, a driver, trainer and breeder in the sport. Retzlaff's love for the sport was fostered further by her father, Gordon Retzlaff, who became a devoted owner of racehorses.

After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Commerce, majors in Marketing and General Business, Retzlaff embarked on a successful business career with Bayer Healthcare, eventually leading to executive positions with Fortune 500 companies such as Pfizer and Merck. Her roles involved complex stakeholder management, negotiations with government officials and extensive marketing experience.

In 2021, Retzlaff's return to Canada brought her back to her roots in horse ownership. Inspired by her father's legacy and passion, she is currently co-owner of seven young Standardbred horses.

"I am delighted to be stepping into the role of Executive Director for ASHA," said Retzlaff. "I look forward to working with the team, our members and all stakeholders to further develop and promote the sport of Standardbred racing and breeding in Alberta.

ASHA also announced the appointment of Jocelyn Giesbrecht as Marketing and Special Events Coordinator. Giesbrecht previously served on the ASHA Board of Directors for three years as Director and Owners Chair.

Giesbrecht is a seasoned figure in the world of harness racing. Born into the sport, she honed her skills alongside her father, Gerry Hudon, before marrying driver Phil Giesbrecht. With a Bachelor of Business Administration from NAIT, she brings both passion and expertise to the track. Serving on the Board of Directors for three years and a member of the volunteer promotions committee, Giesbrecht has contributed significantly to the promotion of harness racing in the province of Alberta. Giesbrecht is deeply committed to championing the sport she loves. As a proud owner of multiple racehorses, she is eager to showcase their talent and highlight the thrill of harness racing to audiences worldwide.

Im excited to take on the marketing role at ASHA and look forward to collaborating with our stakeholders to take the sport I love so much to new heights, said Giesbrecht.

(With files from ASHA)
Western Fair Association (WFA) announced on Thursday, April 4 that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the Dorchester Downs Training Centre in Dorchester, Ont., located on the outskirts of London, Ont.

The beautiful 49-acre property boasts a five-eighths-mile track, features two barns with 100 stalls and is the home of some of the regions largest stables.

The WFA has enjoyed a longstanding commitment to harness racing in Ontario. The raceway site, formerly known as Salters Grove and later named Western Fair Raceway, was the first in Canada to conduct night time racing in 1961 and was the scene of harness racing legend John Campbells first driving win.

In 2022, the WFA took over ownership and operation of Canadas largest Standardbred yearling sale  the London Classic Yearling Sale  and the acquisition of Dorchester Downs further positions WFA as one of Canadas leading racing organizations.

When this opportunity came about, we thought it made sense for the association to explore, said Reg Ash, Western Fair Association CEO. It is a fantastic property that is ideally located in a rapidly growing municipality and further supports live racing in this part of the province. This demonstrates our commitment to a vibrant racing industry in Southwestern Ontario.

The WFA will take over operation of the facility in early July.

(Western Fair District)
Ontario horseman Bruce Harold Roy Goit passed away on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at Toronto General Hospital in his 49th year.

Bruce was an owner/trainer of Standardbred horses for several years. His love was also farming.

Bruce might have been best known as the conditioner of millionaire pacing mare Waasmula, but some of his personal favourites included Artistry, Greystone Cash, Western Alumni, Lyonssomewhere, Amillionpennies and Lyons River Pride.

Predeceased by his parents Phyllis and Harold. Loving brother to Bonnie Goit (Grover Anderson). Survived by his uncles Arnold (Wilma) Goit and Murray (Lorraine) Goit. Predeceased by aunts Muriel (Bill) Bellingham, Margaret (Roy) Armstrong and Beatrice Bratt. Also survived by many cousins.

Cremation has taken place. A Celebration of Bruces Life will take place on Sunday, May 12, 2024 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Binbrook Fair Grounds (under the grandstand), located at 2600 Regional Road #56, Binbrook, ON. Serenity Burial & Cremation Services Inc. has been entrusted with the arrangements.

For those wishing to make a memorial donation in Bruces memory, they are asked to consider the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society.

The family would like to thank lifetime friends and fellow horsepeople that have supported Bruce through his illness.

Online condolences can be left at serenityburialandcremation.com.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Bruce Goit.
Regional West Medical Center will host an open house Sunday, April 14 to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The public is invited to attend from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Regional West Education Center, located at 4021 Ave. B, Scottsbluff. There will be a short program at 2 p.m. The first 100 attendees will receive a commemorative keepsake. Refreshments will be served.

Throughout 2024, Regional West is celebrating the 100th anniversary of caring for the people of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming.

On April 15, 1924, the West Nebraska Methodist Episcopal Hospital opened at the corner of 18th and Broadway in Scottsbluff with a staff of 25. During the last 100 years, much has changed on its campus, in the community, and in the region.

Regional West Medical Center is now a regional referral center and the states only Level II Trauma Center west of Kearney. At its roots, Regional West has always been a community hospital  paid for by the community, supervised by a volunteer board of local citizens, and improved by contributions from volunteers and friends who continue to donate their time and talent in order to provide quality health care for the future.

No organization reaches 100 years without challenges. But with challenge comes opportunity, and Regional West Medical Center is excited about the many positive things that are happening at Regional West. Throughout the decades, Regional West Medical Center name and location have changed along with medical technology, and its staff and services have grown dramatically, yet Regional West Medical Center is committed to provide the same excellent care upon which it built its reputation. While much has changed since 1924, the dedication of Regional West Medical Center physicians, providers, employees, and countless others remains the same, and will continue as Regional West Medical Center embarks on the next 100 years.
Organizations operating in the orphan care sector in Damascus have urged the restoration of government assistance for energy, emphasizing their crucial social impact. They highlighted the challenges faced during the winter months, particularly in securing heating diesel and other essential fuels. The cost of acquiring these resources often surpasses 12,600 Syrian pounds for diesel and 80,000 Syrian pounds for a gas cylinder.

Numerous directors of orphanages, when contacted by Al-Watan, confirmed the financial constraints and difficulties in obtaining subsidized fuel and bread, along with the shortage of qualified educators. They emphasized the necessity of comprehensive support to enable associations to fulfill their missions and roles effectively.

Official data obtained by Al-Watan indicates that approximately 40.000 orphans reside in orphanages, with additional orphans cared for externally, notably with the Tamayuz Organization accommodating the largest percentage.

Abdel Moneim al-Sabbagh, the executive director of the Sayed Quraish orphanage, said his organization sponsors some 820 orphans both within and outside the institution, with ongoing support for those pursuing higher education. Funding primarily stems from real estate investments and philanthropic donations, underscoring the imperative for sustained support regarding energy resources.

Rana al-Baba, the Executive Director of Mabarra Womens Association for Social Development and Orphans Sponsorship, disclosed that the institution supports 1,019 orphans, ensuring they meet the required criteria. She highlighted the associations commitment to educating orphans, monitoring their academic progress, and fostering excellence, albeit without current plans for new initiatives or studies.

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.
Houston Pons, 43, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated early Thursday. Bexar County Sheriff's Office Houston Pons, 43, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated early Thursday. Bexar County Sheriff's Office

An off-duty Bexar County patrol sergeant was arrested early Thursday and charged with driving while intoxicated.

San Antonio police officers found Houston Pons, 43, around 2 a.m. in the 3200 block of Northwest Loop 410 access road. Pons had been with the department for 16 years and was a patrol supervisor.

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Following his arrest, the Bexar County Sheriffs Office issued a notice of proposed dismissal, and he was placed on unpaid administrative leave. The sheriffs office will conduct an administrative investigation into the incident pending the outcome of the San Antonio Police Departments criminal investigation.

Sheriff Javier Salazar said his department had made great strides regarding arrests for misconduct for its employees, but there is still work to do.

I maintain a strict disciplinary stance on this issue, so the swift and severe consequences for his actions should come as no surprise to this employee, Salazar said.

Pons was booked into the Bexar County jail on Thursday, and his bail was set at $1,000. He later made bond and now awaits his May 7 court appearance, court records show.
Charles Lister, Head of the Syria Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, has provided a significant assessment of the strategic implications following an Israeli airstrike on part of Irans consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1. The strike, which targeted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) leadership for Syria and Lebanon, resulted in the deaths of Brigadier General Mohammed Zahedi, General Hossein Aminullah, and Major General Haj Rahimi. This action has been marked as a critical point in the regional conflict following Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Lister highlighted the unprecedented nature of the strike, which not only destroyed a building within the Iranian Consulate compound but also eliminated a key figure in the IRGC, marking a direct attack on Iranian sovereignty. The operations significance is underlined by Zahedis role in coordinating Irans support for Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, marking him as a central figure in Irans regional military engagements.

Since the start of the regional tensions in October 2023, Israel has adopted a more aggressive stance, conducting over 55 strikes in Syria, with a significant number targeting IRGC operatives and leadership. The escalation indicates a shift from Israels previous tactical actions to a more assertive approach, with the most recent strikes including the targeting of Irans consulate, signaling the crossing of previous red lines.

The potential for an Iranian response is high, with the region already on edge. Irans history of using proxies to retaliate against aggressive Israeli actions suggests a possible lifting of the freeze on proxy attacks against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, which had been in place since early February. Additionally, there is speculation about a reciprocal missile launch from Iran towards Israel, which could escalate tensions further, although efforts might be made to avoid an uncontrollable spiral of escalation.

Despite the increase in Hezbollah-Israel tensions, it seems unlikely that Lebanon will be the focal point for an Iranian response, given the delicate balance that has prevented all-out war in recent months. The coming days are expected to reveal Irans approach to retaliation, offering insights into its strategic calculations amidst ongoing multi-front hostilities.

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 Syrian regime official was killed when his car was targeted with an explosive device in the city of Hama. According to the Syrian regimes news agency SANA, Bassel Abdul Qadir, the director of the Military Construction Corporation branch in Hama, was fatally injured when his vehicle was struck by an explosive device outside his residence in the al-Qusour neighbourhood of Hama city.

The explosion occurred shortly after another explosive device detonated in the Sakan al-Shababi neighbourhood in Homs, although no casualties were reported by the Syrian regime as a result of this incident.

While no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks, the locations of the explosions suggest possible internal regime conflicts. Since 2014, the Syrian regime has maintained control over the city center of Homs, while Hama has remained under its authority since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011.

Its worth mentioning that areas under Syrian regime control have experienced several incidents over the years involving the deaths of officers and officials under mysterious circumstances. All available evidence suggests that these individuals were targeted by the regime itself.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The Syrian Liberal Party (Ahrar) has put forward a bold proposal for a unified state accommodating both Palestinians and Jews, complete with a bicameral parliament.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the party advocated for a sustainable resolution to the Palestinian conflict by advocating for a single-state solution, dismissing the feasibility of a two-state solution.

The party expressed deep concern about the ongoing massacres targeting the Palestinian people, emphasizing that the current situation is untenable.

It argued that the perpetuation of warfare and devastation only benefits extremist factions in the region, obstructing efforts toward achieving peace and regional stability.

The party advocated for establishing a unified state guaranteeing equality and justice for all residents, irrespective of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.

Highlighting that attempts to construct nationalist states in the region have failed to yield peace, the statement underscored that a single-state model is the most viable solution in our contemporary era.

The statement urged the international community to pressure Israel to amend its policies and laws, acknowledging that historic Palestine is a shared homeland for a culturally and religiously diverse population.

To realize this vision, the party outlined steps including ending occupation and apartheid and establishing a state founded on principles of equality and justice.

It proposed the formation of a bicameral parliament ensuring equitable representation for all racial and religious groups.

The first chamber would represent citizens based on population, ensuring fairness and equal representation.

The second chamber would be equally divided between Palestinian and Jewish citizens to prevent legislative bias favouring one group over another.

The statement called for addressing refugee issues, the right of return, compensation, and transitional justice, alongside regional cooperation to foster stability.

Additionally, it emphasized the necessity of disarming weapons of mass destruction in the region, including in Israel, to ensure security and stability.

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.
On April 3, 2024, a wave of grief and solidarity between Syria and Iran was palpable following a severe attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria personally reached out to Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, offering his deepest condolences for the loss of Iranian military advisors in the tragic event. The attack, which President al-Assad criticized for its execution in a civilian-populated area, highlights the continuous aggressive posture of the Zionist entity, underscoring a history of violence, displacement, and exploitation.

In a demonstration of mourning and respect, a solemn funeral service, complete with military honours, was held for the fallen advisors. The procession began at the Military Hospital in Damascus, witnessed by Defense Minister General Ali Abbas and other dignitaries, before heading towards Tehran. General Abbas paid tribute to the advisors for their crucial role in combating terrorism on Syrian soil, emphasizing their partnership in efforts to cleanse the region of terrorist elements and their supporters.

The Iranian Ambassador to Syria, Hussain Akbari, echoed the sentiments of condemnation for the attack, labelling it a blatant violation of international norms and a direct affront to both Iran and Syria. Ambassador Akbaris statement highlighted the criminal nature of the Zionist entity and reaffirmed Irans right to respond accordingly to such provocations.

This tragic incident has not only reinforced the bonds of friendship and cooperation between Syria and Iran but also underscored the challenges both nations face in the regions volatile landscape. The shared grief and determination for justice reflect the deep historical ties and mutual support that define the Syrian-Iranian alliance in the face of adversity.

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.
Russias Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday it had deployed additional forces in the Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights, where Israel had allegedly struck at an increasing rate over the last few months, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The forces, from Russias military police, were tasked with de-escalating tensions in the Syrian provinces of Quneitra and Daraa, as well as monitoring the longstanding ceasefire issued as part of the Syrian Civil War.

According to Russia, military posts belonging to the Syrian military are located below the Russian observation posts, set up to monitor possible provocations.

Russias decision to make their presence in the Golan Heights comes after Moscow condemned a strike, blamed on Israel, targeting the Iranian consulate in Syria.

Moscow called on the Jewish state to cease such completely unacceptable actions and has requested a meeting with the UN Security Council regarding the strike.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such attacks violated all the foundations of international law.

Russias cynical use of the Golan Heights

Russia had also continuously used Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights as a sticking point in arguing for its invasion of Ukraine

Last year, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of being hypocritical in its recognition of the Golan Heights as part of sovereign Israel.

Lavrov, who compared the Golan Heights to Ukraines war-torn Donbas, hinted that the US does not take its own vow to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all UN member states seriously.

Tehran vows response after strike blamed on Israel destroyed Irans Consulate in Syria

Iran on Tuesday vowed to respond to an airstrike widely attributed to Israel that destroyed Irans Consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus the previous day and killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals and a member of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, AP reported.

Four Syrian citizens were also killed in the strike, a Syrian official said Tuesday, without providing any details about them. Hezbollah, which has been a key ally of both Syrian President Bashar Assads government and Iran, also pledged punishment and revenge on Israel.

Irans deputy U.N. ambassador Zahra Ershadi told a contentious emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that some Iranians were injured, but The final and accurate death toll remains uncertain as the entire diplomatic premises has been destroyed with individuals trapped under the rubble.

Israel, which has repeatedly targeted Iranian officers in Syria and in Lebanon, did not confirm Mondays attack.

Iran provides money and weapons to Hezbollah, as well as Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza. Clashes between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border have increased since the war in Gaza began nearly six months ago.

At UN, US warns Iran not to target it over Syria strike

Reuters reported that the United States warned Iran on Tuesday not to retaliate against it for an attack on Irans embassy compound in Syria, telling the U.N. Security Council it had no prior warning of the strike that Tehran has blamed on Washingtons ally Israel.

The strike on Monday  that Iran said killed two of its generals and five military advisers  marked one of the most significant attacks yet on Iranian interests in Syria, where Israel has stepped up a long-running campaign against Iran.

We will not hesitate to defend our personnel and repeat our prior warnings to Iran and its proxies not to take advantage of the situation  again, an attack in which we had no involvement or advanced knowledge  to resume their attacks on U.S. personnel, said deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood.

Attacks by Iran-backed proxies against U.S. troops based in Iraq and Syria stopped in February after Washington retaliated for the killing of three U.S. troops in Jordan with dozens of airstrikes on targets in Syria and Iraq linked to Irans Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and militias that it supports.

Iran told the 15-member Security Council that it reserves the right to take a decisive response to the attack, accusing Israel of violating the founding U.N. Charter, international law, and the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.

The United States is responsible for all crimes committed by the Israeli regime, said Irans deputy U.N. Ambassador Zahra Ershadi, accusing the U.S. of trying to destabilize Syria and the region and calling it out for supporting Israel in its war with Palestinian militants Hamas.

American Federal judge orders Iran, Syria to pay $191M for Hamas-supported slaying of American Israeli activist

Fox News reported that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found on Thursday that the family and estate of Ari Fuld are entitled to compensation due to Iran and Syrias support for terrorism. Neither Iran nor Syria sent lawyers to represent them in the case, resulting in a default judgment.

The stabbing that killed Mr. Fuld was a tragic event, and money cannot fully account for the harm that these defendants have inflicted, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in the ruling. Iran and Syria have, once again, provided material support to Hamas and thereby facilitated the savage murder of a husband, father, son and brother to these plaintiffs.

The courts ruling today cannot erase plaintiffs pain, but it can begin the process of affording them due compensation for their loss, he added.

Relatives and friends mourn during the funeral of Ari Fuld, 45, an American-born Israeli fatally stabbed by a Palestinian member of Hamas, at a cemetery in Kfar Etzion in the West Bank.

Fuld, who was 45 at the time, was outside a mall in the Jewish West Bank area of Gush Etzion in 2018 when 17-year-old Palestinian Khalil Jabarin fatally stabbed him. Fuld, a father of four, chased his assailant after the stabbing before succumbing to injury, Israeli Ynet News reported. A bystander shot Jabarin, stopping him before he was apprehended.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
This 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

Tech developers, tinkerers, device engineers, artists, and start-up founders are experimenting with ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence platformsincluding at NextFab, a Philadelphia firm that offers digital hardware and software tools, know-how and venture funding to fee-paying users.

At its "makerspaces" in Philadelphia's Point Breeze and Kensington neighborhoods, NextFab users, staff and visitors have been applying this software, which "learns" and accelerates with repeated use to speed web research and design new products, processes, logos, legal contracts and thought experiments.

Fans say AI platforms promise greater efficiency and opportunity, while challenging established work roles and ideas on the nature and use of intellectual property.

On the eve of a March 22 AI demo gathering at the Kensington location, Evan Malone, the Cornell Ph.D. and media heir who started the business at the University City Science Center in 2009, convened four of his favorite Philadelphia AI enthusiasts to explain how AI is already changing design and production.

They were Brad Flaugher, an MIT and Wharton grad turned software company founder who wrote the how-to book "AI Harmony"; Josh Devon, cofounder of Flashpoint, which makes threat-intelligence software; and a pair of NextFab's own staffDrexel-trained senior engineer Matt Starfield, a past Electropunk and heavy-metal musician with Philly's Mose Giganticus; and IT chief Michael Grusell, who built systems for Citibank. Here's some of what they told the Inquirer.

This interview has been condensed for brevity and clarity.

Q: Are these 'generative' AI platforms just fancy search engines? How are you using this?

Devon: Every company now is an AI company or waiting to be. It's just as in the 1990s everyone was asking, "Where are you on the web?"

I've been working with computational linguists to apply AI (chat panels to validate and assess start-ups in) the venture-building process. We suck down pieces of the internet into the query, then apply ChatGPT questions, like we were a junior analyst team looking at the potential for tech disruption. Imagine (a virtual panel with) Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Lao Tzu and Mother Teresa, and have them debate things we prototype from economic and moral directions.

Or we'll take a securities-trading idea and spin it up to look for market signals, then figure out what to try next.

One start-up I was helping, Redcoat AI, just came out of stealth. It's dealing with this increasing problem, an AI problem, that within seconds of a YouTube video (getting posted online), you can now use AI to make a "chatbox" that can (clone the voice of) the person in the video.

So suddenly we have all these soundalike "CEOs" calling employees and "phishing" them: "Send me $3,000 immediately!" Redcoat can tell you if the calls are real or automated.

Q: Who can use these AI tools?

Starfield: Anyone. I'm an engineer, but I don't have formal IT training.

Last year that AI stuff started piquing our interest. What lit a fire was Brad's book, "AI Harmony." It's one big lesson on how to use these applications. Now I'm a passionate evangelist.

Before AI, I'd Google some keywords, read four or five linked articles, and find one that answers the question. Now I type the question into GPT, and it spits out the answer. It saves 40 minutes of research and gives me more keywords and touchpoint to ask the right question.

ChatGPT opened up the world to be able to use different LLMs (large language models). I usually have browsers open to (Anthropic's) Claude 3, Perplexity, Mistral, Google. I'll ask them all the same question and see what they are giving us.

You're still responsible for the validity of the answerthese can hallucinate, they can give you the wrong information, you have to verify.

Q: What's Translate Tribune?

Flaugher: It's my fully autonomous news aggregator. I'm stealing articles. It visits all these news sourcesU.S., Turkey, Russia, Kenya, Israel, Iran, the People's Daily in China, friends and foesselects articles and translates them, and publishes a "newspaper" every day.

Here's how it picks them for us: I told ChatGPT "You were a CIA analyst" and had it create a page of international news. Then I set up a finance page and told it, "You worked for Goldman Sachs, and you are translating for an American audience."

It has every language. The Mistral AI platform from France is best at European languages. Claude3 is handling Asian languages, Farsi, Arabic, Swahili.

Q: You focus on professional newsrooms, not random 'citizen journalists'?

Flaugher: If you're not paying for information, you're getting propaganda. News is a premium product. You pay for news you trust.

But I'm not doing Translate Tribune for money; it's proof of concept. The Wall Street Journal has a paywall, but it's kind of irrelevant, I can get around it. I was paying $600 a year to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. I canceled those. I do pay the (AI platforms) feesabout a dollar a day.

Q: How can news organizations stay in business if you're giving their product away?

Flaugher: I'm getting people to donate. Individuals starting podcasts find that if you get a loyal enough following, they'll support you.

So the future of the news business looks a lot like Tucker Carlson. People will pay him to keep him interviewing people. Just like I keep subscribing to The Inquirer and the Economist. Donations are keeping news organizations around.

Devon: This all still has to shake out. OpenAI is being sued by the New York Times. I think it will be hard for the Times to say models can't be trained on their data.

That's how the internet works. Everyone is scraping everyone's work. Would they pass a law that made that illegal? Google is paying Reddit to scrape their data. Maybe the Times will get Microsoft and Amazon and Google to pay them, or tie a product to AI.

Grusell: Clearly the (news organizations) want to encourage large tech corporations to subscribe. There will eventually be legislation. I wouldn't hold my breath; the question of paying for source material has to percolate through the legal system for some time.

Q: Do you worry about destroying people's jobs?

Devon: You'll always need humans in the loop to do this stuff. You might first need fewer. It's cheaper than ever to start a company. Brad started one for like $20 the other weekend.

But then tech will need more jobs because it creates more needs and problems to solve. AI can help democratize people's ability to solve problems they are passionate about and make money doing so.

We call (AI applications) "prompt engineering," writing prompts with emotive, clear, precise language that gets the results you want. You don't need to understand the math.

Malone: So we're trying to elicit interest in AI by our members before they are displaced by it.

We have members who are freelancers. They make physical products and do graphic design. We need to embrace this and level up so they are not replaced by AI-generated images.

Generative AI lowers the barrier on who can use these tools. So less-technical people can do more with technology.

2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Reduction of large outage probability that can be reached by hardening power lines according to the priority index: comparison of co-evolution and static model. a, The 20 lines of the Texas power grid with the highest priority index obtained from the static model (orange lines), the co-evolution model (blue lines) and both models (green lines). b, Detail enlargement (black rectangle in a) of Houston and Harris County, which contain most of the critical lines. c, Power outage distributions of Hurricane Harvey as a function of the number of protected critical lines, as obtained by the coevolution model (blue) and the static (orange) model. d, Relative reduction of the probability of large power outages as a function of protected lines as obtained from the static model (lines) and the co-evolution model (dots) for the three hurricanes Harvey (blue), Ike (orange) and Claudette (green). Credit: Nature Energy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-023-01434-1

The Gulf Coast of the United States is often hit by tropical cyclones (TCs), hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena, which can cause widespread electricity outages. Climate change and global warming are expected to increase the risk of these events occurring, which could significantly disrupt activities in the area.

Researchers at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Fraunhofer SCAI in Germany recently carried out a study aimed at investigating the impact of extreme weather events on the Texas power grid, to identify lines that should be strengthened to prevent serious outages in the future.

Their paper, published in Nature Energy, could guide efforts by the local government and engineers in the area aimed at increasing the resilience of the electricity grid in the state of Texas.

"Our paper is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the impact modeling and the infrastructure research carried out at PIK," Mehrnaz Anvari, the author who coordinated the research, told Tech Xplore. "Recent studies and statistics have shown a significant increase in power outages caused by extreme weather events. Our study focuses on extreme wind events, which have a significant impact on transmission lines and towers."

The damage caused by extremely windy weather events to transmission lines often leads to further system and infrastructure failures, resulting in widespread blackouts and power outages. As some weather events, such as hurricanes and severe TCs, can last for several hours and even days, the damage they cause can also reduce their resilience to future adverse weather,

"During these events, tens or even hundreds of transmission lines and towers can be damaged," Anvari explained. "This contrasts with the N-1 or N-2 security rules that are applied to the power grid. According to these rules, the power grid should remain resilient even after one or maximum two components fail."

Notably, every time that a transmission line fails, the topology and dynamics of a power grid change. This means that the grid's response to future adverse weather events and associated damage will depend on the history of previous damages and how they functioned after these damages.

"The primary objective of our study was to understand the interplay between evolving storm conditions and the partially destroyed state of the grid," Frank Hellmann, co-author of the paper, said. "This required us to study the temporal-spatial structure of damages and outages, a topic with little preexisting research."

The recent paper by Anvari, Hellmann and their colleagues is based on a key intuition rooted in complex systems research. This intuition is that if a complex but robust system fails due to external stresses, it typically does so following fairly well-defined patterns or failure modes.

"If we can identify these failure modes, we can hope to prevent such catastrophic failures," Hellmann explained. "Concretely, this means identifying lines that are critical for keeping the system operational; or, to put this the other way around, we identify the lines whose failure during the hurricane is most likely to trigger large-scale blackouts."

Contrary to other previous efforts in this field, the researchers' approach does not only fail lines that are most likely to trigger outages in the unperturbed fully functional systems, but also examines their impact in instances where a power grid has already suffered extensive damages. This ultimately allowed them to better determine the "backbone" of the grid, which supports its resilience.

"Once the critical lines are identified, we should focus on enhancing their resilience against extreme wind events, for example by replacing overhead lines with underground cables," Anvari said. "In our study we assume that this ensures 100% safety against wind damage. However, it is important to consider that underground cables are significantly more expensive than transmission lines, and may not be cost-effective for long distances, reinforcing transmission towers might be a viable alternative."

A further consideration outlined by the team is that hurricanes can also be accompanied by flooding, which can damage underground cables. This should also be taken into account when trying to increase the resilience of power grids.

"Our most notable finding is that there really is a small set of critical lines, and that protecting these can dramatically reduce major blackouts, which was not a given," Anvari said. "In principle our modeling approach could relatively directly be applied by transmission grid operators to identify targets for reinforcement in their systems.

"In practice, one would want to expand the model to cover other aspects of storms, such as flooding, into the damages. Many tweaks to the underlying model are feasible and could allow to incorporate operators' expertise and knowledge of their system."

The recent work by this team of researchers introduces a new model that could be used to identify all critical lines in a power grid, so that they can be enhanced to prevent large-scale outages during extreme weather. To demonstrate their approach, they used it to identify the critical lines in the Texas power grid.

In the future, the modeling approach could be used to plan the construction and enhancement of transmission grids, allowing engineers to identify specific failure scenarios and devise strategies to prevent these scenarios. These scenarios and strategies could then be tested in simulations and studied in depth, before implementing expensive interventions and infrastructure maintenance processes.

"We now intend to expand our research to include the analysis of other extreme weather events, including floods, and explore their potential correlations," Hellmann added. "Additionally, we are actively considering the propagation of failures from the power grid to other interconnected sectors, such as the gas supply sector, and vice versa. As such studies are complex and time intensive, we also are exploring AI methods that could directly predict where vulnerabilities for further study might lie."

More information: Julian Sturmer et al, Increasing the resilience of the Texas power grid against extreme storms by hardening critical lines, Nature Energy (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-023-01434-1 Journal information: Nature Energy

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Large-scale language models enable AI agents to evolve various types of personalities in social interactions. Credit: Reiko Matsushita

Researchers in Japan have effectively developed a diverse range of personality traits in dialogue AI using a large-scale language model (LLM). Using the prisoner's dilemma from game theory, Professor Takaya Arita and Associate Professor Reiji Suzuki from Nagoya University's Graduate School of Informatics' team created a framework for evolving AI agents that mimics human behavior by switching between selfish and cooperative actions, adapting its strategies through evolutionary processes. Their findings were published in Scientific Reports.

LLM-driven Dialogue AI forms the basis for technologies such as ChatGPT. These technologies enable computers to interact with people in a manner that resembles person-to-person communication. The goal of the Nagoya University team was to examine how LLMs could be used to evolve prompts that encourage more diverse personality traits during social interactions.

The personalities of AIs were evolved to obtain virtual earnings by playing the prisoner's dilemma game from game theory. The dilemma consists of each player choosing whether to cooperate with or defect from their partner. If both AI systems cooperate, they each receive four virtual dollars. However, if one defects while the other cooperates, the defector gets five dollars, while the cooperator gets nothing. If both defect, they receive one dollar each.

"In this study, we set out to investigate how AI agents endowed with diverse personality traits interact and evolve," Arita explained. "By utilizing the remarkable capabilities of LLMs, we developed a framework where AI agents evolve based on natural language descriptions of personality traits encoded in their genes.

"Through this framework, we observed various types of personality traits, with the evolution of AIs capable of switching between selfish and cooperative behaviors, mirroring human behavior."

In usual studies in evolutionary game theory, "genes" in the models directly determine an agent's behavior. Using the LLMs, Arita and Suzuki explored genes that represented more complex descriptions than previous models, such as "being open to team efforts while prioritizing self-interest, leading to a combination of cooperation and defection." This description was then translated into a behavioral strategy by asking the LLM whether it would cooperate or defect when it has such a personality trait.

The research used an evolutionary framework, in which AI agents' abilities were shaped by natural selection and mutation over generations. This caused a wide range of personality traits to appear.

Although some agents displayed selfish characteristics, putting their own interests above those of the community or the group as a whole, other agents demonstrated advanced strategies that revolved around seeking personal gain while still considering mutual and collective benefit.

"Our experiments provide fascinating insights into the evolutionary dynamics of personality traits in AI agents. We observed the emergence of both cooperative and selfish personality traits within AI populations, reminiscent of human societal dynamics," Suzuki said.

"However, we also uncovered the instability inherent in AI societies, with excessively cooperative groups being replaced by more 'egocentric' agents."

"This achievement underscores the transformative potential of LLMs in AI research, showing that the evolution of personality traits based on subtle linguistic expressions can be represented by a computational model using LLMs," remarked Suzuki.

"Our findings provide insights into the characteristics that AI agents should possess to contribute to human society, as well as design guidelines for AI societies and societies with mixed AI and human populations, which are expected to arrive in the not-too-distant future."

More information: Reiji Suzuki et al, An evolutionary model of personality traits related to cooperative behavior using a large language model, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55903-y Journal information: Scientific Reports
Uvalde, a community torn by recriminations over the performance of its police department during the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, has a new police chief.

Acting Chief Homer Delgado will become permanent chief effective this weekend, city officials said Thursday. He replaces Daniel Rodriguez, who announced his resignation last month after six years as chief. The resignation takes effect Saturday.

The City of Uvalde announced the appointment of Interim Chief of Police Homer Delgado to serve as the permanent Chief of the Uvalde Police Department (UPD), effective April 6. Chief Delgado brings more than 28 years of experience in law enforcement, including more than 20 years in supervisory and leadership roles, to the position, including tenure as Chief of Police for the City of Dilley, Texas. Courtesy the City of Uvalde The City of Uvalde announced the appointment of Interim Chief of Police Homer Delgado to serve as the permanent Chief of the Uvalde Police Department (UPD), effective April 6. Chief Delgado brings more than 28 years of experience in law enforcement, including more than 20 years in supervisory and leadership roles, to the position, including tenure as Chief of Police for the City of Dilley, Texas. Courtesy the City of Uvalde Homer Delgado replaces outgoing Uvalde police chief Daniel Rodriguez. Delgado said he'd bring 'a new level of professionalism and accountability' to the department. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News The City of Uvalde announced the appointment of Interim Chief of Police Homer Delgado to serve as the permanent Chief of the Uvalde Police Department (UPD), effective April 6. Chief Delgado brings more than 28 years of experience in law enforcement, including more than 20 years in supervisory and leadership roles, to the position, including tenure as Chief of Police for the City of Dilley, Texas. Courtesy the City of Uvalde

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Nearly a year ago, Delgado left his job as police chief in Dilley, a town 72 miles west of San Antonio, to become Uvaldes assistant chief. He stepped up to acting chief after Rodriguez announced he was leaving.

Delgado previously worked as a patrol officer in Ingleside, in various roles for the San Patricio County Sheriffs Office, as an investigator for the Medina County Attorneys Office and as a lieutenant for the Terrell Hills Police Department. He graduated from San Antonios Jefferson High School and studied criminal justice and police science at San Antonio College from 1992 to 1994.

Chief Delgado has repeatedly demonstrated the qualities necessary to lead UPD with integrity, as well as a clear vision for the future of the department, the city said in a statement. Throughout his nearly three-decade career, which includes a diverse array of experiences protecting Texas communities and spearheading community engagement initiatives, Chief Delgado has demonstrated his passion and dedication for enhancing public safety.

Delgado inherits a department battered by accusations that its officers did not do enough to rescue children trapped in a classroom at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022. The shooter killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers that day.

Uvalde police were among nearly 400 officers from two dozen agencies who responded to the incident. Not until 77 minutes after the first 911 call did members of a Border Patrol tactical unit storm the classroom and kill the shooter.

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Some of the victims relatives have demanded that city officials fire three Uvalde police officers who were among the first law enforcement personnel on the scene. The relatives say those officers put their own lives ahead of those of the children and waited in a hallway rather than breach the classroom immediately.

A consultant hired by the city to assess the performance of its officers that day released a report last month that said all 28 Uvalde police officers who responded to the shooting acted in good faith, followed departmental policies and could not be faulted for failing to stop the carnage, given that they lacked the necessary ballistic body shields and high-powered weapons.

The report, by retired Austin police detective Jesse Prado, focused exclusively on Uvalde police officers, not the much larger number from other agencies including the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Border Patrol.

Nevertheless, Prados findings infuriated many family members, who have spoken out at recent city council meetings to condemn his conclusions and demand police firings.

Uncertainty over who would lead the police department compounded the families frustration. Adding to the fraught atmosphere, Mayor Cody Smith, who some family activists saw as sympathetic to their cause, unexpectedly resigned on Monday, citing unspecified health problems.

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Council Member Everardo Zamora, who is serving as mayor pro tempore, said at a council meeting Tuesday that neither he nor the council could fire any police officer.

That decision would lie with the police chief or with City Manager Vince DiPiazza, he said.

By law, according to our attorney, we cannot fire any police officer. By law, I cant, Zamora said.

In a statement, Delgado said he was deeply humbled and honored to accept the position of chief of police for the city of Uvalde. I am committed to fostering a culture of accountability, transparency, and integrity within our police department. These values are not merely words on paper but guiding principles that will shape every decision and action we take.

We owe it to the community we serve to hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct, he added. I want to be clear: the Uvalde Police Department is on the brink of a complete transition. We will challenge every member of our department to rise to a new level of professionalism and accountability.

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The statement did not address the fate of the three police officers targeted for dismissal by family activists.

Delgado played a role in the confused aftermath of the Robb Elementary shooting, when hundreds of police officers converged on Uvalde from towns and cities across Texas to support the local department. Some of those officers interfered with news-gathering by ordering journalists off public sidewalks and positioning public safety vehicles to prevent photographers from taking pictures of funeral processions.

At the request of then-Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr., Delgado stepped in to oversee the out-of-town officers while still serving as Dilleys police chief.

In an interview with the San Antonio Express-News at the time, Delgado said he regretted that journalists had been hassled and that he had instructed the officers to respect the First Amendment. Were not there to interfere with the media, he said. The out-of-town officers went back to their own departments within a few weeks.

Uvalde officials hired Delgado as assistant police chief in May 2023. In Dilley, Delgado did an excellent job of building strong, transparent relationships between the citizens  and the police department, DiPiazza said at the time.

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Delgado brings 26 years of diverse experience including prisoner transportation, patrol, criminal investigations, hostage negotiations, tactical response, prosecutorial investigations and police administration, the city manager said.

Rodriguez played no role in his departments response to the school shooting. He was on vacation in Arizona. He rushed home when he heard the news, arriving the next day.
The Texas A&M University Police Department is asking students to remain alert after it received two separate reports of date rape drugs possibly being used at Northgate bars.

According to a crime alert released Tuesday night, UPD said it received reports on March 29 and April 1 of incapacitating agents being placed into victims' drinks. The use of incapacitating agents is considered aggravated assault per the Clery Act, according to police.

UPD is asking students to practice the following steps in order to stay safe:

Don't drink from a can or bottle that you did not open yourself

Avoid punch bowls or drinks that are being passed in a group setting

Do use your own cup with a lid and a straw

Don't leave your drink unattended. If you leave your drink to dance, talk to friends, or use the restroom, throw it out and get a new one

If your drink has unusual taste or appearance, like a salty taste or unexplained residue, throw it out

Watch out for your friends and ask them to watch out for you. Have a plan to check in with each other at set times

If your friend appears intoxicated, gets sick, passes out, is having trouble walking or breathing, do what you need to do to make sure your friend is safe. Call 911 in case of an emergency

More information can be found at titleix.tamu.edu. Reports can be made to the Title IX Office at (979) 458-8407.
Brett Cross, guardian of Robb Elementary massacre victim Uziyah Garcia, attends a special city council meeting at Uvaldes City Hall on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Uvalde city council member Stephen E. Balke, left, talks with Mayor Pro-Tem Everardo Lalo Zamora before the start of a special city council meeting held at City Hall on Tuesday evening, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Jesse Rizo, uncle of Robb Elementary shooting victim Jackie Cazares, delivers public comments during a special city council meeting held at Uvaldes City Hall on Tuesday evening, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News A woman hands out bracelets that say enough is enough #21 during a special city council meeting held at Uvaldes City Hall on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. She made the bracelets to honor the 19 fourth graders and two teachers killed in the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Uvalde city council member Stephen E. Balke, left, and Mayor Pro-Tem Everardo Lalo Zamora prepare for a special city council meeting held at City Hall on Tuesday evening, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Uvalde city council members meet at City Hall on Tuesday evening, April 2, 2024, in Uvalde. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Mayor Pro-Tem Everardo Lalo Zamora listens to public comments from Uvalde residents during a special city council session held at City Hall on Tuesday evening, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Brett Cross, guardian of Robb Elementary massacre victim Uziyah Garcia, speaks during a special city council meeting held at Uvaldes City Hall on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Uvalde city attorney Paul Tarski listens during a public comment period at Tuesday's city council meeting. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Uvalde resident Denise Feldtman attends Tuesday's city council meeting wearing a T-shirt that reads Uvalde Police Department failed our children." Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Mayor Pro-Tem Everardo Lalo Zamora speaks during a special city council session at Uvaldes City Hall on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News A Uvalde police officer at a city council meeting held at City Hall on Tuesday evening, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Uvalde Mayor Pro-Tem Everardo Lalo Zamora answers questions from journalists after a special city council session at City Hall on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News A memorial stands in front of Robb Elementary School, where 19 fourth-graders and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old gunman on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News

UVALDE  A day after Mayor Cody Smith abruptly resigned, an angry crowd was back before the City Council on Tuesday night, demanding the firing of police officers who responded to a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School nearly two years ago.

Some in the crowd had been anticipating the meeting, hoping that Smith would announce disciplinary action against officers for failing to save more lives at Robb on May 24, 2022, the day a gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers. Activists have demanded the firing of three officers in particular who were in a hallway outside the classroom where the slaughter took place.

But on Monday, Smith resigned effective immediately, citing unspecified medical reasons, and at Tuesdays meeting, council members took no disciplinary action against any police officers.

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A detailed report by retired Austin police detective Jesse Prado, hired by the city to assess the departments performance, determined that none of the 28 Uvalde officers who responded to the shooting violated department policies. They all acted in good faith and could not be blamed for failing to neutralize the shooter early in the incident, Prado said.

Council Member Everardo Zamora, who is serving as mayor pro tempore until a successor to Smith is elected in the fall, said after the meeting that neither he nor the council could fire any police officer. That decision would lie with the police chief or with City Manager Vince DiPiazza, he said.

Uvalde will soon be without a permanent police chief. Chief Daniel Rodriguez is stepping down effective Saturday, and an acting chief will fill the position while the city searches for a permanent replacement.

By law, according to our attorney, we cannot fire any police officer. By law, I cant, Zamora said, adding that the acting chief is not authorized to fire officers either.

Do we have a chief of police? he asked. We need a chief.

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When Zamora was asked if the council could order DiPiazza to fire officers, Council Member Ernest Chip King III interjected, We dont direct anyone to terminate.

DiPiazza told the San Antonio Express-News that council members could tell him what they thought ought to be done, and that he would listen to their opinions.

I work for the City Council; the police chief works for me, he said. But he added that the council has not made any formal directive to him to fire officers.

Some of those who addressed the council at recent meetings have demanded that the city fire Lt. Javier Martinez, Sgt. Eduardo Canales and Detective Louis Landry, all veteran Uvalde officers.

No one has offered a specific reason to fire those officers, two of whom were wounded by gunfire. In his report, Prado exonerated all three. But the victims family members have made it plain theyre determined to see someone pay for the loss of life.

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I know that yall aint talking about this, said Brett Cross, guardian of one of the children killed, 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, and leader of a loosely affiliated protest movement. Yall keep saying, Oh, give us time, give us time. Youve had two years. But the issue with that is, why wont you call it to a vote?

Are yall not tired of being the joke of this country? he asked.

Smith, a local bank executive, resigned just months into his third term as mayor. He spent 17 years on the council before he was elected mayor for the first time in 2008. He was reelected in 2010 but declined to run for a third term in 2012.

In 2023, he sought the office for a third time, saying he felt compelled to run to help the community heal after the Robb Elementary tragedy. He was victorious in November, defeating Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter, Lexi, was among the children slain.

In his resignation letter Monday, Smith thanked residents for their thoughts and prayers during my ongoing recovery from unexpected medical issues I have experienced in recent weeks. He went on to say, After much consultation and prayer, I have decided to resign as Mayor of the City of Uvalde to focus on my health.

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Prados review was the latest in a series of official inquiries into the police response to the school massacre. Unlike the others, his focused exclusively on the Uvalde Police Department. In all, 380 officers from two dozen local, state and federal agencies were on the scene that day. Not until 77 minutes after the first 911 call did members of a Border Patrol tactical team storm the classroom and kill the shooter.

Members of the public who addressed the council Tuesday night tended to be critical of both Prados report and the councils handling of it. Diana Olvedo-Karau, a local activist who ran unsuccessfully for Uvalde County commissioner in 2022, faulted the way the report was made public. Prado recited his findings during a council meeting, responding to questions from City Attorney Paul Tarski.

The council had not seen the report in advance and did not know what Prado would say.

Olvedo-Karau told council members that was really a misstep on your behalf.

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Another Uvalde activist, Jesse Rizo, urged the council to imagine what grieving families have endured since the school shooting, the second worst in U.S. history.
A woman and child were killed Wednesday on Stone Oak Parkway after they were struck by a drunk driver, according to San Antonio police. kali9/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A woman and a 5-year-old child were killed Wednesday after they were struck by a drunken driver on the North Side, San Antonio police said.

The incident happened around 8 p.m. in the 20500 block of Stone Oak Parkway.

According to a preliminary police report, the 39-year-old woman and child were walking on the sidewalk along Stone Oak Parkway when a driver in an Audi SUV going at a high rate of speed jumped up on the curb, crashed into a utility pole and struck the woman and child.

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The Bexar County Medical Examiners Office identified the woman as Vanesa Araceli Ramos and the child as Solumen Edge Lopez.

After emergency personnel arrived at the scene, Ramos and the child were pronounced dead, according to the report.

Police identified the driver as Marlon Daniels, 56. He was arrested and charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter.
Turkiye's Istanbul tests Chinese smart metrobus

Xinhua) 10:19, April 04, 2024

ISTANBUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Istanbul, Turkiye's largest city, has commenced a 45-day trial of the state-of-the-art Chinese smart metrobus, a press release said on Wednesday.

The four-wagon electric metrobus, developed by China's CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute, boasts a capacity of 420 passengers and is equipped with virtual trajectory tracking capabilities.

The institute emphasized in its release that this initiative is geared towards addressing the pressing demand for passenger transportation, with a primary focus on enhancing comfort, safety, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability.

Representatives from Istanbul transportation institutions, including Istanbul Tram and Tunnel Enterprises and Istanbul Metro, conducted a test drive and experienced the new vehicles.

Expressing satisfaction with the trial, they indicated their intent to collaborate further with their Chinese counterparts to introduce these eco-friendly, high-capacity, long-range, and self-driving vehicles to enhance the comfort of urban bus routes.

Peng Zhonghong, general manager of CRRC Smart Rail, a subsidiary of CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, said that the introduction of the vehicles will provide new opportunities and environmentally friendly solutions to address the public transportation challenges faced by Istanbul's 16 million residents.

"Additionally, it will effectively reduce traffic congestion pressure in the city," he remarked, affirming his institution's commitment to providing comprehensive technical support and after-sales service.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Charles Butt has long been a champion of public education  here, he honors a teacher at the 2014 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards  and that no longer sits well with some elements of the Texas GOP. Dave Rossman/For the Houston Chronicle

There arent many things that unite Texans.

Even barbecue and Willie Nelson can be the cause of disagreements these days. H-E-B, however, has been one of our few unifying forces.

The San Antonio-based grocery chain has deep roots in the state and has established itself over the years as something of a gold standard when it comes to customer service and civic responsibility. It's embedded in our culture.

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But some Republican leaders in this state are bent on picking a fight with H-E-B.

Delegates at Republican Senate district conventions in four Texas counties  Harris, Trinity, Tyler and Brazoria  recently passed a resolution denouncing H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt, and, by extension, the family business he runs. Their aim is to get a similar resolution passed next month at the partys state convention in San Antonio.

They are targeting the leader of a company that has more than 420 stores in Texas and Mexico, and employs more than 145,000 people. A business that donates 5% of its pre-tax profits to charitable causes.

What are Butts great sins, in the eyes of GOP delegates?

Theyre angry because he supports public education and has helped Republican candidates who oppose school vouchers, which would siphon taxpayer money away from public schools.

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Education is a major passion for Butt.

In 2017, he pledged $100 million to train school leaders. In 2022, he committed $10 million to help construct a new elementary school in Uvalde after 19 children and two teachers were murdered at Robb Elementary School by a mass shooter. In the wake of the 2020 George Floyd murder, he donated $1 million to Prairie View A&M University to support its Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice.

In a more rational political environment, the Texas GOP would be commending Butt for all his philanthropic acts. But rationality isnt a strong suit of the Texas GOP these days.

The resolution also said Butt advocated against election integrity and supported universal and mail in ballots for all in Texas, which would have led to rampant voter fraud.

What Butt actually did was submit a letter to the Texas Supreme Court in support of Harris Countys bid, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, to send unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to all eligible voters in the county.

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This action sparked a legal challenge from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Keep in mind that Harris County merely sought to send ballot applications, not actual ballots. All applications submitted by voters still had to be approved by the county elections office.

For Butt, the issue came down to public safety. In the same way his stores tried to serve their customers in the safest possible way during the pandemic, he regarded Harris Countys ballot-application move as an effort to protect those who are vulnerable from unnecessary exposure in this new COVID world in which we're living.

The GOP resolution goes on to blast H-E-B for being one of the largest recipients of food stamps in Texas.

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That might have something to do with the fact that H-E-B is also one of the biggest grocery chains in the state and accepting food stamps is something grocery stores routinely do. Are these Republican delegates suggesting that Texas grocery stores should reject food stamps?

One of the most puzzling items in the resolution is its assertion that H-E-B has sponsored drag queen shows for children. The allegation seems to be based on a July 2022 piece by the right-wing Texas Scorecard, which stated that H-E-B sponsored Rainbow on the Creek, a June 2022 Pride Month celebration at Austins Waterloo Park.

The events website listed and thanked 16 sponsors, including Google, PNC Bank and Titos Handmade Vodka. H-E-B was not listed among those sponsors.

Ultimately, however, some Texas Republicans are looking for any excuse to demonize Butt and his business. The new resolution is meant as a signal to Republican candidates that Butt is an enemy and they shouldn't affiliate with him in any way. Its part of the Texas GOPs relentless drive to tighten the parameters of what policy positions are considered acceptable by the party.

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Toni Nielsen, an employee of CHI Health St. Francis, became emotional before a flag was raised to honor organ donors Wednesday morning.

Nielsen, one of the hospitals clinical educators, choked up as she read a statement about the value of organ, eye and tissue donation.

A Donate Life flag was raised on the main flagpole in front of the hospital, just under the American flag. The ceremony is held every year in April, which is National Donate Life Month.

Today, we raise this flag for the donors, the ones who said yes to giving of themselves, never knowing who would benefit from their gift, Nielsen said.

The flag was also raised for donor families  those who look past their own grief to spare another family the same pain.

The flag-raising honored people waiting for a transplant, knowing their second chance will come only from the generosity and dedication of others.

She also mentioned organ and tissue recipients, those whose lives are living symbols of hope, selflessness and the power of the human spirit.

The ceremony also saluted health care workers, living donors and those who died waiting for donations.

Nielsen, a registered nurse, is a member of the organ and tissue donation awareness committee at CHI St. Francis.

That committee holds activities throughout the year to continue to keep organ donation at the forefront of everyones minds. The need is not just in April, during organ donation month, but all through the year, Nielsen said after the flag-raising.

The people gathered outside for the ceremony included leaders of various hospital departments.

Most of our patients who are organ donors will come through the emergency room, Nielsen said. It was good to have representatives of the units where those patients come from, she said in an interview.

Nielsen, who used to work in the intensive care unit, has worked with many donor families over the years.

When a person passes away, its such a beautiful gift that family members can look through their grief and know that their loved one would have wanted to do something more with their life, she said.

Its a very emotional time for families. But the lives that we save on the other side (are) just so good, said Nielsen, whos an organ donor herself.

She encourages people to sign up to be an organ donor, and to share that information with their families, so that they wont be surprised when the time comes.

Nielsen hopes people think of their own families. If your mother, father, son or daughter needs an organ or tissue, What would you want for them? Would you want them to be able to get that life-giving gift? she said.

The other speaker Wednesday was Charles Gregory, a chaplain at CHI St. Francis.

In his prayer, Gregory said that through organ donation, loving and compassionate donors and their families are able to extend life to others in their afflictions  giving them opportunity to extend life, granting them blessings beyond measure.

The flag was raised in memory of those who freely give of themselves, sharing others burdens, knowing we do not have to walk through lifes journey alone, Gregory prayed.

More than 103,000 Americans, including more than 300 in Nebraska, are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. Each day, 20 people in the U.S. die waiting for an organ transplant.

The Donate Life flag was also raised Wednesday at CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney.

To join the donor registry, visit liveonnebraska.org/register. Anyone 16 and older can register.

CHI Health employees urge the public to join them in wearing blue and green on April 12 in honor of National Donate Life Blue and Green Day.
On Tuesday, September 7, Bitcoin will become legal currency in El Salvador. The Salvadoran government has begun buying bitcoin ahead of the legislation's implementation.

El Salvador Government Started Buying Bitcoin

In a recently published article in Bitcoin News, El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, revealed on Monday that the country has just purchased its first 200 coins. As the deadline nears, their brokers will be purchasing a lot more. The 200 bitcoins are worth approximately $10.34 million at the current BTC price of $51,691.

"Tomorrow, for the first time in history, all eyes will be on El Salvador," Bukele said on Twitter. The country's Bitcoin Law, which was approved in June, will take effect on September 7th. It will make bitcoin, along with the U.S. dollar, legal currency in the nation. The government just released a video outlining what to anticipate.

El Salvador's Congress passed a bill on Aug. 31 to establish a $150 million fund to enable conversions from bitcoin to U.S. dollars in preparation for bitcoin becoming legal currency. The funds for the new fund will be diverted from the finance ministry's existing budget and managed by El Salvador's state development bank, according to a published article in MCU Times.

El Salvador Government Offered $30 to Citizens

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador backed up his country's new legislation making Bitcoin legal money by offering $30 worth of the cryptocurrency to everyone who registers up for a digital wallet, according to a published report in Business World.

Meanwhile, a rising number of bitcoin enthusiasts intend to purchase $30 worth of bitcoin to demonstrate their support for El Salvador's Bitcoin Law. President Bukele has pledged to provide $30 to everyone who utilizes Chivo, the government's bitcoin wallet. Some individuals have budgeted for more than $30. For example, Tahini's Restaurant has said that it would purchase $300 per hour tomorrow in favor of El Salvador's Bitcoin Law.

Bukele said that the government's Chivo wallet is being placed in 200 ATMs and 50 bank branches throughout the nation, allowing customers to deposit and withdraw money without paying fees, according to a recently published article in The Hack Posts.

Bitcoin Price Jumps as El Salvador Continues to Buy Bitcoin

In a recently published article in Reuters, El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, announced on Monday that the nation had 400 bitcoins, one day before the country officially accepts it as legal currency alongside the US dollar. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, bitcoin briefly rose over 1.49 percent to more than $52,680 on Monday evening, with a Reuters market analyst predicting a price range of $56,000-$56,300.

Bukele said earlier on Monday that El Salvador had purchased its first 200 bitcoins, stating on Twitter that "as the deadline approaches, the country's brokers will be purchasing a lot more." El Salvador currently has 400 bitcoin, he added later in the day.

El Salvador legalized bitcoin on September 7, according to the Bukele, saving Salvadorans living abroad millions of dollars in fees on money sent home. However, surveys indicate that Salvadorans are cautious of adopting bitcoin, citing concerns about the cryptocurrency's volatility, which opponents believe may raise legal and financial risks for financial institutions.

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Laos, Thailand launch cross-border QR payment

By Vietnam News Agency Thu, April 4, 2024 | 8:33 pm GMT+7

Laos and Thailand launched cross-border QR payment linkage on Wednesday, aiming to promote innovation and access to financial services for the benefit of their people.

Laos and Thailand launch the cross-border QR payment linkage at a ceremony held in northern Laos' Luang Prabang province on April 3. Photo courtesy of Vietnam News Agency.

Addressing the launching event, Governor of the Bank of Laos Bounleua Sinxayvoravong said the implementation of cross-border QR payment is an important step in the development of Lao financial industry because Thailand is the countrys No 1 trading partner.

It not only facilitates cross-border financial transactions, especially by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and consumers, in a safe, effective and cost-attractive manner, but also helps labourers working in the two countries easily transfer money back home, and promote cashless payment in society and trade between the two countries, he continued.

Besides Thailand, Laos also has cross-border QR code payment cooperation with Cambodia.
LS Eco Energy to help Vietnam commercialize superconducting cable

By Tri Duc Thu, April 4, 2024 | 4:51 pm GMT+7

LS Eco Energy, a subsidiary of South Korean chaebol LS Group, will cooperate with Vietnam on commercializing superconducting cables that can be connected to the national power grid.

The firm said Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Energy under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. Under the MoU both sides would establish a mutual cooperation system to apply superconducting cables to Vietnam's power grid and explore business opportunities thereof.

Tran Ky Phuc (left), head of the Institute of Energy, and Lee Sang-ho, CEO of Korean firm LS Eco Energy, sign a memorandum of understanding on promoting superconducting cable. April 1, 2024. Photo courtesy of LS Eco Energy.

In 2019, LS Cable & System, now known as LS Eco Energy, succeeded in commercializing the world's first superconducting cable at the Heungdeok-Singal substation section in Yongin-si town, Gyeonggi-do province, South Korea. It is still the only commercially-operated line in the world, LS Eco Energy said.

Superconducting cables can deliver five to 10 times more electric power at a lower voltage than copper cables. They also minimize electricity loss during transmission by applying superconductivity.

Vietnam recorded electricity loss of 6.25% in 2022, according to state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN). The figure was down from 8.87% in 2013 and 6.27% in 2021. EVN attributed the losses to technical issues like electrical resistance and unwanted heating during electricity transmission. Non-technical factors like stealing also contributed to the loss, EVN said.
El Salvador said it imprisoned roughly 2,000 more inmates on Wednesday who are suspected of being gang members and have promised that they will never be released from the "impossible to escape" facility.

The additional inmates landed in the new Center for the Confinement of Terrorism last month as the country continues to crack down on its war on raging street gangs. President Nayib Bukele revealed new video footage of the mega prison and the new prisoners who were seen being hustled off buses and taken into the facility.

El Salvador's Mega Prison Gets New Inmates

The tattooed men were seen wearing white shorts inside the prison while barefoot and handcuffed. They were huddled together while crouching down and hanging their shaved heads before running into their jail cells.

In a Twitter post, Bukele said there were now 4,000 gang members imprisoned in the world's "most criticized prison." The latest arrests come as the mega prison has a capacity of 40,000 inmates, as per the New York Post.

Previous reports said the mega prison, which is 46 miles from the Central American capital, would hold inmates in eight separate buildings. Each of these was said to have 32 cells that could hold up to 100 prisoners. It was revealed that these cells only had two toilets and two sinks.

The global community considers El Salvador's mega-prison to be the largest of its kind in the Americas. The country's president also bragged about the facility being "impossible to escape" from.

While Bukele has recently taken a proactive approach to fighting against gangs in the country, the initiative has caused concerns among human rights observers. They argue that basic constitutional rights are being violated inside the mega prison. They are also worried that people are being detained without a warrant.

Read Also : UK Bans TikTok from Government Devices

"Impossible to Escape" Facility

The country's minister for justice and peace, Gustavo Villatoro, said that the imprisoned individuals would never return to the communities, the neighborhoods, the barrios, or the cities of El Salvador, according to Fox News.

Government officials have swept up roughly 65,000 gang members since the approval of Bukele's emergency powers in March last year. The decision also allowed him to approve and build the massive facility.

Roughly 3,500 detained individuals were set free, and the remaining 57,000 suspects are still waiting for their trials. El Salvador's government has widely publicized the massive prison, posting video footage of prisoner transfers and giving a detailed tour of the inside of the facility.

The situation comes as Bukele has also asked for another extension of the anti-gang emergency measures that he received. This would bring the crackdown into its 13th month. However, Congress must still approve the request, but many expect legislators to do so as they have already done so a dozen times before.

Bukele's initial request for emergency powers came after a surge in gang violence that led to the death of 62 people in a single night across El Salvador. For a long time, various street gangs, such as MS-13 and Barrio 18, have killed and extorted money from the country's residents, said Yahoo News.
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The Water and Sewerage Authoritys new chief executive officer Keithroy Halliday will take up the position a month later than originally scheduled.

The WASA Board of Commissioners said in a media release that, on August 30, it announced the appointment of Halliday to the position of CEO, with his effective assumption of office on November 1.
A father yesterday called for police officers to be trained to handle people with mental health conditions, after his son was shot and killed by a municipal officer on Friday afternoon.

He needed help and they kill him, Cleophas Noel said of his son, Elijah Noel.

Cleophas said Elijah, 20, was schizophrenic.
A convicted participant in the Jan.6 riot on the U.S. Capitol is hoping that Donald Trump will pick him as his 2024 running mate, hours after the Supreme Court declined to hear agruements in his bid to re-instate himself into elected office.



"Cowboys For Trump" founder Couy Griffin was removed from his position as the Otero County Commissioner in New Mexico in September of 2022, after a judge ruled that his participation in the Jan. 6 riots violated the 14th amendment's insurrection clause.



On Monday , the Supreme Court declined to hear arguements in his bid to reverse that decision. Hours later, Griffin expressed his desire to be Trump's running mate.

"It's a disappointment like I haven't felt in a long time," Griffin said in a statement posted to X. "As I sit right now, the only office I can run for is the executive office. Trump needs a Vice President who can stand strong through the hardest of times. And I can only pray I'd be considered."

"I'm officially barred through a court order of running for any other office other than the office of President. I wonder if that holds true to the office of Vice President?" he said, addressing Trump.

On its face, the case appears similar to the one brought by the high court that involved former President Donald J Trump.

Griffin, who founded Cowboys for Trump, was convicted on a charge stemming from his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and it was the first time an elected official was removed under the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist ban" because of the US Capitol riot.

The Supreme Court handed Trump a major legal victory in a unanimous decision handed down on March 4.

Six Colorado voters wanted the former president removed from their ballot due to remarks Donald Trump made prior to the riots.

However, the high court ruled that states could not remove a federal candidate from their ballots on their own, ruling that only Congress could do such a thing.

In Griffin's case, he was already found guilty of charges related to his involvement in the insurrection. He was convicted of trespassing on Capitol ground after a March 2022 bench trial but was acquitted of a second misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

A state judge ruled that January 6 was an insurrection and that Griffin violated the oath he took as a commissioner by engaging in that insurrection. Griffin was disqualified under Section 3 and was removed in September 2022.

New Mexico's top court dismissed Griffin's appeal on procedural grounds. Couy Griffin was part of the Capitol insurrection mob but did not enter the building itself.
According to spokesmen for the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS), people need not worry about being kidnapped for ransom. Even if that is true, citizens certainly should be worried that the police are taking such a casual view of this crime.

Two kidnap victims have been murdered in the past two months. On September 25, used car dealer Sachel Kungebeharry, 32, was abducted by persons in a marked police vehicle along Jerningham Railway Road in Endeavour, Chaguanas. His relatives paid a $500,000 ransom but, on October 4, Kungebeharrys body was found in a shallow grave in Longdenville. He had been chopped to death.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged responsibility Tuesday for what he called an unintentional airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza, including an American citizen.

But Netanyahu stopped short of apologizing for the deadly attack, saying, "This happens in war."

"Unfortunately, in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip," he said in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Netanyahu added: "We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence."

The World Central Kitchen, a food charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, suspended operations in Gaza following the strike in Deir al-Balah.

The aid workers killed in the strike comprised three British nationals, an American-Canadian dual citizen, an Australian, a Polish national and a Palestinian, according the Associated Press reported, citing hospital records.

Some victims were wearing protective gear with the charity''s logo, according to video of their bodies recorded at a local hospital.

Other footage showed a vehicle with the logo on its roof, which had a large hole punched through it, according to AP.

The aid workers were traveling in a convoy of three vehicles, including two that were armored, and their trip had been coordinated with the Israeli army, according to the World Central Kitchen.

The charity, which helped provide about 150,000 meals daily to desperate Gaza residents, said it had "no choice" but to halt operations "until our staff regain confidence that they can do their work without undue risk."
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

During the 2019 campaign, candidate Joe Biden remarked ,We could afford to take in a heartbeat another two million, and, We immediately surge to the border all those people who are seeking asylum. Were a nation that says, if you wanna flee and youre fleeing oppression, you should come.

On his first day as President, Joe Biden signed Executive Orders reversing former President Trumps border policies, including ending further construction of the border wall, of which about 450 miles had already been constructed. Remain in Mexico was ended, deportations were suspended for 100 days, and interior immigration enforcement guidelines were changed. Biden would go on to end asylum agreements negotiated by the Trump administration with Central American countries and halted Trumps pressuring of the Mexican government to secure its southern border with Guatemala.

In Fiscal Year 2020, the last year under Trump, the U.S, Border Patrol encountered 405,000 foreign nationals illegally entering the country at the southern border in between the ports of entry. Since then, under Biden, over 8,000,000 have entered the country illegally, including about 1,000,000 gotaways who evaded apprehension by the Border Patrol. Record numbers not seen before in the U.S.

Former Border Patrol Chief Ortiz, stated that during his two-year tenure heading the Border Patrol, he never met or spoke with Biden or VP Harris. Current Border Patrol Chief Owens recently stated that tougher immigration policies, including jailing, should be enacted to deter people from entering the country illegally. That was a Trump policy under zero tolerance, which Biden ended.

Under three years of the Biden administration, a historic number of about 500,000 unaccompanied children, mostly non English speaking and undereducated, have been allowed entry into the country.

FBI Director Wray recently testified before Congress that dangerous individuals have entered the United States through the border. Venezuelan suspect Diego Ibarra has been arrested for the brutal murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia. Ibarra had illegally entered the country and was released via Parole by the Border Patrol. He was allegedly a member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, that has now spread its violent tentacles across the country. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have been Paroled into the country and granted Temporary Protected Status by the Biden administration. The Biden administration has Paroled over 1,000,000 foreign nationals into the country. A historic number and an abuse of the Parole system which historically was used on an individual case by case basis.

The Border Patrol will process foreign nationals encountered at the border by doing a limited criminal and Terrorism Watchlist background check in their CBP database system. They do not have access to the background histories of people coming from 160 countries.

Under the Biden administration, about 3,000,000 who entered the country illegally have been released into the public, many turned over to NGOs. Over 1,000,000 have claimed asylum. Based on training and experience, I believe many are fraudulent, gaming our asylum system, knowing that they will be released from Border Patrol custody, especially as family units, with a Notice to Appear years in the future.

Contrary to President Bidens assertions that he has done all he can do about the border, he already has the Presidential executive authority under 8 U.S.C 1182 (f) Suspension of Aliens to close the border. He could reinstate Trumps border policies. Instead, he wants the Senates border bill passed, which would cumulatively allow over 2,000,000 foreign nationals a year to enter illegally and claim asylum. It equates to the two million Biden boasted about during the 2019 campaign. American taxpayers are now having to spend billions to shelter, feed and clothe people who entered the country illegally, burdening our public schools, criminal justice and health care systems. Biden alone caused this historic disaster.
Carl Albert was just a heartbeat away from becoming president twice.

But he never forgot where he came from.

Albert, who served 30 years in Congress from Oklahoma's District 3, became speaker of the House in 1971, putting him next in line after the vice president to succeed to the presidency. It was the highest position ever held by an Oklahoman.

Born in McAlester but reared in nearby Bugtussle, Albert lived a Horatio Alger story. He rose from a poor childhood in rural Oklahoma to become the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. His father was a coal miner and sometime farmer.

Albert won several speech contests while attending McAlester High School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1931 from the University of Oklahoma, where he had continued his oratorical practice.

Friends recalled that Albert sometimes practiced speaking by addressing mock audiences under the Canadian River bridge near Norman. A companion would mutter rebuttals or sometimes throw sand at him.

When World War II began, Albert enlisted in the Army as a private and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel by the end of the war. During the war, he saw action in New Guinea, the Philippines and Okinawa. He was also sent to Hiroshima and Tokyo. He resumed his law practice in McAlester after being discharged and entered politics in 1946, where he was elected to Congress by 329 votes, his closest race ever.

"He went on the world stage, but he never left here because he took our values with him," University of Oklahoma President David Boren, a former governor and former U.S. senator, told more than 2,000 who attended Albert's funeral in McAlester. "When it was all over (his congressional career), he came back home. He came back to the people who, in his heart, he never left."

Albert died in 2000 at the age of 91.

His funeral was attended by local residents and a contingent of dignitaries.

Under federal law, the speaker of the House is behind the vice president in presidential succession.

Thus, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973, Albert would have become president had anything happened to President Richard Nixon until Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president. And when Nixon resigned from the White House in August 1974 because of the Watergate scandal, Albert again was a heartbeat away from the presidency until Ford chose Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president.

Albert once said he felt Nixon was "overly ambitious." But when he was called to the White House on Aug. 7, 1974, to hear President Nixon say he would resign, Albert had only positive things to say about the president.

"It was a very touching thing," Albert told reporters. "He put his arm around me and said, 'We've always been friends. We came to Congress at the same time.' "

Albert maintained an office in McAlester after leaving Congress and occasionally became involved in politics. In 1992 he was honored at the Democratic National Convention as a superdelegate.

Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive.
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The Oklahoma state government-sponsored Catholic charter school at the center of national controversy drew just 145 student applications  29% of its initial capacity  by the April 3 deadline it set in case an admissions lottery was needed.

Last fall, a divided Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved a contract with Catholic leaders in Oklahoma to create St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which, if opened, would be the nations first religious charter school.

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court heard arguments in Attorney General Gentner Drummonds legal bid to halt taxpayer funding and sanctioning for the proposed school, whose founders believe would-be students are entitled to taxpayer resources for access to a Catholic school education across the state.

St. Isidore has the green light to enroll up to 500 students during each of its first three years of operation.

The schools media contact, John Helsley, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, told the Tulsa World that 145 applications for student enrollment for 2024-25 had been received as of Thursday, meaning the number of seats available was not exceeded by the April 3 lottery deadline.

Now the schools website states that a communication will be sent to applicants directing them to complete the registration process. Parents/guardians will have one week to accept their seat and complete registration. At the end of that time period, the registration reopens to the public and school enrolls until capacity.

Drummond has asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to enforce existing state law that defines charter schools as public schools and specifically prohibits them from affiliation with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious institution.

Are we being used as a test case? Justice Yvonne Kauger interjected during Tuesdays proceeding in the state Supreme Courts chamber in the Oklahoma Capitol. It sure looks like it.

St. Isidore is advertising enrollment for Oklahoma resident students in kindergarten through 12th grade of any faith or no faith.

But the Catholic founders of the school are unabashed in their offering of a charter school designed with faith formation and sacramental life included.

This program is intended to support and reinforce both the domestic church and the local parish community, states St. Isidores website. Once the geographic information of students is known, the school will begin to seek out partner (Catholic church) parishes willing to serve as hubs for occasional gatherings of local students.

These are spaces where a small group of students, parents, and educators can gather for Mass, confession, academic electives, tutoring, labs, or extracurricular activities once or twice a month depending on need or desire. Two all-school Masses will be offered each year. One in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and one in the Diocese of Tulsa.

St. Isidores stated curriculum is a framework of courses based in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition of utilizing faith and reason to seek and understand Truth. In addition to the teachings of our faith and the search for Truth through the person of Jesus Christ, we also seek truth in the learning that encompasses all subject areas.

While students must reside in Oklahoma, that wont be the case for teachers.

St. Isidore says it will employ teachers from all corners of Oklahoma and from across the United States who care about children having the opportunity to experience an excellent education rich in the Catholic intellectual tradition.

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Most Americans agree that former President Donald Trump should remain on the presidential ballot in November, while also believing that he should not have immunity from being prosecuted for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, a new poll indicates.

The Marquette Law School found that 62% of Americans disagree with Trump's argument that Special Council Jack Smith's election subversion case against the former president should be dismissed because he was ostensibly acting within his role as the president.

Pollsters conducted an experiment, however, where they specifically named Trump when speaking to half the respondents and simply said "former presidents" when speaking to the other half. When Trump was mentioned by name, support for his immunity claims rose by eight percentage points.

"The striking finding is that Republicans reverse themselves when asked about Trump rather than 'former presidents,'" Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School poll, told CNN.

"One implication is that Republicans are not paying enough attention to Trump's Supreme Court appeal to realize without prompting that the immunity case is about Trump," he told the outlet.

"Only when the question directly says, 'This is about Trump' do they swing sharply, reversing what they would think about 'former presidents' in general.

Regardless of their belief in the presumptive Republican candidate's legal woes, however, most Americans do think Trump should be on the ballot in November. Fifty-six percent of respondents agreed with the Supreme Court's decision that he should appear in Colorado's ballot, despite the argument that his actions on January 6 violate the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists holding public office.

The Supreme Court unanimously agreed to keep Trump on the ballot, though the reasoning for the decision differed between justices. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts argued that the post-Civil War constitutional amendment would be unlikely to specifically give this power to the states and not to Congress.

"Wouldn't that be the last place that you'd look for authorization for the states, including Confederate states, to ... enforce the presidential election process," he said during oral arguments.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan questioned the validity of giving so much power to one state, to determine election results for the entire country.

"I think that the question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States," she said. "It seems quite extraordinary, doesn't it?"
The German Business Association (GBA) has launched its 2024 action plan with enthusiasm and groundbreaking commitments to strengthen the bilateral economic relations between Vietnam and Germany.

Under the leadership of the newly elected board of directors and chairman, GBA is focusing on enhancing interaction with its members, expanding its presence in the northern region of Vietnam, and driving strategic development initiatives.

The first quarter marks a significant milestone for GBA, with the election of 15 outstanding business leaders to its council, representing diverse sectors and industries.

Its annual general meeting, held simultaneously in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, garnered strong support from the GBA community, reaffirming trust in the association's leadership and vision.

According to Alexander Ziehe, the new chairman of GBA, the organization's action goals and strategies for this year encompass two main elements.

Firstly, GBA's top priority remains steadfast: enhancing economic trade connections between Germany and Vietnam by promoting the interests of its members and fostering close collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

GBA will pursue these objectives through specific strategies, including three new operational initiatives aimed at enhancing member experiences.

A significant highlight is the intensified expansion of GBA's presence in the northern region of Vietnam and the pursuit of strategic development opportunities.

These initiatives demonstrate GBA's proactive approach in meeting the evolving needs and demands of its members while maximizing the value it provides to both the German business community in Vietnam and the Vietnamese economy at large.

In the first quarter of this year, the associations commitment to fostering strong German-Vietnamese ties was vividly demonstrated through a diverse schedule of events and activities.

Among these, a roundtable conference with President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Ho Chi Minh City stood out as a notable highlight.

A high-level delegation, including Germanys Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, participated in constructive exchanges with the German business community in Vietnam, laying the groundwork for future cooperation and partnerships.

A business roundtable between German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the German business community in Vietnam

In collaboration with the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, GBA organized the Franco-German Day 2024 Feierabend Rendez-Vous, attracting over 300 guests and businesses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The GBA Business Meeting held in March, which centered on the economic outlook of Vietnam for the year and the role of ASEAN, set a record in scale with over 100 business representatives participating.

GBA also played a significant role in facilitating dialogue between its member businesses and government agencies, including the German Embassy in Hanoi and the German Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

Discussions focused on key economic and diplomatic issues, cooperation strategies for 2024, and preparations for important milestones in 2025, notably the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Vietnam.

The GBA leadership engages in strategic talks with the German Embassy in Hanoi.

GBA actively collaborated with Vietnamese government agencies to address members' concerns and support policy reforms to promote business development.

This consisted of working sessions with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC), as well as the Binh Duong Province People's Committee and its affiliated departments, with the aim of improving the investment climate not only in Vietnam overall but also in specific provinces and cities.

Sustainability was also emphasized in joint efforts for green development during collaboration meetings with the Ho Chi Minh City administration (GBA x ITPC x UOB).

Through high-level meetings with government officials, both national and local, GBA advocated for the needs and priorities of its members, ranging from transparency in investment policies, international standards, to digitization efforts and incentives for foreign labor in Vietnam.

Positive feedback received from government agencies acknowledged the effectiveness of GBA's actions in promoting a conducive business environment for German enterprises in Vietnam.

Meeting with Binh Duong Province People's Committee leaders

Looking toward the future, GBA will introduce new action initiatives to enhance and enrich the experiences of its association members.

GBA's specific activity plans are all geared towards business networking and investment promotion in Vietnam.

The most anticipated event is the GBA Oktoberfest, which will take place in all three regions: Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City in September and October.

This year, the German Business Awards in Vietnam will be hosted by GBA for the first time.

In close cooperation with the Delegation of the German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam and the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham Vietnam), GBA will continue to organize special events to expand investment and business opportunities for association members.

This includes a business trip to Cambodia in May and the German Pavilion showcasing technology and green solutions at EuroChams Green Economy Forum & Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City in October.

"Traditionally, German investments were mainly directed to Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, GBA chairman Ziehe said while accessing the investment environment in Vietnam.

These countries host an established cluster of German industries, such as the automotive sector in Thailand or research and development hubs in Singapore.

Nevertheless, the trend is changing, and Vietnam is now considered as an investment location of increasing attractiveness.

German investors favor Vietnam to supplement their China operations for its lower-cost inputs, alternative markets, and convenient geographic and supply route proximity to China.

Vietnam itself also offers a rising middle class and opportunities to establish German brands for Vietnamese consumers with local distribution and supply chains.

The trend in German investment in Vietnam is expected to continue to grow in 2024.

Currently, GBA has received commitments for new projects: Fuchs Petrolub (lubricant supply) and Schutz (industrial packaging manufacturing) in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, Karcher (machinery manufacturing) in Quang Nam Province, Tenowo (fabric manufacturing) in Hai Phong, and Ziehl-Abegg (control technology and ventilation systems) in Dong Nai Province.

The first quarter lays a solid foundation for GBA's development and influence in promoting German-Vietnamese economic relations.

With action strategies focused on connecting and cooperating between association members, GBA once again demonstrates its commitment to fostering sustainable economic development and prosperity for its members and stakeholders.

Established in 1995, the German Business Association has been a key player in Vietnam's business landscape for over 30 years, aiding German businesses with advisory services and networking opportunities.

With nearly 400 members and a founding role in EuroCham Vietnam, it remains a highly respected entity in both the German and Vietnamese communities.

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Many international schools in Vietnam have mobilized huge capital from parents by launching so-called 'free education packages' or 'education investment packages' with opaque articles, putting parents at risk.

Such schools have implemented a controversial policy, requesting parents to contribute billions of Vietnamese dong for their children's education, under the guise of providing free schooling.

Assurances were made that parents would be reimbursed a significant portion, if not the entire sum, upon their children's graduation. (VND1 billion = US$39,800)

Experts have raised concerns over the issue and described it as a delayed-action bomb, adding that it is time to promulgate regulations to manage these schools capital mobilization.

They also advised parents to stay cautious and vigilant.

'Investment packages' a trend among intl schools

At the American International School Vietnam (AISVN) in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City, there was a time when over half of the parents joined its 'education investment packages.'

They lent the school VND3-5 billion (US$119,550-199,250) each without interest on the condition that the investments would be reimbursed after their childrens graduation. In return, AISVN offered free training programs to the students.

Such 'education investment packages' are no longer new in Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, an estimated 10 international schools offer such packages.

As a case in point, the U.S. Vietnam Talent International School offers VND2-billion ($79,687) packages to parents whose children attend the school's English program meeting the U.S.s Common Core State Standards and VND2.75-billion ($109.570) packages for its Oxford international curriculum.

Parents would pay the amounts once and take back the entire sums after their childrens graduation, the school pledged.

The I Can School (ICS) system employs a similar pattern in the ongoing 2023-24 academic year. Parents will pay the entire tuition fees, at about VND1.2 billion ($47,773), for their childrens nine school years, including five years at the elementary level and four years at the middle school level, at the enrollment time.

The school is committed to returning 80 percent of the tuition fees, or over VND1 billion ($39,800) per student, after they complete nine school years at ICS.

Cao Huy Thao, former principal of the Saigon International College, said international schools collect tuition fees in line with the government's regulations but they operate as companies.

Pursuant to the Enterprise Law and the Investment Law, these schools are allowed to mobilize capital, paving the way for the launching of 'education investment packages.' A way to pay interest on these packages is offering tuition fee reductions or exemptions.

In reality, private schools find it easier to borrow money from parents than companies in other sectors as the parents have high confidence in the education sphere, according to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City.

Regarding proposals to ban 'education investment packages,' Huan said they were unfeasible and unreasonable as the capital is sourced on a voluntary basis. If schools use the capital for the committed purposes, the packages will benefit parents.

An AISVN student during a class. Photo: Trong Nhan / Tuoi Tre

Risky investments

Late last month, the closure of AISVN grabbed headlines as teachers went on strike due to unpaid salaries and insurance. Concerned parents expressed worries about the continuity of their children's education at the school.

Bui Khanh Nguyen, an authority on international schools, highlighted that the majority of underlying crises in international schools stem from issues within their administration.

Some schools want to quickly earn profits, while their financial capacity is not strong enough, so they expand their scale too fast.

Business ambitions may lead to negligence in education responsibilities. In other words, schools may fail to have enough high-quality teachers and provide opaque information to parents and students.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, formerly a principal at several international schools in Ho Chi Minh City, noted a concerning trend of escalating tuition fees among international schools.

She emphasized that this trend exploits parents' eagerness to provide their children with an international educational experience featuring foreign teachers at relatively low tuition costs.

To offer competitive tuition fees, schools cut some costs, typically expenses for teacher employment, besides launching investment packages.

Teachers at high-quality schools may earn VND1.5-2 billion ($59,716-79,622) each per year and enjoy many welfare benefits. These schools almost never offer investment packages or tuition fee reductions or exemptions.

Meanwhile, many other schools that provide low tuition or preferential 'education investment packages' often have low standards for teachers. Some schools pay a foreign teacher only VND45 million ($1,792) per month and offer no allowances, Huyen informed.

She advised parents to weigh carefully and agree to spend money if they want their children to study international curricula.

Citing the case of the Apax Leaders English language center chain, Dr. Huan from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City said that the chain's operator, Egroup, relies heavily on investor loans for its operations.

This capital mobilization not only facilitates the expansion of its educational services but also enables the group to diversify into other sectors such as healthcare, cuisine, and financial investment.

The chain had collected tuition fees for long-term courses but failed to arrange classes. It later failed to refund the tuition fees to parents and currently owes teachers and employees tens of billions of Vietnamese dong as well.

Like other investment channels, parents themselves should be aware of risks and should not put all their faith in schools, Huan noted, warning that 'education investment packages' are booming due to the current low deposit rates at banks.

As schools leaders are not professional investors, it is risky if they use the mobilized money for investment in other sectors, the expert said.

He added that parents should keep a close watch on schools use of their money.

Bui Khanh Nguyenshared the view that private schools bear educational functions but operate for profit. They are owned by companies or operate as normal businesses.

Enterprises encounter stringent regulations when mobilizing capital through share and bond issuances or seeking loans from banks. In contrast, private schools have been able to gather significant sums, amounting to trillions of Vietnamese dong, through opaque and loosely regulated contracts with parents.

Nguyen proposed a two-fold approach to address issues within international schools. He recommended that education management agencies oversee education-related matters, while specialized agencies should be tasked with regulating capital mobilization activities within schools.

AISVN held a meeting with parents on March 30, 2024 with the attendance of leaders of the Ho Chi Minh Department of Education and Training. Photo: Dao Thu / Tuoi Tre

Stricter management required

A leader of the municipal Department of Education and Training told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the city is now home to 35 foreign-invested schools and some 100 private schools.

The department needs other agencies cooperation to manage these schools capital mobilization and financial investments.

Cao Huy Thao, former principal of the Saigon International College, said the Ministry of Education and Training and other relevant ministries and agencies should update regulations on the management of international and private schools.

According to Nguyen Nhat Minh from the Research Institute for Banking of the Banking Academy, it is extremely risky if schools use the money mobilized from parents to invest in real estate or stocks.

To prevent such investments, parents should require schools to provide information about their financial state and make commitments to the use of the money.

If schools are on the verge of bankruptcy, parents can ask competent authorities to block the schools assets for loan payments in line with the law.

If schools fail to make payments, parents can request investigation agencies to clarify if the schools have appropriated assets or not, or even file lawsuits against them.

Vietnam does not ban or limit schools from borrowing money from parents, said lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, director of ANVI Law Firm.

Schools, with the prestige of the education sector, find it easier to mobilize capital from parents.

Securing funds from parents proves to be a simpler alternative to accessing bank loans.

Banks typically demand collateral, stringent eligibility criteria, and assurance of repayment capability, often imposing loan caps.

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Countries thrashing out a historic agreement on tackling future pandemics have one month to bridge their differences because failure cannot be an option, the negotiations co-chair told AFP.

Nations have spent the last two years drafting an international accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, but remain far apart on crucial issues such as vaccine equity and pathogen surveillance.

The planned final round of negotiations therefore missed the target of finishing the accord by Easter, so it would be ready for adoption by the World Health Organization's 194 member states at their annual assembly starting on May 27.

Countries will instead return to the WHO headquarters in Geneva for a do-or-die extra round of talks from April 29 to May 10.

Roland Driece, who is co-chairing the negotiations, wants nations to use the time between now and then to find compromises.

"We want them to speak with each other, and not at each other," the Dutch health diplomat told AFP.

"You need to bridge your differences."

The main sticking points include sharing access to emerging pathogens, better monitoring of disease outbreaks, reliable financing, and transferring pandemic-fighting technology to poorer countries.

Sharpening minds ahead of the April-May talks, several countries have raised the spectre of another COVID-19, which shredded economies, crippled health systems and killed millions.

"Everybody understands that failure is not really an option," said Driece.

"It's our duty to keep the focus and the urgency."

Give and take

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday insisted that states were still committed to reaching a deal before the assembly.

"I think by the time they come back (in late April), they will be ready to give and take," he told a press conference.

"Our understanding is... there could be a deal. That's what we expect."

Driece's Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) will draw up a streamlined new draft text by April 18, honing in on areas of common ground.

One European ambassador, frustrated by the process, said success would depend on getting a concise, convergence-oriented document to work from.

"It is about giving the right impulses for better prevention, preparedness and response. It's not about going into the deepest details on some sort of mechanism," the diplomat told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Jaouad Mahjour, head of the WHO secretariat to the INB, on Wednesday voiced optimism that "in the next meeting, the member states will get there".

He said the INB bureau would concentrate on the main things to "agree on now, and maybe reflect on issues that need further work after" the May deadline.

Fears of empty shell deal

But some NGOs attending the talks fear a bare-bones revised draft will fudge all the tricky topics -- and leave the world no less vulnerable to pandemics.

An example would be "mentioning equity, but without the measures" to make it happen, Mohga Kamal-Yanni of the People's Vaccine Alliance told AFP.

She said rich countries were not offering the financial support for ramped-up pathogen surveillance, nor firm commitments on technology transfer even for publicly funded products or intellectual property rights waivers on tools like vaccines.

"What's left? Maintaining the unequal status that led to what happened during Covid, and before that with HIV," she said.

The United States on Friday said it was committed to concluding an ambitious accord.

'We will not give up'

Alongside the African group, the 31-country Group for Equity has thus far held firm in trying to ensure developing countries are not cut adrift again.

The group wants granting access to pathogens with pandemic potential to be on a clear equal footing with receiving equitable, fair and rapid sharing of the benefits.

"A treaty with mere political rhetoric cannot be an outcome of this process," Indonesia said on behalf of the group.

Mexico said it was concerned by the "limited progress", while the Philippines said the talks had to acknowledge they were not succeeding.

Colombia's negotiator said any agreement "must avoid a complete and general collapse of solidarity".

K. M. Gopakumar, senior researcher with the Third World Network NGO, told AFP that the talks' process started with equity promised at the heart of everything but that "politics overtook the noble ambitions".
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Holy See, is scheduled to visit Vietnam from April 9 to 14, according to the Office of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Vietnam (CBCV).

This is the first visit to Vietnam by the Vaticans diplomatic chief at the invitation of the CBCV, Father Joseph Dao Nguyen Vu, head of the CBCV Office, announced on Wednesday.

During his six-day visit, Archbishop Gallagher is slated to meet with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, and leaders of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government Committee for Religious Affairs.

He will call at the National Pediatric Hospital in Hanoi, where cooperative programs with Romes Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital have taken place since 2005.

Archbishop Gallagher will also celebrate masses at the cathedrals of Hanoi, Hue City in central Thua Thien-Hue Province, and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as meet with representatives of the CBCV before wrapping up his visit.

According to the Vietnamese foreign ministry, Vietnam and the Vatican have taken many positive steps in their bilateral relationship over the past several years, especially since the two sides established a regular dialogue mechanism of the Vietnam-Holy See Joint Working Group in 2009.

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed a nonresident papal representative to Vietnam.

Late last year, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Marek Zalewski as the first Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam.

The appointment was made after the two sides reached an agreement on the Status of the Resident Papal Representative and the Office of the Resident Papal Representative in Vietnam at the 10th Meeting of the Joint Working Group on March 31, 2023.

According to the white paper Religion and Religious Policy in Vietnam, released by the Government Committee for Religious Affairs in March 2023, Catholicism ranked second in terms of followers, boasting over seven million adherents, trailing behind Buddhism which counted more than 14 million followers, among the 16 recognized religions in Vietnam.

Other religions include Protestantism, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, and Islam.

The white paper affirmed that all religions are treated equally under the law, with the state committed to non-discrimination based on beliefs or religion.

The document asserted that every citizen possesses the right to either embrace or abstain from any belief or religion.

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Catch up on the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations of the Vatican, will visit Vietnam from April 9 to 14 at the invitation of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam, the office of the conference announced on Wednesday.

Society

-- Nineteen dogs and many belongings of a woman who leased an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City were left outdoors all night on Wednesday following her conflict with the apartment owner over the raising of the dogs there.

-- Police in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam are investigating a traffic accident in which a 23-year-old driver drove a car into a group of motorbikes running in the opposite direction, injuring five people. The driver later tested positive for meth.

-- Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City administration Phan Van Mai on Wednesday required the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board, the investor of the first metro line project in the city, to make a detailed report on the operation plan of the route before Wednesday next week.

-- Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Public Transport Co. Ltd. on Wednesday said that it would launch 70 electric vehicles with five to 14 seats each to transport tourists from April 12. The pilot program will last until the end of 2025.

-- Nineteen students of a middle school in Vinh Long Province, located in southern Vietnam, were hospitalized on Wednesday as they developed symptoms of nausea and shortness of breath after playing with fart bombs, a kind of toy labeled as made in China.

-- No Vietnamese citizens have been reported as victims in a magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit Taiwan on Wednesday so far, according to the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei. The tremor, which is the biggest to have struck Taiwan in at least 25 years, killed nine people, injured more than 900, and left 50 others missing.

Lifestyle

-- South Korean model and actor Jung Il Woo on Tuesday uploaded photos of his trip to Hanoi to Instagram, during which he had tried Vietnamese beef pho, ca phe sua da (iced coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk) and beer.

World News

-- Multiple Apple services, including the App Store, Apple TV+ and Apple Music, were down on Wednesday for users in the United States," Reuters reported.

-- Rare storms with typhoon-like winds have killed at least seven people in China's southern Jiangxi province since the weekend, three of them blown out of their high-rise apartments in their sleep, according to Reuters.

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Nineteen students from a middle school in Vinh Long Province, southern Vietnam were hospitalized on Wednesday after developing symptoms of vomiting and shortness of breath after playing with 'fart bombs' that were made in China.

The education and training division in Long Ho District, Vinh Long Province on Wednesday evening released a report on the case.

At about 3:35 pm on the same day, several sixth-grade students of Loc Hoa Middle School in Long Ho exhibited symptoms of suspected poisoning, such as vomiting and shortness of breath.

The school asked for help from a general hospital in the Hoa Phu Industrial Park region and was advised to transfer the students to the provincial general hospital.

The school later rushed nine students to the Vinh Long General Hospital. Another 10 students with the same symptoms were taken to the hospital at 4:00 pm.

The students were diagnosed as having been poisoned with a banned substance inside the fart bombs.

Twelve out of the 19 students are now in stable health while the seven others need further care.

The school has reported the case to local authorities and assigned teachers and employees to cooperate with parents to care for the students.

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Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Public Transport Co. Ltd. on Wednesday announced plans to launch a fleet of 70 electric vehicles (EVs) with five to 14 seats each to service tourists.

The pilot program will begin on April 12 and last until the end of 2025.

The vehicles will run from 6:00 to 24:00.

Drivers of these vehicles will don ao ba ba, a traditional garment typically worn by the people of southern Vietnam.

They have undergone communication training and been provided with essential knowledge to effectively introduce the city to tourists.

The vehicles were assembled in Vietnam and their batteries meet U.S. standards.

Their engines were imported from Germany, while their electronic control units were produced by Japanese automaker Toyota.

These vehicles are two times more expensive than normal electric vehicles.

In contrast to current vehicles found at tourist sites, these EVs are equipped with doors and seat belts, offering tourists the convenience of cashless payments.

These vehicles will operate in certain areas.

In District 1 and District 4, they will travel across Nha Rong Wharf, Khanh Hoi Bridge, Ton Duc Thang Street, Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Hoang Sa Street, Hai Ba Trung Street, Nguyen Van Cu Street, Vo Van Kiet Street, Calmette Bridge, Doan Van Bo Street, Hoang Dieu Street, Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, and Nha Rong Port.

In District 5 and District 6, the vehicles will operate on Nguyen Van Cu, Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Tri Phuong, Hung Vuong, Hong Bang, Nguyen Thi Nho, Le Quang Sung, Pham Dinh Ho, Thap Muoi, and Hai Thuong Lan Ong Streets.

The municipal administration had earlier approved the pilot program in the four districts.

According to the municipal Department of Transport, the program will help tourists access cultural and historical sites in the city.

After the trial period, Saigon Public Transport Co. Ltd. will coordinate with the municipal police and other relevant authorities to assess its success.

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Nineteen dogs and many belongings owned by a woman who leased an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City were forced to be left outside all night on Tuesday following the womans conflict with the owner of the apartment over her ownership of the dogs.

On Wednesday, videos showing the dogs and belongings in the yard of the River Panorama Apartment Building in Phu Thuan Ward, District 7 surfaced on social media.

Some residents in the apartment building said that neighbors had lodged complaints regarding noise stemming from the 19 dogs residing in the flat.

Her dogs and belongings were moved to the apartment buildings yard on Tuesday afternoon where they stayed that night.

Minh Xu, a 36-year-old resident, recounted seeing the dogs on Tuesday night and expressed sympathy for their situation. He mentioned that residents collectively cared for and fed the dogs.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper found that the woman, N.P., 35, leased an apartment in River Panorama three months ago.

She told Tuoi Tre that the apartment owner had complained about noise from the dogs and had asked her to remove them from the building.

The 19 dogs are being temporarily raised at a pet care unit in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Eventually, the owner chose to unilaterally terminate the lease and remove the dogs and the womans belongings from the apartment, P. said.

She added that she had asked the buildings management board for more time for relocation, but the board asked her to make a commitment and said that if a dog barked, they would cut the water supply.

She claimed that she returned to the apartment building on Wednesday morning to get her belongings and seek shelter for the 19 dogs.

On Wednesday afternoon, a pet care unit took the canines to Thu Duc City, also in Ho Chi Minh City, for temporary care.

I have asked the unit to help me take care of the dogs for a week before I pick them up, N.P. noted.

The management board of the River Panorama Apartment Building verified the incident, stating that an official announcement would follow. Authorities from the Phu Thuan Ward administration in District 7 confirmed the case and have deployed officials to conduct an investigation.

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A 41-year-old man from An Giang Province in southern Vietnam has returned VND402.7 million (US$16,091) to its owner after it was mistakenly transferred to his bank account.

The provincial police's division of cybersecurity and hi-tech crime prevention on Thursday said that it had assisted Nguyen Thanh Trung, a local resident, to return the amount to its owner.

Trung said the money was transferred to his account on Monday but there was no information about the owner.

Trung, concerned about hi-tech crimes, reported the case to the An Giang division of cybersecurity and hi-tech crime prevention, seeking their assistance in returning the money.

The division contacted the bank where Trung opened his account. The bank later found that the money was transferred from an account opened at a transaction office of Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank in Tay Ho District, Hanoi.

The An Giang police department advises residents who mistakenly transfer money to other accounts or receive money from unknown people to report such transactions to the local police.

Those receiving mistakenly-transferred money but refusing to return it may face criminal charges for appropriating assets.

They should not return the money by themselves without a witness to avoid hi-tech crimes, according to the An Giang police.

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South Korean model and actor Jung Il Woo on Tuesday uploaded photos of his trip to Hanoi to Instagram, detailing his experiences trying Vietnamese beef pho, ca phe sua da (iced coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk), and local beer.

On Wednesday, he posted another photo saying 'Meanwhile in Sapa.'

Sapa is a popular tourist town in Lao Cai Province, approximately 300 kilometers from Hanoi.

A day earlier, he wrote 'Somehow ended up in Vietnam' to the 3.4 million followers on his Instagram page alongside photos of himself in Hanoi wearing simple outfits, a backpack, and sunglasses.

The photos showed his experiences eating beef pho, and drinking coffee and Saigon beer in the Vietnamese capital.

Jung Il Woo poses for a photo with the Vietnamese flag. Photo: Instagram page of Jung Il Woo

He uploaded many photos of the coffee shops and sidewalk eateries that he visited in the city.

Many Vietnamese fans left comments on his photos welcoming Jung Il Woo to Vietnam.

Jung Il Woo, born in 1987, is best known for his roles in popular dramas such as Moon Embracing the Sun, Unstoppable High Kick, The Return of Iljimae, and 49 Days.

The photo of a bowl of beef pho from Jung Il Woos Instagram page

Jung Il Woo during his trip to Vietnam. Photo: Instagram page of Jung Il Woo

Jung Il Woo (L) poses for a photo with his assistant. Photo: Instagram page of Jung Il Woo

Jung Il Woo uploaded many photos of landmarks and dishes in Hanoi to his Instagram. Photos: Instagram page of Jung Il Woo

The photo of a bottle of Saigon beer on Jung Il Woos Instagram page

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One of two women missing and considered endangered by Oklahoma authorities was reportedly involved in a bitter custody dispute, according to a report.

27-year-old Veronica Butler, and a preacher's wife, Jillian Kelley disappeared while they were traveling across state lines to pick up Butler's young children.

The women, who police beleive were friends, were traveling 16 miles from Elkhart, Kansas to Eva, Oklahoma to pick up thre kids together before they disappeared 3 miles away from their destination.

A person close to Butler said she was supposed to pick up her 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son to celebrate her daughter's birthday, according to KVII-TV.

Their car was found abandoned Saturday near Highway 95 and Road L, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Court documents reviewed by the Christian Post allegedly showed that Butler, the father of her children as well as his family were involved in a bitter custody dispute.

In a motion reportedly filed last November, the children's paternal grandmother opposed any adjustment in the supervised visitation arrangement Butler had with the children.

She claimed that the children had been exposed to sexual abuse while under her care, according to the report.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) continues to investigate the case.

Many questions remain unanswered, including the condition of the car when it was found, what was found inside, whether there are any suspects and the whereabouts of the children.

Kelley is the wife of a pastor at Hugoton First Christian Church in Kansas. Heath Kelley recently agreed to serve as the new pastor of Willow Christian Church in Nebraska. Both churches have been holding prayer services for the missing women.
After a 4 year absence, American Idol returns to Australian screens.

The new season of American Idol: the iconic series that revolutionised the television landscape and created worldwide stars including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Adam Lambert is available to stream today, exclusively on 7plus.

Fast-tracked episodes of the latest season will keep Australia up to date with the hit star-maker series, less than 24 hours after they air live in the US.

Helping determine who America will ultimately choose as their next global singing sensation, are music industry forces of nature Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

Emmy Award-winning host and producer Ryan Seacrest also returns to the beloved competition series.

The 2024 season of American Idol features Australias own Jordan Anthony, who was invited to audition for the series after his TikTok videos gained international attention.

American Idol is produced by Fremantle and 19 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television.

Stream (first 7 shows) American Idol 3.00pm daily from today on 7plus

Fast tracked live episodes start Tuesday, 16 April.
New Stan Original Documentary Revealed: How To Poison A Planet, is a David & Goliath litigation battle involving drinking water in American history, to a small Australian Aboriginal community.

The doco investigates how the use of a product as seemingly harmless as firefighting foam, has resulted in the contamination of communities all over the world.

Revealed: How To Poison A Planet in collaboration with The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Carrie Fellner and iKandy Films, is a joint investigation into global PFAS contamination, featuring the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community located in Jervis Bay on the south coast of NSW.

The Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist, Carrie Fellner said: This is an international scandal that affects every single Australian. We have all been exposed to forever chemicals, its in our blood and everyday household products like makeup, clothing and cookware. These chemicals have left a trail of devastation in communities across the globe, from our own backyard to being found on Mount Everest. Our journalism is seeking to shine a light on this catastrophe, hold polluters accountable and see governments do more to keep ordinary citizens safe from these dangerous toxins.

Director, Katrina McGowan said: This film has been four years in the making, starting with the small community of Wreck Bay here in Australia and taking us to the other side of the world. The sheer scope of this issue is truly shocking and affects almost every person on the planet.

Stan Chief Content Officer, Cailah Scobie said: The Stan Original Revealed slate continues to deliver deeply affecting and impactful feature documentaries. Working with Carrie Fellner, iKandy Films, The Sydney Morning Herald, Screen Australia, Screen NSW and the Shark Island Foundation, this global story has come to light  examining the impact on a local First Nations community as well as the extraordinary work from the US legal teams.

The doco even includes US actor Mark Ruffalo, who portrayed lawyer Rob Bilott in the feature film he produced, Dark Waters (2019).

The thing that was always astonishing to me, that people made the decision to go forward with putting these chemicals in our environment  they knew what they were doing, those were decisions made by people, you cant help but ask, what kind of people do that? Ruffalo asked.

Featuring environmental lawyers Rob Bilott and Ned McWilliams and trial lawyers Gary Douglas and Rebecca Newman, Revealed: How To Poison A Planet, follows Gary and his team as they prepare to take on a global chemical company in what was said to become one of the largest environmental contamination cases in American history. In a nation-wide litigation, the team prepares to reveal explosive evidence, some of which has been suppressed for decades.

The formidable US legal team unveils what they allege a chemical company knew for decades about their man-made toxic forever chemicals, specifically, chemicals used in AFFF fire fighting foam, which have now contaminated drinking water, the environment and people all over the world. Since the 1950s, these toxic forever chemicals have spread to every corner of the globe and can now be found in the blood of 98% of the worlds population.

Gary Douglas said: For me its the pinnacle of my career. I cant see anything more important than seeing this through. Seeing that justice is done and the parties responsible for contaminating our planet are held responsible.

American corporate lawyer Rob Bilott turned environmental champion gained international prominence by exposing the world-wide impact of environmental contamination by the forever chemicals. Bilotts discovery led to lawsuits, including class actions, that have resulted in billions of dollars in compensation for people harmed by PFAS contamination.

Carries Walkley-Award winning investigations and world exclusive series Toxic Secrets series unearthed potential cancer clusters in Australia and the US and contaminated communities water supplies bringing the chemical contamination scandal engulfing Australias military bases to international attention.

Carrie and the documentary team unearth fresh revelations in Revealed: How To Poison A Planet about the contamination as the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community faces a devastating onslaught of illness including cancer and heart disease, many of which have been linked in overseas studies to PFAS exposure.

Revealed: How To Poison A Planet follows the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community as they launch an unprecedented class action against the Commonwealth of Australia for cultural loss. The contamination of their land has impacted their way of life and threatens the continuation of cultural practices their people have carried for thousands of years.

Revealed: How To Poison A Planet, is an iKandy Films production, directed by Katrina McGowan and produced by Janine Hosking, Katrina McGowan and Mat Cornwell in association with Shark Island Foundation. Principal production funding from Screen Australia with support from Shark Island Foundation and Screen NSW. Executive produced by Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie for Stan.

Sunday April 28 on Stan.
Emma Watkins (The Amazing Race, Emma Memma, The Wiggles) will host Teenage Boss: Next Level, a third season in the Teenage Boss series by ABC.

Production by McAvoy Media is currently underway in South Australia on the social experiment that sees Australian teens take hold of their household spending.

In each episode a teenager will assume responsibility for their familys budget for an entire month. The aim is to teach the teen (and the family) how to spend money in a sensible and balanced way.

ABC Head of Children and Family, Libbie Doherty said, We are so excited to have Emma Watkins lead a new lively bunch of Teenage Bosses, building their financial literacy and teaching viewers to do the same, one South Australian family at a time.

Host Emma Watkins said: Im thrilled to join the beloved show, Teenage Boss for its third series. Im looking forward to working through the challenges of managing budgets with the teens themselves and hoping to learn a thing or two myself. Tighten your purse strings  Im on my way!

South Australian Film Corporation CEO, Kate Croser said After the success of South Australias involvement in the second season of Teenage Boss we are delighted to welcome McAvoy Media back to the state. The latest production to be supported through the ABC SAFC Content Pipeline Fund, this exciting new series will boost South Australias capability in the factual and documentary television production space by expanding and diversifying our bench of experienced factual crew, employing a team of creative South Australians in the field including leading unscripted creative Colin Thrupp.

McAvoy Media CEO, John McAvoy said: Teenage Boss is a show packed full of natural jeopardy and hilarious, laugh out loud moments. All the while delivering a critically important message to teens rights across Australia. And now, with the hugely talented Emma Watkins in charge, its about to go Next Level.

Teenage Boss: Next Level will be coming to the ABC later this year.

Casting is underway here.

Production credit: Teenage Boss: Next Level is a McAvoy Media production for ABC Children and Family. Principal production investment from ABC, in association with Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC). Post Production in South Australia and NSW with funding from the South Australian and New South Wales Governments through the SAFC and Screen NSW. Produced by award-winning executive producer John McAvoy with South Australian based Colin Thrupp serving as co-executive producer. ABC Children and Familys Commissioning Editor is Mary Ellen Mullane. Distribution by All3 Media International.
Up for grabs in this weeks subscriber newsletter are 5 x double passes to Danielle Walker: The Lady Upstairs live comedy shows across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or Perth.

Danielle Walker (Taskmaster Australia, Gold Diggers, Thank God Youre Here) has also written and starred in her own Fresh Blood web series Going Under for ABC.

If you havent yet subscribed to the Friday newsletter you can do so here.

After a year away from festivals, to focus on being the inaugural champion of Taskmaster Australia, Danielle Walker returns to the stage with a brand new hour of stand up. She is ready to introduce audiences all over Australia to The Lady Upstairs.

Theres a lady in my head who runs the show. Im just her mouthpiece.

Danielle is a Comedian, Writer and Actor. You might have recently seen her Winning Taskmaster Australia, acting in Gold Diggers on the ABC or starring in her own Fresh Blood series for the ABC, Going Under. In the time she has been doing comedy, she has been bombarded with accolades including Winning Raw Comedy in 2016 and being awarded as the Best Newcomer at the 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Danielle Walker: The Lady Upstairs

Melbourne March 28  April 21
Ive attended a number of Kids Choice Awards shows in Australia.

Ive been on set and interviewed local Nickelodeon hosts and spoken to US talent.

The Nickelodeon brand in the 2000s has been a mega-force in Childrens TV. And while there is no suggestion of improprietry in Australia, thats not the case in the US where a high-profile documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has made allegations about the empire run by producer / showrunner Dan Schneider.

Schneider has been the golden child of Nickelodeon creating (or co-creating) and producing a string of hits including All That, The Amanda Show, Kenan & Kel, What I Like About You, Drake & Josh. iCarly, Zoey 101, Victorious, Sam & Cat, Henry Danger, Game Shakers. They spawned talent including Amanda Bynes, Ariana Grande, Jennette McCurdy, Miranda Cosgrove, Victoria Justice, Jamie Lynn Spears and more.

He was so revered, Jennette McCurdy, told me in 2012 she was proceeding to star in a new series without even having read a script:

I agreed as soon as I found out Dan Schneider was part of it. I definitely would not have said yes so exuberantly if it had been a different showrunner. But knowing Dan is the showrunner literally put me at ease because Ive never met anybody as hard-working or as creative as him. Knowing hes on my side is the best thing in the world.

That show turned out to be Sam & Cat in which she featured alongside Ariana Grande.

Schneiders early success, as the Investigation Discovery doco by directors Mary Robertson & Emma Schwartz reminds us, was in the late 1990s. The workplace at sketch show All That (pictured,1994  2005) and The Amanda Show (1999-2002) is described, variously, as a really fun set, full of pranks and jokes amongst staff.

Looking through a 2024 lens, some of the Schneider-produced vision which aired does not age well. Squirting water and liquid goo onto scantily-clad pre-pubesecent teens, interviews in jacuzzis, pickles squeezed through holes in doors, and the supposed comedy of Fear Factor-style stunts to teens (one including a live scorpion) -what were they thinking?

So was it all good clean fun and have we lost our sense of humour? To the child actors, writers, writers and parents who speak on camera, clearly not.

Working for Dan was like being in an abusive relationship, says writer Christy Strratton, who agreed to share salary with another female writer just to get her start in the biz. She is less forthcoming about being asked to simulate a sexual act in the writers room while male staff laughed.

Another writer, Jenny Kilgen, claims she was asked to work for 11 weeks for free leading to a gender discrimination lawsuit.

Former child actors talk of long hours, being expected to please the powerful producer -complaints not exclusive to this kids TV world of the past.

But the conviction of two production assistants on child sexual abuse charges is far more significant in the context of wider mistreatment.` One high profile Nickeloden star steps forward in the third episode in a candid interview.

Other actors describe a range of uncomfortable situations, scenes, costumes while concerned parents recall being discouraged from jeopardising their childs career trajectory.

It was a house of horrors, recalls one mother.

Schneider would frequently ask for neck massages which, he has since conceded, was not appropriate. He has also denied having control over salaries, while a spokesperson says of the featured retro scenes, Unfortunately, some adults project their adult minds onto kids shows, drawing false conclusions about them.

Nickelodeon has subsequently stated they investigate all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct.

While the lessons of the American experience are profound, it is also impossible to ignore dark chapters in Australian television history.

First four episodes 9:30pm Friday, 5 April, Saturday April 6 on ID and Binge

Fifth episode 9:30pm Friday Friday 19 April on ID and Binge

Lifeline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36

Support Act Wellbeing Helpline: 1800 959 500.
Screen Well released a major new screen industry report today, Breaking Down the Barriers to Job-Sharing, following a job-sharing pilot program it conducted in partnership with Matchbox Pictures.

The report aims to establish job-sharing as a viable and sustainable way of working flexibly in the Australian Screen Industry.

Screen workers regularly work more than 50 hours per week on average in Australia; job sharing will allow workers who are unable to sustain those hours to continue working within the industry and maintain a healthier work / life balance, says Ben Steel, founder of Screen Well.

Co-author of the report Racheal Rauch, said: Job-shares can be beneficial for a range of practitioners such as carers and parents, those with illness and disabilities, as well as remote / regional practitioners. The response to our pilot program and the expressions of interest we received, highlighted the variety of reasons people want to job-share, as well as strong demand for job-sharing in the Australian screen industry.

We were thrilled that Matchbox Pictures partnered with us on this and were keen to understand how job-sharing could work on one of their active productions. We are grateful for all their time, expertise and support along the way, Steel said.

Helen Panckhurst, Head of Production, Matchbox Pictures, commented: Matchbox Pictures is always looking at ways to support the needs of our brilliant crews and encourage greater flexibility. Screen Wells pilot program has given us a blueprint for the next stage of development, and we look forward to job-sharing becoming a practical option for us, and more broadly, the wider industry.

Co-author and Screen Well consultant Jonathon Dutton said: One of the findings of the pilot program was that job-sharers could benefit from presenting as a team to productions with a plan for how they intend to job-share their role. To address this, Screen Well partnered with Crew HQ who have created a way for job-sharers to identify and connect with other jobs-sharers on the Crew HQ platform, for free, which is an important piece of the puzzle.

Kirsty Stark, founder of Crew HQ said Were huge advocates of job-sharing, to enable crew to create thriving careers in the industry regardless of their personal circumstances. With 30% of our listed crew having indicated their interest in job-sharing, its clear that theres a significant untapped demand from freelancers for flexible roles, and were excited to collaborate with Screen Well to break down existing barriers and further support job-sharing in the Australian film and TV industry.

Screen Well and Crew HQ will run a free job-share masterclass at 12pm on the 22nd of April. Register to attend: https://bit.ly/jobsharemasterclass

The report was financed with the assistance of Screen Australias Transferable Skills & Returning Crew Training Fund.
For her new ABC Arts series, Virginia Trioli has sought to break away from the routine of artists selling their latest movie, album, book or exhibition.

Instead, Creative Types with Virginia Trioli focusses more on the process of work and artistic collaboration.

Rather than making it about, What are you doing, what are you up to? which is when we mostly hear from these people it was to give them time and space to actually delve into a discussion and a reflection on what that creative drive is for them, she tells TV Tonight.

Why they live to do this. Why they have to do this, whos helped them along the way? Their collaborations, their failures, their successes.

The really fantastic thing was no matter who we contacted, even if given a very tight timeframe  they all responded with, I would love to talk about that! So they really got it, which was great.

The six part series which draws from the disciplines of acting, directing, writing, visual and performing arts showcases author Trent Dalton (pictured above, right), choreographer Rafael Bonachela, actor Marta Dusseldorp, director Warwick Thornton, comedian Tom Gleeson and visual artist Patricia Piccinni.

But there are also high profile collaborators and contemporaries including Simon Baker, Kylie Minogue, David Stratton and Cate Blanchett.

What was interesting about that was, when you interview Cate Blanchett not about Cate Blanchett, shes a different person, Trioli explains.

When you talk to Simon Baker, not about Simon Baker, hes a completely different person

When you talk to Simon Baker, not about Simon Baker, hes a completely different person. He is candid, relaxed and reflective and you suddenly realise these creatives are set up to speak to us in such a limited, constructed way, which is, Hi, Im here to sell a new thing.

We never give them the opportunity to, kind of, talk in different ways. And theyre really fascinating when you take all that spruiking pressure off them or even that personal focus on them. Theyre really fascinating talking about their peers.

Directed by Stamatia Maroupas, the series also heads to the artists in their own environments around Australia.

With Rafael Bonachela we were there in the rehearsal room with him and his dancers for Martas new production company with her husband, their office is the kitchen table in their home in Hobart.

Martas possibly the hardest working woman in TV. Shes got piles of DVDs, all of the episodic network television that she worked on for years. A Place to Call Home, Crownies, Janet King,  a decade of every single day turning up to set. She said in that decade, I spoke more scripted words than my own.

With Warwick were there at his Mens Shed with his car and his electric guitar and -as he said- the boxes of crap that he keeps. Those boxes of crap, mind you, contained awards from Venice and Cannes as well, which we had to pull out and dust off. Thats the archive that he pulls together.

They were really trusting of us

We walked through a dry riverbed where Warwick used to play as a kid, and where it all began for him in Alice Springs. It was very intimate. They were really trusting of us and they let us in, in a really wonderful way.

Tom Gleeson even let down his hard guard for a candid interview.

Hes simply one of the most intelligent people youll ever meet. And it tells a story of Australian comedy, which is a really phenomenal thing. We punch above our weight when it comes to stand-up comedians and the comedic shows that we produce and export, and the names that are known here and around the world. It tells us story of the evolution of Australian comedy right through his life. He began at university and hed never had any other job, but being a comedian. That was it. He has worked at it, she continues.

They trusted me

Im pretty well known in Arts circles in Australia now. Ive been at this for a really long time. Everyone that I contacted personally Ive either interviewed before, or they know of me. So they trusted me. So when we sat down to talk, there was a great amount of trust in the room and I could ask them what I wanted to ask them and I got absolutely straight answers.

If the series is commissioned for a second season, Trioli insists it will also include a mix of established an emerging artists.

Absolutely. I want some rising talent and I also want some really established talent that people might not know of. Weve got some really great painters in this country that people should know about.

Attendances at museums and galleries in this country show that theres an appetite for that. So rising stars, oh my god, you should see the spreadsheet of the the Wish List.

We do want to tell a true story of what creativity looks like in this country

Theres a matrix to meet as well. I mean, we do want to be representative. We do want to be diverse, we do want to tell a true story of what creativity looks like in this country. If youre into, I dont know, Drama, then you wont necessarily know about another art form over there. We want to be representative of that in a good and celebratory way, as well.

The other matrix is when are these people available to us? Theyre all really bloody busy!

We got really close with a couple of very, very significant creative Australians but they just couldnt find the time for us. Theyre on a plane to Milan, then theyre back to Queensland, and then theyre off somewhere else.

We ask a fair bit of them, they give us two days of their time. Thats a lot when you talk to someone like Marta Dusseldorp. Or any of these people.

Creative Types with Virginia Trioli 9pm Tuesday on ABC.
Special Correspondent, TwoCircles.net

Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh): Former MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who represented eastern Uttar Pradeshs Mau constituency in the state assembly for five consecutive terms from 1996 till 2017, did not die of cardiac arrest (as being claimed), but institutionally murdered by jail administration on the instructions of mafia dons Brijesh Singh and Tribhuwan Singh who enjoy the blessings of the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), alleged his youngest son Umar Ansari  a day after laying his father to rest at his familys ancestral graveyard (the Kali Bagh burial ground) in Ghazipur on March 30.

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Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in cases related to the murder of BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai and obtaining arms license based on forged documents, Mukhtar was lodged in Banda prison and breathed his last on March 29 at the towns Rani Durgawati Medical College and Hospital.

Over the course of the past year, Mukhtar was found guilty by trial courts in over seven different cases. He was sentenced to six years and five months in prison by a Varanasi court on December 15, 2023, in a 1997 case wherein he was accused of criminal intimidation. In addition, a Varanasi court sentenced him to life in prison in June, the same year, for the murder of Awadesh Rai, the brother of Congress state president Ajay Rai, and for kidnapping a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in connection with Rais murder in 2005.

It wasnt a natural death, but a planned murder

On March 28, the former lawmaker was declared to have died of cardiac arrest after he was rushed to the hospital from the prison. He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in the wee hours two days before his death after he was found lying on the floor outside a jail toilet following vomiting.

He was complaining of abdominal ache, constipation and unease. However, he was discharged the evening after being declared fit and stable.

Even before his death, Mukhtars family has been alleging that he was being fed with slow poison. The deceased had also petitioned in a trial court in Barabanki through his counsel, alleging the same.

His postmortem report, however, ruled out the allegation and reiterated the cardiac arrest.

He himself had said in his application to the court: I was being served food contaminated with poison due to which my health is deteriorating, and I feel as if I am going to die. My father was not such a weak person that he would complain that he would die. He was a fit man. He was 6 6-feet tall, weighed 90 kg and used to work out for two hours every day, Umar told TwoCircles.net.

He said he is not levelling the allegation, but the person who was poisoned to death had himself filed the complaint with courts, and it is on record, which can be independently verified.

On the night of March 19, he was given poison through food. He complained about the same on the morning of March 21 in three different courts  MP/MLA courts in Banda, Barabanki and Azamgarh  while appearing through video link from the prison, he said.

Three days after he formally lodged the complaint with the court, a jailer and two deputy jailers were suspended.

We came to know from the media that the administrative action was initiated against them for being negligent while taking my father to the court for physical appearance, he said and asked why the penal action was for when his father was not brought to the court for the past one year.

On April 10, 2023, Mukhtar was last produced physically before any court. It was an MP/MLA court in Lucknow. Since then, he attended proceedings in different courts of the state through video conferencing only from jail.

Its crystal clear that the honourable court found merit in my fathers application and hence the action was taken, he speculated.

Mukhtar was allegedly eliminated, claimed Umar, because if the courts had taken cognizance of the complaint, jail officials would have come under the scanner of the judiciary.

And to save themselves, the officers would have to reveal the conspiracy and name everyone  right from the state administration to the polity  who were involved. They would have to reveal everything  who gave the poison and, on whose instruction, and what kind of the life-threatening substance was used? he continued.

Umar suspected that his father administered thallium  which becomes toxic if its concentration level in blood rises above 200 g/L. Its exposure causes difficulty walking, various involuntary movement disorders, permanent neurological damages before resulting in deaths.

Recalling his last conversation with his father, he said, He (Mukhtar) had told us that he felt as if his intestine was being severed. He vomited soon after having the meal after breaking fast. He was unable to discharge urine and stool and had flatus. He had stomach gas and unease. According to him, he had suddenly become so weak that he was unable to walk even a few steps.

His health deteriorated so much that he was admitted to the hospital in serious conditions in the wee hours on March 26 (at 3.55 a.m. as per a health bulletin).

At 4 a.m. the same day, Umar said, the Muhammadabad police knocked at their doors  popularly called phatak (a huge entrance gate in literal terms), which remains open round the clock for everyone to come and seek help  in Ghazipur with a radiogram from the Banda jail superintendent.

Referring to a Supreme Court order dated January 16, 2024, in which a division bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Misra had directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to make elaborate security arrangements and proper medical care for Mukhtar, the family was informed that he had fallen gravely unwell and, as per the apex courts direction, had been admitted to the ICU in the Banda medical college.

Umar and his uncle Afzal Ansari (Mukhtars elder brother), who is a member of Parliament from Ghazipur, was asked to reach the hospital as soon as possible.

I was in Delhi at that time and Afzal baba was at home. We both left for Banda. He reached at around 12:30 p.m. and I at 1 p.m. He was allowed to meet, but not me despite the fact that the names of both of us were on the list of visitors, he alleged.

I kept urging the superintendent of police to permit me as well, but my repeated plea landed on a deaf ear. I was told he has orders from above not to let me in. I requested them to allow me to at least catch a glimpse of my father from outside the ICU, but it was also turned down, he alleged, continuing that he did not find it right to get involved because at least they were showing the least degree of humanity and by getting his father admitted for treatment.

He said he left Banda at around 3 p.m. without meeting his father. At 6 pm, according to him, he learnt that Mukhtar had been discharged and sent back to the jail after doctors declared him fit and stable.

I dont know how he would have spent the last two days of life in his jail cell in so much pain. At around 10 pm on March 28, we received a shocking news, which we were neither expecting nor prepared for. He was no more, said Umar with a long pause to unsuccessfully control his emotions.

Wiping tears rolling down his face, he began and narrated, His stomach was so distended that the doctors who were performing autopsy advised not to slant his body to check whether there were any marks of injury on the back, saying there were possibilities for the stomach to burst.

He asked, Do you still think he died of cardiac arrest? Not at all. And I am saying this based on extremely reliable inputs and prevailing circumstances that it is not a natural death but a planned murder.

Asked to elaborate, he said, We still have a few reliable well-wishers in the system who have informed us a lot, but I cannot share the specific information, which we have got, keeping their safety and security in mind. Without mentioning any name, all I can say is that my accusation is based on facts. I reiterate, This is not a natural death but an extra-judicial killing.

Asked if it is a planned murder as he is alleging, who, according to him, hatched the conspiracy and carried it out, a prompt reply came, Mafia don Brijesh Singh, a co-accused of Dawood Ibrahim, and mafia don Tribhuwan Singh.

Without mincing words, I would say both of them are directly involved in this murder, and they have blessings of top-notch leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling the state as well as the Centre. The top leadership of the incumbent party, the police administration and prison authorities are hand in gloves in this conspiracy and subsequent killing, he alleged.

Getting the poison delivered in jail, mixing it with the food to be served and administering it again and again till his death cannot be the handiwork of one person, he said.

Brijesh Singh directly benefited from this murder because my father had lodged an FIR (first information report) against him for carrying out a murderous attack. He had to testify in court 22 years after the case was registered. On July 15, 2001, my father was going to his constituency (Mau) from Ghazipur along with his supporters. On his way, his convoy was fired upon using automatic rifles, including an AK47, by Brijesh Singh and Tribhuvan Singh near Usri Chatti. While my father and his nine associates suffered grievous injuries in the deadly attack, three others were killed, he said.

Mukhtar was the complainant as well as an injured witness of the case. Twenty-two years after the incident, trial began in the case only last year. Seven witnesses have testified in the court. Following many postponements, Mukhtar had to get his statement recorded before the trial court anytime soon.

All the testimonies, which have been recorded so far, are against Brijesh Singh. The witnesses have clearly told the court that Brijesh sprayed bullets on them with the intention of killing. All possible attempts were made to threaten the witnesses and make them turn hostile. When they refused to back off, a new FIR was filed in the same case after 22 years against my father and all the witnesses. Shailendra Rai, the father of one of the victims, Manoj Rai, who was killed in the gun battle. So, the victims were turned into accused, he said.

That is a framed-up case, Umar said, the complainant has said that his son was abducted from Sagrao village Bihars Buxar district by Mukhtar Ansari and brought to Ghazipur.

My father, according to the case, killed him at our residence in Ghazipur. Later, he took his dead body to Usri Chatti and fired several rounds in the air to show that Rai had been killed in a staged firing. In the process, my father fired at himself and his associates, including a government personal security officer (PSO), with his own firearms. This cooked up story was made after 22 years when the trial in the original case began. Doesnt it sound flimsy? he said.

He said if there is delay in filing an FIR, the investigators have to explain valid reasons behind it before the court. Such FIRs are called ante-time FIR. He said courts on different occasions have cleared off the so-called accused. Its an established fact. In this case, the FIR is being filed against my father after 22 years and that too after the trial began, he wondered.

What would have happened if Mukhtar Ansari, who was not a coward to withdraw, had testified in the court against Brijesh Singh, who of late has been in the good books of the incumbents? Everyone knows it, said Umar.

Trying to cement his allegation that Brijesh is poster boy of the incumbents, who allegedly want to save him at all costs, he asked how it is possible that the mafia dons wife was elected as an MLC (member of the Legislative Council, upper house of state assemblies) from Varanasi, which is Lok Sabha constituency of none other than Prime Minister Modi.

She defeated the candidate of the BJP  the party of PM Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Does all this happen in isolation? No. It was made possible by Modi, (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah, the Uttar Pradesh government and its machinery colluding to please Brijesh Singh, he alleged.

A saga of cases

The UPs Adityanath government, which came to power in 2017, unleashed the police and administrative forces against Mukhtar, his family and his supporters. It filed many criminal cases against him, his sons, including incumbent MLA Abbas Ansari, his brother and MP Afzal Ansari and other acquaintances, branding him a gangster and the leader of the gang IS191.

The government claims it has taken possession of, demolished and released the Mukhtar familys property worth crores from illegal occupation.

As of December 2023, the police arrested 186 people and revoked 175 weapon licenses. They also shot five persons allegedly connected to Mukhtar in controversial encounters and filed lawsuits against 292 people. Around 64 of his purported associates were booked under the Gangsters Act and six under the National Security Act (NSA). Additionally, 60 of his alleged affiliates were expelled from their districts.

The media too described Mukhtar as a gangster-turned-politician.

When asked about the same, Umar said it is always mentioned that so many cases were filed, but no one talks about the merit of the lawsuits and under what circumstances they were registered.

First case against me was registered when I was not even born. I committed the crime, but I was non-existent in the world. The second case is when I was four years old. The allegation is that I (as a four-year-old kid) went to the office of the district magistrate in shorts and threatened him. And the DM got so scared of me that he registered a government land in my name, he said.

The third case, according to Umar, was filed against him under Section 153(A) because he allegedly seconded his elder brother Abbas Ansari by clapping when the latter allegedly made a controversial statement, reportedly threatening government officials at a public rally in Mau district during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Abbas, who won the polls as a candidate of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP)-Samajwadi Party alliance, had allegedly said during the rally if the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its alliance partners formed the government in the state, no government officials would be transferred for the first six months as he had a score to settle with them.

According to the police, I encouraged him in his alleged crime by standing with him on the stage and clapping, he added.

The Mau MLA is presently lodged in Kasganj jail in connection with a money laundering case. He could not attend the funeral of his father because of not getting parole.

He said the fourth case is in connection with speeding.

As part of a convoy of my brother, who was going for the election campaigning, I have been accused of driving my vehicle at such a high speed that it could have caused accidents and killed people. When the court asked the prosecution whether there is any video evidence, which could establish the allegation that the vehicle was speeding beyond the permissible limit, the police replied the speed was so high that they could not do its video recording, he said.

The fifth case, according to Umar, against him is that he was accompanying his brother Abbas during the latters victory procession for which the permission was not sought.

The sixth case, which was later quashed by the Allahabad High Court, was related to the use of allegedly unauthorised vehicles during Abbass election campaigning. Interestingly, the process of registering the vehicles to be used in canvassing had begun two days after the FIR was filed against him.

They snatched our roof

An emotional Umar said they snatched their roof of protection by killing his father. Father is like a roof over our life who protects us from every trouble, which come in life. Father is like a shadow, which has been eliminated, he said.

At this testing time, he said, his elder brother is also not with him. He was denied parole to attend the last rites. Well, there is no hope of any kind of mercy from them. If SC had opened that day, my brother would have been granted parole, he added.

Because of the absence of his brother, he said, he is feeling lonely. Even my mother is not with me, he said.

Umars mother Afsha Ansari, who too could not see her husband for the last time as she is absconding, is an accused in several criminal cases. She faces six cases, with a reward of Rs 75,000 for information leading to her arrest. The reward was increased last year from Rs 50,000.

Charges against her include cheating, forgery, theft, criminal trespass, damage to public property and activities under the Gangsters Act. First case was registered against her in 2019. Subsequent cases were registered in different police stations in Ghazipur district. She was declared a fugitive by Mau police in 2022 after she failed to appear in cases against her. A lookout notice was issued against her last year.

While concluding, he quoted a standanza of a poetry, Marr kar bhi nahin marte, hum jagah badalte hain; khwab dekhte rahna tum, hamen mitane ka (We dont die even after death, we only shift from one place to another; you keep dreaming, you can destroy us).
Not long ago while foraging around a secondhand bookshop in Sydneys inner west I came across a book called "Burning Down The Haus" by Tim Mohr. Mohr a New York City-based author and former Berlin DJ fell in love with the Berlin punk nightlife in 1992. He interviewed Berlin punks who faced oppression from the Stasi when in its eyes their alternative clothes were considered a potentially dangerous form of resistance.

Mohr describes how it all started with a small group of East Berlin teens who after hearing the Sex Pistols on a British military radio broadcast to West Berlin and ending with the collapse of the East German dictatorship.

When they started putting these bands together, they were doing it all in German and it was all about their own lives. British punks were singing about their futures and socio-economic conditions, while the problem in East Germany was almost the direct opposite; they had too much future. There was no unemployment in East Germany, and their lives were scripted by the party, Mohr told Dazeddigital.com in a 2019 interview.

The idea of punk was liberating  the punk image with the rejection of society and the DIY approach to building a new one in their oppressive surroundings, where ones future was determined by a communist apparatchik, punk constituted a revolution in itself. Mohr describes how a lot of the bands got together, interviews with many band members who describe the trouble they went to to find good rehearsal space where the police werent going to stop them.

Their concerts where held in obscure places, anywhere the Stasi couldnt shut them down. As a punk from way back I appreciated his understanding of the culture and the movement that developed during this time.

As the emerging punk bands became more visible, the security forces - which in included the most feared Stasi targeted them.

They were spied on by friends and family, expelled from schools and many lost their jobs. Some were imprisoned and beaten. But instead of conforming, the punks fought back, playing an important role in the underground movement that was part of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. Nevertheless, Mohr is rather over-enthusiastic in laying at the feet of punk the walls demise.

A Berlin punk talks

Some time after Id finished the book I had a chance encounter with a neighbour from Germany, Lilly, who when I told her about the book said her mum had been a punk in East Germany during the time of the wall. Speaking to Lilly's mum, 56-year-old Ina about her East German punk years. My first contact with punk was with sweet 16, she says. She attended many punk gigs, Some were illegal. The problem with the concerts was, that you were only allowed to play with a license. However, the authorities did not give this license to punk bands, because they did not conform to the system. So impossible. We ran away from the cops because some concerts were in secret locations. The problem wasn't just the police, but also the Stasi, they were everywhere.

Unfortunately also among the punks. She remembers seeing one of the great punk bands of that time, Schleim-Keim in a cellar in Erfurt under a museum. Its still a music cellar today. Hailed as one of the most important and influential punk bands of the former East Germany. Schleim-Keim play raw punk rock (check out their song "Norm" on YouTube), as did many other German punk bands at that time who were influenced by the likes of Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys and Crass. The band dissolved in 1996. After the end of Schleim-Keim, the two remaining members Mario Lippmann and Hagen Schroder founded a grindcore/punk band named Aggressive Scum. If there ever was a more perfect name for a punk band, Aggressive Scum was it!

A new punk movement is needed

In "Burning Down the Haus" Mohr sums up, declaring that "..the spirit of East Berlin punk rock lives. The ethos of East Berlin punk infused the city with a radical egalitarianism and a DIY approach to maintaining independence - to conjuring up the world you want to live in regardless of the situation or surroundings." He goes onto to state that "Berliners today still fight for the right of self-determination with a seriousness not seen in other Western cities." By saying this in some way he misses the meaning of punk, these East Berliners were revolutionaries and did it by latching onto the punk culture already ripe in the UK. It suited their fight, punk for them meant they were giving the finger to the wall in a loud and obnoxious way.

Punk to the kids in the UK was a defiant anti-society gob. The music was mainly tuneless, with a lot of screaming and thrashing about. It has since evolved into New Wave and the likes of New Order. But its still there waiting for another youth revolution, I wont be happy until I see a punk movement grow in Putins Russia. Those kids would have to be very brave, as brave as the East Berlin punks  if not more. Anarchy in Russia! Yeah!
Just hours after the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk promoted fundamental changes to Nebraska's electoral map, both the state's governor and former President Donald Trump endorsed the plan - which could create a major obstacle for President Joe Biden's path to re-election if passed.

Nebraska is one of just two states that doesn't allocate electoral votes through a winner-takes-all system. Rather, the Cornhusker State gives two of its electoral votes to whomever wins the state's presidential election, while allocating the other three based on which candidate wins in each Congressional district. Nebraska is a reliably red state but Omaha and its suburbs voted blue in 2008 and 2020.

"California would never do this. New York would never do this. And as long as that's the case, neither should we," Kirk posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Nebraskans should call their legislators and their governor to demand their state stop pointlessly giving strength to their political enemies."

Many pundits believe that the Omaha suburbs could end up playing a crucial role in November - particularly if Biden loses in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. State Senator Loren Lippincott first introduced legislation promoting a winner-takes-all system more than a year ago but it remains in committee.

Shortly after Kirk's post, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen released a statement saying that he was "a strong supporter" of the proposed legislation. Trump backed Pillin's comments, describing them as "very smart" in a post on Truth Social.

In spite of the high profile endorsements, Nebraska Democrats remain confident that the bill will not pass before the end of the legislative session in mid-April. In spite of Kirk's claims that blue states would not split electoral votes, there actually is a Democratic analogue. Maine also splits its electoral votes but could theoretically consolidate them in response to Nebraska altering its map.

"The Nebraska Democratic Party is watching this bill closely and still believes we have the votes to stop the Republicans from removing a fair electoral system that represents voters," Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb told Semafor.

"The only reason Gov. Pillen sent a release today is, the extremist Charlie Kirk sent a tweet that, of course, our governor jumped up to respond to."
John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump who now opposes the former presidents re-election, on Wednesday cited Trumps short attention span to suggest that if a second term is in the cards, his new advisers could try to prevent him from withdrawing from NATO by just distracting him.

Trumps antipathy for the post-World War II treaty organization was recently on display at a campaign stop in South Carolina in February. If he were in office again, he said, he would encourage [Russia] to do whatever they want to NATO members who dont pay.

Bolton, a foreign policy hawk who served in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations, warned against the U.S. pulling out of NATO during an appearance on the MeidasTouch network. If re-elected, he said, Trump would do it very early in his term.

To help thwart Trumps ambitions, Bolton suggested, his advisers would have to get Trumps mind off the subject.

The remedy I would propose to anybody who doesnt want us to withdraw from NATO is find a way to distract his attention, and since he has a short attention span, that can workat least for a whileuntil it pops back into his head, he said.

Former Trump Advisor John Bolton suggests that one potential strategy to prevent Trump from withdrawing from NATO, should he be re-elected, would be to distract him because Trump has such a short attention span pic.twitter.com/j23jPtYWKu  Acyn (@Acyn) April 3, 2024

This is, I think unfortunately, a very good example of what a second Trump term would be like. A lot of things he talked about in the first termmaybe made some tentative steps toward but didnt actually carry through onwell see again in a second term, Bolton added.

While in office, Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw from NATO, The New York Times reported. And amid his harsh criticism of the multilateral organization up through the present day, Trump has simultaneously shown an unwillingness to speak ill of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has tried to portray his war against Ukraine as being the fault of NATO.

If Boltons advice sounds familiar, its because it resembles how White House aides reportedly dealt with Trump while in office: by distracting him and pushing issues down the road. Former Trump Organization executive Barbara Res described to Politico in 2017 the decision-making process around the one-time reality television host: You either had to just convince him something better was his idea or ignore what he said to do and hoped he forgot about it the next day.

Current and former intelligence officials similarly told The New York Times in 2020 that Trump indeed has a short attention span and that he struggled to read U.S. intelligence reports, but liked them when they included photographs and charts.

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2024 LS Polls: Voting options for North Indian Muslims minus UP and Bihar



In the five-part series of the voting choices before the Muslims in India, this second write-up looks at the political scenario in the five North Indian states and two Union Territories.

Thursday April 4, 2024 10:48 AM , Syed Ali Mujtaba

In the five-part series of the voting choices before the Muslims in India, this second write-up looks at the political scenario in the five North Indian states and two Union Territories.

The summary is the BJP is not getting more than 17 Lok Sabha seats out of a total of 45 seats in the north Indian region.

The north Indian region as a matter of convenience comprises two Union Territory; Ladakh and the Union Jammu and Kashmir; the five states; Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Haryana, and Delhi.

The breakup of the LS seats are as follows; Ladakh 1, Jammu and Kashmir 5, Punjab 13, Haryana 10, Uttrakhand 5, Himachal Pradesh 4, and Delhi 7.

The political choices before the Muslims in the north Indian region differ greatly from those in the south. The challenge before them is to dent the BJPs electoral supremacy in these north Indian regions and how they will do it, is left to the community.

Ladakah

There are 46% Muslims in Ladakah mainly concentrated in the Kargil region. They hold the balance of the political power in Ladkah. Even with such electoral strength, they cannot send a Muslim MP to Delhi because 40 % of Buddhists concentrated in the Leh region and 12 % of Hindus concentrated in the same region, gang up to triumph over the Muslims. As a result, the BJP has been winning the lone LS seat from Ladakh since its inception.

However, the 2024 Lok Sabha scenario in Ladakah is quite different. The Buddhists are fed up with the BJPs chicanery and complain that the BJPs central rule has colonial imprints. As such, the newly created Union Territory is going to witness a new political alignment where Muslims and the Buddhist alliance can upset the BJPs fortunes. In this, the protest by Sonam Wanchuk can make a huge difference in turning the tide. Thus the BJP is losing the lone LS seat in Ladakh.

Jammu and Kashmir

The Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir now has five LS seats. There are three seats in the Kashmir valley; Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag. In the Jammu division, there are only two seats; Udhampur and Jammu. The combined Muslim population In Jammu and Kashmir is 68.3 percent. In Kashmir Valley, Muslims are 96.41 percent and in the Jammu division, they are 7.03 percent.

As a result, the three LS seats in the Kashmir valley will go to Muslims and more precisely to the National Conference, an alliance partner of the INDIA block.

In the Jammu division, two Lok Sabha seats always go to the BJP. However, after the abrogation of Article 370, in 2019 and making the J&K state into a Union Territory, the political scenario has changed significantly even in the Jammu division. People there are not happy with the BJP rule from the center. It is apprehended that the two LS seats from the Jammu division may drift away from the BJP. The 7.03 percent of Muslims in the Jammu division can play a crucial role in this political heist.

Punjab

According to the 2021 Census Punjab's population has Sikhs 57.69 percent, Hindus 38.49 percent, Muslims 1.93 percent and Christians 1.26 percent. The battle for the 13 LS seats will see a contest between the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, the Aam Admi Party, and the BJP. After the farmers agitation that started early in 2024, the political scenario has changed in Punjab. The Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP alliance have witnessed a split. The 38.49 percent of Hindus are favoring the AAP and not the BJP.

The situation for the BJP has worsened after the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP supporters are not going to vote for the BJP. It will be an interesting contest to watch, how SAD, AAP Congress, and BJP will fare in this election in Punjab. In 2019, Congress won 8 seats, Shiromani Akali Dal 2 seats, BJP 2 seats, and AAP 1 seat. In this background, a laymans guess is, that the Congress may win 9 seats, SAD 2 and AAP, and the BJP one seat each. In the final analysis, neither the SAD nor the AAP will join the NDA, and for them, the only option is to join the INDIA alliance.

Haryana

There are 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. The key political parties in Haryana are the ruling BJP, the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal, the Aam Admi Party, the Sarvahit Party etc. In the 2019 election, the BJP won all 10 LS seats in Haryana. However, in 2024 the political situation is different. The farmers agitation and the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are going to be a factor in the Haryana election. The AAP and INLD will likely gain in the 2024 LS election.

Muslims in Haryana account for 7.03% of the population. They will play an important role in the 2024 election. The events in Gurgaon and Mewat that echo Muslim persecution are fresh in their memories. Its a fight for Muslims survival in Haryana. They must vote for the regional party in alliance with the Congress. The expectation is the BJP tally may drop from 10 to 5 seats and the 5 seats gain will to the Congress.

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh has 4 LS seats. The main political parties in Himachal Pradesh are the INC and the BJP. The BJP won all 4 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 election in Himachal Pradesh.

The Muslim population in Himachal Pradesh is only 2.18 percent or 1.50 Lakhs out of a total of 68.65 Lakhs people in the state. The anti-incumbency factor can bring a change in Himachal Pradesh. In this perspective, the Muslim votes can strengthen the Congress party. There can be a surprise in Himachal Pradesh and the BJP bastion could be dented.

Uttarakhand

There are 5 LS seats in Uttarakhand and all were won by the BJP in the 2019 LS poll. The runner-up was the INC. Here Muslims are 13.95 percent of the population. Their actual figure is 14.07 Lakhs of the total 1.01 crore people. Uttarakhand has become a highly communalized state since the BJP is in power. The Muslims even though in significant numbers are constantly persecuted in Uttarakhand.

Also Read

2024 Parliament Elections: Options for Muslims in South India

This time Muslims have to vote in a consolidated manner to strengthen the Congress's fortunes. Hopefully, the anti-incumbency factor combined with a Muslim surge in favor of the Congress can dent the BJP fort.

Delhi

The national capital has 7 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP won all 7 seats in the last national election. The situation in 2024 is different after the arrest of the AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. Even though Congress is a much weaker party in Delhi now its leader Ajay Makhan can make a difference.

In Delhi-NCR, the Muslim population is 12.86 percent. Their actual strength is 21.59 Lakhs of the total 1.68 crore population of Delhi. If their vote remains undivided and goes in favor of the Congress, the BJPs fortress can be dented. It will be an interesting battle to watch how Muslims can throw their electoral weight around and change the 7-0 result that is in favor of the BJP in the Parliamentary election of 2024.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, it can be said the BJP out of 45 seats in the north Indian region can get no more than 17 LS seats. The breakup is as follows; 2 from J&K, 1 from Punjab, 4 from Himachal Pradesh, 5 from Uttarakhand, and 5 from Delhi, a total of 17 seats. The possibility is the Congress-led alliance may increase its tally in the north Indian region and the BJP tally may go further down from its previous performances.

[The writer, Syed Ali Mujtaba, is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com]

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Israels murderous war in Gaza has upset American Middle East plan



Analysts argue the Al Aqsa Flood, the entry of Hamas fighters into Israel, and the subsequent war on the Gaza Strip, now in its sixth month, has upset American and Israeli strategic plans for the region.

Friday April 5, 2024 0:50 AM , Dr Marwan Asmar

Analysts argue the Al Aqsa Flood , the entry of Hamas fighters into Israel, and the subsequent war on the Gaza Strip, now in its sixth month, has upset American and Israeli strategic plans for the region.

Such plans hinged on the normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab world. These were already put in motion with the signing of the Abraham Accords in late 2020 when the UAE and Bahrain signed normalization treaties with Israel, establishing the first-ever diplomatic relations between these countries. Soon after Morocco and Sudan signed diplomatic protocols with Israel.

These were seen as major diplomatic breakthroughs in the dying days of the Trump administration and were to be followed through by the incoming administration of Joe Biden who won the US presidential election. Biden was to continue the work of his predecessor and establish what was then termed a new Middle East where Israel would become part of a new regional order.

After the four Arab countries, the big breakthrough was Saudi Arabia with Biden officials courting Riyadh over establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. This is a point the new Biden administration stressed on as it entered the White House from the beginning of 2021 onwards. Officials, including President Joe Biden himself, who visited Israel and Saudi Arabia in July 2022 , sought to pressure the Saudi government into signing a normalization deal with Israel and establishing relations.

But the Saudis have always said they wouldnt normalize until the Palestinian issue - that included establishing an independent state, would be solved. However, the Americans and Israelis tended to downplay that issue. Israel wanted first to establish relations with the Arab world, with Riyadh by next, and then the Palestinian issue would come second.

Many analysts saw this as a non-starter, establishing relations with Saudi Arabia would frustrate the establishment of an independent Palestinians state. However, the Americans, and Israelis who tried to make a political capital of the fact, they saw Arab relations with Israel as a foregone conclusion and a matter of time and worked on that assumption.

The Americans were working on bringing this about, in fact there was much talk in the weeks and months prior to 7 October, 2023. The White House was on the verge of reaching a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel through active US diplomatic channels and sojourns to Riyadh as underlined by the visits of the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in August of that year, and preceded by the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in the prior month of June.

Was Saudi Arabia on the verge of reaching a lone deal with Israel or is this wishful thinking on the part of Washington and Tel Aviv? Thus, whatever was the political playground it was put on hold by the events of 7th October in which 1,200 Israelis were killed.

Today, establishing such relations between the two countries have become doubly hard because of the continuing Israeli war on Gaza, termed as genocide and ethnic cleansing in which over 32,000 people have been killed, 75,000 people injured and 1.9 million of the Gaza population out of 2.2 million displaced.

But Washington, despite the fact it is a major conspirator in this war because of providing weapons to Israel through its air and sea bridges, is not giving up on its normalization efforts with Saudi. Jake Sullivan was due to make a visit to Riyadh this week to revive such talks but the latest news points out it has been cancelled at the last minute because of the ill health of the National Security Advisor.

However, the Americans will keep trying despite the fact Biden himself was snubbed when he made his marked visit to Jeddah in 2022. Washington doesnt understand that Saudi Arabia will not take the plunge of normalization unless there is progress on the Palestinian side.

As well, Washington will keep trying because they want to reshape the Middle East. The idea may have failed for the time-being but they wanted, still do, to establish a NATO-like alliance to confront Iran and one that would be led by Israel.

But even here, they may have long slipped because of the present Saudi-Iran detente in which they have re-established diplomatic relations with Riyadh fully knowing that Tehran takes a strong anti-Israeli stance.

Despite the current political chit-chat, Israel may have put a final nail in the coffin of these two developments and said goodbye to current strategic thinking in the region. The destruction of Gaza by Israel and its insistance on the continuation of the murderous war, is clearly upsetting American and western plans for the region. The Middle East as the US wants to revamp is back to the drawing boards again.

[The writer, Dr Marwan Asmar, is based in Amman, Jordan.]

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KEAM 2024 registration starts, Last date to apply April 17



Candidates should note that the KEAM Application process started on March 27, 2024. The last date of application is April 17, 2024 till 05:00 PM.

Thursday April 4, 2024 11:10 PM , ummid.com News Network

KEAM 2024 Application: The Office of the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) Government of Kerala has started through its official website cee.kerala.gov.in receiving Online Application for KEAM 2024 conducted for admission to Kerala Engineering, Architecture, Pharmacy, Medical & Medical Allied Courses.

Candidates should note that the KEAM Application process started on March 27, 2024. The last date of application is April 17, 2024 till 05:00 PM.

"Candidates shall ensure that the mobile number and email-id provided in the online application are their own or parents or guardians only. Candidates should upload SSLC or equivalent certificate, recent Photo (taken within six months), Signature, proof of Date of Birth and Nativity along with the Online application within the above date", the CEE Kerala said.

"The other eligibility certificates and documents can be uploaded up to 24.04.2024, 5.00 PM. Candidates should submit only one application for any of the courses or all of the courses", it said.

KEAM 2024 Registration steps

1. Click here to go to the direct link on the official website: cee.kerala.gov.in.

2. Click on KEAM 2024  Online Application

3. Click on Registration on the right side of the newly opened page.

4. Read the given instructions carefully and mark all checkboxes under Declarations

5. Click on Proceed for Registration and fill the form.

Candidates who wish to appear for KEAM 2024 to be held for admission in Engineering, Architecture, Pharmacy and Medical courses should note the entrance exam will be held in Online Mode (Computer Based Test - CBT) from June 01 to 09, 2024, according to KEAM notification .

"The Engineering/Pharmacy Entrance Examination (Computer Based Test) will be held at selected venues in all Districts in Kerala and in New Delhi, Mumbai and Dubai (UAE), on the dates mentioned as per Indian Standard Time (IST)", the CEE Kerala said.

"Candidates applying for admission to B.Pharm Course shall have to select B.Pharm in the application and appear for Physics & Chemistry sections of the Engineering, Pharmacy Entrance Examination", it said.

"Candidates should select an examination centre for Engineering, Pharmacy Entrance Examinations. No request for change in examination center will be entertained at any circumstances", it added.

Candidates can refer to the prospectus and notification available on the website to know about application fee, age limit, eligibility, KEAM syllabus, KEAM exam pattern and other retaled details.

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Welcome Guest! You are here: Home

UAE suspends ties with Israel



The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had announced diplomatic relation with Israel on August 14, 2020.

Friday April 5, 2024 0:31 AM , ummid.com News Network

Tel Aviv: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suspended diplomatic relation with Israel protesting the death of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers in Gaza, i24NEWS reported citing official sources.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had announced diplomatic relation with Israel on August 14, 2020.

The Tel Aviv based news network said the UAE suspended its relations with Israel after the occupation forces killed aid workers in Gaza on Tuesday.

'Netanyahu unashamed'

The brutal murders of the World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers that sparked global outrage were confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He was however unashamed and said:

Such things happen in war."

In its report, i24NEWS said that the Emirati foreign ministry expressed outrage with the Israeli ambassador Amir Hayek over the incident.

World Central Kitchen (WCK), which was founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, has been operating in Gaza, as well as in Israel and Lebanon, since the latest outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinians.

'Systematically targeted'

The organisation had dispatched more than 1,700 trucks with food and cooking equipment through the Rafah crossing from Egypt by March 29, and was working through 68 "community kitchens", according to the BBC.

Additionally, the WCK has delivered 230,000 meals from Jordan, both overland and via airdrops, and sent 435,000 meals by sea.

The WCK convoy was hit by the Israeli airstrikes after leaving a Deir el-Balah warehouse after unloading more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea.

WCK founder Jose Andres accused the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza of targeting his aid workers "systematically, car by car", according to the BBC.

List of countries cutting ties with Israel

The UAE is the latest to join a number of other countries to cut diplomatic relations with Israel following its murderous war in Gaza that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians since Oct 7.

Bolivia was the first country to cut all diplomatic ties with Israel condemning its carnages in Gaza. Later, Turkey, Jordan, Honduras , Colombia, Chile, South Africa and Bahrain too recalled their envoy to Israel, accusing the far-right Zionist regime of committing war crimes.

The United Arab Emirates has also paused its involvement in the maritime aid corridor to Gaza until Israel assures aid workers in the enclave will be protected, Axios reported citing sources close to the UAE government.

Mohamed Al Khaja, the first UAE ambassador to Israel, described the latest developments as "the darkest day in the relations between the two countries."

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Former President Donald Trump spoke during a campaign stop in Michigan on Tuesday about the murder of Ruby Garcia using the tragedy to bolster his criticisms of President Biden's border policies. Authorities believe Ruby's murder was perpetrated by someone who entered the United States illegally. During the rally, Trump said that he spoke with the Garcia family but that is being refuted by the Ruby's sister, Mavi.

"He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoken with us, and misinforming people on live TV," Mavi Garcia said.

She told the media that "it was shocking" and she criticized Trump and other lawmakers who have made her sister's death political.

"It's always been about illegal immigrants," she said."Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and it's kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like that?"

The former President tells a diffrent story. "She lit up that room, and I've heard that from so many people," said Trump, speaking in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the 25-year-old was shot last month. "I spoke to some of her family."

During his speech, Trump blamed Biden for creating a "blood bath" at the border and called immigrants "animals."

The former president also mentioned the killing of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student whose killing was allegedly carried out by a man who was in the United States illegally.
HA NOI  The OCOP Market event in a cooperation programme between the Viet Nam Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre and TikTok Vietnam has had a positive effect bringing agricultural and OCOP products to customers on the social network.

More than 800 live stream sessions of the OCOP Market event were held with a total revenue of more than VN100 billion (US$4 million), attracting 1.4 billion viewers.

This campaign has supported for more than 3,000 products of the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme nationwide in doing online business activities.

This information was given at a ceremony of summarising cooperation between the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and TikTok Vietnam held in Ha Noi on April 3.

According to Nguyen Minh Tien, the centre's director, e-commerce is one of the pillars contributing to the growth of the digital economy in Viet Nam.

For the agricultural sector, to realise the goals of the OCOP programme for the 2021-25 period, promotion of branding, propaganda and consumption for OCOP products on digital platforms is also one of the key solutions of the programme.

On February 28, 2023, this centre signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the TikTok Vietnam to promote digital transformation for the national OCOP programme.

This cooperation has opened up many opportunities for producers and traders of OCOP products to develop consumption channels on e-commerce platforms.

So far, after one year of developing the OCOP Market campaign, it has been deployed in 38 provinces and cities. The OCOP Market campaigns have contributed to development of the local economy and agricultural sector.

Tran Nho Huong, deputy head of the Coordination Office of the New Rural Development Programme in Thai Nguyen Province, said the sales of OCOP products have increased many times compared to that before participating in trading on digital platforms.

Thereby, localities and consumers know more about regional agricultural specialties. They have expanded markets, promoted trade in goods and increase added value for agricultural products, especially OCOP products, Huong said.

The cooperation helps the agricultural trade promotion agency know how to do trade promotion of OCOP agricultural products on the digital platform, Tien said.

Also at the ceremony, Nguyen Lam Thanh, representative of TikTok Vietnam, said this year, the OCOP Market event continues to be one of TikTok's top priorities. Accordingly, it will continue to accompany and support the localities, businesses and farmers to promote business on digital platforms, contributing to the rural economic development.  VNS
CAN THO  The significance of the public-private partnership (PPP) to the project on developing 1 million hectare of high-quality and low carbon footprint rice in the Mekong Delta region by 2030 was highlighted at a workshop held in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on April 4.

The project will be implemented in the provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, ong Thap, Long An, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, Tien Giang, and Vinh Long, and Can Tho city.

It is part of an effort to restructure the region's production system and value chain with a focus on sustainable farming practices, higher product value, greater business and production efficiency, as well as improved livelihoods of rice farmers, in accordance with Vietnams commitment to environmental protection, climate change response, and greenhouse gas emission reduction.

Under the project, greenhouse gas emissions from rice farming is expected to reduce by more than 10 per cent and low-emission, high-quality rice will account for over 20 per cent of the total for export in the entire specialised rice farming region.

According to Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development To Viet Chau, concerted efforts should be made to realise the set target, with attraction of the public-private investments being a key solution.

Last year, the agriculture minister issued a decision on the establishment of a PPP working group on the rice sector, contributing to concretising Viet Nams environmental commitments, improving rice added value via value chain, luring more investments, and modernising the agricultural and food systems.

Deputy Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Vu Quang suggested several PPP activities for the implementation of the project, including signing cooperation agreements between businesses and competent State-owned agencies, and those between businesses and cooperatives, which clarify responsibilities of the State, firms, and cooperatives.

He recommended the State build rice cultivation procedures and guidance and transfer technologies to cooperatives, drawing linkage contracts, and handle differences between businesses and cooperatives.

In the meantime, companies are responsible for providing seedlings and techniques, investing in materials in advance, and supervising and supporting the development of cooperatives, he said, adding cooperatives should guide their members how to comply with technical procedures and supervise farmers in measurement of emissions reduction.

At the workshop, experts, agriculture leaders, and representatives from localities, businesses, and cooperatives also discussed the benefits of the State, firms, and cooperatives when joining the PPP model.

Chairman of the Vietnam Rice Industry Association Bui Ba Bong stressed once Vietnamese rice is branded with low carbon, it will help improve the image of the Vietnamese agriculture, describing this as the most substantial benefit.

As part of the project, the agriculture ministry has developed five pilot low-carbon cultivation models applied the Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) method in Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, and ong Thap provinces and Can Tho city in the 2024-2025 period.  VNS
HCM CITY  The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has reassured customers that their rights will be protected amid a recent case involving the loss of customer funds worth VN338 billion (US$13.5 million) at a local bank.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, SBV deputy governor ao Minh Tu said that the affected customers funds will be guaranteed once responsibilities are determined at Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB).

The central bank upholds customers rights and will enhance regulatory compliance to prevent similar financial discrepancies, he said.

These incidents are isolated and do not reflect systemic issues within the banking sector, he added.

The SBV attributed such losses to operational violations, mismanagement, misconduct, and possible collusion between customers and bank officials.

To prevent future occurrences, regulatory changes related to account management and security measures will be reviewed, according to Tu.

Commercial banks have been asked to enhance monitoring of account balances, conduct audits regularly, and ensure customer information security.

In the case of MSB, where one individual customer reportedly lost VN58 billion, the banks Thanh Xuan branch director, Bui Thi Hoai Anh, 40, has been arrested for allegedly misappropriating a total of VN338 billion from eight customers of the bank.

Despite repeated complaints from affected customers, the lender has not provided any explanation for the losses.

When asked for comment by a Viet Nam News reporter, a representative of MSB on the hotline declined to provide a statement.

They only said the bank was actively collaborating with authorities and supplying all necessary information pertaining to the case.

When asked if it is a savings account at MSB, an employee at an MSB branch on Nguyen Cong Tru Street in District 1, HCM City, who declined to be named, told Viet Nam News that after working at MSB for several years she is unsure if it is a savings account.

Customers need to wait for a conclusion from the police, she added. Depositors should deposit money under a traditional deposit savings account at the counter and receive a physical savings passbook.

The Ha Noi Police are currently investigating the case and working to recover the lost assets of the victims.

According to the police there are signs of fraudulent appropriation of property and we are pursuing the matter diligently.

In recent years, there have been multiple scandals in the banking sector, with depositors occasionally filing complaints about their deposits mysteriously disappearing after depositing them at commercial banks.

When such a case occurs, local banks would avoid taking any responsibility for protecting their customers, raising concerns about the safety of deposits in the banks, experts have warned.

Their typical response to customers and the public is wait for a decision from the police, a process that can be too time consuming to resolve the matter, they noted.  VNS
ALGIERS  Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Algeria's Bejaia Province, Mamasse Samir, has called on Vietnamese businesses to invest in the Algerian locality and cooperate with local partners for mutual benefit.

At a seminar organised by the chamber and the Vietnam Trade Office in Algeria this week, Samir affirmed that Bejaia always creates favourable conditions for foreign investors with many incentives on taxes and industrial land leasing. He said that with its 100km coastline, the locality has huge potential for tourism development.

Enterprises in Bejaia mainly operate in the areas of the food industry, wood and paper, metallurgy, mechanics, electricity, electronics, construction materials and textiles, he said, adding that several local companies import coffee and spices from Viet Nam.

Trade Counsellor Hoang uc Nhuan briefed participants on Viet Nam's economic and foreign trade situation and the trade and investment cooperation relationship between the two countries. The two-way trade between Viet Nam and Algeria reached an estimated US$250 million in 2023, up 68 per cent year-on-year.

Nhuan also provided information to and invited Algerian businesses to attend an exhibition on connecting international supply chains (Vietnam International Sourcing) from June 6-8, 2024 in HCM City.

At the event, the office also displayed catalogues and samples of coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, cinnamon, anise, coconut and plywood of Vietnamese businesses.

Businesses in Bejaia expressed their interest in importing raw coffee, cashew nuts, sugar, soybeans, sunflower seeds, bags, packages and materials for cork production; as well as sporting products from Viet Nam; and seeking partners in the fields of textile production and agricultural processing, refrigeration equipment, logistics and tourism.

They said they wish to export olive oil, caromic powder, margarine and sauces to Viet Nam.  VNS
Conservative attorney and longtime Donald Trump critic George Conway has contributed the maxium allowed for an individual  $929,600  to President Joe Biden's campaign.

Conway, former husband of top Trump White House aide Kelllyanne Conway, is also headlining a major upcoming campaign event for Biden.

The "Reception with George Conway" in scheduled for April 24, in Washington, DC. The minimum ticket price for the event is $500, according to Axios, which was also the first to report Conway's contribution to the Biden Victory Fund.

Conservative lawyer @gtconway3d will headline a fundraiser for President Biden in D.C. on April 24. The minimum gift for the event is $500.



Conway wrote a check for $929,600  the max you can give to the Biden Victory Fund.



https://t.co/YkEdfK5Y0V  Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 3, 2024

Asked why he made the hefty donation to Biden, Conway told CNN: "This election is about nothing less than whether we'll continue to live in a democracy under the rule of law. That's priceless, so I consider my contribution to be a bargain."

Conway frequently made headlines during the Trump administration for his vocal criticism of the president, even as his wife at the time served as White House senior counselor. Following his attacks, Trump characterized George Conway as a "stone cold LOSER & husband from hell" in one 2019 tweet.

In a 2018 interview with the Washington Post, Kellyanne Conway called her then-husband's public criticism of Trump "disrespectful" and "a violation of basic decency, certainly, if not marital vows."

The couple divorced a year ago, thought their relationship was rocky for some time before that.

Sources close to Kellyanne Conway have said that she is considering an offer to join Trump's 2024 campaign, though Trump representatives denied that she was offered a position, Axios reported.
LUANG PRABANG  Viet Nam's Minister of Finance and Central Bank Governor and other ASEAN counterparts engage in discussions with international business councils to strengthen financial ties and promote sustainable growth in the region.

A series of productive meetings took place Thursday morning in Luang Prabang, Northern Laos, between Viet Nam and its ASEAN counterparts, focusing on financial and monetary matters.

The gatherings involved Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from ASEAN countries, who engaged in discussions with the EU-ASEAN Business Council (AFMGM-EU ABC), the US ASEAN Business Council (AFMGM-US ABC) and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (AFMGM-ABAC).

Leading the Vietnamese delegation were Minister of Finance Ho uc Phoc and Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Pham Quang Dung, who made significant contributions during the conferences.

According to the Viet Nam News Agency's correspondent based in Luang Prabang, the meetings provided a platform for the participating Ministers and delegation leaders to exchange viewpoints on various regional and global issues. Key topics included green finance, financial technology, digital cross-border payment connectivity, and the important role of ASEAN's business partners in supporting the bloc's initiatives for sustainable, resilient, and comprehensive economic growth.

During the sessions, Minister Ho uc Phoc and Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dung shared insights into Viet Nam's monetary policies and collaborative initiatives related to finance. They emphasised the high priority Viet Nam places on finance and green growth.

Viet Nam is actively working on domesticating its international commitments on climate change response to enhance its legal framework. This effort aims to attract green investment and financial flows from international partners by streamlining regulations and infrastructure. Viet Nam continues to pursue administrative procedure reforms, digital transformation, and the development of user-centric utilities.

Appreciating the valuable contributions of the ASEAN business community in promoting financial flows within the region, Minister Ho uc Phoc and Deputy Governor Pham Quang Dung expressed confidence in the community's ability to provide important recommendations. These recommendations will further enhance the regulatory framework and financial market infrastructure, thereby attracting increased investment flows into ASEAN, including Viet Nam.  VNS
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) was implemented at the beginning of the year. But what exactly does it mean for manufactures and exporters? Those in the know admit there are challenges ahead, but these are far outweighed by the opportunities EPR will create.
Viet Nam, France to kick off a Nang Fireworks Fest

A NANG  Team a Nang-Viet Nam will perform with the defending champion, Frances Arteventia, in the curtain-raiser of the a Nang International Fireworks Festival 2024 (DIFF) on 8th June.

The festivals organising committee said the two teams will kick off the only and largest fireworks festival in Viet Nam, including five nights of displays held from June 8 to July 13.

The host team, which is equipped with modern facilities at international standards, gained third place three times in the 2012, 2013 and 2015 editions.

The highest achievement of the team was the second place at the Honda Celebration of Light, Vancouver Canada in 2012.

Meanwhile, Frances Arteventia, who won the DIFF 2023, will show the power of the defending champion at the month-long 2024 festival.

Arteventia designs pyrotechnics and multidisciplinary shows in France and internationally, renewing the practice of grand fireworks performances through the years.

The team said it will focus on the textural quality of fireworks by choosing high-quality European products, and infusing fire and Latin rhythms under the theme French Touch in the festival.

The second night's show will see Italys Martarello and the US' Rozzi fireworks teams perform on June 22.

Martarello firework company, founded in 1921 and producing only hand-crafted fireworks, has won the DIFF twice, in 2017 and 2018, and took second place in 2023.

Rozzis innovation and dedication has helped the team put on multiple award-winning fireworks displays throughout the world, but its the first time the team competes in a Nang.

A newcomer team, Pyrogenie from Germany, will be paired with Polands Surex on the third night of DIDD on June 29.

Pyrogenie is a young and high-quality fireworks producer looking to bring new design ideas to the show.

The team said its performance will pay special attention to matching colours within in each level for a unique display at DIFF.

In the fourth night, June 29, Chinas Liuyang Jingduan New-art Display Company, a combination of Jingduan Technology and New-art Pyrotechnics, one of the top display enterprises in China, will debut at the DIFF with their world-class professional fireworks displays, along with the Joho Pyro team from Finland.

The Chinese team took part in the Petrovsky Fire Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia in 2023, and Rostec International Fireworks Festival in Moscow, in 2022, but this is its first display at the a Nang event.

Joho Pyro, founded in 2004, won the Montreal International Fireworks Competition, Montreal Canada last year.

The team also claimed the first place in DIFF in 2019 and the Peoples Choice Awards at DIFF 2023.

It collected first prizes at Zagreb International Fireworks, Warsaw International Fireworks Festival and Festival Dart Pyrotechnique in Cannes, France

France and Italy have been qualified for the final performance of the a Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) after the events jury announced the last selection on June 25.

The festivals organisers said the jury board had a careful selection and discussion for the two best performances among eight teams, and the decision was given to France and Italy.

Following the lot draw, Italy will perform first in the final night and France will follow, on the Han River on July 8.

Two best teams from four performance nights at DIFF 2024 will get final berths for winner prize on July 13.

In past a Nang Fireworks Festivals, Canadas Davis Whysall took the top prize in 2008, while Chinas Liuyang Dancing won in 2009. Frances Jacques Couturier Organisation won in 2010.

Parente Fireworks from Italy doubled in 2011 and 2012.

The US team Melrose Pyrotechnics took the top spot in 2013, while the Australian Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics bagged the title in 2015.

Italys Martarello won the title twice in 2017 and 2018 before Finlands Joho Pyro Fireworks won the festival in 2019.

The festival had a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19.

a Nang is the only place in Viet Nam to host a fireworks festival since 2008.

The fireworks festival has helped a Nang build the Fireworks Festival City brand and promote itself as a top destination in central Viet Nam and Asia.

Each festival attracts more than 1 million tourists, creating millions of dollars in revenue for the citys tourism industry. VNS
HA NOI  Elementary and secondary students nationwide were honoured at the painting contest Denmark in Your Eyes 2023.

The contest's organisers, Viet Nam Denmark Friendship Association (VIDAFA) and the Embassy of Denmark, announced 62 individual and three group winners at the award ceremony in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The grand prize went to a collage painting entitled A Call from the Blue Ocean by Chu Ha Giang, a 6th grade student from Ha Noi's Nguyen Gia Thieu School.

"Marine pollution is a risk that our world is facing," Giang said at the award ceremony. "With my painting, I would like to call out for our joint efforts to save the ocean. Even small and simple deeds will count."

The contest received support from elementary and secondary school students nationwide. More than 21,500 paintings and artworks were submitted from 256 schools and clubs in 42 provinces and cities.

The panel of judges comprised acclaimed painters from Kim ong Publishing House and Thieu Nien (Youth Vanguard) and Nhi ong (Children) newspapers.

"The Denmark in Your Eyes contest is a unique way for us to reach beyond the ongoing government-to-government cooperation of our Green Strategic Partnership and engage the children and youth of Viet Nam," said Danish ambassador to Viet Nam Nicolai Prytz at the award ceremony.

"The submissions are a testament to the great interest and strong commitment of the young Vietnamese generation in a green future for all.

"Their messages and stories remind us of the importance of involving, empowering and mobilising young generations to take action and make the changes they want to see in their communities and the world around them."

Sixty-one individual awards, which include two first prizes, three second prizes, six third prizes and 50 encouragement prizes were given to students from 22 different provinces and cities from the northern Ha Giang and the southern Kien Giang.

The Union of Friendship Organisations of the southern Can Tho City, Sentia Inter-level School and Nguyen Sieu Primary School in Ha Noi won the group prizes.

The first contest took place in 2016 on the celebration of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Denmark. It has been organised every one or two years since then with a new theme, but always with a strong focus on environmental issues.  VNS
GENEVA  Ambassador Mai Phan Dung, Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organisation (WTO), and other international organisations in Geneva, on Wednesday called for greater efforts to further promote gender equality as well as the role of women and girls in all peace and security processes.

Speaking on behalf of the inter-regional group at Item 10 General Debate - technical cooperation within the framework of the 55th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, which is taking place in Switzerland from February 26 to April 5, Dung stressed the role and contributions of women and girls to the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

He presented some proposals such as prioritising the full, effective and meaningful engagement of women and girls, and recognising their contributions to decision-making mechanisms in the fields of politics, economy, culture and social affairs, especially those on poverty reduction, ensuring sustainable livelihoods, startup and innovation, and eliminating gender barriers.

It is necessary to ensure their participation and leadership in science, technology, and digital transformation, the ambassador said.

Dung also suggested budgeting and enhancing capacity building to achieve gender equality in institutions and policies in all countries, including developing nations, saying experience sharing and cooperation would help countries accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

As a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term, Viet Nam has identified eight groups of priority matters with specific initiatives, widely supported by other countries.

Among those priorities, promoting gender equality and ensuring human rights in sustainable development demonstrate its long-term commitments and efforts in issues of international concern.  VNS
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HA NOI  Chairman of the Viet Nam's National Assembly Vuong inh Hue will lead a high-level delegation of Viet Nam for an official visit to China on April 7-12, according to an announcement of the NA Committee for Foreign Affairs.

The visit is made at upon the invitation of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji.  VNS
WASHINGTON  The 9th Viet Nam Executive Leadership Programme (VELP) in the United States, featuring 10 open and frank panel discussions, has been practical and beneficial for various ministries, agencies, localities and enterprises in Viet Nam, according to Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai.

In his remarks concluding the programme on April 3 (local time), Khai stated that enhancing internal capacity, resilience, adaptability and risk management capabilities of the economy is an essential and urgent requirement for Viet Nam in the face of rapid, unpredictable and complex global developments.

He ordered his working delegation to take into account recommendations by participating experts in their work regarding macroeconomic management, particularly the formulation of policies and national strategies to promote new growth drivers and implement the Viet Nam-US comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development.

At the discussions, taking centre stage were the impact on Viet Nam of global economic outlook and notable trends in the Asian economy, the promotion of new growth drivers in the country, particularly innovation, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, as well as measures to overcome the middle-income trap and transition to a new growth model.

Notably, this year's edition dedicated significant time to delve into the development trends of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the semiconductor industry.

Participating experts said Viet Nam's economic growth prospects for 2024 are positive, with forecasts hovering around 6.4 per cent and potentially reaching 6.8 per cent if the recovery of major economies is well utilised, domestic investment promoted and domestic consumption expanded.

In the long term, they expressed optimism regarding the nations potential for sustainable development thanks to its abundant labour force, capacity to absorb emerging technologies, promotion of innovation and extensive network of multilateral economic cooperation with economic powerhouses worldwide. They also commended the Vietnamese government's planning, policy formulation and management capacity.

Launched in 2008, the VELP is a high-level policy forum co-organised by the Harvard Kennedy School and Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management. It provides a forum for high-ranking policymakers and executives to deliberate on the most significant global socio-economic trends based on up-to-date practical research, and to discuss policy challenges for Viet Nam's development.  VNS
BEIJING  Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with Wang Yi, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Director of the Office of the CPC Central Committees Commission for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, in Guangxi province on April 4.

The event, part of Minister Sons official visit to China, was the first meeting between the two foreign ministers since their countries agreed to elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and build a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

The ministers held that since the historic visits by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to China in October 2022 and by Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping to Viet Nam in December 2023, bilateral relations have developed strongly and obtained important results. Particularly, the two sides senior leaders agreed to identify a new status for the countries relations, and issued a joint statement on continuing to deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and build a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance.

Son and Wang affirmed the leading importance of the Viet Nam - China relations in each countrys foreign policy, stressing the need to enhance coordination and effectively carry out the high-level agreements and common perceptions so as to unceasingly develop bilateral ties in a healthy, stable, and sustainable manner.

They agreed to maintain frequent high-level exchanges and meetings, reinforce cooperation between the two Parties, and work together to properly organise high-level diplomatic activities between the two countries in 2024, the 16th meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation, along with dialogue, exchange, and cooperation mechanisms in the fields of defence - security and justice.

The officials also agreed to foster and improve the effectiveness of economic and trade partnerships, with priority given to promoting strategic transport connectivity, facilitating socio-economic exchanges, and contributing to Chinas cooperation with Southeast Asia.

They concurred in increasing people-to-people exchanges, boosting communications about the countries traditional friendship as well as each countrys achievements in reform and opening, and stepping up exchange and cooperation mechanisms between Vietnamese and Chinese localities.

Viet Nam and China will keep strengthening coordination and mutual support within multilateral frameworks, continue working closely with each other in land border management and protection in line with the three legal documents on land border and related agreements; actively open, upgrade, and recognise pairs of border gates; and accelerate the building of smart border gates, they noted.

With regard to sea-related issues, the two sides underlined the importance of seriously implementing the agreements and common perceptions reached between the two Parties and countries leaders on properly controlling and settling differences; fully, comprehensively, and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and joining ASEAN countries in promoting negotiations and soon finalising a substantive, efficient, and effective code of conduct (COC) in the waters that matches international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Minister Son asked both sides to bolster balanced and sustainable economic - trade cooperation.

He called on China to continue facilitating and increasing the import of Viet Nams agricultural products, create conditions for early establishing some trade promotion offices of Viet Nam in Chinese localities, and actively tackle problems of some industrial cooperation projects. He also proposed China speed up railway connection with northern Vietnamese provinces, expand economic corridors in the Two Corridors, One Belt region to Chongqing of China, soon set up a working group for tourism promotion, increase commercial flights, and further boost people-to-people ties as well as exchanges between border localities of the countries.

For his part, Wang asked the two sides to foster the strategic connectivity between the Belt and Road Initiative with the Two Corridors, One Belt framework, and tighten economic, trade and investment links.

China will actively consider expanding the import of goods, farm produce, and aquatic products from Viet Nam, he said, noting that it supports road transport connectivity and the building of smart border gates to facilitate customs clearance; supports stronger educational and tourism ties. The country will coordinate more closely with Viet Nam at regional and international multilateral forums, he added.

Also on April 4, Minister Son examined the pilot operation of the landscape site of Ban Gioc (Viet Nam) - Detian (China) Waterfalls.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed the traditional friendship and all-round cohesion between Vietnam and France while receiving new French Ambassador Olivier Brochet in Ha Noi on April 4.

The host leader affirmed Viet Nam always views France as an important partner in its foreign policy. He expressed his belief that with rich experience in the diplomatic sector, Brochet will make significant contributions to elevating the countries strategic partnership to a new height.

Vietnamese agencies will provide the best possible conditions for the ambassador to fulfill his duties and have a successful term, he remarked.

PM Chinh asked the two sides to promote implementing the results of the phone talks between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and French President Emmanuel Macron in October 2023, along with inter-sectoral cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.

They should continue stepping up delegation exchanges at all levels, especially high-level visits, he said, speaking highly Frances role, voice, and initiatives at international and regional forums like the United Nations, ASEAN - EU, and International Organisation of La Francophonie.

Viet Nam is ready to coordinate closely with France to respond to global challenges, the Government leader stated.

He asked the two countries to keep fully and effectively implementing the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), explore new economic cooperation areas matching their demands and interests, and open markets to strong products of each other.

He called on France to soon ratify the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), encourage French businesses to boost investment in such fields as high technology, digital transformation, green transition, and pharmaceutical in Viet Nam, and support and promote the European Commissions removal of the yellow card warning against Viet Nam's seafood.

The PM also suggested France increase scholarships for Vietnamese students while continuing favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to work, study, and live there so they can serve as an economic and cultural bridge between the two countries.

Via the ambassador, PM Chinh conveyed Party General Secretary Trongs invitation to visit Vietnam to French President Macron, adding he hopes to welcome his counterpart Gabriel Attal on a trip to Viet Nam in the near future.

At the meeting, Ambassador Brochet said he treasures the friendship and mutual trust between the two countries.

France highly values the stature and role of Viet Nam and wishes to continue promoting their strategic partnership more intensively and comprehensively in the time ahead, he remarked, noting that it will exert efforts to effectively carry out the three cooperation pillars mentioned in the phone talks between Party General Secretary Trong and President Macron.

He also appreciated Viet Nams invitations, saying French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu and the secretary of state in charge of war veteran and war memory affairs will visit Vietnam and attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the ien Bien Phu Victory this May.

The diplomat also affirmed his countrys support for ASEAN and Vietnams stance on ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea and peacefully settling disputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).- VNS
Ngoc Lai

A LAT Nguyen Van Luc's journey of goodwill to help those in need began from a very young age when he learnt by heart his mother's teachings of doing good deeds and charity.

Luc, a 70-year-old from a Lat City, serves as the Chairman of the Charity Association for Poor Patients, Disabled People and Orphans of Lam ong Province, reported the Vietnamnet.vn.

Over the past decade alone, he has mobilised over VN500 billion (US$20.1 million) to aid more than 1,500 impoverished children and patients undergoing heart surgeries, brightening the lives of nearly 10,000 elderly individuals, and providing essential support such as 4,000 wheelchairs and rocking chairs for the disabled and stroke patients.

In addition, Luc has generously distributed 1,500 bicycles and 1,200 scholarships to orphaned, disabled, and economically disadvantaged students. He has also sponsored over 4,000 preschool students and children from ethnic minorities with nutritious meals to enhance their health.

Recognised for his remarkable contributions, Luc was honoured with the title of "Bright Life Model" by the People's Committee of Lam ong Province in 2018. He has received commendations from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Central Association of the Disabled and Orphans of Vietnam on three occasions. In 2020, he was further acknowledged as a "Silent Light of the Community" by the then Prime Minister.

Luc's altruistic journey, spanning 64 years, was shared in Episode 205 of the HTV 7's "Knocking on Doors, Visiting Houses" programme. Reflecting on his humble beginnings, he recounted his family's relocation from Hue to a Lat when he was just three months old, driven by his father's pursuit of work opportunities amid hardships.

Initially, Luc's father worked as a woodcutter before transitioning to forestry for an agency. Meanwhile, his mother engaged in the tea trade, sourcing tea from Bao Loc (Lam ong) and transporting it to Nha Trang, Phu Yen, contributing to the family's increasing prosperity.

At the age of 6, Luc's mother entrusted him with the weekly task of distributing rice and money to the poor. Following her guidance, he eagerly fulfilled this duty, distributing rice and financial aid to those in need.

This early exposure to charity work left a lasting impression on Luc, who eagerly anticipated opportunities to assist the less fortunate. By age 15, he was actively involved in charity activities through the Hoang Thap tu (Royal Cross) Youth, later transitioning to the Red Cross Society, where he dedicated himself to weekly charitable endeavours.

Even as he embarked on his professional career, Luc remained committed to philanthropy, contributing to the construction of schools, charity houses and donating bicycles. He dedicated half of his daily schedule to aiding the disadvantaged, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to charitable causes.

The miracle for a good man

Luc, often likened to a fairy godfather for his compassionate acts, sometimes finds himself overwhelmed with helplessness in the face of challenging situations.

One such instance involved Nam, a 40-year-old patient with heart disease, who urgently needed surgery but didn't qualify for support.

Determined to save Nam's life for the sake of his children, Luc rallied support from relatives and friends, raising over VN200 million ($8,056). Tragically, however, Nam passed away a day before his scheduled surgery, leaving Luc emotionally distraught.

Another poignant case involved a child who underwent heart surgery and showed signs of improvement. However, a careless moment of play led to a fatal heart attack. Luc was both saddened and angered, feeling the weight of responsibility towards the child's well-being.

Despite such challenges, there were moments of hope, like when Luc reunited with a family of three battling cancer, one of whom he had helped a decade previously. Although initially unrecognisable, the person never forgot the kindness of their benefactor.

Though dedicating his life to helping others, Luc himself faced a life-threatening illness. Thirteen years ago, he was diagnosed with renal necrosis, leading to the removal of one kidney. With his health rapidly declining and doctors warning he had only three months to live without a transplant, Luc faced a daunting dilemma. Yet, he chose to spend his remaining time focused on charity work, keeping his deteriorating health a secret from his family.

When he eventually collapsed, his family rushed him to the hospital, where the severity of his condition became apparent. Learning of his urgent need for a transplant, fifteen individuals volunteered to donate a kidney. After thorough examination, five were found to be suitable donors.

Facing complications due to his age, Luc underwent surgery in Singapore, followed by treatment in Japan. Despite the challenges, he received exceptional care, with the foreign hospital providing treatment free of charge. The medical team, aware of his charitable work, prioritised his recovery, knowing that his survival meant continued support for countless children in need.

Grateful for his second chance at life, Luc longs to express his gratitude to his anonymous donor, though he understands it may never be possible. Meanwhile, he remains committed to honouring both his own life and the selfless act of his benefactor through continued acts of kindness and charity. VNS
Guest Opinion: Xi's message to Americans

10:25, April 04, 2024 By Robert Lawrence Kuhn ( Xinhua

President Xi Jinping's extraordinary meeting with American business and academic leaders has rightly caught the attention of the international media. Well it should. Among the concerns on which the peace and prosperity of the world depends, two of the biggest are the state of U.S.-China relations and the prospects for China's economic development -- both of which were primary themes of Xi's carefully planned message to Americans.

The setting counts. It was right after the annual China Development Forum, where foreign corporate CEOs come to engage with China's policymakers. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who met with the CEOs, thereby elevated the meeting's importance with the highest authority. In the new era, with the CPC directly responsible for leading all sectors of China, the fact that Xi himself held the meeting is itself the first important message of the meeting.

The readout of President Xi's meeting, as reported in China's state media, is a fascinating probe of the current way of thinking of China's leaders. Although President Xi is always well prepared for his meetings and speeches, he seemed extraordinarily well prepared for this extraordinarily timely meeting. The structure and specificity of his remarks combined to form the clearest, most incisive, most direct and in-depth expression of Xi's views on China-U.S. relations, and on China's economy, that I recall in a meeting of this kind. Thus, one can infer two big themes: China is committed to seeking improved relations with the U.S., and China is determined to more comprehensively reform and open up. Although these two themes are hardly new, there was something about Xi's remarks this time that seemed different, something that signaled intensified commitment.

On U.S.-China relations, Xi's message was unambiguous. The very fact that he chose to meet with American CEOs and American China experts is a neon-flashing sign that China seeks to stop the cascading slide in relations, to stabilize relations, and to carefully build relations back up. Xi placed his trust in the people in general and in people-to-people exchanges in specific, which is a long-standing foundation of Xi's approach to foreign policy broadly. Referring to China-U.S. relations, Xi stressed, "the future will of course be created by the people," and he expressed the hope that "people from all sectors of Chinese and American societies will have more mutual visits and exchanges."

What I found striking was that while Xi called for cooperation not confrontation, mutual respect and win-win results, as he does normally and generally, he acknowledged that "the relationship cannot go back to the old days," a powerful and realistic recognition, which counterintuitively gives credence to his follow-on exhortation, "but it (China-U.S. relations) can embrace a brighter future." Only an honest assessment of the present can enable a hopeful vision of the future.

What was no surprise was that President Xi was optimistic about China's economy -- which is Topic One on everyone's mind -- by reminding his listeners that China's growth rate in 2023 was among the highest of the major economies and accounted for over 30 percent of global growth, much as in previous years. What was something of a surprise was that Xi told the story of China's economy in the context of two negative "theories" about China's economy: the "China collapse theory" of the past, which of course did not happen, and the "Peak China theory" of the present, which Xi says will not happen.

China, Xi said, "will continue to advance high-quality development and Chinese modernization, enable the Chinese people to live a better life, and contribute more to sustainable development in the world." These words were not crafted as smooth talk for foreign visitors but are the overarching strategic policy of Chinese leaders and the day-to-day operational guidelines for Chinese officials. The new mantra for China's economic growth is "high-quality development," which is driven by "new quality productive forces." Everyone who counts in China gets the message.

On reform and opening up, Xi's words were weighed judiciously, as they always are. There has been concern among foreign businesses, and even among some entrepreneurs in China, that reform and opening up had stalled. While Xi stated that "reform and opening up holds the key to contemporary China's catching up with the times in great strides," that "China's reform will not pause, and its opening up will not stop," he has said similar many times. That's why I focused on what he said next: "China is planning and implementing a series of major steps for comprehensively deepening reform, and steadily fostering a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment."

The operative word is "planning," which means that there are new structures, new regulations and/or new measures on the horizon, which are sufficiently different from those that exist presently, to justify the phrase "major steps for comprehensively deepening reform." If Xi had stated only the general principles, his words alone might not have instilled high confidence. But putting the world on notice, building wide-spread expectations, gives credence from the top that China is serious about a new round of economic reforms. This is why I would expect, which most foreign analysts would not, significant economic reforms, the most in a decade or so.

The proof, of course, will be the specifics of the plan, and then its real-world implementation. For example, in recent days, the government continued to shorten the negative list for foreign investment, ending restrictions on market access for foreign investment in manufacturing, while opening up the medical and telecommunications sectors. Moreover, China's cybersecurity regulator has relaxed constraints on outbound data flows so that foreign businesses operating in China can feel more secure in conducting their normal business. Promises to give equal national treatment to foreign firms, including in government procurements, bears monitoring.

To me, a major motivating factor for President Xi is that to truly achieve his grand vision for China -- "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" -- China must become a world-class business center, and to become so in the real world, China must have a "market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment."

Who can deny that the world would benefit by stable U.S.-China relations? Who can deny that the world would benefit by China's economic growth and development? Both sit centerstage globally in these tense mid-years of the third decade of the 21st century.

Editor's note: Robert Lawrence Kuhn is chairman of The Kuhn Foundation. He was awarded the China Reform Friendship Medal.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Xinhua News Agency.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Seven humanitarian aid workers with the World Central Kitchen were killed by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza on Monday. Chef Jose Andres, the founder of World Central Kitchen, emphasized in a guest essay for the New York Times that the organization has been providing meals to both Israelis and Palestinians since the beginning, with over 1.75 million hot meals having been served throughout Israel. Additionally, he criticized Israel's conduct during the conflict, claiming they are 'better' than what they're portraying to the international community.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby, and Damian Sobol put themselves at the forefront of a relentless war, risking their lives to share the necessity of food with starved Palestinians in besieged territory.

They collectively shared the belief that food is a universal human right that should not be used as a weapon of war, regardless of the circumstances.

Their one mission was to serve those in critical and dire need of aid.

Their efforts also tended to families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north and grieving families from the south, as well as delivering meals to hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families.

Andres revealed that his team communicated extensively with Israeli military and civilian offices, also working closely with community leaders in Gaza and Arab nations in the region, as there is no other way to bring a ship full of food to Gaza without a series of mediations.

"We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war," he expressed.

"Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine for civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces."

The renowned chef offered up some advice to the Israeli government, suggesting the need to open more land routes for food and medicine and to stop killing civilians and aid workers.

He believes it's time for Israel to "show up."

You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza, and you cannot win this war by starving an entire population, Andres continued.

An investigation has allegedly been promised by the government to explain how and why members of the World Central Kitchen family were killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chimed in on the IDF killings, remarking, "It happens in war."

The aid workers were en route from a delivery of almost 400 tons of aid by sea, attempting to help the desperate condition Palestinians in Gaza currently live under.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, half the population of Gaza - 1.1 million people - faces the imminent risk of famine.

"It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like," the founder concluded.
AN GIANG  An Giang Province is developing specialised fruit farming areas with safe, high-quality production to gain a competitive advantage and export to demanding markets.

In 2024 it also intends to transform economically inefficient rice farms into key orchards, including creating 10,000ha of the specialised fruit farms.

It plans to focus on some key fruits such as mango, durian and longan.

It will create specialised mango farms on nearly 8,950ha in seven localities: Cho Moi, Tri Ton, Tinh Bien, An Phu, Tan Chau, Long Xuyen, Chau Phu and Chau Thanh.

They will tie up with major export businesses like Hoang Phat Fruit Company Limited and Vina T&T Import Export Trading Service Company Limited.

The province has also developed 330ha of longan farms, 280ha of durian farms, and 145ha of citrus farms.

Tran Thanh Hiep, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the issuance of farming area codes (which strengthens traceability for export) is being promoted to reach the target of nearly 3,620ha.

The department also organises trade facilitation events for the specialised fruit farms, promotes An Giangs fruits and develops products that are certified with One Commune One Product.

It forecasts market demand for fruits to restructure fruit production, and develop major domestic distribution channels.

Nguyen Si Lam, the departments director, said the province is pushing for official exports of fruits to China and expansion in promising markets such as the EU, Japan, the US, Australia, and Korea.

By 2025 An Giang Province hopes to convert 10,300ha of rice farms into specialised orchards, with mangoes accounting for 9,100ha.

It also encourages orchids in specialised farming areas to comply with quality standards such as VietGAP (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) and GlobalGAP.

Last year there were 19,540ha of orchards, 786ha more than in 2022.

Exports of fruits and frozen vegetables were worth $65 million, 96.97 per cent up from 2022.  VNS
HCM CITY - Teachers need higher salaries to improve their quality of life, experts said at a workshop titled 'Teacher regulation - International experience for Viet Nam' organised by HCM City National University on April 3.

The workshop featured more than 15 discussion panels related to the policies, positions, roles, rights and obligations of teachers.

VNU-HCM chancellor Vu Hai Quan said that applicable regulations for teachers are rather inconsistent and incomprehensive, so it is essential to introduce specific laws for teachers for ease of management.

For example, general conditions for teachers are mentioned in the Education Law, while professional standards for lecturers and teachers are regulated in three other circulars. Regulations on salary and working hours are also contained in many documents.

Policies regarding recruitment, treatment, utilisation, and management of teachers need to be improved to enhance the quality of education and training.

The current salary is not attractive enough to retain and engage young teachers in the profession, and timely adjustments to teachers incomes are needed.

In addition, teachers should receive fair and deserving benefits, and have equal opportunities for career development.

Sharing China's experience, Professor Guodong Yang, lecturer at the School of Administrative Law, Southwest University of Political Science, China, said that the Chinese Teachers' Law includes three main aspects: scope of application, rights and obligations of teachers, and standards and appointment of teachers.

According to Yang, teachers receive an average salary no lower than civil servants. The roadmap for promotion and salary increases is according to general provisions of the law.

In addition, they benefit from favourable policies for building, renting, and selling houses, as well as in medical care equivalent to civil servants in the same locality.

Pham Ngoc Thuong, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said that in addition to the issue of income and remuneration, the working environment, honour and reputation of teachers are also very important and need to be discussed and commented on in the near future.

The Regulation on Teachers is expected to address five main issues: identifying teachers; determining standards and titles; recruitment, employment and working regimes; training, remuneration and honour; and State management of teachers.

The draft law is scheduled to be passed by the National Assembly this October.

"The purpose of the regulation on teachers is to honour teachers, give them a higher position in society, have better policies and institutional environments, and make teachers more passionate about their profession", Deputy Chairwoman of the Party Committee Committee for Culture and Education of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa said.

It also outlines fundamental issues related to professional standards, teaching titles as the basis for managing and utilising teachers, and ensuring equality among teachers in public and non-public educational institutions.

It also defines the rights and obligations of teachers, enhances autonomy in teaching, the right to apply disciplinary measures in education, and intellectual property rights for creative and innovative educational content, as well as reinforces the duty of teachers in protecting and supporting students.

The Ministry of Education and Training issued the draft Law on Teachers according to Resolution 95-NQ/CP on July 7, 2023. - VNS
The family of an Oklahoma convicted killer set to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday is making a last-ditch effort to save his life.

Michael Smith confessed to killing 40-year-old Janet Moore and 24-year-old store clerk Sharath Pulluru in separate instances in 2002.

His lawyer argued that the confessions were coerced and that Smith has mental disabilities and wasn't fit to stand trial or be executed.

The prosecutors said that Smith was a cold-blooded killer and said his confession was corroborated by evidence at both murder scenes.

According to court records, Smith is a member of the Crips gang in Oklahoma City.

In November 2000, three members of the gang attempted to rob a convenience store and the store owner shot and killed one of the robbers.

The two other robbers were arrested and set for trial in February 2022. Two days before the trial, Smith went to the apartment of Janet Moore because he believed her son was a police informant. He ended up killing her.

He then went to a convenience store, killed clerk Sharath Pulluru, took money from the register and set fire to Pulluru's body, the McAlester News-Capital reported.

Smith's relatives were delivering a petition to Gov. Kevin Stitt's office on Wednesday, asking him to call off the execution.

The family claims there is new evidence in the case.

A private investigator claims a state witness who testified during the trial says she was coerced into her testimony, KOCO-TV reports.

Last month, the parole board denied a clemency request by Smith.

"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," Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement at the time.

If the execution is carried out, it will be the first one carried out in the state this year.
While the Ministry of Planning and Investment is urgently building the draft decree for establishing new investment support, aiming to issue it in the first half of the year, numerous foreign-invested enterprise (FIEs) associations have been contributing comments on the draft.

Regulations are strict when it comes to high-tech areas of operation, photo Le Toan

Hong Sun, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said that criticism was largely based on the ambiguity of the support criteria, making it insufficient to draw in the interest of investors.

Concerns are rising due to limitations on the eligibility for support, restricting it to investment amounts exceeding $500 million. This restriction may lead to a very limited number of eligible companies, and there is a significant concern that many FIEs may not benefit, Sun said. If the investment of these companies is deterred by these measures, it could have a negative impact on the business of all vendor companies that have entered Vietnam.

Other FIEs also worried that with requirements of very high capital or turnover, only a few enterprises in the high-tech sector will be satisfied.

According to regulations, companies in high-tech parks must meet strict conditions, one of which is that their projects areas of operation must fit very specific high-tech fields in which investment is encouraged. Anything produced in the parks must be listed as high-tech products, a representative of the Singaporean Chamber of Commerce Vietnam said. Thus, these businesses should also be targeted for support in the high-tech sector, he added.

Moreover, regarding scale of investment, the current draft decree looks at the enterprise-level or project-level scale. Research and development outputs are often applied to manufacturing of small but critical spare parts and components in terms of new technology or materials. Due to in-depth applications of each technology, tech companies often carry out investment activities under individual projects or subsidiaries, for each type of product with specific technologies.

In fact, high-tech companies and projects are often small in scale. If we only look at the scale of each project or subsidiary, which is actually supervised by a larger corporation/investor, we will miss important strategic investors in technology, said Nakajima Takeo, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organization in Hanoi.

Currently, there are big names in technology implementing investment activities and long-term commitments in Vietnam, with many subsidiaries and ventures. The scale of investment of an entire corporation might reach over $500 million in total, which would be difficult to realise for a single project. It is suggested that support policies for investors in high technology should target large corporations in terms of their total scale of investment in Vietnam as a single entity.

For example, if a corporations investment capital in Vietnam is from about $1 billion or higher, its high-tech projects will be eligible for investment support policies, Takeo said. This is important to draw in large and reputable corporations and encourages corporations to choose Vietnam as a destination of their direct projects in the high-tech sector.

Gabor Fluit, former chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said that if expenditure-based incentives were to be introduced instead of income-based, such as tax holidays, there would be less impact from global minimum tax adoption on foreign investment.

Examples that could be considered with reference to international practice include accelerated depreciation for machinery and equipment of the projects, and a double tax deduction of labour cost or research and development costs for encouraged ventures, Fluit said. Such incentives may increase the likelihood of generating additional investment as they directly target expenses.

Several countries in the region have already issued and applied some new policies to cope with the global minimum tax and enhance competitiveness in calling foreign investment.

In February, to encourage companies to make sizable investments that bring substantive economic activities to Singapore, the city-states finance minister proposed refundable investment credit aimed at providing support to applicable entities, including all businesses with initiatives in key economic sectors and new growth areas.

The US government also recently allocated hundreds of billions of US dollars for sustainability programmes and climate financing, in addition to semiconductor manufacturing, through the enactment of three new laws.

According to the current draft decree on the investment support fund, the scope of target support recipients is narrow, targeting enterprises with investments in high technology whose investment is more than $500 million or whose revenue is over $830 million per year.

New fund a solution to GMT concerns The Ministry of Planning and Investment has created a draft decree for a brand new investment support fund, but the scale of the projects and investors under the drafts purview is the subject of intense debate and discussion.

Preferential support on cards for GMT alignment Green production and business, a favourable digital environment, high-quality human resources, and a suitable living environment are necessary factors for Vietnam in implementing the global minimum tax.
Having a capacity of 200,000 units per year, the factory will produce OMODA and JAECOO car models. The construction will be carried out in three phases, with a total investment estimated at more than $800 million.

The first phase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.

Geleximco Group and Chery International signed a cooperation agreement on April 4

Addressing the event, Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade said that manufacturing and assembling cars powered by electric engines is an inevitable global trend, including in Vietnam, to achieve net-zero goals.

In Vietnam, after COP26, the Vietnamese government directed the development of a series of master plans and policies to encourage the development of electric vehicles (EVs). There is a mechanism to encourage vehicle lines like those to be developed by the joint venture of Geleximco and Chery International.

The factory by the joint venture is going in the right direction consistent with Vietnam's guidelines, mechanisms, and policies. Investing in Vietnam, the joint venture not only taps into the domestic market of 100 million people, but also has the opportunity to exploit the market of five billion consumers in countries which are members of new-generation free trade agreements with which Vietnam is a member nation," the minister said.

The event not only marks a big step of OMODA and JAECOO in Southeast Asia, but also the first time that a new Chinese energy car brand has built a factory here.

The two sides plan to build a factory in Thai Binh province. As a coastal province in the north, Thai Binh has a strategic geographical location. In recent years, the province has been ranked among the leading provinces in terms of economic growth across the country, with an open and improved business environment.

Vu Van Tien, chairman of the Board of Directors of Geleximco Group said, We are in a promising opportunity, when two reputable and capable corporations decide to cooperate."

Geleximco, with more than 30 years of experience in investing and developing large projects, has affirmed its position in many fields, from real estate, infrastructure, to energy and technology.

Meanwhile, Chery Group, one of China's leading names in the automotive industry, has contributed to bringing the Chinese brand to the world and is present in more than 80 countries.

Once operational, the project will bring many important economic and social benefits not only for businesses but also contribute to the sustainable development of the locality and the country, Tien added.

OMODA and JAECOO car models were introduced at the event

Zhang Guibing, general manager of Chery International said This cooperation shows that the two sides have seen the inevitable trend of rapid change in global energy to achieve complementary advantages. It's a strong combination.

In the first phase, the two sides will jointly contribute capital to build a vehicle factory in Vietnam with a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles a year to provide Vietnamese consumers with new energy products under the trendy and technologically advanced OMODA and JAECOO brands. Then we will build an industrial cluster of complete vehicle and spare parts factories. After achieving a certain scale, it will export to ASEAN countries and others, making it one of Chery's key bases globally.

During the factory construction process, OMODA and JAECOO will approach the Vietnamese market by importing complete vehicles. They are expected to be launched in the market at the end of 2024, with the pure electric smart crossover SUV OMODA E5 and The JAECOO 7 PHEV to be the first models.

Founded in 1993, Geleximco is one of the top 10 prestigious private corporations in Vietnam. It has total assets of $3.6 billion at the end of 2023. It operates in several key industries, including industrial production, infrastructure  real estate, banking and finance, and trade services.

Geleximco plans to grasp the Industry 4.0 trend, focusing on developing high-tech industrial production, investing in transport infrastructure, highways, seaports, and logistics. This also shows the consensus of the two parties on sustainable development strategies.

In recent years, China's new energy vehicle technology has reached out globally. The OMODA and JAECOO brands have also made breakthroughs in the world's new energy vehicle field, constantly launching new products and technologies.

As of 2024, the global cumulative sales volume of the OMODA and JAECOO brand has exceeded 160,000 units, attracting young people in nearly 20 countries and regions. The first pure electric vehicle model, OMODA E5, has been recognised by senior leaders of the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, and Spain, becoming a "new force" in the global vehicle market.

Ministry of Finance proposes registration fee cut for electric cars The Ministry of Finance proposed halving the registration fee of electric cars compared to petrol cars.

New policies being considered for electric cars Deputy Prime Le Van Thanh has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to study policies to promote the development of the domestic automobile industry, in line with the growing global trend towards electric cars.
The plan was announced under the leadership of the newly elected board of directors and chairman.

The first quarter of 2024 marked a significant milestone for the GBA, with the election of 15 outstanding business leaders to its council, representing diverse sectors and industries.

The AGM held simultaneously in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, garnered strong support from the GBA community, reaffirming trust in the association's leadership and vision.

The GBA's Board of Directors at the annual general meeting 2024

According to Alexander Ziehe, new chairman of the GBA, the organisation's action goals and strategies for 2024 encompass two main elements.

Firstly, the GBA's top priority remains steadfast: enhancing economic trade connections between Germany and Vietnam by promoting the interests of GBA members and fostering close collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

The GBA will pursue these objectives through specific strategies, including three new operational initiatives aimed at enhancing member experiences.

A significant highlight is the intensified expansion of GBA's presence in the northern region of Vietnam and the pursuit of strategic development opportunities.

These initiatives demonstrate the GBA's proactive approach in meeting the evolving needs and demands of its members while maximising the value it provides to the German business community in Vietnam and the Vietnamese economy at large.

In the first quarter of 2024, the GBA's commitment to fostering strong German-Vietnamese ties was vividly demonstrated through a diverse schedule of events and activities. Among these, a roundtable conference with the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Ho Chi Minh City, stood out as a notable highlight.

A high-level delegation, including Germanys Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, participated in constructive exchanges with the German business community in Vietnam, laying the groundwork for future cooperation and partnerships.

Business roundtable between German President Steinmeier and the German business community in Vietnam

In collaboration with the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, the GBA organised Franco-German Day 2024, attracting over 300 guests and businesses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The GBA Business Meeting held in March 2024, focusing on the Economic Outlook of Vietnam 2024 and the role of ASEAN, set a record in scale with over 100 business representatives participating.

The association also played a significant role in facilitating dialogue between its member businesses and government agencies, including the German Embassy in Hanoi and the German Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. Discussions focused on key economic and diplomatic issues, cooperation strategies for 2024, and preparations for important milestones in 2025, notably the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Vietnam.

Additionally, the association actively collaborated with Vietnamese government agencies to address members' concerns and support policy reforms to promote business development.

This included working sessions with Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), as well as Binh Duong People's Committee and its affiliated departments, aimed at enhancing the investment environment in Vietnam overall, and in specific cities/provinces.

Sustainability was also emphasised in joint efforts for green development during collaboration meetings with Ho Chi Minh City leaders.

Through high-level meetings with government officials, both national and local, the GBA advocated for the needs and priorities of its members, ranging from transparency in investment policies, international standards, to digitalisation efforts and incentives for foreign labour in Vietnam.

Positive feedback received from government agencies acknowledged the effectiveness of the GBA's actions in promoting a conducive business environment for German enterprises in Vietnam.

Looking towards the future, GBA will introduce new action initiatives to enhance and enrich the experiences of its association members. The association's specific plans are all geared towards business networking and investment in Vietnam.

The most anticipated event is the GBA Oktoberfest, which will take place in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City in September and October 2024. Additionally, in 2024, for the first time, the German Business Awards in Vietnam will be hosted by the GBA.

Chairman of the GBA Alexander Zieh said, "Traditionally, German investments were mainly directed to Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. These countries host an established cluster of German industries, such as the automotive sector in Thailand or research and development hubs in Singapore."

"Nevertheless, the trend is changing, and Vietnam is now considered as an investment location of increasing attractiveness. German investors favour Vietnam to supplement their China operations for its lower-cost inputs, alternative markets, and convenient geographic and supply route proximity to China. Vietnam itself also offers a rising middle class and opportunities to establish German brands for Vietnamese consumers with local distribution and supply chain, he said.

German business delegation looks for investment opportunities in Phu Tho Premier of the German state of Thuringen made an official visit and working session with Phu Tho Peoples Committee, raising issues about cooperation and investment.

AHK Vietnam at 30: a remarkable journey of partnerships In 2024, the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Vietnam (AHK Vietnam) celebrates a significant milestone  30 years of dedicated presence in Vietnam. This journey stands as a testament to our commitment to fostering robust trade cooperation between Vietnamese and German businesses. Throughout this three-decade expedition, AHK Vietnam has been a stalwart companion, witnessing and contributing to numerous milestones in Vietnams socioeconomic development.
Hanoi - Legal proceedings have been launched against three more defendants when the Investigation Security Agency is expanding investigations into violations of Xuyen Viet Oil Company, Lieutenant General To An Xo, Spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, said on April 3.

Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is prosecuted for receiving bribes.(Photo: VNA)

Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was prosecuted for receiving bribes while chief accountant of the Xuyen Viet Oil Company Dinh Tien Dung and its sales director Nguyen Tan Long were prosecuted for giving bribes.

This was the latest development of the expanded investigation of the case "Violating regulations on management and use of State assets causing loss and waste; irresponsibility causing serious consequences; giving bribes; and accepting bribes" at the Xuyen Viet Oil Company and some related agencies. The police have detained many people who held positions.

Previously, legal proceedings were launched against Director of VietinBank Thanh Xuan Branch Vu Trung Thanh, Deputy Director of the Xuyen Viet Oil Companys Hanoi Branch Nguyen Van Thang, freelancer Dong Xuan Dung for giving bribes and Director of Nghi Son Oil Refinery Branch Phan Tien Anh for receiving bribes.

The Investigation Security Agency said that these defendants took advantage of the State's policy that allows them to collect part of the petrol sales for the petroleum stabilisation fund but they did not send money into the fund's account. These defendants fraudulently made up financial reports and improperly set up funds to get benefits personally, causing loss of State assets.

On December 14, 2023, the agency launched legal proceedings against and detained former Secretary of the Ben Tre provincial Party Committee Le Duc Tho for abusing power and position to influence others for gains.

On December 19, 2023, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department and Director of the HCM City Department of Finance Le Duy Minh for "receiving bribes". On December 21, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai was also prosecuted and arrested for allegedly receiving bribes.

Previously, Director of Xuyen Viet Oil Mai Thi Hong Hanh, and its Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Nhu Phuong were prosecuted for "violating regulations on State asset management and use, causing loss and waste".
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 4 highlighted the important role of preschool education to the national education system as well as the countrys human resources development.

Chairing a meeting of the National Committee for Education and Training Reform in Hanoi, the leader said preschool education lays a foundation for comprehensive development of Vietnamese people.

The meeting looked into preschool education reform and development programme by 2030 with a vision towards 2045, with its outcomes to be reported to the National Assembly for consideration.

Chinh, who is also head of the committee, pointed out the fact that preschool education has yet to receive due attention, especially in remote areas and those predominantly inhabited by workers.

The PM reiterated the motto pursued by Vietnam in its national construction and development which takes people as the centre, subject, goal, momentum, and resources for the cause.

He, therefore, stressed the need to reform preschool education comprehensively in line with instructions from the Party and the State, adding bottlenecks in human resources, infrastructure and inequality, particularly in remote, and border and island areas must be removed.

The leader ordered reviewing mechanisms and policies to mobilise resources for preschool education, especially those on tax and the access to land and credit loans, thus raising personnel quality in the sector.

According to a report presented at the meeting, each year, over 5.3 million children are raised and educated at more than 15,000 preschools and nearly 16,000 other establishments nationwide, with 56.9 per cent of which satisfying national standards.

Made-in-Vietnam KidsOnline  Next step for 4.0 preschool education In alignment with the technology boom in Industry 4.0, the education sector is adapting new smart technology solutions to increase efficiency.

Education summit EDU4.0 seeks approaches to digital transformation in education The Education Summit and School Exposition 4.0 (EDU4.0) event opened on November 21, attracting hundreds of participants discussing approaches to digital transformation in the education sector.
Thailand works to reduce CO2 emissions, Illustrative image (Photo: enviliance.com)

Bangkok - Thailand is expected to start enforcing a new law outlining measures to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in an effort to help the state and business sectors better deal with climate change, a senior official has said.

Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand Rachata Phisitbanakorn revealed the information at a forum entitled "Action for Change", held on April 1, elaborating that the ministry has set up the Department of Climate Change and Environment and initiated climate change-related measures to emphasise Thailand's commitment to cutting CO2 emissions.

Then Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha committed at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021 that Thailand would be more aggressive in addressing climate change, striving to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, along with a net-zero target by 2065.

According to Rachata, the new law comprises various mechanisms to achieve climate change mitigation targets through economic instruments such as carbon credit trade, a carbon tax, a domestic emissions trading system as well as mandatory compliance measures for business operators.

It is also aimed at enhancing Thailand's capability to mitigate and adapt to climate change, enabling the transition to a more sustainable economy, he said, adding that the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation will act as the regulator of carbon trade for businesses.

Thailand, RoK agree to launch trade talks The Republic of Korea (RoK)s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) on March 27 announced that it has agreed with Thailand to kick off negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership, as the North Asian country aims to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian region.
The institution in question, as per VPBank's disclosure, represents no more than 5 per cent of VPBanks total assets and owner's equity as of the end of 2023, with its charter capital not exceeding VND5 trillion ($208 million).

Post-acquisition, this entity is set to operate as a wholly-owned one-member limited liability bank under VPBank's ownership.

The VPBank Board of Directors is tasked with executing all necessary procedures for this compulsory transfer. Their responsibilities include selecting the bank to be acquired as per approval, deciding on capital contributions, formulating support strategies for the transition, and overseeing other related operations.

Furthermore, the AGM documents stipulate that individuals and teams involved in the acquisition process will be exempt from personal liabilities, including compensation for damages and related costs, should the transfer not meet its objectives or encounter unforeseen risks.

Specific details about the weak financial institution VPBank plans to absorb were not disclosed in the AGM documentation.

Reflecting on last years AGM, the bank's chairman Noo Chi Dung mentioned VPBank's involvement in the restructuring of financially weak institutions, noting it as one of four banks engaged in the restructuring of entities under compulsory transfer.

In October 2023, Pham Thi Nhung, VPBank's deputy CEO, indicated the bank had prepared resources for the takeover and restructuring of a bank designated for compulsory transfer, aiming to commence restructuring immediately after the transfer.

"We have readied our resources and are set to initiate the bank's restructuring as soon as it is handed over," Nhung said.

The State Bank of Vietnam had earlier indicated that the transfer of four particularly weak banks had been approved, including DongABank and three others slated for compulsory purchase: CBBank, OceanBank, and GPBank, with their respective charter capitals detailed.

Prior to VPBank, other major banks like Vietcombank, MB, and HDBank had proposed to their shareholders plans for similar compulsory acquisitions.

It has been confirmed that CBBank will merge with Vietcombank, while OceanBank is currently supported by MB, making GPBank a likely candidate for VPBank's acquisition.
Police are urging family and friends of a missing Kansas mom and a preacher's wife to stay quiet while they continue their investigation into the women's mysterious disappearance.

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelley, 39, were traveling from their hometown of Hugoton, Kansas, to pick up Butler's kids in rural Oklahoma when they vanished. It's unclear when they left, but police found their abandoned vehicle on the side of the road in Elkhart, Kansas  about 30 miles outside of Hugoton  Saturday, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities have revealed very little details surrounding the circumstances of the women's disappearance, but loved ones said they have been ordered to stay tight-lipped to protect the investigation.

On Tuesday, an unidentified family member of one of the missing moms told NewsNation authorities instructed them to decline media interviews for the time being.

That same source also said Kelley  the wife of a pastor  may have been accompanying Butler, who was reportedly in the middle of a custody battle with her ex, to act as a mediator when picking up her kids, according to the outlet.

Butler's children may have been living with their paternal grandmother at the time.

"As of right now, as the investigation continues and we were requested, we're unsure where these women are or what happened to them," OSBI spokesperson Hunter Mckee, previously told NewsNation. "That unknown is what has created it suspicious for us at this time."

Meantime, the Yarborough School  located in close proximity to where the women disappeared and also where Butler graduated from in 2015  began operating in lockdown mode Tuesday, due to "so many unanswered questions" involving the case, the superintendent wrote in a letter to parents, according to KSN-TV. Additional security will also patrol the campus as the investigation continues.
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On Tuesday, it was announced that Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert, with a reelection campaign on the horizon, underwent emergency surgery for a blood clot in her leg and has been diagnosed with May-Thurner syndrome, a rare vascular disorder in which an artery compresses a vein the pelvis.

"Yesterday afternoon, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was admitted to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland after experiencing severe swelling in her upper left leg.

After undergoing a CT Scan, doctors found an acute blood clot and diagnosed her with May-Thurner Syndrome, which is a rare condition that disrupts blood flow," Boebert's campaign said in a statement.

"Doctors recommended and scheduled a surgery, which was successfully completed this morning, to remove the clot and insert a stent that will address the Congresswoman's symptoms," the statement said.

However, a statement added, "After taking time to rest as recommended by doctors, she is expected to make a full recovery with no significant concerns for her long-term health and no hindrance to her ability to perform her duties as a Congresswoman."

Boebert is currently seeking a third term.

Republicans currently have one of the smallest House majorities in history and it is unclear if Boebert will be back in Washington, DC.

"I'm looking forward to making a full recovery and getting back to Congress to continue fighting for Colorado," Boebert said.

Another tough battle that Rep. Boebert has had to face has been for reelection. In a move that Boebert previously called a 'swampy backroom deal', Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo), whose seat she's trying to fill, announced he would be leaving Congress early in November.

Given these circumstances, there will be a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of Buck's term which will be held the same day as the primary for the full term.

Boebert won reelection in her current district by a slim margin in 2022 and the outcome of this special election will dictate if she will remain in Congress.
Michael Bolton

A new study has shown a United Ireland would cost 20 billion each year for two decades.

The report published by the Institute of International and European Affairs is authored by the Economic and Social Research Institutes John FitzGerald of Trinity College Dublin, and Dublin City University academic Prof Edgar Morgenroth.

According to the study, basic unification costs after losing the London subvention and adjusting for other factors would run to nearly 11 billion a year.

However, the cost would jump to 20.5 billion if social welfare, pensions and public service pay rates to people in Northern Ireland were brought into line with those currently in force in the Republic.

Unification would add around five per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) to the Irish Governments deficit. If welfare payments is included, that would take the cost to Ireland of supporting Northern Ireland within a united Ireland to almost 10 per cent of GNI.

This would add a quarter to public expenditure in Ireland (total Government expenditure in Ireland currently amounts to around 40 per cent of GNI), while producing a very limited increase in revenue.

The report adds this would lead to a dramatic increase in taxation.

When Germany was unified, the economic and social systems of East Germany were immediately changed to those of West Germany. However, convergence in terms of private sector wages has not been achieved yet.

The report concludes even though Ireland has a much higher national income, funding the needs of the people of Northern Ireland in a united Ireland would put huge financial pressure on the people of Ireland.

To reduce the cost of reunification, they suggest Northern Ireland should make major changes in its economy designed to dramatically raise productivity.

Unification would also likely mean the British government would refuse to continue paying 2.5 billion worth of pensions to people living in Northern Ireland.

The outcome of negotiations between a United Ireland and the UK would also have consequences should Scotland become independent.

If Scotland had voted for independence in 2014, the agreement for the break-up of the UK would have entailed Scotland leaving it with a share of the UK debt.

Sinn Fein TD Padraig MacLochlainn has disputed the methodology of a report by the Institute of International and European Affairs which said that a united Ireland would cost 20 billion every year for 20 years, which would require an increase in taxation of around 25 percent and a significant reduction in expenditure.

Mr MacLochlainn told RTE radios Today with Claire Byrne show that the analysis was static and accepted the amount of subvention at face value.

Professor John Doyle of DCU in recent times, has written that the actual subvention is much less. It's about 2.4 billion. That's about a quarter of what the British government, when you deduct their pensions, debt repayments, contribution to the defence forces of Britain and so on. And so it's much less than the headline figure.

But also the report assumes there'll be no economic growth in the North. We know that since Brexit there's been substantial growth in the All Ireland economy. We know that there is a real opportunity, and that's thanks to the efforts of all of the political parties and people on the island of Ireland.

We ensured there was no hard border on the island of Ireland. That means the people of the north of Ireland have access to the British economy and to the European economy uniquely so, there's a real opportunity for economic growth.

Professor Seamus McGuinness, economics professor of the ESRI, he's criticised this report and that it's it doesn't make any provision for economic growth in the North over the time ahead.

"But what I do praise Edgar for and John is doing some type of research, doing some type of planning, some type of analysis, which is very different from our own government, who have no plan whatsoever to look at how we get to Irish unity.

Mr MacLochlainn pointed to reports from Professor Kurt Huebner, who worked on German reunification and looked at the model that they used and how that would apply to Ireland. He forecast 35 billion of growth over eight years. You have people like David McWilliams who've talked about how we could manage this.

Mr MacLochlainn called for a Citizens Assembly and a White Paper from the Government on the issue of reunification.

Nobody assumes that in the context of Irish reunification, where people on both sides of the border have voted for a united Ireland, that the British government just walks away from the pitch.

There was a process through the Good Friday Agreement though which Britain would continue to have a responsibility to Unionists.

I am very open to that as an Irish republican, that the Unionist population on the island would continue to have some type of relationship with Britain. You have to assume that Britain will have and indeed would step up to take financial responsibility, moving forward. So I think this report is the worst case scenario. And, and it would be heavily disputed by a range of professors and economic analysts.

Additional reporting from Vivienne Clarke
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A man has died after he fell into a culvert and drowned Wednesday in Trempealeau County.

The Trempealeau County Sheriffs Office received a report at about 9:50 p.m. Wednesday that while attempting to get out of his vehicle that was stuck in the ditch along his driveway a man fell and slid down a snowy embankment at N34153 County Road S in the town of Preston.

He ended up in a driveway culvert that had standing water, according to a press release from the sheriffs office.

When he fell, he struck his head and lost consciousness.

The mans wife, who was present when the accident occurred, was unable to get the mans head out of the water.

When first responders arrived, they removed him from the culvert and attempted life-saving measures. He was later pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.

Foul play is not suspected, according to the sheriffs office, which noted the accident is still under investigation.

The mans name was not shared by law enforcement Thursday.

The Blair-Preston Fire Department and First Responders, Tri-County Ambulance, Blair Police Department and Wisconsin State Patrol assisted the sheriffs office.
A Waupun Correctional Institution officer, who went through one of the scariest days of his life on Dec. 24, 2019, was the first witness to take the stand Tuesday against the inmate accused of stabbing him 13 times.

Joseph Layton was in his third year at the prison on Christmas Eve 2019 when he turned his back on the inmate who allegedly stabbed him in the back prior to an attack that could have taken the officers life, prosecutors said.

Layton and other witnesses testified during the first day of the three-day trial for former Waupun inmate Gregg Phillips.

Phillips, 44, is currently housed at the Green Bay Correctional Institution. He faces felony charges of attempted homicide, two counts of battery by a prisoner and one count of substantial battery. He could be sentenced to up to 75 additional years in prison if found guilty of all the offenses. Phillips is already serving two consecutive life terms without any chance for parole.

Layton said that on Dec. 24, 2019, he was assigned to the Big Top building, where recreational activities go on at Waupun Correctional. Layton normally had a different post at the prison. He had begun work at 8 a.m. that day and was assigned as the recreational officer around 2 p.m. and gave out recreational items for the inmates.

Layton said he was having issues with getting the inmates back to their cells for dinner, which began at 3 p.m.

I do believe in safety first, but I was getting annoyed that I had to make all these calls to get everyone back safely, Layton said.

There were between 60 and 70 inmates in the building, Layton said.

They were in the process of moving the inmates out the north side entrance of the building, so the inmates could go back to their cells, when Layton said he noticed that Phillips wanted to talk to him.

When you are in a gym with inmates in a Wisconsin prison, you want them all in front of you, and you tend to make sure they are in front of you, Layton said.

Phillips had never had an issue with Layton in the past, Layton said, and he had approached him to tell him that he was no longer working in the kitchen and wanted to ask about a job in the recreational area. Layton said he was pretty sure that the jobs were not vacant and that they would be occupied for a while.

Phillips went back by those working in the recreational center, and Layton said he thought that he was going there to ask them if either would be leaving the position soon.

Layton said he let his guard down with Phillips because he felt he was not threatening and went back to monitoring the inmates leaving the building.

Very quickly after that, I felt someone punch me as hard as they could in the middle of my shoulder blades, Layton said. In my mind, I thought he would have his hands behind his back and that he wanted to go to segregation. I turned around, and he was very aggressive and scared the bejesus out of me.

The two began a scuffle, but at first Layton said he felt he was being punched.

When we got face to face, he let out a laugh and he showed me the weapon, Layton said. His eyes were black, and he was making scary noises.

Layton said he attempted to fight Phillips off and was eventually helped by other correctional officers.

A jury of six men and seven women were chosen to hear the case in the courtroom of Dodge County Circuit Judge Martin DeVries.

Dodge County District Attorney Andrea Wills went over the day of the attack as well and told the jury that they would be shown a video of the incident during the trial. Wills said that Layton was stabbed 13 times.

At one point, he thought this is it, Wills said. This is when I will die.

Staff at Waupun Memorial Hospital were able to save his life, Wills said.

Phillips' attorney, Jacob Van Kerkvoode, said the big picture facts in the case are not in dispute, such as whether Phillips was an inmate in the facility, but there are details that will be disputed.

The small details have to be paid attention to in this case, Van Kerkvoode said. That matters the most, when you decide on the four offenses.

Phillips was convicted in 2005 of killing his girlfriend and a bystander while also injuring two others during a shooting spree at the Comfort Suites in Oak Creek on Nov. 5, 2004.

The trial will continue Wednesday and is expected to be finished on Thursday.

GALLERY: WAUPUN PRISONS HIGHLIGHTED IMG_7412.JPG IMG_7413.JPG IMG_7415.JPG IMG_7416.JPG IMG_7417.JPG Waupun prisons highlighted IMG_7420.JPG IMG_7421.JPG IMG_7422.JPG IMG_7423.JPG IMG_7424.JPG IMG_7428.JPG IMG_7429.JPG IMG_7431.JPG
The frantic search for missing teen Sebastian Rogers continues, as investigators promise they will leave "no stone unturned" more than a month after he mysteriously disappeared from his home.

Sebastian, a 15-year-old boy with autism, was last seen the night of Feb. 25 when his mother said she put him to bed in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

The next morning, he was gone, his mother told police, who issued an AMBER Alert.

Authorities previously said there was no evidence of foul play.

On Wednesday, the Sumner County Sheriff's Office announced they remain committed in their search for Sebastian as the investigation enters its sixth week.

"Despite exhaustive efforts, there are no new leads or evidence to indicate the search will be immediately fruitful. However, we are committed to leaving no stone unturned in our mission to locate Sebastian and bring him home safely," they said on Facebook.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also assisting in locating the missing teen, who was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and glasses.

Sebastian is 5-foot-5-inches tall, 120 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the Sumner County Sheriff's Office at 615-451-3838 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
In our conversations, the star showed a prescient mistrust of interactive media, then in its preinfancy. He told me about an experimental technology that allowed TV viewers to communicate their reactions to a show in real time  and said the system had many dangers: If I had the opportunity to press a button, and if that would somehow translate into a vote or an opinion that would influence other people, it could be very destructive, he reasoned. Because after a day or two I might have seasoned my thoughts with reflection and found I made some critical errors.

Brando also talked about the universal nature of storytelling, and why viewers are drawn to films with clear-cut heroes and villains. People get so tired of sitting in the in-between world  that is, the real world, where questions of good and evil are more nuanced, he told me. Its such a relief to see something thats good or for the devil.

With the womens movement in full swing, Brando shared his philosophy on the conflict between the sexes. I think, essentially, men fear women, he told me. History is full of references to women and how bad they are, how dangerous. Having been raised by women, he speculated, men feel dependent upon women, and they fear that dependence. Weve all been guilty, most men, of viewing women through prejudice, he confessed. I always thought of myself not as a prejudiced person, but I find, as I look over it, that I was.

Marlon Brando starred as Vito Corleone in the 1972 film "The Godfather." CBS via Getty Images

And yes, he did talk about the struggles of Native Americans. Brando had famously tried to draw attention to the issue in 1973, when he learned he was the favorite to win a best actor Oscar for The Godfather. Rather than attend the ceremony, he sent an actress and activist named Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the award on his behalf. His goal had been to protest discriminatory portrayals of Native Americans in Hollywood films, and to call attention to the Native American activists who were at the time involved in a standoff with the federal government at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, over unfair and breached treaties.

When we spoke five years later, Brando despaired of being able to rally public opinion behind the Native American cause. Nobody wants to think about social issues, social justice, he told me. Ask most kids about details about Auschwitz or about the manner in which the American Indian was assassinated as a people and ground into the ground, they dont know anything about it. And they dont want to know anything. Most people just want their beer or their soap opera or their lullaby. (Brando might not be surprised to learn that it is only this year, 46 years after our interviews, that the first Native American woman, Lily Gladstone, was nominated for a best actress Oscar.)

A few years before my interview with Brando, John Wayne had said some controversial things about Native Americans, including that he didnt think it was wrong to take America away from them because they were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves. When I asked Brando for his thoughts on those comments, he told me he would answer, but he wanted to have what Wayne said in front of him when he did. In those days before you could pull up an old interview on your phone, we agreed to meet again back in L.A. for a follow-up chat. For me, that was a bonus, because it would give me time to digest what had gone down on the island. A few months later, I was supposed to go to Brandos house, when his assistant called to ask where I lived. Marlon will come to you, she said.

I wasnt expecting that. Our house was a mess, and I quickly grabbed the dirty dishes in the sink and stuck them under the cabinet. It only took Brando 15 minutes to pull into our driveway. The first thing he said was that hed like to see what Id written about him. No, I told him. That wouldnt be journalism if I let him have a crack at it. Lets get to John Wayne, I said.

We talked, not just about Wayne, whom he didnt care for, but about so many other things that he hadnt been willing to talk about on the island. We even got into his using cue cards when acting because he didnt like to memorize his lines. Isnt it distracting for the other actors? I asked. Theyve got their lines down, and youre reading yours off cue cards, or in the case of Maria Schneider in Last Tango in Paris, off her forehead. During this part of our conversation, Brando would arbitrarily mention book titles as he looked at me. I wasnt sure why, until he said, Ive been reading the titles of the books on your shelves, and you havent noticed or been distracted. You didnt even know that I was doing that. I can do the same thing when acting. Its more spontaneous.

When I asked him why he was so put off by winning the Academy Award for The Godfather, he said, I dont believe in awards of any kind. They are ridiculous. The optometrists are going to have Oscar awards for creating inventive, arresting, admirable, manufactured eyeglass frames  things that hook on to the nose, ones that go way around under the armpit for evening wear. They should have an award for the fastest left-handed standby painter whos painted the sets with his left hand at great speed. And the carpenters union should have an award for somebody who can take a 3-pound hammer and nail two-by-fours together.

Does being labeled a method actor mean anything to you? I asked, knowing how much he disliked talking about acting.

B-o-r-e. Bore, he said.

Is that what a method actor does  to bore through to the core of a characters being?

It bores through and goes beyond the frontiers of endurable anguish of interviews, he said.
An elderly American tourist was reportedly killed in a horrific elephant attack in Zambia that was captured on video.

The elephant charged at the car the woman was in and flipped it over several times.

She was part of a group of six staying at the Lufupa Camp in Kafue National Park, the Telegraph reported.

Video of the incident shows the vehicle driving down the road with a bull elephant walking in the vegetation. It apparently spots the vehicle and then charges.

Elephants attack, flip tourists vehicle in Kafue National Park. Hope all survived safely from the ordeal.



(Posted as received; no further details at this point) pic.twitter.com/dElsDxBGNY  Ndawana Youngson PhD. (@NdawanaY) April 1, 2024

The vehicle stops and the elephant flips it.

The tourists can be heard panicking and screaming during the terrifying incident.

The 80-year-old woman died at a hospital. Her name was not released. A second woman was injured and remained hospitalized.

"Our guides are all extremely well trained and experienced, but sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guide's route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harm's way quickly enough," Wilderness Zambia's CEO said in a statement to local media.

Kafue National Park is the largest game reserve in Africa.

Zambia has been in crippling drought. The nation's president declared a national disaster after almost half of the country's "planted area" were destroyed.
ADVANCETC ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE 51% OF ONYX NUENERGY SDN BHD



AdvanceTC enters into agreement

Sydney, April 3, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - AdvanceTC Ltd ( ATCLF:OTCMKTS ) ( NSX:A88 ) is pleased to inform that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a 51% stake of Onyx Nuenergy Sdn Bhd (A renewable energy company) on the 25th Mar 2024, in Kuala Lumpur. The occasion was witnessed by representatives from both companies, including stakeholders and the press. The Company believes that with its entry into the green renewable energy sector, it would greatly enhance its business expansion plans and further strengthen its growth foundation. The 2 major products the company plans to introduce to the market in the very near future are the patented Nubt Ultra boundary turbines (Hydropower) and the Nteg Thermal Power Generator Panel 3 (Solar Power).



Additionally, AdvanceTC Ltd announces that the main focus of the Company remains unchanged. The Company is committed to enhancing its technology products and exploring new opportunities to innovate within the mobile device sector. The Company has no intention of changing the capital structure, and no new securities will be issued to finance the investment.



About Onyx Nuenergy Sdn Bhd (ONM)



ONM is a company that cooperates and holds the rights to manufacture and market the patented products from Nuenergy Technologies Corporation, a technology company owned by American scientist Dr. Hector Guevara. Dr. Hector has been developing various renewable energy technologies and technologies. After more than 10 years of unremitting efforts, he has achieved breakthroughs in multiple projects and obtained exclusive patents. First, the revolutionary system of the Nubt Ultra boundary turbine has a bearing design that can achieve power efficiency up to four times that produce by traditional low-speed hydropower or wind power generation systems, thanks to its ultra-high 200,000 rpm bearing design. Second, Nteg Thermal Power Generation Panel 3 is also one of the patented technology products by Dr. Hector. By breaking through the technical bottleneck of thermal power generation technology for nearly a century, the Nteg patented technology can output up to 55% renewable energy efficiency in an operating environment with a temperature difference of only 15 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that the Nteg can achieve continuous power supply in a general normal temperature environment, without day or night restrictions, ultra-low maintenance costs, and does not require extensive reliance on costly power storage systems.



The Company believes that by acquiring ONM as one of its subsidiary , the Company will be able to achieve greater heights and a smooth and successful up-list transition to the US Capital market.





About AdvanceTC Limited





AdvanceTC is a premier technology company specializing in the design and development of mobile telecommunication and computing devices. AdvanceTC is listed on NSX Australia (NSX:A88). More information on the company can be found at www.advancetc.com

Related Companies
People in the South and Midwest will have a particularly noisy summer, as two dueling cicada broods emerge simultaneously for the first time since 1803.

Cicadas are known for signature chirping noises - males will vibrate abdominal flaps, while their female counterparts respond by loudly flicking their wings. With the cicada mating season lasting until the end of July, people in the impacted regions can expect noisy evenings for the majority of the summer, Yale Environment 360 reported.

While cicadas regularly emerge in 13-and-17-year cycles, it is rare that the two cycles happen concurrently - in fact, it's a once-in-every-other-lifetime phenomenon.

"This is the first time these two broods are going to be emerging in the same year since Thomas Jefferson was in the White House," entomologist Floyd Shockley told Reuters.

Though only Illinois will see the broods overlap, large swaths of the country will see - and hear - the emergence of new cicadas, as the warmer months begin.

The broods in question, XIII and XIX, will emerge in the central and southern regions of the country. The Brood XIII cicadas were born in 2007 and spent 17 years growing underground, while the Brood XIX cicadas were born in 2011.

"They don't often coincide in time, but to have them coincide in time and space is even more unusual," insect ecologist John Lill told Scientific American. "That's what's happening this year that's generating a lot of buzz-pun intended."
Rebel Foods, the worlds largest internet restaurant companys homegrown brand, Behrouz Biryani, has announced Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan as its brand ambassador. The association focuses on introducing a new Nawabi Handi Dum Biryani range, representing the epitome of royal essence. With this collaboration, the premium biryani brand aims to deliver an unmatched premium royal biryani experience to its customers.

The partnership between Behrouz Biryani and Saif Ali Khan, for the introduction of the 'Nawabi Handi Dum Biryani' range, is not a mere collaboration, but rather co-creation. This endeavour is a reflection of the brand's promise to deliver an unparalleled biryani experience, marrying the rich culinary tradition that Behrouz Biryani is celebrated for with the aristocratic legacy that Saif Ali Khan embodies, making him the ideal choice as Behrouzs brand ambassador.

Adding a regal touch to the brands identity, the conglomerate between Behrouz Biryani and Saif Ali Khan primarily circulated across social media platforms via an ad film. Orchestrating the grand launch of Nawabi Handi Dum Biryani range, Saif is seen riding in a classic vintage car, accompanied by a royal cavalry of kingsmen and horses. The entire scenario depicts Saifs royalty, complementing the royal experience that the new biryani range promises to offer with each bite. This spectacle within the ad film captures the essence of Behrouz Biryani's commitment to delivering a royal dining experience.

Speaking of the collaboration with Saif Ali Khan, Nishant Kedia, Chief Marketing Officer- India, Rebel Foods, stated, This is not just any brand ambassador partnership but a confluence of values, legacy and a commitment to bring the best for our customers. The Nawabi Handi Dum Biryani is a symbol of our dedication to culinary excellence, a deep-rooted legacy and our commitment to craftsmanship, much like the roles that Saif is well known for, that resonate with depth and authenticity. We're deeply honoured and excited for this association with Saif and look forward to sharing this royal indulgence with biryani lovers everywhere.

To which Saif added, Embarking on this journey with Behrouz Biryani to bring the 'Nawabi Handi Dum Biryani' to life has been a delicious experience. It's about intertwining the richness of royal culinary traditions with the craftsmanship that Behrouz is renowned for. This collaboration is more than just bringing a dish to the table; it's about reviving a legacy and presenting it with a touch of modernity and elegance, ensuring each serving is reminiscent of a royal dawat.

Seven years since its inception, Behrouz Biryani continues to set the gold standard for premium biryani. By recognizing the need for innovation and enhancement in the customer experience, Behrouz Biryani collaborated with Saif Ali Khan and introduced the 'Nawabi Handi Dum Biryanis' range. The range is now available in Tier 1 cities in the North, South, East, and West markets. The Nawabi Handi biryani range promises an unparalleled dining experience as it is dum-pukht and packaged in a premium metal handi with accompaniments including Raita, Salan, and Gulab Jamun.
It is an unprecedented battle of Summits playing out on your news screen! At stake is the need to crown a new thought fest king in the highly competitive news television space.

And the big story here is the disruption caused by the young kid on the block  TV9 Network  hosting only its second Summit edition - creating tidal waves with its unique offering. Legacy players might have a reason not to be amused but the viewer is indeed happier.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi Keynote address not being exclusive any longer to the big boy club, the tide has actually turned. A level playing field ensured, it has been all about how the Prime Minister piece played out at the respective Summits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed so far (in the Union capital) in all five-television news network ground events beginning February 9 (ET Global Business Summit) until March 20 (News 18 Rising Bharat Summit).

In between, he delivered the Summit Keynote at TV9 Network What India Thinks Today Summit on February 26 followed by Republic Network on March 7 and India Today Conclave on March 15 respectively. Barring TV9 Network, which crafted a distinct character for its three-day offering, the rest of the networks had a two day fair. Accordingly, the show witnessed unrivalled global and Indian star speakers in attendance.

PM  The Star Performer

Prime Minister has been the obvious star attraction at each of these propositions but how he received the invitation depended upon he was received.

In former times, prior to heading into battle, kettledrums were sounded, and grand bugles were blown, instilling a sense of excitement in the departing individuals. Thank you, Das! My salutations to all the viewers of TV9 and to all of you gathered here.

This is how the Prime Minister began his Summit Keynote address at the TV9 What India Thinks Today Conclave. The short AV that played as Modi entered the Ashok hall set the tone.

The welcome address by MD & CEO Barun Das set the context. Modi ji, you are not only the architect of a New India, but also someone who wishes to lay the foundation for the next one thousand years. The way Das decoded the Modi phenomenon via the Modi mantras struck an instant chord with the ever-cheering audience.

In contrast, the Prime Minister, quick to think on his feet, used a query from India Today group founder and chairman Aroon Purie, as part of his welcome speech at the India Today Conclave, to make a strong point about his medium- and long-term agenda.

The Next Big Leap

Replying to India Today Group Chairmans welcome address, the PM said that his eyes are not set on 2029 but that he's been preparing and aiming for 2047.

Aroon ji, put your entire team to find out what Modi is. Let them figure it out. You got stuck in 2029, I am preparing for 2047, the Prime Minister said.

Speaking at the Republic Summit on March 7, Modi said The world believes this is Indias decade, he said as he lauded the Republic Teams vision for initiating a discussion on India of the next decade, as per the theme.

PM: TV9 Network  Showcase For Bharat Diversity

Prime Minister dwelt at length on the themes for review at other network events as well that he addressed praising the aspiration behind the nomenclature. But at TV9 he showcased the idea of India citing the networks language diversity.

I frequently speak about Bharat's diversity, a trait that is vividly apparent in TV9's newsroom and amongst its reporting team. TV9 boasts media platforms in various Indian languages, serving as a testament to Bharat's vibrant democracy. I extend my congratulations to all the journalists working at TV9 across different states and languages, as well as to your technical team.

Today, the TV9 team has chosen a compelling theme for this summit: India: Poised For The Next Big Leap. Significant progress can only be made when we are filled with enthusiasm and energy. A despondent country or individual cannot aspire to make that 'Big Leap'. The very choice of this theme reflects the confidence and aspirations of contemporary Bharat, the Prime Minister added.

Incidentally, Bharat came up in the title as News18 changed the IPs name from Rising India to Rising Bharat. The Prime Minister didnt specifically acknowledge or applaud the change. He, however, recalled when he was at the conclave five years ago and a significant event that took place soon after. He was responding to the reference by Rahul Joshi, MD & Editor-in-Chief, Network 18, to the earlier address of the Prime Minister at the Rising Summit in February 2019.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the greetings of guests from the stage at all the media events. At TV9 Conclave, he mingled with the global guests seated in the front rows that included among others former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and celebrities like Ayushman Khurana and Kangana Ranaut. For ETs Global Business Summit, the audience primarily included top business leaders and policy makers.

And for a change, the ever-warring news channels stayed invested in the big idea of the India growth story. They enabled a cross section of views to gather steam as they strived for a road map for Viksit Bharat.

Over to the cacophony of elections where campaigning has its own content menu on offer. Make the right choice!

Links of welcome address by News network heads before PM Keynote address:

Link 01: Mr. Barun Das, MD and CEO of TV9 Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUjEI23YgrQ

Link 02: Mr. Vineet Jain, MD, Times Group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q83-ht4sduQ

Link 03: Mr. Arnab Goswami, Managing Director | Editor-in-chief of Republic Media Network

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3DU_966ils

Link 04: Mr. Aroon Purie, Founder-Publisher and Editor-in-chief of India Today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNy_v9Iv-UY&t=3539s

Link 05: Mr. Rahul Joshi, Managing director of Network 18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM3esv-a0Wc
Fixderma, one of the most innovative skincare company, joins forces with Delhi Capitals. As a part of this collaboration the brand recently launched their #HarDinSunscreen campaign which aims to dispel common myths surrounding everyday sunscreen usage and build a daily skincare ritual around the same.

In their recent ad campaign with Delhi Capitals, Fixderma focuses on breaking misconceptions around sunscreens being occasion-specific and suitable for daily use. Through this campaign, the brand looks forward to debunk some myths around sunscreens by showcasing their product's unique features, such as non-sticky, lightweight, zero-white cast, and broad-spectrum sun protection.

"We are thrilled to launch our #HarDinSunscreen campaign in collaboration with Delhi Capitals' star players," said Shaily Mehrotra, CEO & Founder Fixderma. "By showcasing the versatility and efficacy of our sunscreen products, we aim to educate everyone about the importance of incorporating sun protection into their daily skincare routines. With our hashtag #HarDinSunscreen we aim to reiterate the importance of wearing sunscreen everyday, regardless of whether you plan to stay indoors or step out in the sun.

The ad films feature everyones favourite Delhi Capitals players - Rishabh Pant, Mitchell Marsh, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel using Fixdermas Shadow Sunscreen.

The master ad film showcases Rishabh Pant as the face of the brand, bringing home the idea of #HarDinSunscreen with Fixderma Shadow Sunscreen while stating that these sunscreens are formulated & trusted by experts.

The other short films knock on the product features of Fixderma Shadow Sunscreens. Here Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchel Marsh, and Axar Patel, across a series of short films, impart that Fixderma Shadow Sunscreens are non-sticky, complete sun protection and quick absorption.

With a focus on engaging audiences across age groups and genres on various platforms, a comprehensive media plan has been developed targeting a mix of traditional new channels, such as Aaj Tak, GECs, and other leading digital platforms like Jio TV.

Through this collaboration with Delhi Capitals players, the brand wishes to expand the sunscreen category by building a habit which is exemplified by the tagline #HarDinSunscreen. As much as we enjoyed conceptualising the ads and shooting them, we look forward to normalising the sunscreen usage with #HarDinSunscreen
The East and North-East have a thriving ecosystem of their own  rich culture, tradition, lifestyle, language, consumer trends, content consumption, buying behaviour and more. The advertising industry here has evolved to embrace the diversity of this region and has been formulating a highly hyper-local strategy, perhaps long before national brands caught on to this strategy.

In this three-part In-Depth series, Adgully speaks to leading industry names to decipher the East and North East markets, how advertising has evolved in these markets, the key trends dominating these markets, how brands engage with their consumers, and much more.

Also read:

In-depth Part 1: The changing face of Advertising in East and North-East markets

In-depth Part 2: How Digital is transforming ad landscape in the East and adding scale

Brands in the East such as Social Pill, a digital marketing agency, are increasingly relying on transparency, and value-driven messaging including themes of social responsibility and sustainability while delivering content catering to the demand for the consumers for authenticity. This approach is supported by data from Nielsen, which indicates that 66% of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are willing to pay more for products from brands committed to positive social and environmental impact, said Neelesh Pednekar, Co-Founder & Head Of Digital Media, Social Pill.

As per recent reports by Madison, GroupM, and FICCI EY, the advertising industry in regions like India has seen double-digit growth in 2023, with digital ad spending growing by over 30%. This growth is driven by several factors, including increased internet penetration, the proliferation of smartphones, and the booming e-commerce sector. For instance, Indias digital ad spend is projected to reach $3.8 billion in 2023, according to GroupM.

According to Pednekar, the key reasons for the surge in digital advertising include the digital transformation of businesses, consumer preference for online shopping, and the effectiveness of digital ads in driving engagement and conversions. The East markets young, tech-savvy population is also a significant driver, with over 60% of the population under 35, making digital channels the most effective way to reach this demographic.

In the context of mobile advertising, Angad Singh Manchanda, CEO & Co-founder, Chimp&zInc, pointed out that it has experienced exponential growth in India, fueled by the escalating penetration of smartphones and accessible internet services. Pioneering companies such as Flipkart and Cadbury India have adeptly capitalized on mobile advertising and video marketing, respectively, to tap into Indias expanding smartphone user base and captivate audiences through innovative campaigns. The emergence of hyperlocal advertising also stands out as a notable trend, catering to Indias rich cultural diversity and vast geographical spread.

Platforms like Zomato have effectively utilized hyperlocal advertising strategies to establish a formidable presence across numerous cities nationwide. Influencer marketing has emerged as another prominent trend in India, offering brands a compelling avenue to connect with their target demographic through credible voices. Brands like Nykaa and Myntra have successfully executed influencer marketing initiatives to promote their products and foster meaningful engagement with consumers. As brands continue to embrace innovative strategies like automated advertising, mobile marketing, hyperlocal targeting, and influencer collaborations, the future of advertising in India holds immense promise for further growth and creativity, Manchanda added.

Saijal Jain, Media Buying Manager, Adbuffs, added here, In the context of the Indian market, our brand has observed a fascinating evolution in the advertising scenario, particularly through the lens of digital performance marketing for D2C brands. Initially, the market was dominated by traditional advertising channels such as television, print, and outdoor hoardings. However, the digital revolution has significantly altered the landscape, introducing a more data-driven, customer-centric approach to advertising. Firstly, the surge in internet penetration and mobile device usage across India has paved the way for digital platforms to emerge as the primary channels for consumer engagement. This shift has allowed brands, especially in the DTC space, to leverage social media platforms, search engines, and e-commerce marketplaces for targeted advertising. Platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google Ads have become instrumental in facilitating new customer acquisition through sophisticated targeting and retargeting capabilities, enabling brands to reach specific demographic and psychographic segments with precision.

Harnessing AI, Data Analytics

Adding further, Jain said, Moreover, the advent of data analytics and AI technologies has empowered us to adopt a more nuanced, creative strategy in our advertising efforts. A crucial development in our advertising strategy has been adapting to the emergence of short-form video content, notably through platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. These platforms have revolutionized creative strategy by emphasizing authentic, engaging, and snackable content that resonates with the audience's preferences and lifestyle. The visual and interactive nature of short-form video has not only enabled us to capture the audiences attention more effectively, but also encouraged a more immersive brand experience. This shift underscores the importance of innovation in content creation, leveraging the power of storytelling and visual appeal to foster deeper connections with the audience.

Another noteworthy trend in the Indian market is the emphasis on customer retention alongside acquisition. With the increasing cost of acquiring new customers, D2C brands have shifted focus towards retention marketing strategies such as personalized email campaigns, loyalty programs, and exclusive offers. This shift underscores the understanding that retaining an existing customer is more cost-effective than acquiring a new one and is crucial for long-term profitability.

The Indian market has also witnessed a rise in the integration of e-commerce functionalities directly within advertising platforms. This has streamlined the customer journey from discovery to purchase, further enhancing the effectiveness of digital ads in driving sales. In summary, the advertising scenario in India has evolved from a broad, channel-centric approach to a more nuanced, data-driven, and customer-focused strategy. As a performance marketing manager working with leading DTC and e-commerce brands, staying at the forefront of these trends and continuously adapting our strategies has been key to our success in the dynamic Indian market, Jain added.

The widespread adoption of mobile devices as the primary means of internet access has propelled the growth of mobile advertising. Brands are seizing this opportunity by leveraging mobile apps, SMS marketing, and mobile-optimized websites to connect with consumers on the go, ensuring maximum reach and impact. Furthermore, the market has wholeheartedly embraced technological advancements such as programmatic advertising, artificial intelligence, and data analytics to drive more personalized and targeted advertising campaigns.

By harnessing data-driven insights, brands are gaining a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour and preferences, leading to more effective advertising strategies, pointed out Kritika Arora, Director - Performance and Acquisitions, Globale Media. She further said, Additionally, the regions increasing appetite for video content has reshaped advertising strategies, with brands incorporating captivating video content across platforms like YouTube, Sharechat, Moj, Instagram, and regional OTT platforms to enthrall audiences and deliver compelling storytelling experiences. As East India continues to embrace these evolving trends, the advertising landscape is poised for further innovation and growth. Overall, the advertising scenario in the East Indian market has evolved to become more dynamic, diverse, and digitally-driven, presenting brands with new opportunities to connect with consumers in meaningful ways.

Evolution in Approach to Advertising

Su Piow Ko, VP, AET Displays, elaborated, Our advertising approach has evolved significantly over the years in tandem with advancements in technology and changes in consumer behaviour. Initially, we focused on traditional marketing channels such as print ads and trade shows to showcase our LED display solutions. However, as digital media became more prevalent, we transitioned towards online advertising and social media marketing to reach a wider audience and engage with customers in real time. Additionally, we have placed a greater emphasis on creating immersive brand experiences through interactive content and experiential marketing campaigns. Currently, our brand communication revolves around highlighting the transformative power of visual technology and emphasizing our commitment to innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction. We aim to convey our brand message of pushing the boundaries of visual communication to inspire awe and elevate experiences across various industries and applications.

Mohit Anand, CoFounder & CEO Secure Connection, shared, In the past, our strategy was more diversified, with a mix of traditional avenues like television and print, alongside digital efforts. But as the digital revolution gained momentum, we have adapted. Nowadays, we have increasingly shifted our focus to digital platforms where people spend a significant amount of their time. Digital channels offer unique opportunities for engagement, so we have invested more in areas like social media and targeted online campaigns with this trend. While digital platforms have become increasingly prominent, traditional mediums such as print and television still hold relevance, especially for creating brand recall and reaching specific audience segments. Consequently, we maintain a presence in these traditional channels when appropriate, ensuring a balanced approach that effectively communicates with our audience.

AdCounty Medias advertising approach has transitioned from traditional methods to a comprehensive digital strategy. We now prioritize online platforms like search engines and social media, using search engine marketing (SEM) for targeted reach and engaging users on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, said Delphin Varghese, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, AdCounty Media.

Recognizing the importance of mobile, AdCounty Media has optimized campaigns for handheld devices, ensuring seamless user experiences. Partnering with local advertising agencies has given the agency specialized expertise, enhancing the effectiveness of its campaigns. Our evolution reflects a commitment to staying relevant in an ever-changing digital landscape, continually adapting strategies to connect with audiences meaningfully, and leveraging emerging technologies for maximum impact, Varghese added.

He also pointed out, Currently, AdCounty Media is prioritizing brand communication that underscores its dedication to innovation and adaptability in digital marketing strategies, particularly tailored to the dynamic Eastern market. By highlighting these qualities, the company aims to demonstrate its commitment to staying ahead of the curve and effectively meeting clients evolving needs and preferences in this market.

Meanwhile, Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions, shared, Cadiveu as a brand has witnessed a significant evolution in the marketing scenario, particularly in the East Indian market. Traditionally, keratin treatments were perceived as exclusive salon services catering to a niche audience. However, with changing consumer preferences and increasing awareness about hair care, we have adapted our marketing strategies to cater to a wider demographic. One notable evolution is the emphasis on product diversity and accessibility. Cadiveu India as a brand has expanded their product lines to include a range of at-salon treatments, shampoos, conditioners, and styling products, making keratin treatments more accessible to consumers beyond salon visits. This shift has been particularly evident in the East Indian market, where consumers seek convenient and cost-effective solutions for their hair care needs.

He further added, Additionally, Cadiveu India has leveraged digital marketing channels to reach a broader audience and engage with consumers directly. Social media platforms, influencer collaborations, and online campaigns have played a crucial role in raising brand awareness and educating consumers about the benefits of the product. Furthermore, the brand has localized its marketing efforts to resonate with the cultural preferences and beauty standards prevalent in the East Indian market. Tailored messaging, regional partnerships, and culturally relevant content have contributed to the success of Cadiveu India in the region, driving growth and adoption among consumers.
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is delighted to announce the addition of Kochi Metro Rail, one of the most reliable and sustainable public transport systems, to its expanding mobility domain. For some time, ONDC was working with KMRL to facilitate the purchase of Kochi Metro tickets using various applications on the ONDC Network, ensuring a seamless and innovative approach to urban mobility. Following the successful integration of Chennai Metro, Kochi Metro Rail now becomes the second metro service to join the ONDC Network, a crucial step in revolutionizing urban transportation.

Starting from April 4th, 2024, commuters can conveniently purchase single journey and return journey tickets for the Kochi Metro through four buyer apps on the ONDC Network: Yatri, Paytm, Rapido, and redBus. Additionally, customers can also book tickets on the PhonePe app. In future, customers will be able to book tickets from Google Maps, Uber and EaseMyTrip among others.

Furthermore, any new buyer app joining the ONDC Network will have immediate access to Kochi Metro's ticket inventory, enhancing customer choice and convenience.

Chief guest Shri Sanjiv, Joint Secretary and Dr. Bejoy John, Director, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), graced the occasion along with other esteemed dignitaries to officially onboard Kochi Metro Rail on the ONDC Network.



Sanjiv, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), said, Integration of Kochi Metro Rail with ONDC, is about crafting a future where digital inclusivity makes urban transport not just a journey, but an experience tailored for every citizen. It's a step forward in our mission to digitize and streamline urban transit, making it more accessible and efficient for everyone.

Dr. Bejoy John, Director, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), said, This initiative accelerates our vision for a seamless digital ecosystem, directly benefiting commuters and setting a precedent for future urban transport strategies. It's a prime example of how government-led digital initiatives can transform everyday services for the public, fostering a more inclusive and sustainable urban mobility ecosystem.

Koshy, MD & CEO, ONDC, said, The integration of Kochi Metro Rail onto the ONDC Network marks a significant milestone in our journey towards revolutionizing urban mobility. By enabling seamless access to multimodal transportation and ancillary services, we are empowering commuters with an unparalleled travel experience. As we move forward, it is exciting to witness newer entities joining the Open Network, ultimately creating an ecosystem wherein everything whether it's metro tickets, auto booking, cab bookings, grocery shopping etc - all is available in one Open Network.

Loknath Behera, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, said, We are thrilled to join the Open Network to enhance the commuting experience of metro travelers. This integration aligns perfectly with our mission to provide seamless, sustainable transportation solutions to the people of Kochi. Now our ticketing services will be available through a diverse range of buyer apps on the ONDC Network, a significant step towards upgrading accessibility and convenience for our valued commuters. We look forward to working closely with ONDC to explore innovative possibilities, including multimodal journeys and ancillary services, to elevate the overall travel experience in our city.



The inclusion of Kochi Metro Rail on the ONDC Network marks a significant stride towards creating a comprehensive digital multimodal transit system. With the city's sustainable transportation modes, commuters can enjoy a seamless journey combining various modes of transport, such as First Mile (Auto), Middle Mile (Metro Rail), and Last Mile (Auto), all accessible through the Network.

ONDC Network fosters faster digitization, enabling metros to join as sellers and provide their ticket inventory to buyer apps. Buyer apps with consumer bases joining the ONDC Network, gain access to all metros on the Network with a single integration. This streamlined process not only benefits commuters but also paves the way for further innovation, such as the integration of ancillary services. Users can conveniently purchase food, groceries, and other necessities while on the move, timing their shopping to align with their journey.

Abhay Sharma, Chief Business Officer of Payments at Paytm, said, "We are excited to work with ONDC to introduce QR-based ticketing for Kochi Metro. This initiative underscores our dedication to delivering innovative and user-friendly solutions to millions of travelers. Our goal is to make the travel experience for Kochi Metro passengers smoother and more convenient. As pioneers of QR code payments in India, we view Kochi as a critical market, reflecting our commitment to improving travel convenience in major urban areas."

Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat, Chief Business Officer  Merchant Business at PhonePe said, We're pleased to support the collaboration between ONDC and Kochi Metro, allowing commuters to book their QR tickets digitally. In the Switch section of the PhonePe app, commuters can conveniently book their tickets without the long wait times often associated with ticket booking. This use case marks a significant milestone in our efforts to establish a digital ticketing and payments ecosystem for the transit segment.

Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder of Rapido, said, Rapido has always been at the forefront of innovation in transportation services, and we are thrilled to embark on a transformative journey in Kochi by introducing metro ticket bookings on our app. Our commitment to redefining the commuting experience aligns seamlessly with this exciting integration with the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). By leveraging the extensive reach and reliability of Rapido's platform, we anticipate that at least 15% of metro tickets in Kochi will be seamlessly purchased through our app. Now, with the integration of metro ticket bookings, we are not just facilitating a transaction; we are enhancing the overall commuting experience for the people of Kochi.

Prakash Sangam, CEO of redBus commented "We are pleased to support ONDC and Kochi Metro in shaping the future of mobility. ONDCs dedication to revolutionizing the e-commerce network is aligned with our vision of a digitally empowered India. We are excited to be part of ONDC's journey as it adds Kochi Metro to its network and sets new standards in consumer convenience and choice. Together, we are creating better first and last-mile travel experiences for Kochis citizens."

Shan M S, Chief Growth Officer, Juspay, said, "Yatris vision is to make public transport as convenient as booking a cab. Since 2020, we're committed to this transformation of making every journey in Kochi part of the Open Network. We're proud to be at the forefront of urban mobility in Kochi, integrating first and last-mile connectivity with Kochi Metro through ONDC. With over 10,000 Yatri drivers, customers can now seamlessly book autos, cabs, and metro tickets all in one place. This is a major step towards Indias vision of creating an efficient, sustainable, and community-centered urban mobility ecosystem."

Rikant Pittie, Co-founder of EaseMyTrip, expressed, The integration of EaseMyTrip onto the ONDC Network, alongside Kochi Metro, is a transformative step towards enhancing travel accessibility and convenience. By seamlessly connecting travellers to a diverse range of transportation options and ancillary services, we're revolutionizing the travel landscape. Working with ONDC reflects our dedication to providing hassle-free travel solutions and improving accessibility for travelers nationwide. This initiative signifies a major advancement towards a unified digital ecosystem for travel, simplifying the journey and enhancing overall experiences. By aligning with ONDC's mission to standardize and streamline the digital commerce ecosystem, we're promoting interoperability, transparency, and fair competition, driving innovation and better services for all stakeholders. This reinforces our steadfast commitment to delivering seamless travel booking solutions.
Madhur Gopal, Associate Vice President of Marketing, Sales & Digital Initiatives at Manipal Health Enterprise, is at the forefront of revolutionizing healthcare through digital transformation. With a focus on enhancing patient experiences and accessibility, Madhur Gopal spearheads initiatives that leverage cutting-edge technologies to redefine healthcare delivery. In this discussion, we delve into the digital disruptions in healthcare that are reshaping patient care, Manipal's strategic partnerships to drive innovation, and its commitment to ensuring equitable access to digital healthcare solutions.

Could you discuss some of the digital disruptions in healthcare that have significantly enhanced patients' convenience and ease of access to healthcare services?

The integration of digital technologies in healthcare has ushered in a wave of transformative changes, greatly enhancing patients' convenience and accessibility to healthcare services. One significant disruption is telemedicine, which allows individuals to remotely connect with healthcare providers. This innovation is particularly beneficial for patients residing in tier 2 towns and international markets, enabling them to access medical consultations without geographical constraints. Furthermore, telemedicine facilitates follow-up visits, enabling patients to seek timely medical advice from the comfort of their homes. Remarkably, institutions like Manipal have successfully implemented tele-consults for report evaluations, significantly improving patient care.

Another area of digital disruption is remote health monitoring, offering real-time insights into patients' health statuses and enabling proactive interventions when necessary. This proactive approach ensures timely responses to potential health concerns, thereby enhancing patient outcomes.

Initiatives such as online queue management and the online booking of patient rooms have streamlined administrative processes and reduced wait times, contributing to a more seamless and stress-free healthcare experience for patients. Additionally, technologies like HoloLens have empowered surgeons to connect remotely, revolutionizing surgical procedures and leading to enhanced medical outcomes.

Artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in healthcare by enabling precision medicine and predictive modelling. These AI-driven tools facilitate personalized care, helping healthcare providers anticipate and address potential health issues before they escalate, ultimately promoting better health outcomes for patients.

The rapid evolution of digital health technologies is not only revolutionizing patient care but also bridging existing gaps in healthcare delivery, ultimately leading to a more connected, accessible, and patient-centric healthcare ecosystem.

What partnerships has Manipal Health Enterprise forged to leverage digital innovations and improve patient experiences? Could you provide examples of how Manipal Health Enterprise is reimagining healthcare beyond the conventional model of treatment with a focus on holistic wellness and preventive care?

Manipal Health Enterprise has spearheaded numerous partnerships to harness digital innovations and enhance patient experiences in healthcare. One noteworthy collaboration is with Google Health, wherein Manipal pioneered a remote health project aimed at post-discharge patient monitoring. Through this initiative, patients can track their health using Fitbit devices, allowing doctors to tailor treatment plans based on real-time data insights, thus promoting personalized care and improved outcomes.

In another groundbreaking endeavour, Manipal is revolutionizing patient care with its step-down ICU, powered by artificial intelligence. This innovative system monitors patients' vital signs as they transition from intensive care units to regular rooms, utilizing a Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) to identify high-risk scenarios promptly. This proactive approach ensures timely interventions and enhances patient safety.

Moreover, Manipal Health Enterprise has embraced telehealth solutions, delivering over 20,000 online consultations to date. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from patients underscores the effectiveness and convenience of this service, with demand steadily increasing month by month.

Looking ahead, Manipal is forging strategic partnerships with industry leaders like Microsoft Health to drive clinical digital initiatives focused on enhancing medical outcomes and fostering collaboration in patient care. Additionally, the collaboration with YouTube to provide authenticated health content signifies Manipal's commitment to empowering individuals with accurate and reliable health information through digital platforms.

In essence, Manipal Health Enterprise is not merely reimagining healthcare but actively shaping its future by leveraging digital technologies to prioritize holistic wellness, preventive care, and patient-centric experiences beyond the conventional treatment model.

In what specific ways has your organization embraced digital enhancements to stay ahead of the curve in the healthcare industry?

Manipal has embraced use of new technologies to help our patients. We are continuously working on new initiatives to ensure that we are able to bring the latest to our customers. From remote health monitoring through wearable devices to 5g ambulances there are many initiatives which has helped us to stay ahead of the curve. Some notable ones are implementation of Fuji AI enabled integrated PACS system. This is Indias first implementation which allows us to have integrated view of all the clinical images of the patient. The AI layer helps to link any anomaly from any organ imaging and thus helps doctors to link the symptoms to various medical condition. This is also helping to improve the diagnosis of the patient.

We have also worked on 5G ambulance, which helps us to connect the ambulance to Emergency Room from where doctors can guide ambulance staff on first hand treatment. This is helping patients and more so in Road Traffic Accident cases where basis video view doctor from emergency room can provide a better advice to the clinical staff in the ambulance.

Could you elaborate on any notable initiatives undertaken by Manipal Health Enterprise to integrate emerging technologies into your healthcare services?

At Manipal Health Enterprise, our commitment to revolutionizing healthcare drives us to integrate emerging technologies seamlessly into our services, creating a comprehensive and patient-centric ecosystem. Through our Digital Initiatives, we prioritize virtual care delivery, ensuring accessibility and convenience for patients across diverse demographics.

Our Telemedicine programme stands as a testament to this commitment, with close to 20,000 virtual consultations conducted nationwide. This initiative plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between healthcare providers and patients, particularly in underserved areas. By extending our reach to tier 2 and 3 cities, we ensure that clinical care is readily available, regardless of geographical constraints.

Our focus areas in virtual consultations include pain management, dermatology, fever & sore throat, and OBG-related issues, catering to the diverse healthcare needs of our patients. With a significant portion of consultations falling within the 20-50 age group, our services have garnered widespread adoption among this demographic, underscoring the effectiveness and relevance of our digital healthcare solutions.

In addition to virtual care, Manipal has introduced innovative solutions such as our bed inventory platform, empowering patients to view available beds and book inpatient rooms in advance. This initiative not only reduces wait times but also enables patients to plan their hospital visits efficiently, enhancing overall patient experience and convenience.

In summary, Manipal Health Enterprise embraces a multifaceted approach to healthcare, leveraging cutting-edge digital solutions, widespread virtual consultations, and strategic initiatives to ensure a healthier and more accessible healthcare landscape for all.

Which emerging technologies hold the greatest potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery across different regions, demographics, and target groups?

Several emerging technologies hold immense potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery across diverse regions, demographics, and target groups. One such technology is artificial intelligence (AI), which has already shown promise in areas such as diagnostic imaging interpretation, personalized treatment plans, and predictive analytics for disease prevention. AI-powered tools can significantly improve healthcare outcomes by enhancing accuracy, efficiency, and patient-centric care.

Another transformative technology is telemedicine, which enables remote consultations and healthcare delivery, bridging geographical barriers and improving access to medical services, especially in underserved regions. Telemedicine facilitates timely interventions, continuity of care, and patient education, thereby empowering individuals to take charge of their health irrespective of their location.

Furthermore, the Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery by enabling remote patient monitoring, real-time data collection, and personalized interventions. IoT devices can track vital signs, medication adherence, and lifestyle factors, providing clinicians with valuable insights to optimize treatment plans and enhance patient outcomes.

Blockchain technology also holds promise in healthcare, particularly in areas such as secure data exchange, interoperability, and patient privacy. By ensuring tamper-proof records and facilitating secure data sharing among stakeholders, blockchain can improve transparency, efficiency, and trust in healthcare systems, benefiting patients and providers alike.

Additionally, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have the potential to transform medical training, patient education, and surgical interventions. These immersive technologies can enhance learning experiences, simulate complex medical procedures, and improve surgical precision, ultimately leading to better healthcare outcomes and patient satisfaction.

In conclusion, the convergence of these emerging technologies holds tremendous potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery by addressing various challenges and enhancing patient-centered care across different regions, demographics, and target groups. However, successful implementation will require collaborative efforts from healthcare stakeholders, policymakers, and technology developers to ensure equitable access, regulatory compliance, and ethical considerations.

How do you envision the role of health and wellness companies evolving in the future, particularly in terms of moving beyond traditional healthcare approaches to deliver valued expertise and services to consumers?

In envisioning the future role of health and wellness companies, I foresee a significant shift towards holistic and proactive approaches that go beyond traditional healthcare paradigms. These companies will increasingly focus on delivering valued expertise and services to consumers by embracing innovative strategies and technologies that prioritize prevention, personalized care, and overall well-being.

One key aspect of this evolution is the integration of digital health solutions and data-driven insights into everyday wellness practices. Health and wellness companies will leverage wearable devices, mobile apps, and virtual platforms to empower consumers with actionable information about their health status, lifestyle choices, and preventive measures. By providing personalized recommendations and continuous monitoring, these companies can actively engage consumers in managing their health proactively and efficiently.

Moreover, there will be a greater emphasis on preventive care and lifestyle interventions aimed at addressing underlying health risks and promoting long-term wellness. Health and wellness companies will offer comprehensive programs that encompass nutrition, exercise, stress management, and mental health support, tailored to individual needs and preferences. By fostering a holistic approach to well-being, these companies can empower consumers to take charge of their health and achieve optimal outcomes.

Furthermore, I anticipate a shift towards more collaborative and integrated models of care, where health and wellness companies work closely with healthcare providers, employers, insurers, and other stakeholders to deliver comprehensive services and improve health outcomes. By fostering partnerships and leveraging synergies across different sectors, these companies can create seamless experiences for consumers and drive meaningful impact on population health.

The future role of health and wellness companies will be characterized by innovation, collaboration, and a strong focus on empowering consumers to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. By moving beyond traditional healthcare approaches and embracing holistic wellness principles, these companies have the potential to drive positive change and make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions around the world.

What challenges do you foresee in the adoption and implementation of digital healthcare solutions, and how is your organization addressing them?

In navigating the adoption and implementation of digital healthcare solutions, several challenges emerge, each requiring proactive strategies for effective resolution. At our organization, we're committed to addressing these challenges head-on to ensure the seamless integration of digital solutions into our healthcare ecosystem.

One significant challenge lies in building a secure platform to protect patients' health records and vital information from potential threats. To mitigate this risk, we've implemented robust security parameters and protocols, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data. By prioritizing data security, we instil trust and confidence in our patients, reinforcing their belief in the safety of our digital platforms.

Cultural change presents another hurdle, as both customers and employees navigate the transition to new user experiences and interfaces. To facilitate this shift, we're investing in comprehensive training programs and education initiatives to familiarize stakeholders with the benefits and functionalities of these technologies. By fostering a culture of acceptance and embracing innovation, we pave the way for seamless integration and adoption of digital healthcare solutions.

Adoption of new technologies can also be a gradual process, requiring time and effort to garner user acceptance. To expedite this process, we're implementing training modules and educational campaigns to demonstrate the tangible benefits of these technologies to patients. As individuals experience first-hand the value and convenience offered by digital solutions, their willingness to embrace these technologies increases, driving widespread adoption across our healthcare ecosystem.

Interoperability poses another challenge in integrating various mobile apps and third-party platforms into a cohesive system. To address this, we've developed a robust data lake layer that facilitates seamless integration and linkage of disparate data sources to patient identifiers. This interoperable framework ensures efficient data exchange and collaboration across different platforms, enhancing the overall effectiveness and functionality of our digital healthcare ecosystem.

Our organization is committed to overcoming the challenges associated with the adoption and implementation of digital healthcare solutions through proactive measures, robust security protocols, cultural transformation, education initiatives, and interoperable frameworks. By addressing these challenges, we're poised to realize the full potential of digital health technologies in transforming patient care and improving healthcare outcomes.

How do you ensure that the digital solutions implemented by Manipal Health Enterprise are accessible and beneficial to a diverse range of patients, including those in underserved communities?

At Manipal Health Enterprise, ensuring that our digital solutions are accessible and beneficial to a diverse range of patients, including those in underserved communities, is a top priority. While there were initial challenges in adapting to new technologies, we are witnessing a gradual acceptance and utilization of these advancements by both patients and healthcare providers.

Recognizing the varying levels of tech literacy among patients, we have implemented strategies to bridge this gap and ensure that everyone can benefit from our digital solutions. Our efforts are particularly focused on reaching patients in remote areas with limited access to proper healthcare. Through ongoing initiatives, we are making technology more streamlined and affordable, thus ensuring that healthcare reaches every corner of the country.

One example of our commitment to accessibility is our triaging services, which utilize video consults to provide healthcare services in Tier 2 and 3 cities across Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. By breaking down geographical barriers and leveraging technology, we ensure that clinical care is readily available to all, regardless of their location or background.

Furthermore, we are launching Health Connect Programs in collaboration with corporates to extend our reach to remote areas and other cities nationwide. These programs aim to foster partnerships and leverage resources to provide comprehensive healthcare services to underserved communities, thereby addressing the diverse needs of patients and promoting health equity across the board.

Manipal Health Enterprise is committed to ensuring that our digital solutions are not only accessible, but also beneficial to a diverse range of patients, including those in underserved communities. Through innovation, collaboration, and a patient-centric approach, we strive to make healthcare more inclusive and accessible to all.
Nestle Oceania, one of the worlds largest food and beverage company, has announced the appointment of OpenMind powered by GroupM as its media agency in the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region.

Following a rigorous evaluation process as part of Nestles global media transformation review, OpenMind emerged victorious in a competitive three-way shortlist, edging out incumbent agency IPG's UM and Publicis Groupe's Starcom.

Anneliese Douglass, Director of Marketing and Communications at Nestle Oceania, expressed gratitude to UM, Publicis, and GroupM for their contributions during the review process. She highlighted the exceptional quality of work presented by all contenders, acknowledging UM's significant contributions since 2018 and wishing them success in the future.

The appointment of OpenMind powered by GroupM mirrors Nestle's strategic move in Europe, where a bespoke WPP agency was appointed earlier. This replication underscores Nestle's commitment to leveraging specialized agencies tailored to specific regions.

OpenMind will be entrusted with servicing an illustrious portfolio of brands including KitKat, Allens, Nescafe, Milo, Maggi, Uncle Tobys, Nespresso, and Purina. This partnership is set to commence on June 1, 2024.



Aimee Buchanan, CEO of GroupM Australia & New Zealand, expressed enthusiasm about Nestle's decision, emphasizing the agency's readiness to support Nestle's media transformation journey across the ANZ region. Buchanan highlighted the alignment of Nestle's ambitious vision with GroupM's capabilities, innovation, and technology, positioning the agency as a catalyst for growth.

The Nestle Australia and New Zealand team eagerly anticipates the commencement of this collaboration, looking forward to leveraging the expertise of OpenMind powered by GroupM to drive innovative and effective media strategies for its iconic brands.
Reflecting its commitment to global expansion and innovative business development, ride-hailing giant Uber has elevated Pradeep Parameswaran to a pivotal global role within the organization. Parameswaran, who has been spearheading Uber's Asia Pacific operations, will now lead business development initiatives on a global scale. Additionally, he will take charge of the enterprise product division and oversee a newly formed 'fleets' program team.

Parameswaran will be relocating to New York to assume this global role. This signifies Uber's commitment to leveraging talent across its international footprint. Parameswaran's ascent to this prominent position marks Uber's confidence in his leadership abilities and strategic vision. Having previously led Uber's India operations, Parameswaran's expertise in navigating diverse markets and driving growth has been instrumental in his journey within the company.

Parameswaran's track record of strategic acquisitions, including CarNextDoor in Australia and HKTaxi in Hong Kong, further underscores his ability to drive Uber's growth through strategic partnerships and market expansion initiatives. Beyond his role at Uber, Parameswaran's involvement as an independent director on the board of FSN E-Commerce Ventures reflects his broader engagement with the evolving landscape of technology and commerce.

With an increasing focus on electric and autonomous vehicles, fleet operators are set to play a pivotal role in Uber's future endeavors. Uber's emphasis on its fleets strategy aligns with its ambitious goal of transitioning its entire fleet to electric vehicles by 2040. Recent investments and partnerships, including a $20 million investment in Mumbai-based Everest Fleet and a strategic collaboration with Tata Motors, underscore Uber's commitment to sustainable mobility solutions.

Moreover, Uber's global vision extends beyond traditional markets, as evidenced by its $100 million investment in African mobility fintech Moove. This partnership aims to empower drivers on ride-hailing and delivery platforms through innovative vehicle financing solutions, with plans for significant expansion in India.

In light of Parameswaran's elevation, Prabhjeet Singh will continue to lead Uber's India and South Asia operations, ensuring continuity and focused leadership in key markets.
Does the Congress party remain history? 2

Unfortunately, Congress, the oldest political party in India, which had led India from the central stage for almost six decades, is now sinking brutally. The Congress suffered due to various political bloopers in the past timeline, which has led it to battle for its existence. Congress lacks ideology; Congress has been misrepresenting both the right and left stances, which has led to nothing but criticism of its party members. In the 80s, Indira Gandhi was successful in marketing her left-wing stance to the general populace, but since the BJP is in power with a firm Hindutva stance, the Congress is shifting towards the right stance and that has not only annoyed the cadre that supports Congress for its core ideals but also led to the party being taken as an ounce of salt by the masses.

The biggest reason for the Congresss downfall is sentiments against Hinduism and nationalism. They have given these keywords to the BJP and hence the votes of most Hindus go to the saffron party. Since 2014, the scenario has been such that the nationalist voters gave their devoted votes to Modi, which is why even with less than 50 per cent of vote shares, the BJP could move the carpet. Many Congress veterans left the party and on the other hand, many tall leaders of different parties joined the BJP.

With the Lok Sabha elections nearing, the year has witnessed the departure of leaders from their respective parties citing multiple reasons, including negligence, differences in vision or ideology, and future gains, among others. The Gujarat Congress started suffering with the exit of former state party chief Arjun Modhwadia, which is just a glitch in the spectrum of leaders who have jumped on the political bandwagon.

The downfall Congress has seen in the last decade has been worse than what it saw after the emergency. After being a ruling party for two complete terms, it has now shrunk to such an extent that it cannot form an opposition. From a party with 404 seats in 1984, it has failed in the last two elections to cross the double-digit mark and has hardly been able to cross the half-century mark.

Arjun Modhwadia, former Gujarat Congress chief, is the latest in the line of leaders who quit the party, resigning just days before Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered the state. He felt suffocated and that ending his 40-year association with the Congress was a respite. Modhwadia, who was a sitting MLA and a prominent OBC face, has been among the most vocal critics of the BJP-led Gujarat government over the years, first as the Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007 and then as the president of the GPCC from 2010 to 2014.

Ambarish Der Gujarat Congress Working President and former Rajula MLA Ambarish Der also quit the party with Modhwadia, citing the Congress leadership turning down the invitation to attend the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya in January for his decision. Der announced that he would be joining the BJP, saying it was necessary to differentiate between the work of a political party and an NGO. Veteran leader Tapas Roy (67) announced he was leaving the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on March 4, declaring himself a free bird. Roys political sojourn began in Kolkatas Surendranath College with the student organisation of the Congress in West Bengal, the Chhatra Parishad (CP). On a Congress ticket, he entered the state assembly in 1996 by winning a by-election from the erstwhile Vidyasagar segment in central Kolkata. Having joined the TMC in 2000, Roy was elected to the Assembly for the first time the next year, from Barabazar, before winning three times on the trot from Baranagar starting in 2011.

In one of the major setbacks to the Congress in Maharashtra, former chief minister Ashok Chavan quit the party to join the BJP. He said it was his personal decision to quit the party. He was with the Congress from birth. Chavan wanted to become the state unit president and had expressed this to the party leadership. However, the party leadership wanted to stick with an OBC face ahead of general elections and all equations went haywire.

Deoras were Congress loyalists for ages, but Milind Deora quit the Congress to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Deora was worried about the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat, which he has contested the last four elections and represented from 2004 to 2014, going to the Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray, who is now the Congresss ally. Deora lost Mumbai South to the Shiv Senas Arvind Sawant in 2014 and 2019, abruptly quitting as the Mumbai Congress president in the middle of the Lok Sabha campaign to focus on his efforts to win back the constituency.

Mumbai Congresss high-profile face from the swank Bandra belt, Baba Siddique, joined the NCP faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Announcing his resignation on X, former minister and three-time MLA Siddique, 66, said: I joined the Indian National Congress party as a young teenager and it has been a significant journey lasting 48 years.

Congresss only MP from Jharkhand and the wife of former CM Madhu Koda, Geeta Koda, quit the party to join the BJP. Her exit has left the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ruling alliance with only one MPVijay Hansdakfrom the state. Then comes the Bahujan Samaj Partys Ambedkar Nagar MP, Ritesh Pandey, who resigned, alleging neglect, and joined the BJP.

Congresss C. J. Chavda offered his resignation as the MLA from north Gujarats Bijapur constituency and is likely to join the BJP. Chavda, a three-time MLA, is a veteran Congress leader who held the post of chief whip in the previous Assembly when he was elected from the Gandhinagar North constituency. In 2022, Chavda changed his constituency and contested from Vijapur in Mehsana district. Chavda was also elected to the Gujarat Assembly from the Gandhinagar constituency in 2002.

Nagarkurnool MP Pothuganti Ramulu of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti joined the BJP along with his son Bharat Prasad. Speaking to The Indian Express, Ramulu said his decision was guided by the voters sentiments ahead of the parliamentary elections. Former BRS MP BB Patil from Zaheerabad also joined the BJP and has been fielded from the same constituency in the Lok Sabha elections by the saffron party. Although his exit jolted the BRS, the two-time MP from Zaheerabad was not being considered for his seat by the party, sources say.

BRS MP from Telanganas Peddapalli, Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta, joined the Congress. Borlakunta, a one-time MP elected in 2019, joined the party in New Delhi. He was reportedly unlikely to be renominated by the BRS. BRS leader Manne Jeevan Reddy also joined the Congress along with Venkatesh, with both leaders eyeing Congress tickets to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Reddy, a former member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams board, was welcomed by All India Congress Committee general secretary K. C. Venugopal and Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

Assam Congress working president and former Jorhat MLA Rana Goswami resigned from the party, formally joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Goswami wrote to Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah, tendering his resignation as the APCC working president as well as a member of the Indian National Congress. Another Assam Congress working president, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, and Mangaldoi MLA Basanta Das declared support for the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government.

Sreenivasulu Reddy Andhra Pradesh YSRCP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy quit the party, citing self-respect issues. Sreenivasulu, whose son has turned approver in the Delhi excise scam case, is the fifth YSRCP MP to exit the party over the past few weeks. Five leaders from the YSRCP, namely Vallabhaneni Balashowry (Machilipatnam MP), K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju (Narasapuram), Lavu Sri Krishnadevaraya (Narasaraopeta), Sanjeev Kumar (Kurnool), and V Prabhakar Reddy (Rajya Sabha MP), exited the party in February. While Balashowry has joined the Jana Sena Party (JSP), the others have already joined JSP ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Rajya Sabha MP and former five-term Lok Sabha MP from Chhota Udepur, Congress leader Naran Rathwa, and his son, Youth Congress leader Sangramsinh Rathwa, as well as Ahmedabad Congress leader Dharmendra Patel, joined the BJP in Gandhinagar. Former working president of the Maharashtra Congress and ex-MLA Basavraj Patil joined the ruling BJP. Patil, who hails from Latur district in Marathwada, has represented the Ausa assembly constituency in 2009 and 2014. He lost to the BJPs Abhimanyu Pawar in 2019. Since then, despite being made the partys working president, Patil has been inactive in the partys functioning. Patil, a Lingayat leader from Marathwada, is likely to contest from the Dharashiv Lok Sabha constituency.

A day after being expelled from the Congress, former MP Sanjay Nirupam hit out at the grand old party and claimed there is tremendous arrogance in the party leadership. Nirupam claimed that Congress is now history and has no future and that the Maha Vikas Aghadi is a merger of three sick units. There are five power centres in the Congress: the three Gandhi family members, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary K. C. Venugopal. There is news that the Congress leaders of Maharashtra, such as Nana Patole and others, are quitting Congress to join Ajit Pawar soon. Rahul Gandhi already lost his family seat in Amethi; this time he might even lose his Rahul Gandhi Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. Congress needs to set their party in order, or else they will become history in Indian politics.
Investigators are faced with a "huge obstacle" as they scramble to find a missing Kansas mom and a preacher's wife, according to experts.

Authorities are searching for Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelley, 39, after their abandoned vehicle was found on the side of the road Saturday in Elkhart, Kansas  about 15 miles away from their intended destination of Eva, Oklahoma.

The pair were reportedly on their way to pick up Butler's children when they disappeared.

Former FBI Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer said the difficult terrain where the women vanished will likely make law enforcement's job more challenging in tracking them down.

"A huge obstacle for law enforcement is the ruralness," Coffindaffer told NewsNation Wednesday.

"I grew up in Kansas," she added. "We always teased that the national tree was the telephone pole. There is nothing there. That's going to limit the capabilities of digital analysis of their cell phones."

Coffindaffer, who spent 25 years with the FBI, also pointed out that the custody battle Butler was reportedly in the midst of with her ex, sends red flags.

"Whenever I hear custody battle and see a mother go missing in this way, that is the number one action point I would begin at," she said.

"It's very concerning" the area they went missing could be a place for a "random strike," Coffindaffer weighed in. "In other words, if these ladies were harmed in any way, it is likely going to be someone that they know and are familiar with."

An unnamed source previously told the outlet Kelley  a preacher's wife  may have been accompanying Butler to act as a mediator when picking up her kids.

Butler's children may have been living with their paternal grandmother at the time.

Loved ones said law enforcement have instructed them not to speak with the media.

Coffindaffer said it's likely detectives will change their mind as the investigation continues.
A group of Birmingham craft brewing heavyweights are joining forces on a new venture this month into THC drinks.

Altitude Beverage is the brainchild of industry veterans Harris Stewart, Hunter Lake and Brad Reed.

The company makes and distributes low-dosage THC beverages derived from cannabis and hemp. The zero sugar, zero carbs, and zero calorie drinks will come in two product lines.

Altitude Beverage Co. will produce medical cannabis beverages to be sold exclusively in medical dispensaries and states where recreational cannabis is permitted.

The first cultivation partner will be with Meridian, Miss.-based Southern Crop, and sold throughout the state of Mississippi. Expansion into four other state markets is being considered.

There is also a separate product line of hemp-derived THC and cannabinoid-infused beverages named Sunbird. Altitude will be able to distribute and sell Sunbird in all major retail outlets in all states throughout the country, based on a provision in the federal 2018 Farm Bill, Stewart said.

Lake said the company hopes to redefine expectations in the cannabis and hemp-derived THC beverage sector.

Altitude CEO Stewart founded TrimTab Brewing Co. while Lake, the COO, was one of the founding members of Avondale Brewing Co. Reed, award-winning marketing director for TrimTab, will serve as Altitudes CMO.

Stewart said he and Lake have been lifelong friends.

For me personally, and us as a whole, having worked in the beer business for the last 12 years, I was looking for a different path to apply the creativity and skills and experiences of consumer packaged goods into a product that could be more health conscious, while still having creativity and fun, Stewart said.

Theres a big shift going on in the market in terms of demographics with Gen Z, and I wanted to be on the forefront of medical and recreational consumption of THC to apply that to beverage.

Sunbird will launch with two flavors: Pineapple and Lemon/Lime, in four-packs of 12 oz cans. It will also include a low dosage of CBG, the non-psychotropic cannabinoid.

The beverage line has aggressive expansion plans, but will be offered initially at Hop City, both in Georgia and Alabama, as well as Piggly Wiggly locations throughout central Alabama.

Altitude will be available initially in dispensaries throughout the state of Mississippi.

Samples of Sunbird will make a debut at the Sipp & Savor festival in Meridian Saturday.

It will begin to hit shelves at select Birmingham Piggly Wiggly outlets starting on April 15, while the official launch will take place at Hop City on April 20th, starting at 4:20 p.m.

You shouldnt have to choose between fun and health, Stewart said.
Alabama lawmakers are sponsoring bipartisan legislation to make it easier for high school students to get a workforce pathways diploma.

The diploma is intended for students who intend to go directly into the workforce instead of college, and would lower the number of math and science credits required. It is part of Gov. Kay Iveys initiative to improve the states low workforce participation rate.

Currently, high school students must earn four math and four science credits. If the new bill passes, some students would only need two credits in math and two in science.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey, speaking during the House Education Policy committee meeting Wednesday, said students already have some flexibility in which courses they can take to meet a math or science credit requirement. Some career tech courses already count as math and science courses, Mackey said. Computer science can count as math or science, he said.

Alabamas current 4 x 4 requirement requires a student to earn four credits each in math, science, English language arts and social studies.

The bill would not impact English language arts or social science requirements.

In math, all Alabama students must take Algebra I, II and geometry but that fourth math credit can come from an approved career tech, dual enrollment or advanced coursework.

For science coursework, students must take biology and one of three types of physical science courses but can choose two science credits from among career tech, dual enrollment or advanced courses.

Minority leader Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, supports the workforce pathway for students who are planning to take jobs where they dont need to have four years of math and four of science.

If theyre struggling in high school and middle school, Daniels said, all through high school theyre looking for a way to make a decent living.

What this legislation that I see does for those young people, is giving them a shot at life and being able to provide for their families early on because theyre not going to a four-year institution, Daniels said.

House Education Policy committee chair Terri Collins, R-Decatur, postponed the vote on the House version, sponsored by Rep. Kelvin Lawrence, D-Hayneville, until next week, saying she had about seven things she needed to work through in HB373 before she is ready for the committee to vote.

Both Senate and House education policy committee members raised questions about what the consequences could be for students who initially dont plan to go to college but then change their mind and need the additional math and science courses.

Mackey told the House committee that the high school counselor should be able to help a student figure out how to get those courses in before graduation. Further, he said, if a student has graduated but doesnt have the right kind of credits in math or science, they likely can take a course at a community college.

Senate Education Policy Chair Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, who is sponsoring the Senate version, presented SB253 in his committee Wednesday morning, citing statistics that 45% of Alabamas high school class of 2021 did not enroll in higher education.

Theyll be required to take two less math and two less science courses, Chesteen said. But in lieu of that, they will enter into a career tech trade that will give them a credential on their diploma that will provide them a pathway to employment after high school.

The Senate committee adopted an amendment that wont penalize schools that test students on coursework they havent taken.

In other words, Chesteen said, if youre not required to take an algebra or trig and yet youre having to be tested on it with the ACAP or ACT, that shouldnt work against the school grade.

The Senate version was reported out of committee on a 6-0 vote. The bill now moves to the Senate floor.
Under changes proposed in SB246, an Alabama parent would be able to file a written religious objection to vaccinating a school-age child.

Currently, children are required to be up to date on vaccines that protect against diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, Haemophilus influenzae type b, polio and chickenpox. Children are not required to be vaccinated against COVID. If a parent objects to vaccines on religious grounds, they must get a written document from a county health department.

The new bill would lessen requirements and allow a written statement provided by a childs parent or guardian to the local board of education declaring that he or she wishes to exempt his or her child from vaccination or testing requirement.

If they had a religious objection to vaccine requirements, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, the bills sponsor, said, then they would just present that to the school so it gets the government out of people having to, more or less, represent their religious objections to vaccines.

A parent would not have to explain their reasoning, obtain a third party certification or have the exemption approved by a local board of education.

Sen. Tom Butler, R-Madison, asked Orr about the infection rate of children who have not been vaccinated but did not specify a particular disease.

Orr responded, You could argue that with building up immunity themselves they do better than the vaccinated children but thats a conflict above my pay grade.

Earlier this spring, Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of UAB and Childrens Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, said Alabama is one of 36 states with vaccination rates that are too low to prevent the spread of measles.

Kimberlin said that measles can have serious, long-term impacts, and that the vaccines against it and other childhood diseases are safe and effective.

SB246 also states that a student at a public institution of higher education cannot be required to be vaccinated or tested for any disease as a condition for enrollment or attendance unless the student objects for religious reasons or has a competent medical authority certify the student is exempt for medical reasons.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 2% of kindergarten students were exempted from vaccination requirements during the 2022-23 school year, an increase of 0.3% over the previous school year. Nationwide, that figure was 3% of kindergarteners.

The bill received unanimous approval and is headed to the Senate floor for consideration.
Alabama lawmakers got a first look Thursday at proposed changes to Gov. Kay Iveys education budget proposal.

A House committee is considering a state education budget that would add up to $11 billion and could lead to 2% educator raises, more money for higher education and more money for charter schools.

The House proposal consists of three separate allocations: a $9.3 billion regular budget (HB145) and two supplemental appropriations totaling $1.7 billion. The $11 billion total is $300 million higher than Iveys proposal.

The 2% pay raise for education employees is expected to cost $92 million.

House Education Budget Chairman Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said the committee received a printout of the bill Wednesday night and he expects some changes could be made. At this point, Garrett said, were still negotiating what we have here.

Garrett then walked committee members through the proposed changes.

The regular education budget for fiscal year 2025 allocates the same amount Ivey proposed, a record $9.3 billion. The biggest change was dropping $25 million Ivey proposed for rural broadband.

At this point, Garrett said, we have hundreds of millions of dollars that were investing in broadband all through the state and so this is really not needed for this particular grant program.

Garrett read the names of a dozen or more programs and initiatives that would benefit from redistributing that $25 million, including:

funding for gifted students,

a new pre-K pilot program in Montgomery,

a youth leadership development program and

Liberty Learning, a character development program.

Garrett proposed spending $11 million from the regular budget and $8 million in a supplemental allocation to hire 200 assistant principals in schools with 300 or more students. Currently a school must have 500 students to earn state funding to hire an assistant principal.

The $8 million supplemental allocation can be distributed as soon as lawmakers approve it.

That means we can hire the assistant principals this school year, Garrett said.

A second bill in the budget package, HB147, is a supplemental appropriation from the Advancement and Technology Fund, which currently holds a balance of $1.75 billion. Lawmakers did not release any money from the fund during last years budget process.

Garrett proposed allocating $1 billion from the fund for use this year. Thats $300 million more than Ivey proposed. It would be split across K-12 and higher education.

As part of that increase, Garrett is shifting $135 million of expenditures Ivey earmarked for K-12 school safety and technology devices out of a third appropriations bill, HB144, which would allocate $651 million in excess revenue from last years tax collections..

A lot of that [A&T Fund] money can be spent for what the governor earmarked in the ($651 million) supplemental, Garrett said. The school safety and the devices can be spent there if a system wants to do that.

Moving to HB144, the $651 supplemental bill, Garrett kept some of Iveys proposal intact, including $22 million for school nurses and $15 million for summer reading camps. It also sets aside $51 million to fund education savings accounts in the 2025-26 school year.

Lawmakers expect to allocate $50 million for education savings accounts next year, too, bringing the total set aside to $100 million.

Garrett proposed changing Iveys proposal for other programs, including:

$20 million to replace old school buses where Ivey proposed $50 million,

$20 million for the new school for healthcare sciences, where Ivey proposed $30 million,

$100 million for the community college system, where Ivey proposed $50 million, and

$210 million for four-year colleges and universities where Ivey proposed $175 million.

The House proposal tacked on two dozen additional line items, including:

$20 million for the new statehouse building,

$40 million for a grant program for community colleges,

$20 million for the Lt. Governors K-12 Capital grant program

$7 million for capital expenditures for public charter schools,

$5 million for programs to help struggling readers beyond third grade,

$10 million for the American Village,

$13 million for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education,

$5 million for the ReEngage Alabama initiative

Many more students currently enrolled in public schools will be eligible for tax credit scholarships in 2024-25. Beginning in 2025-26, some Alabama families will receive $7,000 tax credit scholarships.

Committee members were given drafts of the proposed bills, but the public will not have copies until they are formally adopted, which should happen Tuesday, Garrett said.
A suspect has been charged in the weekend shooting that left a 13-year-old Jefferson County boy critically wounded.

Mondricus Edmond Cooks, 35, of Birmingham, is charged with five counts of attempted murder. HE is also charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle.

Cooks is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on bonds totaling $280,000.

The shooting happened about 11 p.m. Saturday near the 500 block of B Y Williams Sr. Dr. in Midfield.

Corey Young, a student at Fultondale Elementary School, had spent an evening with his parents and siblings. They had gone to Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park in Homewood and then McDonalds and were on their way home when the unthinkable happened.

We were just having family bonding time because they go back to school Monday, said Coreys mother, Shalanda Lawrence.

Lawrence said they were crossing over the railroad tracks near Midfield High School when someone they know  now identified as Cooks - drove up alongside them and opened fire.

Corey Young, 13, was shot Saturday, March 30, 2024, while riding with his family through Midfield.(Special to AL.com)

I saw a gunshot, but I thought he was just shooting into the air, Lawrence said. I didnt think he shot into the car until my son was like, Ma, Ive been shot.'

Everybody in the car was screaming and hollering and I was like, No baby, youre not shot, Lawrence said. He said, Ma, Ive have been shot. My side, its hurting.'

Corey then tried to crawl into the front seat, collapsing between his parents.

The family stopped the car at the Circle K and Lawrence was yelling for someone to call 911. Midfield police received the call, and it was then transferred to dispatchers at the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office.

Blood was everywhere, Lawrence said.

They decided to drive Corey to Princeton Baptist Medical Center because it was the closest hospital. Lawrence called 911 on the way and asked that deputies meet them there.

The medical staff at Princeton stabilized Corey and gave him some blood transfusions.

He lost a pretty big amount of blood due to his liver, she said.

He didnt cry through all of this, Lawrence said. He was talking and stable. He was telling us to calm down, that he was OK.

Lawrence said Cooks fired three to four shots, but she thinks only one of them entered their vehicle.

Corey was shot in the side and sustained six broken ribs as well as internal damage to his liver and colon.

Once stabilized at Princeton, he was transferred to Childrens of Alabama where he underwent a three-hour surgery to repair the internal damage.

He was initially sedated and intubated, but that breathing tube was removed Sunday afternoon, and he was alert and talking. He also has a colostomy bag because doctors had to remove a portion of his colon, but Lawrence said they hope to be able to reverse the colostomy bag in the future.

Lawrence said there has been an ongoing feud with Cooks for several years.
An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that would withhold economic incentives from companies that voluntarily recognize unions or do not hold secret ballots in union elections. .

SB231, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, passed the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee on an 11-3 vote, down party lines.

It just says you got to vote by private ballot and that would prevent a company lawyer from strong arming employees, Need to vote against this, need to vote against it, against this, Orr said. (It) would prevent a union from strong arming employees saying You got to vote for it, you got to vote for it.

More from Alabama Reflector

The legislation is similar to legislation by legislatures in Georgia and Tennessee. The bill comes as workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance and the Hyundai plant in Montgomery are considering joining the United Auto Workers over pay and benefit issues. The organization efforts have sparked sharp criticism from Gov. Kay Ivey and the Business Council of Alabama.

The bill would require companies that violate its terms to pay back any economic incentives received. The terms would not apply to benefits given to companies before Jan. 1, 2025.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, union elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are done through secret ballot.

Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, chair of the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee, said that three people signed up to speak for the bill and 16 to speak against it. Gudger, citing fairness and time issues, allowed all three supporters to speak and three of the 16 opponents to speak.

Stephanie Smith, president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative-leaning non-profit, said that secret ballots would prevent intimidation.

However, even if those things never happen once in the state of Alabama, private elections with secret ballots provide both the time and ability for employees to reflect upon and make decisions that impact their work and their families, she said.

Opponents said that the bill would hurt workers in the state.

Mustafa Hassan, president of the Communication Workers of America Local 3905 in Huntsville, said his union helped keep jobs in the area. He said that his union had the option to go forward with the card check process and were able to go forward with contract bargaining.

The union is the workers, he said. Its not a separate entity.

Clementine Jenkins, a company representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the bill would restrict better-paying jobs. She also said that higher wages would mean more income tax collected.

So why would you want to restrict yourself by restricting employees who can join the union? she said.

While the states union numbers trail the rest of the nations, Alabama has the highest unionization rate in the South. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 56,000 Alabamians (7.5% of the workforce) belonged to a union in 2023, up from 149,000 the previous year. Another 180,000 workers (8.6% of the workforce) were represented by a union. Union membership in Alabama grew by about 7,000 workers last year, according to BLS.

Despite the party line vote, members of the committee expressed varying opinions about the legislation and the role of unions. Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, who voted for the bill, also later expressed concerns about governments telling private companies how to operate.

Im just reluctant about the principle about telling the business what they do on that issue, he said.

Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, said he wasnt anti-union but not every company can afford union employees.

If those companies unionized, youre putting them out of business, he said.

Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, said that she was a lawyer who was based on facts and said she was hearing a lot of what-ifs.

But I want to know what are the facts, what are the facts? she said. I heard my colleagues say that unionization causes companies to close their doors? Where is that cited? Where is the report that shows us that? Please bring us some actual facts and not might happen, can be, maybe, might lead to, but even if it doesnt do that, we need to pass this piece of legislation, anyway.

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, said that her father was a union member, and his union status helped her family. She said that some employers are making more money than they or their descendants could spend.

I dont understand the greediness of it, she said. Also, when you pay people properly and you give them good conditions to work in, the morale is higher, the productivity is higher, so it all works together. So, I dont want to do anything thats going to squander a persons right to feel that they need to have to be a part of a union or that they need to organize because it is and most of them wouldnt want to organize if things were going right.

After the vote, many of the people there for the legislation left the room with one person exclaiming that its The peoples house, not the politicians. Never forget who you work for.

The bill received an amendment that would include agreements between employers and a county or municipality.

The bill moves to the full Senate.
A 44-year-old member of the Gangster Disciples gang has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a prison-based conspiracy targeting retailers throughout the country.

Otis Big O Bowers, of Bessemer, was sentenced to 235 months - more than 19 years - in prison.

He is the last defendant involved in the wide-ranging scam to be sentenced, according to a joint announcement Thursday by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis.

U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre previously sentenced other defendants involved in the scheme:

- Ricardo Raoul Poole Sr., 48, of Bessemer, was sentenced Aug. 15, 2023, to 234 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and aggravated identity theft.

- Ricardo Poole Jr. 25, of Birmingham, was sentenced to 15 months in prison on June 27, 2023, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

- Kortney Jovan Simon, 43, a Birmingham man who was a manager and supervisor of the conspiracy, sentenced Nov. 20, 2023, to 144 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

- Terry Ray Skitzo Bradshaw, 39, of Remlap, was sentenced to 61 months in prison in October 2023 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, between September 2020 and May 2022, Poole Sr. led a group of inmates housed at Donaldson Correctional Facility who used telephone scams called skits to trick Home Depot employees into activating pre-paid gift cards.

Skit runners used contraband cell phones, social engineering techniques, and spoofing technology to trick retailers into transferring funds to inmates under fraudulent pretenses. The defendants would use the fraudulently activated gift cards to make purchases.

Bradshaw was a skit runner who was housed at Donaldson for most of the period charged in the indictment.

In private Facebook messages Bradshaw referred to himself as a hacker and a professional phone scam artist.

For example, on Nov. 21, 202, Bradshaw told a Facebook contact that he was the best scam artist this side of (the) Mississippi.

Bradshaw worked for members of the Gangster Disciplesa violent national criminal gang, founded in Chicago, and active across the U.S., including Alabama.

Authorities said Poole Sr., Simon, and Bowers were all members of the Gangster Disciples. Poole, Jr. assisted Poole, Sr. in the carrying out the scheme.

Bradshaw targeted Home Depot and other retailers with skit calls. He would then provide the gift card information he obtained to other members of the conspiracy who would purchase products or take steps to liquidate the cards.

In exchange for his work as a skit runner, Bradshaw received protection from the Gangster Disciples, luxury items like Cartier glasses, and controlled substances like methamphetamine.

As Poole Sr. explained in a series of messages he sent to a co-conspirator: I got to pay the dude that be ordering shit, [h]e on ice so I got to keep him hi[gh], and I got to pay this dude to keep this shit coming.

As part of the scheme, Poole Sr. conspired with Bowers and others to smuggle controlled substances into Donaldson, including methamphetamine and heroin.

One of the ways in which members of the conspiracy smuggled contraband into Donaldson and other ADOC facilities was by paying bribes to correctional staff.

At other times, members of the conspiracy smuggled contraband into Donaldson and other ADOC facilities by throwing it over the perimeter fence, i.e., the fence play.

As Poole Sr. explained to a co-conspirator, I can get it thrown over or I can have it placed somewhere out there and have it brought in.

In March 2022, Bowers and Poole Sr. worked together to smuggle controlled substances and other contraband into Donaldson in a fence play.

Their efforts were interrupted by law enforcement who confronted a group of co-conspirators trespassing on state property at Donaldson.

After being confronted by ADOC officers, the subjects dropped multiple bags containing contraband and fled into a wooded area near the facility.

Among other things, the bags contained heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, Delta-Nine-Tetrahydrocannabinol, and over a kilogram methamphetamine.

ADOC officers also recovered a Ruger pistol, 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition; an extended gun magazine; five pocket knives, one canister of pepper spray; 15 packages of Suboxone, a prescription medication used to treat opioid use disorder; seven packages of Buprenorphine, another prescription medication used to treat opioid use disorder; 18 small packages containing more than 3.2 kilograms of suspected marijuana; 27 packages of THC gummies; cell phones; cell phone chargers; cell phone cables; a mobile hotspot; memory cards; SIM cards; scales; lighters; individually wrapped cigarillos and cigar wrappers; and shoes, jewelry, and watches.

The U.S. Secret Service Cyber Fraud Task Force investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward J. Canter and John M. Hundscheid prosecuting.

Home Depots Asset Protection Investigations  Organized Retail Crime Group, the Alabama Department of Corrections Law Enforcement Services Division, the DEA, and the FBI assisted in the lengthy probe.
The Alabama House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require makers of cellphones and tablets to equip the devices with a filter to block pornography that would be activated when the device is activated for use by a minor.

The bill, HB167 by Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, passed by a vote of 98-0. It moves to the Senate.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers spoke in support of the bill during the brief time it was discussed before the vote.

Sells has sponsored similar bills since 2019. His bill passed the House last year but did not pass the Senate. Sells said he was optimistic the bill could pass the Senate and become law this year.

HB167 says that beginning on Jan. 1, 2026, all smartphones and tablets activated in the state must contain a filter, determine the age of the user during activation and account set-up, and set the filter to on for minor users. The devices must include the capability to deactivate and reactivate the filter with a password.

The filter must be able to block access to obscenity as it is defined under state law.

The bill says a manufacturer can be subject to civil and criminal liability if a device is activated in the state, does not, upon activation, enable a filter that complies with the law, and a minor accesses obscene material on the device.

The bill says retailers would not be liable.

I just want to protect these children, Sells said. I feel bad that its went on as long as it has and we havent done anything about it.

Sells said he did not think it would be difficult for manufacturers to comply with the law because the phones are already equipped with the filters and the automatic activation for users who are minors would be a matter of changing software. He said several other states have passed similar bills.

This story was edited on April 5 to correct a misspelling and clarify the last paragraph.
Alabama led the country in passenger vehicle exports last year, shipping out more than $11 billion in cars.

Alabama surpassed South Carolina, the second highest vehicle exporter, by more than $1 billion, according to World Institute of Strategic Economic Trade, an international trade data and statistics provider.

Alabama has been steadily gaining ground as a leading exporter of motor vehicles, said Christina Stimpson, director of the state commerce departments office of international trade. South Carolina exported $2 billion more than Alabama in 2021 and $3 billion more in 2022, but in 2023, Alabama rose to the top.

We are continuing on the path of being a state that manufactures things, that makes things, and that is a good thing, Stimpson said. Seeing Made in Alabama brands like these  these companies that are exporting overseas  that high-level demand is, I think, going to continue. Were certainly a state that produces things that people want and need, quite frankly.

[Cant see the list? Click here.]

Passenger vehicles account for the majority of Alabamas transportation equipment exports, which totaled $14.8 billion in 2023, making it the top export category for the state, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce.

Germany, China, South Korea and Canada were the leading destinations for Alabama automobiles, according to the Commerce department.

While passenger vehicles make up most of exports included under the transportation equipment umbrella, Alabama also made headway in other transportation spheres. Last year, Airbus exported the first plane out of its Mobile facility.

We would hope and we would think that with that first export will come another export, Simpson said. Thats a high value item, and so were going to see that category just continue to grow.

Aerospace products and parts topped $2.1 billion last year, a rise of 23% from the previous year.

The bulk of transportation equipment, though, comes from vehicle equipment made throughout the state from Mercedes Benz outside of Tuscaloosa, to Hyundai in Montgomery, Mazda Toyota in Huntsville and Honda in Lincoln.

Attracting any type of manufacturing businesses is good for the state, said Brian Davis, director of the University of Alabamas International Trade Center. The jobs that it creates and secondary and third level jobs that spin off are just immeasurable in how they can help a local community and sustain their employment.

The states overall exports totaled more than $27 billion in 2023. It was the second consecutive year that Alabama increased its export volume.

[Cant see the list? Click here.]

Alabamas other top exports include minerals and ores, chemicals, metal machinery and paper products. Since the trade-impaired pandemic year of 2020, the states exports have jumped almost 43%.

Across all commodities, Alabama shipped to 190 countries, with Germany topping the list at $5.1 billion worth of goods  a 17% improvement over 2022.

[Cant see the list? Click here.]

Overseas shipments of passenger vehicles, aerospace parts, minerals and metals and other products rose more than 6% from the 2022 mark of $25.5 billion, according to the state commerce department.

Looking forward, the potential for greater export growth is there, and we are already exploring new and expanding markets for Alabama companies, said Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair.
A retired Alabama Episcopal priest is set to go to trial soon for allegedly raping a child at a New Hampshire Boy Scout camp 48 years ago.

Richard R. Losch, 90, a former rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Livingston, was indicted by a New Hampshire grand jury on Aug. 18, 2023.

Loschs final pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 20, with jury selection beginning on June 3.

The alleged victim of Losch, in an interview with AL.com, asked that he not be named, but said Losch was director of Indian Pond Boy Scout Reservation in Piermont, New Hampshire in 1976.

Losch, the alleged victim said, took several boys there and encouraged them to swim and walk around naked, and manipulated sleeping arrangements so that Losch had to share a bed with one of the Boy Scouts.

He said Losch forcibly raped him when he was 12. He is 60 now. He reported the allegation to police in 2021.

Losch has publicly denied the allegation.

On the advice of my attorney, I have no comment to make other than that the charge is totally false, and I deny all allegations of wrongdoing, he told the Marblehead Current of Marblehead, Massachusetts, where the alleged victim lives.

The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama said Losch was removed from public ministry in August, according to a statement released by the office of Bishop Glenda Curry.

Richard Losch is a retired priest who served part time at St. James in Livingston, Alabama, the Diocese of Alabama said in its statement. In August 2023 the Bishop fully restricted his ministry as a priest.

Losch was rector of St. James in Livingston and priest-in-charge at St. Albans Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Ala., from 1994-2003.

He was priest-in-charge at St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Greensboro from 2005-08. In 2014, he returned as acting priest in charge at St. James.

He also worked as a math instructor and then assistant professor of statistics at the University of West Alabama in Livingston from 1994-2006.

Losch was also assistant Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 9, in Livingston, from 1994 to 2011.

The Boy Scouts of America released a statement regarding Losch.

Father Richard Loschs registration in Scouting ended in 2014, it said. In 2020, a proof of claim was filed alleging sexual abuse of a Scout by Father Losch. The BSA added him to its Volunteer Screening Database, precluding him from future registration in Scouting.

During the time of the alleged incident in 1976, Losch was assistant headmaster and science and math teacher at Tower School in Marblehead, Massachusetts, from 1969-1981.

He was also assistant to the rector at St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Marblehead from 1969-86.

To my knowledge, we have had nobody else come forward, and I wouldnt state there is a concern that there are other victims, Marblehead Police Chief Dennis King told the Current.

I would encourage any victim of sexual abuse to come forward and would not rule out there being other victims based on the type of crime that allegedly was committed.

Losch is the second known priest at St. Michaels accused of sexually assaulting a young boy.

In 2014, Franklin Huntress pleaded guilty to assaulting a 14-year-old boy in New Hampshire in the 1980s. Huntress was also arrested in London in 1994 and charged with sexual abuse of a child.

Huntress retired as a priest in 1995, but served until 2001 at St. Michaels, according to a report in Marblehead Patch.

Before moving to Marblehead, Losch was math instructor at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, N.C., from 1989-93; math and computer education coordinator at Hale High School and St. Timothys School in Raleigh, N.C., principal at St. Timothys School in Raleigh from 1986-88; math and computer science instructor at Danvers High School in Danver, Massachusetts from 1981-85; English and humanities master and chaplain at Watkinson School in Hartford, Connecticut; rector at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook, Connecticut from 1961-66; and curate of Trinity Episcopal Church in Torrington, Connecticut from 1959-61.

After moving to Alabama in 1994, Losch was also active in Masonic lodges, as grand chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Alabama, Free and Accepted Masons; and grand chaplain of the Grand Council of Alabama, Royal and Select Masters and York Rite Masons of Alabama; and grand prelate for the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar, York Rite Masons of Alabama.

Losch was born in Boston on Dec. 26, 1933. He graduated from Yale University in 1956 and the Yale Divinity School in 1959 and earned a masters degree in education from North Carolina State University in 1990.

He was ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut as a deacon in 1959 and as a priest in 1960.
Three strangers have received the gift of life from a heartbroken father as he decided to give the organs of his 2-year-old son.

Corporan King died after his mother left him and his siblings alone in their Washington Heights apartment when a fire started.

Grieving Father Donates Son's Organs

According to the authorities, King was removed from life support on March 25.

The toddler's father claimed that it was a tough decision to donate his son's tiny organs.

Leonard Chan, the President and CEO of LiveOnNy, said, "King saved the lives of 3 people, ranging from an infant to 55 years old, residing both in and outside of New York State who needed heart, liver, and kidney transplants, giving them a second chance at life."

The NYPD reported that at around 10:54 pm, an apartment at 206 Audubon Ave. in Washington Heights caught fire on March 20.

In addition to burns, a 1-year-old kid also suffered from smoke inhalation from his 2-year-old son. According to the authorities, the cause of the fire is unknown.

The authorities said the 2-year-old child spent more than a week in severe condition in the hospital. The police claimed that the 1-year-old boy's condition remained critical as of Monday.

Several sources reported that the mother, 23-year-old Skilyn Maldonado, left the house to get cigarettes right before the fire broke out. Sources claimed that the 8-year-old sister of the boys reported to the police that she was left home by herself with her siblings.

Maldonado was previously accused of putting a child's well-being in danger. It was unclear if she would be charged in the death.

The toddler's father was reportedly investigated and found not guilty. As of Monday morning, a GoFundMe for the family has collected more than $13,000.

The post said they are rallying to support them during this unimaginably difficult time as a tight-knit community.

Deceased Son's Organs Save Four Lives

In the center of Haryana's Kaithal region, a family transformed their sorrow into a source of hope for others, bringing them comfort amid sadness. Manoj, the father of the late Sahil, 20, made a brave choice that demonstrated the strength of compassion even amid severe grief.

On March 10, a sad incident ended Sahil's promising journey, leaving his family devastated. Following the incident, Sahil was admitted to a local hospital on the same day and sent to PGIMER on March 10.

Despite efforts to stabilize his condition, he passed away from a severe head injury on March 13.

Following a thorough assessment by the PGIMER medical staff, Sahil's brain death was determined the same day. Sahil's father showed incredible bravery and selflessness during this difficult time by agreeing to donate all of his son's organs and tissues.

Manoj said, "It's something no family should have to go through."

He continued that they said yes to Organ Donation, knowing that his son's organs will continue to beat, see, and offer a new chance at life to others brings some solace. They hoped his generosity legacy would inspire others to consider organ donation.
A Navy veteran is leading an effort in the House to strip the name of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles from the main international airport in the nations capital and replace it with former President Donald Trump.

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., said he introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport because our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of Trump.

As millions of domestic and international travelers fly through the airport, there is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing Welcome to Trump International Airport as they land on American soil, he said.

Reschenthaler was elected to the House in 2018 and previously served in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps, deploying to Iraq in 2009. He prosecuted nearly 100 terrorists in Iraq and helped successfully defend a Navy SEAL who was accused of covering up the mistreatment of an al-Qaida terrorist in U.S. custody, according to his congressional website.

Several other veterans in the House are backing Reschenthalers bill, including Republican Mike Waltz of Florida, a former Green Beret; Republican Troy Nehls of Texas, an Army Reserve veteran; and Republican Barry Moore of Alabama, a veteran of the Alabama National Guard and Reserve.

Lawmakers last proposed changing the name of Dulles airport in 1990, when former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., suggested renaming it after former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who helped save the world from tyranny in World War II.

Eisenhowers aviation adviser chose to name the airport after John Foster Dulles, an influential figure during the early stages of the Cold War who advocated for an aggressive stance against communism. Dulles died three years before the airport opened in 1962.

The push to swap Dulles for Trump is unlikely to gain traction in the Democrat-controlled Senate and was met with ridicule by Democrats in the Republican-led House.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., described the bill as another in a long list of instances where extreme House Republicans have shown how unserious [and] delusional they are.

Lets get to work on the real issues the American people sent us here for  not renaming an airport after someone who sought to undermine our democracy, she wrote on X.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., whose district partially includes Dulles, suggested Trumps name would be better suited elsewhere.

Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges, he wrote on X. If Republicans want to name something after him, Id suggest they find a federal prison.

___

(c)2024 the Stars and Stripes

Visit the Stars and Stripes at www.stripes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The arguments over how to fix the medical marijuana delay in Alabama moved from the courthouse to the State House on Wednesday, when about a dozen people spoke at a public hearing on a bill intended to resolve the stalemate.

Most who spoke were against the bill, which would increase the number of business licenses issued by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.

The AMCC awarded licenses in June, August, and December of last year, but rescinded the first two rounds of awards because of problems with its procedures and because of lawsuits. Two categories of licenses from the December awards remain on hold, stalling the process of making medical marijuana products and getting them to patients.

Licenses are for cultivating, processing, transporting, testing, and dispensing medical cannabis, plus integrated licenses, which allow companies to cultivate, process, transport and dispense.

The competition for the integrated licenses has been the main point of contention.

Under the law the Legislature passed in 2021, the AMCC can issue a maximum of five integrated licenses. More than 30 companies applied, and some of those denied licenses filed lawsuits, alleging the AMCC violated the open meetings law, the state administrative procedures act, and made other missteps.

SB276 by Sen. David Sessions, a Republican from Mobile County, would require the AMCC to award 15 integrated licenses.

Sessions bill would require the AMCC to issue a license to every company that was awarded, but not issued, licenses in June, August, and December.

That would increase the number of licenses for processors from four to six, and the number of licenses for dispensaries from four to seven.

The licenses for integrated companies and dispensaries are on hold now because of the lawsuits, which are consolidated in a case in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

The AMCC has issued licenses for cultivators, processors, transporters, and a testing lab. But the industry cannot start because of the stalemate over the other licenses.

A two-time cancer survivor spoke at the public hearing Wednesday and urged lawmakers to resolve the stalemate to provide patients an alternative to powerful prescription painkillers.

Other speakers at the public hearing, including owners of some of the companies seeking licenses and lawyers for those companies, said they agreed with the need to end the delays but said SB276 was not the answer. Opponents to the bill included some whose companies would receive licenses if the bill passed.

One of the main arguments against the bill was that it would be unfair to companies that have invested money and time in competing for the licenses under the rules and maximum number of licenses established under the law, enacted in 2021. They said it would be unfair to change the rules now.

John Reeves, one of the owners of CRC Alabama, which received a cultivator license and is growing cannabis at its facility in Goshen, said his company would have applied for an integrated license had they known 15 would be available instead of five.

Reeves and other speakers said tripling the number of integrated companies would oversaturate the market. They said demand for the products, at least initially, would not justify having that many companies growing cannabis, making the products, and selling them. They said the number of licenses could be adjusted later, if necessary, to meet market demand.

Others said an unintended consequence would be an overproduction that would lead to cannabis being diverted to illegal markets, which they said has happened in other states.

Sessions, the bills sponsor, is chair of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee, which held the public hearing. He said he was disappointed that so many of the speakers wanted to hold the limits on the number of licenses because of concerns about the market.

Sessions is a farmer who said he had to stop growing cotton because he could no longer compete in the market.

We would think we would want to be in a free market, Sessions said.

He did not ask the committee to vote on the bill Wednesday.

The good thing about this is all of a sudden you have a lot of people interested in trying to figure out how to fix this and get the thing up and running, Sessions said. So well see what happens.

Sessions said there might be a substitute bill in the committee next week.

My goal is to try to get em out of litigation and get the product to the patients that need it, Sessions said.

Read more: Alabamas medical marijuana program on hold at least another month
A Birmingham homebuilder has pleaded guilty to defrauding more than a dozen people out of more than $1.2 million combined.

Cecil Wayne Sanford, 58, contracted to build homes for the victims yet they saw little to no work done, authorities said.

Sanford this week pleaded guilty to wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon, according to joint statement Thursday issued by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

Sanford was represented by Birmingham attorney Jason Wollitz.

Sanford was a residential builder in Alabama who operated through his business, Stone Pointe Builders, LLC.

Between 2020 and early 2022, more than a dozen victims in the Birmingham area contracted with Sanford to build their homes and paid Sanford substantial sums of money  tens of thousands of dollars or more.

The work was never done, despite Sanfords representations, draws on their construction loans, and invoices for construction-related expenses, authorities said.

Sanford made statements to victims about how their funds would be used and then spent the money in other ways, including to pay his own living expenses.

In February 2022, days after closing with a family on a construction contract and collecting more than $27,000 from the family as a down payment, Sanford moved $10,000 into his personal bank account, withdrew it, abruptly closed the business, and left town.

In his plea agreement, Sanford agreed to pay restitution to victims totaling more than $1.2 million.

The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney J.B. Ward is prosecuting. The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board assisted in the investigation.

Sanford will be sentenced later this year. The maximum penalty for wire fraud is twenty years in prison.
Gov. Kay Ivey has again pushed back at the United Auto Workers gains in Alabama.

After AL.com published an article about Alabama becoming the No.1 state to export passenger vehicles, Ivey took to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, to voice opposition of the auto unions attempted move into Alabama.

Its no wonder the UAW wants a piece of the pie here in Alabama, the governors office posted Thursday afternoon.

And lets be clear about something: This threat from Detroit has no interest in seeing the people of Alabama succeed, our OEMs succeed, and in turn, the state to succeed like we are now.

OEMs, or original equipment manufacturers, have long been the fulcrum of Alabamas export economy, and passenger vehicles make up the largest portion of exports  accounting for more than $14.8 billion in 2023, according to the World Institute of Strategic Economic Trade.

And over the past several years, Alabama has seen automakers move in and expand, prompting UAWs efforts in the state.

Its sad that our governor thinks so little of Alabama workers, that were only good for cheap labor, said Jeremy Kimbrell, Mercedes worker and member of the volunteer organizing committee to unionize with the UAW.

We know better, and thats why were choosing to unionize and end the Alabama discount.

The unions plan is to sign up nearly 70% of auto workers and electric-battery workers at non-union plants, then petition the companies to recognize the union. If that doesnt work, itll ask the National Labor Relations Board to set up a vote.

In February, more than half of the employees at Mercedes-Benzs Vance plant signed union cards. At the same time, UAW said 30% percent of the employees at Hyundais Montgomery plant have also signed cards.

Ivey, along with Alabama Secretary of Commerce Ellen McNair, have publicly opposed the efforts. McNair even warned that the days of Alabama being a premier destination for industry investment may be coming to an end.

AL.com reporter William Thornton contributed to this report.
Civil rights, voting rights, and disability rights groups announced that they are filing a lawsuit to block Alabamas new law restricting certain forms of assistance with absentee voting.

The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries, the League of Women Voters of Alabama and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program are challenging the new law that makes it a crime to receive payment or pay someone to distribute or collect absentee ballot applications.

The lawsuit says the new law is a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Alabama lawmakers passed SB1 by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, a bill that Republicans said would stop ballot harvesting, the distribution and collection of absentee ballot applications by third parties to influence elections.

The Republican majority passed the bill over the objections of Democrats and others who said it was unnecessary and would keep elderly and disabled voters from getting the help they need with absentee voting. They pointed to the lack of examples of ballot harvesting cases in Alabama as evidence that the law was not needed.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill on March 20. Secretary of State Wes Allen said it will be in effect for the general election in November.

SB1 takes Alabama backwards as it violates the law, restricts our basic Constitutional Amendment rights, obliterates freedom of speech, Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, said in a press release about the lawsuit. It marginalizes voters access to the ballot box.

The plaintiffs are represented by the Campaign Legal Center, the Legal Defense Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

Secretary of State Allen declined to comment on the lawsuit specifically but reiterated his support of SB1.

I am dedicated to ensuring fair, secure, and transparent elections, Allen said. SB1 provides Alabama voters with strong protection against activists who profit from the absentee elections process. I stand firm in my support of SB1 because now, under Alabama law, Alabama votes are not for sale.

The new law adds restrictions and criminal penalties to section 17-11-4 of the code of Alabama, which governs absentee voting applications. The strictest penalties apply to those who receive a payment or pay someone else for helping with applications. Some parts of the new law apply to situations not involving a payment.

The new law:

Makes it a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison, to receive a payment or gift to distribute, order, request, collect, complete, pre-fill, or deliver an absentee ballot application for another voter.

Makes it a Class B felony, punishable to two to 20 years, to knowingly pay or provide a gift to a third party to distribute, order, request, collect, prefill, complete, obtain, or deliver a voters absentee ballot application.

Says an applicant for an absentee ballot can receive assistance filling out the ballot and that the application must be signed by the applicant and the witness.

Makes it a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, to deliver an absentee ballot application to a vote that is pre-filled with the voters name or any other information required on the application.

Specifies that only the voter can return their absentee ballot application to their countys absentee election manager, either in person or by mail or commercial carrier.

Requires applicants for absentee ballots to declare they are not barred from voting because of a disqualifying felony conviction or, if they were were convicted of a disqualifying felony, that they have had their right to vote restored.

Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, said the new law will suppress the vote.

SB1 represents the latest assault on Alabama voters who simply want their voices heard and their choices counted regardless of differing abilities, health status and unpredictable work schedules that require their voter participation be by absentee ballot and often with the support of friends, family, and civic organizations, Douglas said in the press release. There is no voter integrity in penalizing those who assist those who must vote absentee, only voter suppression.
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers on Thursday said supplemental funding for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan is possible, but border funding does not have the votes this year.

Rogers, a Republican from Saks who chairs the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, told the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce that we dont really have a choice to walk away on the federal budgeting process, and said both the budget funding the federal government for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, and a supplemental will pass  but it wont be easy.

Two years ago, Russia invaded, he said. No reason other than they wanted to, they invaded Ukraine. And for first time since World War II  we had an established world order  for the first time since then, a sovereign nation invaded another sovereign nation just to take it, he said.

More from Alabama Reflector

Rogers said House members are divided over individual representatives wanting to pass standalone supplementals for Israel and the border. Rogers said the aid has to be put in a package in order to have the votes needed to pass.

Together, they have a better chance than separately, and thats just the way the place works, he said.

He said that there is support for Israel funding from House Republicans, but that Ukraine funding is a sticking point because of some ignorant members in the GOP conference. Rogers said that the U.S. does not have a choice on whether to fund Ukraine or not.

Its been painful because part of our conference, part of the Republican majority conference, has been arguing that we need to worry about the appropriations first, and we have been, Rogers said. And we just couldnt get the votes for the appropriations because the place is so fractured right now.

He said that the U.S. is contributing a smaller percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than other NATO countries, and that other countries are pulling their weight. He said the U.S. doesnt have a choice to walk away.

The congressman said that Vladimir Putin has made it clear that the fall of the Soviet Union was the worst day of his life, and that he wants to reinstitute some version of it.

If you look at history over Eastern Europe, Russia has been taking these countries and losing them for literally a millennia. So he wants to do that, he said, adding that after Putin takes Ukraine, he would move on to invade other countries.

If Russia attacks a NATO country, he said that would be World War III, invoking a potential war for a second time.

Were in NATO and in NATO, we have a treaty. We have a treaty provision called Article Five that says any member nation is invaded by an army, every other member of NATO will come to their defense and push that invading army back out. Thats us, he said.
The Federal Trade Commission is sending refunds to more than 50,000 home sellers who used an online real estate company.

The refunds are part of an agreement with Opendoor Labs Inc., operator of OpenDoor online home buying firm. In all, some $61.75 million will go to 54,689 recipients with a median refund of $1,024. There are 394 eligible recipients in Alabama, with a median refund of $980.

According to the FTC complaint, Arizona-based Opendoor cheated home sellers by tricking them into thinking they could make more money selling their home via its site than on the open market using a traditional sales process. Opendoor also falsely claimed they saved customers on costs, the FTC said.

In reality, most people who sold to Opendoor made thousands of dollars less than they would have made selling their homes using the traditional process and many paid more in costs than what sellers typically pay, the FTC said.

Opendoor promised to revolutionize the real estate market but built its business using old-fashioned deception about how much consumers could earn from selling their homes on the platform, Samuel Levine, Director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection said when announcing the order in 2022. There is nothing innovative about cheating consumers.

Under the administrative order, Opendoor agreed to pay the refunds and stop any deceptive tactics.

Recipients of the checks should cash them within 90 days. Consumers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, Epiq Systems, at 1-888-546-2054 or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process.
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Vaccination objectors

A proposed bill made it through committee in the Alabama Senate that would make it easier to send an unvaccinated child to school, reports AL.coms Trisha Powell Crain.

School kids generally have to be up-to-date on vaccines for a number of diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, polio, chickenpox and more. If parents object to their children receiving a vaccines on religious grounds, they have to get a written document from their county health department. Under the proposed bill, theyd simply need to provide a written statement from a parent or guardian.

The bills sponsor is state Sen. Arthur Orr, a Decatur Republican. He said the goal is to get government out of representing peoples religious objections.

CDC stats show the number of vaccination exemptions are growing. Dr. David Kimberlin of UAB and Childrens Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases has said Alabama is one of 36 states that now have measles vaccination rates that are too low to prevent the spread of the disease.

And, just to be clear, this has nothing to do with COVID or COVID vaccines. Students are not required to have any COVID vaccine.

The bill unanimously passed committee. The next step is consideration on the Senate floor.

Aderholt and Appropriations

Will U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt make a run at the Appropriations Committee chair?

He might, according to a report from Roll Call.

Aderholt is from Haleyville and represents Alabamas Fourth Congressional District.

Hes the only member of the committee other than Tom Cole of Oklahoma to show interest in the job. Cole already has a lot of backing in place, but in the wake of that $1.2 trillion package passed in March, Aderholt wants the committee to tap the brakes on picking a leader until it talks through its processes that allowed that much spending.

School closing

It looks like a high school in Talladega will close at the end of the current school year, reports AL.coms Trisha Powell Crain. And its an illustration of how a small school can get caught in a downward spiral under the current state rules.

Talladega County Central High, established in 1926, was down to 143 students in grades 7-12 and earned a D on the states 2023 schools report card. That made it the smallest and poorest-performing school in the district.

That was a particularly bad combination because the current rules of the Alabama Accountability Act wouldve allowed students to transfer to other schools in the county, making it all but certain that enrollment wouldve fallen even lower.

Superintendent Suzanne Lacey said the schools scores were hurt by the way the report card numbers are calculated. The school had so few seniors last year they couldnt factor in some school strengths such as graduation rate and college-and-career-ready rate.

Yeah, it was hackers

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfins office has confirmed that hackers are to blame for the citys ongoing computer system troubles, reports AL.coms Joseph D. Bryant.

Communications Director Rick Journey said theyre now in the process of restoring the systems.

Officials have said that city workers have continued to be paid and that is hasnt affected the 9-1-1 system.

By the Numbers

$600

The estimated underpayment a man made for two comic books from an Opelika store. Police believe the man did it on purpose -- switching out the pricing before paying and leaving -- and are trying to identify him.

More Alabama news

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This column originally appeared in Whitmires newsletter, Alabamafication. Sign up here for free.

Shortly before he died, the late New York Times media columnist David Carr predicted this day would come.

One day, we will have to explain to our children and grandchildren what newspapers were, he said, and theyre not going to believe us when we tell them.

That day came sooner for me than I had expected  earlier this week and nearly a year after our transition to all-digital news at AL.com. But it wasnt the anniversary that triggered the question from my five-year-old. It was a book now sitting on our living room coffee table.

This looks like a childrens book! my five-year-old said, with an accusatory tone.

Its not  well  kinda  but not really  I wasnt doing a good job explaining it to her. Theyre comics, I finally managed. And these were some of my favorites.

What are comics? she asked.

Im not sure I gave a satisfactory answer. Our son, who is eight, listened from the dining room table where he was finishing a bowl of cereal. After a few failed attempts on my part to explain what comics were, he interjected.

Youre not old enough, he said to his sister. You wouldnt understand.

Can I read this? she asked, ignoring her brother.

Yes, I told her. Just dont get food on the pages.

Calvin and Hobbes was a favorite of mine, but I hadnt bought the collection for the drawings. The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book had been a manifesto by the author, Bill Watterson. The first 25 pages are mostly word  an essay on the struggles cartoonists faced in an industry already showing signs of decay.

It was first published in 1995, the year I started college, and it was my college roommate who first showed me his copy. He knew I was an aspiring newspaperman, and he insisted it was important.

I remember where I was when I read this book the first time. I remember being troubled by its message. I bought the book recently to revisit that memory  not with nostalgia, but the way we look back at the Cassandras who prophesized doom when no one was listening.

The signs were there  before the internet.

The industry, Watterson argued, had homogenized comics so that nearly every comics section in every newspaper looked like every other. Comics that once stretched across pages of newsprint were then confined to a format mandated by the syndicates to make composing pages easier for their client papers.

They all looked the same.

Many old successful strips had outlived their creators and were drawn by artists hired to keep someone elses work on life support. New comics were rare and seldom were artists given the opportunity to try fresh ideas.

Watterson tested the industry, at one point refusing to draw in the modular panels and demanding more space on Sundays. His syndicate warned hed lose half his clients, and they were right.

Newspaper comics had become calcified and discouraged creativity.

The late Lewis Grizzard said its impossible to read a newspaper from 1941 without wanting to shout, Look out for Hitler! I cant look back at Wattersons thesis, 30 years later, without wanting to scream, Here comes the Internet!

But great art can outlive its medium.

Surprise is the essence of humor, and nothing is more surprising than truth, Watterson wrote. When cartoons dig beyond glib punch lines, cheap sentimentality, and tidy stories to deeper, truthful experiences, they can really touch people and connect us all.

As frustrated as I am by the way this business works, he wrote, I continue to believe that comics are an art form capable of any level of beauty, intelligence and sophistication.

Perhaps, I should have read that to my daughter this week instead of stammering about newspapers. Yeah, shes five and maybe her brothers right that shes not old enough yet to understand. But one day she will be.

She likes to draw.

Im going to be a great artist, she reminds me daily.

And Im going to leave this book for her, right here.

Kyle Whitmire is the 2023 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. You can follow him on Threads here and subscribe to his weekly newsletter, Alabamafication.
A scraggly-haired menace with a jaunty gait randomly punched a 23-year-old woman in the face amid concerns by Tik Tok users that women are being assaulted by strangers on New York City streets, officials said Wednesday.

Cops released a surveillance image of the suspect wanted for the March 20 Chelsea attack that left a 23-year-old woman with an injured nose.

The victim told police she was walking past a McDonalds on Sixth Ave. near W. 14th St. when the stranger punched her in the face with no warning about 10 a.m.

A surveillance camera nearby captured the stranger, who was wearing a white shirt and denim jacket, as he slowly jogged away with an oddly jaunty gate, surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows. Cops are asking the publics help identifying and tracking down the suspect.

Medics took the woman to Lenox Health Greenwich Village, where she was treated for a minor wound and released.

It wasnt immediately clear if the man was inspired by the surge of random unprovoked attacks in Manhattan outlined on Tik Tok over the past two weeks.

Two men were charged last week in separate incidents that were the subject of recent TikTok videos in which the victims said they were punched by strangers.

At least four similar attacks have occurred on city streets, police said, causing worried women across the boroughs to take extra precautions when venturing outside.

I definitely dont go out at night. Past 8 p.m., Im in my house unless Im with somebody else, said Christina Burke, 28, of Sunnyside, Queens, who now drives instead of taking subways.

I was scared, because theyre hitting random people. So you dont even know if its a specific type of person theyre looking for.

On March 27, cops arrested political gadfly Skiboky Stora, who they say assaulted TikTok influencer Halley Kate Mcgookin near W. 16th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea at 10:20 a.m. March 25.

The next day, cops arrested Mallik Miah, charging him with assaulting TikToker Mikayla Toninato in Greenwich Village Monday.

Toninato was near Fifth Ave. and E. 12th St. when Miah allegedly struck her about 2 p.m. March 25, said police. According to a criminal complaint, Miah, 30, identified himself in a still image taken from surveillance footage of the attack. Toninato posted a video to the social media platform right after being punched by Miah.

Police are looking into a flurry of other random assaults on women in Manhattan, some of which have been posted about on TikTok.

On March 17 at 11:48 a.m. on Kenmare and Mulberry Sts., TikToker Olivia Brand, 25, was struck by a man who initially apologized to her, she said.

He goes sorry and punches me in the head, said Brand on a video she posted afterwards. What the hell is happening?

A 36-year-old woman was punched in the back on March 25 at 10:15 a.m. while walking on Rivington and Chrystie Sts. in the Lower East Side, cops said.

On March 26, at noon, a 24-year-old woman was attacked by a man who slammed the left side of her head with his elbow while she walked on Seventh Ave. near W. 39th St., according to police.

Also on Tuesday, a 24-year-old woman was hit in the head by a stranger in Manhattans Flatiron District, police said Friday.

The victim was walking along Sixth Ave. near W. 23rd St. about 12:45 p.m. when the stranger stormed up and punched her in the head, then ran off without saying a word, cops said.

The woman wasnt seriously hurts. Cops scouring the area found surveillance video of the attacker, who was wearing a black bubble jacket and a hooded sweatshirt.

Police are asking anyone with information regarding the Chelsea attack or any of the other unprovoked assaults to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

-------

2024 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A former scout for the Tennesee Titans made his first court appearence Wednesday since being accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, according to a report, and prosecutors are seeking a maximum life sentence.



Blaise Taylor, 27, appeared in court on April 3 for the first time since his arrest by US Marshals in March, according to Fox News, who obtained a notice of intent from the district attorney confirming that they are seeking a life without parole sentence for Taylor.



Taylor is accused of poisoning Jade Benning and the unborn child they shared. On Feb 25, 2023, Benning was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in an ambulance after Taylor called 911. Taylor told the operator that Benning was having some kind of allergic reaction, according to WSMV.



Benning's condition rapidly deteriorated after being admitted, and later became critical. Her unborn child died on Feb 27, and Benning died 8 days later, on her 25th birthday. She was five months pregnant at the time.



Taylor moved to Utah after Benning and the child's deaths. After months of investigations involving crime lab scientists and the medical examiner's office, Taylor was indicted and arrested by US Marshals, WSMV reported.



According to Fox News, Taylor's bond hearing has been set for April 15th. Taylor worked with the Tennessee NFL team from 2019 to 2023 as a scout.


As a state agency pushes toward approving a proposed limestone quarry in Belle Mina today, Auburn University officials worry about the impact on the Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center.

Auburn operates the TVREC extension center, which is located about a mile away from where the quarry would be. The quarry would be built on Mooresville Road not far from the heart of the southeastern Limestone County community.
A student was flown to hospital after they were stabbed Thursday by a classmate at a southwest Alabama high school.

The student was stabbed at Jackson High School in Clarke County, WKRG reported.

The student suspected of stabbing the classmate is in custody, according to the station.

The injured student was flown to University Hospital in Mobile.

Clarke County Schools did not mention a stabbing in a Facebook post, instead referring to an isolated violent incident. The district said counseling and support services are available to anyone who needs them.

We regret to inform you of an isolated violent incident that occurred earlier today at Jackson High School involving two students. We understand the concern and alarm this may cause, but we want to assure you that the threat has been swiftly removed and the situation is under control, the district announced early Thursday afternoon.

At this moment, the details surrounding the incident are still unfolding. As expected, we are fully cooperating with law enforcement and school officials as they conduct their thorough investigation into this matter, the statement went on to say.
This is an opinion column.

A sound. A firecracker, maybe.

That is what those who were there remember. There on that balcony. That balcony in Memphis.

The last sound.

Before the pain. Before the tears. Before the explosions.

Before Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. Senator from New York, stood on the back of a flatbed truck in Indianapolis, where he was slated to launch his campaign for the Indiana presidential primary.

His aides were not prepared. Local police could not promise to protect him.

Not on this night. This night of pain, tears, and explosions.

Yet still, Kennedy stood and spoke to a gathering of mostly Black folks, most of whom had not yet heard what transpired at 6:05 p.m. Central time.

It was dark when Kennedy began to speak. With nary a note.

If you havent heard it in a while, listen to it, watch it (below). Today.

If youve never heard it before do the same. Today.

He spoke only five minutes. Here are his wordsall of them:

I have some very sad news for all of you and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens and people who love peace all over the world and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight. Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, this difficult time for the United States its perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.

For those of you who are Black, considering the evidence evidently is there were white people who are responsible, you can be filled with bitterness and with hatred and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, a greater polarization - Black people amongst Blacks and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another.

Or we can make an effort as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that is spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love. For those of you who are Black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart, the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States.

We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times. My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote:

Even in our sleep, pain, which we cannot forget, falls drop-by-drop upon the heart until in our own deep despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awesome grace of God.

What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness. But is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country. Whether they be white or whether they be Black. (Applause)

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. Weve had difficult times in the past, we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence. It is not the end of lawlessness, and its not the end of disorder. But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of Black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.

Dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: To tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.

Lets dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much.

Kennedy stepped down from the flatbed63 days later he was dead. Killed, too, by an assassins bullet.

On this day, as we remember the pain, the tears, the explosions of grief of a tragedyin these divisive timesalso recall Kennedys words. His call:

To tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.

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.
This is a guest opinion column

As the 2024 election season heats up, offering assistance to our hardworking state and local election officials should be of great interest to all of us. However, Congress missed a golden opportunity in their recent comprehensive spending package when they failed to ensure that our election infrastructure is fully funded. Congress should consider returning federal election infrastructure funding levels to where they stood under the previous administration.

Despite the growing need to secure and modernize our election infrastructure in communities throughout Alabama and nationwide, federal funding has declined in recent years. Under the Trump Administration, for example, federal appropriations intended for election security and infrastructure totaled around $400 million annually. Unfortunately, in FY 2022 and 2023, that figure dropped drastically to $75 millionwell below what is needed to ensure the safety and security of election administration activities nationwide.

In the most recent, last-minute spending package passed by Congress, lawmakers whittled that amount down even further, allocating only $55 million to election security in FY 2024. That is an embarrassingly low amount, particularly considering the need local, county, and state officials will be facing during such a critical election year.

Elected officials always need to evaluate, assess, and sometimes reduce government spending; however, election security is a smart use of federal funds that should be a priority for all of us and not an afterthought.

While election management is a local issue, many municipalities, counties, and states rely on federal funding to access the resources they need to purchase equipment, provide training, compensate staff, and ensure the availability of basic resources needed to operate and manage polling places and other election administration activities safely and securely.

All Americans should agree that securing our elections is a priority that may necessarily warrant federal resources, which is why Congress should consider an additional appropriation for election security in FY 2025.

Returning to previous levels of federal investment in our nations election infrastructure will help those in charge of election administration not only with their basic needs but also to ensure that our election infrastructure is secure from those who wish to do us harm, both domestically and internationally. Unfortunately, far too many of these facilities across our stateespecially in rural parts of Alabamamust deal with insufficient resources. And as technology evolves, so will the threats facing our election systems, including cyber threats and ransomware attacks. These advancements, both positive and negative, will require updating our equipment and ensuring adequate staffing and training in election offices and polling places throughout the great state of Alabama and throughout the nation.

Investing in Americas election security is urgent, and clearly bipartisan. But with federal funding for this issue on a steady decline, it will become increasingly difficult for our hardworking state and local election officials, who are public servants in every sense of the word, to meet even their most basic needs.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should work together to ensure the proper allocation of needed resources to strengthen and support Americas election infrastructure, particularly in rural communities that often face the greatest need. They must work together to ensure the next round of funding for election administration, considering both security and infrastructure, in FY 2025 is more in line with previous amounts, up to $400 million dedicated to this issue during the Trump Administration.

Ultimately, these funds will help the jurisdictions in most need of support to help preserve and strengthen the security and safety of the 2024 elections and all elections moving forward.

John H. Merrill served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2010-2014 and as Alabamas 53rd Secretary of State from 2015-2023.
Comic book artist Ed Piskor killed himself. But this isnt the typical story of depression and suicide. His is a tragic ending driven by cancel culture mobs who took minor allegations, ignored due process, and determined to destroy a mans life.

The comic community is devastated. My husband is a comic artist, and the anger and sadness brought by this death is hanging over everyone who read Piskors suicide note and looked into the allegations of grooming and sexual misconduct that were levied last week.

Monday morning, Piskor released a suicide note explaining his side of the story. According to him, he was falsely accused of grooming a 17-year-old female artist for texting her during the pandemic and using plays on words to describe her art.

He denied additional allegations of sexual misconduct from a woman who came forward after the first allegation and claimed that he sought sexual favors in exchange for his agents number. Piskor noted that their intimacy was consensual and initiated by her.

He called her allegations border criminal and urged his family to continue a civil lawsuit against her.

He named everyone who sought to destroy him and explained how his work was his life. Im a solitary guy and Ive put every ounce of my time and life into my work for around the past 20 years.

I never felt satisfied with my skill so I constantly worked really hard and tied it all to my identity and self worth, he went on.

Piskor was a passionate artist who inspired countless comic book creators and fans. My husband described how Piskor and his best friend, Jim Rugg, inspired artists with their Cartoonist Kayfabe podcast.

Piskor also worked on X-Men comics and gained industry acclaim with the largest indie comic publisher, Fantagraphics, through his Hip Hop Family Tree comics. He had no wife, no kids, he was a typical Left-leaning comic artist who was about to seal a $75,000 deal.

Some conservatives may feel that this is some painful display of karma, or the Left eating itself. And there may be some truth to that, but Piskor wasnt a self-righteous Stephen King-type liberal screaming about politics. Piskor was just an artist who mainly kept to himself.

His work was everything to him, and because of this scandal, he lost the deal, his best friend/ podcast partner shunned him, and the leftist comics media disowned him.

He was canceled without due process and presumed guilty by woke mobs who took out-of-context messages and refused to allow him to defend himself.

Regardless of his political affiliation, his age or gender, race, religion, or any of that, the American judicial system is based on the foundation of innocent until proven guilty.

Unfortunately, movements like #metoo and believe all women have inflated the importance of spreading allegations instead of supporting due process. This has led mobs of Americans to decry any man deemed guilty in the court of public opinion.

It weaponized anything a man says or does against them. No longer should a man in any industry (especially a Left-leaning art-based industry) offer advice, help, or kind words to any woman or young lady who seeks them out. Its just too dangerous.

Ed Piskor sent a few text messages while he was isolated during the pandemic and, by his account, just offered to help out another artist -- something most comic artists do. Because of that, he lost his livelihood and his entire life.

He expressed this in his suicide note when he wrote, I have no friends in this life any longer. Im a disappointment to everybody who liked me. Im a pariah. News organizations at my door and hassling my elderly parents.

Its too much. Putting our addresses on tv and the internet. How could I ever go back to my small town where everyone knows me? he added.

This situation is all the more devastating because now, no one will ever really know what happened. There is no way to properly investigate both sides of the claims or exonerate Piskor, and thats the point of cancel culture. Its all about casualties.

The woke mob descended like vultures and pecked at an artist who was already awkward and sensitive. Piece by piece, they tore him apart until he couldnt live anymore.

Yes, he chose to take his own life. And there is plenty of personal responsibility for his decision. But he was facing public harassment and ridicule on a national level to the point that he lost all hope.

He wrote, I knew I wasnt going to be able to survive this. Comics is beyond a profession to me. Its everything. That might sounds sad and pathetic to some, but this culture and medium gave me the greatest joy in life.

Piskor described his belief that despite his innocence, there would be no justice for him. No public statements would do. Nobody against me would be convinced.

He continued to assert that he had no predatory intentions and then detailed how cancel culture convinced him to kill himself. Im doing it out of intense shame. Were not built to have hundreds (maybe a few thousand?) people judging and/or harassing us at once. A private and solitary mind cant take it.

His sister confirmed his death in a Facebook post on Monday afternoon.

She wrote, It is with the most broken heart that I share my big brother, Ed, has passed away today. Please just keep our family in your prayers as this is the hardest thing weve ever had to go through.

Comics media and the mainstream are ignoring the intense hatred and bullying Piskor went through. They are saying he passed away or merely that he died instead of connecting the dots that Piskor so clearly put in front of everyone to display that if it werent for being canceled, he would still be alive.

He truly thought that if he killed himself, maybe someone would finally listen to him. When posting the suicide letter, he asked those willing to listen, Please share my side of things.

The outcry on social media is doing just that. Comic creators and those who refuse to take the cancel culture bait have expressed their frustration at this horrific situation.

The Quartering reported about it on X, stating, The cancel mob took another life. Ed Piskor, an indie comics artist has taken his own life after an online cancellation over false misconduct accusations.

Otis Frampton wrote, Whatever Ed did or didnt do, this wasnt justice. This was a digital lynching.

"Some people need to rethink their urge to join mobs and seek to destroy the lives of others, he added.

Klaus Janson stated, Ed Piskors death is a gut punch. His suicide note is haunting.

Everything about this is wrong.

Jessica is a reporter for RSBN, Mid Rivers Newsmagazine, and homeschooling mother of five. Find her on Twitter @jessmbaum.

Image: Selbymay
The Hamas terrorists behind the Oct. 7, 2023 jihadist raid literally view their female Israeli captives as horses and other animals -- to be ridden.

During a recent press conference, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stressed that Hamas members could be heard in their own (now captured) recordings referring to their female captives as sabi (or sabiya), an Arabic word that in Islamic jurisprudence refers to non-Muslim female slaves, whom Muslim men could freely copulate with -- in a word, concubines.

Sex-slavery is not only an ironclad aspect of Islam; it is a reflection of piety, as well captured by a 2015 report:

In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old [non-Muslim] girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her -- it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.

He said that by raping me, recalled the 12-year-old, he is drawing closer to God.

Every time that he came to rape me, he would pray, explained another girl, aged 15. He said that raping me is his prayer to God. I said to him, What youre doing to me is wrong, and it will not bring you closer to God. And he said, No, its allowed. Its halal.

Seeing rape as a pious gesture is only one of the oddities of Islamic sex-slavery. In the same press conference, Hagari said that

Hamas treated young women like animals, and that one terrorist could be heard describing a woman as a noble mare.

No doubt, to most (non-Muslim) readers, references to Israelis as animals is a mere reflection of Hamass contempt for its infidel victims, nothing more.

In reality, referring to captured sex-slaves as animals also has a doctrinal aspect, and, as with all things Islamic, traces back to the prophet Muhammad, who regularly presented women as on a par with animals -- as in the famous hadith, where he said Women, dogs, and donkeys annul a mans prayer (Musnad Ibn Hanbal, vol. 2, p. 2992).

If all women -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- are akin to animals when it comes to distracting a man from his prayers, it should come as no surprise that infidel women are akin to animals in all ways. This is made clear by the language employed by the Koran to refer to non-Muslim female captives of war, whom Muslim men are permitted to have sex with. Koran 4:3 reads:

Marry [or copulate with] such women as seem good to you, two, three, and four; but if you fear that you will not do [them] justice, then only one, or what your right hands possess [captive women taken in war].

Curiously, the Arabic relative pronoun used to indicate these captive women is ma: ma [whatever] malakat [possess] aymanukum [your right hands] -- literally, whatever your right hands possess (see Shakirs acclaimed English translation which most literally translates this).

In Arabic, when one refers to a rational being (i.e., a human), the word used is man, which means whomever. Ma, on the other hand, refers only to things or animals -- trees, rocks, dogs, and cats -- very much similar to the English it. Thus, in proper Arabic the phrase might have been man malakat aymanukum: whomever your right hands possess.

Nor is this a stylistic matter. The revered Islamic scholar al-Qurtubi (d.1273) also makes this observation in vol. 5, p.12 of his authoritative 20-volume Tafsir al-Koran (Exegesis of the Koran). He points out that members of the human race should be referred to with man (whomever), whereas only inanimate objects or brute beasts should be referred to with ma (whatever).

To emphasize the point, after considering other hadiths where Muhammad likened women to animals, Qurtubi concludes that A woman may, therefore, be likened to a cow, horse, or camel -- for all are ridden (Tafsir, vol.15, p.172).

Such views are not obsolete. In 2013, for example, during an episode of With Dr. Islam Buhira on al-Qahira wal-Nass television station, Buhira explained how he had attended a conference in Morocco on the status of women in society post Arab Spring, and how at the conference, the exegesis in question -- Women are like cows, horses, and camels, for all are ridden -- was read aloud and presented as legitimate. Somewhat besides himself and disappointed, Buhira added,

This is how al-Qurtubi speaks about women, who include his mother, his daughters -- basically all Muslim women. He says they are all ridden. This is what makes them similar to animals.

In short, when Hamas, ISIS, and other Islamic terrorists treat captive women as animals -- referring to them as mares, etc. -- their behavior and perspective is being informed by Islamic teachings that trace back to Muhammad and the most authoritative sheikhs.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Image: Fruggo
President Joe Bidens welcoming Easter Sunday message posted on X that, Today, on Transgender Day of Visibility, I have a simple message to all trans Americans: I see you was shocking. Most could not understand how the Presidents judgment can be so skewed on the most holy day for Christians.

As offensive as this was, it provides a window through which all can see whats happening. With Bidens cognitive decline being so obvious, there can be little doubt that he is being used by internal and external enemies of America intent on breaking down the constitutional republic of the United States without firing a shot. And its not hard to recognize the plan being followed is parallel to the blueprint plan revealed forty years ago by Soviet defector Yuri Bezmenov, who explained the four stages of communist subversion: 1) Demoralization, 2) Disorientation, 3) Crisis, and 4) Normalization.

The United States has been under prolonged internal attacks of demoralization for several generations, through the educational system and the culture which have delivered messaging that disparages the United States and derides traditional values.

The second stage, known as disorientation, is most successful after a large portion of the population has been demoralized. Covid-19 brought about disorientation through mask mandates, social distancing, quarantines, lockdowns, and the abandonment of best medical practices of preventative and therapeutic treatments. Another important part of disorientation that was inflicted on America at that time was the ginned-up racism after the death of George Floyd, which triggered rioting, looting, and destruction of several billion dollars worth of property and the tearing down of historic statues and memorials in many cities across the United States.

What added to the disorientation of Americans at that time was that for weeks nobody seemed able to do anything about the rioting, lawlessness, and destruction going on in big cities across America. There were few arrests while some 1,000 police officers were injured and 33 were killed. At the same time cities with the most lawlessness like Minneapolis, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore initiated efforts to defund their police and law enforcement.

When nothing makes sense, the subliminal message is, This is not the America you know, its a new world that you have entered. This was as close to a mass state of disorientation in a time of relative peace as Americans have ever experienced.

The stage that follows disorientation is the crisis stage. The crisis stage would come in November 2020 with election rigging. The fear factor of Covid contagion was exploited by Democratic operatives who brought change to swing state election rules that greatly expanded mail-in ballots and drop boxes, which everyone knows facilitates vote fraud.

Simultaneous to the changes to election rules to facilitate stuffing the ballot boxes, a social media censorship and cancellation campaign was undertaken by the Stanford University-based NGO Election Integrity Project (EIP) in consultation with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a unit within the Department of Homeland Security.

EIP had an inordinate influence on the 2020 election by convincing major social media companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, You Tube, Reddit, and Pinterest to change their customer terms of service policies to incorporate language about delegitimization. Once that was accomplished, according to Mike Benz, a former U.S. State Department communications policymaker and an expert on propaganda, the door would be open to instantaneous algorithmic mass censorship and cancellation. EIP then exerted pressure on all the social media companies to adhere to their customer service policies and censor, cancel, or deplatform any content that contained delegitimized terms such as: new election protocols and processes, issues and outcomes, mail-in ballots, early voting, drop boxes, and Antifa. And when the Hunter Biden laptop story broke in mid-October 2020, it was immediately delegitimized, and taken down from every social media site.

In the end by EIPs own admission, Twitter was forced to cancel 22 million tweets that contained misinformation associated with delegitimized terms that violated the companys terms of service prior to the November 2020 election. After the election, when many Americans felt disenfranchised and had many questions about perceived irregularities, they found that social media effectively thwarted discussion about election fraud, again facilitated by censoring and canceling any content containing new delegitimized terms such as Stop the Steal, dead voter rolls, Sharpiegate, manufactured ballots, stolen election, and Postal Service to name a few.

While America is still in the crisis stage, some subversion experts argue that the censorship and cancellation regime that now exists is also part of the last and final stage of communist takeover known as normalization. If Americans are denied access to information, become accustomed to rigged elections, accept limitations on free speech, and acquiesce to the rewriting of history facilitated by cancellation and deconstructing the past, the constitutional republic that was America will be gone, and the new world of government elite control will be normalized. As John Adams, the second president, warned, Liberty once lost is lost forever.

With information narratives coming from government agencies that have direct portals to social media, combined with information and voices being blocked, canceled, or deplatformed on social media by NGOs like Election Integrity Partnership, the result is an Orwellian thought control.

Censorship is not just a violation of the First Amendment and an assault on the Constitution. It is a betrayal of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our entire way of life is protected by the First Amendment, which is the firewall against abuse of power and tyranny.

Scott Powell is a member of the Committee on the Present Danger China and senior fellow at Discovery Institute. His timeless book, Rediscovering America, was a #1 Amazon new release in history for eight straight weeks. Reach him at scottp@discovery.org

Image: Jakayla Toney
Having switched from a three-month aggregation of blacks voting intentions subset of polls, because some were outdated, to now monthly, the number of such polls will of course be less, and open to the criticism that such lower numbers would not be correctly representational.

That is a fair comment. On the other hand, the March aggregate is almost the same as the previous quarterly number of 20.9% across 27 polls, so that may be viewed as a continuum.

The March numbers include extremes at both the high (Rasmussen, 35%) and low levels (Daily Kos/Civiqs, 8%), which again could reflect the small number of polls available, but the aggregation smoothes these out  most gratifyingly, in my opinion.

If on Election Day Trump receives anywhere near these levels of support from black voters, it is hard to see how he would not sweep the core states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Here are six polls with a subset of black voters intentions/support for Trump, March 2024, aggregate 19.1%.

March 1, CBS, 23%

March 2426, Economist/YouGov, 14%

March 912, Daily Kos/Civiqs, 8%

March 57, Rasmussen, 35%

Echelon Insights 16%

March 2125, Quinnipiac, 23%

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Should illegals fresh in through that hole in the border fence be getting more money than disabled U.S. veterans, some of whom are sleeping on the streets?

Only in Joe Biden's world of wide open borders.

According to Newsweek:

A family of four migrants in New York City receives more monthly funding than a family of four that includes a military veteran who receives disability compensation.

...and...

Migrants coming to New York City are being given prepaid debit cards that in certain cases, like food assistance, dwarf the amounts provided to families of legal status. For example, the average family of four's monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment is $713, but migrant families of four receive $1,400 a month. That total is also higher than military veterans' disability compensation. A veteran who has a 50 percent disability rating and a spouse and one child receives $1,255.16 once every four weeks, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. When a child under age 18 is added to that family, the payment rises $51 to $1,306.16 a monthstill nearly $100 less than what a migrant family of four receives from the prepaid card assistance.

Which is complete insanity. Illegal aliens, who are not means-tested, and in some cases are rather well-heeled, judging by their designer duds and cash paid to human-smuggling rackets to get across, shouldn't be getting a single penny from American taxpayers. It's not just that they didn't earn it. It's that immigrants have never gotten the lavish benefit packages we have seen now, making a mockery of the immigrant tradition of arriving penniless and working hard to better one's lot. We don't see that. We see the importation of a vast, unassimilated foreign underclass that will be taking U.S.welfare for generations given the lack of incentive to work and in some cases, lack of experience living any other way. The illegals coming here now are looking for an easier life and with the package now so lavish, migrants consider themselves fools for staying back home instead of coming here and taking it.

Veterans, on the other hand, those men and women who served in uniform during our endless wars in the Middle East, some of whom were discarded by the service after injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (yes, it happens) are getting pauper's rations. Some are some addicted to drugs and in need of treatment, and some are not addicted to drugs, but nevertheless living on the streets as if they were. After being injured in the service to our country, how bitter it must be to be discarded in this manner, only to find themselves "replaced" as the new favorite of Democrats' ministrations.

The veterans who gave their all to this country should be first in line for any extra help from the government or its private sector partners in their situation. That they are thrown to the wolves and left to fend for themselves after the price they paid is outrageous. They should be given every assistance they need, plus compensation for their truncated capacity to provide for themselves. The government should be giving these people houses and everything else they need because they earned it.

Of course, that's not how the exploiters in government see it. Once used up, the service members are discarded.

As one of our American Thinker contributors, Robert J. Hain, memorably asked last year:

Why indeed.

And if the U.S. has this much money to hand out to illegals, why was it not given to the veterans in the first place? Clearly the priorities are screwed up, but more likely, Democrats are angling for illegals' votes and warm seats in their depopulated districts in order to preserve their congressional representation.

It's outrageous what is going on. And it's clearly the result of special interests gone out of control, in the quest for federal cash for their ministrations, and ultimately happening because of the leadership at the top.

Guys like Joe Biden may say they care about America's disabled veterans, but the checks cut to illegals tells a different story. Where your treasure is, so your heart will be.

Image: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, via Picryl // Public Domain Dedication
The problem with leftism is that it boils down to anything to achieve power. That means that your situation constantly changes as you keep adapting to the moments power demands. One minute, youre all about women; the next minute, women take a back seat to so-called trans women. (i.e., men). Yesterday, blacks were your main constituency; today, its all illegal aliens all the time. Intersectionality turns into a literal intersection with a massive multi-car crash. Thats the case in Canada, where a debate rages over using socialized medicine to create a fake vagina for a trans woman who wants to keep her penis.

Socialized medicine was one of Marxisms first dreams. Before leftists ever dreamed up climate change (controlling CO2 means you control everything), Marxists put their hopes on socialized medicine. After all, that puts the government in charge of peoples bodies. Sold as a virtue to ensure that everyone got minimal access to health care, it morphed into minimal health care for everyone, which has long degraded into euthanasia for allespecially in Canada.

But even as Canada pushed euthanasia on depressed, autistic, or handicapped people, so-called transgenderism remained sacrosanct. Let the handicapped die, but that sexually confused man must lose his penis and testicles, have an open wound permanently inserted into his body, get fake boobs, and spend the rest of his life tending to that open wound and taking dangerous, opposite-sex hormones. Only in that way can he fulfill his intersectional destiny.

But what happens if it turns out that the so-called trans woman wants to make his body the intersection of two sexes by adding a vagina but refusing to delete his penis? Do taxpayers foot the bill for that socialized medicine dream? Canadians are about to find out.

Canadas National Post explains the issue:

In a lengthy legal battle that could lead to more requests for individually customized and unorthodox gender-affirming surgeries, an Ontario resident is seeking publicly funded surgery to construct a vagina while preserving the penis. The case, now before the courts, reflects a small but growing demand for niche surgeries for people who identify as non-binary, meaning neither exclusively female nor exclusively male. To critics, the procedures are risky experiments that illustrate how far off the rails gender-affirming medicine has gone and the excesses of consumer-driven gender embodiment. Our public health-care system is at the breaking point and really needs to focus on procedures that are medically necessary, Pamela Buffone, founder of the parents group Canadian Gender Report, said in an email to the National Post.

According to LGBTQ+ activists, if it makes just one transgender person feel better, taxpayers need to cough up the green. To say that the government should have to pay for one sex organ per person is exclusion and discriminates against nonbinary people on the basis of their gender identity, says Egale Canada, which is arguing for the man who wants it all.

One of the blessings of conservativism and ethical monotheism is that these values are fixed points. Under the Ten Commandments, for example, murder is always wrong. Self-defense is acceptable, and we recognize some nuances, such as manslaughter, but murder itself is still a big no-no.

However, if youre a leftist, whether murder occurs depends on whos the perpetrator and whos the victim. Its murder when a police officer follows the rules in the face of a hostile crowd by controlling a felon accused of a crime if that felon then dies from heart disease and illegal drugs. However, its not murder if an oppressed person from a non-privileged class kills someone more privileged than the murderer. (And I know most prosecutors will still indict the oppressed person, but that fact enrages activists.)

The way I see it is that conservativism and ethical monotheism provide compass points. No matter where you are, you know what the values are and how to find them. If youre told to go west to get to your destination, west you will go. However, leftism is like being given a long list of complicated directions: Turn left here, turn right there, make a U-turn on that street, cut through the parking lot, etc. Get one of those instructions wrongor watch the instructions change according to the political windsand you are lost.

Moreover, if everyone is trying to follow a complicated list of constantly changing instructions, what you end up with is a huge pile-up in the intersection of politics and culture. Law and order crash headlong into race, which struggles with illegal aliens, who dislike transgenders, who are hostile to gays and lesbians (whom they see as denying their true transgender identity)and all of them want a finite pie of government benefits. And thats how you end up with a Canadian court trying to figure out whether taxpayers have to fund surgery for a man who wants to become a she-male.

Image: Intersectionality's inevitable end by AI.
Interview: China-Honduras cooperation expanded after a year of diplomatic ties -- Honduran official

Xinhua) 10:46, April 04, 2024

TEGUCIGALPA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Since forging diplomatic ties a year ago, China and Honduras have made notable progress in expanding reciprocal cooperation and exchanges, said Honduran Secretary of State in the Office of the Presidency Rodolfo Pastor.

Vigorous relations highlight a climate of mutual political trust and growing bilateral trade, Pastor told Xinhua in a recent interview on the occasion of the first anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

"It has been a year of many firsts, of many emotions," said Pastor, for whom, the opening of embassies in Tegucigalpa and Beijing has facilitated more trade and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The free trade agreement (FTA) early harvest arrangement signed by Honduras and China in February is a milestone set to further expand bilateral ties once the trade deal is signed and comes into effect, he said.

"The agreement will be crucial for the economic development of Honduras," said Pastor. "We have already participated in trade fairs in China, promoting our emblematic products such as tobacco, coffee and chocolate."

Highlighting that China and Honduras base their relationship on "a vision of reciprocal gain, where Honduras can benefit by bringing its quality products to the Chinese market," Pastor said, "Accessing the Chinese market is an opportunity to enhance our national production and add value to our products."

Pastor noted that China, as one of the main engines of the global economy and a factor of stability in times of crisis, plays a crucial role in stabilizing global economic growth.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative also offers Honduras opportunities, aligning with Honduras' national re-foundation project, through which the government aims to strengthen regional integration and improve infrastructure to promote development, he said.

"Inequality is one of our main challenges. We take inspiration from China, which has managed to lift millions of people out of poverty and promote inclusive development," said Pastor, stressing that Honduras wants to bridge socioeconomic gaps threatening its development and generate shared prosperity for all Hondurans.

He also stressed the importance of cultural exchanges for strengthening bilateral ties, saying "cultural and academic exchange allows us to learn from each other and strengthen our relationship."

Honduras is working on policies to improve its investment climate and promote strategic sectors such as agribusiness and infrastructure, Pastor said.

"We are committed to continuing to strengthen our bilateral relationship in all areas, from trade to infrastructure and development cooperation. China is a strategic partner for the development of Honduras," he said.

Pastor visited China last November in a high-level delegation from Honduras for the sixth China International Import Expo, where the Central American country was the Guest Country of Honor.

"I hope that this first year of diplomatic relations is just a beginning for relations that go much further," he said.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Juan Vicente Perez Mora, the latest title-holder of the Guinness World Record for the oldest living man, died aged 114 on Wednesday (Apr. 3) after only two years of holding on to the title.

CBS News reported that Perez died just weeks before his 115th birthday. He was the fourth oldest validated living person in the world and was reportedly the only man alive born before 1911.

At the time, he credited his longevity to "working hard, resting on holidays, going to bed early, drinking a glass of aguardiente every day, loving God, and always carrying him in his heart."

Immensely devout, Perez said that faith was central to his life, and he prayed at least twice daily," Guinness said in its obituary.

Read Also : Venezuela Orders UN Human Rights Office To Suspend Operations Over Anti-Government Activity

Perez was born on May 27, 1909, in Venezuela to Euquitio Perez and Edelmira Mora and died in the state of Tachira.

"Our dear Juan Vicente Perez Mora, today with deep sadness and pain we say goodbye to you, to that archetype of a man from Tachira, humble, hard-working, peaceful, enthusiastic about family and tradition," Tachira governor Freddy Bernal wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Perez had 11 children with his wife, Ediofina del Rosario Garcia, who died in 1997, and by the time he died, he had 42 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and 12 great-great-grandchildren.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also paid tribute to Perez on social media.

"Juan Vicente Perez Mora has transcended into eternity at 114 years old," he said. "I send my embrace and condolences to his family and to all the people of El Cobre, Tachira state. May God receive him in his holy glory."

With Perez's death, the Gerontology Research Group said they are working to find the world's oldest living man. Contenders are Japanese Gisaburo Sonobe, born on November 6, 1911, and Brazilian Josias de Oliveira, born on October 21, 1911.

The group said both birth dates needed to be confirmed before the title could be awarded.
Scotland has a new blasphemy law that affirms the newest Western faith, one that revolves around transgenderism. JK Rowling, however, used her fame to oppose the law by violating it and, for now, has won. In America, we think this cant happen here because of the First Amendment, but I think were being unduly optimistic because its already happening here.

Scotlands newest blasphemy law was folded into the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill 2021. Under the old English common law, its always been illegal to make threats of imminent action. However, the current law says that, if you become in special categories, its also illegal if you do things (speech or other forms of communication that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening, abusive, or insulting and that are intended to stir up hatred against a group of persons. Thus, abuse and insults are now illegal if directed at a protected class.

The familiar protected categories are age, disability, religion or, in the case of a social or cultural group, perceived religious affiliation. Sexual orientation has, I believe, been on the verboten list for a while, too. Whats new is transgender identity. If you say something to a self-identified transgender person in Scotland, a group notoriously known for hair-trigger sensibilities and paranoia, you face seven years in prison and a fine.

Not coincidentally, the same act states, The common law offence of blasphemy [against Christianity] is abolished. Now, theres a new form of blasphemy against the modern state religion. (Im indebted to Logan Lancings and James Lindsays The Queering of the American Child for clearly explaining how this religion works.)

AI rendering of JK Rowling speaking into a megaphone.

The Bible says that God is the creator of all things, including men and women. Marx, however, said that creation isnt from God but from man, for we created the past and the present and will create the future. However, the burdens of the past and the norms of the present interfere with peoples divine creative abilities.

Marx believed capitalismthe boss stealing the workers creativity sparkprevented each man from his apotheosis. If people were freed from capitalism and allowed to live in a glorious collective, the economic chains would break, and their god-like natures would soar.

In America, though, the evil growing pains of the factory system soon led to an exceptionally prosperous and comfortable nation with a high degree of social mobility. Marxist theorists realized that, to create unchain humankinds divinity, they would have to focus on social issues in the form of norms created in the past and still burdening the present.

Under this theory, humans tap into their divinity by abandoning the norms surrounding their bodies, whether biological reality or societal expectations flowing from reality. That is the most profound break with the history and norms that keep people from being free.

I saw where this was going in 2010, before transgenderism took center stage, explaining that the leftist obsession with child sexuality was to break childrens ties with their bodies so they were vulnerable to state control. That was certainly phase one, but its transgenderism that goes the next step, from state control, to man the divine.

Back in those days, when I was still writing as Bookworm, I realized something else: JK Rowling, even though she was (and is) a leftist, believed in capital T Truth. In 2006, even before Rowling completed the Harry Potter books, which ended with Harry Potter following in Aslans literary footsteps to sacrifice himself and be resurrected, I noticed that Rowling understood good versus evil, including recognizing the concept of a just war. She couldnt have written so well if these were just standard literary tropes.

Thats why I wasnt surprised when Rowling took a firm stand against transgender madness. Denying biological reality is not a capital T Truth for someone who wrote a modern religious parable. Instead, its a capital L Lie. Over the years, shes repeatedly used Twitter to challenge transgender shibboleths. She tried at one time to separate sex from gender, but I believe she realized that bird wouldnt fly.

In any event, with Scotlands anti-speech and anti-reality law in place, Rowling came out swinging, daring Scotland to prosecute her for identifying men who pretend to be women and who often commit vile and violent crimes:

Lovely Scottish lass and convicted double rapist Isla Bryson found her true authentic female self shortly before she was due to be sentenced. Misgendering is hate, so respect Islas pronouns, please. Love the leggings! 2/11 pic.twitter.com/aKgOWRdb4K  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Samantha Norris was cleared of exposing her penis to two 11-year-old girls. Hooray! Unfortunately she was then convicted for possession of 16,000 images of children being raped and sexually assaulted. Be that as it may, Sams still a lady to me! 4/11 pic.twitter.com/GG2kLql3Ea  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

But most women arent axe-toters or sex offenders, so lets talk role models! Guilia Valentino (in red) wanted to play on the women's team 'because of sisterhood, validation and political visibility'. Naturally, she was given some boring cis girls place. Yay for inclusion! 6/11 pic.twitter.com/zl5i41RqBG  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Munroe Bergdorf isnt just a pretty face! Public campaigner for a childrens charity until safeguarding concerns were raised, she was appointed UN Womens first ever UK champion. What makes a woman a woman has no definitive answer, says Munroe. Great choice, UN Women! 8/11 pic.twitter.com/za6GG5q2Oo  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Last, but least, TVs India Willoughby proves we women can call a black broadcaster a nasty bitch who wouldnt be anywhere without woke, dub lesbians men, insult the looks of a female Olympic swimmer, joke about kidnapping feminists, and STILL get airtime! What a gal! 10/11 pic.twitter.com/gShqbEvO5s  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Wow. @IndiaWilloughby calling everyone on the list a sex offender, excluding only himself, was the twist I didn't see coming. pic.twitter.com/eAydeaEFXl  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Today the Hate Crime & Public Order Act (Scotland) 2021 came into force @MaryHowden from @WRNScotland said "It is an Act that will have a chilling effect on free speech & women's rights.

Women won't be silenced! Facts are not hate. Truth should not be suppressed"#FactIsNotHate pic.twitter.com/l23EAH4RvC  WRN Scotland (@WRNScotland) April 1, 2024

Fake women instantly made it plain that they were abused and insulted, which should have triggered the Act:

The intelligence and wit of todays finely-honed counter arguments are well up to the usual high standard. pic.twitter.com/Rstl8CrfA2  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Totally agree. I have been DELIBERATELY DEFIANT, in spite of some random blokes advice. A full investigation MUST be mounted. #ArrestMe



Also, visit Scotland, land of the free! pic.twitter.com/8HqgxofwtN  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 1, 2024

Technically, Rowling should have been hauled off in chains. Instead, Scotland backed down:

Breaking: Police Scotland says they will NOT log a a Non-Crime Hate Incident against JK Rowling.



A spokesperson said: The circumstances have been assessed and will not be recorded as a Non-Crime Hate Incident.  Andrew Learmonth (@andrewlearmonth) April 3, 2024

If JK Rowlings posts calling out biological menand abusing and insulting them arent actionable, then nothing can be actionable in that regard. Nor does it help the transgender cause that the only person with more demands for arrest under the law than JK Rowling is Humza Yousaf, Scotlands First Minister (although his are anti-white, race-based complaints).

Its great to see Rowling win this battle, but its only one battle in a nation that has no First Amendment enshrining free speech. And heres the kicker: If you think it cant happen here, it can. After all, the entire Democrat establishment is prosecuting Trump for complaining about an election outcome and urging people to go to Congress to make their voices peacefully heard, two essential elements of core free speech because theyre both political.

Trumps not the only one being persecuted. Jurisdictions all over America pass laws and regulations exposing conservatives to prosecution or civil actions for wrong think and wrong speech. And do I even need to get started on Big Techs censorious activities, even though they have effectively become the public square in America?

Looking at Americas creeping censorship, do you see any American billionaires other than Trump having Rowlings courage when it comes to Truth?

Ill leave you with Matt Walsh's opening monologue about Rowlings stance and the condition of speech in America.
In Israel's war on Hamas, an unfortunate incident occurred where a U.S.-based group delivering food aid saw its vehicle bombed and its occupants, including a U.S.-Canadian dual citizen, were killed.

Israel apologized, and called it the fog of war.

Joe Biden blew his easily blown top.

According to the New York Times:

In a sharply worded statement, Mr. Biden said that he was outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of the workers, who included a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. The seven workers, traveling in a convoy, were with World Central Kitchen, a charity that was helping to feed starving Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. Mr. Biden noted that the deaths were not a stand-alone incident, and that the conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. The presidents blunt criticism of an ally highlighted his growing impatience with Israels conduct of the war and increasing tensions with its leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the death toll in Gaza has climbed, according to Gazan health authorities, past 32,000.

Which is nonsense. Aid workers have been killed in war zones for as long as war has existed, and many of the so-called aid workers in this conflict have been actual members of Hamas. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, was famous for having at least 12 staff members on the terrorist team who actually participated in the October 7 terror attacks on Israel. Hundreds more cheered on internet bulletin boards, and Israel says there are more than just this dirty dozen.

Just because someone is billed an 'aid worker' doesn't mean that delivering aid is the only thing they're doing.

But let's say that this group had no Hamas sympathies and just wanted to deliver aid to what they believed were non-Hamas supporters in Gaza.

Joe Biden is the last person who should be pointing a finger at Israel for civilian deaths.

Does Biden think anyone has forgotten what happened in the wake of his disastrous Afghanistan pullout, when, in a failed retaliation for the suicide bombings that killed 13 U.S. service members, he blew up a vehicle full of seven children and three others?

According to the New York Times, in a report dated Jan. 19, 2022:

WASHINGTON  Newly declassified surveillance footage provides additional insights about the final minutes and aftermath of a botched U.S. drone strike last year in Kabul, Afghanistan, showing how the military made a life-or-death decision based on imagery that was fuzzy, hard to interpret in real time and prone to confirmation bias. The strike on Aug. 29 killed 10 innocent people  including seven children  in a tragic blunder that punctuated the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan. The disclosure of the videos was a rare step by the U.S. military in any case of an airstrike that caused civilian casualties, and is the first time any footage from the Kabul strike has been seen publicly. The videos encompass about 25 minutes of silent footage from two drones  a military official said both were MQ-9 Reapers  showing the minutes before, during and after the strike.

That's ten innocent people who didn't need to die, and based on reports since, were good and decent family people with no ties to terrorists.

The Times report highlighted the risks of military operations "under extreme pressure" in a "densely populated neighborhood," in its report, which sounds a lot like Gaza and the conditions encountered there by the Israel Defense Forces.

Instead of give our ally the benefit of the doubt, Biden goes and points the finger, as if the U.S. couldn't possibly make such a mistake in the fog of war with terrorists shooting.

Fact is, the U.S. with its permawars has killed thousands of civilians and even some aid workers, too. Remember her?

When a combatant group is using aid workers and everyone else as human shields in order to carry out terrorism, it's inevitable that there will be civilian deaths. Reporters, medical personnel, relief workers, and NGO personnel have not been exempt.

The U.S. is responsible for large numbers of civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, as the New Yorker described here, and it appears Israel has, too.

A little humility here from Biden would work better than this disingenuous finger-pointing, given that the U.S. has made unintentional mistakes in the fog of war, too.

That Biden can be such a flaming hot hypocrite in this instance is obviously a bid to shore up his pro-Hamas voting base as he seeks re-election.

It's just sad that we as Americans are being dragged along for his sanctimonious ride.

Image: U.S. National Archives, via Picryl // No known copyright restrictions
(Be sure to read Monica Showalters take on Joe Bidens epic and ugly hypocrisy.)

I try not to write about the same subject twice in one day, but sometimes the news makes doing so impossible to avoid. In this case, I wrote a post earlier today about the fact that the rules of war are different when it comes to Israel (basically, it may not kill the enemy or achieve any of its military objectives). In that post, I noted that Hamas may have figured out that, if it can use its own civilians as a shield generally for its military, it can very specifically use foreign useful idiots to protect high-value targetswhich is what it seems to have done with the aid workers. And for Hamas, if something happens to those useful idiots, all the better, as Joe Biden just demonstrated with a threat to destroy Israel.

The important thing to note here is that Hamas was probably using those aid workers to act as shields for a high-value military operative:

The 'accident story' is just cover for an informant. The convoy was destroyed 11km south of their dock at 1am in the morning, after going north to Gaza City delivery, then driving past their dock halfway to Rafah. They were smuggling a Hamas leader out of Gaza City past IDF. pic.twitter.com/eyik5t2trJ    (@ShlomoHizkiyahu) April 4, 2024

Of course, as Fusilli Spock notes, even if the useful idiots werent protecting a legitimate military target, they deliberately inserted themselves into a hot war zone, making themselves legitimate military targets. Death was always on the table. Its only when Israel is a combatant in the war that these rules cease to apply.

For Biden, though, it was enough that he now had something solid to latch onto. During an hour-long phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden told Bibi that the useful idiots deaths required Israel immediately to surrender to Hamas. I know Biden didnt use those exact words, but thats what Biden meant:

A furious President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the airstrikes that killed seven aid workers were 'unacceptable' and demanded he push toward an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Biden, 81, upped the ante in the hour-long phone call on Thursday and and [sic] warned Bibi that Israel could lose American support if civilians kept getting hurt and killed. The White House said it want[s] changes within 'hours and days.' The U.S. president has faced increasing pressure to get tougher on Netanyahu after the strike that killed seven food aid workers, including a dual American-Canadian citizen earlier this week. The call on Thursday is a turning point, with Biden saying the situation in Gaza cannot carry on like this.

We can guess at the forces driving the grotesque old man in the Oval Office when he threatens a liberal democracy and an American ally fighting for its survival.

First, Biden has always hated Israel, for he tried to do exactly the same thing in 1992 when he was a Senator and Israel was fighting against Islamists in southern Lebanon (an Israeli victory that gave Lebanon a brief respite from Islamism before Iran moved in for good).

Second, Biden desperately needs to win the Muslim vote in Michigan and Minnesota (and Ohio and elsewhere) if he is to stay in the White House. In other words, to win, hell pander to those states genocidal maniacs (who are quite open about their genocidal mania) rather than allow Israel to end an organization that is one of Irans worldwide agents of Islamic terrorism. Iran, incidentally, has been at war with America since 1979, notwithstanding both Obamas and Bidens attempts to buy it off. (Death to America!!)

Third, Jill told Biden to stop the war:

One of the strongest voices inside the White House urging an end to civilian casualties in Gaza is the person closest to the president: Jill Biden. At a meeting with Muslim community members at the White House on Tuesday evening, one guest told President Biden that his wife had disapproved of him coming to the meeting because of Mr. Bidens support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Mr. Biden replied that he understood. The first lady, he said, had been urging him to Stop it, stop it now, according to an attendee who heard his remarks. Salima Suswell, the founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, recounted the scene in an interview, adding that she had scribbled down the presidents statements because it was so striking to hear that the first lady felt strongly about the conflict. He said she said, Stop it, stop it now, Joe, Ms. Suswell said.

When you combine Bidens antipathy to Israel with his election calculus and his wifes moral indecencywell, Biden had no choice but to tell Israel to surrender. And surrender is the right word, for Biden has acknowledged that a ceasefire allows Hamas to regroup to fight another day, all without turning over the hostages, which has been Israels primary military objective.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a willing Kapo who loves to shield his complicity by hiding behind the fact that his stepfather was a victim of the worst the Nazis had to offer, is excited about the thought of Israels imminent surrender. And please note that, even as Biden and Blinken are allegedly horrified by the American who died in Gaza while giving aid and comfort to a terrorist organization, theyve been unmoved by the plight of those Americans whom Hamas holds hostage.

This wouldnt be happening if Trump were in the White House. Trump would have strongly supported Israel, giving her the moral support she so badly needs in an evil, broken world. But more than that, this never would have started on October 7 if Trump had been in the White House because the worlds bad actors, from Putin to Hamas, knew that Trump would destroy them were they to upset world peace on his watch. As for Bidenwell, I know what I want to say, but I wont lower American Thinkers tone if I actually said it.

Image: Biden and Netanyahu (edited). YouTube screengrab.
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed that exhorbitant $20 an hour minimum wage law for fast-food workers, franchise owners warned of restaurant shutdowns and employee layoffs, but no matter. Newsom insisted he was championing the little guy against the exploitation done by their corporate employers:

California is home to more than 500,000 fast-food workers who  for decades  have been fighting for higher wages and better working conditions. Today, we take one step closer to fairer wages, safer and healthier working conditions, and better training by giving hardworking fast-food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table.

What drivel. The law he signed was fraught with exceptions for political cronies and seemed to specially punish small franchise owners in Southern California beach and inland towns, same as was done during Newsom's COVID lockdowns.

Now we learn that Newsom won't cough up the same amount for his own employees at his tony gourmet restaurant located out on billionaire's row in San Francisco.

According to Newsweek:

A restaurant partially owned by California Governor Gavin Newsom is recruiting for a $16-per-hour role, despite a new state law guaranteeing a minimum wage of $20 per hour for fast-food workers. The restaurant appears not to meet the threshold for the new minimum wage, a law that Newsom himself signed to much fanfare in September. On April 1, the new law guaranteeing a minimum wage of $20 per hour for fast-food workers employed in large chains took effect across California, up from the previous minimum of $16. The law was passed by Democrats in the state legislature last year but has come under fire from some Republicans who claim it will cost jobs. A wage of $20 per hour for a full-time worker results in an annual salary of $41,600. The new law applies to those restaurants that are part of a chain of 60 or more venues nationwide and which offer limited or no table service.

Which is just so very ... Newsom. The far-left Democrat never fails to carve out an exception for himself when he's imposing expensive, burdensome regulations onto small businesses in the state. For him, he's always the exception.

Instead of set an example of good corporate-citizenship by coughing up the $20 an hour and raising his food prices on his customers, too, as fast-food franchise owners have had no choice but to do, he and his Democrats in Sacramento first exempted his kind of restaurant, the tony fancy boutique restaurant that caters to the rich, and then Newsom threw it in our faces by offering a sub-$20 an hour wage to his workers, the kind whose skill-set qualifications for bussing tables are about the same as those of fast-food workers.

The guy working in the McDonald's across town gets $20 an hour, but the guy working in Newsom's fancy establishment gets just $16 for the same labor. All this, in the country's most expensive city, San Francisco, which is what this law was all about -- that living wage Newsom waxed so sanctimoniously about.

It's par for the course for him. After imposing lockdowns on the entire state, throwing countless restaurants, gyms, beauty salons, and other small businesses out of business, he himself went to dine out at the ultra-fancy Michelin-starred establishment French Laundry with all his lobbyist buddies and political cronies, none of them wearing their masks.

He knows his measures punish small businesses, but he doesn't care, because he's got his marching orders from Big Labor, which is the source of this bad law, and he probably believes his own baloney anyway.

Costs for thee, but not for me, you see. Call it the Newsom Doctrine.

He can't cough up an extra $4 an hour for the busboy even for appearance's sake?

Obviously, his head has grown too big with all that Brylcream. Time to get rid of that law, or better still, get rid of him through that new recall referendum now making the rounds.

Image: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0
The discussion about the acceptability of using nuclear weapons usually occurs around August 6 of every year, the date that Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima; world events have rekindled this discussion outside of its usual season.

Absent from the discussion is how the Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and other Asian peoples felt about being colonially occupied by Japan. Often, Japanese revisionist historians will try to whitewash Japanese history, in alliance with U.S. far leftists, to portray the U.S. involvement in WWII as imperialistic against a non-white people.

First, let us address what Japan was doing in Asia in the early 20th century. Quite literally, Japan wanted to build a European-style empire and become equal partners in colonialism with Europe. In a span of less than 40 years, from 1868 to 1905, Emperor Meiji radically transformed his nation. He turned Japan from a people of medieval rice farmers in 1868 to a Great Power, the equal of any European power, by defeating Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.

The significance of Admiral Togos victory over what effectively amounted to the entire Russian navy is hard to overstate and is not well-known today. In 1905, the idea that a non-white power could win a naval victory over a European power was practically unheard of. A European army might lose to a primitive army at Isandlwana where the British were outnumbered ten-to-one. But the idea that a nation who, 40 years prior, did not even possess the technical knowledge of how to operate a steam warship could defeat a mighty empire like Imperial Russia shook Asia and the world.

This victory in 1905 set Japan on a political course that would eventually lead to August 6, 1945. An ideology developed where Japan saw itself as the Father of Asia who was to protect the other child races from European exploitation. Sadly, it did not take long for Japanese Colonialism to far exceed the excesses of British, French, or Dutch colonialism (the major European powers in the region) and kill more people than the Belgians in the Congo.

These excesses culminated in events like the Rape of Nanking. Over the course of six weeks in 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army conducted a series of war crimes that ranged from mass rape to literal execution games where Japanese officers tried to behead as many Chinese civilians as possible. These execution games were advertised as sporting events by the Japanese press. As many as 300,000 people were murdered during the massacre. (In comparison, the Union Army lost about that many soldiers in the American Civil War over four years.)

Things were so bad, that staunch Nazi John Rabe, a German businessman living in Nanking, used his consular papers to help Chinese civilians escape the massacre. The Japanese were so evil that the leader of the Nazi Partys local branch in Nanking risked his life to save 250,000 non-white lives from the Japanese. Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews in WWII from people like John Rabe.

The Rape of Nanking was merely the tip of the iceberg of what Japan was doing in their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. In Korea, many women were sexually enslaved and the local population impoverished so badly by Japanese Colonialism that many other women voluntarily sold themselves to brothels. In Burma, the Nationalist and Founding Father Aung San started World War II believing that Japan could liberate his country from evil European Colonialism. By 1944, Aung San had completely switched sides, supported the British, and wanted the British back in Burma due to the sheer amount of war crimes committed by the Japanese.

In India, Japanese soldiers literally committed cannibalism on captured Indian soldiers.

Whatever a betrayal Pearl Harbor was to the United States, Japan had been acting worse than Nazis (literally) in Asia long before the USS Arizona went to the bottom. The people of Asia had been suffering under Japanese imperialism for half a century before Yamamoto attacked Pearl Harbor.

I was surprised to find, after much internet research, that nobody seems to have polled the Koreans, Chinese, Burmese, or Filipinos about whether they felt the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified. (Note: If any reader can identify such polling that took place after the war of people who lived through those occupations, please contact me via Twitter/X.)

The biggest victims of Japanese imperial aggression are totally left out of the conversation on the morality of the use of nuclear weapons against Japan. This is a historical travesty and is difficult to address since virtually anyone still alive who lived through those times is very elderly now, and was very young at the time of the events in question.

I was born in Korea and am a mix of Korean and Japanese. I would implore anyone considering the morality of using nuclear weapons against Japan to consider the feelings of those who were living under the slavery of Japanese occupation. It was an occupation so bad, that even Nazis in the area felt compelled to help the oppressed. Even if events like the Rape of Nanking do not justify the use of nuclear weapons, I am very certain that if I were living under Japanese slavery at the time, I would have said please nuke Japan sooner rather than later, my daughter would like to stop being a sex slave for Japanese soldiers.

Twitter/X: @sinclairjulianr

Image: Public domain.
As the New York Post opinion writer James Bovard reminds us, The Washington Posts Philip Bump is the last prominent DC journalist who still insists the Hunter Biden laptop was a Russian plot so needless to say, Bump is the village idiot of the mainstream media (even Hunter himself doesnt claim that anymore).

But, in a nearly-unbelievable truth-is-stranger-than-fiction moment, Bump penned a Tuesday editorial for the self-endowed protector of democracy outlet, petitioning the reader to consider the plight of the poor, unappreciated, and financially-struggling members of Congress. (Yes, seriously, and this was not a belated April Fools Day joke.)

Heres what Bump wrote:

From the outside, being a member of the House of Representatives seems like a uniquely crummy job. Sure, you have some ostensible power, but it doesnt actually manifest very often for many people, thanks to the chambers general antipathy toward consensus. Members havent gotten a raise in more than a decade and have to spend a big chunk of their time trying to raise money to campaign to keep their jobs.

First of all, if theres any perceived antipathy toward consensus its exactly that: perceived. This is the Uniparty about which were talking after all. Sure weve got a few firebrand conservatives in the ranks, but arent they also at the taxpayer trough? How many of those firebrand conservatives are forgoing their salaries, saying no to the perks and benefits, and truly approaching what is supposed to be civil service like true sacrificial service to the American people? Congress is not supposed to be lucrative, and its not supposed to be a careeror as Bump says, a job, like its legitimate private sector employmentbut like all the rest of Capitol Hill, our firebrand conservatives apparently missed the memo.

Dont get me wrong, Im glad theyre not just rubber-stamping the Democrat bills, but thats not impressive for a firebrand conservative, thats just the bare minimum for anyone in the Republican party at this point. Congress shouldnt even be a salaried position; members should receive a simple, modest daily stipend, and normal travel expenses, paid for by the members constituency.

Second of all, if there is some sort of legitimate policy struggle, thats only because when Democrats present a bill, their asks are so ludicrously absurd, agreeing to their requests would be political suicide for Republicans who still have to at least feign that theyre working for their voters. D.C. Democrats ask for the world, and winnow things down to compromise which is always a loss for conservative policies/values/principles. The national debt never goes down, a government program once-created never shutters, treason goes unpunished, illegal spying and surveillance on we the people continues, and everybody but the American taxpaying citizenry gets considered with our dollars.

Its a thankless job, because based on their work performance, they deserve absolutely no thanks!

Also from Bovard:

House members also receive a yearly salary of $174,000  more than triple the average US salary and higher pay than 93% of Americans pocket. But the raw numbers vastly understate their windfalls. The House was in session for only 117 days last year, so members received almost $1,500 each day they worked  even if they only had a 15-minute token appearance in the Capitol.

Three times the average American salary, and in the top 7% of American earners as far as money pocketed. Shameful. These people cant even pass a balanced budget, meaning all the money theyre currently siphoning off of us gets saddled onto our backs, with interest.

Oh but those poor impoverished politicians! They havent had a raise in ten years! Listen Bump, Id happily agree to a small raise if they never showed up to work because that would be the real service. Or, how about they get a raise when they abolish the federal income tax? How about they all score million-dollar bonuses when they return to the gold standard, abolish the Federal Reserve, and hold criminal bureaucrats liable? How about when they balance the budget, and eliminate the bureaucracy? How about anyone who votes to send a single dollar overseas, gets stripped of their salary and benefits?

And, how many of them have unreported income?

What about the people who lost their businesses and livelihoods to government closures? To mandated jabs? What about the people who cant even afford to buy a modest home? What about the people working multiple jobs just to make ends meet? What about the people who can no longer make ends meet? Fallout of federal economic policies based on the cowardice or corruption of those poor Capitol Hill creatures.

Alms? Alms for Congress? Hard pass.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.
Much to many companies disdain, the EU has introduced the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is a set of rules making sure that large companies do not become gatekeepers of certain technologies and stifle fair competition. The DMA has been a thorn in Apples side, as the company has had to make some rather large changes to its operations in the EU. Well, according to a new report, Apple might be required to let users uninstall the Photos app in the EU.

So far, one of the biggest changes Apple has had to make is allowing third-party companies to offer their own app stores on iOS. Since its creation, the Apple App Store has been the only place to download apps for iPhones and iPads. Well, this is something that the EU deems as gatekeeping. So far, several companies have announced their own iOS app stores.

Thats just one example of the kinds of changes that Apple has had to make in the EU. Since Apple is such a large company, its likely to brush up against the DMA many more times as time goes on.

Apple may have to let EU customers uninstall the Photos app

While there are plenty of third-party options for camera roll applications on iOS, the native Photos app is the primary option. As you can imagine, it is deeply integrated into iOS, and almost all users access their camera roll through it.

Well, EU competition head Margrethe Vestager said in a statement that Apple [has] failed to make several apps un-installable (one of them would be Photos). Because of this, the company may technically be in violation of the DMA. As such, its possible that Apple could be forced to let users uninstall the photos app in the EU. However, there are no statements officially pointing to this. Theres just a possibility that the EU could look into it.

This may push things too far

Weve seen the EU do a lot of good to make sure that other companies have a chance of competing in several markets. However, if it does force Apple to let users uninstall the Photos app, it might be pushing things a little too far.

John Gruber, a writer for Daring Fireball, said in a statement, Photos is not just an app on iOS; its the system-level interface to the camera roll. This is true. Its the same for most Android devices. Most Android devices use Google Photos as the default photo picker and camera roll application. While third-party applications can play this role, Google Photos is the system-level application.

Gruber continues, [Photos] is integrated throughout the entire iOS system, with per-app permission prompts to grant differing levels of access to your photos. So, letting users uninstall photos will be like letting users uninstall a core part of the iOS operating system. It could create major complications on Apples end. It is a monumental demand, according to Gruber.

If this happens, then Apple may have to take drastic measures

According to the report, some people may have been floating the idea that Apple could stop selling iPhones in the EU. If so, then that will be a massive blow to those countries. Sure, there is a huge iOS vs. Android War going on. However, in all honesty, iPhones make up a large part of the smartphone culture globally. Its a driving force of innovation and it definitely plays a large role in the smartphone culture in the EU. The EU market consists of about 450 million iPhone users. It makes up about 7% of Apples global revenue. So, its not possible that this would go without monumental pushback.

If Apple is in violation of the DMA, then it could be fined up to 10% of its Global Revenue. Strictly speaking numbers, getting rid of 7% of its revenue by cutting ties with the EU will have a smaller Financial impact than being fined a full 10%. However, its not about the numbers.

Hopefully, the EU does not force Apple to stop selling iPhones in Europe. Out of the 450 million people, we know that countless individuals use iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers to run their lives.
Samsung has added a handy new feature to the Expert RAW app for the Galaxy S23 series and Galaxy Z Fold 5. The company has updated the app to add an Auto option for ND Filter. Earlier, you could only manually adjust the strength of the ND Filter feature, with no automatic adjustment.

Samsung brings Auto ND Filter to Galaxy S23 with Expert RAW update

ND Filter, aka Neutral Density Filter, is a feature that reduces the intensity of light entering the camera sensor. Professional photographers use it for better control over exposure and shutter speed, so they can capture a shot the way they want. The feature helps improve the overall quality of the image.

Samsung added a digital ND Filter feature to its Expert RAW app, which offers professional-grade camera features on supported Galaxy devices, with the One UI 6.0 update last year. Users could adjust the strength of the filter across ten different levels. While it was a great addition, the lack of automatic adjustment made it difficult for people to perfect the intensity of the filter, particularly those getting started with the feature.

The company fixed this issue on One UI 6.1, which debuted with the Galaxy S24 series. Last week, it released the new One UI version for the Galaxy S23, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Tab S9. Samsung said it will soon follow up with an update for Expert RAW to bring an Auto mode for ND Filter to supported devices. As promised, the update is now available on the Galaxy Store (link below).

With Expert RAW version 3.0.05.12, you get a button to switch between Manual and Auto modes for ND Filter. The button appears on the left of the ND Filter slider. When in Auto mode, the strength is adjusted automatically depending on the amount of light coming to the camera sensor. If you manually adjust the slider after the device has selected a filter strength, it automatically switches to Manual mode.

Older Galaxy flagships and foldables dont support the feature

ND Filter on Expert RAW is only available on the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy S23 series, and Galaxy Z Fold 5. Samsung says it wont be available on older flagships due to compatibility issues. The app still offers plenty of additional camera tools on those devices. If you havent already updated the app to the latest version, you can download it from the Galaxy Store. If the update isnt available for you today, wait a few days and check again.
Many typical smartphone users might not be familiar with the name Fairphone. This is a small and pretty niche smartphone company that manufactures modular smartphones. These are phones with parts that are easily replaceable so that they can last much longer than traditional smartphones. It has a goal to reduce e-waste, and its a pretty strong player in the sustainable smartphone market. Well, Fairphone is planning on expanding to more markets.

The thinking behind Fairphone is to provide smartphones for people to use for many years longer than traditional smartphones. This mentality will reduce e-waste, as people will hold on to their phones for longer rather than tossing them after two or three years.

Of the sustainable smartphone market, Fairphone is one of the bigger players. While major companies such as Apple and Samsung tout using recycled materials, sustainable smartphones are an entity all their own.

Fairphone wants to expand to more markets

While Fairphone is a pretty popular brand, its available to a pretty limited market. Its phones are only available in a few markets, and the US is not included in that list.

However, the company has been making a push to make its products available to other markets. This push was initiated by the companys new boss Reinier Hendriks. So far, the company has made its phones available in countries such as Austria, Switzerland, and Great Britain. We can only expect this list to grow as time goes on. Making these phones available to more markets will further push the companys dream of sustainable technology.

These phones could also get cheaper

Another area where the company will see changes is the pricing. The Fairphone 5 currently retails for 699. Its rocking a chip thats similar to a Snapdragon 700 series chip. Other than that, it has a 1080p+ OLED display that runs at 90Hz, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, Etc. 699 is a pretty steep asking price for specs such as those. Its not outlandish, but its starting to approach lower Flagship level prices for mid-range level performance.

Well, under the new direction, Hendriks wants to bring the price down substantially. If the company does so, we should be looking at a price closer to 400. Thats a much more reasonable price for the specs.

However, that will be a difficult task, as the company still needs to make a profit. So, Fairphone is going to be locking down some Partnerships with manufacturers and software partners. Hopefully, we will be seeing these phones in more markets.
After the Muslim leaders declined an earlier offer from the White House to attend a Ramadan meal, a Palestinian American doctor left a reduced-length private meeting between them and President Joe Biden on Tuesday night.

This incident highlighted the resentment that many members of the Arab American community feel against Biden for his backing of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Muslim Leaders' Concerns After White House Meeting

Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency physician with intimate knowledge of the situation in the Gaza Strip, met on Tuesday with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other officials from the White House to address the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

During an interview with CNN following the meeting, Ahmad expressed his deep concerns, stating, "I come from a community that is deeply affected by the ongoing turmoil, grieving the losses and broken-hearted over the events of the past six months."

Moreover, he disclosed that he had talked with members of the UN Security Council the common conviction that the White House's designation of Rafah as a red line may result in an immediate end to violence. Ahmad stressed how critical it is that President Biden adopt a strong posture opposing the escalation of hostilities in Rafah.

Officials from the White House have previously admitted that President Biden has made attempts to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put civilian security ahead of military action in Rafah.

Ahmad decided that he needed to express the pain that the Palestinian American community feels since President Biden's remarks on Gaza lacked an explanation. He viewed his choice to leave the meeting as a metaphor for the community's apparent disregard and alienation from the official response, according to CBS News.

Read Also: Racing World Mourns: Italian Jockey Dies 2 Weeks After Fall in Canberra

Doctor Walks Out During Meeting With Biden, Harris

Ahmad's decision to walk out was driven by the desire to underscore the pain and suffering experienced by individuals in Gaza. Despite acknowledging the risks involved in returning to the conflict zone, he expressed his determination to go back to Gaza to provide medical assistance, even amidst the prevailing dangers.

After the meeting, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and top administration officials joined a group of Muslim American community leaders for a smaller iftar supper. This smaller-scale celebration was different from the White House's prior bigger Ramadan-related activities.

The importance of the current issue has been observed by President Biden and Vice President Harris, given the dispute among invited Arab American and Muslim American leaders about taking part in celebrations when Gaza is going through a humanitarian crisis.

President Biden, according to a White House official, conveyed his sympathies for the innocent lives killed in the conflict and repeated his determination to interact with the Muslim and Arab American communities in order to address their concerns.

Dr. Thaer Ahmad is persistent in his goal despite the challenges and the dangers he confronts while conducting his humanitarian work in Gaza, even in the face of suspicions over the use of weapons supplied by the United States in the fight.

Ahmad's dedication to helping people in need in the midst of the crisis shows an increased sense of responsibility and empathy for the people affected, NBC News reported.

Related Article: Billie Eilish, Bon Jovi, Nicki Minaj, More Musicians Sign Letter Over 'Predatory' Use of AI in Music
One of the most important topics pertaining to AI technology is regulation. Governments need to make sure that major AI companies dont run rampant with the technology. Well, governments are still scrambling to set up some sort of strict regulations surrounding AI in the companies that produce it. Speaking of regulations, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at the Business, Government & Society Forum at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and he stated that he wants AI to help Google comply with government regulations.

Recently, the United States government has unveiled some strict rules for government agencies that use AI tools. These rules will dictate how agencies use AI systems. They will also prohibit agencies from using AI tools that impose on American citizens rights or safety. Also, these rules will force agencies to be transparent with the models that theyre using and how theyre using peoples data. Lastly, these rules will require agencies to hire AI professionals, and this will include hiring a Chief AI officer. These rules will go into effect shortly.

Google wants AI to help it comply with regulations

Right now, regulations regarding AI Technologies are starting to take form. The EU is the first government to bring forth actual laws against AI, and other countries are coming up with their own rules and regulations.

Speaking at the Stanford School of Business, Sundar Pichai gave his take on regulations. He talked about the difference between over-regulation and under-regulation and other key aspects of AI technology. Below, you will be able to see his full section of the forum.

The way I think about AI is, what part of AI will make it easier for us to comply with regulation at scale? Pichai said during the forum, AI is an opportunity there as well. This is something that definitely raises some questions. Were all wondering what Google wants to do to help it boost its AI footprint while keeping within regulation.

We are all unsure, but we know that Google is going to be using artificial intelligence for many of its tasks going forward. The only question is whether this will have a positive or negative effect on the company and the tech industry at large.
Google is thinking about charging a fee for access to features in Search that are powered by generative AI, a new report claims. Currently, Search doesnt offer any native AI-based features. At least, not features that Google has baked into the core Search product as fully rolled out. However, you can access experimental AI features in Search through the Search Labs page.

On this page, youll find two toggles for AI-powered features that will let you test these experimental offerings. One feature, called SGE or Search Generative Experience, will give you AI-powered overviews of your chosen topic. Say youre looking for Pizza in downtown Seattle. If you have the SGE toggle enabled, you might end up with an AI-powered overview. These should pop up with every search topic. Some will be automatic while others will have a generate button above the results. And they simply give you a more detailed overview of what you were searching for.

Another AI feature called SGE while browsing will fill the web pages youre looking at with AI-powered tools. These pop up in a card panel on the right of the page and will have a generate button for highlighting key points, as well as jump links that take you to a specific section on that page. Its these kinds of features that Google is reportedly thinking about charging for.

Google Search would remain free to use, while the AI features would have a fee

According to The Financial Times, which first reported on Googles consideration of tacking a fee onto the AI-powered Search tools, only the AI features would come with a fee. The core Search product, which is currently free, would remain free to use and would still serve up ads since ads are still the primary way Google makes a profit from Search. However, this does come with a caveat. Those who would pay the subscription fee for access to these AI features would still see ads according to the report.

Its not clear if the number of ads shown would be the same or if they would be lessened as part of the subscription. Google also doesnt have a price set at the moment. The reason why is that Google has yet to decide on whether or not it should charge for these AI features, people familiar with Google plans said. Google also reportedly hasnt decided on what the charge should be if there were to be one. So right now, theres no actual charge.

Some AI-powered features may roll out as free over time

Google may end up charging a fee for AI features in Search, but if it does, that doesnt mean that all AI features will come with a subscription fee. The report states that people familiar with its thinking said Google may choose to roll out some AI features for the main free Search product over time. These could end up being the two features you can currently test in the Search Labs section. Or they could be different AI features entirely. Engineers are currently developing the technology needed to deploy the service but executives have not yet made a final decision on whether or when to launch it.
Samsung has unveiled a new product design identity for its products. Samsung Design Identity 5.0 (DI 5.0): EssentialInnovativeHarmonious will define the future of the Korean firms product design. The new design identity applies to its smartphones, TVs, refrigerators, and other products through 2030. The company will showcase its vision at the Milan Design Week 2024 on April 16.

Samsung redefines its design identity to reflect a changing consumer lifestyle

In a recent editorial on Samsung Newsroom, the companys head of mobile business, TM Roh, who is also the head of its Corporate Design Center, discussed the firms design evolution over the years and its vision for the future. According to Roh, the Korean tech giant employs more than 1,500 designers across its seven global design studios. They come from different cultures and backgrounds have have unique preferences and tastes.

These designers work to solve everyday design problems faced by a wide range of customers globally. At the core, they all follow Samsungs years-long design philosophy, Inspired by Humans, Creating the Future  which has not changed since its inception in 1996. However, as consumer lifestyles change, it changes the way they use products. The company continuously refines and evolves its design identity to reflect that.

Samsung has employed four different design identities between 2001 and 2022. DI 5.0 came into effect in 2023 and will guide its product design through 2030. Essential, Innovative, and Harmonious are its three pillars. Samsung says designs should be optimized for user experience without any unnecessary elements, bring valuable changes beyond novelty, and unify products and people with society, the environment, and other human values.

If we look more closely at the product development process, design makes innovative technologies shine while technology makes design dreams a reality. Only when design and technology are in perfect harmony can we develop a product that provides genuine value to our users, Roh said. Samsung Electronics excels at balancing design with innovative technology, and we continually strive to create products that blend seamlessly into our customers lives.

Samsung has hired a design expert from Mercedes

You may have noticed that Samsungs smartphones launched in 2023 and 2024 have all looked similar. They feature an identical design language. Rumors say the company will further evolve its smartphone design in the future, with a major change expected on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 later this year. These changes are seemingly part of its new design identity, under the leadership of its new design head Hubert H. Lee.

Lee joined Samsung at the end of 2022 as the executive vice president and head of design at its smartphone experience division. He brought more than two decades of experience in the field of product design. Before joining the Korean firm, he occupied multiple design-related leadership roles at German luxury carmaker Mercedes. It remains to be seen how Samsung products evolve under Lee and the new design identity.
President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the killing of aid workers and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is "unacceptable" during the first phone call between the two leaders since seven World Central Kitchen employees, including one American, were killed in an Israeli Defense Forces airstrike.

Biden "made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers," a readout of the phone call released by the White House read. "He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps."

Seven World Central Kitchen employees from the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, North America and Gaza were killed in an airstrike that the charity's founder Jose Andres described as "targeted." They were traveling in a clearly marked vehicle, after coordinating with the Israeli government, to deliver food to the starving Palestinians who are trapped inside the besieged Gaza Strip.

In the six months since the October 7 Hamas attacks, the situation inside Gaza has grown increasingly dire. At least 33,037 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 13,000 children. People in northern Gaza are subsisiting on an average of 245 calories per day, according to Oxfam International. The region is also considered the most dangerous place in the world for journalists and aid workers.

"This was not just a bad luck situation where 'oops' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres told Reuters. "This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of," he said. It's "very clear who we are and what we do."

National security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Biden and Netanyahu's phone call last around 30 minutes. Kirby confirmed that the president was increasingly dissatisfied with Netanyahu's failure to adhere to the U.S.'s warnings about the humanitarian situation.

"What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side. We don't see changes from their side," Kirby said. "There's been growing frustration."

The president also reportedly emphasized the need for a ceasefire in Israel's War on Gaza and "urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home."

Biden and Netanyahu also discussed threats that Iran has made against Israel, with the president reiterating that the United States supports Israel.
The automotive industry issued renewed pleas for electric car purchase incentives after new figures showed a decline in the vehicles market share.

Some 15.2% of new cars registered in March were pure electrics, down from 16.2% during the same month last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

The industry body urged the Government to halve VAT on the purchase of new electric vehicles (EVs), amend plans to introduce vehicle excise duty for EVs, and reduce VAT on public EV charging to bring it into line with home charging.

(PA Graphics)

Under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, at least 22% of new cars sold by each manufacturer in the UK this year must be zero-emission, which in most cases means they are pure electrics.

The threshold will rise annually until it reaches 100% by 2035.

Manufacturers who fail to comply or make use of flexibilities  such as carrying over allowances from previous years or purchasing credits from rival companies  will be required to pay the Government 15,000 per polluting vehicle sold above the limits.

The overall new car market saw 317,786 registrations last month.

That is an increase of 10.4% compared with March 2023.

(PA Graphics)

Growth was driven by purchases for large fleets (up 29.6%), while demand from private buyers fell by 7.7%.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: Market growth continues, fuelled by fleets investing after two tough years of constrained supply.

A sluggish private market and shrinking EV market share, however, show the challenge ahead.

Manufacturers are providing compelling offers, but they cant single-handedly fund the transition indefinitely.

Government support for private consumers  not just business and fleets  would send a positive message and deliver a faster, fairer transition on time and on target.

Earlier this week EV manufacturer Tesla reported a fall in global sales of nearly 9% during the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2023.

Produced our 6 millionth car! Thank you to our owners & teams around the world for your support & hard workit truly matters.  pic.twitter.com/F4IeQtK0PS  Tesla (@Tesla) March 29, 2024

Ian Plummer, commercial director at online vehicle marketplace Auto Trader, said: Sales of electric vehicles are still rising, despite the gloom from Tesla.

While the fleet side of the market is driving the growth, more needs to be done to stimulate electric vehicle demand among private buyers where affordability remains a barrier.

That said, manufacturers are fighting harder than ever to tempt customers, as more than three-quarters of new EVs are now advertised on our platform with discounts.

That trend only looks set to accelerate as manufacturers struggle to meet strict ZEV mandate targets in a much more competitive landscape.

The arrival of new Chinese entrants is likely to continue to shake up the market and bring down prices for consumers.

Alex Buttle, co-founder of used car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk, said: The Government still needs to do more to encourage private buyers to make the leap to electric.

Greater charging infrastructure and tax incentives are what the industry needs to really power up the private EV market.
Google is launching an experiment within its search engine that will see generative AI used to respond to some search queries.

The technology giant said the experiment in the UK would involve an unspecified subset of queries and would be tested on a small percentage of search traffic.

It will see so-called AI overviews appear at the top of search results, giving an AI-generated text response to the query, offering answers and further context around the query.

Google said a handful of different variations of response will be used in the test, including some which offer bullet point or headings giving more detailed responses.

The new AI Overview will offer a broader response to a search query, shown here in the tips section (Google/PA)

More traditional link-based search results will appear within as well as below the AI overview, with Google saying it was focused on continuing to drive traffic to the web.

The UK test follows a similar small-scale experiment previously launched in the US.

Hema Budaraju, senior director of product management at Google, said bringing generative AI to Google Search would supercharge it by making it simpler and smarter.

By bringing the power of GenAI directly to search, you can unlock entirely new types of functions that you never thought Search could answer, and transform the way information is organised, to help you start to make sense of the information, she said.

She added that the AI overviews could help quickly and easily bring together multiple perspectives from different places more simply, and help give users a jumping off point so that they can get a broader overview of a subject from one query.

It is the latest move by the US firm to further integrate artificial intelligence-powered tools into new and existing products.

It recently rolled out a dedicated app for its Gemini chatbot for the first time, as well as offering a subscription service to access its more powerful AI models.

Google has also previously integrated AI tools into its smartphones, notably within the devices camera and editing features.

However, the company has had issues with its AI rollout in the past.

In February, Google paused the rollout of an AI-powered image generator tool within Gemini after users found it would generate inaccurate images and representations of historical figures, often including an overly broad range of races and genders.

Some commentators suggested Google had overcorrected over fears about ongoing racial bias issues within artificial intelligence applications, which in the past has seen facial recognition software struggling to recognise, or mislabelling, black faces, and voice recognition services failing to understand accented English.

Google apologised over the incident and said it has missed the mark.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman has come under fire for arguing that Israel is absolutely not in breach of international humanitarian law.

During a visit to the country, Ms Braverman claimed that Israel is going above and beyond to ensure the safety of civilians and there is plenty of food and water.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has previously described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as dire and deeply concerning.

A Conservative former minister called for Ms Braverman to have the whip withdrawn immediately.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman argued Israel is absolutely not in breach of international humanitarian law (Justin Tallis/PA)

Ms Braverman told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The suggestion itself is absurd and, frankly, an insult to Israel who have been going above and beyond the necessary requirements to ensure that civilian casualties are limited, to ensure that aid is received onto the Gaza Strip and distributed.

I have seen evidence myself, in terms of very up-to-date photographic evidence, of plentiful food packages and trucks of food, water and medicines getting to the people of Gaza.

In a letter sent to Conservative MP Alicia Kearns last month, Lord Cameron aired his frustrations that some UK aid is being held for more than three weeks because of checks by the Israeli government.

He wrote: The main blockers remain arbitrary denials by the government of Israel and lengthy clearance procedures, including multiple screenings and narrow opening windows in daylight hours.

The letter continued: We are committed to working ourselves, and with our partners, to do everything possible to address the dire and deeply concerning humanitarian situation.

Grateful to @David_Cameron for such clarity in his response to my letter. He confirms, contrary to some claims:  The UN has NOT requested the Kerem Shalom crossing be closed on Saturdays. Israel closes it due to the Sabbath.  Aid not getting into Gaza due to arbitrary https://t.co/DTP0Vl5Ohz pic.twitter.com/cvrmdwRhOi  Alicia Kearns MP (@aliciakearns) March 21, 2024

Sir Alan Duncan said Ms Braverman should have the whip withdrawn for her extreme views.

The former MP for Rutland and Melton told Times Radio: For Suella Braverman today to say that there is not a humanitarian problem in Gaza and theres plenty of food and shes seen the photographs.

Frankly, it is so disgusting, so repulsive, so repellent that I think she should immediately have the whip withdrawn.

Sir Alan is being investigated by the Conservative party after he criticised a number of ministers and former ministers for their stance on Israel and Gaza.
If there's one animal that many people fear, it's the snake. But if you live in certain places, snakes may just be an animal that you have to learn to deal with. Australia is known for having huge snakes that people find in and around their homes, and ABC News shared a video on Wednesday, April 3rd of a snake wrangler who was dispatched to a family home to remove a python that was hiding under a toy scooter.

The snake can be seen poking out from underneath the toy car. When the man removes the car from on top of the snake, he's pleasantly surprised to see the python sleeping in a ball beneath it, and remarks on what a beautiful snake it is. Make sure your sound is on to hear the snake wrangler's commentary.

Australia has been on my bucket list for years, but the more I write about snakes being an unwelcome visitor in many homes, I'm beginning to change my mind about visiting! ABC News commenters all had very similar reactions. @Mark Jackson3455 said, "Reason #1,950,278 why Im never going to Australia." @Karrie Jean pointed out, "He is beautiful. I still don't want to find him hiding!" @Liz added, "He was so grumpy and sleepy being woken up too LOL!" And my favorite comment came from the commenter who laughed and said, "Australia is not for beginners!"

Related: Highly-Venomous Snake Caught Lurking in Closet of Australia Familys Home

Facts About Carpet Pythons

Whether you are a fan of pythons and other snakes or not, they are fascinating creatures. A commenter asked a well-known snake wrangler in the comments section if this kind of python was found in Southern California. I'm glad he responded because I wasn't sure what kind of python it was, "I wish. Beautiful Carpet Python. Jealous."

I did some research to learn more about these snakes. An article here on Pet Helpful shared some facts about them, including that they can reach a length of up to thirteen feet and weigh up to 33 pounds. "Carpet pythons are found mostly in Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Like Ball Pythons, this snake is bred into many different colored morphs. Carpet pythons are usually nocturnal but often warm themselves in the sun."

These snakes seek shelter in hollow tree limbs, rock crevices, and abandoned burrows of other animals. They are solitary animals, and only come together to breed. Females lay 30-50 eggs at a time, and once the snakes hatch, they do not care for them at all.

Carpet Pythons are docile as adults, but extremely aggressive as hatchlings. Though non-venomous, they have a powerful bite that may cause pain and discomfort.

While a python isn't on the top 100 choices of pets for me, many people enjoy keeping them in their homes. These guys make great pets and are relatively easy to care for. In the wild they eat small mammals, bats, lizards, and rodents, and as pets you can feed them rodents like live mice and rats or even links. Worth considering if you are looking for a new slithering sidekick.

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.
A replica Empire State Building made from Walkers Shortbread will go on display for Tartan Week in New York.

The Manhattan festival celebrates Scottish-American heritage, with more than 1,500 bagpipers, Highland dancers, clan members and Scottish-themed dogs due to take part in the Tartan Day parade on Saturday, which this year has Hollywood star Dougray Scott as its Grand Marshal.

The shortbread replica has been constructed from 527 finger biscuits provided by Walkers, which began exporting to the US in 1976 to target the ex-pat market.

The family business, based in Aberlour on Speyside, sells around 50 million pieces of shortbread across the US per year  with sales peaking in 2023.

The miniature Empire State Building, created by artist Prudence Staite, will be available to visit during pre-parade registration at the Algonquin Hotel in Times Square, while representatives of the firm will take part in the Tartan Day parade on Sixth Avenue.

The construction involved more than 500 shortbread fingers (Walkers Shortbread/PA)

The 102-storey Art Deco Empire State Building in Manhattan is celebrating its 93rd anniversary this month, having opened in April 1931 after a one-year construction project.

Alastair Walker, head of international sales at Walkers Shortbread, said: Walkers is a proud Scottish brand, however we always try to create a sense of place through our products in the close to 100 international markets that we export to.

What is so important to us is that we celebrate our heritage while nodding to the cultures and traditions of the markets in which were sold. Our shortbread Empire State Building is the ideal way for us to mark the celebrations.

When we first started exporting to the US  with so many ex-pats living in the country it was an opportunity to provide many of them with a taste of Scotland.

For almost 50 years weve experienced increased demand for our all-butter shortbread, as people want to indulge in a quality product which is made with care, from only four natural ingredients, in the Scottish Highlands.
The US president held a tense 30-minute phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu - via REUTERS

Joe Biden has warned Israel that it must take immediate action to stop civilian deaths in Gaza, in his strongest hint yet that he is considering withholding arms sales to the war-torn country.

The ultimatum came in a tense 30-minute phone call between the US president and Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening  the first since Israel killed seven Western aid workers, including three Britons, in a series of precise drone strikes on Monday.

Mr Biden called for an immediate ceasefire on the call with the Israeli leader after the unacceptable attack on aid workers for World Central Kitchen, the US-based charity.

In his sharpest statement since the conflict began, Mr Biden demanded Israel announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Mr Biden has condemned the deaths of seven aid workers in an Israeli air strike - REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot

Mr Biden is said to have strongly implied that the US could withhold weapons deliveries to Israel if it does not address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

That was the message, a White House official told NBC.

Steven A Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council of Foreign Relations, told The Telegraph he thinks Mr Biden will have to follow through with his threat.

Now that he has essentially threatened action, he would be weak not to follow through if the Israelis do not perform, he said.

Other than restricting military aid, he said there really is no other point of leverage for the United States.

In Whitehall, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, was said to be resisting calls to suspend British arms sales to Israel, despite being warned by senior lawyers that the UK would be in breach of both international and domestic law if exports continued.

John Kirby, a US National Security Council spokesman, said that Israel must show it is willing and able to take practical, immediate steps to protect workers on the ground and to demonstrate that they have that civilian harm mitigation in place.

We would hope to see some announcements of changes in the coming hours and days, he said.

A Palestinian father Ashraf holds the body of one of his two daughters killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in Rafah - MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Mr Biden told Mr Netanyahu he was outraged and heartbroken by the attack on the aid workers in which a US-Canadian dual citizen was killed. Israel has accepted responsibility for the strikes but claimed they were not intentional.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza has grown increasingly dire in recent months, with more than 32,000 people dead according to the Hamas-run health ministry and the remaining population of over two million facing famine and disease.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, joined the White Houses condemnation of Israel, claiming that its steps to allow aid into Gaza were insufficient and unacceptable.

100 per cent of the population in Gaza know of acute levels of food insecurity, he said on Thursday. 100 per cent of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance, and those working heroically to provide that assistance are doing so in great peril to their own lives.

This weeks horrific attack on the World Central Kitchen was not the first such incident. It must be the last, he added.

Israel has come in for intense criticism after the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy - Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images

A number of Democrats in Congress have called for Mr Biden to put conditions on support to Israel on protecting Gazas civilian population and allowing more aid to flow across the border.

Chris Coons, a confidant of the president and a fellow Democrat from Delaware said the US is at that point where it must consider putting conditions on arms sales to Israel.

The State Departments plan to supply Israel with one of its largest military support packages in years, including $18 billion for F-15 fighter jets, is currently stalled in the Senate, figures familiar with the consultation told the New York Times.

Critics say Mr Biden has made similar threats before to no avail and they accuse him of being unwilling to take real action.

The US government is still supplying 2,000lb bombs and ammunition to support Israels policy, Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to President Obama, wrote on social media on Wednesday.

Until there are substantive consequences, this outrage does nothing. Bibi obviously doesnt care what the US says, its about what the US does.

The US has faced criticism for approving more bombs to be sent to Israel on the day the seven aid workers were killed in Gaza.

The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel  accounting for 69 per cent of Israels weapons imports between 2013 and 2022  but pressure is also mounting on the UK.

A letter sent to ministers on Wednesday, which was signed by 600 lawyers, including three former Supreme Court justices, warned the UK could be charged with the crimes including complicity to genocide unless the country adjusted its relations with Israel.

The letter said, not only that arms exports to Israel should be stopped to avoid breaching international law, but that Britains strategic partnership with Israel should be suspended.

It also called for sanctions to be placed on prominent Israeli individuals who have made statements inciting genocide.

The Telegraph understands that in the last fortnight Lord Cameron has also been handed a government legal assessment on Israels actions in Gaza between December and January.

He is said to have held off so far recommending a UK arms embargo, said one senior Government source familiar with discussions, because it is not a slam dunk legal case.

Critically, however, internal assessments about more recent events  most notably the air strike that hit aid workers this week and killed three Britons  are yet to be handed to Lord Cameron.

There is no strict timeline on when a legal assessment on Israels actions in Gaza in February, March and early April will be submitted to the Foreign Secretary for consideration.

If Lord Cameron were to act, it would not be the first time the UK has redacted arms supplies to Israel.

In July 2009, Britain revoked five export licences for weapons on Israeli navy missile boats because of their use during the Gaza Strip in the 2008-2009 war.

Some Whitehall sources have grown frustrated with how long it took Foreign Office officials to consider the evidence from December and January and give their legal assessment.

The process can be laborious and legally complex, involving the Foreign Office reaching out to the Israeli embassy in the UK for comment on specific controversial incidents.

On Thursday, Downing Street and Foreign Office sources moved to play down the idea that any change on arms sales to Israel was imminent. They also rejected speculation of differing positions between Lord Cameron and Rishi Sunak on the issue.

Lord Cameron is understood not to have raised the possibility of an arms suspension when he talked to Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, on Tuesday after the strike that killed the British citizens.

However, the Foreign Secretary did urge for more humanitarian aid to be let into Gaza. Mr Katz is said to have given an assurance that 500 aid trucks a day will be allowed in  more than double the recent amount crossing into Gaza.

Nevertheless, pressure for firm UK action is increasing.

Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain and Belgium have all suspended arms sales in the wake of Israels offensive in Gaza.

And on Thursday, there were calls in Parliament for the Governments own legal advice to be published.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign affairs secretary, urged ministers to publish the legal advice now.

If it says there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, its time to suspend the sale of those arms, he added.

Lord Dannatt, the former chief of the general staff, said Mr Sunak would do well to take note of the legal threat facing the UK, saying it must be considered very seriously.

Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, told the BBCs The Today Podcast, that Israels actions in Gaza have bordered on the reckless.

He added it was hard not to conclude that insufficient care is being paid to the collateral risks of these operations, one way or another.

Lord Ricketts, who was the UK national security adviser when Lord Cameron was prime minister, called earlier in the week for arms exports to be suspended.

Such a move would likely be supported by voters.

A poll conducted by the charity Action for Humanity and conducted before the strikes which killed seven Western aid workers this week, found a majority of UK voters  56 per cent  were in favour of a ban of arms exports to Israel.

By a majority of 59 per cent to 12 per cent voters also say Israel is violating human rights in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu has called the allegations of genocide outrageous, and said Israel has an unwavering commitment to international law.

He was supported on Thursday by the former home secretary Suella Braverman who said Israel was absolutely not in breach of international law, adding that the very suggestion was absurd.
I have to have a level of suffering from not being able to take a picture  Wolfgang Tillmans. Photograph: Mustafah Abdulaziz

Wolfgang Tillmans never had any intention of releasing music and certainly no intention of playing it live. This is an intriguing thing for the noted German photographer to say given that hes on a Zoom call from his Berlin home to discuss his second album, Build from Here, which moreover includes a track called Grune Linien that was recorded live on stage with his band Fragile, at a festival in Fire Island in 2018. Equally, you can see why Tillmans musical history may give him pause about, as he puts it, making music with a direct public intent. His head was turned by encountering the new romantic scene while on a trip to the UK to improve his English. British pop music at the time offered such a kaleidoscope, he enthuses, combining things that didnt belong together, from completely different origins: so many things going on at the same time, it was freeing; just the sense that you were allowed to think like this, this is possible, you can do this.

On his return to Germany, he formed a synth duo in his hometown of Remscheid. But his partner in the duo disappeared overnight, leaving town in the aftermath of a troubled relationship. Then, in 1991, he offered to sing with a band while a student in Bournemouth. A catastrophic failure, Tillmans says of their solitary gig. Under-rehearsed, the monitors failed, I couldnt hear myself and I was out of pitch, out of tune, out of sync, just terrible. A never-again situation.

Yet it is hard to think of another Turner prize-winning artist whose work is so bound up with pop. The 55-year-old has borrowed titles for works and exhibitions from songs, DJed in clubs and at festivals, and his photographs hang in in Berlins Berghain: he is, he proudly announces, the only person whos ever been allowed to shoot in the notoriously secretive club. He once said he would never have picked up a camera were it not for acid house and its impact on German youth culture: 30 years on, the pictures he took display an uncanny ability to capture the dancefloors atmosphere of abandon.

I think that really came from being one of the revellers, he says. The camera was not for me the reason to be there; I briefly took the responsibility of bearing witness to what I experienced. I dont enjoy being seen with the camera. Its the same with portraits; I dont constantly ask people: Can I take your picture? because Im fundamentally embarrassed to photograph strangers, to interrupt the sort of fluidity of the moment. I think the quality of my work comes from this high threshold of embarrassment. I have to have a level of suffering from not being able to take a picture, and the suffering gets so much I actually tell myself: no, I have to do this now.

His return to music wasnt quite so urgent. When Tillmans started making electronic tracks again in the mid-2010s  inspired in part by the sound of the US label Fade to Mind, home to Kelela, Kingdom and Dawn Richard among others  he elected to keep it to himself, occasionally playing it to friends. One of them happened to be Frank Ocean, who suggested he might sample one of Tillmans tracks at some point. Instead, he used Tillmans Device Control in its entirety as the opening and closing track of his 2016 album, Endless. Tillmans had no idea until the day the album was released. So it became super public, he says. In the end, my shyness about it wasnt really a problem. Nobody actually said: why is he doing music? It felt quite natural.

What other generations faced was at least as bad as what we face now Wolfgang Tillmans

There followed a string of EPs  the 2016/1986 EP revisited some of the music he had made in his teenage synthpop duo  and a debut album, Moon in Earthlight, which shared its title with a 2021 exhibition. Tillmans certainly isnt the only visual artist to have taken to making music but he is, by some considerable distance, the visual artist whose music has attracted the most acclaim: as well as Frank Oceans co-sign, his tracks have been remixed by an impressive selection of dancefloor luminaries, including Honey Dijon, Roman Flugel, Total Freedom and Daniel Wang. Listening to Build from Here, you can see why Tillmans music has attracted attention: it is filled with beautifully sad melodies, intriguing electronic atmospheres, songs that sit somewhere between synthpop and club music. Its also threaded with field recordings and found sounds that Tillmans calls audio photography.

Photography has never been like a purpose in itself for me, he says. Its a tool for me to describe the presence or the feel of an object or a life situation. I feel touched by it and then I want to make a picture in order to speak about it. I feel sometimes compelled by sounds, so I started in the 2010s to more actively record things, somehow seeing this sort of acoustic poetry in them. I observed that musicians always say: Oh, lets do another take  its very natural for them. Photography, he says, is different. Even things I set up in the studio, I couldnt take the same photograph the next day; there are some ingredients that escape notable parameters. I guess thats what the work in sound and music is, as much as with visual and pictures  to leave as much of an unadulterated, un-tampered original energy and on the other hand to technically frame things and be as conscious as possible and allow this play of control and chance.

What Tillmans music doesnt have is the arched-eyebrow irony that often attends visual artists dabbling in pop  Martin Creed shouting fuck off over a shambolic indie backing, or the smirking japery of David Shrigleys alt-rock/pop pantomime Problem in Brighton. Because I have so much respect for music and musicians, it would be ridiculous if I pushed for something wasnt any good, he says, or that was just an ironic stance, or like a rehashing of my college daydreams, which is the other thing than happens when a visual artist has this rock star moment. I consider Blue Monday by New Order as one of the greatest artworks of the late 20th-century period, you know? It doesnt have to be a piece of music or sound art, its just art.

His recent exhibitions have integrated both. In 2014, he opened a music playback room in his Berlin gallery Between Bridges, inaugurating with an exhibition dedicated to pre-acid house sampling pioneers Colourbox: he repeated the idea in subsequent shows in Munich and at Londons Tate Modern. The purpose of Between Bridges has always been to show art that was not fully represented, and about the value of art. Some artists got forgotten because they didnt limit their editions and therefore their art didnt become expensive, so its not valued as much. I found those Colourbox records were amazing works of art; not just the cover art, but what is in the grooves. And just because they cost 10, there is no space dedicated to them.

Related: Jeremy Deller on raving: Stormzy and Dave give me hope

As for his own music, he isnt sure what the future holds although what is striking about Build from Here is its note of optimism about the future: its everywhere from the beatless, delicate title track, to We Are Not Going Backs Moroder-esque pulse, to the motorik new wave of French Lesson, which keeps repeating the phrase supportons lendemain  lets endure tomorrow.

It is intriguing, given that the latter part of the career-spanning retrospective 2021 book Wolfgang Tillmans: A Reader seemed so consumed by anger: at Brexit, the rise of Trump and the far-right AfD party in Germany, at attacks on LGBTQ+ rights. Oh no, he says: he remains optimistic by nature, but not in a naive way. One has to be realistic; the adversities other generations have faced were at least as multiple and strong as what the world faces now; the struggles that previous generations went through to attain the civil liberties that we enjoy today. I dont want to change places with them, so thats why I remain fundamentally optimistic.

It was the same attitude he took at the start of his career, when he was photographing German clubbers in the wake of acid house. The early 90s, when you look back, they werent all peace and post-cold war. The Yugoslavian war was raging, economically there was a lot of straightening-out happening. So there was optimism, but a sober, sombre optimism. It wasnt like hooray  it was excited apprehension for the future.

 Build From Here is released via Fragile on 26 April
Marissa Luck is a senior real estate reporter at Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at marissa.luck@houstonchronicle.com.

Previously, Luck covered commercial real estate in Texas for CoStar News; real estate for Austin Business Journal; energy for Houston Chronicle; and business news for The Daily News in Longview, Wash. Shes won awards from Society of Professional Journalists and National Association of Real Estate Editors, and her byline has appeared in numerous publications nationally. Originally from Hawaii, Luck grew up in the Pacific Northwest and studied international political economy at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. She now lives in Midtown Houston.
Helicopters in the rescue operation at the Petit Combin mountain in the Swiss Alps - AFP

Three British skiers survived an avalanche, and one a 30m fall down a crevasse, after their helicopter crashed and slid down the Swiss Alps, killing three people.

One of the Britons, Edward Courage, is thought to have saved the lives of young brothers Teddy and Guy Hitchens, also believed to be from Britain, by pushing them out of the stricken aircraft as it slid off the summit.

Mr Courage, based in Verbier, was among six people, including the pilot and a mountain guide, that was travelling on board an Air-Glaciers B3-type helicopter. They were due to be dropped off at the top of the Petit Combin mountain near Verbier on Tuesday morning.

Conditions were described as perfect powder, sunshine and bluebird, with no wind  although there may have been gusts.

Valais canton police said: Having reached the summit of a mountain culminating at 3,668m above sea level, for a reason that the investigation will have to determine, the aircraft slid down the northern slope.

Photos taken after the crash show marks on the mountainside apparently where the helicopter tumbled down. Other skiers reported that the helicopter was then consumed by the avalanche. Debris remained at the scene. There were no ski tracks from the missing helicopter, which concerned other guides at the time.

The crash killed pilot Jerome Lovey, pictured - LinkedIn

The pilot, local father-of-two Jerome Lovey, died in the crash, along with young skier James Goff and their guide Adam George, originally from New Hampshire in the United States.

A skier who arrived at the summit shortly after said: We landed after them on the south side of Le Petit Combin and saw the avalanche. It was horrific. We couldnt make out the helicopter, it was consumed in the avalanche. We heard of the crash over the radio. We were advised to get safely off the mountain.

Adam George heliskiing with clients, taken prior to the accident

Seven rescue helicopters were swiftly dispatched to search for survivors. Two injured people were quickly treated before being airlifted to Sion Hospital, and a third person was subsequently rescued, according to police.

Mr Courage, who is in his sixties and part of the Courage brewery family, plunged an estimated 500m down a near vertical slope. He was swept by the avalanche and then fell 30m into a crevasse.

He and the two other Britons survived. The Hitchens brothers ended up close to each other despite falling a long way after the helicopter crash.

The impact imprint of the helicopter can be seen on the mountain (ringed)

While emergency services swiftly recovered the brothers from under the snow, Mr Courage was stranded on a ledge in the crevasse for five hours before he was located thanks to a transceiver and winched up to safety.

Mr Courage, a figure in Verbiers English-speaking church community, is reportedly undergoing operations, having suffered broken bones. Two people remain in hospital. Teddy has been released.

Crevasses on the alp

Gilbert Crettaz, director of Adrenaline Heliski in Verbier, who has been a mountain guide in the Alps for 25 years, said: This is the 3,672m peak you can see from Verbier, just to the right of its big sibling, the Grand Combin  what you are looking at is the steep north face. There are many different routes down and all require an advanced level of skiing. Its a 2,000m descent.

Mountain guide Adam George was killed in the helicopter crash at Petit Combin

Those who knew him said Mr George was a highly experienced and trusted guide who has scaled El Capitan many times, along with other difficult climbs such as the North face of the Eiger.

British explorer Tom Avery, CEO of Ski Verbier Exclusive, said: The Petit Combin (3,672m peak) is a classic Verbier heliski route and Adam George is a much respected and loved local guide. It is a devastating loss to all the community.

A donations group has been set up for Adams wife Caroline George-Ware and daughter Olivia. Adams funeral will be held next week.

Mrs George-Ware, co-founder of their guiding company Into the Mountains, said: We had our first date on a climb and got engaged on a summit.

The pilot, Mr Lovey, was also an instructor and had been working full-time for Air-Glaciers since September 2022.

It comes as three people were killed on Monday by an avalanche at the luxury Swiss ski resort of Zermatt.

Police on Wednesday said that one of the dead was a young Canadian woman. The avalanche also claimed the lives of a 15-year-old teenager and a 58-year-old Swiss man.

Valais canton police added there may be another skier under the snow after the disappearance of a 30-year-old man was reported on Tuesday.

Around 17 people have lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since Oct 1 last year.

An investigation has been opened by the Swiss Federal Prosecutors Office (MPC), which is responsible for aviation accidents. A safety investigation has also been launched by the SESE (Swiss Safety Investigation Service).
Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group at a hospital morgue in Rafah transport the body of one of seven aid workers killed in an Israeli strike - Fatima Shbair/AP

Bulgarian police have discovered a stash of weapons linked to four suspected Hamas members previously arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on Jewish targets in Europe.

Four suspected members of the Palestinian militant group were detained in Germany and the Netherlands in December 2023, with German prosecutors arguing they were gathering weapons to be kept in a state of readiness for use in future terrorist attacks.

Der Spiegel, the German media outlet, reported police had found photos of pistols, ammunition and magazines on a mobile phone belonging to one of the men on Wednesday, leading investigators to a stash of weapons in Bulgaria.

German authorities said the four suspects - one Egyptian, two Lebanese and one Dutch national - were longstanding members of Hamas, the group whose Oct 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza.

The weapons were due to be taken to Berlin and kept in a state of readiness in view of potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe, they said.

06:22 PM BST

Thats all for today

Thank you for following our live coverage of the conflict in Gaza.

You can read more of The Telegraphs coverage of the Israel-Hamas war here.

Todays events have included:

Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken on a call for the first time since an Israeli air strike killed seven aid workers on Monday

The US has granted approval for the transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel, although they may not be delivered until 2025

At least four people - including one paramedic aid worker - have been killed in an air strike in Beit Hanoon, hitting a rescue team in northern Gaza

Iran has vowed Israel will pay a heavy price following a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate building in Syria

People in northern Gaza have survived on less than a can of fava beans a day since January, according to Oxfam

Diplomatic relations between Poland and Israel are being put to the test as the Polish prime minister condemned Mondays strike on aid workers

06:00 PM BST

US approved transfer of bombs to Israel on same day as strike on aid workers

The US granted approval for the transfer of thousands of bombs to Israel on Thursday, a Biden administration official has said.

The source said the transfer included a thousand MK82 500-pound bombs, more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs and fuses for MK80 bombs, according to Reuters.

The arms may not be delivered to Israel until 2025.

The approval came on the same day Israel carried out a strike on Gaza that killed seven aid workers, including three British citizens.

A second US official said the attack happened much later in the day on Monday than the approvals.

A displaced Palestinian artist paints an anti-Israel mural in Rafah - Ahmad Hasaballah

05:51 PM BST

Lord Cameron: UK doing everything it can to get more aid into Gaza

We are doing everything we can to get more aid to civilians in Gaza as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.



We need more road crossings and Ashdod Port open for humanitarian aid.



Working with Jordan, @RoyalAirForce has air dropped more food supplies to reach those in need. pic.twitter.com/SjlYfIEsJq  David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 4, 2024

05:45 PM BST

Biden and Netanyahu call underway, says US official

A call between US President Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is currently underway, a US official has told CNN.

The call comes after Mr Biden said he was outraged and heartbroken by the deadly strike, whose victims included three Britons, along with US-Canadian dual national, a Pole, an Australian and a Palestinian.

Mr Biden has led a chorus of international anger over the attack on employees of US-based World Central Kitchen, who were distributing desperately needed food to a population on the verge of famine.

05:41 PM BST

Update: Israeli spokesman admits something went wrong in strike killing aid workers

Raquela Karamson, a spokesman for the Israeli government, has said something went wrong in the strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza and suggested the investigation could take longer than previously thought.

Ms Karamson said: In the coming weeks, as the findings become clear, we will be transparent and share the results with the public.

Clearly, something went wrong here. And as we learn more and the investigation reveals exactly what happened and the cause of what happened, we will certainly adjust our practices in the future to make sure that this doesnt happen again.

A spokesman for Cogat, he Israeli defence body that coordinates humanitarian aid in Gaza, previously said the investigation into the strike was expected over the next few days.

05:22 PM BST

Israel denies using AI Lavender programme to bomb targets in Gaza

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has said it outright rejects the claim it is using an AI system to identify terrorists, under which it tolerates the killing of more than 100 civilians in order to successfully target each Hamas commander.

The Left-wing Israeli media outlet +972 reported the IDF is using an AI programme named Lavender to generate targets for assassination in Gaza.

Two sources said the IDF decided to accept the collateral damage of as many as 15 to 20 civilians killed for every junior Hamas operative the programme could find.

However, Israels military has strongly denied the claims. The IDF outright rejects the claim regarding any policy to kill tens of thousands of people in their homes, it said in response.

05:11 PM BST

Israel kill four in strike hitting rescue team

At least four people have been killed in an air strike in Beit Hanoon, hitting a rescue team in the northern part of Gaza, a health official has said.

Fares Afaneh, the emergency director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said the attack targeted a medical team rescuing injured people and resulted in the killing of a paramedic, according to Al Jazeera

Mr Afaneh said: Our crew moved to rescue [people] wounded by Israeli shelling, and upon its arrival, it was subjected to another bombardment. Our crew was bombed while working.

These are Biden and America missiles that target medical staff, children, women and those safe in their homes.

04:43 PM BST

Israel will pay heavy price for strikes in Syria, says Iranian PM

Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian president, has said Israel will pay a heavy price following a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria.

The remarks were made in a phone call with Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the prime minister of Iraq, the BBC has reported.

Mr Raisi condemned the strike as a criminal action, while praising Iran and Iraqs common positions against Israel.

The strike in Damascus killed a top Iranian general in a sharp escalation following months of clashes between Israel and Tehrans proxies.

Iran responded by vowing a decisive response to the killing of Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

04:31 PM BST

Israel does not target civilians, says opposition politician

Shelly Tal Meron, a member of Yesh Atid, Israels main opposition party in the Israeli Knesset, has said the countrys forces do not target civilians in an interview on Radio 4s World at One programme.

The opposition politician said when it comes to the national security of the state of Israel, we are all in agreement that Hamas needs to be eradicated.

She added: Israel has to defend itself, has to defend its borders, and has to do everything in its power to return our hostages.

Asked if she believed control of aid in Gaza to be a weapon of war, Ms Tal Meron said her country does not want to harm civilians and its forces do not target them.

04:09 PM BST

Pictured: Clean up efforts continue after strike on aid centre

A view of the aid centre of International food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Nuseirat Camp, Gaza - Ali Jadallah

People inspect damage and recover items from their homes following Israeli air strikes on April 4 - Omar Ashtawy

Operations at the centre were suspended following Monday's strike which killed seven workers - Ali Jadallah

03:51 PM BST

Biden faces pressure ahead of call with Netanyahu

Joe Biden has faced growing calls to address the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza in military support for Israel as he prepares for his first call with the Israeli prime minister since Mondays strike.

Mr Biden is expected to express anger and urge Israel to do more to protect humanitarian staff and civilians in the call.

However, Mr Bidens political allies have stepped up pressure on the US president to finally use the leverage afforded by the billions of dollars in military aid that Washington gives Israel.

Chris Coons, a Biden confidant and senator from the presidents home state of Delaware, told CNN: I think were at that point.

If Israel began its long-threatened full-scale offensive in the southern city of Rafah without plans for the 1.5 million people sheltering there, I would vote to condition aid to Israel, Mr Coons said.

03:26 PM BST

No progress in Gaza ceasefire talks, says Hamas official

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official, has said there has been no progress in talks to stop the conflict in Gaza despite recent hopes, according to Reuters.

Israel said its delegation returned from Cairo having formulated a new proposal for ceasefire talks and the release of hostages being held by the Palestinian militant group, which were to be presented to by moderators.

More than 240 hostages were seized by Hamas on Oct 7 in a raid in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed. A temporary truce in 2023 saw more than 100 hostages freed.

At least four have died in captivity and around another 100 are still being held.

03:03 PM BST

Israel cancels leave for combat troops amid fears of an Iranian attack

The Israeli army has paused leave for all combat units as the country prepares for a possible Iranian attack, reports Jotam Confino from Tel Aviv.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said Israel was at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements following the assassination of its senior commander in Syria on Monday.

The orders came as the country reported widespread GPS disruptions on applications such as Google Maps and Waze in the centre of the country on Thursday, reported as a deliberate attempt to thwart drone threats by Israeli media.

Iran had promised to punish Israel after it allegedly launched an airstrike that killed seven Iranian officials at its consulate in Damascus.

The IDF is yet to comment on the issue.

Read the full story here.

02:47 PM BST

Investigation into strike on aid workers expected in the next few days

The Israeli defence body that coordinates humanitarian aid in Gaza has said the investigation into the strike on aid workers is expected over the next few days.

Shimon Friedman, a spokesman for Cogat told the BBC that Mondays strike on World Central Kitchen aid workers was a terrible tragedy and a mistake which shouldnt have happened.

Israel has already launched an investigation which is being carried out by an independent professional body, Mr Friedman said.

Amid calls for other countries to be included in the process, he said he could not share details of exactly who is going to be involved, but ensured there would be full transparency.

He added: We hope for [the investigation] in the next few days. And as were learning things, were trying to implement them already.

01:38 PM BST

Israeli security services foil plot to kill minister

Israeli security services have said they foiled a plot to kill Itamar Ben Gvir, the countrys national security minister.

Eleven people including seven Palestinian-Israeli citizens have been arrested in connection with the suspected plot.

Shin Bet, Israels internal security service, said the joint operation was carried out by the police and army.

The agency said: Shin Bet dismantled a terrorist cell that was preparing attacks in Israel, notably against the Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Ten of the suspects were charged at a court in Beersheva in the south of the country on Thursday, the security service added.

01:32 PM BST

Polish president slams outrageous refusal by Israeli ambassador to apologise for death of aid worker

Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, has denounced outrageous remarks by the Israeli ambassador to Warsaw over the death of a Polish aid worker in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

The airstrike on Monday killed seven staff of World Central Kitchen, including Polish citizen Damian Sobol.

Yacov Livne, an Israeli ambassador, gave an interview late Wednesday in which he stopped short of apologising for the incident despite being repeatedly asked to do so.

Mr Duda called his remarks not very fortunate, in short, outrageous on Thursday, adding that the ambassador is the biggest problem for the state of Israel in its relations with Poland.

12:55 PM BST

People in Gaza surviving on less than a can of beans a day

People in northern Gaza have had to survive on less than a can of fava beans a day since January, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues to besiege the territory, according to Oxfam.

That amounts to an average of 245 calories daily, said the UK charity.

Israel is making deliberate choices to starve civilians, said Amitabh Behar, Oxfams international executive director, in a statement.

Imagine what it is like, not only to be trying to survive on 245 calories day in, day out, but also having to watch your children or elderly relatives do the same.

All whilst displaced, with little to no access to clean water or a toilet, knowing most medical support has gone and under the constant threat of drones and bombs.

Concerns have spiked as famine stretches across the Gaza Strip, with aid deliveries trickling down to nearly zero given violent skirmishes as the Israeli military continues its offensives.

Oxfam has said that less than half the number of food trucks needed to allow everyone to receive a daily 2,100 calorie intake is currently entering Gaza.

Many international aid organisations have stressed that famine is imminent in Gaza, and that many people are experiencing extreme hunger with some children already dying from starvation and malnutrition

12:37 PM BST

Israel should apologise for strike and pay aid workers families

Israel should apologise for the killings of aid workers in Gaza and compensate their families, according to the Polish prime minister.

Donald Tusk said Israel should pay damages for its strike on Damian Sobol, a Polish aid worker.

The 36-year-old was one of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed on Monday.

Mr Tusk said: We will expect an immediate explanation of the circumstances and compensation for the victims relatives.

12:24 PM BST

Pictured: Israel-Gaza conflict

A Palestinian man from the Daraz family reacts while holding the body of his child who was killed in an Israeli strike - Mohammed Salem/REUTERS

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas - JACK GUEZ/AFP

12:12 PM BST

Gaza one of most dangerous places for aid workers, says Unicef

Gaza is one of the most dangerous places for aid workers, according to Unicef.

Tess Ingram, a Unicef spokeswoman, told BBC 5 Live that Gaza is one of the most dangerous places for humanitarian workers to be at the moment.

Ms Ingram said the recent deaths of seven aid workers following an Israeli strike was frustrating.

She added: This is not the first time that has happened. We have lost nearly 200 humanitarian aid workers since the escalation of hostilities. Other vehicles and warehouses have been hit.

The system that is supposed to protect us is clearly not functioning properly.

11:54 AM BST

UNRWA says three Gaza aid convoys hit in recent months

Three aid convoys have been hit by the Israeli military in recent months, the United Nations Relief Agency claims.

The organisations communications director said the UNRWA has been hit with strikes despite coordinating their movements with the Israel Defence Forces.

Juliette Touma, speaking to BBC Newsday, said the organisation informs the IDF where we are, what are the names and nationalities of people...the route, the GPS coordinates, but still have been hit, luckily without casualties.

11:26 AM BST

Former Supreme Court judges say Governments arming of Israel breaches international law

Three former Supreme Court judges have said the Government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel.

A letter to the Prime Minister, signed by more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including Baroness Brenda Hale, the former Supreme Court president, calls the current situation in Gaza catastrophic.

The letter sent on Wednesday says the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finding that there is a plausible risk of genocide being committed means Britain is legally bound to prevent it.

Read the full story here.

11:10 AM BST

Former MI6 chief says Israels approach to targeting careless

The former MI6 chief said Israel is not taking sufficient measures to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza following the deaths of seven air workers this week.

Sir Alex Younger told the Today Podcast: My view is that what happened is essentially systematic of an approach to targeting that has, on occasion, bordered on the reckless.

Fundamentally undermines therefore what must be Israels political objectives, which is to sustain some moral high ground and some moral purpose.

Its hard not to conclude that insufficient care is being paid to these collateral risks of these operations, one way or another.

11:01 AM BST

IDF soldiers shooting first and asking questions later

Soldiers in parts of the IDF are shooting first and asking questions later, a senior Israeli official has said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senior official said that the drone strikes on the aid convoy that killed seven humanitarian workers, including three British security advisers, and the accidental killing of three escaped hostages in December, were violations of the IDFs rules of engagement.

Soldiers are operating under immense pressure in very difficult conditions in which Hamas embeds itself within the civilian population, but the rules of engagement are designed to help deal with such conditions, and theyre too often being ignored, the official told the Times of Israel.

The comments came against the backdrop of an investigation into the killings of the aid workers, who were attacked in what was meant to be a safe-corridor in the besieged enclave.

10:44 AM BST

GPS disruptions show Tel Aviv motorists in Beirut amid fears of Iran strike

Residents of central Israel have reported widespread disruptions to navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze.

The GPS disruptions have previously been widely reported in northern Israel or areas close to Gaza, but have been less common in central Israel.

They have been blamed on the Israel Defense Forces blocking some global positioning system (GPS) signals amid the ongoing war with the Palestinian.

10:24 AM BST

Israel willing to sacrifice innocent people Poland says

Israel is willing to sacrifice innocent people in Gaza, Polands foreign minister has said.

Radoslaw Sikorski said the strike on an aid convoy which killed seven, including a polish national and three British citizens, was not acceptable.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The Israeli Chief of Staff says this was a case of mistaken identity and that they thought there was a terrorist amongst them.

But even if there was, they seem to have been willing to sacrifice seven innocent people for someone who was not an immediate danger.

These are moral hazards that I do not think are acceptable.

09:56 AM BST

Israel plans to block Al Jazeera slammed as blatant attempt to stifle the media

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) has called on the Israeli government to halt its plan to temporarily bar the news outlet Al Jazeera from operating in Israel.

This is a blatant attempt to stifle the media. Shuttering a media outlet is a step that is characteristic of some of the worlds most repressive governments, read a statement from the FPA, which represents multiple foreign news organisations operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

It is a move that rejects democratic ideals. It also poses a dangerous precedent that could lead the government to shut down other foreign media outlets. We urge the government to step back from this dangerous move, the FPA added.

Israels parliament approved on Monday the so-called Al Jazeera law, which gives the government temporary powers to block foreign news networks from operating in Israel if they are deemed by the security services to be harmful to national security.

09:29 AM BST

British government could be complicit in genocide over selling arms to Israel, judges warn

Three former Supreme Court justices have joined more than 600 members of the British legal profession in calling for the government to halt arms sales to Israel, saying it could make Britain complicit in genocide in Gaza.

The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law, the judges and barristers said in a 17-page letter. Customary international law recognises the concept of aiding and assisting an international wrongful act.

One of the former justices, Lord Sumption, told BBC Radio he was concerned the British government had lost sight of its need to prevent genocide.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has faced growing political pressure after seven aid workers, including three British nationals, were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the besieged enclave this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the allegations of genocide outrageous, and said Israel has an unwavering commitment to international law.

08:56 AM BST

Pictured: Aftermath of Israeli army strikes

A man pushes a bicycle amid buildings transformed to rubble in the devastated area around Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital - Getty Images/AFP

An injured Palestinian child receives treatment at Kuwait Hospital following an Israeli air strike in the Rafah refugee camp - HAITHAM IMAD/EPA-EFE

08:39 AM BST

Israeli airstrike hits Gaza terror cell

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has published footage showing an airstrike on an alleged Hamas cell in the central Gaza Strip, after they were spotted at a site known to be used by a terror group.

IDF troops spotted the gunmen before ordering an airstrike, Minutes later, the structure where they had operated was struck by a fighter jet, the IDF said.

Fighting continues in southern Gazas Khan Younis, in the al-Amal neighborhood and the Abasan area on the outskirts of the city, the IDF reported.

It added that airstrikes were carried out against several targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, including against rocket launchers used in an attack last night on Sderot, to the north of the Strip.

08:11 AM BST

Pictured: Vigil in Cornwall for deceased aid worker James Henderson

Members of the public join a walking vigil through the streets for local aid worker James Henderson, organised by Palestine Solidarity Cornwall - Hugh Hastings/Getty Images

08:08 AM BST

Biden and Netanyahu to speak by phone following Gaza aid deaths

Joe Biden, the US president, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, are set to speak on Thursday in their first phone call since Israels botched strike on an aid convoy.

I can confirm president Biden and prime minister Netanyahu will speak tomorrow, a US official said.

The call comes after Mr Biden said he was outraged and heartbroken by the deadly strike, whose victims included three Britons, along with US-Canadian dual national, a Pole, an Australian and a Palestinian.

Mr Biden has led a chorus of international anger over the attack on employees of US-based World Central Kitchen, who were distributing desperately needed food to a population on the verge of famine.

08:05 AM BST

Pentagon outraged over IDF strike on aid convoy

Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, held a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in which he expressed his outrage over an IDF strike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen, including three Britons, the Pentagon reported.

Mr Austin called to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups, a readout from the defense department stated.

Washington said the incident also reinforced existing concerns over the consequences of a proposed Israeli army operation in Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge since the outbreak of the conflict.

Secretary Austin stated that this tragedy reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, specifically focusing on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid, the Pentagon said.
Donald Trump campaigns in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trumps prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents denied his effort to have the case dismissed on the contention that the Presidential Records Act allowed him to transform them as personal property and possess them at his Mar-a-Lago club.

The ruling by US district judge Aileen Cannon was significant as it struck one of Trumps main defenses and suggested the case is headed to trial.

Related: Trump appeals ruling letting Fani Willis stay on election interference case

Cannons three-page order rejecting Trumps motion to dismiss rested on the fact that Trumps argument about the Presidential Records Act did not directly address the applicability of the Espionage Act, which he has been charged with violating, meaning it did not give her a basis to toss the case.

But the order left open the possibility that Trump could raise his Presidential Records Act theory as a defense at trial, and the possibility that Cannon could instruct the jury to credit Trumps theory in such a beneficial manner that it could potentially ensure Trumps acquittal.

The way the jury might be directed has become a major source of anxiety for prosecutors in the office of special counsel Jack Smith, after the judge last month ordered both sides to draft jury instructions envisioning two possible scenarios that gave extraordinary credit to Trumps defenses.

Cannon had asked Trump and prosecutors to each draft jury instructions supposing it was true that Trump had the power under the Presidential Records Act to turn any White House document into personal records  which would implicitly mean he was authorized to retain them.

The authorization issue is key to the case because Trump was indicted for unlawfully retaining national security materials under the Espionage Act. If Trump could show that he was somehow authorized to keep the documents at Mar-a-Lago, it would preclude his prosecution.

Even more crucial is if Cannon actually uses such instructions at trial, because if that happens after the jury is sworn in, double jeopardy protections for Trump would kick in. If Trump is then acquitted, prosecutors would not be allowed to retry the case.

The first scenario envisioned that it was up to the jury to decide whether prosecutors could show beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump had not designated each classified document he took to Mar-a-Lago as personal.

The second scenario envisioned that Trump had the sole authority to turn a document he came across as president into a personal record that he could keep, and the very fact that he took them with him to Mar-a-Lago meant it was a personal record.

Prosecutors responded to Cannon with a sharply-worded 24-page filing on Tuesday that made clear they thought both scenarios were wrong on the law, but indicated they could find a way to work with the first scenario, because proving the classified documents were not personal was feasible.

But prosecutors wrote the second scenario was fatal to their case because it allowed Trump to simply claim all the classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago were his personal property by virtue of taking them with him  and prosecutors would have no way to dispute that claim.

Related: Exclusive: Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation

The Tuesday filing marked a moment of frustration for prosecutors, and they demanded that Cannon promptly articulate whether she intended to endorse a fundamentally flawed legal premise so they could appeal or have a higher court directly instruct how she should proceed with a writ of mandamus.

That demand earned prosecutors a stinging rebuke from Cannon, who called their request unprecedented and unjust.

Cannon wrote the she was declining to make known her position on how she would instruct the jury and told prosecutors her solicitation of draft jury instructions was an attempt to better understand both sides positions in a case where the issues at hand had never previously been litigated.

Related: Only in Atlanta: the small-town scandal of the Trump-Fani Willis case
A mother and son watch the eclipse in Boston on 21 August 2017. Photograph: Angela Rowlings/Boston Herald via Getty Images

The moon will completely block the face of the sun on Monday and, for a few minutes, people in the US, Mexico and Canada will experience a total solar eclipse.

Related: Total solar eclipse to sweep across Mexico, the US and Canada

The alignment between the sun and the moon has to be precise and this gives rise to a narrow track of totality  roughly 71 miles (115km) across  from which the total eclipse can be seen.

Some schools are closing for the day, with many places holding events in local parks and outdoor spaces. Others plan to travel to more remote locations to watch the solar event unfold.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Angela Matthes, 37, admits her familys eclipse trip to a tiger sanctuary was a lucky find. Travelling with her husband, Ruedigar, and their four-year-old twins, they cant wait to start their epic stay at the Crown Ridge tiger sanctuary in Ste Genevieve, Missouri.

Due to Matthes and her husband working full-time, they didnt decide to take a trip until January when most places were overbooked.

With young twins often our planning is a bit hectic, or non-existent, said Matthes, who is the chief financial officer of a non-profit organisation.

It wont be their first time seeing an eclipse  in 2023 they saw an annular or ring of fire eclipse in Cuba, New Mexico during a fortuitous trip with extended family.

Staying at the tiger sanctuary is the twins ultimate, dream vacation and Matthes is hoping it will be a formative memory for them. The next one in the contiguous US is not until 2044 when they will be grown up.

Sharing moments of awe and watching them experience wonder and amazement is a great source of joy. These are moments I wouldnt trade for anything.

John Stewart, from Olathe in Kansas, watched the last eclipse in Casper, Wyoming, in 2017 and this time is planning to drive to Arkansas Tech University to see the event as a family for the last time, as his children are nearly fully grown.

He said: We are leaving very early in the morning and hopefully getting home before midnight for school on Tuesday. Its an amazing and unsettling experience.

Stewart, who will watch the event with his children William, 17, and Morgan, 15, added: They are very excited to go and hopefully not just because they will miss a day of school. They remember 2017 but are excited to see it as teens. My son is taking his new camera and hoping to get photos for the school yearbook.

Growing up we never had the chance. I cant say Id ever really even considered it until 2017. Its great that I get to share my love of science and astronomy with them.

They are both in astronomy class and excited to be able to share what they see.

For Annie Tomlin, a writer from Connecticut, the eclipse will not just be a special experience to share with her two sons, aged three and six, but an educational opportunity.

Theyre very excited, she said. Ive explained the mechanics of an eclipse, using a light bulb to represent the sun and moving plates around to represent the moon and Earth. Our three-year-old cant get enough of it. Theyre also looking forward to wearing eclipse glasses.

My six-year-old son wants to be a scientist when he grows up, and hes been showing interest in the solar system since he was three. He can talk at length about gibbous moons and solar flares. Now hes interested in learning about eclipses, and hes been asking questions to which I dont know the answers  we both learn something.

Having been put off their original plans to drive to Burlington, Vermont, because of eye-watering hotel prices, the family is now driving to the southern part of the state.

She added: I feel lucky that we can experience this eclipse together. Of course I hope the kids have a good time, and I hope that it creates a sense of wonder for them.

My husband and I are looking forward to the adventure of it all, but our excitement is tinged with bittersweetness as well. The total eclipse lasts only a few minutes, so you have to be fully present.

Similarly, its a reminder for us to appreciate the time we have with our sons, eclipse or no eclipse, because theyll be grown before we know it.

Related: You see one, you want to see them all: 105-year-old excited for his 13th solar eclipse

Near Annapolis, Maryland, physicist Patrick OShea thinks his eclipse trip to Austin, Texas, to see Vampire Weekend live will be insane.

After attending a wedding in Houston on Saturday, OShea and his wife, Miriam, will be flying the next day to meet their son Ronan, who is at the University of Texas at Austin, before attending the outdoor concert on Monday.

Its all come together, said OShea, 66, who has always wanted to see an eclipse but never has. One of Austins nicknames is bat city and when Ronan suggested seeing Vampire Weekend we thought it would be a perfect alignment. As a physicist, he is also going to try some little experiments during the eclipse related to the polarisation of light.

OShea is expecting there to be a lot of emotions and complexity to juggle when the eclipse happens. I can be dispassionate as a scientist but passionate as a person. Its great to do these things with family and Ronan will be able to tell his children and grandchildren about it.

Its important for the generations who come after us.
Sarah says schools are pretending being trans is 'all glitter and unicorns' without warning about physical and mental impacts

A mother has told how she only discovered that her daughter had been allowed to change gender at school when teachers called her he at a parents evening.

The 13-year-old was allowed to change her name and pronouns at school despite her mother Sarah warning that she felt that it was a one-way path to sex change hormones and surgery.

Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, believes that schools are collecting diversity brownie points and pretending being trans is all glitter and unicorns without warning children about the long term physical and mental impact.

Her daughters West Country school started referring to the teenager by male pronouns without Sarahs permission after she decided at 13 that she had been born in the wrong body.

The school started affirming her and behind my back and I only found out that the teachers were using male pronouns during a parents evening, when she was being referred to as a he, Sarah said.

I raised concerns about social transitioning and explained that it seems to be a path to medical transition. I explained the dangers and lifelong ramifications of that  the fact that if my child goes down the medical route, she wont be coming back the same.

They say that it is all about being kind, but I think it is cruel. They only have to deal with her until she reaches 16 and I will have to pick up the pieces when they have long since forgotten her.

It is very short-sighted, the schools are just trying to collect brownie points for diversity and inclusion and they are not thinking about the long-term effects.

They know that there are girls in their school wearing breast binders. I said to them if you found a child attending your school was having their feet bound, would you do anything?

If my child was of African heritage and you found out they were having their breasts bound, would you do anything? Because breast ironing is illegal as a form of female genital mutilation.

Because she is a white, middle class child, because she identifies as a boy, it is somehow OK.

Sarah has raised concerns with teachers, citing the most comprehensive study of the impact of binders to date, which found that more than 97 per cent of adults who use them suffer health problems as a result.

But the school said that they cannot know that they are wearing them, she noted, adding: You can get away with all kinds of safeguarding failures under this trans umbrella, my childs safety has been neglected because she identifies as a boy.

Sleep in the boys dormitory

On one occasion, Sarah received a phone call asking if her daughter could sleep in the boys dormitory on a school trip because she identifies as a boy, a request she refused.

I asked them what kind of safeguarding risk assessment that they had done, and no answer was forthcoming, she said. I asked if they could not see that there is a potential for underage sex, non-consensual sex, teenage pregnancies.

Sarah believes that the children, often those with autism spectrum disorders, are made to feel special if they are trans, allowed to use the toilets and uniforms of their choosing.

They get validation from a new trans status, she said. Even if it doesnt help them to fit in, then it does help them to feel that they are more important. Before they were just the joke or the nerdy kid but now, they are the trans kid, which is special.

She has spoken out as the investigation by The Telegraph raises concern about the number of schools in the West Country that are misrepresenting equality laws and presenting controversial trans ideology as fact.

One trust which runs nine Church of England primary schools, has a Stonewall approved school script on how to talk about LGBTQ+ issues, it has emerged.

Different schools use identical language in their policies and a number employ the training services of trans rights campaign groups.

Some say that they will support any social transition and allow children to self-identify whilst others vow not to sit children boy-girl and avoid gendered uniforms.

According to Colyton Grammar, which caters for children from 11 to 18, and West Exmoor Federation, which runs three primaries: Sex refers to a persons understanding and experience of their own gender identity, it is their internal sense of self.

Everyone has a gender identity; for some people, it corresponds with the gender assigned at birth, and for some others, it does not. Gender identities are expansive and do not need to be confined within one collectively agreed-upon term.

Colyton, regarded as one of the best state schools in the country, vows to take every opportunity to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion and says that gender identity will be addressed in assemblies, literary programmes and personal, social, health and economic education.

The policy, due to be reviewed next year, states that school policies and information should use gender neutral pronouns and children should be taught that it is unacceptable and harmful to misgender their classmates. The school did not respond to a request for comment.

Sarah added: For schools being trans is all about celebrating diversity, its a big party, it is glitter and unicorns. There is no talk about the life long pain from osteoporosis, or the fact that you might want children one day and not be able to have them.

Involve parents in any decision

Long-awaited draft Government guidance for schools on trans children, published in December, states that schools should not accept all requests for pupils to change their gender through using different pronouns or facilities, and should involve parents in any decision that is made. However, it is not legally binding.

Sarah said that new Government guidance for schools is just not strong enough and it needs to be law as this ideology is now in every area of school life.

Her concerns were echoed by Tanya Carter, a spokeswoman for campaign group Safer Schools Alliance who said that there has been a complete dereliction of duty, of care, not only in individual schools but also but also from the Government.

The campaign group is not surprised that so many schools are misrepresenting equality laws as they have been warning about this, she added.

This is a safeguarding and a lobbying scandal, and a public inquiry is needed to find out how we got to this point, Ms Carter told The Telegraph.

We would recommend that any parents whose school is misrepresenting safeguarding rules, or the Equality Act contacts the Department for Education, Ofsted and their MP.

We know that these issues are widespread and yet there are constant denials of how widespread, there are even denials that it is happening at all. We are facing a massive national scandal and people are pretending that nothing is going on.

A lot of children are learning misinformation online and then go into classes where you would expect schools to challenge misinformation but in actual fact they are reinforcing that misinformation.

In a lot of cases we are coming across parents who think that the original introduction to their childrens belief that they are born in the wrong body was in the classroom.

We expect this to be a major issue in the upcoming election as parents will be asking candidates what their party is going to do to safeguard children.
Humza Yousaf says 'all of us in the SNP would like to see a conclusion to Operation Branchform' - Lesley Martin/PA

Humza Yousaf has said he wants an end to the long-running police investigation into the SNPs finances ahead of Fridays anniversary of Nicola Sturgeons house being raided.

The First Minister said that all of us in the SNP would like to see a conclusion to Operation Branchform, with the inquiry now threatening to overlap with this years general election.

But he insisted he was not trying to interfere in the investigation and Police Scotland should take as long as it requires.

Since July 2021, Police Scotlands Operation Branchform has been examining the SNPs handling of more than 600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for a second independence referendum.

Supporters made complaints when accounts lodged with Companies House in 2020 appeared to show the SNP only had 97,000 in the bank despite the referendum never having been held.

On April 5 last year, the investigation took a dramatic turn when the house that Ms Sturgeon shares with Peter Murrell, her husband and the SNPs former chief executive, was raided by police.

Officers searched their home near Glasgow for two days, during which they erected a large evidence tent, and also confiscated a luxury motorhome from outside the Fife home of Mr Murrells elderly mother.

Police Scotland search the home of Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell in April last year - Wattie Cheung

Mr Murrell was also arrested in the raid, which took place the week after Mr Yousaf became First Minister. The following month Colin Beattie, the partys then treasurer, was arrested and Ms Sturgeon was arrested in June.

All three were released without charge pending further investigation and Ms Sturgeon has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.

Sir Iain Livingstone, the former chief constable of Police Scotland, disclosed last year that the inquiry had moved beyond complaints that the 600,000 had gone missing.

Asked why Operation Branchform was taking so long, he noted that investigations around fraud, potential embezzlement and the misuse of funds take a long time.

But Murray Foote, the SNPs former communications chief and current chief executive, has called the search of Ms Sturgeons home a grotesque circus and predicted no charges would ever be brought.

Senior SNP figures recently called for police to return the confiscated motorhome, arguing it could be sold to raise funds for the cash-strapped party or used as a battle bus during the upcoming general election campaign

Ms Sturgeon, leaving her home in Glasgow, has vigorously denied any wrongdoing - Andrew Milligan/PA

Asked this week if he is frustrated over the length of time being taken by the inquiry, Mr Yousaf told BBC Scotland: Well, I think people will realise that all of us in the SNP would like to see a conclusion to Operation Branchform.

I think thats stating the obvious but, of course, its up to Police Scotland to determine how long that takes and for them to have the space and time to investigate thoroughly, and I dont intend to interfere in that.

Its for Police Scotland to take as much time as they require in order to investigate thoroughly.

But Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said: The fact that this investigation is still going on a year on from the arrest of Peter Murrell only confirms the seriousness of what the police are probing.

The picture surrounding the SNPs finances has become increasingly murky and senior SNP figures must continue to co-operate fully with this investigation. That appeared not to be the case recently when they appeared to be begging for the return of their controversial campervan.

Shortly before retiring last August, Sir Iain said the sooner the investigation was concluded, the better for everyone involved. Jo Farrell, the new chief constable, has refused to discuss the case since succeeding him.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: As the investigation remains ongoing, we are unable to comment.
Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reports Israel is jamming its own GPS signals but IDF has yet to comment - HANNAH MCKAY/REUTERS

The Israeli army has paused leave for all combat units as the country prepares for a possible Iranian attack following the assassination of its senior commander in Syria on Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Israel was at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements.

It has also called up additional reservists and bolstered the air defence systems on Israels northern borders.

The orders came as the country reported widespread GPS disruptions on applications such as Google Maps and Waze in the centre of the country on Thursday. Some users were shown to be in Lebanons capital Beirut.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported it was a deliberate attempt to thwart drone threats, something that has been done since Oct 7 in the north of the country where drone attacks are bigger threats. The IDF is yet to comment on the issue.

Iran promised to punish Israel after it allegedly launched an airstrike that killed seven Iranian officials at its consulate in Damascus.

Iran has promised retaliation after its embassy in Damscus was struck in an air strike on Monday - FIRAS MAKDESI/REUTERS

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader, said: The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution.

Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander responsible for Iranian activities in Lebanon and Syria, was among those killed, marking it the most valuable target allegedly hit by Israel since Oct 7.

Israel hasnt taken responsibility for the attack but New York Times quoted four Israeli officials saying the country was indeed behind the assassination.

Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, spoke cryptically about the rising tensions in the north following Irans threat, saying Israel is currently in a multi-front war  we see evidence of this every day, including over the last few days.

We operate everywhere, every day, in order to prevent our enemies from gaining strength and in order to make it clear to anyone who threatens us  all over the Middle East  that the price for such action will be a big one, he added.
Joe Lewis leaves Manhattan federal court on 26 July 2023, in New York. Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

The British billionaire Joe Lewis was spared jail time for his part in a brazen insider trading conspiracy on Thursday, and was instead fined $5m and given a three-year probation by a New York judge.

The 87-year-old, who heads the family that owns Tottenham Hotspur, had faced as much as 45 years in prison if convicted at trial. But in a court filing on Monday, prosecutors said Lewis deserved leniency given his age, health issues and the fact that he had voluntarily come to the US to face punishment.

Lewis arrived in court with his family looking frail and wearing an eye patch. Prosecutor Jason Richmond said: Even billionaires are not above the law, but he acknowledged mitigating factors, including Lewiss voluntary return to the US to face charges, and said they were not seeking prison time.

Judge Jessica Clarke said Lewis was at serious risk if he was incarcerated due to deteriorating health. Clarke said the offense was without doubt serious. Crimes like insider trading strike at the integrity of our markets, she added, but Lewiss circumstances did not warrant incarceration.

The court fined Lewiss company Broad Bay $44m, bringing the total fine and restitution to $49m.

In a brief statement to the court, Lewis talked about his childhood during the Blitz in in London. At an early age, I learned how precious life is. I made a terrible mistake. I broke the law. I am ashamed, sorry, and I hold myself accountable. If your honor so desires, I wish to use the time I have left to make amends and rebuild trust.

Born above a pub in the East End of London, Lewis turned his fathers catering business into a chain of themed restaurants before turning to currency trading. He founded the Tavistock Group, which has stakes in more than 200 companies, including Spurs, biotechnology and agriculture ventures, financial services, luxury hotels, resorts and retail.

He and his family have a net worth of $7.2bn, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index.

Last July, Lewis was hit with 16 counts of securities fraud and three of conspiracy to commit fraud that prosecutors called a brazen scheme to enrich his friends, lovers and employees, including two private jet pilots.

The US attorney for the southern district of New York, Damian Williams, said Lewis had abused his access to corporate boardrooms to provide confidential information to people who used his tips to make millions of dollars betting on the stock market.

Williams said Lewis had knowingly deployed the tactic as a way to compensate his employees or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers.

Under the terms of a $300m bond to secure his release, Lewis agreed to surrender his private yacht Aviva, which he was prohibited from boarding, and his personal plane, which can be used  with prior notification to prosecutors  but only for domestic US travel.

He was further restricted from international travel and will be confined to New York, northern Georgia, where he owns a home, and Florida.

The allegations included a 2019 tip-off to co-defendants Patrick OConnor and Bryan Marty Waugh, both pilots of his private plane, to sell stocks in a troubled Australian beef producer and a tip-off to then-girlfriend Carolyn Carter to purchase shares in a biotech company after he learned of an upcoming private investment and clinical trials.

In January, Lewis pleaded guilty to reduced charges after prosecutors agreed to a non-custodial sentence. Lewis retained his right to change his plea if a custodial sentence were imposed.

Soon after, OConnor changed his plea and admitted to insider trading and securities fraud.

Co-pilot Waugh has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in June.
Venezuelan migrants stand outside St Andrew's Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on 14 September 2022. Photograph: Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Reuters

A group of migrants who were sent to Marthas Vineyard in 2022 by Floridas Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, can sue the plane company that transported them, a federal judge has ruled.

In a ruling issued last Friday, the US district judge Allison Burroughs said that the migrants who were shuttled from Texas to the wealthy liberal island in Massachusetts can proceed with their legal claims against Vertol Systems, the plane company which was contracted by Florida to carry out the flights.

The 77-page ruling, which also named DeSantis, Floridas transportation secretary, Jared Perdue, and other state officials as defendants, said that the Venezuelan migrants and the immigrant rights group Alianza Americas sufficiently alleged multiple claims including civil rights conspiracy and civil conspiracy.

The incident, which occurred in September 2022, involved planes carrying about 50 adults and children as part of DeSantiss relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations. According to budget records reviewed by CNN, Florida paid more than $2.3m to Vertol Systems since 2022 as part of the states migrant relocation programs.

In response, immigration activists and Democratic politicians accused DeSantis, who ran then later suspended his 2024 presidential bid, of orchestrating a political stunt. Joe Biden condemned the governors actions, calling them reckless, un-American and playing with peoples lives.

In the ruling, Burroughs said: Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that they were restrained against their will  (By the time Plaintiffs learned that they were being taken to Marthas Vineyard, they had no ability to refuse transportation to the island. Plaintiffs were trapped midair on planes that they had boarded under false pretenses. Simply put, there was no way for them to escape.)  and thus the Court finds that they have established a deprivation of a protected liberty interest.

She went on to say: Vertol and the other Defendants here were not legitimately enforcing any immigration laws, adding: Instead, as alleged, they exploit[ed] [Plaintiffs] in a scheme to boost the national profile of Defendant DeSantis and manipulate them for political ends.

Moreover, Plaintiffs images were captured and sent to national news media  The Court sees no legitimate purpose for rounding up highly vulnerable individuals on false pretenses and publicly injecting them into a divisive national debate  Treating vulnerable individuals like Plaintiffs in this way, as alleged and accepted as true  is nothing short of extreme, outrageous, uncivilized, intolerable, and stunning, Burroughs continued.

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), a Boston-based legal group representing the migrants, hailed the ruling as a major victory.

It sends a crucial message: private companies can, and will, be held accountable for helping rogue state actors violate the rights of vulnerable immigrants through illegal and fraudulent schemes, LCR said.

Alianza Americas echoed similar sentiments, calling Burroughss ruling an important legal victory  [for] our highly vulnerable sisters and brothers, who were subjected to severe emotional distress under false pretenses and horribly used for a divisive political circus.

Meanwhile, in a statement to the Guardian following the ruling, DeSantiss office defended its actions, saying: As weve always stated, the flights were conducted lawfully and authorized by the Florida legislature. We look forward to Floridas next illegal immigrant relocation flight, and we are glad to bring national attention to the crisis at the southern border.
The historical record encompasses 122 entities linked to 72% of all the fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since the start of the industrial revolution. Photograph: Nick Oxford/Reuters

A mere 57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers are directly linked to 80% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions since the 2016 Paris climate agreement, a study has shown.

This powerful cohort of state-controlled corporations and shareholder-owned multinationals are the leading drivers of the climate crisis, according to the Carbon Majors Database, which is compiled by world-renowned researchers.

Although governments pledged in Paris to cut greenhouse gases, the analysis reveals that most mega-producers increased their output of fossil fuels and related emissions in the seven years after that climate agreement, compared with the seven years before.

In the database of 122 of the worlds biggest historical climate polluters, the researchers found that 65% of state entities and 55% of private-sector companies had scaled up production.

During this period, the biggest investor-owned contributor to emissions was ExxonMobil of the United States, which was linked to 3.6 gigatonnes of CO 2 over seven years, or 1.4% of the global total. Close behind were Shell, BP, Chevron and TotalEnergies, each of which was associated with at least 1% of global emissions.

The most striking trend, however, was the surging growth of emissions related to state and state-owned producers, particularly in the Asian coal sector.

This expansion, which has continued since, runs contrary to a stark warning by the International Energy Agency that no new oil and gas fields can be opened if the world is to stay within safe limits of global heating. Climate scientists say global temperatures are rapidly approaching the lower Paris target of 1.5C above the pre-industrial era, with potentially dire consequences for people and the rest of nature.

It is morally reprehensible for companies to continue expanding exploration and production of carbon fuels in the face of knowledge now for decades that their products are harmful, said Richard Heede, who established the Carbon Majors dataset in 2013. Dont blame consumers who have been forced to be reliant on oil and gas due to government capture by oil and gas companies.

The Carbon Majors research has helped to change the narrative about responsibility for the climate crisis by apportioning emissions to the entities that profit from taking fossil fuels out of the ground rather than the individuals that later burn and discharge them in the form of emissions. This ongoing study has been cited in climate lawsuits and was the basis for the Guardians 2019 series, The Polluters, which named and shamed the 20 companies behind a third of all carbon emissions.

The database has now been updated and was relaunched on Thursday on a dedicated public access website, which is hosted by InfluenceMap.

It includes a striking comparison between long-term emissions trends dating back to 1854, and more recent developments since the 2016 Paris deal.

The historical record encompasses 122 entities linked to 72% of all the fossil fuel and cement CO 2 emissions since the start of the industrial revolution, which amounts to 1,421 gigatonnes.

In this long-term analysis, Chinese state coal production accounts for 14% of historic global C0 2 , the biggest share by far in the database. This is more than double the proportion of the former Soviet Union, which is in second place, and more than three times higher than that of Saudi Aramco, which is in third.

Then comes the big US companies  Chevron (3%) and ExxonMobil (2.8%), followed by Russians Gazprom and the National Iranian Oil Company. After that are two investor-owned European firms: BP and Shell (each with more than 2%) and then Coal India.

The 21st century rise of Asia becomes apparent when the historical records are compared with data from 2016-2022. In this recent period, the China coal share leaps to more than a quarter of all CO 2 emission, while Saudi Aramco goes up to nearly 5%. The top 10 in this modern era is dominated by Chinese and Russian state entities and filled out with those from India and Iran. Western capitalism does not appear until the 11th placed ExxonMobil with 1.4%, half of its historical average.

The picture may change again in the future. The United States is by far the worlds biggest oil and gas producer even if operations are fragmented among many different companies rather than one state behemoth. President Biden has granted licences to multiple new exploration projects. Gulf states are also planning to step up their output.

ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell all have net zero emissions targets, though their definitions of that goal and methods to achieve it vary. Many of the companies on the list have made some investments in renewable energy.

Daan Van Acker, program manager at InfluenceMap, said many of the entities in the Carbon Majors database were moving in the wrong direction for climate stability. InfluenceMaps new analysis shows that this group is not slowing down production, with most entities increasing production after the Paris agreement. This research provides a crucial link in holding these energy giants to account on the consequences of their activities.

Heede argues that fossil fuel producers have a moral obligation to pay for the damages they have caused and exacerbated through their delaying tactics. He cites the proposal made by Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, for oil and gas companies to contribute at least 10 cents in every dollar to a loss and damage fund.

He was also encouraged by actions to hold fossil fuel firms to account. As examples, he cited the billboards that sprang up in Houston, Texas, after a hurricane that declared: We Know Who Is To Blame beside the names of oil companies, or the campaign in Vermont to create a climate superfund paid for by polluters that would allay the rising costs from floods, storms and heatwaves.

This is a threat to civilisation as we know it, he said. If business as usual continues we wont have a livable planet for our children and grandchildren. We must collect political, corporate and political will to avoid the worst threat that climate change poses. We can do this.

The Guardian approached Exxon, BP, Chevron, Total Energies, Coal India, Saudi Aramco and Gazprom for comment.

A spokesperson for Shell said: Shell is committed to becoming a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, a target we believe supports the more ambitious goal of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. We continue to make good progress on our climate targets, and by the end of 2023, we had achieved more than 60% of our target to halve Scope 1 and 2 emissions from our operations by 2030, compared with 2016.
Prime 131 is the first Berg Hospitality restaurant to offer sushi. Courtesy of Berg Hospitality Group

In Houston, you don't have to go to a Japanese restaurant for sushi.

From steakhouses to trendy American spots, sushi is popping up everywhere. It's a phenomenon we'll call tacked-on sushi, in which rolls and nigiri feature on menus that arent Japanese. A few examples include Mastros steakhouse and Dallas imports Balboa Surf Club and Hudson House. A Chinese restaurant called Haii Keii will open this summer in Upper Kirby with a sushi bar, too.

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Berg Hospitality, the group behind B&B Butchers among other restaurants, debuted a new steakhouse concept recently called Prime 131, featuring both Korean barbecue tables and a sushi counter. The restaurant is centered around live-fire grills and coal ovens that you can smell in the air as soon as you walk in. The sushi bar is right in front of the action.

Prime 131 has a sushi bar in front of live fire grills and charcoal ovens. Courtesy of Berg Hospitality Group

Owner Ben Berg says he enjoys the juxtaposition. The decision to add sushi to the menu was to draw in a broader crowd, including younger customers, he said. He wants to reinvent the perception of steakhouses as restaurants for celebratory occasions.

He feels that steakhouses have the luxury of not being locked into a specific cuisine. At Prime 131, customers are often ordering sushi as an appetizer. Customers seem to like that it's a lighter option.

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"Right now, it's unbelievably surprising to us how much sushi we're selling," Berg said. "It's replacing everybody ordering their own appetizers, and they're able to get a bunch of options on the table to share."

In the first few weeks, sushi sales are outpacing everything but steaks, and that's likely because steaks have a higher price point, he said.

Even before he knew the pairing would work, Berg said he planned for more steakhouse-sushi restaurants. He acknowledges that sushi requires proper training and sourcing. It can get very expensive for a restaurant that can't sell all its fish.

"It's a real added expense for the restaurant, from a space standpoint, if you're putting out a whole sushi bar; from a training and expertise standpoint, a lot more goes into it once you get a little more complicated with it," Berg said. "You have to be prepared to make that commitment financially and be committed to make it as great as you possibly can so it's worth it."

Sushi omakase at Prime 131. Kirsten Gilliam

Sushi did not work out for Se7en. The Upper Kirby restaurant had been open a little less than a year with an Asian-Mediterranean fusion menu when it decided to scrap sushi and Asian food earlier this year.

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Frank Edosomwan, co-owner of Se7en, said sushi and Asian menu items weren't selling as much. Selling sushi is expensive, he added. It requires at least two sushi chefs and sourcing quality fish is pricey.

"We're really happy with what we are now: Mediterranean and Latin. We are the only restaurant in Houston that has those two (cuisines) on the menu," Edosomwan said. "It brought down our pricing as well to make it slightly more affordable."

The location of Se7en, near established sushi restaurant Kata Robata, could have also played a role in low sushi sales.

Manabu Horiuchi of Kata Robata and Katami, known to many as Chef Hori, has enjoyed seeing sushi become so popular. Fifteen years ago when he opened Kata Robata, people were not as exposed or educated on sushi as they are now. He sees it as a great thing that people want more of it.

Chef Hori plates Shabu Shabu Style, 3 oz Denver-cut Kagoshima wagyu with sesame sauce and ponzu served with paper hot pot and prepared table side at Katami on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Houston. Katami is Manabu Horiuchi's follow-up restaurant Kata Robata, one of the most popular sushi spots in Houston since it opened 14 years ago. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

However, he draws concern when places give a false impression of what sushi is by using cheap fish doused in a sauce.

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"Most of those types of restaurants are buying frozen fish, using whatever rice and getting the profits, and that's not cool," Horiuchi said. "They are not serving real sushi, they are serving what just looks like sushi."

He said sushi is a simple food, but it can be difficult to make, and most people are doing it wrong. You should be able to taste the fish in sushi, he said. Toppings should only accentuate the original flavors of the fish, not overpower.

Horiuchi thinks the tacked-on sushi bar trend might stick around in Houston  but there will always be a place for traditional Japanese sushi houses.

"Sushi is in the DNA now, I think, of the American consumer," said Katami managing partner Ryan Snyder. "It takes a ton of hard work, dedication and skill to execute this simple thing called sushi."
The Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell and the foreign secretary, David Cameron, in Downing Street. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

A legal assessment by the UK Foreign Office of whether Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza risks being subsumed in a Conservative row over the partys loyalty to the country, and by rival judgments on the damage to British interests in the wider Middle East if the UK is not seen to distance itself from Israels methods.

Judging by the last Tory leadership contest, in which Liz Truss courted votes by promising to transfer the UK embassy to Jerusalem, there is a good chance Israel will feature in any leadership debate after a predicted general election defeat this year.

For weeks there have been grumblings among pro-Israeli Conservative MPs, sometimes expressed in private meetings with the foreign secretary, David Cameron, that he should dial back his criticism of Israel and accept that, if it is in the UKs strategic interest for Hamas to be defeated, lives may have to be lost due to the war.

It does not help that many of Israels strongest supporters in the Conservatives are on the partys right and Lord Cameron is seen as a centrist in a party that laid modernisation to rest with his resignation in 2016.

Israel has been seen as a touchpaper issue for years, even if one does not need to go to the lengths former Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan did by telling LBC on Thursday: The time has come to flush out those extremists in our own parliamentary politics, and around it, some of whom are at the very top of government, or have been.

They have never been called to account by journalists to say: Do you agree with your own partys policy? Do you condemn illegal settlements?

He added: Conservative Friends of Israel has been doing the bidding of [Benjamin] Netanyahu, bypassing all proper processes of government, to exercise undue influence at the top of government. A senior Tory official subsequently said Duncan would be investigated for the remarks under the partys disciplinary process, and Jewish groups accused him of using antisemitic tropes.

Related: David Cameron, the prime minister for external affairs, gets tough on Israel

The instinctively pro-Israel mood on the Tory benches was reflected during the last Commons statement made to MPs on Gaza by the Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell on 26 March. Many Tory backbenchers expressed alarm that British diplomats had backed a UN security council resolution that they felt unjustifiably delinked a ceasefire from the release of Israeli hostages. Mitchell did his best to placate them, and senses the centre of gravity inside his party may be shifting away from the politics of Netanyahus Likud party.

Signs that the issue may become part of the discussion about the future direction of the Tory party came when the former home secretary Suella Braverman, just back from a visit to Israel, told the BBCs Today programme Israel was absolutely not in breach of international humanitarian law, the basis on which any arms export decisions would be taken.

She said: The suggestion itself is absurd and, frankly, an insult to Israel, who have been going above and beyond the necessary requirements to ensure that civilian casualties are limited, to ensure that aid is received on to the Gaza Strip and distributed.

I have seen evidence myself, in terms of very up-to-date photographic evidence, of plentiful food packages and trucks of food, water and medicines getting to the people of Gaza.

Her assessment directly contradicts what Cameron has been saying in public about aid distribution and allegedly what Sunak said in a private call to Netanyahu this week. It is noticeable that Cameron was reluctant to engage on the issue of Gaza at the Nato foreign ministers meeting.

Once spoken of as a contender for the Tory leadership, more recently Braverman has been billed as a backer of a potential bid by another former home secrtary, Priti Patel.

Patel was sacked as international development secretary by the then prime minister, Theresa May, in 2017 after she was accused of trying to run a parallel foreign policy on Israel, and had not been wholly truthful about the extent of her unauthorised meetings with Israeli officials.

One of Patels chief rivals for the Tory leadership is likely to be Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary who, through her office, ultimately formally decides if arms exports licences should be suspended. She is another strong defender of Israel, and is currently negotiating a free trade deal with the country. She told Sky in November: Weve always said that Israel should abide by international law, and that appears to be what they have done.

Badenoch spoke at Israels 75th anniversary event in London last year, where she vowed public bodies would be banned from disinvesting in Israel, legislation that is currently in front of the Lords. The idea was largely the brainchild of Michael Gove, who is likely to support Badenoch for the leadership, despite a recent falling-out over a non-political issue.

One thing the last six months in Gaza has shown is that both sides tend to locate the evidence that suits their ideology.

There is also politics within the Labour party over this issue. Keir Starmer, an opponent of the Iraq war in 2003 when he was a barrister in Doughty Street chambers, backed freedom of information requests for the full legal advice supplied by the then attorney general, Peter Goldsmith, to be published on whether a second UN resolution was required before going to war.

That advice was finally published in full on a Downing Street website in 2005. Starmers role in securing the publication explains his current push for the Foreign Office to publish the legal advice on Israel arms exports. The custom and practice that such advice is private to ministers has not held sway with him, so long as the issue is of sufficient importance.

Starmers call for the advice to be published also acts as a convenient unifying position for his divided party, since it allows him not to come to a definitive view himself on whether Israel has breached international law.
Martin Bax: travelled the world working to improve standards of care, understanding and treatment of children with disabilities - courtesy of family

Martin Bax, who has died aged 90, combined a career as an internationally renowned paediatrician with work as founder and editor for more than 50 years of Ambit, a distinctive and often controversial literary quarterly; he even found time to write novels.

Bax wrote extensively in medical journals and co-edited books about child disability, edited the journal Developmental and Child Neurology, was instrumental with Ronnie Mac Keith in establishing the popular Clinics in Developmental Medicine journal, of which he served as senior editor from 1978 to 2003 while working as a consultant developmental paediatrician in the NHS. He travelled the world working to improve standards of care, understanding and treatment of children with disabilities. But it was for his literary work that he became known to a wider readership.

Ambit: cover from 1972 featuring the model Euphoria Bliss with Martin Bax (standing, right) with (left to right) Martin Freeman, Edwin Brock, Eduardo Paolozzi, JG Ballard and Michael Foreman

He conceived Ambit while still at medical school as an antidote to what he called the prevailing mood of Angst and Ennui in 1950s British society. Id been interested in the writer John Middleton Murry [who ran] a magazine from about 1910 onwards for two or three years called Rhythm that attracted writers like DH Lawrence, and Katharine Mansfield, he recalled in 2002. Murrys idea had been to produce a magazine in which literary and visual material would complement each other, and that provided the template for Ambits mixture of poetry, photographs, short stories and drawings.

Baxs aim was to provide readers with a frisson by coming up with something fresh and exciting with each number, irrespective of whether the authors are known or not. The first edition, published in June 1959, consisted mainly of copy cajoled from friends and acquaintances. Bax was concerned that more promising writers might not send in material, but in fact they did after seeing Ambit.

The magazine soon attracted attention as a showcase for radical new writers, poets, artists, illustrators and photographers, developing a reputation for mixing the erotic and the irreverent and pushing the boundaries of acceptability. Early recruits included members of The Group, writers and poets who had been brought together at Oxford by Philip Hobsbaum, including George MacBeth, Peter Redgrove, Peter Porter, Fleur Adcock and Alan Brownjohn. Other contributors included Ivor Cutler, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Burroughs and JG Ballard, whom Bax first met in 1965 at an exhibition Ballard was organising of crashed cars.

Ambit magazine covers

In the 1960s Ambits edgy irreverence regularly got the magazine into trouble. During the 1968 Chicago riots, Bax received a visit from the police following complains about a cover photograph of the Statue of Liberty being raped by a policeman  elegantly drawn by Mike Foreman. And Bax recalled being strongly advised not to publish some drawings by David Hockney of men in a club in Amsterdam  advice he ignored.

The Swiftian intentions of such JG Ballard short stories as The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race (1966) and Plan for the Assassination of Jacqueline Kennedy (1967) seemed to pass some people by. Randolph Churchill demanded that the Arts Council withdraw the magazines small grant on the grounds that the stories were offensive to Americans.

Ballard also did a nice line in fictional advertisements, which he placed in Ambit, and for which he paid as his way of contributing to its shaky finances. One typical Ballard ad, for something called neural interval, was accompanied by a photograph of a woman in bondage.

Martin Bax

Ambit got into trouble again when it launched a competition for the best fiction or poetry written under the influence of drugs. Lord Goodman, an intimate of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, raised the threat of prosecution, Bax recalled. In fact, we were equally interested in the effects of legal drugs... The competition, and the 40 prize which I offered, was won by the novelist Ann Quin  her drug was the oral contraceptive.

Under Baxs editorship Ambit maintained its reputation even though, inevitably, it lost some of its ability to shock, one commentator remarking as early as 1970 that the publication and the more well-established London Magazine were much more like each other than they used to be.

Its hard to think of another magazine that divides its weight so equably between poetry, prose and art, wrote Gerald Mangan in the Times Literary Supplement in 2010. They seem to spark off each other, not just literally in illustrations of the writing, but in juxtapositions that conjure certain moods for reading.

Despite publishing the work of thousands of poets, fiction writers and artists, Ambit remained a small, shoestring enterprise, with Bax editing it at his home in Highgate after working at his day job, alongside a three-headed editorial team which included, over the years, Ballard and Paolozzi, Edwin Brock, Carol Ann Duffy and Henry Graham, though there were never such things as editorial conferences.

It remained the best place for young writers, poets and illustrators to send their work with the hope of seeing it alongside better-known names, even though many failed to make the cut. As Geoff Nicholson, another sometime co-editor, observed in a 1998 issue, sifting through submissions was like riffling through the postbag of a US fetish publication called Satyricon: There are submissions from people driven by private and inscrutable obsession, writing that is pretentious or incompetent or too arty or too pornographic, yes, exactly like Ambit.

Bax retired as editor in 2013, and the magazine eventually ceased publication last year after six decades and 249 issues, sad news, as one commentator observed, for those who had grown used to its idiosyncrasies.

Martin Charles Owen Bax was born at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on August 13 1933 to Cyril Bax, a barrister and civil servant in the Ministry of Health and Eleanor, nee Bayne, who was active in the Mothers Union. His paternal grandfather, Ernest Belfort Bax, was a close friend of William Morris and a founder of the Fabian Society.

From Dauntseys School, Wiltshire, he trained in Medicine at New College, Oxford, and Guys Hospital, where he became a lecturer at the Medical School in 1961.

Martin Bax - Seren Books

He went on to serve as director of the Community Paediatric Research Unit at St Marys Hospital Medical School (198285), then as Medical Director of the Community Paediatric Research Unit at Westminster Hospital Medical School, subsequently Imperial College School of Medicine (19852003), where he was also a senior lecturer and, after his formal retirement in 2001, emeritus reader.

From childhood, Bax had always enjoyed writing and he went on to publish two engagingly quirky novels. The Hospital Ship (1976), featuring an atomic-powered ark crewed by medical specialists which picks up the traumatised and often psychotic survivors of an unspecified Armageddon which has destroyed all individual and social stability, acquired a cult following. Love on the Borders (2005) followed a young woman walking the length of Offas Dyke in memory of her murdered mother, recalling old lovers while conjuring up new ones from her imagination, including King Offa himself.

In the 1970s, using text from The Hospital Ship, Bax worked with the jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther to develop the Vietnam Symphony, which was performed at the ICA against a backdrop of a kaleidoscope of images projected by Eduardo Paolozzi, and subsequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Memoirs of a Gone World (2010), a collection of Baxs short stories, many sexually charged, many surreal, included one, originally published in Ambit in 1968, which began with the words: It was Caroline who sounded the first note of alarm. She was copulating with a man when his penis broke off at the root. The affair had been a casual one The book was longlisted for the Edge Hill prize.

Martin Bax's 2018 memoir

Bax also wrote a childrens book, Edmond Went Far Away (1988), in which a little boy says goodbye to all the animals on the farm and goes exploring to the far away land just over the hill. The Collected Editorials by Martin CO Bax from Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 19612003 was published by Mac Keith Press in 2004, and Two Lives to Lead: The Early Years, Baxs memoir of the years 1933-1976, was published in 2018.

Bax was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and served as chairman of the European Academy of Child Disability from 2000 to 2008 and as Life President of the Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes. He received the Anderson-Aldrich Award of the American Academy of Paediatrics and the Distinguished Service Award of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy & Development Medicine.

In 1956 he married Judy Osborn, who went on to be a headteacher and Labour councillor. She died in 2015 and he is survived by their three sons.

Martin Bax, born August 13 1933, died March 24 2024
Piran Ditta Khan murdered Pc Beshenivsky on Nov 18 2005 - Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror

The ringleader of an armed gang responsible for the murder of a Pc Sharon Beshenivsky almost 20-years ago has finally been brought to justice following a tireless international manhunt.

Piran Ditta Khan, was convicted on Thursday of masterminding the raid on a Bradford estate agents in November 2005 in which the 38-year-old officer and her colleague Pc Theresa Milburn were gunned down at point-blank range.

The 75-year-old fled to Pakistan after the murder and spent 15-years on the run before he was eventually caught and extradited back to Britain.

Khan is the seventh and final member of the gang to be convicted in connection with the murder and West Yorkshire Police heralded the verdict as the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was arrested in Pakistan in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year to be charged - West Yorkshire Police

Pc Beshenivsky, who was married with three children and two step children, was shot on her daughters fourth birthday as she and Pc Milburn responded to reports of a raid at the family run Universal Express travel agents in the centre of Bradford.

After entering the shop, the robbers assaulted members of staff, threatened them with weapons and demanded they hand over 100,000 in cash.

One of the victims managed to trigger a silent alarm and Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn, who were about to finish their shift, responded to the call.

They were both shot at point black range as they approached the doors of the travel agency. Pc Milburn survived but Pc Beshenivsky died from her injuries.

Pc Teresa Milburn placed the hat of her colleague, Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, on top of her coffin - John Giles/PA

While Khan stayed in the safety of a lookout car rather than entering the store himself, prosecutors said he had played a pivotal role in planning the raid and knew that loaded firearms were to be used.

The jury at Leeds Crown Court was told this made him guilty of Pc Beshenivskys murder as surely as if he had pulled the trigger on that pistol himself.

Khan, who was a regular customer of Universal Express, claimed the businesss owner, Mohammmad Yousaf, owed him 12,000 and he had hired a debt collector to help get his money back.

But prosecutor Robert Smith KC said Khans claim of being defrauded was entirely false and jurors heard how he had travelled from his home in Enfield, North London, on a reconnaissance trip five days before the raid.

In the years following the murder, six other men involved in the robbery were put on trial and convicted.

Muzzaker Shah and brothers Yusuf Jama and Mustaf Jama the three armed men who went into Universal Express  were convicted of murder, robbery and firearms offences.

Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn were captured on CCTV approaching the Universal Express travel agents on Nov 18 2005 - West Yorkshire Police/pa

Hassan Razzaq and his brother Faisal Razzaq were found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences. Raza Ul-Haq Aslam was convicted of robbery.

But just weeks after the raid Khan evaded arrest by wearing a veil and posing as his sister to leave the UK on a flight from Heathrow to Islamabad.

In 2009, a poster campaign backed by a 20,000 reward was launched in Pakistan. West Yorkshire police never gave up hope of bringing him to justice.

He was eventually arrested in January 2020 and was extradited to the UK three years later.

Khan told his trial he had originally gone to Pakistan for his sons wedding but did not return after getting scared when he saw news reports saying he was a wanted man.

Paul Beshenivsky, the husband of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, stands with his son, Paul, and other family members at her funeral - John Giles/PA

Giving evidence largely through a Punjabi interpreter, he told his barrister: My English is street English, your English is book English.

He told the court he grew up in Pakistan as one of eight children and came to the UK alone as a teenager in 1965, staying initially with an uncle in Bradford.

He later lived in Nottingham and Derby, and Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire. He later went back to Pakistan to get married where he had children before returning to Bradford.

The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, thanked the jury for its role in the case of a police officer who set off for work that morning and never came home, all for doing her job to try and keep us all safe.

Even after so many years it hardly bears thinking about, he said. The only sentence for murder is imprisonment for life, I have to set the minimum term.

Khan, who showed no visible emotion when the verdicts were given, will be sentenced at a date to be set.
The family of a soldier killed in the 1974 Guildford pub bombing have been told by police that they have a new viable line of inquiry but will not be investigating because the new Legacy Act means any such probes into cases relating to the Northern Ireland Troubles are to end on May 1.

Soldiers Caroline Slater, 18, William Forsyth, 18, John Hunter, 17, and Ann Hamilton, 19, and civilian Paul Craig, 21, died and 65 people were injured in the blast  carried out by the republican terror group during the height of the Troubles  at the Horse and Groom pub in the Surrey town on October 5 1974.

They were found at an inquest in 2022 to have been unlawfully killed by the bomb, equivalent to 18 sticks of dynamite, at around 8.50pm, after it was placed in the pub by a young man and woman.

Now the family of Private Hamilton have received a letter from Surrey Police stating that following an evidential assessment, the force had identified a potential forensic line of enquiry and the next step would be a new criminal investigation.

But Surrey Police also informed the family that it would not be advancing any further investigations prior to the start of the Legacy Act.

Under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, all investigations into cases relating to the Troubles are to end on May 1, 2024 including civil cases and inquests which have not reached their findings stage.

The Act offers a limited form of immunity from prosecution for such offences for those who co-operate with a new body aimed at truth recovery.

KRW Law, acting on behalf of Pte Hamiltons family, are now seeking clarification on the nature of the new evidence including whether it involves a fingerprint or DNA profile, how long Surrey Police had known about it and how often the case had been reviewed since 1974.

They have also asked the force when the decision was taken not to reopen any investigations prior to the commencement of the Legacy Act and whether the new clue could lead to possible arrests.

They also ask if Surrey Police could continue an investigation after May 1 which they say is allowed as advised by the Home Office.

The wrecked Horse and Groom public house in Guildford which was bombed in 1974 (PA)

Cassandra Hamilton, a sister of Ann Hamilton, said: Four years after the resumed inquest into the murder of our sister in which we could not participate because we were disgracefully refused legal aid, we are now confronted with the Surrey Police producing new evidence  50 years after Anns murder.

A deputy chief constable of Surrey Police wrote in his letter to us that I can only image how the death of Ann has impacted on you and your family, and how the publicity surrounding this case has affected you over the years.

First, this policeman cannot begin to imagine the impact of Anns violent murder and those of four others on our families.

Second, it has been the support of the public and their anger at those responsible for the investigation that has been important and kept this catastrophic failure of policing and criminal justice alive for us.

Now we are being told that this new forensic evidence cannot be investigated because of the Legacy Act which the British Government is imposing upon all relatives despite huge opposition and a successful legal challenge and an application by the Irish Government against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Legacy Act appears to provide Surrey Police with another reason not to do anything  despite now telling us, out of the blue and a month before the Legacy Act comes into force, that there is new evidence.

This letter from Surrey Police raises more questions for us, questions we want Surrey Police to answer and to be responsible for.

This is before any responsibility for these failures is conveniently transferred to a new investigatory body.

Solicitor Barry ODonnell, from KRW, said: The timing by Surrey Police in this matter raises too many questions which the family of Ann Hamilton want answered.

There is the question of the nature of this new evidential lead, the question of how long this new evidence has been available to Surrey Police, when decisions were taken not to investigate this new forensic evidence, and why beyond the coming into force of the Legacy Act and whether, now given the legal challenges to the Legacy Act, Surrey Police should and could continue its investigation?

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said it was particularly concerned about the controversial legal provision of the Legacy Act.

The Act received royal assent last autumn despite widespread opposition from political parties and victims organisations in Northern Ireland as well as the Irish government.

The Government is currently appealing against a ruling by a judge at Belfast High Court who found that the provision for conditional immunity was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Surrey Police Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: We remain committed to facilitating justice for the families of those who were killed in the 1974 Guildford bombings.

Since 2019, when it was announced inquests would be resumed, we have supported a lengthy disclosure process and conducted a thorough and detailed assessment of all the materials held.

During this assessment, a potential forensic line of inquiry was identified and in November 2022, following consultation with Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), it was agreed this line of inquiry should be progressed. This work has been complex and has taken some time to complete.

Throughout this period, we were aware of draft legislation which has now been enacted, which we knew would impact on our ability to launch a re-investigation should we have reached that stage.

However, it was right and proper, in the interests of justice, for us to continue with our assessment, and to submit items for forensic analysis.

The timing of the return of the forensic results in August 2023 is unfortunate.

The enactment of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 in September 2023 means that there is now no prospect of reaching the stage of prosecution by the deadline of May 1 2024 that is set by the Act.

Whilst the Act does not allow for a police force to refer a case to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), the Chief Constable will notify the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland of the findings of our assessment once we have received further guidance on the process.

We are still in the process of informing the relatives of Private Caroline Slater, Private Ann Hamilton, Guardsman William Forsyth, Guardsman John Hunter, and Mr Paul Craig killed in the IRA time bomb attack to update them on the assessment and advise them that the ICRIR can take requests from a family member.

Our priority now is to preserve the significant amount of work that has been done to date, and to ensure we do not jeopardise any course of action that could be available to the families through the ICRIR.
Joe Biden told Benjamin Netanyahu an immediate ceasefire was essential. Composite: Reuters/AP

Joe Biden has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, telling Benjamin Netanyahu that future US support for Israel will depend on it taking concrete action to protect civilians and aid workers.

As the two leaders held their first phone call since Israeli airstrikes killed seven employees of the international food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), Biden issued the strongest US rebuke toward Israel since the start of the conflict.

In Thursdays call, which lasted less than 30 minutes, the US president made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a statement.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Biden said that an immediate ceasefire is essential and urged Israel to reach a deal with Hamas without delay, the White House said.

The statement marked a sharp change in Bidens rhetoric and suggested, for what appears to be the first time, that strings could be attached to continued US support.

The call came as WCK called on Australia, Canada, Poland, the US and the UK, whose citizens were killed in the attack, to join an independent investigation of the incident.

This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles, the charity said in a statement. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route and humanitarian mission.

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers.

Bidens comments were echoed by his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who said US support would be curtailed if Israel failed to adjust its conduct.

If we dont see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy, he told reporters in Brussels.

Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment, he said.

The US has provided crucial military aid and diplomatic support for Israels nearly six-month offensive, which was launched in response to Hamass 7 October attack in southern Israel.

Related: Israel alone? Allies fears grow over conduct  and legality  of war in Gaza

Support for Israels ability to defend itself has been a touchstone of US foreign policy for more than half a century and until now there has been no indication the US was ready to condition  let alone withhold  military aid.

The state department recently approved the transfer of 1,800 MK-84 2,000lb (907kg) bombs to Israel, with the decision reportedly coming on the day of the WCK strike.

The national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, on Thursday reiterated that US support for Israels defence remained iron-clad.

But earlier on Thursday a key Biden ally urged the US president to use the leverage afforded by the aid. I think were at that point, Chris Coons, a Democratic senator from the presidents home state of Delaware, told CNN.

Coons said that if Israel began a long-threatened offensive in the southern city of Rafah, without plans for the 1.5 million people sheltering there, I would vote to condition aid to Israel.

Bidens comments were the latest in a chorus of international anger over the attack on the WCK team, which was distributing desperately needed food to a population facing famine.

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday that Israels explanation for the deaths was not good enough, while a diplomatic crisis between Poland and Israel has erupted after Israels ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, pushed back at what he said were attempts by the extreme right and left in Poland to accuse Israel of intentional murder.

The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, on Thursday called the comment outrageous and described the ambassador as the biggest problem for the state of Israel in relations with Poland. The Polish foreign ministry said Livne was summoned to a meeting on Friday morning.

Israel said on Thursday that its military investigation into the killing of the seven aid workers could take weeks, while Shimon Freedman, a spokesperson for Cogat, the arm of the Israeli military responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, told the BBC they hope for [the investigation to report] in the next few days.

The IDF chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, attributed the strike to misidentification, adding that it was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers, and was a mistake that should not have happened.

The IDF said it had halted leave for all combat units on Thursday and heightened its air defence command to deal with a possible missile or drone attack from Iran. There is concern in Israel about Tehrans response to the deaths of two Iranian generals and five military advisers in an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus earlier this week.

Netanyahu has faced intense domestic pressure from the families and supporters of the hostages still being held in Gaza, and from a resurgent anti-government protest movement.

On Wednesday Benny Gantz, a Netanyahu rival and member of the war cabinet, called for snap parliamentary elections in September. We must set a consensual date for the month of September, or if you prefer for the first anniversary of the war, Gantz said.

The prime ministers Likud party rejected the call, but it was welcomed by the leader of the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, who last month urged new elections in a strident criticism of Netanyahus handling of the conflict. When a leading member of Israels war cabinet calls for early elections and over 70% of the Israeli population agrees according to a major poll, you know its the right thing to do, Schumer tweeted.

Early elections require the agreement of 61 elected officials, or the majority of deputies in the Knesset, where the Likud has the most seats but does not have a majority.

Likud said a national election while Israel was at war would inevitably lead to paralysis and harm the militarys fight in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said there had been no progress in Gaza ceasefire talks despite the Palestinian group showing flexibility.

Negotiations are stuck in a vicious circle, Hamdan said.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, Gazan medical officials say. Hamas has said 6,000 of its fighters are among the fatalities. Israeli officials say the Palestinian combatant death toll is more than twice that number.
Lord Cameron wants to pressure Israel to agree on an immediate pause in hostilities to get aid in and hostages out of Gaza - Omar Havana/Getty

How international law could force Britain to stop arms sales and cut wider strategic ties with Israel

UK ministers and officials could be charged with the crimes of complicity to genocide and aiding and abetting genocide unless the country rapidly changes course in its relations with Israel, a 17-page letter written by 600 of Britains top lawyers has argued.

Lord Cameron and Rishi Sunak, as well as Whitehall officials, will be pouring over the detail of the text which was signed by three former Supreme Court justices, among others.

It argues not only that arms sales to Israel should be stopped to avoid this risk, but that Britains strategic partnership with Israel should be suspended.

It even call for sanctions to be placed on prominent individuals who have made statements inciting genocide.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has called the allegations of genocide, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is investigating, outrageous, and said he has an unwavering commitment to international law.

He was supported yesterday by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, who briefly worked as a lawyer specialising in planning and immigration. Israel is absolutely not in breach of international law, she said, adding that the very suggestion was absurd.

What is the gist of the legal argument for an arms embargo?

The letter says that serious action is needed to avoid UK complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention.

It points out that the ICJ has ruled it is plausible Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Britain is a signatory to the Genocide Convention.

Britain therefore has a legal duty to take immediate measures to bring to an end  acts giving rise to a serious risk of genocide, it says.

Failure to comply with these obligations would incur UK state responsibility for the commission of an international wrong, for which full reparation must be made.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has been quite firm with Israel, so is the UK really in legal jeopardy?

Unfortunately, words are not enough.

The convention says signatories must take all measures to prevent genocide which [are] within its power if they are to stay on the right side of the law.

Serious action is  needed to avoid UK complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention, say the lawyers.

The UK cannot wait until the ICJ decides for certain whether or not a genocide is being committed, they add. It must act now in accordance with its obligation to prevent genocide.

What does the law say about UK arms sales specifically?

The letter calls on the Government to suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to Israel. It says the provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide.

It adds that the UK could also be charged with aiding and assisting war crimes under other elements of international law.

Such transfers are prohibited even if the exporting state does not intend the arms to be used in violation of the law  or does not know with certainty that they would be used in such a way  as long as there is a clear risk, it quotes UN legal experts as saying.

Finally, the lawyers say that continued arms exports to Israel are probably in breach of UK domestic law.

The UKs Strategic Export Licencing Criteria (SELC) requires the UK government to refuse to licence military equipment for export where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law it says.

What does the Governments own internal legal advice say?

No one knows for sure because it has not been published but it is unlikely to differ from the advice contained in the experts letter.

Alicia Kearns, head of the foreign affairs select committee, said last week she had been told that government lawyers believed Israel was committing human rights violations.

On Thursday, there were calls in Parliament for the Governments own legal advice to be published.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign affairs secretary, urged ministers to publish the legal advice now.

If it says there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, its time to suspend the sale of those arms, he added.

Has the UK ever suspended arms sales to Israel before?

Yes. In July 2009, Britain revoked five export licences for weapons to be used by Israeli navy missile boats because of their use in Gaza.

The licences covered spare parts for guns on Israels Saar 4.5 ships, which reportedly fired missiles and artillery shells into the Palestinian coastal territory during the three-week conflict.

At the time, the Foreign Office in London insisted the rare move did not constitute an embargo but was the application of normal UK and EU export licensing criteria. Still, it linked the decision directly to Operation Cast Lead  the Israeli codename for the attacks.

Later, during the 2014 war, a government-led review into the UKs exports to Israel identified 12 licences for military components which could be used in Israeli equipment in Gaza, including radar systems, combat aircraft and tanks.

When the review was published, in August 2014, a ceasefire had been called. The UK government said it would suspend the 12 licences in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities. It also said that the UK would continue to withhold new licences while the conflict persisted.

How big an arms exporter is Britain to Israel?

The vast bulk  69 per cent  of Israels weapons imports between 2013 and 2022 came from the United States. Germany accounted for 30 per cent of Israels arms imports during this period, while less than 0.1 per cent came from the UK.

Although our exports are small  just 42 million in 2022  the ICJ is unlikely to see that as a defence should a legal case be brought against the UK in future.

Have any countries already stopped arms sales to Israel?

Yes. Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain and Belgium have all suspended arms sales in the wake of Israels offensive in Gaza.

What does the public think?

A poll conducted by the charity Action for Humanity before the strikes which killed seven Western aid workers this week, found 56 per cent of UK voters are in favour of a ban on arms exports to Israel. Fifty nine per cent said they believed Israel was violating human rights in Gaza.

Other than an export ban on arms, what else does the expert legal letter to the Government call for?

Other than an arms embargo, the letter says the UK must put in place four other measures if it is to be reliably in compliance with the Genocide Convention.

These are to: Work actively and effectively to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire

Take all available measures to get supplies into Gaza, including a commitment to continue aid payments to the UNs Palestinian Refugee Agency

Impose sanctions on those who have made statements inciting genocide

Suspend steps for furthering the UKs strategic partnership with Israel and initiate urgent reviews into the suspension of current bilateral trade agreements

Although an arms embargo would have symbolic power, it is these measures that might have the most real-world impact on Israel given the small scale of UK arms exports.

But surely Israel has a right to self-defence?

Absolutely. But international law requires that violence employed in self-defence must be proportionate and remain within the rules of war.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Thursday, Lord Sumption emphasised this point.

Lord Sumption is among the 600 lawyers who signed the letter to the Government

The framework of international law around war did not mean countries can act as they want, even when provoked or attacked outrageously, as happened on Oct 7.

[Defence] doesnt mean to say that you can indiscriminately slaughter innocent civilians and children. It doesnt mean to say you can attack aid convoys, you can withdraw the visas of aid workers. It doesnt mean to say you can spend two weeks flattening hospitals.

There are limits to what people can do, even in self-defence, he said.
Russia is said to be targeting rescue workers repeating its strategy in Syria - ANADOLU

Russia targeted rescue workers in a double tap air strike on an apartment building in Kharkiv that killed at least five people.

Vladyslav Logienko, 52, a firefighter, was one of the first on the scene early on Thursday morning after an Iranian-designed Shahed drone smashed into a multi-storey apartment building in Ukraines second-largest city.

He was one of three rescue workers killed when Russian forces launched another drone at the same building in a repeat attack branded despicable and cynical by Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraines defence ministry later shared footage of Mr Logienkos son arriving at the scene as part of the rescue effort.

Fellow rescue workers attempted to comfort him as he threw off his helmet to wipe away the tears from his face.

In addition to the three rescue workers, at least two civilians were killed and 12 more injured in the double tap strike, Oleh Syniehubov, Kharkivs regional governor, said.

Double tap strategy targeting rescue workers is designed to sew further terror among the civilian populations - KHARKIV MILITARY ADMINISTRATION/ANADOLU

At least five people were killed in the strikes on Thursday morning - GLOBAL IMAGES UKRAINE

One of the drones used in the attack bore the inscription For Crocus City Hall, the news outlet Noel Reports said.

Moscow has sought to blame Ukraine for the terror attack, which Western officials have insisted was carried out by ISIS-K militants with no links to Kyiv.

The first Russian drone hit the city at 1am on Thursday, damaging several homes and a 14-storey high-rise building, he said.

This was followed by two more strikes less than an hour later that killed the rescue workers.

Double tap strikes are designed to hit rescuers responding to an attack. The tactics were a defining element of Moscows aerial campaign in Syria and have since been used in Ukraine.

They are designed to sew further terror among the civilian populations in the line of fire.

Three rescue workers were killed by a second drone attack after responding to the first - KHARKIV MILITARY ADMINISTRATION/ANADOLU

At least 20 Shahed drones were fired overnight by Russian forces in the latest salvo, Ukrainian officials said.

The air force reported that 11 of the munitions were shot down.

Responding to the strike, Mr Zelensky wrote on social media: A strike on Kharkiv, just an ordinary apartment building. With three Shaheds.

A despicable and cynical attack, when the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists attacked again.

A strike on Kharkiv, just an ordinary apartment building. With three Shaheds. A despicable and cynical attack, when the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists attacked again.



As a result of the attack, 4 people were killed. Among them were our rescuers: pic.twitter.com/SgIKCdxG0U  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) April 4, 2024

Ihor Klymenko, Ukraines interior minister, described it as a surgical strike.

It was suggested that newer, jet-powered Shahed drones, more capable of evading local air defence units, were used in the attack.

A senior Ukrainian source said the newer Shahed-238 models that have been downed over Ukraine are capable of flying 500km per hour  almost three times the speed of Shahed-136.

The newer drones are also painted black, which makes them harder to spot by search parties scanning the sky for enemy aircraft.

More than 350,000 Kharkiv residents were hit by power outages after the strikes, Ukraines energy ministry reported, after the Zmiivska power plant to the south of the city was hit.

Moscow also targeted power infrastructure in the neighbouring Sumy region, killing a 47-year-old worker, the energy ministry said.

Russian forces have increased attacks on Kharkiv in recent weeks.

The Kremlin is under pressure from pro-war nationalists to create a buffer zone that is capable of pushing Ukrainian artillery units far enough back to prevent them hitting the Russian mainland.
Denitza Mihaylova sued the health board for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal, but her case was rejected

The NHS in Scotland is spending more than a million pounds a year to employ two locum consultants, an employment tribunal has heard.

The bill of almost 1.2 million is for a pair of senior psychiatrists to cover the Western Isles and is an increase of 100,000 on the previous year, according to figures presented to the hearing.

The Isle of Lewis-based health board told the tribunal it struggles to fill the positions with permanent doctors and that overspending on temporary staff  who are looking to maximise their earnings  has an impact on other patients care.

An individual locum can cost the health service 600,000 a year compared with 200,000 for a doctor who takes on a permanent role, the hearing was told.

The financial disclosures were made during a case involving consultant psychiatrist Denitza Mihaylova, who was sacked after she fell ill and was unable to fulfil her on-call commitments at night.

Over almost two years, the NHS paid locums to cover her while she was off sick, but sacked her after concluding that funding this arrangement was no longer viable.

Health board sued

Ms Mihaylova sued the health board for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal, but her case was rejected after the tribunal found the health board had to manage its budget responsibly.

The hearing in Stornoway was told that Ms Mihaylova started work for the Western Isles NHS in September 2020 as one of two specialists providing 24/7 psychiatric services.

This involved an on-call rota and regular visits to Uist and Barra as well as home visits to patients in crisis on Harris and Lewis.

The second full-time permanent consultant psychiatrist had retired in 2018, the tribunal was told. [The health board] had been unable to recruit a full-time replacement.

Between 2021 and 2023 the vacant post for a consultant psychiatrist was advertised eight times with no applicants. Accordingly, that post was filled from 2018 with locums.

Consultant psychiatrists are in short supply in Scotland, there being a 60 per cent vacancy rate at this time. General psychiatry is the specialism with the most vacancies across Scotland.

It is therefore difficult to recruit consultant psychiatrists particularly for remote, island-based locations. This means that the board must rely on locums.

Difficulties finding doctors

The tribunal heard that although there are agreements with some agencies to supply locums at a capped cost, because of the difficulties in finding doctors, health boards have to go off framework and recruit using other agencies at higher costs.

The tribunal was told that in September 2021 Ms Mihaylova was diagnosed with the spinal condition myelopathy, leading her to be off sick for 150 days over the next 22 months.

To cover her absence, the health board had to pay for an additional locum consultant, the hearing was told.

In March 2022, Ms Mihaylova began a phased return to work following surgery and by August she had returned to full-time duties.

However, she raised concerns about responding to night time calls as the pain medication she had to take  which the tribunal heard she may have to be on permanently  made her sedated.

An occupational health adviser recommended she not do overnight on calls, the hearing was told.

No longer viable

In September Ms Mihaylova was told by bosses that funding long-term locum cover for her on-call duties  at a cost of 325,000  was no longer viable.

She was also told the health board anticipated running a 1.6m budget deficit  with locum costs a considerable part of that  despite Scottish Government rules forbidding this.

In addition, bosses said that the adjustment to cover on-call could not continue for financial reasons without a known time frame when she could safely resume on-call.

In January 2023 the figure for the cost of the second locum consultant to cover her absence had increased to 366,000 a year, the hearing was told.

In March, Ms Mihaylova  who by that time was on sick leave  was sacked because of her absences from work and the health board being unable to say with certainty that she could ever return to work full time.

As part of the evidence presented to the tribunal, the health board produced figures which showed that the total budget for mental health services for 2022-23 was 2,843,881 and from that for psychiatry the budget was 520,986.

Budget increases

However, locum costs for 2022-23 were actually 1,073,308 for two doctors, including the second locum to cover for Ms Mihaylova.

The tribunal was told that the budget for mental health services for 2023-24 had increased to 4,314,314, with a psychiatry budget of 611,775.

The projected cost of employing two locum consultant psychiatrists employed since her dismissal was put at 1,179,076.

Overspend in mental health services has consequences for service provision and the financial impact on other aspects of the service, because it requires efficiency savings elsewhere in the organisation, the tribunal was told.

The requirement to secure locums, and changing locums, creates significant disruption with direct impact on both inpatient and community care, specifically in terms of continuity of care, functioning of local multidisciplinary team arrangements and decision making in relation to complex patient presentation.

Despite sympathising with Ms Mihaylova, the tribunal rejected her claims.

Extremely unfortunate

The circumstances of this case are extremely unfortunate, said Muriel Robison, an employment judge who chaired the tribunal.

The [health board] has difficulty recruiting consultant psychiatrists and having recruited [Ms Mihaylova], who clearly enjoyed her job and living on the island, she became ill such that she could not perform all of her duties.

It must be a matter of great regret to both parties that the arrangement could not continue. For those reasons, this was a difficult case, but ultimately we accepted that the adjustments made could not continue without an end in sight given the respondents budgetary responsibilities.
Major Robert Campbell says he owes his life to Johnny Mercer

A decorated soldier is urging a judge to halt his pursuit of Johnny Mercer over his refusal to name Special Forces whistleblowers.

Bob Campbell, who was repeatedly investigated over an accidental death in Iraq, said Mr Mercer was the only politician who ever sprang to his defence.

He has said he owes his life to Mr Mercer for taking up his case.

Mr Campbell said the veterans minister was the last safety net for military personnel in distress  and that the judges demand that Mr Mercer name sources would undermine their ability to confide in him in the future.

The Plymouth MP has been served with a Section 21 notice compelling him to reveal the identities of whistleblowers who raised concerns about the alleged executions of Afghans.

If he refuses to comply, Mr Mercer could be sent to prison or if the matter is referred to the High Court he could be handed a potentially unlimited fine.

Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, who is chairing the inquiry into the allegations that the SAS executed innocent civilians during a series of raids to capture Taliban fighters between 2010 and 2013, has expressed frustration at the wall of silence obstructing his investigations.

Johnny Mercer is on a collision course with the law over his refusal to reveal the sources of allegations that British special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan - DANIEL LEAL/afp

But Mr Mercer insists he is protecting vulnerable soldiers who are not involved in wrongdoing but simply raised concerns with him.

Mr Campbell, a former Army major wounded in combat, was subjected to a criminal investigation over the drowning of a teenager in Basra in 2003 but was finally exonerated almost 20 years later by an official report which concluded the death was an accident.

A parliamentary inquiry into the treatment of veterans by Mr Mercer, a former Army captain who served three tours in Afghanistan, forced the Government into shutting down the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), which was investigating hundreds of cases. Almost all of them were raised by Phil Shiner, a lawyer subsequently struck off for dishonesty.

Mr Campbell, in urging the judge to rescind the Section 21 order, told The Telegraph: Johnny Mercers position on this is about the public interest of whistleblowers being assured they can speak to figures of authority in confidence.

I was failed by the chain of command and utterly abused by the judicial system while under investigation by the Iraq Historic Allegations Team.

The last safety net for service personnel when they have nowhere left to turn is to speak to an MP. I fully support Johnnys position on this.

Mr Campbell said: If it were not for Johnny Mercer, I would be dead today. He filled the Army-shaped void that was absent for 17 years in holding the MoD to account. The Army just did not care about us.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave gave Mr Mercer a deadline of Friday April 5 to reveal his sources or else be prosecuted for contempt.

Threat of jail

If Mr Mercer is found guilty by a High Court judge, he could then be jailed or fined while he would also be in breach of the ministerial code. Rishi Sunak would then have to decide whether to sack or retain one of the few members of the Cabinet who is popular with the public.

Mr Mercer lodged his appeal against the Section 21 notice on Wednesday. Lord Justice Haddon-Cave will consider the request to set aside the notice.

Warned by whistleblowers in 2017 about their concerns over the behaviour of the SAS in Afghanistan, Mr Mercer then raised them inside the Ministry of Defence.

Gen Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army, said the Afghan inquiry appeared to have misunderstood why Mr Mercer was refusing to name his sources.

Lord Dannatt said: Johnny Mercer is not withholding the names of his sources from the inquiry because he believes there is a risk the information could be exposed, as the inquiry seems to think.

These whistleblowers came to Mercer in confidence and have not given him permission to hand over their names, which is why he has not done so.

He believes it is fundamentally important that he maintains the trust that whistleblowers can speak to MPs in confidence.

David Taylor, a barrister who represented veterans wrongfully arrested by IHAT, said: Johnny Mercer was the only MP who was willing to listen.

Some veterans felt suicidal because of IHATs relentless pursuit of them. Johnny Mercer was the only MP with the integrity and compassion willing to listen to their plight.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister - Carl Recine /Reuters

Rishi Sunak must take a warning from hundreds of lawyers about suspending arms sales to Israel very seriously, a former head of the British Army has said.

Lord Dannatt, the former chief of the general staff, said Mr Sunak would do well to take note of a letter signed by more than 600 lawyers which called on the Government to suspend sales.

He said there are both moral and legal issues about the supply of arms to Israel and the UK needs to stay on the right side of both of those lines.

He told Sky News: I think the Prime Minister will do well to take note of, I am told it is as many as 600 senior judges and lawyers, who have signed this letter. And I think their experience and their interpretation of the law, international law, needs to be taken very seriously.

And I think the British government needs to do, as the Prime Minister has said, scrutinise very carefully what it is doing in terms of supplying equipment to Israel to make sure that we are staying on the right side of the law.

And of course it is not just a legal issue, there is a major moral issue here too which the atrocious attack 36 hours ago which killed seven aid workers really underlines. There are moral issues and there are legal issues and I think the UK being the sort of country that it is, needs to stay on the right side of both of those lines.

You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here.

04:00 PM BST

That is all for today...

Thank you for joining me for todays politics live blog.

I will be back tomorrow morning.

03:20 PM BST

Donald Trump sends birthday video message to Nigel Farage

Donald Trump has wished Nigel Farage a happy 60th birthday in a video message shared on Twitter by the former leader of the Brexit Party.

In the message, the former US president said Mr Farage had earned his place in history.

He said: I look very much forward to watching what your next move is going to be Nigel, it is going to be an interesting one.

03:09 PM BST

Homelessness laws could be clarified to ensure rough sleepers cannot be moved on for smelling

Homelessness laws could be changed to clarify that rough sleepers cant be moved on because they smell, following a backlash to draft legislation.

The Home Office is considering amending a Bill to tackle rough sleeping to clarify that those sleeping on the streets will not risk sanction by police simply as a result of body odour.

You can read the full story here.

02:54 PM BST

Ex-minister under investigation by Tories over Israel comments

A former Foreign Office minister is being investigated by the Conservative Party after criticising senior Tory figures who refuse to condemn Israel.

Sir Alan Duncan, who stood down as a Tory MP at the 2019 general election, told LBC during an interview today: There are a lot of people at the top of our own politics who refuse to condemn settlements and therefore are not supporters of international law.

I think the time has come to flush out those extremists in our own parliamentary politics and around it, some of whom are at the very top of government or have been and they have never been called to account by journalists in the press to say well, do you agree with your own partys policy? Do you condemn illegal settlements?

Sir Alan named numerous senior Tory figures, including Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, who he said should be sacked.

Sir Alan also claimed the Conservative Friends of Israel group has been doing the bidding of Netanyahu, bypassing all proper processes of government, to exercise undue influence at the top of government.

A Conservative Party spokesperson told LBC: Following his comments on LBC this morning, Alan Duncan has been informed in writing that he is under investigation by the party.

02:50 PM BST

Lord Soames backs calls to stop arms exports to Israel

Lord Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, has backed calls to suspend the export of arms to Israel.

The Conservative peer reportedly told The Guardian: Its probably time that that happened now, yes, I think if were determined to show that we are not prepared to countenance these ongoing disasters.

Lord Soames said an Israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers was absolutely inexcusable.

02:19 PM BST

Calls for Israel arms embargo are wrong, says Tory ex-Cabinet minister

Israel deserves the UKs continued support and people calling for the suspension of the sale of arms to the country are wrong, a former Cabinet minister has said.

Theresa Villiers, a senior Tory MP and a vice chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, was asked during an interview on the BBCs World At One programme if she believed Israels actions in Gaza were necessary and proportionate.

She replied: I do believe that it is a proportionate response to a horrific terrorist attack and that as the worlds only Jewish state and our ally and the only democracy in the Middle East and the country that was attacked by Hamas in the most brutal possible way, I think it deserves our continued support and that is why I think those who call for an arms embargo are wrong.

02:11 PM BST

Ex-Cabinet minister: Legitimate to continue supply of arms to Israel

A former Cabinet minister said it is legitimate to continue to supply arms to Israel.

Theresa Villiers, a senior Tory MP and a vice chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel group, said Israel is making stringent efforts in Gaza to prevent civilian casualties.

She told the BBC Radio 4 World At One programme: The loss of any civilian life in war is a tragedy and it was a particularly appalling tragedy when the World Central Kitchen aid workers lost their lives.

I feel deeply for everyone who has lost loved ones as a result of this conflict. But I also believe that Israel and the IDF are making stringent efforts to try and keep casualties to a minimum.

It is a tragic outcome of war that innocents lose their lives. It does not mean that Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law and in those circumstances it is legitimate to continue to supply them with arms exports.

01:36 PM BST

Pictured: Liz Truss attends Nigel Farages 60th birthday party in London last night

Nigel Farage is pictured celebrating his 60th birthday, with Liz Truss among the attendees - andreajenkyns/Twitter

01:24 PM BST

Green Party pledges to end Right to Buy

The Green Party has pledged to end Right to Buy and build an extra 150,000 council homes a year as it launched its local elections campaign today.

The party said it would lift rules on council borrowing for housebuilding to get more council homes built.

It has also promised to tame the private rental market by introducing rent controls in areas where the market is overheated.

Carla Denyer, the co-leader of the Green Party, said: Councils have a vital role to play but they need a framework that supports them to provide the homes that people desperately need.

We need to unlock the policies that will make hundreds of thousands of extra council homes available  for good. We also need a fair deal for the millions of people renting in the private sector.

01:06 PM BST

Grant Shapps: Nato states are playing Russian roulette with lack of defence spending

Nato countries that do not spend two per cent of GDP on defence spending are playing Russian roulette with the Wests future, Grant Shapps has warned.

In an article for The Telegraph to mark the military alliances 75th anniversary, the Defence Secretary argued that allies must accept we are now in a pre-war world.

You can read the full story here and read Mr Shapps article here.

12:46 PM BST

Pictured: Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay launch local election campaign in Bristol

Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are pictured today at their local election campaign launch in Bristol - Ben Birchall/PA

12:26 PM BST

Alan Johnson: Starmer premiership will start in terrible way due to public finances

Sir Keir Starmers premiership will start in terrible circumstances if Labour win the next general election because of the state of the public finances, Alan Johnson has said.

The former home secretary said Labour had received a much better economic inheritance when taking power in 1997 than the party would in 2024.

Mr Johnson told Sky News: I have to say, although I wouldnt say it at the time, we had a much better economic inheritance.

When Keir actually opens the books they are going to be worse than we even expected. It is going to be a terrible way to start a premiership. But I think he is the man to do it.

11:56 AM BST

Tim Farron: Human rights abuses should override arms sale deals

Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, said if Israel is in breach of international law over its actions in Gaza then that should override any contractual obligations on the sale of weapons.

The Liberal Democrats have called for the Government to suspend UK arms sales to Israel.

Asked to explain why, Mr Farron, who is now his partys environment spokesman, told Times Radio: Its important that the UK acts consistently, when all is said and done the UK exports arms to a number of countries including allies such as Israel.

Nevertheless, if there is evidence, and there may well be, increasingly it looks like there is, that Israel is guilty of human rights abuses, then surely that therefore overrides any kind of contractual obligations that we currently have.

Its important to act wisely.

11:54 AM BST

Sunak must take Israel arms issue very seriously, says ex-head of British Army

Rishi Sunak must take a warning from hundreds of lawyers about suspending arms sales to Israel very seriously, a former head of the British Army has said.

Lord Dannatt, the former chief of the general staff, said Mr Sunak would do well to take note of a letter signed by more than 600 lawyers which called on the Government to suspend sales.

He said there are both moral and legal issues about the supply of arms to Israel and the UK needs to stay on the right side of both of those lines.

He told Sky News: I think the Prime Minister will do well to take note of, I am told it is as many as 600 senior judges and lawyers, who have signed this letter.

And I think their experience and their interpretation of the law, international law, needs to be taken very seriously.

And I think the British government needs to do, as the Prime Minister has said, scrutinise very carefully what it is doing in terms of supplying equipment to Israel to make sure that we are staying on the right side of the law.

And of course it is not just a legal issue, there is a major moral issue here too which the atrocious attack 36 hours ago which killed seven aid workers really underlines. There are moral issues and there are legal issues and I think the UK being the sort of country that it is, needs to stay on the right side of both of those lines.

11:28 AM BST

Voters could stay home if polls suggest its all over bar the shouting, says polling expert

Opinion polls suggesting Labour could canter to victory at the next general election could result in voters staying at home on the day of the contest, a polling expert has said.

Professor Sir John Curtice said if the election appears to be all over bar the shouting then that could depress the level of turnout.

Asked how opinion polls showing a significant Labour lead could impact voter behaviour at the election, Sir John told Times Radio: Certainly one of the things it could well do is effect how many people vote because one of the things that we know tends to depress turnout is if it apparently appears to be all over bar the shouting, particularly in an election, which I think it is going to be true of this one, [where] there isnt necessarily a great deal of difference between the parties in terms of what they are offering the electorate.

The truth is the next government, irrespective of whether it is Conservative or Labour is going to be offering fiscal rectitude and not much in the way of an increase in public spending but hoping to turn the public services around anyway.

To that extent that helps to depress the level of turnout.

11:14 AM BST

Tories losing ground more heavily in past strongholds, says polling expert

The Tories are losing ground more heavily in places where they previously polled best, delivering a major blow to their general election hopes, a polling expert said.

Professor Sir John Curtice said the results of yesterdays YouGov poll and projection demonstrated it is not how many votes you get but where you get them that matters.

He told Times Radio: If we just did the standard thing of just assuming that party support was up and down by the same amount everywhere, well the Tories might be at about 200, Labour at about 350.

But we discover that because, in this poll as in the previous poll as indeed it is in the previous YouGov poll back in December, because the Conservatives are losing ground more heavily in places where they previously polled best, when it comes to their seat tally they are looking at an even worse potential outcome than you might get from the simple headline voting figures.

In this case it is basically saying the Conservatives are going to get about 50 seats fewer and Labour 50 seats more.

10:45 AM BST

Reader poll: Should the UK suspend arms sales to Israel

Rishi Sunak and the Government are under increasing pressure to suspend UK arms sales to Israel.

What do you think? You can have your say in our reader poll below:

10:23 AM BST

More than 600 lawyers sign letter demanding suspension of arms exports to Israel

More than 600 lawyers, including three former Supreme Court justices, have called on the Government to suspend arms sales to Israel.

The letter, sent to Rishi Sunak last night and first reported on by The Guardian, refers to the UKs obligations under international law and states the Government must suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to the Government of Israel.

It concluded: We are concerned that the UK Government is failing to discharge its international obligations in these respects.

While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your Government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to UNRWA falls significantly short of your Governments obligations under international law.

09:57 AM BST

Shadow defence secretary: Labour commitment to Nato is unshakeable

75 years ago, #NATO was founded.



And 75 years on, the alliance has never been stronger, larger or more unified.



Labour's commitment to NATO is unshakeable. In Government, we will fulfil our NATO obligations in full.



My article with @DavidLammy https://t.co/HhSL7B3Dar  John Healey MP (@JohnHealey_MP) April 4, 2024

09:42 AM BST

Lord Cameron rules out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has ruled out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine.

Speaking to the BBCs Ukrainecast, the former prime minister said: What Nato is looking at is a Nato mission for Ukraine, not a Nato mission in Ukraine. Its making sure that we use Natos architecture to help deliver some of the support that Ukraine needs. But, fundamentally, I think that we should do everything we can to help Ukraine  thats been Britains position.

And I think its not escalatory to say we are going to help this independent sovereign country to fight off an aggressor, and were going to give it all the help we can in order to do that.

Asked whether he could see Nato boots on the ground in Ukraine, Lord Cameron said no, adding: I think that we dont want to give Putin a target like that, and Nato can do lots of things to better co-ordinate the help we give to Ukraine.

But, fundamentally, for countries like Britain and all those supportive of Ukraine, this is a question of political will. Do we have the patience? Do we have the will? Are we prepared to give the resources? Now, in Britains case, definitely the answer is yes.

09:17 AM BST

Israel absolutely not breaching international law, says Braverman

Suella Braverman said Israel is absolutely not in breach of international humanitarian law over its actions in Gaza amid growing pressure on Rishi Sunak to stop UK arms exports to the country.

The former home secretary said the suggestion of Israel potentially being in breach of the law was absurd and amounted to an insult.

There have been growing calls in recent days for the Government to ban UK arms exports to Israel after an airstrike killed seven aid workers, including three Britons.

The Government is also facing demands to publish any legal advice it may have received on the legality of Israels actions.

Mrs Braverman, who has just been on a visit to Israel, was asked if the country could now be in breach of the law.

She told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Absolutely not. The suggestion itself is absurd and, frankly, an insult to Israel who have been going above and beyond the necessary requirements to ensure that civilian casualties are limited, to ensure that aid is received onto the Gaza Strip and distributed.

I have seen evidence myself, in terms of very up-to-date photographic evidence, of plentiful food packages and trucks of food, water and medicines getting to the people of Gaza.

09:16 AM BST

Fallon: UK must cajole all Nato members to meet defence spending target

The UK must cajole all Nato members to meet the target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence, Sir Michael Fallon said.

The former defence secretary was asked during an interview on Sky News what will happen to Nato if Donald Trump becomes US president for a second time.

Mr Trump has been a vocal critic of Nato nations which are not meeting the target.

Sir Michael said: Well, we need to do what President Trump has advised us to do and what successive presidents advised us to do. It was President Obama who came to the Wales summit ten years ago when we adopted the two per cent target.

That wasnt Trump. That was Obama. Successive American presidents have always said that Europe should be spending more, and thats why we need to lead on this.

Less than half, fewer than half the Nato members now spend the two per cent and they had 10 years to get there after the 2014 Wales summit last, fewer than half of them actually made it. So we need to be cajoling the rest of the alliance and setting an example.

09:03 AM BST

Sir Michael Fallon: Defence spending must step up a gear

UK defence spending must step up a gear, a former defence secretary has said.

Sir Michael Fallon told Sky News: The [Ministry of Defence] budget has been rising. And to be fair to my successors, and to successive prime ministers, the budget has been slowly increasing.

However, the threat has been multiplying. And thats the difference now. Thats why we need to step up a gear and thats why wed like every candidate in this election to commit to a new target of two and a half percent.

08:30 AM BST

Threat facing UK more serious than during Cold War, suggests ex-defence secretary

Sir Michael Fallon, the former defence secretary, has called for an increase in defence spending as he suggested the threat facing the UK is now much more serious than it was during the Cold War.

Asked if he agreed that the UK is not spending what it should on defence, Sir Michael told Sky News: Yes, I do. We need to be spending more.

The threat has increased and in the Cold War we didnt have Russia invading countries on our continent. So the threat is much more serious than it was and we therefore need to increase our spending.

And thats the purpose of the cross-party initiative that Ive been involved with, with the Council for Geostrategy to get all parties to commit to that, to spend two and a half percent of GDP in the next Parliament.

08:20 AM BST

Rishi Sunak marks Natos 75th anniversary

Much has changed in 75 years, but @NATO has been a constant  standing as the bedrock of our freedom and security.



Today we renew our historic pledge to the Alliance.



We stand together. We will not waiver. Because #WeAreNATO  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 4, 2024

08:17 AM BST

Israels approach in Gaza bordering on reckless, says ex-MI6 chief

Israels approach to the war in Gaza is bordering on reckless, a former head of MI6 said amid growing pressure on Rishi Sunak to stop UK arms exports to the country.

There have been calls for the Government to ban arms exports to Israel in the wake of an airstrike that killed seven aid workers, including three Britons.

The Government is also facing demands to publish any legal advice it may have received on the legality of Israels actions in Gaza.

Sir Alex Younger told BBCs Today podcast: My view is that what happened is essentially systematic of an approach to targeting that has, on occasion, bordered on the reckless and fundamentally undermines therefore what must be Israels political objectives, which is to sustain some moral high ground and moral purpose.

He added: Its hard not to conclude that insufficient care is being paid to the collateral risks of these operations, one way or another.

08:15 AM BST

Moderate Tory MPs have destroyed their party, claims Lee Anderson

Lee Anderson claimed moderate Tory MPs had destroyed the Conservative Party after a major new poll projected Labour was on course for a landslide victory at the next general election.

Mr Anderson, who defected to Reform UK after losing the Tory whip, took aim at the One Nation grouping of centre-ground Conservative MPs and blamed them for the partys problems.

Asked if the Tories were complacent or even arrogant about their political position because of the two-party system, Mr Anderson told GB News: There is that arrogance and I think theyre getting a little bit concerned now and its unfortunate because there are still some good Tories in the Conservative Party, some good Tory MPs who Im still friends with who probably will lose their seats at the next election.

Then theres some MPs who are not so good, a little bit wet, the One Nation lot, who I think have destroyed the Conservative Party.

The One Nation lot are actually worse than what the Labour Party are, because theyre just socialists in disguise.

A YouGov poll and projection published yesterday suggested Labour would win 403 seats if an election were held tomorrow, with the Tories securing just 155. That would be an even worse result than the Conservatives suffered in 1997.
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper inspects the scene of a fatal crash involving a Hays County school bus in Bastrop County on March 22. Jay Janner/Associated Press

The concrete pump truck driver who struck a school bus and SUV, killing two people, had failed two drug tests in the past two years and his employer had not verified his status with a federal clearinghouse for drug and alcohol violations, court records show.

Jerry Hernandez, 43, was arrested last Friday and charged with criminally negligent homicide, one week after the crash on Texas 21 that killed Hays County preschooler Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, and Ryan Wallace, 33, a Bastrop resident and University of Texas at Austin doctoral student.

An arrest warrant for Hernandez released by the Bastrop County District Clerks office details three drug- and alcohol violations since 2020, which changed the status of his commercial drivers license, but didnt prevent him from driving the concrete pump truck.

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Last week, a federal transportation agency disqualified Hernandez from commercial driving for at least 30 days, saying it would pose an imminent hazard to public safety.

After the crash, Hernandez told a Department of Public Safety trooper that he had smoked marijuana the night before, slept for about three hours before waking around 12:30 a.m. and consuming cocaine around 1 a.m., the warrant said. The crash occurred just before 2 p.m. that day. He appeared to fall asleep several times during the conversation and refused to provide a blood sample, according to court documents, but a search warrant was issued and a blood specimen was collected.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse indicated Hernandez had refused a test in September 2020, when his employer had reasonable suspicion of drug or alcohol use, the warrant said.

READ MORE: Truck driver charged in fatal school bus crash

After he refused to take a test, Hernandez should have been removed from performing safety-sensitive functions at this point by the company he was driving for at the time, the arrest warrant said. Under federal rules for commercial drivers licenses, that includes driving a commercial motor vehicle, as well as loading, unloading, inspecting or servicing such vehicles.

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That refusal would have warranted a referral for an evaluation by a substance abuse professional, the warrant said. Those are licensed doctors, social workers, psychologists or others who meet U.S. Department of Transportation criteria and are tasked with assessing transportation employees who violate drug and alcohol rules and determining the education or treatment needed to return to duty.

According to DOT guidelines, substance abuse professionals must develop a follow-up testing regimen for violators, including at least six tests in the first 12 months after returning to work.

Hernandez tested positive for drug use in two follow-up tests, the warrant said: one for marijuana on Dec. 15, 2022, and another for cocaine on April 11, 2023.

But even though his clearinghouse status was prohibited because of the failed tests, a loophole allowed him to continue driving commercially. State drivers license agencies, which issue commercial drivers licenses, arent required to downgrade those licenses for drug and alcohol violations.

Thats set to change this fall under a new rule introduced in 2021 and scheduled to take effect in November. The rule change is intended to close what the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration called a knowledge gap between the federal government and individual states drivers license agencies.

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Currently, most state agencies do not receive drug and alcohol program violation information about commercial license and permit holders, the administration said in a summary of the rule changes. The state agencies are unaware when commercial vehicle operators are prohibited from driving due to violations, so they continue to hold valid licenses. Under the new rule that takes effect Nov. 18, stage agencies must remove commercial driving privileges from drivers who are prohibited due to those violations.

Despite the loophole, Hernandezs employer should have been aware of his drug and alcohol history, the warrant said.

Hernandez was driving a truck that belonged to FJM Concrete, a company owned by Francisco Martinez and based in Smithville, a city in Bastrop County. According to the arrest warrant, Martinez did not verify the status of Hernandezs license or his status in the federal clearinghouse before hiring him as a driver.

In 2021, Martinez was cited for employing an unlicensed driver, according to Hays County court records. A plea hearing was set for March 10, 2022, but a warrant wasnt issued by the Justice of the Peace Precinct 4s office until Monday, records show.

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Martinez pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor traffic charge Tuesday.

After hitting the school bus and passenger vehicle, Hernandez seemed unaware of the magnitude of the crash he was involved in, the arrest warrant said, and Hernandez never mentioned striking a school bus. While he told a trooper that an SUV traveling in front of him had braked suddenly, forcing him to swerve, that didnt match video footage from the bus dashboard camera or witness statements, the warrant said.

One week after the crash, the U.S. Department of Transportation disqualified Hernandez from driving any commercial vehicle, which it said would constitute an imminent hazard to public safety.

This finding means that based upon your present state of unacceptable safety compliance, your operation of any commercial motor vehicle substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death if not discontinued immediately, the order said. It was issued Friday, March 29, and handed to Hernandez at St. Davids Emergency Center in Bastrop.

The order cites both the March 22 collision and Hernandezs history of using controlled substances while being employed as a professional CMV driver, referencing the refused test and two failed tests.

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A field administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a one-year disqualification period, which will take effect unless Hernandez requests an administrative review of the order. To resume driving commercial vehicles, hell need to complete a return-to-duty process, including an evaluation, substance abuse treatment and education as determined by a professional, and pass return-to-duty testing, the order said.

If Hernandez violates the order, he can be fined up to $6,974 per violation, and could be subject to criminal penalties.
Google has surprised investors and users with it's plan to charge for AI services. (REUTERS / Reuters)

Alphabet (GOOGL)

Google has caught investors and users by surprise after reports that it could charge users for some of its AI-related services in what would be the biggest shake-up of its commercial model.

According to the Financial Times, it is looking at whether to add certain AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services which already offer access to its new AI assistant called Gemini, Google's version of the chatbot ChatGPT.

The search giant, which is owned by Alphabet, has never before put any of its core products behind a paywall.

Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: EU stocks rise as traders weigh up Fed comments and await ECB minutes

Executives have reportedly not yet made a decision when or whether to move ahead with the technology but the FT said engineers were developing the know-how needed to deploy the service.

Alphabet's shares dipped about 1% in extended trade.

Spotify (SPOT)

Spotify was higher in extended trading after the music streaming service revealed plans to raise prices in five different regions, according to a Bloomberg report.

Spotify Technology SA intends to raise prices on its plans by about $1 (0.79) to $2 a month in five markets including the UK, Australia and Pakistan by the end of April. The company will raise prices in the United States later this year.

Under the new pricing, individual plans will go up by about $1 a month, while family plans and so-called duo plans for couples will rise by $2, the Bloomberg report added.

On a monthly basis, Spotify offers premium plans including $10.99 for an individual, $14.99 for duo and $16.99 for family in the US, according to the company's website.

In the UK, a premium individual accounts currently comes in at 10.99, a duo costs 14.99 and the family package will set you back 17.99 a month.

Paramount Global (PARA)

Paramount Global is reportedly in exclusive acquisition talks with Skydance Media, according to the New York Times.

Shares surged by over 14% and were higher in extended trading after reports that Skydance and Paramount entered a 30-day exclusive negotiating window Wednesday and have already agreed on terms, though Skydance still needs to ensure it can merge its movie studio with Paramounts.

The deal currently being discussed with Skydance would involve Skydances buying National Amusements, the company that holds Shari Redstones voting stock in Paramount. The enlarged Skydance would then acquire Paramount Global, which is publicly traded, in a two-step process.

Read more: How to stop being a workaholic

This follows a recent $26bn all-cash offer from private-equity firm Apollo Global Management.

Paramount owns the Paramount film and TV studios, streaming service Paramount+, broadcast network CBS, and cable channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV, BET and Comedy Central.

Vodafones 15bn plan to merge with Chinese-owned rival Three will face an in-depth investigation by the competition regulator.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it will launch a so-called Phase 2 probe after both firms told the regulator they would not be offering measures to ease its concerns ahead of the deadline.

The telecoms giant last year agreed to merge with Three in a deal that will create the UKs largest mobile network with more than 27 million customers.

However, the tie-up has attracted scrutiny due to concerns that Threes Hong Kong-based parent company CK Hutchison could be granted access to sensitive national infrastructure.

The regulator said it found in its initial probe that the two companies are important alternatives for mobile customers and combining these two businesses will reduce rivalry between mobile operators to win new customers.

The watchdog also raised concerns that the deal may make it difficult for smaller mobile operators  such as Sky Mobile, Lebara and Lyca Mobile  to negotiate good deals for their own customers, by reducing the number of mobile network operators which will host them.

Watch: The two best-positioned megacap tech stocks in 2024: Analyst

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Swedish conscript soldiers take part in a military exercise outside Kristianstad last year - Johan Nilsson/AFP

Britain should consider a Sweden-style selective military conscription system, a former head of MI6 has said.

Sir Alex Younger, who was chief of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2020, argued that the UK needed a wake-up call.

In Sweden, people aged 18 have to complete an enlistment form, but only some of them are called up to do basic training with military service.

The selective form of conscription was reintroduced in 2017, with the move following Russias invasion of Crimea in 2014. Sweden joined the Nato military alliance in February.

Sir Alex told the BBCs The Today Podcast: Ultimately, in extremis, I think wed be looking at something like the model I understand exists in places like Sweden, where the government theoretically has the power to compel people to give their service one way or another but doesnt exercise it except in areas where its really needed.

Youll notice on that list is not everyone being called up and going to the drafting station, I think thats extremely unlikely.

Elsewhere in the interview, he said he was against blanket conscription but was interested in ways in which the broader country would participate and contribute to security in a time of an emergency.

Sir Alex appeared to agree that the UK needed to shift its thinking on defence matters in the manner of eastern European countries closer to Russia, such as Poland, Lithuania and Estonia.

He said: I think in some ways those are people [bordering Russia] that have been mugged by reality, and I think I am a person that has been mugged by reality. And Im a liberal through and through  I want to live in a world where we dont have to think about this stuff.

But Im bound to say that we seem to have convinced ourselves somehow that the advantages we have and the values that are shot through our country are kind of natural and dont need defending.

And I think were in for a rude shock. And by contrast, if we do decide that we want to defend them, the need to do so probably goes down.

He also said it was rubbish to think ideological and military rivalry was a thing of the past, adding: Im up for a wake-up call.

The remarks come after Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of the Army, said Britain should train a citizen army ready to fight a future war on land.

Gen Sir Patricks comments, made in January, triggered debate about whether conscription should return in some form. Downing Street rejected the idea at the time.
The fee was announced last year after Venice was added to the UN's list of endangered heritage sites owing to overtourism - MICHAEL DUVA

Tourists in Venice face being slapped with a 300 fine if they fail to pay a newly-introduced entrance fee aimed at minimising overcrowding.

The Italian city had initially insisted that the day-tripper fee was not a tax and would not lead to long queues; however during a briefing on Thursday, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro described the charge as a tax and conceded that lines could form at the official entry points.

Tourists who are not staying in Venice in a hotel or other kind of accommodation will need to pay an entrance fee of 5.

Mr Brugnaro said personnel have been trained to verify that tourists who are not staying in Venice have either a QR code confirming payment of the fee or an exemption voucher. Exemptions will be issued for a variety of reasons, including to access the city for work, school or medical care, as well as to people born in Venice, and residents of the Veneto region.

In 2021, Italy's government banned giant cruise liners, which for years towered over the ornate palazzos of Venice - LUCA BRUNO/AP

Mr Brugnaro said that anyone found beyond designated control points without the required documentation will be subject to fines. These will range from 50 to 300, plus the maximum entrance fee allowed by law, set at 10.

There is no tax without controls, Brugnaro told foreign reporters in Rome.

Visitors will be subject to random, not systematic, checks, he said.

There will be no turnstiles or physical barriers placed at entry points, such as train station Venezia Santa Lucia, one of the main gateways into the lagoon city.

Those staying in the city will be exempted because they already pay a tourist tax as part of their accommodation.

Venice welcomes 25 million to 30 million tourists a year.

Endangered site

The day-tripper fee was announced last year after the city was added to the UNs list of endangered heritage sites owing to overtourism.

While tourism is a key source of income for Venice, many residents have long baulked at the hordes of people visiting it every day, pointing out that for decades the city has steadily lost residents, due to lack of affordable housing and jobs unrelated to tourism.

In 2021, Italys government banned giant cruise liners, which for years towered over the ornate palazzos of Venice, from coming close to famous landmarks such as the Piazza San Marco, ending years of disputes with groups of local residents.

While many residents praised the decision, they said it was far from enough to solve the problem of overtourism.

Critics such as civic association Ocio have been saying for years that the proliferation of apartments for tourists has considerably raised the cost of living in the city for residents, while day trippers spend little money in the city but imply higher costs, such as those incurred to clean the streets or collect garbage.

In particular, they sounded a warning last summer when the number of tourist beds officially overtook the number of residents, which has dwindled to under 50,000, from 175,000 in 1950s, in a trend dating back decades. They said the imbalance drains the city of services, clogging its tight alleyways and water buses with suitcase-toting tourists and pushing residents to the mainland with its conveniences.

It remains unclear whether the entry tax will discourage day trippers from visiting Venice.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam has nominated for preselection to contest the federal seat of Wills, currently held by Labors Peter Khalil. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

The Victorian Greens leader, Samantha Ratnam, has put her hand up to run in the federal seat of Wills, in a move that has some Labor figures worried about the partys grip on the seat.

Ratnam on Thursday announced she has nominated for preselection to contest the federal seat of Wills, which takes in the northern Melbourne suburbs of Brunswick, Coburg, Glenroy, Fawkner and Pascoe Vale. It is held by Labor MP Peter Khalil on a margin of 8.6% on a two-candidate-preferred basis against the Greens.

But senior Labor figures have expressed concerned that the margin could narrow, amid backlash over the partys response to the Hamas-Israel war.

In recent months, Khalils Coburg office has been targeted by pro-Palestine protesters. On one occasion, effigies were left outside the Sydney Road office along with signs end the occupation, free Palestine and no more bodies in Gaza.

On hearing of Ratnams candidacy, a senior Victorian Labor figure said: Bye bye Peter.

If things dont change or the seat doesnt change [in the upcoming redistribution], we are in huge trouble, they said.

Related: Crossbench demands donations reform after $16m in dark money flows into voice campaign

The Labor figure said there was a misconception among the party that Muslim voters, who have traditionally voted Labor, would continue to do so out of concern the Greens were too socially progressive.

The Muslim community are feeling really hurt and disappointed by Labor and its not enough for us to counter it with: The Greens are too radical, you cant vote for them, they said.

There is an impression amongst this group that the Greens are the only ones sticking up for them at the moment. We need to do more.

The Albanese government has hardened its position on Israel after the killing of an Australian aid worker in Gaza earlier this week, and has been calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire since December.

Gaza was highlighted by the federal Greens leader, Adam Bandt, in a statement following Ratnams nomination, alongside the issues of housing affordability and the rental crisis.

Peter Khalil and Labor have failed renters, failed people who are trying to buy their first home, and failed to condemn the state of Israels invasion of Gaza, Bandt said.

The people of Wills are progressive and compassionate but their values are being betrayed by a Labor party approving new coal and gas projects and backing the invasion of Gaza, while ignoring renters and offering Band-Aid solutions to the cost-of-living crisis.

The people of Wills can send Labor a message without helping Peter Dutton.

Related: Victorian Greens threaten to block planning changes unless housing demands met

He said only one in 10 voters needed to change their vote for the party to win the seat and noted 40% of the electorate were renters.

Colin Jacobs, a former Greens staffer who is now the director of data and analytics at firm PoliQ, said there was a lot of room for growth for the minor party.

He said while Brunswick was now Greens heartland territory, Labor had been able to rely on the hipster-proof fence  the different demographics north of Bell Street  to hold the line.

The seats Muslim population are concentrated in this region, which represents untapped territory for Greens gains, Jacobs said.

A Victorian Labor MP also noted Ratnam had a high profile as the leader of the state Greens since 2017 and as a suburban mayor in the area.

She previously ran for Wills against Khalil in 2016.

A Victorian Labor strategist, however, said it was premature to speculate about the seat without knowing its final makeup, due to an upcoming redistribution.

If any southern part of the electorate is taken out of the seat, there goes her chances, they said. If they add more south of the Yarra, were stuffed.

Ratnam faces Sarah Jefford, a surrogacy lawyer who contested the seat for the Greens at the 2022 election, in the preselection vote, which will be decided by party members.

If Ratnam is endorsed, as is expected, she would have to step down as leader of the party in Victoria.

She will also have to resign from parliament altogether when she formally nominates as a candidate, two weeks after an election is called.

In the seat of Higgins, the Greens have preselected environmental engineer Angelica di Camillo as their candidate to run against Labor MP Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Liberal candidate Katie Allen.

The next federal election is due by the middle of 2025.
Christine Keeler was part of the infamous alleged honeytrap plot involving Secretary of State for War John Profumo, an osteopath and a Soviet naval attache - Popperfoto/Getty Images

It began with a flirty message: Long time no speak! Miss you in Westminster. Then, after claiming to have met the recipient at a recent event, the mystery correspondent, who called himself Charlie, got down to brass tacks: Im single again so making the most of the gays in Westminster. After some further banter, Charlie sent an explicit photo.

It sounds like an exchange that might take place on a dating app. But this message and several others, containing similar wording, were sent on WhatsApp to at least 12 men, including MPs, working in and around Parliament between October 2023 and February this year. If the recipient was heterosexual, then the sender called themselves Charlotte or Abi.

Yesterday, the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, held talks with Parliamentary staff, after experts told the Politico website that the messages were almost certainly part of a spear phishing attack  a highly personalised phishing exercise intended to gather compromising information on a victim  possibly undertaken on behalf of a foreign state.

The platform may be modern, but the honeytrap has a long and colourful history. Here, we recall some of the best known episodes from which modern-day spies may continue to draw inspiration...

Mata Hari

Mata Hari was allegedly found to be treacherous, and was executed by the French - Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Mata Hari is to the honeytrap what Hoover is to vacuum cleaning. A Dutch dancer, real name Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, she made a reputation for herself in bohemian Paris before the First World War.

Then, after performing for the eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, she was recruited by the French in 1916 to seduce the Crown Prince and obtain military secrets (which would, in fact, have been of no use as he had no involvement in the war).

She met a German operative in Madrid in an attempt to set up a meeting with Wilhelm Jr, but instead offered to share French secrets with the Germans. The French then intercepted communications that allegedly confirmed her treachery.

What Mata Haris motivation was and the true intentions of the French and Germans remain unclear  it is not certain whether she was a double or even triple agent or merely an innocent scapegoat  but she was executed for her troubles by the French in October 1917.

John Profumo and Christine Keeler

Profumo eventually resigned as a result of his affair with Keeler, pictured here in 1963 - George Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The mother of all British political scandals. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in 1963, got caught in a convoluted tangle as the lover of Christine Keeler, who also happened to be involved with Soviet naval attache and man-about-town Yevgeny Ivanov.

The key figures all met at parties organised by society osteopath Stephen Ward, who took his own life during his trial for living off the earnings of prostitution and of procuring.

Profumo, having initially denied his affair with Keeler, was hopelessly compromised and resigned. Ivanov always maintained it was implausible as espionage, claiming later that Keeler would never have been able to obtain sensitive information for the Russians via pillow talk: Oh, by the way, darling, when are the cruise missiles going to arrive in Germany?

Barbara Castle and Renato Proni

MP Barbara Castle in 1974, who described Czechoslovakian agent Renato Proni as her 'Italian flower' - Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images

In 2019, documents revealed the venerable Labour minister Barbara Castle had been the subject of an attempted honeytrap by a Czechoslovakian agent, the Italian Renato Proni, while Castle was an up-and-coming figure in Clement Attlees party in the Fifties.

The intelligence papers from the communist secret police, Statni Bezpecnost, dating from 1953 claim Proni thought he could seduce Castle, though there was no suggestion he ever succeeded.

Proni and Castle discussed political theory and he was known in the party to be her friend, sometimes driving her to meetings and writing documents for her.

The report read: Based on the testimony of Andrej [Pronis codename] she confided in him with the intention of getting a leading position in the Foreign Office in case of victory of the Labour party.They also record Castle calling Proni her gentle Italian flower.

Mordechai Vanunu and Cheryl Ben Tov

Mordechai Vanunu, identified as 'lonely' by Mossad psychologists, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in 2002 - AP

In 1986, Mossad took a dim view of Israeli technician Mordechai Vanunu, who offered the British press the story  and images to prove it  that Israel had developed nuclear weapons at the secretive Dimona plant in the Negev desert (the Israeli nuclear policy was and remains one of deliberate ambiguity).

While in hiding, Vanunu slipped out into central London for a day of sightseeing, during which he was befriended by a woman with whom he planned a romantic trip to Rome.

The honey trap was set because Vanunu had been identified as lonely by Mossad psychologists.

Vananus new companion was Cheryl Cindy Ben Tov, who took him to an apartment in Rome where he was overpowered and drugged by three waiting Mossad agents.

Vanuna promptly reappeared in Israel, where he stood trial for treason (it was less diplomatically sensitive to arrest him in Italy than in the UK).

Vanunu was released from prison in 2004.

Markus Wolfs Romeo Spies

Markus Wolf, who sent women to seduce powerful men in West Germany, in Berlin

The East German spymaster Markus Wolf set up a department of the Stasi dedicated to his network of Romeo Spies on the basis that the Second World War had left a shortage of young men in the fledgling West Germany.

Selecting the best-looking operatives, Wolf sent them west with the aim of seducing politically and economically powerful  often unmarried  women in West German society. Some of these women were turned to work on behalf of the GDR, including as secretaries of senior officials, collecting confidential information from government, industry and even within Nato.

By the Eighties, the honeytraps became less effective, with West German officers trained to recognise the giveaway unfashionable haircuts and clothes of the East German arrivals.

But Wolf wrote: As long as there is espionage, there will be Romeos seducing unsuspecting [targets] with access to secrets.
Rafael Nadal has expressed his disappointment at being forced to miss the Monte Carlo Masters later this month.

Nadal has been off the tour since suffering a muscle injury in Brisbane in January and the 37-year-old revealed on social media that he is still not ready to return to action.

These are very difficult moments for me, sporting wise, Nadal, who has won the title 11 times in Monte Carlo, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Unfortunately I have to tell you that I am not going to be playing in Monte Carlo. My body simply wont allow me.

Hi all, these are very difficult moments for me, sporting wise. Unfortunately I have to tell you that I am not going to be playing in Monte Carlo. My body simply wont allow me. pic.twitter.com/BEi0UUe1au  Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 4, 2024

And even if I am working hard and making the maximum effort every day with all the will to play and compete again at tournaments that have been very important for me, the truth is that I cant play today.

You have no idea how hard this is for me to not be able to play these events.

The only thing I can do is to accept the situation and try to look at the immediate future keeping the excitement and will to play in order to give me a chance for things to get better.

Thanks again to all, as always, for all the support and best wishes!
The mastermind of an armed robbery that ended in a police officer being shot dead has been found guilty of her murder.

Piran Ditta Khan has been convicted almost 20 years after Pc Sharon Beshenivsky was killed while interrupting a raid at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

She and her colleague Pc Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the robbery as he emerged from the door of the business.

Almost two decades on, Khan is the last of the seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted.

The 75-year-old flew to Pakistan two months after Pc Beshenivskys death and remained at liberty there until he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in January 2020 and then extradited to the UK last year.

Prosecutors said former takeaway boss Khan was the groups ringleader and, although he did not leave the safety of a lookout car during the raid, played a pivotal role in planning it and knew that loaded firearms were to be used.

They told jurors this made him guilty of PC Beshenivskys murder as surely as if he had pulled the trigger on that pistol himself.

He was the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used them in the past to send money to family in Pakistan, the court heard.

Khan told jurors he had no knowledge that a robbery was going to be carried out, or that weapons were going to be taken.

He claimed the businesss owner, Mohammmad Yousaf, owed him 12,000 and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq offered to get his money back after the pair met through a business associate.

Khan said he thought the men Razzaq sent would intimidate the staff at Universal Express, or at worst, slap them.

Prosecutor Robert Smith KC said Khans claim of being defrauded was an entirely false attempt to explain why he was in Bradford at the time of the robbery and murder.

Piran Ditta Khan was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

Jurors heard Khan, who was living in Enfield, London, at the time, was driven to Yorkshire by Razzaq on a reconnaissance trip five days before the raid.

The day before the robbery, they travelled up again to a safe house in Leeds where they spent the night.

Francois Baron, who was working on renovating the house, later told police he had heard the robbers discussing the plot in one of the bedrooms.

Mr Baron said he heard gunman Muzzaker Shah asking Khan: Uncle, is it safe? Khan was said to have replied: Yes, its safe. Genuine.

Jurors heard Shah asked: How much can we get? and Khan replied: Minimum 50,000, maximum target 100 grand.

The group were said to be elated and confident, shouting: Lets go do it.

Prosecutors said the three robbers who were to go into Universal Express then changed into smart clothing, telling jurors this was because Khan knew they would have to appear respectable in order for staff to let them in through the electronically locked door.

The exterior of the Universal Express travel agent store in Bradford (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

In three cars, the group then drove in convoy to Bradford, where Muzzaker Shah and brothers Yusuf Jama and Mustaf Jama went into the travel agents posing as customers.

After initially asking about plane tickets, the three men jumped over the counter and started demanding money, striking several of the staff with their weapons, tying their hands and threatening to shoot the youngest if they did not hand over cash.

The group demanded 100,000, later saying they would not leave with less than 50,000, jurors heard.

Waqas Yousaf, Mohammad Yousafs son, told the robbers they did not have that kind of money and managed to press an alarm which alerted the police.

Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn, who were about to finish their shift, responded to the alert, the trial was told.

The robbers shouted the Feds are here before fleeing with around 5,400, with one of them gunning down the officers as they approached the doors of Universal Express.

The interior of the Universal Express travel agents where the raid took place (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

Khan was convicted of murder by a majority of 10-1 after 11 jurors deliberated for almost 19 hours over four days.

He was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, also by a majority of 10-1. He was unanimously convicted of two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

He has pleaded guilty to robbery.

In a statement following the conviction, West Yorkshire Police Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes said: Today as always our thoughts remain with PC Sharon Beshenivsky and her family, Sharon went to work to protect the public, she responded to a call for help alongside her colleague Teresa but tragically never came home.

This verdict is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts.

Pc Beshenivsky, 38, who had three children and two step-children, was gunned down on her youngest daughters fourth birthday and had only been an officer for nine months when she died from her injuries.

Pc Milburn, who survived being shot in the chest, told police the pair didnt have a chance to get away from the gunman, and that they would have run away if he had given them any warning.
The DUPs focus remains undiminished despite an incredibly difficult and shocking six days since the resignation of former leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson has said.

Sir Jeffrey quit last Friday after being charged with several historical sexual offences.

Mr Robinson, who was deputy leader and has been named interim leader, told media in Belfast on Thursday there has been unanimous support from the DUPs party officers for his appointment.

He said the decision on a permanent leader is an internal issue, adding that in the coming weeks the party will have a discussion; on a collective basis we will decide what is the best way to proceed.

The last six days have been incredibly difficult and shocking, not just for us within the Democratic Unionist Party but for the community right throughout Northern Ireland, Mr Robinson said.

Over the last number of days I have spent time engaging with colleagues.

I have been encouraged not only by their support but their determination and recognition that what has gone before us is not reflective of us, it is not attributed to us.

Nor should it deflect from the important task that we have ahead of us as representatives for unionism.

Mr Robinson went on: In our meeting last week it was unanimous within our party officers that I would step up and lead on an interim basis at this time.

I am prepared to do so because of the honour we have amongst our colleagues and the commitment we have for the days ahead.

That is my task, and recognising the importance of restoring devolution, recognising the importance of our ability to serve the people that we are proud to represent, is what we are focused on.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson quit as DUP leader after being charged with several historical sexual offences (Liam McBurney/PA)

He also criticised those he said have sought to manipulate the dreadful events of the last week for party political purposes, to sow discord or to achieve some narrow personal advantage.

I say shame on them, he said.

That is not what the people of Northern Ireland want and that is not where the people I have spoken to over the last week are.

They appreciate the fact that devolution has been restored, they appreciate the positivity that our leaders within the Executive have brought forward for the people of Northern Ireland, and there is nothing that I can see in the short, medium or long term that should cause difficulty in that regard.

Sir Jeffreys exit from the political front line sent shockwaves through Stormont, less than two months after devolution was restored following a two-year stalemate over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The Lagan Valley MP was pivotal to the deal that resurrected powersharing, and his sudden departure, and the manner of it, has created the first major challenge for the recently formed four-party coalition.

Mr Robinson also insisted his party remains firmly committed to working within the restored political institutions at Stormont.

Let me assure you all at home today that our focus is undiminished on making sure that our place within this United Kingdom is as strong as it can be, recognising the importance associated with the restoration of devolution, the importance of delivering for everyone in Northern Ireland, he said.

That is our focus, that shall not change, and, though this week has been difficult, we are firmly committed to the task ahead.

DUP interim leader Gavin Robinson said the last six days have been incredibly difficult and shocking (Jonathan McCambridge/PA)

Meanwhile, Mr Robinson would not comment on the future of the Lagan Valley constituency, where Sir Jeffrey remains the MP.

He said: That is not a matter for us and I will not be commenting on it. We suspended Jeffrey Donaldson from membership of the Democratic Unionist Party. He resigned as our leader at that time.

Earlier, speaking in Banbridge, Co Down, Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart voiced her support for Mr Robinson.

She insisted there are no dissenting voices challenging Mr Robinsons installation, and said there will be no leadership challenges.

Gavin has the support of the entire party, Gavin will do an excellent job, she said.
Scientists have made the largest 3D map of the universe, measuring how fast it has expanded over billions of years by using the most precise measurements to date.

An international team, including researchers from the UK, used an instrument known as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (Desi) to create the map.

Their aim was to measure the effects of dark energy, a mysterious force that is believed to be making the universe expand faster and faster.

The scientists said they were able to measure the expansion history of the universe spanning 11 billion years with a precision of better than 1%.

The map, comprising more than six million galaxies, is the largest 3D map of the cosmos ever constructed, researchers say.

Dr Eva-Maria Mueller, Ernest Rutherford Fellow at the University of Sussex, who led part of the cosmological interpretation of the Desi data, said she could not initially believe the fascinating results.

Dr Mueller said: It was a moment Id been eagerly anticipating since the start of my PhD.

The findings were not just interesting  they were captivating, sparking fresh insights into the fundamental nature of our universe.

Its moments like these that remind me why Im passionate about cosmology.

The Desi instrument uses 5,000 tiny robots within a mountaintop telescope, near Tucson, Arizona.

Scientists were able to map the cosmos as it was billions of years ago and traced its growth to what it is today, using light from distant objects in space which are only now reaching Desi.

Professor Carlos Frenk, of Durham Universitys Department of Physics and a member of the Desi team, described the findings as hugely exciting.

He said: Never before has mankind measured the basic properties of our universe with such precision.

At present, Lambda CDM, a cosmological model that describes the structure and evolution of the universe, is seen by scientists as the leading framework determining how the universe is evolving.

It includes both a weakly interacting type of matter, known as cold dark matter (CDM), and dark energy  also referred to as Lambda.

According to the model, both matter and dark matter slow down the universes expansion, while dark energy speeds it up.

Scientists say that while the Lambda CDM model does a good job of describing results from previous experiments and how the universe looks throughout time, Desis first-year results are starting to reveal subtle differences.

Dr Seshadri Nadathur, from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth, who led parts of the analysis, said: These results are very exciting, because there are some hints that the data dont agree as well with the Lambda CDM model as we were expecting, which may be telling us something important about dark energy.

It is too early to give a definitive answer just yet, but weve only analysed a small part of the Desi dataset so far.

Were looking forward to finding out if these hints of tensions become more severe when we add more data.

Researchers say that as Desi gathers more data during its five-year survey, results will become even more precise, and could potentially trigger a need to revise the standard model of the universe.

The research is being presented at the American Physical Society meeting, in the US, and the Rencontres de Moriond, in Italy, and has been published online as a pre-print on the arXiv open-access site.
A painting of Mary cradling Jesus which was reunited with owner Lord Bath after being stolen has been put up for auction and could fetch up to 25 million.

The 16th century artwork, Rest On The Flight Into Egypt by Venetian painter Titian, is being sold by auction house Christies in London.

The picture, which also shows Joseph looking at the mother and son, is 2ft wide and painted on a wooden panel.

It has had many owners over the years, including Austrian emperor Joseph II, before being hung at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna.

Michael Chamtler, from law firm Farrer & Co, with the recovered Titian painting (Sean Dempsey/PA)

French troops looted the painting in 1809 for the Napoleon Museum, which was assembled by the Bonaparte family.

Christies said the painting was then owned by Scottish landowner Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro before being bought in 1878 by the 4th Marquess of Bath at a Christies auction.

In 1995, it was stolen from the first-floor drawing room of stately home Longleat, the Bath familys Wiltshire seat, before being found seven years later after a 100,000 reward was offered for information.

Former Scotland Yard detective chief inspector Charles Hill discovered the painting in a plastic carrier bag, without the frame, in London in 2002.

He is also credited with helping to recover Edvard Munchs The Scream after it was stolen in 1994, as well as other famous artworks.

Rest On The Flight Into Egypt was estimated to be worth between 6 million to 7 million two decades ago.

The painting, offered by Lord Bath and the Longleat Trustees, will be auctioned later this year with an estimate of between 15 million and 25 million.

The State Dining Room at Longleat House in Wiltshire (Ben Birchall/PA)

Andrew Fletcher, Christies global head of the Old Masters department, said: This is the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation and one of the very few masterpieces by the artist remaining in private hands.

It is a picture that embodies the revolution in painting made by Titian at the start of the 16th century and is a truly outstanding example of the artists pioneering approach to both the use of colour and the representation of the human form in the natural world, the artistic vocabulary that secured his status as the first Venetian painter to achieve fame throughout Europe in his lifetime, and his position as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art.

His work was first documented in the collection of Venetian merchant Bartolomeo della Nave and was later acquired by James, 1st Duke of Hamilton, and sent to England.

After he was executed during the English Civil War, it was sold to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, the governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

This is where it became part of the Hapsburgs collection, passing from Emperor Charles to Empress Maria Theresa and then Joseph II.

A Renaissance masterpiece by Titian has previously sold for millions.

Venus and Adonis was auctioned by Sothebys for 11.2 million in 2022.

 Rest On The Flight Into Egypt is being sold on July 2 as part of the Old Masters Part 1 sale at Christies.
The Harris County Criminal Justice Center, 1201 Franklin St., is shown Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Harris County law enforcement encouraged survivors of an accused "serial rapist" who allegedly used NASA credentials to get close to and assault at least six women to come forward Wednesday as he awaits his next court appearance.

Six women have accused Eric Sim, 37, of assaulting them between 2019 and 2022. He is charged with six counts of sexual assault of an adult, according to court records.

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Sim is accused of using dating apps and websites to find the women and later sexually assault them, said Katelyn Howton, a detective with Houston Police Department's Special Victim's Division. She said he had likely continued using dating apps since the most recent accusation in 2022.

"Our investigation indicates there are possibly more survivors in the Houston area, as well as across the country, and possibly internationally," Howton said Wednesday.

Sim's criminal attorney, Neal Davis, denied the accusations and called him "professional" and "well-liked."

"He's gone out with many women," Davis said. "A small number of them have made false allegations because of morning-after regrets."

Prosecutors said Sim was employed by NASA. A spokesperson there confirmed the agency cooperated with law enforcement when they arrested an aerospace engineer on Feb. 29. He is still employed by the space agency.

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Search warrant details accusation

A woman told police this year that she had met Sim online and had entered a committed relationship with him, a search warrant affidavit read. She told police that she had gone to his home to watch a movie and share a bottle of wine.

She said by 9 p.m. they had some to drink, but not enough to get drunk. She told police she then woke up at 4 a.m. in his bed, naked, and was dizzy, sweating and vomiting. She said she then went to the bathroom and found bodily fluids.

She also reported some bruising and other physical ailments and sent photos to her friend, telling her she didn't remember what happened. The next day, the woman also allegedly found she was wearing jewelry that wasn't hers. About two weeks later, she was diagnosed with an STD, the affidavit read.

Police investigate social media

Police were told about social media pages with allegations of abuse and sexual assault, warning other women "to be careful with" Sim, the search warrant affidavit read.

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Women in the groups alleged he recorded sexual assaults and worried he might use the videos to keep them from reporting what had happened to law enforcement, according to court records.

While executing the search warrant at Sim's home at the end of February, police seized items, including 14 cellphones, women's underwear, nine hard drives and multiple cameras.

Sim is due in court later in April and has since posted bond.

"We know what a challenge it can be for sexual assault survivors," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "Whether a case is filed or not, both HPD and the District Attorney's office offer victim's support services along with advocacy."

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Baby animals depend on their moms for just about everything, including deciding when they're ready to venture out into the world. Located in Central Australia, The Kangaroo Sanctuary is home to orphaned kangaroo joeys, with the goal of rehabilitating and releasing them back into the wild after they learn how to survive on their own. They shared a video on Sunday, March 31st of one rescued 'roo stepping onto the ground for the first time, and she wasn't sure what to think!

Weighing just over a pound, Walu spends all of her time in the pouch that her caretaker carries around everywhere. In the caption, the park says that at her age, babies only spend a minute or two out of the pouch every day to begin stretching and strengthening their muscles. Watch as she touches the ground for the first time, and her adorable reaction to touching the sand.

I think she was definitely happy to be back in the comfort and safety of her pouch in her dad's loving arms! The Kangaroo Sanctuary commenters also swooned over the cuteness. Many thanked the park for sharing the sweet video, while others agreed that the baby kangaroo was absolutely adorable. But there was one thing we all loved about the video, as @Kay's Essentials pointed out, "The pouch!!!!" Since this joey (the official name for a baby kangaroo) was orphaned by mom, caretakers had to mimic mom's pouch, and it looks like this pillowcase (or something similar) does the job!

Related: Video of Kangaroo Joey Coming Out Mamas Pouch First Thing in the Morning Is Irresistible

Baby Kangaroo Facts You Might Not Know

I love learning about baby animals, and I'm always looking to learn more about them. A-Z Animals shared some fun facts that are worth sharing. At birth, joeys are only the size of a lima bean, and won't leave their mother's pouch for months. They don't even resemble a kangaroo...or really any animal...since they are so tiny. Surprisingly, they are also born potty trained, "Baby kangaroos cant go to the bathroom unless their mom licks them to give them the sensation to go. Although this sounds less than appealing, the babies only produce at most a drop or two of waste at a time on account of how tiny they are."

Although the joey will live in mom's pouch until it's about a year old, it will begin to occasionally pop its head out to see what's going on in the world. After several months, the joey will venture out for short periods of time much like Walu did in this video. And even when they no longer 'live' in mom's pouch, they continue to nurse from mom until they are over a year old. As they get older and more independent, they drink less milk and start to eat more plants.

I hope the park continues to share videos of this adorable baby! I can't wait to see her first big hops!

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.
British actor Adrian Schillers sudden and unexpected death has been announced by his agent.

On Wednesday, Schiller  known for playing rich ealdorman Aethelhelm in Netflix historical series The Last Kingdom and steward Cornelius Penge in ITV royal drama Victoria  died at the age of 60.

Adrian Schiller (Ian West/PA)

Scott Marshall Partners, who represented him for more than three decades, said in a statement: He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available.

A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.

Schiller was also known for his appearances in BBC Caribbean-set detective series Death In Paradise and historical dramas The Musketeers on the BBC and The Devils Whore on Channel 4.

Sophie Cookson and Adrian Schiller (Ian West/PA)

He was recently seen in January as a criminal, named Drake Underwood, in an episode of BBC detective series Father Brown about a heist gone wrong.

Also known for his theatre work, Schiller was among the cast in Second World War play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre last year.

His agent also said he enjoyed a varied and successful career across all media.

Our deepest condolences go to his family, who ask for privacy at this most difficult of times, the statement also said.

The White Factory writer Dmitry Glukhovsky wrote on Instagram that Schiller performed brilliantly as Chaim Rumkowski and without him, our piece would have not been the same.

Schiller also appeared in A Touch Of Frost, Raised By Wolves, Residue, The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who, New Tricks, Being Human, Silent Witness, Prime Suspect, Judge John Deed and My Family.

'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller.' pic.twitter.com/1Iil9gekhX  National Theatre (@NationalTheatre) April 4, 2024

Paying tribute, the outgoing director of the National Theatre Rufus Norris said he was deeply saddened and shocked by the loss of a company member.

Adrian was a wonderful actor, and the National Theatre had the pleasure of working with him throughout the breadth of his career, he added, in the statement shared on social media.

His recent performance as Henry Lehman in the Australian premiere of The Lehman Trilogy was superb and his presence within the company will be greatly missed.

Schiller took to the stage in productions of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, The Veil, The Captain of Kopenick, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at the theatre.
A man who saved one of Wales most historic buildings from an incendiary bomb by holding a sandbag between his teeth and climbing to the roof has been honoured on his 100th birthday.

Ronald Brignall, who was 16 years old when he saved Cardiffs City Hall from destruction during a German air raid in the Second World War, has been praised for his efforts by Cardiff Council.

On February 2 1941, the young man carried a 12lb (5.4kg) sandbag clamped between his teeth with another under his arm while he scaled a 25 foot (7.6 metre) drainpipe to douse the flames on the roof.

Mr Brignall was cheered on by the official fire-watchers as he climbed back up the pipe with a fire hose  also gripped in his teeth  to finish putting out the fire.

He had been walking home from college, where he was studying for his plumbing qualifications when the air raid sirens started, and he saw an incendiary bomb land on the roof of City Hall.

Speaking to a local paper at the time, Mr Brignalls only comment was that his jaw was sore from carrying the sandbag and that he had ruined his suit.

Ian Brignall and Sue Whelan sit with their father Ronald Brignall before the presentation (Aaron Chown/PA)

Speaking today, he said: I was only a teenager, and I didnt have any fear.

I just wanted to make sure the bomb didnt do any damage to City Hall.

Determined to make more of a contribution to the war effort, he later became an official fire-watcher, helping to protect Cardiff, and in 1944, he joined the RAF and became a rear-gunner on Whitley and Halifax bombers, featuring in Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine by the Allies, in 1945.

The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Bablin Molik, travelled to the care home in Sussex where Mr Brignall now lives to present him with a special certificate thanking him for his heroism and recording the events of that day in 1941 for posterity.

A newspaper cutting of Mr Brignalls exploits (Family handout/PA)

Mr Brignalls son Ian said: Hes always been a modest man and rarely talked about his war record.

We only knew of his heroics in Cardiff on that day because hed kept some newspaper cuttings from the time.

Dads a little frail now, as youd expect from someone who is 100, but I know he is thrilled to have this recognition and the certificate from the council. Its a perfect present on his birthday.

Ms Molik said she was delighted to be able to present Mr Brignall with his belated honour.

She said: The best part of my work as Lord Mayor is meeting remarkable people and Mr Brignall is a great example of those who have so much civic pride in Cardiff.

I know this is a rather belated honour but it is no less heartfelt and I assured Mr Brignall and his family that the whole of Cardiff expresses its gratitude for the heroics he performed on that day in 1941.
Scotlands First Minister has said he is very, very concerned by the number of vexatious complaints lodged under the countrys new hate crime law in its early days  but he is not surprised.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into effect on Monday, prompting thousands of complaints in its first few days, including some against Humza Yousaf himself, according to reports.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mr Yousaf said he is concerned about the high numbers but added any new law is likely to see numerous early vexatious complaints.

He told the PA news agency: Its not a huge surprise that when legislation is first introduced there can sometimes be a flurry of vexatious complaints.

Weve obviously seen that and I would say to people dont make vexatious complaints  you should desist  because what youre doing is wasting precious police resources and time.

But I am very, very concerned about the fact that we have seen those complaints, but at the same time I know that police are very adept at dealing with vexatious complaints, they do it every day and they know how to treat them.

The Act  which consolidates existing hate crime legislation and creates an offence of stirring up hatred against certain protected characteristics  came into force in the week leading up to an Old Firm game  the most highly-charged football fixture in Scotland.

Mr Yousaf said the law offers protections for free speech  a key concern of the Acts detractors.

First Minister Humza Yousaf was asked about the new legislation while on a visit to Dingwall Mart in the Highlands (Jane Barlow/PA)

The law has a very high criminal threshold, he said, with an offence required to be threatening or abusive and the accused having to intend to stir up hatred, adding he has every confidence in the police to handle Old Firm games.

The First Minister also hit out at Scottish Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who both voted in favour of the Bill in 2021, claiming they have run for the hills when it comes to defending the legislation in public.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said this week he would not repeal the Act if he was first minister, but would amend it to include sex as a protected characteristic  a move the Scottish Government decided against in favour of a standalone Bill outlawing misogyny.

Mr Sarwar added that there had been flaws in the Governments implementation and messaging around the legislation.

JK Rowlings comments did not fall foul of the new law (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Within hours of the Act coming into force, the First Minister himself had been reported to Police Scotland over a speech he made in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in the United States, where he lamented the lack of ethnic minority representation in senior positions in public life.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling was also referred to police after a series of social media posts on Monday where she called prominent trans women men and challenged officers to arrest her under the Act.

Both instances did not result in an arrest and were not recorded as non-crime hate incidents.

But Tory MSP Murdo Fraser, who had a social media post of his recorded as a non-crime hate incident last year, asked Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell in a letter if different standards are applied for such incidents if the accused are high-profile and powerful figures.

He also asked if the decision to record his case as such and not the First Ministers suggests political bias.

A non-crime hate incident is recorded when an incident does not meet the threshold for a crime but is perceived to be motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a social group, according to Police Scotland guidance.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said on Thursday: An initial complaint regarding the recording of a non-crime hate incident was responded to in writing today.

Further correspondence was then received from the complainer, which will be responded to in due course.
FORT LAUDERDALE - Two people who were injured Thursday after part of a construction crane came crashing down on a downtown Fort Lauderdale bridge have been released from the hospital.



It happened during rush hour on the SE 3rd Avenue bridge as construction crews worked on a high rise.



"It's my understanding from the construction company that they were doing a process at the time called stepping the crane. It was not the crane per se that actually failed. It was a platform that they had equipment staged on that had failed at the time of the incident and those items fell from the building down onto the bridge below," said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan.

The stepping process involves adding a section to increase the crane's height. In this case, it appears to have come loose and fell. The crane itself remained secured to the building.



A construction worker who fell with the crane piece died. He's been identified as 27-year-old Jorge De La Torre. On Friday, his family went to the construction site to collect his belongings.

"I was driving over the 3rd Avenue Bridge and I felt some type of compression, and I looked up and I saw this big, huge piece of blue metal coming down and I slammed on the brakes and then it hit the front of my car," said Mark Cerezin who was driving a Tesla. "It was like slow motion, then that piece of metal bounced in the air and then went to the right and landed on another car. I couldn't believe that I was still alive."

Part of the metal structure ended up on top of a black vehicle, almost splitting it in half. Cerezin's Tesla had significant front-end damage.

Cerezin, a Fort Lauderdale resident, said he got out of his car and helped a lady who was bleeding.

"My heart goes out, I mean, to this person who lost their life and to their loved ones, I mean, that could have been me," said Cerezin.

Jennifer Parent lives across the street from the building under construction. She said there is construction noise every day but this was different.



"I heard a blood-curdling scream and I knew something quite devastating had happened," she said.

Valeriia Becher took video moments after part of the crane fell. She was in a car with her 6-year-old daughter, her boyfriend and her sister. She says they were just meters away from where it happened.

"We saw like in a movie, like a horror movie we seen this - we're watching this construction detail just falling like paper," Becher said.



She said a car near her was struck by part of the crane and that her boyfriend ran over to help.

"Life is very short and the only thing you need to do now is live like today - this very moment," said Becher.



Realtor Jason Taub, who lives close by, took a video of the piece of crane being lifted to the platform on a New River apartment.

Seconds later, the piece fell onto the bridge.



"The moment it hit, you could hear screams. It's hard to get out of your head," he said.

Overnight, crews removed the section of the crane from the road and used a metal plate to patch up the hole it had made on impact. The road was then reopened to traffic.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Florida Department of Transportation, and Fort Lauderdale police are investigating to determine what went wrong.

KAST Construction holds the permit to the $87.9 million dollar project site at 333 North New River Drive where the crane appears to be located, according to city records. It's a 43-story apartment building. It's unclear if KAST or a subcontractor was overseeing the crane operations at the site, according to CBS News Miami partner The Miami Herald.

KAST has settled a handful of lawsuits involving allegations of negligence and injury over the last few years, according to the Herald.

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Israel fires 2 officers after strike on World Central Kitchen workers
Schiller, who also appeared in 'Doctor Who' and 'Beauty and the Beast', died "suddenly" on April 4

Mike Marsland/WireImage Adrian Schiller on Dec. 13, 2017, in London, England

Adrian Schiller, known for his roles in British historical dramas Victoria and The Last Kingdom, had died. He was 60.

On April 4, Scott Marshall Partners  the actors talent agency of more than three decades  confirmed Schiller's death in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

"It is with the heaviest and saddest hearts that we announce the death of our beloved client, Adrian Schiller, on Wednesday 3 April," the statement began. "He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss. His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available."

According to the agency, Schiller had recently returned from Sydney, where he was touring the National Theatre-produced run of the play The Lehman Trilogy. He was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco, the announcement read.

Alastair Muir/Shutterstock Adrian Schiller performing at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park on June 4, 2001

Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre, penned a tribute to the star on the theaters X account.

We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Norris wrote. His recent performance as Henry Lehman in the Australian premiere of The Lehman Trilogy was superb and his presence in the company will be greatly missed.

His sister Ginny also posted to the actors X account, Dear all. This is Ginny. Im so sorry to let you all know that our beloved brother Adrian died suddenly at home yesterday. He had so many very dear friends - sorry to those of you who are learning about this here. We will say more about funeral and/or memorial plans in due course.

Related: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2024

ITV/Shutterstock Adrian Schiller as Mr. Cornelius Penge in 'Victoria'

Ginny added that the family was taking things one step at a time while offering support to Schillers wife Milena and his son Gabriel as they wrap their minds around the unimaginable.

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.

Schiller was born Feb. 21, 1964, in London, England. His acting career spanned over thirty years, with his on-screen debut coming in 1992s Prime Suspect 2 starring Helen Mirren. He would continue his early career on television, appearing in shows like the BBCs Doctor Who and TV movies such as Terry Pratchetts Going Postal.

Schiller occasionally took film roles  most notably in 2015s critically acclaimed The Danish Girl and 2017s Hollywood live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. However, he was best known for his roles in ITVs Victoria as the royal familys footman, Mr. Cornelius Penge, and in BBC Two and Netflixs The Last Kingdom.



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Read the original article on People.
President Joe Biden on Thursday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable and warned Israel to take steps to address the crisis or face consequences, a stark statement from Israels staunchest ally.

The 30-minute conversation was the two leaders first phone call since an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. The killings have set off a furor inside the White House and Biden has been described as reaching a new level of frustration with Israels campaign.

President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable, the White House said in a statement shortly after the call wrapped. He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Biden also said Israel needed to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

In the phone call, Netanyahu admitted to his American counterpart that the Israel Defense Forces were to blame for the deaths of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers this week  and assured Biden that the Israeli government planned to announce measures to prevent such a mistake from happening again, according to a senior administration official.

Netanyahu told Biden that Israel was set on improving the tracking of non-profit workers inside Gaza and Biden affirmed that such steps were necessary, the official said. The prime minister also pledged during the call that Israel will soon announce new openings of humanitarian crossings, as well as procedural changes to limit civilian harm.

CNN reported Thursday afternoon that the Israeli security cabinet has approved the reopening of the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza strip, according to an Israeli official, in order to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

In this photo posted to X, US President Joe Biden talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 4, 2024. - From The White House

Speaking in Brussels after the call, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the stakes clear: If we dont see the changes that we need to see, therell be changes in our own policy, he said. However, neither Blinken nor National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, speaking later at the White House press briefing, detailed what those potential policy changes could be.

Kirby said the US would hope to see some announcements of changes here in the coming hours and days  and Ill leave it at that.

Biden did not lay out the specifics of how he would consider shifting US policy during the call if Israel doesnt make changes in its handling of the war in Gaza, speaking instead in the same broad strokes reflected in the White House readout of the call that concrete changes needed to be made, the senior administration official said.

While there were moments of disagreement between Biden and Netanyahu on the call  typical among the two leaders who have known each other for decades  there was no sparring, the official said, describing the conversation as direct.

There is no follow-up call currently planned between the two leaders, according to the official.

The call amounts to perhaps the most serious sign of Bidens frustration with Israels campaign in Gaza, which was launched in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas. In the time since, more than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian enclaves health ministry, and grisly reports of civilian deaths are made every day.

The war has become one of Bidens chief domestic political problems ahead of Novembers election as key parts of his voter coalition have been outraged by the presidents support for Israels war. Protests have popped up at nearly every public event the president has held outside the White House in recent months and he was confronted in an intimate meeting with Muslim leaders earlier this week with stark opposition to the US policy toward the war.

That political conundrum made Thursdays call and the statements from Blinken and Kirby particularly notable, as both men indicated possible change in the US posture toward the war may come if Israel keeps up its current practices.

Blinken said Israel should not stoop to the level of Hamas in its response to the groups October 7 attacks.

Israel is not Hamas, Blinken said. Israel is a democracy, Hamas a terrorist organization. And democracies place the highest value on human life - every human life.

Biden was shaken by the strike on the World Central Kitchen workers, Kirby said.

Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the strikes but said the convoy was not targeted and the workers deaths were not intentional. The country continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killings. Blinken acknowledged the World Central Kitchen strike was not the first time Israel has killed aid workers in the conflict.

It must be the last, he said.

But even at the same time that the administration was alluding to potential changes in policy if Israel doesnt stop killing civilians, the US was sending more deadly weapons to its ally.

Biden is set to green light an $18 billion sale of fighter jets from the United States and Israel and the administration recently authorized the transfer to Israel of over 1,000 500-pound bombs and over 1,000 small-diameter bombs, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Kirby defended the arms sale and transfers as the product of yearslong processes.

With the exception of the immediate two months after the attack, we havent really sent emergency aid and military assistance to Israel, Kirby said. What youre seeing here is the result of a process of foreign military sales to Israel that takes years.

Earlier on Thursday, one of Bidens closest allies on Capitol Hill  Democratic Sen. Chris Coons  told CNN that for the first time he is open to applying conditions to aid for Israel after the strike on the World Central Kitchen workers.

I think were at that point, he told CNNs Sara Sidner. I think were at the point where President Biden has said  and I have said and others have said  if Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister, were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale, they were to drop thousand pound bombs and send in a battalion to go after Hamas and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, that I would vote to condition aid to Israel.

The president has called for a temporary ceasefire that includes the release of hostages held by Hamas, and has repeatedly said he does not want Israel to undertake a ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where scores of displaced Gazans have sought shelter. He again called for a temporary ceasefire in the call with Netanyahu on Thursday.

He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home, the White House said in its statement following the call.

But, Biden has so far stopped short of calling for a permanent ceasefire. His hesitance to do so is increasingly out of step with the actions and public statements of other world leaders, including US allies.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNNs Jennifer Hansler and Donald Judd contributed to this report.

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Joe Biden and Donald Trump clinched their parties' respective 2024 presidential nominations weeks ago, setting up the first White House rematch since the mid 20th century.

Still, tens of thousands of primary voters continue to cast ballots against them both, underlining an issue with rallying the base that each candidate has acknowledged.

Can President Biden overcome the dissatisfaction of people who have been choosing "uncommitted" and similar options in the Democratic primaries, largely in opposition to his policies on the Israel-Hamas war?

And, similarly, will former President Trump by November woo back Republican primary voters who have been sticking with former rival Nikki Haley, a month after she left the race?

The answer won't be clear until November.

While Tuesday's primaries showed that the amount of non-Biden and Trump votes is relatively small compared to the voters backing them, they could still be influential if the 2024 election is close and decided by a handful of narrowly divided states, as happened in 2016 and 2020.

Take Wisconsin, for example.

PHOTO: A resident casts their ballot in the state's primary election at a polling location, April 2, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Tuesday's primary results showed Biden and Trump both losing more votes, among their parties, than the total number of votes that decided Wisconsin in the last two general election cycles.

On the Democratic side, with 97% of the expected vote reported so far, about 48,000 people voted for "uninstructed" over Biden.

And on the Republican side, with 99% of the expected ballots reported, about 76,000 voters chose Haley over Trump.

Wisconsin was decided in the 2016 general election by about 23,000 votes and in 2020 by even less, just 20,000 votes.

That's not the only example in a swing state.

In Arizona's nominating race in mid-March, which did not have an "uninstructed" or similar option, about 45,000 Democratic voters still chose someone else than Biden -- and about 132,000 Republican voters cast ballots for a Republican candidate other than Trump, though Arizona's voting period included two weeks in which Haley was still running before she ended her bid.

In 2020, Biden won Arizona in the general election over Trump by just 11,000 votes.

History suggests that the bases of the major parties -- no matter how fractured they become by policy and personality differences during primaries -- largely rally back around their nominees, eventually.

And past successful presidential candidates have had to deal with a notable minority of primary voters not choosing them.

In 2012, when President Barack Obama ran for reelection and didn't face any serious organized opposition among Democrats, more than 40% of the ballots in Kentucky (about 87,000) still went to the uncommitted option; in North Carolina, a "no preference" option got about 200,000 primary votes instead of going to Obama; and in Alabama, uncommitted got about 45,000 votes.

Obama went on to win the general election -- though he lost the swing state of North Carolina to GOP nominee Mitt Romney by approximately 92,000 ballots.

This year, Biden and Trump have taken steps to win over their skeptics and each others, too -- with Biden making appeals to Haley's supporters and the Trump campaign reaching out to Muslim and Arab Americans in battlegrounds like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

But 2024 is unlike the past several decades of elections in multiple ways.

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)

The Biden-Trump rematch is the first such election repeat in the U.S. since 1952 and 1956. (In the 19th century, the same presidential candidates ran against each other multiple times.)

What's more, with Biden and Trump quickly clinching their nominations in the primary race, the country now faces the longest general election season in recent history -- more than seven months -- at the same time that polling, for now, reflects an unusual degree of uncertainty, according to 538.

As 538 also notes, another unusual dynamic this year is how disliked both Biden and Trump seem to be: Both men have negative approval ratings and, combined, they have an average disapproval rating that is higher than any presidential race since 1980.

That has drawn more attention to the so-called "double haters" who don't like either candidate. Just like with the non-Biden and Trump primary voters, their decisions in November are seen as potentially influential, if they decide to vote.

"I don't even want to vote anymore  it's a nightmare," Joann Kama, a retired African American voter from Amityville, New York, recently told ABC News.

Saying she feels "so discouraged" about the current election and politics in America, Kama said that for the moment, she doesn't plan to cast a ballot in November.

John Jackson, a voter from Florida who said he is not currently employed, likewise told ABC News in a recent interview that he plans on voting in the general election but he's "not excited" about it.

"I just don't approve of either candidate at this point," said Samantha Guerrero, a Republican from Austin, Texas. "I don't want another four years of either one of them."

ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Juhi Doshi, Isabella Murray and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.

Biden and Trump still facing protest votes in primary: Will it matter in November? originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A three-judge panel heard arguments Thursday on throwing out a lawsuit challenging Tennessee's abortion ban as well as a motion to block part of the ban.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by seven women and two doctors against the state over its abortion bans. The judges are reviewing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and a motion for a temporary injunction against the ban as it applies to dangerous pregnancy complications.

Tennessee ceased nearly all abortion services when a trigger ban went into effect in August 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The state is one of 14 to cease nearly all abortions.

MORE: Fear, confusion, anxiety, stress: Tennessee doctors describe care under abortion ban

Performing or attempting to perform an abortion is a Class C felony in the state.

The panel, consisting of three women, said it will not issue a ruling Thursday. A ruling in writing is expected after they have reviewed the case.

In the lawsuit, the women allege they were denied "necessary and potentially life-saving medical care" because physicians "fear the penalties imposed by that ban," according to the lawsuit. The Tennessee attorney general and state board of medical examiners are also named in the suit.

PHOTO: Chancellor Kasey Culbreath, left, Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, center, and Judge Sandra Donaghy serve as the three judge panel during the Nicole Blackmon et al. v. State of Tennessee case, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (Tennessee Supreme Court/YouTube)

The state argued that the wording of the ban was clear, pushing back against claims that physicians are unsure what constitutes legal abortion care.

"A few doctors saying as a matter of fact that they are unclear about what serious risk might entail in an edge case does not show vagueness as a matter of law," Whitney Hermandorfer, a lawyer with the Tennessee attorney general's office, said Thursday in court in response to a question from judges about affidavits physicians have submitted in the case.

The state argued that the individuals who filed the lawsuit are not currently undergoing the medical emergencies mentioned in the suit or seeking emergency care -- and thus lack the grounds to file the suit as they are asking for relief in hypothetical future scenarios.

"So while we can all agree the past health circumstances are incredibly unfortunate, I submit here that they do not provide a legal reason to invalidate the medical exception at issue in this case," Hermandorfer said in court.

MORE: Fighting for their lives: Women and the impact of abortion restrictions in post-Roe America

A narrow law passed last year in Tennessee allows abortions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, to remove a miscarriage or to save the life of the mother. The law was passed in response to pushback from physicians and advocates.

The trigger law did not have an exception but allowed an affirmative defense that allows physicians being prosecuted over providing an abortion to justify their actions, claiming it was done to prevent death or serious injury. This clause, which lawmakers point to as an exception, only comes into effect during a criminal trial after a physician is charged with the felony and their license has been suspended.

PHOTO: Whitney Hermandorfer of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office speaks during the Nicole Blackmon et al. v. State of Tennessee case, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (Tennessee Supreme Court/YouTube)

In response to assurances given by prosecutors that they would not prosecute certain cases, Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, a judge in the case, pushed back that there is no guarantee that the district attorney would not prosecute just based on their statements, noting that district attorneys are elected and change regularly.

The state also pushed back on the claim that the law violated the right to life clause of the state constitution, pointing to the exception to the ban.

Plaintiffs' attorneys argue against dismissing suit

Pushing back on the state's claim that the patients are not affected persons because the law does not criminalize abortions for women seeking care, Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Marc Hearron said plaintiffs are directly impacted by their care being denied.

"I don't really know how they can make that argument with a straight face," Hearron said.

"The physician plaintiffs are directly affected by the threatened enforcement of Tennessee's abortion ban. The abortion ban directly regulates what care they can and cannot provide their patients and it affects them by threatening them with imprisonment, fines and loss of their medical license if they violate the law," Hearron said.

Hearron argued that as long as one of the plaintiffs has standing in a case, then the court's jurisdiction should not be in question.

Pushing back against the state's claim that there has not been any governmental action in the form of charges being brought against a physician for violating the ban, Hearron argued that physicians are facing a threat of enforcement and that the enactment of the law was itself a governmental action.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs also argued that physicians losing their medical licenses would constitute harm to their property, giving them standing to pursue the lawsuit.

The lawyers also alleged that patients in the state are not getting constitutionally required abortion care that they should get.

PHOTO: Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal listens during the Nicole Blackmon et al. v. State of Tennessee case, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (Tennessee Supreme Court/YouTube)

Center for Reproductive Rights attorneys also argued that the language of the exception law is just as vague as the original statute. They also argued that the language has multiple indeterminate meanings.

"Serious and substantial risk" to the life and health of a patient could mean different things to different people and are not, Linda Goldstein, the senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in court.

Attorneys argued there were four sources of linguistic vagueness in the law: the use of nonmedical language, ambiguous terminology, no indication of timing and the reasonable medical judgement standard.

"In combination, they have left physicians clueless as to what they should do," Goldstein said in court.

"If we are going to send someone to prison for 15 years, they have to know that they are doing something that the statute prohibits," Goldstein said.

Goldstein cited Kate Cox's case, pointing to the dilemmas doctors are facing. Cox is a Texas woman who filed a lawsuit requesting an emergency abortion for a pregnancy with a severe anomaly.

After a trial court allowed her to get an abortion, the Texas Supreme Court blocked and then overturned that ruling, denying her an abortion. She eventually traveled out of state to access care.

PHOTO: Linda C. Goldstein, counsel for the plaintiff, speaks during the Nicole Blackmon et al. v. State of Tennessee case, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (Tennessee Supreme Court/YouTube)

Arguments over preliminary injunction

In a second hearing Thursday afternoon, attorneys for the plaintiffs presented arguments for a preliminary injunction -- a temporary, partial block on the ban's enforcement as the legal case continues -- as it relates to medically necessary abortions.

In addition to presenting the stories of women who say they were denied lifesaving care, they shared the story of Charlotte Miller, through a declaration provided by Dr. Sarah Osmundson, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a member of the physician committee that reviews requests for medically necessary abortions.

Miller's fetus was diagnosed with acrania, which can develop into anencephaly, a fatal condition that can cause a severe buildup of amniotic fluid that could cause a mother's uterus to rupture, according to the declaration. But the committee turned down her request for an abortion, in part because physicians on the committee feared prosecution.

"It is the threat of prosecution and imprisonment that is chilling care under this ban," Goldstein said.

PHOTO: Rebecca Milner, a plaintiff in the Nicole Blackmon vs. the State of Tennessee, wipes away tears as she listens to arguments presented by her attorney in court Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (George Walker IV/AP)

The Center for Reproductive Rights also pointed to the fact that defendants do not have any fact witnesses on their list.

Goldstein argued that none of the defendants have made a "binding statement" that physicians do not need to worry about being prosecuted for treating a patient who has a serious health risk or for providing preventative care.

"The fact that no defendant is willing to go on the record on these significant issues tightens the physician's fears about prosecution," Goldstein said.

Goldstein undercut testimony from the physicians on the state's witness list, saying none of them practice under Tennessee's abortion ban or serve on physician committees that review requests for abortions.

MORE: 'Our hearts hurt': Men impacted by abortion restrictions share their stories

The plaintiffs' attorneys asked the court that any relief provided would not be limited to physicians and patients who are parties in the case but also include all pregnant people in Tennessee.

The state pushed back against the plaintiffs' request for an injunction over its vagueness, at times arguing plaintiffs just didn't like the policy of restriction.

"The entire presentation of the other side, I have not heard one acknowledgment of the fact that when they mention abortion care, what that involves is the termination of another life," Hermandorfer said.

The lawsuit

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, is requesting a clarification of the medical exception in the abortion ban, through a declaration of when physicians can legally provide abortion care.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is asking the court to allow physicians to rely on their "good faith judgement" and consultation with patients in making their decisions in cases of medical conditions or pregnancy complications that pose a risk to the mother's life; medical conditions that are exacerbated by pregnancy; conditions that cannot be effectively treated during pregnancy, or require recurrent invasive intervention; and in cases of fatal fetal anomalies.

PHOTO: Marc Hearron, counsel for the plaintiff, speaks during the Nicole Blackmon et al. v. State of Tennessee case, April 4, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (Tennessee Supreme Court/YouTube)

The suit argues that the exception to the abortion ban as it applies to emergency medical conditions violates the Tennessee constitution's due process and equal protections clauses. It also argues that the law is unconstitutionally vague for physicians who are unaware what care would meet the exceptions.

Despite claims from politicians, including Gov. Bill Lee, that the ban allows exceptions for pregnancies that threaten a woman's life or could cause serious bodily injury, some doctors told ABC News they believe this is not the case.

MORE: Tennessee 'trigger' law banning nearly all abortions goes into effect

The plaintiffs' stories

Nicole Blackmon, a 31-year-old living in Tennessee, said she stopped taking medication for hypertension and a rare brain condition when she learned she was pregnant in July 2022 to avoid harming her pregnancy.

Fifteen weeks into her pregnancy, Blackmon said she learned her baby had a fatal diagnosis. Because she said she could not afford the thousands of dollars it would cost to travel to another state for abortion care, she was forced to continue her pregnancy despite risks to her health. She gave birth to a stillborn baby, according to the suit.

Allie Phillips, 28, and her husband were excited about the birth of their second daughter when they received a fatal diagnosis, she told ABC News in October. At 18 weeks pregnant, the couple said they were told the fetus had multiple anomalies that were incompatible with life. She told ABC News that many of the fetus' organs, including the heart and brain, had not properly developed and her doctor said the fetus' condition would continue to deteriorate and that continuing her pregnancy could pose serious risks to Phillips' health.

PHOTO: Allie Phillips fetus had multiple lethal anomalies, but she was unable to get care Tennessee because of its ban. (Brandon Thibodeaux for ABC News)

Due to Tennessee's ban, Phillips said her doctor told her that she could not offer her any advice on how to access abortion care. After doing their own research, the couple made an appointment at an abortion clinic in New York for the following week. When she arrived, she said she learned her baby's heart had stopped beating and she was taken in for emergency care because she was at risk of severe blood clots and infection, including sepsis.

Kaitlyn Dulong, who became pregnant in November 2022, was diagnosed with cervical insufficiency and told she would eventually lose her pregnancy, but she was not given abortion care until 10 days later when her cervix was dilated, she had lost all her amniotic fluid and the fetus' body was in the vaginal canal, according to the lawsuit.

Monica Kelly was 12 weeks pregnant when her fetus was diagnosed with Trisomy 13, a severe fetal condition, and was unlikely to survive birth or would die shortly after birth, according to the lawsuit. She was also told her continued pregnancy would put her at risk of preeclampsia and infection. She traveled to Florida for abortion care, the lawsuit says.

MORE: Delayed and denied: Women pushed to death's door for abortion care in post-Roe America

Kathryn Archer's fetus was diagnosed with severe fetal anomalies at 20 weeks of pregnancy, including irregular brain development and improperly developed organs and was unlikely to survive birth, according to the lawsuit. With assistance from an abortion fund, she traveled to Washington, D.C., for care.

Rebecca Milner was 20 weeks pregnant when she suffered pre-term premature rupture of membranes, making her pregnancy unlikely to survive and putting her at risk of a potentially life-threatening infection, according to the suit. She traveled to Virginia to get abortion care, but still developed an infection that doctors said was due to the delay in care, according to the lawsuit. She needed treatment for sepsis when she returned to Tennessee, the suit says.

Rachel Fulton was pregnant when an ultrasound showed inadequate fetal development of the nervous system, lower spine, lungs, abdomen, feet and hands, as well as fluid buildup in tissues and organs, the lawsuit states. She was also at risk of mirror syndrome, a life-threatening complication, so she drove to Illinois with her husband to access abortion care, according to the lawsuit.

Physicians Heather Maune and Laura Anderson are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, suing on behalf of themselves and their patients. They are asking for clarity to provide care to their patients.

Court hears arguments to throw out Tennessee abortion lawsuit, block ban in part originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
WireImage; Getty Images

Elizabeth Hurley is shutting down speculation that shes who Prince Harry wrote about losing his virginity to in his memoir, Spare.

Hurley, 58, was asked about the theory during the Wednesday, April 3, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen when a fan referenced Harry, 39, detailing his sexual escapades with an older woman.

That was ludicrous! Hurley replied. He said, She was English. She was older than me. It was in Gloucestershire. And they were like, Ah, its Elizabeth. It was absurd. It was ridiculous.

She quipped, It was like saying, Hes great-looking. Hes American. Oh, its Andy Cohen, before insisting that shes never met Harry.

10 Things Us Didnt Expect to Learn From Prince Harrys Spare

The prince left no stone unturned in his 2023 book, divulging secrets about his frostbitten todger, recreational drug use and more. He wrote about the first time he had sex, calling it an inglorious episode with a woman he didnt identify by name.

She liked horses, quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion. Quick ride, after which shed smacked my rump and sent me off to graze, he recalled. Among the many things about it that were wrong: It happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub. Obviously, someone had seen us.

When the book hit shelves, Harrys more salacious stories were (unsurprisingly) what caused the most chatter.

Its a little embarrassing, a source exclusively told Us Weekly about the interest in Harrys virginity. It just is what it is, and he figures this will all die down and go away soon enough.

According to the insider, Harry lost contact with the woman after their hookup. That wasnt due to any ill feeling or excessive awkwardness, at least not as Harry sees it, the source told Us. They were just busy doing their own thing and lost touch as people tend to do, especially at that age.

When Stars Lost Their Virginity

Hurley previously addressed rumors about having a fling with Harry in a December 2022 interview with The Times before Spare was officially released. Not me. Not guilty. Ha! she said at the time.

She continued to deny the speculation when pressed further, saying, No. Not me. Absolutely not.

While she may not be friendly with Harry, Hurley crossed paths with his wife, Meghan Markle, long before the couples 2018 royal wedding. I met her once when we were both just actresses. I think before she probably met her future husband, she exclusively told Us in October 2019. She was fantastic.  I wish her nothing but luck.

Harry and Meghan, 42, stepped down from their senior roles as working royals in 2020 and moved to California, where theyre raising son Archie, 4, and daughter Lili, 2.
Houston Chronicle

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating why it took more than eight hours after the first 911 call came in before homicide investigators saw the body of a 52-year-old woman, suspected to have been shot to death by her son, at her home.

Investigators believe the office's 911 dispatch system couldn't locate the woman's specific address because it was in a neighborhood full of duplexes, according to senior deputy Thomas Gilliland, spokesman for the sheriff's office. But the confusion, combined with unsuccessful efforts to canvas neighbors about gunshots and a possible disturbance, meant homicide investigators didn't arrive on the scene until 9 a.m.

MORE FROM HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Initial investigation into suspended HPD cases over lack of personnel to end this month, Finner says

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Deputies deployed to the Remington Ranch neighborhood, but the dispatch system couldnt determine the specific address of the caller. Instead, deputies knocked on doors and asked neighbors whether they heard any sort of disturbance or gunshots. No one had and deputies left, Gilliland said.

Then, around 3 a.m., a home alarm in the 1000 block of Verde Trail Drive went off, Gilliland said. Dispatchers connected the two alerts and sent deputies back out to the location, where they found an open garage door.

The deputies then looked through a window, found the home in disarray and entered, finding the body of Anna Iris Melendez, 52, who appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds, Gilliland said. Homicide investigators were called to the scene around 9 a.m.

Sheriff's office administrators have launched an investigation into the matter, which reviews all aspects of the office's response  from the dispatch system to the time it took before homicide investigators arrived on the scene, Gilliland said.

Investigators learned Melendez lived at the home with her son and that both he and her vehicle were missing from the garage. Family members arrived at the home while detectives were starting the investigation and told them her son, Christopher Jose Melendez, 28, had been arrested by Houston police earlier that morning.

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Police attempted to pull over Christopher Melendez at around 3 a.m. on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, which led to a police chase, Gilliland said. He was eventually detained and charged with evading arrest, unlicensed carrying of a weapon and driving while intoxicated, Harris County court records show.
By Anirban Sen and Milana Vinn

(Reuters) -Google parent Alphabet has been talking to its advisers about the possibility of making an offer for HubSpot, an online marketing software company with a market value of $35 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

If Alphabet moves ahead with a bid, it would be a rare example of a major technology company attempting a mega deal amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of the sector under U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.

The potential acquisition would be Alphabet's largest ever and allow it to put some of its cash pile, which reached $110.9 billion at the end of December, to work.

Alphabet has met with Morgan Stanley investment bankers in recent days about a potential offer for HubSpot, the sources said. It has been discussing how much it should offer and whether antitrust regulators would clear such a tie-up, the sources added.

Alphabet has not yet submitted an offer to HubSpot and there is no certainty it will do so, the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.

"As standard practice, HubSpot does not comment on rumors or speculation. We continue to focus on building a great business and serving our customers," a HubSpot spokesperson said.

Alphabet and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

HubSpot's shares rose 11% to $693 on the news on Thursday. Alphabet shares were down 1% at $153.34.

HubSpot, which listed in the stock market in 2014, provides marketing software to companies that typically have up to 2,000 employees.

It generated $2.2 billion of revenue in 2023 and posted a net loss of $176.3 million. Despite this loss, investors are excited about the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company's growth prospects, driving up its shares 50% in the 12 months.

A deal for HubSpot would expand Google's offerings in the booming market for customer relationship management (CRM) software, enabling it to tap a wider base of enterprise customers who spend on marketing and advertising.

It would also be a boon for Google's cloud computing business, which is seeking to narrow its competitive gap with rivals Microsoft and Amazon.com.

Google may also be able to argue to antitrust regulators that the acquisition would bolster competition in the marketing and sales software sector, challenging the dominance of players such as Salesforce and Microsoft. Many of these companies are enhancing their offerings with artificial intelligence, a technology in which Google is also investing to get an edge.

Google is facing several antitrust challenges, including a landmark lawsuit accusing it of abusing its position as online search leader.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai is looking for avenues to boost growth after the company disclosed in January that fourth-quarter advertising sales came in below expectations. Its Google search engine and YouTube video streaming service face increased competition for advertising budgets from other online platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Amazon.com.

Dealmaking in the broader technology sector is picking up. In January, design software company Synopsys agreed to buy smaller rival Ansys for about $35 billion. Hewlett Packard Enterprise struck a deal in January to buy networking gear maker Juniper Networks for $14 billion.

Technology accounted for the largest share of merger and acquisitions during the first quarter, jumping more than 42% year-on-year to about $154 billion, according to Dealogic.

(Reporting by Anirban Sen and Milana Vinn in New York; Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Nick Zieminski and Richard Chang)
Ford (F) is dialing back its next-generation EV rollout, trying to better time the market as it spreads out its capital investments. Meanwhile, the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker will expand its popular hybrid offerings.

Ford said today it is pushing back EV production at its massive BlueOval City EV campus in Tennessee to 2026 from its initial 2025 start date. Ford said installation of equipment is underway at BlueOval City, where the company intends to build its next-generation electric truck, most likely its Project T3 full-size EV pickup that will replace the current F-150 Lightning.

Ford also revealed it is retiming the launch of upcoming EVs at its plant in Oakville, Ontario, where it plans to build next-generation three-row EVs, most likely a full-size SUV. The company is aiming to launch those vehicles in 2027, pushing back the original 2025 timeline. Ford also said construction at its BlueOval SK JV battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky is progressing, as well as at its BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan, construction of which had also been delayed last year.

The Ford F-150 Lightning displayed at the Philadelphia Auto Show, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Finally, Ford said its Ohio assembly plant would build a new commercial EV, with tooling installation set to begin in spring 2025.

As the No. 2 EV brand in the US for the past two years, we are committed to scaling a profitable EV business, using capital wisely and bringing to market the right gas, hybrid, and fully electric vehicles at the right time, Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.

Fords hybrid sales have been booming, with sales hitting a record in Q1. Ford said it will expand its EV offerings, with hybrid powertrains now expected across its entire product range by 2030.

With hybrid sales surging and EV sales requiring big incentives at the dealer level, Fords decision to push back EV launches at these facilities was not unexpected. The company also said late last year that it would "push out" $12 billion in EV investments for when that capacity is needed.

These [new EV] initiatives support the development of a differentiated and profitably growing EV business over time while Ford serves customers with the right mix of gas, hybrid and electric vehicles based on demand today, the company said.

While Ford revamps its EV plans and pushes out investments, EV spending for the year will still be massive. For 2024, Ford is projecting the Model e EV unit to record an EBIT loss of $5 billion to $5.5 billion  indicating wider losses in the business unit compared to 2023.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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Securities and Exchange Commission regulator Hester Peirce is disappointed by what she sees as a lack of effort from her agency to engage with the publicand she put the heat on her colleagues to change the agencys culture in a speech on Tuesday. But a former SEC chief accountant says shes missing the point, and that Peirces proposals would undermine the SECs regulatory capability.

At the SEC Speaks event in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, Peirce blamed SEC employees for the dwindling of genuine commission and staff engagement with the public.

But Lynn Turner, who served as the SECs chief accountant from 1998 to 2001, told Fortune that Peirces speech omitted key details and sent the wrong message about an agency that, by design, requires work between SEC staff and stakeholders outside the lengthy formal rulemaking process to respond to market trends and innovations.

If that speech had to be transparent in the way SEC filings have to be, shed be subject to SEC enforcement, Turner said.

Under Chair Gary Gensler, whom President Joe Biden nominated to lead the agency in 2021, the SEC has taken an aggressive regulatory stance, pushing for new policies related to topics as diverse as climate disclosure, cryptocurrency, and money-market funds.

But critics, including Peirceone of two Republican commissioners on the SECs five-person boardsay that the agencys fast-paced rulemaking has come at a cost, limiting its capacity to slow down and engage in the dialogue with stakeholders she says is a vital part of the agencys mission.

The commissionnot the staff or market participantsis to blame, Peirce said. One manifestation is the way rules are made these days: very broad proposals, unreasonably short public comment periods, pared-back final rules with substantial elements on which the public has not commented, and little SEC engagement in implementation discussions.

Peirce pointed to SAB 121, interpretive guidance on companies dealing with crypto assets that the SEC issued in March 2022. Instead of soliciting comments and putting it to a vote, the SECs Office of the Chief Accountant, which reports directly to Gensler, prepared and issued SAB 121 independently, basing it on standards set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Even though SAB 121 wasnt an official SEC rule, just guidance, it made a splashprompting companies and auditors to scramble to review their policies and prepare for potential enforcement. The policys headline guidance requires companies that hold crypto assets for customers to log them as liabilities on their balance sheets and maintain additional liquidity to repay customers in the event of a hack.

SAB 121 is nonbinding staff guidance that, if followed, enhances important disclosure to investors in firms that safeguard crypto assets for others. Time and again we have seen crypto firms fail and watched as their customers lined up at the bankruptcy court in hopes of getting what they thought was legally theirs, an SEC spokesperson told Fortune.

Pushing for open dialogue

Peirce said that forgoing a formal comment period and board vote is the opposite of how the SEC should be going about things. Instead, she said that maintaining open dialogue between the agency and the companies its regulating is a vital part of its mission. Peirce wrote in a response to SAB 121 that if we are trying to encourage companies to enter our public markets, we ought to embrace a more deliberate approach to changing rulesone that involves consulting with affected parties.

Historically, some of the dialogue between the SEC and regulated entities has come in the form of no-action letters in which companies can request comment from the SEC on whether a potential action on their part would violate regulatory guidelines. The number of those letters filed fell from 224 in 2021 to 116 last year, suggesting that companies might be getting less comfortable going to the SEC for guidance.

Countless people have told me that they used to feel comfortable coming in and speaking with the commission and its staff, but no more, Peirce said. The root of the problem  is that the commission discourages the staff from offering much more than silence, shrugs, sighs, and slow-walking. The culture at the top of the SEC has changed, which in turn has changed the way the agency interacts with the public.

Peirces suggestion would kneecap the SEC, bogging it down with so many administrative responsibilities that it would struggle to do its job, Turner told Fortune.

She goes in there, and she starts talking about how everything should be subject to official rulemaking  If the SEC follows what she says, staff no-action letters will now have to be voted on by the entire commission, Turner said. This will make it difficult and slow for market participants to [get] answers they want.

Turner pointed out that SECs comment periods, such as for proposed major rules on auditor independence, are typically much longer than the minimum guidelines mandated by the Administrative Procedure Act passed by Congress (usually 30 to 60 days). For example, the comment period for the SECs recently enacted climate disclosure rule was more than 100 days long.

Turner disagreed with the nature of Peirces comments, which he said amounted to targeted attacks at other SEC officials.

She took a direct swing at Chairman Gensler, with a bat, Turner said. Thats not how you compromise.

Peirce struck a more cordial tone in a note to Fortune: Chair Gensler and I have frequent, cordial, and lively discussions about policy and process and respect one anothers viewpoints," she wrote.

Editor's note: The final paragraph of this story was updated to include a comment from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
After the Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for a state ban on abortions after six weeks, clinics in North Carolina and Virginia say they are gearing up for an influx of patients.

Once the law takes effect on May 1, Florida will no longer be a refuge for people seeking abortions across the South. The state currently allows abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy  a far less restrictive policy than those implemented in many nearby states, including Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

More than 9,300 people traveled to Florida from other states to get abortion care last year  more than double the number in 2020, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion access.

Around 84,000 abortions were performed in Florida in 2023, representing around 1 in 12 abortions nationwide.

Come May, the closest option for Floridians and some others in the South who seek abortions will be in North Carolina, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks but requires people to receive in-person counseling at least 72 hours in advance. The next-closest option is Virginia.

Abortion clinics in both states are preparing to accommodate more patients by adding staff or extending hours of operation. Providers have had time to get ready, since Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida's six-week ban in April 2023. Its implementation was on hold pending the state Supreme Court decision, which came on Monday.

The Bristol Womens Health Center, which offers abortions in southwestern Virginia, expanded its hours a few months ago to accommodate people from Florida and other Southern states. It has also started offering services in the evenings and sometimes on weekends.

It is already hard enough for somebody whos driving 12 hours away, said Karolina Ogorek, the center's administrative director. While their reproductive health choices are being taken away by their state, as an abortion provider and a clinic, we want to give them as many choices as possible to be able to access the care that they need.

The center also plans to work with funding agencies such as The Pink House Fund in Mississippi to help cover travel and lodging costs for patients coming from far away.

A Womans Choice, a network of clinics with a location in Jacksonville, Florida, opened a new clinic in Virginia last month in anticipation of Florida's ban. That clinic is working to add doctors, according to Amber Gavin, the organizations vice president of advocacy and operations.

But even so, she said, demand could be quite high.

Florida was seeing a huge influx of patients from the Southeast, and Im very concerned that the neighboring states arent going to be able to accommodate all the Floridians and folks in the Southeast, Gavin said.

Jenny Black, president of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, similarly said that the organizations North Carolina clinics are making more appointments available. But those clinics already have a two-week wait time for abortions.

Planned Parenthood health center staff in North Carolina are doing their level best to quickly expand capacity and increase appointment availability ahead of the near total ban in Florida taking effect, but it will not be enough to stem the tide of patients from across the South who have few options left," Black said in a statement.

For many women, traveling to get an abortion isn't an option because of a lack of resources or other circumstances.

Florida clinics anticipated the state's new law so have already trained additional staff to perform ultrasounds and confirm pregnancies. They are trying to see as many patients as possible before the end of the month.

Were opening up more ultrasound appointments scheduled for the next 30 days to get people in, said Michelle Quesada, vice president of communications and marketing for Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida.

Quesada cautioned that, starting in May, patients will need to show up before the six-week mark, since Florida law requires two in-person visits to a clinic, 24 hours apart, ahead of an abortion.

Youd have to find out youre pregnant in your fifth week of pregnancy, which is one week after a missed period for someone with a perfect 28-day cycle, Quesada said.

I can only imagine in 30 days the sheer volume of patients that are going to be confused, scared, feel like they have no other option when they learn that theyre beyond six weeks, she added.

Floridas law allows exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

"I would think that its OK to have an abortion if the mothers life is in danger. This particular law, this six-week bill, does have that  so there wouldnt be any reason to have to travel," said Ingrid Duran, the state legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion organization.

Duran noted that Florida's ban sets aside $25 million to expand the Florida Pregnancy Care Network, a group of centers that aim to convince women not to have abortions. Such centers offer pregnant women counseling and supplies like car seats and diapers, but some have been known to provide inaccurate or misleading information.

Duran said the funding may help address a lack of access to health care, counseling and support that she believes could be "some of the reasons why women choose to have abortions."

The fate of abortion access in Florida isnt set in stone, however: The state Supreme Court also decided that a proposed amendment to its constitution that would enshrine abortion protections can be on the November ballot.

What weve seen in other states is that when abortion is on the ballot, it wins, Gavin said.
Fox News is rejecting a call from Biden administration officials to retract coverage of the policy on Easter egg art used during the White Houses annual holiday celebration earlier this week.

The White House has throughout the week forcefully pushed back on coverage across conservative media of the Easter Egg Roll, some of which incorrectly claimed the administration instituted a new ban on religious symbols for designs on eggs  a ban has been in place for decades.

The administration offered rare praise earlier this week for the conservative website The Daily Caller, which retracted a story that said the Biden White House banned children from submitting Easter eggs with religious themes for its Easter art contest Monday.

Administration officials have complained to Fox News leadership over stories published on the outlets website regarding the eggs, the online news outlet Semafor reported.

We stand by our reporting as it accurately quotes the 2024 Call for Youth Art flyer which states Easter egg design submissions must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, a Fox spokesperson told The Hill on Thursday. The story also includes on the record comments from American Egg Board President & CEO Emily Metz who explains that these longstanding guidelines are due to USDA rules.

The Fox story, originally published Friday, notes that after publication of this article, Metz told Fox that for the past 47 years theyve partnered with the White House.

The dust-up between the White House and Fox News over Easter egg art is just the latest episode in what has been a frosty relationship between the White House and the top-watched cable channel during President Bidens time in office.

Administration officials often push back on claims made by top Fox hosts about the president, while Fox correspondents regularly pepper White House spokespeople with questions about Bidens mental acuity, policies, and controversies surrounding his son Hunter Biden.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Jack Queen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A New York judge will hold a hearing on April 22 over the $175 million bond Donald Trump posted as he appeals a $454 million fraud judgment against him, the state attorney general's office said on Thursday, after asking for more details about the bond.

The Republican presidential candidate narrowly averted possible asset seizures when an appeals court on March 25 agreed to pause the judgment if he posted a $175 million bond within 10 days, which he did on April 1.

New York Attorney General Letitia James' office said on Thursday that Trump must offer proof that the surety company he used to post the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, has enough assets to pay if his appeal fails.

The move does not necessarily imperil Trump's bond but will likely require California-based Knight to show that it can cover the bond.

The questions about the bond arose shortly after judges on Thursday spurned Trump's efforts to dismiss criminal charges over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia and his handling of classified records after leaving office.

The April 22 hearing will take place a week after Trump's criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star kicks off in New York, one of four indictments he faces as he campaigns to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all criminal cases. The fourth in Washington also stems from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The judge overseeing the New York civil case, Arthur Engoron, ordered Trump to pay the $454 million in penalties and interest in February, after finding him liable for overstating his net worth and the values of his real estate holdings to dupe lenders and insurers.

Trump denies wrongdoing and is appealing Engoron's decision.

Trump's lawyer Chris Kise said in a statement that the questions about the bond were baseless.

Knight owner Don Hankey and the company's president, Amit Shah, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Knight has $539 million in assets, including $26.8 million in cash, it said in a court filing.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New YorkAdditional reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh, right, is joined by CFO Harmit Singh, second from right, as he rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Thursday, March 21, 2019. AP Photo/Richard Drew

Levi Strauss stock soared as much as 20% on Thursday after the company reported strong 1st quarter earnings.

"Denim is having a moment," Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass said on the company's earnings call.

Levi's success comes amid a new song release from Beyonce called "Levii's Jeans."

Levi Strauss stock surged as much as 20% on Thursday after the company reported solid first quarter earnings results and enjoys added exposure thanks to a new song from Beyonce.

While the jeans maker said sales fell about 8% in the first quarter compared to last year, recent cost-cutting measures helped drive a better than expected profit.

Here were the key numbers:

Revenue: $1.56 billion, versus analyst estimates of $1.55 billion

Adjusted earnings per share: $0.26, versus analyst estimates of $0.21

The company raised its full-year 2024 outlook for adjusted earnings per share to a range of $1.17 to $1.27, slightly above its prior guidance of $1.15 to $1.25.

"I would just say that denim is having a moment and the Levi's brand is having a powerful moment around the world," Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass said on the company's earnings call.

The company said the introduction of new products like denim skirts and non-denim pants helped boost sales. The added exposure to the company driven by Beyonce's new "Levii's Jeans" song probably isn't hurting sales trends either.

"One of the things that really is significant about the Levi's brand and we place a lot of emphasis and investment is making sure that Levi's brand remains in the center of culture. And I don't think there's any better evidence or proof point than having someone like Beyonce, who is a culture shaper, to actually name a song after us," Gass said in response to an analyst question on whether Beyonce's new song has led to a sales boost.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior industry analyst Mary Ross Gilbert said in a note on Wednesday that Beyonce's new song, which is a top 20 song on Apple Music's top 100 USA playlist, "could also provide an added boost to sales."

In recognition of the song, Levi Strauss changed its Instagram name to Levii's to match the spelling of the new Beyonce song.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Photo Credit: Sebastian Reuter / Stringer | Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images)

Hollywood star Matt Damon recently shared a touching and intriguing story about his beloved pet cat, a rescue from Costa Rica. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Damon opened up about his furry friends journey. The cat went from being a stray in Costa Rica to becoming a cherished member of his family. The feline has also gone through some health scares.

Matt Damons cool cat was a stray in Costa Rica

During his time on the show, which was later shared on the series official TikTok account, Matt Damon recounted his encounter with a stray cat. It happened during his month-long stay in Costa Rica, and led to an unexpected addition to his household.

Initially just a stray Damon fed during his stay, the actor realized upon his departure that he couldnt leave the cat behind, given the bond they had formed. We were like, this guys gonna die now. Hes relying on us, Damon said, explaining his decision to bring the cat back with him to the United States.

However, the cats transition to his new home was not as smooth as anticipated. Shortly after settling in, the cat received a diagnosis of brain cancer, leading to a series of radiation treatments  per Parade Pets.

The cat received a grim prognosis, and went through a concerning phase of losing weight and walking in left circles upon moving to New York. However, the cats condition took a positive turn thanks to a treatment suggested by a cat neurologist named Chad. The neurologist advised trying steroids for the cat, a decision that, two-and-a half-years later, has left the cat thriving, much to Damons relief and surprise.

The revelation led to an amusing response from the audience and viewers online. Many expressed their desire to see a photo of Damons resilient, and now muscular, pet. The humorous narrative, combined with the emotional rollercoaster of the cats health scare, made for an inspiring story from Damon.

The post Matt Damon Reveals His Cat Is a Rescue From Costa Rica appeared first on CatTime.
A person's badly decomposed body that washed up on a Lake Ontario shore after it presumably went over Niagara Falls has been identified more than three decades later, officials in New York announced this week.

According to the Oswego County Sheriff's Office, remains found on April 8, 1992 near what is now the Novelis Plant belonged to Vincent C. Stack of Buffalo, who disappeared in Niagara Falls State Park around Dec. 4, 1990.

Oswego County, north of Syracuse, borders Lake Ontario and is more than 100 miles east of Niagara Falls.

A general view shows water flowing over Niagara Falls in Niagara Falls, New York. A body that presumably went over the falls in 1992 has been identified as Vincent C. Stacks of Buffalo, New York.

According to the medical examiners office, an autopsy determined the person died between six months and five years prior to the discovery of his body 34 years ago, the agency announced Tuesday in a Facebook post.

"At the time, efforts to identify the remains by comparing them to missing person cases were unsuccessful," the sheriff's office wrote.

Sixteen years later, in 2008, a DNA profile of the remains was uploaded to the CODIS database but, officials said, no leads were generated until recently.

Renewed efforts and a familiar DNA match to Vincent Stack

In April 2022, during renewed efforts to identify the remains, the sheriff's office and the Niagara Regional Police Service in Ontario began comparing the death investigation with unsolved cases in Canada.

At that time, police Detective Constable Sara Mummery assisted with obtaining a new DNA sample from the remains for further comparison in the Lake Ontario area in both Canada and the United States.

In February, the new DNA sample was found to be a familial match to DNA collected from Stack's family.

39 days later: Glasses found during search for missing teen Sebastian Rogers, police unsure of connection

Body likely went over falls and traveled 145 miles across Lake Ontario

Over the next year and four months after Stack's went missing, officials said, his remains would have traveled some 15 miles to the mouth of the river, and then more than 130 miles across Lake Ontario before being discovered on the shore outside the city of Oswego.

Ice pancakes and ice balls from Lake Ontario flow into Irondequoit Bay.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the sheriff's office.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Body believed to have gone over Niagara Falls ID'ed as Vincent Stack
After weeks of uncertainty, former President Trump posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case Monday with the help of little-known California billionaire Don Hankey.

Hankeys Knight Specialty Insurance Co. underwrote Trumps bond, allowing the former president to move forward with his appeal of the case and preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) from seizing his properties.

Hankey did not respond to a request for comment.

The billionaire, known as the subprime auto king in Los Angeles, made his fortune financing high-interest auto loans for customers with poor credit.

He has since expanded into finance, technology, real estate and insurance, running an eight-company empire known as The Hankey Group. He is worth about $7.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Hankey said he initially reached out to Trump after hearing about the former presidents difficulties posting the original $464 million bond in the case and had a conversation about putting together a bond of that size, according to CNN.

Trumps lawyers told a New York appeals court last month that, despite diligent efforts, it would be impossible to secure the full bond due to lack of cash on hand. The court ultimately reduced the bond to $175 million.

I heard they were looking for somebody and this is what Knight insurance does, Hankey told Bloomberg. We have the liquidity and Im just happy to provide it.

Hankey, who acknowledged that he has voted for and donated to Trump in the past, emphasized to The Washington Post that his decision to underwrite the bond was not political.

Im chairman of the board of several companies, and we just carry on our business and we try to stay away from political issues or taking sides, he told the Post, adding, I will support him in the future, but I wouldnt consider myself a major supporter.

Hankey has had previous financial ties to the former president via his stake in Axos Bank, which provided $225 million in loans to Trumps businesses as other lenders cut ties in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to the Post.

However, Hankey, who is the largest individual shareholder in the bank, said he was not aware of the loans at the time.

We would have done it for anybody else, Hankey said to CNN of arranging Mondays bond. It was an easy transaction. It was put together very quickly.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Houston Community College main administrative building at 3100 Main St. Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Houston. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

A Harris County state district judge has ordered the Houston Community College System to pay at least $281,000 in attorneys fees incurred while the institution fought allegations that it improperly withheld public records.

The order stems from litigation that Houston attorney Ben Hall filed in 2020, asking the court to force HCC to release records he requested pertinent to a $100 million racial discrimination lawsuit against the college system. Private consultant Wayne Dolcefino and Texas resident Scott Laha had also intervened to obtain separate records, and the case stretched for several years as HCC lawyers appealed to higher courts  each of them siding with a trial judge who ordered the system to turn over the documents.

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Hall has now recovered about 10,000 pages of records, he said. He is still seeking confirmation that they have all been received.

Public information belongs to the public, Hall said on Tuesday. There has been a complete erosion of the understanding that the public owns these documents. If we remain silent, we will lose accountability for these public officials and how theyre spending money, what decisions theyre making.

HCCs owed amount could reach $566,000 if the college system appeals Judge Dawn Rogers order and is unsuccessful, according to court documents filed March 15. Most of the money will go toward attorney fees for Dolcefino and Laha, who hired Hall to represent them in the case.

College officials declined to comment on the records suit or the court order. But in late 2020, HCC attorneys had argued that the institution did not violate open records laws because it produced some responsive information to Hall and sought an opinion from the Texas Attorney General on whether to disclose other information, according to court documents. The attorneys also said that the timeline to respond to the remaining requests had ceased because school closures prohibited the access of information during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the Texas Public Information Act, law mandates that state governmental organizations must at least respond to requests for information or request an attorney general ruling within 10 business days.

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The focus of Houston Community College is serving our students and living up to our important mission of accessible, affordable, high quality education for all," officials said Tuesday in a statement attributed to the college. "Our priority remains our students and those who teach and serve them. Because this is part of ongoing litigation, we are unable to comment on this matter."

Hall had sought HCC information from four records requests, two of them filed before the pandemic forced school closures and two filed around that time.

HCC sought clarification on the first two requests, which Hall said he accommodated. But at the time he brought the records suit he said he had only received a portion of his requests  about 30 documents.

The college had also informed Hall that they could not respond to his last two requests because of the pandemic, and told Laha and Dolcefino the same. In court, HCC attorneys cited COVID-era guidance from the attorney generals office, interpreting "business days" not to include days that an epidemic response makes them unable to access records.

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Then-Texas District Judge Steven Kirkland called the decision to rely on that guidance for five months  without developing a new system to fulfill hundreds of records requests  untenable.

The judge also said that the records fight had delayed the progress of the original discrimination lawsuit, which is still ongoing.

Those allegations include several from Zelia Brown, an African-American former employee at HCC who said she was retaliated against for pointing out mismanagement of grant funds. She alleged in court documents that HCC trustee Adriana Tamez stockpiled grants on the eve of their expiration.

Hall represents Brown in the case, as well as hundreds of current and former African American employees who allege that former HCC Chancellor Cesar Maldonado used a list of tactics to undermine and get rid of Black employees. The plaintiffs also claim that Maldonado relied on HR Director Janet May to handle displacements.
Hundreds of thousands of people were without power and millions remained under tornado watches Wednesday afternoon, as a violent storm system continued to track eastward. The severe weather tore through the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys earlier in the week, bringing heavy rain, hail and suspected tornadoes to a number of U.S. states, leaving its mark in debris.

Only a handful of injuries have been reported so far, with 10 being the highest injury count so far in a single place after storms slammed Jeffersonville, Indiana, overnight. One suspected storm-related death was reported in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where flooding hit on Monday.

A tornado watch was in effect for four counties in central Florida, with a combined population of almost 6.5 million, through at least 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The watch area encompasses several big cities, including Orlando, Gainesville, Jacksonville and St. Augustine.

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Florida until 5 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/RAiZRmPRwW  NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) April 3, 2024

The advisory for those counties noted that powerful wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour and a couple of tornadoes were possible, along with hail as large as marbles. Meteorologists issue a tornado watch when thunderstorms occur in places where the atmospheric conditions could potentially set the stage for a twister, but that kind of advisory does not necessarily mean that one will occur. A tornado warning is issued when the onset of a twister is imminent.

Tornado watches that had been ordered for other southeastern regions, including parts of Georgia and South Carolina, were lifted earlier on Wednesday. But tens of millions of people elsewhere in the U.S. were still told to brace for storm weather and possible flooding, particularly in pockets of the Midwest and Northeast.

Millions of people in central Florida were placed under tornado watches on Wednesday. / Credit: National Weather Service / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Meteorologists also warned that eastern Virginia and the upper part of North Carolina could be hit with strong thunderstorms on Wednesday afternoon, as a band of unstable weather gradually spreads southeastward.

"Storms capable of producing a couple of tornadoes and damaging gusts will be possible this afternoon across eastern Virginia and vicinity, and across north and central Florida," reads the latest outlook released by the Storm Prediction Center.

Severe thunderstorms and several possible twisters wreaked havoc on communities across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on Tuesday, prompting West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to declare states of emergency.

Firefighters, right, with the Anchorage Middletown Fire Department, check houses for gas leaks following severe storms that passed through Prospect, Kentucky, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. / Credit: Timothy D. Easley / AP

In West Virginia, video footage captured Tuesday afternoon showed harsh wind gusts picking up debris in the city of Charleston, where the weather service said radar indicated that a twister had blown through earlier in the morning. The governor said in his declaration that the storms had downed trees, knocked out power, blocked roads and caused flooding.

Parts of Kentucky were also hit hard by the storms. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg declared a state of emergency for the city on Tuesday night as officials worked to assess and respond to what he described as "serious damage." Images from Prospect, which is just outside of Louisville, showed tree trunks, branches and other debris scattered across the lawns of homes and covering the streets of residential neighborhoods.

In nearby Nelson County, fire officials also shared images of destruction.

The National Weather Service said it received 16 reports of tornadoes throughout the day Tuesday from six different states in the path of the storm: Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama and Georgia.

Two reports came from Tennessee, where about 40,000 homes and businesses were without power Tuesday morning after an electric substation was struck by lightning, the Associated Press reported, citing a utility company based in Memphis. Two other stations were affected by that initial strike.

By the afternoon, meteorologists said that radar confirmed at least one tornado touched down in Sunbright, a small northeastern Tennessee city, according to CBS affiliate WVLT-TV. The weather service's report log say that a tornado was spotted along the highway in that area.

On Tuesday night, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said that it was aware of an "unconfirmed tornado that impacted the Sunbright community in Morgan County." No injuries were immediately reported.

A utility worker walks past buildings damaged by a tornado on April 3, 2024, in Sunbright, Tennessee. / Credit: Brett Carlsen / Getty Images

WVLT-TV shared video footage of the aftermath in Morgan County on Wednesday, which showed some homes and buildings completely or partially destroyed. National Weather Service representatives told the station they would be surveying damages in the area.

Another confirmed tornado touched down shortly before midnight in Conyers, Georgia, just east of Atlanta, the weather service said. An emergency management official in the area told CBS News early Wednesday that some injuries were reported but none were considered serious or life-threatening.

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An attempt to change Nebraska to a winner-take-all Electoral College system failed a key procedural vote late Wednesday, despite support by former President Trump, Gov. Jim Pillen (R) and Sen. Pete Ricketts (R).

Switching Nebraskas Electoral College vote distribution in the Republican-dominated state would bring it in line with much of the rest of the country and could net Trump an extra vote this November, though an attempt to attach the bill to an unrelated measure as an amendment Wednesday failed by a significant margin.

State Sen. Julie Slama led the amendment push, arguing on the floor that it was the best shot for the bill to pass this legislative session, which ends April 18. Just eight of the needed 23 legislators backed the vote.

On the floor, state Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh argued that the GOP was trying to slip a partisan bill into unrelated work.

Democracy is on the line! she said, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

I want to throw up. And I want to go to bed. But I cant, because I dont trust you, she added, referring to her Republican colleagues.

More top stories from The Hill:

Slama said after the vote that the prospects for the bill, which conservative activists said was likely to pass, arent as bright as they once seemed.

The filibuster-proof majority doesnt have the intestinal fortitude to make Nebraska a Winner-Take-All state in an election year, she wrote on X, the platform known as Twitter. Wild.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott, who sponsored the bill, admitted after Wednesdays vote that there is not enough support to avoid a Democratic-led filibuster, needing 33 votes.

Only Nebraska and Maine assign Electoral College votes by district. In most presidential elections, Republicans take two and Democrats take one of Nebraskas districts, though the third is tightly contested. The states remaining two electoral votes are given to its popular vote winner, generally the Republican candidate.

If the bill were to go into effect for the 2024 election, it could cost President Biden an Electoral College vote; Trump won about 58 percent of the vote in Nebraska in 2020, meaning the GOP candidate would get the states entire slate of electoral votes in a winner-take-all system.

The effort received a trio of late high-profile endorsements from Pillen, Trump and Ricketts in addition to a grassroots activist push led by right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk.

Pillen made a late endorsement for the winner-take-all bill Monday, arguing the measure would bring Nebraska in line with the rest of the country and represent what the founders intended.

Trump lauded Pillen for the endorsement the next day.

Governor Jim Pillen of Nebraska, a very smart and popular Governor, who has done some really great things, came out today with a very strong letter in support of returning Nebraskas Electoral Votes to a Winner-Take-All System, Trump said Tuesday in a Truth Social post.

Most Nebraskans have wanted to go back to this system for a very long time, because its what 48 other States do  Its what the Founders intended, and its right for Nebraska, he continued. Thank you Governor for your bold leadership. Lets hope the Senate does the right thing. Nebraskans, respectfully ask your Senators to support this Great Bill!

Ricketts voiced support for the measure after proponents claimed they had assured enough votes to pass. State Sen. Mike McDonnell switched parties from Democrat to Republican on Wednesday, though he said it wouldnt change how he planned to vote in Nebraskas nonpartisan unicameral Legislature.

The effort was supported by the Nebraska Freedom Coalition, a conservative activist group, which traded barbs with lawmakers after Wednesdays vote.

When it became clear that the measure would not pass, Slama accused the group of not doing enough to back the effort, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

If youre gonna tweet out an issue, if youre gonna put out press releases on an issue and try to pressure the Legislature to do something  maybe when the concept actually comes up and people are voting on it, maybe yall should do the work, she said. Maybe yall should do the work in the committee hearings when the bill is actually introduced. Rather than firing off a tweet and a press release with five days in the session left.

FILE  Nebraska Sen. Julie Slama speaks, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Margery Beck, File)

The Nebraska Freedom Coalition railed against Slama and other state legislators after the vote, calling for a complete upheaval of party leadership after the failure.

Maybe just maybe Sen. Slama, its not our job to do your job, the group said in a direct response to the legislators comments. We are everyday citizens with actual jobs and lives. We are not silver spoon appointed establishment wonks who have never experienced a day of real work.

God forbid a tweet wakes up a bunch of Senators to do their jobs! it continued. Sorry you missed an appointment with your hair stylist because we pushed for a change that you say you overwhelmingly support.

Slama in a statement to The Hill on Thursday denounced the Nebraska Freedom Coalition as an underwhelming group of trolls clinging to tweets for relevance.

Their only goal appears to be undercutting Republican lawmakers who win elections and actually work to govern, she said.

Nebraska GOP Chair Eric Underwood pinned blame on the national GOP after the vote failed, saying the Republican National Committee (RNC) refused to use its resources to help the effort.

I went to the RNC last year  I met with [then-RNC Chair] Ronna McDaniel and said, I think this is something that could happen, but I need outside help, he told Kirk in an interview. I was basically told that it wasnt much of an importance.

Bidens easiest path to victory is generally considered to be a sweep of blue wall states  Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania  plus a single Nebraska vote from Omahas electoral district to reach the needed 270 electoral votes.

Updated at 9:42 a.m. EDT

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Video and photos of suspects in a mass shooting show them apparently being brutalized by Russian security forces  without any rebuke from authorities. A top Kremlin official urges that hit squads be sent to assassinate Ukrainian officials. Senior lawmakers call for restoring capital punishment, abolished decades ago.

The aftermath of the Moscow concert hall attack that killed 145 people in the bloodiest assault in Russia in two decades seems to be setting the stage for even harsher rule by President Vladimir Putin following his highly orchestrated electoral landslide last month.

Putin vowed to hunt down the masterminds of the March 22 attack that he linked to Ukraine despite Kyiv's vehement denials and a claim of responsibility by an offshoot of the Islamic State group. He warned ominously that terrorism is a double-edged weapon.

Putin lieutenant Dmitry Medvedev declared that if Ukrainian involvement is proven, Moscow should respond by deploying hit men to kill the country's leaders in Kyiv or any other convenient place.

The attack dealt a heavy blow to Putin less than a week after the vote that extended his rule for another six-years. It marked a major failure by his security agencies that were given an advance warning by the U.S. that extremists were planning an imminent attack.

Critics of the Kremlin argue that security forces are so focused on conducting the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times that they are distracted from tackling real threats.

In an apparent attempt to divert attention from the security lapse and rally support for the war in Ukraine, Putin and his lieutenants alleged  without evidence  that the arrest of the four suspects near Ukraine indicated Kyivs likely involvement.

The four, all citizens of Tajikistan, were detained by security forces in a forest about 140 kilometers (86 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Video confessions of their involvement in the attack were released by Russian news outlets, but the veracity of those statements has been called into question because the men seemed to have been severely beaten and bore other signs of brutality when they appeared in court.

One had a heavily bandaged ear - reportedly cut off during interrogation. Another had pieces of a plastic bag on his neck, a possible sign of attempts at suffocation. A third was in a wheelchair, barely conscious, accompanied by medical personnel.

Russian police and other security agencies have long been accused of torture, but many incidents also brought official condemnation, dismissals of those involved and criminal prosecutions.

In stark contrast, authorities refused to comment on the grisly video that emerged or the signs of maltreatment seen in court.

One video showed a man in combat fatigues cutting off part of one of the suspects' ear and forcing it into his mouth while threatening to do the same with his genitals. Another suspect was seen with his trousers pulled down and wires attached to his genitals.

The Associated Press was unable to verify the authenticity of the images, but Human Rights Watch said it determined the men in the photos and videos were the same as those in court for their pretrial hearings.

The rapid and widespread sharing of these videos appears to be no accident but rather some kind of appalling boast by the Putin government of its brazen disregard for basic rights, fundamental humanity, and the rule of law, said Tanya Lokshina, HRW's associate director for Europe and Central Asia.

Kremlin propagandists sought to cast their treatment as a proper response to the massacre.

Margarita Simonyan, head of state-funded broadcaster RT, dismissed criticism and said the law enforcement personnel involved shouldnt face any punishment.

Imagine yourself in place of our guys who were chasing those ghouls who just mowed down many, many of our fellow citizens, Simonyan said. What were they supposed to do? Serve them some warm porridge and yogurt?

Many observers saw the tacit endorsement of such brutality as an ominous sign of more to come.

All that serves a double function - a show of terror as a mechanism of intimidation and rallying hatred, political analyst Kirill Rogov said in a commentary. It normalizes hatred as a response, including to those who have questions and disagreements.

Medvedev, deputy head of Russias Security Council, who served as liberal-minded placeholder president in 2008-12, when term limits forced Putin to shift to the premier's seat, has turned recently into one of the harsher voices from the Kremlin.

In a commentary on his messaging app channel this week, he called for the extrajudicial killings of Ukrainian officials, arguing Russia should follow in the Soviet practice in the last century of assassinations, like those of Ukrainian nationalists Yevhen Konovalets and Stepan Bandera.

What should we do? Simply crush the Banderite swine as the Soviet MGB did after the war," Medvedev wrote, referring to a forerunner of the KGB, "and liquidate their leaders on convenient occasions -- like Konovalets and Bandera - in Kyiv or any other convenient places.

The concert hall attack also brought demands from hawks and some senior lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty, which has been suspended since 1996 when Russia joined the Council of Europe, the continents leading human rights organization.

Calls for its restoration have circulated often, particularly after attacks blamed on insurgents from the region of Chechnya and other militant extremists. They increased after Moscow left the Council of Europe after its invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the parliamentary faction of United Russia, the main Kremlin party, said the lower house would review restoring the death penalty, taking into account "societys mood and expectations.

Some Kremlin-connected lawmakers and others oppose the move, in an apparent sign of Putin's hesitation.

Andrei Klishas, the influential head of the constitutional affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, argued its restoration is impossible unless Russia approves a new constitution.

Andrei Medvedev, the deputy speaker of the Moscow City Council, said Russia should never bring back capital punishment because of its troubled history in the Soviet era.

Regrettably, our judicial system isnt ideal and isnt immune from mistakes, he wrote in a commentary. The country that saw repressions, Red Terror ... and executions of those who believed in God must forget about the death penalty once and for all.

Lidiya Mikheyeva, the secretary of the Public Chamber, a Kremlin-controlled advisory board, also spoke against reinstatement and reverting "to the times of savagery and barbarity.

The abolition of the death penalty is one of our countrys major historic achievements, she added.

Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian state TV commentator, also hinted that Putin doesnt support its reinstatement. Its good that Russia is led by Putin, for whom the life of each of our citizens is priceless, he said.

Despite those apparent doubts, many observers say the official tolerance of the harsh treatment of the suspects and calls for killing Russia's enemies herald an even more ruthless era.

Net Freedoms, a Russian group focusing on freedom of speech, noted that harsh statements from Putin and Medvedev coming amid the backdrop of demonstrative torture effectively sanction extrajudicial executions and give law enforcement agencies a directive on how to treat the enemies.

We are seeing the possible beginning of the new Great Terror, the group said, referring to the purges by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin of the 1930s. There must be no illusions  the developments follow a very bad scenario and the slide is rapidly accelerating.
The nearly $1 billion a Connecticut jury ordered Alex Jones to pay to the families of Sandy Hook victims for calling the mass shooting a hoax is a historically high penalty and one the Infowars host and conspiracy theorist will be unlikely to evade, civil litigators said.

He may be forced to live a subsistence type of life, said Richard Signorelli, a New York attorney and former federal prosecutor. Hes always going to be watched. Hes always going to be hounded, and hes not going to, I believe, be able to ultimately escape the ramifications of his wrongful act.

The families of eight victims of the 2012 school shooting and an FBI agent who responded to the scene sued Jones for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the state Unfair Trade Practices Act, for telling his followers that the massacre was fake and the families were crisis actors on multiple platforms for years.

In a trial solely to determine damages, because Jones was already found liable by a judge after refusing to hand over critical evidence in discovery, a six-member jury handed down 15 individual awards that ranged from $28.8 million to $120 million, totaling $965 million in compensatory damages.

Civil litigators across the country said they were astonished by the staggering sum.

I think its the largest defamation verdict in U.S. history, certainly on compensatory damages, said Jesse Gessin, a civil litigator and adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. I was absolutely absolutely shocked. Its just an unbelievable verdict.

And thats not even all, there is still the matter of punitive damages which will also likely be in the millions, he said.

Signorelli said jury awards can often add up to billions of dollars in mass tort cases or large class action suits but, for an individual, this is a historically high damage award.

After 20 children and six educators were killed by a gunman who opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012, Jones went on a campaign to mischaracterize the shooting. His false claims attracted a massive viewership, leading him to rake in millions of dollars in product sales, according to testimony given at trial.

Jones and his companies today are worth $135 million to $270 million, forensic economist Bernard Pettingill testified in August at another defamation trial for Jones in Texas. That figure was disputed by his defense team.

An attorney for Jones did not return a request for comment by NBC News.

The amount eventually paid out by Jones may be less, according to Ryan ONeill, a defamation lawyer and professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law.

With the conclusion of the trial, he said, there is still the matter of post-trial motions where there are opportunities for parties to argue that the damages are excessive, and a court can remit some amount of that verdict to put it in line with what it determines to be reasonable damages.

My feeling would be that it will be reduced by some amount, but that it will still be very high,  he said. I dont see any scenario where were not talking about hundreds of millions of dollars still.

The amount could also be disputed on appeal, which Jones attorney has already said he would pursue, or swept into bankruptcy proceedings for Jones company, Free Speech Systems.

The media company filed for bankruptcy in July, days before his Texas trial was scheduled.

Jones, who livestreamed Wednesdays verdict on his show, mocked at the amount and scoffed at the idea of making any payments, saying he could not afford it.

Aint going to be happening. Aint no money, he said later on his show.

Jones has not filed for personal bankruptcy. He urged his audience to donate money to his company and buy products from its store to fight this fraud and save Infowars.

Although Jones company has filed for bankruptcy, its not a given that those proceedings would affect the final award, legal experts said.

When you are found to have committed an intentional wrongful act, any award based on that intentional wrongful act is typically not dischargeable in a bankruptcy filing, Signorelli said.

If it is found to be dischargeable, Jones would be required to make disclosures about his finances, Gessin said.

If he evaded or attempted to hide financial dealings in bankruptcy, that could land him in criminal court facing jail time for bankruptcy fraud, he said.

I dont think hes going to be able to escape this judgment, he said.

But Jones does have time, ONeill noted. Collections will likely not happen until post-trial motions and all proceedings are resolved in the case, including hearings on punitive damages and attorneys fees, which would take at least six months.

Even though there may be a long road ahead for the Sandy Hook families to see any payout, this could be financial ruin for Jones, Signorelli said.

The significant thing about this whole case is that Alex Jones actions have been found to be so egregious that he wont receive any leniency or mercy from the court or from the plaintiffs attorneys in seeking to enforce this judgment, he said.
A charging elephant killed an American woman when it flipped over the car she was traveling in at a national park in Zambia.

The aggressive creature buffeted the vehicle carrying six tourists and a guide, tour operator Wilderness said in a statement Tuesday. It added that the 79-year-old victim died after Saturday's incident on a game drive at the Kafue National Park in western Zambia.

A video circulating on social media apparently showing the incident shows a large elephant running toward a car, which slows down as the animal approaches its left side. The elephant then flips the vehicle over and the passengers can be heard gasping as the car rolls over.

NBC News does not know the condition or identity of the person who filmed the video.

Photos shared online of the car, which is emblazoned with the logo of the tour operator, show it tipped onto its side after the incident, with a deep dent in two of its side doors.

Wilderness, which describes itself as a leading conservation and hospitality company operating in eight African countries, including Zambia, did not respond to NBC News when asked to confirm the authenticity of the video and the photos.

But the tour operators CEO, Keith Vincent, said in the statement that the companys guides are all extremely well trained and experienced.

"Sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guides route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harms way quickly enough, he added.

Gail Mattson, during a safari in Zambia (Rona Wells via Facebook)

The company did not name the victim but Rona Wells, her daughter, identified her as Gail Mattson in a post on Facebook. She said her mother died in a tragic accident while on her dream adventure.

NBC News has reached out to the family for further comment.

It's extremely rare to see an elephant that irate, Marlon du Toit, a wildlife photographer and safari guide, told the "TODAY" show Thursday. Across Africa, there are thousands and thousands of guests on safari on a daily basis with no negative consequences.

Another woman was also injured in the incident and taken to a medical facility in South Africa, the Wilderness statement said, adding that four others were treated for minor injuries.

The exact cause of Mattsons death was unclear, but the company said her body would be repatriated to her family in the United States with the support of local Zambian authorities and the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Lusaka.

This is a tragic event and we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the guest who died, the statement added.

Kafue National Park is Zambias largest and oldest national park, according to its website, and spans an area of more than 8,000 square miles. Vast regions of the park remain unexplored and the website says it is home to a variety of untamed wildlife.
The suspect who was shot by police in downtown Boise early Saturday morning died in the hospital, according to an update Monday from the Boise Police Department.

The Ada County Coroners Office identified the man as Payton Wasson, 22, of Nampa, and said the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.

The shooting took place after Boise police officers approached a suspicious vehicle as part of an investigation, according to a news release Saturday morning. The vehicle was near 5th and Main streets, just adjacent to a stretch of the citys popular late-night bars.

After officers attempted to make contact with the vehicle occupants, one person fled on foot toward Idaho Street holding a firearm, according to the initial release.

Officers chased the suspect and gave commands for the suspect to stop, which were disregarded, according to the release. One BPD officer fired his duty weapon. ... A firearm was recovered next to the suspect.

Police administered medical care after the shooting, according to the release Saturday morning, and Ada County paramedics took the suspect to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

He died in the hospital at 12:41 p.m. on Sunday, according to the coroners office.

Police contacted three people in connection with the incident, police spokesperson Haley Williams told the Idaho Statesman in an email. One person was arrested on a narcotics-related charge, a second was released at the scene and the third was the shooting victim, she said.

No officers were injured in the incident, according to police. The officer who fired his weapon was placed on administrative leave, per standard practice.

The Boise Police Department declined to answer questions from the Statesman seeking additional information, including the name of the officer who shot Wasson.

All of the information provided in the news releases from BPD and the coroner is what has been confirmed for public release. Any additional clarification or further details are part of the CITF ongoing investigation, Williams said in an email.

The Ada County Sheriffs Office is the lead agency on the Critical Incident Task Force investigation into the shooting.
Another Centre County row officer has announced their reelection campaign.

Democrat Scott Sayers is seeking reelection to Centre County coroner, a position hes had since 1998, he said in a press release Friday.

Between 2019 and 2022, the coroners office has investigated more than 3,600 deaths; Sayers said he pledges to serve cooperatively with state and local law enforcement, EMS, fire and other government agencies.

Sayers is a member of the Pennsylvania State Coroners Association and is regional vice president on the executive board, according to the release, and maintains education requirements for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Coroners Education board. Hes certified as diplomatic status with the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators and is a member of the Centre County HOPE coalition, among other things.

Sayers is a member of the Milesburg Baptist Church, Young Democratic Club of Clarence, Clarence Moose #1585, Mosquito Creek Sportsmans Association, and several other organizations, according to the release. He graduated from Bald Eagle Area High School in 1985, attended Lock Haven University, and graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 1988.

The municipal primary is May 16 and the election is Nov. 7.
The powerful earthquake in Taiwan on Wednesday shook an island that was well prepared for a seismic catastrophe  likely more so than some regions of the U.S., several experts said.

Nine people have been reported dead, though Taiwanese officials said the death toll could rise in the coming days. More than 1,000 were injured and at least 100 were feared trapped. But given the size of the quake  magnitude 7.4  seismology experts said it appeared the dense island had fared as well as could be expected in initial reports.

Thats no fluke: Taiwan uses a robust early-warning system and has modern seismic building codes, experts said, and its population is accustomed to frequent seismic activity. Following the devastating 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, the island significantly upgraded much of its infrastructure.

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Taiwan (VCG / VCG via Getty Images)

Two thousand four hundred people died. And this time, we only have nine people reported dead. You see the progress, said Larry Syu-Heng Lai, a geologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington who grew up and studied in Taiwan. Our buildings are stronger. Our facilities are better. You can say we take it seriously  but its part of life every day.

Experts said U.S. cities in earthquake-prone areas along the West Coast are making varying levels of progress to prepare for temblors. But none measure up to Taiwans capital.

Seattle isnt doing as much to prepare  or Portland  as Los Angeles or San Francisco. And neither are doing as much to prepare as Taipei, said Harold Tobin, the director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and a professor at the University of Washington.

A California Highway Patrol officer checks the damage to cars that fell when the upper deck of the Bay Bridge collapsed onto the lower deck after the Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 1989. (George Nikitin / AP file)

Officials and researchers in Taiwan are still evaluating the earthquakes characteristics, impacts and casualties. The lessons they learn could provide U.S. scientists and political leaders a measuring stick for how buildings and communities here might fare.

These events always give us information to evaluate how well were doing here in California, said John Wallace, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.

In a review of early images and reports from Taiwan after the earthquake, Wallace said it appeared that much of the damage was in older concrete buildings that were five to 10 stories tall and had first floors with open commercial space. Many were on street corners, where buildings can be subjected to twisting forces that heighten damage.

Theres a weak first story that collapses. It concentrates the damage in that first story, Wallace said.

A damaged building in Hualien City, Taiwan, after an earthquake (TVBS via AP)

He added that older, concrete buildings would be expected to struggle with an earthquake and are the targets for retrofits in Taiwan and the U.S. Meanwhile, Taiwans tall buildings  which have a higher level of engineering  appeared to have performed admirably, as expected, Wallace said.

That includes Taipei 101, the islands tallest tower, which features a 660-metric-ton steel ball suspended with cables in its upper stories  a system designed to dampen movement from heavy winds and earthquakes.

If what looks like it happened holds up  for the magnitude of this earthquake and its proximity to land, overall they did quite well there. I hate to say that when people were killed, Tobin said.

Nearly 25 years ago, the magnitude-7.7 Chi-Chi earthquake catalyzed Taiwan toward better preparation.

Lai was 11 when the quake struck and can still recall how the temblor shook him awake at his familys apartment in TaiPei and nearly threw him out of bed.

After that, he noticed the island slowly transforming to better mitigate risk. At school, there was a new emphasis and training on earthquake safety. And over the next decade, political leaders instituted new building codes, reclassified seismic zones and designated emergency command centers in rural areas, Lai said.

Wallace flew to Taiwan a week after the Chi-Chi quake and helped inspect bridges in its aftermath. In the years that followed, he said, the island started by evaluating and retrofitting school buildings and then moved on to the oldest buildings most at risk for collapse.

The initiatives resemble Southern Californias, Wallace said: Weve basically been doing kind of the same thing.

He added, though, that he thinks Taiwan has moved more quickly because frequent, smaller earthquakes kept the issue top of mind.

Other West Coast states lag behind California. Washington only began to systematically evaluate its schools in the past 10 years, and many of Seattles old brick buildings are not retrofitted and are likely to collapse in a large earthquake.

Taiwans sophisticated early-warning system is also an important part of its safety infrastructure. The system relies on a islandwide network of seismic instruments; when a large quake happens, the system sends messages to peoples phones and automatically cuts into live TV programming to give residents seconds of warning.

Some aspects of it are similar to the systems used in California, Oregon and Washington.

In the U.S., our ShakeAlert system has the capability to send out an Amber Alert-style messages to all our phones, but it isnt wired in broadcast media in the same way, Tobin said.

Video on social media showed TV footage of Taiwanese news programming in which on-screen warnings arrived before shaking began, according to Tobin.

In Taiwan, there is a more comprehensive warning capability, he said.

The systems in both Taiwan and the U.S. work by detecting P-waves from an earthquake and calculating their strength before sending alerts through internet networks.

Earthquakes send different waves  ripples on a pond  from the epicenter, Tobin said. The ripples that spread the fastest are not the damaging ones, theyre a harbinger, a Paul Revere rider.

Lai said Taiwans progress on earthquake safety was gradual and required public education, as well as trust in government and faith in scientists.

We took 25 years to get to this point, he said.
Octavia Johnson is a general assignment reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at octavia.johnson@houstonchronicle.com.

Before joining the Chronicle, Octavia worked as a digital content producer at WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., where she became a leader in producing fast paced, audience-focused content.

Octavia graduated from UNC Pembroke with a bachelor's degree in journalism before earning her master's degree in media and communications at Norfolk State University.
WASHINGTON  The ex-military member who federal authorities say drove his SUV into a barricade at the FBI office in Atlanta on Monday had online ties to QAnon-related content and appeared to be a supporter of former President Donald Trump, according to an open-source investigation by the group Advance Democracy.

Ervin Lee Bolling currently faces a count of destruction of government property. He has not yet entered a plea. An FBI affidavit states that after crashing his car, Bolling got out and tried to walk past the gate where he was stopped by three special agents. Bolling refused instructions to sit on the curb and resisted arrest when the agents tried to take him into custody, according to the charging documents.

Advance Democracy, in a report seen by NBC News, found social media accounts that appeared to be linked to Bolling that had a history of promoting conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election as well as QAnon.

"I love you @realDonaldTrump," one account suspected to be linked to Bolling posted back in December 2020, according to Advance Democracy. "You have more support than even you know."

A person is in custody after allegedly ramming car into an Atlanta FBI building. (MSNBC)

A separate Telegram account that used the name "Lee Bolling" and has a handle that Bolling appears to have used on other platforms was a member of nine public Telegram groups, several of which were related to QAnon, according to Advance Democracy.

The court docket in Bolling's case does not indicate he has a lawyer. Reached by NBC News and asked about Bolling's beliefs in QAnon, his wife declined to comment.

Details of the Advance Democracy report were first first published by Wired.

Daniel J. Jones, the president of the non-profit group Advance Democracy, told NBC News that it was important to take "the increasing violent rhetoric and actions were seeing seriously, and our elected officials, especially Republican elected officials, need to speak out" against violent actions.

We dont yet know the individuals motivation for using his vehicle to crash into a gate at the FBIs Atlanta Field Office," Jones said. "But this individuals suspected social media activity is part of a trend: Trump supporters espousing anti-government rhetoric and conspiracy theories  often echoing Trumps own statements  that decide to take violent action against public officials."

More than 1,265 defendants have been charged in connection to Jan. 6, according to the Department of Justice. Trump himself has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have ones vote counted in connection to his actions regarding the results of the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is delayed indefinitely.
By Karen Freifeld, Alexandra Alper and Toby Sterling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden's administration plans to press the Netherlands next week to stop its top chipmaking equipment maker ASML from servicing some tools in China, two people familiar with the matter said, as the U.S. leans on allies in its bid to hobble Beijing's tech sector.

Alan Estevez, the U.S. export policy chief, is scheduled to meet in the Netherlands next Monday with officials from the Dutch government and ASML Holding NV to discuss the servicing contracts, the people said.

Washington may also be seeking to add to a list of Chinese chipmaking factories restricted from receiving Dutch equipment as part of the discussions, one of the people said.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed the upcoming meeting but did not elaborate on which topics would be on the agenda.

"The Netherlands always has good discussions with our partners. The meeting of officials on Monday is one example of that," the Ministry told Reuters.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said Beijing opposes the U.S.'s "overstretching" of the concept of national security and use of "pretexts to coerce other countries into joining its technological blockade against China."

The Commerce Department and ASML, whose shares briefly fell after the news, declined to comment.

The meeting is Washington's latest move to convince allies to join U.S. efforts to further crack down on Beijings ability to produce cutting-edge chips.

Last year, sanctioned Chinese telecoms giant Huawei shocked the world with a new phone powered by a sophisticated chip. The Huawei Mate 60 Pro was seen as a symbol of the China's technological resurgence despite Washington's ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.

Chip-related exports to China are vital for its economy. Chinese President Xi Jinping complained to Biden this week about U.S. efforts to block certain U.S. technologies, including advanced semiconductors, saying it hindered China's development.

Restrictions on servicing ASML machines could be particularly painful given the large and expensive tools require constant maintenance. China was ASML's second-largest market by sales last year (29%), after Taiwan.

Last year, Japan and the Netherlands joined a U.S. effort to keep certain chipmaking technology from China for national security reasons. The Dutch government began restricting certain deep ultraviolet (DUV) equipment for Chinese customers and partially revoked one license, impacting a small number of customers in China, according to ASML.

But the Dutch restrictions did not go as far as U.S. rules, which barred American firms from servicing equipment at advanced Chinese factories. Estevez has said publicly that the U.S. is asking allies to stop local companies from servicing certain chipmaking tools for Chinese customers.

"We are working with our allies to determine what is important to service and what is not important to service," Estevez said at an export control conference last week.

In October, the U.S. issued a regulation to keep more ASML DUV machines from certain Chinese chip factories because American parts in those tools gave Washington the power to regulate their export from overseas. Officials may broach expanding the list of Chinese factories at the Monday meeting, one of the sources said.

Last week, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in Beijing. Xi warned against setting up trade barriers.

Rutte said Dutch restrictions aim to disrupt business as little as possible.

However, Rutte said China's support for Russia, which the Netherlands views as its top national security threat, is a major impediment to relations  a signal that exports of goods with potential military uses to China will be scrutinized. Rutte is a top candidate to become NATO's next secretary general.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York, Alexandra Alper in Washington, D.C., and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Lisa Shumaker and David Gregorio)
Not everyone makes it through life truly satisfied. Rafael Soriano did.





The Cuban artist made a name for himself both in his estranged home country and in his new home of Miami. For over 60 years, he mastered his own style of surrealism and a technique that turned oil paintings into glimpses of another universe. But one day, in 2000, he decided that he had painted his last work.

His daughter, Hortensia Soriano, asked him if he was sure. Of course, he responded.

He said to me, Everything I ever wanted to paint, Ive already painted, she recalled. He was at peace. My father was totally just Mr. Zen. He lived for another 15 years, never painting again.

Until February 18, some of Sorianos final works  the masterpieces that left him satisfied  are on display at LnS Gallery in Miami.

Rafael Soriano, a renowned painter who left Cuba in exile, was a pioneer in Miamis artist community and a master of light and color. A solo exhibition at LnS Gallery in Miami displays the late artists work from the last decade of his career.

Transcendentalism, Distilled is a solo exhibition featuring 15 paintings and three drawings from the last decade of Sorianos artistic career in the 90s. The gallery selected the pieces in the show with curator Sofia Guerra and The Rafael Soriano Foundation, which the Soriano family created to preserve and promote his artwork, said Sergio Cernuda, the gallery director.

Sorianos abstract works, which are rich in color and deep in symbolism, are difficult to describe, but his career speaks for itself. A pioneer of Latin American modernism, Soriano is featured in renowned permanent museum collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Cuba, Museo de Antioquia in Colombia and the Perez Art Museum Miami.

Soriano was the Rothko for us, for the Cuban American artists, Cernuda said. His visual language was unique. His use of color was masterful. His paintings, including every single work on display at the gallery, look as though they are illuminated from the inside.

This is somebody who understood shadows and lights and color theory like very few artists of the 20th century did, Cernuda said.

Cernuda credited the exhibition to Hortensias efforts to archive her fathers paintings and cement his legacy as a seminal figure in Miamis artist community. The show was the perfect fit for LnS because the gallery aims to highlight the young history of the Miami art scene, which boomed following a massive exile of Cubans in the 1980s, he said.

The 80s in Miami is a really fascinating time, Cernuda said. Soriano was at the epicenter of all of it assisting a lot of young artists because he had already been here for so many years.

But the show also serves as a love letter to Hortensias parents and their story. Milagros, Hortensias mother who died in October, was her husbands biggest supporter and collaborator. She mounted his canvases and built his frames. The couple named the paintings together. The exhibitions catalog was dedicated to Milagros.

For me, its an emotional, amazing moment to see these beautiful 1990s late style works of his here in this beautiful space, Hortensia said.

Hortensia, a retired chiropractic physician, grew up surrounded by these paintings, even into adulthood. At the gallery, she sat on a small bench in front of Espejismos de agua, a large deep blue and purple mirage her father painted in 1990. For years, she would sit at her Miami Beach home staring into the painting while sipping her morning coffee.

I dont have to dive into the bay, she said. I dive into this painting.





Now, shes ready to part with it. The pieces on display are for sale, particularly to art collectors or institutions who are dedicated to preserving the work. Her fathers work is meant to be shared, she said.

Espejismos de Agua by Rafael Soriano on display at LnS Gallery in Miami.

Love in a streetcar

Rafael always knew that he was born to paint. The first time he saw a painting as a child, he told Hortensia, he pointed at it and announced that that was what he wanted to do.

He came from humble beginnings in Matanzas, Cuba. His parents supported his creativity and he studied at Havanas prestigious yet stringent Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro. As a young man, he later founded his own prestigious (and less strict) art academy, the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Matanzas. There, students were free to explore their creativity, Hortensia said. He taught as a professor and served as director.

That is where he met his future wife, or more accurately, where his future wife first spotted him.

My mom stalked him! Hortensia said, laughing.

Their love story began on a streetcar, she recounts. Milagros saw him get off at the stop in front of the academy and followed behind. She asked someone outside the building about who that man was. She got his name and occupation: Professor Rafael Soriano.

When she got back home, her mother noticed she was practically floating. Milagros told her that she saw the most beautiful man in the world. Oh, he must have been tall, blue eyes, blond hair, her mother said. Nope.

What did you see in him? her mother asked.

I saw light in his forehead, Milagros said. (While telling this story, Hortensia glanced at a large painting in the gallery that glows from its center, as if a flashlight was behind the canvas.)

Rafael and Milagros Soriano met in Matanzas, Cuba, on a streetcar. Milagros, a carpenter, mounted the canvases Rafael painted on. She made the frames for his paintings, and the couple named the artworks together.

From that moment, Milagros was on a mission. She sat on that streetcar everyday until Rafael finally sat next to her and said hello. Rafaels career grew, and the couple built a life together in Matanzas, where Hortensia was born.

But their fairy tale romance was met with a harsh political reality. Soriano was on the verge of international recognition when he had to leave his career, academy and home behind. In 1962, the small family fled to Miami in exile.

A holy encounter

Like many Cuban exiles at the time, Rafael thought that the move to Miami was temporary. His bags were packed and ready to go. He longed to return home.

For a while, he just didnt feel like painting. He was traumatized, Hortensia said.

But one day, his perspective changed overnight. He told his daughter he was visited by the Holy Spirit in a dream.

A figure asked Rafael where he wanted to go, and he requested to see his little house in Matanzas. At the speed of light, the figure transported him back to the hill his house sat on. He watched in fear as a stampede of wild horses barreled toward his home. He asked the figure, Who are you? The figure responded, I am the Trinity.

When Rafael woke up, his decision was made. He told his wife that their life in Cuba was over. They were settling in Miami for good.

Did it really happen? It doesnt matter, Hortensia said. For him, it was life changing. It was a pivotal moment in his life that allowed him to continue his work in a newfound land, in freedom.

His encounter with the Holy Spirit and his acceptance of his life in Miami marked a shift in his artwork. His paintings became more spiritual and otherworldly. He would get home from work, play some Grace Jones and paint through the night, Hortensia said.

As he established himself locally and nationally, he helped emerging artists find their footing. Several Miami-based artists have fond memories of Rafael taking them to an art supplies store to buy materials or helping them figure out business contracts, Cernuda said. He never stopped teaching.





Sharing a legacy

The focal point of the exhibition is in a glass room in the gallerys center. Inside is Ave inventando la ausencia, a dark yet illuminated abstract painting of a bird.

Sorianos spirituality is especially tangible in this piece. Birds are often symbols of flight, afterlife, memory and transcendence, Cernuda said. The painting itself inspires moments of meditation and reflection.

Richard Blanco, Miami-Dades first poet laureate, wrote a poem inspired by Sorianos work for the exhibition. The poem is printed on an adjacent wall. It reads, in the flesh of your brilliant colors I see myself as more than merely flesh, for I am the light of your light that renders the infinite and lets me see god as the glow of your god in all humanity.

The poem Anatomy of Light by poet laureate Richard Blano next to Ave inventando la ausencia by painter Rafael Soriano on display at LnS Gallery.

Sorianos colors are brilliant. The purple is so deep its almost black. Bright white spots illuminate funky shapes. Yellow peeks through rich reds. His palette was inspired by the sunrises and sunsets in Matanzas, Hortensia said.

His shapes are something else entirely. One painting looks like a beating heart. Another looks like a bits of a skeleton poking through outer space. Another looks like an alien.

Though the exhibition is small, it manages to capture the essence of a truly unique artist with an unwavering confidence. Visitors can experience Sorianos paintings in the way Hortensia did, as adventures.

He transcended here, and we can see that in these paintings, she said. I hope that gives people hope that there is something beyond this world.

Transcendentalism, Distilled by Rafael Soriano

Where: LnS Gallery, 2610 SW 28th Ln., Miami

When: On view until Feb. 18.

Info: Free entry. Walk-ins welcome. lnsgallery.com

This story was produced with financial support from The Perez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Authorities in Oklahoma said Wednesday they suspect foul play in the disappearance of two Kansas women who failed to show up to pick up children last week.

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, were traveling together to pick up the children, according to an endangered missing persons advisory shared by the Texas County Sheriffs Department's Facebook page.

They never made it to the pickup location, the advisory said. Their vehicle was later found abandoned in the Oklahoma county.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the women's disappearance, said on X, that information from the abandoned vehicle indicates "foul play."

"We are still searching for these victims, and there are no arrests at this time," the agency said.

Texas County Sheriff's Department

While it is unclear whose children the two women were looking to pick up, it is presumed Butler and Kelley are friends, the state bureau has said.

Butlers stepmother, Guadalupe Torres, and father, Clinton Butler, separately told NBC News earlier this week that Veronica had been in a difficult custody dispute. Court records show a custody case was opened in late March 2015 and closed almost a month later.

Kelley has brown hair, blue eyes and a butterfly tattoo on her left forearm, the advisory said. Butler has red hair, green eyes and several tattoos.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the women is asked to contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017.
(Photo Illustration by Diana Ramirez / De Los; Photos by Luis Alberto Barrera Diaz and Netflix.)

Fans of the Nickelodeon show The Casagrandes showed their love for the animated series about a Mexican American family when The Casagrandes Movie debuted on Netflix on March 22. It wasn't long before the film, directed by the shows creator Miguel Puga, entered the streaming sites top 10 in 57 countries, standing alongside other productions that cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

For Puga, having his humbly budgeted epic tale among those titles is a badge of honor.

The Casagrandes Movie begins when its young heroine Ronnie Anne (Izabella Alvarez) turns 12 and plans to spend the summer skating with her daredevil best friend Sid Chang (Leah Mei Gold). But Rosa (Sonia Manzano), her mother, has other plans. The entire Casagrande clan is traveling to the fictional town of Japunda, Michoacan, so that Ronnie Anne can experience the land of her ancestors. What starts as a vacation meant for fun bonding turns into a thrill-packed mission when demigod Punguari (Paulina Chavez) awakens. Her millennia-old tantrum rebelling against her own mother threatens to destroy Japunda, unless Ronnie Anne and the women in her lineage work together to stop her.

Cartoonist and cultural consultant Lalo Alcaraz, who has been involved as a producer and writer since the inception of The Casagrandes, served as one of the early writers on the feature-length project, which features elements of P'urhepecha culture. For the two creators, the specificity they imbue the story with is their biggest victory.

The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Did you always know that the plot of the movie would finally take the Casagrandes, and Ronnie Anne in particular, to visit Mexico? If so, why did you feel that would be the ultimate adventure for them?

Lalo Alcaraz: We were working on the series and when I got the first inkling that they were maybe going to do a movie, I was like, I don't care what anybody says it, it has to be a road trip to Mexico. Because so many of us took those trips with our families in the back of the station wagons and pickup trucks. We all stayed the summer where our families are from, and we had fun. I just knew that it had to be that. Fast-forward to when it was time to pitch for the movie, most of the pitches coming in weren't working. And so finally, who do they call? Me. And I said, Hell yeah. I came up with a pitch in about two days and they dug it. I got hired to write the first three drafts of it and then it just kept evolving.

Miguel Puga: It started off grounded and small. At first we wanted to do it about a road trip all over Mexico, but things evolve, and we thought it was better just to stay in one place. It evolved into just going to Michoacan because that's where my family's from, and that's where the Casagrandes family is from. We wanted to represent Michoacan, especially to portray the P'urhepecha community in this universe  their customs, their food, their music. Not only did we have Lalo Alcaraz as our cultural consultant, but we also had Kurly Tlapoyawa and Iris Calderon, who is of P'urhepecha descent. She helped us teach the voice actors how to speak the P'urhepecha language. I only knew two words in P'urhepecha that my dad taught me: charashi k'ariri, which means flat butt [Laughs]. He taught me other bad words in P'urhepecha, but charashi k'ariri, always stuck to my head. And so that's the first thing I said to Iris when she came on board. I told her, What does charashi k'ariri mean? And she just laughed for like five minutes straight.

Throughout the three seasons of the show, did you feel like you were saving the trip to Mexico for a big moment, or did you ever consider doing it as a regular episode?

Puga: Everything we couldn't do on the series we did on the movie. We tried on the show, but we always hit these walls like, That's not universal. You can't do that. It's too big. We're a grounded show. But little by little we added things here that were leading up to it. We introduced the grandmother Mama Lupe and Paco, who came from Michoacan to visit the family. We had a Tlaloc-like god show up in one of the episodes. The family plays around with the statue that causes crazy weather events to happen all over the city. We also had a Chancla Force episode where Rosa is dressed like a Jedi, but she's wearing a P'urhepecha dress. Those were like little inklings of the movie.

Alcaraz: Im excited that we did a deep dive on their background so that we could explain where the Casagrandes are from. This is a question that we should all be asking all the time. Where am I from? We didn't come on the Mayflower, you know. [Laugh]. And also not everyone's an Aztec from Mexico City. It was great to have Michoacan featured because they don't even put Michoacan in movies in Mexico, or brown people.

The fact that you were able to set it in Michoacan feels a bit groundbreaking in that it shows that Mexican culture is far from monolithic. Did it take much convincing for the studio to accept that the setting would be this exact location?

Puga: I pushed hard to get Michoacan and especially Lake Patzcuaro and Janitzio, which we ended up using on the movie, but we changed the name to Japunda, which means big house on a lake, which goes great with Casagrandes. I wanted to represent Michoacan, and specifically Jacona, Michoacan. I used to spend all my summers and winters down there with family. And I just fell in love with the culture. The studios let us do it. For the first time in my career, they were like, If it works for the movie, let's do it. Everyone loved it because it was authentic, it was real. And not only did we get to represent the P'urhepecha community, but we also drove home that point that Indigenous cultures are still alive and they're vibrant. They haven't disappeared. I hope the movie inspires the young audience to learn about their own family's history and traditions.

In a broader sense, why do you think it's meaningful that the movie doesnt take place in generic or nondescript Mexico, but that it does in fact reference a particular region of the country?

Alcaraz:, I've been around the block, and when I was pitching my comic strip in the 90s some of the syndicates were like, Why do you have to make the characters Mexican? Can you make them from a fictional country? They didn't even want them to have a generic Mexican background. They wanted a made-up country. That's not right. Are you embarrassed of where I'm from? I dont think so. We have to be specific. I always say also that cartoons are a great vehicle for truth. They sometimes are superior to live action because you could tell more truth in a more pointed way. And we did that in the series and in this movie.

Tell me about the research you and the production did to respectfully portray P'urhepecha culture and imagery, as well as these cities in the state of Michoacan.

Puga: We worked with an animation studio in Guadalajara, Mexico, called Mighty Animation. They were amazing. There are two artists from Michoacan there, Artie Rodriguez and Gloria Felix Orozco, who lived in Uruapan. And they went to Janitzio and took a bunch of photos for us. They did all the research for us. We just wanted to make sure we got everything that represented the P'urhepecha community. We tried not to mix it with the different Indigenous cultures like the Aztecs or Mayan. My art director, Miguel Gonzalez, also went to go take photos and research, and came back with a bunch of books. He along with Kurly and Iris were the ones telling us, Yes, these are the type of birds you'll see there. These are the type of food that we have. They even showed us how to make sopa tarasca and corundas. For the gods, obviously, we don't want to use the real gods. We changed the names, but they're still the same gods that they represent for the P'urhepecha culture.

Is the language in the opening sequence P'urhepecha?

Puga: Exactly. What was tough is that originally the first five minutes were all spoken in P'urhepecha, in the Tarasco language, but we kept getting feedback from the studios, You don't want to alienate the kids. Little kids don't want to read and they're going to change it to 'Coco Melon' if you have it, so let's mix it in there. It was a struggle. I tried to fight for it, but in the end I could only keep it right at the three-minute mark, which I'm still proud of because I don't think you've heard the P'urhepecha language in an animated series before.

Miguel, what did your family think about you making a movie that depicts the region where they are from? Seems like an incredible way to honor your roots.

Puga: Both of my parents passed away already. My mom passed away [because of] COVID in 2020, but when I signed my contract, the first thing I told her was, I'm going make a movie about Jacona, Michoacan. I made this movie for both of them. I hope they are proud. I think they are. My whole family's been watching it multiple times. This is one of the reasons why I'm going to Jacona next month, to share it with the people there. They're going show it outdoors and I'm doing a Q&A, so I need to practice my Spanish. [Laugh].

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
This story is a product of an NBC News investigation in collaboration with The Outlaw Ocean Project, a nonprofit journalism organization.

Joshua Farinella had been working in the seafood industry for eight years when he received an exotic job offer too lucrative to pass up  managing a shrimp factory in southern India. The salary: $300,000, more than double what he was making previously.

I packed up two suitcases and moved 8,000 miles away, said Farinella, 45, of Pittston, Pennsylvania. It was supposed to be life-changing.

But just a few months after he arrived on the job in October 2023, Farinella said he became deeply disturbed by what he was witnessing.

Joshua Farinella. (NBC News)

His company, Choice Canning, supplies shrimp to major U.S. grocery chains including Walmart, Aldi, ShopRite and H.E.B. It touts its state-of-the-art processing plant and commitment to international standards of quality.But Farinella said he soon discovered that Choice Canning operated unsanitary offsite peeling sheds and routinely approved the export of shrimp tainted with antibiotics in violation of U.S. food safety law.

The companys treatment of workers was equally jarring to Farinella, he said. Migrant workers rarely had a day off, slept in overcrowded, bedbug-infested dorms and were restricted from leaving the walled-off company compound in Amalapuram, according to Farinella. They were mostly women who were often recruited from the poorest sections of the country.

Farinella left the job after about four months, but not before recording conversations with senior leadership and capturing video footage of conditions at the plant and at an offsite peeling facility.

The consumers need to understand that theyve been purchasing a contaminated product that was made by people who dont have the luxury of going home, said Farinella, who has filed a whistleblower complaint with the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators detailing his allegations and has shared it with members of Congress.

A mattress that appears to be covered in bedbugs. (Courtesy Joshua Farinella)

U.S. lawmakers are looking into Farinellas allegations, which underscore long-held concerns about the farmed shrimp industry globally and more recent findings about Indias in particular.

In a letter dated March 18, ranking Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resources requested documents and recordings from Farinella in response to his complaint. The letter references the committees ongoing efforts to reduce human rights violations and increase transparency in the seafood supply chain. (Farinellas lawyers said theyve provided all relevant records in response.)

After the nonprofit news organization The Outlaw Ocean Project published its investigation into Farinellas claims, other lawmakers called on the Biden administration to take action to protect American consumers.

Damning evidence from someone in the industry has revealed strong concerns of severe food safety issues and labor violations at an Indian shrimp processing plant, Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., wrote in a March 22 letter to President Joe Biden. The whistleblower alleged that the company was deliberately exporting shrimp contaminated with antibiotics and engaging in forced labor practices.

Choice Cannings shrimp processing plant in Amalapuram, India. (Ben Blankenship / The Outlaw Ocean Project)

Lawyers for Choice Canning categorically denied any wrongdoing, including the claims about abusive labor practices and the illegal use of antibiotics. The allegations that have been brought against our company are false and without merit, a spokesperson for Choice Canning Company Inc. said in a statement.

During our history we have maintained a spotless record with regulators and continue to exceed industry standards to ensure our products meet all certifications. Throughout our history we have dedicated significant resources to developing and adhering to comprehensive auditing processes and protocols as well as employee welfare programs.

The company also cast Farinella as a disgruntled former employee who should not be believed because of his criminal past.

Farinella was convicted of a series of felony and misdemeanor crimes between 1999 and 2014  a period when he says he was struggling with depression and substance abuse. The offenses included grand theft auto, burglary and identity theft.

It was 10-plus years ago, said Farinella, who is married with two stepchildren, ages 17 and 24. Thats not who I am at this point in my life.

Walmart and Aldi said in statements to NBC News that they were investigating Farinellas claims and expect their suppliers to treat workers fairly. Wakefern Food Corporation, which owns ShopRite, referred to Choice Cannings response to the allegations. HEB did not respond to requests for comment.

We expect suppliers to operate safe workplaces, take responsibility for the well-being of their workers, adhere to our forced labor prevention principles and to protect the integrity of the food we sell by complying with all FDA regulatory requirements and Walmart food safety standards, a Walmart spokesperson said.

A uniformed security guard stationed at a Choice Canning shrimp processing plant in Amalapuram, India. (Ben Blankenship / The Outlaw Ocean Project)

Americans love shrimp. Its the most consumed type of seafood in the U.S, and nearly 40% of the imported crustaceans now comes from India  more than any other country.

Thailand was for a long time the largest exporter of shrimp to the U.S. But the industry was jolted by high rates of shrimp disease and repeated reports of forced labor. With Thailands shrimp business in crisis, India boosted production to meet global demand.

A new report by the Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL), a Chicago-based advocacy group, suggests that Farinellas allegations are part of a larger, systemic problem in the Indian shrimp industry.

The report was based on interviews with more than 150 workers and others in the country's shrimping sector.

The CAL report did not investigate Choice Canning, but found that shrimp operations in India often rely on forced labor and dangerous and abusive working conditions to meet demands for ever-lower prices.

In the processing sector, workers live in overcrowded and often unsanitary conditions under the careful surveillance of company guards, reads the report. They are rarely allowed to leave the premises.

A room where Farinella said he found migrant workers sleeping on mattresses laid out on the floor, many without pillows or bedding. (Courtesy Joshua Farinella)

CAL also found that debt bondage  preventing workers from leaving a job until they have paid off a loan  is common. And shrimp production is also causing severe environmental damage, the report says.

The report didnt focus on food safety, but it does note that the Indian shrimp industry focuses on two national markets with fewer regulations and less monitoring of imported shrimp: China and the U.S.

While the European Union samples 50% of shrimp from India for antibiotic traces, the U.S. inspected just over 1% of shrimp imports in 2023, the FDA said. According to publicly available import refusal data from the FDA, the FDA refused 51 shipments of shrimp due to antibiotics last year and over 70% of them involved shrimp exported from India.

The minimal testing combined with the huge quantity of shrimp entering the United States means that there is a high risk of shrimp with traces of antibiotics entering the U.S. market from India, the Corporate Accountability Lab report says.

Shrimp farmers sometimes use antibiotics to reduce the spread of disease, but the practice is heavily restricted in many countries in part because eating contaminated shrimp could lead to increased resistance to antibiotics.

Farinella said his plant shipped out antibiotic-tainted shrimp nearly half a dozen times in the time he was there. Company leaders even had a code name for it, he said: Oscar.

In a WhatsApp text exchange cited in the whistleblower complaint and viewed by NBC News, Farinella wrote to an executive about a shipment of cooked shrimp for a U.S. grocer that he said tested positive for antibiotics. Please use the word Oscar lol the executive wrote.

Oscar was the word when nobody wanted to see a message out there saying, Hey, this shrimp is contaminated, Farinella said.

Choice Canning disputed Farinellas characterization, saying the term Oscar is used to denote shrimp that had tested positive for antibiotics in an initial inspection, but negative in a subsequent, more precise one known as LCMSMS.

Cleared OSCAR products can only be exported after LCMSMS reports are negative and further time requires senior management approval for final shipments, reads a policy document provided by Choice Canning.

Farinella said the processing plant itself was inspected by auditors from Best Aquaculture Practices, a group that ensures seafood is responsibly and sustainably sourced, but a substantial portion of the work was actually done at offsite peeling sheds with subpar standards of hygiene and sanitation.

Workers in the off-site shed. (Courtesy Joshua Farinella)

Workers in street clothes and sandals would peel shrimp in rooms exposed to the elements and without temperature control, Farinella said.

Choice Canning said it only relied on an offsite peeling shed from January to February, and that it was used for shrimp bought by customers who purchase seafood that is not certified by Best Aquaculture Practices, or BAP.

Choice is not aware of any unsanitary conditions, and the shed has not been used since March 1, 2024, the company said. A second shed was used by a copacker, and the shrimp processed there was not owned or sold by Choice, the company added.

Farinella said he decided to speak out about what he experienced in the hope of forcing a reckoning on the shrimp industry.

I need a change to happen, and that will make this worth it, he said.

The Outlaw Ocean Project, which first publicly reported on Farinellas complaint, shared reporting with NBC News for this investigation.
NEW YORK (AP)  A judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases  spurning another of the former president's ploys to put off the historic trial. Several more are pending.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan declared the request untimely, ruling that Trump's lawyers had myriad opportunities to raise the immunity issue before they finally did so last month, well after a deadline for pretrial motions had already passed.

The timing of the defense's March 7 filing raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion, Merchan wrote in a six-page decision.

Lawyers for Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, had asked Merchan to adjourn the New York trial indefinitely until Trumps immunity claim in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is resolved.

Trump contends he is immune from prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyers have not raised that as a defense in the hush-money case, but they argued that some evidence  including Trump's social media posts about former lawyer Michael Cohen  is from his time as president and should be excluded from the trial because of his immunity protections.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on April 25  a week-and-a-half after the start of jury selection in the hush-money case.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined to comment. The Manhattan district attorneys office also declined to comment.

Trump first raised the immunity issue in his Washington criminal case, which involves allegations that he worked to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Merchan, in his ruling, drew a distinction between the Washington case  which he referred to as the Federal Insurrection Matter  and the hush-money case he's overseeing.

In Washington, Trump is trying to use presidential immunity to get the charges thrown out on the grounds that he has absolute immunity from federal criminal liability, the judge wrote. In the hush-money case, he said, Trump is trying to preclude evidence of what prosecutors said was his pressure campaign against Cohen and other witnesses.

The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his companys internal records to hide the true nature of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign. Among other things, Cohen paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and not part of any cover-up.

The hush-money trial, the first of Trump's four criminal cases scheduled to go before a jury, was originally scheduled to begin March 25. Merchan postponed it until April 15 after Trump's lawyers complained about a last-minute document dump from a prior federal investigation into the matter that sent Cohen to prison.

Trump and his lawyers have continued to lobby for even more delays, parlaying gripes about Merchan and concerns about getting a fair trial in heavily Democratic Manhattan into eleventh-hour pleas for more time. Its the latest iteration of the strategy Trump proclaimed to TV cameras outside a pretrial hearing in February: We want delays.

Trumps lawyers are again urging Merchan to step aside from the case, arguing in a letter to the judge this week that he may have a conflict of interest because of his daughter's work as a Democratic political consultant. Merchan rejected a similar recusal request last year. If he were to exit now, it would throw the trial schedule into disarray, with time needed to assign a new judge and get that person up to speed.

In other recent filings, Trumps lawyers argued that the trial should be delayed indefinitely until prejudicial media coverage of the case dissipates. They also contend that by seeking to make the case about the 2016 election, prosecutors in the liberal borough are endeavoring to give jurors an opportunity for a referendum on Trumps win in that race.

Prosecutors balked at that Wednesday, arguing that publicity about the unprecedented trial of the former president is unlikely to recede anytime soon. They blamed Trump's own incessant rhetoric" for generating significant publicity, adding that it would be perverse to reward him with a delay "based on media attention he is actively seeking.

Prosecutors said the jury selection process  with additional questions designed to weed out biased prospects  will allow both sides to pick an impartial jury.

In his ruling Wednesday, Merchan wrote that Trump's failure to raise the immunity issue sooner strained credulity since the former president's lawyers had previously invoked presidential immunity in a failed bid last year to get the hush-money case moved from state court to federal court.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trumps claim that allegations in the hush money indictment involved official duties, writing last July, The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President  a cover-up of an embarrassing event."

Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a Presidents official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the Presidents official duties," Hellerstein added.

The question of whether a former president is immune from federal prosecution for official acts taken in office is legally untested.

Prosecutors in the Washington case have said no such immunity exists and that, in any event, none of the actions alleged in the indictment count as official acts. The trial judge in Washington and a federal appeals court have both ruled against Trump.

__

Associated Press reporter Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
By Andrew Gray and John Irish

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO alliance members agreed on Thursday to scour their arsenals for more air defence systems to protect Ukraine from Russian ballistic missile attacks, as the alliance marked a 75th anniversary overshadowed by the war on its borders.

"Allies understand the urgency," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met NATO counterparts and appealed for new additional air defence systems, especially U.S.-made Patriot missiles.

"Allies will now go back and look into their inventories, look into if there are any ways they can provide more systems, in particular Patriots, but also of course ensure that the systems which are already there have the ammunition but also the spare parts (they need)," Stoltenberg told a news conference.

He did not spell out any specific pledge or aid target.

Earlier, as a ceremony with birthday cake and marching bands could not mask the sombre mood in Brussels, Kuleba told reporters: "I didn't want to spoil the birthday party for NATO, but I felt compelled to deliver a very sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country."

Overnight Thursday, a Russian drone attack struck residential buildings in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and an energy facility in the region, killing several people and cutting power for 350,000 residents, Ukrainian officials said.

"NATO's biggest battles to fight are still in the future, and we have to be ready for them," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters.

A NATO official said Russia was likely recruiting about 30,000 additional personnel per month and could absorb losses on the battlefield and continue attacks. Russia, however, was still lacking munitions and manoeuvre units required for a successful major offensive, the official said on condition of anonymity.

On Wednesday, the NATO ministers agreed to start planning for a greater role in coordinating military aid to Ukraine to help it battle Russia.

But it was far from clear whether a 100-billion euro, five-year fund proposed by Stoltenberg would be accepted by NATO members, who take decisions by consensus. Hungary has signalled opposition and other members have warned against duplicating bilateral and European Union aid efforts for Ukraine.

MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON

European leaders are anxious about the alliance's future if Donald Trump beats incumbent President Joe Biden in the November U.S. election in November, but also about the multi-billion Ukraine aid package held up in the U.S. Congress.

"Europe needs North America for its security," Stoltenberg said.

"At the same time, North America also needs Europe. European allies provide world-class militaries, vast intelligence networks and unique diplomatic leverage, multiplying America's might."

NATO began with 12 members from North America and Europe, founded in response to growing fears that the Soviet Union posed a military threat to European democracies during the Cold War.

At its heart is the concept of collective defence and that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, giving U.S. military protection to Western Europe.

It has retaken a central role in world affairs after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, leading European governments to view Moscow once more as a major security threat.

NATO's two newest members, Finland and Sweden, joined in direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In Moscow, the Kremlin's spokesman said Russia and NATO were now in "direct confrontation" due to the alliance's enlargement.

($1 = 0.9229 euros)

(This story has been refiled to add a hyperlink, in paragraph 18)

(Additional reporting by Simon Lewis, Bart Meijer, Nette Nostlinger, Ingrid Melander, Geert De Clercq; Writing by Ingrid Melander, John Irish, Andrew Gray; Editing by Tom Hogue and Hugh Lawson)
The 75-year history of NATO can be described in three acts, each defined by existential threats to Western security.

First, there was the Cold War and the Soviet threat. Act Two came in the 1990s and 2000s, when NATO deployed troops for the first time in Bosnia and Kosovo, followed by Afghanistan and Iraq. From 2014 onwards, Russian President Vladimir Putins first invasion of Ukraine and ISISs self-proclaimed caliphate brought armed threats right back to the alliances borders at a time when the United States and its allies were slowly retreating from the world.

NATOs fourth act may be defined by a crisis that has unfolded in slow motion. For over a decade, allies have chronically underspent on defense while the Wests adversaries modernized and bolstered their own military capabilities.

The most obvious way to understand the impact of this is through Russias 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Of course, the person most responsible for Russias invasion is Putin himself. But people directly involved in Western security policy say that warnings of the need to improve defenses were overlooked in favour of balancing books in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (standing, second left) is applauded by the Turkish, British and US leaders at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council during a NATO summit in Vilnius on July 12, 2023. - Murat Kula/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Rasa Jukneviciene, Lithuanias defense minister from 2008-2012, recalls a meeting with US officials at the Pentagon in 2012 where individuals from all sides, including the US, acknowledged that Russia would be in a position to test NATO by 2019.

Despite knowing of the risk, by 2014, only three of the then 30 allies were able to meet NATOs target of 2% of GDP on defense spending. By 2019, that number had risen only to seven.

Speaking to CNN, Jukneviciene, now a European Parliament member, said: NATO was sleepy in the 2010s, focused on the war on terror rather than regional threats. Defense spending stayed low across the West not just because of budget pressures, but also because everyone  including the US  was frightened to provoke Russia.

In my opinion, that meant Russia could see NATO was not serious about its own defense, which made invading Ukraine far less intimidating.

Underfunding defense budgets over a long period has multiple consequences  from lower troop numbers to poorly maintained equipment. But in the context of the war in Ukraine, limited and fast-dwindling ammunition stocks for the West to give to Kyiv has possibly been the most damaging.

One thing thats absolutely certain, if allies in Europe had met their 2% target  in particular, Germany  there would be a lot more weapons to give Ukraine without weakening the defense of their own countries respectively, John Herbst, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, told CNN.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken receives the NATO ratification documents from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a ceremony at the US State Department on March 7, 2024. - Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Maybe if there were more weapons there would have been more of a deterrent to Putin, he added.

Its worth noting that it was not NATOs job to protect Ukraine from invasion. Ukraine is not a NATO member and only formally declared its intention to join after the 2022 invasion.

However, the nature of NATO allies support for Ukraine  much of it direct military support  has exposed the vulnerability that years of underfunding has caused the alliance.

Its not just that low military spending means low weapon stocks. A lack of demand means no incentive for private arms companies to invest in weapons manufacturing. In other words, you can have all the money in the world, but you cannot buy weapons that dont exist. Meanwhile, Russia has massively expanded its own munitions production and has turned to Western adversaries including North Korea and Iran for additional weapons.

There is no question the US and its allies do not have arms industries producing enough equipment for a major-power war, said Herbst.

This has been acknowledged by NATOs members. More allies than ever before are now meeting the 2% minimum spending commitment, and that is set to increase ahead of a summit in Washington in May  an event to mark the 75th anniversary of NATOs creation on April 4, 1949.

NATO officials, often cynical, skeptical types, are unusually optimistic that the governments of so many are taking spending  particularly on arms procurement  more seriously.

The blocs leader, Jens Stoltenberg, said in February that 18 of its members were expected to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense this year.

Billions of dollars have been pledged, as well as schemes by individual nations to purchase and ramp up the production of ammunition and weapons. But most of the plans being drawn up by officials are in reality longer-term  it takes time to build factories and train staff.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits the future site of an arms factory where weapons maker Rheinmetall plans to produce munitions from 2025, in Unterluess, Germany, on February 12, 2024. - Fabian Bimmer/Pool/Reuters

This means that the challenge in front of NATO allies now is not just how can they meet the demand for weapons coming from Ukraine, but how do they reverse years of underfunding their own defenses?

European diplomats, particularly from Baltic countries, often describe the need not merely to fill up the shed thats been emptied by giving weapons to Ukraine, but to also build a new shed that, too, needs its own weapons.

So even with the new spending pledges, it will still take a very long time to get where most European defense officials now acknowledge ammunition stocks should be.

One person acutely aware of this is Stoltenberg himself. Speaking Wednesday in Brussels ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting, the secretary general said NATO could assume more responsibility for coordinating military equipment and training for Ukraine. Stoltenberg added that allies should commit to more support for Ukraine and rely less on voluntary contributions.

We must have an assured, reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine, he said.

Peter Ricketts, the UKs former ambassador to NATO, told CNN that while more countries meeting the 2% mark is undeniably a good thing, new money takes years to turn into capability. And its not enough now that the threat has increased in Europe. Especially given the risk of a future Trump presidency drawing back from Europe.

The situation NATO finds itself in at 75 is unusual. On one hand, it can be argued that things are rosier than they have been for a long time. Countries are relatively united on what needs to be done in the long term and are broadly willing to pay for it. New initiatives on things like rapid response forces, training exercises and troop deployments are being coordinated centrally.

The alliance has even expanded, with both Finland and Sweden joining its ranks in the past year.

Douglas Lute, former US ambassador to NATO, told CNN: I think the glass is half full, rather than half empty. I think on a map of the world, the NATO territorial border is the brightest red line, and allies are making it brighter through new initiatives. If you ask if NATO is strong enough to deter Putin from a direct attack, Id say we should judge his capabilities and his intentions. The fact is Putin has respected NATOs borders.

However, old resentments linger. Some allies dont trust that others will be quite so generous with defense spending if the Russia-Ukraine war were to end. And officials from countries that have historically met their commitments still view their counterparts as freeloaders who might not learn the lessons of this war, on their doorstep.

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Interview: Chairman of Volkswagen Group China eyes cooperation to shape new era of individual mobility

Xinhua) 10:49, April 04, 2024

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- "China has already become our second home. Volkswagen, with a strategy of 'In China, For China,' is deeply engaged in cultivating the new quality productive forces and contributing to China's development," Chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group China Ralf Brandst tter said in an interview with Xinhua.

Brandst tter noted that China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry is leading the global market and exemplifying new quality productive forces thanks to its vigorous focus on  and its advancements in  technological innovation.

To utilize the innovation power and dynamic growth of the Chinese market in an improved manner, Volkswagen Group has been establishing a state-of-the-art development, innovation and procurement center in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province.

Volkswagen China Technology Company (VCTC) in Hefei is Volkswagen Group's largest development center outside of Germany. The company has been fully operational since January and is set to reduce the time it takes to develop new products and technologies by about 30 percent.

"In no other country is the dynamic of transformation and innovation in the automotive sector as pronounced as it is in China," Brandst tter said.

In 2023, China's production and sales volumes for new energy vehicles both surpassed 9 million units, securing the country's position as the global leader in the sector for a ninth consecutive year.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.252 million and 1.207 million units, respectively, from January to February last year. These figures represent respective year-on-year increases of 28.2 percent and 29.4 percent, indicating the industry's robust and sustained growth.

Brandst tter projects that by 2025, the NEV market share in China will exceed 50 percent. By 2030, the total automotive market is expected to expand to between 28 million and 30 million vehicles, with NEVs constituting approximately 74 percent of that figure, and with more than 55 percent of those NEVs being fully electric vehicles.

"With our 'In China, For China' strategy, we are fully integrating ourselves into China's industrial ecosystem. This enables us to customize our products even faster to meet the needs of Chinese customers," Brandst tter said. "Our goal is to remain the number-one international original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in China and be a leader in the era of intelligent connected vehicles."

In 2023, Volkswagen Group China saw strong growth in its sales of pure electric vehicles, with total deliveries surpassing 190,000 units  a 23 percent rise from the previous year. Looking ahead, Volkswagen Group is set to launch over 40 new models in China over the next three years, with at least half of these being NEVs.

"We have also established collaboration with more local partners, acknowledging that technology trends and customer preferences in China are significantly different from those in other markets," Brandst tter said.

He noted that since Volkswagen's entry into the Chinese market in 1984, the company has been actively engaging in and contributing to the evolution of China's automotive industry. Over recent decades, the industry has hit remarkable milestones and is currently transitioning to a new phase of development.

"Drawing upon our strong foundation of four decades of close collaboration, Volkswagen is dedicated to working together with the Chinese automotive industry to forge a new era of individual mobility," he said.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
A Houston Police officer salutes during the singing of the National Anthem during the graduation ceremony for Houston Police Dept. Cadet Class #253 on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 in Houston. Fifty-five cadets from all over the world, graduated into the ranks of the Houston Police Department. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer

When Rudy Vargas became a crime victim, he decided to solve his own case.

Vargas, 64, knew how to do these things, so why not? he thought. Hed been a Houston Police Department officer for 14 years. Now he works as an investigator for a law firm.

It started on Sept. 25, 2022, when Vargas noticed someone had bought a $47 gym membership with his debit card number. True, $47 wasnt much, Vargas thought. It was the principle of the thing.

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Vargas started his investigation with a drive to the gym. He spoke to the staffer. Who bought the membership?

The staffer gave him a name. It was an unusual one, one that rang a bell. Then he remembered: It was the receptionist at his dentists office.

Vargas had a friend call the dentists office and confirm the receptionists last name.

Vargas typed up his investigation a few days later. He detailed his trip to the gym, his suspect, her name and workplace.

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I would like to proceed with charges on (her) if a case can be made on her, he wrote.

SEARCH OUR DATABASE: Has HPD suspended an investigation into an incident you reported?

Vargas drove to police headquarters at 1200 Travis St. and filed a report. On Sept. 30, 2022, he was given an incident report number: 131910822.

Vargas waited for an arrest. Hed given them everything on a platter, he thought, and easily closing a case would help their clearance rate.

But HPD never followed up, Vargas said, and neither did he. It wasnt worth the trouble. The bank reimbursed him and issued him a new debit card number. He went on with life, working and going to the gym every other day.

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But he was annoyed. Someones just being lazy, he thought.

It was the principle of the thing.

When Vargas heard about the hundreds of thousands of incident reports suspended by HPD since 2016 due to lack of personnel, he wondered if his case was among them. He talked to a Houston Chronicle reporter, who checked the newspapers online database of suspended incident reports.

And there it was.

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Case 131910822, credit card abuse-present/unauthorized.

Date suspended: 10-31-2022. His complaint is now under review as part of an investigation into the 264,000 suspended cases.

Im surprised they had the manpower to determine they were going to suspend my case, Vargas said.

Editors note: While the police department initially called the suspended items cases, officials have since insisted on using the term incident reports when discussing the controversy. Some of the reports were never referred to a detective in the first place, so those were not considered investigations by HPD. The department has not clarified how many of the suspended cases are in that category.
Nebraska legislators on Wednesday night blocked a late effort to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes, despite public pressure from former President Donald Trump to shift to a winner-take-all system that would likely benefit him in the fall.

The measure fell short, 8-36, in a procedural vote. While its possible supporters could take another stab at advancing the proposal, there remain serious hurdles as the legislative session draws to a close, and its unclear whether the proposal has enough support to get across the finish line and become law.

Nebraska currently doles out three of its five electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins each of its three congressional districts. In practice, that puts the competitive 2nd District in the Omaha area in play, even though Republicans typically win the statewide vote easily.

Wednesday night's failed attempt to change the law to award all the states Electoral College votes to the statewide winner leaves the fate of the proposal in doubt with a few days left in the legislative session.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott, who introduced the original winner-take-all bill, told the Nebraska Examiner that hed make one final attempt to bring the measure up for a vote before the legislative session ends April 18. However, it's unclear whether theres enough support for the change to move forward.

Lippincotts office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican state Sen. Julie Slama had offered the electoral bills legislative text as an amendment to existing legislation, the quickest pathway to get a vote on the proposal.

But the amendment was rejected after three dozen lawmakers voted that it wasnt relevant enough to the underlying legislation to be considered as an amendment, failing state law that requires an amendment to be germane. Slama was among the eight who voted that the amendment was relevant.

Lawmakers have repeatedly tried to change the states Electoral College allocation, failing narrowly in 2016. Lippincott introduced the latest legislative proposal last year; it received little attention until this week when GOP personality Charlie Kirk raised the issue on his podcast.

On Tuesday, Trump and Nebraska GOP Gov. Jim Pillen called on state legislators to take steps that would implement a winner-take-all system. Less than 24 hours later, the legislation, which had once seemed to be all-but-forgotten, came roaring back to life

The renewed effort also attracted attention from President Joe Bidens campaign. Brent Comstock, a consultant who works with several elected Democrats in Nebraska and nationwide, confirmed that the Biden campaign reached out to Democrats in the state about the vote.

Democrats in Nebraska care about the importance of the presidents agenda and want him to succeed here in [congressional district] 2 and across the state, Comstock told NBC News. Theyre working together to make sure that happens: More jobs, access to health care, clean energy.

Shortly before Wednesday night's vote, Slama said on the floor that she could read the writing on the wall. She went on to blast her fellow Republicans for not supporting the measure, arguing that their vote against the germaneness of the amendment was a repudiation of the winner-take-all system itself. She also blamed them for not prioritizing the legislation when it was introduced more than a year ago and paying lip service to the proposal.

If youre going to tweet out on an issue, if youre gonna put out press releases on an issue and try to pressure the Legislature to do something, maybe when the concept actually comes up and people are voting on it, maybe you all should do the work, she said.

Shortly after the vote, Slama replied to a Nebraska journalist on social media saying she didnt believe the issue would come up for a vote again this legislative session. Its possible that Republicans like Lippincott can make another attempt, but with just a few legislative days left in the unicameral bodys session, Republicans have warned there may not be enough time or support to overcome procedural hurdles.

Absent another shot at a vote, its also possible that Pillen, who has been a vocal supporter of changing to a winner-take-all system, could call a special legislative session to address the issue. But even so, Republican lawmakers have openly questioned whether the plan has enough support to overcome opposition from Democrats and independents.

Republicans have long been attempting to move to a winner-take all system in Nebraska. Proponents, like Slama, argue the current allocation diminishes the states political power.

Nebraska waters down their influence when other states have not followed Nebraskas lead when it comes to the apportionment of presidential votes, she said on the floor Wednesday night.

But the bills opponents had harsh words for the legislation and for its backers.

Some blasted the effort to revive the bill, accused Republicans of taking orders from Trump and conservative activists, and hurled insults at Trump and Kirk. Others said Republicans were playing politics at the last minute, near the end of the legislative session.

What happens at some point when Democrat votes outweigh Republican votes? Is everybody going to want to change it back? Democratic state Sen. Jen Day asked, while defending the existing setup.

By dividing its electoral votes, Nebraska forces candidates to engage with constituents across the state, listening to their concerns and crafting policies that resonate with a broader spectrum of the population. Doesnt that sound great?

Nebraska is one of only two states that doesnt award all its Electoral College votes to the statewide winner, a method it adopted ahead of the 1992 presidential election. Since then, the states Omaha-area district has awarded its vote to a candidate other than the statewide winner just two times  to Barack Obama in 2008 and Joe Biden in 2020.

While the debate is functionally about just one out of 538 Electoral College votes, shutting Biden out from competing for the 2nd District vote could be pivotal in a tight presidential race.

A potential outcome could involve both presidential candidates getting 269 Electoral College votes  one vote shy of the 2070 needed to win. In that situation, the race would be sent to the U.S. House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote.
Victims have been found with no identification documents at all and in one case a stolen ID. Remote villages lack phone service to reach family members and determine the whereabouts of missing migrants. Fingerprint data has to be shared and matched by different governments.

More than a day after the discovery of a stifling trailer in San Antonio, Texas, where 53 migrants died after being abandoned in the sweltering heat, few identities of the victims have been made public, illustrating the challenges authorities face in tracing people who cross borders clandestinely.

By Tuesday afternoon, medical examiners had potentially identified 34 of the victims, said Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, who represents the district where the truck was abandoned. Those identities were not yet confirmed pending additional steps, such as fingerprints, and she described it as a challenge with no timeline on when the process might be finished.

"It's a tedious, tedious, sad, difficult process," she said.

The bodies were discovered Monday afternoon on the outskirts of San Antonio in what is believed to be the nation's deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.-Mexico border. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals, including four children. Three people have been arrested.

The truck, which was registered in Alamo, Texas, but had fake plates and logos, was carrying 67 migrants, Francisco Garduno, chief of Mexico's National Immigration Institute, said Wednesday.

The driver was apprehended after trying to pretend he was one of the migrants, Garduno said. Two other Mexican men also have been detained, he said.

Among the dead were 27 people from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, he said. One of the victims had no identification, Garduno said.

The tragedy occurred at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them taking perilous risks to cross swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.

With little information about the victims, desperate families of migrants from Mexico and Central America frantically sought word of their loved ones.

SEE MORE: Disturbing New Details In San Antonio Migrant Crisis

Several survivors were in critical condition with injuries such as brain damage and internal bleeding, according to Ruben Minutti, the Mexico consul general in San Antonio.

Guatemala's foreign ministry said late Tuesday that it had confirmed two hospitalized Guatemalans and was working to identify three possible Guatemalans among the dead. Honduras' foreign relations ministry said it was trying to confirm the identities of four of the dead who were carrying Honduran papers.

Eva Ferrufino, a spokesperson for Honduras' foreign ministry, said her agency was working with the Honduras Consulate in south Texas to match names and fingerprints and complete identifications.

The process is painstaking because among the pitfalls are fake or stolen documents.

Mexico's foreign affairs secretary identified two people Tuesday who were hospitalized in San Antonio. But it turned out that one of the identification cards he shared on Twitter had been stolen last year in the southern state of Chiapas.

Haneydi Antonio Guzman, 23, was safe in a mountain community more than 1,300 miles away from San Antonio when she began receiving messages from family and friends. There is no phone signal there, but she has internet access.

Journalists started showing up at her parents' home in Escuintla -- the address on her ID that was stolen and found in the truck  expecting to find her worried relatives.

"That's me on the ID, but I am not the person that was in the trailer and they say is hospitalized," Antonio Guzman said.

"My relatives were contacting me worried, asking where I was," she said. "I told them I was fine, that I was in my house and I clarified it on my" Facebook page.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard deleted his tweet identifying her without comment. The other victim Ebrard identified turned out to be accurate.

In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, municipal officials in San Miguel Huautla were traveling to the community of 32-year-old Jose Luis Vasquez Guzman late Tuesday to find out if his mother wanted to travel to San Antonio to be with him in the hospital.

Manuel Velasco Lopez, San Miguel Huautla's municipal secretary, said that a cousin had been traveling with Vasquez Guzman and was now considered missing.

Another cousin, Alejandro Lopez, told Mexico's Milenio television that their family worked in farming and construction and that they migrated because "we don't have anything but weaving hats, palms and handicrafts."

"Growing corn, wheat and beans is what we do in this region and that leads to a lot of our people emigrating and going to the United States," he said.

Miguel Barbosa, the governor of neighboring Puebla state, set off a scramble for information in the town of Izucar de Matamoros on Tuesday when he said two of the dead were from there although that had not been confirmed.

In the heavily migrant town, everyone was asking if their friends or neighbors were among the dead found in Texas.

Attempting to cross into the United States is such a tradition that most youths in the town at least consider it.

"All of the young people start to think about going (to the U.S.) as soon as they turn 18," said migrant activist Carmelo Castaneda, who works with the nonprofit Casa del Migrante. "If there aren't more visas, our people are going to keep dying."

Migrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken across the border and loaded into a tractor-trailer and driven to San Antonio, where they transfer to smaller vehicles for their final destinations across the United States, said Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio.

Authorities think the truck discovered Monday had mechanical problems when it was left next to a railroad track in an area of San Antonio surrounded by auto scrapyards that brush up against a busy freeway, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

San Antonio has been a recurring scene of tragedy and desperation in recent years involving migrants in semitrailers.

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a San Antonio Walmart. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of the city.

Other tragedies have occurred before migrants reached the U.S. In December, more than 50 died when a semitrailer rolled over on a highway in southern Mexico.

During a vigil Tuesday at a San Antonio park, many of the more than 50 people who attended expressed sadness and anger at the deaths and what they described as a broken immigration system.

Back in Puebla, farmer Juan Sanchez Carrillo, 45, was sickened when he heard the news of the deaths in Texas.

He narrowly escaped death, when he and his friends ran away from dozing migrant rustlers in the mountains near Otay Mesa near San Diego.

"For the smugglers, we the migrants are not human," Sanchez Carrillo said. "For them we are no more than merchandise."

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
After a whirlwind year of professional accolades, actor Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) is turning his attention to portraying perhaps one of the most memorable literary figures of the 20th century: Patricia Highsmiths Tom Ripley. In the new Netflix series Ripley, from screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindlers List), Scott delivers a fascinating performance as the queer-coded killer and master manipulator who is the protagonist in five thrillers by the lesbian novelist. Piercing through the series intense black-and-white palette, the Irish actor delivers a Ripley that is, at least according to the star, more relatable than his cinematic forebears.

We shot it for almost a year, and the murderous elements took a month of that, and, actually, a lot of the rest of the scenes are quite domestic scenes about awkwardness between friends, about social anxiety, about pleasure, about travel  things that are quite relatable, Scott told NBC News of the period drama premiering April 4. Youre looking at this character and youre understanding hes trying to fit in, or hes not wearing the right clothes, or whatever it is. Or hes walking upstairs in Italy and becoming exhausted. Theyre not necessarily scenes that you would associate with a psychopath.

Scattered among those domestic scenes, however, Ripley  which Scott describes in the press notes as a story about kindness and casual cruelty, about how if you hold somebody down, bad things can happen  has plenty of unsettling moments to satisfy fans of darker fare.

The eight-part limited series set in the 1950s follows much the same plot as Highsmiths The Talented Mr. Ripley, which begins with her elusive antihero being recruited by a wealthy shipping magnate to go to Italy and convince his playboy son, Dickie (Johnny Flynn), to return to New York. Upon arriving in a small town on the Amalfi Coast, Ripley quickly ingratiates himself with the gregarious golden boy and is invited into an exclusive world of luxury villas, lazy lunches and flowing martinis, much to the distaste of Dickies girlfriend, Marge (Dakota Fanning). But its not long before the novelty of the situation wears out and Ripley is cast out of Eden, setting off a chain of scams and murders that take place across Italy and attract the attention of a hard-boiled inspector (Maurizio Lombardi).

Unlike Anthony Minghellas Oscar-nominated 1999 film adaptation starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwenyth Paltrow, which went the route of a sun-kissed thriller, the Netflix series paints its protagonists endeavors, literally, as a noir. Trading the colors of the Mediterranean for dramatic black-and-white, the slow-moving drama follows Ripley across the seas, through storied train stations, up ancient stairways and into elaborately decorated interiors, as he transforms from a slouching, amateur con man to an elegant, haunted serial killer.

Theres something about the fact that we are able to have eight hours with this character that is similar to reading a book, Scott said, comparing the experience of watching the shows episodes, which happen to be titled with Roman numerals, to reading the chapters of a novel. For that reason, you can go into a very specific part of Toms world, [like when] hes on a boat for half an hour and you are following his thoughts. In the same way, when youre reading a book and they describe a room for four-and-a-half pages, youre invited to go into that world. And thats the great pleasure of reading.

Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf in

Scott, whos indicated in the past that hes less interested in popular opinion than in projects that attract him, added that: We live in a time now where its, like, faster is better and get it over in 15 seconds. So its actually quite radical to me that we have a degree of variety in the pacing of the show. Some of it is as it would [be with] filmmaking of old, Fellini-esque or film noir.

Its not just in the pacing  or palette, costuming and set design  that Ripley reaches back into the cinematic past for inspiration. The series portrayal of Highsmiths titular antihero takes a page from the troubled figures at the heart of 1940s and 50s films like The Night of the Hunter, The Maltese Falcon and Alfred Hitchcocks adaptation of Highsmiths debut novel, Strangers on a Train.

For one, theres the sheer physicality of the character, who hardly has a moment to sit still amid all of the coming and going  as well as the packing and unpacking of suitcases, lifting of murdered bodies and covering up of crime scenes. Its a dizzying amount of activity thats enough to leave the audience  and Scott, whos a one-man show for much of the series  exhausted.. But the actor plays the scenes, which he described as requiring a huge amount of stamina, with the resilience of Robert Mitchum, Humphrey Bogart and Robert Walker stalking their targets in the classic, black-and-white thrillers.

Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley in

But even more than the physical demands of the role, Scott channels the old Hollywood stars in their ability to craft an unsettling queer-coded killer. Layering sardonic humor on top of a suspiciously keen appreciation for aesthetics and disdain for feminine wiles, the star paints a picture of Ripley that feels true in many ways to Highsmiths original  a man whose talent for deception may come from pathology or, according to Scott, a deep understanding of how secrets can work to his advantage in the coded atmosphere of the 50s.

Hes very aware of the way people might be sneering or suspicious or silent about same-sex relationships  and that, actually, you can get away with something by inferring something about the relationship that two people have, because nobody really wants to unearth that soil, Scott said. Does that mean that he is necessarily a queer person himself? I dont know. But I certainly think that hes queer in the sense that hes other. Do I think he would be comfortable in a gay bar? No. Do I think he would be comfortable in a straight bar? No. And Im not sure that diagnosing him is going to be helpful.

Scott said he felt the same way about Ripleys nationality, age and upbringing when it came to his approach to keeping the character fluid.

I think those questions are sometimes just a little bit more interesting than the answers, he added.

In addition to working in a nuanced portrayal of the famously coded characters queerness, Scott set himself the task of challenging other labels that have often been attributed to Highsmiths antihero  discarding what he calls big words like psychopath or sociopath or monster or villain.

The reason that the character is so enduring is because we recognize the character, Scott said, adding that the natural inclination is to root for Ripley to get away with his crimes. We may not be murderous, but we do all have darkness within us, and theres a certain blankness, or inaccessibility, within an awful lot of us.

Of portraying his characters particular brand of inaccessibility on screen, Scott added, The big challenge of it was that theres a kind of unknowableness to the character that I think you have to acknowledge. Once you acknowledge that, youre not trying to diagnose him with anything that might actually reduce the very thing that were interested in.

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By Giulia Paravicini

NAIROBI (Reuters) -Somalia said on Thursday it was expelling Ethiopia's ambassador, closing two Ethiopian consulates and recalling its own ambassador to Addis Ababa amid a dispute over Ethiopia's plan to lease coastline in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesperson Nebiyu Tedla said Ethiopia did not have any information on the matter, which was first officially announced by Somalia's prime minister's office.

"This follows ... the actions of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia which infringe upon Somalia's sovereignty and internal affairs," Somalia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Somalia has given Ethiopia's ambassador 72 hours to leave the country, and ordered the closure of the Ethiopian consulates in Somaliland and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, the foreign ministry said.

Two Somali officials said the moves were linked to a dispute over a memorandum of understanding landlocked Ethiopia agreed to on Jan. 1 to lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastline in Somaliland - a part of Somalia which claims independence and has had effective autonomy since 1991.

Ethiopia said it wanted to set up a naval base there and offered possible recognition of Somaliland in exchange - prompting a defiant response from Somalia and fears the deal could further destabilise the Horn of Africa region.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud previously called the port deal illegal and said in February his country would "defend itself" if Ethiopia were to go ahead with it.

Tensions between Mogadishu and Puntland also rose over the weekend when Puntland's state council said it had withdrawn from the country's federal system and would govern itself independently in a dispute over constitutional changes.

Mohamed Abdirahmaan Dhabanacad, a senior trade official in Puntland's administration, said the attempt to shut the consulate in Garowe, the state's capital, would be ineffective.

"I can tell you that the decision in Mogadishu will not affect Puntland," he told Reuters in a WhatsApp message.

Somalia's move to expel the ambassador and shut down the consulates raises concerns over the fate of 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers stationed in Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission fighting militants from al Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate.

Mohamud said in February he did not plan to kick them out.

(Reporting by Giulia Paravicini; Writing by George Obulutsa,Editing by Bate Felix, Hereward Holland, Angus MacSwan, Peter Graff and Nick Macfie)
It was supposed to be a fun getaway for Destiny Morgan and her children: a chance to glide down waterslides, float along the lazy river and enjoy what Morgan thought would be a safe, family-friendly vacation.

Instead, the 2021 trip to Crown Reef Beach Resort and Waterpark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, abruptly turned to horror when Morgans youngest child, 4-year-old Demi Williams, drowned in one of the resorts pools, which had no lifeguards attending to it and was poorly lit, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

Morgan said a nurse tried to help Demi once she was pulled from the water, and that the nurse said she detected a faint pulse. Other guests at the resort then scrambled to find a defibrillator on the property to resuscitate the little girl, Morgan added. But defibrillators, which may pose a risk of electrocution to rescuers when used on drowning victims, are not required by state law to be placed in swimming areas, and the resort guests could not find any.

Demi is at least the third child to have fatally drowned at the resort between 2018 and 2021, including a 5-year-old boy who drowned days after Demi, news reports and a previous lawsuit show.

Now, Morgan is hoping to change the resorts safety protocols.

4-year-old Demi Williams. (Courtesy Destiny Morgan)

Something has to be done, Morgan said in her first interview since Demi died on April 1, 2021. I have to do something in honor of my child to make sure that this never happens again.

The wrongful death lawsuit accuses Crown Reef of creating unsafe, dangerous, or defective conditions by failing to have a lifeguard on duty and failing to provide an adequate number of staff members to protect guests, among other allegations. It blames Demis death on Crown Reefs negligent, reckless, willful actions.

Crown Reefs general manager and an attorney for the resort did not respond to multiple emails and voicemails from NBC News. An employee who answered the phone at the resort said she did not have any comment.

Morgan said she and her five children had driven from their home in Louisville, Kentucky, to the resort for the kids spring break in 2021. She described Demi as the sweetest little girl who was always happy and dancing, and said Demi loved to tell people how pretty they looked or give them other compliments.

The vacation started out well: Demi and her siblings had been having a great time, Morgan said, and Demi was especially fond of the resorts lazy river, a water ride with a gentle current that guests could go tubing in. On their second evening there, after alternating between sharing a raft with her older brother and her older sister for trips down the lazy river, Demi asked her mom if she could ride in a raft by herself, Morgan said.

The lazy river was only 3 feet deep, according to the lawsuit. Morgan said she asked Demi, who only knew the basics of how to swim, to stand in the lazy river, and because her head was well above the water, she allowed Demi to ride in her own tube behind her sister while Morgan sat in a hot tub that the lazy river snaked around.

But when Demis sister got off the ride and Demi was not right behind her, Morgan grew concerned. As she frantically searched the grounds for her daughter, she said she saw another guest pull Demi out of one of the resorts pools, not breathing. Neither she nor her other children know how Demi got there from the lazy river, but Morgan said she felt it was possible that Demi may have slipped and fallen in.

Multiple guests, including one who was a nurse, started chest compressions on Demi, Morgan said. Morgan said the nurse told her she could detect a pulse, barely, so Morgan and the nurse started yelling for an AED  an automated external defibrillator that delivers an electric shock to the heart to try to restore the heartbeat.

But no one could see an AED nearby, Morgan said, adding that she also could not find any resort staff members or a lifeguard to help her.

There wasnt anything that would indicate that they gave a damn about a human life, she said.

An ambulance rushed Demi to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead that night.

Crown Reef resort Myrtle Beach (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Crown Reef is not required by state law to have lifeguards at its pools or lazy river, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, which oversees public swimming facilities in the state. Only waterslides are required to be manned by lifeguards; other water areas must have signage indicating that there is no lifeguard on duty.

The state also does not have any laws requiring AEDs to be placed near swimming areas, the health and environmental department said, noting in an email that if used improperly on a wet body, the person applying the AED could be at risk of electrical current passing from the victim to the person helping.

Crown Reef is in good standing with the department, which said that during its most recent unannounced inspection, in July 2023, all pools at the resort were found to have the required signage stating that there werent lifeguards. The department said the signs had also been posted during its inspections in 2021 and in 2018, when 7-year-old Malazya Fayall drowned in one of Crown Reefs pools.

But Morgan and her attorneys, Justin Lovely and Amy Lawrence, said they dont feel signage is enough. They want their lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages, to result in dramatic safety improvements at the resort.

More lifeguards, better lighting, more staffing  those are simple solutions that would solve this, Lovely said. Close the pool at night if you dont want to have somebody there at shift.

Because the resort did not have security cameras in the area, Lawrence said, there is no footage to review that might show how Demi ended up in the pool from the lazy river.

She called Demis drowning needless and said she is unaware of any changes that the resort has made since Malazyas death there in 2018.

There should never have been a second or third death, Lawrence said.

Malazyas mother, Latoya Fayall, sued Crown Reef in 2020, blaming her daughters death in the lawsuit on an overcrowded pool with no lifeguard and no cameras monitoring the area. She settled in 2023. In court documents, Crown Reef did not admit responsibility for Malazyas death, instead blaming Malazyas mother, but confirmed there was no lifeguard and said there were numerous signs indicating there are no lifeguards on duty in the pool area.

Both Fayall and Morgan were initially charged in their daughters deaths and then ultimately had the charges dropped. Morgan said minutes after the hospital declared her daughter deceased, authorities arrested her on a charge of unlawful neglect of a child, even though she had not been drinking alcohol and had not left her children alone, according to her attorneys. She spent two nights in jail as she dealt with the shock of the loss of her daughter before she was released on bond. Morgans charge was finally dismissed last month.

But the loss of Demi has forever changed her family. Morgan said she is haunted by the memory of her older childrens screams when they saw Demi being pulled from the pool.

I still hear all four of my living kids praying to this day, she said. I can hear my oldest daughter saying, Please wake my sister up, God, please wake my sister up.
Since the aftermath of an explosive 2019 interview with the BBC, Britain's Prince Andrew has been retired from public life.

The behind-the-scenes drama and the tension of the interview  which featured the Duke of York being grilled about alleged sexual misconduct and ties to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein  are portrayed in the new Netflix movie "Scoop."

The film, which starts streaming on April 5 and stars Gillian Anderson, depicts how the interview came together and portrays the tension of the one-hour special that marked a rare lengthy interview by a member of the British royal family.

Just days after the interview left viewers shocked, Andrew announced he was stepping away from public duties.

Here's what to know about the famous BBC segment and its dramatization in "Scoop."

Who is Prince Andrew?

Trooping The Colour 2019 (Max Mumby / Getty Images)

The Duke of York, 64, is the younger brother of Britain's King Charles III and the third child of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

He was second in line to the British throne behind Charles when he was born, but is now eighth behind Prince William and his three children, as well as Prince Harry and his two children.

Andrew is a former helicopter pilot in the British Royal Navy who transitioned into finance and also served for 10 years as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.

He is the father of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, whom he divorced in 1996.

What did he say in the controversial interview?

Andrew appeared on the BBC's "Newsnight" program in November 2019. He was asked by journalist Emily Maitlis about his friendship with Epstein, allegations of sexual misconduct and more.

Epstein, 66, died by suicide in August 2019 in his cell at a Manhattan federal prison. He faced up to 45 years in prison on allegations that he sexually abused dozens of girls as young as 14 and young women at his homes in New York and Florida from 2002 to 2005. He had pleaded not guilty.

Andrew was not charged with any crimes. He denied in the BBC interview that he ever saw Epstein with underage girls.

"Do I regret the fact the he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes," he said about Epstein.

Even after Epstein had served 18 months in prison for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008, the Duke of York said he went to stay with Epstein for four days in New York in 2010. His reasoning was he traveled to break off their friendship in person.

"Scoop" begins with a paparazzi photographer seeing Andrew and Epstein leave a Manhattan apartment and hustling to get a photo of them walking together in Central Park.

I admit fully that my judgment was probably colored by my tendency to be too honorable but thats just the way it is, he said in the interview, adding that it was clear that it was the wrong thing to do.

Andrew didn't regret his friendship with Epstein, saying it had "some seriously beneficial outcomes" because of "the opportunities" he was given to learn about business from the financier.

He also acknowledged flying on Epstein's private plane, and visiting him on his private island and his home in Florida.

In addition, Andrew responded to allegations made by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. She said in a 2015 civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell that she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew in 2001 when she was 17.

Giuffre settled the lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed sum in 2017. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein sexually abuse girls.

Giuffre also sued Andrew in federal court for alleged sex abuse in 2021, and the two reached a settlement in 2022 without Andrew admitting guilt.

In the interview, Andrew "categorically" denied having sex with Giuffre and said the alleged encounters with her "never happened." He was asked about a photo showing him with a young Giuffre at Maxwell's house.

"I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever," he said. Im at a loss to explain this particular photograph."

Giuffre told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY in September 2019, He denies that it ever happened, and hes going to keep denying that it ever happened, but he knows the truth and I know the truth.

The Duke of York claimed one alleged 2001 encounter couldn't have happened because he was at a Pizza Express with his daughter Beatrice in a London suburb that day. He was asked by Maitlis why he would remember that day so specifically.

Going to Pizza Express in Woking is an unusual thing for me to do," he said. "I remember it weirdly distinctly."

What was the fallout from the interview?

The duke had hoped the interview would put to rest the controversy about the allegations against him and his friendship with Epstein. It had the opposite effect.

His interview was widely panned, with British tabloids and television commentators criticizing him for a range of issues.

He was condemned for his seeming lack of empathy for Epstein's victims, staying at Epstein's house even after he had served time for a sex crime, and defending his friendship with a man accused of heinous crimes.

His comment about Epstein's alleged behavior being "conduct unbecoming" was seen as a drastic understatement, and his reference to Pizza Express became an online meme ridiculing him.

Not one single word of remorse, read The Mail on Sunday at the time.

Apologize to Epsteins victims now, prince told, The Guardian blared.

People are scratching their heads in the U.K. as to how he has made a bad situation even worse, NBC News royal contributor Camilla Tominey said at the time.

There also was fallout from his own family. In 2022, Andrew's mother, Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him of his military affiliations and royal patronages, according to a statement by Buckingham Palace.

Days after the interview, Andrew announced he was stepping away from public duties.

It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my familys work and the valuable work going on in the many organizations and charities that I am proud to support, he said in a statement.

I continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein," he continued. "His suicide has left many unanswered questions, particularly for his victims, and I deeply sympathize with everyone who has been affected and wants some form of closure. I can only hope that, in time, they will be able to rebuild their lives.

What events does "Scoop" dramatize?

Rufus Sewell ("The Diplomat") looks nearly unrecognizable in prosthetics as Prince Andrew, while "X-Files" star Gillian Anderson plays interviewer Emily Maitlis.

This marks Andersons latest foray into the British royal orbit. In 2021, she won an Emmy for portraying British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the Netflix hit The Crown.

On TODAY April 3, Anderson recalled seeing the interview herself for the first time.

"I think I put it off for a long time because I knew how cringeworthy it was, and eventually really dug into it when I started this project, and yeah, it's jaw-dropping," she said.

She also reflected on taking on the role of Maitlis, a veteran journalist who is a household name in the United Kingdom. She initially turned it down.

"She's an incredibly formidable journalist and woman who is in our midst all the time, and the idea of playing somebody that was so familiar and so alive felt incredibly daunting," Anderson said.

The movie shows how a group of women landed the interview, led by BBC show booker Sam McAlister, who is played by Billie Piper. The film is based on the 2022 book "Scoops" by McAlister, who is also an executive producer of the film.

"Scoop" depicts how McAlister, Maitlis and "Newsnight" boss Esme Wren worked behind the scenes with Andrew and his staff to convince him to do the interview after the public pressure ratcheted up following Epstein's arrest and subsequent suicide.

"An hour of television can change everything," McAlister says in the movie. "It's like magic."

The tension builds as Maitlis is seen mulling over the questions she plans on asking, and Andrew rehearses how he will respond to pointed questions about Epstein and the photo of him with Giuffre.

It culminates in the interview at Buckingham Palace, which Andrew initially thought went so well he even gave Maitlis a tour of the palace afterward.

Other real-life figures who appear in the movie are Wren, played by Romola Garai, and Andrew's private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, played by Keeley Hawes.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Li Rui / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom

On Super Tuesday, as this issue went to press, voters in 15 states and one territory went to the polls and grudgingly validated the inevitable. America is in for another presidential election pitting Donald Trump against Joe Biden.

The following morning, Nikki HaleyTrump's one serious remaining Republican primary competitordropped out. But the real Super Tuesday runner-up is still in the race: "None of the above" made a surprisingly strong showing.

Nevada in the 1970s was the birthplace of many excellent ideas, and electoral reforms were no exception. The state's "none of these candidates" option was introduced in 1976, and it remains the bluntest ballot language in the category.

Due to a variety of byzantine complicationsincluding the absence of Trump from the ballot and the existence of caucuses in addition to the primary"none of these candidates" performed better than all the candidates listed in the February Nevada Republican primary this year. In fact, "none of these candidates" beat second-place Haley by 33 percentage points.

This year's GOP signals were mixed in Nevadamost of those votes were likely from Trump fansbut in the Democratic primary, which was a simpler case, "none of these candidates" still pulled a solid 5.6 percent. More importantly, the state's long history of the "none of these candidates" option has provided fodder for study. In a 2012 paper published in Political Research Quarterly, researchers from the University of Utah found that voters who checked that box on their ballots were sending "a less ambiguous signal of discontent than other nonvotes." In other words, the existence of the "none of these candidates" option allows researchersand presumably office seekersto better distinguish between the various reasons someone might opt not to vote for mainstream candidates.

Showing up to vote but refusing to vote for anyone who appears on the ballot takes effort, and can therefore be a powerful way for voters to convey their displeasure to decision makers.

It's no surprise that in a presidential contest that is shaping up to feature two well-known and historically unpopular candidates, interest in sending that "signal of discontent" was notable and noted on Super Tuesday.

Different states have different mechanisms for how they label, count, and interpret their "none of the above votes." The specific ballot language for that category varies: Minnesota voters have the "uncommitted" vote option on their primary ballots, while Massachusetts and North Carolina have a "no preference" option. Some variation appeared on the Democratic ballot in Alabama and Tennessee. After Super Tuesday, there were campaigns for the "uncommitted" vote in Georgia and Washington.

In the Colorado Democratic primary, voters were given the opportunity to select a "noncommitted delegate," signaling their reluctance to fully endorse any candidate. The option was added in December by party leadership with the goal of encouraging young voters to participate even if they were not fond of Biden. These noncommitted delegates have constraints on how they're allowed to vote at the convention, but they would have more autonomy than a committed delegate and could add more volatility and interest. This time around in Colorado, the noncommitted vote did not clear the 15 percent threshold for delegate representation, but more than 51,000 voters, or 8.9 percent, preferred the protest option.

Many of those who voted uncommitted in Democratic contests on Super Tuesday were backing a campaign to signal discontent with Joe Biden, particularly with respect to his handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. These voters were building on the surprising success of the "Listen to Michigan" campaign, which drew 101,000 uncommitted votes in the previous week's Michigan primarylargely from the state's significant population of Arab-American voters, but also from younger voters, who tend to be more disgruntled with Biden's foreign policy than elder partisans. Interestingly, a difficult-to-quantify subset of those voters were Armenian Americans, who are furious about an entirely different U.S. engagement abroad: ongoing aid to an increasingly genocidal Azerbaijan. Unlike Colorado, Michigan will send uncommitted delegates to the convention. Under Michigan's rules, those delegates are essentially free agents.

In another Super Tuesday state, Virginia, there was no "none of the above" option. In that state, protest voters were urged to vote for Marianne Williamson, who pulled 7.8 percent. How many of those voters were sincere Williamson fans rather than folks who were angry about Biden's foreign policy is hard to say. Having a real "none of the above" option would have allowed voters to more clearly signal their preferences.

In each of these states, you can tell a different story about what exactly the "none of the above" vote signals. The campaign around Biden's foreign policy is a somewhat unusual twist for this cycle, for example, but isn't unprecedented. For that reason, many electoral reform activists prefer to focus on different proposals, such as ranked choice voting, and activists may prefer to run single-issue candidates to allow voters to communicate the strength of their feelings on a particular topic. (The No Labels effort is a variation on that theme, in which voters could use that ticket in the general election to convey unhappiness with partisanship and polarization. Still, it shouldn't be confused with a "none of the above" vote.)

But at the most basic level, they all mean the same thing: Voters aren't thrilled with their options.

Research bears this out: A 2020 working paper published by the Vienna University of Economics and Business, based on surveys conducted in the weeks preceding the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the 2016 Austrian runoff election for president, found that manipulating ballots to include a "none of the above" option increased participation. It also diverted votes from "non-establishment candidates," which matches up with Virginia's results and may be a cautionary note for reformers who would prefer to juice the stats of third party options instead.

"None of the above," the researchers explain, is "chosen more frequently by voters with a protest motive, who are either unhappy with the candidate set or with the political establishment in general"an increasingly common condition as the post-primary portion of 2024's election starts to take off.

The post With Trump and Biden on the Ballot, Many Voters Prefer 'None of the Above' appeared first on Reason.com.
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A New York judge on Wednesday denied Donald Trump's bid to delay his April 15 trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews claim to presidential immunity in a separate criminal case.

The Court is scheduled to hear the former U.S. President's arguments that he is immune from federal prosecution for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democratic President Joe Biden on April 25.

His defense lawyers in the New York case in March asked Justice Juan Merchan to delay the trial until that review was complete, arguing it was relevant because prosecutors were seeking to present evidence of statements Trump made while he was president from 2017 to 2021.

In a court ruling on Wednesday, Merchan said Trump had waited too long to raise the issue.

"Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024," Merchan wrote.

Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Trump, declined to comment.

Trump, the Republican candidate to challenge Biden in the Nov. 5 election, has pleaded not guilty in each of the four criminal indictments he faces.

The New York case could be the only one to go to trial before the election.

He is accused of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Trump is also seeking a delay on the basis that a deluge of news coverage of the case has led potential jurors to believe he is already guilty. Merchan has not yet ruled on that request.

Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which charged Trump in 2023, opposed that request in a court filing made public on Wednesday.

They argued that Trump himself had generated much of the news coverage, and that they would be able to weed out biased jurors through the jury selection process.

The Supreme Court's decision to take up Trump's appeal in the federal election interference case was a major victory for him, delaying the trial's start by months at least.

He also faces a state case in Georgia over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results, as well as a federal case in Florida over his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office in 2021. Those cases also lack firm trial dates.

No U.S. president has ever faced a criminal trial.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New YorkEditing by Franklin Paul and Alistair Bell)
Donald Trump gave a special shoutout during remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this week, saying he wanted to pay tribute to a person he very much respected.

Trump thanked Tom Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trumps administration and has since been a frequent commentator on Fox News.

He is some man, Trump said, adding: He has been so great on television. Hes been so respectful of the job that we did as an administration.

Homan was an early proponent of the administrations controversial zero tolerance policy, which resulted in at least 5,500 families being separated at the southern border in 2018 before Trump himself signed an executive order ending the practice after intense backlash from human rights groups. Homan now heads up Border911, a nonprofit group that warns of the supposed threat posed by undocumented immigrants.

On Thursday, the former president is set to see him again at a Mar-a-Lago gala hosted by Border911. According to a flyer promoting the event, the gathering will also include Matt Whitaker, who served as chief of staff at the Department of Justice when it implemented zero tolerance. Later, when Whitaker testified before Congress as acting attorney general, he conceded there was no plan to reunite families.

Trumps open-armed association with the group  and his intensifying focus on migrants and crime on the campaign trail  provide one of the clearest windows yet into a potential second term and the hard-liners he might appoint to the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration laws.

In campaign rallies and interviews with Newsmax and Fox News, Trump has said hed put Homan and others back into a potential second administration to have great border security.

According to the invitation, another expected attendee Thursday night is Rodney Scott, who served as Border Patrol chief during Trumps last year in office and has defended zero tolerance by arguing that it was effective in slowing down migration. As NBC News previously reported, Scott explored the idea of placing buoys in the Rio Grande to deter migrants years before Texas actually did it.

Trump has laid out an aggressive immigration platform for a second term: mass deportations; restoring all the border policies of his first term; deploying all necessary military assets, including the U.S. Navy, to impose a full naval embargo on drug cartels; ordering the Department of Defense to use special forces, cyberwarfare and other covert and overt actions to dismantle cartel leadership and infrastructure; designating the major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; and asking Congress to ensure drug smugglers and traffickers can receive the death penalty.

His campaign has also said Trump would sign an executive order on his first day in office to stop federal agencies from granting automatic U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal aliens and to stop birth tourism. Hed also prioritize blocking federal grants to so-called sanctuary cities.

One policy Trump has not promised is a return to zero tolerance or family separations. To date, hundreds  and possibly more than 1,000  families separated under zero tolerance remain separated, according to Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing the separated families in a class action lawsuit. The policy separated families who crossed the border together and federally prosecuted parents, while sending children to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Still, Trump has declined to take a clear stance on the issue. When asked whether hed reinstate the policy during a CNN town hall in May, he didnt answer directly.

When you have that policy, people dont come, he said. If a family hears that theyre going to be separated, they love their family, they dont come.

When pressed whether that meant he would reinstate the policy, Trump said: No. When you say to a family that if you come, were going to break you up, they dont come. And we cant afford to have any more.

During a separate interview with Univision in November 2023, Trump said: We did family separation. A lot of people didnt come. It stopped people from coming.

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Americans can expect that immediately upon President Trumps return to the Oval Office, he will restore all of his prior policies, implement brand new crackdowns that will send shockwaves to all the worlds criminal smugglers, and marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation in American history.

The Trump campaign did not offer clarification when asked specifically about whether the "zero tolerance" family separation policy would come back during a second term. The campaign also did not respond when asked about the Border911 event Thursday night at Mar-a-Lago. According to the invitation, individual tickets for the event range from $1,200 to $5,000. Tables of 10 are priced as high as $50,000.

The Border911 Foundation received its charitable tax exemption from the IRS last August. But IRS rules are very clear that charities cant endorse candidates, saying in its guidelines that charitable organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. If there are violations, the IRS can revoke a charitys status, according to the agencys website. At this point, its unclear how the organizers will introduce Trump at the event at Mar-a-Lago.

Questions about Border911s tax exemption were first reported by ABC News.

Neither Homan nor an attorney for Border911 could be reached for comment.

Polls show that voters consistently see Trump as doing a better job on border security than Biden. Still, the Biden campaign has been eager to point out what it sees as the inhumane immigration policies of the Trump administration.

As president, Donald Trump separated families, ripping mothers away from their children, said Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who is a co-chair of the Biden campaign. Now, hes campaigning with the architects of that same cruel and un-American family separation policy, leaving little doubt that he will bring it back if given the chance.

Immigrant advocates worry about what Trumps re-election would mean for undocumented immigrants not just at the border but in the nations interior cities  as well as DACA recipients. The program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals  DACA  protects from deportation undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Beatriz Lopez, deputy director of the Immigration Hub, an advocacy organization, said Thursdays event at Mar-a-Lago was a sign of things to come in a second Trump administration.

I take it very seriously when he says that immigrants are animals, she said. So that means hes going to treat them like animals, and that is a very, very concerning thought that we should all be seeing as a real threat to our democracy.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Hilton Americas-Houston in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Houston City Council Member Edward Pollard speaks during a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, at City Hall. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

Tensions flared at Houston City Council on Wednesday, as Mayor John Whitmire and council members clashed over the application of a new charter amendment that allows members to add items to council meeting agendas.

Last November, Houston voters passed Proposition A, an amendment that allows any three council members to come together and add an item to a council agenda, marking a sharp shift from the strong mayor system that dominated Houston politics for years.

Under the strong mayor system, the nonpartisan mayor oversees all city matters and serves as the head of City Council, maintaining near-complete control over the councils agenda. Now, those agenda powers can be partially shared.

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The historic change to the city charter has raised questions about how it would impact Whitmires administration and how he would respond when council members began using their newly acquired powers.

Since Whitmire has taken office, his administration has created a Proposition A Committee that serves as a platform to review proposals that members want to bring forward.

The city charter does not require a council member to go through the committee in order to add an item to the agenda, but a lack of council feedback on a Wednesday agenda item sparked a heated debate at City Hall about Proposition A and Whitmires committee structure.

Council Member Edward Pollard presented an ordinance change that would make it easier for council members to add speed bumps in their neighborhoods. The agenda item was cosigned by Council Members Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, Fred Flickinger, Tarsha Jackson and Tiffany D. Thomas.

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MORE HOUSTON POLITICS: 4 takeaways as Houston officials reveal new details of firefighter settlement and how to fund it

Whitmire told council at the start of the discussion that while he supported Proposition A, he thought Pollard could have approached the issue in a way that encouraged feedback from other council members, the public and first responders.

He stressed that he thought the item should go through the Proposition A Committee, and said that council members needed to consider the unintended consequences of the items they tried to add.

I just think it would be better if you allowed a public hearing and let your colleagues that are not familiar with the process that youre trying to correct play a role, Whitmire said.

Pollard argued that his approach was in line with what voters approved in November and running proposals through committee was not a necessary step.

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That charter change was not meant for committee hearings, Pollard said. It was meant for council members to bring any item that is lawful to the agenda at any designated date. That is what it says.

A city attorney told the council that while items did not need to be heard by the committee before being placed on the agenda, they were subject to the same rules as other agenda items once they were added. Whitmire argued that was the precise reason he believed the committee was necessary.

Since the speed bump item had not been discussed in committee, Whitmire said it required his office and the citys legal department to rewrite it so that it was legally compliant.

Other council members soon weighed in, with Council Member Joaquin Martinez making a motion to send the item to the Proposition A Committee, which will hold its first meeting April 23, so he could get more information on what the unintended consequences of the speed bump proposal would be.

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Council Member Mario Castillo agreed with Martinez, arguing that there needed to be a process in place to assess unintended consequences.

There will be times that I ask for (council member) support as well, and I dont think that this goes against the spirit of Proposition A, Castillo said, adding that council feedback will create a more robust process for passing new ordinances.

And while they did not establish any formal process for moving forward, council members ultimately voted to send the speed bump item to committee in an 11-6 vote.

Pollard, who tagged his second agenda item on extending parking meter times, voiced his frustration on the speed bump delay after the meeting.

What you saw presented today was a very detailed and laid out ordinance that should have answered every single question that any member should have, Pollard said. We thought the process actually went above and beyond what the charter intends for us to do.

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Following the Wednesday meeting, Whitmires spokesperson Mary Benton said the mayor maintains his support of Proposition A, but wants the process of putting items on the agenda to be more transparent and to include more input from council, the public and, when necessary, the citys legal department.

TURNER WATER REFORM: Houston Mayor Turner introduces 9 city ordinances to fix citys soaring water bill crisis

Pollard isnt the only one to encounter challenges to Proposition A, though.

In December, Council Members Amy Peck, Mary Nan Huffman and Evans-Shabazz banded together to add an item to a meeting agenda that would prohibit Houston Public Works from correcting a water bill that was more than three months old unless it was made in the customers favor.
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday urged the nation's largest passenger airlines to improve travel benefits for active-duty military personnel and their families.

The department in May plans to begin posting comparative information on travel benefits that airlines guarantee for service members and their families on a customer service dashboard.

USDOT plans to detail airlines that will commit to full refunds to service members and their families who cancel travel plans due to military directives as well as allowances for free baggage.

Most carriers give military personnel additional free bags and other benefits like priority boarding or discounted fares. There are about 1.3 million active-duty U.S. military personnel and around 800,000 reservists.

Buttigieg said "benefits are not consistently detailed in carriers public-facing Customer Service Plans, resulting in many service members being unaware of them" and added that "airlines travel benefits often do not fully address the needs of service members who may need to cancel or change personal travel plans due to military directives."

Major carriers including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines referred questions to trade group Airlines for America, which praised military members and said "carriers are proud to offer a variety of travel benefits and are transparent about these benefits on their websites."

Southwest Airlines said it is "committed to making the military travel experience as easy as possible" and offers a number of benefits.

The Transportation Department previously posted a government dashboard highlighting airline commitments to not charge families to sit together. In September 2022, nearly all major airlines agreed to guarantee passengers meals and overnight stays for lengthy delays within their control after USDOT first announced a dashboard comparing customer protections.

In May 2023, President Joe Biden said USDOT is writing new rules seeking to require airlines to compensate passengers with cash for significant flight delays or cancellations when the carriers are responsible.

USDOT has not released a formal proposal or specified how much cash it aims to require airlines to pay passengers for significant delays. But it asked carriers in 2022 whether they would agree to pay at least $100 for delays of at least three hours caused by airlines.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sonali Paul)
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would consider imposing tariffs and other trade barriers on China to protect industries impacted by Beijings ramped-up production.

We are trying to nurture an industry in, for example, solar cells, electric batteries, electric vehicles, Yellen said Wednesday in Alaska during a stopover before going to China, according to Axios.

I wouldnt want to rule out other possible ways in which we would protect them, she said.

Yellens remarks signal the Biden administrations willingness to curb the economic effect of what they say is China pouring cheaper products into the global market and slowing demand for other products from the rest of competing nations.

Yellen said China has sparked massive investment in some industries where production is uptick, but demand has not fully followed.

Were concerned the spillover of Chinese subsidies to these industries are happening in the United States and other countries as well, Yellen said, adding that apart from the U.S., other nations like Japan, Mexico and European countries are also feeling the effects.

This is her second trip to China in less than a year. It comes after President Biden and Chinas President Xi Jinping had a conversation this week.

She previously said that Chinas intensified production of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar energy presents unfair competition that distorts global prices and negatively impacts U.S. companies and workers.

In the lead-up to the trip, she said she would press my Chinese counterparts to take necessary steps to address this issue.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand is committed to working more closely with NATO partners to support collective security and expects to conclude talks on its partnership agreement with the alliance in the "coming months," Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Friday.

"New Zealand is committed to working together with NATO partners to contribute to collective security, such as through our support for Ukraine's self-defence," Peters said after attending the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels on April 3-4.

Peters said the outcome of the war in Ukraine would have major impacts on global security, "and that is why New Zealand must be prepared to do its part."

New Zealand has been negotiating a new type of partnership with NATO as the alliance shifts all its partnership arrangements to a new model called an Individually Tailored Partnership Programme.

"We expect to conclude this partnership in the coming months, agreeing tangible areas of cooperation," Peters said.

Peters will travel to the United States and is expected to meet next week U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss major global and regional security challenges, his office said.

He will address the UN General Assembly on New Zealand's "deep concerns about the situation in Gaza." Peters will return to New Zealand on April 14.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington Editing by Sandra Maler and Matthew Lewis)
No Labels will not run a third-party "unity" ticket against Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, the group said Thursday.

In a statement, the centrist group said they were unable to find a candidate that had a credible path to winning on their hypothetical bipartisan platform -- "so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down."

"We will remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lifetimes," the group said. "We will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith."

The decision was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Despite being unable to field a satisfactory candidate, No Labels said Thursday that "Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before."

"Big ideas are not new for us," the group said in its statement. "We have been working since 2010 to organize citizens across America and members of Congress through the Problem Solvers Caucus, which we created to push back on the extremes in our politics and push forward solutions to Americas biggest problems. That work is more important now than ever."

"For now, suffice it to say that this movement is not done," the group went on to say. "In fact, it is just beginning."

The move caught some allies by surprise: No Labels delegates were not told beforehand and learned via media reports, according to sources familiar, and some of those who were hopeful for a potential candidate now say they are extremely frustrated with the process.

"it was getting very difficult to get a real quality candidate to step forward. And we were true to our word that we would not just run someone and be a spoiler," one donor and delegate with the group told ABC News.

This person called Thursday's decision "very frustrating" and "disappointing to all."

Among the names that had been floated by the group were former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

But none of those figures ended up getting on board.

"While I believe this is a conversation that needs to be had with the American people, I also believe that if there is not a pathway to win and if my candidacy in any way, shape or form would help Donald Trump become president again, then it is not the way forward," Christie said in a statement last week.

A source close to Christie previously told ABC News that he took No Labels very seriously -- commissioning polls and talking to donors -- but ultimately thought there wasnt a viable path to the presidency and that him running third-party could help elect Trump.

For the past year and a half, the group's leadership has held private conversations with potential candidates in an attempt to lure in former and current political figures, according to people familiar with the outreach.

At the same time, the group has repeatedly rebuffed the argument that its hypothetical ticket of one Democrat and one Republican would merely act as a "spoiler" -- probably for Biden.

"We will never fuel a spoiler candidate," No Labels' chief strategist, Ryan Clancy, has said. "We don't want to fuel any sort of candidacy that's pulling more votes from one side."

No Labels faced a self-imposed soft deadline of early April to field a ticket in the 2024 presidential race, having declared last month that it would move forward with a third-party independent bid.

The group had been slated to hold a Dallas convention on April 14 and 15 to hear from supporters and gauge whether the group would launch a third-party ticket. The convention ended up taking place virtually in March -- a month earlier than planned, despite wanting to allow for more time.

ABC News' Rick Klein contributed to this report.

No Labels won't run a 3rd-party 'unity' ticket against Trump, Biden originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Snow falls in Hazleton, Pennsylvania as someone uses an umbrella to shield themselves on Dec. 22, 2022.

Nearly 150,000 power outages have been reported in southeastern Pennsylvania as a powerful Nor'easter that began Tuesday has dumped heavy snow across the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

The National Weather Service is predicting around 6 to 12 inches of snow could fall Tuesday, from southern New England to southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Major disruptions at airports and across major highways and city streets are expected through Tuesday morning as snow in some areas could fall at 1 to 2 inches per hour. As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, airlines had canceled more than 1,400 flights and delayed more than 8,600, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Live updates: Nor'easter unleashes heavy snow across Northeast disrupting schools, travel

Pennsylvania power outage map

As of 10 a.m. ET, there were nearly 150,000 power outages reported across Pennsylvania, according to a USA TODAY power outage tracker.

Southeastern Pennsylvania is the area in the state hit the hardest by the power outages, including Schuylkill County (over 31,000 outages), Dauphin County (over 22,000 outages), Northumberland County (over 16,000 outages) and Cumberland County (over 15,000 outages.)

Pennsylvania's capital city of Harrisburg is located in Dauphin County.

Pennsylvania's two largest cities, Pittsburg and Philadelphia, have not reported any widespread outages.

Smaller power outages have also been reported in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Contributing: Anthony Robledo and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pennsylvania power outage map: Nearly 150,000 without power Tuesday
Two pro-Israel groups are launching new campaigns against former GOP Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana, who is looking to return to Congress nearly 20 years after leaving office.

The Republican Jewish Coalition and the United Democracy Project, a super PAC tied to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, announced this week they are launching ads targeting the former congressman, who is part of a crowded field of Republicans competing to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Larry Bucshon.

John Hostettler has a terrible record on Israel that is way out of line with the voters in Indianas 8th District, United Democracy Project spokesperson Patrick Dorton told NBC News. The voters deserve to know his out of the mainstream track record on this issue.

The group launched an ad on Thursday criticizing Hostettler, who served in Congress from 1995 to 2007, for his vote opposing a resolution voicing support for Israel amid its conflict with the Palestinians in October 2000. The ad is part of a more than $500,000 campaign.

The Republican Jewish Coalition also cited that vote and others opposing aid for Israel in a statement announcing it would spend $1 million against Hostettler on the airwaves, saying in a statement that Hostettler has also trafficked antisemitic conspiracy theories. The Jewish Insider, which first reported United Democracy Projects spending, noted that after he left Congress, Hostettler wrote in a book that the U.S. engaged in the Iraq War to protect Israel.

The RJC also announced it is backing state Sen. Mark Messmer in the crowded primary. Whoever wins the May 7 GOP primary is likely to head to Congress, given the districts strong Republican lean.

This is the first competitive GOP primary that the United Democracy Project is engaging in. The group has spent tens of millions of dollars across a slew of hotly contested Democratic primaries in the last two years, although the group did also launch ads targeting GOP Rep. Thomas Massie after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel.

We are evaluating Republican and Democratic districts. Our goal is to build the largest bipartisan pro-Israel majority in Congress, Dorton said. So we are going to look at every opportunity to do that, and we are especially focused on ensuring that detractors of the U.S.-Israel relationship arent elected.

These groups are not the first to spend against Hostettler. A super PAC known as America Leads Action recently launched an ad tying Hostettler to liberal Democrats, with a narrator saying, Washington really changed John Hostettler.

America Leads Action has spent nearly $250,000 on ad airtime in the district, per the tracking firm AdImpact. The group was also involved in other recent GOP primaries, targeting candidates aligned with the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.

Attempts to contact Hostettler were not successful, as his campaign website does not list contact information. No one answered a call to a phone number that appears to be tied to Hostettler.
Sen. Rick Scott is rolling out a multi-million dollar ad buy focused on Floridas key block of Hispanic voters, which have increasingly supported Republicans in recent years.

Scott is running for his second term in the Senate against former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and is considered a heavy favorite, but Democrats in the state gained a shot of momentum this week after key abortion rulings from the Florida Supreme Court.

Scotts campaign estimates it will spend $700,000 a week for a series TV, radio, and streaming service ads in both English and Spanish.

There will be different ads over the multi-week ad buy, with the first TV spot being a softer ad that does not mention Mucarsel-Powell, but features Scott trying to center what amounts to his opening message around his fight against the socialist agenda in Washington.

Socialism will kill the freedoms that create opportunity and erase the values that bind us together, Scott says in the ad. Im Rick Scott, America represents what is good and possible.

Scott has relied heavily on the issue throughout his political career, and used the same message to go after Mucarsel-Powell in a race that has at times gotten heated early.

Former Congresswoman Mucarsel-Powell is a radical socialist who voted 100% of the time with Nancy Pelosi during her short tenure in Congress, which is why the voters of South Florida booted her out of office the first chance they got, Scott said of Mucarsel-Powell when she entered the race last August.

Mucarsel-Powell, who was born in Ecuador, was elected to the House in 2018 to represent a South Florida district, but lost after just one term in to Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez in a year where Donald Trump won Florida by more than 3 points in the presidential race.

Mucarsel-Powell has pushed back on Scotts framing, calling the attacks against her politically driven misinformation.

No amount of lies Rick Scott serves up will cover the fact that he has left Floridas Latino communities behind by attacking access to affordable health care, refusing to take action to end gun violence, and backing authoritarian laws to control Floridians private health care decisions, said Lauren Chou, the spokeswoman for the Mucarsel-Powell campaign. Instead of fighting for economic opportunities, Rick Scott has prioritized cheap political games and stood by extremists who claim immigrants poison the blood of our country.

Latinos are fed up with Rick Scott  and thats why theyll support Debbie Mucarsel-Powell this November, she added.

Scott, Florida's former two-term governor, is undefeated in statewide races. He has spent over $150 million from his vast wealth on past campaigns, and has already put nearly $3 million in personal funds into his re-election campaign.

Republicans have dominated the state in recent election cycles, including in 2018 when Scott beat then-Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat. Because of that, Florida's 2024 Senate race has not been considered a major part of the political math for either party as Democrats try to hold their slim majority in the chamber.

Democrats hope that changed this week with two major abortion rulings from the Florida Supreme Court. The first allowed Florida to enact a restrictive six-week abortion ban, and another will allow a ballot measure sought by reproductive rights groups to be placed on the ballot in November. If it garners at least 60% of the vote in November, the right to an abortion up to the point a viability, typically around 24 weeks, would be enshrined in the states constitution.

Following the court decisions, President Joe Bidens campaign issued a memo making the case that it could win Florida, and started running ads on the abortion in Florida. Democratic candidates up and down the ballot also hoped the issue could return Florida to its battleground state status.

For us to keep the Senate majorityit runs through Florida, we are a purple state and I have been saying this for months, Mucarsel-Powell told MSNBC's "The ReidOut with Joy Reid" on Monday, the day the ruling was announced. Florida is back, baby.
Thieves stole tens of millions of dollars from a money storage facility in what is being called one of the largest cash heists in Southern California.

The robbery happened on Easter Sunday at a GardaWorld facility. NBC Los Angeles reported that it occurred in the 15000 block of Roxford Street in Sylmar in Los Angeles San Fernando Valley.

Burglars breached the building as well as the safe where the facility stores money, Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Elaine Morales told the Los Angeles Times.

While the Times reported that as much as $30 million was taken, multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the matter told NBC News they are trying to assess exactly how much money was taken.

Morales did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday, and a spokesperson for the LAPD would not confirm details in the Times' article.

The LAPD and the FBI are conducting a joint investigation, the LAPD spokesperson said. The FBI and GardaWorld were not immediately available for comment.

GardaWorld says on its website that it is a "long-standing security partner of choice to some of the most prominent brands, Fortune 500 corporations and governments." Its mission is to protect its clients' assets and operations.

The company has 425 branch offices across 45 countries, according to its website.

An employee at GardaWorld told NBC Los Angeles "the place is pretty secure."

"They check that the alarm is set up, so, just to think that they were able to go through the security system and get away with all that money, its a shocker, said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous.

The alleged heist is said to be one of the largest in Southern California and comes two years after the multimillion-dollar theft of jewelry and gemstones from a Brink's tractor-trailer while the driver was inside asleep. A second driver was away from the vehicle for nearly 30 minutes getting food inside a rest stop. Some have said thieves took 22 bags worth less than $10 million while others believe it was roughly $100 million. No arrests have been made.

On Sept. 12, 1997, $18.9 million was stolen from the former site of the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo Street in Los Angeles. The robbers were eventually caught, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It's possible the Houston Texans signed up for one year of Stefon Diggs. They're hoping it's a great year.

The Texans traded for Diggs from the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday, but we found out on Thursday that there was a curious layer to the deal.

The Texans agreed to eliminate the final three years of Diggs' deal, which would allow him to become a free agent after this season according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Texans gave a 2025 second-round pick to Buffalo for Diggs, and there's a possibility it's just for a one-year rental.

Stefon Diggs get a raise too

As another part of the deal, the Texans moved up $3.5 million in guaranteed money for Diggs next season to this season, which means he'll get a raise and $22.52 million guaranteed this season according to Schefter.

All those moves should make Diggs happy. He can theoretically get one more shot at a big contract at age 31 if he plays well for the Texans, and he'll make more money this year too.

It's not as easy to figure out from the Texans' side of it.

Stefon Diggs got a raise from the Texans for the 2024 season. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) (Cooper Neill via Getty Images)

Teams rarely give up player control, which the report indicates the Texans voluntarily did in this instance. While it's also not unprecedented to give up a second-round pick for one-year of a really good player, that's rare too. Perhaps the Texans want to see how the relationship goes with Diggs in one year and reevaluate, but there's obvious risk involved. There's also the angle that Diggs will be motivated in a contract year, but that would be an extreme and probably unnecessary move to push a player who likely would have been motivated anyway.

More details will emerge on why the Texans agreed to the surprising contract change, but what we know now is Diggs could be a free agent next year.

Diggs' impact on the Texans

In a perfect world, Diggs will play well enough this season that the Texans will have a huge season and Diggs will want to stay anyway.

The Texans' Super Bowl odds had a big shift after they traded for Diggs, and for good reason. He's a four-time Pro Bowler and despite a slump in the second half of last season, he's considered a top receiver. He should pair very well with Nico Collins and Tank Dell in Houston's receiver room.

Whatever happens after this season will be a big topic of conversation. Perhaps the Texans signed up for one year of Diggs, just to see him walk after a second as the Bills cash in that second-round pick. There had to be reason the team cut three years off Diggs' contract. Perhaps this season will be so good it won't really matter.
TEL AVIV  The parents of a U.S.-Canadian aid worker killed in Israeli strikes on a World Central Kitchen convoy say they do not have confidence in Israels military to fairly investigate and are calling for an independent probe into the attack that claimed the life of their only son.

Jacob Flickinger, 33, was among seven humanitarians with the U.S. charity who were killed in the series of Israeli strikes in central Gaza on Monday night. Their deaths triggered a wave of global criticism and brought new scrutiny on the accuracy of Israels strikes in Gaza.

World Central Kitchen says that the vehicles were clearly marked with its logo, that they were driving in what was supposed to be a deconflicted zone and that they had communicated their movements to the Israeli military ahead of time.

The Israel Defense Forces has called the killings a grave mistake and said it's launched an investigation. Israels top general says that an initial probe indicates the aid vehicles were misidentified in the darkness of night.

Jacob Flickinger. (World Central Kitchen via AP)

Flickingers father, John Flickinger, told NBC News that he does not have confidence in the Israeli military's investigation and emphasized the need for an independent investigation.

An independent investigation is needed because aid workers continue to be killed by the IDF, he said. They kept firing until every worker was dead. So I think the Israeli government, you know, owes the families at least an apology, but I would say much more.

Sitting beside his wife, Sylvie Labrecque, John Flickinger grew emotional as he placed his familys loss in the context of the wider suffering in Gaza.

We are two people who have suffered because weve lost our only son, but were only two. There are thousands and thousands [in Gaza]. Five other World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in this attack. There were 200 aid workers in Gaza that have been killed, the grieving father said.

Flickinger grew up in both the United States and Canada and deployed with the Canadian armed forces to Afghanistan before joining World Central Kitchen as a relief worker. He and his partner have an 18-month-old son and were starting a new life together in Costa Rica. His death echoes the loss of his grandfather, a U.S. fighter pilot who was killed in service.

I grew up without a father, John Flickinger said. So I immediately thought his son growing up again without a father.

Labrecque said she drew comfort knowing that her son was very happy to do the work he was doing and had been driven to help people on the brink of famine in Gaza.

Oftentimes, I was thinking that there was a strong possibility that he, his life would be short because I knew how intense he was, how passionate he was, she said.

Both parents texted Flickinger to wish him a happy Easter Sunday. It was their final communication  he was killed the next day.

The IDF says the killings are being investigated by a fact-finding assessment mechanism, a military task force headed by a senior general and composed of both active duty and reservist officers. Only officers who were outside the chain of command involved in the attack would be eligible to serve on the task force.

Western employees of international aid organization killed in Israeli attack on Gaza (Ali Jadallah / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Human rights groups say that such investigations rarely lead to accountability. An Israeli military investigation into the 2022 killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, also a U.S. citizen, concluded there was a high possibility she was killed by Israeli fire. But no Israeli soldiers were charged or reprimanded for her death.

World Central Kitchen has also called for an independent investigation and asked Israel to immediately preserve all documents, communications, video and/or audio recordings, and any other materials potentially relevant to the April 1 strikes.

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers, the charity founded by chef Jose Andres said.

Asked for comment on the calls for an independent investigation, the IDF referred NBC News to an earlier statement by Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israeli military. He said the IDF would investigate the incident thoroughly and share the findings with World Central Kitchen.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks during a press conference about his water bill improvement plan held at City Hall Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Carol Haddock, director of Houston Public Works, left, and Houston Mayor John Whitmire are shown during a press conference about the water bill improvement plan plan held at City Hall Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Mayor John Whitmire revealed the details of his long-awaited water bill improvement plan Thursday, with the goal of providing relief to thousands of Houston customers who have received exorbitant bills in recent years.

Under the plan, customers who have been receiving city water for more than a year would be charged a monthly rate based on an average of up to 36 months of their billing data  minus freezes and droughts  until their water meter reader is working correctly, Whitmire said Thursday.

Those who have been using city water for less than a year will be charged an average rate of 3,000 gallons a month, the average for a single-family home in Houston, the mayor said. A customer charged under that rate would see a bill of $43.81 a month, according to the citys water bill estimator.

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Customers will receive a notification alerting them to their set usage, and the new rate should be reflected in their May 1 bill.

It won't be perfect, Whitmire said. But we believe its a solid plan that will address fair and accurate billing.

Whitmires plan also comes with improvements to customer service. Customers water bills will have a phone number they can call if the cost deviates from the new rate. There will also be an expansion of in-person customer service appointments to assist with billing issues.

If this plan is not a huge improvement and gets water billing off the news, then there's gonna be a lot of people looking for work, Whitmire said. That's how dead serious I am.

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Fixing the root of the problem

Whitmires plan also offers a definitive timeline to fix what he says is the root of the citys high water bill problem: failing water meter readers.

Houston Public Works recently has been estimating water usage when meter readers malfunction, and the algorithm used to calculate the estimation has not consistently been accurate.

Public Works is now working to fix the citys 125,000 broken meter readers by Jan. 1 so the city can again get accurate readings on water usage and not rely on faulty estimations, the mayor said.

The city has created an online dashboard to monitor improvements to the meter readers by City Council district.

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SYSTEM BREAKDOWN: Houstonians battle soaring water bills as equipment failures and staff shortage complicate charges

Once the new meter readings have been verified, the city will send a 60-day notice to customers before they transition to actual usage.

If the new meter readings come back higher than what customers have been charged, the city will not charge for the difference. And if the readings come back lower, customers will receive a credit to their accounts, according to Public Works details of the plan.

The citys combined utility system was estimated to take in $1.8 billion in 2024, Public Works spokesperson Erin Jones said. Whitmire and Public Works Director Carol Haddock said Thursday that the new relief plan will cost the city between $35 million and $36 million a year.

Council took action to begin to implement the mayors plan March 20 when it repealed a section of the water bill rules that back charged and that fired city employees for providing relief to water bill customers outside of a narrowly outlined procedure in the city ordinance.

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WATER ORDINANCE REPEAL: Water bill relief moves forward after controversial section of Houston ordinance is repealed

The change, aimed at improving customer experience and providing quicker adjustments, was welcomed by Public Works. Jones called it a positive change in what would be an overhaul of the system after employees felt pigeonholed with the ways they could provide relief to customers.

Need for water reform

Whitmire first told the Houston Chronicle about his water reform plan after a Jan. 24 council meeting. His series of reforms follow former Mayor Sylvester Turners water bill relief plan, which he passed in his final weeks in office last December.

Turners plan removes the amount of time customers can seek a leak adjustment for water leaks repaired on their property, provides larger credits for those who receive wastewater charges and allows residents to turn off their water meters for a $150 fee and have them turned back on for free.

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Turners plan also made it so Public Works cannot make corrections on bills more than three months old unless that bill is being corrected in the customers favor. Since December, Public Works has processed more than 5,000 high water bill adjustments and provided more than $6.3 million in relief since those reforms passed, Jones said.

But Whitmire said he was not satisfied with Turner or his failure to implement solutions sooner.
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. According to Brett King, a world-renowned futurist and the founder of Moven, the keynote speaker at the Doing Digital Forum 2024 in Yerevan, joining the European Union will open up new opportunities and markets for Armenia. However, the most important issue for this is attracting talented individuals and investment to the country. Brett King emphasized this during a briefing with journalists, highlighting the opportunities presented by digital technologies for Armenia and what needs to be done in that regard.

"Attracting talented people should be made as easy as possible; in other words, the procedures should be simplified to enable the attraction of talented individuals and investments to Armenia," King said.

According to him, the coronavirus pandemic and the development of artificial intelligence have shown that people can work from home for large technology companies.

According to the speaker, this opens a window of opportunities to attract talented people to Armenia. King also emphasized that good food, simplified procedures, and high-quality internet security are key prerequisites for this.

The two prerequisites have already been met. The first is the ability to obtain a digital visa, meaning that individuals interested in establishing activities here can acquire a one-year visa digitally. The second is the availability of internet connectivity, which I can confidently say is of much better quality here than in many countries, including Central European countries," said the speaker, expressing the opinion that a bit more investment is needed in the telecommunications sector to enhance online banking services.

According to him, the fastest moving and growing institutions in the fintech space are not traditional banks, but fintech institutions.

As an example, King noted that 20 financial technology institutions serve 4 billion people, whereas the top 20 traditional banking institutions serve only 2.5 billion. Furthermore, these 20 fintech companies have increased their revenues by 45% annually, whereas traditional banks see growth of only 15% per year.

"If we consider this future, Armenia's banking system really has something to work on. Specifically, Armenia does not have a licensing system for financial technologies to integrate into the banking system. We are currently working on the introduction of digital funds by central banks, and Armenia still has work to do in this area," King said.

According to the futurist, in 20 years, banks will evolve into computer algorithms and programs through which all functions will be performed. Consequently, bank branches will essentially cease to exist.

King emphasized that technological development is not only related to the banking and financial sector but also to healthcare, education, and transportation.

''For example, in the educational system, there will no longer be a curriculum approved by standards; instead, artificial intelligence will offer a program tailored to the needs, opportunities, and abilities of each student. The same approach will apply to the healthcare sector, where a subscription-based mechanism will provide personalized advice based on a person's blood parameters image, thanks to artificial intelligence," predicts the futurist. He adds that smart technologies will enable people to live longer and age more safely,'' the speaker said.
YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS. Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them "systematically, car by car."

Speaking via video, Andres said the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements.

"This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres told Reuters.

"This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of," he added.

Andres said the IDF was aware of the convoys whereabouts.

The aid workers were killed on April 1 when their convoy was hit shortly after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea. Israel says the strikes which killed the workers were a "grave mistake" and has promised an investigation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident unintentional.

Three of the killed aid workers were British nationals. A Polish national, an Australian, a Palestinian and a dual US-Canadian citizen were also killed.

An Israeli cabinet minister has denied claims Israeli forces deliberately targeted seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza. Nir Barkat, Israel's minister of economy, told BBC News that Andres' comments were "nonsense".

Speaking to BBC Chief Presenter Caitriona Perry, Barkat said Israel was "terribly sorry" about killing the seven aid workers, but that "unfortunately, in wars friendly fire happens".

At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations.
By collaborating, Oracle, ADC and Megaport aim to provide all levels of government with access to a hyperscale cloud exclusively for federal workloads.

Announced last year, Aus-Gov Cloud combines ADCs physical connectivity with Megaports point of presence (PoP) and Oracles FastConnect infrastructure.

Offering over 100 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services, the region is a highly secure hyperscale cloud platform that will only be used by public sector organisations and their partners, according to the vendor. The region is also physically isolated from Oracles other public and government cloud regions, with no backbone connections shared.

ADC made substantial investments to facilitate the infrastructure and operational capabilities and to provide assurance that federal government customers would have ready access to connect to secure networks via the Intra-government Communications Network (ICON).

The August 2023 announcement of Oracle Cloud for [the] Australian government and Defence was a game-changer for public sector cloud adoption, said Michael Reid, CEO of Megaport.

Since that announcement, Megaport has been engaging with multiple federal government agencies to securely, efficiently and rapidly connect Aus-Gov networks. As a proudly Australian born and bred company, were delighted to be able to help all levels of government deliver private, high-speed, network connectivity solutions in an instant that not only provide greater budget efficiency but also support these departments and agencies in delivering customer services that delight all Australians.

Aus-Gov Cloud offers a sovereign and segregated OCI region designed specifically for Australian government entities, aiming to ensure compliance and security standards are met.

Sovereign-owned and controlled ADC is now tasked with hosting this sensitive government data. Meanwhile, Megaport has offered its dark fibre PoP directly within ADCs meet me rooms, which accredited spaces constructed to government standards.

Through this, the duo provides dedicated private connectivity via OCI FastConnect between Aus-Gov and OCI Commercial regions. According to Oracle, Megaports service marks the first instance of FastConnect provision in OCIs new Australian government region, further enhancing connectivity options for Australian government entities.

Megaport began its cloud connectivity collaboration with Oracle in April 2017, initially connecting to the FastConnect network through Equinixs data centre infrastructure in Sydney.

This partnership is critical to the success of Aus-Gov Cloud because secure, fast and reliable connectivity is the core requirement for the Australian governments full realisation of hyperscale cloud capability, said Dana Spasenoska, head of federal government of Oracle Cloud, Australia.

Rob Kelly, managing director of ADC, added that the partnership would bring hyperscale cloud and connectivity to the broader cloud ecosystem enabling the best of breed efficiencies provided by a practical multi-cloud strategy.
The State of Maine opened its first National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program-funded EV charging station that allows users to charge their Tesla with CCS compatibility.

The Tesla Supercharger station is federally funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is located at a shopping center in Rockland, southeast of Augusta, in Midcoast Maine.

Read Also : Jury Fines Tesla $42 Million for Employee Crash That Injured Motorcyclist

Tesla Supercharger Now Available for Maine Drivers

The new Rockland Supercharger is equipped with 250kW Supercharger ports with CCS and NACS compatibility. The station is part of the Recharge Maine initiative that started last year to extend the state's electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

"Maine is leading efforts to build a future where everyone can ride and drive electric, starting with plans to electrify the vital I-95 and US 1 corridors," said Gabe Klein, director of the federal government's Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.

Tesla was one of the awardees of the NEVI Program which gave more than $6 million in funds. Five of the eight CCS ports came from Maine's $18 million in NEVI funds.

Maine Targets to Improve EV Infrastructure

According to the NEVI program, EV charging stations must be available every 50 miles and within one travel mile of the Alternative Fuel Corridor. Moreover, these stations are required to have at least four ports with connectors that are capable of charging four EVs at 150kW at a time.

The charging stations should also be 24-hour accessible to the public and must have amenities for drivers like restrooms, food, beverage, and shelter.

Tesla won several EV charging awards from the law, allowing the company to install more charging plazas compared to other companies.

Maine is the fifth state to open NEVI-funded chargers in conjunction with Tesla. The state is expected to have more public fast-charging locations under the NEVI funds in Portland, Newport, Bangor, Windham, and Hermon.
Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on West Bengal's ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) and its I.N.D.I.A. partners, Congress and the Left, accusing them of spreading lies and rumours about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) ahead of the Lok Sabha Election. Speaking from Cooch Behar in North Bengal, where a significant population of Hindu migrants resides, Modi criticised Mamata Banerjee's reaffirmed opposition to the CAA and her refusal to implement it in the state.

Addressing a large BJP rally at Ras Mela Ground in support of party candidates Nishith Pramanik and Manoj Tigga, Modi alleged, "TMC, Left, and Congress within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc have been playing politics of lies and rumours. They have neglected communities like Rajbanshis, Namshudras, and Matuas."

Modi assured the crowd, "It is 'Modi ki Guarantee' to grant citizenship to every family that believes in Maa Bharti. Despite the scare tactics of TMC and Left, you have witnessed my work for 10 years. You can rely on 'Modi ki Guarantee'."

Hours earlier, Mamata Banerjee, at a TMC rally in Jalpaiguri, countered Modi's stance, stating, "CAA is the head while NRC is the tail. Now, they are saying that a priest can grant citizenship. How can this be possible under the law? No CAA-NRC will happen here."

Modi also took a dig at the I.N.D.I.A. partners' cooperation in New Delhi despite their rift in seat-sharing for LS polls in the state, stating, "Politics of TMC, Left, and Congress thrive on falsehoods. The I.N.D.I.A. bloc is a glaring example of lies."

He highlighted their discrepancies, saying, "While they fight here, they dine together in Delhi. They want to protect the corrupt, but I pledge to punish them and ensure justice for the poor. This election is an opportunity to send a strong message to TMC."

In response, Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of voter intimidation, urging the Election Commission to address the harassment of voters by BJP workers and security officials. She stressed on the need for a democratic level-playing field.
NEW DELHI/JAMUI: Kicking off the BJP-led NDAs poll campaign in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the previous Congress governments of failing to effectively deal with cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. Modi said that the Congress failure gave rise to the perception that India was a weak and poor target.

Addressing an election rally in Jamui, Modi also mocked the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, saying those who used to demand jail terms for each other in corruption cases have come together in the name of fighting against Modi.

The Congress and its I.N.D.I.A. bloc ally, the RJD, had given the country a bad name. The world used to think we were a weak and poor nation. Terrorists from small countries, which are struggling to maintain their supplies of wheat, used to strike at will. The Congress governments did little except seek intervention from other powerful nations, he alleged.

The acerbic remark was an indirect reference to the US intervention sought by the UPA government after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, which Modi, then the Gujarat chief minister, was highly critical of. Ours is an ancient country that has had powerful kingdoms like Magadh and legendary emperors like Chandragupta Maurya. Now, the world beholds a new India, which gives a befitting reply to the enemy on its own soil, Modi said.

The Modi government prides itself on the military retaliations to the terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama, which were a major poll plank for the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 general election. The world watches in amazement as our global standing undergoes a sea change. We are able to defend ourselves. Our advice is sought by the world in important matters. We are the fifth largest economy, have launched a successful lunar mission and were applauded for holding the G-20 summit, the Prime Minister said.

But you all are mistaken if you think all this was made possible by Modi. It was made possible by your vote, said the Prime Minister, who termed the government's achievements in the last 10 years a "trailer".

Modi, in an indirect reference to INDIA bloc partners in Delhi partners -the Congress and the AAP-- said, Those who used to hurl corruption charges at each other, used to demand jail terms for each other, have come together in the name of fighting Modi.

Should the corrupt not be in jail? I say remove the corrupt; they say defeat Modi, he said. Modi, in his first election rally in Bihar since the announcement of the polls, also attacked the Congress-RJD combine for opposing the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and continuing to heap scorn on the shrine.

Modi also accused the Congress-RJD alliance of opposing the Bharat Ratna to OBC stalwart Karpoori Thakur and the election to the President's post of "dalit" Ram Nath Kovind and "tribal woman" Droupadi Murmu, in an apparent attempt to go beyond the BJP's image of being a pro-upper castes party. Jamui, a reserved constituency, has been represented twice by Chirag Paswan of the LJP (Ram Vilas), who has shifted base to his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's Hajipur, passing over the mantle to brother-in-law Arun Bharti.

Modi, who, true to form, greeted the people in their local dialect, said in his opening remarks, I miss the presence ofmy friend Ram Vilas Paswan, who was here with us in the last elections. But I am glad to see that my little brother Chirag is taking his mission forward." Among those present at the rally was Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, also the JD(U) president, who assured the PM that the NDA will win "all 40 seats" in the state, even as he wished the latter a return to power with a 400-plus tally. Modi showered encomiums on Kumar, who returned to the NDA months ago.
Today's news: Taiwan quake injured rises to 1,000; Thousands bid farewell to South Korean-born panda that will return to China; By-elections in Pakistan delayed for a group of senators, PTI protests; Clashes in Turkey over the removal of a pro-Kurdish mayor, later readmitted to office.

MYANMAR

Civilian casualties caused by landmines tripled in 2023, with more than 1,000 individuals killed or maimed, 21% of whom were children. The data was released by Unicef, according to which explosive devices are used "indiscriminately" by all parties in the conflict, contaminating almost every region. Only the capital Naypyitaw has so far been spared.

TAIWAN

The number of injured due to the earthquake in Taiwan exceeded 1,000, while the death toll remained stable at nine and 52 people were missing. The disruption in the capital Taipei was minimal. The railway line to Hualien (epicentre of the earthquake) was reopened earlier than expected yesterday, with only one station remaining closed due to damage. Hundreds of people slept outdoors for fear of aftershocks.

SOUTH KOREA  CHINA

Thousands of people gathered to say goodbye to the first panda born in South Korea, Fu Bao, who left for China yesterday. Beijing has long used "panda diplomacy" as a form of soft power: Fu Bao's parents - Ai Bao and Le Bao - were gifted to South Korea in 2016 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The female panda was born in 2020 and was a celebrity in the country: videos of her on the zoo's YouTube channel have achieved around 500 million views.

PAKISTAN

The main opposition party Pakistan Tehkreek-e Insaf (PTI) has condemned the election authorities' decision to postpone the elections of 11 senators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The PTI, which already has 20 members in the Senate, could have won at least 10 more seats, making it the largest party in the upper house. The PTI once again accused the establishment of hatching a "conspiracy".

TURKEY

The Supreme Election Council has reversed the decision of the Election Commission of Eastern Turkey to remove the pro-Kurdish mayor of the city of Van who won the recent elections. Abdullah Zeydan had obtained 55% of the votes but was judged ineligible to run and was replaced by a representative of the AKP (the Islamic-oriented party from which President Erdogan comes) who had received 27% of the votes. The decision was revised after clashes and protests broke out.

RUSSIA

President Vladimir Putin confirmed the tax reform plan that has been talked about since before the elections, even without official confirmation, with strong increases in taxes on high incomes and private companies, presented by the official press as "the need for a crackdown to the economy to mobilize finances and trade on war tracks.

TURKMENISTAN

As reported by a Turkmen.news report, to obtain residence in the capital Ashgabat, with the associated privileges, citizens of other areas of Turkmenistan are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars, and in some sensational cases the parents are also willing to sell their children for adoption, in the hope of then obtaining residence documents through them.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, invocations and spells have multiplied in the regions of Buryatia, Tuva, Irkutsk and Altaj where shamanism is widespread. And according to their own account, there are currently 17 shamans participating in the war actions, either as volunteers or conscripts.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - As documented by a report from the Ljudjam Baikala agency, in preparation for the presidential elections, which were subsequently won by President Vladimir Putin, the shamans of Siberia organized various propitiatory rites to support him.

The first was the shaman of the city of Angarsk in the Irkutsk region, Artur Tsybikov, who had already lit a bonfire on the main road on December 20th, throwing into it offerings to the spirits, biscuits mixed with milk and vodka, telling that After this ritual, the Buryat god Bukhe Iojon appeared to me from heaven, who assured that he approved the expressed wish for Putin's victory. The day chosen for the start of these rites was "FSB Day" dedicated to members of the security services, and also because "in these days [18 December] Stalin was born".

The 50-year-old Tsybikov is the president of the "Always blue sky" association (Vecno sinee nebo), and is one of the most media-effective shamans in all of Russia. His popularity had spread after the ritual holocaust of 5 camels in Angarsk in 2019, previously killed and then dismembered and thrown into the fire, a ritual designed "to strengthen Russia". Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, these invocations and spells have obviously multiplied. As he himself told journalists, there are currently 17 shamans participating in war actions, as volunteers or conscripts, even if he did not reveal their names, and only one of them died at the front, "probably due to lack of faith .

The relatives buried the deceased "the old way", says Tsybikov, burying him directly underground, while he celebrated the rite of accompanying the soul to heaven, to "rejoin his ancestors" while his clothes and personal effects were burned in the fire . Now the deceased shaman "helps his companions directly from heaven", and Artur and the other shamans also participate in the fighting by acting "at a distance". When they call me on the phone I hear the bullets whistling, they shout to be surrounded and ask to be saved  explains Artur  then we pray and perform rituals, and thus create corridors to get them out of the siege, their commanders take the right decision and they walk away without any loss.

The shamans' activities serve not only individual soldiers, but the entire Russian army, as when in January it was decided to celebrate a rite for Avdeevka, and the spirits revealed to us that there would be pouring rain, then fog that would have stopped the Ukrainian drones, and the assault was successful. The shamans have supported the "special military operation" from the beginning, recalling the appeal of the supreme shaman of Russia Kara-ool Dopechun-ool (a figure recognized by the state), who already on March 10, 2022 asked Russian soldiers to "be intrepid , and even the Altai shaman, Artem Ignatenko, declared that Vladimir Putin cares about people, and that the special operation began just at the right time.

Among those mobilized to the front, many come from regions where shamanism is widespread, Buryatia, Tuva, Irkutsk, Altai. Moscow anthropologist Dmitry Doronin explains that "the shamanic community is much more widespread and complex than appears in the press", and shamans rarely intervene in political matters; they mostly heal from illnesses, they help customers decide how to spend money, which university to enroll in or which car to buy. We as European rationalists would like everything to be recorded in the minutes, even political positions, but this is not what we should expect from shamans, they feel the spirit of the people and the people, and act in favor of them.

The 36-year-old shaman from Ulan-Ude, Enkhe Tsydenov, states that "relatives of soldiers come to us, asking us to perform rituals for them... people don't want to fight and die, war is a terrible thing, but yes must do, because you cannot go against those in power." Therefore our compatriots are not at fault, and we can only pray for them; prayers "for Victory" have also been introduced into shamanic rites, as in those of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Nick Caldwell, a Former Twitter executive, has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X, claiming a breach of contract and unpaid severance benefits after leaving the company in 2022.

According to a lawsuit filed in a California federal court on Wednesday, lawyers representing Caldwell alleged that the company unfairly withheld severance benefits totaling $200 million by falsely accusing Caldwell and other executives of misconduct and terminating them for a Cause, after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion that same year.

Caldwell's lawsuit echoes a similar legal action brought by former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, who claimed unpaid severance amounting to $128 million.

READ ALSO: Former Twitter Executives Get Back at Elon Musk, Demands $128M Over Unpaid Severance Packages

Caldwell's Resignation for A Good Reason

Caldwell currently serves as the Chief Product Officer for Peloton and holds positions on the boards of various other tech ventures, as indicated on his LinkedIn profile. He previously managed a team of hundreds of engineers as the General Manager of the Red Bird organization at Twitter, responsible for core technology. Caldwell worked until its acquisition was finalized and submitted a resignation letter to the company "for good reason" on October 28, 2022.

Musk tweeted a video of his arrival at Twitter's headquarters two days prior, captioning it: "Entering Twitter HQ-let that sink in!" Musk later renamed the company X.

Caldwell's attorneys argued that Twitter accepted his resignation, activating the "Twitter Change of Control and Involuntary Termination Protection Policy," designed for executives departing the company in good standing.

Twitter Falsely Accusing Caldwell of Misconduct

Twitter informed Caldwell that November 27 would be his last day of employment, a month after he submitted his resignation letter. Twitter immediately revoked his access to internal systems and discontinued communications with him. According to the filing, Twitter alleged that Caldwell had been terminated for cause.

His attorneys wrote that Musk simply accused Caldwell of misconduct without any factual basis to avoid paying him the millions of dollars in severance benefits owed by Musk/Twitter to Caldwell.

The lawsuit highlights that Musk enlisted several relatives, investors, and current and former employees from his other companies, SpaceX and Tesla, some of whom were involved in denying the severance claims filed by Caldwell and the other executives as part of the severance benefit plan administration process.

The lawsuit names Brian Bjelde and Lindsay Chapman, employed at SpaceX, and Dhruv Batura, who formerly worked in finance at Tesla, as defendants alongside Musk.

The Lawsuit's Demand

Caldwell's attorneys state in the filing that their client is owed approximately $19.3 million in severance benefits, along with interest and around half a million dollars, representing the value of restricted stock units that he should have received in November 2022, which is also claimed, along with interest of approximately $3 million, plus attorneys' fees.

Musk and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Caldwell's attorneys declined to comment and referred CNBC to the filing instead.

A few days before he resigned from Twitter, Caldwell shared a post on social media announcing the sudden passing of his wife and soulmate, Tia Caldwell, on October 15. She was 39 years old and had lived a full, beautiful, and accomplished life filled with love. However, the suit does not mention the death of his wife.

RELATED ARTICLE: Lawyers Who Nullified Tesla's Excessive Compensation Package, Seeks $6B Fee Whom Elon Musk Calls "Criminal"

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ten members of Iran's security forces were killed in two attacks, including one on a police station, claimed by a jihadist group in Sistan Baluchestan in southeastern Iran, official media reported Thursday.

"The attacks killed ten members of the security forces and 18 terrorists," state television said.

Authorities had initially put the death toll at five law enforcement personnel and 15 assailants killed during the two overnight attacks on a base of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, in Rask, and a police station in Chabahar, near the border with Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Arabic for 'Army of Justice') claimed responsibility for the attacks on its Telegram pages.

This Sunni rebel group, formed in 2012, carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.

It is considered a "terrorist organisation" by Iran, which is largely Shiite, as well as by the United States.

In December, Jaish al Adl had already claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in Rask, which killed eleven Iranian policemen.

In mid-January, Iran carried out an attack in Pakistan, targeting the group's headquarters, according to the Iranian Mehr news agency.

Iran and Pakistan frequently accuse each other of allowing rebel groups to operate from their respective territories to launch attacks.

Jaish al Adl was trained by separatist activists from the Balkans, a minority of some 10 million mostly Sunni people spread across Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
California workers might soon have the legal right to ignore messages from their boss during non-working hours.

The Bay Area, a hub of the smartphone industry, has been instrumental in enabling bosses to contact workers at all hours via calls, texts, or Slack, including nights and weekends. However, a San Francisco lawmaker seeks to address this issue by introducing new legislation to make California the first state in the U.S. to grant employees the legal right to ignore calls from their boss after work hours until they return to their scheduled hours.

The Growing Demand for Working Outside Work Hours

The demand to reply to work messages after hours has grown, especially with remote work during the pandemic. This has blurred work-life boundaries, worsened worker burnout, and led many countries to consider right to disconnect laws, says the World Economic Forum.

In California, a Democratic lawmaker aims to address this by codifying workers' right to disregard communications from their boss after work hours. Assemblymember Matt Haney highlighted the issue, stating that people often find themselves constantly connected to work, noting the challenge of a gray area where employees are expected to respond at all times despite officially working a 9-to-5 job.

Assembly Bill 2751

Assembly Bill 2751 would mandate public and private employers to create a policy granting employees the right to disconnect from any communications outside work hours, with exceptions for emergencies or scheduling purposes. This effectively grants workers the right to disregard employer communications during non-working hours, as outlined in the bill's text, which would be established between the workers and employers through a written agreement and subjects the employer to a civil penalty of at least $100 if found violating the rule.

READ ALSO: Physically Present but Not Engaged? Here's What You Should Know about "Resenteeism"

This is not intended to say people cannot work long hours or have an agreement for a contract where they are on call, but it should be made clear, said Haney, who represents the San Francisco area.

The bill is currently in the Assembly's Committee on Labor and Employment, where it has undergone two readings and amendments. It will probably need to go through a fiscal committee before being read a final time on the State Assembly floor for a vote. If it garners a majority vote, it will proceed to the State Senate for a similar process.

More and More Countries Enacting the Law

California would be the country's first state to consider such a law. However, more than a dozen countries have already enacted similar laws. According to the World Economic Forum, Kenya is the latest to do so, and France was the first to enact a right-to-disconnect law in 2017.

Haney's office informed FOX 5 that studies showed workers were "healthier, happier, and more productive" after these laws were enacted. The law would assist the state in competing more effectively against other states for skilled workers, such as Texas and New York for California.

RELATED ARTICLE: Australia Proposes "Right to Disconnect" Bill, Allowing Workers Switch Off Devices Outside Working Hours

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
4 April 2024 20:44 (UTC+04:00)

Elnur Enveroglu Read more

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has the second-largest area on the African continent, is located in the central part of the continent with an area of 2,344,458 km. With a rich diversity of vegetation, wildlife, and natural areas, the country also has many underground resources, including oil. Thus, there are large amounts of potassium, iron, and copper deposits, as well as gold, phosphate, magnesium, and bauxite in the country.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, which is extremely interested in expanding its relations with Azerbaijan, is interested in developing cooperation in the economic field as well as in the political field.

These words were said by the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, during his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

We have abundant water sources and the sun that shines all year round. We can use this potential and your great experience in this field for the development of our agriculture, the President of the Republic of the Congo said at a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

During the meeting, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, mutually expressed to his Congolese counterpart that he is interested in the implementation of cooperation between the two countries in the political sphere, as well as in the trade, energy, and agriculture sectors.

I do hope that, as a result of the implementation of the agreements reached, a positive dynamic will emerge in our trade after the visit. We have had a wide exchange of views on cooperation in energy and agriculture, and here too, there is no difference of opinion. We look forward to working together on COP29, the President of Azerbaijan emphasised.

We note with regret that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has long been a victim of French colonisation policy.

For this reason, after the independence of the country, the French language, which was left as a legacy by the colonial state, became the official language of the country.

In addition to French, the constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo states that Lingala and Kituba languages are the languages of national communication within the country.

It should be recalled that on November 21, 2023, when the international conference on "Decolonization: Empowerment and Development of Women" was held in Baku, Azerbaijan voiced the problems of countries suffering from colonialism. At the international conference organized by the Baku Initiative Group, the activities of France were brought to the attention of the world community.

It is no secret that France's ongoing colonial policy not only covers the overseas territories but also extends to Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, and Latin America. France continues to exploit these regions' resources, manipulate their political processes, and maintain military bases, thus hindering their true independence and development. The French armed forces have perpetrated numerous crimes against humanity and have subjected hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians to genocide due to their ethnic and religious affiliation. Millions of people were victims of the French slave policy.

Azerbaijan's support for countries suffering from colonialism is not limited to this. As the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Republic of Azerbaijan actively supports people's fighting against colonialism, which is of particular relevance to humanity, and striving for their freedom.

Azerbaijan is extremely interested in the development of political and economic relations with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the interests serve the national interests of the two states, and also guarantee the longevity and stability of the future development of the states.

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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews Deputy Editor-in-Chief; follow him on @ElnurMammadli1

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
5 April 2024 00:21 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Reading the agenda of the EU-USA-Armenian conference that will take place in Brussels on April 5, one can easily determine the hypocritical policy of the West toward Azerbaijan. It is worth noting that it is not the first double standard that Azerbaijan has encountered.

As is known, the US Parliament adopted the 907 Amendment which bans any kind of direct United States aid to the Azerbaijani government. It should be noted that this ban made Azerbaijan the only post-Soviet state not to receive direct aid from the United States government to facilitate economic and political stability. Moreover, when the Amendment was adopted Azerbaijan was subjected to Armenian aggression, and Armenia invaded 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territories. As a result of this aggression, over one million Azerbaijani citizens of different origins converted to refugees and IDPs. Instead of punishing the aggressor, the West which was bribed by the Armenian lobby punished Azerbaijan.

However, it is known that later the same USA needed Azerbaijani assistance in Afghanistan and tried its best to normalize relations with Baku.

The double standards against Azerbaijan are not limited to only the USA. Other Western countries, such as France, Germany, and so on, and even Russia and Iran, stood with the aggressor. France and Germany did their best to hinder Azerbaijan from getting proper arms. For example, when Turkiye tried to sell Firtina howitzer or other weapons to Azerbaijan, France and Germany did not allow it because the engine of the said weapons were produced by them.

However, their heinous plan did not work. Through brilliant foreign policy and political maneuvers, Azerbaijan was able to a strong army that liberated its invaded lands and restored its territorial integrity.

As for Russia and Iran, thanks to these countries, the lifespan of Armenia was prolonged. However, history demonstrated that a subject with poor character and strength cannot live long. Today, the same Armenia tries its best to push Russia, its savior, out of the South Caucasus. It is the same Armenia which tries to bring the arch enemies of Iran, the Muslim and Shiit country.

In other words, Armenia "thanked" its saviors, I mean Iran and Russia, as it needed. Armenian gratitude reached such an extent that today Russian media compare Armenia with a suitcase without a handle.

Currently, Armenia found new saviors, more precisely the West. The USA and the EU try to perform the role of savior of Armenia by replacing Russia and Iran. However, the behavior of the West looks like a farce. It seems that they got a good lesson from the Armenian gratitude for its previous saviors and they are aware of Azerbaijans political, economical and military weight in the region, and try not to burn all bridges with Azerbaijan.

On the one hand, the leaders of the abovementioned countries make phone calls to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to comfort Azerbaijan, on the other hand, Western media outlets speak about so-called possible Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia.

Antony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State and then Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission had phone calls with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a raw and tried to explain the situation that is of concern already in the South Caucasus. The behavior of the Western Leaders once again underlines the power of Azerbaijan and the head of state.

It doesn't matter to Azerbaijan who is the savior or patron of Armenia. Azerbaijan got what belonged it in accordance with the international law. We know that the act of the West is to create a second front against Russia in the South Caucasus. Unfortunately, Armenia once again allows the third force to use it as a tool.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 April 2024 14:40 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The production of pasta products in Azerbaijan has increased by 17%, Azernews reports, citing the State Statistical Committee.

In January-February of 2024, 1,222.5 tons of pasta products were produced in Azerbaijan.

Compared to the same period of last year, production increased by 181.5 tons or 17.4%. In January-February of last year, 1,041 tons of pasta products were produced.

There was no production of finished products as of March 1, 2024.

Comparing the current production figures with those of January- February of the preceding year, the substantial increase in pasta production becomes even more apparent. In the corresponding period of 2023, Azerbaijan produced 1,041 tons of pasta products. The significant leap in production volumes within a relatively short timeframe underscores the robust expansion and development of the country's food industry.

Furthermore, the report highlights that as of March 1, 2024, there was no production of finished pasta products. This temporal snapshot provides valuable insight into the production dynamics, indicating potential output-level fluctuations over the reporting period.

The surge in pasta production not only signifies increased economic activity within Azerbaijan's food manufacturing sector but also underscores the country's efforts to enhance self-sufficiency and meet domestic demand for staple food items. Moreover, it reflects positively on the efficiency and competitiveness of Azerbaijan's food production infrastructure, contributing to the nation's overall economic growth and stability.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 April 2024 14:53 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

Fitch Solutions, the international credit ratings agency, predicts that energy exports will remain the primary catalyst for growth in Azerbaijan in the forthcoming years, Azernews reports.

The agency anticipates that although energy exports may not match previous levels of strength, they will continue to drive growth. Additionally, the government's efforts to diversify the economy away from the oil and gas sector will persist in the coming years.

Fitch Solutions suggests that as Europe seeks to reduce its reliance on Russian energy trade, Azerbaijan is expected to experience increased demand from the EU.

The agency foresees a more stable growth trajectory for Azerbaijan over the next decade, with an average growth rate of 3.1%, compared to 1.7% recorded between 2012 and 2022. Energy reserves, particularly gas, will remain a significant driver of growth, with Europe projected to be a key consumer of Azerbaijani energy.

Oil revenues have historically constituted a significant portion of Azerbaijan's GDP, making up nearly 30% since 2005 and contributing over 75% of government revenues in recent years. Fitch Solutions predicts that the proportion of GDP attributed to oil is likely to remain high in the foreseeable future.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 April 2024 16:49 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The manufacturer of composite facade panels from Novosibirsk (Russian Federation) is constructing a modern factory in the Alat Free Economic Zone, Azernews reports, citing Ruslan Mirsayapov, the commercial representative of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan, saying as at the roundtable discussion on Cooperation in the Production of Construction Materials between Russia and Azerbaijan. Export of Russian Manufacturers' Products to the Azerbaijani Market.

According to him, additionally, the UHOM construction hypermarket project is being implemented by a member of the business club of the Russian trade representation in Azerbaijan.

"Mutual cooperation in the production and supply of construction materials is very important because the volume of industrial production and civil construction is increasing in the republic. Significant projects are being implemented in the Garabagh economic region, where Russian-made products are also used," - added R. Mirsayapov.

The Alat FEZ is situated in the Alat settlement, which is part of the Garadagh district in the Absheron district, Azerbaijan. It occupies a strategic location near the Caspian Sea and is close to major transportation routes, including the Baku International Sea Trade Port.

The Alat FEZ was established to promote economic development, attract foreign investment, and stimulate trade and manufacturing activities in Azerbaijan. It was created as part of the country's efforts to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil and gas revenues.

The Alat FEZ is part of larger development initiatives in Azerbaijan, including the construction of the Alat International Logistics Center and the Alat Free Trade Zone. These projects aim to create a vibrant economic hub in the region and attract investment from both domestic and foreign sources.

Overall, the Alat Free Economic Zone plays a crucial role in Azerbaijan's economic development strategy, offering favorable conditions for businesses to invest, operate, and participate in global trade activities.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Azerbaijan National Library has hosted a round table within the Belarusian Cultural Days.

Director of the Azerbaijan National Library, Karim Tahirov, greeted the Belarusian guests and expressed hope for further strengthening of ties between the two countries in the field of culture, Azernews reports.

The round table was moderated by Advisor to the Azerbaijan Culture Minister Jahangir Selimkhanov, who stressed the need to build cultural ties between the two countries in a new format.

The General Director of the Belarusian State Philharmonic Hall, Alexander Nikita, noted the presence of similarities between Belarus and Azerbaijan.

"We must move to the practical level of our cooperation. My colleague, director of the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Hall, Murad Adigozalzade, and I have made several developments regarding future projects. It would also be very prestigious for us to perform in different parts of Azerbaijan. I would like to note that there are many strong voices and talented artists in Azerbaijan. We witnessed all this at the gala concert held yesterday, where ethnic Azerbaijanis representing Belarus performed," said the director of the Belarusian Philharmonic Hall.

Chairman of the Azerbaijan Artists Union, People's Artist Farhad Khalilov, emphasised that during the Belarusian Cultural Days, it is impossible to demonstrate the entire range of creativity of very talented artists of Belarus.

"The Belarusian Cultural Days in Azerbaijan are a new stage in bilateral relations. We agreed with our Belarusian colleagues to expand cooperation in the field of fine arts. We plan to hold exhibitions of our artists in 2025, both in Belarus and Azerbaijan," he concluded.

Director of the Belarus National Art Museum, Anna Kononova, spoke about the close cooperation that has been ongoing for several years between the cultural institutions of the two countries. She expressed confidence that these ties will develop in the future.

"In 2025, the Days of Azerbaijani Culture will take place in Belarus, where we will gladly display unique exhibits from the collection of the Azerbaijan National Art Museum as well as art pieces by contemporary artists," said Anna Kononova.

Director of the Azerbaijan National Art Museum, Shirin Malikova, spoke about the exhibition of Belarusian artists in Baku.

Noting that it will be very interesting for the Azerbaijani audience to discover new types of fine art, the director of the museum added that inter-museum contacts are being established between institutions of the two countries and specialists are being exchanged.

General Director of the Republican Unitary Enterprise National Film Studio Belarusfilm, Alexey Yuri, invited Azerbaijani film studios to Belarus.

"I propose to hold Azerbaijan Cinema Days in Belarus. During meetings with Azerbaijani colleagues, we worked out a framework agreement, which, I hope, will be signed at the Azerbaijan Cinema Days in Belarus. We could also make a documentary in the future about Azerbaijanis living in Belarus, and you, in turn, about Belarusians living in Azerbaijan," said the general director.

During the round table, various proposals were made to expand cultural cooperation between the two countries.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By KTimes

Actor Lee Byung-hun was honored with both Actor of the Year and honorary citizenship of Florence, Italy, at the 22nd Florence Korea Film Fest, earning recognition for his contributions to film and his special connection with the Italian city, his agency said.

The festival, which concluded on Saturday, promotes Korean cinema in Italy and fosters cultural exchanges between the two countries.

This year, Lee was the guest of honor, with the festival featuring a special section dedicated to seven of his films, including the opener "Concrete Utopia" (2023), "Bungee Jumping of Their Own" (2001), "A Bittersweet Life" (2005), "Once in a Summer" (2006), "Masquerade" (2012), "Inside Men" (2015) and "Keys to the Heart" (2018).

Lee's visit to the festival included engaging with film fans about "Masquerade" and "A Bittersweet Life," as well as a master class that offered deep insights into his work, warmly received by fans of both his films and dramas like "Our Blues" (2022) and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018).

Following the master class, Lee, who has often expressed his affection for Florence, received honorary citizenship, a testament to his lasting impact on the festival and the city.

In his acceptance speech, Lee expressed his gratitude. "I'm honored to participate in the Florence Korea Film Fest, a festival I've long had a connection with, and to receive honorary citizenship," he said. "I look forward to visiting again. The time I've spent in Florence, especially with 'Masquerade' and 'A Bittersweet Life' being shown, will remain with me as a cherished memory. It's been an incredibly meaningful experience."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
4 April 2024 16:32 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Baku Contemporary Music Society and the Baku Museum Center have hosted another concert as part of the project "Musical Evenings at the Museum".

The concert was dedicated to the work of composer Ismail Hajibayov (1949-2006), Azernews reports.

The moderator, musicologist Shafagat Mammadova spoke about the life and work of Ismail Hajibayov, and the guests were presented with chamber works by the composer.

Cadenza Contemporary Orchestra delighted the audience with their performances. The orchestra was conducted by Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev.

The soloists included People's Artist Ulviya Hajibayova (piano), Honored Artists Farida Mammadova (soprano), Khurshid Abdullayeva (harpsichord) as well as Mirkhalid Mammadzade (flute), Mammad Rajabli (clarinet) ), Nemat Tanriverdiyev (trombone), Umid Mustafazade, Fatima Nasirli, Ali Amishov (violin), Asmar Karimli (cello) andAfag Garayeva (piano).

Ismail Hajibayov is an Azerbaijani composer who turned neoclassicism into one of the integral components of his work.

As a result of the internal processing of Ashug music, as well as the synthesis of polyphonic styles and techniques characteristic of Western European music (perfectly mastered by the composer), "neoclassicism" in his work manifested itself with its inherent clarity and clarity of forms.

Hajibayov, who received his composition education in the class of Gara Garayev, taught composition at the Baku Music Academy named after U. Hajibayli from 1974 until the end of his life.

Ismail Hajibayov is the author of "Pages from an Album", "Three Idylls", "Concertino", "Patterns" for a symphony orchestra and several other works that have become an important part of our musical heritage.

A striking example of national neoclassicism is the piano rhapsody "Dzhangi". In the portrait-concert will be performed the composer's chamber works.

The main goal of the "Musical Evenings at the Museum" project is to organize portraits and concerts of Azerbaijani composers and highlight the features of their work.

Most of the time is devoted to the presentation of original music, which contributes to the process of forming a permanent audience of quality music in our country.

As part of the project, portrait concerts of such Azerbaijani composers as Tahir Ibishov, Rahilia Hasanova and Khayyam Mirzazade were held.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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4 April 2024 15:28 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Even though April 4 is marked as the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance for Mine Action in the world, as a result of Armenia's insidious policy, Azerbaijan still remains globally among the most polluted countries with mines and unexploded ordnance. Thus, following Armenia's aggressive policy against Azerbaijan in the 1980s and 1990s, more than 1.5 million landmines have been buried in Azerbaijan's formerly occupied territories, according to preliminary estimates.

It is worth noting that, unfortunately, Armenia's use of mine terrorism against Azerbaijan was not limited to the 1990s. It continued to use this heinous policy even after the Second Garabagh War. Since the end of the Second Garabagh War, 350 Azerbaijani citizens have been victims of landmines; 65 of them died and 285 were seriously injured.

In general, since the beginning of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, about 3429 Azerbaijani citizens have been injured by landmines; 595 of them have lost their lives; and according to the report, 357 of the victims were children, and 38 were women.

The founding of thousands of Armenian-made anti-personnel mines in Garabagh and border areas in fabricated 2021 proves that even after the end of the Garabagh conflict, Armenia planted land mines in Azerbaijani territories using the Lachin-Khankendi road.

In a comment to Azernews on the issue, Neil Watson, the British journalist and expert on energy issues, said that there is no doubt that landmines left over from the first and second Garabagh wars and then planted after the ceasefire in 2020 are the most major issue impacting construction and reconstruction of the liberated territories. He noted that landmines are completely indiscriminate and kill men, women, children, and elderly people.

"They remain in the ground for decades after the conflict finishes and become more unstable over time. There are an estimated 1.5 million landmines in the liberated territories, all of Soviet or Russian design but of Armenian manufacture. Recently, there was an event in the British Parliament hosted by one of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Explosive Devices.

An ANAMA spokesman explained the various types of mines, the problems that they represent, and that Armenia has released very few mine maps, which have questionable accuracy. There were then presentations from British partners involved in mine identification and clearance, including those using African pouched brown rats and dogs to find landmines. We also heard how women are being trained in Azerbaijan to find and defuse mines. I have been to Aghdam and Shusha, where no clearance or reconstruction can take place until mines are cleared, and its important for Armenia to help Azerbaijan locate the mines and the international community to assist," he noted.

The Biritish expert mentioned that over 90 percent of demining activities are carried out at the expense of Azerbaijan's internal resources. Although there is cooperation with some foreign partners, overall external support is limited. Watson also emphasised that the issue is delaying the return of the IDPs, which impacts the economy of the region.

"The landmine issue is delaying the return of the IDPs. No reconstruction can take place until the land is cleared and made safe. It is impossible to reconstruct and shape new cities until all landmines have been removed from the liberated territories. Given the scale of the problem, this could take two decades and it impacts the development of the economy of the region," the expert concluded.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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4 April 2024 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

On April 12, the Aerospace Modeling Festival will be held at the airfield of Avia-models, located in Hovsan settlement, Khazar district, Baku, Azernews reports.

Within the framework of the festival, it is planned to hold competitions in various categories with the participation of 5 teams, an air show, demonstration of rocket models, quadcopters, and airplane models. The Aerospace Modeling Festival will provide participants with the opportunity to practically improve their knowledge in the field of aerodynamics, aerospace engineering, electronics, and mechanics as a technical sport.

The main goal and activity direction of the festival is to help popularize and develop the sport of rocket and satellite modeling in Azerbaijan, to increase the role of this technical sport in the comprehensive and harmonious development of innovative young people, and the formation of a healthy lifestyle. Rocket and satellite modeling, a technical sport based on high technologies, combines intellectual activity and physical activity in the fresh air. Competitions are held both individually and as a team, according to the height and duration of the flight, and landing accuracy. The rocket or satellite's degree of detail and the flight's reality are evaluated according to the competition level of the finished models.

The festival will take place in partnership with the Agency for Innovation and Digital Development, the National Aerospace Agency of the Ministry of Defense Industry, the Air Force, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, KOBIA, the Center for Innovations, the Public Union for the Development of New Technologies and others.

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4 April 2024 10:27 (UTC+04:00)

An official welcome ceremony has been held for the President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who arrived in the Republic of Azerbaijan for an official visit, Azernews reports.

A guard of honor was arranged for the Congolese President in the square, decorated with the national flags of the two countries.

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, welcomed President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso.

The chief of the guard of honor reported to the Congolese President.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso saluted the Azerbaijani soldiers.

The heads of state reviewed the guard of honor.

The state anthems of the Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Azerbaijan were played.

The delegation of Azerbaijan was introduced to the Congolese President, while the delegation of the Republic of the Congo was introduced to the President of Azerbaijan.

The guard of honor marched in front of President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, to the accompaniment of a military march.

The presidents posed for official photos.

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4 April 2024 11:16 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan is taking measures to minimise the pollution of the Caspian Sea.

Azernews reports that the Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Umayra Taghiyeva, said this during the five-way meeting of the heads of the General Prosecutor's Offices of the Caspian states on "Environmental Offences in the Caspian Sea Area: Strategies of the Prosecutor's Offices for the Protection of the Marine Environment".

According to her, effective use of the natural resources of the Caspian Sea is an important task for the Caspian countries.

"The problem of the Caspian Sea unites five countries. These countries have a common responsibility to prevent pollution and to use the resources of the Caspian without harm."

The deputy minister stressed that initiatives related to the Caspian Sea will be included in the agenda of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be held in Baku.

U. Taghiyeva also suggested conducting joint monitoring in the Caspian Sea.

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4 April 2024 10:53 (UTC+04:00)

A five-way meeting of the chief prosecutors of the Caspian littoral states is being held in Baku.

Azernews reports citing Azertag that the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Kamran Aliyev, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Umayra Taghiyeva, high-ranking officials of the Prosecutor General's Offices of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other Caspian states, and others are participating in the event.

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4 April 2024 12:21 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

Armenia should be a more interested party in the opening of the Zangezur corridor

Azernews reports that this was stated by Movlud Cavusoglu, a deputy of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the head of the delegation representing the parliament at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, during his statement to journalists in Baku.

According to him, Armenia, which needs integration in the region, should be more interested in the opening of the Zangazur corridor, as Azerbaijan collaborates on many projects even without Armenia's involvement.

Note that the former foreign minister of Turkey, who currently heads the delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly headed by Mevlud Cavusoglu, is on a visit to Azerbaijan from April 3 to April 5.

Within the framework of the visit, the delegation will hold a series of meetings in Baku at the National Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other institutions.

During the meetings, in addition to deepening the relations between the two brotherly countries, discussions will be held on the situation in the South Caucasus, achieving peace between Yerevan and Baku, joint activities in international organisations, and other issues.

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4 April 2024 14:17 (UTC+04:00)

A delegation led by the Head of the Turkish Parliament's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and former Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, has today visited the Alley of Honors to pay tribute to National Leader, architect, and founder of the modern and independent Azerbaijani state Heydar Aliyev, and laid a wreath at the National Leader`s tomb, Azernews reports.

The Turkish delegation also paid tribute to the National Leaders wife, prominent ophthalmologist, and academician Zarifa Aliyeva.

The delegation then visited the Alley of Martyrs to commemorate Azerbaijani heroes who gave their lives for Azerbaijans independence and territorial integrity and placed flowers at their graves. They also visited the Eternal Flame monument.

The guests also enjoyed a panoramic view of Baku as they were informed about the history of the Alley of Martyrs and the redevelopment works carried out in the city.

They then visited the Turkish Martyrdom monument erected in memory of the heroic Turkish soldiers who died in the battles for the liberation of Baku from the Bolshevik-Armenian Dashnak troops in 1918 and put a wreath at the monument.

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4 April 2024 17:58 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

The National Art Museum has hosted a historical lecture titled "Stamped Coins of Azerbaijan".

Renowned collector and numismatist Rustam Huseynov briefed the lecture participants about the history of stamped coins that were minted in Azerbaijan in different periods of time, Azernews reports.

Rustam Huseynov provided details on the samples of the Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu, as well as Safavid coins with countermarks, highlighting their historical significance.

At the lecture, the numismatist emphasised the importance of the coins in revealing interesting facts about the rulers and the economies of the states.

He underlined that coins often provide more accurate historical data that reflects traditional chronicles.

The event received positive feedback from guests, who engaged in discussions about the circulation of coins and their historical implications. The lecture totally captivated attendees with its unique coin display.

Rustam Huseynov is eager to further share his passion for uncovering lesser-known historical facts with Azerbaijani history enthusiasts and coin collectors.

The next lecture will be dedicated to Safavid coins.

Founded in 1937, the National Art Museum offers art connoisseurs some of the best examples of decoratively applied arts of Western Europe.

Over 3,000 items in 60 rooms are on permanent display at the museum, and around 12,000 items are kept in storage. Here, you can see masterpieces of the Italian, French, German, and Polish masters of brush.

The museum has successfully organised and hosted numerous high-level international exhibitions, showcasing the works of renowned artists.

These exhibitions have not only attracted art enthusiasts but have also contributed to the cultural exchange between Azerbaijan and other countries.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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4 April 2024 20:16 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to the President of the Republic of Senegal Bassirou Diomaye Faye on the occasion of his recent victory at the presidential elections.

According to Azernews, the letter reads as follows:

Dear Mr. President,

I sincerely congratulate you on assuming the office of the President of the Republic of Senegal, and I wish you success in your responsible activities for the prosperity of the friendly Senegalese people.

The friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Senegal are based on good traditions. It is gratifying that our countries enjoy effective cooperation both bilaterally and within international organizations, notably within the framework of the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Your resolute efforts to eradicate lingering neo-colonialist policies are commendable in the modern era. Your support for the Baku Initiative Group established during Azerbaijan's Non-Aligned Movement chairmanship is a clear manifestation of your efforts in combating colonialism and its new forms, as well as in protecting the rights of peoples suffering from colonialism and ensuring their natural rights.

I believe that we will exert joint efforts for further development of relations between Azerbaijan and Senegal in the spirit of friendship, in line with the interests of our peoples, and for the successful continuation of our effective cooperation within multilateral institutions.

I would like to seize the opportunity to convey my sincerest wishes and extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and your people, on behalf of myself and the Azerbaijani people, as you celebrate the national holiday of the Republic of Senegal - Independence Day.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 4 April 2024

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By KTimes

Actor Jeon Jong-seo, celebrated for her acting in the movie "Burning," has been caught up in allegations regarding possible school bullying. Andmarq, her agency, called the allegations "groundless."

The controversy around Jeon began to swirl on Wednesday when a post surfaced on the anonymous workplace community app Blind, which alleged Jeon was a school bully when she was in middle school.

The author of the post said, "Jeon would frequently steal or snatch away other kids' gym clothes and uniforms. Just seeing Jeon's face brings back those unpleasant memories."

As the post spread online, Andmarq released a statement saying it "immediately checked the facts with Jeon and her acquaintances, confirming that the allegations are entirely false" after it saw the post.

The agency said that it will take legal action against speculative posts and malicious comments causing "serious psychological harm to the actor and those around her," adding that it is "preparing to file a lawsuit with the evidence collected."

According to her agency, the post has been deleted.

Jeon recently wrapped up shooting for the drama "Wedding Impossible."

In related news, actor Song Ha-yoon, who gained attention for her villainous role in the popular drama "Marry My Husband" that ended in February, also faced school violence allegations recently. Her agency released a statement denying the allegations after verifying the facts with Song, stating, "Song Ha-yoon does not even have a passing acquaintance with the accuser."

Another actor, No Hee-ji, addressed rumors linking her to school violence allegations related to Song Ha-yoon on social media, saying, "It seems people are saying the celebrity from Banpo High School '88 is No Hee-ji, but it's not me."

This comes after speculations arose that another celebrity, younger than Song Ha-yoon, was present at the time of the alleged incidents, prompting some netizens to point fingers at No, who has since come forward to clear her name.



This article from the Hankook Ilbo, sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.


4 April 2024 21:24 (UTC+04:00)

On April 4, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, made a phone call to Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

During the telephone conversation, the parties discussed the prospects for development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union, particularly highlighting such areas of cooperation as renewable energy, transportation connections, energy security and others.

During the conversation, they underscored the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the field of energy, signed between Azerbaijan and the European Union in 2022.

They noted that COP29 to be held in Baku under Azerbaijan's presidency provides favorable opportunities for cooperation in climate action and the green transition.

The President of the European Commission emphasized the readiness of the European Union to support Azerbaijan in the humanitarian demining efforts.

The issue related to the trilateral meeting to be held in Brussels on April 5 was raised during the phone conversation. President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijan's stance on this meeting, similar to the discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and emphasized the necessity of regional inclusivity.

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4 April 2024 22:12 (UTC+04:00)

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, shared a post on her official X page that she made a phone call to President Ilham Aliyev today and discussed the development of European-Azerbaijani relations with the head of state.

According to Azernews, the post reads as follows:

In my call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev today, we discussed the important EU-Azerbaijan relations, within a stable and prosperous South Caucasus.

We are ready to step up actions to support demining.

We also discussed how to make COP29 in Baku a success.

In my call with @azpresident Aliyev today, we discussed the important EU-Azerbaijan relations, within a stable and prosperous South Caucasus.



We are ready to step up action to support demining.



We also discussed how to make @COP29_AZ in Baku a success.  Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 4, 2024

Recall that on April 4, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, made a phone call to Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

During the telephone conversation, the parties discussed the prospects for development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union, particularly highlighting such areas of cooperation as renewable energy, transportation connections, energy security and others.

During the conversation, they underscored the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the field of energy, signed between Azerbaijan and the European Union in 2022.

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4 April 2024 17:23 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The Agdam Mechanical Irrigation Management of Azerbaijan Melioration and Water Management OJSC has announced the results of the Procurement of Fuel Products tender, Azernews reports.

The winner of the tender is SOCAR Petroleum LLC. A contract worth AZN456,000 ($268,235.29) has been signed with the winning company.

Azerbaijan Melioration and Water Management OJSC is responsible for managing water resources, irrigation systems, and land reclamation projects in Azerbaijan. It plays a crucial role in the country's agricultural sector by ensuring efficient water distribution and land management practices.

SOCAR Petroleum LLC, as a result of the successful and effective reforms carried out by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in the economy of Azerbaijan, including in the oil sector, to organize the purchase and sale of oil products in the territory of Azerbaijan and to implement quality supply services in accordance with international standards and multi-field transport infrastructure, was founded in 2008 and started its commercial activity under the brand "SOCAR".

SOCAR Petroleum LLC builds and operates gas stations based on projects that meet modern requirements, integrated with appropriate service areas that reflect the latest achievements of science and technology.

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4 April 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

Oil prices increased on Wednesday after reaching five-month highs due to strong demand forecasts in the US, the world's biggest oil consumer, and rising concerns over global oil supply routes in the Middle East, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $89.07 per barrel at 12 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), a 0.17% increase from the closing price of $88.92 per barrel in the previous trading session.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $85.19 per barrel at the same time, a 0.05% rise from the previous session that closed at $85.15 per barrel.

Oil prices tested the highest levels of the last five months due to conflicts between Israel and Palestine and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The possibility of a further decline in Russian oil exports continues to support higher prices.

Furthermore, a missile strike targeting the Iranian Consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, resulting in the killing of a top commander of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and six other officers, is exacerbating tensions in the Middle East, where busy energy supply routes are located.

American Petroleum Institute (API) data released late Tuesday showing a decrease of 2.3 million barrels in US crude oil inventories, against the market expectation of a draw of 2 million barrels, signaled healthy demand and drove prices up.

However, geopolitical unrest and the decline in US crude inventories prompted profit-taking by investors, limiting upward price movements ahead of the OPEC+ group meeting that will be held later on Wednesday.

Analysts predict that the group will refrain from making any changes to its future production policy.

Official statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later in the day, and if a buildup in crude and gasoline stockpiles is predicted, prices will come under pressure.

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3 April 2024 21:33 (UTC+04:00)

Russia calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume trilateral talks, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We believe that it is high time we reinstated the regular work of the Russia-Azerbaijan-Armenia trilateral mechanisms," she said at a news conference. "We urge our partners to show political will, to resume communication that proved its effectiveness in the formats which helped, with Russia's assistance, start the search for effective solutions to the most difficult issues, including border delimitation, unblocking of transportation and logistics routes in the region, and the development of a peace treaty."

According to the diplomat, all territorial disputes and claims between Baku and Yerevan should be settled exclusively by political and diplomatic methods within the bilateral commission on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

"We are ready on our part to do all we can to help this along," she said.

"Unlike the European Union and the US, which are engaged in wringing concessions from one side and making threats against the other, we have always advocated for a comprehensive, compromise-based settlement of existing differences in the interests of establishing lasting peace and prosperity across the modern-day Caucasus," Zakharova said. "Our proposal remains on the negotiating table."

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4 April 2024 20:05 (UTC+04:00)

By News Centre

Despite global geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainties, Turkish Airlines (THY) carried 83.4 million passengers last year, a record, thanks to its wide flight network and the highly qualified workforce it maintained during the COVID-19 period.

According to the information given at the meeting regarding THY's financial results, the company's domestic passenger capacity increased by 23.5 percent last year compared to 2022, while the number of passengers increased by 19 percent, reaching over 30 million.

While the capacity increase in international lines approached 16 percent, the number of passengers increased by 14 percent, reaching 53 million. The increase in the number of passengers abroad, especially in European countries where Turkish citizens live densely, exceeded 20 percent.

According to the data published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), while global international passenger capacity last year remained 12 percent behind the pre-COVID-19 period in 2019, THY continued to be one of the leading airlines in the sector, exceeding that year by 27 percent. As a result of Turkiye's investments in aviation infrastructure, Istanbul Airport has become the airport offering the most flights in Europe.

Providing air cargo services at 364 points in 133 countries with 24 cargo planes and 416 passenger planes, THY increased the amount of paid cargo it carried last year by 16 percent compared to 2019. Turkish Cargo, which has more than tripled its market share in cargo transportation in the last 10 years, continued its success as the world's 4th largest air cargo carrier in 2023, according to IATA data.

THY, which aims to have a fleet exceeding 800 aircraft in 2033 within the framework of its 100th Anniversary Strategy, added 46 aircraft to its fleet last year, despite the supply problems in the global aviation industry and the bottleneck in production, and increased the number of aircraft to 440 with a 12 percent increase.

THY continued to create an important source of value for the Turkish economy with its total assets exceeding 1 trillion lira ($35.7 billion), the $16.3 billion export revenue it brought to Turkiye last year, and the foreign exchange contribution of $8.1 billion.

Turkiye's national flag carrier has continued its support since the first day of the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras, one of the biggest disasters in the country's history. Passenger and cargo flights were provided free of charge, especially for the evacuation of citizens, as well as for the delivery of domestic and international search and rescue teams and aid materials to the region.

In addition to the 2 billion lira donation it made to be used for the needs in the region, the company also presented the payment required for 1000 houses to be donated to those in need of AFAD during the year.

With its strong 2023 results, THY demonstrated its determination to achieve its 2033 vision, which will create high value for all its stakeholders. Aiming to exceed 50 billion dollars in revenue and 170 million passengers in its 100th year, THY's efforts in the fields of excellence in passenger experience, digitalization, and sustainability were appreciated by the leading institutions of the sector.

In this context, THY was awarded the "5-star global airline" award by APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) for the 3rd time in 2023, the "Best Airline in Europe" award by Skytrax for the 8th time, and the second time by World Finance. It was chosen as the "Most Sustainable Flag Carrier Airline".

THY, which employs more than 83 thousand people together with its subsidiaries today, is among the giants of air transportation as a brand that leads the sector with its "unique" flight network, modern fleet, superior service approach and successful performance in 2023. In the coming years, THY will continue to increase its contribution to the sustainable growth of the sector in line with Turkey's development goals and 2033 strategy.

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Azerbaijan's tourism potential has been demonstrated at the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM 2024) in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Six local partners, including the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC, and Shahdag Mountain Resort, are representing the country at IMTM 2024, which welcomed 2,200 representatives from 65 countries, Azernews reports.

The International Mediterranean Tourism Market is a global networking and industry event designed to connect professionals from all levels of business and service in tourism and travel.

IMTM 2024 is entirely customised to maximise industry connectivity and visibility with an in-person event in Tel Aviv, where participants are able to make established contacts and develop more through supplementary meetings and seminars.

The Azerbaijani Ambassador to Israel, Mukhtar Mammadov, visited Azerbaijan's national stand, which promoted the country's culture, history, traditions, mouthwatering cuisine, Slow Food and Slow Wine experiences and UNESCO World Heritage List sites.

The stand also showcased Azerbaijan's ancient Jewish legacy and highlighted the country's cultural diversity.

Visitors were informed about Azerbaijan's tourism opportunities. Attendees at the stand also had the chance to taste Azerbaijani sweets and local wines.

Azerbaijan and Israel have been working to strengthen their bilateral relations in various sectors, including tourism. A total of 29,093 Israeli citizens visited Azerbaijan in 2023.

An agreement on tourism cooperation signed between Azerbaijan and Israel will further expand this partnership.

The agreement involves establishing ties between tourism management bodies, tourism associations, organisations, and relevant companies in both countries.

Work has also been carried out jointly with the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan to develop and improve tourist routes in the village of Krasnaya Sloboda, Guba.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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4 April 2024 15:46 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Chairman of the Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev has discussed the prospects of tourism cooperation with the Chairperson of Saint Petersburg's Tourism Development Committee Sergey Korneev.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the creation of joint tourism routes, investment opportunities, educational programs, and the development of relations among the tourism companies in line with the Roadmap for the Development of Tourism Between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation in 2024-2026, Azernews reports.

The sides also touched upon the issues related to hosting marketing events in 2024, participating in exhibitions, organizing workshops and presentations, and opening a tourism representative office in Moscow to promote Azerbaijan's tourism potential in Russia.

Note that tourism between Azerbaijan and Russia has been steadily growing in recent years.

Fuad Naghiyev pointed out that the number of Russian tourists visiting Azerbaijan increased by 40 percent, reaching 625,000 individuals in 2023 compared to 2022.

Over the first three months of 2024, the number of Russian citizens arriving in Azerbaijan surged by 24 percent, totaling 147,438 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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By Yoon Ja-young

Shinhan Bank is acquiring a stake in HDFC Credila Financial Services, a student loan company in India. It is the banks first advancement into the global market in the form of equity investment, instead of launching branches of corporations.

The bank announced that it signed a contract to acquire a stake in Credila in Mumbai, India, Wednesday. It is the first equity investment into an Indian company by Korean commercial banks.

Established in 2006, Credila is the top student loan company in the Indian non-banking financial company market. It is expected to continue growth thanks to Indias passion for education, rising number of people pursuing studies abroad and increasing demand from major advanced countries on science, technology, engineering and mathematics talent from India.

Credila will issue new shares and Shinhan Bank will be acquiring approximately $180 million worth of the new shares. The bank will be holding around a 10 percent stake of Credila. Among other shareholders of Credila is HDFC Bank, the biggest private bank in India.

Shinhan Bank advanced into India in 1996, the first among Korean banks. It currently operates six branches. The banks India operation reaped 10 billion won in profit in 2023, up 117 percent from the previous year. Shinhan explained that it plans to expand its retail business in India while cooperating with diverse Indian companies to make a leap forward as a global financial company.

Amid global supply chain restructuring, the importance of the Indian market, which has geopolitical stability and infinite growth potential from 1.4 billion population, is increasing more than ever, Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk said.

By jointly investing with competitive local partners in Credila, which boasts the best competitive edge in Indias retail loan market, we will enhance competitiveness of our Indian operation while expanding various collaborative businesses, he said, adding that the collaboration will include not only traditional financial companies but also digital companies.

Last year, Shinhan Bank reaped 549.3 billion won in net profit across the global market, which is the biggest among Korean local banks. It was backed up by solid performance in major global channels such as Vietnam and Japan.
Now that Kamala Harris has been coronated the Democratic Socialist designee for nomination as their candidate for President of these United States, after that political party's contrived primary process "democratically" elected Joseph R. Biden: What are your feelings about this party's progressive posture within their self-styled exercise of "Saving Democracy for America," and how truly critical the outcome of this presidential election will be?

8.7% I am ecstatic that this "Democracy's" First partially Black, First partially Indian, First female Co-Parent, and this nation's primary necessity is to her elect our First woman president.26.09% I really do not care about all these "Firsts." I will continue to pray, and work for this Representative Republic to elect someone competent, and brilliantly patriotic to be our next president.65.22% I will never vote for any politician that "first" does not have the core values to understand how dire this Constitutional Republic's situation has become.
Considering what real news is available for all to witness, and in great specificity, should one pursue what is true outside of the channeled realm of the corrupt corporate /legacy media, and: Is Institutionalized Corruption real, and is it a hindrance to sustaining our Constitutional Republic now, and for future generations of American citizens? Yes No Not sure 454 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?



poll#164

It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios? Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything. No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now. I just observe; with this thoughtful observation: What will happen "when the Vikings are breeching our walls;" how do the Woke react? 846 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?



Two Harvard Law students resigned from their student government positions after a resolution to divest from Israel was approved through an unconventional secret ballot vote, hiding the record of who supported the extreme measure.The resolution, which calls on the Harvard Management Company to divest from Israel over theand theviolated the student government's constitution, according to the two students, Cameron Adkins and Regina De Nigris, who resigned from the government shortly after it passed.they wrote in their resignation letter.The two students cite procedural issues with how the resolution vote was undertaken through an anonymous Google form and accuse their former fellow representatives of pushing the change through during an emergency meeting without letting students express their opinions.they wrote.According to the student government website, its goal is toThe student government members will be replaced by incoming recently-elected representatives next week.Student body co-president Swap Agrawal said the secret vote was toThe resolution passed with 12 in favor, 3 opposed, and 3 abstaining. The only two known votes are from De Nigris and Adkins, who were two of the three votes against the resolution.Student government members Robert Kim, Marissa Thomas, Tony Maquiling, Pat Healy, Aliye Korucu, Mackenzie Saunders, Tori Borlase, Connor Morgan, Felicia Caten-Raines, Dee Um, Hannah Chi, Katelyn Turner, Amanda Harrison, Kayla Hollingsworth, Vincent Okonkwo, Ojadamola Takuro, and Deyaa Alrwishdi did not respond to inquiries on their votes.The Harvard Jewish Law Students Association said the resolution willin a statement posted to their Instagram account.the group wrote.the Jewish student group said.The resolution accuses Israel of maiming, killing, and starving Palestinians in aand calls upon the Harvard Management Company toFollowing the announcement of its passage, anti-Israel student groups held a last-minute victory celebration with cake and speeches in the student lounge on campus, a violation of Harvard policy.a student said during one of the speeches posted to Instagram.In the middle of the celebration, another emergency meeting was called over the procedural concerns, and another vote was taken to determine if procedure was followed after intense debate. Student Maya Husseini said,after Jewish students raised concerns, according to Stop Antisemitism. Another anonymous vote was taken, and the students upheld the resolution.Adkins, who was able to resume his position for the second vote before his resignation went into effect, said.Harvard did not respond to a request for comment.
Noblesville, Ind.-based Riverview Health is suing a former physician for allegedly not paying back overpayments for on-call services, the Indiana Business Journal reported April 4.

The suit, filed in the Hamilton County Superior Court, is seeking six of the 11 years in overpayments, or $60,000, from Lisa Bledsoe, MD.

The health system notified Dr. Bledsoe of the overpayments  which totaled $228,231 from 2009 to 2020  in October 2020, according to the report. The system acknowledged in the suit that the clinic where Dr. Bledsoe had been contracted to provide on-call services closed at the end of 2015.

The suit alleges the hospital has sent two demand letters to Dr. Bledsoe and has been unable to collect.
Atmore (Ala.) Community Hospital will shutter its surgery department June 1.

The hospital cited low patient volumes, inflating costs, and low reimbursement rates, including lack of Medicaid expansion, as driving the closure, according to a news release on the hospital's website.

"It is an unfortunate reality in todays rural healthcare climate that hospitals are having to closely look at which services they are financially able to continue to provide," the hospital's administrator, Brad Lowery, said in the release. "This decision was not made lightly, as we feel we have a very strong surgical team. Significant time and resources have gone in to trying to sustain the service, but we simply dont have the necessary volume to support it at this time."

The hospital is making sure outpatient surgery opportunities are available locally through visiting specialists, such as the D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton, Ala., according to the release.








Boynton Beach, Fla.-based Bethesda Hospital, part of Coral Gables, Fla.-based Baptist Health South Florida, has sold its former medical office campus in Boynton Beach for $37.75 million, a spokesperson for the health system confirmed with Becker's.

Wheelock Street Capital, an investment service based in Greenwich, Conn., and Foundry Commercial, a real estate brokerage service company in Orlando, Fla., jointly purchased the 30-acre property that houses a 126,000-square-foot office and warehouse building.

The plan is for the two companies to demolish the existing buildings and develop 457,000 square feet of warehouses for a project called Egret Point Logistics Center, according to a March 28 news release.

The companies plan to demolish the campus buildings this spring and construct two warehouses for the joint project by next spring.
By Yoon Ja-young

The World Bank has been exploring exemplary global digital ID cases worldwide to help developing countries adopt reliable digital authentication services. Korea is one of the leading examples it looks to.

Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO) announced that it held a meeting with the delegation from the World Bank in Seoul, March 27, to share how digital ID systems are being established in Korea and bolster partnership.

Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Indonesia as well as Latin Americas such as Costa Rica and Paraguay have shown much interest in Koreas mobile ID system, K-DID. We are getting request from other countries to introduce it to their countries, Lim Do-hyun, an executive in charge of ICT at KOMSCO, said at the meeting.

The Korean government has been endeavoring to expand mobile ID, with KOMSCO designated as the institution responsible for planning and implementing the overall project.

The service began with the introduction of the mobile public officer ID in 2020, followed by the mobile drivers license in 2022 and the mobile veterans certification in 2023. Next year, the government plans to issue mobile national ID for all citizens aged 17 and above.

Koreas mobile ID has adopted the blockchain-based decentralized identity system, which boasts superior security compared with traditional centralized identity system. It is known to be better at preventing personal information leakage and identity theft, and also protecting personal right with strengthened ownership for users private information.
Kootenai Health is investigating a breach of its IT network, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported April 4.

On April 3, the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based hospital said it noticed suspicious activity in its IT network in March and began to "quarantine" the activity.

The hospital also isolated the affected systems and launched an investigation into the incident. The investigation is ongoing and Kootenai Health is still working to determine if patient information was accessed as a result of the breach.

The hospital said it will notify any affected patients once more information is available.
New Bern, N.C.-based CarolinaEast Health System will receive $45 million as it is experiencing cash flow issues due to the Feb. 21 cyberattack on Change Healthcare, News 12 reported April 3.

The Local Government Commission, a state agency, is giving a $45 million unsecured line of credit to CarolinaEast Health System. The system will use the funds to cover day-to-day operational costs.

Change Healthcare provides claims management services to CarolinaEast.
A former NYU Langone Health leader said he has become "radioactive" after the health system fired him for violating its social media policy.

Benjamin Neel, MD, PhD, was relieved of his duties as director of NYU's Perlmutter Cancer Center in November after he reposted tweets on X (formerly known as Twitter) about the Israel-Hamas war. He later sued the New York City-based health system for wrongful termination.

"Because they tarnished my reputation, I lost two consulting jobs and was told by a famous colleague from a major center in Boston that I was 'radioactive,'" Dr. Neel told The Times of Israel.

Dr. Neel remains a tenured professor at NYU's medical school but NYU Langone Health cut off $500,000 in funding for his lab, according to the March 31 story.

After Israel invaded Gaza following a deadly attack by Hamas in October, Dr. Neel retweeted posts satirizing the war's protestors as supporters of the terrorist group. One cartoon had them holding signs with messages such as "Proud of Our Rapist Martyrs" and "Killing Kids for Dignity." In another, he posted "An oxymoron" under a picture of a demonstrator with a flag denoting both LGBTQ rights and Palestine. The health system fired him Nov. 10.

"It's been a Kafkaesque hellscape," he told the Times. "A little over two weeks before the termination, dean and CEO Robert L. Grossman [was] singing my praises for transforming the cancer center and being an extremely rigorous and accomplished scientist whose work had led to cancer drugs in clinical trials.

"Then, the same leadership unceremoniously terminated me as center director, rendered me a virtual nonperson at NYU, and is attempting to destroy my reputation and my career. To put it mildly, it's been extremely stressful in multiple ways, emotionally, physically, socially and professionally."

An NYU Langone Health spokesperson declined to comment to the news outlet, citing the pending litigation. Despite the fallout, Dr. Neel told the newspaper he stands by the content of the social media posts.

"I think the only moral position is to challenge those who celebrate the murder, rape, mutilation, defilement, and kidnapping of innocent Israeli citizens  and American and other citizens, including Muslims," he said in the interview.
Atmore (Ala.) Community Hospital is closing its surgery department June 1 due to low patient volumes, inflating costs, and low reimbursement rates, including lack of Medicaid expansion.

While the hospital made efforts to sustain the service, it does not have the volume to currently support it, Brad Lowery, administrator for the hospital, said in a news release on the hospital's website.

"We continue to review what is working from a financial perspective," Debbie Rowell, board chairperson of the Escambia County Health Care Authority, said in the release. "We cannot continue to offer services that decrease our financial feasibility. We continue to research impacts of Medicaid Expansion and better reimbursements options for rural healthcare facilities."

The hospital is working to ensure outpatient surgical consultants are available locally through visiting specialists at other facilities, like D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton, Ala.
Dallas-based Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, did not attend an April 3 field hearing in Boston after U.S. Senator Ed Markey invited him to join and testify on March 15 to discuss the health system's financial troubles.

The "When Health Care Becomes Wealth Care: How Corporate Greed Puts Patient Care and Health Workers at Risk" hearing was held by the Senate's health, education, labor and pensions committee and addressed for-profit companies' impact on healthcare.

Mr. Markey is chair of HELP's primary health and retirement security subcommittee.

"Dr. de la Torre's chair is as empty as the promises he made to the public," Mr. Markey said during the hearing. "We are going to not stop until we get the answers from Dr. de la Torre for the people of Massachusetts."

Mr. Markey also used the hearing to discuss his new legislation, the Health Over Wealth Act, which would protect providers and patients affected by private equity.

The legislation would mandate private equity companies to set aside funds to protect care access and remove tax breaks that incentivize companies to strip hospital assets.

It would also allow healthcare workers and patients to review and block deals that could affect patient access, care and safety; require for-profit companies to report on their finances, real estate deals, and how much payment investors and shareholders are receiving; ensure for-profit companies report on staffing ratios, patient care cost and worker retention; and provide HHS tools to block private equity investments from companies taking part in price gouging, understaffing and added healthcare barriers.

"The strongest protections will come from elevating the voices of patients, providers and communities," Mr. Markey said.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren also suggested a change in law to address private equity in healthcare.

"I have introduced the most comprehensive bill to overhaul the private equity industry," she said. "In addition, investors should face extra restrictions when they buy up hospitals and healthcare practices. I have a bill to accomplish that as well."

Steward's plans to sell its physician group to UnitedHealth Group's subsidiary Optum were also discussed during the hearing. If approved, physicians at Steward facilities across nine states would be employed under Optum.

"There is one and only one thing of value that private equity hasn't already taken: Steward's physician group," Ms. Warren said. "Optum may be willing to pay Steward hundreds of millions of dollars, but the deal provides no guarantee that the hospitals would stay open."

The hearing comes after Ms. Warren and Mr. Markey released a joint statement that suggested Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm that founded Steward, profited by around $800 million and "looted" the health system when it exited in 2020.

Becker's has reached out to Steward, Cerberus, Medical Properties Trust and Optum for comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.
King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services executives saw their total compensation increase in 2023 after seeing it shrink by millions in 2022, according to a proxy statement filed April 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The for-profit health system reported a net income of $719.3 million in 2023, up from $656.9 million the previous year. UHS operates 27 acute care hospitals, 333 inpatient behavioral health facilities, 48 outpatient facilities, an insurance offering and a physician network in 39 states, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico.

Here are UHS' five highest-earning executives in 2023:

1. Marc Miller, CEO and president

Salary: $1,352,052

Stock awards: $4,944,124

Option awards: $4,944,434

Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $3,042,117

Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation: $78,003

Other compensation: $47,207

Total 2023 compensation: $14,407,937 $3,487,961 increase from 2022



2. Alan Miller, executive chair

Salary: $1,040,040

Bonus: $1,040,040

Stock awards: $2,599,947

Option awards: $2,600,138

Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $0

Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation: $0

Other compensation: $1,089,566

Total 2023 compensation: $8,369,731 $1,231,107 increase from 2022



3. Edward Sim, executive vice president and president of acute care

Salary: $775,030

Bonus: $550,000

Stock awards: $1,176,500

Option awards: $2,578,358

Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $372,014

Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation: $0

Other compensation: $17,235

Total 2023 compensation: $5,469,137 Mr. Sim was hired in December 2022.



4. Steve Filton, executive vice president and CFO

Salary: $826,698

Stock awards: $1,258,384

Option awards: $1,258,472

Non-equity incentive plan compensation: $1,240,047

Change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation: $47,194

Other compensation: $19,362

Total 2023 compensation: $4,650,157 $1,382,053 increase from 2022



5. Matthew Peterson, executive vice president and president of behavioral health
Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System has informed furloughed employees that their employment will end in early May, a spokesperson for the health system confirmed to Becker's.

The system furloughed about 3% of its workforce in January to help hit its financial turnaround goals. Affected positions were mostly in non-patient-seeing departments, including leadership roles.

When the furloughs were announced, Marshfield said that its service and labor resources account for more than 50% of the system's overall operating costs. Marshfield is an 11-hospital system with more than 12,000 employees serving Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

"We are committed to supporting affected employees during this transition period, assisting them with a severance package and ensuring they have access to any available resources and assistance, including encouraging them to review other opportunities within the health system in areas with specific needs," a spokesperson for the system said in a statement shared with Becker's.

Since January, more than 60 furloughed employees pursued and were offered alternative employment opportunities at Marshfield Clinic, and dozens more opted to take roles outside the organization, according to the health system.

Marshfield Clinic and Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health called off their proposed plan to merge into a 25-hospital system shortly before the furloughs were announced in January.

Last month, S&P Global downgraded Marshfield Clinic's credit rating from "BBB+" to "BBB" due to ongoing operational challenges and "a balance sheet with less flexibility due to declines in net assets as well as moderately higher debt levels due to issuances needed to maintain liquidity."

The rating agency said Marshfield Clinic is making strides in performance improvement initiatives and optimizing various IT systems, but it is still in transition as it actively searches for a partner and as it looks to "stabilize the organization after the build-out of the inpatient hospital expansions of the last several years."
Here are eight hospitals and health systems that have promoted CFOs to the chief executive role in 2024:

1. Norman (Okla.) Regional Health System named CFO Rick Wagner co-CEO of the health system on Sept. 24. He will share the role with chief physician executive Aaron Boyd, MD. Mr. Wagner has served as Norman Regional's CFO since February 2023.

2. Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau, Alaska, appointed Joe Wanner CEO, effective Sept. 29. Mr. Wanner has served as the hospital's CFO since November.

3. Scott Boyes became CEO of Wooster (Ohio) Community Hospital on June 27. He previously served as CFO and COO at Wooster. He had served as CFO since 1999.

4. Deb Mohesky was named CEO of CommonSpirit Health's Longmont (Colo.) United Hospital, effective July 15. She has served in the role on an interim basis since October. She took on that role after serving as a market CFO for four hospitals in CommonSpirit's Denver and Northern Colorado marketplace.

5. Stephen Kuhn was promoted on March 22 from CFO to CEO of River Park Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. He had served as interim CEO since November and was the hospital's CFO since 2009.

6. Nacogdoches (Texas) Memorial Hospital named Rhonda McCabe CEO after Lion Star, the group that runs the hospital, reached an agreement with the Nacogdoches County Hospital District to transition hospital operations to the district. Ms. McCabe previously served as CFO of Nacogdoches Memorial Health for more than four years.

7. Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kan., named Marley Koons CEO on Feb. 20. She served as the hospital's CFO since 2018.

8. Macon Community Hospital in Lafayette, Tenn., named Scott Tongate CEO, effective Jan. 8. He had served as the hospital's CFO since 2017.
Michael Good, MD, the CEO of University of Utah Health and the University of Utah senior vice president of health sciences, will transition from his administrative roles later in 2024 after a national search for his successor.

Dr. Good plans to return to the University of Utah School of Medicine faculty following a sabbatical, according to an April 3 news release from the Salt Lake City-based university.

"The math is speaking," Dr. Good wrote in a message to his colleagues. "In June, I complete 40 years in academic medicine, with 20 years serving in a dean or vice president role; in July, Danette and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary; in August, I turn 65, register for Medicare, and start my 7th year at the University of Utah.

"I am reminded of the minister who asks the parishioner about the sermon, to which the parishioner replies, 'Well your message was really quite good, but you preached through three really good stopping points!' Being conscientious not to preach through good stopping points, calculus suggests this is a good time for transitions."

Dr. Good joined the university in 2018 as CEO of the health system, senior vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school.

During his tenure, he has overseen a $5.7 billion health system, 17 hospitals and clinics, 2.2 million patient visits and 25,000 faculty, staff and students at the academic health sciences center, according to the release.

Prior to joining the university, Dr. Good served as dean of the Gainesville-based University of Florida College of Medicine.

University of Utah President Taylor Randall said in the release that Dr. Good will remain CEO of the university's health system during a search for his replacement.
In 2024, CEOs are striking a balance between two self-presentations: strong and soft.

In the wake of the pandemic, leaders who exercise humility  actively listening and admitting what they do not know  are in high demand. When asked to select the most important CEO qualities for a Becker's survey, the majority of respondents chose honesty and openness (59%) or compassion and empathy (22%). More traditional "hard" skills lagged behind, with only 12% prioritizing financial and technical knowledge, and 7% valued charisma above all else.

Blackstone, the world's largest private equity firm, is prioritizing similar soft skills in its executive searches, Courtney della Cava, its global head of portfolio talent and organizational performance, told Fortune.

"We're realizing that success and failure hinge primarily on these skills," Ms. della Cava said. "The hard truth is, there is nothing soft about soft skills."

Soft leadership is not just for introverts, although they are becoming increasingly desirable in the C-suite, as they tend to possess soft skill sets. The hands-off, listening-centric "quiet management" approach has been adopted by many CEOs, including Dennis Pullin, president and CEO of Marlton, N.J.-based Virtua Health.

In a recent interview with Becker's, Mr. Pullin said he wished he would have coined the term "quiet management" a long time ago. He aspired to the leadership style before there was a popular name for it.

"It's about trust," Mr. Pullin said. "Even the most talented leaders only have so much time in his or her day, and so you have to build teams that feel empowered or well-positioned to do what you asked of them. You have to assume the best intentions of everybody, and you can still verify as you go."

Mr. Pullin rejects micromanagement in exchange for "curiosity," asking the right guiding questions but not assuming what the answers will be. He strives to practice soft leadership by creating spaces where he can be "authentic" and "vulnerable" in step with his colleagues  and where he can be called out on his blind spots. For example, he began a podcast to interview people who inspired him, usually other healthcare leaders, clergy members, politicians and celebrities. He also was encouraged to give less-visible roles access to the platform, which led to the creation of a second podcast featuring secretaries, accountants, nurses and assistants.

"I put myself every week in a vulnerable position to talk to one of our employees, to hear about things that we're doing well or some of the things that we have an opportunity to improve," he said. "To me, that's what we should do as leaders. I think as a leader, I have a responsibility to try and create communities of wellness."

Actively listening and seeking criticism can help improve self-awareness, which is one of the "greatest traits a leader can have," according to Mr. Pullin.

Self-awareness is also valued by Annie Thomas-Landrum, MSN, RN, who shared a recent statement with Becker's on leadership types. Ms. Thomas-Landrum serves on the board of directors at Sunshine Community Health Center in Talkeetna, Alaska, and believes introspection can help leaders weather industry challenges.

"The ability to be self-aware enough to self-regulate in the face of these challenges, to be aware of the emotions they bring, feel them and not add fuel to their fire, but instead to accept, regroup and keep moving, this is a leader who can navigate whatever comes," Ms. Thomas-Landrum said. "There isn't a playbook for where we are."

Donna Padilla, executive partner and healthcare market leader at WittKieffer, told Becker's the firm tries to "dig under those [soft/hard] labels" typically assigned to introverts and extroverts. Both can be either, and different organizations will require different competencies. If everything is going great inside the organization, an outgoing, external-facing CEO might be ideal  someone who can be "exuberant on 'Good Morning America' every day," Ms. Padilla said. But soft-spoken CEOs have usually trained themselves to put on this face, too  even if they need some alone time after the cocktail hour.

"What's hidden behind [the traditional CEO trope] is you need someone who can be authentic and build strong relationships," Ms. Padilla said. "Introverts can do that.

"We've always assumed we need somebody who just wants to kiss babies and shake hands. And maybe that's not what we need."

As flexible work arrangements permeate the cultural discussion, questions of hard versus soft dynamics have taken on new urgency. Some executives are leaning into their authoritative sides as they aim to regain control over productivity and performance metrics. Employees' favor hangs in the balance: Can a CEO listen and be listened to? Can they wield a soft heart and a firm hand?

Mr. Pullin thinks the answer is yes.

"Am I demanding? Absolutely. But I don't believe in this commander kind of disposition," he said. "I believe in holding people accountable. But I like authenticity in terms of showing up with a willingness to be vulnerable and to hear ideas that might contradict with my own.

"I don't confuse that with being undefined. I think you can be soft and still be heard. You don't have to raise your voice. I don't think you need to be domineering to be effective."
Pastures in north China begin grazing moratorium for grass rejuvenation

Xinhua) 11:01, April 04, 2024

HOHHOT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cattle and sheep have been confined to sheds starting Monday in major grasslands in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as the pastures undergo a 45-day grazing moratorium aimed at revitalizing grass productivity.

Spring is a peak season for livestock production. Duurenbilig, a herdsman belonging to a Mongolian ethnic group residing on the Xilin Gol grasslands, said that he carefully checked his cattle sheds and sheep pens before the moratorium came into force.

"The forage must be prepared in advance to feed the livestock," he said, adding that he harvested grass last autumn and stored it for both the winter season and the moratorium period.

Administered by the Xilin Gol League, the Xilin Gol grasslands, spanning 220 million mu (about 14.7 million hectares), are included in this year's grazing moratorium, for which 101,000 herdsmen households are entitled to subsidies.

The Xilin Gol grasslands became the first area in Inner Mongolia to implement the spring grazing moratorium in 2018, which was extended to the whole of Inner Mongolia this year.

According to the regional forestry and grassland bureau, a total grazing area of 970 million mu is subjected to the grazing moratorium this spring.

Thanks to years of ecological preservation efforts, Xilin Gol grasslands have regained considerable vitality. The vegetation coverage of natural grasslands hit 26.5 percent last spring in the area, with the average height of the grasses reaching 7.7 cm during the period.

Earlier this year, the regional government rolled out a pilot plan to address the problem of grassland overgrazing. This initiative employs precision methods tailored to treat various types of grasslands while taking into account the diverse local economic conditions.

Large swathes of grassland in Inner Mongolia have suffered from desertification and salinization due to overgrazing, drought and other factors. However, over the past decade, the vegetation coverage of the grasslands in the region has notably improved, thanks to integrated efforts, such as the grazing ban, incentive policies for grassland protection, and initiatives focused on restoring degraded vegetation and soil in the grasslands.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
By Lee Kyung-min

Hana Bank invited 35 VIP foreign clients from four countries last month to thank their years-long loyalty as clients, the lender said Thursday.

The clients from Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan were the top users of Hana-mediated remittance services. They commonly sent money earned in Korea back to their home countries.

The event was organized to appreciate the efforts of the foreign nationals working hard in Korea, the bank said.

"Foreign nationals form an important customer base for us, with the number of foreigners in Korea surpassing 2.5 million," a Hana Bank official said.

At the event, Hana introduced the Hana-EZ app, Hana Bank's mobile banking service app optimized for overseas remittances.

Hana employees were also able to understand the needs of foreign bank users in brief conversations.

Hana runs 16 branches that open on Sundays, and about 10 foreign employees are stationed there to help customers.

"We understand many foreign customers struggle to use financial services due primarily to language barriers. We will do our best to provide convenient and safe services," the official added.
More than 400 resident and fellow physicians employed by Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California have launched a campaign to unionize.

On April 2, the physicians filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for an election to vote on whether to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union, according to a union news release. The filing comes one day after resident physicians and fellows at University of Chicago Medical Center announced efforts to unionize.

The physicians at Kaiser work across campuses in San Francisco, Santa Clara and other Northern California locations. Their unionization would result in a fully unionized workforce across Kaiser Northern California, according to CIR/SEIU. Unions currently represent more than 85,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia and Washington.

CIR/SEIU said the Kaiser physicians in Northern California seek to advocate to improve their working conditions and patient care in their region.

"My colleagues and I chose Kaiser to provide innovative, quality care to our communities here in the Bay Area and beyond  but we need adequate support to provide that top quality care without jeopardizing our own well-being," Brandon Anderson, MD, a second-year internal medicine resident on the San Francisco campus, said in the release. "We have seen the success our unionized colleagues have had, and we are ready for our own turn at the bargaining table."

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente shared the following statement with Becker's: "We greatly value our medical residents and fellows and are committed to continuing to make Kaiser Permanente the best place to learn, work and provide care. We respect our longstanding relationships with labor unions and the rights of our employees to make decisions about whether they want to be represented by a union. We support our Kaiser Permanente residents and fellows in any decision they make as a group in a representation election to be conducted by the National Labor Relations Board."
On April 2, a judge sentenced three defendants to federal prison for their roles in running a coordinated scheme to sell thousands of fake diplomas and transcripts to aspiring nurses.

Since January 2023, a total of 27 defendants have been charged and convicted for their participation in a sham to sell more than 7,600 fraudulent nursing documents from three now-shuttered schools in South Florida. Officials have estimated around 37% of individuals with phony documents passed the National Council Licensure Examination and went on to secure employment.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, Gail Russ was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Ms. Russ was the director of student services and registrar at the now-closed Palm Beach School of Nursing. She was also ordered forfeiture of $861,672.

Cassandre Jean and Vilaire Duroseau, two operators who recruited students, were also sentenced. Ms. Jean was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered forfeiture of more than $4.7 million. Mr. Duroseau was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered forfeiture of nearly $1.4 million.

The three were also each ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. A federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in December found the three guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges after a three-week trial. The former president and owner of the Palm Beach School of Nursing, Johanah Napoleon, was the prosecution's main witness. Ms. Napoleon previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

At least seven people have now been sentenced in connection to the scheme.

More of the latest updates on the fallout from Operation Nightingale can be found here.






A new firm, Affiliated Monitors, has been selected to oversee HCA Healthcare's compliance with commitments set forth in its 2019 purchase agreement of Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health.

Affiliated Monitors took over independent monitoring services April 1, according to a news release from Dogwood Health Trust, the nonprofit established to oversee Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA's $1.5 billion acquisition of Mission Health, which was finalized in February 2019.

Early this year, Dogwood said it was searching for a new independent monitor due to a "change in the scope of work." That announcement came less than a month after North Carolina's attorney general sued HCA, alleging the health system lapsed on its purchase agreement by cutting certain emergency and cancer care services at 815-bed Mission Hospital, which is facing the potential loss of federal funding related to care deficiencies cited by CMS.

HCA and Mr. Stein both signed off on AMI as the new monitor, which is tasked with four primary responsibilities: evaluate HCA's annual report, educate and engage the community, engage with the attorney general's office, and continuous compliance evaluation.

"We are working to develop a full understanding of the issues that Dogwood, HCA, the North Carolina Attorney General's office, and the communities served by each of the hospitals have been facing," Vin DiCianni, president of AMI, said in a statement. "It will take dedicated efforts of all parties to make the objectives of the Asset Purchase Agreement successful. We look forward to working with the parties, stakeholders and community."

Nancy Landell, a spokesperson for Mission Health, said the system looks forward to working with the new independent monitor.

"We are confident that we have been and will remain in compliance with the asset purchase agreement," she said in the Dogwood news release.

Meanwhile, regulators have given the hospital a June 5 deadline for HCA Mission Hospital to fully implement accepted correction plans for care deficiencies it has been cited for and avert the loss of funding.
Cyberattacks have been at the forefront of healthcare leaders' minds in recent months after the wide-scale Change Healthcare incident.

Spine and orthopedic practices are also staying alert. In the first month of 2024 alone, four groups reported data breach incidents.

Five spine surgeons shared their strategies to prevent data breaches.

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: How will spine surgeons in 10 years look at the current state of the field?

Please send responses to Carly Behm at cbehm@beckershealthcare.com by 5 p.m. CST Wednesday, April 10.

Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.

Question: How is your practice safeguarding against cyberattack threats?

Brian Fiani, DO. Mendelson Kornblum Orthopedic & Spine Specialists (West Bloomfield, Mich.): Medical practices can safeguard against cyberattack threats by implementing robust cybersecurity measures, such as encrypting patient data, regularly updating software and systems, training staff on cybersecurity best practices and conducting regular security audits. It's also important to have a response plan in place in case of a cyberattack and to educate patients on how to protect their personal information.

Brian Gantwerker, MD. The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: At this point, cyberattacks are now becoming as frequent as traffic jams. Best practices are often dictated by the size and scope of your individual practice. Frequent software updates, physical firewall apparatus, and routine check-ins with your IT is the best way to keep safe. Using end-to-end encryption for emails and also utilizing complex passwords and 2-factor-authentication help slow them down. The most important thing is to not open emails from unfamiliar addresses. This is by far and away the single easiest and most sinister way they get access.

Jeffrey Carlson, MD. Orthopaedic & Spine Center (Newport News, Va.): We take cyber threats very seriously. Obviously with records, health data and radiographs running from completely online servers, blocking the access to that information makes our practice severely limited in function and efficiency. We have used several online cloud storage services that provide firewalls for the servers and redundancy of our information. The greater threat comes from our internal staff computers and potential malware that can be downloaded unintentionally. We have separated our internal systems and servers from our patient care data to minimize the risk. We have a diligent IT team that is acutely aware of the changing dynamics in system exposure risk. I dont believe there is any way to ensure the data will never be at risk, but we try our best to maximize security and minimize the access points.

Emeka Nwodim, MD. Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics (Bethesda, Md.): Cyberattacks have become a significant threat to the healthcare industry. These threats often pose substantial financial risk to both small and large healthcare institutions. At CAO, there are multiple measures being implemented to try to safeguard our systems, with the understanding that there will always be risk. I believe the primary focus should be educating our members and staff on corporatewide compliance protocols and policies to help avoid scams. Currently at my practice, we safeguard against cyberattacks and scams through corporatewide emails that educate our members on potential phishing scams, as well as routine webinars on protective measures to avoid becoming a victim or enabling a cyberattack.

Christian Zimmerman, MD. St. Alphonsus Medical Group and SAHS Neuroscience Institute (Boise, Idaho): Our parent corporation uses a commercial company for its data encryption and transference. Antiviral, cloud-based accessibility provides basic data privacy controls, user management and some mobile device management features.

Albeit assured in its product usage, the latest data breach experienced by United Health, pharmacy billing and delivery system was both costly and prolonged, there clearly exists potential threats of hacking and destruction with any device use. The extortion to patients and systems by such amoral individuals is beyond explanation nor condonement.
Lynn McGrath, MD, a neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian in New York City, has performed the first endoscopic spine surgery in Tanzania.

Dr. McGrath performed the procedure at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute as part of a training course for neurosurgeons in the area, according to an April 4 email sent to Becker's.

Endoscopic surgery allows surgeons to repair herniated discs, spinal stenosis and other spine conditions with incisions barely an inch long, often letting patients walk out of the hospital the same day.

Cornell has been serving patients and training surgeons in Tanzania since 2008, when it launched its Tanzanian neurosurgery program in partnership with Bugando Hospital in northern Tanzania.
The new Maternity Hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast

The new 97m Maternity Hospital at the Royal in Belfast has now been completed by the building firms involved following a long delay.

Graham Construction and BAM, who worked in partnership on the project, confirmed it had finished its work on the unit and now handed it over to the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Before it opens next year, the trust is carrying out a clinical commissioning process to that services can be transferred into the new building.

The new five-storey unit has been built beside the existing hospital and features a neonatal intensive care unit, delivery suites, obstetric theatres and en-suite rooms with birthing pools. It will have facilities for deliveries requiring specialised care.

The hospital was highlighted in a report from the NI Audit Office in February as one of many major capital projects which had cost significantly more than expected, and been subject to long delays.

An announcement of completion by Graham Construction and BAM said the project was not without its challenges  construction took place within a busy acute hospital environment surrounded by existing live hospital buildings.

The NI Audit Office in February said the project was substantially complete but would be 10 years late when it begins operating next year. It said its cost was 97m, 40m more than the original estimate.

Peter Reavey, director at Graham-BAM Healthcare Partnership, said: This new Maternity Hospital represents the future of maternity care for Belfast.

Maureen Edwards, Belfast Trust director of finance, estates and capital development, said: Belfast Health and Social Care Trust is delighted that the handover of the new maternity hospital from contractors, GRAHAM-BAM, has taken place.

"This is a significant step in delivering a new modern facility which will provide a high standard of care for our mothers and their new babies.

"Our sincere thanks go to GRAHAM-BAM Healthcare Partnership, and of course our own staff for the work they continue to carry out to ensure we can open the building as soon as possible.

GBHP also previously completed the 30m acute mental health inpatient centre at Belfast City Hospital.
A family-owned bakery ingredients company in Co Down which is one of the UKs biggest sprinkles suppliers has been sold to a business in England.

Finlays Foods in Moira, which was founded in 1970 by James Finlay, has been snapped up for an undisclosed sum by BAKO Group. The companies have traded together for around 20 years.

The Northern Ireland business employs around 60 people and is now a major manufacturer of ingredients to the bakery and general food industry, with customers across the UK, Europe and Asia.

In accounts for the year to August 2023 published last week, James A S Finlay Ltd reported pre-tax profits of 1.2m, more than double the 534,179 of the year before. Turnover was up 37% from 19.4m to 26.5m.

Finlays Foods started out as a supplier of fruit pie fillings but has expanded to manufacture cheesecake toppings, fruit sauces and sweet mince.

In 2000, it expanded into the confectionery market with the manufacture of sugar strands and sprinkles, becoming one of the UKs biggest manufacturers of the products. In 2010, it also began manufacturing jams and spreads.

Clients of Finlays Foods include home bakeries, bakery chains and big industrial bakeries.

New owner BAKO Group provides independent bakers and caterers with ingredients and finished products from suppliers, and its own range. It has depots in Preston, Durham and Wimbledon and has 312 staff across its three sites.

But it said that following the acquisition, Finlays Foods would continue trading under its existing brand as part of BAKO Group.

BAKO CEO Mike Tully said: This acquisition opens up new markets for us in Northern Ireland and beyond, offering significant growth opportunities. Finlays Foods has established a strong presence and loyal customer base, which we intend to build upon and expand.

By integrating Finlays Foods product line with our own, we are able to diversify our offerings and enhance our competitive edge. Their expertise in bakery products complements our current portfolio and opens up a wide range of cross-selling opportunities.

Bringing Finlays Foods into the BAKO family will also provide substantial operational advantages, including optimised supply chains, shared resources, and enhanced production capabilities.

The additional resources and capabilities from this acquisition provide us with the ability to accelerate innovation and drive growth, aligning with our commitment to offering high-quality products and services and exploring new market segments.

Patrick Gracey, sales director at Finlays Foods, said: We are excited that Finlays Foods is now part of the BAKO Group.

"Finlays have had a long-standing relationship with Bako both as a customer and supplier for over 20 years. This is a natural evolution that benefits both companies and will enable us to build on our customer focused approach, facilitating the delivery of more choice opportunities and benefits to our loyal customer base.

Partnering with such a major force and leading light within the UK bakery industry is the start of an exciting journey for both Finlays and our customers.
Organizer secures alternative venue in another area of Gyeonggi Province

By KTimes

An adult-themed event scheduled for April 20 at a private exhibition hall in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has been canceled following strong opposition from civic groups.

Women's groups and parents have called for the cancellation of the event for allegedly promoting sexual exploitation. However, the controversy hasn't completely subsided as the organizer has secured an alternative venue in another area of Gyeonggi Province.

The Suwon City Government said Wednesday that Suwon Messe, a private exhibition hall located in Seodun-dong, Gwonseon District, had terminated its contract with PlayJoker, the adult content production company behind the 2024 KXF The Fashion Adult Festival.

The city government cited concerns that the event could violate Article 9 of the Act on the Protection of the Educational Environment, which prohibits activities that could harm the educational environment due to their sexual nature.

The planned event's location would have been just 21 meters away from an elementary school, placing it within the protection zone, which would have established it as being harmful to the educational environment.

Despite the cancelation, Playjoker, the organizer, intends to proceed with the event in another region of Gyeonggi Province. The new venue has been secured and will be announced shortly, with plans to operate shuttle buses from a nearby subway station approximately 2 kilometers away to accommodate attendees, according to an official from the organizer.

The company has also signaled its intention to take legal action against Suwon Messe for contract termination and is considering filing complaints against the Suwon government and opposing women's groups for business interference and defamation.

Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon said, 'The cancelation of the adult festival's venue rental is a result achieved by the unanimous effort of all citizens. We will also respond thoroughly to any legal disputes."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
A tech companys Belfast team has won a five-year contract to provide infrastructure technology to the beleaguered National Childrens Hospital in Dublin.

When the hospital opens next year, digital technology will be used in everything from electronic health records to the systems controlling the building.

Telefonica Tech UK&Is Belfast team has won the tender to build and manage the hospitals IT infrastructure, with a significant focus on cyber security. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.

It will oversee all servers, storage, security, PCs, printers, workstations on wheels and laptops in the new hospital. The platform will also support clinical applications integrated into the hospitals new Electronic Patient Record system.

The new hospital, on the campus of St James Hospital in south central Dublin, has been a source of controversy after its estimated cost ballooned from 1.7bn to 2.24bn.

It was to have been finished in August 2022 but substantial completion was delayed until October this year. Its due to open next year.

Adrian Rath, chief technology officer with Childrens Health Ireland, said: We are delighted to work with Telefonica Tech for the next five years, to create world-class digital infrastructure in a world-class digital hospital.

"In Childrens Health Ireland, we deliver around 200,000 episodes of care to patients in a year. The new hospital will be an incredible place for clinicians to provide that care to patients.

"There will be a single sign-on system to greatly improve access to information for clinicians, while a single email system for all staff will make for seamless cross-city collaboration between the new hospital and CHI urgent care sites at Connolly and Tallaght.

"The security solutions provided by Telefonica Tech will enable Childrens Health Ireland to strengthen its cyber security posture against potential cyber. Most importantly, all of this will bring about a safer and better experience for the children, young people and families who use our services.

Ellen Dickson, VP of enterprise health at Telefonica Tech UK&I, said the new hospital would transform childrens healthcare in Ireland.

"The IT infrastructure and services will underpin the vital clinical services and are therefore critical to the success of the hospital.

"Telefonica Tech UK&Is Strategic Healthcare Practice has market-leading expertise, thanks to the skills and experience of our staff, and has successfully delivered innovative and complex health IT projects with some of the largest health trusts in the UK.

Telefonica Tech UK&I is developing the infrastructure technology for the new children's hospital while the building is under construction, due for completion by the end of October.
West Belfast hip hop group are fresh from success at the Sundance Festival in the US

Kneecap have experienced a meteoric rise over the last year

Fresh from their success in the US, Irish language hip hop band Kneecap are set to open this years prestigious London Sundance Film Festival.

The bands biopic  Kneecap  has been chosen as the opening night film for the festival, which takes place in the English capital from June 6 until June 9.

It comes after the film, directed by Richard Peppiatt, scooped the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, USA, earlier this year.

The fictional film charts the bands journey from Irish language activism to entertaining thousands of people at sold-out concerts throughout the world.

Closing the festival will be Didi (), Sean Wangs modern-day coming-of-age film, which picked up the US Dramatic Audience Award and US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Film Festival.

Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming said: Having Kneecap and Didi () bookend the upcoming Sundance Film Festival: London 2024 sets the stage for a rousing edition celebrating new cinema.

Kneecap have experienced a meteoric rise over the last year

"These two debut films, by breakthrough directors Rich Peppiatt and Sean Wang, offer irresistible storytelling and bold filmmaking that resonated deeply with our audiences at this years Sundance Film Festival.

"Its been an honour to welcome these filmmakers into the Sundance community. We look forward to bringing these exciting discoveries to London audiences and to sharing their energy and passion for independent cinema.

Later in June, the west Belfast trio will join Shania Twain, Dua Lipa and SZA as major acts at the legendary Glastonbury Festival in Somerset.

The band also announced earlier this year they had pulled out of the Texas festival SXSW (South by Southwest) in protest against its reported connections to American military and US arms manufacturers.

They posted on social media that they cannot in good conscience attend an arts festival that has The U.S Army as a Super Sponsor and is platforming RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems, the very companies selling the weapons that have murdered 31,000 Palestinians, over 21,000 of them women and children.

It is done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies and the US military who at this very moment are enabling a genocide and famine against a trapped population.
NI photographers exhibition unmasks Ukraines new normal under the shadow of war

Pulitzer Prize winner Cathal McNaughton on the recent loss of his father, his new Belfast-based display and the harsh reality of conflict

Cathal McNaughton in Ukraine

Catriona Doherty Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 07:57







Multi-award-winning photojournalist Cathal McNaughtons new exhibition Ukraine  Searching for the Normal opens at Belfast Exposed today.
The incident happened outside a bar on the Dublin Road

A man allegedly threw stones and a pint glass at bouncers after being ejected from a pub in Belfast, a court heard.

Robert Chambers also lunged at a police officer who took him to hospital to be treated for a suspected drug overdose, it was claimed.
NI burglar furious after being caught with suspected stolen items: I steal stuff because you take everything from me

While Patterson was being arrested, his phone was active with messages which indicated he was involved in the supply of drugs

Paul Patterson

Ciaran O'Neill Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 10:50







A self-confessed burglar was furious when arrested last week with another batch of suspected stolen items.
Volunteers, family and friends continue searching for missing Lisburn woman Paula Elliott at the towpath in Lisburn, including her brother David Birney (black hat)

Paula Elliot's body was found in the River Lagan on Monday

Police have formally identified the body of a woman pulled from the River Lagan on Monday to be that of missing woman Paula Elliot.

In a statement, the PSNI said the 52-year olds body was identified following a post-mortem examination.

Ms Elliot went missing from the Lisburn area almost one month ago on 5 March, with several appeals from police issued to help the search to find her.

A police spokesperson said: Paula was reported as missing to police in Lisburn on Tuesday 5th March.

Our thoughts are with Paulas family at this time and we express our heartfelt condolences to them. On behalf of Paulas family along with myself, I would like to thank our partner agencies, Community Rescue Service, SARDA NI and Sky Watch who have all worked tirelessly to find Paula.

We would also like to thank the public for all of their assistance throughout this difficult time with searches and enquiries.

On Tuesday, Ms Elliots brother David Birney thanked everyone who tried to find the missing mum-of-two for their support in the search for her.

"We are just broken, he said.

In a post on social media, he added: Not the news we were hoping [for] but that's life.

Mr Birney asked for the family to be given time to grieve and said his parents home will be strictly private.

Thank you to all involved, I will always be in your debt, he said.

Volunteers, family and friends continue searching for missing Lisburn woman Paula Elliott at the towpath in Lisburn, including her brother David Birney (black hat)

Community Rescue Service regional commander Sean McCarry, who led the search effort which began when she was reported missing after leaving her home near Ravernet on March 5, also paid tribute to her family.

"We worked tirelessly to find Paula, he said.

We know its not the outcome her family had hoped for, but I know they have got some sort of an answer, which is important.

Ms Elliots funeral service will take place on Tuesday 9 April at St. Pauls Parish Church, Ballinderry Road, Lisburn. It will be followed by burial in Lisburn New Cemetery Blaris Extension.

A post on Funeral Times said Ms Elliot will be loved and remembered always by her sorrowing sons, daughter, granddaughter, mother, father, brother, family circle and friends.
Surrey detectives not probing new line before controversial legislation takes effect next month

The wrecked Horse and Groom public house in Guildford which was bombed in 1974 (PA)

Five people were killed and 65 injured in the bomb attack on the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford in 1974 (PA)

The family of a young woman killed in the IRAs Guildford bombing have told of their shock after police said they would not investigate new evidence due to the Legacy Act.

Surrey Police confirmed they had identified potential forensic clues nearly 50 years after the atrocity, which killed five people.

While detectives said the next step would be a new criminal investigation, they indicated this will not happen before the Government's controversial legislation takes effect, a lawyer said.

Soldiers Caroline Slater (18), William Forsyth (18), John Hunter (17) and Ann Hamilton (19), and civilian Paul Craig (21) died and 65 more were injured in the explosions at the Horse And Groom and Seven Stars in the Surrey town on October 5, 1974. Another bomb detonated 30 minutes later at the Seven Stars.

The wrecked Horse and Groom public house in Guildford which was bombed in 1974 (PA)

The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were wrongly convicted for the attacks. Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson served 15 years in jail.

According to KRW Law, Ms Hamiltons family were told Surrey Police have identified a potential forensic line of enquiry and the next step would be a new criminal investigation.

However, detectives are launching any further investigations before the Legacy Act takes effect from May 1, the lawyer said.

The act allows those involved with The Troubles to seek conditional immunity from prosecution.

However, Surrey Police said a new legacy body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) could possibly advance the case after May 1 if Ms Hamiltons family request a review.

This year marks half a century since the Guildford bombings.

Read more UN human rights body calls for repeal or amendment of Troubles legacy laws

In 2022 an inquest found the victims were unlawfully killed by a powerful time bomb planted by a courting couple.

Ms Hamiltons family said Surrey Police and other related criminal justice services and agencies could have pursued and continued to pursue evidential opportunities which be compromised with the further passage of time.

Cassandra Hamilton, a sister of Ann Hamilton, said: Four years after the resumed inquest in the murder of our sister in which we could not participate in because we were disgracefully refused legal aid, we are now confronted with the Surrey Police producing new evidence  50 years after the Anns murder.

A Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police wrote in his letter to us that I can only image how the death of Ann has impacted on you and your family, and how the publicity surrounding this case has affected you over the years.

First, this policeman cannot begin imagine the impact of Anns violent murder and those of four others on our families.

Second, it has been the support of the public and their anger at those responsible for the investigation that has been important and kept this catastrophic failure of policing and criminal justice alive for us.

Now we are being told that this new forensic evidence cannot be investigated because of the Legacy Act which the British Government is imposing upon all relatives despite huge opposition and a successful legal challenge and an application by the Irish Government against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Legacy Act appears to provide Surrey Police with another reason not to do anything  despite now telling us, out of the blue and a month before the Legacy Act comes into force, that there is new evidence.

Barry ODonnell, a solicitor at KRW said: The timing by Surrey Police in this matter raises too many questions which the family of Ann Hamilton want answered.

There is the question of the nature of this new evidential lead, the question of how long this new evidence has been available to Surrey Police, when decisions were taken not to investigate this new forensic evidence, and why beyond the coming into force of the Legacy Act and whether, now given the legal challenges to the Legacy Act, Surrey Police should and could continue its investigation?

A Surrey Police spokeswoman told the BBC: We do not feel it would be appropriate to comment or provide any further information until we have shared the information with all the families involved.

We will provide further comment as and when it is appropriate to do so.
Aodhan Roberts was assaulted in Derry last year.

The individual police are hoping to speak to in relation to the incident

Police in Derry have issued an image of an individual they wish to speak to in connection with an assault on a Belfast Telegraph journalist in the city last year.

Aodhan Roberts (21) was assaulted in the Foyle Street area on November 5 2023 while on a night out, sustaining injuries to his face, bleeding to his eyes as well as bruising and swelling around the area.

The attack left him suffering from nausea, headaches and a number of panic attacks since the incident, which occurred in the early hours of the morning.

The PSNI have now issued a CCTV image of an individual they wish to speak to regarding the alleged assault.

"We are investigating the assault of a man on Foyle Street, Derry/Londonderry on November 5 2023, said a spokesperson.

"We believe the individual pictured may be able to assist us with our enquiries and are asking them or anyone who has information in relation to this incident to contact us on 101, quoting ref 180 of 05.11.23.

Aodhan sustained head and facial injuries during the incident

Mr Roberts spent seven hours in the emergency department at Altnagelvin Area Hospital following the ordeal just before 2am on November 5 last year.

The talented photographer and videographer  who is from Derry  said the incident in his hometown had left him traumatised.

"Derry is an absolutely brilliant place and nothing like this has ever happened to me before; no one has ever raised their hands to me here, he said.

"It was a really traumatic experience, but I was even more surprised because it was in my hometown. I have never seen this kind of thing happen before first hand, never mind experiencing it myself.

"I really couldnt believe it, it was a complete shock.

Aodhan returned to work in January 2024

At the time of the attack, PSNI Sergeant Young had said the incident had left the victim not just physically injured, but also distressed.
A Co Antrim food van business said their trailer has been "totally destroyed" after a tour bus crashed into it on Wednesday evening.

Footage was shared on social media which showed extensive damage to Dallas Diner on the Frosses Road near Ballymoney - with the trailer toppled over.

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The PSNI said no serious injuries had been reported after they arrived at the scene on Wednesday evening. Its not clear who owned the tour bus.

In a social media post shared by local radio station Fuse FM, the diner owner said: "Just want to let all our customers and friends know that the trailer was hit today by a tour bus which totally destroyed the trailer. Luckily the trailer had been closed for about 10 minutes so no injuries or worse.

"Thanks to everyone who rang, sent messages and came over to support us. We are obviously in total shock and totally gutted but very glad someone was looking down on us."

Police said in a statement: "Police attended the scene of a two vehicle road traffic collision involving a bus on the Frosses Road, Ballymoney shortly after 3pm on Wednesday 3rd April. There were no serious injuries reported and no roads closed."
Watch: Shots fired over the coffin of 'Gerard 'Hucker' Moyna in west Belfast

The PSNI have said they are investigating a video of masked men firing shots over the coffin of Gerard Hucker Moyna, believed to have been filmed in west Belfast this week.

Moyna, from Bombay Street in the Clonard area of the city died last month aged 69.

A video was circulated online, showing the coffin of Moyna draped in a tricolour, placed in the street close to his home.

A large picture of the once feared republican was also on display.

Three masked men are seen standing behind the coffin, while one raises a handgun in the air and fires three shots.

A PSNI spokesperson said: Police are aware of a video circulating online. Detectives from the Police Services Serious Crime Branch are investigating, and would urge anyone with information to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives on 101.

Moyna was buried in Milltown cemetery following requiem mass in St Pauls Church on the Falls Road on Thursday.

Several hundred mourners followed the funeral cortege, which left his Bombay Street home and made its way along the Falls Road towards the church.

A lone piper lead the cortege, the tricolour on the coffin was covered before entering the church.

During the service mourners were told that Moyna was a loving father, grandfather and great grandfather.

Mourners heard that he was born and lived in Bombay Street all his life and that he loved: West Ham FC, animals, the GAA and his country.

A former hitman, Moyna had been one of two IRA men who shot and killed notorious Shankill Butcher Lenny Murphy in November 1982.

In a statement claiming the shooting, the IRA called Murphy a master butcher who was responsible for sectarian slaughter against nationalists.

He was also involved in the killing of solicitor and unionist politician Edgar Graham, who was murdered by the IRA outside Queens University in 1983.

Shots are fired over the coffin of Gerard 'Hucker' Moyna in west Belfast

He later fell from favour with the IRA and joined the IPLO and was involved in a feud within the organisation, during which he shot dead spokesperson Jimmy Brown in August 1992.

The impact of the IRA murder of Edgar Graham

Brown had been living in Dublin but was lured to Belfast under the pretence of taking part in talks to end the feud.

While a member of the IPLO, Moyna also murdered Henry Ward in the Diamond Jubilee Bar on the Shankill Road on October 10, 1991. A number of other people were injured in the attack.

In later life he was briefly linked to the dissident republican Continuity IRA and suffered an eye injury and lost three fingers when a bomb exploded prematurely while in transit on College Avenue in the city, when the RUC arrived at the scene they found blood, scorch marks, and bomb components.

The bombs detonator had gone off injuring Moyna, but the main Semtex charge had not.

Despite parting ways from the IRA, joining the INLA, IPLO and later the CIRA, a number of former IRA prisoners attended his funeral.
By Park Han-sol

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the K-Royal Culture Festival is ready to return in spring with a new lineup of programs, including ones tailored specifically for international audiences, aimed at attracting a million annual visitors to the countrys regal heritage.

The nine-day festival will unfold across five major palaces  Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace, Deoksu Palace, Changgyeong Palace and Gyeonghui Palace  and Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul from April 27 to May 5.

Held every spring and fall since 2014, the biannual event has become Koreas largest cultural heritage festival, offering an array of traditional performances and hands-on experiences against the palatial backdrop of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty.

Organized by the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center under the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, the event has drawn over 5.3 million visitors over the past decade.

Kicking off with an opening ceremony that musically reimagines King Sejongs proclamation of Hunminjeongeum, or the Korean writing system Hangeul, in 1446, this springs iteration will bask spectators in historic splendor through newly-launched tours, performances and exhibitions.

Its rare to see festivals being held in royal palaces for such extended periods around the world, as is the case in Korea, rather than as one-time events. Our focus is on blending the buildings' excellent hardware with diverse cultural software to showcase a living cultural heritage that remains relevant today, said Park Dong-woo, who is directing this years opening ceremony, at a press conference in Seoul, Thursday.

Gyeongbok Palace, the primary residence of Joseon royalty, offers a journey back 600 years in its immersive program, A Time Travel, King Sejong. This experience, taking place from May 1 to 5, turns visitors into palace apprentices, inviting them to participate in activities such as making the royal feast table, crafting traditional arrowheads and learning court dance.

Throughout the venue, tourists can witness on-site reenactments featuring the king, queen, princely couple and court scholars, providing a vivid glimpse into daily life within the royal residence.

The palace is also running a foreigner-exclusive cultural program, A Time Travel to the Joseon Dynasty, at its banquet hall, Gyeonghoeru Pavilion.

For the first time, the main Geunjeongjeon Hall has been chosen as the majestic backdrop of evening concerts. A hundred traditional performers of daegeum (large bamboo flute), gayageum (Korean 12-string zither) and haegeum (bowed zither), all adorned in crimson attire, will fill the space with musical delights on May 4 and 5.

Meanwhile, Changdeok Palace will host the festivals inaugural craft exhibition, MEETS: A Timeless Harmony, at Injeongjeon Hall, the main throne hall and state-designated national treasure.

The show brings together 24 works created through collaborations between artisans and contemporary craft artists  such as sound-responsive floor lighting, large-scale wall art showcasing traditional dyeing techniques and folding screens inspired by dancheong (multicolored paintwork on wooden surfaces).

A novel addition to the lineup is a leisurely two-hour morning stroll around the palace, limited to just 50 participants per day from April 29 to May 3. This exclusive experience provides a chance to savor the serene tranquility of the palace grounds during the early hours of the day.

Other programs premiering at the Spring K-Royal Culture Festival 2024 include the Moonlight Lotus Show at Changgyeong Palaces Chundangji Pond, a nighttime light spectacle featuring renowned artist Lee Lee-nams panoramic media art. At Deoksu Palace, Royal Recreations Club allows participants to experience the hobbies enjoyed by King Gojong, the final monarch of the Joseon Kingdom and the first emperor of the Korean Empire, such as coffee and billiards.

Advance reservations for select programs can be made on Ticketlink or, in the case of international visitors, Creatrip.

In addition, a total of 10,000 K-Royal Palaces Passes will be available for purchase until April 26. The tickets grant holders unlimited access to all five palaces throughout the duration of the event.

Detailed schedules can be found on the festivals official website.
DUP focus 'undiminished despite difficult and shocking' Donaldson resignation, MPs say

Gavin Robinson and Carla Lockhart stress priority is now on delivery for NI

DUPs Gavin Robinson: Recent days have been difficult and shocking for NI

Jessica Rice Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 11:30







The DUP's focus remains "undiminished" on delivery as it deals with the shock of Sir Jeffrey Donaldsons resignation, senior party members have said.
Rather than Britain plotting to murder Peter Robinson, as he claimed, officials worked to protect him

DUP deputy leader claimed that there was 5,000 bounty on his head, with the Government asking a former SAS man to kill him

Peter Robinson at Ballybay Courthouse in October 1986 where he appeared on charges relating to the Clontibret affair. Photo: Pacemaker

Sam McBride Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 07:35

Contrary to Peter Robinsons claim that the UK Government was hiring a mercenary to murder him after his invasion of Clontibret, declassified files show the lengths to which British officials went to protect the DUP deputy leader.
Accused (36) arraigned before sitting of Queens County Criminal Court

Funeral arrangements for the late Sarah McNally are expected to be announced tomorrow (Friday).

The former boyfriend of Longford woman Sarah McNally has been charged with her murder in a New York bar last weekend.

Thirty-six-year-old Marcin Pieciak was arraigned before a sitting of Queens County Criminal Court on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon following the fatal stabbing of Ms McNally at the Ceili House Bar, Maspeth, Queens last Saturday evening.

The court was told Ms McNally was working as a bartender at the popular Queens establishment when Pieciak allegedly walked in and fatally stabbed Ms McNally before then injuring himself.

District Attorney Melinda Katz said the brutal nature of the incident was one which had left the community of Queens and Ms McNallys home town of Longford in a state of numbed disbelief.

This is an attack that shocked the community. It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family. We are using every resource to make sure there is accountability.

According to the charges, Pieciak, of 76th Street in Glendale, arrived at Ms McNallys place of work at 6.30pm where it is alleged the Longford woman, who was described as his girlfriend had been on duty.

Pieciak is then alleged to have stabbed the Longford woman multiple times and injuring himself before leaving the bar.

A customer is said to have tried to detain Pieciak after the alarm was raised and police arrived on the scene.

The charges also state police witnessed two knives on the ground after noticing Pieciak drop them as he attempted to leave the bar.

Pieciak, who was remanded and ordered to return to court on Friday, faces 25 years in prison upon conviction.

Meanwhile, efforts to repatriate Ms McNallys remains to Ireland are continuing.

In a post on its Facebook page, Longford based Glennon Funeral Directors revealed formal arrangements for Ms McNallys return home would be made on Friday.

The post read: The death has occurred of Sarah McNally, New York and Longford town, Longford, tragically on 30th March 2024 .

Sadly missed and remembered with love by her family, her loving mother Dorrie, dear father Des, grandmother Kathleen OConnor, aunts, uncles, relatives, extended family and a wide circle of friends in Longford and New York

May she rest in peace.
It could take up to 20 years to revamp Northern Irelands education system to bring it up to the same standard as the Republic, a study has suggested (Brian Lawless/PA)

It could take up to 20 years to revamp Northern Irelands education system to bring it up to the same standard as the Republic, a study has suggested.

The report, from the Institute of International and European Affairs, suggests that the Government in Northern Ireland would have to invest more and change how it runs its education system to narrow the gap with the Republic.

The details were published in the report which also shows that a united Ireland would cost the Republic some 20 billion euro a year for 20 years.

This would require an increase in taxation and a significant reduction in public expenditure.

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Professor John FitzGerald, co-author of the report, said the Northern Ireland education system has not advanced in a similar way to the Republic.

Changing education takes time. It would take probably about 20 years before they caught up, Prof FitzGerald said.

The Northern Ireland education system was better than the Republic up to 1970, but we then introduced free secondary education.

The way we did it is that kids in Cootehill, or Claremorris, or Chapelizod go to the same schools.

In Northern Ireland, 40% of kids go to the really good schools, the grammar schools, and nearly all of them go on to university.

The other 60%, in particular those from disadvantaged backgrounds, go to what are called secondary schools.

An awful lot of them drop out already and thats a real cost to society.

There has been a series of studies which shows that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds (have) very poor access to education and they drop out early.

The other thing in Northern Ireland is an awful lot of their kids, especially from a Protestant background, go to Britain for university and never come back.

In our case, many graduates do go abroad but theyre like homing pigeons, the bulk of them come back.

Prof FitzGerald outlined the costs the Republic would have to plug between Northern Irelands revenue and expenditure.

In 2019 to the central government in London had to transfer 11 billion to Northern Ireland to pay for health, education and so on, he told RTE.

The gap would be somewhat smaller in the case of unification because the British Army costs a lot. But it would just knock about a billion off the costs so youre down to 10 billion.

Also, welfare payments and public sector pay rates are dramatically lower in Northern Ireland than the Republic. You couldnt really have unification and have the poor cousins up north paid two thirds of what they are in the south.

So that would cost 10 billion to equate social welfare payments and public sector pay.

He added: If you have to find 20 billion, thats like a third of a bank bailout every year, its a lot of money.

It would be very expensive. The solution is if Northern Ireland dramatically changes how they run their economy, in particular in the educational sphere, which would mean that the gap between the North and the South would narrow, and also that at that their revenue would rise substantially more.

He also cast doubt on whether the British Government would pay towards the reunification.

I think thats unlikely because, if Scotland became independent, its much bigger and if they were exceptionally generous with Northern Ireland, it would actually break the UK if they had to be as generous with Scotland, he added.

You could see a transition for two or three years.

But the way it would happen, there would be a referendum in the North, vote for unification. There would be a referendum in the South. My real fear is that we in the South would vote no because itd be too damned expensive.

But assuming it goes through you, then goes (through) the British and say were leaving and unification is going to happen. Now what will you give us? And at that stage our bargaining power is gone.

Those who advocate very strongly for Irish unity trust British generosity and Im not sure that when were richer than the British that they would be generous.
Sinn Feins Pearse Doherty TD (left) and Padraig Mac Lochlainn TD. Sinn Fein has disputed the methodology of a report which suggested that a united Ireland would cost the Republic 20 billion euros for the next 20 years (Liam McBurney/PA)

Sinn Fein has disputed the methodology of a report which suggested that a united Ireland would cost the Republic 20 billion euros for the next 20 years.

The report, from the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), revealed that the reunification of Northern Ireland and the Republic would require an increase in taxation and a significant reduction in public expenditure.

Irish Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said that Northern Ireland has an opportunity to progress at the moment that will change the numbers quite fundamentally.

The report was authored by the IIEAs John FitzGerald of Trinity College Dublin and Prof Edgar Morgenroth of Dublin City University.

The report said the cost to the British Government of running Northern Ireland amounts to 12.3 billion euros a year.

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The costs are based on pre-pandemic 2019 figures.

The report stated that the unification costs minus the UK treasury subvention would run to around 11 billion euros.

But this figure would rise to 20 billion euros when other factors, including social welfare and public service pay, are included.

This would require an increase in taxation and a significant reduction in public expenditure.

Mr McGrath said there had been several reports on the estimated cost of a united Ireland that had come up with quite a wide variation of numbers, and that it all depends on the assumptions that you make.

He said: The important thing is that the economy of Northern Ireland now has a fantastic opportunity to progress and to really become a strong enterprise-based economy. And, of course, that will change the numbers quite fundamentally over the years ahead and having good governance with the institutions up and running, with the two governments co-operating with the special envoy from the United States, all of that provides stability and certainty which will help the economy in Northern Ireland and help the all-Ireland economy, which, of course, is underpinned by the Shared Island project to develop and grow and flourish over the years ahead.

That, actually, I think over time would put a very different complexion on the numbers.

But its not where our focus is now. The institutions are only back up and running, and we really want to see them bed down, continue with their work and the Irish Government is going to do all that we can to support the work of the First Minister, deputy First Minister and the full Executive.

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said he will consider the report, and that any future debate about a united Ireland will have an economic dimension.

Sinn Fein whip Padraig Mac Lochlainn said that he disputed the methodology used in the report, claiming that the analysis was static.

You are accepting the amount of subvention on face value, the Donegal TD added.

Prof John Doyle of DCU in recent times has written that the actual subvention is much less.

Its about 2.4 billion.

Thats a quarter when you deduct the pensions, debt repayments, contribution to the defence forces of Britain and so on.

Its much less than the headline figure.

But also the report assumes there will be no economic growth in the north.

We know that since Brexit there has been substantial growth in the all-Ireland economy.

We know that there is a real opportunity in that thanks to the efforts of all the political parties and people on the island of Ireland.

That means that the people of the north have access to the British economy and to the European economy uniquely, there is real opportunity for economic growth.

I do praise them (Prof FitzGerald and Prof Morgenroth) for doing some type of research, some type of planning and analysis, which is very different to (our) own government (which) has no plan whatsoever to look at how we get to Irish unity.

Mr Mac Lochlainn called for a Citizens Assembly and a White Paper from the Government about the issues arising from reunification.
People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

A new diplomatic crisis between Poland and Israel has erupted following the death of a Polish aid worker in Gaza, with the Polish president denouncing a comment by the Israeli ambassador as outrageous and the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw saying it was summoning him for a meeting.

Damian Sobol, 35, was among seven people who were killed while delivering food to besieged Palestinians with the charity World Central Kitchen.

Israel has called the incident a mistake that followed a misidentification.

Damian Sobol (World Central Kitchen/WCK.org via AP)

The charity said its vehicles were clearly marked.

Amid shock in Poland over the death of the charity worker, Israels ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne pushed back at what he said were attempts by the extreme right and left in Poland to accuse Israel of intentional murder in the attack.

He said on social media on Tuesday that anti-Semites will always remain anti-Semites, and Israel will remain a democratic Jewish state that fights for its right to exist. Also for the good of the entire Western world.

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday called the comment outrageous and described the ambassador as the biggest problem for the state of Israel in relations with Poland.

Mr Duda said authorities in Israel have spoken about the tragedy in a very subdued way, but added: Unfortunately, their ambassador to Poland is not able to maintain such delicacy and sensitivity, which is unacceptable.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while a political opponent of Mr Dudas, voiced a similar position.

He said on Thursday that the comment was unacceptable and had offended Poles, and said that the ambassador should apologise.

The deputy foreign minister was quoted in the Polish media as saying that Mr Livne was summoned to a meeting on Friday morning.

Polands Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the comment had offended Poles (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)

A day earlier, Mr Tusk published a comment on social media addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Livne saying that the vast majority of Poles showed full solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack. Today you are putting this solidarity to a really hard test. The tragic attack on volunteers and your reaction arouse understandable anger.

Mr Duda on Thursday also called for Israel to pay appropriate compensation to the family of aid worker Mr Sobol.

Mr Sobol had been on an aid mission to Gaza for the past six months following work in Ukraine, Morocco and Turkey.

Polish and Israeli relations have recently been on the mend after several difficult years.

Ties were badly damaged due to disputes over how to remember Polish behaviour during the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany occupied Poland and carried out the mass murder of Jews.

For eight years until December, Poland had a nationalist government that played down Polish participation in the German killings of Jews and focused largely on Polish aid to Jews.

Israels government believed that approach amounted to historical distortion.

Israel also objected to a law that limited property restitution claims, something that affected the heirs of Polish Holocaust victims, and recalled its ambassador in 2021 before sending Mr Livne the next year as ties improved.

Mr Duda said that we agreed to have this representative finally be in Poland in order to facilitate Israels relations with Poland, but that the ambassador now is making these relations more difficult.
Two military personnel stand underneath the flags of Nato alliance members during a wreath-laying ceremony at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP)

Nato has marked 75 years of collective defence across Europe and North America, with its top diplomats vowing to stay the course in Ukraine as better armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield.

The anniversary comes as the now-32-nation alliance weighs a plan to provide more predictable longer-term military support to Ukraine.

Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine this week lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks and appealed for additional aid defences to counter increasing Russian ballistic missile attacks.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, right, shakes hands with Ukraines foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba prior to a meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

I didnt want to spoil the birthday party for Nato, but I felt compelled to deliver a sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country, destroying our energy system, our economy, killing civilians, said Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who attended a meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council.

Mr Kuleba thanked the allies for agreeing to begin identifying Patriot missile battery stocks that could be sent to Ukraine.

The Patriot is the only system that effectively intercepts ballistic missiles, he said.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, speaking before meeting Mr Kuleba, said that support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at Nato, remains rock solid.

We will do everything we can, allies will do everything that they can, to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russias ongoing aggression against Ukraine, aggression that is getting worse with every passing day, he said.

The fight that Ukraine has on its hands is not only Ukraines fight, its everyones fight because the aggression being committed by Russia is not only an aggression against Ukraine and its people, its an aggression against the very principles that lie at the heart of the international system, Mr Blinken said.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg adjusts a ribbon during a wreath-laying ceremony at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP)

The Ukraine meeting, which ran significantly beyond its scheduled time, was held after a ceremony to mark the day Natos founding treaty was signed: April 4 1949 in Washington.

A bigger celebration is planned when Nato leaders meet in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Hundreds of staff filled the vast air terminal-like space at the centre of Natos sprawling Brussels headquarters, while scores of others looked down from glassed walkways and stairways as Belgian and Dutch military bands played the Nato Hymn, the original Washington Treaty laid before them.

I like the Washington Treaty. Not least because it is very short, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said with a smile.

Just 14 paragraphs over a few pages. Never has a single document with so few words meant so much to so many people. So much security. So much prosperity, and so much peace.

Outside Brussels on Wednesday evening, US secretary of state Antony Blinken paid tribute to the millions of soldiers, sailors, and aviators whose courage and willingness to put their lives on the line have given weight to our sacred commitment to defend one another.

Mr Blinken said that even as foreign ministers mark more than seven decades of peace, that security  together with the alliances core principles of democracy, liberty, and the rule of law  is once again being threatened by those who believe that might makes right and who seek to redraw borders by force.

From left, Polands foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Bulgarias foreign minister Mariya Gabriel, British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron and Estonias foreign minister Margus Tsahkna attend a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of Nato at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Ukraines foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba also attended on Thursday, and his message was more direct.

Only today, 20 Shahed drones were shot at the city of Kharkiv and four people have been killed, he said, adding that rescuers trying to help victims in the area were also killed.

It is impossible to comprehend why allies cannot find additional batteries to deliver them to the place where ballistic missiles are being fired every day, Mr Kuleba said.

Swedens foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, is taking part in the first ministerial-level meeting since his country became Natos 32nd ally last month.

Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 drove Sweden and Finland into Natos arms.

Nato represents the freedom to choose, Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen said, reflecting on the way the Nordic neighbours recently joined.

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Democratic nations, free people chose to join. Unlike how Russia expands by aggression or by illegal annexation.

The alliances ranks have almost tripled from its 12 founding members, but Finland and Sweden joined in record time to shelter under Natos collective security guarantee, after coming under pressure for compensation from populist leaders in Turkey and Hungary.

That promise  Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which has been shipped to Brussels for the ceremony  stipulates that an attack on any one of their number must be met with a united response.

It has only ever been used once, after the al Qaida attacks on US soil in 2001.

Nato was founded on a single, solemn promise: An attack on one ally is an attack on all, Mr Stoltenberg said on the eve of the anniversary.

From that foundation, we have built the most powerful and successful alliance in history.

Among the more recent successes as it grew from the Cold War and after the Berlin Wall collapsed, Nato would count its 1999 air campaign against former Yugoslavia to end a bloody crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and its effort to avert near civil war in Macedonia in 2001.

At the other end of the scale lies the operation in Afghanistan.

Belgiums premier and foreign minister Paul-Henri Spaak, seated centre, tests a new pen before signing the North Atlantic Pact in Washington DC on April 4 1949, flanked by Belgiums ambassador to the US Baron Silvercruys, left, and John W Foley of the US State Department. Seated behind, from left, are Britains Ernest Bevin, Norways Halvard Lange, Luxembourgs Joseph Bech, Icelands Bjarni Benediktsson, Denmarks Gustav Rasmussen, US President Harry S Truman, US secretary of state Dean Acheson, Canadas Lester Pearson, Frances Robert Schuman, Italys Count Carlo Spforza, the Netherlands Dirk Stikker and Portugals Jose Caeiro Da Matta (AP)

Nato took command of the security effort in 2003 and it became the longest, costliest and deadliest in alliance history.

It was marked by a chaotic retreat in August 2021, many of the successes over almost two decades abandoned.

Today, Ukraine also wants a seat at Natos table, but the alliance works on unanimity and there is no consensus on whether it should join.

Most allies oppose membership while war rages on anyway.

For now, Nato promises only that its door is open for Ukraine in the future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he launched the war, in part at least, because Nato was expanding closer to Russias borders.

Nato allies cannot agree on whether to arm Ukraine either.

As an organisation, the alliance only provides non-lethal support such as transport vehicles, fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and demining equipment.

Two military personnel walk past Nato banners prior to a wreath-laying ceremony at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP)

However, many members provide arms and ammunition bilaterally or in groups.

The bulk of Natos efforts since Russian troops began massing for the invasion has focused on reinforcing its own borders near Russia and Ukraine to dissuade Mr Putin from targeting any of the allies next.

Article 5 was given perhaps its toughest test during Donald Trumps term as president of the United States  by far Natos most powerful member country.

Mr Trump suggested the US might not come to the defence of any Nato ally who declined to boost their own defence spending to at least 2% of gross domestic product, as they had agreed to do in 2014.

He has repeated the threat during election campaigning this year.

Nato predicts that 18 of its 32 members will reach that target this year, up from only three a decade ago.
Stormont is not a sweet shop  halting free hospital parking shows there are adults in the room

No doling out the candy, then shoving sugary fingers into ears and singing la-la-la when someone wonders whos paying for all this.

Park your logic: NI people tend not to look a gift horse in the mouth

John Laverty Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 07:49

You may not be aware of this, but when a Northern Ireland MP stands up to address the House of Commons, cries of more money, more money! invariably emanate from the back benches.
Shutterstock.com

When most people think about crystals, they think of a fancy mineral or jewel they learned about in science class. Crystals are beautiful and part of Gods wonderful creation. While the Bible discusses crystals, some people in the modern-day world believe crystals have special or healing powers. Lets look into what the Bible says about crystals and what it doesnt.

Beautiful crystals.

The Old Testament mentions crystals several times. Job 28:19 discusses topaz, which is a crystal, saying that the topaz of Cush cant compare with it and cant be bought with pure gold. Lamentations 4:7 discusses rubies in an analogy, saying that their princes were brighter than snow, whiter than milk, their bodies more red than rubies, and their appearance like lapis lazuli.

Proverbs 8:11 also mentions rubies. In these terms, the Bible uses crystals to describe various things. In addition to the Old Testament, the New Testament discusses crystals in the New Heaven and Earth. The river described in the New Heaven and Earth is defined to be as clear as crystal, outlined explicitly in Revelation 22:1.

Healing crystals.

Healing crystals and crystals with other special properties is a popular topic in todays world. People who believe in the power of crystals believe different crystals have different traits or powers to help whoever wears or uses them. The conviction in the healing powers of crystals isnt new. In ancient times, the cultures of Greece, Egypt, and China believed that crystals had magical powers.

Despite many people having used crystals and thinking they can heal ailments, theres absolutely no scientific evidence to support these claims. Its best to see crystals as they are: just minerals. Crystals dont have any powers to heal anyone, nor do they have magical properties. Instead of containing magical properties, crystals are just beautiful minerals created by God.

Special properties.

As already mentioned, crystals dont have any unique properties that give them special powers. Most people think crystals can not only bring cures and healing to ailments, but they also think crystals can bring good fortune, help one in their relationships, and help stop a person from evil forces. As Christians, we know that the Bible doesnt tell us that crystals can do any of these things.

Those who put such high emphasis on crystals are, in a way, being involved in the occult, and the Bible warns us against participating in the occult, as detailed in Deuteronomy 18:10-12. While many people would argue that crystals arent part of the occult, they genuinely are since theyre used with the purpose of trying to manipulate situations.

Can Christians use crystals?

Christians shouldnt use crystals because theyre part of the occult. Anytime we try to manipulate situations through objects, like crystals, we participate in the occult. Christians should refrain from crystals in the sense of using them for healing assets or other traits. If a Christian desires to wear a crystal for jewelry and isnt wearing it for special purposes, then its okay.

Its just advisable for Christians not to seek out crystals or their healing properties. The Bible never tells us that crystals have unique abilities, and science has also confirmed that crystals cant truly affect the outcome of an event or heal any condition. Crystals have been used for various things across the world, but we shouldnt use them in the sense of occult or occult practices.

Is having crystals considered idolatry?

Whenever we put anything above God, it becomes an idol in our lives, and we become guilty of idolatry. If were actively seeking help or healing from crystals, then were placing crystals as the idols in our lives. We shouldnt worship anything or anything but God, as explained in 2 Corinthians 6:16-17. If youve had a past in crystals, its okay because the Lord will forgive you if you ask. Ensure that you turn away from the crystals and remove anything you have associated with the crystals, including the crystals themselves. If youre currently participating in the practice of crystals, you should stop, seek God and turn to Him.

God doesnt want us involved with the occult. He wants us to seek out His help and turn to Him for guidance and love. The crystals offer nothing but empty promises. Only God can give us genuine love, healing, and guidance. Crystals are minerals created by the Lord God Almighty. You may have never personally had an experience with crystals, but many Christians have used crystals, and they could feel how much the practice of crystals took them away from God and His grace. As believers, we should strive to grow closer to God and evolve more in His image. We shouldnt participate in anything that will take us away from Him.

James 4:8 reminds us that we should come near God, and He will come near us. Sinners should wash their hands and purify their hearts. We should follow James advice and choose to draw closer to God by throwing away any occult practices, including using crystals. Similarly, we should wash our hands and purify our hearts by turning away from the sin in our lives. Giving up the use of crystals may be challenging if youve been using them for a long time or if you have a strong belief in crystals, but you must give up this practice because crystals dont bring you closer to God. In fact, they take you away from Him and cause the crystals themselves to become the god or idol in your life.

Your life will be much better if you put God first and foremost in your life instead of crystals. With God, theres peace, love, and freedom. However, with crystals, theres only pain, empty promises, false hope and pain. Go to God today, and He can help you. God never promised us that He would heal us for our ailments, nor did He promise that our lives would be perfect. However, He did promise that He would walk with us through it all, the bright times and the dark times.
Photographer chronicles early Korean Catholic churches created by people who fled homes over religious persecution

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Lee Seoung-ho felt his heart was sinking when four childrens graves near a Catholic cemetery caught his eye six years ago. The cemetery, which is home to 37 tombs of Catholic martyrs sacrificed in the bloody persecution in the 19th century, is part of the Hanti Martyrs' Shrine Pilgrimage, a 45.6- kilometer route stretched along Mount Palgong in the rustic southeastern county of Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province.

All tombs there held the bodies of anonymous Catholic converts who were brutally killed for refusing to deny Christ.

Those tombs have no information about the martyrs. The victims are identified only by a number from 1 to 37 engraved in their tombstones.

Sharing the heart-rending story of the four young martyrs, Lee, 62, said he became speechless. He added that he was grappling with the surge of complex feelings, as he imagined four carefree, playful kids who all of sudden perished at the brutal swords wielded by soldiers during the clampdown on Catholics.

Those unknown souls haunted me and guided me to embark on field trips to find the traces of Catholic martyrs nationwide over the past six years, he told The Korea Times over the phone.

Lee, who retired from public service a few years ago after decades of work as a Daegu city government employee, is a Buddhist born into a family that has practiced Buddhism for generations.

Touched by their tragic stories, he said he was determined to find traces of Koreas early Catholics and their sacrifices.

It was unstoppable, he said. I dont know exactly what it was, but I was driven by something to unearth the history of Korean Catholicism because there was an unknown force that kept pushing me to find them and chronicle their lives. Maybe that energy came from my first shocking encounter with the childrens graves on the pilgrimage.

His years of work eventually bore fruit. Last October, he published a photobook, titled Gongso: A Place Cherishing Memories of Korean Catholicism.

The photos of the time-honored sanctuaries serenely narrate the unspeakable ordeals and tribulations early Korean Catholics had endured to keep their sacred commitments.

"Gongso," which translates to "public place" in English, refers to a church with non-resident priests. It was created far before Koreas first towering cathedral was established in central Seouls Jungnim-dong area in 1891. The nation has 550 such places.

Gongso were dual-use facilities. During weekdays, they were homes for the leaders of the religious communities created in the middle of nowhere deep in the mountains. Those places were open to other community members on Sunday for worshipping. The members were the Catholics who fled their homes to seek religious freedom as persecutions continued. Priests visited there once or twice a year.

The entire community became festive once Catholic priests came by and presided over communal services there, Lee said.

The history of the Korean Catholic Church had been marked by a sequence of tribulations which lasted for a century since the first wave of persecution in the early 18th century.

Early Catholics in Korea risked their lives by practicing the religion. The worst clampdown erupted in 1866 and continued for five years, killing over 8,000 Catholics, including several French missionaries.

They were killed without standing trial. Once arrested, they were given one last chance to save their own lives. The officials would throw a wooden cross on the floor, and then ask the arrested people to walk over it to deny Christ. If they did, they were allowed to return home. Some saved themselves by doing what they were ordered. But many dedicated converts refused to deny Christ, and met a tragic end. They were beheaded.

Then Joseons ruling class took Catholicism as a disruptive force because they believed the religion posed a grave threat to the Confucian-based hierarchical society, Ban Byung-yule, a professor of history at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said. They were wary of the Western religion and felt it could threaten their rule and disrupt society.

Facing waves of fierce persecution, Catholic converts began to flee their villages to find hideouts in the middle of nowhere wherein they could continue practicing their faith with other Catholics without the fear of being arrested and killed.

They built mud huts as makeshift homes to live in. During daylight hours, they made clay jars, collected medicinal herbs and firewood and sold them to make ends meet.

Once a week, people there gathered in gongso, prayed and worshipped together, Lee said. Gongso used to have various Catholic-related goods, such as a statue of Virgin Mary, a cross, rosary and bibles which had been imported from China.

The ban on Catholicism was fully lifted in 1886 when Joseon signed a pact with France to establish diplomatic relations.

Joseon established diplomatic relations with France relatively late, compared to other Western countries, because of Catholics. France was aggressive on religious freedom and wanted Joseon to allow its missionaries to spread Catholicism in Korea, Ban said.

Catholicism's survival in Korea amid continued persecution raises questions about the early Korean Catholics. Who were those martyrs? How did they become so pious as to have risked their lives to keep practicing the religion despite the threat of death?

Lee said Catholicism gave them a unique encounter with a new realm, devoid of class-based discrimination, and fostering equal opportunities for all individuals.

Like many other societies back then, Joseon was socially very rigid. The society was operated based on four distinct classes in which inter-class mobility was prohibited. Discrimination based on class had been part of life and those who had humble beginnings were not allowed to climb the ladder, no matter how smart they were, said Lee.

In Joseon, there were four social classes: the yangban nobility, the middle class called jungin, commoners called sangmin and the outcasts called cheonmin at the very bottom.

Inside the Catholic community, however, Lee said things were quite different and all people were treated as equals regardless of their social class.

Catholicism taught people that they are equal in Christ. People gathered, prayed and ate together, regardless of class, Lee said. People from higher and lower classes doing something together in the same place was unthinkable back then. So people, particularly those who were from the lower classes, might have felt that they lived in a very different world.

The middle-class accounted for most of the early converts. They were professionals like translators and doctors and due to their professions, they traveled to China where they were exposed to foreign culture.

Gongso been forgotten after the ban on Catholicism was lifted. Since the establishment of Yakhyeon Cathedral in 1891, as the first of its kind in Korea, cathedrals have been established in almost all provincial cities.

Together with religious freedom, the younger generations job-driven migration from rural to urban areas and an ensuing population decrease also contributed to a sharp drop in visitors to gongso located in remote areas. Many of these early Catholic churches are abandoned.

Lee said the publication of his photobook is not the end of his journey to discover gongso, adding he will continue to visit them and fulfill his role to make society aware of the sufferings of early Korean Catholics.

Ive visited so far about half of the 550 gongso, and I am planning to visit the rest of them, he said.

They are places where present-day Koreans can come to understand more about early Korean Catholics and their sufferings, and their sacrifices should be remembered, he said.
Sellers arrange watermelons to be sold at the Jatrabari fruit market in Dhaka, March 22, 2024.

Social media influencers in Bangladesh are claiming they succeeded in slicing the price of watermelon in half by organizing a two-week boycott, and are now targeting another pricey product: beef.

Bangladesh has a huge demand for watermelon during the summer months  March to June  and especially during the month of Ramadan when the parched and hungry faithful in the Muslim-majority country seek sweet and juicy fruits with which to break their daily fasts.

At the start of Ramadan, watermelon prices hit 700 taka to 1,000 taka (U.S. $6.37 to $9.10) for one of these giant fruits.

Social media groups joined together to form a consumer syndicate and call for the two-week boycott. Now, watermelons are selling for 350 taka ($3.18) each.

Jasim Uddin Khan, one of the key campaigners of the boycott movement, said such abnormal prices forced him and others to turn to social media, mainly Facebook.

As watermelon is a perishable item, it worked quickly, we had success within just two weeks, Khan told BenarNews, adding that many sellers were forced to dump rotted fruit because of a lack of customers, leading to price cuts.

Now, syndicate members have since shifted their focus to calling for a boycott of beef  another prized staple of Ramadan break-fasting feasts  but which has a minimum price of 700 taka per kg.

I believe that the consumer syndicate would be successful in breaking the traders syndicate, he said.

Bangladeshis carry baskets of watermelons to sell at a market during Ramadan, March 17, 2024. [Screenshot by Sudeepto Salam]

On Thursday, Md. Soliman Ahmed told BenarNews that he previously purchased a large watermelon for 300 taka ($2.73), but left without one last week when the seller demanded 750 taka ($6.82) for the same size fruit.

Md. Motaleb Hossain, a watermelon seller in Dhaka, said he went at least five days last week without making any sales, forcing him to dump at least 100 rotten watermelons.

Akter Mia, a trader in Dhakas largest wholesale market, Kawran Bazar, said the price of watermelon suddenly fell because of poor previous sales.

We have no comment on the social media movement ... now the price is very low. I think people are happy now, he told BenarNews.

Muhammad Zaman, another consumer, is hoping the new boycott will have similar success.

Now I am serious about boycotting beef as the previous protest worked. I believe beef prices will be reduced soon, Zaman told BenarNews.

A seller tosses a watermelon to a coworker at the Jatrabari Fruit Market in Dhaka, March 22, 2024. [Mehedi Rana/BenarNews]

Abdul Bayes, a former professor of economics and vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, said social movements could have positive impacts.

This time social media boycott made an impact on the market. At the same time it made one thing clear that the government has failed to control the market, he told BenarNews.

He said farmers did not benefit from the higher prices, adding that middlemen with strong political connections control the market.

Positive effect

Ghulam Rahman, president of the NGO Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), welcomed the social media campaign, saying it brought a positive impact to the market. He said rising food prices were hurting consumers.

Especially the lower or middle-class people  I cannot imagine how they are living. People are using their savings or borrowing to buy daily needs, he told BenarNews.

He blamed the rising prices on the greed of some traders while noting business operators influence much of the government.

There are many laws in the country to protect consumers rights, but as business people are dominating in parliament and government, there is no implementation of such laws, said Rahman, who served as chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The state minister for commerce said food prices did not increase during Ramadan because of government monitoring, adding that authorities were working to keep the supply chain stable.

Ahasanul Islam Titu also noted the recent success of social media campaigners.

See, the consumers role is very important to balance the market. We appreciate the social media campaigning, he told BenarNews.
The Pacific island countrys Cabinet had initially said the monarchs demands were unconstitutional.

King Tupou VI of Tonga [second from right] and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi [second from left] pose for pictures with Tonga Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni [right] at the Royal Palace in Nukualofa, May 31, 2022.

Tongas king has prevailed in a two-month standoff with the elected prime minister over control of the prestigious foreign affairs and defense ministries in a setback for the Pacific island countrys young democracy.

Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni on Thursday told Parliament he had resigned as defense minister and that Fekita Utoikamanu  the only woman in Tongas Cabinet  had resigned as foreign minister and tourism minister, according to a statement on the Tongan Parliaments website.

The statement gave no explanation and said no successors had been named. The prime minister told Parliament that there is still no appointment for the Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs, it said.

The changes come two months after Tongas King Tupou VI withdrew his confidence and consent in Sovaleni as armed forces minister and in Utoikamanu as foreign affairs minister, according to a leaked letter from the monarchs advisory council.

The Cabinet had initially rejected the monarchs attempt to sack ministers as unconstitutional and continued with government business as usual. Tongas Constitution says that Cabinet ministers can be removed by the king on the prime ministers recommendation or a vote of no confidence in Parliament in the case of the prime minister.

Tonga King Tupou VI speaks during a plenary session at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. [AP Photo/Peter Dejong]

However, in early March, Sovaleni and other ministers attended a retreat with Tupou VI for a traditional apology ceremony, a photo posted to Facebook by a member of Parliament showed. No statement from the government or palace was released.

Tupou VIs heir also appears to have been acting as a de facto defense minister for several weeks. In mid-March, Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala led a defense delegation to Tokyo for security cooperation talks with Japan.

Tonga held largely free elections for the first time in 2010 after amending its constitution to remove many of the absolute monarchys powers  a change that occurred with the cooperation of the monarch at that time, Tupou V. Previously, most of Parliament was selected by the nobility or appointed directly by the monarch.

The shift of powers to an elected Parliament and Cabinet followed riots in 2006 that devastated the capital Nukualofa and were sparked by frustration at lack of economic and democratic progress in the country of 100,000 people.

Some analysts have said the reforms were incomplete as the king, defined as a sacred person in Tongas Constitution, retains significant authority such as a veto over government legislation and the power to dissolve Parliament.

Nobles also remain powerful. About a third of Parliaments members are nobles elected by the small number of titled Tongans and owe their station to the monarchy.

Newly crowned King Tupou VI [right] leaves the Centenary Church in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on July 4, 2015. [Linny Folau/AFP]

Lawyer and president of the Tonga Law Society Lopeti Senituli said the palace has for several years not followed the constitutional requirement to allow the prime minister to regularly report to the king in person.

Sovaleni has done nothing for which he should apologize to King Tupou IV, Senituli said in a commentary for the Australian National Universitys Devpolicy blog.

Had he been allowed to report regularly to His Majesty, any differences in opinion might have been resolved privately without the country being subjected to the rigmarole we are now witnessing, Senituli said.

The ousted foreign affairs minister, Utoikamanu, remains in Cabinet after the king appointed her as the minister for the environment and disaster management.

News website Matangi Tonga reported on Thursday that the foreign affairs ministry has two competing chief administrators  one appointed by the king and one by the government. It said the kings appointee has sued the foreign ministry, Utoikamanu and his rival administrator.
U.S. troops prepare to load a rockets during live fire exercises along the shoreline of San Antonio in Zambales province, northwest of the Philippines, during the Balikatan Exercise 2023, April 25, 2023.

The upcoming annual large-scale joint military exercise between the Philippines and the U.S. will feature drills along the outer edge of South China Sea waters of Manilas exclusive economic zone, officials said Thursday.

The Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) Exercise 2024, to run from April 22 to May 18, will focus on testing the Philippines new Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CDAC) announced by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier this year, they said.

The concept, rolled out amid heightened bilateral tensions in a territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, calls for incorporating all services of the armed forces, not only the navy, in defending Philippine waters, particularly its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Previously, the navy alone guarded the seas against an enemy force, while the coast guard acted as its civilian counterpart.

Col. Michael Logico, the Philippine Balikatan spokesman, noted this would be the first time that the exercise will be held up to the edge of the countrys territorial waters.

We will go out of our 12 nautical miles of our territorial waters. We will exercise beyond that, up to the edge of our exclusive economic zone, 200 nautical miles, Logico told Manila radio DZBB.

Ahead of Balikatan, the Philippines plans to hold joint naval drills with the United States, Japan and Australia in the South China Sea on Sunday, news service Agence France-Presse reported, based on information from diplomatic sources.

Following those drills, U.S. President Joe Biden is to host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for an unprecedented three-way summit between the countries at the White House in Washington on April 11.

During their meeting, the leaders are expected to announce that their countries will launch trilateral patrols in the South China Sea, a move seen as a challenge by the allies to increased Chinese aggression in the waterway.

Last month, three Filipino crew members were injured when the China Coast Guard blasted their resupply boat with water cannons as it tried to deliver supplies to a Philippine military outpost in Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal).

American soldiers participate in a firing exercise with Philippine troops at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija province, north of Manila, April 13, 2023. [Basilio Sepe/BenarNews]

This years Balikatan is expected to draw at least 16,000 troops (11,000 from the U.S. and 5,000 from the Philippines). Organizers said it could be larger than the 2023 exercise, which set a record by drawing nearly 18,000 troops from the two countries, other participants and observer nations.

Military officers have said the Philippines and U.S., joined by Australia, would conduct artillery drills along with board, search and seizure exercises as part of a group sail in the West Philippine Sea during the early phase of the Balikatan. Filipinos refer to South China Sea waters within its EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.

The defense department said Australia and France were expected to be direct participants in the annual exercise, but did not announce the number of troops each country would be sending.

Fourteen countries, including Japan and Canada, are expected to send troops as observers as well.

This Balikatan will be a showcase of our capabilities in performing our mandate in accordance with the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which was announced by our Department of National Defense, Logico said.

So that means that our exercises, our defense concepts have to go beyond 12 nautical miles in order for us to protect our national interests within our territory, within our territorial waters and also within the exclusive economic zone, he said.

On the possibility that the Balikatan Exercise occurring outside the countrys 12 nautical miles territorial waters would increase tension with China, Logico said: Well, thats their problem, thats not our problem.

Earlier this week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman blamed the Philippines for regional tensions.

[F]or some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into the South China Sea affairs to back the Philippines provocations and violation of Chinas sovereignty. The Philippines has been pursuing selfish gains at the expense of the consensus reached by countries in the region, spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday. This is the main reason why the situation in the South China Sea has escalated and become more complicated.

U.S. and Philippine soldiers fire a Javelin shoulder-launched anti-tank missile during the Balikatan Exercise 2023 at Fort Magsaysay, northern Philippines, April 13, 2023. [Basilio Sepe/BenarNews]

Past Balikatan exercises have been focused inside military camps, including Fort Magsaysay in northern Nueva Ecija province, the Crow Valley in Pampanga province, as well as the Naval Education and Training Command in Zambales  all in the northern Philippines.

We are very familiar with those areas, they offer no more surprises. So the only way for us to upscale or to upgrade our training is to start training in challenging areas, areas that we believe will provide the benefit for our soldiers and at the same time offer new challenges, Logico said.

Taking defense seriously

Renato de Castro, a political analyst at the De La Salle University in Manila, said the new strategy was meant to address the maritime dispute with China. Adopting the new CDAC strategy is a sign that we are finally taking our external defense seriously.

How many decades and administrations have passed where the attention has been focused on internal security operations, de Castro said in a statement last month.

But right now, the external security threat has emerged as the bigger challenge where they are intruding in our waters and getting our marine riches, he said, referring to China.

A drone takes off from a Philippine naval base in the northwestern province of Zambales, April 25, 2023. [Mark Navales/BenarNews]

He warned that if the government failed to put up a strong stand, they will surely intrude in our inter-island waters.

De Castro said that the adoption of the new security strategy went hand-in-hand with the armed forces modernization efforts. Part of the plan calls for acquiring marine assets, such as submarines.

When we talk about comprehensive power, this really refers to the armed forces. So this means we would have to really strengthen our maritime and air capabilities, and of course develop other services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, de Castro said.
South Korea's top envoy to the U.N. expressed concerns Wednesday over "egregious" human rights violations facing children in North Korea, including what he called the death penalty for distributing South Korean dramas.

Citing public sources, including North Korean defectors' testimonies, Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook highlighted the "grim" situation for North Korean children during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council held under the theme of "Children and Armed Conflict."

"Children in the DPRK are exposed to egregious human rights violations, including the death penalty for distributing South Korean dramas, detention to political prisoners alongside their family members as a collective punishment, and widespread use of child labor," he said.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Moreover, children in the DPRK face a devastating humanitarian crisis as the DPRK regime relentlessly pursues its nuclear and ballistic missile program and its leadership squanders their scarce resources on luxury items," he added.

Hwang also pointed out that 17 percent of children in the North are reported to suffer from stunted growth due to rampant undernourishment as he cited a recent publication by the U.N. Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

In addition, the ambassador stressed that under international humanitarian law, children affected by armed conflict are entitled to "special respect and protection."

"It is deeply deplorable that this sacrosanct principle is violated too often as parties to conflict attack humanitarian workers and use seizure and blockade tactics to deny the delivery of vital relief supplies," he said.

"A striking example is the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, where the number of U.N. workers killed in the past six months has surpassed the total number of U.N. staff fatalities in all conflict zones and terrorist incidents worldwide over the last 12 years," he added.

He also said that South Korea is "appalled" by the recent tragic deaths of seven aid workers of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization that has been delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.

"In the face of these dismaying challenges, it is imperative first and foremost that the Security Council stand firm on its zero tolerance against the denial of humanitarian access to children," he said, "There can be no room for geopolitical considerations in this regard." (Yonhap)
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Periods of rain. Low 43F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 43F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
BENNINGTON  The state murder trial of accused killer Deven Moffitt was delayed at least six months because of a postponement with a federal drug and gun case against him.

Moffitt, 33, was charged in June 2022 with murder in the second degree in the death of Jessica Hildenbrandt, 47, after a 33-month investigation revealed a violent and abusive relationship that started when Moffitt was a Vermont prisoner.

On a sunny day in mid-September 2019, a man walking through a gravel pit in Searsburg discovered what appeared to be a human jawbone on the ground. Vermont State Police soon arrived and, after searching the area in and around the gravel pit for several days after the 2019 discovery, found a shallow grave nearby on Somerset Road. The grave was covered with dirt, rocks and tree branches. It was apparent to investigators that the grave had been disturbed by animals.

They found large amounts of human hair still attached to the scalp, fingernails, teeth, and jewelry. Additional bones were discovered nearby. DNA testing revealed a match to Hildenbrandt.

According to police affidavits, Hildenbrandt was in a tenuous and abusive relationship with Moffitt while he was serving time in Vermont for leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and escaping custody. It started as a respectful relationship, but Moffitt became controlling and possessive at some point in the phone- and email-only relationship, threatening Hildenbrandt and accusing her of being with someone else.

Soon after his initial arrest, Moffitt demanded Hildenbrandt begin sneaking contraband drugs into the prison for him by sewing Suboxone strips into her court clothes and bringing them into the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. The affidavit names several other females that Moffitt also used as drug mules at the prison for illegal drugs.

Hildenbrandt, feeling threatened, eventually emailed the Windsor County States Attorneys Office to indicate that she was in fear for her life.

Please Help Me   she wrote at the end of the email to authorities. She quoted Moffit as saying You know I am coming home, and I will kill you.

At one point, Moffitt allegedly intimidated Hildenbrandt into putting her house up as collateral so he could get out of jail. That was July 8, 2019, six days before police believe Hildenbrandt might have been killed. She is thought to have been slain sometime between July 14 and 15 of that year.

Authorities launched a long homicide investigation that ended in Moffits arrest after a joint operation made up of Bennington Police, FBI, Homeland Security, and Vermont State Police, and ended with Moffitt being chased and then tackled on Jefferson Avenue in Bennington.

According to several witnesses, Moffitt was carrying a black fanny pack right before his arrest and dumped the bag into a trash can as he ran from police. Vermont State Police located the bag inside a trash can. They found about 3,750 bags of suspected fentanyl, 20 grams of suspected crack cocaine, 22.5 grams of cocaine powder, 100 prescription pills, a loaded .22-caliber revolver, a loaded 9 mm pistol, a cellphone, and $16,474 in cash.

It was revealed at Wednesdays hearing that state prosecutors plan to bring the jurors to the Searsburg gravel pit to see the crime scene for themselves at some point in the scheduled 10-day trial.

Moffitt is facing his federal criminal trial on drug and firearms charges this May. Defense attorney Robert Sussman hinted at a possible deal with federal prosecutors before the start of that trial. Bennington Judge Kerry McDonald scheduled a status conference at the end of May, with Moffitt required to attend.

Moffitt has a lengthy criminal record in Vermont, including felony and misdemeanor convictions for assaults, assaults on law enforcement officers, escaping custody, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, unlawful trespass, and aggravated assault, as well as felony drug convictions in Massachusetts.

Moffitt is facing life imprisonment with the presumptive minimum term of 20 years if convicted on the murder charge. He is currently in federal custody pending the outcome of his gun and drug trial. Even if Moffitt is convicted of the three federal charges against him and is in jail, the state trial will still go on, with Moffitt possibly being transported to Bennington by federal agents.
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BENNINGTON  Former state Rep. Michael Nigro is the first to formally declare his candidacy for the Bennington-5 House district.

Nigro, a Democrat, was elected to what was then known as the Bennington-2-2 House seat in 2020, finishing ahead of incumbent fellow Democrat Rep. Jim Carroll by 75 votes.

Rep. Mary Morrissey, R-Bennington, was also elected in the two-seat district as the top vote-getter, and she again received the most votes in 2022.

District redrawn

The district lines were redrawn in 2022, based on new federal Census figures, to include sections of eastern Bennington and Pownal. The House district then became known as Bennington-5.

In a 2022 race with Morrissey and Carroll, Nigro finished third by a margin of 137 votes. Carroll finished second and was elected, along with Morrissey, who is expected to run again in November.

It remains unclear whether Carroll will be in the race this year, as he has yet to make a formal announcement on his expected candidacy.

Work schedule

Nigro said Wednesday that his decision to run was one he has considered for some time, after receiving encouragement from supporters.

He said managing his time as a small business owner while serving during the winter-early spring legislative sessions was his principal concern.

He said he now is confident he can work with that schedule, despite a growing business.

Nigro is co-owner with his wife, Select Board member Sarah Perrin, of Green Mountain Concessions, which operates primarily during the warmer months at outdoor events.

Im happy to get out that I am running, Nigro said Wednesday. I really have just decided in the last two weeks, though some people have asked me about it for the past year really.

He said he had to first consider the time required for his business, which has grown a lot since I first ran ... But finally, I think we can swing it if I win.

Among the issues he wants to concentrate on if elected, Nigro said those would be pretty much the same as those I ran on in 2020.

That includes trying to be a moderate voice in a time of sharp political differences, he said, adding, I think thats what I would offer.

As a small business owner, he said, I think I speak to a lot of people in town.

Small business owners, he said, feel they arent heard on the statewide level as often as they would like to be. And I think its important. As you know, Vermont is great place to start a business.

The reality is there is a learning curve in the Legislature, Nigro said, and one term left me feeling I really wanted to have another chance to have an impact.

On specific issues, he said he likely is thinking about the same ones on the minds of most Vermonters, such as housing and public safety, and he intends to dial down on his positions as the campaign moves along.

Nigro also will make his positions and other information available on his campaign Facebook page.

Before launching his business in 2016, he worked as a director with BAYADA Home Health Care for eight years.

He holds a master of business administration degree from Plymouth State University and a bachelors degree in political science and government from State University of New York at Genesco.
BENNINGTON  An arrest warrant was issued late Wednesday for a Chicopee, Massachusetts teen wanted in a brutal stabbing incident in February that left one man dead in the roadway of a Pownal trailer park as local children made their way home from school.

Elizah Coppedge, 18, is currently charged with murder in the 2nd degree for the stabbing death of Casey Gras, 36, of Bennington, inside the Pownal Estates Trailer Park off Route 7 in Pownal on Feb. 6. An arrest warrant and hold without bail request was issued by Bennington Judge Kerry McDonald-Cady late Wednesday afternoon on the murder charge. No arrests have been made so far.

According to an affidavit in the case, police were called to Chickadee Drive at about 3 p.m. for a 911 report of a male lying in the road, not breathing. Vermont State Police located the male dressed in underwear and a T-shirt with cut and puncture wounds to his torso minutes later lying near a fence in the roadway. Rescue personnel attempted first aid, which was unsuccessful. The male, later identified as Gras, was pronounced dead 41 minutes later. An autopsy found the cause of death to be stab wounds to the abdomen and upper body, and the manner of death a homicide.

Witnesses told police Gras was in the passenger seat of a Subaru in front of 374 Chickadee Drive, arguing with another individual. The argument soon escalated, with a witness seeing the other male, wearing a large knife sheath on his waist, standing outside the open passenger door, punching Gras. Gras exited the vehicle, and the fighting continued. The witness then noticed Gras walking toward his property as the other male knocked on the door of the trailer the Subaru was parked in front of, yelling to let him in. The witness told Gras to get off his property as the other male walked toward Gras.

Gras  mortally wounded  ran across the dirt roadway for about 30 feet, moaning in pain, then collapsed next to a tall fence just as the neighborhood schoolchildren were let off the school bus. Parents, meeting them before police arrived, tried to shield their eyes. A short time later, emergency medical services arrived and worked on Gras, where he collapsed. He was declared dead at the scene about 15 minutes later.

Video surveillance taken minutes after the incident from a neighboring property showed two individuals, a male and a female, wearing hoods that concealed their faces, walking quickly away from the trailer, followed by another male wearing a mask and carrying a backpack lagging behind. Police believe those individuals to be the female resident of the trailer, Misty Chandler, Coppedge, and another individual believed to be involved named Jacob Lundy.

A different witness revealed the three suspects, walking on NW Hill Road, enter the woods near a culvert before being picked up by a white-colored SUV. The witness provided photographs of the three suspects to police. According to police, all were believed to be the three suspects leaving the scene of the murder.

A later search of the trailer at 374 Chickadee Drive revealed blood stain evidence inside. Police also located a fixed-blade knife with blood stains on the blade on a hutch in the living room of the residence.

About 9 p.m. on the same day, Massachusetts State Police executed a motor vehicle stop in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Four individuals were inside the vehicle, including Misty Chandler, Jacob Lundy, and Elizah Coppedge. The fourth was an Uber driver. Police found suspected controlled substances and drug paraphernalia inside, as well as outstanding warrants for Coppedge, who was taken into custody. As he was being processed after his arrest, a wallet allegedly fell out of Coppedges clothes. Inside the wallet was a Vermont identification card belonging to Nathan Gray.

The Massachusetts court system released Coppedge after his arrest.

According to the affidavit, seized cellphone data and interviews with several suspects and acquaintances later revealed that Nathan Gray told police he had given Gras the wallet just before the two entered the Pownal trailer and that Gras had put the wallet inside his backpack. Gras, allegedly a drug user, and Gray had driven to Pownal to purchase drugs. When they got there, several individuals appeared from a back room of the residence and assaulted Gras and Gray, stripping Gras down to his underwear and socks. Gray, at some point in the beating, was able to escape the trailer and fled in the vehicle they arrived in.

An embedded social media video seized as part of a search warrant revealed all three individuals singing inside the residence at the Pownal trailer park just four hours before the homicide. Several still photos allegedly show Coppedge and someone holding an identical knife to the one found with blood stains inside the trailer, according to the affidavit. It was determined that the photo was taken the same day as the murder, just moments after the 911 call of the stabbing. A text from the phone shows the photo of the knife and the words, I just did sun really bad, followed by the return text, Get tf OUTTA VERMONT RIGHT NOW BRO.

Police reported that extensive efforts had been made to locate Coppedge and requested an arrest warrant to aid in that effort.

Coppedge is facing a possible life sentence with a presumptive 20-year minimum behind bars if he is found guilty.

Neighbors inside the trailer park after the murder said they feared for their children and all of the drug dealing has decimated the park.

Theres so much drug activity in and out of there, I can't really tell you who's who, said a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous. Im in constant fear for my grandchildrens lives.
The head of a group representing trainee doctors, who have left worksites in protest of the government's policy of medical reform, said Thursday that he was scheduled to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol later in the day.

Park Dan, the head of an emergency committee at the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA), said in an internal notice that he would meet with Yoon on Thursday ahead of parliamentary elections next week.

Park did not specify where he would meet with Yoon but said a meeting with Yoon is "worth trying as we can deliver the stance of the trainee doctors to Yoon" ahead of the April 10 general elections.

"I believe the current situation might have been initiated by the president's determination," Park said.

Park said he would demand Yoon scrap a plan to hike the number of medical students.

About 12,000 junior doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20 in protest of the plan for a hike of 2,000 medical school admissions.

Since earlier this week, Yoon's office has said it is open to talks with junior doctors, but prospects for a breakthrough over the standoff remain uncertain as the government has shown little sign of reducing the size of the increased medical school admission quotas.

Adding to the complexity over the standoff, the government had already allocated the admission quotas to universities.

In a national address on Monday, Yoon called on doctors to come up with a "unified proposal" on the appropriate increase in medical school admissions, saying the government will be open to talks though it believes a hike of 2,000 is the minimum.

The reform plan has emerged as a hot-button issue for next week's parliamentary elections, with the ruling People Power Party aiming to regain a majority in the National Assembly. (Yonhap)
Many young people believe that putting a period at the end of a sentence is inefficient, unnecessary, pretentious and even hostile, notes columnist Donald Morrison. Some educators worry that those same folks no longer know how to construct a proper paragraph and, perhaps worse, have also begun skipping commas.
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The health ministry said Thursday the government has extended the deployment of public health doctors and military surgeons at hospitals hit by the prolonged walkout of junior doctors protesting the medical school quota hike.

About 12,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20, causing delays in medical treatments, with some emergency rooms partially limiting their treatment of critically ill patients.

The government deployed the first batch of 154 public health doctors and military surgeons to such strike-hit hospitals on March 11, with their term set to expire Sunday.

"We have extended the contracts of 110 public health doctors and military surgeons while replacing 44 others," Jun Byung-wang in charge of health care policy at the Health Ministry told reporters.

Jun added that the health ministry designated 47 partner hospitals specializing in cancer treatments so that patients treated at higher-tier general hospitals can be transferred for follow-up treatments.

The government is pushing to increase the admission quota to address a shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as high-risk surgeries, pediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine.

But doctors argue the quota hike would compromise the quality of medical education and services and create a surplus of physicians, stating the government must devise ways of extending compensation to induce more physicians to practice in such "unpopular" areas. (Yonhap)


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By Jon Dunbar

Bizarre, malicious attacks sabotage against foreign-owned businesses in Korea turn out not to be so rare. After an article last month detailed the coordinated negative-offensive reviews on Instagram against Tom's Pizza, Brandon Harkins, the owner of Aqua Duck Pizza Pub in eastern Seoul's Majang-dong, shared his own story of how a curse was placed on him, and what he did to overcome this mystical attack.

One day while doing some remodeling work about two years ago, he said he found an envelope tucked conspicuously under one of the seats. When he opened it, he found a message written in Chinese characters. His curiosity piqued, he asked a friend who understood Chinese what it said.

"To our surprise it was a curse someone had put on my restaurant, wishing bad fortune upon my business," Harkins told The Korea Times. "It was both funny and disturbing at the same time, thinking how someone could go to the trouble of making a curse and then sneaking it in my place."

He didn't take it too seriously, but his Korean wife had a stronger reaction when she found out he opened the envelope.

"She insisted I go to a temple to 'cleanse' the bad luck off of myself in a sense," he said. "I didnt really believe that I was cursed or anything, but to put my wife at ease, I went along with her worries."

She told him to go to Doseon Temple on Mount Bukhan in northern Seoul.

"The road that enters into the temple has these giant wooden warrior-like statues that are supposed to ward off bad spirits and keep them from entering the temple, or at least that is what I have been told. So, I made sure to pass through those guards. Inside I did some prayers, bows, and made some offerings," Harkins recounted.

"The next day I opened the restaurant was the busiest it had ever been."

He said the incident didn't make a believer out of him, but admitted he has returned to the temple a few times since then.

Majang-dong's hidden food treasure

In the meantime, Aqua Duck is making believers of Seoul's pizza-loving foodie communities.

The pizzas are excellent, with dough that is crunchy on the outside but fluffy and slightly chewy inside. To get the perfect texture, Harkins said he ferments the dough slowly over several days in multiple stages and temperatures to give it a full flavor and break down the gliadin in the dough. "You wont feel bloated after eating my pizza like you do with a lot of others," he claimed.

Harkins prepares the toppings meticulously, not skimping on quality, and he cubes the cheese by hand. The saue is his premium blend of imported tomatoes and herbs.

Harkins says some customers have said the pizza reminds them of New York style, but he brushed off the comparison because of different techniques used.

"In fact, I wouldnt describe it as any particular style other than my own," he said.

And even that style fluctuates over time.

"My pizzas from four years ago, to six months ago, to today, are different," he said. "Im constantly tweaking my recipe, my fermentation method, even the way I bake the pie, to make it better. The result is a kind of living pizza that gets better with time."

When Aqua Duck originally opened in late 2019, shortly before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harkins had other plans for the business. He originally wanted to focus more on craft beer, having been a brewer himself.

"I originally had two partners who backed out before opening. One got cold feet and the other decided to leave Korea. So being left by myself, I didnt have the capital or manpower to do the brewpub alone. So thats how I fell into pizza," he admitted. "At that time, I knew nothing about making pizza. So, in the beginning, Id say my pizzas were average at best. "As I opened two months before COVID hit, the downtime I had during that period gave me a lot of room to experiment with my pizzas."

In order to improve his pizza craft, he pored through culinary textbooks, blogs and YouTube videos. And whenever he went back to the U.S., he would eat as much pizza as he could  for benchmarking purposes of course.

Early last year, enthusiastically positive reviews of Aqua Duck's pizza started appearing in English-language online communities, and Harkins' efforts started paying off. People were excited to try a new pizza place emerging from the pandemic, and Aqua Duck was the next frontier.

It may have stayed off the radar a little longer not just from the pandemic, but due to its location, which isn't well-known to that many foreign foodies. It's no Itaewon or Hongdae, but located right outside Majang Station on Seoul Metro Line 6, it's not too difficult to reach. It's up the street from Majang Meat Market, and also not far from Hanyang University as well as Cheonggye Stream, so the place has always been able to attract a local clientele.

"Why Majang? I spent about six months searching every nook and cranny of Seoul, trying to find a spot that called to me and fit my budget," he said. "I was telling a friend that I was getting discouraged because I felt like I was never going to find a place and he recommended Majang. I visited the area in April 2019 and stumbled upon the spot where Im now located. The street was lively with people bustling to the meat market, going for a stroll along Cheonggye Stream. I thought I could possibly fit in here. Before I signed the contract, I came and visited the area for about a week to get a feel for the neighborhood and it just felt right."

Although he loves the area, it has also been difficult, especially due to the years of pandemic restrictions.

"To be honest, it has been tough being out here, especially during COVID. Its a miracle I was able to survive that time. Being up on the second floor and also being out of the place for this kind of neighborhood leads to business coming in waves instead of having a steady stream of customers week to week. But Ive developed a good base of regulars and have managed to make it work," he said.

He has certainly made the most of the space, transforming it into a paradise in the middle of the metropolis.

"When I was designing and building everything, I wanted to create a place that felt like a bit of an escape from the bustling life of Seoul outsidesomething that made customers feel like they would have a short retreat from the stresses of life and enjoy some good food at the same time," he said. "I also wanted to make a space comforting for me to come to work in every day as well. To have an environment that balanced out the stress of running a business."

He built the interior himself using recycled wood and materials, some of which came from Magpie Brewing's former Hongdae location which closed in 2017. He was able to do a lot, giving the place a somewhat tiki or Polynesian island vibe.

"Almost every day when new customers walk in the door I hear, 'Wow, I feel like we are in Bali,' 'This place feels like it should be in Itaewon,' 'I had no idea a place like this would be in Majang,' 'Why would you open a place like this in Majang' and 'Are we still in Korea?' When I hear that I feel like I accomplished what I set out in designing the place," he said.

He has certainly crafted a unique dining experience, while keeping the budget affordable and doing everything himself.

Pizza spirit

"It may sound cheesy, but everything about this place I wanted this place to have a spirit of sorts," he said.

"So in the essence of that, when I was coming up with the name Aqua Duck, I wanted to include someone who is very dear to me in naming my place my son. When I come to work every day and see my sign outside, Id be reminded of what I was working so hard for and to encourage me to never give up and do whatever I had to make this venture work."

In order to create the name, he made a long list of things about his son and his interests, which included water and ducks.

"When I was playing with the words, I put together Aqua Duck and it just felt right to me," he said.

Harkins' son has a genetic disorder called Fragile X syndrome, a condition which causes mental and physical disability.

Harkins' son has been going through various therapies and visiting clinics since he was a toddler in hopes they could mitigate his struggles as he grows. While Harkins says his son has made progress, he admitted it hasn't been an easy journey.

"This business has been my way of trying to make enough money to make sure hes taken care of after Im gone," Harkins said. "Probably the most difficult thing for me running the restaurant is that Im away from home so much and miss out on a lot with the family. I feel bad that I cant be there to help my wife more."

While he works until late hours, his wife takes care of things at home and brings their son to therapy. At one time, that meant traveling four hours a day to visit a certain specialist clinic away from the city.

Harkins admitted that because of his condition his son doesn't fully comprehend much about the restaurant named for him.

"Its difficult for him to express his opinion on things," he said. "But, he does like visiting here and he enjoys my pizza."

Aqua Duck opens Tuesday through Saturday at 6 p.m. Last orders Tuesday to Thursday is at 10 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m. It is closed Sunday and Monday.

Visit fb.com/AquaDuckPizza or follow @aquaduckpizza on Instagram for more information.












British actor Adrian Schillers sudden and unexpected death has been announced by his agent.

On Wednesday, Schiller  known for playing rich ealdorman Aethelhelm in Netflix historical series The Last Kingdom and steward Cornelius Penge in ITV royal drama Victoria  died at the age of 60.

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Adrian Schiller (Ian West/PA)

Scott Marshall Partners, who represented him for more than three decades, said in a statement: He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available.

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A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.

Schiller was also known for his appearances in BBC Caribbean-set detective series Death In Paradise and historical dramas The Musketeers on the BBC and The Devils Whore on Channel 4.

Sophie Cookson and Adrian Schiller (Ian West/PA)

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He was recently seen in January as a criminal, named Drake Underwood, in an episode of BBC detective series Father Brown about a heist gone wrong.

Also known for his theatre work, Schiller was among the cast in Second World War play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre last year.

His agent also said he enjoyed a varied and successful career across all media.

Our deepest condolences go to his family, who ask for privacy at this most difficult of times, the statement also said.

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The White Factory writer Dmitry Glukhovsky wrote on Instagram that Schiller performed brilliantly as Chaim Rumkowski and without him, our piece would have not been the same.

Schiller also appeared in A Touch Of Frost, Raised By Wolves, Residue, The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who, New Tricks, Being Human, Silent Witness, Prime Suspect, Judge John Deed and My Family.

'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller.' pic.twitter.com/1Iil9gekhX Advertisement  National Theatre (@NationalTheatre) April 4, 2024

Paying tribute, the outgoing director of the National Theatre Rufus Norris said he was deeply saddened and shocked by the loss of a company member.

Adrian was a wonderful actor, and the National Theatre had the pleasure of working with him throughout the breadth of his career, he added, in the statement shared on social media.

His recent performance as Henry Lehman in the Australian premiere of The Lehman Trilogy was superb and his presence within the company will be greatly missed.

Schiller took to the stage in productions of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, The Veil, The Captain of Kopenick, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at the theatre.
Over 5 million worth of drugs and 10 firearms have been seized as part of a major Garda operation in Dublin.

Last Friday, a PM-63C RAK Semi-Automatic Machine Pistol, and nine x 9mm Rounds of Ammunition were recovered by gardai in Clondalkin during the search of a house.

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A man in his 20s was detained under section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939 and subsequently released pending further investigations.

The next day, two firearms were recovered by gardai in Ballyfermot following a search of a local park. No arrests have yet been made in connection with this discovery.

On Tuesday, the Dublin Crime Response Team conducted a planned search of a residential property in Fortunestown, Dublin 24, during which cannabis with an estimated value of 80,000 was seized.

A man in his 40s was subsequently arrested and charged in connection with the seizure.

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The next day, officers from Ronanstown seized seven firearms and ammunition, along with cannabis and cocaine with a combined estimated value of 200,000, and 100,000 in cash following planned searches of four residential properties in the Clondalkin area.

Additionally, 67,000 was frozen in a bank account as a result of the searches. Tracker devices and mobile phones were also seized in the course of the operation.

Separately, gardai also seized cannabis with an estimated value of 200,000 during a search of a vehicle on Beresford Street in Dublin 7. Two men in their 30s were arrested at the scene.

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During a follow-up search at a residential property in Finglas cannabis with an estimated value of 300,000 was also seized, and a man in his late 20s was arrested.

Also on Wednesday, cannabis herb and cocaine valued at around 3 million was discovered at a business premises in Dublin 12. Three people were arrested in connection with this seizure and remain in Garda custody.

Commenting on the major operation, Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Region Angela Willis said: "I wish to acknowledge the continuous efforts of our members working across the city in tackling serious criminality and those that cause the most harm to communities.

"Removing 10 lethal firearms from circulation will no doubt save many lives and contribute to our efforts to keep communities safe."

"The impact of the seizure of significant quantities of illicit drugs and cash, believed to represent the proceeds of criminality, will also ensure that we continue to affect the ability of criminal networks to operate in our communities," she added.
The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized a fine of 1.5 million won ($1,113) each for two reporters of MBC TV for posing as police officers in 2021 while investigating allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee plagiarized her doctoral thesis.

The reporters were accused of introducing themselves as police officers and asking for the whereabouts of the doctoral adviser for the first lady in 2021, when President Yoon Seok Yeol was a presidential candidate of the People Power Party (PPP).

They allegedly went to the former address of the adviser in Paju, 37 kilometers northeast of Seoul, then called the owner of a car parked outside to ask where the professor currently lives.

Prosecutors also applied charges of trespassing, accusing them of wandering outside the residence and trying to peek inside through a window.

The district court sentenced the two reporters to pay fines of 1.5 million won each but acquitted them of the trespassing charges, citing a lack of evidence.

The appeals court upheld the lower court's ruling, and the top court also dismissed the appeals Thursday, saying no legal principles were violated in the previous rulings. (Yonhap)
The Government and gardai are investigating claims former Irish Defence Forces personnel have been training troops loyal to a Libyan army commander.

The Defence Forces have now called on gardai to examine claims that the former serving personnel engaged in weapons training in Irish army fatigues contrary to an ongoing UN arms and arms-related embargo in Libya.

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The claims appeared in an Irish Times article which reported former members of the elite Army Ranger Wing are alleged to have been training troops loyal to Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.

It has been alleged that a company run by Irish ex-special forces soldiers flew highly-skilled soldiers from Ireland to Libyas city of Benghazi where they joined other special forces trainers from other jurisdictions.

The company, which is also involved in security-related contracts in Ireland, is understood to have been contracted to train members of Haftars Libyan National Army infantry brigade made up of militias and Russian mercenaries.

A Defence Forces spokesperson said it has "actively engaged" with gardai on the matter.

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"The Defence Forces is always disappointed if its former members act in a way that is at odds with our ethos and values.

Regarding claims former soldiers dressed in Irish Defence Forces army fatigues, the spokesperson said that personnel are required to return all Defence Forces issued kit and equipment on their discharge from the organisation.

No civilian personnel are entitled to wear Defence Forces attire or insignia and it is a criminal offence to impersonate a member of the Defence Forces.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin has asked the Department of Enterprise to investigate the extent to which the allegations constitute a breach of the UNs military training embargo in Libya.

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Mr Martin is also considering whether new laws are needed on what serving and former Defence Forces personnel can and cant do in countries with UN arms and training embargoes in place.

The article also referenced a claim that one of the soldiers working as a trainer in Libya was still enlisted with the Irish Defence Forces pending their discharge

A spokesperson for Mr Martin, who is also the Defence Minister, said: The alleged breaches of UN and EU sanctions in the manner outlined in the report are deeply shocking and cause reputational damage to Ireland and our Defence Forces."
The family of a soldier killed in the 1974 Guildford pub bombing have been told by police that they have a new viable line of inquiry but will not be investigating because the UK's new Legacy Act means any such probes into cases relating to the Troubles are to end on May 1st.

Soldiers Caroline Slater (18), William Forsyth (18), John Hunter (17), and Ann Hamilton (19), and civilian Paul Craig (21) died and 65 people were injured in the blast  carried out by the IRA during the height of the Troubles  at the Horse and Groom pub in the Surrey town on October 5th, 1974.

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They were found at an inquest in 2022 to have been unlawfully killed by the bomb, equivalent to 18 sticks of dynamite, at around 8.50pm, after it was placed in the pub by a young man and woman.

Now the family of Private Hamilton have received a letter from Surrey Police stating that, following an evidential assessment, the force had identified a potential forensic line of enquiry and the next step would be a new criminal investigation.

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But Surrey Police also informed the family that it would not be advancing any further investigations prior to the start of the Legacy Act.

Under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, all investigations into cases relating to the Troubles are to end on May 1st, 2024, including civil cases and inquests which have not reached their findings stage.

The controversial law offers a limited form of immunity from prosecution for such offences for those who co-operate with a new body aimed at truth recovery.

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KRW Law, acting on behalf of Pte Hamiltons family, are now seeking clarification on the nature of the new evidence including whether it involves a fingerprint or DNA profile, how long Surrey Police had known about it and how often the case had been reviewed since 1974.

They have also asked the force when the decision was taken not to reopen any investigations prior to the commencement of the Legacy Act and whether the new clue could lead to possible arrests.

They also ask if Surrey Police could continue an investigation after May 1st, which they say is allowed as advised by the UK's Home Office.

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The wrecked Horse and Groom public house in Guildford which was bombed in 1974. Photo: PA.

Cassandra Hamilton, a sister of Ann Hamilton, said: Four years after the resumed inquest into the murder of our sister in which we could not participate because we were disgracefully refused legal aid, we are now confronted with the Surrey Police producing new evidence  50 years after Anns murder.

A deputy chief constable of Surrey Police wrote in his letter to us that I can only image how the death of Ann has impacted on you and your family, and how the publicity surrounding this case has affected you over the years.

First, this policeman cannot begin to imagine the impact of Anns violent murder and those of four others on our families.

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Second, it has been the support of the public and their anger at those responsible for the investigation that has been important and kept this catastrophic failure of policing and criminal justice alive for us.

Now we are being told that this new forensic evidence cannot be investigated because of the Legacy Act which the British government is imposing upon all relatives despite huge opposition and a successful legal challenge and an application by the Irish Government against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Legacy Act appears to provide Surrey Police with another reason not to do anything  despite now telling us, out of the blue and a month before the Legacy Act comes into force, that there is new evidence.

This letter from Surrey Police raises more questions for us, questions we want Surrey Police to answer and to be responsible for.

This is before any responsibility for these failures is conveniently transferred to a new investigatory body.

Solicitor Barry ODonnell, from KRW, said: The timing by Surrey Police in this matter raises too many questions which the family of Ann Hamilton want answered.

There is the question of the nature of this new evidential lead, the question of how long this new evidence has been available to Surrey Police, when decisions were taken not to investigate this new forensic evidence, and why beyond the coming into force of the Legacy Act and whether, now given the legal challenges to the Legacy Act, Surrey Police should and could continue its investigation?

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said it was particularly concerned about the controversial legal provision of the Legacy Act.

The Act received royal assent last autumn despite widespread opposition from political parties and victims organisations in Northern Ireland, as well as the Irish Government.

The UK government is currently appealing against a ruling by a judge at Belfast High Court who found that the provision for conditional immunity was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Surrey Police has been approached for comment.
A new study has shown a United Ireland would cost 20 billion each year for two decades.

The report published by the Institute of International and European Affairs is authored by the Economic and Social Research Institutes John FitzGerald of Trinity College Dublin, and Dublin City University academic Prof Edgar Morgenroth.

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According to the study, basic unification costs after losing the London subvention and adjusting for other factors would run to nearly 11 billion a year.

However, the cost would jump to 20.5 billion if social welfare, pensions and public service pay rates to people in Northern Ireland were brought into line with those currently in force in the Republic.

Unification would add around five per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) to the Irish Governments deficit. If welfare payments is included, that would take the cost to Ireland of supporting Northern Ireland within a united Ireland to almost 10 per cent of GNI.

This would add a quarter to public expenditure in Ireland (total Government expenditure in Ireland currently amounts to around 40 per cent of GNI), while producing a very limited increase in revenue.

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The report adds this would lead to a dramatic increase in taxation.

When Germany was unified, the economic and social systems of East Germany were immediately changed to those of West Germany. However, convergence in terms of private sector wages has not been achieved yet.

The report concludes even though Ireland has a much higher national income, funding the needs of the people of Northern Ireland in a united Ireland would put huge financial pressure on the people of Ireland.

To reduce the cost of reunification, they suggest Northern Ireland should make major changes in its economy designed to dramatically raise productivity.

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Unification would also likely mean the British government would refuse to continue paying 2.5 billion worth of pensions to people living in Northern Ireland.

The outcome of negotiations between a United Ireland and the UK would also have consequences should Scotland become independent.

If Scotland had voted for independence in 2014, the agreement for the break-up of the UK would have entailed Scotland leaving it with a share of the UK debt.

Sinn Fein TD Padraig MacLochlainn has disputed the methodology of a report by the Institute of International and European Affairs which said that a united Ireland would cost 20 billion every year for 20 years, which would require an increase in taxation of around 25 percent and a significant reduction in expenditure.

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Mr MacLochlainn told RTE radios Today with Claire Byrne show that the analysis was static and accepted the amount of subvention at face value.

Professor John Doyle of DCU in recent times, has written that the actual subvention is much less. It's about 2.4 billion. That's about a quarter of what the British government, when you deduct their pensions, debt repayments, contribution to the defence forces of Britain and so on. And so it's much less than the headline figure.

But also the report assumes there'll be no economic growth in the North. We know that since Brexit there's been substantial growth in the All Ireland economy. We know that there is a real opportunity, and that's thanks to the efforts of all of the political parties and people on the island of Ireland.

We ensured there was no hard border on the island of Ireland. That means the people of the north of Ireland have access to the British economy and to the European economy uniquely so, there's a real opportunity for economic growth.

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Professor Seamus McGuinness, economics professor of the ESRI, he's criticised this report and that it's it doesn't make any provision for economic growth in the North over the time ahead.

"But what I do praise Edgar for and John is doing some type of research, doing some type of planning, some type of analysis, which is very different from our own government, who have no plan whatsoever to look at how we get to Irish unity.

Mr MacLochlainn pointed to reports from Professor Kurt Huebner, who worked on German reunification and looked at the model that they used and how that would apply to Ireland. He forecast 35 billion of growth over eight years. You have people like David McWilliams who've talked about how we could manage this.

Mr MacLochlainn called for a Citizens Assembly and a White Paper from the Government on the issue of reunification.

Nobody assumes that in the context of Irish reunification, where people on both sides of the border have voted for a united Ireland, that the British government just walks away from the pitch.

There was a process through the Good Friday Agreement though which Britain would continue to have a responsibility to Unionists.

I am very open to that as an Irish republican, that the Unionist population on the island would continue to have some type of relationship with Britain. You have to assume that Britain will have and indeed would step up to take financial responsibility, moving forward. So I think this report is the worst case scenario. And, and it would be heavily disputed by a range of professors and economic analysts.

Additional reporting from Vivienne Clarke
Former UK home secretary Suella Braverman has come under fire for arguing that Israel is absolutely not in breach of international humanitarian law.

During a visit to the country, Ms Braverman claimed that Israel is going above and beyond to ensure the safety of civilians and there is plenty of food and water.

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UK foreign secretary David Cameron has previously described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as dire and deeply concerning.

A Conservative former minister called for Ms Braverman to have the whip withdrawn immediately.

Suella Braverman argued Israel is absolutely not in breach of international humanitarian law (Justin Tallis/PA)

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Ms Braverman told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The suggestion itself is absurd and, frankly, an insult to Israel who have been going above and beyond the necessary requirements to ensure that civilian casualties are limited, to ensure that aid is received onto the Gaza Strip and distributed.

I have seen evidence myself, in terms of very up-to-date photographic evidence, of plentiful food packages and trucks of food, water and medicines getting to the people of Gaza.

In a letter sent to Conservative MP Alicia Kearns last month, Mr Cameron aired his frustrations that some UK aid is being held for more than three weeks because of checks by the Israeli government.

He wrote: The main blockers remain arbitrary denials by the government of Israel and lengthy clearance procedures, including multiple screenings and narrow opening windows in daylight hours.

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The letter continued: We are committed to working ourselves, and with our partners, to do everything possible to address the dire and deeply concerning humanitarian situation.

Grateful to @David_Cameron for such clarity in his response to my letter. He confirms, contrary to some claims:



- The UN has NOT requested the Kerem Shalom crossing be closed on Saturdays. Israel closes it due to the Sabbath.



- Aid not getting into Gaza due to arbitrary https://t.co/DTP0Vl5Ohz pic.twitter.com/cvrmdwRhOi  Alicia Kearns MP (@aliciakearns) March 21, 2024 Advertisement

Sir Alan Duncan said Ms Braverman should have the whip withdrawn for her extreme views.

The former MP for Rutland and Melton told Times Radio: For Suella Braverman today to say that there is not a humanitarian problem in Gaza and theres plenty of food and shes seen the photographs.

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Frankly, it is so disgusting, so repulsive, so repellent that I think she should immediately have the whip withdrawn.

Mr Duncan is being investigated by the Conservative party after he criticised a number of ministers and former ministers for their stance on Israel and Gaza.
Our top book of the week is inspired by real events from history

Fiction

1. The Household by Stacey Halls is published in hardback by Manilla Press. Available April 11th

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Absolutely THRILLED to announce my fourth novel, THE HOUSEHOLD, will be published in the spring. Preorders open now, and please consider preordering from your local indie! https://t.co/ylAOm7rfRb pic.twitter.com/FTxrmrtCes  Stacey Halls is away (@stacey_halls) July 20, 2023

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A cast of women, plucked from poverty and lives of crime are brought together under one roof in The Household, the latest offering from Stacey Halls. The residents, told to keep their past lives a secret, are offered a second chance  but when the reality of life in the isolated cottage sets in, not all are so sure its what they want. After the success of previous novels The Familiars, The Foundling and Mrs England, Halls is again inspired by real historical events. This time, the author focuses her attentions on Urania Cottage  a scheme set up in 1846 by author Charles Dickens and millionaire Angela Burdett-Coutts to offer refuge to fallen women. The historical facts alone are interesting enough, but the past is brought to life by Halls as she expertly weaves together the individual stories of all the women involved.

9/10

(Review by Eleanor Barlow)

2. The Last Murder At The End Of The World by Stuart Turton is published in hardback by Raven Books. Available now

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I wrote another book! Three in five years. I'm on fire! It's called The Last Murder at the End of the World and it's a utopian/dystopian murder mystery set on an island that holds the last 122 human beings. I very much hope you enjoy it! pic.twitter.com/YfXn4eKDxG  Stu Turton (@stu_turton) August 17, 2023

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Fans of Stuart Turtons high-concept fiction will be familiar with his unique, carefully constructed mysteries, and this rollercoaster of a sci-fi/detective tale might be the best one yet. On a peaceful Greek island, untouched by an apocalypse-causing fog, three scientists and a huddle of villagers uphold whats left of humanity. But a shocking murder triggers a nail-biting countdown to save this haven from obliteration. Emory is tasked with unmasking the killer, battling to unlock motives in time to reveal the culprit. Turtons ability to build an alluring world of detailed ideas is astounding. Youll feel the warm breeze as youre swept along by the pacey plot to a showstopping conclusion. Setting this colourful, cross-genre novel apart is the eccentric, sympathetic cast of characters and some profound questions. What are our responsibilities as humans, and can we learn to deny the temptation to play God?

9/10

(Review by Amanda Willard)

3. Memory Piece by Lisa Ko is published by Dialogue Books. Available now

Three lifelong friends striving to build satisfying lives in a world that is radically different from what they were promised.



'A glorious writer' Jacqueline Woodson

'Remarkable' Rumaan Alam

'To spend time with these characters is a gift' C Pam Zhang



MEMORY PIECE IS OUT NOW pic.twitter.com/et5u1Befp2 Advertisement  Dialogue Publishing (@dialoguepub) March 21, 2024

Memory Piece starts in the early 1980s with Giselle Chin  an Asian American teenager who feels out of place in New Jersey and wants more out of life. Thats a common thread throughout this moving book of three parts  first we spend time with Giselle, through her growing up and eventually becoming a performance artist, then we visit her friend Jackie in the Nineties, as a coder in an ever-changing world. Finally comes the third friend, Ellen, as an elderly woman in the mid-21st century  still holding on to her cooperative living despite the dystopian disaster around her. While the third part does feel like a bit of an extreme departure and could be a short story in its own right, Lisa Ko has crafted a touching story of three womens lives, exploring themes of belonging, creativity, tech and more. Like her previous book, The Leavers, its sure to become a modern classic.

8/10

(Review by Prudence Wade)

Non-fiction

4. The Chain: The Relationships That Break Us, The Women Who Rebuild Us by Chimene Suleyman is published in hardback by W&N. Available now

(W&N/PA)

The story of The Chain is shocking, made even worse in being a real story. Chimene Suleymans memoir centres around a failed relationship with an ex, which culminated with her getting an abortion and him brutally leaving her alone at the clinic. As the story unfolds, it turns out he was a pathological liar and manipulator, and had treated scores more women in similarly horrific ways. These women find each other through social media, and as more details emerge of this unnamed mans behaviour, the victims form a chain and find themselves bound together. Suleymans writing is personal and raw, but once the initial bombshell settles, theres not much direction to the book. Its a searing look at misogyny and the treatment of women, but with a meandering and somewhat jumbled through-line, it perhaps would have been better as an essay.

7/10

(Review by Prudence Wade)

Childrens book of the week

5. When I Feel Brave by Britta Teckentrup is published in hardback by Prestel. Available now

(Prestel/PA)

When I Feel Brave is an inspiring read, brilliantly illustrated with rhyming throughout to help young readers digest the words and the meaning behind them. Brave begins with a young girl experiencing feelings of fear and self doubt  she walks through a forest and meets a bear that initially seems scary. Most of us experience worry and distressing thoughts when were growing up, but how does one deal with them in a healthy way? Brave acknowledges the real struggle some children may feel and gently urges them to face their darkest troubles. When the child does this with courage, things begin to look brighter and the clouds start to clear, making the world seem a much kinder place to live in. A beautiful read for any youngster that is fearful or anxious. Hopefully it will help every reader overcome their concerns head on.

9/10

(Review by Karen Shield)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 30th

HARDBACK (FICTION)

1. The Last Murder At The End Of The World By Stuart Turton

2. The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas

3. Carrie (50th anniversary edition) by Stephen King

4. Medea by Rosie Hewlett

5. A Fate Inked In Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

6. Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

7. Dune by Frank Herbert

8. House Of Flame And Shadow by Sarah Maas

9. Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner

10. The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)

1. Easy Wins by Anna Jones

2. The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson

3. A Very Private School by Charles Spencer

4. Bored Of Lunch Healthy Slow Cooker: Even Easier by Nathan Anthony

5. Blossomise by Simon Armitage

6. The Diary Of A CEO by Steven Barlett

7. Crypt by Alice Roberts

8. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

9. The Eastern Front by Nick Lloyd

10. The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl by Becky Lynch:

(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)

1. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu and Ken Liu

2. Ghost Stories: Stephen Frys Definitive Collection, by Stephen Fry

3. Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

4. Atomic Habits by James Clear

5. None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

6. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu and Joel Martinsen

7. Unruly by David Mitchell

8. The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

9. The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson

10. The Templars by Dan Jones

(Compiled by Audible)
Russian forces have fired drones at two apartment buildings and a power plant in Ukraines second-largest city, killing four people, local authorities said.

Shahed drones smashed into two apartment buildings in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, which has frequently been targeted during more than two years of war.

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Other drones targeted the power grid.

Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a house which was destroyed in a Russian drone strike on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine (George Ivanchenko/AP)

The Kremlins forces in recent months have stepped up their aerial barrages of Ukraine, hitting urban areas.

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The approximately 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line is largely deadlocked, but Kyiv officials say Moscows troops have recently been probing for Ukrainian weaknesses on the front line ahead of an expected large-scale Russian offensive in the summer.

The Institute for the Study of War said the goal of Russias escalated attacks on civilian areas and the countrys power grid may be to compel Ukraines army to deploy air defence systems away from the front line.

That would allow Russia to provide more air cover for its ground operations on the battlefield, the think tank said.

Russian forces have apparently increased the scale of their mechanised ground assaults in parts of the front line in recent weeks, it added, apparently seeking gains while Ukrainian forces are kept waiting for the arrival of vital new military supplies from their Western partners.

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With the support of China, Russia has built its forces back up close to full strength, according to a senior US official.

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We have assessed over the course of the last couple of months that Russia has almost completely reconstituted militarily, US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday.

In Kharkiv, three first responders were killed when Russia struck a multistorey building twice in quick succession, local authorities said.

Six people were wounded at that location.

Another 14-storey building was hit by a drone, killing a 69-year-old woman.

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Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russia of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles  the first one to draw crews to the scene and the second one to wound or kill them.

The tactic is called a double tap in military jargon.

Russians used the same method in Syrias civil war.

Other first responders have also been victims of the fighting.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday that ambulance workers and other health transport staff face a high risk of injury or death.

Many emergency teams come under fire either on the way to a call or at their bases, the WHO said in a report.

This is a horrifying pattern, Dr Emanuele Bruni, the WHOs incident manager in Ukraine, was quoted as saying in the report.

These attacks threaten their safety and further devastate communities that have been living under constant shelling for more than two years.

Ukrainian soldiers shot down 11 of the 20 drones Russia launched against Ukraine during the night, the General Staff said.

Russia also attacked energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions over the past day, wounding two people, the Ministry of Energy said on Thursday.

Some 700,000 people in Kharkiv lost power last week after a massive missile attack hit the citys thermal power plant.

Repairs are ongoing.

Each manifestation of Russian terror once again proves that the country-terrorist deserves only one thing  a tribunal, Ukraines human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram in response to the attack.
A new diplomatic crisis between Poland and Israel has erupted following the death of a Polish aid worker in Gaza, with the Polish president denouncing a comment by the Israeli ambassador as outrageous and the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw saying it was summoning him for a meeting.

Damian Sobol (35) was among seven people who were killed while delivering food to besieged Palestinians with the charity World Central Kitchen.

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Israel has called the incident a mistake that followed a misidentification.

Damian Sobol (World Central Kitchen/WCK.org via AP)

The charity said its vehicles were clearly marked.

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Amid shock in Poland over the death of the charity worker, Israels ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne pushed back at what he said were attempts by the extreme right and left in Poland to accuse Israel of intentional murder in the attack.

He said on social media on Tuesday that anti-Semites will always remain anti-Semites, and Israel will remain a democratic Jewish state that fights for its right to exist. Also for the good of the entire Western world.

Polish president Andrzej Duda on Thursday called the comment outrageous and described the ambassador as the biggest problem for the state of Israel in relations with Poland.

Mr Duda said authorities in Israel have spoken about the tragedy in a very subdued way, but added: Unfortunately, their ambassador to Poland is not able to maintain such delicacy and sensitivity, which is unacceptable.

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Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, while a political opponent of Mr Dudas, voiced a similar position.

He said on Thursday that the comment was unacceptable and had offended Poles, and said that the ambassador should apologise.

The deputy foreign minister was quoted in the Polish media as saying that Mr Livne was summoned to a meeting on Friday morning.

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Polands prime minister Donald Tusk said the comment had offended Poles (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)

A day earlier, Mr Tusk published a comment on social media addressing Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Mr Livne saying that the vast majority of Poles showed full solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack. Today you are putting this solidarity to a really hard test. The tragic attack on volunteers and your reaction arouse understandable anger.

Mr Duda on Thursday also called for Israel to pay appropriate compensation to the family of aid worker Mr Sobol.

Mr Sobol had been on an aid mission to Gaza for the past six months following work in Ukraine, Morocco and Turkey.

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Polish and Israeli relations have recently been on the mend after several difficult years.

Ties were badly damaged due to disputes over how to remember Polish behaviour during the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany occupied Poland and carried out the mass murder of Jews.

For eight years until December, Poland had a nationalist government that played down Polish participation in the German killings of Jews and focused largely on Polish aid to Jews.

Israels government believed that approach amounted to historical distortion.

Israel also objected to a law that limited property restitution claims, something that affected the heirs of Polish Holocaust victims, and recalled its ambassador in 2021 before sending Mr Livne the next year as ties improved.

Mr Duda said that we agreed to have this representative finally be in Poland in order to facilitate Israels relations with Poland, but that the ambassador now is making these relations more difficult.
US president Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that future US support for Israels Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahus roughly 30-minute call just days after Israeli air strikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza added a new layer of complication to the leaders increasingly strained relationship.

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Mr Bidens message marks a sharp change in his administrations steadfast support for Israels war efforts, with the US leader for the first time threatening to rethink his backing if Israel does not change its tactics and allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The White House would not specify what could change about US policy, but it could include altering military sales to Israel and the USs diplomatic backup on the world stage.

Administration officials said they expected the Israelis to make announcements on next steps within hours or days and that the US would then assess whether the Israeli moves go far enough.

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US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu (AP)

Mr Biden made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a statement following the leaders call.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Mr Biden also told Mr Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is essential and urged Israel to reach such an accord without delay, according to the White House, which described the conversation as direct and honest.

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There was no immediate reaction to the call from the Israeli government.

The leaders conversation comes as the World Central Kitchen, founded by restauranteur Jose Andres to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the groups staff members, including an American citizen.

The White House has said the US has no plans to conduct its own investigation even as it called on Israel to do more to prevent the harming of innocent civilians and aid workers as it carries out its operations in Gaza.

Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that US support would be curtailed if Israel does not make significant adjustments to how it is carrying out the war.

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If we dont see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy, he said.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby echoed the call for tangible and concrete changes to be taken by the Israelis beyond reiterating long stated calls for allowing additional aid to get into Gaza.

If theres no changes to their policy in their approaches, then theres going to have to be changes to ours, Mr Kirby said.

There are things that need to be done. There are too many civilians being killed.

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The demands for Israel to bring the conflict to a swift close were increasing across the political spectrum, with former president Donald Trump, the Republicans presumptive nominee to face Biden this autumn, saying that Israel was absolutely losing the PR war and calling for a resolution to the bloodshed.

Get it over with and lets get back to peace and stop killing people. And thats a very simple statement, Mr Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

They have to get it done.

Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to  you have to get back to normalcy and peace.

The two leaders also discussed Iranian threats against Israel, Mr Kirby said.

Earlier this week, Iranian leaders vowed to hit back after an airstrike widely blamed on Israel destroyed Irans Consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.

Irans President Ebrahim Raisi said the attack will not remain without answer.

Mr Biden also renewed his concerns about Mr Netanyahus plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant groups deadly October 7 attack.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan also joined the call.

Still, the Biden administration has proceeded apace with arms transfers and deliveries to Israel, many of which were approved years ago but had only been partially or not at all fulfilled.

Just this week, on Monday, the Democratic administrations Daily List of munitions transfers included the sale to Israel of more than 1,000 500-pound bombs and more than 1,000 1,000-pound bombs.

Officials said those transfers had been approved before the publication of the list on Monday, the day Israeli airstrikes hit a World Central Kitchen aid convoy in Gaza, killing seven of the groups employees, and that they fell below the threshold for new congressional notification.

Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in Gaza Strip (Leo Correa/AP)

Also, they noted that the bombs are not for delivery to Israel until 2025.

Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the strikes but said the convoy was not targeted and the workers deaths were not intentional.

The country continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killings.

Mr Andres harshly criticised the Israeli military for the strike, and his organisation has paused its work in Gaza.

The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.

It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon, he wrote on X.

No more innocent lives lost.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, is among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history.

Within two months, researchers say, the offensive has already wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syrias Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraines Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in the Second World War.

It has killed more civilians than the US-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.
Pupils in the UK who wear pro-Palestinian badges and stickers are being referred to the UK governments counter-terror programme, a teaching union has said.

The number of referrals for pupils showing solidarity with Palestine to Prevent  a scheme to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism  has risen, the National Education Union (NEU) has suggested.

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Delegates at the unions annual conference in Bournemouth on Thursday spoke of troubling developments around pupils wanting to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people  and discussions being shut down.

A motion, which was passed at the conference, called on the NEU to publish educational resources to increase understanding of Palestine and Israel and reaffirm its support for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

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Delegates at the conference of the NEU, the largest education union in the UK, backed the motion which accused the Israeli government of being racist and the main driver of the conflict, violence and war.

The ongoing war in Gaza was sparked by Hamass deadly raid into Israel on October 7th 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.

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Last week, UK education secretary Gillian Keegan criticised the unions motion on Palestine, calling it wholly inappropriate and warned it would cause significant hurt to members of the Jewish community.

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She added that teachers have a duty to remain politically impartial and to ensure all sides of contested views are presented fairly and without bias.

But delegates at the conference hit back at the ministers comments on Thursday during a heated debate on Palestine.

Debs Gwynn, proposer of the motion, said: This union is appalled that this government seeks to criminalise people speaking out against the injustices of Palestine by dragging them through the racist Prevent programme.

This union will take no lectures from Gillian Keegan and this racist government on what is and what is not appropriate.

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Daniel Kebede has called for a lasting ceasefire (James Manning/PA)

Ahead of the motion, Dr Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, addressed the delegates about the situation in Gaza.

Delegates gave Dr Zomlot a standing ovation for his speech to the conference and some chanted free, free Palestine and waved Palestinian flags.

One delegate shouted from the river to the sea and others chanted back, Palestine will be free.

The motion on Palestine, which was carried at the NEUs conference, added: There has been a rise in the number of Prevent referrals for pupils showing solidarity with Palestine.

Referrals have been made for such things as wearing Palestinian Solidarity Campaign badges and stickers.

Delegate Vendathal Premkumar, from Redbridge, in north east London, said: Our union group became concerned at the way silence was imposed on staff and students alike soon after the war in Palestine started.

We were banned from having discussions. Students were told that teachers will not be comfortable discussing the topic.

This was very far from the truth as our union group felt it was our duty as educators to help our students navigate this difficult and sensitive topic.

Delegate Mat Milovanovic, from Ealing in west London, spoke of troubling developments around pupils wanting to express their grief and solidarity for people being killed in Gaza.

He said: Classrooms should be safe spaces for students to discuss any topic and safely raise different points of view that are based on mutual respect for every person involved in the discussion.

If students, and particularly Muslim students, are too scared to express their views because of fear of being referred to Prevent, then they could well find solace in darker areas of the internet from deeply problematic sources.

Impartiality

Mr Milovanovic told the conference: In the past few terms at my school, my colleagues and I have expressed solidarity with Palestinians wearing lanyards, badges and taking group photos calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

He suggested the school staff could face possible investigation on the grounds that we do not meet our obligation of political impartiality.

Mr Milovanovic said: As educators are we not obliged to model and demonstrate compassion and decency? Are we not obliged to show our students how to stand up for whats right and just?

Should we not be a source of comfort and support the child who has expressed their grief by wearing a flag?

But some delegates spoke out against the motion during the debate.

Peter Block, from Barnet, in north west London, who opposed the motion, was heckled after he likened the conference to an anti-Zionist rally.

He accused fellow delegates of uncritically jumping on the anti-Israel bandwagon and said it amounted to a glorification of Hamas.

Delegate John Connolly, from Blackpool, who spoke against the motion, said it would be a mistake to back the motion as it would lessen the unions voice.

He said: By choosing to ignore the Hamas attack in October, we reduce our ability to criticise Israels disproportionate response.

By choosing to label Israeli government as racist and applying apartheid policies, we reduce our ability to be seen as a fair and reasonable organisation.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: The NEU today reiterates its call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and for justice and equality for the Palestinian people.

The relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians since October 7th, over 70 oer cent of whom are women and children.

Children should not pay the price of war. Yet more children have been killed in Gaza in four months than in four years of worldwide wars according to the UN.

He added: Women and children are also among those held hostage by Hamas. The NEU is unequivocal in its condemnation of the abhorrent attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7th.

We call for the immediate, safe and unconditional release of all hostages.
Russia and Nato are now in "direct confrontation", the Kremlin said as the US-led alliance marked its 75th anniversary on Thursday.

Nato's successive waves of eastern enlargement are a fixation of president Vladimir Putin, who went to war in Ukraine two years ago with the stated aim of preventing the alliance from coming closer to Russia's borders. Instead, the war has galvanised Nato, which has expanded again with the entry of Finland and Sweden.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "In fact, relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation."

Nato was "already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders", he said.

Putin has repeatedly said that Russia was cheated by the West in the aftermath of the Cold War as Moscow's Warsaw Pact alliance was disbanded but Nato moved eastwards by taking in former pact members and the three Baltic states that had been part of the Soviet Union.

The West rejects that version, saying Nato is a defensive alliance and joining it was a democratic choice by countries that had shaken off decades of Communist rule.

Nato says it is helping Ukraine fight for its survival in the face of Russian aggression, and has provided Kyiv with advanced weapons, training and intelligence.

Russia says that makes Nato de facto a party to the conflict. Putin said in February that a direct conflict between Russia and Nato would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three.
A South Korean national has died in a gunfight with police in Cebu, the Philippines, while allegedly robbing a house with two other Korean companions, local news outlets reported Thursday.

The 47-year-old deceased, surnamed Choi, was robbing a house in a luxury neighborhood in Cebu at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday (local time), with two other South Korean nationals, both surnamed Kim, according to the media reports.

The suspects reportedly threatened the owner of the house, who is also a South Korean national, with weapons and extorted jewelry worth 25 million pesos ($443,235) and 200,000 pesos of cash.

Before their escape, local police officers arrived at the scene, and the two sides got into a gunfight, resulting in Choi's death and severely injuring one police officer.

Philippine police detained the two other suspects and were looking into the details of the case, the reports said.

Seoul's foreign ministry said an official at the South Korean consulate general there visited the police station Wednesday to consult with the case.

"Right after being informed of the case, the diplomatic mission has been calling for a swift and fair investigation into the case, while providing necessary consular assistance for the victim," a ministry official said. (Yonhap)
A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state's 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former US president argued violate his free speech rights.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Mr Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made "in furtherance of criminal activity" and are not protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

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Mr Trump and the other defendants have been charged with racketeering and other offences over their effort to overturn Mr Trump's defeat in Georgia to Democratic president Joe Biden. They have pleaded not guilty.

The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Mr Trump faces as the November 5th election nears. His first trial, related to hush money payments to a porn star, is due to get underway in New York later this month.

The Georgia charges focus on attempts to assemble an alternate slate of presidential electors pledged to vote for Mr Trump despite Mr Biden's win in the state, and Mr Trump's January 2021 phone call urging the state's top election official to "find" enough votes to overturn his narrow defeat.

Judge McAfee's ruling is a signal he will continue moving the case toward trial even as Mr Trump and eight co-defendants continue their efforts to disqualify Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the case. A Georgia appeals court is set to decide whether to take up that issue in the coming weeks.

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Judge McAfee said it will be up to a jury to determine if Mr Trump and other defendants, which include his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former chief of staff Mark Meadows, acted with criminal intent.

He said the defendants may be able to revive their challenge as additional evidence is revealed.

Mr Trump has other pending challenges to the case, including a claim that he is immune from charges tied to official actions he took as president,
A fun fact is that Empires landholdings in the Beetaloo are roughly similar in size to core areas within the Marcellus shale. Notably, not even the leading producer of gas in the Marcellus shale, the US$16b EQT Corporation, comes close to the scale of Empires holdings with its 1m net acres.

Importantly, Empires four stacked shale reservoirs amount to a net thickness of more than 300m in the Carpentaria project, five times thicker than the prolific Marcellus shale suite at about 60m.

All of which begs the question, will the Beetaloo flow commercial gas because if it does, it will have a global impact on gas markets.

Empire says it does. The company has now drilled and stimulated two horizontal wells in the Beetaloo, its Carpentaria 2H and 3H wells. Normalised gas flows came in at 3.5 terajoules per day (TJ/d) per 1000m during testing  a number that Empire describes as excellent.

Management says after recent basin-wide appraisal drilling by its own field team in addition to industry heavyweights Origin, Tamboran, Empire and Santos, the project is assessed as being commercially viable.

The next big hurdle that all wanna-be gas producers face is infrastructure  i.e. how will they get their gas to market?

Empires Carpentaria project is fortunate when it comes to infrastructure. Its holdings basically smother the gas spur line that runs out to the McArthur River Mine to Empires east and Empire has already appointed energy infrastructure firm APA Group to commence pre-engineering studies to hook into the pipeline.

This connection would establish a link from the Beetaloo Basin through to APAs Amadeus Gas Pipeline that pumps gas into Darwin, Alice Springs and regional centres in the Northern Territory.

The grand plan being developed by Empire and APA is to eventually work out how to connect the Beetaloo to the gas-hungry East Coast markets.

Before that happens however, Empire needs to build a pilot plant to commercially operate its 2H and 3H wells at Carpentaria. In December last year the company acquired a pilot plant from AGL who had no further use for its Rosalind gas plant after winding up its Camden Gas project.

Empire paid $2.5m to AGL for the plant that it says would likely have cost $100m, giving it a massive advantage when it comes to commercialisation. That plant has a maximum capacity of 42 TJ/d, albeit the initial plan is to produce 25 TJ/d from the 2H and 3H wells.

It will still have to spend money getting it to site and hooking it into the McArthur River pipeline and the company says a financial investment decision on that scope of work is now imminent.

Management says the 2H and 3H wells cost about $25m each to build however that number will likely be halved when it starts drilling wells at scale. Each well will produce about $80m worth of gas over its life and the company expects to pay the capex down for a well in just two years.

The opportunity for Empire to scale up its Beetaloo gas production is immense if gas flows end up coming out as expected from the early wells. Empire essentially has a three staged plan; initially produce up to 25TJ a day in phase 1 with first revenues of $110m a year expected by 2025 at plateau.

Phase two will see the company pump out 200TJ/d to supply the east coast of Australia that many say is currently experiencing a gas shortage crisis. The goal from phase 3 is to churn out 1BCF of gas a day and supply the LNG export markets. The company reckons it can land LNG in Tokyo Bay for just US$6.50 MMBtu.

And the rub? Well, Empires preliminary financial modelling shows a project net present value for phase 2 coming in at A$2.5b and phase three is showing an NPV of wait for itA$14.5b.

And with the Marcellus shales biggest producer in the USA, EQT Corporation, currently valued at around $16b, maybe that phase three NPV is not so mind-boggling, albeit Empire has a lot of drilling and investing to do first and it will need to have its fair share of lady luck on its side when the gas starts to flow.

One thing seems certain however, if gas does successfully flow at commercial rates out of the Beetaloo, with its foot on 3m acres, Empire will have plenty to sell.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
Victorian paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale has been slapped with dozens of additional historical sexual assault charges against children.

Ridsdale is serving a maximum of 40 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to sexually abusing at least 72 children during the 1970s and 80s while working as a Catholic priest.

Sexual crime detectives on Friday issued the 89-year-old with a further 62 charges as they continue to investigate alleged historical sexual assaults involving six male victims.

Gerald Ridsdale is serving 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing at least 72 children. Credit:

The alleged offences include sexual penetration of a person aged between 10 and 16 and indecent assault between 1973 and 1981.

Ridsdale has been in prison since 1994 for abusing dozens of child victims when he worked as a priest at multiple schools and churches across Victoria.

In 2022, he was charged with 24 sexual offences relating to two male victims in Mortlake in 1981 and 1982.

He suffered a fall in November 2022 and was bed-ridden, suffering chronic pain, muscle wasting and weak limbs and was recommended to be placed into palliative care in 2023.

If he serves out his full maximum sentence, Ridsdale will be at least 100 years old when he is released.

His previous offending largely took place in western Victoria where he spent most of his time as a priest after being ordained in 1961.

He also served in NSW and in New Mexico in the United States, where he underwent church-connected sex offender treatment.

Ridsdale will face Bendigo Magistrates Court on April 24.

AAP
LOCATION: Eden Valley, SA BEST KNOWN FOR: Iconic Hill of Grace and Mt Edelstone single-vineyards shirazes, age-worthy rieslings and the full gamut of rich Barossa and Eden Valley red styles. HUON SAYS: The sublime Hill of Grace 2018 topped the list for Henschke this year, followed by Julius Riesling 2023, Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2018, Tappa Pass Shiraz 2021 and Keyneton Euphonium 2020.

LOCATION: Yarra Valley, Vic BEST KNOWN FOR: Elegant, fruit-driven cabernet and shiraz varietals and blends, pinot noir and chardonnay, but especially the cabernet-based Dry Red Wine No. 1. HUON SAYS: The top wines this year were three 2021s, Carrodus Cabernet Sauvignon (a jaw-dropping 99-pointer), Dry Red Wine No. 1 and Dry Red Wine No. 2, and two 2022s: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Expensive? Yes, but exceptional, too.

More than 10,000 wines are tasted for The Real Reviews Top Wineries of Australia list, a compilation spanning nearly 400 wineries this year. Here, Good Weekend presents the best 52 from that list  plus 11 must-try drops, the biggest movers and the highest-rating regions.

This story is part of the April 6 edition of Good Weekend.

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA BEST KNOWN FOR : Australias most famous wine, Grange shiraz, which heads an eye-watering array of monumental red wines  mostly shirazes  but also immaculate chardonnays Yattarna and Reserve Bin. HUON SAYS: There are so many great wines to choose from! The Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 169 2021 pushed Grange 2019 for the top spot, as did the multi-vintage chardonnay blend, Yattarna V. The RWT Barossa Shiraz 2021 and Yattarna 2021 also starred.

Barossa Valleys Penfolds is home to the countrys most famous wine, Grange shiraz.

LOCATION: Geelong, Vic BEST KNOWN FOR: Single-vineyard pinot noirs and chardonnays from its own Moorabool Valley vineyards, also spicy shiraz and arguably Australias finest viognier. HUON SAYS: The Shiraz 2021, Cote Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 and Cote Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 were stand-outs, with the 2022 Chardonnay and 2021 Tout Pres Pinot Noir also in the mix.

Winemaker Nick Farr in the vineyards of Geelongs Wine by Farr. Credit: Kristoffer Paulsen

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA BEST KNOWN FOR: Spellbindingly complex, ancient fortified wines with 100 Year Old Para Tawny at the pinnacle, but increasingly superb reds as well. HUON SAYS: The 1924 100 Year Old Para Tawny topped the list, the Para Rare Tawny NV looks good value at $80, while the Westing and Northing shirazes from the 2021 vintage also impressed.

LOCATION: Yarra Valley, Vic BEST KNOWN FOR: Superfine chardonnays, perfumed pinot noirs, elegant cabernet sauvignons and much more, all single-vineyard, with the 864 label topping the range. HUON SAYS: Four 864 bottlings shone this year  the 864 Winery Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay 2021, 864 Henk Vineyard Aqueduct Block Pinot Noir 2022 and 864 Oakridge Vineyard Close-Planted Syrah 2021  closely followed by the Original Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2021.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA BEST KNOWN FOR: Unapologetically big western Barossa reds from shiraz, grenache, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and more, with names like The Beauty, The Beast, Clos Otto, Von Kasper and The Creation. HUON SAYS: Clos Otto and The Beast, both terrific 2021 shirazes, came out on top, but The Old Legend Grenache 2022 also wowed us, while the H-Block Shiraz Cabernet 2021 added another facet to the offering.

Founders Keith and Alison Hentschke at Hentley Farm in the Barossa Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Margaret River, WA BEST KNOWN FOR: Diana Madeline cabernet blend and Kevin John chardonnay, Vanya cabernet sauvignon and much more, all grown on estate vineyards that are totally committed to biodynamic management. HUON SAYS: The heroic Diana Madeline Cabernet Merlot 2022 was a stand-out, closely followed by Kevin John Legacy Series Flower Day Chardonnay 2022.

LOCATION: Macedon Ranges, Vic BEST KNOWN FOR: Highly detailed single-block pinot noirs and chardonnays, all grown on the Bindi vineyard, the blocks divided by aspect and soil type in a way that is straight out of Burgundy. HUON SAYS: Kaye, Block 5 and Original Vineyard Pinot Noirs from the 2022 harvest were stunningly good, while the 2021 chardonnays, Quartz and Kostas Rind, also thrilled.

LOCATION: Gippsland, Vic BEST KNOWN FOR: Australias most expensive pinot noir (the Reserve at $835), some say the countrys best, but the full range of pinot noirs and chardonnays are superb. Its gamay, gewurztraminer and nebbiolo also shine.

LOCATION: Coal River Valley, Tas BEST KNOWN FOR: Just two wines  chardonnay and pinot noir  but they are extraordinary. The pinot is a trailblazer for power with precision, the chardonnay gorgeously refined and layered. HUON SAYS: Cousins Michael Hill Smith and Martin Shaw of Shaw + Smith have developed these single-vineyard wines in spectacular fashion since 2011, underlying the wisdom of buying this vineyard. The 2022s of both stole our hearts.

12. Tyrrells

The cellar door at Tyrrells in the Hunter Valley, NSW.

LOCATION: Hunter Valley, NSW

BEST KNOWN FOR: A suite of single vineyard shirazes from the Hunters largest collection of centenarian vine plantings, comprising its Sacred Sites.

13. Giaconda

Giaconda in Beechworth, Vic.

LOCATION: Beechworth, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: A statuesque, full-throttle, ultra-complex chardonnay that many rate as Australias best tends to hog the limelight from its shiraz and pinot noir, which are also superb.

14. Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant in the Hunter Valley, NSW. Credit: Chris Elfes

LOCATION: Hunter Valley, NSW

BEST KNOWN FOR: Outstanding single vineyard shirazes and semillons from some of the Hunters oldest and most revered vineyards.

15. Yalumba

Yalumba in the Barossa & Eden Valleys, SA.

LOCATION: Barossa & Eden Valleys, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Great Eden Valley rieslings, Barossa/Eden Valley shirazes and Coonawarra cabernets; a champion of cabernet-shiraz blends and viognier whites in both dry and sweet forms.

16. Levantine Hill

Levantine Hill in the Yarra Valley, Vic.

LOCATION: Yarra Valley, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Audaciously priced wines from a showpiece winery/cellar door/restaurant complex at Coldstream: chardonnay, pinot noir, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are the specialties.

17. Brokenwood

Brokenwood in the Hunter Valley, NSW.

LOCATION: Hunter Valley, NSW

BEST KNOWN FOR: Some of the regions finest and most age-worthy semillons and shirazes, especially reserve labels ILR semillon and Graveyard Vineyard shiraz.

18. All Saints Estate

All Saints cellar door in Rutherglen, Vic.

LOCATION: Rutherglen, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Spellbinding, old fortified wines, led by muscat and topaque/muscadelle under the Grand and Museum labels.

19. Eisenstone

Eisenstone in the Barossa Valley.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Shiraz and only shiraz, but what shiraz! Big, bold wines sourced from some of the northern and western Barossas most distinguished growers.

20. Rieslingfreak

Founder John Hughes at Rieslingfreak in the Clare Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Clare Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Riesling and only riesling, sourced from top growers

in the Clare and Eden Valleys and issued under an astonishing array of numbered labels: dry, off-dry, semi-sweet, sparkling and fortified, to delight lovers of the grape.

11 MUST-TRY WINES: HUONS SELECTION

Most top wines these days are expensive. Our Winery of the Year, Yarra Yering, for instance, doesnt produce much in the way of bargain bottles, but plenty of other top wineries do. Their icon wines might cost several hundred dollars a bottle, but further down the list you can find wonderful bargains. These are my personal picks for the top 11, with value-for-money being front of mind.

21. Hardys

The Hardys Tintara winery in McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Iconic Thomas Hardy cabernet sauvignon and Eileen Hardy chardonnay and shiraz at the pointy end of pricing, but also the HRB (Heritage Reserve Bin) range of outstanding value varietals.

22. Wolf Blass

Wolf Blass in the Barossa Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Big, rich and long-living South Australian reds  mainly shiraz  from Barossa, Eden Valley, Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale vineyards.

23. Pooley Wines

Pooley Wines in the Coal River Valley, Tas.

LOCATION: Coal River Valley, Tas

BEST KNOWN FOR: Riesling, chardonnay, pinot noir  and these days even shiraz  sourced from the Pooley familys own vineyards and vinified by Anna Pooley and husband Justin Bubb.

24. Wendouree

Co-owner Tony Brady from Wendouree in the Clare Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Clare Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Traditional full-bodied Clare reds from its own, very old vineyards, and made in its timeless stone winery: shiraz, malbec, mataro and cabernet sauvignon are consistently great.

25. Ten Minutes By Tractor

Ten Minutes By Tractor in the Mornington Peninsula, Vic.

LOCATION: Mornington Peninsula, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Cool-climate, high-altitude chardonnays and pinot noirs from several estate-owned vineyards, recently capped by Trahere, the new super-reserve wines.

26. Wynns Coonawarra Estate

Wynns Coonawarra Estate in Coonawarra, SA.

LOCATION: Coonawarra, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Cabernet sauvignon and shiraz under several labels,

topped by flagship blends John Riddoch cabernet and Michael shiraz, plus occasional single-vineyard specials and elegant, fruit-driven, V&A Lane reds.

27. Dandelion Vineyards

Dandelion Vineyards in McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Rugged, full-bodied shiraz, grenache, mataro and blended reds, but also very smart merlot and cabernet  the reds sourced from Barossa and Eden Valleys and McLaren Vale, with the whites from Adelaide Hills.

28. Hickinbotham

The tasting room at Hickinbotham in McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Impressive single-vineyard reds of cabernet, shiraz, grenache and blends from a mature vineyard at Clarendon, in the highest part of the McLaren Vale region.

29. Torbreck

The cellar door at Torbreck in the Barossa Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Rugged, power-packed reds from old vines in the northern and western Barossa. The top wine is the $850 The Laird, but perhaps its most famous for its big boy reds RunRig and The Steading.

30. Mount Mary Vineyard

Mount Mary Vineyard estate in the Yarra Valley, Vic.

LOCATION: Yarra Valley, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: The super-elegant Quintet, a blend of all five red Bordeaux varieties  and one of Australias most collected reds  chardonnay, pinot noir and underrated sauvignon blanc, semillon and muscadelle blend, Triolet.

31. The Lane Vineyard

The Lane Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, SA.

LOCATION: Adelaide Hills, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Chardonnay, shiraz, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, gamay and sparkling wines, all of which are among the Hills most rapid, recent improvers.

32. De Salis Wines

De Salis Wines in Orange, NSW.

LOCATION: Orange, NSW

BEST KNOWN FOR: Chardonnay, pinot noir, fume blanc and a suite of idiosyncratic and expensive sparkling wines, which undergo long ageing

on the lees.

33. Serrat

Serrat in the Yarra Valley, Vic.

LOCATION: Yarra Valley, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Elegant, spicy shiraz viognier, scented pinot noir, refined chardonnay and grenache, all produced from the close-planted family vineyard, near Yarra Glen, of Yabby Lake chief winemaker Tom Carson and his wife Nadege.

34. Yering Station

The barrel cellar at Yering Station in the Yarra Valley, Vic.

LOCATION: Yarra Valley, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: The Rathbone familys main gig produces a full range of wines, focusing on chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and their mellow, long-matured Yarrabank sparkling wine.

35. Yangarra Estate

Yangarra in McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Rhone varietals of great distinction, especially grenache, shiraz, mourvedre, red and white blends and preservative-free versions. But its especially known for the most expensive grenache in Australia: High Sands ($325).

36. DArenberg

The five-storey DArenberg Cube at McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: A mind-numbing profusion of labels with many eccentric flourishes, focused on Rhone and Mediterranean varieties, especially shiraz, grenache, mataro and GSM blends, the most noted being The Dead Arm, The Ironstone Pressings and rare, special Scarce Earth bottlings.

37. Polperro

Polperro in the Mornington Peninsula, Vic.

LOCATION: Mornington Peninsula, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: A dazzling line-up of single-vineyard pinot noirs from elevated Red Hill sites, as well as rich chardonnay and pinot gris; Mill Hill and Talland Hill pinots are the highlights.

38. Langmeil Winery

Langmeil Winery in the Barossa Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: An extraordinary line-up of reds, covering a wide range of price points, specialising in shirazes from old vines in Barossa and Eden Valleys, climaxing with The Freedom 1843, from the Barossas oldest

shiraz vineyard.

39. Shaw + Smith

Shaw and Smith in the Adelaide Hills, SA.

LOCATION: Adelaide Hills, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Increasingly impressive Lenswood Vineyard pinot noir and chardonnay, sumptuously spicy Balhannah Vineyard shiraz, and arguably Australias most consistent and loved sauvignon blanc.

40. John Duval Wines

John Duval Wines in the Barossa Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Classic Barossa full-bodied reds, playing to the regional strengths of shiraz, grenache, mataro and blends thereof, while the flagship, Integro, is a magnificent cabernet shiraz.

41. Grosset

Grosset in the Clare Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Clare Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Riesling, under three main labels  Polish Hill, Springvale and Alea  but also the stunning cabernet blend Gaia, and polished Adelaide Hills chardonnay and pinot noir.

42. Pfeiffer Wines

Pfeiffer Wines in Rutherglen, Vic. Credit: Connor Vaughan

LOCATION: Rutherglen, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Fortified wines, which are the key to this winerys standing, as we might expect in this region (muscat, topaque, tawny and various styles of apera), with the Grand and Rare bottlings of muscat and topaque wowing our tastebuds.

43. A. Rodda Wines

Winemaker Adrian Rodda of A. Rodda Wines in Beechworth, Vic.

LOCATION: Beechworth, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Ultra-refined chardonnays from several regions, especially those from the Smiths Vineyard, the oldest plantings in Beechworth, while Adrian Roddas cabernet blends, under the Tete de Cuvee and Cuvee de Chez labels, are well worth hunting down.

44. Pepper Tree Wines

The cellar door at Pepper Tree Wines in the Hunter Valley, NSW. Credit: Chris Elfes

LOCATION: Hunter Valley, NSW

BEST KNOWN FOR: An impressive range, covering many varieties and several regions (Hunter, Orange, Coonawarra and Wrattonbully). The PJP Cabernet Sauvignon, Coquun Shiraz and Alluvius Semillon are especially impressive.

45. Seppelt

Seppelt in Western Victoria.

LOCATION: Western Victoria, Vic

BEST KNOWN FOR: Two of the greatest of Great Western shirazes (St. Peters Shiraz and Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz) are simply outstanding, while riesling, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier from the chilly Drumborg vineyard in the Henty region also excite.

46. Moss Wood

Moss Wood, Margaret River, WA.

LOCATION: Margaret River, WA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Cabernet sauvignon, which is the clear stand-out at this legendary vineyard, while chardonnay and pinot noir have their moments, and cabernet sauvignon and merlot from the Ribbon Vale Vineyard increasingly impress. But the new excitement is the lovely barrel-fermented Elsa sauvignon blanc.

47. Stargazer

Stargazer in the Coal River Valley, Tas.

LOCATION: Coal River Valley, Tas

BEST KNOWN FOR: Superb rieslings, tensioned chardonnays and delicate, ethereal pinot noirs from Tasmanias Coal River Valley, crafted by the

talented and widely experienced Samantha Connew.

48. Rockford

Rockford in the Barossa Valley, SA.

LOCATION: Barossa Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Basket Press Shiraz and sparkling Black Shiraz are institutions, but the Eden Valley and Vine Vale rieslings, the Dry Country Grenache, Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet and Moppa Springs GSM blend, delight us regularly.

49. S. C. Pannell

S.C. Pannell vines up close in McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: An expanding and ever-amazing range of grenache and shiraz, but nebbiolo, aglianico, delicious Arido rose and inventive tempranillo touriga are also all demonstrations of the creative talent that is Stephen Pannell.

50. Jim Barry Wines

Jim Barry Wines in the Clare Valley, SA. Credit: Don Brice

LOCATION: Clare Valley, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: A vast array of labels, including uncountable rieslings  all superb  full-bodied reds leaning mostly on shiraz and cabernet, Australias only assyrtiko, and all majestically crowned by The Armagh shiraz.

51. Bekkers Wines

Viticulturist Toby Bekkers of Bekkers Wines in McLaren Vale, SA.

LOCATION: McLaren Vale, SA

BEST KNOWN FOR: Just four wines: grenache, syrah, a syrah grenache blend and the new Clarendon Syrah, debuting at $300 a bottle from the 2021 vintage: nothing is cheap here but everything is appropriately deluxe drinking.

52. Chatto Wines

The Huon Valleys Chatto Wines offers a variety of pinots sourced from Tasmania.

LOCATION: Huon Valley, Tas

BEST KNOWN FOR: Pinot noir, Jim Chattos obsession. The Isle bottling from his familys vines is the flagship, but every vintage theres a choice of pinots sourced from various subregions and vineyards  all Tasmanian.

THIS YEARS TOP 10 MOVERS

Every year, several wineries move up the list. This could be due to an outstanding vintage, a change of personnel or ownership resulting in improved quality, or simply that weve tasted wines we havent seen before. Ten Minutes By Tractor (25th), Serrat (33) and De Salis (32) all missed out previously because they hadnt consistently submitted tasting samples. DArenberg leapt from 267th place on The Real Reviews larger list to 36 this year because while wed tasted some of its wines, we hadnt seen its best for a while.

1. Yalumba

Up to 15 from 42. The Caley 2018 scored 99 points: it is a sublime wine and in our opinion the best vintage yet of this flagship Coonawarra cabernet/Barossa shiraz blend. Octavius 2018, Signature 2019, Virgilius 2021 and Menzies 2018 all helped boost the score.

2. Dandelion Vineyards

Up to 27 from 169. Red Queen of the Eden Valley Shiraz 2021 is a great wine that fully supports its $300 price. This, and Faraway Tree McLaren Vale Grenache 2022, Firehawk Of the McLaren Vale Shiraz 2021 and Moonrise Kingdom McLaren Vale Shiraz Grenache Petite Sirah 2022, were the wines that impressed the most, while Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling 2023 was close behind.

3. Hickinbotham

Up to 28 from 166. These wines have been superlative since they first appeared but the addition last year of two cellar-aged releases, 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon CC208 and 2014 Shiraz CS222, boosted their stocks. As well, flagship The Peake Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz peaked out at 97 points, equalling its best performance. And 2021 was a top year for Brooks Road Shiraz and The Nest Cabernet Franc.

4. The Lane

Up to 31 from 77. Theres been a noticeable lift in the quality of these wines in recent years, thanks in part to youthful winemaker Turon White, who recently departed to do his own thing (his label is Turon, also Adelaide Hills). The top wines, Heritage, seem fresher and more fruit-driven, while the Provenance cabernet franc, gamay, syrah and tempranillo have all excited us.

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5. Pfeiffer

Up to 42 from 148. The big scorers for Pfeiffer are their Rare and Grand muscats, topaques and Rare Tawny, while the 2018 vintage of Christophers VP is one of the best weve seen of this line. Like the tawny, its fashioned from Portuguese varieties.

6. Mount Mary Vineyard

Up to 30 from 65. The 2021 Quintet is a sublime wine, and headed the list for Mount Mary. We had not tasted all of the 2021s in time for this years Top Wineries, but the excitement from the 2020 chardonnay, 2020 Triolet and 2020 pinot noir lingers, while a new wine we reviewed this year, the 2017 Reflexion Fume Blanc, also thrilled our palates.



7. A. Rodda

Up to 43 from 66. The single-block 2021 chardonnay from the Triangle Block of the Smiths Vineyard in Beechworth joined the regular Smiths wine (2022) this year, more proof that Adrian Rodda makes some of the finest chardonnays in Australia. This year, a 2022 Baxendale Vineyard Whitlands bottling joined the party.

8. S. C. Pannell

Up to 49 from 104. The 2021 Merrivale Shiraz, from old vines just outside the cellar door, topped the list this year and is a bargain at $45. Old McDonald Grenache 2021 and Smart Grenache 2021 are top vintages of regular performers, while the Tempranillo Touriga 2021 also wowed us  a $35 wine that scored 95 points.

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9. Yering Station

Up to 34 from 97. Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier was one of the first such blends to make a splash, and the 2021 vintage maintains the excitement. Reserve Chardonnay, Reserve Pinot Noir and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon  all 2021s  help explain this winerys surging stocks.

10. Stargazer

Up to 47 from 114. Winemaker Sam Connew goes from strength to strength. Her Palisander Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 was a stand-out this year, described as an effortlessly powerful wine that intrigues and beguiles. The 2022 chardonnay and 2023 riesling also shone.

TASTE THE TOP WINERIES: SPECIAL OFFER FOR GOOD WEEKEND READERS

The Real Review is holding a series of tasting events, masterclasses and dinners to celebrate the Top Wineries of Australia 2024, featuring more than 40 of the top wineries.



Melbourne: Tasting and Masterclass (June 29) at Ormond Hall, The Commons; Dinner (July 2, Huon Hooke in conversation with Good Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall) at Matilda, South Yarra.

Tasting and Masterclass (June 29) at Ormond Hall, The Commons; Dinner (July 2, Huon Hooke in conversation with Good Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall) at Matilda, South Yarra. Sydney: Tasting and Masterclass (July 6) at Ovolo Woolloomooloo; Dinner (July 9, Huon Hooke in conversation with Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland) at Poetica Bar & Grill, North Sydney.

Good Weekend readers who purchase tickets before May 31 will go into a draw to win a six-pack of wines (valued at over $500) including from Winery of the Year, Yarra Yering.

Visit The Real Review for its full list of nearly 350 top wineries of 2024.

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.
Two people have been found injured and two others are believed to be missing after a boating accident on the Gold Coast.

Police say a tinny crashed into a harbour marker in Runaway Bay, a suburb on the Gold Coast, about 5am on Friday.

The impact threw one man overboard but trapped another man in the boat before it crashed into a moored catamaran.

Catamaran skipper David Crossley said he was woken by a roaring engine before he heard a bang.

I ran up on the deck and [the boat] was going around and around in circles, he told reporters on Friday.

The captain initially thought the tinny was unmanned while it spun out of control but then saw an injured man on board.

Crossley said he jumped in his dinghy and towed the tinny to South Stradbroke Island, raising the alarm with emergency services.

The 36-year-old man who had been thrown from the boat managed to swim to shore and was found at Paradise Point by emergency services while the 34-year-old man was treated at South Stradbroke Island.

Both were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital with serious arm and leg injuries, with media reporting one of the men was in an induced coma.

Police are still searching the water after receiving unconfirmed reports two people remain missing.

Weve got conflicting versions, Gold Coast Water Police Senior Sergeant Peter Venz told reporters on Friday.

The gentleman that was onboard the vessel stated there were four people on board.

The person who was ejected into the water says there were two people.

The investigation is continuing.
Former AFL star Sam Fisher is facing years behind bars after pleading guilty to trafficking illicit drugs across the country hidden in a kitchen rangehood.

The 41-year-old former St Kilda footballer faced the County Court of Victoria via video link on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to six charges, including trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs, which carries a maximum sentence of life behind bars.

Fisher played more than 200 games for St Kilda. Credit: Sebastian Costanzo

Fisher was due to face trial next week, but an earlier hearing was told the former best and fairest award winner wanted to spend Easter with his family before deciding on whether to plead guilty or not guilty.

Appearing unshaven and wearing a partially unbuttoned white shirt, he ultimately pleaded guilty to trafficking a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine, trafficking cocaine and 1,4-Butanediol, and three counts of drug possession.
Australia and Europe must work together to break Chinas dominance over the critical minerals needed for renewables, says the European Unions energy commissioner.

European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said the political bloc had learnt the pitfalls of relying on one country for key commodities when Russia, the EUs major gas supplier, invaded Ukraine in 2022. Subsequent sanctions and Russia cutting off supply created chaos in the EU.

European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson met with Australias climate and resources ministers. Credit: Wolter Peeters.

The global supply chain of critical minerals must be diversified for jurisdictions like the EU to reach its ambitious climate targets, she said.

We can only accelerate renewable deployment if we will diversify supply routes for critical minerals, Simson said.
New York: Donald Trump has been denied his request to delay his upcoming hush money trial in New York until after the US Supreme Court rules on the former presidents immunity defence, dealing a blow to his re-election campaign.

The ruling on Thursday (AEDT) by Judge Juan Merchan clears the way for the first of Trumps four criminal cases to go before a jury as planned on April 15. Trump made the request early last month, which Merchan said was far too late.

This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024, almost a year after the former president was indicted, the judge wrote.

Former US president Donald Trump during a campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. The campaign banner reads fire Biden. Credit: Bloomberg

Merchans ruling is the latest setback in the case for Trump, who was hit last week with a gag order barring him from publicly discussing jurors or prosecutors during the trial to protect their safety. The judge expanded the gag order on Monday to include his own family members after Trump attacked Merchans daughter online over the weekend.
Once investors recognise that Brisbane has more medium-term growth potential than Perth, we should start to see some of that west-coast demand switch back to the east coast, which will further tilt the scales in Brisbanes favour, Cherchian said.
China's central bank to enhance implementation of monetary policies

Xinhua) 11:03, April 04, 2024

Photo taken on Oct. 19, 2020 shows an exterior view of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank on Wednesday pledged efforts to enhance the implementation of a slew of monetary policies -- in order to effectively stimulate the economy.

The bank will appropriately increase the relending and rediscount quota for small enterprises and the agriculture sector, make good use of carbon reduction support tools, and establish a relending facility for sci-tech innovation and technical transformation, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement released after the latest quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee.

The PBOC also vowed to strengthen financial support for large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in of consumer goods.

Noting that China's macro policies since the beginning of this year have created a suitable monetary and financial environment for the economy to recover, the meeting urged more efforts to enhance the implementation of the existing policies and flesh out the policy toolbox.

Efforts should focus on the development of sci-tech finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance, and be directed in a way that will promote the growth of new quality productive forces, according to the meeting.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
The leader of a trainee doctors' group said Thursday there is "no future for South Korea's medical community" after his meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol over the government's push to increase medical school admissions.

Park Dan, the head of an emergency committee at the Korea Intern Resident Association, wrote such a short message in his social media post after he met with Yoon for 2 hours and 20 minutes at the presidential office to discuss the standoff between the government and doctors over the medical reform plan.

The meeting raised expectations for laying the groundwork for finding a solution to the protracted walkout by trainee doctors over the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 starting next year.

But Park's critical message appears to indicate that the talks with Yoon did not go well and the ongoing standoff is likely to further persist.

After the meeting, Yoon's office said the president has agreed to "respect" the position of trainee doctors on the issue, and the two exchanged views on how to improve the treatment and working conditions of the doctors.

About 12,000 junior doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations for more than a month in protest of the medical reform plan. (Yonhap)
Transport leads spending surge

Transportation expenses surged by 12.3%, driven by a 4.1% rise in automotive fuel prices, according to the monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator. The spike in transport costs includes not only fuel but also an uptick in spending on services such as air travel, tours, and cruises.
World Central Kitchen Accuses Israel of Systematically Targeting Aid Workers in Deadly Gaza Strike, Demands Independent Onvestigation (Photo: World Central Kitchen)

The founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), Jose Andres, has accused Israel of "systematically" targeting aid workers "car by car" during the strikes that left seven dead on Monday, further straining Western support for Israel's war in Gaza amid mounting international fury over the attack.

In a statement released on Thursday, WCK challenged Israel's response to the attacks, which hit three of its vehicles in central Gaza, and called for an independent inquiry. "Israel has admitted to the killings but called it a 'a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants,' and something that 'happens in war,'" the non-governmental organization said. "This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission."

The strikes killed seven people - three Britons, a Palestinian, a US-Canadian dual citizen, an Australian, and a Pole - setting off fury in their home countries and sparking even greater scrutiny of Israel's conduct in Gaza since it launched its war against Hamas in October.

In an interview with Reuters, Andres accused Israel of "systematically" targeting the seven WCK aid workers, stating, "Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians."

WCK urged the governments of those killed to press for an inquiry and requested that the Israeli government "immediately preserve all documents, communications, video and/or audio recordings, and any other materials potentially relevant" to the strikes to "ensure the integrity" of an investigation.

The chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, previously apologized for the strike, describing it as "a mistake that followed a misidentification." However, Israel's response has exacerbated anger in the home nations of the seven workers killed.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that Israel's explanation for the strikes was "not good enough," adding, "We need to have accountability for how it's occurred. And what isn't good enough are the statements that have been made, including that this is just a product of war. This is against humanitarian law."

The United States, Israel's most important ally and a supplier of significant military aid, is also closely watching the situation. A Thursday phone call between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be their first conversation since the attacks. A senior official said Biden was "angry" and "increasingly frustrated," and fully prepared to make his feelings known to Netanyahu during the call.

A CNN analysis of aftermath videos and images found that the attack appears to have consisted of multiple precision strikes, with the three vehicles hit by separate strikes at locations up to 2.4 kilometers apart.

In addition to sparking international anger, the strikes have raised concerns that the distribution of food aid in Gaza, which was already extremely limited, will become even more dangerous. A WCK-linked boat carrying roughly 332 tons of humanitarian aid left Gaza without offloading most of its cargo following the deadly Israeli military strike, according to the Cypriot foreign ministry.

The WCK attack is the latest in a series of incidents that have claimed the lives of hundreds of humanitarian workers during Israel's war with Gaza, alongside more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the enclave.

As international pressure mounts on Israel to provide a transparent and thorough investigation into the WCK strikes, the incident has further strained Western support for the ongoing war in Gaza and raised questions about the safety of aid workers in the region.
Taiwan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 10 as Island Rocked by Over 300 Aftershocks (Photo: Hualien County Government ws.hl.gov.tw / Public Domain)

The death toll from Taiwan's most powerful earthquake in 25 years has risen to 10, with more than 1,000 people injured and hundreds still trapped or out of contact, authorities reported on Thursday. The 7.4-magnitude temblor, which struck during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, triggered at least nine landslides, collapsed hillsides onto highways, and sent residents fleeing their homes in terror.

Rescuers searched Thursday for missing people and worked to reach the hundreds stranded by the quake, which sent boulders and mud tumbling down mountainsides, blocking roads and isolating communities. Taiwan's fire agency reported that about 690 people were either still trapped or out of contact, with most of those being hotel employees in the Taroko National Park, a popular tourist destination famous for its canyons and cliffs.

The earthquake set off tsunami warnings on the island and across neighboring countries, while more than 300 aftershocks have rattled the island since Wednesday morning, forcing "terrified" residents to sleep in tents outside their houses or in emergency shelters.

Liu Zhong-da, a 58-year-old construction worker, and his colleague were trapped inside a tunnel in the national park when the quake hit. "We almost got covered up," Liu said. "No communication could be made (to the outside world)." The two were rescued Thursday afternoon and received a quick medical checkup outside the park.

Authorities reported that about 60 workers who had been unable to leave a quarry due to damaged roads were also freed, while six workers from another quarry were airlifted out. Some 650 people remain cut off, the vast majority of them employees and guests at a hotel in the national park. Officials said they were safe and had food and water, and that work to repair the roads to the hotel was nearly finished.

In the city of Hualien, workers used an excavator to stabilize the base of a damaged building, as chickens pecked among potted plants on the flat roof slanting at a severe angle. Mayor Hsu Chen-wei previously said 48 residential buildings were damaged in the quake.

Hendri Sutrisno, a 30-year-old professor at Hualien Dong Hwa University, spent Wednesday night in a tent with his wife and baby, fearing aftershocks. "We ran out of the apartment and waited for four to five hours before we went up again to grab some important stuff such as our wallet. And then we're staying here ever since to assess the situation," he said.

The earthquake, measured at magnitude 7.4 by the U.S. Geological Survey, was the strongest to hit Taiwan since 1999, when a magnitude 7.7 temblor caused 2,400 deaths, injured around 100,000, and destroyed thousands of buildings.

Huang Shiao-en, who was in her apartment when the quake struck, described the experience: "At first the building was swinging side to side, and then it shook up and down."

The Central Weather Administration recorded more than 400 aftershocks from Wednesday morning into Thursday night, while the national legislature and sections of Taipei's main airport suffered minor damage.
The death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iranian morality police has sparked widespread protests (Photo: Artin Bakhan/Unsplash)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned that Israel would pay a "heavy price" for an airstrike in Damascus, which Iran has accused Israel of carrying out, during a conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Wednesday evening. The discussion focused on the "martyrdom" of Maj. Gen. Mohammed Reza Zahedi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leader killed in the attack.

The Iranian president's remarks come as U.S. troops serving in the Middle East brace for potential retaliation from Iran and its proxies following the strike on Iran's consulate in Syria. Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, a top commander with the U.S. Air Force, expressed concern that the attack, believed to be carried out by Israel, could be a catalyst for renewed assaults on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria. "I am concerned because of the Iranian rhetoric talking about the U.S., that there could be a risk to our forces," Grynkewich said.

The U.S. has insisted to Iran that it had no involvement in Monday's strike, but Iranian officials maintain that the U.S. is just as responsible as Israel for the attack. Israel has not confirmed its role in the strike, although U.S. officials have indicated that evidence points to an Israeli operation.

Iran views Iraq as its "near abroad" and has been empowering militias in the country to threaten Israel, the U.S., and the region. According to Tasnim media, an Iranian news outlet, Iraqi-based militias have carried out a drone attack targeting Israel, one of several attacks claimed by these militias in the past week. The report stated, "Since the attack of the Israeli regime army on the Gaza Strip, the Islamic resistance of Iraq and Lebanon, in solidarity with the resistance and the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, have fired missiles, rockets, drones, and cannon balls towards the occupied lands. The war against Gaza has been going on for six months."

President Raisi also outlined his view on how the war in Gaza will reshape the region, claiming that the "Al-Aqsa Storm" attack by Hamas against Israel "was a turning point in the history of the Palestinian cause, adding the region and the world will not be the same after the October 7 military operation which resulted in the death of some 1,200 Israelis." This statement underscores the depth of Iranian support for Hamas and how the country is exploiting the war for its own interests.

Iran is also using Quds Day, a day devoted to backing Palestinians, to inflame tensions in the region. According to Fars News, a pro-government Iranian media outlet, a message from Iran has been communicated to Tehran, Damascus, Sana'a, Beirut, and Baghdad. "Thanks to the valor, faith, and courage of the Palestinians in Al-Aqsa Storm, it has become clear to everyone today that the Zionist regime's abode is more fragile than a spider web, and the world is witnessing the fulfillment of this divine promise," Raisi said.

Yigal Carmon, a former adviser to two Israeli prime ministers on countering terrorism and founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told Fox News Digital that "[Iran's supreme leader's] policies over the years reflect cowardice. The Iranian pattern of reaction is such that he escalates when he feels that the other side is afraid of him, and backs down when the other side shows deterrence."

Carmon added, "In the attack on an official Iranian government target in Damascus, Israel escalated against Iran, telling Iran that Israel will not continue with the proxy game so commonly played by Iran. The Israeli escalation was to serve as a warning: we are ready for battle with you, Iran, directly, at this time, even though we are at war in both Gaza and Lebanon."

The Iranian statements and connection to Iraq illustrate its possible next moves, as it seeks to increase the role of Iraqi militias in attacks on Israel and considers whether to continue targeting U.S. forces using those militias. Raisi's remarks reflect Tehran's current thinking that the October 7 events have fundamentally transformed the region, and Iranian escalation following the Damascus airstrike remains a possibility. However, Iran's talks with Baghdad also suggest that it is working toward a full-court press in the region, aiming to use the end of Ramadan to its benefit and ensure all its pieces are in place before any escalation begins.
The surge in its stock was partly fueled by reports of the companys plans to accelerate its electrification by increasing its production of its fully-electric vehicle models. (Photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters/File Photo)

Ford Motor Company has announced strategic alterations to its electric vehicle (EV) production timeline, indicating a shift towards a more hybrid-focused approach across its North American lineup by 2030. The Detroit-based automaker is delaying the launch of a new all-electric large SUV and pickup truck, underscoring the industry-wide recalibration as EV adoption rates and market conditions evolve.

The production of the three-row SUV, initially slated for 2025 at Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, has been postponed to 2027. Meanwhile, the launch of the new electric pickup truck, planned for late 2025 at a facility in Tennessee, has been rescheduled to 2026. These decisions reflect Ford's adaptive strategy in response to slower-than-anticipated EV market growth and persistent high production costs.

Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, reaffirmed the company's commitment to EVs, stating, "As the No. 2 EV brand in the U.S. for the past two years, we are committed to scaling a profitable EV business, using capital wisely and bringing to market the right gas, hybrid and fully electric vehicles at the right time." This pragmatic approach aims to balance the push for electrification with the realities of the current automotive market.

Ford's Oakville plant transformation, part of a roughly $1.3 billion investment, was to mark Ford's first complete overhaul of a North American facility from gas-powered vehicle production to EV manufacturing. However, the company has opted to delay this transition to capitalize on emerging battery technologies and allow the consumer market for three-row EVs to mature further.

In lieu of converting existing facilities, Ford is concentrating its EV efforts on new developments, such as the "BlueOval City" campus in Tennessee. This site is central to Ford's future EV production, including the next-generation electric truck codenamed "T3," whose production will now commence in 2026.

Ford's emphasis on hybrid vehicles complements its EV strategy, with plans to offer hybrid options across its entire lineup by 2030. This dual approach aligns with the company's vision for a sustainable, profitable EV business, even as it navigates the financial challenges highlighted by the nearly $4.7 billion loss Ford's "Model e" electric vehicle business incurred in 2023.

The broader automotive industry is witnessing similar strategic adjustments, with General Motors also announcing a delay in its electric pickup truck production. These shifts are indicative of a more cautious approach to EV production and investment, prompted by global market trends and regulatory developments, including recent modifications to EV requirements by the Environmental Protection Agency.

As Ford gears up for these strategic shifts, the company remains focused on innovation and profitability, ensuring that its future vehicles, whether gas, hybrid, or electric, meet the evolving needs and expectations of consumers. The recalibration of Ford's EV timeline, coupled with an enhanced focus on hybrid technology, underscores the automaker's commitment to a balanced, forward-looking approach to vehicle production in a rapidly changing automotive landscape.
Winter Storm Disrupts Power for Thousands in Denver, Tornado Threat Looms (Photo: Michael Rieger/Public Domain)

A series of severe storms and tornadoes have left a trail of destruction across several states in the U.S., claiming at least three lives and injuring dozens more. The powerful storm system, which swept through the South, Ohio Valley, and parts of the Northeast, has also left tens of thousands of people without power and caused significant damage to homes and infrastructure.

In Pennsylvania, two people were killed by falling trees in separate incidents on Wednesday. An 82-year-old woman in Collegeville and a 70-year-old man in Aston Township lost their lives when trees fell on their vehicles while driving, according to officials who spoke to CNN affiliate WPVI. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed that at least one person, a young man, was killed in a car accident in Campbell County as a result of the brutal storms that battered the state on Tuesday.

The storms also left a trail of injuries across several states. In Jeffersonville, Indiana, just north of Louisville, at least 10 people were injured, according to the town's mayor, who shared photos with CNN affiliate WLKY showing chunks taken out of several homes' roofs and debris strewn about a neighborhood. In West Virginia, at least 13 homes were damaged and some residents suffered non-life-threatening injuries in Fayette County, as reported by the county's Office of Emergency Management director, Kevin Walker.

Sixteen tornadoes were reported Tuesday and Wednesday morning across Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia, along with dozens of damaging wind reports, including gusts topping 100 mph in Kentucky. In Conyers, Georgia, a tornado ripped through the area just southeast of Atlanta early Wednesday morning, downing power lines and causing damage. The National Weather Service office in Peachtree City rated the twister as an EF2, with winds as high as 115 mph, traveling approximately 9.5 miles and spanning 800 yards wide.

As of Thursday morning, more than 89,000 people across Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia have been left without power, according to PowerOutage.us. West Virginia is reporting 52,503 outages alone, followed by Pennsylvania at 27,869. Several storm and high wind warnings remain in effect or are expected in parts of the Northeast, including Massachusetts and Maine, while flood warnings and advisories have been issued for several states, including Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New York.

In addition to the severe storms and tornadoes, a long-duration winter storm is expected to produce significant snow and gusty winds across the Great Lakes and Northeast, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 12 million people, mainly across northern New England, are under winter weather alerts. Heavy, wet snow is expected to persist across Wisconsin and Upper Michigan into Thursday, with as much as two feet of snow expected in parts of Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, prompting a blizzard warning due to the combination of strong winds and heavy snow.

The winter storm has already knocked out power to nearly 86,000 customers in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan as of Wednesday evening, according to PowerOutage.us. Heavy snow and some sleet are expected to move into northern New York, most of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine later Wednesday afternoon, with snow accumulations of 6 to 14 inches possible and sleet accumulations of up to an inch. The combination of heavy snow and gusty winds could lead to hazardous travel conditions, power outages, and downed trees.

The National Weather Service has also warned of the potential for moderate coastal flooding in portions of the Northeast coast late Wednesday through Thursday, which could result in widespread roadway flooding, coastal and bayside flooding, impassable roads, and damage to vulnerable structures.
Voters keep watch on misconduct, offensive language by candidates

By Kwak Yeon-soo

As the April 10 general elections approach, analysts predict that liberal opposition parties are likely to secure a victory over the ruling party, fueled by increasing calls to hold the Yoon Suk Yeol administration accountable.

In the 2020 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) secured a landslide victory, claiming 180 seats in the 300-seat Assembly. This contrasted with the 103 seats obtained by the predecessor of the current ruling People Power Party (PPP). Out of the 300 National Assembly seats up for grabs, 254 are directly contested, while 46 are filled through proportional representation.

I believe opposition parties are poised to triumph in next week's elections. The PPP may encounter a notable setback, potentially facing a loss of more seats compared to four years ago, said Park Chang-hwan, a political commentator and professor at Jangan Unviersity.

"The opposition parties are likely to take more than 180 seats, while the ruling party and its satellite party could secure between 100 and 110 seats," said Kim Sang-il, a political commentator. Lee Joon-han, a professor of political science at Incheon National University, projected that the PPP may secure a maximum of 120 seats.

In their respective forecasts released on Wednesday, the PPP anticipates gaining approximately 90-100 seats, while the main opposition DPK projects to secure 110 seats or more.

Analysts observe that the greater Seoul area, Chungcheong regions and Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province are major battlegrounds that may influence the outcome of the elections.

Voters in the greater Seoul area are known to be particularly sensitive to issues surrounding housing prices and real estate taxes. In the Chungcheong region, the PPP is widely expected to secure victory, given that it's the hometown of the president's father. The strategic significance of Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang Province for the PPP lies in its ability to exert greater influence on the surrounding regions, said Eom Kyeong-young, director of the Zeitgeist Institute, a private political think tank.

Lee mentioned Incheon's Gyeyang-B constituency, the Dongjak-B constituency in southwestern Seoul and the Yangsan-B constituency in South Gyeongsang Province are particulary competitive.

These three constituencies are receiving increased attention as heavyweights from the two major parties are set to face off there. In Gyeyang-B, DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung is contending against former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong of the PPP. Dongjak-B stands out as the most fiercely contested district in Seoul, while Yangsan-B is recognized as the most competitive within the so-called 'Nakdong River Belt,'" Lee said. The Nakdong River Belt refers to electoral districts in the southeastern port city of Busan and South Gyeongsang Province.

The upcoming general elections are regarded as a litmus test of the voters' evaluation of the current administration at its mid-term. Yoon assumed office in May 2022.

Analysts highlighted that a candidate's misconduct and use of offensive language could potentially influence the outcome of the elections during the remainder of the campaign period.

DPK candidate Kim Jun-hyuk falsely claiming that Ewha Womans Universitys first president Kim Hwal-ran had sexually enslaved students for U.S. military officers, and another DPK candidate Yang Mun-seok buying an apartment by taking out a business loan under the name of his daughter are likely to influence voters perceptions of the party. Depending on how the party addresses these issues of candidate misconduct, the DPK may face the risk of losing up to 50 seats in the elections, Kim said.

Another issue is the prolonged strike by trainee doctors and some senior physicians. Yoon exhibited initial signs of flexibility in his medical reform plan this week as an effort to resolve the standoff. He met with Park Dan, the head of a group of junior doctors, on Thursday. However, it appears that the issue is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.

Im not sure how the situation will unfold, but if the medical crisis remains in deadlock throughout next week, calls to bring judgment on the current administration will only increase. Yoon engaging in dialogue with trainee doctors could potentially halt the downward trend for the PPP. Nevertheless, the prospect of reversing this trend appears improbable at this stage, Park said.

Analysts said voter turnout can also influence the outcome of the elections.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, individuals aged 60 and above make up 31.4 percent of the 44.3 million eligible voters, surpassing the 28.8 percent belonging to the 20s and 30s age groups.

A high turnout rate among voters aged 60 or older may be favorable for the conservative PPP, as this demographic typically exhibits a stronger preference for the PPP, Eom said.
ASML Holding logo is seen at company's headquarters in Eindhoven (Photo: REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File Photo)

The Biden administration is ramping up its strategic efforts to contain China's tech sector growth by urging the Netherlands to restrict the servicing of specific chipmaking equipment by ASML Holding NV, a leading Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer, within China, according to Reuters. This move is part of a broader U.S. campaign to align its allies against Beijing's technological advancements.

Alan Estevez, the U.S. export policy chief, is slated to engage in pivotal discussions in the Netherlands with Dutch government officials and ASML representatives. The agenda is expected to revolve around the cessation of servicing contracts for some of ASML's tools in China, a crucial element in the U.S.'s endeavor to limit Beijing's capability in producing advanced semiconductor chips.

In addition to discussing service agreements, the U.S. is reportedly considering the expansion of a list of Chinese chip manufacturing facilities that are to be restricted from receiving Dutch equipment. This proposal underscores the intensifying U.S. efforts to curtail China's access to cutting-edge chipmaking technology, which is central to the development of numerous advanced technologies.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry, while confirming the scheduled meeting, has kept specifics under wraps, emphasizing the value of ongoing dialogue with international partners. Meanwhile, ASML, a critical player in the global semiconductor supply chain, has refrained from commenting on the impending discussions.

This initiative by the U.S. reflects growing concerns over China's burgeoning tech capabilities, as illustrated by Huawei's launch of the Mate 60 Pro smartphone, equipped with a sophisticated chip despite U.S. sanctions aimed at crippling China's semiconductor production prowess.

Servicing restrictions on ASML's equipment could significantly impact China's semiconductor industry, given the complexity and maintenance requirements of the company's advanced lithography machines. With China being ASML's second-largest market, constituting 29% of its sales, the implications of such restrictions could be far-reaching.

The meeting follows a pattern of the U.S. persuading its allies to adopt stricter controls on technology exports to China, a strategy that has seen Japan and the Netherlands implement measures to limit the export of certain chipmaking technologies to China for national security reasons. However, the Dutch restrictions have not been as extensive as those imposed by the U.S., which has prohibited American firms from servicing advanced chipmaking equipment in Chinese factories.

The U.S.'s push for tighter controls comes amid diplomatic engagements, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte recently meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping. While trade and economic cooperation were likely discussion points, Rutte has indicated that the Netherlands' stance on exports, especially those with potential military applications, will be cautious, particularly in light of China's support for Russia.

As the U.S. continues to navigate its complex relationship with China, the outcomes of Estevez's meetings in the Netherlands could have significant implications for the global tech landscape, influencing not only the semiconductor industry but also the geopolitical dynamics between major world powers.
Speaker Mike Johnson Shakes Head, Grimaces as Biden Criticizes Trump Tax Cuts and Claims Deficit Reduction (Photo: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America/CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en))

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing increased pressure from Democrats to include humanitarian aid for various global hot spots in a foreign aid package, adding to the already complex balancing act he must navigate to secure passage of the legislation. The demands from Democrats, led by Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), complicate Johnson's efforts to appease competing demands from all ends of the ideological spectrum within his own party.

In a letter sent to Johnson on Tuesday, eight House Democrats urged the speaker to include at least $9.16 billion in aid to countries facing violent conflicts and other humanitarian crises. The lawmakers specifically called for assistance to Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Lebanon. "By abdicating this responsibility, our nation would allow unstable areas around the world to grow even more volatile-fueling threats to our security," the Democrats wrote.

The inclusion of humanitarian aid, particularly for Palestinians, is a contentious issue among the Republican lawmakers Johnson is attempting to appease. Many House Democrats cited the lack of such assistance as their reason for voting against a standalone Israel aid bill in February. However, non-military aid to Ukraine and government spending, in general, are also unpopular among some GOP members.

One House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described Johnson's predicament as a "nightmare version of choose-your-own adventure," stating, "He's a bit boxed in. He goes one way, he loses votes, he goes another way, he loses votes, and he's got people who are talking about throwing him out every day."

To pass any foreign aid bills, Johnson will need to rely on a process that requires a two-thirds majority, making Democratic support crucial. However, Democrats have expressed displeasure with Johnson's proposals to structure Ukraine aid as a loan and attach legislation to lift a pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and seize frozen Russian assets. "You throw LNG in there, that's a huge poison pill. I'm not sure people will swallow that pill on the Democratic side," the House Democrat said.

On the other hand, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has threatened to trigger a vote to remove Johnson as speaker if he holds a Ukraine aid vote in any form, highlighting the delicate balance Johnson must strike within his own party. A House Republican close to the speaker told Axios that the chances of additional humanitarian aid getting a vote in the House are "slim."

The Democrats' letter, first reported by Axios, was led by Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and signed by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Dina Titus (D-Nev.), along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

While humanitarian assistance is unlikely to be excluded from a Johnson-proposed aid package due to the need for Democratic support, there could be restrictions on how the money is used. Republicans are intent on maintaining a ban on U.S. funds for UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, which is under scrutiny for ties to Hamas. Additionally, it remains unclear how many Republicans are willing to provide humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, with some GOP lawmakers distinguishing between sending weapons and calling for Europe to share more of the burden of economic and humanitarian aid.

As Johnson navigates the competing demands and ideological differences within his party and across the aisle, the House Democrat emphasized the speaker's limited options, stating, "Johnson is going to have to do whatever he can to get as many Republicans [as he can]. But, the lawmaker said, Johnson does this with Democrats. I think there's no other way around it. ... The question is: How can he save the most face in the process?"
The tourism industry in Rajasthan is looking to intensify efforts to grow the destination wedding market.

We are ready to work with the government, said Kuldeep Singh Chandela, president, Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR).

Executives from the tourism industry said although Rajasthan hosts several royal weddings every year, the involvement of the tourism department seems to be lacking.

We are seeking the support of the state government in this sector, said a manager of a travel agency, who wished not to be named.

According to Bhavani Shankar Mali, general secretary, All Wedding Industries Federation, Rajasthan, the state hosts 1.5-2 million marriages every year on average. Of these, 25 per cent have a low budget, 50 per cent a medium budget up to Rs 10 lakh, 20 per cent have a high budget up to Rs 50 lakh and 5-7 per cent marriages boast a Rs 50 lakh to Rs 3 crore budget. In some destination weddings, the expenditure even reaches Rs 5-10 crore.

In such a situation, if efforts are made and there is an increase of 2-5 per cent in destination weddings, then it will be very beneficial for the economy of the state, he added.

Ranvijay Singh, senior vice-president, Hotel Federation of Rajasthan, said that development of infrastructure in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of the state, promotion of destination weddings in tourism-related advertisements, and running campaigns for destination weddings in small towns would give a boost to the sector.

We plan to hold talks with the government soon regarding connectivity with air traffic and promotion of event managers so that more destination weddings could be organised in the state, he added.

Chandela said that Rajasthan was a favourite for destination weddings across the world. This provided a lot of employment opportunities to a chain of services from hotels and caterers to flower sellers and folk musicians.

We are ready to work together with the government to make Rajasthan a destination wedding centre. If this increases, new employment opportunities will be available to millions of people. The government will also get revenue and people associated with the hotels and tourism sector will also get good business, said Chandela.
With headquarters in Mumbai, India; the Tata Group's Tata Power Company Limited is an Indian electric utility and electricity generation company.

Tata Power is India's biggest incorporated power company with an installed generation capacity of 14,110 MW out of which 5250 MW is from Non-Conventional (Green Energy) sources.

In February 2017, Tata Power became the first Indian company to ship more than 1 GW of solar modules across the world.

History

In 1910, the Tata Power initially began as the Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Company w

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Ewha Womans University vows to take legal action against DPK candidate over insulting remarks

By Jun Ji-hye

Members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), including Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung, have been accused of using hate speech against women, leading party insiders to raise concerns that such controversial remarks could result in the alienation of female voters and swing voters, with less than a week left remaining until the April 10 general elections.

On Tuesday, Chairman Lee referred to ruling People Power Party (PPP) candidate Na Kyung-won, running in the Dongjak-B constituency, as Nabe to undermine her political career and support DPK candidate Ryu Sam-young.

The term combines Nas surname and the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Na is called Nabe, meaning that there are many people who call her view of the state into question, Lee said.

Korea is not submissive to Japan but an independent state. This is why Ryu, who has a clear view of the state, should be elected.

Nabe means a pot in Japanese. In Korea, prostitutes are sometimes referred to as a pot, based on the countrys eating culture in which people commonly dip into the same bowls at meals.

The late Japanese prime minister was a somewhat controversial figure in Korea due to his conservative views of Japanese history, including the denial of government coercion in recruiting wartime comfort women during World War II, which has continued to cause tensions and anti-Japanese sentiment among Koreans.

PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon denounced Lees remarks as extreme hatred for women, while the partys gender equality committee urged him to make an official apology.

For her part, Na wrote on her Facebook on Thursday: Hatred, abusive language and insults do not hurt me. What hurts me is concerns over the falling dignity of Koreas politics.

Another controversy came from previous remarks made by Kim Jun-hyeok, a DPK candidate running in the Suwon-D constituency of Gyeonggi Province.

Kim, a professor-turned-politician, claimed on a YouTube channel in August 2022 that students of Ewha Womans University were forced to offer sexual favors to U.S. military officers after Koreas liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.

Kim Hwal-lan played a big role in sending wartime comfort women to Japan, the professor said at the time in reference to the first president of Ewha Womans University, also known as Helen Kim.

She also forced Ewha students to provide sexual favors to U.S. officers during the U.S. militarys rule of the southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 1945 to 1948.

After such remarks became known, Kims aides tried to prevent the issue from growing more serious, explaining that Kims comments were aimed at highlighting Kim Hwal-lans alleged pro-Japanese acts and were never intended to demean women.

I apologized to Ewha students, graduates and professors about hurting their pride due to my unrefined comments, Kim wrote on his Facebook, Tuesday.

But Cho Sang-ho, another DPK member, added fuel to the controversy just a day after Kim made an apology, attempting to side with him.

I dont understand (why Kims remarks created controversy). Kim just mentioned a historical fact as a history scholar at the time, Cho said.

The nations first and largest womens university responded strongly, vowing to take legal action.

The alumni association of the university said in a statement, Kims remarks not only disparaged Ewhas history, but also seriously damaged the reputation of its students, professors and alumnae. At the same time, his remarks are also based on a discriminatory and distorted view of all women.

Members of the association staged a rally in Kims constituency, Thursday, urging Kim to withdraw from candidacy.

As the controversies continued, several party insiders expressed concerns over possible alienation of female voters and swing voters.

I think all of us should be careful as voter sentiment can change rapidly, a member of the party said, asking not to be named.
Operating portfolio of 10,934 MW, largest in India

2,000 MW solar capacity at Khavda, contributes to this milestone

2,848 MW renewables capacity brought on stream in FY24



Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), Indias largest and one of the worlds leading renewable energy (RE) companies, has surpassed 10,000 megawatts (MW) of operational portfolio, delivering reliable, affordable, and clean power to the national grid. AGELs operational portfolio consists of 7,393 MW solar, 1,401 MW wind and 2,140 MW wind-solar hybrid capacity. The milestone is a testament to AGEL and its development partners firmly moving towards the goal of 45,000 MW renewable energy by 2030.

AGELs 10,934 MW operational portfolio will power more than 5.8 million homes and avoid about 21 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

AGEL is setting a precedent for how innovative technology, execution capabilities, digitization, a robust supply chain network, and long-term infrastructure financing, combined with sustainable practices, can drive the clean energy transition and decarbonization on a giga scale.

"We are proud to be Indias first das hazari in the renewables space, said Mr. Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group. In less than a decade, Adani Green Energy has not just envisioned a greener future but has actualised it, growing from a mere idea to explore clean energy to achieving a phenomenal 10,000 MW in installed capacity. This achievement is a demonstration of the rapidity and scale at which the Adani Group aims to facilitate India's transition to clean, reliable and affordable energy. In our drive towards 45,000 MW by 2030, we are building the world's largest renewable energy plant in Khavda  a 30,000 MW project unparalleled on the global stage. AGEL is not just setting benchmarks for the world but redefining them."

In line with AGELs pledge to enhance natural and social capital, the company is pursuing sustainable practices across its operations. AGELs unwavering focus on energizing a sustainable future for all is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, water stewardship, waste management and a circular economy, biodiversity management and climate action. AGELs operating portfolio is certified single-use plastic free, zero waste-to-landfill and water positive for plants with more than 200 MW capacity.

AGELs over 10,000 MW contribution to Indias RE goals:

- Largest greenfield expansion in Indias RE sector

- Represents about 11% of Indias installed utility-scale solar and wind capacity

- Contributing over 15% of Indias utility-scale solar installations

- Over 3,200 direct green jobs created

Providing blueprint for giga-scale development globally:

- FY16: Worlds largest single location RE plant of 648 MW at Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu

- FY23: Worlds largest single location hybrid RE cluster of 2,140 MW at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

- Next milestone: Worlds largest RE project of 30,000 MW at Khavda, Gujarat

AGEL is developing the worlds largest renewable energy project of 30,000 MW on barren land at Khavda in Kutch, Gujarat. Built across 538 sq km, it is five times the size of Paris and almost as large as Mumbai city. AGEL has operationalized 2,000 MW cumulative solar capacity within 12 months of commencing work. Work at Khavda continues at a fast pace, with AGEL leveraging the project execution capabilities of Adani Infra, the manufacturing expertise of Adani New Industries Limited, the operational excellence of Adani Infrastructure Management Services Ltd. and the robust supply chain of our strategic partners.

About Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL)

AGEL is Indias largest and one of the leading renewable energy companies in the world, enabling the clean energy transition. AGEL develops, owns, and operates utility scale grid-connected solar, wind and hybrid renewable power plants. With a locked-in growth trajectory up to 21.8 Gigawatt (GW), AGEL currently has an operating renewable portfolio of over 10.9 GW, the largest in India, spread across 12 states. The company has set a target of achieving 45 GW by 2030 aligned to Indias decarbonization goals. AGEL is focused on leveraging technology to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) in pursuit of enabling largescale adoption of affordable clean energy. Visit: www.adanigreenenergy.com

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Industry leaders in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sectors are increasingly relying on the interoperability of geographic information systems (GIS) and building information modeling (BIM) to reduce costs and boost efficiency across construction projects. In support of AEC organizations, Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, and Autodesk, an industry leader in design and engineering, are expanding their strategic alliance.

"Esri is proud to bring this new integration to Autodesk users, empowering them with enhanced visibility of existing conditions for better-informed design decisions that reduce environmental impacts," said Kathleen Kewley, Esri director for AEC global business development.

The integration of ArcGIS Basemaps with Civil 3D and AutoCAD provides AEC professionals with detailed geospatial data and mapping capabilities. The new integrations further unify GIS and BIM, delivering real business value to architects, engineers, planners, and contractors.

Unleashing the power of ArcGIS Basemaps in Civil 3D and AutoCAD provides users with an unparalleled geographical perspective, driving precision in decision-making and fostering a more sustainable built environment, said Eric DesRoche, Autodesk senior manager, infrastructure strategy, AEC design. This new integration is a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and collaboration.

ArcGIS Basemaps serves as the cornerstone of our mapping products, said Bridget Brown, Geospatial and Information Management Director for HDR, a user of Esri and Autodesk software. These carefully styled basemaps not only offer vital location context but also liberate our teams from creating them from the ground up, allowing us to concentrate on project-specific data. Additionally, the capability to customize these basemaps using the vector tile style editor empowers us to unlock new realms of cartographic creativity when needed.

ArcGIS Basemaps are the contextual canvas that establishes one of the most important elements when answering the question of where, said Darin Welch, Associate Vice President, Design, Geospatial, and Community Intelligence, HNTB Digital Transformation Solutions, another Esri and Autodesk user. Esris basemaps have equipped our teams with immediate and accurate representation of the surrounding world, and the situational awareness necessary for making the best transportation decisions for improving our communities.

Learn more about the Esri and Autodesk partnership.

Autodesk

Autodesk and the Autodesk logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

About Esri

Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofit institutions, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial technology and analytics, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions that leverage a geographic approach to solving some of the world's most complex problems by placing them in the crucial context of location. Visit us at esri.com.

Copyright  2024 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.

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ExaGrid, the industrys only Tiered Backup Storage solution, today announced the appointment of Sam Elbeck as the new VP of Americas Sales and Channel Partners.

I am looking forward to working with the ExaGrid sales teams throughout the Americas, and help ExaGrid accelerate its growth within the $6 billion backup storage market, said Sam Elbeck. He will work with the local ExaGrid teams across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America, alongside each Area Vice President, to strengthen channel partnerships and build successful programs with leading reseller partners in each region.

Sam Elbeck recently joined ExaGrid after his position as VP of Sales and Partnerships Americas for Arcserve, and prior to that he was Senior Global Director of Sales for Digital Compliance and SaaS Backup at Veritas. Sam was also VP of Sales and Business Development for Globanet, and held sales and technical leadership roles at both Symantec and IBM.

ExaGrid is continuing to expand, with sales teams in more than 30 countries, as well as 4,200 active customer installations in more than 80 countries, said Bill Andrews, President and CEO of ExaGrid. We are pleased to welcome Sam Elbeck who will lead the sales teams in the Americas, and work with them to grow our partnerships in the channel and bring our Tiered Backup Storage solution to more organizations.

About ExaGrid

ExaGrid provides Tiered Backup Storage with a unique disk-cache Landing Zone, long-term retention repository, and scale-out architecture. ExaGrids Landing Zone provides for the fastest backups, restores, and instant VM recoveries. The Repository Tier offers the lowest cost for long-term retention. ExaGrids scale-out architecture includes full appliances and ensures a fixed-length backup window as data grows, eliminating expensive forklift upgrades and product obsolescence. ExaGrid offers the only two-tiered backup storage approach with a non-network-facing tier, delayed deletes, and immutable objects to recover from ransomware attacks.

ExaGrid has physical sales and pre-sales systems engineers in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Benelux, Brazil, Canada, Chile, CIS, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nordics, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and other regions.

Visit us at exagrid.com or connect with us on LinkedIn. See what our customers have to say about their own ExaGrid experiences and learn why they now spend significantly less time on backup storage in our customer success stories. ExaGrid is proud of our +81 NPS score!

ExaGrid is a registered trademark of ExaGrid Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

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The India launch of motorola edge 50 pro is the global first announcement for the product.

The motorola edge 50 pro features the Worlds 1st AI Powered Pro Grade camera validated by Pantone to confidently capture true-to-life colors  the way you see them with your eyes.

The phones camera also boasts of segments widest aperture (f/1.4) primary 50MP 2um Camera with OIS, a Telephoto lens with OIS and 30X Hybrid zoom and segments highest 50MP Selfie Camera with Auto Focus.

The motorola edge 50 pro also features the Worlds 1st 1.5K True Color Pantone Validated 3D curved Display phone with 144Hz refresh rate, 10 bit HDR10+, and 2000nits of peak brightness.

The motorola edge 50 pro is beautifully crafted with a harmonious design in Silicone Vegan Leather Finish along with Metal Frames and also features the Worlds 1st Handmade design in Moonlight Pearl Finish and comes with an IP68 underwater protection.

motorola edge 50 pro brings exciting native AI enabled features with moto AI including AI Generative Theming, AI Photo Enhancement Engine, AI Adaptive Stabilization and more.

The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon  7 Gen 3 that boasts powerhouse performance and supports extensive AI experiences on the motorola edge 50 pro.

7 Gen 3 that boasts powerhouse performance and supports extensive AI experiences on the motorola edge 50 pro. It also comes with Segments 1st and Only TurboPower 50W wireless charging along with 125W TurboPower charging and 10W reverse power sharing.

motorola edge 50 pro will go on sale at an effective price starting just 27,999* including a limited period introductory offer on Flipkart, Motorola.in and leading retail stores across India, starting 9th April 2024.

AI Adaptive Stabilization that uses AI to determine the speed of movement while filming, and dynamically adjusts the stabilization level for the best results.

that uses AI to determine the speed of movement while filming, and dynamically adjusts the stabilization level for the best results. Intelligent Auto Focus Tracking that provides sharp, clear videos by using AI to keep the subject in focus even as it moves through the frame.

that provides sharp, clear videos by using AI to keep the subject in focus even as it moves through the frame. Action Shot which automatically increases and adjusts your shutter speed based on different lighting conditions. Using AI, the camera improves the details when light levels are poor and noise is high.

Rs. 2,000 Additional bump-up on exchange value

Making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 29,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 33,999

(for 12GB+256GB)

Upto Rs. 2,250 Instant bank discount on HDFC Bank Cards

a. Rs. 2,250 Instant discount on HDFC Bank Credit card and debit card - EMI transactions

Making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 29,749 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 33,749 (for 12GB+256GB)



b. Rs. 2,000 Instant Discount on HDFC Bank Credit Card  full swipe transactions

Making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 29,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 33,999 (for 12GB+256GB)

Special Introductory Offer (Limited Period) 

Consumers will further be able to avail a special introductory offer of additional Rs. 2,000 discount for a limited period only. This will make the effective price of the product Rs. 27,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 31,999 (for 12GB+256GB)

Cashback worth Rs. 3,564 (Rs 99 x 36 months) on Jio Plus Plan of Rs 699 along with

(Rs 99 x 36 months) on Jio Plus Plan of Rs 699 along with Additional data worth Rs. 3,600 (10GB per month X 36)

(10GB per month X 36) Additional partner offers worth Rs. 8,500 like Ajio, Travel EMT, Growfitter, etc

PANTONE is the global authority on color and creator of the PANTONE Matching System (PMS) and PANTONE SkinTone colors. Water, splash and dust resistance were tested to IP68 standards under controlled laboratory conditions. Withstands immersion in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. Exposure to conditions beyond this rating are not covered by warranty. Resistance will decrease as a result of normal wear. Not designed to work while submerged underwater. Do not expose to pressurized water, or liquids other than fresh water. Do not attempt to charge a wet phone. Not waterproof. As compared to an f/1.8 lens. Available user storage and internal memory is less due to operating system, software and other functions utilizing part of this capacity; may change with software updates. As compared to the previous generation, Snapdragon  7 Gen 1 mobile platform.
Panda Biotech announced today that commercial operations have officially begun at the Panda Hemp Gin, their landmark industrial hemp processing facility in Wichita Falls, Texas. The 500,000-square-foot building situated on 97 acres is the first of its kind and the largest in the Western Hemisphere, with the capacity to process 10 metric tons of industrial hemp into textile-grade fiber, hurd, short-fiber/hurd mix, and nutrient-rich micronized hurd per hour. It is a zero-waste process, utilizing every part of the industrial hemp stalk, and operates solely on 100 percent renewable energy, making it a paragon of sustainability in the industry.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403426324/en/

Panda Hemp Gin is a 500,000-square-foot building situated on 97 acres with the capacity to process 10 metric tons of industrial hemp into textile-grade fiber, hurd, short-fiber/hurd mix, and nutrient-rich micronized hurd per hour. (Photo: Business Wire)

The Panda Hemp Gin is fully operational, and production will continue to ramp up in the coming months. In February, the complex commissioning process of Panda's 600-yard-long processing line and three miles of overhead pneumatic duct lines, including each piece of equipment for decortication, refining, blending, mechanical cottonization, hurd bagging and storage, and baling, was successfully completed.

"Panda Biotech's state-of-the-art industrial hemp processing facility is a monumental achievement and a game-changer for both agriculture and industry, said Dixie Carter, president of Panda Biotech. As research and development in this area continue to advance, industrial hemp fiber and cellulose will help transform numerous industries with sustainable goals and challenges. Pandas industrial hemp will play a pivotal role in satisfying significant global market demand for renewable processes and products.

Industrial hemp is considered one of the most versatile raw materials available with an unmatched variety of potential uses. The Panda Hemp Gin will focus on providing five main product lines from hemp, including mechanically cottonized fiber, decorticated fiber, hurd (cellulose), short-fiber/hurd mix, and nutrient-rich micronized hemp dust. The innumerous applications for each product vary broadly from consumer and industrial textiles, non-wovens, paper products, bioplastics, biofuel, animal bedding, fiberglass substitute, construction materials such as hempcrete, mulch, insulation, and more.

With a commitment to traceability and processing only U.S.-grown hemp straw, as well as providing an astounding pay-to-grow program, Pandas partnership with the American farming community is at the heart of the operation. Industrial hemp provides a multitude of benefits for producers, as it is scientifically proven to minimize CO2 emissions, absorbing more per acre than any forest or commercial crop. Additionally, hemp requires significantly less water than most major crops, provides outstanding soil remediation, and requires minimal fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Panda is actively contracting with producers for its pay-to-grow program for this harvest and with farmers who may have straw or fiber from previous harvests or the 2024 growing season. Interested producers can reach out to Panda through the website at pandabiotech.com.

"The massive scale of the campus, allowing more than 22,000 pounds of baled hemp straw for processing per hour, is what makes this industrial hemp processing facility unique, said Scott Evans, chief operating officer of Panda Biotech. Our straw is sourced directly from our farming partners in Texas and surrounding states, and, through our decortication process, it is transformed into packaged products, ready for retail or downstream manufacturing applications, within minutes. Panda's processing equipment and infrastructure is truly best-in-class."

For more information, please visit www.pandabiotech.com and follow us at @pandabiotech on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

ABOUT PANDA BIOTECH

Based in Dallas, Texas, privately-held Panda Biotech, LLC is a first-mover in the emerging U.S. industrial hemp fiber and hurd industry that is 100 percent American-owned, grown, and processed. Panda Biotechs executive leadership has extensive experience developing, financing, constructing, and operating large-scale infrastructure facilities in clean energy. They have developed 22 projects representing approximately $12 billion in invested capital. Panda Biotechs first project, the Panda Hemp Gin, is in partnership with Aka-Ag, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund. The facility is located in Wichita Falls, Texas. It is the largest industrial hemp processing facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403426324/en/
Head of junior physicians' association voices disappointment

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk Yeol met Park Dan, head of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), Thursday, to explore ways to address the months-long walkout by junior doctors in protest against the government's push to increase the number of medical students.

However, the meeting evidently concluded with the government and trainee doctors acknowledging their differences, as Park left comments implying that no progress had been made toward ending the standoff.

According to presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung, Yoon and Park engaged in discussions from 2 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. during their closed-door talks concerning the governments proposal to raise the current annual admissions quota of medical schools by 2,000, resulting in a total of 5,058 slots.

The spokesperson also said in a brief text message to reporters, "Park delivered trainee doctors' opinions to the president, especially on the difficult working environment and poor compensation, and Yoon listened carefully."

In another text message, the spokesperson said, "President Yoon decided to respect the position of trainee doctors when the government consults with the medical community over reforms, including the quota expansion."

During their meeting, Yoon reportedly asserted the necessity of increasing the number of doctors in the country, while Park reiterated demands by trainee doctors to scrap the policy.

The meeting came two days after the presidential office said Yoon would like to meet junior doctors for candid conversations without limiting subjects in a bid to end the standoff between the government and doctors, which has left the countrys medical services in a state of disruption for nearly 50 days.

Until Wednesday, KIRA did not respond to the offer for talks, while other medical groups, such as the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the Medical Professors Association of Korea, raised various opinions on whether the trainee doctors' association should meet Yoon.

On Thursday morning, Park sent a message to KIRAs emergency committee members stating that he would meet Yoon and the meeting may be worthwhile as we can deliver the stance of junior doctors before the April 10 general elections.

However, he stated that the current medical standoff was triggered by Yoons drive to expand the medical school quota, and there will be no change in KIRAs stance that the government should fully scrap the plan. He added any decision will be made through a vote by all KIRA members.

After the meeting, Park wrote on Facebook, "There is no future in Korea's medical services," without providing further explanations regarding his meeting with the president.

The comment coincided with skepticism that chances of the talks resolving the conflict quickly are slim. This is because the president has maintained an unwavering position on the 2,000 additional annual slots, while trainee doctors are demanding that the government scrap the plan.

The government has already finished distributing the additional slots to medical schools across the country, and universities are now setting up requirements for next years admissions, with their deadline set for April 30.

With less than a week remaining until the general elections, reversing the quota hike policy would be detrimental for Yoon, as it could lead to significant confusion in college admissions and unsettle both students and their parents. Such a move would deal a critical blow to the ruling bloc's campaign, which is already facing challenging circumstances.

Doctors face a similar situation.

Theres a chance that the government might spin todays meeting as if it proceeded positively and amicably, KIRA said in a statement before the meeting.

However, as we've been saying consistently for the past seven weeks, if it turns out that the government was snubbing our demands, we'll simply respond by stating we still couldnt find common ground and revert back to our original position. Nothing will change today.

Yoon's precondition for a potential reduction in the quota policy is also contributing to the elusive nature of an immediate settlement.

During Mondays address to the nation, Yoon said the government can scale down the number of slots, if doctors propose a rational plan that contains the unified idea of the medical community.

Doctors are saying this is a very difficult precondition, because their fundamental demand is reconsidering the policy from scratch, while different medical associations are voicing varied opinions on the appropriate number of admissions in the medical school quota.

Ryu Ok Ha-da, a trainee doctor who resigned, said 64 percent of 1,581 junior doctors or medical students who answered his own survey, agreed that the quota should be reduced. KMA Chairman Lim Hyun-taek said the quota should be reduced by 500 to 1,000 admissions.

On the other hand, the professors association is more open to Yoons policy, with its chief Kim Chang-soo saying the medical communitys demand for scrapping the quota hike does not necessarily mean that the number should remain as it is.
By Lee Hae-rin

China's treatment of Fu Bao, a female giant panda born in Korea which was returned, Wednesday, to her parents' country under an international agreement, has caused a stir among Korean and Chinese fans over animal welfare.

In Korea, many of Fu Bao's fans wept as she was transferred in a veiled vibration-free special vehicle  commonly used to transport semiconductors  throughout the farewell ceremony and trip to Incheon International Airport. Some 6,000 fans braved the rain to join the event at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Fu Bao's arrival also created much buzz in China, with "Fu Bao came back home" trending on Chinese social media Weibo.

However, China's management of the popular panda at the airport, which was live-streamed via local media, drew flak.

Notably, an unidentified official was spotted putting his finger through one of the transport container's breathing holes and touching the panda without wearing gloves. Fu Bao was also seen being exposed to camera flashes from the media upon arrival.

The footage outraged Fu Bao's Korean fans.

One internet user commented, "What is the use of quarantine if someone will touch her with their bare hands?" while others questioned the man's identity and reason for touching Fu Bao.

Several fans lamented how the panda "looks like a product on display" and urged the Chinese authorities to take special care of Fu Bao, pointing out that the animals are prone to stress from even small noises due to their high hearing sensitivity.

China's treatment of the beloved animal also upset Chinese fans.

"Is Fu Bao nervous? She appears to be out of breath," commented an online user in Xiao Hongshu, China's widespread social media platform.

"This group of media has no quality. How can they be with Fu Bao and disturb our tired panda?" another wrote, while another pointed out Chinese reporters are not wearing face masks around the national treasure.

In response, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, which accommodates Fu Bao, confirmed that "Fu Bao is safe and in good health."

The officials seen in the footage are the centers veterinarians who had their hands sanitized to go through necessary checks on Fu Baos health condition, according to the center.

Fu Bao is accommodated at the Shenshuping Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, China, which houses over 30 of her kind.

Fu Bao was sensitive because she was a little nervous, but this is normal, Fu Baos zookeeper Kang Cheol-won, also known as the panda grandfather by fans, said during an interview with local media in China. He confirmed Fu Bao was safe and sound on her journey (to China).

Chinese zookeepers are well-acquainted and well-trained in panda breeding, so there shouldnt be a problem, he said, expressing hope to come visit Fu Bao again.

Meanwhile, Kang accompanied Fu Baos farewell ceremony and trip to China despite bereaving his mother the day before.

Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming attended the farewell ceremony at the amusement park and thanked Kang for showing the friendship between Korea and China. He sent flowers to Kang's mother's funeral to commiserate his loss.





The Korea Times reporter Park Ji-won contributed to this article.
By Kim Sun-ae

We can live without many things, but no one can live without food. These days, however, many of us do not recognize the importance of farming. Most urban people are not interested in agriculture and rural issues. Not many people seem to know how much Korea is dependent on food imports. Nonetheless, farming is the foundation of our lives.

What if abnormal climate conditions ruin our rice farming? Some people may say that we can eat bread instead of rice. Nevertheless, Korea's wheat self-sufficiency rate is lower than 1 percent. That is, we are importing almost all of our consumed wheat.

Then what if wheat-exporting countries do not export wheat because their production has decreased due to the climate crisis? When food-exporting countries stopped exporting wheat because of severe droughts, food prices soared all over the world.

Korea largely depends on imported food including imported wheat. The country's grain self-sufficiency rate is only about 20 percent.

In Korea, farmers account for only about 4 percent of its total population. Compared to 1970 when one-fourth of the country's population engaged in farming, the number of farmers has drastically dropped. Moreover, the average age of Korean farmers is nearly 69 years old. If this trend continues, there will be no farmers in this country after the old farmers die, which will be a very dangerous situation.

If we completely depend on food imports, food prices may jump in case of a food crisis due to wars or climate disasters such as extreme droughts, floods and so on. In such a situation, poor people will be very vulnerable. Rich people will be able to afford food even if its prices rise sharply, but poor people may not be able to.

To be a more food self-sufficient country, the government should provide much more support for farmers and rural residents. Then, more people will live in rural areas, and the number of farmers  especially young farmers  will increase.

Both at a national and individual level, the more self-sufficient we are, the freer and more stable our lives will become. Byeon Hyeon-dan, a farmer and author, wrote, "If we participate in the cyclic processes of nature by doing farming, make our daily necessities ourselves and consume a minimum amount of things, we are not afraid of any future." (Green Review  Vol. 182).

Many of us believe that the more money we have and spend, the happier we will be. Our society says that happiness is in earning and consuming more. Nonetheless, is it true? If we live a more self-sustaining life, we won't need to spend too much time on earning money.

For the last one month, I did not buy things other than food and consumables, but there was no inconvenience. We can do various things to be more self-sufficient, including cutting consumption, growing some vegetables to eat and cooking a meal instead of eating delivery food.

Kim Sun-ae (blog.naver.com/everythingchanges) wrote "Old Potato, New Potato" and translated "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
If theres one car that can be considered as the king of reinvention, its the Hyundai Santa Fe. In the five generations its been around, e...
Capex falls behind targets for PPC

ICR Newsroom By 04 April 2024

PPC has announced that its capital expenditure fell behind targets for the period ending March 2024. This was due to a delay in the companys fly ash project in Zimbabwe, which was announced last November. Delays in accessing the power plant, which halted the design and commercial contract, were also a key factor.

PPC stated that, Capital expenditure for the group remains behind the guidance of ZAR600m [US$32.2m] for the full financial year mainly due to the delay of the fly ash project (expansion capex) in Zimbabwe.

This is a timing issue due to a delay in accessing the power plant to complete the plant design and commercial contract.

This is now expected to commence early in FY25 as opposed to FY24 thereby delaying the benefits of this expansion project for approximately one year.

The company also announced that its free cash flow for South Africa and Botswana reached ZAR364m, increasing 50.4 per cent from ZAR242m in the previous period.

The share repurchase programme reached the approved level of ZAR200m during the first half of March 2024.

PPC said, Following the receipt of the proceeds from the disposal of CIMERWA (Rwanda operation), South Africa and Botswana turned cash positive during the current period and at January 31, 2024, were in a net cash position of ZAR280m. This comes after PPC announced the offloading of its 51 per cent stake in CIMERWA.

Zimbabwe operations

Zimbabwe continues to remain debt-free and held ZAR95m in unencumbered cash at January 31, 2024. The groups targeted gross leverage of 1.3-1.5 times the South African and Botswana operations EBITDA (including dividends from Zimbabwe) remains unchanged, the group said.

During the same period, the groups volumes of growth at its Zimbabwean operation rose by 41 per cent due to housing and government-funded infrastructure projects. The cement producer has said that the government has prioritised infrastructure development, as it sees it as a key economic indicator.

Planned infrastructure projects include the Lake Gwayi-Shangani dam and the rehabilitation of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway.

Since coming to power in 2017, the Second Republic has made residential and infrastructure development a priority as outlined in the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1). This plan aims to get the country to upper middle-income economy status by 2030.

PPC said, Cement volumes continued to show strong growth, increasing 41 percent in the current period, albeit slightly lower than the half-year growth of 44 percent due to the impact of the stronger base in the comparable period.

Growth continues to be strong as a result of both residential construction and government-funded infrastructure projects, constrained imports and a low base in the comparable period due to the extended shutdown.

Over the 10-month review period, the groups revenue rose 27.6 per cent, compared to revenues in the same period of 2023. The group explained, This was driven mainly by continued strong growth in PPCs Zimbabwe operations relative to the low base in the comparable period.

In July and November of 2023, PPC Zimbabwe reported dividends of US$4m and US$7m respectively. Next years dividend declaration is expected this July.

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DPK should dismiss Kim for reckless, sexist remarks

Politicians have long been the prime target of public antipathy and cynicism in practically every country and Korea is no exception.

This may be attributed to their tendency of prioritizing private interests despite expectations for their contribution to the public good. Worse still, recently, many candidates running for the general elections this April have perplexed the public, further fanning distrust against politicians.

Kim Jun-hyuk, now a candidate of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has come under a barrage of criticism for his seemingly reckless and sexist remarks mainly against women. It is shame a professor of history made such claims and even used vulgar language. Students tend to believe what teachers tell them. As a result, we feel sympathy for the students who were taught by such an underqualified professor. Kim managed to snatch the DPK ticket for the Suwon Jeong constituency, apparently due to his shameful book, Letters from King Jeongjo to Lee Jae-myung, the chairman of the DPK.

The book was largely meant to compare Lee to Jeongjo, who is regarded as one of the greatest kings of the Joseon Dynasty. It is apparent that Kim might have attempted to use his book to curry favor with the DPK chairman to obtain the party ticket in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections. Appearing on a YouTube channel in 2022, Kim claimed, Helen Kim, the inaugural president of Ewha Womans University had college students sexually serve then U.S. commissioned officers, in the aftermath of national liberation (in 1945).

The university responded vehemently, demanding that Kim issue an apology and withdraw from the candidacy. As the university put it, Kim is totally unsuitable to become a lawmaker as he has been disparaging and discriminating against women. On Wednesday, the university's alumni association protested strongly, expressing a profound sense of humiliation and pledging to utilize all available resources to discredit the candidate.

Quoting a scholastic paper, Kim said, Young women who attended colleges and spoke English served (the officers) in social clubs, led by Helen Kim and Mary Ahn Moh (Moh Yun-sook). The paper however said, They did not provide sexual services. However, Kim claimed they did provide such services. A history professor is expected to diligently verify the facts presented in documents. But Kim neglected to make such efforts.

Kim also sparked controversy with remarks about former President Park Chung-hee, suggesting the possibility that he had sex with elementary school students or comfort women during Japan's colonial rule over Korea. This illustrates Kim's propensity to attack people without substantiated evidence, revealing a twisted mindset.

In 2017, Kim aroused another dispute by asserting that Jeongjo tried to move the tomb of his father, Prince Sado, to a place equivalent to the breast of a woman according to feng shui theory. He boasted he had been an expert in "erotic culture in palaces.

In January, Kim also claimed President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden would secretly agree to trigger a regional war on the Korean Peninsula. It is nonsense to allege that Seoul will wage war first as such a move would result in catastrophic consequences and the U.S. has no reason to be a part of such aggression. Kim even contended that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opted to wage war against Russia in a bid to raise his approval ratings.

In the face of growing criticism and pressure from the DPK leadership, Kim made a belated apology, seemingly reluctantly, regarding the sexist remark against Ewha Womans University graduates. However, we believe an apology is not enough. Kim should withdraw his candidacy and the DPK should immediately take necessary and appropriate steps.

It is apparent that disillusionment with politicians will grow further, fueled by unqualified figures like Kim who seek to deceive the public with numerous false and reckless statements. One of Japans sex slavery victims, Lee Yong-soo, also said Kim is unfit to become a lawmaker. The DPK should take action promptly. Failure to do so will cause voters to act against him through their ballots this April.
By John J. Metzler

In a classic under-the-political radar ploy, Russia has vetoed a U.N. Committee investigating North Korean nuclear, missile and banking sanctions violations. The low-profile but highly significant sanctions committee regularly monitors illicit actions by the Pyongyang communists to develop, improve and implement the regime's nuclear weapons and offensive missile programs.

The 15-member U.N. Security Council set up the North Korean overview committee in 2009 through resolution 1718, thus the group's name. But when the Council was set to renew the annual mandate in what was usually a pro-forma move, Russia used its blocking veto to stop the renewal. China abstained from the vote.

Why is this important? Because the committee has been watching and monitoring the sanctions-busting actions of the quaintly titled Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea.

The Russian veto is hardly surprising. It mirrors what I have long called the Security Council logjam.

Since at least 2011, Moscow and often Beijing have opposed council cooperation and accord over such key international security concerns as Syria, Myanmar, Ukraine, Gaza and Israel. The DPRK is hardly an exception to this deep diplomatic rift.

Vetoes and the once-rare double vetoes are now commonplace in the Council. Indeed, they are symptoms of the rift between Washington and Moscow.

But why this report? The Security Council has imposed a series of sanctions on North Korea since 2006 for the regime's nuclear weapons program. The 1718 Committee details and provides specific descriptions of the ongoing shadow game of North Korean sanctions and outlines its methodology. Since 2019, Moscow and Beijing have attempted to persuade the Security Council to ease DPRK sanctions.

Following the veto, the ambassadors of the United States, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain issued a statement, "For the past 15 years, the 1718 Panel of Experts has been the gold standard for providing fact-based, independent assessments, analysis and recommendations bearing on the implementation of the Security Council resolutions on the DPRK." The envoys concluded, "We must ask ourselves: Why would any Council member break 14 years of unanimous support for this mandate? The answer is clear: Russia chose to silence the DPRK Panel of Experts' reporting on Moscow's own violations of Security Council resolutions."

"Russia's veto today jeopardizes international peace and security," they added.

The committee has issued its final report, covering the period from July 29, 2023, to Jan. 26, 2024. It's an over 600-page compendium. It brings transparency into the dark shadows of North Korea's illegal missile programs and proliferation, the routes through which Pyongyang gets materials and equally cites cryptocurrency schemes sustaining North Korea.

The report's summary asserts the DPRK "continued to flout Security Council sanctions. It further developed nuclear weapons and produced nuclear fissile materials, although its last known nuclear test took place in 2017 ... At least seven ballistic missiles were launched" during the past year, including a third launch of a Hwasong-18 three-stage ICBM in 2023.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield added, "In recent years, the DPRK has only continued its unlawful activity, including launching over 100 ballistic missiles since 2022, all in violation of existing Security Council resolutions. These ballistic missile launches are destabilizing to the region and undermine the global non-proliferation regime."

South Korea's Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook added significantly, "Russia seems to be more interested in embracing or encouraging the DPRK for its provision of munitions and ballistic missiles for the conduct of its war in Ukraine."

Naturally, the report also mentions conventional weapons and details Moscow's transgressions and the transfers from North Korea to Russia last Autumn when in September 300 containers of weapons were shipped from the North Korean port of Najin to Russia. The report says the Russian merchant vessel Angara and four other ships transported the weapons to Russia via the Black Sea, including rockets and artillery shells. They arrived in October. Given the increasingly closer scientific, military and political cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, there's probably good reason why Russia wants to stay "off the radar" on what has become a more formalized weapons and technology transfer with the isolated DPRK regime.

Furthermore, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un ventured to Vladivostok, Russia, last year for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The Russian president plans to visit Pyongyang in the coming months for follow-up consultations with the North Koreans. Given the tense situation in East Asia, Putin may be pandering to Pyongyang both for needed munitions and to play a political spoiler role in the region through an axis of connivance.

John J. Metzler 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."
Three Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) students have received the Gene Haas Scholarship, which rewards academic excellence and provides financial support for students working toward a degree, diploma or certificate in the Precision Machining and Manufacturing program.

Angel Cruz, Whitfield Murray Campus; Jeshua Freeman, Floyd County Campus; and Delores Cissy Turner, Floyd County Campus, have received the Gene Haas Scholarship for the spring 2024 semester.

Freeman and Turner are both pursuing an associate degree in Precision Machining and Manufacturing. Freeman just won the Silver Medal in CNC 3-Axis Milling Programmer at SkillsUSA Georgia. Turner is currently employed in machining as a set-up specialist at Schoen Insulation Services/EIS.

Cruz, also a Precision Machining and Manufacturing student, recently received The Governor Nathan Deal Technical Education Scholarship in recognition of his academic achievement in an industrial program for the spring semester.

The Gene Haas Foundation awarded $25,000 to GNTC last fall to fund student scholarships and to help pay for textbooks or supplies for students who plan to enroll or are currently enrolled in a machining-based program. The grant funds cannot be used to purchase equipment, machines or simulators.

Support from the Gene Haas Foundation continues to make a significant impact on our Precision Machining and Manufacturing program, said Dr. Heidi Popham, president of GNTC. Their ongoing investment is enabling students to complete their education and start fulfilling careers in the field. We are so grateful to the Gene Haas Foundation.

The primary mission of the Gene Haas Foundation is to partner with the best schools and training programs to introduce students to career opportunities, then provide scholarships and support to students in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology, said Kathy Looman, director of Education, Haas Technical Education Conferences and Gene Haas Naming Grants. These careers are rewarding with good pay and opportunities to grow with a company or to become an entrepreneur.

Gene Haas, founder and owner of Haas Automation, personally funds his foundation to support the future of manufacturing because he believes that manufacturing is the foundation of a strong economy, Looman said.

In 2023, the Gene Haas Foundation awarded close to 3,000 grants totaling $21 million to introduce young people to high demand careers in manufacturing.
Southeast Conservation Corps (SECC), a program of Conservation Legacy, announced the appointment of Darcy Welch to the helm as Corps Director. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, SECC connects people to the natural environment through conservation-based service learning, personal development, and recreation.

Ms. Welch will be responsible for developing and maintaining local partnerships within Chattanooga and surrounding Southeast, operating a team of programmatic and administrative staff members, overseeing the strategies and success of fundraising efforts within SECC, and driving strategic initiatives to further strengthen Southeast Conservation Corp's position as a leader in the Conservation field.

Officials said Ms. Welch brings a wealth of experience to this position, with a proven track record of organizational leadership, fundraising success, and a great love for the outdoors. In addition to her many years of successfully driving the mission and vision of nonprofits, she has served on numerous committees and boards in the area and is a certified Tennessee naturalist.

"We are thrilled to welcome Darcy Welch to our leadership team," said Conservation Legacy CEO Amy Sovocool. "With her extensive experience and leadership skills, we are confident that she will play a pivotal role in driving Southeast Conservation Corps growth and success in Chattanooga. Welch shares our commitment to engaging future leaders who protect, restore, and enhance our nations lands through community-based service, and we are excited about the positive impact she will make in this new role."

Welch expressed enthusiasm about joining the Southeast Conservation Corps stating, "Im excited to be leading the next chapter of Southeast Conservation Corps with Conservation Legacywhose vision of a legacy of healthy lands, air and water, thriving people, and resilient communities is an honor to serve.

About Southeast Conservation Corps

Southeast Conservation Corps provides members with impactful opportunities through a unique set of programs that engage people in meaningful education and service to their communities and natural landscapes. Since each program is purposeful in design, positions may vary in length, location, focus, and populations served.

The office is in Chattanooga, Tn., nestled between the Cumberland Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains. This ideal location allows Southeast Conservation Corps to engage a diverse population of people in a broad range of conservation service projects and recreation opportunities within some of the oldest and most biologically diverse forests in the eastern United States.

SECC is a program of Conservation Legacy. Conservation Legacy also supports other regional offices that serve local communities including Southwest Conservation Corps, Arizona Conservation Corps, Appalachian Conservation Corps, Conservation Corps New Mexico, Conservation Corps North Carolina, Stewards Individual Placement Program, and Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps.
The present state of politics in Tennessee is at its lowest point, characterized by incessant degradation of opposing parties without offering substantive plans for the state's improvement. Rather than collaborating for the betterment of the electorate, politicians prioritize press conferences to denigrate rivals, leaving the populace neglected. Recent legislative decisions, such as those listed below, are baffling or downright nonsensical:

1. In response to the Nashville School Shooting, a bill was passed to impede lawsuits against gun manufacturers.



2. A bill was enacted to outlaw "chemtrails."



3. Legislation was introduced to prohibit vaccinated lettuce.



4. Time and resources were squandered on attempting to dismiss the county attorney.



5. Disputes arose over stadium development.



6. Dissenting house members were silenced.



7. Tennessee State University, a vital HBCU, was egregiously underfunded, prompting immediate board replacement.



8. Despite opposition from many superintendents, a voucher program is promptly being pushed through.



9. A border bill was drafted and withdrawn, potentially at the behest of Trump, hinting at political maneuvering.

These actions beg the question: Do these politicians truly prioritize the welfare of their constituents?

Christopher Cooper
I was not going to write this article because so many of us who live here in Red Bank know that three of our commissioners dont listen to anything that the citizens have to say, but my message is important to me as a person who has spent my entire career as a teacher.

I do not understand the rationale behind the Red Bank Commissions flippant vote to do away with the only elementary school left in the city since Red Bank Elementary School was moved down the road to the Mountain Creek community in 1999, leaving the city of Red Bank with only Alpine Crest Elementary School. What possible argument can be made that the city of Red Bank is better off with no elementary school for the first time since 1913. How can those commissioners possibly rationalize bussing our little children to an uber-busy city thoroughfare (Hixson Pike), to a mega-sized school (four elementary schools combined), in an industrial area of town (near DuPont) when we already have the perfect spot for a brand-new elementary school in the heart of Red Bank; and the Hamilton County Department of Education agrees with me.

When citizens of Red Bank found out about the closing of our last elementary school, many of them wrote letters to members of the Hamilton County Board of Education and to the Hamilton County commissioners asking them to reconsider leaving the city of Red Bank without an elementary school. So, HCDE approached Red Bank commissioners about swapping the Alpine Crest property for the old Red Bank Middle/High property on Dayton Boulevard that has sat empty since 2013. Presently, half of that property is grown up in waist high weeds, which makes it unusable for any Red Bank residents. That Dayton Boulevard property seemed to be the perfect solution to the problem.

But, I sat in disbelief at a Red Bank Commission meeting when Commissioners Stefanie Dalton, Hayes Wilkinson, and Holli Berry, all of whom have or will have elementary school children in Red Bank, voted No when presented with a Hamilton County Department of Education offer to negotiate a swap for the Dayton Boulevard property for Alpine Crest Elementary, which includes 17 acres, a possible site for a future community center, an arbor program which is already in effect there, and plenty of room for a beautiful community park.

These three commissioners would not agree to the swap, then tried to stiff arm the HCDE (like they have done the citizens of Red Bank with a 10 percent property tax increase plus a 52 percent property tax increase within 18 months) by offering to give HCDE $1,000,000 to build an elementary school at the old White Oak Elementary site, plus offering to obligate the citizens of Red Bank to be responsible for the surrounding infrastructure costs, which nobody seemed to have a price for. HCDE said, No!

Strategically, there is plenty of room on the Dayton Boulevard property to incorporate a school, a large playing field for children and neighborhood families to use, a playground, and a walking track that all Red Bank citizens could utilize. Having a centrally located walking track and green space would promote healthier lifestyles for citizens young and old. Young families moving to this area look for good schools, and business improves when new families buy homes near schools.

Plus, neighborhood schools create lifelong friendships because you share a special bond with the people you grow up with. Parents are generally more involved in neighborhood schools. They attend more meetings and volunteer more. Neighborhood schools promote community continuity and pride in your neighborhood. Being proud to be a Red Bank Lion really means something to people who grew up here, and not just another chance for a photo opt. Parents are often involved in adult education classes, skills courses, and technical training at neighborhood schools. Also, many parents would be able to walk their children to and from school, which promotes physical fitness.

So, why wont the three commissioners vote to swap property with HCDE so we can continue to have a needed elementary school in Red Bank? Its because they have chosen their own special interest over our kids. Their friends are a group of folks, like them, who have only moved here in recent years and who think that the Dayton Boulevard property belongs to them. They dont care what the residents want. Their plan is to build a mega park that is similar to Coolidge Park. They preach that a city cant be vital without parks, which we already have: White Oak Park, which few Red Bank residents use; Kids Corner park; Joe Glasscock Center playground; 12 acres in north Red Bank that has been purchased for a park; plus ball fields in White Oak; a walking track and ball fields at RBHS; several large pieces of land behind the high school that are being considered for parks; and numerous walking and bike trails. I believe that having an elementary school makes a city much more vital than a gob of parks, especially in a city that, for the most part, is less than a mile wide and six miles long. How many parks do we need?

Then, in the past few weeks, the city of Red Bank coordinated a meeting with the Red Bank community and TWS, a consulting firm, that has been hired to develop a comprehensive and small area plan, at a cost of $150,000. TWS developed three suggestions for the property, all of which include green/park space, business options, and some high-density housing. All three of these options are similar to the design that the previous commission approved, which would have been similar to Cambridge Square in Ooltewah to be built on the Dayton Boulevard property. Residents who attended the meeting were asked to vote on the option that they liked most. The results of the voting have not been made public yet.

I am going to continue to voice my opinion concerning our need for an elementary school in Red Bank, which is what makes sense to me; but like Jim Croce sang, I know that Im spitting into the wind. There is no transparency in Red Bank. Gathering votes from a community meeting is just a ploy. No matter what I say, no matter what the citizens of Red Bank assert, and no matter what consulting firms suggests, the same three Red Bank commissioners will only represent their friends, who demand that the 12 acres on Dayton Boulevard be used as a park. Thats how theyll vote. All three will choose special interest over our kids in Red Bank.

Link Sparks






The Judge David Campbell Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is awarding Morgan Glaser, a senior at Whitwell High School, with the prestigious DAR Good Citizens Award. This accolade rewards high school seniors who "embody good citizenship qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism within their homes, schools and communities."Officials said, "Morgan Glaser has exhibited exceptional qualities through her active participation in various clubs, substantial community service contributions, academic excellence and ambitious educational goals.Ranked second in her class, Morgan is a member of several clubs, including the Interact Club, Beta Club, Leadership Club and Tiger Pride."With over 80 hours of volunteer work in the community and a leadership role in the Interact Club, she has made significant contributions through initiatives like the Tennessee River Rescue and the local Rotary Bed Project."With a 4.0 GPA and recognition for outstanding achievements across multiple subjects, Morgan aims to pursue studies in pre-physical therapy at Tennessee Tech."
A group planning a rural campus for homeless veterans in Chattanooga said it has ruled out use of McDonald Farm at Sale Creek that was bought by the county.

Jeff Shaw, national expansion officer for Frontline Response International, said the group is now working with Congressman Chuck Fleischmann to find a site.

He said, "While our organization was initially interested in McDonald Farm as a potential site for the 100-acre campus, the timing and potential availability of land was not panning out.

Southeast Tennessee is fortunate to have the leadership of U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann. We are working with his office to determine the best fit for the campus in Tennessees 3rd Congressional District.

"The city of Chattanooga was selected for Freedom Homestead for a variety of factors, and were optimistic that well find the right property that will allow us to move forward in a timely and efficient manner.

The Atlanta-headquartered nonprofit said since the Chattanooga region was announced as being selected for the first Freedom Homestead campus, Frontline team members "have been gathering information and reaching out to potential partners for the campus that is slated to open within the next three years."

Mr. Shaw said, As weve met with government officials and service providers throughout Chattanooga and surrounding areas, weve been encouraged by the commitment to meeting the needs of individuals in crisis. Because of this, weve determined that our presence in Chattanooga will begin with the development of the first Freedom Homestead campus for veterans, particularly those who are unhoused.

He said HUDs 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report showed the number of unsheltered veterans experiencing homelessness nationally (estimated to be 15,507 in 2023) was the highest it has been since 2015 (when the estimate was 16,220). He said 98 percent of veterans experiencing homelessness nationally were experiencing it as individuals, which means they were experiencing it alone.

Between 2020 and 2023, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness increased in 22 states. Among those states, the second largest numerical increase was in Tennessee (189 veterans), it was stated.

Between 2022 and 2023, Tennessee had the fourth largest increase in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness at 210, which represented a 38.3 percent increase. Among largely rural continuums of care (CoCs), the Chattanooga/Southeast Tennessee CoC had the highest percentage of veterans experiencing unsheltered homelessness (86 percent.



These are statistics that we simply couldnt overlook in determining the best path forward in Chattanooga, Mr. Shaw said. He noted that while Frontline is nationally known for their efforts in human trafficking and homelessness, "theres a desire and a commitment to providing resources to veterans.

With over 26,000 veterans in Southeast Tennessee and an active coalition of veteran groups, we believe that our initial focus should be where we can make the most impact, and thats clearly with veterans experiencing homelessness.



Mayor Tim Kelly said, The data being presented by Frontline Response clearly shows what we already know: the rising trend of veteran homelessness is concerning, and we need as many people and partners on board as possible to produce substantive and life-changing results.

"Frontline Response has a proven track record of being a service-gap provider. We welcome their efforts to build their first-ever Freedom Homestead in our region to help us make real progress."

Mr. Shaw pointed to the Chattanooga Area Veterans Coalition as a key ingredient to Frontlines future success. Chattanooga is fortunate to have leaders like Capt. (Ret.) Mickey McCamish who has been so generous with his time in assisting us in making valuable connections and championing this work. Over the coming weeks, we will be making major announcements regarding our initial program partners and appointments to Frontlines national board of directors from the area.

Mr. McCamish said, Weve had some tremendous conversations with potential partners for Freedom Homestead. Each partner is working with their individual boards to enter into MOUs with Frontline Response for Freedom Homestead to lay the groundwork for combined efforts. The Chattanooga Area Veterans Council will be using their significant network and organization memberships to make sure that the campus will be a success.
Jenelle Evans just filed for an order of protection against David Eason, signaling the divorce drama is heating up. In her complaint, she revealed Eason killed a second family dog.

Teen Mom 2 fans have been waiting for the relationship drama between David Eason and Jenelle Evans to spill over into a public forum. While the former couple have spent weeks keeping things relatively civil on social media, Evans appears about ready to crack. In a recent court filing, the mother of three accused Eason of killing one of the family dogs. It isnt the first time Eason has been responsible for the death of a family pet.

Jenelle Evans reveals David Eason has killed another dog

Last month, Jenelle Evans filed for a legal separation from her husband, David Eason. While the North Carolina native hasnt been living on her property since February 16, hes not staying far enough away for Evans liking. The former reality TV star recently filed for an order of protection against Eason. In the complaint, Evans revealed that Eason killed a family pet just before he moved out of the house for good.

David Eason and Jenelle Evans | Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

In the complaint, obtained by The U.S. Sun, Evans revealed that Eason hopped in a truck after an argument in early February and went to drive away. Evans said Eason hit a puppy living on the property with his vehicle, killing it. According to the complaint, David Easons teen daughter, Maryssa Eason, witnessed the incident. Evans did not reveal if the dog harmed was part of the litter of puppies she featured on TikTok in February.

Animal abuse is just one of several reasons why Evans requested an order of protection for herself and all three of her children, including the daughter she shares with Eason. The U.S. Sun captured footage of Eason being served with paperwork at the Marina where Evans boat is docked. Eason has been living on the boat since leaving the family home. He didnt seem particularly bothered by the turn of events.

David Eason Jenelles dog in 2019

Evans most recent complaint is not the first time she has filed an order of protection against her troubled husband. It is also not the first time he has killed a family pet. In 2019, Eason shot and killed the family dog. The incident led to Eason and Evans having their children removed from the home by CPS. It also led to MTV cutting ties with Evans for good. The children, including Maryssa Eason, Kaiser Griffith, and Ensley Eason, later returned to the home. Jace Evans was living elsewhere at the time of the incident.

Several months after the incident, Evans left Eason and moved away from North Carolina. She filed for an order of protection and cited Nuggets death as part of her complaint. The separation lasted just a few months. The duo reconciled in early 2020 and remained together until February 2024.

David Eason has not responded to the most recent allegations.
By Park Jung-won

Members of South Koreas National Assembly enjoy considerable privileges and benefits. For those who decide to pursue politics, the easiest (and usually only) way to enter the National Assembly is to secure a nomination from one of the two major political parties, namely the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and its main opposition, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Gaining this party blessing is tantamount to passing a test determining whether one will join the elite ruling class in South Korean society.

For a citizen wishing to become a member of the National Assembly, and thus a representative of the people, one would think it should be a fundamental requirement to be free of legal and moral deficiencies. However, it is reported that 43 percent of the candidates nominated by political parties in the upcoming general elections on April 10 have criminal records.

To secure a nomination from a major party, it is crucial to be adept at flattering the most influential figures within it. In South Korean politics, the key methods are to quickly align with the partys main power brokers, be attentive to their mood and possess an exceptional ability to flatter  characteristic of a master in the art of survival. Gaining entry to the political club is thus not unlike a new jail inmate seeking protection from an established prison gang, and subsequently enjoying all the benefits of gang membership. To expect from them a sense of mission akin to Max Webers "Politics as a Vocation is unrealistic from the outset.

Both the PPP and DPK have boasted that they would use objective criteria for nominating candidates in this election, but there is little evidence that they have followed through on these claims. The DPKs nominations were especially disappointing, with the de facto standard seemingly being whether one would display loyalty to the party leader, Lee Jae-myung. As for the ruling PPP, things have also changed little: nominations were generally awarded to those already part of the vested-interest class. Establishing a replenishing system, through which fresh faces and new ideas are brought in from the outside, seems not to be on either partys agenda.

Such flawed nomination procedures employed by the two major parties will nevertheless lead to the election of the majority of members of the National Assembly. The winners will be individuals who have passed through a very opaque nomination process, which can hardly be called a system. Some will be masters at discerning the will of the powerful, yet fall far short of the moral standards of the average citizen.

Many voters in South Korea attach tremendous significance to the act of voting itself, carried out every four years to realize representative democracy. They may hold high expectations that members of the National Assembly, elected through a sacred exercise of democracy, will uphold the will of the people and govern well. Sadly, this is almost delusional. What actually takes place is nothing more than a delegation of power to the skilled political survivors who have secured nominations from powerful major parties and won elections through a ceremonial act of voting. Furthermore, the act of voting often reflects not an exercise of public reason based on individual judgment, but rather a mere transference of power by a populace that has become zombified through blind allegiance, subjugation and indoctrination.

Thus, even though representative democracy, through which a people's representatives are chosen through elections, is considered the best system humanity has yet devised, its implementation can be severely flawed. The stark reality of South Korean politics is that the two main political forces, symbolized by the PPP and DPK, shape the country to their own liking. While the PPP claims to be conservative, and the DPK liberal, the reality is merely a political battle between vested interests disguised in conservative and liberal masks. Regardless of which party holds power, neither is keen on tackling the core issues  political, social or economic  of South Korean society from a truly conservative or liberal perspective. They prefer to focus on immediate and more politically gainful matters. Developing and implementing policies that would fundamentally address these issues is hard and often thankless, and thus attempts to find true solutions are avoided. Consequently, the already poor practices of both the conservative and liberal political forces are likely to continue deteriorating over time.

What methods do these major parties use to control their respective supporters? They seek to ensure that the masses do not question  and instead blindly follow  their orders. Although some have turned their backs on the DPK due to rage over Lee Jae-myungs disastrous handling of the party nominations, most defended him resolutely, even if it involved ushering pro-North Korea forces into the National Assembly to expand his backing. They claim that the PPP must be eradicated. And the blind followers of the ruling PPP are not much different. They vehemently criticize the DPK for supposedly colluding with anti-state or pro-North Korea forces that refuse to recognize the Republic of Koreas right to exist. However, they also remain silent about the fundamental issue of worsening economic polarization in South Korean society between the classes with vested interests and everyone else. This hesitance prevents the implementation of audacious socio-economic reforms that could heal many disparities and reduce pro-North Korea sentiment.

The two major parties, proclaiming conservatism and liberalism through abstract slogans largely devoid of substance, have each regularly secured a support base of roughly 40 percent who will follow them blindly. For the remaining fifth of voters in the middle ground, populist promises are cunningly deployed to attract anyone at the margin. Unlike prisoners desperately seeking protection, or politicians desperately seeking a candidacy, it is fortunate that voters can freely choose which party to vote for  or choose not to vote at all  but they may be unenthused with their options. This is the tragedy of South Korean prison politics.





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.
Illustration by Christianity Today / Source Images: WikiMedia Commons / Unsplash

Next weeks solar eclipse has stoked the flames of end-time speculations, once again whipping doomsday theorists into a frenzy.

As the April 8 event will take place primarily over North America, some in the US are anticipating a great Day of Judgment complete with terrorist attacks, biological warfare, and nuclear meltdowns. According to alt-right conspiracy theorists, including some fringe evangelical leaders, this war will usher in a new world order in which Christ will return and America (alongside Israel) will rule the nations.

This isnt the first time apocalyptic predictions were based on impending eclipsesthe same thing happened in 2017. But end-of-world interest seems to have increased over the last few years, as things like the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas conflict have meant nearly every region of the globe has faced some sort of calamity. These and other recent tribulations have led many believers to conclude that the end is near. In fact, a Pew Research Center study found in 2022 that over 60 percent of evangelical Christians in the US believe we are living in the end times.

But while some passages in the Bible do link astronomical phenomena with the end (Matt. 24:29; Joel 2:31), doomsday prophets fail to explain why their biblical, global, and cosmic calculus often revolves around America. They further neglect the fact that an eclipse happens somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 monthsand that these solar events have been associated with imminent doom for thousands of years without consequence.

And yet, based on the book of Revelation, end-time conspiracists are correct in one aspect of their eschatology: We are living in the end times. But not, perhaps, in the way they might think.

Empowering every generation to see signs of the end is precisely the brilliance of the last book in the Bible, which contains the most direct and sustained teaching on the end times in Scripture. John, our apocalyptic author, has masterfully woven together a series of symbolic visions that readers of any time can understand in their own context. Above all, Revelation vividly communicates the gospel message and how Jesus expects us to respond in the here and nowwhich is why it is just as crucial to our faith as the Gospels.

John teaches that the end is nearso near that its already here. Christs death and resurrection has inaugurated the last days (1 John 2:18; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 1:13), and only the Father knows when Jesus will return (Mark 13:3233)which means we dont have to decode Revelation or pinpoint apocalyptic events. Yet this is precisely what many of its interpreters have tried to do.

One of the most popular Christian interpretations of the end times is Left Behinda series franchise portraying the believers Rapture and the subsequent labyrinth of events. Although few are still talking about the books, and its been a decade since the last movie came out (which was criticized by CTs own review and follow-up), the series has left behind an evangelical legacy of misinterpreting the Book of Revelation and its apocalyptic vision.

The first Left Behind novel was published a scant few weeks after I became a Christian in 1995, and at first, I consumed the literature with almost as much reverence as Scripture itself. But as I kept reading the series, my interest waned. It seemed to offer little substantive guidance for my burgeoning faith. So I concluded that the Book of Revelation, upon which the books are loosely based, must have little to offer as well. After all, if I was going to be raptured before all the frightening events of the Great Tribulation, why should I care about Johns apocalyptic vision?

But now, nearly 30 years later, Im a Bible scholar who specializes in the study of Revelation, and I continually implore people to not misuse the book as fodder for such end-times predictions.

The most common way Gods people have distorted Johns Apocalypse is by correlating its visions with real-world events, and so misconstruing its primary message. In every period of history, Gods people have identified signs of the end and the nefarious forces that would bring it about. In fact, the end of the world has been variously calculated as the years A.D. 275, 365, 400, 500, 999, 1000, 1666, 1843, 1914, 1994, and 2000, just to name a few.

The problem is, there are real-world implications for these apocalyptic forecastsespecially when they are more informed by a political stance than by a responsible study of the Scriptures.

During the Crusades in the Middle Ages (A.D. 10951291), Western Europeans hoped retaking the Holy Land would usher in the return of Christand multitudes of Muslim and Jewish people were slaughtered in the process. A couple hundred years later, Protestant Reformers maligned the papacy of the Catholic church as the Antichrist. Soon after, American colonists sought to establish a New World, which was closely identified with the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21. Thus, England was seen as the Beast, and the British Stamp Act became his mark.

In the 1980s, apocalyptic thinking vilified Russia as an evil empire, who, along with China, was identified as Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:8)vicious enemies who will come against Gods people (and/or Jerusalem) before (or after) the Millennium. Today Iran and Palestine are two more contenders for the Gog and Magog title. At the same time, some among the Russian Orthodox faith believe that America leads the forces of the Antichrist.

My point is that if you are reading the Book of Revelation looking for specific detailsa date for the worlds end, the name of an antichrist, or nations to label as enemies of Godyoull find them. There have always been, and there will always be, forces that oppose God and his people.

But its important for us to understand the underlying eschatology behind narratives like the Left Behind series, since it lingers on in the evangelical consciousness and colors the lens through which many still read and interpret the Book of Revelation. One key facet of this worldview is dispensational premillennialism, which holds that true believers will be rapturedor supernaturally transportedto heaven, prior to seven years of intense geological, social, and political upheaval during which the Antichrist will rise and the Jerusalem temple will be rebuilt.

This period, the tribulation, will conclude with a great final battle, Armageddon, after which Christ will return and reign on earth with his saints for a thousand years. And although we dont have space to unpack all the problems with this interpretation, it should be noted that the major tenet of this teaching, the Millennium, is only mentioned in one highly disputed passage of Scripture (Rev. 20:17). But exegetical issues aside, what are the potential dangers of this thinking in practice as we daily seek to live out the gospel?

First, if we take this mindset to its logical extent, we run the risk of ignoring our most sacred calling: loving all our neighbors. Viewing other people or groups as the divinely foretold enemies of God absolves us from attempting to reach them with the gospel message. In other words, if the Bible predicts that a person or a group of people are going to be defeated by Christ and burn in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:1115), who are we to say otherwise?

Instead, Revelation teaches us that our cruciform witness bears fruit and serves as the vehicle by which those who reject God repent and give him glory (Rev. 11:13; 21:24). When we live out the gospel in a broken world, we embody a better way of lifethe truth that God is liberating his entire creation from the forces of sin and death.

Second, if we expect to be raptured prior to trials and tribulations, we wont be prepared when they smack us in the face. A major facet of Revelations teaching is that disasters are going to occur time and again. In every age, Gods people will face geological, political, social, and personal calamities. But if we assume Christ will exempt us from such affliction, our faith can wither when we encounter it. Instead, John seeks to fortify our faith as he exhorts us to persevere through trials. We arent called to escape the world, but to bear witness to Christ in it.

Third, closely associated with Left Behind thought is the belief that the national/political entity of Israel enjoys a status that trumps that of other peoples and nationsin part because of the association of Zionism with American exceptionalism throughout modern history.

But the overwhelming teaching of the New Testament, including Revelation, indicates that all the peoples of the earth are equally treasured by God. The Father desires every people groupto experience his love and grace through Christ (Acts 10:3435; 2 Pet. 3:9). Biblically and theologically speaking, no national entity, including America and Israel, receives special favor in the eyes of God. And to say otherwise can greatly hinder the spread of the gospel in the world.

With the increasing polarization of the United States and with traditional Judeo-Christian values often being denounced as white nationalism, it is vital for us to affirm that the teachings of Scripture, the salvation of God and his promises are equally available to all peoples. Such a principle is not arbitrarily imposed upon Scripture but arises directly from sound exegesis.

If the point of Revelation isnt to give us a map of end-time events, what is it for and why do we need it? The purpose of Revelation is to motivate believers through a message of hope. Jesus has already defeated evil! We arent waiting on the Rapture, the Antichrist, or Armageddon. We are waiting for Jesus. Out of his love and grace, God may tarrybut when Jesus finally returns, he will come triumphantly to judge evil as well as reclaim and renew Gods creation.

In the meantime, believers continue to war on his behalfnot against flesh and blood but against the unseen powers of this world (Eph. 6:12). And our victory is achieved paradoxically through suffering and self-sacrifice. Just as Christ accomplished the redemption of the world through his sacrificial death, so also Christs followers are called to become instruments of restoration through our own cruciform obedience and perseverance.

The means of victory in the Apocalypse is both counterintuitive and countercultural. The idea of a future Rapture, in which believers escape tribulation by being supernaturally transported to heaven, completely misses the point of the book. Even worse, expecting Christ to return at the end of time to defeat his enemies through earthly warfare is to make the same mistake as the first-century Jewish people who expected their Messiah to overthrow Rome.

To place our hope in a Messiah who wins through superior power and military might is to agree with the ideology of this world rather than that of the slain-yet-standing Lamb. The Messiah we follow is the one who conquered by means of a humiliating, painful, and public death.

All this rich teaching is lost when we see Revelation as a series of events to decode. Reading the book through any other lens than its own severely impedes our ability to embrace its missional and spiritual significance. So how do we avoid this pitfall and appropriate the message of Revelation in a way that edifies our faith, transforms our theology, and benefits Gods creation?

First, we must study Scripture contextually. If we read Revelation in the context of the Gospels (and the rest of the NT), the image of a militant messiah who returns to slaughter his foes is nonsensical. We must also take the books genre into account. Revelation is apocalyptic literature, which contains symbolic communication, allowing us to see reality from a different perspective. An apocalypse doesnt tell us about the end of the world but does something far more important: it reveals the true nature of the world.

In fact, the English word apocalypse stems from the Greek word apocalypsis, which means a revelation, not the end of the world, as it has come to mean in vernacular English (which, of course, is why the name of Johns book was translated as Revelation). And if that werent enough to convince us, John himself tells us that his visions are symbolic (1:1), a nuance that is often obscured in English translations. (The Holman Christian Standard Bible comes closest to the precise meaning with the translation that God signified the message to John, with a footnote that he made it known through symbols.)

Second, seeing reality from Gods perspective should galvanize our mission to the world. Johns message of victorious perseverance in the face of hostility was initially intended to reorient the identity and purpose of early Christians under the dominion of Romeexhorting them to overcome the pressure to compromise with a pagan society. In much the same way, we should be motivated to embody the truth of the gospel in a world that rejects Christ and his kingdom.

John teaches that God opposes evil and fights on behalf of justice, and that he will one day decisively defeat all forces of darkness in the earthly and spiritual realms. But for now, God chooses to work primarily through the church and his saints. So, we should publicly fight for truth, goodness, and righteousness and oppose all falsehood, injustice, and evil on behalf of every people group. And we must resist the temptation to align ourselves with ideologies that are socially popular or politically expedient, even if we end up facing persecution for our refusal to join the bandwagonknowing well be ready for every trial.

Lastly, solar eclipse or not, we are called to live every day as if it is our last. And whether Jesus returns in a day, a month, or a thousand years, we are called to publicly speak and sacrificially embody the truth of the gospel. We cant know the day or hour, but Scripture says Jesus return draws closer with every passing day (Matt. 25:13; 1 Pet. 4:7). Such a biblical truth should realign all our activities, goals, plans, and relationships this side of eternity.

We are living in the end times. So what are we going to do about it?

Andrea L. Robinson is a professor at Huntsville Bible College, an interdenominational speaker, and the author of numerous publications on Revelation, eschatology, and ecotheology.
Illustration by Christianity Today / Source Images: WikiMedia Commons / Getty

What does history have to do with faith? Everything. As Paul attests in 1 Corinthians 15, Christ died. He was buried. He was raised on the third day. And then he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve, and then to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time (vv. 56). Because Jesus work for his people unfolded on earth for everyone to see, the apostles proclaimed historical events.

What, then, does faith have to do with history? Again, everything. The events proclaimed include the Messiahs death and resurrection, and faith grasps Jesus and the apostles interpretation of these events, for Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) and was raised for our justification (Rom. 4:25). Christians have long embraced the maxim of faith seeking understanding, which entails reasoning and asking questions about the content of our faith, as Augustine explains in his Confessionsbut always against a backdrop of ultimate confidence in God and the truths of Scripture.

Susan C. Lim models these habits in her book Light of the World: How Knowing the History of the Bible Illuminates Our Faith. Lim, a Biola University history professor, tells the story of how Scripture came to be, detailing all the twists and turns, all the complex debates and deliberations, that resulted in a settled tradition of which books constitute Gods Holy Word. This story, as she demonstrates, is far from neat and tidybut understood rightly, can strengthen our trust in both the Bible and Gods sovereign guidance over human affairs. Lim wants her readers to join her in the spirit and faith of the Virgin Mary, asking, How can this be? (Luke 1:34, NRSV).

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Lims book is no mere history of the Bible. Weaving her Christian testimony into chapters on the Bibles history, her candor is refreshing, even as she shares past doubts and questions leading up to her second confession that all the Bible is Gods Word. Not every book recounting the Bibles history contains a chapter on miracles or even takes up matters of interpretation, archaeological evidence, or the historical reliability of the biblical accounts themselves.

Lim rolls up her sleeves and delves into how the Protestant Bible came to have its 66 books (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament). Convinced that knowledge of the Bibles history can breathe life into our faith, she gives readers the facts, even as she admits that those facts do require interpretation. Lim knows the subject can be contentious, for the evidence sometimes leads down murky paths that dont always go where we think they should. Many readers will resonate with Lims intention and design in this book. I certainly do.

The Old Testament and the Hebrew canon

In this same spirit, then, I want to encourage readers in their study of the history of the Bible as I engage Lims book on that subject. In my judgment, the book contains several inaccuracies or outdated theories. A few brief examples will suffice before addressing more significant matters.

Consider, for instance, Lims claim that Jerome, the early church priest who translated the Bible into Latin, perhaps proposed Ezra as the author of the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Old Testament. But Jerome, in his treatise Against Jovinianus, comes closer to affirming Moses as the author; in another work, The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, he merely leaves open the possibility that Ezra restored the Pentateuch rather than writing it. A little later, Lim erroneously claims that the Gospel of Thomas circulated in two versions rather than listing two different literary works (the other is entitled the Infancy Gospel of Thomas).

As an account of the Protestant Bible, Lim narrates the relationship between the Hebrew and Protestant canons. Jews and Protestants have the same contents in what they respectively call the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, even though each group numbers, orders, and categorizes the books differently. Regarding whether the Tanakh (an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew canon) was the Bible that Jesus read, Lim cautiously proposes that it was considered a tradition by Jesus time and that we dont know the definitive answer to this question. Elsewhere, however, Lim concludes more confidently that the Tanakh served as the foundation for Jesus ministry and the birth of Christianity.

But the fact is that when Protestants began to list the books of the Old Testament, they did not refer to the Tanakh anywhere. For example, Martin Luthers Bible (1534) lists the Old Testament contents according to the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible but preserves an order of History, Poetry, and Prophecy. This structure can be traced to early Christians like Gregory of Nazianzus, who lists 22 books, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and divides them into three parts: 12 historical books (like Joshua), 5 poetic books (like Proverbs), and 5 prophetic books (like Isaiah).

The Tanakh, for Lim, aids interpretation of individual books like Esther, since its three-part categorization of Law, Prophets, and Writings provides clues to how early readers interpreted individual books, and her observations on Esther in this regard are noteworthy. Still, she could have guided her readers to other ancient Hebrew canon structures and categories (still visible in most English Bibles today) that could illuminate how early readers interpreted books in light of their placement next to other books.

As readers wade into Light of the World, they will encounter terms and categories that early Christians developed to describe their religious literature. These include homologoumena, or books unquestionably included in the canon; antilegomena, referring to books initially classified as canonical but later disputed; and pseudepigrapha, books that are religious in nature but outside the canon. And a fourth category, the Old Testament Apocrypha, denotes books added to the Greek Septuagint but never included in the Hebrew Old Testament.

Researchers now refer to a great number of books (like 1 Enoch) a pseudepigrapha, even though early Christians did not use the term often (Cyril of Jerusalem mentioned falsely titled gospels like Thomas) and would have labeled these books as apocryphal or hidden books. In the heat of polemic, Jerome once referred to Tobit, Judith, Ecclesiasticus (also known as Ben Sira or Sirach), Wisdom of Solomon, and 1 and 2 Maccabees as apocrypha. But elsewhere he recommends these books as edifying reading, albeit not for the sake of confirming church doctrines.

Jerome thus joins other early Christians like Athanasius in describing a middle category of religious literature: neither canonical nor apocryphal, but useful and beneficial. Lim does not mention this middle category, and it leads to a problem as she reconstructs the church fathers understanding of how the Bible came to be. Many early Christians may have had a high view of these middle-tier books but would not have described them as canonical, disputed, or apocryphal.

The problem comes to a head in Lims discussion of the Septuagint (a Greek book collection notoriously difficult to define) and the Apocrypha. Lim holds that some Jewish scribes were responsible for adding books to the Septuagint that later became known as the Apocrypha. Later, Lim claims the Apocrypha was appended to the Septuagint, which came to be known as the Alexandrian List. This list was compiled in Alexandria, Egypt, even though the Jews never accepted the Apocrypha as canonical. The confusion set in, writes Lim, when some church fathers misunderstood the Hebrew tradition and regarded some Apocryphal books as canonical.

The history is messier. There is no evidence that Alexandrian Jews drafted a canon list or that they possessed a different canon than other Jews. This theory has been largely abandoned since the 1960s. Moreover, contrary to what Protestants might expect, many early Christians described the churchs Old Testament canon as agreeing with the Hebrew canon. Slightly later, Christians like Augustine developed a rival tradition based on the idea that the biblical canon encompasses books that the churches read and accepted.

In short, the Protestant Old Testament would come to reflect an early Christian view that limited the Old Testament to the Hebrew canon, while the Roman Catholic Old Testament would reflect another early Christian canon articulated by Augustine and the Synods of Hippo and Carthage. Lim is wrong, then, to state that the 16th-century Council of Trent, the main driver of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, was the first to reckon the Apocrypha as canonical. Trent was only the first council to pronounce anathema on those who refused to accept its canon.

The fourth century and before

In later sections of the book, Lim navigates similar challenges to the formation of the New Testament canon. Here, were introduced to heresies like Gnosticism and Marcionism, along with other early Christian literary works like the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache. Again, the history behind the formation of the New Testament is messy, but when we grasp it rightly, as Lim contends, we see that Gods sovereignty was never thwarted. Furthermore, Lim believes Christians should take comfort in the fact that the New Testament canon came together in the fourth century and not earlier, since the church fathers were working diligently to distinguish canonical books from other books.

Lim interprets the Roman emperor Constantines conversion to Christianity in the fourth century as pivotal to the establishment of the church and the confirmation of the New Testament canon. Rightly, she avoids crediting the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) with creating the canon, but her emphasis on the councils debates over orthodoxy and heresy does leave open the question of how those debates related to the New Testaments formation.

For Lim, the end of the fourth centurythe era of the Synods of Hippo (A.D. 393) and Carthage (A.D. 397)brought about the great achievement of officially recognizing the New Testament canon. And no doubt the fourth century brought clarity to some books like 2 John, 3 John, and 2 Peter, which were not clearly recognized before then.

But Lims emphasis on the fourth-century culmination might cause readers to skip over important earlier developments in canon history, like the assembling of the fourfold gospel or the Pauline letters. Around A.D. 250, Origen of Alexandria had already listed the 27 books of the New Testament canon. Thus, the core of the New Testament was already established by the fourth century. Though some point to Athanasiuss 39th festal letter (A.D. 367) as authoritatively defining the New Testament canon, it was only a point of development in this processnot its final resolution.

History is messy because it involves people and materials, and the evidence we possess does not allow us to answer all our questions. But for Lim, the Bibles history should not occasion despair or the deconstructing of ones faith. Rather than weakening faith, knowledge of the Bibles history serves to buttress and strengthen itand, dare I say, even excite and inspire it. Faith seeking understanding commits one to trust Gods good providence even as ones understanding increases through questioning and interpreting the evidence.

I hope readers of Lims book join her in the ever-deepening joy of discovering more of the Bibles history and how it illuminates the Christian faith. If readers walk away even remotely more confident in the Bibles trustworthiness and authenticity, and further encouraged on their own faith journeys, then Lim should count her mission successful.

John D. Meade is professor of Old Testament and director of the Text & Canon Institute at Phoenix Seminary. He is coauthor of Scribes & Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible (Crossway).
Illustration by Maria Jesus Contreras

Imagine that its a Sunday morning and a church is getting ready to announce its transition to an egalitarian model and commit to include women in pastoral leadership. The leadership gathers behind the stage to pray and review their communication strategy before the service begins. The pastor who will be sharing the news from the pulpit paces, with a burning question filling his mind: How will the congregation respond to the announcement?

The months leading up to this day proved to him that on matters of women in ministry, his congregation was not of one mind. Yet he is convinced that embracing an egalitarian approach is the way forward for his church, so he gathers his strength, steps into the auditorium, and delivers the news.

The statement goes well, all things considered. The congregation doesnt cheer, but no one boos or walks out the doorand that feels like a win. Everything seems to be under control. The service ends without much tension, and the pastor along with the rest of the leaders breathe a sigh of relief.

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This, of course, is an imagined scenario. But its not vastly different from what happens in reality when previously complementarian churches transition to egalitarian models: Oftentimes the people involved in the process are so exhausted from all the work it took to move the church to an egalitarian ministry philosophy that changing the churchs official statement on women seems to be the victory, the destination at the end of a long road, when it is just the beginning of an arduous journey.

Every church handles this process differently. Whats undeniably true in all situations is that no matter how careful and intentional a church might be in its approach to this transition, the process is lengthier and more challenging than anticipated. Its usually painful and its inevitably messy. As a result, many communication strategies inadvertently prioritize messaging (like proper apologetics and careful articulation of a position) and damage control, significantly limiting the energy and focus required to properly set up women to thrive.

As someone who has been caught in the middle of these transitions, I can say two things are usually true: First, often good-hearted people are driving these efforts, doing their best with the resources available. Second, sometimes those well-intended efforts result in a lot of pain.

While no church can navigate this journey perfectly, it is possible to mitigate the hurt and frustration that often ensue. I offer a few suggestions for church leaders to considerpitfalls to watch out forwhether theyre beginning the egalitarian journey or reevaluating their churchs posture toward women. With more women becoming preachers in recent years than in previous decades, it is imperative we continue to talk about how to make these transitions well.

One of the most common pitfalls for newly egalitarian churches is thinking that a statement on women changes everything. This couldnt be further from the truth. While an official position on women may have changed, generally the systems and values undergirding a churchs culture remain the same. Decades of tradition continue to be at play. Long-held assumptions and expectations placed upon women remain intact, adding layers upon layers of complexity and challenges for women to navigate.

Women who might think they have new leadership opportunities available to them find themselves bumping into invisible barriers and tripping over unspoken rules without knowing they were there in the first place. In contexts like these, the women appointed to new or higher positions of leadership are set up to fail.

How can we mitigate this? A good place to start is to consider how your churchs current contextnot your statement on womensupports (or undermines) the inclusion of women in your congregation.

A few guiding questions are helpful here: Can we think of specific traditions, assumptions, or expectations around women that might be at play in our staff culture? Are there any mechanisms in place to identify the value systems or structures that may be dated or in need of attention? Have we considered how our hiring practices and employee manuals might be impacted by a new position on women (for example, what would maternity leave look like for a lead pastor)? What would it look like for our church to fully include women at all levels of leadership and influence?

Another common pitfall for churches is thinking that by appointing one woman to a specific leadership position, all women are now represented and included. This is especially common in the area of preaching. In many instances, once a church has found a female preacher it trusts, not a whole lot of effort is made to include more women in the mix. After all, they can now say that women preach at this church. But is that a truly accurate statement?

Time and time again, when I walk into formerly complementarian churches and ask if women preach there, the answer is some version of this: Oh yes, Kimberly preaches all the time. Whats embedded in that sentenceand can be easily missedis the fact that Amber (who happens to be trained in preaching) doesnt preach there; neither does Sarah, Tara, or Michelle. Kimberly is the one woman who preaches at that church. That a woman preaches at all is something to celebrate, no question about that. But there is a world of difference between a church where Kimberly preaches and a church where women preach.

What would it look like to have a full-fledged vision for female preachers in our churches? Are there areas besides the pulpit where one woman might be carrying the banner of all womanhood? As churches look at their current female staff, are there any perspectives, ethnic backgrounds, or life experiences that may not be represented?

A third pitfall, and perhaps the most painful one, is failing to understand the emotional toll that these significant church transitions take on women. Knowing that the ultimate goal of these discussions is to determine what us, women, can or cannot do based on our gender is especially difficult for me. Who I am as a woman, as a female preacher and pastor, is profoundly connected to the discussion. For many of us, these conversations are deeply personal and fully embodied experiences.

Moreover, there are times when we are asked to share our personal experiences with the male staff and elders. Hopefully this is a genuine effort to listen and try to understand our experience, but many of these conversations end up being one-sided. We share our personal experiences and painand they dont.

When these dynamics are in place, the playing field is not level. This only exacerbates the pain some of us have been carrying long before these conversations started and reopens the very wounds the church is trying to mend. Once the decision has been made to officially move in an egalitarian direction, most of the leaderships efforts turn to apologetics, biblical grounding, and the careful articulation of the position paper, and not enough attention is given to the women who get caught up in the middle of it all.

Churches that want to truly move to an egalitarian model should ask themselves: Are we aware of the particular ways that one-sided conversations have affected, and perhaps continue to affect, the women serving at our church? Do we have male and female advocates whose main role is to intercede and pray for womento support them and look out for them on an ongoing basis? What would it look like to implement guidelines to ensure the conversations between men and women are mutual and fair? Is there opportunity to create clear pathways, safe spaces, and resources for men and women to voice their spiritual and emotional needs and struggles? How often will church leaders revise their stance and approach to women in ministry?

The chief question of all is this: Is our church truly committed to including women in the life of the church and to creating pathways for them to exercise the full extent of their giftings? The answer to that question will inform the answers to all other questions about women in church leadership.

The journey wont be perfect and churches will make mistakes, but the way church leadership approaches every conversation, every announcement, and every situation will make all the difference in creating a space where all women and men can thrive and use their giftings together with mutuality and respect. The key word here is intentionalitynot perfection. Loving, genuine, and ongoing intentionality will always go a long way.

Gaby Viesca is the director of programs at Missio Alliance and is chair of the evangelical studies unit at the American Academy of Religion. She has worked in full-time pastoral ministry in Israel, Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest.
Home News 4 pro-life protesters found guilty of FACE Act violations in Tennessee

Four pro-life Christians in Tennessee were convicted Tuesday of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for protesting outside a Nashville-area abortion clinic in 2021.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that a federal judge returned a guilty verdict for Eva Edl, Eva Zastrow, James Zastrow and Paul Place for their protest outside the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet on March 15, 2021.

The defendants could face up to six months in prison, five years of supervised release and fines of up to $10,000.

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During their protest in 2021, the four gathered with seven others outside the Carafem clinic to pray and sing hymns while urging women entering the facility not to go through with an abortion.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) slapped charges against all 11 defendants in October 2022 for allegedly intimidating and interfering "with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services" at the clinic.

During the trial Tuesday, attorneys for the defendants maintained that they were exercising their right to peaceful protest and that the Biden administration was going after "people who were simply expressing their beliefs in a non-violent way," according to The Daily Wire. Lawyers for the DOJ argued that the trial was about the defendants' actions, not their beliefs because their protest violated federal law.

The outlet notes that Middle District of Tennessee Magistrate Judge Chip Frensly deliberated for less than 30 minutes before issuing his ruling against the four.

The other Tennessee protesters charged by the DOJ last fall were similarly convicted in January for FACE Act violations when a federal jury found Paul Vaughn, Chester Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Calvin Zastrow, Coleman Boyd and Dennis Green guilty of blocking access to the facility.

Caroline Davis is the only one of the protesters who escaped conviction after she struck a plea deal to become a government witness during the Tuesday trial, The Daily Wire reports. Other witnesses included a worker at the clinic, a police officer and a woman who had an appointment on the day of the protest.

The other six, who were also charged with civil rights violations, are scheduled for sentencing on July 2 and face up to 10 and a half years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine not to exceed $260,000.

Edl, a native of Eastern Europe who survived a communist concentration camp in the wake of World War II and has been arrested dozens of times for protesting at abortion clinics, remained unafraid before the trial.

"Whatever happens, we are in the Lord's hands," she said, according to The Daily Wire. The defendants gathered outside the courthouse to sing hymns following their convictions.

Former President Donald Trump recently brought up the DOJ's pursuit of the pro-life protesters in Tennessee, claiming it is evidence of a growing anti-Christian agenda that he said resembles communist regimes of the past.

"This is a communist state, just so you understand," Trump said during a speech at the National Religious Broadcasters 2024 International Christian Media Convention in Nashville in February.

"This is the beginning of a communist state, whether it's [my indictments] or any one of another thousand things that are going on," he continued. "This is the only way they're going to be able to stay in office because they're running a regime that is so incompetent. Nobody's ever seen anything like it."
Home News 6 Kenyan Christians killed by suspected Al Shabaab terrorists in Somalia

Six Kenyan merchants killed by suspected militants from the Islamic extremist Al Shabaab on Friday in the Somali border town of Dhobley were likely attacked for spreading Christianity, sources said.

The six secret Christians had been selling plastic utensils and other household goods in Dhobley, in Somalia's Lower Juba Region, for six years, a Christian leader in northern Kenya said.

Our brothers had been doing business to support their families, but also sharing the love of Jesus Christ to the Muslims in Dhobley, the leader told Morning Star News on condition of anonymity. Two members of our church recently reported that several Muslims were secretly attending the evening prayers. This is probably what could have caused the Al Shabaab to kill them for spreading Christianity in the area.

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He identified the slain Christians as Joseph Githonga and Simon Karimi of the East Africa Pentecostal Church, Peter Muthuri and Thomas Muthee of the Kenya Assemblies of God and James Mwendwa and John Kathure of the Anglican Church.

The late Githonga had told the Christian leader in February that area converts from Islam had grown concerned over local complaints that the six Christians were praying in Christs name with Muslim neighbors and worshipping too loudly.

My advice to them was to avoid singing and prayers but only to have Bible study so as to safeguard the Muslim Background Believers and themselves, he said.

The assailants attacked the six men at their rented property, which included the shops from which they sold their wares and a back section as living quarters, the Christian leader said. They were shot to death at close range, he said.

In Kenya, Liboi Deputy County Commissioner Ali Manduku reportedly confirmed that six Kenyans were killed by suspected Al Shabaab militants.

A survivor of the attack reportedly said a Toyota Probux showed up near the traders shops around 7 a.m., and four hooded men began shooting, killing four merchants immediately, with two dying later. The assailants also set their shops ablaze.

The bodies of the slain Christians were taken to a mortuary in Garissa County, Kenya, the Christian leader said.

Somalia is ranked second on Christian support group Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Somalias constitution establishes Islam as the state religion and prohibits the propagation of any other religion, according to the U.S. State Department. It also requires that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law) principles, with no exceptions in application for non-Muslims.

Al Shabaab, which is allied with Al Qaeda, or Al Shabaab sympathizers also have killed several non-local people in northern Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan forces led an African coalition into Somalia against the rebels in response to terrorist attacks on tourists and others on Kenyas coast.

On April 2, 2015, 148 people at Garissa University College lost their lives in an attack by Al Shabaab, and several attacks on churches and Christians have taken place in Garissa, also in northern Kenya.

This article was originally published by Morning Star News.
Home News French gender equality minister wants priest prosecuted for saying homosexuality is sinful 'weakness'

A French government official has called for the prosecution of a Roman Catholic priest over a video he posted to social media describing homosexual inclinations as "a weakness" that must be fought like any other sin.

Father Matthieu Raffray, 45, posted the video to his more than 60,000 Instagram followers on March 15, admonishing them to resist their sinful weaknesses, including homosexuality among them.

"We all have weaknesses: those who are greedy, those who are angry, those who have homosexual tendencies!" Raffray said in the incriminating video, according to French Catholic media outlet Famille Chretienne.

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Raffray's comments drew the ire of Aurore Berge, a 37-year-old politician who has served as France's minister for gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities since January.

Berge released a statement on March 20 saying that Raffray's comments about homosexuality were "unacceptable" and that she was reporting him to the Interministerial Delegation for the Fight against Racism, Anti-semitism, and Anti-LGBT Hatred (DILCRAH) to be prosecuted under Article 40 of the French penal code.

"I will not let anything go in the face of hatred, whatever it may be," Berge said in an X post.

DILCRAH  a delegation that works with various government ministries to devise, coordinate and manage French government policy on combating racism, anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT hate crimes  replied to Berge's tweet about 20 minutes later by noting they had forwarded Raffray's comments to the public prosecutor at her request.

"So-called 'conversion therapy' has been illegal since 2022," the delegation tweeted. "Talking about homosexuality as a weakness is shameful."

On the same day, Raffray tweeted that his X account has passed over 20,000 followers and thanked "the hysterics of all stripes who try to destabilize me with grotesque controversies: publicity assured."

"Friends or enemies: I pray for you," he wrote.

Je viens de m'apercevoir que ce compte vient de depasser les 20.000 followers !



Merci a tous pour votre soutien.



Merci aussi aux hysteriques de tous bords qui tentent de me destabiliser par des polemiques grotesques : publicite assuree ????????



Amis ou ennemis : je prie pour vous. pic.twitter.com/JH2c1GlJbj  Abbe Matthieu Raffray ?????????? (@AbbeRaffray) March 20, 2024

In the video, the priest reminded his listeners that everyone has the requisite spiritual weapons to combat such weaknesses but that Satan tempts them to believe the battle is "too hard" and to give up.

Raffray, who has a sizable social media following and outreach to young French people, has remained unapologetic regarding his position and has not removed the video despite ruffling the feathers of the French diversity minister.

The priest told Famille Chretienne that his video was about "temptations in general" and that his intention was not to single out homosexuality but rather "to make it clear that we are not obliged to give in to all our temptations, to all our desires."

"I cite homosexuality, among other things," he said. "Homosexual acts are a sin, but I think people no longer know what a sin is. Denouncing a sin does not mean denouncing the person who commits the sin! You could have blamed me if I had said something clumsy or hurtful, but that's not the case here."

"Not only am I not homophobic; in addition, as a priest, I am careful about the vocabulary I use on this issue because I know that the subject is sensitive and that people can easily be hurt," he said.

Raffrey believes the French government is attacking the Catholic Church and its teachings through him.

"What is at stake is not me, but the freedom to be Christian today," he was quoted as saying. "I hope that all the faithful realize that it is Christian morality and the entire Church that are under attack."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns homosexual inclinations as "objectively disordered" and that they constitute "a trial" for those Catholics who experience them. The catechism also teaches that those who struggle with such feelings "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided."

The conversion therapy ban France passed in 2022 prohibits "repeated practices, behaviors or comments aimed at modifying or repressing a person's sexual orientation" and could feasibly be used to prosecute figures such as Raffray, Famille Chretienne noted.

Governments clamping down on speech critical of homosexuality have emerged in other parts of Europe.

In Finland, Finnish MP Paivi Rasanen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland have been dragged into court multiple times in recent years on "hate speech" charges for publishing material in opposition to homosexuality.

In Malta, Matthew Grech faced criminal charges under the country's conversion therapy ban last year for giving his Christian testimony about leaving a homosexual lifestyle on a radio show.

Speaking about proposed anti-hate speech legislation in Ireland that would apply to sexual orientation, Alliance for Defending Freedom CEO Kristen Waggoner told The Christian Post in December that her organization perceives "a global trend toward censorship."

"And it's not just a disregard for free speech; it's an active targeting to silence speech by the government," she said, adding that the U.S. is not immune to such trends despite the U.S. Constitution.
Govt launches AI governance body with experts

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea plans to invest 710.2 billion won ($527 million) this year across 69 sectors to foster innovations propelled by artificial intelligence (AI) in people's daily lives, industries, and government administrative services, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday.

A government-led study forecasts that the successful integration of AI across various sectors and in people's daily lives could generate an annual economic impact of 310 trillion won by 2026.

The government's initiative and the study coincided with the launch of the AI Strategy High-Level Consultative Council, a governance body tasked with spearheading the nation's comprehensive AI innovation strategies.

The establishment of the council aims to enhance the country's capability to tackle issues such as low birthrate and stagnant growth, especially as AI finds increasing applications not only in manufacturing but also in various social sectors. The ministry anticipates that this initiative will propel the country to become one of the top three AI nations globally by bolstering its competence in the field.

The council, led by ICT Minister Lee Jong-ho and Taejae University President Yeom Jae-ho, consists of 32 members including private-sector experts, representatives of IT companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, KT, Naver and Kakao, and director-level officials from government agencies including the ICT, education, finance and industry ministries.

The ICT minister said that the council was launched under a government-wide consensus on the need to guide the overall direction of national AI innovation as the influence of generative AI continues to expand.

As the primary ministry for AI in this era, we bear a significant sense of responsibility. We are committed to promptly implementing follow-up measures to ensure that our citizens and businesses can swiftly witness tangible results, Lee said during the inaugural event.

"We hope that the council will serve as a stepping stone for the nation's AI advancement, enriching the lives of our citizens, and setting a leading example of harmonious coexistence with AI on the global stage."

The council's objectives include spearheading innovations in the global AI technology market, facilitating the transition of all industries through AI adoption, and enhancing the prevalence of AI-based services in people's daily lives.

"AI is now expanding its influence across all manufacturing sectors and into various social spheres. Particularly as a general-purpose technology, it is recognized as a disruptive innovation capable of being applied across all other technological fields to enhance added value," Park Sang-ook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, said.

"Given its profound social impact, addressing legal systems, policies, and ethical norms is crucial. However, it's equally imperative to advance technological innovations, industrialization, and services in tandem to harness AI's full potential."

The government views the spread of AI technology as an opportunity to address structural crises such as low growth and a declining birthrate in Korea. According to a study conducted jointly with Bain & Company, the successful implementation of AI across the economy, including both the manufacturing and service sectors, could yield an annual economic impact of 310 trillion won by 2026.

The economic effects include an annual revenue increase of 123 trillion won attributed to AI-integrated new products, and an annual cost reduction of 185 trillion won achieved through enhanced efficiency and automation.

"This analysis suggests that the revenue-generating effect of adopting AI could lead to an additional average annual GDP growth of 1.8 percentage points," the ICT ministry said.

The next strategic council meeting will be held in June, and follow-up actions and new agenda items from Thursdays inaugural meeting will be announced, the ministry said.
Home News Who are the 4 nominees for Episcopal Church presiding bishop?

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, the first African American head of the mainline Protestant denomination, is scheduled to end his nine-year term this summer.

The Church's Office of Public Affairs announced on Tuesday the names of four nominees vying to become the next presiding bishop at the 81st General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, in June.

"The announcement of the nominees now opens a 13-day period during which any bishop or deputy to the 81st General Convention may indicate their desire to nominate a bishop not on the committee's slate," explained the Public Affairs Office.

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"The committee recently outlined the process that must be followed before any additional bishops can be nominated in that manner. Bishops and deputies will receive a link to the nomination form from the General Convention Office."

Here are the four clergy who have been nominated for the position of presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, with the winner slated to go on to fill the role on Nov. 1.
Home News Youth minister shot dead by pastors son in love triangle near New Generation Church

Easter Sunday at New Generation Church in Dallas, Texas, culminated with a bloody murder as the congregation's youth minister was gunned down in a rage-filled attack by the pastor's son, who confessed to an affair with the minister's wife prior to their recent divorce, police say.

Records from the Dallas Police Department cited by NBCDFW state that Joshua Bell (a.k.a. Joshua Andrews), 30, who has been identified as the son of New Generation Church leader Eric Andrews, was charged with the shooting death of youth minister Denzel Branch, 31, down the street from the church.

Police say they responded to the 2500 block of 56th Street in Dallas after getting reports of the shooting that occurred around 3:25 p.m. Branch, a father of three, was found suffering from a gunshot wound and later died at a local hospital.

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Before the shooting, investigators say Branch and Bell engaged in a verbal dispute that became physical. Branch, according to eyewitnesses, punched Bell in the face, causing the pastor's son to pull out a black pistol and fired multiple shots.

Branch tried to escape the shooting in a car, but police say Bell confessed to following the youth minister and kept shooting. He only stopped after "he saw (Branch) laying on the middle of the road."

The pastor's son also "stated he has been involved in an intimate relationship since May 2023 with (Branch's ex-wife), who divorced (Branch) around November 2023," according to the arrest affidavit.

In a statement published on Facebook Monday afternoon, the church said they are "deeply saddened" by the Easter Sunday tragedy.

"Our hearts are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that took place down the street from our church after our morning service yesterday. We sincerely appreciate everyone's prayers and concern, and we ask for your continued prayers for the families and our church family as we navigate through these difficult times," the church said.

"Psalms 46:1 states, 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' In the days to come, we will trust in God's Word, continue in hope, and look to God, who is the author and finisher of our faith."

Neighbors reported hearing approximately eight shots in the attack on the youth minister and recalled efforts to save his life after the shooting.

"I seen that the guy was laying, you know, on the ground," Karen Lozano, who has lived in the area for nearly 20 years, told NBCDFW.

"People were yelling. They were giving him CPR."

Bell reportedly fled the scene after the shooting but eventually turned himself in to the police. He is currently in custody in the Dallas County Jail with a $500,000 bond, according to court records.

Branch was licensed as a minister at New Generation Church on September 23, 2018, according to a video posted by the church on Facebook.

In a Good Friday message in 2021, Branch preached a message he titled, "You will Be With Me In Paradise."

In the message based on Luke 23:39-43, he argued that people can be saved with their "dying breath," but only if there is time to repent.

"There are those that do not believe you can be saved in a dying breath. I, for one, was taught growing up that you cannot live a hellish life and expect Heaven's reward," he said.

"There is no guarantee that you will have a chance to repent, so I will not gamble with my salvation in a way of living a hellish life just because you might have the opportunity to [repent]," he added.
Home News Gateway Seminary announces new president nominee as Jeff Iorg leaves for SBC post

Gateway Seminary has announced a nominee for president as its current leader is set to take a new position with the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

Adam Groza, vice president for enrollment and student services at Gateway, was announced on Tuesday as the nominee for president of the Oakland, California-based SBC-affiliated institution.

"After a thorough selection process, we are thankful to be able to unanimously present a candidate to the full board," said J. Robert White, chair of the presidential search committee.

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"Adam Groza has demonstrated capable and godly leadership during his service at Gateway these past 14 years."

The nomination followed a six-month selection process that included a survey of current students, with a final vote scheduled for the trustees board's April 15-16 meeting.

Groza joined Gateway in 2010 as vice president and previously worked as director of admissions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas and Scarborough College. He has served in churches in California and Texas, including the role of interim pastor.

Groza earned a Ph.D. in philosophy of religion at SWBTS in 2009 and is a research fellow with the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He also taught at multiple institutions, including California Baptist University of Riverside, California; Korea Baptist Theological Seminary of Daejeon, South Korea, and Logos College of Kerala, India.

Current Gateway President Jeff Iorg is slated to leave the SBC seminary in May to become president of the SBC's Executive Committee. This committee works on behalf of the SBC between annual sessions to oversee financial statements and the distribution of funds for SBC ministries. It also serves as the trust agency for convention properties.

Iorg has served as president of Gateway since 2004 and helped to oversee the campus' move from the San Francisco area to central California in 2016.

Last month, 60 members of the SBC Executive Committee unanimously chose Iorg as their new president, following a search that began in 2021.

SBC EC Chairman Philip Robertson said in a statement to Baptist Press last month that the vote signified "a significant turning point for the SBC Executive Committee and the SBC as a whole."

"You cannot overstate the importance of leadership, and Jeff Iorg is a leader among leaders. The way Southern Baptists have united around this nomination is something we haven't seen in a long time," Robertson added.

SBC President Bart Barber said in a statement released last month that "Iorg has already brought unity to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and to the Southern Baptist Convention, as evidenced by the acclaim from far and wide in response to the initial announcement and by today's unanimous vote."

"Jeff Iorg has said today that the SBC is a force for good. I believe that God will use Jeff Iorg as a force for good, and I will cheer him on and pray toward that end," Barber said.
Home News Medics perform abortion on wrong woman after hospital mix-up, face criminal investigation

A fatal mix-up at a hospital resulted in doctors performing an abortion on a woman who was four months pregnant and there for a check-up after medical professionals confused her with another woman.

The Czech news channel CNN Prima News reports that the expecting mother visited the Bulovka University Hospital in Prague on March 25, where the doctors carried out a procedure on her that resulted in a miscarriage.

The mix-up reportedly occurred in the waiting room when the woman responded by mistake when the staff called the name of another patient. It is speculated that perhaps the woman did not understand the situation due to a language barrier.

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Czech Police announced that investigators have initiated criminal proceedings "on suspicion of the criminal offense of bodily harm due to negligence."

A source who requested to remain anonymous told CNN Prima News that the woman had nodded and followed the nurse when the other patient's name was called. The unnamed source also said that the woman appeared to understand when the staff explained the operation to her and signed the paperwork for the procedure.

"She also willingly let herself be prepared for the operation and taken to the theater. When the anesthesiologist addressed her by name in the theater before the operation, she nodded again," the anonymous source claimed.

The head of the local gynecology and obstetrics clinic, Michal Zikan, also told CNN Prima that the staff instructed the woman to change clothes before transferring her to an operating room, where they instructed her to lay on the operating bed.

By accident, the woman underwent a procedure known as a curettage instead of the other patient.

According to Mayo Clinic, a doctor typically performs a curettage to remove tissue from the inside of the woman's uterus after a miscarriage, but the process is also used in abortions.

The Bulovka University Hospital did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

A hospital spokesperson told CNN Prima that the incident was the "result of a serious violation of internal regulations on the part of the employees concerned." A spokeswoman apologized to the woman, promising to "do everything possible to mitigate the damage as much as possible and also compensate her."

Gynaecologist Jan Jan PAada, vice-chairman of the Czech Medical Chamber, told local media that a "Czech-speaking patient would probably actively resist the fact that she is going to undergo a procedure that she does not understand," according to The Evening-Standard.

The staff involved in the incident is off-duty pending an evaluation of the event.

One lawyer cited by the CNN Prima, Klara Slamova, accused the hospital of a criminal act. According to the attorney, the employees involved in the incident may face prison time.

"They face a prison sentence of six months to four years or a fine. It's hard to find words in such a failure," Slamova said, estimating that the compensation paid to the woman will be in the millions.

In a statement to CNN Prima, Marek Orko Vacha, a priest and medical ethics expert, emphasized the need for safety rules to prevent similar tragic events from occurring. The priest stated that one of the most common mistakes in hospitals involves the staff performing a procedure on the wrong patient or "the correct procedure on the wrong paired organ."

"The doctor who performed the procedure was not a bad person. He made a mistake, and to make mistakes is human," Vacha told CNN Prima.

Vacha stressed that money cannot solve everything.

"This is, for example, the loss of human life," the priest said. "The most important thing for the patient and for everyone is that it is clearly stated what will be done so that this event cannot happen again."
Home News Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs state version of Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law

Iowa has become the latest state to enact a measure designed to protect the religious freedom rights of residents.

Iowas Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 2095, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, into law Tuesday.

The measure passed the Republican-controlled Senate in a 31-16 vote on Feb. 20 and was approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in a 61-33 vote on Feb. 29.

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The legislation enshrines the protections of the federal law of the same name into state law.

Thirty years ago, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed almost unanimously at the federal level," Reynolds said in a statement. "Since then, religious rights have increasingly come under attack. Today, Iowa enacts a law to protect these unalienable rights  just as twenty-six other states have done  upholding the ideals that are the very foundation of our country.

The measure declares that state action shall not substantially burden a persons exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless the government demonstrates that applying that burden to a persons exercise of religion is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

The bill contains a provision enabling Iowans who feel like their right to religious freedom was burdened to assert such violation as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain appropriate relief, including damages, injunctive relief, or other appropriate redress.

Greg Chafuen, legal counsel with the conservative religious liberty nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, praised the bill's passage in a statement Wednesday.

Americans should be able to defend their rights when their government stops them from living and worshiping according to their faith," he said. "[T]his law provides a sensible balancing test for courts to use when reviewing government policies that infringe upon the religious freedom rights of Iowans.

The law doesnt determine who will win every disagreement, but it does ensure that every Iowan  regardless of their religious creed or political power  receives a fair hearing when government action forces a person to violate his or her religious beliefs, Chafuen added.

We commend the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Reynolds for enacting this important legislation and setting the stage to ensure that freedom of religion is protected for everyone.

Opponents of the bill have argued that it is too broad.

Courtney Reyes, executive director of the pro-LGBT activist group One Iowa Action, claims the bill will permit discrimination against LGBT individuals.

Theres no denying it: this bill is aimed at discriminating against LGBTQ+ Iowans, single parents, people needing reproductive healthcare services, and many more," Reyes said in a statement. "Supporters of the legislation knew this when they voted down the amendment to prevent discrimination, and the Governor knew this when she selected the location of the signing over a month after its passage."

Reynolds signed the bill during the dinner event hosted by the Christian conservative activist group The Family Leader, led by influential Iowa Evangelical activist Bob Vander Plaats.

Half of U.S. states do not have a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in place, according to a report published by the First Liberty Institute last year.

States without such protections are Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

While Utah did not have a Religious Freedom Restoration Act in place at the time of the reports publication, the states Republican Gov. Spencer Cox approved a law establishing protections for religious Utahns last month.

The legislation in Utah passed without any opposition, marking a contrast from the bill in Iowa, where the vote came down along party lines, with all support for the legislation coming from Republicans and all opposition to it coming from Democrats.
Home News Southern Baptist Convention lost over 1,200 churches in 2022, data shows

The Southern Baptist Convention, the United States' largest Protestant denomination, lost more than 1,200 member churches in 2022, according to a recent data analysis from LifeWay Research.

According to the analysis of the SBC's 2022 Annual Church Profile published Tuesday, Lifeway found that, from 2021 to 2022, 1,253 congregations were no longer part of the SBC.

Of the 50,423 active congregations of the SBC in 2021, 2% were shuttered, while 0.5% either left or were disaffiliated from the convention by the time data for 2022 was compiled.

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The 2022 losses were an increase from the previous two years, noted Lifeway Research, as 2021 saw a loss of 1,003 congregations to closure and dismissal, while 2020 saw a loss of 1,002.

"Every week, the national network of Southern Baptist congregations changes," Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement.

"Once each year, we take a snapshot of the current Southern Baptist congregations to report national statistics. Later, analysis between annual lists of congregations reveals more details of these constant changes."

In May 2023, Lifeway, the research division of the SBC, released a report finding that the SBC experienced a decline of approximately 457,000 people, making it the largest membership drop in a century.

According to the 2023 report, total SBC membership went from approximately 13.68 million members in 2021 to 13.22 million members in 2022. The report added that the "457,371 members lost is the largest single-year numerical drop in more than 100 years."

Although the report from last year said that the SBC lost 416 member congregations as opposed to 1,253, this was because the report included churches that opened during the year, which offset the number of congregations that were closed or dismissed.

In a statement at the time, McConnell attributed the decline in membership in part to updates to membership records by SBC-affiliated congregations.

"Much of the downward movement we are seeing in membership reflects people who stopped participating in an individual congregation years ago and the record keeping is finally catching up," he said.

"Membership totals for a congregation immediately reflect additions as well as subtractions due to death or someone removing themselves from membership. But many congregations are slow to remove others who no longer are participating."

The reported SBC membership is still well above the approximately 7 million reported in 1950, although it is a few million below the peak of about 16.3 million people reported in 2006.

Dwindling congregation numbers are not unique to the SBC; many Mainline Protestant denominations have membership sizes that are a fraction of what they were decades ago.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) reported losing over 100 congregations and 53,000 members in 2022. The United Church of Christ declined by over 286,000 members and lost over 500 churches from 2012 to 2022.

Previous Lifeway Research analysis found approximately 4,500 Protestant churches were closed in the U.S. in 2019 while only around 3,000 were started.

Recent Gallup polling suggests that church attendance has declined among nearly all religious groups, as just three in 10 U.S. adults attend religious services regularly.

Forty-three percent of Protestants surveyed say they "seldom" or "never" attend church, while half (50%) of Catholics said the same.
Home News Speculation grows as search for pastors wife Jilian Kelley and Veronica Butler continues

Speculation about what happened to 39-year-old pastor's wife, Jilian Kelley, who disappeared in Oklahoma Saturday with 27-year-old Veronica Butler as they headed to pick up Butler's children, continued to grow Wednesday as authorities still search for the missing woman.

Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who leads Hugoton First Christian Church in Kansas. Heath Kelley recently agreed to serve as the new pastor of Willow Christian Church in Nebraska starting in June. Both churches have been praying for the safe return of the pastor's wife and Butler.

Officials at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation told KAKE News that multiple law enforcement agencies are now trying to find the women after classifying their case as a "suspicious disappearance." The disappearance comes amid a custody battle between Butler and the family of her children's father, Wrangler Cole Rickman.

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According to OSBI, the vehicle the women were traveling in was found abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L, south of Elkhart, Kansas, in rural Texas County.

"We're calling this a suspicious disappearance because as soon as you find a vehicle really in the middle of nowhere you know was occupied by two women, and those two women have vanished; it's concerning for us as well, so we are really trying to figure out what may have happened and doing everything we can to find them.," Hunter McKee, a representative of the OSBI, said.

A source close to Butler told ABC 7 that the missing mom was supposed to pick up her 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son in Eva, Oklahoma, to celebrate her daughter's birthday. Jilian Kelley traveled with her from Elkhart on what was supposed to be a 16-mile trip, but the trip appeared to end three miles short of their destination.

In a motion filed in the Cimarron County Court in Oklahoma last November, Tifany Adams, the children's paternal grandmother, opposed any adjustment in a supervised visitation arrangement Butler had with the children, noting that the children had been exposed to sexual abuse while under her care.

The motion alleged the children's father was a drug addict who had no interest in caring for his children. It noted, however, that Rickman trusted his mother more than he trusted Butler to protect the children.

"Petitioner appears to be capitalizing on the indifference Mr. Rickman has shown for his children. Mr. Rickman has removed himself from the children's lives. Instead of being a father, he now seeks out the pleasures of drinking alcohol, using drugs, and other degenerate behavior," the complaint explains.

"When he left the children, he left the children in his mother's care, not in the Petitioner's care. The reason for this is twofold. First, it would have been a violation of the court's order granting Mr. Rickman temporary emergency custody for him to leave the minor children with Petitioner. This is because, and the point cannot be stressed enough, Petitioner's brother has been found to have sexually abused the minor children by this court, and Petitioner has been found to have violated the no-contact order prohibiting the minor children from being around Petitioner's abusive sibling," it adds.

More recent court documents show Rickman was recently released from jail for possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. As part of his sentencing, he was required to do in-patient rehabilitation starting on March 22.

The Christian Post reached out to the Salvation Army facility in Oklahoma where Rickman was supposed to report for treatment. A representative declined comment, citing HIPAA laws.

Independent reporter Lauren Conlin shared on X that she spoke with Rickman's grandmother, who confirmed that he has been in rehab since March 22 and will remain in the facility for six months.

"He [Rickman] was checked into rehab on the 22nd- 30 days no contact and cannot leave any outings from the facility for 30 days and has to be there for six months. OSBI confirmed he was there," the grandmother said, according to Conlin.

She also confirmed that Butler's children were safe, and that the family would not be doing any interviews that could hinder the ongoing investigation.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Kersten Rickman, described on social media as Wrangler Cole Rickman's most recent ex, asked the public to pray for both Kelley and Butler.

"Please keep praying for the safe return of Veronica and Jilian. They are still out there somewhere," she wrote. "Keep praying for both families they need them also."

When asked if she had a "gut" feeling about what may have happened to the women, Kersten Rickman said she did and had already shared her thoughts with OSBI.

"Of course I have a gut feeling due to what I have experienced myself and I have let OSBI know everything I know of or can think of, but social media is not the place to put my speculation out to the public. I am helping with the investigation as much as I can while keeping my family, especially my children, safe," she wrote.

"There was a reason I left Oklahoma, but that isn't for anyone's concern on the internet," she continued. "Please remember the families are reading everything."

According to court records, Warren and Kersten Rickman were issued a marriage license last July. Kersten Rickman suggested on Facebook that she and Butler faced similar trials in their relationships with Rickman.

"It's a scary thing that is going on and to know Veronica very well and to know from her what she has gone through since 2015, then to experience it myself I had to leave but I am doing everything in my power to help and get them home because they didn't deserve any of this!" she noted in a follow-up reply on the post.

"Help bring them home Lord we need you to wrap your arms around these families and let them know you are with them through this struggle," she added. "Lord keep these 2 women in your light and let the law enforcement get them home! Shower them with your grace and let it be known you are our savior!"
Taiwan Hit With Massive 7.4 Earthquake, Trump Proposes 'Christian Visibility Day,' Karen Kingsbury's Film Debut

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 07:44 07:44

Top headlines for Thursday, April 4, 2024

In this episode, we start with the devastating news from Taiwan, where a 7.4 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 25 years, has caused tragic loss of life, hundreds of injuries, and widespread destruction. We then shift gears to the United States, where former President Donald Trump criticizes President Joe Biden for commemorating Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday, proposing instead a Christian Visibility Day.

The conversation takes a spiritual turn as we discuss Pope Francis' revelations in a new book, where he recounts Pope Benedict XVI's support for his stance on legal civil union protections for same-sex couples. Lastly, we dive into the world of Christian fiction with Karen Kingsbury, one of todays most beloved authors, who shares her experience self-funding the film adaptation of her novel Someone Like You.
Home Opinion 8 ways the resurrection of Christ affects true believers

Often, many people view the resurrection of Christ merely as a historical event that supplies us with Christian doctrine without understanding the vast implications it has for believers. The following points attempt to make the implications of the resurrection of Christ more real and practical to us.

1. The resurrection gives me a new personal perspective

When I experienced Christs resurrection by receiving Christ as my Lord, my personal values shifted to reflect Gods heart and character. What I once valued as a priority was replaced by the eternal things of the Kingdom.

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Where once possessions possessed me, now I own nothing and steward everything.

Where once I wanted to express my persona, now I want Christ in me to shine.

Where once I lived for today, now I live for eternity.

Where once I loved some people a lot, now I love all unconditionally with agape love.

Where once I wanted to live for my purposes, now I endeavor to die to self for His purposes.

2. My new life in Christ gives me a new perspective for the world

Jesus said in John 3:3 that we can see the Kingdom of God when we are born again. Seeing the kingdom involves noticing and understanding Gods design and rule in the created order. I now perceive the world through Christs present reign and Lordship over all!

3. My new life in Christ enables me to fulfill my divine calling

When Jesus rose from the dead, He broke the power of Satan and death, thus giving every one of us a chance for ultimate victory despite our past. Every day, we have a chance to make a difference and reach our potential because Christ bore our past failures on His body on the cross. He rose from the dead so we could look to a great future as we share with Him in the newness of life (Romans 6:4-6).

Now, instead of believing in second chances, I believe in an irrevocable calling and election from God (Romans 11:29).

Instead of viewing problems as obstacles, I view them as opportunities to advance His Kingdom.

4. My new life in Christ gives me supernatural access to God

When Jesus was in the world, He walked on water, fed thousands with a few loaves and fish, calmed a storm, and commanded departed human spirits to return to their earthly bodies. Those of us in Christ can tap into the faith that emanates from God that can alter any situation obstructing His kingdoms purposes. Jesus even told us in Mark 11:23 that our faith can move mountains. First Timothy 2:1-3 speaks about how intercessory prayer for civic leaders can bring peace between nations. My new life in Christ enables me to walk as a king in this life under the King of all Kings, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

5. My new life in Christ joins me to the past, present, and future community of faith

Christ followers are connected to the past, present, and future saints because we are all part of the same spiritual family.

Consequently, what we are building today regarding our church, business, writings, teachings, friendships, family, prayers, and organizations will be those the saints of the future will build upon to hand over to the next generation of Christians.

The implications of this reality are vast.

My prayers are joined together with the billions of prayers the saints have already prayed (John 17; Revelation 5:8).

When I stand up in the arena of faith, I am surrounded by a cloud of many witnesses (Hebrews 12:1).

When I read the Scriptures, I am reading the same letters, laws, songs, and instructions of Gods covenant people from the days of Adam and further.

Instead of individual destiny, I now enjoy corporate purpose.

Instead of being merely an individual sinner, I am now a significant saint!

6. My new life in Christ gives me access to Gods Spirit, who knows all things

According to 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, God gives His Spirit to those who have a new life in Christ so that we can make educated decisions based on Gods knowledge of the future instead of our own. This ability to make prudent choices based on the future is only given to those who walk with Christ and are sensitive to His Spirit.

Truly, hindsight may be 20/20, but foresight is based on walking in the fear of the Lord (Psalm 25:12,14).

Even though I am not omniscient, I can be prescient and prudent (Proverbs 22:3).

Because the past, present, and future are in Him, then my present and future can be ordered by Him (Psalm 37:23).

7. My new life in Christ gives believers internal strength to overcome all temptation

As believers, we have the power of the risen Christ inside of us to live moral and upright lives, fully committed to the fidelity of Gods will. Despite all the distractions, dissenting voices, challenges, and circumstantial obstacles around us, our new life furnishes us with enough ability to walk in life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Based on this truth, as long as my priorities are His Kingdom priorities, then my priorities will be His priorities to protect and secure (Matthew 6:9-13). When Gods will becomes my will, then God will strengthen me for His kingdom assignment (Philippians 4:13). When His voice becomes greater than my voice, then my voice will become greater than all other contrary voices (Mark 1:3). When I manifest His will instead of echoing my sentiments, then He will manifest His purpose for me despite other peoples sentiments for or against me.

8. Death no longer has dominion over me

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him (Romans 6:8,9).

This amazing passage assures all believers that death has already been defeated for those in Christ so that they will never taste death-which is eternal separation from God (John 8:52).

In conclusion, since His resurrection resulted in our resurrection, we are already reigning with Him in heavenly places so that throughout eternity, His kindness will manifest to the church (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Home Opinion Asking the question again: Is America a Christian nation?

With the ever-increasing warnings about the alleged danger of Christian Nationalism, however ambiguous that term might be, it is only fair to ask: Is America a Christian nation? And, just as importantly: Has America ever been a Christian nation? And how does this relate to Christian Nationalism?

One of the latest fear-provoking headlines, this one posted on Mother Jones, stated plainly, Its a Good Time to Start Worrying About Christian Nationalism. This contrasts with the assessment of the Catholic New York Times journalist Ross Douthat who noted that todays religious conservatives are mostly just normal American Christians doing normal American Christian politics, not foot soldiers of incipient theocracy.

Is this what is meant by Christian Nationalism? Earlier this month, I restated my own views on the subject. Here, well focus on the question of whether America is (or was) a Christian nation.

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In June 2007, President Obama created a firestorm when he said on CBS, Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation  at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.

Two years later, during a press conference in Turkey, he said that we Americans do not consider ourselves a Christian nation, or a Muslim nation, but rather, a nation of citizens who are, uh, bound by a set of values.

This caused quite an uproar across the country, as many Christians raised their voice in protest. Of course this is a Christian nation. Who doesnt know that?

Responding to Obamas comments in April 2009, attorney and professor John Eidsmoe wrote, There is a sense in which this writer agrees with him. Unlike England at the time of our nations founding, we do not have an official state church. And I dont want one  I dont want Barack Obama to be the head of the Church.

But thats not what the U.S. Supreme Court meant when, in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 437 (1892), they held that this is a Christian nation. They meant that this nation was founded on biblical principles and that those who brought these biblical principles to this land and who implemented those principles in our system of government were for the most part professing Christians who were actively involved with Christian churches. In my own book Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Baker Book House, 1987, 2008), I demonstrate that at least 51 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were members of Christian churches and that leading American political figures in the founding era quoted the Bible far more than any other source.

Can we say, then, that America was a Christian nation?

If we mean that it had strong Christian foundations, that it was presupposed that the vast majority of Americans would be professing Christians, and that Christianity, in that sense, was privileged in our country, then the answer would be yes. America was a Christian nation.

If we mean that Christianity was the required state religion or that, as Americans we conducted ourselves as fully Christian, the answer is no. Just ask the Native Americans and the early African American slaves to weigh in if you have any doubt.

What about today? Is America a Christian nation  or at least, was it a Christian nation in 2007 when President Obama made those initial remarks?

If we mean that America is (or, recently was) Christian in the sense of majority Christian, with Christian holidays and customs having a more privileged place in our society than do Islamic or Buddhist or Hindu holidays and customs, the answer is yes.

In that sense, America is a Christian nation just as Israel is a Jewish nation, even though the large majority of Israeli Jews are not observant. In the same way, some other countries are Muslim, rather than Christian or Jewish, even though many of their people are not religious Muslims.

Surely, America is Christian rather than Buddhist, Muslim, or Hindu, even though the percentage of professing Christians in America has dropped from over 78% in 2007 to less than 65% today.

Or, to put this in the simplest terms, the statement, Americans celebrate Christmas is overwhelmingly truer than the statement, Americans celebrate Ramadan.

On the other hand, if we mean that America is (or, recently was) Christian in the sense that the overwhelming majority of Americans are committed Christians, or that we are a pro-life nation, or a sexually moral nation  you can fill in the blank  the answer is obviously not.

Any effort then to seek to impose Christian values on others, not in terms of advocating for our values in the public square and in the voting booth, but in terms of forceful imposition, is misguided and dangerous.

What, then, should our attitude be as committed followers of Jesus?

First, we should view America as part of a fallen world, therefore in need of the Gospel. Our nation has been a ripe mission field for many years.

Second, at the same time, we should appreciate the many positive aspects of America, most particularly our freedoms, which are a direct result of the best of our Judeo-Christian roots. And we should use those freedoms to advocate for our values.

Third, because we are not a Muslim or Hindu nation, we should recognize that the key to Americas well-being is a healthy, thriving, life-giving church. Revival in the church could lead to an awakening in society. Both are desperately needed.
ROK-born giant panda Fu Bao returns to China

Xinhua) 11:04, April 04, 2024

A woman takes photos of a light box with photos of giant panda Fu Bao at a subway station in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

CHENGDU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao will be transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine.

The base is fully prepared to welcome Fu Bao, according to Li Guo, deputy director of Shenshuping giant panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda.

"We will determine when to make Fu Bao meet the public based on its adaptation," said Li. "Judging from past experiences, the adaptation period can range from one month to eight months, or even longer."

Fu Bao was born in July 2020. It is required that Fu Bao should return to China before reaching the age of four, according to relevant agreements signed between China and the ROK.

Giant panda Fu Bao arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Giant panda Fu Bao prepares to leave for the Shenshuping giant panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda for quarantine after arriving at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

A truck carrying the giant panda Fu Bao leaves for the Shenshuping giant panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda for quarantine after Fu Bao arrived at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Kang Cheol-won (1st L), a zookeeper nicknamed the "grandpa of Fu Bao", arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Giant panda Fu Bao prepares to leave for the Shenshuping giant panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda for quarantine after arriving at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a screen with a photo of giant panda Fu Bao at a commercial street in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Giant panda Fu Bao arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a screen with a photo of giant panda Fu Bao at a commercial street in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Xu Bingjie)

Giant panda Fu Bao arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Giant panda Fu Bao prepares to leave for the Shenshuping giant panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda for quarantine after arriving at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Korean chipmaker SK hynix said Thursday it will invest $3.87 billion to build an advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility in the United States amid intensifying competition in the high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) memory semiconductor sector.

The new facility, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, will begin mass-producing AI memory products, including next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, in the second half of 2028, SK hynix said.

It marks the Korean tech giant's first overseas facility for HBM products.

The company said it will also cooperate with local institutions, including Purdue University, to drive research and development efforts in semiconductor technology.

"The project, the first of its kind in the United States, is expected to drive innovation in the nation's AI supply chain, while bringing more than a thousand new jobs to the region," SK hynix said in a statement.

The chipmaker said it has selected Indiana for its first U.S. packaging facility due to the state's robust manufacturing infrastructure, thriving R&D ecosystem and skilled workforce, particularly the talent pool at Purdue University.

HBM chips, integral components used for AI computing, have garnered increasing attention with the rise of applications such as generative AI, exemplified by models like ChatGPT.

Last month, SK hynix, considered a leader in the HBM industry, began mass production of the latest fifth-generation HBM3E chips, most of which are shipped to U.S. AI chip giant Nvidia.

"We are excited to become the first in the industry to build a state-of-the-art advanced packaging facility for AI products in the United States that will help strengthen supply chain resilience and develop a local semiconductor ecosystem," SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said during a signing ceremony held at Purdue University on Wednesday (U.S. time).

Meanwhile, SK hynix said it will proceed with its investment plans in Korea as scheduled.

As part of the 120 trillion-won ($88.9 billion) project to build a semiconductor cluster in Yongin on the southern outskirts of Seoul, the company plans to break ground on the first fab in March of 2025 and complete it by 2027.

It will also build a mini fab, a facility with equipment for 300mm wafer processing, to test semiconductor materials, components and equipment. (Yonhap)
Home Opinion Now, the greatest period of the Church in history?

The year 2024 is like no other year in human history; we are experiencing a historic crescendo of global freedom. The upcoming U.S. election is vitally important in light of what God is doing around the globe.

Fewer than 250 years ago, not a single country in the world allowed people the opportunity to elect those in authority over them. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States created the first nation ever to use a democratic process to choose the countrys leaders.

The American system of government is a representative republic. This is the genesis of the global freedoms we see today; the United States was the first representative republic, after ancient Israel, and it is patterned after the Old Testament government.

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The biblical pattern of Gods design for government is first found in Exodus 18 when Moses set up a representative republic based upon law. Each tribe had leaders and judges, with Moses judging the most difficult issues.

Slowly, over time, this idea of freedom that our Founders championed crept across the globe. America is founded on the fact that God gives us our rights  this impacts the way we choose leaders. The process of freedom was infectious, and it spread.

By 1900, 25% of the worlds people were able to participate in selecting their leaders. One hundred years later, that percentage had grown to 50%. And over the last 20 years, even more growth has happened.

Sixty-six countries will hold elections this year. Half of the world's population  thats 4.1 billion people  will have an opportunity in 2024 to participate in an election in their country thanks to the freedoms established by our Founding Fathers.

This has never happened before in human history.

Its as if a global reset button is about to be pushed on half of the worlds population  a global freedom reboot.

Yet, along with growing freedom, there is unmistakable evil spreading in the world.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:12-14).

Jesus warned us that evil will increase as time goes on, but between that increase of evil and His physical second coming the Gospel will be preached to all nations.

Evil will increase; the Gospel will spread; then He comes back. Thats the pattern.

The rise of evil is not the time to give up! Just the opposite: Now is the time for the good news of His kingdom to go to all nations. In a way, the rise of evil should actually encourage us. The presence of evil makes the goodness of God more evident.

For example, LGBTQ activists have fought for their right to legalize immorality. This has progressed to the point where states like California have passed laws protecting homosexual activity with minors  legalizing pedophilia.

Evil becomes so gruesome that it highlights the goodness of God.

The contrast between darkness and light brings into focus the need for God and for those moral absolutes of the timeless principles in the Bible.

So, we return to Jesus' words to the disciples: Evil will increase, and then the Gospel goes to the nations.

This is the period we are in. I believe were in a critical time of Gods plan for the Church thats greater than any other in history.

So, we go back to where we started.

This year darkness has never been darker. Globalists have never been as well positioned to control nations. Yet, the freedom set in motion by our Founding Fathers  because of their understanding of biblical principles  is being seen this year in the greatest number of elections ever in the history of mankind.

Now is not the time to stop praying. Now is not the time to stop acting. Now may become the greatest period of the Church in history.
Al Shabaab Suspected in Killing of Six Christians in Somalia

Six Kenyan merchants killed by suspected militants from the Islamic extremist Al Shabaab on 29 March in the Somali border town of Dhobley were likely attacked for spreading Christianity, sources said.

The six secret Christians had been selling plastic utensils and other household goods in Dhobley, in Somalia's Lower Juba Region, for six years, a Christian leader in northern Kenya said.

"Our brothers had been doing business to support their families, but also sharing the love of Jesus Christ to the Muslims in Dhobley," the leader told Morning Star News on condition of anonymity. "Two members of our church recently reported that several Muslims were secretly attending the evening prayers. This is probably what could have caused the Al Shabaab to kill them for spreading Christianity in the area."

He identified the slain Christians as Joseph Githonga and Simon Karimi of the East Africa Pentecostal Church, Peter Muthuri and Thomas Muthee of the Kenya Assemblies of God and James Mwendwa and John Kathure of the Anglican Church.

The late Githonga had told the Christian leader in February that area converts from Islam had grown concerned over local complaints that the six Christians were praying in Christ's name with Muslim neighbors and worshipping too loudly.

"My advice to them was to avoid singing and prayers but only to have Bible study so as to safeguard the Muslim Background Believers and themselves," he said.

The assailants attacked the six men at their rented property, which included the shops from which they sold their wares and a back section as living quarters, the Christian leader said. They were shot to death at close range, he said.

In Kenya, Liboi Deputy County Commissioner Ali Manduku reportedly confirmed that six Kenyans were killed by suspected Al Shabaab militants.

A survivor of the attack reportedly said a Toyota Probux showed up near the traders' shops around 7 a.m., and four hooded men began shooting, killing four merchants immediately, with two dying later. The assailants also set their shops ablaze.

The bodies of the slain Christians were taken to a mortuary in Garissa County, Kenya, the Christian leader said.

Somalia is ranked 2nd on Christian support group Open Doors' 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Somalia's constitution establishes Islam as the state religion and prohibits the propagation of any other religion, according to the U.S. State Department. It also requires that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law) principles, with no exceptions in application for non-Muslims.

Al Shabaab, which is allied with Al Qaeda, or Al Shabaab sympathizers also have killed several non-local people in northern Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan forces led an African coalition into Somalia against the rebels in response to terrorist attacks on tourists and others on Kenya's coast.

On April 2, 2015, 148 people at Garissa University College lost their lives in an attack by Al Shabaab, and several attacks on churches and Christians have taken place in Garissa, also in northern Kenya.

 2024 Morning Star News
Hong Kong's Catholics fear for religious freedom

Hong Kong's Catholic community has been left fearing that one of the key tenets of its faith is under threat after the passage of new security laws last month.

Article 23 of the National Security Law makes "failing to disclose the commission of treason by others" a criminal offence punishable with lengthy prison sentences.

Human rights groups and members of the Church have expressed concerns that it could be used to pressure priests into revealing secrets shared under the Seal of the Confessionalwhich is considered inviolable and sacred in Catholic doctrine.

UK advocacy group Hong Kong Watch issued a letter warning of the threat posed by the laws in the lead-up to their passage through Hong Kong's Legislative Assembly, claiming that it constituted a violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which upholds the religious freedoms and rights of individuals.

"For many religious traditions, and especially for the Catholic Church, the practice of what is known as the Sacrament of Penance (otherwise known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is a religious act of absolutely pivotal, sacrosanct importance," the joint letter stated.

"At the heart of the Sacrament of Penance is the absolutely vital principle of confidentiality...a priest might encourage a penitent who has committed a serious crime to confess that crime to the authorities, the priest cannot report it himself and must never be held criminally liable for having heard that confession."

A spokesperson for the Chinese government accused the group of being "anti-China", and deliberately misrepresenting the law.

"The offences of treason and misprision of treason...do not target religious personnel or followers, and have nothing to do with freedom of religion," the spokesperson said. "In any case, freedom of religion is not for protecting anyone who has committed serious offences from legal sanctions."

Despite the government's denials, many priests fear that security forces will use the law to infringe on the sanctity of the confessional by threatening priests with imprisonment, sending agents into confessionals for the purposes of entrapment, or even planting listening devices in churches.

Speaking to the UK's Telegraph newspaper, one priest described the new law as "like a knife above your head". Other priests, speaking to the paper on the condition of anonymity, expressed fears about the impact of the legislation on their ability to serve the needs of their congregations and whether it would make it difficult to remain true to their mission to uphold the Gospel.

"For us true believers, we are not scared, we only worry that people in need will not be helped," another priest said.

"In reality, we are not able to spread the whole gospel, we are not allowed to speak the whole truth, we are not free to warn our people about the evil of communism and the harms it has done in history. What kind of truth-bearers are we, if we do not stand up for the truth? That's the main struggle."

Responding to the new laws, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong issued a statement stating that the legislation would not "alter the confidential nature of Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation) of the Church", while also saying that "citizens have an obligation to ensure national security".

This has left many Catholics calling on the Church to take a firmer line in denouncing the new legislation, with Hong Kong Watch warning that it amounts to a crackdown on religion in Hong Kong by stealth, motivated by the fact many Catholic believers hold pro-democracy convictions.

"Instead of a physical crackdown on religion in Hong Kong, the authorities' aim is to create an environment in which religious leaders and practitioners feel obligated to self-censor, compromise and kowtow, in order to protect the basic freedom of worship that they enjoy," it said.
Kerala Christians slam government inaction after recent attacks

In a strongly worded message delivered during Good Friday observances, senior Christian leaders in Kerala slammed the recent attacks on Christian communities in Manipur and other parts of North India. They also questioned the lack of effective intervention by authorities to stop the violence and voiced fears about the erosion of India's secular fabric.

Archbishop Thomas J. Netto of the influential Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram said Christians were being subjected to "cruelty and violence by dark forces" in Manipur and North India, but there has been no firm action taken by those in power.

"There is a need to take steps against such evil powers," Archbishop Netto stated after a Way of the Cross procession in Thiruvananthapuram attended by multiple Christian denominations. He called on all churches to unite and clearly express their stance against divisive forces seeking to sow fear among minorities.

The archbishop also urged Christians to understand the "mystery" behind the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and fight against "narrow-minded approaches" like this legislation. His strong remarks assume significance as they come just weeks ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Echoing similar concerns, Bishop Thomas Tharayil of the Syro-Malabar Church said any attempt to "terrorise" people in the name of religion or race must be firmly resisted. He reminded that the Indian Constitution guarantees all minorities the right to live without fear.

"If even one individual, be it the weakest in a nation, lives in fear, then we should be able to consider it the failure of the entire nation," Bishop Tharayil said during the Good Friday prayers.

Fr Jacob G Palackappilly, deputy secretary general of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, invoked the haunting memories of the Nazi persecution of Jews to drive home the dangers of staying silent. "When they persecuted Jews in Nazi Germany, others did nothing. We do not want that to happen in India," he said soberly.

Fr Palackappilly also issued a stark warning that the Christian community's very existence in India would be under threat if secularism was undermined. "The Christians in Germany helped the Nazis at that time. Then they persecuted the Christians. If the secular fabric of India is lost, we will also cease to exist," he added.

The stinging criticism from two of Kerala's most prominent Churches - the Latin Church with its 15-lakh strong laity having a decisive say in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts, and the Syro-Malabar Church with 35 lakh members wielding major influence in areas like Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Changanassery and Thalassery - comes as a major setback for the BJP's outreach efforts towards the Christian community in the state.

The party's national leadership had been attempting to woo the sizable Christian voter base, especially in potential gains like the Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur Lok Sabha seats. However, the firm stance taken by the Latin and Syro-Malabar churches against the Modi government's perceived bias and lack of action to protect minority rights has deflated the BJP's hopes.

Responding to the Church leaders' remarks, Union Minister V. Muraleedharan insisted minorities did not face any threat from the Modi regime. However, BJP state president K. Surendran blamed the CPI(M) and Congress for "propaganda" during election season.

In an apparent bid to counter the scathing criticism from influential Church leaders over minority rights, a pro-BJP media outlet has selectively quoted the Bishop of Calicut diocese in an attempt to portray the Christian community's stand in a more favourable light.

The report by JanamOnline came after BJP Kerala Poll in-Charge Prakash Javadekar, along with the NDA candidate for Kozhikode MT Ramesh and other party leaders, met Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal to convey Easter greetings on March 31.

According to JanamOnline, Bishop Chakkalakal "firmly stated" that the government would desist from implementing the CAA if it caused harm to anyone. He was also quoted as explaining that the CAA does not deport citizens but merely provides an identity, adding that the Modi government should not be faulted for enacting the law.

"The Modi government is undertaking several commendable initiatives. I have never sensed that minorities are unsafe under Modi regime. While some untoward incidents are happening in the country, they may not necessarily be with the knowledge of senior leaders and could be isolated incidents," the Bishop is quoted as saying.

However, sources within the Catholic Church have raised doubts over the veracity of JanamOnline's coverage, dismissing it as a BJP mouthpiece's spin attempt.

"The whole coverage is suspicious as it is published by JanamOnline which is a BJP mouthpiece. The fact remains that many bishops in Kerala have strongly spoken against the ruling regime during their Good Friday sermons. Since the Calicut bishop was addressing the media immediately after the visit of Prakash Javadekar, he probably played safe with his words," said a Catholic Priest who wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns.

The purported remarks attributed to Bishop Chakkalakal seem to contradict the strongly worded stance taken by other senior Church figures like Archbishop Thomas J Netto and Bishop Thomas Tharayil against the Modi government's policies and lack of action over attacks on Christians.

As Kerala's influential Christian community emerges as a key factor in the upcoming elections, the BJP appears keen to downplay the criticism from Church leaders through selective media narratives in a state that has so far remained largely impervious to the Sangh Parivar's brand of politics. In the meantime, secular voices demanding protection of minority rights remain defiant and the upcoming elections will test if the BJP's gambit to win over the Christian voter base in Kerala has any takers amidst the growing fears of a weakening secular democracy.

 Christian Today India
Report reveals surge in violence against Christians in India

The Evangelical Fellowship of India's (EFI) latest annual report on religious liberty sounds a chilling alarm over the escalating violence and systematic persecution faced by the country's Christian community.

The report for 2023 documents a staggering 601 incidents of violence against Christians, marking a drastic 45% surge from the previous year's 413 cases.

"Despite constitutional protections and India's long-standing tradition of religious diversity, the rise of divisive rhetoric and inflammatory language, often condoned or inadequately addressed by official channels, has emboldened sections of society to perpetrate acts of violence and discrimination against religious minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims," said the Reverend Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of EFI, who released the report.

The report highlights specific regions where the situation for Christians has deteriorated to distressing levels. Uttar Pradesh emerges as the focal point, recording a staggering 275 incidents. "The state also leads in arrests of pastors and believers, often on allegations of forced conversions, despite lacking substantial evidence," the report states.

Chhattisgarh emerges as another hotbed of targeted violence, witnessing 132 incidents, reflecting a deeply concerning trend across several states.

Unveiling the depth of persecution, the report exposes the cruel denial of burial rights to Christian families. India's revered tradition of religious diversity and constitutional guarantees safeguarding the rights of minority communities are facing an unprecedented challenge, according to Reverend Vijayesh Lal, the general secretary of EFI.

In his remarks while releasing a critical report, Lal expressed grave concerns over the rising tide of divisive rhetoric and inflammatory language that has permeated through official channels, emboldening certain sections of society to perpetrate acts of violence and discrimination against religious minorities, with Christians and Muslims bearing the brunt of such targeted attacks.

"The failure to effectively counter and address the spread of hate speech and divisive narratives has created an environment where extremist elements feel empowered to violate the fundamental rights of religious minorities," Lal stated, underscoring the urgency of stemming the tide of intolerance that threatens to erode India's long-cherished secularism and pluralism.

The report also brings to light the alarming trend of fabricated charges levelled against Indian Christians. "The false claim of forced religious conversions is being widely misused to target and harass Christians in India. Even in states without specific anti-conversion laws, Christian's face harassment based on mere allegations of conversions. This narrative is conveniently used as an excuse to discriminate against and persecute the Christian minority community across the country," said Lal.

The issue of religious conversions has become a contentious battleground across India, with a growing number of states implementing stringent laws aimed at curbing proselytization, reflecting the rising influence of Hindu nationalist sentiments.

The states that have enacted such laws are Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Haryana.

The push for anti-conversion laws has been particularly strong in BJP-ruled states, where the party's ideological leanings have found resonance with the Hindu majority. These laws, which aim to restrict religious conversions through coercion or allurement, have been criticised by human rights groups and religious minorities as infringing upon the fundamental right to freedom of religion.

As the debate over religious conversions intensifies, the implementation of anti-conversion laws has become a political flashpoint, with opposition parties and human rights advocates accusing the BJP and its allies of undermining India's secular fabric and curtailing the constitutional rights of religious minorities.

Corroborating the EFI's findings, the United Christian Forum's (UCF) recent report, covering January to March 2024, documented an alarming 161 incidents of violence against Christians, with Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh emerging as major hotspots.

As India nears general elections in 2024, the EFI has issued an urgent call for action. "EFI appealed to the Indian government and state administrations to protect religious minorities and uphold the rule of law, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh," the report states.

 Christian Today India
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Mercedes-Benz Korea, Stellantis Korea and two other carmakers will recall more than 50,000 vehicles due to faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday.

The four companies, including Honda Motor and Jaguar Land-Rover Korea, are voluntarily recalling a total of 50,760 units of 62 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

The problems that prompted the recall include software problems in the gearbox control unit of the GLE 450 4MATIC SUV, a faulty control arm in Stellantis' Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and a faulty circuit board in the passenger seat of Honda's Accord sedan, the statement said.

Vehicle owners can check the government's homepage at www.car.go.kr or call 080-357-2500 to see if their vehicles are subject to the recall, the ministry said. (Yonhap)
The Charity Commission has made more than 30 referrals to the police following the outbreak of the Israel Gaza conflict, Civil Society understands.

It also has more than 100 regulatory interventions ongoing at charities in relation to the conflict, it is understood.

The regulator is investigating where there are allegations of wrongdoing by charities following the outbreak of the Israel Gaza conflict.

It has made the 30 referrals to the police, in cases where it considers that a criminal offence may have been committed.

These organisations have been contacted, and as a result of engagement some have removed relevant social media or website content.

Civil Society understands that some have suspended employees and contractors, and have removed their organisation as signatories of open letters.

Ongoing inquiries

Recent cases have involved the regulator opening statutory inquiries into Al-Tawheed Charitable Trust over an event held at its premises and the Al-Manar Centre Trust over serious concerns about a video post.

Commission chair, Orlando Fraser, previously said the regulator is assessing a significant number of serious concerns regarding some charities activities in relation to the conflict.

He added the regulator was aware of several allegations of antisemitic or hate speech linked to charities in England and Wales, and said the Commission would act if it found wrongdoing by any of the charities.

Fraser also warned organisations not to allow their premises or events to become forums for hate speech or unlawful extremism.

He said that while many charities in the UK have stepped up their efforts to promote cohesion and combat extremism, reports of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes have been increasing.

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Over the past decade or so, The Atlantic has published a series of articles warning of the harm that social media and smartphone apps are doing to teenagers. These articles have had headlines like The Terrible Costs of a Phone-Based Childhood, The Dark Psychology of Social Networks, The Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls, and Get Phones out of Schools Now. These articles have one other thing in common: they were all written by Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York Universitys Stern School of Business and a coauthor of the 2019 book The Coddling of the American Mind.

Now Haidt is out with a new book (whose themes will be familiar to readers of his Atlantic articles), The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. After 2010, there was a sharp increase in depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicide among young people, Haidt writes; rates of depression and anxiety in the US, for example, rose by more than 50 percent over the following decade, a figure that rises to 130 percent for girls between the ages of ten and nineteen. Haidt observed similar patterns around the same time in other countries, including Canada, the UK, and Australia. And he says that they were caused by smartphones and social media. Giving young people smartphones in the early 2010s was the largest uncontrolled experiment humanity has ever performed on its own children, he writes in The Anxious Generation, adding that we may as well have sent Gen Z to grow up on Mars.

Haidt wrote last year, in another of his Atlantic essays, that smartphones and social media impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging, and that they have created an environment for children that is hostile to human development. In his view, governments, schools, and other organizations should take a number of steps in response, including banning social media for children under sixteen and removing smartphones from schools. All children deserve schools that will help them learn, cultivate deep friendships, and develop into mentally healthy young adults, he writes. And he notes that last year, Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, issued a public advisory warning that social media can create a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.

In both The Coddling of the American Mind and The Anxious Generation, Haidt argues that social media and smartphones prevent children from understanding how to behave and survive in the real world. According to Haidt, a variety of measures show that members of Gen Z (children born after 1996) are suffering from anxiety, depression, and related disorders at levels higher than any other generation for which we have data. Not only that, he argues, but these problems carry over into adulthood: Haidt says that young adults are dating less, having less sex, and showing less interest in ever having children than prior generations, and that coworkers say they are also more difficult to work with.

Concerns about the dangers of social media are nothing new. Sherry Turkle, a social scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been writing and speaking for several decades about the negative effects of social media and internet use, arguing that such tools have replaced normal human communication and led to isolation and emotional pain through what she calls the illusion of companionship that the online world offers. Humans think that constant connection will make us feel less lonely, Turkle wrote in 2012, but the opposite is true. If we are unable to be alone, we are far more likely to be lonely. If we dont teach our children to be alone, they will know only how to be lonely.

More recently, in 2021, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook staffer, leaked a cache of documents that she said showed that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, ignored warnings from its own researchers about the harmful effects the latter app was having on teenage girls and their self-esteem. (I wrote about the leak at the time.) Haugen told a joint committee of the British Parliament that Facebooks own research showed that children using Instagram were unhappy but also felt that they could not stop using it. At the time, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, wrote that it was very important to him that everything he built was safe for kids. But some observers believe that such problems have continued. According to The Guardian, a psychologist who advised Meta on suicide prevention quit last month, accusing the company of turning a blind eye to harmful content and of putting profit over lives.

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The warnings from Haidt, Turkle, and others appear to have been influential in some political circles. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, recently signed a bill banning children under fourteen from having social media accounts at all and requiring children under sixteen to get parental permission first. Similar legislation has passed in Utah, Ohio, and Arkansas. Unfortunately for supporters of this kind of law, however, federal courts have blocked the legislation in the latter two states, while Utahs version is currently being challenged. As the New York Times noted, the reason is fairly straightforward: restricting access to social media means restricting access to speech, and in most cases, the First Amendment doesnt allow the government to do thisnot even when children are involved.

Free speech aside, some researchers believe that concerns about the harms of teenage social media use are wildly overstated. In a review of Haidts latest book for Nature, Candice Odgersa professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine, who researches the effects of social media on childrenpredicted that the book is going to sell a lot of copies, because [he] is telling a scary story about childrens development that many parents are primed to believe. For Odgers, however, this scary story is not supported by science. Haidts book (and a related website called After Babel) contains graphs showing that mental health problems in teens have increased along with smartphone use. But for Odgers, all these charts prove is that researchers should avoid making up stories by simply looking at trend lines.

Odgers writes that she and many other researchers have sought out the kinds of conclusive links suggested by Haidt and Turkle, but that those efforts have produced what she calls a mix of no, small and mixed associations. When links are found between depression or anxiety and smartphone or social media use, she writes, they suggest not that social-media use predicts or causes depression, but that young people who already have mental-health problems use such platforms more often or in different ways from their healthy peers. Odgers says that numerous studies, including an analysis of teenage mental health in more than seventy countries, showed no consistent or measurable associations between well-being and social media. Haidt, she writes, may be a gifted storyteller, but the story he is telling is currently one searching for evidence.

Odgers is not alone in her skepticism. Dylan Selterman, a psychology professor at Johns Hopkins University, wrote recently that studies of the effects of social media on the mental health of teens have shown mixed findings and vary in quality; therefore, no scientific consensus exists. Some researchers have found a link, but just as many have failed to find oneand in some cases, psychologists have suggested that social media might actually have positive effects. One study found that eating potatoes had a stronger negative correlation with a teens mental health than using social media. Aaron Brown, a statistics professor writing in Reason, argues that the evidence Haidt supplies not only doesnt support his claim about teen health and mental health, it undermines it, since many of the studies he refers to are badly designed or dont prove what they claim to. (To his credit, Haidt has maintained a Google Doc that links to many of the critical responses to his research.)

Odgers argues that two things can be true at once when it comes to social media: that there is no conclusive evidence that using these platforms is rewiring childrens brains or driving an epidemic of mental illness, but that changes to the ways these platforms work would nonetheless be wise, given how much time young people spend on them. What seems inarguable, Odgers writes, is that the US has a generation in crisis and in desperate need of the best of what science and evidence-based solutions can offer. But instead of searching for real solutions, she argues, we are obsessed with scary stories that are unsupported by research and in the end do little to help young people.



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: The frightening backdrop to an Iranian journalists stabbing in London

Mathew Ingram was CJRs longtime 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.
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation reached a settlement agreement in principle with a cryptocurrency asset platform for violating state securities regulations.

The group of affiliated companies known as Abra  Plutus Financial Holdings Inc., Plutus Financial Inc., Plutus Lending LLC and Abra Boost LLC  offered and sold interest-bearing cryptocurrency depository products referred to as Abra Boost and Abra Earn.

The settlement requires the companies to notify all Oregon consumers with open accounts containing crypto assets with the companies that they are winding down U.S. operations and to encourage consumers to move any remaining crypto assets from the platform.

Consumers have at least seven days from the date they receive notice to remove their assets from the Abra platform. Assets remaining after that date with a value of $10 or more will be converted to fiat and a check or other instrument will be sent directly to the consumers last known address.

In Oregon, 167 residents still have cryptocurrencies on the Abra platform valued at about $32,387.14, according to the division.

The companies  controlled by William Bill Barhydt, who is also a party to the settlement  reportedly offered Abra Earn to all U.S. clients and Abra Boost to accredited U.S. clients. Investors in both programs earned interest by depositing digital assets with Abra and authorizing Abra to lend client assets to institutional borrowers, according to the department.

As part of the settlement, Abra and Barhydt will enter a consent order with DFR requiring that they cease and desist from offering or selling unregistered securities in Oregon and ordering them to pay an administrative penalty, which will be suspended if they comply with the process to return all assets owned by Oregon consumers before April 25.
A Chinese-state intrusion last year of Microsoft Corp. technology that enabled hackers to gather US officials emails should never have occurred, according to a report released Tuesday from a government cyber review board.

The Cyber Safety Review Board, a White House-mandated group designed to examine major cyberattacks, said Microsoft displayed corporate practices that deprioritized both enterprise security investments and rigorous risk management. The company security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul, the report said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was one of hundreds targeted in a 2023 hack of Microsoft Exchange Online mailboxes.

The review board examined the 2023 hack of Microsoft Exchange Online mailboxes, in which outsiders breached 22 organizations and hundreds of individuals. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; the US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns; and Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, were among those ensnared in the campaign.

A hacking group associated with the Chinese government known as Storm-0558 was behind the effort, the report said. Microsoft still has yet to determine how attackers infiltrated the company, according to the report.

Reviewers also determined that the company was slow to update misleading or inaccurate disclosures about the incident. In one case, Microsoft suggested in September 2023 that hackers had used a tool known as a digital certificate to steal emails. It wasnt until November that the firm acknowledged to the board that its September disclosure was inaccurate, according to the report.

Microsoft said it would review the report for additional recommendations.

While no organization is immune to cyberattack from well-resourced adversaries, we have mobilized our engineering teams to identify and mitigate legacy infrastructure, improve processes and enforce security benchmarks, a Microsoft spokesperson said.

While Microsoft is primarily known for its software for corporations and consumers, the Redmond, Washington-based company has emerged as the biggest provider of cybersecurity products in recent years  an area of the business thats grown to about $20 billion annually.

US Senator Ron Wyden, who called for the probe, said that federal agencies share some of the blame for the breach for showering Microsoft with billions of dollars in government contracts, without demanding the company meet minimum cybersecurity standards.

The governments dependence on Microsoft poses a serious national security threat, which requires strong action, the Democrat from Oregon said in a statement. The government must set strict, minimum cybersecurity standards for technology vendors, adherence to those standards must be verified through independent audits, and companies and their senior executives that violate those standards must be held accountable.

Top photo: Computer code displayed on screens arranged in Danbury, U.K., on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. In the spring, hackers managed to insert malicious code into a software product from an IT provider called SolarWinds Corp., whose client list includes 300,000 institutions. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
By Lee Min-hyung

POSCO International will hold a global conference on exports by inviting a group of 60 Korean small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of helping innovative companies make smooth inroads overseas, the trading arm of POSCO Group said Thursday.

This is part of the firm's efforts to enhance competitiveness abroad by helping them win more orders in six countries from regions such as Asia, Europe and North America. Under the plan, the POSCO affiliate will support them to land one-on-one meetings with potential buyers there.

For this year, POSCO International will team up with a total of eight organizations here and abroad so it can generate tangible export outcomes with global partners.

"We will closely collaborate with the government and major economic organizations for co-prosperity with SMEs," an official from POSCO International said. "This will also pave the way for us to resolve the ongoing supply chain issue that the secondary battery materials industry is faced with."

The move also comes in response to growing trade uncertainties here and abroad, as major economies  such as the United States and China  are rapidly shifting toward protectionism following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants in last year's edition of the event were able to clinch a total of 11 non-disclosure agreements or memoranda of understanding with foreign buyers.

One of the companies is particularly generating noteworthy outcomes by clinching tech partnerships with Poland's state-run company and a new European renewable energy firm.

POSCO International is also considering making an additional donation to alleviate financial burdens on SMEs here. The fund  set by the company  has so far accumulated 43.3 billion won ($32.15 million) and the capital is spent to help SMEs enhance their research and production capabilities. The fund is also used for them to expand their footing in other countries.
Axa SA is planning a campaign to help prevent cyberattacks targeting France in the run-up to the Paris Olympics next summer.

The insurer will share key measures with French corporate clients to improve the protection of their information systems, the head of Axas French unit, Guillaume Borie, said on Wednesday. The campaign will be for all of Axas corporate clients in the country, even those that havent subscribed to an insurance policy for cyber risks.

France is bracing for a surge in cyberattacks during the Olympics. Last month, the head of Frances national cybersecurity agency told Agence France-Presse the event itself could be a target, with attackers looking to disrupt for instance the opening ceremony or public transport. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., which provided cybersecurity services for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, reported 450 million attempted cyberattacks at the time.

The government has explicitly said that it will be a time during which cyberattacks against France will be massive, Borie said, speaking of the Paris Olympics. We need to have ambitious prevention plans.
PHOENIX  Not even Donovan Mitchells return could lead the Cavs to an elusive second straight win.

Playing the second game of a back-to-back, following a feel-good win in Utah the night before, Cleveland once again looked overmatched by a Western Conference contender. This time, it was the Phoenix Suns, who cruised to a 122-101 win on Wednesday night. The Cavs havent won back-to-back games since late February.

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BEREA, Ohio -- A 25-year-old Berea man who already faces sexual imposition charges in Berea Municipal Court was accused of exposing himself again March 29 inside the Berea Recreation Center, 451 Front St.

A woman called police and said she was in the recreation center sauna at about 2:30 p.m. that day. The man, whom she didnt know, was also in the sauna.

He exposed and started pleasuring himself. No one else was in the sauna at the time.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Monday in Gaza, 7 aid workers for World Central Kitchen were killed when missiles from Israel Defense Forces drones inexcusably struck the 3-vehicle WCF convoy one-by-one, despite all vehicles being clearly marked, traveling down a deconflict zone road and WCF informing the IDF of its travel route.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the strike was unintentional, it happens in war. Just like the bumper stickers that read S#!+ Happens, Hamas Happens, Netanyahu happens too.
WEST UNION, Ohio  An EF1 tornado touched down Tuesday in southern Ohio during a string severe storms, according to the National Weather Service.

While the Weather Services office in Wilmington, Ohio, has confirmed the tornado in Adams County, its still assessing the damage. An EF1 tornado can produce winds between 86 and 110 mph.

CNN reports an elementary school in Proctorville, which is in Lawrence County next to the Ohio River, was heavily damaged Tuesday by a suspected tornado. Students were on spring break so the building was empty.

The tornado in Adams County set down near West Union, which is about 65 miles southeast of Cincinnati. No other details have been released and no injuries have been reported. WLWT Channel 5 reports a bridge in West Union was damaged, while WCPO Channel 9 reports the tornado damaged homes and knocked down trees.

The severe weather caused flash flooding in the Cincinnati area, according to WLWT.

A second EF1 tornado was confirmed in Mason County, Kentucky, which is about 55 miles southeast of Cincinnati, according to the Weather Service.

CNN reports 16 tornadoes were reported in Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
CALHOUN COUNTY, Michigan  A Michigan man shot and killed a gray wolf after mistaking it for a coyote during a legal hunt, authorities say.

Now officials with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are trying to determine how the wolf ended up in Calhoun County, which is located in the southern portion of the state west of Detroit. The states gray wolf population typically is found in the Upper Peninsula.

A series of genetic tests on the harvested animal confirmed that it was a gray wolf, a species not sighted in that part of Michigan since the likely extirpation of wolves from the state in the early part of the 20th century, the DNR says in a news release.

The department says the hunter harvested the wolf while on a legal expedition with a guide. The wolf weighed 84 pounds, while coyotes usually weigh between 25 and 40 pounds.

The presence of this wolf in Calhoun County remains a matter of investigation by the DNR, the release says. The department does not suspect the animal was part of an established population in the southern Lower Peninsula.

The DNR says wolves in Michigan have been known to travel thousands of miles.

This is an unusual case, and the DNR is actively delving into the matter to learn more about this particular animals origin, said Brian Roell, large carnivore specialist for the DNR. While rare, instances of wolves traversing vast distances have been documented, including signs of wolves in recent decades in Michigans Lower Peninsula.

Wolves are an endangered species in Michigan. Its illegal to kill a wolf unless its a direct and immediate threat to human life.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  A Columbus man who served as a campaign treasurer for more than 100 candidates since the 1980s was charged in federal court with wire fraud, after an investigation found nearly $1 million missing.

William Curlis, 76, was charged by a bill of information that was filed Thursday by the Cincinnati-based U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of Ohio, which has jurisdiction over investigations covering in Columbus. A plea agreement also was filed in the case, but it was not immediately made public on Thursday.

Court document state Curlis defrauded candidates of about $995,231 in campaign cash from 2008 through June 2023. He allegedly wrote checks from candidates bank accounts and a political action committee to himself for personal use without candidates knowledge, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Among the candidates he allegedly stole from were several in the central part of the state. State Sen. Stephanie Kunze, from the Columbus suburbs, Franklin County Engineer Cornell Robertson and Ron OBrien, the former Franklin County prosecutor, have filed complaints with the Ohio Elections Commission about Curlis, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Those cases are under review.

As the campaign treasurer and only signatory on numerous bank accounts, Curlis took advantage of his trusted position and wrote checks to himself from the accounts of multiple candidates and one PAC, said U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker. I urge candidates, PACs, and businesses alike to protect themselves from future fraud by examining their accounting processes for vulnerabilities and other blind spots. Embezzlement is often committed by persons who take advantage of the victims trust, and I encourage everyone to reassess from time to time the safeguards they have in place.

Wire fraud is a federal crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Mark Collins, Curlis attorney, said in a statement that he cant discuss many details of the settlement agreement.

The filing of the plea agreement demonstrates Mr. Curlis commitment to accepting responsibility and demonstrating remorse for his actions, Collins said. He walked into the US Attorneys office and admitted his wrongdoings. I cannot discuss the details or reasons at this point. However, once this case works through the federal system, those questions will be answered.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, both Republicans, worked alongside the office of Parker, a Joe Biden appointee, on the case. Law enforcement with the FBIs Southern Ohio Public Corruption Task Force, which includes agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Columbus police and the Ohio Auditors office also investigated.

Fraud and abuse will not be tolerated in Ohio, he said in the statement. When our Public Integrity Division became aware of this matter, we immediately began investigating and referred our findings directly to federal law enforcement. We will continue working alongside our partners to bring bad actors to justice and to root out any criminality in campaigns and elections.

This defendant believed he could outsmart his clients by shuffling funds while skimming off the top  a scheme that worked for a while, but he couldnt outwit law enforcement, Yost said.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.
By Ko Dong-hwan

SPC Group expressed regret over prosecutors' moves to detain its ailing chairman Hur Young-in, saying that investigators are intensifying their investigation, without sufficient evidence, into the allegations that he illegally coerced company employees to leave an umbrella labor union, according to officials at the country's largest bakery chain, Thursday.

The officials said the chairman has been fully cooperating with the investigation and will continue to do so in the future.

Late Wednesday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office asked the Seoul Central District Court to issue an arrest warrant for Hur and the court is expected to soon decide whether to allow the investigators to detain him or not.

On Tuesday, he was arrested by investigators after defying a prosecution summons over the allegations that he, between 2019 and 2022, forced bakers at SPC subsidiary PB Partners to withdraw their memberships from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the country's biggest militant labor umbrella unions.

SPC Group, operating major food and beverage brands here, including Paris Baguette, Shake Shack, Samlip and Caffe Pascucci, said it is "deeply upset" about the prosecutor's arrest warrant request and that Hur had reasons for having missed the authority's repeated summons for questioning. It said Hur had to take care of important business duties and had been hospitalized due to cardiac dysrhythmia and a panic disorder.

"Chairman Hur wanted to faithfully comply with the prosecutors' summons but his ill health temporarily halted him from doing so," the company said in a statement. "He had no intention to avoid the investigation."

It said Hur was recently acquitted following prosecutors' "unjust" indictment and regrets that the same predicament has fallen on the group again, especially when the chairman was undertaking a critical step for SPC's global market expansion efforts.

Hur, on March 24, met Caffe Pascucci CEO Mario Pascucci in Seoul and reached a bilateral agreement to expand SPC's food and restaurant brands to Italy with the support of the Italian coffee franchise chief.

"Prosecutors first summoned Hur on March 13 and we, because of his business appointments, requested to delay the summons by a week. They rejected it without any solid reason," the statement said. "Hur tried to comply with the subsequent summons on March 25 but he couldn't because of his medical condition."

SPC also said the prosecutors refused to allow Hur to plead fully on his part and reserve his right to self-defense, adding that illegality in the chairman's allegation for violating the country's Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act has "not been proven enough for them to enforce the investigation in such an inadvertent way."

Before being arrested on Tuesday, Hur declined to appear on March 18, 19 and 21, citing his medical conditions. He eventually showed up for questioning on March 25 but left just one hour later in the middle of the session as he complained of chest pain.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - When the solar eclipse graces Greater Cleveland with its presence on Monday, many employees will be getting at least part of the day off so they can see it.

Of 180 Northeast Ohio employers surveyed, 84% said they are doing something different on Monday because of the solar eclipse, according to a survey by the Employers Resource Council, which regularly surveys companies in the Cleveland area about different topics.
BRUSSELS (AP)  NATO marked on Thursday 75 years of collective defense across Europe and North America, with its top diplomats vowing to stay the course in Ukraine as better-armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield.

The anniversary comes as the now-32-nation alliance weighs a plan to provide more predictable longer-term military support to Ukraine. Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine this week lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks.

Ukraine is under heavy attacks, like daily, 24-seven, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters, appealing for more military materiel for Ukraine like air defense systems, drones and artillery shells.

We need to give these systems which we are not using to Ukraine, to take and protect their people, civil infrastructure and also energy infrastructure, he said, before a ceremony with his counterparts to mark the day NATOs founding treaty was signed: April 4, 1949, in Washington.

A bigger celebration is planned when NATO leaders meet in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Hundreds of staffers filled the vast air terminal-like space at the center of NATOs sprawling Brussels headquarters, while scores of others looked down from glassed walkways and stairways as Belgian and Dutch military bands played the NATO Hymn, the original Washington Treaty laid before them.

I like the Washington Treaty. Not least because it is very short, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said with a smile. Just 14 paragraphs over a few pages. Never has a single document with so few words meant so much to so many people. So much security. So much prosperity, and so much peace.

Outside Brussels on Wednesday evening, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had paid tribute to the millions of soldiers, sailors, and aviators whose courage and willingness to put their lives on the line have given weight to our sacred commitment to defend one another.

Blinken said that even as foreign ministers mark more than seven decades of peace, that security  together with the Alliances core principles of democracy, liberty, and the rule of law  is once again being threatened by those who believe that might makes right and who seek to redraw borders by force.

Ukraines foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, also attended on Thursday. His message was more direct.

Only today, 20 Shahed drones were shot at the city of Kharkiv and four people have been killed, he said, adding that rescuers trying to help victims in the area were also killed.

It is impossible to comprehend why allies cannot find additional batteries to deliver them to the place where ballistic missiles are being fired every day, Kuleba said.

Swedens foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, was taking part in the first ministerial-level meeting since his country became NATOs 32nd ally last month. Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 drove Sweden and Finland into NATOs arms.

NATO represents the freedom to choose, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said, reflecting on the way the Nordic neighbors recently joined. Democratic nations, free people chose to join. Unlike how Russia expands its by aggression or by illegal annexation.

President Vladimir Putin said he launched the war, in part at least, because NATO was expanding closer to Russias borders.

The alliances ranks have almost tripled from its 12 founding members, but Finland and Sweden joined in record time to shelter under NATOs collective security guarantee.

That promise  Article 5 of the Washington Treaty  stipulates that an attack on any one of their number must be met with a united response. Its only ever been used once, after the Al-Qaeda attacks on U.S. soil in 2001.

Among the more recent successes as it grew from the Cold War and after the Berlin Wall collapsed, NATO would count its 1999 air campaign against former Yugoslavia to end a bloody crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and its effort to avert near civil war in Macedonia in 2001.

At the other end of the scale lies the operation in Afghanistan. NATO took command of the security effort in 2003 and it became the longest, costliest and deadliest in alliance history. It was marked by a chaotic retreat in August 2021, many of the successes over almost two decades abandoned.

Today, Ukraine also wants a seat at NATOs table, but the alliance works on unanimity and there is no consensus on whether it should join. Most allies oppose membership while war rages on anyway. For now, NATO promises only that its door is open for Ukraine in the future.

NATO allies cannot agree on whether to arm Ukraine either. As an organization, the alliance only provides non-lethal support like transport vehicles, fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and demining equipment. However, many members provide arms and ammunition bilaterally or in groups.

The bulk of NATOs efforts since Russian troops began massing for the invasion has focused on reinforcing its own borders near Russia and Ukraine to dissuade Putin from targeting any of the allies next.

Article 5 was given perhaps its toughest test during Donald Trumps term as president of the United States  by far NATOs most powerful member country. Trump suggested the U.S. might not defend any NATO ally that failed to boost their own defense spending to at least 2% of gross domestic product, as all had agreed to do in 2014.

Trump has repeated the threat during election campaigning this year. NATO predicts that 18 of its 32 members will reach that target this year, up from only 3 a decade ago.
By Lee Min-hyung

S-Oil will be able to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for international aviation for the first time in Korea, after the refiner acquired three green certifications on sustainable and low-carbon products, the company said Thursday.

The certifications include the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the ISCC EU and the ISCC PLUS.

The achievement allows the refiner to expand its eco-friendly fuel product supplies in line with the global trend for carbon neutrality.

As S-Oil acquired the international certification to produce SAF that meets CORSIA requirements for the first time in Korea, it can contribute substantially to protecting land through the use of bio-based raw materials and conserving biodiversity, not to mention cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation area, Ryu Yul, president for corporate strategy and services at S-Oil, said.

The latest acquisition of the certification is the first step toward S-Oils pivot to a clean energy supplier to achieve sustainable growth, and we will further strive to distribute biofuels and circular products that can contribute to building a resource circulation structure in order to align ourselves with the global decarbonization trend.

In particular, The ISCC CORSIA certification is expected to enable S-Oil to produce CORSIA-certified SAF for the first time here. Since January, the refiner has incorporated bio-based raw materials  such as waste cooking oil and palm byproducts into its refining processes to produce fuel products, according to the company.

The latest achievement will set the stage for S-Oil to produce SAF which can slash greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 90 percent, compared with conventional jet fuels, it said.

S-Oil also spoke highly of the acquisition of the other two certifications, which the refiner said will serve as an opportunity to help vitalize the biofuel industry.

The ISCC EU is a certification that any firms should acquire to export biofuels in the European market. S-Oil is projected to effectively expand its fuel business there after the latest feat.

The ISCC PLUS is a voluntary certification system for the use of sustainable biomass and circular resources. The company plans to spur the production of circular materials through the ISCC PLUS acquisition.
By Ko Dong-hwan

LG Energy Solution on Wednesday offered a glimpse into its ongoing battery factory construction project in Arizona to the state governor and local authorities, explaining that the company is taking a critical step forward to lead the country's rise in the battery market ahead of its global rivals, according to one of Korea's biggest battery developers, Thursday.

State Governor Katie Hobbs, President and CEO of Arizona Commerce Authority Sandra Watson, Mayor of Queen Creek Julia Wheatley and other members of the state government and local community officials visited the site in the town of Queen Creek on Wednesday, local time.

The new manufacturing plant for the company's cylindrical batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for energy storage system (ESS), began construction last November. The facility has seen a 7.2 trillion won investment ($5.3 billion) and is the company's second standalone factory in the U.S. and the first American plant dedicated to making cylindrical and LFP batteries.

This transformative investment will have a lasting impact not only in Arizona but across the country and move us one step closer toward our clean energy goals, Hobbs said at the construction site. These are the jobs of the future and the State of Arizona is committed to being an active partner in ensuring Arizonans have the skills to fill these jobs.

Head of the company's ESS Battery Division Kim Hyung-sik, who was also present at the site, said there is "no better place to build the source of our sustainable energy here in Arizona, where the abundant solar energy surrounds the region."

"Quality batteries, made right here in the Copper State, will reach every corner of America to provide power, Kim said.

The construction will see two facilities being erected, LG Energy Solution Arizona for 46-Series batteries for EVs and LG Energy Solution Arizona ESS for LFP pouch-type batteries for ESS.

The company plans to mass-produce 46-Series batteries for the first time at its Ochang plant in Korea's North Chungcheong Province in the second half of this year  the earliest among major global battery manufacturers, according to the company. The company said the planned operation at the Ochang plant will leverage its production momentum to the Arizona plant.

The factory for LFP batteries is also one of the first ESS-exclusive battery production facilities in the world.

The company said the construction's initial land preparation works have been completed and steel beams have begun being placed at the site. The construction of the site for the facility for the manufacturing of cylindrical EV batteries aims to be finished in late 2025 and the facility for LFP pouch-type ESS batteries the following year.

The completed plants will create thousands of jobs for local people in Arizona, according to the company.

The company's first standalone facility in Michigan built a decade ago, is now undergoing expansion to expand its production capacity by five times. The company also has five other joint venture facilities in the U.S. with major automakers, including General Motors, Honda and Hyundai Motor Group.
S. Korea warns N. Korea will see end of regime if it harms its people
President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss an array of issues, including North Korean threats and the two countries' trilateral cooperation with South Korea, during their summit next week, a White House official said Wednesday.

The two leaders are set to hold the summit on April 10 as Washington and Tokyo are stepping up defense cooperation amid growing security uncertainties stemming from North Korea's evolving military threats, China's growing assertiveness and Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.

"The president is very much looking forward to the state visit. There is an awful lot of important things to talk about," National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told a virtual press briefing.

"There will be issues in terms of the security environment  concerns about the DPRK, concerns about aggressive PRC actions," he added.

DPRK and PRC stand for the official names of North Korea and China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China, respectively.

Kirby also said that the two leaders will discuss how the two countries can advance their bilateral cooperation as well as their trilateral cooperation with South Korea.

Speaking in a forum, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said that there will be a summit announcement on collaboration between the U.S. and Japan over joint development and production of military equipment.

"One of things that I think you will see next week are steps for the first time that will allow the U.S. and Japan to work more collaboratively on joint development and potentially co-production of vital military and defense equipment," he said at the forum hosted by the Center for a New American Security.

Campbell cast Kishida's upcoming visit as a "seminal and historical," saying that Washington and Tokyo seek to "modernize and update the critical and dynamic U.S.-Japan partnership."

Kishida's upcoming trip to Washington will mark the first official visit by a Japanese prime minister since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in 2015.

Kishida's official visit is regarded as the same as a state visit, the highest diplomatic reception given to a visiting foreign leader. The expression, state visit, is usually used for a visit by a foreign president or head of state. (Yonhap)
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2023.

Goldman Sachs should separate the CEO and chairman roles currently held by David Solomon, top proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended on Wednesday.

"Shareholders would benefit from more independent oversight," ISS wrote in a report sent by a representative, ahead of the bank's annual shareholder meeting on April 24.

"Solomon's foray into the consumer realm has been met with missteps and steep losses, which seem to have trickled into further human capital issues," it added.

The Wall Street giant is scaling down its consumer business, which was championed by Solomon, after the operations lost billions of dollars.

Several high-profile executives have also departed Goldman, including Stephanie Cohen, the former head of its consumer and fintech unit, Jim Esposito, co-head of global banking and markets this year, and Julian Salisbury, an asset management executive in July last year.

ISS also recommended votes in favor of all of the bank's director nominees and said "cautionary support" was warranted for its executive pay, although the bank's compensation program relied too much on discretion.

The independence of banks' leadership has been a hot issue since the 2008 global financial crisis. Solomon has served as CEO since 2018 and became chairman the following year.

A shareholder resolution calling for the roles of chair and CEO to be separated was filed by the conservative-leaning National Legal and Policy Center. It filed a similar measure last year that won support from just 16% of votes cast.

Goldman's size and complexity makes it difficult for any one person to run both the company and the board, ISS said.

A Goldman spokesperson cited the bank's recommendation to vote against the independent chair proposal as laid out in its proxy statement.

The bank appointed David Viniar, who served as its finance chief from 1999 to 2013, as its next independent lead director. He will succeed Adebayo Ogunlesi, who will step down at the annual meeting.

While the lead director duties are generally considered robust and Viniar is considered independent under ISS standards, "some may question the decision to elevate a former Goldman executive to the role at this time," it wrote.

Viniar has served on Goldman's board since January 2013.
High-rise buildings are illuminated at night in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on March 22, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

BEIJING  China's real estate troubles are likely far from over and industry problems need to be addressed quickly if overall GDP growth is to pick up significantly, according to a report released Thursday by global investment firm KKR. That's one of the two key takeaways from a recent trip to China by the firm's head of global and macro asset allocation, Henry H. McVey. It was his fourth visit in just over a year. "A fundamentally overbuilt real estate industry needs to be addressed  and quickly," he said in the report, which counts Changchun Hua, KKR's chief economist for Greater China, among the co-authors. "Second, confidence must be restored to drive savings back down," McVey said, noting that would spur consumers and businesses to spend on upgrading to higher quality products, as Chinese authorities have promoted. Real estate and related sectors once accounted for about one fifth or more of China's economy, depending on the breadth of analysts' calculations. The property industry has slumped in the last few years after Beijing's crackdown on developers' high reliance on debt for growth. Based on comparisons to housing corrections in the U.S., Japan and Spain, China's "housing market correction may be just halfway complete" in terms of its depth, the KKR report said. "Both price and volume must come under pressure to finish the cleansing cycle," the report said. "To date, though, it has largely been a contraction in volume."

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While KKR's report didn't provide much detail on expectations for specific real estate policy, the authors said more action by Beijing to improve China's real estate sector "could materially shift investor perception." Amid geopolitical tensions, the country's property market slump and drop in stocks have given many foreign institutional investors pause about China investing. "According to some of our proprietary survey work, many allocators have considered reducing China exposure to 5-6%, down from 10-12% today at a time that we think fundamentals in the economy are likely bottoming," the KKR report said. Much of official Chinese data to start the year beat analysts' expectations. Chinese officials have said the real estate sector remains in a period of adjustment, while Beijing shifts its emphasis toward manufacturing and what it considers "high-quality development." Authorities have also released policies to promote financial support for select property developers, while many local governments  though not necessarily the largest cities  have significantly relaxed home purchase restrictions.

Real estate's drag to moderate

KKR expects a modest slowdown in China's GDP growth to 4.7% this year, and 4.5% next year, with real estate and Covid-related factors halving their drag on the economy from 1.4 percentage points in 2024 to a 0.7 percentage point drag in 2025. "Our bottom line is that: with the ongoing [property] correction as well as some potential further policy support, we think the drag to [the] overall economy should moderate a bit over the next few years," McVey said in a separate statement. He is also chief investment officer of KKR Balance Sheet.

Catering, accommodation and wholesale are set to modestly increase their contribution to growth in the next two years, while digitalization and the shift toward more carbon-neutral, green industry are expected to remain the largest drivers of growth, according to the report. For investors, the report said a more important development than China's GDP increase would be whether authorities could make it easier for businesses and households to tap capital markets. "Repairing soft spots in [the] economy, especially around housing, will ultimately improve the cost of capital, and will also allow new consumer companies to access the capital markets likely at better prices if real estate and confidence are doing better," McVey said in the statement. Beijing in March announced a GDP target of around 5% for this year. Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong said last month that developers should go bankrupt if necessary and that authorities would promote the development of affordable housing. Recent data have pointed to some stabilization in the property sector slowdown. The seven-day-moving average of new home sales in 21 major cities fell by 34.5% year-on-year as of Monday, better than the 45.3% drop recorded a week earlier, according to Nomura, citing Wind Information. Compared with the same period in 2019, that sales average was only down by 27.8% as of Monday, versus a 47% drop a week earlier, Nomura said, noting most of the improvement was in China's biggest cities.

Consumer outlook
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Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Dow in the dumps

2. Amazon layoffs

Attendees walk through an expo hall during Amazon Web Services' Reinvent conference at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Nov. 29, 2022. Noah Berger | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Amazon's cloud computing division is cutting hundreds of jobs in its physical store technology and sales and marketing units. Amazon Web Services, the company's lucrative cloud service unit, has seen its sales growth decelerate in recent quarters as companies cut their cloud spend. The layoffs come after Amazon said it would remove cashierless checkout systems in its U.S. Fresh stores. The AWS unit includes teams overseeing the cashierless tech.

3. It's Iger's world after all

Bob Iger poses with Mickey Mouse attends Mickey's 90th Spectacular at The Shrine Auditorium on October 6, 2018 in Los Angeles. Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images

Disney shareholders on Wednesday overwhelmingly reelected the company's full board, ending a monthslong fight by activist Nelson Peltz. The election is a stamp of approval for the board's decisions, from bringing back CEO Bob Iger to his efforts to reinvigorate the $223 billion media company. Peltz and his company, Trian Partners, wanted to throw two board members out and give Peltz and former Disney CEO Jay Rasulo board seats, citing share underperformance, a failed succession process, and billions in misdirected investments. Another activist investor, Blackwells, also failed to win board seats in a separate long-shot bid.

4. Powell's patience

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2024. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters

Maybe you've heard this before, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell is in no rush to ease monetary policy. "On inflation, it is too soon to say whether the recent readings represent more than just a bump," he said Wednesday at Stanford University. The markets anticipate that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates this year, but the timing and extent of those cuts are murky as inflation holds above the central bank's preferred target of 2%. And Powell's not alone. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester  voting members on the key Fed committee this year  have all spoken this week and stressed the need to wait and see.

5. Leave it to Levi's
A New York judge on Wednesday denied Donald Trump's bid to delay his April 15 trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews claim to presidential immunity in a separate criminal case.

The Court is scheduled to hear the former U.S. President's arguments that he is immune from federal prosecution for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democratic President Joe Biden on April 25.

His defense lawyers in the New York case in March asked Justice Juan Merchan to delay the trial until that review was complete, arguing it was relevant because prosecutors were seeking to present evidence of statements Trump made while he was president from 2017 to 2021.

In a court ruling on Wednesday, Merchan said Trump had waited too long to raise the issue.

"Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024," Merchan wrote.

Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Trump, declined to comment.

Trump, the Republican candidate to challenge Biden in the Nov. 5 election, has pleaded not guilty in each of the four criminal indictments he faces.

The New York case could be the only one to go to trial before the election.

He is accused of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Trump is also seeking a delay on the basis that a deluge of news coverage of the case has led potential jurors to believe he is already guilty. Merchan has not yet ruled on that request.

Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which charged Trump in 2023, opposed that request in a court filing made public on Wednesday.

They argued that Trump himself had generated much of the news coverage, and that they would be able to weed out biased jurors through the jury selection process.

The Supreme Court's decision to take up Trump's appeal in the federal election interference case was a major victory for him, delaying the trial's start by months at least.

He also faces a state case in Georgia over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results, as well as a federal case in Florida over his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office in 2021. Those cases also lack firm trial dates.

No U.S. president has ever faced a criminal trial. (Reuters)
Amazon is resuming construction on a 42-story office tower in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, the company said Thursday, after 22 floors of the building sat unfinished since 2022.

The company in 2022 paused work on five towers in the Bellevue area, along with new offices in Virginia and Nashville, citing uncertainty around the pandemic's impact on in-office work. At the time, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon was embracing hybrid and remote work. Since then, the company has required its employees to be in the office at least three days a week.

In December, Amazon opened the first half of the 42-story office tower in Bellevue, dubbed "Sonic," and moved about 1,000 employees into the building.

"Once complete later this year, Sonic will provide space for more than 4,500 employees total," the company said.

Amazon has continued to secure office space outside of Seattle, where it's headquartered. Its Seattle campus now spans tens of millions of square feet across more than 40 office buildings. Amazon has said it doesn't expect to grow its presence further in the city.

The company has said it plans to hire 25,000 employees in the Bellevue area. In addition to the Sonic tower, other buildings include Dynamo, which opened in February and can house up to 1,500 employees, as well as a 43-story tower referred to as the "Bellevue 600" project. The tower, its largest, will have about 1 million square feet of office space.

While the company is resuming work in Bellevue, some of Amazon's other office projects remain halted. Last March, Amazon said it would pause construction on the second phase of its sprawling northern Virginia campus, called HQ2. The second phase, referred to as PenPlace, includes three 22-story office buildings, retail space and a 350-foot-tall tower called "The Helix." The first phase of HQ2 opened last year.
Companies may eventually transition to four days in person, with a flexible Friday option, according to Barry Diller.

"It's madness," said the IAC and Expedia chairman of the range of work-from-home and in-person combinations during an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. " Which is what is going to lead to  I think sensibly  not necessarily a four-day work week, but four days in the office, and Fridays you can work from home or work at your own schedule."

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies have gravitated toward flexible working schedules, but the multitude of options has created some "chaos" at companies, according to Diller.

"I think that is going to be the sensible evolution of all this, but it has to be standardized," he said. "You can't have 17,000 different programs, because how do you deal with all the things around it?"

Diller isn't the only investor calling for a more flexible working norm. During an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday, Mets owner Steve Cohen said that the growth of artificial intelligence could lead to a shortened four-day work week.
US President Joe Biden (L) meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. US President Joe Biden landed in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023 as Middle East anger flared after hundreds were killed when a rocket struck a hospital in war-torn Gaza, with Israel and the Palestinians quick to trade blame. ( Brendan Smialowski | Getty Images

President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that Israel's strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers earlier this week and the overall humanitarian situation were "unacceptable" and issued a warning about the U.S. changing its policy toward Israel. Biden "made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers," the White House said in a readout of the call. More from NBC News: RFK Jr. campaign says Jan. 6 'activists' have been 'stripped of their Constitutional liberties' No Labels ends 2024 presidential efforts World Central Kitchen aid worker's family calls for an independent probe into the deadly attack Notably, Biden also "made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps." According to two U.S. officials, Biden strongly implied to Netanyahu that he could condition U.S. military aid to Israel on what it does to address humanitarian concerns in Gaza and get to a ceasefire as soon as possible. "That was the message," one of the officials said. Asked to elaborate on what that could amount to, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the press briefing that he wouldn't preview specific steps that the U.S. might take. "What we are looking to see and hope to see here in the coming hours and days is a dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance getting [into Gaza], additional crossings opened up and a reduction in the violence against civilians and certainly aid workers," Kirby said, adding that they want to see Israel "take practical immediate steps to protect aid workers on the ground and to demonstrate that they have that civilian harm mitigation in place." Kirby was pressed repeatedly about whether the U.S. could withhold military aid to Israel and said he wouldn't get ahead of any decisions.

Bodies of foreign employees of the US-based international volunteer aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), who were killed after an Israeli attack on a vehicle belonging to WCK, are taken to En-Neccar Hospital in Rafah city, Gaza on April 03, 2024. Yasser Qudaih | Anadolu | Getty Images

"There are too many civilians being killed," Kirby said. "The risk to aid workers is unacceptable. Now we have certain aid organizations that are reconsidering whether they're even going to be able to continue operations in Gaza, while famine looms, so there has to be tangible steps. Let's see what they announce, let's see what they direct, let's see what they do." Two U.S. officials said Biden told Netanyahu to immediately begin letting more trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza and to be less stringent about what materials are on them. Biden also shifted his stance on a ceasefire in Gaza during the call, telling the prime minister he must agree to one, and that the easiest way to achieve that is a deal that would implement a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages by Hamas, the officials said. If Netanyahu does not agree to a ceasefire, the president made clear that U.S. relations with Israel would significantly change, the officials said. The White House readout said the president told Netanyahu that "an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians." Biden told Netanyahu to "empower" his negotiators to reach a deal that would include a return of the hostages being held in Gaza. "The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people," the White House added. "President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats." This moment, after Israel's killing of seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen, one of the U.S. officials said, "is an inflection point in this war." The call lasted for about 30 minutes, according to a senior Biden administration official. A U.S. official said ahead of the call that Biden intended to convey his anger over the incident to Netanyahu during their conversation.

Palestinians are walking in front of the closed headquarters of the World Central Kitchen two days after a convoy of the NGO was hit in an Israeli strike while battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, west of Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, on April 3, as Israel faces a chorus of outrage over their deaths. Majdi Fathi | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The call between the leaders was arranged after the strike occurred, a separate U.S. official said, describing Biden as being "very angry" about the incident. The president's anger is "indicative of the broader problem of how the Israelis are conducting their operations," for "either not passing on to their military the deconfliction details from World Central Kitchen, or they're being received and ignored," the official said. Vice President Kamala Harris, who was traveling to North Carolina on Thursday, also listened to the call. The seven workers killed in the strike on Monday included a dual U.S.-Canada citizen, according to chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen. Biden called Andres "to express that he's heartbroken" over their deaths, the White House said on Tuesday. Israel said it didn't intend to target and kill the humanitarian aid workers, but the charity said that its team had coordinated its movements with the Israel Defense Forces and that they were traveling in a "deconflicted zone" in vehicles that included two armored cars branded with the World Central Kitchen logo. After the attack, the nonprofit organization said it was immediately pausing operations in the region. Biden and Netanyahu last spoke by phone on March 18. In that call, Biden warned the Israeli leader against authorizing a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Bodies of foreign employees of the US-based international volunteer aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), who were killed after an Israeli attack on a vehicle belonging to WCK, are taken to El-Nejar Hospital in Rafah city, Gaza on April 03, 2024. Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu | Getty Images
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 13, 2024. Sara Stathas | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Allies of President Joe Biden are ramping up a charm offensive aimed at getting high-profile Republicans and donors who won't support Donald Trump to back the Democratic president. But the task is proving difficult, according to people familiar with the efforts. As of Thursday, Biden had not yet secured any endorsements from nationally recognized Republican Party officials. Meanwhile, several major Republican-leaning political donors who backed former presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley's campaign are holding back, at least for now, as they make up their minds whether to support Biden. "Winning campaigns build coalitions, and that is this campaign's north star for every single day between now and November  earning the support of the voters who will decide this race," Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz told CNBC in an email Wednesday. For Biden, there is one Republican endorsement that would outshine all the others. But it is a long shot.

The ultimate endorsement

A few of Biden's donors who also backed Haley in her primary challenge to Trump have tried to privately encourage her to endorse Biden, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley meets with supporters as she announces her run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Allison Joyce Allison Joyce | Reuters

Like others in this story, they were granted anonymity to describe private conversations. As of Thursday, Biden and his senior campaign advisors had not connected with Haley or members of her team about a possible endorsement, they said. And it was unclear if Haley has responded to any of the outreach from her past contributors. One advisor to a Democratic Biden donor who was aware of this outreach to Haley described the campaign to win her support for Biden as an "almost impossible task." For Haley, endorsing Biden could mean sacrificing any future political prospects she has in a Republican Party that is increasingly controlled by Trump. A spokeswoman for Haley did not respond to emails seeking comment.

The bold-faced names

In the coming months, the Biden team plans to reach out to other Republicans who have taken on Trump, including former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, according to a person familiar with the matter. A "Republicans for Biden" group could be finalized ahead of the Democratic National Convention in July. While Haley, Cheney and Christie have not endorsed Biden, each of them has previously denounced Trump in public. Cheney appears to have come closer than any other high-profile Republican to vocally supporting Biden over Trump  albeit without officially endorsing the president.

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"I'm gonna do whatever is necessary to defeat Donald Trump," she said in a recent CNN interview. A spokesman for Cheney did not respond to a request for comment. The Biden team believes that big named endorsements would likely make the biggest difference later in the election cycle, after the president has firmed up support within his Democratic base and drawn a sharp contrast with Trump. In recent weeks, the president has been traveling to key states to activate core Democratic voters and highlight his administration's record of success. At the same time, his campaign has been scaling up its battleground state staff and offices.

The donors

As Biden's campaign builds an operation that will likely cost north of a billion dollars when all is said and done, Biden is looking to pad his campaign coffers with cash from anti-Trump Republican donors. Biden outraised Trump by tens of millions of dollars during the first quarter of 2024. But a newly created Republican joint fundraising committee that can accept donations of up to $814,600 per person may begin to tilt the scales in Trump's favor. There is already an effort underway by wealthy Biden donors to recruit Haley's bundlers and contributors. But like the attempt to gain endorsements, here, too, things appear tough. Some Haley donors cited policy disagreements with the Democratic administration as a big reason they couldn't commit to Biden yet, according to people familiar with the matter. But others already appear more open to donating money to Biden than they are to supporting Trump. Some Haley bundlers said a gift from Haley left them with the impression that the former South Carolina governor hoped they wouldn't donate to Trump, one of the people explained. Shortly after Haley's withdrawal from the GOP primary on March 6, she sent campaign T-shirts to some of her bundlers that said "Barred. Permanently." The shirt was a reference to Trump's notorious threat that anyone who gave money to Haley would be "permanently barred from the MAGA camp." But a different person familiar with the matter said the T-shirts were never intended to send any message other than to say "thank you" to her supporters.

Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Nikki Haley selling "Barred. Permanently. Nikki Haley for President" T-Shirts. Nikki Haley via X

George Conway, a onetime Republican and vocal Trump opponent, recently gave $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund and said he plans to attend a dinner for the committee on April 26. The Biden Victory Fund raises money for the Biden campaign, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of state parties. Conway told CNBC the party's co-hosts are mostly Democrats but that he plans "to try to get some more apostates to show up." As of Thursday, it was unclear if any other current or former Republicans plan to attend. "Everyone, including Republican voters who reject Trump's chaos, division, and violence, has a home in President Biden's campaign," said Munoz, the Biden campaign aide. Yet even as some Haley Republicans signal they want to take a break, for now, from presidential politics, other parts of the Never Trump universe want Biden to step things up.

The ready and willing

For these Republicans, Biden's current outreach does not go far enough to reengage disenchanted Haley voters, many of whom have already experienced a big disappointment this year. "There were [approximately] 76k votes for Nikki Haley last night in [Wisconsin's primary]," Bill Kristol, a Never Trump political consultant and former Reagan administration aide, wrote in a post on social media site X. "Biden won WI by [approximately] 20k votes in 2020. Republican voters against Trump matter," he added. "A little more outreach from Team Biden to those voters might not be a bad idea."

Bill Kristol Michael Brochstein | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Kristol's nonprofit, Defending Democracy Together, is helping to finance a $50 million ad campaign from a group called Republican Voters Against Trump. The ads will feature onetime Trump voters explaining why they decided not to vote for him again. Mike Madrid, a co-founder of the anti-Trump PAC The Lincoln Project, told CNBC that Republicans ready to play a role in the 2024 election are still waiting for some guidance from Biden's team. "Most interaction with the Biden campaign has been informal to this point, because most of the donors, elected officials and campaign professionals are looking for direction," said Madrid. "We're waiting for marching orders," he said.

Everyone else

While some of the key players in Bidenland are busy courting individual Republicans, other parts of Biden's team are designing ways to connect with disillusioned Haley supporters across the country. The Biden campaign recently launched an advertisement encouraging Haley's supporters to back Biden instead of Trump. A political action committee called "Haley Voters for Biden" is also trying to persuade Haley voters to support Biden, according to Semafor.

Former UN Ambassador and 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (L), speaks to the press outside a polling site at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire, on January 23, 2024. Joseph Prezioso | AFP | Getty Images
The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, Boeing 737 Max 9, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Portland, Oregon, U.S. January 7, 2024.

Boeing paid Alaska Airlines $160 million in compensation in the first quarter for the grounding of the 737 Max 9, according to the airline.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded the jets after a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska when the flight was at 16,000 feet, coming inches from another tragedy involving Boeing's best-selling jet.

Alaska said in a filing Thursday that its first-quarter "results were significantly impacted by Flight 1282 in January and the Boeing 737-9 MAX grounding which extended into February."

Alaska said it expects additional compensation beyond the first quarter.

Alaska also said demand was strong despite an immediate impact after the accident. "Although we did experience some book away following the accident and 737-9 MAX grounding, February and March both finished above our original pre-grounding expectations due to these core improvements," it said.

The filing is an early look at what Boeing is providing its major customers due to the Jan. 5 accident, which has led to additional government scrutiny and a slowdown in aircraft deliveries and production.

United Airlines ' pilots union told members last week that the airline is offering pilots unpaid time off in May because of delayed Boeing deliveries, CNBC reported earlier this week.

Boeing didn't immediately comment. The manufacturer and U.S. airlines report first-quarter results later in April.

Alaska shares were up more than 5% in morning trading, while Boeing was up 1%, compared with a 0.6% gain in the broader market .
Robert Iger, President and CEO of Walt Disney Company announces a $5 million dollar donation with Mickey Mouse for the New Hospital Building at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, October 30, 2006 in Los Angeles, California.

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here .

Wall Street mixed

The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its losses to a third straight day, falling 0.11% to 39,127.14  dragged by a more than 8% dive in Intel shares after the company posted operating losses in its semiconductor manufacturing business. The S&P 500 ended up 0.11% at 5,211.49 to clock its first winning session of the week. The Nasdaq Composite finished up 0.23% at 16,277.46.

More evidence please

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday policymakers will take more time to assess the state of inflation, suggesting the timing of any potential interest rate cuts remains uncertain. Hedge fund managers Steve Cohen and David Einhorn said it would be difficult for the Fed to get inflation down to its 2% goal. In fact, Einhorn's loading up on gold positions in anticipation of a pick up in inflation.

Tech layoffs

Amazon's cloud computing division said Wednesday it's cutting hundreds of jobs in its physical stores, technology and sales and marketing units. Sales growth in the division has declined in recent quarters as companies trim their cloud computing expenditure. These cuts comes as Amazon confirmed it's ditching unmanned checkouts at its Fresh supermarkets in the U.S.

Elon lawsuits

Another former Twitter executive is suing Elon Musk and X for breach of contract and a failure to pay severance and benefits. Nick Caldwell, now chief product officer at Peloton, is claiming Musk and X "cheated" him and other executives out of a combined $200,000,000 in severance benefits. This lawsuit is similar to the one filed by other Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, claiming they were owed $128 million in unpaid severance.

[PRO] Autos winners

A Tesla short-seller named two auto stocks that he believes have the potential to deliver 100% upside for investors.
Photo Illustrating Coinbase in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China on June 6, 2023 (Photo Illustration by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Coinbase has been granted a registration license in Canada, the company told CNBC, allowing it to make deeper inroads abroad as it faces a regulatory crackdown in its U.S. home market.

The firm said it has been registered in Ontario as a restricted dealer under the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), an umbrella organization of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators.

Authorization means that the company now meets the Canadian regulators' strict requirements for crypto assets dealing and can operate legally in the country.

Last year, Canada introduced new guidelines for crypto exchanges that limit how much certain investors can invest in crypto, as well as introduce mandatory registrations for crypto firms.

The policy changes led Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, to quit its activity in Canada, saying it was "no longer tenable" to operate there.

Rival crypto exchange Kraken said last year that it had filed a pre-registration undertaking (PRU) with the Ontario Securities Commission, effectively starting the process to become a registered dealer in Canada.

Coinbase filed its PRU in March 2023 and subsequently officially launched in the country in August that year. The company says it is the first international crypto exchange to receive restricted dealer registration in Canada.
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks to reporters after speaking in a panel hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran  U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US) at the Willard InterContinental Hotel on August 17, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton believes Israel's war in Gaza is "still in the very early stages" and says it has been complicated by Iran's involvement.

Framing the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas as "an Iranian war against Israel," Bolton told CNBC's Dan Murphy: "The fact that Iran has not yet been held to account for any of it, suggests that we're still in the very early stages of the war."

Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group launched a surprise terror attack on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people including women and children, and kidnapping more than 200 others. Some 130 are presumed to be still in captivity in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.

"This is not a Gaza versus Israel war, or a Palestinian versus Israel war, or an Arab versus Israel war. This is an Iranian war against Israel, fought through terrorist proxies," he told CNBC on Wednesday. Bolton is a noted foreign policy hawk and has previously advocated for regime change by the U.S. in Iran.

On Monday, Iran accused Israel of bombing part of its embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing seven Iranian military personnel, including three senior commanders. Tehran has vowed retaliation, while Israel has not publicly acknowledged the strike.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, center, waits with others to receive Chinese President Xi Jinping at the San Francisco International Airport on Nov. 14, 2023, ahead of Xi's meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.

BEIJING  U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was scheduled to arrive in China on Thursday ahead of four full days of meetings with Chinese officials.

It's her second trip to the country since the summer, as the U.S. and China seek to increase high-level communication in an otherwise tense relationship. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also due to visit China again later this year.

"I think our expectation is that we will at senior levels, and increasingly at all levels, continue to have ongoing and deepening dialogue. We went for too long with too little communication, and misunderstandings developed," Yellen told reporters ahead of her arrival in China.

Her trip will cover the southern city of Guangzhou  the capital of China's export-heavy province of Guangdong  and the national capital of Beijing, according to a press release.

Here's her full itinerary of meetings:
When interviewing for a job, the majority of Americans miss one critical step: negotiating their possible future salary. More than half, 58% of men and 61% of women, say they didn't ask for higher pay the last time they were hired, according to the Pew Research Center. But that could mean leaving a lot of money on the table. "The thing I think people don't understand is that that salary that you walk in with compounds over time," says Nolan Church, former Google recruiter and current CEO of salary data company FairComp. That means that "as they do increases, they're anchoring on that salary." The higher you start, the higher that salary will get over time. Here's how Church recommends going about negotiating for more pay during an interview.

'Companies begin the offer negotiation at the bottom'

To begin with, it's important to understand how companies come up with your offer in the first place. Many companies "spend usually tens of thousands of dollars a year on compensation data," Church says. They get it from data providers with real-time, up-to-date figures about pay in their industry. "That's how they'll create bands," or salary ranges for specific roles, he says. And when it's time to make that offer, "typically, companies begin the offer negotiation at the bottom of the band." DON'T MISS: The ultimate guide to acing your interview and landing your dream job Another guiding principle in how companies build their offer packages is compensation philosophy, which outlines their attitude toward compensation at large. This includes where in the spectrum of salary ranges they fall  do they pay more than most companies, the same, or less  how much paid time off they offer, etc. Both of these elements play into their calculations.

'What is your compensation philosophy?'

After the interview process, when you get a job offer, Church recommends asking your prospective employer two questions. First, "how does this level map to your bands internally?" When companies are setting their salary bands, they often have "levels one through 10," he says. The levels can be reflected in titles but aren't always so clear. He gives the example of the role of software engineer, which both people who've just graduated college and people who've worked for decades can have. "Figuring out the specific level that you're at will indicate the level of seniority the company believes you have," he says, and therefore the kind of salary they think you're eligible for. The second question he recommends asking is, "what is your compensation philosophy?" They could say something like "we pay 75th percentile," which means they pay better than 75% of companies in the industry. This will give you a sense of where in the market they anchor their offers.

'I want to join, if you can hit this number'
Former President Bill Clinton has a memoir coming out this fall about his years since leaving public office in 2001. Citizen: My Life After the White House will cover everything from the presidential campaigns of his wife, Hillary Clinton, to his views on events ranging from the Jan. 6 insurrection to the Iraq War.

Alfred A. Knopf, which published Clinton's million-selling presidential memoir My Life, will release the new book Nov. 19.

I knew as I entered this new chapter of my life that Id keep score the way I always have: Are people better off when you quit than when you started? Do our children have a brighter future? Are we coming together instead of falling apart? Clinton said in a statement Thursday.

"'Citizen' is the story of my 23-plus years since leaving the White House, told largely through the stories of other people who changed my life as I tried to help change theirs, of those who supported me, including those I loved and lost, and of the mistakes I made along the way, he said.

Knopf is calling the book remarkably candid, and richly detailed, offering fascinating insight into Clintons life  both personal and political.

Over the past two decades, Clinton has worked on numerous charitable causes, including AIDS treatment and relief for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Besides My Life, his books have included the policy tract Working and a pair of bestselling thrillers co-authored by James Patterson: The President Is Missing and The President's Daughter.

He has also been involved in various controversies, among them questions over the funding for Haiti's rebuilding efforts and his association with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein (Clinton, who flew several times on Epsteins private jet, has denied any awareness that Epstein was involved in sex trafficking). In 2018, the #MeToo movement revived talk of Clinton's affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

A Knopf spokesperson declined comment on whether Clinton would write about Epstein or other controversies.

Financial terms for Citizen were not disclosed. Clinton was represented by Robert Barnett and Michael OConnor of Williams & Connolly, where other clients include Hillary Clinton, former President George W. Bush and Barbra Streisand. (AP)
Employees work at the headquarters of security system developer Staqu Technologies in Gurugram, India. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India is facing a youth unemployment problem as a decline in white-collar jobs in its information technology sector has left many fresh graduates and young people unemployed. In the October to December period last year, unemployment in India's youth aged 20 to 24 years rose to 44.49%, from 43.65% in the previous quarter. Unemployment among 25- to 29-year-olds rose to 14.33% during the same period from 13.35% in the prior quarter, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. The world's most populous country, which also has the world's largest youth population, had 43.3 million university enrollments in fiscal year ending March 2022, according to the latest government data. "We've seen consistently high growth of the economy, but I don't think employment has kept up pace," Chandra Garisa, CEO of recruitment firm Foundit said, explaining that white-collar job availability, especially in the IT sector, has been on a decline.

"One of the largest segments that employ white-collar employees is IT and services, and hiring in the sector has slowed down quite a bit," he told CNBC. As automation and artificial intelligence adoption picks up pace, many roles in IT are becoming redundant  a phenomenon that's not restricted to India. "Earlier, the vast majority of college graduates used to be hired for basic skills, but now those basic skills are being taken care of by technology," Garisa noted. Data from Foundit showed that online hiring for both IT hardware and software sections plummeted by 18% last year from 2022. IT saw the biggest decline in hiring activity across the 14 sectors in the study. There was also an overall 5% drop in job postings in 2023 from the prior year.

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"There is a mismatch between demand and supply of jobs and it is becoming a larger social issue in India," Suyash Rai, deputy director and fellow at Carnegie India told CNBC. The IT sector is estimated to have employed 5.4 million people in fiscal year ending March 2023, according to the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

Skills mismatch
Tesla may have further to fall in the near-term despite its long-term potential, according to Morgan Stanley. "We do not believe Tesla will get credit as an AI company as long as core auto earnings are being revised down," wrote widely-followed Tesla bull Adam Jonas. "This process may take a few more quarters to see through, over which time our $100 bear case may be 'in play'," the analyst wrote in a report Thursday. The $100 bear case suggests that Tesla could fall more than 40% from Wednesday's close. Shares of the electric vehicle maker have come under pressure in recent months, falling 33% this year, as competition mounts in China and demand wanes. Earlier this week, Tesla reported an 8.5% decline in first-quarter deliveries compared to a year ago. These issues could hamstring Tesla near term, but Jonas expects deliveries to find a bottom in the second quarter. In fact, he views Tesla as a combination of an auto, energy, AI and robotics stock, noting that its auto business represents only 20% of Morgan Stanley's $310 price target valuation. "At the same time, however, we believe investors should not ignore the continued developments of Tesla's other plays, many of which are auto-related (i.e. the recurring revenue opportunity from the Tesla fleet  embedded in our Tesla Network Services valuation) and other areas that we do not include within our $310 target," he said. The $310 price target, down from a previous $320, suggests that Tesla stands to gain 84% from Wednesday's close over the next 12 months. Jonas reiterated an overweight recommendation on Tesla in his report.
Military experts operate at the site of a Russian aerial bombing of a high-rise residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district on March 27, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Russian drone strikes on Kharkiv early Thursday morning killed at least four people, including three rescue workers, and injured 12 more, according to Ukrainian officials.

In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said Iranian-made shahed drones struck a 14-story residential apartment block, destroying several floors and resulting in a death and multiple casualties.

A repeat attack on a separate area of Ukraine's second-largest city killed three rescue workers who had arrived on the scene after the first strike, he added.

As NATO foreign ministers gather in Brussels to mark the defense alliance's 75th anniversary, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reportedly said on Thursday that relations between Russia and NATO have "slipped to the level of direct confrontation."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told state news agency RIA in an interview published Thursday that dialog with Moscow had been reduced to a "critical zero" by Washington and Brussels.

However, Grushko reportedly said that Russia has no intention of entering into open conflict with any NATO member.

Correction: This blog has been updated to reflect that the Russian drone strikes on Kharkiv occurred early Thursday morning.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) Partnership as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia participate at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, United States.

The State Department's No. 2 diplomat suggested on Wednesday that the AUKUS submarine project between Australia, Britain and the U.S. could help deter any Chinese move against Taiwan.

The project, unveiled by the three countries in 2023, involves Australia acquiring nuclear-powered attack submarines as part of the allies' efforts to push back against China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific region.

But the three countries have been reluctant to publicly tie AUKUS to growing tensions over Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China as its territory, with Australia saying it did not promise to support the U.S. in any Taiwan military conflict.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell made a rare linkage between Taiwan and AUKUS, telling Washington's Center for a New American Security think tank that new submarine capabilities would enhance peace and stability, including in the strait that separates China and Taiwan.

AUKUS' submarine capabilities "have enormous implications in a variety of scenarios, including in cross-strait circumstances," Campbell said.

"I would argue that working closely with other nations, not just diplomatically but in defense avenues, has the consequence of strengthening peace and stability more generally," he added.
A Tesla short-seller named two auto stocks that he believes have the potential to deliver 100% upside for investors. Per Lekander, managing partner at investment management firm Clean Energy Transition , is bullish on Mercedes Benz and Stellantis despite the challenges faced by these companies in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Lekander, who holds a short position in Tesla shares, has said the EV carmaker could "go bust" while its stock could fall to $14. Short-sellers profit when shares fall. His comments came after Tesla reported 386,810 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter, significantly below the lowest market estimates . "This was really the beginning of the end of the Tesla bubble, which probably, arguably was the biggest stock market bubble in modern history," Lekander told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Wednesday. Lekander's firm manages nearly $3 billion in assets and successfully called a 2018 rally in carbon prices. The hedge fund manager said that the Tesla bubble had created what he called an "anti-bubble" in the auto sector, causing investors to be overly bearish on companies that are actually performing well. He pointed out that Stellantis , which owns Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and more, has delivered nearly 100% total return in the last two years, with 30% coming from dividends. Mercedes has also performed well, albeit to a lesser extent, with 35% total returns. In comparison, Tesla's value has halved over the same period. STLA TSLA line 2022-04-03 Despite their strong performance, both Stellantis and Mercedes are trading at about six times forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), which Lekander believes is a significant undervaluation. Meanwhile, Tesla continues to be valued at nearly 60 times next year's earnings. He attributed this to the unreasonably rosy expectations surrounding Tesla and the EV market, which has led to a pessimistic outlook for traditional automakers. Stellantis is due to report its first-quarter total sales on April 30. Tesla will report earnings on April 23. Valuing AI in auto Lekander also dismissed the notion that Tesla's self-driving software justifies its high valuation, noting that the product is still in early research and development. In fact, he pointed out that Mercedes is one of the only automakers to have partnered with Nvidia, an AI chipmaker, to make " software-defined vehicles " in the near future. "I thus remain massively bullish quality auto stocks, Stellantis and Mercedes are my favourites as they are well run and fully investor owned," Lekander told CNBC via email. He believes that if these companies were valued on similar terms to other large manufacturers, shares of Stellantis and Mercedes could double from current levels. "If I compare to other industrials companies with similar margins, cyclicality and balance sheets Stellantis should be a 10x PE stock and Mercedes more like 15x implying that they still have at least 100% upside from here," Lekander said.  CNBC's Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Bernstein initiates Reddit at underperform Bernstein said it sees too many headwinds for the social media and website company. "The headline optics aren't pretty. An unprofitable business, IPO a liquidity event with heavy exec selling, Redditors themselves apathetic, and investors wondering whether mid-sized social platforms are structurally disadvantaged and too sub-scale to compete." Raymond James initiates Grindr at outperform Raymond James says the dating app owner is well positioned. "We are initiating coverage of Grindr (GRND) with an Outperform rating and a $14 price target." Raymond James downgrades Bumble to market perform from outperform Raymond James said in its downgrade of Bumble that it sees too many negative catalysts. "While we believe that its brand is among the best-positioned in the space in terms of relevance with young people, we do see near-term headwinds stemming from changing user habits, which require significant rethinks among apps built in the Millennial era." Citi adds a positive catalyst watch on CDW Citi said it sees a "growing AI total addressable market" for the tech company. "We are raising estimates and opening a positive catalyst watch on CDW to reflect increasing optimism for CDW's services revenues." Barclays downgrades Ferrari to equal weight from overweight Barclays said it's taking a breather on shares of Ferrari ahead of earnings due in early May. "We actually see a strong Q1'24 thanks to very strong mix  but still think it's time for a pit stop  downgrade to EW." Mizuho reiterates Nvidia as a top pick Mizuho says Nvidia is still a top idea at the firm. "We rate NVDA with a Buy rating and a $1,000 PT, ~31x F26E EPS, within its historical 15-67x range, which we see as appropriate given as NVDA continues to dominate the AI landscape with a holistic hardware and software offering..." JPMorgan initiating SharkNinja at overweight JPMorgan said the household products company is well positioned. " SharkNinja is a global household products company that aims to solve consumer problems, supported by technology and engineering-led innovation at affordable prices." Goldman Sachs upgrades Avis to neutral from sell Goldman said in its upgrade of Avis that the "thesis has now played out." "We upgrade CAR to Neutral (from prior Sell rating) as we believe our thesis has now played out." Morgan Stanley initiates Mural Oncology at overweight Morgan said in its initiation of the biotech company that it sees a long "cash runway" lasting through 2025. "We initiate coverage of MURA with an OW rating and $13 PT." UBS downgrades Bank of America to neutral from buy UBS said in its downgrade of the Charlotte-based bank that it sees a "rate trap" ahead. "After adjusting estimates upward to reflect 3 cuts in '24 and 4 cuts in '25 (vs. 6 and 2 prior) and raising our PT by $1 to $40, we find upside limited at BAC over the next 12 months." Wolfe double upgrades Synchrony to outperform from underperform Wolfe said the finance and credit company is well positioned in a "higher-for-longer" rate environment. "In an environment where we see beneficiaries of healthy labor markets outperforming casualties of higher-for-longer rates we upgrade SYF to Outperform." Piper Sandler initiates Synopsys at overweight Piper said it sees "margin opportunity" for the software company. "Benefiting from strong hyperscaler/datacenter activity, Synopsys has seen a substantial improvement in metrics over the past four years: growing at 15% CAGR and expanding operating margins by 1000bps since 2019." Morgan Stanley downgrades Block to underweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley sees growth headwinds for the payment tech company. "Similarly, we're unconvinced about Block's ability to sustainably reaccelerate Square Seller growth based on medium term headwinds we've identified." Piper Sandler downgrades Dave & Buster's to neutral from overweight Piper downgraded the stock following the release of its latest earnings. "Following PLAY's 4Q23 earnings results last night, we are moving our rating to Neutral, down from Overweight prior." Jefferies initiates BioLife Solutions at buy Jefferies said in its initiation of the bioproduction company that shares of BioLife are compelling with profit margin upside. "Mix of commercially approved basket of drugs & robust clinical pipeline offer attractive durable (and high margin) recurring rev opportunity, supporting mid-teens revenue [compound annual growth rate] thru '26." Goldman Sachs reiterates Super Micro at neutral Goldman says the stock is an "AI winner" but its valuation is full right now. "Supermicro: AI winner but investor feedback mixed to negative on valuation." Morgan Stanley upgrades Zeta to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the marketing technology company has an underappreciated valuation. " Zeta's growth has proven more resilient despite a tough spending environment for marketing software and advertising." Oppenheimer reiterates Coinbase at outperform Oppenheimer raised its price target on the stock to $276 per share from $200. "Some of our thesis has played out as expected. At this level of trading, we are cautious about the near-term volatility, but remain positive on the long-term adoption of blockchain technology. We believe Coinbase can be one of the beneficiaries for this long-term trend." UBS reiterates Apple as neutral UBS said its checks show that Apple's App Store revenue was higher in March compared to February. "Our analysis of Apple's App Store suggests revenue in the month of March was up ~13% YoY, a 200 bps increase from the ~11% growth in February." Barclays downgrades Ball to equal weight from overweight Barclays said in its downgrade of the glass and lid producer that shares of Ball are fully valued now. "We think it is prudent to move to the sidelines as valuation is now back to early 2022 levels, with still some ongoing risks around near-term volumes and beer demand." Evercore ISI upgrades Wayfair to outperform from in line Evercore sees revenue acceleration ahead for shares of Wayfair. "Wayfair is trying to look its best for its 10th year as a public company. We want to be there for the party when revenues accelerate and are upgrading the stock to Outperform." JPMorgan adds a positive catalyst watch on AstraZeneca JPMorgan added a positive catalyst watch on AstraZeneca heading into the biopharma company's earnings later this month. "We expect Q124 results to see a sharp acceleration in top-line growth and significant sequential Core EBIT margin expansion." Jefferies reiterates Amazon as buy Jefferies raised its price target on the e-commerce platform to $225 per share from $190 after a series of expert meetings. "Our AWS expert sees an improving cloud environment, but believes AMZN needs to improve its AI offering to stay competitive as multicloud adoption grows." Jefferies reiterates Meta as buy Jefferies raised its price target on Meta to $585 per share from $550. "Based on our updated market share analysis, we believe Meta could capture 50% of incremental industry ad dollars in 2024, which would be its highest ever and well above its 33% in 2023." Citi reiterates General Motors as a top pick Citi said it's standing by shares of the GMC, Chevrolet and Buick parent. "With Q1 wrapping up, its become clearer that GM is likely to post another resilient quarter." Wolfe upgrades Capital One to outperform from peer perform Wolfe sees "meaningful upside" for shares of Capital One. "In an environment where we see beneficiaries of healthy labor markets outperforming casualties of higher-for-longer rates we upgrade COF to Outperform, with meaningful upside if the DFS deal closes and limited downside if it does not." Mizuho initiates Wynn as buy Mizuho sees a "compelling" valuation and Macau recovery for Wynn shares. "WYNNing Formula  Upside to Estimates + Long-term Optionality, BUY, $131 PT." Benchmark initiates DoorDash at buy Benchmark says it's bullish on shares of the food delivery company. "Our Buy recommendation is rooted in DASH's ever-growing dominance in restaurant delivery and the subsequent network effects its massive user/driver scale afford it to new retail vectors including grocery, convenience, and brick and mortar broadly." Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla at overweight Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $310 per share from $320. " Tesla's weak 1Q update is a clear sign of the ongoing EV 'shake-out' phase." Goldman Sachs downgrades Hertz to sell from neutral Goldman downgraded the rental car company and said it sees too many negative catalysts not priced in. "We downgrade HTZ to Sell (from prior Neutral rating), as we believe the full extent of pricing, cost and DPU [depreciation per unit] pressures have not been priced in." UBS upgrades Eversource Energy to buy from neutral UBS said in its upgrade of Eversource that shares of the residential energy company are compelling. "Upgrade to Buy from Neutral; Overly Discounted for Near-term Transformation."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after surrendering at the Fulton County jail on August 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

A judge on Thursday denied an effort by Donald Trump to dismiss his criminal election interference case in Georgia on grounds that the indictment violates his free speech rights.

The former president and 14 of his co-defendants in the case argued that the indictment brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis encroached on their First Amendment right to challenge Trump's 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden in the state.

But their speech is alleged to have been made "in furtherance of criminal activity," Judge Scott McAfee wrote in his 14-page ruling in Fulton County Superior Court.

"Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity," McAfee wrote.

The judge noted that he was interpreting the indictment "liberally in favor of the State" as is required during the pretrial period.

The defendants argued that their speech about Georgia's 2020 election results was political and that they cannot be prosecuted for making even false political statements.

But the charges do not hinge solely on whether their election claims were true or false, McAfee wrote.

"Instead, the indictment avers throughout that the Defendants acted 'willfully' and 'knowingly,' and that they impacted matters of governmental concern," the judge wrote.

"These are not legal conclusions, but issues of fact," McAfee wrote in the ruling. "The allegations that the Defendants' speech or conduct was carried out with criminal intent are something only a jury can resolve."
Trump Media is "a scam," and people buying its high-flying stock are "dopes," IAC and Expedia Chairman Barry Diller said Thursday in a scathing takedown of the social media company whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump.

"I mean, it's ridiculous," Diller said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" when asked about Trump Media. "The company has no revenue."

"It's a scam, just like everything he's ever been involved in is some sort of con," he said of Trump.

A Trump Media spokeswoman, in response to Diller's comments, said, "It is unsurprising to see die-hard Trump haters and leftwing flacks blow a gasket now that Truth Social has become a public company that, still today, refuses to suppress political expression that contradicts the narratives they want to enforce."

CNBC has requested comment from a spokesman for Trump, who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

When Trump Media began trading last week with the ticker DJT, its share price rocketed up about 50% to close to $80 before settling down. As of Thursday morning, Trump Media shares were selling for nearly $47.

That gives the company a whopping $6.4 billion market capitalization despite the fact it had just $4.1 million in revenue last year, and its business is focused on the Truth Social app, which has significantly fewer users than major social media platforms.

Trump Media on Monday reported it had net losses of $58 million in 2023.
A pedestrian walks past a Vodafone store in central London on May 16, 2023. British mobile giant Vodafone is to axe 11,000 jobs over three years in the latest cull to hit the tech sector, as new boss Margherita Della Valle slammed recent performance.

The U.K. competition regulator on Thursday referred the proposed merger between Vodafone and CK Hutchison's Three mobile network to an in-depth investigation.

The Competition and Markets Authority said, with the information that it currently has, the deal may "be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom."

In late March, the CMA gave Vodafone and CK Hutchison five working days to come up with "meaningful solutions" to the regulator's concerns or face an in-depth investigation.

The CMA has given itself a deadline of Sept. 18 to complete the in-depth probe, also known as a phase 2 investigation.

The CMA has previously said the deal could lead to customers facing higher prices and reduced quality, a lessening of competition in the U.K. mobile market. Regulators have argued the transaction could also result in so-called mobile virtual network operators, which rely on Vodafone and Three's infrastructure, not being able to negotiate good deals for their own users.

The regulator's process hinges on a decision on whether the deal will lead to a "substantial lessening of competition" (SLC) in the market. The CMA can clear the transaction in the absence of SLC or request remedies from the companies to address its concerns.

Announced last year, Vodafone and CK Hutchison's transaction would merge the two brands' U.K. businesses, giving Vodafone a 51% controlling stake and leaving CK Hutchison with the minority interest.

The combination of Vodafone's U.K. business and Three UK will reduce the number of mobile operators in the country to just three, following major consolidation in the telecommunications sector in the past few years.

Vodafone and Three said in a joint statement that the investigation was "an expected next step" and is "in line with the timeframe for completion" that the two companies laid out from the onset.

The two mobile networks said they "remain confident that the transaction will drive stronger competition in the mobile sector and give customers and businesses a step-change in network quality, speed, and coverage from day one."

Vodafone and Three reiterated that "there will be no change to each operator's pricing strategy as a result of the merger."

The CMA opened an antitrust probe into the merger in January.
Oil storage tanks in Tuapse, Russia, March 22, 2020. The G7 price cap on Russian oil shipments is cutting the revenue that Moscow has available to support its invasion of Ukraine, and the mechanism's effectiveness is helped by the recent actions of Indian refiners, U.S. officials will say in New Delhi on Thursday, according to prepared remarks.

The G7 price cap on Russian oil shipments is cutting the revenue that Moscow has available to support its invasion of Ukraine, and the mechanism's effectiveness is helped by the recent actions of Indian refiners, U.S. officials will say in New Delhi on Thursday, according to prepared remarks.

The U.S. Treasury officials, Eric Van Nostrand, assistant secretary for economic policy, and Anna Morris, acting assistant secretary for terrorist financing, will make the remarks at an event held by the Ananta Aspen Centre in New Delhi, the Treasury told Reuters on Wednesday.

"We know that the Indian economy has much at stake in the Russian oil trade, and has much at stake from the global supply disruptions that the price cap is designed to avoid," the officials will say.

India has been one of the top consumers of Russian oil since Western sanctions have shifted the market for the crude from Europe to Asia, imposing costs on Russia for relying on a "shadow fleet" of aging tankers to ship it further.

New Delhi has traditionally had close economic and defense ties with Moscow and refrained from criticizing Russia over its war in Ukraine. But last week the foreign ministers of Ukraine and India said they had agreed to restore trade and cooperation to levels before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The price cap imposed by the G7 countries, the European Union and Australia bans the use of Western maritime services such as insurance, flagging and transportation when tankers carry Russian oil priced at or above $60 a barrel. The West imposed the mechanism after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese envoy urges humanitarian assistance to children in armed conflicts

Xinhua) 14:40, April 04, 2024

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations on Wednesday underscored the dire circumstances facing children in armed conflicts worldwide, saying humanitarian assistance is needed urgently.

"Children are the most innocent victims and most vulnerable groups in need of assistance in armed conflicts," Geng Shuang said at the UN Security Council briefing on children and armed conflicts.

The ambassador commended Malta's initiative to convene the meeting, hoping that it would galvanize the international community and the Security Council to "take concrete actions to remove humanitarian obstacles and build a solid protection barrier."

Highlighting the grim situation in Gaza, Geng said, "according to UN Children's Fund, in the past six months, over 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza."

The Security Council's consensus on the protection of children in Gaza was a focal point of Geng's address, urging the implementation of Resolution 2728, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as a crucial step towards ensuring the safety and well-being of children.

"It is imperative that the council resolutions be fully and effectively implemented," Geng said, calling for a halt to all acts harming civilians and for lifting the blockade on Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Geng also highlighted the suffering of children in other conflict zones, such as Afghanistan and Syria, where humanitarian crises are exacerbated by sanctions and the lack of international aid.

He criticized the use of humanitarian funds reduction as a "tool for pressure" and called for the lifting of "unilateral sanctions" that hinder relief efforts.

Geng addressed the broader issue of grave violations against children, including the recruitment of children by armed groups in regions like the Sahel and Somalia.

He also called for comprehensive development initiatives to tackle the root causes of conflict, such as poverty and lack of access to education and healthcare.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Much about billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scotts giving remains a mystery, but those receiving grants from her recent open call for nonprofits do offer some insights, experts say.

Scott's grants, announced in March, largely fall in line with her usual themes  with equity and justice, education, health and economic security and opportunity being the largest categories. However, a slightly larger percentage of the most recent grants went to democracy-focused organizations, said Gabrielle Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of Panorama Global.

Organizations working on race and ethnicity and youth development were the two largest categories according to the database of gifts on her Yield Giving website. Generally, Scott has given the most grants to organizations in the U.S. South, while in the latest round, California and New York were the states with the largest number of recipient nonprofits.

Understanding Scott's giving, which she doesn't discuss beyond essays on her website, remains a high priority for many nonprofits dreaming of receiving one of her large, unrestricted gifts . Scott, who has pledged to give away more than half of her wealth, said she has donated more than $17.3 billion to more than 2,300 nonprofits since 2019. However, her net worth is currently about $37 billion, according to Forbes , about $2 billion more than she had after her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was finalized.

To expand her donations, Scott last year offered nonprofits the chance to apply for $1 million grants through a new initiative run by Lever for Change. She required nonprofit applicants to have annual budgets between $1 million and $5 million, capturing a small percentage of the more than 1.8 million nonprofits in the United States. Ultimately, Scott decided to donate more than the $250 million she initially pledged to applicants.

Scott and her team chose 361 nonprofits out of a pool of 6,353 applicants and awarded them either $1 million or $2 million, providing an overall $640 million in gifts .

Shes been an inspiration for a lot of people, but not a lot of people are acting upon that inspiration, said Pamala Wiepking, a professor at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, who has studied the impact of unrestricted giving on nonprofits.

Along with her coauthors, Wiepking found a mismatch between the missions of many funders who want to effect major social changes and the way they actually give grants, which are often for specific projects for limited periods of time. She regularly speaks with funders who are interested in learning more but she doesn't see many changing their patterns.

Fitzgerald, of Panorama Global, which has studied Scott's giving , including the impact of these large gifts on nonprofits, hoped Scott would continue to roll out additional applications, especially to smaller organizations.

I think the interesting question will be: Will she drop down to the below $1 million annual budget nonprofits in the future? Fitzgerald said. She also urged Scott to consider offering organizations she's previously supported another round of funding, saying, "Her gifts are super generous, but unfortunately, they dont provide long term sustainability.

Early on, Scott was criticized for a lack of transparency. Though she released a public database of her gifts in 2022, she remains essentially unreachable.

The open call, its definitely clear that it was a response to some of the questions around transparency and access, said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, vice president at The Center for Effective Philanthropy, of the recent application process. She is curious to learn what the process was like from the perspective of the nonprofits who applied and to see what mix of giving methodologies Scott deploys going forward.

Lever for Change said it was not facilitating any other round of applications for Scott.

The call to offer nonprofits unrestricted funding goes back decades. In 2019, five major U.S. foundations pledged to end the starvation cycle of nonprofits , recognizing that they were undercutting the work of their grantees by withholding funding for nonprofit operations, sometimes called overhead.

In addition, many major funders actually want to participate in the work of their grantees in some way, to offer their expertise in a topic. Some foundations also provide training or other support to grantees and solicit feedback from them. So far, Scott hasn't provided any such avenue or additional support beyond her remarkable, large gifts.

Theres no long term relationship," Wiepking said of Scott. "What they are saying with trust-based philanthropy is to offer support beyond a check, and thats typically not what she is doing.

Scott's giving, which has averaged $3.3 billion a year since 2019, puts her among the largest philanthropic funders in the U.S. The largest foundation funder, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said it plans to spend $8.6 billion in 2024. Last year, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation said it distributed $4.58 billion , with the majority going to organizations based in or around San Francisco. Michael Bloomberg gave $3 billion in 2023 , according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. (AP)
After years of being overshadowed by flashy electric vehicles from Tesla and others, the hybrid  a gas sipper that has both an engine and an electric motor  is back in the spotlight.

EV sales have slowed in the U.S., according to car website and data tracker Edmunds, with the time it takes for a car to sell once it lands on a dealer's lot having gone from 25 days at the beginning of 2023 to 72 days just over a year later. That metric, called "days to turn," is a good measure of popularity.

The nearly threefold jump in days to turn for EVs is a stratospheric rise, and it doesn't match trends for other vehicle categories. Plain old internal combustion vehicles, which started 2023 at 34 days to turn, went to 52 days to turn in the same time period, according to the Edmunds data.

But standard hybrids easily beat the other categories in popularity  going from 16 days on the lot to 25 days in the same amount of time, data from Edmunds shows.

Hybrid sales grew five times faster than EV sales in February 2024, according to Morgan Stanley.

When the Toyota Prius came to the U.S. in 2000, the hybrid car became both an unlikely favorite among Hollywood stars and a popular choice among cash-strapped consumers looking to save money on gas. It wasn't flashy or luxe, which made its popularity that much more striking.

But soon after that, Tesla sparked EV mania with its sleek, quick electric Roadster and Model S, shoving the hybrid to the margins. Almost every major automaker aggressively followed suit, eager not to be left behind in the EV revolution  that is, except Toyota, which trailed rivals. The world's largest automaker to date, Toyota, which owns Lexus, sells only two EVs  the bZ4X and the Lexus RZ  neither of which sell in large volumes.

Pro-EV and environmental groups say Toyota has been lobbying to slow the EV revolution it missed out on. Though it has experimented before with battery-electric vehicles, such as the RAV EV, the company has long argued that the bridge to full electrification will be a long one and that most consumers aren't ready for fully electric vehicles.

But in late 2021, Toyota in a press release said it planned to release 30 EV models by 2030, with an annual sales target of $3.5 million.

About two years later, sales of hybrids and plug-ins increased nearly 28% over the previous year. They make up 30% of the Japanese behemoth's portfolio.

Toyota is not the only one capitalizing on hybrid sales.

Hyundai may add hybrids to a planned factory in Georgia originally intended to focus on EV. Ford said last year that it would pull back on production of some EV models  including its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck  in favor of more hybrids. General Motors, whose CEO, Mary Barra, has long said the company believes in an "all-electric future," said earlier this year that the company will reintroduce plug-in hybrids to North America.

But the International Council on Clean Transportation said in a white paper published in 2021 that hybrids  simply because they burn fuel  aren't as effective as EVs at reducing greenhouse gases.

Yet, defenders say they are a better short-term solution.

Some, especially plug-ins, may pollute more than expected and even have downsides for owners: high sticker prices, low selection, fuel costs, and all of the costs of maintaining a complex powertrain that involves both electric and conventional combustion elements.

Watch the video to learn more.
Larsen & Toubro received a penalty from Qatars General Tax Authority for the company revealed on Thursday, April 4. The authority has imposed a penalty of  60.84 crore (

26,549,309 QAR) for variation in the income declared by the company as against the authoritys assessment.

NSE

The company was penalised on Wednesday, April 3, for the income declared for the period between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019. The Indian multinational company will file an appeal against the penalty levied as it believes it is arbitrary and unjustified, it said in a regulatory filing.

Based on the companys assessment and prevailing law, the company is reasonably confident of a favourable outcome at the appellate level. Hence, no material adverse impact is envisaged on the financial, operations or other activities of the company, L&T said in the filing.

On Thursday, the shares of L&T closed at a price of 3,800 apiece, with a marginal hike of 0.47% against last closing price of 3782.30 apiece on BSE.
FMCG major Dabur Ltd. expects to report consolidated revenue growth in the mid-single-digit during the March quarter as demand trends continued to remain sluggish during the quarter, it said in an exchange filing. The revenue growth projection also factors in the 2.3% inorganic revenue growth till December 2023 on account of the Badshah Masala acquisition.However, it expects consumption to pick-up in the coming months owing to a positive outlook for the Rabi crop harvest and expectations of a normal monsoon.Dabur's health and personal care segment in India may grow in high-single digits during the quarter, while the F&B segment is expected to register low-single-digit growth. The company also said that it continues to gain market share across categories driven by strong execution. "Badshah Masala continued to perform well and is expected to post strong volume-led growth in the high teens," the company said.Good momentum in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Egypt and Turkey is likely to contribute to a double-digit constant currency growth for Dabur's international business. However, the translated revenue in rupee terms will show a mid-single digit growth due to the currency depreciation in Turkey and Egypt.Gross margin for Dabur is likely to continue expanding due to input cost deflation and cost-saving initiatives. It does expect to see higher Ad spends as the company continues to invest in the brand. "The operating profit is expected to grow slightly ahead of revenue and post an improvement in year-on-year operating margins," the company said.Shares of Dabur are trading 3.1% lower at 514.50. The stock is down 6% over the last 12 months.
Haley Strom 24 has earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) award in Bulgaria. This one-year scholarship is an opportunity for cultural exchange through educational and community engagement. Strom will be teaching in a local school, working with a speech and debate team, and participating in public service and extracurricular initiatives.

I am honored and enthusiastic to learn from and with the Bulgarian community and other Fulbright scholars," says Strom. "I am particularly excited to have the flexibility of designing curriculum around language and personal interests, such as American styles of dance."

Strom says her high school Latin teacher, Michael Roy, helped her the most throughout the Fulbright process. He is my role model for how to bring vitality into language acquisition and learning. His educational and life lessons continue to guide me as a student and person, and I am eager to pay his lessons forward through this role!
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Members of the 138th Space Control Squadron from Colorado and Air National Guard members from Mississippi guide and load a large collapsible satellite antenna into a C-17 Globemaster III. The guardsmen were headed for Joint Base Andrews, along with all their gear loaded on pallets for training with other electromagnetic warfare squadrons from California, Hawaii and Florida.
Overview

The rise of social media addiction and behavioral issues has also corresponded with the rise of smartphone usage, especially among adolescents. When talking about the behavioral issues caused by social media addiction, how much of this can also be attributed to a device that we have attached to our hip almost 24 hours a day? Keith chats with Professor Joseph Trunzo, a professor of psychology at Bryant University, about how smartphones are affecting behaviors, as well as whether there will be long-term effects of social media addiction as this generation moves into the workforce.

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Kathryn Xistris, BEng 85, has spent her career thanking her father, George, for encouraging her to pursue a vocation in tech. But sometimes, words are not enough.

So, last year the computer science grad established the Dr. George D. Xistris Scholarship Endowment in Mechanical Engineering, honouring her father, who had a storied career as a professor in mechanical engineering at Concordia.

Kathryn says it is the least she could do to show her gratitude.

Her 39-year career has taken her from sales leadership at Digital Equipment Corporation to executive roles at Microsoft and now Amazon, where she is a managing director and sits on the board of directors for Amazon Payments Europe, based in Luxembourg.

Who would have known back in the 1980s that tech would become what it has? Xistris says. Somehow my dad had the vision, and Im so fortunate to have been able to get in early, be well educated and be successful.

The annual scholarship  in support of the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen Now  will go to one student in their final year of a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering at the university.

The first scholarship will be awarded this September.

A beautiful journey

Kathryn and her father, who is now 87, spent about a year developing the idea for the scholarship.

It was a beautiful journey, she says. He is very touched by this.

In the process, Kathryn got to learn more about her fathers career at Concordia, which began in the mid-1960s.

Dr. X, as he was known to his students, held various roles, but he most notably served as associate professor and researcher in in the mechanical engineering from 1968 to 1995 and as assistant dean from 1973 to 1993.

He was also instrumental in establishing the Faculty of Engineering  now the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science  by leading the first accreditation of the Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering program at Concordia (then Sir George Williams University) in 1969.

George also led the accreditation of the Building Engineering program in 1982 and the Computer Engineering program in 1983, as well as the re-accreditation process until his retirement in 1993.

Kathyrn says she wanted the scholarship to honour a final-year student because he usually taught fourth-year classes.

He was a really respected teacher who held a very high passing bar for his students, says Kathryn.

But he loved teaching, and has been a lifelong learner, she adds.

His whole life has been around education. Hes an educator. He cultivated a love for learning in his children, all of us have university degrees.

Set up for success

Kathryn can still remember the day back in the 1970s when her father brought home a little box from Concordia.

He set it down on a table, gathered his kids and opened it up.

Inside was one of the first Commodore computers, remembers Kathryn. It was fascinating to see that up close. It was all new.

That kind of exposure to new technology and encouragement from her father to learn more was what led her to computer science at Concordia in the early 1980s, she says.

Back then, Concordia and the University of Waterloo were the only two universities in Canada with accredited computer science programs.

We were very avant-garde, says Kathryn. We had state-of-the-art equipment and I learned so much. It built a lot of confidence, and I was really fortunate to be there at that time.

Concordia was also where she met her future husband, Jonathan Trent, BEng 84, on an engineering week ski trip. The two have been married for 35 years.

By the end of her final year at Concordia, Kathryn had interviewed with 11 companies and had 10 job offers. She picked the best one  a position with Digital Equipment Corporation  and went on to an amazing career, she says.

Theres no doubt: Concordia set me up for success.

Now Kathryn hopes this scholarship will help set other Concordia engineering students on similar paths.

Its a small effort, but I want it to give them that extra push to get through their final year, she says. And I think its a vote of confidence for them to believe that they are at the top and to go for those big career opportunities.

She also hopes the scholarship inspires others to give, she adds, and that it honours her fathers career and his impact on Concordia.

I cant thank him enough, she says.
A physically healthy 28-year-old Dutch woman, Zoraya ter Beek, has chosen to end her life through euthanasia after being diagnosed with depression, autism and borderline personality disorder.

Being in a relationship and having two cats, ter Beek said she did not have much of a family. She has faced challenges stemming from her mental health conditions. Once having aspirations of becoming a psychiatrist, her journey has been affected by her mental health.

Ter Beek decided to opt for euthanasia when her doctors told her, "There's nothing more we can do for you. It's never gonna get any better."

This May, she is scheduled for euthanasia on her couch with her partner by her side, as a doctor administers the medication. On her social media, ter Beek expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share her journey with those willing to understand.

Ethical and legal context

Ter Beek's story sheds light on the intersection of mental health, personal autonomy and societal attitudes toward euthanasia. It also reflects a growing trend in the Western world, where people opt for euthanasia to escape non-terminal, yet agonizing, mental health struggles made worse by societal factors like economic instability, climate concerns and the pervasive influence of social media.

Healthcare ethicist Stef Groenewoud has pointed out a concerning trend where healthcare professionals seemingly resort to euthanasia more readily, especially for young individuals struggling with psychiatric disorders.

The Netherlands legalized euthanasia in 2001, and the country has witnessed a gradual increase in its prevalence since then. However, critics argue that such laws may inadvertently encourage suicides, prompting concerns about a potential contagion effect.
Today, Bill Maher is best known for hosting HBOs Real Time, and for playing the character of Bill, the borderline-alcoholic futilely attempting to cling to the scraps of his youth and relevance in YouTubes bleak existential drama Club Random. But back in 1993, Maher was still a young comedian (and an occasional shitty actor) when he landed the job of hosting Comedy Centrals new panel show Politically Incorrect.

For the very first episode of Politically Incorrect, Maher assembled a panel that included comedian Larry Miller, Howard Sterns sidekick Robin Quivers, conservative political strategist Ed Rollins and Jerry Seinfeld. Seemingly, Maher was able to call in a favor with his old comedy club buddy, who was, at that point, one of the biggest stars in the world.

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The first topic discussed on the show was the issue of publicly shaming ex-convicts. Mahers example involved sex offenders who were ordered to put lawn signs up in their yards in order to alert the neighbors. Maybe if youre a sex offender you should still be in jail, instead of getting a sign on your lawn, Maher claimed. Seinfeld suggested, What if they have to wear their hat at a jaunty angle? Not so severe.

Seinfelds reticence to offer any serious suggestions on how to adequately punish sex offenders is understandable, considering that he was embroiled in a major controversy at the time. Just a few months before Politically Incorrect debuted, Seinfeld, who was 38 at the time, started dating a 17-year-old girl after randomly approaching her in Central Park.

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Of course, the age of consent in New York is 17, and even in states where the age of consent is 18, such as California, a conviction for statutory rape, alone, does not require sex offender registration. So were definitely not saying that Seinfeld did anything illegal, or is in any way considered a sex offender, but his actions were certainly ethically questionable. At the very least, one can see why the subject of sex crimes was a very weird topic for Seinfeld to weigh in on in the summer of 1993, when the tabloids were still referring to him as a cradle-snatcher.

And Seinfeld himself was very defensive about all this at the time, arguing that he wasnt actually dating his girlfriend until she had turned 18. We just went to a restaurant, and that was it," Seinfeld stated in an interview. Yup, just a 38-year-old TV star taking a high schooler he picked up in a park to a restaurant. Nothing untoward there.

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No one was harder on Seinfeld than Howard Stern, who convinced Janis Ian to perform a parody version of her song At Seventeen, with new lyrics about Seinfelds predilection for teenage girls, complete with footage of a Seinfeld lookalike cruising by playgrounds in his limo.

Seinfeld himself tried to joke about the scandal in an interview with Playboy, and just made himself look way worse in retrospect, quipping: The great thing is you can go out on a date and pick up a little babysitting money on the side. He also attempted to liken his creeptastic moves to the fight against racism proclaiming, When I like someone, I dont care about her race, creed or national origin. If I like her, I dont care. I dont discriminate. If shes 18, if shes intelligent, thats fine.

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Even funky bass licks between each sentence wouldnt make that sound not terrible.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time youre reading this).
For the first time since he was forcibly removed from the hosts chair 14 years ago, Conan OBrien will reportedly appear on The Tonight Show on April 9th to promote his upcoming travel show Conan OBrien Must Go, which is decidedly fitting  if Jay Leno had his way, Conan would always be on vacation.

The events of the 2010 Tonight Show conflict are so central to the history of late-night comedy that they even have their own exhaustive Wikipedia page explaining the timeline. As the legend goes, NBC first announced the passing of the torch from Leno to OBrien in 2004, and, at the time, Leno promised a peaceful transition of power. However, when the time came for Leno to step down in 2009, he simultaneously handed the reins to his successor and hopped on the horse behind him to start competing for the timeslot with The Jay Leno Show. After an incredibly public and wittily worded war of the comedians that ended up roping in most of the late-night world to one side or the other (with most of the support behind Conan, of course), Conan left NBC for good and eventually resurrected his career trajectory with his self-titled talk show Conan on TBS.

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Throughout the entirety of the late-night drama, one figure stayed conspicuously neutral, and, like Switzerland in World War II, walked out of the conflict with his pockets full. Once Leno finally left The Tonight Show for good in 2014, Jimmy Fallon, who stayed put on the fence throughout the schism, stepped into the role that hes held for the last decade. According to LateNighter, Fallon will host the late-night giant who couldnt hold the Tonight Show job down for much more than six months on this upcoming Tuesday night.

As LateNighter pointed out, this isnt technically the first time Conan lent his likeness to The Tonight Show since 2010, as he performed in a pre-recorded sketch that appeared on both The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from the privacy of his bathroom back in 2018. However, this will be the first time Conan will physically visit Studio 6B at Rockefeller Center in New York since he ended his time at The Tonight Show and NBC in a special show on January 23, 2010, exactly five years after the death of Johnny Carson.

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In his closing statement, Conan graciously thanked NBC for being his home for 20 years through Saturday Night, Late Night and his sinfully brief time at The Tonight Show, urging his fans to accept the reality of the shitty situation with as much dignity as he had. Conan ended his Tonight Show run by telling his audience, Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, its my least favorite quality, it doesnt lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and youre kind, amazing things will happen. Im telling you, amazing things will happen. Im telling you, its just true!

Now, Conan gets to travel the world and get paid at the same time, just like every other comedian who wants to be Anthony Bourdain. Clearly, amazing things happened to Conan after he was unceremoniously booted off of The Tonight Show, and his return on Tuesday will be a triumphant one. Leno, on the other hand, cant say that hes had nearly as much post-Tonight Show luck as his old rival. It seems like everything Lenos done recently has blown up in his face.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a critical assessment of Microsofts security protocols in the wake of the summer 2023 Exchange Online breach, concluding that security failures within Microsoft created the conditions that allowed Chinese state-backed hacking group Storm-0558 to access sensitive government emails and data.

An independent review by the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) released by DHS found that the intrusion was preventable and highlighted what it says is a concerning pattern of Microsoft underinvesting in enterprise security.

The report also points out flaws in Microsofts public communications, highlighting that the company only revised a September 2023 blog post detailing the breachs root cause in March 2024 following persistent inquiries from the board.
The Entrance Hall: Ruth Lande Shumans Crayola-colored doors and storage cabinets were designed by Pesce, known for his innovative use of resin. Photo: Floto+Warner

This article first appeared in the April 18, 2016, issue of New York Magazine, and has been updated with a tribute to Gaetano Pesce on the occasion of his death on April 3, 2024.

The first time I met Gaetano Pesce was at a wedding in France in 1988. He was with his good friend and sometime collaborator Ruth Shuman, and I was introduced to both by Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell, the owners of legendary downtown design shop Moss. We were guests at a grand destination wedding, the first and last of its kind I ever went to. I was feeling lost until I met this foursome who were so fascinating and fun. I soon realized that I was meeting the designer Gaetano Pesce, whose work I had admired for years.

Soon after the wedding, I went to visit Gaetano in the wonderland of his studio. He was the master of the wobbly vases infused with bold color that had shocked modernist sensibilities, the inventor of surreal furniture that took on shapes only seen in cartoons but, through his innovative genius, had become iconic designs. He was the terror of the design world as much as he was the darling of it.

He soon became a friend through dinners with Ruth and over the years of covering his work and attending his openings at galleries both here in New York and in Milan. One night at dinner together, he surprised me with the gift of a vase infused with tiny gold specks that has been a treasure on my desk ever since. He was my hero and guiding star when I needed to feel that all was right in the world because he was in it.

I had visited Ruth Shumans apartment as a guest at one of her parties, and I had never ever seen anything like it. Ruth had started the organization Publicolor, which helps at-risk youth succeed in school, and she is one of the most dynamic and get-it-done people in our city. She told me that when Gaetano first saw her home, it was decorated in beige tones of a formal Park Avenue penthouse, and he had been perplexed that she lived within a space that didnt represent her. He soon fixed that by redoing the apartment floor to ceiling and with furniture in the rainbow colors of his world. It is an art installation like nothing else. One of the greatest honors of my career was when, in 2016, Ruth and Gaetano let me do this story on her apartment for New York Magazine.

Flash back to the 1980s, when a rarely played ivory piano sat in Ruth Lande Shumans beige living room. The palette was as soothing as cream of wheat. I found it was too mild, Shuman says. She started adding photographs and fabrics here and there  and then, she says, I met Gaetano. Shes referring to Gaetano Pesce, the Italian architect and industrial designer known for creating household objects out of resin and furniture from rags and moving blankets. In 1989, only a few years before famously making over the advertising offices of Chiat/Day, he turned his attention to Shumans apartment, posing a simple question: Why doesnt your apartment look like you?

Illustration: Jason Lee

Shumans appetite for color was unleashed, and in 1996 she founded Publicolor, a nonprofit that uses design to empower public-school students by, among other things, painting drab classrooms bright, happy colors. Nowhere is it more evident just how important the psychological impact of color is than in this Park Avenue wonderland.

An apartment is a portrait of a person, Pesce says. Then, after a long pause, he adds, Color is energy. Color can give us a better life.

The Living-Room Chair: Pesces famous Rag chair is situated next to his nesting tables. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Living-Room Sofa: The Giullare sofa, designed by Pesce, sports floppy cushions that are trimmed with bells wrapped in fabric. The pair of gilt-wood Chippendale mirrors, above, belonged to Shumans mother. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Dining Room: Pesce drew the fork, knife, and spoon on the floor. Photo: Floto+Warner

Living-Room Sitting Area: Pesces Sunset Over New York couch, with his table and resin vase in front. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Floor Plan: As reimagined by Pesce. Photo: Courtesy of Gaetano Pesces Office

The Living Room: Pesce designed the copper wall cabinet topped with his large Airport lamp, resin flower vase, and profile sculptures. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Kitchen: A Saarinen table and chairs beneath Pesces Full of Energy chandelier. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Dining Room: Shumans original dining table and Mies van der Rohe chairs were left untouched. The painting on the wall to the right by was in Shumans grandparents house in Canada. The ceiling light fixture over the dining table is by Edison Price. Photo: Floto+Warner

Library Entrance: Pesces multicolor doors are flanked by walls with porthole windows. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Coat Closet: Pesces coat closet cant be mistaken for anything else. Photo: Floto+Warner

The Bedroom Work Station: Pesce created an area of Shumans bedroom with a work table and cabinetry. Photo: Floto+Warner
Dr. Kate Mastruserio Reynolds career has brought her all over the world, to share her knowledge and experience in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and help educators across the globe better serve their students.

This month, Reynolds work brings her to Cameroon on behalf of the U.S. State Department. As part of the English Language Specialist (ELS) program, she will help equip local English teachers with the tools they need to assess students needs and meet those needs in a low-resource environment.

Reynolds, a professor of TESOL and literacy at Central Washington University, said the two-week assignment, scheduled for April 22-May 7, 2024, will present her with an opportunity to adapt her teaching methods to a new kind of learning context.

Its easy to work in a low-resource teaching environment with oral language, such as listening and speaking, because you can design activities for those skills without the need for additional materials, she said. When youre talking about reading and writing, though, things get a lot more difficult. I have some exercises planned, as well as ways for teachers to create their own reading and writing materials. Its a challenge Im looking forward to.

Schools in Cameroon are rarely equipped with resources like computers, books, and internet, so Reynolds will work with the teachers there to develop exercises to engage students in learning English without the use of such classroom tools. The project will also involve developing needs assessments in order to determine each students prior English knowledge, areas for improvement, and develop instructional objectives to teach them. The work will be broadly collaborative, drawing on teachers knowledge of their students and the teaching environment in order to meet learners where they are.

I dont approach anything as though Im in charge and all my hosts have to do what I say, Reynolds said. Of course, I need to bring ideas, but its truly a collaborative discussion to work out whats best for the students involved in the specific instructional setting. Talking to teachers and helping them work through their challenges, thats always good stuff. Until youre there in that reality, you dont really know how practical your experience is to the educators in that situation.

The ELS program is an English teacher preparation outreach program run by the U.S. State Department with the support of Georgetown University. The program pairs qualified TESOL professionals with partners across the world to help facilitate English learning through a variety of projects and programs. Participants submit their credentials and experience to an annual pool, and they are selected based on relevant experience for each project. This will be Reynolds fourth project with the ELS program, following previous projects in Ukraine (2009), Colombia (2010), and Egypt (2023).

While participants are limited to one project per year, Reynolds hopes to continue her work with the ELS program. She even has some ideas about where shed like to teach.

It all depends on where my skill sets and experience are needed, but Id love to do more work with the English Language Specialist program in the future, she said. I think it would be really cool to do a project in Nepal.

In addition to her service with the ELS program, Reynolds serves as program coordinator for CWUs Bilingual Education and TESOL programs, and sits on TESOL Internationals Board of Directors.
The field of law and justice extends far beyond law enforcement, requiring a broad variety of skill sets and mentalities to function.

In order to help students see the opportunities available to them, Central Washington Universitys Department of Law and Justice will be hosting more than 80 agencies from across Washington and beyond for its third annual Law and Justice Career Fair on April 10

Department Chair Cody Stoddard has been involved with the event since its inception in 2022, and he has seen it transform students perceptions of whats possible with their law and justice degree.

Showing up to these kinds of events lets students find out what opportunities they have, directly from people who might be their future employers, he said. Talking to a recruiter and having all your questions answered is an incredibly valuable experience for those looking for a start to their career.

The career fair has grown significantly in the past three years, from 35 participating agencies in 2022 to filling the SURC Ballroom with potential employers for interested students this year. The event and the quality of the students educated at CWU has helped the Law and Justice program earn a reputation for excellence that keeps agencies returning to recruit from the best talent pool in the Northwest.

Detective John Faircloth of the Tulsa (Oklahoma) Police Department said attending last years career fair gave him an appreciation for the work CWU does in preparing students for the field.

We love coming out to CWU; it was actually one of the best trips weve had out to a college, he said. The students they produce are just amazing, and weve already got three of them working through our onboarding right now. Our recruiters are looking forward to heading to Ellensburg again this year.

Secretary Supervisor for CWU Law and Justice Megan Dickinson co-created the event with Stoddard, and has continued conducting outreach to participating agencies in order to expand the options for job-seeking students. She said students are often surprised by the breadth of options on display.

A lot of students take a look at this event and go wow, thats a lot of cops, but really, theyre not just here because theyre looking for more law enforcement officers, Dickinson said. Theyre looking for administrators, theyre looking for accountants, and all sorts of other support roles that dont require carrying a gun.

Brenda Frias graduated from CWU Law and Justice in 2021, and will represent Central Washington Justice for our Neighbors (CWJFON) at the career fair. She conducted her own internship with CWJFON in 2020, which opened her eyes to the different paths she could take on her journey to becoming an attorney.

Doing the internship is what opened the door for me, because I realized there was another step I could take before doing law school, Frias said. When I graduated, I knew I wanted to start as a paralegal or legal assistant, and that path has brought me to where I am today.

Frias currently works with CWJFON as a paralegal, helping undocumented or mixed-status families find the resources and representation they need. Stoddard explained that experiences like Frias are not uncommon, noting the best way for students to get an idea of what the future might hold for them is to put themselves out there at a career fair like the one next week.

Even if youre still at the beginning of your college journey and youre not necessarily looking for a job in the field right now, Id still encourage you to go, Stoddard said. Seeing what opportunities you have down the road lets you prepare and plan for your future.

The Law and Justice Career Fair will be held in the SURC Ballroom from 12-2 p.m. on April 10. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, email laj@cwu.edu or call 509-963-3219.
Equality before the law has been a cornerstone of British democracy since Magna Carta.

Yet this sacred principle of our justice system has just been condemned to a slow, painful death by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, the official body that sets guidelines for judges and magistrates.

For the first time, British courts have been instructed to pass lighter sentences on criminals from 'deprived' or 'difficult' backgrounds.

The Council's absurd new rules list a dozen alleged 'mitigating factors' that beaks should consider sympathetically when sentencing socially disadvantaged offenders. These include poverty, low educational attainment, insecure housing and, inevitably, experience of discrimination.

These execrable guidelines which came into force on Monday despite warnings from Justice Secretary Alex Chalk that they are 'inaccurate'  are a disgrace.

Yes, those at the bottom of society may be more likely to flout the law. But, as Chalk points out, it is 'patronising' in the extreme to assume that being hard-up or having housing problems somehow forces people to commit crime  or absolves them of responsibility when they do.

'This sacred principle of our justice system has just been condemned to a slow, painful death', says Mick Hume (stock image)

The Sentencing Council, the official body responsible for setting guidelines for judges and magistrates, has for the first time spelt out 'mitigating' factors relating to disadvantage that courts should consider before passing sentence

Millions of poorer Britons are honest, decent, hard-working citizens. They don't ask for special treatment. They will be appalled if others receive it.

And what about the victims of crime, whom the Sentencing Council is tasked with protecting?

Most of them, too, come from the lower end of the socio-economic scale: last year, 40 per cent more crimes were recorded in the poorest areas of Britain compared with the richest.

It is an outrage to sacrifice these blameless people on the altar of political correctness, leaving them to suffer the actions of local 'deprived' criminals who have merely been slapped on the wrist and effectively granted a licence to carry on terrorising their estates and communities.

These guidelines don't merely discriminate in favour of the poor  they do so against the better-off.

There may be little public sympathy for the middle classes, given the obsession with punishing any form of 'privilege'. But why should a suburban shoplifter be sentenced more harshly than an inner-city pilferer?

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has called the new advice 'patronising'

The Sentencing Council itself admits that judges and magistrates were 'predominantly negative or neutral' about the new guidelines. Nevertheless, it decided to press ahead, supposedly to improve 'transparency and fairness'.

Well, it has certainly made transparent how far the rot has gone into the heart of our justice system. How could two-tier justice ever be 'fair'?

Anatole France, the 1921 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, once said: 'In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.'

Quite so.

In practice  witness Russian oligarchs seeking to silence Press intrusion into their murky affairs  the wealthy and powerful can still enjoy some legal advantages. But that is no excuse, m'luds, for scrapping the historic principle of equality before the law.

A difficult background is something to overcome  not to be used as a pathetic excuse for crime.

Mick Hume is the author of Revolting! How The Establishment Are Undermining Democracy And What They're Afraid Of.

'Will we get to the stage of only sending murderers to prison?' Fury over advice for 'deprived' criminals to be given lenient sentences

By George Odling

Guidance suggesting that 'deprived' criminals could be given more lenient sentences has been greeted with fury by senior politicians and police leaders.

Factors including low educational attainment, poverty and past experience of discrimination should be considered as part of mitigation, according to the Sentencing Council.

Judges and magistrates have been told they should consider 12 'disadvantage' factors before handing down a sentence, including negative experiences of authority, family members' offending, drug and alcohol misuse, and negative influences from peers.

The guidelines were issued this week despite warnings from the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, who said the 'patronising' ruling could lead to these factors becoming excuses to commit crimes.

The Sentencing Council has spelt out a set of 'mitigating' factors relating to disadvantages that courts should take into account before passing sentence

The guidelines were issued this week despite warnings from the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk (pictured)

Retired senior police officer Norman Brennan, who served in London for 31 years, told the Mail it was unfair to give certain sections of society more leeway than others. 'Are we going to get to the stage where we are only sending murderers to prison?' he asked.

'The reasons we send people to prison is to punish the offender, to deter others, to protect the public and to rehabilitate the criminal.

'When judges keep making excuses as to why they are not sending someone to prison who deserves to be there, then what message does that send? Many of us had a tough upbringing but did not turn to crime.' Shadow business spokesman Jonathan Reynolds said justice should be fair and consistent for everyone.

He told GB News: 'There are a whole range of things a judge would take into discretion when they are handing down a sentence, but I wouldn't like to give the impression there should be a different judicial regime for people across the country.' The Sentencing Council admitted judges and magistrates they consulted had been 'predominantly negative or neutral' over the new guidelines.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Sentencing decisions are made by independent judges who already take into account the circumstances of each case in line with guidelines set out by the Sentencing Council.'
An American woman living in the UK has revealed the three words which make Brits sound 'posh.'

Ash Loren, who moved from North Carolina to London in early 2023, frequently compares and contrasts the two cultures on her popular TikTok account where she boasts 20,000 followers.

The content creator, who posts under the username @ashseestheworld, recently took to the video-sharing platform once again to dish on the words that 'feel so proper.'

Her insight was quickly flooded with comments as people from the UK also shared their thoughts.

Ash Loren, who moved from North Carolina to London in early 2023, frequently compares and contrasts the two cultures on her popular TikTok account where she boasts 20,000 followers

She recently took to the video-sharing platform once again to dish on the words that 'feel so proper'

In the clip, which has so far been viewed more 45,000 times, Ash began: 'I'm an American in the UK. Here are some words that British people say that feel very posh.'

The content creator then launched into her insight as she shared: 'The first is holiday. In America, we say, "I'm going on vacation."

'Here in the UK, they say, "I'm going on holiday," and I've got to say, I like "holiday" better. It sounds much classier.'

Impersonating a British accent, she said: '"I'm going on holiday to my parents' place in the south of France."

'All right, I know my British accent is horrible but I like this one. I have started saying "holiday" instead of "vacation."'

Ash continued: 'Next is petrol. I think this sounds so much better than saying, "I'm putting gas in my car."

'No. "I'm putting petrol in my car or my lorry - putting petrol in lorry." Who knew the British could find a way to make gas sound classy?'

But the social media star did not stop there.

She shared: 'Okay, last but not least, "pushchair." This is a little extra. I had no clue what you guys were talking about. I thought you meant wheelchair.

'In the US, we call a "pushchair" a stroller which I guess isn't that bad but "pushchair" just sounds very [posh]. Don't forget it.'

And viewers were quick to flood to the comment section to share their own thoughts on Ash's insight.

One person wrote: 'Why do Americans call it gas when petrol/diesel is a liquid?'

Another commented: 'Gas is not a liquid, but petroleum is. That's [definitely a] trigger for UK peeps!'

Someone else wrote: 'The shortened version of vacation (VAY-KAY) is nowhere near as annoying as HOLLY-BOBS. As in 'where you going on your hollybobs?!' Aaarrrgghh!'

'Sounds even posher when posh people say 'we are going on our hols,' one person wrote.

And viewers were quick to flood to the comment section to share their own thoughts on Ash's insight

Several Brits joined in on the conversation with their own takes.

One person wrote: 'As a Brit myself, I think vacation sounds posh.'

Another person added: 'I'm British. Sadly not found a way to move to America yet. I think it's more the accent that makes things sound posh.

'I far prefer vacation over holiday. I have no preference [over] the other ones.'

A third person commented: 'Goes both ways. Faucet sounds so posh compared with tap.'
A new 'unfiltered' podcast featuring Dragons' Den contestants discussing their frustrations with the show could be in the works.

Abeer Iqbal, 33, who is originally from Canada but now lives in London, appeared on the show last week where he pitched his innovative rest company, Remy.

His brand, which sells weighted blankets and bean bags, was turned down by each of the Dragons despite them noting Abeer's impressive business qualities.

Now, speaking exclusively to Femail, he's revealed that he was left waiting to speak to the dragons for nine hours and that producer's changed his pitch last minute.

While Abeer believes the experience was positive overall, the judges decision left him deflated and questioning why they would turn down a brand that sold more than 30,000 products and boasts an experienced CEO.

Thanks to his connections with previous contestants, Abeer realised he was not alone in his frustration, with others expressing regret with how their time on the show panned out.

Abeer told Femail: 'We want to do a Life After the Den podcast.'

Abeer Iqbal (pictured) featured on Dragon's Den in March, but when the Dragons failed to invest in his rest company, Remy, it sparked the next best idea - a podcast

Abeer took to Dragon's Den to pitch Remy, a company that offers unique tools to maximise comfort and minimise stress, such as weighted blankets and innovative beanbags.

But when Peter remarked: 'What's the point of putting weight on top of you when you're sleeping?' before Abeer entered the den, viewers knew the entrepreneur had his work cut out for him.

Despite a hard graft on Abeer's behalf, the judges did not decide to invest in Remy, with Dragon's Sara Davies and Deborah Meaden opting not to test the products on display.

Meanwhile, Peter Jones offered Abeer a job but having left the rat race in hopes of realising his entrepreneurial dream, it was an offer less enticing compared to the 80,000 in exchange for five per cent of Remy that he had initially asked for.

Abeer has accepted that his time on the show was positive but can't help but feel let down with the process. In a demonstration of his entrepreneurial skills, Abeer has revealed how he plans to channel his defeat into prosperity.

He said: 'We want to do a Life After the Den podcast. I know Jasmine Wicks-Stephens from Faace Skincare and a couple of others; [we can] get into a podcast room and talk unfiltered about our experience.

'Jasmine pitched before me, and she messaged me on Instagram after she was done to ask how I felt.

'We both felt that it didn't go how we wanted it to go. I think every entrepreneur who has been on Dragon's Den feels like that, and there's a community of us now. Connecting with them is something I'm looking forward to.'

The 33-year-old entrepreneur, from Canada but now lives in London, presented judges with his innovative beanbags

Abeer also revealed how the show's producers advised edits on his pitch and how a delayed schedule impacted his journey on the show.

He said: 'I was given some indication that we would go last and pitching towards the end.

'I had gone in at noon, and originally, they told me that the last pitches go on at around 5pm, sometimes they go to 6pm or 7pm, but by the time I got in, it was half nine, it was late... imagine for the Dragon's who turn up for 8am, it's a super long day.

'The producers were the ones who told me to jump onto the beanbag after my pitch They were all very positive.'

In addition to injecting fun into Abeer's pitch, they also recommended that he change his ask.

He said: 'Originally, we were asking for 100,000, but they said 100,000 is high for them and suggested between 50,000 to 75,000.

'It was never forced, but then I thought I don't want this to be the reason they're not interested, so we brought it down to 80,000.'

Peter Jones (left) and Steven Bartlett (right) tested out products from Remy, including a weighted blanket

Another factor that 'shocked' Abeer was having a vital part of his pitch snatched from him moments before he entered the den.

'A big part of my pitch was having a screen talking about our rest system... and outlining the online shopping experience, which my designer had developed for me; it looked great.

'As I was walking into the den to pitch, one of the producers said to me: "Hey, we didn't put up the screen because it didn't look good on camera", which was a curveball when I was walking in a video is 1000 words versus me trying to say it in ten.

'I think it was also that the screen took a long time to set up, and it was already so late.

'On top of that, every other entrepreneur, before they pitch, they get to see the set-up before the pitch and the Dragons are put into a side room.

'Because it was so late for me, they said we don't have time for that, so I had to go straight in. I had to trust that they had set up, but a few things happened that told me I was being a bit rushed.

'Steven really couldn't get past what made us unique. It was a longer conversation than on TV, but I do believe that if I had a screen and I could have visually shown it, he would have understood.'

While Abeer values his time on the BBC show as positive, he was disappointed to see a key video element of his pitch removed by producers last minute

Peter Jones was so impressed with Abeer's experience that he offered him a job, but it was a no from all four judges when it came to investing in his company

Elsewhere, Abeer explained how he managed his performance on the show and responses to the Dragon's questions in fear of being depicted as adverse.

'I knew it was going to go on TV and knew the BBC was going to decide what the narrative is, and I didn't, for one second, want to be seen as argumentative in there; I didn't want to disagree with them.

'There was another brand that went in there who I had seen a couple of years ago, and I think he was completely villainized.

'I listened to a podcast with him later, and he talked about how they showed the bits that made him look like a villain, so I thought that's something I definitely don't want.

'I thought at the end of the day, whether I get investment or not, I want the PR to be positive. There were times when I thought: "Do I fight back?" But I had to think about how I am going to be perceived.

'You have a lot of double thoughts when you're in there because the whole wall is literally just cameras so you know you're being watched.' He added: 'I was in there for two hours but it's just 15 minutes on TV.'

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Abeer, and while the outcome wasn't what he had initially hoped for, he plans to channel it into something positive

Despite the 'gruelling' process, Abeer is grateful for the experience and how it has forged a relationship between his brand and with members of the public.

He said: 'Overall, [it was] a really positive experience, [there are] a lot of things that I would do differently.'

He added: 'Would I do it again, 100 per cent. Would I fight not to go last. Maybe.' I hope I get to cross paths with Steven in the future because he was challenging the brand the most I need to prove him wrong.'

Despite a job offer from Peter, Abeer's future lies with Remy, and his current focus is on its upcoming project - cooling furniture.

The company's latest range helps maintain a cool temperature, supporting consumers, whether pregnant, menopausal, or simply too hot at night.

The BBC has been contacted for comment.
My kind and caring doctor carefully explained the options open to me. Although I'd had my daughter, Evie, pretty quickly when I was 35, having a second baby wasn't proving to be as easy.

By then the grand old age of 39, I'd been trying unsuccessfully for nearly a year. The reason? It turned out my fertility had taken an almighty nosedive.

'We can get you pregnant,' the doctor reassured me. 'But just not naturally.'

As he broached the subject of IVF treatment, an unexpected feeling crept over me. Relief. Because honestly, I'd already mentally checked out of the conversation. The second he'd told me my womb had put up its own 'closing down' sign, I'd made up my mind.

Jo Elvin had her daughter Evie at 35-years-old and says she felt with every fibre in her that having one healthy child was her life's story

Yes, I had booked the appointment with the view to giving our daughter a sibling  something everyone around me seemed adamant I should do.

But in that moment, I felt with every fibre in me that having one healthy child was my life's story  and I was happy with that.

Dress it up as 'destiny' or just call it 'getting old'; either way, the decision had been taken out of my hands  and I was at peace with it.

What I didn't foresee, however, was that so many other people would not be at peace with it. Not at all. Throughout Evie's childhood  she's now nearly 19  I was regularly challenged with judgment-loaded questions and truly outrageous sweeping statements about my one and only.

There was the colleague who told me that one child 'isn't a proper family'; another who declared having one child was 'a form of child abuse'.

There were also endless inquiries about whether we'd have more children or, more startlingly, 'Why do you only have one?' and, 'Couldn't you have any more?'

For all anyone knew, I could have been grappling with the pain of multiple miscarriages, or a serious illness. I wasn't, but that still does not make these questions and judgments OK.

'Why do you only have one child?'  as though my daughter's existence is not valid until we have another human in the house? The audacity.

Some of these comments did make me wobble from time to time. Was it wrong to have only one child?

I thought about my own childhood. I have two brothers and a sister and I love them, but we're not exactly The Waltons. We do get on very well  my sister visited from Brisbane only last month  but we are wildly different and not particularly entwined in each other's lives.

When my husband, Ross, and I met in our 20s, we both saw children  one or two, but I hadn't fixated on a number  in our future.

But as both of us were focused on our journalism careers, we were in no rush. In fact, we dithered until our 30s, when we realised we should possibly get on with it.

When we first decided to try for our daughter, I remember Ross joking a lot about all the 'practice' we'd need to put into reproduction. But it took only four months to conceive Evie; instead, poor Ross was in for many months of me being nauseous, migrainey, bloated, gassy and in no mood to so much as hold hands.

We fought then more than at any other time in our marriage. Pregnancy was not the euphoric wonderland that had been described to me in those infuriatingly disingenuous baby magazines.

One night, when I was about six months pregnant and nailed to the couch, Ross went out with entertaining, non-pregnant people  and I ugly-cried while watching ET . . . like, racking sobs, as though ET was real and he was my dog or something.

But we got through it. I was excited to meet my daughter. So I sucked down the Gaviscon, ate the 24-hour nausea away with white bread and Marmite, and slept every spare second I could, because when I was asleep I wasn't uncomfortable or annoying Ross.

It was, of course, all absolutely worth it. The second Evie was lifted out of me, via emergency C-section, the sick, heartburn feeling was gone.

But, like all new mothers, I was in for a few challenging weeks.

I needed medication for alarmingly high blood pressure caused by gestational hypertension. Add to that sleep deprivation and the ever-present anxiety that I was doing everything wrong.

Why is she crying? I've fed her, I've changed her, I've winded her, she's slept, I've done it all again, and she still will not stop crying.

Does she hate me? I'm an idiot who doesn't know what they're doing. Why have they let me, of all people, bring this tiny person home to keep alive?'

And yet, amid it all, when Evie was mere weeks old, people started asking when I was planning to have another.

'Let me get this one out of nappies first!' I told my mother, trying to make my frustration sound like a joke.

From then on, all I heard from friends and relatives, even random strangers in shops, was that this baby was not a proper baby without the addition of another baby.

'Oh, you've got to give her a brother or a sister.'

'She'll be spoilt if you don't.'

'She won't know how to socialise.'

'I was an only child, and I'll never forgive my parents for it.'

'She'll be that kid who doesn't know how to share and who no one will like.'

'She'll be lonely when you die.'

'She'll be weird.'

I could have heaved them all through a window.

By the time Evie was a year old, I'd started to dread being asked whether I had kids.

I'd take a deep breath, fix a grin and simply say  to invariably puzzled faces  that I had one child and no, I wasn't going to have any more, and no, there wasn't really a 'reason'.

That said, by the time Evie was about 18 months old, and I felt slightly as though I was being allowed back up from my new life under the sea to take a few gulps of air, I did present the idea of another child to Ross.

He was not totally against it, but he was now a man who'd seen things  like rivers of diarrhoea at 3am and Pregnantzilla Wife. He was perfectly happy with his one beloved baby girl and wasn't in a rush to add to the chaos.

Curiously, no one had ever sidled up to him to whisper about the terrible evil of having 'just the one' child. Absolutely no one. Of course, I had way more normal reasons for wanting to have a second child. I loved my baby girl so much that I was excited to see what else we might be able to magic up.

I did think it would be great for her to have a sibling to love and be loved by. With my 38th birthday looming into view, Ross gave one thumb up to the idea (note, not two).

I consulted the ovulation kit once more and we got busy. Cut to ten months of nothing happening and me sitting talking to my doctor about what it would take to get pregnant again. Now, everyone must make their own choices in these matters, and I would probably feel very differently if we'd been discussing me trying to have my first baby.

But I knew, in an instant, that IVF simply wasn't a path I wanted to walk. I wasn't up for the physical regime. I wasn't up for the emotional lows I'd seen so many disappointed couples experience. And, frankly, I was not up for the expense.

Jo says Evie grew up with her two parents' devoted and undivided time and attention  not to mention finances

You've probably already guessed that Ross took no persuading on giving up trying for Baby Number 2. He nodded, shrugged and said how much he loved our little family as it was. And I couldn't have agreed more.

I didn't feel heartbroken by this turn of events, which speaks volumes in itself.

I genuinely had an overwhelming certainty that the universe had made a decision, and I could now get on with parenting my one, precious child  a privilege, I know, that has eluded many people I care about. Unbearably, there are two families in my own life who have buried children.

So Evie grew up with her two parents' devoted and undivided time and attention  not to mention finances.

As to the notion that her only-child status has left her a wilting wallflower or spoilt brat, she was always the kind of child who would race to the kids' club on holidays; at seven years old, she told me she could 'make friends in minutes'.

I did not have that confidence at the same age. It fills me with pride to see her hold her own in conversations with adults she's just met, and I'm convinced it's because she's grown up around a lot of adult company.

To my relief, she was never one of those kids who begged for a brother or sister.

'I like that it's just us,' she told my father when he asked whether she ever wished for a sibling. And yet the critique continued  for me, and mothers like me.

A fellow 'one and done' mother I know was once told it would have been better for her to have had no children. Which I'm sure would make the women who are child-free laugh, given the onslaught of judgments that never stop coming their way.

I also have friends who've been chastised for having three or four children. 'Really selfish' and 'ecologically irresponsible' to over-populate the world thus, apparently.

So if you want a little pat on the head from society, or simply to go about your business without inviting any unsolicited comments about your procreational status, you'd better make sure you have a respectable, neat two. Preferably one of each sex. OK? Good.

In terms of 'sliding doors' moments, of course, I do occasionally wonder what another mini-me or Ross would have been like. But it just wasn't meant to be  and that is fine.

Now I'm 54, people have only to look at me to know I'm too old to pump out any more kids. So at last, I'm relieved to say, they've stopped asking.

As for Evie, she's kind, she's smart and the one-liners she serves me are often vicious, but so funny that I can't but be proud. She is weird, the dissenters got that one right. And thank God, because all the best people are.

She is my favourite person in the whole world and I would run in front of a bus for her.

I love my one and only girl.
Arriving home from work, my husband greeted me in the kitchen with a warm hug, before leading me to our bedroom. There, we had sex for the second time that day... and the umpteenth time that week.

Considering we'd been married for 30 years, you might well be impressed that the flames of passion were still burning to such an extent. After all, the days of being unable to resist one another typically dwindle after the first few years.

The truth is, however, Michael was a sex addict. Far from being exciting, fulfilling or flattering, his insatiable hunger for intimacy left me in physical pain and destroyed my self-esteem  and ultimately our marriage. Only now, two years after I finally summoned the courage to leave Michael, do I feel able to speak out about my experience, albeit under a different name to protect our three adult children.

I'd felt so alone for so long, mistakenly thinking there was something wrong with me for not reciprocating Michael's enthusiasm. Reading something like this would have helped me understand that it wasn't my fault  and that there was a way out.

It's a topic, though, that has long triggered sniggers. Many celebrities have spoken out about their own sex addiction, with many people assuming the label is just a convenient excuse for repeated infidelity or reckless behaviour. But I can tell you it's certainly a bona fide condition and, sadly, it's no laughing matter.

Marie Williams says far from being exciting, his hunger for intimacy left her in pain and lacking self-esteem

Relate, the largest provider of relationship support in the UK, defines sex addiction as any sexual behaviour that feels 'out of control' and compulsive.

Michael would want sex multiple times a day and would ignore my pleas of exhaustion, telling me he knew I enjoyed it. I didn't dare confide in friends but when I sought the help of a counsellor early on, she said I was being repeatedly raped and coerced.

As shocking as this was to hear, such was my determination not to put my children through an acrimonious divorce  like I'd experienced when my own parents split during my childhood  that I endured another two decades.

When I first met Michael in a bar in Guildford in 1989, when I was 23 and he was 27, I thought he was introverted and shy.

Handsome with striking blue eyes, we chatted about holidays and our jobs  he as a computer programmer and me as an insurance broker.

We met at a country pub the following week for dinner and drinks. Our connection was so strong we ended up having sex that night, which was completely out of character for me. From then on the sex was constant  every time we saw each other and sometimes multiple times a day or night.

A young couple in the first flush of love and lust, I remember thinking: 'Gosh, he must really love me. He can't keep his hands off me!' Little did I know...Within a year we were engaged but it was another four years before we married. During the interim there were several red flags that I ignored because I loved him.

Namely when Michael's suggestion that we use sex toys and I role-play as a nurse graduated to a request for him to watch me having sex with another man.

I point blank refused and instead he insisted we video our intercourse and me performing sex acts on him.

Despite feeling deeply uncomfortable, I went along with many of these suggestions because I didn't want to risk pushing him away. Unfortunately, the more I participated, the more he wanted.

At the same time, I noticed that he didn't welcome non-sexual physical contact  no brush of the hand or a kiss goodbye before work. He'd bypass all of that to get down to business.

Although he'd often give me compliments, he was also quick to criticise, chastising me if I cooked potatoes for dinner two days on the trot, or made pasta sauce with what he deemed to be too many tomatoes.

I cried as I walked down the aisle, telling myself it was just the emotion of the day. Now, though, I suspect it was doubt making itself known.

Marriage certainly didn't diminish his voracious appetite for sex. I couldn't get off the sofa or load the dishwasher after dinner without him groping my boobs or fondling my private parts. It was all very much uninvited, unwelcome attention.

He'd want sex in the morning, again when I walked in the door after work, or he'd pounce when I was dressed up to meet friends for the evening, then lay in wait for me when I arrived home.

Worse still, soon after we married, I woke in the early hours to find him inside me. I pushed him away, disgusted. Yet he seemed oblivious to why I was upset; he was grumpy and defensive, and it happened repeatedly for the rest of the marriage. I lived in fear of falling asleep because I never knew what was going to happen to me.

Technically, of course, this was rape  my being asleep meant it wasn't consensual  but I didn't want to believe that at the time. I tried to normalise it as being something that couples did.

We went on to have three children, now in their 20s, within five years. I made sure to ask the midwife when I could have sex again in front of Michael so he could hear the response: 'Many couples wait until the woman has had a post-birth check-up when baby is around six weeks old.'

Away from the professionals, though, he told me there were other ways I could relieve him; it didn't have to be penetration.

Even when I was ill, had my period, or was visibly on my knees with exhaustion looking after our three children, his sexual appetite was relentless.

I'd lose my temper and say: 'For God's sake, can't you see I'm absolutely exhausted and all I want is a cuddle?' His response would always be along the lines of: 'You know you love me and you know you love sex. You don't understand that I need it and that I can't cuddle without wanting to grope you.'

At the time I'd never heard of sex addiction. Instead I convinced myself I was failing as a wife because I didn't welcome his constant advances. Increasingly I felt like a piece of meat and was frequently sore in intimate places; my joints would ache from him insisting on manoeuvring me into different positions.

By the time our youngest was at nursery, when I was in my early 30s, I felt unable to cope with it any longer. This is when I confided in a counsellor. Her view that I was being repeatedly raped and coerced made me feel numb. How could somebody I loved  and who supposedly loved me  do such a thing?

After much inner turmoil, however, I decided to stay with Michael. My parents' divorce had left me feeling deeply insecure and vulnerable; I didn't want that for our kids.

And despite everything, I still loved him. He would be moody and difficult with me if I refused sex but he could also be sweet, kind and chivalrous. He always opened doors and carried shopping bags for me, cooked meals and was a hands-on dad.

During my six months of counselling, I had dinner with a small group of friends and, after a few glasses of champagne, told them that Michael wanted sex all the time.

Before I had a chance to elaborate I was met with comments of, 'Oh, you lucky thing' and 'I wish my husband felt like that about me'. So I didn't say anything further.

Instead I stopped making an effort with my appearance in the hope that would deter Michael. I went for days without washing my hair, swapped tailored trousers, blouses and feminine dresses for shapeless tracksuit bottoms and sweatshirts.

Yet still Michael's need for sex continued unabated, even as he reached his late 50s. In 2019 I had a breakdown triggered by a health scare and was signed off work for six months. Michael showed fleeting concern and sympathy, but inevitably tried to convince me sex would make me feel better.

I wanted to scream at the walls. But still I found myself unable to tell Michael how utterly exasperated I was with him. How tired my body was. How sore I was externally and internally. How crushed I was mentally.

Increasingly I'd refuse sex  but would then pay the price when I'd wake to him groping me during the night. Unbeknown to me, my younger sister had long harboured suspicions that something was amiss. Seeing me at such a low ebb, she said: 'Something's not right with your marriage.'

She and two of my closest friends had discovered that Michael was following more than 1,000 women on social media, presumably to satisfy his urges. It was a complete shock.

Perhaps I was naive, but I'd never considered that he may need this kind of activity outside our marriage as well.

I had once wished he would just go and find someone else and leave me in peace. But it was a fleeting thought. Devastated, I told my sister everything. She was wonderful, encouraging me to think about seeking professional support.

I did finally confront Michael, telling him I was at breaking point with his total lack of respect for my body and my feelings. He told me I was the one with the problem because I didn't understand that sex was a basic human need.

He agreed to five marriage counselling sessions. When the therapist said that Michael was a sex addict, he didn't flinch or deny it. But afterwards he told me his behaviour was perfectly normal.

During one of the counselling sessions he protested that he'd be 'happy with sex once a week', but I called out his lie, telling him: 'That's not true, you know that when we finish having sex, you want it again straight away.'

Counselling gave me the strength to move into the spare room. Then one spring morning in 2022, I woke to find him in the spare bed with me and I snapped. I asked him what the hell he was doing and he responded: 'I could tell last night that you wanted me,' which was a total lie.

Marie says she craves being held, feeling loved and safe - something that never happened in her marriage

I ended the marriage right then and there. He finally admitted he'd hurt me but it was too little too late.

Two of our children had already left home and the youngest wasn't in so I went to stay with my sister.

As soon as I could get them together, I sat the children down and told them everything. It was awkward for all of us, but I never want my two daughters to be treated like that by a man, or for my son to think it's OK to do what his father did to me. They were devastated and in shock.

Nobody wants to think about their parents' sex lives and this was another level they really struggled with, though they were also grateful I'd been honest with them.

They are still hurting now. Reassuring them how much their dad loves them, however, I insisted they maintain a relationship with him.

Michael and I maintained brief contact for the year it took to sell the family home, buy new properties of our own and finalise the divorce. But we don't talk now, which is a relief.

Over the past two years, I've spent thousands on over 100 counselling sessions to try to come to terms with the trauma. I've also had hypnosis to help reprogramme my brain so that I can lose the fear of falling asleep at night.

The kindest words I received from one of my therapists were that it wasn't my fault and that I wasn't lacking as a wife  which is what I'd always thought. She explained that with a sex addict, whatever I'd done would never have been enough.

I also went to a sexual health clinic because I had no idea whether Michael had indulged his sex addiction with other women or even prostitutes.

I'd often noticed him looking at other women and harboured suspicions he fancied his friend's wife. Though he admitted he did indeed find her very attractive, he was adamant nothing had ever happened between them.

Thankfully I discovered I have a clean bill of health.

My sister and friends have been incredibly supportive. As for dating, it's not something I can contemplate. I don't know if I'll ever want sex again. Rather, I crave cuddles, kisses, being held, feeling loved and safe. Something that never happened during my marriage.

Now I'm finally able to talk about what I went through without crying. And sharing my story has given me a renewed sense of purpose.

Dare I say, I'm even starting to enjoy life now that my body is mine again.
Have you always worked under the assumption that keeping your head down and getting on with things without causing any fuss is the best way to get ahead?

And yet youre not getting praised for your diligence and others around you seem to be getting promoted or climbing the career ladder at a pace that is out of your grasp, despite the fact theyre not clocking in the same amount of hours as you or smashing their targets.

Youve probably fallen victim to Tiara Syndrome.

Tiara Syndrome can also manifest as professional self-doubt and imposter syndrome, something that affects 62 per cent of UK adults

Crowning glory

Organically coined by Carol Frohlinger and Deborah Kolb, the founders of Negotiating Women, Inc. and authors of Her Place at the Table: A Woman's Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership, Tiara Syndrome is best described as the good girl complex many women suffer from at work when it comes to approaching salary negotiations and pay rises.

Those who suffer from Tiara Syndrome' tend to think theyll be crowned with the tiara of success by working hard, however those who are savvy enough to self-promote will know only too well that sometimes the only way to get recognition or be promoted in the workplace is to put yourself forward.

Tiara Syndrome can also manifest as professional self-doubt and imposter syndrome, something that affects 62 per cent of UK adults.

For example, if you know the answer to questions or have come up with great ideas but are worried about speaking up in meetings for fear you arent right, you are likely letting imposter syndrome creep in and are using Tiara Syndrome to mask your feelings of professional inadequacy.

Tiara Syndrome is best described as the good girl complex many women suffer from at work when it comes to approaching salary negotiations and pay rises

Setting your tiara to one side

If youve found yourself nodding along in agreement to the descriptions above, you could probably benefit from a bit of professional self-belief so you can take your tiara off once and for all.

For starters, take assertive action by instigating a performance review with your manager so you can outline a professional development plan and put set goals and targets in place.

Once youve identified these clear objectives, outline a realistic timeline whereby you check in again to ensure youre on track and have achieved what youve set out to do.

This will give you extra bargaining power when it comes to getting a promotion or a raise in the future.

Another good idea is to ask your manager if they can act as a professional mentor. According to a study by global leadership firm DDI, 63 per cent of women have never been given a formal mentor because theyve never asked for one, or are concerned that asking for one might not be well received, yet 67 per cent of those surveyed highlighted that mentorship is very important when it comes to career progression.

Take assertive action by instigating a performance review with your manager so you can outline a professional development plan and put set goals and targets in place

Finally, if you baulk at the idea of promoting your professional achievements or accolades publicly, try dual-promotion tactics instead. If youve worked on a project together, thank them for their input and commend the part they played in helping you both achieve a favourable outcome. They will likely thank you right back, further bolstering your proactive position on the team.

However, sometimes a job can run its course and no amount of mentoring or dual-promotion can help you get ahead. If you find yourself in this position, head to the Mail Jobs Board where you can find thousands of opportunities in companies actively hiring, including the three below.

Job openings in the UK IT Manager, AutoRek, Glasgow AutoRek simplifies highly complex data, automates critical business processes, and manages regulatory change. Its staff headcount has grown considerably in recent years thanks to an expanding portfolio of clients and it is now hiring an IT Manager to lead its internal IT team. Interested? Apply here. Staff Program Manager, Blackhawk Network, Hemel Hempstead Blackhawk Network (BHN) is a leader in global branded payment technologies and offers prepaid products including gift cards and rewards and incentives. As Staff Program Manager you will partner with the product and engineering teams to define roadmaps, collaborate with other stakeholders and lead critical programs associated with one or more technology areas. See the full job description here. AI Content Writer, DataAnnotation, Remote Are you looking for a part-time or flexible role that will allow you to choose the hours you work? DataAnnotation is recruiting writers and detail-orientated people to work as AI Content Writers. This role will involve teaching AI chatbots and you will be required to have conversations with chatbots to measure their progress, as well as write novel conversations in order to teach them what to say. Find out more here.

Accelerate your job hunt today via the Mail Jobs Board
A 14-year-old Nigerian dancer who was offered a place at a prestigious ballet school has spoken about his fear that being blind in one eye would stop him from dancing.

Anthony Madu, from Lagos, caught the internet's attention in 2020 when a clip of him skilfully pirouetting in the rain at just 11 years old went viral and was shared by Hollywood actress Viola Davis.

Since then, he has been offered a scholarship at one of the UK's most elite ballet schools, Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham.

Anthony, who has been dubbed 'Nigeria's Billy Elliot', spoke on Good Morning Britain today about how his life has changed over the past four years.

He said: 'It was really, really exciting and also kind of unreal. I wanted to go to ballet school but I didn't think I'd get into a school like Elmhurst. It was exciting but also hard because I had to leave my family.

Anthony Madu, from Lagos, as been offered a scholarship at one of the UK's most elite ballet schools, Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham

He caught the internet's attention in 2020 when a clip of him skilfully pirouetting in the rain at just 11 years old went viral and was shared by Hollywood actress Viola Davis

'I keep in touch with my mum everyday.'

Anthony is also largely blind in one eye but it has not stopped him from continuing to do the thing he loves the most.

He said: 'When I found out about my eyes it felt really scary because I thought I would be going blind and not be able to dance anymore.

'But then I did all the tests I need and it was a case of it not getting a lot worse and also not getting better. It's going to stay like this forever.

'Thanks to the school I was able to get glasses.'

The talented star said he knew he wanted to be a dancer at the age of five but was unsure what he wanted to specialise in.

'I searched up different dances and found ballet and it looked really cool and I wanted to do it,' he said.

'Three years later I was able to go to dance school and I remember my mum telling me that she found a ballet school for me.'

Speaking about the viral video that changed his life, Anthony said it feels weird to watch it back as looks 'really young' and 'completely different'.

Sabina Storrod from Elmhurst Ballet School (right) said that the world is 'Anthony's oyster'

Anthony said he wasn't planning on posting the video that made him noticed

'We just filmed it but wasn't really planning on posting it and then the next day it was [everywhere],' he said.

Sabina Storrod from Elmhurst Ballet School said: 'The world is Anthony's oyster. Talent only gets you so far and we are so memorised by his work ethic and resilience.

'I spotted the video during Covid and was blown away. I said to our principal, how can we help this young person's journey?

'We reached out to the family and Anthony's mum said they raised some money and he might be coming to Europe and [asked] if he could visit Elmhurst.'

Sabina added that Anthony is exploring different styles of dance and is currently enjoying contemporary.

The gifted teenager said he misses his favourite dish, jollof rice, and is looking forward to travelling back to Nigeria to catch up with his family soon.

He is going to be part of a new Disney + documentary film that follows his journey, from leaving his life in Lagos to moving to the UK.
Crown Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands will take part in her first ever state banquet this month, Dutch media has reported, as her family welcomes King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain to their country on a state visit.

The occasion will mark the 20-year-old's first participation in a state banquet alongside her parents, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands.

Royal fans will note it is another step up for the future queen of the Netherlands, after she joined her mother and father for a state visit to the Dutch Caribbean Islands last year, during which she made an address to her hosts.

As she takes small steps onto the big world stage ahead of one day ascending the throne, her parents have carefully prepared her for the role of a lifetime, ensuring her eventual transition into Queen will be as smooth as possible.

When it came to raising the princess, the King and Queen of the Netherlands did their best to keep her upbringing as down-to-earth as possible in a bid to keep her feet on the ground despite the fact she would one day become the monarch.

Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands is set to take part in her first ever state banquet next week alongside her parents, Dutch media reports

She attended a state primary school close to her family home in The Hague and rode her bike in every day, just like her peers. Following this, she went to a Protestant secondary school.

Childhood friends of the Princess told the BBC on her 18th birthday that Amalia was just like all the other pupils when she was a schoolgirl - the only difference being that, when she ride her bicycle home at the end of the day, she was heading back to the Huis ten Bosch Palace.

Her parents led by example when they raised Amalia, with King Willem-Alexander previously revealing he and Argentine-born Queen Maxima's marriage is happy because they are 'open and honest' with each other.

Perhaps the reason the young princess doesn't seem daunted by the responsibilities she will one day assume is that she has been taught to prioritise her happiness.

The 20-year-old Princess of Orange (pictured with her father in 2022) has been prepared for her eventual role as Queen

As a school pupil, the princess attended a state institution and cycled to and from school every day

An authorised biography published on her 18th birthday quoted the Princess on the topic of choosing a husband one day - and her willingness to renounce the throne if Parliament considered her partner unsuitable.

She said: 'I can't choose at my own expense. Then I can't give the best for our country.'

The future Queen also revealed a candid glimpse into her love life as a teenager - claiming that she had briefly dated a fellow pupil when she was in high school, before learning he had only got involved with her as a bet.

Elsewhere in the biography, the princess expresses her progressive views - revealing that she took part in school acts of solidarity for the LGBT+ community.

King Willem-Alexander said that his three daughters 'see everything' posted about them on social media. Pictured L-R: Princess Ariane, King Willem, Princess Alexia, Queen Maxima, Princess Amalia

He said that he has 'very open discussions' with his three daughters Catharina-Amalia (centre), Alexia (right) and Ariane (left) who are encouraged to share their feelings about online trolling

King Willem-Alexander spoke to Edwin Evers about his reign so far on the Through the Eyes of the King podcast yesterday

She also took on a part-time job as a waitress at a beach club to take on early responsibility - and reportedly mixes a decent drink which has earnt her the nickname 'cocktail queen'.

Although the King and Queen have taken care to ensure Amalia could enjoy being a child, the monarch has previously revealed he and his eldest daughter have had serious and private discussions about when he will choose to abdicate and she will take over.

Speaking on the Through the Eyes of the King podcast last April as he marked a decade on the throne, Willem-Alexander said he hopes his eldest daughter can enjoy spending time on herself and with her family before she becomes a monarch in the 'distant future'.

He said he wished the heir apparent a long time to prepare for the role so she can start a family or do whatever she pleases.

Then he revealed he will sit down with his daughter to decide together when she will ascend the throne, but added it was a decision to be made 'between Amalia and me'.

He also revealed he and Queen Maxima don't shield her, nor her younger sisters Alexia, 18, and Ariane, 16, from the 'reality' of their lives as public figures.

'They are not blind and deaf, they see everything on social media, they read everything, they hear everything. We don't cut them off from anything. And they talk about it,' he said.

'It affects them,' he added, saying that he has also had to learn to deal with negative comments on social media during his time in the public eye.

The monarch explained that he encourages his daughters not to see social media criticism as a personal attack, saying that for children growing up, it was 'very annoying' to see the criticism posted online.

'Kids dont have a filter in that regard, but its reality, and they have to learn to deal with that.'

He said it is important to teach his children not to take things personally as, for the most part, he believes online trolling is not personal.

Of course, despite the King and Queen's best-laid plans, they have not always managed to keep Amalia's life normal.

As she moved to Amsterdam to study for her degree at the city's university in 2022, the Princess of Orange went to live in university halls to live a life much like her fellow peers - something she had always done throughout her education so far.

However, within weeks she was forced to leave the student accommodation after kidnap threats had been made against her.

Speaking a few months on from the frightening incident, Amalia opened up about 'missing normal life'.

Speaking to Dutch broadcaster NOS, she said: 'I'm going to be very honest, I'm still having a very hard time.

'I miss the normal life, the life of a student. Walking the streets, being able to go to a store,' she added.

Her uncle Prince Constantijn spoke out about the Princess's 'very restrictive' existence.

Boris Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 26, has been linked to Crown Princess Amalia of The Netherlands, 20, by a Dutch magazine

According to RoyalCentral, while speaking on NPO 1 he said: 'If you are a young woman you want to be able to live freely during your student days and that is not granted to her.'

Speaking candidly about her daughter's situation while on a state visit to Sweden, Maxima was quoted by Dutch news agency ANP saying: 'She can hardly leave the house.

'The consequences are very difficult for her. There is no student life for her like others have.'

Despite going through a difficult time, the last year has seen the Princess of Orange further grow into her role as heir apparent while she continues her studies from the safety of the royal residence.

She also may have finally found her Prince Charming, as Dutch media has linked the Princess with a Spanish-born sculptor who is heir to the defunct Belgian throne.

Prive suggested Amalia may have found love with Boris of Bulgaria, otherwise known as the Prince of Turnovo.

Spanish-born Boris, 26, is the son of the late Prince Kardam of Turnovo, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 52.

The sculptor, who studied at the London School of Fine Arts at Wimbledon, is the heir to the defunct throne of Bulgaria.
In The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith brought to life one of the most enduring antiheroes readers will come across.

As he affords himself a life of luxury by murdering and conning his way around Europe, readers hope that the chameleon character Tom Ripley will come a cropper.

Now, 69 years after the character appeared in print - before he was later brilliantly portrayed by Matt Damon on screen in 1999 - the amoral killer has returned with Andrew Scott in the titular role in Netflix's new series, Ripley.

Ripley's creator was a complex character, to put it mildly.

A self-described 'Jew hater', she once declared that the Holocaust - in which six million Jews were murdered - should be called 'the semicaust' because it only did half the job.

She also claimed that if African men 'don't have sexual intercourse a certain amount of times a month, it doesn't matter with whom, they become ill'.

Patricia Highsmith was a brilliant novelist but also cruel to her lovers and was a self-described 'Jew Hater'. Above: Highsmith in 1993

In The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith brought to life one of the most enduring antiheroes readers will come across. Above: Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1999 film of the same name

Highsmith, the great queen of the psychological thriller who was described by her publisher as 'relentlessly ugly', also described murder as 'a kind of making love'.

She carried 30 snails around in her handbag and would tip them out at dinner parties before watching them as they slithered across her host's table cloth.

Highsmith was born Mary Patricia Plangman, in Fort Worth, Texas, on January 19, 1921, 10 days after her parents had divorced.

Her mother went on to tell her that she drunk turpentine while she was carrying her in the hope of scuppering the pregnancy.

In 1927, Patricia was whisked away to New York to live with her mother and stepfather, Stanley Highsmith.

The experience of the Big Apple proved to be short lived, for she was sent back to Texas to live with her grandfather when she was 12.

She despised her mother for the rest of her life as a result and even snubbed her funeral.

Highsmith would tell a friend in later life: 'I repeat the pattern, of course, of my mother's semi-rejection of me. I never got over it. Thus I seek out women who will hurt me in a similar manner.'

By the time she was a student at Barnard College in 1940s New York, Highsmith's diaries show that she had become an individual of immense highs and lows in both her work and personal life.

The young writer was not afraid to boast about her ability. '[I] do suspense well,' she wrote in 1942. 'The morbid, the cruel, the abnormal fascinates me.'

She said at one point that, if given the choice of saving a starving baby or a kitten, she would rescue the kitten.

The amoral killer has returned with Andrew Scott in the titular role in Netflix's new series, Ripley

She carried 30 snails around in her handbag and would tip them out at dinner parties before watching them as they slithered across her host's table cloth. Above: The author aged 21 in 1942

The star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie

A self-described 'Jew hater', she once declared that the Holocaust - in which six million Jews were murdered - should be called 'the semicaust' because it only did half the job

Highsmith, the great queen of the psychological thriller who was described by her publisher as 'relentlessly ugly', also described murder as 'a kind of making love'

This was because most people were 'morons' and so babies should be killed off at birth.

Highsmith, who began each day with a breakfast of gin and orange and once got so drunk at a dinner party that she slumped into the candles and set her hair on fire, was also known for her lust for other women.

Highsmith was also known for her lust for other women.

One diary entry reads: 'Three nights, three people! She did me at least four times.

'Sex to me should be a religion, I have no other. Sexual love is the only emotion which has ever really touched me. Hatred, jealousy, never - except devotion to myself.'

The roll-call of her numerous female lovers was the stuff of scandal in her day. There was Buffie, Rosalind, Helen, Virginia, Joan, Ellen, Doris, Daisy, to name a few.

She was cruel to many of them. When she broke up with Ellen Hill in 1953, Highsmith walked out after a row, leaving her lover to swill down martinis laced with barbiturates. Hill barely survived.

The author is known to have threatened at least one of her lovers with a knife.

Another lover, Marijane Meaker, later recalled: 'Pat always used her books to portray and murder the woman she had last been out with.

'After we broke up, she murdered me very brutally, in The Cry Of The Owl, with a knife, several times.'

One biographer wrote: 'Pat thought about love the way she thought about murder  as an emotional urgency between two people, one of who dies in the act.'

Highsmith did also try to pursue with relationships with the opposite sex and at one point got close to marrying a man.

She even underwent six months of psychotherapy in the hope of overcoming her aversion.

Marc, her would-be fiance, told her that she was sexually 'rootless and infantile' and that she disgusted him.

But Highsmith was equally disgusted by men. She said she preferred 'putting my own hands up my skirt', a reference to the boys she encountered in her early life.

One male lover that she did enjoy being with was English writer Ronald Blythe, who was homosexual.

He found her a 'strange, mysterious woman - lesbian but she found men's bodies beautiful.'

She found professional success in 1950 with her debut Novel, Strangers On A Train, which was adapted into a Alfred Hitchcock blockbuster a year later.

The book, which set the tone for Highsmith's portfolio of psychological thrillers, told the suspenseful tale of two men proposing to 'trade' murders.

Overall, she wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories. Other top hits included The Blunderer, Deep Water, This Sweet Sickness and The Cry of the Owl.

Patricia Highsmith pictured at her home in Aurigeno, Switzerland in June 1985

Overall, she wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories. Other top hits included The Blunderer, Deep Water, This Sweet Sickness and The Cry of the Owl

Only once did she write a specifically lesbian novel. On her agent's advice, The Price of Salt was published in 1952 under a pseudonym, 'Claire Morgan'.

Unlike her other novels, The Price of Salt ended happily. In 1984, with culture having become more progressive, she published re-published it under her own name.

The film was adapted for the big screen in 2015 production Carol, with Cate Blanchett in the starring role.

Critic David Sexton wrote of Highsmith: 'She had no basic human warmth, no natural affection for what we all share. She herself says so, over and over again, quite clearly.'

Otto Penzler, Highsmith's publisher, said of the novelist when she died in 1995: 'She was a mean, cruel, hard, unlovable, unloving human being. I could never penetrate how any human being could be that relentlessly ugly.'

But, with admirable honesty, he added: 'But her books... brilliant.'
Rupert Everett has lived a 'wild, sex-fuelled life' and has slept with young men, old men and women', Gyles Brandreth has revealed.

The friend of the Queen, 76, said he interviewed the actor for his Rosebud podcast and thought his sex life was 'beige' and 'boring' in comparison.

Gyles said Rupert, who is from Wiltshire and has previously said he 'loves being a gay man', has slept with a whole range of people.

The former MP told the Telegraph: 'What a wild, sex-fuelled life the actor has led. And how beige my existence has been.

'Young men, old men, he had them all  and women, too.

Rupert Everett has lived a 'wild, sex-fuelled life' and has slept with young men, old men and women', Gyles Brandreth has revealed. He is pictured at Sydney Mardi Gras in 2007

'Morning, noon and night, Rupe was having it away with gay abandon.

'Inevitably, alcohol and drugs were part of the rich mix, but the driving force was sex.'

Everett has previously opened up about his use of cocaine and giving up marijuana to focus on his acting career.

Gyles said that sex was 'central' to Everett's existence throughout his life, from his teenage years to adulthood.

The ex-politician added that he was baffled at how Everett could talk about sex 'so disarmingly and hilariously'.

Rupert has starred in a number of hit films such as St Trinian's, Narnia and Inspector Gadget.

He received acclaim for his role in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding, and for starring as Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince.

The performer has had relationships with both men and women, including his affair with Paula Yates in the 90s, while she was married to Bob Geldoff.

The performer has had relationships with both men and women, including his affair with Paula Yates in the 90s, while she was married to Bob Geldoff

Rupert also said on the podcast that he was a 'great cross-dresser' as a child and believed he would have 'definitely transitioned' if he had been born in a younger generation. Pictured in 1986

Rupert pictured at the 2007 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney. He has spoken to Gyles about his sexuality

The actor's wild past led Gyles to reflect on the fact that he has never smoked, doesn't drink and has not 'touched even the mildest drug'. Pictured with Colin Firth in Another Country (1984)

Pictured: Rupert driving along Oxford Street during the 2007 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade

Rupert pictured in 1987. Gyles added that he was baffled at how Rupert could talk about sex 'so disarmingly and hilariously'

Natasha Richardson and Rupert on 'The Comfort of Strangers' Film in 1990. Rupert opened up about his past to Gyles

The performer has had relationships with both men and women, including his affair with Paula Yates in the 90s, while she was married to Bob Geldoff. Pictured left in 2008 and right in 2022

Rupert spoke of the affair during an interview on Piers Morgan's Life Stories and said: 'She's someone that I adored and still adore. I think I was in love with her.'

The actor's wild past led Gyles to reflect on the fact that he has never smoked, doesn't drink and has not 'touched even the mildest drug'.

He added that it's 'too late' for him to tap into his rowdy side. He has been married for decades after meeting Michele while studying at Oxford. They wed in 1973.

Everett also said on the podcast that he was a 'great cross-dresser' as a child and believed he would have 'definitely transitioned' if he had been born in a younger generation.

However, the actor said that he wouldn't have wanted to be a woman as he loves 'being a gay man'.

Madonna & Rupert Everett are pictured together. Rupert opened up about his youth while chatting to Gyles

Pictured: Madonna having a drink with Rupert in a scene from the film The Next Best Thing (2000)

A young Rupert Everett is pictured on the set of Another Country in 1984. The actor opened up about his past romances

Rupert and Anna Falchi are pictured in the film Cemetery Man in 1995. Rupert opened up about his time as a young actor

Rupert and Sabrina Guinness pictured at the film premiere of Brimstone and Treacle, in London, in 1982

Pictured, at the Hearts of Fire film photocall in 1985 Rupert Everett, Fiona Flanagan and Bob Dylan

Rupert - pictured with Julia Roberts in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding - told Gyles that he was a 'shy' child

Rupert has starred in a number of hit films such as St Trinian's (pictured), Narnia and Inspector Gadget

The actor's wild past led Gyles to reflect on the fact that he has never smoked, doesn't drink and has not 'touched even the mildest drug'

Everett told the Rosebud podcast: 'I was a very shy, quiet, child. I loved sitting in cupboards.

'I was a great cross-dresser, I'd be a woman if this was today because I stole one of my mother's discarded skirts and I wore it and I pretended I was Julie Andrews' daughter.'

Everett said when he was older, and had moved to London, he had a 'fantastic time'.

'I went to drama school in diamante earrings, I mean I would have definitely transitioned if it had been now,' he said.

'I think now, I would have been encouraged to and probably would have done.'

Despite this, Everett admitted he 'didn't' want to be a woman.

'No, I like being a man, I love being a gay man.'
A retired British couple who spent their 50,000 life savings on a yacht are now stranded in the Bahamas after their boat was struck by lightning.

Mike Beech, 63, and his wife Helen, 61, from Lowestoft, East Suffolk, were moored off a small island near George Town when a lightning bolt hit the mast of their sail boat at around 6.30pm on March 23 this year during an electrical storm.

All of their electrical navigation equipment, and now they face a race against time to get moving before hurricane season arrives.

The couple  who have three children Alice, 30, Charlie, 29, and Jessica, 27  were getting ready to have supper when suddenly they heard an 'almighty bang' and saw a powerful flash of white and blue light.

The lightning bolt, which was captured on camera from a distance, has destroyed almost all of the boat's electrical equipment, which will cost at least 36,000 to repair and means that for now, they are unable to move on.

Mike Beech (RIGHT), 63, and his wife Helen (LEFT), 61, from Lowestoft, East Suffolk, were moored off a small island near George Town when a lightning bolt hit the mast of their sail boat at around 6.30pm on March 23 this year during an electrical storm

Mike, who has had several careers  including as a truck driver, and Helen, who was a midwife with the NHS for 34 years, cannot afford to pay for the repairs themselves as they spent their life savings on buying and renovating the boat, and only receive a modest pension

While their insurance company is expected to cover most of the bill, they could face costs of around 6,000 and fear that their retirement dream could come to an abrupt end should their beloved boat be written off altogether.

Mike, who has had several careers  including as a truck driver, and Helen, who was a midwife with the NHS for 34 years, cannot afford to pay for the repairs themselves as they spent their life savings on buying and renovating the boat, and only receive a modest pension.

But time is of the essence as the Bahamas prepares to enter the hurricane and tropical storm season on June 1, for which they are not insured.

A friend and fellow sailor has launched a fundraiser to help them cover their insurance excess and any extra costs including renewing their visas and cruising permit.

'I never want to experience anything like that again, at all,' Mike said.

'It's really scary at the moment because all the other boats are racing back to the US to get out of the hurricane and tropical storm belt and we're stuck here.

'I have never seen an electrical storm like it. But we're alive, because I'm not sure what would have happened if we had been on deck.'

Mike and Helen bought their 38-foot yacht, Mistral Dancer, from Hamble-le-Rice in Eastleigh, Hampshire, for around 50,000 in July 2018.

It fried all of their electrical navigation equipment, and now they face a race against time to get moving before hurricane season arrives

The lightning bolt, which was captured on camera from a distance, has destroyed almost all of the boat's electrical equipment, which will cost at least 36,000 (45,000 US dollars) to repair and means that for now, they are unable to move on

'As a small child, growing up on Trencrom Hill in Cornwall, I always wanted to go sailing across the Atlantic but never accomplished it,' said Mike.

'Obviously it's money and then we had three children and family life came first.

'So it wasn't until my wife retired that we could afford to do it, because it's really her pension that drives us along and keeps us afloat.'

Before braving the Atlantic, the couple decided to put their nautical skills to the test in the Mediterranean.

'We had done our skippers ticket and off we went,' he said.

They set sail from Lowestoft a year later, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and headed east until they reached Finike in Turkey before circling back.

The journey proved successful and in December 2022 Mike and Helen began their 35-day Atlantic crossing, stopping in Lanzarote and Cape Verde on the way.

'We had a great sail down to the Canary Islands, Then we really did pick up some speed, we were flying along,' he added.

While they were unharmed, the surge has destroyed all of their electrical devices bar a few lightbulbs

Mike and Helen bought their 38-foot yacht, Mistral Dancer, from Hamble-le-Rice in Eastleigh, Hampshire, for around 50,000 in July 2018

While their insurance company is expected to cover most of the bill, they could face costs of around 6,000 and fear that their retirement dream could come to an abrupt end should their beloved boat be written off altogether

They arrived in St Lucia and spent the year island hopping before dropping anchor in Crab Cay, a small island a few miles away from George Town in the Bahamas.

It was here that disaster struck. The couple decided to move anchorage after hearing that an electrical storm was headed in their direction.

Helen was cooking dinner at around 6.30pm, on March 23 this year, and Mike was reading on his phone in the lounge when a lightning bolt struck their mast.

'First we heard the crickle crackle and then there was this all mighty bang,' said Mike.

'At first I thought someone had crashed into the side of us or something  it was that big a bang.

'With it was this massive flash of white and blue light that just lit the inside of the boat up. It was like a flashbulb but 100 times brighter and with blue light added to it.

'Obviously it's over and done with by the time you hear it. There's no time to panic.'

Mike peered through the saloon window and saw the boat's wind direction indicator and aerial fall into the water.

'I didn't know what it was at the time, all I saw was a cloud of smoke with sparks,' he said.

'That's when I realised we had had a direct strike.'

The bolt was captured on video by fellow boaters who were anchored more than 1,000 feet away.

Time is of the essence as the Bahamas prepares to enter the hurricane and tropical storm season on June 1, for which they are not insured

The couple are yet to find out how much their insurance will cover but said the local boating community has been extremely helpful and supportive

The couple, who rely on Helen's pension to live, cannot afford to pay for the repairs out of their own pocket

'You can't see our boat but you can see the strike doesn't actually hit the ground because that's where it's hit our mast,' said Mike.

While they were unharmed, the surge has destroyed all of their electrical devices bar a few lightbulbs.

In particular, their GPS system, autopilot, depth sounder, speed log, and close-hauled gauge have all fried, as well as the alternator and electrical relays.

It will cost at least 36,000 to repair the boat according to a survey carried out last week.

Mike admitted: 'The bill from the surveyor is horrendous. He reckons it's about 20,000 dollars (15,900) in parts and about 25,000 dollars (20,000) to fly somebody out here with the relevant knowledge.

'I had no idea that it would be so expensive. That's almost what we paid for the boat, which was all our savings and a chunk of Helen's pension.'

The couple, who rely on Helen's pension to live, cannot afford to pay for the repairs out of their own pocket.

They are also extremely concerned about the mast and fear their insurance company, Pantaenius, could decide to write the boat off altogether.

'The guy who did the survey said since an EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) has gone through the boat none of the stuff is reliable for ocean sailing now,' explained Mike.

To make matters worse, the hurricane season starts in the Bahamas on June 1, which means time is running out for Mike and Helen to get their boat to safety.

'That's really worrying,' he added.

Another challenge is that Mike and Helen's visas are set to run out later this week as well as their cruising permit unless they pay an additional 400 (500 dollars).

The couple are yet to find out how much their insurance will cover but said the local boating community has been extremely helpful and supportive.

To help them get back on the water, one of their friends, Tony Wells, has launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe for 6,000.

Mike and Helen had only been planning on staying a few more days before setting sail for Jamaica and then heading south to Colombia.

Had it gone to plan, they were hoping to continue their journey and visit their son Charlie in New Zealand.

'We were just passing through here, we weren't meant to stay,' said Mike.

'Maybe it wasn't meant to be and my mother is up there laughing at me.'

To support Mike and Helen you can visit their GoFundMe page.
The BBC's Fake or Fortune show may have devalued an original work by a celebrated artist by thousands of pounds after casting doubt on it for added dramatisation.

The mural was painted by modernist artist Ben Nicholson, who died in 1982 aged 87, directly on to his friends' bedroom wall as a thank you gift for staying there in 1947.

The current owners of the property in Surrey had the mural salvaged by art conservationists who expertly removed the plaster it was on in one piece.

The mural went on to be featured on Fake or Fortune, the BBC programme hosted by Fiona Bruce that investigates the provenance of notable works of art.

The hour-long programme asks the question whether the pieces are 'priceless originals' or modern copies and gathers evidence which is presented to experts to decide on.

The BBC 's Fake or Fortune show may have devalued an original work by a celebrated artist by thousands of pounds after casting doubt on it for added dramatisation

The Nicholson mural sparked debate on the show before experts concluded it was 'probably' an informal collaborative piece between the artist and the homeowner, Fred Staite Murray.

At the end of the episode art expert Philip Mould said it could be worth between 50,000 to 100,000.

Lay's Auctioneers, of Penzance, Cornwall, who are now tasked with selling it, say the mural is a genuine Nicholson original completed only in his hand.

But they have given the 30ins by 24ins mural an estimate of 80,000 because of the public debate over it.

Comparable Nicholson works have sold for 200,000 before, leading to suggestions the BBC may have 'devalued' the mural by casting doubt on it for the show.

Mimi Connell-Lay, of Lay's Auctioneers, said: 'As far as we are concerned there is no doubt it is a genuine piece by Nicholson.

'The whole premise of the programme is to ask the question is it or isn't it and to create drama and tension.

'With the back story and the provenance there is no doubt to people in the art world that it is a Ben Nicholson work. But there was one specialist who said that.

The mural was painted by modernist artist Ben Nicholson, who died in 1982 aged 87, directly on to his friends' bedroom wall as a thank you gift for staying there in 1947

The mural went on to be featured on Fake or Fortune, the BBC programme hosted by Fiona Bruce (pictured) that investigates the provenance of notable works of art

'It is crazy when you look at the dossier of evidence the experts on the show produced that they came to the conclusion that it probably was a collaborative piece.

'One of the specialists on the show stated that they didn't think Nicholson would have drawn a mandolin that is in the mural in that way, but that is his subjective opinion.'

The auctioneers said that Nicholson stayed at the Surrey home of Fred and Madge Staite Murray in 1947 while he was staging an exhibition in London.

They owned 10 of the St Ives artist's paintings and he had asked if he could borrow five of them for the display, which they agreed to.

They believe he probably created the mural to say thank you, which the Staite Murrays later preserved behind a perspex screen at Red Stream Cottage in Bramley.

Art luminaries visited to catch a glimpse of the work, which features his trademark lettering, scattered dots and geometric shapes.

Mr Murray died in 1972 and Mrs Murray lived there until she passed away in 1991. Their neighbours acted as unofficial custodians for the mural and told the next inhabitants not to paint over it as it was so significant.

The vendors, Ian and Julie Herrington, have lived at the property for over 20 years.

Art luminaries visited to catch a glimpse of the work, which features his trademark lettering, scattered dots and geometric shapes

The current owners of the property in Surrey had the mural salvaged by art conservationists who expertly removed the plaster it was on in one piece

Ms Connell-Lay said: 'In May of 1947, Nicholson was holding an important retrospective of his work at the Lefevre Gallery in London, for which he asked to borrow five of his early works from Fred and Madge, almost half of their collection.

'It is not implausible to think that having stripped their walls of so many paintings, Nicholson painted the mural to show his appreciation, one that merged elements of his current work, and of the paintings he had taken away.

'It was a gift that the Staite Murrays were rightly proud of. It adorned the wall of a room where an alabaster sculpture by Barbara Hepworth was displayed and in later years was protected by a layer of perspex.

'Madge died in 1991. Her close neighbours of over 25 years, the Metcalfs, remembered her fondly.

'Over time, they heard her many stories about famous artists and were shown the Nicholson mural.

'After Madge's death, they acted as custodians, ensuring new owners of Red Stream Cottage were informed of the remarkable legacy within their walls.'

She added: 'In 2022 the work was featured on the BBC's 'Fake or Fortune' programme.

'Although some of the Nicholson specialists consulted for the programme felt that the work was a collaboration between Nicholson and Fred, the programme's researchers made an emphatic case for the mural being by the single hand of Nicholson, a gift for his good friends the Staite Murrays.

Sculptor Barbara Hepworth and painter Ben Nicholson (pictured) joined a group of friends on holiday in Norfolk in 1931

'The weight of evidence and provenance revealed made fascinating and compelling viewing.

'We (the auctioneers) specialise in Cornish artists and Nicholson was an important figure here in west Cornwall.

'He was not an artist who was known for collaborating with others and despite being married to one of our finest sculptors, Barbara Hepworth, he did not make collaborative artwork with her.

'It seems implausible that he would have collaborated with Fred on this mural, and much more plausible that he did it as a gift and sign of appreciation to the Staite Murrays after borrowing so many paintings and leaving their walls bare.

'The current owners (the Herringtons) have had the mural expertly removed and preserved. It is a remarkable work from one of the most distinguished pioneers of abstract art.

'Looking at recent auction records, a work of this size and date (attributed to Nicholson) could easily sell for anything between 100,000-200,000 or more.'

The BBC said that the experts on Fake or Fortune 'form their own independent view' on the potential value of artworks featured on the show.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'The BBC does not get involved in any commercial sales activity around the artworks that feature in the series.

'The valuation given in the episode was an estimate of the potential price the artwork might achieve based on the information available at the time to the experts examining the piece.

'The experts in each programme always form their own independent view, drawing on their knowledge and expertise.' The sale takes place on April 11.
A photographer who shot the infamous Prince Andrew interview in 2019 says the Duke of York thought it went 'really well' but the crew feared it may never happened as they suspected the royal would 'walk out'.

Mark Harrison said he got a call from BBC Newsnight in November 2019 after his friend was unable to do the job.

The photographer, who has taken images of Margret Thatcher before, said he almost turned down the gig as he was waiting for a dishwasher delivery.

Little did he know that the job was for one of the most disastrous interviews in royal history, which is being recreated for Netflix drama Scoop, airing tomorrow.

Emily Maitlis spoke to the Duke of York about his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the allegations made by Virginia Giuffre.

In scenes that humiliated Andrew and his family, he claimed he was at Pizza Express in Woking on the night Virginia Giuffre claimed he had sex with her in London when she was 17.

Photographer Mark Harrison went on This Morning today and spoke about the interview experience

One of the shots that Mark got of Prince Andrew and Emily Maitlis in the corridor

He also tried to dispel her claims he 'sweats profusely' by claiming that being shot at during the Falklands War left him with a condition that means he is unable to perspire.

Andrew then went on to suggest the photo of them together at Ghislaine Maxwell's London mews house was faked.

Despite all of this, Mark claims Andrew thought the interview went 'really well' at the time.

The photographer got a call at 6.30pm the night before the interview was due to take place and told This Morning: 'The phone goes and they say "are you free tomorrow?" in a slightly panicked voice.

'I said it depends what it is because I have a dishwasher delivery coming. They said they couldn't tell me and that I had one minute to decide if I want to do it.'

Mark said he was intrigued by the call and decided to accept the job. He was then told to go to Buckingham Palace the following day in a sharp suit and polished shoes.

'I'm waiting and I felt a bit like a spy, which sounds ridiculous but I don't know what I'm going to do or why I am there,' he said.

Mark then explained that he heard a tannoy announcing that the Queen's laundry had arrived at the Palace.

'So I stand up and have a look. It was in a large van that turned up, I probably shouldn't say any more than that,' he said.

He then made his way up into the main room when an intern for Palace told him he was there for a job with the Duke of York.

'[The crew] said don't stop the filming whatever you do, there's a chance that Prince Andrew might walk, we don't know what's going to happen, whatever you do, get it,' he said.

Prince Andrew appeared in good spirits as he was snapped driving near Windsor Castle on Thursday

The Duke of York, 64, donned a navy jumper, as he got behind the wheel with a royal aide, a day before release of Netflix film Scoop about the Duke's Newsnight interview

The drama - starring Gillian Anderson , Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell (pictured) - delve into the royal's car-crash Newsnight interview regarding his relationship to paedophile Jeffery Epstein

Mr Sewell as the Duke of York and Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis in Scoop, left, which retells the story of his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview - widely considered the most disastrous in royal history

Mark said he had to delay the start of the interview as there was a 'messy breakfast' in the back of the shot and he asked for it to be removed.

He said: 'I didn't shoot during the interview. I shot beforehand with Andrew smiling and Emily looking quite serious.'

The photographer said that corridor shots were actually done right at the end of the interview but they showed them at the start.

'[Andrew and Emily] marched up to the end of the room and I asked them to go really slowly and not talk and they're moving quite fast and [talked].

'We get to the end and [they say] it's a wrap and that's when Prince Andrew said "Well I think that went really well".'

Mark added that he was 'blown away' by the whole experience and the interview came as a 'bit of a shock' to both him and the public.

Netflix has announced that a new movie based on the interview, which stars Rufus Sewell as the Duke of York and Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis, is being released tomorrow after its premiere in Mayfair last week.
Up to 10,000 people in the UK could have rare genetic quirks that make them up to six times more likely to become obese, a study suggests.

Obesity affects around a quarter of all adults in the UK and increases the risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, stroke and coronary heart disease.

But the genetic reasons why some people are more prone to weight gain are poorly understood.

Now, researchers have discovered genetic variants in two genes that have some of the largest impacts on obesity risk to date.

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The proportion of Brits overweight or obese has slowly grown over time, rising to two thirds as of 2021, the latest data available. No data was recorded for 2020 the year of the Covid pandemic

The team, based at the University of Cambridge, analysed the genes of more than 500,000 individuals in the UK to search for rare variants that were responsible for obesity.

They found that genetic variants in the gene BSN, also known as Bassoon, can raise the risk of obesity as much as six times.

The quirk was also linked with an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and of type 2 diabetes.

The Bassoon gene variants were found to affect one in 6,500 adults  so could affect about 10,000 people in the UK.

A rare variant of a gene called APBA1 was also found to increase the risk of obesity.

The researchers said these are some of the first obesity-related genes identified for which the increased risk does not affect children, only adults.

They suggest the Bassoon and APBA1 genes play a role in the transmission of signals between brain cells, which could start to affect appetite control as a person ages.

Study author Professor John Perry said: 'These findings represent another example of the power of large-scale human population genetic studies to enhance our understanding of the biological basis of disease.

'The genetic variants we identify in BSN confer some of the largest effects on obesity, type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease observed to date and highlight a new biological mechanism regulating appetite control.'

Almost 4.3 million people were living with diabetes in 2021/22, according to the latest figures for the UK. And another 850,000 people have diabetes and are completely unaware of it, which is worrying because untreated type 2 diabetes can lead to complications including heart disease and strokes

The researchers said understanding the neural biology of obesity could present more potential drug targets to treat the condition in the future.

Professor Giles Yeo, who also worked on the study, said: 'We have identified two genes with variants that have the most profound impact on obesity risk at a population level we've ever seen, but perhaps more importantly, that the variation in Bassoon is linked to adult-onset and not childhood obesity.

'Thus these findings give us a new appreciation of the relationship between genetics, neurodevelopment and obesity.'

As part of the study, the researchers worked with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to test their findings in cohorts of patients from other countries.

This is important, they said, because it shows they can apply their findings beyond individuals of European ancestry.

Dr Slave Petrovski, vice president of the Centre for Genomics Research at AstraZeneca, said: 'Rigorous large-scale studies such as this are accelerating the pace at which we uncover new insights into human disease biology.

'By collaborating across academia and industry, leveraging global datasets for validation, and embedding a genomic approach to medicine more widely, we will continue to improve our understanding of disease  for the benefit of patients.'
A mother whose faulty breast implant suddenly ruptured was forced to pay 11,000 for private surgery after facing a year-long NHS wait.

Beth Hewson, from York, paid 3,500 for a boob job in 1999 and was fitted with Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) implants at a private clinic in Manchester.

The 49-year-old was left with an agonising 'stabbing pain' in her left breast last year when one split. Following a breast cancer scare, her GP confirmed it had leaked into her body.

The products by French-firm PIP  given to roughly 50,000 British women  were banned in 2010 after they were discovered to have been fraudulently manufactured to contain cheap industrial-grade silicon intended for mattresses. Data also showed they were up to six times more likely to rupture.

Ms Hewson's clinic, however, refused to remove them following the emergence of the scandal.

Beth Hewson, from York, paid 3,500 for a boob job in 1999 and was fitted with Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) implants at a private clinic in Manchester. The 49-year-old was left with an agonising 'stabbing pain' in her left breast last year when one split. Following a breast cancer scare, her GP confirmed it had leaked into her body

Ms Hewson, an NHS worker at York Hospital, said she felt she had no choice but to opt for private treatment when faced with the lengthy wait

The Department of Health has long said there was no evidence to suggest ruptured PIP implants were toxic, and it did not believe they were a threat to the long-term health of women. But, more than a decade on, victims of the scandal have reported a wide range of serious side effects, including a 'horrible burning sensation' in their chest. Pictured left, Ms Hewson's ruptured PIP implant. Pictured right, her second PIP implant

And when one implant eventually ruptured, she was told there was a 12-month wait for corrective surgery on the NHS.

The Department of Health has long said there was no evidence to suggest ruptured PIP implants were toxic, and it did not believe they were a threat to the long-term health of women.

The NHS also states there is no evidence to suggest that burst PIP breast implants lead to 'serious health risks' for those affected.

But, more than a decade on, victims of the scandal have reported a wide range of serious side effects, including a 'horrible burning sensation' in their chest.

Others, given the implants after a mastectomy, have complained of aching joints, pain and fatigue.

WHAT WAS THE PIP SCANDAL? French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), which is now out of business, was found to have made silicon breast implants using silicon intended for mattresses, not for medical use. PIP implants were withdrawn from use in the UK in 2010, but by it is estimated 47,000 woman had the implants before this happened. 20,000 women sued the company responsible for testing the implants  TUV Rheinland  and were awarded 2,600 each. PIP implants are not though to pose any serious health risk, but are two to six times more likely to rupture. If they rupture they should be removed because they can become misshapen and cause pain, swelling and enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit. The NHS does not recommend women having PIP implants removed unless they are problematic  women can discuss the implants with their surgeon if they are concerned. Most PIP implants were used in private clinics and hospitals, but a small number were given in NHS operations for women who had breast cancer surgery. Source: NHS Advertisement

Experts saying PIP implants are linked to a raft of health problems including cancer.

Campaigners say it has left affected women 'suffering and dying in silence'. PIP was liquidated in 2010.

In 2010, the French government also recommended removing the implants after finding a rupture rate of five per cent.

Ms Hewson, an NHS worker at York Hospital, said she felt she had no choice but to opt for private treatment when faced with the lengthy wait.

She said: 'It was just like a stabbing pain all the time. It has been awful. I've been off work for six months.

'I couldn't lie on my side. I couldn't bend over. I couldn't lift or take anything off the shelves. It was really debilitating.

'I was constantly holding my hand under my boob, just gripping on my rib cage.'

She added: 'In the middle of last year, they did a mammogram, and that's when they said it had ruptured.

'When I found out I was in an absolute panic.

'Then they said I needed it removed, but it would take 12 months on the NHS waiting list. Usually, they are dealing with cancer patients first.

'But I did not know when I would be seen, the waiting lists are that long at the moment.

'It could have been 12 months  but it could be 15 months or two years.

'I had to borrow money from family [for the private surgery]. It's something I had to do. The risks were too high for me.'

PIP's founder, Jean-Claude Mas, was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud in 2013. He died in April 2019, aged 79.

Ms Hewson has now called for further public inquiries and studies into the possible long-term health effects of PIP silicon on those who have suffered ruptures

The scandal is thought to have affected around 300,000 women in as many as 65 countries.

After the scandal emerged, Ms Hewson, who decided to have implants after breast feeding her daughter, contacted the private clinic who carried out the procedure, Transform Healthcare.

But it refused to remove the implants for free, claiming that expert advice 'did not recommend' their routine removal. The NHS still says the implants don't necessarily need to be removed.

Ms Hewson has now called for further public inquiries and studies into the possible long-term health effects of PIP silicon on those who have suffered ruptures.

In 2021, a Paris appeals court ruled thousands of victims of the scandal, including 540 British women, would receive compensation.

The case in Paris was brought by 2,700 women who said they had suffered long-term health effects.

She said: 'Somebody has to take accountability.

'There are 45,000 other women still affected by it. A lot of the French women were compensated. But here, it just seems everybody swept it under the carpet.'

From 2025, the UK government says clinicians must give patients an implant card with information about any necessary warnings, precautions or measures.

A spokesperson for Transform Healthcare, said: 'Transform Healthcare followed the independent expert advice to the industry at the time, which did not recommend the routine removal of PIP breast implants.'
Doctors are warning about the risks that come with prolonged sitting after Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert was rushed to surgery for a blood clot in her leg.

Rep Boebert, who represents the third district of Colorado, has May Thurner syndrome, which occurs when an artery presses on a vein, causing a blood clot in the leg that travels to the heart.

She had emergency surgery to remove the clot and thus preventing it from traveling from the leg to the lungs, blocking blood flow to them.

About one in five women have May Thurner syndrome, which can cause swelling, heaviness, or fullness in the left leg or foot, ulcers or open sores in the legs due to problems with veins that do not heal, and varicose veins in your leg.

Dr Bethany Barone Gibbs, a cardiologist at West Virginia University, told DailyMail.com that sitting for just one hour without standing up to stretch your legs is enough to raise the risk of a blood clot.

Rep Boebert of Colorado is reportedly recovering well after emergency surgery to remove a blood clot

Rep Boebert had a stent implanted in the vein to expand it, and therefore breaks up the clot, restoring healthy blood flow to and from the heart

May Thurner syndrome is most common in women, specifically women who have had children.

This could be due to several factors. Women tend to have wider pelvises compared to men, and the left iliac vein passes between the spine and the right iliac artery, which crosses over it.

Pregnancy and childbirth involve significant hormonal changes, including increased levels of estrogen and progesterone, which could affect the elasticity of blood vessels and may contribute to veins becoming compressed, leading to restricted bloodflow.

Normally, veins and arteries continually carry blood throughout your body. Your arteries take oxygen-rich blood from your heart and deliver it to the tissues throughout your body, and veins carry the oxygen-poor blood back to your heart and lungs.

But in the case of May Thurner, the right iliac artery presses on the left iliac vein.

The right iliac artery is the main blood vessel carrying blood to your right leg, and the left iliac vein carries blood from your left leg back to your heart. May-Thurner syndrome may interrupt typical blood flow through your legs.

The exact cause of the disorder is still under investigation, but studies have suggested that prolonged sitting plays an important role.

Dr Gibbs said: It really has to be prolonged because what happens is when youre circulation is really stimulated by muscles contracting, thats a really awesome physiological condition that allows heart pumping and gravity to get to our feet.

Sitting for as little as an hour up to about four hours without getting up for about 10 minutes is enough to lead to a blood clot in the leg, Dr Gibbs said, though scientists have not yet nailed down the definitive number of hours necessary to cause a clot.

Dr Gibbs told DailyMail.com: When you sit, you do not use your muscles so that very important part of circulation is not active.

Thats why in the olden days, when we didnt have computers, they used to say on planes wear compression socks, or stand up a bit. That prolonged sitting wasnt common like it is now.

Its not clear what caused Rep Boeberts condition. To remedy the clot, doctors inserted a balloon to open the vein and a tube-like stent to keep the vein open.

Her campaign said: After taking time to rest as recommended by doctors, she is expected to make a full recovery with no significant concerns for her long-term health and no hindrance to her ability to perform her duties as a Congresswoman.
The CDC is taking the US bird flu outbreak 'very seriously' amid growing fears the virus could jump to humans and cause an epidemic.

A farm worker in Texas became the second American ever to be infected with the H5N1 strain this week after catching it from an infected cow  also the first time that bird flu has been found in cattle.

Mandy Cohen, the agency's director, told NPR that officials were 'monitoring the situation very closely' as farms in six states struggle with outbreaks on dairy farms.

The ease with which this virus is jumping between species raises the risk of it evolving to better infect people, which prompted one expert to tell DailyMail.com it could pose a greater risk than Covid.

Cohen said: 'That just means more opportunity for this virus to mutate and change. And that's what we want to make sure we are continuing to stay ahead of.'

The above shows how bird flu is edging closer to human spillover in the US

Dr Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC, says they are monitoring the situation closely. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, says they are also in contact with the CDC

It comes global agencies  including the WHO and a panel of experts in the EU  are also raising concerns over the risk of the virus spreading to humans.

The World Health Organization head, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, confirmed yesterday that the organization was in 'close contact' with the CDC.

'Any case of H5N1 is concerning,' she said, 'because it is highly dangerous to humans, although it has never been shown to be easily transmissible between people.'

Other organizations have also raised the alarm including the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, which said infections in more and more animals raised the risk of the virus spreading to humans.

The White House has said it is 'monitoring' the situation and the President is being kept up to date.

Dr Cohen said: 'What we've learned through Covid in our experience is: viruses change, and we need to say ahead of it.

'That's why we at the CDC and the whole of US government is taking this very seriously and monitoring the situation very closely.'

She added, however: 'We have never seen a case of human-to-human spread of avian flu here in the US.

'And the version of avian flu that we're seeing in cattle, and in this one human case, is the same strain [H5N1] that we have seen previously in birds.

'We've never seen that spread human-to-human.'

On the Texas patient, she added: 'The person had very mild symptoms. They're recovering well.

'But we want to make sure, again, that we are testing folks who may have been in contact.'

She also said the agency was working closely with state and local partners and veterinarians to detect further infections in cattle.

'This is a new reservoir or a group of animals that we are seeing this virus in,' she said, 'and that just means more opportunity for this virus to mutate and change'.

The CDC released an analysis of the virus infecting the patient in Texas yesterday, revealing it had gained a mutation linked to making it more transmissible in mammals.

But the agency assessed the risk from the virus to still be 'low', adding that this mutation had been recorded previously.

There is no evidence suggesting that the current strains of bird flu can jump from human-to-human.

But amid concerns, federal officials are preparing vaccine supplies in case there are more human cases.

They already have two candidates available, officials told the Washington Post, which could be rolled out within weeks to months if needed.

Officials also insisted they were well-poised to detect if a person has H5N1 through the agency's regular surveillance for seasonal flu at more than 100 public health labs in states across the US.

Experts say it would be easier to manufacture a vaccine against H5N1 compared to coronavirus because there are already several shots available to combat bird flu.

Millions of doses are already held in the strategic national stockpile, which could be rolled out if needed.

In February, the agriculture secretary also said that the country was '18 months or so' away from developing a bird flu vaccine for poultry.

The above shows cases of H5N1 in people by country from the year 1997. The virus underwent a major change in 2020 when a wild and domestic version combined

The patient in Texas suffered only one symptom  inflammation of the eye  and is recovering well after being treated with the antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

They have been isolated, and at present, there are no signs that the infection has spread to other humans or to the patient's respiratory tract.

It was not clear how they became infected, but it may be the case that they touched their eye after their hand became contaminated with the virus.

Bird flu can infect the eyes of humans because this carries the same receptors as the lungs of birds.

But the human lungs  where the disease could cause serious illness and pneumonia  carry very different receptors, with there being no signs the virus has spread to this area in the patient.

Experts are becoming increasingly alarmed over the range of animals bird flu is infecting  from seals to raccoons to skunks.

It is also infecting more animals with close contact with humans, including cats, dogs and cattle  raising the risk it could jump to humans.

Experts fear that each new infection raises the risk of the virus gaining mutations allowing it to better spread among people.

It comes after experts warned yesterday that bird flu could be much worse than Covid should it begin to spread between people.

Speaking at a briefing yesterday, Dr Suresh Kuchipudi  a bird flu researcher in Pittsburgh  said: 'This virus [has been] on the top of the pandemic list for many, many years and probably decades.

'And now we are getting dangerously close to this virus potentially causing a pandemic.'

Bird flu has jumped to other animals including seals, with 17,000 pups dying in a colony in Argentina earlier this year amid fears the virus managed to transmit between the animals

The WHO estimates the fatality rate for H5N1 at 52 percent, based on the 462 deaths recorded since 2003 among the 887 people diagnosed with the virus.

For comparison, Covid currently kills around 0.1 percent of people it infects  although at the beginning of the pandemic this was around 20 percent.

Since 2020, when the new strain of bird flu emerged and spread around the world, seven out of 26 people infected with H5N1 have died  or nearly 30 percent.

Concerns over bird flu were sparked a fortnight ago when cows started to test positive for the virus  which experts say was the 'last' species they expected to catch the virus.

So far, 12 dairy herds across six states have tested positive with most linked back to herds in Texas  where five herds have been shown to have the disease.

It is not clear at present how the cattle were infected, and whether the virus has been spreading between cattle  although experts say this is possible.

The last human infection with H5N1 in the US was recorded in 2022 when a prison inmate working on a poultry farm in Colorado tested positive for the disease.

Experts say there is very little risk of catching bird flu from milk because virtually all of the US supply is pasteurized before it reaches shelves  which deactivates the virus.

Milk from cattle known to be infected with bird flu is also taken out of the supply, further lowering the risk.

But experts fear that if more cattle test positive, this could reduce the amount of milk that the US produces  driving up prices.

There are also concerns over egg prices after the largest egg producer in the US  Cal-Maine Foods in Texas  revealed bird flu had been spotted in its flock, with 2million chickens now needing to be slaughtered.

Bird flu was behind the surge in egg prices in 2022, with a dozen Grade A brown eggs spiraling from $1.72 to a peak of $4.82 by January 2023.

It is feared the same could happen as more birds are culled amid concerns over the bird flu outbreak.
Americans are being warned to stay away from eggs with runny yolks amid increasing cases of bird flu in the US.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, A former FDA expert has urged people to cook their eggs thoroughly to kill off any lingering fragments of virus.

Farms in multiple states are struggling with outbreaks of the H5N1 strain among poultry and, for the first time, cattle.

Earlier this week, health officials in Texas confirmed that a dairy farmer caught the virus, making him only the second-ever American to contract the disease.

Food safety experts have warned against eating eggs with runny yolks, as they are not properly cooked and could increase the risk of contracting bird flu

Dr Detwiler notes that when chickens become infected, the virus can be present in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. 'Consequently, the virus can contaminate the birds' environment, including the eggs they lay,' he said

Dr Darin Detwiler, food safety expert at Northeastern University and former advisor to the FDA and USDA, told DailyMail.com: 'Transmission of bird flu to humans through the consumption of properly cooked poultry products, including eggs, is very low. The risk arises with improperly cooked eggs or poultry meat.

'Using pasteurized eggs or ensuring eggs are fully cooked could provide an additional layer of safety, reducing the risk of potential exposure to the virus.'

Bird flu often spreads from waterbirds like ducks and geese to chickens. Dr Detwiler notes that when chickens become infected, the virus can be present in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces.

'Consequently, the virus can contaminate the birds' environment, including the eggs they lay,' he said.

It's similar to common foodborne illnesses like salmonella and E coli, which infect humans through animal products that are not fully cooked.

Dr Detwiler, therefore, recommends customers be cautious about eggs that have runny yolks, which includes sunny side up, poached, soft boiled, and over easy.

'In the case of avian flu concerns, eggs should be cooked until both the white and yolk are firm, which ensures that the egg reaches a temperature that is likely to kill any viruses present,' he said.

'For dishes containing eggs, cooking to an internal temperature of 160 F (71 C) is recommended as a precaution to ensure safety as this is an effective kill step for bacteria and viruses, including the bird flu virus.'

'If eggs are not cooked thoroughly (for example, if they are runny or soft-boiled), the virus might not be completely killed, which could potentially lead to infection if the eggs were contaminated.'

The above shows how bird flu is edging closer to human spillover in the US

The above graph shows human cases of avian influenza globally reported by year. The colors represent different countries with the light blue being Egypt and the orange being Cambodia

The largest egg producer in the US  Cal-Maine  revealed this week it would need to cull 2million birds after the virus was detected in its flock.

Officials in Michigan are now also urging people to take enhanced measures to protect their flocks.

Dr Detwiler warned that this could lead to increased egg prices and lack of availability in stores. 'Outbreaks of bird flu in poultry can have significant economic impacts on the food industry, leading to the culling of infected birds and disruptions in poultry product supply chains,' he said.

'As always- these costs are passed on to consumers.'

So far, 12 farms across six states have reported H5N1 infections in their cows  including five in Texas, as well as farms in New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Idaho and Kansas. Cows in Iowa are also being tested.

Infected cattle are described as 'lethargic', eating less food and producing less milk. But they are not dying from their infections.

But it is not clear how the cows became infected, whether it was via exposure to infected droppings, bird carcasses or another route.

It also is not clear whether the virus is spreading between the animals or if they are being infected by a single source, such as their feed. Most of the cases across the country have been linked back to farms in Texas.

For the human case, there are also many unknowns  including how the patient was infected.

It could have been from direct contact with cows or from touching a surface contaminated with the virus and then touching their face.

Although many mammals are being infected, experts say there is one species they focus on in particular: Pigs.

These animals have the same receptors in their lungs as humans, meaning an outbreak among them could predict a similar episode in humans.

But, infections are not currently being recorded in pigs.

According to the CDC, some humans infected with bird flu might not experience symptoms.

Those who do have reported flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, and fatigue.

Dr Detwiler noted that other serious complications include respiratory failure, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS, which causes fluid to collect in lung air sacs), and multi-organ failure.

The World Health Organization estimates the fatality rate for H5N1 at 52 percent, based on the 462 deaths recorded since 2003 among the 887 people diagnosed with the virus.
An LA surgeon changed the life of a mother-of-two when he removed thousands of agonizing tumors from her body during more than 60 hours of painstaking surgery.

Dr Ryan Osborne, who felt compelled to take on the 'one-of-a-kind case' after hearing about her desperate situation, carried out a total of 24 operations on patient Charmaine Sahadeo over 10 weeks.

Ms Sahadeo, a mother-of-two from Trinidad, suffers from the rare condition NF-1 neurofibromatosis, which resulted in growths on her scalp, in her mouth, all over her face, arms, legs, buttocks, breasts and on her genital region.

She had already undergone two surgeries in her home country to help with the debilitating disorder, but decided she needed to seek more help abroad, and launched a fundraiser in the hope of traveling to the US.

After years of waiting, she finally found Dr Osborne, an award-winning head and neck surgeon who was determined to help her overcome what is widely seen as one of the most serious cases of neurofibromatosis in the world.

Dr Ryan Osborne said he felt compelled to take on the 'one-of-a-kind case' after hearing about the patient's desperate situation

Dr Osborne speaks to tumor patient Charmaine Sahadeo as he assesses her condition on TLC show Take My Tumor

Dr Osborne was featured on TLC's Take My Tumor, helping Ms Sahadeo to start a new life free of the tumors she has been forced to live with for so many years.

Speaking to his patient on the show, Dr Osborne told her that because of how severe her neurofibromatosis is, she was 'encroaching on some dangerous territory', but that intervention was 'urgent'.

He explained how removing the thousands of tumors would be a complicated and long process, requiring multiple surgeries over more than two months.

With each tumor removed, he said, pieces of skin would also need to be taken, raising the risk of infection each time. This meant the procedures had to be done over multiple sessions.

How quickly they would work also depended on how much pain Ms Sahadeo could tolerate.

Dr Osborne said: 'You're not going to feel anything during the surgery. It's when you wake up. If I took this all off, it would be as if someone skinned you alive and I couldn't give you enough pain medication to keep you comfortable.'

Despite the pain, Ms Sahadeo was determined to undergo surgery.

Dr Osborne told his patient: 'I've never done this before. We're going to do this together, one step at a time.

'All I can tell you is that I'm going to be here with you the whole way through and whatever happens we'll figure it out.'

Dr Osborne with some of his colleagues. He is director of The Osborne Head and Neck surgery

Ms Sahadeo said she feels 98 percent better than she did before her procedures and she smiles more now

But in preparing for surgery, Ms Sahadeo's medical team ran into a major roadblock: Her tumors were covering so much of her body, they couldn't find a vein to infuse anesthesia through, meaning they wouldn't be able to sedate her to operate.

Opting to give local anesthetic, numbing just the affected area instead of sedation, Ms Sahadeo underwent 13 hours of surgery completely awake.

Dr Osborne was able to remove dozens of tumors - including several large ones on her face and 'Frank' in her mouth, as well as the extremely large tumor on her leg.

Over the next 10 weeks, he went on to operate on Ms Sahadeo 24 times, for a total of 60 hours.

Four weeks after her last surgery, back home in Trinidad, Ms Sahadeo said: 'Life is 100 percent better for me.'

Dr Osborne is in the business of changing lives, and documents his incredible work on YouTube and social media.

'When most doctors see a patient and it's a complex situation, they just see high risk. I see the opposite of that, which is high impact,' he said on his Instagram.

'It's an opportunity for me to have a huge impact on that patient's life. I went into medicine to help people.

'Once I make a human connection with a patient, I don't have a choice  I'm going to do the case.'

The father-of-two is director of The Osborne Head and Neck surgery and founded a charity which works to provide pro bono ENT surgical care to people worldwide.

He describes himself as someone who is 'determined to make a difference in the world,' with this being the reason why he trained to be a head and neck surgeon.

The left photo shows Charmaine Sahadeo before her surgeries and the right shows her after more than 60 hours of operations

As well as running his private medical practice, he l eads yearly medical and impact missions around the world with his charity the Dr Osborne Head and Neck Foundation

He's a physician, he says, 'but most of all he's a man of the people, a visionary, and a person that never gives up on his dreams.'

He says he has dedicated his adult life to 'serve others and help grow those around him.'

As well as running his private medical practice, he leads yearly medical and impact missions around the world with his charity the Dr Osborne Head and Neck Foundation.

It sees him and other specialists visit countries in Africa and South and Central America, helping those who require life-changing surgeries.
READ MORE: how to protect yourself, kids and dogs from Lyme disease

A boy in Arkansas was placed in a medically induced coma after being infected with a tickborne illness.

Aiden Debusk, 7, was on a Father's Day hike with his family last summer when he was bitten by about five ticks.

This was common in their area, and Aiden's mother, Laiken Debusk, removed the ticks as she normally would.

About 10 days later, Ms Debusk took her son to his pediatrician after he began experiencing cold-like symptoms. The doctor prescribed over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and Benadryl, Ms Debusk wrote on Facebook.

However, just four days later, Ms Debusk awoke to find Aiden delusional and unable to move, only being able to cry out for help.

Aiden Debusk, a seven-year-old boy in Arkansas, was placed in a medically induced coma last year after coming down with the tickborne illness ehrlichiosis

Nine months later, Aiden has largely recovered, though he did suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI). He now says he wants to be a leader one day

Aiden was suffering from ehrlichiosis, a potentially life-threatening disease caused by ticks infected with the bacteria Ehrlichia chaffeensis, E ewingii, or E muris eauclairensis.

As he declined, doctors placed Aiden into a medically induced coma, where he remained for several days.

Ehrlichiosis spreads through bites from infected ticks, particularly lone star and blacklegged ticks. While lone star ticks are most common in the south, blacklegged ticks are typically found in the northeast.

Symptoms usually appear within one to two weeks after a tick bite, with mild signs starting in the first five days.

According to the CDC, these include fever, chills, severe headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, confusion, and rash.

Because the symptoms closely resemble a cold or the flu, it can be difficult to catch ehrlichiosis early.

If the condition is not quickly treated with antibiotics, it can lead to brain and nervous system inflammation, respiratory failure, uncontrolled bleeding, and organ failure.

Left untreated, the condition can be fatal.

While ehrichliosis is rare, cases are rising. In 2000, there were 200 reported cases in the US, but in 2019, there were 2,000. About one percent of cases are fatal.

In the hospital, Aiden was also diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS)-hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), an extreme immune system reaction to an infection. These symptoms include fever, enlarged liver and spleen, and rash.

Nine months later, Aiden has largely recovered from his illness, though he did suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to the infection reaching his brain.

'[It] definitely is a new way of life... he's on five medications twice a day,' Ms Debusk told local news station THV 11.

'They make him dizzy... make him lash out sometimes. They make him gain weight, but aside from all that, we are grateful and thankful he is still here.'

'It's beautiful. We still get to have a journey.'

Aiden and his family are now urging Americans to use bug spray to prevent ticks.

Additionally, they recommend saving any ticks in a piece of clear tape to they can be tested for infections.

'Some are bad ticks, and some are not,' Aiden, who said that he wants to be a leader one day, told THV 11. 'Ask a grown-up or a doctor to get it off.'
The maker of a discontinued heartburn medication has settled thousands of lawsuits that claim the pills cause cancer.

New Jersey-based manufacturer Sanofi has reached an agreement to settle 4,000 lawsuits linking the active ingredient in Zantac - rantidine - to cancers.

Zantac, an over-the-counter pill for heartburn and indigestion, was pulled from shelves in 2020 after animal studies found that rantidine released 'probable human carcinogens' linked to esophageal, kidney, and colorectal cancer.

Sanofi did not admit any wrongdoing and said that it settled to avoid the expenses and distractions of litigation.

The company also did not announce how much they would pay out to plaintiffs.

Sanofi, drugmaker behind discontinued heartburn medication Zantac, agreed to settle 4,000 lawsuits alleging that the drug's active ingredient created cancer-causing chemicals

'Sanofi has vigorously defended the Zantac litigation since the outset and will continue to do so,' the company said.

Zantac was first approved in 1983 and developed by GSK, becoming the world's fastest selling medication in 1988. In 2016, Sanofi acquired the treatment in an asset swap with Boehringer Ingelheim.

However, Sanofi recalled Zantac in 2019 after studies found that rantidine was creating toxic levels of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).

NDMA is a chemical byproduct of many industrial manufacturing processes, including the production of rocket fuel.

It's also common in low quantities in many foods, such as cured or smoked meats, fish and beer as well as tobacco smoke.

NDMA is a 'forever chemical,' meaning that it doesn't degrade, or break down, naturally in the environment or our bodies. Over time, it accumulates, and our exposures build up.

A number of theories have been put forward to explain how the toxic chemical ended up in the supply of some heartburn medications, as well as in the blood pressure drugs, valsartan and losartan, in recent years.

Some have suggested it's due to poor manufacturing, while others have initially suggested that the way the body metabolizes the drug could actually make levels of NDMA surge in the stomach. However, the latter theory was debunked in 2019.

Animal studies have shown that NDMA can increase the risk of cancers in the esophagus, kidneys, and stomach. They have also been linked to colorectal cancer, which is on the rise among young Americans.

There have been no cancer cases officially linked to Zantac, the WHO states, though thousands of patients have alleged otherwise.

In 2020, Deborah Haskins of Virginia claimed the the drug, which she had been using since 2005, was responsible for her esophageal cancer.

Ms Haskins said that ranitidine's chemical structure is 'inherently unstable' and can break down during digestion and produce the cancer-causing agent NDMA.

Joseph Galimidi, a rabbi from South Florida, sued for compensation for injuries, pain and suffering after developing breast cancer in 2013, which is rare in men.

Mr Galimidi said he had been regularly taking Zantac for heartburn over the previous four years.

And Mark Allan Blake, of Colorado, filed a lawsuit claiming that Zantac, which he began using four times weekly in 1996, was responsible for causing the bladder cancer he developed in 2018.

The FDA ordered all products with rantidine be removed from shelves in 2020 and urged patients to stop taking any medications containing the ingredient.

Sanofi still faces 20,000 lawsuits over Zantac in Delaware state court, where 70,000 cases were filed against Sanofi and GSK, Pfizer, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Jennifer Moore and Brent Wisner, who are the lead plaintiffs attorneys in the Delaware and California litigation, said Wednesday that they were pleased that Sanofi had reached a settlement while litigation continues against other defendants.

'We are pushing forward aggressively against GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim and are preparing for multiple trials in California state court this year,' Ms Moore said.

Sanofi now sells Zantac360, a reformulated heartburn medicine whose active ingredient is famotidine
The FDA is set to axe its ban on gay and bisexual men donating sperm, it has been revealed.

Under the current rule, men who have had sex with men within the last five years are blocked from anonymously donating sperm amid fears of HIV infection.

But the agency is now seeking to scrap the blanket ban, and replace it with screening questions that assess a donor's risk of carrying HIV or other infections.

If approved, the shift would increase the number of anonymous sperm donations available to those seeking fertility treatments.

It could also affect limits on donations of other tissues from gay and bisexual donors.

The FDA is seeking to update its rules on anonymous sperm donations. The current rules were put in place in the 1980s over HIV-related concerns (stock image)

The Wall Street Journal revealed the news, and said the FDA was planning to finalize its proposal by the summer. If approved by the White House, it could go into effect before the end of this year.

Women whose male partner is infertile or who don't have a male partner rely on donated sperm to become pregnant.

It comes as IVF is more in demand than ever, with a record 86,000 babies born via the procedure in the US in 2021, the latest year available.

That's up more than 62 percent from the 53,000 in 2012 when records began  with doctors saying this figure is set to increase.

The growing popularity is due to couples waiting longer to have children, as well as increasing numbers of women opting for IVF without a partner.

Additionally, some surveys show that the number of LGBT couples starting a family has risen by 44 percent over the past decade.

Meanwhile, sperm banks are reporting shortages in the number of samples available for patients.

Experts say trouble was sparked during the Covid pandemic - with fewer donations from young professionals and students, who make up the bulk of the supply.

Many human rights groups have been lobbying the FDA to change its rules around sperm donation for years, calling them 'outdated'.

The shift comes the year after the FDA permitted gay and bisexual men to give blood - after a long ban due to concerns about HIV.

The FDA banned anonymous sperm donations from gay and bisexual men in the 1980s amid concerns over the accuracy of HIV tests.

It was feared that the swabs would not detect the virus, which could then be accidentally transmitted to someone else.

Under the proposed rule change, the blanket ban will be replaced with a series of questions for donors to screen for HIV risk.

It has not been revealed which questions may be asked. It is thought the new regulations may follow ones updated for blood donation - which involves men being permitted to donate blood providing they had not had any new sexual partners over the previous three months.

There are rigorous precautions already in place for spem donors to prevent HIV transmission.

Donors must test negative for HIV at least twice, with tests being at least six months apart.
Prescription charges will rise to almost 10 from next month.

The cost of a single prescription will rise by 25 pence from 9.65 to 9.90 from May 1, officials have confirmed.

An annual supply of HRT medication for menopausal women, introduced a year ago to cut costs, will rise from 19.30 to 19.80.

Prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), for those who do not qualify for free medicines, will rise from 111.60 to 114.50 annually.

Last night, pharmacy leaders accused ministers of increasing 'a tax on the vulnerable'.

Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, said: 'Yet again community pharmacies must be the bearers of bad news as the Government decides to raise the NHS prescription charge.

The cost of a single prescription will rise by 25 pence from 9.65 to 9.90 from May 1, officials have confirmed (stock image)

Pharmacy leaders accused ministers of increasing 'a tax on the vulnerable' (stock image)

'As the cost of living continues to put strain on the most vulnerable in society, many patients will have to make unbearable decisions about which medicines they can afford to pay for.'

Approximately 600million is generated each year in revenue from prescription charges in England for the delivery of NHS services.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it had taken steps to help with the cost of prescriptions and almost 89 per cent of items in England were provided free of charge.

NHS prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There are few pay exemptions for patients in England, including for those aged 16-18 and in full-time education or patients once they turn 60.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Almost nine in ten items are available for free on the NHS in England and we provide a wide range of support to ensure everyone who needs a prescription can afford it.

'Those on a low income, aged over 60 or with qualifying medical conditions like cancer, epilepsy and diabetes all qualify for exemptions, as do children and pregnant women.

'Where charges are in place, it is important prices are regularly updated to ensure the NHS maintains a sustainable business model and can continue to deliver excellent patient care.'
Establishment politicians have decried Israels killing of aid workers in Gaza, including several Britons. But the truth is that Sunak, Starmer, and the rest of the Westminster warmongers have blood on their hands. We say: overthrow their system!

[Originally published at communist.red]

On 1 April, seven aid workers, including three British nationals, were killed in Gaza when their jeep was bombarded by the Israeli military.

The Israeli government has deployed every excuse to avoid responsibility for this attack: from calling the strikes unintentional; to claiming that the aid convoy was accompanied by an armed Hamas militant. This is all, of course, blatantly false.

The vehicle was clearly labelled World Central Kitchen (WCK). It was travelling in a non-combat zone, and had shared its coordinates with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Far from being the result of a miscommunication, one IDF source revealed to Haaretz that the General Staff know exactly why WCK were bombed  because in the Strip, everyone does whatever they like. In other words, entire IDF units are targeting civilians with impunity.

Let us be clear: this was cold-blooded murder  part of a deliberate strategy by the Zionists to starve Gaza, by making it impossible for food aid agencies to continue their operations there.

As the head of WCK commented in an official statement: This is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations, where food is being used as a weapon of war.

I want to be very clearthe strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentificationat night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldnt have happened.



Watch the full statement by IDF Chief of the pic.twitter.com/JnvoJOTVg9  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 2, 2024

Far from being the sorrowful accident portrayed in the capitalist press, this attack was in fact a great success in the eyes of the Israeli ruling class, despite the negative press.

Ships carrying 300 million tonnes of food and supplies have been turned back to Cyprus. Several aid agencies have ceased working in Gaza.

This will have catastrophic consequences for civilians in the Gaza strip, who are already suffering widespread malnutrition, starvation, and disease. The massacring of aid workers therefore sends a clear message to the world: we intend for thousands more to starve.

Blood on their hands

Now that British citizens have been killed, however, the UK government finds itself in an embarrassing position.

Rishi Sunak and Lord David Cameron are cringing and complaining about the need for an independent investigation, and have decried the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Sir Keir Starmer, meanwhile, one of Israels biggest cheerleaders, has denounced the strike as outrageous and unacceptable, and has called for those responsible to be held to account in line with international law.

But we arent fooled by these crocodile tears. The Tory government  with the full backing of Starmers so-called opposition  has actively supported the slaughter in Gaza every step of the way.

Theyve sent millions of pounds worth of weapons to the Israeli occupation forces. Theyve justified atrocities like the massacres at the Al-Shifa and Al-Aqsa hospitals. Theyve turned a blind eye to genocide.

And now they feign shock and horror when British citizens are caught in the crossfire. What foul, stinking hypocrisy!

These mealy-mouthed statements wont wash the blood from their hands.

Down with imperialism!

The communists will continue to wage a tireless struggle to bring down this entire blood-soaked imperialist system / Image: The Communist

The truth is that the western leaders  Sunak, Biden, Scholz, Macron, and the rest of this warmongering cabal  did everything short of ordering the strike themselves.

They provided the political cover, alongside the financial and military means, and have promised the Zionist government that they will have its back, no matter what.

No amount of independent investigations, or toothless denunciations from the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, will stop the Israeli imperialists from committing war crimes against civilians, aid workers, and healthcare workers.

While our ruling class scrambles to conceal its open barbarism, we, the communists, will continue to wage a tireless struggle to bring down this entire blood-soaked imperialist system.
CAB Payments shares jumped by more than 10 per cent on Thursday after the group achieved a new licence allowing it to operate across most of Europe.

The financial technology firm has obtained a payment service provider licence with DNB, the Dutch central bank, enabling it to offer services throughout the European Economic Area under the passporting regime.

It said the approval would create 'significant opportunity' for the company, which went public on the London Stock Exchange in July 2023, and the customers and markets it serves.

Expansion: CAB Payments has obtained a payment service provider licence with DNB, the Dutch central bank, enabling it to offer services throughout the European Economic Area

Following the announcement, shares in CAB Payments surged 11.4 per cent to 123.2p by late Thursday morning, bringing 2024 gains to around 50 per cent.

However, they remain far below their initial public offering price of 3.35, partly due to the group declaring a revenue warning shortly after listing.

Last October, the business said its full-year turnover would be 17 per cent lower than previously expected amid major currency volatility, including a steep depreciation in the Nigerian naira's value.

While CAB told investors that revenue would still be at least a fifth higher than the prior year, its shares plummeted by 72 per cent in a single day.

Headquartered in Sutton, CAB specialises in providing foreign exchange services and processing payments between developing countries.

It started in 2016 when private equity investor Helios Investment Partners acquired the financial services arms of Crown Agents Bank, which was originally established in 1833 to procure goods and services for colonial administrators.

Bhairav Trivedi, chief executive of CAB, said the licence was 'a significant step in the expansion of the business and presents a substantial growth opportunity.

'We have long seen Europe as an important market for the group. We look forward to engaging with potential clients to move money where it's needed.'

Trivedi announced in February that he would stand down after three years in charge following the publication of the company's annual results on 26 March.

Last week, he told investors that Neeraj Kapur, the former finance boss at Bradford-based Vanquis Banking Group, would succeed him 'over the next couple of months'.

In 2023, CAB reported gross income rose by a quarter to 137.1million on the back of greater interest income from cash management.

However, profits slumped by 29 per cent to 23.9million because of rising staff costs and professional fees incurred from the listing process.
PwCs global chairman has seen his fair share of controversy during a four-decade career at the firm.

From a record fine over the collapse of BHS to the infamous Oscar envelopgate mix-up, when one of his executives presented the Academy Award for Best Picture to the wrong film, Bob Moritz has had to navigate a number of storms.

But as the accountancy giants New York-based chairman prepares to retire, there is one scandal which arguably poses an even bigger risk to the British brands reputation and is threatening to blow up again.

Moritz, 61, has spent the twilight phase of his accounting career overseeing efforts by PwC Internationals top executives in London and New York to contain the Australian tax leak scandal, a blot on the firms copy book big enough to have its own Wikipedia page.

These efforts may well be in vain, with Australian senators determined to prove that partners around the world were complicit.

Crisis: Retiring: PwC chairman Bob Moritz with Emma Watson. Moritz has spent the twilight phase of his accounting career overseeing efforts to contain the Australian tax leak scandal

Last week, a damning Australian senate report piled on further pressure by accusing PwC of covering up the role of its international arm, in a bid to contain the crisis.

It concluded that PwC Internationals refusal to release a report by London law firm Linklaters into the role played by staff outside Australia is part of multi-year cover-up that worsens the crime.

In January last year it emerged that a former tax partner at PwCs Australian arm called Peter Collins had exploited confidential information from his client  the Australian Treasury  to help multi-national companies dodge tougher tax laws he was helping to design.

The scandal erupted in May when a large cache of emails revealed Collins had shared this information with colleagues in Australia and overseas, who then sold the information to US firms as part of an initiative dubbed Project North America.

Almost a year after accusing PwC of a calculated breach of trust in its initial report, Australias Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee released its equally scathing follow-up entitled The Cover-Up Worsens The Crime.

Accusing PwC of making only superficial commitments to change, it argued the group has yet to come clean about the involvement of partners and staff outside of Australia in the scandal, and failed to fully co-operate with investigations.

The committee singled out Moritzs refusal to hand over Linklaters report, which focused on the role of a group of international partners referred to by senators as the dirty six.

British veteran Kevin Burrowes the has been parachuted in to clean up the mess

Describing the publication of the Linklaters report as a first step to restoring trust with the Australian parliament, the senate committee said the extent of the involvement of the dirty six and others overseas in the misuse and attempted monetisation of confidential government information remains a crucial and glaringly absent piece of the puzzle.

It added: The committee does not see how PwC can recover their reputation while it continues to cover up because the two are incompatible. Indeed, the cover up worsens the crime.

PwC International, which is based in London, had commissioned a separate inquiry into wrong-doing within its Australian arm, publishing the findings in September.

In contrast, it only published a one-page press statement on the Linklaters report, declaring the investigation had found no evidence that any PwC personnel outside of Australia used confidential information from PwC Australia for commercial gain.

PwC said the report had concluded that six individuals, who it refused to identify, should have raised questions as to whether the information was confidential. It said appropriate action had been taken against those who remained with the firm, but left it at that.

Bosses at PwC International, led by Moritz, who is retiring at the end of June, have incensed the senate committee by refusing to hand over the report, citing legal professional privilege.

They have adopted the same approach to block demands from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and the Tax Practitioners Board, which is conducting nine investigations into the tax leaks.

Even Kevin Burrowes the British veteran parachuted in to run the Australian operation and clean up the mess, has been denied a copy.

The senate committee noted that PwC Australia used the same argument of legal professional privilege to conceal thousands of internal documents from the ATO during its early investigations into the affair years ago.

'Cover up': PwC bosses, led by Moritz have incensed the senate committee by refusing to hand over a key report, citing legal professional privilege

PwCs Australian arm has already paid a hefty price. It was forced to sell its government consultancy arm for $1, has laid off hundreds of staff, and overhauled its internal governance. It is also facing numerous investigations, including a criminal probe by Australian Federal Police.

B UT the senate committee cited the lengths taken by PwC International to protect its global empire, which spans 151 countries and employs more than 360,000 staff.

Last month it emerged that it quietly used network rules to bring the Australian arm under its control after deciding that the tax leaks scandal was causing ongoing reputational and global brand damage to the firm.

Business newspaper the Australian Financial Review revealed that the global network sent a legal letter to PwC Australia in June last year putting it under supervised remediation and instructed the branch to take all the necessary steps to bring Burrowes in as the interim boss.

Deborah ONeill, a Labour party senator and committee member, described the publication of the Linklaters report as an essential step to restore trust.

The reputational and financial damage that the firm has deservedly suffered as a consequence of their misconduct is not easily erased despite the firms attempts to cauterise its Australian operations from its global network, she said.

Unless PwC shows this commitment to accountability and reform, the firms government and corporate clients cannot be confident that the firm can be considered a trusted entity.

A spokesman for PwC said it had taken considerable steps to transform our firm, including plans for a major governance reform package which will include the implementation of cultural change from the top down.
The US paper giant bidding for one of Britains biggest packaging firms has pledged to establish a European headquarters in London and list shares in the City.

Having hijacked a proposed takeover of DS Smith by fellow FTSE 100 firm Mondi last week, International Paper came clean over its plans should its 5.7billion takeover offer be successful.

The update came after the Mail revealed the Americans were looking at a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange and intended to fold their European operations into DS Smith  founded in London in 1940  in an effort to make its offer more appealing.

Confirming those reports yesterday, International Paper said it is proposing to establish a European headquarters in London at DS Smiths existing headquarters.

The Memphis-based company added it would seek a secondary listing of its shares on the London Stock Exchange alongside its main listing in New York.

London base: Having hijacked a proposed takeover of DS Smith by Mondi last week, International Paper came clean over its plans should its 5.7bn deal be successful

The proposals are seen as an attempt to bolster its chances in a bidding war with Mondi, whose plans would see the combination of two FTSE 100 firms rather than the takeover of one by a foreign rival.

A London-listing by International Paper would be a boost for the stock exchange amid an exodus of companies in what has been dubbed a takeover feeding frenzy.

The Government has made conscious efforts to attempt to woo more international firms, with listing reforms ongoing, so it would be notched up as a significant sign of progress, said analyst Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The US giant last week offered to pay 5.7billion for DS Smith, blowing an earlier bid worth 5.1billion from Mondi out of the water.

But if the deal goes ahead, it still means another British company falling into foreign ownership.

International Paper chairman Mark Sutton said combining the two companies is a logical next step.
Investment: Britons put an unprecedented 7bn into equity funds in the first quarter of the year

Savers continue to desert British stocks despite piling record amounts of money into equity funds, it was revealed yesterday.

Industry figures show Britons put an unprecedented 7billion into such investments in the first quarter of the year as they looked to cash in on rising stock markets.

A record 5.7billion was ploughed into North American equity funds over the three-month period, according to the figures from global funds network Calastone.

But at the same time, UK investors withdrew 2.1billion from domestic holdings.

Contrasting the relative attractions of US and UK funds, Calastone head of global markets Edward Glyn said: The US earnings recession is over.

Profits are once again on the up. UK equities are certainly cheap. But investors worry where the growth is going to come from.

The figures come amid soul-searching in the City and among investors about the health of the London stock market and the low values put on British companies.

That has left London-listed firms vulnerable to foreign bidders in what Peel Hunt this week described as a feeding frenzy.

Peel Hunts Charles Hall warned that if the relentless assault continued, the FTSE Small Cap Index could cease to exist by 2028 because there will be no firms left outside the top 350 that make up the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.
She feels let down by the police and said they were dismissive of her concerns

Sascha Bailey's fashion photographer girlfriend has revealed how she was harassed by a YouTuber for three years - and threatened with hitmen and pictures of knives.

Lucy Brown, 33, began to receive unwanted emails from far-right internet personality Andrew Cooper in 2020, after he approached her under the guise of an investment opportunity.

He sent her a contract to sign, which she didn't understand, and had her come to his house to work during lockdown.

His 'weird' behaviour unnerved her and she told him she didn't feel safe anymore after he wanted her to watch The Secretary - a film about a BDSM relationship between an employer and a female employee.

From that point, he embarked on a three-year tirade of harassment against Lucy, her father and her friend - posting angry, exploitative-filled rants on YouTube.

The 33-year-old - who is the partner of Sascha Bailey, the son of legendary snapper David Bailey - received hundreds of emails from Cooper every day threatening her.

Lucy also previously worked for far-right activist Tommy Robinson before a falling out in 2018. She has since disassociated herself from Robinson.

Lucy Brown pictured with her boyfriend, Sascha Bailey, in October 2023

Andrew Cooper outside of High Wycombe Magistrates Court in April

Lucy Brown and Sascha Bailey attend Alistair Guy's birthday in December 2023

In disturbing videos seen by MailOnline, Cooper ranted about her and titled them 'For Lucy Brown the con woman and liar' and 'Dirty Lucy '.

At one point, she said Cooper - who claimed to be a multimillionaire - threatened to hire a hitman and sent her photos of bolt cutters and a table full of knives.

He went on to call her his 'surrogate daughter' and he wanted to 'baby sit' her.

Cooper was given a 12-week sentence suspended for two years, a restraining order and 150 hours community service after appearing at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on February 8 for three counts of harassment without violence.

But Lucy found herself wondering why it took so long to get to this point, and said she felt the police weren't taking her seriously.

The photographer told MailOnline: 'He had been following my career on YouTube for a while and in 2020 there was a bit of a slump and he emailed me saying he was an investor.

'Before I knew it he was giving me a contract to sign which I didn't completely understand and later came back to haunt me.

'In lockdown I was going back and forth to this geezer's house. He started saying some abusive things, and in October 2020 I sent him an email saying I didn't feel safe anymore. Then the harassment continued right up to one day before the sentencing.

'I wasn't online, I wasn't encouraging it. It's like he didn't want to let me go - like a parasocial relationship. '

Shown are extracts from emails sent to Lucy, her father and her friend

The photographer - whose work has featured in British Vogue - said she first reported Cooper's harassment to Thames Valley Police in 2020, and she decided to limit her online presence as much as she could.

She said the case was dropped after the initial report - but no one told her.

She continued: 'It just got worse and worse. I reported it to the police but I think at some point all my emails must have been going straight to the Junk folder.

'I eventually phoned up and they asked if I wanted to reopen the case. I didn't know it had been closed. I said yes and had to re-explain everything again.

'The police treated it as if it was wishy-washy and dismissive. It was hundreds of emails a day. But there was no action by the police.

'It wasn't until April 2021 that he was visited by officers. They never visited me - the first time I saw them was three years after it started and it went to court.

'It became a running joke with me and my friends, 'oh it's the one year anniversary' because the police were dragging their feet.

'I felt like they were judging me. I never really knew what was going on. It felt like they were telling me off and were annoyed, making me feel bad. But I was locking the doors at night and having panic attacks.'

Sascha Bailey and Lucy Brown pictured at photographer Alistair Guy's new exhibition at House Of Swaine in September 2023

Cooper was given a 12-week sentence suspended for two years, a restraining order and 150 hours community service after appearing at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on February 8

Emails sent to Lucy, her father and her friend are filled with swear words and accusations

Lucy was left fearing for her life after he send her a picture of a table full of knives

A screenshot of bolt cutters, sent to Lucy from Cooper over text

Cooper called Lucy his 'surrogate daughter' in text messages and emails

She said her emails to the police became 'desperate' as she pleaded to be contacted or to talk to a 'human being'.

The photographer told MailOnline she felt like she was working as her own 'private investigator, lawyer and therapist'.

Lucy said she developed PTSD and felt she had to leave the country out of fear of Cooper's harassment, who she said 'fancies himself as 'god-like' and often referenced Satanism and referred to himself as 'Daemon' or 'demon'.

At one point she was house-sitting her parents' home in Cambridge, but she was so terrified of being home alone that she took a kitchen knife and locked herself in a bedroom upstairs.

She said that she continues to have nightmares about Cooper and remains 'fearful of men in general'.

In an eight-month window, Lucy counted over 700 emails from Cooper - on top of the videos posted to his YouTube channel, Daemonlinks.

Over 60 videos, each between a few seconds and a minute long, show Cooper speaking to the camera in a low, monotone voice about Lucy and her father.

Some of these include recorded conversations with Lucy where he confronts her about her feeling uncomfortable and unsafe.

One video is titled 'Why would I ever stop coming after you?'

He says to the camera: 'Why would I ever stop coming after you when you've lied about me relentlessly for two-and-a-half years, only to obtain money? I'm going to warn other people about you.'

In the videos, he claims to be a 'self-made millionaire' and that people are coming after his money.

Many of the videos appear to be addressed directly to Lucy or her family and friends, with Cooper repeatedly using their full names, posted across multiple channels.

Shown are extracts from some of the emails sent to Lucy from Cooper

When Cooper was finally sentenced for harassment, Lucy experienced a panic attack in the courtroom.

She left the room to calm down, but she claims officers from Thames Valley Police followed her into a stairwell and told her 'calm down, or I'll arrest you', until her boyfriend was forced to intervene.

The photographer explained: 'The cherry on top was when they threatened me with arrest. Saying to someone you know is vulnerable 'calm down or I'll arrest you' is insane.

'They were staring at my self-harming on my arms and smirking. It felt like they were trying to goad me into having a panic attack so they could arrest me.

'It felt like they were holding it against me, that the scale of the harassment was so big they were disgruntled they had to do so much work.

'Driving away from court, I just felt disbelief. I asked my boyfriend 'did that really just happen?'

Even though the court case has concluded, Lucy said the damage to her life, work and mental health is 'irreparable'.

She told MailOnline that Cooper contacted her the week after he was sentenced and given the restraining order.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: 'Thames Valley Police does not comment about complaints, as it would be inappropriate to do so.

'The force has a complaints procedure, which allows members of the public to make a complaint about the force or a member of our workforce.'

Cooper isn't the only far-right personality Lucy has had issues with.

For six years, she's been 'targeted by alt-right stalkers' and says that 'like a cult', they try to stop people - especially women - from leaving.

Lucy found herself drawn into that world through the 'YouTube algorithm' - adding that she knows she was an unlikely figure to be attracted to that world, as someone from a 'liberal background in fashion'.

Tommy Robinson arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in 2021

Tommy Robinson speaks as he leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, in 2022

She described how she used her creative skills to leverage her way into a 'position of influence.

This led to her working for Tommy Robinson for the Rebel Media company in Canada, collaborating with several high-profile activists before she left in 2018 after falling out.
A parking firm has been accused of running an 'entrapment scheme' after drivers were forced to pay fines for using a car park they didn't realise was privately owned.

Drivers claim the tiny private car park is easily confused for a council one as the sign for it is hidden behind a tree - and it is located between two Milton Keynes City Council parking zones.

The car park, which is operated on behalf of the Tenpin bowling alley in the city centre, does not have any road markings or barriers at either entrance to separate it from the adjacent council parking.

Instead there are just two small, unlit entrance signs at one end - both of which can be easily missed - which say the parking spaces are for 'patrons only'. There are also council parking machines at either end, further adding to the confusion.

John Baker, a senior councillor for neighbouring Central Bedfordshire Council, has now accused firm Parkingeye of running 'a racket' and 'misusing the County Court system to demand payment for an illegal scheme'.

Have YOU been 'entrapped' by a parking firm? oliver.price@mailonline.co.uk

Parkingeye has been accused of running an 'entrapment scheme' after pressuring motorists into paying fines for parking in a car park that could be easily confused for a council one - as a sign was 'hidden' behind a blossoming tree (John Baker pictured with the sign)

Parkingeye runs a tiny private car park which is on a through road connecting two parking areas run by Milton Keynes City Council - and motorists are being sent 100 charges after not realising who owned the spaces

James Ward was slapped with a 100 charge notice after dropping off his son Alex, 12, at the Tenpin bowling alley in Milton Keynes and parking his car there for eight minutes

He told MailOnline: 'In my view, Parking Eye has stooped to a new low with this racket.

'By illegally placing a "private parking" entrance sign adjacent to an MK Council parking ticket machine, the company actively entrapped motorists before issuing a 100 charge for parking, sometimes for just a few minutes.'

Initially, Parkingeye erected an unlit entrance sign on a council lamppost directly beside a council parking meter.

Before Christmas, Parkingeye and Tenpin were ordered by Milton Keynes Council to remove the sign as it was illegally affixed to the lamppost. They eventually did so in February after some delay.

Parkingeye then moved the offending entrance sign 'and hid it behind a tree', Cllr Baker said.

MailOnline has spoken to several people who feel they were pressured into paying Parkingeye.

Mother-of-one Blanca MacLennan, 49, was charged 100 for parking in the area for around 20 minutes for a dentist visit, after paying at a council parking meter as she mistook the area for public parking.

Mrs MacLennan, from Milton Keynes, parked in the bay on February 29. She received the parking charge notice from Parkingeye on March 3.

She reached out to Tenpin, who told her she would have to appeal to Parkingeye, who then rejected it but offered her a a discount to 20 as a 'gesture of good will'.

'If I don't want to spend a lot of time fighting in court or with letters then it was best to pay,' she said.

Mr War was handed a 100 parking charge despite parking for his son to use Tenpin and only being parked there for eight minutes

'They know that you don't want a headache pursuing this. It could be in favour or against you.

'If they rule in your favour you recover the 20 but if not you can lose the 20, the original penalty of 100 and then pay for the court expenses. That could be 300, I don't want to risk that.'

Mrs MacLennan added: 'Had the rules been clearer I wouldn't have parked there. I didn't see any sign telling me it was Tenpin parking.

'What you see is the machine opposite sign to pay for the Milton Keynes parking.

'It's a way for Tenpin to make money off people who don't go to Tenpin.'

Father-of-two James Ward, 45, also from Milton Keynes, was also pressured into paying a 20 charge reduced from 100 as a 'gesture of goodwill' after he parked in car park for just eight minutes, while dropping his son off at the bowling alley on December 19.

Mr Ward's 12-year-old son Alex was bowling with his Scout troop for their Christmas party and as he was early, he waited a few minutes until a leader arrived.

'I got a letter through the post a couple of weeks later,' Mr Ward said. 'It said I had to pay 100 or, if paid within 28 days, it's 60.

'I immediately thought, I've taken my son to the bowling alley, the parking spots are for the bowling alley. I came in and they want to charge me 60 for the privilege.'

He said Tenpin 'didn't want anything to do with it' and when he appealed to Parkingeye it was rejected, but they did reduce the charge to 20 'as a gesture of goodwill'.

The other entrance signs to the car park are on a pillar and can also be easily missed

Cllr Baker has now accused Parkingeye of 'chasing residents for "parking charges" and of ignoring the councils orders.

'After proactive efforts of MK Council Parking Officers, who ordered the company to move the entrance signs, Parking Eye has hidden one behind a blossoming tree and another on a building, neither of which are clearly visible to a motorist entering the private car park, which is also a through road,' he said.

'It is clear that Parking Eye is using an automated system to hound residents through the County Court, only giving up when a motorist requests a hearing with a judge to point out the failings in the scheme. This abuse of the County Court process is merely holding up other legitimate claims.'

Cllr Baker, cabinet member for finance at Central Bedfordshire Council, has called on the government to regulate parking companies which he says are taking advantage of motorists.

He told MailOnline: 'It's about time the government legislated to outlaw these rackets, forcing private parking companies to be licensed by local councils. Without a license, a parking company should have no access to DVLA records, and hence would be unable to do business.

'Companies such as Parking Eye are running the modern day equivalent of clamping. With the correct controls in place, we can clamp down on poor behaviour, allowing private landowners to operate legitimate car parking schemes without motorists being forced to spend hours fighting unfair charges.'

The councillor accused Parkingeye of breaking the Code of Practice of The British Parking Association, which sets out guidance on how signs should be erected in a private car park to operate an ANPR-policed scheme.

Cllr Baker said: 'The layout of the site and the land under highways control makes it difficult to erect entrance signs that clearly distinguish the entrance points given it is a through road.

The entrance signs boxed in red and where Cllr Baker says they should be in green

The sign right next to a council parking meter, meaning the private parking can easily be mistaken council-run parking, before Milton Keynes Council forced Parkingeye to move it - which they did in February this year

'Rather than simply admitting that the scheme may not be viable, Parkingeye moved the unlit entrance sign to a location that is on the peripheral vision to a motorist entering the car park, obscured by a tree sitting on highways land. This innocent tree is now blossoming further obscuring the sign.

'Laughably, Parkingeye has put a little arrow on the sign to help motorists figure out what is private parking, should they see the sign!'

After raising his concerns with the parking company, their legal team told him: 'With regards to the positioning of the sign for motorists who proceed past the Travel Lodge, you will appreciate that any such motorist will be required to look right into the parking area in order to make the relevant turn.'

Parkingeye said its position that 'the sign will be visible to any motorist performing that action and 'there is sufficient signage throughout the parking area which advises motorists of the existence of the parking area, and the terms and conditions which apply'.

The firm added: 'It is not accepted that the operation on this site is unlawful and the assertion that Parkingeye operates a campaign of intimidation and harassment, and/or abuses the court process is firmly rejected'

Parkingeye rejected Cllr Baker's assertion that the signs were obscured, telling the councillor: 'Parkingeye installed an entrance sign to the left of the entrance way mounted to a brick pillar of the building... it is not accepted that the sign to the right of the entrance is blocked by a tree.

'Parkingeye's position is that there is sufficient signage which advises motorists of the existence of the parking area, and the terms and conditions which apply.'

A spokesperson for Parkingeye told MailOnline: 'An Automatic Number Plate Recognition car park management system works where a camera detects a vehicle registration entering and leaving a car park.

'ANPR technology is designed to ensure that a PCN will only be issued when the rules of the car park have been broken, such as the correct tariff hasn't been paid or they've overstayed.

'The car park at Tenpin in Milton Keynes is private land and has clear, prominent and compliant signage at both entrances and throughout, advising that the car park is for customers only. The signage informs customers of Tenpin that they should enter their vehicle details in the terminal at reception to receive 12 hours free parking.

'Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their Parking Charge.

'Our correspondence provides clear advice and guidance on how motorists can use our appeals process to highlight any mitigating circumstances for breaking the rules of the car park.'
A convicted paedophile who staged an elaborate 10,000 fake funeral at a London church used an internationally renowned casting platform to hire child actors, MailOnline can reveal.

The bizarre funeral at the London Oratory church last month sparked international media attention when it emerged that the presiding priest had dramatically stopped the service upon realising that it was being filmed, that the mourners were paid actors and the coffin was empty.

Today, MailOnline can also reveal the first images of the horse-drawn hearse that convicted paedophile Jacky Jhaj, 38, paid for to carry the empty coffin.

Speaking anonymously to protect her son, the mother of one of the children Jhaj hired revealed the paedophile asked for and received photos of her 13-year-old son and even knew their home address.

She blamed leading casting website Backstage for allowing the paedophile to use its platform to lure children to use in his sick hoax.

Missing Latvian student Lauris Zaube, 23, was the name Jhaj used for the 'dead man' at the fake funeral.

Earlier this week, MailOnline revealed Zaube's body was found in a Latvian river after he wandered off alone from a New Years Eve party in the Baltic country. Lauris is believed to have drowned after accidentally falling into a river after leaving the party near the Latvian capital of Riga.

MailOnline can reveal the first images of the horse-drawn hearse that convicted paedophile Jacky Jhaj, 38, paid for to carry the empty coffin

The convicted paedophile seemed to spare no expense for the peculiar hoax funeral

The convicted paedophile who staged the elaborate 10,000 fake funeral (pictured) at a London church used an internationally renowned casting platform to hire child actors, MailOnline can also reveal

Convicted paedophile Jacky Jhaj, 38, (pictured) organised the bizarre fake funeral with an empty coffin

The body of business management student Lauris Zaube, 23, (pictured) was found in the River Lielupe in Latvia on March 26

Jhaj previously held a similar event in which he hired young girls to pretend to faint as he walked up and down a red carpet

Dozens of child actors as young as six were recruited as supposed film extras dressed in school uniforms for the event

The concerned mother said: 'The industry is not safe. That really worries me.

'A trusted casting platform put my son at risk.

'I don't want there to be any implication for my son. The information that I provided - what's it going to be used for?

'What was the endgame? What was Jacky Jhaj getting out of it?

'[My son] is just finding it peculiar. The darker fact of it, I have shielded him from that.

'There's such a lack of safeguarding in the industry. This is a convicted sex offender. This is a serious situation.'

Jhaj is an exhibitionist would-be influencer with a track record of staging strange events to be filmed.

He has on at least two occasions posed as a film producer or film star.

He was behind a similarly bizarre event last November when a fake red carpet scene was shot in London's West End which saw 90 children and dozens more teenage extras hired to provide a crowd to be filmed.

The funeral was meant to be that of 23-year-old Latvian man Lauris Zaube (pictured), whose body was found in a river last month

Jhaj hired a group of actors to pretend to be mourners and arranged the entire service online (pictured)

Police in Riga search for missing Lauris after he went missing in the early hours of January 1

Some of the mourners  who turned out to be hired actors  have not been paid for attending the funeral service at the London Oratory (pictured)

Father Rupert McHardy, 49, (pictured) had prepared a sermon and was in his robes, ready to start the service at the London Oratory on Brompton Rd, South Kensington

Dozens of child actors as young as six were recruited as supposed film extras dressed in school uniforms and asked to pretend to faint as Jhaj paraded up and down wearing a red tuxedo as if he were a film star at a premier outside the Odeon Luxe cinema in Leicester Square.

Those taking part were not aware of the identity of the man they were to pretend to cheer for and be fans of - or that he had been jailed for preying on schoolgirls in 2016.

The sexual predator, from Feltham, had claimed to be a top Hollywood film producer as he befriended two 15-year-old schoolchildren, plying them with alcohol and giving them lifts to parties, before going on to sexually assault them.

MailOnline revealed that the pair were known to each other after they appeared alongside one another in a music video. Pictured: Lauris

Pictured: The guest house where Lauris disappeared from during a New Year's Eve party earlier this year

Authorities in the eastern European country have now confirmed his body was recovered from the River Lielupe on March 26

Authorities searching for the body of Lauris earlier this year

Lauris's brother Aris (pictured) discounted the possibility that he had staged his own disappearance as part of Jhaj's twisted scheme

Three years ago Lauris appeared in a music video (pictured) for the hoaxer who organised the bogus church service

The subject of the elaborate fake funeral in London knew the hoaxer who staged the bizarre stunt, MailOnline previously revealed. Pictured: The pair together

Father Rupert McHardy who was conducting the fake funeral's ceremony said of the man who organised it 'I saw him in the church and he was wearing dark glasses and whenever I looked at him he turned away. I have no idea who he is and why he would do such a thing.'

When MailOnline showed pictures of Jhaj at that Leicester Square event to another church regular who witnessed the funeral at the Chelsea church, they immediately replied: 'That's him. He's the guy who was organising the funeral. Definitely the same man who did the Leicester Square fake film premier'.

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Revealed: Organiser of fake funeral at historic London church is a convicted paedophile who held a similar event making children as young as six 'faint' as he paraded up and down a pretend red carpet Advertisement

A film industry source who knows of Jhaj said: 'This man is not a film star or a pop star. He's a a self-aggrandising fantasist and conman. The motivation last time when he hired all those children in Leicester Square seems to have been to boost the profile of his alter ego on social media. I have no idea what he was trying to do here but it's certainly the same kind of fake enterprise.'

The mother of the child actor said she was asked to bring her son to London dressed in black and had agreed a fee of 106 for the job, which they were never paid.

The mother said: 'I did share some pictures of my son with him - nothing indecent. I'm worried about what he could do with them. He has our address and I can't change that.'

When she complained to Backstage, she said the website simply removed her son from their website.

The company did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.

The mother also shared her sympathies for the family of Lauris Zaube, 23, the Latvian student whose name Jhaj used for the 'dead man' at the fake funeral.

Addressing Jhaj, the mother added: 'Why did you do this? The funeral was supposed to be for someone who's missing.

'It's awful. So many people have been affected by that event.'

The Met Police was unable to find a record for an investigation into the incident when approached by MailOnline.
The murderer mastermind behind the robbery where PC Sharon Beshenivsky was killed is now the final member of the criminal gang to be brought to justice after he escaped justice for nearly two decades.

The conviction of Piran Ditta Khan at Leeds Crown Court today means all seven men involved in the ill-fated 2005 robbery that ended with the murder of PC Beshenivsky will have faced justice.

Unarmed police constables Sharon Beshenivsky and Teresa Milburn were shot at point-blank range as they responded to a raid at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

PC Beshenivsky, 38, who had only been an officer for nine months, died from her injuries while PC Milburn was shot in the chest and survived.

Leeds Crown Court has heard a total of seven men were involved in carrying out the raid, with alleged ringleader Piran Ditta Khan the last to face trial almost two decades on.

Pakistani police officers escort Khan after he was arrested for murder

Khan, 75, travelled to Pakistan two months after the robbery and evaded arrest until he was detained by Pakistani authorities in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year.

Prosecutors say that although Khan was not one of the three men who carried out the robbery, and did not leave the safety of a Mercedes SLK that was allegedly being used as a lookout car, he is guilty of Pc Beshenivsky's murder due to his 'pivotal' role in planning the raid knowing that loaded weapons were to be used.

The others convicted in connection with the murder of PC Beshenivsky were:

Muzzaker Shah was jailed for life in 2006 with a minimum 35-year term after admitting PC Beshenivsky's murder, robbery and firearms offences.

He led the trio of armed robbers but denied firing the fatal shot. Police have always believed he was the 'Asian man' described by PC Teresa Milburn as the one who shot both officers.

READ MORE - Fugitive brought back to the UK to face justice after two decades is found guilty of murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38 during an armed robbery in 2005 Advertisement

Shah, 25, a married father from London, was on police bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the raid.

He was described as 'extremely dangerous' and part of a notorious London gang called Thug Fam. Shah had previous convictions for robbery and for having a handgun containing live rounds in a public place.

Yusuf Jama was sentenced at the same time and also given a 35-year minimum term for murdering PC Beshenivsky. He also had connections with Thug Fam and had the same distinctive five-star tattoo as Shah and other members.

He claimed in court to have shot PC Beshenivsky, but insisted it was an accident.

Jama, 20, who had previous convictions for violence and dishonesty, was caught a week after the murder when he and nine other Somalis were held for alleged involvement in a gang rape in Birmingham, for which he was later convicted.

Mustaf Jama was Yusuf's brother and the third armed robber on the raid. In 2009 he was given the same sentence as the other two for the police officer's murder.

Jama, 26, who had come to Britain as a refugee, could have been deported six months before PC Beshenivsky's murder after serving a prison sentence for burglary. He had 21 convictions to his name, including three robberies, burglary, affray and carrying a machete.

The Home Office deemed it unfair to send him back to Somalia because it is considered one of the world's most unsafe places. He fled there after the killing, slipping out of Heathrow on a false passport while in disguise.

But an international operation led to his arrest in Somalia and he was brought home to face justice.

Mustaf Jama and Raza ul Haq Aslam

Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah and Yusuf Jama

Faisal Razzaq was one of the lookouts and was living at the gang's safehouse in Leeds. He was convicted in 2006 of PC Beshenivsky's manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences.

The 25-year-old was on police bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the raid and had previous convictions for dishonesty, deception and robbery.

In 2006 Razzaq was given a life sentence and told he must serve at least 11 years before being considered for parole. He has since been released from jail.

Hassan Razzaq, the older brother of Faisal, helped Piran Ditta Khan plan the robbery and also acted as a lookout in the operation. The 26-year-old was convicted of PC Beshenivsky's manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences and was given a 20-year jail sentence in 2007. He has since been released.

Razzaq had a previous conviction for a 1999 street robbery when he was 17. He was sentenced to 12 months in a young offender's institution.

Raza Ul Haq Aslam was another lookout. The 26-year-old Londoner was jailed for eight years in 2007 after being convicted of robbery. He was cleared of murder, manslaughter and firearms offences relating to the Bradford raid.

The judge said the length of his sentence reflected that he didn't know the gang were carrying guns.

He has since been released from prison.
After the Princess of Wales revealed her devastating cancer diagnosis last month, many hoped the feeding frenzy over her withdrawal from public life would finally stop.

And while some conspiracy peddlers have apologized  including celebrities like Andy Cohen  other key players, particularly those on social media, have doubled down on their harassment of the sick princess.

Tech entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy  made famous for his appearance on Harry and Meghan's 2022 Netflix documentary  is among those already outed for spreading scurrilous lies about Kate.

Bouzy is a staunch member of a self-styled 'Sussex Squad' that vigorously defends Meghan against perceived online bullying, while seemingly viewing attacks on Kate as fair game.

But while Bouzy continues to obsess over a preposterous theory that recent footage of Kate at a farm shop in Windsor was faked, he has at least drawn the line at questioning the Princess's cancer diagnosis.

The same cannot be said of all his fellow online Sussex defenders.

Today, DailyMail.com exclusively unmasks Johnathan Perkins.

A lawyer who worked at Harvard University, and currently serves as UCLA's Director of Race and Equity, Perkins has spent recent weeks spreading vile falsehoods about the princess on his X (formerly Twitter) account, including doubting whether she is 'still alive' and making the entirely baseless claim that her cancer is fake.

Today, DailyMail.com exclusively unmasks Johnathan Perkins.

A lawyer who worked at Harvard University, and currently serves as UCLA's Director of Race and Equity, Perkins has spent recent weeks spreading vile falsehoods about the princess on his X (formerly Twitter) account, including the entirely baseless claim that her cancer is fake.

Posting to some 31,000 followers, Perkins, 37, flaunts his credentials as a 'public academic, higher education attorney, lecturer and podcast co-host', adding  not a little ironically  that he is devoted to 'creating a more just and equal society'.

Among his many recent posts about the princess, most malicious are his accusations that she is a 'known liar', and that he does not believe she 'had/has cancer'.

He has also said that Kate does 'not deserve my respect', that she could be 'in a coma or dead', and that the Royal Family is 'using the Cancer Card' to 'cover for something else'.

On Easter Sunday, he cruelly joked: 'Wait, isn't Kate Middleton supposed to rise today?'

The lies about Kate's diagnosis are particularly shocking given that Perkins himself is a cancer survivor, posting openly about his own past battle with the disease.

Much like Bouzy, while Perkins seemingly has no qualms trashing Kate's integrity, he appears practically allergic to even the slightest criticism of the Duchess of Sussex.

Early last month, he tweeted: 'You realize whole tabloid departments are dedicated to making up crap about Meghan Markle?'

In another post, he shared a photo of the Duchess and wrote: 'FYI, this is an American Princess Meghan Markle stan account.'

LA-based, Perkins first trained as a lawyer at the University of Virginia, before moving to work in Harvard's prestigious Office of the General Counsel.

Now at UCLA, he earns $125,920 per year as part of the university's 'Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion'.

As such, many will point out an obvious hypocrisy between his cruel comments about Kate and their stark contrast to UCLA's 'Equity, Diversity and Inclusion' values.

Indeed, the university's 'Inclusive Excellence Framework' states that, in his role, Perkins works to 'uphold dignity for all' and 'foster open-mindedness, understanding, compassion and inclusiveness'.

It also makes clear that the university does 'not tolerate acts of discrimination, harassment or conduct causing harm to individuals.'

Specifically, UCLA's HR guidelines for staff strictly prohibit the harassment of individuals on the basis of 'cancer-related' medical conditions, while those found to have breached harassment guidelines can expect 'disciplinary action' or 'termination/dismissal'.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a UCLA spokesperson said: 'Statements on [Perkins's] personal social media account don't reflect the views of the university.'

'[UCLA's values] seek to foster open-mindedness, understanding, compassion and inclusiveness among all in our diverse community,' they added.

Perkins did not respond to requests for comment, but has since 'locked' his X account to prohibit public viewing of his tweets, and added a bio descriptor stating that his posts are 'NEVER [a] representation of [my] employer's views'.

Nonetheless, some might be surprised that UCLA have, as yet, stopped short of dismissing Perkins from his role.

After all, this is not the first time he has caused a headache for university staff.

In a since-deleted tweet from March 2022, Perkins appeared to wish death upon conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after he was admitted to hospital.

'No one wants to openly admit [we all] hope Clarence Thomas dies,' he wrote.

After considerable backlash, UCLA was forced to admit that his comments '[did] not reflect UCLA EDI's views'.

And yet, Perkins  who never apologized  somehow kept his job.

Nor was it his first run-in with academic officialdom.

While studying at the University of Virginia School of Law in 2011, Perkins made headlines after accusing campus police of racially profiling him during a late-night stop and search.

In a letter published in the law school's student paper, he claimed that two officers had stopped him on the way home from a party, told him he 'fit the description' of a man they were looking for and carried out a body search.

At UCLA, Perkins earns $125,920 per year as part of the university's 'Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion'. In his role, he works to 'uphold dignity for all' and 'foster open-mindedness, understanding, compassion and inclusiveness'.

UCLA's HR guidelines for staff strictly prohibit the harassment of individuals on the basis of 'cancer-related' medical conditions, while those found to have breached harassment guidelines can expect 'disciplinary action' or 'termination/dismissal'.

Many students came out in support of Perkins  who has since become a fierce proponent of the Black Lives Matter movement.

However, weeks after his letter was published, Perkins dramatically retracted his claims, saying in a statement: 'I wrote the article to bring attention to the topic of police misconduct. The events in the article did not occur.'

The ensuing backlash was huge, and he was accused of race-baiting and labeled a liar by fellow Virginia students and in the media.

In 2017, Perkins backtracked again, this time claiming the incident did happen as he had first described, but that he had been forced to retract his statement following threats from the FBI.

After so much upheaval over perceived lies and scandals potentially threatening his employment stability, one might think that Perkins would be more wary of what he says in public.

But, if his recent vitriolic ramblings about the Princess of Wales are anything to go by, perhaps some people never learn.
Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for the Trump 2020 campaign, writes in a new memoir that it was now Rep. Max Miller who demanded that President Joe Biden be inspected for an earpiece ahead of the first presidential debate.

He also writes in, Swing Hard in Case You Hit It: My Escape from Addiction and Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign, that he thought 'blood' was dripping down Rudy Giuliani's face during that infamous Republican National Committee press conference.

Murtaugh details some of the wild turns the 2020 campaign took in the book, which was released Tuesday, but flashes back every other chapter to his harrowing battle with alcoholism.

He cleaned up his act in May of 2015 after racking up two DUIs, serving several brief stints in jail and after facing charges - and the threat of 80 days of jail time - for public intoxication after a day of drinking at Chili's.

In recovery, he was able to get his life back on track - and landed one of the top jobs in presidential politics during the 2020 cycle.

'This isn't a tell-all like other books of the Trump era,' he told DailyMail.com. 'Working for President Trump's reelection campaign remains the highest honor of my professional career and I support him again in 2024.'

Tim Murtaugh (right), the communications director for the 2020 Trump campaign, stands alongside now former President Donald Trump (left) ahead of the final 2020 debate in Nashville, Tennessee

It was Trump campaign aide Max Miller, now a congressman representing an Ohio distrct, who made the bold ask of the Commission on Presidential Debates to have both candidates checked for earpieces ahead of the first 2020 debate

Murtaugh writes about several light-hearted moments from the campaign, including when Miller, who had come over to the campaign from the White House, surprised campaign staff by revealing that he had asked members of the Commission on Presidential Debates to have Biden inspected for an earpiece.

Swing Hard in Case You Hit It: My Escape from Addiction and Shot at Redemption on the Trump Campaign came out Tuesday

The author detailed how the Trump campaign and members of the CPD went back-and-forth in negotiating how the three planned presidential debates would work.

Murtaugh recalled that several days before the first debate, which was held on September 29 in Cleveland, Ohio, Miller briefed Trump campaign staffers on how the negotiations were going.

'He went through a list of different things that he had demanded, and that the Biden campaign had requested, and the things to which both sides had agreed. At the end, he had just one more item,' Murtaugh wrote.

Quoting Miller he continued, 'So, as we were wrapping up, I said to them, 'Oh, also, we'll be wanting to do an earpiece check.''

'There was silence in the room for a moment,' Murtaugh recalled. ''What?' someone said.'

Miller then reiterated, 'An earpiece check.'

'I told them that we wanted both candidates to submit to an examination right before they take the stage to make sure they aren't wearing earpieces,' Miller, now a congressman representing an Ohio district, explained.

Someone in the room laughed, 'Jesus Christ, Max!'

Murtaugh said he had been 'assured that the Biden camp had agreed to the ear check.'

'[S]o on the morning of the debate, we accused Biden's team of backing out of the deal,' he said, telling Bloomberg News at the time: 'Joe Biden's handlers several days ago agreed to a pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed them- selves and declined.'

The Biden team deemed the issue a 'distraction,' though fact-checkers had to come out afterward and say the Democrat wasn't wearing an earpiece when a number of people on social media suggested there was 'evidence' that he was.

More broadly, the Trump team was trying to push that Biden, now 81, was not mentally up for the job.

Tim Murtaugh stands in front of a number of television sets in the campaign War Room, on Election Night of 2020

Tim Murtaugh (left) appears on the Fox News Channel with anchor Bill Hemmer (right) ahead of the first presidential debate in Cleveland - the one in which the Trump campaign wanted the candidates inspected for earpieces

They had requested that a fourth debate be scheduled for earlier in the campaign cycle due to many states implementing mail-in voting due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic - with voting starting in some states by the late September date.

'Yes, we wanted more debates, and we wanted them earlier, because we believed that most Americans were not aware of how much Biden had deteriorated mentally and physically since they had seen him as vice president,' Murtaugh wrote.

'Because he had the luxury of staying off the campaign trail due to COVID-19, he'd been able to stay mostly under wraps - but in a debate, there would be no place to hide,' he continued.

Biden, however, persevered - and was able to win the 2020 race.

On Election Day, those inside the Trump campaign thought the election was winnable.

'If I had to guess,' one political staffer told Murtaugh on Election Day. 'I'd say we win in a close one.'

The election was called for Biden on Saturday, with Pennsylvania sliding back into the Democratic column.

But efforts were already afoot to contest the results.

In the book, Murtaugh expressed skepticism at some of these efforts - mainly those being pushed by campaign lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Murtaugh recalled telling Trump spokesman Jason Miller that he planned to skip Giuliani's press conference at the RNC headquarters in Washington, D.C. where droves of reporters were packed into a tiny space - telling the Trump official he'd catch it on TV instead.

'And watch it on TV, I did, and stood aghast as I saw dark rivulets of fluid running down Rudy Giuliani's face on the screen,' Murtaugh wrote. 'I remember getting closer to the television to see if I could figure out what it was, at first thinking that it was blood.'

He noted that it was 'widely speculated' afterward that it was Giuliani's hair dye leaking down the sides of his face in the hot room.

'The press conference immediately assumed legendary status because of that, and it was generally agreed among the dwindling campaign staff that nothing else could happen that would surprise us,' Murtaugh wrote.

The RNC presser took place on November 19, a full month and a half before January 6.

Murtaugh also recalled campaign officials, including Campaign Manager Bill Stepien, leaving a meeting led by Giuliani when the election fraud theories got too zany.

'Giuliani was talking about voting machines and fraud, the details of which I don't recall today, although I remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to defend it all on television if called on to do so,' the communications director recalled.

Murtaugh noted how that at one public hearing in Pennsylvania, Giuliani claimed that only 1.82 million absentee votes had been requested, yet 2.5 million votes had been cast.

'I decided to do a little sleuthing myself by looking at that same website. What I found was shocking and maddening at the same time,' Murtaugh said.

Giuliani had seen how many mail-in ballots had been requested for the state's primary election - which was 1.82 million - versus how many had been cast in Pennsylvania's general election - 2.5 million.

'Quite obviously, those were two separate and distinct electionsa primary and a generaland the two numbers were not relevant to each other at all,' a frustrated Murtaugh said.

Now sober for nearly nine years, Murtaugh ends the book saying that he hopes his story can serve as an inspiration for alcoholics.

'And finally, I hope that if fellow drunks read this, they can connect with it in some way and maybe put off picking up a bottle for just a few more minutes while reading it,' he wrote. 'I know that in recovery, I am always just one drink away from reliving disaster, and the thought that my experience might help someone else helps keep me sober.'
'Hit the gas!' I barked at my translator behind the wheel of our tiny rental car.

'Let's get the f*** out of here!'

We tore off  and left the reflections of two cartel men shrinking in our rearview mirror.

Reporting on the ground in northern Mexico comes with certain risks and chief among them is unexpectedly coming face-to-face with gunmen.

I'd come to La Linea Cartel territory, a vast high desert region west of Ciudad Juarez, to document a part of the migrant crisis that few ever see: the smuggling of dangerous criminals into America.

Juarez is a crime-ravaged city at the junction of the New Mexico, Texas and Mexico borders.

Over the past three years, tens of thousands of migrants have traveled here to willingly turn themselves over to U.S. Border Patrol agents outside of El Paso, Texas.

These migrants hope to join the many millions, who've been processed and released into the U.S. on the sole condition that they eventually produce a legitimate reason for being in the country.

But a few miles west of Juarez, it's a different story.

Here, migrants  at great expense and considerable risk  do everything they can to avoid American law enforcement. That's because some have criminal records that would necessitate their instant removal from the U.S.

Juarez is a crime-ravaged city that sits at the junction of the New Mexico , Texas and Mexico borders. (Above) Migrants in east Juarez cut through Texas state fortifications on the U.S. border on April 3, 2024

Tens of thousands of migrants have traveled to east Juarez, across from El Paso, over the past few years to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol. (Above) Sprawling migrant encampment on Texas border

These migrants hope to join the many millions, who've been processed and released into the U.S. on the sole condition that they eventually produce a legitimate reason for being in the country.

'Migrants with criminal convictions encountered by El Paso Sector agents include aggravated felons such as sex offenders, child predators and drug traffickers,' noted one U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release in February. 'Some of the migrants encountered have gang or Mexican Drug Cartel affiliations.'

Even under President Joe Biden's permissive immigration policies, these individuals wouldn't be knowingly permitted to enter the U.S. So, these illegals find another way.

Traveling along Mexico's Highway 174, which parallels an 8-mile stretch of steel mesh border wall built two decades ago, John (my Mexican-American translator) and I spied five men about to scale a hand-made wire ladder.

We'd skidded to a dusty stop and the migrants dropped to their bellies.

Known to U.S. law enforcement as 'runners,' these illegal crossers try to sneak across the border undetected.

Mark Morgan, former Trump administration U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, told me that some of these 'runners' are, 'among the worst of the worst violent offenders that are now in the United States and "running" is the closest they come to a guaranteed way to enter the U.S.'

John and I identified ourselves to the five men as 'periodistas' (journalists) and they started clambering up and over the 17-foot fence to the U.S. side, as I filmed.

Suddenly, two cartel men appeared, seemingly materializing out of the brush.

One of them was visibly armed with a small-caliber silver pistol in his waistband.

They were 'halcones'  Spanish for falcons  cartel field spies.

We'd skidded to a dusty stop and the migrants dropped to their bellies (shown above). Known to Border Patrol as 'runners,' these illegal crossers try to stay hidden.

One of them was visibly armed with a small-caliber silver pistol in his waistband. They're 'halcones'  Spanish for falcons  cartel field spies. (Above) Drone image of cartel halcones in Juarez desert on April 2, 2024

Further along Highway 174, we encountered another group of seven men (above) climbing the wall when Border Patrol vehicles pulled up on the U.S. side of the fence.

Their job was to protect this lucrative smuggling route.

Illegals pay upwards of $5,000 each for a crossing and pickup on the U.S. side. Often, young women who can't afford the fee work off their debts in Houston strip clubs.

The 'halcones' suspected that we were trafficking migrants through their territory.

'We know you didn't pay,' one of them yelled at us.

'No. No. No!' John objected.

'They're not ours,' he pleaded. 'We're journalists.'

John showed the cartel soldiers our video and they accepted our story. But they ordered us to stop filming and went to settle up with the runners.

We didn't wait around to see how things turned out.

As we continued driving along the wall, I kept my eyes on the desert.

Halcones were spaced evenly every few hundred yards. One had a pair of binoculars glued to his face surveilling a section of the wall.

Further along Highway 174, we encountered another group of seven men climbing the wall when Border Patrol vehicles pulled up on the U.S. side of the fence.

The runners retreated and started walking towards the highway when a black Cadillac Escalade drove up behind us.

It was them, again.

Cartel.

But the brazen smugglers weren't interested in American journalists exposing their operations.

We identified ourselves as 'periodistas' (journalists) and the runners started clambering up and over the 30-foot fence to the U.S. side, as I filmed.

A man crouched on the New Mexico side welding three-foot, square metal patches over holes large enough for a man to squeeze through. (Above) Welder works on border wall from U.S. side on April 2, 2024

Patches on the border wall west of Juarez show where cartel smugglers have cut holes that've been repaired by American contractors

They were there to pick up their customers, who'll likely continue this cat-and-mouse game with Border Patrol until they find a way to covertly cross.

Another few miles west, I noticed sparks flying from the steel mesh wall.

A man crouched on the New Mexico side welding three-foot, square metal patches over holes large enough for a man to squeeze through.

The worker wouldn't give me his name but revealed he was a U.S. government contractor hired a year ago to repair the cuts.

'We just fill the holes, sir,' he said. 'Fill everything that gets cut through and then move on to the next one.'

Aren't you working yourself out of a job, I asked.

'Honestly, it doesn't matter,' he laughed. 'Every time we fix a hole, they're cutting another a quarter mile down. It's nonstop, day and night.'

Individuals who sneak into the country undetected are called 'gotaways,' by U.S. Border Patrol. An estimated 2 million 'gotaways' have entered the U.S. since President Biden was inaugurated.

Border Patrol sources told me that the San Isidro Border Patrol station that covers this region tally 200 'gotaways' in this area every single night.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, in cooperation with the National Guard and state troopers, has constructed miles of fence and razor wire fortifications that resemble something out of the First World War.

Texas fortifications on Mexico border

Sprawling migrant encampments (above) of hundreds have now sprung up in the riverbed below the Texas fence line. At night, the migrants light fires to warm themselves.

'It's totally out of control. They're everywhere,' retired Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) intelligence operations Captain Jaeson Jones said.

Back in east Juarez, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has largely shut down these illegal crossings.

The Texas DPS, in cooperation with the National Guard and state troopers, has constructed miles of fence and razor wire fortifications that resemble something out of the First World War. And now, heavily armed Mexican police and army troops patrol the area scooping up some migrants and busing them to growing migrant camps in southern Mexico.

But still, sprawling migrant encampments of hundreds have sprung up in the riverbed below the Texas fence line. At night, the migrants light fires to warm themselves. Their camps look like those of an army laying siege to a castle.

On March 21, hundreds of mostly male migrants tore down a fence and charged through a line of outnumbered National Guard and state troopers.

In response, Texas border officials told me they're now using non-lethal crowd control methods, like pepper balls, which can be fired at crowds and release a temporarily blinding, burning powder cloud upon impact.

(Above) The camps look like those of an army laying siege to a castle.

The Texan defenses and Mexico's crackdown have certainly slowed this relentless migrant march to the border, but the flow hasn't been stopped completely.

Over 200 migrants were charged with participating in that March 21 riot. On Sunday, an El Paso magistrate judge ordered the 'arrestees' released from custody pending bail hearings.

The Texan defenses and Mexico's crackdown have certainly slowed this relentless migrant march to the border, but the flow hasn't been stopped completely.

At dawn on Wednesday, half a dozen men in hoods crept up from the riverbed camp to chop through the razor wire and chain-link with bolt cutters.

Illuminated by flood lights on the Texas side, the men clipped and pulled apart the fencing, even as a law enforcement vehicle watched on.

Meanwhile, west of Juarez, cartels continue to run their dangerous customers into the U.S. without detection.
Aussies rushed to withdraw cash at ATMs across the country as part of 'Cash Out Day' to protest the nation's haste towards wholly cashless transactions.

Customers went to the branches of the big four banks - Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, and ANZ - on Tuesday to withdraw money as part of a grassroots campaign arranged through social media.

The campaign was promoted on the Facebook page of Cash Welcome, a non-profit group campaigning against a cashless economy, and urged Aussies across the country to withdraw money from banks in a bid to make their concerns about the dwindling use of cash known.

Those involved in the protest rushed to bank branches across the country to withdraw cash from their banks on Tuesday as part of 'Cash Out Day' (stock image)

'Withdraw some cash at your local ATM, EFTPOS retailer or bank branch to show you don't want to be herded into a cashless Australia,' the post read.

Jason Bryce, the campaign manager for Cash Welcome, told Daily Mail Australia that while he didn't set up the event on Tuesday, he supports the message it promoted.

'I'm not an advocate for a cashless society,' Mr Bryce said.

'I promote freedom to choose how we pay for goods and services, either cash or card and phone.'

He praised 'Cash Out Day' as a 'huge success' and said banks need to listen to Aussies who don't want a cashless society.

'Banks have an obligation to ensure we can get cash in every suburb and town because we are forced to deposit our money in the banks,' he said.

Some social media users noticed there there were long lines outside of bank branches on Tuesday, as customers participated in the callout.

Customers who participated in the callout withdrew hundreds of dollars in cash from ATM's (pictured)

'All the banks that I went past today had queues out the door,' one user who lives in Sydney said.

Another social media user congratulated those who withdrew bank notes.

'Good on everyone  drawing out cash today. Soon the banks & others trying to bully [and] control us, will take notice!' she said.

Others chimed in to suggest some people probably withdrew cash after they noticed other walking out of bank branches with bank notes in their hands.

'When you look for something, you see it - kind of like when you buy a new car and then suddenly see those cars everywhere. It's the same phenomenon people [experienced] today with seeing people getting out cash,' one social media user commented.

In social media posts, dozens of people flaunted hundreds of dollars of cash that they withdrew from their bank.

It is unclear how much money was pulled out of ATMs on the day.

Dozens of customers flaunted the cash they withdrew from ATMs in social media posts (pictured)

Daily Mail Australia contacted the major banks to ask how much money was withdrawn in total at their respective branches across Australia on Tuesday.

A spokesperson from the Australian Banking Association (ABA), the peak body representing the banking system, said the number of cash withdrawals did not exceed normal amounts.

'Across the industry, there was no material difference in withdrawals of cash yesterday. Whilst Australians are using less and less cash, we are not going to be cashless,' the spokesperson said.

'Australians dont need to change their behaviour when it comes to withdrawing cash, it will continue to be available and accessible to those who wish to use it.'

A customer trends report released in 2023 by the ABA found that Aussies are the top users of cashless payments with almost 99 per cent of customers conducting their bank transactions by online means.

Cash now forms just 13 per cent of all total customer payments in Australia.

A report released by the RBA in 2023 found that 72 per cent of Aussies classified themselves as low cash users.
A rapist conman who stole a 2.5million jackpot from the National Lottery by forging a winning ticket was freed after serving just half his nine-year jail term under plans created to increase prison spaces.

Edward Putman, 54, was imprisoned in October 2019 after stealing the prize money with the assistance of Camelot insider Giles Knibbs.

Prosecutors had threatened to add additional prison time to Putman's sentence after he paid back just 94,000 of the money, according to The Mirror.

The conman's assets were seized by investigators who auctioned his home in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, in a bid to get back 939,000 of the money.

Putman was freed under the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme despite failing to comply with the Proceeds of Crime order.

Edward Putman, 54, was was imprisoned in October 2019 after stealing a 2.5million jackpot from the National Lottery

Putman was also jailed for seven years for rape in 1991

The fake National Lottery ticket used by conman Putman, who stole the 2.5million jackpot

The scheme enables low-level prisoners to be freed up to two months early to ease the pressure on overcrowded jails.

A source told The Mirror: 'It's appalling. Putman showed contempt for the repayment of the cash he stole but was still released early.'

Putman was also jailed for seven years for rape in 1991.

Putman was caught stealing the lottery cash after Knibbs took his own life after he was tricked out of his share of the prize money.

Of the ECSI, the Ministry of Justice said: 'Those released face strict monitoring and can be sent back if they break the rules.'
Emergency crews are beginning to clean up Taiwan's biggest earthquake in at least 25 years which killed nine people and injured more than 1,000 others.

Rescue workers began searching through and clearing rubble on Wednesday after a 7.4 magnitude quake erupted in the mountainous, sparsely populated county of Hualien at about 8am and triggered massive landslides.

Rescuers fanned out in Hualien, looking for people who may be trapped and using excavators to stabilize damaged buildings.

Some 70 workers who were stranded at two rock quarries were safe, according to Taiwan's national fire agency, but the roads to reach them were damaged by falling rocks. Six workers were going to be airlifted on Thursday.

As darkness fell, some people were spending the night in tents and other shelters. The numbers of people missing, trapped or stranded fluctuated as authorities learned of more in trouble and worked to locate or free them.

Firefighters spray water on a collapsed building early Thursday morning following the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck in Hualien, Taiwan on Wednesday

A damaged building in Hualien, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan on Wednesday morning, prompting tsunami warnings for the self-ruled island as well as parts of southern Japan and the Philippines

Firefighters prepare to move victims' bodies outside a collapsed building during a rescue operation following an earthquake in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, on Wednesday

Workers carry out operations at the site where a building collapsed, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan on April 4, 2024

A firefighter sprays water at the wreckage of a partially collapsed residential building on April 4, 2023 following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

A small table is seen among the wreckage of a collapsed residential building in Hualien, Taiwan on Thursday, April 4, 2024

Rescue teams demolish a collapsed building on Thursday following the earthquake overnight

Rescue workers began searching through and clearing rubble on Thursday morning after a 7.4 magnitude quake erupted in the mountainous, sparsely populated county of Hualien overnight

Video showed rescuers using ladders to help trapped people out of windows. Strong tremors in Taipei forced the subway system to close briefly, although most lines resumed service.

Fire authorities said they had already evacuated some 70 people trapped in tunnels near Hualien city, including two Germans.

But they had lost contact with 50 workers aboard four minibuses heading to a hotel in a national park, Taroko Gorge, they said, and rescuers were looking for them. Another 80 people are trapped in a mining area, though it was not immediately clear if they were inside a mine.

On a highway through the mountains, huge boulders from a landslide were strewn across the road. The Fire Bureau of Taichung City Government said it rescued a man in his 50s who was unconscious in a truck.

Meanwhile, scores of emergency workers are trying to shore up damaged buildings and demolish those deemed impossible to save.

'The Uranus building behind us is a very badly damaged place. It is a building with one basement level and nine floors above ground. The first and second floors are now underground,' Deputy Acting Chief of Hualien Fire Department Lee Lung-Sheng said.

Hualien Mayor Hsu Chen-wei said 48 residential buildings were damaged in the city, which shares a name with the county. Hsu said water and electricity supplies were in the process of being restored.

The mayor added that all residents and businesses in buildings that were in a dangerous state had been evacuated. Demolition work was beginning on four buildings, Hsu said.

More than 50 aftershocks were recorded, weather officials said.

At least nine people died in the quake, according to the national fire agency, and at least 1,011 people were reported injured.

Most of the fatalities were caused by falling rocks, including four people who were struck inside Taroko National Park, according to the state Central News Agency. One died in a residential building that was damaged, the news agency said.

A tsunami warning was triggered but later lifted.

The quake and aftershocks caused many landslides and damaged roads, bridges and tunnels. The national legislature, a converted school built before World War II, and sections of the main airport in Taoyuan, just south of Taipei, also saw minor damage.

Workers carry out operations early Thursday morning at the site where a building collapsed on Wednesday, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan

Rescue teams demolish a collapsed building on April 4, 2024 following the earthquake overnight

Rescue teams are pictured at the site of a collapsed building early Thursday morning following the earthquake that struck overnight

A person walks past an area of a damaged building early Thursday morning that has been cordoned off following the earthquake

Workers on Thursday morning carry out operations at the site where a building collapsed

An area of a damaged building is cordoned off early Thursday following the earthquake on Wednesday in Hualien, Taiwan

Scores of emergency workers were trying to shore up damaged buildings and demolish those deemed impossible to save

Rescuers and firefighters fanned out in Hualien, looking for people who may be trapped and using excavators to stabilize damaged buildings

Rescue workers are seen by a train which derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 2, 2024

A person looks at a damaged building being cordoned off on Thursday following the quake

Firefighters on Thursday spray water at the wreckage of a partially collapsed residential building following Wednesday's earthquake

'I'm afraid of aftershocks, and I don't know how bad the shaking will be,' a 52-year-old Hualien resident, who gave her family name as Yu, said as she made her way to a shelter.

The power of the quake was captured live as news anchors delivered their breakfast bulletins, steadying themselves against giant screens as their sets swayed and lighting rigs rocked back and forth overhead.

The earthquake hit at a depth of 15.5kilometres (9.6miles), as people were headed for work and school, setting off a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.

A woman who runs bed-and-breakfast accommodation in Hualien city said she scrambled to calm her guests.

'This is the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced,' said the woman, who asked to be identified only by her family name, Chan.

The government put the number of injured at 946.

'At present the most important thing, the top priority, is to rescue people,' said President-elect Lai Ching-te, speaking outside one of the collapsed buildings in Hualien.

The rail link to the area was expected to re-open on Thursday, Lai, who is set to take office next month, said.

Firefighters in line prepare to move victims' bodies outside a collapsed building during a rescue operation following an earthquake in Hualien City

A firefighter sprays water on a collapsed building in the early morning of Thursday, April 4, 2024 following the earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

A mother comforts her baby outside a shelter early Thursday morning after the main earthquake in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan

Rescue teams demolish a collapsed building following the earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

People evacuated from their homes are accommodated in the tent area of the shelter after the main earthquake in Hualien City

Soldiers stand near the site where a building collapsed, following an earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan on April 3, 2024

The media crews film a damaged building on Thursday following the overnight earthquake

Rescue teams demolish a collapsed building following the earthquake overnight in Hualien

Taiwan is regularly jolted by quakes and its population is among the best prepared for them. But authorities expected a relatively mild earthquake and did not send out alerts. The eventual quake was strong enough to scare even people who are used to such shaking.

'I've grown accustomed to (earthquakes). But today was the first time I was scared to tears by an earthquake,' said Hsien-hsuen Keng, a resident who lives in a fifth-floor apartment in Taipei. 'I was awakened by the earthquake. I had never felt such intense shaking before.'

Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency said the quake was 7.2 magnitude while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck about 18kilometres (11miles) off of Hualien, on Taiwan's east coast, and was about 35kilometers (21miles) deep. Multiple aftershocks followed.

Traffic along the east coast was at a virtual standstill after the earthquake, with landslides and falling debris hitting tunnels and highways.

Train service was suspended across the island of 23 million people, with some tracks twisted by the stress of the quake, as was subway service in Taipei, where sections of a newly constructed elevated line split apart but did not collapse.

The initial panic after the earthquake quickly faded on the island, which prepares for such events with drills at schools and notices issued via public media and mobile phone.

By noon, the metro station in the busy northern Taipei suburb of Beitou was again buzzing with people commuting to jobs and people arriving to visit the hot springs or travel the mountain paths at the base of an extinct volcano.

Firefighters complete their mission and evacuate from the collapsed building during a rescue operation following an earthquake in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Rescue teams demolish a collapsed building on April 4, 2024 following the earthquake in Hualien

Firefighters move victims' bodies outside a collapsed building during a rescue operation following an earthquake in Hualien City

An area of a damaged building is cordoned off early Thursday morning following the devastating earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

Emergency services patrol the area after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off Taiwan's eastern coast on the Richter scale, in Hualien, Taiwan

A firefighter sprays water at the wreckage of a partially collapsed residential building early on Thursday morning

A worker watches excavators demolish the wreckage of a collapsed residential building early on Thursday following an earthquake

A damaged building collapsed next to a local hotel following the earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

The earthquake was felt in Shanghai and several provinces along China's southeastern coast, according to Chinese media. China and Taiwan are about 160kilometers (100miles) apart.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami of 30centimeters (about 1foot) was detected on the coast of Yonaguni island about 15 minutes after the quake struck. Smaller waves were measured in Ishigaki and Miyako islands. All alerts in the region had been lifted by Wednesday afternoon.

The White House has said the US stood ready to provide any assistance necessary.

Taiwan's air force said six F-16 fighter jets had been slightly damaged at a major base in the city from which jets are often scrambled to see off incursions by China's air force, but the aircraft are expected to return to service very soon.

In Japan, the weather agency put the quake's magnitude at 7.7, saying several small tsunami waves reached parts of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, while downgrading its tsunami warning to an advisory.

In the Philippines, seismology officials warned coastal residents in several provinces to move to higher ground.

Chinese state media said the quake was felt in the southeastern province of Fujian, while a Reuters witness said it was also felt in the commercial hub of Shanghai.

Most power has been restored after the quake, electricity utility Taipower said, with the island's two nuclear power stations unaffected.

Taiwan's high-speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, although services would be delayed as it made inspections.

A major supplier of chips to Apple and Nvidia , Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, said it had evacuated some fabrication plants and safety systems were operating normally. Nvidia said it expects no supply disruptions from the earthquake.

It said later its workers were safe and had returned to their workplaces shortly after the earthquake. It said impacted facilities were expected to resume production during the night.

TSMC's Taipei-listed shares ended down 1.3 per cent, but the benchmark index largely brushed off the quake's impact to close down 0.6 per cent.

Firefighters spray the water on a collapsed building early Thursday morning following the biggest earthquake in Taiwan in at least 25 years

A man eats food distributed by charitable organizations after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off Taiwan's eastern coast

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a tilted building after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near Hualien

Earthquake affected people enter a tent at a temporary reception center set a local school in Hualien on April 3, 2024

A woman on Thursday morning takes photos of a collapsed building following the earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

A woman looks at the wreckage of a partially collapsed residential building on Thursday

Firefighters spray water as excavators demolish the wreckage of a collapsed residential building in Haulien, Taiwan early Thursday morning

Taiwan lies along the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's earthquakes occur.

Hualien was last struck by a deadly quake in 2018 that killed 17 people and brought down a historic hotel.

The official central news agency said the quake was the biggest since one of magnitude 7.6 in 1999 that killed about 2,400 people and damaged or destroyed 50,000 buildings.

Taiwan weather officials ranked Wednesday's quake in Hualien as 'Upper 6', or the second-highest level of intensity on a scale ranging from 1 to 7.

Such quakes collapse walls unless they are made of reinforced concrete blocks, while people cannot stand upright and must crawl in order to move, experts say.

The economic fallout from Wednesday's quake has yet to be calculated.

A rescue personnel takes a rest after the rescue operation following the earthquake overnight

First responders gather near the site where a building collapsed, following an earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan on Wednesday, April 3, 2024

A view of the destruction after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off Taiwan's eastern coast on the Richter scale, in Hualien, Taiwan

People evacuated from their homes sit outside the shelter after the main earthquake in Hualien City early Thursday after strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan

People evacuated from their homes are accommodated in the tent area of the shelter after the main earthquake in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, on Thursday morning, April 4, 2024

Excavators demolish the wreckage of a collapsed residential building following the Wednesday, April 3 magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan

A woman rests outside the shelter after the main earthquake in Hualien City, eastern Taiwan, early Thursday morning

Workers carry out operations near the site where a building collapsed, following an earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan

Taiwan is the leading manufacturer of the world's most sophisticated computer chips and other high-technology items that are highly sensitive to seismic events.

Parts of the electricity grid were shut down, possibly leading to disruptions in the supply chain and financial losses.

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, which supplies semiconductors to companies such as Apple, said it evacuated employees from some of its factories in Hsinchu, southwest of Taipei.

Hsinchu authorities said water and electricity supplies for all the factories in the city's science park were functioning as normal.

The Taiwan stock exchange opened as usual on Wednesday, with the index wavering between losses and gains.
First-year UCLA medical students were forced to sit through a bizarre lecture by a pro-Hamas activist who made them pray to 'mama Earth' while a faculty member sought to identify one student who refused to participate.

Lisa Gray-Garcia gave the two-hour presentation at Geffen Hall, on the university's downtown campus on March 27.

The lecture was a mandatory part of the Structural Racism and Health Equity class that all future doctors must take, administered by pediatrician Lindsay Wells.

Gray-Garcia calls herself a 'poverty skola', keeps her face covered with a keffiyeh except in a few interviews, and called Hamas' October 7 attack 'justified'.

Students were instructed to touch the floor with their fists while she made a 'non-secular' prayer to 'mama Earth' and our 'ancestors', a complaint stated.

'Mama earth was never meant to be bought, sold, pimped, or played,' Gray-Garcia said during the prayer, part of which was recorded by a student and given to the Washington Free Beacon.

Lisa Gray-Garcia gave the two-hour presentation at Geffen Hall, on the UCLA downtown Los Angeles Campus on March 27

Footage of the lecture, in which Gray-Garcia kept her face covered

She claimed private property was a 'crapitalist lie' that killed 'black, brown, and houseless' people who were forced to live on the streets.

Gray-Garcia, who grew up homeless with her single mother from the age of 11, railed against anti-homeless campaigns during another part of the lecture she post online.

'Not only are our bodies considered unclean in public, not only are out lives criminalized for being outside without access to a roof, but politricksters use us for their campaigns,' she said.

'$30 million was spent on removal of our houseless bodies... for turning human being into trash.

She asked the students to think of how many homes could be built with that money 'even in these inflated, ridiculous prices of the commodified Mama Earth'.

Gray-Garcia's lecture was titled 'Housing (In)justice in LA: Addressing Unhousing and Practicing Solidarity' but also veered into the crisis in Gaza.

At one point, she led students in chanting 'Free, Free Palestine', as UCLA faculty including Dr Wells watched in silence.

During a second call for students to kneel on the floor, one refused to do so. An unidentified UCLA faculty member is said to have enquired as to the student's name, sparking fears they could face repercussions for refusing to comply.

The lecture was a mandatory part of the Structural Racism and Health Equity class that all future doctors must take, administered by pediatrician Lindsay Wells (pictured)

Gray-Garcia at an 'activists in residence' event at UCLA earlier this year

It is unclear how much Gray-Garcia was paid for the lecture. UCLA charges medical students fees of around $44,000-a-year, with additional costs taking the total needed to train there to $84,000-a-year.

Gray-Garcia slammed Israel just hours after Hamas killed 1,200 people on October 7 expressed support for Palestine, but none for the murdered Israelis.

'As we hold our relatives in Occupied Palestine & all of MamaEarth in prayer & love we need to make the connections,' she wrote on Twitter.

'For us Houseless, indigenous, swept/evicted people -we r not separate from this struggle - we suffer from the same settler colonial terror.'

Then, on November 1, she wrote: 'When u resist after decades of relentless poLicing, killing& terrorizing that's not 'terrorism' that's justice.'

Gray-Garcia has also previously called Israel 'amerikkklan', in reference to the KKK.

Later in the lecture, she called modern medicine 'white science' and referred to North America as occupied 'Turtle Island' and said they were in 'what the settlers call LA'.

She frequently calls cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco by their Native American names and calls them 'occupied'.

Gray-Garcia (left) at a pro-Palestine event wearing the face covering she is frequently seen sporting while in public

Gray-Garcia slammed Israel just hours after Hamas killed 1,200 people on October 7 expressed support for Palestine, but none for the murdered Israelis

Gray-Garcia slammed Israel just hours after Hamas killed 1,200 people on October 7 expressed support for Palestine, but none for the murdered Israelis

Then, on November 1, she wrote: 'When u resist after decades of relentless poLicing, killing& terrorizing that's not 'terrorism' that's justice'.

Towards the end of the lecture, Gray-Garcia told students to stand for a second prayer, which all but a few did.

'Of those gathered, a handful of students who were visibly uncomfortable declined to participate, remaining seated throughout,' UCLA's Jewish Faculty Resilience Group wrote in a complaint

'At this point, a UCLA staff member inquired as to the identity of a medical student who had remained sitting down, potentially singling them out for disciplinary treatment.

'The net effect was that UCLA staff intimidated first-year medical students into participating in a religious service in derogation of their own personal beliefs.'

Gray-Garcia posted about the lecture on her social media platforms, saying she was sharing 'the myth of "clean", the brutality of criminalization and the medicine of homefulness'.

'Sharing violence of sweeps removal, erasure, disabled dumping, HELLthcare and urgent medicine of poor peoples solutions to poverty,' she added.

'Infiltrate to liberate. This knowledge, us skolaz shud b invited into every medical & law/social work, psychology & education dept to name a few, across occupied Turtle Island.'

She thanked 'all the warrior infiltrator conscious students for inviting us in'.

Gray-Garcia in another post shared a photo of a security guard at UCLA she claimed accosted her after she arrived.

'In the multibillion dollar palace called medical Skool - was 5 minutes early and made mistake of using bathroom - guess who was called,' she wrote.

DailyMail.com contacted to UCLA for comment about the lecture.

Gray-Garcia posted about the lecture on her social media platforms, saying she was sharing 'the myth of 'clean', the brutality of criminalization and the medicine of homefulness'

Gray-Garcia in another post shared a photo of a security guard at UCLA she claimed accosted her after she arrived

Gray-Garcia draws frequent parallels between homeless people and Palestinians, whom she considered to both be oppressed.

'Today hundreds more babies, mamas and disabled elders are being murdered so greedy, homicidal settler terrorists can steal all of occupied Palestine,' she claimed on December 5.

'In occupied Huchiun (Oakland) two more settler lies (laws) are being implemented so settler poltricksters and hater wealth hoarding neighbors can push all already evicted poor Houseless peoples out of Huchiun.

'In Berkeley, houseless peoples are being evicted from their RVs and tents cuz HypoKrazy Berkeley doesn't want to see them in their settler stolen streets.'

Gray-Garcia has a habit of changing the spelling of words to mock groups or make a political point, especially comparing them to white supremacists such as with 'akkkademia'.

The activist's work draws heavily on her experience of homelessness growing up living in a car with her indigenous, disabled mother Dee from age 11.

'I had to drop out of formal institutions of learning. I enrolled full-time in the skoo of hard knocks to survive, where my Xingona warrior, indigenous, disabled, poverty skola Mama Dee was my writing teacher,' she wrote on her website.

'Mama was a "G" and not user-friendly or easy on me, but she was insistent that the AristoKrazy didn't own writing, history, art, poetry, theory and storytelling.

'It was extremely important for poor and houseless, "uneducated" people like us to take that lie back and write powerful poetry and prose about our struggles and our lives.'

Gray-Garcia (right) at another lecture she gave on a simialr subject

The activist's work draws heavily on her experience of homelessness growing up living in a car with her indigenous, disabled mother Dee from age 11. She later founded 'Poor Magazine' to write about the experience of poverty

Gray-Garcia explained wrote about the experience in her book Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America.

'As Dee, a single mother, struggles with the demons of her own childhood of neglect and abuse, Lisa has to quickly assume the role of an adult in an attempt to keep some stability in their lives,' the blurb reads.

'Dee and Tiny ultimately become underground celebrities in San Francisco, squatting in storefronts and performing the "art of homelessness".'

Mother and daughter first lived rough in Venice Beach before relocating to San Francisco in their broken-down station wagon.

She claimed to have been given so many citations for infractions related to being homeless than she was sentenced to 2,700 of community service.

As she was selling t-shirts every day in the street to afford to buy food, she wouldn't have been able to do it - until a lawyer came to her rescue.

She later founded 'Poor Magazine' to write about the experience of poverty, and since 2011 runs The Homefulness Project.

The project includes communal housing, a garden, and sliding-scale cafe.

Property records indicate she is one of three owners of a 10-bedroom, six bathroom house on Macarthur Boulevard in Oakland with 20 people registered as living there.

The house was bought for $79,000 in 2011, and is now worth more than $1 million, according to industry estimates.
A Miami father-of-two has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife and son after admitting to having an affair before trying to kill himself, police said.

Jean Carlos Aponte, 40, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the death of his 38-year-old wife Sara Ashley Gama and their two-year-old son Ethan Aponte.

Gama and her son were found dead inside the family's $850,000 home in Plantation, a city west of Fort Lauderdale in the South Florida metropolitan area on March 26 - the couple's four-month-old baby was found alive in a swinging chair when concerned relatives forced their way into the home.

According to an arrest affidavit viewed by DailyMail.com, the husband and wife had been messaging about their martial issues on the morning of the killings.

Gama sent a message around 6:50 a.m. that said: 'So let me ask you - when you went to Colombia for your dad's funeral what happened there? Because there are tons of escorts there.'

Aponte responded: 'I understand I broke ur trust.'

Jean Carlos Aponte (left), 40, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder of his 38-year-old wife Sara Ashley Gama (right) and their two-year-old son Ethan Aponte (center)

Court documents show Aponte (pictured) and his wife had been messaging about their martial issues on the morning of the killings

Ethan's (pictured) body was discovered in the pool and the autopsy determined he had four stab wounds. His cause of death was sharp force injury and drowning

'You broke a lot of things. It's quite serious. You also broke our marriage vows,' Gama said.

'I'm not a good person,' Aponte replied.

'And you're realizing this just now as your come to Jesus moment,' Gama said.

The mother-of-two's search history revealed she had looked up 'just found out my husband cheated on me years ago' and 'how does alimony work in Florida,' according to the affidavit. She also visited a divorce lawyer's website shortly before the killing.

Court documents revealed video from cameras inside the house captured the couple arguing before the attack.

A female voice is heard saying, 'because with your meetings and everything you cannot have full custody.'

'So I hope those videos and everything that you got and all that stuff from the Super Bowl in Germany where she was skinny and all that you wanted. I hope she was worth it, don't come after my money, don't come after anything,' said the female voice.

'And we should have signed a prenup, we should have signed one.'

On March 26, Aponte failed to drop off the children at their grandparents' house, which prompted Gama's parents to go to their house and check on them, according to the affidavit.

They arrived at the house and heard the family's dog barking and the infant crying, which led them to believe something was wrong.

When they entered the home, they found their daughter lying on the kitchen floor in a bloodbath and Aponte unconscious on the floor of the master bedroom.

'Throughout the bedroom hallway dried red/brown blood prints could be seen, along with swipe or drag marks,' said the affidavit.

Video from cameras inside the house captured the couple arguing before the attack and Gama's search history showed she had looked up divorce lawyers

Gama and her son were found dead inside the family's $850,000 home in Plantation, a city west of Fort Lauderdale in the South Florida metropolitan area on March 26

Aponte failed to drop off the children at their grandparents' house, which prompted Gama's parents to go to their house and check on them where they discovered the bloodbath

Aponte is being held at the Broward County Jail with no bond. He made his first court appearance on Sunday and was ordered to undergo a mental health screening

'On the kitchen counter next to [Gama] there were two kitchen knives resting on the cutting board and counter that were covered in blood.'

Autopsies found Gama had 28 stab wounds and her cause of death was determined to be sharp force injury.

Ethan's body was discovered in the pool and the autopsy determined he had four stab wounds. His cause of death was sharp force injury and drowning.

Aponte was taken to the hospital, where medical staff said he appeared to have attempted to overdose on several of his prescription medications.

Gama's father told police he was 'unaware of any marital issues' and 'knew them to have a happy marriage,' according to court documents.

Aponte's mother and sister told police he is a Marine veteran who was deployed in Iraq and was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Relatives also said he had a traumatic brain injury from a fight and suffered from depression.

Aponte is being held at the Broward County Jail with no bond. He made his first court appearance on Sunday and was ordered to undergo a mental health screening, reported WTVJ.
It's 83 years since Ronald Brignall saved a historic city hall by putting a sandbag between his teeth and climbing up a drainpipe to douse an incendiary bomb.

And now  on his 100th birthday  he has finally been honoured for his bravery back in February 1941.

He was 16 when he saved Cardiff City Hall during a German air raid.

With a 12lb sandbag clamped between his teeth and another under his arm, he scaled a 25ft drainpipe to douse the flames on the roof.

He was cheered as he went back up with a hose to finish the job. He had been walking home from college when he saw the incendiary land on City Hall.

His only recorded comment at the time was that his jaw ached from carrying the sandbag - and that he had ruined his suit.

During the Cardiff Blitz, which lasted from 1940 until March 1944, more than 2,000 bombs were dropped on the city, killing 355 people.

Across Wales, nearly 1,000 civilians were killed during the course of the Second World War. Swansea was also particularly badly hit.

Ronald Brignall saved the historic city hall in February 1941 when he was 16. He has now been finally honoured for his bravery on his 100th birthday

Mr Brignall carried a 12lb sandbag clamped between his teeth with another under his arm, while he scaled a 25ft drainpipe to douse the flames on the roof of Cardiff City Hall

Yesterday Mr Brignall said: 'I was only a teenager, and I didn't have any fear. I just wanted to make sure the bomb didn't do any damage to City Hall.'

He later became an official fire-watcher, helping to further protect Cardiff.

In 1944, he joined the RAF and became a rear-gunner on Whitley and Halifax bombers.

The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Bablin Molik, travelled to the care home in Sussex where Mr Brignall now lives to present him with a certificate thanking him for his heroism and recording the events of that day in 1941 for posterity.

Mr Brignall's son Ian said: 'He's always been a modest man and rarely talked about his war record.

'We only knew of his heroics in Cardiff on that day because he'd kept some newspaper cuttings from the time.

'Dad's a little frail now, as you'd expect from someone who is 100, but I know he is thrilled to have this recognition and the certificate from the council. It's a perfect present on his birthday.'

Ms Molik said she was delighted to be able to present Mr Brignall with his belated honour.

She said: 'The best part of my work as Lord Mayor is meeting remarkable people and Mr Brignall is a great example of those who have so much civic pride in Cardiff.

'I know this is a rather belated honour but it is no less heartfelt and I assured Mr Brignall and his family that the whole of Cardiff expresses its gratitude for the heroics he performed on that day in 1941.'

Pictured: The Festival of Wales parade marches past the city hall in May 1958

During the Cardiff Blitz, which lasted from 1940 until March 1944, more than 2,000 bombs were dropped on the city, killing 355 people. Above: Locals survey bomb damage in Cardiff after a Nazi raid

His only recorded comment at the time was that his jaw ached from carrying the sandbag  most likely used to extinguish the incendiary before it fully exploded  and that he had ruined his suit

Severely damaged homes are seen in Cardiff after a Nazi bombing raid in 1941

Buildings are seen reduced to piles of rubble after a bombing raid in Cardiff

The worst night of the Cardiff Blitz was January 2, 1941. More than 150 people were killed, with a further 427 injured.

And nearly 350 homes were destroyed or had to be demolished following the intense raid, which started at 6.37pm and lasted for ten hours.

Llandaff Cathedral was among the damaged buildings.

Landmines dropped by parachutes created a huge crater, destroying graves and severely damaging the roof of the cathedral's nave, south aisle and chancel, as well as the Chapter House.

One particularly gut-wrenching impact was the loss of life at Hollyman's bakery in the city.

The business's owner had encouraged people to shelter in the cellar of his property. But the building took a direct hit and 32 people were killed.

Cardiff was an attractive target for Nazi bombers in large part because of its port, which was the largest coal exporting hubs in the UK at the time.

The city fell into the range of the Germans after the fall of France in the summer of 1940, after which Hitler's bombers were able to take off from French airfields.

Before the war, Cardiff's City Hall became the subject of controversy when the city's Conservative Lord Mayor ordered that a Nazi Swastika - then the national flag of Germany - be raised above it

Before the war, Cardiff's City Hall became the subject of controversy when the city's Conservative Lord Mayor ordered that a Nazi Swastika - then the national flag of Germany - be raised above it.

Oliver Cuthbert Purnell wanted to celebrate the signing of the Munich Agreement in September 1938.

The treaty, which was the brainchild of the then prime minister Neville Chamberlain, had sought to avoid war by allowing Hitler to annex parts of Czechoslovakia while promising not to take any more territory.

The agreement was celebrated by Chamberlain at the time, who promised 'peace for our time' on his return to Britain.

But six months later, Hitler reneged on his promises and ordered his armies to march on Prague.

War broke out in September 1939 when the Nazis then invaded Poland.
Leading No campaigner and Warren Mundine says South Australia's new Indigenous Voice to Parliament is a stealthy way to introduce the rejected federal proposal at a state level.

Last week the first 46 elected members of six regional Voices were announced following an election that saw just 2,748 votes cast out of 27,534 Indigenous people on the electoral roll who were eligible to vote in South Australia.

Mr Mundine, who led the successful fight against the proposed federal Voice to Parliament defeated by referendum last year, says the low turnout shows most Indigenous people 'weren't interested' in the body.

Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine says South Australia's new Indigenous Voice to Parliament is undemocratic and only exists to provide cushy jobs for an Aboriginal elite

'Whats happened there are all these corporates and institutions, they have been captured by this elite group of Aboriginal people who quite frankly are looking for a job,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

Mr Mundine, who is Indigenous Forum Director at the conservative think tank the Centre for Independent Studies, asked how the Voice members could claim to represent Aboriginal people when one was elected with just six votes and another gathered just 35.

'Thats just ridiculous,' said Mr Mundine.

'All this money we are spending. We are spending money on elections, we are spending money on meetings, flying people around to attend different conferences and this kind of stuff. Its costing us a fortune.

'They are just forcing these representative bodies on people now. Its just nonsense, its just bizarre.

'They dont represent anyone and they are getting enormous salaries and all these perks that come with it.'

The South Australian government will spend $10.3million on the Voice over the next three years with the regional Voices electing two members each to represent them on a 12-person direct advisory body on legislation.

Voice members will receive stipends from $3,000 to $18,000, sitting fees of $206 per meeting plus allowances for travel, accommodation, meals and $1,000 for a new laptop.

Crowds gathered outside South Australia's Parliament House last year to welcome the legislation creating the Voice

Mr Mundine said that with the proposed federal Voice being rejected by over 62 per cent of voters in October, he believed the creation of state-based Voices was a slap in the face for the electorate.

'They dont believe in the democratic process,' he said.

'They dont believe in democracy, thats obvious to me. The people have spoken and they have just ignored it.'

He said his experience of campaigning around Australia in the lead-up to the referendum was that regardless of whether they were voting Yes or No, Australians wanted the problems of Indigenous Australia fixed.

'They want practical outcomes, they dont want a bunch of people sitting around a table for ever and ever,' he said.

'They are just sick and tired of this nonsense that goes on.'

'Weve done these committees going right back to (former Labor Prime Minister) Gough Whitlam and whats happened? Nothing.'

'Lets get back to the basics,' Mr Mundine said.

'Its got to be practical outcomes, that people are getting to schools, getting educated, getting jobs, able to get housing, that the whole community is safe where there is law and order.'

South Australian Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher called the Voice ballot 'a success' despite the low turnout.

'More than 2,000 First Nations South Australians cast their vote for the SA First Nations Voice to Parliament in a successful first election,' Mr Maher said in a statement.

'This strong first result provides a platform for the Voice to grow from, particularly with future elections coinciding with regular state elections.

'This is also in line with range of votes cast in South Australian elections for the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in the 1990s.'

Successful candidate for the Central Region, April Lawrie, told the ABC the federal Voice referendum result caused a lot of uncertainty for the state body.

While Ms Lawrie admitted there was a 'lot of work to do in terms of the promotion of this', she asked that the Voice be 'given a chance' and believed it would 'pick up momentum'.

'It's the first one. Give our community mob an opportunity to see how this goes,' she said.

'Once our community are informed and are engaged with the Voice concept and the reality that it's here, this is our opportunity to now, as a collective and representative Voice, work out ways in which we spread that information.'

Ms Lawrie said she was 'really thrilled' to become an elected representative.

'It's quite significant all around because I think for South Australia we're the first jurisdiction to create  a First Nations Voice,' she said.

Crowds gathered outside the South Australian parliament to welcome the creation of the Voice when it was approved in March of last year.
Holidaymakers face huge queues this summer after ministers admitted new fast-track scanners will not be fitted at airports for at least another year.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the Next Generation Security Checkpoints won't be ready by the June deadline.

The technology slashes waiting times by allowing passengers to leave laptops and liquids in carry-on baggage. It will also allow travellers to pack larger quantities, effectively ending the 100ml liquid restrictions.

The scanners produce more detailed images, meaning passengers can pass through airport security with containers holding up to two litres of liquid in their hand luggage.

But barely any airports have fully installed them yet and none of Britain's ten busiest hubs have.

Aviation Minister Anthony Browne disclosed that the 'Next Generation Security Checkpoints' - intended to slash waiting times by allowing passengers to leave laptops and liquids in their carry-on baggage - are only in place at one UK airport

Paul Charles, head of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said British airports remained 'some distance behind' overseas counterparts.

He added: 'Security lanes are faster overseas than many UK airports, and this summer will see UK departing passengers queuing longer than they have to.'

London City Airport, the country's 15th busiest, is the only one known to have installed the new scanners .

Heathrow, Britain's busiest airport, has previously said it expects to have the scanners fully fitted in all security lanes this summer, but Gatwick, the second busiest, won't do until March next year.

Both Manchester, the third busiest airport, and Stansted, the fourth, said the full installation will only be complete in 2025.

The Government blamed 'the global supply chain's continued recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic' for missing the deadline. Security restrictions for liquids were introduced in 2006 following a foiled terror plot to blow up planes flying from London to the US.
A teenager allegedly involved in an extremist satanic online group has appeared in court accused of plotting a terror attack on a homeless person.

Cameron Finnigan, 18, is accused of 'preparing for an attack against a single homeless individual' living in a tent, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

The teen is alleged to have been involved in the pseudo-satanist online group known as 764, prosecutors told the court on Wednesday.

Finnigan, of Horsham in West Sussex, was arrested at his home address on March 26.

Counter Terrorism Policing South East confirmed he had been charged with three offences on Tuesday prior to his court appearance.

Cameron Finnigan appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court (pictured) charged with a terror offence after being arrested last month

He has been charged with preparing terrorist acts, possessing information likely to be useful in terrorism and possessing indecent images of a child

The defendant was charged with one count of preparing terrorist acts and one count of possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism - namely a 'kill guide'.

He also faces a single charge of possessing indecent images of a child.

He spoke during the hearing only to confirm his name, date of birth and his address, and was remanded in custody until his next court appearance.

Finnigan is yet to enter a plea to the charges, and will next appear at the Old Bailey on April 12.

The Telegraph reports that he lives in a 1million home with his sister and adoptive parents in the Sussex town.
Commemoration ceremonies held to honor fallen heroes in SW China

Xinhua) 14:45, April 04, 2024

Police academy cadets lay flowers at a memorial wall for martyrs of police in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 3, 2024. As the Qingming Festival approaches, commemoration ceremonies were held at the site to honor fallen heroes. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Police officers bow at a memorial wall for martyrs of police in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 3, 2024. As the Qingming Festival approaches, commemoration ceremonies were held at the site to honor fallen heroes. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Police academy cadets lay flowers at a memorial wall for martyrs of police in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 3, 2024. As the Qingming Festival approaches, commemoration ceremonies were held at the site to honor fallen heroes. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Police officers attend a commemorative event at a memorial wall for martyrs of police in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 3, 2024. As the Qingming Festival approaches, commemoration ceremonies were held at the site to honor fallen heroes. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Police officers lay flowers at a memorial wall for martyrs of police in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 3, 2024. As the Qingming Festival approaches, commemoration ceremonies were held at the site to honor fallen heroes. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Police academy cadets lay flowers at a memorial wall for martyrs of police in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 3, 2024. As the Qingming Festival approaches, commemoration ceremonies were held at the site to honor fallen heroes. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Jill Biden has privately urged the president to end the bloodshed in Gaza, a White House guest has revealed.

Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, shared how she heard Joe Biden telling other attendees about his wife's wishes.

The exchange on Tuesday unfolded after another of the guests told the president that his wife disapproved of his attendance due to Biden's support for Israel's airstrikes, the New York Times reports.

Biden reportedly replied that he understood, stating that the First Lady has been urging him to 'Stop it, stop it now,' according to Suswell.

The Muslim leader said she was so struck by hearing Jill Biden's view on the matter that she scribbled down the president's comments.

Jill Biden has privately urged the president to end the bloodshed in Gaza, a White House guest has revealed

Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, shared how she heard Joe Biden telling other attendees about his wife's wishes for an end to the strikes

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the Hamas attack of October 7, which killed 1,200

The president is due to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday , according to a senior administration source

Most recently, the IDF killed seven aid workers including US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33

The White House appeared to corroborate the exchange, saying that Biden is as 'outraged' by the civilian casualties as his wife.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the Hamas attack of October 7, which killed 1,200.

Most recently, the IDF killed seven aid workers including US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33.

'Just like the president, the first lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza,' Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady's communications director, said in a statement. 'They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians.'

Her views reflect those of other Democrats, including Senator Chris Coons, who has pressed the president to do more to protect civilians and facilitate aid to the besieged nation.

Around 40 government agencies have also issued their own letters of objection to the president while voters in swing states including Michigan and Wisconsin have threatened to withhold their support over his stance.

But Jill Biden's influence is perhaps the greatest of all. She previously stated in an interview with the New York Times that the president values her instincts.

'I think he trusts my intuition as a spouse, not as a policy person or an adviser,' she said.

Dr Biden's views reflect those of other Democrats, including Senator Chris Coons, who has pressed the president to do more to protect civilians

Voters in swing states including Michigan and Wisconsin have threatened to withhold their support over his stance

Biden said he is 'outraged' by the deaths of the aid workers on Monday, which included US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33

Dr Biden has historically opposed US involvement in overseas conflicts, as her late son Beau had been deployed to Iraq in 2008.

Another White House guest revealed how the First Lady had reacted angrily at the mention of George Bush, stating that 'He sent my son to war'.

America has no boots on the ground in Israel, but it is funding the country as part of Biden's commitment to supporting Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas.

In the wake of October 7, Biden was unequivocal in his support for Israel.

'As long as the United States stands  and we will stand forever  we will not let you ever be alone,' he said in a press briefing a week after the atrocity.

However, over the following months and light of Israel's relentless bombing campaign, Biden has watered down his statements of support and even criticized Netanyahu for not doing enough to get aid into Gaza.

His support for Israel is become increasingly more difficult to square with his purported 'outrage' at civilian deaths in Gaza, as well as condemnation from the international community.

Dr Biden has herself come under scrutiny for her husband's stance and has had numerous speeches interrupted by pro-Palestine protesters accusing the Biden's of supporting genocide.

Biden and Netanyahu have have had a fractious relationship even prior to October 7

Smoke rises from Gaza City as the IDF continues to bomb the area before the army kicks into high gear with a massive ground invasion

The president is due to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a senior administration source.

The two have had a fractious relationship even prior to October 7, with Biden criticizing the judicial reform proposed by the Israeli leader which he believes pose a threat to democracy.

The president has said he would not be extending any invitations to Netanyahu at the White House whilst his government continues with the reforms.
The Gold Coast woman has been vilely trolled online since her death

The Gold Coast 'shamanic medicine woman' who died from a suspected drug overdose at her 40th birthday party has been targeted by vile trolls.

Grieving friends of Danni Whittaker have angrily hit out at the tsunami of vicious attacks on social media after her tragic death in Surfers Paradise last Friday.

Ms Whittaker's own Instagram and Facebook pages, and the social media sites of TV stations and a media outlet, have been flooded with heartless comments.

Thousands of posts and mocking emojis - including more than 100 laughing emojis on one site - have been posted online since Ms Whittaker went into cardiac arrest and died inside the Meriton Suites apartment around 11pm.

She was reportedly celebrating her birthday with six female friends, two of whom were later admitted to hospital after taking an 'extremely potent' cocktail of drugs.

But hundreds of trolls have leapt on her death to blast her for taking drugs and slamming her for being 'old enough to know better'.

Gold Coast woman Danni Whittaker who died from suspected drug overdose at her 40th birthday party in her high rise apartment has been subjected to vile trolling online

Danni was reportedly celebrating her birthday with six female friends, two of whom were later admitted to hospital after taking an 'extremely potent' cocktail of drugs

'No sympathy for druggies,' one troll added when people asked why others were laughing and posting their brutal comments and emojis.

Several people called the partygoers 'stupid' for taking drugs and one man commented 'they're not 5'.

Another said anyone '...with half a brain would have grown out of that behaviour by 40. Unfortunate.'

Others said it was better to 'stick to beer' or just 'have a shandy' while one woman questioned taking 'a cocktail of drugs on their 40th.'

She added: 'A line or five of coke and some bubbles is more than enough'.

Friends and supporters have defended Ms Whittaker and branded the trolls 'truly heartless and judgmental people'.

One said she hoped Danni 'was at peace - am sending so much light, love and strength to her family'.

Danni Whittaker had predicted that spiritual forces would make 2024 the year when everything changed for the better and that she was entering the new 'naughty 40s'

A friend of Ms Whittaker's who set up a GoFundMe page to repatriate Danni's remains to New Zealand said people 'shouldnt speculate and pass on judgement' and that the trolling was 'hurtful to grieving loved ones'.

Danni was unable to be revived at the scene and was declared dead when paramedics arrived at the unit on Friday night.

Two other women were also taken to hospital. One remains in intensive care, while a second woman has since been released.

Queensland Police Superintendent Peter Miles confirmed cannabis residue, ketamine and mushroom caps were found in the suite.

Danni said her spiritual awakening meant that this year was 'the year of not holding it back. The Year of truth! the year of slaying more f***ing demons'

Danni said forces of the universe were shifting and that this year she would achieve divine love and success and that it was 'time for massive change'

Supt Miles said the Gold Coast was flooded with drugs.

'We are seeing overdoses,' he said.

'Its not one particular drug, it could be GHB, it could be ketamine, heroin is making a bit of a comeback. We are seeing a lot of drugs out in the community.'

The tragedy comes after Ms Whittaker had predicted that 2024 would be the year her life would magically change for the better.

In exuberant posts on her Facebook and Instagram pages, Danni described 2024 as starting 'off with a bang. 2024!!!! Who is f***ing pumped?!

She posted online that 'divine' powers would give her love and success this year.

'(It's) the year of keeping it real,' Ms Whittaker wrote. 'The year of not putting up with s***! The year of divine love and light.

'What magic is to come. What a time to be alive!! The best is really yet to come. I know, I've seen it!'

Danni had participated in bodybuilding competitions in the past and even met Arnold Schwarzenegger at and event in Brisbane

In the weeks preceding her drug overdose at her own 40th birthday party, Danni was posting online about 2024 being 'the year of not holding it back'.

And the Queensland businesswoman's certainty that mystical forces were driving her life towards greater things were tied up with her reaching 'the big 4-0'.

About her much-anticipated birthday last week, she posted: 'Age is just a number! Stay 8 forever. We're here to have fun d***heads.'

'The universe is forcing me to do what I was always meant to do! And it is a f***ing vibe.'

Just last week, friends posted on her Facebook page birthday wishes celebrating her becoming a 'vintage model'.

Days later, the same people were posting about their grief about the woman who was 'forever 40'.

In a Facebook video she posted last October, Danni asked about the illegality of some drugs, questioning why 'we can't have a mushroom or a leaf? A plant? But we can have alcohol, cigarettes and vapes. Think about it.'

Danni revealed that 2023 had been tough for everyone but had forced her to 'go on this journey of self awareness, personal development and spirituality'.

Paramedics said Danni was unable to be revived at the scene after they were called around 11pm last Friday to the flat where Ms Whittaker who was already in cardiac arrest

'Last year was growth. Lessons, shadows, self awareness, strength, tests, connections, pain, and love,' she posted in January.

'To get us ready for this year where our work is going to pay off. And this year, we have the power of the dragons on our side.'

Danni asked her online friends, 'Whos excited and feeling the shift in energy?' and told them 'Yeh, voodoo woodoo Danni is onnnnn!

'So hold your mother f***ing horses c***s coz its all happening.

'Its time for massive change.'
An Aussie dad who made a frantic sprint to America to prevent his baby daughter being given up for adoption had last minute help from an immigration agent.

Ahmad Shady from law firm Longton Legal revealed how he did everything he could to get Sydney tradie Dan Gaut's baby girl to Australia and succeeded in getting her citizenship at incredibly short notice.

But the victory was short-lived with the girl's mother, Liv, reneging on an agreement that Mr Gaut could raise little Ana and deciding instead that she wanted to keep her.

How the heartbreaking ordeal unfolded

Mr Gaut met Liv on a trip to San Francisco and the pair fell madly in love before she returned to Australia with him.

After falling pregnant, Liv decided to temporarily return to the US to be closer to her support network.

But, once there, she informed him she would be staying and their little girl would be put up for adoption.

A stunned Mr Gaut pleaded with Liv and and the pair made the agreement that, if he could be in Texas shortly after she gave birth, Ana could return to Australia with him and he could gain custody.

She has since rekindled an old relationship and changed her mind saying that she wanted to raise Ana.

Carpenter Dan Gaut, from Sydney 's north, was thrilled about the impending birth until his pregnant girlfriend, Liv, suddenly returned to the US without him (pictured meeting his daughter Ana)

Sydney immigration law expert Ahmad Shady was able to secure Ana Australian citizenship in just 48 hours, a process that often take months

Immigration agent stepped up to help - but it was already too late

Mr Gaut flew to America just after Liv gave birth and met his daughter.

As he was scrambling to make preparations to bring Ana back to Australia he found she did not have Australian citizenship automatically despite his nationality.

Mr Shady saw Mr Gaut's story after it went viral in February and stepped up to offer his services pro-bono.

The immigration agent had a similar experience when his ex-wife died overseas while caring for their two young daughters and he had to fight to bring them to Australia.

He was able to secure citizenship, which normally takes weeks if not months to process, for Ana in just 48 hours

'Obviously his story resonated on a personal level,' he told news.com.au.

'I personally had to go through the traumatic, bureaucratic maze of bringing children from overseas.'

Mr Shady reached out via social media to Mr Gaut and then got Ana's mother to consent to the Australian citizenship.

He lodged an application with government on March 13 that explained every day the application was delayed was a day the tradie was unable to work.

He also explained the delays brought the risk Liv would change her mind about the agreement.

Mr Gaut was on holidays in the United States when he met Liv who returned to Australia with him after the pair fell in love

The application was approved two days later but despite the speediness it was not before Liv did decide to keep Ana.

'I feel terrible for (Mr Gaut) of course. As a father of daughters, my heart would be absolutely broken,' Mr Shady said.

Dad remains hopeful his daughter will be able to grow up in Australia

Mr Gaut took to Instagram to explain how shattered he was at the decision.

'Liv has changed her mind and wants to keep Ana in the States and be her primary caregiver,' he wrote.

'I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported me on this journey.

'I will use the remaining donations to seek legal representation in Austin and to visit Ana as often as I can.

'I still hold strong the vision of Ana growing up in Australia in the not too distant future.'

Her citizenship does not expire and Ana is now free to live in Australia at any point but it has no bearing on the custody situation.

She also is a US citizen by birth.

Mr Gaut previously told ACA how he learned Ana could be put up for adoption while Liv had 'temporarily' returned to the US.

'She was starting to send me adoption options for people that she knew in Texas, and she was sending me the links to the Instagram page,' he said.

'And I was like, 'No, this is wrong, stop, don't promise her to anyone'.'

A GoFundMe was launched last month to raise fund to help Mr Gaut in his fight which he said he will now use to hire a legal representative in the US to pursue his custody options.

Mr Gaut said he will hire legal representatives in the US to pursue his custody options
The family of a Portland girl filed a $9million lawsuit against a public school district after the young girl was allegedly 'gang-raped' by two boys in a school bathroom bathroom.

Last month, the family of the unidentified nine-year-old girl filed the suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court and alleged both the district and a non-profit after-school program failed to protect the youngster.

According to the lawsuit, in April 2022, two male students in the program, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods, at Scott Elementary School in Northeast Portland, told the girl they would 'find out where she lives' if she didn't tell the staff she needed to use the bathroom.

She complied and went to the bathroom, as the other students followed her, locked her in a stall, took off her pants and each 'forcibly penetrated' her, the lawsuit, reviewed by Oregon Live, stated.

As she tried to ward them off, the boys made it impossible for her to escape as they took turns blocking the doors, documents said.

A nine-year-old girl's family has filed a lawsuit against Portland Public Schools and a non-profit after-school program after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by two male students in April 2022 at Scott Elementary School (pictured)

The father of one of the boys reported the incident and his son and the other boy were suspended for just one day, the lawsuit said.

Prior to their suspension, instead of getting the police involved in the alleged sexual assault, 'PPS staff undertook their own internal investigation,' the lawsuit said.

Staff also interviewed the girl without telling her parents, family or any legal representatives, according to the suit.

According to court documents, six days after the alleged assault, the victim's father took her to Randall Children's Hospital for an evaluation.

A week after that visit, she was seen at a child abuse program called CARES Northwest, where medical staff were told about the incident and concluded that 'the history provided was highly concerning for sexual abuse,' the lawsuit said.

According to the legal filling, since the alleged attack, the young girl has been suffering from the pain, trauma, a gap in education and social anxiety brought on by the incident.

The nine-year-old's father proceeded to transfer his daughter and younger son to another school, which took a month to accomplish and disrupted his children's education, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also noted other alleged instances where the girl was put in similar situations by male classmates at the school.

The lawsuit also noted other alleged instances where the girl was put in similar situations by male classmates at the school.

Prior to the bathroom assault, one of her classmates allegedly touched her genitals over her clothing without her consent during a class, with an educator in the room, the lawsuit said.

During another incident, the girl slapped a student after he attempted to kiss the young girl without her consent, the lawsuit said.

DailyMail.com contacted Portland Public Schools District, the Sun Community Schools program and Scott Elementary School for comment.

Sydney Kelly, a spokesperson for Portland Public Schools, told Oregon Live: 'The district learned of these new allegations last week when we received the lawsuit, and we are investigating.'

'We are mandatory reporters, meaning we must report any instance of possible child abuse and neglect.'

'We take our responsibilities as mandatory reporters seriously and follow the law around reporting.'

The lawsuit accused the district and the after-school program of not educating students about sexual boundaries, not communicating with parents or guardians and not enforcing rules about sexual behaviors on school property.
Aussies should check their spare change for coins that have sharply risen in value, including a $2 coin honouring Covid workers that is now over 50 times its original value.

The gold coin - only minted in 2022 and stamped with 'Australian Frontline Workers' as a tribute to Covid health workers - is now among the Australian legal tender growing fastest in value.

It now sells for $135, reported 9 News.

Another $2 coin that has soared in value are those marking the 2013 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

Rarer in circulation, this coin can sell for between $40 and $110 - however a mint condition uncirculated coin is now for sale at Wynard Coins for $795.

The gold coin was only minted in 2022 and stamped with 'Australian Frontline Workers' as a tribute to Covid health workers

The value is now more than 50 times its face value at about $135

Another $2 coin that has soared in value are those marking the 2013 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II 's coronation

However, if you don't come across a colourful $2 coin with a reference to workers, anniversaries or special occasions, value can be found in your every day change if you look closely.

A 50-cent coin from 1988 is worth a whopping $14,750.

In the nation's bicentennial year, it was decided all 50-cent pieces would not contain the coat-of-arms and instead commemorate the First Fleet's 200-year anniversary.

The coat-of-arms wasn't supposed to be used on 50-cent coins in 1988 - making this coin worth $14,750

However, this coin was one of only a few minted with the coat-of-arms, driving up its value.

Aussies should also keep their eyes peeled for a $1 coin with a double rim.

Minted in 2000, it is estimated between 6,000-7,000 of the coins were mistakenly struck with a 10c die - creating a double rim that makes these coins worth up to a cool $3,000.

The 'mule' coin has a double rim around the Queen's portrait and can fetch up to a whopping $3,000

A rare 20-cent coin is worth $150 all because it has a rim error.

Minted in 1974, the coin was made using a 'clipped planchet', which means the metal disc used to stamp the coins had an error on its rim. It is known as a 'bitten rim'.

It can be seen next to the date '1974' on the obverse side of the coin.

A rare 1974 20-cent coin has a 'bitten rim', making it worth a cool $150

On the 'tails' side of a 1984-minted $1 coin is a small defect that has seen the value increase to $45.

The letter 'R' in the word 'DOLLAR' is not as defined due to the die breaking, which created a cavity allowing for the R to overflow slightly.

The mistake in the letter 'R' in 'DOLLAR" on this $1 coin minted in 1984 - the year Aussies were introduced to the gold coin - has made the value jump to $45

Coin expert Matthew Thompson from Town Hall Coins and Collectables in Sydney previously told Daily Mail Australia that most people pass on rare coins by accident - so they should be looking for anything out of place.

'Mules and mistakes are rarer and possible to find in your change. They have value because generally the mint doesnt make mistakes,' he said.

'But from time to time things can go awry. If you see mistakes on a coin, if you have something interesting, odd or out of place, then other people are likely to find it interesting, too.'

However, Mr Thompson warned people not to be taken advantage of.

People put a random price on a coin on ebay. Thats the big issue. People trying to scam people,' he said.

'If you want to start actually collecting, do research, get a book or catalogues. Go and see a coin specialist.
While most owners are aware feeding chocolate to their pets at Easter is bad for them, vets have now also urged people not to give their animals grapes and sultanas, after clinicians treated more than 20 pets who ate the treats over the Easter long weekend.

The vets warned that some pets can have difficulty digesting grapes or sultanas found, for example, in hot cross buns.

Vets treated 21 animals this Easter at several Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) centres across Australia after they ate small amounts of the fruits.

The specialist centres also treated 77 other animals who required urgent care.

Vets have urged owners not to give dogs grapes and sultanas after clinicians treated 20 animals over Easter who needed care because they were fed the food items (stock image)

Tim Hopkins, who is a vet at a SASH centre in Adelaide, said just because some dogs might not react badly to eating grapes, it doesn't mean the fruit is safe to consume.

'If you're from a family that you've been lucky enough to never see the effects of grape toxicity then you could be perpetuating that idea that it's safe, but it's not for all dogs,' Mr Hopkins told Yahoo.

He said the fruit can damage vital organs which in some cases cannot be cured.

'Those dogs that are affected can suffer kidney injuries which can be irreversible,' he said. 'We don't know why some dogs are susceptible and others are not.'

Grapes and sultanas are among several foods, including chocolate, that should not be given to dogs.

Chocolate is very toxic for the animals as the sweet treats contain the chemicals theobromine and caffeine, which cannot be processed by dogs as easily as humans.

Dogs can can suffer several symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, and even seizures after eating the treat.

Grapes and sultanas - found in hot cross buns - are among several foods, including chocolate, that should not be given to dogs (stock image)

Some dogs however, are unaffected by the food item and don't suffer the adverse health affects.

Mr Hopkins said that while the number of cases involving dogs fed chocolate have reduced, sometimes dogs manage to eat the food without owners being aware.

'With the chocolates, I think it's mostly about unguarded chocolates or a particularly ingenious dog,' Mr Hopkins said.

Vets have urged people not to give their pets harmful food items and recommend hiding edibles like chocolate away from dogs, so that they don't mistakenly eat them.
The mother of a teenager who was killed in an unprovoked one-punch attack, triggering lockout laws in Sydney's busiest nightclub precinct, has told a court she was handed a 'double life sentence'.

Kieran Loveridge will be released from prison after the NSW State Parole Authority on Thursday found there would be a 'substantially greater risk' if he were released at a later time.

The now 30-year-old has spent more than 10 years in prison after he killed Thomas Kelly in the 'cowardly and unprovoked' attack in July 2012.

Appearing from Broken Hill Correctional Centre on Thursday before a NSW State Parole Authority hearing, Loveridge listened as Mr Kelly's mother Kathy Kelly issued a heartbreaking message to the court.

Kieran Loveridge (pictured) will be released from prison after the NSW State Parole Authority found there would be a 'substantially greater risk' if he were released at a later time.

Kieran Loveridge killed Thomas Kelly (pictured) in the 'cowardly and unprovoked' attack in July 2012

'We lost our beautiful son ... four years later our other child Stewart took his own life as a result of the loss of his older brother,' Ms Kelly said.

'He was only 14 years old when Tom was killed ... our family may never find forgiveness for Mr Loveridge.

'We continue to grieve every day for our two boys ... we have been handed a double life sentence.'

Justice Geoffrey Bellew told the court the SPA was 'satisfied' it was in the community's interest to release Loveridge.

While there will always be a risk in releasing an offender, Justice Bellew told the court the risks were mitigated in the case.

'There would be a substantially greater risk imposed if he were released at a later time with a shorter period of supervision,' he said.

'Or worse still at the end of his sentence without any supervised parole at all.'

Loveridge was arrested when he was 18 and had spent the 'greater part' of his adult life in custody, Justice Bellew told the court.

He said there was a 'need' for the offender to have a period in the community while on parole.

As positive progress had been made in custody, Justice Bellew said Loveridge would be released between April 18 and April 25.

In 2012, Loveridge was on an alcohol-fuelled rampage through Kings Cross when he attacked Mr Kelly, punching him and causing him to fall back and fracture his skull.

Mr Kelly was rushed to hospital but suffered a severe brain injury and died two days later.

Loveridge was initially sentenced to seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and the assaults of four other men but was resentenced after the Crown appealed.

Mr Kelly's death prompted the NSW government to introduce legislation that closed Sydney venues at 1am, known as lockout laws.

During his resentencing in the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2014, the act was described as 'cowardly and unprovoked'.

He was handed a maximum sentence of 13 years and eight months with a non-parole period of 10 years and two months.

Loveridge's non-parole period expired in June last year, but his previous release was knocked back by the parole authority.

Mr Kelly's death prompted the NSW government to introduce legislation that closed Sydney venues at 1am, known as lockout laws.
One of Sydney's most notorious bikies has been arrested over an alleged assault.

Raptor Squad officers arrested high-ranking Hells Angels member Jason Fahey during a raid on his waterfront home in Five Dock in Sydney's inner west at about 6am on Thursday.

Charges are expected to be laid later on Thursday.

He was formerly the national president of the Bandidos - but 'patched over' to the Hells Angels last year.

The Hells Angels are the world's largest bikie gang, with almost 4,000 members across an estimated 475 chapters in more than 60 countries.

Jason 'Ace' Fahey was arrested at his home in Five Dock in Sydney's inner west on Thursday morning

Fahey was formerly the national president of the Bandidos - but 'patched over' to the Hells Angels last year. Fahey is pictured with model and influencer Chaye Connelly

Fahey's switch to the Hells Angels raised eyebrows among motorcycle club members.

His older sibling John was a long-time Bandidos national sergeant-at-arms and is still heavily marked with that club's tattoos.

More to come
Dr. Thaer Ahmad, who has volunteered in Gaza, walked out in protest

One doctor said Biden claimed to have already seen photos she took from Gaza

Muslim activists expressed their discontent with President Joe Biden's handling of the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza during a closed-door meeting that saw one guest walk out in protest.

The White House held a private gathering where Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and national security leaders met with six Muslim American community leaders on Tuesday.

The meeting was initially planned to be an Iftar dinner to break the Ramadan fast but was changed to a meeting because attendees were uncomfortable celebrating with the president.

One doctor told NBC News when she showed the president photos she had taken on her phone of malnourished children and women in Gaza, Biden responded he had seen the photos before.

'This speaks volumes to the dismissive nature of the administration when it comes to strong-willed action towards a permanent cease-fire or, at a bare minimum, a red line on the invasion of Rafah,' said Dr. Nahreen H. Ahmed.

Muslim activists expressed their discontent with President Joe Biden 's handling of the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza during a closed door meeting on Tuesday

One doctor said when she showed the president photos she had taken on her phone of malnourished children and women in Gaza, Biden responded he had seen the photos before

Other guest who had been invited reportedly decline to attend out of protest of the administrations support of Israel

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the Hamas attack of October 7, which killed 1,200

Shortly after the meeting began, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency physician from Chicago who has volunteered in Gaza, announced that he was walking out in protest.

Ahmad told CNN's Kaitlan Collins the rhetoric coming from the White House was frustrating to listen to as the Palestinians were suffering as a result of the war.

His goal, he said, was to get Biden to understand what it was like to hear someone and have them walk away without hearing their response.

'He actually said he understood,' Ahmad said.

He gave the president a letter from an eight-year-old orphaned girl living in Rafah, begging Biden to stop Israel from invading Rafah.

'I let him know out of respect for my community, Im going to leave,' he said he told the president, adding that his community was 'reeling' and 'grieving' as a result of the war.

Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, shared how she heard Joe Biden telling other attendees about his wife's wishes.

The exchange unfolded after another of the guests told the president that his wife disapproved of his attendance due to Biden's support for Israel's airstrikes, The New York Times reported

Biden reportedly replied that he understood, stating that the First Lady has been urging him to 'Stop it, stop it now,' according to Suswell.

The Muslim leader said she was so struck by hearing Jill Biden's view on the matter that she scribbled down the president's comments.

The White House appeared to corroborate the exchange, saying that Biden is as 'outraged' by the civilian casualties as his wife.

Dr. Thaer Ahmad (pictured), an emergency physician from Chicago who has volunteered in Gaza, walked out of the meeting in protest

Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, said during the meeting the president revealed his wife, Jill Biden, has begged him to end civilian deaths in Gaza

Sources told NBC News that Biden told attendees he will not call for a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas until all the remaining hostages are released.

Other guests who had been invited reportedly declined to attend, underscoring the tensions between the administration and the Muslim and Arab American communities.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since the Hamas attack of October 7, which killed 1,200.

Most recently, the IDF killed seven aid workers including US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33.

The president is due to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a senior administration source.
A mother-of-three was horrified to find her five-month-old son sleeping in a cot at his daycare centre with his bib pulled over his head.

Shaleen Kumar, 33, worked as a chef at the Whiz Kidz Early Learning Centre and Preschool in Pendle Hill, in Sydney's west, where her three young children also attended daycare.

Ms Kumar said that while preparing to give afternoon tea to the children at the centre on Wednesday, she popped by the baby room to check on her young son.

But when she walked in, she saw him lying on his side with his bib stuck around his head.

The mother said she'd asked staff to put the bib on him because he had been drooling onto his clothes but to take it off when he was sleeping.

A mother-of-three was left horrified after finding her five-month-old son sleeping in a cot at his daycare centre in Pendle Hill, in Sydney's west, with his bib pulled over his head

Shaleen Kumar is seen with her partner and three children. She said she will never send her kids to daycare again

After removing the bib herself and checking her son was breathing fine, Ms Kumar returned to work albeit shaken by what had happened.

The mother said the centre used an app to log when checks were made on babies.

She claims her son was checked at 1.43pm on Wednesday and not again until 2.20pm.

'He could've been like that for more than half-an-hour,' she said, claiming she saw the staff member who supposedly checked him in the breakroom.

Ms Kumar has now left her job at the centre. where she had worked for two months, saying she was paid for the rest of this week.

'I'm not going to send my kids to a daycare centre again,' she said.

'Can you imagine if I hadn't walked in? Who are we trusting with our children?'

Whiz Kidz' head office has apologised to Ms Kumar, who is now working at another job in a casual role.

She and her partner work alternate hours in order to look after their three children, aged four, two and five months.

The daycare centre strongly denied the claims and said they asked Ms Kumar to quit her role after concerns from other employees.

They also alleged staff at the centre were told by the mother to leave her son's bib on all day.

She said she'd asked staff to put a bib on her son because he was drooling but to make sure to take it off when he was sleeping

Shaleen Kumar, 33, worked as a chef at the Whiz Kidz Early Learning Centre and Preschool in Pendle Hill, in Sydney 's west, where her three young children also attended daycare

Ms Kumar has since left a negative review for the Pendle Hill centre online, along with a photo of her son in the cot.

Other parents were shocked by the picture, and have also bombarded the centre with negative reviews.

Ms Kumar has reported the incident to the Department of Education who told her it would investigate.
Her son, 38-year-old Jeremy Miller, has been charged nearly five months later

A Utah grandmother died after her son's seven pit bulls attacked her and gnawed her leg down to the bone.

Sandra Dee Miller, 63, was attacked by two adult pit bulls and five puppies on Halloween 2023 in her Taylorsville's backyard and died November 6.

Her 38-year-old son, Jeremy Miller, was charged with misdemeanor seven counts of attack by animal misdemeanors pm Tuesday, reported ABC4.

According to court documents, when police arrived at the house near 4800 South and 2900 West, the dogs appeared out of control and Miller had extensive injuries.

'Her leg had no flesh on it and only the bone remained. There was so much blood [the officer] could not see her other injuries,' the affidavit said.

Police said they contacted Jeremy who told them he lived at the address where the incident took place and he arrived at the scene about 20 minutes later.

'[He was] clearly upset about his fence being damaged and his dogs being taken by animal control,' the affidavit said.

Sandra Dee Miller (center left), 63, was attacked by her son Jeremy's two adult pit bulls and five puppies on Halloween in her own backyard

Jeremy Miller, was charged with seven counts of attack by animal misdemeanors nearly five months later

Officers had to climb the fence to rescue Miller and said the dogs had 'blood on and around their mouths and appeared to be in a frenzy.'

'The dogs were still extremely aggressive, and it took multiple Taylorsville city police officers and animal control officers to keep the dogs away from the victim and contained in the yard,' said the documents.

'When the female pit bull attempted to escape, [an officer] shot her with his Glock 6 times and noticed other officers shot her as well and she was no longer a danger to the public.'

The remaining adult male dog and the puppies were taken into Animal Control where they were ultimately all euthanized, reported Fox 13.

'The defendant did, having charge, care, custody or control of any animal, even if such care or custody was temporary, allow that animal to attack any person, domestic animal or fowl, or any species of protected wildlife. The person having charge, care, custody or control is strictly liable for this offense,' court documents said.

Legal analyst Greg Skordas told KSL that Miller was unlikely to face jail time even if convicted - and that if a judge were to hand down a custodial sentence, it would likely be no longer than 90 days.

Police said when they arrived at the scene the dogs had blood on their mouths and appeared to be frenzied. They said Sandra's leg had been gnawed down and had to be amputated

Police initially reported one of Sandra's legs had to be amputated, then a week after the attack she died from her injuries.

She is survived by her two siblings, five children, 14 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

'She loved spending time with her family, grandkids, and friends. Some of her hobbies were collecting crystals, dragons and every little trinket that caught her eye,' her obituary read.

'We are thankful for every moment we shared with her. We cherish that we had the opportunity to say goodbye and that she was surrounded by her loved ones during her last moments.'
An Australian family says they 'are broken' by the jailing of an innocent father-of-three who has been held 'hostage' in an Iraqi jail for three years in appalling conditions as his health alarmingly deteriorates.

Australian engineer Robert Pether was thrown into prison in April 2021 after seeking to be paid by the Iraqi government for work he had done in the country.

On Wednesday his wife Desree Pether made a direct plea to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong for 'more to be done'.

Desree Pether (pictured left) has made a desperate plea for Australia's prime minister and foreign minister to step up efforts to release her husband Robert Pether (pictured centre)

She told Sydney radio station 2GB's Ben Fordham on Thursday that she had a message for Mr Albanese and Ms Wong that comes from Robert himself.

'Please do absolutely everything you can and do more (to get Robert released),' she said.

'So much more should be done or could be done.

'We want him home. We want this nightmare to end.

'Its a very crowded prison.

'Its not like a prison in Australia, its quite harsh conditions.'

It's understood Mr Pether has been languishing in an overcrowded cell where the lights are left on 24/7.

'Roberts health is deteriorating,' Ms Pether said.

'He was never sick before he was arrested and he has a serious skin condition and it has got exponentially worse since he was arrested.'

Prior to his imprisonment Mr Pether suffered melanoma and since being in jail, lesions and moles have sprung up in places where cancerous growths were previously removed.

Photos were sent to a doctor in Italy who recommended a new round of surgery but that is impossible in the unsanitary jail conditions.

The 47-year-old is also reportedly suffering from bladder and kidney infections as well as depression.

Ms Pether said the stress 'of sitting in prison for three years trying to prove you are innocent when no proof is accepted' was taking its toll on her husband.

Ms Pether says she can see the toll their dad's absence has taken on the couple's three children 'in their eyes'

In a trial that lasted just 15 minutes, Mr Pether and an Egyptian colleague Khalid Radwan were found guilty of deception and both given five years 'hard imprisonment' and lumped with a $16 million fine.

The pair were arrested after being lured to an office with the promise of resolving their outstanding claim of not being paid for work they had done on the $1billion Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) offices in Baghdad.

'Disappeared for days. We didnt know if they were alive or dead,' Ms Pether said on Thursday.

His treatment has attracted condemnation from the UN, which has noted 30 violations of international law in the case and classified Mr Pether as a 'hostage'.

In an emotional Facebook post at the start of this month, Ms Pether shared more of her own fraught state.

'I miss him. All the time,' she wrote.

'He shouldn't still be unlawfully imprisoned in #iraq. He should NEVER have been trapped, arrested and imprisoned in the first place! The treatment of two innocent men is absolutely heinous!'

She revealed on Thursday that the family is struggling to cope.

Mr Pether was arrested when he went to an Iraqi government office to settle an outstanding claim for payment

'Were all broken, theyre broken,' she told Sydney radio station 2GB interviewer Ben Fordham on Thursday about her children.

'Watching the impact on them you can see it in their eyes. The boys have grown into men while he was away.

'Its so excruciating. They were so proud of him, what he was doing and then this happened.'

Ms Pether, who is in Ireland presently with her children, said trying to explain to the couple's eight-year-daughter 'that bad things happen to good people... it is just so hard.'

She said her husband was 'one of Australias best engineers'.

'Hes out there on the world stage,' she said.

'He could have done anything he wanted, literally take on any problem but he really wanted to make a difference.'
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High-end steakhouse Botswana Butchery has entered voluntary administration In Australia.

The restaurant chain found success in New Zealand first before expanding to Sydney and Melbourne in 2022.

However, the future of the Australian venture is now uncertain following the appointment of BDO as voluntary administrator by its owner, Good Group Australia, on March 31.

The three Australian restaurants, including Canberra which opened just two months ago, will continue trading for the time being while their viability is assessed.

'The administrators are undertaking an urgent assessment of the companies and if possible, intend to continue trade with a view of facilitating a restructure or going concern sale process in due course,' the BDO statement read.

The business' difficulties come as many in the hospitality industry struggle due to the cost-of-living crisis brought on by inflation, interest rate and rent rises, which has savaged people's disposable income.

The Sydney location of Botswana Butchery in Martin Place

'The administrators will continue to work closely with Good Group Australia's directors, management, staff, and creditors.'

New Zealand operations at Good Group are not affected.

The Sydney location in Martin Place boasts seating for 300 guests across three floors and can accommodate over 900 standing.

In 2022, a review by Terry Durack in the Sydney Morning Herald awarded the restaurant a score of 13 out of 20.

'Botswana is the sort of bustling, conventional steakhouse designed for the kind of business lunch or dinner that used to happen when the CBD had a lot of businesses that did lunch or dinner. At this stage, it has the steak, but we'll have to wait a bit longer for the sizzle,' Durack wrote.

The Melbourne branch on Flinders Lane was rated 14 out of 20 by The Age critic Besha Rodell.

She wrote: 'Is the food any good? Does the service run like a well-greased machine, with headset microphones on the black-clad staff? Is the wine list broad, varied, and even intermittently affordable? Yes, yes, yes.'
Police hauled him out of the SUV, discovered he was with Texas National Guard

Turned around at border checkpoint sparking chase, migrant jumped out of car

A National Guardsman is accused of smuggling a migrant across the border into Texas while deployed to stop asylum-seekers entering the US - and his arrest was captured in dramatic footage.

Specialist Savion Amari Donovan Johnson, 26, was arrested around 3.45pm Sunday after a high-speed chase with police in Brackettville, Texas.

Texas Department of Public Safety and Kinney County Sheriff's deputies pursued him after he abruptly turned around ahead of a checkpoint on Highway 674.

His sudden course change was suspicious, and their pursuit led to a 15-mile chase at speeds of over 100mph.

Sheriff Brad Coe confirmed Johnson was a member of the Texas National Guard assigned to Operation Lone Star, which aims to prevent migrants breaching the border, at the Eagle Pass crossing.

Dramatic bodycam and dashcam footage showed Johnson being hauled out of his silver GMC SUV given to him for work after it was finally stopped by road spikes.

Savion Amari Donovan Johnson, 26, (pictured in white) was arrested around 3.45pm Sunday after a high-speed chase with local police in Brackettville, Texas

Dramatic bodycam and dashcam footage showed Johnson being hauled out of his sliver GMC SUV after it was finally stopped by road spikes

'Why you running, dude?' the arresting KCSO deputy asked as he handcuffed Johnson behind his back as he lay face down on the grass.

'I got very, very scared,' he replied.

Other police in the background said a Hispanic man was seen fleeing to the south.

'I'm so f**king stupid,' Johnson said, to which the deputy agreed: 'Yeah, you are f**king stupid, man.'

'Do you know how many people you could have f**king killed, man? Jesus Christ.'

Johnson told the officers he had no weapons on him, but had one in his car. He was then loaded into the back of the KCSO vehicle.

Other officers were then seen searching the car and trying to track down the fleeing migrant.

The sheriff's deputy pulls Johnson out of the car and throws him on the ground

Johnson, a Texas National Guardsman, is handcuffed while the deputy berates him for the high-speed chase

Authorities discovered he was from the Texas National Guard while going through his belongings, finding official IDs and gear. The deputy also photographed a pistol lying on the passenger seat.

Johnson, who lives in San Antonio, was allegedly offered $5,000 to $6,000 to take the man over the border undetected, police said.

The man he was allegedly transporting later surrendered to authorities to be processed by Border Patrol agents.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Office lashed out at Johnson in a strongly-worded statement after his arrest.

'If the allegations are true, the accused is a traitor and criminal,' press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said.

'We have zero tolerance for Texans who violate laws that directly contradict the mission we are seeking to achieve.

'The accused's illegal smuggling may subject him to a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 10 years. He deserves more.'

Police discovered he was from the Texas National Guard while going through his belongings, finding official IDs and gear

Johnson was attached to the 100th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and shot several videos of guardsmen exercises.

Coe said Johnson had his Texas National Guard gear in the car, and he wasn't the first guardsman his office had caught allegedly smuggling. He added people from all walks of life - including lawyers and preachers - were trying to make money smuggling.

'We don't know what's going on in their lives to make them do this. But they're going to get caught,' he said.

Johnson was charged with human smuggling, felony evading arrest and unlawful weapons possession.

An arrest affidavit said a state trooper tried to pull him over for speeding, which prompting the chase, and the guardsman slowed down to let the migrant jump out.

It is unclear if Johnson may have previously smuggled migrants across the border without being caught.
An onlooker has been left stunned after seeing a young child towing a tinnie with his e-scooter - in the middle of a busy road.

A local resident took photos from their car of the child struggling to tow his boat on Varley Street in Yorkeys Knob, Cairns at 8.37am on Thursday.

'Its not a joke. He could have caused a serious accident,' the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Cairns Post.

The alarming sight on the main thoroughfare was compounded by the fact the young boy struggled to control the heavy load.

The resident said because the child was trying to control the scooter and boat, they ended up in the middle of the street.

A Cairns resident was stunned to see a young boy on an e-scooter towing a boat on Thursday

According to the Queensland Government, an e-scooter is classified as a personal mobility device which must not be used by anyone under 12.

Twelve to 16-year-olds must be supervised by an adult whilst riding the device.

E-scooters can only be used on a street that has a speed limit below 50km with no dividing line.

If a person breaks the road rules whilst riding a personal mobility device, they may be given the same fines as motorists but will not accumulate demerit points.

It is against the law in Queensland for e-scooters to be driven on roads that have dividing lines and speed limits over 50km. It is also not permitted for a child under 12 to ride the device and children 12-16-years-old must be supervised by an adult. The street the child was riding on, Varley Street (pictured), is a main thoroughfare

The incident was reported to police.

Queensland Police Service told Daily Mail Australia they were aware of reports 'of a boat being towed by an electric scooter in Yorkeys Knob' and are conducting further inquiries.
A young father-of-two has revealed how he was temporarily kicked off a Jetstar flight after an incident sparked by snapping a photo of his wife and kids on the tarmac.

Jimmy Mitchell was flying from Sydney to Brisbane on Wednesday ahead of a cruise when he took the picture of his family on the steps as they boarded the plane, a tradition he has observed on previous flights.

But minutes earlier there had been an announcement to not use phones while on the tarmac as the plane was refuelling, which Mr Mitchell did not hear as he had headphones in.

Mr Mitchell complained there were no notices posted up about the tarmac rule and he wasn't told anything by staff apart from the one announcement.

Frequent traveller Jimmy Mitchell said he was fuming over the incident in a viral video

In a TikTok video which has since gone viral, Mr Mitchell let fly at the airline, saying he was mortified when he was booted from the plane.

'This is the worst experience I've ever had flying,' he said in the clip.

'I try and get on the plane, I take a photo of my kids as they get on the plane, in flight mode, and the lady (allegedly) calls me an idiot,' he said.

'I turned around in disbelief because I was halfway up the stairs at this point. I basically stormed over to her and I was like, "Are you serious? What did you just call me?"

'If she had literally just said anything else, like "get off your phone", I would have done it.

The incident was sparked after Mr Mitchell snapped this picture on the tarmac

'Apparently, they made an announcement, but I had noise cancelling headphones, Pauline (wife) told me after the fact  I didn't hear it, there was no notifications about it, there was no signage.'

Mr Mitchell said he confronted the staff member and was subsequently not allowed to board the plane.

'I can see how she maybe felt I was being intimidating because I am a big guy and I am a loud guy. She turns around to me and goes 'you almost assaulted me, get off the tarmac, you're not getting on this plane'.'

The dad said he went back inside the terminal and, after the heat of the situation subsided, he was allowed to board the plane.

A Jetstar spokesperson said they were reviewing the incident.

'All our customers and team members have the right to feel respected when flying with us or when at work and we're looking into what took place in this instance,' the spokesperson said.
He said liberal voters will turn out and that polling is not necessarily useful

A top Democratic strategist is warning liberals not to worry that Trump could defeat Biden in the presidential election, despite polls showing the two candidates are neck and neck.

New polling from The Wall Street Journal released on Tuesday has President Joe Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in six out of seven battleground states.

The survey data has Trump leading Biden in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania. The two men are tied in Wisconsin when it's just Trump and Biden on the ballot.

Damning polling has caused some Democrats to fret over the November election, but strategist and consultant Simon Rosenberg insists Biden will secure his reelection.

'We are quietly confident. In the grand scope of things, we can handle this; we can win the election,' he told The New York Times.

Top Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg insists Biden will secure his reelection and tells fellow liberals not to worry

Polling from The Wall Street Journal released has President Joe Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in six out of seven battleground states

Rosenberg said Biden's attack on Trump during the State of the Union helped him and said Trump is not as strong of a candidate now as he was in 2016

'The big thing that people got wrong in 2022 was that they thought the Democratic Party wasnt going to bring it, that we werent hungry and we werent energized. And it turned out that we were.'

'Were asking polling, in my view, to do too much when we have all this other information and data thats available to us to augment our understanding. And to me, that additional data suggests that were going to have a good election. But weve got a long way to go,' Rosenberg said.

In 2022, many were surprised at how Democrats performed and withstood an expected 'red wave.'

Now, 18 months later, positive headlines about Biden's State of the Union addressone of the biggest political set-piece events of the yearand a recent flurry of campaign travel is said to have helped turn around his public image.

Biden won favorable reviews with a combative State of the Union when he referred to 'my predecessor' 13 times without ever using Trump's name.

Biden attacked him on Russia, reproductive rights, on affordable healthcare, on the border crisis, on gun control, on the January 6 attack and on his handling of the pandemic in an effort to remind people of the turbulence of the Trump years, which Rosenberg said plays in Biden's favor.

'Trump is a far weaker candidate in this election than he was in 2016. Hes more dangerous. Hes more extreme. His performance on the stump is far more erratic and disturbing,' he said.

'Theres a structural thing happening underneath all of this, which is that Dobbs broke the Republican Party and that a big chunk of the Republican Party has become loosened from MAGA. Its costing them in elections and costing them a lot of donors  and money.'

The Wall Street Journal polling found the president's age continues to be a drag - with just 28 percent of swing state voters saying they believe 81-year-old Biden has better physical and mental fitness to handle the White House.

However, Rosenberg said Biden's age could be used to his benefit.

'I know Bidens age is an issue. But I think Biden assuaged a lot of the concerns that people had with a strong performance at the State of the Union,' he said.

'But also you have to write, in my view, you have to be honest and fair-minded: theres a strong argument that Bidens age is also an asset for him, that, in a time of an enormous challenge for the country, having the guy whos the most experienced person to ever be in the Oval Office may have been a blessing for us.'

The Wall Street Journal polling found the president's age continues to be a drag but Rosenberg said Biden's age could be used to his benefit

On the issue of third-party candidates, The Wall Street Journal write-up of the poll said that pollsters believed voters currently backing the third-party hopefuls were persuadable voters - and could end up casting a ballot for either Trump or Biden.

And among the third-party candidates, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is attracting the most support - polling between 7 and 15 percent across the seven battlegrounds.

In Kennedy's case, he's viewed favorably by half of all Republican voters but only a quarter of Democrats, despite previously running for the Democratic nomination.

Pollsters found Kennedy draws more support from voters who would otherwise back Trump over Biden.

Other third party hopefuls - independent Cornel West, Libertarian Lars Mapstead and Green Party hopeful Jill Stein - are pulling away between 1 and 3 percent of the vote across the seven states.

The other third-party candidates are pulling more support from Biden over Trump.

'We know from history that we have to take all that very seriously. Democrats understand that we are not just running against Donald Trump this cycle, but were running against three other candidates as well, and that were going to have to engage them,' said Rosenberg.

'Were going to have to treat them like they are serious candidates in this election. And we have to do what we do in politics, which is we have to make them unacceptable to voters.'
Many of the migrants found squatting in a Bronx home filled with guns and drugs were arrested previously at the southern border and released in to the US.

Eight migrants were hauled out of the house in the Bronx, in New York City, on March 27 and drugs, guns, endless junk, and a seven-year-old child were found inside.

Six of them were quickly cut loose on no-cash bail by a judge, while two stayed behind bars after failing to post bonds.

Homeland Security agents re-arrested three of them on Wednesday after they returned to the squatter den on Hull Avenue upon release. Four others being held by the NYPD had detainer requests lodged for them to be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

ICE officials have confirmed the eight were previously arrested at the border, according to Fox News Digital.

Homeland Security agents have raided a basement in the Bronx where migrants were squatting with drugs and guns (Pictured: The home on Hull Avenue and East 207th Street in the Norwood section)

The eight arrested were Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, Jaiver Alborno, 22, Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20, Yerbin Lozado-Munoz, 25, Yojairo Martinez, 42, Miquel Vaamondes-Barrios, 31, Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39, and Johan Cardenas Silva, 35.

One suspect, Miguel Gregerio Barrios, was still on the loose and wanted by federal authorities.

Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, and Yojairo Martinez, 42, both men, were arrested in the federal raid, along with their female compatriot Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20.

Desousa-Villalta was the one who sparked the original raid last week after he was seen with a gun outside the property and witnesses called 911.

When police arrived, they found him allegedly pointing the 9mm CZ pistol at someone an alley near the house, which is over the road from a school. Prosecutors asked he be held on $150,000 bail, but he was released without any cash bond for one more week of freedom.

Desousa-Villalta was charged with attempted murder in Yonkers on August 28 last year after he allegedly shot another migrant in the leg during an argument over a woman.

A group of eight migrants from Venezuela had been camping out in the New York basement 'for months'

Homeland Security agents raided the home after NYPD officers arrested eight individuals at the home where the illegal activity was allegedly taking place

All eight were arrested on charges of of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance and acting in a manner injurious to a child. (Pictured: Yoessy Pino Castillo, 20, being arrested during the raid)

The home where the migrants were squatting was covered in trash and luggage with clothes, shoes and belongings spilling out of suitcases and bags

However, the charges were dropped after the victim refused to testify.

'On Aug. 28, 2023, the Yonkers Police Department arrested De Sousa for the crimes of assault-1st: intent to cause serious injury with a weapon; and murder second degree: with intent,' an ICE statement said, according to Fox News.

Martinez was caught by Border Patrol on September 22, 2022, near El Paso, Texas, and released into the US.

Castillo surrendered to border patrol in Brownsville, Texas, on May 6, 2023, and was also let go while her asylum case was processed.

She was arrested by the Woodbridge Police Department in New Jersey on January 6 accused of shoplifting and burglary tool manufacturing. Castillo and six other migrants face weapons and drugs charges from the same arrest. She was released without bail after that arrest

Castillo, Martinez and Desousa-Villalta are all now being held pending deportation hearings following their Bronx arrests.

Footage from the aftermath of the raid uncovers the disgusting basement where the migrants were squatting - which was covered in clutter, luggage, trash bags and a makeshift swimming pool.

A seven-year-old child was also found on the scene, amongst the drugs and guns, although its unclear who the child's parents are and why he was at the trashed basement.

The inside of the basement was torn apart, with miscellaneous junk crowding the floor and suitcases carelessly tossed all over the place

Dramatic footage from Wednesday's raid showed the migrants being escorted out of the property in handcuffs

The NYPD 52nd Precinct shared a photo of the seized belongings - including weapons, ammunition and drugs

The group of migrants had been camping out in the New York basement when police received a call about a man with a gun close to a nearby school, leading officers to the property where the illegal activity was taking place.

When authorities obtained a search warrant - they found two more loaded guns, three loaded extended magazines, ammunition and a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine. There was also a seven-year-old boy found in the home along with the group of migrants.

The home where the migrants were squatting was covered in trash and luggage with clothes, shoes and belongings spilling out of bags.

The inside of the basement was torn apart, with miscellaneous junk crowding the floor and suitcases carelessly tossed all over the place.

The illicit activity had allegedly been going on for months - right across the street from a school

Pictured: One of the migrants being escorted from the property in handcuffs

Hector Desousa Villata, 24, who is from Venezuela (left) and Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39 (right) were among the six migrants released yesterday

The raid initially resulted in eight arrests and police suspect that the migrants were illegally squatting in the property

The entrance to the basement was cluttered with trash, including a baby's car seat and heaps of trash bags

Police initially discovered the basement-turned-drug den when the migrant spotted just footsteps away from a school with a gun fled

There appeared to be suitcases and bags full of belongings scattered throughout the inside and outside of the Bronx basement

A seven-year-old boy found in the home along with the group of migrants

A neighbor said, 'They're squatters and the owner has been trying to get them out of the apartment for the longest period of time'

The illicit activity had allegedly been going on for months at the home on Hull Avenue and East 207th Street in the Norwood section - right across the street from a school, according to FOX news.

A neighbor said, 'They're squatters and the owner has been trying to get them out of the apartment for the longest period of time.

'I think he has a court date set, apparently because they're squatters for more than 30 days. They came, they were a disruptive force mainly because there were a lot of them. You didn't know who was staying, not staying there, and the owner of the building had a hell of a time trying to get them out,' said neighbor Alfred Munoz to ABC7.
Hovde secured an endorsement from former president Donald Trump at a Tuesday night rally in Green Bay

Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin is desperately battling hold on to her seat in swing-state Wisconsin against a Trump-backed multi-millionaire.

Baldwin is likely going head-to-head with Republican Eric Hovde in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country.

Baldwin, whose 'go everywhere' 2018 campaign strategy became a model for how to win in battleground Wisconsin, is hoping to replicate her success.

She was recently out on the campaign trail once again in New Glarus, a bucolic village of 2,200, a world away from the urban Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison.

'Look, in a state like Wisconsin, a 50-50 battleground state, you dont have to win every county,' Baldwin said in a warehouse surrounded by pallets of New Glarus beer, sold only in Wisconsin. 'But it is really critical that you get folks out to vote, and you have the discussions and up the turnout in every community that you can.'

Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin (left) is desperately battling hold on to her seat in swing-state Wisconsin against Trump-backed multi-millionaire Eric Hovde (right)

Baldwin is likely going head-to-head with Republican Eric Hovde for what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country

Hovde is facing nominal opposition in the August 13 Republican primary

A Baldwin victory is crucial for Democrats who are defending 23 seats in the Senate, including three held by independents who caucus with Democrats clinging to a 51-49 majority. That is compared with just 11 seats that Republicans hope to keep in their column.

Baldwin emphasizes her deep ties to Wisconsin, forged over nearly 40 years in elected office, and her ability to fight for issues that resonate deeply in the state, like supporting the dairy industry, investing in infrastructure and keeping jobs in America.

Hovde, who faces nominal opposition in the Aug. 13 Republican primary, argues that Baldwin is nothing more than a career politician who has not done enough to address concerns of voters this cycle like immigration, the economy and foreign affairs. He calls her 'nothing but a rubber stamp for the progressive left.'

He is also trying to walk a tightrope with Trump in a state the former president won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020. Both elections were decided by fewer than 23,000 votes.

In Tuesday's presidential primary, roughly 18,500 more Republicans cast ballots than Democrats, a potential sign of higher GOP enthusiasm.

Hovde picked up an endorsement from Trump at a Tuesday night rally in Green Bay, and then touted it on Wednesday in a fundraising plea. But he has set distance between them in some ways.

Trump has falsely claimed for years, including at his Wisconsin rally, that he won the state in 2020 but the election was stolen for Biden. Hovde told The Associated Press that he disagreed.

'Do I think it was stolen? No,' Hovde said. 'Do I think there were troubling and challenging things? Yeah. So lets clean them up.'

Baldwin's 'go everywhere' 2018 campaign strategy became a model for how to win in battleground Wisconsin

She is attempting to repeat her method this time around. Pictured: . Sen. Tammy Baldwin talks to Dan Gavinski while riding a Wisconsin Dells Duck during a campaign stop Friday, March 29, 2024

Hovde picked up an endorsement from Trump at a Tuesday night rally in Green Bay, and then touted it on Wednesday in a fundraising plea

Hovde said that while he agrees with Trump on 'most of his policies,' he will not 'engage in the politics of personal destruction.'

'Im committed to trying to bring our country together,' Hovde said, striking a different tone from Trump who has referred to Biden as a 'lunatic' and labeled the president's supporters as 'thugs' at the Green Bay rally.

'We have become way too divisive as a country,' Hovde told AP. 'We need to heal. Im willing to cooperate, reach across the aisle.'

Hovde's message is shaped to appeal to the small, but crucial, bloc of independent voters in Wisconsin who typically decide close elections.

In his 2020 defeat, Trump lost support in the Milwaukee suburbs and other conservative strongholds, like the Fox Valley and Green Bay.

Democrats have built their run of 14 victories in the past 17 statewide elections by eating into those Republican areas while driving up turnout in Madison and Milwaukee.

Hovde knows he must improve on Trump's margins in the suburbs, while also dampening the Democratic advantage in urban areas. He's already advertising on television in Madison and Milwaukee, the state's two largest cities.

'I think its a mistake when Republican candidates dont compete in Milwaukee and Madison,' Hovde said. 'So Im spending a lot of time on both these markets and will compete hard.'

Sen. Tammy Baldwin talks to New Glarus Brewing Company co-owner Deb Carey during a campaign stop, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in New Glarus, Wisconsin

The stop was part of her campaign launch tour in a race against Republican Eric Hovde the could determine who has majority control of the Senate

In 2018, Baldwin cruised to an 11-point victory, a whopping margin in a state where four of the past six presidential races have been decided by less than a point. In that same 2018 election, Democrat Tony Evers defeated then-Gov. Scott Walker by just over 1 point.

Baldwin's strategy that year, seen as a model for Democrats ever since, was to compete everywhere, including rural areas.

Baldwin said during a tour of New Glarus Brewing Company that it is 'critical' for her to show up all over the state. In 2020, Biden carried Green County, where New Glarus is located, by just 662 votes.

She hit numerous smaller towns and cities during her 19-county, 1,400-mile 'Dairyland' launch tour, taking a boat ride in the tourism hub of Wisconsin Dells and meeting with tribal leaders in Ashland.

Baldwin's attack on Hovde, who is CEO of California-based H Bancorp and its primary subsidiary, Sunwest Bank, is that he's trying to buy the Senate seat.

Hovde has largely cleared the GOP primary field with his deep pockets.

Another wealthy businessman, Scott Mayer, opted in March against a run. Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a staunch Trump supporter who brands himself as 'Americas Sheriff' on the conservative speaking circuit, has toyed with a run but not committed.

Last week Clarke teased a 'big announcement,' but it turned out to be a book giveaway.

Madison, Wis. businessman and Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Eric Hovde speaks, Tuesday April 2, 2024, at a former President Donald Trump rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin

Baldwin once again hopes abortion fuels Democratic turnout as it did in last year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race, won by the liberal candidate, and the 2022 midterm

Hovde was born and raised in Wisconsin but also owns a $7 million estate in Laguna Beach, California.

He has tried to laugh off the accusation that hes more California than Wisconsin, posting a video of himself shirtless, submerged in a frigid Madison lake in February, challenging Baldwin to prove her Wisconsin bona fides and do the same. She declined.

Hovde also said he got donations from more than 2,000 Wisconsin residents in the first month after his campaign launch.

In addition to painting Hovde as an out-of-touch outsider, Baldwin once again hopes abortion fuels Democratic turnout as it did in last year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race, won by the liberal candidate, and the 2022 midterm.

Vice President Kamala Harris came to the conservative Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha in January to talk about abortion rights, one in a series of stops she and Biden have made in Wisconsin. The president was due back in Madison on Monday for his 10th trip to Wisconsin as president.

Baldwin called abortion 'a very potent issue that people recognize is on the November ballot.'

Hovde said he supported the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, but in another break with Trump, said he would not vote for a federal law banning abortion, saying states should decide. Trump has suggested he would support a federal ban.

Hovde will have to win on the issues to have a chance, said longtime Republican strategist Bill McCoshen.

Businessman Hovde has accused Baldwin of being a 'career politician' who has not done enough to address concerns of voters this cycle like immigration, the economy and foreign affairs

'Her constituent services is what makes her so strong,' McCoshen said. 'She and her staff deliver. And shell have unconventional endorsements that would normally go to a Republican candidate.'

Baldwin's constituent work was on display at New Glarus Brewing, where co-owner Deb Carey praised Baldwin for fighting to lower the beer tax, in addition to supporting affordable health care and protecting Social Security.

'Tammy is a practical person that is from Wisconsin and she works hard for Wisconsin and has for many years,' Carey said. 'She absolutely deserves to be reelected.'

Hovde should look to Baldwin's first Senate victory in 2012 over Tommy Thompson, the popular former four-term governor, for how to run this year's race, McCoshen said.

'Hovdes got to give her voters permission to vote against her this time,' McCoshen said.

However, the banking CEO may have lost some supporters after controversial comments he made in 2012 stating that obese people should pay higher healthcare premiums were unearthed.
Australia would struggle to house more than 74,000 new foreign migrants based on building approvals falling to the level lowest in more than a decade - and failing to keep pace with rapid population growth.

A campaigner against excessive immigration has warned this will force more younger people to live with their parents for longer because of the housing shortage.

This is occurring as more building companies go into receivership, which could lead to more homelessness as the supply of new housing lags behind demand.

In the year to February, 162,751 new homes were approved by the likes of local councils, with this figure covering the total number of private houses and units, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday showed.

But with 481,620 migrants moving to Australia in the year to January, on a net basis, that would leave 74,742 migrants struggling to find somewhere to live as international students compete for rental accommodation.

Australia would struggle to house more than 74,000 new foreign migrants based on building approvals failing to keep pace with rapid population growth (pictured is a Bondi rent queue)

That's based on the average household size of 2.5 people from the last Census in 2021.

Australia's latest annual building approvals figure is even weaker than the completed homes tally of 170,215 in the year to September.

Both building approvals and building activity levels are significantly below Labor's annual target of 240,000 over five years.

Migration Watch Australia founder Jordan Knight, 29, said record-high immigration last year meant many young people were unable to move out of home, with the rental vacancy rate at just one per cent.

'It's simple mathematics: if you add too many people into a really constricted housing market, you're going to have a lot of pain for a lot of people and you're going to push prices sky high,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'Not only are you going to force higher house prices due to excess demand, but you're going to force people into worse living situations.

'It's going to mean that people will stay living with their parents for longer, it will mean people will be share housing for longer, it will mean that people will be living five to a room.'

In an alarming development, building approvals of private units in February plunged by 25 per cent to a 12-year low, calling into question Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's plan to build 1.2million homes over five years.

Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen said weak building activity was causing Australia's rental crisis.

'Australia is not building enough homes,' she said.

'Capacity constraints and a rapid increase in costs are plaguing the residential construction industry.

Migration Watch Australia founder Jordan Knight, 29, said record-high immigration last year meant many young people were unable to move out of home, with the rental vacancy rate at just one per cent

'We are seeing the impact flow through to prices for existing homes and the rental market.'

Just 3,771 units were approved in February, compared with 8,404 houses, or 12,520 new homes for the month when public housing was factored in.

Overall annual building approvals are at the weakest level since 2013, on one measure.

Mr Knight said it was naive to expect housing supply could be ramped up to cater to surging demand for housing arising from higher immigration.

'It takes two to three years at the very best to build an apartment block - we've already got shortfalls in the hundreds of thousands now,' he said.

'This is going to get far worse before it gets better.

'The best lever that governments can pull right now to ease the housing crisis is to pull the lever on immigration to ease demand.'

Higher building costs have also caused a surge in building companies going into receivership.

'There's already a massive shortfall,' he said.

In the year to February, 162,751 new homes were approved, with this figure covering the total number of houses and units, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday showed (pictured are houses at Oran Park in Sydney's south-west)

'It looks like chaos is coming down the corner because it's bad now, it's going to get worse and with builders going bust, it's going to mean that more people go homeless.'

A record 548,800 migrants, on a net basis, moved to Australia in the year to September.

The level slowed to 481,620 in January but this is still well above Treasury's forecast of 375,000 for 2023-24 made in December's Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Australian building approvals fell by 1.9 per cent in February, following January's 2.5 per cent decline.

This marked the third consecutive month of decline, with monthly building approvals 5.8 per cent lower compared with a year earlier.
A former childcare worker who trafficked drugs through Snapchat has avoided going back to jail after she was caught with a glass pipe and cannabis.

Rachel Louise Strong fronted Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday for breaching her suspended sentence conditions.

Strong had previously been given a suspended sentence of four years and six months in October 2022 after she'd been convicted of drug trafficking.

Strong had been advertising and selling drugs through Snapchat in 2021 and inadvertently added an undercover police officer to her customer list on the social media app.

When police later raided her Wynnum home in Brisbane they found a grow room with 17 cannabis plants.

Rachel Louise Strong (pictured) was sentenced to jail for trafficking drugs

In October 2022, Strong pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, supplying and possessing cocaine and MDMA, producing cannabis and possessing cannabis, cocaine, meth, MDMA, LSD and a Taser.

The court was told on Thursday that the breach of her suspended sentence came after she was found in possession of drugs and paraphernalia on October 14 and October 19, 2023.

Strong was returned to custody on October 19 last year and those offences were dealt with in the magistrates court. The court was told Strong was released on parole for her minor drug offending on March 15, 2024.

Justice Peter Davis ordered Strong's parole release date for her drug trafficking suspended sentence to start again on Thursday.

He ordered Strong be released on parole from Thursday in order for her to be under supervision of the parole board while serving out the rest of her suspended sentence.

Ms Strong fronted Brisbane Supreme Court (pictured) on Thursday for breaching her suspended sentence conditions

Justice Davis said Strong had 'taken steps' at rehabilitation and was under a mental health plan through her time in jail since October 2023.

'If you continue to involve yourself with drugs, you'll be in and out of jail and your life will be ruined,' Justice Davis said.

'You have to come to grips with the fact you can't have anything to do with drugs otherwise you'll have a lot to do with the law.

'It's in your hands. When someone in a situation such as you who obviously has a drug habit, having you supervised in the community is better than extending the operational period.'
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A woman has plunged eight storeys to her death after throwing her dog out of a window, according to witnesses.

The horror incident unfolded at an apartment block in Sydney's CBD at about 3pm on Thursday, sparking peak hour traffic chaos.

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene following reports the woman had fallen from a balcony overlooking a lane off a Barangaroo street.

Officers established a crime scene and a spokesperson from NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia the incident is believed to be a case of self-harm.

A woman plunged eight stories from an apartment building in Sydney's CBD (pictured)

Officers established a crime scene and a spokesperson from NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia the incident is believed to be a case of self-harm

Residents at the back of the 22-storey apartment block overlooked the grisly scene, with clothing seen strewn over the footpath.

'I've lived here for three years but I don't know who the woman was,' one witness said.

'It's always been a quiet apartment. We didn't hear any disturbances beforehand.'

Another resident said: 'We saw a pair of shoes lying in the lane and she was apparently wearing a bathrobe when she fell.'

Police cordoned off the block with tape and officers were seen letting residents who live in nearby buildings through one at a time.

Several officers were seen guarding the front and rear entrance to the building.

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A grandfather whose ute was swept away in floodwaters has been remembered as a kind member of his community and car enthusiast.

Peter Wells, 71, was driving near his home on Begley Rd in Greenbank, south-west Brisbane, overnight when his car was inundated with water.

The flooding was triggered by torrential rain that affected huge swathes of New South Wales and Queensland over the next three days.

Greenbank alone copped 150mm overnight.

Mr Wells' ute was found 50 metres down a river embankment, wedged between trees, on a private property at about 5.20am on Thursday.

Peter Wells (pictured) was found deceased in his ute which was swept away by floodwaters overnight

Mr Wells' ute (pictured) was found 50 metres down a river embankment, wedged between trees, on a private property about 5.20am on Thursday

Friend and neighbour Keith Draper told the Courier Mail the grandfather was a genuine family man who loved helping his community.

He was known around the world for collecting vintage Chevrolets.

'I only met him eight or nine years ago and we became really good friends. We did a lot of things for each other, car things. He was just a lovely man,' Mr Draper said.

'I just cannot believe he died this way. Just down the road from his own house.'

Mr Draper described Mr Wells as a 'humble' man and panel beater who worked on vintage vehicles.

He recalled how Mr Wells would often help him with his own mechanic business.

'He would drop everything and help me out,' Mr Draper said.

Mr Wells leaves behind his wife Beverley, children and grandchildren.

Mr Draper said the couple were high school sweethearts.

'He would always tell stories of how he would take her out in his father's car, how he would court her.'

The rain was set to start falling on Thursday morning in southeast Queensland before moving down into New South Wales in the afternoon.

Greenbank copped 150mm of torrential rain overnight and Thursday as part of a rain bomb hitting Queensland and NSW (pictured, damage in Greenbank)

READ MORE: Woman falls into flooded drain as rain strikes Advertisement

The most severe weather will be seen on Friday with widespread falls of 50mm to 100mm of rain expected to hammer down from Brisbane to the NSW South Coast.

A major flood warning has been issued for the Bremer River at Walloon, with moderate flooding already developing in the area.

Weatherzone's Joel Pippard said: 'Some models are showing rainfall as high as 80-150 mm falling in just six hours, with severe thunderstorms possible in these regions,' he said.

'Similar heavy falls are also possible for the NSW Northern Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains, and Queensland's Darling Downs and Granite Belt during Thursday and Friday mornings.'

Thunderstorms were also possible over northeastern NSW and southeastern Queensland on Thursday afternoon.

High swells and winds with gusts of up to 100km/hour are also on the forecast.

The reason for the wild weather is the combination of an upper-level low pressure system and a coastal trough forming off the east coast.

This coastal trough will funnel tropical moisture from the north, resulting in intense rainfall.

Mr Wells was described as a 'humble' man and panel beater who worked on vintage vehicles (pictured, Mr Wells' ute)

Miriam Bradbury from the Bureau of Meteorology warned the heaviest rains and strongest winds will be seen on Friday.

'As we go through the later part of Thursday into Friday, that's when we'll see the most severe weather starting to ramp up as a trough deepens off the east coast of NSW,' she said.

'Rainfall of this magnitude can lead to flash flooding.'

The wild weather is set to ease on Saturday as the system moves further south.
Anthony Albanese billed taxpayers almost $754,000 in the first three months of 2023, freshly released data reveals, while his colleague Tanya Plibersek was the highest spending minister.

The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority on Thursday published details of how much each MP, senator, and some former parliamentarians and prime ministers spent in the first quarter of 2023  more than a year after the fact.

It follows a vow from the government in December to do more to improve transparency around the data.

The Prime Minister spent $181,299 on international travel, $6,474 on family travel and $481,236 on employee travel.

An unscheduled visit to Fitzroy Crossing from Broome on January 9 last year cost taxpayers $6,927, when Mr Albanese travelled to the town after it became isolated by unprecedented flood levels which damaged up to 100 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 280 people.

Anthony Albanese (pictured with his partner Jodie Haydon) billed taxpayers almost $754,000 in the first three months of 2023, freshly released data reveals

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Read Australia's next Governor-General's controversial deleted tweets - 'Invasion Day' Sam Mostyn (left) is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) Advertisement

Peter Dutton was the next biggest spender in the quarter, charging a $552,165 bill.

More than $28,000 was spent on scheduled commercial transport, while $371,000 was spent on employee travel.

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek was the biggest-spending minister, with receipts totalling $390,495 for the quarter.

She spent more than $17,600 on international travel and $7,797.56 on scheduled commercial transport.

Her car costs came in at $8,145.90, including $2,362.34 for a private plated vehicle.

She spent $27,374.53 on printing and communications during the quarter.

Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh spent $362,096 during the quarter.

Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell charged taxpayers $351,138, and had the second-highest international travel bill of $61,076.

That included travel to India with Mr Albanese in March. It's understood two trips to the US in August and September 2022, and a trip to Europe and the UK in December 2022 were captured in the new data.

Rounding out the top 10 spenders, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten's expenses came in at $349,663; Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen spent $332,745; Nationals Leader David Littleproud at $329,908; Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong with $329,714; and Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley who spent $328,236.

Independent Kennedy MP Bob Katter had the highest car-related expenses claim of $34,290, and the largest unscheduled commercial transport bill of $41,648.

Among his ComCar charges was a $1,411 charge described as 'Brisbane, 2 Feb 23', while unscheduled travel from Julia Creek to Townsville from April 2022, declared in the Jan-March 2023 reporting period, cost $9,760.

Mr Katter has one of the largest electorates in the country, and has electorate offices in Innisfail, Mount Isa and Mareeba.

In a statement, Mr Katter said all his travel was 'within entitlements and guidelines'.

'The electorate of Kennedy is 568 993 sq km (from the Gulf of Carpentaria and Mareeba in the north, to Boulia in the south, and from the Queensland border in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east) and allowances for charter travel are provided so that MPs in large electorates can get around and service their electorates,' he said.

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek (pictured) was the biggest-spending minister, with receipts totalling $390,495 for the quarter

'Flying in little light aeroplanes, often single engine, is stupidly dangerous and torturously uncomfortable. But if you want to get to Doomadgee, Mornington Island, Karumba and Boulia, that's what you have to do.'

Mark Coulton, the MP for the sprawling NSW electorate of Warialda, had the second highest 'unscheduled commercial transport' claim pile, totalling $39,009 and included an overnight trip from Dubbo to Broken Hill in January that cost $5,750.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones  who came under fire last month for racking up a $43,000 Comcar bill between April and December 2022  claimed $19,000 on the cars in the first quarter of 2023.

'Parliamentarians are able to access travel, including flights and Comcar for their parliamentary business, in accordance with the relevant rules and guidelines,' a spokeswoman for Mr Jones said.
An employment judge has awarded a female London Underground driver 2,700 despite rejecting her claims that she was being sexually discriminated against for being made to work Saturdays.

Nicola Jones took London Underground to a tribunal after they told her she would have to work every other Saturday to keep up the quality of the network's service.

The experienced train operator, who was based at the Hainault depot in north-east London, had requested every other Saturday off since 2013 to look after her child, the east London employment tribunal heard.

The company started to refuse Ms Jones' request after she returned from a period of sick leave in 2021, in order to avoid a queue of employees requesting alternate duties on hours which suited them.

Rejecting Ms Jones' claims of direct sex discrimination and indirect sex discrimination, employment Judge Stephen Shore said there was 'no evidence' to show a 'hypothetical male' would have been treated differently.

Ms Jones' claim of victimisation also failed, but she was awarded the compensation because the tribunal ruled that London Underground 'did not act reasonably' in the way it dealt with her request.

Nicola Jones took London Underground to a tribunal after they told her she would have to work every other Saturday to keep up the quality of the network's service (File image)

Ms Jones was based at the Hainault depot (pictured) in north-east London and had requested every other Saturday off since 2013 to look after her child

Drivers at the Hainault depot are usually required to work approximately 50% of weekends, the tribunal was told.

It also heard that weekend working is unpopular with most drivers, with staff required to work slightly longer shifts than in the week.

The tribunal heard how Ms Jones, who had worked for the underground since 2001, told bosses she needed shift patterns that were opposite to her husband's so their child was always cared for.

She had done this because her husband bus driver was required to work every weekend, the tribunal was told.

In November 2020, Ms Jones was invited to a meeting with her manager at which she was told her usual flexible working arrangement was coming to an end due to the 'detrimental impact ... to the quality of service London Underground was able to provide its customers'.

Between May 24 and June 13 2021, Ms Jones was off work because of the effects of her reaction to a Covid vaccine.

Ms Jones was given alternative duties at Liverpool Street station (pictured) where it was not possible for her to work the same shift patterns she had at Hainault

After returning from sick leave, she was unable to do her usual work, and was given alternative duties at Liverpool Street station, where it was not possible for her to work the same shift patterns she had at Hainault, the tribunal was told.

The company's 'explanation for refusing Ms Jones' request to be allowed not to work on Saturdays was motivated by a wish to avoid a queue of employees requesting alternate duties on hours which suited them.

'That reason is not because of sex,' Judge Shore added.
The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad has been slammed over a joke he made on stage during his Australian speaking tour.

Robert Kiyosaki, 76, told a woman of Asian descent that he 'killed a lot' of her people during the war and then pretended to shoot her.

Groans erupted from the Randwick Racecourse crowd in Sydney on March 14, with one woman uttering: 'Oh my god. You can't say that.'

'I killed a lot of your people, it's not funny but I did,' the former US Marine Corps helicopter gunship pilot who served in 1971 during the Vietnam War, said.

Fans of the best-selling personal finance author, who paid up to $1000 for a ticket, claimed Kiyosaki also 'berated' and 'humiliated' women who came on stage to ask him questions.

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad has been slammed over a shocking joke he told in Australia. Kiyosaki is pictured holding his famous book

READ MORE: Robert Kiyosaki, who foretold the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, predicts Credit Suisse to be next major bank failure Robert Kiyosaki (right) is pictured with Donald Trump in 2006 Advertisement

At one point, he told the audience: 'You want to be a Marxist, send your kids to f****** school.

'They'll learn how to be boys turned into girls. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting,' he said.

Kiyosaki told another woman in the crowd that she was wearing a 'hot outfit' and 'breaking men's hearts'.

Kiyosaki also said, 'Don't waste my f****** time, okay?' to a female fan.

The woman who posted the video said she went to the seminar with a friend.

'This was the last hour of the event where he invited audience members on stage to ask him a question,' she wrote.

'He proceeded to berate and humiliate mostly the women who all had very thoughtful questions.'

The event was billed as a nine-hour long seminar, but she said Kiyosaki appeared for less than two hours.

'Tickets were priced at $150-$1,000 depending on seating distance from the stage,' the woman wrote.

'In the last hour he repeated everything he said in the first hour. He then left 30 minutes early. Lost all respect for him.'

She added that 'All the other guest speakers just wanted to sell us their products.

'Then, everyone got stuck in the car park for 1 hour after the event because of a broken pay machine.'

At an event in Sydney on March 14, Kiyosaki, who is American, told a woman of Asian descent that he 'killed a lot' of her people during the war and then pretended to shoot her. The scene is pictured

After his seminar, Kiyosaki also held high-priced events in Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland.

'Going to this guys lecture this month. Not what I was going to expect from this lol,' one person wrote online.

But some people also defended him, with one commenter writing 'gotta respect Robert he's not afraid to say what we all think'.

In January, Kiyosaki admitted he is US$1.2billion ($1.82billion Australian) in debt.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Robert Kiyosaki for comment.
Britain will be hit by the tail end of Storm Olivia tomorrow before a second storm strikes on Saturday  which could also be the warmest day of the year so far.

The UK faces blustery and showery weather tomorrow upon the arrival of an area of low pressure which was named Olivia by the Portuguese weather service Ipma.

A second deeper area of low pressure - not yet named - will arrive the following day from the South West with 'unseasonably windy' weather and heavy rain.

However, the South East should avoid the worst of it as very warm air is dragged in - with temperatures set to hit 21C (70F), which would be the highest of 2024 so far.

The next storm to be jointly named by the Met Office and Met Eireann during the 2023/24 season will be Kathleen, but there are no weather warnings in place yet.

However, flooding remained a major risk for England today - with 91 flood alerts and 11 warnings in place from the Environment Agency, mostly in southern areas.

A woman walks under an umbrella at Maze Hill station in South East London this morning

A van is driven through a large puddle today following rain in Greenwich, South East London

A wet morning at Maze Hill station in South East London today as commuters head to work

Flooded woodlands at Dunsden in Oxfordshire this morning after a night of heavy rainfall

The Environment Agency has 91 flood alerts (in amber) and 11 warnings (in red) for England

STORM OLIVIA, FRIDAY - An area of low pressure named in Portugal reaches the UK tomorrow

SECOND UNNAMED STORM, SATURDAY - A deeper area of low pressure will arrive on Saturday

Today will see heavy rain clear southern England through the morning followed by sunny spells and scattered showers, while conditions will be cloudier for Northern Ireland, northern England and Scotland with some hill snow in the Highlands.

Met Office long-range UK weather forecast Here is the Met Office long range forecast for the rest of April and up until the start of March: April 8 - 17 'The ongoing unsettled spell of weather is likely to continue through to mid-April with little sign of any dramatic change. 'All areas can expect to see showers or longer spells of rain at times, with western hills likely to see the largest rainfall totals. Likewise, further windy spells are expected at times. 'Whilst unsettled conditions are most likely to prevail, there does appear to be at least a chance of some regions having drier interludes, with high pressure perhaps making inroads from the southeast at times. 'Such occurrences will probably be short-lived however, with the greatest chance of these in the south during the middle of this period. Above average temperatures are most likely, albeit often tempered by cloud, rain and occasional strong winds.' April 18 - May 2 'Through the second half of April and the beginning of May, there is no strong signal for any one weather pattern to dominate over another. 'As such, further rain and showers are likely at times, but there is also a reasonable chance of some drier and sunnier spells of weather. 'Temperatures most likely near or a little above normal for the period as a whole.' Advertisement

Wet and windy weather will then move north and east tonight  and then clear eastwards through tomorrow, but lingering across parts of the North.

Warm sunshine will develop across England and Wales tomorrow, but with some showers. Rain will then clear to sunshine and showers on Saturday which will continue on Sunday.

Looking ahead at the next ten days, Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: 'There will be some wet weather around, could be quite heavy at times, but there are also some signs of something a little bit drier coming up later on.

'For the time being though, low pressure in control as we go through the next few days, various areas of low pressure pushing their way across, bringing spells of wet weather and some blustery conditions too.

'As we head towards Friday though, we have an area of low pressure pushing towards us and this feature has actually been named Storm Olivia by the Portuguese met service. It is going to bring some blustery, showery weather across parts of the UK.

'Nothing too severe, but worth noting that it has brought some very unsettled weather to the Azores during the middle part of the week.'

He added that Olivia will move over Britain before a 'deeper area of low pressure' arrives from the South West and comes close to the UK through Saturday.

Mr Burkill continued: 'Now it's pretty unusual for us to get an area of low pressure as deep as this so close to the UK during this time of year at this stage of April.

'So it is going to be unseasonably windy and there will be some heavy rain around at times particularly across northern and western parts.

'But worth noting that across parts of the South East actually we're not going to see a huge amount of rain on Saturday and we're going to drag in some very warm air. So temperatures are really going to rise  it's likely to be the warmest day of the year so far.'

The warmest day of the year so far in the UK was recorded more than two months ago on January 28 when Achfary in Scotland got up to 19.9C (67.8F).

On March 20, the temperature reached 18.8C (65.8F) at Charlwood in Surrey, which remains the highest so far this year for England.

READ MORE A soggy start to spring! Britain experienced 27% more rain than usual in March - and 13% less sunshine, Met Office reveals Advertisement

The top temperature for Saturday currently predicted by the Met Office is 20C (68F), although BBC weather presenter Simon King tweeted today that some eastern areas could get as high as 21C (70F).

He added: 'Saturday likely to be the warmest day of the year so far but it comes with some pretty windy conditions.'

In its forecast for April 8 to 17, the Met Office said the 'ongoing unsettled spell of weather' was likely to continue, with all areas set to see showers or longer spells of rain at times.

However, the weather service added that there was 'at least a chance of some regions having drier interludes, with high pressure perhaps making inroads from the South East at times'.

The Met Office said the greatest chance of the drier weather is in the South during the middle of this period, with above-average temperatures 'most likely, albeit often tempered by cloud, rain and occasional strong winds'.

Looking further ahead through the second half of April and the beginning of May, the Met Office said there was 'no strong signal for any one weather pattern to dominate over another'.

It added: 'As such, further rain and showers are likely at times, but there is also a reasonable chance of some drier and sunnier spells of weather. Temperatures most likely near or a little above normal for the period as a whole.'

Met Office data shows that overall, the UK saw 27 per cent more rainfall than average last month, at 107.8mm, which is enough to rank as the 31st wettest March for the whole country

Britain experienced 13 per cent less sunshine than usual last month, Met Office data showed

March was a mild month across the UK, with the mean temperature for the month higher than average in all four nations. England provisionally had its seventh warmest March on record

It comes after Met Office figures revealed on Tuesday that England saw a record amount of rainfall in the 18 months to March.

Some 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024. This is the highest level for any 18-month period in England since comparable data began in 1836.

It beats the previous record of 1,680.2mm, which had been set only the month before and covered the 18 months from September 2022 to February 2024. The third highest figure on record, 1,668.4mm, was set in the 18 months to January 2021.

Last month saw England experience 62 per cent more rainfall than an average March, though the total for the month, 94.3mm, was not close to record levels, ranking as the 19th wettest March for the nation since data began.

Overall, the UK saw 27 per cent more rainfall than average last month, at 107.8mm, enough to rank as the 31st wettest March for the whole country.

For the UK as a whole, the 18 months to March 2024 ranks as the fourth wettest on record, with 2,085.6mm of rain falling.

The UK's wettest 18-month period was August 2019 to January 2021 (2,130.9mm).

A number of counties in England saw at least double the amount of rainfall last month than is typical for March, including Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

March was a mild month across the UK, with the mean temperature for the month higher than average in all four nations.

England provisionally recorded its seventh warmest March on record, with an average temperature of 7.80C. Met Office data on temperatures begins in 1884.
A former British Army Major has said Israel's Defence Forces would have known everything about the World Central Kitchen aid convoy before Monday's drone strike that killed seven aid workers, including three Britons.

Chris Lincoln-Jones, upon reviewing images of the damaged vehicles, characterised the strikes as highly targeted and said the missiles were 'absolutely, perfectly accurate'.

The drone - an Elbit Hermes 450 - is built in Israel and constitutes one of the IDF's foremost intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance vehicles.

It carries both electro-optical and infrared cameras to 'capture high-quality imagery during day or night', according to Air Force Technology, suggesting IDF operators would have clearly seen the World Central Kitchen (WCK) logo emblazoned on the white cars.

Lincoln-Jones also said Israel 'probably even know the names of the people on board', given the convoy had been travelling along a pre-approved deconflicted route, in comments to The Times.

Wreckage of a World Central Kitchen vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip after seven aid workers - including three British ex-servicemen - were killed in an Israeli drone strike

His comments followed those of WCK founder Jose Andres and CEO Erin Gore, who accused the IDF of deliberately and 'systematically' targeting the aid convoy.

'This was not just a bad luck situation where ''oops'' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.

'This was over 1.5km, 1.8km, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colourful logo... It's very clear who we are and what we do,' Andres said

Gore added: 'All three vehicles were carrying civilians... their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission.'

Meanwhile, former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger labelled Israel's war in Gaza 'reckless' and said such incidents undermine Tel-Aviv's insistence the attacks on Hamas are morally justifiable following October 7.

A man stands by a destroyed car of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) as it sits along Al Rashid road, between Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip

The wreckage of one of the World Central Kitchen vehicles hit by Israel shows a gaping hole blown into the roof

The drone used in the attack - an Elbit Hermes 450 - is built in Israel and constitutes one of the IDF's foremost intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance vehicles

Chris Lincoln-Jones, upon reviewing images of the damaged vehicles, characterised the strikes as highly targeted and said the missiles were 'absolutely, perfectly accurate' (Elbit Hermes 450 drone pictured)

British victims (L-R) John Chapman, 57, James 'Jim' Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were killed in the attack

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger labelled Israel's war in Gaza and the aid convoy strike 'reckless'

'My view is that what happened is essentially systematic of an approach to targeting that has, on occasion, bordered on the reckless,' he told BBC's Today podcast.

'Fundamentally undermines therefore what must be Israel's political objectives, which is to sustain some moral high ground and some moral purpose.'

'It's hard not to conclude that insufficient care is being paid to these collateral risks of these operations,' he concluded.

British victims John Chapman, 57, James 'Jim' Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were killed in the attack along with four other aid workers.

They were named as Australian Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom, Pole Damian Sobol, Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha and US-Canada citizen Jacob Flickinger.

Shocking images disseminated on social media showed their aid vehicles blown apart by the drone's missiles - one had a gaping hole in the roof while another truck had its rear end hanging off, the interior reduced to a charred wreck.

Israeli authorities have so far apologised for the strikes and said an investigation would be held 'at the highest levels' to ensure such incidents do not happen again.

But Israel's economy minister Nir Barkat dismissed WCF comments as 'nonsense', claiming that 'unfortunately, friendly fire happens' and arguing that Israeli forces did not deliberately fire on aid workers.

The aid convoy strike prompted an international outpouring of anger, with world leaders including Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Cameron calling for an 'immediate investigation' and a 'full, transparent explanation'.

It comes as Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to speak with US President Joe Biden in their first phone call since the Israeli strike on the WCK convoy later today.

Biden's sharpening rhetoric, and insistence that Israel do more to protect aid workers and civilians, has indicated growing frustrations with how ally Israel is conducting its war on Hamas.

Israel has taken responsibility for the strike on the aid workers, which it called a mistake, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the armed forces to 'maintain an open and transparent line of communication' with international organisations conducting relief work.

But Biden has emphasised the attack - which hit WCK-branded vehicles after the organisation said it had coordinated movements with Israeli forces - was not a 'stand-alone incident'.

At least 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza in the almost six-month-old war, nearly three times the toll inflicted by any other single conflict in a year, according to a UN coordinator.

Four other aid workers killed in the strike were named as (L-R) Australian Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom, Pole Damian Sobol, Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha and US-Canada citizen Jacob Flickinger

Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, transports the body of one of the six foreign aid workers who were killed in an Israeli strike, at a hospital morgue in Rafah on Wednesday

A man pushes a bycicle along as he walks amid building rubble in the devastated area around Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital on April 3, 2024

Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble by incessant IDF bombing raids

Ambulances carry bodies of the victims of the Israeli drone strike on WCK vehicles out of Gaza for repatriation

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the strike was 'emblematic of a larger problem and evidence of why distribution of aid in Gaza has been so challenging'.

But the White House said that Biden continued to support Israel's 'right to defend itself' and there were no plans to curb arms deliveries to the key US ally.

Monday's deaths have thrown into question how to safely continue deliveries as the territory faces a deepening hunger crisis, with children reportedly dying of starvation.

WCK, which called the strike 'targeted', suspended its operations in the region and sent ships laden with hundreds of tonnes of undelivered supplies back to their Mediterranean port.

Other groups have since curtailed or reassessed their operations, with the UN on Tuesday pausing nighttime movement for the 'evaluation of the security issues'.

'Humanitarian aid organisations are unable to carry out their work safely,' said the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The threat to Gaza's aid lifeline comes as all of its 2.4 million people are already struggling to get enough to eat, with famine projected to soon hit the north.

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks that started the war, Israel has heavily restricted aid deliveries to the already blockaded territory, with the number of trucks dwindling to a small trickle.

Last week, Israel told the UN agency for Palestinian refugees its convoys would no longer be allowed in the north, where people have been consuming fewer than 245 calories per day on average, charity Oxfam said Wednesday.

'The miniscule amount of food represents less than 12 per cent of the recommended daily 2,100 calorie intake needed per person,' it said in a statement.

To try to maintain the humanitarian lifeline, foreign powers have increased aid airdrops into Gaza, while the World Central Kitchen was involved in establishing a maritime route.

Biden has instructed the US military to build a floating pier to unload supplies from the sea, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller vowing Monday's strike would not deter that plan.

'It will not affect our efforts to stand up the pier to deliver aid through sea,' he told reporters.

People carry the body of one of the foreign workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, before they are transported to their families outside Gaza

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu will speak with US President Joe Biden in their first phone call since the Israeli strike on the WCK convoy later today

A picture taken from Rafah shows kites flown in the sky above the city as smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on April 3, 2024

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council will consider a draft resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel and condemning 'the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare'.

The draft, which is backed by 18 states, will need 24 votes for a majority on the 47-country council, but it could possibly pass with fewer if there are abstentions.

Israel has long accused the Human Rights Council of bias.

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war claimed at least 61 more lives overnight, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said on Thursday, with the group's press office reporting Israeli strikes destroyed dozens of homes in Khan Yunis.

The war began with Hamas' October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,975 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Palestinian militants also took more than 250 hostages on October 7, and 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.

Families of the captives have staged mass protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, heaping pressure on Netanyahu.

'There is one urgent issue, and this is the kidnapped,' protester Hadas Zubary, the aunt of hostage Naama Levy, said. 'We should ask (for) a deal now.'

Talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have stalled, however, with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accusing Israel of procrastinating.

Qatar, which is mediating the indirect talks, said Israel has objected to the demand to allow displaced Gazans to return to their homes.
Police hunting a serial rapist who has been on the loose for six years have released disturbing footage of the suspect preying on one of his victims.

Harrowing CCTV shows a man grabbing a lone woman in the street, who he later went on to rape in Shoreditch, east London, in 2022.

The same suspect is believed to have raped another victim four years earlier on the other side of the capital near The Strand. Both areas are busy nightlife hotspots.

Scotland Yard took the unusual step of publicly linking the attacks, and releasing footage of the suspect on the prowl, as detectives fear it is 'highly likely' there are more victims.

The case has chilling echoes of Kirk Reid, also known as the 'Night Bus Beast', who would pounce on female passengers as they made their way home alone. He was convicted of 26 indecent assaults and two rapes in 2009.

In the sickening video, the man is seen locking his arm with the woman's as he walks her down the dark street.

He is then seen stroking her back inappropriately on a dark street

A map shows where the two rapes took place in the capital

In the shocking clip, a man can be seen grabbing a woman in Shoreditch

The man opens his jacket as he moves in to wrap his arms around the woman

The Metropolitan Police have released an e-fit image and CCTV of the perpetrator

The woman then unravels their arms and takes a step backwards so her back is to a fence.

The man opens his jacket as he moves forward and wraps his arms around the victim and turns her body.

READ MORE: Rapist assaulted two women at night in two London attacks four years apart - as police release footage and warn there may be more victims Advertisement

The police said that forensic work by detectives have established that the same, as yet unidentified, man is responsible for both crimes, and officers are keen to hear from any further potential victims, as well as anyone who believes they may know the attacker.

DI Chris Heathcote, responsible for investigating rape and serious offences in east London, said: 'These two offences were initially investigated by separate teams given the distance between the two incidents, however we have since been able to forensically link the same individual to both offences.

'Given the four-year gap, we must assume that its highly likely the suspect has carried out further attacks.

'A review of all unsolved rapes for this time period has identified no links to these two offences, but I would appeal to anyone who feels they have been a victim to come forward.'

The police issued media appeals after both incidents and another again last month but the suspect remain unidentified.

The first attack took place at around 02.50hrs on Saturday 5 May, 2018 near to The Strand.

Police said significant enquiries were carried out by officers in an attempt to identify the suspect, including detailed analysis of hours of CCTV footage.

During the second incident, the victim was raped in the early hours of Saturday, 10 December 2022 in Curtain Road E2.

After the woman backed away, the man moved closer to her and embraced her as he turned her body

The investigation team continues to carry out a number of enquiries in relation to the wider investigation, including further testing of the DNA samples which linked the two incidents, the police added.

'The suspect involved in both incidents appears to target lone women in the night time economy.

He added: 'I understand there will be concern that this individual remains outstanding, but can offer every assurance that we are taking all possible steps to ensure he is found and brought to justice for these awful crimes.

'If you believe you have been a victim or recognise the man from any of the material released please come forward. Any information  no matter how small  could help us with our investigation.'

Anyone with information which could assist the investigation team is asked to contact 101 quoting CAD 6163/26MAR24.
American-made F-16 fighter jets set to arrive in Ukraine this summer are 'no longer relevant' to the war, a senior Ukrainian military official has stated, adding that 'shells and rockets' are what's needed in 2024.

The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to take a delivery of the supersonic multirole fighter aircrafts in July, as pilots have been trained and the war-torn country's airfields prepared.

Before their arrival, the F-16's were thought to be the war-winning weapon that could tilt the balance in the war with Russia in Ukraine's favour.

'Often, we just don't get the weapons systems at the time we need them  they come when they're no longer relevant,' the high-ranking officer told Politico.

'Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won't be right for 2024.'

A Ukrainian military official said that F-16 fighter jets are 'no longer relevant' for Ukraine as he urged the West to send 'shells and rockets' instead

The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to take a delivery of the supersonic multirole fighter aircrafts in July

It comes after Vladimir Putin warned just days ago that any F-16 jets donated to Ukraine will be shot down

US Congress have blocked a $60billion military aid package which has ultimately led to severe shortages of ammunition.

This in turn has led to Russian President Vladimir Putin's army being able to push back Kyiv's forces along almost the entire 600-mile front line.

This has increased calls for more traditional weapons, such as air defence missiles, howitzers, and shells.

'We need howitzers and shells, hundreds of thousands of shells, and rockets,' the officer said, estimating that Ukraine needed a staggering total of four million shells and two million drones.

The military official reassured that they have communicated to the US that their forces have all the combat experience required, as well as a battlefield understanding of the war - all they need are the West's resources.

It comes just days after Putin warned any F-16 jets donated to Ukraine will be shot down.

'If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,' Putin told Russian air force pilots during a tour of a training facility in Torzhok, in Russia's Tver region.

'We will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers.'

Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, has called for Kyiv's Western allies to prioritise sending more US made Patriot defence missiles to repel Russian airstrikes made on their cities.

READ HERE: NATO scrambles F-16 jets in Poland as Russia launches one of its largest onslaughts of the war, with missile strikes across Ukraine Advertisement

Ahead of his arrival in Brussels to mark the 75th anniversary of NATO, Kuleba said: 'Seven Patriot systems would be optimal, but let me be modest.

'With five Patriot batteries, we can defend the main industrial cities against Russian missiles'.

Along with the US, the Netherlands and Germany have also sent several of the systems which have an estimated cost of around $1billion each.

'And once we've taken the threat away, the Patriots go back to where they were stationed,' he added.

Kuleba has also demanded for 'all Patriot batteries around the world that can be provided to Ukraine must be delivered to Ukraine'.

He added that the country is currently the only one in the world that is forced to defend itself against ballistic missile attacks almost every day.

Following his meeting with his Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, in Brussels, NATO foreign ministers are now discussing a $100billion, five-year military aid package for Ukraine.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general, told reporters on Wednesday: 'What is obvious is that we need new and more money for Ukraine and we need it over many years.

'That's one of the reasons why the Ukrainians have to ration the number of artillery shells, why they have problems standing up against the Russian force with overwhelming military power because they're able to outgun them with more ammunition and more artillery.'

The Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky has warned that tyrant Putin is making preparations for a major offensive in June and is planning on mobilising 300,000 troops.

High-ranking officers also told Politico that Putin is set to launch a 'big attack around August' but admitted it could come even sooner than that, which could throw Ukraine into crisis is they are underprepared.

One of the military sources, who remained anonymous, told the news website: 'Theres nothing that can help Ukraine now because there are no serious technologies able to compensate Ukraine for the large mass of troops Russia is likely to hurl at us.

'We dont have those technologies, and the West doesnt have them as well in sufficient numbers'.

In a bid to overcome the potentially large scale obstacle, Zelensky has lowered the military draft age from 27 to 25 with the hopes of boosting Ukraine's fighting force.
A tradie accused of being a 'serial fraudster' has been flagged by a state Attorney General following a litany of 'very serious complaints'.

The Queensland Office of Fair Trading has warned south-east Queenslanders and northern New South Wales residents to avoid doing business with Brendan John Hawxwell and his company, Cre8tive Construction Group Pty Ltd.

The move follows several months of complaints from customers who claim he stole thousands of dollars from them under the guise of a deposit.

Leading the pack of furious alleged victims is Jane.

She claims she gave Mr Hawxwell an $8,000 deposit to build a colour-bond fence around her mother's home while she received treatment for stage five cancer.

The Office of Fair Trading has warned south-east Queenslanders and northern New South Wales residents to avoid doing business with Brendan John Hawxwell (pictured)

Queensland's Attorney General Yvette D'Ath (pictured) described Mr Hawxwell's alleged misconduct as 'disgusting' and 'deliberate'

Jane told A Current Affair two months ago Mr Hawxwell had tore down her mother's fence before disappearing.

When confronted by the program at the time, the tradie threw a water bottle at a cameraman.

For the first time since Mr Hawxwell allegedly swindled Jane, she came face-to-face with him outside court.

He had pleaded guilty for driving unlicenced and suspended and faces another 11 unrelated charges including possessing dangerous drugs, weapons and unlawfully taking native animals.

Jane said it was 'really hard' seeing the alleged fraudster tradie.

'He doesn't care, he doesn't care at all,' she said.

Mr Hawxwell formerly ran his fencing business under the name 'Brisbane Fencing and Decking', 'Queensland Fencing and Decking' and 'Cartier Constructions'.

All the businesses were run under his parent company, Cre8tive Construction Group Pty Ltd, which he has now been banned from trading under.

Mr Hawxwell has been accused of taking thousands of dollars from customers despite not completing the agreed work (pictured, one of Mr Hawxwell's half-finished jobs)

Queensland's Attorney General Yvette D'Ath described Mr Hawxwell's alleged misconduct as 'disgusting' and 'deliberate'.

'He's a despicable individual and he should be held accountable for what he's doing,' she said.

Ms D'Ath warned Australians against paying large deposits, or the full amount, for services upfront.

Brisbane mother Claudine claims she was scammed out of $10,000 by Mr Hawxwell.

She said he was 'really good' at convincing customers it was legitimate to pay the full fee for his services outright.

Another alleged victim, Wayne, claims he saw Mr Hawxwell's business online and paid him an $8,000 deposit for a retaining wall.

His wife withdrew money from her superannuation to pay for Mr Hawxwell's work, but the tradie never completed the job.

'We have to draw even more out to get it finished. So we paid twice in effect for it,' Wayne said.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Office of Fair Trading said Cre8tive Construction Group Pty Ltd has been liquidated.

Mr Hawxwell (pictured) recently pleaded guilty to driving unlicenced and faces another 11 unrelated charges including possessing dangerous drugs, weapons and unlawfully taking native animals

'Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more dodgy traders operating through social media and online marketplaces such as eBaythey like to hide behind online profiles, taking your money before disappearing into the digital abyss,' Ms D'Ath said.

'Our message to Queenslanders is simple: do your homework by checking reviews and a general internet search of the businesses you're looking to use.

'If something doesn't look or feel right, choose another trader to get your goods and services.

'We will continue to crack down on dodgy traders who are taking money from consumers and failing to supply.'
The gang appears to have gone around all security systems in the facility

The managers of the GardaWorld facility in San San Fernando

Brazen thieves stole $30 million in an audacious Easter Sunday burglary at a Los Angeles money storage facility in one of the largest cash heists in city history.

The raid on Sunday night was carried out under the cover of darkness at the cash vaults held at the GardaWorld facility in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley, on the northeastern edge of LA, where cash from businesses across the region is handled and stored, cops said.

It is thought the gang broke in through a hatch on the roof and some how circumnavigated the security systems to access the vaults and escape without raising the alarm.

While there did not appear to be any damage done to the roof, local news footage showed a patched up hole on the southeastern side of the building.

Debris lay around it, though it is unclear what this may have been used for or if it was related to Sunday's theft.

The GardaWorld facility in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley is seen on Thursday following the raid

The GardaWorld facility in the San Fernando Valley on Thursday

Local media reported that the thieves targeted the GardaWorld facility in Sylmar (pictured)

Local news footage showed a patched up hole on the southeastern side of the building (pictured)

Police are still looking for the gang that stole the cash

It is thought the gang broke in through a hatch on the roof and some how circumnavigated the security systems to access the vaults and escape without raising the alarm, before escaping through a hole on the southeastern side of the building

LAPD Commander Elain Morales said cash for businesses across the region is held at the facility.

The operators of the business, whom police did not themselves identify, did not discover the massive theft until they opened the vault on Monday.

Law enforcement sources told the LA Times that very few people would've known about the massive amounts of cash being stored in the safe that was stolen from.

The LAPD said it it working with the FBI to solve GardaWorld case. Authorities believe that a crew was responsible for the break-in, though no information about potential suspects was immediately available.

The break-in is among the largest cash burglaries in Los Angeles history.

The next biggest case was the Dunbar Armored robbery in 1997, in which six men robbed a similar facility to GardaWorld.

The six men took the 2024 equivalent of $36.5million from the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo Street in downtown LA.

The theft comes nearly two years after as much as $100 million in jewels and other valuables were stolen from a Brink's big rig at a Southern California truck stop.

The cargo trailer was heading for a jewelry show in Pasadena, and the driver decided to stop at a rest stop, before someone broke in and stole the cargo.

To this day, the thief, or thieves, still have not been caught.

Across the pond, the Sylmar robber has drawn comparison to the Hatton Garden heist in 2015, in which up to $23.4 million was stolen from a safe deposit facility in London's exclusive Hatton Garden district.

The burglars drilled through the 20inch thick vault walls of the vault over the Easter Weekend, a public holiday in the UK.

The thieves then took millions of dollars worth of valuable away in wheelable bins.
The powerful moment workers helped save a trapped kangaroo has been captured on camera.

Alvin, Godfrey, Romolo and Noel found the marsupial stuck in a wire fence just outside Pinnaroo, in South Australia.

The beekeepers sprung into action and started separating the fence to free the distressed animal's tail and legs.

Footage shows two men holding the fence apart while another assisted the kangaroo.

The Filipino beekeepers (pictured) sprung into action and started separating the fence to free the kangaroo's tail and legs

Once the kangaroo could stand on its own two feet, the animal glanced at its saviours and hopped away.

The men could be heard cheering after they waved farewell, clearly happy with their efforts.

Denise Kyriazis, who knows the men, wasn't surprised they saved the kangaroo.

'(They are) such genuine nice guys, hard working, always happy,' she told The Advertiser.

'They are all professional beekeepers  their job is to maintain beehives in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.

'They work long hours in sometimes hard conditions.'
Hundreds of people across the world have been enthralled into the sick world of monkey torture - watching videos of helpless animals being sadistically beaten, attacked with drills and even doused in acid.

Last year, the sordid global network of animal abusers was exposed after a year long investigation by the BBC found individuals online were commissioning the depraved videos.

'The monkey hating community', as it's known to its members, included a range of people from a grandmother living in Alabama, United States, to a 35-year-old bird-loving Brit living in the Midlands with her parents.

Those from the UK and America would 'commission' the videos to be created, asking people living in countries like Thailand or Indonesia, where the monkeys are native, to film the depraved acts.

For years their vile habits have gone unpunished but now those caught indulging in the disturbing underground network could face criminal charges - and even jail time.

It has left the some warning their co-conspirators to watch out that the authorities are after them.

On one forum where a user asks 'is anyone able to send me monkey torture or gore videos', another advises: 'I just want to warn you about this. If you are offered videos and are asked to pay money, DON'T.'

'It's not illegal to watch them but paying money for them can you get you in serious trouble', the user added in a post published days ago.

A year-long investigation by the BBC found that hundreds had been paying Indonesians to torture and kill infant long-tailed macaques on video

A horrific video shows baby monkeys dressed up in human clothing while trapped in cages

The warning comes as two British women were charged with publishing an obscene article and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Holly LeGresley, 37, of Kidderminster, and Adriana Orme, 55, of Upton-upon Severn were just two of hundreds paying Indonesians to torture and kill infant long-tailed macaques on video.

Both women were high-profile members on the online torture group. LeGresley had gone by the name of 'The Immolator' online and was said to be a moderator in one of the most prolific groups.

The charges made by West Mercia police force were made in relation to causing, consuming and facilitating the torture of monkeys.

Both women have been bailed and will appear at Worcester Magistrates Court on May 7.

It comes after Michael McCartney, 50, was charged in Virginia with conspiracy to create and distribute animal-crushing footage.

McCartney - dubbed the 'Torture King' - was one of three key distributors who was identified in the probe into the cruel monkey torture gangs.

He had managed multiple group chats for monkey torture enthusiasts all over the world by using the coded messaging app Telegram.

Monkey haters would send him commissions, asking for videos of monkey's being tortured and even set on fire.

The video suggestions were then sent alongside payments to people in Indonesia who would conduct the abuse which sometimes ended with the killing of the baby long-tailed monkeys.

M Ajis Rasjana (pictured) was sentenced to eight months in prison in Indonesia - the maximum available for animal torture

The recent charges have left the abusers warning their co-conspirators to watch out that the authorities are after them

McCartney would then distribute the horrendous footage on his social media network.

The ringleader is based almost 10,000 miles away from the site of the monkey's torture, living in his home allegedly decorated with Nazi symbols and Confederate flags.

Toothless from years of heroin addiction, McCartney - who goes by Mike - previously spent two decades with one of America's most dangerous motorcycle gangs, before going to prison.

It was during the pandemic that he first stumbled upon a monkey torture video and soon enough he was invited onto the Telegram group dubbed Ape's Cage, set up by its ringleader 'Mr Ape'.

When approached by the BBC, Mr Ape - whose identity has not been revealed - spoke of his own loneliness leading him to create the forum.

He said it was 'appealing' to see 'something else suffer' and a way to forget his own pain.

The lurid forum was filled with polls asking members what form of torture they wanted to see next, whether was it a hammer or a screwdriver being used to beat the monkeys.

The ex-con, however, saw it as a monkey making opportunity. After becoming trusted within the grim community he was trusted to trade and sell the sick footage to other members. He once bragged: 'I'm building an empire.'

A tortured monkey lies in a dirty cage while dressed in human clothing for online content (taken from YouTube)

Following the investigation into the monkey torture ring around 20 people were investigated across the world

Possession of animal torture videos in the US is not illegal but distributing them is and can see someone sent to prison for up to seven years.

Following the broadcaster's probe, Homeland Security agents descended on McCartney's home. His devices were seized and he was questioned but later let go.

He told the BBC Eye investigations team last year: 'I was the man You want to see monkeys get messed up? I could bring it to you.'

Trying to gain sympathy, McCartney said he had invited animal rights campaigners into the group to expose it.

'I tried to do the right thing but I profited. It was my mistake,' he said.

Since then, McCartney has been accused by prosecutors of gathering funds from his chat groups and distributing videos showing the 'torture, murder and sexually sadistic mutilation of animals' specifically of juvenile and adult monkeys.

He has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges and is facing up to five years in prison.

While McCartney was undoubtedly a key figure in the underground network, it had a far reach.

Horrific videos shared to the network saw monkeys being set on fire, put in a blender and even killed

Amongst them was Stacey Storey, a 46-year-old grandmother who worked at a petrol station and lived with son in a trailer in rural Alabama. But her screen name was 'Sadistic'.

According to the BBC's probe, she was one of the most prolific users on Ape's Cage, charging $200 (150) for torture videos which included everything from force feeding and putting monkey's in jars of acid.

Her money shot came after she conceived the idea, alongside Mr Ape, of commissioning a video showing a monkey in a blender.

Eventually, other innocent people had started to stumble on the questionable videos before being invited to join the group.

It was infiltrated by innocent bystanders and a few animal rights campaigners who raised the alarm on the senseless animal cruelty taking place. These included activist Nina Jackel and Dave Gooptar in Trinidad.

Mr Ape, who ran the empire he created from his mother's home in Florida, had reached out to both asking them to stop the monkey haters from around the world and called for them to help 'stop the monkey torture'.

It later published in April 2022 becoming extremely popular with those in the community with hundreds flocking to the Telegram group.

Alongside McCartney two others were also charged in the US. This includes former US Air Force officer David Christopher Noble, 48, and Nicole Devilbliss, 35. Both face up to five years in prison.

According to the BBC, more charges are expected to follow soon for others who were key in the torture ring. Following its probe 20 people were investigated across the world.

One man in Indonesia called M Ajis Rasjana who filmed some of the monkey torture videos was sentenced to eight months in prison after the investigation.
Overtime bans are currently in operation from Monday April 8 to Tuesday April 9

Rail passengers face further disruption to their journeys amid a long-running row over drivers' pay and conditions.

Train drivers at 16 rail companies are staging a fresh wave of strikes in the long-running dispute, with union members frustrated by not receiving a pay rise since April 2019.

Three one-day strikes at 16 different train operators across England have been in operation since Friday April 6.

This is coupled with a six-day ban on overtime, which will be in force from Thursday until Tuesday April 9, causing further delays and cancellations.

London Underground drivers called off two planned 24-hour strikes at the last minute, as Union members were due to walk out on Monday April 8 and Saturday May 4.

As revised timetables have been drawn up and passengers are being advised to check before they travel, see our full list below of how rail strikes may affect your journey:

Rail passengers across Britain will face four days of travel chaos from tomorrow, Friday 5 April, amid a long-running row over drivers' pay and conditions (stock image)

Members of Aslef will stage three one-day strikes at 16 different train operators across England on dates between this Friday, April 5 and next Monday, April 8 (stock image)

When are the April train strikes this week?

Monday, April 8

The rail services to be affected by strikes are: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR's Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern (including Gatwick Express) Southeastern, South Western Railway

Train drivers at 16 rail companies are to stage a fresh wave of strikes in the long-running dispute, with union members frustrated by not receiving a pay rise since 2019 (stock image)

Full list of rail companies striking:

Full list of rail and tube strike dates in April and May 2024: Friday, April 5 Avanti West Coast East Midlands Railway West Midlands Trains CrossCountry Saturday, April 6 Chiltern GWR LNER Northern TransPennine Monday, April 8 c2c Greater Anglia GTR Great Northern Thameslink Southeastern Southern/Gatwick Express South Western Railway SWR Island Line Saturday, April 20 LNR Advertisement

Rail services operated by 16 companies will be affected by the upcoming strike action.

Avanti West Coast

Services are set to run as normal after disruption over the weekend.

c2c

There will be no c2c services on Monday April 8.

A reduced service on all lines will follow on Tuesday April 9.

Chiltern Railways

Chiltern will operate a limited service on Tuesday April 9.

CrossCountry

Changes to timetables between Thursday, April 4 and Tuesday, April 9.

East Midlands Railway

East Midlands services will be sucject to short-notice cancellations on Tuesday April 9.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Great Northern, Thameslink, Southern & Gatwick Express

Strike day is Monday, April 8.

Very limited shuttle services on this day as follows:

Southern shuttle service calling at Gatwick Airport and London Victoria only, between 5am and 11pm

Thameslink shuttle service calling at St Pancras, Luton Airport Parkway and Luton only between 7am and 7pm

Great Northern shuttle service calling at London King's Cross and Cambridge only between 7am and 7pm

An amended timetable will operate on Tuesday April 9 for Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern trains.

Govia Thameslink Railway's strike day is Monday, April 8, resulting in very limited shuttle services on this day

Great Western Railway

After a limited service was in operation over the weekend, customers can expect short-notice alterations and cancellations to trains on Monday April 8 and Tuesday April 9.

The Night Riviera Sleeper service is also cancelled on April 8 and 9.

Greater Anglia

Strike day is Monday, April 8 with an amended service the following day on Tuesday April 9.

Reduced service this day 'on a small number of key routes into London, with most routes seeing no services at all.'

Great Anglia's strike day is Monday, April 8 - reduced service this day 'on a small number of key routes into London, with most routes seeing no services at all'

LNER

A strike day will take place on Saturday April 20.

A highly-reduced timetable on this day will affect routes between London and Edinburgh and London and Leeds.

There will be no LNER service to or from Lincoln, Skipton, Bradford, Harrogate, Hull, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Inverness.

LNER will not be stopping at Northallerton, Morpeth, Alnmouth, Reston or Dunbar.

Amended timetable on Friday, April 5; and Sunday, April 7.

Members at LNER will will also refuse to work non-contractual overtime from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 April because of the companys failure to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery.

Northern

Short-notice cancellations will occur until Tuesday April 9 due to the overtime ban.

Southeastern

Strike day is Monday, April 8.

Very limited service as only 29 out of 165 Southeastern stations will operate, with no replacement buses serving stations that are shut. Customers are told: 'Do not travel'.

A full service will be in operation on Tuesday April 9.

Southeastern's strike day is Monday, April 8. Very limited service as only 29 out of 165 Southeastern stations will operate

South Western Railway

Strike day is Monday, April 8.

Significantly reduced service this day on a limited number of lines, with 'large parts of our network closed'. Trains will only run between 7am and 7pm, with no service on the Island Line.

A revised timetable will be in place on Tuesday April 9.

TransPennine Express

After weekend disruption, services are expected to run as normal on Monday April 8 and Tuesday April 9.

Transport for London

London Underground strike days had been planned for Monday, April 8 and Saturday, May 4.

However, strikes by London Underground drivers have since been called off, Aslef announced earlier today.

Union members were due to walk out on Monday April 8 and Saturday May 4 - causing yet more chaos for strike-hit Londoners.

The union said that after a series of meetings at the conciliation service Acas, its negotiating team has received a proposal that resolves the key issues in the dispute.

Strikes by London Underground drivers have been called off, Aslef announced earlier today (stock image)

West Midlands Railway

A reduced service will be in place on Monday April 8 and Tuesday April 9.

Why are ASLEF train drivers striking?

Aslef said it wanted to increase the pressure on the 'intransigent' train companies and the 'tone-deaf' Government following a series of strikes stretching back nearly two years.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: 'Last month, when we announced renewed mandates for industrial action, because under the Tories' draconian anti-union laws we have to ballot our members every six months, we called on the train companies, and the Government, to come to the table for meaningful talks to negotiate a new pay deal for train drivers who have not had an increase in salary since 2019.'

He added: 'Our members voted overwhelmingly - yet again - for strike action.

'Those votes show a clear rejection by train drivers of the ridiculous offer put to us in April last year by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) which knew that offer would be rejected because a land grab for all the terms and conditions we have negotiated over the years would never be accepted by our members.

'We have given the Government every opportunity to come to the table but it is now clear they do not want to resolve this dispute. They are happy for it go on and on.'
A refugee who came to Australia on a permanent residency visa has been sentenced to five years behind bars for sexually assaulting a sleeping woman.

Alaa Hassan Kharif, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of rape when he appeared in Southport District Court on the Gold Coast, but added that he believed at the time the woman was consenting.

Kharif had met the victim, who he knew, while she was out with friends at about 3am on August 29, 2021.

After a night of partying, she and several other people went to Kharif's Surfers Paradise home, where she fell asleep on a couch beside a friend, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

The court heard she woke up to Kharif raping her in his bed.

Alaa Hassan Kharif, 27, had pleaded guilty to one count of rape when he appeared in Southport District Court on the Gold Coast , but added that he believed at the time the woman was consenting (stock image)

READ MORE: Child sex offender accused of raping a 12-year-old girl on an Adelaide train in broad daylight is arrested AGAIN Advertisement

The woman was initially disoriented and confused but managed to flee and reported the rape to the police.

Later that day, Kharif told her he regretted what happened and 'didn't mean to push (himself) onto (her)', the court was told.

He told police he thought the victim was 'moving like she was awake' and reacting to his touch.

CCTV footage showed him walking with his arm around the woman and briefly holding hands earlier in the night.

A psychological report said Kharif was a low risk of further sexual offending and he would suffer more than most in jail because of mental health reasons, including a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kharif came to Australia as a refugee and has a permanent residency visa.

This will be cancelled due to his conviction and he could be deported when released from jail.

Chief Judge Brian Devereaux said the woman's victim impact statement showed the rape had long-term effects on her, including psychologically and financially.

'What happened to her  what you did to her  affects the way she can deal with people in social circumstances and in work,' the judge said.

With time already served, he will be eligible for parole on July 3, 2025.

If you or someone who know needs support, call the 24-hour national sexual assault, family and domestic violence hotline on 1800 737 732.
Terrified passengers were seen leaping off a ferry engulfed in flames as the vessel made its way to Thailand's notorious 'Death Island' this morning.

The overnight Ko Jaroen 2 ferry from Surat Thani province was about to arrive at Koh Tao, a popular tourist destination off the Thai coast, before it went up in smoke at around 6.30am local time.

Horror footage captured the moments after the blaze erupted, sending panicked tourists to the roof of the vessel as they desperately awaited rescue.

Some even made the brave jump overboard in a bid to escape the inferno.

At the time of the incident, 108 people were on board the ferry before one 'heard a crackling sound and smelled smoke'.

The Ko Jaroen 2 ferry caught fire this morning as it headed towards Koh Tao - dubbed 'Death Island'

Thick smoke was seen billowing into the air following the blaze

People scrambled to the top deck to escape the flames. Some reportedly jumped off the ferry before rescue teams arrived

Koh Tao is dubbed 'Death Island' following the brutal murders of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in 2014

Maitree Promjampa said he saw billowing smoke and fire less than five minutes later, and that was when people started shouting and rang the alarm.

'We could barely get the life vests in time,' he said.

'It was chaotic. People were weeping... I also teared up.'

In heart-stopping footage, thick clouds of grey smoke could be seen billowing skywards as orange flames took over the bow of the ship.

Terrified passengers could be seen climbing up the rails to reach the highest point of the ferry as they attempted to dodge the heavy smoke and spreading fire.

Some were wearing life-jackets while others braved the fire in just their swimming gear while they watched out at sea for any signs of emergency rescue services.

Maitree, a Surat Thani resident who often travels to Koh Tao for work, said several boats came to their rescue around 20 minutes after they called for help, but the boats could not get too close to the ferry out of fear of explosions.

This resulted in people deciding to leap off into the water in the race against time to save themselves.

As police and coast guards arrived at the scene, they could be seen spraying the blackened ship with water as the smoke began to settle - revealing charred metal and a hollowed out interior.

Police and coast guards saved all 108 passengers - including travellers and crew

The fire reportedly broke out in the engine but an investigation into the cause is still ongoing

All of the passengers were safe but some suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation

The emergency services saved the 97 tourists and 11 crew members onboard before the fire swallowed the ferry's bow.

Police Colonel Chokchai Sutthimek, superintendent of the Koh Tao Police Station, said: 'The vessel involved was the Ko Jaroen 2, a night ferry that also serves as a cargo boat. It was bound for Koh Tao and left the pier from Surat Thani at 11 pm last night.'

'At the time of the incident, there were 97 passengers, including Thai and foreign nationals, as well as 11 Burmese boat crew, along with cargo onboard.

'The fire originated in the engine room while the boat was mid-sea and approaching the pier at Koh Tao, causing panic among passengers, some of whom jumped overboard.

'After receiving the report from authorities and boat operators at Koh Tao, we swiftly dispatched a rescue boat to evacuate all passengers and crew back to the coast.

'Some of them suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation.'

Other videos of the incident showed the ferry was also carrying several vehicles.

Koh Tao was dubbed Death Island following the murders of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in 2014.

Previous cases of tourist deaths emerged and there have been several unexplained deaths of tourists since, leading to the island being branded 'cursed'.
Telling judges to consider handing more lenient sentences to offenders from 'deprived' or 'difficult backgrounds' risks handing them excuses for committing crimes, MPs have said.

The Sentencing Council, the official body responsible for setting guidelines for judges and magistrates, has for the first time spelt out 'mitigating' factors relating to disadvantage that courts should consider before passing sentence.

The guidelines on 'difficult and/or deprived background or personal circumstance' state that these factors include poverty, low educational attainment, negative experiences of authority, experience of discrimination, insecure housing and issues relating to the misuse of drugs and alcohol.

The council went ahead with the changes, which took effect on Monday, despite warnings from Justice Secretary Alex Chalk that the guidance was 'patronising' and 'inaccurate', and risked making poor schooling and poverty excuses for offenders to commit crimes.

Tory MP Philip Davies also hit out against the move, writing in a consultation document: 'I do not agree that having a difficult or deprived background makes you less culpable for committing an offence  such as robbery with all the violence that entails and the fear caused to the victim.

The Sentencing Council, the official body responsible for setting guidelines for judges and magistrates, has for the first time spelt out 'mitigating' factors relating to disadvantage that courts should consider before passing sentence

'However, I am at even more of a loss to understand why this mitigation is being suggested for all offences.

'I also do not think that ''experience of discrimination'' or ''negative experiences of authority'' (if they can even be verified or quantified) should have any bearing whatsoever on sentencing. Neither should having been in care/having low educational attainment etc.

'I object very strongly to this whole section as a mitigating factor for any offence, never mind all offences.'

Tory MP Henry Smith told MailOnline: 'Sentencing should be based on the circumstances of the offence someone has been convicted of where there may indeed be mitigating factors, but not based on some ill-defined background of the person, otherwise justice strays from being fair and equal.'

During the consultation, concerns were also raised that the new guidelines could lead to better-off, middle class offenders from secure homes being 'unfairly disadvantaged' by being handed tougher penalties for the same offence.

It was also pointed out that many people from deprived backgrounds do not offend.

The Blue Collar Conservatives, a group founded by Esther McVey, the minister for common sense, told the council: 'We believe this is extremely patronising, not least to law-abiding working class communities.

'Often it is actually those who come from the poorest communities who will be the victims of the crimes in these cases. Low educational attainment and poverty are not excuses to commit crimes.'

The Sentencing Council admitted that judges and magistrates privately consulted over the plans had been 'predominantly negative or neutral', with many saying they already took such factors into account.

However, it decided to proceed with the proposal because it argued that spelling out such mitigating factors would ensure they were applied in a 'consistent and appropriate' way and improve 'transparency and fairness'.

As a result, judges and magistrates have been told they should consider 12 factors of 'disadvantage' in determining an offender's responsibility for a crime, how the factors bear on criminals' behaviour and the effect of any sentence that might be imposed on them.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has called the new advice 'patronising'

The factors include negative experiences of authority, early experience of offending by family members, negative influences from peers and difficulties relating to the misuse of drugs and alcohol.

This excludes being voluntarily drunk at the time of an offence, which is an 'aggravating factor' in sentencing.

In his response to the consultation, Mr Chalk said: 'The Government is clear that many of the examples of difficulty or deprivation that have been set out in the consultation, such as low educational attainment and poverty, ought not to be relied upon as excuses to commit crimes.

'Presupposing that relatively low income for example (or indeed other deprivation) indicates a propensity to commit crime risks appearing patronising at best, or inaccurate at worst.

'Moreover, many in society, including no doubt judges and MPs, will have encountered young people from modest educational or financial backgrounds who have shown scrupulous integrity and a commitment to leading a law-abiding life.'

One respondent warned of harsher sentences for middle class offenders, saying: 'The other danger is that defendants who exhibit the flip sides could be unfairly disadvantaged  those who are not poor, those who live in secure housing, those who have the security of family life.'

Another described it as over-prescriptive. 'This is an incomplete and potentially misleading attempt to identify the 'nth' degree of mitigation. The court is capable of identifying endless additional factors in relation to the particular individual and the particular offence  let the court do that,' they said.

The Sentencing Council has spelt out a set of 'mitigating' factors relating to disadvantages that courts should take into account before passing sentence

Asked why the Sentencing Council went ahead with the changes, a spokesman said the guidance was phrased to strike a balance by drawing courts' attention to 'potentially relevant considerations' without being over-prescriptive.

For example, it talked of factors that 'may' be relevant or 'may' have a bearing on offending, he said.

It comes as the Ministry of Justice faces a prisons overcrowding crisis, with fears that jails could run out of space within weeks.

Courts have already been told by one of Britain's most senior judges that they must consider overcrowding as a factor in whether to spare an offender from jail.

An MOJ spokesman said: 'Sentencing decisions are made by independent judges who already take into account the circumstances of each case in line with guidelines set out by the Sentencing Council.'
Royal Mail has come under fire from small businesses and greetings card firms over plans to slash daily second-class letter deliveries.

The company revealed plans yesterday to scrap the deliveries on Saturdays and cut the service to just five times every two weeks.

But critics including the Federation of Small Businesses and The Greeting Card Association said the plans were 'too drastic' and a 'slap in the face for families'.

In its submission to Ofcom's consultation on the future of the universal postal service, Royal Mail said its proposals would see all non first-class letter deliveries reduced to save it up to 300 million a year but warned it could see 1,000 roles axed.

The plans include extending the delivery time for bulk business mail to three days instead of two.

Royal Mail has warned the changes could lead to 1,000 job losses (File Image)

Amanda Fergusson, CEO of the Greeting Cards Association (pictured), indicated the changes were not what businesses wanted

Royal Mail insisted the group had 'worked hard to come up with a proposal that is good for our customers (file photo)

But it would keep a six-day-a-week service for first-class mail in a climbdown on previous calls for all Saturday letter deliveries to be scrapped.

As of Tuesday, the price for a first-class stamp is 1.35, while the cost to purchase a second-class one is 85p.

Amanda Fergusson, CEO of the Greeting Cards Association, said the changes would 'ignore' the needs of the businesses Royal Mail represents.

She added: 'They expect a postal service that's national, reliable, and affordable and they're not getting it.'

Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Business (pictured) said axing daily second class deliveries 'would be a drastic cut'

Ms Fergusson also warned: 'We believe more price rises and service reductions will accelerate a decline in the British postal service, leading to increasingly frequent requests for bailouts.

'We are also concerned that there is no underpinned service recovery plans or evidence of meaningful progress to restore the Royal Mail service to legally required levels.'

Alex Veitch, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, told MailOnline: It is clear that Royal Mail's current operational model is not sustainable and must be reformed.

'But the impact on the wider economy, and especially smaller and more rural businesses, has to be fully considered.

'Changes that harm the overall efficiency and effectiveness of UK business will be in no-one's interest.

'Ofcom should carefully weigh up the needs of businesses and households to reach a sustainable long-term solution for Royal Mail.'

Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Business, said: 'Taking the axe to daily deliveries for second class would be a drastic cut which would hit the many small businesses which rely on it, and will in all probability leave some with no choice but to fork out for first class.

Second class delivery would take place every other weekday. Pictured: Parcels and letters in post bags at the Royal Mail sorting office in Manchester

Critics including the Federation of Small Businesses said the plans were 'too drastic' (Stock image)

'However, Royal Mail's concession to retain a six-day-a-week service for first class letters is a good step in the right direction, compared to its original dire proposal  voiced via Ofcom - to torpedo daily deliveries altogether.

'The Government rightfully said it was committed to keeping the six-day service as it is, and that is something that would have required legislation to change.

'We do recognise that savings need to be made, therefore the idea that bulk business mail, like bills and statements, will arrive within three working days instead of two is a difficult but sensible way to make savings without causing an enormous amount of disruption.

'It's good that Royal Mail has listened to us on some parts of its consultation response. We hope that Ofcom will reflect on the detrimental impact of diminishing six-day-a-week deliveries, and remind itself that its role is to protect consumers rather than be a cheerleader for service cuts by an organisation it's supposed to regulate.'

The Communications Workers' Union said the proposed changes would merely create a 'short-term financial gain for Royal Mail'.

They said the company's 'wider challenges' such as a 'crisis in resourcing and failures on quality of service must be addressed in step with genuine reform'.

Liberal Democrat business spokeswoman Sarah Olney branded the plans a 'slap in the face for families being asked to pay more for less'.

'It risks creating a cost-of-postage crisis, as people feel forced to pay for first class stamps because second class delivery days are being slashed,' she added.

Royal Mail said the proposals would mean daily delivery routes cut by between 7,000 to 9,000 within two years.

The group insisted it would not expect to make any compulsory redundancies and hopes the roles can be reduced through natural staff turnover among its 130,000 workforce.

How Royal Mail has changed in terms of letter and parcel delivery and stamp prices

It claimed the proposals would not need a change in legislation, given it would still be delivering first-class post six days a week and called for Ofcom to put the changes in place by April next year.

The six-day-a-week service is part of the universal service requirement stipulated by law under the Postal Services Act 2011.

Under its universal service obligation (USO), Royal Mail must deliver letters six days a week to all 32 million addresses in the UK for the price of a stamp.

Martin Seidenberg, group chief executive of Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services (IDS), insisted the group had 'worked hard to come up with a proposal that is good for our customers, good for our people and would allow Royal Mail to invest in products and services'.

He said: 'If we want to save the universal service, we have to change the universal service.

'Reform gives us a fighting chance and will help us on the path to sustainability.'

Royal Mail said: 'The proposal is designed to create a more financially stable future for the business and its shareholders, protecting tens of thousands of jobs and the best terms and conditions in the industry.

'It closely aligns to changes successfully made in comparable countries - in Europe and around the world - over recent years, with limited changes for customers.'

Ofcom has been consulting on the postal service reforms since January, with a deadline of April 3 set for responses.

The plan comes after the Government ruled out cutting postal rounds from six-days-a-week to just three (Stock Image)

A spokesman for the regulator said: 'We'll carefully consider all the feedback received, and provide an update in the summer.'

Royal Mail has long been urging the Government and Ofcom to review its obligations, arguing that it is no longer workable or cost effective, given the decline in addressed letter post.

In a long-awaited report in January, Ofcom revealed options for an overhaul of the universal postal service that could see Royal Mail's letter delivery service slashed from six days to five, or even three, a week.

Another option mooted was to extend letter delivery times, with a more expensive next-day delivery service available when required.

The proposals sparked an outcry, with ministers quick to dismiss any suggestion that the Government would sanction the scrapping of Saturday deliveries.

Are you affected by the changes? Email richard.percival@mailonline.co.uk
Rishi Sunak has suffered fresh polling woe after the Tories were shown to have slumped to their lowest-ever level in their 'Blue Wall' strongholds.

A new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey put the Conservatives on just 26 per cent across 42 southern constituencies that the party won at the 2019 general election.

Labour led the Tories by eight points in the poll with Sir Keir Starmer's party on 34 per cent support, while the Liberal Democrats were on 20 per cent and Reform UK on 14 per cent.

The Tories' vote share in the latest Redfield & Wilton research was the party's lowest level of support in 'Blue Wall' seats to have ever been found by the pollster.

The Conservatives' vote share was two points lower than the previous record Tory low of 28 per cent, which occurred on 3 March this year and in the pollster's first 'Blue Wall' survey in October 2022, when Liz Truss was PM.

There was further grim news for Mr Sunak as the poll revealed less than half (47 per cent) of those who voted for the Tories at the 2019 election would still back the party.

One-fifth said they would vote for Reform - the Nigel Farage-backed outfit - while 17 per cent would switch to Labour.

The latest dire polling news for the Tories came amid fresh warnings of a leadership challenge against Mr Sunak, should the Conservatives suffer disastrous local election results next month.

The PM was told he would likely suffer another leadership crisis and a worsening 'doom loop' if the Tories failed to hang on to key mayoralties in the West Midlands and Tees Valley on 2 May.

A new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey put the Conservatives on just 26 per cent across 42 southern constituencies that the party won at the 2019 general election

Labour led the Tories by eight points in the 'Blue Wall' poll with Sir Keir Starmer's party on 34% support, while the Liberal Democrats were on 20% and Reform UK on 14%

There was further grim news for Rishi Sunak as the poll revealed less than half (47 per cent) of those who voted for the Tories at the 2019 election would still back the party

Sir Keir enjoyed his largest-ever lead over Mr Sunak when voters were asked who would be a better PM

'Blue Wall' constituencies are defined as the 42 seats that - among other factors - are in the South of England and were won by the Tories in 2019, 2017 and 2015.

The Conservatives won 49.74 per cent of the vote in these constituencies in 2019, with the Lib Dems supported by 27.45 per cent of voters, and Labour third on 20.6 per cent.

In the latest Redfield & Wilton poll of these constituencies, Sir Keir enjoyed his largest-ever lead over Mr Sunak when voters were asked who would be a better PM.

The Labour leader was backed by 39 per cent of voters, while Mr Sunak was chosen by 31 per cent and 30 per cent said they didn't know.

Reform's rise in recent opinion polls has spooked many Tory MPs who are fearing electoral oblivion if the Farage-backed party splits the right-wing vote at the general election.

The Redfield & Wilton poll put Reform on their highest vote share ever in 'Blue Wall' seats on 14 per cent.

The latest 'Blue Wall' survey will compound Tory worries after a YouGov mega-poll published yesterday showed the Conservatives are on course for a worse defeat than in 1997.

A latest YouGov MRP study found the Conservatives would win just 155 seats at the upcoming contest - with a string of top Tories suffering defeat.

This compares to the 165 seats the Tories won in the face of New Labour's landslide victory nearly 27 years ago.

At the last general election in 2019, the Conservatives won 365 seats under then-prime minister Boris Johnson.

The latest MRP study showed Labour are set to win 403 constituencies with Mr Sunak facing a red 'tidal wave' when he calls the general election.

This would leave Labour short of the 418-seat mark they reached under Sir Tony Blair in 1997, but would still hand Sir Keir a stonking 154-seat Commons majority.

The latest dire polling news for the Tories came amid fresh warnings of a leadership challenge against Mr Sunak, should the Conservatives suffer disastrous local election results next month

The results of two contests - re-election bids by Tory incumbents Andy Street (left), the West Midlands mayor, and Ben Houchen (right), the Tees Valley mayor - will be closely monitored

A new YouGov MRP study found the Conservatives would win just 155 seats at the upcoming general election - a worse defeat than in 1997

There is a widespread expectation at Westminster that Mr Sunak could face a fresh attempt by Tory rebels to oust him after next month's local elections.

Along with elections for local councils and police and crime commissioners across England and Wales, the 2 May contests will also see the election of England's regional mayors.

The results of two contests - re-election bids by Tory incumbents Andy Street, the West Midlands mayor, and Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor - will be closely monitored by Mr Sunak's allies and critics.

A former cabinet minister told The Times: 'Andy losing the Midlands is very difficult. Ben losing would be nuclear.'

And a current Government minister added: 'All eyes will be on the mayoralties on polling night.

'If they both lost there would be a leadership crisis and the doom loop would get worse.

'They are not the types to keep quiet and could blame the leader and the brand.'
Grant Shapps has delivered a stark warning that we have 'moved from a post-war to a pre-war world' amid the threat posed by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

The Defence Secretary issued the chilling message as he detailed the current security risks to Western nations on the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding.

He called on Britain's NATO allies to 'do more to pay their way' and urged them to meet the target for each alliance member to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Mr Shapps warned a failure to meet the long-established target was akin to playing 'Russian roulette with our future'.

Only 11 NATO allies currently meet the 2 per cent target, which was first set nearly two decades ago at a 2006 summit.

Although that figure is expected to rise to 18 this year, it means many of NATO's current 32 members are still falling short.

Grant Shapps has delivered a stark warning that we have 'moved from a post-war to a pre-war world' amid the threat posed by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea

A Russian tank fires its cannon at Ukrainian troops from a position near the border with Ukraine in the Belgorod region, Russia

In an article for the Telegraph to mark NATO's 75th anniversary today, Mr Shapps wrote: 'Paying tribute to Nato's past is not enough.

'Today we must give urgent thought once again to the Alliance's future. We have moved from a post-war to a pre-war world.

'Russia is menacing our neighbours. China is increasingly belligerent. Iran is using its proxies to cause regional havoc from the Middle East to the straits of Yemen.

'And North Korea is perpetually rattling its nuclear sabre. Increasingly these malign powers are aligning and our democracy is in their crosshairs.'

The Defence Secretary urged NATO allies to 'redouble our efforts to support Ukraine' following Russia's invasion of its neighbour.

He also called on Western nations to 'bolster our Euro-Atlantic defence sector' by investing in more ammunition and more stockpiles.

And Mr Shapps called on all NATO members to meet the 2 per cent defence spending target.

'Alliance members must do more to pay their way,' he added. 'US taxpayers are not wrong to expect NATO allies to stump up more cash.

'The UK has always met our NATO spending obligations. With our defence budget at 2.28 per cent of GDP and our commitment to increase it 2.5%, we will continue to be a leader in the alliance.

'In the rest of NATO, things are also moving in the right direction. NATO's Secretary General expects at least 18 allies to spend 2 per cent of their GDP on defence this year.

'Last year the number was 11. Poland is increasing its budget by 70 per cent since Russia's illegal incursion into Crimea.

'At the same time, it's 10 years since NATO allies agreed to meet 2 per cent and we must look beyond that target to shore up our defences.

'Yet some nations are still failing to meet even the 2 per cent. That cannot continue. We can't afford to play Russian roulette with our future.'

Mr Shapps' comments echoed a warning by Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron, who said the West needs to 'win the argument for NATO again' as Europe faces the same situation as in 1938.

In his speech at an event in Brussels hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, Lord Cameron said NATO needed to demonstrate its 'relevance' to younger people who had not grown up with the threat of the Cold War.

He said: 'I think we have to win the argument for NATO all over again with a new generation, a generation that can see, yes, look at the threat that Ukraine has faced from Russia, but I think we need to go back to a more foundational argument, which is this.

'Fundamentally, the greatness of NATO is it allows countries to choose their own future.'

He added: 'I think that is the sort of incredibly strong, values-based argument that a younger generation can understand and see.'
Antiques Roadshow and Countryfile viewers have slammed the BBC for 'ramming left wing views down our throats' - as a Sunday double of shows which 'once avoided politics' have been accused of being full of 'moralising claptrap' and 'propaganda'.

Both shows have faced backlash recently over accusations they are patronising viewers with overly political content, after an antiques expert declined to value an item and the BBC was forced to respond to criticism after a 'overly political' Countryfile episode.

Antiques Roadshow expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan refused to value an ivory bangle that was linked to the slave trade on the latest episode of the show on Sunday.

This garnered criticism, including from the Mail columnist Nana Akua, who said the episode 'left a truly nasty taste in my mouth', adding: 'The BBC cannot resist an opportunity to wag its fingers at us, the philistine viewers.'

Antiques Roadshow viewers have criticised the programme, with X/Twitter user Rufus writing: '#BBC now politicsing (sic) #antiquesroadshow after moralising on #countryfile, ramming their left wing views down our throats on programmes that avoided politics & charging us for the privilege.

'Time for #licencefee to go, stand up & see if public want this moralising clap trap.'

Antiques Roadshow (presenter Fiona Bruce pictured) and Countryfile viewers have slammed the BBC for 'ramming left wing views down our throats'

Countryfile presenters (left to right): Joe Crowley, Charlotte Smith, Steve Brown, Sean Fletcher, John Craven, Anita Rani, Tom Heap, Matt Baker, Helen Skelton, Margherita Taylor, Ellie Harrison and Adam Henson

Antiques Roadshow expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan refused to value an object on the latest episode of the BBC show on Sunday

The guest had brought in a disc of ivory, which she revealed she had purchased 36 years ago for 3, which the expert revealed came from the slave trade

The guest revealed she had worked for a family 'looking after them', when the item was put up for sale and she bought it, saying: 'I thought it looked interesting. I had no idea what it was'

A Countryfile segment about dentistry in the countryside caused backlash among viewers

On the most recent Antiques Roadshow episode, the guest who brought in the ivory disk she had purchased 36 years ago for 3. Mr Archer-Morgan said he was upset as he revealed it was linked to a 'despicable' indigenous slave trader from Nigeria.

He told her: 'I want to make it absolutely clear that myself and we in the Antiques Roadshow wholly, unequivocally disapprove of the trade in ivory.

He continued: 'But this ivory bangle here, it's not about trading in ivory, it's about trading in human life. It's probably one of the most difficult things that I've ever had to talk about, but talk about it we must.

'This is an amazing object and a testament to the callous trade that went on in the 17th, 18th, and 19th century.'

Ronnie inspected the disc, pointing to engraved writing around it that showed the name of a person, a ship and the inscription 'honest fellow'.

He revealed the name was of a slave trader and said: 'A despicable human being. I think he was an indigenous trader, somebody from Nigeria. He wouldn't have been trading in his own people, it was another nation, another tribe.

'And then we have "honest fellow". I'd like to meet him and teach him how honest I think he is.'

He continued by noting: 'These objects are really rare. I know of the existence of about half a dozen of these only. It's extraordinary.

'I mean, this is a document for living proof in a way, the surviving proof that this awful trade went on, and look how beautiful the calligraphy is. The beauty of the calligraphy, it just belies the awfulness of the message.'

The bangle was inscribed with the ship name 'Anna' and the year 1782, with the guest revealing that that particular ship contained 535 slaves.

X users have said they won't by watching 'anti British' Antiques Roadshow anymore. One person said: 'Watched Antiques Roadshow since I was a kid. Used to be fascinated but now, along with the rest of the poisonous anti British garbage the BBC churns out, can't be bothered with it anymore!

'There are better shows about antiques elsewhere on TV that don't push endless lefty [cow emoji] [poo emoji].'

Another user wrote: 'That is positively the last time I watch Antiques Roadshow. The politicisation of everything by the BBC is absolutely depressing.'

The BBC was also recently forced to respond to backlash over a Countryfile segment which which looked at the difficulties of accessing dental care for those living in the English countryside.

Viewers have criticised Antiques Roadshow and Countryfile for being overly political

The BBC received complaints from viewers over the Countryfile dentistry segment - as they said it wasn't 'suitable' for the show that usually focuses on farming and wildlife

After the show aired on March 17, the BBC received complaints from viewers about the segment, which was branded as not 'suitable' for the show which usually focuses on farming and wildlife.

'We received complaints from people who felt that the item on dentistry was not suitable for Countryfile,' the broadcaster said.

But hitting back at the complaints, the BBC said the show covers a 'wide range of rural affairs issues affecting rural areas and communities'.

The broadcaster continued: 'In this programme, Countryfile investigated the lack of NHS dentistry provision in Devon and Cornwall. Our film acknowledged this is a national problem but focused on the stories of those living in rural areas.

'Previously the programme has produced diverse films including shortfalls in Special Education Needs provision and the difficulties recruiting Midwifery staff in rural areas.'

At the time, fans took to social media to complain about the dentistry segment as they said: 'Countryfile. Dentists? Am I missing something?',

'What have NHS Dentists got to do with The Countryside? More irrelevant guff to pad out #countryfile.',

'#Countryfile What has lack of dentists got to do with countryside matters?? Is this panorama or Countryfile? My favourite Sunday evening relaxation show ruined.'

Countryfile viewers also recently criticised the show for 'scraping the barrel' over a lack of farming content in the Archaeology at Hinton Ampner episode.

The instalment of the long-running show saw presenter Anita Rani scavenging fields to uncover ancient relics and work alongside experts to measure electrical current in the ground - which is called resistivity.

John Craven also played a prominent part in the episode, as he investigate a prehistoric settlement given the moniker of 'Britain's Pompeii'.

Located at Must Farm, the site was perfectly preserved by a Bronze Age fire and John was offered the chance to handle a pot from the site.

On X, a number of users expressed their dismay at the topic of the special episode, commenting: 'I love Countryfile, except tonight it was boring boring...scraping the barrel it would seem.

'The entire programme is rubbish now. Tonight had sod all to do with farming etc. I love an archaeology programme, but not on Countryfile. The BBC have ruined it, along with many other ones.'

Viewers have criticised Countryfile for a patronising tone, saying that the presenters sound like children's TV hosts

'Archaeology isn't what #Countryfile is meant to be. It's supposed to be about farming not ancient no longer of use relics.'

'Such a boring programme tonight not an animal in sight! #countryfile'.

Viewers have also criticised the show for a patronising tone, saying that the presenters sound like children's TV hosts.

Upset viewer Julie Hulltra wrote on X on Sunday: 'Today's #Countryfile is a special Very Young CBeeBies edition, where every item is being presented in the most babyish voices & language, from sickly squeeing over beavers, to the woman who just described her germination work as making "baby trees".'

Another commenter said: 'I seldom watch countryfile these days as I think it lost its ways years ago. However I caught it last week. Has anyone noticed how it presents like a serious topic was presented by presenters on Blue Peter or news round back in the day , explained very slowly and very simply.'

Antiques Roadshow also caused fury in September last year after an expert suggested the descendants of an ex-governor of British Somaliland should consider the repatriation of artefacts that were given as gifts to their ancestor by Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.

Ronnie Archer-Morgan (left) asked two granddaughters (right) of Sir Harold Kittermaster whether they would repatriate a gift he had been given by the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie on Antiques Roadshow last September

Sir Harold Kittermaster (pictured), who was the governor of British Somaliland between 1926 and 1931, was gifted a golden robe and personal letter by Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie

Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia had a close friendship with Sir Harold Kittermaster

Antiques Roadshow viewers were left incensed by the expert's questioning

Sir Harold Kittermaster, governor of the protectorate between 1926 and 1931, was given a golden robe and personal letter by Haile Selassie.

Ronnie Archer-Morgan valued the robe in the region of 4,000 to 5,000.

But some viewers of the were left incensed when Mr Archer-Morgan asked two granddaughters of Sir Harold whether they would be happy to give away the garment for free.

He said: 'So if there's a call for these things to be repatriated, would you be happy to do that?'

In response, the two unnamed granddaughters said they 'absolutely would' and were going to 'have a think' about what they did with the artefact.

But some viewers, including leading historian Professor David Abulafia at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, called the discussion 'senseless' in light of historical context. Ethiopia has never asked for historic gifts to be returned.

'Even for those who believe in returning objects, this simply doesn't qualify because it was an open gift,' Professor Abulafia told the Telegraph at the time.

'It shows how people get caught up in a fashionable idea and they don't actually think through the fundamental principles.

'In this case, we're dealing with a gift  and to whom should it go?

'Ethiopia  well the Empire has been dissolved so you have a revolutionary government and they don't qualify, while Somaliland is an anomalous state which has no international recognition, so where on Earth would one send it?

'Some of these completely unhistorical demands for restitution are extraordinary, it felt like it was the answer they were expected to give.'

At the time, a BBC spokesman said: 'Where we have relevant details about an item, experts explore the wider questions of provenance in relation to a variety of contexts, including the history of the British Empire, which in this instance was around Britain's role in Africa in the early 20th century.'

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.
Carol Vorderman is taking her anti-Tory campaign on tour and will publish a political diary on how she 'exposed the incompetence and lies' of the government.

Out Of Order: What's Gone Wrong With Britain And One Woman's Mission To Fix It will be published on September 12 and will be supported by Carol Vorderman Live! Out Of Order tour across 11 dates in the UK.

The book is billed as 'part diary, part political manifesto' which sees Vorderman 'reveal the intricate web of influence responsible for our nation's unravelling'.

It comes after Ms Vorderman was told to leave her BBC Radio Wales show for breaching the broadcaster's new social media guidelines, as she vowed to continue her anti-Tory rants.

Ms Vorderman has been outspoken on social media about the Tory government. She was asked to leave her BBC show

The former Countdown star had been accused of 'flagrantly breaching' the BBC's impartiality rules

Speaking about her new book and tour, the former Countdown star, 63, said: 'I've been fighting this appalling Tory government with evidence and data, looking into the morally corrupt and questionable contracts they've signed with donors and associates.

'It's endless, and exhausting and heartbreaking. I've never known this country in such a state, with so little help and hope offered to those who need it.

'But the tide has turned and I'm proud to have been a part of it.'

She continued: 'Out Of Order explores the blatant hypocrisy of those who govern us and how they make the system work for them and not for us.

'It's a rollicking read including the fights, being bullied, Tory resignations, and what goes on behind the scenes, but I hope it will show you how your voice can be heard. Together we're stronger.'

Ms Vorderman had been accused of 'flagrantly breaching' the BBC's impartiality rules with her anti-Tory outbursts, which have included calling ministers 'a lying bunch of greedy, corrupt, destructive, hateful, divisive, gaslighting crooks'.

Particularly notable has been her long-running feud with Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer and his wife Felicity.

The Conservative MP was accused by Ms Vorderman of breaking a promise to end homelessness among ex-forces personnel when numbers had risen by 14 per cent.

Mr Mercer complained that Ms Vorderman and the Labour candidate in his Plymouth seat, Fred Thomas, were 'deliberately misleading people' to 'make your sh** lonely life better'.

The announcement of Ms Vorderman's new book comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak indicated the next general election will be in the second half of this year

Mr Mercer complained that Vorderman and the Labour candidate in his Plymouth seat, Fred Thomas, were 'deliberately misleading people' about his pledge on homelessness to 'make your sh** lonely life better'

Vorderman hit back by branding Mr Mercer 'childish' and saying he was 'slinging abuse'

Mr Mercer voiced 'frustration' with the allegations about his homelessness promise, and jibed that Vorderman was 'irrelevant'

Carol Vorderman tour dates

Manchester, Friday 13, Chester, Saturday 14 Bristol, Sunday 15 Oxford, Tuesday 17, Guildford, Friday 20 London, Saturday 21 Birmingham, Tuesday 24 Cardiff, Wednesday 25 Newcastle Upon Tyne, Friday 27 Doncaster, Saturday 28 Buxton, Monday 30 Advertisement

'No one normal really cares about your view. They think you're mad. I'm changing veterans' lives. What I came into politics to do,' he posted on X.

Ms Vorderman hit back by branding Mr Mercer 'childish' and saying he was 'slinging abuse'.

When leaving the BBC, Ms Vorderman said she was 'not prepared to lose my voice' before joining LBC to front a new Sunday programme.

At the time, she said she would be using her voice 'to cause a commotion' and 'hold the corrupt to account without fear or favour'.

The BBC brought in new social media rules for its presenters following outrage earlier this year over Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker's tweet which comparing the Government's Rwanda policy to Nazi Germany.

The rules prevent high-profile stars from attacking political parties and individual politicians as well as weighing into controversial issues before elections or referendums.

The announcement of Ms Vorderman's new book comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak indicated the next general election will be in the second half of this year.

Publisher Headline said the book showed 'how we can all find our voice and stand up for what we believe in' with an election looming.

Deputy publishing director Yvonne Jacob said: 'Since the moment I joined Headline, Carol Vorderman has been at the top of my target list.

'Carol's tireless campaigning is led by a genuine desire to see positive change and help to restore a society and state that is there to serve the many, not just the few.

'I am incredibly proud to be publishing this vital book and thrilled to welcome Carol to Headline.'

Out Of Order will be published in hardback, ebook and audiobook. Tickets for the live show go on sale tomorrow, April 5.
The weeping mother of a young girl brutally gang-raped by armed thugs said after nine of them were shot dead by South African police: 'My daughter will now get peace from this'.

The 52-year-old mum added: 'I will be able to sleep at last and I know my daughter will have peace in her heart as she knows that she will never ever see those boys again.

'It is so hard every day having to live with having seen your daughter raped in front of you' she said.

The life of the traumatised mother-of-two was turned upside down when the gang who terrorised their neighbourhood for a year broke their way into her home targeting her daughter.

The violent gang of 11 young men aged between 18 and 22 had been behind a vicious mini-crime wave in the suburb of Durban for over a year and were wanted for at least five murders.

They had used automatic weapons, pistols and machetes to bring fear to locals and forced three families out of their homes in Mariannhill which they took over as their gang HQ.

But on Wednesday their luck ran out when a team of elite firearms officers were sent in to deal with them after they gang-raped a helpless woman in front of her mum and sister.

Forensic workers examine the scene where suspected criminals were killed during a police raid in Marianhill near Durban

Grieving family members were forced to identify the bodies of the alleged gang members

South African Police are currently waging a war on gangs who are engaged in a deadly battle for territory and control of the drugs, liquor and prostitution market

The masked and armed gang burst in through the kitchen door on March 28 and beat the 52-year-old mother and her two daughters age 16 and 24 in a blatant house robbery.

But then their attention switched to the eldest daughter who they then began to strip and then gang rape while the terrified mother and younger sister had to watch and listen.

Less than a week later nine of the gang lay dead in their HQ which had been turned according to locals into an 'abattoir' where they died during a two-minute gun battle with cops.

Swift justice was delivered on the ruthless gang by the crack KZN Provincial Stabilisation Team who had been mobilised after a tip-off as to where the gang were hiding out.

Angered by the brutal rape which had inflamed tempers in the terrified community the police team went in under the cover of darkness but a lookout warned the criminals.

The gang made the mistake of opening fire first and in a devastating response the firearms unit returned a barrage of fire which ended the young lives of the 9 desperados inside.

Two of the gang are believed to have escaped and are being hunted down by the team.

Yesterday the families of the nine dead gang members made a tearful procession past a dozen police vehicles and pathology teams to identify the bloodied bodies of their loved ones.

But the mother of the raped girl was praising the police action which will at last bring order to the once peaceful neighbourhood which is already coming together again as a unit.

The mother, who would not be named to protect her daughter, told reporters: 'It won't change what happened but it will bring closure to my daughter and to all of us as a family.

'What makes it worse is these were young boys I saw grow up in front of me and then they found drugs and firearms and then in numbers they grew and became so powerful'.

The weeping mother said that the gang broke in last week at about midnight while they were asleep and demanded money and started taking the TV and their mobile phones.

She told TimesLive: 'They wanted more money but I said I didn't have it and then they began assaulting me and my 16-year-old daughter and pushed us both onto the bed.

'While this was happening they were raping my older daughter and I could hear her screaming for help but I could do nothing as they were armed and assaulting us.

'I don't think my daughter will ever come back to stay here with me after what happened and I also think I'll be coming back to my house any time soon  I may have to sell it.

'My child is away staying with relatives as these guys were still roaming the area carrying out more crimes and she is undergoing counselling and was fearing they could return.

'I am staying at a friend's some way away from home and it is so painful to have your child raped while you are there and then forced to be separated from them by criminals'.

South African Police are currently waging a war on gangs who are engaged in a deadly battle for territory and control of the drugs, liquor and prostitution market

An elite firearm unit shot dead a gang of nine suspected of the gang rape of a young girl in front of her mother and other serious crimes in Durban

The mother made a living from renting several properties she owns but they have been left unoccupied as people were too scared of the gang to move in.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said the suspects that made up the gang were on their radar for a number of serious and violent crimes in the area.

He said they included murder, rape, armed robberies, house robberies theft and assault.

Col Netshiunda added: 'The Provincial Stabilisation Team pounced on the gang in the early hours of Wednesday morning and the shoot-out happened when they opened fire on us.

'The suspects have been behind a number of serious and violent crimes including murder but then raped this young girl and had made her mother watch during a house robbery.

'Information was received that the gang were planning a hit and we received intelligence giving an address and 9 gang members were shot dead and a hunt is on for 2 others'.

Police sources said at the time the police moved in on the gang they had just robbed two locals at gunpoint and were inside their HQ planning an execution of a rival gang boss.

One said: 'Information came our way that they were putting together a hit and that all 11 would be there and we took out 9 of them but unfortunately two of them got away.

'But we are on their tail and they most definitely will not be coming back here' he said.

Community police forum chairperson Dawood Chirwa said: 'This area had become a no-go zone and it's sad because these were just young kids that were known and grew up here.

'Then they got guns and brought terror to our community. A scared community can't do much because you report them and word goes around and these boys come back for you.'

Local ward councillor Reginald Cloete believes there are more members of the gang and said: 'Hopefully a message has been sent out and they will not return to this community'.

A local businessman, who would not be named, said: 'When it was dark the terror came and you locked the doors and stayed inside and hoped the gang would not come after you,

'Now people can sleep peacefully as the police have brought us the safety we so needed.

'There is no point in just arresting people this because they get R250 bail (10) and within 15 minutes have robbed someone to get their bail money back and it all begins again.

'Bullets are better than bail and hopefully we can rebuild our community' he said.

Police found guns and a rifle in the house and are searching for two more gang members

South African Police in KZN are said to be waging a war on criminals who open fire on them first and so far this year some 37 suspects in KZN Province have been shot dead.

Every day in South Africa there are 75 murders and 120 rapes mainly carried out between rival gangs in impoverished areas where police patrols rarely venture.

X users showed little sympathy with one saying: 'I feel sorry for the parents. But those m..fkers had to die'. Another said: 'Case close  beautiful work KZN police'.
Police in Scotland have been accused of 'making it up as they go' and favouring the famous after they refused to go after JK Rowling or Humza Yousaf - but did take action on Murdo Fraser's post calling 'non-binary as valid as identifying as a cat'.

As anger over Scotland's controversial hate crime law continues to grow, Conservative MSP Mr Fraser has demanded 'urgent clarity' from Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell.

Last November, Mr Fraser was found to have committed a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) after he tweeted: 'Choosing to identify as 'non-binary' is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. I'm not sure Governments should be spending time on action plans for either.'

An NCHI is when a complaint does not meet the threshold for a crime but is perceived to be 'motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a social group', according to Police Scotland guidance.

At the time, he said he was 'found guilty' of 'hate' by Police Scotland. But he has now questioned the consistency of the laws after comments made by Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Scotland First Minister Mr Yousaf were not logged.

The force confirmed this week that a series of tweets made by JK Rowling - in which she referred to 10 high-profile trans women including convicted sex offenders as 'men, every last one of them' - did not meet the threshold for crime or a NCHI.

Police Scotland also said Mr Yousaf's speech about 'often being the only non-white person in the room' - which he gave while he was justice secretary - would not be logged as an NCHI.

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has accused Police Scotland of 'making it up as they go'

As anger over Scotland's controversial hate crime law continues to grow, Conservative MSP Mr Fraser has demanded 'urgent clarity' from Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell

Mr Fraser's comments last year were logged as an NCHI but Police Scotland said Humza Yousaf and JK Rowling's would not be

Mr Fraser, who is considering legal action against Police Scotland, claimed the force's decision was politically biased

In response to seeing her comments would not be recorded as an NCHI, JK Rowling tweeted: 'Again, I trust everyone will be treated the same way if they express themselves similarly. Nobody should have a 'Hate Incident' logged against them for accurately describing, or asserting the importance and reality, of biological sex. We must all be equal under the law.'

Scotland's new hate crime law criminalises 'stirring up hatred' against a number of protected characteristics including age, transgender identity, disability and people who are intersex - but has sparked protests amid fears it will restrict free speech.

The Scottish Government has previously said deliberately misgendering someone - referring to someone by pronouns other than those that they prefer - would not be criminalised under the new legislation.

Rowling - who had dared police to arrest her - had posted a series of tweets in which she spoke out against 10 trans women, including double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years last year for raping two women.

The attacks were carried out when Bryson, born Adam Graham, was a man.

Mr Fraser, who is considering legal action against Police Scotland, has written a letter to the chief constable about his concerns.

He said: 'I am writing to you concerning Police Scotland yesterday announcing, that contrary to its stated policy, NCHIs would not be recorded in relation to comments made by First Minister Humza Yousaf and the author JK Rowling. I have a number of serious questions which arise from this and for which I would be grateful to have your urgent response.'

He also claimed the force's decision was politically biased.

Reacting to Mr Yousaf and Ms Rowling's remarks not being recorded as NCHIs, he said: 'This decision means Police Scotland have not only breached their own policy on recording non-crime hate incidents, but now appear to be making it up as they go along.

'They have taken a different approach to comments made by the SNP first minister to those made by an opposition politician. It is hard not to conclude that Police Scotland has been captured by the SNP policy agenda and that this is a decision that reeks of political bias.

'I hope the chief constable will contact me urgently with an immediate apology for recording a hate incident against me and confirming all records in relation to it have been destroyed. They should also ditch their existing unlawful policy  as has been done in England and Wales  which I believe is a clear breach of people's human rights.'

It comes as the Scottish Tories estimate that 1.4million complaints could be made under the controversial new law in the first year.

A protest against the new hate crime laws took place outside the Scottish Parliament on April 1, the day the legislation came into effect

Humza Yousaf (pictured on Monday) has received more complaints under Scotland's new hate crime bill than JK Rowling , it has been revealed today

Calum Steele, the former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said that around 3,800 cases were logged within the first 24 hours of the act coming into force Monday.

The Scottish Tories have claimed that if the rate continues for the next 12 months, a total of 1.387 million crimes will be reported during 2024/2025 financial year.

Mr Yousaf is believed to be the subject of the most complaints under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which creates a new crime of 'stirring up hatred' towards certain protected characteristics.

These are a person's age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.

An insider told the Sun: 'A lot of those complaints were about Humza Yousaf, on the same complaint about his parliamentary rant. JK Rowling has had some, but not as many as Humza Yousaf.'

A 2020 video of Mr Yousaf speaking in the Scottish Parliament in the wave of the Black Lives Matter protests has been circulated for years, out of context, by far-right Twitter accounts seeking to portray the First Minister as racist.

Some of the posts made by JK Rowling on X/Twitter on transgender women, which police say did not meet the criminal threshold when assessed under Scotland's new hate crime laws

Bryson, 31, formerly known as Adam Graham, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was moved to a men's prison after an outcry

In the clip, the SNP leader tells of how people are often surprised he is the only 'non-white person in the room' at most of the meetings he attends.

He then adds: 'The Lord President is white, the Lord Justice Clerk is white, every High Court judge is white, the Lord Advocate is white, the Solicitor General is white, the chief constable is white, every deputy chief constable is white, every assistant chief constable is white, the head of the Law Society is white, the head of the Faculty of Advocates is white and every prison governor is white.'

Mr Yousaf was seeking to highlight how few people of colour are in positions of power in Scotland's parliament and government - but far-right activists stripped the clip of context and sought to suggest he was calling for a reduction in the number of white people in Scotland.

News agency Reuters issued a fact-checking note on the video after Elon Musk, owner of troubled social network X, formerly Twitter, branded Mr Yousaf a 'blatant racist' in response to a post of the video from a well-known right-wing account.

Police Scotland said complaints were received at the time of the debate but were not deemed to have met the threshold of a crime. They also confirmed comments from before midnight on April 1, 2024, would be looked at under older legislation.

The First Minister's remarks will also not be logged as an NCHI.

A Police Scotland spokesperson also said: 'We have received a number of complaints in relation to a speech in the Scottish Parliament on June 10, 2020.

The hate crime bill, introduced on Monday, criminalises 'threatening or abusive behaviour' intended to stir up hatred against someone's identity

Women's rights campaigners have hit out at Scotland's new hate crime law (pictured: protests outside the Scottish Parliament on April 1)

Opponents of the law say it will threaten free speech - but the SNP has insisted it will protect freedom of expression

'Earlier complaints regarding this matter were assessed at the time and it was established no crime was committed and no further action was required.'

NCHIs have been around for many years and are not part of the new Hate Crime and Public Order Act - but critics fear the new legislation could lead to an increase in hate incidents being logged against innocent people.

Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, said: 'It seems Police Scotland are revising their policy on recording non-crime hate incidents on the hoof in order to avoid the embarrassment of recording incidents against an internationally, renowned author & philanthropist & the First Minister of Scotland.

'This really isn't good enough & calls into question the application of the policy to date. The policy should be applied equally to everyone.

'Police Scotland should wipe their existing database of non-crime hate incidents and carry out a proper review of their policy in line with the principle of equality before the law.'

Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, said: 'It seems Police Scotland are revising their policy on recording non-crime hate incidents on the hoof...'

It comes as Siobhian Brown, the SNP community safety minister, said 'misinformation and hysteria' have led to wrongful assumptions about the legislation.

She also said that one of the 4,000 complaints made to Police Scotland since it came into effect was submitted by someone pretending to be her.

'I think also, in the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of misinformation and hysteria regarding this bill being introduced,' she told BBC Radio Scotland.

'I was surprised myself on Monday to receive a call from Police Scotland about my complaint - this was a fake complaint someone had done anonymously in my name, and gave my office number.

'I think this shows the publicity and misinformation that's out there about this Act, that people are making fake and vexatious complaints.'

Since the law came into effect, a house close to Mr Yousaf's in the Dundee suburb of Broughty Ferry has been daubed with racist graffiti containing derogatory references to Muslims and Pakistani people.

It has been universally condemned by the leaders of Scotland's political parties, and police are investigating.

Elsewhere, the decision not to investigate Rowling's comments prompted an outcry from transgender newsreader India Willoughby - one of the 10 trans women targeted in the writer's thread of tweets - who accused officers of getting 'stardust in their eyes'.

But on Tuesday, Rowling responded to the decision, writing online: 'If they go after any woman for simply calling a man a man, I'll repeat that woman's words and they can charge us both at once.'

She was supported by X owner Elon Musk - who has a transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, who has distanced herself from her father - as he responded to the tweet with a fire emoji.

Musk has voiced his opposition to the new hate crime law, which carries penalties of up to seven years in prison in the most severe cases.

Rowling - who also writes under the male pen name of Robert Galbraith - was also given support by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak , who said on Tuesday: 'We should not be criminalising people for saying common-sense things about biological sex .'
A seven-month-pregnant woman has been murdered by her boyfriend in a suspected honour killing, police in Sweden say.

Saga Forsgren Elneborg, 20, was found strangled to death - possibly with a lamp cord - at home in the city of Orebro - which is two hours from the capital Stockholm.

Prosecutors claim that her boyfriend, Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim, 22, from Somalia, killed her in April last year rather than face the shame of introducing the mother of his child to his Muslim family.

Saga's family said via their lawyer that it had been a 'long and painful wait' of over a year before Ibrahim was charged for Saga's murder a week ago. He does not appear to have been charged with the murder of his unborn child.

Police released a 1,000 page arrest report containing pictures of the possible murder weapon, the lamp cord, and crime scene in the bedroom - where Saga's body was found next to her bed, reportedly buried under a marble table top.

Indeed, prosecutors state that he grew up in a household that believed dating a 'white' woman is 'not okay' and that he 'must date a woman of the same culture' - and concealed the two year relationship from his mother because she would not accept it.

Saga Forsgren Elneborg (pictured), 20, was strangled to death with a lamp cord in her flat in the Swedish city of Orebro - allegedly by her boyfriend, Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim, local media report

Prosecutors claim that her boyfriend, Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim (pictured together), 22, from Somalia, killed her in April last year rather than face the shame of introducing the mother of his child to his Muslim family

This is the lamp found at the crime scene. Saga was strangled, possibly with the black cord of this bedside lamp

Police have released pictures of the murder weapon and the crime scene in her bedroom, where Saga's body was found next to her bed (yellow), reportedly buried under a marble table top (centre, on the bed). Pictured on the left is the table underlay and right a phone charging cable

Saga's (pictured) family said via their lawyer that it had been a 'long and painful wait' until Ibrahim was charged for Saga's murder a week ago

A handout picture released by local police shows Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim. He appears to be 6'3ft tall

In the indictment, prosecutor Elisabeth Anderson wrote: 'Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim has killed Saga Forsgren Elneborg by suffocating and strangling her by means of pressure on her neck with an impact on the trachea and the blood supply to the head.'

She added in a press release: 'I mean that the murder took place in an honor context because the man wanted to preserve or restore his and his family's honor by killing the woman who was carrying his child.'

In text messages to Saga, Ibrahim told her he would tell his relatives about their relationship and baby on April 28, 2023 - the night of Saga's murder.

He expressed feeling nervous about telling them and wrote: 'Feels like I can almost feel my heartbeat all the way down to my stomach.'

Saga tried to reassure him and promised that 'it will be fine'. In his last text to his girlfriend, Ibrahim claimed he told one person. Saga's follow-up messages, asking him how it was going and for him to 'talk to me', remained unanswered.

State prosecutor Elisabeth Anderson alleges that Ibrahim then went to Saga's flat, where he 'violently' strangled her to death with the cable of her bedside lamp, according to local outlet Aftonbladet.

Their baby boy, who weighed 1.7kg at the time and measured just 1.5ft from head to toe, also died inside Saga's womb.

There is no evidence to suggest that Ibrahim's family was either involved in Saga's murder or that they asked for her to be killed, according to local media.

Further text messages between the Saga and her alleged killer revealed that Ibrahim tried to convince his girlfriend to have an abortion shortly after she got pregnant, but Saga (pictured) wanted to have the child and was excited about becoming a mother

A selfie taken by Saga shows her pregnant standing next to a lovingly-made crib in her bedroom, ready for the arrival of her baby son Esaiah

In text messages to Saga, Ibrahim (pictured) told her he would tell his relatives about their relationship and baby on April 28, 2023 - the night of Saga's murder

Saga's mother told Swedish outlet Nerikes Allehanda : 'She was so happy. She would move to a new apartment and start her life as a mother. This is the worst thing imaginable'

Saga, who was excited about becoming a mother, sent ultrasound pictures of her baby son to her loved ones

She also shared a picture of her positive pregnancy test with her loved ones

In another picture, Saga shows off tiny socks and trainers for her baby son in red, grey, white and black by sports brand Jordan

Another ultrasound photo, which Saga held up in one hand to take a photo of it, also showed her unborn son

Saga also purchased matching baby clothes for her unborn son in neutral colours grey, beige, brown and white

Further text messages between the Saga and her alleged killer revealed that Ibrahim tried to convince his girlfriend to have an abortion shortly after she got pregnant.

'I know we can make it, but I won't be able to keep my family. If it had been possible, there would have been no problem with keeping the child,' he told her.

But Saga was excited about becoming a mother, telling him that she would have the baby, even without her boyfriend's support, according to Anderson.

Heartbreaking photos show how Saga had prepared to become a mother, excitedly sharing snaps and milestones with her friends and family.

One selfie taken by Saga shows her pregnant standing next to a lovingly-made crib in her bedroom, ready for the arrival of her baby son Esaiah.

She also sent ultrasound pictures of her baby son to her loved ones, as well as a picture of her positive pregnancy test.

In another picture, Saga showed off tiny socks and trainers for her baby son in red, grey, white and black by sports brand Jordan.

A second selfie taken during her pregnancy shows Saga smiling into the camera as she lovingly touched her baby bump.

Saga's mother told Swedish outlet Nerikes Allehanda: 'She was so happy. She would move to a new apartment and start her life as a mother. This is the worst thing imaginable.'

'Saga was 20 years old and longed to be a mother to her boy who was waiting in her belly... In brutal and completely inhuman ways, someone [..] took your everything from you, they took your life and the life of your little boy,' one of Saga's relatives wrote on Facebook.

Saga, right, pictured with her boyfriend and alleged killer, Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim

A selfie taken during her pregnancy shows Saga smiling into the camera as she lovingly touches her baby bump

A picture included in the police report showed pregnant Saga, forming a heart with her hands as she is holding them over her baby bump

Text messages between Saga (pictured) and Ibrahim reveal that he had planned to tell his relatives about their relationship and baby on April 28, 2023 - the night of Saga's murder

A collage of pictures shows Saga during her pregnancy, lovingly holding her baby bump

Pictured above is the gravestone of Saga and her unborn son Esaiah

Despite her refusal to have the abortion he asked for, Ibrahim continued the relationship and planned for a future with Saga.

Anderson alleges that Ibrahim did not believe that his family would live 'honourably' if he had the baby with his girlfriend, but kept this from his girlfriend to not make her feel guilty and to not 'make her take the baby away'.

The prosecutor also claims that Ibrahim's DNA was found under Saga's fingernails.

'It has been and still is a difficult time for all [of] Saga's relative,' said Elisabeth Massi Fritz, who represents Saga's family.

'The murder of Saga is a cruel and ruthless murder with an honor motive. There are many aggravating circumstances in the deed which we will highlight during the trial,' Massi Fritz told Aftonbladet.

Ibrahim is due to go on trial for the murder on April 10, nearly a year after his girlfriend Saga was killed. The trial is expected to last 15 days.

He denies any wrongdoing and told police in an interrogation that he loved Saga and was still in disbelief over her death: 'I have been in denial for nine months now.'
A mystery piece of artwork that appeared overnight on a Birmingham street is not by world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy, it has been confirmed.

The Wizard of Oz-themed painting has appeared on the side of the Sidewalk bar in the city's Gay Village in Kent Street. It depicts Dorothy reaching for her famous ruby red slippers, which have been hung over an electric cable nearby.

Phil Oldershaw, the director of the pub, said he was alerted to the mural's appearance on the side of their property this morning and planned to protect it with Perspex.

Its appearance has sparked speculation that it might be the latest work of the elusive artist, after a Birmingham-based art critic said the work had 'all the hallmarks of Banksy'.

However, he has not claimed the work on social media and a spokesman for the artist said: 'This isn't by the artist Banksy.'

The actual artist behind the Dorothy mural has not yet been revealed, but one theory being touted is that the etching is a plug for the new Wicked musical - which is being shown in the Birmingham Hippodrome this week.

The painting of Dorothy has appeared on the side of the Sidewalk bar in the city's Gay Village in Kent Street and has 'all the hallmarks of Banksy'

The etching depicts the shoeless character reaching for her famous ruby red slippers

Her famous ruby red slippers have been hung over an electric cable nearby

Mr Oldershaw confirmed that his staff had no idea where the mural had come from and said there had been a 'social media frenzy' ever since it was painted.

He said: 'It wasn't there when the manager locked up last night. It's still a mystery. I've asked our maintenance team to go and cover it in perspex - I'm going to protect it whether it's Banksy or not. It would be a great thing for Birmingham - and it makes Southside (the area of the city centre) look great too.'

Many believed the work was that of the famous underground artist, with Ruth Millington, an art historian and critic, telling the Mirror: 'Banksy doesn't just stick to 2D art, he plays with objects in real life. We can see the artwork interacting with the shoes on the telephone wire which is very clever. It's also interesting to note that Banksy has used Dorothy in his art before, he likes putting her in interesting places.

'It's also interesting to note that Banksy has used Dorothy in his art before, he likes putting her in interesting places.

'Banksy does site-specific artworks which carry meaning too. Here we've got Dorothy in the Gay Village, and her red shoes definitely carry associations with gay and queer culture where she's become a bit of an icon.

'I think the timing is quite interesting too, we're hearing a lot about the city's cultural scene and the cuts it's facing - and this could be Banksy drawing attention to that.

'For me it's got all the elements a Banksy would have, whereas copycat artwork tends to not include all of these elements together. There's clearly thinking behind this artwork.'

However, Banksy did not to claim if the Kent Street mural is his own work, leading some people to argue that the art is part of a publicity stunt for the new Wicked musical, which is being shown in the Birmingham Hippodrome this week, less than half a mile from Kent Street.

It would have been the second Banksy piece to be displayed in Birmingham, after the artist depicted a powerful message about homelessness onto the Jewellery Quarter in 2019.

The painting depicted a pair of galloping reindeer and was defaced within hours of being unveiled, with the reindeers sprayed to have red noses.

Banksy is yet to claim if the Kent Street mural is his own work, leading some people to argue that the art is part of a publicity stunt for the new Wicked musical, which is being shown in the Birmingham Hippodrome this week

Banksy's first work in Birmingham was a powerful message about homelessness depicted onto the Jewellery Quarter

His most recent work was seen on March 18, when a tree mural appeared on the side of a residential building in Finsbury Park

Banksy's most recent work was seen on March 18, when a tree mural appeared on the side of a residential building in Finsbury Park, north London, which the artist claimed to be his via an Instagram post.

Islington Council elected to introduce security for the work, after vandals threw white paint over it soon after it was unveiled.

Residents of the adjacent block of flats slammed the decision, claiming the authority cared more about the artwork than human life.

Viewed as a cross between the Scarlet Pimpernel and Robin Hood, Banksy has acquired near cult status, lauded for holding the mighty to account with spray paint before retreating back into the urban undergrowth, whilst acquiring an overall fortune of 50million for his work.

After a year-long investigation in 2008, the Mail on Sunday claimed Banksy was a 50-year-old man called Robin Gunningham, after building a 'mountain of evidence'.

Yet today, a quarter of a century since the first work appeared in his home city of Bristol, the myth of his true identity persists.
GOP Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is back on the campaign trail just days after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in her leg, as she thanked well-wishers for their 'prayers and support'.

The 37-year-old, who is facing a tough re-election campaign in a new district, is now back meeting voters - with her team hailing her as a 'tough lady' who is 'earning every vote'.

She was admitted to a Colorado hospital Monday, complaining of severe swelling in the upper part of her left leg, according to her campaign.

There, she was diagnosed with May-Thurner Syndrome, a rare vascular condition that affects a vein in the pelvis and can cause deep vein thrombosis, which her spokesman suggested her condition could be caused by sitting down too much.

She was quickly admitted for surgery to remove the clot that day, with a stent fitted Tuesday morning - but has since declared 'I'm not slowing down!'

Boebert is pictured at a re-election event on March 23 in Adams County

Her time in office has been rocked by a series of scandals, most famously when she was asked to leave a performance of Beetlejuice over sexually groping her date

She has now broken her silence on social media, to X to explain why she has headed back to work so soon: 'We can't make America great again unless we're giving it 1000 percent! We've got a country to save!'

She said to her followers yesterday: 'THANK YOU to everyone who has reached out to me and our team to send their prayers and support, it has meant the world to me! Hoping to see you all back on the campaign trail soon!'

Boebert is attempting to win a seat in the state's Fourth Congressional District in 2024 after previously winning two terms in the third, and was most recently pictured at a re-election event on March 27.

The shock hospital admission meant she has had to put her campaign on hold temporarily, but she made good on her promise to return to work quickly.

Her team earlier said that she was in 'good spirits' and was excited to be 'getting back to Congress to continue fighting for Colorado.'

Dr. Rebecca Bade, who worked on Boebert's case at UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies, said that people who get the procedure the Congresswoman received 'are able to live and work just as they have in the past after a brief recovery.'

Dr. Rebecca Bade, who worked on Boebert's case at UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies, said that people who get the procedure the Congresswoman received 'are able to live and work just as they have in the past after a brief recovery'

May-Thurner syndrome is most common in adults between 20 to 50 years old, including women who have been pregnant. Boebert has four sons with ex-husband Jayson Boebert.

'An exact cause is unknown, but dehydration, travel, and extended periods of sitting have all been identified as potential factors in causing symptoms of May-Thurner Syndrome,' her campaign said as news of her condition emerged.

She received well wishes from former New York Congressman and ally George Santos on X.

'Lauren underwent a surgery and has come out on the other end of it and is doing well,' he wrote about his 'dear friend.'

Boebert received well wishes from former New York Congressman and ally George Santos

'I want to thank all the medical staff that looked after my friend and the Doctors who took this enormous responsibility. It's everyday hero's [sic] like these that we need to be thanking everyday.'

What is May-Thurner syndrome?

May-Thurner syndrome is a rarely diagnosed condition in which patients develop iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis (DVT). This is usually due to the right common iliac artery compressing the left common iliac vein against the lumbar spine. It has been shown to be present in over 20 per cent of the population; however, it is rarely considered in the differential diagnosis of DVT, particularly in patients with other risk factors. It is most common in adults between 20 to 50 years old, including women who have been pregnant. Source: National Library of Medicine Advertisement

Boebert surprised Colorado Republicans last Christmas when she announced her decision to leave the 3rd District and run for office to replace the retiring Rep. Ken Buck in the 4th District.

Boebert, the controversial MAGA Republican now endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has embraced the 'carpetbagger' label, traveling around the district to convince voters she is ready to fight for them, despite the drama surrounding her personal life and her messy divorce from her ex-husband.

She has been fighting against allegations from liberals and even some moderate Republicans that she has a reckless nature.

Her time in office has been rocked by a series of scandals, most famously when she was asked to leave a performance of Beetlejuice over sexually groping her date.

Boebert faces at least 11 other Republican candidates in the June 25 primary.

However, her popularity with the MAGA base may still save her as she faces a crowded primary and the local GOP gave her a boost last week.

A Colorado Republican panel made a surprising decision Thursday night, choosing a former mayor, Greg Lopez, to be U.S. Rep. Ken Buck's likely replacement until the November general election.

While Lopez is likely to win in the dark red district, he will be a placeholder and plans to step down after the general election winner is sworn into office in January.

Two of Boebert's primary opponents who came in second and third, the special election candidacy would have been a boon and allowed them incumbency leading up to the general election in November.
Spencer Matthews hid under the bed at his parents' St Barts hotel after he feared bodyguards for Colonel Gaddafi's son were going to kill him following a row over a girl in a nightclub.

Matthews told how he was petrified as the security guards for army officer Mutassim Billah Gaddafi - a regular on the Caribbean island- came banging on his door at the 14,000-a-night Eden Roc when he was a teenager.

Speaking on the Mail's Everything I Know About Me podcast, the star told how he had been on a date at the famous Feeling nightspot when Gaddafi, who later died in 2011, approached him and the woman, named Sophie, and rudely suggested she would be sleeping with him that night.

Matthews, 36, says he defended the woman and shortly afterwards a group of bodyguards came after him and he was forced to flee the nightclub.

However, the security men would not allow him to leave the car park so Matthews says he just 'drove at them'.

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Spencer Matthews spoke about the incident on the Mail's Everything I Know About Me podcast

Spencer Matthews in a photograph he posted on Instagram of him at Eden Roc in St Barts

An interior of a room at the St Barts hotel Eden Roc, where Matthews was staying at the time

He said: 'I was single at the time and there was a young lady who was new to the Eden Roc, she was called Sophie.

'We went up to a nightclub called Feeling. It was quite seedy in nature but very famous. We were in there at the back enjoying ourselves and this guy came up to me and was just incredibly rude.

'I won't say what he said to me but it was along the lines of 'you are going to spend the night in bed with me tonight' - not to me but to Sophie, in front of me.

'I had a mouth on me and my levels of confidence certainly weren't depleted at the time. I was pretty rude to him back and we had this argument over it and he disappeared off.

'I couldn't believe what this guy has just said as, out of the corner of my eye, I see him and these three or four security guards - they were like aliens, the size of them, their shoulders went almost directly into their ears they were so big.

'I don't know what they were eating or injecting but these guys were just total monsters of men, four, five of them all dressed in black and I saw them tearing through the crowd, coming our way.

'I thought 'we have to get the hell of here now'. So I grabbed her hand and ran to the back, the fire exit, out of the club into the car. There was only one way out of the car park, you had to drive through.

'These guys ran out and stood in front of the gate. I was trapped in the car park.

Matthews feared bodyguards for Colonel Gaddafi's son Mutassim Billah Gaddafi (pictured) were going to kill him

Mutassim Billah Gaddafi smokes a cigarette before his death in Sirte on October 20, 2011

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim Billah Gaddafi, who both died in 2011

Mutassim Billah Gaddafi with tennis star Anna Kournikova at the 2005 Venice Film Festival

'They meant business. I hadn't don't anything wrong other than be pretty vocal with him around his inappropriate advance on my date.

'We were sat in the car and I'm thinking I need to get out of the car park, or there is a good chance I might get really hurt here.

'Adrenaline takes over, and I think if I drive at them they are going to move. They are not going to get run over for this guy.

'I drove at them, they jumped out of the way at the last minute. They were banging on the car. I just got round them and out.'

Matthews revealed he hid under the bed at his parents' St Barts hotel, Eden Roc (pictured)

Stunning views from St Barts hotel Eden Roc, where Matthews was staying at the time

Security guards for Gaddafi came banging on his door at the 14,000-a-night Eden Roc

However, the gang chased them back to the hotel where Matthews and Sophie hid under his bed, in scenes he compares to the film Taken.

The bodyguards banged on a number of guests' doors in pursuit of Matthews - whose father David and mother Jane own the hotel. Eventually, they found his suite.

Matthews added: 'We got back to the hotel, she is wildly upset. She's crying and crying, I wasn't feeling great either.

'I called my friends who run the Feeling and they said it was Gaddafi's son and it later turns out that he told him who I was, that my dad owned Eden Roc.

@dailymailuk When Spencer Matthews' Brother Went Missing on Mount Everest From 'Everything I Know About Me', the podcast that brings you an in-depth account of the trials, triumphs, and defining moments in the lives of some of today's most fascinating personalities - straight from the horse's mouth. Listen to 'Everything I Know About Me' now, available wherever you get podcasts. #EverythingIKnowAboutMe #SpencerMatthews  original sound - Daily Mail UK

'We are thinking the whole thing is over apart from I was really rude to this dictator's son who I know to be an awful person.

'I wasn't aware it was him. Lo and behold, 20 minutes, half an hour goes by, and we hear banging on doors on the hotel and they are going door to door.

'I can hear clients shouting and screaming. So we get under the bed. You know the scene in Taken.

'He came to the door. I was thinking if I open this door they might kill me. We stayed under the bed, everything calmed down. She wasn't happy, it wasn't a good date.'

The following day, after Matthews shaved his long hair off so not to be recognised, he came face to face with Gaddafi junior at his private party where Beyonce was performing for him.
A killer neighbour who absconded from a mental health facility has been found less than 48 hours after he was reported missing.

Philip Theophilou left the mental health facility in Homerton, East London, on Tuesday April 2. He was found on Thursday April 4 after officers from the Met Police were called to a south London Hospital.

The 54-year-old, who has schizophrenia hacked his 'gentle' neighbour Simon Breed, 51, to death in 2004.

Theophilou lay in wait with a kitchen knife for hours outside of his house in Alexandra Park - just a few months after he had been released from a mental health hospital.

And when the father-of-two returned home one evening, Theophilou stabbed him to death in the chest, head and back.

Philip Theophilo (pictured), who stabbed his neighbour to death, has been returned to the mental health facility he absconded from less than 48 hours after he was reported missing

The 54-year-old hacked his 'gentle' neighbour Simon Breed, 51, (pictured) to death in 2004 after he lay in wait with a kitchen knife for hours outside of his house in Alexandra Park

After attacking his neighbour with the knife, Theophilou ran to the park from his home in north London, leaving Mr Breed dying outside his house.

Mr Breed's wife found him struggling for breath on the doorstep of their home, and he died an hour later, it was reported at the time.

The father managed to say 'I've been stabbed' and 'it was him next door' before he died, his wife said previously.

Theophilou admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility after killing Mr Breed in the knife attack and then living rough in Hyde Park for three days before he was caught, the Old Bailey heard twenty years ago.

Doctors said he suffered from schizophrenia but had not been taking his medication at the time of the killing in April 2004.

Theophilou had previously caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to Mr Breed's house and car with a meat cleaver in January 2003.

The attack followed building work started by Mr Breed shortly after he moved in 2002, and which had caused a crack in the next door house that Theophilou shared with his parents, the court heard.

He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and released from St Ann's Hospital in August 2003 after the incident.

There were no problems until eight months later when Mr Breed was attacked at night as he returned from playing at a folk club.

Theophilou left the mental health facility in Homerton, East London, on Tuesday April 2. He was found on Thursday April 4 after officers from the Met Police were called to a south London Hospital

During his initial medical assessment, Theophilou had told a psychiatrist that he wanted to kill children in the street and he would have killed his neighbours if they had been there, it was reported at the time.

The Mail discovered in 2005 that at first, Theophilou - a former West End theatre worker - was considered too 'high-risk' for St Ann's and should have been put in a more secure unit.

But within two weeks he was transferred from a psychiatric intensive care unit to an open ward from which he escaped once and walked out another time. He was ultimately discharged from an open ward.

Theophilou was sent to Broadmoor special hospital without limit of time under the Mental Health Act, in November 2005.
Rishi Sunak has defended his fondness for short trousers after being quizzed over what have been dubbed the PM's 'ankle-grazers'.

The Tory leader insisted he was not chasing style or attempting to stay on-trend, but merely explained he doesn't like 'lots of baggy stuff' at the bottom of his leg.

His answer came during a grilling by The Sun newspaper, which also saw Mr Sunak tackled over whether he was plotting a return to America.

'The UK is my home,' Mr Sunak said, when asked if he was planning to go back to the US, where he and his wife Akshata Murty first met and own a property in California.

The questions came as the PM was pressed on why he kept his US green card even after being elected to the House of Commons.

Why do you wear your trousers so short?- Finally someone is asking the PM the big questions.



Watch #NeverMindTheBallots, hosted by @MrHarryCole, every week on https://t.co/sOsZmZ2K9A and The Sun's YouTube channel: https://t.co/nAyOc5EYBy pic.twitter.com/WYRqbcbda9  The Sun (@TheSun) April 4, 2024

Rishi Sunak has defended his fondness for short trousers after being quizzed over what have been dubbed the PM's 'ankle-grazers'

The Tory leader insisted he was not chasing style or attempting to stay on-trend, but merely explained he doesn't like 'lots of baggy stuff' at the bottom of his leg.

In a more light-hearted part of the interview, Mr Sunak was asked why he wears his trousers so short.

A laughing PM replied: 'I mean, I don't think they are that short!'

When it was put to him that there was a 'good two inches' between the top of his shoes and the bottom of his trouser leg, Mr Sunak added: 'No there definitely isn't!

'I tend not to like lots of baggy kind of stuff at the bottom of my ankle. I don't think they are that short.'

A leading men's fashion guru has previously claimed Mr Sunak wears suits that are too short because he is hostage to Noughties trends.

Derek Guy - who is based in California and writes the Die, Workwear! fashion blog - said the PM was 'trend aware' but 'just a little behind the times'.

However, he scotched theories that the 5ft-6in politician opts for short trousers to make himself look taller, saying it was purely a matter of 'fashion'.

Later in The Sun interview, Mr Sunak was asked about why he held onto a US green card - which allows foreign nationals to live and work permanently in America without becoming a full citizen - for more than 18 months after becoming Chancellor in February 2020.

While the status would not have saved him any money, it would have bestowed on Mr Sunak a responsibility to make the US 'your permanent home'.

Asked why he held a green card for seven years as an MP and a minister, Mr Sunak replied: 'I've addressed this in the past, it was a legacy thing.

'I had it from my time living in the US.'

He added: 'I addressed it all at the time, and again it was confirmed by all the lawyers at the time, I acted in accordance with all the rules.'

His answer came during a grilling by The Sun newspaper, which also saw Mr Sunak tackled over whether he and his wife Akshata Murty were plotting a return to America

Mr Sunak confirmed the UK is his permanent home and, when asked if he was planning to return to the US, he added: 'The UK is my home.'

The revelation that Mr Sunak had held onto a US green card for years came amid a row in 2022, when he was Chancellor, about his wife's non-dom tax status.

Asked where his wife is domiciled, Mr Sunak replied: 'I'm not here to talk about my wife. My wife addressed all those things at the time as a private citizen.

'And, as you know, the recent Budget the Chancellor did announced we would be scrapping the non-dom regime anyway.'

Following the political row which threatened to endanger her husband's career prospects, Ms Murty announced she would start paying UK taxes on all her worldwide income.

The PM's wife previously legally avoided paying a huge UK tax bill - estimated to be as much as 4.4m in 2021 - by paying 30,000 a year to register as based in India.
Seven Network has hit back at allegations made in court by former producer Taylor Auerbach relating to expenses covered on behalf of Bruce Lehrmann ahead of his interview with Spotlight.

Mr Auerbach told the Federal Court on Thursday he was offered a promotion and a pay rise after he used a corporate credit card to purchase Thai massages for himself and the former Liberal staffer.

Mr Lehrmann has denied receiving a massage.

In a statement, which was also sent to all staff on Thursday night, Seven said the company is 'appalled' by the allegations, denying any offer of a pay rise or promotion to Mr Auerbach.

'Seven is appalled by the allegations made in recent days. We do not condone the behaviours described in these allegations. They do not reflect the culture of Seven,' the statement said.

Seven Network has hit back at allegations made in court by former producer Taylor Auerbach (pictured) relating to expenses covered on behalf of Bruce Lehrmann ahead of his interview with Spotlight

'Seven did not offer a promotion or pay rise to Mr Auerbach in November 2022, nor did it do so at any time after that.'

The court also heard Mr Lehrmann had purchased cocaine and discussed ordering prostitutes during a trip to Sydney, where Mr Auerbach had been appointed as his 'babysitter'.

'I had been reappointed to be his babysitter, minder, looking after him ... building up a rapport trying to build trust and some sort of relationship with a prospective interview subject,' Mr Auerbach said.

He said that while at dinner Mr Lehrmann purchased drugs and later ordered prostitutes.

'Mr Lehrmann had over dinner purchased a bag of cocaine while we were dining at Franca and when we got upstairs to the room he pulled that out and started to put it on a plate and then started talking to me about a prospective Spotlight story and his desire to order prostitutes to the Meriton that night,' Mr Auerbach said.

'And he began googling a series of websites to try and make that happen.

'And during that conversation he agreed to be in a Spotlight interview as long as we didn't ask him about what happened on the night in Canberra.'

Mr Auerbach (pictured) told the Federal Court on Thursday he was offered a promotion and a pay rise after he used a corporate credit card to purchase Thai massages for himself and the former Liberal staffer

A spokesman for Seven Network said the network did not reimburse Mr Lehrmann for 'expenditure that has allegedly been used to pay for illegal drugs or prostitutes, and has never done so', acknowledging the matter remains before the courts.

The media giant has also slammed Mr Auerbach's claims he was told by his boss to delete materials relating to Mr Lehrmann from his devices in the days after the Spotlight program aired.

In his affidavit, Mr Auerbach claimed that lawyer Richard Keegan suggested he 'look at everything' because 'Ten and Lisa are not very happy about the broadcast and might come after us'.

'It might be a good idea to have a look at everything, especially the raw interview tapes','' Mr Auerbach said he was told.

'I understood that this meant that I should delete any materials that could be damaging for Seven. I followed this direction and permanently deleted anything that I could find on my computer and phone at the time.'

Mr Lehrmann's barrister Matthew Richardson SC questioned whether this was true in court on Thursday.

'Mr Keegan never said anything to you suggesting you should destroy or delete anything, did he?' Mr Richardson asked Mr Auerbach, who said he used 'the words indicated in my affidavit'.

Mr Lehrmann (pictured) has denied receiving a massage

'I want to suggest he never so much as hinted that you should do anything of the kind,'' Mr Richardson said.

'That's completely incorrect,'' Auerbach responded.

Seven Network has denied these claims in their statement.

'Contrary to the claims reported in the media, Seven complied with all of its obligations in relation to producing documents in response to subpoenas issued to it,' the statement said.

'Seven has at no point asked anyone to delete or destroy any evidence. As previously stated, Seven did not condone or authorise the alleged payments to Mr Lehrmann referred to in the affidavits recently made public.

'The person involved admitted to the misuse of a Seven corporate card and all unauthorised expenses were immediately reimbursed. Seven has acted appropriately at all times.'
A 'small number of patients' including two Metropolitan Police officers are being treated by medics at a south London hospital after being exposed to a chemical substance.

Ambulance crews and police had initially rushed to a woman's house in Thornton Heath, Croydon, at 3.46am this morning following reports she had ingested poison.

She was taken to Croydon University Hospital, formerly the Mayday, where she was found to be in possession of a substance believed to be hazardous. Parts of the hospital were sealed off.

The hospital has confirmed that a 'small number of patients' including two police officers were treated - but insisted it was an 'isolated incident'.

Officers and the fire brigade set up safety cordons to ensure no one else was exposed.

She was taken to Croydon University Hospital but was found to be in possession of a substance believed to be hazardous

A Met Police spokesman said: 'Police were called at 3.46am by London Ambulance Service to reports of a woman having ingested poison at an address in Thornton Heath.

'The woman was taken to a South London hospital by LAS where she was found to be in possession of a possible hazardous substance.

'Officers and London Fire Brigade attended Mayday Hospital and safety cordons and closures were established while specialist officers examined the item and safety procedures were enacted.

'Ambulances and emergency vehicles are being given access to the hospital throughout the incident response.

Ambulance crews and police had initially rushed to a woman's house in Thornton Heath, Croydon, at 3.46am this morning following reports she had ingested poison. (File image)

'Two officers were exposed to the substance. They remain at the hospital under observation.'

A spokesperson for Croydon Health Services NHS Trust said: 'Following an incident in Croydon this morning (Thursday 4 April) we have treated a small number of patients, including two police officers for chemical exposure.

'This was an isolated incident and Croydon University Hospital has remained open for patients throughout.'
It is known as the Royal waiting room - where for more than 150 years kings, queens and royals have mingled - often nervously - before walking on to the world's most famous balcony.

Buckingham Palace's Centre Room, which will be open to visitors for the first time this summer as part of an opening of up of the royal home's East Wing, has been a host for nerves and excitement since the reign of Queen Victoria.

It is now home to a newly restored glass chandelier that is shaped to resemble a lotus flower and two Chinese 18th-century silk wall hangings that were presented to Victoria by the emperor of China to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

But, beyond the beauty of the ornate furnishings, it is the conversations that the royals have had inside it ahead of their balcony appearances that are most fascinating.

Meghan Markle, on her first balcony outing in 2018, reportedly admitted to her husband Prince Harry that she was 'nervous', so it was in the Centre Room where she would have sought to calm those jitters.

It is known as the Royal waiting room - where for more than 150 years kings, queens and royals have mingled - often nervously - before walking on to the world's most famous balcony

It was in the Centre Room that the monarch prepared to make her final wave to the public from the famous Palace platform at her Platinum Jubilee in 2022

Prince William and Catherine, now the Princess of Wales, shared a kiss on the balcony when they married in 2011

The room has also been host to at least one wisp of cigarette smoke. Prince Henry, the late Duke of Gloucester, was pictured enjoying a crafty puff on the balcony threshold in May 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the first Trooping the Colour ceremony of her reign.

At her Coronation the following year, four-year-old Prince Charles and his then two-year-old sister Princess Anne would likely have been jumping up and down with excitement in the Centre Room before they faced the public with their family.

During her 70 years on the throne, there were dozens more balcony outings that would have been preceded by the gathering of the royals in the Centre Room.

At her Silver Jubilee in 1977, Lord Mountbatten recalled in his diaries how he hung back before the Queen called him out.

He wrote: 'I then stayed back discreetly to let the Family go on but was sent for by Lilibet no less than three times saying she wanted me to come up and go out on the balcony.

On VE Day in 1945, Winston Churchill joined the Royal Family - including Princess Elizabeth in uniform - on the palace's balcony. A fly on the wall in the Centre Room would have seen him engage in small talk before he stepped outside to the roar of a jubilant, war weary crowd

The Centre Room is seen above in 1939. Its chandelier was originally in Brighton Pavilion

Four-year-old Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne, then two, are seen on the Buckingham Palace balcony with the Queen, Prince Philip and other royals on the day of the Coronation in 1952

At the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, Lord Mountbatten recalled in his diaries how he hung back before Her Majesty called him out. He wrote: 'I then stayed back discreetly to let the Family go on but was sent for by Lilibet no less than three times saying she wanted me to come up and go out on the balcony'

Meghan Markle , on her first balcony outing in 2018, reportedly admitted to her husband Prince Harry that she was 'nervous', so it was in the Centre Room where she would have sought to calm those jitters

The room has also been host to at least one wisp of cigarette smoke. Prince Henry, the late Duke of Gloucester, was pictured enjoying a crafty puff on the balcony threshold in May 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the first Trooping the Colour ceremony of her reign

'When I arrived she asked me what had been delaying me and said that she wanted me to be there when the family went out together so I was pulled out and stood behind her and I was glad that this happened because I would never have believed the sight of the crowds if I hadn't been out on the balcony and seen for myself.'

He added that the sight of The Mall, which was 'full from end to end', was 'staggering'.

It was in the Centre Room that the monarch prepared to make her final wave to the public from the famous Palace platform at her Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The following year, King Charles gathered his new 'slimmed down' monarchy in the same spot before the traditional balcony appearance at his stunning Coronation.

On the day of the majestic wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, the new royal couple kissed on the balcony.

And, five years later, when Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson tied the knot, they echoed Charles and Diana's kiss with a smooch of their own.

Prince William and Catherine, now the Princess of Wales, also shared a kiss on the balcony when they married in 2011.

The Centre Room, Buckingham Palace, South-East Corner, 1939

Building work takes place in the Centre Room at Buckingham Palace in London, 2021

Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary after their wedding in November 1947

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with their baby son, Prince Edward, on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, during Trooping the Colour, June 13, 1964

Prince Charles and Princess Diana kissing on the Buckingham Palace balcony on the day of the royal wedding in 1981

But the royal waiting room has also played host to some of Britain's most well-known politicians.

On VE Day in 1945, Winston Churchill joined the Royal Family - including Princess Elizabeth in uniform - on the palace's balcony.

A fly on the wall in the Centre Room would have seen him engage in small talk before he stepped outside to the roar of a jubilant, war weary crowd.

Seven years earlier, when the ill-fated Munich Agreement was struck with Hitler, George VI chose to bring out prime minister Neville Chamberlain - the architect of the deal - onto the balcony.

Royal historian Hugo Vickers told MailOnline: 'At times of national celebration, the focus of London turns to the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

'Queen Victoria was the first to appear on it in 1851 during the celebrations for the opening of the Great Exhibition.

'One of her granddaughters, Princess Alice of Albany appeared on it, aged 4, at the time of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and remarkably she was out there again after Trooping the Colour in June 1977 at the time of Queen Elizabeth IIs Silver Jubilee  then called Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.

'George VI brought Neville Chamberlain out rather controversially after his Peace in our Time visit to Germany in 1938.

'More popular was the appearance of Winston Churchill with the Royal Family on VE Day in 1945, Princess Elizabeth in uniform.

'The Queen Mother appeared fifty years later with the Queen and Princess Margaret to celebrate the anniversary.

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret seen with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the day of the Coronation in 1937

The royal family gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London for the Trooping the Colour ceremony, June 1989

The future Queen Elizabeth II waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London, with her younger sister Margaret and her grandparents King George V and Queen Mary, on the occasion of their Silver Jubilee, May 6, 1935

'It has become a feature of modern day royal weddings that the bride and groom appear on the balcony.

'In 1981 there was the first famous royal kiss between Charles and Diana. Now this is expected.

'In 1986 Andrew and Sarah Ferguson pretended not to hear the demands of the crowd, but then went for it. William and Catherine were more restrained in 2011.'

He added: 'The last time the Queen was ever publicly seen in London was at the end of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.

'She had missed many of the celebrations but decided at the last minute to come up from Windsor by road.

'She appeared in a bright green coat, waving to the adoring crowd for the last time.'

Queen Victoria was the first to use the Centre Room, which was was built between 1847 and 1849 as part of an extension to house her growing family.
A taxi driver clashed with Rishi Sunak last night over the ongoing small boats crisis, where he suggested to the Prime Minister that the Navy tow illegal migrants back to Calais.

Grant Davis, who drives a London cab, grilled the PM over his plans to stop migrants crossing the English Channel from Calais to Dover in small boats.

He said that his passengers in his taxi constantly bring up the issue with him and that the Government should come up with more innovative ways to deal with it.

Giving his own suggestion for a solution, the cabbie asked Mr Sunak: 'Why can't you put the Navy in the Channel so when the dinghies come over, you pull up, tow them back to Calais and say no thank you?'

Mr Davis said his policy idea for dealing with the Channel crossings would 'send a message to the organised gangs who bringing people over'.

Taxi driver Grant Davis (right) clashed with Rishi Sunak (left) last night over the ongoing small boats crisis, where he suggested to the PM that the Navy tow illegal migrants back to Calais

A group of migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on March 26 this year

'You don't spend half a billion pounds going to Rwanda that could be in the health service and the education service,' Mr Davis said on The Sun show Never Mind the Ballots.

The Prime Minister responded, telling the taxi driver that he had the same 'frustration' as many Britons over the crossings, which have seen more than 5,000 migrants land on English shores so far this year.

Making a comparison with a similar policy of 'turn-back tactics' in Australia, which has seen success, Mr Sunak said the move would be too dangerous for the UK as the dinghies used by smuggling gangs here are less solid.

He told Mr Davis: 'What they were dealing with were very big boats in international waters.

'When you're talking about an inflatable dinghy, which these gangs stuff dozens more people on these boats than they can take.'

But Mr Davis interrupted and suggested and said it would then be safer if the Navy intercepted the boats in the Channel.

Fellow panelist and former Army captain Hugh Andree said that British Navy ships showing up on shores of France would constitute an 'invasion of foreign territory'.

He explained to Mr Davis why his policy idea was unworkable, saying: 'It's the same reason that we couldn't go from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland wearing uniform and carrying weapons, because ultimately that's an invasion of a foreign territory. Borders have two sides.'

Fellow panelist and former Army captain Hugh Andree (pictured) said that British Navy ships showing up on shores of France would constitute an 'invasion of foreign territory'

A total of 791 migrants made the crossing on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, bringing this year's total to 5,435

Migrants are taken ashore in Dover, Kent after being picked up in the Channel by the Border Force on March 26

This comes after Rishi Sunak this week said he was still confident he can fulfil his pledge to 'stop the boats' despite more than 5,000 migrants having crossed the Channel to Britain already this year.

Downing Street insisted the PM remained convinced he would tackle the migrant crisis in the face of a record number of arrivals in the first three months of 2024.

Number 10 partly blamed the weather for a surge in the number of people crossing the Channel, with nearly 800 having made the journey over the Easter weekend.

A total of 791 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

Some 349 people crossed on Saturday, with a further 442 spotted on Sunday, although there were no further arrivals detected yesterday.

It took the total number of people making the journey this year to 5,435.

Even before Saturday's crossings, 2024 had already see a record high number of migrant crossings in the first three months of a year.

This has put Mr Sunak under fresh pressure to meet his promise to 'stop the boats' - which he made one of his five main priorities as PM - ahead of the general election.

He is still yet to see migrant deportation flights to Rwanda take off despite having made the asylum scheme a key plank of his plans to deal with Channel crossings.

The previous record high figure for migrant crossings between January to March was 4,548 in 2022, with 3,793 arrivals in the first quarter of last year.

A total of 791 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday, according to provisional figures from the Home Office

Border Force Volunteer and the RNLI escort 100 migrants into Dover Docks on March 3

Asked on Tuesday whether the PM was still confident of meeting his 'stop the boats' pledge, a No10 spokeswoman said: 'Yes, as we have said before the Easter recess, the most important thing that we can do to fundamentally break the model of the criminal gangs is to get our Rwanda partnership up and running.

'So, we want to see that happen and get flights off the ground, and we know the impact that a successful deterrent can have.

'But at the same time we also continue to work with partners to build on the progress that we saw last year with reduction by a third on the previous year.'

Addressing the increase in the number of people arriving by small boats compared with the first three months of last year, the spokeswoman added: 'We have seen increases and we know that criminal gangs will seek to exploit opportunities and weather.

'And we know that also French police are facing increasing violence and disruption on the ground on French beaches.

'We need to keep stepping up our efforts and adapting to the gangs who continually adapt their own tactics.

'But that's why alongside continuing that work we have to fundamentally break the business model, and that's what the Rwanda partnership will do.'
War in Ukraine galvanised NATO which expanded with entry of Finns and Swedes

Russia and NATO are now in 'direct confrontation', the Kremlin has declared, on the day the US-led military alliance celebrates its 75th anniversary.

As NATO leaders and diplomats gathered for a ceremony in Brussels marking 75 years of the security bloc, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow: 'In fact, relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation.'

NATO was 'already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders', he said.

The alliance's successive waves of enlargement are a fixation of President Vladimir Putin, who went to war in Ukraine two years ago with the stated aim of preventing the alliance from coming closer to Russia's borders.

Instead, the war has galvanised NATO, which has expanded again with the entry of Finland and Sweden while bolstering its forces across eastern Europe.

Another factor also looms large over the 75th anniversary celebrations - the possible return to the White House of Donald Trump.

The former US President previously undermined NATO's collective defence guarantee by saying he'd encourage Russia to attack any members not spending enough on defence - and allegedly said he'd refuse to give 'a penny' to Ukraine.

Russian multiple rocket launch system fires towards Ukrainian positions in Donetsk

Ukrainian service members of the 37th Marine Brigade fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a front line in Southern Ukraine, March 30, 2024

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) accompanied by the Chair of the Military Committee of NATO Admiral Rob Bauer (front L), and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana (front R) attend the alliance's 75th anniversary at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2024

International Ministers of Foreign Affairs gather as they listen to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

Russia's President Vladimir Putin

Russian tank fires at Ukrainian troops from a position near the border with Ukraine in the Belgorod region of Russia

Putin has repeatedly said that Russia was cheated by the West in the aftermath of the Cold War.

The Kremlin contends that Moscow's Warsaw Pact alliance was disbanded, only for NATO to absorb former pact members and the three Baltic states that had been part of the Soviet Union.

But Western countries reject that version of events, arguing that NATO is a defensive alliance and joining it was a democratic choice by countries that had shaken off decades of Communist rule.

NATO says it is helping Ukraine fight for its survival in the face of Russian aggression, and has provided Kyiv with advanced weapons, training and intelligence, but Russia says that makes NATO de facto a party to the conflict.

Putin said in February that a direct conflict between Russia and NATO would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three, and has said NATO military assets provided to Kyiv, such as fighter jets, would be legitimate targets for Russia, even if stationed in countries outside Ukraine.

Now in a bid to ensure long-term support for Kyiv, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed members set up a $100billion (79.5 billion) five-year fund.

As part of the plan he is also pushing to get NATO directly involved in coordinating the delivery of lethal weapons and military kit to Ukraine - something the alliance has so far refused to do out of concern it could drag it closer to war with Russia.

NATO countries gave the go-ahead to work on the plan Wednesday, but there still remain many questions over financing and how far the alliance is willing to go to thrash it out before a summit in Washington in July.

The move is designed in part to guard against any cut in U.S. support if Trump returns to the White House, with Stoltenberg saying it would 'shield the mechanism (of providing aid to Ukraine) against the winds of political change'.

'I do not believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone,' Stoltenberg said at the ceremony at NATO's Brussels headquarters today.

'I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because, fundamentally, we are stronger and safer together.'

In a bid to stave off Trump's criticisms, NATO has showcased increased spending by its European allies - with 20 members this year set to hit a target of two percent of GDP for defence.

'North America also needs Europe,' Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian military band played the NATO anthem.

'Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power.'

The possible return to the White House of Donald Trump is another factor looming large over NATO's 75th anniversary celebrations

kraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (L) and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg shake hands as they deliver a statement during NATO's 75th anniversary celebration in the Agora to commemorate 75th anniversary

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron takes part in a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in the Foreign Ministers' session at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2024

Members of the NATO armed forces wait for the start of the wreath laying ceremony marking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance's 75th anniversary at the Flag Circle outside NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2024

A Silver 10 Euro coin to commemorate 75 years of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) foundation is unveiled at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 02 April 2024

Trump has previously railed against the U.S. provision of funding to Ukraine and said he would 'end the war in a day' if he were in the White House.

Last month the former US president rocked allies by saying he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to any NATO country not meeting its financial obligations.

Diplomats said there was a growing view within NATO that it was time to put military aid to Ukraine on a more sustainable footing and that the security bloc was best placed to do that.

'It goes some way to protecting in case of Trump. But it is impossible to create something Trump-proof,' one diplomat said.

'A fund of 100 billion looks very optimistic, knowing how difficult it was to agree on a smaller amount at EU level,' the diplomat added.

However, all NATO decisions require consensus among the alliance's 32 members, leading some diplomats to doubt whether the funding package in its entirety will endure.

There are some leaders within NATO that are likely to speak out against the plans, chief among which is Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban who last month voiced his belief that Trump would 'not give a penny' to Ukraine if he is elected later this year.

Orban, speaking after a meeting with Trump, said: 'If the Americans do not give money and weapons, and also the Europeans, then this war will be over.

'And if the Americans do not give money the Europeans are unable to finance this war on their own, and then the war will end.'
Thieves are becoming more brazen as thefts during the daytime reached a four-year record high, new figures show.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed more than seven in ten (71 percent) of pickpocketing incidents and nearly half of bike thefts (46 percent) took place in the morning or afternoon.

The data, published in the annual British Crime Survey, is compared with previous highs of 63 percent and 41 percent respectively in 2020.

The trend is also the same for other types of thefts including vehicle related incidents and burglaries in outbuildings such as sheds.

Figures show daytime attempts of theft of a vehicle rose from 15 percent in 2020, the last time the survey was undertaken, to 21 percent in 2023.

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Pickpocketing or personal theft is among one of the most common forms of theft during the day (Stock image)

The data, published in the annual British Crime Survey, shows bike thefts are becoming more common in the day

Meanwhile, burglaries in outbuildings hit a record high of 25 per cent last year, up from 20 percent in 2020.

Daytime arson attacks and other criminal damage increased from 32 per cent four years ago to 39 per cent being committed during the day last year.

The British Crime Survey is based on questioning around 35,000 people every year.

Former victims commissioner Dame Vera Baird, said the data suggested that criminals felt 'free to go about what they want to do' without fear of being caught or spotted by police on the beat.

Former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher said the figures 'should not come as a surprise' due to the UK's model of policing.

He explained to MailOnline: ''A response model of policing, as currently mainly utilised in the UK, means that police respond to crime, rather than prevent it, or proactively target criminals.

'We used to. While uniform foot patrol has decreased, and the deterrent effect this brought have waned, covert tactics that can be employed by the police have also been in decline.

'Stolen bikes need to be sold, and if you have detectives targeting those involved in the trade and getting them imprisoned the thefts will decrease.

'Similarly, daytime crime will be deterred by targeted uniform patrols and criminals caught by plain clothes officers acting proactively who identify and conduct operations against prolific offenders.

'The police will know who many of these criminals are. We live in the age of ring doorbells, CCTV and dashcams. There are many new opportunities available to assist investigations. The police just need the time, resource and will to utilise them.'

Thieves are also increasingly eyeing up vehicles to steal during the day (Stock image)

Burglary is more common on outbuildings during the day rather than in the main home (Stock image)

Rory Geoghegan, a former No 10 policy adviser and founder of the Public Safety Foundation, told The Telegraph: 'These figures indicate criminals are not just becoming more brazen, but they also appear to be targeting higher value items  such as expensive cars, bikes and jewellery.

'The best thing the Government could do to help cut this crime would be to ensure these prolific criminals receive prison sentences  rather than the suspended sentences currently proposed in the Government's forthcoming legislation.'

Yesterday, MailOnline reported how a brazen thief used an angle grinder to cut through a bike lock in just two seconds .

The thief can be seen in broad daylight walking up to the bicycle before pulling out the cordless power tool.

The theft took place on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, east London.

One onlooker filmed the shocking crime on their mobile phone in a 14 second video.

Yvette Cooper, Labour's shadow home secretary, said of the latest figures: 'The decimation of neighbourhood policing and a plummeting charge rate has left criminals feeling like they can operate with impunity.

'That is the Conservatives abysmal record on law and order  more criminals being let off and more victims being let down.

'Labour will put 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat in our communities and reverse the catastrophic collapse in the proportion of crimes being solved.'

In January, the Liberal Democrats claimed that bike theft had effectively been 'decriminalised' as more than 365,000 cases went unsolved in the last five years.

This is the moment the hooded thief pulls a battery-powered angle grinder from his rucksack

Witnesses nearby look on as sparks fly from the cordless power tool

Crime data showed an average of 200 bicycle thefts a day took place in which no culprit was apprehended, the party said.

The 365,706 unsolved crimes since 2019 amounted to 89 per cent of all bike thefts over the period. Only two per cent of cases  8,437 incidents - led to a suspect being charged.

The party's home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael MP said: 'These shocking figures will leave people wondering if bike theft has been decriminalised.

'Whether it's used for commuting, family days out or exercise, people's bikes are a hugely valued possession.

'So bike thefts leave victims feeling both out of pocket and distressed, and knowing the thief will probably get away with it just adds salt into the wound.'

It was also revealed that police abandon investigations into four crimes every minute without tracking down the culprits.

The number of inquiries closed by officers without identifying a suspect has rocketed by nearly 250,000 year-on-year.

Forces gave upon investigations into 2,306,623 reported crimes in the year to June last year, including hundreds of thousands of violent offences and burglaries, up 13 per cent on the previous 12 months.

The official Home Office figures are equivalent to more than 6,300 every day on average, or one every 14 seconds.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes such as burglary and robbery down 48 per cent.

'We have delivered on our promise to recruit 20,000 additional police officers, which means there are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, higher than the previous peak before the police uplift.

'But we are clear that charge rates need to improve. We welcome the police's commitment to attend the scene of every home burglary and expect them to take a zero tolerance approach to all crimes by pursuing all reasonable lines of enquiry to bring more perpetrators to justice.'

Have you been affected by a theft? Email richard.percival@mailonline.co.uk
Two teenagers have been charged after shocking footage showing a toddler vaping in front of a group of adults was shared online.

In a series of sickening video clips, the baby - thought to be aged between one and two - is seen inhaling on a pink vape.

Holding a plastic sipping cup, the blonde-haired infant is then shown exhaling while smiling at the camera.

In a second recording, the child is seen clutching another vape and is filmed coughing after sucking on the device.

The two incidents allegedly took place in Ayrshire, Scotland, and have been reported to Police Scotland and the Social Work Department. Two 19-year-old women have since been charged.

A police spokeswoman said: 'Two women, both aged 19 years, are the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal. The child is safe and well.'

Two 19-year-old women have since been charged after clips appearing to show a toddler vaping were shared online (pictured)

In a series of distressing video clips released online, the baby - thought to be aged between one and two - is seen inhaling on a pink vape (pictured)

The clips were shared by an individual who viewed the footage, along with a screenshot of a Google search detailing the effects of ingesting nicotine in children, reports the Daily Record.

It states: 'A young child can die from very small amounts of nicotine. The effects of nicotine poisoning can come on very quickly.

'If you think your child may have been exposed to nicotine, you should seek medical attention or call an ambulance immediately.'

The abhorrent video footage, which has been viewed thousands of times, sparked outrage online.

'Surely not? This has made me so angry,' said one person. Another added: 'This is so, so disgusting. Poor child. Who does that?! Wee baby deserves to be safe.'

While a third person raged: 'This is absolutely vile. That poor child deserves better.'

The clips comes amid fresh warnings about the impact vapes and e-cigarettes can have.

A recent study last year revealed that schoolchildren as young as eight are vaping - with the sweet flavours and colourful packaging reportedly being attractive to kids.

Tests on e-cigarettes confiscated from youngsters found they contained dangerous levels of lead, nickel and chromium. Some were almost ten times above safe limits. Exposure to lead can impair brain development, while the other two metals can trigger blood clotting

MailOnline recently discovered dupe vapes mimicking Chupa Chups, Skittles, Jolly Rancher, Rubicon and Calypso (pictured), with near-identical branding to the popular sweets and drinks in other stores along Oxford Street, in London

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The shock data, collated by a Trading Standards branch, was shared at a Lancashire County Council.

It also revealed that one in six teens there are now regular vapers - almost triple the proportion in 2020.

Doctors fear there could be a wave of lung disease, dental issues and even cancer in the coming decades in people who took up the habit at a young age.

In November, figures showed two dozen children have been hospitalised due to vaping over the past two years.

Hospital admission rates for 'vaping-related disorders' in under-20s in general have risen six-fold over the same period, amid an exploding e-cigarette epidemic among youths.

Usage rates among teens have almost doubled in a decade, leading the Government to promise a crackdown on vapes being sold and marketed to minors.

Since the start of 2022, there have been 24 vaping-related hospitalisations for children aged under ten.

NHS inform warned even occasional vaping can lead to nicotine addiction and that withdrawal can cause stress and anxiety.

Their website states: 'Vapes are not for children or non-smokers. Someone who uses vapes may become addicted to nicotine and find it difficult to stop using it.

'You can become addicted to nicotine within days of starting to use it, even if you only vape occasionally. Research on smoking has shown that nicotine addiction can affect your mental health. It can make you tired, stressed and anxious.'
A man who was raped after having his drink spiked on a night out has claimed police told him 'but you're a bloke' when he reported the attack.

Stephen Hart today relived his horrific ordeal - which resulted in him later testing positive for HIV - as figures show as many as seven in ten youngsters have either experienced or witnessed spiking.

Stephen, from London, who is now an ambassador for the charity Stamp Out Spiking, told Good Morning Britain how his drink was laced with rohypnol while out with a friend in 2006.

He lost consciousness and woke up to find himself covered in blood.

When he reported the attack to police, he was shocked to hear an officer respond dismissively: 'But you're a bloke.'

Reports of drink spiking incidents continue to cast a shadow over nightlife in Britain, but a troubling trend is emerging - men are increasingly becoming victims of the insidious crime

One victim, who reported a harrowing sexual assault after his drink had being spiked is Stephen Hart - who detailed how he was not taken seriously by police following attack

Rohypnol is commonly used by predators to 'date rape' victims, as it is a benzodiazepine designed to treat insomnia, which in turn can cause extreme drowsiness or 'blackouts.'

Today, Stephen bravely detailed the night he fell victim to drink spiking and the subsequent sexual assault.

He explained how he had visited a bar in north London the night he was attacked, and, after his friend had left early to meet his girlfriend, stayed behind to finish his drink.

However, Stephen described how he suddenly felt dizzy and confused in the bar, knowing that he needed help but was unable to concisely speak.

He was then 'woken up by the sun shining' through the window at his flat the next morning.

He told GMB: 'I got up to get showered because I felt very shivery, I felt sick, I felt my head was really really fuzzy.

'I had blood in my jeans - and I knew that something bad had happened. It turned out that I had been raped.'

Detailing his experience with the police while reporting the incident, Stephen said: 'One of them just kind of furrowed his brow and went: 'But, you're a bloke.''

After Stephen found out he contracted HIV, he was and is required to take Lamivudine, an antiretroviral medication that reduces the amount of HIV in the body

READ MORE: Broadcaster Kate McCann reveals taking sip of drink spiked by group of 'brazen' men left her unable to see or stand up straight Broadcaster Kate McCann revealed that she was spiked in a bar on a night out Advertisement

Stephen later found out he had contracted HIV, and he is now required to take Lamivudine, an antiretroviral medication that reduces the amount of HIV in the body.

Although it's been almost two decades since Stephen's assault, the person responsible for the attack has never been found.

The government describes spiking as an 'insidious and predatory act' and is a crime punishable by up to 10 years behind bars - but, despite tough penalties and heightened awareness campaigns, it continues to affect a vast number of revellers.

Spiking victims are often targeted in places like nightclubs, bars, house parties, work events and festivals.

Data on spiking doesn't truly reveal how common the practice is because so many victims do not report it to the police who have only recently started tracking the figures.

Between 2022 and 2023 the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) registered 6,732 spiking incidents reported to the police, 4,643 of which were administered by drink, 957 by needle and the remainder by unspecified means.

However, the true figures are thought to be a lot higher.

A YouGov poll revealed that 11 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men said they had been spiked.

A report by the Ladbible Group and Stamp Out Spiking suggests that seven in ten young people have either experienced it or witnessed it - however, most victims choose not to report it to the police.

Confusion, hallucinations and suddenly acting paranoid are among the signs that a person's drink has been spiked

A YouGov poll revealed that 11 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men said they had been spiked

Laura Farris MP, Minister for Victims and Safeguarding said in a statement: 'We are modernising legislation. We are introducing a raft of wider measures, including update statutory guidance, to better support victims and bring perpetrators to justice.

'We strongly encourage anyone who believes that they or someone around them that has been spiked to contact the police as soon as possible so that a urine sample can be taken for testing.'

It comes as celebrities, students and young people have shared terrifying experiences of having their drink spiked or being spiked by injection, as it was revealed there were 5,000 reports of incidents to police in the 12 months to November 2022.

In December the Home Office announced and set out a number of practical steps it is taking to protect people and crackdown on spikers.

This included staff at venues that attract spikers being given training on how to spot them and more investment in drink spiking tests.

In October a teacher called for better ID checks at nightclubs after she was spiked by injection causing her to collapse and vomit repeatedly.

Researchers, lawyers and activists say that the crime is severely under-reported and poorly investigated.

Victims are allegedly passed between departments and services for a few hours until the drugs have left their system and their is no evidence left.

Channel 4 sent an FoI request to all 43 of the UK's police forces asking for statistics on how many spiking incidents reported to them resulted in a charge.

39 of the forces handed over their figures which revealed that 0.25 per cent of spiking incidents reported to the police had resulted in a charge.
Danny Masterson's rape victims have accused the Church of Scientology of trying to 'derail' the trial against him by running a 'campaign of harassment and intimidation' against a prosecutor, according to court documents.

They claim, in December filings seen by the LA Times, that the 'prosecutor's home and car windows were broken, the prosecutor's home electronics were tampered with, and Defendants' agents surveilled the prosecutor.'

The declaration did not name the prosecutor or offer any additional detail and the Church has vigorously denied that members had anything to do with the incidents, according to the Times.

Prominent scientologist and actor, Masterson, was convicted last May of raping two women in the early 2000s.

He was sentenced in September by a Los Angeles jury to 30 years to life behind bars with the possibility of parole for two counts of rape with force, violence or fear of bodily injury.

Prominent scientologist and actor, Masterson, was convicted last May of raping two women - his wife, Bijou Phillips, left, has since filed for divorce

His victims claim that the Church, led by David Miscavige (pictured), led a 'campaign of harassment and intimidation' against a prosecutor

It isn't the first time the Church has been accused of meddling in his trial (pictured: the Church's headquarter in California)

After his sentencing, Masterson was expelled from the Church of Scientology and declared a 'suppressive person'  or 'SP'  which the church defines as someone whose behavior seeks to impede the spiritual progress of those around him.

But even with the expulsion, the church maintains that Masterson is innocent of all charges, according to insiders.

And the newly unearthed documents aren't the first time the Church has been accused of meddling in his trial.

Last year, LA County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller recounted, in an award acceptance speech seen by the Times, similar allegations to the lawsuit saying he had experienced a string of alarming incidents in late 2022 ahead of Masterson's trial.

He said he had been 'run off the road' and his house was vandalized and cell signal had been knocked out at his home.

He said LAPD detectives on the case were also 'stalked.' He didn't explicitly blame Scientology in the speech, but law enforcement sources later told The Times that he had privately accused the church of being behind the incidents.

The sources told the outlet that Mueller's wife had found a broken window in their home while he was away, and that an investigation was ongoing.

DailyMail.com contacted the Church for comment. They told LA Times: 'Allegations that the Church harassed or intimidated witnesses, prosecutors, or law enforcement officers are categorically false.

'There is zero evidence to support these scandalous allegations  indeed, all available evidence demonstrates the Church had nothing to do with the alleged acts.'

Mueller was not the only person to accuse the Church of intimidation, LAPD officers who investigated Masterson said they had been 'surveilled, watched' or experienced 'some type of harassment' which 'they attributed to agents or individuals from the Church of Scientology', according to The Times.

But an LAPD investigation turned up no proof that the Church harassed the detectives, Moore said in an interview with The Times last year.

One of the victims in the case claimed in the suit that the Church tampered with her home security systems and that someone tried to 'run [her] off the road].

In their case against Masterson, the victims said that it had taken them years to come forward because Scientology forbids its members from reporting each other to police.

The Church has denied having such a policy, but it allegedly has its own court and justice role, called the International Justice Chief, to handle disputes internally.

After Mueller's speech, former Scientology executive, Claire Headley, told The Ties that the alleged incidents sound similar to tactics allegedly used by the Church's Office of Special Affairs.

Former members told the outlet that the Office manages all 'legal and public affairs,' and can include campaigns to 'destroy' and 'silence' critics.

Masterson's victims have previously accused the Church of operating as a 'criminal enterprise' and engaging in a 'a pattern of racketeering activity' in violation of laws originally targeting Mafia activity.

The allegations came in a December 27 filing in Los Angeles Superior Court, as part of a proposed second amended complaint in a harassment lawsuit initially filed in 2019 by multiple Danny Masterson rape accusers.

They made sweeping claims about the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, who is named as a defendant in the suit, alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.

'While presenting itself outwardly as a respectable organization, Scientology's criminal enterprise has implemented a policy of terrorizing victims (and witnesses) of its crimeswhether or not those victims (or witnesses) are Scientologistsinto keeping Scientology's crimes secret,' the filing states.

In 2011, footage emerged of a group of Scientologist 'squirrel busters' who fitted cameras to their heads to 'stalk' one of its defectors.

A group of four men wearing skyblue t-shirts and black caps with the words 'Squirrel busters productions' turned up at a defector's door and said they were there to look at his 'PC meters' - a piece of scientology equipment - and check his 'tack'.

That 70's Show star Danny Masterson has been moved from his maximum security prison to a less harsh facility in Obispo, California

Corcoran State Prison houses some of California's most dangerous prisoners

Masterson's new home, California Men's colony, offers self-help and academic programs such as abuse counseling, mental health treatment and anger management

Records indicate that Masterson will first be eligible for parole in 2042, when the now-42-year-old is 66.

Following Masterson's sentencing, it was reported that he was under round-the-clock surveillance due to potentially showing signs of 'mental distress.'

Deputies would come by his cell every half hour to check on him 'with the goal of keeping tabs on his mental state and making sure he's safe.'

Masterson's legal team is currently attempting to appeal his conviction.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo said in January that Masterson will 'likely remain in custody for decades, and perhaps the rest of his life' if his sentence is upheld on appeal.

The judge, who oversaw his trial and subsequently denied him bail, stated that he is a flight risk in part because his now-ex-wife Bijou Phillips filed for divorce following his guilty verdict last year.

In her filings, she revealed that she and Masterson had been living apart for five years.

A jury found the actor guilty last May for two rapes committed in 2003 and was hung on a third rape charge, which prosecutors have said that they will not push further for a conviction.

At the sentencing trial, Jane Doe 1 called Masterson a 'true coward and heartless monster,' adding that to this day she suffer from an extreme fear of the dark and frequently wakes up crying.

Sometimes, she said, she hides in a closet or screams out the window: 'I'm not OK.'

'I think life is an appropriate sentence,' she said.

Masterson has been moved to a maximum-security facility that was the longtime holding place of Charles Manson

In addition to cult leader Charles Manson (pictured), Corcoran was also the prison where Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated RFK was held

Masterson was previously set to serve his term at Corcoran State Prison, which famously housed Charles Manson

The woman continued telling the room that she was born into a family of Scientologists, and when she reported the rape to the church, a top official 'made it clear that Danny was untouchable.'

'I did not choose to be born into Scientology - and I did not choose to be raped by Danny Masterson,' said the mother of three daughters, fighting back tears. 'Scientology attempted to silence us  to intimidate us.'

Of the two women whose rape Masterson was convicted of, Jane Doe 1 testified that in April 2003 she was at the actor's house where he gave her a fruity red drink with vodka that made her feel woozy, then threw her in his Jacuzzi, carried her upstairs where she passed out and woke up to find him raping her

She fought back, pushed a pillow into his face, she told the jury. But he pushed it back into her face, smothering her and she blacked out again.

When she woke, she said, Masterson opened a bedside draw and pulled out a gun which he brandished, telling her, 'Don't fing move.'

Jane Doe 2 - whom the actor was also convicted of raping - met Masterson at a bar in 2003 and gave him her phone number. He called her and invited her to his home.

She went, and, after having a drink and a stint in his jacuzzi, she found herself in his bathroom shower with him where, she told jurors, he 'suddenly shoved his penis into her vagina. She said no, I told you no sex.'

Masterson blows his wife Bijou Phillips a kiss in the court room as he is sentenced to 30 years behind bars, seen in a court sketch

Masterson arrives at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, May 31, 2023, with wife Bijou Phillips for his trial

At sentencing, Jane Doe 2 said, 'You are pathetic, disturbed and extremely violent, and the world is a safer place with you in prison.'

Jane Doe 3 - whom Masterson was charged with, but not convicted of, raping - lived with Masterson for six years. She was only 17 when she met him, and he persuaded her to become a Scientologist, she told the court.

About a year into their relationship, he became very 'controlling and very aggressive sexually' - she would often wake up at night and he would be on top of her, having sex with her, she said.

In one such incident in November 2001, when she woke up to find him having sex with her, she told him no and tried to push him off, the court heard.

When that didn't work, she pulled his hair. But he retaliated by hitting her across the face and calling her 'white trash,' she told the jury.

Masterson played wise-cracking Steven Hyde on That '70s Show from 1998 to 2006

The former That 70s Show star agreed to give Phillips both legal and physical custody of the couple's daughter as he serves time in jail

The Church of Scientology expelled Masterson following his conviction and declared him a 'suppressive person'

Masterson's lawyer remains defiant in the wake of the actor's 30-year sentence for rape, telling the media that the legal fight is not over because his conviction is 'not supported by evidence.'

His lawyer Shawn Holley told the media after the sentencing that a 'a team of the top appellate lawyers in the country has been reviewing the transcripts of the trial.'

'[They] have identified a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both state and federal appellate courts,' she added.

Holley called the jury's verdict 'not supported by the evidence' and that despite having the upmost respect for the judicial system 'sometimes they get it wrong. And that's what happened here.'

Holley said that her team was confident that Masterson's conviction would be overturned on appeal.
The Co-Op has been hit with more than 300,000 cases of shoplifting and abuse in the last year, it has claimed, with staff being targeted 1,000 times a day amid a slew of terrifying raids.

The supermarket chain, that has been subject to a series of attacks over the last year including one from a machete wielding gang, said incidents had soared by 44 per cent in 2023 compared with 2022.

According to its annual report, the supermarket recorded 336,270 incidents of shoplifting and anti-social behaviour at its food shops during the year - equivalent to 1,000 cases per day.

The revelation about the scale of the issue comes just months after the chain's boss revealed police and army veterans were working in stores to try and catch shoplifters.

The group had also invested in body cameras for staff and CCTV alongside trialling new security measures including secure kiosks, locked doors on high-value products, dummy packaging, and automated CCTV.

The terrifying footage shows the machete wielding gang robbing a Co-op store in London in February. The footage has been released by the Co-op amid the launch of a new campaign demanding that attacks on shop staff be treated as a new standalone offence

Team leader Charlene Corbin was bottled by a shoplifter at the Co-op in Dorset where she works

The decision was made after Paul Gerrard, the chain's campaigns and public affairs director, said the number of cases of violence being used against staff had also increased by 25 per cent.

Speaking following the report today, Matt Hood, Co-op's managing director of food retail, said repeat prolific offenders and organised criminal gangs are driving the spike in shop crime.

He said: 'Despite the extensive measures and the 200 million we have spent putting things in place to protect our colleagues, the reality is that every day four of our colleagues will be attacked and up to a further 116 will be seriously abused.'

'The Retail Crime Action Plan that was announced last year by the Government with an intention to ensure police attendance at all incidents was welcomed by us,' Mr Hood added.

'I'm hesitant when I say that because we have to now see it in action in our stores, so that the desperate calls from frontline colleagues to the police are responded to, and criminals do start to realise there are real consequences to their actions of shoplifting in our shops.'

Co-op has been vocal in calling for more action in the UK as it said the vast majority of offenders get away, including urging police forces to take the crime more seriously and tackle prolific offenders.

Shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales rose to the highest level in 20 years in the year to September, data from the Office for National Statistics recently showed.

A shoplifter has a tug of war with a Co-op worker in Liverpool

Paul Gerrard, the chain's campaigns and public affairs director, said there has been a 41 per cent rise in incidents of shoplifting in the first eight months of the year

The number of offences jumped by nearly a third compared with the previous year, to more than 400,000 in total.

Separate analysis from the British Retail Consortium found that violence and abuse against shop workers spiked last year with about 1,300 incidents a day across the sector, ranging from verbal abuse to threats with weapons.

The findings come after shocking footage showed a machete wielding gang raiding a Co-Op store in London.

The gang of three masked men, clad in black, is seen leaping over a counter wielding the weapons and grabbing packs of cigarettes and vapes.

Staff were threatened by the machete wielding criminals and there was also a store worker behind the kiosk when the raid began, with the supermarket warning there was a 'tsunami of shop crime' taking place in Britain.

On another occasion, a shop worker from a Co-Op in Dorset, was attakced when she saw a thief steal a pastry and two bottles of alcohol. She was then bottled by a shop lifter.

Charlene Corbin, 28, shared pictures of her gruesome head wound to highlight the danger retailers face from increasingly brazen and violent thieves.

She said: 'I grabbed my head and went back inside the store. I started to feel slightly faint and then I fell to my knees.

A man seen in Peterborough can be seen helping himself to packets of meat before going back for more seconds later

Co-op has previously released footage of its staff grappling with shoplifters in stores

'I took my hand off my head and realised I was bleeding. I felt it trickling all down my neck and chest - my work shirt was red with blood.

'In the two years I've worked there, we've had staff pushed and spat at, smacked. It shouldn't be happening.

'Since this incident I completely stay out of the way of shoplifters now and I worry about colleagues putting themselves in danger. We don't feel safe.'

Meanwhile, in February, a shoplifter was seen brazenly taking 14 packets of meat from the Co-Op village in Eye, Peterborough.

The man can be seen taking six steaks from the store before going back for more a few seconds later - and then returns days later to steal another eight packs of meat.

CCTV cameras first captured him wearing a bright yellow coat on February 9 this year, putting six steaks into a bag.

And just days ago footage emerged of two crooks brazenly stealing cigarettes from a Co-Op store in Leigh, in the city of South-end-on sea.

The two alleged thieves, who have their faces covered in masks, are seen walking around behind the counter and filling up bags of cigarettes before casually walking out.

The two alleged thieves, in Leigh, who have their faces covered in masks, are seen walking around behind the counter and filling up bags of cigarettes before casually walking out

The apparent burglary was captured on video at a Co-op store on a busy high street in Leigh, in the city of Southend-on-Sea, on Friday at around 12pm (pictured in 2022)

One witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told the local newspaper the Southend Echo they did not hear any sort of 'commotion' or shouting and called the experience 'surreal'.

While walking down the shop's final aisle, the witness noticed other shoppers were waiting at the cashier's till to pay for their goods.

The witness claims the masked men pushed past others waiting in the queue and went behind the counter. Staff members then stood to one side to avoid the risk of getting hurt.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: 'We're investigating a burglary at a business premises in Leigh Road, Leigh. When one suspect asked a member of staff to get something, he went behind the counter and gathered a quantity of cigarettes.

'He was then helped by the second man to load the cigarettes into a bag. Both men then left the shop.'
British billionaire and former Tottenham Hotspurs FC owner Joe Lewis may avoid jail due to his age and medical issues, after he pleaded guilty to 'brazen' insider trading and conspiracy charges.

Lewis, 87, admitted to sharing insider secrets about publicly traded companies with several individuals in January, telling Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke at the time that he was 'so embarrassed' by what he did.

Federal prosecutors managed to get him and his company, Broad Bay Limited, to pay $50million in financial penalties, the largest insider trading fine imposed in the last decade.

But this may be the only punishment he faces at his sentencing hearing in New York today, despite federal sentencing guidelines calling for Lewis, a citizen of the UK and the Bahamas, to serve between 18 months and two years for his crimes.

Prosecutors wrote in their submission to the court that Lewis did not deserve to be put behind bars due to his age and the fact that he 'battles significant health issues', which they said would make a prison sentence more difficult for him.

Billionaire Joe Lewis, 87, (pictured leaving court in NYC last year) admitted to sharing insider secrets about publicly traded companies with several individuals in January

Federal prosecutors managed to get him and his company, Broad Bay Limited, to pay $50million in financial penalties. Pictured outside NYC court house in 2023

Mr Lewis, picutred above at the Manhattan Federal Court in January this year, may avoid jail due to his age and his ailing health

They added that his decision to surrender to US authorities, instead of fighting a long extradition battle, was a mitigating factor, as was the fact that he had 'otherwise lived a law abiding life.'

His defense attorneys said that if he was given no prison time, he would immediately leave the US knowing that he would never be able to visit his children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren who all live in the US, as he is 'nearing the end of life in declining health.'

He was arrested and charged in July 2023 for passing confidential financial information to a range of associated, including his girlfriend, his two pilots and even a poker associate.

Prosecutors wrote at the time: 'This insider trading was not the result of aberrant, one-time conduct, but rather, a troubling pattern of misconduct over the course of several years.'

They said the insider trading may have come from 'hubris, ego, a desire to make a financial gift without parting with his own money, an irrational form of greed, or some other reason.'

They added: 'it is clear that Lewis believed he was above the law  that he had achieved a level of wealth and stature that relieved him from having to operate by the same rules that apply to everyday investors,' prosecutors said.

He was freed on a $300million bond secured against his luxury yacht and private aircraft.

Lewis was born and raised in the UK, and turned his father's catering business into a company that sold luxury goods to American tourists, before turning to currency trading in the 1970s.

He moved to the Bahamas to avoid paying UK tax rates, and made millions betting against the British pound and the Mexican peso in the 1990s.

He eventually bought Tottenham Hotspur, though was removed as a 'person of significant control' in 2022 after it was handed over to a family trust.
Prince Andrew has been pictured driving near Windsor Castle ahead of a Netflix film about his car-crash Newsnight interview being released to millions of people around the world tomorrow.

The Duke of York was spotted behind the wheel of his Range Rover as he braces himself for the release of 'Scoop' - starring Rufus Sewell as Andrew, Gillian Anderson as ex-BBC journalist Emily Maitlis and Billie Piper as producer Sam McAlister.

The drama, which will be broadcast across the world on Netflix, will thrust the 64-year-old's relationship to paedophile Jeffery Epstein back into the spotlight.

Andrew, donning a navy blue jumper, appeared in good spirits as he chatted to another man sat in the passenger seat ahead of the much-anticipated film about the 2019 interview being released.

The new Netflix film will re-hash what is widely considered the most disastrous interview in royal history, where Maitlis grilled the Duke on the sex allegations made against him by Virginia Giuffre.

Prince Andrew appeared in good spirits as he was snapped driving near Windsor Castle on Thursday

The Duke of York, 64, donned a navy jumper, as he got behind the wheel with a royal aide, a day before release of Netflix film Scoop about the Duke's Newsnight interview

The film will be released on Friday and is set to bring yet another headache to King Charles as continues his battle with cancer.

It will also bring Andrew's bombshell interview, where he failed to apologise for his friendship with Epstein, to a new audience of millions of people around the world.

Scoop will show the moment the Queen's son naively declared 'that went well didn't it' after the interview and how he joked about meeting Epstein in New York.

The King and his son Prince William were said at the time to be instrumental in the Queen's decision to strip him of all military titles and patronage, however, as seen today, the Duke has most recently been welcomed back into the royal spotlight.

The extraordinary move came after Andrew settled a sexual assault case filed against him by Virginia Giuffre - a sex slave victim of Andrew's close friend Epstein.

Royal biographer and investigative journalist Tom Bower believes Scoop should remind the King that he must stop any attempt by his brother to get back to public life.

He said: 'To save the Royal Family from more horrendous damage, King Charles will finally need to order Prince Andrew to permanently stay out of public view. Senior officials also need to tell Andrew the truth.

The drama - starring Gillian Anderson , Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell (pictured) - delve into the royal's car-crash Newsnight interview regarding his relationship to paedophile Jeffery Epstein

Mr Sewell as the Duke of York and Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis in Scoop, left, which retells the story of his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview - widely considered the most disastrous in royal history

'He is a serious liability and cannot be trusted or rescued. Unless King Charles firmly grasps this nettle it can only get worse'.

It comes after the Duke appeared in high spirits on Monday as he was pictured riding a horse around the Windsor estate.

He was dressed in a khaki jacket, red jumper, black trousers and a helmet for the excursion.

The royal appeared deep in conversation with a young woman, who was wearing a Windsor Castle-branded coat and helmet.

The day before the prince beamed as he walked in front and centre alongside Princess Anne and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson to attend the Easter Sunday Service at Windsor.

Prince Andrew was seen leading members of the Royal Family at a service of thanksgiving at Windsor Castle for the late King Constantine of Greece last month

Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, smiling while arriving at St George's Chapel last month

He put on a brave face at St George's Chapel last month and just shortly after their arrival, King Charles, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, arrived by car alongside his wife Queen Camilla, marking his most significant public appearance since his diagnosis.

The event proved to onlookers that the Duke of York is well and truly back in the royal fold and will no longer shy away from the public limelight at a time where fewer senior royals are on hand.

It marks an extraordinary turn around just two years after his late mother Queen Elizabeth banned him from royal duties and stripped him of his HRH as well as military titles.
After three years in which its streets became a hellscape of open drug use, rocketing fatal overdoses and rampant crime, Oregon has learnt a painful lesson. And hopefully so has everyone else who believes that the best way to deal with the menace of deadly drugs such as fentanyl and heroin is to decriminalise them.

Oregon governor Tina Kotek this week reversed large parts of a controversial 2021 law known as Measure 110 and restored criminal penalties for possession of hard drugs and court-ordered treatment for offenders. From September 1, drug possession in the West Coast state will be punishable by up to six months in prison.

The U-turn brings an ignominious end to America's most radical experiment in Left-wing drug policy  a supposedly humane and enlightened policy of de-fanging the oppressive criminal justice system, allowing drug abusers to indulge their addiction in peace.

Suffice to say, it has been nothing short of a complete disaster. The real puzzle for many Oregonians  particularly inhabitants of its drug-battered city of Portland  is why it took their leaders so long to accept defeat.

A group passed out near the Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, one of many open-air fentanyl markets

Portland is a bastion of progressive values in the Democrat state where voters decided, by a comfortable majority, in November 2020 to become the first U.S. state to decriminalise the possession of personal amounts of all hard drugs. These include the likes of heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl. (It remained a criminal offence to sell the substances, although police would complain that decriminalisation made it much harder to distinguish dealer from buyer).

As anyone who visited Portland, as I did last October, will know, the situation was both desperate and farcical. So much so that even the hopeless addicts I spoke to  men and women who were cooking up fentanyl on city-centre pavements as commuters and children passed by  admitted that they couldn't understand what had ever possessed their politicians to think decriminalisation might work.

'The truth is that addiction rates and overdose rates skyrocketed,' said Portland mayor Ted Wheeler, a Measure 110 enthusiast who is now attempting to save face by insisting that it would have worked if proper treatment services had been put in place.

Such an attitude, say experts, flies in the face of an essential truth about drug addiction that the decriminalisers fail to appreciate  that very few addicts will try to break their habit if they aren't pressured to do so. Getting high feels good (at least in the short term) while drug withdrawal is fiercely difficult  so of course they need an incentive, which is often the threat of punishment.

Instead, supporters of ideas like Measure 110  including those in the UK, where the Scottish government is pushing to decriminalise all drugs for personal use in order to tackle Europe's worst overdose rates  argue that criminalising possession unfairly stigmatises addicts.

Measure 110 was hailed as a compassionate solution to America's addiction nightmare.

It all proved hopelessly naive. Accidental fatal overdoses from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl  a drug that is tearing through America  increased by 500 per cent in four years in the Portland area. No other state saw anything like the same upsurge.

A Portland police officer gives a man, who was caught smoking fentanyl, a citation and a card that lists a 24-hour treatment hotline which he can call to get his citation dismissed

In the week I visited, eight young people died on a single night in a local park. Police said the victims had snorted cocaine which they were unaware was laced with fentanyl.

As drug users flooded into a state where they could do largely what they liked unmolested, and where charities plied them with free drug paraphernalia such as clean needles and smoking pipes to make taking the narcotics 'safer', open-air drug markets flourished and crime soared as addicts did whatever it took to feed their addiction.

Street addict after street addict confided to me that there was next to no chance of them seeking to get off drugs now that the one big obstacle to using them  being locked up in prison and forced to enrol in a treatment programme  had been removed.

Under Measure 110, instead of arresting hard-drug users and pushing them through a court system that often makes them get treatment, police hand addicts a ticket imposing a $100 fine that is cancelled if they phone a treatment referral hotline and agree to participate in a health assessment. The system proved useless  more than 95 per cent of tickets went ignored. Of 4,000 drug-use citations issued during the first two years of Measure 110, only 40 people phoned the hotline asking about treatment. As a result, it was calculated that each call cost taxpayers $7,000.

Even the New York Times, a habitual cheerleader for relaxing anti-drug laws, conceded that Portland had been turned into a 'drug-user's "paradise" ' since Measure 110 came into effect in February 2021.

Out on the streets on a weekday morning, it was painfully easy to find addicts who agreed.

I encountered Donna Pinaula and her husband 'Utah' at one of Portland's busiest street intersections, pushing around a shopping trolley stuffed with drugs and drug-taking handouts. Only two hours earlier, the pair had been booked by police for taking fentanyl openly. They grinned at my foolishness when I asked if they intended to seek treatment or pay the fine  they never did either, they said  and proceeded to prepare another fentanyl hit for themselves in full view of passers-by.

The couple showed off their drugs to me: blue pills or 'blues' for her, which are a mix of fentanyl and some other ingredients they couldn't remember, and a white 'rock' of pure fentanyl for him.

The pieces of silver foil they heat the drugs on and the glass pipes they smoke it with had both been provided, free of charge, by a local charity committed to the principle of 'harm reduction'  a controversial strategy that seeks to prevent accidental overdoses and infectious disease transmission. Critics say that it simply fuels drug-taking  which, in the case of Oregon, appears to be true.

Donna Pinaula and her husband Utah, far right, huddle around a shopping cart filled with their possessions in downtown Portland while clutching their drug paraphernalia

Donna and Utah made no effort to hide their drug abuse. They said police rarely bother to hand out tickets to open drug-users and only intervened that morning because they were smoking fentanyl next to a road crossing that children were using to get to school.

As local police officers later confirmed to me, their hands were tied by Measure 110  they could only confiscate drugs they actually saw and couldn't search users.

As for the starry-eyed claims of Measure 110's backers that, free from the threat of arrest and imprisonment, addicts would all rush off to seek help  if only they'd spoken to Utah first.

'It has made it worse,' said the 33-year-old ex-forklift truck driver, when asked about drug abuse in Portland since Measure 110.

'Don't get me wrong, it makes it better for me as I don't have to worry, but getting the police off our backs and giving us free pipes and foil to do our drugs is not going to get us off the streets.'

Down the street, another addict named Eric 'Irish' James agreed. Did he and his fellow fentanyl addicts really want to get off the drug? 'No,' he said bluntly.

Measure 110 rose from the ashes of the ferocious anti-police protests and riots that followed the murder of George Floyd by officers in 2020.

The attempt to take police out of the equation when it came to drug addiction backfired spectacularly badly as crime  particularly violent crime  soared as the dealers moved in.

Parts of Portland's once attractive and vibrant downtown area became a tent-covered no-go zone where addicts who were clearly deeply mentally troubled would walk around screaming their heads off  and locals wouldn't bat an eye.

A tent encampment known as 'the pit' has popped up in Southwest Portland

Police chiefs complained that Measure 110 severely hampered their ability to keep order on the streets. Shootings rose from 413 in 2019 to 1,309 in 2022, leading to shops closing and residents leaving. The city was especially ill-equipped to cope, as it had already suffered a steep decline in police numbers when many officers responded to the wave of 'defund the police' hostility  which, in right-on Portland, involved nightly violent clashes with 'anti-fascist' militants that went on for months  and left the department. Recruits have hardly been rushing to replace them.

Instead, businesses have had to pay armed private security guards to patrol after dark, but they have next to no training and virtually no power to enforce the law. They can certainly do little about the drug dealers who circulate unmolested, carrying their supplies in backpacks.

The drug crisis also crippled the other emergency services. Fire crews were having to spend much of their time dealing with overdose cases, and there was a shortage of ambulances available to respond to non-drug-related medical emergencies.

For all the Left-wing complaints about heavy-handed policing, the officers I met couldn't have been less aggressive towards the addicts as they rode around on bicycles and gently checked that the drug users were still alive and in reasonable condition.

'People round here want addicts to go to rehab but they didn't think they'd be smoking fentanyl in front of pre-schoolers,' said officer Eli Arnold. He said he and his colleagues now spend much of their time reviving the same addicts after overdoses again and again.

Donna Pinaula uses aluminium foil and a pipe to smoke fentanyl

Portlanders pride themselves on their liberal instincts but locals had clearly had enough of Measure 110 long ago.

Businessman Andy Munson described it as a 'disaster', telling me: 'People had the best of intentions but this law has fallen flat on its face. And two years of protesting and tearing the cops apart hasn't helped.'

Synthetic opioids are so powerful that it was 'absurd' to think addicts would volunteer to get off them, he said.

Alice Heller, a recovering addict and clothing designer, said the proponents of Measure 110 had twisted what it means to be a liberal. 'It's not liberal to help people take drugs,' she said. 'They don't know what to do so they feed the monster  it's inexcusable.'

Liberal-minded Oregonians have long boasted of the fact that theirs was the first U.S. state to decriminalise cannabis back in 1973. Being first to do the same with fentanyl and heroin is unlikely to be remembered with anything like pride.
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a call Thursday morning after a drone strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza  including one dual American-Canadian citizen.

The call is expected to be 'tense,' officials claim after Biden called for accountability and swift investigation into the Israel Defense Forces strike on a route approved for aid delivery.

'Biden is p***ed,' a U.S. official told Axios. 'The temperature regarding Bibi is very high.'

World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were delivering food to war torn Gaza on Monday when their three-car convoy marked as humanitarian assistance for the area was hit by an Israeli 'triple tap' drone strike.

Washington-area celebrity chef Jose Andres established WCK and is a longtime Biden supporter. The president spoke with Andres this week after the strike.

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak Thursday morning in the first call since an IDF strike killed seven humanitarian workers in Gaza

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike on a convoy of three vehicles of aid workers on Monday resulted in seven deaths and sparked international outrage over how Israel is engaging in war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza

Israel apologized for what it called 'a grave mistake' and said it is investigating the incident  assuring it did not 'intentionally' strike aid workers.

International outrage ensued after the death of the aid workers, including from Biden.

Biden will speak with Netanyahu on Thursday for the first time since the strike as tensions run high.

'I think you could sense the frustration in that statement yesterday,' White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday in reference to Biden's statement where the president claimed Israel hasn't done enough to protect civilians and aid workers stuck in the crosshairs of war in Gaza.

The conflict broke out on October 7 when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed the most number of Jewish people in a single-day since the Holocaust. Israel launched a barrage of retaliatory strikes on Gaza, where Hamas is the de facto government.

Pro-Palestinian groups and activists have since expressed outrage and protested the Biden administration's backing of U.S. ally Israel and have called for a ceasefire. Supporters of Israel claim demands for a ceasefire equates to saying Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself against terrorists who want to wipe out Jewish people.

Biden is among the world leaders who want accountability for the deaths.

'I am outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen, including one American, in Gaza yesterday,' Biden wrote in a strongly-worded statement on the incident. 'They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy.'

Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen that was wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip

Biden called for an investigation and accountability after the Israeli drone strike killed dual American-Canadian citizen 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger (right) and six others

People carry the body of one of the foreign workers from World Central Kitchen who was killed in the airstrike as the bodies are transported to their families outside of Gaza

The president added: 'Israel has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into why the aid workers' vehicles were hit by airstrikes. That investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.

The White House refused to say on Wednesday if Israel would face any consequences amid fury over the strike on World Central Kitchen workers.

Andres, the group's founder, said in an interview that the IDF targeted aid workers 'systematically, car by car.'

He claimed Israel's military forces knew his aid workers' movements in advance of their ill-fated trip inside Gaza and the deaths were not a situation where 'they dropped the bomb in the wrong place.'

'This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of,' he said. 'It's 'very clear who we are and what we do.'

'Even if we were not in coordination with the [IDF], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians,' he told Reuters after penning an op-ed where he declared 'food is not a weapon of war.'

Jacob Flickinger, 33, was a dual citizen of America and Canada who was killed in the strike. He was a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan.

Flickinger's father wrote in a Facebook message paying tribute to his son: 'My son, Jacob, was killed Monday delivering food aid to starving families in Gaza. He died doing what he loved and serving others through his work with the World Central Kitchen.'

A GoFundMe was set up to help Flickinger's partner Sandy, whom he shared a one-year-old son with, pay for any flights and funeral costs, as well as take off some of the burden considering Flickinger was the sole earner.

Washington, D.C. celebrity chef Jose Andres (pictured) established World Central Kitchen and is a longtime supporter of Biden  the two spoke this week after the strike

A Palestinian boy plays in front of the closed headquarters of the World Central Kitchen two days after a convoy of aid workers was hit in an Israeli strike in Gaza

Also among those killed in the strike were three British armed forces veterans who were serving as security for the aid mission  John Chapman, 57, James (Jim) Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

Additional relief workers who died in the strike were 25-year-old Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Australian Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43; Damian Sobol, a 35-year-old from Poland.

At least 196, including 175 members of the UN staff, aid workers have been killed in Gaza, according to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the strike 'unconscionable' but 'an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted'.
A map of Airbnb bookings across the US has revealed just how much solar-eclipse hysteria has swept across the country.

The image shows Airbnb occupancy rates across the nation for April 8 when the moon completely blocks the face of the sun in one of the biggest astronomical events of the decade.

Blue dots represent low occupancy, about 10%, and orange dots marking maximum occupancy - 100%.

The map shows a large swathe of orange stretching rom Maine to Texas, following the solar eclipse's 100-mile-wide path of totality

More than 20 million people in the US trekked to another location to observe the previous eclipse, which happened in 2017.

Experts estimate that millions of more Americans will travel for this upcoming solar eclipse, which will happen on Monday, with totality beginning in Dallas, Texas, about 1:40 pm and lasting until 1:44 pm CDT.

A new map of Airbnb bookings reveal just how desperate people are to find suitable lodgings in which to watch the eclipse - with orange dots showing 100% occupancy rates and blue dots showing just 10% occupancy rates

The high bookings follow the solar eclipse's path of totality on April 8

This widespread surge in interest in the eclipse has benefited Airbnb, who looks set to cash in on the solar craze.

The app, which offers short and long-term accommodations, reported in late February that they had registered a '1,000% increase in searches for stays along the solar eclipse path of totality in the US.'

They further noted that 'Airbnb listings outnumber hotels by more than 15 times along the path of totality across North America, offering more amenities and in more communities across the path of totality.'

In order to accommodate the deluge of sky-gazers, more than a 1,000 new Airbnb hosts 'plan to welcome guests for the first time to help meet demand.'

Within the path of totality, the cities that will receive the most visitors are Austin and Indianapolis followed by Cleveland, Dallas, and Montreal.

Most of the travelers will hail from New York City or Mexico City.

The eclipse which briefly turns the outdoors dark in daytime  will be visible for an estimated 32 million people along a narrow strip of North and Central America.

It will mark the first total solar eclipse visible anywhere in the world since December 2021, and the first seen from the US since August 2017.

Dr. Greg Brown, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said: 'For observers in North America, this is your best chance to see a total solar eclipse this decade.

'Nothing quite compares to the day-turned-night that comes from a total eclipse.'

This Camper/RV in Pelham, Canada, usually goes for $129 a night, and is booked for Monday's eclipse. Many tourists are flocking to sites like this one, where their views will be free from light pollution

On April 8, the total solar eclipse will be visible along a 'path of totality', starting in Mexico and moving through Texas where it will travel up to New England and finish in Canada.

In any one location along the path of totality, people will see a partial eclipse followed by the total eclipse, and then a partial eclipse again.

Whatever your location along the path of totality, the total eclipse should be visible for about four minutes.

According to Dr. Brown, a total solar eclipse happens when the moon and the sun line up 'perfectly'.

He told MailOnline: 'It's only when it perfectly lines up, so that the centre of the sun and the centre of the moon pass in front of one another  that's when you get a total solar eclipse.'

Where the total solar eclipse is visible is known as the point of totality  but this is only the very centre of the moon's constantly-moving shadow.

Elsewhere in the moon's shadow, further away from the centre, a partial solar eclipse will be visible on April 8 instead.

'The partial solar eclipse is because the moon's centre is slightly above or slightly below the sun's centre, from our point of view,' said Dr Brown.

On April 8, because the moon will be at the closest point to Earth in its orbit (known as 'perigee'), it will appear bigger  big enough to block out the whole of the moon.



Some users are dropping huge sums of money for the right accommodation. This listing in Fairfield, Illinois, which has already been booked for the eclipse, will cost $11,412 for a single night when all the fees are added

Airbnb said new data revealed that during the last eclipse, 10% of guests decided to book with Airbnb for this first time, inspired to try the app so that they could watch the solar phenomenon.

Some of the listings come equipped with 'telescopes and observatories designed to elevate any solar eclipse experience to stellar heights.'

In Fairfield, Illinois, an entire house is being listed for the price of $10,000 a night, which when combined with other fees, actually comes out to a total of $11,412 per night.

The property, four miles north of a dead-end road, boasts 25 open acres, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms.

Other tourists are splurging for lavish glamping sites, like this one in Clarksville, Arkansas, which says on its profile that 'the entire venue will be dedicated to the Solar Eclipse!' Like many other places, the Clarksville Airbnb has already been booked.

But now, newly developing weather patterns and extensive cloud coverage are threatening to wreck many travelers' viewing experiences.

Parts of Texas, including Dallas, are facing an increased risk of view-obscuring thunderstorms.

And apart from inauspicious weather, there will also be an increase in traffic to contend with.

During the solar eclipse in 2017, there was a significant increase in traffic risks, according to CNN.

Some places are taking drastic measures to ensure the safety of their residents as their cities prepare to be overwhelmed by tourists.

In Canada's Niagara region, which falls along the top of the eclipse's path, officials declared a state of emergency to try to prepare for an influx of a millions tourists.

Niagara Falls sits in the path of totality and will likely experience 100 percent coverage for around 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati estimates around one million tourists will flock to witness the spectacle - 14 times more visitors in a single day than the city normally sees in a year.

The state of emergency 'strengthens the tools the region has at its disposal to safeguard the health and safety of residents and visitors and protect our critical infrastructure in any scenario that might arise,' according to the official announcement.

This listing in Tupper Lake, New York, has already been reserved for the eclipse on Monday for the price of $1,093. In 2017, 10% of the Airbnb guests were first-time users, inspired to try the app so that they could watch the eclipse

This glamping site in Clarksville, Arkansas, has already been booked for Monday's eclipse. Located near Horsehead Lake, the site will cost visitors $330 a night. For this upcoming eclipse, more than 1,000 new hosts are joining the app to offer up their properties to the influx of visitors

Some Airbnb listings, like this booked one in Austin, Texas, offer users telescopes, observatories, and other amenities to heighten their eclipse-viewing experience

But tourists appear to be undaunted. The next solar eclipse of this magnitude won't occur again until 2079, making Monday's event a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many.

Depending on where you are in the path of totality, the eclipse could last as long as four minutes.

It is vitally important to watch the eclipse through a pair of ISO 12312-2 certified- eclipse glasses, as our eyes are extremely sensitive to light and can be severely injured when exposed to direct sunlight.

While the sky grows dark during a solar eclipse, observers along the path of totality will see the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere, which appears as a bright ring of light and can cause eye damage.
A grandmother has become the first woman in Britain to be prosecuted over the XL Bully ban - a year after she rescued the dog when it was dumped close to death at the seaside.

Jodie Fitzpatrick, 41, failed to apply for an exemption for her dog, have the animal neutered or obtain third party insurance in line with the legislation which came into force on February 1.

It comes just days after builder Patrick McKeown became the first person in the UK to be prosecuted for owning an unregistered XL Bully.

Ms Fitzpatrick had discovered the dog, which she named Bleu, freezing and hungry when it was a six-week-old puppy whilst out walking in the sand dunes at Formby in Merseyside and she subsequently nursed it back to health over 18 months.

But the animal lover then illegally continued to keep her new pet at home when new Government restrictions were introduced in February.

Jodie Fitzpatrick (pictured) has become the first woman in Britain to be ordered to have her XL Bully destroyed

Ms Fitzpatrick had discovered Bleu (pictured) freezing and hungry when it was a six-week-old puppy

Bleu was ordered to be destroyed by JPs at Sefton after Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to possessing a fighting dog.

Just 17 days after the new law came to force, police found Bleu hiding in a locked room at Fitzpatrick's home in Waterloo, near Liverpool whilst attending the property over an unrelated matter.

The unregistered dog was seized and kept in kennels whilst Fitzpatrick was prosecuted under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

This week, Bleu was ordered to be destroyed after Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to possessing a fighting dog.

Sefton Magistrates' Court heard Fitzpatrick - who lives off state benefits - got just 300 per month in income and could not afford to apply for the registration which would have exempted the dog from being automatically put to sleep.

On the day police took her XL Bully away, Fitzpatrick's other dog, a Lurcher called Percie, escaped the house and ran away.

Four days later it was found to have been run over by a car and needed to be put to sleep due to its injuries.

The case comes just days after Mr McKeown, 40, a former builder from Tarring, West Sussex, became the first known person in the UK to be prosecuted for owning an unregistered XL Bully. His dog called Sully was also ordered to be destroyed.

Chris Howard, prosecuting, said: 'The incident was on February 18 of this year. Police attended the home address of the defendant in relation to an unrelated matter. Whilst at the address police identified a large dog which was locked in one of the rooms.

'Police dog handlers attended and identified the dog as showing characteristics of the dog type XL Bully. The dog which is named Blue had not been exempted under the Government scheme and was therefore a banned dog. The dog was seized and remanded in secure kennels where it remains until this time.'

A court heard Fitzpatrick - who lives off state benefits - got just 300 per month in income and could not afford to apply for the registration which would have exempted the dog from being automatically put to sleep

In mitigation, Fitzpatrick's lawyer Marcella Salter said: 'She found the dog in sand dunes on Formby beach when it was approximately six weeks old. She took it home and looked after him because he was unwell when she found him. She had thought he was dead. She looked after it to good health. The dog lived with the defendant, her 20-year-old daughter and another dog, a Lurcher called Percie.

'Whilst Merseyside Police were at the property, the other dog ran out of the property and went missing for four days. After an appeal on local media and on social media, Percie was found injured and had been run over. So on the day in question Miss Fitzpatrick not only lost Bleu, she also lost Percy. He had to be put to sleep because of his injuries.

It comes after Patrick McKeown, 40, became the first known person in the UK to be prosecuted under the dangerous dog laws

Officers discovered the XL bully-type dog when they visited McKeown's home for another matter

McKeown, a former builder who lived on Church Road, Tarring, admitted one count of possessing or having a fighting dog, contrary to the Dangerous Dog Act

'I appreciate that Bleu is an XL Bully. She should have registered the dog with the vet and had him checked which is what the Government allows for. Unfortunately, finances did not prevail. She simply did not have the money to pay for the dog to become exempt, for the insurance etc. She knows that she has lost Blue and she has also lost Percy.

'She is in receipt of Universal Credit and is on an income of 300 per month. She says she is thoroughly ashamed that she had to come to court. But she understands that she has come here and pleaded guilty.'

The court heard that Bleu had shown signs of aggression while in police custody but Miss Salter said that would have been because he did not know the police officer handling him. The solicitor said that Fitzpatrick was not opposing the destruction order, however, as she did not have the finances to pay 500 in kennel costs for an expert report required.

Fitzpatrick was also conditionally discharged for 12-months and was ordered to pay compensation of 614 to Merseyside Police to cover kennel costs plus a 26 victim surcharge.
The Irish barwoman, allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend, had confided in colleagues that their relationship had soured and she was considering moving back to Dublin, according to police.

Marcin Pieciak, 36, was arrested Monday on charges of murder over the brutal slaying of Sarah McNally, 41, during her Saturday shift at The Ceili House in Queens, New York City.

McNally had told her coworkers that her relationship with Pieciak 'was not going well', according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny.

Kenny said the Irish native had been in the U.S. for about 10 years but mentioned she was considering moving back to Dublin.

McNally was standing behind the bar talking with customers at about 6.30pm Saturday when her boyfriend Pieciak allegedly burst into the pub and brutally attacked her.

Marcin Pieciak, 36, was arrested Monday on charges of murder after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend Sarah McNally to death as their relationship soured

Sarah McNally told her coworkers that her relationship with Pieciak 'was not going well' and she was considering moving back to Dublin, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny.

The Irish native was standing behind the bar talking with customers at about 6.30pm Saturday when her boyfriend Pieciak allegedly burst into the pub (pictured) in Queens with knives in each hand and brutally attacked her

'Once he makes his greetings, he goes behind the bar takes out two knives and stabs her repeatedly,' Kenny said.

Pieciak then turned at least one of the knives on himself, cutting his throat several times before he attempted to leave the bar.

'After he's done stabbing her, he then tries to slice his own throat on video,' Kenny said.

A bar patron was able to detain him until police arrived and recovered two knives that Pieciak dropped as he left the bar.

When police arrived a short time later, McNally was lying on the floor bleeding from stab wounds, while Pieciak was bleeding from self-inflicted wounds to his neck and back.

McNally suffered numerous stab wounds in her neck, back and chest, which cut through her carotid artery, lung and spine.

She was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals in Elmhurst but she could not be saved, prosecutors said.

Pieciak was also taken to the hospital, where he appeared in front of Queens Criminal Court Judge Julieta Lozano virtually in a gown.

He was initially listed in critical condition but appears to be recovering during the video chat.

The 36-year-old started breathing heavily as Assistant District Attorney Veronika Podoprigora revealed a detailed account of the alleged murder, as reported by the New York Daily News.

Pieciak was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the bloody knives he allegedly used to stab Mcnally.

He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. Judge Lozano ordered him to return to court on Friday.

District Attorney Katz said: 'This as an attack that shocked the community. It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family. We are using every resource to make sure there is accountability.'

McNally suffered numerous stab wounds in her neck, back and chest, which cut through her carotid artery, lung and spine

When police arrived a short time later, McNally was lying on the floor bleeding from stab wounds. She was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved

McNally was from the town of Longford in Ireland, where members of her former community are mourning her sudden death.

On Facebook, McNally's aunt Mary wrote: 'Rest in peace my beautiful niece Sarah, we are heart broken, Love you always.'

Longford Municipal District Cathaoirleach Cllr Martin Monahan told the Irish Independent: 'The people of Longford will be saddened and shocked by the sudden demise of a young life, someone who has made a life for herself in New York.'

A GoFundMe page has been established for McNally's family to cover funeral and associated costs, and it has raised $2,900 as of Thursday morning.

'Everyone that knew Sarah knows how special and kind she was, how she would remember the little things about each and every person that she met. She was so beloved by her Ceili House family and beyond,' the organizer wrote.
A horrific 1980s abduction and murder case has taken another turn as a lawyer and former politician called into question new evidence.

Former MP Peter Breen has pushed for an inquiry into Stephen 'Shorty' Jamieson's convictions for the abduction, rape and murder of Janine Balding in Sydney in September 1988.

But her brother David Balding told A Current Affair on Thursday night that 'It should all be put to rest now. There's no doubt that they got the right people.'

His life had been consumed by his 20-year-old sister's death when he himself was aged 10.

'It's pretty much been my life ever since ... just doesn't end,' he said. 'It just keeps popping up.'

The 1988 abduction, rape and murder of Janine Balding (pictured) case has taken another turn as a lawyer and former politician called into question new evidence

Ms Balding's brother David (pictured) told A Current Affair on Thursday night that 'It should all be put to rest now. There's no doubt that they got the right people'

Jamieson was 22 at the time of Ms Balding's murder, and two other homeless males convicted were 14 and 16 at the time.

Mr Breen, who is Jamieson's lawyer, said another man nicknamed 'Shorty' was known in the area at the time.

This second 'Shorty' wore a bandana, and Mr Breen is pinning hope on DNA testing from a bandana to cast doubt over his client's convictions.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Russell Oxford said he made a commitment to the Balding family in a case that was particularly horrific.

'I made a promise to the family that someone would continue to speak up for Janine,' he said.

Mr Oxford maintains the mistaken identity issue has been examined and discounted by multiple courts and inquiries.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Russell Oxford (pictured) said he made a commitment to the Balding family in a case that was particularly horrific

'The scrutiny that this investigation was under... we went through two murder trials, we went through the Court of Criminal Appeal, they appealed to the High Court,' he said.

'We've got the killers. They're in jail for the rest of their lives and that's where they belong, that's where they should remain.'

State Attorney-General Michael Daley has until May 8 to file written submissions in response to Mr Breen and Jamieson's application for an inquiry.

The matter is expected to return to the NSW Supreme Court on May 13.
The White House may soon finalize a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes after pressure from special interest groups, with some saying the ban could negatively impact minority communities.

Menthol cigarettes account for nearly one-third of the industry's market share in the U.S., meaning they are broadly popular with smokers.

They have also long been particularly popular with black smokers, with 81 percent of them opting for the menthol varieties, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The minty flavoring that is added to these products typically appeals to young, first-time smokers, making them dangerous in the eyes of the White House, medical associations and civil rights groups.

But advocates against the ban argue it could hurt minorities and small businesses.

In 2022 the FDA announced it was working to create new standards for tobacco products that would ban the use of menthol flavoring. Nearly two years later, the ban is still not enacted and special interest groups for and against the ban have been pressuring the White House to get the job done

'The proposed ban, while well-intentioned, could have had far-reaching economic consequences for convenience stores by cutting 30 percent of sales and the livelihoods of over 600,000 workers,' President and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council Javier Palomarez told Fox News.

The National Association of Convenience Stores told the outlet in a statement: 'The proposed ban would have the exact opposite results that proponents have championed.'

'We hope that FDA is reconsidering its policy in light of the evidence that these types of bans simply don't work.'

After a 2022 FDA proposal that menthol cigarettes would be banned, special interest groups advocating for and against the ban have been battling over the future of the proposed standards.

But health officials missed an August 2023 deadline to establish the proposed menthol ban, and they have missed subsequent deadlines too, including one earlier this week causing confusion over the future of menthol in the U.S.

'The FDA remains committed to issuing the tobacco product standards for menthol in cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars as expeditiously as possible; these rules have been submitted to OMB for review, which is the final step in the rulemaking process,' an FDA spokesman told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'As weve made clear, these product standards remain at the top of our priorities.'

'Regulations such as product standards go through an extensive rulemaking process, which includes interagency review. At this stage in rulemaking, the FDA is limited from further discussions about the rules before they are published.'

Still, many advocating for the ban claim that outlawing the flavored products will cut usage and therefore save lives.

And banning menthol is not uncommon, the additive is currently banned in Canada since 2017 and has been banned in the European Union since 2020.

It is also banned in California and Massachusetts, along with a multitude of locally counties nationwide.

Protestors marched on Black Lives Matter Plaza in January advocating for a menthol ban

'Menthol makes cigarettes more appealing and easier to smoke,' according to the CDC.

'In addition, menthol enhances the addictive effects of nicotine in the brain. The amount of nicotine, the addictive drug in tobacco products, in menthol cigarettes has increased in recent years.'

The White House previously said a decision on the new tobacco standard would be finished by March, but the administration missed that deadline earlier this week.

'It is deeply disappointing that the Biden Administration appears likely to miss another deadline to issue a final FDA rule eliminating menthol cigarettes,' President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Yolonda Richardson, said before the lapsed deadline.

'Research shows that eliminating menthol cigarettes will reduce the number of kids who start smoking, increase the number of smokers who quit, and save up to 654,000 lives within 40 years, including 255,000 Black lives,' she said in a statement.

Advocates for the ban have claimed that Biden dragging his feet on the matter has costed lives.

As a result, several anti-tobacco groups sued the U.S. government on Tuesday.

Two years after announcing intentions to ban menthol, the FDA and the White House have not set new standards for using the substance in tobacco products

'Because of defendants' inaction, tobacco companies have continued to use menthol cigarettes to target youth, women, and the black community  all to the detriment of public health,' the groups wrote in their complaint.

The FDA has said that eliminating menthol could prevent 320,000 to 650,000 smoking-related deaths in the U.S. over 40 years.

The FDA and the White House did not return requests for comment.
Four daredevil teenagers have been caught on top of a 43-story skyscraper in downtown San Francisco.

The group was on the roof of 44 Montgomery Street in the city's Financial District on Tuesday, according to building security.

Two of the four teens were detained near the building after officers responded to a report of trespassers at about 1:34 pm, the San Francisco Police Department said.

Police seized a crowbar from one of the teens at about 3 pm.

Of the two teens who were detained, one was taken to the police station while the other released from police custody to his mother.

Four teenagers were caught sneaking on to the roof of the 43-story Montgomery building in San Francisco

The teenagers were filming their stunt for social media, much like Madison DesChamps, 22, when he climbed up the entirety of the Salesforce tower

Office workers from inside the tower filmed DesChamps climbing up their floor levels as he appeared to be without a harness

In an interview with the San Francisco Standard, one of the teens, who chose to remain anonymous, said he has been challenging himself to climb different buildings over the past year, and has been documenting it on social media.

He said only he and his friend made it to the top of Montgomery.

'I hid in this locked room for about an hour until I heard no sirens,' he said.

'I exited the room and took the elevator down to the floor, but 10 building security [guards] got me to the floor as police came.'

The teen said he felt violated by one of the officers, who put his handcuffs on so tight that he scheduled an X-ray to check if there is any damage.

'The woman cop who was there was a lifesaver,' he said. 'She loosened up the cuffs after I complained about it when the officer who put it on me said he didn't care and wasn't going to adjust it.'

He said he was eventually released from custody at the police station to his dad.

The climber did not reveal how he gained entry into the building.

The group of daring teenagers are not the only ones putting their life on the line for social media's sake.

In 2023, a group of free climbers shared the spine-tingling moment they scaled all 927ft of Donald Trump 's 40 Wall Street building,

YouTuber DyingLlama ascended 40 Wall Street's roof in 2023, filming this spine-tingling footage from , 927ft in the air

The daredevils parade around a ledge no more than two feet wide at the top of the iconic building which forms part of Donald Trump's real estate empire

The trio, including YouTuber were astonished by how easily they were able to get onto the roof of the tower, before attempting a precarious climb to the top of the spire.

In July that year, renowned daredevil Remi Lucidi, 30, died falling from the top of a 721ft high skyscraper that he had been scaling while on location in Hong Kong.

Lucidi had reached the 68th floor of the 721ft Tregunter Tower, a residential block in Hong Kong's upscale Mid-Levels area before his fatal fall.

The young adventurer had been seen by a maid knocking on the windows of the penthouse to get back inside the building, but fell to his death before any help could arrive.

In 2022, anti-abortion activist Maison Deschamps, 22, climbed the 1,070-foot tall Salesforce Tower in San Francisco without a safety rope or harness.

The 'pro-life Spiderman' was placed in custody once he climbed all 61 floors to reach the tower's roof.

He appeared to only be wearing a hoodie, as several office workers inside the tower recorded footage of the climber reaching their floors without any climbing gear.

Stunts like 'surfing trains', where a person stand or hangs on to a subway-like transport as its moving, have also gained popularity on social media.

Recently, the BART train in San Francisco and the MTA in New York City have been the site of this deadly trend.

Daredevil Remi Lucidi, 30, died in Juley 2023 after falling from the top of a 721ft high skyscraper that he had been scaling while on location in Hong Kong

Lucidi fell from the top of a 721ft, 68-story Hong Kong residential skyscraper (pictured center)

Last month, seven people dressed in black rode on top of a subway car Friday as it entered the bridge headed toward Manhattan.

In footage obtained by the New York Post, one of the group members can be seen standing up, while the others were crouched down or on their stomachs.

No complaints were made about the subway surfers.

To stop the spread of this deadly trend, over 3,000 videos and photos of subway surfing have been removed from the internet, according to a statement from the New York Governor's website.

Earlier this year, two teens died on separate occasions after falling off the BART train while doing the challenge.

Stunts like 'surfing trains' where a person stand or hangs on to a subway-like transport as its moving has gained popularity on social media

The mother of one of the teens, Marina Baran, lost her 19-year-old son, Daniel Baran, on January 29 to this trend. A daredevil himself, Daniel previously posted videos of himself climbing on to the roof of San Francisco University's dorm buildings.

'Please think about your parents. It's so hard to lose a child; you'll be gone, but your parents will be left in this world wondering why you did this,' said his mother.

'Taking such an unnecessary risk leaves me speechless.'
Roseanne Barr showed why she was once the queen of TV comedy on Wednesday evening, delivering a blistering routine on why female soldiers were better than men before describing herself as a 'hateful' Jew and sarcastically thanking Christians for their understanding of Judaism.

As one onlooker said, it was probably the first time that menstrual cycle jokes had been made during a ritzy fundraiser at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

Barr, who was dropped from her own show after being accused of racism, was part of an evening of uncanceled comedians in support of Kari Lake. The Trump ally is locked in a tough battle for the Arizona Senate seat vacated by Kyrsten Sinema.

'Kari, it's time for a woman in the Senate. It's time for a woman everywhere,' she told the crowd assembled around the resort's swimming pool as the sun set. 'You know why?

'Because anything a man can do, a woman can get another man to do even better.'

Roseanne Barr appeared at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on Wednesday evening to raise funds for Kari Lake's Senate campaign. It was part of a night of comedy

Barr ran for president in 2012, and is now an outspoken supporter of Trump.

She could not help but skirt the sort of controversial territory that saw her career derailed. But first riffed on some of the policy ideas she would have implemented if she had ever won power.

'First of all, I would institute an all female army. That's what I do. Think about it,' she said. 'We might win some of these damn wars for a change, you know what I mean?

'Everybody's on their period at the exact same time. Chugging back those Red Bulls drinks ... "I'm looking for a man to blame all my problems on ..." can you imagine that ... just be so great.

'Especially [if] we're fighting against women who are thinner than us.'

She said Trump was the last hope to defend the country and then she touched on some of the antisemitism controversies that have gripped the nation during the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

'Every single day I got to stay positive. Because I'm not like a really positive person,' said Barr. 'I'm kind of because I'm Jewish.

'So I'm very, very negative and bitter and hateful. But I am so glad to be here for Kari, who's a wonderful woman of God, a wonderful Christian woman.

'And I have to say as a Jew, I just love the Christian people so much because they are the only people who know anything about Judaism. Go figure.'

Lake poses with supporters. She is locked in a tough battle for Arizona's vacant Senate seat

Former President Donald Trump put in an appearance to support Lake

Mar-a-Lago is the go-to fundraising destination for Republican 2024 candidates

The line brought laughter although more than one person later admitted nervously double checking that Barr was raised in a Jewish family.

Other jokes were classic Roseanne territory. She joked about her age, 71, and the importance of adult diapers, and her morning routine of waking, peeing, and then getting out of bed.

But the harder edge to the comedy was also part of the point of the night.

'God gave us our sense of humor to get through times like this, and the left appears to be humourless,' said Lake, as she introduced Barr.

'And I'll tell you what, they're given us a lot to make fun of them and they're given us a lot to laugh about right now, believe it or not.'

Lake campaign officials said the night raised $1 million for their fight in Arizona, with ticket prices topping out at $100,000 for a couple

Also on the bill were former Saturday Night Live star Jim Breuer and Chad Prather.

The whole night raised $1 million, according to organizers.

But the host got some of the biggest laughs. Trump talked up the political skills of Lake, but could not resist slamming President Joe Biden.

'He's a horrible guy. He's a horrible president,' he said before looking around the terrace where he was standing.

'He doesn't know where the hell he is. He could not figure his way off this stage ... you got one, two, three, four ... lots of doors.'
Alaska Air Group announced on Thursday that it had received a $160 million payment from Boeing to make up for the financial loss the airline suffered when their 737 MAX 9 aircrafts were temporarily grounded.

The amount is equal to the revenue lost after a door plug on an Alaska Air 737 MAX 9 aircraft blew out midflight in January, according to a filing from the airline.

The US aviation regulator subsequently ordered the grounding of 171 aircrafts for inspections before the order was lifted later that month.

Alaska said it anticipates receiving extra compensation and noted that demand remained high despite the immediate impact after the accident.

'Although we did experience some book away following the accident and 737-9 MAX grounding, February and March both finished above our original pre-grounding expectations,' Alaska said.

Alaska Air Group announced on Thursday that Boeing has made a one-time payment totaling over $160 million in the first quarter to make up for financial loss

The amount is equal to the revenue lost after a door plug on an Alaska Air 737 MAX 9 aircraft blew out midflight in January, according to a filing from the airline.

The US aviation regulator subsequently ordered the grounding of 171 aircrafts for inspections before the order was lifted later that month (Pictured: CEO of Boeing Dave Calhoun)

The airline will now exclude the compensation from its calculation for first-quarter adjusted loss per share, which is expected to be between $1.05 and $1.15. They initially planned to include the payment in its results.

Alaska and United Airlines bore the brunt from the grounding of 737 MAX 9 aircrafts following the panel blowout.

The incident sparked a manufacturing and reputational crisis at Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

The production of 737 MAX 9 jets at Boeing has fallen dramatically in recent weeks, which will most likely effect the rest of the airline industry as it scrambles to keep up with demand for travel.

Alaska Airlines said its 2024 capacity plans were in flux due to the Boeing crisis.

In addition, the carrier does not expect to get all of the 47 planned deliveries from the plane manufacturer over the next two years, CEO of Alaska Airlines Ben Minicucci has said.

The aviation industry's other major aircraft supplier Airbus SE is sold out until the 2030 for single-aisle jets.

The incident has been damaging for Boeing's reputation and the CEO of United Airlines Scott Kirby warned Boeing needs 'real action' to restore its reputation.

Boeing and U.S. airlines report first-quarter results later this month.

The FAA's decision to ground the fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 9's came as several airlines and regulators decided to take similar steps.

Alaska also noted that demand remained high despite the immediate impact after the accident

The production of 737 MAX 9 jets at Boeing has fallen dramatically in recent weeks

According to aviation outlet The Air Current, the aircraft involved in the incident had come under scrutiny by officials just a day before the window blew out.

The outlet claimed that on January 4, an intermittent warning light appeared as it taxied to a terminal from a previous flight, which led the airline to remove it from extended range operations. Later that same day in a separate flight, the warning came back on.

The Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet involved in the incident had reportedly only gone into service in November 2023, and was practically new by aviation standards after reportedly undergoing less than 200 flights before the incident.
The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in Arizona killing four people had ketamine in his system - even though he did not have a prescription for the drug.

Cornelius Petrus Jakobus van der Walt, 37, had levels in his blood above what would be considered impaired for driving, an autopsy found.

While ketamine is legal in Arizona with a prescription to treat mental health issues, the medical examiner said the South Africa native did not have one.

The report also recorded that rescue crews did not use the drug when trying to revive him. Van der Walt was piloting the balloon, which was carrying 13 adults, on January 14. Eight skydivers jumped before any issues.

Only the pilot and four others were on board when it went down in Eloy, 65 miles southeast of Phoenix. Chayton Wiescholek, 28, and Atahan Kiliccote, 24, and Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, were also killed in the crash.

Cornelius Petrus Jakobus van der Walt, 37, had ketamine levels in his blood above what would be considered impaired for driving, according to an autopsy

Aerial video shows firefighters arriving to battle the blaze, which left the ground completely charred

Footage shows a wall of flames at the site of the Arizona hot air balloon crash that killed four and left another person in critical condition at a local hospital

Valerie Stutterheim, a 23-year-old Scottsdale native, survived but was seriously injured.

A preliminary report cited an 'unspecified problem' as the reason for the crash.

'A review of multiple mobile phone videos revealed that the balloon was descending with a deflated envelope trailing from above,' said the report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Horrifying footage showed the immediate aftermath of the crash, which also left one person seriously injured.

A huge blaze ignited at the crash site, leaving a plume of dark smoke trailing into the sky.

Aerial footage showed firefighters arriving to snuff out the blaze, hosing down the blackened earth beneath their boots.

Chayton Wiescholek, 28, was on the aircraft with his girlfriend, Kinsey. She was one of the eight skydivers who jumped shortly before the crash

Atahan Kiliccote, 24, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering in 2022

Eloy Police Chief Byron Gwaltney said the eight skydivers were able to 'exit the balloon without incident' to complete a 'planned skydiving event' shortly before the balloon went down.

He said the skydivers intended to land at the Eloy Municipal Airport, just down the road from the scene of the accident.

'The incident appeared to occur very quickly,' Gwaltney said. 'It's just an absolute tragedy for our community and for the people that we're working with today.'

Bartrom worked at the Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital on the Advanced Cardiac Therapy floor and had recently graduated from nursing school.

Kiliccote, of Cupertino, California, attended Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering and graduated in 2022.

Wiescholek was from Union City, Michigan. His girlfriend Kinsey was one of the eight skydivers who jumped from the balloon shortly before the crash.

She was the last person to hear from him before his death.

'He texted her on the way down, saying, 'Goodbye, this isn't going to be good, I love you' and signed off,' Wiescholek's father told FOX 10.
Members of the public have blasted the force for not prioritising serious crimes

The beach had been cordoned off to 'protect' seal as it nested at Durdle's Door

Police have been criticised after an officer posed for a photo with a huge seal, having cordoned off a beach to 'protect' it from the public.

Officers attended the picturesque Durdle Door after reports that a seal was nesting on the beach at the popular beach spot and attracting a crowd of onlookers.

To safeguard the adult seal, they set up a cordon around the nesting mammal, with one officer taking the opportunity to snap a photo in front of the sea creature.

The police officer can be seen standing some feet away from the seal, and smiling as the famous limestone arch is visible in the background.

However, the image sparked a response from locals who questioned whether it was the best use of police resources.

A Dorset police officer has come under fire for posing for a photo with a 'protected' seal on a beach - despite allegedly warning members of the public to stay away from the mammal

To safeguard the adult seal, they set up a cordon around the nesting mammal, with one officer taking the opportunity to snap a photo in front of the sea creature

Dorset Police posted on their Facebook page: 'Wareham Police were called to Durdle Door this afternoon to put a seal on crime.

'The sun finally shone this afternoon inviting a beautiful seal to Durdle Door beach for an afternoon of relaxation through the Easter holidays.

'Police were called to cordon a section of beach off to keep a safe distance between the public and the seal.

'This also provided the Seal with enough space to feel comfortable and avoid him getting stressed. As you can see, he did just that!'

While some people applauded the officers for protecting wildlife, others were left less than impressed - accusing the force of splashing around and wasting valuable time and resources.

Angered local residents have accused the police of hypocrisy, as authorities allegedly people not to go to the beach to look at or photograph the seal - but the officer is pictured doing just that.

Below the post, Jack Lee said: 'Aren't there more pressing things to deal with than a day at the beach? I'm still waiting for someone to turn up to my robbery that happened last year.'

Dave Poultney wrote: 'An animal in its natural habitat needs police attendance yet you wont investigate a burglary and theft from a vehicle.'

The image quickly gained traction online, sparking a flurry of mixed reactions and heated debate from the public

Dorset Police said: 'Police were called to cordon a section of beach off to keep a safe distance between the public and the seal'

Other residents leapt to the defence of the officers and praised them for protecting the seal from 'idiot visitors'

Harry Ryan added: 'When you gonna come give my mate a visit about someone breaking into his shed? Do some actual police work.'

Other commenters said it should be the responsibility of the Lulworth Estate, which owns the beach, to look after the seal, rather than the police.

READ MORE: Moment raccoon gives cops the runaround in Colorado store after being chased out of wall it got trapped in Advertisement

Dave Sweetman asked, 'Why are the police doing this and not the Lulworth Estate? It is incumbent on them to ensure the safety of people and animals,' while Jac Williams added that it was a 'waste of already limited police resources.'

Meanwhile, Semaj Nagman suggested the police were being hypocritical by 'getting closer to the seal' than the public were allowed to.

He said: 'The police probably got closer than anyone else did just so the police officer could pose for that picture not much crime going on atm then.

However, others leapt to the defence of the officers and praised them for protecting the seal from 'idiot visitors.'

Micky Scara said: 'Given how idiotically "visitors" behave in this very location, I am not at all surprised that the poor seal is in need of police protection. Keep up the good work Dorset Police Rural Crime Team.'

Julie-Anne Houldey said: 'Good. Saw the hideous video of hoards of people gathering around the seal.'

Durdle Door is a popular beach spot for many who want to enjoy a picturesque combination of rocky cliffs, sandy beaches and turquoise water

A local police force have faced backlash after officers were pictured covered in coloured paint dancing at the town's Holi Festival

British Divers Marine Life Rescue said the seal had been seen in the area since 2020 and should not be approached.

A spokesperson said: 'Large crowds of people can stress seals and they can give a nasty bite if they feel threatened.'

It was reported that 77 per cent of burglaries went unsolved in Dorset in the 2022/2023 financial year - an average of six per day.

It comes after another police force came under fire after officers were seen dancing while covered in coloured paint at a Holi Festival.

Swindon Police uploaded the video to its social media platform of the two on-duty officers dancing to music during the celebration, with coloured paint splattered all over their uniforms.

However, the video was soon deleted after frustrated locals began to question why they were dancing around and not doing what they considered to be their traditional jobs.

Dorset Police has been approached for further comment.
One in five voters says that violence is how to get the country back on track

Voters by a wide margin say the US is 'too politically correct,' increasingly warn of racism against white people, and a significant fifth say violence may be needed to put the country back on track, a poll shows.

The PBS/NPR/Marist survey offers a snapshot of a polarized country heading into a presidential contest between President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

The nationwide survey of 1,305 US adults puts Biden ahead of Trump by 50-48 percent of the US-wide vote  within the margin of error, and not focussed only on the swing states that will decide who wins the White House.

It also shows rising levels of concern on right-of-center issues, including whether American is too politically correct, if racism is increasingly directed against whether people, and whether political violence is justified.

Republicans are slightly keener than Democrats on using violence to reclaim America

The embattled Proud Boys are among the groups who have in recent years shown a willingness to engage in political violence

Fully 57 percent of respondents said America was too politically correct  compared to 41 percent who said it was not and another 2 percent who were not sure.

Poll Do Americans have to resort to violence to get the country back on track? Yes No Not sure Do Americans have to resort to violence to get the country back on track? Yes 9 votes

No 0 votes

Not sure 0 votes Now share your opinion





Trump voters were about twice as likely as Biden voters to agree to complain about political correctness.

The survey comes after years of culture wars clashes over everything from transgender children to immigration, and efforts to change commonly-used phrases that are seen by some as offensive.

Nearly half of respondents said discrimination against white people has become just as big a problem as discrimination against black Americans and other minority groups.

Another half  51 percent  said that was not the case, and 1 percent was not sure.

Again, Republicans were more worried about anti-white racism than were Democrats.

Conservatives, such as Joe Biggs (pictured) increasingly present free speech as an antidote to political correctness

Americans from across the political spectrum say America is becoming too woke

Analysts wonder whether November's election will see a rerun of the J6 violence from 2021

Conservative activists have increasingly targeted hiring practices at US companies and institutions that seek to level the playing field for minorities, but may go too far and blow back against white men.

Pollsters also found that one-in-five voters are so concerned about America's problems that it may be necessary to 'resort to violence in order to get the country back on track.'

Analysts linked this to the rioters who overran the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to derail Biden's election win.

Reports from Johns Hopkins University's Agora Institute suggest that political violence or the threat of it is harming American democracy, and especially the health of elections  stoking fears of disruptions in November.

'Violence isn't the way to get our country back on track,' David Avella, chairman of GOPAC, a Republican state and local political training organization, told PBS.

'We're still a country that believes in law and order, and everybody still has to play by the rules.'
Canada is battling a 130 percent spike in the number of Mexicans, Haitians, and others seeking asylum there, overwhelming shelters and leaving officials scrambling with an $822 million crisis.

Shelter systems in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and other Canadian cities are over capacity, prompting its liberal government to take steps to deter the flows of people north.

Canada's migrant headache mirrors similar problems seen in the US, Britain, and the European Union, which are all struggling to cope with their own influxes of people from poorer countries.

In Peel, a Toronto suburb, the shelter system is running at 300 percent of capacity, with asylum-seekers occupying more than 70 percent of the beds and many more camping on the streets, officials say.

Canadian officers check the credentials of two people who entered Canada via Roxham Road on the Canada/US border

Canada's asylum claims jumped 130 percent to 137,900 between 2022 and 2023

'It's an ugly situation,' said Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario.

Brown's city of some 700,000 people is close to Toronto Pearson, the country's busiest airport.

'If Canada's going to allow more asylum claimants into our country, we need to make sure that they're not left abandoned, and frankly, what we've seen is too much of that.'

Meanwhile, shelter systems in Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver are also over capacity  exacerbating a shortage of available places for the homeless population.

A rise in asylum claimants has become a major political issue across many countries, including the US.

Cities such as New York and Chicago are grappling with how to manage the waves of migrants who've traveled across the southern border.

Canada's geography means it sees a fraction as many irregular border crossings as the US, but there's been an increase in the numbers arriving by air  particularly from Mexico.

The influx has prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to make policy shifts.

Last year, Trudeau and US President Joe Biden agreed to end a pact that had resulted in asylum-seekers crossing into Canada from the US at a location known as Roxham Road.

Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario, calls Canada's migrant crisis 'an ugly situation'

Protestors rally against Canada regularizing undocumented migrants in Montreal, Quebec

In February, Trudeau's government reimposed visa rules for many Mexican citizens.

Last month, Canada said it plans to reduce the size of its temporary resident population, a group that includes asylum claimants and foreigners on temporary work permits.

Mexico is by far the largest source country for those seeking asylum in Canada, followed by Haiti, Turkey, India and Colombia.

In Brampton, about 80 percent came from five African countries, including Kenya and Nigeria, Brown said.

The numbers have risen because of the overlapping conflicts and crises in other nations, the resumption of international travel after the pandemic and Canada's broadening of the legal basis for asylum claims.

Trudeau's government  under pressure from Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow  offered about C$360 million ($265 million) in January to provinces and cities.

That was to help deal with 'extraordinary interim housing pressures' from asylum claimants.

It says it's transferred about C$750 million to other levels of government since 2017 to help with asylum-related housing costs.

That adds up to C$1.1 billion ($822 million).

Mexico, Haiti, Turkey, and India led the pack in asylum seeker claims in Canada in 2023

Canadian officers stop asylum seekers as they enter Canada at the Roxham Road entry point with the US

Still, Brown's contention is that the national government hasn't done enough.

Last year, his region had a shortfall of more than C$20 million to care for them and the mayor projects that to triple this year.

'If we're going to be a country that offers safe harbor to those fleeing adversity, they can't be left out in the frigid cold in that process,' Brown said.

The rapid growth in asylum seekers in Canada is happening in tandem with record population gains, driven by foreign workers and international students.

But frustration over housing shortages has forced Trudeau's government to scale back on its immigration ambitions in recent months.

Among other policies, it's capping the number of foreign-study permits.

Brampton is also a focal point of colleges trying to cash in on the demand from those international students, many of whom see higher education as a pathway to settling in Canada.

The number of international students in the country has tripled to around 1 million in less than a decade.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has made policy shifts to tackle the migrant surge

Asylum seekers make it harder for Canada to manage its home-grown homeless problem

Many of the new arrivals faced soaring rents and lack of part-time jobs, and some, according to Brown, are 'living in unfortunate conditions  sometimes in encampments, sometimes 25 students in a basement apartment.'

Some asylum seekers in Brampton also live in a 'large encampment outside the shelter system itself,' Brown said.

Before the surge that started around mid-2023, asylum claimants took up just 2 percent of local shelter beds, he said.

'It's put a significant cost barrier on cities,' Brown said.

'Cities have never funded this before.'

Under Ontario law, local governments can't run budget deficits to pay for such unexpected costs.

'So if you have people living on the sidewalk, that means you either have to take it from your public transit fund, your police fund, your paramedic fund, it's just a negative cycle,' he said.

'We're hoping it doesn't get to that.'
The mastermind of a robbery in which a policewoman was shot dead will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of murder today.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, has finally been brought to justice almost 19 years after PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead at point blank range and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn seriously wounded as they went to investigate an armed robbery at a travel agency in Bradford.

Father-of-six Khan, a takeaway restaurant boss, was the man who planned and organised the ill-fated raid.

He was not one of the three armed men who went into the Universal Express agency on 18 November 2005 and shot the police officers as they fled with 5,405 in cash.

The court heard Khan, who had picked the business as a suitable cash-rich target, was parked nearby and gave the go ahead.

Piran Ditta Khan has been found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38

PC Beshenivsky (pictured) was fatally shot in November 2005 as she and her colleague responded to a report of a robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire

This 'spray and pray' MAC-10 sub-machine gun was used at the scene of PC Beshenivsky's murder

With the net closing in Khan fled the country two months later and moved back to his native Pakistan where there was no extradition treaty with the UK.

But years of diplomacy and discussions at a ministerial level eventually led to Khan's arrest in 2020 and today he was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court after a seven-week trial.

READ MORE - The robbery gang which spent an evening partying at a brothel with champagne and prostitutes after ill-rated robbery which left unarmed police constable Sharon Beshenivsky dead - then escaped justice for nearly two decades Advertisement

It means that all seven men involved in the raid have now been convicted over their roles in the robbery.

The three gunmen who went into the agency, armed with a sub-machine gun, pistol and knife, were jailed for murder.

Khan had admitted robbery but told the jury he did not plan or organise it and had no idea the trio of robbers were armed.

PC Beshenivisky, 38, a mother-of-three who had been an officer for just nine months, was shot through the heart and died on the pavement on her daughter's fourth birthday.

CCTV footage released by police after today's verdict shows the moment both officers are shot.

The harrowing clip shows the two police officers leaving their vehicle and walking towards the shop before they are gunned down.

Three robbers can then be seen running across the road and away from the scene.

The safe at the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford that was raided by Khan's gang

PC Beshenvinsky was shot dead at point blank range while responding to the break-in

The tragedy unfolded in 2005 after PC Beshenivsky was called to an armed robbery

A 'safe house' on Harehills Lane that was used by the robbers

Khan's fingerprints were found on this wardrobe inside the safe house

This kitchen knife was seized by West Yorkshire Police during their investigation

Police chief's relief at finally fulfilling promise to PC's husband The police chief who led the inquiry into the fatal armed robbery said today he was relieved to fulfil his promise to PC Sharon Beshenivsky's husband to bring all those involved to justice. Andy Brennan retired from West Yorkshire Police 10 years ago knowing that Piran Ditta Khan was still in large. The former senior detective has attended the trial at Leeds Crown Court and can now rest easy that justice has been done. He said: 'Going back to 2005 on the day this happened, I met Paul Beshenivsky and his family and gave a commitment that we would find everybody involved and they would be brought before the courts.' Mr Brennan, who was the senior investigating officer at the time, said he appeared at the first press conference following PC Beshenivsky's murder with the late chief constable Colin Cramphorn and 'gave that same commitment to the public.' 'At that time I knew that there were three people who had definitely gone inside the premises but we didn't understand or appreciate the scale and extent of the operation itself. It was only through the investigation process that that came out.' Commenting on Khan's eventual arrest and extradition to the UK, he said: 'I was really, really pleased because Khan was always the last one and it has been on my mind that we wanted to get him. Unfortunately it didn't happen whilst I was still serving but that didn't alter anything in my view.' Mr Brennan retired from the force in 2014, moving on to the National Crime Agency, knowing the 'planning and preparation' had all been done and he was confident in due course that efforts at government level would result in his extradition. He said he had spent a lot of time and effort lobbying government officials to pursue extradition and his colleagues and continued to do that. 'You've just got to keep on politely applying pressure in the right way and hopefully things will fall into place,' he said. Mr Brennan said Khan's conviction will hopefully bring PC Beshenivsky's family 'some kind of closure, adding: 'There is nobody outstanding now. Everybody has been arrested and dealt with by the court.' Advertisement

PC Beshenivisky's brave colleague was coughing up blood but managed to report the shooting by activating her personal police radio.

Mr Justice Hilliard told the jury to convict of murder they must be sure Khan intentionally encouraged and assisted the robbers and intended at least really serious harm would be caused if necessary in the course of the raid.

Robert Smith, KC, said Khan's part in the operation was so 'pivotal' that he is guilty of murder.

Universal Express was used by local people to transfer funds to relatives in Pakistan by paying in cash.

As a customer who had used it for this purpose, Khan was aware that 'substantial quantities' of cash were held there, the court heard.

He knew about the security within the building and that firearms would be needed to threaten staff, said Mr Smith.

Khan was also aware that customers could only enter inside through a lobby that was locked. Staff checked out people in the lobby before unlocking the door, the court heard.

On the day of the raid two of them robbers were dressed in suits and the third in a white shirt and jacket.

Their loaded guns were inside a computer bag along with a large knife and cable ties to tie up staff.

They were dressed to look respectable so that they would be allowed inside.

Khan also planned the raid, making a scouting trip five days earlier on a quiet Sunday when the business was closed.

The group had a safehouse in Leeds where they gathered before the raid.

It was at this safehouse that a witness heard Khan being asked about the amount of cash they could expect to get in the planned robbery.

The court heard he told the group a 'minimum of 50,000 and a maximum of 100,000.'

The two police officers were sent there after a member of staff triggered a 'silent alarm' during the raid.

They were close to the door when the three robbers came out. The prosecution said Shah was the 'Asian man' who shot PC Beshenivsky and then PC Milburn, who was 37 at the time.

She said in a statement: 'I felt immense pain and knew straight away I had been shot.'

The force of the second shot spun me round. The force was unbelievable.'

PC Milburn managed to radio for help and gave a description of the man to her colleagues as she was on the pavement coughing up blood.

She said: 'I was in extreme pain, I was still spitting blood. I thought 'stay awake'.

'My body was shaking, I felt like going to sleep and giving in.'

PC Beshenivsky had been serving in the police for less than a year when she was killed

Her colleague Teresa Milburn (pictured) was shot at point-blank range and was injured during the ordeal but survived

Khan in court after being charged with the police officer's murder in January this year

A Toyota Corolla connected to the robbery of the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford

Police also seized this Mercedes SLK, which is pictured in an undated handout photo

A Toyota Rav 4 that was also used by the gang during the vicious raid

PC Milburn said PC Beshenivsky 'didn't have a chance.'

'If he had waved the gun, if he had given us some warning we would have just gone, but there was no warning. No indication he had a gun, it was just bang, bang.'

Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of West Yorkshire Police said: 'Today as always our thoughts remain with Pc Sharon Beshenivsky and her family, Sharon went to work to protect the public, she responded to a call for help alongside her colleague Teresa but tragically never came home.

'This verdict is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts.'

Murderer mastermind behind robbery where PC Sharon Beshenivsky was killed is the final member of the crime gang to be convicted after escaping justice for nearly two decades

The murderer mastermind behind the robbery where PC Sharon Beshenivsky was killed is now the final member of the criminal gang to be brought to justice after he escaped justice for nearly two decades.

The conviction of Piran Ditta Khan at Leeds Crown Court today means all seven men involved in the ill-fated 2005 robbery that ended with the murder of PC Beshenivsky will have faced justice.

Unarmed police constables Sharon Beshenivsky and Teresa Milburn were shot at point-blank range as they responded to a raid at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

PC Beshenivsky, 38, who had only been an officer for nine months, died from her injuries while PC Milburn was shot in the chest and survived.

Leeds Crown Court has heard a total of seven men were involved in carrying out the raid, with alleged ringleader Piran Ditta Khan the last to face trial almost two decades on.

Pakistani police officers escort Khan after he was arrested for murder

Khan, 75, travelled to Pakistan two months after the robbery and evaded arrest until he was detained by Pakistani authorities in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year.

Prosecutors say that although Khan was not one of the three men who carried out the robbery, and did not leave the safety of a Mercedes SLK that was allegedly being used as a lookout car, he is guilty of Pc Beshenivsky's murder due to his 'pivotal' role in planning the raid knowing that loaded weapons were to be used.

The others convicted in connection with the murder of PC Beshenivsky were:

Muzzaker Shah was jailed for life in 2006 with a minimum 35-year term after admitting PC Beshenivsky's murder, robbery and firearms offences.

He led the trio of armed robbers but denied firing the fatal shot. Police have always believed he was the 'Asian man' described by PC Teresa Milburn as the one who shot both officers.

Shah, 25, a married father from London, was on police bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the raid.

He was described as 'extremely dangerous' and part of a notorious London gang called Thug Fam. Shah had previous convictions for robbery and for having a handgun containing live rounds in a public place.

Yusuf Jama was sentenced at the same time and also given a 35-year minimum term for murdering PC Beshenivsky. He also had connections with Thug Fam and had the same distinctive five-star tattoo as Shah and other members.

He claimed in court to have shot PC Beshenivsky, but insisted it was an accident.

Jama, 20, who had previous convictions for violence and dishonesty, was caught a week after the murder when he and nine other Somalis were held for alleged involvement in a gang rape in Birmingham, for which he was later convicted.

Mustaf Jama was Yusuf's brother and the third armed robber on the raid. In 2009 he was given the same sentence as the other two for the police officer's murder.

Jama, 26, who had come to Britain as a refugee, could have been deported six months before PC Beshenivsky's murder after serving a prison sentence for burglary. He had 21 convictions to his name, including three robberies, burglary, affray and carrying a machete.

The Home Office deemed it unfair to send him back to Somalia because it is considered one of the world's most unsafe places. He fled there after the killing, slipping out of Heathrow on a false passport while in disguise.

But an international operation led to his arrest in Somalia and he was brought home to face justice.

Faisal Razzaq was one of the lookouts and was living at the gang's safehouse in Leeds. He was convicted in 2006 of PC Beshenivsky's manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences.

The 25-year-old was on police bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the raid and had previous convictions for dishonesty, deception and robbery.

In 2006 Razzaq was given a life sentence and told he must serve at least 11 years before being considered for parole. He has since been released from jail.

Hassan Razzaq, the older brother of Faisal, helped Piran Ditta Khan plan the robbery and also acted as a lookout in the operation. The 26-year-old was convicted of PC Beshenivsky's manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences and was given a 20-year jail sentence in 2007. He has since been released.

Razzaq had a previous conviction for a 1999 street robbery when he was 17. He was sentenced to 12 months in a young offender's institution.

Raza Ul Haq Aslam was another lookout. The 26-year-old Londoner was jailed for eight years in 2007 after being convicted of robbery. He was cleared of murder, manslaughter and firearms offences relating to the Bradford raid.

The judge said the length of his sentence reflected that he didn't know the gang were carrying guns.

He has since been released from prison.
Franklin & Marshall poll shows Biden at 48 percent and Trump at 38 percent in Pennsylvania

Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump by double-digits in the key election battleground state of Pennsylvania, where the president was born, according to a stunning new poll.

It was a rare piece of good polling news for Biden after recent surveys showed him trailing Trump in a host of swing states.

The Franklin & Marshall College Poll out Thursday shows Biden at 48 percent among registered voters in Pennsylvania and Trump on 38 percent.

It came a day after First Lady Jill Biden pushed back against reports that her husband is trailing Trump.

'No, he's not losing in all the battleground states,' she told CBS Mornings on Wednesday.

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at a campaign event in Wallingford, PA on March 8

Trump speaking at an NRA presidential forum on February 9 in Harrisburg, PA

Pennsylvania was one of the biggest battlegrounds of 2016 and 2020 elections, and is set to be again this time.

The latest poll shows that, when possible third party candidates are included, the race is much closer.

In that scenario Biden polls at 42 percent to Trump's 40 percent. Robert Kennedy Jr. polls at 9 percent while Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets 3 percent.

Biden won the state by just over 80,000 votes in 2020.

The new poll found Pennsylvania registered voters believe Biden better understands the concerns of ordinary Americans over Trump by 41 to 37 percent.

It also found Biden to be more honest and trustworthy by 43 percent to Trump's 28 percent.

Biden leads on who has the character and good judgement to be president by 44 to 31 percent.

However, 40 percent also said Biden, 81, was too old to serve while only 6 percent said Trump, 77, was too old. Another 40 percent said both are too old.

Jill Biden announced the first ever state dinner for teachers

Trump is ahead of Biden in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania, while the two are tied in Wisconsin when it's just Trump and Biden on the ballot

The poll showed voters said Biden had the closest views to their own on abortion, the top issue in the state.

But Trump did better on handling the economy by 48 percent to 39 percent. He also is seen as the candidate to better handle the job as commander in chief of the military by 43 to 41 percent.

While the Franklin & Marshall poll showed Biden with a sizable lead in the state, several other polls conducted in Pennsylvania in March showed the race tied or Trump with a slight edge.

On Wednesday, a Wall Street Journal poll found Biden losing to Trump in six out of seven battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina , Nevada and Pennsylvania. They were tied in Wisconsin.

Responding to that Jill Biden said: 'I feel that Joe will be re-elected. He's coming up even or doing better. So you know what, once people start to focus in and they see their two choices, it's obvious that Joe will win this election.'

President Biden has rejected poll numbers saying it's too early to believe them.

He has also accused the media of not reporting on polls that are favorable to him.

'While we probably havent read a lot about it, in the last few days, there have been several national polls showing us leading now,' Biden said during a campaign stop last week in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A desperate search is underway to find a missing teenage girl in Sydney's west.

Emily Milios, 14, was last seen in Kings Langley on Thursday about 4pm, but did not return home.

Police and family hold serious concerns for Emily's welfare due to her young age.

Emily Milios, 14, was last seen in Kings Langley on Thursday about 4pm, but did not return home

Emily is white, 164cm tall with a solid build and has long brown hair.

She was last seen was wearing green bike shorts, a black shirt, a green high school jumper and was carrying a black backpack with a Nike logo, police said.

She is known to frequent the Blacktown shopping precinct.

Anyone with any information about Emily's whereabouts is urged to contact police immediately.
This is the extraordinary moment police hunting the killer of PC Sharon Beshenivsky finally caught their man - and locked him in a cell.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, had spent more than a decade on the run after masterminding the robbery which saw heroic PC Beshenivsky shot and killed at 'almost point-blank range' in 2005.

PC Beshenivsky was gunned down on November 18 2005 as she and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn responded to a report of a robbery at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

After the killing, fugitive Khan fled to his native Pakistan - where there is no extradition to the UK - and went into hiding.

He was finally arrested in Pakistan in 2020 after years of legal wrangling before being dragged back to Britain last April to face justice.

The is the extraordinary moment police hunting the killer of PC Sharon Beshenivsky finally caught their man

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, had spent more than a decade on the run after masterminding the robbery which saw heroic PC Beshenivsky shot and killed

He was finally led into a cell at a West Yorkshire police station having been on the run in his native Pakistan for more than a decade

PC Sharon Beshenivsky (pictured) was fatally shot in November 2005 as she and her colleague responded to a report of a robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire

Today, the 75-year-old was convicted of murdering the 38-year-old mother-of-three by a majority of 10-1 after 11 jurors deliberated for almost 19 hours over four days.

Now, West Yorkshire Police has released the incredible footage of Khan being hauled into a police station and locked inside a cell at the Elland Road base.

Chained in handcuffs, Khan is filmed as he is pulled out a white police vehicle by a suited detective.

Wearing a navy blue Nike tracksuit, the father-of-six appears to limp as he is escorted through the police station.

The former takeaway restaurant boss is seen surrounded by three officers, including one armed with a Taser, as he is led into the custody suite.

Hanging his head, the video then cuts to the frail-looking pensioner as a bespectacled officer reads the charges against him.

'Piran Ditta Khan on the 18th day of November, 2005, murdered Police Constable Sharon Beshenivsky,' the officer says, before a custody sergeant asks Khan: 'Have you any response to that charge? Do you wish to say anything?'

Stuttering and shaking his head, the killer crook defiantly declares: 'I've not murdered anybody.'

Hanging his head, the video then cuts to the frail-looking pensioner as a bespectacled officer (right) reads the charges against him

Khan is later seen being escorted through the Elland Road station by officers

This is the moment the killer pensioner, 75, was finally caged for the killing of PC Beshenivsky

After being led into the cell, the video ends with an officer closing the cell door and locking it

The video clip then cuts to Khan, now wearing grey tracksuit bottoms and his navy-blue Nike jumper, as he is hauled into his police cell before the door bolted shut.

A year after the footage was captured, and Khan was finally convicted of the murder of PC Beshenivsky - 19 years after the brave officer was killed.

She was shot dead at point blank range and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn seriously wounded as they went to investigate an armed robbery at a travel agency in Bradford.

Khan was the man who planned and organised the ill-fated raid. He now faces spending the rest of his life behind bars for the murder.

He was not one of the three armed men who went into the Universal Express agency on November 18 2005 and shot the police officers as they fled with 5,405 in cash.

The court heard Khan, who had picked the business as a suitable cash-rich target, was parked nearby and gave the go ahead.

Piran Ditta Khan has been found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38

This 'spray and pray' MAC-10 sub-machine gun was used at the scene of PC Beshenivsky's murder

With the net closing in Khan fled the country two months later and moved back to his native Pakistan where there was no extradition treaty with the UK.

READ MORE - Unarmed PC 'didn't have a chance', wounded colleague tells court Advertisement

But years of diplomacy and discussions at a ministerial level eventually led to Khan's arrest in 2020 and today he was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court after a seven-week trial.

It means that all seven men involved in the raid have now been convicted over their roles in the robbery.

The three gunmen who went into the agency, armed with a sub-machine gun, pistol and knife, were jailed for murder.

Khan had admitted robbery but told the jury he did not plan or organise it and had no idea the trio of robbers were armed.

PC Beshenivisky, 38, a mother-of-three who had been an officer for just nine months, was shot through the heart and died on the pavement.

The safe at the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford that was raided by Khan's gang

PC Beshenvinsky was shot dead at point blank range while responding to the break-in

The tragedy unfolded in 2005 after PC Beshenivsky was called to an armed robbery

A 'safe house' on Harehills Lane that was used by the robbers

Khan's fingerprints were found on this wardrobe inside the safe house

This kitchen knife was seized by West Yorkshire Police during their investigation

Police chief's relief at finally fulfilling promise to PC's husband The police chief who led the inquiry into the fatal armed robbery said today he was relieved to fulfil his promise to PC Sharon Beshenivsky's husband to bring all those involved to justice. Andy Brennan retired from West Yorkshire Police 10 years ago knowing that Piran Ditta Khan was still in large. The former senior detective has attended the trial at Leeds Crown Court and can now rest easy that justice has been done. He said: 'Going back to 2005 on the day this happened, I met Paul Beshenivsky and his family and gave a commitment that we would find everybody involved and they would be brought before the courts.' Mr Brennan, who was the senior investigating officer at the time, said he appeared at the first press conference following PC Beshenivsky's murder with the late chief constable Colin Cramphorn and 'gave that same commitment to the public.' 'At that time I knew that there were three people who had definitely gone inside the premises but we didn't understand or appreciate the scale and extent of the operation itself. It was only through the investigation process that that came out.' Commenting on Khan's eventual arrest and extradition to the UK, he said: 'I was really, really pleased because Khan was always the last one and it has been on my mind that we wanted to get him. Unfortunately it didn't happen whilst I was still serving but that didn't alter anything in my view.' Mr Brennan retired from the force in 2014, moving on to the National Crime Agency, knowing the 'planning and preparation' had all been done and he was confident in due course that efforts at government level would result in his extradition. He said he had spent a lot of time and effort lobbying government officials to pursue extradition and his colleagues and continued to do that. 'You've just got to keep on politely applying pressure in the right way and hopefully things will fall into place,' he said. Mr Brennan said Khan's conviction will hopefully bring PC Beshenivsky's family 'some kind of closure, adding: 'There is nobody outstanding now. Everybody has been arrested and dealt with by the court.' Advertisement

Her brave colleague was coughing up blood but managed to report the shooting by activating her personal police radio.

Mr Justice Hilliard told the jury to convict of murder they must be sure Khan intentionally encouraged and assisted the robbers and intended at least really serious harm would be caused if necessary in the course of the raid.

Robert Smith, KC, said Khan's part in the operation was so 'pivotal' that he is guilty of murder.

Universal Express was used by local people to transfer funds to relatives in Pakistan by paying in cash.

As a customer who had used it for this purpose, Khan was aware that 'substantial quantities' of cash were held there, the court heard.

He knew about the security within the building and that firearms would be needed to threaten staff, said Mr Smith.

Khan was also aware that customers could only enter inside through a lobby that was locked. Staff checked out people in the lobby before unlocking the door, the court heard.

On the day of the raid two of them robbers were dressed in suits and the third in a white shirt and jacket.

Their loaded guns were inside a computer bag along with a large knife and cable ties to tie up staff.

They were dressed to look respectable so that they would be allowed inside.

Khan also planned the raid, making a scouting trip five days earlier on a quiet Sunday when the business was closed.

The group had a safehouse in Leeds where they gathered before the raid.

It was at this safehouse that a witness heard Khan being asked about the amount of cash they could expect to get in the planned robbery.

The court heard he told the group a 'minimum of 50,000 and a maximum of 100,000.'

The two police officers were sent there after a member of staff triggered a 'silent alarm' during the raid.

They were close to the door when the three robbers came out. The prosecution said Shah was the 'Asian man' who shot PC Beshenivsky and then PC Milburn, who was 37 at the time.

She said in a statement: 'I felt immense pain and knew straight away I had been shot.'

The force of the second shot spun me round. The force was unbelievable.'

PC Milburn managed to radio for help and gave a description of the man to her colleagues as she was on the pavement coughing up blood.

She said: 'I was in extreme pain, I was still spitting blood. I thought 'stay awake'.

'My body was shaking, I felt like going to sleep and giving in.'

PC Beshenivsky had been serving in the police for less than a year when she was killed

Her colleague Teresa Milburn (pictured) was shot at point-blank range and was injured during the ordeal but survived

Khan in court after being charged with the police officer's murder in January this year

A Toyota Corolla connected to the robbery of the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford

Police also seized this Mercedes SLK, which is pictured in an undated handout photo

A Toyota Rav 4 that was also used by the gang during the vicious raid

PC Milburn said PC Beshenivsky 'didn't have a chance.'

Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of West Yorkshire Police said: 'Today as always our thoughts remain with PC Sharon Beshenivsky and her family, Sharon went to work to protect the public, she responded to a call for help alongside her colleague Teresa but tragically never came home.

'This verdict is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts.'
Fire chiefs have launched an investigation into how a huge inferno which destroyed eight lorries broke out at an Essex yard.

The blaze started at 11.45pm last night in West Tilbury, Essex, and emergency services were called to the scene after smoke was spotted.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service arrived at the scene with two crews from Grays in Essex. However, the fire was so large that it had already engulfed the eight vehicles and extra fire crews from across Essex had to be called.

Water also had to be shuttled to the scene using a Water Bower from the seafront town of Corringham before crews were able to extinguish the flames.

Essex Police and the East of England Ambulance Service also attended the scenes. The ambulance service confirmed that 'no patients required medical attention.'

The blaze broke out at 11.45pm last night in West Tilbury, Essex, and emergency services were called to the scene after smoke was spotted

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service arrived at the scene with two crews from Grays in Essex. However, the fire was so large that it had already engulfed the eight vehicles and extra fire crews from across Essex had to be called

Fire chiefs have now launched an investigation into how the fire started. Station Manager Dean Riley said: 'Crews worked quickly to establish a water supply and this helped firefighters contain the fire to the lorries and prevented it spreading to nearby units in the yard'

An investigation will be carried out by the Fire and Rescue Service to determine the cause of the fire.

Station Manager Dean Riley said: 'Crews worked quickly to establish a water supply and this helped firefighters contain the fire to the lorries and prevented it spreading to nearby units in the yard.'

In a statement, Essex Police told MailOnline: 'We attended a business in Turnpike Lane, Tilbury, following notification by colleagues in Essex County Fire and Rescue Service of a fire at the location shortly before 1am on Thursday 4 April.

'A number of vehicles were damaged by the fire.'
The mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley has asked to dodge jail time and serve her involuntary manslaughter sentence under house arrest in her lawyer's guest home.

Jennifer Crumbley is facing up to 15 years in jail after being convicted at a court in Michigan in a landmark legal case that found she ignored numerous warning signs that her son might carry out a school shooting.

Her lawyer, Shannon Smith, has requested that Jennifer live in her guest house - which prosecutors say is an 'upgrade' on her current house - at her home in northern Oakland County, rather than serving her sentence behind bars.

Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast said the request for the lenient living conditions is a 'slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by defendant's gross negligence.'

Instead, Keast has recommended 10-to-15-year jail sentences for both Jennifer and her husband, James, who has also been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Jennifer Crumbley is facing up to 15 years in jail after being convicted on involuntary manslaughter

Her lawyer Shannon Smith has requested that Jennifer live in her guest house

Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast said the request for the lenient living conditions is a 'slap in the face to the severity of tragedy'

They are scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, and like Jennifer, James is seeking to avoid prison and has asked for time served in lieu.

Referring to James, Keast argued in his sentencing memo: 'Defendants shameless lack of remorse in asking for time served as an appropriate sentence is a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by his gross negligence, to the victims and their families.'

He said: 'Beyond defendants gross negligence, his jail calls show a total lack of remorse, he blames everyone but himself, and he threatened the elected Prosecutor.

'(He) has shown a chilling lack of remorse for his culpability in this matter. He has blamed everyone but himself and considers himself a 'martyr.''

According to an interview with investigators seen by the Detroit Free Press asking for leniency, Jennifer said: 'I have been in jail for over 26 months and have been locked down 23 hours per day.

'I am hopeful the Court will sentence me in a way that allows me to be released from jail for the balance of my sentence.'

Keast said: 'Consistent with her efforts to minimize her culpability directly after the shooting, defendant  now even after trial  continues to show a complete lack of remorse by minimizing any role she had in the matter.

'Demonstrating this fact, defendant thinks a proportionate sentence is to 'be placed on a tether with house arrest' at her attorneys guest house  ostensibly an upgraded residence from (her former Oxford home) where she resided before her gross negligence that led to the Oxford High School shooting.'

The parents were convicted in separate trials after juries found they ignored numerous cries for help from their son and bought him a gun before he shot and killed four students in 2021.

In evidence, they heard Ethan wrote in his diary: 'My parents won't listen to me about help or (a) therapist'.

In another entry he said: 'I have zero help for my mental problems and it's causing me to shoot up the f****** school'.

Prosecutors argued that Crumbley was so negligent as a parent that she was partly to blame when her son Ethan, then 15, killed four people and injured seven at Oxford High School in Pontiac in November 2021.

The jury heard that Crumbley was more interested in an extramarital affair, her horses and going for nights out on the town, than spending time with her son.

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

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 45-year-old and her husband James Crumbley, 47, bought the gun their son used in the shooting four days before the rampage, the jury heard.

Prosecutors put forward the novel theory of extended parental liability, which the jury agreed with after 11 hours of deliberations.

They failed to secure it properly and Crumbley even went to a shooting range with Ethan to practice a few days prior to the killing.

READ MORE: Father of victim says Jennifer Crumbley's four manslaughter convictions for failing to stop her school shooter son will act as a deterrent for other parents of troubled children Advertisement

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.

There were two other guns in a separate safe that could be unlocked with the code 0-0-0.

Two hours before the attack, Crumbley was called to Ethan's high school for a meeting where he wrote about 'blood everywhere' in a maths textbook.

During the trial, defence lawyer Shannon Smith said that the case was 'dangerous' to parents.

She asked the jury to find Crumbley not guilty 'for every parent doing the best they can, who could easily be in (her) shoes'.

Ethan is already serving life in prison after admitting 24 counts including murder. His mother is expected to be sentenced on April 9th.

Speaking to The New York Times, legal expert Eve Brensike Primus said that despite the historical significance of the conviction, the evidence against Ethan Crumbley's parents is not common among the parents of other shooters.

'I have heard many people say they think a guilty verdict in this case will open the floodgates to these kinds of prosecutions going forward. To be honest, Im not convinced thats true,' Primus said.

Thought the professor did add that it could create a template for other prosecutors seeking justice for mass shootings.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were both charged in connection with their son's shooting, the first time parents have faced charges over a school shooting

The father of a 17-year-old victim who Ethan gunned down hopes Crumbley's conviction will wake up other parents.

Craig Shilling, whose son Justin was one of the four murdered students, was present for the verdict at Oakland County Circuit Court.

Speaking outside the courtroom moments after Crumbley was found guilty, Mr Shilling said: 'The cries have been heard, and I feel this verdict is gonna echo throughout every household in the country.'

'I feel it's necessary, and I'm happy with the verdict. It's still a sad situation to be in. It's gotta stop. It's an accountability, and this is what we've been asking for for a long time now,' he added.

The four guilty verdicts  one for each student slain at Oxford High School  were returned after about 11 hours of deliberations.

Crumbley looked down and shook her head slightly as each juror was polled after the verdicts were read.

On her way out of the courtroom, prosecutor Karen McDonald hugged relatives of Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin.

'Thank you,' a man whispered to her.

Craig Shilling (left), whose son Justin was one of the four murdered students, was present for the verdict at Oakland County Circuit Court

Shilling said he hoped Jennifer Crumbley's conviction would wake up other parents

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald hugs Shilling after the verdict

A gag order by the judge prevented McDonald and defense attorney Shannon Smith from speaking to reporters.

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.

Outside the courthouse, the jury forewoman, who declined to give her name, said jurors were influenced by evidence that Crumbley was the last adult to possess the gun. That 'really hammered it home,' she told reporters.

Indeed, the jury saw images of Crumbley leaving the shooting range with the gun in a box.

'You saw your son shoot the last practice round before the (school) shooting on Nov. 30. You saw how he stood... He knew how to use the gun,' assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said while cross-examining the mother last week.

'Yes, he did,' Jennifer Crumbley replied.

In her closing argument Friday, McDonald said she filed the unprecedented charges because of the 'unique, egregious' facts leading up to the massacre.

School officials insisted they would not have agreed to keep Ethan on campus that day if the parents had shared information about the new gun, which the boy on social media called his 'beauty'.

The words with the disturbing drawing said: 'The thoughts won't stop. Help me. The world is dead. My life is useless.'

'He literally drew a picture of what he was going to do,' McDonald said. 'It says, 'Help me.'

Besides 17-year-old Justin Shilling and 17-year old Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St Juliana, 14, and Tate Myre, 16, were also killed.

Ethan, now 17, pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism and is serving a life sentence.

Jennifer Crumbley told jurors that it was her husband's job to keep track of the gun. She also said she saw no signs of mental distress in her son.

'We would talk. We did a lot of things together,' she testified. 'I trusted him, and I felt I had an open door. He could come to me about anything.'

In a journal found by police, Ethan wrote that his parents wouldn't listen to his pleas for help.

'I have zero help for my mental problems and it's causing me to shoot up the... school,' he wrote.

Prosecutors introduced evidence that Crumbley texted his mother in spring 2021 about 'demons' throwing bowls and other hallucinations.

But she told the jury it was 'just Ethan messing around'.

'I have asked myself if I would have done anything differently. I wouldn't have. I wish he would have killed us instead,' she testified.

The jury forewoman (pictured) told DailyMail.com that the damning evidence that sealed Jennifer Crumbley's conviction was that 'she was the last adult with the gun'

Jurors at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley were shown disturbing drawings by mass shooter son Ethan hours before he opened fire at Oxford High school, killing four

The jury of six men and six women included people who own guns or grew up with them in their home.

Crumbley will get credit for roughly two and a half years in the county jail when she returns to court for sentencing on April 9.

The judge will set the minimum prison sentence, based on scoring guidelines and other factors.

It will be up to the Michigan parole board to determine how long she actually stays in prison. The maximum term for involuntary manslaughter is 15 years.
She allegedly tried to bite the person sitting next to her which kicked off all the drama

A woman on board a Spirit Airlines flight departing from Las Vegas had a crazed meltdown on board and screamed the n-word as cops tried to haul her off the plane.

In a video from March 23 that has gone viral online, a female passenger sitting on a Spirit Airlines aircraft had an explosive outburst that caused those around her to film and chuckle.

At the beginning of the footage, the frantic woman is shouting 'let this go,' and 'can I do that with freedom?' as cops try to diffuse the situation. 'All I care about is freedom,' she screeched.

The explosive meltdown happened after she allegedly tried to bite the person sitting next to her.

As one of the officers informed her that she was under arrest, the passenger said 'that's fine! I've been there before.'

A woman on board a Spirit Airlines flight departing from Las Vegas had a crazed meltdown on board and screamed the n-word as cops hauled her off the plane

In a video from March 23 that has gone viral online, a female passenger sitting on a Spirit Airlines aircraft had an explosive outburst that caused those around her to film and chuckle

At the beginning of the footage, the frantic woman is shouting 'let this go,' and 'can I do that with freedom?' as cops try to diffuse the situation

She then scanned the surrounding passengers with crazy eyes before chaotically screaming, 'I'm not scared! I've been there before,' as she stood up to stare down the people sitting in the row behind her.

All of a sudden, the woman upped her volume even more to tell passengers that the cop, who she shockingly called the n-word, was twisting her elbows.

'He's hurting my wrist,' she wailed.

'You're hurting me sheriff. You're hurting me sheriff,' she cried while the cops tried to place her in handcuffs.

The frantic passenger then tipped her head back and screamed in distress.

She then proceeded to say 'I can't breathe' twice, despite the cops barely touching her.

It is unclear what set the meltdown off, but the flight had not yet taken off when the passenger began to cause a scene.

'All I care about is freedom,' she screeched. As one of the officers informed her that she was under arrest, the passenger said 'that's fine! I've been there before'

It is unclear what set the meltdown off, but the flight had not yet taken off when the passenger began to cause a scene

The man who posted the video said that all the passengers had to deplane so that the cops could deal with the woman

The man who posted the video said that all the passengers had to deplane so that the cops could deal with the woman.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Spirit Airlines for further information.
A Ukrainian refugee travelled almost 2,000 miles by plane, bus and train for dental treatment in her home city - because she could not access NHS dental care or pay for private treatment.

Natalia Nehreba, 36, said she was 'shocked' at being told urgent root canal treatment would cost 800 in Wiltshire, where she has been living since the Russian invasion of her homeland.

Instead, she flew from Bristol to Poznan in Poland on a 30 return budget airline ticket, before taking a bus from Poznan to the Ukrainian city of Lviv, 50 miles inland from the border.

The journey, which cost 30 each way, was followed by a bargain 7, 13-hour rail journey across Ukraine to Dnipro. The city is just 62 miles from the front line and was on the receiving end of a Russian bombardment in December.

Mrs Nehreba said she had been compelled to undertake the arduous journey with daughter Agnia, three, because she had been in 'excruciating' pain but 'couldn't find' an NHS dentist.

Natalia Nehreba (pictured with her daughter Agnia) travelled almost 2,000 miles by plane, bus and train for dental treatment in her home city - because she could not access NHS dental care or pay for private treatment

Natalia Nehreba, 36, (pictured with Agnia) said she was 'shocked' at being told urgent root canal treatment would cost 800 in Wiltshire, where she has been living since the Russian invasion of her homeland

'It was very terrible because I took paracetamol and ibuprofen every day', she added. '(But) my pain didn't go away.

Dnipro is very dangerous, and I was very worried when I went (back) but my pain was very strong. I could not stay here.'

A television journalist in her homeland, Mrs Nehreba and her daughter were initially taken in by a sponsor in Chippenham after fleeing Ukraine. They now live in a rented house in Corsham, but Mrs Nehreba has struggled to find work that fits within her daughter's nursery hours in the UK, meaning she could not afford to pay privately for treatment.

Friend Liz Taylor, 67, who runs the local Bybrook Homes for Ukraine initiative to help Ukrainians in need, paid 60 for Mrs Nehreba to have a consultation at her own private dentist, where they were told the troublesome tooth could be extracted for 300 or successfully treated for 800.

Mrs Taylor said: 'Natalia sat bolt upright in shock when she heard the cost. Then she said 'I will have to fly home to Ukraine to be treated'.

'She didn't want to lose her tooth but she couldn't afford the cost for treatment privately, and she didn't want to take money off anybody else to pay for it either.'

Mrs Taylor, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, said the incident highlighted the 'sorry state of NHS dentistry', and said Mrs Nehreba was not the only Ukrainian in the area who had felt compelled to return to their homeland for dental treatment.

'We've either had to pay ourselves for them to receive treatment, or they have gone back to Ukraine - much to our horror - and to some of the really dangerous parts of Ukraine in the east, near the Russian border, because of toothache', she said.

Mrs Nehreba, whose TV editor husband Evgeny, 53, remains in Ukraine, made the long and potentially dangerous journey home last July with their daughter.

Mrs Nehreba said she had been compelled to undertake the arduous journey with daughter Agnia, three, (pictured together) because she had been in 'excruciating' pain but 'couldn't find' an NHS dentist

Kateryna Lagun, Mrs Nehreba's dentist in Dnipro, said she had treated several Ukrainians who had travelled from the UK. Lagun is pictured above, working alongside her father, as the pair provide care to an unnamed patient

She ended up paying about 150 for a root canal procedure and an implant with her usual dentist in Dnipro. It meant she spent 254 including travel  a saving of 556 on the cost of private treatment if she had remained in the UK.

Mrs Nehreba added: 'Treatment in Ukraine is very cheap for an English person, but for a Ukrainian it is not (considered) cheap.

'But in England I had a very long wait  I didn't find an NHS dentist.

'If I have a new problem with my tooth, I will fly to Ukraine to have it fixed again.'

The Ukrainian air force said it had 'never seen so many locations targeted simultaneously' after Russia launched 158 drones and missiles at Dnipro in December. A shopping mall, maternity hospital and apartments were all hit in the bombardment.

Kateryna Lagun, Mrs Nehreba's dentist in Dnipro, said she had treated several Ukrainians who had travelled from the UK.

'We have a lot of people coming from outside of Ukraine to get their treatment,' she said.

'Dnipro is quite dangerous because we have a lot of air attacks at night, and up to 15 air raid warnings a day.

'I guess they do not have much choice in the UK. I heard you have this situation with NHS dentistry and even UK citizens cannot get the proper treatment.'

Mrs Nehreba (pictured with her daughter) ended up paying about 150 for a root canal procedure and an implant with her usual dentist in Dnipro. It meant she spent 254 including travel  a saving of 556 on the cost of private treatment if she had remained in the UK

A spokesperson for the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board said it would not comment on individual cases but had commissioned 'additional urgent dental care appointments', accessed by calling NHS111, since September 2021.

A spokesman said: 'There are 390 appointments every week across the South West, with 86 urgent dental appointments in Wiltshire each week.'

The board said there were also 750 stabilisation appointments across the South West, which were for people who had a serious but not urgent dental issue.

It said that in this case Mrs Nehreba may meet the criteria for 'an urgent dental or a stabilisation appointment' and urged her to contact the board to discuss her treatment.
The Republican National Committee announced Donald Trump and aligned GOP groups brought in a whopping $65.6 million in March as the presidential money race for the general election heats up.

The ex-president's campaign and committees supporting his White House bid more than doubled their combined available cash on hand from the end of February to the end of March.

The RNC said the ex-president and aligned groups ended last month with more than 93.1 million cash on hand.

It comes after Trump loyalist Michael Whatley was elected chairman of the RNC and Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump was elected co-chair on March 8.

The ex-president and RNC also formalized a joint fundraising deal last month that would allow Trump and Republicans to take in hundreds of thousands of dollars more per donor ahead of the general election.

The RNC announced Trump and aligned groups raised $65.6 million in March bringing their cash on hand total to more than $93 million combined at the end of last month

'President Donald J. Trump has again created a fundraising juggernaut among Republicans. While he has been the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party for less than a month, the RNC and Trump campaign are one unified operation and focused on victory,' said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley in a statement.

'Were raising funds and making strategic investments to get out the vote and protect the ballot. We are going to win BIG in just 31 weeks,' he added.

The boosted GOP war chest comes ahead of a mega donor fundraiser for Trump and Republicans on Saturday hosted by billionaire John Paulson in Palm Beach, Florida.

Michael Whatley and Lara Trump were elected chairman and co-chair of the Republican National Committee on March 8

Billionaire John Paulson with girlfriend Alina De Almeida. The couple is hosting a mega fundraiser for Trump on Saturday in Palm Beach, FL

The ex-president is set to rake in $43 million at the fundraiser, according to an RNC official. Tickets for the event go for as much as $824,600 for a seat at Trump's table.

That fundraiser is expected to surpass the more than $26 million that Biden and Democrats recently brought in at a Radio City Music Hall fundraiser in New York City last month featuring Biden alongside former Democratic Presidents Obama and Clinton.

The Republican March fundraising was a seismic shift from the ex-president and Republican fundraising efforts through February.

A source close to the Biden campaign said it looks like the Trump team is hiding the ball on how his campaign is being funded, noting the announcement on Wednesday did not include details on the grassroot versus high dollar split.

They suggested the haul is being driven by maxing out ultra-rich donors. He can't go back to the donors, and relying this early on high-dollar alone is not sustainable for when they need money later in the campaign, the source said.

Overall, the Republican presidential hopeful still trails behind President Biden when it comes to campaign cash and remains hampered by legal woes.

Biden finished February with $155 million cash on hand to Trump's less than $42 million

President Biden with former Presidents Obama and Clinton at a Radio City Musical Hall fundraiser in New York City that brought in more than $26 million on March 28.

At the end of February, Biden's campaign announced the president and Democrats brought in a combined $53 million in February and had more than $155 million cash on hand at the end of the month.

By comparison, the Trump campaign and Republicans had a combined $41.9 million cash on hand at the end of February and brought in a combined $20.3 million that month before finalizing the joint fundraising deal.

But the Trump fundraising agreement raised eyebrows after it was revealed the unusual deal would help pay Trump's legal bills as he faces four criminal indictments and multiple civil cases.

The agreement directs a portion of funds, as much as $5,000 per donor, to Trump's Save America PAC before money reaches the RNC or state GOP parties.

That leadership committee has been used to pay Trump's lawyers including roughly $50 million over the course of 2023 and nearly $5.6 million in February alone.

Filings with the Federal Election Commission will provide additional details on the latest fundraising hauls in March later this month.
The champagne flowed at bars arranged around the swimming pool, a canceled TV star cracked jokes about periods and the biggest force in Republican politics pretended to spar with a mixed martial arts champion.

This is what political fundraising in 2024 looks like.

On Wednesday evening, supporters of Kari Lake assembled at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to juice her Senate run with a cool million dollars.

Donald Trump's home is the not-so-secret fundraising weapon for Republicans locked in expensive battles, raising millions of dollars that party officials hope will not just power the former president to victory but bankroll down ballot races too.

The contest in Arizona could determine which party controls the Senate and is shaping up to be the most expensive race in the country.

Republican Senate hopeful Kari Lake, center, posed with supporters beside the Mar-a-Lago swimming pool on Wednesday evening at a $1 million fundraising event

Attendees had to stump up $1000 just to get as far as the valet parking. Couples could buy the 'sea level experience' for $100,000, including a trip on a yacht with Lake and two nights at Mar-a-Lago.

For $50,000, you get a private dinner with Lake.

Campaign officials said the overall haul for the night was $1 million, enough to put a decent dent in the eyewatering $7.5 million raised in the last quarter by her opponent Rep. Ruben Gallego.

Lake told DailyMail.com that winning was more about the message than the money.

'But tonight, we are setting the record for a political candidate in Mar-a-Lago history. And then I'm proud of that,' she said.

'And it tells me that the people all around people came from Arizona from all over. And they recognise that this is a moment in our history.'

Three years after Trump was down and out, losing the 2020 election and seeing allies desert him in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the political crackle is back beneath the Mar-a-Lago palm trees.

All around, glamorous women with full lips and backless dresses rubbed shoulders with thick-bearded MAGA generals in the meme wars and Trump campaign officials.

Palm Beach's high-proportion of billionaires makes the club a target-rich environment for politicians stumping for cash.

Roseanne Barr delivered a crowd-pleasing turn about all-women armies and riffed on her background as a 'bitter Jew'

The top tickets for the event were priced at $100,000 per couple, down to $1000 per person

Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno, fresh off winning his own Senate primary last month, worked the crowd. He held his own $350,000 fundraiser here recently as he takes on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

'We have to raise a staggering amount of money,' he said. 'Sherrod Brown has gotten every special interest group that's gonna support him.

'So we got to make sure we go out there and raise money as well.'

Among the audience was Russell Vought, a senior White House official in Trump's administration, and who is building a blueprint for a second term.

Roger Stone, long-time rabble rouser, posed for selfies with fans and acted as M.C. introducing Roseanne Barr, one of three comedians to take the stage.

'It's time for a woman in the Senate. It's time for a woman everywhere,' she said, to roars of approval.

'You know why? Because anything a man can do. A woman can get another man to do even better.'

The star turn was Donald Trump who delighted the audience by making an appearance

Trump's presence is a sure way to bring out supporters and donors for a big payday

For Republicans running in 2024, Mar-a-Lago offers the chance of a big payday

Her jokes delighted the audience, despite some nervous laughter when she riffed on the idea of an all-female army all on their period at the same time.

'We might win some of these damn wars for a change, you know what I mean?

Lake has been a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago, setting off frequent speculation that she was angling for the role of Trump running mate.

On Wednesday evening, she took in the surroundingsfrom the members' patio where white hatted chefs oversaw a smoking grill to the terracotta tiles overhead.

'This is a place where MAGA comes to get excited get united, because we have seven months in front of us that are going to decide the fate of our country,' she told the audience.

'Can we save our country? I believe we can.'

As she spoke, waiting staff carried around plates stacked with grilled prawns, sliders and pink lamb chops.

The idea for the evening was the chance to take back comedy from the left. Barr was dumped off her own show after being accused of posting racist tweets, and says she has been canceled for her conservative views.

'We're not going to be P.C. We're not going to be woke,' she said. 'We're comedians for God's sakes.'

Lake talks to the former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn

Table settings were decorated with cacti in a nod to Lake's home state of Arizona

The biggest cheer came when Trump arrived beside her, taking time out from his regular evening routine of DJing from his iPad at the dinner buffet.

'We don't do this too often at Mar-a-Lago, we have to be very select, very special,' he said about the fundraiser, taking on his role of flattering club host. 'And it has to be a special person, otherwise, we don't do it.'

He invited 5ft 11in mixed martial arts star Colby Covington on stage for a story about how tough guys sometimes came in short packages.

And he delighted the crowd with self-deprecating story about his age, describing how a friend from kindergarten introduced himself to his wife Melania.

'He said, "I've known your husband for 71 years," continued Trump

'I said, "You don't have to say that."

'First time ever that she's sort of like winced. She said, "I can't believe that. It sounds kind of old."

After his speech, Lake mingled with guests around the pool. The event moved indoors as darkness fell for ticketholders had stumped up the most cash.

Outside, Madison Cawthorn, the former North Carolina Congressman said the draw of Mar-a-Lago was all down to the presence of Trump, who had unleashed the MAGA movement.

'And so coming to Mar-a-Lago is great because you're just surrounded by so many like minded patriots from all across the world, all across the country, people who are successful in their own right in some way and it's just just truly incredible,' he said.
A new immigration crackdown means most foreign workers will have to earn at least 38,700 to qualify for a UK skilled worker visa from today.

The changes were announced by Home Secretary James Cleverly last year as part of a five-point plan to curb net migration, which he said was 'far too high'.

However, workers can apply for a visa for jobs with a lower salary threshold if their role is on the UK Immigration Salary List.

This list, which was published today, covers occupations that are hit by labour shortages and include a minimum salary requirement - based on the 'going rate' for the particular role.

While many jobs command salaries that are lower than the 38,700 cap, others breach it, with biological scientists required to be offered a salary of at least 41,900 to move to the UK.

Visa changes were announced by Home Secretary James Cleverly last year as part of a five-point plan to curb net migration, which he said was 'far too high'

Immigrants working in the NHS are able to apply for Health and Care Worker visas, where the minimum starts at 29,000.

Below are the minimum salary requirements for people applying for skilled worker visas:

Biological scientists  all jobs Archaeologists Graphic and multimedia designers Laboratory technicians Pharmaceutical technicians Artists Classical ballet dancers Orchestral musicians Arts officers, producers and directors Agriculture and fishing trades Welding trades Stonemasons Bricklayers Roofers, roof tilers and slaters Carpenters and joiners Construction and building trades Care workers and home carers Senior care workers Animal care services 41,900 (21.49 per hour) 36,400 (18.67 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 32,900 (16.87 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 32,900 (16.87 per hour) 37,500 (19.23 per hour 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 31,700 (16.26 per hour) 31,000 (15.90 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 31,000 (15.90 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour) 30,960 (15.88 per hour)

The number of foreign workers handed permission to come to Britain by the Home Office surged to a record high last year.

More than 616,000 visas were granted to overseas workers plus their dependents  soaring 46 per cent year-on-year, figures show.

Across all types of visas  excluding tourists and other visitors  the Home Office granted permission for 1.4 million people to come to Britain, marginally higher than in 2022 but nearly triple the 519,000 a decade earlier.

Immigrants working in the NHS are able to apply for Health and Care Worker visas, where the minimum starts at 29,000

Meanwhile, family visas  used to bring foreign-based relatives to the UK  were up 72 per cent to 81,000.

And although the student visas total was down five per cent to 457,000, the number of former foreign students who extended their stay in Britain by securing a graduate work permit was up 57 per cent to 114,000.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK which campaigns for tougher border controls, described the figures as 'astonishing', adding: 'Immigration remains completely out of control.'

READ MORE: Taxpayer bill for hotels and asylum support hits 5.4 billion as small boat numbers soar Advertisement

Last year's 616,000 foreign worker visas topped the previous year's 422,000. It included a 26 per cent year-on-year leap in the main holders of foreign worker visas to more than 337,000, plus an 80 per cent jump in the number of family members they were allowed to bring to the country, to 279,000.

The surge in foreign workers was driven by a 349 per cent rise in care worker visas to just over 89,000, with the largest numbers coming from India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Director of Oxford University's Migration Observatory, Dr Madeleine Sumption, said the surge was being driven by demand in the public sector.

'When [EU] free movement ended, the Government said that employers would have to adjust,' she said.

'It turns out what this meant was that other employers would have to adjust, and not the Government.

'Where workers are directly or indirectly employed by the Government, there has been much less enthusiasm to restrict.

'This has meant the public sector has increasingly dominated the skilled work visa system.'

Only seven per cent of work visa applications were refused by the Home Office. Home Secretary James Cleverly has already announced a number of changes designed to drive figures down  including a bar on care workers bringing relatives here  but their impact remains to be seen.
Both Mulou and her baby are now doing well and Max has received a commendation for his bravery form the school superintendent

Fortunately one of her students, Max Angel, 7, acted quickly and ran to get the school nurse

A seven-year-old Massachusetts schoolboy has been credited with helping to save his pregnant teacher's life after she collapsed in class.

First-grade teacher Jessica Mulou, passed out after her baby put pressure on a blood vessel last week.

Max Angel acted quickly, grabbing the nurse's pass and ran to the medical office of Linden Steam Academy in Malden.

Max, who is still learning to spell and sound out words communicated the emergency to the nurse who was able to help.

'We were just doing skills... and she just fell off right there,' Max later recalled to WLBT3.

First-grade teacher Jessica Mulou, passed out after her baby put pressure on a blood vessel last week

Max Angel, 7, acted quickly, grabbing the nurse's pass and ran to the medical office

Linden Steam Academy in Malden superintendent offered Max a commendation for his bravery

'All I said was 'Come quick.' I didn't explain to her what was going on, but she came quick.

'I said, 'Our teacher fell' when we were on the way up,' he said.

'My dad helped me because he taught me to help others, and if I didn't help, I knew that like that could have ended badder [sic] than it happened,' he explained.

Mulou, who is now doing well, said Max was very brave' during her ordeal.

'I didn't know what was going on. I just thought I was having like a nausea wave and then I'm sure it was very scary for my students who were actually paying attention to the lesson while I was teaching it,' she told WLBT3.

'He was calm and collected it seemed the whole time from what I was told. He did everything he was supposed to do in a situation like that,' she said.

Max received a commendation for his bravery from the school superintendent on Monday night.
NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary with leaders gathered in Brussels

'Ukraine will become a member of NATO,' he added

Blinken: 'The support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO remains rock solid'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed confidence that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and insisted support for the embattled country and its president Volodymyr Zelensky is 'rock solid.'

His comments came after he met with Ukraine's foreign minister in Brussels, where the NATO alliance is marking its 75th anniversary.

'The support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO remains rock solid. We will do everything we can; Allies will do everything that they can to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russias ongoing aggression,' he said.

'Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose of the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward,' he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba address a group of journalists after a NATO meeting

He also called on Congress to move forward with aid to Ukraine. Conservatives on Capitol Hill have blocked a $60billion military aid package which has ultimately led to severe shortages of ammunition for Ukrainian forcdes.

This has allowed Russia's army being able to push back Kyiv's forces along almost the entire 600-mile front line.

Meanwhile, Blinken's comments came as the Kremlin declared that Russia and NATO are now in 'direct confrontation.'

'Relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

NATO was 'already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders', he said.

The alliance's successive waves of enlargement are a fixation of President Vladimir Putin, who went to war in Ukraine two years ago with the stated aim of preventing the alliance from coming closer to Russia's borders.

Instead, the war has galvanised NATO, which has expanded again with the entry of Finland and Sweden while bolstering its forces across eastern Europe.

Another factor also looms large over the 75th anniversary celebrations - the possible return to the White House of Donald Trump.

The former US President previously undermined NATO's collective defence guarantee by saying he'd encourage Russia to attack any members not spending enough on defence - and allegedly said he'd refuse to give 'a penny' to Ukraine.

Rescuers remove debris from the roof of a residential apartment building after a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Ukrainian service members of the 37th Marine Brigade fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in a front line in Southern Ukraine, March 30, 2024

International Ministers of Foreign Affairs gather as they listen to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

Russia's President Vladimir Putin

Ukrainian President Zelensky has warned that Putin is making preparations for a major offensive in June and is planning on mobilizing 300,000 troops

Russian tank fires at Ukrainian troops from a position near the border with Ukraine in the Belgorod region of Russia

US F-16 jets due to arrive in Ukraine 'are no longer relevant', Kyiv military official says American-made F-16 fighter jets set to arrive in Ukraine this summer are 'no longer relevant' to the war, a senior Ukrainian military official has stated, adding 'shells and rockets' are needed in 2024. The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to take a delivery of the supersonic multirole fighter aircrafts in July, as pilots have been trained and the war-torn country's airfields prepared. Before their arrival, the F-16's were thought to be the war-winning weapon that could tilt the balance in the war with Russia in Ukraine's favour. 'Often, we just don't get the weapons systems at the time we need them  they come when they're no longer relevant,' the high-ranking officer told Politico. 'Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won't be right for 2024.' A Ukrainian military official said that F-16 fighter jets are 'no longer relevant' for Ukraine as he urged the West to send 'shells and rockets' instead 'We need howitzers and shells, hundreds of thousands of shells, and rockets,' the officer said, estimating that Ukraine needed a staggering total of four million shells and two million drones.' Advertisement

Putin has repeatedly said that Russia was cheated by the West in the aftermath of the Cold War.

The Kremlin contends that Moscow's Warsaw Pact alliance was disbanded, only for NATO to absorb former pact members and the three Baltic states that had been part of the Soviet Union.

But Western countries reject that version of events, arguing that NATO is a defensive alliance and joining it was a democratic choice by countries that had shaken off decades of Communist rule.

NATO says it is helping Ukraine fight for its survival in the face of Russian aggression, and has provided Kyiv with advanced weapons, training and intelligence, but Russia says that makes NATO de facto a party to the conflict.

Putin said in February that a direct conflict between Russia and NATO would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three, and has said NATO military assets provided to Kyiv would be legitimate targets for Russia, even if stationed in countries outside Ukraine.

Also Putin warned any F-16 jets donated to Ukraine will be shot down. The U.S. is set to send F-16s to Ukraine this summer.

'If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,' Putin told Russian air force pilots during a tour of a training facility in Torzhok, in Russia's Tver region.

Now in a bid to ensure long-term support for Kyiv, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed members set up a $100billion (79.5 billion) five-year fund.

Zelensky has warned that Putin is making preparations for a major offensive in June and is planning on mobilizing 300,000 troops.

Stoltenberg is also pushing to get NATO directly involved in coordinating the delivery of lethal weapons and military kit to Ukraine - something the alliance has so far refused to do out of concern it could drag it closer to war with Russia.

'What is obvious is that we need new and more money for Ukraine and we need it over many years.

'That's one of the reasons why the Ukrainians have to ration the number of artillery shells, why they have problems standing up against the Russian force with overwhelming military power because they're able to outgun them with more ammunition and more artillery.'

NATO countries gave the go-ahead to work on the plan Wednesday, but there still remain many questions over financing and how far the alliance is willing to go to thrash it out before a summit in Washington in July.

The move is designed in part to guard against any cut in U.S. support if Trump returns to the White House, with Stoltenberg saying it would 'shield the mechanism (of providing aid to Ukraine) against the winds of political change'.

'I do not believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone,' Stoltenberg said at the ceremony at NATO's Brussels headquarters today.

'I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because, fundamentally, we are stronger and safer together.'

In a bid to stave off Trump's criticisms, NATO has showcased increased spending by its European allies - with 20 members this year set to hit a target of two percent of GDP for defence.

'North America also needs Europe,' Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian military band played the NATO anthem.

'Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power.'

The possible return to the White House of Donald Trump is another factor looming large over NATO's 75th anniversary celebrations

kraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (L) and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg shake hands as they deliver a statement during NATO's 75th anniversary celebration in the Agora to commemorate 75th anniversary

Members of the NATO armed forces wait for the start of the wreath laying ceremony marking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance's 75th anniversary at the Flag Circle outside NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2024

A Silver 10 Euro coin to commemorate 75 years of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) foundation is unveiled at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 02 April 2024

Trump has previously railed against the U.S. provision of funding to Ukraine and said he would 'end the war in a day' if he were in the White House.

Last month the former US president rocked allies by saying he would encourage Russia to 'do whatever the hell they want' to any NATO country not meeting its financial obligations.

Diplomats said there was a growing view within NATO that it was time to put military aid to Ukraine on a more sustainable footing and that the security bloc was best placed to do that.

'It goes some way to protecting in case of Trump. But it is impossible to create something Trump-proof,' one diplomat said.

'A fund of 100 billion looks very optimistic, knowing how difficult it was to agree on a smaller amount at EU level,' the diplomat added.

However, all NATO decisions require consensus among the alliance's 32 members, leading some diplomats to doubt whether the funding package in its entirety will endure.

There are some leaders within NATO that are likely to speak out against the plans, chief among which is Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban who last month voiced his belief that Trump would 'not give a penny' to Ukraine if he is elected later this year.

Orban, speaking after a meeting with Trump, said: 'If the Americans do not give money and weapons, and also the Europeans, then this war will be over.

'And if the Americans do not give money the Europeans are unable to finance this war on their own, and then the war will end.'
Former President Donald Trump raised concerns Thursday that China could be building an army inside the United States, with all of the Chinese migrants coming across the border.

The president spoke about the issue during an interview with radio broadcaster Hugh Hewitt, who pointed to reports that 46,000 Chinese nationals had crossed the Southern border in the past two years.

'Theyre probably building an army from within,' Trump said. 'I mean, you look at whats happening, because theyre very healthy young men for the most part.'

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on April 02, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Chinese illegal migrants stand in line in front of U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border in Jacumba Hot Springs, California.

Trump boasted that during his administration, he had the 'safest border in history' but that Biden undid all of his executive efforts to secure the country.

He pointed to the type of Chinese migrants crossing the Southern border as evidence that China was working on building an army within the United States.

'Theyre young, and theyre healthy. I see the pictures of them. I see them on television tapes, also,' he said. 'I mean, these are young, healthy people.'

On Tuesday, U.S. border patrol agents apprehended 182 Chinese citizens who crossed the Southern Border in to the United States. In the San Diego sector, the number of Chinese migrants is now outnumbering the amount of Mexican citizens crossing into the U.S.

President Donald J. Trump visits the 450th mile of the new border wall near the Texas Mexico border.

Chinese Migrants attempting to cross in to the U.S. from Mexico are detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the border November 11, 2023 in Jacumba, California.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 37,000 Chinese citizens were apprehended in 2023 crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States - 50 times more than two years ago, according to CBS.

Trump has made the issue of migrants crossing the border a central issue of his campaign, promising to stop 'Biden's Border Bloodbath' if he is elected president.

Hewitt also raised concerns that China was ramping up their military fleet with an estimation of 425 ships in just a couple more years even as the United States Navy was reducing their fleet.

Trump said that while he was president, he was on track to increase the number of ships built for the United States Navy but that Biden canceled his plans.

'They look like yachts with lots of weapons on them, lots of weapons,' he said. 'But, and theyve really come out good. But we were giving out a lot of ships, and then this guy came in, and he has no idea what hes doing.'
Catcallers could be fined under new council plans designed to protect women and girls in part of a county where police were the first in the UK to log wolf-whistling as a hate crime.

Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire is considering outlawing street harassment under an extension to its current three-year public spaces protection order (PSPO), which covers anti-social behaviour relating to alcohol, dogs and urination in public spaces and is due to expire later year.

The revised order would run for a further three years and include extra provisions including a ban on making inappropriate sexual comments and other actions which could scare or intimidate people.

The councils cabinet will discuss the plans  intended to protect women and girls from inappropriate behaviour - on Monday.

In 2016, Nottinghamshire Police became the first force in the country to log misogyny as a hate crime. Over a two year pilot scheme, 174 incidents - from leering and unwanted sexual advances to rape - were reported, of which 74 were recorded as crimes.

A woman being catcalled. A recent council-run survey of 140 female Ashfield residents found that 60 per cent had been verbally abused in public spaces and 70 per cent believed they had been followed (stock image)

Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, town centre. Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire is considering outlawing street harassment under an extension to its current three-year public spaces protection order (PSPO)

Those incidents led to four arrests and one charge, while the rest were recorded as hate incidents and dealt with by community resolution methods, including workshops.

READ MORE: Man who catcalled woman in the street is one of the first in UK to get 100 fine for sexual harassment after he was caught in undercover police operation Advertisement

A recent council-run survey of 140 female Ashfield residents found that 60 per cent had been verbally abused in public spaces and 70 per cent believed they had been followed.

More than half of respondents also reported that they had been catcalled.

The proposal also includes a wider ban on nuisance vehicle use including dangerous driving, stunts, revving engines, playing loud music and blocking public roads.

The PSPO currently makes this an offence around junction 27 of the M1 but the new version could roll it out across the entire district.

PSPOs are intended to stop people from creating disturbances in public places.

If the cabinet approves the plans, there will be six weeks of public consultation.

Full council will be asked to make a decision later this year, with the new PSPO potentially coming into force on 1 October.

In December 2022, Redbridge Council in London became the first local authority to enforce a PSPO against catcalling and harassment, after undercover enforcement officers witnessed a man sexually harassing a woman in Ilford.

The individual, who was not named at the time, was then detained with the assistance of local police and later fined 100.
Did YOU see what happened?

Did YOU see what happened?

This is the shocking moment Londoners ran to escape a 'dangerously out of control' XL bully on a rampage before it was shot dead by police.

Four men were rushed to hospital and two people were arrested following the incident in south west London.

Chaotic CCTV video has emerged from around the time of the attack, showing a group of people running in terror, closely followed by the grey beast.

One person even climbs up onto the roof of a car to escape, with the dog appearing to try and follow suit, before being distracted and running off to chase someone else.

At another moment, a car driving past stops and swerves towards the pavement, seemingly trying to run the dog over but missing.

A dog chases people on a street in Chelsea, London pic.twitter.com/9Dn7mnnBTi  UB1UB2 West London (Southall) (@UB1UB2) April 3, 2024

A man even tried to climb onto the roof of a car while flailing his jacket to keep the dog at bay

The dog easily jumped on the bonnet of the car but became distracted and chased someone else

CCTV footage shows people running away before being followed by the huge, grey XL bully

Some people bravely tried to stop the dog while a car veered towards the pavement, seemingly aiming for the dog

Other people can be seen bravely trying to capture the dog, but it continues to run riot and chase after people.

Armed police were called to the incident on March 18 in Battersea at around 10pm.

A second video shows police and ambulance crews descending on the scene, before armed officers later shot the dog due to the threat it posed to the public.

In another video posted on social media, a man can be seen hitting the dog with a bike helmet while another tries to cover it with a blanket in a desperate attempt to subdue the animal.

Four men were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries following the horrific attack.

A 22-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman have also been arrested on suspicion of being the owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.

They have both been bailed pending further enquiries.

Footage from social media shows the moment an 'out of control' XL bully attacked four men as they tried to fend the animal off

One lad can be seen hitting it with a bike helmet while another tries to subdue the animal with a blanket

The four men can be seen trying the subdue to the dog as it continues to lunge forward

The attack took place close to a bus stop outside Battersea Methodist Church on a section of the A3205. There are also a number of children's nurseries in the area as well as the Falconbrook Primary School.

A Met spokeswoman said: 'Two people have been arrested after a dog attacked a number of people in Wandsworth.

'Police were called shortly after 10pm on Monday, 18 March to reports of a dog  described as an XL bully  that was dangerously out of control and attacking people in the vicinity of Home Road, SW11.

'Due to the threat posed to the public by the dog, armed officers attended.

'After assessing the situation, officers took the difficult decision to destroy the dog and it was shot.

'Four men  all members of the public - were taken to hospital for treatment to injuries sustained during the dog attack.

'None of their injuries are life threatening.

'Officers subsequently arrested two people  a 22-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman  on suspicion of being the owner/person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.

'Both have been bailed pending further enquiries to dates in mid-June.

'Enquiries continue to establish the circumstances of the incident.

'An examination of the dog will take place to establish its specific breed.

'Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to call 101 or X @MetCC and quote CAD7620/18Mar.'

From February 1, it became a criminal offence to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.

Anyone who owns one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, have it microchipped and keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.

Met police officers later descended on the scene near Battersea Park Road at 10pm on Monday

Four men were later taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries following the attack

MP for Battersea Marsha de Cordova said on X: 'I am deeply concerned to hear about the XL bully dog attack that happened on Battersea Park Road yesterday evening.

'My thoughts and prayers are with the victims injured in the attack, and for their full recovery. I am in contact with the police and their enquiries are ongoing.

'New laws have come into force that make it illegal to own an American XL bully dog without an exemption certificate. It is vital that there is strong enforcement to make sure owners comply with the legislation.'

It came just weeks after another unmuzzled XL bully launched an 'unprovoked' attack on a mother and her two children in Battersea park last month.

The dog attacked the women and her children, aged one and two, as they entered the playground at Latchmere Recreation Ground, south London on February 2.

The woman - who wished to remain anonymous - claims the unleashed XL bully 'launched itself on the pram' carrying her one-year-old daughter, tipping it over and biting the child.
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

A Mexican influencer and her boyfriend have been shot dead outside a gym they regularly worked out at.

The horrific moment stunning Vielka Pulido and her partner, named locally as Joel Abraham Chavez, were gunned down from close range was picked up on CCTV.

Footage of the cold-blooded crime showed a grey Hyundai drawing up alongside their parked BMW before a gunman started shooting and continued to pump bullets into them as he got out.

Shocked bystanders could be seen running for safety as the first of 26 bullets said to have been fired rang out.

Police in the Mexican city of Puebla are believed to be working on the theory 21-year-old Vielka's boyfriend could have been the intended target.

Mexican influencer Vielka Pulido (pictured) and her partner, named locally as Joel Abraham Chavez, were gunned down from close range was picked up on CCTV

Footage of the cold-blooded crime showed a grey Hyundai drawing up alongside their parked BMW before a gunman started shooting and continued to pump bullets into them as he got out

The shooting occurred yesterday morning outside a gym called Beats Fitness Centre in the neighbourhood of Santa Cruz Buenavista.

Vielka, who had thousands of followers on TikTok but also used Instagram, first made the headlines in her homeland in 2018 when she demanded another girl got on her knees and apologise to resolve a conflict in front of other youngsters.

Footage of the public shaming led to her being dubbed Lady Humilladora, English for Lady Humiliation, and her mum reacting at the time by staging a press conference to apologise for her daughter's actions and try to explain why she had acted the way she had.

Vielka took time away from social media after the headline incident but gradually started uploading videos and pictures showcasing her life.

A selfie video she posted recently on TikTok, showing her in a figure-hugging black dress, has been viewed nearly 60,000 times.

Another, where she talked about life as a medical student, has been viewed by 360,000 fans.

One saddened follower said today: 'I only just found out about you and you've already gone.'

A critic, showing there was still resentment in her homeland over the treatment which earned her the Lady Humiliation nickname, said in a cruel online comment: 'We're all equal and all end up in the cemetery or an incinerator.'

Vielka, (pictured) who called herself La Bendi on social media and advertised perfumes and beauty treatments on online shops she ran, was found dead inside the couple's car when police reached the scene

The influencer, pictured, is understood to have been shot dead after their aggressors ended the life of her boyfriend, whose body was lying on the ground by their BMW. Local reports have described her as a 'collateral victim'

Vielka, who called herself La Bendi on social media and advertised perfumes and beauty treatments on online shops she ran, was found dead inside the couple's car when police reached the scene.

She is understood to have been shot dead after their aggressors ended the life of her boyfriend, whose body was lying on the ground by their BMW.

Local reports have described her as a 'collateral victim.'

A spokesman for state prosecutors in Puebla, around 80 miles south-east of the country capital Mexico City, said: 'We are investigating this incident as a priority to try to resolve it as soon as possible and bring those responsible to justice.'

He added: 'Preliminary investigations point to the crime being directed principally against the male victim.

'Twenty 9mm bullet casings and six 45mm bullet casings were retrieved at the scene.'
This is the dramatic moment armed police arrested a 'dangerous' drug dealer who splashed his cash on a villa in Jamaica, designer goods, luxury motorbikes and cars.

Dominic Denton, 42, was cornered when armed police staged an early morning raid just before 6.45am on August 8 last year at a flat in Ipswich, Suffolk.

A video of his arrest shows officers approaching the flat and shouting: 'Number Ten, Dominic Denton, armed police, come to the front door with nothing in your hands.'

As Denton emerges quietly from the flat, he is made to kneel down and put his hands around the back of his head, before he is handcuffed and taken away.

Denton was jailed for eight and a half years at Ipswich Crown Court for dealing in Class A drugs cocaine and diamorphine.

He was sentenced to a concurrent three years for money laundering and three months for fraud by false representation. Denton admitted all the charges.

Dominic Denton, 42, (right) was cornered when armed police staged an early morning raid at a flat in Ipswich, Suffolk

Dominic Denton, 42, (pictured) was one of the 'leading drug dealers' in Ipswich and the surrounding area

The court heard how he was one of the 'leading drug dealers' in Ipswich and the surrounding area.

He was said to have made unexplained deposits of 147,000 into a bank account between 2017 and 2022, despite never having paid any tax on income.

Police established that he had bought a villa in Jamaica, and was linked to 19 mobile phones which showed him in frequent contact with drug users and street dealers.

Prosecutors said Denton had falsified wage slips from Domino's Pizza in 2019 to show how much he earned  despite never having worked for Domino's.

The court heard how the Audi would often turn up at drug raids going on in the town before he exported it to Jamaica.

Precious White, 30, was sentenced alongside Denton after she admitted possession of criminal property.

The court heard how she had been found with 9,000 in cash hidden in a footstool at her home in Barnard Square, Ipswich. She had no proof of where the money came from.

Judge David Pugh handed her a community order for 18 months, including 80 hours of unpaid work and up to 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

The villa bought by drug dealer Dominic Denton in Jamaica with a UK-registered Audi on the driveway

A motorbike owned by Dominic Denton despite him having no legitimate income

Another motorbike owned by Dominic Denton despite him having no legitimate income

Denton's friend Shane Crossfield, 60, of Derby Close, Ipswich, who was arrested alongside Denton was jailed for seven years in February. He previously admitted intent to supply diamorphine and cocaine.

Another associate Lauren Mansukhani, 31, formerly of Suffolk, will be sentenced on April 11 after also pleading guilty to possession of criminal property.

Suffolk Police said they located high value items, including designer goods and expensive vehicles' after Denton's arrest.

But he was unable to provide proof as to how he could afford his lifestyle which included regular trips to Jamaica where he had links to a property.

Two watches recorded as belonging to Mansukhani were found to be insured of 20,450 and 18,100, although there was no proof over where money to buy them had come from.

Officers were able to show there was a drop off in drug activity in the Ipswich area when Denton and Crossfield were in Jamaica.

A case was constructed against the pair using evidence from CCTV footage, mobile phone data, financial work, and seizures of drugs, phones and cash.

A Serious Crime Prevention Order was placed upon Crossfield after his conviction. Officers have applied for a similar order for Denton.

Designer pieces seized by police investigating the drug dealing network of Dominic Denton in Ipswich

Designer goods seized by police investigating the drug dealing network of Denton

Cash seized by police investigating Denton's drug dealing network

Denton was jailed for eight and a half years at Ipswich Crown Court

The orders, which can only be place on an individual convicted of a serious offence, come into effect after they are released from prison.

The allow conditions to be imposed to protect the public from serious crime, including restrictions on financial, property or business dealings.

There can also be restrictions on communicating or meeting named individuals, use of premises or items such as mobile phones, and travel both within UK and abroad.

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Bodmer of Suffolk Police said after the hearing: 'Denton and Crossfield are dangerous individuals caught up and very much in lead roles in a criminal enterprise that includes the supply of drugs in Ipswich and the surrounding area.

'They have long histories of criminality and I'm glad they will now face extended periods behind bars.

'Suffolk Constabulary will continue to work tirelessly to locate those involved in this dreadful industry that destroys families and preys on the most vulnerable.

'We know there is a clear connection between drugs, gangs and violence, all things nobody wants to see on their streets and something we take incredibly seriously.

'The work of our teams, including the Serious Crime Disruption Team, is having a huge impact on removing these individuals. This includes those such as Denton and Crossfield who have been shown to be senior figures in this criminality.

'I would like to thank all those that have been involved in this long investigation. The work of those teams involved has led to the removal of some very dangerous people from our streets.

'Our message is clear, if you are involved in this trade in Suffolk, we will do whatever we can to build intelligence, arrest and prosecute you and your associates. We will continue to work hard to make Suffolk a very uncomfortable place for you to carry out your activities.

'We would urge anyone with any information regarding drug dealing to please get in touch. Your information is vital in us being able to hold those responsible to account, and as in the case here, remove the freedoms of those involved.'
A devout Christian had his job as a mental health support worker withdrawn because of fears his views on homosexuality could result in the suicide of vulnerable patients, an employment tribunal heard today/yesterday.

Felix Ngole, 46, a social worker and Pentecostal pastor, was initially offered a job with the charity Touchstone, an NHS provider backed by Stonewall, the LGBTQ rights group.

But after management Googled his name they discovered that he had previously posted on Facebook that he believed homosexuality was 'wicked' and 'sinful.'

Touchstone then felt Mr Ngole's Christian values went against the charity's ethos and that his beliefs would 'negatively impact' vulnerable service users, the tribunal at Leeds was told.

Felix Ngole, 46, a social worker and Pentecostal pastor, was initially offered a job with the charity Touchstone, an NHS provider backed by Stonewall , the LGBTQ rights group

After management Googled his name they discovered that Mr Ngole had previously posted on Facebook that he believed homosexuality was 'wicked' and 'sinful'

Despite assurances from the married father-of-three that he would never discriminate or force his views on anyone, he was called in for another interview and the job offer was withdrawn.

READ MORE: Christian man has his job offer rescinded after the company learns of his victory in a free speech case

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The tribunal heard a Touchstone report stated Mr Ngole's employment could lead to vulnerable service users committing suicide because of his Christian beliefs.

In response to that suggestion, Mr Ngole told the tribunal: 'If just two per cent of it (the report) was correct, that when people see me they might kill themselves, then, I'm telling you, the graveyards in Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster would be full.

'I have worked with people from the gypsy community, gay and lesbian. Not long ago I worked with a transperson and I treated them as a human being . When I look at a person I see a human being, I don't look under your trousers to see if you are a man or a woman.'

The tribunal heard that Cameroon-born Mr Ngole, who came to Britain as an asylum seeker, qualified as a social worker in 2021.

Touchstone provides mental health services for over 10,000 people across Yorkshire.

He applied for the job in April 2022, stating he was a reverend, and was offered the job after an interview.

But background inquiries by bosses led to a U-turn.

Kathryn Hart, deputy chief executive at the charity, was concerned that Mr Ngole's 'viewpoints on LGBTQI+ relationships and same sex marriage would be visible to all, and it was of serious concern to me how the Claimant's views could potentially negatively impact the vulnerable service users'

The tribunal heard a Touchstone report stated Mr Ngole's employment could lead to vulnerable service users committing suicide because of his Christian beliefs. Pictured Touchstone offices

Kathryn Hart, deputy chief executive at the charity, was concerned that Mr Ngole's 'viewpoints on LGBTQI+ relationships and same sex marriage would be visible to all, and it was of serious concern to me how the Claimant's views could potentially negatively impact the vulnerable service users.'

Mr Ngole, who preaches at a church in Barnsley, said: 'I saw the Touchstone job as a position to look after people and care for people . I cannot say that I am serving a loving God, then hate the people he created.'

He said he has been a Christian from a 'tender age' and held the views on gender and sex which appear in The Bible, but has never had a complaint.

'I'm a black man, I know what discrimination feels like,' he said.

He said the second interview was more like an 'interrogation' and having his Christian beliefs questioned made him feel 'uncomfortable'.

'I felt my faith was under attack,' he told the tribunal.

He said he felt angry and offended.

'I would not discriminate against people. I would never and have never discriminated against anybody. My faith does not allow me to discriminate against people,' he said.

He said many people in Britain, 'professionals, judges, housewives, husbands' hold the same Christian views as him.

Adding: 'I believe that The Bible is the word of God. The Bible is a sacred book and I believe in The Bible.' The Bible defined what is a 'sin', not him, he said.

Commenting on the job in question: 'I wanted to work with people from all backgrounds. I was thinking about how I could help people and support them - something I have been doing for 20 years.

'As a Christian I do not see any conflict in working with and for people from the LGBT community.'

Mr Ngole said he felt 'humiliated and betrayed' by Touchstone's decision to withdraw the job.

Adding of Ms Hart's decision: 'Her reasoning for withdrawing the job offer left me confused, exhausted and depressed.'

Mr Ngole is bringing claims of direct discrimination, harassment, and compensation for injury to feelings under the Equality Act 2010 against Touchstone. He is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre.

The tribunal continues.
Harry Potter author unleashes salvo on First Minister after he criticises her posts

JK Rowling has entered a fresh war of words with Scotland's First Minister, slating what she called his 'bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism' as his government enacted a controversial new hate crime law.

The multimillionaire Harry Potter author, 58, hit out at Humza Yousaf after he branded her remarks about transgender people 'offensive and upsetting' despite police ruling that they did not meet the threshold to be considered a hate crime.

Rowling had taken to X, formerly Twitter, on April 1 to launch a scathing attack on trans women, singling out a number of convicted criminals as well as high-profile figures such as newsreader India Willoughby in her remarks.

Mr Yousaf appeared to agree with the police assessment that Rowling's posts were not criminal in comments made earlier today - but said that, in his view, her comments were 'offensive, upsetting and insulting to trans people'.

In response, Rowling fired back at the FM's 'bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism' in implementing the new law, adding: 'But we aren't lobbying to have him locked up for it.'

JK Rowling has opened a fresh war of words with the Scottish Government over its new hate crime law

The Harry Potter author has accused first minister Humza Yousaf of 'bumbling incompetence' over the introduction of the legislation

She wrote on X, formerly Twitter: 'Most of Scotland is upset and offended by Yousaf's bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism'

The law has been criticised by some who see it as a threat to free speech (pictured: a protester with a mask of Mr Yousaf outside the Scottish Parliament on April 1)

The First Minister has staunchly defended the new hate crime law, which builds upon existing race hate legislation to add further protections for characteristics such as age, disability, transgender identity, religion and those who are intersex.

And today he told BBC Scotland News that the decision not to treat Rowling's remarks as criminal showed the law was working as intended - by only treating 'threatening or abusive abusive' remarks that intend to 'stir up' hatred as a crime.

Those found guilty of such an offence face up to seven years in prison depending on the severity of the offence.

He said: 'Those new offences that have been created by the act have a very high threshold for criminality.

'The behaviour has to be threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred. So it doesn't deal with people just being offended or upset or insulted.'

Rowling's comments - in which she labelled a number of trans women 'men' - were, he said, a 'perfect example' of how the law is working properly.

He continued: 'Anybody who read the act will not have been surprised at all that there's no arrests made.

'JK Rowling's tweets may well be offensive, upsetting and insulting to trans people. But it doesn't mean that they meet a threshold of criminality of being threatening or abusive and intending to stir up hatred.'

Rowling's response tweet has been seen over 800,000 times according to X statistics, liked by 32,000 people and shared 4,800 times.

And it marks another war of words between the millionaire writer, who lives in Edinburgh, and the SNP - after she wore a t-shirt describing Mr Yousaf's predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as a 'destroyer of women's rights'.

Mr Yousaf also said today he was 'very, very concerned' by the number of 'vexatious' reports being made under the new hate crime law, with more than 4,000 reported to have been made since April 1.

Some of those reports were made against Mr Yousaf for a speech he made while justice secretary, in which he called for greater racial equality in positions of power in Scotland.

The speech has been misappropriated by far-right accounts on social media and taken out of context to give the impression Mr Yousaf is claiming Scotland needs fewer white people.

He told PA today: 'It's not a huge surprise that when legislation is first introduced there can sometimes be a flurry of vexatious complaints.

'We've obviously seen that and I would say to people don't make vexatious complaints - you should desist - because what you're doing is wasting precious police resources and time.

'But I am very, very concerned about the fact that we have seen those complaints, but at the same time I know that police are very adept at dealing with vexatious complaints, they do it every day and they know how to treat them.'

Rowling's April 1 posts, which ended with a claim from the author that the trans women were 'men, every last one of them', did not meet the criminal threshold and will not be recorded as a 'non-crime hate incident' (NCHI) by Police Scotland.

NCHIs are recorded against people following incidents judged to have been hateful but not surpassing the criminal threshold - and are used for statistical purposes to measure tensions in and towards communities across Scotland.

But police in Scotland have been accused of 'making it up as they go' and favouring the famous after they refused to tag Rowling's remarks or past comments by Mr Yousaf as an NCHI - but did tag remarks made by a Tory MSP.

Mid-Scotland and Fife member Murdo Fraser says he has an NCHI to his name after he said someone identifying as non-binary - neither exclusively male nor female' was 'as valid as choosing to identify as a cat'.

JK Rowling has previously warred with the SNP over its stance on transgender people - branding Humza Yousaf's predecessor Nicola Sturgeon a 'destroyer of women's rights'

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has accused Police Scotland of 'making it up as they go'

As anger over Scotland's controversial hate crime law continues to grow, Conservative MSP Mr Fraser has demanded 'urgent clarity' from Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell

Mr Fraser's comments last year were logged as an NCHI but Police Scotland said Humza Yousaf and JK Rowling's would not be

Mr Fraser, who is considering legal action against Police Scotland, claimed the force's decision was politically biased

He has written to Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell to demand an explanation.

An NCHI is when a complaint does not meet the threshold for a crime but is perceived to be 'motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a social group', according to Police Scotland guidance.

At the time, he said he was 'found guilty' of 'hate' by Police Scotland. But he has now questioned the consistency of the laws after comments made by Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Scotland First Minister Mr Yousaf were not logged.

In response to seeing her comments would not be recorded as an NCHI, JK Rowling tweeted: 'Again, I trust everyone will be treated the same way if they express themselves similarly. Nobody should have a 'Hate Incident' logged against them for accurately describing, or asserting the importance and reality, of biological sex. We must all be equal under the law.'

The Scottish Government has previously said deliberately misgendering someone - referring to someone by pronouns other than those that they prefer - would not be criminalised under the new legislation.

Rowling - who had dared police to arrest her - had posted a series of tweets in which she spoke out against 10 trans women, including double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years last year for raping two women.

The attacks were carried out when Bryson, born Adam Graham, was a man.

Mr Fraser, who is considering legal action against Police Scotland, has written a letter to the chief constable about his concerns.

He said: 'I am writing to you concerning Police Scotland yesterday announcing, that contrary to its stated policy, NCHIs would not be recorded in relation to comments made by First Minister Humza Yousaf and the author JK Rowling. I have a number of serious questions which arise from this and for which I would be grateful to have your urgent response.'

He also claimed the force's decision was politically biased.

Reacting to Mr Yousaf and Ms Rowling's remarks not being recorded as NCHIs, he said: 'This decision means Police Scotland have not only breached their own policy on recording non-crime hate incidents, but now appear to be making it up as they go along.

'They have taken a different approach to comments made by the SNP first minister to those made by an opposition politician. It is hard not to conclude that Police Scotland has been captured by the SNP policy agenda and that this is a decision that reeks of political bias.

'I hope the chief constable will contact me urgently with an immediate apology for recording a hate incident against me and confirming all records in relation to it have been destroyed. They should also ditch their existing unlawful policy  as has been done in England and Wales  which I believe is a clear breach of people's human rights.'

It comes as the Scottish Tories estimate that 1.4million complaints could be made under the controversial new law in the first year.

A protest against the new hate crime laws took place outside the Scottish Parliament on April 1, the day the legislation came into effect

Humza Yousaf (pictured on Monday) has received more complaints under Scotland's new hate crime bill than JK Rowling , it has been revealed today

Calum Steele, the former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said that around 3,800 cases were logged within the first 24 hours of the act coming into force Monday.

The Scottish Tories have claimed that if the rate continues for the next 12 months, a total of 1.387 million crimes will be reported during 2024/2025 financial year.

Mr Yousaf is believed to be the subject of the most complaints under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which creates a new crime of 'stirring up hatred' towards certain protected characteristics.

These are a person's age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.

An insider told the Sun: 'A lot of those complaints were about Humza Yousaf, on the same complaint about his parliamentary rant. JK Rowling has had some, but not as many as Humza Yousaf.'

A 2020 video of Mr Yousaf speaking in the Scottish Parliament in the wave of the Black Lives Matter protests has been circulated for years, out of context, by far-right Twitter accounts seeking to portray the First Minister as racist.

Some of the posts made by JK Rowling on X/Twitter on transgender women, which police say did not meet the criminal threshold when assessed under Scotland's new hate crime laws

Bryson, 31, formerly known as Adam Graham, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was moved to a men's prison after an outcry

In the clip, the SNP leader tells of how people are often surprised he is the only 'non-white person in the room' at most of the meetings he attends.

He then adds: 'The Lord President is white, the Lord Justice Clerk is white, every High Court judge is white, the Lord Advocate is white, the Solicitor General is white, the chief constable is white, every deputy chief constable is white, every assistant chief constable is white, the head of the Law Society is white, the head of the Faculty of Advocates is white and every prison governor is white.'

Mr Yousaf was seeking to highlight how few people of colour are in positions of power in Scotland's parliament and government - but far-right activists stripped the clip of context and sought to suggest he was calling for a reduction in the number of white people in Scotland.

News agency Reuters issued a fact-checking note on the video after Elon Musk, owner of troubled social network X, formerly Twitter, branded Mr Yousaf a 'blatant racist' in response to a post of the video from a well-known right-wing account.

Police Scotland said complaints were received at the time of the debate but were not deemed to have met the threshold of a crime. They also confirmed comments from before midnight on April 1, 2024, would be looked at under older legislation.

The First Minister's remarks will also not be logged as an NCHI.

A Police Scotland spokesperson also said: 'We have received a number of complaints in relation to a speech in the Scottish Parliament on June 10, 2020.

The hate crime bill, introduced on Monday, criminalises 'threatening or abusive behaviour' intended to stir up hatred against someone's identity

Women's rights campaigners have hit out at Scotland's new hate crime law (pictured: protests outside the Scottish Parliament on April 1)

Opponents of the law say it will threaten free speech - but the SNP has insisted it will protect freedom of expression

'Earlier complaints regarding this matter were assessed at the time and it was established no crime was committed and no further action was required.'

NCHIs have been around for many years and are not part of the new Hate Crime and Public Order Act - but critics fear the new legislation could lead to an increase in hate incidents being logged against innocent people.

Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, said: 'It seems Police Scotland are revising their policy on recording non-crime hate incidents on the hoof in order to avoid the embarrassment of recording incidents against an internationally, renowned author & philanthropist & the First Minister of Scotland.

'This really isn't good enough & calls into question the application of the policy to date. The policy should be applied equally to everyone.

'Police Scotland should wipe their existing database of non-crime hate incidents and carry out a proper review of their policy in line with the principle of equality before the law.'

Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, said: 'It seems Police Scotland are revising their policy on recording non-crime hate incidents on the hoof...'

It comes as Siobhian Brown, the SNP community safety minister, said 'misinformation and hysteria' have led to wrongful assumptions about the legislation.

She also said that one of the 4,000 complaints made to Police Scotland since it came into effect was submitted by someone pretending to be her.

'I think also, in the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of misinformation and hysteria regarding this bill being introduced,' she told BBC Radio Scotland.

'I was surprised myself on Monday to receive a call from Police Scotland about my complaint - this was a fake complaint someone had done anonymously in my name, and gave my office number.

'I think this shows the publicity and misinformation that's out there about this Act, that people are making fake and vexatious complaints.'

Since the law came into effect, a house close to Mr Yousaf's in the Dundee suburb of Broughty Ferry has been daubed with racist graffiti containing derogatory references to Muslims and Pakistani people.

It has been universally condemned by the leaders of Scotland's political parties, and police are investigating.

Elsewhere, the decision not to investigate Rowling's comments prompted an outcry from transgender newsreader India Willoughby - one of the 10 trans women targeted in the writer's thread of tweets - who accused officers of getting 'stardust in their eyes'.

But on Tuesday, Rowling responded to the decision, writing online: 'If they go after any woman for simply calling a man a man, I'll repeat that woman's words and they can charge us both at once.'

She was supported by X owner Elon Musk - who has a transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, who has distanced herself from her father - as he responded to the tweet with a fire emoji.

Musk has voiced his opposition to the new hate crime law, which carries penalties of up to seven years in prison in the most severe cases.

Rowling - who also writes under the male pen name of Robert Galbraith - was also given support by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak , who said on Tuesday: 'We should not be criminalising people for saying common-sense things about biological sex .'
The TB cases come after 55 measles cases were detected in the city, the majority originating from the Pilsen migrant shelter

Tuberculosis cases have been detected at migrant facilities in Chicago following a recent measles outbreak in the city's shelters, sparking health officials to urgently start contact tracing.

The Chicago Department of Public Health did not disclose the exact number of cases or which shelter it originated from but confirmed that 'a small number of cases' were reported 'in a few different shelters' around the city.

'These outbreaks happen in close quarters, people who are living close to one another,' associate professor of medicine, Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Chicago Dr. Aniruddha Hazra told Fox 32 Chicago.

Hazra said the situation is concerning, but that the public does not need to panic.

Tuberculosis cases have been reported at some of the Chicago migrant facilities

Between 10 percent and 20 percent of people living in Central and South America have latent tuberculosis

Experts say that while measles can be prevented by a vaccine, tuberculosis cannot.

'The people who are most at risk of tuberculosis are the other migrants living in that shelter,' said Hazra.

This comes as Chicago has documented 55 measles cases in the city, a majority of the cases being reported in the Pilsen migrant shelter.

While measles can be prevented with vaccines, Hazra said TB cannot.

However, CDPH said TB can be treated with antibiotics, and that it is not particularly contagious. In fact, for someone to catch TB, they have to been in prolonged close contact with an individual with TB.

'TB is not a novel or rarely seen illness in Chicago, as the Chicago Department of Public Health typically expects to see between 100-150 cases of tuberculosis in Chicago residents in an average year,' a statement from CDPH statement reads.

'We will continue to offer treatment to individuals as necessary and take the proper precautions to eliminate spread, but we do not consider this a matter presenting a substantial threat to the public.'

According to CDPH, between 10 percent and 20 percent of people living in Central and South America have latent tuberculosis (TB), an infection that is asymptomatic and not spread to other people. However, you will still test positive for TB even if you are not exhibiting symptoms.

'Not everyone who acquires TB will develop an active infection. A percentage or folks will actually develop what we call a latent infection. But that latent TB can then reactivate to become active TB at some point in the future,' said Hazra.

'They can still receive anti-TB therapy to make sure that latent infection is fully eradicated.'

Tuberculosis can be treated with antibiotics and can only be spread through prolonged exposure

Latent tuberculosis cannot be spread to other people, but you will test positive for it despite not showing symptoms

CDPH said they are working to contain the outbreak

CDPH said they are working to contain the outbreak and that tuberculosis isn't as uncommon as one might think.

'TB is not a novel or rarely seen illness in Chicago, as the Chicago Department of Public Health typically expects to see between 100-150 cases of tuberculosis in Chicago residents in an average year,' the statement read.

'We will continue to offer treatment to individuals as necessary and take the proper precautions to eliminate spread, but we do not consider this a matter presenting a substantial threat to the public.'
The Department of Justice is seeking four to 10 months of prison time for the woman who stole the diary of President Joe Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, and sold it to a conservative news site for thousands.

Aimee Harris stole the diary while staying at Ashley Biden's Delray Beach, Florida, residence in 2020. She later asked Robert Kurlander to help her sell the stolen material.

The pair later sold it to Project Veritas, a conservative news outlet, for $20,000 each, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in August 2022, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

However, the DOJ originally only sought six months of home confinement for Harris.

But now, federal prosecutors want to see prison time on the table, and recommended four to 10 months would be an appropriate sentence in a letter sent to a New York federal court Tuesday.

Robert Kurlander and Aimee Harris admitted that they took part in a conspiracy to transport stolen materials - including the diary - from Florida , where Biden had been living, to New York, where they tried to sell them

Prosecutors want Harris to face jail time due to her repeated inadequate alibis used to skip mandatory court hearings

The DOJ now wants to see Harris face prison time because she repeatedly produced excuses not to attend court hearings despite her necessary attendance, the agency argued in the letter.

Prosecutors say that Harris had inadequate excuses for the delays, which amounted to 12 in total.

Harris, for example, delayed a hearing because she claimed she could not find child care.

But federal officials later discovered that her husband was available to watch their children.

She also delayed proceedings claiming to be sick, but she was unable to produce medical evidence of her ailments requested by the court.

Further, prosecutors expressed annoyance at Harris' inability to secure identification documents that are required to travel, as she was mandated to travel from her home in Florida to New York for proceedings.

'The defendant knew full well that she could not travel without appropriate identification,' the prosecutors wrote.

'Thus, her failure to obtain such documentation evidenced a willful intent not to appear, and to manufacture a new excuse on the eve of each sentencing date.'

'This conduct is troubling, but unsurprising, given that it is entirely consistent with her history of disrespecting the judicial system.'

Ashley Biden's diary contained personal documents including tax records, family photographs and personal contact information, according to the DOJ.

Though Project Veritas never published the material, it was later posted on another right-wing website.

The FBI previously raided locations tied to Project Veritas while investigating the matter.

Ashley Biden, the only child of Joe Biden's marriage to First Lady Jill Biden, left the private journal behind at a home in Palm Beach, Florida after she moved to Philadelphia in June 2020

Prosecutors argued the harsher recommendation 'would send the message that breaking the law and then failing to abide with the orders of the Court during the pendency of a criminal case will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.'

'Moreover, a sentence involving no period of incarceration would be wholly insufficient to reflect the gravity of the defendants conduct, including her apparent belief that she is above the law and that she need not comply with this Courts orders.'
The boyfriend of Longford woman Sarah McNally, who was stabbed to death at the Irish pub where she worked in New York, has been charged with her murder.

Marcin Pieciak, 36, was arraigned in his hospital bed, two days after his arrest for second-degree murder after the alleged fatal knifing of Sarah McNally, 41, a native of Longford town, at The Ceili House, in Queens.

He was remanded and will appear back in court today.

Mr Pieciak is accused of stabbing stabbed to death his girlfriend, Ms McNally, at the pub where she worked, before turning the knife on himself last Saturday.

Mr Pieciak was charged with her murder in addition to receiving a charge for the criminal possession of a weapon.

He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Sarah McNally, 41, (pictured) a native of Longford town, was stabbed to death at The Ceili House in Queens - the Irish pub where she worked - on Saturday

Her boyfriend Marcin Pieciak, 36, was arraigned in his hospital bed, (pictured) two days after his arrest for second-degree murder after the alleged fatal knifing of Ms McNally

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the attack was 'unprovoked' and one which has shocked the community.

'It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family,' she said.

'We are using every resource to make sure there is accountability.'

At about 6.30pm on Saturday, Mr Pieciak reportedly went into the pub and attacked Ms McNally.

When police arrived a short time later, Ms McNally was lying on the floor, bleeding from stab wounds to her neck.

Mr Pieciak suffered a self-inflicted knife wound, the court heard.

The accused is alleged to have proceeded to have cut his own throat 'several times' in the immediate aftermath of the incident before attempting to leave the bar.

A customer is said to have tried to detain Mr Pieciak after the alarm was raised and police arrived on the scene.

The charges also state police witnessed two knives on the ground after noticing Mr Pieciak drop them as he attempted to leave the bar.

Mr Pieciak reportedly refused to drop the murder weapons in his hands, forcing officers to use a stun gun on him.

Both individuals were taken to NYC Health and Hospitals in Elmhurst. Ms McNally was reportedly dead on arrival, just hours ahead of Easter Sunday.

Mr Pieciak appears to be recovering, though was initially listed as in critical condition.

Ms McNally, originally from Longford town, had been living in New York for a decade, and was living with her boyfriend at the time of her murder. She was stabbed in the neck at The Ceili House, Queens (pictured)

Cops raced to the Queens Irish bar at around 6.30pm on Saturday, after Ms McNally and her alleged attacker had both sustained severe knife wounds. Ms McNally (pictured) was lying on the floor bleeding from stab wounds to her neck, while Pieciak was bleeding from self-inflicted stab wounds to neck and back as well

Ms McNally, originally from Longford town, had been living in New York for a decade, and was living with her boyfriend at the time of her murder.

Reports said the couple had no history of domestic violence, however the New York Daily News reported that Mr Pieciak had previously been arrested for domestic violence.

A New York Police Department spokesperson said Mr Pieciak had no prior arrests with their agency.

No motive for the stabbing has yet been reported. The pair had reportedly been living together for several months.

On Facebook, Ms McNally's aunt Mary wrote: 'Rest in peace my beautiful niece Sarah, we are heart broken, Love you always.'

Longford Municipal District Cathaoirleach Cllr Martin Monahan said: 'The people of Longford will be saddened and shocked by the sudden demise of a young life, someone who has made a life for herself in New York.'

'For such a young life to be so tragically ended in such violent circumstances, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the Queens area of New York that knew her and her mother and father in Longford as well as her extended family.'

Ms McNally's mother Dorrie O'Connor said: 'My daughter was murdered. There is nothing else to say.'

Mike Lambe, a 62-year-old who lives in the neighbourhood, told The Post Ms McNally was a 'sweet, innocent girl from Longford' who had worked at the bar for less than a year.

Local Mike Green, who frequents the pub where the horrifying murder happened, told the NY Daily News he knew the couple well, and 'still can't believe it'.

'They was (sic) always together,' he said, referring to the alleged killer 'M' as 'cool'.

'Both of them. That's why it blew my mind a little bit... Sarah is good people. She helps people. Everybody owes her money.'

Ms McNally's mother Dorrie O'Connor said: 'My daughter was murdered. There is nothing else to say.' Ms McNally is pictured with Ms O'Connor

Efforts to repatriate Ms McNally's remains to Ireland are continuing.

In a post on its Facebook page, Longford-based Glennon Funeral Directors stated that formal arrangements for Ms McNally's return home would be made today.

The post read: 'The death has occurred of Sarah McNally, New York and Longford town, Longford, tragically on 30th March 2024 .

'Sadly missed and remembered with love by her family, her loving mother Dorrie, dear father Des, grandmother Kathleen O'Connor, aunts, uncles, relatives, extended family and a wide circle of friends in Longford and New York .

'May she rest in peace.'
China-Mongolia highway port handles over 10 mln tonnes of goods in 2024

Xinhua) 14:59, April 04, 2024

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a border police inspecting a cargo truck at Ganqmod Port in the city of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The total volume of goods handled by Ganqmod Port, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border, has surpassed 10 million tonnes so far in 2024, the port administration said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Li Yunping)

HOHHOT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The total volume of goods handled by Ganqmod Port, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border, has surpassed 10 million tonnes so far in 2024, the port administration said on Wednesday.

As of 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, the port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region had handled nearly 10.06 million tonnes of goods this year, up 24.72 percent year on year, hitting a record high.

Ganqmod Port ranks first among the highway ports on the China-Mongolia border regarding goods volume, and reached the 10-million-tonne mark earlier than in 2023.

According to Qin Ruiqiang, deputy director of the port's management committee, imports of coal totaled 9.78 million tonnes, marking a 25.13 percent increase on the previous year. Imports of copper concentrate amounted to 224,700 tonnes, reflecting a 9.58 percent year-on-year increase. Additionally, exports of goods totaled 49,300 tonnes, indicating a 22.53 percent increase year on year.

Ganqmod Port is a major energy import channel for the country and an important hub in the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows cargo trucks being inspected at Ganqmod Port in the city of Bayannur, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The total volume of goods handled by Ganqmod Port, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border, has surpassed 10 million tonnes so far in 2024, the port administration said on Wednesday.(Xinhua/Li Yunping)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Relatives of a soldier who was killed in the 1974 Guildford pub bombing have been told that the police have a new 'viable line of inquiry' but they will not investigate it because there is not enough time before the Legacy Act comes in.

The new Legacy Act means any probes into cases relating to the Northern Ireland Troubles are to end on May 1, as it gives conditional amnesties to former soldiers and militants involved in the decades of violence.

At the Horse and Groom pub in the Surrey town on October 5 1974, soldiers Caroline Slater, 18, William Forsyth, 18, John Hunter, 17, and Ann Hamilton, 19, and civilian Paul Craig, 21, died and 65 people were injured in the bomb, which was carried out by the republican terror group during the height of the Troubles.

They were found at an inquest in 2022 to have been 'unlawfully killed' by the bomb, equivalent to 18 sticks of dynamite, at around 8.50pm, after it was placed in the pub by a young man and woman.

From left ot right: Caroline Slater, 18, Ann Hamilton, 19, William Forsyth, 18, John Hunter, 17, and plasterer Paul Craig, 21, all died in the first explosion at the Horse and Groom

65 people were injured in the bomb, which was carried out by the republican terror group during the height of the Troubles. Pictured the aftermath of the bombing

Home Secretary Roy Jenkins and Commander Huntley of the Soctland Yard bomb squad inspect the site of the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford, which was one of two pubs in the town in which the I.R.A. planted bombs

Now the family of Private Hamilton have received a letter from Surrey Police stating that following an evidential assessment, the force had 'identified a potential forensic line of enquiry and the next step would be a new criminal investigation'.

But Surrey Police also informed the family that it would not be advancing any further investigations prior to the start of the Legacy Act.

Under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, all investigations into cases relating to the Troubles are to end on May 1, 2024 including civil cases and inquests which have not reached their findings stage.

The Act offers a limited form of immunity from prosecution for such offences for those who co-operate with a new body aimed at truth recovery.

KRW Law, acting on behalf of Pte Hamilton's family, are now seeking clarification on the nature of the new evidence including whether it involves a fingerprint or DNA profile, how long Surrey Police had known about it and how often the case had been reviewed since 1974.

They have also asked the force when the decision was taken not to reopen any investigations prior to the commencement of the Legacy Act and whether the new clue could lead to possible arrests.

They also ask if Surrey Police could continue an investigation after May 1 which they say is allowed as advised by the Home Office.

The Horse and Groom pub after the bombing. Under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, all investigations into cases relating to the Troubles are to end on May 1, 2024 including civil cases and inquests which have not reached their findings stage

Cassandra Hamilton, a sister of Ann Hamilton, said: 'Four years after the resumed inquest into the murder of our sister in which we could not participate because we were disgracefully refused legal aid, we are now confronted with the Surrey Police producing 'new' evidence - 50 years after Ann's murder.

'A deputy chief constable of Surrey Police wrote in his letter to us that 'I can only image how the death of Ann has impacted on you and your family, and how the publicity surrounding this case has affected you over the years'.

'First, this policeman cannot begin to imagine the impact of Ann's violent murder and those of four others on our families.

'Second, it has been the support of the public and their anger at those responsible for the investigation that has been important and kept this catastrophic failure of policing and criminal justice alive for us.

'Now we are being told that this 'new' forensic evidence cannot be investigated because of the Legacy Act which the British Government is imposing upon all relatives despite huge opposition and a successful legal challenge and an application by the Irish Government against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.

'The Legacy Act appears to provide Surrey Police with another reason not to do anything - despite now telling us, out of the blue and a month before the Legacy Act comes into force, that there is 'new evidence'.

'This letter from Surrey Police raises more questions for us, questions we want Surrey Police to answer and to be responsible for.

'This is before any responsibility for these failures is conveniently transferred to a new investigatory body.'

Solicitor Barry O'Donnell, from KRW, said: 'The timing by Surrey Police in this matter raises too many questions which the family of Ann Hamilton want answered.

'There is the question of the nature of this 'new' evidential lead, the question of how long this new evidence has been available to Surrey Police, when decisions were taken not to investigate this 'new' forensic evidence, and why beyond the coming into force of the Legacy Act and whether, now given the legal challenges to the Legacy Act, Surrey Police should and could continue its investigation?'

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said it was 'particularly concerned' about the controversial legal provision of the Legacy Act.

The Act received royal assent last autumn despite widespread opposition from political parties and victims' organisations in Northern Ireland as well as the Irish government.

The Government is currently appealing against a ruling by a judge at Belfast High Court who found that the provision for conditional immunity was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Surrey Police have been approached for comment.
A man has been found guilty of fraud after asking his friend to take a paternity test for him so he could avoid paying child support.

William Boswarva was said to have sent another man to complete the test after the baby's mother fell pregnant following a one-night stand.

After finding out about the pregnancy via a post on Instagram, he allegedly told her to 'get rid' of the child because 'he didn't even know her second name.'

Months after being told the child wasn't his he received a demand for cash from the Child Support Agency.

Boswarva claimed he wanted to take a paternity test to confirm but sent a friend to Crosby Medical Centre, on Merseyside, instead of himself.

Liverpool Crown Court previously heard that the dad had attempted to put pressure on the child's mother in order to convince her to have an abortion and told her he wanted 'nothing to do' with the baby.

William Boswarva, 29, (pictured in 2014) found out a woman he'd had a one-night stand with was pregnant after seeing a post on Instagram. He allegedly told her to 'get rid' of the child

Boswarva was then said to have told her that he did not want a child and offered her money for a termination before cutting contact.

But months later he received a demand for cash from the Child Support Agency, which suggested the child was his after the woman gave birth to a boy.

He said: 'I got told it wasn't mine so when I received the letter (for child support) I was obviously sceptical. That's why I rang them up and said I wanted to do a DNA test to make sure.'

Prosecutor Kyra Badman told the court that it was the Crown's case that Boswarva sent a friend to Crosby Medical Centre, on Merseyside, to do the DNA test instead of himself.

She said in her opening on Tuesday: '[The man] provided ID in the name William Boswarva and had sample of saliva taken from inside the mouth. The sample was sealed up, stored in a locked office and then sent in the post that evening to the lab.

'He was the only one to have an appointment for a DNA test that day. That DNA did not match the DNA held on the police national database for Boswarva.

'It appeared it came from a different person. DNA as I'm sure you know, is unique to an individual.

Boswarva was found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation

'Every one of us has different DNA. Whoever took the test at the Crosby Medical Centre had different DNA to William Boswarva.'

Although a man did attend the centre under the name William Boswarva and provided a driving licence as identification, the DNA profile obtained from the saliva swab was completely different to the defendants, the barrister said.

Boswarva insisted to the jury that he did go for the test and there must have been a mix-up.

'I went that day,' he said. 'I gave the swab, and, if you're saying it doesn't match, I can't say what's happened. If it's not my DNA, it's not my DNA. There must have been a mix-up. Mistakes do happen. However, I can't tell you how.'

The court heard that Boswarva was questioned by police in July 2022 and October 2022. On both occasions he refused to supply another DNA sample which would prove definitively whether he was the baby's father, the jury were told.

Asked by Miss Badman why he refused to take the paternity test, Boswarva said: 'My solicitor explained that doing another DNA test had nothing to do with what they (the police) were arresting me for.'

Miss Badman accused him of 'pulling the wool over the jury's eyes.'

She said: 'So you're telling us you'd rather go through a Crown Court trial for conspiracy to commit fraud before you take another test?

'You're trying to pull the wool over the jury's eyes. You agreed with whoever it was, a family member or friend, to go into the Crosby medical centre to avoid the responsibility of having anything to do with the child.'

Boswarva replied: 'No. I don't have a twin. I don't have anything like that. This hasn't happened. I went in myself. I gave my DNA like I was meant to.'

Boswarva, of Valley Close in Crosby, was convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation

The verdict was delivered after three hours and 44 minutes of deliberations.. Boswarva was released on conditional bail by Recorder Neil Owen-Casey, who presided over the trial, ahead of his sentencing later this month.
He was convicted in the separate shooting deaths of two victims, which were said to occur while he was high on drugs

Smith was the first person to die in the state this year

An Oklahoma man convicted in the murder of two Oklahoma City residents more than 20 years ago has been executed, marking the first death by capital punishment in the state this year.

Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Thursday morning and was pronounced dead at 10:20 am, according to a spokesperson from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections..

Smith declined to request a final meal. Chief of Public Relations Kay Thompson told DailyMail.com that the inmate was provided canteen items and that he was a vegetarian.

The 41-year-old was convicted in the separate shooting deaths of Janet Moore, 41, and Sharath Pulluru, 22, in February 2002.

He is the first person executed in the state this year and the 12th since the state resumed capital punishment in 2021. This followed a nearly seven-year hiatus that came in response to a series of bungled executions.

During a clemency hearing last month, Smith apologized to the victims families while insisting that he was not responsible for their deaths.

'I didn't commit these crimes. I didn't kill these people,' Smith said. 'I was high on drugs. I don't even remember getting arrested.'

Michael Dewayne Smith, pictured in February 2021, died by lethal injection Thursday morning. He was convicted for separate fatal shootings that occurred while he was high on drugs

The 41-year-old was convicted in the shooting deaths of Janet Moore, 41 (left), and Sharath Pulluru, 22 (right), in February 2002

Smith received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Thursday morning and was pronounced dead at 10:20 am

Before the hearing, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond requested that Smith be denied clemency.

Smith killed both victims as part of a 'double-murder spree simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,' Drummond said.

The inmate shed tears during his 15-minute address to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board before he was denied clemency in a 4-1 vote.

After the first of three lethal drugs, midazolam, was administered on Thursday morning, Smith trembled and attempted to raise his head before his body slackened.

He then took several short, gasping breaths, which prompted Oklahoma DOC Director Steven Harpe to later remark that the man 'appeared to have some form of sleep apnea.'

A doctor entered the execution chamber at 10:14 am and shook Smith before declaring him unconscious. He appeared to stop breathing about a minute later.

The doctor reentered at 10:19 am and checked for a pulse before Harpe announced the time of death.

Prosecutors described Smith as a gang member who was blinded by revenge when he killed both victims.

They argued that he murdered Moore as he was searching for her son, who he mistakenly thought had told police about his whereabouts.

Later that day, Smith fatally shot Pulluru, a convenience store clerk who Smith believed had badmouthed his gang during an interview with a news reporter.

Prosecutors asserted that he confessed his involvement in the murders to police and two other people.

But Smith's attorney, Mark Henricksen, argued that Smith was mentally disabled, a condition only made worse by years of drug use.

He claimed his client was high on phencyclidine, a dissociative anesthetic, when he made the confession, and that key elements were not supported by facts.

Smith had taken phencyclidine, a dissociative anesthetic, before confessing his involvement in the murders to police

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond read a statement on behalf of murder victim Janet Moore while standing between Moore's son, Phillip Zachary, Jr., and niece Morgan Miller-Perkins

The 41-year-old's family maintained his innocence and delivered a petition to Governor Kevin Stitt's office on Wednesday, pleading for his help.

They claimed new evidence showed that witnesses were being coerced during the trial.

Smith released his own statement on the eve of his execution, stating, 'My life is on the line.

'Despite new evidence, my attorney Mark Henricksen has informed my family that he will be filing no further appeals on my behalf. I am releasing this statement to demand that Mr. Henricksen do his job and fight for my life.'

His legal team requested a stay of execution on the morning of his death, but the U.S. Supreme Court shot it down.

When given the opportunity to provide last words, Smith stated, 'Nah, Im good.'

Moore's son, Phillip Zachary Jr., and niece, Morgan Miller-Perkins, watched the execution from behind one-way glass.

In a statement supplied to Attorney General Gentner Drummond, the families declared, 'Justice has been served.'
A physically healthy 28-year-old woman who suffers from depression and has autism and a borderline personality disorder will end her life with euthanasia, she has said.

Zoraya ter Beek, who lives in a small village in the Netherlands, will be 'freed' early next month, she has claimed. She will be euthanized on the sofa in her home with her boyfriend by her side.

Ter Beek decided she wanted to die after a psychiatrist told her 'there's nothing more we can do for you' and that 'it's never gonna get any better', The Free Press reported.

It is understood that a doctor will give her a sedative before administering a drug that will stop her heart.

Euthanasia has been legal in The Netherlands since 2002 for those experiencing 'unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement'.

After ter Beek's death, a euthanasia review committee will evaluate her case to ensure the doctor adhered to all 'due care criteria' and if so, the Dutch government will declare her life was lawfully ended.

Zoraya ter Beek, (pictured) who lives in a small village in the Netherlands, suffers from depression and has autism and a borderline personality disorder. She has decided to end her life by euthanasia after a psychiatrist told her 'there's nothing more we can do for you' and that 'it's never gonna get any better'

It is understood that a doctor will give her a sedative before administering a drug that will stop her heart. Ter Beek is pictured in 2017 with her do not resuscitate badge

When she was just 22, ter Beek opted to get a do not resuscitate badge, something that is typically worn by elderly people.

Now, after doctors have reportedly said they cannot do anything else to help improve her mental health, she has decided she is tired of living.

The 28-year-old told the newspaper she has always been 'very clear that if it doesn't get better, I can't do this anymore'.

She has decided against having a funeral and will be cremated. Her 40-year-old boyfriend, with whom she is in love, will scatter her ashes in 'a nice spot in the woods' that they have chosen together.

'I don't see it as my soul leaving, but more as myself being freed from life,' she said of her expected death, admitting: 'I'm a little afraid of dying, because it's the ultimate unknown.

'We don't really know what's next - or is there nothing? That's the scary part.'

Ter Beek has carefully planned her 'liberation', telling the newspaper that she 'will be going on the couch in the living room' and there there will be 'no music' playing.

She explained that during a euthanasia the 'doctor really takes her time' and will first try to 'settle the nerves and create a soft atmosphere'.

The doctor will then ask if she is ready, according to ter Beek, and she 'I will take my place on the couch'.

The doctor will ask 'once again' if ter Beek wants to go through with her euthanasia, before starting the procedure and wishing her a 'good journey'.

Ter Beek added: 'Or, in my case, a nice nap, because I hate it if people say, "Safe journey". I'm not going anywhere.'

Ter Beek she has always been 'very clear that if it doesn't get better, I can't do this anymore'. She has decided against having a funeral and will be cremated

When she was just 22, ter Beek opted to get a do not resuscitate badge, something that is typically worn by elderly people

The Netherlands is one of only three countries in the EU where the practice of assisted dying is legal, with rights groups arguing it gives people battling terminal illness or crippling disease the right to end their suffering humanely.

Data revealed that 8,720 people in the Netherlands ended their lives via euthanasia in 2022 - an increase of 14 per cent on the year before.

The figure represents 5.1 per cent of all deaths in the country - but the actual number could be much higher given that research suggests around 20 per cent of euthanasia deaths are not reported, according to Dutch media.

No scientific research has been carried out to establish a reason for the dramatic increase in people opting to euthanize themselves, according to the Netherlands Regional Monitoring Committees (RTE) that track the deaths.

Per Dutch law, to be granted the right to euthanasia, a patient must secure the consent of two independent doctors, both of whom must agree their case meets detailed criteria.

The patient in question must also be deemed to be 'mentally competent' to make the decision to euthanize - something which poses a problem for patients suffering from dementia who request euthanasia but are not said to be of sound mind.

However, the Dutch government is working to make the practice of euthanasia accessible to a wider range of people following campaigns by various rights groups.

The latest figures from the Netherlands Regional Monitoring Committees (RTE) show 8,720 people ended their lives via euthanasia in 2022 - an increase of 14 per cent on the year before

In April last year, it was announced that parents in the Netherlands can euthanize their terminally ill children aged 12 and over, with plans to introduce laws to expand euthanasia regulations for terminally ill children between one and 12 years old.

Such an expansion would apply to an estimated five to 10 children per year, who suffer unbearably from their disease, have no hope of improvement and for whom palliative care cannot bring relief, the government said.

However, some experts believe the gradual relaxation of country's euthanasia law could lead to a 'slippery slope' which could see physically and mentally healthy people who 'find that their life no longer has content' choosing to die early.

Stef Groenewoud, a healthcare ethicist at Theological University Kampen, told The Free Press that he is now seeing physicians and psychiatrists treat euthanasia as an 'acceptable option' instead of the 'ultimate last resort', as it was previously.

'I see the phenomenon especially in people with psychiatric diseases, and especially young people with psychiatric disorders, where the healthcare professional seems to give up on them more easily than before,' Groenewoud said.

Theo Boer, a healthcare ethics professor at Protestant Theological University in Groningen, echoed Groenewoud's claim, alleging that while he served on the review committee for nine years he saw the Dutch euthanasia practice 'evolve from death being a last resort to death being a default option'.

Lawmakers in Scotland are expected to debate an assisted dying bill this upcoming autumn that would allow adults with an incurable illness can seek a lethal dose of drugs from their GP. Medics who have a 'conscientious objection' will be able to opt out under the safeguards proposed in the bill (stock photo)

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Scotland are expected to debate an assisted dying bill this upcoming autumn.

Under the proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Patients (Scotland) Bill, terminally ill Scots as young as 16 years old will be able to ask doctors for help to end their lives.

The legislation proposes that adults with an incurable illness can seek a lethal dose of drugs from their GP. Medics who have a 'conscientious objection' will be able to opt out under the safeguards proposed in the bill.

Supporters say the law will ensure people have the choice of 'safe and compassionate assisted dying'. But critics have condemned the legislation as 'dangerous' and warned it will 'normalise' suicide.

MSPs are expected to be given a free vote on the issue, with the Bill likely to face its first Holyrood test later this year before a final vote is held at some point in 2025.
Sen. Chris Coons says 'we are the point' where U.S. policy needs to change regarding Israel after an airstrike resulted in the deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza.

The Delaware Democratic senator and President Joe Biden ally said he is changing his stance after two dozen years in Congress about his previous unconditional support for military aid to Israel.

Now, Coons says he would vote for the first time ever to condition aid to the Jewish State if Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to launch a full-out invasion of southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah and continue large-scale attacks.

'To continue fighting Hamas  taking targeted raids, small counterterrorism or special forces raids  I think that's an acceptable part of continuing their campaign against Hamas,' the senator added.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Thursday 'we're at the point' where he would vote to condition military aid to Israel if it continues large-scale attacks in Gaza without protections for civilians and aid workers

Seven workers delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza were killed in an IDF strike on their convoy on Monday. Pictured: Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen that was wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip

BREAKING: @sarasidnerCNN asks Senator Chris Coons if he supports adding conditions to U.S. military aid to Israel.@ChrisCoons: I think we're at that point



Watch here: pic.twitter.com/WpNGEj7tIx  CNN News Central (@NewsCentralCNN) April 4, 2024

The Biden administration has faced fierce opposition from pro-Palestine activists who are against his policies regarding U.S. support for Israel in its war with Hamas terrorists operating out of Gaza.

And now those who have staunchly backed Biden's support are questioning whether aid in Israel's fight against Hamas should continue.

'At what point does the policy change [regarding military aid to Israel]' CNN host Sara Sidner asked Coons on Thursday.

'I think we're at that point,' the senator replied. 'I think we're at the point where President Biden has said, and I have said and others have said, if Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister, were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale  they were to drop 1,000-pound bombs, send in a battalion to go after Hamas and make no provisions for civilians or for humanitarian aid  then I would vote to condition aid to Israel.'

He added: 'I've never said that before. I've never been here before. I've been a strong supporter of Israel the whole time I've served in Congress. We just appropriated another $3.3 billion of support in the last appropriations bill we did.'

The latest aid for Israel was passed the same day the IDF strike in Gaza killed seven workers with World Central Kitchen delivering food humanitarian aid to Palestinians caught in the crosshairs of war.

It seems the perceived target on aid workers is the last straw for many already teetering on the line of their support for Israel.

President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday as tensions run high following the death of aid workers

Israel apologized for what it called 'a grave mistake' and said it is investigating the incident  assuring it did not 'intentionally' strike aid workers on Monday.

Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023 and carried out the largest single-day massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. The event kicked off a monthslong conflict that resulted in at least 30,000 deaths.

'The challenge is to make it clear that we support the Israeli people, that we want to and will continue to have a strong and close relationship with Israel. But that the tactics by which the current Prime Minister is making these decisions don't reflect the best values of Israel or the United States,' Coons said.

He reiterated that he is 'speaking for myself' and not for the entirety of members of Congress, who would need to vote to approve or condition future aid for the Jewish State.

Biden and Israeli PM Netanyahu spoke Thursday morning for the first time after the drone strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza  including one dual American-Canadian citizen.

Ahead of the call, official predicted it would be 'tense' and noted the 'temperature' surrounding Netanyahu was 'very high' in the White House

'Biden is p***ed,' a U.S. official told Axios.

Washington, D.C.-area celebrity chef Jose Andres established World Central Kitchen and is a longtime Biden supporter. The president spoke with Andres this week after the strike.

Andres claims Israel targeted the aid workers.
A former Metropolitan police officer who sent misogynistic messages about a female colleague and visited her home in an emergency vehicle while on duty would have been sacked had he not already resigned, a misconduct hearing has concluded.

Ex-police constable Nathan Skipper admitted going to the home of the woman, who can only be identified as Officer A, on July 30, 2021 while on duty in an immediate response vehicle without seeking prior permission from his boss or a senior officer.

Skipper, who was part of North East Command Unit covering the London boroughs of Waltham Forest and Newham, went to Officer As home after receiving a message from her the day before saying she wanted to speak to a familiar voice and worrying for her welfare.

He spent 45 minutes talking to Officer A on her doorstep while his colleague waited in their emergency vehicle, the panel hearing in Southwark, south London, heard yesterday.

Panel chair Christopher McKay said Skipper had been in an intimate relationship with Officer A between February and September 2021, but it ended when he took up with another colleague, Officer B.

Ex-police constable Nathan Skipper admitted going to the home of the woman, who can only be identified as Officer A, on July 30, 2021 while on duty in an immediate response vehicle without seeking prior permission from his boss or a senior officer. Pictured: File photo

This caused Officer A emotional distress and she later blocked Skipper from contacting her.

Skipper also admitted sending grim text messages about his former lover, writing to a male colleague on November 28 2021: Its gonna be awkward when I see her, Im going to want to cry and also going to want to kick her in the c***.

He followed up with an image of the actor Samuel L Jackson staring in a menacing way and a further black and white image of a man aggressively pushing his hand into the face of a woman, which he captioned as When I pass her in the corridor, Mr McKay said.

His horrified colleague showed the messages to Officer A and reported him to a senior officer.

Officer A was visibly shaken on seeing the messages, Keith Saunders, the Met representative, told the hearing.

Skipper was later moved to another station and confined to desk duties.

Appearing via video link wearing a dark shirt and tie, he told the panel he quit the force after he became isolated and his mental health deteriorated.

He said he moved to Scotland and is now working as a driving instructor but insisted he loved his job in the Met and would consider returning to policing in the future.

Appearing via video link wearing a dark shirt and tie, he told the panel he quit the force after he became isolated and his mental health deteriorated. Pictured: File photo

The panel found Skipper used the emergency vehicle to visit Officer A without authority for a personal matter which did not relate urgent welfare needs.

It said his decision to take the vehicle out of the borough could have had adverse consequences had it been required to attend an emergency and that the public would regard his actions as discreditable.

The language in Skippers text messages was abusive and bullying and indicative of a dislike of women or [having] a strong prejudice against them and showed extreme disrespect for Officer A and her gender, the panel added.

It said his messages portrayed using violence against Officer A and his use of the image of Samuel L Jackson suggested Skipper intended to intimidate her in the future.

The panel said Skippers behaviour was inexcusable and contrary to the Mets ethos of fair, respectful and equal treatment of women.

It found his actions in this respect amounted to gross misconduct because it was so serious that it could justify dismissal.

Keith Baumber, Skippers legal representative, said there was no evidence him using the emergency vehicle to visit Officer A had caused any issues.

He said the former police constables messages to his male colleague were personal and private for venting frustrations and emotions and were not endorsing or promoting violence against women and girls.

Mr Pauper added Skipper did not deliberately set out to breach the Mets standards of professional behaviour and had expressed genuine remorse and insight into his actions.

Mr Saunders said Skipper had used misogynistic language and images which portrayed violence against Officer A and said the only appropriate outcome would have been to order dismissal had he not already resigned.

Outlining the panels findings on the outcome of the case, chair Mr McKay said the attitudes of male police officers towards women are under the microscope and any misogynistic or inappropriate behaviour was of national concern and viewed as very serious.

He said Skipper knew Officer A was a vulnerable person, had suffered trauma in the line of duty and was upset by the end of their relationship.

The panel found a written or final written warning would not have been sufficient to maintain public confidence and concluded that had Skipper still been a police officer, he would have been dismissed.

A Met police spokesman said: Following an investigation by the Mets Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), PC Nathan Skipper, who was based on a response team in Newham, faced a three-day gross misconduct hearing to answer allegations he had breached standards of professional behaviour in respect of authority, respect and courtesy, and discreditable conduct.

In November 2021 PC Skipper sent text messages to a male colleague in which he used language that was misogynistic about a female colleague. In addition he used language and images that portrayed violence towards the same woman.

The discreditable conduct allegation related to an incident in July 2021 when PC Skipper used a response vehicle without authority and for a personal matter.

PC Skipper resigned from the organisation in December 2023. Having considered all the evidence, the panel concluded that were he still in post, he would have been dismissed without notice.

Superintendent Dan Card, in charge of policing in north east London, said: PC Skippers behaviour was appalling, made all the more unacceptable for the fact it related to a colleague  someone who he should respect and look out for. We dont want people like him in the organisation and I fully support the chairs decision to dismiss him.

The spokesman added: Following the hearing PC Skipper will now be placed on the barred list held by the College of Policing.

Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office for Police Conduct or His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
A detective has finally fulfilled a 20-year-old promise he made to PC Sharon Beshenivsky's husband, as the last member of the armed gang responsible for her death has been found guilty of murder.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, has finally been brought to justice almost 19 years after PC Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead at point blank range  and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn seriously wounded  as they interrupted a raid at a Bradford travel agents on November 18, 2005.

PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, was coming to the end of her shift and was due to head home to join in with celebrations for her daughter's fourth birthday when she was shot through the heart and died on the pavement.

Detective Andy Brennan recalled how he and husband Paul Beshenivsky were surrounded by unopened cards and presents when he vowed to bring all of those responsible for the PC's death to justice.

Detective Brennan told the BBC: 'I gave him a commitment on that day that we would go to the 'nth' degree to make sure all of those responsible would be placed before the court.'

He said it was 'very humbling' to see how Mr Beshenivsky controlled himself in front of the children after being told the news of his wife's death.

He added: I'm a father, but, for me, in that position at that time, I couldn't show my emotions because Paul was looking at me to tell him what was going on and what we were going to do.'

Former West Yorkshire Police detective chief superintendent Andy Brennan (pictured) arrives at Leeds Crown Court, for Piran Ditta Khan's trial

Detective Andy Brennan recalled how he and husband Paul Beshenivsky were surrounded by unopened cards and presents when he vowed to bring all of those responsible for the PC's death to justice. Pictured Paul and Sharon Beshenivsky

PC Beshenivsky (pictured) was fatally shot in November 2005 as she and her colleague responded to a report of a robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire

Ten years after PC Beshenivsky's death, Paul Beshenivsky got engaged to Michelle Sherbourne, 45, the former nanny who has been his girlfriend for more than eight years.

Speaking at the time, Mr Beshenivsky said: 'I'll never forget Sharon. But life has to go on and now's the time to find happiness again. You don't forget  how can you? But you know when it's time for a fresh start, for a new chapter.'

Leeds Crown Court heard a total of seven men were involved in carrying out the raid, with alleged ringleader Piran Ditta Khan the last to face trial almost two decades on.

Khan travelled to Pakistan two months after the robbery and evaded arrest until he was detained by Pakistani authorities in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year.

Prosecutors say that although Khan was not one of the three men who carried out the robbery, and did not leave the safety of a Mercedes SLK that was allegedly being used as a lookout car, he is guilty of PC Beshenivsky's murder due to his 'pivotal' role in planning the raid knowing that loaded weapons were to be used.

Piran Ditta Khan has been found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38

READ MORE - Fugitive brought back to the UK to face justice after two decades is found guilty of murdering PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38 during an armed robbery in 2005 Advertisement

Detective Brennan told the BBC that getting Khan back to face justice was a long and drawn-out process, as there is no extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan. Therefore, a diplomatic request had to be made for his removal.

Detective Brennan said he would go down to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office every week for around 12 to 18 months.

He told the BBC: 'We put pressure on then (the authorities in Pakistan) all the time, but effectively we were in their hands to arrest one of their citizens.'

By the time Khan was extradited, Detective Brennan was no longer in the West Yorkshire Police force but said he was 'elated' by the development.

He said that Khan's conviction was a long time coming but that he was never in doubt that his promise to PC Beshenivsky's husband would be fulfilled.

He added: 'I made it perfectly clear to Sharon's family, to Teresa and to the public, that we would leave no stone unturned to get justice.'

PC Beshenivsky had been serving in the police for less than a year when she was killed

In a huge manhunt that followed, the gang, who escaped with little more than 5,000 were eventually caught.

The others convicted in connection with the murder of PC Beshenivsky were:

Muzzaker Shah was jailed for life in 2006 with a minimum 35-year term after admitting PC Beshenivsky's murder, robbery and firearms offences.

He led the trio of armed robbers but denied firing the fatal shot.

Shah, 25, a married father from London, was on police bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the raid.

He was described as 'extremely dangerous' and part of a notorious London gang called Thug Fam. Shah had previous convictions for robbery and for having a handgun containing live rounds in a public place.

Yusuf Jama was sentenced at the same time and also given a 35-year minimum term for murdering PC Beshenivsky. He also had connections with Thug Fam and had the same distinctive five-star tattoo as Shah and other members.

He claimed in court to have shot PC Beshenivsky, but insisted it was an accident.

Jama, 20, who had previous convictions for violence and dishonesty, was caught a week after the murder when he and nine other Somalis were held for alleged involvement in a gang rape in Birmingham, for which he was later convicted.

Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah (pictured left) and Yusuf Jama (pictured right) were both sentenced to a minimum of 35 years for the murder of PC Beshenivsky

Mustaf Jama was Yusuf's brother and the third armed robber on the raid. In 2009 he was given the same sentence as the other two for the police officer's murder.

Jama, 26, who had come to Britain as a refugee, could have been deported six months before PC Beshenivsky's murder after serving a prison sentence for burglary. He had 21 convictions to his name, including three robberies, burglary, affray and carrying a machete.

The Home Office deemed it unfair to send him back to Somalia because it is considered one of the world's most unsafe places. He fled there after the killing, slipping out of Heathrow on a false passport while in disguise.

Mustaf Jama (pictured left) was Yusuf's brother and the third armed robber on the raid. Raza ul Haq Aslam (pictured right) was a lookout

But an international operation led to his arrest in Somalia and he was brought home to face justice.

Faisal Razzaq was one of the lookouts and was living at the gang's safehouse in Leeds. He was convicted in 2006 of PC Beshenivsky's manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences.

The 25-year-old was on police bail on suspicion of firearms offences at the time of the raid and had previous convictions for dishonesty, deception and robbery.

In 2006 Razzaq was given a life sentence and told he must serve at least 11 years before being considered for parole. He has since been released from jail.

Hassan Razzaq, the older brother of Faisal, helped Piran Ditta Khan plan the robbery and also acted as a lookout in the operation. The 26-year-old was convicted of PC Beshenivsky's manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences and was given a 20-year jail sentence in 2007. He has since been released.

Razzaq had a previous conviction for a 1999 street robbery when he was 17. He was sentenced to 12 months in a young offender's institution.

Raza Ul Haq Aslam was another lookout. The 26-year-old Londoner was jailed for eight years in 2007 after being convicted of robbery. He was cleared of murder, manslaughter and firearms offences relating to the Bradford raid.

The judge said the length of his sentence reflected that he didn't know the gang were carrying guns.

He has since been released from prison.
A 'brilliant' professor died aged just 43 after doctors botched treatment for a rare condition on which he was a national expert, his GP widow told an inquest today.

Prof Amit Patel was one of the brightest doctors of his generation and a pioneer of stem cell transplantation, a hearing into his premature death was told.

But in August 2021 the father of two young daughters was admitted to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester with flu-like symptoms suspected to be linked to a throat infection.

Despite being given antibiotics, his condition failed to improve, with doctors making a 'working diagnosis' that Still's disease  a rare inflammatory condition  was causing a potentially deadly immune disorder called HLH.

His wife, Dr Shivani Tanna, said it was 'terrifying' for him to realise that doctors there didn't 'understand' HLH, for which he sat on a national panel.

Father-of-two Prof Amit Patel, pictured with his children, was only able to keep himself alive in the hospital because he was a doctor and that staff shortages and negligence led to his death, an inquest has heard

Prof Amit Patel was a pioneer of stem cell transplantation and an expert haematologist before his death at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester

As a result, despite being seriously unwell and feeling 'foggy in the brain', he had to help advise doctors on how to treat him.

But even though he was a haematologist himself, he faced a struggle to persuade nurses to show him his blood test results, she said.

'He kept himself alive on the wards because he was a doctor,' Dr Tanna told Manchester Coroner's Court.

If he had just been 'Joe Bloggs', he would have been dead within three days of being admitted, 'just by sheer negligence', she claimed.

She said Prof Patel believed he needed to be treated urgently with immunosuppressants and that 'time was of the essence'.

Instead they began treating him with steroids, causing a brief improvement  'it was like a miracle', Dr Tanna said.

Discussions began about discharging him for outpatient treatment for the debilitating effects of Still's disease.

But when she visited him on August 27 she found him 'barely conscious'.

'I broke down,' she said.

He was transferred to intensive care, but Dr Tanna said nurses were so short-staffed she had to check his observations and fluids herself.

She said it was 'almost like we were being laughed at' by consultants, who expressed 'irritation' at being given advice on treatment.

'Had Amit not been a doctor he would have been dead within a few days of admission,' she added.

On September 2, Prof Patel underwent a lung biopsy.

But afterwards she found him 'coughing up blood', with doctors telling him to lie back.

Dr Tanna said her husband told them: 'If you do, you'll never get the blood out of my lungs, it's clotting.'

But she said doctors said they needed to 'take back control' and gave him an injection at which his eyes 'rolled back' and he was laid flat.

Dr Tanna told the hearing he was 'left for hours' as blood filled his lungs.

'He looked like a corpse,' she said. 'He was freezing cold.'

Prof Patel was placed under sedation on a specialist ECMO machine to oxygenate his blood, with his chances of recovering put at no more than one in ten.

Tragically he died on October 28.

'He was exceptionally brilliant as a doctor, and an amazing human being,' his widow told the hearing.

'He was probably one of the most knowledgeable and best doctors that the UK had.'

His wife, Dr Shivani Tanna, told the inquest she had to keep him alive by checking his observations and fluids herself and added she broke down when she saw him in intensive care

Shivani, wife of Amit Patel, is pictured with her family at the inquest into Prof Patel's death on Thursday. Pictured left to right: Alchil Tanna, Tia Patel, Nita Thakrar, Shivaji Tanna,Anisha Tanna, Elen Stritch and Jayshree Wakerja

She had wanted him transferred to a top London hospital.

But her husband didn't want to be moved because of the disruption it would cause his young family, who had just relocated to Cheshire.

'Had I been able to move him, he would be here today,' she said.

Paul Spencer, representing the hospital, said he had no questions for Dr Tanna but added 'there are things we disagree with'.

Later Dr Simon Watts, a haematologist who treated Prof Patel, told the hearing that while he had heard of HLH, he had never previously treated anyone with the condition.

Asked by area coroner Zak Golombeck why the lung ultrasound was carried out, Dr Watts said national experts in HLH wanted to check there wasn't an undetected condition causing the condition.

Questioned by Dr Tanna's barrister, Darragh Coffey, he accepted there was no record that they had been informed of a condition causing abnormal blood clotting.

But he insisted he believed the issue 'would have been raised' at a multi-disciplinary team meeting to discuss Prof Patel's treatment.

A pioneer of stem cell transplants, Prof Patel trained as a haematologist in London before leading ground-breaking work to increase cancer survival rates at hospitals in Liverpool and Manchester.

Following his death, senior doctors at Imperial College London praised him as 'an intellectually daring clinician, researcher and teacher'.

In a glowing tribute, they added: 'His untimely death has deprived British haematology of one of his young leaders in clinical research in the fields of stem cell transplantation and cell therapy.'

The hearing continues.
Cox was previously suspended from practicing for six months in 2012 after he was found guilty of three counts of sexual harassment

An Alabama dentist who has been sentenced to 180 years in prison for raping, sodomizing, and sexually abusing his staff and patients was previously suspended from practicing for sexual harassment.

Joseph Clarence Cox, 44, was arrested in April 2021 following an investigation by the Gadsden Police Department, which revealed shocking abuse against eight members of his former staff and three patients from his dental office.

However, even years before Cox opened his dental practice in Gadsden where the abuse occurred, the dentist had received complaints regarding sexual harassment and unwanted contact.

A former employee at his dental office in Fort Payne, less than an hour drive from Gadsden, accused him of smacking her bottom in 2012.

Cox plead guilty to three counts of harassment after appealing the case to circuit court, online records show.

He was fined $500, sentenced to probation, and his dental license was suspended for six months for those offenses at the time.

Joseph Clarence Cox, 44, has been sentenced to 180 years in prison for raping, sodomizing, and sexually abusing eight members of his former staff and three patients from his dental office

During the trial, a total of eight former employees and three patients testified to numerous incidents of sexual abuse, including rape, sodomy, and even sexual contact during dental procedures at his business (pictured) in Gadsden

During the trial in January, a total of eight former employees and three patients testified to numerous incidents of sexual abuse, including rape, sodomy, and sexual contact during dental procedures.

The jury found Cox guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of sodomy, and eight counts of sexual abuse, ABC reported.

Cox treated his place of business as his 'own personal playground' and showed zero respect for any woman who came to his office, Judge George Day said.

Judge Day sentenced Cox to 25 years in prison for each count of rape and sodomy and 10 years for each count of sexual abuse. He ordered those sentences to run consecutively.

Cox, who started the Gadsden Dental Clinic in 2017 was arrested after officers found a large employee turnover within his business between June 2020 and April 2021.

Officers executed search warrants at both his home and the clinic on Rainbow Drive and took him into custody a week later.

Cox was later released after paying a $100,000 bond.

During the trial, his former employees testified that the large turnover at the Gadsden Dental Clinic was due to repeated incidents of sexual abuse by Cox.

Years before he opened his dental practice in Gadsden, Cox had received complaints regarding sexual harassment and unwanted contact

Cox(pictured in January), who started the Gadsden Dental Clinic in 2017 was arrested after officers found a large employee turnover within his business between June 2020 and April 2021

Two former staff members stated that his behavior went beyond touching to rape and sodomy, with some incidents occurring during normal business hours.

Patients were subjected to sexual contact during their dental procedures, according two of them who testified.

In court earlier this year, Judge Day ordered his sentences to be run consecutively, stating that it would not be justice for each of the victims if the sentences were concurrent.
Call is turning point, with Biden saying the situation in Gaza cannot carry on

The White House said they want to see changes in 'hours and days'

Biden told Bibi that Israel needs 'specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers'

A furious President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the airstrikes that killed seven aid workers were 'unacceptable' and demanded he push toward an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Biden, 81, upped the ante in the hour-long phone call on Thursday and and warned Bibi that Israel could lose American support if civilians kept getting hurt and killed. The White House said it want changes within 'hours and days.'

The U.S. president has faced increasing pressure to get tougher on Netanyahu after the strike that killed seven food aid workers, including a dual American-Canadian citizen earlier this week.

The call on Thursday is a turning point, with Biden saying the situation in Gaza cannot carry on like this.

President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the strike that killed seven aid workers for the World Central Kitchen; above Biden and Netanyahu in Israel in October

'President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,' the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

'He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps.'

Biden has been under pressure at home and abroad to do more to ensure civilian safety in Gaza. And he's faced criticism for being angry behind the scenes but not expressing that in public.

Even first lady Jill Biden has encouraged the president to end the bloodshed, telling him to 'Stop it, stop it now.'

The president shared his wife's option on the war at an event with Muslim leaders, the New York Times reported.

On their call Thursday, Biden also urged Netanyahu for an immediate ceasefire.

'He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home,' the White House said in its readout.

The White House declined to say what specific steps they wanted to see but made it clear they want to see them soon - within 'hours and days.'

'There has to be tangible steps, let's see what [Israelis] announce, let's see what they do,' White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

'We expect that there will be some some announcements coming from Israel in the coming hours and days.'

He described Biden as 'shaken' by the attack.

'We're looking for concrete steps to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza,' he said. 'If there's no changes to their policy and their approaches then there's going to have to be changes to ours.'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed Biden's message.

'With regard to our policy in Gaza, look I'll just say this; If we don't see the changes that we need to see, there will be a change in our policy,' he said during a press conference in Brussels where he is attending a NATO meeting.

Leaders across the world were outraged when aid workers from World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli drone strike

A vehicle where workers from World Central Kitchen were attacked in Gaza

Biden was reported to be 'p***ed' at the prime minister and progressive lawmakers are pushing the president to cut aid to Israel.

The Biden administration is currently weighing an $18 billion arms transfer package to Israel that would include dozens of F-15 aircraft, according to reports.

But former aides to Barack Obama signaled disgust Wednesday with details about Biden being privately angry behind the scenes instead of expressing that in public

'The President doesn't get credit for being 'privately enraged' when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people,' wrote former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau wrote on X. 'These stories only make him look weak.'

'I'm glad that US officials are outraged about the IDF massacre of World Central Kitchen workers (at least on background), but there have to be consequences for it to matter,' former national security spokesman Tommy Vietor wrote on X. 'Demand accountability and more aid trucks into Gaza. Stop transferring weapons.'

And in key battleground states in the 2024 election, Biden has faced protest votes in the Democratic primaries from progressives angry about his Gaza policy.

Israel is investigating the drone strike that killed the World Central Kitchen workers, who were delivering food to starving Palestinians in the Gaza strip.

The latest tete-a-tete between the two leaders comes as relations between Washington and Tel Aviv are detriorating over American fury not enough is being done to help the civilian population and Palestinian refugees.

Biden and Netanyahu last spoke on March 18th but this was their first conversation since the strike.

Meanwhile, celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that his aid workers were tageted 'systematically, car by car.'

He said his charity had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements.

'This was not just a bad luck situation where 'oops' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,' Andres said.

'This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of,' he said. 'It's 'very clear who we are and what we do.'

Jacob Flickinger, 33, was a dual citizen of America and Canada who was killed in the strike. He was a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan.

Flickinger's father wrote in a Facebook message paying tribute to his son: 'My son, Jacob, was killed Monday delivering food aid to starving families in Gaza. He died doing what he loved and serving others through his work with the World Central Kitchen.'

A GoFundMe was set up to help Flickinger's partner Sandy, whom he shared a one-year-old son with, pay for any flights and funeral costs, as well as take off some of the burden considering Flickinger was the sole earner.

Dual American-Canadian citizen 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger (right) was among the seven killed in the IDF drone attack

Biden described himself as 'outraged and heartbroken' in his statement condemning the attack.

He said Israel 'has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians' as thousands of Palestinians are caught in the crosshairs of war and left without food, water and other necessary supplies.

Israel apologized for what it called 'a grave mistake' and said it is investigating the incident.

International outrage ensued after the convoy of aid workers for World Central Kitchen was hit by an Israeli 'triple tap' drone strike on Monday, leaving seven dead. The three cars were marked as humanitarian aid and were struck while moving along a route approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

At least 196, including 175 members of the UN staff, aid workers have been killed in Gaza, according to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
This week was a watershed in international support for Israel in its brutal war against Hamas.

It had been draining away for some time, as the barbaric atrocities of Hamas' invasion last October were replaced in the public mind by the much larger and steadily rising death toll of civilians in Gaza as a result of Israeli military retaliation.

But Monday's killing by an Israeli drone strike of seven aid workers delivering desperately needed food to Palestinians has hardened opinion against Israel.

Israel's friends are in despair.

What was becoming increasingly hard to defend, has now become all but impossible to justify.

Israel's many enemies took smug satisfaction from watching its global reputation go down in tatters. The Jewish state might be unbeatable on the battlefield. But in the propaganda war for public opinion, it is now staring defeat in the face.

Even before Monday's strike, recent polls had shown over half of Americans had come to disapprove of Israel's military action in Gaza.

But Monday's killing by an Israeli drone strike of seven aid workers delivering desperately needed food to Palestinians has hardened opinion against Israel. Israel's friends are in despair. (Pictured: Prime Minister Netanyahu).

Democratic voters were becoming increasingly sympathetic, even supportive, towards Palestinians.

The Biden administration, from the President down, had started to make known publicly its frustration with the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's hardline and unpopular Prime Minister.

Even Donald Trump told journalists last week that Israel was losing public support for the assault on Gaza, that the images of devastation coming out of there were bad for Israel's global image and that Netanyahu should end his war soon. The Israeli government, especially Netanyahu, who had always been sure of Trump's steadfast support, was shocked.

All this was bad enough. But, since Monday, Israel's global standing has plummeted further.

Six of the seven aid workers killed by Israeli missiles in their three-vehicle convoy were from staunch allies of Israel, like America, Britain and Australia.

The charity they were working for, World Central Kitchen (WCK), was started by a well-known chef, Jose Andres, with restaurants in Washington and ties to the Biden administration, including the President. In terms of perception, it couldn't be worse for the Israelis.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claims it was a 'misidentification'  that the strike was not intentional.

But the idea it was a freak accident involving rogue missiles will be hard to sell, even to Israel's friends.

The IDF has acknowledged it works closely with WCK. The convoy was well marked with WCK's frying-pan logo. Its route along the Gaza coastal road had been cleared with the IDF. The British ex-forces men providing the security had established a GPS signal for the convoy to feed to the IDF.

The attack was no rushed, terrible but understandable, mistake in the fog of war. The IDF drone took out one car with a missile, then waited, took out another, waited again, then destroyed the third car, into which the aid workers had piled, killing all seven in the process.

The anger among Israel's allies has since simmered to boiling point.

The Israeli ambassador to Britain was summoned to the Foreign Office in London for a rare dressing down.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called Netanyahu immediately to say he was 'appalled' by the attack. There is growing British support for an arms embargo of Israel. Across Europe, opinion is palpably turning sour.

Six of the seven aid workers killed by Israeli missiles in their three-vehicle convoy were from staunch allies of Israel, like America, Britain and Australia.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claims it was a 'misidentification' - that the strike was not intentional. But the idea it was a freak accident involving rogue missiles will be hard to sell, even to Israel's friends.

American-Canadian citizen 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger (pictured with his family) was among those killed in the strike.

The same is true in America. Biden realizes that, which is why he's let it be known he is 'outraged and heartbroken' by Monday's tragedy.

Today, he finally managed to call Netanyahu himself. Were told the President spoke robustly. Mondays strike was 'unacceptable', as was the general humanitarian situation. Israel must announce some (unspecified) measures to improve matters.

Henceforth, US policy 'with respect to Gaza will be determined by [Americas] assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps'. An immediate ceasefire was 'essential'.

And that was pretty much it. Whether Israel will face any actual consequences from America, the only ally it really cares about, is unlikely. The Biden administration has a long track record of talking tough and doing nothing  'rinse and repeat' as one administration official put it privately this week.

There is nothing anti-Israeli  much less anti-Semitic  in taking a tougher line with the Netanyahu government. The Israeli people feel the same way. Only 32 percent of Israelis approve of Netanyahu's conduct since October 7. In many eyes, the killing and destruction which followed in the aftermath of that fateful day outweighs the original atrocity.

Six months later, Hamas is bloodied but unbowed. The war drags on, embedding misery into all aspects of Gaza's life, while 134 hostages are still in horrendous captivity.

Yes, the claim that over 30,000 Palestinians have lost their lives during the Israeli retaliation is a Hamas propaganda figure, too easily repeated unquestioningly by liberal Western media, and includes thousands of Hamas combatant deaths.

But you don't have to swallow Hamas lies to accept that thousands of civilians in Gaza have lost their lives in appalling circumstances, many of them women and children. Or to wonder if the IDF is quite as scrupulous or keen to avoid civilian casualties as it often claims.

Of course, Hamas is beyond the pale. But it is an evil, depraved death cult. Israel is a civilized, progressive democracy. Hamas cannot be the benchmark by which Israel judges itself. It is better than that. Much better. Or should be.

The worst could still be yet to come, however. If Israel mounts its long-anticipated incursion into Rafah in southern Gaza  where what remains of the Hamas leadership seems to have gathered along with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who've fled conflict in the north  there is likely to be a humanitarian catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

Israel's reputation, already in the dirt in so many eyes, might never recover. It is one reason why internal dissension in Israel is again on the rise.

Mass demonstrations against Netanyahu and his government, prevalent last summer but abandoned after October 7, are being mounted once more.

Today, Biden finally managed to call Netanyahu. Whether Israel will face any actual consequences from America, the only ally it really cares about, is unlikely. The Biden administration has a long track record of talking tough and doing nothing.

The families of the hostages are joining in. Netanyahu is kept in power by a few politicians on the extreme right of Israeli politics. If only five defected, his government would topple, forcing an election, which is what a majority of Israelis now want this autumn (one does not have to be held until 2026).

If Israelis themselves are critical of their government in these difficult times, there is no reason why Israel's friends and allies should not be too. Unconditional support is the last thing it needs in the current circumstances.

Under Netanyahu's watch, the country was clearly ill-prepared to deal with the Hamas incursion. He has presided over a retaliation which after six months has not yet done the job but which increasingly alienates Israel's allies.

He is planning another assault which is likely to result in yet further massive loss of life  but still not necessarily erase Hamas. And he stands in the way of a wider regional accommodation which Arab allies are still ready to help secure.

Israel deserves support in its current predicament. It has been mightily wronged and has every right to be robust in dealing with implacable enemies whose only aim is to destroy it. You can't negotiate with people like that.

But support for Israel does not necessarily mean support for its current government. In that, the Israeli people and their global allies should be agreed.

Monday's atrocity might yet galvanize opinion inside and outside the country in that direction.
The judge presiding over the case of an 18-year-old driver accused of killing a mom and three children in a high-speed car crash in Seattle has not minced her words.

Judge Johanna Bender said that Chase Jones, who allegedly crashed his Audi A4 at 112mph into a minivan, was travelling at speeds suitable for a 'NASCAR track.'

The accused driver appeared in court via video-link from his hospital bed on Monday.

His face looked expressionless as he was charged with four counts of vehicular assault and reckless driving.

Jones pleaded not guilty as Judge Bender set bail at $100,000 and recommended he be placed on electronic home monitoring if he posts the sum.

She forbade him from driving.

The moment Jones allegedly killed the mom and three kids was caught in a shocking video later released by cops.

Chase Jones, 19, allegedly crashed his Audi A4 at 112mph into a minivan in Seattle at about 12:45 pm on March 19

Jones appeared in court via video-link from his hospital bed on Monday over the crash that killed a mom and three children

Judge Johanna Bender did not mince her words during her court appearance on Monday. She said that Jones' was driving at a speed suitable for a 'NASCAR track'

Surveillance footage shows Jones traveling at break-neck speed in his 2015 Audi A4 before tearing through the van in a Seattle suburb on March 19 around 12:45 p.m.

Jones was allegedly traveling at 112mph before the horrific crash at the intersection of South 192nd Street and 140th Avenue South in Renton, triggering a multi-vehicle pile-up.

The victims were identified as sisters Eloise and Matilda Wilcoxson, 12 and 13; Buster Brown, 12; and Andrea Hudson, 38. Court documents seen by KOMO News say they were 'immediately killed' by the 'incredibly violent collision'.

Hudson's two children were also in the car but miraculously survived and are now stable after initially being taken to a Washington hospital in a critical condition.

Also appearing in court on Monday by video-link was the mother of the two young girls killed. She said Jones had not tried to contact the families whose lives have been torn apart by the grisly crash.

'I'm a little concerned and shocked that there has been, to my knowledge, no attempt to reach out to us with any kind of message of sympathy or regret,' Rivka Wilcoxson told the court.

Prosecutors said this isn't the first time Jones has been involved with law enforcement for dangerous driving.

'There is evidence that this defendant has been driving at an excessive speed and totaled two vehicles before this collision,' Senior Deputy Attorney Amy J Freedheim told the court, adding that the other crashes unfolded in January this year.

Defense lawyer Brad Barshi told the court Jones had suffered broken arms and legs in the crash and would be in hospital for a long time.

'My client is not out there stealing cars, having a gun, intentionally trying to commit a violent crime,' Barshi told the court, per KOMO News.

'This is an allegation in which my client may have made a dumb mistake by driving above the speed limit. That's the allegation.'

Andrea Hudson, 38, was carpooling five children including two of her own when another car blew through a red light at an intersection, smashing into her van and killing her instantly

Among the victims were sisters Eloise and Matilda Wilcoxson, 12 and 13, who are survived by their parents and four other siblings

Also killed in the accident was 12-year-old Buster Brown, who was described as 'an exemplary son, brother, and friend'

But the father of the two girls killed in the crash disagreed - pointing out Jones' 'reckless' history - but expressing empathy for the teenager despite it all.

'Your honor, I don't have evidence of remorse or of his home environment being the right environment for him to heal and change and become the man that he should become,' Chace Wilcoxson told the court, per KOMO News.

'I don't have hard evidence, but I'm confident that I personally have seen this car driven recklessly days and weeks before this accident. I don't think that this was just a dumb mistake.'

Bodycam footage from the scene of a previous crash allegedly caused by Jones shows him admitting that he was speeding to a police officer.

'I saw an open road. I was definitely going above the speed limit of 25,' Jones told the officer in May 2023. When asked to estimate his speed, he said '40 or 50.'

'He told me he was speeding down the street ... that dude was hauling,' a KPD officer is heard saying in the video.

Jones had crashed another car and the other driver involved said he was turning when Jones, in a Chevy Tahoe, approached at high speeds.

The officer let Jones off with a warning and talked to the teen's parents before leaving the scene.

Jones and the victims' families appeared in court via video-link on Monday

Jones appeared in court on Monday via video-link from his hospital bed. Chase Wilcoxson, speaking bottom left, father of the two dead girls, told the court that he believes Jones had a history of reckless driving.

'It's a mistake, mistakes happen. Lessons need to be learned, as long as you learn it,' the cop said.

The next crash happened in January, where another driver said Jones was traveling at such a high speed he did not even see him coming, according to KOMO.

Jones bought an Audi a month before the deadly crash, and after he totaled two other cars in the earlier wrecks.

The deadly crash last week left three families heartbroken over the loss of their loved ones.

'When you're driving, think of the people around you,' the girls' father, Chace Wilcoxson, previously told the Seattle Times.

'When you're tempted to speed, think of Andrea. When you're tempted to grab your phone while you're driving, think of my beautiful girls, Matilda and Eloise.

'When you're trying to make the light, remember Buster Brown.'

All four victims died from 'multiple blunt force injuries,' according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office

According to court documents, Tuesday's multi-car pileup was the third speeding crash Jones had been involved in over the last 11 months

Jones, 18, has been charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving in connection to Tuesday's crash. He was allegedly going 112 mph when he 'T-boned' Hudson's vehicle

The Wilcoxson sisters were described by their mother as 'inseparable'

Hudson's children, Nolan and Charlotte, who were also in the van, suffered brain bleeds, internal injuries and broken bones and taken to Harborview Medical Center.

An adult in a third car, which was hit on in the collision, sustained minor injuries.

Jones was treated for an internal injury that required surgery as well as a fractured leg and ribs.

Pictured: Jones on police bodycam footage at the site of a previous crash

Hudson, who led a homeschooling group, was driving the three children home when she passed through the intersection and was T-boned by Jones, according to court documents.

According to the GoFundMe page for the 'Matilda and Eloise Wilcoxson Memorial Fund,' Matilda and Eloise were 'a true light to everyone around them.'

The two girls were the oldest of six children, and were described as 'loving big sisters to their younger siblings,' and as '"mother's little helpers" in every sense of the word.'

Matilda and Eloise were active members in their 'church, school, and neighborhood communities.'

'Their love for others radiated through their kind words and actions of service and through their infectious smiles.'

Another GoFundMe set up for 'Andrea Hudson and Medical Care for Nolan and Charlotte' said that after the accident, Andrea's husband, Abe, had been informed that both his wife and daughter (Charlotte) had died in the accident.

'But through a miraculous turn of events, Charlotte was brought to the hospital still alive.'

Charlotte and Nolan are now in critical condition in the ICU at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, where they are 'fighting for their lives.' Their father remains at their bedside to monitor their progess.

Hudson is survived by her husband, Abe, and three children. Two of her kids, 14-year-old Nolan and 12-year-old Charlotte, were in the van at the time of the crash and suffered serious injuries

Photographs of the families affected have been left at the scene of the crash

Andrea Hudson is remembered as an 'amazing mother, devoted wife, beloved daughter, and dear friend to so many.'

She homeschooled all of her three children, and 'dedicated her life to her family.'

The GoFundMe said that 'she was a ray of light to those around her, and always had a smile on her face.'

She was 'the most patient and loving mother a child could hope to have.'
Health chiefs spent more than 1million a year to employ two locums, a tribunal has been told.

The bill was for a pair of psychiatrists to cover the Western Isles amid a shortage of doctors.

The disclosures were made during a case involving consultant psychiatrist Dr Denitza Mihaylova, who was sacked after she fell ill.

Over a period of almost two years, NHS Western Isles paid locums while she was off sick but dismissed her after concluding that this arrangement was no longer viable.

Dr Mihaylova sued the health board, accusing it of disability discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Denitza Mihaylova who was sacked after she fell ill

The cost for NHS Western Isles for employing two locum consultants was put at 1,179,076

But her case was rejected after the employment tribunal found that the board had to manage its budget responsibly.

The hearing in Stornoway was told she started work in September 2020 as one of two specialists providing round-the-clock services.

The other post was filled by locums.

The tribunal heard that, in September 2021, Dr Mihaylova was diagnosed with the spinal condition myelopathy.

She required surgery and was off sick for 150 days over the next 22 months.

To cover her absence, the health board had to pay for an additional locum consultant.

Dr Mihaylova returned to work in August 2022 but raised concerns about responding to night-time calls as the pain medication her condition forced her to take made her sedated.

In September 2022 she was told funding long-term locum cover for her on calls  put at a cost of 325,000  was no longer viable and she was sacked the following March.

The report from the tribunal stated: Actual locum costs for 2022/23 were 1,073,308 for two locums. Overspend in mental health services has consequences.

The cost of employing two locum consultants since Dr Mihaylovas dismissal was put at 1,179,076.

The tribunal report added: The circumstances of this case are extremely unfortunate.

Tory Highlands and Islands MSP Tim Eagle said: This eye-watering spend on agency staff is a shameful reflection on the SNP government.

A spokesman for NHS Western Isles said yesterday: NHS Western Isles continues to advertise for these vacancies.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: We are working with colleagues across NHS Scotland to explore how we can reduce our reliance on locums.
Mendez and Matthews reported him to cops several times but have come up empty handed

The contractor moved into the property and is now refusing to leave

An outraged Texas couple is pleading with lawmakers as their contractor turned squatter refuses to leave their property.

Yudith Matthews and Abram Mendez said they hired a contractor to complete tile work for their fixer-upper San Antonio property.

But after they fired him for not completing the work, the contractor refused to leave and is now reportedly living in the house.

The couple even filmed the unwanted guest climbing through their window despite being asked to leave.

'We don't have any protection. There's legislators that are out there, who are making headway, but we need more headway across America to protect us, the homeowners, because there's very little,' Mendez told FOX News.

The couple tried calling law enforcement to remove him from the property, but they said police refuse to get involved.

Yudith Matthews and Abram Mendez are pleading with lawmakers as their contractor turned squatter refuses to leave their property

The contractor originally asked the couple if he could stay on the property while he was completing the work on their house because he had gout

'It's really a gimmick, I think, for the municipalities across America to make money.'

The contractor originally asked the couple if he could stay on the property while he was completing the work because he had gout.

They agreed, drew up a contract, and Mendez filmed the squatter signing the paperwork.

But the squatter allegedly stole the phone with the footage and deleted the video evidence.

The job was only supposed to take a few weeks to complete, but the contractor kept delaying the job or making excuses as to why he couldn't work.

After the couple fired him, he still refused to leave.

'He must be homeless. He never, never even worked in the restroom,' Mendez said.

'The first few days, he was complaining of his gout. Then after I was trying to get a work schedule from him, he would just give me runarounds.'

'Little by little showing that it was a room. It was the house that he wanted all along,' he continued. 'With our trust he abused us.'

Mendez and Matthews visited the police department and the constable's office several times, but have come up empty handed.

Police told them that because of squatter's rights in Texas, a squatter can legally obtain property through adverse means. Technically, the issue between the couple and the squatter was civil, rather than criminal, and they would have to get lawyers involved for a proper judicial eviction process.

'They [constable's office] explained to us the rights to tell to the police, that is a trespassing matter,' Mendez said. 'We explained the law, the letter and how to enforce it, and yet the police did not want to do anything.'

The constable's office said the man had 72 hours to leave, but the squatter hunkered down and brought more of his belongings to the property.

The conflict escalated when the squatter allegedly shoved Matthews while they were putting the eviction notice on the property.

To their surprise, they said the police asked the squatter if he wanted to press charges, and that it was the couple's fault for being in his way.

Video footage showed the squatter climbing through the property's window.

'Squatters breaking into my house again through the window,' Matthews can be heard saying during the video. 'Squatters. Interrupting my work and recording me.'

'I can show you his rights,' a woman with the squatter retorted at Matthews. 'You are breaking the law.'

Matthews told FOX she recorded the incident in hopes of providing proof that he was damaging their home and trespassing.

Video footage showed the squatter climbing through the property's window accompanied by another person

The couple has had to take legal action and formally start an eviction process

'I was recording him to have some proof of what was going on,' Matthews said.

'We called the police, and we didn't get any help from them. Instead, the police told him that he... has the right to stay [on] the property.'

The squatter has done $2,000 worth of damage to the house, according to the couple.

'He kicked in a door to get access to a bathroom... broke windows,' Mendez said. 'He illegally tapped into electricity. We called code compliance to try to get him to get out.'

Mendez claimed he has spent hundreds of dollars just to start the eviction process.

He said he is convinced that the nation's growing squatter problem is a ruse by local governments to increase revenue.

'Trust no one,' Mendez said. 'There's not very much silver lining to this.'
A US-Russian ballerina has been locked up while visiting her grandmother in Russia after being accused of 'funding the Ukrainian armed forces'.

Ksenia Karelina, 33, a dual national, was detained in Russia after flying back to her original homeland to see her relatives including a grandmother in her 90s.

However, she now faces a charge of treason in Yekaterinburg after her phone was seized and unlocked and it allegedly showed a payment two years ago of $51.80 to an organisation in the US offering charitable aid to Ukraine, which Moscow says went to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Despite scant evidence, Russian prosecutors will argue the money was used to finance the Ukrainian army, and purchase ammunition, which could send her to jail for between 12 and 20 years under draconian Putin laws.

Ksenia Karelina, 33, a dual national, was detained in Russia after flying back to her original homeland to see her relatives including a grandmother in her 90s

She now faces a charge of treason in Yekaterinburg after her phone was seized and unlocked and it allegedly showed a payment two years ago of $51.80 to an organisation in the US offering charitable aid to Ukraine

Despite scant evidence, Russian prosecutors will argue the money was used to finance the Ukrainian army, and purchase ammunition

A picture shows her at an anti-Putin and anti-war protest in Los Angeles  which may be the real reason the FSB secret service is acting so brutally against her. She is holding a sign with a Ukrainian flag declaring 'We want peace' next to a friend with a 'Stop Putin' poster'

Ahead of a full trial, the Verkh-Isetsky district court ordered Karelina's detention until July 5.

A picture shows her at an anti-Putin and anti-war protest in Los Angeles  which may be the real reason the FSB secret service is acting so brutally against her.

She is holding a sign with a Ukrainian flag declaring 'We want peace' next to a friend with a 'Stop Putin' poster'.

It is unclear where the pictures were obtained by the Russian authorities, but it is known Karelina's cell phone was closely examined by Putin's secret service agents after she arrived back to Russia in early January.

The dictator does not tolerate any opposition to him or his bloody war.

California spa-worker Karelina's problems have deepened as she is accused of being a full-fledged American spy despite no visible evidence for such an accusation.

Pro-war Telegram channel UralLive demanded: 'How do they 'excuse' an American woman who was caught financing neo-Nazis in Yekaterinburg?'

She now faces between 12 and 20 years in prison under draconian Putin laws

California spa-worker Karelina's problems have deepened as she is accused of being a full-fledged American spy despite no visible evidence for such an accusation

It is unclear where the pictures were obtained by the Russian authorities, but it is known Karelina's cell phone was closely examined by Putin's secret service agents after she arrived back to Russia in early January

The report alleged with no proof that she financially supported 'maniacs and murderers who destroy the civilian population'

It continued: 'Western agents have already rushed to acquit Ksenia Karelina, who was arrested in Yekaterinburg [where her Russian family live] on charges of treason.

'And all the arguments are from the same manual.

'The girl made the first step - transferring [money] for the needs of Kyiv militants which was supposedly 'small''

The report alleged with no proof that she financially supported 'maniacs and murderers who destroy the civilian population.'

It defended Putin's security agents who handcuffed and detained the US citizen.

'The [Russian] security forces acted in accordance with the law,' said the channel which is closely linked to Solovyov, who reposted the report.

The report went on to allege she was a 'spy', claiming: 'She understood where and what she was sending.

'They were excusing perverts, today they are excusing spies.'
A Republican lawmaker is demanding answers from the White House about a plan by Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, a key ally of Joe Biden, that gives $500 a month to illegal immigrants for housing.

Congresswoman Lisa McClain of Michigan sent a letter to Biden calling the scheme a 'slap in the face' to the state's taxpayers and a way of 'rolling out the red carpet' for illegal migrants.

McClain requested that Biden clarify whether Whitmer's program was funded using taxpayer dollars.

She also demanded that the president answer whether the program is spending those tax dollars on individuals who have 'broken our laws and come into this country illegally.'

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using a program subsidized by a federal grant to award migrants in the U.S. illegally with up to $500 per month for housing costs

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., slammed the program as a waste of taxpayer dollars in a letter to President Joe Biden Thursday

McClain warned Biden that the program may be seen 'as yet another incentive by your Administration to roll out the red carpet and invite more people to illegally pour across our borders'

The 'Newcomer Rental Subsidy program' run by the Office of Global Michigan 'provides Refugees and other Newcomer population-eligible households with rental assistance up to $500 per month for up to 12 months,' according to its website.

Eligibility is based on 'immigration status and household income.' Those who are eligible could receive up to $6,000 annually.

The program received grant funding from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to McClain.

'The Refugee Resettlement Program will only burden the U.S. taxpayer with higher costs,' she wrote in the letter.

'Due to the Biden Border Crisis and Democrats' unwillingness to address the crisis, every state has become a border state,' McClain added in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.

'Now, Democrats like Governor Whitmer want to take your tax dollars to address a problem that Joe Biden refuses to take action on.'

'This program is a slap in the face to hard-working Michiganders who are struggling to pay their bills,' McClain continued.

'What sort of message is our Governor sending to the state by prioritizing migrants and illegals from the southern border over our own citizens?'

According to the program's website, qualifying 'newcomers' must be asylum-seekers, refugees, special immigration visa recipients, victims of trafficking, Afghan nationals, Haitian and Cuban entrants or Ukrainian humanitarian parolees.

Any migrant with a pending asylum claim is also eligible.

McClain requested information from the White House on how much the Biden administration has spent on migrant housing since the president took office.

She also mentioned how the yearly number of border encounters has increased under Biden's purview and that the program could be seen 'as yet another incentive by your administration to roll out the red carpet and invite more people to illegally pour across our borders.

'Your Administration is seemingly hellbent on providing taxpayer-provided benefits to those who deliberately break our laws, all the while making our communities less safe and straining our already depleted social services.'

McClain asked that Biden respond by April 19.
The principal of a Portland school where a nine-year-girl was allegedly gang-raped is being slammed for not taking the case to cops as a lawsuit from the girl's family claims that there were two prior incidents of sexual assault against the little girl.

A $9million lawsuit was filed last month by the family of the unidentified girl who was allegedly attacked in the bathroom of her elementary school by two boys.

The lawsuit alleges that in 2022, when the little girl was in third grade at Scott Elementary School in Portland, a classmate touched her genitals over her clothing without her permission.

A teacher was overseeing the class in which the alleged sexual assault took place, according to the lawsuit. In another incident, a student tried to kiss the girl without her consent - which caused the girl to hit him in self defense.

Then in April 2022, two other students in the after-school group, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN), told the little girl they would 'find out where she lived' unless she told the teacher she was going to the bathroom.

The principal of a Portland school where a nine-year-girl was allegedly gang-raped is being slammed for not taking the case to cops as a lawsuit from the girl's family claims that there were two prior incidents of sexual assault against the little girl

Jose Salinas was announced as the interim principal at Schott Elementary School on July 15, 2021, and served as the school's leader until October, 2023

In the bathroom, the students removed her pants and took turns forcibly penetrating the girl as she begged them to stop, according to the lawsuit, which was obtained by Oregon Live.

They took turns blocking the door to the bathroom stall as the other raped her, the lawsuit alleges.

When the parent of one of the male students involved found out about the disturbing incident, he notified school staffers.

However, instead of going to the cops with the deeply concerning claims, the school's staff members took matters into their own hands, according to the legal filing.

'PPS staff undertook their own internal investigation,' the lawsuit said.

Staff interviewed the nine-year-old girl without notifying her family or legal representatives, according to the court filings.

In response to the earlier incident involving the forced kiss, the two students were suspended and the little girl's father was told that they would enact a 'safety plan' for her.

The girl's father eventually transferred her and her younger brother to a different school in the district - which took over a month and disrupted her education, the lawsuit claims.

The alleged perpetrators were only suspended for one day.

Six days after the incident, her father took her to Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel for a medical checkup - which concluded that 'the history provided was highly concerning for sexual abuse.'

The lawsuit alleges three separate incidents in which the little girl was sexually assaulted, including a student touching her genitals over her clothing, being kissed without permission and being 'gang-raped' in a school bathroom

The lawsuit outlines how the disturbing rape incident left the little girl to cope with trauma, pain, suffering, social anxiety and academic setbacks.

Portland Public Schools along with the SUN program affiliates are being called out in the suit for multiple failures, including not teaching students about sexual boundaries, not enforcing rules around sexual behavior on school property and not communicating with other adult caregivers about the plaintiff's history and safety concerns.

Jose Salinas was announced as the interim principal at Schott Elementary School on July 15, 2021, and served as the school's leader until Tiana Ahmann was announced as the interim principal in October, 2023, over a year after the incident happened.

'The district learned of these new allegations last week when we received the lawsuit, and we are investigating,' said Sydney Kelly, a spokesperson for Portland Public Schools.

'We are mandatory reporters, meaning we must report any instance of possible child abuse and neglect. We take our responsibilities as mandatory reporters seriously and follow the law around reporting.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Scott Elementary school and the Portland Public Schools system for comment on this story.
President Biden spoke with Israeli PM Netanyahu Thursday after an IDF drone strike killed seven humanitarian workers in Gaza

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed during a call with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday there is 'outrage' in U.S. government over a recent IDF strike that killed seven aid workers.

The Pentagon said Austin's call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant 'reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah.'

The call on Wednesday was the first senior western official to connect with Israeli officials after the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in a 'triple tap' drone strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip on Monday.

President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and demanded an 'immediate ceasefire' in his largest-ever condemnation of the Jewish State in its conflict with Hamas.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) spoke over the phone on Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant (right) after an IDF strike killed seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza

He warned during the 30-minute call that Israel could lose military support from the U.S. if it doesn't take moves to protect Palestinians and aid workers.

Earlier on Thursday, Biden ally Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said he would personally support putting conditions on U.S. aid to Israel if it continued on its current attack plan in Rafah.

Austin said in his call with Israel the day prior to Biden's call that the 'tragedy' in Gaza will not make it more difficult to get food and humanitarian assistance to struggling Palestinians.

He warned there is a 'risk of famine' in communities in the northern part of the strip.

The Defense Secretary focused on the need for Israel to ensure evacuation of Palestinian civilians and ability for groups to provide humanitarian aid in the region following the death of WCK workers, the DOD noted in a readout of the call.

Biden said he as 'outraged and heartbroken' in a statement earlier this week after it was revealed the aid workers were killed

Seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed in an Israel Defense Forces strike in Gaza on Monday  one of which was a dual American-Canadian citizen

President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the strike that killed seven aid workers for the World Central Kitchen. Pictured: Biden and Netanyahu in Israel in October

One of the victims was a dual US-Canadian citizen  the other deceased were three from the United Kingdom, one from Poland, one from Australia and one was Palestinian.

Israel insists the attack did not 'intentionally' target aid workers and apologized for the 'grave mistake.'

Netanyahu, often called Bibi, said Israel cannot fully eliminate the Hamas terrorist group unless it goes after four battalions believed to be in Rafah  a southern city in the Gaza Strip bordering Israel.

United Nations officials have insisted Israel not attack Rafah, claiming it would be a 'disaster.'
First Minister Humza Yousaf was right about one thing on April 1, the day he affirmed his pride in the Hate Crime Act that had just become law.

There was a swell in the waters. The tide was indeed rising. Ever since, Scotland has taken a soaking.

Not just one tsunami has hit us, but several. You think no further chaos can be wreaked, then the next one thunders in and yet more foundations are dislodged.

Our little land is world news. We are a disaster zone.

Where Mr Yousaf was wrong was the rising tide he spoke of was hatred.

That is a ripple in comparison with what washed over us.

Police Scotland have decided that JK Rowling's take-down of ten transgender people does not qualify as an Non Crime Hate Crime

MSP Murdo Fraser has a Non Crime Hate Crime next to his name

Absurdity was the thing crashing in on Scotlands shores, upending all in its path  and our predicament is crazier still for the fact no mopping up is happening because our government does not recognise the drenching.

We have lived with various versions of this threat for years.

I believed for a time there could be no greater absurdity than a government seeking to ban the advertising of whisky, the nations biggest food and drink export.

It later became apparent to me that ministers were content to put drink producers out of business for the sake of an unworkable Deposit Return Scheme which they insisted included glass despite the fact almost all glass is already recycled.

Perhaps it was in the ferry industry that our most notable contribution to imbecility lay. We are a seafaring nation with dozens of island communities.

We used to build ships for the world. Now we cannot build even them for Arran.

We had a First Minister once who told us wind power came for free.

Another asked to be judged on her progress in an area of government responsibility which she promptly sent into sharp decline.

Yet none of the foregoing scale the heights of folly with the chutzpah and hubris that the hate crime legislation brings to the task.

If the author Stephen Pile is minded to produce another volume of his Book of Heroic Failures, I commend this tale to him as the top new entry.

What more appropriate place to read about a politician who boldly pilots a new law into the statute books, only to find as soon as it comes into force that he leads the field of candidates reported to police for prosecution under it?

Where else but in a comic anthology of monumental blunders does this legislation belong when police officers cannot make head nor tail of what it means and even ministers sent into broadcast studios to defend it dont fully get it?

If there is a more opaque, nonsensical and impractical law in the history of our legislature then I remain to be educated about it.

Consider, for example, the point that JK Rowling was not in the country when she delivered her April 1 tweet challenging Police Scotland to arrest her on her return if her gender critical outburst was against the law.

It was not her geographical location at the time of the tweet that precluded criminal proceedings against her but the fact that what she tweeted did not meet the threshold of criminality.

The implication of this is anyone, anywhere in the world, is liable for prosecution in Scotland if they say something hateful enough and someone in this land hears or reads it.

Will Donald Trump  rarely the most conciliatory of chaps  be taken into custody next time he sets foot on Scottish soil because someone in Auchtermuchty has detected Islamophobia in his oratory? Perhaps the idea is we demand his extradition.

Does Police Scotland now become the worlds de facto hate crime fighting squad? Offend the protected characteristics of any of our tender Scottish citizens and, wherever you are, well be coming for you?

Dont forget, no report of a hate crime will go uninvestigated. That is a Police Scotland promise.

Which brings us to the deluge of thousands of reported crimes under the law after it came into force on Monday, equating to one every 90 seconds.

One hesitates to inquire how that little lot of investigations are going.

We know that many of them centre on a speech Mr Yousaf gave four years ago in which he reeled off a list of positions of power in Scotland and, for each, spat out the word white in reference to the holders of them.

It was an ugly episode. I think he should have made his point in a more temperate manner. I also think he had every legal right to express himself in the way he chose.

Many more of the calls jamming the switchboards were about the Rowling challenge. Not a crime, police tell us.

Not even a non-crime hate incident (NCHI)  where a record is insidiously kept on file of the alleged misdeed which, in some cases, can be accessed by potential employers.

Like most people, I cannot begin to fathom how the law works but I should be fascinated to learn why Ms Rowlings excoriating take-down of ten transgender people does not qualify as an NCHI but MSP Murdo Fraser is saddled with one next to his name for saying choosing to identify as non-binary is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat.

Mr Fraser has suggested police are making it up as they go along.

Im sure this cannot be the case but, if there are any officers not backed up on hate crime calls, perhaps they might talk us through their thinking on this one.

The Tory politician says he would be surprised if a single report from the avalanche of them this week results in a prosecution under the Hate Crime Act.

It would astonish me too. The rising tide of hate that Mr Yousaf warns of is, in practice, a clamour from people with axes to grind to have the police fight their ideological battles for them.

We knew this would be the case. On the social media battlefield X, formerly Twitter, people have salivated for weeks over the prospect of nailing their enemies with a hate crime conviction.

For them it is sport, brinkmanship. The Scottish Government now hobbles the police with the sorry task of wading through this endless bile.

Police Scotland steps up to the plate  pledging to examine every report  while stepping away from its duties to victims of real crimes.

Going forward, resources will not be deployed on investigating minor crimes which are not slam dunks.

The first week of April 2024 may well be remembered as Scotlands peak basket-case moment.

Never in my lifetime, anyway, have I witnessed such obvious absurdity blithely waved away by a government representing my homeland.

It has been said there are no winners in the current hate crime farce. I disagree. Criminals are the winners.

Our police are otherwise detained. I note that many of them have the decency to be extremely embarrassed about that.

The laws architect Mr Yousaf isnt quite there yet. Like the father of a newborn, he beams and states that he is very proud.
A social worker who ran over and killed her elderly neighbour when she was driving home claims that the pensioner fell under her car while crossing the road.

Elizabeth Avorga, 42, had dropped her four children off at school and nursery and was driving into the service road near her Croydon home when Janet Emmett, 71, tried to cross in front of her.

Mrs Emmett was on crutches and was crossing towards the driver's right side, a court heard.

Neighbours heard screams and saw the car stopped on a grass verge with Mrs Emmett's legs and crutches protruding from underneath it following the crash on June 14, 2022.

The Old Bailey previously heard that one neighbour told police Avorga was hysterical and screaming: 'I tried to stop, but she slid and fell. I killed Janet. Oh my God, I've killed my friend!'

Paramedics found Mrs Emmett trapped under the left front wheel of the car, and the cause of death was later found to be crush injuries to the head and torso.

The fire service had to lift the Chevrolet from the ground so she could be taken to hospital.

Janet Emmett, 71, was run over while crossing the road on crutches on June 14, 2022

Elizabeth Avorga, 42, had dropped her four children off at school and nursery and was driving into the service road near her Croydon home when the incident occurred

'I had just turned in. I immediately realised she was in the road. I steered away to my left towards the grass verge to give her room to safely cross,' Avorga told the court today.

'I suddenly saw her turn slightly to her left.

'I was not sure why she turned. But the next thing I saw was she appeared to have lost her footing and was falling over backwards in the direction of the car.

'I stepped on my brakes and stopped the car.'

Avorga got out of the car but Mrs Emmett was trapped underneath.

Neighbours heard Avorga's screams and found her sobbing: 'I tried to stop but she slid down and fell.'

'I was quite distraught. I was upset because of the incident that had just happened,' Avorga told the jury.

Fighfighters had to lift her Chevrolet SUV off Mrs Emmett but she had been crushed under the wheels and could not be saved.

Avorga was in such a state that she had to receive medical treatment as she wept: 'Oh my God, I've killed my friend.'

The social worker told the court she had lived in Kingsdown Avenue, Croydon, where the incident happened for eight years - first in a flat and then in a semi-detached house.

She worked for her local council and her husband works in administration for a university.

The Old Bailey previously heard that one neighbour told police Avorga was hysterical and screaming: 'I tried to stop, but she slid and fell. I killed Janet. Oh my God, I've killed my friend!'

Avorga said she knew Mrs Emmett well and had always tried to help her.

'I particularly take interest in supporting not just her but an elderly gentleman who lives in the block of flats,' said Avorga.

'I would care about their wellbeing and if there was anything I could do I would do it.

'I considered Mrs Emmett as a friend. She did disclose to me some of her health conditions. She mentioned she was going to have a hip replacement.'

The court heard Mrs Emmett was 'not a small woman' and weighed more than 15 stone.

On the day of the incident Avorga's father was visiting from his home in Ghana.

He was suffering from a repetitive cough and called 111 to get some treatment on the NHS.

But Avorga denied she was hurrying back to see him and was not paying attention as she turned into the service road near her home.

'I was in no rush at all,' she insisted.

Prosecutor Charlotte Hole earlier told jurors: 'On her own account she knew Mrs Emmett had mobility problems but she passed so close when Mrs Emmett was crossing that when Mrs Emmett fell there was only one outcome and it was a fatal one.

'Had she stopped or at least passed so widely there was no possibility to come into contact the collision would have been avoided.'

A GoFundMe page has been launched by Janet's son Declan who said his family's life was 'changed forever' following his mother's death.

Mr Emmett said he was diagnosed with PTSD in August 2023 and desperately needed support but had to wait 16 to 18 weeks to see a professional.

He now wishes to start a foundation in his mother's name to help families in a similar position to his own.

The GoFundMe reads: 'The NHS have been amazing with me and I am now getting the help and doing the best I can in this terrible situation. Now my idea is to start a foundation in my mums name to help families in a similar position to mine.

'I would like to find them the help that is needed privately, but this costs money. This is where you beautiful people come in, I am passionate about making a change and saving as many families from the depression and anxiety that comes from losing a loved one in tragic events.'

Avorga denies causing death by careless driving on 14 June 2022.

The trial continues.
Even as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to wrest the gavel from his hands, Speaker Mike Johnson says he 'respects' the Georgia Republican.

In a new statement, Johnson attempted to smooth over the rift between him and Greene, R-Ga., who is furious over the way he's handled spending and may soon handle Ukraine aid.

'I respect Marjorie. She will always have an open door to the Speakers office. We do have honest differences on strategy sometimes but share the same conservative beliefs,' Johnson said.

He blamed her frustrations on Republicans' razor-thin majority in the House, and made a fresh demand for border security as a Ukraine aid package looms on the horizon.

Even as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to wrest the gavel from his hands, Speaker Mike Johnson says he 'respects' the Georgia Republican

In a new statement, Johnson attempted to smooth over the rift between him and Greene, R-Ga., who is furious over the way he's handled spending and may soon handle Ukraine aid

'In spite of our Republican majority of just a single seat in just one chamber of Congress, we are still fighting this administration every day to make policy changes,' Johnson said. 'A shutdown would not serve our party or assist us in our mission of saving the republic by growing our majority, nor will another motion to vacate.'

Johnson and Greene have said they have plans to air out their differences soon.

Greene sent Johnson off to a two-week break with a threat to his job, filing a motion to vacate last month that could send the House back in to speakerless chaos.

On Wednesday she suggested that the speaker might be being 'blackmailed' on Tucker Carlson.

'How did Christian conservative Mike Johnson go from being a Christian conservative voting that way, legislating that way, to the Speaker of the House that actually funds [Biden's] agenda?'

Meanwhile Johnson outlined his border demands: 'As I have always said, national security starts at our southern border. Any funding of the Presidents supplemental request should be premised on meaningful policy to help the American people and finally address the invasion at our southern border.'

The House is expected to take up a supplemental funding package with foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific in the weeks following the Easter recess.

But the details of the package remain unclear. It's expected to include some provisions of H.R. 2, the House's Republican border package.

Some policy makers have been pushing for Russian assets to be seized, rather than just frozen, and repurposed for Ukraine under the REPO Act. But the process would be difficult and has essentially never been done before.

The U.S., European Union, G-7 and Australia have frozen about $280 billion in Russian Central Bank assets, largely in the form of securities and cash. Sanctions on Russian nationals have frozen another $58 billion in assets, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The U.S., UK and Canada are all proponents of seizing the assets. But France, Germany and the European Central Bank have expressed concerns about potential Russian retaliation and precedent it would set for international law.

Others have suggested the Ukraine aid will likely include a Lend-Lease provision. Providing defense materials under the Lend-Lease Act means that they are meant to be given back if they are not destroyed in the war. Funds could also be loaned to Ukraine with the promise that they would be paid back in the long term.

Meanwhile Johnson has previously suggested attaching a lift of the ban on liquified natural gas exports after Biden said in January he would pause application approvals to analyze economic and environmental impact. It's not clear if the White House would agree to that.

A view of a destroyed facade of a residential high-rise building after a Russian drone attack on April 4, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Firefighters inspect damaged fire truck after a Russian drone attack on April 4, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Teams work on the damaged buildings after a Russian attack with drones on April 3 in Kharkiv, Ukraine on April 04, 2023

Johnson would likely need significant Democratic support to pass the legislation as a many of his Republicans remain staunchly against any further Ukraine funding.

Democrats largely support funding Ukraine's war against Russia but some progressives could turn their nose up at a package that includes money for Israel, who they believe has not had enough care with Palestinian civilian lives in its mission to eradicate Hamas. The recent killing of an American aid worker could further entrench their opposition.

Greene launched her bid to potentially oust the speaker after a $1.2 trillion bill that funded six agencies of government. She did not make the resolution 'privileged,' meaning it will loom over Johnson's head and she has the ability to call it for a quick vote at any moment.

She said she is no closer to withdrawing her motion to vacate, deeming Johnson a 'Democrat speaker' who doesn't spend any time listening to his Republican conference.

'He cannot be Speaker of the House,' she said. 'He just can't be, I won't vote for him. Many other Republican members are saying the same thing. He's not our speaker. He's the Democrat speaker.'
It is one of the countrys most scenic beauty spots and sees tourists visiting from around the world.

But locals in Caithness have now come up with an innovative way to warn visitors of a troublesome problem - potholes.

A sign reading Welcome to the Moon  caution craters has appeared in a part of the Highlands blighted by potholes.

The hand painted message has been stuck on top of an official Welcome to Caithness signpost at Ord of Caithness on the countys boundary with Sutherland.

It follows years of complaints from residents about the perilous state of roads in the area.

Locals in Caithness, Sutherland, have dubbed the area 'The Moon' due to the state of the roads

Many residents have posted pictures on a Facebook page called Caithness Roads Recovery to highlight the ongoing pothole problem

Iain Gregory, of Caithness Roads Recovery campaign group, said the situation was unbelievably dire: Whilst the sign was clearly intended as a bit of fun, it sends out a very serious message.

We are in dire straits in the far north and desperately need major investment in our infrastructure.

We have been battling for several years to try and get national coverage of the utterly dire situation which exists here in the far north.

Our group, CRR was set up in 2021 in response to the unbelievably dire state of our roads, which in many cases had reached a condition which was little more than third world status.

Its become a major focal point for public concerns, and in a recent 28 day period we saw over half a million visits to our Facebook page.

The cost of repairing roads across Highland was recently stated by Highland Council in a freedom of information request to be 233 million pounds.

Caithness is far and away the worst area, and has about 10 per cent of the total road length. We probably therefore need at least 25 million.

The council do not have this sum, and never will have, so it is time for the Scottish Government to step in - and Westminster are also responsible - and act before it is too late.

Caithness is not simply a remote and distant point on a map - it is a place where people live, work, and bring up their families.

We desperately need major investment in our infrastructure, we need local control, and we need it to be recognised that Caithness is a vibrant and important county, which contributes hugely to the economy of both Scotland and the UK, and we can no longer endure the constant deterioration of our roads network. We need action and we need it now.

But Highland Council has said its maintenance teams do a stellar job in dealing with potholes, adding that a 60 million investment in the areas roads and infrastructure was recently approved by councillors.

Launched three years ago, Caithness Roads Recovery has been gathering evidence of the state of local public roads and has called for urgent action.

Mr Gregory described the Highland Council-maintained roads in Caithness as nothing more than a patchwork quilt of neglect, a shocking testament to the marginalisation of the far north.

He said the area had suffered the effects of constant centralisation of services and under-investment over many years.

Angry locals have commented on the campaign groups Facebook page that the joke sign was a bit unfair on the moon with many asking if they could launch a class action to sue the local authority for dereliction of duty.

Chair of the councils economy and infrastructure committee Councillor Ken Gowans defended the local authoritys work, saying: The road maintenance our teams are undertaking throughout Highland is stellar.

He added that the council is testing a new approach, called thermal repair, that some consider light years ahead

The results of the thermal repair trial are due to be reviewed and assessed by councillors.
Iran's Supreme Leader embraced mourners ahead of the funeral of seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in the Syrian capital.

Iranian state media said 13 people were killed in the strike in which, according to Tehran's ambassador, Israeli F-35 jets fired six missiles that levelled a five-storey consular building adjacent to the embassy in Damascus.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed to retaliate by threatening that Israel will 'be slapped' and continue to fail on the battlefield in Gaza.

Khamenei was seen praying over the coffins of the seven members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards today ahead of their funeral ceremony tomorrow.

The supreme leader led prayers for the dead, the official IRNA news agency said.

The bodies of the Guards were repatriated overnight, according to the ISNA news agency.

A funeral ceremony will take place in Tehran on Friday, coinciding with the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations, when Iran and its allies hold marches in support of the Palestinians.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (centre) praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps

Khamenei conversing with families and relatives of Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike

Khamenei talking with families and relatives of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps who were killed in Syria

Khamenei praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps

The supreme leader led prayers for the dead, the official IRNA news agency said

Rescue workers search in the rubble of a building annexed to the Iranian embassy a day after an air strike in Damascus on April 2

Iran has said that among the dead were two brigadier generals from the Guards' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force, Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi and Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Zahedi was the Quds Force commander for Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

Iran has vowed to retaliate. Israel 'will be punished at the hands of our brave men. We will make them regret this crime and the other ones', Khamenei said on Tuesday.

The following day he said the strike was a 'desperate' effort by Israel that 'will not save them from defeat' in Gaza. 'Of course they will be slapped for that action.'

In a statement for Quds Day, Iran's foreign ministry renewed the 'support of the Islamic republic for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people' against Israel.

The European Union on Wednesday condemned the airstrike, which has been widely blamed on Israel, and called on countries in the region to show restraint.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, one of the most significant yet on Iranian interests in Syria.

Iran and its allies - including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen - have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the US since the start of Israel's war on Hamas.

Iran said the strike killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members, including two commanders of the Quds Force - the Guards' foreign operations arm - Brigadier Generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Zahedi, 63, had held a succession of commands in the force in a Guards career spanning more than four decades.

Khamenei praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps who were killed in Syria, ahead of their funeral in Tehran tomorrow

Khamenei prays next to the Coffins of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today ahead of the funeral tomorrow

In Syria, a funeral was held for the slain Revolutionary Guard members at a holy Shiite shrine in Damascus, official state media reported.

The main funeral ceremony of the IRGC members would be held tomorrow, during an annual pro-Palestine rally, called al-Quds day.

'The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution,' Khamenei vowed in his speech on Wednesday.

Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say in major state policies, urged people to take to the streets for this year's event.

'If in previous years, Quds Day was celebrated only in Islamic countries, this year, most likely, Quds Day will also be celebrated in non-Islamic countries.'

He also said he hoped for a day that 'the Muslim world can celebrate the destruction of Israel.'

Meanwhile, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said the attack 'will not remain without answer.'

The airstrike Monday destroyed Iran's Consulate in Damascus. It's not clear if and when Iran would respond, but any retaliation from Tehran would risk a dangerous confrontation with Israel and the US.
She became a quadruple amputee after an unremoved kidney stone got infected

According to her husband, Mullins has begun intense physical therapy

The mother of two was pictured using her prosthetic legs for the first time

The Kentucky nurse who lost all her limbs after going into septic shock is gradually relearning how to walk as she uses prosthetics for the first time.

A series of photos shared to GoFundMe on Wednesday shows Lucinda 'Cindy' Mullins, 41, closing her eyes and clenching her jaw as she balances on artificial legs.

The update was posted by Heather Beshears, a close friend who organized the fundraiser on behalf of Mullins' family.

'Stepping in the right direction. One happy chick,' Beshears captioned the photos. 'These are the training legs. They will introduce the knees when she is ready.'

Mullins' husband, DJ, reported on March 8 that his wife was beginning intensive therapy as she took on the arduous task of relearning how to walk.

Lucinda 'Cindy' Mullins, 41, is relearning how to walk with prosthetics after losing all her limbs earlier this year

Updates posted to GoFundMe show Mullins clenching her jaw and closing her eyes as she begins the latest undertaking in her path to recovery

The Kentucky mother of two became a quadruple amputee following kidney stone treatment. When an unremoved kidney stone became infected, she went into septic shock

According to her husband, Mullins checked into the Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital at the beginning of March

'As if she wasnt strong enough, shes about to get stronger,' DJ wrote.

'We just checked in to Cardinal Hill for a couple weeks of intense therapy to prepare her for the prosthetic journey she is about to begin.'

Mullins' loved ones have been providing a steady stream of updates, including photos shared at the end of February that showed her beaming beside her teenage son in his high school gymnasium, clad head-to-toe in spirit wear.

'Someone has been feeling better the last few days,' DJ wrote at the time. 'All those prayers continue to be answered!'

Mullins lost both her legs and arms when she was hospitalized in January. She originally went into treatment for kidney stones, which are hard balls of salt and minerals that form inside the body.

The doctor left a temporary stent in her body following the surgery to prevent blockage. When she removed the stent at home, as instructed, the mother of two began to feel ill and fell unconscious.

She was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors discovered that an unremoved kidney stone had become infected.

Mullins was told that she had gone into septic shock, with her organs beginning to shut down. Doctors stabilized her and placed on a ventilator before she was transported to a larger hospital in Lexington.

While her organ function began to improve after days of treatment, blisters broke out across her limbs - and she was told they would have to be amputated in order to save her life

Her condition has been on the upswing, and she even appeared at a high school pep rally with her teenage son. Mullins beamed beside her eldest boy and husband, DJ, in the February update

The certified medical assistant underwent a series of amputations concluding with the removal of her lower arms in February

Following hours of physical therapy sessions, Mullins regained her ability to eat by herself and learned to sit upright on her own

Over the next several days, while her organ function began to improve, blisters broke out across her limbs.

When she was conscious again, doctors told Mullins that she would survive the infection - at the cost of her hands and legs.

She underwent a series of amputations concluding with the removal of her lower arms in February.

Speaking to DailyMail.com in February, Mullins said she leaned on the comfort of knowing her family would be with her every step of the way.

'Surprisingly, I wasn't upset, I didn't question it. I wasn't angry,' Mullins said.

'I know there will be hard times ahead but just knowing I could see my kids again and that I had the support of my family, I think that gave me peace to be okay with it.'

Following hours of grueling physical therapy sessions, Mullins regained her ability to eat by herself using a specially adapted fork that is strapped to her arm.

She also learned to sit upright by herself and scroll on her phone using her nose.

There are changes that the whole family must get used to. Each morning, DJ must dress and wrap his wife's wounds to keep them clean and watertight.

But the 41-year-old says she is hopeful and determined to get back to her job as a certified medical assistant at Bates, Miller & Sims, a local family practice.

Mullins says she is determined to get back to her job at Bates, Miller & Sims, a local family practice based in Stanford

The Kentucky woman's loved ones and close friends have been providing a steady flow of updates to a GoFundMe page, which has turned into a sort of recovery journal

Mullins says her situation is not a 'sad story,' as she gets to be with her children and husband

The GoFundMe campaign has turned into a journal documenting Mullins' recovery.

'Cindy and her family will have to make a few adjustments to their home to accommodate Cindy's needs as well as her prosthetics and adaptive equipment,' Beshears wrote on the page.

'The costs of all of this can be overwhelming. We started this fundraiser because we want to support our hero Cindy, as well as her husband DJ who has been by her side every step of the way.'

The campaign has raised over $300,000 so far but has yet to meet its $350,000 goal.

'I just want people to know this is not a sad story,' Mullins said.

'This has a happy ending. I'm alive. I get to be with my children and my husband.'
A former Massachusetts city councilor who fled the country to evade child pornography charges is suspected of appearing in Russian propaganda, according to reports.

Wilmer Puello-Mota, 27, a former Massachusetts National Guardsman, appears to have been spotted in Russian propaganda videos supporting the war in Ukraine on Telegram and Russian media outlets, the Daily Beast reported.

In a video posted online earlier this week the man, identified as only 'Wil' and described as a 'former American soldier', approaches a Russian military recruitment office and delivers a speech about his pride in joining Russia's 'special military operation' and helping Russia to 'continue the mission.'

Independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo has also identified 'Wil' as Puello-Mota.

In his monologue Wil tells the camera he has fought alongside Russian troops in Avdiivka but is now formally joining their ranks.

Wilmer Puello-Mota, 27, a former Massachusetts National Guardsman, appears to have been spotted in Russian propaganda videos

Those who know Puello-Mota identified him in another video shot in Ukraine last month

'It's terrible, it's sad what's happened there. You know, it's a very bad situation, and I'm glad that we can help in the way that we're helping,' he explains.

The video suggests he has signed a formal contract with Russia's Defense Ministry in Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia.

He was reportedly given 745,000 rubles ($8,060) as an initial, one-time payment and is set to collect another 150,000 rubles ($1,621) for every two months of service, the video suggests.

'They all are aware. They know who he is' a Russian government insider told the Beast about the government's understanding of Puello-Mota's background.

It comes just weeks after Rhode Island's attorney general claimed Puello-Mota is evading charges of child pornography, obstructing justice, forgery and counterfeiting, according to the Beast.

The former councilor was arrested in September 2020 after a seventeen-year-old girl alleged that he sent her money for sexually explicit images knowing she was underage, according to court records.

Puello-Mota was released on a $20,000 bail but failed to turn up to a scheduled court appearance in January.

Reports began to circulate that Puello-Mota had absconded to Russia but the authorities were not able to determine whether it was an 'elaborate ruse to conceal his whereabouts' according to the Rhode Island Attorney General's office.

Last month The Republican reported that another video shot in Ukraine was identified by those who know him as Puello-Mota. DailyMail.com has not independently verified these claims.

In the video the man is seen erecting a US flag in in Avdiivka after Russian troops invaded, declaring 'We're here to plant the U.S. flag as a sign of friendship and support.'
A federal judge on Thursday refused to throw out the classified documents case against Donald Trump, rejecting his argument that former presidents were allowed to keep files after leaving the White House.

It is the latest legal blow to Trump who is due to appear in court in 11 days time for the start of a business fraud trial in New York.

His lawyers have repeatedly sought to delay the four cases against him or have the prosecutions dismissed entirely.

In the Florida documents case, they used the 1978 Presidential Records Act to argue that their client had the power to designate files as personal and take them with him when he left office.

Trump is charged with wilfully retaining documents of national security importance and failing to hand them over. He denies all the charges.

Former President Donald Trump lost his effort to have the Florida documents case thrown out

The FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and recovered hundreds of government files. This image, of boxes in a bathroom, was included in the indictment against him

Special Counsel Jack Smith said the documents related to intelligence and military issues, including the U.S. nuclear program, and were not personal.

In a three-page order, Judge Aileen Cannon sided with prosecutors, saying the indictment made 'no reference to the Presidential Records Act, nor do they rely on that statute for purposes of stating an offense.'

It is the latest legal loss for Trump. In the 24 hours before the ruling in Florida, he lost two other efforts to delay cases in Georgia and in New York.

Trump claims all four criminal cases against him are politically motivated. And he still has several other challenges to the documents case pending.

That trial is slated to begin on May 20, but lawyers on both sides admit that it will be delayed.

Earlier in the day the judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case rejected his argument that prosecutors were trying to criminalise speech protected by First Amendment rights.

The case accuses Trump and 14 allies of taking part in a conspiracy to overurn his election defeat in the state.

And his lawyers claimed that some of the evidence against them was based on political speeches, which were protected by the First Amendment.

The documents were found during an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2022

A photo of documents seized during the August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago was published by the Justice Department

In a three-page order, Judge Aileen Cannon sided with prosecutors

A day earlier in New Yoek, Judge Juan M. Merchan gave short shrift to Trump lawyers arguing for a trial delay. He also questioned their motives in bringing a motion so late

In his ruling, Judge Scott McAfee cites allowable restrictions on speech and association during instances such as alleged criminal activity.

'Like political speech, the right of association is not immune from restriction  particularly where the "state indisputably has a compelling interest in preserving the integrity of its election process"  and thus laws "burden[ing] the associational rights of political parties and their members" may be valid,' he wrote.

And on Wednesday, Trump lost a request to delay his business fraud trial until the Supreme Court rules on whether or not former presidents have immunity.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan said the motion had come too late, ruling that Trump's lawyers had plenty of time to have lodged the request before a deadline expired.

Instead, he said the March 7 filing 'raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.'

J.L. Partners polled 1000 likely voters from March 20 to 24 via landline, cellphone, SMS and apps. The results carry a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent

J.L. Partners asked 1005 likely voters for their main memories of the Trump administration

Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election, when he will face off against President Joe Biden in a 2020 rematch.

The latest DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners shows Trump maintaining a four-point lead over his rival.

And voters say the thing they remember most about his presidency is a booming economy, rather than the Jan. 6 attack of legal wrangles or political turmoil.

The biggest problem for Trump may be juggling his frequent court appearances and legal strategy meetings with finding time to visit the key swing states that will decide who occupies the White House for the next four years.
The husband of the president of the Florida Senate died on Wednesday after falling at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

Kathleen Passidomo, 70, and her husband, John Passidomo, 72, were hiking Monday, when he tumbled and sustained 'massive trauma to his head, among other very serious injuries,' according to a statement from the state Senate.

'Fellow hikers on the trail' were the the first to reach the couple before an ambulance arrived to rush him to hospital.

He was then flown to a regional trauma center in St. George, Utah, where he was evaluated by 'the very best medical teams.'

After a 24-hour examination, the doctors informed Passidomo that her husband would not survive.

Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (left), 70, and her husband, John Passidomo (right), 72, were out for a hike Monday, when he suffered 'massive trauma to his head'

The accident occurred at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah (pictured)

On Wednesday afternoon, surrounded by his wife and three daughters, Passidomo passed away at 3:21 pm EDT.

The statement said the couple were 'law school sweethearts.'

The Passidomos, originally from New Jersey, met at Stetson University Law School in Gulfport.

The president and the first gentleman were 'looking forward to celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary in September.'

The Passidomos were in Utah to visit several national parks, and the trip was just one of 'many great adventures they shared during their five decades together.'

Passidomo and her husband's final days together, the statement said, were marked 'by many special moments, beautiful scenery, and wonderful reflections on their lifetime together.'

The couple discussed their 'plans to live out their golden years watching their grandchildren grow up.'

The statement said that the 'President has lost the love of her life, and is absolutely devastated by this sudden and unexpected accident.'

John Passidomo's sudden passing elicited an outpouring of grief from elected officials.

Writing in a post on X.com, formerly Twitter, Florida Governor Ron Desantis said that John Passidomo 'was a good man.'

Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson also took to X.com to voice her condolences.

'The state of Utah offers our sincere condolences to Pres. Passidomo, her family, and those in the state of Florida who are dealing with the shock of this terrible news.'

Like his wife, John Passidomo made a foray into politics. Mr. Passidomo was a city council member and vice mayor of Naples, Florida, from 1990-92.

Mr. Passidomo (far left) had a stint in elected office. He was a city council member and vice mayor of Naples, Florida, from 1990-92

The Passidomos were originally from New Jersey. They met in law school and were coming up on their 45th wedding anniversary

Passidomo was originally elected to the Florida House in 2010, and then was elected to the Senate, becoming its president for the 2022-24 term.

In the Florida Senate's statement, Passidomo expressed her gratitude to the National Park Service, Garfield County first responders and Bryce Canyon National Park staff.

She also thanked their fellow hikers on the trail, who were the first to reach them, and by whose quick action, they preserved John Passidomo's life long enough so that he could say goodbye to family members.

The heroic efforts of the fellow hikers also made organ donation possible.

The statement said that Mr. Passidomo was 'very fit and active, with overall excellent health at age 72.'

It continues: 'He was listed as an organ donor, and the President wanted to honor those wishes.'

There were matches for 'several of the First Gentleman's organs.'

President Kathleen Passidomo and her family are 'taking comfort in the fact their great loss has resulted in a life-saving gift for other families.'
Vice President Kamala Harris visited North Carolina on Thursday to celebrate the administration's latest spending programs to subsidize green energy projects.

'Since taking office, the president and I have made an incredible investment, the largest investment ever to take on the climate crisis, roughly a trillion dollars with a T,' she said with a laugh.

'I had to,' she added with a grin, appearing to celebrate her audacity at the podium.

The trip to Charlotte is Harris' twelfth visit to North Carolina as vice president and the fourth trip this year to an important swing state for the 2024 election.

US Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated the nearly trillion dollars in climate spending by the Biden administration

Harris announced the effort by the Biden administration to award $20 billion in grant awards for underserved community banks to offer loans for green energy projects.

She spoke about the importance of communities and community leaders, calling it a 'special' effort to give money to empower local communities instead of Washington, DC.

'I really appreciate the fact that the spirit behind the announcements we are making today really are about our community leaders, and the love, the passion, the commitment, the drive, the ambition, that our community leaders have, knowing that what we see and understand who the community is every one will benefit,' she added.

Harris said the funds could be used by churches to put solar panels on their roofs to generate clean energy.

'Imagine a house of worship that can now get a zero interest loan, so they can install solar panels to generate clean energy through electricity for the entire neighborhood,' she said.

She said that by investing in more community banks and clean energy generation projects, more residents of Charlotte could make their homes more energy efficient.

US Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Harris promoted the idea of funding to put more solar panels on churches

The funds, she said would also help make their homes more energy efficient, including 'here in North Carolina to help you lower that monthly Duke energy bill' she added.

'You're welcome!' she added with a laugh after the audience applauded politely. 'Right?'

She said the community loans would help populations struggling with 'climate justice' to improve communities by reducing pollution.

'When we're talking about real people with their dreams and aspirations and responsibilities and obligations, this is a big deal,' she said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) celebrated the news as a way to 'advance environmental justice in underserved communities.'

'Todays investments are just the beginning  they will be multiplied seven times over to turbocharge our transition to a clean energy economy,' he said in a statement.
This is the shocking moment an unarmed police constable was gunned down in the street as she arrived at the scene of an armed robbery, before dying from her injuries.

Pc Sharon Beshenivsky and Pc Teresa Milburn were about to finish their shift on November 18, 2005 when they received a report of a possible raid at Universal Express travel agents in Morley Street, Bradford.

CCTV footage played to jurors during the trial showed the moment Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn arrived at the scene in their police car.

The alert was triggered after Waqas Yousaf, one of the staff members at family-run Universal Express, managed to press a panic button during the robbery.

Two street wardens, who were the first on the scene, can be seen on the footage approaching the police car.

CCTV image issued by West Yorkshire Police of a suspect running away after the shooting of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky

Pc Sharon Beshenivsky (pictured) suffered an injury that was immediately fatal, the court heard

The two officers then cross the street towards Universal Express, with Pc Beshenivsky walking slightly ahead of Pc Milburn.

The footage then shows the shocking moment both officers are shot by a man emerging from the door of the travel agents, before the three armed robbers flee the scene in a getaway car.

During the trial, prosecutor Robert Smith KC said the two officers were shot at almost point blank range by one of three men, with the gunman then 'firing indiscriminately' into the street as he ran away.

The court heard Pc Beshenivsky, 38, and Pc Milburn, who was 37 at the time, were both unarmed and 'neither presented any effective threat to the three men'.

As they approached the entrance to Universal Express, Pc Milburn later described seeing the door open and an Asian man stretching out his hand in front of him and pointing towards Pc Beshenivsky.

Piran Ditta Khan (pictured) was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot during an armed robbery in Bradford in 2005

Mr Smith said: 'After this man shot Sharon Beshenivsky, Teresa Milburn saw him move his pistol towards her. She heard a bang and felt immense pain. She knew immediately she had been shot.'

The court heard Pc Beshenivsky's injury was immediately fatal. Pc Milburn, who activated her personal radio and called for help as she was coughing up blood, survived her injuries after hospital treatment.

As this took place, the mastermind behind the robbery Piran Ditta Khan was sitting in the safety of a lookout car eating sandwiches, jurors heard.

On Thursday Khan, 75, became the last of the seven men involved in the raid to be convicted.

He was found guilty of murder and firearms offences by a jury at Leeds Crown Court.
Police have launched a probe into a cyber honeytrap scandal after a senior Tory MP last night admitted providing the personal numbers of influential Westminster figures to a man he met online.

William Wragg said he had handed over the details of colleagues to a man he met on the gay dating app Grindr after sending him intimate pictures of himself.

The select committee chair said he had handed over the details because he was 'scared' that whoever was behind the dating profile 'had compromising things on me'.

He said: 'I've hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I'm mortified. I'm so sorry.'

At least a dozen men, including a minister, their staff and Westminster-based journalists, have been targeted with flirtatious messages and naked pictures in a suspected 'spear phishing' attempt.

A Leicestershire Police spokesperson has now revealed the force has launched an investigation after explicit images and flirtatious messages were sent to a Leicestershire MP last month.

Other victims have reported the attacks to the Parliamentary Security Department who are investigating the attempts.

William Wragg last night admitted providing the personal numbers of influential Westminster figures caught in a cyber honeytrap scandal

William Wragg said he had handed over the details of colleagues to a man he met on the gay dating app Grindr after sending him intimate pictures of himself (Stock Image)

'Leicestershire Police is investigating a report of malicious communications after a number of unsolicited messages were sent to a Leicestershire MP last month,' a force spokesperson said.

'They were reported to police on Tuesday March 19.

'Inquiries are currently ongoing.'

Earlier this week, Politico reported that a number of sitting and former MPs had been contacted by an unknown number detailing prior meetings with politicians in efforts to acquire personal or sensitive information.

The salacious WhatsApp messages were sent to Tory and Labour figures, both gay and straight, from a sender posing as 'Abi' or 'Charlie'.

What would start out as claims the pair had met soon escalated to the sending of naked pictures and requesting pictures back.

At least two MPs are believed to have reciprocated by sending intimate pictures of themselves.

The Mail can reveal that the sender claimed to at least one victim that they had previously worked for Mr Wragg - a claim the MP denied.

Last night he revealed the details of his role in the scandal.

The 36-year-old MP for the Greater Manchester seat of Hazel Grove, who is openly gay, said he was 'mortified' and apologised for his 'weakness'.

Mr Wragg, who is a vice chairman of the influential 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, told The Times: 'They had compromising things on me. They wouldn't leave me alone. They would ask for people.

'I gave them some numbers, not all of them. I told him to stop. He's manipulated me and now I've hurt other people.

'I got chatting to a guy on an app and we exchanged pictures. We were meant to meet up for drinks, but then didn't.

'Then he started asking for numbers of people. I was worried because he had stuff on me. He gave me a WhatsApp number, which doesn't work now.

'I've hurt people by being weak. I was scared. I'm mortified. I'm so sorry that my weakness has caused other people hurt.'

At least two MPs are believed to have reciprocated by sending intimate pictures of themselves

Among the dozen targets are believed to be three MPs including a serving minister, four staff members, a former Tory MP and two political journalists.

The messages appeared to follow a pattern in which the sender claimed they met the target either at parliamentary bars or political events. The messages would include details of the MP's career and campaigns they had worked on.

They then claimed that they 'had a little flirt' with the target before escalating to asking if they were single and sending intimate pictures.

Many of the victims had raised concerns about the level of insider information those targeting them had about their lives and whereabouts, with details of relationships, both current and past, mentioned.

Leicestershire Police said yesterday that they were investigating 'malicious communications' sent to an MP who complained to them after receiving one of the messages.

The MP, who is not named, responded briefly before realising he did not know the person and then blocking the number, according to Politico.

Other victims have reported the attacks to the Parliamentary Security Department who are investigating the attempts.

House of Commons authorities yesterday called for anyone who has been affected to contact them as they probe the case.

Spear phishing is a targeted cyber attack on one or a select number of victims to induce them to reveal confidential information by using details of interest, designed to lure them in.

The identity of the person or people who sent the messages, and their intention, is unclear (Stock Image)

The identity of the person or people who sent the messages, and their intention in doing so, remains unclear.

Fears have been raised that a foreign state could be involved in the phishing attempts, which have come from two mobile phone numbers and sent between October last year and this February.

Former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned that the attacks were 'an assault on parliamentary democracy'.

Foreign Affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns said she believes that there was almost certainly a hostile foreign state behind the attempts.

However, parliamentary sources warned that it would be premature to speculate on the origin of the messages.

It comes after the Mail revealed that Tory whips circulated a message to their MPs to warn them to be vigilant after a similar attack last summer.

A Parliamentary spokesperson said: 'Parliament takes security extremely seriously and works closely with government in response to such incidents.

'We provide Members and staff with tailored advice, making them aware of security risks and how to manage their digital safety.

'We are encouraging anyone affected who has concerns to contact the Parliamentary Security Department.'

The Conservative Party declined to comment.
Actor Adrian Schiller's family have launched a fundraiser to support his young son after the Death In Paradise star died suddenly at home aged 60.

The death of the performer, best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and three series of ITV drama Victoria, was announced on Thursday by his agents at Scott Marshall Partners, who had represented him for more than 30 years.

Posts were later shared from Schiller's social media account by his sister Ginny, including a link to a GoFundMe page collecting donations for his partner Milena and young son Gabriel.

At the time of writing, the fundraiser has surpassed 7,000 in donations in just 11 hours, with several donors leaving tributes to the actor for his contributions to stage and screen.

Actor Adrian Schiller died suddenly at the age of 60 this week, leaving behind a partner and young son

A fundraising page has been set up by Schiller's family to support his son, Gabriel. It has raised over 7,000 at the time of writing

In 2018 Schiller joined the third season of the historical drama series The Last Kingdom, playing Aethelhelm

The star was best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and three series of ITV drama Victoria, in which he played Cornelius Penge, a member of the royal household

The TV star had also made appearances in Doctor Who and starred alongside Harry Potter actress Emma Watson in the Disney live-action version of Beauty and the Beast

Just prior to his death, Adrian had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play The Lehman Trilogy (pictured in February 2024 in the role)

Posting from Schiller's account on X, formerly Twitter, Ginny said there would be further details about the actor's funeral and memorial in due course.

She added: 'For now, we're taking things one step at a time, supporting Milena and Gabriel as best we can and trying to get our heads around the unimaginable.

'Please don't send flowers but if anyone wants to make a gesture, we will be setting up Trust for Gabriel and there's a link below.'

MailOnline has confirmed with Schiller's agents that the page is legitimate, and that the funds will be used to support his family.

Some of those who donated money have left tributes to the star on the page - adding to the countless other remembrances by others in film, TV and theatre.

'Adrian's passing is a huge loss to the world. Condolences and hugs to all his family,' said one donor, while another called him 'a wonderful man'.

Schiller was an intensely private person, rarely sharing photos of his family - but in 2018 he shared images of young Gabriel after he underwent open-heart surgery.

He had written: 'Two weeks ago he had open heart surgery. And he's back, and he's fighting, and my heart is so full. It's personal, but I want to share it with the world. #GoGabriel.'

The image used on the fundraising page, of the youngster on Schiller's shoulders as they went for a walk in the countryside, was first shared in 2021 with the caption: 'We're going on a bear hunt...'.

Schiller was best known for his role in The Last Kingdom, joining the third season of the historical drama series in 2018 to play the antagonistic ruler Aethelhelm.

The TV star had also made appearances in Doctor Who and starred alongside Harry Potter actress Emma Watson in the Disney live-action version of Beauty and the Beast in 2017.

He was recently seen in January as a criminal, named Drake Underwood, in an episode of BBC detective series Father Brown about a heist gone wrong.

Also known for his theatre work, Schiller was among the cast in Second World War play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre last year.

The White Factory writer Dmitry Glukhovsky wrote on Instagram that Schiller performed 'brilliantly' as Chaim Rumkowski and 'without him, our piece would have not been the same'.

Schiller also appeared in A Touch Of Frost, Raised By Wolves, Residue, The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who, New Tricks, Being Human, Silent Witness, Prime Suspect, Judge John Deed and My Family.

Paying tribute, the outgoing director of the National Theatre Rufus Norris said he was 'deeply saddened and shocked' by the loss of a company member.

The actor's sister Ginny also confirmed the news in a message posted on Schiller's Twitter account, writing that they were focused on supporting Schiller's partner and son

He was also known for his stage work, pictured in Love's Labour's Lost at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park with Rebecca Johnson in 2001

Pictured playing Ian Dury in Hit Me! at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2009

Tributes flooded in to Adrian Schiller across social media following his sudden and unexpected death this week

Just prior to his death, Schiller had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play The Lehman Trilogy.

The official X account for The Lehman Trilogy shared: 'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller.'

Friends and colleagues of the actor paid tribute, with actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, who starred opposite Adrian in The Merchant Of Venice, writing: 'Absolutely gutted to hear about the sudden passing of #AdrianSchiller - the most wonderful actor, ally and mensch. So sorry to hear this news. May your memory be a blessing'.

News of his death came from his agent Scott Marshall Partners on Thursday, with a statement reading: 'He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

'His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available.

'A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.'
Members of the public should be ready to be called up to defend their country, a former head of MI6 has suggested.

Sir Alex Younger said Britons have been 'infantilised' since the end of the Cold War and the Government should consider having the power to 'compel' people to serve.

In an interview with the BBC's Today Podcast, the former spook suggested a similar model to Sweden, where conscription is partial so not everyone is drafted.

Sir Alex said it was 'rubbish' to think 'we're in some kind of intrinsically safer world, where democracy is intrinsically secure'.

Sir Alex Younger said Britons have been 'infantilised' since the end of the Cold War and the Government should consider having the power to 'compel' people to serve

The head of the Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders (pictured), said Britain should train a 'citizen army' ready to fight a war on land in the future

He said Western nations have had the 'luxury' of 'outsourcing defence to professional armies with whom they have an increasingly detached relationship'.

'I don't think this is about blanket conscription,' he said. 'But I think it is about thinking about ways in which the broader country would participate and contribute to security in a time of an emergency, which you know is no longer impossible to imagine.'

He called for stronger military capabilities, and said that there are a 'set of key skills' that would be needed in a hybrid war that are 'more broadly represented across the whole of society'.

'I think we need a completely different approach to, for instance, our reserve forces which allow us to call on those people in the event of an emergency.

'And then ultimately, in extremis, I think we'd be looking at something like the model I understand exists in places like Sweden where the government theoretically has the power to compel people to give their service one way or another but doesn't exercise it except in areas where it's really needed.

'You'll notice on that list is not everyone being called up and going to the drafting session, I think that's extremely unlikely.'

His comments come after the head of the Army, General Sir Patrick Sanders, said Britain should train a 'citizen army' ready to fight a war on land in the future.

He said the UK's 'pre-war generation' needed to prepare for the possibility of war, which he said was a 'whole-of-nation undertaking' - though was not arguing for conscription.

And today, the Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas has recommended conscription in the UK.

She told the BBC: 'We have a reserve army of 44,000 people that would equal, for Great Britain, around two million people. Two million people who are ready to defend their country and know what they have to do.

'Of course, every country decides for themselves, we are all democracies, but I recommend this in many aspects.'
Guidance suggesting that 'deprived' criminals could be given more lenient sentences has been greeted with fury by senior politicians and police leaders.

Factors including low educational attainment, poverty and past experience of discrimination should be considered as part of mitigation, according to the Sentencing Council.

Judges and magistrates have been told they should consider 12 'disadvantage' factors before handing down a sentence, including negative experiences of authority, family members' offending, drug and alcohol misuse, and negative influences from peers.

The guidelines were issued this week despite warnings from the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, who said the 'patronising' ruling could lead to these factors becoming excuses to commit crimes.

The Sentencing Council has spelt out a set of 'mitigating' factors relating to disadvantages that courts should take into account before passing sentence

The guidelines were issued this week despite warnings from the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk (pictured)

Retired senior police officer Norman Brennan, who served in London for 31 years, told the Mail it was unfair to give certain sections of society more leeway than others. 'Are we going to get to the stage where we are only sending murderers to prison?' he asked.

'The reasons we send people to prison is to punish the offender, to deter others, to protect the public and to rehabilitate the criminal.

'When judges keep making excuses as to why they are not sending someone to prison who deserves to be there, then what message does that send? Many of us had a tough upbringing but did not turn to crime.' Shadow business spokesman Jonathan Reynolds said justice should be fair and consistent for everyone.

He told GB News: 'There are a whole range of things a judge would take into discretion when they are handing down a sentence, but I wouldn't like to give the impression there should be a different judicial regime for people across the country.' The Sentencing Council admitted judges and magistrates they consulted had been 'predominantly negative or neutral' over the new guidelines.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Sentencing decisions are made by independent judges who already take into account the circumstances of each case in line with guidelines set out by the Sentencing Council.'
Lord Cameron has pledged to 'hold Israel to account' for the killing of three British ex-servicemen in Gaza.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Foreign Secretary would not be drawn on growing demands to suspend arms sales to Israel in the wake of the atrocity.

He rejected claims the British government is downplaying the incident to avoid upsetting Israel. Lord Cameron described this week's triple drone strike on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy as 'appalling' and paid tribute to the seven aid workers killed.

Worldwide fury at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has intensified this week after the workers were struck by a missile while trying to deliver food to Palestinians in a clearly marked charity vehicle.

US President Joe Biden, in a tense call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has demanded an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza, alleging a cessation was now 'essential' and American support was conditional on new steps to protect aid workers and civilians.

Mr Biden's remarks go further than the British Government, which has sought an 'immediate pause' in fighting to create the conditions for a 'sustainable ceasefire'.

Lord Cameron (pictured last month) has pledged to 'hold Israel to account' for the killing of three British ex-servicemen in Gaza. The Foreign Secretary described this week's triple drone strike on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy as 'appalling' and paid tribute to the seven aid workers killed

British victims (L-R) John Chapman, 57, James 'Jim' Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were killed in the attack

A view of the vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza

A man pushes a bicycle along as he walks amid building rubble in the devastated area around Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital on April 3, 2024

Israeli troops move in an area along the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on April 4, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas

The brother of aid worker Jim Henderson, one of the three British victims, yesterday said it was 'hard to comprehend' the Government's response.

In a statement to The Times on behalf of the family, he said: 'Accountability is the only hope of justice I have... I don't believe our Government will hold the correct people to account, but I guarantee our Government will sell weapons to Israel, which may... be used to kill our fellow citizens.'

Lord Cameron told the Mail Mr Netanyahu and other senior ministers 'know how serious this issue is and how they have got to get to the bottom of it and frankly make sure it never happens again'.

Responding to Mr Henderson's comments, he added: 'We will hold Israel to account. That is what the transparent full inquiry is all about.

'When these things happen even on a battlefield ... they have consequences'. But he declined to say if the UK is confident Israel is acting within international law  or if arms sales might be suspended.

Yesterday, Israel placed its embassies around the world on maximum alert and cancelled all military leave after Iran vowed to respond to an IDF airstrike on its consulate which killed a senior general.

Downing Street yesterday denied reports that Rishi Sunak told Mr Netanyahu Britain 'will be forced to declare Israel a violator of international humanitarian law' unless it allows more aid in to feed Gaza's population.

But No 10 did not dispute a leaked account from Israel's Channel 13 that the PM told Mr Netanyahu: 'Britain supports the elimination of Hamas  but not at the cost of a humanitarian catastrophe... This is not good for us  and it is not good for you.'

Since 2008, the UK has licensed arms worth more than 574 million to Israel. Department for Business and Trade officials involved in the sales have called in their union over fears they could be held liable if Israel is seen to have broken international law.

Ex Cabinet Minister David Jones confirmed colleagues were organising a letter urging Lord Cameron to investigate whether Israel had broken international law.

US President Joe Biden, in a tense call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, has demanded an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza, alleging a cessation was now 'essential' and American support was conditional on new steps to protect aid workers and civilians. Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu are pictured together in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2023

Wreckage of a World Central Kitchen vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip after seven aid workers - including three British ex-servicemen - were killed in an Israeli drone strike

Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, transports the body of one of the six foreign aid workers who were killed in an Israeli strike, at a hospital morgue in Rafah on Wednesday

Ambulances carry bodies of the victims of the Israeli drone strike on WCK vehicles out of Gaza for repatriation

A former British Army Major has said the IDF would have known everything about the WCK aid convoy before Monday's drone strike.

Chris Lincoln-Jones, upon reviewing images of the damaged vehicles, characterised the strikes as highly targeted and said the missiles were 'absolutely, perfectly accurate'.

The drone - an Elbit Hermes 450 - is built in Israel and constitutes one of the IDF's foremost intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance vehicles.

It carries both electro-optical and infrared cameras to 'capture high-quality imagery during day or night', according to Air Force Technology, suggesting IDF operators would have clearly seen the WCK logo emblazoned on the white cars.

Lincoln-Jones also said Israel 'probably even know the names of the people on board', given the convoy had been travelling along a pre-approved deconflicted route, in comments to The Times.

His comments followed those of WCK founder Jose Andres and CEO Erin Gore, who accused the IDF of deliberately and 'systematically' targeting the aid convoy.

'This was not just a bad luck situation where ''oops'' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.

'This was over 1.5km, 1.8km, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colourful logo... It's very clear who we are and what we do,' Andres said

Gore added: 'All three vehicles were carrying civilians... their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission.'

Meanwhile, former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger labelled Israel's war in Gaza 'reckless' and said such incidents undermine Tel-Aviv's insistence the attacks on Hamas are morally justifiable following October 7.

'My view is that what happened is essentially systematic of an approach to targeting that has, on occasion, bordered on the reckless,' he told BBC's Today podcast.

'Fundamentally undermines therefore what must be Israel's political objectives, which is to sustain some moral high ground and some moral purpose.'

'It's hard not to conclude that insufficient care is being paid to these collateral risks of these operations,' he concluded.

The drone used in the attack - an Elbit Hermes 450 - is built in Israel and constitutes one of the IDF's foremost intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance vehicles

Chris Lincoln-Jones, upon reviewing images of the damaged vehicles, characterised the strikes as highly targeted and said the missiles were 'absolutely, perfectly accurate' (Elbit Hermes 450 drone pictured)

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger labelled Israel's war in Gaza and the aid convoy strike 'reckless'

Palestinian boys sit on building rubble following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 4, 2024

Smoke rises above destroyed buildings following an Israeli strike in Gaza on April 4, 2024

Israeli tanks move in an area along the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on April 4, 2024

A picture released by the Israeli army on April 4, 2024 shows Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip amid continuing battles with Hamas

Israeli troops continue to operate in the Gaza Strip amid the war with Hamas, as seen in this picture released by the Israeli army on April 4, 2024

British veterans Mr Chapman, Mr Henderson, and Mr Kirby were killed in the attack along with four other aid workers.

They were named as Australian Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom, Pole Damian Sobol, Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha and US-Canada citizen Jacob Flickinger.

Shocking images disseminated on social media showed their aid vehicles blown apart by the drone's missiles - one had a gaping hole in the roof while another truck had its rear end hanging off, the interior reduced to a charred wreck.

Israeli authorities have so far apologised for the strikes and said an investigation would be held 'at the highest levels' to ensure such incidents do not happen again.

But Israel's economy minister Nir Barkat dismissed WCF comments as 'nonsense', claiming that 'unfortunately, friendly fire happens' and arguing that Israeli forces did not deliberately fire on aid workers.

The aid convoy strike prompted an international outpouring of anger, with world leaders including PM Sunak and Lord Cameron calling for an 'immediate investigation' and a 'full, transparent explanation'.

Mr Biden threatened on Thursday to condition support for Israel's offensive in Gaza on it taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians, seeking for the first time to leverage US aid to influence Israeli military behaviour.

The US president, a lifelong supporter of Israel, has resisted pressure to withhold aid or halt the shipment of weapons to the country. His warning marked the first time he has threatened to potentially condition aid, a development that could change the dynamic of the nearly six-month-old war.

Mr Biden 'made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers' the White House said of the leaders' phone call. It said the call lasted about 30 minutes.

Palestinians living in al-Maghazi Refugee Camp collect the usable items among the rubble of the destroyed buildings following an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on April 4, 2024

Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble of a house following an Israeli air strike in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza on April 4, 2024

Palestinians shelter in a makeshift tent made from a parachute used to airdrop food aid, set up on the rubble of their home in a devastated area around Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital on April 2, 2024

Search and rescue crews sift through rubble in Rafah, Gaza on April 1, 2024 after an Israeli attack hits the Zorob family building

Palestinians living in al-Maghazi Refugee Camp collect the usable items among the rubble of the destroyed buildings following an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on April 4, 2024

Civil defense teams and locals carry out search and rescue efforts after an Israeli attack strikes a building in Rafah, Gaza on April 1, 2024

Washington is Israel's top weapons supplier and the Biden administration has mostly provided a diplomatic shield for it at the United Nations.

At a briefing after the call, White House spokesperson John Kirby declined to elaborate on any specific changes the US would make in its policy toward Israel and Gaza. He said Washington hoped to see an announcement of Israeli steps in the 'coming hours and days'.

Israel said on Thursday that it would adjust tactics in the Gaza war after describing the attack as the result of a misidentification and that inquiry findings would be made public soon.

The White House had described Mr Biden as outraged and heartbroken by the attack but, prior to Thursday's call, the president had made no fundamental change in Washington's steadfast support for Israel in its conflict against Hamas.

The US President urged Mr Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal to bring home hostages captured by Hamas in its deadly Oct. 7 attack that triggered the Israeli offensive, it added.

In Brussels, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel 'must meet this moment' by surging humanitarian assistance and ensuring the security of those who provide aid.

'If we don't see the changes that we need to see, there'll be changes in our policy,' Mr Blinken told reporters.

A man stands by a destroyed car of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) as it sits along Al Rashid road, between Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip

Palestinians are standing next to a vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 2, 2024, where employees from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike

The wreckage of one of the World Central Kitchen vehicles hit by Israel shows a gaping hole blown into the roof

The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in some 1,170 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to a tally of Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took more than 250 hostages, and 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

At least 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza in the almost six-month-old war, nearly three times the toll inflicted by any other single conflict in a year, according to a UN coordinator.
Republican Rep. Warren Davidson blamed the Biden administration for having 'no plan' in Ukraine after officials fighting against Russia there said the F-16 jets that are due to arrive soon are 'irrelevant.'

The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to receive the multi-million dollar aircrafts in July, as pilots have been trained and the war-torn country's airfields prepared.

But American-made jets are 'no longer relevant' to the war, a senior Ukrainian military official stated Wednesday, adding that 'shells and rockets' are what's needed in 2024.

Now, with Ukrainian officials indicating they couldn't care less about the $62 million warplanes, conservatives are even more concerned about the White House's long-term strategy for the war.

'When everything started, we said 'give us the mission,'' Davidson, R-Ohio, told DailyMail.com in an interview. 'Unless you tell us the mission, how can we possibly say what resources you need? You're not telling us what you're trying to accomplish.'

A Ukrainian military official said that F-16 fighter jets are 'no longer relevant' for Ukraine as he urged the West to send 'shells and rockets' instead

The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to take a delivery of the supersonic multirole fighter aircrafts in July

'The [Biden] administration has said 'as much as it takes as long as it takes,'' Davidson continued, adding that's 'no plan from the get go.'

'And so there really hasn't been a coherent strategy by the administration at any point here,' the Ohio Republican added.

Republican firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz also took a shot at the U.S. efforts to arm Ukraine, saying 'it's all a grift' to make money in a post on X Thursday.

Before their arrival, the F-16's were thought to be the war-winning weapon that could tilt the balance in the war with Russia in Ukraine's favor.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked Biden to approve the planes for use in the war for months.

Biden finally agreed to send the F-16s to Ukraine last year but Ukrainian pilot training has prolonged the delivery of the weapons.

'Often, we just don't get the weapons systems at the time we need them  they come when they're no longer relevant,' a high-ranking Ukrainian military officer told Politico.

'Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won't be right for 2024.'

Another official even admitted that there may be no U.S. military equipment that could turn the tides in the bloody war.

'Theres nothing that can help Ukraine now because there are no serious technologies able to compensate Ukraine for the large mass of troops Russia is likely to hurl at us,' a top-ranking military source said.

'We dont have those technologies, and the West doesnt have them as well in sufficient numbers.'

Davidson also suggested more U.S. aid for Ukraine won't impact the war much.

'Some of the things that you hear the administration say they want to accomplish, I think it's pretty clear that Ukraine can't accomplish that no matter how much money we send to them.'

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, ripped President Joe Biden for not having a 'coherent strategy' for the ongoing war in Ukraine

'They don't have the combat power to do all that on their own,' he added.

And planes, he said, are not even a top priority.

'The most urgent thing for us right now is artillery shells and rockets.'

Davidson, a former Army Ranger, also commiserated with the soldiers.

'Kudos to the Ukrainians to the people fighting for their country on the ground,' he told DailyMail.com

'I know they're facing a pretty dire situation.'

Still, the House has not moved on a $60 billion military aid package that the Senate passed in February and whether that bill gets taken up in the lower chamber remains unknown.
Joe Biden will continue his 'ironclad' support of Israel even as he demanded an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza and warned Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce Palestinian civilian casualties, the White House says.

A phone call between Biden and Netanyahu on Thursday was 'pretty frank' and the U.S. president insisted that Israel do more to protect civilians from air strikes, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

'Our support is ironclad and consistent, it's not gonna stop and it's not gonna waver,' Kirby said. 'But will there perhaps be policy changes we may have to make if we don't see policy changes out of Israel? Yes.'

Biden's frustration with Netanyahu escalated after an Israeli strike hit a World Central Kitchen aid convoy this week, killing seven aid workers including an American citizen.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC,

United States President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demand changes to their war in Gaza

The phone call between Biden and Netanyahu came as Tel Aviv is bracing for a military response from Iran after an Israeli attack on a building in Damascus, Syria that killed two Iranian generals and five officers.

The CIA has reportedly warned Tel Aviv that a retaliation from Tehran is imminent, and the Israelis have cancelled all leave for combat troops.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday said Israel would pay a 'heavy price' for the Damascus attack.

Families of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who were killed in the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy complex in the Syrian capital Damascus, attend a funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran April 4, 2024.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of attacks from Iran within hours

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (centre) praying over the coffins of members of the Iranian revolutionary guards corps

Khamenei conversing with families and relatives of Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike

Rescue workers search in the rubble of a building annexed to the Iranian embassy a day after an air strike in Damascus on April 2

The White House did not threaten specific consequences if Israel failed to reduce casualties in Gaza, but said U.S. officials would be watching Israeli actions closely.

'We're going to watch and see what Israel does here. We expect that in coming hours and days they will make announcements of changes they're going to make, I don't want to get ahead of them,' Kirby told Fox News.

He said it was premature to discuss any specific U.S. policy changes in relation to Israel.

Netanyahu spoke about the possibility of the attacks from Iran after he completed his phone call with Biden.

'We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle: that those who harm us or plan to harm us, we will harm,' he said.
King Charles is 'raring to go' for a two-week state visit to Australia after his cancer treatment started positively.

The monarch could return Down Under in just months with Queen Camilla at his side as he prepares for a trip in October.

Charles, 75, is said to be feeling 'optimistic' after he was able to meet with the public on Easter Sunday.

And he has reportedly told aides he is 'supercharging' plans for a two-week trip where he would also visit New Zealand and Samoa.

'The King is raring to go after a significant amount of time off due to his cancer diagnosis,' a source told The Sun.

'He knows he can't hang around and is feeling extremely positive after tests meant he could attend the Easter Sunday service and spend time meeting the public, which he has missed.

Charles, then Prince of Wales holds a koala called Kao whilst Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall holds a koala called Matilda in 2012

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (R) and Camilla (L), Duchess of Cornwall walk along Broadbeach on the Gold Coast in April 2018

King Charles and Queen Camilla have arrived for Easter Service at Windsor as the monarch makes a 'gentle' return to public life

'He's over the moon with the way treatment has gone and supercharging plans for Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.'

Charles is reported to be feeling 'over the moon' after his cancer treatment has started well.

A source told the paper that he had responded 'very encouragingly' and doctors have since been able to adjust their guidance on what he can and can't do.

They added that 'the road ahead is looking positive' - although they maintained 'caution is the watchword'.

But the upcoming tour would have significant differences to the Royals' usual trips - and would include 'significant down-time', insiders say.

The Australian tour is seen as one of the most important for the King, with the late Queen visiting the country 16 times in her reign.

And more than a year since her death, she remains the only reigning monarch to have visited.

On Tuesday, the King announced the appointment of Sam Mostyn as the next Governor-General of Australia. She will officially take her place in July as the British monarch's representative.

The King and Queen wave as they arrive at St George's Chapel in Windsor

It comes just days after sources claim the King was left feeling 'optimistic' after meeting with royal fans as he arrived alongside the Queen for an Easter Service at Windsor.

While his doctors are keeping a close eye on his health insiders told the paper that he is 'itching to take the reins' and return to his role as King.

And they claim he wants to follow in his mother's footsteps - following her mantra that 'he needs to be seen to be believed'.

No upcoming trips have been confirmed, Buckingham Palace has confirmed to MailOnline.

The King hopes to be back for the Trooping the Colour in June and the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France the week before, The Sun reports, but this is expected to come after his traditional post-Easter break.

On Sunday the monarch was in high-spirits this morning as he made a 'gentle' return to public life in his most significant appearance since being diagnosed with cancer.

The 'happy' monarch was seen smiling and waving at well-wishers as he arrived in his maroon state Bentley limousine for the service being held at St George's Chapel.

The King's cheery appearance provided reassurance to the public after he took a step back from his official duties following his diagnosis in February.

The King smiles as he leaves the Easter Mattins Service at Windsor Castle on March 31

Well-wishers were seen stood outside the chapel this morning as the awaited the King's arrival, holding balloons that read 'get well soon' as well as 'happy Easter'

The King was applauded by members of the public as he left St George's Chapel to cries of 'Happy Easter'. Camilla was presented with a posy of white and yellow flowers by a young boy.

During the service, the King in the Sovereign's Seat, which was situated near to the front of the alter while his family took their usual places in the stalls.

Well-wishers were seen stood outside the chapel as they awaited the King's arrival, holding balloons that read 'get well soon' as well as 'happy Easter'.

Two royal fans, draped in the Union Jack and Welsh flag, clutched onto life-size cut outs of the King and Princess of Wales.

Anne Daley, 65, from Cardiff, Wales, held up a Welsh flag when the King turned up said: 'Did you see the smile (Charles) gave me? He pointed at my flag.

'He had a lovely smile. He looked well. I think he was happy that we've all come.'

She added: 'I wanted to show my support for King Charles and the Princess of Wales who we are all wishing well.

'We want to show them that we miss them, Wales misses her. She may not be here but she is not forgotten.'

2023 - King Charles III and Queen Camilla with Princess Anne and Prince Andrew as they attend the Easter Matins Service in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on April 9 last year

Despite the boost to public morale, however, the Royal Family's Easter service looked markedly different to previous years.

Last year, during his first Easter Service as King, Charles led the Firm - including William, Kate and their children - on foot into the service, while this year he arrived by car to shield him from infection during his treatment - as per doctor's orders.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were not in attendance as they continue to recuperate in private after Kate shocked the world with her cancer diagnosis.

In an emotional video, just over a week ago, the Princess asked for privacy as she revealed she would be undergoing preventative chemotherapy. Shortly after, Kensington Palace confirmed that the Waleses would not be attending church on Easter Sunday.

Instead the couple spent their children's Easter holidays at Amner Hall - their country home - where they would 'close off from the world and move on'.

Following Kate's emotional video last Friday, the King said he was 'so proud' of the princess for her courage in speaking out, and is said to be in 'the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law'.

The smaller than normal royal party arrived in two Range Rovers. The first one contained the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, with their son, James, Earl of Wessex, while the second had the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of York.

The royal family were then lead into the chapel by Prince Andrew.

Many of the senior-royals appeared to co-ordinate their outfits at the traditional service, with Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Sarah Ferguson all looking elegant in green.
A Texas mother and daughter duo have been arrested for allegedly running a cross-country illegal butt Botox operation.

Consuelo Dal Bo, 56, and her daughter Isabella Dal Bo, 18, were busted by Houston police on Wednesday during a sting operation.

Police said the two women were charging customers $6,000 for the procedure using illegal injectables.

Agents from the Houston Police Department's Major Offenders Division, the FDA and Homeland Security Investigations worked together to arrest the duo- following an undercover sting.

Cameras were rolling when the two were led out of their home in handcuffs with police swarming the house. The mugshots were also released, showing heavy makeup or the use of products to make them look younger.

Consuelo Dal Bo, 56, and her daughter Isabella Dal Bo, 18, were busted by Houston police for allegedly running a cross-country illegal butt Botox operation

An undercover officer went as a client to meet the two women at a temporary residence on Eastern Meadowlark Way in Conroe on Wednesday. Police said the women tried to give the undercover cop Xanax to relax before the injections.

Both are charged with unlawfully practicing medicine and the mother will face an additional drug charge

An undercover officer posed as a client to meet the two women at a temporary residence on Eastern Meadowlark Way in Conroe. Texas, on Wednesday, reported KTRK. The mother and daughter had reportedly came straight from the airport after conducting business in California.

Police said the women tried to give the undercover cop Xanax to relax before the injections.

Authorities collected bottles of illegal injectables and medical equipment from their bags at the scene.

The women allegedly told police they were 'not even sure what was in the bottles.'

Both are charged with unlawfully practicing medicine and the mother will face an additional drug charge. Consuelo and Isabella were released on bond and have a court date scheduled for April 10, reported Click2Houston.

According to public records, Consuelo is a licensed cosmetologist in Texas and the family home is listed as a $650,330 residence in Conroe.

Consuelo and Isabella (pictured) were released on bond and have a court date scheduled for April 10

Consuelo (center left) is a licensed cosmetologist in Texas and her LinkedIn account said she is a professional makeup artist

The FDA has issued several warnings against injectable silicone for body contouring and said they can lead to long-term pain, infections and serious injuries including death.

'The injectable silicone oil (breaks) off into smaller particles throughout the body, possibly causing permanent damage and life-threatening complications such as stroke, embolism and even death,' Lisa Vasquez, a board-certified aesthetic nurse practitioner at Pearlman Aesthetic Surgery, told USA Today.

Vasquez warned that the reversal process of silicone injection is difficult, even for the most skilled plastic surgeons.

'Removal will require direct incision or VASER-assisted liposuction guided by ultrasound, [which] removes injected silicone, siliconomas, and scar tissue,' she said.

'But there is nothing that can dissolve the liquid silicone. Granulomas that are formed need to be surgically excised.'

The FDA said injectable silicone stays in the body forever because the material will never break down.

'Injectable silicone is permanent and stays in your body. It can move throughout the body and cause serious health consequences, including death,' the FDA said.

The mother and daughter had reportedly came straight from the airport after conducting business in California to meet with the undercover investigator, police said

Authorities collected bottles of illegal injectables and medical equipment from their bags at the scene

According to public records, Consuelo's home is listed as a $650,330 residence (pictured) in Conroe

In California, a mother and daughter duo were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for deadly butt-lift last month.

Libby Adame, 53, and her daughter Alicia Galaz were charged with causing the death of their client, Karissa Rajpaul, 26, in October 2019.

The mother and daughter ran an illegal Brazilian butt lift surgery ring using 'toxic' compounds in their silicone injections.

Prosecutors said they fled the scene after several botched surgeries, including after Rajpaul suffered a heart attack on their operating table in a hotel.
The killer who murdered PC Sharon Beshenivsky fled to Pakistan after gunning down the cop and helped build a school and mosque while in hiding before his arrest in Islamabad to face justice.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, should spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder after escaping justice for more than a decade.

The mastermind of the armed robbery in which the West Yorkshire officer was shot dead was found guilty of her murder yesterday, the last of the seven-strong gang to be convicted.

The mother-of-three, 38, was gunned down at point blank range  and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn, 37, seriously wounded  by robbers fleeing a travel agency in Bradford in November 2005.

Khan, a bankrupt takeaway restaurant boss with a history of assault convictions, fled the country on a flight from Heathrow to Islamabad two months after the ill-fated raid.

Piran Ditta Khan fled the country on a flight from Heathrow to Islamabad two months after the raid

Khan should spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder after escaping justice for nearly 20 years

PC Sharon Beshenivsky was fatally shot in November 2005 as she and her colleague responded to a report of a robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire

With two of the robbers already in custody, he knew it was only a matter of time before he joined them.

He left his wife and six children behind at their home in Ilford, east London and abandoned advanced plans to open a new takeaway restaurant in Aberdeen.

With no extradition treaty with Pakistan, Khan was effectively safe in his native country, at least for the time being.

Given his notoriety, it wasn't long before West Yorkshire Police were informed of his whereabouts, but they could do nothing about it.

While on the run, Khan even faked his own death - with British police receiving 'intelligence' claiming Khan had died in Pakistan, according to The Mirror.

It took 14 years for an extradition process to be established and relations with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to improve sufficiently for Khan's days on the run to end.

Initially Khan joined his brother in the village of Kiri Afghana, near Jhelum, where he was born.

He convinced his family he was innocent and with funds from the UK he was involved in the construction of a primary school and started building a mosque.

When he feared arrest by the Pakistani authorities amid improved relations with the UK he fled north to live with a friend's relatives in the city of Mardan.

With the risk of arrest apparently receding again, he moved to the capital Islamabad and started a property business with a cousin in the prime development area of Bahria Town.

But behind the scenes efforts at the highest level of government to seek agreement on extraditing criminals were soon to bear fruition.

Ironically, it was another murder in Bradford that paved the way for Khan's eventual return.

Sharon was 38 when she was killed on November 18, 2005

Her colleague Teresa Milburn (pictured) was shot at point-blank range and was injured during the ordeal but survived

PC Beshenivsky's husband Paul was not in court to witness the moment justice was finally done, but he is expected to attend the sentencing hearing.

Khan's conviction fulfils the pledge given to Paul by the detective leading the investigation on the day PC Beshenivsky, also a mother to two step-children, was brutally murdered.

Former detective superintendent Andy Brennan said: 'On the day this happened I met Paul Beshenivsky and his family and gave a commitment that we would find everybody involved and they would be brought before the courts. I made a promise and I'm just so pleased with the conviction of Piran Ditta Khan I have fulfilled that.'

PC Beshenivsky, a rookie cop with only nine months experience, was murdered on her daughter Lydia's fourth birthday and the police chief recalled going to see the family in a house filled with cards and presents and a little girl waiting for her mother to come home.

Mr Brennan, who has since retired from the force, said it was 'very humbling' to witness how Mr Beshenivsky 'controlled himself in front of the children having been given the news of his wife's death'.

'It was an emotional time,' he said. 'I'm a father, but, for me, in that position at that time, I couldn't show my emotions because Paul was looking at me to tell him what was going on and what we were going to do.'
Primary school teachers are being told to allow children to change gender behind their parents' backs, it has been claimed.

A survey of equality and trans policies at more than 600 schools in Devon and Cornwall showed a large majority (73 and 62 per cent respectively) reportedly misrepresented equality laws.

It claimed one school trust advised teachers to help girls use breast binders on school trips, while also allowing pupils to sleep in bedrooms according to their 'gender identity'.

The details, compiled by Protect and Teach and reported in the Telegraph, concerned state schools.

Some of the school policies reportedly claimed children 'as young as five' could show signs of gender dysphoria.

A survey of equality and trans policies at more than 600 schools in Devon and Cornwall showed a large majority (73 and 62 per cent respectively) reportedly misrepresented equality laws (Stock Image)

Former teacher Miriam Cates MP said: 'Any policy that allows or encourages teachers to "transition" children is clearly wrong'

They also said biological sex 'is assigned at birth, depending on the appearance of the infant'.

One grammar school reportedly stated sex was 'a person's understanding and experience of their own gender identity'.

The school which gave staff advice on breast binders was said to have told teachers they should 'validate the young person's identity as it is now and support any changes that may arise'.

Its policy added: 'Schools will respect the confidentiality of all transgender students and will not reveal sensitive personal information without prior agreement of the individual.'

The claims come ahead of the anticipated publication of the Cass review of gender identity services for children next week.

Dr Hilary Cass's interim report, published in 2022, said that 'social transition'  where children may change their pronouns or name  was 'not a neutral act'.

Guidance issued by the Government last year told schools they should not accept all social transition requests and parents should always be included in the decision-making process.

Former teacher Miriam Cates MP said: 'Any policy that allows or encourages teachers to "transition" children is clearly wrong.'

A DfE spokesman said: 'Our guidance is clear that in nearly every case schools should not support the social transition of primary aged children.'
A NASA engineer, who's worked for the world's most prestigious space program for over 10 years, has been accused of being a serial rapist, with Texas prosecutors inviting other victims to come forward.

Eric Sim, 37, who had been working at the Houston space center since at least 2012 according to his social media, has been charged with six counts of sexual assault in Houston.

There are at least six victims between 2019-2022, who prosecutors revealed met Sim through online apps, like Hinge, East Meets West and OKCupid.

Sims used his position at NASA to gain trust, claiming he was looking for a committed relationship, to lure the victims to his home where they were pinned down and raped, prosecutors claim.

'His predatory behavior with the victims in these cases, along with his NASA credentials, frequently mentioned to gain creditability with his victims and his international travel, all are clues that could indicate that could indicate further victims who are out there,' Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg stated at a press conference Wednesday.

A NASA employee has been charged with six different sexual assaults and authorities believe there may be more victims. Eric Sim, 37, is out of jail and on house arrest

Sim, a NASA engineer, was arrested last month

Sim has worked for NASA for over ten years and starred in a parody video for the space agency in 2011

One woman told investigators she was drugged, according to court documents.

'There are numerous countries he's traveled to," Detective Katelyn Howton of Houston police, revealed.

'Just a few we have in Japan, Canada, the UK, but there is a long list of international travels.'

Additionally, Sim's Instagram account shows him in Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, Qatar, Stockholm, the UK, France, Bulgaria, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina in the last 12 months.

'The nature of these offenses is so personal and so predatory that we felt it was important that we tell the public and ask the public to take a look, a long hard look at Mr. Sim,' Ogg added.

It's unclear whether Sims is still working at NASA, as the agency has not commented on his unemployment status.

Prosecutors, who called Sim an avid international traveler, is pictured above in a trip to Ecuador

Prosecutors asked other victims across the US and internationally to come forward if they had had contact with Sims

NASA has not confirmed whether Sims is still employed there

Sims celebrated his 10-year anniversary with NASA on his Instagram account in January 2022

A flight lead engineer at Johnson Space Center, Sim's relationship with NASA started while he was a student at North Carolina State when he starred a Gangnam-style parody for the space organization 11 years ago.

Sim, who was arrested last month, is under house arrest with 24-hour monitoring of his computer and other electronic devices, his attorney Neal Davis confirmed to DailyMail.com

'He's really a good guy; he met and dated many women on social networks,' Davis said.

'A very small number of those women had day-after regrets and are now falsely accusing him of sexual assault. It's something we're seeing more and more these days.'

The Houston lawyer has represented numerous men who have been falsely accused of criminal behavior by women they had consensual sex with, he claims, and the charges were later dismissed.

Sim was part of NASA's college program while he was a student at North Carolina State

Sims was the face of a viral Gangnam style song meant to engage young people in 2011

Sim's NASA video has been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube

'He's not guilty and we're looking forward to going to trial on this,' the lawyer stated.

'Just the allegation itself destroys people's livelihood and reputation, and when he's found not guilty by a jury, where does he go to get all that back?'

Sim's world travels were due to his love of photography, Davis quipped, not because he's a 'sexual predator' as the DA stated during her 'publicity stunt.'

Davis plans to hold his own press conference to show evidence of his client's innocence in the near future.

Houston police are asking other possible victims or people who have had contact with Sim to call 713-308-1176.
Hundreds of federal, state and local Mexican law enforcement have arrived on the border near El Paso, Texas to prevent a migrant caravan with an estimated 2,000 people from reaching the US.

Mexican officials paraded federal immigration agents and other law enforcement officers in front of cameras this week in Juarez, the Mexican city just south of El Paso.

The show of force is part of an on-going agreement between President Joe Biden and Mexico's president for Mexico to do its part in securing the border and has been used in January as well.

At least 200 National Migration Institute or INM agents have been activated to cut off a group of 2,000 migrants calling themselves the 'Way of the Cross' caravan left Chiapas, Mexico last week and are closing in on the US.

About 1,000 migrants had already reached Chihuahua City, which is a few hours drive or a few days walk, the main form of transportation for most migrants, from Texas, El Paso district attorney Bill Hicks revealed.

Mexico surges law enforcement to the border to stop migrants from reaching El Paso, Texas

200 Mexican federal agents are now in Juarez, just south of El Paso

The operation is part of an agreement between the US and Mexico

As part of the security operation, checkpoints were set up in the town of Jimenez, reported Mexican media outlets.

Cars and buses are being checked to make sure migrants headed to the border were taken into custody with the final goal of deporting them.

A special response team was dispatched to Gate 36, a marker at the border wall in El Paso where a migrant riot broke out March 21.

'We have a group of close to 1,000 that's left Chihuahua City that is making its way to El Paso with instructions to go to Gate 36,' El Paso's DA, who is prosecuting over 200 migrants charged in the stampede, stated earlier this week.

'I'm concerned that if we don't send that message that you can't come to Gate 36 or some other place in El Paso and perpetrate violence to get into the United States, that we can stop them.'

The migrant stampede last month turned violent as migrants overpowered Texas National Guard members, stomping on troops, punching one in the face, and trying to wrestle away the gun from another Texas official.

After storming Texas National Guard troops, migrants forced their way to an area of the border wall known as Gate 36 in El Paso, Texas

Nine migrants have been charged as instigators for planning and leading the riot, Texas officials stated

PICTURED: Junior Evaristo-Benitez, 21, of Honduras, was taken into custody and charged with assault on a public servant, a 3rd degree felony, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed

Nine migrants are facing state felony charges for planning and leading the chaos, while another 200 are charges for simply following along.

At least a dozen more will face federal charges as well.

The caravan is being led by Mexican activists who are coordinating with churches to help the mostly South American migrants reach the US-Mexico international boundary.

The activists are hoping to shield the migrants from being targeted by criminals or corrupt cops who extort already penniless migrants crossing through Mexico.

Across the border from El Paso, Texas, shelters are preparing for their arrival.

'We are in contact with people and personnel in migrant shelters in southern Mexico,' Rev. Francisco Bueno Guillen, director of Casa del Migrante shelter in Juarez told KTSM.

'They say many people have come into the country recently and are being joined by others already there. And yes, they are coming to Juarez.'

A group of 2,000 calling themselves the 'Way of the Cross' caravan left Chiapas, Mexico earlier this week and is marching towards Texas

The caravan calls itself the 'Way of the Cross' and is being led by activists

Migrants, including children, advance in a caravan on their way to the United States from Tapachula, Mexico, on March 25

Some 2,000 migrants are estimated to be headed to the US and arriving in days

Mexican activists are traveling with the migrants to offer protection from criminals and bad cops who extort and sometimes even kidnap migrants

In that border city, migrant shelters are already at 75% capacity.

These migrants are expected to surrender to US Border Patrol once they reach the US, as many are seeking asylum.

'We continue to marshal all available resources and be aware of the trends,' El Paso Catholic Diocese Bishop Mark J. Seitz told Border Report.

'El Paso has shown itself to be very able to gear up when the surge comes and provide a safe and orderly way for those who have been permitted to come in to find a secure situation and continue on their path.'

However Texas officials have also reinforced the border crossing in El Paso where migrants normally surrender to Border Patrol.

Additionally Texas National Guard members arrived in West Texas Monday to 'hold the line,' Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted.
Cybertruck issues seem to be flooding the web, from misaligned panels to poor mileage  but a malfunction in California could have been deadly.

A Tesla customer claimed the EV's brakes malfunctioned just weeks after purchase, sending the vehicle crashing into the pole of a road sign.

Images of the incident showed the shiny steel front end smashed, the side panel hanging off and the hood bent on the side of the impact.

The driver said they attempted to slow the Cybertruck by pressing the brakes, only to find they did not engage - and noted the air bags also did not deploy when the EV collided with the pole.

The stainless steel hood was bent and buckled by the reported crash, which occurred mid-corner, according to the driver

The Cybertruck owner posted photos of the damage to the car after the crash. A broken bumper cover can be seen here

In a post on the Cyber Truck Owners Club forum, the driver explained that they were mid-corner when they lifted their foot off the accelerator - but the truck did not slow down.

These problems tend to center around the regenerative braking system, which is designed to automatically brake once a driver takes their foot off the accelerator - generating electricity from the car's inertial motion in the process.

It's not clear what went wrong with the recently crashed Cybertruck, but its owner reported that it is in the hands of Tesla technicians who should be able to provide some answers.

He also reported that he has asked for the electronic logs.

READ MORE: China recalls 1.1 MILLION Teslas over brake flaws US regulators and Elon Musk ignored the flaw in 2021, with the carmaker saying it was a lie made up by short sellers. Advertisement

So far the post has garnered 12 pages of replies on the message board.

The driver wrote: 'Guys I had my Truck for less than 350 miles. Something happened I can't explain... I was driving like usual and when coming into a turn releasing the accelerator but the speed wasn't reducing... so I pressed the brake... but it didn't engage.... until it was too late and I hit a signal light pole, also airbags didn't deploy.'

According to the driver's replies to questions, they had only been driving the truck for five days, and the issue happened suddenly and abruptly.

No other issues had shown themselves before the crash.

Some commenters suggested that the issue may have involved the Tesla regenerative braking.

The driver confirmed that the regenerative braking did not feel like it was working at 100 percent:

'Regen was working but it was limited it was different than before ( Im doing a bad job of explaining), hence the application of brakes which also had a delayed feeling,' they wrote.

The Cybertruck owner reported being sore but otherwise uninjured, and said, 'Still love the truck though.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Tesla for comment.

Problems with the regenerative braking have dogged Tesla, but the company ignored them when they were brought up back in 2021.

The issue led to 1.1 million Teslas being recalled in China in 2023, after multiple high-profile incidents where cars ran out of control.

Critics charged that software guiding the automated deployment of regenerative braking can conflict with a driver's own directives as they attempt pumping either the brakes or the accelerator, with consequences that can prove fatal.

The glitch has been suspected in one Model Y's murderous rampage in November 2022 in Chaozhou city, northeast of Hong Kong.

But in the US, a 2019 petition pleading with regulators to deal with the same issue was written off in 2021.

The truck has a large gap between the fender and the hood and bumper, and the fender flare is hanging off after the crash

The Cybertruck's door and fender were misaligned after the accident, which saw the car run headlong into a light pole

The Cybertruck owner shared this photo of the pole that the truck ran into. Dents can be seen at about bumper height

In 2021, a statement by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (US NHTSA) claimed it found 'no evidence' of nearly identical design problems reported by US citizens.

In a 2020 press release, Tesla accused the petitioners of making 'completely false' claims at the instigation of 'a Tesla short-seller.'

'The explanation for the China recall appears to run counter to NHTSA's findings in 2021,' Michael Brooks, the executive director of the nonprofit consumer advocacy group the Center for Auto Safety, told the DailyMail.com via email.

The Center, including retired electronics engineer and physics PhD. Ronald Belt who studied the braking and acceleration problem extensively, contributed reports to the NHTSA petition.

The petition had been sent on the initiative of a Tesla short-seller, Brian Sparks of Berkeley, California.

The wrecked Tesla Model Y after it sped through Chaozhou city's streets on November 5, 2022

'The China action raises questions about whether there are design factors related to the regenerative braking that were not previously considered in the agency's review,' Brooks added.

A representative for the US NHTSA told the DailyMail.com that federal regulators are closely following the recall situation in China and 'gathering more information from the manufacturer.'

Tesla vowed that it would fix the vehicles with a software update sent wirelessly to each car, according to a statement by Chinese regulators.

The update will reportedly add the option for drivers to select different regenerative braking strengths, and the option to change the feature's default configuration.

The software update will also warn drivers when they have gone too hard on the accelerator.

Regenerative braking is a pre-programmed feature intended to contribute to an electric vehicles 'green' energy efficiency. 'Regen' kicks-in at the moment a driver starts to let up on the acceleration pedal, but this automated braking can vary in how gradual deceleration occurs or in its response to manual overrides.

While this has led to confusion among drivers, there have also been indications that a technical glitch between the automatic 'regenerative braking' system and the driver-controlled pedal braking system might also be contributing to accidents.

It is unclear if that is what occurred in this case, but before and since the 2023 recall, Tesla has sent multiple software updates to try to fix the regenerative braking issues.

The Cybertruck owner clarified that there were no warning indicator lights before the incident: The truck 'didn't decelerate fast enough, and brakes didn't engage fast enough, there was a delay.'

Nonetheless, the owner's enthusiasm for their Cybertruck did not seem diminished.

'Everything was spectacular I enjoy the vehicle and I'm glad I am not injured in any way,' they wrote, noting that the airbags did not deploy.

'Definitely have whiplash,' they added.
Cheap blood tests to spot Alzheimer's are set to be given to thousands of Brits in efforts to revolutionise 'shocking' NHS diagnostic rates.

Under two landmark trials, researchers from Oxford and University College London will use tests to detect proteins in the blood linked to the memory-robbing disease and other forms of dementia.

Currently, receiving a formal diagnosis in the UK relies on mental ability tests, brain scans or invasive and painful lumbar punctures.

Researchers hope the 'groundbreaking' blood test, which costs around 100, could speed up the process, allowing patients to get treated earlier and hold off the cruel illness' onslaught.

Despite being incurable at the moment, promising new drugs are on the horizon.

Dr Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said there was a 'real and urgent need to overhaul the way people are diagnosed'.

Under two landmark trials, researchers from Oxford and University College London, will use the cheap tests to detect proteins in the blood linked to the disease and other forms of dementia

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. The disease can cause anxiety, confusion and short-term memory loss

It is estimated up to one in three people living with dementia in England are yet to receive a formal diagnosis.

Dr Scales said: 'We've seen the enormous potential that blood tests are showing for improving the diagnostic process for people and their loved ones in other disease areas.

'Now we need to see this same step-change in dementia, which is the greatest health challenge facing the UK.

'It's fantastic that through collaborating with the leading experts in the dementia community, we can look to bring cutting-edge blood tests for diagnosing dementia within the NHS.

'And this will be key to widening access to groundbreaking new treatments that are on the horizon.'

The trials, which are expected to cost about 10million, are set to take place across the UK and will be carried out with people who have reported symptoms to their GP and who may be in the early stages of dementia.

Under the first, involving 1,100 people, half of the patients will be given results after three months, and half after 12 months.

The researchers will then be able to analyse if getting an earlier diagnosis improves patients' care.

Professor Jonathan Schott, an expert in neurology at UCL, who will conduct the trial said the simple blood test could be 'potentially game-changing' for dementia sufferers.

The second trial will study blood tests of nearly 4,000 people to see which are most effective at distinguishing different types of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, lewy body dementia, and vascular dementia.

Scientists will also study whether the tests can be administered in different forms  such as by pricking a finger at home and posting the tests for analysis.

Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at the Alzheimer's Society, said the trials, which are part-funded by the People's Postcode Lottery, were a crucial final step in getting the tests into the clinic.

'What we know is that in specialist research settings where everything is perfect, these tests are really useful.

'Can they still provide reliable outputs when used by non-specialists, on different equipment and with more diverse patients?'

Around 944,000 in the UK are thought to be living with dementia, while the figure is thought to be around 7million in the US.

Alzheimer's affects around six in 10 people with dementia.

It is thought to be caused by a build-up of amyloid and tau in the brain, which clump together and from plaques and tangles that make it harder for the brain to work properly.

Eventually, the brain struggles to cope with this damage and dementia symptoms develop.

Memory problems, thinking and reasoning difficulties and language problems are common early symptoms of the condition, which then worsen over time.

Dementia are expected to sky-rocket in the coming years, making a cheap screening tool vital to get to grips with the challenge.

Alzheimer's Research UK analysis found 74,261 people died from dementia in 2022 compared with 69,178 a year earlier, making it the country's biggest killer.
Just weeks after Google was forced to shut down its 'woke' AI, another tech giant faces criticism over its bot's racial bias.

Meta's AI image generator has been accused of being 'racist' after users discovered it was unable to imagine an Asian man with a white woman.

The AI tool, created by Facebook's parent company, is able to take almost any written prompt and convert it into a shockingly realistic image within seconds.

However, users found the AI was unable to create images showing mixed-race couples, despite the fact that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is himself married to an Asian woman.

On social media, commenters have criticised this as an example of the AI's racial bias, with one describing the AI as 'racist software made by racist engineers'.

Meta's AI image generator has been accused of being 'racists' after users discovered it was unable to generate images of an Asian man with a white woman (pictured)

On social media, commenters have criticised this as an example of the AI's racial bias, with one describing the AI as 'racist software made by racist engineers'

Mia Satto, a reporter at The Verge, attempted to generate images using prompts like 'Asian man and Caucasian friend' or 'Asian man and white wife'.

She discovered that only once across 'dozens' of tests was Meta's AI able to show a white man and an Asian woman.

In all other instances, Meta's AI instead returned images of East Asian men and women.

Changing the prompt to request platonic relationships such as 'Asian man with Caucasian friend' also failed to produce any correct results.

Ms Satto wrote: 'The image generator not being able to conceive of Asian people standing next to white people is egregious.

'Once again, generative AI, rather than allowing the imagination to take flight, imprisons it within a formalization of societys dumber impulses.'

Users discovered that when the AI was prompted to produce an image of a mixed-race couple, it would almost always produce an image of an East Asian man and woman

X users immediately criticised the AI, suggesting that the failure to produce these images was due to racism programmed into the AI

What is Meta's AI image generator? Meta.imagine.org is a generative AI that creates custom images from written prompts. Users submit a description of the image they want and receive a selection of four images. The AI was launched in December last year and is powered by Meta's Emu image model. It is currently only available in the US. Advertisement

Ms Satto herself does not accuse Meta of creating a racist AI, adding only that the AI displays indications of bias and leans into stereotypes.

On social media, however, many took their criticism further, branding Meta's AI tool as explicitly racist.

One commenter on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: 'Thank you for putting in the spotlight an often overlooked of why AI sucks: it is so incredibly ******* racist'.

Another simply added: 'Pretty racist META lol'.

As some commenters pointed out, the AI's apparent bias is particularly surprising given that Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, is married to an East Asian woman.

Priscilla Chan, the daughter of Chinese immigrants to America, met Zuckerberg at Harvard before marrying the tech billionaire in 2012.

Some commenters took to X to share pictures of Chan and Zuckerberg, joking that they had managed to create the images using Meta's AI.

The failure is particularly surprising given that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is married to an East Asian woman (left) - an arrangement his own AI refuses to imagine (left)

Users found that no amount of prompting could induce Meta's AI to create a racially accurate image

Some commenters of X even shared pictures of Mark Zuckerberg (right) and his wife Priscilla Chan (left), joking that they had been AI generated

Meta is not the first major tech company to be blasted for creating a 'racist' AI image generator.

In February, Google was forced to pause its Gemini AI tool after critics blasted it as 'woke' as the AI seemingly refused to generate images of white people.

Users found that the AI would generate images of Asian Nazis in 1940 Germany, Black Vikings and female medieval knights when provided with race-neutral requests.

In a statement at the time, Google said: 'Gemini's AI image generation does generate a wide range of people.

'And that's generally a good thing because many people around the world use it. But it's missing the mark here.'

Users also found that the AI struggled to show Asian women with individuals from any other races

Ms Satto also claims that Meta's AI image generator 'leaned heavily into stereotypes.'

When asked to create images of South Asian individuals Mr Satto found that the system frequently added elements resembling bindis and saris without being asked.

In other cases, the AI repeatededly added 'culturally specific attire' even when unprompted.

Additionally, Ms Satto found that the AI frequently represented Asian men as older while women were typically shown as young.

In the only instance where Ms Satto was able to generate a mixed-race couple, the image 'featured a noticeably older man with a young, light-skinned Asian woman.'

It was also pointed out that in many cases Meta's AI showed a significant age gap between an older man and a much younger woman as a representative Asian relationship

READ MORE: Now Google's woke chatbot Gemini restricts ELECTION questions after being slammed for its AI illustrations of female popes and black Founding Fathers Advertisement

In the comments on Ms Satto's original article, one individual shared images of mixed-race couples they claim were generated using Meta's AI.

The commenter wrote: 'It took me all of 30 seconds to generate a picture of a person of apparent "asian" descent side by side with a woman of apparent "caucasian" descent. '

The images they shared appear to have been created in Meta's AI image generator as they show the correct watermark.

They added: 'These systems are real dumb and you have to prompt them in certain ways to get what you want.'

However, the user did not share what prompt they used to create these images or provide any specific details on how many attempts were used.

Additionally, in the set of four images the user shared, only two successfully showed a white woman with an Asian man.

One commenter shared images of an Asian man and white woman they claim were made with Meta's AI. However, they did not share the details of the prompt used to create these images

Generative AIs like Gemini and Meta's image generator are trained on massive amounts of data taken from society as a whole.

If there are fewer images of mixed-race couples in the training data, this could explain why the AI struggles to generate these images.

Some researchers have suggested that due to racism present in society, AIs can learn to discriminate based on the biases in their training data.

In the case of Google's Gemini, it is believed that Google engineers overcorrected against this bias, producing the results that caused such outrage.

However, it is currently unclear why this issue emerges and Meta has not yet responded to request for comment.
From Greenwich Mean to Eastern Standard, there's more than 30 timezones in use today.

But one more may soon be added  and it would be literally out of this world.

The US government has told NASA that an official timezone needs to be created for the moon, because seconds tick slightly faster there than they do on Earth.

This timezone  provisionally called Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC)  would be used by astronauts living and working on the moon later this decade.

The idea has already been floated by the European Space Agency, but the Biden administration has ordered NASA to have 'LTC' officially set up by 2026.

The US government has told NASA that an official timezone needs to be created for the moon , because seconds tick slightly faster there than they do on Earth

Our natural satellite - the moon - may be getting its own time zone. That's because The White House directed NASA to create a standard moon time

READ MORE: White House tells NASA to create a standard time for the moon The change would ensure accurate data transfers between spacecraft Advertisement

Because the moon has a smaller mass than Earth, the gravitational pull on the moon is weaker.

As a result, time moves slightly faster on the moon than on Earth  around 58.7 microseconds faster per day, 'with 'additional periodic variations', according to the US government in a memo.

Although this is less than the blink of an eye, tiny time differences between the Earth and the moon could cause communication problems during future moon missions.

'Time passes at a very slightly different rate on the moon due to its different gravity,' Sara Russell, professor of planetary sciences at the Natural History Museum, told MailOnline.

'That difference doesnt matter at all for earthlings, but is really important for coordinating complex electronic communications.

'Working all this out is essential if we are to explore and ultimately live on the moon.'

As yet, it's unclear how a lunar time system would work, or what a lunar clock would look like.

Dr Ruth Ogden, professor of the psychology of time at Liverpool John Moores University, said a simple tweaking of the types of clocks we have in our homes is 'unlikely to be sufficient', but called LTC a 'great idea'.

'We will probably need a moon timescale which moves outside of the traditional day and night understanding of time,' she told MailOnline.

'For astronauts on the moon, having a time zone which is centred around their experience or day and night on the moon may help them to acclimatise more quickly.'

On Earth, most clocks and time zones are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UCT), which relies on a vast global network of ultra-precise atomic clocks.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is defined by sophisticated, ultra-precise 'atomic clocks' around the world, which tick precisely and continuously. Experts are pictured here with the NIST-F2 atomic clock in the US

READ MORE: Scientists say Earth will soon need a 'leap second' A leap second was last added on December 31, 2016 Advertisement

These atomic clocks measure changes in the state of atoms and generate an average that ultimately makes up a precise time.

But due to the gravitational differences, if these clocks were on the moon they would tick around 58.7 microseconds faster per day.

'An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth,' said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator at NASA.

'It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars, that each one gets its own heartbeat.'

Nations venturing to the lunar surface have long used their own country's timezones when performing missions.

For example, the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s  when man stood on the moon for the first time  NASA used Central Time Zone (CDT) as the missions were launched in Houston, Texas.

But scientists have warned this method will not be sustainable as space agencies around the world plan on establishing moon habitats.

Compared with the Apollo visits, astronauts during the upcoming Artemis programme will be staying on the moon longer.

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

NASA hopes to develop a sustainable lunar exploration program starting from 2028. This artist's illustration shows what NASA's Artemis base camp could look like

NASA's Artemis programme 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.

Then, Artemis III, taking place September 2026, will actually land humans on the lunar surface  specifically the moon's south polar region.

Eventually as part of its Artemis programme, NASA plans to have set up a base camp in the lunar south region by the end of this decade.
The Israeli army has been using an AI system to populate its 'kill list' of alleged Hamas terrorists, leading to the deaths of women and children, a new report claims.

The report cited six Israeli intelligence officers, who admitted to using an AI called 'Lavender' to classify as many as 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants  marking these people and their homes as acceptable targets for air strikes.

Israel has vehemently denied the AI's role with an army spokesperson describing the system as 'auxiliary tools that assist officers in the process of incrimination.'

Lavender was trained on data from Israeli intelligence's decades-long surveillance of Palestinian populations, using the digital footprints of known militants as a model for what signal to look for in the noise, according to the report.

The intel sources noted that human officers scanned each AI-chosen target for about '20 seconds' before giving their 'stamp' of approval, despite an internal study that had determined Lavender AI misidentified people 10 percent of the time.

Israel quietly delegated the identification of Hamas terrorists, Palestinian civilians and aide workers to an artificial intelligence, 'Lavender,' a new report revealed. But Israeli intelligence sources, the report said, knew Lavender made errors in at least 10-percent of its militant IDs

Lavender's decisions, they said, were used to plan nighttime air strikes on homes where alleged combatants and their families slept, with guidelines authorizing 15-to-20 bystander deaths as 'collateral damage' per each low-level militant target.

Estimates from inside Gaza, corroborated by outside peer-reviewed medical analyses from Johns Hopkins and using independent satellite imagery, have tallied the Palestinian death toll at surpassing 30,000 lives, with Israeli intelligence sources personally attesting to thousands killed in these AI-selected air strikes.

Approval to let Lavender effectively draft the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) official kill lists began just two weeks into the war in October 2022, according to reporters with +972 magazine and Local Call, who collaborated on the investigative report.

The IDF, according their Israeli intel sources, issued guidelines on how many Palestinian civilians were allowed to be killed as surrounding 'collateral damage': up to 100 bystanders in the case of an alleged Hamas 'brigade commander.'

Lavender AI's software took information from Unit 8200, Israel's decades-long mass surveillance of Palestinians, including the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, to score each on a scale of 1-to-100 on their likelihood to be a Hamas or PIJ militant.

The AI was trained on known militants, defining data similar to data on those militants as 'features' contributing to a high rating.

Actions like being in a WhatsApp group that included a documented Hamas militant were among the 'thousands' of criteria that added to a person's 1-to-100 score.

'At 5am, [the Israeli Air Force] would come and bomb all the houses that we had marked,' said one senior Israeli intelligence officer, only referred to as 'B.'

'We took out thousands of people. We didn't go through them one by one  we put everything into automated systems, and as soon as one of [the marked individuals] was at home, he immediately became a target. We bombed him and his house.'

Above, a screen grab taken from an Israeli military video and released on February 29, showing Palestinians surround aid trucks in northern Gaza before Israeli troops fired on the crowd

Above, smoke from an Israeli strike on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 4, 2024

'It was very surprising for me that we were asked to bomb a house to kill a ground soldier, whose importance in the fighting was so low,' another source said.

When it came to Lavender's AI-targeting of these Palestinians as alleged low-ranking militants, this source said that they 'nicknamed those targets 'garbage targets.''

'Still, I found them more ethical than the targets that we bombed just for "deterrence," high-rises that are evacuated and toppled just to cause destruction,' the unnamed source said.

One intel source personally attested that they had authorized the bombing of 'hundreds' private homes of these alleged junior Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members based on the Lavender AI's designations.

The expose, produced by a team of Israeli and Palestinian journalists, found that the Lavender AI classified as many as 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants  marking people and their homes as targets for air strikes. Above, recent IDF damage to a humanitarian aid vehicle

Above World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers in Gaza. Melbourne, Australia-born Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom (left) was killed during an air strike on Gaza along with at least six other aid workers on Tuesday while delivering food and supplies to Palestinians

'We didn't know who the junior [Hamas or PIJ] operatives were,' another source said, 'because Israel didn't track them routinely [before the war].'

'They wanted to allow us to attack [the junior operatives] automatically.'

'That's the Holy Grail. Once you go automatic, target generation goes crazy.'

Phone-tracking data, the intelligence sources said, proved to be one notoriously unreliable metric treated as valid by Lavender's algorithm.

'In war, Palestinians change phones all the time,' one intelligence official said.

'People lose contact with their families, give their phone to a friend or a wife, maybe lose it. There is no way to rely 100 percent on the automatic mechanism that determines which [phone] number belongs to whom.'

Above, a presentations slide from a lecture by the commander of IDF Unit 8200's Data Science and AI center at Tel Aviv University in 2023, explaining in simple terms how Lavender AI works

Above, another presentation slide from the lecture by the commander of IDF Unit 8200's Data Science and AI center, explaining in simple terms how Lavender AI works

READ MORE: AI should be 'a global priority on par with pandemics and nuclear war' advise dozens of academics - including the creator of ChatGPT - in letter calling for regulations A May 2023 letter signed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and DeepMind's Demis Hassabis called on policymakers to equate AI with risks posed by pandemics and nuclear war. Advertisement

According to the intel source named B., Lavender helped many in the IDF distance themselves from the human toll of their actions in Gaza.

'There has been an illogical amount of [bombings] in this operation,' B. said. 'This is unparalleled, in my memory.'

'The machine did it coldly. And that made it easier.'

Deaths in Gaza due to IDF bombing campaigns and its other military responses have climbed above 30,000 according to local Ministry of Health (MoH) reports, which have since been rigorously analyzed and confirmed by medical researchers at Johns Hopkins for a piece in The Lancet, among others.

The Johns Hopkins researchers compared those death reports to public information on the bombing campaigns, census data and analysis from the UN Population Fund, and satellite imagery from NASA Open Street Maps to verify the plausibility of the death toll figures.

'The death reporting system currently being used by the Palestinian MoH was assessed in 2021, 2 years before the current war, and was found to under-report mortality by 13 percent,' the researchers said.

Using their own metrics, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has also confirmed the death toll with added satellite imagery of the IDF's bombings.

The London School has now collaborated with Johns Hopkins to estimate future deaths between now and August for three scenarios: 11,580 excess deaths in a ceasefire scenario, due to disease and malnutrition; 66,720 excess deaths for a status quo scenario; and 85,750 excess deaths if there is an escalation of hostilities.

Israel instigated its military campaign in Gaza, a densely populated coastal region created as part of Israel's decades-long territorial conflict with Palestinian residents who share generational and historic ties to the region, last October.

A Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, targeting the Nova Music Festival near the Re'im settlement, took the lives of an estimated 1,200 Israelis, plus hostages.

The devastating, ensuing conflict has led to a United Nations Security Council call for an immediate ceasefire, war crimes proceedings at the International Court of Justice at the Hague, and widespread calls for a more swift and peaceful resolution.
NASA's proved in 2022 that humans could redirect 'city killer' asteroids away from Earth - but with unintended consequences that could put our planet in danger.

A pair of Italian astronomers found that when the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) craft rammed the 560-foot-wide asteroid Dimorphos off its course, the collision created a cloud of 37 new space boulders that is shooting toward Mars.

If one of these boulders hit the red planet, it could create a crater between 200 and 300 meters across - 656 to nearly 1,000 feet.

The astronomers warned that if NASA needs to knock a killer asteroid off its collision course with Earth in the future it will be crucial to consider where the debris from such a spectacular crash would go - lest it ends up colliding with Earth after all.

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a box-shaped space probe, crashed into its target on September 26, 2022. It was humanity's first planetary defense test.

The dust tail of the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system, captured on October 31, 2022 - over a month after the impact. The dust tail was separate from the debris created by the spacecraft collision.

During the DART mission, NASA used an uncrewed spacecraft to slam into Dimorphos at 14,000 miles per hour to see if it was possible to push a space rock off its orbit.

READ MORE: NASA's DART spacecraft smashes into asteroid travelling at 14,000mph and 6.8 million miles from Earth The first-ever planetary defense test showed that humans could save the world from catastrophic collision with a space rock. Advertisement

In the following weeks, NASA scientists confirmed that it had worked: The so-called 'kinetic impact' had changed the asteroid's orbit in space.

A kinetic impact means smashing one thing into another thing, and it's one of the possible strategies NASA would use in the event of an asteroid threatening life on Earth.

Dimorphos is part of a two-asteroid system, orbiting a larger asteroid called Didymos.

After the DART collision, Dimorphos orbited Didymos in 11 hours and 23 minutes - 32 minutes less time than it took before the spacecraft had crashed into it.

With such an impact comes collateral damage, though.

Scientists discovered that the DART mission left in its wake 37 newly formed boulders shooting through space, on a totally different course.

On their current trajectory, these boulders may collide with Mars, concluded study co-authors Marco Fenucci of the European Space Agency (ESA), and Albino Carbognani, of the Observatory of Astrophysics and Space Science in Bologna, Italy.

The boulders measure between four and seven meters across - 13 to 23 feet.

Based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, the boulders escaped the gravity of the Dimorphos/Didymos pair - taking a separate path from the 6,000-mile-long tail of dust and rocks created by the impact.

And their orbit could interfere with that of the Hera mission, an ESA spacecraft scheduled to intersect Dimorphos in 2026 to get a closer look at the DART impact's effects.

When the DART spacecraft collided with Dimorphos, it created a 6,000-mile-long tail of dust and rocks

Brace for impact: NASA's first ever 'planetary defense' spacecraft  sent to deflect an asteroid 6.8 million miles from Earth  hit on September 26, 2022. The graphic above shows how the mission worked

'All the observations taken so far prove that DART has been a successful test for asteroid deflection since it managed to change the orbital period of Dimorphos and it did not create any other boulder that could impact on Earth,' the astronomers wrote.

'On the other hand, the findings presented in this work suggest that future missions involving an interaction with the surface material of [a near-Earth asteroid] shall be carefully planned,' they added.

In the longer term, these boulders may intersect the orbit of Mars.

The planet has a thin atmosphere, so it's more likely that a small meteoroid would make it through and to the surface than it would be on Earth.

Upon impact with DART, Dimorphos ejected a cloud of dust and debris - as well as at least 37 boulders that now tumble through space

This may take thousands of years, though.

'Numerical simulations show that all the boulders of the swarm will cross the orbit of Mars multiple times in the future [20,000 years], Fenucci and Carbognani wrote.

These simulations included a computer-generated swarm of the 37 new boulders, and the astronomers argued that they give a reasonably accurate prediction for the behavior of the real ones.

'Therefore, due to the orbit crossings happening in the long-term evolution, it is possible that some of the boulders will impact Mars in the future,' they concluded.

This could happen within 6,000 years - possibly interfering with a future human colony on Mars.

Overall, though, the DART mission has been considered a success, though.

For the first time in history, humans had intentionally changed the movement of a celestial object.

Dimorphos was not on a collision course with Earth, but as a two-asteroid system it provided a unique opportunity to track changes to a small asteroid's orbit around a large one.

That test was proof that it is possible to knock asteroids off their course to keep them from wreaking destruction upon the Earth.

If a killer asteroid threatens humanity in the future, this means that people should be able to divert its path and avoid disaster - they just may want to plan for where the debris will go.

They published their findings on arXiv.org, the physics community's pre-print paper server.
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Beauty fans are making the switch to a non-toxic nail polish that 'looks like gel', 'lasts well' and 'leaves nails healthy'.

Shoppers who have swapped to the Nailberry oxygenated nail polishes are reaping the rewards of a healthier manicure. Ditching toxins (no alcohol, parabens or Phthalates), users have found their nails are left in better tact, with 'no more splitting'.

Nailberry Wild Sage Get ready for spring with a trending pastel manicure that's perfect for the warmer season. Part of the new Nailberry A Summer In Provence Collection; three modern pastel shades that are perfect for spring, they offer a beautiful glossy finish that looks great on all skin tones and nail lengths. Better still, these have a patented oxygenated formula that also better respects nail care, allowing airflow to help prevent the yellowing and damage often associated with bog-standard nail polish. Shop

Nailberry specialise in non-toxin oxygenated nail polishes that are highly pigmented and designed to flatter all skin tones and nail lengths

London-based nail brand Nailberry has shaken up the nail industry, designing premium nail polishes that are oxygenated, toxin-free and vegan.

Free from 12 types of toxins, including formaldehyde, phthalates and toluene, the polishes could be kinder to your nails. And many claim it gives better results.

'A friend recommended Nailberry to me as my nails were ruined any time I used gels and traditional polish chipped immediately,' they went on to write how Nailberry is 'really easy to apply, the colours are gorgeous and it doesnt chip. And my nails are recovering.'

Free from a wide range of toxins found in traditional nail polishes, the Nailberry formulas are free from chemicals that could lead you to have a healthier manicure.

Richly pigmented, glossy and long-lasting, the patented oxygenated formula also better respects nail care, allowing airflow to help prevent the yellowing and damage often associated with bog-standard nail polish.

And they don't compromise on colour either. As well as a core collection of staple colours, Nailberry also have launched their limited-edition A Summer In Provence Collection; three modern pastel shades that are perfect for spring.

Available in a pretty lavender, sage and sky blue, these are a clever way of adding a touch of colour to your outfit.

Titled A Summer In Provence, the new collection boasts a pastel trio that is inspired by travels to the region

Keeping your nails healthy and perfectly polished, the new Nailberry polishes are sure to become a favourite with fans of the brands, and a a great introduction for those who have yet to try Nailberry.

Previous collections as well as their core lines have gained impressive reviews with many left impressed by their staying power.

One delighted shopper wrote: 'I have been using Nailberry since the beginning of the year and it is now my go to brand. Great cover on first easy application, great staying power - survives normal life for a good week, looks great - recommend giving it a go!'.

Another agreed, calling them: 'A dream. Whatever the colour is, Nailberry nailpolishes are a dream to apply, a dream for the nails, without forgetting the very long-lasting (a dream ! ^^) and the kindness while being cruelty free and vegan.'
Simone Holtznagel has welcomed her first child with her personal trainer boyfriend Jono Castano - a baby girl called Gia.

The model, 30, announced the happy news on her Instagram page alongside a series of adorable photos of her newborn.

She revealed that baby Gia arrived on Easter Sunday.

'On Sunday March 31st we welcomed our healthy, baby girl Gia Holtznagel Castano into the world,' she wrote in the caption.

'We are totally and completely in love with her and enjoying these special moments as a family of three.'

Simone Holtznagel has welcomed her first child with her personal trainer boyfriend Jono Castano - a baby girl called Gia

In one sweet photo, Simone held her newborn daughter while lying in a hospital bed as Jono sat alongside her.

She also shared a photo of proud dad Jono looking lovingly at his baby girl.

The happy news comes after Simone's absence from social media over the Easter weekend sparked speculation that she had already given birth.

Acero owner Jono, 33, also dropped a huge hint that they had already welcomed their daughter - who was due in March - to the world.

The model, 30, announced the happy news on her Instagram page alongside a series of sweet images of her newborn daughter

'On Sunday March 31st we welcomed our healthy, baby girl Gia Holtznagel Castano into the world,' she wrote in the caption

'We are totally and completely in love with her and enjoying these special moments as a family of three,' she added

On Easter Sunday, he posted a seemingly innocent selfie to Instagram, but closer inspection revealed he may have been visiting The Royal Hospital for Women.

He appeared to be waiting patiently for something as he rested his head on his fist in the selfie, adding in the caption a love heart and white bird emoji.

However, one small detail on the wall behind his head sparked speculation, as a paper read: 'RHW After Hours Entry.'

The Royal Hospital for Women logo also has its name printed in purple, suggesting Jono was there visiting Simone and their newborn.

Simone revealed that baby Gia arrived on Easter Sunday

In one photo, the model looked lovingly at her daughter as she held her in her arms

Simone announced that she and boyfriend Jono were expecting their first child together in October and later confirmed they were having a baby girl.

At the time, Simone, who went public with her relationship with the celebrity trainer back in 2022, told Who magazine she was overjoyed with the news.

'Kids have always been in our plan. We started talking about it more and more and then it just happened,' she told the publication.

Simone told the magazine she discovered she was pregnant after she felt unusually sick following a holiday to the Maldives to celebrate her 30th birthday.

The happy news comes after Simone's absence from social media over the Easter weekend sparked speculation that she had already given birth

Simone announced that she and boyfriend Jono were expecting their first child together in October and later confirmed they were having a baby girl

Simone discovered she was pregnant after she felt unusually sick following a holiday to the Maldives to celebrate her 30th birthday, prompting her to take a a pregnancy test 'on a whim'

She decided to take a pregnancy test 'on a whim' and it turned out to be morning sickness.

'The first couple of weeks were a little bit tricky but not as bad as some people have it. We're very grateful,' she added.

Jono told Daily Mail Australia at the opening of his new Acero Gym last October that the pair had already chosen their child's name, months ahead of her due date.

'I nearly said the name on TV. There are some names we have got. We are excited for the baby,' he said.

Simone went public with her relationship with the celebrity trainer back in 2022 and the couple have been loved-up ever since
Married At First Sight bride Sara Mesa enjoyed a girls trip to Bali immediately after pledging her commitment to Tim Calwell during the show's Final Vows.

In photos shared to Instagram, the 30-year-old appeared to be having the time of her life as she partied with friends, including fellow bride Lauren Dunn.

An insider told Daily Mail Australia Tim had planned to join Sara on her trip, but decided it wasn't for him.

'Tim felt like Sara didn't want him there and was not including him in plans,' they claimed.

Sara had booked her trip to Bali prior to appearing on the show, and then adjusted her flights after discovering Lauren was going to be there the same time.

Married At First Sight bride Sara Mesa enjoyed a girls trip to Bali immediately after pledging her commitment to Tim Calwell during the show's final vows

In photos shared to Instagram, the 30-year-old appeared to be having the time of her life as she partied with friends, including fellow bride Lauren Dunn (pictured second right)

A second source said: 'She invited Tim and he was meant to join her but couldn't for personal reasons.'

'He came to see her a week before the reunion and stayed with her. They celebrated Sara's birthday and went out for dinner.'

During their holiday to Bali, Sara and Lauren got matching devil horn tattoos.

The pair were pictured enjoying cocktails while partying at local beach clubs and exploring the city.

An insider told Daily Mail Australia that Tim had been planning to join Sara on her trip but decided it wasn't for him

The trip came just days after Tim pledged to stay together with Sara despite the ups and down their relationship had experienced throughout the experiment.

During the Final Vows, Sara opened up about her MAFS journey and admitted to her initial excitement and subsequent fears during the final vows.

'I remember driving to our wedding destination and feeling no nerves at all. My gut told me I was exactly where I needed to be... But then my nerves kicked in and made me put up some walls that I didn't think I still had,' she confessed.

'Tim felt like Sara didn't want him there and was not including him in plans,' they said

'I've made a lot of mistakes in this relationship, and for that I want to apologise... Seeing you hurt made me realise what I had in front of me and what I could be losing.'

Sara's heartfelt apology set the stage for Tim's response.

The Gold Coast-based groom, who had previously struggled with the betrayal, said while he was initially skeptical he was happy to move past it.

'What a ride. Honestly. What just happened? I came here to this experiment with a mixture of hope and skepticism... Our wedding day was amazing,' Tim reflected.

Sara had booked her trip to Bali prior to appearing on the show, and then adjusted her flights after discovering Lauren was going to be there the same time

In Instagram images, Sara was seen posing in racy ensembles before enjoying cocktails while partying at local beach clubs and exploring the city

However, he didn't shy away from addressing the issues that plagued their relationship.

The revelation of Sara's meeting with her ex was a pivotal moment for Tim, one that he described with raw honesty.

'I was devastated and miserable... I felt stupid for even being part of this relationship,' he said.

Tim then acknowledged the efforts Sara made to mend their relationship, leading to a renewed sense of hope and affection.

In a heartfelt conclusion, Tim made a decision to stay in the relationship.
Love Island Australia star, influencer and podcaster Anna McEvoy has revealed she once worked as a delivery driver.

The glamorous blonde, 31 who was recently told she 'contributes nothing to society' by a cruel troll, explained on her Where's Your Head At? podcast she used to make money as a 'DoorDasher'.

Anna, who also has her own makeup brand, kicked off the admission by complaining about always receiving her food cold when she orders from certain delivery apps.

'So, I'm back on DoorDash. I feel like I go between them all, but DoorDash is where it's at. They come quicker. The food's not cold,' she said.

Co-host and fellow Love Island Australia star Matt Zukowski then revealed: 'You were an official DoorDasher. People don't realise.'

Love Island Australia star, influencer and podcaster Anna McEvoy has revealed she once worked as a delivery driver

'Yeah I signed up,' Anna replied.

'I fully signed up. Those orders were coming through quick.'

It comes just a few months after Anna was forced to fire back at a troll who told her she 'contributes nothing to society'.

She took to Instagram in December with a video titled 'Rant incoming', where she shared an email she received on her business website.

It read, 'You contribute nothing to society,' to which Anna replied: 'Actually... you are wrong. And I'm going to tell you why you're wrong.'

The glamorous blonde, 31 who was recently told she 'contributes nothing to society' by a cruel troll, explained on her Where's Your Head At? podcast she used to make money as a 'DoorDasher'

'Yeah I signed up,' Anna replied. 'I fully signed up. Those orders were coming through quick'

Anna suggested her makeup company Golden Bee, which sells easy-to-use, no-fuss cosmetic products made from 'beautiful ingredients', was changing people's lives.

'My business makes people feel confident every single day of their lives when they wake up feeling glowy,' she said.

'I'm saving people time, making them feel more confident. So actually, my business is contributing to society.

'Someone who sounds like they're not contributing to society would be someone who's taking the time out of their day to message a small business to tell them they contribute nothing to society,' the beauty influencer ended her rant.
BBC Masterchef viewers were left shocked after contestant Jerome made it through to the competition's quarter-finals despite a disastrous dessert.

Hoping to land himself a place in the next stage of the competition, Jerome, 33, served judges, John Torode and Gregg Wallace, a risky pudding.

To viewer's horror, Jerome's sweet offering was covered in malt vinegar, as the cake was topped with pickled cherries.

His bold decision did not pay off as he had hoped, and left the judges disgusted by the dish.

But despite the error, Jerome managed it make it into the next round of the competition.

BBC Masterchef viewers were left shocked after contestant Jerome made it through to the competition's quarter-finals after he whipped with a dessert of 'disaster'

Despite serving the judges a dessert topped with pickled cherries that tasted like malt vinegar, fellow competitor, Rana, was sent home which sparked fury among viewers

This decision sparked outrage online as viewers believed his fellow competitor, Rana, was 'robbed' of her place in the quarter-finals.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one user penned: 'Rana was robbed.'

'So, you cook a dish that everyone says doesn't work, and then you put vinegar in your dessert and still go through? Shocking decision to put Jerome through.'

'My other half has just yelled FO at #MasterChef - yes Jerome we are all shocked. Rana was robbed.'

'We've had a salt AND a vinegar disaster.'

'Is Jerome a worthy quarter finalist I think not!'

'Ehhhhhhhh? So the bloke who made malt vinegar dessert went through.'

'So a dessert that makes everyone gag get you through to the quarter final???'

After her shock exit, Rana said: 'I went and did my best and enjoyed it and that's all that matters. I feel gutted but I get to go home and see my little ones.'

His bold decision did not pay off as he had hoped, and left the judges disgusted by the dish

Gregg said: 'I'll tell you what I don't want ever, ever again, is cherries and malt vinegar'

This decision sparked outrage online as viewers believed his fellow competitor, Rana, was 'robbed' of her place in the quarter-finals

Season 12 winner Jane Devonshire said: 'That pickle - tastes like malt vinegar!'

The judges agreed, as Gregg said: 'I'll tell you what I don't want ever, ever again, is cherries and malt vinegar.'

John agreed and quipped: 'I like sour cherries, but that's ridiculous.'

MasterChef next airs on BBC One at 7.30pm on Friday.
Bill Nye the Science Guy gave supermodels a run for their money with his epic photo shoot for Time Out New York.

The 68-year-old TV star posed like a pro in a variety of edgy outfits as he waxed on about the upcoming solar eclipse in the latest issue published on Monday.

'The Eclipse is Nye,' the cover's headline read, with the iconic scientist adorned in a vibrant orange puffer vest, sleek matching sunglasses and loose cargo pants.

In a subtle nod to the celestial event, Nye wore a T-shirt with an image of the solar system and paired it with a Versace vest. '

'Don't miss this eclipse. It's a big deal. The next one's not for 20 years,' he told the outlet, referring to the moon obscuring the sun on April 8. 'You don't know where you're going to be or if you're going to be able to be there. So catch this one.'

Bill Nye the Science Guy gave supermodels a run for their money with his epic photo shoot for Time Out New York

'The Eclipse is Nye,' the cover's headline read, with the iconic scientist adorned in a vibrant orange puffer vest, sleek matching sunglasses and loose cargo pants

In another striking snapshot, Nye, clad in sunglasses, gazes upward, echoing the gesture millions of Americans will soon enact during the solar eclipse.

'On Monday, April 8, the Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun,' Time Out New York captioned the photoshoot on Instagram.

'In preparation for the celestial event, we sat down with Bill Nye (@billnye) to get answers to all of our burning eclipse questions and his top recs for seeing it in New York City.'

In the interview, Nye encouraged enthusiasts to 'take that day, that midday drive up the road' to witness the eclipse along its expansive 115-mile-wide path of totality, spanning from Mexico to Canada.

'If you're not quite in the path, it's not quite the same,' he added.

On Monday April 8, the sky will darken briefly as the moon eclipses the sun, enveloping portions of North America in momentary darkness.

'You're talking about three minutes, 18 seconds it will change your life,' Nye said.

When asked about the anticipation for the upcoming total solar eclipse, Nye explained how the event still grabs everyone's attention.

The 68-year-old TV star posed like a pro in a variety of edgy outfits as he waxed on about the upcoming solar eclipse in the latest issue published on Monday; seen in 2022

'Don't miss this eclipse. It's a big deal. The next one's not for 20 years,' he told the outlet, referring to the moon obscuring the sun on April 8. 'You don't know where you're going to be or if you're going to be able to be there. So catch this one'

'You're talking about three minutes, 18 seconds it will change your life,' Nye said; pictured March

'We just wonder where we came from. We wonder about the cosmos and our place within it.

'Everybody does. Everybody wonders if there are other people on other planets or on other stars, wondering if we are here and back and forth.'

Nye, who starred in the beloved children's show Bill Bye the Science Guy from 1993 to 1998, said he hopes his young fans 'pause and think about their place in the cosmos.

'How remarkable it is that we understand the motion of the Earth and moon with such precision.'
Radio stars Fitzy and Wippa appeared to make crude innuendos about Emily Ratajkowski's 'diamonds' during their podcast this week.

Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald, Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli and Kate Ritchie were discussing the new trend of 'divorce rings' on the show.

Model Emily, 32, has made the concept famous by revealing she split her engagement ring into two 'divorce rings' after her split from Sebastian Bear-McClard.

Discussing the decision, the three radio co-hosts looked at the now-iconic selfies of Emily showing off her new divorce rings as she lounged topless in her bed.

Kate, 45, joked she was going to get her co-hosts' 'attention' with the images, before Wippa, 44, made a series of thinly-veiled innuendos about Emily's chest.

Radio stars Fitzy (left) and Wippa (right) appeared to make crude innuendos about Emily Ratajkowski 's 'diamonds' during their podcast this week. Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald, Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli and Kate Ritchie were discussing the new trend of 'divorce rings' on the show

Model Emily, 32, has made the concept famous by revealing she split her engagement ring into two 'divorce rings' after her split from Sebastian Bear-McClard

Introducing the topic, Kate said: 'I thought I'd get your attention with a picture of Emily Ratajkowski [...] The rings that her husband gave her, she's now remodelled into what she's calling a divorce ring.'

Wippa then remarked: 'Huge diamonds! They are massive - I'm talking about her diamonds.'

Kate also clarified he was talking about her 'diamonds', before Wippa again joked: 'I haven't seen diamonds like that.'

Fitzy, 47, then got involved as he said: 'Are they shining bright?'

In what appeared to be another innuendo, Wippa went on: 'Oh my God what a figure, what cut is that?'

Discussing the decision, the three radio co-hosts looked at the now-iconic selfies of Emily showing off her new divorce rings as she lounged topless in her bed

When Kate confirmed 'pear-shaped', Wippa added: 'Isn't it?' as the three co-hosts burst into laughter.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nova for comment.

It comes after Emily revealed the unique move she made with her old engagement ring, recently taking to Instagram to share the results with her fans.

Sharing a snap of herself wearing two stunning diamond rings, Emily revealed she had created 'divorce rings' by splitting her original ring.

She posed topless in her bed as she debuted her new rings in a series of snaps, marking a new chapter as she simply captioned the post: 'Divorce rings.'

Last month, Emily marked a new chapter by revealing she had repurposed her glitzy engagement diamonds (pictured before it was recut) into two gorgeous 'divorce rings'

The supermodel, 32, split from her ex-husband Sebastian (pictured together in 2020) in July 2022 after four years of marriage. They share a son Sylvester Apollo, now three

The mother-of-one tagged the jewellery brand Alison Lou, who had created the stunning pieces for her after also helping with the original setting.

Emily was branded 'iconic' by her fans for making the decision to reuse the diamonds.

Emily tied the knot with film producer Sebastian in February 2018 after a few weeks of dating and they welcomed a son Sylvester Apollo, now three, in March 2021.

However, Emily then filed for divorce in September 2022, two months after they split in July after four years of marriage.
Love Island's Shaughna Phillips has been 'shaken to her core' after visiting her GP for a health check.

The TV star, who turns 30 this week, revealed after a year of giving birth she has been told she is now obese.

Vowing to go on a new health kick, Shaughna said she is determined to lower her fat levels for the sake of her daughter, Lucia.

In a candid post shared to Instagram on Tuesday, Shaughna revealed during an entire body MOT check, she was told she had 'quite a lot of visceral fat around her main organs'.

This can lead to an array of potentially serious health problems in the future, such as heart attacks, diabetes and some cancers, according to Health Direct.

Love Island's Shaughna Phillips has been 'shaken to her core' after visiting her GP for a health check

The TV star, who turns 30 this week, revealed after a year of giving birth she has been told she is now obese (pictured with her daughter Lucia)

Speaking to her 1.4million followers, she said: 'It's been a year since I had a baby, so I wanted to see where I stood post-birth.

'They told me that I was obese, which isn't a shock, but it's never nice to hear. Following some of the check-ups, they said I had quite a lot of visceral fat around my organs.

'Now, I'm no Gillian McKeith, I'm not going to tell you what that means because I don't really know.

'It's basically fat around your main organs, which is serious because it can cause heart attacks.'

The television star shares Lucia with her disgraced ex-boyfriend Billy Webb, who was sentence to nine years in jail for conspiracy to supply 4.5kg of cocaine worth at least 360,000, after being arrested in a drug raid.

She continued: 'I'm a mum now and it shook me to my core, because I know I'm not the picture of health, but I didn't realise things were that bad and it's kind of scary to hear it from a medical professional.'

Vowing to improve her health as she is determined to be around for her daughter as she grows up, Shaughna said: 'I'm going to do this. I need to do something. I need to lose so much weight. I only had one parent because my dad died.

'Without getting way too deep, I just never want that to happen to Lucia and I want to do everything in my power to be here for as long as possible.'

In a candid post shared to Instagram on Tuesday, Shaunghna revealed during an entire body MOT check, she was told that she had 'quite a lot of visceral fat around her main organs'

Her video comes after she opened up about her crippling battle with body dysmorphia in a candid new interview (seen on Love Island in 2020)

The influencer reflected on her time on the show back in 2020, saying she was 'consumed with the way she looked' (seen last month)

Opening up on her the body dysmorphia she has struggled with her whole life, Shaughna added: 'I'm not going to be too hard on myself as I'm only human. I'm raising a human on my own, that's hard. I'm self -employed, that's hard. I've struggled with my body image for probably most of my life, which is quite scary  and I don't want that for Lucia.

'I need to be a positive example for her. I don't want her to see me struggling to put clothes on or not being happy with how I look. I need to be the happiest, healthiest version of myself. Do I know how I'm going to get there? No. But I feel like I have the knowledge now to go forward. I'm a work in progress, but loving myself regardless.'

Her video comes after she opened up about her crippling battle with body dysmorphia in a candid new interview.

The influencer has reflected on her time on the show back in 2020, saying she was 'consumed with the way she looked'.

Shaughna revealed she was 'terrified of leaving the house' following birth as she had gained six stone.

Shaughna revealed she was 'terrified of leaving the house' following birth as she had gained six stone

But the star has now also told how she is working on accepting her body more and that she now refuses to use filters as 'happiness has nothing to do with a certain size'

She went on: 'When they gave me the outfit to wear for the Dirty Dancing challenge, I thought, 'God must really hate me!'' (seen during challenge)

But the star has now also told how she is working on accepting her body more and that she now refuses to use filters as 'happiness has nothing to do with a certain size'.

She told Closer magazine of her experience on Love Island: 'I was a size 6-8 yet I thought I was the 'fat girl' in the villa.

'It shows the level of body dysmorphia I had. I was consumed with the way I looked, breathing in and getting the right angles.

'When they gave me the outfit to wear for the Dirty Dancing challenge, I thought, 'God must really hate me!' I felt some girls knew I was insecure and would strut past me. I'd think, 'How do they have this confidence?' I look back and feel sorry for myself.'

She also told how after giving birth she was scared to leave the house after gaining some weight and that she didn't feel 'comfortable' in her own skin.

Shaughna added she nearly signed up for a new gym three weeks after having Lucia because of the pressure to bounce back.

She has now reached a point though where she has realised that being thin doesn't bring her happiness and that it's not the 'be-all and end-all'.

Shaughna's Love Island experience four years ago was marked by her partner Callum Jones leaving her for Molly Smith during Casa Amor.

She says it was hard at the time to be compared to Molly - admitting it would be 'nice' to have a body like hers but she 'won't lose sleep' over not being a similar shape to the blonde.
Neon has released a new trailer for their upcoming thriller Cuckoo starring Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer.

The 25-year-old transgender actress - who made headlines earlier this week for saying she doesn't want to play transgender roles - plays Gretchen in the new film.

The thriller follows Gretchen and her parents (Jessica Henwick and Martin Csokas) who move into a seemingly-idyllic resort.

Gretchen soon comes to learn that things at this bizarre place aren't at all what they seem to be.

Neon will release the film in theaters on August 9, following its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.

Neon has released a new trailer for their upcoming thriller Cuckoo starring Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer

Gretchen soon comes to learn that things at this bizarre place aren't at all what they seem to be.

The trailer begins with an audio cassette recording of Gretchen saying, 'Mom, I want to come home. It's getting bad.'

The trailer shows a few shots of the family driving through some mountain passes to get to this resort, where they're met by Mr. Koning (Dan Stevens).

'How is your journey?' Koning asks, as Gretchen's mom Beth says, 'Very pleasant, thank you.'

Luis (Csokas) tells Gretchen to, 'come say hi,' as she only offers a casual, 'What's up?'

Gretchen meets an older woman who says she's her neighbor and extends her hand, adding, 'Haven't heard about you.'

A confused Gretchen - who is carrying a Fender guitar amp - responds, 'Why would you have heard about me?'

A strange noise is heard from the woods outside the resort, while another shot shows Mr. Koning asking Gretchen if she'd like to work for him at the resort.

Gretchen is seen manning a cash register while another girl throws up, as Gretchen is told, 'This happens sometimes.'

'How is your journey?' Koning asks, as Gretchen's mom Beth says, 'Very pleasant, thank you'

The trailer shows a few shots of the family driving through some mountain passes to get to this resort, where they're met by Mr. Koning (Dan Stevens).

Luis (Csokas) tells Gretchen to, 'come say hi,' as she only offers a casual, 'What's up?'

A confused Gretchen - who is carrying a Fender guitar amp - responds, 'Why would you have heard about me?'

Gretchen is seen manning a cash register while another girl throws up, as Gretchen is told, 'This happens sometimes'

A woman walks up to the counter with a six-pack, telling Gretchen coldly, 'You don't belong here.'

Gretchen is heard asking, 'Why is there no one working the reception after 10,' as the phone at the front desk rings.

Gretchen answers the phone and is told by Mr. Koning, 'I want you to lock the doors and wait for me. I'm going to pick you up right now.'

Gretchen is seen riding her bike at night while listening to headphones as she notices the shadow of a young girl behind her.

Gretchen is then seen in a hospital with a huge bandage on her head, as Koning tells her, 'If I were you, I wouldn't want to get hurt even more.'

She is then seen walking out with a head bandage and a huge hinged brace on her arm, looking rather distraught.

Gretchen asks her parents, 'Why did you bring us here?' Koning says, 'Your family belongs here.

While her parents don't react, Gretchen exclaims, 'That's a f***ing weird way to put it.'

Gretchen tells her parents, 'They think I'm crazy,' while Trixie (Greta Fernandez) is seen screaming while Koning and others are watching something on a monitor

Gretchen is then seen in a hospital with a huge bandage on her head, as Koning tells her, 'If I were you, I wouldn't want to get hurt even more'

She is then seen walking out with a head bandage and a huge hinged brace on her arm, looking rather distraught

Gretchen tells her parents, 'They think I'm crazy,' while Trixie (Greta Fernandez) is seen screaming while Koning and others are watching something on a monitor.

'Nature is quite remarkable,' Konig says, while a distraught Beth adds, 'I don't feel so well,' while Konig is seen emerging from a room with a shotgun.

'Some species need our help,' Koenig adds,' while the trailer ends with a traumatized Gretchen is in a library, when Koenig comes over the loudspeaker.

'I'm giving you the chance to be of great use in our quest for preservation,' Koenig says, as he says, 'Consider yourself lucky,' as the trailer ends.
Julia Stiles is now a mother of three.

The 10 Things I Hate About You star, 43, secretly welcomed a baby with her husband Preston Cook five months ago.

She made the surprise reveal to The New York Times on Wednesday as she discussed her directorial debut film Wish You Were Here.

'I'm kind of like a bundle of emotions, because I have a 5-month-old baby and I went into directing my first movie,' Stiles said.

The New York City native did not share the baby's sex or date of birth.

Stiles and Cook, who wed in 2017, also share two sons: Strummer, six, and Arlo, two.

Julia Stiles is now a mother of three. The 10 Things I Hate About You star, 43, secretly welcomed a baby with her husband Preston Cook five months ago; seen in 2021

She acknowledged to the NYT that she 'didn't really talk about' her third pregnancy publicly.

Stiles then pivoted the conversation to directing and how motherhood has helped 'train' her.

'I think that actually being a mom is really great training for being a director. You have to think 10 steps ahead but also be in the present moment,' she explained.

'You have to be good at time management. You have to be sensitive to people's needs and guide them, but also hold a boundary.'

Along with going behind the camera, Stiles co-wrote the screenplay for Wish You Were Here with Renee Carlino.

It stars Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Grey and Stiles' younger sister Jane Stiles.

Wish You Were Here is currently in post-production as it wrapped filming in February.

A release date has yet to be announced.

The Jason Bourne star met her husband Peter have been together for nearly a decade.

The couple met in 2014 on set of Stiles' thriller film Go With Me (2015) and began dating that same year.

She made the surprise reveal to the New York Times on Wednesday as she discussed her directorial debut film Wish You Were Here; seen pregnant with second child in November 2021

Stiles and Cook, who wed in 2017, also share two sons: Strummer, six, and Arlo, two; seen in 2019

Cook was working on the production team as a camera assistant.

He proposed to Stiles in December 2015 while celebrating the Christmas holiday in Isla Grande, Colombia

In June 2017, Stiles announced that she was pregnant with their first child and they tied the knot three months later.

A representative for Stiles told Us Weekly at the time that the wedding took place on the beach in Seattle during Labor day weekend. Two friends were present for the nuptials.

Julia announced in November 2017 that she gave birth to their son Strummer Newcomb Cook the month prior.

She shared the news to Instagram and included an adorable picture of the little one's tiny hand gripping his dad's thumb.

Captioning the snap, Julia wrote: 'Strummer Newcomb Cook, born October 20, 2017.

'Thanks and ever thanks to the extraordinary Doctors, Nurses and staff at Mount Sinai for helping bring this utter joy into our lives. "Hello, World!" (sic)'

The Jason Bourne star met her husband Peter have been together for nearly a decade after meeting on a film set in 2014; seen in 2019

In June 2017, Stiles announced that she was pregnant with their first child and the couple tied the knot three months later

Julia announced in November 2017 that she gave birth to their son Strummer Newcomb Cook the month prior

Their son Arlo arrived in January 2022 and Stiles confirmed his birth with an Instagram post

In November 2021, Stiles revealed that she was expecting hers and Cook's second child by debuting her baby bump at the red carpet at a screening of A24's The Humans.

Their son Arlo arrived in January 2022 and Stiles confirmed his birth with an Instagram post.

'Welcome to the world, Baby Arlo! The newest addition to our family, reminding me how infinite love can be,' shared the former teen star.

The first image was of baby Arlo's feet as the child was swaddled in a hospital blanket.
Kate Bosworth and her husband Justin Long couldn't keep their hands off each other as they packed on the PDA as they exited Erewhon on Wednesday afternoon.

After grabbing smoothies at the Los Angeles-based grocery chain, frequented by A-listers like Kaia Gerber, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Miley Cyrus, the couple, who wed last year, were seen passionately kissing on the sidewalk as they walked their dog.

The 41-year-old Blue Crush star, who sported a denim jacket over a white t-shirt and black drawstring sweatpants, looked smitten as she draped her arm around Long's shoulders.

Although they've been together for nearly three years, the lovebirds acted like honeymooners as they hugged and giggled on their latest sighting.

Kate Bosworth and her husband Justin Long couldn't keep their hands off each other as they packed on the PDA as they exited Erewhon on Wednesday afternoon

After grabbing smoothies at the Los Angeles-based grocery chain, frequented by A-listers like Kaia Gerber, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Miley Cyrus, the couple, who wed last year, were seen passionately kissing on the sidewalk as they walked their dog

Long, who is best known for films like He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell and Youth in Revolt, gazed adoringly at Bosworth, before pulling her in for a another smooch.

For their laid-back date, the actor, 45, wore a blue and brown flannel over an orange t-shirt, navy joggers and sneakers.

The pair were joined by Bosworth's adorable Blue Picardy French Spaniel, named Happy, who she brought home as a puppy back in 2014.

In the summer of 2021, Bosworth and Long first connected while filming a movie but did not go public with their romance until January 2022.

That spring, he admitted he wanted to talk about their relationship, but also felt 'protective' over their privacy during an appearance on the Viall Files podcast.

'I want to scream it from the rooftops, but I also want to be protective. It's sacred,' he explained.

Last April, they announced their engagement, and the following month Long began referring to Bosworth as his 'wife.'

During an episode of his Life Is Short podcast, the He's Just Not That Into You actor had been talking about filming his project, Barbarian, in Bulgaria, and how Kate had flown to visit him on set.

The 41-year-old Blue Crush star, who sported a denim jacket over a white t-shirt and black drawstring sweatpants, looked smitten as she draped her arm around Long's waist

For their laid-back date, the actor, 45, wore a blue and brown flannel over an orange t-shirt, navy joggers and sneakers

The pair were joined by Bosworth's Blue Picardy French Spaniel, named Happy, who she brought home as a puppy back in 2014

In the summer of 2021, Bosworth and Long first connected while filming a movie but did not go public with their romance until January 2022

'I was there while I was like really falling in love with my now-wife,' he told his guest, fellow actress Kate Sedgwick. 'She came to visit and I had never been comfortable withset visits.'

'I like to separate the relationship... But, yeah, I loved having her there and we just had the most magical time. It helped me having her there. She'd help me with scenes. It was the best,' he stated.

A source informed Page Six later in May that the couple tied the knot at the Rockaway Hotel located in Queens, New York.

'It was a very low-key ceremony. Onlookers thought it was an engagement photo shoot of some sort - not an actual wedding,' the insider explained to the outlet.

In April 2022, he admitted he wanted to talk about their relationship, but also felt 'protective' over their privacy during an appearance on the Viall Files podcast

The duo secretly married in New York City last year

The pair had previously stayed at the hotel when Kate had collaborated with the surf brand, Roxy, for a photo shoot.

'They fell in love with the vibe of the hotel, and they decided to get married the next day right then and there!'

A separate source also opened up to People about the 'impromptu' nuptials, and stated, 'After they got engaged, Kate couldn't wait to marry Justin. She knew that she never wanted a big wedding. She just cared about being married.'

'They kept talking about eloping. They ended up having an impromptu and casual wedding a few weeks ago. It was perfect. She is thrilled to be married to Justin.'
Hailey Baldwin Bieber put on her 'Happy' hat and flashed her $500K wedding ring in a new snap she Instastoried Wednesday to her captive 51.1M following amid divorce rumors.

The 27-year-old Rhode founder also Instastoried a shirtless snap of her husband Justin Bieber sleeping in bed with one of their two white Yorkshire Terriers.

'Justin and Hailey are doing really well,' an insider told People on Wednesday.

'There's no divorce and no truth to that whatsoever. They are very, very happy.'

The married couple of five years had just celebrated Easter Sunday with large chocolate eggs bearing their names.

Hailey Baldwin Bieber put on her 'Happy' hat and flashed her $500K wedding ring in a new snap she Instastoried Wednesday to her captive 51.1M following amid divorce rumors

The 27-year-old Rhode founder also Instastoried a shirtless snap of her husband Justin Bieber sleeping in bed with one of their two white Yorkshire Terriers

On March 5, Baldwin was so fed up with the '100% wrong' blind items about their marriage on TikTok that she Instastoried: 'I know it may be fun feeding into these stories but just know they're always false. Sorry to spoil it.'

It was just four days after the Arizona-born IMG Model publicly declared 'beautiful' Bieber was 'the love of my life, for life' on an Instagram slideshow celebrating his 30th birthday.

Hailey originally met the two-time Grammy winner backstage at the TODAY Show in 2009, they began dating in 2015, and they rekindled their on/off romance in 2018 three months after his split with Selena Gomez.

Old videos of Justin with Sean 'Diddy' Combs have resurfaced since the rap mogul's two mansions were raided by Homeland Security on March 25 for a sex-trafficking investigation.

Bieber has noticeably kept his silence about the disgraced 54-year-old considering his last song - Moments - was for Diddy's 2023 R&B record, The Love Album: Off the Grid.

Meanwhile, Baldwin has yet to comment on the shocking February 24th arrest of her big sister Alaia Baldwin Aronow for simple assault, simple battery, battery, and trespassing.

The 31-year-old Major Model's attorney told TMZ on March 1 that she 'is embarrassed and saddened' over assaulting three staffers at Georgia nightclub Elan Savannah: 'She is proactively taking the necessary steps to ensure that it never happens again.'

Alaia allegedly yanked hair out of the head of one bouncer, kicked another bouncer in the groin, and threw a used tampon at bartender Haleigh Cauley, who's pressing charges.

The What's in My Bathroom vlogger is rarely pictured with Aronow, who has a three-year-old daughter Iris Elle from her six-year marriage to KT Studios podcast producer Andrew Aronow.

An insider told People on Wednesday: 'Justin and Hailey are doing really well. There's no divorce and no truth to that whatsoever. They are very, very happy'

The married couple of five years had just celebrated Easter Sunday with large chocolate eggs bearing their names

On March 5, Baldwin was so fed up with the '100% wrong' blind items about their marriage on TikTok that she Instastoried: 'I know it may be fun feeding into these stories but just know they're always false. Sorry to spoil it'

It was just four days after the Arizona-born IMG Model publicly declared 'beautiful' Bieber was 'the love of my life, for life' on an Instagram slideshow celebrating his 30th birthday

Old videos of the two-time Grammy winner (R, pictured in 2010) with Sean 'Diddy' Combs (L) have resurfaced since the rap mogul's two mansions were raided by Homeland Security on March 25 for a sex-trafficking investigation

Justin has noticeably kept his silence about the disgraced 54-year-old considering his last song - Moments - was for Diddy's 2023 R&B record, The Love Album: Off the Grid (pictured September 15)

Meanwhile, Hailey has yet to comment on the shocking February 24th arrest of her big sister Alaia Baldwin Aronow (mugshot pictured) for simple assault, simple battery, battery, and trespassing

The 31-year-old Major Model's attorney told TMZ on March 1 that she 'is embarrassed and saddened' over assaulting three staffers at Georgia nightclub Elan Savannah: 'She is proactively taking the necessary steps to ensure that it never happens again' (pictured February 1)

Alaia allegedly yanked hair out of the head of one bouncer, kicked another bouncer in the groin, and threw a used tampon at bartender Haleigh Cauley (pictured December 31 inside Elan Savannah), who's pressing charges
Just weeks after revealing he plans on revealing the details about his health scare in an upcoming comedy special, Jamie Foxx is still 'going strong.'

The 56-year-old actor was hospitalized for an unspecified medical emergency in mid-April 2023, while filming the spy comedy Back in Action with Cameron Diaz.

Foxx has dropped hints about his mysterious affliction over the past year, though a report from People reveals he's doing,' incredibly well.'

'He is so busy, and back to doing what he loves,' a source said, revealing that he's getting back to work on his Fox series Beat Shazam with daughter Corrine.

'Jamie didnt skip a beat on Beat Shazam. He was literally right back to his old self. Really on it!' the source added.

Just weeks after revealing he plans on revealing the details about his health scare in an upcoming comedy special, Jamie Foxx is still 'going strong.'

The 56-year-old actor was hospitalized for an unspecified medical emergency in mid-April 2023, while filming the spy comedy Back in Action with Cameron Diaz

Foxx has dropped hints about his mysterious affliction over the past year, though a report from People reveals he's doing,' incredibly well'

Another source added Foxx, 'is super busy, happy and going strong,' adding, 'He is gung ho work now, living clean and enjoying his good health.'

The source added, 'Jamie is a social guy, he likes to be around his friends, he has to be busy doing all kinds of different things. He is a bonafide entrepreneur with new projects bubbling all of the time.'

'He is gung ho work now, living clean and enjoying his good health,' the insider continued.

Last month at the African American Film Critics Association's annual luncheon, Foxx revealed he plans to open up about the medical emergency in a comedy special.

'Im so thankful and I get emotional because its beyond the scope. I had some people in my life that really made sure I was here because it was dire straits,' he said.

'Everybody wants to know what happened and Im gonna tell you what happened but I got to do it in my way,' he said, before revealing the comedy special.

In December Foxx opened up about his near-death experience for his first public appearance since his shock health scare at the Critics Choice Association's event.

The actor was visibly moved as he accepted the Vanguard Award in a 12 minute speech at the association's Celebration of Cinema & Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements in Los Angeles.

Another source added Foxx, 'is super busy, happy and going strong,' adding, 'He is gung ho work now, living clean and enjoying his good health'

'He is gung ho work now, living clean and enjoying his good health,' the insider continued

Last month at the African American Film Critics Association's annual luncheon, Foxx revealed he plans to open up about the medical emergency in a comedy special.

Foxx admitted that he could not 'walk' six months earlier, via Deadline, though he refrained from revealing too many details about the medical crisis that put him in the hospital

Foxx admitted that he could not 'walk' six months earlier, via Deadline, though he refrained from revealing too many details about the medical crisis that put him in the hospital.

'You know, its crazy, I couldnt do that six months ago,' he said after strutting across the stage to the microphone. 'I couldnt actually walk.'

'I want to thanks everybody. Ive been through something, Ive been through some things,' he said to thunderous applause.

'I cherish every single minute now  its different,' he continued. 'I wouldnt wish what I went through on my worst enemy because its tough when its almost over  when you see the tunnel. I saw the tunnel  I didnt see the light.

'It was hot in that tunnel too, I dont know where I was going. S**t, am I going to the right place?

In his 12-minute speech, he also made light of some of the baseless conspiracy theories that spread while he was hospitalized and then out of the public eye for several months.
Halle Berry took to her Instagram page on Wednesday to wish her 8.6 million fans and followers a happy belated Easter.

It turns out the Academy Award-winning actress completely forgot about making the post on Easter Sunday, three days earlier.

'I cannot even believe I missed wishing you all a Happy Easter!' the former Bond girl, 57, shared in the caption, before explaining why the holiday post on social media slipped her mind.

'We've been on a family vacation and way too caught up with the bunnies!' she revealed, before adding, 'Hope you all had a wonderful day!' along with a red heart emoji.

To help prove her point, Berry  who recently divulged a doctor's misdiagnosis  posted her message alongside a photo of herself playing with and petting a group of cute rabbits on her long holiday weekend with her two children.

Halle Berry, 57, shared Easter greetings that were three days late on Wednesday, while explaining that she got wrapped up while playing with some cute 'bunnies' on a 'family vacation'

In the cover photo, Berry can be seen kneeling down inside an animal coop while petting and playing with no less than nine rabbits that are visible in the picture.

She plays it casual-cool in the fashion department with tattered blue jeans and a white jacket, black sneakers and a Panama hat over her long light brown tresses, which flowed down past her shoulders.

Rounding out her look, the Cleveland, Ohio, native donned cool dark sunglasses for her playtime with the cute rabbits.

It appears one of her two children  daughter Nahla, 16, and son Maceo, 10  were partially captured in the picture in a yellow hoodie while kneeling down to join in on the fun.

She followed up with four photos of some of the bunnies gathered around during play time in the animal coop.

Berry first became a mom with the arrival of her daughter, who recently celebrated her Sweet Sixteen on March 16. She shares Nahla with her ex-partner, the model Gabriel Aubry.

Berry's son, whom she shares with ex-husband and actor Olivier Martinez, was born five years later in October 2013.

She didn't mention it in her belated Easter post if her current partner, Van Hunt, was on hand for the 'family vacation' over the holiday.

The Monster's Ball star met the Our Love Lingers songwriter in September 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, and they were able to grow their relationship virtually.

After dropping a few hints that she had someone special in her life, Berry confirmed the identity of her mystery man in a social media post.

'Now ya know ,' Berry captioned a photo of herself wearing a shirt with Hunt's name on it, while holding a drink in her hand.

Several months later, the couple made their red carpet debut at the 93rd Academy Awards at Los Angeles' Union Station in April 2021.

Berry would follow up and share other photos of some of the bunnies gathered around during play time in the animal coop

The Oscar-winning actress said she forgot to wish her 8.6 million Instagram fans and followers a happy Easter because she got engulfed with her kids while on a 'family vacation'

Her belated Easter wish on Instagram came three days late

Like many of her adoring fans, the rabbits seemed to be mesmerized by Berry

She didn't mention it in her belated Easter post if her current partner, Van Hunt, was on hand for the 'family vacation' over the holiday

The Monster's Ball star met the Our Love Lingers songwriter in September 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and they were able to grow their relationship virtually

Around eight months later, the actress seemingly took the romance to another level by proclaiming Hunt to be 'the love of her life.'

'You've watched me fail and fail and fail and fail,' she said at the Fourth Annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television. 'Besides directing my first movie, I also found the love of my life and I know it's true and this is how I know it's true.'

She elaborated: 'Because you fail so many times, you know what wrong looks like. And because I failed so many times, I now know what [love] really looks like.'

Hunt has a son of his own from a past relationship.
Salma Hayek shared her enthusiasm for Beyonce's debut country record on Wednesday.

The Frida star, 57, posted a number of snaps, including two of her with Bandidas co-star Penelope Cruz, 49, revealing the pair have been waiting for '20 years' for the album.

The throwback pics showed Hayek and Cruz rocking full Western looks  cowboy hats, bustiers, and guns in holsters.

'Dear @beyonce, Penelope and I have been waiting 20 YEARS for this album! FINALLY, it was worth it. #CowboyCarter,' she captioned the post.

Salma and Penelope starred as women from two different backgrounds in 19th-century Mexico in the 2006 action Western film, where they joined forced against a ruthless U.S. bank magnate (Dwight Yoakam).

Salma Hayek, 57, shared her enthusiasm for Beyonce's debut country record on Wednesday in a new Instagram post

She posted a number of snaps, including two of her with Bandidas co-star Penelope Cruz, 49, revealing they have been waiting '20 years' for the album; the two seen in a still from the film

Another throwback from the film showed Salma getting a piggyback ride from Penelope.

Salma also added two photos of her sporting a Beyonce t-shirt emblazoned with 'KNTRY Radio Texas', the fictional country radio station the star created on her album.

She paired her Western look with a black cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses, and blue jeans.

Salma's 28.4M fans and followers were thrilled with her show of support for the songstress, with one writing, 'Thanks for supporting the Queen. Queens recognize Queens don't they?'

'LEGENDS SUPOORTING A LEGEND,' another wrote. 'Love you even MORE for rocking that Texas shirt,' someone else chimed in.

Salma and Penelope have been friends for over 30 years, with the Ferrari star calling Salma 'like a sister' in 2023.

'It's like we can tell each other everything. We really trust each other,' she told E! News last year.

Meanwhile Beyonce, 42, is currently basking in the thunderous reception to Cowboy Carter, the new country album she dropped on Friday.

Cowboy Carter immediately became most-streamed album in a single day on Spotify this year, Billboard reported.

The throwback pics showed Hayek and Cruz rocking full Western looks  cowboy hats, bustiers, and guns in holsters

Salma and Penelope starred as women from two different backgrounds in 19th-century Mexico in the 2006 action Western film, where they joined forced against a ruthless U.S. bank magnate (Dwight Yoakam)

Salma also added two photos of her sporting a Beyonce t-shirt emblazoned with 'KNTRY Radio Texas', the fictional country radio station the star created on her album

Salma and Penelope have been friends for over 30 years, with the Ferrari star calling Salma 'like a sister' in 2023; they are seen in 2023

The album included a polarizing cover of Dolly Parton's 1973 classic Jolene, as well as a duet with Miley Cyrus called II Most Wanted.

One of the headline-grabbing tracks is Protector, which includes an intro by Beyonce's six-year-old daughter Rumi by Jay-Z.

The collaboration comes about three years after Beyonce and her eldest daughter Blue Ivy, 12, won a Grammy for their collaboration Brown Skin Girl.

Last week, when Beyonce unveiled the cover art for Cowboy Carter, she also addressed the backlash she received for entering the genre.

'Today marks the 10-day countdown until the release of act ii,' the Grammy winner began. 'Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the supporters of [the album's singles] TEXAS HOLD EM and 16 CARRIAGES.'

She continued: 'I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. That would not have happened without the outpouring of support from each and every one of you.'

The Texas-born songstress added: 'My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artists race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant.'

Her album cover shows Beyonce on horseback, brandishing an American flag while wearing a red, white and blue leather outfit with a silver Stetson.

Beyonce, 42, is currently basking in the thunderous reception to Cowboy Carter, the new country album she dropped on Friday

Cowboy Carter immediately became most-streamed album in a single day on Spotify this year, Billboard reported

She has on a massive silver wig that flutters in the breeze, as well as a sash with the album's name draped across her front.

'This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomedand it was very clear that I wasnt,' Beyonce wrote in the caption.

'But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.'

She added: 'The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me. act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.'
Alec Baldwin treated himself to high-end clothes as he celebrated his 66th birthday Wednesday in New York City.

The Oscar-nominated actor was seen departing Ralph Lauren's flagship men's location on Madison Avenue on his special day, for which his wife Hilaria Baldwin, 40, prepared him a pecan pie.

The 30 Rock actor was clad in a monochromatic navy blue ensemble of a long coat over a polo shirt with a maroon scarf, navy blue slacks and dark loafers.

The star of films such as Glengarry Glen Ross, The Departed and The Cooler had a pair of sunglasses resting atop his head as he held onto multiple bags from the designer.

Baldwin previously took to Instagram Wednesday with a black-and-white baby picture of himself, captioning the image, 'Thank you for all of the birthday wishes And pecan pie.'

Alec Baldwin treated himself to high-end clothes as he celebrated his 66th birthday Wednesday in New York City, but couldn't hide the strain of his legal troubles

The Oscar-nominated actor was seen departing Ralph Lauren's flagship men's location on Madison Avenue on his special day

Baldwin and his wife Hilaria celebrated the special occasion with their seven children to commemorate a happier occasion.

Hilaria took to Insta Stories with a picture of herself in the kitchen with the children preparing the desserts for her husband's birthday celebrations.

The Baldwins, who married in 2012, now share Carmen, 10, Rafael, eight, Leo, seven, Romeo, five, Edu, three, Lucia, two, and Ilaria, one.

Hilaria was surrounded by her brood as she made 'some good old fashioned box cake for dada bday!'

She added, 'He has also requested a pecan pie that I am currently attempting as a complete rookie. Wish me luck!'

As the day wore on, she posted pictures of the finished treats, including a cake that was frosted and sprinkled with M&Ms by her youngest children.

Baldwin remains embroiled in a court case involving his Western film Rust, which was struck by tragedy in October 21, 2021 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead during a rehearsal with a Colt .45 being used as a prop.

Baldwin, who has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting, was holding the gun when it went off, but has denied pulling the trigger.

The star of films such as Glengarry Glen Ross, The Departed and The Cooler had a pair of sunglasses resting atop his head

Baldwin remains embroiled in a court case involving his Western film Rust, which was struck by tragedy in October of 2021 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead during a rehearsal with a Colt .45 being used as a prop

Baldwin, who has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting, was holding the gun when it went off, but has denied pulling the trigger

Baldwin was offered a plea deal last year that would have seen him serve no jail time in connection with Hutchins' death, according to a recent report

Baldwin was offered a plea deal last year that would have seen him serve no jail time in connection with Hutchins' death, Variety reported last month.

The outlet reported that before the actor could decide whether to accept the terms, prosecutors pulled the offer and said they would be indicting him.

In a filing seen by the outlet, prosecutor Kary Morrissey offered 'a plea deal identical to the petty misdemeanor deal accepted by Dave Halls.'

The filing states that the offer was made on October 5 and Baldwin was given until October 27 to decide, but prosecutors rescinded the offer on October 17.

Halls, the first assistant director on Rust, did not serve prison time after pleading to a count of negligent handling of a deadly weapon.

He was given six months of unsupervised probation, a $500 fine, 24 hours of community service and ordered to take a firearm safety class.

Baldwin's lawyers have accused the prosecutors in the case of a list of abuses and are looking to have case dismissed.

Variety reported that his lawyers claim that Morrissey repeatedly leaked confidential information about the grand jury proceedings to an NBC reporter.

Before the actor could decide whether to accept the terms, prosecutors pulled the offer and said they would be indicting him

An offer was made on October 5 and Baldwin was given until October 27 to decide, but prosecutors rescinded the offer on October 17, according to records

The veteran actor wore sunglasses as he made his way to the luxe clothier

In November, lawyers representing the actor filed a motion for sanctions over that issue, and asked to have Morrisey and her co-counsel removed from the case.

They also sought to have monetary penalties imposed against Morrissey over her alleged misconduct.

At a hearing on November 15, the judge overseeing the case admonished the parties not to disclose anything about the grand jury proceedings.

The judge also postponed the grand jury proceeding from November to January to allow more time to review material the defense wanted to present.

Attorneys for Baldwin allege that within an hour of the hearing, Morrissey then called the NBC reporter to relay the scheduling update.

NBC reported that same day that the grand jury proceeding had been postponed, citing an 'unnamed source'.

The reporter then allegedly contacted lawyers for Baldwin seeking comment hours after the judge made the ruling.

In a filing earlier this week, Baldwin and his attorney Alex Spiro also claimed that the prosecutors rigged the jury process in the case.

Baldwin previously took to Instagram Wednesday with a black-and-white baby picture of himself, captioning the image, 'Thank you for all of the birthday wishes And pecan pie'

Hilaria was pictured on her Insta Stories surrounded by her brood as she made 'some good old fashioned box cake for dada bday!'

As the day wore on, she posted pictures of the finished treats, including a cake that was frosted and sprinkled with M&Ms by her youngest children

They are arguing that the grand jury process was rigged by the Santa Fe County D.A.'s office, alleging that they add seven witnesses who were biased.

The filing reportedly adds that three of the witnesses were on the DA's payroll, two of them were from Santa Fe Sheriff's Office and one was suing him in a civil case.

It is also alleged that the FBI tested the pistol used in the fatal scene that killed Hutchins, and that the DA failed to present all the evidence from the testing.

The documents allege that the testing showed that the revolver did fire without the trigger being pulled when fully loaded, as on the day of the tragedy.

During the trial of armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed earlier this year, agent Bryce Ziegler said he had to break the gun with a mallet to get it to fire without using the trigger.

Ziegler, appearing for the prosecution, said that couldn't have happened on the set of Rust because the gun was in working order when it came to him.

His analysis contradicts claims by Baldwin that he only pulled back the hammer on the vintage-looking pistol.

Baldwin will go on trial later this year for manslaughter in connection with the death of Halyna Hutchins, seen here in 2019

The shooting happened in October 2021 after two weeks of filming while Baldwin was practicing drawing out his gun from the holster

Halls, seen here, was the first assistant director on Rust and did not serve prison time after pleading to a count of negligent handling of a deadly weapon

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year. Pictured in February in court in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, the armorer for Rust, was found guilty last month of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of Hutchins.

The verdict spells potential trouble for Baldwin when he goes on trial in July in the same courthouse for involuntary manslaughter. If found guilty, he faces 18 months in jail.

During the trial of Gutierrez-Reed, 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.

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.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorney Jason Bowles said the armorer, who was just 24 at the time of the incident, has been a 'scapegoat' for wider failings in connection with the tragic shooting.

Bowles told the court that Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people.

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.

In 2022 Baldwin settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by Matthew Hutchins, the widow of Hutchins, seen here, and the father of their son

The jury was shown shocking images of cinematographer Hutchins' blood-stained shirt

During the trial of Gutierrez-Reed, prosecutors painted a damning portrait of a film that was in a state of 'rushed chaos'

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.'

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.
Machine Gun Kelly put his heavily tattooed arms on display on Tuesday, after playing a free show in New York.

The rapper-turned-rocker, 33, was pictured interacting with fans after the event at Irving Plaza, following a show with Trippie Redd to promote their newly released surprise EP, 'Genre: Sadboy.'

The musician wore a grey fuzzy vest that showed off his massive blackout tattoo, which took a grueling seven sessions to complete.

The entertainer  born Colson Baker  completed his outfit with black leathers pants and chunky boots.

He was all smiles and appeared to be in a good mood despite his former fiancee Megan Fox, 37, recently confirming that they have ended their engagement.

Machine Gun Kelly put his heavily tattooed arms on display on Tuesday, after playing a free show in New York

The musician, 33, wore a grey fuzzy vest that showed off his massive blackout tattoo, which took a grueling seven sessions to complete

For his show on Tuesday the father-of-one accessorized with an upside down silver cross earring, and a chunky silver necklace.

He further sparkled up his look with a diamond bracelet and ring, and two silver hoops in his other ear.

The musician and the actress are said to be currently living apart as they work through their relationship issues.

The actress refused to clarify the current status of their relationship during an appearance on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast - but she did confirm she and MGK had at some point ended their engagement.

Fox, first began dating the rocker in 2020 before becoming engaged in 2022. But a year later, they sparked split speculation before reconciling.

'I feel like everyone has such an opinion on your guys relationship. You got engaged, then I think it was called off, then we don't know what's going on with you. How would you describe your relationship with MGK?' Alex Cooper asked.

Megan responded: 'I think that what I've learned from being in this relationship is that it's not for public consumption, so I think as of now, I don't have a comment on like the status of the relationship per say.

'What I can say is that is what I refer to as being my twin soul and there will always be a tether to him no matter what. I can't say for sure what the capacity will be, but I will always be connected to him somehow.

The rapper-turned-rocker was pictured interacting with fans after the event at Irving Plaza, following a show with Trippie Redd to promote their newly released EP, 'Genre: Sadboy'

It comes after Megan Fox, 37, recently confirming that they have ended their engagement, but refused to further clarify the current status of their relationship; seen in 2021

The musician and the actress are said to be currently living apart as they work through their relationship issues; seen at Halloween party in 2023

'Beyond that I'm not willing to explain. But all those things you said were accurate things that have occurred and I can see them being confusing or interesting to people and them being like, "What's up?"'

Her final comment confirmed speculation she had ended her engagement from Kelly.

Megan and MGK met on the set of Midnight In The Switchgrass back in 2020 and began dating that year.

They never shied their affection for one another in public, often putting on PDA-packed displays wherever they went.

In 2022 they became engaged, and when announcing their betrothal on Instagram, Megan said she and MGK 'drank each other's blood' to celebrate the occasion.

But just over a year later, Megan sensationally hinted she had split from MGK as she shared a cryptic Instagram post before completely deleting her account.

The actress posted a video in which she appeared to burn a letter in a bonfire, along with a bag.

She also uploaded a very raunchy string of mirror selfies while joined by a male pal, in which she put on a busty display in a plunging black top and cut-out trousers.

Megan wrote in her caption, 'You can taste the dishonesty/ its all over your breath,' which are lyrics from Beyonce's 2016 track, Pray You Catch Me, about her husband Jay Z's own rumored affair.

She then removed all traces of Machine Gun Kelly from her Instagram grid, having unfollowed him before deleting her account altogether.

'There will always be a tether to him no matter what. I can't say for sure what the capacity will be, but I will always be connected to him somehow,' she shared on the Call Her Daddy podcast

The rapper also recently tattooed his entire upper body in black ink, reportedly to prove to Megan that he is 100% committed to their relationship

Ultimately they seemed to patch things up and things appear to be all well between them now, with the couple recently seen going on a getaway to Mexico together.

The rapper also recently tattooed his entire upper body in black ink, reportedly to prove to Megan that he is 100% committed to their relationship.

MGK told fans that the inking was for 'spiritual purposes,' but he reportedly made the change as a 'testament' to his relationship with the Jennifer's Body actress.

'Colson has told Megan that one major reason he did his latest blackout tattoo was not only for a spiritual reason, but he also wanted her to know he did it for her,' an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively.

'He wants her to know that no matter what one does with their own body, they both share each other and his body is her body and he also wants to remove so much confusion from his previous tattoos.

'He wants to move the confusion that ends up in their relationship from time to time and show her he can change for the benefit of himself and their relationship.'

The source explained that MGK is determined to show his dedication to moving forward in a more positive nature as a couple so they can begin to make 'a new love bond.'
Kate Ritchie has responded to wild romance rumours linking her with racing driver Daniel Ricciardo.

The radio star, 45, addressed speculation that she is 'crushing' on the Aussie Formula One star, 34, on Thursday morning's Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie radio show.

Kate was left in stitches when her co-hosts Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli told her she had been linked to Daniel, who often features on their Nova FM show, in a recent report.

She was baffled after learning there was speculation about the 'chemistry' between her and Daniel - who is dating Heidi Berger - following the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Firmly shutting down the rumours, Kate simply laughed them off and commented that Daniel's girlfriend Heidi might not be happy to learn of the fan speculation.

Kate Ritchie has responded to wild romance rumours linking her with racing driver Daniel Ricciardo

Joking about the claims, Fitzy told her: 'To be honest, I thought Daniel Ricardo seemed a little distracted on the track and I thought I knew everything.

'We're a pretty tight team in here and you kept this from us. Fitz, I feel like we've been played for a fool.'

Kate also joked about the photograph that had been used of her alongside the report as she quipped that Daniel would be 'head over heels' after seeing it.

She joked: 'Really, let's be honest. I mean, if Daniel didn't fancy me before, now, when he sees this article, and he sees on the left hand side a photograph of me in head to toe white linen as if I'm Maggie Tabberer, you will be head over heels.'

She was baffled after learning there was speculation about the 'chemistry' between her and Daniel - who is dating Heidi Berger - following the Melbourne Grand Prix

Wippa then read out speculation describing Kate and Daniel as a 'great match', to which Kate jokingly agreed, saying: 'I mean, here here!'

Daniel is in a happy relationship with his actress girlfriend Heidi, who is the daughter of Austrian driver Gerhard Berger.

The couple went Instagram official with their relationship back in 2022, but it is believed that they started dating back in 2019.

Daniel frequently features as a guest on Nova FM's Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie and previously opened up about his romance with Heidi on the show.

Firmly shutting down the rumours, Kate simply laughed them off and commented that Daniel's girlfriend might not be happy to learn of the fan speculation

Daniel is in a happy relationship with his actress girlfriend Heidi Berger (pictured), who is the daughter of Austrian driver Gerhard Berger

Back in 2022, he revealed he was 'in love' with his girlfriend Heidi as he gushed over their romance in sweet comments.

'Yeah mate, I'm in love,' he gushed at the time. 'I've got a good thing going on, so yeah, I've got a good balance in life right now.'

Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie can be heard from 6am to 9am on Nova 96.9 in Sydney and nationally on the Nova Network from 5am.
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Elizabeth Hurley and her lookalike son Damian Hurley coordinated in plunging ensembles at a special screening of his feature directorial debut Strictly Confidential, which was held at the Robin Williams Center in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday.

The glamorous mother-son duo share the same stylist Mike Adler, who dressed the British 58-year-old in a cleavage-boosting golden gown and her 21-year-old 'twin' in a black silk blouse and matching trousers.

Joining the pair was Elizabeth's ex-husband Arun Nayar, whom she divorced in 2011 after just three years of marriage due to alleged 'unreasonable behavior.'

But that didn't stop the Hurleys from ringing in the New Year with the 59-year-old Englishman, who's the CEO of Direction Software LLP.

The Lions Model - who celebrates his 22nd birthday this Thursday - admitted the deaths of his biological father Steve Bing and Hurley's former fiance Shane Warne partially inspired his Caribbean-set mystery thriller.

Elizabeth Hurley (L) and her lookalike son Damian Hurley (R) coordinated in plunging ensembles at a special screening of his feature directorial debut Strictly Confidential at the Robin Williams Center in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday

The glamorous mother-son duo share the same stylist Mike Adler, who dressed the British 58-year-old in a cleavage-boosting golden gown and her 21-year-old 'twin' in a black silk blouse and matching trousers

Damian - whose 'close friend' also committed suicide in 2019 - told ET on Tuesday: 'I'd gone through quite a lot of loss, quite a lot of grief.'

The Germany's Next Topmodel guest judge - who bought her son his first camcorder at age 8 - didn't just produce Strictly Confidential, she also portrayed the suspicious matriarch Lily Lowell.

Following the screening, Elizabeth changed into an eye-catching fuchsia pink halterneck dress with a daring thigh-high split as she and Damian joined the film's star Georgia Lock at the after party.

Much ado has been made over Hurley directing Elizabeth in her lesbian sex scenes with co-star Pear Chiravara who, at age 28, is is 30 years younger than her.

But Damian has defended his decision to direct his mother in the film's racier moments, revealing they didn't even have an intimacy co-ordinator on set.

The model insisted that while it may appear 'strange' to regular people, for those who have grown up in the industry as celebrity offspring, it is routine.

Speaking to The Sunday Times about filming his mother's racy scenes, he admitted: 'I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I don't know what that says about us.

'I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry. They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we'll just have grown up with in everyday life.'

Damian added that there was no need for intimacy co-ordinators on set, claiming 'everyone was very comfortable'.

Flaunting her ample assets, Elizabeth stunned in a plunging silver metallic gown as she posed on the black carpet for the screening, ahead of the film's release in the US on April 5

Joining the pair was Elizabeth's ex-husband Arun Nayar (R), whom she divorced in 2011 after just three years of marriage, due to alleged 'unreasonable behavior'

But that didn't stop the Hurleys from ringing in the New Year with the 59-year-old Englishman, who's the CEO of Direction Software LLP

Following the screening, Elizabeth changed into an eye-catching fuchsia pink halterneck dress with a daring thigh-high split as she and Damian joined the film's star Georgia Lock at the after party

Elizabeth put on another show-stopping display in the dramatic pink satin dress, teamed with gold platform heels

Being every inch the proud mother, Elizabeth joined Damian at the screening after supporting his directorial debut by starring in the film

The Lions Model previously admitted the deaths of his biological father Steve Bing and Hurley's former fiance Shane Warne partially inspired his Caribbean-set mystery thriller

Damian - whose 'close friend' also died by suicide in 2019 - told ET on Tuesday: 'I'd gone through quite a lot of loss, quite a lot of grief'

The Germany's Next Topmodel guest judge - who bought the Lions Model his first camcorder at age 8 - didn't just produce Strictly Confidential, she also portrayed the suspicious matriarch Lily Lowell

Much ado has been made over Hurley directing Elizabeth in her lesbian sex scenes with co-star Pear Chiravara who, at age 28, is 30 years younger than her

He added that Elizabeth taught him about sex when he was 'ludicrously young', insisting that it is a 'beautiful and natural' act, but banning him from watching violence in films.

The mother and son's relationship has raised eyebrows in the past, especially after Elizabeth revealed the secret photographer behind her seemingly endless stream of bikini Instagram posts was in fact Damian.

She made the revelation after uploading a series of sizzling holiday snaps of herself braless and in a bikini for Valentine's Day in 2018, but many were unsure how to take her confession, with several branding the relationship 'weird'.

But Damian insisted he didn't understand why people found it strange, declaring: 'It's business. We don't think about it for any more than point, press, done, post.'

Detailing their relationship, he explained that the pair were more like 'siblings' than parent and child, because it was just the two of them as he was growing up, admitting that their closeness has been even more acute and vital in recent years.

He added that they have 'twin telepathy' to the extent that they can 'have complete conversations just nodding and shaking our heads', saying they are 'extraordinarily alike and in tune'.

Elizabeth, who shares Damian with ex-Steve Bing, previously told Access Hollywood she felt 'safe and looked after' shooting the film.

The Austin Powers star explained that Damian put her at ease on set and described it as 'relaxing' having someone behind the camera who was 'looking out' for her.

Elizabeth explained: 'It's relaxing knowing someone's behind the camera who looks out for you. The things that his script needed me to do weren't necessarily things I'd always done in movies many times.

'But having him there meant that I felt safe and looked-after, and I knew in [post production] he'd look after me.'

She added: 'So actually it's kind of liberating to work with your family. I may do it again.'

Damian agreed with his mom, telling the publication he didn't find the intimate scenes problematic and stressed that the small time frame for shooting meant he couldn't afford to.

He said 'We felt in our comfort zone, it's very strange. I think, also, when you're on an independent film, you have 18 days to shoot, every single second counts. You can't sit around mulling scenes, thinking 'What if?''

The Piper actress - who felt 'very safe in his hands' - stressed to ET: 'What goes on between me and the actress, which people are making a fuss about, was so integral to the story. It was important. There's nothing gratuitous'

The Zoomer added of the 18-day shoot: 'We just didn't have time. Shooting an independent film, every second counts, every minute matters...That [sex] scene was one of seven we shot that day. It was the last thing on my mind. We just had to get the scene, make it beautiful, and get on to the next 12 scenes that day'

The Lionsgate flick hits limited US theaters this Friday as well as streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV+, but it doesn't start streaming in the UK until May 13

Elizabeth certainly got a kick out of posing in front of her own bikini-clad image on the billboard set up at the black carpet event

Damian has an eye-popping seven godparents including Hurley's ex-partner Hugh Grant (whom she dated 1987-2000) as well as Elton John, David Beckham, and Denis Leary

Hurley and the Elizabeth Hurley Beach designer also made sure to pose with Georgia Lock, (who portrayed Mia) flashing her black panties beneath a sheer-embellished halter gown and peep-toe heels

Damian has defended his decision to direct his mother in the film's racier moments, revealing they didn't even have an intimacy co-ordinator on set

The model insisted that while it may appear 'strange' to regular people, for those who have grown up in the industry as celebrity offspring, it is routine

Speaking to The Sunday Times about filming his mother's racy scenes, he admitted: 'I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I don't know what that says about us

'I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry. They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we'll just have grown up with in everyday life,' Damian said

Damian added that there was no need for intimacy co-ordinators on set, claiming 'everyone was very comfortable'

He added that Elizabeth taught him about sex when he was 'ludicrously young', insisting that it is a 'beautiful and natural' act, but banning him from watching violence in films

Model Libby Lindsey opted for an edgy leather dress as she posed for snaps with Damian at the event

Elizabeth hung out with veteran model Carol Alt, who defied her 63 years wearing a black Chinese halter dress and black stilettos

The Real Housewives of New York City alum Kelly Killoren Bensimon attended the screening wearing a leggy fringed frock, which showcased her famously bronzed complexion

Fans can catch more of Hurley on this Wednesday's episode of the Bravo boozy talk show Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, which she pre-taped on Tuesday night

Given his model good looks, it was no surprise that Damian caught the attention of female fans while at the premiere, with many waiting outside in the pouring rain

Damian was greeted by a slew of delighted fans who waited in the torrential weather during the screening

He added that whilst people found him shooting his mother in skimpy outfits 'controversial' he didn't see it like that.

He said: 'Showbusiness has been a fundamental part of my entire life. So to us, it's not a thing. She takes my photos, I take hers.'

'What goes on between me and the actress, which people are making a fuss about, was so integral to the story,' The Piper actress - who felt 'very safe in his hands' - stressed to ET.

'It was important. There's nothing gratuitous. I guess it's just for me. I've just been myself, I can't help it if people view it that way.'

The Zoomer added of his 18-day shoot: 'We just didn't have time. Shooting an independent film, every second counts, every minute matters...That [sex] scene was one of seven we shot that day. It was the last thing on my mind. We just had to get the scene, make it beautiful, and get on to the next 12 scenes that day.'

The Lionsgate flick hits limited US theaters this Friday as well as streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV+, but it doesn't start streaming in the UK until May 13.

Elizabeth certainly got a kick out of posing in front of her own bikini-clad image on the billboard set up at the black carpet event.

Damian has an eye-popping seven godparents including Hurley's ex-partner Hugh Grant (whom she dated 1987-2000) as well as Elton John, David Beckham, and Denis Leary.

The director spoke to People about the film earlier in the year, revealing Elizabeth had 'promised' to star in his first picture years ago, and when it was greenlit, she 'dropped everything' to take part.

The drama follows Mia, played by CBBC star Georgia Lock, as she is drawn into a 'world of sex, duplicity and betrayal' while trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her best friend Rebecca's suicide.

The trailer shows Mia returning to the exotic Caribbean island where Rebecca died, and along with uncovering old passions, vows to learn the truth about her friend's death.
Macaulay Culkin and fiancee Brenda Song celebrated her 36th birthday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with a resort vacation at Nobu Hotel Los Cabos.

The 43-year-old actor on Wednesday shared highlights of the trip with a photo slideshow of the Dollface actress on his Instagram account following her March 27 birthday.

'So the lady and I went to @nobuloscabos for her birthday,' Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister in the 1990 mega-hit Home Alone and its 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, captioned the post.

Donning a white polo shirt with the resort's name on the chest, Culkin said. 'On our first day we went to the gift shop and I found this shirt.'

He said that since he now 'looked like the staff' at the resort, he 'decided to spend' his 'four days there masquerading' as a poolside waiter, housekeeper, cabana boy room service attendant and bellhop.

Macaulay Culkin, 43, and fiancee Brenda Song celebrated her 36th birthday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico at Nobu Hotel Los Cabos, where he served her a variety of ways

Donning a white polo shirt with the resort's name on the chest, Culkin said, 'On our first day we went to the gift shop and I found this shirt'

Macaulay, who was also in films such as The Good Son and My Girl, was seen in a series of photos serving Song, who he's been linked with nearly seven years, and shares two sons with.

In one image, Song took a selfie with Culkin in the background toting her suitcases. In another shot, Culkin was seen presenting his partner with a towel as she relaxed on a beach chair.

Culkin presented Song with a room service cart toting a bottle of Champagne in another pic, hamming it up in each pose.

Macaulay, the older brother of Emmy-winning Succession star Kieran Culkin, expressed his gratitude with the resort for providing him and Song 'for the fun time and excellent stay.'

He added, 'And thanks for selling that shirt. It really made me feel like I belonged.'

Some Instagram users referenced Song's role as hotel heiress London Tipton on Disney's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody in relation to the luxury trip.

One user commented, 'Some might say you were treating her to the suite life,' while another said, 'You guys living the "suite life."'

Prior to his romance Song, Culkin was involved in relationships with actresses Mila Kunis and Rachel Miner, while Song was previously linked to Miley Cyrus's brother Trace Cyrus.

In one image, Song took a selfie with Culkin in the background toting her suitcases

In another shot, Culkin was seen presenting his partner with a towel as she relaxed on a beach chair

The Home Alone alum was seen making a bed in another shot from the slideshow

Culkin presented Song with a room service cart toting a bottle of Champagne

Song, who voices the role of Akemi on the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai, shared a slideshow of images from the excursion

She relaxed in a cabana in the set of pictures, with Culkin presumably taking on the role of photographer as well

Some Instagram users referenced Song's role as hotel heiress London Tipton on Disney's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody in relation to the luxury trip

Song, who voices the role of Akemi on the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai, shared a slideshow of images from the excursion on her page Wednesday.

She relaxed in a cabana as well as on the beach in the set of pictures, with Culkin presumably taking on the role of photographer as well.

'Cabo adventures,' she captioned the post. 'Who is she?!'
Sofia Boutella put on a leggy display in a revealing miniskirt when she hit the red carpet for the premiere of Rebel Moon  Part Two: The Scargiver on Wednesday in New York City's Queen borough.

The 42-year-old Algerian actress was joined by her costars to celebrate both the premiere of the Zack Snyderdirected sequel and the release of the film's soundtrack album, Rebel Moon  Songs of the Rebellion.

Sofia stars in Rebel Moon as Kora, a former soldier of the galactic empire's military, the Imperium. In Part Two, she leads a band of warriors to protect a group of farmers on an isolated moon as they battle against the oppressive empire's Motherworld and its Imperium soldiers.

The film will begin streaming on Netflix on April 19, while the soundtrack album will be released this Friday.

Sofia was covered up in an intriguing long-sleeve black velvet top with a frilly collar that was cropped to showcase her tummy.

Sofia Boutella put on a leggy display in a revealing miniskirt when she hit the red carpet for the premiere of Rebel Moon  Part Two: The Scargiver on Wednesday in New York City's Queen borough

She stars in Rebel Moon as Kora, a former soldier of the galactic empire's military, the Imperium. She leads a band of warriors to protect a group of farmers on an isolated moon as they battle against the oppressive empire's Motherworld and its Imperium soldiers

The dancer-turned-actress contrasted the top with a dark miniskirt wrapped in a layer of shimmering semi-sheer fabric that gave it a puffed-up appearance.

Her toned legs culminated in a set of pointy-toed black pumps, which complemented her raven hair, which she wore tied back with casual bangs in the front.

The Star Trek actress skipped the accessories and thin set of silver hoop earrings.

Joining Sofia on the red carpet was her costar Michiel Huisman, who plays her love interest Gunnar.

He had on a casual black windbreaker over a slim black shirt, and he dressed up a bit with lustrous tan trousers and black loafers.

Djimon Hounsou, who plays a former Imperium general who takes up arms alongside Sofia's character, looked debonaire in a well-tailored brown double-breasted suit with a luxurious white turtleneck sweater.

E. Duffy, the nonbinary actor who plays Millius, wore an intriguing gray ribbed romper with plaid-patterned legs.

They added some height with a set of tall black heels.

Sofia was covered up in an intriguing long-sleeve black velvet top with a frilly collar that was cropped to showcase her tummy

The dancer-turned-actress contrasted the top with a dark miniskirt wrapped in a layer of shimmering semi-sheer fabric that gave it a puffed-up appearance

Joining Sofia on the red carpet was her costar Michiel Huisman, who plays her love interest Gunnar. He had on a casual black windbreaker over a slim black shirt, and he dressed up a bit with lustrous tan trousers and black loafers

Djimon Hounsou, who plays a former Imperium general who takes up arms alongside Sofia's character, looked debonaire in a well-tailored brown double-breasted suit with a luxurious white turtleneck sweater

E. Duffy, the nonbinary actor who plays Millius, wore an intriguing gray ribbed romper with plaid-patterned legs. They added some height with a set of tall black heels

They were joined by costar Staz Nair, who wore a stylish burgundy suit with multiple pockets and a pale red collar-free tuxedo shirt, along with reptile-print shoes

Rounding out the red carpet guests were actors Ed Skrein in a gray suit, director Zack Snyder in a denim jacket with gray trousers, Fra Fee in a thick gray jacket and cropped pants, Ray Fisher in a burnt orange jacket with a black hat and Stuart Martin in all black

They were joined by costar Staz Nair, who wore a stylish burgundy suit with multiple pockets and a pale red collar-free tuxedo shirt.

He completed the look with a chic set of reptile-print shoes.

Rounding out the red carpet guests were actors Ed Skrein in a gray suit, Fra Fee in a thick gray jacket and cropped pants, Ray Fisher in a burnt orange jacket with a black hat and Stuart Martin in all black.

Zack Snyder, who directed and co-wrote the space opera, looked casual cool in a slim denim jacket with relaxed gray trousers and brown leather shoes.
More than two decades after playing the mother of two-school-aged children in Spy Kids, Carla Gugino is still wondering how she landed the role at the age of just 27.

During an interview with BuzzFeed, the now 52-year-old actress recalled her experience making the film, which turned out to be a franchise consisting of three original films with Robert Rodriguez at the helm.

Playing the wife of Antonio Banderas, the Sarasota, Florida native played Ingrid Cortez, a retired OSS agent turned consultant worker, and mother to kids Juni and Carmen who were supposed to be ages nine and 11.

'It is so funny because I was 27,' she said of the original movie that ended up being a big hit. 'It was a really beautiful kind of double-edged sword because I love that movie so much. And the whole experience was incredible, and the movies continue.'

The leading lady went on to share how she just adored her character, but still can't get over the fact that she was far too young to portray the mother.

Carla Gugino is still stumped at how she landed the role of Ingrid Cortez, a retired OSS agent and mother to kids ages nine and 11 in the film Spy Kids (2001), when she was just 27

During an interview with BuzzFeed , the now 52-year-old actress recalled her experience making the film, which turned out to be a franchise consisting of three original films with Robert Rodriguez at the helm; seen in March

'I love Ingrid Cortes,' she said of her role. 'But it was funny because I was 10 years, at least, too young for the role because I was a spy for 10 years and then somehow had children who were like 9 and 11,' she added while laughing. 'So it was physically totally impossible.'

As for Banderas, 63, and his 11-year age gap with Gugino, he was much more age appropriate as he was 38 at the time of the shoot.

It turns out Rodriguez had been shooting for two weeks by the time he hired Gugino for Spy Kids.

'He was like, 'I feel like I'm looking for a mother for my kids.' We were talking about it, and I had auditioned for him and he said, 'I think if we do our job right, no one will ever question it,'' the actress recalled, while referencing her young age for the role.

After admitting no one really did question her age, she went on to reveal she felt her past history working with Banderas on a movie called Miami Rhapsody with David Frankel directing helped ease her into the role.

Gugino and Banderas played parents to Juni Cortez and Carmen Cortez, portrayed by Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara in the original three films that also included the sequels Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003).

Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the first of the spy action comedy films became a big hit with both critics and fans, grossing $147.9 million against a budget of $35 million.

Playing the wife of Antonio Banderas , the Sarasota, Florida native played Ingrid Cortez, a retired OSS agent turned consultant worker, and mother to kids Juni and Carmen who were supposed to be ages nine and 11

'I love Ingrid Cortes,' she said of her role. 'But it was funny because I was 10 years, at least, too young for the role because I was a spy for 10 years and then somehow had children who were like 9 and 11,' she added while laughing. 'So it was physically totally impossible'; seen in 2022

The success helped it earn the distinction of being among the top 20 highest-grossing films of 2001.

The cast also featured the likes of Danny Trejo, Alan Cumming, George Clooney, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick and Tony Shalhoub.

The core cast of Gugino, Banderas, PenaVega and Sabara also starred together in Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams (2002), which was another bonafide hit raking in $119.7 million while working from a $38 million budget.

The last of the trilogy, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003), earned even more than the first two, grossing $197 million while spending $38 million on the production.

Rodriguez would explore some new characters with some from the original for Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011) with Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Ricky Gervais and Jeremy Piven joining with Vega and Sabara.

Ultimately, the filmmaker rebooted the family-friendly action series entirely with last year's Netflix movie Spy Kids: Armageddon, this time co-starring Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi as super spy parents.

After the success of the original Robert Rodriguez returned to write and direct Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams (2002) with the core four stars Carla Gugino, Antonio Banderas, Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara

The second sequel Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over starred Ricardo Montalban with returnees Daryl Sabara, Alexa Vega, Carla Gugino and Antonio Banderas

Gugino currently stars in the Max political drama series The Girls On The Bus, created by Amy Chozick and Julie Plec.

It also stars Melissa Benoist, Christina Elmore, Natasha Behnam and Brandon Scott.

Her Hollywood resume includes roles in such films as This Boy's Life (1993), Snake Eyes (1998), Sin City (2005), Night at the Museum (2006), American Gangster (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), and the series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023).
Chelsea Lazkani's estranged husband Jeff has accused her of being 'physically aggressive' days after she filed for divorce.

On Tuesday, Jeff, 40, responded to the Selling Sunset star's, 31, divorce filing, with his lawyer noting that he also wants a divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason, according to People.

In a written declaration Jeff, who is a managing partner at Icon Media Direct, accused the reality star of being 'physically aggressive', and claimed it happened before and after she filed for divorce, following seven years of marriage.

The California native also alleged that the British-Nigerian realtor 'struck' him 'in the face in an aggressive manner, breaking his glasses and causing a small cut on the side of his face.'

He also claimed that in order to maintain the wellbeing of their two kids, three-year-old daughter Melia, and son, Maddox, five, they both should not live at their five-bedroom Manhattan Beach home, which Jeff says he is the primary owner of.

Chelsea Lazkani's estranged husband Jeff has accused her of being 'physically aggressive' days after she filed for divorce; they are seen in 2022

Jeff went on to allege that Chelsea, who he said is not named on the mortgage, 'installed a lock on the primary bedroom to' his 'exclusion, remotely monitors his access to the property, and records him at the property.'

The pair purchased the home for $2.9 million in 2018 and Jeff is asking for 'exclusive use and possession' of the home.

Additionally, Jeff alleged that she 'provokes' him and 'records him in an attempt to catch him overreacting to her.'

He also accused Chelsea of 'exhibiting suspicious behavior,' and claimed a number of his 'personal belongings' have disappeared or were taken from their home after Chelsea filed for divorce.

Among the missing items is a scarf he received from a late matriarch in his family, his father's hat, and a spare key to his car.

He claimed Chelsea confessed to moving his Rolex after he asked her where it was, and said she 'has also been sneaking around the property and attempted' to go into his room 'when she thought he was not home.'

He is requesting that Chelsea have 48 hours to get her belongings from the property, and that she not be allowed inside for more than two hours.

He also wants 'a neutral party' present to assist them in dividing the items they might not agree on.

In a written declaration Jeff alleged that she 'struck' him 'in the face in an aggressive manner, breaking his glasses and causing a small cut on the side of his face, as per People; she is seen in February

Additionally, Jeff alleged that she 'provokes' him and 'records him in an attempt to catch him overreacting to her'; they are seen in 2023

He also claimed that in order to maintain the wellbeing of their two kids, three-year-old daughter Melia, and son, Maddox, five, they both should not live at their five-bedroom Manhattan Beach home, which Jeff says he is the primary owner of

Jeff stated he was 'stunned' after finding out that Chelsea filed for divorce via a text message from TMZ, and had sent her a text message but she didn't respond.

He said that same day her brother began sleeping at the Manhattan Beach home without notifying Jeff, and claimed the last time he slept in the home was the day he learned about the divorce.

He claimed that he hasn't slept in the primary bedroom with Chelsea since shortly after they welcomed Maddox because of 'post-pregnancy discomforts and sleep schedules' and though he wanted to move back into the room Chelsea 'refused' after being 'accustomed to her own sleep space.'

He also alleged that he discovered Chelsea had opened a separate bank account at that time.

He noted that he does not want the court to award spousal support to either one of them.

News of the pair's divorce broke late last month. In legal documents, obtained by TMZ, Chelsea cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the official reason for their split.

She is seeking 'joint physical and legal custody' of her little ones with Lazkani.

Additionally, the TV personality has asked for spousal support from Jeff, but did not terminate his ability to request alimony himself.

He is requesting that Chelsea have 48 hours to get her belongings from the property, and that she not be allowed inside for more than two hours; they are seen with Maddox in 2022

News of the pair's split broke late last month when Lazkani filed for divorce after seven years of marriage over 'irreconcilable differences'; she is seen in March

The outlet pointed out that nowhere in her filing is a prenup mentioned, but 'Chelsea is saying that their division of assets needs to be determined in court.'

Chelsea did not provide a date of separation and has already deleted nearly every trace of Jeff from her Instagram.

The former couple met on Tinder back in 2015.

Since she joined Selling Sunset on its fifth season, Jeff, who introduced his wife to her boss Jason Oppenheim, has made a few cameos.

In 2018, Lazkani described her spouse as 'the most selfless, caring, funny, cheeky and most handsome person' she knows.

'I can't describe how blessed I feel to share life and love with you,' she wrote in a sweet tribute on their anniversary.

During an interview with DailyMail.com, Chelsea revealed they met online after she first moved to Los Angeles.

'We spoke about 15 times before getting together. I don't want to waste my time and give my energy to somebody if I don't think it will be worth it. I felt like I knew him before we even met and the connection was immediate,' she gushed in May 2022.

The duo met in 2015 and went on to wed at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California in 2017

They married two years later, with Chelsea saying: 'I just got lucky. My husband is amazing and I still wonder how I found this kind of love because it's so hard.'

The duo wed at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California and enjoyed their honeymoon traveling across Thailand, Singapore and the Maldives.

Over the years on social media she declared their wedding date her 'forever' favorite day and told fans that she was 'more in love' than ever.

'Happy Anniversary to my special, special husband. 100 more years of hugging, kissing and laughing. My forever love,' she wrote on Instagram while reflecting on their marriage.
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Dev Patel packed of the PDA with his girlfriend Tilda Cobham-Hervey as they arrived at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Monkey Man.

The couple  who have been romantically linked since 2017  hit the red carpet ahead of the screening held at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre.

The Slumdog Millionaire star, 33, co-wrote, directed and is the lead star of the action-thriller that debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% critics score.

He and Tilda, 29, held hands and often stopped to gaze at one another amid the Hollywood fanfare on Wednesday night.

Dev looked stylish in a blue jacket and pants combo worn with a black top and black patent leather shoes.

Dev Patel packed of the PDA with his girlfriend Tilda Cobham-Hervey as they arrived at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Monkey Man

The couple  who have been romantically linked since 2017  hit the red carpet ahead of the screening held at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre

Tilda exuded elegance in a burgundy floral dress with white ruffle trim on the sleeves and an asymmetrical slit in the front.

The Aussie actress' short brunette hair skimmed her jawline and she rocked a glossy berry-toned lip.

Dev and Tilda met in 2017 while shooting the film Hotel Mumbai (2018) in Tilda's hometown of Adelaide in South Australia.

The duo are private when it comes to their relationship but there have been fan-fueled rumors in recent months that Dev and Tilda plan to wed in the near future.

Dev's glamorous co-star Sobhita Dhulipala was also on hand for Wednesday's LA premiere.

The Indian actress, 31, looked angelic in a white strapless dress with a dazzling beaded bodice.

Sobhita  who plays 'Sita'  smoldered for shutterbugs with her hair swept up in an elegant bun.

Karrueche Tran made jaws drop upon her arrival at Hollywood's TCL Chinese Theatre.

He and Tilda, 29, held hands and often stopped to gaze at one another amid the Hollywood fanfare on Wednesday night

Dev looked stylish in a blue jacket and pants combo worn with a black top and black patent leather shoes

Dev and Tilda met in 2017 while shooting the film Hotel Mumbai (2018) in Tilda's hometown of Adelaide in South Australia

Tilda exuded elegance in a burgundy floral dress with white ruffle trim on the sleeves and an asymmetrical slit in the front

The duo are private when it comes to their relationship but there are rumors that Dev and Tilda plan to wed in the near future

The Slumdog Millionaire star, 33, wrote, directed and is the lead star of the action-thriller that currently boasts a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes; Dev (center) seen with (L-R) Sobhita Dhulipala, Sharlto Copley, Sikandar Kher and Pitobsh Tripathi

Dev's glamorous co-star Sobhita Dhulipala was also on hand for Wednesday's LA premiere

The Indian actress, 31, looked angelic in a white strapless dress with a dazzling beaded bodice

The actress, 35, flaunted her chiseled tummy in a sexy pink coord with a matching bucket bag.

The outfit  which consisted of a tiny bra top and pencil skirt  was made of a stunning pink satin fabric with a rose floral pattern.

Karrueche's complexion had a radiant glow and her short hair was gelled.

YouTube sensation Liza Koshy wowed in a strapless black accordion dress that exposed her killer legs.

Her sleek raven hair flowed down her back in straight strands and she rocked a sultry brown eyeshadow look.

Richa Moorjani sizzled in a sexy red dress that showed off her gym-honed figure.

The Never Have I Ever star, 34, accessorized with shiny gold hoops that popped against her brunette hair.

Karrueche Tran made jaws drop upon her arrival at Hollywood's TCL Chinese Theatre

The actress, 35, flaunted her chiseled tummy in a sexy pink coord with a matching bucket bag. The outfit  which consisted of a tiny bra top and pencil skirt  was made of a stunning pink satin fabric with a rose floral pattern

Karrueche's complexion had a radiant glow and her short hair was gelled

Karrueche strolled the red carpet int black heels that showed off her pastel pink pedicure

YouTube sensation Liza Koshy wowed in a strapless black accordion dress that exposed her killer legs

Her sleek brunette hair flowed down her back in straight strands and she rocked a sultry brown eyeshadow look

Richa Moorjani sizzled in a sexy red dress that showed off her gym-honed figure

Social media star Lilly Singh flashed her toned tummy in a black crop top and baggy pants styled with a white blazer and shiny leather loafers

Lena Waithe looked effortlessly cool as she rocked a black leather motorcycle jacket and designer sunglasses to the LA premiere on Wednesday

Stephanie Hsu beamed for shutterbugs while rocking a unique white kaftan and sky-high black heels

Social media star Lilly Singh flashed her toned tummy in a black crop top and baggy pants styled with a white blazer and shiny leather loafers.

Lena Waithe looked effortlessly cool as she rocked a black leather motorcycle jacket and designer sunglasses to the LA premiere on Wednesday.

Stephanie Hsu beamed for shutterbugs while rocking a unique white kaftan and sky-high black heels.

Filled with hair-raising fight sequences reminiscent of John Wick, Monkey Man follows the story of a fight club brawler in an Indian metropolis hell-bent on vengeance.

Dev stars as the Kid, a poor man from the countryside who worms his way into the urban elite in order to avenge his mother's death.

The story is shot through with iconography from Hindu scripture, centering especially on the widely worshipped figure of Hanuman.

An earthly incarnation of the god Shiva - the destroyer - Hanuman is half man and half monkey, a supernaturally powerful figure who appears in the classic epic The Ramayana in the war against the demon-king Ravan and his army.

Monkey Man used to be a Netflix project, but was snapped up by Jordan Peele, whose Monkeypaw productions is now releasing it in movie theaters in collaboration with Universal Pictures on April 5.

The action-thriller  which is just seven minutes shy of a two-hour runtime  made its premiere at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, where Dev and the cast received a standing ovation.

Monkey Man debuted on Rotten Tomatoes last month with an incredible 100% critic rating. It's now sitting at 94%.

The movie marks Dev's first time directing a feature film, coming six years after he helmed a short film called Home Shopper starring Armie Hammer.

During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show, Dev spoke about filming during the COVID-19 pandemic and how 'everything that could've gone wrong went wrong.'

Filled with hair-raising fight sequences reminiscent of John Wick, Monkey Man follows the story of a fight club brawler in an Indian metropolis hell-bent on vengeance

Dev stars as the Kid, a poor man from the countryside who worms his way into the urban elite in order to avenge his mother's death

Monkey Man used to be a Netflix project, but was snapped up by Jordan Peele, whose Monkeypaw productions is now releasing it in movie theaters in collaboration with Universal Pictures on April 5

He told host Jimmy Fallon that he broke his hand while shooting an intense action scene.

'In the first action scene, I'm basically a crash-test dummy and my costar is using my face to break every piece of porcelain in this bathroom. And my hand, I heard it snap and I was like, 'This is not good,'' Dev recalled, as transcribed by PEOPLE.

'You've got 450 people on an island and if I go down, the film goes down. I told my producer, 'Don't say anything. Let's just keep filming.'

'By the end of the day my hand was like an elephant's foot. We couldn't afford to put a cast on and VFX it out of this movie,' he said.

Dev explained that the COVID-19 protocols made it extremely difficult to seek medical attention and that he ended up taking a private medical jet to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he finally saw a doctor.

He had to get a screw in his hand and the doctor warned him to keep weight off the injury or he could 'ruin your bone.'

But Dev admitted to Fallon that he was back to performing stunts the very next day.

'I went back to set the next day and was throwing myself and bouncing off a window.'
Johnny Depp is attempting a comeback with his first film in four years, the indie period drama Jeanne du Barry.

The 60-year-old actor plays King Louis XV in this period drama alongside actress/writer/director Maiwenn in the film, arriving in theaters May 2.

The new trailer for Jeanne du Barry was released on Wednesday (via Vertical YouTube) offering new footage from the film.

The film had its world premiere as the opening night film of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, released theatrically in France on the same day, with Vertical releasing the film in the U.S.

The trailer begins by revealing the film is set in France 1768, showing Depp enter a room flanked by many guards.

Johnny Depp is attempting a comeback with his first film in four years, the indie period drama Jeanne du Barry

The 60-year-old actor plays King Louis XV in this period drama alongside actress/writer/director Maiwenn in the film, arriving in theaters May 2

A title card reads that his character Louis XV, 'had many lovers... but only one stole his heart,' while a male character tells another that the King must meet Jeanne.

Maiwenn's title character is introduced, making a regal introduction, as she's told not to look the king in the eyes and, 'one does not show feelings at Court.'

Jeanne completely disregards protocol and looks Louis right in the eyes as she slowly gives him a curtsy, while someone says, 'Who does she think she is?'

One of Louis' servants tells Jeanne that the King wants to meet her, as she enters his chambers and tells him she's 'honored' to be there.

He offers her champagne before they kiss, as a title card reveals this is based on, 'the untold true story.'

King Louis is seen walking into a regal event with Jeanne and is heard saying, 'I want to be by her side. When the sun rises, and when it sets.'

He's seen presenting her with a magnificent necklace, before telling her he wants her to stay with him at his palace in Versailles.

A female character says there is, 'A vile rumor that has Versailles abuzz,' while some of the other women conspire to get Jeanne removed from the court.

Maiwenn's title character is introduced, making a regal introduction, as she's told not to look the king in the eyes and, 'one does not show feelings at Court'

Jeanne completely disregards protocol and looks Louis right in the eyes as she slowly gives him a curtsy, while someone says, 'Who does she think she is?'

One of Louis' servants tells Jeanne that the King wants to meet her, as she enters his chambers and tells him she's 'honored' to be there

He's seen presenting her with a magnificent necklace, before telling her he wants her to stay with him at his palace in Versailles

'You are in danger, madame,' a male character tells Jeanne,' as they show critic quotes praising Depp's performance, his first ever using the French language.

Louis is told that the, 'union between France and Austria is at stake,' while Louis tells another character, 'You know what must be done.'

Jeanne is told, 'You are starting to see the King's dark side,' while Louis tells Jeanne that he's in love with her, but she insists, 'This isn't love.'

The trailer winds down with a number of dramatic shots of Louis and Jeanne, as one woman says their tryst is 'grotesque,' when Louis' handler responds.

'No, it's Versailles,' as the trailer comes to an end.
Love Island star Eve Gale has revealed she's dating TOWIE star Demi Sims after the pair enjoyed a flirty friendship for years.

The reality star, 24, previously appeared on the villa's All Stars series with her sister Jess, and despite a short-lived romance with Casey O'Gorman, failed to make a lasting connection.

Now, Eve has revealed that she and Demi have enjoyed their first date together, with another night out already in the works.

The twins divulged details on their love life while appearing on Demi's Sims Squared podcast, alongside her sister Frankie.

Demi said: 'Me and Eve went on a date last week for anyone watching and it was our first date, wasn't it?'

Love Island star Eve Gale has revealed she's dating TOWIE star Demi Sims after the pair enjoyed a flirty friendship for years

The reality revealed that she and Demi have enjoyed their first date together, after first meeting at a Boohoo launch party three years ago

Eve added: 'We kind of had other dates, but it's not been a date date. That was like our first date. I had the best time.'

Eve shared that she and Demi had previously been pals for three years, after meeting at a Boohoo event in London after lockdown.

Describing their first date, Demi told listeners: 'I was nervous [the date] was going to get awkward, you know because usually we've always got people around?

'I was thinking, ''Is there going to be any awkward silences?'', then when I picked you up, you were chewing my ear off. I actually didn't get a word in.

'And then we got there, had a drink, had so much food... and yeah, it was quite a short date to be fair.

'It was quite a private date, though, because we were in Amazonico and we were in this booth and everyone was behind us. People assume we're besties, don't they?'

But Eve admitted that she only had eyes for Demi, adding: 'I said this to Demi, I never would actually go on a date with another girl.'

Last week she also made the surprise admission that she enjoyed a date with Jason Derulo during her trip to Miami.

Eve's return to the Love Island villa proved to be short-lived as she and Casey were dumped from the villa after their romance broke down

Speaking on The Sun's All Stars podcast, she said: 'I was in Miami when I met him and then he was in London filming. He's doing some kind of show so when he's in London I see him.

'He hired out a restaurant in Mayfair. We'll just leave it as we went on a date!'

Eve's return to the Love Island villa proved to be short-lived as she and Casey were dumped from the villa after their romance broke down.

The couple struck up a relationship when Eve arrived in the villa with her twin sister Jess and Joe Garrett.

Before Casey had a chance to speak to Eve, Callum Jones informed Sophie of the situation and swiftly pulled Eve to break the news.

Callum said: 'Hes just wondering if that can be a real thing. I think hes going to speak to her anyway and have a conversation with her.'

Sophie told Eve: 'Ive just been informed somethingbasically Casey is now saying he doesnt know if him and Eve can work on the outside.'

Eve said: 'What? To me he literally says completely different'

After a brief conversation with Jess and Sophie, Eve pulled Casey and said: 'I've just heard that you've been like to Callum, "Oh, yeah I don't see a future with Eve".'

Casey said: 'I didn't say that. That's a lie. They said how's things been going with Eve and I said, "Yeah, really good but I'm not sure if I see that spark yet..."'

Eve responded: 'Apparently you said you don't see a future with me?' while Casey insisted: 'I didn't say that.

'Well they said you did. It's not like I'm sat here thinking about how like the future, me and you are going to get married and stuff. I'm just enjoying my time.'

Elsewhere, it was reported last week that Jess had split from Callum Jones , just five weeks after they finished as runner-up during the All Stars final

She added: 'I think it's a bit muggy...I feel like you're just trying to put me down...'

Casey tried to defend himself and said: 'That's been taken way out of context.'

But Eve shot back: 'Well, I don't think it had Casey because it's come from somewhere...'

Casey added: 'I was just being totally honest with them...it's really not that deep.'

Eve continued: 'Well it's kind of deep to me to be honest...'

Elsewhere, it was reported last week that Jess had split from Callum Jones, just five weeks after they finished as runner-up during the All Stars final, following an explosive row at Molly Smith's clothing launch party.
Two stars who know a thing or two about fashion and style sat down together on What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

At one point guests Brooke Shields and Elizabeth Hurley dished with fans, via video, who had a few questions for the legendary ladies that needed to be answered.

A fan asked the longtime model and Pretty Baby actress 'what made you say yes to Kim Kardashian's invite to model Skims and did you get to keep what you wore?'

'Well there was very little,' Shields said of her outfit during the Skims shoot, before confessing, 'I was so happy that at this age that anybody wanted to see me in anything that looked like underwear.

She added, 'So I was very proud that she wanted to represent women my age in lingerie and I knew they were going to treat me well and take care of me.'

Brooke, who posed for Skims in 2022, said it was a 'great' experience and she felt 'sexy.'

Brooke Shields, 58, and Elizabeth Hurley, 58, sat down together on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and answered some pressing question from fans

A fan asked the longtime model and Pretty Baby actress 'what made you say yes to Kim Kardashian 's invite to model Skims and did you get to keep what you wore?'

Brooke posed for Kim Kardashian's SKIMS brand in 2022

Brooke, who posed for Skims in 2022, said it was a 'great' experience and she felt 'sexy'

Shields, who glowed in a plunging silver dress, would go on to heap praise on Kim and the Skims crew for their professionalism during the photoshoot for the campaign.

'It was a great experience and I felt sexy,' which elicited cheers from the live studio audience.

The next question turned to Hurley, 58, who looked busty in a skin-tight gray dress and her brown locks looking voluminous and flowing down over her ample cleavage.

Jasmine and Jessica from Philadelphia wanted to know 'if it was true you turned down the third Austin Powers movie, and do you regret it since you would have been able to act with Beyonce?'

'You know what? I was offered the third Austin Powers,' she admitted. 'I actually did shoot my bit but when I was offered it I said to them, and they were the first people who knew apart from my immediate family, I said, "guys I'm pregnant," and I was pregnant with my son.'

She would go on to reiterate, "Unless you shoot it literally next week I don't think I can shoot it,' she revealed.

'And they were like, "Oh, you'll be fine you're so skinny,' which she shot down quickly by revealing that she 'gained 63 pounds when she was pregnant.'

She continued, " Oh no you really have to shoot really soon, and by the time they were ready to shoot I was literally this pregnant,' she added while using both arms to indicate she was already very large at the time.

'So it wasn't my fault. I love Beyonce and I love Austin Powers. It just wasn't my fault, plus I was away so it wasn't going to work.'

The first question from fans, via, video, went to the Pretty Baby star

Andrew and Rob from Canada asked the longtime model and Pretty Baby actress 'what made you say yes to Kim Kardashian's invite to model Skims and did you get to keep what you wore?'

'Well there was very little,' Shields said of her outfit during the Skims shoot, before confessing, 'I was so happy that at this age that anybody wanted to see me in anything that looked like underwear'

The former Calvin Klein model added, 'So I was very proud that she wanted to represent women my age in lingerie and I knew they were going to treat me well and take care of me'

Jasmine and Jessica from Philadelphia wanted to know 'if it was true you turned down the third Austin Powers movie, and do you regret it since you would have been able to act with Beyonce?'

'You know what? I was offered the third Austin Powers,' she admitted. 'I actually did shoot my bit but when I was offered it I said to them, and they were the first people who knew apart from my immediate family, I said, "guys I'm pregnant," and I was pregnant with my son'

She would go on to reiterate, "Unless you shoot it literally next week I don't think I can shoot it,' she revealed, while holding her arms out to insinuate how large she had gotten already

'And they were like, "Oh, you'll be fine you're so skinny,' which she shot down quickly by revealing that she 'gained 63 pounds when she was pregnant'

'So it wasn't my fault. I love Beyonce and I love Austin Powers. It just wasn't my fault, plus I was away so it wasn't going to work,' the British actress said in making her case

During a game of Versace or Hibachi, where the ladies and Andy decide whether one of their old looks is still worthy or not, Shields was shown an all-black look she wore to the Death Becomes Her premiere in July 1992

'I met Marky mark that night,' the mother of two said, before making her finial statement on her ensemble that evening nearly 32 years ago

'I stood by that,' she proclaimed. 'I had glasses and red lips and big hoops and I was proud,' she said of the evening

During a game of Versace or Hibachi, where the ladies and Andy decide whether one of their old looks is still worthy or not, Shields was shown an all-black look she wore to the Death Becomes Her premiere in July 1992.

Without hesitation, the mother of two daughter owned that look consisting of a skirt, crop top and tights, giving it a thumbs up, calling it a Versace.

And then out of nowhere, Shields revealed how she got to hang out with mark Wahlberg that night, which was back during his rapper days.

'I met Marky mark that night,' she said, before making her final statement on her ensemble that evening nearly 32 years ago.

'I stood by that,' she proclaimed. 'I had glasses and red lips and big hoops and I was proud,' she said of the evening so long ago.

Cohen chimed in: 'Any chemistry with Marky Mark that night?' which she promptly shot down with a confident, 'No.'
The offspring of Sting and film producer Trudie Styler, Eliot Sumner, made a rare public appearance at the premiere of Netflix's Ripley in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old, who was born female, but now identifies as non-binary, looked dapper in a black suit and a crisp white shirt.

Eliot, who appears in one episode of Ripley, accessorised with stylish shades at the event, held at the Egyptian Theatre.

The actor was later seen catching up with Dakota Fanning and Andrew Scott, who star in the series.

The show is a small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel, which inspired an entire genre of psychological thrillers, including The Talented Mr Ripley, which was released in 1999.

The offspring of Sting and film producer Trudie Styler, Eliot Sumner, made a rare public appearance at the premiere of Netflix's Ripley in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Eliot, who appears in one episode of Ripley, accessorised with stylish shades at the event, held at the Egyptian Theatre

The premiere was also attended by numerous stars, including Dylan Sprouse, Caylee Cowan, Desperate Housewives' Jesse Metcalfe, Katherine McNamara and Kelli Berglund.

Eliot is currently single after splitting from society model Frankie Herbert, 27, last year.

Frankie is one of the very few to have performed as a catwalk model in front of the late Queen Elizabeth.

Eliot, who played a guard in James Bond film No Time To Die, 'unfollowed' Frankie on picture-sharing app Instagram.

Frankie - a granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Carnarvon, the late Queen's racing manager and confidant - appears to have already found a new love interest.

She has shared a photo of her kissing an American named Kate Balison during London's annual LGBTQ+ Pride parade last weekend.

'I feel so privileged that life has been so much more delicious since I started accepting myself and allowing love to just be love without labels or definition,' she says.

'Being openly queer has allowed me to be loved to my fullest.' Frankie declared she was 'pansexual' last December, saying: 'Pansexual and proud, baby.'

The 30-year-old, who was born female, but now identifies as non-binary, looked dapper in a black suit and a crisp white shirt

The actor was later seen catching up with Dakota Fanning and Andrew Scott, who star in the series

The show is a small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel, which inspired an entire genre of psychological thrillers, including The Talented Mr Ripley, which was released in 1999

Pansexual means someone who 'is attracted to all people regardless of gender identity or sex'.

She explains of her pansexuality: 'It is valid and has provided me with a deeper understanding of myself.'

And she adds: 'I don't find a specific gender or sex more or less attractive, but rather the person beneath all of that.'

Eliot, whose mother is Sting's wife, film producer Trudie Styler, took Frankie to the London premiere of No Time To Die at the Royal Albert Hall in 2021.
Schapelle Corby has made a new life for herself after her release from an Indonesian prison in 2014, and is now making a living as a successful clockmaker.

And the convicted drug smuggler, 46, took to Instagram on Wednesday to show off her new range of clocks.

In a video shared with her 164,000 followers, Corby showed off several colourful timepieces which retail for around $220.

Schapelle looked youthful and happy, wearing a green-and-white checkered bucket hat over her luscious brown hair, framing her statuesque face.

The clockmaker went for a natural makeup look complete with understated eyes and nude lip as she let her followers know that smaller versions of her epoxy resin clocks were now available.

Schapelle Corby has made a new life for herself after her release from an Indonesian prison in 2014, and is now making a living as a successful clockmaker. Pictured

The convicted drug smuggler, 46, took to Instagram on Wednesday to show off her new range of clocks

'My new small size. Aren't they cute? Look how cute this is,' she said as she held an ocean-themed mini-clock up to the camera.

Earlier this year, the SAS Australia contestant gave her followers a glimpse into her new passion, posting a montage video which showed the process of making the clocks.

In the clip, Schapelle is seen painting the wood, applying resin and assembling the components.

'My new small size. Aren't they cute? Look how cute this is,' she said as she held an ocean-themed mini-clock up to the camera

She passionately wrote in the caption, 'This is my hobby, passion. This is what I love spending my time doing.'

Her followers gushed about her work in the comments, with several saying they had purchased some of her work or had received one of her clocks as a gift.

'Love your work, it's stunning,' said one fan.

'They look really good, what a cool hobby,' another remarked.

'These are absolutely beautiful. They just get better and better!' wrote one more follower.
Andrew Scott looked typically handsome on Wednesday, as he attended the premiere of his new series, Ripley, in Los Angeles.

The actor, 47, beamed as he posed with his co-star Dakota Fanning, after receiving rave reviews for his performance in the show.

Andrew plays the lead role of the ruthless Tom Ripley in the Netflix adaptation, previously portrayed by Matt Damon in the 1999 version, The Talented Mr Ripley.

The Irish star looked dapper in an olive green suit, teamed with a white vest and black leather loafers.

While, Dakota, 30, dazzled in an ethereal white gown, with an asymmetrical neckline and floaty layered skirt.

Andrew Scott looked typically handsome on Wednesday, as he attended the premiere of his new series, Ripley, in Los Angeles

The actor, 47, beamed as he posed with his co-star Dakota Fanning , after receiving rave reviews for his performance in the show

Andrew plays the lead role of the ruthless Tom Ripley (pictured) in the Netflix adaptation, previously portrayed by Matt Damon in the 1999 version, The Talented Mr Ripley

The actress stars in Ripley as wealthy socialite, Marge Sherwood, famously played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1999 film.

Ripley was released on Netflix on Thursday and the first reviews have flooded in, with critics praising the 'work of art' visuals and Andrew's stellar performance.

The eight-episode series is the latest adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel, which inspired an entire genre of psychological thrillers.

Alongside Andrew and Dakota, the cast also boasts appearance from Johnny Flynn, Elliot Sumner, Maurizio Lombardi, Margherita Buy, and John Malkovich.

Set in the 1960s, it follows calculating grifter Tom Ripley as he is hired by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf to travel to Italy in a last ditch bid to convince his wayward, jazz loving son Dickie to return home.

There, he is introduced to a life of wealth and privilege beyond his wildest dreams and endeavours to finagle his way into the comfortable lives of Dickie and his immediate circle of friends and lovers - with inevitably murderous consequences.

The Daily Mail's Christopher Stevens gave the series a five star review, as did The Guardian, saying: 'There is magic at work here.'

Andrew's performance received the most attention, with The Times writing: 'Scott, as you would expect, is outstanding  mesmeric as the polite, clever but ruthless psychopath.'

The Irish star looked dapper in an olive green suit, teamed with a white vest and black leather loafers

While, Dakota, 30, dazzled in an ethereal white gown, with an asymmetrical neckline and floaty layered skirt

The actress stars in Ripley as wealthy socialite, Marge Sherwood, famously played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1999 film (pictured on show with Andrew and Johnny Flynn)

Ripley was released on Netflix on Thursday and the first reviews have flooded in, with critics praising the 'work of art' visuals and Andrew's stellar performance

While the Evening Standard declared: 'Andrew Scott is a magnificent Tom Ripley, inhabiting that compellingly ambivalently malevolent outsider character so well.'

Andrew admitted Ripley was 'a heavy part to play,' telling Vanity Fair that he 'found it mentally and physically really hard. That's just the truth of it'.

'I feel like you're required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, "Why? What's that?" You don't play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley.

'You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, "Okay, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character."'

Ripley is available to steam on Netflix now.
Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian were supported by her ex-husband Arun Nayar as they attended a glitzy screening for his directorial debut Strictly Confidential at the Robin Williams Center in New York on Wednesday.

The actress, 58, stunned in a plunging silver metallic gown as she posed for snaps with the model, 22, ahead of the film's US release on Prime Video on April 5.

Businessman Arun, 59, split from Elizabeth in 2011 after four years of marriage, but in the past few years has built an even closer relationship with her son Damian, who calls him 'daddy.'

Arun is not Damian's biological father, but Elizabeth has previously said she always considered him to be his dad after the former couple married when Damian was five.

Elizabeth said of Arun during an interview with the Daily Mail's YOU magazine in 2018: 'Arun is Damian's daddy and a very good one too, they see each other a lot.'

Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian were supported by her ex-husband Arun Nayar as they attended a glitzy screening for his directorial debut Strictly Confidential on Wednesday

Arun split from Elizabeth in 2011 after four years of marriage, but has remained close with her son Damian, who calls him 'daddy'

The actress stunned in a plunging silver metallic gown as she posed for snaps ahead of the film's US release on Prime Video on April 5

In recent summers, Elizabeth and Arun have enjoyed holidays together with Damian, whose biological father is the late Steve Bing.

Damian's biological father Steve died by suicide in 2020, with the model admitting that his passing, and the death of Elizabeth's former fiance Shane Warne partially inspired his Caribbean-set mystery thriller.

Despite the end of their marriage due to alleged 'unreasonable behaviour,' Elizabeth and Arun remain on good terms, celebrating the New Year together in January.

Posting a snap of his mother and Arun from the night out, Damian captioned his post: 'Mama & Daddy.'

In 2022, he also offered a sweet birthday tribute to Arun, writing on Instagram: 'Happiest of birthdays to my gorgeous father [heart emoji].'

On June 22 2020, Damian's biological father Steve died by suicide at the age of 55.

Damian was born after an 18-month relationship between millionaire businessman Bing and Elizabeth in the early 2000s.

The pair split amid a bitter paternity row and a subsequent DNA test confirmed Bing was Damian's father.

Arun is not Damian's biological father, but Elizabeth has previously said she always considered him to be his dad after the former couple married when Damian was five

Despite the end of their marriage due to alleged 'unreasonable behaviour,' Elizabeth and Arun remain on good terms, celebrating the New Year together in January

While it had been claimed that Bing had never met his son, Elizabeth confirmed after his death that father and son had grown close in recent times and had spoken on Damian's 18th birthday.

She told YOU magazine in 2020: 'It had been great to connect again. We hadn't been friends for a very long time, but about a year and a half ago he came back into our lives.

'It's very sad just terrible. Horrific that it happened but there is some comfort to know we had made up and there was no bad feeling.'

Three years ago, details of Damian's late father's will emerged, among them the claim that Bing had disinherited his two children, Damian and Kira Kerkorian, due to it being drawn up before their births.

Steve, who received a $600million inheritance from his grandfather when he turned 18, had his will drawn up in 2001 - before he knew Kira had been born and while Elizabeth was pregnant.

Damian previously discussed the inspirations for his directorial debut, which included his biological father's death.

The star - whose 'close friend' also died by suicide in 2019 - told ET on Tuesday: 'I'd gone through quite a lot of loss, quite a lot of grief.'

Damian has also defended his decision to direct his mother in the film's racier moments, revealing they didn't even have an intimacy co-ordinator on set while filming a steamy lesbian sex scene.

The model insisted that while it may appear 'strange' to regular people, for those who have grown up in the industry as celebrity offspring, it is routine.

Speaking to The Sunday Times about filming his mother's racy scenes, he admitted: 'I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I don't know what that says about us.

Damian's biological father Steve Bing died by suicide in 2020, with Elizabeth revealing that after years of estrangement, he and Damian had grown close in recent times

Damian has also defended his decision to direct his mother in the film's racier moments , revealing they didn't even have an intimacy co-ordinator while filming a lesbian sex scene

The Piper actress - who felt 'very safe in his hands' - stressed to ET: 'What goes on between me and the actress, which people are making a fuss about, was so integral to the story. It was important. There's nothing gratuitous'

'I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry. They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we'll just have grown up with in everyday life.'

Damian added that there was no need for intimacy co-ordinators on set, claiming 'everyone was very comfortable'.

He added that Elizabeth taught him about sex when he was 'ludicrously young', insisting that it is a 'beautiful and natural' act, but banning him from watching violence in films.

The drama follows Mia, played by CBBC star Georgia Lock, as she is drawn into a 'world of sex, duplicity and betrayal' while trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her best friend Rebecca's suicide.

The trailer shows Mia returning to the exotic Caribbean island where Rebecca died, and along with uncovering old passions, vows to learn the truth about her friend's death.

Strictly Confidential will be released in cinemas and on Prime Video on April 5 in the US, before hitting the UK on May 13.
Netflix's Ripley has landed on the streaming service, with critics raving about the small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian's (Schindler's List) wrote and directed the latest screen adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, following in the footsteps of the 1999 movie which starred Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

With a noir take, in comparison to the sumptuous visuals of the Hollywood movie, critics have compared the Netflix version to Hitchcock in style and pace.

The Daily Mail's Christopher Stephens writes: 'This isn't just television, it's a homage to great 1940s directors such as Carol Reed or Alfred Hitchcock.'

Netflix 's Ripley has landed on the streaming service, with critics raving about the small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel

The star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie

Meanwhile Andrew Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'.

Lucy Mangan for The Guardian writes in her five star review that 'Scotts Tom is everything and nothing, and mesmeric either way,' adding: 'There is magic at work here.'

But The Independent's Adam White is insistent that Scott, who also serves as executive producer, 'feels all wrong for this' and is comparable to an EastEnders baddie, looking 'more like a lost Mitchell brother than a high society interloper.'

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home.

Tom lies his way into the lavish world of the elite before resorting to deceit and murder in a desperate attempt to keep his place at the table.

John Malkovich, who previously played the title role in 2002 movie Ripley's Game, returns to the world of Tom Ripley in a wildly different part while the star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Tom's motives.

While praise has been given to Scott, some reviewers felt the supporting cast came up short with Evening Standard's Anna Van Praagh deciding that Dakota Fanning 'cant compete for a second with Gwyneths Paltrows flawless Marge Sherwood, and Johnny Flynn is left dead on the side of the road compared to Jude Laws portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf, a character he inhabited perfectly.'

Zaillian's visuals though have left the critics awe-struck with Carol Midgely of The Times noting that 'it is so cinematic that it feels less like a TV series and more like a very long film,' declaring it as 'a completely hypnotic experience.'

Andrew Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'

While praise has been given to Scott, some reviewers felt the supporting cast came up short with Evening Standard 's Anna Van Praagh deciding that Dakota Fanning 'cant compete for a second with Gwyneths Paltrow'

The novel has been filmed before, most famously in 1999 with Matt Damon as Tom Ripley and a supporting cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Pictured: Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in the adaptation

Zaillian's visuals though have left the critics awe-struck with Carol Midgely of The Times noting that 'it is so cinematic that it feels less like a TV series and more like a very long film'

Scott has called Ripley 'a heavy part to play,' telling Vanity Fair that he 'found it mentally and physically really hard. That's just the truth of it'.

'I feel like you're required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, "Why? What's that?" You don't play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley.

'You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, "Okay, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character."'

Ripley is available to steam on Netflix now.
Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian both looked incredible as they attended the after party for his debut film Strictly Confidential in New York City on Wednesday.

Damian, 22, wrote and directed the steamy thriller and cast his mother in one of the lead roles, with the flick featuring her getting very intimate with another woman.

Elizabeth, 58, cut a glamorous figure for the after party as she slipped into a sleeveless fuchsia dress with a leg split that highlighted her toned pins.

The garment also featured a cut out detail along the midriff and a high collar while the actress added height to her frame with a pair of gold heels.

Styling her brunette locks into loose waves, the Bedazzled star added to her look with a pair of silver earrings.

Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian both looked incredible as they attended the after party for his debut film Strictly Confidential in New York City on Wednesday

Elizabeth, 58, cut a glamorous figure for the after party as she slipped into a sleeveless fuchsia dress with a leg split that highlighted her toned pins

Looking every inch the proud mother as she posed alongside Damian, Elizaberth completed her outfit with a gold clutch bag.

Damian looked dapper for the bash in a black shirt and matching trousers which he paired with a floral blazer.

Joining the mother and son duo was actress Georgia Lock who opted for a red sleeveless dress wih a plunging neckline and sheer detail.

The mystery drama follows Mia, played by CBBC star Georgia, as she is drawn into a 'world of sex, duplicity and betrayal' while trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her best friend Rebecca's suicide.

Speaking to PEOPLE about the film, Damian revealed his mother Elizabeth had 'promised' to star in his first picture years ago, and when it was greenlit, she 'dropped everything' to take part.

He said: 'It was a joy to come to work and tackle each day together.

'We only had 18 days to shoot the whole film, so our twin-like telepathy was invaluable throughout.'

'To work tirelessly alongside such a committed and talented cast was truly inspiring. I'm eternally grateful to all involved for trusting and believing in me.'

Damian looked dapper for the bash in a black shirt and matching trousers which he paired with a floral blazer

Joining the mother and son duo was actress Georgia Lock who opted for a red sleeveless dress wih a plunging neckline and sheer detail

Despite his many showbiz connections thanks to his famous mother, Damian says he has 'managed to escape a lot of the fire of the nepo-baby stuff' thanks to his work ethic.

'Anyone who looks at me has gone, "Oh, actually, hang on, you've been working exceptionally hard since you were 15 years old", he has told The Sunday Times, referring to his past modelling career and teen acting role opposite his mother in The Royals.

The movie buff has actually been making short films since he was eight-years-old, revealing that his mother's ex boyfriend and his godfather Hugh Grant has starred in a few and was the one who advised him to turn it into a career.

His mother is his biggest fan, agreeing to star in the racy scenes of Strictly Confidential which Damian has insisted felt 'totally normal' to direct.

As well as sharing time on set, Damian and Liz also trade designer fashion, as he confesses that he steals his glam mother's 'leather trousers all the time,' adding: 'We're the same size.'

With Liz raising him as a single mother after her brief relationship with his late father Steve Bing broke down, Damian has explained that the two have always been more like siblings than mother and son.

'I think when it's just two of you, any farce of "I'm the parent, you're the child, I'm going to tell you off" goes out the window,' he says.

'You start seeing each other as real humans way sooner than when there are two parents, two kids, and you're separated from the adults.'

'Anyone who looks at me has gone, "Oh, actually, hang on, you've been working exceptionally hard since you were 15 years old", he has told The Sunday Times

He has now moved into filmmaking, with his directorial debut, Strictly Confidential, starring his own mother

The two are now closer than ever thanks to their shared experience of working on Strictly Confidential, with the intense shoot taking place over 18 days in December 2022 in the Caribbean.

Elizabeth previously told Access Hollywood she felt 'safe and looked after' shooting the film.

'Its relaxing knowing someones behind the camera who looks out for you,' she explained. 'The things that his script needed me to do weren't necessarily things I'd always done in movies many times.

'But having him there meant that I felt safe and looked-after, and I knew in [post production] he'd look after me.'

She added: 'So actually it's kind of liberating to work with your family. I may do it again.'

Strictly Confidential will be released in cinemas and on Prime Video on April 5 in the US and on May 13 on UK digital platforms.
Fans afforded Andrew Scott high praise on Wednesday evening by lauding him as the 'definitive' Tom Ripley - a character previously played by Hollywood luminaries Matt Damon and John Malkovich.

The Irish star, 47, has returned to TV screens in Netflix drama Ripley, a fresh take on Patricia Highsmith's enduringly popular 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.

And having impressed critics with its lavish use of black-and-white film and sweeping direction, the eight-part show's leading man has been commended for his portrayal of the duplicitous titular con-man.

Taking to X, formerly, Twitter, on Wednesday evening, mesmerised viewers wrote: 'Ok so I've already done two hours work and I'm having a big cuppa tea and watching the first episode of Ripley on Netflix and I'm here to tell you that it and Andrew Scott are both astonishingly beautiful & strange & deeply unsettling & you should watch it;

Fans afforded Andrew Scott high praise on Wednesday evening by lauding him as the 'definitive' Tom Ripley - a character previously played by Matt Damon and John Malkovich

The Irish star has returned to TV screens in Netflix drama Ripley, a fresh take on Patricia Highsmith's enduringly popular 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley

The eight-part show's leading man has been commended for his portrayal of the duplicitous titular con-man

'Ripley series is on Netflix today. Slow-burner but intriguing... Scott is superb';

'A New Netflix Series Makes Andrew Scott the Definitive Tom Ripley';

'Saltburn? Netflix said I present to you Ripley. We love a scammer!'

However others were more critical of the show's black-and-white aesthetic, while others were equally uncertain about Irishman Scott's American accent.

'Very sad the new Ripley is in black and white because the main and perhaps only appeal of the Italian landscapes are their colours,' wrote one.

A second added: 'Just started Ripley... my only comment on Andrew Scott's American accent is "sure, why not."

'I love Andrew Scott but this Ripley series is BORING,' wrote a third.

Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian's (Schindler's List) wrote and directed the latest screen adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, following in the footsteps of the 1999 film starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Mesmerised viewers took to X following the show, but while most were impressed, some were critical of its black-and-white aesthetic, slow pacing and Irishman Scott's American accent

The star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie

Andrew Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'

With a noir take, in comparison to the sumptuous visuals of the Hollywood movie, critics have compared the Netflix version to Hitchcock in style and pace.

The Daily Mail's Christopher Stephens writes: 'This isn't just television, it's a homage to great 1940s directors such as Carol Reed or Alfred Hitchcock.'

Meanwhile Andrew Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Scottish actor labelled 'spellbinding'.

Lucy Mangan for The Guardian writes in her five star review that 'Scotts Tom is everything and nothing, and mesmeric either way,' adding: 'There is magic at work here.'

But The Independent's Adam White is insistent that Scott, who also serves as executive producer, 'feels all wrong for this' and is comparable to an EastEnders baddie, looking 'more like a lost Mitchell brother than a high society interloper.'

The novel has been filmed before, most famously in 1999 with Matt Damon as Tom Ripley and a supporting cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Pictured: Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in the adaptation

Zaillian's visuals though have left the critics awe-struck with Carol Midgely of The Times noting that 'it is so cinematic that it feels less like a TV series and more like a very long film'

RIPLEY REVIEWS ROUNDUP The Daily Mail Rating: Ripley is a collage of images evoking cinema masterpieces... this isn't just television, it's a homage to great 1940s directors such as Carol Reed or Alfred Hitchcock.' Guardian Rating: 'Scotts Tom is everything and nothing, and mesmeric either way. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, too.' The Independent Rating: 'Ripley falters because of its leading man, the typically very good Andrew Scott, who feels all wrong for this.' The Times Rating: 'This adaptation is stunning. It is a work of art. Scott, as you would expect, is outstanding  mesmeric as the polite, clever but ruthless psychopath.' Evening Standard Rating: 'Andrew Scott is a magnificent Tom Ripley, inhabiting that compellingly ambivalently malevolent outsider character so well... Dakota Fanning however cant compete for a second with Gwyneths Paltrows flawless Marge Sherwood.' Advertisement

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie Greenleaf (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home

Johnny Flynn as the jazz-loving, free-spirited Dickie Greenleaf in a still from the new series

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home.

Tom lies his way into the lavish world of the elite before resorting to deceit and murder in a desperate attempt to keep his place at the table.

John Malkovich, who previously played the title role in 2002 movie Ripley's Game, returns to the world of Tom Ripley in a wildly different part while the star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Tom's motives.

While praise has been given to Scott, some reviewers felt the supporting cast came up short with Evening Standard's Anna Van Praagh deciding that Dakota Fanning 'cant compete for a second with Gwyneths Paltrows flawless Marge Sherwood, and Johnny Flynn is left dead on the side of the road compared to Jude Laws portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf, a character he inhabited perfectly.'

Zaillian's visuals though have left the critics awe-struck with Carol Midgely of The Times noting that 'it is so cinematic that it feels less like a TV series and more like a very long film,' declaring it as 'a completely hypnotic experience.'

Scott has called Ripley 'a heavy part to play,' telling Vanity Fair that he 'found it mentally and physically really hard. That's just the truth of it'.

'I feel like you're required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, "Why? What's that?" You don't play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley.

'You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, "Okay, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character."'

Ripley is available to steam on Netflix now.
Fresh from playing the beastly patriarch in Succession, Brian Cox has returned to his theatre roots, taking on another grandiose head of the family.

Brian stars in a new revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night in the West End alongside Oscar and Tony nominee Patricia Clarkson.

In the production Brian plays the flawed father of the dysfunctional Irish-American Tyrone family while Patricia plays his opium-addicted wife.

Reviews for the West End revival have hailed the the two leads as giving an acting masterclass with Patricia in particular lavished with praise for her hauntingly accurate depiction of an addict.

Brian Cox stars in a new revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night this in the West End alongside Oscar and Tony nominee Patricia Clarkson

In the production Brian plays the flawed father of the dysfunctional Irish-American Tyrone family while Patricia plays his opium-addicted wife

Set in August 1912 at the Tyrones' summer home in Connecticut, this powerful play by Eugene, which is semi-autobiographical, follows a single day in the lives of the family.

As the day begins to lead into the night, the Tyrones grapple with their own shortcomings, addictions, and struggles, blaming and resenting one another in the process.

Written by O'Neill between 1939 and 1941 and posthumously published in 1956, Long Day's Journey Into Night earned O'Neill the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1957 and the Tony Award for Best Play.

Arifa Akbar for The Guardian writes 'Cox is, as always, thrilling to watch. Yet it is Patricia Clarkson as his 'morphine fiend' of a wife, just returned from a sanatorium and tumbling back into addiction, who steals the show.'

The review also calls out Louisa Harland who plays family maid Cathleen with Akbar declaring 'that you want more of her. She lifts every scene she is in, turning a functional role into a comic highlight.'

Supporting actors Daryl McCormack and Laurie Kynaston are also praised for their performances as Cox and Clarkson's two sons.

Nick Curtis for Evening Standard writes: 'Kynaston brings great delicacy and watchfulness to Edmund' and 'McCormack, so breezy in Bad Sisters and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, brings a malign, defeated charisma to Jamie.'

The acting though does not necessarily make for an enjoyable night at the theatre though with Patrick Marimon for Daily Mail writing 'as a distant fog horn calls them into the night, and mist rolls in off the Atlantic Ocean 'like the ghost of the sea', this is a pretty good approximation to purgatory - and not an experience I can in good conscience recommend to anyone.'

Reviews for the revival have hailed the the two leads as giving 'an acting masterclass' with Patricia in particular lavished with praise for her hauntingly accurate depiction of an addict

Nick Curtis for Evening Standard writes: 'Laurie Kynaston brings great delicacy and watchfulness to Edmund'

Daryl McCormack 'brings a malign, defeated charisma to Jamie' according to critics

Tim Bano for The Independent agrees, deciding: 'It's not exactly an enjoyable night out at the theatre. What it is, though, is very impressive, often mesmerising, and  when it hits right  profoundly moving.'

Clive Davis for The Times says 'Cox is always watchable, but he's still not able to prevent long-winded confrontations and confessions from slipping into melodrama.'

Scottish actor Brian began his career on the stage. He left school at 15 with no qualifications and worked in Rep before studying drama.

He worked consistently, acting opposite Laurence Olivier in a filmed production of King Lear before playing Lear himself at the National Theatre.

Patricia's first professional role was also in theatre. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, she was cast in a 1986 Broadway production of The House of Blue Leaves, before she moved into film.

Her later stage work has included US productions of the classics A Streetcar Named Desire and The Elephant Man. Long Day's Journey Into Night marks her West End debut.

Long Day's Journey Into Night plays at London's Wyndhams Theatre, to June 8.
Netflix's Ripley has landed on the streaming service, with critics raving about the small-screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel.

However while the psychological thriller, which also stars Andrew Scott, has received mainly positive reviews, some critics claim Dakota Fanning can't quite compete with Gwyneth Paltrow's original performance in the 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Gwyneth starred alongside Matt Damon and Jude Law in the Hollywood movie, as she played the role of Marge Sherwood.

And taking on the role 25 years later, critics aren't entirely convinced of Dakota's performance as they suggested she cannot compete with Gwyneth's original portrayal.

Reviewing the new series the Evening Standard's Anna Van Praagh wrote that 's Anna Van Praagh wrote that Dakota 'cant compete for a second with Gwyneths Paltrows flawless Marge Sherwood, and Johnny Flynn is left dead on the side of the road compared to Jude Laws portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf, a character he inhabited perfectly.'

Ripley critics claim Dakota Fanning 'can't compete with Gwyneth Paltrow' as she takes on the role of Marge Sherwood in Netflix adaptation

Gwyneth starred alongside Matt Damon and Jude Law in the Hollywood 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley

Visually the two adaptations are worlds apart, as the sumptuous visuals of the Hollywood movie have been replaced with a noir take in the Netflix series with critics comparing the latest version to Hitchcock in style and pace.

And Dakota confessed she didn't in any way try to copy Gwyneth's performance when preparing for the role.

Speaking in an interview with British Vogue, she explained how different the two adaptations are and admitted she didn't find the film helpful for her depiction of Marge.

'I revisit the film because I love it, but I didnt find it helpful in terms of playing Marge or stepping into this world because the vibe of this is entirely separate,' Dakota explained.

Set predominantly in Rome and Venice, Gwyneth brought glamour to her role as Marge wearing a collection of floral and feminine summer dresses.

In scenes where her and Jude Law, who played Dickie, emerge from the sea, Gwyneth, who was 27 at the time, beamed wearing a navy patterned bikini.

However the pastel colours of her outfits have been stripped out in the black and white version, with Dakota's Marge donning plain and oversized shirts and sweaters.

The actress, 30, explained it was a conscious decision for her costumes to all be black and navy.

Dakota confessed she didn't in any way try to copy Gwyneth's performance when preparing for the role

Set predominantly in Rome and Venice, Gwyneth brought glamour to her role as Marge wearing a collection of floral and feminine summer dresses

However the pastel colours of her outfits have been stripped out in the black and white version, with Dakota's Marge donning plain and oversized shirts and sweaters

Dakota also chose to make Marge's ambition more central to the plot, while Gwyneth appeared rather straightforward at the outset as Dickie's socialite girlfriend

In scenes where her and Jude Law, who played Dickie, emerge from the sea, Gwyneth, who was 27 at the time, beamed wearing a navy patterned bikini

Differing from Gwyneth's two-piece, Dakota revealed that for the swim scene she wears a grey plaid swimsuit which was purposely unglamorous and practical.

She explained: 'We wanted to make sure the costumes felt natural, wrinkled and a little bit oversized, to show that Marge wants to be taken seriously.'

Dakota also chose to make Marge's ambition more central to the plot, while Gwyneth appeared rather straightforward at the outset as Dickie's socialite girlfriend.

Dakota revealed: 'Marge has some ulterior motives as well. Shes kind of using this situation that shes found herself in to her benefit a little bit, too.'

Vogue's Radhika Seth is certainly a fan of this new rendition of Marge, as she writes: 'Its a remarkable performance from Fanning  still, impassive, cold and cryptic  which ranks among the 30-year-old actors best'.

Meanwhile Andrew Scott's central performance at Tom Ripley has captivated early viewers, with the Scottish actor labelled 'spellbinding'.

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home.

Tom lies his way into the lavish world of the elite before resorting to deceit and murder in a desperate attempt to keep his place at the table.

John Malkovich, who previously played the title role in 2002 movie Ripley's Game, returns to the world of Tom Ripley in a wildly different part while the star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Tom's motives.
Nathan Buckley's ex-girlfriend Alex Pike took to social media on Thursday to share her annoyance at being caught up in a roadside emergency.

The former WAG, 46, shared a video of her car being towed away on a trailer at night time and captioned it with some distressing words.

'Another day, another flat tire,' she wrote next to the clip.

Alex had posted another video shortly before the emergency, in which she told fans she would be driving across Melbourne to pick up some health supplements.

It is unclear how Alex returned home after the accident occurred.

Nathan Buckley's ex-girlfriend Alex Pike (pictured) took to social media on Thursday to share her annoyance at being caught up in a roadside emergency

The former WAG, 46, shared a video of her car being towed away on a trailer at night time and captioned it with some distressing words

Alex entered the public spotlight in 2021 after enjoying a high-profile romance with AFL legend Nathan Buckley.

After they split in 2022, Alex went on to become a successful beauty and wellness influencer.

She also expanded her cosmetic clinics, Face by Alex Pike, created a popular fitness program called Inside Out Beauty, and even launched her own podcast.

Since the split, Buckley, 51, has been dating business manager Brodie Ryan, 35.

Meanwhile, Alex began dating Manhattan-based plastic surgeon boyfriend Dr Sachin Shridharani last year.

They've made no secret of their relationship since being spotted together for the first time in September.

Alex and Sachin started dating earlier this year and the couple made their relationship public in September when the swanky surgeon flew to Noosa to meet the mother-of-three's family for the first time.

The Harvard-educated doctor is one of the top names in his field and was trained in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The surgery star went on to establish his own clinic LUXURGERY in 2014, which offers many of his own signature procedures, including the Tubeless Tuck.

The popular clinic is located on New York's famed Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Alex entered the public spotlight in 2021 after enjoying a high-profile romance with AFL legend Nathan Buckley (right)
Snezana Wood has announced a custom jewellery partnership with a series of stunning images.

The former star of The Bachelor, 42, took to Instagram on Thursday to share that she was teaming up with Shannakian Fine Jewellery to create a custom designed 'ultimate piece.'

In the post, Wood could be seen modelling a range of glittering necklaces, earrings, and rings from the luxury jeweller's existing range.

She wore a chic white top with a deep V-neck that exposed her slender neck and shoulders as she worked her angles to showcase each of the elegant pieces.

'Creating the ultimate piece with Shannakian Fine Jewellery has been a dream,' she wrote in the caption.

Snezana Wood has announced a custom jewellery partnership with a series of stunning images. Pictured

The former star of The Bachelor, 42, took to Instagram on Thursday to share that she was teaming up with Shannakian Fine Jewellery to create a custom designed 'ultimate piece'

'While we were sketching I couldn't help but try on some layering beauties, needless to say I had to take some home with me,' she added.

'We can't wait to show your Shannakian creation,' the jeweller replied in her post.

But the jewellery collaboration isn't the only business venture savvy Snez has up her sleeve.

She wore a chic white top with a deep V-neck that exposed her slender neck and shoulders as she worked her angles to showcase each of the elegant pieces

'Creating the ultimate piece with Shannakian Fine Jewellery has been a dream,' she wrote in the caption to her post

Along with her husband Sam Wood, 43, she recently launched health food brand 28GO!, named after the fitness app personal trainer Sam sold for a whopping $71million in 2022.

The company provides protein bars, powders, and other superfoods for the health-conscious.

The lovebirds shared the huge career news to Instagram late last year.

But the jewellery collaboration isn't the only business venture savvy Snez has up her sleeve as she has teamed up with her husband Sam Wood (pictured right), who she met on The Bachelor in 2015

Sam and Snez shared several photos of themselves posing with the protein products, announcing they would be going into Woolworths.

'A total pinch yourself moment,' Snezana wrote.

The protein range has 16 products, including powders, bars, collagen waters, as well as mug cakes, mousse, pancake mix, banana bread and hot chocolates.

The couple recently launched a new protein range called 28GO!, named after the fitness app personal trainer Sam sold for a whopping $71million in 2022

The protein range has 16 products, including powders, bars, collagen waters, as well as mug cakes, mousse, pancake mix, banana bread and hot chocolates

Snezana met Sam in 2015 on the third season of The Bachelor Australia.

The Perth beauty immediately captured the fitness guru's heart as the first woman to step out of the limo and greet him.

Snezana and her daughter Eve, who is now 18, relocated to Melbourne to start a new life with Sam who got down on one knee just six months into their relationship.

In October 2017, the couple welcomed Australia's first Bachie baby to the world, and named her Willow Wendy Wood.

The lovebirds went on to tie the knot in 2018 before welcoming their second child together, named Charlie Lane, the following year.

Their happy family welcomed their sixth member in 2022, yet another baby girl named Harper Jones.
British actor Adrian Schiller has died 'suddenly and unexpectedly,' aged 60.

The star was best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and three series of ITV drama Victoria, in which he played Cornelius Penge, a member of the royal household.

News of his death came from his agent Scott Marshall Partners on Thursday, with a statement reading: 'He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

'His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available.

'A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.'

Schilling leaves behind his partner Milena and young son Gabriel.

British actor Adrian Schiller has died 'suddenly and unexpectedly,' aged 60 (pictured in 2016)

The star was best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and three series of ITV drama Victoria, in which he played Cornelius Penge, a member of the royal household

The actor's sister Ginny also confirmed the news in a message posted on Schiller's Twitter account, writing that they were focused on supporting Schiller's partner and son

The actor's sister Ginny also confirmed the news in a message posted on Schiller's Twitter account, writing that they were focused on supporting Schiller's partner and son:

'Dear all. This is Ginny. I'm so sorry to let you all know that our beloved brother Adrian died suddenly at home yesterday.'

'He had so many very dear friends - sorry to those of you who are learning about this here. We will say more about funeral and/or memorial plans in due course.'

Ginny added that a trust has been set up in Schiller's son's name: 'For now, we're taking things one step at a time, supporting Milena and Gabriel as best we can and trying to get our heads around the unimaginable. Please don't send flowers but if anyone wants to make a gesture, we will be setting up Trust for Gabriel and there's a link below.'

The actor rarely shared photos of his family, but in 2018, shortly after his son Gabriel was born, he posted photos of his baby boy after he underwent open heart surgery, writing: 'Two weeks ago he had open heart surgery. And hes back, and hes fighting, and my heart is so full. Its personal, but I want to share it with the world. #GoGabriel.'

Schiller was best known for his role in The Last Kingdom, joining the third season of the historical drama series in 2018 to play the antagonistic ruler Aethelhelm.

The TV star had also made appearances in Doctor Who and starred alongside Harry Potter actress Emma Watson in the Disney live-action version of Beauty and the Beast in 2017.

In 2021 Adrian appeared in episodes of the mystery series Death in Paradise.

Adrian's X account shared a 2021 photo of the actor with his young son Gabriel as they asked for donations to a trust set up in his son's name

Just prior to his death, Adrian had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play The Lehman Trilogy (pictured in February 2024 in the role)

In 2018 Schiller joined the third season of the historical drama series The Last Kingdom, playing Aethelhelm

The TV star had also made appearances in Doctor Who and starred alongside Harry Potter actress Emma Watson in the Disney live-action version of Beauty and the Beast

His other TV credits include Prime Suspect, in 1992 and 1993, Ghosts, the following year and the TV movie RKO 281 in 1999.

In the noughties Schiller appeared in notable British dramas including The Musketeers, The Devil's Whore, A Touch of Frost, My Family, Judge John Deed and Silent Witness.

His last credited role before he died in an episode of BBC detective series Father Brown in which he played a criminal Drake Underwood in an episode, titled The Father, The Son.

He was also known for his stage work, and last year was cast in The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre.

Just prior to his death, Adrian had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play The Lehman Trilogy.

The official X account for The Lehman Trilogy shared: 'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller.'

'Adrian played Henry Lehman in the international production of The Lehman Trilogy. He was a highly respected and much-loved part of the company.'

Rufus Norris, Director of National Theatre, said: 'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller. Adrian was a wonderful actor, and the National Theatre had the pleasure of working with him throughout the breadth of his career.

'His recent performance as Henry Lehman in the Australian premiere of The Lehman Trilogy was superb and his presence within the company will be greatly missed.'

'Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.'

Friends and colleagues of the actor posted messages on X with actress Tracy-Ann Oberman writing: 'Absolutely gutted to hear'

Schiller is pictured with his Victoria co-star Anna Wilson-Jones, promoting the drama on This Morning in 2016

Friends and colleagues of the actor paid tribute, with actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, who starred opposite Adrian in The Merchant Of Venice, writing: 'Absolutely gutted to hear about the sudden passing of @Grumbletwat #AdrianSchiller - the most wonderful actor , ally and mensch. So sorry to hear this news. May your memory be a blessing'.

Tilly Steele, who appeared in Victoria with Adrian, wrote: 'I cannot believe that Adrian Schiller has died. He was a remarkable actor and person.'

'I'm completely in shock and I'm thinking of everyone who knew him and was close to him.'

Screenwriter Sarah Phelps said: 'Oh god, dreadful, dreadful news about Adrian Schiller. Brilliant actor. I used to be his dresser at the RSC and he was lovely and so funny. Heartfelt condolences to all his family and his friends.'

He was also known for his stage work, pictured in Love Labour's Lost at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park with Rebecca Johnson in 2001

Pictured playing Ian Dury in Hit Me! at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2009

Director Stephen Unwin posted: 'RIP the wonderful, wondrous, Adrian Schiller.'

Other fans and colleagues also shared their own touching tributes to Adrian.

'I worked with Adrian Schiller and kept in touch with him here. He was a brilliant actor and a brilliant person - kind, funny and socially concerned. I'm heartbroken that he's gone;'

'Sad news about Adrian Schiller. Such a terrific actor and he was on mighty find form in ''The White Factor'' last year. Thoughts with Ginny & all of their family and friends. May he RIP.'
Andrew Scott has opened up about the biggest challenge he faced while playing the fictional serial killer Tom Ripley in the new Netflix adaptation.

The Fleabag actor, 47, is making his small screen return in the fresh take on Patricia Highsmith's enduringly popular 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley - a role previously played by Matt Damon and John Malkovich.

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home. Ripley lies his way into the lavish world of the elite before resorting to deceit and murder in a desperate attempt to keep his place at the table.

What makes the tale by Highsmith so unique is that Ripley is the novel's protagonist, Scott said, despite being a serial killer, and encourages readers to see his humanity.

'The challenge of it was 'How do you make the audience feel what it's like to be Tom Ripley, rather that where we might usually go, which is to feel like to be a victim of Tom Ripley',' Scott said.

Andrew Scott opened up about the biggest challenge he faced while playing fictional serial killer Tom Ripley for the new Netflix adaptation

The Fleabag actor is making his small screen return in the long-awaited series, based on Patricia Highsmith's enduringly popular 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley

While promoting the series, Scott said what makes Highsmith 'one of the great crime writers' is that you are sometimes 'willing' for Tom to get away with his crimes, rather than simply seeing him as a villain.

He said: 'He's the protagonist he's not the antagonist, so it asks us to look at what's dark within ourselves.'

Scott went onto say that humans choose to categorise the perpetrators as 'monsters' in order to 'make ourselves feel safer'.

'Actually all these things are perpetrated by human beings and we have to be able to in some ways accept the very terrifying nature that people can make mistakes and be bad and inept and innocent and yet still do these terrible things,' he added.

'And I think that's what is so sort of unsettling about the character. So he's actually a deeply human character, but maybe not one that we choose to want to look at too much.'

Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List) wrote and directed the latest adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, following in the footsteps of the 1999 movie which starred Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

With a noir take, in comparison to the sumptuous visuals of the Hollywood movie, critics have compared the Netflix version to Hitchcock in style and pace.

Malkovich, who previously played the title role in 2002 movie Ripley's Game, returns to the world of Tom Ripley in a wildly different part while the star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Tom's motives.

What makes the tale by Highsmith so unique is that Ripley is the novel's protagonist, Scott said, despite being a serial killer, and encourages readers to see his humanity

The eight-part show's leading man has been commended for his portrayal of the duplicitous titular con-man

While praise has been given to Scott, some reviewers felt the supporting cast came up short with Evening Standard's Anna Van Praagh deciding that Dakota Fanning 'can't compete for a second with Gwyneth's Paltrow's flawless Marge Sherwood, and Johnny Flynn is left dead on the side of the road compared to Jude Law's portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf, a character he inhabited perfectly.'

Zaillian's visuals though have left the critics awe-struck with Carol Midgely of The Times noting that 'it is so cinematic that it feels less like a TV series and more like a very long film,' declaring it as 'a completely hypnotic experience.'

The Daily Mail's Christopher Stephens writes: 'This isn't just television, it's a homage to great 1940s directors such as Carol Reed or Alfred Hitchcock.'

Meanwhile Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'.

Lucy Mangan for The Guardian writes in her five star review that 'Scott's Tom is everything and nothing, and mesmeric either way,' adding: 'There is magic at work here.'

But The Independent's Adam White is insistent that Scott, who also serves as executive producer, 'feels all wrong for this' and is comparable to an EastEnders baddie, looking 'more like a lost Mitchell brother than a high society interloper.'

The star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie

Andrew Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'

Fans have also applauded Scott's performance, as taking to X, formerly, Twitter, on Wednesday evening, mesmerised viewers wrote: 'Ok so I've already done two hours work and I'm having a big cuppa tea and watching the first episode of Ripley on Netflix and I'm here to tell you that it and Andrew Scott are both astonishingly beautiful & strange & deeply unsettling & you should watch it;

'Ripley series is on Netflix today. Slow-burner but intriguing... Scott is superb';

'A New Netflix Series Makes Andrew Scott the Definitive Tom Ripley';

'Saltburn? Netflix said I present to you Ripley. We love a scammer!'

Scott has called Ripley 'a heavy part to play,' telling Vanity Fair that he 'found it mentally and physically really hard. That's just the truth of it'.

'I feel like you're required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, 'Why? What's that?' You don't play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley.

'You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, "Okay, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character."'
Kirsten Dunst revealed that she was never asked to reprise the role of superhero love interest Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

She reached new heights of stardom as Mary Jane in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, playing opposite Tobey Maguire as the title character.

In 2021, nearly two decades after he first played the character, Tobey returned to the role in the Marvel film Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The movie achieved a fan service coup, uniting three different actors who have played Spider-Man onscreen - Tobey, Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield.

But in a new interview with GQ Hype, Kirsten shared that she was never invited to join Tobey in the 2021 movie - and that she 'would have' done so if offered the job.

Kirsten Dunst revealed that she was never asked to reprise the role of Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: No Way Home; pictured with Tobey Maguire in the 2002 film Spider-Man

But in a new interview with GQ Hype , Kirsten shared that she was never invited to join Tobey in the 2021 movie - and that she 'would have' done so if offered the job

'It would be funny to be like, OK, lets take Tobey and I and do it in a weird indie way where its like a different kind of superhero film,' she reflected.

Kirsten recently went viral for a frank interview in which she confessed that she would be willing to do another superhero movie for financial reasons.

'If asked to return to the genre, she would agree 'because you get paid a lot of money, and I have two children, and I support my mother,' she told Marie Claire.

In her new GQ profile, she was asked about the sound-byte and remarked with a laugh: 'Thats the reason people do those movies!'

Her decision to do the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films was, however, 'more innocent, I think,' having come at a time before superhero movies took over Hollywood.

'Sam Raimi was like a cult director, so it felt like we were making an indie disguised as a superhero film,' the former child star remembered.

Kirsten made her movie debut at the age of six, playing Mia Farrow's daughter in the Woody Allen segment of the anthology movie New York Stories.

She became a highly regarded child star at the age of 12 when she featured in Neil Jordan's Interview With A Vampire, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

She reached new heights of stardom as Mary Jane in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, playing opposite Tobey Maguire as the title character

, in which Tom Holland is pictured

In 2021, Tobey returned to the role in the Marvel film Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which he is pictured with Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland

The movie achieved a fan service coup, uniting three different actors who have played Spider-Man onscreen - (from left) Tobey, Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield

During her teen years, she appeared in such critically acclaimed fare as The Virgin Suicides, the directorial debut of Sofia Coppola.

Kirsten and Sofia went onto become consistent collaborators, reuniting for the 2006 picture Marie-Antoinette and more recently for The Beguiled in 2017.

However, the role that made her a global name was Mary Jane in the Spider-Man trilogy, which began in 2002 and ran to 2007.

Nowadays, she is extremely selective about her projects, to the point that her upcoming movie Civil War will be her first release since her Oscar-nominated turn in Jane Campion's gay western The Power Of The Dog three years ago.

'Its not hard to get roles. I just dont want to work on things because most things arent very good. Lets just call a spade a spade here,' she candidly confessed.

'Ive been working since I was three. Most people who have worked this long are retired. I deserve to be picky,' the Melancholia blonde reasoned.
Tributes have poured in for The Last Kingdom star Adrian Schiller after it was revealed he'd died 'suddenly' at the age of 60.

The star was best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and three series of ITV drama Victoria, in which he played Cornelius Penge, a member of the royal household.

Following news of Adrian's 'unexpected' death, several of his former co-stars took to social media to pay tribute, with Tracey-Ann Oberman describing him as the 'most wonderful actor and ally.'

The EastEnders star, who starred opposite Adrian on The Merchant Of Venice, wrote on X: 'Absolutely gutted to hear about the sudden passing of #AdrianSchiller - the most wonderful actor, ally and mensch. So sorry to hear this news, may your memory be a blessing.'

Tilly Steele, who appeared in Victoria with Adrian, wrote: 'I cannot believe that Adrian Schiller has died. He was a remarkable actor and person.

Tributes have poured in for The Last Kingdom star Adrian Schiller after it was revealed he'd died 'suddenly' at the age of 60

'I'm completely in shock and I'm thinking of everyone who knew him and was close to him.'

Screenwriter Sarah Phelps said: 'Oh god, dreadful, dreadful news about Adrian Schiller. Brilliant actor. I used to be his dresser at the RSC and he was lovely and so funny. Heartfelt condolences to all his family and his friends.'

Director Stephen Unwin posted: 'RIP the wonderful, wondrous, Adrian Schiller.'

Other fans and colleagues also shared their own touching tributes to Adrian.

'I worked with Adrian Schiller and kept in touch with him here. He was a brilliant actor and a brilliant person - kind, funny and socially concerned. I'm heartbroken that he's gone;'

'Sad news about Adrian Schiller. Such a terrific actor and he was on mighty find form in ''The White Factor'' last year. Thoughts with Ginny & all of their family and friends. May he RIP.'

Just prior to his death, Adrian had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play The Lehman Trilogy.

The official X account for The Lehman Trilogy shared: 'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller.'

The star was best known for his roles in The Last Kingdom and three series of ITV drama Victoria, in which he played Cornelius Penge, a member of the royal household

Following news of Adrian's 'unexpected' death, several of his former co-stars took to social media to pay tribute, with Tracey-Ann Oberman describing him as the 'most wonderful actor'

'Adrian played Henry Lehman in the international production of The Lehman Trilogy. He was a highly respected and much-loved part of the company.'

Rufus Norris, Director of National Theatre, said: 'We are deeply saddened and shocked to have lost our company member and friend, Adrian Schiller. Adrian was a wonderful actor, and the National Theatre had the pleasure of working with him throughout the breadth of his career.

'His recent performance as Henry Lehman in the Australian premiere of The Lehman Trilogy was superb and his presence within the company will be greatly missed.'

'Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.'

News of Adrian's death came from his agent Scott Marshall Partners on Thursday, with a statement reading: 'He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

'His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available.

'A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.'

Schilling leaves behind his partner Milena and young son Gabriel.

The actor's sister Ginny also confirmed the news in a message posted on Schiller's Twitter account, writing that they were focused on supporting Schiller's partner and son:

'Dear all. This is Ginny. I'm so sorry to let you all know that our beloved brother Adrian died suddenly at home yesterday.'

'He had so many very dear friends - sorry to those of you who are learning about this here. We will say more about funeral and/or memorial plans in due course.'

Ginny added that a trust has been set up in Schiller's son's name: 'For now, we're taking things one step at a time, supporting Milena and Gabriel as best we can and trying to get our heads around the unimaginable. Please don't send flowers but if anyone wants to make a gesture, we will be setting up Trust for Gabriel and there's a link below.'

The actor rarely shared photos of his family but in 2018 shortly after his son Gabriel was born he posted photos of his baby boy after he underwent open heart surgery, writing: 'Two weeks ago he had open heart surgery. And hes back, and hes fighting, and my heart is so full. Its personal, but I want to share it with the world. #GoGabriel.'

News of Adrian's death came from his agent Scott Marshall Partners on Thursday, with a statement reading: 'He has died far too soon' (pictured in 2016)

The actor's sister Ginny also confirmed the news in a message posted on Schiller's Twitter account, writing that they were focused on supporting Schiller's partner and son

Adrian's X account shared a 2021 photo of the actor with his young son Gabriel as they asked for donations to a trust set up in his son's name

Just prior to his death, Adrian had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play The Lehman Trilogy (pictured in February 2024 in the role)

Schiller was best known for his role in The Last Kingdom, joining the third season of the historical drama series in 2018 to play the antagonistic ruler Aethelhelm.

The TV star had also made appearances in Doctor Who and starred alongside Harry Potter actress Emma Watson in the Disney live-action version of Beauty and the Beast in 2017.

In 2021 Adrian appeared in episodes of the mystery series Death in Paradise.

His other TV credits include Prime Suspect, in 1992 and 1993, Ghosts, the following year and the TV movie RKO 281 in 1999.

In the noughties Schiller appeared in notable British dramas including The Musketeers, The Devil's Whore, A Touch of Frost, My Family, Judge John Deed and Silent Witness.

His last credited role before he died in an episode of BBC detective series Father Brown in which he played a criminal Drake Underwood in an episode, titled The Father, The Son.

He was also known for his stage work, and last year was cast in The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre.
Scoop

Rating:

FOUR STARS

Verdict: A top-quality cast and a mischievous script

Less than five years after Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis grilled Prince Andrew about his friendship with the paedophile sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the specific claim that a 17-year-old girl was forced to have sex with him on three occasions, allegations he has repeatedly denied, the infamous interview and events leading up to it have been dramatised by Netflix. No surprise there.

After all, following that special edition of Newsnight on November 16, 2019, one royal commentator tweeted that he had expected the interview to be 'a train wreck'. But for Andrew it was more seismically disastrous than that, he added. It was 'a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion'.

Well, I can think of dramas about plane crashes, tsunamis, nuclear explosions and indeed the misadventures of oil tankers, so - even metaphorically - all those things combined with the Royal Family were certain to end, sooner or later, in a feature film.

Less than five years after Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis grilled Prince Andrew, the infamous interview has been dramatised by Netflix. No surprise there

No less surprisingly, Scoop boasts a top-quality cast with brassy Sam McAlister, Newsnight's interview booker whose tenacity landed the prize catch, played, splendidly, by Billie Piper

No less surprisingly, Scoop boasts a top-quality cast. A jowly Rufus Sewell plays Andrew and, if you squint quite a lot, you can just about believe it's him. Maitlis is portrayed by Gillian Anderson as stick-thin, brittle and imperious, which seems about right, marching through the BBC's offices with her pet whippet, intimidating everyone.

Keeley Hawes is Andrew's mumsy private secretary, Amanda Thirsk. Romola Garai plays the fierce Newsnight editor Esme Wren. And brassy Sam McAlister, the programme's interview booker whose tenacity landed the prize catch, is played, splendidly, by Billie Piper.

The film begins in New York in 2010, when photographer Jae Donnelly (Connor Swindells) takes the now notorious snap of Andrew and Epstein strolling through Central Park, in earnest conversation. It then whisks us forward to 2019. The BBC is deep in the mire, facing massive job losses, and McAlister fully expects the chop.

Moreover, she is not a natural fit at Newsnight. The BBC's daily current affairs programme is staffed by middle-class liberals driven by notions of their own importance but, more especially, that of their 'flagship' show, which they consider to be woven into the very fabric of the nation.

McAlister is a working-class single mum who eats kebabs, travels by bus and relies on her own mother (Amanda Redman) to care for her teenage son when she's at work. She is not part of the club.

'I'm not a snob but she's very Daily Mail,' observes executive producer Stewart Maclean (Richard Goulding), snobbishly, of McAlister. And so she is. She is a Mail reader, fully in tune with the Mail's values, with a tabloid nose for news that her colleagues only belatedly come to appreciate.

She begins to woo Buckingham Palace, forging a strong working relationship with Thirsk, who has Andrew's ear. When Epstein is arrested, and later found dead in his prison cell, further details of his heinous crimes begin to emerge. An interview duly becomes more urgent on both sides. Andrew seeks, and gets, the approval of 'Mummy' (the Queen), to whom he is clearly in thrall.

Peter Moffat's script is at its most mischievous with its depiction of an emotionally-arrested prince, obsessing about his teddy bears, and guffawing about the media interest in his dealings with Epstein, when 'I knew Jimmy Savile so much better'.

A jowly Rufus Sewell plays Andrew and, if you squint quite a lot, you can just about believe it's him

Emily Maitlis is portrayed by Gillian Anderson as stick-thin, brittle and imperious, which seems about right

Scoop is never more electrifying than when it finally arrives at the only part of the story we already know intimately, the interview itself

Like Netflix's The Crown, director Philip Martin's film deftly mixes historical truths with dramatic licence. But fiction can't compete with fact. Scoop is never more electrifying than when it finally arrives at the only part of the story we already know intimately, the interview itself, with all its extraordinary minutiae about Pizza Express in Woking and Andrew's supposed inability to sweat. It is very carefully and convincingly recreated.

After the recording, Andrew is cock-a-hoop. He, and his advisers, all think it's gone exceedingly well. But when Newsnight airs two days later he steps out of his bath to receive the barrage of phone messages confirming the absolute opposite.

Martin shoots him from behind, flabby and bare-bottomed as he silently confronts the implications of a royal life imploding. The imagery could hardly be less subtle but is all the more powerful for it: here he stands, in the lap of privilege, completely exposed and entirely alone.

Scoop is available on Netflix from Friday, April 5
Katie Price revealed the results of yet another round of lip fillers, having headed to the aesthetics salon for the fourth time in five weeks.

Despite her ongoing campaign to introduce an age limit on facial fillers, the former glamour model didn't put any such restrictions on herself, as she flaunted her extremely plump pout.

Katie, who last visited the salon to get her lips done on March 8, showed off her 'extra, extra, extra big' lips in a heavily filtered Instagram video.

The star admitted that her lips had been left heavily bruised after the filler was injected through 'scar tissue,' but despite the damage she felt 'so good.'

Katie went onto share videos of her latest salon treatment, posting the moment the filler was injected into her top lip.

Katie Price revealed the results of yet another round of lip fillers, having headed to the aesthetics salon for the fourth time in five weeks

Last month, Katie revealed she'd had her third round of lip fillers in a matter of weeks, after a visit to Lift Aesthetics.

It's a familiar video for her followers as just three weeks before she was back in the chair for another procedure.

On February 13, she flaunted her plumped up pout just ten days after her last round.

The former glamour model took to Instagram on Tuesday as she showed off her full pout after getting a top up of lip filler at Lift Aesthetics.

Sporting a white corduroy puffer coat and a white t-shirt, the former page 3 girl looked in high spirits as she flaunted her 'Russian 3D lips'.

Kissing the air, she said: 'Big lips. Who am I going to kiss on Valentine's Day?'

As the star continued to smolder into the camera she revealed that she loved them before asking if Valentine's Day lips were a thing.

Her visit to the Essex-based clinic came around very quickly after her last visit was on February 3.

Last month, Katie revealed she'd had her third round of lip fillers in a matter of weeks , after a visit to Lift Aesthetics

Katie, who last visited the salon to get her lips done on March 8, showed off her 'extra, extra, extra big' lips in a heavily filtered Instagram video

Last month, Katie revealed she'd had her third round of lip fillers in a matter of weeks , after a visit to Lift Aesthetics

Katie was last in the clinic on February 13 to get a top up just 10 days after having had more lip filler

Her visit to the Essex-based clinic came around very quickly after her last visit was as on February, 3

The star has spent over 130,000 on cosmetic surgery and it seems she doesn't plan or slowing down, despite it being less than a month since she showed off the results of her latest bum procedure.

Despite her extensive love of injectables, in recent weeks Katie has been calling for an age limit to be introduced on facial fillers, and insisted on Radio 4's Women's Hour that she's not a 'hypocrite' despite her own surgical history.

She said: 'I've been around the world and seen different surgeries... and the thing is, I know about filler, you might have filler, but eventually... it drops... it's still chemicals you're putting in your face.

'But I just think... there should be an age limit on it, and (we should) educate girls, why do you need to have all this filler and everything pumped in your face? Just look at when you are my age, it's different when you're older than that, but you know, they're babies still.'

Katie also said that before and after pictures of plastic surgery on social media failed to take into account the recovery period, which can involve bruising and stitching.

She added: 'My advice is, don't just go abroad and stuff because it's cheaper, why don't you contact some of the people on there who've done the before and after, and message them and say, ''Look, I'm thinking of having this done? What was it really like?''

Last year, the Government launched a consultation to gather insights and opinions on how to make Botox procedures and other non-surgical cosmetic treatments including face fillers safer.

Katie also urged young women to 'embrace what they've got' and said she is worried that they could become addicted as 'in 20 years' time there'll be a new procedure or something'.

She did not rule out new surgeries due to her struggling with her perception of her own body.

'I don't have surgery to look younger,' Katie said. 'I don't know what it is, but I definitely have a relationship with the surgery, I think about not feeling probably good enough or needy or not very pretty.'

Katie visited Lift Aesthetics in January after admitting she wanted a 'new bum' in the New Year because of her 'awful cellulite'.

Katie is no stranger to cosmetic surgery and has had nose jobs and other work such as fillers and Botox, liposuction, eye, chin and lip surgery and vaneers

Taking to Instagram in January the star shocked followers as she uploaded a video of her recent tweakment.

On the 130k Katie has spent on transforming her looks, 84,000 of that has been spent on boob jobs alone.

Katie has always been candid about going under the knife and during an interview with the Go Love Yourself podcast in October she divulged her concerns over suffering body dysmorphia, due to her resistance to accept her image.

She said: 'I know sometimes when I have gone too far. I have been there done it with all the fillers. I don't have fillers now.

'I do in my lips and I have Botox because it got to the point where my face just looked like a balloon. Like really shiny.

'I am starting to look alien. It is purely for me, that's the difference.
The first official trailer for the new romantic comedy Mother Of The Bride was shared on Thursday.

Brooke Shields stars as the jittery helicopter mom to her calm daughter, played by Miranda Cosgrove.

Brooke's character Lana also has to deal with seeing her college ex, played by Benjamin Bratt, who in real life used to romance Julia Roberts but is now married to Bond girl Talisa Soto, and is best known for appearing on Law & Order.

'Its official MOTHER OF THE BRIDE is coming out on @Netflix on May 9th globally!! We are so excited for you to see it, 45 day countdown,' Shields wrote.

The movie was shot on location in Thailand for six weeks and will come out May 9.

The first official trailer for the new romantic comedy Mother Of The Bride was shared on Thursday. Brooke Shields stars as the jittery helicopter mom to her calm daughter, played by Miranda Cosgrove

Brooke's character Lana also has to deal with seeing her college ex, played by Benjamin Bratt, who in real life used to romance Julia Roberts, and is best known for appearing on Law & Order

Brooke looks amazing as she models swimsuits and summer dresses for the film

Brooke stars as Lana, a woman who travels to the Southeast Asian kingdom when her daughter announces she is getting married there in a month's time to her boyfriend, played by Sean Teale.

The drama around the hasty nuptials is further complicated when Lana discovers her future son-in-law is the offspring of the man who broke her heart decades ago (Bratt).

Shields, who also serves as an executive producer and opened up about the project in People.

Bratt, 60, stars as her former love, and the actress said her co-star is 'pretty easy to be a love interest.'

Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to a romantic rival for Lana's affection.

Also starring in the film are Rachael Harris (Suits), Michael McDonald (MADtv), Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), Tasneem Roc (The Bureau of Magical Things), and Dalip Sondhi (Frayed).

'Its official MOTHER OF THE BRIDE is coming out on @ Netflix on May 9th globally!! We are so excited for you to see it, 45 day countdown,' Shields wrote

Bratt looks handsome as her ex in college who suddenly left her

Shields said she was happy to take on the project, and gave praise to director Mark Waters and Netflix's Director of Original Film, Christina Rogers.

'[Christina has] been the champion of really pushing and standing behind these stories for women over 40 to be in a romcom, that's not just all' she stated.

'Yes, we've got the focus on the young, beautiful, fresh love, and we want that, but she's not overlooking my demographic.

'And to have that wish fulfillment of another chance at love and all that.'

Cosgrove, who said she has a good relationship with her own mother, enjoyed working with the mom of two who shares daughters Rowan, 20, and Grier, 17, with Henchy.

Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to a romantic rival for Lana's affection; seen with Brooke

During the six-week shoot in Thailand, Shields said the cast bonded over dancing lessons and pickleball practice. 'We had so much pickleball practice, so all our free time was spent either going to dance rehearsal or learning pickleball or practicing pickleball'

There is a scene where Brooke walks in on Benjamin after he has taken a shower

'Brooke's just really warm and loving, and she's kind of the type of person that, even if you've only talked to her for an hour, you feel like you've known her a long time, she's just really warm, the former iCarly star said.

The model said the cast bonded over dancing lessons and pickleball practice.

'We had so much dance rehearsal on our days off, and we ended up just working out together,' the actress revealed.

'Then we had so much pickleball practice, so all our free time was spent either going to dance rehearsal or learning pickleball or practicing pickleball.'

'It was like we were able to do all of it together and laugh with each other throughout the whole process,' she explained.

Mother of the Bride debuts Mother's Day weekend.
For help and support in the US contact the National Suicide Hotline on 988, or in the UK call the Samaritans on 116 123

Reacher star Alan Ritchson has described his 2019 suicide attempt and how a vision of his sons convinced him to continue living.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Ritchson, 41, revealed he had become incredibly depressed and was forced to finish editing his directorial debut, Dark Web: Cicada 3301, from bed.

Ritchson revealed he hung himself in his attic but, in what the actor believes was divine intervention, was presented with a vision of his young sons as adults that ultimately compelled him to continue living.

'I hung myself. It all happened so fast, and I was dangling there,' he said.

In a vision, his sons, now aged 11, 10, and 8, appeared to him as adults in their mid-30s, just a few years younger than he was then.

Reacher star Alan Ritchson has described his 2019 suicide attempt and how a vision of his sons convinced him to continue living; pictured December 2023

'They calmly asked me not to do it, and told me that they wanted me to be here, alive and part of their lives,' he explained.

He said he was then able to pull himself up off the rafters before blacking out.

The suicide attempt came after the dissolution of a film fund he had been building with a business partner. She threatened to falsely accuse him of sexual assault in the press if he did not go to her hotel room.

'She gave me an ultimatum to come to her room and said that if I didnt, she would destroy the business and she would destroy me by calling TMZ to claim I sexually assaulted her,' he recalled.

'It was really disappointing and became a perfect storm,' Ritchson, who was working 20 hours a day on top of launching their business, recalled.

Ritchson obtained legal representation, but ultimately she never followed through on her threats and their business ended.

The experience 'really broke me in that moment, and it took me a while to recover. I was super depressed and didnt know how to navigate that,' he recalled.

After the suicide attempt, he sought help from a doctor who diagnosed him with bipolar disorder.

'I was diagnosed as bipolar right after. Deep down, I was comforted to know, "OK, theres a name for this."'

A friend then suggested he try MDMA therapy with his wife Catherine.

Ritchson claimed that he was sexually assaulted while he worked in the modeling industry; pictured in 2022

'I had never done drugs but I was truly, like, "Well, I might kill myself tomorrow, what do I have to lose?" So, I did it.

'I swear to God, the biggest light bulb went off, and it rewired my brain in the best way. MDMA is a proven therapy to treat PTSD in veterans, and its something that can work in cognitive therapy settings.'

The therapy session made him reflect on his existential journey and conclude that his purpose is 'to make the world a better place and serve others.'

Ritchson's epiphany prompted him to seek out more fulfilling opportunities in his career, ultimately leading him to the TV series Reacher, adapted from the popular Jack Reacher novels penned by British author Jim Grant, writing under the pseudonym Lee Child.

During his interview, Ritchson also claimed he had been sexually assaulted while working in the modeling industry.

The actor said the incident happened while he was 'one of the highest paid models at the agency' and offered a gig with a 'very famous photographer'.

The 41-year-old actor said the incident happened while he was 'one of the highest paid models at the agency' in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter; pictured at the Versace Atelier show 2014

'I was sent into a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line,' he explained. 'I was sexually assaulted by this guy.'

The North Dakota native said he immediately left the photo shoot, drove to his agency's office, and told them to never call him again.

'I quit the industry and it was the last photo shoot Ive ever had. Those pictures were never seen or published,' he claimed. 'That was it. I swore it off and thank God acting found me at the exact same time so I was able to make a switch to a new career, but it left some scars.'

Ritchson did not name the photographer.

'Lets be honest, its like legalized sex trafficking,' he said of modeling. 'The industry is not regulated, and its a widely known secret that if youre hired on a job, youre basically being passed off to a photographer to be trafficked.'

'I was sent into a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line,' he explained. 'I was sexually assaulted by this guy'; Versace show 2014

He said that there were numerous occasions when he found himself in these situations where sexual abuse seemed to be the objective, and the paycheck he desperately needed to survive served as the incentive.

'Youre always dancing around this very terrible line of, "How do I keep the job and not completely offend this photographer or this agent or whoever set this thing up, and how do I not get raped?"'

Ritchson said he deeply empathizes with women who face power struggles and predatory behavior in the workplace.

'If I really had to, I could get myself out of whatever room I was in through a physical altercation. Most women dont have that option. Imagine how terrifying it must be.'

The action star did mention that his modeling work for the department store JCPenney held a different experience.

The North Dakota native said he immediately left the photo shoot, drove to his agency's office, and told them to never call him again; pictured at Maxim Hot 100 Party in 2010

'I swore it off and thank God acting found me at the exact same time so I was able to make a switch to a new career, but it left some scars' pictured in 2009

'Nobody was trying to get you naked and oiled up in the back of a hotel room so they could sexually assault you or threaten you that if you didnt do it, you wouldnt get a campaign.'

He also weighed in on a 2018 New York Times report of sexual misconduct allegations against two famous fashion photographers.

'Some of the stories [from the expose] were just like mine. I was just starting to build a platform and get my voice in the business, and I wondered, "Should I say something?" Because all of the stories that those models were telling were my own. Its all true.'

Although Ritchson moved on from modeling after briefly exploring an American Idol audition in 2004 and securing a few small acting roles shortly thereafter, he still found himself confronting sexual harassment, including the business partner who threatened to ruin him if he refused to engage in a sexual relationship with her.

Lets be honest, its like legalized sex trafficking,' he said of modeling

His producing partner threatened to ruin him if he refused to engage in a sexual relationship with her; pictured in Prime's Reacher

Years later, while married with children, Ritchson reached a breaking point and attempted to take his own life

He said he was then able to pull himself up off the rafters before blacking out

Reacher debuted as a massive success in February 2022, immediately topping Amazon Prime Video's streaming charts, marking a first for the platform.

It quickly became one of the most-watched series debuts ever, accumulating 1.84 billion minutes of watch time in its first week. Within days, it was renewed for a second season.

'What got me ready for Reacher was all the losses that I took early on,' Ritchson said.
Ashton Kutcher was spotted running errands in Los Angeles this week.

The That 70s Show alum, 46, wore a navy blue Chicago Bears polo shirt with black shorts, a tan ball cap and black shoes.

He carried a piece of paper as he appeared to be leaving a shipping store.

The new sighting of the Two and a Half Men star comes as he has distanced himself from Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who has been a close friend of his for decades.

Diddy is in hot water after his homes were raided by federal agents. The raid was reportedly connected to allegations of sex-trafficking and sexual assault and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.

Ashton's friendship with Diddy may cause him some legal problems.

'He is expecting a subpoena as they have been good friends for 20 years,' a source told DailyMail.com exclusively.

Ashton Kutcher was spotted running errands in L.A. this week. The That 70s Show alum, 46, wore a navy blue Chicago Bears polo shirt with black shorts, a tan ball cap and black shoes

He carried a piece of paper as he appeared to be leaving a shipping store. The new sighting of the Two and a Half Men star comes as past comments he made about parties at Sean ' Diddy ' Combs' house have resurfaced

Diddy's Miami and Los Angeles mansions were raided by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents last month, while his alleged associate, Brendan Paul, 25, who was accused of being his 'drug mule,' was arrested by police.

The Associated Press reported that the searches are believed to be part of an investigation into sex trafficking allegations made against the rapper.

During a 2019 episode of Hot Ones that recently resurfaced, Ashton was asked about the parties at Combs' house by host Sean Evans.

'Ive got a lot I cant tell,' he said, pausing for a moment before adding: 'I cant tell that one either.'

Diddy, 54, and Ashton have been friends for decades and appeared together on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2018 where the It's All About the Benjamins rapper gushed about their bond.

'I was doing Making the Band on MTV, he was doing Punkd and I gave him a call one day and said, "I heard that you are going to punk me and I just dont think thats a good idea,"' Diddy told Corden.

Kutcher interrupted Combs, saying: 'Im pretty sure thats not the way you said it, "I dont think thats a good idea," is that what you said?' and the two men laughed.

And after facing backlash for the support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson, 48, Ashton's wife Mila Kunis, 40, has reportedly banned him from talking to Diddy or offering any public support of the embattled rapper.

Ashton and the rapper have been friends for years and have been seen hanging out together on many occasions, pictured in 2003

Diddy's Miami and Los Angeles mansions were raided by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents last month, while his alleged associate, Brendan Paul 25, who was accused of being his 'drug mule,' was arrested by police. Seen here in 2004

During a 2019 episode of Hot Ones, Ashton was asked about the parties at Combs' house by host Sean Evans. 'Ive got a lot I cant tell,' he said, pausing for a moment before adding: 'I cant tell that one either,' pictured here in 2023

And after facing backlash for the support of convicted rapist Danny Masterson , 48, Ashton's wife Mila Kunis , 40, has reportedly banned him from talking to Diddy or offering any public support of the embattled rapper. Seen in 2022

In their letters, obtained by DailyMail.com, both Ashton and Mila spoke highly of Danny, claiming he always 'treated people with decency, equality, and generosity.'

'There is no way in hell Ashton or Mila will be showing any sort of public support for Diddy right now,' the source told DaiyMail.com exclusively.

'Regardless of Ashton's long history with him, he has distanced himself from Diddy since Cassie's lawsuit, and even more so in the wake of the new ones.

'Mila will not let Ashton be in any sort of contact. He is expecting a subpoena as they have been good friends for 20 years.'
Chris Pine loved working with his costars on his new film Poolman, which he not only stars in but also directs.

The actor told People on Thursday that the stars were his top choice.

The films features Annette Bening, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Danny DeVito, whom he described as a 'hall-of-fame team.'

'Just getting to work with one of them would be fortunate,' shared Pine.

'The fact that they all said yes was unbelievable. I'm forever grateful they gave their time and talents to the film,' he said.

The performer also remarked that he wanted Poolman to lift the spirits of moviegoers.

'We hope you leave the theater with a smile, feeling a little bit lighter than when you came in. Just a moment to escape the day-to-day with a story that delights,' he stated.

Chris Pine loved working with his costars on his new film Poolman, which he not only stars in but also directs

The actor told People on Thursday that the stars were his top choice. The films features Annette Bening, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Danny DeVito, whom he described as a 'hall-of-fame team'

'Just getting to work with one of them would be fortunate,' shared Pine. 'The fact that they all said yes was unbelievable. I'm forever grateful they gave their time and talents to the film,' he said

Chris added that he felt both 'joyful' and 'creative' on the set of his directorial debut.

The 43-year-old - who was recently spotted while stepping out with a mystery woman - said he was grateful to have been able to film Poolman in a streamlined manner.

'It was a flow state for months. There wasn't time to think or get in my head. 'It was so joyful and the most creative I've ever gotten to be on set,' he shared.

The star of the Star Trek film franchise went on to speak about why he connected so closely to his character, Darren Barrenman.

He described the pool cleaner as 'a dreamer whose search for love and connection won't be bullied into submission by a cynical world. I like that kind of optimism and I think audiences will too.'

Development on Poolman was revealed publicly in 2022, when Pine was first attached to the project.

In addition to directing and starring in the film, the actor co-wrote and co-produced the feature.

Other performers involved with the project include Ray Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky and DeWanda Wise.

The performer also remarked that he wanted Poolman to lift the spirits of moviegoers

'We hope you leave the theater with a smile, feeling a little bit lighter than when you came in. Just a moment to escape the day-to-day with a story that delights,' he stated

Poolman's official world premiere took place during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival

Physical production on the feature took place at various locations around Los Angeles that same year.

Poolman's official world premiere took place during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

The feature has garnered largely negative reviews from critics and holds a rating of 23% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Poolman is currently scheduled to make its debut in the United States on May 10.
Christian Bale debuted his shock Frankenstein transformation in haunting first look images from new film, The Bride.

The Oscar-winning actor, 50, sported gory stitches across his forehead and chest, along with facial prosthetics in the monstrous image - which saw him flash his tattooed chest in an open shirt and scarf.

The film will be directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal who shared the images from a recent camera test for the movie.

Bale will star alongside Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley, 34, who showed off her own gothic look as The Bride with a platinum blonde wig and smeared black lipstick.

Annette Bening, Penelope Cruz and Gyllenhaal's husband, Peter Sarsgaard will also star in Gyllenhaal's directorial debut.

Christian Bale debuted his shock Frankenstein transformation in haunting first look images from new film, The Bride

Bale will star alongside Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley, 34, who showed off her own gothic look as The Bride with a platinum blonde wig and smeared black lipstick

The film marks a reunion for Bale and Gyllenhaal who starred alongside one another in 2008's Batman film The Dark Knight.

Production is believed to be starting soon, with Bale mentioning he was going bald for the role during his groundbreaking ceremony for the California foster homes.

'I've got to shave my head next week [for a movie]. I asked them to please let me hold off on doing that but everyone was going, "Whats wrong with Bale? Whats up with him?"' Bale said.

'I said, "Just let me get through the groundbreaking and then Ill be off to join you,"' Bale said, adding he was starting preparations soon.

'Ill be working with the wonderful Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessie Buckley and so many talented actors in the cast,' he said.

'Ive got to get busy getting on the rack, breaking my bones and eating lots of fertilizer or something to try and grow,' Bale joked.

The actor is no stranger to rigorous preparations, famously losing over 60 pounds to play the emaciated Trevor Reznik in 2004's The Machinist.

He also had to put all that weight back on again to star in 2005's Batman Begins, and he also lost another 30 pounds to play Dicky Eklund in 2010's The Fighter.

Bale most recently lent his voice to the English version of the beloved Japanese animated film The Boy and the Heron.

The film will be directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal who shared the images from a recent camera test for the movie

Bale showcased his bald head transformation for the role as he stepped out in New York's West Village with wife Sibi Blazic on Monday

The film marks a reunion for Bale and Gyllenhaal who starred alongside one another in 2008's Batman film The Dark Knight - pictured 2008 with Gary Oldman and Michael Caine

He's also set to star in The Church of Living Dangerously, based on the true story of John Lee Bishop, a mega-church pastor who ended up running drugs for a Mexican cartel.

He was ultimately caught at the border in 2017 and convicted, sentenced to five years in prison in 2018, though he only served three and was released in 2021.
Anton Danyluk's mother Sherrie Ann has finally met his Love Island girlfriend Georgia Harrison - however her reaction was less than impressed.

Sherrie Ann gave the couple a hard time as they met for the first time on Anton's newly launched podcast, What's The Crack?

Refusing to hold back, Sherrie Ann told Georgia she 'lost sleep over her' and told hre 'you did my nut in' while they were both on the ITV dating show.

In a very awkward exchange, Anton, 29, told his mum: 'Me and Georgia are getting to a really good stage in our relationship and you need to meet soon rather than later.

'So I've actually asked her to come along today to do the podcast.'

Anton Danyluk's mother Sherrie Ann has finally met his Love Island girlfriend Georgia Harrison - however her reaction was less than impressed

Sherrie gave the couple a hard time as they met for the first time on his newly launched podcast, What's The Crack?

Looking aghast, she replied: 'You want me to meet Georgia for the first time on a podcast? Have you thought this through?'

Georgia, also 29, then entered the room to meet the woman famed for waxing her son's bottom.

Hoping to break the ice quickly, Anton quipped: 'There has always been that barrier between who I am with and my mum.

'So I thought why not bring the two of you together, is there anything you want to get off your chest to make things a bit faster?'

Sherrie told Georgia: 'I lost sleep over you, you did my nut in.'

Georgia hastily replied: 'I am sorry. Honestly I never once spoke badly of Anton.'

His mother then raged: 'You said he gave you the f***ing ick.'

Desperately trying to defend herself, Georgia added: 'That is not speaking bad of him that is just communicating how I am feeling at the time.'

The cringe and difficult conversation continued, with his beloved mother mocking his manhood.

In a very awkward exchange, Anton, 29, told his mother: 'Me and Georgia are getting to a really good stage in our relationship and you need to meet soon rather than later'

Looking aghast, she replied: 'You want me to meet Georgia for the first time on a podcast? Have you thought this through?'

Sherrie told Georgia: 'I lost sleep over you, you did my nut in.' Georgia hastily replied: 'I am sorry. Honestly I never once spoke badly of Anton.' His mother then raged: 'You said he gave you the f***ing ick'

And unfortunately for Georgia, the podcast did not end on a high note with Sherrie telling the influencer that 'time would tell' if they would get on.

The reality stars finished in fifth place during the Love Island All Stars final last month, but viewers were left questioning whether they were genuine.

Anton and Georgia had a number of ups and downs in the South African villa, which caused fans to think she would 'dump him' soon after leaving.

Georgia later responded to a negative comment on social media which read: 'I have milk that has a longer shelf life than this relationship'.

She hit back: 'I heard everlasting milk was back in fashion.'

Georgia has also addressed concerns from fans about her wellbeing during the live final after viewers of the ITV2 reality show picked up on Georgia's 'awkward' chat with Anton.

The couple have faced serious scrutiny over the legitimacy of their relationship over the past few weeks and have faced a rocky road to romance.

Taking to Instagram, Georgia once again defended their relationship and insisted she was just 'nervous' during the final.

Georgia wrote: 'If I'm being honest the last week was really challenging for me and I was nervous at the final with such a big crowd and also the ex Islanders who had recently voiced strong opinions on me and Anton as a couple.'

The reality stars finished in fifth place during the Love Island All Stars final last month, but viewers were left questioning whether they were genuine

Anton and Georgia had a number of ups and downs in the South African villa (pictured), which caused fans to think she would 'dump him' soon after leaving

She was referring to a recent episode of the show where the ex-Islanders came back into the villa to share their judgements on the couples.

The Islanders had to vote for who they thought the least compatible couple was and Georgia and Anton narrowly avoided being dumped as Arabella Chi and Adam Maxted were ultimately sent home.

During her statement, Georgia continued: 'I couldn't hide my apprehension but I can assure you I am very happy and looking forward to the future and appreciate him supporting me through my nerves.'

While speaking to host Maya Jama during the final, Georgia looked less than impressed with Anton as he revealed that she was 'heartbroken' when she originally entered the South Africa villa.

The pair discussed how it felt that their fellow Islanders believed their romantic connection is fake after Georgia previously said Anton gave her 'the ick'.

She said: 'I just think I'm not use to relationships moving that fast and then feelings just grew slowly and it took a while to progress.'

Anton added: 'It was difficult because what I think people didn't realise was that Georgia came in here heartbroken when she came in.'

Georgia has also addressed concerns from fans about her wellbeing during the live Love Island All Stars final (pictured)

Maya replied: 'We didn't actually know that...'

Looking rather furious by the comment, Georgia awkwardly shut down the comment: 'I wasn't like that, let's not talk about it'.

Maya then went completely silent along with the rest of the audience and villa but it was not made clear who actually 'broke' Georgia's heart.

The pair did go on to say they are going to try and 'see each other' back home as Anton 'comes to London once a week to film a podcast'.
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Blake Lively was a bride once again as she filmed a gorgeous wedding scene for A Simple Favor 2 in Capri, Italy in images exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.

The sequel will see Lively's character Emily Nelson tie the knot to a wealthy Italian businessman - and snaps have captured the elaborate affair, complete with an arc of colorful roses towering over the on-screen couple as they say 'I do.'

In the very first images from the set of the film, Lively, 36, who is married to actor Ryan Reynolds in real life, was pictured 'marrying' hunky actor Michele Morrone, 33, in a romantic waterfront ceremony.

Lively's wedding gown featured a plunging neckline, floral embellishments, dramatic skirt and endless veil that trailed the pink carpeting.

Her hair was elegantly styled into an updo with several white florals tucked into her bun.

Blake Lively was a bride once again as she filmed a gorgeous wedding scene for A Simple Favor 2 in Capri, Italy on Wednesday

She tenderly cupped Michele's cheek with her gloved hand as they exchanged vows in front of their guests.

Attendees were seen standing as they watched the 'ceremony' begin.

Anna Kendrick, who plays Stephanie Smothers, appeared to be playing a bridesmaid as her character was seen carrying a small bouquet of white flowers.

She looked glam in a romantic floral print gown with her hair styled into loose waves.

The black tie affair saw guests clad in tuxedos and glamorous dresses and even included a live orchestra.

Blake beamed with joy as she stood at the altar before her 'groom', who listened intently as she seemingly said her vows.

A Simple Favor 2 is the sequel to the 2018 dark comedy helmed by Paul Feig, who returns to direct the next chapter.

According to a synopsis, A Simple Favor 2 sees 'the return of Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) as they head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily's extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman.

Lively and her co-star said 'I do' in a gorgeous waterfront ceremony

Anna Kendrick's character of Stephanie Smothers appeared to serve as a bridesmaid

Lively looked stunning with her hair elegantly styled and floral embellishments tucked into her bun

Kendrick wowed in a beautiful floral print gown with a glam head full of waves

The ceremony featured an over-the-top display of fresh roses

Lively donned a robe and took snaps during what appeared to be a break from filming

She cupped Michele's cheek with her gloved hand

Her bridal attire included a massive veil that trailed the pink carpeting

Michele assisted his co-star with her massive veil

'Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square,' Variety revealed.

Kendrick, 37, is excited about the sequel, saying that Stephanie has 'got like a little bit more savvy in her,' but 'she's still Stephanie at the end of the day,' per E! News.

'I've actually read the script now,' the actress told the outlet, 'and it's so good.'

Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho and Kelly McCormack all reprising their roles from the first feature.

Amazon MGM Studios announced last month that the sequel movie, which will be co-produced by Lions Gate is planning to begin shooting this spring and will stream on Prime Video.

Lively was seen clad in a thick windbreaker jacket when she wasn't filming the wedding scene

She trekked along a path with other crew members

The actress beamed with happiness during the scene

The ceremony included an orchestra

Lively appeared to be heading to the wedding scene

The film crew captured the characters saying 'I do'

Guests stood up as the 'ceremony' began

Kendrick plays Stephanie Smothers in the original and sequel

The original film, A Simple Favor, was released in 2018 and was based on the Darcey Bell book of the same name.

It followed quirky single mom vlogger Stephanie, who is a bit lonely as she attempts to fit into her Connecticut community.

She has a sense something is missing in her life but then befriends another mother - Emily, a gorgeous woman who resides in a modern mansion, has an incredible job and amazing fashion sense.

But then Emily disappears and Stephanie starts looking into her past which is very suspicious.

The film made almost $100 million worldwide at the box office for Lionsgate and the reviews were for the most part positive.

In real life, Lively has been married to actor Ryan Reynolds since 2012

The black-tie affair saw the groom and guests clad in tuxedos

Kendrick stood on the far edge of the platform as the ceremony began

Lively beamed with happiness at her 'groom'

The stunning ceremony was set along the waterfront

Anna kept comfortable with a pair of boots

Amazon MGM Studios announced last month that the sequel movie, which will be co-produced by Lions Gate is planning to begin shooting this spring and will stream on Prime Video.

The 'bride-to-be' and Kendrick assembled by the orchestra

A priest orchestrated the ceremony

The original film, A Simple Favor, was released in 2018 and was based on the Darcey Bell book of the same name

The original film followed quirky single mom vlogger Stephanie, who is a bit lonely as she attempts to fit into her Connecticut community

Kendrick appeared to be taking a lunch break

When announcing the sequel in 2022, Anna told Entertainment Weekly: 'I cant wait to revisit the hilarious, deeply dark inner world of Stephanie Smothers, and reunite Stephanie and Emily under the watchful and stylish eye of the glorious Paul Feig.'

Director Feig also praised the original film as he teased what's to come in the sequel.

'Simple Favor is one of my favorite films Ive ever made and its all because of the amazing writing of Jessica Sharzer and our stunning, hilarious cast headed by my brilliant heroes Anna and Blake,' he told EW. 'Expect more stylish twists and turns than Ralph Lauren making pretzels while driving down Lombard Street'
Netflix fans have gushed that they can't stop binging a new star-studded series which has finally been released on the streaming platform.

Ripley - starring Andrew Scott as fictional serial killer Tom Ripley and Dakota Fanning - dropped on Thursday and has been really impressing viewers.

Fleabag actor Andrew, 47, is making his small screen return in the fresh take on Patricia Highsmith's enduringly popular 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley - a role previously played by Matt Damon and John Malkovich.

Set in the 1960s, Ripley is hired by a wealthy New Yorker to travel to Italy to convince his wayward son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to return home.

Ripley lies his way into the lavish world of the elite before resorting to deceit and murder in a desperate attempt to keep his place at the table.

Netflix fans have gushed that they can't stop binging a new star-studded series which has finally been released on the streaming platform

Ripley - starring Andrew Scott as fictional serial killer Tom Ripley and Dakota Fanning - dropped on Thursday and has been really impressing viewers

Fans went wild on Thursday as they began watching the as they said: 'Ripley: sublime, just sublime.',

'Fantastic adaptation of the novel.'

'This is actually a very handsomely made show and production. Im enjoying it so far.',

'Not that it will surprise anyone, but Andrew Scott as #Ripley is sublime.',

'Loving this limited series so far. Beautifully shot and lit. The attention to detail at the beginning of the first episode really sets the tone. Andrew Scott/Tom Ripley really is talented.',

'Just watched the first episode of Ripley. Andrew Scott does not miss.',

'RIPLEY is so gorgeously shot that it can be distracting (complimentary), with Andrew Scott devouring the titular role with ease.',

'Honestly, I'd watch Andrew Scott read a phonebook but #Ripley has gotten off to a great start! #Netflix.',

'Five minutes into Ripley and I already love it! It's the vibe that was missing from the 90's remake. Jude Law and PSH were perfection in it, but I found Matt Damon to Be all wrong for Tom. The black and white filming, Andrew Scott, this is going to be great.'

Fans went wild on Thursday as they began watching the as they said: 'Ripley: sublime, just sublime'

Fleabag actor Andrew, 47, is making his small screen return in the fresh take on Patricia Highsmith's enduringly popular 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley (seen with co-stars Dakota and Johnny Flynn)

The eight-part show's leading man has been commended for his portrayal of the duplicitous titular con-man

It comes after Andrew opened up about the biggest challenge he faced while playing the fictional serial killer in the new Netflix adaptation.

What makes the tale by Highsmith so unique is that Ripley is the novel's protagonist, Scott said, despite being a serial killer, and encourages readers to see his humanity.

'The challenge of it was 'How do you make the audience feel what it's like to be Tom Ripley, rather that where we might usually go, which is to feel like to be a victim of Tom Ripley',' Scott said.

While promoting the series, Scott said what makes Highsmith 'one of the great crime writers' is that you are sometimes 'willing' for Tom to get away with his crimes, rather than simply seeing him as a villain.

He said: 'He's the protagonist he's not the antagonist, so it asks us to look at what's dark within ourselves.'

Scott went onto say that humans choose to categorise the perpetrators as 'monsters' in order to 'make ourselves feel safer'.

'Actually all these things are perpetrated by human beings and we have to be able to in some ways accept the very terrifying nature that people can make mistakes and be bad and inept and innocent and yet still do these terrible things,' he added.

'And I think that's what is so sort of unsettling about the character. So he's actually a deeply human character, but maybe not one that we choose to want to look at too much.'

Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List) wrote and directed the latest adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, following in the footsteps of the 1999 movie which starred Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

With a noir take, in comparison to the sumptuous visuals of the Hollywood movie, critics have compared the Netflix version to Hitchcock in style and pace.

Malkovich, who previously played the title role in 2002 movie Ripley's Game, returns to the world of Tom Ripley in a wildly different part while the star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who starts to suspect Tom's motives.

While praise has been given to Scott, some reviewers felt the supporting cast came up short with Evening Standard's Anna Van Praagh deciding that Dakota Fanning 'can't compete for a second with Gwyneth's Paltrow's flawless Marge Sherwood, and Johnny Flynn is left dead on the side of the road compared to Jude Law's portrayal of Dickie Greenleaf, a character he inhabited perfectly.'

Zaillian's visuals though have left the critics awe-struck with Carol Midgely of The Times noting that 'it is so cinematic that it feels less like a TV series and more like a very long film,' declaring it as 'a completely hypnotic experience.'

The star-studded cast also includes Dakota Fanning who portrays Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie

His central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'

The Daily Mail's Christopher Stephens writes: 'This isn't just television, it's a homage to great 1940s directors such as Carol Reed or Alfred Hitchcock.'

Meanwhile Scott's central performance has captivated early viewers, with the Irish actor labelled 'spellbinding'.

Lucy Mangan for The Guardian writes in her five star review that 'Scott's Tom is everything and nothing, and mesmeric either way,' adding: 'There is magic at work here.'

But The Independent's Adam White is insistent that Scott, who also serves as executive producer, 'feels all wrong for this' and is comparable to an EastEnders baddie, looking 'more like a lost Mitchell brother than a high society interloper.'
Giant panda Fu Bao transported to base in Wolong National Nature Reserve for quarantine

Xinhua) 15:03, April 04, 2024

This photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows the giant panda Fu Bao at the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao was transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine. (Photo by Li Chuanyou/Xinhua)

This photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows the giant panda Fu Bao at the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao was transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine. (Photo by Li Chuanyou/Xinhua)

This photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows the giant panda Fu Bao at the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao was transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine. (Photo by Li Chuanyou/Xinhua)

This photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows the giant panda Fu Bao at the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao was transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine. (Photo by Li Chuanyou/Xinhua)

This photo taken on April 4, 2024 shows the giant panda Fu Bao at the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao was transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine. (Photo by Li Chuanyou/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
A new Love Island feud has been revealed as Tyrique Hyde took a savage swipe at two former islanders following his split from Ella Thomas.

The reality star, 24, who starred on season 10 of the ITV2 dating show, took a savage swipe on Instagram at his ex co-stars Whitney Adebayo, 26, and Lochan Nowacki, 25.

It has also been noted that Tyrique has unfollowed the couple, who are the only pair still together from their series, on social media.

A post shared applauded couple Whitney and Lochan for being the only finalists still together from their series prompting Tyrique to comment laughing emojis.

Fans have viewed this as a swipe towards the pair indicating that Tyrique believes their relationship won't last.

A new Love Island feud has been revealed as Tyrique Hyde took a savage swipe at two former islanders

In February, MailOnline exclusively revealed Ella and Tyrique had parted ways permanently - after six months as a couple, having met on last Summer's Love Island

In February, MailOnline exclusively revealed Ella and Tyrique had parted ways permanently - after six months as a couple, having met on last Summer's Love Island.

However it was reported the pair had reconciled after Ella jetted off to LA last month and was soon joined by Tyrique.

He posted a photo from the Rolling Loud festival in California and captioned: 'Godspeed'.

Meanwhile Ella also took to her Instagram and shard a snap of herself wearing a suede miniskirt with 'Godspeed' written across the back.

The pair later dined at the same restaurant posting similar pictures to their Instagram stories.

Back in the villa, Ella feuded with Whitney but the pair still said they were 'best friends'.

Following the show the pair fell out with Ella admitting that she's not as close to Whitney anymore.

On the Zeze Millz podcast, Ella said of their friendship: 'Yeah cool, no issue. But like, not really as close as we were in the villa.'

Tyrique, 24, took a savage swipe on Instagram at his ex co-stars Whitney Adebayo, 26, and Lochan Nowacki, 25. (pictured) He has also unfollowed the pair on social media

A post shared applauded couple Whitney and Lochan for being the only finalists still together from their series prompting Tyrique to comment laughing emojis

Fans have viewed this as a swipe towards the pair indicating that Tyrique believes their relationship won't last

It comes after Ella finally broken her silence on her split from Tyrique last week which led to a public reaction from her ex.

In her first words on the split, on Sunday, the Scottish model hosted a Snapchat Q&A, on which she was asked: 'Are you still dating Ty?', to which she replied: 'Just to clear things up, we're not together...

'Didn't speak on it while we were figuring things out & dealing with it privately. Both agree it's for the best & wish him well. All love. Thanks to everyone that supported us together and individually [heart emoji].'

Swiftly after the fan exchange, Tyrique was quick to jump in on the platform when he was asked what he thought of Ella's announcement, to which he insisted her statement was 'not his style' but was typical of Love Island contestants.

When then hosted his own Snapchat Q&A, one follower penned: 'Ella announced your breakup and you have nothing to f***kin say no!'

He promptly hit back: 'Tf you want me to say? This is my life g. Did you announce your breakup to the world? Just cos people on Love Island usually put out statements don't mean I have to...

'That's not my portion. Thank you to all my followers who show love. LATAA.'

Ella and Tyrique met in a nightclub before they starred on Love Island together last summer but quickly established feelings for each other in the villa.

They came third during the latest summer series of Love Island, losing out on the top two positions to runners-up Whitney Adebayo and Lochan Nowacki and winners Jess Harding and Sammy Root.

MailOnline reported in November that their romance was 'hanging by a thread' and they had even split in secret before giving their relationship one last shot.

It comes after Ella finally broken her silence on her split from Tyrique last week which led to a public reaction from her ex

In her first words on the split, on Sunday, the Scottish model, 23, hosted a Snapchat Q&A, on which she was asked: 'Are you still dating Ty?', to which she replied: 'Just to clear things up, we're not together'

Swiftly after the fan exchange, Tyrique was quick to jump in on the platform when he was asked what he thought of Ella's announcement, to which he insisted her statement was 'not his style' but was typical of Love Island contestants

A source told last month MailOnline: 'Ella and Tyrique have decided it's time to go their separate ways' (seen on the show)

A source told MailOnline: 'Ella and Tyrique have decided it's time to go their separate ways. They have such love for each other, but they often struggle to get along and as viewers saw in the villa, they're always arguing...

This time, things have ended badly and they have both removed all recent photographs of each other from their respective Instagram profiles, as well as all Snapchat content.

'They have unfollowed each other as well it certainly feels like this breakup is final.'

Their split means Whitney and Lochan are the only couple still together from the top three after Jess and Sammy ended their romance shortly after scooping the 50,000 cash prize.

During their time on the show, Ella and Tyrique often squabbled but their feelings for each other prevailed.

Their romance was rocked once more during the Casa Amor loyalty test when Ella chose to recouple with Ouzy See, which shattered Ty's pride.

In November, MailOnline revealed troubles in the couple's relationship caused them to pull out of attending ITV's annual Palooza at the last minute but sources at the time said they were still trying to get their romance back on track.

Ella has seen success since finding fame on the show, with her fanbase hitting a million followers.

She also landed a lucrative ambassador deal with PrettyLittleThing, fronting her own collections and shooting in Los Angeles for the brand.
Coronation Street has faced backlash over a recent storyline, with some of the show's former stars branding the move as 'repulsive'.

Former soap star Vicky Entwistle blasted the show's producers and writers for meddling with the old plot.

Corrie writers have penned a grim plot which saw Georgia Taylor's character (Toyah Battersby) have a secret baby after being raped in 2001, according to the Sun.

The latest storyline will detail how the poor baby was stillborn and buried in The Red Rec after the traumatic sex attack by Phil Simmonds - played by Jack Deam.

Toyah is said to have found out that the land is going to be dug up and fears her traumatising secret will unveiled.

Coronation Street has faced black lash over their recent dead baby story line with some of their former stars branding the move as 'repulsive'

Corrie writers have penned a grim plot which saw Georgia Taylor's character (Toyah Battersby) have a secret baby after being raped in 2001, according to the Sun

But the nerving storyline has not sat right with the show's former stars, including Vicky Entwistle, who played her mum Janice Battersby in the Noughties.

Blasting the producers for meddling with the 20-year storyline, she took to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Reaching out to Bruce Jones, who played her ex-husband Les, she wrote: 'We tried to make our moments as real as they could possibly be, didn't we? I guess we failed.

'Who knew digging up dead babies would become the highlight of ITV's teatime slot.'

And fans agreed with thee actress and they called the new tale 'repulsive', 'disgusting' and 'traumatic'.

One wrote: ' Such a ridiculous and unnecessary storyline ...'

'I really question who the writers of the show are nowadays! Doesn't sound like they lived a day on a working class street in Manc. They want it to be a crime drama or doctor's waiting room pamphlet self help guide with too many eps & not lettin people act but regurgitate lines!'

'This storyline is the worst I've ever heard. The writing team must think we're all stupid changing history like this. Corrie is in such a mess. Nobody at ITV will accept this unfortunately. Its so sad to see my favourite soap falling apart like this.'

The latest plot will detail how poor baby was stillborn and buried on The Red Rec after the traumatic sex attack by Phil Simmonds - played by Jack Deam. Toyah is said to have found out that the land is going to be dug up and fears her traumatising secret will unveiled

But the nerving storyline has not sat right with the show's former stars, including Vicky Entwistle, who played her mum Janice Battersby in the Noughties

Blasting the producers for meddling with the 20-year storyline, she took to X, formerly known as Twitter

And fans agreed with thee actress and they called the new tale 'repulsive', 'disgusting' and 'traumatic'

'What is stupid about this as well. Is that Toyah went through ivf with Peter and when she was told she couldn't have children she didn't mention anything about it. It's stupid that they suddenly create these storylines when it happened not that long ago in the classic Corrie'

'Not liking this story - especially as those of us old enough remember that there was no way Toyah could be pregnant. Gruesome. Sad what's happening to Corrie , especially seeing the old reruns reminding you of how great it was. xx'

They have also begged the show's new boss, Kate Brooks, to re-think the decision.

An insider told the Sun: 'This is an incredibly dark and ambitious storyline, and some long-time fans may decide to pick apart the holes.

'The brutal attack and the aftermath all played out on screen, so for it to now transpire that she became pregnant from the rape and suffered a stillbirth has raised quite a few eyebrows,'

Kate was appointed the new producer for Coronation Street after leaving Emmerdale in a surprise shake-up.

The TV veteran - who first served as story producer on the cobbles back in 2012 - is leaving Emmerdale after eight years to take over from Iain MacLeod after he was promoted to executive producer for continuing drama.

In a statement, she said: 'I've had a wonderful time working on Emmerdale and I feel immensely proud to be part of a team that has achieved such great success over the past eight years.

'I've absolutely loved my time on the show, and I've had the privilege of working with such a hugely talented and hard-working bunch of people, who also happen to be the loveliest, too.'

Kate added that she has gained more than she 'ever could have imagined' both professionally and personally from her time on the Yorkshire Dales-based show, but she's delighted to make the jump to Weatherfield next month.

It comes after Kate Brooks was appointed the new producer for Coronation Street after leaving Emmerdale in a surprise shake-up on Thursday

She said: 'Corrie has lit up my living room since I was a kid, so to be asked to produce a show I've revered for such a long time is the ultimate pinch me moment.

'I've adored the show from across the Pennines and have consistently been in awe of the talent on display, both on and off the screen.

'It truly is a special show and I endeavour to take great care to ensure that it continues to thrive as we head into the next chapter.

'Coronation Street has, and always will be, part of my DNA, and I can't wait to get stuck in.'

Meanwhile, Iain hailed Kate as a 'fantastic storyteller', and he's looking forward to seeing what she does at the helm.

He commented: 'I know under her guidance the show will be ambitious, exciting and full of heart and humour.

'She is ''Corrie'' to the core and such a good fit for the show. I am genuinely excited to see what the next chapter holds and can't wait to work with her again.'

During her time on Emmerdale, Kate produced a range of storylines alongside fellow producer Laura Shaw, including serial killer Meena Jutla and Mandy Dingle's 2019 return after 17 years away, along with Marlon's stroke, and Faith's breast cancer storyline in 2022.

She also married Emmerdale star Michelle Hardwick in 2019, and they have two children together.

The TV veteran is leaving Emmerdale after eight years to take over from Iain MacLeod after he was promoted to executive producer for continuing drama

During her time on Emmerdale, Kate produced a range of storylines alongside fellow producer Laura Shaw, including Marlon Dingle's stroke in 2022

Earlier this month MailOnline revealed that Corrie bosses were struggling with the 'headache' of finding Iain's replacement.

It was revealed that a number of television executives turned down the prestigious job - leaving the network with a 'huge headache.'

ITV's top drama boss and former editor of The Archers Huw Kennair-Jones was drafted in to sort the problem out and he has approached a number of top television executives working at the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky in a bid to lure them across.

But so far, he has failed to entice anyone to manage the show, which is set in the fictional town of Weatherfield, after Iain McLeod left the position of Coronation Street's boss for a bigger role at the broadcaster after six years last week.

As a stop gap, MacLeod's wife and deputy on Corrie, Verity MacLeod, is filling in until they find someone to take the job.

Staff at ITV say that this is putting off potential candidates because they don't want to be working in between the married couple, something that is now referred to internally as the 'MacLeod sandwich.'

One insider told MailOnline: 'ITV have had conversations with a number of television executives who are currently working on other serial dramas or have in the past been at the helm of big shows.

'But no one wants to do it. One of the things putting people off is the fact that you'd be answering to Iain while having his wife as your deputy.

'It's a ''MacLeod sandwich'' that no one wants to be in the middle of and it's now become even more of a headache for ITV.'

In recent years, Corrie, which still stars William Roache as Ken Barlow, and has come under fire for abandoning its loyal audience, its obsession with younger characters and a number of 'unbelievable' plot lines.

Show insiders say that there have been a number of conversations amongst the top brass at ITV that Corrie series producer Iain MacLeod had been in the job too long after joining the show back in 2018 because it is a role that has always changed hands every two to three years.

One said: 'Corrie has always been a job for two to three years. It needs that change every few years to bring in new ideas, while staying loyal to its DNA and keeping the viewers happy.

'It's one of the biggest and most prestigious jobs in television. There had been some noise for a while with talk of the 'Corrie problem' so by creating this new role ITV across both soaps it saw it as the answer to both Corrie as well as Jane Hudson's departure at Emmerdale.'

Corrie's most-watched episode - with 26.65 million viewers - is still Christmas Day 1987, when Hilda Ogden left Weatherfield for the last time until she reprised the role for a few specials.

But this Wednesday's show was watched by just 3.2 million and last year it missed out on the top 10 most watched TV programmes of Christmas Day with just 2.6 million tuning in - down eight million from a decade before.

Earlier this month MailOnline revealed that Corrie bosses were struggling with the 'headache' of finding Iain's replacement

Earlier this year, actress Maureen Lipman, 77, who has played Evelyn Plummer since 2018, urged the soap to scrap gritty storylines and go back to basics.

She said: 'We've come to a point in Corrie now where people are getting murdered in knicker factories. We're having domestic abuse. Anything that ticks the box of social problems in the 21st century is going to be in your local soap.'

Speaking on the Beyond The Title podcast, she continued: 'Whereas back then you had the freedom to put Martha [Longhurst], Minnie [Caldwell] and Ena [Sharples] in the snug and have a conversation about Ben-Hur.

'It's never been political but I always like it when the women sit down and go, ''Ooh, Donald Trump, ain't his hair shocking.'

She added: 'All those wonderful expressions that your parents come out with, like my mother saying, 'Ooh, doesn't a black skirt cover a multitude of sins.' People talk like that, and we recognise it as true.'
The nephew of a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star will be appearing on the new series of Made In Chelsea.

Series 27 of the Channel 4 reality show which follows the lives of London's poshest residents will return later this month.

Last year ended with emotions running high for the gang as they departed Sydney.

And now Lisa Vanderpump's nephew Sam Vanderpump 'Vanders' will be joining the crew gallivanting around south west London.

Lisa initially gained fame as a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from 2010 until 2019.

The nephew of a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star will be appearing on the new series of Made In Chelsea

Lisa Vanderpump's nephew Sam Vanderpump 'Vanders' will be joining the crew gallivanting around south west London

Sam, 26, who lives in Fulham, has reality TV in his blood as his aunt is the queen of reality TV (seen with Lisa)

Sam, 26, who lives in Fulham, has reality TV in his blood as his aunt is the queen of reality TV.

Channel 4 said while announcing he was joining the cast: 'Sam cherishes his special relationship with Lisa - they are super close and always have been.

'Previously racing cars professionally and now running his own brokerage firm, Vanderpump FX, Sam is very confident and loves being centre stage.

'He is bubbly, energetic and at times has no filter. It's safe to say that he likes to deal with confrontation head on.'

Sam has been close friends with cast member Reza Amiri-Garroussi for the last seven years and is a regular feature of Tristan Phipps and Harvey Armstrong's big nights out on the King's Road.

Also joining as a full time cast member for the new series is Love Island star Tina Stinnes.

She has reportedly split from her secret boyfriend who she kept out of the spotlight and signed herself up for the new series in the hopes of finding lasting love.

The 28-year-old has been a regular on the Chelsea scene throughout her twenties and has made appearances on the show in the past but now she is back for good.

Lisa initially gained fame as a main cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from 2010 until 2019

Also joining as a full time cast member for the new series is Love Island star Tina Stinnes (pictured)

(L-R) The new cast members: Jack Taylor, Tina Stinnes, Zeyon Taylan, Julia Pollard 'Muffin' and Sam Vanderpump 'Vanders'

The returning cast: Sam, Yas, James, Maeva, back row; Harvey, Paris, Tristan, Miles, Temps, front row; Ruby, Lauren, Emily and Rez

The 28-year-old has been a regular on the Chelsea scene throughout her twenties and has made appearances on the show in the past but now she is back for good

Zeyno Taylan, 24, (pictured above) who works as a fashion stylist is also joining the cast for the new series

Channel 4 said of Tina's casting: 'This free spirit has a spontaneous personality and prides herself on being loyal. She will always stand up for what she believes in and won't let anyone mess her or her friends around.

'Tina has been single for a year and a half and is open to finding love with the right person. She likes guys with good energy and fun personalities.

'For fun, she loves to party, hang with friends and travel. She is obsessed with her miniature Dachshund called Ares who she takes everywhere she goes.'

Tina famously was involved in drama during one of her previous appearances of the show.

She was accused by Jamie Laing's then girlfriend Frankie Gaff of being over friendly with him on a night out leading to a furious row.

There are three other new cast members joining for the next series too - Julia Pollard, 21, who is nicknamed 'Muffin' by her friends, Zeyno Taylan, 24, who works as a fashion stylist and James Taylor's younger brother Jack, 22.

Made In Chelsea is undergoing a huge cast shake-up for the upcoming 27th series this year.

One of the show's biggest and current longest-serving stars, Olivia Bentley, is stepping back from the Channel 4 series.

The reality star, 28, will be taking a break from the show in order to focus on her business after her relationship breakdown with Tristan Phipps last year.

An insider told The Sun last month: 'Liv has been at the forefront of all the drama for years - she's been there the longest out of everyone.

'It's been hard-going in recent series with her relationship with Tristan breaking down and she realised she needs to take a step back for her own good. She's in a really great place and still loves the show so is taking a step back for now.

'There's some new stars joining the cast who are ready and raring to shake things up a bit.'

A Channel 4 spokesman confirmed: 'Liv Bentley has been sharing her life with Made in Chelsea audiences for the past eight years and is now taking a short but well-earned break from the series to focus on her business  JOMO.

'We look forward to welcoming her back to the show later this year.'

Liv has been on the show since series 11 back in 2016, starting off as a previous fling of Sam Thompson.

She went on to be a central character on the show, with her on-and-off relationship with Tristan, 26, being a hugely dramatic storyline.

She is believed to be currently single after the couple split once and for all last year, with the messy breakup was documented on the Channel 4 show.

Both stars moved on with other partners, with Liv dating David Templer before realising she wasn't ready for another relationship.

During their brief romance they enjoyed a romantic holiday together, but ended things just before the cast jetted off to film the Sydney series before Christmas.

Meanwhile Tristan, 26, went on to date newcomer Lauren Sintes after his split from Liv.

Liv discussed filming the Down Under series with her ex, saying: 'Honestly, I mean, just stop dating people and then hanging out with them. It's weird.

'I was actually a bit apprehensive about [going to Sydney] because this was the first time Tristan and I had gone away and not been together.

'Every other away series, we'd always been in a relationship. It was alright, actually. We get on as friends.'

The news that she is taking a break from the show won't come as a big surprise, as Liv recently hinted that she soon plans to quit to focus on other things.

She told OK! Magazine in December: 'I'm retiring  I don't know when. It's amazing but maybe it's time for something else.'

There are three other new cast members joining for the next series too - Julia Pollard, 21, (seen) who is nicknamed 'Muffin' by her friends

James Taylor's younger brother Jack, 22, (pictured) is also joining the cast amid the major shake up

One of the show's biggest and current longest-serving stars, Olivia Bentley , is stepping back from the Channel 4 series

The reality star, 28, will be taking a break from the show in order to focus on her business after her relationship breakdown with Tristan Phipps last year (pictured together)

As for what she would do after leaving the show, she said 'find a husband' and 'have a few kids.

She added: 'I want to focus on my well-being brand JOMO. I want to do more of that.'

The upcoming series of Made In Chelsea will see a slew of stars return, including Dancing On Ice runner-up Miles Nazaire, who is expected to split time between London and Sydney to appear in the Aussie spin-off - Made In Bondi.

There will also be a spin-off with the British cast airing next month, with select number of stars flying to film in Mauritius.
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Paris Hilton looked happier than ever as she enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with her one-year-old son Phoenix and husband Carter Reum on the beach during a luxurious getaway to St Barts.

The couple, who wed at a private estate in Bel-Air in 2021, opted to bring their little boy on their latest adventure as they went for a fun kayak ride in the island's crystal blue ocean.

As the venture capitalist, 43, used a paddle to guide their vessel through the water, his wife held their firstborn on her lap as they took in the gorgeous scenery around them.

For the occasion, the mother-of-two rocked a bright blue one-piece with white stripes down her arms, a matching Versace hat and a pair of oversized sunglasses.

Paris Hilton looked happier than ever as she enjoyed a relaxing afternoon with her one-year-old son Phoenix and husband Carter Reum on the beach during a luxurious getaway to St Barts

The couple, who wed at a private estate in Bel-Air in 2021, opted to bring their little boy on their latest adventure as they went for a fun kayak ride in the island's crystal blue ocean

As the venture capitalist and entrepreneur, 43, used a paddle to guide their vessel through the water, his wife held their firstborn on her lap as they took in the gorgeous scenery around them

She and Reum kept Phoenix from safe the sun by dressing him in an adorable red cover up with a lobster hat, which matched his life vest.

Reum made sure to document the moment by snapping photos of his spouse and son on his phone after jumping into the water.

The Shortcut Your Startup author wore a pair of pink swim trunks and hat with 'St. Barts' on it.

The couple's four-month-old daughter London, whose face they have yet to show publicly, did not appear present on the excursion.

Earlier this week, Hilton revealed that she would show her daughter London's face to the public 'soon' in the comments section of a video that was shared on her TikTok account.

Although Hilton did not provide an exact date, she assured her followers that London's face would be shown in the near future.

The entrepreneur shares both her son and daughter with Reum, whom she began dating in 2019.

The DJ and the 43-year-old businessman became engaged in February of 2021, and they tied the knot that November.

For the occasion, the mother-of-two rocked a bright blue one-piece with white stripes down her arms, a matching Versace hat and a pair of oversized sunglasses

She and Reum kept Phoenix from safe the sun by dressing him in an adorable red cover up with a lobster hat, which matched his life vest

Reum made sure to document the moment by snapping photos of his spouse and son on his phone after jumping into the water

The couple's four-month-old daughter London, whose face they have yet to show publicly, did not appear present on the excursion

Hilton revealed that she and her husband had welcomed Phoenix via surrogate in January of last year.

The socialite's eldest child has since been featured in numerous photos and videos shared on her various social media accounts.

The reality television figure and her husband went on to welcome London, who was also delivered via surrogate, last November.

Hilton's eldest son became the subject of attention late last year, when numerous Instagram users began leaving messages on her posts to ridicule the size of his head.

The entrepreneur spoke to People last November and told the media outlet that her 'mama bear instincts' began to surface after reading various comments concerning her son.

The model lashed out against the users who had made remarks about Phoenix, and described the individuals who did so as 'cruel' and 'miserable.'

'I couldn't believe that they could be mean and vicious about a little innocent baby,' she added.

Earlier this week, Hilton revealed that she would show her daughter London's face to the public 'soon' in the comments section of a video that was shared on her TikTok account

Although Hilton did not provide an exact date, she assured her followers that London's face would be shown in the near future.

The entrepreneur shares both her son and daughter with Reum, whom she began dating in 2019

The DJ and the 43-year-old businessman became engaged in February of 2021, and they tied the knot that November

Hilton revealed that she and her husband had welcomed Phoenix via surrogate in January of last year

The socialite's eldest child has since been featured in numerous photos and videos shared on her various social media accounts

Hilton then stated that, although she had become accustomed to online criticism, she would not tolerate jokes at her son's expense.

'You can say what you want about me, but this is my little angel. And if anyone ever says anything to hurt him or his feelings, I will always be there to protect him,' she stated.

The DJ also thanked the individuals who had shown their support for Phoenix at the time.

'Sticking up for me meant the world to me, and to have people looking out for Phoenix in that way, it meant a lot,' she said.
The cast of Jersey Shore ensured all eyes were on them as they arrived to the Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace Mansion, in Miami Beach, Florida.

The reality stars, including Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, DJ Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino, were decked out in Versace patterns as they made their way to the late designer's famous beach mansion on Wednesday.

Snooki, 36, showed off her eccentric sense of style in a yellow and black silk kimono over a patterned romper.

The mother-of-three completed her bold ensemble with a pair of silver wraparound shades, cross necklace, Gucci crossbody handbag and studded platform sandals.

The cast of Jersey Shore ensured all eyes were on them as they arrived to the Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace Mansion, in Miami Beach, Florida on Thursday

The reality stars, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, DJ Pauly D and Vinny Guadagnino, were decked out in Versace patterns as they made their way to the designer's famous beach mansion

Snooki, 36, showed off her eccentric sense of style in a yellow and black silk kimono over a patterned romper and a pair of silver wraparound sunglasses

The TV personality, who retired from her wild partying days to focus on her family, wore her wavy long brunette locks in a half-up, half-down hairstyle.

For their outing, Pauly D sported a black and white patterned short, black slacks and sneakers to the historic landmark, where fashion designer Gianni Versace lived from 1992 until his murder in 1997.

He was joined by his girlfriend Nikki Hall, who first appeared on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in 2020.

The social media influencer wore a black jumpsuit with a racy cutout around her chest and sunglasses.

The Situation appeared to coordinate his look with Snooki and Guadagnino as he also sported a black and yellow patterned dress shirt.

The New York native, 41, looked happy in love with his wife Lauren Sorrentino as they held hands on their way into the Versace Mansion.

Lauren, who welcomed their third child together last month, opted to wear a low-cut black minidress and stilettos.

Once inside, the group dined at Gianni's Restaurant inside The Villa Casa Casuarina, which serves Italian Mediterranean food.

The TV personality, who retired from her wild partying days to focus on her family, wore her wavy long brunette locks in a half-up, half-down hairstyle

The Situation (R) appeared to coordinate his look with Snooki and Guadagnino (L) as he also sported a black and yellow patterned dress shirt

The New York native, 41, looked happy in love with his wife Lauren Sorrentino as they held hands on their way into the Versace Mansion

The Situation and Guadagnino are seen outside the Versace Mansion

Lauren, who welcomed their third child together last month, opted to wear a low-cut black minidress and stilettos

DJ Pauly D wore a black and white patterned short, black slacks and sneakers to the historic landmark, where fashion designer Gianni Versace lived from 1992 until his murder in 1997

The cast is currently filming in Miami, and were seen later boarding a yacht.

As they prepared to cruise around the waters of Biscayne Bay, Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola flashed her engagement ring in public for the first time.

While holding hands with her fiance Justin May, who proposed on March 16, the reality star proudly flashed her diamond sparkler at photographers and smiled.

In addition to her latest accessory, she donned a black swimsuit, matching crocheted cover-up and aviator sunglasses.

He was joined by his girlfriend Nikki Hall, who first appeared on Jersey Shore: Family Vacation in 2020

The social media influencer wore a black jumpsuit with a racy cutout around her chest and sunglasses

The cast is currently filming in Miami, and were seen later in the day boarding a yacht

The cast stuck together as they entered and exited the tourist attraction at the same time

Casa Casuarina is the site that Gianni Versace was fatally gunned down

For their cruise, Snooki slipped into a black maxi dress over a blue bikini.

Jenni 'JWoww' Farley looked at ease as she grasped onto her fiance's Zack Clayton Carpinello shoulder.

In February, the couple admitted they were still apprehensive about setting a wedding date.

'We got engaged during COVID and, coming from someone that's been divorced and failed at this once, I don't want to fail again,' Farley admitted on The Viall Files podcast.

She continued: 'I know for a fact, and I say with all my heart, he's my one. This guy is so incredible for me, but when it comes to marriage and making it like a government thing, it just makes me apprehensive to set a date.'

The reality star added that she looks at Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, who have been together since 1983 and never wed, as a couple 'did it right.'

The cast is currently filming in Miami, and were seen later in the day boarding a yacht

As they prepared to cruise around the waters of Biscayne Bay, Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola flashed her engagement ring in public for the first time

While holding hands with her fiance Justin May, who proposed on March 16, the reality star proudly flashed her diamond sparkler at photographers and smiled

In addition to her latest accessory, she donned a black swimsuit, matching crocheted cover-up and aviator sunglasses

Snooki slipped into a black maxi dress over a blue bikini

JWoww's first husband was truck driver Roger Mathews whom she married in 2015 and is the father of her children Meilani and Greyson.

She filed for divorce in 2018 citing irreconcilable differences and he confirmed the news with an Instagram video saying 'I don't blame her.'

He clarified: 'There's no cheating or any dumb s*** or any juicy details,' saying JWoww 'grew tired of the repetitive pattern that we fell into.'

JWoww began dating Zack in April 2019 and the relationship unfolded on the reality show Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.

Her co-stars made fun of the nearly decade-wide age gap, giving Zack the nickname '24' in reference to his age at the time.

Meanwhile JWoww gushed on the show that Zack was 'a f***ing monster in bed' to the point she once said to him: 'Are you an escort? What's going on?'

Jenni 'JWoww' Farley looked at ease as she grasped onto her fiance's Zack Clayton Carpinello shoulder

In February, the couple admitted they were still apprehensive about setting a wedding date

The Situation seen carrying a black and grey Louis Vuitton backpack

He opted to wear a black shirt, matching swim trunks and designer sunglasses

During its heyday Jersey Shore was MTV's highest rated show

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation premiered in 2018 as a revival series to Jersey Shore, which ran from 2009 to 2012

In December 2023, MTV renewed the series for a seventh season, which premiered in February

They briefly broke up in October 2019 when Jersey Shore aired an episode that showed him getting handsy with JWoww's co-star Angelina Pivarnick in a club.

'I feel disrespected by someone I called a friend and by someone who stated they loved me,' she wrote on Instagram after the footage was broadcast.

Zack responded to the episode with a lengthy Instagram apology saying: 'I made mistakes that I cannot take back, which I take full responsibility for.'

Shortly thereafter JWoww took him back and they have been together ever since with him writing in late 2019 that 'I want to be by your side for the rest of time.'
Diddy's former protegee Travell 'G. Dep' Coleman has been released from prison after serving a 13 year sentence for murder.

The rapper, now 49, documented his release on his Instagram page on Thursday which showed him emotionally greeting his friends and family - four months after he was granted clemency by New York governor Kathy Hochul.

Records from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision obtained by TMZ show Dep was released under the prison's Limited Credit Time Allowance program, which allows eligible inmates a six-month credit on their existing sentences.

He will have to 'check in with his parole officer, refrain from possessing weapons and drugs without medical authorization, and will have to get permission to leave the State of New York'.

Coleman turned himself in for a nearly two-decade-old cold murder case in 2010 - and was convicted in 2012 for the murder of John Henkel,

Diddy's former protegee Travell 'G. Dep' Coleman has been released from prison after serving a 13 year sentence for murder (pictured 2003)

The rapper was convicted in 2012 for the murder of John Henkel (pictured) which he committed in 1993. He turned himself in in 2010 for the murder

The rapper was one of the rising stars of hip-hop impresario Sean 'Diddy' Combs Bad Boy Records label in the late 1990s.

He had hits with 'Special Delivery' and 'Lets Get It' and helped popularize a loose-limbed dance called the Harlem shake in the early 2000s.

But his career slumped by late 2010, with at least a dozen arrests on drug, trespassing and other charges.

Attorney Anthony L. Ricco said at the time that Coleman 'had been haunted' by the 1993 fatal shooting of Henkel and decided to confess to it.

The rapper showed up at the police precinct on December 15, 2010, and admitted to killing Henkel, a father of three, outside a Harlem apartment complex around 1 am on October 19, 1993.

Coleman calmly explained that he had shot someone after demanding money on a street corner when he was 18 years old, two detectives said at a court hearing in 2012.

'He said that he felt bad and that it was eating him up,' Detective Dave Feliciano said.

In December he was granted clemency by New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

The rapper was one of the rising stars of hip-hop impresario Sean ' Diddy ' Combs Bad Boy Records label in the late 1990s (seen with Diddy and Black Rob)

His career slumped by late 2010, with at least a dozen arrests on drug, trespassing and other charges

Two years ahead of his original parole eligibility in 2025, his sentence was commuted by the Democratic governor, who also granted clemency to 15 other individuals.

Governor Hochul granted 12 pardons and four commutations ahead of the holiday weekend, marking the third time Hochul has granted clemency in 2023.

The victim's brother, Robert Henkel, had demanded Hochul reject the urgings by prosecutor David Drucker to release Coleman, calling it a 'farce.'

He told the New York Post that 'it is one thing to seek (clemency) for drug crimes - but not murder.'
The first official trailer for the new romantic comedy Mother of the Bride was shared on Thursday.

In it, Benjamin Bratt plays the father of the groom and college boyfriend of mother of the bride Brooke Shields.

The 60-year-old Catwoman star has a moment of full frontal nudity when Brooke's character walks in on him naked.

The Law and Order alum's body looks fit enough to pass for several decades younger than his 60 years.

The movie was shot on location in Thailand for six weeks and will come out on Netflix May 9.

Benjamin Bratt bares all at 60! Law & Order star does full frontal nudity in trailer for Brooke Shields' new movie Mother of the Bride

In it, Benjamin Bratt, 60, plays the father of the groom and college boyfriend of mother of the bride Brooke Shields

The Law and Order alum's body looks fit enough to pass for several decades younger than his 60 years

The first official trailer for the new romantic comedy Mother Of The Bride was shared on Thursday. Brooke Shields stars as the jittery helicopter mom to her calm daughter, played by Miranda Cosgrove

Brooke's character Lana also has to deal with seeing her college ex, played by Benjamin Bratt, who in real life used to romance Julia Roberts, and is best known for appearing on Law & Order

Brooke looks amazing as she models swimsuits and summer dresses for the film

Brooke stars as Lana, a woman who travels to the Southeast Asian kingdom when her daughter announces she is getting married there in a month's time to her boyfriend, played by Sean Teale.

The drama around the hasty nuptials is further complicated when Lana discovers her future son-in-law is the offspring of the man who broke her heart decades ago (Bratt).

Shields, who also serves as an executive producer and opened up about the project in People.

Bratt stars as her former love, and the actress said her co-star is 'pretty easy to be a love interest.'

Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to be a romantic rival for Lana's affection.

Also starring in the film are Rachael Harris (Suits), Michael McDonald (MADtv), Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), Tasneem Roc (The Bureau of Magical Things), and Dalip Sondhi (Frayed).

'Its official MOTHER OF THE BRIDE is coming out on @ Netflix on May 9th globally!! We are so excited for you to see it, 45 day countdown,' Shields wrote

Bratt looks handsome as her ex in college who suddenly left her

Shields said she was happy to take on the project, and gave praise to director Mark Waters and Netflix's Director of Original Film, Christina Rogers.

'[Christina has] been the champion of really pushing and standing behind these stories for women over 40 to be in a romcom, that's not just all' she stated.

'Yes, we've got the focus on the young, beautiful, fresh love, and we want that, but she's not overlooking my demographic.

'And to have that wish fulfillment of another chance at love and all that.'

Cosgrove, who said she has a good relationship with her own mother, enjoyed working with the mom of two who shares daughters Rowan, 20, and Grier, 17, with Henchy.

Chad Michael Murray, 42, appears to a romantic rival for Lana's affection; seen with Brooke

During the six-week shoot in Thailand, Shields said the cast bonded over dancing lessons and pickleball practice. 'We had so much pickleball practice, so all our free time was spent either going to dance rehearsal or learning pickleball or practicing pickleball'

'Brooke's just really warm and loving, and she's kind of the type of person that, even if you've only talked to her for an hour, you feel like you've known her a long time, she's just really warm, the former iCarly star said.

The model said the cast bonded over dancing lessons and pickleball practice.

'We had so much dance rehearsal on our days off, and we ended up just working out together,' the actress revealed.

'Then we had so much pickleball practice, so all our free time was spent either going to dance rehearsal or learning pickleball or practicing pickleball.'

'It was like we were able to do all of it together and laugh with each other throughout the whole process,' she explained.

Mother of the Bride debuts Mother's Day weekend.
She competed on Love Island in 2018.

And now Laura Crane has overcome an eating disorder and sepsis to be the first British woman to surf the 60-foot waves in Nazare, Portugal.

Laura, 29, finished the fourth series of Love Island in sixth place with Jack Fowler but the couple split two months later.

She began surfing in her native North Devon at the age of 12 and moved to France at 15 to further pursue the sport, and then Australia.

Over 10 years of brutal training later, she told the BBC of her latest achievement: 'To be the first British female to surf there was a really nice feeling, and I hope that it inspires other young female British athletes in their sports, too.'

Love Island star Laura Crane has become the first British woman to surf the 60-foot waves in Nazare, Portugal

Laura, 29, finished the fourth series of Love Island in sixth place with Jack Fowler but the couple split two months later

She is now the first British woman to surf the 60-foot waves in Nazare, Portugal and encourages others to not turn their back on their own metaphorical waves (pictured in March)

She continued: 'I've doubted myself a lot in the years, and whether that's through society telling me that I couldn't do these things, or not.

'Wherever your 60ft wave is, you can get it if you don't turn your back on it and you don't allow somebody else to tell you that you can't achieve it. You've just got to have enough fight in you to keep going.'

In 2018, Laura opened up about her five-year battle with bulimia after quitting professional surfing.

She revealed the eating disorder left her feeling 'out of control' but she admitted she managed to get her 'life back' once she found happiness.

Laura told Stab magazine at the time: 'I became bulimic at 16. I was 21 when I got better. I'm 23 now. Sooo much healthier!

'Mentally and physically. An eating disorder is a mental illness. It f**ks you up in the head and it shows.

'You cant control things and when you feel that out of control, it becomes the only thing you have control over. So you just hang onto it. Its hard to let go, but once you do you get your life back.'

In 2019, Laura was admitted to hospital with sepsis, also known as septicaemia or blood poisoning.

Laura appeared on Lorraine, where she explained that doctors had initially suspected that a kidney infection was the cause of her pain.

Laura shared in 2018: 'I became bulimic at 16. I was 21 when I got better. I'm 23 now. Sooo much healthier! (pictured in March)

In 2019, Laura was admitted to hospital with sepsis, also known as septicaemia or blood poisoning, after a cyst on her ovaries got infected (pictured in March)

Laura took the illness as her body physically rejecting her new life in London as a television personality - and she returned to surfing (pictured in March)

She said: 'That's what they first thought - they treated me for that. They thought it was a kidney infection, and it was actually a cyst on my ovaries that got infected.

'I didn't realise how ill I was. I had this crazy high temp and my heart literally felt like it was coming through my T-shirt.'

Laura took the illness as her body physically rejecting her new life in London as a television personality - and she returned to surfing.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, please visit www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk
MasterChef's John Torode was 'nearly poisoned' when a contestant accidentally swapped sugar for salt in episode two of the hit cooking show.

Scottish hopeful Peter was sadly sent packing when, instead of caramelising his carrots, he coated them in salt.

Judge John pulled a comedic face of distress after tasting the vegetable, then said: 'Whoa. Whats the acidic heat on the carrots?'

A confused Peter, 49, replied: 'Er, there was none. That was just butter and sugar.'

Breaking the news to the IT consultant, John revealed: 'I think you may have mistaken the sugar for salt.'

MasterChef's John Torode was 'nearly poisoned' when a contestant accidentally swapped sugar for salt in episode two of the hit cooking show

Scottish hopeful Peter was sadly sent packing when, instead of caramelising his carrots, Peter coated them in salt

John pulled a comedic face of distress after tasting the vegetable, then said: 'Whoa. Whats the acidic heat on the carrots?'

Co-host Gregg Wallace, who tried the carrots despite John's reaction, confirmed: 'Yeah, you have.'

Peter rolled his eyes in disbelief and John added: 'The fish actually is cooked quite nicely. '

Gregg, 49, added salt to his wound with a further criticism: 'That sauce is not working. It's far too acidic and it's got tons and tons of chilli in it. It's too harsh.'

Afterwards, in the confessionals, Peter admitted: 'Nerves really got the better of me with that dish there.'

'They say it's not over until the fat lady sings, but I can hear her in the distance.

It comes after Jerome, a contestant in Peter's Heat 1, put vinegar in his dessert - but still progressed to the next stage.

When Peter was sent home, he said: 'I feel disappointed I cant hide that. I nearly poisoned John and Gregg with salt rather than sugar.'

Before his appearance, Peter revealed why he had applied to the programme.

He said: 'After watching MasterChef for years and developing my cooking skills, I always thought about entering the competition but never had the courage.

It comes after Jerome, a contestant in Peter's Heat 1, put vinegar in his dessert - but still progressed to the next stage

Peter was part of Heat 2, completed by, left to right: Jerome, Rana, Sidney, Louise, and Olivia on the far right

'After posting some of my dishes online, friends and family used to comment on how good they looked, then one day an old friend messaged me out the blue with the link to the MasterChef 2024 applications, and the rest is history.

He added: 'My earliest cooking memory is learning to make lasagne and several Italian dishes with my father. Im not too sure there was a recipe that he followed, but it tasted good!

'Growing up, my family werent big foodies, but the food we ate was comforting, things like mince and tatties, or stew, and every so often a recipe would be noted from a cooking show and then attempted in the kitchen, which was a treat.'

MasterChef is airing its twentieth series and the judges have hinted that the anniversary will see the hardest culinary trials yet.

John revealed: 'Michel (Roux Jr.) allowed our contestants to do a service at Le Gavroche before that historic restaurant closed. It's an incredible thing to say.'

Gregg added: 'We are putting the cooks through the most extraordinary challenges we've ever seen.'

And the judging duo have no plans to stop despite reaching the anniversary milestone, saying: 'It's a great year, but there's going to be many, many more great years to come.'

Three episodes of MasterChef will be released every Monday on BBC iPlayer and air every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on BBC One for a total of eight weeks.
Women who have sex with women receive more clitoral stimulation, study shows

Women with female sexual partners are more likely to have consistent orgasms than women with male partners, a new study has found.

Some 78 percent of sexual experiences with female partners led to orgasms, compared to 65 percent of those with men.

The psychologists behind the study, from Rutgers University, say the findings don't mean there is an 'inherent' problem with heterosexual sex - but that foreplay, rather than intercourse, should be practised more often.

The researchers conducted a two phase study, including nearly 1000 women.

In the first phase, the researchers asked 476 lesbian or heterosexual women to report on their experience with their most recent sexual partner.

Women partnered with other women were more likely to report achieving orgasm

They found lesbian women were 20 percent more likely to report orgasms with recent partners, compared to the straight group.

In the second phase, the researchers asked 481 bisexual women to talk through hypothetical scenarios with both male and female partners.

Half of the group imagined themselves with a woman, and the other half imagined themselves with a man.

They then rated their imagined scenarios on a scale of one to seven based on how likely they thought they were to orgasm. One was very unlikely and seven was very likely.

When they imagined sex with a man, the women reported a score of 4.88 compared to 5.86 when they imagined sex with a woman.

In both studies, women reported that female partners paid more attention to their clitoris, which made them more likely to orgasm, as compared to male partners.

Also, the researchers discovered a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy - if a woman was partnered with a woman, she was more likely to expect reaching orgasm. And when a woman expects to reach orgasm, she's more likely to do so, they wrote.

When women feel empowered in bed, and like they deserve pleasure, they're more likely to orgasm, according to psychologists from the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.

An increased focus on the clitoris could help improve the orgasm gap between men and women, experts say

The resresearchers suggest their study offers some support for 'the orgasm gap' theory, which suggests heterosexual women have less pleasurable sexual experiences than heterosexual men.

Studies show women are 30 percent less likely to reach orgasm than their male counterparts.

Kate Dickman, one of the Rutgers psychologists, said her study, 'sheds light on why the orgasm gap existsspecifically, how different expectations for sex with men and women can explain these differences.'

The gap doesn't exist because women are impossible to please, according to Laurie Mintz, a psychologist from the University of Florida.

Research has shown that when masturbating, at least 92 percent of women report orgasm, Ms Mintz wrote for the Conversation.

'The main reason for the orgasm gap, then, is that women are not getting the clitoral stimulation they need,' Ms. Mintz wrote.

This could be because they don't know where to look. Roughly half of young men surveyed earlier this year reported that they didn't know where the clitoris was, researchers from the University of Florida reported.

The authors of the new study suggest those wanting to help their female partner reach orgasm should 'create an environment that encourages orgasm pursuit through diverse sex acts, particularly those involving clitoral stimulation.'
JetBlue has introduced dynamic pricing for checked baggage fees - the first major US carrier to do so.

The airline already charges higher fees depending on when you pay for your luggage, but prices will now also depend on the time of year passengers travel.

A passenger traveling on a standard domestic ticket during an 'off peak' period who pays for one bag more than 24 hours before the flight will pay $35 under the new rules.

During a 'peak' period - for example when families are heading on summer vacations or Thanksgiving - they will have to pay $50 to check one bag at the airport.

For two bags on an international flight, the new rules mean travelers could end up paying as much as $120 to check their baggage within 24 hours of the flight leaving.

A passenger traveling on a standard domestic ticket during an 'off peak' period who pays for one bag more than 24 hours before the flight will pay $35 under the new rules, and $50 to pay at the airport during peak times

The carrier said 'peak' pricing would apply to busy periods including Presidents' Week, Thanksgiving and winter holidays, and spring and summer travel seasons.

But Zach Griff, senior aviation writer at The Points Guy, warned that over 40 percent of the year is defined as a peak period.

JetBlue outlines the new pricing structure in detail on its website.

On domestic flights, if you pay to check a bag more than 24 hours before the flight time, you will save $10 each on checking up to two bags.

But if you wait to check the bag at the airport, the fees are higher.

On 'Blue,' 'Blue Basic,' and 'Blue Extra' fares, the airline's cheaper ticket options, a first checked bag costs $45 for off-peak and $50 for peak times.

Paying for a second bag at the airport will set you back $60 in the off-season, and $70 in peak traveling times.

In the middle of summer vacation season, this means a traveler would have to fork out $120 to pay for two checked bags at the airport.

The fees also rise for international flights - hitting as much as $185 for two bags checked at the airport at peak times.

Non-basic fare tiers, such as 'Blue Plus', and JetBlue Plus credit card holders still receive a free first bag on domestic and international flights.

Peak pricing now applies to all tickets booked after March 22.

The cost of transporting bags has gone up significantly due to increased wages and higher fuel costs, JetBlue told DailyMail.com

Airlines have long used so-called dynamic pricing to set ticket prices at different times of year, but the major US carriers have so far not used it for add-on flight services.

The cost of transporting bags has gone up significantly due to increased wages and higher fuel costs, and JetBlue remains unprofitable since the Covid-19 pandemic, the company told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'While we don't like increasing fees, we are making these adjustments to help get our company back to profitability and cover the increased costs,' a spokesperson said.

It added that by only hiking prices for 'services that only certain customers use,' it is able to keep base fares as low as possible. Seatback TVs and Wi-Fi remain free for all passengers, it added.

JetBlue reported a net loss of $104 million for the last three months of 2023, compared with a $24 million profit a year earlier.

Last month, it called off plans to buy discount airline Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion after a federal judge barred the deal over concerns it would violate antitrust law and drive up fares.

JetBlue has struggled to turn a profit in recent months so this move is designed to boost revenues, Zach Griff, from The Points Guy, told DailyMail.com.

Zach Griff, senior aviation writer at The Points Guy, said JetBlue has struggled to turn a profit in recent months

'That said, JetBlue is starting to look more and more like an ultra-low-cost carrier with this new peak and off-peak pricing model,' he said.

'Most of the budget carriers in the US, like Spirit and Frontier, use demand-based pricing for bags, and this is something that larger airlines have historically decided to avoid. But JetBlue is bucking that trend as it seeks to earn more money.'

He added that JetBlue raised the base checked bag fees with no notice earlier this year - making this the second time in a matter of months that the airline is raising costs.

Will other airlines follow suit?

'The airline industry often feels like a game of "monkey see, monkey do," so I wouldn't necessarily be surprised to see other carriers copy JetBlue,' Griff added.

'After all, earlier this year, most US carriers raised their checked bag fees after Alaska and JetBlue started the trend.'

JetBlue said 'peak' pricing would apply to busy periods including Presidents' Week, Thanksgiving and winter holidays, and spring and summer travel seasons

Many of the main US airlines have also put up baggage prices this year.

At the start of March, Delta became the latest to hike its baggage fees - the last of the major three US carriers to do so.

American Airlines sparked backlash when it raised prices in mid-February, a move which was promptly followed by United Airlines.

All raised prices by $5 a bag and most are now between $35 to $45 a bag for the first and second checked checked items.

Even before the increases, airlines were making billions of dollars from baggage fees.

Airlines including Delta, United and American pocketed a staggering $33.3 billion from baggage fees last year

A report in February revealed airlines including Delta, United and American pocketed a staggering $33.3 billion from baggage fees last year - a sharp 15 percent rise from $29 billion in 2022.

This sum is solely made up of fees from larger carry-on bags, standard checked baggage fees, and fines for overweight or extra large checked bags.

It accounted for 4.1 percent of global airline revenue last year.
National burrito day is today - and Mexican fast food chains have offers to help you enjoy it.

Chipotle, Taco Bell, El Pollo Loco and Taco John's all have offers and promotions.

The burrito - which means little donkey - is thought to have arisen from the mixture of food in Mexico and that of the Spanish when they arrived in the 16th century.

These days, it is a favorite for Americans all over the country - whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a late night snack.

Here DailyMail.com rounds up the best deals for this year...

This culinary holiday, which falls on the first Thursday of April, means burrito enthusiasts can take advantage of specials and promotions at numerous Mexican food chains nationwide

Taco Bell

Enjoy a buy-one-get-one 50% off deal on burritos in the Taco Bell app (1 per user). Or order a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito for delivery on Uber Eats or Postmates and get one free once you meet the minimum order requirements.

Baja Fresh

Members of the Club Baja Rewards loyalty program can enjoy a buy-one-get-one-free burrito deal through National Burrito Day by ordering online at bajafresh.com and using the code BURRITO2024.

Bubbakoo's

Join the Green Room loyalty program at Bubbakoos Burritos today and buy a burrito at regular price to get a free one on a later date.

Chipotle

Chipotle Rewards members can enjoy a $0 delivery fee when ordering online or through the Chipotle app, using the code DELIVER.

Dog Haus

Order through the Haus Rewards app at Dog Haus to get a buy-one-get-one-free burrito deal on today (must be a registered user to get the BOGO coupon in the app).

Dos Toros Taqueria

Sign up for the Dos Toros app or dostoros.com Rewards loyalty program to enjoy a $5 burrito deal on National Burrito Day. Use the code BURRITOBOX at checkout before April 6 to get 15% off a burrito box.

El Pollo Loco

Today, Loco Rewards members can get a buy-one-get-one-free burrito offer (good for a free burrito of equal or lesser value; not valid on combos).

Freebirds World Burrito

Enjoy all Freebird-sized burritos, bowls, and salads for $6 on National Burrito Day, including limited-time Texas Smoked Brisket dishes.

Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Fuzzy's Rewards members can buy one burrito today and get a deal for a free one later. A burrito purchased on National Burrito day will earn members a reward for a free burrito on April 5-30 with any $5 purchase.

Moe's Southwest Grill

Order online, in-store, or on the Moes Rewards App to get a buy-one-get-one-free burrito or bowl deal on National Burrito Day.

Also, 100 winners can win a free burrito each week for 52 weeks by checking in on their Moe Rewards account.

Pancheros Mexican Grill

Keep an eye on Pancheros' Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts for a chance to snag a code for one of 10,000 free burritos theyre giving away on today. Hurry though, its first come first serve.

QDOBA

QDOBA Rewards members can get a free burrito with the purchase of an entree and drink on April 4.

Rubio's Coastal Grill

Order any burrito, including the Puerto Nuevo Burrito with Langostino Lobster, for $8.99 on National Burrito Day when you use coupon code BURRITO at checkout in the Rubios app or scan the QR code in restaurants.

Sheetz

Get $2 off made-to-order burritos at Sheetz restaurant and convenience stores from National Burrito Day through Saturday, April 6, by downloading the Sheetz app and finding the deal under the OFFERZ tab.

Surchero's

Members of the Surchero's Rewards Program can enjoy a buy-one-get-one-50%-off deal on burritos today.

Taco Johns

Bigger Bolder Rewards members can get $2 off any Meat and Potato Burrito Combo on National Burrito Day. Additionally, Taco Johns is offering a new Taco Pizza for those looking for an alternative to burritos.

Tocaya Modern Mexican

Subscribe to Tocaya's email list for free chips and guacamole with the purchase of one of their signature burritos on National Burrito Day.

Wahoo's

Enjoy discounted Citrus Slaw and Outer Reef burritos for $10.95 starting on National Burrito Day through April 8 at Wahoo's locations.
The US on Thursday said permitting an unrestricted Russian oil trade was and remains unacceptable and the western price cap on Moscows petroleum products is designed to force it to continue selling oil but for lower prices than it could otherwise obtain.

At the same time, US officials said Washington has not asked India to reduce the volume of its oil import from Russia.

The G7 price cap mechanism made it possible to stunt a major source of funding for Moscows war machine while also maintaining a stable energy supply to Europe and to emerging markets, US Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand said at an interactive session at the Ananta Centre.Emerging markets like India benefited from the discounted price of Russian oil relative to global markets, he said, asserting that the price cap mechanism was aimed at forcing Russia to sell oil at lower prices.
It is imperative that India take proactive measures to safeguard its marine resources and promote responsible maritime practices

Every year on April 5th, India commemorates National Maritime Day, a day steeped in history and significance for the nations maritime industry. Its a time to reflect on Indias rich maritime heritage and the pivotal role that the sea plays in its economic, cultural and strategic landscape.

This day holds special significance as it marks the maiden voyage of the first Indian-owned merchant vessel from Bombay to London. Back in 1919, on April 5th, the SS Loyalty, under the ownership of Sindhya Steam Navigation Company, embarked on its historic journey, symbolising Indias entry into the world of maritime commerce.

The journey of the SS Loyalty wasnt just a physical voyage from one port to another; it represented Indias aspirations for economic prowess and global connectivity. It laid the foundation for Indias emergence as a key player in the maritime domain, shaping its trade routes, fostering international relations, and fueling economic growth.

Alfred Mahan, the renowned Woodrow Wilsons concept of the freedom of the seas, articulated during World War I, emphasised the idea that all nations have the right to access the sea for trade and navigation. This notion laid the groundwork for modern maritime laws and regulations, ensuring that countries like India could benefit from the open seas.

With sovereignty over a marine area spanning 8,118 kilometres, India exercises paramount authority over its maritime domain. The presence of 118 minor ports and 12 major ports facilitates the movement of 1400 million tonnes of cargo annually, vital for the nations trade and economic growth. Additionally, the rich biodiversity of Indias coastal waters, comprising approximately 665 species of fish, supports the livelihoods of 40 lakh fishery workers engaged in allied activities.Seventeen crore people reside in coastal areas. Additionally, there are twenty lakh cubic metres of oil and natural gases present in our maritime borders.

As we celebrate National Maritime Day, its essential to recognise the contributions of seafarers, maritime professionals, and organisations dedicated to the advancement of Indias maritime sector. From shipping companies to port authorities, naval forces to maritime academies, countless individuals and institutions work tirelessly to ensure the smooth functioning of Indias maritime ecosystem. One prominent advocate of the blue economy is Gunter Pauli, whose Blue Economy concept proposes innovative solutions inspired by nature to address global challenges while promoting economic growth. Paulis ideas advocate for a shift towards a circular economy model, where waste is minimized, and resources are utilised efficiently, creating value while reducing environmental impact. His vision aligns with Indias goals of sustainable development and offers valuable insights for shaping the future of its maritime sector.

With growing concerns about climate change, marine pollution, and maritime security threats, its imperative that India takes proactive measures to safeguard its marine resources and promote responsible maritime practices.

In recent years, India has made significant strides in modernising its ports, enhancing maritime infrastructure, and expanding its maritime capabilities. Initiatives like Sagarmala and Bharatmala have been instrumental in boosting coastal and inland connectivity, facilitating trade, and driving economic development. By leveraging emerging technologies, fostering innovation, and strengthening international partnerships, India can further enhance its maritime competitiveness and establish itself as a global maritime leader.

(The writer is an associate professor, views are personal)
The 1974 cession of Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka by India has sparked renewed scrutiny into the countrys historical attitudes towards sovereignty

So it has been revealed that Katchatheevu island off the coast of Tamil Nadu was given away by India to Sri Lanka in 1974. Much earlier in 1961, Jawaharlal Nehru had earlier opined, perhaps in Indira Gandhis knowledge, that he attached no importance at all, to this little island. I would have no hesitation in giving up our claims to it Indias first Prime Minister had said.

It was with similar casualness that Nehru in the late 1950s on the floor of the Lok Sabha had stated: It is true that China has built a road in Aksai Chin connecting Tibet with Sinkiang (now Xinjiang). True, Aksai Chin is part of Indian territory, but not a blade of grass grows there, obviously implying that the region was of no importance. It is with the same cavalier attitude that Nehru had obeyed Viceroy Mountbattens advice to take the Kashmir issue to the United Nations Organisation. He did this merely because Sheikh Abdullah, called Sher-e-Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir), was a lion only in those parts of J&K where Kashmir-speaking people resided.

Abdullahs charisma did not extend to the Punjabi-speaking Muzaffarabad and Mirpur, and he did not want them to be a part of his future domain. We have PoK as a consequence. When China invaded Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 (then called North Frontier Agency), for most Indians, it was a national humiliation. But except for the then defence minister Krishna Menon-who was responsible for the 1962 disaster-no one showed even the basic courtesy of a resignation. This clearly showed that in the early years of our independence, loss of territory was taken rather casually. This is a symptom of a half, and not sovereign state. Certainly, we did not understand the responsibilities of sovereignty.

The US declaration of independence in 1776 was the first document to enunciate sovereignty as an essential element of the new state. French Constitution of 1791 stated: Sovereignty is one, indivisible, unalienable and imprescriptible; it belongs to the nation: no group can attribute sovereignty to itself nor can an individual arrogate it to himself. The conceit was first thought of by Jean Bodin of 16th century France to signal the progress from feudalism to nationalism.

Mamata Banerjee, when she was part of late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayees NDA once threw a sheaf of papers at the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha to protest at the delimitation of constituencies in West Bengal. In many constituencies, she had discovered Bangladeshi nationals listed in Indian rolls. The same lady as chief minister of West Bengal today doesnt mind West Bengal becoming another Bangladesh. What is happening in West Bengal isnt accidental. It has been the policy of the Congress and the Left Front to encourage infiltration for expanding their vote-banks. Mamata has only copied their strategy.

The story in Jammu & Kashmir before the advent of Narendra Modi was the same. Years ago, Parliament had resolved that the whole of J&K is an integral and unalienable part of India. This includes PoK. Yet, Article 370 of the Constitution continued for an entire 70 years. The state had a separate constitution. A Kashmiri could freely buy property in any part of the country, but non-Kashmiri Indians couldnt do so in J&K.

Yet, pre-Modi regimes expected people to believe that we were a sovereign state. Meanwhile, those regimes felt no embarrassment in negotiating autonomy in Jammu & Kashmir with all and sundry, including separatists and jihadi terrorist-supporters, not minding Kashmiri separatists from hobnobbing with Pakistani diplomats or visiting dignitaries from Islamabad. It took the iron hand of a truly nationalist Government, with firm commitment to sovereignty, to end this toxic charade. The Congress has always been pro-Muslim. This is clear from the fact that waqfs and Muslim personal law still remain on the statute. Collectively, the waqf properties represent the biggest urban landlords in India.

The demand for Ta1 Mahal by the UP Sunni Wakf Board and that for Bibi ka Maqbara at Aurangabad by the Maharashtra Wakf Board is on the ground that these contain graves. A sovereign state should nationalise all their properties as they are deemed to belong to Allah, who is supreme and above any country. Similarly, Muslim personal laws still continue to exist in a country whose Constitution proclaims it to be a secular country. There have also been vociferous demands from the Muslim community to set up Sharia courts known as Darul Qaza to adjudicate on matters concerning marriage, divorce, etc.

The apparent conclusion would be that India is a half-sovereign state. This concept was innovated by the German jurist on international law, J.J. Moser, who lived in the l8th century. India has some attributes of sovereignty like its belonging to the nation and not to any individual; it being also imprescriptible. But till Sharia, personal and waqf are allowed to remain as law, sovereignty will be shared and not absolute. The India before 2014 confirmed to this conclusion.

Sovereignty cannot be shared with anyone. Many Muslim countries have nationalised their waqfs. Fortunately, India after 2014 has had a Government which believes in absolute national sovereignty and has been acting in the manner befitting it.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an author and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Samajwadi Party and the Congress were not in favour of the Ram temple being constructed in Ayodhya.

Addressing a public meeting in Muzaffarnagar to seek votes for BJP candidate Sanjeev Baliyan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Shah said it was the Narendra Modi government that honoured people's sentiment and built the temple.

He also said that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has stopped the migration of people from western Uttar Pradesh by improving the law and order situation and it is the criminals who are now leaving the state.

"Akhilesh Yadav ji's party (SP) and the Congress never wanted the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya. The Congress kept the issue of Ram Janmabhoomi stuck for 70 years but Modi ji won the case, performed bhoomi pujan and also the consecration of Ramlalla," Shah said.

Criticising the INDIA bloc, he said, all those who were part of the opposition alliance were involved in scams.

"Those part of the arrogant alliance are the ones involved in scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore... They (INDIA bloc) held a rally where they talked about giving protection to the corrupt," Shah said.

"Today I am telling the entire people of Uttar Pradesh from this platform that in 2014, Modi ji said that those who have committed corruption will go to jail and in 2024 also he is saying the same thing.

"The aim of the opposition is to make people from their family chief ministers and prime ministers. The aim of Modi ji is to make the poor, farmers, helpless, Dalits and tribals strong and stand on their feet," he added. The Union Home Minister claimed that in 2014, when he was in charge of the Uttar Pradesh BJP, there was migration of people from Kairana, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur.

"But after the formation of the BJP government in 2017, the terror of goons has been ended here and migration has been stopped. Now, instead of innocent citizens, goons have started migrating from Uttar Pradesh," he said.

He also said that the people of the country appreciated the Modi government for the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, who accompanied Shah at the rally, hailed the government for conferring the Bharat Ratna to his grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Jayant Chaudhary also said none of the INDIA bloc leaders has said a word about Chaudhary Charan Singh getting the Bharat Ratna.

Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was posthumously conferred with India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on February 9, is popularly known as a champion of farmers. PTI n Muzaffarnagar (UP)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Samajwadi Party and the Congress were not in favour of the Ram temple being constructed in Ayodhya.

Addressing a public meeting in Muzaffarnagar to seek votes for BJP candidate Sanjeev Baliyan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Shah said it was the Narendra Modi government that honoured people's sentiment and built the temple.

He also said that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has stopped the migration of people from western Uttar Pradesh by improving the law and order situation and it is the criminals who are now leaving the state.

"Akhilesh Yadav ji's party (SP) and the Congress never wanted the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya. The Congress kept the issue of Ram Janmabhoomi stuck for 70 years but Modi ji won the case, performed bhoomi pujan and also the consecration of Ramlalla," Shah said.

Criticising the INDIA bloc, he said, all those who were part of the opposition alliance were involved in scams.

"Those part of the arrogant alliance are the ones involved in scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore... They (INDIA bloc) held a rally where they talked about giving protection to the corrupt," Shah said.

"Today I am telling the entire people of Uttar Pradesh from this platform that in 2014, Modi ji said that those who have committed corruption will go to jail and in 2024 also he is saying the same thing.

"The aim of the opposition is to make people from their family chief ministers and prime ministers. The aim of Modi ji is to make the poor, farmers, helpless, Dalits and tribals strong and stand on their feet," he added. The Union Home Minister claimed that in 2014, when he was in charge of the Uttar Pradesh BJP, there was migration of people from Kairana, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur.

"But after the formation of the BJP government in 2017, the terror of goons has been ended here and migration has been stopped. Now, instead of innocent citizens, goons have started migrating from Uttar Pradesh," he said.

He also said that the people of the country appreciated the Modi government for the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, who accompanied Shah at the rally, hailed the government for conferring the Bharat Ratna to his grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Jayant Chaudhary also said none of the INDIA bloc leaders has said a word about Chaudhary Charan Singh getting the Bharat Ratna.

Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was posthumously conferred with India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on February 9, is popularly known as a champion of farmers.
Battle lines are drawn for the Lok Sabha election from Kerala scheduled for April 26 as the last of the candidates submitted their nomination papers on Thursday, the last day for filing the same. There are 20 seats at stake from the State and the main contest in Kerala is between the CPI(M)-led LDF, the Congress-led INDIA alliance and the BJP-led NDA.

The NDAs challenge is limited to just three or four constituencies while in the remaining 16 seats the fight is between the LDF and the INDIA alliance. The Muslim League and various Islamist parties have asked the Election Commission of India to shift the polling day as Friday is inconvenient for the Muslim community. They point out that even the CPI(M), which calls for bandh/hartal at the drop of a hat makes it a point not to disturb the community by calling for shut down on Friday.

V Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who is the BJP candidate in Attingal, suffered a setback on Wednesday as two senior members of the Karavaram Panchayath resigned from their posts and the party.

Karavaram is the only local body in the Attingal constituency which is under the control of the BJP. Earlier, two BJP Councillors of Attingal Municipality had quit the party because of their Opposition to Muraleedharan being made the candidate at Attingal.

The Union Minister, known as P Chidambaram of Kerala (as he does not interact with party cadres) is pitted against the CPI(M) district secretary V Joy and the sitting member Adoor Prakash (Congress).

Both Joy and Prakash are known for their easy accessibility while Muraleedharan, who hails from northern Kerala, always keeps away from party cadres.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prakash won by a margin of 38,247 votes against his nearest rival A Sampath of the CPI(M) while Shobha Surendran of the BJP sprang a surprise by polling 2, 48,000 votes (24.9 per cent).

The party cadres were hoping that the party would field Shobha from Attingal in this election as she had established a good rapport with the voters.

Muraleedharan had made it to the Union Council of Ministers through the Rajya Sabha and is yet to win even a panchayat election from the State, said Sudheer Damodaran, a commentator.

In nearby Thiruvananthapuram constituency, Shashi Tharoor is slowly inching ahead in the campaign though he was trailing behind Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP. The TV news channel owned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Asianet) is a known pro-CPI(M) channel and is popular because of its anti-Narendra Modi blitzkrieg.

Rahul Gandhi, who filed his nomination papers at Wayanad on Wednesday returned to Delhi after a road show which saw thousands of INDIA alliance activists coming together to express solidarity with the young leader.

It is a foregone conclusion as he is going to win by a record margin this time too, said VD Satheeshan, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly.

K Surendran of the BJP and Annie Raja (spouse of D Raja) are his rivals.

In 2019, Rahul had won by more than 4,00,000 votes from the constituency. As things stand today, the BJP may have to wait for years to touch the double digit seats in Kerala. If they win one seat, that will be a major achievement, said A Jayashankar, author and political commentator.
The Delhi High Court has asked its judges to give priority to the criminal cases pending before them against members of Parliament and legislative Assemblies to ensure their expeditious and effective disposal.

The High Court was informed by its registry that presently there are 34 pending cases or appeals or revisions involving MPs and MLAs before a single judge bench of the High Court in which orders of stay of trial have been passed and are continuing for a period of more than six months.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora transferred the cases from the single judge concerned and directed the registry to reallocate or re-distribute those 34 cases to other courts or benches as is considered appropriate and effective for their expeditious disposal so that stay applications are disposed of expeditiously and trial of such cases can conclude before the designated special courts.

In line with the directives passed by the Chief Justice of India....We direct the registry of this court to circulate this order to brother and sister judges assigned with such cases so that priority is given to all criminal cases/appeals/revisions pending before them against the members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, as it is essential for expeditious and effective disposal of such cases, the division bench said in an order passed on April 2.

According to the present roster, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharmas court is the designated special court in the High Court to deal with MPs and MLAs cases.

On Thursday, when several MP/MLA cases came up for hearing before Justice Sharma, the court said it cannot hear them now as she has received a judicial order as per which certain cases have been transferred from this court.

The court then listed those matters for another date.

Regarding the cases involving lawmakers pending before district courts, the High Court directed the designated courts concerned to give priority, first of all criminal cases against MPs and MLAs punishable with death or life imprisonment, then to cases punishable with imprisonment for five years or more and thereafter hear other cases.

We also request all the judges to refrain from adjourning the subject cases except for rare and compelling reasons, the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing on May 20.

The High Court was hearing a case it had initiated on its own (suo motu) about disposal of criminal cases against Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

In October 2020, the Delhi High Court had initiated suo motu proceedings on the Supreme Courts direction to all High Courts to monitor the pending criminal cases against MPs and MLAs and asked the Centre, Delhi Government and the Delhi High Court registry to state the steps taken by them about it.

In April 2022, the High Court had directed the trial courts to give priority to the cases relating to the sitting and the former MPs/ MLAs and asked its administrative side to file a monthly status report with respect to the status of pendency of such cases.

The court had then appointed senior advocate Sandeep Sethi to act as amicus curiae to assist in the proceedings and suggest further measures to ensure expeditious disposal of such cases.

The Supreme Court had in September 2020 asked the Chief Justices of all High Courts to forthwith list before an appropriate bench all pending criminal cases involving sitting and former lawmakers where stay had been granted.

The direction came on a petition filed in 2016 which raised the issue of inordinately delay in disposal of criminal cases against former and sitting lawmakers.

The apex court had issued the direction after observing that there has been no substantial improvement in disposal of pending criminal cases against them.
With rampant economic growth, infrastructure development like Rapid Rail and developers lining up to build colonies as part of extended Delhi-NCR, the voters of `City of Revolution- Meerut  is a bit confused this Lok Sabha elections though it has sent BJPs Rajendra Agarwal to Parliament three straight term.

The regional heavyweight who boasts of a large accepted base of party workers, supporters has now been replaced by famous tele-serial Ramayans Ram, Arun Govil, causing a bit of reluctance within the volunteers who continue to vow their allegiance to incumbent Parliamentarians.

Polling in Meerut will be held in the second phase on April 26 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started his Uttar Pradeshs campaign from Meerut early this week.

Some of the residents expressed their concern and sought to know whether Arun Govil will do a `Nitish Bhardwaj here in Meerut. Another popular tele-serial Mahabharatas Krishna essayed by Nitish Bhardwaj who made a political debut as BJPs MP from Jamshedpur and then had to shift to neighbouring Mathura and during his both tenure his posters came across in the cities stating that their Lok Sabha MP has gone missing as he never returned after being elected.

On his part, 72-year-old Govil said he is contesting Lok Sabha polls not to do politics but to serve the people of Meerut where he was born and brought up. The yesteryear `Prabhu Ram will face a triangular contest and hence an advantage against the two others  BSPs Devrit Tyagi and INDIA alliance backed Samajwadi Partys Sunita Verma.

Interestingly the SP changed its candidate two times from Meerut. First, it fielded Bhanu Pratap Singh but replaced him with Atul Pradhan and again replaced Pradhan with Sunita in the constituency which reflects a diverse demographic and remains a crucial constituency of Uttar Pradesh with 64 percent Hindus and half of its Muslims.

In the 2019 General Elections, Meerut witnessed a fierce electoral battle where Agarwal won with a margin of less than 5,000 votes. Agarwal defeated BSPs Haji Yaqoob Qureshi while in 2014, Agarwal defeated BSPs Mohammad Shahid Akhlak.

Meerut people are very sentimental which is evident from its past history. We have always been lucky to have our own locals to represent the city in legislation.

According to the election affidavit filed by Govil, he is a resident of Versova in Andheri West area of Mumbai and also a voter of the Versova Assembly constituency. Am not saying that actor turned politicians have not been not successful given examples of Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Prada, but there have been instances of Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Mahabharatas episode Nitish Bhardwaj. We are only concerned whether he will remain consistent, says Shyam Rana, a trader in the Meerut Cantonment area.

In his campaigning and public meetings, Govil has maintained he was born in Meerut and spent the first 17 years of his life in the city.

He did his Class 10th from Government Inter College, Meerut in 1966, and he passed his Class 12th from Government Intermediate College Saharanpur in 1968. He did BSc from Shahjahanpur College, affiliated to Agra University, in 1972.

I was born in Meerut and spent 21 years of my life there, including the school days, Govil said. To a question about his contribution to society and Meerut in particular, he said, I can say that I served society spiritually, infused the sense of duties, relations and heritage through my role in the Ramayan. Those who remain connected with roots keep associating with nationalism.

Govil himself admits that he was not familiar with all the issues and problems of the Meerut-Hapur Lok Sabha constituency but told The Pioneer that he has started seeking help of MLAs and MPs from the region to know and prioritise issues and work.

I am not here to do politics but serve the people, added Govil who explained his political intentions being active on social media platforms in the last couple of years and then was a special invitee for the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January this year.
Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill's unblemished unbeaten half-century was overshadowed by uncapped Shashank Singh's fiery knock as Punjab Kings registered a thrilling three-wicket win in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.

Gill made 89 off 48 balls, the highest individual score this season so far, and in the process hit six fours and four maximums to guide GT to an imposing 199 for four.

He was also helped generously by B Sai Sudharsan's 19-ball 33 and Rahul Tewatia's eight-ball unbeaten 23.

But there was a heartbreak in store for GT as Shashank played the knock of his life, remaining unbeaten on 61 off 29 balls during which he hit six boundaries and four sixes to guide PBKS home with a ball to spare.

He was ably supported by Ashutosh Sharma (31 off 17) as the duo shared 43 runs off just 22 balls to raise PBKS' hopes, which eventually came true.

Chasing a big total, PBKS suffered an early jolt in the form of captain Shikhar Dhawan, who played on to an Umesh Yadav delivery while going for a shot through the cover region.

Jonny Bairstow (22 off 13), not in the best of form, was then cleaned up by Afghanistan left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad.

PBKS kept on losing wickets at regular intervals as the next to follow was Prabhsimran Singh (35 off 24; 5x4s, 1x6), caught by Mohit Sharma at third-man as the batter went for a heave against a tossed-up delivery from Ahmad only to get a top edge as PBKS slid to 64 for three by the end of the eighth over.

Sikandar Raza was dropped twice in Umesh Yadav's 11th over, albeit both were difficult chances.

But it was Shashank who capitalised on the lives, clobbering Umesh for two boundaries and a six to pick up 17 runs in the 11th over.

Raza, however, didn't last long as he edged a Mohit hard-length delivery to Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps.

Shashank kept on using his long handle, picking up a few boundaries and sixes to keep PBKS in the hunt.

Shashank held on to one end and brought up his 50 off just 25 balls with the help of five boundaries and three hits over the fence.

Shashank single-handedly kept PBKS in the fray with his pyrotechnics. He was ably supported by Ashutosh as the duo snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Earlier sent in to bat, opener Gill made a rousing start to the innings as he clobbered spinner Harpreet Brar straight over his head for the first six of the match.

Runs flowed for GT till the third over before Kagiso Rabada (2/44) ousted Wriddhiman Saha, latched by PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan at mid-off.

Kane Williamson (26 off 22), who replaced injured David Miller, looked in great touch as he hit Sam Curran and Rabada for a few boundaries to keep GT scoreboard ticking.

But Williamson's knock was cut short by Brar's extra bounce, caught at backward point by Jonny Bairstow in the ninth over.

Zimbabwe all-rounder Raza was taken to task by Gill and new man Sudharsan as the duo picked up 14 runs off the 12th over, courtesy three hits to the fence.

Gill led from the front and clobbered Rabada for a maximum before Sudharsan struck the bowler to the mid-off boundary to keep up the tempo.

Sudharsan went about his business in style, picking up boundaries at will while Gill was happy to play second fiddle.

Sudharsan's cameo came to an end when Harshal Patel snared him, caught by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma as the batter went for an upper cut off a slower delivery.

Gill brought up his fifty off 31 balls with a boundary behind deep square leg in the 15th over.

Gill was at his imperious best as he dispatched Harshal over long-on for a maximum in the 17th over.

While Gill was going all guns blazing from one end, Vijay Shankar was flat and was caught by a diving Brar at long-off off Rabada.

In his second spell, Harshal was wayward with his lengths and Tewatia made good use of it as the penultimate over yielded 20 runs.

Tewatia played a blinder, including two boundaries off pacer Arshdeep Singh in the last two balls.
The sleuths of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) claimed to have achieved a big success with the arrest of three militants, including two Pakistan nationals, from the Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday.

The Pakistani nationals had attended the training camp of Hizbul Mujahideen to carry out subversive activities in India.

According to an official communique released on Thursday, Uttar Pradesh ATS was receiving intelligence for some time that some Pakistani citizens were going to enter India through the Nepal border with the help of Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Intelligence was also received that these people had the intention of carrying out a terrorist incident in India and had taken training in the training camp of Hizbul Mujahideen with the help of ISI.

When the said intelligence was developed by the field unit of ATS, Gorakhpur, through electronic and physical surveillance, it came to light that two Pakistani nationals were going to enter India through a secret route through Sheikh Farenda, a village situated on the Indo-Nepal border.

On Wednesday, the field unit of ATS, Gorakhpur, arrested three accused from Nepal-India (Sonauli border). The accused were identified as Mohammad Altaf Bhat son of Khijar Mohammad Bhat, resident of House No. 559, Sadiqabad, Rawalpindi, Pakistan; Syed Ghazanfar son of Syed Mohammad Syed, resident of Taramani Chowk Irfanabad, F-87, House No. 19, Jamia Ali Murtaza Mosque, Islamabad, Pakistan; and Nasir Ali, son of Ghulam Ahmed Ali, a resident of Karali Pora Hawal Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir.

Mohammad Altaf Bhat later revealed during interrogation that he was born in Kashmir and after the Kargil war, he went to Pakistan for jihad training along with a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen. Altaf told the interrogators that he always wanted Kashmir to become a part of Pakistan.

For this purpose, Altaf reached Pakistan and took jihadi training in Hizbul Mujahideens Muzaffarabad camp under the guidance of ISI.

Altaf told the interrogators that Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, in collaboration with Kashmir-based terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, was recruiting Indian people in its organisation to spread terror in India.

Altaf was influenced by reading Hizbul Mujahideens literature and listening to the speeches of amir/ustads of other jihadi organisations. Altaf took arms training in Hizbuls camp and stayed in the camp for a long time and worked under the guidance of the commanders there. Altaf was instructed by Hizbul Mujahideen conduits to secretly reach Jammu & Kashmir in India via Nepal where he would be informed about the further plan. Altaf met Nasir in Kathmandu, Nepal as per the instructions of the ISI handler. Nasir provided fake Indian Aadhaar cards to Altaf and Ghazanfar and it was Nasir who told them to come to India via Sheikh Farenda village.

Nasir Ali is a resident of Kashmir and he got in touch with a person named Salim of ISI through WhatsApp. Salim told Nasir that his uncle was sending another person from Pakistan along with Ghazanfar, who would meet him in Kathmandu, Nepal and he had to take him to Jammu & Kashmir, India.

ATS claimed that an FIR (No 04/24) under sections 419/420/467/468/471/120B/121A of the Indian Penal Code, 13/18/38 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and 14/14C of Foreigners Act, 1946 has been registered at ATS police station in Lucknow and further legal action is being taken by presenting the arrested accused before the Court.

The ATS will seek their police custody remand of the accused to grill them and extract details of future subversive activities carried out by the held accused.
In a communique to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxenas Principal Secretary Ashish Kundra has alleged that there have been concerted attempts by AAP Government at misleading the courts, with an apparent aim of influencing the justice delivery system by way of filing scurrilous and frivolous litigations wasting several precious man-hours of public officials and trying to secure an endorsement of the same from the courts by presenting patently false affidavits,

There have been concerted attempts at misleading the courts, with an apparent aim of influencing the justice delivery system by way of filing motivated and premeditated petitions and trying to secure an endorsement of the same from the courts by presenting patently false affidavits. The attempts obviously are, apart from misleading the Courts, to create a false Media narrative which maligns the constitutional office of Lt. Governor in public domain, Kundra said.

In a matter relating to upgradation of infrastructure in the Delhi High Court and subordinate judiciary in the city, the Supreme Court of India came down heavily on the GNCTD over lack of infrastructure for the judiciary and the inordinate delay in granting funds for infrastructure projects approved by the Delhi High Court. Projects pertaining to various District Courts had been pending even after due approval of the Delhi High Court from 2019.

Prior to this, the Lt. Governor upon being apprised of these inexplicable delays caused by the GNCTD in clearing files and proposals pertaining to courts, judicial infrastructure, had invoked Rule 19(5) of ToBR of GNCTD, 1993, on 7thDecember,2023, directing that all such files be submitted to him for decision within 03 days. While recalling the files, he had expressed his serious concern on the pendency of such a large number of important proposals, which was creating barriers in administration of justice in the Capital of the country and affecting people at large. These files had been pending with the Minister (Law), GNCTD for a long. Subsequently, the minister in charge cleared the proposals and sent the same to Lt. Governor through the Chief Minister, thereby finally addressing the issue, it said.

Kundra further stated that the entire matter was obviously a smoke screen, yet again aimed at creating a negative imagery about the Lt. Governor, since the Minister concerned knows fully well that Finance and Water are transferred subjects, and the Lt. Governor has no role whatsoever in decisions taken thereof and no file whatsoever is routed through or presented to the Lt. Governor for decisions in this regard.

In another similar instance, the Delhi High Court, on 02.04.2024, in a WP(C) No. 280/2024, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) vs. Office of Lt. Governor &Ors., after hearings on 10 earlier occasions, disposed the petition as withdrawn by the petitioners.

Another important matter relates to an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court on the Excise Policy. In pursuance of the High Court order dated 29.03.2022, a Committee was constituted for the purpose of identification and classification of conforming and non-conforming wards in NCT of Delhi w.r.t. implementation of the New Excise Policy 2021-22 (now rescinded).

The said Committee submitted its report on 18.08.2022, and the file to this effect was received for the first timeby the Lt. Governors Secretariat for submitting the report to the High Court, only on 16.01.2024 i.e. after a lapse of almost 01 year and 05 months. However, the Government Counsel kept misleading the High Court on several occasions of hearing that the file was pending approval of the Lt. Governor. This misrepresentation of facts by the government counsel also got reflected in various orders of the High Court, wherein High Court kept requesting the Lt. Governor to dispose the file, even though no such file was pending in this secretariat, read the letter. This case is a sad reflection on the manner in which standing counselsof government make patently false and misleading statements in the Honble Courts, projecting the Lt. Governor and his office in poor light.

Kundra also cited the case of Farishtey Scheme and releasing pending hospital bills and making timely payments to private hospitals. The same was played up in the Media, apparently at the Governments behest, as a supposedlegal tussle, where the government counsel attributed the stoppage of the Farishtey Scheme to the Lt. Governor, before the Honble Supreme Court, which subsequently issued a notice to LG Office. The facts, as far as the operationalization of the Farishtey Scheme and payments made thereunder to private hospitals are concerned, belie the very basis of this Writ Petition. The total number of beneficiaries under the Farishtey Scheme during FY 2022-23 was 3698 and the same stands at about 3900 in 10 months, till mid-February during FY 2023-24. The payments done to private hospitals for the same in FY 2022-23 stood at Rs. 4.85 crores and the same till 12 February this year, stands at Rs. 4.99 crores. These figures, prima facie neither indicate a halt in the Scheme, nor do they support allegations of non-payment, made by the Honble Minister and endorsed by the Honble Chief Minister - in fact they refute the claims.

While many similar cases are going on in different courts, it is pertinent to highlight that such misleading measures undertaken by the GNCTD, apart from spending crores of rupees of the public exchequer on scurrilous litigation and wasting several precious man-hours of public officials, also burdens the already overburdened Courts, with frivolous litigations. Such attempts apart from misleading the Courts create a confusing and skewed narrative that maligns the image of the Lt. Governor in public mind. This communication is meant to keep the Home Ministry apprised of the developments in Delhi with regard to avoidable litigation in various court by the Delhi government, read the letter.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has come under fire for placing jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals photo between the portraits of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar on Thursday. As Sunita read out a fresh message on Kejriwals behalf for the MLAs of Delhi, the picture of him behind bars being used as display pictures by various AAPs social media handles, placed between Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkars portraits caught the attention of the BJP and social media.

Taking a dig at the AAP, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva has stated that Aam Aadmi should be ashamed of itself for putting up Arvind Kejriwals photos in between those of Shaheed e Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and demanded that it be immediately removed.

Kejriwal is a corruption accused and by putting up his photograph between those of patriots such as Shaheed-e-Azam (Bharat Singh) and Dr Ambedkar, the AAP has insulted their dignity. They have crossed all the limits... What kind of patriot Arvind Kejriwal is as they claim? He has just looted and destroyed Delhi, alleged Sachdeva.

Earlier, in a digital briefing, she said that Kejriwal, in his message, said even though he is in jail, the two crore people of Delhi, who are his family, should not face any problems. We need to solve their problems apart from official work, Sunita said while delivering the AAP chiefs message. The people of Delhi should not face any trouble because I am in jail. The two crore people of Delhi are my family, no one in my family should be sad for any reason. God bless everyone, the chief minister said in his message.

An official statement said despite being in jail, the chief minister is concerned about the two crore people of Delhi rather than himself. He spoke to his wife through videoconferencing and, during this conversation, sent a message to all AAP MLAs through her.

This message comes a day after AAP MP, Sanjay Singhs release from prison after six months, over alleged money laundering charges in the Delhi excise policy case. Sanjay Singh on Wednesday said that CM Kejriwal will not resign.

Kejriwal has sent several messages from ED custody and then from Tihar jail since his arrest on March 21.

Notably, Kejriwals wife, Sunita, who stayed away from politics while her husband was at the helm, has come out with three impassioned video statements in the recent past.In the last video message on March 29, Sunita Kejriwal announced the Kejriwal ko Aashirwad campaign, urging people to support her husband.

Damn!!! Guys did you see that portrait of Kejriwal behind Sunita? Cringe Pro Max, wrote one X user.This is cinematic level of nonsense drama ! Unbelievable. The portrait of kejriwal on wall IS FOR REAL, wrote another X user.

Kejriwal has so far sent four messages, first from ED custody and then from Tihar jail since his arrest on March 21. In his first message on March 23 , the chief minister had assured the women of Delhi that he would fulfil the promise of providing them a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000.

In all his messages, he has reiterated his resolve to serve the two crore people of Delhi, the statement said.
A 40-year-old man consumed poisnuous substance outside Bagsewania police station in Bhopal on Tuesday afternoon after he failed to persuade a scooter rider to not lodge a complaint against him in an accident case.

Earlier, his car had collided with a scooter . Both the parties had reached the police station after an argument, the car driver was telling the scooter driver not to register a case citing treatment. However, the scooter rider wanted to lodge an FIR.

Despite all efforts, when the scooter rider was not ready to agree, the angry car driver took out a Celphos tablet from the car and consumed it. The police immediately took him to JP Hospital, from where he was referred to Hamidia. He died on Tuesday night during treatment in Hamidia. The police have registered a case and started an investigation.

According to ASI Subhash Tyagi of Bagsevania police station, Vinod Tiwari(40), resident of Indra Nagar, Budhni. He used to do truck decoration work . He has a shop near his house and came to Bhopal on Tuesday morning for shopping.

His car collided with a scooter on Hoshangabad Road. After which there was an argument between both the parties. Later the matter came to the police station. Scooty driver Praveen Parihar gave written information about the incident to the police station.

Subhash wanted to make the scooty driver resign. Kept convincing him not to complain to the police station. The scooter driver was adamant on filing an FIR. There was a long debate between the two parties in the police station premises regarding this matter. At around 2 pm, Subhash took out alcohol from the car parked outside the police station.

After taking two pills of celphos he sat in the car. Seeing this the scooter driver informed the police. Immediately the police took him to JP Hospital where he was sent to Hamidia for treatment. He died during treatment here at night.
The team of Cyber Crime Branch, Bhopal, arrested a bank account holder accused of custom fraud of Rs 71 lakh by making friends on social media, in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh two mastermind foreign nationals have been arrested earlier.

The accused had opened a current account in the name of Irshad Enterprises and sold the account to fraudsters by taking commission.

The accused use the account holder's account to fraud people and take the defrauded amount. Transactions worth lakhs of rupees have taken place in the accused's account.

Applicant Narshe Mudgal lodged a complaint that a foreign person befriended my sister Preeti Sharma, resident of Melbourne, Australia, through social media and on the pretext of sending her a valuable gift of Rs 1 crore through parcel trapper her by two unknown persons and in the name of sending the parcel, delivering the parcel and to receive that parcel, money was deposited in 13 different bank accounts in the name of parcel delivery charge, anti money laundering fee, anti terrorism certificate, tax etc. Deposited an amount of approximately Rs 71 lakh.

Later those persons switched off their mobile phones etc. During the investigation of the complaint submitted by the applicant, bank accounts, mobile numbers of the non-applicants and other technical information have been obtained. All 13 bank accounts and mobile numbers.

The case is a big organized crime. By befriending women through social sites Facebook and WhatsApp and asking them to send valuable gifts/foreign money through parcels and posing as customs officers to collect parcel delivery charges, anti-money laundering fees, anti-terrorism certificate, tax on valuable foreign items in the parcels. In the name of Adi, the victim woman was defrauded of Rs 71 lakh in 13 different bank accounts. The accused bank account holder, who was arrested for the crime, opened a current account in the bank and sold it to fraudsters by taking commission. Fraud transactions worth lakhs of rupees were done by the fraudster in the said bank account.

On the basis of technical information in crime investigation by the team of Cyber Crime District Bhopal, on March 31 arrested Mohammad Irshad, the holder of the bank account used in the crime, has been arrested from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

In the case, two foreign national (Nigerian) accused 1. Abuh Marvelous(23) and Joseph Diaz (30) have been arrested earlier by the Bhopal cyber team. In the case, a foreign accused Yapo Michael alias Prospa resident of D-7 Rajhansh Vihar Vikas Nagar Uttam Nagar Phase-2 Delhi is absconding, efforts are being made to arrest him.
The national president of BJP, J P Nadda will start his two day visit to Uttarakhand from Thursday. Informing about his visit, the BJP leader Vinod Chamoli said that the national president of the party will address a public meeting in Pithoragarh in support of party candidate from Almora constituency Ajay Tamta on Thursday morning.

In the afternoon Nadda will address a public meeting in Vikasnagar in Dehradun and in the evening he will review the preparation of the party in Tehri Lok Sabha in a meeting with the party leaders. Chamoli added that the BJP president will hold a road show in Haridwar in support of party candidate Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday. He will also attend a mega meeting of party workers (Tridev Sammelan) in Rishikesh in which the booth level workers and party functionaries of Haridwar will take part.

The booth level workers from all the 2,318 polling booths, 557 Shakti Kendras and 38 divisions of Haridwar LS will attend the meeting. Chamoli claimed that more than 14,000 party workers will attend the meeting chaired by the national president of the party.
Professor (Dr) Ajai Singh, Executive Director AIIMS Bhopal has congratulated Shri Sukhmanjit Brar, a final-year MBBS student for his selection for the esteemed Khorana Program of Scholars. The Khorana Program of Scholars is a prestigious initiative that offers a 10-12 week research elective in the USA, jointly funded by The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Government of India, and the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) which covers all essential expenses. Sukhmanjit's outstanding performance placed him 24th among the top 5000 undergraduate research students selected across all streams in India. He is one of the 9 medical students chosen nationwide for this program. This remarkable achievement is a testament to Sukhmanjit's dedication to academic excellence and passion for research.

Sukhmanjit has secured a coveted research position at the University of California, San Francisco, in the Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Department at the Centre for Intelligent Imaging. Here, he will delve into clinical and translational research, focusing on artificial intelligence applications in cardiac and pulmonary imaging.

To commemorate his achievement, Sukhmanjit was honoured to meet the Executive Director of AIIMS Bhopal, Dr. Ajai Singh, who extended his heartfelt congratulations and encouraged Sukhmanjit to make the most of this opportunity. He advised Sukhmanjit to utilise his time in the US not only for research but also to gain insights into healthcare administration and policy making.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami addressed public meetings at Bhatwadi (Uttarkashi), Ghansali (Tehri) and Jhabreda (Haridwar) in support of party candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.

Addressing people at Ramlila ground in Bhatwadi, the CM said , Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar on Tuesday and he has sent his greetings for you. I am here to give his message. He exhorted the people to vote for the victory of BJP candidate Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah so that Narendra Modi becomes PM of the country again.

He said that under the leadership of PM Modi India is taking rapid strides on the path of development. Under his leadership the all weather road project was completed and new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMMS) are coming up in every state. Dhami said that bank accounts of the poor were opened and free gas connections were given to women under Ujjwala Yojana. Under the leadership of Modi, Ayushman Bharat Yojana was launched which is the biggest scheme of the world in the health sector. Free ration is being given to the poor and today every citizen of the country is considering Modi as a member of his family. He said that the area around Bhawadi is developing as a tourism hub and projects worth Rs 400 crores are being undertaken in the area.

Addressing another public meeting at Ghansali in Tehri district, the CM claimed that work on 28 projects worth Rs 77 crores is underway in Ghansali.

He said that while PM Modi is taking action on corrupt leaders, the opposition parties are supporting corruption and dynasty politics. Dhami said that under the leadership of PM Modi, India became the fifth largest economy of the world and is poised to become the third largest economy in his third tenure as PM of the country.
TOKYO, Apr 04 (News On Japan) - For the first time in 73 years, Japan has unveiled a newly constructed whaling mother ship, equipped with drone technology for whaling operations in the Antarctic Sea.

The Sekikan Maru was constructed in Shimonoseki City and completed last month, marking a significant upgrade from previous vessels. The ships unique design features a deck specially equipped for launching large drones to scout for whales.

Innovations include a modified slipway with a gentler slope, enabling the vessel to haul in large whales up to 70 tons, such as the Antarctic minke, which previous mother ships could not accommodate.

The interior of the Sekikan Maru resembles a factory, designed to allow for the dissection of caught whales on board, thus enhancing sanitary conditions.

Source: ANN
Asking the party leaders and workers of Fatehgarh Sahib Constituency to take Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab Governments achievements to the people to seek votes, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday emphasized the importance of grassroots connection while urging the leaders to conduct small-scale programs and actively engage with the public.

Mann, during the high-level meeting with legislators from the Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentary constituency to discuss election strategies and mobilize support from party leaders and workers, stressed the need for leaders to personally visit each constituency and interact with the local residents. He highlighted the significance of understanding the ground realities and addressing the concerns of the people directly.

The meeting, held at Chief Ministers official residence in Chandigarh, saw the presence of AAP candidate Gurpreet Singh GP, along with several MLAs representing the constituency. Notably, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, AAP in Punjab is leaving no stone unturned, intensifying its efforts to secure victory in various constituencies across the State. Led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the party is strategically planning its campaign, focusing on grassroots connection and public engagement to ensure success at the polls.

During the meeting, detailed discussions took place regarding the upcoming Lok Sabha election campaign and strategies to effectively reach out to the electorate. Mann emphasized the importance of grassroots connection and urged the party leaders to conduct small-scale programs in villages to interact with the local population. The focus was on promoting the government's initiatives and achievements, including schemes aimed at benefiting farmers, youth, and households.

Mann also directed all legislators to vigorously promote the partys initiatives for the people of Punjab to ensure victory in the Fatehgarh Sahib constituency. He instructed them to engage with people at the grassroots level, hold meetings with party office bearers in villages, and actively participate in outreach programs. The goal was to highlight the pro-people decisions taken by the AAP government in the past two years and address the concerns of the electorate.

AAP candidate Gurpreet Singh GP expressed confidence in the party's prospects in the Fatehgarh Sahib constituency and across Punjab. He lauded the achievements of the Mann government, citing measures such as providing canal water for irrigation to farmers, creating government job opportunities for youth, and ensuring free electricity for households. GP asserted that the people of Punjab support the AAP due to its commitment to serving their interests.

GP predicted a clean sweep for the AAP in Fatehgarh Sahib and other constituencies in Punjab. He criticized the BJP for its treatment of opposition leaders and expressed confidence in AAPs performance in both Punjab and Delhi. GP highlighted the unity within the AAP and its focus on working for the common people, contrasting it with the internal issues plaguing the Congress party in Punjab.

CM Mann announced plans to dedicate three to four days to each constituency in Fatehgarh Sahib, during which he would engage in various campaign activities, including meetings, roadshows, and rallies. The decision is aimed at connecting with the voters directly and garner support for the AAPs electoral bid. The partys agenda focused on highlighting its performance in government and addressing the concerns of the electorate.

Meanwhile, AAPs Rajya Sabha MP and political strategist Sandeep Pathak, known for his adeptness in gauging the pulse of voters and party workers, has also been actively engaged in grassroots feedback sessions across various districts in Punjab. Despite AAP Government's incumbency in the State, Pathak recognizes that winning elections requires a meticulous strategy akin to that of assembly elections.

Pathak has been conducting direct feedback sessions with party workers in districts, aiming to understand the ground realities and concerns of the electorate. Prior to this, he held meetings with leaders and ministers from all constituencies in Chandigarh, who were also given training on effective grassroots engagement. His outreach efforts have already covered several key districts, including Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Jalandhar, with meetings scheduled to continue throughout the week.
The Delhi Police rescued a 70-year-old woman living on oxygen support and an unconscious dog after a fire broke out in a flat in a south Delhi multi-storey in the Kotla Mubarak Pur area due to a spark in the air conditioner on Wednesday. According to the police on Thursday, at around 07:50 pm in the evening a PCR Call about a fire in a house on the first floor in Triloki Colony was received at Kotla Mubarak Pur police station.

A team rushed to the spot immediately and made way for the fire tenders and ambulance. The police found a woman trapped inside who suffers from lung disease, diabetes, and relies on an oxygen cylinder for survival. While the fire was being controlled, the police staff found a woman trapped inside, struggling to breathe due to the fumes. Further it was revealed that she suffers from lung disease, diabetes, and relies on an oxygen cylinder for survival. Additionally, she is unable to move from her bed due to a fractured hip, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Ankit Chauhan.

The police shifted the septuagenarian to a safe place. The woman was trapped inside a room, she was struggling to breathe due to the fumes. While the fire was being doused, a team of police along with the son of the woman entered the room where she was trapped and safely shifted her from the engulfed room to another room, he said.

Meanwhile, a dog was also found lying unconscious at the spot who was rescued by giving CPCR with the help of the public. Subsequently, the dog was shifted to a Veterinarian Hospital in Defence colony area. With timely treatment, the dogs life was saved as well. According to the police, the fire was completely extinguished which was probably caused by sparking in the air conditioner in the house.
Three more bodies of Maoists were recovered on Wednesday in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district where a fierce gun battle took place between security personnel and Naxalites on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 13.

During search operation which is still on, the three bodies were found from a dense forest where the fighting took place, police said.

"The identities of the dead Naxalites are yet to be ascertained but prima facie it appears that they belonged to the PLGA (People's Liberation Guerrilla Army) company no. 2 of Maoists," an official said.

On Tuesday, the fighting broke out around 6 am in a forest between Lendra and Korcholi villages.

The intermittent firing lasted for a long time and the security forces continued search operations in the area.

A light machine gun, a .303 rifle, a 12-bore gun, a large number of grenade launchers and shells and other arms and ammunition were seized from the spot, the police had said.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency which will go to the polls on April 19.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been served a defamation notice by former Congress state general secretary and AICC member Arun Sisodia for calling him a sleeper cell.

As per information, Sisodia has sent him a notice through his lawyer Saurabh Choubey and sought a reply within 15 days.

Baghel had earlier said that some people in the Congress were working like sleeper cells with bad intentions. They do not want the betterment of the party.

His statement targeted those workers who have recently put forth their points of view on open forums against senior leaders.

Sisodia said in notice that "sleeper cell" is a term used for persons working for terrorist organizations.
In an attempt to counter the looming shadow of anti-incumbency, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strategically nominated local figure Dinesh Babbu for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat. However, the decision has sparked dissent within the party ranks, with notable figures such as Kavita Khanna  widow of BJP's former MP Vinod Khanna, and senior BJP leader Swaran Salaria  a prominent Mumbai-based businessman, expressing their discontent over Babbus candidature.

In the wake of a lackluster performance by Bollywood superstar Sunny Deol, who won the seat for BJP in 2019 but failed to actively engage with his constituency or attend Lok Sabha sessions to advocate for local issues, the BJP decided to go in for a local leader instead of a parachute candidate to retain the constituency.

Gurdaspur, once emerged as a BJP stronghold, is currently grappling with a myriad of challenges. Apart from the palpable sense of anti-incumbency both at the constituency and the national levels, the party is also contending with internal discord. Moreover, the ongoing farmers agitation has complicated campaigning efforts, particularly in rural areas where the BJP's support base is crucial.

BJP won the Gurdaspur segment with the help of Bollywood yesteryear's superstar Vinod Khanna, who served as its MP for nearly four terms. In the 2019 elections, Bollywood actor Sunny Deol secured victory for the BJP ticket, riding a wave of popularity. However, his conspicuous absence from the constituency post-election stirred discontent among the locals, casting a shadow over the party's prospects in the region. Missing MP posters were put up by the locals across the constituency several times, with the locals asking if Deol does not want to work, he should resign.

To address the prevailing anti-incumbency sentiment and revitalize its position in Gurdaspur, the saffron party saw Babbu  a former legislator from the area and a grassroots leader  as a potential antidote to the disconnect felt by constituents under Deols representation. However, the decision has not been universally embraced within the BJP ranks.

Salaria and Kavita Khanna have publicly expressed their discontent over the choice of candidate. Their dissent has added complexity to the partys electoral calculus, raising questions about unity and cohesion ahead of the crucial elections. In 2019 also, when the BJP decided to paradrop Sunny Deol from the seat, both Kavita Khanna and Salaria had also raised the banner of revolt against the party leadership for ignoring their claims over the seat.

Kavita Khannas association with Gurdaspur runs deep, extending beyond her role as Vinod Khanna's spouse. For over 36 years, she has remained dedicated to serving the people of Gurdaspur, embodying the spirit of public service instilled by her late husband, undertaking several social welfare initiatives, besides setting up Vinod Khanna Foundation.

Expressing her reservations about Babbus candidacy, Kavita Khanna hinted at the possibility of exploring alternative political avenues, signaling a potential departure from the BJP fold. While affirming her allegiance to the principles of the party, she emphasized the primacy of serving the electorate and hinted at her willingness to contest independently or with another political entity.

Notably, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is trying to rope her in, and field from the seat  from where its old ally, BJP, used to field the candidate as per the seat sharing arrangement. This would be for the first time the Akali Dal would field its candidate as the SAD and BJP failed to stitch an alliance.

Salaria, another influential figure within the BJP, echoed similar sentiments regarding Babbus nomination. Emphasizing his grassroots leadership and extensive community engagement through the Jan Seva Foundation, Salaria articulated his commitment to address the peoples concerns, while hinting that he is contemplating to contest as an independent. Notably, Salaria had lost the 2017 byelection to Congress Sunil Jakhar, who is now Punjab BJP president.

The nomination of Babbu has not only exposed fault lines within the BJP but also raised pertinent questions about the party's electoral strategy and candidate selection process. With discontent brewing among senior leaders and grassroots workers, the BJP finds itself at a critical juncture, navigating internal dissent while striving to retain its electoral stronghold in Gurdaspur.

While the BJP succeeded in appeasing both Salaria and Kavita Khanna during the 2019 polls, convincing them this time appears to be a formidable challenge.

Gurdaspur has traditionally been the Congress bastion, winning the seat 12 times out of total 13 elections, including a bypoll, held till 1996. It was only in 1998, when the BJP decided to field Bollywoods yesteryears superstar Vinod Khanna, it broke the Congress winning spree. Khanna scored a hat-trick by winning three consecutive elections in 1998, 1999, and 2004, and his victory campaign was halted by the Congress Partap Singh Bajwa in 2009 elections; which Khanna avenged in 2014 polls by defeating him.

But, the Congress won the seat back in 2017 by-elections necessitated following Khannas death due to prolonged illness. In 2019, BJP again relied on star power to retain the seat with Sunny Deol defeating Congress Sunil Jakhar.
The people of one of the farthest villages of the State- Chamolis Dumak have called for a No Road No Vote protest ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The government had promised them to construct a road over a decade ago which is yet to be fulfilled due to which, the entire village has decided to boycott polls, claimed the villagers. According to them, the road construction project started in Dumak about 15 years ago under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The government spent crores of rupees on the project but the road is yet to be completed. The officials have to walk about 20 kilometres during elections to reach the polling booth here. The polling officials and political leaders ask locals to vote but nothing has changed for them. They said that they are forced to face this misery daily for the past several years but no cognisance is being taken by the government despite their several protests.

The president of the Vikas Sangharsh Samiti Rajendra Singh said that they have no updates about the progress of the project and officials are also not giving them any satisfactory response. Everybody has been feeling betrayed by this unreasonable delay considering which, the villagers decided to boycott the polls. The government has consistently neglected their issue and now, they will boycott polls as the governments over the years have failed them, he added.
The district administration has issued an alert after the emergence of a fake Facebook ID impersonating the District Magistrate cum Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Jamshedpur, Ananya Mittal. The imposter account, purportedly created in the name of DC East Singhbhum, has raised concerns among authorities and citizens alike. Residents of Jamshedpur have been urged to exercise caution.



The fraudulent account, bearing the name of DC Jamshedpur, has been sending friend requests and messages to unsuspecting individuals within the district. In response, authorities have issued a stern warning to the public, advising them to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity originating from this counterfeit profile.



Ananya Mittal, the District Magistrate cum Deputy Commissioner, has taken swift action, directing the Cyber Cell to launch a thorough investigation into the matter. Furthermore, citizens are urged to promptly report and block any communication received from the fraudulent account. Individuals are encouraged to reach out to the Cyber Cell in Jamshedpur or the Information and Public Relations department to report any encounters with the fake ID.



Assurances have been made that the strictest measures will be taken to identify and prosecute those responsible for creating and operating the fraudulent account. The safety and security of residents remain a top priority, and authorities are committed to ensuring that such deceptive activities are swiftly dealt with.



As the investigation unfolds, residents are reminded to exercise caution when engaging with online profiles, particularly those purporting to represent official figures. By remaining vigilant and promptly reporting suspicious activity, individuals can play a crucial role in safeguarding themselves and their community against online deception and fraud.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has stated that the farmers of the State whose dues are not cleared by brokers will not vote in this Lok Sabha election. The head of the BKU Somdutt Sharma said that they have been calling for the timely payment to farmers by brokers at the Niranjanpur Mandi for several months now, but the brokers have repeatedly ignored their requests. In the past, this had led to incidents where the Mandi gates were blocked. Despite meeting with the Agriculture minister and other authorities, no action has been taken by them regarding the due payments, he added.

Sharma further informed that recently, a meeting was organised in the Mandi secretary's office where farmers and Mandi officials were called but none of the Mandi officials attended the meeting. As a result, all the farmers have decided to stage a protest outside the Agriculture minister's residence if all the commission due to the farmers is not cleared by April 5. He further stated that if the payment is still not made after the protest, all the farmers may resort to taking extreme steps like committing suicide. The farmers have also expressed concern that the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha election is being cited by the authorities, he said. However, if the farmers' dues are not cleared by the brokers, they have decided not to vote in this parliamentary election, he added.
The Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) on Wednesday provided a financial aid of Rs 25 lakh to ensure the availability of safe drinking water in 21 rural areas of Durg district.

GAIL General Manager Najeeb Qureshi presented a cheque to the administration as the first installment of a Rs 50 lakh project that will provide drinking water in schools, hospitals and other buildings.

GAIL is playing a key role in the economic development of many states. Major districts and cities of the state are being connected by trunk lines. This will increase the reach of natural gas for industrial use and domestic consumption, an official communique said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Thursday, stated that after Ayodhya and Kashi, the governments attention is now directed towards Mathura and Vrindavan. He expressed optimism for a positive court ruling on Mathura as well and emphasised that the pace of development in Mathura-Vrindavan will be further accelerated.

Addressing the Vijay Sankalp Namankan Sabha at the Seth BN Poddar Inter College grounds, the chief minister also issued a warning to the Congress and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), emphasising that the entire nation is prepared to reprimand those who disrespect matra shakti.

During this, he actively campaigned for the incumbent MP and Bharatiya Janata Partys Lok Sabha candidate Hema Malini. In addition, Chief Minister Yogi highlighted the accomplishments achieved during Prime Minister Narendra Modis ten-year tenure.

Hema ji is contesting from here for the third time, while other parties are struggling to find suitable candidates. They resort to borrowing candidates, and when they fail even in that, Congress leaders lose their composure. Their derogatory remarks against matra shakti are a disgraceful insult to half the population, he said.

He emphasised that the people of the INDIA bloc must recognise that Mathura is the sacred land of Radhe Rani and Yamuna Maiya. Disrespecting half the population will invite nationwide backlash. This land reveres matra shakti, and any attempt to demean it will face severe consequences. While democracy upholds freedom of expression, it does not justify insulting matra shakti, the chief minister warned.

The chief minister emphasised that while personal preferences may vary, targeting art, culture and caste is unacceptable. He warned that those involved in such actions are digging their own graves. Mathura is renowned for its artistry. Lord Krishna incarnated here with 16 arts. What better place to celebrate art? he remarked.

He further stated, There is a renowned Indian cinema actress, who has devoted her life to showcasing Indias culture and civilisation globally through her talent. Her performances draw crowds from across the world and she is widely admired. If members of the Congress party have an issue with this, it raises doubts about their own standing, perhaps even in the eyes of God.

Chief Minister Yogi questioned why the Congress, which held power for 60 years, failed to foster development in Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya. He mentioned that upon the suggestion of Hema Malini, development initiatives in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Gokul and Baldev have been ensured through the Braj Teerth Development Council. He highlighted the rapid progress of development in various pilgrimage sites.

At many places, we have to wait due to pending court cases. Nevertheless, we remain steadfast in our belief that victory will ultimately be ours. Just as we patiently endured for 500 years, he said.

The chief minister questioned why the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress did not facilitate the construction of the Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya. He accused these parties of resorting to violence against Ram devotees, recounting incidents where individuals were assaulted merely for uttering Jai Shri Ram, facing attacks with sticks and bullets.

The chief minister said that development projects were in the pipeline for Kashi and Ayodhya, with a renewed focus on the Braj Bhoomi region. He emphasised that initiatives such as the construction of 84-Kosi Parikrama, Govardhan Parikrama, Barsana Parikrama, and efforts to purify the river Yamuna and beautify local ponds will be driven by public sentiment and will proceed rapidly.

Chief Minister Yogi emphasised the strategic scheduling of elections in Mathura ahead of Ayodhya and Kashi, delivering a strong message nationwide. While development endeavours are underway in Ayodhya and Kashi, he underscored the necessity for concerted efforts towards the progress of Mathura and Vrindavan, urging support for Hema Malinis re-election with a significant majority for the third time. He also announced plans for a campaign akin to Namami Gange, focusing on the purification of the river Yamuna.

He questioned whether the Congress, the SP and the BSP could have accomplished these tasks. Could they have ensured a secure environment for both businessmen and daughters? Their stance on the welfare of entrepreneurs and daughters is evident from their speeches, he remarked.

Continuing, he asserted, In such circumstances, there is no reason to expect anything from these parties or waste vote on them. May our present remain safe and prosperous, leading to a future marked by unprecedented progress and the realisation of a developed India. To achieve this, we must ensure Hema Malinis victory by surpassing the combined votes she received in the last two elections.

The chief minister highlighted that for the first time, India has witnessed a government that, in line with the nations ethos, safeguarded its dignity and fostered an environment of security and prosperity.

This government has endeavoured to elevate Indias stature globally, enhancing national pride and self-respect. Significant strides have been made in developing world-class infrastructure and ensuring that welfare schemes directly benefit the underprivileged, he added.
TOKYO, Apr 04 (News On Japan) - Beef bowls at Sukiya will see a price increase from April 3, along with a late-night surcharge, a first among major beef bowl chains.

Late-night diners have their say: "There's nothing like Sukiya's greasy good eats in the wee hours."

With a 30 yen increase, the price of a regular beef bowl, previously frozen at 400 yen for over two years, will now be 430 yen.

Indulging in a beef bowl after hours will also cost you more. The daytime price of 430 yen will jump to 460 yen at night, marking the chain's first foray into nationwide late-night pricing.

Customers spending their "last night" of 400-yen beef bowls shared their thoughts: "It's going up? Well, that's just how it goes," and "Given the rise in wages, the price hike seems fair. It's our way of showing appreciation for the staff."

The national minimum wage has increased by nearly 250 yen in the last decade, breaking the 1,000 yen threshold in 2023 to stand at 1,004 yen. Furthermore, the law mandates a 25% hourly pay bump for late-night work.

"The late-night hourly wage at Sukiya's Shinjuku Minami store is an impressive 1,688 yen," reported a journalist.

Experts believe that price adjustments are necessary for chains to sustain late-night operations in the current economic climate.

Shigeyuki Tsukiyama, Editor-in-Chief at "Monthly Shokudo," Shibata Bookstore, explains, "Without wage increases, businesses risk losing the talent war. Labor costs are set to rise across the board. How consumers respond will either encourage other businesses to follow suit or deter them if they believe price increases will drive customers away. Sukiya's move could very well be a test case."

Source: TBS
Already taking charge of leading the partys election campaign, Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) state unit president Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday spearheaded a strategic meeting for the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency  which he had represented twice. During the meeting, Mann asked the party leaders and workers to seek votes based on the AAP Governments performance during its two-year tenure in the State. He particularly stressed on the fulfillment of four out of the five main guarantees made by AAP before the 2022 state assembly polls, including zero bills, better health and education facilities.

Notably, Mann is holding a series of meetings with the party nominees, leaders, MLAs, and office bearers of each Lok Sabha segment. A day before, he held meetings for the Faridkot and Patiala constituencies.

Attending the meeting for Sangrur constituency were key party leaders and workers, including party candidate and Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, and MLAs representing assembly segments under the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.

Cheema, speaking to the media after the meeting, revealed that it was decided to take the achievements of the partys government directly to the people. He highlighted that AAP has successfully fulfilled four out of the five guarantees made to the public. Moreover, he expressed confidence in the partys prospects, asserting that they are poised to win all 13 seats in the upcoming elections.

Regarding the BJPs focus on Punjab, Cheema said that the people in Punjab are also focusing on the saffron partys actions, particularly criticizing the Central Government for withholding funds due to the State. He reiterated AAP's commitment to combat corruption and emphasized the positive agenda that the party aims to present to the electorate.

Echoing Cheemas sentiments, Meet Hayer said that there is a positive atmosphere favouring the AAP in the constituency. Hayer emphasized that the unprecedented work done by the Mann Government has garnered widespread appreciation from the people. He highlighted the increase in state revenue during AAP's tenure while affirming that their campaign will be centered on the positive achievements of the government.

Addressing concerns about recent incidents of deaths due to consumption of spurious liquor in Sangrur, Hayer assured that necessary actions are being taken against the culprits. Regarding the arrest of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, he maintained that Delhi Chief Minister was trapped, while expressing confidence that the people would respond fittingly to the BJP.

Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, considered an AAP stronghold, will be closely contested in the upcoming elections scheduled for June 1. With Mann leading the charge and the partys strong track record in the region, AAP aims to maintain its dominance and secure victory once again.

The constituency is currently represented by Khalistan ideologue and SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann, who won the bypolls in 2022 necessitated after Bhagwant Mann gave up Sangrur seat after his election to Vidhan Sabha from Dhuri, which also falls under Sangrur segment. Mann had won Sangrur seat twice  in 2014 and 2019. Winning back the seat will be a battle of prestige for Mann and also the three Cabinet Ministers  Hayer, Cheema, and Aman Arora  who also represent assembly segments under Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency.

Punjab CMO writes to Tihar; Seeks Time to Meet Kejriwal

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has sought time from the Tihar Jail to meet his Delhi counterpart and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who has been sent to police custody till April 15 in Delhi excise policy scam matter. Punjab Chief Ministers office (CMO) has written to Delhis Tihar Jail authorities regarding Manns visit.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena assured Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday that the hill state will witness peaceful, fair and inducement-free Lok Sabha election and Assembly bypolls. The assurance was given in an interaction with Kumar through a video conference.

The Election Commission (EC) held a meeting with the chief secretaries and directors general of police of all states and Union territories as well as the heads of central agencies to ensure peaceful and inducement-free Lok Sabha polls.

Kumar stressed for a level-playing field in the upcoming polls. While briefing the CEC, Saxena said adequate security measures have been put in place to seal the entry points to the state and the porous inter-state border in order to prevent bogus voting and the entry of illegal liquor and drugs. He also said a strict vigil is being maintained to prevent distribution of freebies and the movement of cash and narcotics.

He said the overall law-and-order situation in the hill state is peaceful and a first round of meetings with the neighbouring states have taken place at the deputy commissioner level. Social media platforms are being monitored to identify fake news or hate speeches, Saxena said.

Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu briefed the CEC about the law-and-order preparedness and foolproof security arrangements being made to ensure smooth and violence-free elections. He said patrolling and checking in the inter-state border areas have been undertaken for area dominance. The field functionaries have been directed to keep a watch over suspicious activities of criminal elements and nab the proclaimed offenders.

The DGP said correspondence with other states has been made, with a request to arrest the proclaimed offenders. Awareness is being generated among people to share information related to suspicious or illegal activities in and around them.

Twenty-five meetings at the superintendent of police level, 17 meetings at the level of DSPs and one meeting at the IG (inspector general) level have been held with the neighbouring states to curb the illicit flow of narcotics, liquor and money.

Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg said all arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair and inducement-free elections in Himachal Pradesh.
Chhattisgarh Home Minister Vijay Sharma himself took to the streets to protest against Leader of Opposition Charandas Mahant's comment critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While electioneering in former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's Rajnandgaon constituency on Tuesday, Mahant reportedly said that it was only Baghel who could stand up to Modi taking a lathi (stick).

BJP cadres took a march to Mahants official residence from Bhagat Singh Chowk under the leadership of Sharma and staged a noisy protest outside his house.

Meanwhile, Mahant later said that he had used a Chhattisgarhi proverb which was misunderstood by some media groups.

I have great honour for the Prime Minister and I apologize if I hurt anyones sentiment, he said.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala has been under scrutiny for his alleged 'derogatory' remarks on BJP MP from Mathura Hema Malini. The row started when BJP IT department head Amit Malviya shared a video on social media platform X on April 3, in which Surjewala is seen addressing a rally. He wrote, "Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general."

Acting on this, the Haryana State Women Commission (HSWC) on Thursday issued notice to General Secretary of Indian National Congress Surjewala over his alleged vulgar remarks against Hema Malini. HSWC has summoned Surjewala to personally appear before the Commission at its office in Sector 4, Panchkula at 10.30 am on April 9, 2024, to record his clarification regarding the remarks.

Talking to media persons in Ambala, HSWC chairman Renu Bhatia strongly condemned the remarks by Surjewal. Bhatia said, Surjewala Ji has expressed his mentality. By speaking so, he has shown what kind of upbringing has been given to him about women. It is sad that such people who look good can be so dark in mind. Sadly, so far, the Congress party has not taken any action against him. Surjewala has crossed all limits of vulgarity.

On the other hand, Surjewal wrote on his X handle, It has become a habit of BJP's IT Cell to distort and spread fake and false things so that every day they can divert the attention of country from anti-youth, anti-farmer, anti-poor policies and failures of the Modi government and the conspiracy to destroy the Constitution of India. Surjewala said, Listen to the full video - I said that we also respect Hema Malini Ji a lot. Because she is married to Dharmendra Ji, she is our daughter-in-law."
The inspector general of police of Garhwal range Karan Singh Nagnyal along with the Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh conducted a briefing session on Thursday to ensure high security, law and order during the visit of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on April 5. Dhankhar will be on a one-day visit to Dehradun and Mussoorie today. He is scheduled to attend the valedictory ceremony as the chief guest at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie. Considering this schedule, the IG directed the police force deployed on duty to ensure efficient security arrangements on the VVIP route and at the venue. He directed them to reach their duty place three hours before the scheduled time and get the necessary information regarding their duty. They must conduct thorough checking in and around their respective duty place. Any suspicious activity should be immediately reported to the senior officials concerned. The police will also conduct checking near the Dehradun airport using a dog squad, Nagnyal said. The police must also keep a vigilant eye on people meeting VVIPs for security purposes. They will allow only previously nominated persons to enter the venue after anti-sabotage checking as per protocols, he added. The SSP also said that the officer in-charge of the VVIP route must inspect the entire route before the VVIP tour to ensure that there is no construction material lying on the said route and that traffic is clear during the fleet movement on the route. The police will make suitable arrangements to stop the traffic with the help of barricades in routes subjected to severe traffic jams, he added.
The Indian Institute of Management Ranchi (IIM Ranchi) has announced the achievement of exceptional final placement for the class of 2022-24 and the summer placement season for the class of 2023-25, reflecting the institute's growing presence in different industry sectors.

The institute has successfully concluded its campus recruitment program for the MBA, MBA-Human Resource (HR), and MBA- Business Analytics (BA) batches of 2022-24. Despite a struggling labour market, the students surpassed expectations and secured lucrative roles across role domains.

For the flagship MBA programme, a diverse array of 76 companies participated in the recruitment process, resulting in an impressive average CTC package of 18.69 Lakhs per annum (LPA). The average CTC of the top 25%ile was 24.5 Lakhs per annum, and the highest CTC was 37.8 LPA.

The MBA-Human Resource Management batch attracted the interest of 33 leading companies, achieving an average CTC of 18.36 LPA. The average CTC of the batch increased by 12.6 per cent and the median CTC increased by 13.8 per cent. This year, the number of pre-placement offers (PPOs) received increased by 23.08%, and the highest CTC was 33.9 LPA.

The MBA-Business Analytics program saw the participation of 28 companies, and the average CTC increased by 16.5% to reach 19.12 LPA. The average CTC of the top 25%ile increased by 36.8%, and for the top 10%ile rose by 52.8%. The highest CTC increased by 56.56% to 34.9 LPA.

In the summer placements, 85 reputed companies provided internship opportunities to MBA students, and the average stipend offered stood at 1.25 Lacs per month. For the MBA- Human Resource Management batch, 29 prominent companies offered internships with an average stipend of 1.48 Lacs per month. Similarly, the average stipend for the MBA-Business Analytics program was 1.38 lacs from internships provided by 38 companies.

With an impressive array of companies participating in final and summer placements, students across the MBA, MBA-HR, and MBA-BA batches have excelled, securing lucrative roles and internships across diverse sectors. During the last academic year leaders from more than 50 companies visited IIM Ranchi visited to take guest lectures for students. These impressive figures mark yet another successful chapter in IIM Ranchi's journey towards IIMRanchi @2030.
IPU accepting cuet scores for 20 UG programmes

New Delhi : IP University will accept CUET scores also for the admission to 20 odd UG programmes, however, CUET scores will be second preference after the University conducted common entrance tests (CETs) or national level tests for these programmes. As the last date of submission of online form for CUET UG 2024 is April 5, the University has advised the students aspiring to take admission in 20 UG programmes through CUET score to apply on Samarth portal by 5th April 2024 and also register online on the University online apply portal by 10th April 2024 positively.

DTU conference draws participants

New Delhi: Delhi Technological University recently hosted the Industrial Multi-Disciplinary Socio-Technical Innovation Conference, drawing a diverse array of participants from academia, industry, and society. Led by distinguished figures such as Atul Dinkar Rane and Prof. Prateek Sharma, the conference showcased innovative projects aimed at addressing societal needs through technical solutions.

Dibber launches first pre school in GK

New Delhi: Dibber, Northern Europes leading education group, has launched its first preschool, marking its seventh center in India within a year. The event took place in Greater Kailash last week and was graced by the presence of May-Elin Stener, Ambassador of Norway to India, along with Marvin Dsouza, CEO Dibber Schools, India, and Mr. Pal Odegaard, Chief Growth Officer, Dibber Global.

Norway-based Dibber leads in Nordic early childhood education with 600+ preschools in 10 countries, serving 45,000+ children. Built on the esteemed Nordic curriculum, Dibber excels in literacy, math, creativity, and confidence-building. Dibber, known for its exceptional Nordic pedagogy, is renowned for its focus on the holistic development of children aged one to six years.

Gupta, atishi meet CEO to file complaint

New Delhi : AAP National Secretary Pankaj Gupta along with senior AAP leader and cabinet minister Atishi, met the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi along with the partys legal team to file a complaint against objectionable posters and hoardings circulated across Delhi by the BJP. Atishi, stated while addressing media queries, The BJP has put up several obnoxious posters across Delhi, some of which even feature photos of Arvind Kejriwal. Our legal team filed a complaint against these objectionable hoardings six days ago. Today, we met the CEO (Chief Electoral Officer) of Delhi.


Considered as Jatland, the Sonepat Parliamentary Constituency is also known for big political changes as well as for the defeat of stalwart leaders. As the BJP has already fielded a Brahmin candidate Mohan Lal Badoli, sitting MLA from Rai Vidhan Sabha Constituency, the electorate is now waiting for the candidates of the opposition parties  Congress, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).



The central party leadership of the Congress, which held a meeting in Delhi recently, has discussed some names for Haryana, including Sonepat. Since Senior Congress leader Birender Singh and leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda have considerable following in the Sonepat parliamentary constituency, Brijendra Singh, who recently joined the Congress, could be the best bet for the seat. Besides this, the Congress is also considering a Punjabi and Brahmin face as options. The party leadership discussed the weaknesses and strengths of all the candidates in the meeting. An intense tussle has been going on in the party over the Sonepat ticket.The candidate is likely to be announced on Friday or Saturday, party leaders said.



As per the political history of this constituency, mostly Jat candidates have registered victory. But in 2019, BJPs non-Jat (Brahmin face) candidate Ramesh Chander Kaushik defeated senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda by 1.55 lakh votes. In 2014, Kaushik defeated Congress candidate Jagbeer Singh Malik by around 77,000 votes.



Sonepat Lok Sabha seat, which came into existence in 1977 after it separated from the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, is also known for the defeat of stalwart leaders. Janata Party Candidate Mukhtiar Singh Malik was the first Member of Parliament from here in 1977. It had also seen former Deputy Prime Minister late Devi Lal making his Lok Sabha debut in 1980. Devi Lal had to taste defeat from the seat in the next elections in 1984. This Constituency is also known for different political influences in past elections. Four-time Member of Parliament from Rohtak Lok Constituency and Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also faced defeat from Sonepat Constituency. Hooda was defeated by BJPs non-Jat (Brahmin face) candidate Ramesh Chander Kaushik with a margin of 1.55 lakh votes.



Sonepat has always been a prestigious seat for all parties. BJP had won the election four times while Congress for the three times from here. Congress candidates represented the seat in 2009, 1991 and 1984 while the BJP candidates won from here in 2019, 2014, 2004 and 1999. INLD candidate Kishan Singh Sangwan had won the Lok Sabha election from here in 1998. Later he joined BJP and won the election in 1999 and 2004. It is considered a strong Jat seat but many non-Jat candidates had also won from this constituency. BJP candidate Ramesh Kaushik  a Brahmin  won in 2014 and 2019. The BJP has again fielded a Brahmin candidate, Mohan Lal Badoli, from the seat.



Sonepat Lok Sabha comprises nine Assembly constituencies  six in Sonepat district (Kharkhoda, Gannaur, Rai, Sonepat, Gohana and Baroda) and three in Jind district (Safidon, Jind and Julana). Presently, Congress MLAs are in the constituencies of Sonepat, Kharkhoda, Baroda, Gohana and Safidon, BJP MLAs in Rai, Gannaur and Jind, and JJP MLA in Julana.



Political observers feel that the BJP has already taken an early advantage by announcing its candidate and Congress should not delay in making its announcement which is set to be a direct contest between the two parties. Observers feel that JJP and INLD have good presence in some segments and have the potential to influence the outcome of the election. The elections would be more interesting this time as the BJP would enter the fray to create history if it wins the seat for the third time consecutively. The Congress would contest to regain the seat after 10 years. The Jat community has more than 5 lakh voters in Sonepat and there are more than 1.5 lakh Brahmins as well. The Khaps in the area have in the past influenced the voting pattern in Sonepat. The main Khaps including Malik, Dahiyas, Rathis among others have always played a key role in deciding the fate of candidates in the fray, they added.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Thursday released its first list of two candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. MLA Nalin Soren has been made the candidate from Dumka seat. In the 2019 polls party president Shibu Soren had contested from this seat, but he had to face defeat at the hands of BJP's Sunil Soren. This time BJP has made Shibu Soren's elder daughter-in-law Sita Soren its candidate from Dumka seat.

From the Giridih Lok Sabha seat JMM has fielded former minister and MLA Mathura Mahato, who will face AJSU Party candidate CP Chaudhary. Last time, JMM had fielded late Jagannath Mahato from this seat.

Notably, on Thursday morning, Chief Minister Champai Soren and Minister Basant Soren went to Birsa Munda Jail and met former Chief Minister and working president of the party Hemant Soren. After Hemant's consent, the names of both the candidates were announced in the afternoon.

It is likely that JMM will announce the names of candidates in the next few days after reaching a consensus on other seats. There is a tussle going on within the alliance on the seats of Dhanbad, Chaibasa, Palamu, Chatra, due to which Congress has announced its candidate on three seats and JMMA on only two seats.

Speculations were rife about Dumka seat that former Chief Minister Hemant Soren can contest elections from this seat this time, but after Sita Soren became the candidate from BJP, JMM decided not to give importance to the issue of conflict and disunity in the Soren family. Because of this, it was decided to make Nalin Soren a candidate in place of Hemant Soren.

Now, all eyes are on the candidate for the bye-election to be held on Gandey seat of Giridih, speculations are being made that Kalpana Soren can be the candidate from JMM from this seat.
Manipal Tata Medical College, Jamshedpur and the East Singhbhum Police Department launched a new initiative by offering the police officers of East Singhbhum their practical workshop on Basic Life Support (BLS) training. Chief guest Kishore Kaushal (SSP, East Singbhum) accompanied by his wife Dr Astha Raman who is an anaesthesiologist and alumni of KMC Manipal 2008 batch. The function was done under the direction and vision of Dr. G Pradeep Kumar, Dean of MTMC. Since police officers are typically the first to arrive on the scene when a victim falls, the goal of this course was to equip them with the lifesaving skills necessary to act as a lifesaver.

As the first responders, SSP Kishore Kaushal also underlined the significance of this training for police officers. The training programe was organized at the skills laboratory of Manipal Tata Medical College and was imparted to a total 29 police staff by the able supervision of a medical training team composed of Dr. Ayaskant Sahoo, Dr. Shyamal Maity, Dr. Anjaneyulu Konuri, Dr RajKiran Takharya, Dr. Ravi Kaushal, Dr. Jyotish Guria, Dr. Ratnesh Sinha. The college has plans to provide the training to maximum police officers of Jamshedpur area in near future.
TOKYO, Apr 04 (News On Japan) - Scheduled for a nationwide release in theaters on June 14, 2024, "A Few Moments of Cheer" is a youth ensemble drama that delves into the authentic experiences of creativity and craftmanship.

The film centers on a high school boy, Kanata Asaya, who is deeply passionate about creating music videos. After being moved by a street performance, Asaya is determined to create a music video for the song, only to discover that the performer, Yoru Oriome, is a female teacher who had given up on her musical dreams. The film is brought to you by the video production team Hurray! and screenwriter Junji Hanada.

With the encounter between the two at its heart, the film vibrantly explores the pleasure and pain of creation. Hanada, known for his work on "Love Live!" and "A Place Further Than the Universe," penned the screenplay, while the character designs and virtually all aspects of the visual production were handled by Popurika, Ohajiki, and Magotsuki of the Hurray! team. This team, which has garnered attention for their work on Yorushikas music videos and the ending sequence of the TV anime "Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie," now brings their highly anticipated first theater animation to the screen using Blender, a free 3D CG software, known for its unique and delicate visual style.

Source: EMOTION Label Channel
Highlighting the imperative for heightened collaboration among the Punjab Police, the Border Security Force (BSF), and central agencies in the wake of ensuing Lok Sabha polls, Punjabs Special Director General of Police (Spl DGP) Arpit Shukla on Thursday convened a pivotal strategy session. The meeting, which brought together key stakeholders including Punjab Police, BSF, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), was dedicated to formulate robust initiatives geared towards dismantling drug supply networks and thwarting drone activities originating from the neighbouring borders.

Accompanied by IG Frontier Headquarters, BSF Jalandhar Dr Atul Fulzele, Spl DGP Shukla emphasized the need for a cohesive and synergistic approach between Punjab Police and BSF. The focus was on fortifying the states borders to prevent illegal activities, especially the smuggling of drugs and infiltration attempts by militants or terrorists. With Punjab sharing a porous border with neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan, the role of the BSF as the first line of defense assumes paramount importance.

Shukla underscored the importance of heightened vigilance and proactive measures to counter emerging threats. One such threat is the utilization of drones for drug smuggling across the border. In response, Shukla urged the utilization of cutting-edge technology for drone detection and interception. Furthermore, he directed senior officers to enhance night patrolling along the international border to thwart any nefarious activities under the cover of darkness.

Addressing concerns related to the increasing instances of drone sightings, Shukla emphasized the importance of community engagement. He directed the SSPs of border districts to actively engage with Village Level Defense Committee (VLDC) members and sensitize field staff to monitor and report any suspicious drone activities.

Data shared during the meeting revealed a concerning trend of drone sightings along the border. In 2023 alone, there were 325 recorded instances, with 118 drones successfully intercepted. The figures for 2024 indicated a continuation of this trend, with 26 drones intercepted thus far underscoring the evolving nature of cross-border challenges and the need for proactive measures to address them effectively.

Transitioning to preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Spl DGP Shukla outlined the comprehensive security measures undertaken by Punjab Police. He disclosed that 75 per cent of the district police force and 50 per cent of police personnel from other units have been mobilized for election deployment to ensure law and order during the electoral process and mitigate any potential security threats.

To combat the menace of liquor and drug smuggling, Punjab Police has established strong inter-state nakas (checkpoints) at strategic locations in 10 border districts of the state  Pathankot, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka, Ropar, SAS Nagar, Patiala, Sangrur, Mansa, Hoshiarpur, and Bathinda. These nakas serve as checkpoints to intercept and deter criminal activities, including bootlegging and drug trafficking.

Additionally, 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed in vulnerable districts to bolster security measure and instill confidence among the general public as well as to dominate sensitive and hyper-sensitive areas in the state. The deployment comprises five companies each of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

In 2023, 325 drones were sighted across the Indo-Pak border in Punjab, with 118 successfully recovered. In 2024, 26 drones have been retrieved thus far
Under the popular museum series Exhibit of the Month of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, a traditional object is displayed in the appearance for a whole month. The exhibit for the month of April 2024, Magrohi: A Marriage Pillar is on display in the indoor exhibition buildingVeethi Sankul.

The 'exhibit of the month' was inaugurated by Shri Ankur Meshram S.A.S Additional collector Bhopal Madhya Pradesh, on the occasion many dignitaries were present. This object has been composed by Museum Associate Mr Rajesh Gautam.On this occasion, the Director of the Museum, Dr. Amitabh Pandey welcomed Shri Ankur Meshram Additional Collector, Bhopal by giving him a bouquet and honored him by presenting him the logo of the Museum.

About the exhibit displayed in the exhibition, Museum Associate Mr Rajesh Gautam said that the Magrohi is a post used during marriage ceremonies among the Gonds of Madhya Pradesh. It is erected in the courtyard below the marriage mandap, a canopied space where the marriage ceremony is conducted. Gonds are spread over the hill tracts of central India called Gondwana land which has its own important and rich cultural tradition. Magrohi is considered to be a witness of the marriage. It is believed that by performing some rituals the gods and goddess are invited to be the witness of the marriage by residing in Magrohi and with the blessings of these gods and goddesses, the newly married couple will have a happy married life. After the installation of Magrohi in the mandap, it is painted with ochre, turmeric and kumkum.

Marriage is an important institution for any culture. It is believed that all the Gods and Goddesses of the community are invited through Magrohi inside the marriage mandap. Many people from the community contribute in the construction of the marriage mandap and magrohi, in which the important people of the village, through Lagan (a ritual gathering), decides about the Doshi (Gunia/Baiga), Suasa-Suasin, fix the date for installing the mandap, determine the direction for collecting the wood and twigs from the forest for the mandap.
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has asked the party workers to make maximum use of social media in the campaign for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. He held review meetings with the office bearers of the war room committee and social media team at Rajiv Bhawan on Thursday.

Mahara said that social media plays an important role in present times. He said that the social media team should send information about the policies and the promises of the party to the people. The people should also be informed about the failures of the State government and social media is a good tool for this.

The PCC president inquired about the election campaign of the party in all the five Lok Sabha seats. He also interacted with the district and Mahanagar presidents of the party and sought information about the electioneering and preparation for the polling day.

The war room chairman Navin Joshi informed the PCC president about the activities of the war room of the party and said that the Congress candidates are receiving huge public response in all the five Lok Sabha seats.

Joshi said that the party is in direct contact with 11,729 BLAs appointed by the PCC in the state. He added that online meetings with the desk heads are being done daily in which the directions of the leadership are being communicated to them. The war room is also ensuring that the five Nyay (Justices) and 25 guarantees of the Congress party are sent to every household.

The head of social media team Vikas Negi said that the use of social media is being done effectively to spread the stand of the party on different issues.

The vice president organisation Mathuradutt Joshi, general secretary organisation Vijay Saraswat, Vice President Suryakant Dhasmana and others were present on the occasion.
Union minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should work to save his party while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to protect the constitution. The strong assault on corruption by the Modi government has broken the Congress back due to which the NDA will win more than 400 seats while the Congress will not be able to cross 40 seats in this parliamentary election, he said while addressing the media here on Thursday.

Athawale listed the various development works done during the 10 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 2014 and 2019 parliament, PM Modi had bowed down before the constitution and stated that he will work to strengthen the constitution throughout his life. The development schemes launched for the backwards, Dalits and all other sections of society since then have also strengthened the constitution. The NDA headed by PM Modi is effectively working to protect and strengthen the constitution so Rahul Gandhi should work to save his party. The manner in which a corruption-free and transparent system has been established under Modis leadership, there is no scope left for the leaders of Congress and other opposition parties to indulge in corruption. Various chief ministers, ministers and other leaders of the INDIA bloc who were involved in scams are now in jail on corruption allegations. The BJP or NDA government doesnt put anyone in jail as all this is taking place according to the legal procedure, he said.

Athawale further alleged that with consistent improvement being achieved in the condition of Dalits and the backward sections through various public welfare schemes of the Modi government, the opposition is spreading propaganda about the constitution being under threat. As the head of the Republican Party of India, he also appealed to the Dalits and his workers to support the BJP in ensuring a third term of Modi as PM.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police has claimed to have arrested the mastermind behind the police constable recruitment examination paper leak case.

The accused, Rajeev Nayan Mishra, was arrested by the Noida STF. He was earlier also involved in similar cases, according to STF officials.

The STF will now take him in police custodial remand to extract details of the paper leak and names of others involved in the crime.

Over 48 lakh aspirants had appeared for the UP Police Recruitment Exam this year, including about 16 lakh women candidates. The exam was held on February 17 and 18 at 2,385 centres in four shifts across all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Through the recruitment drive, the UP government aimed to fill up 60,244 positions in the state police force.

The UP Police had earlier arrested or detained as many as 244 people from across the state on February 18 for allegedly plotting to adopt unfair means in the police constable recruitment exam. Later in March, the UP STF had arrested seven more people from Meerut and Delhi for their alleged involvement in the police recruitment exam paper leak case. As per officials, the accused were allegedly members of a gang involved in the question paper leak case.

Deepak, Bittu, Praveen, Rohit, Naveen, and Sahil, all residents of Meerut were arrested from a house in Kanker Kheda police station area. A Gautam Buddha Nagar resident Pramod Pathak was also arrested.

While announcing the cancellation of the exam, the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government had given instructions to conduct a re-examination within six months.

There can be no compromise with the sanctity of examinations. Those who play with the hard work of the youth will not be spared under any circumstances. Strictest action is certain to be taken against such unruly elements, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said in a post on X.

The exams were cancelled after several aspirants staged protests against the leaking of question papers. Hundreds of candidates who had appeared for the exam had demanded a re-examination. According to the protesting candidates, the sanctity of the examination was compromised after a question paper went viral on social media hours before the paper started.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Wednesday, launched a robust campaign in Agra for the Lok Sabha elections. He addressed the Jan Chaupal in support of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rajkumar Chahar from Fatehpur Sikri and the prabuddhajan in support of the candidate from Agra, Prof SP Singh Baghel.

Highlighting the strides made in development initiatives and public welfare over the past decade, the chief minister underscored the governments unwavering stance on law and order. He emphasised that the states zero tolerance policy has instilled fear among criminals, stating, Now criminals are pleading not to be sent to the jails also. They are afraid to face the consequences.

The chief minister said that if there was no fear among the mafia, then they would make life difficult for the poor.

Seeking votes in favour of Lok Sabha candidate Rajkumar Chahar in Fatehpur Sikri, the chief minister said that before 2017, police stations in many areas remained locked after sunset, reflecting the dire state of law and order.

The plight of ordinary citizens was evident to all. Criminals assumed that this government would be no different from its predecessors, but we declared a policy of zero tolerance against crime and criminals. We made it clear, stop committing crimes or be prepared to face music, he asserted.

The chief minister continued, In those days, many criminals, who were on bail, got their bail orders cancelled and went back to the jails. However, things have changed now. Now they are pleading not to be sent to the jails also. They are afraid to face the consequences. You must have observed that many criminals are now seen roaming the streets, holding placards, promising to earn their livelihood through honest means, and vowing not to engage in wrongdoing again. They are desperately pleading for mercy.

The chief minister emphasised that if the mafia and criminals are not held accountable by the law, they will continue to make life unbearable for the poor, businessmen and ordinary citizens.

There used to be riots every other day in UP. However, the state that was once plagued by riot and curfews under the Congress and the Samajwadi Party rules will no longer tolerate such disruptions. Uttar Pradesh now embraces festivities and traditional celebrations. Utsav Pradesh believes in Narendra Modis guarantee, Yogi affirmed.

While interacting with the intellectuals in favour of party candidate Prof SP Singh Baghel at Surasadan in Agra, Yogi Adityanath said that there was no doubt among voters across the country about the National Democratic Alliances historic victory in the elections. He remarked that the current Lok Sabha elections are notably distinct, sharply divided between two poles: family versus nation, appeasement versus nationalism, and corruption versus zero tolerance.

Furthermore, he highlighted the dire state of the opposition INDIA bloc, noting its challenges in finding suitable candidates. The chief minister underscored the unparalleled consensus among voters across the country in favour of the NDA for the 18th Lok Sabha elections. The chief minister remarked, Presently, a uniform chorus resounds across every nook and cranny, be it village or city, spanning from the north to the south and from the east to the west. The reverberation heard in Agra resonates throughout our nation. Opposition parties are struggling to find candidates, a dilemma not confined solely to Agra but extending across Uttar Pradesh and the country.

He expressed confidence in victory in Agra but urged for unified efforts to make this triumph historic. Additionally, he appealed to prabuddhajan to engage in grassroots campaigning, representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and elucidating the significance of each vote to the public.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday drew up a list of Dos and Donts to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates till the completion of the process of General Election to Lok Sabha 2024 in Haryana.

Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said that political parties and candidates are advised to follow the guidelines and cooperate in conducting the elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner in the State.



While referring to the Dos to be followed by political parties and contesting candidates, he said that to ensure a level playing field, public places like maidans and helipads must be available impartially to all parties and contesting candidates. During elections, criticism of other political parties and candidates should be restricted only to their policies, programs, past records, and works. With this, the right of every individual for peaceful and undisturbed home life should be fully safeguarded, he added.



Agarwal further said that the local police authorities should be fully informed and necessary permission is taken well in time, of the venue and time of the proposed meetings. The restrictive or prohibitory orders in force, if any, in the place of the proposed meeting should be fully respected. The permission must be obtained for use of loudspeakers or any other such facilities for the proposed meetings and police assistance should be taken from the police authorities, in case of any disturbance and untoward incident caused by any person.



He said that the time and place of the starting and termination of any procession and the route to be followed should be finalized in advance and prior permissions obtained from the police authorities. The passage of the procession must be without hindrance to traffic.



The Chief Electoral Officer said that cooperation should be extended to all election officials to ensure peaceful and orderly voting. He said that all political workers engaged in elections have to show their badges or identity cards given to them by their parties. The informal identity slip issued to the voters should be on plain (white) paper and on which there should be no mention of any name, party symbol or the name of the candidate on it.



Agarwal said that restrictions on plying of vehicles during the campaign period and on the poll day should be fully obeyed and any complaint or problem regarding the conduct of elections should be brought to the notice of the Election Commissions Observer, Returning Officer, Zonal or Sector Magistrate or Chief Electoral Officer/Election Commission of India.



While referring to the Donts, Agarwal said that no official work should be mixed with campaigning or electioneering and no inducement, financial or otherwise, should be offered to the voter. Apart from this, no appeal on the basis of caste or communal feelings of the electors and no activity which may aggravate differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes, communities, religious or linguistic groups, should be attempted.



He said that to maintain purity of elections and bring transparency in the process of elections, political parties are advised to avoid transactions in cash and instruct their office bearers, officials, agents and candidates not to carry huge amounts of cash during elections. No disturbances shall be created in public meetings or processions organized by other political parties or candidates and the posters issued by other parties and candidates shall not be removed or defaced. No use of loudspeakers, whether static or mounted on moving vehicles, between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am, the CEO added.
Private schools will no longer be able to change uniforms and books every year. Parents will have to be informed a year in advance about the academic session in which they will change uniforms or books. At the same time, books and uniforms will be available at all the shops.

Bhopal Collector will issue an order regarding this within a week. On the other hand, lines of parents were also seen at city shops to buy children's books. Books are being given the next day if the token is taken a day in advance.

Bhopal Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh said that the order will break the monopoly of private schools. No school operator will be able to put any pressure on parents for uniforms and books. Otherwise, FIR will be registered against them. For this, orders have been issued under Section 144 in March. Teams have also been formed at the SDM-Tehsildar level, which will take strict action if complaints are received. Currently, most of the parents have purchased books and uniforms, but the order will be implemented effectively for the next sessions.

At the Gurukul stationery shop located on Kolar Road, the books for a class three child were priced at Rs 5355, whereas these books were not found in other shops.

The family members of a Class 3 student studying in St Joseph's Co-Ed School, Kolar Road, reached Gurukul Stationary Shop on Kolar Road to collect books. Here the shutter of the shop was half open. Inside the shop itself, there was a queue of family members of the students for tokens. There were about 20 people in the line then.

An hour later, the book store salesman gave a token, numbered C-008. Promised to deliver the accompanying books on Tuesday afternoon. The set of books was delivered to the family members of the student who reached the book stall at around 4.30 pm on Tuesday afternoon.

Due to the long queue at the book stall located in Kolar for the books of class 3 of St Joseph's Co-Ed School, the family members of the students went to Books & Books located at MP Nagar Zone-2 and Gurukul Book Stall located at No. 11 Market to buy books. But, the salesmen of both the book stalls informed that the books of St. Joseph's Co-Ed School, Kolar were not available in the stall. Also advised to go to Gurukul Book Stall located on Kolar Road for books.

No private school can change the syllabus every year.

Whenever there is any change, it will be necessary to take permission from the Collector and DEO.

The publisher who has the book or dress will publish it for everyone. Any shopkeeper will be able to buy it and sell it.

The publisher will also have to give books to all the book sellers.

Uniforms will also be available from all the shops.

At present the situation is that books of all the publishers remain with the same shopkeeper. In such a situation, parents are forced to buy books from only one shop. One has to pay an arbitrary price for this also.

Earlier, Collector Singh had also issued orders under Section 144 on March 12. In this also, orders were given regarding monopoly. For this, teams have also been formed under the leadership of SDM.

Be it uniform or books, or any kind of stationery. Right now parents have to pay their arbitrary price. Sets of books from class 1st to 8th are available for Rs 2500 to Rs 6000. If parents go to other shops, it is not available there. Same is the case with uniforms also. Uniforms with school logos are available only from designated shops. Parents are also forced to buy belts and ties at arbitrary prices. Last year, the district administration team had also taken action by conducting surprise inspections at uniform and book shops. This time too, action is being claimed on receiving the complaint.
Reward of rs 3,000 each has been announced for the arrest of the then Vice Chancellor, Registrar and Finance Controller of Rajiv Gandhi University of Technology.

In the month of March Dr. Mohan Sen, Registrar of Rajiv Gandhi University of Technology, Sunil Kumar, the then Vice-Chancellor, R.S. Rajput, the then Registrar, Hrishikesh Verma, the then Finance Controller, Kumar Mayank, Dalit Sangh, Sohagpur and others, for the irregularities and unauthorized criminal conspiracy in the University in the last few years by transferring the University's funds of Rs 19.48 crore to personal accounts.

A report was registered in Gandhinagar police station, Bhopal and based on the complaint a case under section 420A, 467A, 468A, 120th, A409 IPC 7A 13(1) and 13 (2) Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and (Amendment Act) was registered.

In the investigation of the case was started by the Assistant Police Commissioner Bairagarh Urban Bhopal under the guidance of senior officers and the accused Kumar Mayank has been arrested in the case on March 22 who is under judicial custody.

In the case, the facts of transferring Rs 19.48 crore of government funds of the university to private accounts and embezzling the amount were found proved against the accused Sunil Kumar Gupta, Rakesh Singh Rajput, Hrishikesh Verma by preparing fake documents and obtaining financial benefits and the above three were found guilty. A search has been conducted for the accused who are not found at home and are hiding to avoid arrest.

For the arrest of accused Sunil Kumar Gupta, Rakesh Kumar Rajput, Hrishikesh Verma, a reward of Rs 3000 each has been announced by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-04, City Police Bhopal on March 31 and for the arrest of the above accused.

To increase the amount of reward announcement, a letter has been sent by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-04 to the Additional Commissioner of Police, City Police, Bhopal.

A letter has been sent as per rules to issue a look out notice against accused Sunil Kumar Gupta and accused Rakesh Singh Rajput.
As the electoral battleground in Uttar Pradesh witnesses the bolstering of the National Democratic Alliance with the inclusion of small parties, another phenomenon is emerging with some smaller outfits splitting away from the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, potentially disrupting the dynamics of the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha elections.

While doubts remain whether these smaller parties, which have struggled to carve out a significant space within the opposition camp, will achieve remarkable electoral outcomes, their actions have the potential to directly influence the calculations of the SP-Congress alliance.

Recently, Chandrashekhar Azad, president of the Azad Party, and Pallavi Patel of Apna Dal (Kameravadi), previously considered staunch allies of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), appeared poised to contest the polls under the grand opposition alliance.

However, a notable shift has occurred, with Azad opting to contest the elections from the Nagina parliamentary constituency under his partys banner, and is actively campaigning, bolstered by the Y Plus security.

Simultaneously, Pallavi Patel, disillusioned with the SP, has announced her decision to contest the elections in a separate alliance with Asaduddin Owaisis All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Patel, a SP MLA, has openly rebelled against the partys leadership.

The joint collaboration between Apna Dal (Kameravadi) and AIMIM has indicated intentions to field candidates on approximately two dozen seats. In response to the SPs PDA (Pichhda (backward), Dalit, and Alpsankhyak (minority)), AIMIM and Apna Dal (Kameravadi) have espoused the PDM mantra (Backward, Dalit and Muslim), signaling a strategic focus on the oppositions core vote bank. Owaisi, who has long sought to establish a foothold in UP, sees promising prospects in this newfound alliance.

Before the official announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, AIMIM had declared its intent to contest from 20 seats in UP but had refrained from naming candidates for the eight seats going to polls in the first phase. While initially, it appeared that AIMIM might concede ground to the opposition, the sudden denial of a ticket to ST Hasan by the SP from the Moradabad constituency has spurred Owaisi into proactive political manoeuvres in the state.

Similarly, the departure of Swami Prasad Maurya from the SP on the eve of elections has led to the formation of a new political entity, the Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party. Maurya has announced his candidacy from the Kushinagar Lok Sabha seat and signaled intentions to field candidates on five other seats across the state.

As the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh undergoes seismic shifts, the emergence of these smaller parties adds a layer of complexity, challenging the unity and coherence of the opposition alliance ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls.
OSAKA, Apr 04 (News On Japan) - Keiko Aoki, a woman who was acquitted in a retrial after initially being convicted of arson and murder, has publicly voiced her indignation following the Supreme Court's refusal to recognize the state's liability in her wrongful conviction.

In 1995, Aoki was accused of setting fire to her home in Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, resulting in the death of her 11-year-old daughter. She was found guilty and served time in prison. However, her conviction was overturned in 2016, leading to an acquittal in a retrial.

Aoki sought compensation from both Osaka Prefecture and the state, arguing that the police investigation and the prosecution's charges were illegal. Although both the district and appellate courts acknowledged the illegality of the police interrogation, thus holding Osaka Prefecture accountable, they did not find the prosecution's actions to be unlawful, absolving the state of any responsibility. The Supreme Court has now rejected Aoki's appeal, upholding the lower courts' decisions.

Aoki expressed her frustration, stating, "The prosecution just proceeds with charges based on what the police have investigated, as if it's part of an assembly line process. Can the prosecutor's office, which plays such a pivotal role in determining a person's life, afford to be so careless with its charges? Unless this is corrected, wrongful convictions will not cease."

Source: MBS
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday, said that the Samajwadi Party and the Congress were not in favour of Ram temple being constructed in Ayodhya.

He was addressing a public meeting in Muzaffarnagar to seek votes for Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sanjeev Balyan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Shah said it was the Narendra Modi government that honoured the sentiments of people and built the temple in Ayodhya.

He also said that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had stopped the migration of people from western Uttar Pradesh by improving the law and order situation and it was the criminals who were now leaving the state.

Shah also raked up the mass exodus issue of Kairana, saying that in 2014, when he was in charge of the Uttar Pradesh BJP. There was migration of people from Kairana, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur in those years. But after the formation of the BJP government in 2017, the terror of goons has vanished here and migration has been stopped. Now, instead of innocent citizens, goons have started migrating from Uttar Pradesh, he said.

He said Akhilesh Yadavs party (SP) and the Congress never wanted the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya. The Congress kept the issue of Ram Janmabhoomi stuck for 70 years but Modi won the case, performed bhoomi pujan and also the consecration of Ram Lalla.

The SP and the Congress have formed an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the general election.

Criticising the INDIA bloc, Shah said all those who were part of the opposition alliance were involved in scams.

Those part of the arrogant alliance are the ones involved in scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore... They (INDIA bloc) held a rally where they talked about giving protection to the corrupt, Shah said.

Today I am telling the entire people of Uttar Pradesh from this platform that in 2014, Modi ji said that those who have committed corruption will go to jail and in 2024 also he is saying the same thing, Shah said.

The aim of the opposition is to make people from their family chief ministers and prime ministers. The aim of Modi ji is to make the poor, farmers, helpless, Dalits and tribals strong and stand on their feet, he added.

Shah highlighted the farmer-friendly policies of the Modi government to woo the voters of Muzaffarnagar, which forms part of western UPs sugarcane belt.

Modi has brought a lot of changes within this sector by making a national policy for sugarcane. Remember when the Congress government was in power, the FRP (fair and remunerative price) of sugarcane was Rs 210 per quintal and today Modi ji has increased it to Rs 340 per quintal, he said.

As far as payment is concerned, from 1995 to 2017, the average payment was Rs 23,000 crore and today the BJP has done the work of paying Rs 2.50 lakh crore for sugarcane, he said.

During the BJP rule, more than 20 sugar mills were restarted and five new sugar mills were set up, he added.

In 2014-15, ethanol was not mixed in petrol, but due to a policy of the Modi government, today 156 crore litres of ethanol is mixed in petrol, which has increased the income of sugarcane farmers, he added.

He also said that the people of the country appreciated the Modi government for the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah started his speech by mentioning former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, who accompanied Shah at the rally, hailed the government for conferring the Bharat Ratna on his grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Jayant Chaudhary also said none of the INDIA bloc leaders had said a word about Chaudhary Charan Singh getting the Bharat Ratna. Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was posthumously conferred with Indias highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on February 9, is popularly known as a champion of farmers.

Shah later visited neighbouring Moradabad and interacted with the party workers there. The BJP has fielded Sarvesh Singh from Moradabad while the SP has given the ticket to Ruchi Veera, who is considered close to the party stalwart.
Madhya Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered studio operator to repay Rs 2.5 lakh with 9 percent interest for deleting photos and videos of wedding of victim.

Sunita Patil, a resident of Barkheda Pathani, Bhopal, got photography and video shooting done at her daughter's wedding and gave contract to Sound Shutter of India Studio. It was decided that high quality photography and video shooting would be done for all the wedding events and also paid Rs 1.80 lakh for the entire work. Another Rs 70000 were charged for providing photos and videos immediately after the marriage. In total, Rs 2.50 were taken by the studio.

Later the studio said that the computer's hard disk had crashed. Because of this all the photos and videos were deleted. Not only this, there was also reluctance in returning the money. The family complained about the matter to the police. Despite this the studio operator did not return the money.

Ultimately a case was registered in the Commission. The decision came after about after two years. In which the Commission has ordered the studio operator to repay Rs 2.5 lakh with 9 percent interest. Besides this fine of of Rs 50000 for mental harrasment and Rs 5000 for other expenses will have to be paid. This decision has recently been given by Chairman Yogesh Dutt Shukla and Member Pratibha Pandey in the Commission.

Sunita Patil filed a case with the Commission on September 30, 2023. that daughter's marriage took place on 15 November 2021. HD photography and video shooting of all the wedding programs was done by Sound Shutter of India. A payment of Rs 1.80 lakh was also made. It was promised to provide photo album, video mixing DVD and pen drive of all the programs within a month.

Since, after marriage, the daughter and son-in-law had to go to the US. For this reason, pen drives for album and video were quickly sought. In return, Rs 70000 more was taken and it was decided to give the pen drive for album and video mixing in 7 days. Thus the total amount paid was Rs 2.50 lakh.

When the demand for pen drive was made after 7 days of marriage, it was postponed by making an excuse. Later demands were also made through Instagram and WhatsApp chat. When repeated inquiries were made, it was reported that the hard disk of the studio computer had crashed. Due to this, photography and video mixing work could not be done. Your Rs 2.50 lakh will be returned. For which bank details were also sent. But, the money was not returned.

The Commission has accepted that it caused mental trauma by not providing the album of photographs and video shooting of the wedding program and the pen drive for mixing. Since the complainant wanted to preserve the memories related to the marriage ceremony through photographs and videos, but due to the negligence and careless act of the opponent, the complainant was deprived of the memories related to the said marriage ceremony, photographs and videos.

Thus the studio did not complete its work properly. After which the opposition will have to pay an amount of Rs 2.5 lakh to the complainant along with interest at the rate of 9 percent per annum, within two months. At the same time, orders were given to pay mental compensation of Rs 50 thousand and other expenses of Rs 5 thousand.
A three-day state-level IG/SP conference will be organized in Faridabad from April 4 to 6 in which brainstorming will be done on various topics to increase the efficiency of Haryana Police and an action plan will be prepared for better policing. The state-level conference will be inaugurated by Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur on April 4 at Surajkund in Faridabad, a spokesperson for the Police department, said on Wednesday.



The spokesperson further said that all ADGPs, IGs, DIGs, SPs and other senior police officers of Haryana will participate in this three-day conference. To motivate the police officers for fitness, different types of physical health activities and yoga activities will be organized daily in the conference. During this, there will also be a detailed discussion on making the policemen physically and mentally strong. In this conference, the officers will present their views on the national security landscape and brainstorm on it. Besides, brainstorming will be held on the impact of international terrorist organizations on national security and their assessment, the spokesperson added.



He further said that in the conference, experts will present their views on violent crimes in Haryana, Lok Sabha elections and compliance of Model Code Of Conduct, role of police and inter-agency coordination. Along with this, there will be brainstorming in the conference on preparing strategies to deal with the emerging cyber challenges at the national and state level and to reduce the threats to critical information infrastructure. Along with this, experts will present their views on AI Tools: Chat GPT, Deepfake, AI Enabled Crime etc.



He said that experts will present their views on the challenges emerging from the use of social media. He said that during this time, there will also be a discussion on the norms to prevent fraud of documents used for identity cards in India. Besides, a plan will also be prepared in the conference for the infrastructural facilities to be provided to the prisoners and the work to be done for their upliftment in the future. At the conference, police personnel who have received the DGP Uttam Seva Medal will also be awarded medals and felicitations. Besides, the manager officer of the station nominated for the best police station of the state will also be felicitated for his excellent work. The conference will discuss in detail the new criminal bill: features and implementation roadmap, the spokesperson added.

505 FIRs lodged against offenders under Operation Akarman in Hry, 982 held

PNS Chandigarh



To crack down on criminals, criminal elements, and drug traffickers, Haryana Police launched Operation Akarman-8 on March 31 and during this operation, a total of 1403 teams comprising 6737 police personnel conducted simultaneous raids across the state, resulting in the registration of 505 FIRs under IPC, NDPS, Excise, and Arms Acts and the arrest of 982 accused.



A spokesperson of the Police Department said that under the leadership of SPs and DSPs, 505 teams of 6737 police personnel initiated raids on offenders and criminals from the early morning of March 31, which continued until late evening. Conducting raids simultaneously at different locations yielded excellent results in targeting criminals.



During this period, 27 FIRs were registered under the Arms Act, and 27 pistols were seized. In this case, 10 people were arrested. Similarly, 17 kg 625 grams of cannabis, 95.72 grams of heroin, 102.68 grams of smack, and 2.216 kilograms of charas were seized across the state, leading to the arrest of 17 accused.



During this campaign, teams apprehended 1 notorious criminal, and 5 wanted criminals were captured. Additionally, police successfully apprehended 11 cybercriminals, 78 proclaimed offenders, and 70 bail jumpers. These criminals were wanted in several cases and were evading arrest. Furthermore, during the special campaign, police successfully seized 761 bottles of English liquor, 4879 bottles of country liquor, 643 bottles of beer, 436 bottles of illicit liquor, and 1810 liters of lahan under the Excise Act, leading to crackdowns on liquor traffickers. From the possession of 28 accused arrested under the Gambling Act, the police also seized Rs 185,265 in cash. During this campaign, fines were imposed on 3952 vehicles for violating traffic rules, the spokesperson added.
As the electoral battle heats up in Uttar Pradesh, political adversaries are resorting to unconventional means to target each other, with social media emerging as a new battleground.

In a recent development, the Uttar Pradesh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party launched a satirical attack on the Congress leadership through caricatures shared on its social media platform 'X', targeting Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

One of the cartoons portrayed the Gandhi siblings with the caption: Aa ab bhag chaley (Come on, lets run away!), accompanied by the names of Rae Bareli and Amethi. The cartoon shows the sister-brother duo walking away from Amethi and Rae Bareli with a trolley bag.

There was a mixed reaction as some netizens hailed this cartoon while some criticised it. Some said, They are going on a tour to Italy while one questioned the cartoon and wrote: Sharafat bhi ghol ke pee gaye.

The Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha constituencies have historically been strongholds of the Gandhi family.

The move stirred a flurry of reactions on social media, with opinions divided between support for the BJPs tactic and criticism of its approach.

The timing of these cartoons is noteworthy, especially amidst speculations regarding Rahul Gandhis candidacy from Amethi and that of Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli. While Sonia Gandhi has opted out of the electoral fray in favour of a Rajya Sabha seat, the Congress is yet to officially announce its candidates for these two key constituencies.

Ajay Rai, the Uttar Pradesh Congress president, emphasised the sentiment among the electorate in Amethi and Rae Bareli, asserting that the people desire the Gandhis to contest from these constituencies, given their historical significance.

Rakesh Tripathi, BJP spokesperson in Uttar Pradesh, defended the partys cartoons, suggesting that the reluctance of the Gandhi family to contest from these constituencies indicates a retreat from the state.

Tripathi pointed to Rahul Gandhis previous abandonment of Amethi and speculated that the impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is compelling the Gandhis to shy away from Uttar Pradesh. He hinted at a potential exodus of prominent opposition leaders from the state.

Responding to these jabs, senior Congress leader Amarnath Agarwal questioned the BJPs narrative, highlighting the candidacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He emphasised the national stature of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, asserting their capabilities to contest elections from any part of India.

Agarwal dismissed the BJPs insinuations, questioning whether Modi could dare to contest from Tamil Nadu, underlining the popularity of the Gandhis nationwide.

As political rhetoric intensifies and social media becomes an increasingly potent tool, the electoral landscape in Uttar Pradesh continues to witness unconventional manoeuvers and sharp exchanges between rival parties.
Varun Gandhi, a two-time Member of Parliament from Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency, has distanced himself from his parliamentary turf after being denied ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

His absence was conspicuous during Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths visit to Pilibhit on Tuesday, marking the first time he skipped such an event after BJPs ticket decision.

The absence of a sitting MP during the chief ministers address to the Prabuddha Sammelan drew surprise from attendees, highlighting the unprecedented nature of the situation in Pilibhit. For the first time in 35 years, neither Varun Gandhi nor his mother, Maneka Gandhi, are contesting from the constituency traditionally considered their stronghold.

In a surprising move, the BJP has chosen the state Public Works Department Minister Jitin Prasada as Varun Gandhis replacement.

However, in response to this Varun Gandhi wrote an emotional open letter addressed to the constituents of his Lok Sabha constituency. In the letter, he reaffirmed his connection with the people of Pilibhit, recounting the nostalgic moment of a three-year-old child clutching his mothers hand in the district.

Amidst speculations regarding Varun Gandhis return to Pilibhit for the election campaign of the BJP, hopes were high among local leaders and the public during the chief ministers Prabuddha Sammelan that he would make an appearance. However, disappointment ensued as Varun Gandhi remained absent from the event.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to address a public meeting in Pilibhit on April 9, local residents are once again optimistic about Varuns possible participation in the rally. The anticipation remains high as constituents await Varun Gandhis next move amidst the shifting political landscape in Pilibhit.
A day after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise policy case, AAP MP Sanjay Singh walked out of Tihar jail after six months on Wednesday and hit out at the BJP, saying it has inducted all corrupt leaders and that it was time to give a reply to the party.

"AAP will not be scared. (Delhi Chief Minister Arvind) Kejriwal, (Manish) Sisodia, (Satyendar) Jain are in jail because they want to provide facilities to 2 crore people of Delhi. All of us are with Kejriwal," Singh, who reached the AAP headquarters late at night, told party workers.

"There is widespread tyranny in the country. The time has come to give a reply to the BJP," he said, accusing the party of inducting all corrupt leaders from different parts of the country.

The AAP MP asserted that Arvind Kejriwal will not resign as the Delhi chief minister and continue to serve the people of the city.

"The BJP is asking him to resign. They are not asking for Kejriwal's resignation, they are saying why does he not stop free electricity, water, free bus rides for women and Mohalla Clinics," he said.

Dressed in a white kurta-pajama with a brown jacket, Singh was garlanded by AAP workers as he walked out of jail. The Rajya Sabha member climbed atop his vehicle to greet his supporters.

He said it was not the time to celebrate but struggle and expressed confidence that other jailed party leaders will also come out soon.

After his release, Singh left for Kejriwal's residence where he met his wife Sunita Kejriwal.

In a video shared by the AAP, Singh is seen touching the feet of Sunita Kejriwal.

Singh asked the people of the country to be wary of "dictators" who would bring tears to their eyes, saying Kejriwal would bring a smile to their faces and provide good education and health facilities to them.

"If the dictator of the country can hear my voice, then listen, we are the AAP born out of a movement. We are not going to be intimidated by your threats," Singh told AAP workers at the party headquarters.

"I saw tears in the eyes of Arvind Kejriwal's wife and Delhi's 2 crore people will give a reply to the BJP for these tears," he said.

"I will go and meet the families of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain. They are like family to us and we are with them," he added.

Singh had been lodged in the high-security Tihar jail here since October 13, 2023. He came out at 8:11 pm through gate number three.

Jail officials said he was released after the completion of the bail procedure.

A large number of AAP supporters assembled outside the jail and raised slogans like "Dekho dekho kaun aaya, sher aaya, sher aaya" and "Sanjay Singh Zindabad". They also showered rose petals on him.

There was heavy security outside the jail in view of his release.

"Arvind Kejriwal and our leaders have been put behind bars and I am confident that 'ye jail ke taale tutenge hamare sare neta chhutenge' (the locks of jail will break and all our leaders will come out).

"I want to say that this is not the time to celebrate, but struggle," Singh said while addressing party supporters outside the jail.

Delhi Cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak were also present outside the jail.

"Our three leaders are in jail so the party will continue to struggle," Bharadwaj told reporters.

Soon after Singh was released, the AAP said in a post on X in Hindi, "The lion broke the chains of the dictator and came out."

Speaking to reporters, AAP leader Atishi said, "This is the victory of truth. The investigation into the fake excise case has been going on for the last two years. ED and CBI have deployed hundreds of their officers to find something in this case and conduct raids, but they have not recovered a single penny of corruption from any leader of the Aam Aadmi Party."

She said that with Singh's release, the AAP's honesty has come out before the entire country.

The Supreme Court asked the ED again and again where is the money trail, but the agency did not have any reply and that's why it did not oppose Singh's bail plea, Atishi said.

Earlier, Singh was admitted to the ILBS Hospital in Vasant Kunj. Around 1:30 pm, after being discharged from the hospital, he was taken back to Tihar jail for completing the bail formalities.

On Tuesday, Singh had gone to ILBS for a regular checkup but got admitted. He received the news of his bail while he was in the hospital.

His wife Anita Singh has said the family will not celebrate his release as other AAP leaders are still in jail.
India on Thursday expressed concern over the deadly attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Syrian capital Damascus three days back and said that it is distressed at the escalating tensions in West Asia and their potential to fuel further instability.

Following the April 1 attack, Iran accused Israel for the strike and vowed to respond to it.

Iranian media reported that seven Revolutionary Guards personnel, including two generals, were killed in the attack.

"We have noted with concern the attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria on April 1. India is distressed at the escalating tensions in West Asia, and their potential to fuel further violence and instability," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

"We urge all parties to avoid actions that go against commonly accepted principles and norms of international law," he said.

Jaiswal's remarks came in response to a query on the attack.

The strike came amid Israel's continuing military operations in Gaza.

Israel has been continuing its military offensive in Gaza as part of its retaliation to the unprecedented attack on Israeli cities by Hamas on October 7.

Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 220 others some of whom were released during a brief ceasefire.

Over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the Israeli offensive, according to the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza.

India has been calling for de-escalation of the situation and creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations towards a two-state solution to the Palestine issue.
Stepping up his attack against the DMK, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar claimed on Thursday the regional party was very much a party to the then Central government's negotiations with Sri Lanka on Katchatheevu island and the outcome five decades ago.

As the issue continued to dominate the poll campaign in Tamil Nadu, Jaishankar claimed that agreements could be reached between India and Sri Lanka on the island after the then DMK government was kept in the loop.

"I think what is most important is that the people of Tamil Nadu should know the truth. How did it happen? It happens because when the Central government was negotiating this issue, they were actually consulting the then state government, which was led by the DMK, but that was kept as a secret.

"So, DMK was very much a party to these negotiations, very much a party to this outcome," the Minister said, responding to a query during an interaction with the media here.

Citing documents that became public via the RTI, he said what they showed was that from 1973 onwards, the then Central government and Foreign ministry held continuous and detailed consultation with the Tamil Nadu government and the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi personally on this matter.

"And in fact, the position of the DMK was, "Okay, we agree with all of these, but you know, in public, we will not support it. So, in public, we will say something else, but actually we are with you," Jaishankar claimed, while taking a dig at the DMK's claim that they were the champions of Tamils and fishermen.

He said the island issue has been frequently raised in Parliament and has been a matter of frequent correspondence between the Centre and the state government.

"I can remember replying to more than 20 letters on this issue (to the current chief minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin)," the minister said.

Earlier on April 1, Jaishankar had claimed that prime ministers from the Congress displayed indifference about Katchatheevu island as if they did not care and gave away Indian fishermen's rights despite legal views to the contrary.

He had that Prime Ministers such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi dubbed Katchatheevu, given to Sri Lanka in 1974 as part of a maritime boundary agreement, as a "little island" and "little rock", asserting the issue has not cropped up abruptly but was always a live matter.

He had said records exist of the then foreign secretary keeping the then Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi, the late DMK patriarch, fully informed of the talks between the two countries.

Jaishankar had also accused the regional party of conniving with the Congress in 1974 and thereafter in creating the situation, which has been a cause of "great concern."
Making his Lok Sabha poll debut, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asserted on Thursday that the BJP will maintain its dominance in its strongholds and ride the pan-India support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emerge stronger in south and east India to reach its target of 370 seats.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, he expressed confidence that the BJP will gain significantly in states like West Bengal and Odisha, and in several parts of south India during the seven-phase elections starting from April 19.

"The mood of the country is that people have decided to repose their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi again. And, this sentiment is prevalent not only in northern states but throughout the country. We have recently seen a Modi wave in south India and how people turned up in large numbers to give him their blessings," Mandaviya said.

Mandaviya, who holds the crucial portfolios of health, and chemicals and fertilisers, said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the 400-mark riding the soaring pan-India popularity of Modi, his government's various development initiatives and the hard work of its members.

A seasoned BJP leader from Gujarat, Mandaviya will be fighting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time after being a Rajya Sabha member for two terms. He is contesting from the Porbandar constituency of the state.

Noting that the BJP has more than 13 crore primary members, he said, "Keeping in view the hard work of 'karyakartas', people's faith and Modi's clarion call, I am confident that the BJP will win 370 plus seats, the NDA will cross the 400 mark and the government will once again be formed under Prime Minister Modi's leadership," Mandaviya said.

To a question on if BJP's seats in south India, Odisha and West Bengal will increase, Mandaviya replied in the affirmative, saying, "it will".

"There was a time when we were only at two seats. Currently, we are in saturation in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. We will increase our presence where we are weak and maintain our seats where we are dominant," he said.

On being asked that there has been a lot of political to and fro on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and if that will affect the BJP's results in the Lok Sabha elections, Mandaviya said, "The BJP will win all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital like it had done last time."
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "sleeping" after taking a pill while China "entered" Indian territory.

Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh, he also called Modi a "sardar of liars". He said Modi does not think for the country and only abuses the Gandhi family.

"Modi says 'I have a 56-inch chest, I will not be scared'. If you are not afraid then why have you left a large part of our land for China. They are coming inside and you are sleeping. Have you taken sleeping pills?

"He does not think for the country, he just abuses the Gandhi family. He wants to take the people of the country with him by torturing them, he always keeps lying," he said. "Modi is 'sardar of liars'."

Her said nobody from the Gandhi family became PM or minister since 1989, yet Modi talks about dynastic politics.

He said the prime minister toured foreign nations, is visiting across the country during the Lok Sabha polls, but he did not go to Manipur which witnessed riots.
KYOTO, Apr 04 (News On Japan) - In the bustling Gion district of Kyoto, a private road called "Kosode Koji" known for its historical ambiance is set to be off-limits to tourists.

With the pandemic subsiding and the return of international tourists, local transportation and public spaces in Kyoto have become increasingly congested. This resurgence of over-tourism is casting a shadow over the daily lives of local residents.

Isoichi Ota of the Gion-machi Southern District Association highlights that despite "Kosode Koji" being a private road managed by the local community, excessive and disrespectful behavior by tourists, including photography, has led to significant distress among residents. The alley, a popular setting for internet dramas, will soon prohibit tourist passage, with violators facing a fine of 10,000 yen.

The area's concerns stem largely from the intrusion into the lives of the local maiko (apprentice geisha) and geiko (geisha), with incidents of tourists obstructing their movements and invading private residences. "It's not just here, but there have been cases of people entering houses uninvited," said Ota, underscoring the urgency of the situation.

The phenomenon of "maiko paparazzi," tourists aggressively photographing geisha without consent, was a pre-pandemic issue that troubled the local community.

The implementation of this measure, starting with Kosode Koji, signals a determined effort by Gion's residents to curtail tourist disruptions. Foreign tourists shared mixed reactions, recognizing the necessity of respecting local norms and manners, while also noting the importance of informing all tourists about these new regulations.

Source: YOMIURI
Amid the row over Congress leader Randeep Surjewala's remarks against BJP's Mathura candidate Hema Malini, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the derogatory comments against "matru shakti" are a "disgraceful insult" to half the population.

Adityanath, accompanied by Hema Malini, was addressing the Vijay Sankalp Naamankan Sabha' here after the sitting MP filed her nomination papers from the Mathura Lok Sabha seat.

The chief minister also issued a warning to members of the Congress and the INDIA bloc, saying that the entire nation is prepared to teach a lesson to those who disrespect "matru shakti" (mother power).

Campaigning for the actor-politician, Adityanath said, "Hema ji is contesting from here for the third time, while other parties struggle to find suitable candidates...Some Congress leaders have lost their composure. Their derogatory remarks against matru shakti' are a disgraceful insult to half the population."

The chief minister was referring to controversial remarks made by Haryana Congress leader Surjewala against Hema Malini. In a video posted by BJP IT department head Amit Malviya on X, Surjewala was seen purportedly making some objectionable remarks about the actor-politician while attacking the ruling BJP.

Adityanath emphasised that the INDIA bloc leaders must recognise that Mathura is the sacred land of Radhe Rani and the holy Yamuna river, according to an official statement.

"Disrespecting half the population will invite nationwide backlash. This land reveres 'matru shakti', and any attempt to demean it will face severe consequences. While democracy upholds freedom of expression, it does not justify insulting 'matru shakti'," the CM warned.

Earlier in the day, when asked about Surjewala's remarks against her, Hema Malini said only those people who have achieved something in life are targeted.

When asked why the Congress did not initiate action against its leader, she said, "I don't know. They should learn from our prime minister how to respect women. They should also respect women."

The chief minister said that while personal preferences may vary, targeting art, culture, and caste is unacceptable. He warned that those involved in such actions are digging their own graves.

"Mathura is renowned for its artistry. Lord Krishna incarnated here with 16 arts. What better place to celebrate art?" he remarked.

Praising the actor, he stated, "She has devoted her life to showcasing India's culture and civilisation globally through her talent. Her performances draw crowds from across the world. If members of the Congress party have an issue with this, it raises doubts about their own standing, perhaps even in the eyes of God."

The chief minister questioned why the Congress, which held power for over 60 years, failed to foster development in Kashi, Mathura, and Ayodhya.

He mentioned that upon the suggestion of Hema Malini, development initiatives in Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Gokul, and Baldev have been ensured through the Braj Teerth Development Council.

Adityanath also said that, following Ayodhya and Kashi, the government's attention is now directed towards the development of Mathura and Vrindavan. He expressed optimism for a positive court ruling on Mathura as well and emphasized that the pace of development in Mathura-Vrindavan will be further accelerated.

At many places, we have to wait due to pending court cases. Nevertheless, we remain steadfast in our belief that victory will ultimately be ours. Just as we patiently endured for 500 years awaiting the resolution of Ayodhya issue, steadfast in our struggle, and ultimately achieving triumph," he remarked.

On this occasion, state ministers Swatantra Dev Singh and Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan, Rajya Sabha MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, BJP's Lok Sabha in-charge Shyam Bhadauria, and RLD district president Rajpal, among others, were present.
YOKOHAMA, Apr 05 (News On Japan) - A white Toyota Land Cruiser belonging to Junco Mihara, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councillors, was stolen from her home on Wednesday night.

Mihara returned home to her residence in Naka-ku, Yokohama, in her Land Cruiser on Tuesday evening, but when she attempted to leave her house around noon the next day, the car had vanashied.

There were no security cameras installed at the home.

Mihara has already filed a police report, and the authorities are investigating the incident as a case of theft.

Source: ANN
TOKYO, Apr 05 (News On Japan) - Tokyo's cherry blossoms have officially reached their peak bloom, 13 days later than last year.

At Senso-ji Temple, the iconic Somei Yoshino cherry trees stand in stunning harmony with the temple's historic five-story pagoda. Among the admirers was a woman from South Africa, visiting Japan for the first time. "The cherry blossoms are incredible, and the temple is simply magnificent," she shared, reflecting the awe that brings thousands to Tokyo during sakura season.

The city's weeping cherry trees, too, are stunningly picturesque, their branches cascading with vibrant blooms. For a couple from Russia, this backdrop was perfect for a memorable photo. "It's a unique beauty you won't find anywhere else in the world," said a visitor from Finland, captivated by the pink blossoms against the ancient temple.

This season marks the first full-scale cherry blossom viewing since the pandemic began, with the traditional yakatabune houseboats on the Sumida River enjoying a resurgence in popularity. These boats offer a moving vantage point to take in the riverside sakura and the towering Skytree, with guests enjoying an array of traditional Japanese dishes onboard.

A family from Taiwan, visiting their daughter living in Japan, experienced the cherry blossom magic together. "We barely made it after an earthquake shook just before our flight," the daughter explained. "Unlike Taiwan, where cherry trees are sparse, Japan offers an expanse of blossoms," her family observed.

From the yakatabune decks, visitors marvel at the blend of nature and architecture, with cherry blossoms framing the Skytree. A guest from Oita described the scene as "incredibly beautiful, a sight that deeply moves the heart."

As the sakura season continues, the question on everyone's mind is how long this beauty will last. According to forecasts, the blossoms should remain at their best for about another week, until around April 10. For Shinichi Ando, a boatman, the return of enthusiastic viewers is a delightful sight. "It's wonderful to have our guests back, enjoying the sakura just like before," he said, echoing the sentiment of many eagerly partaking in this cherished spring tradition.
Ora de iarna 2024: cand se schimba ora si ce se intampla in primele 3 zile. Tudor Ciuhodaru: Nu neglijati asta, poate fi sever
3 dead, 10 injured in fire at south China nursing home

Xinhua) 15:17, April 04, 2024

GUANGZHOU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Three were killed and 10 others were injured in a fire that broke out at a nursing home in south China's Guangdong Province on Thursday, said local authorities.

The fire broke out at the Kangyi nursing home in Dongguan City around 4:21 a.m. Thursday and was extinguished at 4:48 a.m., according to the city's emergency management bureau.

Among the 10 injured, one is in critical condition and the others are in stable condition. Relevant investigation into the accident is underway.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
The take-off of Ryanairs new year-round Birmingham service from City of Derry Airport on Wednesday, April 3 provided a well-earned cause for celebration with Jade Kirwan, Ryanairs Head of Communications, and Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Patricia Logue, in attendance to mark the occasion.

The new route will provide much needed connectivity to the UK Midlands for leisure and corporate travellers across the Northwest, and budget-friendly fares with prices starting from just 14.95 one-way.

The passengers travelling on the inaugural arrival and departure services between City of Derry and Birmingham were treated to some VIP hospitality with a range of complimentary refreshments, special retail offers, free samples from local crafters, and family fun with the Easter Bunny himself!

The first arrival passengers also received a warm welcome to the Northwest with a water salute over the Ryanair aircraft on arrival onto the airfield.

Jade Kirwan, Head of Communications at Ryanair stated: Ryanair is delighted to officially launch our exciting new Summer 24 schedule at City of Derry Airport, with the first flight of our new Birmingham route taking off today (April 3). Ryanairs new Birmingham route will operate twice per week (Wednesday and Saturday), building on our regular services to/from Manchester  the UKs Capital of the North, and offering our customers even greater connectivity with the UK, whether travelling for work, study, or leisure, at Ryanairs infamous low fares.

Steve Frazer, Managing Director at City of Derry Airport commented: Its fantastic to continue our airline partnership with Ryanair and grow their offerings in the Northwest. We are proud that we can now facilitate this year-round service for our local community in Derry City and Strabane, the Causeway Coast and Glens, Donegal and beyond.

The route has been in demand for some time, particularly for those in the Northwest with family and friends residing in Birmingham who are commuting back and forth throughout the year, as well as students studying in the Midlands.

Mr Frazer added that Birmingham is a fantastic choice for a convenient leisure break: "Birmingham offers an abundance of experiences for everyone. Families can enjoy fun-filled excursions to Alton Towers, Cadbury World, Lego Land, the Bear Grylls Adventure and the National Sea Life Centre, to name just a few.

"Couples and groups travelling can relax in style with the beautiful hotels and restaurants available such as The Belfry Hotel Resort, The Ivy Temple Row, Tattu, Hotel du Vin, enjoy unique experiences such as Shakespeare's Guildhall or the Roundhouse, or let their hair down at one of the many festivals across the city such as Birmingham City Festival or Pairc Festival which is the biggest Irish musical festival in the UK.

We hope to be able to offer the service for the corporate market as the route becomes established and perhaps the frequency increases, as Birmingham offers convenient connectivity to the NEC which is home to global events, as well as providing access for construction companies across Northern Ireland and Donegal who have teams travelling on a regular basis.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Patricia Logue, welcomed the new route, she said: This is excellent news for the airport and our customers and a great addition to our existing routes. This is a very welcome boost for both the Airport and the wider Northwest region and a direct air link with Birmingham is important for the economic development of the region.

"The route will provide passengers with enhanced connectivity for business and leisure travel as well as a wide range of global options for onward journeys. As a Council we remain committed to ensuring City of Derry Airport is the airport of choice for the Northwest of Ireland, offering passengers both convenience and outstanding customer service.

In addition to the new Birmingham service, Ryanair is expanding its flight operations at City of Derry Airport with the existing route to Manchester now increasing to four days a week throughout Spring and Summer to meet the travel requirements of the local market.

For more information on Ryanairs year-round services from City of Derry Airport to Birmingham or Manchester, visit www.ryanair.com.
The announcement of a Taskforce for Magee expansion is a small but welcome development in Derrys long campaign for a proper university.

It also raises many questions. Why is a Taskforce needed at all  given that Magee expansion was agreed under Stormonts 2020 New Decade, New Approach (NDNA)? No similar Taskforce was required when Stormont financed the relocation of 15,000 students (and 2,500 staff) into a new Ulster Uni campus in Belfasts York Street. As always, it seems that Derry must jump hoops and climb hurdles that are absent when it comes to funding for Belfast.

There is also suspicion that the Taskforce is a delaying tactic, given it has long been clear what is required to grow student numbers here. And then there is concern that the move is a smokescreen to feign progress ahead of the impending General Election.

But if we take the announcement at face value it will hopefully be an important step towards securing the starting point of 10,000 student places here.

Within hours of the Taskforces announcement, however, voices were creating mischief. A Limavady DUP councillor took to social media to declare that any increase in student numbers for Derry should be matched at Coleraine.

A DUP MLA for North Belfast (notably his partys spokesperson on Infrastructure, not the Economy or Education) then submitted a written question to the Economy Minister to ask When will he create a similar Taskforce to look at expanding student numbers at the University of Ulster Coleraine campus?.

There may well be a compelling case for the expansion of student provision at Coleraine. The problem is that we only hear such calls whenever Magee is in the spotlight - the rest of the time these voices stay strangely silent. And if there is indeed a strong case for significant expansion of student numbers at UUC (University of Ulster Coleraine), why is it not being made by the appropriate organisations and individuals from within the town itself?

The DUP have developed a habit of using Coleraine to counter Derrys case for university expansion. In 2021 the partys then-Economy Minister Diane Dodds spoke out against Ulster Universitys (UU) decision to relocate 800 Health Science places from Jordanstown to Magee.

In a frankly staggering intervention for the minister in charge of Higher Education (HE), she spoke publicly against Derry securing those student places in preference to Coleraine - and issued a threatening reminder to UU that her department provides its funding. She then concluded: I expect Ulster University to be transparent and equitable in its distribution of teaching provision across all of its campuses.

What made that statement ironic was that Minister Dodds and her party had failed for many years prior to then to ensure such a balanced allocation across UUs campuses.

The DUP held the Economy portfolio, and its Trade, Enterprise & Investment predecessor, without break for the 15 years between 2007 and 2022. Across that period there were no fewer than seven different DUP Economy/Enterprise Ministers  including big hitters like Arlene Foster, Simon Hamilton and Nigel Dodds. During those 15 unbroken years in charge of HE theDUP did nothing of substance to expand student numbers at Coleraine. In fact - they did the opposite.

They instead provided financial support for a new Ulster University campus in a DUP constituency in Belfast  failing to ensure any additional courses/places were located in Coleraine or Magee as part of that move.

The lesson of history is that it is only when Magee appears set for expansion that the DUP suddenly discover a concern for either Coleraine or a more equitable distribution of student places.

If there was an endless supply of students to go around then this would merely be an irritant. But the reality is that increased student numbers require significant up-front capital funding, plus a big increase in the ongoing subsidy for student fees. Stormont therefore has limited finances to commit towards a growth in student numbers.

So expanding Coleraine campus in-line with Derry would in practise mean curtailing the growth of Magee to pay for it  despite Magee being the only campus that is an agreed Stormont objective.

It would be unreasonable to expect a market town of 24,000 people to contain the same number of students as a regional city of 105,000 people. Just like it would be unreasonable to expect Derry to match Belfasts 45,000 student places. Coleraines student cohort already equates to 17% of that towns entire population  which for Derry would be the equivalent of 17,800 students at Magee (it currently has 5,000).

Despite the large disparity in populations between the towns, it is only in the last two years that Magee has finally overtaken UUC in student numbers.

If there is indeed a compelling case for significant growth of Coleraine University, it should absolutely be made  on its own merits and through the appropriate channels.

To be credible, such a proposal should also have the support of Coleraines civic, business and community sectors. But that appears to be lacking currently. For decades Derry has had high-profile campaigns seeking university expansion, which has consistently been the number one economic priority here and a unifying objective for the entire city. In contrast there has been no parallel campaign or pressure within Coleraine.

Whilst the City Deal for the Derry-Strabane District has university expansion at its very heart, and allocates the majority of its funding towards that task, the Growth Deal for the Causeway Coast & Glens Council area is rather muted about UUC.

Expanding Coleraines student population is neither listed nor referenced amongst the five over-arching objectives for their Growth Deal, whilst its website doesnt even mention the word university. In terms of council strategies - the 2011 One Plan for Derry revolved heavily around the idea of expanding student numbers here to 10,000 places.

Coleraines equivalent strategy - the Northern Area Plan 2016  makes no mention of substantial student growth, or even the creation of additional student housing. It instead focuses upon the use of university land to create a new Science Park for the town.

So if there is a compelling case for significant growth of student places at UUC, why is it not being made clearly and consistently within the town and by its own council?

For the DUP to only speak up for Coleraine whenever investment is proposed at Magee - and to have failed to deliver for other UU campuses whilst they poured 15,000 students into Belfast  places a question mark around the partys motives on this issue.

Are they indulging in classic zero sum politics here  whereby investment in a city full of themuns must always be countered by similar spending for a place filled with our lot?

It would not be the first time that politicians here have sought to distribute public funding on the basis of a sectarian carve up, rather than on demonstrable need or merit.

For 15 years the DUP had the power to push for significant expansion of Coleraine University. They failed to do so - and promoted a huge increase in student numbers in one of their Belfast constituencies instead. Yet now that Magee seems to finally be getting some overdue attention, the DUP suddenly remembers that UUC exists.

Coleraine deserves better than to be weaponised as a tool to dilute, delay or block the development of a full-size university in NIs second largest city. The Economy Minister must beware of wolves in Coleraine clothing on this issue.

Unless and until civic society within Coleraine itself begins to make a compelling and consistent case for the significant expansion of student numbers at UUC, he must recognise DUP calls for a Coleraine Taskforce as the zero-sum blocking tactic that they clearly are.

Steve Bradley is a regeneration consultant and writer. He can be followed on Twitter/X at @Bradley_Steve
The family of a soldier killed in the 1974 Guildford pub bombing have been told by police that they have a new viable line of inquiry but will not be investigating because the new Legacy Act means any such probes into cases relating to the Northern Ireland Troubles are to end on May 1.

Soldiers Caroline Slater, 18, William Forsyth, 18, John Hunter, 17, and Ann Hamilton, 19, and civilian Paul Craig, 21, died and 65 people were injured in the blast  carried out by the republican terror group during the height of the Troubles  at the Horse and Groom pub in the Surrey town on October 5 1974.

They were found at an inquest in 2022 to have been unlawfully killed by the bomb, equivalent to 18 sticks of dynamite, at around 8.50pm, after it was placed in the pub by a young man and woman.

Now the family of Private Hamilton have received a letter from Surrey Police stating that following an evidential assessment, the force had identified a potential forensic line of enquiry and the next step would be a new criminal investigation.

But Surrey Police also informed the family that it would not be advancing any further investigations prior to the start of the Legacy Act.

Under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, all investigations into cases relating to the Troubles are to end on May 1, 2024 including civil cases and inquests which have not reached their findings stage.

The Act offers a limited form of immunity from prosecution for such offences for those who co-operate with a new body aimed at truth recovery.

KRW Law, acting on behalf of Pte Hamiltons family, are now seeking clarification on the nature of the new evidence including whether it involves a fingerprint or DNA profile, how long Surrey Police had known about it and how often the case had been reviewed since 1974.

They have also asked the force when the decision was taken not to reopen any investigations prior to the commencement of the Legacy Act and whether the new clue could lead to possible arrests.

They also ask if Surrey Police could continue an investigation after May 1 which they say is allowed as advised by the Home Office.

Cassandra Hamilton, a sister of Ann Hamilton, said: Four years after the resumed inquest into the murder of our sister in which we could not participate because we were disgracefully refused legal aid, we are now confronted with the Surrey Police producing new evidence  50 years after Anns murder.

A deputy chief constable of Surrey Police wrote in his letter to us that I can only image how the death of Ann has impacted on you and your family, and how the publicity surrounding this case has affected you over the years.

First, this policeman cannot begin to imagine the impact of Anns violent murder and those of four others on our families.

Second, it has been the support of the public and their anger at those responsible for the investigation that has been important and kept this catastrophic failure of policing and criminal justice alive for us.

Now we are being told that this new forensic evidence cannot be investigated because of the Legacy Act which the British Government is imposing upon all relatives despite huge opposition and a successful legal challenge and an application by the Irish Government against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Legacy Act appears to provide Surrey Police with another reason not to do anything  despite now telling us, out of the blue and a month before the Legacy Act comes into force, that there is new evidence.

This letter from Surrey Police raises more questions for us, questions we want Surrey Police to answer and to be responsible for.

This is before any responsibility for these failures is conveniently transferred to a new investigatory body.

Solicitor Barry ODonnell, from KRW, said: The timing by Surrey Police in this matter raises too many questions which the family of Ann Hamilton want answered.

There is the question of the nature of this new evidential lead, the question of how long this new evidence has been available to Surrey Police, when decisions were taken not to investigate this new forensic evidence, and why beyond the coming into force of the Legacy Act and whether, now given the legal challenges to the Legacy Act, Surrey Police should and could continue its investigation?

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said it was particularly concerned about the controversial legal provision of the Legacy Act.

The Act received royal assent last autumn despite widespread opposition from political parties and victims organisations in Northern Ireland as well as the Irish government.

The Government is currently appealing against a ruling by a judge at Belfast High Court who found that the provision for conditional immunity was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Surrey Police Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: We remain committed to facilitating justice for the families of those who were killed in the 1974 Guildford bombings.

Since 2019, when it was announced inquests would be resumed, we have supported a lengthy disclosure process and conducted a thorough and detailed assessment of all the materials held.

During this assessment, a potential forensic line of inquiry was identified and in November 2022, following consultation with Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), it was agreed this line of inquiry should be progressed. This work has been complex and has taken some time to complete.

Throughout this period, we were aware of draft legislation which has now been enacted, which we knew would impact on our ability to launch a re-investigation should we have reached that stage.

However, it was right and proper, in the interests of justice, for us to continue with our assessment, and to submit items for forensic analysis.

The timing of the return of the forensic results in August 2023 is unfortunate.

The enactment of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 in September 2023 means that there is now no prospect of reaching the stage of prosecution by the deadline of May 1 2024 that is set by the Act.

Whilst the Act does not allow for a police force to refer a case to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), the Chief Constable will notify the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland of the findings of our assessment once we have received further guidance on the process.

We are still in the process of informing the relatives of Private Caroline Slater, Private Ann Hamilton, Guardsman William Forsyth, Guardsman John Hunter, and Mr Paul Craig killed in the IRA time bomb attack to update them on the assessment and advise them that the ICRIR can take requests from a family member.

Our priority now is to preserve the significant amount of work that has been done to date, and to ensure we do not jeopardise any course of action that could be available to the families through the ICRIR.
Sinn Fein has disputed the methodology of a report which suggested that a united Ireland would cost the Republic 20 billion euros for the next 20 years.

The report, from the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), revealed that the reunification of Northern Ireland and the Republic would require an increase in taxation and a significant reduction in public expenditure.

Irish Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said that Northern Ireland has an opportunity to progress at the moment that will change the numbers quite fundamentally.

The report was authored by the IIEAs John FitzGerald of Trinity College Dublin and Prof Edgar Morgenroth of Dublin City University.

The report said the cost to the British Government of running Northern Ireland amounts to 12.3 billion euros a year.

This report includes costs covered by the "NI subvention" than would not transfer to a united Ireland and takes such a pessimistic view of change than its conclusions are not reasonable. A short reply. https://t.co/xidiQ5OcUY  John Doyle (@JohnDoyleDCU) April 4, 2024

The costs are based on pre-pandemic 2019 figures.

The report stated that the unification costs minus the UK treasury subvention would run to around 11 billion euros.

But this figure would rise to 20 billion euros when other factors, including social welfare and public service pay, are included.

This would require an increase in taxation and a significant reduction in public expenditure.

Mr McGrath said there had been several reports on the estimated cost of a united Ireland that had come up with quite a wide variation of numbers, and that it all depends on the assumptions that you make.

He said: The important thing is that the economy of Northern Ireland now has a fantastic opportunity to progress and to really become a strong enterprise-based economy. And, of course, that will change the numbers quite fundamentally over the years ahead and having good governance with the institutions up and running, with the two governments co-operating with the special envoy from the United States, all of that provides stability and certainty which will help the economy in Northern Ireland and help the all-Ireland economy, which, of course, is underpinned by the Shared Island project to develop and grow and flourish over the years ahead.

That, actually, I think over time would put a very different complexion on the numbers.

But its not where our focus is now. The institutions are only back up and running, and we really want to see them bed down, continue with their work and the Irish Government is going to do all that we can to support the work of the First Minister, deputy First Minister and the full Executive.

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said he will consider the report, and that any future debate about a united Ireland will have an economic dimension.

Sinn Fein whip Padraig Mac Lochlainn said that he disputed the methodology used in the report, claiming that the analysis was static.

You are accepting the amount of subvention on face value, the Donegal TD added.

Prof John Doyle of DCU in recent times has written that the actual subvention is much less.

Its about 2.4 billion.

Thats a quarter when you deduct the pensions, debt repayments, contribution to the defence forces of Britain and so on.

Its much less than the headline figure.

But also the report assumes there will be no economic growth in the north.

We know that since Brexit there has been substantial growth in the all-Ireland economy.

We know that there is a real opportunity in that thanks to the efforts of all the political parties and people on the island of Ireland.

That means that the people of the north have access to the British economy and to the European economy uniquely, there is real opportunity for economic growth.

I do praise them (Prof FitzGerald and Prof Morgenroth) for doing some type of research, some type of planning and analysis, which is very different to (our) own government (which) has no plan whatsoever to look at how we get to Irish unity.

Mr Mac Lochlainn called for a Citizens Assembly and a White Paper from the Government about the issues arising from reunification.
Fine Gael's new leader Simon Harris has received public support from a number of Independent TDs ahead of a Dail vote next Tuesday for a new Taoiseach.

Independent TDs Denis Naughten and Michael Lowry both confirmed on Wednesday that they will support Mr Harris as Taoiseach, joining their colleague Marc McSharry who had already declared his support for the Minister for Higher Education.

Deputy Naughten, TD for Roscommon-Galway, said he looks "forward to working with [Simon Harris] over the next 12 months as Taoiseach, and I'll be voting for him next Tueday."

"I know Simon Harris for well over 20 years. I have worked with him in the past on flooding issues, health issues and science issues. And hope to continue to do so," he continued.

Dublin Central deputy Neasa Hourigan, who is currently suspended from the Green Party, and Donegal TD Joe McHugh, who resigned the Fine Gael party whip over the mica issue, have both also said they will back Mr Harris in the vote next Tuesday, April 9.

Mr Harris is expected to meet with Independent TDs Cathal Berry and Noel Grealish this Thursday, April 4, to canvas their support.

However Independent TD Sean Canney has said he remains "undecided", while Independent Matt Shanahan said he has yet to hear from Mr Harris about his possible support.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has welcomed the graduation of 133 Recruit Prison Officers at the Print Works, Dublin Castle on Wednesday, April 3.

The new officers completed their Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care (HCCC), developed and delivered jointly by the Irish Prison Service and South East Technological University (SETU).

The graduating class, who form part of the Irish Prison Services latest recruitment drive, have already been placed in prisons throughout the State, including the Operational Support Group and the Prison Service Escort Corp.

The 2024 Recruit Prison Officer Graduation party pictured at Dublin Castle with Chairperson of SETUs Governing body, Professor Patrick Prendergast, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell, Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, Director General, Caron McCaffrey and Vice President Academic Affairs, Dr Derek OByrne.

Minister McEntee said:

I am honoured to congratulate our graduates for reaching this milestone and to thank them for their commitment.

Over the course of their training, they will have gained the knowledge and skills to carry out their work in a professional and meaningful way, and to show patience, compassion, and strength under challenging circumstances.

Because they work within the walls of our prisons, the wider community dont get to see first-hand the vital job prison officers do.

But they are the front line of a system that makes our communities safer, not just through providing secure custody in our prisons, but also by providing the care and rehabilitation that often vulnerable people in custody need to be able to make the right choices and lead meaningful lives when they are released.

I wish them all the best in what Im sure will be a long and rewarding career in the Irish Prison Service.

The Director General of the Irish Prison Service Caron McCaffrey said:

Prison officers play a vital security role while also serving as catalysts for positive change, guiding individuals in custody towards rehabilitation.

Together, we envision a safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity.

Pictured at the graduation of 133 Recruit Prison Officers at the Print Works, Dublin Castle on Wednesday, 3 April from (l-r) were Chairperson of SETUs Governing body, Professor Patrick Prendergast, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell, Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, and Director General, Caron McCaffrey.

Recognising the crucial role played by prison officers in delivering an important public service, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell emphasised the need to provide a high standard of training and education to support them.

Professor Campbell said:

The Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care develops the character and competence of recruit prison officers so that they can effectively contribute to the safe, secure, and humane custody of the people in their care.

She told the graduates:

You are all leaving with a university-level qualification that will allow you to continue to pursue your Irish Prison Service career with the appropriate skills, knowledge and competencies.

The Higher Certificate in Custodial Care is a two-year part-time programme designed to develop the professional competencies of Prison Service staff in working with prisoners.

The HCCC is intended to facilitate a greater understanding of how officers can confront challenges through the exploration of different subjects including, Resilience, Mental Health, Social Psychology and Human Rights.

After initial training RPOs are assigned to a prison, with assignments based on the security and operational needs of each individual prison.
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For the first time in five years, an official delegation from Monaghan County Council visited New York for this years St. Patricks Day celebrations.

The delegation was led by An Cathaoirleach David Maxwell accompanied by Chief Executive Robert Burns who met with members of the Monaghan Diaspora in New York.

They held a series of meetings with key strategic partners and participated in events to showcase all that County Monaghan has to offer economically and culturally as well as promoting the county as a place to visit, invest and do business.

The official delegation from Monaghan County Council which also included Liam Bradley, Curator of the Monaghan County Museum, was joined on the visit by members of Monaghan GAA, including chairperson, Declan Flanagan and vice chairperson Brendan Casey, along with representatives of Enterprising Monaghan, Finbarr Daly CEO and board member, Paul Shortt.

A number of prominent businesspeople from County Monaghan were also present on the trip, including Martin McVicar, Managing Director of Combilift; Ciaran Marron, CEO of Activ8 Energies; Sammy Leslie, Owner of Castle Leslie and Trustee of the Leslie Foundation; Michael Mullan, Director of Mullan Lighting; Simon Murray, Director of CameraMatics, and; Barry Murray, Director of Universal Graphics.

The centrepiece event of the visit was the inaugural meeting of the Monaghan  New York Business Network which was held on 15th March, in which business and civic leaders from New York, the wider USA, Monaghan and other parts of Ireland came together to explore opportunities for business investment, job creation and tourism in Monaghan.

It was also an opportunity for Monaghan-based businesses to look at the potential of investing in or exporting to the USA. Many Monaghan businesses already have a presence in the USA and the event presented an opportunity for them to strengthen their links with clients and customers and potentially expand in the US market.

The first of what it is hoped will be many meetings of the Monaghan - New York Business Network took place at the NYC Hub Bank of Ireland at 2 Grand Central Tower in Manhattan.

The event was attended by over 100 guests including business and civic leaders from the County Monaghan delegation and a wide range of people in business or active in the community based in New York who are from Monaghan, are of Monaghan descent or who simply have an affinity with the county. The MC for the event was Finbarr Daly, CEO of Enterprising Monaghan.

Martin McVicar who is Managing Director and co-founder of Combilift in Monaghan town and Ciaran Marron, CEO and founder of Activ8 Solar Energies in Carrickmacross attended the event and spoke about starting out in business and their positive experience of setting up and expanding their businesses in Monaghan and highlighting to the audience that being a very enterprising county, Monaghan is an excellent location to invest and in which to do business.

Ciara Gormley, SEO Manager at Justworks, who is based in New York and originally from Castleblayney, spoke of her experience of being in business in the city and her career journey from County Monaghan to the USA. Also present at the event was Aidan McKenna, Enterprise Ireland Regional Director for the Americas, who is based in New York and originally from Emyvale.

The event was addressed by the Cathaoirleach Cllr David Maxwell and Robert Burns, Chief Executive of Monaghan County Council who both emphasised the benefits of doing business in the county.

They introduced a video that that showcased a range of successful businesses in the advanced manufacturing, agri-food and renewable energy sectors that are already located in Monaghan. Thereby demonstrating why County Monaghan is a great business location, providing access to a strong cluster of existing industries, a culture of entrepreneurship, a well-educated workforce and a gateway to the EU and the UK markets.

The cultural partnership between Project Children and Monaghan County Council was also promoted at the event and present was Denis Mulcahy, the Co-founder and Chairman of Project Children, his family and ambassadors for the project in the USA.

This recently announced cultural partnership between Project Children and Monaghan County Council will see Project Childrens archive hosted at the Peace Campus in Monaghan town.

The 50th anniversary of the founding of Project Children will be celebrated in Monaghan next year.

The event was organised by Catherine Flood and Linda Croston of Croston Flood Recruiting, Consulting and Events, a firm based in New York. Catherine Flood is well known in New York business circles and is originally from Truagh in County Monaghan.

Commenting on the event and the visit by the wider Monaghan delegation, Cathaoirleach, Councillor David Maxwell, said, I am delighted with the turnout at the business network event which was a huge success with a lot of positive feedback and I hope that it will be the first of many such events that will help strengthen social, economic and cultural ties between Monaghan and New York.

It was a massive boost to have business people of the calibre of Martin McVicar and Ciaran Marron speak to the audience at the event about their positive experience of doing business in County Monaghan and to be accompanied on this visit by a range of impressive people doing great work in business, sporting and cultural life in Monaghan.

There was a busy schedule of meetings and events for the Monaghan County Council and the Enterprising Monaghan delegations, including meetings with Irish state agencies based in New York including the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia and Tourism Ireland, as well as a meeting with the Irish Consulate in New York.

During the visit, the wider Monaghan delegation met with the Monaghan Society and representatives of Rocklands GAA Club in New York State in order to renew and strengthen social, sporting and cultural links with the Monaghan community based in New York.

The wider Monaghan delegation also had the privilege of attending the traditional St. Patricks Day mass at St. Patricks Cathedral and marching with the Monaghan Society in the New York St. Patricks Day Parade, the longest-running parade in the world celebrating Irelands patron saint and all things Irish.

Robert Burns, Chief Executive of Monaghan County Council, said, We are extremely happy with our visit to New York and what we have achieved over what was a busy few days.

We have renewed and strengthened ties with the Monaghan community based in New York and promoted County Monaghan as a premier location for inward investment and as an ideal base for US companies to launch into both the EU and UK.

Coupled with that we envisage that Monaghan businesses will continue to grow their exports to the US with the support of the Irish State agencies based there.

Above: L-R  Declan Flanagan, Chairperson, Monaghan GAA; Michael Carroll, Monaghan GAA; Gareth Hargadon, Deputy Counsel, Consulate General of Ireland, New York; Robert Burns, Chief Executive of Monaghan County Council; Cllr David Maxwell, Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council; Finbarr Daly, CEO Enterprising Monaghan; Brendan Casey, Vice Chairperson, Monaghan GAA; Paul Shortt, Board Member of Enterprising Monaghan; and Michael McMahon, Monaghan GAA.
Dundalk-Carlingford's Cllr John Reilly has written to Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue TD, seeking the reinstatement of the Fodder Scheme, due to the very wet Spring this year, which he said has resulted in most livestock still being kept indoors, and Spring crops delayed in being sown.

Fodder stock is at an all-time low and the availability of this is getting more expensive, according to the Fine Gael councillor.

Cllr Reilly said he is asking Minister McConalogue to reinstate the Fodder Scheme, to help compensate farmers for the financial losses they are now facing due to the particularly wet conditions this Spring.

He explained that Spring crops such as barley have not been sown yet, even in areas of County Louth which are usually extremely dry.

Cllr Reilly said that "normally, the sowing of cereal crops would start on 17 March, but now we are in the first week of April and large amounts of land still have to be ploughed and cultivated, as this has also had a knock-on effect due to the wet weather."
Councillors at the Louth County Council Special Meeting on Wednesday evening voted against a motion from Cllr Maeve Yore, which requested that election candidates not erect election posters, and to agree a location in each municipal and borough district, where each candidate would erect one poster each, to show commitment to the environment.

The special meeting was held as a follow on to the March monthly meeting, as not all items on the March agenda were covered in the monthly meeting in the allotted time. The special meeting was held with the aim of resolving the ten motions that had been resolved at the March meeting, along with Notices of Questions in relation to four questions to the local authority from councillors, and condolonces.

Cllr Yore's motion was the first one dealt with at the meeting and read: "That all current elected representatives and election candidates will adhere to the voluntary code of practice (from Tidy Town Groups) not to erect election posters for local elections in 2024 and forthcoming election campaigns across Co Louth and agree a prime location across each Municipal & Borough District to display one poster per candidate to show commitment to the environment."

Several councillors spoke at the meeting, opposing the motion. Cllr John Sheridan was first to speak, saying that he had doubts that it could legally be passed. He added that he didn't want to be a hypocrite as he was elected the first time with posters and that he didn't want to "climb the ladder and be accused of pulling the ladder up behind me."

Cllr Sheridan asked what the carbon footprint of social media was, as it also has an environmental impact in terms of data centres and that it needs to be clarified. The Fianna Fail councillor added that Kerry County Council ended up in the Supreme Court over the result of the 2014 local election, and a recount was ordered.

He further added that "section 101 of the 1995 Statutory Instrument is very clear about posters in local elections and if the motion was passed any unsuccessful candidate could could easily take a case to the courts challenging the result.

Cllr Michelle Hall said that it would be unfair on first time candidates and added that she would be using posters she used in the 2019 election. Cllr Kevin Meenan agreed that it would be unfair on first time candidates but added that he though the motion "was coming from a good place", comments that were agreed with by Cllr Dolores Minogue.

Cllr Marianne Butler highlighted that a lack of posters has an impact on election turnout, adding that a study was done in Scotland which showed this. Referring to an email councillors received from Tidy Towns Together, the Green Party councillor said that she didn't think they would, for example, put one poster up in the centre of Blackrock.

Cllr Butler also mentioned that she agreed with Cllr Sheridan with regards social media and data centres, adding that she was elected in her first election without the use of social media.

Cllr Liam Reilly said that he stood in the last election without using posters or social media. He added that he was a member of Tidy Towns and Louth Tidy Towns Together, and that the request from Tidy Towns was that there be no posters in the centre of villages (within the speed limits) because the judging takes place primarily in June.

Cllr Sean Kelly, along with others, said that the motion comes from a good place, adding that one thing they should ensure they do is to take down the tie wraps when removing the posters after the election.

Following the contributions from the councillors, a roll call vote was taken, with Cllr Maeve Yore and Cllr Bernie Conlon voting for the motion and the other 16 councillors voting against.
SOSAD Ireland have released a statement on the back of news that the Dundalk Darkness into Light has been cancelled for this year due to the organising committee's frustration with the lack of progress on getting a Pieta House presence in the county.

SOASAD said they would like to acknowledge the difficult decision of the Darkness Into Light Committee in Dundalk not to proceed with this year's event due to ongoing challenges in advocating for a physical presence for Pieta within the communities of County Louth.

The organisation said they would like to remind the people of Louth that SOSAD are here to support people, with local services funded solely by the generosity of local communities.

The statement continued: As a non-state-funded organisation, SOSAD Ireland relies entirely on the unwavering generosity of local communities to sustain and expand its essential services.

In 2023 alone, our counselling services in Drogheda and Dundalk provided vital support to 807 members of the local community, offering over 9,822 hours of FREE counselling sessions.

We are dedicated to providing round-the-clock support for the people of County Louth with our 24/7 helpline, available FREE of charge to anyone in crisis or in need of someone to talk to, 365 days a year, on 1800 901 909.

We emphasise the critical need for mental health support services, particularly considering the high level of suicide within our communities.

SOSAD Ireland stands unwavering in our commitment to advocating for improved mental health care and support for all.

Despite the temporary pause of the event, we encourage the community to persist in raising awareness and promoting positive mental health initiatives.

Together, we have the power to make a meaningful difference and bring hope to those who need it most.

We extend our deepest gratitude to the local communities and supporters who stand in solidarity with us.

Together, we will continue to tirelessly advocate for improved mental health care and support services.

For more information about our services and how you can support our mission, please visit www.sosadireland.ie or follow us on our social media platforms @sosadireland.ie.

If you would like to support your local community, if you can, please donate below.

At SOSAD Ireland, we support YOU and YOUR mental health!
Trade unionist and activist Brendan Ogle lashed out at government parties yesterday, saying that he believes Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are moving to the right of centre politically.

Speaking on the Hard Shoulder on Newstalk yesterday afternoon, Ogle claimed that the "political establishment itself" is not holding the centre as they once did, and instead is pandering to "what they themselves would call populism".

"In the last election cycle Fine Gael and Leo kept talking about the importance of the 'centre holding'", Ogle said. "One of those cliches they use to keep lefties in their place".

"There has been a drift to far-right hate speech, particularly xenophobia and racism", said Ogle, pointing out that Newly appointed Taoiseach Simon Harris and Fine Gael have made little mention of Justice Minister Helen McEntee's controversial proposed Criminal Justice Bill, now known as the Hate Speech Bill.

Ogle explained that he himself is not a fan of the current proposed legislation, as he claims it doesnt properly define hate, and the penalty fines and sentences arent tough enough.

Despite these perceived flaws, Ogle is still adamant that the legislation should be passed, saying that there is now daily occurances of false racist claims, as well as daily attacks on refugees in Dublin.

'The State has a responsibility to act from a legislative and judiciary point of view', Ogle said.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has thus far resisted calls to scrap the legislation, which has been stuck in the Seanad since last year after concerns were raised about the lack of definition around the word hate.
ITS an odd thing: to walk into an Irish bar that is both full of people, and entirely silent. Such is the atmosphere at O Bheal, which takes place on the second Monday of every month, upstairs in the Long Valley.

This unusual silence descends for about 20 minutes when attendees at O Bheal, a Cork poetry organisation, are given five random words, suggested by the crowd, with which to construct a poem. It is one small part of a fascinating bigger picture, devised by poet, founder, and director, Paul Casey.

O Bheal celebrates its 17th anniversary on April 8. I chatted to Paul about the background to this organisation that offers something different, beneath the roof of one of Corks longest-serving and best known pubs.

The Beginning

Paul Casey grew up between Ireland, Zambia and South Africa and has worked in a number of fields, primarily film, multimedia and teaching.

Back in 2007, he worried that poetry was both feared and actively disliked by people. Committed to the genre himself, he wanted to present it in a different light.

When I was educated, we were force-fed difficult poetry at far too young an age, he says.

There was an aversion to poetry. Now, thankfully, Leaving Cert students are offered more contemporary work.

There was also a cultural element that the poet questioned.

My feeling was that poetry events werent being inclusive. They were formal affairs and I didnt feel like enough attention was being given to sub genres. The scene was fragmented, with experimentalists running their own festivals.

I wanted to create a space people felt safe to enter, where people could play with language. Thats the thinking behind the five-word challenge. It is to encourage anyone and everyone to experience the genre.

The Long Valley has a relaxed feel with a full bar and a looseness to it; people are free to dip in and out, come and go as they please. This is all part of the philosophy.

Cork poet Paul Casey. Picture: David Keane

I want to counter that sense of stiffness and make poetry less threatening, less intimidating. People can come and go as they like, engage with it for the first time.

Poetry Film

Before the five-word challenge, guests are invited to watch screenings of poetry films.

Casey has a background in film, and worked in the industry for 12 years before becoming disillusioned with its commercialism.

He puts his skills to good use and has merged his interests in film and poetry through this passion for poetry film, inspired by a trip to the Berlin Poetry Film Festival some years back.

I remember the Munster Literature Centre asked me to go along to it and over the course of three days, I watched 250 films. I was completely blown away.

I created my own poetry films then and, since 2013, O Bheal has screened international poetry films at its Winter Warmer events every November.

The poetry films shown at the start of every O Bheal night are drawn from the organisations considerable archives.

Tech-Savvy

Alongside his passion for film, Caseys technical know-how is certainly in evidence at the O Bheal gatherings. These are hybrid events, thanks to funding secured from the Arts Council.

We became hybrid during the pandemic. We had been a weekly event but moved to monthly. We went straight online. I had a multimedia company in South Africa so my skills proved useful.

During lockdown the Arts Council were offering money so we applied to upgrade our hardware. The lights and screen and microphones we have all come from that.

The attendees come from all over, although based in Cork, and the hybridity adds to the global feel.

People can tune in from anywhere, and on zoom we get a lot of people from the States, from other parts of Ireland and England. We get individuals from other countries too, like Greece, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

Were really happy to have kept the international attendees we garnered during lockdown.

The poet is proud of the diversity of the OBheal gatherings.

Ireland used to be such a homogenous place to be. In the Eighties, if an African person walked down Pana, heads would turn. I love walking around town now and seeing all the different faces and hearing the different language and accents.

Celebration

Casey is looking forward to this months anniversary.

We mark this particular event every year. We always have guest poets but the guest poets on anniversary nights are the shortlisted poets and winners of our international five-word poetry competition.

Then we will have our usual open-mic session, but this time people are asked to read poems by anyone other than themselves.

Paul is known by many as a supporter of poetry and poets in Cork city. He is happy to continue Corks proud poetry tradition; he is also happy to expand and develop it.

More information is available at www.obheal.ie
A SCHULL jeweller has launched a special-edition pendant in support of heart patients in the Mater Public Hospital.

The Croi alainn necklace, by enibas, is designed to raise funds and awareness for cardiac care at the Mater, the heart centre for Ireland.

Mary Moorhead, chief executive of the Mater Hospital Foundation, the fundraising body of the Mater Hospital, said:

We are absolutely delighted to partner with enibas on this heartfelt initiative, which will make a real difference for our patients from across Ireland living with serious heart conditions.

Ms Moorhead said the design of the piece is incredibly meaningful and thanked enibas for working with the foundation to continue bringing world-class care to cardiac patients. 10% of sales will go to support heart care in the Mater Hospital.

The necklace can be purchased on the enibas website at www.enibas.com and in enibas stores in Schull and Kinsale.
A CORK initiative that has already raised over 3,000 to help the people of Gaza will host a celebration of Palestinian food, culture, and society next week.

The gathering, which is the latest event in the Empty Bowls for Gaza series, will begin at 2pm at St Peters Church, North Main St, on Saturday, April 13.

The Empty Bowls for Gaza initiative began with a series of workshops led by Youghal-born fine art sculptor and ceramicist Martha Cashman, at Nano Nagle Place, in March.

During the workshops, participants learned how to make clay bowls.

At the event on North Main St, attendees will each receive one of those handmade clay bowls.

So far, the Empty Bowls movement in Cork has raised over 3,200 for Medecins Sans Frontieres [Doctors without Borders] in Gaza, and it will culminate in what is being billed as a Palestinian food gathering event.

The event is in collaboration with local chef Orla McAndrew.

There will be music, poetry readings, collectible art, and several spot prizes and draws on the day  including bowls made by actor Mary McEvoy, chefs Darina Allen and Rory OConnell, and others.

Community collaboration

Ms Cashman said the upcoming event would mark the culmination of a huge community collaboration.

While empty bowls may be a symbol of need and hunger, they are also hopeful and beautiful.

Coming together in solidarity with the people of Gaza, to share a food gathering experience with the handcrafted empty bowls made from clay, will be a unique and very special event in Cork, said Ms Cashman.

In the almost six months since Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in a co-ordinated series of attacks in southern Israel on October 7, Gaza has come under almost constant bombardment.

The number of people killed in Gaza is now approaching 33,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The ministrys statistic does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged enclave seems likely to worsen, as some charities have announced they are suspending operations in Gaza in the aftermath of an Israeli drone attack. The strike targeted a convoy of international aid workers, killing seven people this week.

To join the Empty Bowls Cork Food Gathering visit eventbrite.ie
CORK primary schools are expected to struggle with filling teaching posts  with nearly 130 vacancies expected to arise over the next three months.

A motion by Cork teacher John Driscoll around the need for more teachers for primary and special schools has been supported at the Irish National Teachers Organisation annual congress.

The organisation shared that Cork schools expected 114 long-term substitute vacancies in the next three months, and 14 permanent vacancies due to retirement or resignation in the same time period.

Both of these figures are the second-highest in Ireland, respectively, falling just below Dublin and representing 10% of overall long-term substitute and permanent vacancies in Ireland.

Urban areas

Mr Driscoll gave a speech at the annual congress in Derry, noting that there is a concentration of vacancies in urban areas, further highlighting the crisis in affordable housing.

Also striking is the fact that Deis, gaelscoileanna, and special schools are disproportionately affected  the most vulnerable students are losing out on vital support, Mr Driscoll said.

In dealing with staff shortages on an ongoing basis, the hard-pressed principal teachers are placed in the position requiring the wisdom of Solomon.

Redeploying special education teachers might solve one problem, but consequently causes another. The pupils in need of specific support lose out.

Yet again, the sticking plaster, which on the surface is healing, is in reality concealing the need for major surgery.

The restoration of banking hours is vital for those pupils in most need and I call on [Education ] Minister Foley to reintroduce this crucial measure.

Ahead of the conference, Mr Driscoll told The Echo: If you dont have a class teacher for senior infants, lets say, the de facto situation is that the principal is relocating a special education teacher into that classroom  so if youre a parent of a child in the class, there is a knock-on effect.

If youve relocated a special education teacher for a day or two, those days they are not going to be giving specific attention to the students who need it most, he said, and that in the pandemic, these hours lost would be made up later in the year, and that they have since lost that system and are hoping to regain it.

Different approach

His motion at the congress called on the Department of Education, in consultation with the INTO, to take a fundamentally different approach to the staffing crisis that recognises the impact of teacher shortage and focuses on enhancing the attractiveness of the teaching profession.

Proposed measures to achieve this include shortening teachers elongated pay scales, fully restoring middle management posts, reinstating teachers allowances for extra qualifications and specialised work stripped out since 2012, and giving teachers full incremental credit for every day they teach abroad.

The motion also demands that the central executive committee engages with the Department of Education to generate a category on the online claims system to allow for substitutes to be appointed in a short-term capacity where there is a permanent or fixed-term teaching vacancy in a school.
A CORK-based doctor has said the quality of patient care is being badly affected by excessive long hours being worked in hospitals.

It comes as a report by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) found that 83% of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) routinely work what it described are unsafe and illegal hours and that 77% of NCHDs report being pressurised by their employer into working extra shifts.

A Cork-based member of the IMOs NCHD committee, Dr Aidan Coffey, said he felt it was fair to say lives were being put at risk by the excessive hours being worked by doctors.

Patient care

Doctors working excessive long hours dont perform as well as doctors working shorter and safer hours, and I think there is undoubtedly a knock-on effect on patient care, he said.

Dr Coffey, a radiologist with seven years experience, works at both the Cork University Hospital and the Mercy University Hospital. He said that the hours worked by doctors and insufficient rest times were acting as a push factor affecting the recruitment and retention of hospital medics.

Working conditions for doctors are a common cause for concern, and many doctors would cite them as a reason for deciding to stay abroad rather than come home and settle down in Ireland."

He added that three-quarters of NCHDs reported feeling disrespected by their employers, which he said is very disappointing, with nearly 90% of people querying their salary or querying underpayments, and he said that this suggests a culture of ambivalence or disrespect toward NCHDs.

Galling

Dr Coffey cited the HSE recruitment ban, extended last November to almost all staff, as particularly galling.

However, he said, it was important to acknowledge that some of those working in management roles in hospitals were genuinely committed to improving working conditions for doctors.

There are people Ive come across in CUH and the Mercy who are completely invested and committed to making things better, and there are elements of things that are better now than they were when I started seven years ago, said Dr Coffey.

A spokesperson for the HSE said in 2022 the Department of Health had established a national taskforce to put in place sustainable workforce planning strategies and policies to address and improve NCHD experience, and its final report had been published in February 2024.

The overall aim of the taskforce aligns with the HSEs own mission to support recruitment and retention of doctors in Ireland, the spokesperson said.

Improving the welfare and wellbeing of NCHDs and the provision of high-quality training and education is a priority for the HSE.

As we move into the implementation phase, the HSE is committed to continue to work with the Department of Health and other key stakeholders to address these recommendations.
Work at a major residential scheme at Corks former St Kevins Hospital and grounds in Shanakiel is said to be progressing well, with the first phase on track for completion next year.

The Land Development Agency (LDA) has plans to build more than 260 housing units, an enterprise centre, and creche facilities at the site, and recently lodged a planning application seeking some amendments which, if permitted, would see two additional units delivered.

Work at the St Kevins site in Cork city is progressing well, with site enabling works and also stabilisation works to the main hospital building now complete, an LDA spokesperson told The Echo.

The contractor for phase one [97 units] is currently on site, and the demolition and bulk earthworks are substantially complete.

Substructure and superstructure work on the housing units is ongoing, with phase one to be completed in 2025.

The Land Development Agency has applied for amendments to the permitted SHD [Strategic Housing Development].

If granted, the scheme will deliver a total of 267 homes.

The LDA has previously said its vision is to transform the defunct and derelict former Victorian Mental Asylum lands into a new vibrant residential community for the people of Cork.

This underutilised site, on the south-facing Shanakiel Ridge, looking over the River Lee, has the opportunity to be an exemplary housing development offering housing for all sectors of our society in our community.

The Land Development Agency is mandated by Government to develop such sites that are in public ownership, and there is no better example of such an opportunity as this strategic site in the heart of Cork.

The housing development project at St Kevins, when complete, will deliver a mix of townhouses, duplex, and apartments.

The primary focus of the development will be social and affordable housing, the LDA has stated.
A MOTION on faith formation and school patronage at the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) annual congress resulted in delegates voting for the establishment of a union taskforce on the issue.

While delegates acknowledged that religious organisations have historically played a pivotal role in delivering education, and credited those involved, it was noted that in recent years, Irelands population demographics have shifted.

The most recent census shows Roman Catholics accounted for 69% of the population, a decline from 78.3% in 2016 and 84.2% in 2011  but despite this, nine in 10 primary schools are Catholic.

In Cork, there are over 350 Catholic primary schools, and less than 40 non-Catholic schools, the majority of which are under Church of Ireland patronage. Thirteen of these are multi-denominational, including seven Educate Together Schools, two Cork ETB schools, and four multi-denominational Gaelscoils.

The INTO is concerned that the status quo may be infringing the right of inclusive education to all children.

It is also conscious that some schools requirement that teachers obtain a certificate in religious education to teach in denominational schools needs to be reviewed in light of the changing face of Ireland and the teacher supply crisis.

The INTO has proposed the establishment of a taskforce on school patronage, and conducting a survey among members on the topic, with the taskforce then being set up to examine the survey findings and disseminate results with members at next years Congress.

West Cork native and incoming INTO vice president Anne Horan told The Echo that deputy general secretary Deirdre OConnor had made great points on the Department of Educations progress on school patronage thus far.

Ms OConnor said at the congress: Though the Department of Education has committed to divestment and to the establishment of more multi-denominational schools, transfers of school patronage have been slow and the process has not gained the confidence of all members of school communities.

The departments pilot scheme on the reconfiguration of schools to date has mostly focused on communications with parents.

The INTO wants to gauge our members stance on issues related to school patronage and to present our unions findings to the Department of Education in April 2025.
THE 680-cabin Ambition cruise ship arrived into Cork today, marking the start of what is set to be a bumper year for the cruise industry locally.

The 2024 cruise liner schedule indicates a 10% increase in vessels expected to visit the Port of Cork this year with a total of 103 cruise vessels scheduled to arrive between April and November. Additionally, 24 cruise liners are expected to visit Bantry Bay Harbour this year, up from nine cruise ships last year.

The official start of the 2024 cruise season marks an exciting time for Cork, said chief commercial officer at the Port of Cork Company and chairperson of Cruise Ireland, Conor Mowlds. We are thrilled to welcome the Ambition for the first time to the port and look forward to many other maiden calls this year.

We hope all passengers and crew enjoy their experience.

As is tradition with all maiden vessels arriving at the port, a plaque exchange took place on board between the captain of the ship and Port of Cork Company representatives.

Sailing under the flag of Bahamas with 680 cabins and a capacity for 1,200 guests, the Ambition  operated by Ambassador Cruise Line  stands at 709ft in length with a draft of 23ft.

Its a pleasure to dock in picturesque Cobh for the first time and experience the warm welcome of this charming town, captain of the Ambition, Oleksii Varyvoda, said.

My fellow crew and passengers look forward to exploring the local cultural sights and experiencing the hospitality of Cork city and county while on this short visit.

President of Cobh and Harbour Chamber, Toddy Stafford, said: Each visiting vessel offers invaluable economic benefit to Cobh and the wider region.
By Jonathan McCambridge and Rebecca Black, PA

The DUPs focus remains undiminished despite an incredibly difficult and shocking six days since the resignation of former leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson has said.

Mr Donaldson quit last Friday after being charged with several historical sexual offences.

Mr Robinson, who was deputy leader and has been named interim leader, told media in Belfast on Thursday there has been unanimous support from the DUPs party officers for his appointment.

He said the decision on a permanent leader is an internal issue, adding that in the coming weeks the party will have a discussion; on a collective basis we will decide what is the best way to proceed.

The last six days have been incredibly difficult and shocking, not just for us within the Democratic Unionist Party but for the community right throughout Northern Ireland, Mr Robinson said.

Over the last number of days I have spent time engaging with colleagues.

I have been encouraged not only by their support but their determination and recognition that what has gone before us is not reflective of us, it is not attributed to us.

Nor should it deflect from the important task that we have ahead of us as representatives for unionism.

Mr Robinson went on: In our meeting last week it was unanimous within our party officers that I would step up and lead on an interim basis at this time.

I am prepared to do so because of the honour we have amongst our colleagues and the commitment we have for the days ahead.

That is my task, and recognising the importance of restoring devolution, recognising the importance of our ability to serve the people that we are proud to represent, is what we are focused on.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson quit as DUP leader after being charged with several historical sexual offences (Liam McBurney/PA)

He also criticised those he said have sought to manipulate the dreadful events of the last week for party political purposes, to sow discord or to achieve some narrow personal advantage.

I say shame on them, he said.

That is not what the people of Northern Ireland want and that is not where the people I have spoken to over the last week are.

They appreciate the fact that devolution has been restored, they appreciate the positivity that our leaders within the Executive have brought forward for the people of Northern Ireland, and there is nothing that I can see in the short, medium or long term that should cause difficulty in that regard.

Mr Donaldsons exit from the political front line sent shockwaves through Stormont, less than two months after devolution was restored following a two-year stalemate over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The Lagan Valley MP was pivotal to the deal that resurrected powersharing, and his sudden departure, and the manner of it, has created the first major challenge for the recently formed four-party coalition.

Mr Robinson also insisted his party remains firmly committed to working within the restored political institutions at Stormont.

Let me assure you all at home today that our focus is undiminished on making sure that our place within this United Kingdom is as strong as it can be, recognising the importance associated with the restoration of devolution, the importance of delivering for everyone in Northern Ireland, he said.

That is our focus, that shall not change, and, though this week has been difficult, we are firmly committed to the task ahead.

DUP interim leader Gavin Robinson said the last six days have been incredibly difficult and shocking (Jonathan McCambridge/PA)

Meanwhile, Mr Robinson would not comment on the future of the Lagan Valley constituency, where Mr Donaldson remains the MP.

He said: That is not a matter for us and I will not be commenting on it. We suspended Jeffrey Donaldson from membership of the Democratic Unionist Party. He resigned as our leader at that time.

Earlier, speaking in Banbridge, Co Down, Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart voiced her support for Mr Robinson.

She insisted there are no dissenting voices challenging Mr Robinsons installation, and said there will be no leadership challenges.

Gavin has the support of the entire party, Gavin will do an excellent job, she said.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

Balloons released at Parkridge Church in Coral Springs, Florida on Feb. 15, 2018, following a memorial vigil on the day after deadly shootings at Marjorie Stonemason Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

State lawmakers in Florida have passed a bill, HB321, to ban intentional balloon releases and charge intentional balloon releases as littering infractions.

The bill passed with overwhelming support in the states House of Representatives and Senate in March. Now it awaits signing into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

What goes up must come down, and when it comes to balloons, that can have deadly consequences for marine life, Jon Paul Brooker, director of Florida Conservation at Ocean Conservancy, said in a statement. The ingestion of a single piece of balloon has the potential to kill a seabird, which shows why even one intentionally released balloon is one too many.

A study by Ocean Conservancy scientists found that about one in three seabirds that consumed just a single piece of a balloon would die from eating that debris.

Ingested balloons can block the digestive tracts of animals or simply keep them from feeling hungry, leading to starvation. Balloons also pose an entanglement risk to wildlife. Balloons are the top cause of marine debris-related death for seabirds, Ocean Conservation Society found.

In Florida, several communities have already enacted local legislation preventing intentional balloon releases, and there were existing state statutes that limited balloon releases. However, there were exemptions that allowed for releasing fewer than 10 balloons per 24-hour period and for releasing balloons considered biodegradable or photodegradable that do not have any strings, ribbons or other attachments, Surfrider Foundation reported.

HB321 addresses these exemptions, removing the release of a specified number of balloons within a certain timeframe as well as the exemptions for biodegradable or photodegradable balloons.

Florida made the right call today in banning intentional balloon releases. Balloons are one of the deadliest forms of plastic pollution for ocean wildlife, Hunter Miller, Oceana Field Campaigns Manager, said in a statement. Its great to see state legislators from both sides of the aisle come together to support a commonsense bill and get it passed. We call on Governor DeSantis to quickly sign this into law.

While environmental organizations have praised the passing of HB321, they noted that Florida has much more work to be done in terms of addressing plastic pollution by limiting plastic production.

These victories are particularly significant in Florida, which has been paralyzed from addressing plastic pollution at the source at the state level for years, Emma Haydocy, Florida policy manager at Surfrider Foundation, wrote on the Surfrider Foundation website. While the existing preemption has been the status quo for over a decade, this years actions to prohibit balloon releases and the full stop of an attempt to expand and entrench plastic preemption is a leap in the right direction.

Once signed, the bill is slated to take effect this July 1.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (April 4, 2024)  Jordan Thornton was motivated by the diversity displayed in a university panel discussion, about law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and how to advance within those careers.

It was powerful to hear about their experiences navigating the world of law enforcement as minorities, she said. That image alone inspired so many of my peers in attendance.

Thornton, the 2023-24 Miss ECSU and a senior psychology student, attended and delivered the welcome at the Law Enforcement Leaders of America (LELA) event March 26, hosted by the universitys Career Development Center. The event included a panel discussion with special agents from organizations like Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Pasquotank Correctional Institution, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

During the discussion, ATF special agents along with other high-ranking, criminal justice executives and professionals had an open conversation with students about the tools and tips for the hiring process, overcoming their shortcomings, appearance and job attire, physical fitness requirements, psychological awareness, and other qualifications needed for positions in the field. Additionally, federal, state, and local organizations highlighted the importance of having a workforce that is diverse and inclusive.

In February, the Career Development Center hosted a Business and Government Career Fair, open to the community and students with more than 30 employers, including Dollar General, Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority, and the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Organizers are always looking for opportunities to ensure students are qualified once theyre in front of employers, said Tameka Gibbs, assistant director of employee relations and special projects.

This was beneficial for our students by providing an opportunity for them to ask questions that they are not able to ask at career fairs, she said. This event provided the students a one-on-one chance to discuss internship and employment opportunities with representatives in the industry.




Philippines proposes senate bill to boost corn industry

The Philippines introduces Senate Bill (SB) 2625, aimed at enhancing the competitiveness and expansion of the country's corn industry, aligning with the country's Livestock, Poultry, and Dairy Industry Development Act's objectives, Philippine News Agency reported.

Senator Cynthia Villar, the bill's author, said the government needs to strengthen the corn industry, which plays a crucial role in supporting the livestock and poultry sectors.

Villar highlighted that livestock feed relies heavily on inputs such as corn, wheat, and soya, constituting approximately 40% to 60% of animal feed.

With an annual deficit of 3 to 5 million metric tonnes (MT) of corn, the Philippines seeks to address challenges facing the yellow corn industry, despite its significant contributions to the combined corn-livestock-poultry sector, which accounted for 27.17% of gross value added in agriculture in 2023.

The sector offers livelihood opportunities to over 1.28 million corn farmers, 2.8 million livestock and poultry farmers, and numerous industry stakeholders.

To support the industry, SB 2625 proposes the establishment of the Corn Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, alongside the annual regular budget.

Over a decade, the Corn Fund will receive an annual PHP 3 billion (US$53.1 million) allocation, sourced from tariff collection on imported corn, feed wheat, feeds, and related products.

Villar outlined that 80% of the corn fund will be allocated for yellow corn development, with the remaining 20% designated for white corn and other indigenous corn varieties.

Despite progress in yellow corn production, with an average increase of 4.2 metric tonnes per hectare from 2018 to 2022, the Philippines aims to bolster its position, currently ranking 8th among Asian neighbours in yellow corn production.

- Philippine News Agency




Philippines to expedite approval of ASF and avian influenza vaccines



The Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) announced its collaboration with the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to accelerate the approval process for vaccines against African swine fever (ASF) and avian influenza (AI), Philippine News Agency reported.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa highlighted the alignment of this effort with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's directive to hasten vaccine procurement in the fight against ASF and AI.

De Mesa said that one of the topics discussed was how to harmonise the procedure and to ensure that the criteria in the approval process used by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and FDA are organised to expedite the approval.

Conversations were held between DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr and FDA Director General Dr Samuel Zacate, focused on immediately approving procedures for vaccines, bioproducts, and veterinary products.

Moreover, Laurel and Zacate discussed plans to enhance border control in collaboration with the Bureau of Customs to prevent the entry of illegal food products into the country.

Earlier, the DA had reached out to vaccine suppliers from the US and Vietnam, urging them to secure FDA approval before delivery.

According to the DA, ASF vaccines might become available by the year-end or early 2025.

- Philippine News Agency




Qatari food company Baldana to establish milk farm in Algeria



Qatari food company Baldana is in the final stages of negotiating an agreement with the Algerian government to establish a farm dedicated to milk production, including the production of powdered milk, aligning with Algeria's efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in milk production, The Dairy News Global reported.

Baldana, a key player in Qatar's agricultural sector renowned for its milk and dairy products, aims to inaugurate a vast farm spanning 100,000 hectares in Algeria.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed the forthcoming agreement, disclosing that the farm will be located in Adrar, southwestern Algeria.

Baldana, Qatar's largest milk and dairy producer, gained international recognition following the 2017 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) crisis, which prompted a shift in the country's production focus.

Since its debut on the Qatar Stock Exchange in October 2019, Baldana has witnessed significant growth, expanding its brand presence both domestically and globally. The company operates one of the largest cattle farms in the region, covering 2.6 million square meters.

In a strategic move last July, Baldana increased its investment in Egypt's Juhayna Food Industries, a leading producer and marketer of dairy and juice products. This move follows Baldana's initial investment in May 2022, where it acquired a 10.1% stake in Juhayna Food Industries for QAR 2.5 million (US$686,000).

- The Dairy News Global




Thailand keeps close watch on livestock following anthrax human infections in Laos

Thailand has ordered officials to closely monitor livestock along the border with Laos after more than 50 people were reported to have contracted anthrax in the neighboring country.

Thai authorities have been working closely with those in Laos after receiving reports of the outbreak and have prepared vaccines in case of infections being detected in Thailand, said Narong Leangcharuen, director of the Bureau of Disease Control and Veterinary Services of the Department of Livestock Development.

In an interview with Thai state broadcaster NBT on March 29, Narong said the transport of livestock across the border is being strictly controlled. He called upon livestock farmers to quarantine animals from Laos and immediately report any suspicious illnesses or deaths.

Thai government spokesperson Chai Watcharong said Thailand's Department of Disease Control is coordinating with local authorities, especially along the border, to keep a close watch on the situation.

Media in Laos reported in March livestock deaths and cases of people contracting the disease in the southern province of Champasak, which borders Thailand.



- AP
Robot vacuums are handy little devices that can help folks save a ton of time and energy. However, some of the more well-known options are often a bit pricey, especially when a mopping function comes into the mix. As it happens, iRobot has revealed a relatively budget-friendly 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop. It says the $275 Roomba Combo Essential actually outperforms the Roomba 600 Series thanks to 20 times more suction power, and the addition of a mop and smart navigation.

According to iRobot, this model offers 25 percent better performance at picking up dirt from hard floors than the Roomba 600 Series. It's also said to have a longer battery life at up to 120 minutes, the ability to clean in neat rows, customizable suction and liquid settings, Clean Map reports and intelligent settings such as suggested cleaning schedules.

Although you can set up cleanings in advance, you can start one at any time with an Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant voice command. Alternatively, you can press the Clean button or tap a button in the iRobot Home app to put the device to work right away.

iRobot

The device has a four-stage cleaning system that includes adjustable suction and liquid settings, a v-shaped multi-surface brush, an edge-sweeping brush and a pump-fed microfiber mop pad. For vacuum-only operation (i.e if you're looking to remove dirt from a rug), you'll need to remove the mop pad first. That adds a little bit of friction to using this model. There's another trade-off in that this isn't a self-emptying Roomba  you'll need to empty out the dirt storage bin manually more often.

Still, this seems like a solid Roomba at an eye-catching price. It's available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa now, and iRobot will start selling it in the US on April 7 and Canada on April 12. The Roomba Combo Essential will reach Asia Pacific markets later this month. Folks in the US can trade in a Roomba 600 Series for a $50 credit toward a Roomba Combo Essential

In addition, iRobot is rolling out a model called the Roomba Vac Essential in North America. It has the same smart functions and other similar features as the Combo Essential, but there's no mop. That robot vacuum will cost $250 and it'll land in the US on April 7 and Canada on April 12.

Meanwhile, iRobot says it has reached a new milestone. Since debuting the Roomba in 2002, the company has sold more than 50 million robots.

This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
The AI tool had a tendency to create depict people of the same race even when explicitly prompted otherwise.

Meta AI is consistently unable to generate accurate images for seemingly simple prompts like Asian man and Caucasian friend, or Asian man and white wife, The Verge reports . Instead, the companys image generator seems to be biased toward creating images of people of the same race, even when explicitly prompted otherwise.

Engadget confirmed these results in our own testing of Metas web-based image generator. Prompts for an Asian man with a white woman friend or an Asian man with a white wife generated images of Asian couples. When asked for a diverse group of people, Meta AI generated a grid of nine white faces and one person of color. There were a couple occasions when it created a single result that reflected the prompt, but in most cases it failed to accurately depict the prompt.

As The Verge points out, there are other more subtle signs of bias in Meta AI, like a tendency to make Asian men appear older while Asian women appeared younger. The image generator also sometimes added culturally specific attire even when that wasnt part of the prompt.

Its not clear why Meta AI is struggling with these types of prompts, though its not the first generative AI platform to come under scrutiny for its depiction of race. Googles Gemini image generator paused its ability to create images of people after it overcorrected for diversity with bizarre results in response prompts about historical figures. Google later explained that its internal safeguards failed to account for situations when diverse results were inappropriate.
Last year was the hottest on record and the Earth is headed towards a global warming of 2.7 degrees, yet top fossil fuel and cement producers show a disregard for climate change and actively make things worse. A new Carbon Majors Database report found that just 57 companies were responsible for 80 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2022. Thirty-eight percent of total emissions during this period came from nation-states, 37 percent from state-owned entities and 25 percent from investor-owned companies.

Nearly 200 parties adopted the 2015 Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, 58 of the 100 state- and investor-owned companies in the Carbon Majors Database have increased their production in the years since (The Climate Accountability Institute launched Carbon Majors in 2013 to hold fossil fuel producers accountable and is hosted by InfluenceMap). This number represents producers worldwide, including 87 percent of those assessed in Asia, 57 percent in Europe and 43 percent in North America.

It's not a clear case of things slowly turning around, either. The International Energy Agency found coal consumption increased by eight percent over the seven years to 8.3 billion tons  a record high. The report names state-owned Coal India as one of the top three carbon dioxide producers. Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom and state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco rounded out the trio of worst offenders.

Exxon Mobil topped the list of United States companies, contributing 1.4 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. "These companies have made billions of dollars in profits while denying the problem and delaying and obstructing climate policy. They are spending millions on advertising campaigns about being part of a sustainable solution, all the while continuing to invest in more fossil fuel extraction," Tzeporah Berman, International Program Director at Stand.earth and Chair at Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, said in a statement. "These findings emphasize that, more than ever, we need our governments to stand up to these companies, and we need new international cooperation through a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end the expansion of fossil fuels and ensure a truly just transition."
In Taipei, the most significant earthquake in Taiwan in over two decades claimed the lives of nine individuals on Wednesday.

Over 800 others suffered injuries, with 50 individuals reported missing while heading to a national park. Rescue operations employed ladders to evacuate individuals to safety amidst the devastation.

Television broadcasts captured unsettling scenes of buildings leaning precariously in the mountainous, scarcely inhabited eastern region of Hualien, close to the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude tremor, which struck just offshore at around 8am local time.

Residents recounted the intensity of the quake, including Chang Yu-lin, a 60-year-old hospital worker in Taipei, describing the sensation as if their house might collapse.

A bed-and-breakfast proprietor in Hualien city shared her frantic efforts to reassure her guests amidst their fear induced by the seismic event. "This is the biggest earthquake I've ever experienced," she expressed, preferring to be identified only by her surname, Chan.

The quake occurred at a depth of 15.5 km (9.6 miles), coinciding with the morning commute as people were en route to work and school. It triggered a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines, which was subsequently lifted.

The earthquake in Taiwan led to rescuers using ladders to extract trapped individuals, with significant landslides reported. Fire authorities evacuated those trapped in tunnels, but contact was lost with 50 travelers heading to Taroko Gorge. President-elect Lai Ching-te prioritized rescue efforts, aiming to reopen the rail link by Thursday.

Despite minor damages, Taiwan's air force and essential services remained operational.

The quake also affected Japan and the Philippines, prompting warnings of small tsunami waves. Aftershocks were felt in Taipei, while power restoration efforts were underway. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. evacuated facilities, but operations resumed with safety measures in place.

Despite its impact, the earthquake's magnitude was not as severe as previous disasters in 1999.
A viral "migrant influencer" who has advised other migrants to illegally cross the border and squat in the homes of American citizens is facing potential gun charges.

Leonel Moreno, 27, has been flagged to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the New York Post reported, citing internal federal documents.

Unnamed sources told the outlet that Moreno could be charged with violations of the Gun Control Act, which prohibits parolees from possessing, shipping, transporting, or receiving firearms or ammunition.

The ATF said it can't "confirm or deny information about potential or ongoing investigations."

In several videos posted on his Instagram in March, Moreno brandished firearms in a gun store and asked his followers which weapon they liked best.

"Thank God I already have my license," Moreno said in one clip.

"If you want a gun, you can buy them in stores," he said in another post.

Despite his posts, there is no evidence that he purchased a gun.

Authorities also have not confirmed whether any firearm was seized from Moreno's hotel room when he was arrested last month.

Moreno is currently being held at Geauga County Jail in Ohio, the Post reported, citing ICE records. The bureau is reportedly considering filing federal firearms charges against the Venezuelan national, the docs showed.

Moreno was arrested by ICE officers in Columbus, Ohio, on March 29 after failing to turn up to mandatory check-ins.

The check-ins with officers were a requirement in the parole scheme that allowed him to stay in the U.S. after he crossed the southern border into Texas illegally in 2022.

John Fabbricatore, a former ICE field office director in Denver, told the Post that charges under Gun Control Act section 922(g) are "a serious matter and can result in significant legal consequences for Moreno."

"This should be a warning to any illegal aliens that possessing a firearm unlawfully will result in criminal charges and hopefully lead to a conviction," added Fabbricatore.

In other posts on Instagram, Moreno could be seen showing off wads of cash, bragging that he did not need to work and claiming that he benefitted from government programs.

"I didn't cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave," he said in Spanish in one video, according to a translation cited by Fox News Digital. "I came to the U.S. to mark my territory."

Moreno also previously shared tips on how to invade vacant homes on his TikTok account, where he had more than 500,000 followers before it was taken down last week.
China's Chongqing to upgrade NEV charging facilities

Xinhua) 15:48, April 04, 2024

CHONGQING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality plans to build more than 2,000 supercharging stations and more than 4,000 superchargers for new energy vehicles (NEVs) by 2025, said local authorities.

By that time, the newly built public fast charging stations in the major urban areas of Chongqing should all be equipped with supercharging capacity, and the existing charging stations will be gradually transformed into supercharging ones, according to a document released by the municipal government.

By 2025, the city is also expected to have 170 supercharging stations for NEVs in its expressway service areas.

China's NEV ownership level has continued to climb in recent years, with the number of NEVs in use rising to 20.41 million by the end of 2023. To meet the growing use of electric cars, China continues to improve and expand the country's network of NEV charging facilities, which grew 65 percent year on year in 2023, reaching almost 8.6 million by the end of last year, according to China's National Energy Administration.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Ex-Vice President Mike Pence initiated a $2 million dollar advertising campaign aimed at urging the Senate to support the House bill mandating the Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations or risk prohibition.

Advancing American Freedom (AAF), a conservative advocacy group spearheaded by Pence, revealed plans to roll out the campaign next week across pivotal states for the upcoming November elections: Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. These regions are also focal points for TikTok's extensive advertising efforts, amounting to $2.1 million, amidst the Senate's impending decision.

As part of AAF's initiative, footage of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer advocating for the closure of Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States is featured, alongside appeals from voters urging him and other senators to support the divestment of the popular short-form video app.

Pence, 64, emphasized the urgency for the Senate to pass the bill before Memorial Day, warning against potential delays due to political maneuvering and posturing, which could leave the legislation unresolved for the remainder of the 2024 election cycle.

TikTok has initiated its own advertising campaign exceeding $2 million in crucial election states, aimed at persuading senators to reject the bill, which easily cleared the House. The targeted states for TikTok's new ads include New York and Massachusetts, significant hubs for young demographics and media professionals, respectively, as well as Minnesota, the home state of Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, known for her outspoken criticism of the platform.

In addition to the advertising campaign, TikTok has encouraged its users to inundate congressional offices with calls urging them to vote against the bill. However, some officials have reported receiving threatening calls from certain users.

The bill garnered an overwhelming 352-65 majority in the House vote last month. Rather than an outright ban, the legislation would compel ByteDance, TikTok's parent company based in China, to divest from the app within 180 days of the bill being enacted into law, or risk removal from app stores in the United States.

Despite its swift approval in the House and President Joe Biden's expressed intention to sign the bill if it passes the Senate, its prospects in the Senate remain uncertain.
Many ESRF scientists are turning to machine-learning algorithms, for insights that would be much too laborious  even impossible  to gain manually. Our Long Read articles take a deep dive into a topic of scientific importance: this month, how AI can boost synchrotron science. This article was first published in the March issue of the ESRFnews magazine.

For what was once a purely technical subject, machine learning has hardly been out of the news. Beginning in late 2022, the world has had to come to terms with the impact of a number of groundbreaking, generative artificial-intelligence (AI) models  notably the ChatGPT chatbot by the US company OpenAI, and text-to-image systems such as Midjourney, developed by the US company of the same name. Everyday conversations cannot avoid the debate over whether we are living amid a fantastic new industrial revolution  or the end of civilisation as we know it.

All this popular controversy can detract from a quieter  but no less important  machine-learning evolution taking place in the scientific realm. Arguably this began in the 1990s, with greater computing power and the development of so-called neural networks, which attempt to mimic the wiring of the brain, and which helped to popularise AI as an overarching term for machines that ape human thinking. The real acceleration, however, has taken place in the past decade or so, thanks to the storage and processing of big data, and experiments with layered neural networks  what has come to be called deep learning.

Of this revolution, synchrotron users  who are among the worlds largest producers of scientific data  stand to be great beneficiaries. Machine learning has the potential to streamline experiments, reduce data volumes, speed up data analysis and obtain results that would otherwise be beyond human insight. Weve been amazed in many ways by the results we could produce, says Linus Pithan, a materials and data scientist based at the German synchrotron DESY, who ran an autonomous crystal-growth experiment at the ESRFs ID10 beamline with colleagues last year. The quality of the online data analysis was astonishing.

Formerly a member of the ESRFs Beamline Control Unit where he helped develop the new BLISS beamline control system, Pithan is well placed to test the potential of machine learning in synchrotron science. The flexibility of BLISS was necessary for him and his colleagues to integrate their own deep-learning algorithm, which they had trained beforehand to reconstruct scattering-length density (SLD) profiles from the X-ray reflectivity of molecular thin films. Unlike the forwards operation  calculating a reflectivity curve from an SLD profile  this inverse problem can be painfully tedious to solve even for an experienced analyst: the data are inherently ambiguous, because they do not include the phase of the scattered X-rays. Indeed, it is a demanding task for a machine too, which is why at the beamline Pithans group made use of an online service known as VISA to harness the ESRFs central computer system.

The success of the automation was immediately apparent (Figure 1). From the reflectivity measurements, the deep-learning algorithm could output SLD profiles and thin-film properties such as layer thickness and surface roughness in real time, and thereby stop in-situ molecular beam deposition at any desired sample thickness between 80 A and 640 A, with an average accuracy of 2 A [1]. The machine-learning model was able to predict results within milliseconds, says Pithan. In a way, we transferred the time that is traditionally needed for the manual fitting process to the point before the actual experiment where we trained the model. So by the time of the experiment, were able to get results instantaneously.



Fig. 1: Measure data compared with deep-learning predictions for a crystal-growth experiment at ID10 [1]. a) The algorithm predicts the relationship between X-ray momentum transfer and reflectivity oscillations, which are a measure of properties such as thickness and surface roughness. b) The algorithm predicts when to stop the in-situ molecular beam deposition for a certain desired film thickness.

Strategic development

The ESRF has been anticipating a rise in machine learning for many years. It forms part of the data strategy, and is one of the reasons for the ESRFs engagement in various European projects that support the trend: PaNOSC, which is a cloud service to host publicly funded photon and neutron research data; DAPHNE, which aims to make photon and neutron data accord to FAIR (reusable) principles; and most recently OSCARS, which promotes European open science. Vincent Favre-Nicolin, the head of the ESRF algorithms and scientific data analysis group, is wary of claiming that machine learning is always a magical solution, and points out the toll it can take on computing resources. But for some areas it makes a real difference, he says.

Aside from experimental automation, one of these areas is image segmentation. In daily life humans find this easy  we have no problem working out where our fingertips end and the pages of a magazine begin, for instance  but it can be laborious in certain areas of synchrotron science, such as tomography. ESRF postdoc Francois Cadiou, who is involved in BIG-MAP (part of the European Commissions BATTERY 2030+ large-scale research initiative for sustainable batteries), is developing machine-learning algorithms to quickly identify the different constituents of porous electrodes, such as the active material, the conductive polymer binder and the electrolyte. Accuracy is key here, as researchers need to know the exact conditions that promote superior battery performance over potentially catastrophic failure.

Cadiou and his colleagues are developing a type of interactive AI algorithm called active learning. They begin by annotating some images in a tomographic volume manually, to set up their model for training. When its learning slows, the model moves on to unannotated volumes, selecting those it has the most to learn from. The human researchers review its output, applying corrections to be integrated into the next training loop. This next loop is then concluded, and another, and so on. According to Cadiou, training a model to segment one volume with more classical deep-learning algorithms can take a week or two due to the manual image-annotation process, whereas this active learning procedure gives results of sufficient fidelity in about a day. The speed-up is all the more required when were working with in-situ or operando data, as there are then numerous volumes to analyse conjointly, he says.

Many other ESRF users are turning to machine learning to assist in segmentation, especially when the raw images contain the unprecedented levels of detail provided by the new Extremely Brilliant Source. Backed by a grant from the European Research Council, ESRF scientist Alexandra Pacureanu is turning to automated segmentation to resolve neural circuits in mammalian brains in data from the ID16A nano-imaging beamline. Meanwhile, drawing on hierarchical phase-contrast tomography (HiP-CT) data taken at the ESRFs flagship BM18 beamline, researchers involved in the Human Organ Atlas (HOA) project (co-funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) are relying on automated segmentation to identify various anatomical structures inside organs  particularly blood vessels, but also airways in the lungs, the glomeruli or filtering units of the kidneys, and parts of the brain (Figure 2).



Fig. 2: Painstaking manual segmentation of ESRF tomographic data reveals the vasculature of a human kidney for the Human Organ Atlas project. It also provides valuable training data for deep-learning algorithms that will be able to do the same job much faster (bioRxiv, doi: 10.1101/2023.03.28.534566)

Training, training, training

HiP-CT data expose the challenge and potential for machine learning in segmentation. Given that it can deliver images of entire organs, with a resolution down to the single cell in regions of interest, the data volumes are massive, often a terabyte or more, requiring hefty processing power. In addition, features such as blood vessels are genuinely hierarchical  meaning that segmentation has to be performed over disparate length scales  and vary greatly from person to person. Perhaps the trickiest problem is the sheer novelty of the imaging technique: there are simply no data already available that a machine-learning algorithm can draw on to train itself. This is something that is often glossed over, but machine learning can only be as good as the data used to train it, says HOA scientist Claire Walsh at University College London in the UK. And making these data is a huge undertaking. We have two experts labelling each dataset, and a third to go over the combined labels and mark areas that need improvement.

The HOA has an open data policy. That permits another avenue for machine learning, for its datasets  which include entire organs, either healthy or afflicted by various diseases  can be mined by independent research groups, using their own algorithms and driven by their own research goals. Indeed, automated mining of open data is behind what is arguably the most scientifically influential deep-learning product of recent years: AlphaFold, which is developed by DeepMind, a research laboratory based in London, UK, and owned by the parent company of Google. Trained on experimental (largely synchrotron-derived) data in the Protein Data Bank, AlphaFold has succeeded where humans could not, by predicting  with incredible accuracy  protein structures from their amino acid sequences. AlphaFold predictions can in turn boost the experimental determination of new structures (Figure 3).

Fig. 3: In 2022, combined with experimental data from the ESRF and SciLifeLab in Stockholm, Sweden, the deep-learning tool AlphaFold enabled researchers to determine the structures of two human proteins, GP2 and UMOD (pictured). The proteins are known to counteract the bacteria behind gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections (Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 29, 190; doi: 10.1038/s41594-022-00729-3)



In other areas of synchrotron science, machine learning is not so much about breaking new ground, but making existing ground more accessible. Take X-ray spectroscopy, for instance. This can be an incredibly versatile technique, providing insights into the makeup of all kinds of samples  from historic paintings, to polluted soil, to new catalysts, and much else besides. But interpreting individual spectra can be as much an expert task as classifying fingerprints  and one that not all users will be up to. Machine learning can be trained to automatically extract information, such as atomic bond lengths, coordination numbers, charges and so on. The goal is to democratise the analysis of X-ray spectra to non-expert users, says ESRF software development engineer Marius Retegan, who hosted a microsymposium on the topic at this years User Meeting.

This type of automated tool for spectroscopy is still in its infancy, as experimental data are not yet consistently stored in standardised formats necessary for training. Still, spectroscopy users may already have resorted to machine learning without realising it. PyMCA  often regarded as the Swiss army knife for scanning spectroscopy data analysis  has supported users for more than 15 years, and relies on unsupervised machine learning.

The impact of machine learning will be greatest for the next generation of users. As part of the ENGAGE programme, the ESRF has three PhD students who are honing skills in computational physics. One of these is Matteo Masto, who is now in his second year developing deep-learning algorithms for coherent diffraction imaging, helping to retrieve lost phase information as well as those empty pixels that can be artefacts of even the best X-ray detectors. More and more people, me included, now are trying to employ deep-learning methods for the phase problem, and it seems to show promising results, he says. Besides this, there is a lot more coming in the future for many other applications, such as de-noising, super-resolution and particle-defect identification and classification.

The benefits of machine learning may not always be felt directly. Nicolas Leclercq, the ESRF head of accelerator control, believes a variant known as reinforcement learning  which learns on the fly from adjusting parameters, and therefore does not need well-labelled training data to begin with  could one day improve the optimisation of the ESRF storage ring. In the ESRF vacuum group, Emmanuel Burtin and Anthony Meunier have been using machine learning to identify sudden pressure rises, which are a proxy for various events in the storage ring  valves mistakenly opening or closing, air leaks, electron-beam perturbations, and so on. Classifying each of these events used to take a few minutes when it was done manually; now an algorithm can do it in less than a second. It can even expose new classes of event, and reclassify swathes of past events accordingly  all in all helping to make accelerator control more efficient [2].

Finally, of course, there is the freely available generative AI. Chatbots provide a quick  if not always reliable  means to research scientific topics, for example, or to help compose papers and other documents in foreign languages. More broadly, Favre-Nicolin anticipates a time when users have recourse to virtual beamline assistants to plug gaps in their experience, encouraging them to pursue more adventurous lines of enquiry. They might ask, how can I do this experiment? Can you advise me on parameters? he says. Its bound to happen relatively soon.



Text by Jon Cartwright, editor of ESRFnews, March 2024 issue

References

[1] L. Pithan et al., J. Synchrotron Rad. 30 1064-1075 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1107/S160057752300749X

[2] A. Meunier & E. Burtin, ESRF Highlights 2023, p174 (2023).
Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Introduction

ExpertClick.com was recommended to me by a book and allows experts like me to reach over 7000 press people with my press releases since October 2013. This vehicle has led to my first two Nobel Peace Prize nominations in January 2016. Although I encouraged the Nobel people to look at my books and other websites like academia.com and wordpress.com, they persist in examining my press releases where I have had over 430,000 views in ten plus years. This allows me to show how my two scientific breakthroughs (economics and climate cycle) change the way we understand our world. ExpertClick lets me update views daily on the 50 most current releases and the 232 older releases twice a year. These websites reveal the patterns used by the trackers to follow me.

The Start

My January 2016 press release asked for Nobel Peace Prize nominations for the Norwegian Nobel Committee and an old political friend complied. Thinking that there were many single nominations but only a few with multiple nominations, I asked another friend to nominate me. It worked. The first day after nominations closed 50 ones lit up the expert click website between 7am and 9am Norway time. My jaw hit the floor. Reading my last 50 press releases is a serious investigation.

Nobel Peace Prize Watch 3-10-16 Thursday morning

Another very unusual thing happened on my Wordpress.com website. Just before 7am French time, someone from France looked at my wordpress website and archives 22 times, very close to the single day record of 26 views. After going to the site, that meant 21 looks at the archives. That takes it back to July 2014, when I published "Proof of Peace Economics" one of three that month in my "top seven most viewed press releases of all time." Not only is the Nobel Peace Prize mentioned in that release, but all the main evidence for the singular result that military spending does not move the economy forward but only keeps the economy in place. That seems to be the perfect place to stop the search backward.

One of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee was a former prime minister of Norway and a Social Democrat. He was currently serving as Secretary General of the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, in the Alsace Lorraine area across the Rhine from Germany. His name was Thorbjrn Jagland. He would be interested in my Peace Economics as he majored in economics in college.

The Data

Nothing else was notable that first year, with the Nobel announcements starting the first Monday in October ending with the peace prize announced on Friday. My tracking the trackers began with "ten in a row" days per month. These were rare in 2014 and 2015. From April 2015 to January 2016, the ten months before my first nomination, were 3 days or less each. The first five months after nomination were between 8 and 5. From July 2016 to December 10 in rows were 20 to 31 days every month and averaged 25 days a month during 2017 and 2018.

25 In a Row Days

These increase dramatically the first four years of nomination. One in 2016, five in 2017 (3 just before the award and 2 the next month), 68 in 2018, 108 in 2019 (86 in the six months before the 2019 award).

The Four Trackers

First is Thorbjorn Jagland with an apparent search for more votes in the 12 days before 2017 award. Jagland seemingly pushes hard before he retires after the 2019 award.

Second is the distinguished looking gentleman, fifties with grey hair and a grey suit, driving a blue Prius, who showed up about 3pm or so on 9-19-2019. He walked up the neighbor's driveway as I was at my front door and we stared at each other through the boundary tree line. I think we understood each other. He was probably a UW Madison professor checking out my place with the Oxford like stone and the 90-foot driveway. He probably recognized me from pictures.

Third is the woman professor who lives in Paris but was in Warsaw when I emailed the first pdf edition of my new book "Weather Wealth & Wars" to the committee on 8-1-21.

Fourth is the professor from Brisbane, Australia who sent a message on one of my websites. I will keep his name private. His 5pm is her 9am. Very little overlap, seven days a week.

50 In Row Days

There are only six of these in the expertclick.com record. The first is the first day of the first nomination, 9am Norway time. That was followed one month later, on 3-10-16, with the 22 French wordpress.com visits that gives away the Jagland involvement as explained above.

The second year, 2017, Jagland may be trying to rally other committee members to my side in the last 12 days with three 24 in rows, followed by his two retrospective expert looks on 11-10-17 where he looks at the wordpress.com site 5 times from his home in Germany and 2 times from his office in Strassburg, France.

The second 50 in row comes 3-18-18. Jagland has seven German visits to wordpress.com that year, two 1-19-18, three 3-13-18, and two 10-14-18 while ten in rows are high all year long.

The third 50 in row comes 12-28-19 after a strong lead into the award with 89 25 in rows from April to the October award day. The fifty in December seems a preparation for the 2020 year.

The 2020 year seems to be a pause year about 60% of the level of the next three years (2021-23) probably because of the transition from retiring Jagland to the new member of the Peace committee and pressure from the Peace and Justice Studies Association leadership to limit my releases to one a month.

The fourth 50 in row comes 7-14-21 followed by my book 8-1-21.

The fifth 50 in row comes 8-17-23.



On 1-14-23 nine releases (Mask Mandate, Most Unusual Times, Militarized Police, Killing Democracy, How US Got This Way, More Than Money, Minor View Margin, Logic Peace Econ, Academia Paper Views) received from 13 to 45 views each, 192 total views.



On 6-9-23 a very high number of 37 views each for five releases (Economic Misunderstandings, New Book: Good Robot Bad Robot, Reduction of Armies, insurrections Then and Now, Ukraine Wargame) are looking me over together. Could this be my year near the top?

The sixth 50 in a row comes 2-27-24. January 2024 and February 2024 are the two highest view counts since the book came out in August 2021.

Why Now?

It sometimes takes decades to win a Nobel. I'm in a special category, a scientist, like when Gore won for his global warming movie. I've been talking about 2024 and 2025 for decades. Major wars like Ukraine and Gaza have strong echoes about 54 or 108 years ago. And the 2020 pandemic 102 years after the 1918 Spanish Flu. See my releases 1-19-24 and 2-12-24 in the two biggest viewing months in a couple years. The scientific breakthroughs with military spending (1985) and the global warming cycle (1991) are worthy of three Nobel Prizes: Peace for exposing the military economics contradictions and predictions, Physics for the Earth Cycle, and Macroeconomics.

Current Comment

Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Not without the marketing, not without social scientists attacking you for being an engineer. 90% of all people are number phobic, I'm with the 10% who love numbers. Word people often treat me unfairly and underestimate me. Being a mathematical genius can be hard, just ask Oppenheimer (or Thomas Kuhn).

Biography, 23 Pages:

https://www.academia.edu/31102462/BIOGRAPHY_for_Nobel_Peace_Prize_2013_2017_23_p

Please cite this work as follows: Reuschlein, Robert. (2024, April 3), "Tracking My Nobel Trackers" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Tracking-My-Nobel-Trackers,2024303414.aspx

Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nobel Peace Prize nominee 2016-2024 with growing interest from the deciding Norwegians. A consistently growing pattern shows intense interest in my work on my expertclick.com website; daily "hard looks" per year went from 2 to 3 to 48 to 128 to 200 to 322 to 346 to 349 last year, this year's date, October 11th, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize announcement time.

Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com

Info: www.realeconomy.com
HOWARD, Ohio  An East Knox FFA team of Jesse Wolford, Dylan Springer, Hayden Baker, Aiden Kapper and Rylan Winkler took first place in the Ohio FFA Milk Quality and Products Career Development Event on March 23 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus.

Individually, Springer placed first, Kapper was second, Wolford placed eighth, Baker finished 15th and Winkler was 85th. The top four scores make up the team score.

East Knox FFA will move on to represent Ohio in the National Milk Quality and Products Career Development Event in Indianapolis, Indiana on Oct. 23 through Oct. 26 in conjunction with the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo.

Additionally, the team will receive a banner for placing first in the state on-stage at the 96th Ohio FFA Convention on May 3 at the Ohio Expo Center. Springer, Kapper and Wolford will also each receive state plaques for their efforts of finishing in the top ten, individually.

This is the 16th time that an East Knox FFA Milk Quality and Products Career Development Event team has placed in the top ten in the state. They have won the event four out of the past eight years and finished second twice, fourth and eighth in the years they didnt place first.



COLUMBUS  Global Impact STEM Academy recently took an immersive journey to Iceland from March 8 to March 16. Thirty-five students in grades 10th through 12th and six teachers traveled on an eight-day adventure to learn more about the geological processes, ecological systems and conservation efforts in one of the worlds most unique environments.

The journey began by exploring Icelands natural beauty from stunning fjords and breathtaking waterfalls to fields where mud boils and steam flows out of the earth. Students walked along the gap separating two tectonic plates, immersed themselves in Icelands rich environmental history and engaged in the countrys economy. Through hands-on exploration and immersive experiences, students gained a deeper understanding of Icelands environmental diversity and the interconnectedness of our planets systems. Additionally, students engaged in a variety of activities designed to foster critical thinking, collaboration and environmental stewardship. From hiking to the top of volcanic craters to exploring glaciers and hot springs, each day offered new opportunities for discovery and growth.
A new group of farmers is demanding a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to provide financial security as the UK transitions away from the historic EU subsidy regime.

At least 100 farmers are involved in a new campaign group to lobby the government on the issue; BI4FARMERS, which is demanding a UBI for all farmers in Britain.

According to the group, a basic income for farmers would be a regular, unconditional cash payment made directly to farmers and agricultural workers.

In a new report released today (4 April) by BI4Farmers and think tank Autonomy, farmers say this would provide the financial security needed as Brexit represents a historic shift in state subsidies for the industry.

Many UK farms have depended on EU subsidies for decades and these are now in the process of being replaced by schemes delivered by the UK government.

However, independent and government projections show that these new schemes wont cover the funding gaps left in this transition, leaving many small family farms on the brink of financial viability

In Wales, Dover and other areas of the UK, farmers have been disrupting traffic by driving their tractors in protest against government plans to change how farming is funded.

Prior to leaving the EU, many UK farms were essentially kept afloat by EU subsidies. In 2019, the UK received approximately 4.7 billion in funding from the EU, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), introduced in 1962.

Most (80%) of this money was provided through the Basic Payments Scheme (BPS): subsidies granted based upon the area of land kept suitable for grazing or under cultivation.

Without these subsidies, between 19% and 42% of farms would have been unable to break even. The discontinuation of this support represents a source of severe uncertainty for many British farmers.

Alongside the funding issues, there has been a significant and growing problem in the low yield of new workers since Brexit which has caused a decline in the farming work force.

In Wales, the Welsh government has already established an ongoing basic income pilot for care leavers.

Jo Poulton, BI4Farmers coordinator, said farmers were "overworked and underpaid", but the Brexit process presented an ideal opportunity to change this.

She said: A basic income for farmers would guarantee an adequate income, improving access to time off and reasonable working hours and making entering a career in farming affordable for new entrants.

Will White, Sustainable Farming Campaign coordinator at Sustain, added: "UBI could be an important safety net for farmworkers and small new entrant growers, providing financial security.

"When paired with better funding for Environmental Land Management Schemes, UBI has the potential to significantly bolster the agricultural sector's overall resilience.

"Looking into radical, yet promising solutions like this is essential. We support a deeper exploration of how basic income policies could work in the UK context and are watching this campaign with interest."
With inseminations now in full swing in spring calving herds, and autumn calving some months away, breeding decisions for block-calving herds may be either made, or on the distant horizon.

However, as AHDB publish the new across-breed sire rankings based on Spring and Autumn Calving Index, (SCI and ACI), this may be the proof run from which autumn calving producers will make their breeding decisions.

If so, they will find a new number one leading the ACI ranking, in the shape of Genosource Captain (ACI 713), a familiar name which has led the genomic rankings for many years and is also now the leader on Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI).

Big gains in production and favourable maintenance have contributed to Captains improving performance.

Also climbing up the list is Aardema Pistolero (ACI 700), with last times number one, and a leading milk quality improver, Progenesis Wimbledon, edged into third position (ACI 689).

Winstar Graziano is a new entrant in fourth position (ACI 684), and udder health specialist Westcoast River ranks fifth (ACI 682).

Other new entrants in the top 10 are Winstar Greycup (ACI 666) in seventh, and Badger SSI Big Al Newman in tenth place, offering an ACI of 641 and an exceptional daughter Lifespan Index.

Those still contemplating matings for spring calvings will find three familiar bulls at the top of the SCI rankings, despite some reshuffling within the rest of the top 10.

The Jersey, VJ Groenbjerg Lobo Lobster, continues to lead, his high milk components combined with excellent daughter fertility, lifespan and maintenance index, all helping to increase his SCI to 597.

The Holstein sire, Progenesis Wimbledon, remains second (SCI 594), with higher milk yields and equally impressive daughter fertility and good somatic cell counts.

Third-ranking Denovo Invictus (SCI 580) is the best udder health improver in the top 10 and also scores well for maintenance.

And making his debut in the ranking is the high fat transmitting Holstein, Windstar Graziano (SCI 575), in fourth place.

Climbing 15 places to rank fifth is VJ NR Hauggaard Nibali Nibiru (SCI 573), who also tops the Jersey PLI listings, transmitting good daughter lifespan and small body size.

Aardema Pistolero also features strongly on SCI and now ranks sixth (SCI 563), ahead of the high reliability Holstein, Denovo 7921 Atrium, with favourable maintenance scores and an SCI of 547.

Eighth place is taken by another Holstein, Peak Mauney (SCI 546), transmitting excellent daughter fertility, while the leading PLI Holstein sire, Genosource Captain, also makes an appearance on this SCI ranking in ninth position, at 545.

Closing the top 10 is the Holstein, Denovo 15158 Admiral, with an SCI of 544.

Marco Winters, head of animal genetics for AHDB said: As with all across-breed figures, these ACIs and SCIs are expressed against an across-breed average, and must not be compared with any figures on the breed-specific PLI lists.

However, both ACI and SCI rankings allow those who wish to assess the strengths and weaknesses of bulls from different breeds to make ready comparisons, which is especially useful for those with crossbred herds.

They are also designed for those calving in tight blocks and are consequently recommended for these different types of production system. Those calving all year round are advised to use PLI."
A simple blood test could help spot Alzheimer's disease far earlier.

A blood test could revolutionise the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Research teams from the University of Oxford and University College London (UCL) will lead trials that will be available to thousands of Brits concerned about their memory.

The tests have proven to be very effective at the research stage and scientists are desperate to work out if they could improve the UK's "shocking" diagnosis rates.

At present, getting a formal diagnosis relies on mental ability tests as well as painful and invasive lumbar punctures.

Dr. Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "We've seen the enormous potential that blood tests are showing for improving the diagnostic process for people and their loved ones in other disease areas. Now we need to see this same step change in dementia, which is the greatest health challenge facing the UK.

"It's fantastic that through collaborating with the leading experts in the dementia community, we can look to bring cutting-edge blood tests for diagnosing dementia within the NHS. And this will be key to widening access to groundbreaking new treatments that are on the horizon."
Adrian Schiller has died at the age of 60.

Adrian Schiller has died at the age of 60

The actor was best known for his role as Aethelhelm in the hit Netflix series 'The Last Kingdom' and had a television career that spanned more than 30 years but it was announced by his agent on Thursday (04.04.24) that he had passed away.

In a statement, Scott Marshall Partners, said: "He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available."

In the historical drama, Adrian starred as the antagonistic ruler who has ambitions for his grandson Aelfweard but the character ended up taking his own life at the end of the fifth series.

The TV star had also made appearances in 'Doctor Who', 'Victoria' and starred alongside 'Harry Potter' actress Emma Watson in the Disney live-action version of 'Beauty and the Beast' in 2017, but also had enjoyed an illustrious career on the stage.

Just prior to his death, Adrian had been starring in an international tour of three-hour play 'The Lehman Trilogy' and his agents concluded their statement by hailing him as a "prodigiously talented" performer.

They added: A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in 'The Lehman Trilogy' and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.

"Our deepest condolences go to his family, who ask for privacy at this most difficult of times."

Earlier this year, Adrian appeared in episodes of the mystery series 'Death in Paradise' and in 2023 he starred in World War Two play 'The White Factory' in London.
In a recent gazette notification, Bangladeshs National Board of Revenue (NBR) said imports have to be declared well in advance of the previous deadline for notifying of their arrival to reduce false declarations and enable quick releases.

The decision will help importers receive clearance for products of the general category, excluding those requiring further clearance or high value-added tax payments, by paying customs duty before the goods enter the country.

Earlier, the import general manifest (IGM), a document containing detailed information about the cargo being carried on a vessel or an aircraft, had to be submitted 24 hours prior to its arrival into the country.

A gazette notification by Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue said imports have to be declared well in advance of the previous deadline for notifying of their arrival to reduce false declarations and enable quick releases. The decision will help importers receive clearance for general category products by paying customs duty before these enter the country

But according to the Pre-Arrival Processing Rules-2024 for Imported Goods issued on March 24, the IGM has to be submitted 24 hours prior to the vessel departing the last port for Bangladesh.

Any amendment can be made by the importer or shipping agent within 24 hours of filing the IGM, domestic media outlets reported.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
China's fabric exports to Cambodia decreased by 5.5 per cent to $3.3 billion in 2023. The country was the third-largest market for China's fabric exports, accounting for 5.02 per cent of the total fabric shipment, which was $65.815 billion in the same period. Vietnam and Bangladesh were larger markets than Cambodia for Chinese fabric shipments.

According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, the outbound shipment of fabric to Cambodia was recorded at $3.493 billion in 2022. After COVID-related disruptions in 2020, the trade increased by 42.4 per cent to $3.265 billion in 2021, and further gained 6.96 per cent to $3.493 billion in 2022.

In 2023, China's fabric exports to Cambodia fell by 5.5 per cent to $3.3 billion, making Cambodia the third-largest market for these exports. Despite a post-COVID rebound in trade, Cambodia's imports remain lower than those of Vietnam and Bangladesh. China, a key supplier of raw materials, also provided yarn worth $296.744 million to Cambodia in 2023.

China had supplied fabric worth $2.636 billion in 2018, which slightly increased by 2.75 per cent to $2.709 billion in 2019. However, the shipment dropped by 15.35 per cent to $2.293 billion in 2020. China is a major raw material supplier globally, including to Cambodia, which heavily relies on it for affordable raw materials for its garment industry. China also supplies yarn and fibre, albeit in limited quantities, to the country.

As per TexPro, China supplied yarn worth $296.744 million in the year 2023, which was almost the same as the $297.528 million noted in 2022. Fibre exports from China to Cambodia were just $5.486 million last year. It is important to note that Cambodia does not import significant amounts of yarn and fibre, as it lacks a strong spinning and knitting/weaving industry. Its focus is mainly on garment manufacturing for global supply.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Vietnams total domestic capacities of thermal, LNG thermal and coal-fired thermal power plants will be 14,930 MW, 22,400 MW and 30,127 MW respectively by 2030, according to a roadmap to implement the National Electricity Development Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision towards 2050.

The roadmap was recently approved by Vietnamese deputy prime minister Tran Hong Ha.

The target is to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to new and renewable energy sources to reduce environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and to realise commitments to the Nationally Determined Contributions and the 2050 net-zero target.

Vietnam's domestic capacities of thermal, LNG thermal and coal-fired thermal power plants will be 14,930 MW, 22,400 MW and 30,127 MW respectively by 2030, a roadmap to implement the 2021-2030 National Electricity Development Plan said. The offshore wind, onshore wind and biomass power capacities will be 6,000 MW, 21,880 MW, and 1,088 MW respectively by 2030.

The total capacities of offshore wind, onshore wind and biomass power will be 6,000 MW, 21,880 MW, and 1,088 MW respectively by 2030.

Electricity generated from waste will be 1,182 MW, while the additional capacity of rooftop solar power will be 2,600 MW. The total capacity of battery storage is set at 300 MW.

Electricity imported from Laos is projected to be around 5,000 MW, which could increase to 8,000 MW in favourable conditions with reasonable prices, a Vietnamese media outlet reported.

The roadmap identifies the central and southern regions as potential areas of renewable energy sources serving exports, with export scales ranging from 5,000 MW to 10,000 MW for feasible projects.

It prioritises investment in interconnected grids with neighbouring countries and also envisions researching and building two inter-regional industrial and service centres for renewable energy by 2030.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)


Fu Yu's Group CEO Mr David Seow, with myFirst's co-founder and CEO G-Jay Yong in front of myFirst's retail store at Suntec City

SINGAPORE, Apr 4, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Singapore's myFirst Tech Holdings Pte Ltd's ("myFirst") has appointed SGX Mainboard-listed Fu Yu Corporation Limited ("Fu Yu") as its exclusive contract manufacturer to propel a major North American expansion of its kid-safe digital platform. The two homegrown companies signed a S$15 million contract today for Fu Yu to commence mass production this month.The pioneer of the world's first kids' tech ecosystem, myFirst's myFirst Circle app allows each child to build a unique digital community that is parentally secured to interactions with trusted family and close friends. Through this kid-safe network, children can socialise and share experiences using myFirst's products, such as watchphones, cameras, earbuds, 3D pens and headphones. Parents will have classification capabilities and also be able to track a child's whereabouts.There is an increasing awareness among parents and educators about the importance of social media safety, as many children start to engage with such devices before the age of 5, while nearly one-in-five children under 12 have their own smartphone.[1] These technologies, while offering new learning and development opportunities, carry significant risks in terms of privacy, inappropriate content and safety.myFirst addresses this gap by offering a unique ecosystem of child-centric tech products that marries the physical interactivity of hardware with real-world technology tailored for children, offering a holistic experience that meets the demands of a parent's educational goals and a child's curiosity.Following a Pre-Series A funding round from Lynx Asia Partners and angel investors, myFirst is set to expand its presence in North America, increasing from 4,000 to over 20,000 locations, including major retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Best Buy. With 46.6 million children under 12[2] in the US, myFirst is well-positioned to meet the rising demand for kid-safe technology. The company, already operating in 40 countries, previously received investments from tech founders and executives from companies like PatSnap, Google, Rainforest, TNB Aura, and Zopim in 2022.Singapore-headquartered Fu Yu is one of Asia's largest manufacturers of high-precision plastic products. It will provide a full suite of solutions to manufacture and assemble myFirst's products. Fu Yu will scale up production, supported by its Smart Factory in Tuas which includes new production introduction and rapid prototyping capabilities, metal 3D printing, liquid silicone rubber injection moulding and high- precision tool fabrication.Depending on myFirst's requirements, component production can be manufactured across Fu Yu's six facilities located across Singapore, Malaysia and China, providing a high level of interoperability and flexibility. Fu Yu's strategic geographical distribution also ensures a robust supply chain, facilitating efficient cross-border logistics and reducing turnaround times.Prior to mass production of each of myFirst's products, Fu Yu's New Product Introduction ("NPI") team will engage with myFirst to offer bespoke product design assistance, while optimising the production process to allow for shorter time-to-market while improving quality and high production yield. Both parties will also explore the use of bio-rated materials to manufacture certain components, further enhancing sustainability across the production line.G-Jay Yong, Co-founder and CEO of myFirst, said, "myFirst is excited to partner with a fellow Singaporean homegrown company in our global expansion. Every time myFirst has expanded, we have faced a sudden surge in demand. We are globally available but the US is a big market and this partnership has given us the backing to be able to cater to this demand surge."Parents in the US have been asking us when they could get onto our kids tech ecosystem as they're very concerned about their kids' safety online and also in the real world, so now we can assure them we are ready."Mr David Seow, Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Fu Yu, said, "We are honoured to play such a key role as myFirst embarks on its most significant expansion since its inception. The partnership underscores our ability to meet the high-precision demands for new devices and potential product ramp-ups. Over the past year, Fu Yu has been tirelessly evolving, developing new NPI capabilities to provide early-stage engagement and enhancing our capabilities with cutting-edge manufacturing techniques.""Our business transformation led to us being appointed as myFirst's exclusive contract manufacturer, marking our inaugural venture into box-building manufacturing of Internet of Things (IoT) enabled smart devices. We are now well-poised to meet the advanced manufacturing requirements of our customers, and will continue to build upon our strong record and maintain a healthy project pipeline."About Fu Yu Corporation LimitedEstablished in 1978, Fu Yu is Singapore's oldest and one of Asia's largest manufacturers of high-end precision plastic and metal components, and products.Backed by more than 45 years of operating knowledge, Fu Yu provides vertically-integrated manufacturing services to a diversified and loyal customer base across segments and geographies. We operate 6 strategic manufacturing sites across Singapore, Malaysia, and China, and have more than 1.5 million square feet of production floor capacity.Our Supply Chain Solutions arm was established in 2021 to provide commodity supply chain management services for our customers.For further information on Fu Yu, please visit the Group's website at: http://www.fuyucorp.com/About myFirst Tech Holdings Pte Ltd.myFirst is the world's first kids tech ecosystem connecting over 1 million families. Real tech for kids with fun devices, connected services and kid-safe social network to socialise, share and go anywhere, all safely connected with their friends and family.Our fun devices are the gateway to our kids' suitable social circle network, myFirst Circle, which is specially designed for kids, their friends, parents and grandparents, to interact within circles of trust with no ads, no strangers, only real, trusted connections.Fu Yu Corporation Limited Contact:Chief Financial Officer8 Tuas Drive 1Singapore 638675Tel: (65) 6578 7393Daisy Ong, ir@fuyucorp.comInvestor/Media Relations Contact:WeR1 Consultants Pte Ltd1 Raffles Place#02-01, One Raffles Place MallSuite 332, Singapore 048616Tel: (65) 6721 7161Isaac Tang, fuyu@wer1.net[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/childrens-engagement-with-digital-devices-screen-time/[2] https://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/demo.asp#:~:text=In%202022%20(the%20latest%20year,age%20group%20(25.8%20million)Source: myFirst Tech Holdings Pte LtdFu Yu Corporation LimitedCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2024) - Bluesky Digital Assets Corp., (CSE: BTC), (OTCQB: BTCWF), ("Bluesky" or the "Corporation") announced today that it had entered into an agreement where the Corporation will pay back the $100,000 CAD loan that was advanced to the Corporation via the $300,000 CAD credit facility agreement the Corporation announced it had entered into, via press release, back on February 22, 2024. The Corporation will settle the outstanding loan amount via the issuance of 3,333,333 Common Shares at a price of $0.03 CAD per Common Share. The Corporation also announced today that it will also settle an aggregate of $50,000 CAD of secured debt owed to a creditor via the issuance of an aggregate 1,666,667 Common Shares at a price of $0.03 CAD per Common Share. The debt settlement will assist the Corporation in preserving its cash for working capital and to further advance its AI endeavors. The issuance of the 5,000,000 Common Shares will not result in a change of control of the Corporation.

About Bluesky Digital Assets Corp.

Bluesky Digital Assets Corp, has created a high value digital enterprise at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Web3 business solutions. Leveraging its success as an early adopter providing proprietary technology solutions, Bluesky has invested in its Roadmap. Bluesky's platform, BlueskyINTEL, is well positioned to leverage the current exponential growth of Artificial Intelligence ("AI") and Blockchain based technologies through a tightly focus built collaborative platform. This innovative web platform offering supports and better enables businesses to adopt and utilize these emerging and developing technologies.

For more information please visit Bluesky at: www.blueskydigitalassets.com or www.blueskyintel.com

Please also follow us on Linkedin at: www.linkedin.com/company/bluesky-digital-assets/

For further information please contact:

Mr. Ben Gelfand

CEO & Director

Bluesky Digital Assets Corp.

T: (416) 363-3833

E: ben.gelfand@blueskydigitalassets.com

Mr. Frank Kordy

Secretary & Director

Bluesky Digital Assets Corp.

T: (647) 466-4037

E: frank.kordy@blueskydigitalassets.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward- looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek safe harbor.

- 30 -

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204257

SOURCE: Bluesky Digital Assets Corp.
Der Goldpreis haussiert und schwingt sich von Hoch zu Hoch. Getrieben von geopolitischen Unsicherheiten sowie der Aussicht auf eine lockere Geldpolitik der FED gehen Experten aktuell von weiter steigenden Notierungen bis sogar in den Bereich von 3.000 US-Dollar je Unze Gold aus.



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New biomarker may facilitate monitoring T1D patients' health

Increase in PD-1+ T-cells correlated with therapeutic response and less insulin use

Gdansk, Poland - 4 April 2024 - PolTREG S.A. (Warsaw Stock Exchange: PTG) , a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cellular therapies for a range of autoimmune diseases, today announces it has published data in International Immunopharmacology which suggest that PD-1+ T-cells are a dependable biomarker for efficacy in pediatric early-onset Type-1 diabetes (T1D) patients, who had been successfully treated with PTG-007 Treg cell therapy, the company's lead asset. The new results are from a two year immune-monitoring data follow-up of 36 patients who had participated in a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1/2 clinical trial. This three-arm trial had earlier shown that 50% of PTG-007-treated patients in combination with rituximab were still in remission after 24 months.

PolTREG CEO Piotr Trzonkowski, who co-authored the peer-reviewed study, said: "This peer-reviewed scientific publication adds to our growing excitement about the potential of polyclonal Treg therapies. We have treated over 100 patients with our cell therapy at our facility over the last 17 years. This has afforded us a wealth of data and unrivalled experience with how T1D and other autoimmune diseases respond to various treatments, including our polyclonal Treg cell therapies and - starting next year - engineered Treg therapeutics. Having a biomarker of efficacy, like PD-1+ T-cells, could facilitate doctors' ability to monitor their patients' responses to therapy. We already use this data to build new cell products and design next trials towards marketing authorisation. It shows the strength of our unique approach of using the experience from working with patients as the basis to build our portfolio."

The main finding of the Phase 1/2 study, results of which were published in 2022, was that combined treatment with autologous T-regulatory cells (Treg) and rituximab is superior to monotherapy in T1D. The current study aimed to assess the immune profile in patients by setting up immunophenotypes of Treg, effector, and T cells, trying to correlate them with the clinical and biomarker outcomes. The main findings were the following:



A clinical response in T1D to treatment with polyclonal Treg cells and rituximab is associated with increased percentages of PD-1+ T-cells (both T-reg and T-effector cells), and remodelled humoral immunity

Increased levels of PD-1+ T-cells correlated with successful treatment and should be confirmed through further study as a biomarker of efficacy

Higher expression of PD-1 receptor on T-cells also correlated with a better response in patients, such as needing a lower daily dose of insulin.

Monitoring PD-1+ T-cells may enable immune monitoring of the therapy



PolTREG holds one of the most advanced pipelines for Treg therapies for autoimmune disease, developing both polyclonal and engineered cells. Its lead candidate, PTG-007, an autologous polyclonal Treg treatment, is in mid-stage clinical studies for T1D and multiple sclerosis (MS). Next year, PolTREG expects to start a first-in-human trial of its engineered CAR-Tregs for treatment of two neurodegenerative diseases - MS and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The company also is in preclinical development with two further types of engineered Treg cells.

PolTREG manufactures all its Treg therapeutics at its wholly-owned GMP-certified manufacturing facility. It is the first company in the world to administer T-reg therapies to patients, and, under a hospital exemption valid in Poland, the first to start receiving revenues from a Treg therapeutic for autoimmune disease. Its GMP manufacturing facility is one of Europe's largest and most advanced, boasting over 2,100 sqm of laboratory space, including 15 production lines. PolTREG has the option to substantially expand the facility to accommodate manufacturing of next-generation engineered therapies and cell therapies from future partners.

About PolTREG

PolTREG is a global leader in developing autoimmune therapies based on T-regulatory cells (Tregs). Its lead product, PTG-007, autologous Treg treatment for early-onset Type-1 Diabetes (T1D) is ready for Phase 2/3 clinical testing, for which the company is seeking a partnership. The company will launch Phase 2 trials for PTG-007 to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the second half of 2024, for RRMS and PPMS. PolTREG also has engineered Tregs, including CAR-Tregs, antigen-specific Tregs and TCR-Tregs, in the preclinical stage. PolTREG has completed four clinical trials with more than 100 patients treated with Tregs.

For more information please visit www.poltreg.com.



For further information please contact:

PolTREG S.A.

Prof Piotr Trzonkowski

Chief Executive Officer

ir@poltreg.com

+48 512 532 401

Investor Relations

Chris Maggos

Cohesion Bureau

+41 79 367 62 54

chris.maggos@cohesionbureau.com



Media Relations

Douwe Miedema

Cohesion Bureau

+352 621 562 764

douwe.miedema@cohesionbureau.com

Important information

The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words "believes", "estimates," "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", "plans", "continue", "ongoing", "potential", "predict", "project", "target", "seek" or "should", and include statements the Company makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The company's actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Attachment
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

Allschwil, Switzerland, April 04, 2024

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil (SIX: BSLN), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to meeting the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ZEVTERA (ceftobiprole medocaril sodium for injection), for the treatment of adult patients with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections (bacteremia) (SAB), including those with right-sided infective endocarditis, and adult patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and for adult and pediatric patients (3 months to less than 18 years old) with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).

David Veitch, Chief Executive Officer of Basilea, said: "We are excited with the US approval of ZEVTERA. The positive decision by the FDA is a key milestone towards bringing ZEVTERA to patients in the US. ZEVTERA has 10 years of market exclusivity from the date of approval and we believe the US provides the most important global commercial opportunity for the brand."

Dr. Marc Engelhardt, Chief Medical Officer of Basilea, stated: "We are very pleased that the FDA approved ZEVTERA for all three indications that were submitted with the NDA, including a pediatric labelling. This approval is a landmark for ceftobiprole and reflects its broad clinical utility. The indication in adult patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, including those with right-sided infective endocarditis, caused by methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant isolates, MSSA and MRSA, addresses a real medical need, as current treatment options are limited."

The New Drug Application (NDA) was supported by clinical efficacy and safety data from the phase 3 studies ERADICATE (SAB)1 and TARGET (ABSSSI),2 and a phase 3 study in CABP.3 The ERADICATE study was the largest double-blind randomized registrational study conducted for a new antibiotic treatment in SAB.

Vance G. Fowler, Jr., M.D., Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at the Duke University School of Medicine and academic lead investigator of the ERADICATE study, commented: "Complicated Staphylococcus aureus infections have a high mortality rate and are associated with substantial morbidity. We need more options for treating these infections, especially if MRSA is involved."

Thomas Holland, M.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine and chair of the data review committee of the ERADICATE study, added: "There is a high medical need in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, therefore, the first approval of a therapy for this indication in over 15 years is highly welcome."

Adesh Kaul, Chief Financial Officer of Basilea, added: "As we were moving towards completion of the regulatory review, especially with increasing visibility on the expected label, the external interest for commercial partnering increased. Whilst our initial goal was to have announced a commercial partnership by the time of approval of ZEVTERA in the US, in order to explore fully all potential partnering opportunities, we now expect to complete the process around mid-year. In parallel, we are also taking preparatory steps to shorten the launch timelines, once we have entered into a commercialization partnership."

Basilea's phase 3 program for ceftobiprole is funded in part with federal funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR); Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under contract number HHSO100201600002C. Through this partnership, Basilea has been awarded approximately USD 112 million, or approximately 75 percent of the costs related to the SAB and ABSSSI phase 3 studies, regulatory activities and non-clinical work.

About ZEVTERA (ceftobiprole medocaril sodium for injection)

Ceftobiprole, the active moiety of the prodrug ceftobiprole medocaril, is an advanced generation cephalosporin antibiotic for intravenous administration, with rapid bactericidal activity against a wide range of Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA), and Gram-negative bacteria.4 In several countries in Europe and beyond, the brand is currently approved and marketed as Zevtera and Mabelio for the treatment of adult patients with hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP), excluding ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), and for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). Basilea has entered into license and distribution agreements covering more than 80 countries. In the United States, ZEVTERA is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections (bacteremia) (SAB), including right-sided infective endocarditis, and adult patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and for adult and pediatric patients (3 months to less than 18 years old) with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).

Important US safety information for ZEVTERA (ceftobiprole medocaril sodium for injection)

Contraindications

ZEVTERA is contraindicated in patients with a known history of severe hypersensitivity to ZEVTERA, or to other members of the cephalosporin class.

Warnings and precautions

Increased Mortality with Unapproved use in Ventilator-Associated Bacterial Pneumonia (VABP) Patients: The safety and effectiveness of ZEVTERA for the treatment of VABP has not been established and the use of ZEVTERA for VABP is not approved.

Hypersensitivity Reactions: Discontinue ZEVTERA if a hypersensitivity reaction occurs, and institute appropriate treatment.

Seizures and other adverse central nervous system (CNS) reactions have been associated with the use of ZEVTERA. If seizures or other CNS adverse reactions occur, evaluate patients to determine whether ZEVTERA should be discontinued.

Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported with nearly all systemic antibacterial agents, including ZEVTERA. Evaluate if diarrhea occurs.

Adverse reactions

SAB (adult patients): The most common adverse reactions occurring in = 4% of adult patients were anemia, nausea, hypokalemia, vomiting, hepatic enzyme and bilirubin increased, diarrhea, blood creatinine increased, hypertension, leukopenia and pyrexia.

ABSSSI (adult patients): The most common adverse reactions occurring in = 2% of adult patients were nausea, diarrhea, headache, injection site reaction, hepatic enzyme increased, rash, vomiting, and dysgeusia.

CABP (adult and pediatric patients 3 months to less than 18 years of age): Adult Patients: The most common adverse reactions occurring in = 2% of adult patients were nausea, hepatic enzyme increased, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, rash, insomnia, abdominal pain, phlebitis, hypertension and dizziness. Pediatric Patients: The most common adverse reactions occurring in = 2% of pediatric patients were vomiting, headache, hepatic enzyme increased, diarrhea, infusion site reaction, phlebitis and pyrexia.



For full US prescribing information, please visit here: https://www.basilea.com/ZEVTERA_US_prescribing_information_46b9y4wk

About Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB)

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is a serious bloodstream infection associated with significant morbidity and mortality.5 Complications include concomitant infections such as bone, joint or heart valve infections, persistent bacteremia or bacteremia in patients on dialysis. With a 30-day all-cause mortality of around 20% there is a high medical need for improved therapies for SAB.6

About acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI)

Acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) are common infections in the healthcare setting. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common pathogen associated with these infections, which can be difficult to treat if methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is involved.7

About community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP)

Community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is the leading cause of infectious disease-related death in the US.8

About Basilea

Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the needs of patients with severe bacterial and fungal infections. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition, we have preclinical and clinical anti-infective assets in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Please visit basilea.com.

Disclaimer

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd, Allschwil is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, please contact:

Peer Nils Schroder, PhD



Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd, Allschwil

Hegenheimermattweg 167b

4123 Allschwil

Switzerland Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com (mailto:media_relations@basilea.com)

investor_relations@basilea.com (mailto:investor_relations@basilea.com)

This ad hoc announcement can be downloaded from www.basilea.com.

References

ERADICATE study (SAB): ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03138733

T. L. Holland, S. E. Cosgrove, S. B. Doernberg et al. Ceftobiprole for treatment of complicated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. New England Journal of Medicine 2023 (389), 1390-1401; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2300220 TARGET study (ABSSSI): ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03137173

J. S. Overcash, C. Kim, R. Keech et al. Ceftobiprole compared with vancomycin plus aztreonam in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections: Results of a phase 3, randomized, double-blind trial (TARGET). Clinical Infectious Diseases 2021 (73), e1507-e1517 CABP study: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00326287

S. C. Nicholson, T. Welte, T. M. File Jr. et al. A randomised, double-blind trial comparing ceftobiprole medocaril with ceftriaxone with or without linezolid for the treatment of patients with community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 2012 (39), 240-246 Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) Zevtera: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/9164/smpc (https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/9164/smpc) [Accessed: April 03, 2024] A. P. Kourtis, K. Hatfield, J. Baggs et al. Vital signs: Epidemiology and recent trends in methicillin-resistant and in methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections - United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2019 (68), 214-219 K. Hamed, M. Engelhardt, M. E. Jones et al. Ceftobiprole versus daptomycin in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: a novel protocol for a double-blind, Phase III trial. Future Microbiology 2020 (1), 35-48 J. Edelsberg, C. Taneja, M. Zervos et al. Trends in US hospital admissions for skin and soft tissue infections. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2009 (15), 1516-1518 J. A. Ramirez, T. L. Wiemken, P. Peyrani et al. Adults hospitalized with pneumonia in the United States: Incidence, epidemiology, and mortality. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2017 (65), 1807-1812

Attachment

Press release
CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Modular Construction Market by Type (Permanent, Relocatable), Module, Material (Wood, Steel, Concrete), End-Use Industry (Residential, Office, Education, Retail & Commercial, Hospitality, Healthcare), Region - Global Forecast to 2029", The global modular construction market size is projected to grow from USD 104.1 billion in 2024 to USD 140.8 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 6.2% during the forecast period.

The modular construction market is growing rapidly due to urbanization, population growth, and the need for faster, more efficient building methods. Technological advancements have enhanced the quality and customization options of modular buildings, making them increasingly popular. Additionally, the focus on sustainability drives the adoption of modular construction, which generates less waste and requires fewer resources compared to traditional methods. However, factors such as lack of awareness and volatility in transportation charges may stall the growth of the market.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Modular Construction Market"

258 - Tables

56 - Figures

285 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=11812894

Permanent modular building is estimated to dominate the market

The modular construction market is categorized as permanent and relocatable. Permanent modular buildings are reported as having the largest market share in the modular construction market. Permanent modular construction saves time and labor, thus lowering the construction cost.

Steel is projected to be the fastest growing segment in the modular construction market

Steel is the fastest-rising segment for the modular construction market from 2024 to 2029, in terms of value. This is because of the increasing use of steel in construction activities. Steel is also lighter in contrast to other materials, which makes it easy to be craned and transported into a place in a more efficient manner, resulting in less disturbance to the local area.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=11812894

The residential segment is expected to dominate the modular construction market.

Residential building structures can be built using modular construction solutions in about half the time as compared to conventional site-built construction methods. Different countries are turning to the adoption of modular construction methods as the modular construction helps in waste reduction during the construction process as the different modules are made in-factory. The residential end-use industry reported the most substantial demand for modular construction in 2023, in terms of value and volume.

Asia Pacific is the largest market for modular construction.

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region emerges as the largest market in the modular construction industry among APAC, North America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America, primarily due to several key factors. Construction, one of the biggest and most valuable manufacturing sectors in the region, is highly fragmented and consists of a considerable number of large, medium-sized, and small construction companies. The construction players in the industry have adopted various technologies as a strategy to sustain the growing demand and competition. Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and expanding middle-class populations in countries like China, India, and Southeast Asian nations contribute significantly to the region's dominance in the market. Furthermore, increasing urbanization has led to changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns, driving the need for independent housing units.

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Market Players

The key players operating in the modular construction market are Laing O'Rourke (UK), Red Sea Housing (Saudi Arabia), Atco Ltd. (Canada), Skanska AB (Sweden), Modulaire Group (UK), Bechtel Corporation (US), Fluor Corporation (US), Lendlease Corporation (Australia), Kleusberg GmbH (Germany) and others. Expansions, acquisitions, joint ventures, and new product developments are some of the major strategies adopted by these key players to enhance their positions in the modular construction market.

Browse Adjacent Market: Building and Construction Market Research Reports

Related Reports:

Precast Concrete Market - Global Forecast To 2024

Pre-Engineered Buildings Market - Global Forecast To 2024

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Kunstliche Intelligenz hat spatestens nach dem Raketenstart von Chat GPT das Leben aller verandert. Doch der Superzyklus steht nach Meinungen von Experten erst am Anfang. Wahrend Aktien wie Nvidia von der ersten Aufwartsentwicklung stark profitieren konnten, versprechen aussichtsreiche Player aus der

zweiten Reihe noch enormes Aufwartspotenzial.



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Trotz der jungsten Erfolge steht die Entwicklung der kunstlichen Intelligenz noch am Beginn eines neuen Superzyklus. Experten gehen davon aus, dass der Sektor bis 2032 global auf 1,3 Billionen US-Dollar explodieren wird, wobei ein groer Teil auf Hardware und Infrastruktur entfallen wird.



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Bank of America and State Street to support launch of Cboe Clear Europe's clearing service for securities financing transactions

Brings total number of launch participants to nine, comprising a broad range of key market participants, including banks, clearing firms, asset managers and custodians

Launch on track for Q3 2024, subject to regulatory approvals

AMSTERDAM and LONDON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Clear Europe, Cboe's Amsterdam-based pan-European clearing house, today announced that it has secured the support of additional participants to support the launch of its Central Counterparty (CCP) clearing service for securities financing transactions (SFTs). Bank of America and State Street have committed to supporting the service from launch, which is expected during Q3 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

Their commitment brings the total number of launch participants for the SFT clearing service to nine, comprising a broad range of key market participants, including banks, clearing firms, asset managers and custodians. This includes:

Borrower Participants: ABN AMRO Clearing Bank, Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan

Agent Lender Participants: BNY Mellon, Citibank and State Street

Vikesh Patel, President, Cboe Clear Europe, said: "We are delighted to have added two major participants in the European securities lending industry to the group of firms supporting the launch of the SFT service and benefit from their collective expertise as we finalise our offering. Their recent commitment - and the calibre of the group of early adopters we have assembled as a whole - clearly demonstrates the growing need to introduce central clearing to the European SFT market and help reduce risk in this key activity. Cboe Clear Europe is uniquely positioned to provide this service and we couldn't be more excited to bring our proven post-trade expertise to a new asset class with the support of our partners, delivering significant capital, operational and risk-mitigation efficiencies."

Alessandro Cozzani, Managing Director, Bank of America, said: "We are excited to embark on this journey with Cboe Clear Europe. Developing a cleared product for securities lending is a natural evolution in our secured financing market, which should allow for greater risk optimisation with counterparties."

As previously announced, this new service is expected to introduce matching, CCP clearing, settlement and post-trade lifecycle management for SFT transactions in European cash equities and ETFs. Subject to regulatory approval, the service will be available to principal lenders, special participant lenders (UCITS and non-UCITS) and borrowers, with settlement taking place in 19 European Central Securities Depositories (CSDs) with non-cash RQV managed at 2 Tri-Party Collateral Agents and cash RQV via cash correspondent banks. Because European SFTs primarily occur on a bilateral basis and are not cleared, the products face significantly increased capital demands and credit risk limitations as a result of new regulations including the implementation of the Basel III endgame and Basel IV frameworks through the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and Capital Requirements Directive (CRD). The impact of such regulations may lead to a reduced capacity and appetite to borrow or lend.

By offering access to a CCP clearing and settlement service for SFTs, Cboe Clear Europe is expected to help clients address these new rules, reduce their risk-weighted assets exposures associated with bilateral SFTs and help support the growth of this vital market. The service is expected to also bring significant operational advantages including greater settlement efficiency leading to a reduction in fail fines, elimination of agent lender disclosures, and improved practices around fees management, corporate actions, and post-trade lifecycle processing.

Jan Treuren, SFT Product Lead, Cboe Clear Europe, said: "The addition of Bank of America and State Street demonstrates the growing momentum behind our service as we approach its launch and our commitment to delivering innovative client-driven services. We are working closely with all of our launch participants to help shape the first phase of our SFT service offering through a series of regular working groups and key stakeholder meetings. This includes exploring expansion of the service into other assets classes and jurisdictions. At launch, Cboe Clear Europe will be the only pan-European CCP offering these consolidated services for SFTs in European cash equities and ETFs."

About Cboe Clear Europe

As a leading pan-European equities clearing house, Cboe Clear Europe already currently offers clearing services for cash equities to 47 trading venues. The company enables Clearing Participants to manage their counterparty credit risk and also to maximise operational efficiencies through automated processing and the provision of netting opportunities. It diversified into equity derivatives clearing in 2021 to support the launch of CEDX, Cboe's pan-European equity derivatives exchange.

Cboe Clear Europe operates as an independent subsidiary of the Cboe group, retaining a separate governance structure and management team. It is headquartered in Amsterdam and regulated by De Nederlandsche Bank and by Autoriteit Financiele Markten. Further information on the company and its services can be found here: clear.cboe.com/europe

About Cboe Global Markets

Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, delivers cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to people around the world. Cboe provides trading solutions and products in multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives, FX, and digital assets, across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Above all, we are committed to building a trusted, inclusive global marketplace that enables people to pursue a sustainable financial future. To learn more about the Exchange for the World Stage, visit www.cboe.com.

Cboe Media Contacts

Cboe Analyst Contact Tim Cave Angela Tu

Kenneth Hill, CFA

+44 (0) 7593-506-719 +1-646-856-8734

+1-312-786-7559

tcave@cboe.com atu@cboe.com

khill@cboe.com



CBOE-EE

CBOE-C

CBOE-OE

Cboe, Cboe Volatility Index, VIX and Cboe Global Markets are registered trademarks of Cboe Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.

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Sungrow Charging Europe is proud to announce its participation as a Gold Partner at the upcoming Nordic EV Summit 2024, in Oslo, Norway (4-5 April 2024).

At Sungrow's Booth, attendees will have the opportunity to experience innovative charging solutions with a focus on reliable EV charging.

Customers learn about IDC30E's long service lifetime thanks to its innovative maintenance-free design.

OSLO, Norway, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow Charging Europe is excited to announce its participation as a Gold Partner at the highly anticipated Nordic EV Summit 2024, taking place on April 4th-5th at NOVA SPEKTRUM, Oslo, Norway. The event is organized by The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association and will convene leading innovators, policymakers, and stakeholders in the electric vehicle (EV) industry to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in sustainable transportation.

Sungrow Charging Europe will utilize a dedicated space at the event, located at Booth B04-14. There, attendees can look forward to experiencing firsthand cutting-edge EV Charging solutions. These include AC and DC charging stations, such as the AC22E-01, within the combo hybrid solution, including a PV inverter and a battery by Sungrow (SHT x SBR), providing a fully sustainable residential EV charging ecosystem. Moreover, the DC chargers, IDC30E, and IDC180E, with their unique proven protection classes IP65 and C5, ideally for semi-public and public EV charging applications, fully showcase the innovative and at the same time efficient and sustainable approach of Sungrow Charging Europe.

More specifically, the IDC30E offers an attractive Total-Cost-of-Ownership model (TCO) thanks to IP65 protection and C5 anti-corrosion. Also, the standard warranty of three years and an optional product warranty of up to 10 years further support to maximise ROI for investors and CPOs due to its Innovative design without additional filter mat making enjoy maintenance-free charging stations.

"We are actively supporting the Nordic EV Summit 2024 as a Gold Partner and will showcase solutions to support the residential, semi-public and public charging infrastructure in the region," said Robert von Wahl, Director of Sungrow Charging Europe. "This summit serves as a pivotal platform for industry leaders to collaborate and drive forward the adoption of electric vehicles. Sungrow is committed to providing innovative charging solutions that accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation. We consider our participation as an opportunity to exchange ideas, foster innovation, and drive positive change in the EV ecosystem, with clients, associations and journalists."

Nordic countries are well known for having a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, also by encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles. This is perfectly aligned with the mission of Sungrow, Clean power for all, and the development of innovative and efficient solutions towards this goal. Sungrow Charging Europe benefits from its European R&D department to adapt its charging solutions to European customer requirements and market demands and support charging infrastructure in the Nordics and across the European region.

For more information about Sungrow Charging Europe visit: uk.sungrowpower.com

About Sungrow

Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. ("Sungrow") is a global leading PV inverter and ESS supplier with over?515?GW of power electronics equipment installed worldwide as of?December?2023. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and ESSs for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions, NEV driving solutions, EV charging solutions and renewable hydrogen production systems. With a strong 27-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power over 170 countries worldwide.?For more information about Sungrow, visit: www.sungrowpower.com

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OTSU, Japan, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Glass Acoustic Innovations Ltd. (GAIT) is thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. (NEG), a distinguished leader in glass manufacturing listed on the Japanese Stock Exchange. This collaboration marks a significant evolutionary milestone in the glass and acoustic industries, uniting two industry leaders with a shared commitment to innovation and excellence.

In a collaborative effort to meet growing market demands, GAIT and NEG have joined forces to deliver state-of-the-art ultra-thin glass diaphragm technology solutions, integrating glass diaphragms into HiFi speakers, headphones, automotive speakers, marine audio speakers, and much more. NEG, globally renowned for high-quality glass production, specializes in crafting optical and medical glass for a wide spectrum of applications, including display panels, electronic displays, and medical equipment. GAIT, a dominant force in glass diaphragm design and production, offers cutting-edge glass diaphragms across numerous applications that outperform traditional counterparts in every dimension, with enhanced functionality (higher strength and rigidity, proper damping, and accelerated sound propagation speeds), charming aesthetics, and environmental conscientiousness. It is dedicated to the manufacturing and development of a wide range of glass diaphragms from 0.4mm to as thin as 35 m thickness in loudspeaker membranes to earphone and headphone membranes.

Glass diaphragm manufacturers have expanded their focus by venturing into the audio speaker industry, a market valued at approximately $756B USD, where glass diaphragms in particular account for $27B USD. The innovative glass diaphragm technology is poised to play a pivotal role in reshaping the audio industry, introducing revamped speaker products and a fresh interpretation of audio that is sleek, contemporary, and refined. Just as visual displays have evolved, with TVs boasting unprecedented resolutions and more sophisticated designs, the audio sector is poised for a similar transformation, shifting beyond traditional "brown goods." The next frontier in consumer electronics will focus on enhancing the audio experience, surpassing even the sophisticated visual upgrades seen with OLED technology.

The partnership between GAIT and NEG signifies a historic moment in the glass industry's trajectory. Together, these leading glass and glass diaphragm manufacturers aim to propel the growth and development of glass diaphragm technology into uncharted territory-acoustical glass. By blending NEG's glass technology expertise and GAIT's acoustic craftsmanship, the ceiling for glass diaphragm applications will be limitless-supporting impeccable audio quality from in-ear speakers to large-diameter speakers and beyond. This powerful partnership symbolizes a collective dream: to see glass, touch glass, and HEAR glass.

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The Festival of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) - the European Commission's initiative connecting the European Green Deal to our daily lives and living spaces - is coming back to Brussels for its second edition. On this occasion, the European Commission has published a dedicated state of play 2024, taking stock of the achievements accomplished by the initiative and summarising key facts and figures.

BRUSSELS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The New European Bauhaus (NEB) is an initiative launched by the European Commission to translate the European Green Deal into tangible change on the ground that improves our daily lives. It brings about sustainable solutions for transforming the built environment and lifestyles for the better under the green transition, matching sustainability with good design that needs less carbon. At the same time, it makes these solutions inclusive, accessible and affordable for all, while respecting the diversity of places, traditions, and cultures that we have in Europe and beyond.

Since its launch in 2021, the New European Bauhaus has already inspired a strong grassroots movement on the ground, with a vibrant Community of almost 1,400 members, and showcased its impact through numerous projects and investments, actively pursuing its objectives in Europe and beyond. By March 2024, close to EUR 380 million of EU funds have been committed to the New European Bauhaus.

In less than three years, New European Bauhaus projects have expanded across every EU Member State and reached countries such as Iceland, Israel, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Notably, a total of EUR 90 million has been invested in 20 lighthouse demonstrator projects, focusing on various themes including building renovation, circularity, arts, cultural heritage, education, smart cities, and urban and rural regeneration. Moreover, the annual New European Bauhaus Prizes reward exemplary projects, new concepts and ideas aligned with the NEB principles. Over the four editions of the NEB Prizes (2021-2024), almost 5,000 applications for the Prizes have been received.

The New European Bauhaus has also launched the NEB Lab and the NEB Academy. Through the dynamic NEB Lab platform, NEB Community members can come together to self-organise, propose projects, and seek partners for the implementation of bottom-up NEB initiatives. Meanwhile, the NEB Academy offers high-quality, well promoted and accessible trainings to boost skills on sustainable construction and accelerate the fair and green transformation of the building sector.

Moreover, the New European Bauhaus is active in a series of different actions to support the sustainable and inclusive reconstruction of Ukraine. Notably, in 2023, the Commission launched a series of New European Bauhaus capacity-building workshops for the reconstruction of Ukraine?in partnership with Ukrainian organisations.?The capacity-building introduction aimed to provide both inspiration and practical help for over 60 municipalities involved in the reconstructions and rebuilding of Ukraine along the NEB values.?

Find the whole report following this link

New European Bauhaus Festival 2024

The New European Bauhaus Festival will take place from 9 to 13 April 2024, centering at the Parc du Cinquantenaire and the Art & History Museum in Brussels, with Satellite Events across the world. In addition to celebrating art, culture, and music, the Festival will feature workshops, exhibitions, and high-level discussion panels. Notable speakers, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, will take part in the Festival alongside industry leaders in art, architecture, design, sustainability, innovation. The Festival programme, as well as details about each session and speakers, can be found on the Festival webpage.

This year, the Festival will also host the 4th edition of the New European Bauhaus Prizes, where 20 projects, designs and ideas aligned with the NEB values will be rewarded with a total of 390,000. The 2024 edition of the Prizes will feature a Special Recognition to Ukraine's Reconstruction and Recovery Effort and will put the spotlight on regions across the EU facing more intensively socio-economic constrains, and places challenged the most by the need to evolve to a carbon neutral economy.

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Kupfer wird oft als das Gold der Energiewende bezeichnet, weil es aufgrund seiner hervorragenden elektrischen Leitfahigkeit eine zentrale Rolle in vielen Technologien spielt, die fur nachhaltige Energiesysteme entscheidend sind. Experten gehen aufgrund der Angebotsknappheit von einem Superzyklus aus.

Korrektur als Einstiegschance

Nach Hochststanden im Mai korrigierte das rote Metall stark. Die Abwartsspirale verstarkte sich in den vergangenen Tagen aufgrund schwacher Konjunkturdaten aus den USA und China. Langfristig konnte sich die aktuell laufende Korrektur als exzellente Einstiegsmoglichkeit herausstellen.

3 Kupferaktien mit hohem Potential

Im neuen, kostenlosen Spezialreport stellen wir drei aussichtsreiche Unternehmen vor, die bei einem weiteren Anstieg uberproportional profitieren konnten.

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The business has been shortlisted for the UK Green Business Awards, The Tech Capital Awards and the DCS Awards.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- atNorth , the leading Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, has announced further acknowledgement of its sustainable data center services as it has been included in TechRound's Sustainability60 campaign that celebrates the most exciting sustainability companies across the UK and Europe. The business has also been shortlisted in the 'Low Carbon Industrial Project of the Year' and the 'Green Heat Project of the Year' categories at the UK Green Business Awards, in the 'Digital Infrastructure Project of the Year' category at the Tech Capital Awards and in the 'Data Centre Cooling Innovation of the Year', 'Data Centre Sustainability Project of the Year' and 'Best Colocation Provider Sustainability Project of the Year' categories at the DCS Awards.

As awareness of the environmental impact of the data center industry begins to grow, atNorth is committed to raising awareness of its low carbon, sustainable alternatives. atNorth's state of the art digital infrastructure acts as a decarbonization platform for its clients, not only future proofing businesses against the increasing need for high performance computing but also contributing to client sustainability and ESG targets.

"We are delighted to be acknowledged so extensively for our dedication to sustainable digital infrastructure," says Fredrik Jansson, Chief Strategy and Marketing &Communication Officer, at atNorth. "Our continued recognition is testament to our dedication to meeting the ever increasing demand for high performance data center capacity with sustainable solutions."

atNorth's CFO and Deputy CEO, Eva Soley Gubjornsdottir was also included in TechRound's 50 Women in Tech campaign last month that celebrated female entrepreneurs changing the tech and startup landscape across the UK and Europe. The business has also been recently recognized at the Electrical Review & Data Centre Review Awards.

The news follows atNorth's announcements of the expansion of its partnership with client, Advania and the development of its new sites in Finland and Denmark as the business scales to meet the increasing demand for its services.

About atNorth

atNorth is a leading Nordic data center services company that offers sustainable, cost-effective, scalable colocation and high-performance computing services trusted by industry-leading organizations. The business acquired leading High-Performance Computing (HPC) provider, Gompute, in 2023 enabling a compelling full stack offering tailored to AI and other critical high-performance workloads.

With sustainability at its core, atNorth's data centers run on renewable energy resources and support circular economy principles. All atNorth sites leverage innovative design, power efficiency, and intelligent operations to provide long-term infrastructure and flexible colocation deployments. The tailor-made solutions enable businesses to calculate, simulate, train and visualize data workloads in an efficient, cost-optimized way.

atNorth is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland and operates seven data centers in strategic locations across the Nordics, with additional sites to open in Helsinki, Finland and in Denmark in Q4 2024, as well as its tenth site ready for operation in Kouvola, Finland in 2025.

For more information, visit atNorth.com or follow atNorth on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Press Contact:

Caroline Brunton

Kite Hill PR for atNorth

+44 (0) 7796 274 416

caroline@kitehillpr.com

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X-Energy UK Holdings, Ltd ("X-energy"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC, and Cavendish Nuclear, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Babcock International, today welcomed a funding award from the UK Government's Future Nuclear Enabling Fund ("FNEF") to further the development of their plans for Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) in the UK.

The Government's award of 3.34 million will be matched by X-energy for a total programme of 6.68 million. The companies will use the funds to develop UK-specific deployment plans including an assessment of domestic manufacturing and supply chain opportunities, constructability, modularisation studies, and fuel management.

X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear also announced a partnership with Kier Group ("Kier"), a leading UK provider of construction and infrastructure services, to support constructability and supply chain analyses. Kier joins steel producer and engineer Sheffield Forgemasters and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC) to support X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear in completing the scope outlined in their FNEF proposal. The companies' goal is for 80% of the value of the Xe-100 projects to flow to UK firms. Last year X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear signed a memorandum of understanding with Howden, the Glasgow-based gas circulator manufacturer. They will also work with Nuclear Waste Services to review the approach to spent fuel management.

"We are backing innovation in nuclear from building large-scale plants better to encouraging new advanced technologies to achieve our ambition for a quarter of our electricity to come from nuclear power by 2050," Minister for Nuclear Renewables Andrew Bowie said. "This funding supports the next step in the development of advanced modular reactors and shows our commitment to keeping the UK at the forefront of nuclear technology."

"We are delighted to receive this FNEF award from the Government. It reflects the readiness of our advanced technology to contribute to the UK's energy needs in the next wave of new nuclear," said Carol Tansley, X-energy's UK market leader and Vice President of Projects. "Building on X-energy's initial deployment with Dow on the U.S. Gulf Coast, we can create both jobs and long-term energy security in the UK with clean, reliable advanced nuclear power."

"As X-energy's UK deployment partner we're pleased to welcome this award as a key step forward. A fleet of Xe-100s can complement renewables by providing constant or flexible power and produce steam to decarbonise industry and manufacture hydrogen and synthetic transport fuels," said Mick Gornall, Managing Director of Cavendish Nuclear. "Deployment in the UK will create thousands of high-quality, long-term jobs across the country."

The FNEF is intended for potential nuclear projects with mature technologies that could be in a position to take a Final Investment Decision (FID) within the next parliament. It aims to help industry reduce project risks so they are better positioned for future investment decisions.

X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear are proposing to develop a multi-billion pound 12-reactor plant at Hartlepool, to be ready by the early 2030s. The companies plan to build a fleet of up to 40 of the advanced small modular Xe-100 reactors in the UK, creating thousands of high-quality jobs in construction and operations. This would provide 3,200 MW of electricity, enough power for 6 million homes, or 8,000 MW of versatile high temperature heat and steam to support zero-carbon manufacturing and industrial processes.

The companies plan to engage with the UK nuclear regulators to evaluate approaches to licensing the Xe-100 AMR. The design is already progressing through initial assessments by nuclear regulators in Canada and the United States.

About X-energy

X-energy UK Holdings, Ltd. Is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy Reactor Company, LLC, a leading developer of advanced modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation. X-energy has developed intrinsically safe and more efficient reactors and proprietary fuel to delivery reliable, zero carbon, affordable energy to people around the world. The simplified, modular and high temperature gas reactor design expands applications and markets for deployment of nuclear technology. It is designed to drive lower cost and faster construction timelines compared with conventional nuclear. For more information, visit X-energy.com or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

About Cavendish Nuclear

From decommissioning redundant nuclear facilities and supporting the U.K's Clean Energy commitment through Nuclear New Build and development of Advanced Nuclear Technologies, through to helping keep the U.K's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines at sea, our role in Cavendish Nuclear is to enable a world where nuclear plays a key contribution in protecting our nation, ensuring security of energy supply and meeting our net zero commitments Creating a safe and secure world, together. Nuclear has a vital role in delivering net zero by 2050, we are passionate about the key role that we play in that. Clean energy is a core focus for Cavendish Nuclear through our support to existing reactors, the construction of Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, and our work to develop advanced nuclear technologies for the future. For more information, visit www.cavendishnuclear.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240404497806/en/

Contacts:

For further information, please contact:

X-energy

Leon Flexman

lflexman@x-energy.com

+44 (0) 79 2014 3732

Cavendish Nuclear

Yvonne Preston

yvonne.preston@cavendishnuclear.com

+44 (0) 79 7130 4338
This business combination enables Synechron to enhance its service offerings, expand capabilities, and leverage an additional EU nearshore Delivery Center

NEW YORK, LONDON, PUNE, India and SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Synechron, a leading global digital transformation consulting firm focused on financial services and technology organizations, announced its acquisition of Dreamix, a custom software development company founded in 2006. Dreamix, headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, is a bespoke end-to-end software engineering and digital product/application development company. Dreamix caters to the customized needs of an array of globally renowned enterprise clients across key industries, including Aviation, Transportation, RegTech, FinTech, ESG and Healthcare. The acquisition of Dreamix was completed on March 26, 2024.

This business combination enables the two companies to align synergies under a common theme of building and successfully delivering first-class, modern business solutions to clients, with their unique business needs as the top focus. Synechron's DNA, which includes a drive for creating innovative, digitally forward, and cutting-edge solutions, strategically integrates with Dreamix's depth of experience across multiple technologies and platforms within the software engineering lifecycle. Moreover, this tie up also facilitates Synechron's further development of outsourcing services with Dreamix as Bulgaria continues to be one of the leaders in the European region for digital product engineering. Technology Holdings acted as the financial advisor to Dreamix on the transaction.

Faisal Husain, Synechron Co-founder and CEO, commented, "We are thrilled to welcome Dreamix into the Synechron family. The bedrock of our two companies' founding visions, as well as our similar cultures and focused core values, enable us to unite our strengths to bring value-added benefits to an expanded roster of audiences. With the synergy of our businesses, we can provide deep IT expertise to a range of both existing and new customers who can realize their objectives for optimal digitized operating platforms and customized business solutions."

Stoyan Mitov, Dreamix's CEO, said, "We are very excited to be a part of the highly valued and client trusted global Synechron team. We are enthusiastic to join our forces under this new partnership, as we each leverage our passionate teams and collective abilities to provide top notch services to a combination of client enterprises."

About Synechron:

At Synechron, we believe in the power of digital to transform businesses for the better. Our global consulting firm combines creativity and innovative technology to deliver industry-leading digital solutions. Synechron's progressive technologies and optimization strategies span end-to-end Artificial Intelligence, Consulting, Digital, Cloud & DevOps, Data, and Software Engineering, servicing an array of noteworthy financial services and technology firms. Through research and development initiatives in our FinLabs we develop solutions for modernization, from Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to Data Science models, Digital Underwriting, mobile-first applications and more. Over the last 20+ years, our company has been honored with multiple employer awards, recognizing our commitment to our talented teams. With top clients to boast about, Synechron has a global workforce of 13,500+, and has 48 offices in 19 countries within key global markets. For more information on the company, please visit our website or LinkedIn community.

About Dreamix

Dreamix is a leading digital product development and software engineering company that offers IT services across multiple sectors such as Healthcare, Fintech, Logistics, Aviation, Media and ESG. Its roster of clients includes top companies across Europe and the US. Dreamix has industry leading expertise in 35+ technologies and platforms across the digital product development and software engineering lifecycle. What we're most proud of is the culture in our company that celebrates collective effort, knowledge sharing and high expertise. For more information about the company, please visit the company's website or LinkedIn community.

For more information please contact:

Rashmi Joshi,

Synechron

+91-9560694654

Media@synechron.com

Rashmi.Joshi@synechron.com

OR

Zoe Forbes-Pyfrom

(+44) 7718 599666

synechron@cognitomedia.com

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - CopperEx Resources Corp. (TSXV: CUEX) (the "Company" or "CopperEx") today announced the awarding of a drill contract for the inaugural drill campaign at the Company's flagship Exploradora Norte Project, Northern Chile. CopperEx plans to execute approximately 1,250 meters of drilling centered on the Franja del Oro target, part of an approximately 15-kilometer-long gold enrichment zone located in the northwestern part of the 23 by 13-kilometer (20,800 hectare) Exploradora Norte Project. The contractor has fully mobilized, and the first three drill holes have been completed.

Highlights:

CopperEx has awarded the drill contract for its inaugural Drill Campaign at its flagship Exploradora Norte Property.

The Drill Contractor has fully mobilized, camp is operational and three of eight planned drill holes have been drilled.

Approximately 1,250 meters of RC drilling is planned on the Franja del Oro target, which is part of an extensive north-trending array of structurally and lithologically controlled sediment hosted gold mineralized zones in a distal porphyry geological setting (Figures 3 & 4).

Historic drilling in this area by Aur Resources / Arizona Star returned the following results (1) : AP-01: 65m @ 1.59gpt of gold (starting at 4m) AP-02: 60m @ 2.02gpt of gold (starting at 59m) AP-10: 24m @ 1.22gpt of gold (starting at 94m)

CopperEx has advanced the Agua de la Piedra and Sorpresa targets within the Franja del Oro area, to drill testing through systematic lithological and structural mapping and surface geochemical sampling and has now expanded the gold mineralized footprint of this target to approximately 15 kilometers (north-south) by 3.5 kilometers (east-west).

The Franja del Oro target contains sediment hosted gold mineralization, replacement textures and alteration consistent with epithermal gold deposits that form distal to a porphyry system, with gold values up to 3.97 ppm Au 3 at ADLP & 4.57 ppm Au 3 at Sorpresa (Figures 2-4).

CopperEx has an Option Agreement for the 20,800-hectare Exploradora Norte property, for an earn in of 65% with a preferred option for an additional 35%. The property is located along the prolific West Fissure fault system in northern Chile, north of El Salvador and south of Escondida at 3,400 meters above sea level in the Chilean pre-cordillera. The property has a year-round operating climate with good access.

Dave Prins, President & CEO of CopperEx stated, "We are extremely pleased to have awarded this drill contract and commenced drilling so soon after the very recent listing of CopperEx, which followed the amalgamation with Gotham Resource Corp. and becoming a valued member of Discovery Group ( https://www.discoverygroup.ca/ ). We look forward to the completion of the drill program and releasing the results of the extremely compelling surface gold target, 'Franja de Oro', in the very near future."

John Robins, Co-Founder of Discovery Group stated, "The CopperEx Exploradora Norte property exhibits some of the most prospective copper/gold potential I have seen in many years. I am excited to work with the CopperEx team lead by Dave Prins and welcome them as the newest member of Discovery Group."

The following maps and sections provide further detail on the Exploradora Norte property location, the Franja del Oro target area, and the Aqua de la Piedra (ADLP) and Sorpresa sub sectors which will be the focus of this initial drilling.





Figure 1: Exploradora Norte - Location Map.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10257/204181_a359ba44b4914a8e_002full.jpg

Note: The deposits and projects shown outside of the CopperEx land position provide geologic context for the CopperEx's Property, but this is not necessarily indicative that the Property hosts similar grades or tonnages of mineralization.





Figure 2: Exploradora Norte - Property map including surface and trench rock geochemistry.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10257/204181_a359ba44b4914a8e_003full.jpg

Note: The deposits and projects shown outside of the CopperEx land position provide geologic context for the CopperEx's Property, but this is not necessarily indicative that the Property hosts similar grades or tonnages of mineralization.





Figure 3: Franja del Oro - ADLP Map / Section.



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Figure 4: Franja del Oro - Sorpresa Map / Section.



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QA/QC Procedures

All core samples will be sent to AAA CHILE Ltd. ("AAA") in Santiago Chile, for preparation and analysis. AAA meets all requirements of International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015 for analytical procedures. Reverse circulation ("RC") interval chips will be split and sampled over two metre intervals. Samples will be analyzed using AAA's Fire Assay Fusion method (Au-AA24) with an AA finish for gold and by a 48-element four acid digest ICP-AES analysis (MS61) with additional analysis for Ore Grade Elements (ME-OG62) and Ore Grade Cu (Cu-OG62). Results will be reported in parts per million (ppm) and converted to percent (%), or grams per tonne (g/t) when applicable. In addition to AAA Laboratory quality assurance- quality control (QA/QC) protocols, CopperEx implements an internal QA/QC program that includes inserting fine and coarse blank samples, inserting OREAS series standards and duplicate samples in the field.

All scientific and technical information in this news release has been approved by Daniel MacNeil, PGeo, Technical Advisor to the Company. Mr. MacNeil is a qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101.

Drilling and trench results disclosed in this news release relate to historical results on the Exploradora Norte Property. CopperEx has not undertaken any independent investigation of the historic sampling, nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work to verify the results. CopperEx considers these historical drill results relevant as the Company is using this data as a guide to plan exploration programs. The Company's current and future exploration work includes verification of the historical data through drilling.

Additional information about CopperEx and its Projects can be found on the Company's website at copperexcorp.com, or email info@copperexcorp.com.

Please click here to subscribe for future CopperEx news.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

CopperEx Resources Corp.

Dave Prins

President & CEO

For further information contact:

info@copperexcorp.com

+1 (604) 646-4527

About CopperEx Resources Corp.

CopperEx is a copper and gold focused exploration company with three porphyry and porphyry related gold and copper projects located in Chile and Peru in established mineral belts near producing mines. The Company's Flagship Property, Exploradora Norte, located in Northern Chile, has multiple high quality drill ready targets. At Exploradora Norte, CopperEx has the option to earn 65% and a Preferred Option for an additional 35% with no attached royalty.

In addition to the Exploradora Norte property, CopperEx owns 100% of its Kio Buggy (Northern Chile) and La Rica (Apurimac province Peru) properties, also with no attached royalties. The CopperEx Exploradora Norte property is immediately adjacent (to the north and east) of Codelco's Exploradora property which hosts a resource estimated by Codelco to contain 190-280 Mt @ 0.40% Cu.(2)

The Company's priority is to drill the advanced exploration Franja del Oro Target at Exploradora Norte which includes the Sorpresa and Agua de la Piedra (ADLP) sub sectors, and the surrounding favorable host rocks which remain significantly underexplored.

Exploradora Norte Advanced Exploration Targets.

The Franja del Oro target contains sediment hosted gold mineralization with associated replacement textures and alteration consistent with epithermal gold deposits that form distal to a porphyry copper-gold system (Figure 2). Gold mineralization at Franja del Oro is widespread, with values up to 3.97 ppm Au at ADLP3 (Trench AT-04; Figure 3) and values up to 4.57 ppm Au at Sorpresa3 (Au-Creek-Trench; Figure 4). The Franja del Oro target hosts multiple parallel, north trending stratigraphically and structurally controlled mineralized zones (Figure 2). CopperEx has conducted extensive exploration along 4-kilometer-long north-south trending segments of the high priority Sorpresa and Agua de la Piedra ("ADLP") zones to assess surface gold grades, continuity (along strike) and to define individual drill targets (Figures 2-4). CopperEx has identified gold mineralization over approximately 7 kilometers along the ADLP system (surface rock geochemical results). CopperEx leveraged the strong correlation between gold and arsenic to expand the geochemical footprint of the Franja del Oro target using Portable XRF technology to approximately 15 kilometers (and remains open).

Peuco - Porphyry Copper Gold target: Geochemical and geophysical anomalies spatially associated with tourmaline breccia bodies with values up to 1.69 ppm Au3 (Figure 2). Copper in rock surface samples range from laboratory below detection to 1,021 ppm3. Breccias consist of potassically altered porphyry clasts in quartz-tourmaline matrix associated with peripheral polymetallic veins and skarn alteration.

Florencia Copper Gold target - Centered on a NW-SE trending structural corridor extending to the Exploradora porphyry Cu deposit (Codelco) ~5 km to the NW. IP Geophysical features (resistivity and chargeability) suggest the potential for porphyry style copper-gold mineralization at depth. Epithermal style quartz veins and breccia, alteration, and geochemical anomalism exist at surface (up to 1.02 ppm Au & 1,320 ppm Cu3, see Figure 2).

Strategic Alliances.

CopperEx is a member of Discovery Group based in Vancouver, Canada. For more information please visit: discoverygroup.ca.

Notes:

(1) Source: Arizona Star press release dated June 12, 2001, on www.sedar.com.

(2) Source: www.codelco.com/prontus_codelco/site/docs/20220808/20220808110240/fexmin_brochure.pdf

(3) Note: Gold values at ADLP range from 0.01 (detection limit) to 3.97 ppm, gold values at Sorpresa range from 0.01 (detection limit) to 4.57 ppm, gold values at Peuco range from 0.01 (detection limit) to 1.69 ppm and gold ranges from 0.01 (detection limit) to 1.02 ppm at Florencia Copper Gold. Copper values range from 0.5 ppm copper (detection limit) to 1,021 ppm at Peuco and 0.5 ppm (detection limit) to 1,320 ppm at Florencia Copper Gold.

Cautionary Note.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information.

Forward-Looking Statement (Safe Harbor Statement): This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "expect", "estimate", "objective", "may", "will", "project", "should", "predict", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the Company's exploration plans. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors, and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with conditions in the equity financing markets, and assumptions and risks regarding receipt of regulatory and shareholder approvals.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204181

SOURCE: CopperEx Resources Corporation
Powered by Google Cloud's Gemini Pro, Felix AI leads the company's latest release, offering quantified real-time session summarization.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantum Metric , the customer-driven digital analytics platform, is proud to share its latest suite of product offerings designed to enhance digital understanding across the customer lifecycle. Focused on simplifying how digital organizations listen to and act on the needs of their customers, the latest release includes the availability of Felix AI, Quantum Metric's new Gen AI-powered session summarization, powered by Google Cloud's Gemini Pro.

"We are very excited about the launch of Felix AI, harnessing the power of Google Gemini to provide clarity to the areas of the digital experience that have the greatest impact," said Paul Tepfenhart, Global Director of Retail Industries at Google Cloud. "Quantum Metric has built a Gen AI-powered product that takes their deep customer-centric data set and helps their customers accelerate their AI strategy. In the hands of digital leaders, Felix AI enables customers to transform the way teams analyze and empathize with the customer opportunities."

Session replays, regularly used by digital organizations, provide needed visibility into the customer experience but are inherently complex and time-consuming. In fact, in 2023, Quantum Metric customers spent over 320K hours reviewing session data.

Powered by Google Cloud's Gemini Pro model, Felix AI summarizes a session in seconds, capturing the exact experience the visitor went through. Breaking away from the traditional session replay tools, Felix AI offers a simplified approach to digital customer listening that can be instantly quantified to understand the scale of each issue and its impact on key business metrics. Users can also dig into the details of an individual's experience through Felix's prompt, which enables users to ask clarifying questions, such as which campaign a customer came from.

With a flexible API, Felix AI can be extended to the channels and use cases where digital teams need it most including:

Direct integrations into VoC feedback received via text, email or even Slack, giving immediate context on customer feedback.

received via text, email or even Slack, giving immediate context on customer feedback. Role-based summaries, including support for the call center, where agents can now instantly understand the customer's issue before they've explained it.

Outside of the introduction of Felix AI, Quantum Metric's spring release includes three new products designed to support the entire customer lifecycle and further democratize data across teams including product and marketing.

Interactions -reimagined to include heatmaps and zoning that make it simple for marketers and UX professionals to quickly optimize the layout and content of their top pages. Also offering improved capabilities when it comes to saving, sharing and collaborating on projects.

-reimagined to include heatmaps and zoning that make it simple for marketers and UX professionals to quickly optimize the layout and content of their top pages. Also offering improved capabilities when it comes to saving, sharing and collaborating on projects. User Analytics -enabling digital organizations to go beyond individual sessions to understand how users behave over time to build long-term customer retention and loyalty. With new data visualizations, like retention and churn analysis, digital teams can dig deeper into what is attracting and detracting repeat visits across web and mobile apps.

-enabling digital organizations to go beyond individual sessions to understand how users behave over time to build long-term customer retention and loyalty. With new data visualizations, like retention and churn analysis, digital teams can dig deeper into what is attracting and detracting repeat visits across web and mobile apps. Lightning Analytics-a unique and powerful solution built to enable customers to monitor, diagnose, and optimize the critical workflows and operational apps built on Salesforce Lightning.

"In the past, our focus was transactional-how do we help the customer to make a purchase, book a flight, or open an account?" said Mario Ciabarra, CEO and founder of Quantum Metric. "The relationships we build with customers today are much more complex and span an entire lifecycle. To succeed, digital organizations need tools like Felix AI to simplify how they listen to their customers, and tools like Interactions and User Analytics to listen at scale and across their entire customer lifecycle. This is the beginning of a new generation of digital analytics tools, and we can't wait to see what our digital organizations can do to further the standards for a great digital customer experience."

All products debuted in today's virtual spring release event. For more information on Felix AI or any of the products included in Quantum Metric's spring release visit: quantummetric.com/resources/spring-product-launch-2024/

Salesforce Lightning and others are among the trademarks of Salesforce.com, Inc.

About Quantum Metric

Quantum Metric is the customer-centered digital analytics platform for today's leading organizations. Providing a simplified approach to monitor, diagnose and optimize the digital journeys that matter most, the Quantum Metric platform offers in-depth customer understanding, quantified and tied to core business objectives. Today, Quantum Metric captures insights from 45% of the world's internet users, supporting global brands across every industry to get to the heart of their customer, with greater speed and efficiency. For more information about Quantum Metric, visit www.quantummetric.com .

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Rising numbers of working mothers seeking convenient infant nutrition drive the probiotic formula market. FMI's comprehensive report goes beyond trends, analyzing market background, supply/demand, future tech, challenges, opportunities, and investment feasibility. PESTLE & Porter's Five Forces analyses empower strategic decision-making.

NEWARK, Del., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Future Market Insights (FMI), the global probiotic infant formula market is estimated to reach a valuation of US$ 526.2 million by 2024. Over the forecast period, global probiotic infant formula demand is expected to grow at 5.2% CAGR. By 2034, the market is projected to reach US$ 1,281.2 million.

Download the Sample PDF report to explore key market insights and trends: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-19418

The probiotic infant formula industry is thriving due to increased focus on infant care and nutrition, particularly among working women. The market is growing significantly due to the significant reliance of working mothers on processed infant nutrition products.

High disposable income and the need for convenience allow consumers to spend on indulgent products, fueling demand for probiotic infant formula. Increasing penetration of e-commerce is a prominent factor leading to the upward trajectory of the probiotic infant formula market.

The demand for probiotic infant formula is on the rise due to health benefits and increased parental interest. The market's growth is further driven by the adoption of eco-friendly packaging, increased online retailing, and innovative marketing strategies, which enhance the accessibility and availability of eco-friendly products to consumers.

Key Takeaways from the Probiotic Infant Formula Market Study:

The United States probiotic infant formula market is set to reach US$ 260.1 million by 2034.

by 2034. India is projected to surge at a CAGR of 6.2% by 2034.

by 2034. The global probiotic infant formula market is expected to reach US$ 1281.2 million by 2034.

by 2034. Based on age, the infant segment is set to reach a valuation of US$ 512.4 million by 2034.

by 2034. In terms of ingredients, the Bifidobacteria segment is expected to reach US$ 358.7 million by 2034.

"The market is expanding due to continuous research, innovation, and product improvement, with regional market expansion by leading companies and consumer acceptance campaigns. As health trends evolve, more women are adopting organically sourced infant formulas due to their convenience and ability to be administered anywhere, satisfying their babies' needs," says Nandini Roy Choudhury (Client Partner for Food & Beverages at Future Market Insights, Inc.).

Competitive Landscape

Enfamil, Envivo, Nestle Health Science, Nestle Good Start, Bellamy's Organic, HiPP, Custom Probiotics Inc., and SFI Health are the key companies in the probiotic infant formula market. Due to the growing consumer demand for probiotic infant formulas, leading manufacturers are strategizing to provide their products at competitive pricing to gain an edge over their competitors. Manufactures are engaging in collaborations and partnerships to better position themselves in the markets to inflate their geographical presence and visibility.

For instance,

In May 2022, Nestle acquired the United States and Canadian rights to the Good Start baby formula brand. It has led to the extension of the product portfolio offered by Nestle and has also deepened its strength in the infant formula market.

Purchase now and gain full access to the Probiotic Infant Formula Industry report, featuring comprehensive Market Forecast, Company Share Analysis, Competition Intelligence, DROT Analysis, Market Dynamics and Challenges, and Strategic Growth Initiatives.

Get Valuable Insights into the Global Probiotic Infant Formula Market

Future Market Insights (FMI), in its new offering, provides a thorough, detailed, and unbiased analysis of the global probiotic infant formula market, presenting historical demand data for the years 2019 to 2023 and forecast statistics for the years 2024 to 2034.

The study categorizes valuable insights on the global probiotic infant formula market based on age (premature, infant, toddler), ingredients (lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, and others), and sales channels (online and offline) across regions.

About the Food & Beverage Division at Future Market Insights

Expert analysis, actionable insights, and strategic recommendations - the food & beverage team at Future Market Insights helps clients from all over the globe with their unique business intelligence needs. With a repertoire of over 1,000 reports and one million+ data points, the team has analyzed the food & beverage industry lucidly in 50+ countries for over a decade. The team provides end-to-end research and consulting services; reach out to explore how we can help.

About the Author:

Nandini Roy Choudhury (Client Partner for Food & Beverages at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has 7+ years of management consulting experience. She advises industry leaders and explores off-the-eye opportunities and challenges. She puts processes and operating models in place to support their business objectives.

She has exceptional analytical skills and often brings thought leadership to the table.

Nandini has vast functional expertise in key niches, including but not limited to food ingredients, nutrition & health solutions, animal nutrition, and marine nutrients. She is also well-versed in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, retail, and chemical sectors, where she advises market participants to develop methodologies and strategies that deliver results. Another feather to her cap manifests in the form of process automation. She is vocal about bringing automation to the fore to bring a 360-degrees-round revolution in manufacturing sector

Her core expertise lies in corporate growth strategy, sales and marketing effectiveness, acquisitions and post-merger integration and cost reduction. Nandini has an MBA in Finance from MIT School of Business. She also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Nagpur University, India.

Nandini has authored several publications, and quoted in journals including Beverage Industry, Bloomberg, and Wine Industry Advisor.

Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage in the Food and Beverages Domain:

Infant Formula Market Analysis based on Powder, Liquid, and Ready-to-feed Forms from 2024 to 2034. - Review and Request to Access the Sample Report.

Analysis based on Powder, Liquid, and Ready-to-feed Forms from 2024 to 2034. - Food Grade Phosphate Market Forecast by Source, Application, and Other Categories from 2024 to 2034. - Review and Request to Access the Sample Report.

Forecast by Source, Application, and Other Categories from 2024 to 2034. - Infant Formula Ingredients Market by Powder, Liquid and Semi Liquid Form, Forecast, 2023-2033. - Review and Request to Access the Sample Report.

by Powder, Liquid and Semi Liquid Form, Forecast, 2023-2033. - Chickpea Flour Market Forecast by Product Type, End Use Application, and Other Categories from 2024 to 2034. - Review and Request to Access the Sample Report.

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting service provider, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai and has delivery centers in the UK, the U.S., and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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Upon completion of joint feasibility studies, NextChem Tech will act as the exclusive global licensor of the integrated technology package combining NEXTCHEM's small-scale green ammonia production technology with Vallourec's hydrogen storage system

MILAN, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MAIRE announces that NEXTCHEM (Sustainable Technology Solutions), through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, and Vallourec, a world leader in premium tubular solutions for the energy markets, agreed to cooperate on the integration of NEXTCHEM's proprietary green ammonia technology with Vallourec's Delphy hydrogen storage technology and its subsequent commercialization.

The two partners will study how to combine the Delphy storage solution in the "Power-to-X" and green hydrogen projects where NEXTCHEM is involved as technology provider worldwide. The partnership will focus on the synergies between NEXTCHEM's proprietary green ammonia production technologies and Vallourec's high-capacity hydrogen storage system.

NEXTCHEM's green ammonia technology is able to produce carbon-free ammonia using renewable energy, moving away from traditional fossil fuel-based processes. NEXTCHEM's technology is among the most competitive solutions in terms of CAPEX, provides a complete modularization and utilizes a proven design with additional digital solutions available for training and process monitoring. With several plants in operation, NEXTCHEM's technology has a strong technology reference base.

NEXTCHEM's technology, bundled with Delphy underground storage system, will be able to offer a safe, efficient and economically viable solution to serve the green hydrogen producers and the industrial clients.

Upon completion of the joint feasibility studies, NextChem Tech will act as the exclusive global licensor of the technology package integrating NEXTCHEM's small-scale green ammonia production technology with Vallourec's hydrogen storage system. The commercialization of the technology package will be carried out through one of NEXTCHEM's subsidiaries. This cooperation is part of NEXTCHEM's and Vallourec's commitment to the transition to a low-carbon industry, by reducing energy consumption and offering more environmentally friendly solutions through a circular approach.

Mohammed Nafid, CEO of NextChem Tech, commented: "The integration of the two technologies is an essential building block allowing green ammonia production to better cope with intermittent renewable power. Our technology portfolio in the energy transition and hydrogen segment is adding one more key tool that would significantly strengthen our offer in this space. This partnership between NextChem Tech and Vallourec marks another important step in the roll-out of MAIRE Group's sustainable technologies strategy."

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CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Future Of Hydrogen in Automotive Market size is projected to grow from an estimated 23 thousand units in 2024 to 353 thousand units by 2035, at a CAGR of 28.3%, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Factors such as higher driving range than battery electric vehicles, zero-emission nature of the hydrogen-powered vehicle, and government plans for zero-emission transport across the globe, have resulted in automakers announcing plans to embrace hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles and the expansion of the future of hydrogen in automotive market. Similarly, technological developments by leading OEMs such as BMW (Germany), Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), and Hyundai Motor Company (South Korea) are further propelling the market growth.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Future of Hydrogen in Automotive Market".

10 - Tables

15 - Figures

25 - Pages

Future of Hydrogen in Automotive Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Size 353 thousand units by 2035 Growth Rate CAGR of 28.3% Largest Market Asia Pacific Market Dynamics Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities & Challenges Forecast Period 2024-2035 Forecast Units Value (Units) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Vehicle Type (Passenger Car, Light Commercial Vehicle, Bus, and Truck), Propulsion Type (FCEV, FCHEV, and H2-ICEV), H2 Refuelling Points (Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America) and Region Geographies Covered Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Government initiatives promoting hydrogen infrastructure Key Market Drivers Reduced oil dependency

"H2-truck segment is expected to hold the significant market share during the forecast period."

Hydrogen-powered trucks are expected to play a pivotal role in the automotive industry, demonstrating a CAGR of 36.6% until 2035, propelled by increased efforts in innovation from major OEMs like Volvo (Sweden) and Daimler (Germany). Hydrogen-powered trucks hold a significant portion of the Asia Pacific market, particularly leading in China. Similarly, there is a rapid surge in demand projected for hydrogen-powered trucks in the US, supported by the nation's ambitious USD 7 billion hydrogen hub initiative aimed at establishing hydrogen refuelling stations or hubs nationwide. Leading models such as the Hydzon Hymax and Hyundai XCIENT are driving the H2 truck market forward. Additionally, OEMs including Scania, Volvo, and Daimler are strategizing to introduce their hydrogen-powered trucks soon.

"H2-ICE segment expected to be the next big shift during forecast period."

The utilization of hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) powertrains, particularly in heavy-duty trucks, is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period. With OEMs outlining strategies for the introduction of H2-ICE-powered heavy-duty commercial vehicles and passenger cars, the mainstream adoption of H2-ICE technology is expected to occur by 2035. H2-ICE vehicle are characterized by enhanced efficiency and reduced fuel consumption, the transition to H2-ICE architecture is deemed more feasible compared to fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) architecture, primarily due to its independence from costly materials like platinum, thereby contributing to cost reduction. These advantageous attributes have spurred prominent automakers and engine manufacturers to pivot towards incorporating H2-ICE components into their vehicles. For instance, in January 2024, Bosch GmBH (Germany) disclosed its plans to commercially launch a hydrogen internal combustion engine designed for deployment in heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs). Similarly, Volvo announced its initiatives in January 2024 to develop H2-ICE engines as a viable alternative to FCEVs, aligning with its hydrogen-oriented initiatives.

"North America to be the fastest growing market for H-2 Pickups and HD Trucks during the forecast period."

North America is expected to witness significant growth in the market for fuel-cell electric vehicles, with the United States maintaining a dominant share of 94% within the region. Toyota emerged as the frontrunner in the North American market, commanding an 89% market share as of 2023, with projections suggesting its continued leadership, bolstered by the implementation of hydrogen subsidy initiatives. Although the setup of fixed H2 refuelling stations stalled in California in 2023, the US is strategizing the establishment of portable hydrogen refuelling stations beyond California. Models such as Toyota MIRAI and Hyundai NEXO dominate sales in the region, with an increasing focus on pickup trucks anticipated, as major OEMs plan to diversify into hydrogen fuel. North America emerges as a key region in fuel cell electric vehicle market with leading OEMs planning new launches in coming years. Further, Hyundai XCIENT, Van Hool A series, Nikola Motors Tre, and NFI Xcelsior are some of leading FC commercial vehicles presently available in the market. Moreover, Toyota Hyluz and Daimler H2 truck are expected to be launched by 2026.

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Key Market Players:

The major players in Future of Hydrogen in Automotive Companies include Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), Hyundai Motor Company (South Korea), SAIC Motors (China), FAW (China), and Yutong (China) among others.

Recent Developments

In January 2024, Bosch announced plans for commercial launch of its hydrogen IC engine, developed for use in HCVs.

In January 2024, Volvo announced. plans to develop H2-4CE engines as an alternative for FCEVs as part of its Hydrogen based plans.

In November 2023, Porsche announced plans for development of H2-ICE engine and future launch of H2-ICE cars.

In October 2023, Toyota launched its Corolla Cross H2 Concept car, which uses its prototype H2-ICE engine.

In October 2023, Honda showcased its HySE-X1 ATV. The ATV runs on Toyota's H2-ICE engine.

In March 2023, Hyundai's Doosan Intracore announced plans to develop H2-ICE based engines for its H2 cars by 2025.

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To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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MarketsandMarkets INC.

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ZEISS secures regulatory approvals to acquire D.O.R.C.; companies now shift focus to integration implementation, fueling world-class innovation, and driving market expansion strategy for ophthalmic medical devices and surgery.

JENA, Germany and DUBLIN, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Carl Zeiss Meditec AG announced today that, after securing all required regulatory approvals, it has completed the acquisition of 100% of D.O.R.C. (Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center) from the investment firm Eurazeo SE, Paris, France. The acquisition enhances and complements ZEISS Medical Technology's broad ophthalmic portfolio and range of digitally connected workflow solutions for addressing a wide variety of eye conditions, spanning retina and cornea disorders, cataract, glaucoma, and refractive errors.

"Together we are better. Today holds significant importance for us as we bring our teams together and turn our collective attention toward delivering breakthrough innovations and solutions for our customers. We are very excited to welcome D.O.R.C.'s team members to our ZEISS family and to begin integrating our products and practices as we work toward a brighter future together," says Dr. Markus Weber, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

"Together we can offer an unmatched portfolio of advanced technologies and digital workflows. With D.O.R.C., we have an incredible opportunity to serve ophthalmologists around the world with more complete workflows and solutions than ever before," says Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., President of Ophthalmology and Head of the Digital Business Unit for ZEISS Medical Technology. "We've set our sights high to become the top player in the world for ophthalmology by leveraging our workflow solutions, enhancing our portfolio offerings and market position in the anterior surgery segment, and by significantly expanding our presence in the posterior surgery segment."

"Together we are stronger. With four decades behind our amazing business and surgeon-inspired innovation, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our success story together with ZEISS Medical Technology," says Pierre Billardon, CEO of D.O.R.C. "By joining forces, we can extend our reach, scale our efforts, and accelerate ophthalmic surgery advancements for more surgeons faster than before. I am filled with a great sense of pride and gratitude for every D.O.R.C. team member. Together, we have achieved so much to arrive at this pivotal moment in our journey. And together with ZEISS, we have so much more to accomplish in our bright future ahead to help patients see again."

Combination of portfolios will create unmatched end-to-end solution within the digitally-connected ZEISS Retina Surgery Workflow

As a leading player in the retina surgical devices and consumables market, D.O.R.C.'s contributions will be critical to ZEISS Medical Technology's long-term strategy and success going forward. With D.O.R.C., ZEISS is in a unique position to offer an unmatched portfolio of market-leading technologies to ophthalmologists, including an expanded, digitally-connected Retina Surgery Workflow from ZEISS. The companies' portfolios are highly complementary and the powerful combination of the EVA NEXUS platform from D.O.R.C. with ZEISS's extensive range of visualization, diagnostic and therapeutic devices, and surgical instruments and consumables, all connected to a digital ecosystem, will enable the creation of efficient clinical workflows that will reshape the ophthalmology market for the benefit of surgeons and their patients alike.

D.O.R.C. brings to the acquisition one of the market's most advanced dual-function systems - the EVA NEXUS platform. EVA NEXUS is the core of a strong portfolio, comprising a full range of accessories, instruments and liquids, offering one of the best-in-class solutions across vitreo-retinal (VR) and combined cataract procedures. The expansion that D.O.R.C.'s overall portfolio brings to ZEISS ensures that surgeons will have more options to choose the solutions that best meet their specific surgical requirements and preferences.

With the completion of this acquisition, health care professionals can expect to benefit from an extensive and unique combination of digitally connected devices and workflow solutions, from clinical pre-operative needs to the surgical operating room. This supports efficient clinical workflows and helps surgeons to improve outcomes for their patients. The two companies' immediate priorities span maintaining business continuity and customer satisfaction, cultivating areas of deep expertise, and enhancing the value of their solutions and services for current and future customers.

Not all products, services or offers are approved or offered in every market and approved labeling and instructions may vary from one country to another. For country-specific product information, see the appropriate country website. Product specifications are subject to change in design and scope of delivery as a result of ongoing technical development.

Contact for investors:

Sebastian Frericks

Head of Group Finance and Investor Relations

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Phone: +49 3641 220 116

Mail: investors.meditec@zeiss.com

Contact for the press:

Frank E. Smith

Head of Global Communications Ophthalmology

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Phone: +1 925 487 3036

Mail: frank.smith@zeiss.com

www.zeiss.com/newsroom

Company Profiles:

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (ISIN: DE0005313704), which is listed on the MDAX and TecDAX of the German stock exchange, is one of the world's leading medical technology companies. The Company supplies innovative technologies and application-oriented solutions designed to help doctors improve the quality of life of their patients. The Company offers complete solutions, including implants and consumables, to diagnose and treat eye diseases. The Company creates innovative visualization solutions in the field of microsurgery. With approximately 4,823 employees worldwide, the Group generated revenue of 2,089.3m in fiscal year 2022/23 (to 30 September).

The Group's head office is located in Jena, Germany, and it has subsidiaries in Germany and abroad; more than 50 percent of its employees are based in the USA, Japan, Spain and France. The Center for Application and Research (CARIn) in Bangalore, India and the Carl Zeiss Innovations Center for Research and Development in Shanghai, China, strengthen the Company's presence in these rapidly developing economies. Around 41 percent of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG's shares are in free float. The remaining approx. 59 percent are held by Carl Zeiss AG, one of the world's leading groups in the optical and optoelectronic industries.

For more information visit our website at www.zeiss.com/med.

About D.O.R.C. Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (International) B.V.

D.O.R.C. is one of the world's leading suppliers of equipment, instruments, and liquids for ophthalmic surgery. For 40 years, D.O.R.C. has grown into a successful international business, shaping its product portfolio through close collaboration with leading top surgeons. The company improves eye surgery globally and maximizes surgeon control by providing innovative quality approaches for eye disorders. Its products are exported to more than 80 countries worldwide. The company is headquartered in Zuidland, the Netherlands, and has more than 800 employees.

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Dose escalation in Phase 1b trial completed with no dose-limiting toxicities, no or low-grade cytokine release syndrome and no immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome across all patients and early signs of anti-tumor activity



Enrollment in Part 2 dose expansion has been initiated

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ADC Therapeutics SA (NYSE: ADCT) today announced the completion of dose escalation in LOTIS-7, a Phase 1b open-label clinical trial evaluating ZYNLONTA (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl) in combination with bispecific antibodies glofitamab or mosunetuzumab in heavily pre-treated patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (r/r B-NHL).

In the dose escalation portion (Part 1) of LOTIS-7, no dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs), no or low-grade cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and no immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) were observed across all patients when ZYNLONTA was administered in combination with glofitamab or mosunetuzumab. Additionally, after the first investigator assessment, evidence of anti-tumor activity was observed among the majority of patients, with mixed histologies including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma (FL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). Based on the data from Part 1, all three dose levels (90, 120 and 150 g/kg) have now been cleared and enrollment in Part 2 dose expansion has been initiated with ZYNLONTA administered in combination with glofitamab at the 120 g/kg and 150 g/kg dose levels in 2L+ DLBCL.

"The early data from Part 1 of our LOTIS-7 trial highlight the potential combinability of ZYNLONTA with bispecifics in lymphoma patients," said Mohamed Zaki, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer of ADC Therapeutics. "We look forward to the continued progression of this trial in 2L+ DLBCL patients."

"CRS is a common toxicity associated with the CAR-T and bispecific therapies currently used to treat lymphoma," said Juan Pablo Alderuccio, MD, lead investigator of the LOTIS-7 trial and Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "The potential for ZYNLONTA in combination with bispecifics to treat 2L+ relapsed or refractory B-NHL with the favorable toxicity profile observed thus far is encouraging given the unmet medical need in this area."

"With no or low grades of CRS and no ICANS observed among patients in Part 1 of the study, we believe LOTIS-7 demonstrates the potential for ZYNLONTA plus bispecifics to enable broader accessibility in community settings," said Ameet Mallik, Chief Executive Officer of ADC Therapeutics. "Based upon the current data and coupled with the potential for additive or even synergistic efficacy with this combination, we continue to be excited about the opportunity to expand the use of ZYNLONTA in DLBCL in the future where there remains high unmet need."

LOTIS-7 is a Phase 1b global multicenter, multi-arm study in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma including Part 1 (dose escalation) and Part 2 (dose expansion). The three dosing arms include ZYNLONTA plus polatuzumab vedotin, ZYNLONTA plus glofitamab, and ZYNLONTA plus mosunetuzumab T-cell-engaging bispecific monoclonal antibodies (BsAbs). Enrollment in LOTIS-7 includes Part 1 of the study with a 3+3 dose escalation in 3L/3L+ heavily pre-treated patients with ZYNLONTA doses starting at 90 g/kg and then proceeding to 120 g/kg and 150 g/kg. The dose-limiting toxicity period has now been cleared across all three dose levels.

For more information about the LOTIS-7 trial, visit clinicaltrials.gov(NCT04970901).

About ZYNLONTA (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl)

ZYNLONTA is a CD19-directed antibody drug conjugate (ADC). Once bound to a CD19-expressing cell, ZYNLONTA is internalized by the cell, where enzymes release a pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) payload. The potent payload binds to DNA minor groove with little distortion, remaining less visible to DNA repair mechanisms. This ultimately results in cell cycle arrest and tumor cell death.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

ZYNLONTA is also being evaluated as a therapeutic option in combination studies in other B-cell malignancies and earlier lines of therapy.

About ADC Therapeutics

ADC Therapeutics (NYSE: ADCT) is a commercial-stage global leader and pioneer in the field of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The Company is advancing its proprietary ADC technology to transform the treatment paradigm for patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.

ADC Therapeutics' CD19-directed ADC ZYNLONTA (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl) received accelerated approval by the FDA and conditional approval from the European Commission for the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. ZYNLONTA is also in development in combination with other agents and in earlier lines of therapy. In addition to ZYNLONTA, ADC Therapeutics has multiple ADCs in ongoing clinical and preclinical development.

ADC Therapeutics is based in Lausanneand follow the Company on LinkedIn.

ZYNLONTA is a registered trademark of ADC Therapeutics SA.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "would", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential", "seem", "seek", "future", "continue", or "appear" or the negative of these terms or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the timing and results of the LOTIS-7 study including Part 2, does expansion, the effectiveness of the new commercial go-to-market strategy, competition from new technologies, and the Company's ability to grow ZYNLONTA revenue in the United States; Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) ability to successfully commercialize ZYNLONTA in the European Economic Area and market acceptance, adequate reimbursement coverage, and future revenue from the same; approval by the NMPA of the BLA for ZYNLONTA in China submitted by Overland ADCT BioPharma and future revenue from the same, our strategic partners', including Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, ability to obtain regulatory approval for ZYNLONTA in foreign jurisdictions, and the timing and amount of future revenue and payments to us from such partnerships; the timing and future results from the University of Miami's IITs in FL and MZL lymphomas; the timing and results of the Company's or its partners' clinical trials including LOTIS 5 and 7, ADCT 601 and 602 as well as the Company's early-stage pipeline research projects, actions by the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities with respect to the Company's products or product candidates; projected revenue and expenses; the Company's indebtedness, including Healthcare Royalty Management and Oaktree and Blue Owl facilities, and the restrictions imposed on the Company's activities by such indebtedness, the ability to repay such indebtedness and the significant cash required to service such indebtedness; and the Company's ability to obtain financial and other resources for its research, development, clinical, and commercial activities. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements is contained in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Company's other periodic reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, achievements or prospects to be materially different from any future results, performance, achievements or prospects expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this document. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

CONTACT:

Investors and Media

Nicole Riley

ADC Therapeutics

Nicole.Riley@adctherapeutics.com

+1 862-926-9040
DUBAI, UAE, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GTN, a global fintech redefining trading and investing for all, is pleased to announce Damian Bunce's appointment as the CEO of GTN Middle East. Bunce brings over 30 years of unparalleled forex and online securities trading expertise in brokerage and investment banking.

With an extensive career at leading financial services institutions such as IBM, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and Saxo Bank, Damian Bunce has held numerous C-level positions, showcasing his strategic acumen and industry leadership. Notably, his tenure as Chief Commercial Officer at Saxo Bank exemplifies his ability to drive forward-thinking strategies and navigate complex market landscapes.

Recently, Bunce ran the Trading business at online market maker Exness; during his 3.5-year tenure, the company developed a new B2B capability and broke retail volume records, boasting 4 trillion dollars/month and ranking number 1 in the industry. Subsequently, he assumed the role of Chief Customer Officer, where he excelled in cultivating strong client and media relationships, building the company's brand and instilling confidence within the financial community.

GTN co-founder and Group CEO Manjula Jayasinghe said: "We are thrilled to have Damian join us in Dubai as CEO of GTN Middle East. His industry and commercial acumen will elevate our success in materialising our goal of being the leading global fintech that makes trading and investing accessible to all."

In his new role, Bunce will lead GTN's strategic initiatives in the Middle East, help coordinate global activities across its network of offices, and further cement the company's commitment to providing innovative trading and investment solutions to a broad range of financial services companies.

Speaking of his appointment, Bunce said, "I'm delighted to join GTN at an exciting time in the company's history. I look forward to a move back to mainstream B2B and working in a region that has gained global strategic importance for financial services. GTN has a strong leadership team, a market-leading regulated product, an enviable client list, and a high-quality board of investors; the future possibilities are limitless."

This appointment marks another milestone in GTN's global expansion journey. It follows a series of strategic hires to fortify its position as the global fintech frontrunner, providing innovative investment and trading solutions for partners, brokers, banks, wealth managers, and fintechs.

About GTN

GTN is a fintech pioneer with decades of success, holding broker-dealer and capital markets services licenses in multiple jurisdictions through subsidiaries. We are committed to empowering brokers, banks, asset managers, and fintechs with scalable and innovative investment and trading solutions that enable access to a comprehensive network of global markets and multiple asset classes, making investment and trading accessible to all. Our investment and trading solutions offer seamless integration with the existing services of regulated financial firms and fintechs via our co-branded front ends and versatile API suite. Inspired by embedded finance, our API suite provides the adaptability to develop bespoke trading/investment applications or incorporate GTN features into existing platforms, enhancing their value proposition. In addition, our comprehensive global trading ecosystem includes best-in-class execution, custody, and post-trade solutions.

We bring together a diverse team of over 400 talented individuals spread across Dubai, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the US, united by a shared passion and purpose: empowering clients and transforming the accessibility to investment and trading opportunities for all. We are backed by strategic investors IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and SBI Ventures Singapore Pte. Ltd., a group company of SBI Holdings, Inc., one of the largest financial services firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. To learn more, visit www.gtngroup.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / ARway.ai ("ARway" or the "Company") (CSE:ARWY)(OTCQB:ARWYF)(FSE:E65) is an AI powered Augmented Reality Experience platform with a disruptive no-code, no beacon spatial computing solution enabled by visual marker tracking with centimeter precision is pleased to announce another paid partner deal with AVR Labs, a pioneering company based in the United Arab Emirates specializing in XR technologies. AVR Labs will be a recognized partner of ARway in the Gulf Region, increasing ARway's distribution channel, as they have 100+ projects from paying customers deployed across 20 countries around the globe.

This collaboration is set to revolutionize AR navigation by integrating cutting-edge generative AI 3D/AR avatars with conversational immersive interaction capabilities, powered by ARway's advanced platform and AVR Labs' innovative solutions.

AVR Labs, with a robust presence across the Middle East and a diverse clientele including universities and government ministries, is an ARway agency partner that will implement ARway's technology for various customer projects. Renowned for their expertise in AI, AR, and VR technology, AVR Labs specializes in creating immersive experiences that captivate and engage audiences. One of their notable projects includes the development of AR VIEWZ GPT, an augmented reality GPT that enables dynamic, conversational interactions within AR environments.

The partnership aims to integrate these AR GPTs into the ARway platform, enhancing AR navigation experiences with the addition of conversational AI avatars. These avatars, accessible via a visual marker scan, will act as interactive tour guides, offering personalized navigation assistance and enriching user interactions within AR spaces.

This collaboration's first showcase will be at the World Future Energy Summit in Dubai, a premier event in the global energy and resources sector. At the summit, AVR Labs will deploy AR indoor navigation enhanced with GPT-powered 3D/AR avatars to guide visitors around the event, demonstrating the transformative potential of combining ARway's navigation solutions with AVR Labs' technology. This deployment will feature wayfinding around the event, integration of AI avatars for conversational interaction, and a presentation of ARway to the Middle Eastern market, with over 280 exhibitors participating from April 16-18.

ARway and AVR Labs are committed to pushing the boundaries of AR technology, aiming to expand their reach across various industries beyond the initial tradeshow project. With over 100 projects across 20 countries, AVR Labs plans to incorporate ARway's technology in client projects, significantly enhancing user experiences across diverse sectors.

This partnership marks a milestone in the evolution of AR navigation and interaction, setting a new standard for immersive technology applications in the Middle East and around the globe. ARway and AVR Labs look forward to redefining the future of AR experiences, offering users innovative ways to explore and interact with the world around them.

Scan the QR code using your smartphone to see an Avatar example:





To interact with the AI driven Avatar, please visit the AVR Labs website https://avrlabs.io/ and locate the Avatar in the bottom right corner:

About AVR Labs

AVR Labs, is a revolutionary Augmented, Virtual Reality, and Metaverse company based in Dubai with a commitment to contributing to the UAE's vision for innovation and evolution.

They offer XR solutions and services to help companies solidify their online presence and promote their product and services in an immersive and engaging way. They believe in the power of immersive technologies and their ability to transform and revolutionize the business world.

Recent News

ARway.ai Announces Successful Deployment of AR Wayfinding and Smart Campus Activation With Deutsche Telekom AG & The Prestigious iFii, University of Applied Sciences Brandenburg

ARway.ai Continues its Global Expansion into Chile & USA With New SaaS Deals For its AR Navigation & Spatial Experience Platform

ARway.ai Announces Major 300,000 SQ FT. or 30,000 Sq M. Retail Store Pilot of its AR Navigation Platform

Sign up for Investor News - HERE

To learn more about ARway, please follow on Social Media: Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and visit our website: www.arway.ai

About ARway.ai

ARway.ai (CSE:ARWY)(OTCQB:ARWYF)(FSE:E65) is a spatial computing platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) providing an array of augmented reality (AR) experiences for indoor spaces. ARway's breakthrough no-code no-beacon IPN allows for the easy creation of navigation, tours, information sharing, notifications, advertising and gamification. ARway works seamlessly as a cross platform solution on iOS/ Android. ARway's technology is optimized for both mobile devices and AR glasses: Apple's Vision Pro, Magic Leap and Microsoft's HoloLens. ARway has unlimited use cases for augmenting physical spaces, making it a valuable tool for creators, brands and companies in various industries. The complete ARway platform includes: the Web Creator Studio, the ARwayKit Software Development Kit (SDK) and a mobile app for iOs and Android.

Nextech 3D.ai

On October 26, 2022, ARway.ai. was spun-out from its parent Company, Nextech3D.ai (OTCQX:NEXCF)(CSE:NTAR)(FSE:1SS). Nextech retained a control ownership in ARway.ai. with 13 million shares, or a 50% stake. Nextech3D.ai is a Generative AI powered 3D modeling Company and leading provider of augmented reality ("AR") experience technologies and 3D model services. Nextech's AI-powered 3D modeling platform, "ARitize3D" has contracts with; AMZN, KSS, CB2, Genuine Parts & many others. To learn more about Nextech3D.ai, visit www.nextechar.com

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations Contact

Julia Viola

investor.relations@arway.ai

ARway.ai

Evan Gappelberg

CEO and Director

866-ARITIZE (274-8493)

Forward-looking Statements

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the completion of the transaction are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. ARway.ai will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: ARway Corporation

View the original press release on accesswire.com
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West Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Surge Battery Metals Inc. (TSXV: NILI) (OTCQX: NILIF) (FSE: DJ5) (the "Company" or "Surge") is pleased to announce it has concluded an entry and exploration agreement with the Salmon River Cattlemen's Association (SRCA).

The agreement with the SRCA extends permission for Surge to commence drilling and other surface use on the parcels of SRCA private ground where Surge already holds fractional (25%) ownership of the sub-surface mineral rights (see news release of December 7, 2023).

Surge intends to drill four reverse circulation holes on the SRCA parcels to test extensions of high-grade lithium mineralization outlined in previous Surge drilling to the north of the private parcel and high grade soil geochemistry (>1,000 ppm Li).

Surge also intends to drill another four holes on claims held by Surge as well as claims with its joint venture partner M3 Metals Corp. ("M3"). The drill sites shown in the figure below are tentative with the actual locations to be determined by ground conditions, avoidance of sensitive areas on the private parcels and permitting approval by the Bureau of Land Management on the M3 and Surge claims.

Drilling is scheduled to start by the end of May, 2024.

2024 drilling at the NNLP will test for lithium mineralization 1km to the west and up to a 1.2km to the south of the 2024 maiden resource area (see news release of February 22, 2024). Drilling is designed to expand and better define the footprint of lithium clay mineralization at the NNLP prior to infill drilling in 2025.

Mr. Greg Reimer, Chief Executive Officer, and Director commented, "We are happy to have come to an agreement with the Salmon River Cattleman's Association and look forward to actively working together as we advance the NNLP project. Our 2024 program will be bold and will take big step outs to the west and south, growing the mineralization footprint as much as possible prior to our 2025 exploration program."

Qualified Person as Defined Under National Instrument 43-101

Alan J. Morris, MSc, CPG of Spring Creek, Nevada, a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical aspects of this news release.

Figure 1



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9838/204183_410d4bfe545ee8ef_001full.jpg

About Surge Battery Metals Inc.

Surge Battery Metals, a Canadian-based mineral exploration company, is at the forefront of securing the supply of domestic lithium through its active engagement in the Nevada North Lithium Project. The project focuses on exploring clean, high-grade lithium energy metals in Nevada, USA. Lithium is a crucial element for powering the electric vehicles of tomorrow. With a primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and the OTCQX Market in the US, Surge Battery Metals Inc. is strategically positioned as a key player in advancing lithium exploration, contributing significantly to the sustainable future of the electric vehicle industry.

About the Nevada North Lithium Project

The Company's Nevada North Lithium Project, located in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Elko County, Nevada. The first two rounds of drilling, completed in 2022 and 2023, identified a strongly mineralized zone of lithium bearing clays occupying a strike length of more than 3,500 meters and a known width of up to 950 meters. Highly anomalous soil values and geophysical surveys suggest there is potential for the clay horizons to be much greater in extent. The Nevada North Lithium Project has a pit-constrained Inferred Resource containing an estimated 4.67Mt of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) grading 2,839 ppm Li at a 1,250 ppm cutoff.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Greg Reimer"

Greg Reimer,

President & CEO

Contact Information

Email: info@surgebatterymetals.com

Phone: 604-662-8184

Website: surgebatterymetals.com

Keep up-to-date with Surge Battery Metals on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

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 document may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan" or "planned", "possible", "potential", "forecast", "intend", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of commodities including lithium and nickel, the accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals including approvals of title and mining rights or licenses and environmental, local community or indigenous community approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure or water, changes in laws, rules and regulations including in the United States, Nevada or California or any other jurisdiction which may impact upon the Company or its properties or the commercial exploitation of those properties, currency risks including the exchange rate of USD$ for Cdn$ or other currencies, fluctuations in the market for lithium related products, changes in exploration costs and government royalties, export policies or taxes in the United States or any other jurisdiction and other factors or information. The Company's current plans, expectations, and intentions with respect to development of its business and of its Nevada properties may be impacted by economic uncertainties arising out of any pandemic or by the impact of current financial and other market conditions (including US government subsidies or incentives) on its ability to secure further financing or funding of its Nevada properties. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon several assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, environmental (including endangered species, habitat preservation and water related risks) and social risks, contingencies, and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204183

SOURCE: Surge Battery Metals Inc.
ST.JOHN'S, NL / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV:SIC)(OTCQB:SICNF) ("Sokoman" or the "Company") is pleased to report that pending TSX Venture approval it has agreed, pursuant to a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Australian-based, private company Campden Hill Holdings Pty Ltd (Campden Hill), to provide Campden Hill with an option to purchase the Iron Horse property (the "Property") from Sokoman Minerals Corp. Campden Hill is controlled by an investment group with experience in mineral exploration and investment in multiple jurisdictions globally, including more than a decade in investing across various commodities in Canada.

The Property is in the eastern portion of the Labrador Trough, Canada's most prolific iron ore producing region. The Property is host to significant iron deposits and has critical mineral showings of uranium and rare earth elements (REEs).

The Property was staked in 2011 as a joint venture between Golden Dory Resources (now Sokoman Minerals Corp.) and Metals Creek Resources ("Metals Creek") to evaluate the uranium potential of the area. Initial prospecting identified iron ore potential, and in 2012, Sokoman acquired 100% ownership (subject to net smelter return royalties) from Metals Creek. Diamond drilling (eight holes) testing the iron ore potential intersected significant thicknesses of iron mineralization as taconite, including a 354 m intercept grading ~28% Fe. Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) potential was also noted, with assays of 53% Fe from parts of the Property. Following the extended decline in iron ore prices over the past decade, the iron ore exploration was ended and the Property was placed on care and maintenance as a non-core asset.

Timothy Froude, P. Geo., President and CEO of Sokoman, states: "We are happy to have found a quality partner for the Iron Horse project. We look forward to working with Campden Hill, including offering logistical and technical support, to evaluate and advance the Property. This transaction allows Sokoman to remain focused on its flagship gold projects at Moosehead and Fleur de Lys and continue its strategy of finding quality partners to share the risk and reward on its other holdings. This strategy follows the recent deal for the former Golden Hope Project (now Killick Lithium) and four other property deals with various partners across Newfoundland."

James Thompson, Director of Campden Hill, states: "We are pleased to be able to work with the Sokoman team as we look to further explore and develop the Iron Horse project in conjunction with our neighbouring land package in Labrador."

The letter agreement (the "Agreement") describes the terms upon which Sokoman Minerals Corp. (the "Optionor" or "Sokoman") has agreed to provide Campden Hill Holdings Pty Limited (the "Optionee"), or its permitted transferee, with an option to acquire 100% of the Iron Horse Property in Labrador, Canada, 23 claims held by Sokoman, more particularly described as follows:

1. Summary of Terms of Option;

Subject to the satisfaction of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Optionor agrees to provide the Optionee with the option to purchase, all right, title and interest in, the Property (the "Option"), subject to underlying NSR obligations. During the term of this Agreement, all expenditures and reports required to maintain the Property in good standing will be the responsibility of the Optionee.

The aggregate price to exercise the Option is three hundred thousand Canadian dollars (CAD$300,000) with potential for a future bonus payment of up to CAD$500,000 which will be payable by the Optionee to the Optionor in accordance with Section 1 as follows:

a) CAD$20,000 (Deposit) within 5 days of the date of execution of this Agreement for an exclusive three-month Due Diligence Period;

b) CAD$100,000 (the "Initial Option Exercise Payment") in cash or shares (at election of Optionee) during the three-month period following the date of execution of this Agreement together with delivery of the Option Notice;

c) CAD$180,000 ("Year 1 Payment") comprising CAD$30,000 in cash and CAD$150,000 in cash or shares (at election of the Optionee) on the date that is no later than twelve months following the payment of the Initial Option Exercise Payment;

d) CAD$500,000 ("Bonus Payment") in cash or shares (at election of the Optionee) on the date that a bankable feasibility study is completed.

QP

This news release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Froude, P.Geo., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of Sokoman Minerals Corp.

About Sokoman Minerals Corp.

Sokoman Minerals Corp. is a discovery-oriented company with projects in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Company's primary focus is its portfolio of gold projects; the 100%-owned flagship, advanced-stage Moosehead, Crippleback Lake, and the district-scale Fleur de Lys project near Baie Verte in northwestern Newfoundland, that is targeting Dalradian-type orogenic gold mineralization similar to the Curraghinalt and Cavanacaw deposits in Northern Ireland. The Company entered into a strategic alliance with Benton Resources Inc. through three, large-scale, joint-venture properties including Grey River, Golden Hope, and Kepenkeck in Newfoundland. Sokoman is one of the largest landholders in Newfoundland, in Canada's newest and rapidly emerging gold districts.

In October 2023, Sokoman and Benton completed an agreement with Piedmont Lithium Inc., a major developer of lithium projects and processing plants in the USA, and exactly the right partner to have to advance the lithium project. The agreement provides for Piedmont to earn up to 62.5% of the Killick Lithium Project (formerly Golden Hope project) by funding up to $12 million in exploration expenses and issuing $10 million common shares in three stages. The Killick Lithium Project has been transferred to Killick Lithium Inc. (Killick), a 100%-owned subsidiary of Vinland Lithium Inc. (Vinland). Newly created Vinland has received $2 million in financing from Piedmont for a 19.9% interest, with the balance of ownership between Sokoman and Benton. Sokoman and Benton will continue to operate the exploration efforts at Killick through the earn-in stages. Sokoman and Benton will retain a royalty of 2% NSR on future production. Piedmont will have exclusive marketing rights for the promotion and sale of any lithium products produced from the project on a life-of-mine basis, and the right of first refusal on 100% offtake rights to the lithium concentrates.

Projects optioned with optionee fully vested:

East Alder Project optioned to Canterra Minerals Inc (SIC retains 850,000 shares of CTM plus 1% NSR)

Startrek Project optioned to Thunder Gold (SIC retains 1,750,000 shares of TGOL plus 1% NSR)

Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's property.

For more information, please contact:

Timothy Froude, P.Geo., President & CEO

T: 709-765-1726

E: tim@sokomanmineralscorp.com

Cathy Hume, VP Corporate Development, Director

T: 416-868-1079 x 251

E: cathy@chfir.com

Website: www.sokomanmineralscorp.com

Twitter: @SokomanMinerals

Facebook: @SokomanMinerals

LinkedIn: @SokomanMineralsCorp

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.

Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of the Corporation should be considered highly speculative. Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Sokoman Minerals Corp. will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by Sokoman Minerals Corp.

SOURCE: Sokoman Minerals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Strategic partnership expands Biognosys' services to include Alamar's NULISA assays as well as joint scientific research in biofluid-based proteomics

Complementary value of Biognosys' DIA-MS unbiased proteomics platform and Alamar's game-changing immunoassay platforms to be presented at the AACR 2024 Annual Meeting

ZURICH, Switzerland and FREMONT, Calif., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biognosys, a global leader in mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and Alamar Biosciences, Inc., a company powering precision proteomics to enable the earliest detection of disease, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership aimed at advancing scientific discovery in the field of biofluid proteomics biomarkers. This collaboration brings together Biognosys' expertise in unbiased discovery through data independent acquisition mass spectrometry (DIA-MS) and Alamar's cutting-edge immunoassays. This integrated approach enhances our understanding of biomarkers by combining deep unbiased DIA-MS discovery proteomics with highly specific and ultra-sensitive mid- and high-plex NULISA assays for low-abundance proteins such as cytokines, chemokines and important disease protein biomarkers from plasma.

In the Industry Spotlight Theater session hosted by Alamar at the American Society for Cancer Researchand Alamar's NULISAseq Inflammation Panel 250. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of integrated analysis and highlight the complementary insights derived from mass spectrometry and affinity-based assays in plasma.

Building upon this successful proof-of-concept study, Biognosys and Alamar are planning to further collaborate both commercially and scientifically as part of their strategic partnership.

NULISA Assay Services: Biognosys will offer NULISA assays from its state-of-the-art facility in Switzerland for previously hard to measure cytokines, chemokines, as well as other important disease specific markers from plasma and biofluids. These ultra-high sensitivity assays enable precise quantification of low abundance proteins, providing researchers with valuable insights into complex biological processes. They complement unbiased DIA-MS analysis of thousands of plasma proteins to elucidate systemic host response, and other inflammation or disease-related protein-fold changes. Research Collaboration: Biognosys and Alamar will embark on a joint research initiative to explore plasma biology. By leveraging Biognosys' unbiased discovery methods alongside Alamar's ultra-high sensitivity assays, the teams seek to unravel biological disease mechanisms by providing a more complete picture of the plasma proteome, enabling for the first time the coverage of essentially the complete dynamic range of protein abundance in plasma.

Oliver Rinner, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Biognosys, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration: "We are excited to join forces with Alamar to advance proteomics research. Our combined efforts will pave the way for breakthroughs in plasma biology by analyzing in an unbiased way more than 5,000 proteins together with panels of hundreds of well characterized cytokines and other high value low abundance proteins using highly specific NULISA assays. With this approach we are aiming to cover the whole dynamic range of plasma proteins."

"We are thrilled to partner with Biognosys to provide the research community with expanded access to proteomic insights from discovery through to clinical research," said Yuling Luo, Ph.D., Chairman, Founder and CEO of Alamar. "Biognosys is a leading provider of advanced mass spec proteomics services to researchers around the world, and we look forward to adding the highest sensitivity high-multiplex immunoassays to their plasma proteomics offering."

This partnership underscores the commitment of both companies to scientific excellence and their shared vision of advancing precision medicine through innovative technologies.

Biognosys' DIA mass spectrometry unbiased proteomics platform

Biognosys' DIA proteomics analysis software, Spectronaut

Alamar's NULISA platform: a new standard in proteomic analysis

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

About Biognosys



At Biognosys, we believe that deep proteome insights hold the key to breakthrough discoveries that transform science for better lives. With our versatile portfolio of next-generation proteomics solutions, including the TrueDiscovery, TrueTarget, and TrueSignature research service platforms, our flagship software Spectronaut, and the PQ500 kit, we make the proteome actionable to empower research, drug development, and clinical decision-making. Our solutions provide a multi-dimensional view of protein expression, function, and structure in all biological species and sample types. Our unique, patented technologies utilize high-resolution mass spectrometry to quantify thousands of proteins with industry-leading precision, depth, and throughput. Through our strategic partnership with Bruker.

About Alamar



Alamar Biosciences is a privately held life sciences company with a mission to power precision proteomics to enable the earliest detection of disease. The company's proprietary NULISA Platform along with the ARGO HT System work seamlessly with the latest advances in genomics to achieve single digit attomolar detection sensitivity, greatly surpassing the most sensitive protein detection technology on the market today. For more information, please visit alamarbio.com.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b9485cd0-929f-48e9-b405-efdfbf7b5caa

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5eabe48a-06b5-4c37-8181-d5ff5a41a1cb
As part of its ongoing IT digital transformation, P&O Ferries initiates plans to replace its legacy application systems. The British ferry company will expand its partnership with IT service consultant Netcompany to implement PULSE, a modular AI-based system that has proven success in de-risking legacy replacement programmes in transport.

LONDON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing IT digital transformation, P&O Ferries has initiated its legacy replacement programme. With more than 30,000 sailings each year and numerous initiatives around the decarbonisation of its fleet, the British shipping company will implement a platform that will enable them to deliver solutions and capabilities to set them apart in the market - faster and better, while removing the risk of changing their core ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).

P&O Ferries will continue its collaboration with Netcompany, the IT services consultancy who has been a strategic partner and advisor for their digital transformation journey since it was announced in 2022. Netcompany will implement its PULSE platform to build and safely deliver a minimum viable product (MVP), to provide an integration layer for both legacy applications and a new suite of business applications, which are currently being implemented.

This layered, step-change approach means that P&O Ferries can prove capability in the new applications suite first, before decommissioning the legacy applications and gives the company more control and opportunities for feedback at each phase. The PULSE platform will enable better process and workflow digitisation to improve business efficiency and in the long-term, to enable the use of new machine learning and AI-powered solutions.

Once the MVP has been successfully delivered for a specific ferry route, it will then be rolled out across the entirety of P&O Ferries' routes, until the company is ready to fully decommission the remaining legacy applications.

"We are delighted to expand our partnership with Netcompany as we enter a critical part of our digital transformation programme. Modernising our legacy systems is a key part of remaining competitive in the fast-changing ferries landscape. Netcompany has proven over the years that they prioritise service delivery at scale and have the innovative technology to enable current and future operations-sensitive initiatives," says Chloe Friend, CIO, P&O Ferries.

"We are proud to continue and our strategic partnership with P&O Ferries as a trusted advisor in delivering their digital transformation - to a high quality, long-term efficiency, and with minimum risk," says Damien Venkatasamy, Partner in Netcompany. "The most exciting part of this legacy replacement programme is the opportunities it opens for P&O Ferries in the future. Using PULSE as a platform means they will be able to maximise and streamline any new technological, or data-driven innovation and sustainability efforts P&O Ferries may want to initiate in the future."

PULSE has proven success in de-risking transformation projects across transport, logistics, and other critical infrastructure environments. At its core, PULSE can simultaneously process and translate millions of unstructured data from multiple inputs to enable and simplify real-time decision-making. Most notably, the platform was recently announced as the foundation of AIRHART, which enables AI-based real-time decision-making for over 4,500 operational staff at Copenhagen Airport in Denmark.

For more information, visit www.netcompany.com and www.poferries.com.

CONTACT: Kim Vigilia, kim.vigilia@netcompany.com, +44 20 3868 2941

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COLORADO SPRINGS, CO / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Fortitude Gold Corp. (OTCQB:FTCO) (the "Company") announced multiple oxide gold drill intercepts at and near surface from the East Pit target located on the County Line Property. Intercepts include 16.76 meters grading 2.19 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 7.62 meters grading 1.28 g/t gold, and 6.10 meters grading 1.49 g/t gold. Fortitude Gold is a gold producer, developer, and explorer with operations in Nevada, U.S.A. offering investors exposure to both gold production and dividend yield.

East Pit drill highlights include (m=meters, g/t=grams per tonne) (full drill table below):

Hole# CLRC-260:

16.76 m of 2.19 g/t gold

Hole# CLRC-262:

7.62 m of 1.28 g/t gold

Hole# CLRC-267:

6.10 m of 0.99 g/t gold

incl.

3.05 m of 1.15 g/t gold &

6.10 m of 1.49 g/t gold

Hole# CLRC-272:

21.34 m of 0.78 g/t gold

incl.

4.57 m of 1.19 g/t gold

Hole# CLRC-283:

18.29 m of 0.74 g/t gold

incl.

1.52 m of 1.92 g/t gold

The County Line East Pit reverse circulation drill program builds on the Company's July 2023 drill results where 38.10 meters intercepted 0.75 g/t gold including 3.05 meters grading 2.11 g/t gold. This program intercepted multiple intervals of oxide gold mineralization grading in excess of 1 gram per tonne at and near surface. The East Pit is located approximately 500 meters southeast of the main County Line historic open pit. The Company targets near term County Line gold production from both pits.

The County Line project is located approximately 26 kilometers northwest of the Company's operating flagship Isabella Pearl gold mine via paved Nevada State Route 361. The Company targets County Line ore feed for its Isabella Pearl operation. The proximity of the two properties is expected to allow the trucking of ore from the County Line property to the Company's Isabella Pearl Project with its existing heap leach pad and gold processing facilities. The Company filed a Plan of Operations with the Bureau of Land Management in 2023 and targets the County Line project as its second Nevada gold mine.

"This drill program consistently intercepted much higher-grade gold than we have previously encountered at County Line's East Pit and looks to be a new discovery of a high-grade gold feeder zone under the pit," stated Mr. Allan Turner, Vice President of Exploration for Fortitude Gold. "We await the results of additional assays from this area, but thus far these drill results would indicate we have added ounces at East Pit, and it is likely to have a higher grade associated with it than we previously thought. Mineralization at East Pit remains open to the north, south, and east, and mapping and surface sampling programs have identified two additional nearby drill targets."

"It is exciting to see these County Line East Pit drill results, including 16.76 meters of 2.19 grams per tonne gold, indicating a near surface high-grade gold feeder system with solid expansion potential," stated Mr. Jason Reid, CEO and President of Fortitude Gold. "Though we initially focused our attention on the high-grade gold at the County Line pit, we had always anticipated the expansion of the East Pit, and these results are confirmation of that. Having two high-grade gold open pits in close proximity to each other at County Line should allow for efficient mine sequencing. We eagerly await permit approval to begin mining both these pits as an aggregate operation and trucking the ore a short distance down the highway to our Isabella Pearl project's heap leach and gold processing facilities."

COUNTY LINE EAST PIT, APRIL 2024 DRILL SUMMARY HIGHLIGHTS Hole # Angle From Interval Au Hole # Angle From Interval Au deg Meters Meters g/t deg Meters Meters g/t CLRC-257 -75 0.00 6.10 0.51 CLRC-267 -45 0.00 3.05 0.53 13.72 32.00 0.40 15.24 3.05 0.61 incl. 22.86 1.52 1.06 33.53 6.10 0.99 80.77 10.67 0.42 incl. 33.53 3.05 1.15 CLRC-258 -55 0.00 7.62 0.45 57.91 6.10 1.49 10.67 10.67 0.37 CLRC-268 -75 3.05 21.34 0.64 24.38 19.81 0.55 incl. 13.72 1.52 1.03 incl. 38.10 1.52 1.14 incl. 19.81 1.52 1.65 45.72 4.57 0.41 27.43 19.81 0.50 85.34 1.52 0.63 CLRC-269 -90 0.00 9.14 0.43 CLRC-259 -75 0.00 13.72 0.36 16.76 1.52 0.56 41.15 7.62 0.49 32.00 1.52 0.71 50.29 3.05 0.46 CLRC-270 -55 0.00 16.76 0.72 CLRC-260 -55 4.57 9.14 0.56 incl. 0.00 3.05 1.34 13.72 16.76 2.19 21.34 6.10 0.74 30.48 12.19 0.77 incl. 24.38 1.52 1.01 incl. 36.58 1.52 2.02 CLRC-271 -55 0.00 12.19 0.51 45.72 3.05 0.31 incl. 7.62 1.52 1.05 54.86 12.19 0.50 16.76 13.72 0.71 80.77 4.57 0.55 incl. 25.91 1.52 1.11 incl. 83.82 1.52 1.06 CLRC-272 -65 3.05 21.34 0.78 CLRC-261 -85 0.00 16.76 0.75 incl. 9.14 4.57 1.19 22.86 6.10 0.43 incl. 16.76 1.52 1.47 30.48 15.24 0.67 incl. 19.81 1.52 2.28 incl. 38.10 3.05 1.45 25.91 3.05 0.36 CLRC-262 -50 4.57 4.57 0.81 CLRC-273 -45 1.52 1.52 0.55 9.14 6.10 0.30 7.62 6.10 0.60 15.24 4.57 0.80 incl. 10.67 1.52 1.01 19.81 7.62 1.28 15.24 4.57 0.39 27.43 16.76 0.61 22.86 7.62 0.42 incl. 32.00 1.52 1.34 CLRC-274 -45 1.52 3.05 0.32 CLRC-263 -50 0.00 4.57 0.36 9.14 16.76 0.48 9.14 28.96 0.56 CLRC-275 -55 3.05 4.57 0.55 41.15 3.05 0.40 13.72 10.67 0.48 50.29 3.05 0.44 25.91 4.57 0.64 54.86 3.05 1.16 36.58 7.62 0.30 CLRC-264 -50 4.57 4.57 0.77 CLRC-276 -55 0.00 39.62 0.43 10.67 16.76 0.53 incl. 28.96 1.52 1.34 30.48 3.05 0.53 CLRC-277 -62 0.00 33.53 0.61 CLRC-265 -50 3.05 4.57 0.72 incl. 22.86 1.52 1.69 18.29 10.67 0.58 incl. 30.48 3.05 1.19 33.53 3.05 0.48 103.63 4.57 0.42 CLRC-266 -85 6.10 3.05 0.38 CLRC-278 -45 0.00 24.38 0.55 24.38 3.05 0.55 27.43 4.57 0.51 36.58 7.62 0.42 35.05 4.57 0.57 56.39 6.10 0.79 64.01 4.57 0.52 incl. 59.44 1.52 1.04 Drill Table Continues Below COUNTY LINE EAST PIT, APRIL 2024 DRILL SUMMARY HIGHLIGHTS CONTINUED Hole # Angle From Interval Au Hole # Angle From Interval Au deg Meters Meters g/t deg Meters Meters g/t CLRC-279 -80 0.00 27.43 0.60 CLRC-283 -55 0.00 19.81 0.57 incl. 25.91 1.52 1.01 24.38 18.29 0.74 59.44 6.10 0.51 incl. 41.15 1.52 1.92 CLRC-280 -45 3.05 1.52 0.39 65.53 7.62 0.73 7.62 16.76 0.50 incl. 65.53 1.52 1.25 incl. 7.62 1.52 1.04 80.77 1.52 0.35 25.91 10.67 0.46 111.25 1.52 1.33 38.10 4.57 0.42 CLRC-284 -45 0.00 24.38 0.50 60.96 3.05 2.01 incl. 16.76 1.52 1.15 CLRC-281 -45 0.00 1.52 0.41 CLRC-285 -65 0.00 3.05 0.37 4.57 15.24 0.44 6.10 16.76 0.53 24.38 4.57 0.87 incl. 16.76 1.52 1.48 incl. 24.38 1.52 1.76 68.58 3.05 0.59 CLRC-282 -45 4.57 15.24 0.44 103.63 1.52 0.40 22.86 4.57 0.91 Assays by American Assay Laboratories, Sparks, Nevada, USA. Meters downhole, not true width incl. 22.86 1.52 1.29 28.96 1.52 0.39 35.05 3.05 1.00 39.62 1.52 0.42

About Fortitude Gold Corp.:

Fortitude Gold is a U.S. based gold producer targeting projects with low operating costs, high margins, and strong returns on capital. The Company's strategy is to grow organically, remain debt-free and distribute substantial dividends. The Company's Nevada Mining Unit consists of seven high-grade gold properties located in the Walker Lane Mineral Belt and an eighth high-grade gold property in west central Nevada. The Isabella Pearl gold mine, located on the Isabella Pearl mineralized trend, is currently in production. Nevada, U.S.A. is among the world's premier mining friendly jurisdictions.

Cautionary Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. If you are risk-averse you should NOT buy shares in Fortitude Gold Corp. The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are 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. When used in this press release, the words "plan", "target", "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the statements regarding the Company's strategy, future plans for production, future expenses and costs, future liquidity and capital resources, and estimates of mineralized material are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to the Company on the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release.

CONTACT:

Greg Patterson

719-717-9825

greg.patterson@fortitudegold.com

www.Fortitudegold.com

SOURCE: Fortitude Gold Corporation

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Kingsmen Resources Ltd. (TSXV: KNG) (OTCQB: KNGRF) ("Kingsmen" or the "Company") is pleased to report the recent completion of multi-element analyses on all rock samples collected in and around the old Soledad mine area (1.0 square mile) of the total Las Coloradas project. The Las Coloradas project is located 30km from Hidalgo de Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. Portions of the Soledad structure were mined by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company), the U.S. based subsidiary of Grupo Mexico in the period 1944 to 1952.

The silver values and silver equivalent values for the Soledad Mine area targets and subsidiary structures are presented in Table 1 and Figure 1. Silver equivalent values are overall significantly higher than the silver grades and reflect the silver-lead-zinc gold-copper composition of the mineralization. The Soledad mine area is presently one of four areas recognizable for significant mineralization.

Kingsmen's sampling of residual mineralization in the old workings (where accessible) on the NW-trending Soledad structure/vein system, and subsidiary structures, confirmed the presence of high-grade silver mineralization which likely continues at depth below the water table. Sample widths ranged from 0.5 to 1.3 meters. The Soledad structure/vein system, as currently recognized, is approximately 1.7 km long. Blind extensions to all the mineralized structures, as well as new structures, are likely at depth. The underground ASARCO workings (1943 to 1952) are located on the southern end of the Soledad vein system (Figure 1; Soledad and Rosario shafts). The workings extend in excess of 250 meters along strike and to a vertical depth of approximately 125 meters on four levels. The workings did not extend below the water table.

The mineralization is shallow, high-grade, silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper quartz-calcite veins hosted by all rock types in structures that cut all rock types. The sizes of the old workings suggest the mined mineralization may have been up to several meters in width. The mineralized structures have not been explored by drilling. There are strong similarities/parallels with the mineralization in the underground Santa Barbara mine where vein systems vary from 3 to 6.5 km along strike and the vertical extension of the shoots have a vertical extension of up to 900 meters. The Santa Barbara mine is an underground mining complex belonging to Grupo Mexico, Mexico's largest mining company.

Scott Emerson, President commented: As we continue with our systematic and disciplined exploration approach on this newly consolidated district, the results from the Soledad Mine area are confirming that distinct areas of mineralization are recognizable indicating potential for significant mineralization in the other locales as we identify new and existing target areas for our drill campaign.



Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9640/204222_7cb57c55b46119b3_003full.jpg

Table 1

Sample Width (m) Au ppm Ag ppm AgEq ppm Cu ppm Pb ppm Zn ppm PRSLC-0094 0.8 0.027 81.7 99.6 21 11720 2570 PRSLC-0095 1.3 0.397 97.4 133.3 122 6860 4480 PRSLC-0096 0.9 0.316 144.1 226 150 26550 11540 PRSLC-0097 1 0.494 174.9 232.5 92 23320 2480 PRSLC-0098 0.7 0.218 186.1 200 103 14020 1570 PRSLC-0099 1 0.015 17.6 27.1 45 895 3740 PRSLC-0100 0.9 0.31 69 133.2 123 15710 8280 PRSLC-0101 0.6 0.478 152.7 203.3 198 15040 5100 PRSLC-0102 0.7 0.174 31.7 57.6 158 1340 6150 PRSLC-0103 0.9 0.109 35.7 49 84 2360 2680 PRSLC-0104 0.5 0.23 42.3 63.5 116 2750 2570 PRSLC-0105 0.8 0.006 2.9 18.9 34 63 6130 PRSLC-0106 0.9 0.09 22.8 36.4 45 726 3850 PRSLC-0107 0.5 0.447 484.5 529.7 159 23710 22120 PRSLC-0108 1.3 0.027 7.1 16 54 372 2770 PRSLC-0109 0.9 0.012 5.6 9.4 30 624 949 PRSLC-0110 0.6 0.627 54.7 193 56 43500 4280 PRSLC-0111 0.9 0.083 34.4 58.9 47 6380 4400 PRSLC-0113 0.5 1.288 571.4 919.9 322 162710 6510 PRSLC-0114 0.9 0.647 177.8 301.7 54 47480 4190 PRSLC-0115 1 0.021 3.7 13 72 452 2730 PRSLC-0116 0.5 3.81 246 739.9 86 119010 7560 PRSLC-0117 0.9 0.316 134.8 163.3 42 12030 2610 PRSLC-0118 0.7 0.242 278.2 278.2 140 13630 2370 PRSLC-0119 0.5 0.27 155 194.3 526 15220 5230 PRSLC-0120 1.2 0.007 8.6 10.1 40 603 398 PRSLC-0121 1.3 0.007 9.9 10.8 68 351 369 PRSLC-0125 0.5 3.709 397.2 733 71 59150 10710 PRSLC-0126 0.8 0.035 1.4 7.1 68 68 1080 PRSLC-0127 0.6 1.429 184.8 324.7 37 33870 1310 PRSLC-0128 0.7 0.012 1.9 6.7 61 81 1410 PRSLC-0129 0.5 0.176 23.9 58.8 48 3190 7840 PRSLC-0130 0.5 0.75 138.9 303 130 25620 32340 PRSLC-0131 0.6 0.034 2.2 14.2 47 357 3480 PRSLC-0132 1.3 0.045 38.4 48.9 28 1550 4410 PRSLC-0133 1.1 0.039 9.7 15.3 35 1150 765 PRSLC-0134 0.6 1.304 75.1 197.5 98 7450 11540 PRSLC-0136 0.5 2.06 80.9 258.2 51 16830 5110 PRSLC-0138 0.5 0.393 22 54.0 42 1610 2020 PRSLC-0139 0.7 0.026 10.5 17.2 58 1450 1300 PRSLC-0140 0.5 0.631 534.8 756.4 298 113590 13550 LC-220623-003 Composite 0.25 400 513.1 110 78800 1160 LC-220623-005 0.5 1.09 72.2 303.3 193 57500 17000 LC-220623-006 0.5 0.45 15.9 174.5 133 48600 9480 LC-070723-001 Composite 1.32 108 293.5 30 29600 19800 LC-070723-002 Composite 0.78 108 188.6 72 12900 7440 LC-070723-003 Composite 0.68 132 392.7 164 30800 67000 LC-070723-004 Composite 0 1.36 2.2 2 308 158 LC-070723-005 Composite 0.75 304 661.4 261 65900 86100 PRS-00011 Composite 0.443 83.4 118.6 58 0 7898 PRS-00014 Composite 3.522 60.3 312 72 0 7009 PRS-00023 Composite 1.319 154 250.3 104 0 13235 PRS-00026 Composite 1.709 34.7 170.9 244 0 8604 PRS-00029 Composite 0.965 393 419.6 103 0 13968

The silver equivalent calculation utilizes the standard equation and is based on current spot metal prices of silver $25/oz, gold $2163/oz, copper $4.04/lb, lead $$0.98/lb and zinc $1.16/lb. Recoveries are set at 100% for all metals for purposes of the silver equivalent calculation as no metallurgical test data is available. AgEq is used for illustrative purposes only and does not imply that the metals are economically recoverable.

QA/QC Program

The QA/QC program employes blanks and certified reference standard, and check sampling. Samples from separate areas were analyzed at Actlabs, Zacatecas. Sealed and tagged sample bags were transported to the laboratory where the entire sample was crushed to a nominal -2 mm, mechanically split to obtain a representative sub-sample and then pulverized to at least 95% -105 microns (m).

All samples were analyzed for gold by Fire Assay Fusion-AA finish. All samples were analyzed for silver by aqua extraction with ICP finish. Multi-element analysis was by four acid extraction with ICP-OES finish.

About Las Coloradas

Acquired and consolidated in 2023, the 100% owned Las Coloradas Project (8.5 km2 -3.3 sq miles) represents a consolidation of a historic mining district which covers numerous silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper mines previously exploited by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company), the U.S. based subsidiary of Grupo Mexico.

Las Coloradas is in the Parral mining district of the Central Mexican Silver Belt, and is located approximately 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Hidalgo de Parral and 40 kilometers east of the San Francisco de Oro and Santa Barbara mining districts where several old major mines are located, such as La Prieta, Veta Colorada, Palmilla, Esmeralda, San Francisco del Oro and Santa Barbara. As well, new major mining projects are currently being explored in the district; Cordero (Discovery Silver Corp.), 35 kms north of Parral, and La Cigarra (Kootenay Silver Inc.), 35 kms northwest of Parral. Click here to see locator map, https://www.kingsmenresources.com/area-history.

Qualified Person

Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure set out in this news release.

About Kingsmen Resources

In line with Kingsmen's organic-growth strategy, the Company's focus is on exploration and development, and is currently focused on district-scale exploration for high -margin metallic mineral deposits in the prolific mining districts of Parral Mexico. In addition, the company has a 1% NSR on the Los Ricos North project in Mexico operated by GoGold Resources Inc. The Company's leaders have extensive experience in the mining and financial sectors. Kingsmen is a publicly-traded company (TSXV: KNG) (OTCQB: KNGRF) and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On behalf of the Board,

"Scott Emerson"

Scott Emerson,

President & CEO Phone:

6046859316

Email: se@kingsmenresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statement:

All statements, trend analysis and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events or results constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding the completion of the acquisition of the Las Coloradas Project and receipt of regulatory approval, are forward-looking statements. Although Kingsmen believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Kingsmen can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in Kingsmen's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators, and assumptions made with regard to: Kingsmen's ability to make the required payments under the definitive agreements; and Kingsmen's ability to secure the necessary regulatory approvals. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Kingsmen's expectations include risks associated with the business of Kingsmen; risks related to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions to the closing of the acquisition of the Las Coloradas Project; non-completion of the acquisition of the Las Coloradas Project; risks related to exploration and potential development of the Las Coloradas Project; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time and additional risks identified in Kingsmen's filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedarplus.ca). Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Kingsmen does not undertake any obligation to update forward looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204222

SOURCE: Kingsmen Resources Ltd
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Cisco Systems Inc.

By Amanda Cumberland

Do you feel a bit lost when people refer to certain environmental sustainability topics and aren't sure where to start when it comes to learning more? Sustainability 101 is a blog series that you can turn to for information about different environmental terms that may come up at work, during discussions with friends, and even at your annual holiday gathering.

Companies play a pivotal role in addressing the climate challenges of today and tomorrow, with initiatives and innovations helping to build a more sustainable future. Technology companies can especially play a crucial role in helping to reduce global emissions. According to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report published in 2023, "Estimates reveal that the adoption of digital technology solutions in different sectors could help reduce global GHG emissions by 6-20 percent by 2030, depending on modeling scenarios and the sectors taken into account." And besides the potential from innovation, there is also an expectation from investors, customers, and employees for companies to implement environmental initiatives and transparently report on their progress. Many regulators around the world are requiring companies to report on these initiatives as well. According to WEF, "Stakeholders nowadays are pressing organizations to go beyond expectations, imagine a better way to do business, address environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns concretely and transparently, and to set goals and report progress for business sustainability."

Environmental reporting is an important part of this journey; it is how companies disclose their environmental impact and progress on sustainability efforts to stakeholders. According to the Governance and Accounting Institute (G&A), 98% of companies in the largest half of the Russell 1000 by market cap published a sustainability report in 2022. Setting clear public goals, measuring progress against them, and reporting on that progress is a best practice and, increasingly, a regulatory requirement. Not only does reporting help increase transparency and trust, but it also helps promote best practices and collaboration by demonstrating a more proactive approach to sustainability.

Changes in environmental reporting

Many companies have been voluntarily reporting on their environmental performance and progress against their goals for years. Companies have traditionally reported in two ways: by publishing their own public reports aligning with standard environmental reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and by submitting information to formal indices, raters, and rankers, such as CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project).

In recent years, we have seen a shift from voluntary reporting to mandatory reporting. The need for comparability, accountability, and defendable and auditable data and progress across companies contributes to this change.

For example, in the European Union, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) modernizes and strengthens existing rules concerning the social and environmental information that companies have to report. The CSRD aims to ensure that investors and other stakeholders have access to the information they need to assess the impact of companies on people and the environment, and for investors to assess the financial risks and opportunities arising from climate change and other sustainability issues. A broader set of companies will now be required to report on sustainability, and companies subject to the CSRD will have to report according to European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).

Mandatory regulations are still evolving in many parts of the world. For example, in the United States, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently finalized a rule to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings. And multiple jurisdictions around the world are actively pursuing or considering adoption roadmaps and pathways toward mandatory application of International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SDS).

Due to the urgency of climate change and the risks it poses, many companies recognize the importance of sustainability initiatives and transparent reporting regardless of the mandatory regulatory status. According to the WEF Global Risks Report, two-thirds of respondents rank extreme weather as the top risk most likely to present a material crisis on a global scale in 2024.

The future of environmental reporting

As we innovate in the climate space, there is also room to innovate on the way we approach environmental reporting.

Scenario modeling can help enhance the quality of environmental reporting by helping us gain a deeper understanding of potential future environmental impacts, risks, and opportunities such as climate change projections, regulatory changes, and advancements in technology.

Transition plans help companies gain a better understanding of how they intend to change their operations, practices, or business models to address environmental challenges. Robust scenario modeling can help project future performance against a defined baseline, and strategies and actions can be developed in response. In addition, these scenarios help us understand and make updates based on the latest climate science.

The complexity of the questionnaires and methodologies that raters and rankers (such as CDP, mentioned earlier) use to assess companies is growing. Reporting into these increasingly detailed frameworks relies on having quality data and estimations, which depends on a collective effort with customers, suppliers, and other partners to help gather the best data.

How Cisco approaches environmental reporting

Cisco has a long history of voluntary reporting on sustainability, and we want to continue to share our progress in an authentic and transparent way. To remain transparent, we publish an annual Purpose Report and maintain an ESG Reporting Hub. The report describes our commitments, goals, progress, and impact for the ESG topics that are important to our stakeholders from our most recent fiscal year. The ESG Reporting Hub includes in-depth information and historical data on all reporting topics.

Cisco's 2040 net-zero target and near- and long-term targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) under its Net-Zero Standard, the world's first framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. This builds on our history of setting meaningful goals, measuring our progress and impact, and reporting on them transparently.

Cisco is trusted in the IT space, and we are committed to maintaining that trust in our environmental reporting. Since quality reporting depends on a collective effort across the value chain to gather reliable data and estimations, we strive to influence our customers, suppliers, and partners to embrace robust reporting as well. For example, our suppliers are expected to report GHG emissions and energy consumption to CDP (a not-for-profit organization that runs a global disclosure system) on an annual basis. We know we must all work together to drive meaningful change for our planet's health and future generations. Likewise, a collective emphasis on clear and accurate reporting will help inform our efforts and measure the progress we are all making for the planet.

Learn more in our ESG Reporting Hub.

View original content here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cisco Systems Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Cisco Systems Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cisco-systems-inc

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Cisco Systems Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Ripple, the leading provider of enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced its plans to launch a stablecoin, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar (USD). Ripple's stablecoin will be 100% backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US government treasuries, and other cash equivalents. These reserve assets will be audited by a third-party accounting firm, and Ripple will publish monthly attestations.

The stablecoin market is about $150B today, and is forecasted to exceed $2.8 trillion by 2028. There's clear demand for stablecoins that deliver trust, stability, and utility. To meet this growing demand, Ripple will issue a stablecoin, leveraging its decade-plus of experience building real-world financial solutions for institutions around the world.

"This is a natural step for Ripple to continue bridging the gap between traditional finance and crypto," said Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO. "Institutions entering this space are finding success by partnering with compliant, crypto-native players and Ripple's track record and resiliency speaks for itself, as we launch new products and acquire companies through multiple market cycles. This move is also monumental for the XRP Ledger community, driving more use cases, liquidity and opportunities for developers and users."

At launch, the stablecoin will be available on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains, with plans to expand to additional blockchains and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and apps over time.

"Issuing our stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum will serve as a pivotal entry point to unlock new opportunities for institutional and DeFi use cases across multiple ecosystems," added Monica Long, Ripple President. "The XRP Ledger's native capabilities, including a decentralized exchange and automated market maker, were built to utilize XRP as the bridge asset. Bringing a trusted stablecoin onto XRPL will drive more adoption and development, contributing to a vibrant ecosystem."

Key benefits of Ripple's stablecoin include:

Enterprise-Grade : Ripple specializes in blockchain-based enterprise grade solutions that financial institutions and enterprises need. Ripple will leverage both XRP and the stablecoin in its payment solution to further improve the customer experience and serve as the first enterprise use-case of the asset at scale. There is demand from Ripple's customers in emerging markets to enable stablecoin payouts.

: Ripple specializes in blockchain-based enterprise grade solutions that financial institutions and enterprises need. Ripple will leverage both XRP and the stablecoin in its payment solution to further improve the customer experience and serve as the first enterprise use-case of the asset at scale. There is demand from Ripple's customers in emerging markets to enable stablecoin payouts. Compliance-First Mindset: Ripple is committed to regulatory compliance and has a growing license portfolio in key regions around the globe. The company and its subsidiaries collectively hold a New York BitLicense, nearly 40 money transmitter licenses across the US, a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration with the Central Bank of Ireland. Earlier this year, Ripple agreed to acquire Standard Custody, one of the few crypto companies that holds a NY Trust Charter, to expand its license footprint to better serve enterprise customers.

Ripple is committed to regulatory compliance and has a growing license portfolio in key regions around the globe. The company and its subsidiaries collectively hold a New York BitLicense, nearly 40 money transmitter licenses across the US, a Major Payment Institution License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a Virtual Asset Service Provider registration with the Central Bank of Ireland. Earlier this year, Ripple agreed to acquire Standard Custody, one of the few crypto companies that holds a NY Trust Charter, to expand its license footprint to better serve enterprise customers. Liquidity on the Decentralized Exchange (DEX): While XRP is the native currency on the XRPL, the Ledger was built to support any type of asset issued to trade on the DEX and quickly settle anywhere in the world with low transaction costs. Bringing more credible assets on the DEX, such as Ripple's stablecoin, will drive numerous benefits for users, developers, and apps.

While XRP is the native currency on the XRPL, the Ledger was built to support any type of asset issued to trade on the DEX and quickly settle anywhere in the world with low transaction costs. Bringing more credible assets on the DEX, such as Ripple's stablecoin, will drive numerous benefits for users, developers, and apps. Transparent Stablecoin Reserve : Backed by a 1:1 reserve of cash and cash equivalents, Ripple's stablecoin is designed to ensure transparency and reliability. Once the stablecoin is available, Ripple will publish monthly attestations of the assets.

: Backed by a 1:1 reserve of cash and cash equivalents, Ripple's stablecoin is designed to ensure transparency and reliability. Once the stablecoin is available, Ripple will publish monthly attestations of the assets. Multichain Compatibility: The Ripple stablecoin will be issued on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks using XRPL native functionality and ERC20 token standards. Developers on both XRPL and ETH will be able to incorporate the Ripple stablecoin so that users can transact with stability, confidence, and trust. The Ripple stablecoin will expand native issuance to other blockchains, allowing users to benefit from cross-chain interoperability.

For over 10 years, Ripple has been the industry leader in providing enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions. It was the first company to address the multi-trillion-dollar pain points associated with cross-border payments, utilizing blockchain and crypto at scale. Ripple's payment and custody infrastructure has experienced continuous global growth, with live custody offerings in 20 jurisdictions and payments solutions available in 80+ payout markets, representing more than 90% of the global foreign exchange market.

Ripple's stablecoin is expected to be available later this year, subject to applicable regulatory approval. To learn more about Ripple's stablecoin, please reach out to stablecoin@ripple.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240404802548/en/

Contacts:

Stacey Ngo

press@ripple.com
Australian corporation selects Blackline's tech for best-in-class lone worker safety features, 24/7 live monitoring, and turnkey setup

Blackline Safety Corp. (TSX: BLN), a global leader in connected safety technology, today announced a new deal valued at $1.4 million with a water utility provider based in Australia.

After commissioning a third-party analysis that named Blackline Safety devices the best lone worker solution on the global market, the corporation selected Blackline and their Australian Channel Partner to provide Blackline's lone worker safety app, Loner Mobile, and G7c cloud-connected devices. The award-winning wearable G7c-with features such as SOS latch, fall and no motion detection, and real-time connectivity-provides a critical lifeline in case of emergency.

This is the latest in a series of deals Blackline Safety has announced with water utility providers in recent years. Blackline Safety devices currently protect half of the water and wastewater companies in the United Kingdom.

"Our devices are particularly well suited to the utility industry, including water and wastewater," said Blackline Safety Vice President of International Sales, Peter Attalla. "People in these fields are at elevated risk when they go to work."

Utility industry workers face multiple hazards on the job such as gas exposures, confined spaces, potential falls, adverse weather, customer confrontations, and working alone in areas with limited cellular coverage.

"More and more utility companies around the world are opting for Blackline devices because they want the best to protect their people. We're noticing that utility companies want this protection from a single provider who offers a turnkey solution with no expensive infrastructure or complicated setup-Blackline's solutions tick all the boxes," Attalla continued.

The provider also opted for three years of monitoring services by Blackline's Safety Operations Center (SOC). Blackline Safety's in-house SOC is available 24/7 and can respond to someone who needs help in seconds.

"Blackline products, combined with our SOC monitoring, set the standard for the safest lone worker solution on the market," said Heather Melder, Blackline Safety Director, Safety Operations Center. "We've raised the bar in ensuring workers are safe while on the job-they're protected because they're connected."

About Blackline Safety: Blackline Safety is a technology leader driving innovation in the industrial workforce through IoT (Internet of Things). With connected safety devices and predictive analytics, Blackline enables companies to drive towards zero safety incidents and improved operational performance. Blackline provides wearable devices, personal and area gas monitoring, cloud-connected software and data analytics to meet demanding safety challenges and enhance overall productivity for organizations with coverage in more than 100 countries. Armed with cellular and satellite connectivity, Blackline provides a lifeline to tens of thousands of people, having reported over 225 billion data-points and initiated over seven million emergency alerts. For more information, visit BlacklineSafety.com and connect with us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240404408216/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA

Blackline Safety

Christine Gillies, Chief Product and Marketing Officer

cgillies@blacklinesafety.com

+1 403-629-9434



INVESTOR/ANALYST

Blackline Safety

Shane Grennan, Chief Financial Officer

sgrennan@blacklinesafety.com

+1 403-630-8400
The "Denmark Loyalty Programs Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook 50+ KPIs on Loyalty Programs Trends by End-Use Sectors, Operational KPIs, Retail Product Dynamics, and Consumer Demographics Q1 2024 Update" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The report delivers an exhaustive compilation of over 50 key performance indicators (KPIs), offering corporate entities, retailers, and market analysts an in-depth understanding of the current state and future potential of loyalty programs in Denmark. It encompasses trends by end-use sectors, operational KPIs, retail product dynamics, and consumer demographics to present a holistic view of the sector.

Key Market Insights

Market Growth Trajectory: Following a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2019 to 2023, the Danish loyalty programs market is expected to maintain its upward trajectory, potentially reaching a valuation of US$1.07 billion by 2028.

Following a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7% from 2019 to 2023, the Danish loyalty programs market is expected to maintain its upward trajectory, potentially reaching a valuation of US$1.07 billion by 2028. Trend Analysis: A surge in loyalty program engagements is identified across channels, with a particular emphasis on mobile and online platforms, reflecting changing consumer behavior and digital integration.

A surge in loyalty program engagements is identified across channels, with a particular emphasis on mobile and online platforms, reflecting changing consumer behavior and digital integration. Sector-Specific Developments: Targeted insights in retail, financial services, travel, hospitality, and other key industries reveal the nuances and opportunities within each segment's loyalty strategy.

This strategic report emphasizes the importance for businesses to integrate loyalty programs into their customer engagement schemes effectively. It encourages organizations to garner the intelligence essential to forging more profound and rewarding relationships with their clientele.

Comprehending the shifts and tendencies within the loyalty programs sphere in Denmark is crucial for stakeholders aiming to capitalize on customer retention and enhance brand loyalty. With the granular analysis provided, decision-makers can benchmark their loyalty strategies against market standards to ensure competitive positioning.

Implications for Market Participants: Impact on Retail and Consumer Business

This exhaustive databook is instrumental for retail businesses and consumer brands, providing them with the knowledge to reassess and potentially modify their loyalty programs to align with market expectations and consumer preferences.

Future Growth Dynamics

Strategically, the report is positioned to guide entities through the complexities of loyalty program deployment, offering perspectives on business models, software solutions, deployment modalities, and consumer demographic segmentation.

In the dynamic realm of customer loyalty, staying current with market intelligence is not just beneficial; it is a necessity for sustained success and growth. This latest analysis supports market participants in adapting to and flourishing amidst the evolving preferences and demands of Danish consumers.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 117 Forecast Period 2024 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $755.69 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $1072.12 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 9.1% Regions Covered Denmark

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6oca0o

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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New 'Learn English Fast' bilingual book engages Portuguese-speaking adults through activity-based methods.

MISSISSAUGA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Language-learning innovator Angeline Pompei is pleased to announce a new ESL book in her Learn English Fast series, a Portuguese edition featuring vocabulary word searches for Portuguese speakers. The line-by-line translation book, one line in English and the next in Portuguese, allows adults to learn English vocabulary through word search activities.

Angeline Pompei is the creator behind the Learn English Fast brand, continuing her goal to release new books with instructional materials designed uniquely for adult learners. The new Portuguese book underscores her comprehensive approach to infusing English learning into everyday leisure activities. Pompei's first book in the series is a songbook encouraging people to embrace learning English through music.

The vocabulary word search book helps transform the way Portuguese-speaking adults learn English. Guided by Pompei's pedagogical method, the book makes learning English an engaging and fun activity rather than a tedious task. A learner develops spelling skills when searching for words and memory retention by repetitively spelling the words, audibly or internally.

"I created Learn English Fast to share what worked for me, and my books allow me to share it with the other-speaking world more easily than ever," said Angeline Pompei. "Now, native Portuguese speakers can use my new book as an effective way to learn English."

The Learn English Fast Portuguese edition incorporates learning English through practical interaction in a way that integrates someone's leisure time, making the process less daunting for adult learners who find it challenging to learn a language. Through its uniquely crafted resources, the series of books offers a transformational change to the traditional way of learning English, reflecting Angeline Pompei's foundational principle of crafting interactive and fun learning experiences.

"A person can have more opportunities for a job by learning English," she said. "Anyone with a business can sell products online and offer services to people in other countries. Learning English helps people change their and their family's future. That is a big reason I created Learn English Fast, to help people have better lives."

Angeline Pompei's complete bilingual book series is now already available in English/Spanish, English/French, English/Polish, English/Italian, and English/Portuguese.

To learn more about Learn English Fast, visit Angeline Pompei's website at https://learnenglishfast.com.

About Angeline

Angeline Pompei is a recording artist, entrepreneur, and adult language learner with a degree in aerospace engineering and a TELF certification to teach English internationally as a second language. Founder and CEO of Angeline Authentic, she created the Learn English Fast system for people to learn English as a second language. Learn English Fast comprises Angeline Pompei's unique series of line-by-line bilingual books for learning languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and Polish. She is also an artist with an album, "Verbiage," that teaches grammar, vocabulary, and verb conjugation through music. Her songbook that goes along with her album, "Verbiage," is also available for German and Japanese speakers.

Angeline Pompei, an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in skincare and skincare marketing, is most proud of her skincare books, which include her 3D anti-aging formula to maintain youthful skin. A multi-faceted individual, she uses all her experience to teach adults English through interest-based learning, bilingual materials, and music. All Learn English Fast resources are available on Amazon, and her music is on major streaming platforms. Her songbook is available on Amazon and in a free PDF on her website.

Contact Information

Maria Penaloza

Media and Content Strategist

maria.penaloza@issuerdirect.com

Related Images

SOURCE: Angeline Authentic

View the original press release on newswire.com.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / CMC Metals Ltd. (TSX-V:CMB)(Frankfurt:ZM5P)(CMCXF:OTCQB) ("CMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with North Bay Resources Inc. ("NBRI") to acquire 55.5% of its former subsidiary company 0877887 BC Ltd. ("087 BC") and all of assets, rights, and responsibilities of the Bishop Mill located in California, USA from 1436132 B.C. Ltd., (the original "Purchaser" of 087) a private Canadian company.

Within this transaction, NBRI acquires 55.5% of 087 by assuming the amended cash payment and common share transfers to CMC as follows:

Cash Payments

US $12,500 payable on signing

US $12,500 payable on May 1, 2024

US $12,500 payable on June 1, 2024

US $12,500 payable on July 1, 2024

US $50,000 payable on or before July 11, 2024

Share Payments

$200,000 CAD in common shares of NBRI to be delivered on signing

$200,000 CAD in common shares of NBRI to be delivered on or before July 11, 2024

1436132 BC Ltd. still remains responsible for the remaining payments and share transactions to acquire a 100% interest of 087 from CMC as announced on September 19, 2023 and November 1, 2023 (see releases in www.cmcmetals.ca). NBRI now becomes the operator of the project.

The primary asset of 087 BC is the Bishop Mill, located six miles north of Bishop, Inyo County, California. The mill has a flotation circuit designed to process up to 96 tons per day. NBRI and 1436132 B.C. Ltd. proposes to operate the Bishop Mill in the near to medium term. The mill is currently permitted for operation subject to various conditions and minor infrastructure completions.

Mr. Kevin Brewer, President and CEO noted that "We are very pleased to have North Bay Resources Inc. enter into this arrangement as it will enable the parties to collectively implement an operational plan for the Bishop Mill. Having a public company enter into the arrangement strengthens the deal. CMC is committed to working with this team to help them succeed as their success is our success."

The Company also notes the resignation of Mr. Robert Wheeler as a Director. Robert has decided to fully retire and plans to spend more time with family.

Mr. John Bossio, Chairman noted "Robert is one of the longest, if not the longest, serving Directors of CMC. We thank him for his significant contributions. We wish Robert and his family the best in his retirement."

About CMC Metals Ltd.

CMC Metals Ltd. is a growth stage exploration company focused on opportunities for high grade polymetallic deposits in British Columbia, Yukon and Newfoundland. Our flagship project is the Silverknife Property in the emerging Rancheria Silver District. Other projects in this District include the Amy project (British Columbia) and the Silver Hart Deposit/Blue Heaven claims (Yukon). Our polymetallic projects with potential for copper-silver-gold and other metals include Bridal Veil (Newfoundland) and Logjam (Yukon), both of which are available for option.

On behalf of the Board:

"John Bossio"

John Bossio, Chairman

CMC METALS LTD.

For Further Information and Investor Inquiries:

Kevin Brewer, P. Geo., MBA, B.Sc.(Hons), Dip. Mine Eng.

President, CEO and Director

Tel: (+52) 669 198 8503

kbrewer80@hotmail.com

Suite 1000-409 Granville St.

Vancouver, BC, V6C 1T2

To be added to CMC's news distribution list, please send an email to info@cmcmetals.ca or contact Mr. Kevin Brewer directly.

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 may contain certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, statements that address the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles and exploitation activities and developments. In this release disclosure regarding the potential to undertake future exploration work comprise forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks, including the ability of the Company to raise the funds necessary to fund its projects, to carry out the work and, accordingly, may not occur as described herein or at all. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, the impact of the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are referred to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators for information on these and other risk factors, available at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation."

SOURCE: CMC Metals Ltd.

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AUSTIN, Texas, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Abracon, a leading provider of Frequency Control, Timing, Power, Magnetics, RF and Antenna solutions, announces structure and leadership changes to build upon and integrate acquisitions accelerating the next phase of growth.

Brian Holt assumes the role of Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing Abracon's global sales as well as the newly created Mil-Aero Group, which will be led by Chuck Ulland, Vice President Mil/Aero Group. Driving design and revenue growth with key customers and partnering with Abracon's distribution channel, Holt's purview extends to all Abracon-owned brands.

Richard Diaz has been named Chief Operating Officer, leading Abracon's global manufacturing facilities, customer service, quality, sourcing, and focuses on digitization and operational integration. Diaz will now add the NEL operations and manufacturing teams to his organization which will continue to be under the leadership of Russ Ulland, Managing Director, NEL operations.

Syed Raza has been elevated to the position of Chief Technology Officer, driving Abracon's product innovation and ensuring that technology initiatives contribute to the company's overall success and competitiveness in the market. Raza will integrate the NEL Wisconsin, USA Engineering team, led by the newly promoted NEL Director of Engineering, Dave Jones, into his Abracon team.

Amy Keller has been named Chief Marketing Officer, leading Abracon's marketing strategy and product management organization, including new product introduction, pricing, market research, lead generation, and digital brand assets. In her role, Keller has responsibility for driving value and accelerated product performance for all global brands, including NEL.

Under the guidance of Abracon's Chief Financial Officer, Grace Chang, the integration for NEL Finance, IT, and Human Resources is in progress and aims to achieve a streamlined and cohesive organizational structure.

"This next phase for Abracon marks an important milestone in our growth journey," explains Tony Roybal, Abracon president and Chief Executive Officer. "By optimizing our structure, we unlock greater efficiencies, focus and collaboration across the organization, and provide increased value to our customers and partners."

About Abracon, LLC | Innovation for Tomorrow's Designs

Headquartered outside of Austin, Texas, Abracon is a trusted supplier of leading-edge and innovative electronic components including Frequency Control, Timing, Power, Magnetics, RF and Antenna solutions. Servicing world-class companies across the data communication, transportation, industrial, medical, consumer, aerospace, and defense industries, Abracon accelerates customers' time-to-market by providing unmatched product solutions, technical expertise, and service excellence. Learn more at www.abracon.com

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CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Biometrics as a Service in Healthcare Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $0.4 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $1.1 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 20.7% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets.

The amalgamation of biometric data with cutting-edge analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force within the healthcare sector, significantly bolstering market growth. This synergistic approach empowers healthcare organizations to extract invaluable insights from the vast reservoir of biometric information at their disposal. These insights pave the way for the realization of personalized medicine, facilitating tailored treatments for patients, precise disease prediction, and optimization of treatment strategies. As the healthcare industry increasingly recognizes the potential of this combination, the demand for biometric solutions that integrate seamlessly with advanced analytics and AI continues to surge, propelling the market forward and enhancing the quality of care delivered to patients. The ethical debates encompassing biometrics, specifically concerns related to obtaining informed consent for data collection and the potential for misuse, have the potential to create regulatory challenges and foster public skepticism, posing significant obstacles to the unhindered growth of the biometrics market within the healthcare sector.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Biometrics as a Service in Healthcare Market"

209 - Tables

45 - Figures

200 - Pages

Biometrics as a Service in Healthcare Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $0.4 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $1.1 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 20.7% Market Size Available for 2021-2028 Forecast Period 2023-2028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Component, By Modality, By Solution Type, By Application, By End User & By Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East And Africa Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Increasing demand for advanced biometric solutions designed for authentication and identification applications Key Market Drivers Growing focus on Government initiatives supporting the adoption of biometrics in healthcare

"Software segment accounted for the largest share and is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period."

The ascendancy of software-driven biometric solutions in the market is fundamentally underpinned by their dynamic capacity to harness the continuous stream of technological innovations. These advancements encompass notable enhancements in the precision of facial recognition algorithms and the evolution of touchless authentication methods. Not only do these developments significantly elevate the user-friendliness of biometric systems, but they also furnish an unprecedented level of security. Consequently, the proliferation of software-based biometric solutions is emblematic of an industry poised for continued expansion, where adaptability and technological sophistication are paramount in fulfilling the dual imperatives of enhanced user experience and robust security within the market landscape.

"The multimodal modality segment accounted for the largest share and is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period."

The strategic adoption of multimodal biometric systems has emerged within the healthcare sector as a cornerstone strategy for fortifying security measures. These multifaceted solutions are instrumental in regulating access to highly secure areas, notably pharmaceutical storage facilities, and critical resource zones. By integrating multimodal biometrics, healthcare organizations effectively safeguard valuable assets while ensuring stringent access control, emblematic of an industry committed to bolstering security infrastructure. This concerted commitment to heightened security, marked by the strategic deployment of multimodal biometric solutions, substantiates the ongoing growth trajectory of the healthcare biometrics market, a testament to the sector's unwavering dedication to safeguarding its most precious resources and assets.

"Fingerprint solution type segment accounted for the largest share of the global biometrics as a service in the healthcare market."

Fingerprint biometric solutions have garnered substantial attention in the healthcare sector due to their distinct cost-effectiveness relative to alternative biometric modalities. This cost-efficiency appeals particularly to healthcare organizations seeking to optimize their operational budgets without compromising security standards. By providing a judicious balance between affordability and robust authentication, fingerprint biometrics have emerged as an enticing proposition for healthcare entities, bolstering their adoption and propelling the sustained expansion of the healthcare biometrics market. This underscores the healthcare industry's commitment to resource optimization while maintaining stringent security protocols.

"Medical record and data center security application segment accounted for the largest share and is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period of the biometrics as a service in the healthcare market."

In the contemporary landscape of telehealth and remote healthcare services, biometric solutions are pivotal in enabling secure access to critical medical records from diverse geographical locations. This capability, marked by its intrinsic commitment to data security, assuages concerns related to privacy and confidentiality. As healthcare delivery increasingly transcends traditional boundaries, the integration of biometric authentication underscores the industry's dedication to fortifying data protection measures. This strategic alignment bolsters the expansion of the healthcare biometrics market, signifying its role as an enabler of secure and accessible healthcare services on a global scale.

"Hospitals and clinics end-user segment held the largest market share growing at the highest CAGR during the forecast period of the biometrics as a service in the healthcare market."

Hospitals and clinics, as custodians of sensitive patient data, operate under the imperative to adhere rigorously to healthcare regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). The integration of biometric solutions stands as an instrumental strategy in achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance. These solutions, characterized by their fortification of data security and precise patient identification, epitomize the healthcare sector's unwavering commitment to safeguarding patient information and upholding the tenets of healthcare laws. Consequently, the burgeoning adoption of biometrics underscores its role as a pivotal enabler in augmenting data security and ensuring compliance within the healthcare industry, thus propelling the continued expansion of the healthcare biometrics market.

"North America to witness significant growth during the forecast period."

In 2022, North America held the largest market share for biometrics as a service in the healthcare market. The demographic shift towards an aging population within the region has catalyzed a surge in healthcare demand, accentuating the importance of streamlined patient identification and meticulous record management. In response to this evolving healthcare landscape, the adoption of advanced biometric solutions has emerged as an imperative. These solutions, underpinned by their capacity to enhance patient identification accuracy and optimize the management of healthcare records, stand as a strategic imperative within the healthcare sector. Consequently, their pervasive integration is emblematic of the industry's dedication to efficiently meeting the escalating healthcare demands of an aging population, signifying a pivotal driver in the sustained growth trajectory of the healthcare biometrics market.

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Biometrics as a Service in Healthcare Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Growing focus on Government initiatives supporting the adoption of biometrics in healthcare

Restraints:

High costs associated with biometric systems

Opportunities:

Increasing demand for advanced biometric solutions designed for authentication and identification applications

Challenge:

Complexities in implementing recognition technologies within existing healthcare systems

Key Market Players of Diagnostic Contract Manufacturing Industry:

Some of the prominent players operating in the biometrics as a service in the healthcare market are NEC Corporation (Japan), Fujitsu Limited (Japan), Imprivata, Inc. (US), Suprema Inc. (South Korea), BIO-key International, Inc. (US), Thales (US), ASSA ABLOY (HID Global Corporation) (US), Cognitec Systems GmbH (Germany), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), Idex Biometrics ASA (Europe), Spectra Technovision(India) Pvt. Ltd. (India), Aware, Inc. (US), Aratek (US), Advent International, L.P. (US), NICE Ltd. (Israel), Voice Biometrics Group (US), Imageware (US).

Breakdown of supply-side primary interviews:

By Company Type: Tier 1 - 40%, Tier 2 - 35%, and Tier 3 - 25%

By Designation: C-level - 25%, Director-level - 55%, and Others - 20%

By Region: North America - 40%, Europe - 25%, APAC - 20%, Latin America - 10%, Middle East & Africa - 5%

Recent Developments of Diagnostic Contract Manufacturing Industry:

In June 2023, NEC Corporation (Japan) announced the launch of its new biometric authentication solution, NEC Biometric Engine. The solution is designed to help healthcare organizations improve patient safety and security by providing a more secure and convenient way to identify patients.

In May 2023, Fujitsu (Japan) announced the expansion of its biometrics portfolio with the launch of its new palm vein authentication solution. The solution is designed to be used in a variety of healthcare applications, such as patient identification, access control, and payment.

In 2022, NEC Corporation (Japan) launched a multimodal biometric authentication solution, facilitating rapid and highly accurate authentication, achieved by requiring individuals to simply direct their face towards the authentication device, while maintaining a remarkably low false acceptance rate of less than one in 10 billion.

In 2022, Imprivata (US) acquired OGiTiX Software AG (Germany), a leading provider of agile identity and access management (IAM) solutions for the DACH region. This development strengthened Imprivata's presence in the DACH market.

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Biometrics as a Service in Healthcare Market - Key Benefits of Buying the Report:

The report can help established firms as well as new entrants/smaller firms to gauge the pulse of the market, which, in turn, would help them garner a greater share. Firms purchasing the report could use one or a combination of the below-mentioned five strategies.

This report provides insights into the following pointers:

Analysis of key drivers (growing need for patient identification and authentication, rising incidences of medical identity theft and data breaches, growing initiatives supporting biometrics adoption in healthcare), restraints (high costs associated with biometric systems, increased hygiene concerns and high risk of transmission of infectious diseases posed by touch-based biometric solutions), opportunities (increasing demand for advanced biometric solutions designed for authentication and identification applications, growing focus on availability of Biometric-as-a-Service solutions), and challenges (failure in detecting authorized and unauthorized users, complexities in implementing recognition technologies within existing healthcare systems) influencing the growth of healthcare biometrics/biometrics as a service in healthcare market.

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research and development activities, and product launches in biometrics as a service in the healthcare market.

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for various types of biometrics as a service across regions.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about products, untapped regions, recent developments, and investments in biometrics as a service in the healthcare market.

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, distribution networks, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in biometrics as a service in the healthcare market.

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Centralized training center designed for visiting doctors to use company's medical devices in simulated surgery environment

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England's most innovative architectural and interior design firms, announced today that it has completed renovations to create an Innovation & Conference Center for Boston Scientific Corporation, a global medical technology leader. The centralized training center creates a 20,000 SF area featuring state-of-the-art technology and interactive learning spaces to enable doctors and company employees to receive hands-on training and education about the company's innovative devices.

The innovation center is designed to enhance the learning experience and create a stimulating atmosphere conducive to creativity and knowledge exchange. Margulies Perruzzi converted existing office space into a multi-purpose training and conference center, including procedure rooms for simulated surgeries, large conference rooms with movable walls, an auditorium / theater with a screen, and amenity spaces. In addition to lead-lined walls to shield occupants from lasers, the procedure rooms have high-end audio visual (AV) equipment and cameras on pivot beams in each room so mock procedures can be filmed and broadcast for educational purposes.

Visitor reception area with large display screens showing patient impact stories and interactive information about BSCi medical devices. (Photo by Elisif)

The interior design features the company's branding. Margulies Perruzzi worked closely with a flooring vendor for a custom design ofthe carpet tile featuring strong blue and gray hues. Lighting was a key component in the design of the Innovation & Conference Center. The fixtures selected for certain spaces are low-profile that allowed the light fixture to be installed close to the ceiling, providing more clear height in the rooms. This allowed Margulies Perruzzi to design unique layouts and designs to support the use of each space.

Margulies Perruzzi has worked with Boston Scientific on multiple projects over the past 10 years, including space at the company's Marlborough headquarters, and modernized logistics and distribution functions at the company's global customer fulfillment center in Quincy, MA.

The project team includes:

Client/Owner: Boston Scientific

Architect/Interior Design: Margulies Perruzzi

General Contractor: Columbia Construction

MEP Engineer: R.W. Sullivan

A/V: CDA

About Margulies Perruzzi

As one of New England's top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health, Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at https://mparchitectsboston.com.

Media Contact:

Susan Shelby, FSMPS, CPSM

Rhino PR

978.985.4541

MPArchitects@rhinopr.com

SOURCE: Margulies Perruzzi

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The two organizations will pursue a range of joint efforts aimed at supporting innovative solutions to prioritize health and well-being.

NEW YORK, NY and LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority on advancing healthy buildings, organizations and communities, and The Instant Group, the largest global marketplace for flexible workspace, announced today a strategic partnership to spur health and well-being practices in coworking and flexible workspaces. The partnership will encompass a range of joint efforts aimed at elevating health, including opportunities to advance innovative solutions to better support people-first spaces for all users of coworking and flexible workspaces.

"We are excited to be joining forces with The Instant Group," said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of IWBI. "This is an organization with an established track record of inspiring ingenuity, especially in the ways it supports the coworking and flexible workspaces on its digital marketplace, which is the largest in the world. As more and more organizations embrace the outsized role workspaces have on health, this presents a tremendous opportunity to elevate the well-being of the thousands of people who use these flexible spaces every day."

Healthy workspaces, once considered a nice-to-have, have become a must-have in real estate, especially in coworking and flexible workspaces. A growing body of research shows that evidence-based health interventions help support workplace satisfaction, comfort and productivity, while also helping organizations better attract and retain talent. In addition, the extensive research behind the business case for healthy buildings shows that these strategies help drive several economic benefits, including higher rents and longer lease terms.

"Companies that optimize their spaces for health and well-being are transforming their workforce into an even greater asset and developing happier, more productive employees," said Sam Pickering, Executive Director, Sustainability at The Instant Group. "IWBI has unmatched expertise and experience, and we find them a valuable partner in providing best-in-class health guidance to people, companies, and providers. This collaboration is also a logical follow-up to our Sustainability Index, which launched in 2023 to ensure quality data on building performance and helping operators and occupiers track and report on their performance."

Next month at the WELL Conference from May 7-9 in Long Beach, CA, IWBI and Instant will also shine a light on several coworking organizations that are leading by example in workplace health and well-being. For more information, please contact carly.yashinsky@wellcertified.com.

About the International WELL Building Institute

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote health and well-being for everyone, everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

Media Contact: media@wellcertified.com

About The Instant Group:

The Instant Group has been rethinking workspace since 1999 with over 600 experts working globally across more than 175 countries. Instant's digital platforms constitute the world's largest digital marketplace for flexible workspace listing meeting rooms, virtual offices, flexible office space and coworking memberships. Its global team advises on commercial real estate solutions from serviced offices to fully customized managed offices, and consulting services for portfolio and net zero strategies. Instant's approach enables agility, hybrid working solutions and improved operational resilience for more than 250,000 businesses every year. Clients include Prudential, Booking.com, Shell, Jaguar Land Rover, and GSK. Instant has global offices including London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Mexico City, and Sydney. www.theinstantgroup.com

Media Contact: instantgroup@fticonsulting.com / rachel@winefsky.com

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Contact Info:

Spokesperson: International WELL Building Institute

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/international-well-building-institute

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: International WELL Building Institute

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(All dollar amounts are in United States dollars, unless otherwise stated)

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Omai Gold Mines Corp. (TSXV: OMG) (OTCQB: OMGGF) ("Omai Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce positive results from its first Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Wenot Project, one of the two gold deposits located on its 100%-owned Omai Property, in Guyana. The PEA supports an initial open pit mining scenario for production averaging 142,000 ounces of gold per year over a 13-year mine life, with peak year production of 184,000 ounces. Total Wenot production is estimated at 1,840,000 ounces of payable gold. A spot gold price sensitivity of $2,200/oz supports an after-tax Net Present Value5% ("NPV") of $777 million, a 24.7% Internal Rate of Return ("IRR"), and a payback period of 3.5 years.

Elaine Ellingham, President and CEO comments: "We are extremely pleased with this first economic assessment for the new Omai that incorporates only our Wenot open pit deposit at this time. This PEA is an important step forward as it converts our successful exploration programs into a baseline production scenario that shows potential for robust economic development for Omai to once again become a large-scale gold producer, supported by the many benefits of a brownfields project including good road access, a nearby skilled workforce and the strong support of government for re-development."

"Although we have not included the adjacent Gilt Creek Deposit in this PEA economics, we are confident that it will contribute to an overall future mine plan. Since Gilt Creek would be an underground mine, it would have required significant additional engineering, time and cost, and our priority was to establish a baseline valuation for our shareholders. We have fast-tracked the advancement of this project over the past two years and are pleased to deliver these tangible results."

PEA Highlights for Wenot Open Pit

After-tax NPV 5% of $556 million and after-tax IRR of 19.8% based on $1,950/oz gold with a sensitivity case at $2,200/oz gold giving an after-tax NPV 5% of $777 million and IRR of 24.7%

of Initial capital ("Capex") of $375 million and sustaining capital of $172 million over life-of-mine

Projected average gold production of 142,000 oz per year over a 13-year mine life

After-tax payback of 4.3 years at base case $1,950/oz gold (3.5 years at $2,200/oz gold)

Average cash operating costs of $916/oz gold and all-in sustaining costs of $1,009/oz

Cumulative cash flow of $1.07 billion after-tax over 13 years on base case assumptions

Total payable gold production of 1.84 million ounces

Average head grade of 1.51 g/t Au and 92.5% process recovery

Average strip ratio for the open pit life-of-mine estimated at 7.8:1

Click here to view a 3D model of the Wenot Open Pit Deposit

Omai's CEO continued, "We are pleased with the PEA results as it establishes the potential for a single "superpit" for the Wenot deposit. We further believe that Omai holds exceptional potential to both expand the mine plan and to boost the economics: 1) At Wenot, there are gold zones identified along strike and at depth that can be expected to expand Mineral Resources within and outside the designed PEA pit; 2) By completing engineering studies and incorporating the adjacent Gilt Creek Deposit, the Omai mine plan could potentially expand to a 20+ year mine life; and 3) By advancing work on two high-grade near-surface zones, there is potential for higher grade process plant feed for the first few years that would boost economics considerably. The PEA sets the stage for Omai to advance engineering and permitting initiatives towards a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS"). With these goals in mind, we are anxious to continue our work advancing the Omai Project in 2024."

Financial and operating metrics from the PEA are presented in Table 1 below.

Note: The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 1. Financial and Operating Metrics from the Preliminary Economic Assessment

2024 Wenot Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) Highlights Production

Mine life (years) 13.0 Total gold production (ounces) 1,840,000 Average annual gold production (ounces) 142,000 Total mineralization mined (tonnes) 41,101,000 Total waste mined (tonnes) 322,291,000 Total material mined (tonnes) 363,392,000 Total waste-to-mineralization ratio 7.8:1 Average gold grade (grams per tonne) 1.51 Gold Process Recovery (%) 92.5% Average Process Plant throughput (tpd) 9,000

Operating Costs

Mining cost per tonne (Total Material) $1.63 Mining cost per tonne (Mineralization) $14.44 Processing Cost per tonne $15.58 G&A cost per tonne $3.16 Total cost per tonne processed 1,3 $33.19 Total cash cost (per ounce sold)1,3 $916 Mine-site all-in-sustaining cost (per ounce sold)2,3 $1009



1 Total cash costs include mining, processing, surface infrastructures, transport, G&A and royalty costs.

2 All-in sustaining cost ("AISC") includes total cash costs, sustaining capital expenses to support the on-going operations, and closure/reclamation.

3 Non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. Refer to the note at the end of this press release.

Capital Costs

Initial capital expenditure (Initial Capex)3 $375.2 M Sustaining capital expenditures3 $171.5 M Net reclamation costs (cost less salvage value) $0 Total capital expenditure - life of mine $546.8 M Total capital expenditure (per ounce sold) - life of mine $297/oz

Base Case Economic Analysis: $1,950 per ounce Gold Price IRR (after-tax) 19.8% NPV @ 0% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $1,067.7 NPV @ 5% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $556.4 Payback (years) 4.3

Economic Analysis Sensitivity at $2,200 per ounce Gold Price IRR (after-tax) 24.7% NPV @ 0% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $1,402.5 NPV @ 5% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $776.6 Payback (years) 3.5



Financial Analysis and Sensitivities

The Project generates cumulative after-tax free cash flow of $1,067 million and average annual free cash flow of $112.5 million over the 13-year producing mine life.

Figure 1. After-tax Cash Flow over Life-of-Mine



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The PEA financial analysis is significantly influenced by gold price, operating costs and capital costs as shown in Table 2. For example, at the base case gold price of US$1,950/oz, the Wenot Project generates after-tax NPV of $556.4 million using a 5% discount rate with an after-tax IRR of 19.8%. However, a 10% sensitivity increase to the base case gold price to $2,145/oz, results in an after-tax NPV of $728.2 million and an after-tax IRR of 23.7% with a payback period of 3.6 years from the commencement of production.

Table 2. PEA Sensitivities to Gold Price, Operating Costs (Opex) and Capital Costs (Capex)

Gold Price Sensitivities

Range GOLD PRICE After Tax NPV (5%) ($M) IRR Payback (Yrs) -20% $1,560 210.1 11.1% 8.4 -10% $1,755 384.1 15.7% 5.8 0 $1,950 556.4 19.8% 4.3 10% $2,145 728.2 23.7% 3.6 20% $2,340 899.8 27.3% 3.2

Opex Sensitivities

Range OPEX After Tax NPV (5%) ($M) IRR Payback (Yrs) -20.0% $807 706.3 23.6% 3.7 -10.0% $908 631.5 21.7% 3.9 0.0% $1,009 556.4 19.8% 4.3 10.0% $1,110 481.1 17.9% 4.7 20.0% $1,211 406.0 15.9% 5.8

Capex Sensitivities

Range CAPEX After Tax NPV (5%) ($M) IRR Payback (Yrs) -20.0% $300 638.8 24.7% 3.5 -10.0% $338 597.7 22.1% 3.9 0.0% $375 556.4 19.8% 4.3 10.0% $413 514.9 17.9% 4.7 20.0% $450 473.5 16.2% 5.4

Gold Production

Annual production over the life-of-mine from the Wenot pit is expected to average 142,000 ounces of gold with a peak year production of 184,000 ounces, for total payable gold production of 1,840,000 ounces.

Figure 2. Wenot Production Profile



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Capital Costs

The initial capital costs are estimated at $375.2 million, with life-of-mine sustaining costs estimated at $172 million. Contingencies of $54 million and $18 million are included in initial and sustaining capital costs, respectively. These estimates were based on current costs and quotes received from potential local vendors with other estimates based on references and experience from similar operations.

The main components of the $375.2 million initial capital costs include: $100 million for the processing plant equipment and buildings plus $75 million indirect costs to construct the process plant, $46 million for mining equipment and surface preparation, $45 million for surface civil and infrastructure, $33 million for capitalized pre-stripping, $20 million for owner's costs, and $54 million contingency.

The main components of the $172 million sustaining capital include: $139 million for mining equipment, $9 million for tailings and water treatment, $6 million for process plant equipment, and $18 million contingency.

Cash Costs

Total cash cost including royalties is estimated at $41.00 per tonne processed or $916/oz of payable gold. The all-in-sustaining cost is estimated at $1,009/oz of payable gold. Operating cost estimates were developed using vendor quotes and knowledge of similar operations with productivities being derived from benchmarking and industry practices.

Table 3. Total Cash Costs

Mining Cost (per tonne processed) $14.44 Processing Cost (per tonne processed) $15.58 G&A Cost (per tonne processed) $3.16 Total Cost (per tonne of processed) 1 $33.19 Royalties (per tonne processed) $7.81 Total Cash Cost (per ounce sold)1,3 $916

Mineral Resource Estimate

The PEA is based only on the Wenot Open Pit Deposit and excludes the adjacent Gilt Creek Deposit. Management believes that the Gilt Creek Deposit, which would require underground mining, is sufficiently attractive to be integrated into a larger mine plan, however, to accelerate and simplify this current PEA, it was excluded.

On February 8, 2024, the Company announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Omai Property in Guyana (Wenot and Gilt Creek Deposits). It details a total Indicated MRE of 1.985 million ounces of gold averaging 2.15 g/t Au and an Inferred MRE of 2.279 million ounces averaging 2.26 g/t Au.

The PEA is based on the Wenot Deposit, with an Indicated MRE of 834,000 ounces averaging 1.48 g/t Au and an Inferred MRE of 1,614,000 ounces averaging 1.99 g/t Au. The pit design used in the PEA does not include 58,600 oz of Indicated Mineral Resources and 456,900 oz of Inferred Mineral Resources, which represents approximately 21% of the total Wenot MRE ounces (Figure 5). These excluded MRE ounces are either hosted within multiple, narrow veins or are isolated zones at depth that result in a high strip ratio. However, it is expected that at least a portion of this currently excluded Mineral Resource could be incorporated in future economic scenarios upon further drilling.

Figure 3. 3-D Model of Wenot and Gilt Creek Deposits, Omai Gold Property, Guyana

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The Mineral Resource Estimates for Omai are presented in Table 4. Notes accompanying the 2024 MRE are shown below the table, summarizing the economic and technical assumptions.

Table 4. 2024 (January) Mineral Resource Estimates



Indicated Resources Inferred Resources Resource Area Mining Method Tonnes

(k) Au

(g/t) Au

(koz) Tonnes

(k) Au

(g/t) Au

(koz) GILT CREEK (1.5 g/t Cut-Off) Underground 11,123 3.22 1,151 6,186 3.35 665 WENOT (0.35 g/t Cut-Off) Open Pit 17,572 1.48 834 25,183 1.99 1,614 Total Mineral Resource Estimate 28,695 2.15 1,985 31,369 2.26 2,279 Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate by Deposit Type WENOT Saprolite & Alluvium Open Pit 2,048 1.07 70 153 1.13 5 Fresh Rock & Transition Open Pit 15,524 1.53 764 25,030 2.00 1,609

Notes to Accompany the 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate:

1. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

3. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could potentially be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.

4. The Mineral Resources were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices Guidelines (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council.

5. Wenot wireframe constrained gold assays were composited to 1.5 metre lengths and subsequently capped between 10 to 25 g/t. Gilt Creek Wireframe constrained gold assays were composited to 1.0 metre lengths and subsequently capped between 12 to 40 g/t.

6. The Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate incorporates 9,840 assay results from 603 diamond drill holes totalling 87,323 m within the mineralized wireframes.

The Gilt Creek Mineral Resource Estimate incorporates 7,056 assay results from 46 diamond drill holes totalling 27,997 m within the mineralized wireframes

7. Grade estimation was undertaken with ID3interpolation.

8. Wenot wireframe constrained bulk density was determined from 30 site visit samples.

Gilt wireframe constrained bulk density was determined from 28 site visit samples.

9. Wenot gold process recoveries used were 92% for Alluvium/Saprolite and 92% for Transition/Fresh Rock.

Gilt Creek gold process recovery used was 92%

10. The gold price used was US$1,850/oz

11. Wenot US$ open pit operating costs used were $2.50/t for mineralized material mining, $1.75/t for waste mining, $10/t for Alluvium/Saprolite processing, $14/t for Transition/Fresh Rock processing and $2.50/t G&A. Gilt Creek US$ underground operating costs used were $60/t for mining, $15/t for processing and $7/t G&A.

12. At Gilt Creek, MRE blocks were reviewed for grade and geometric continuity. Isolated/orphaned and single block width strings of blocks were removed in order to only report Mineral Resources with a reasonable prospect of economic extraction.

13. Wenot pit slopes were 45o.

Mining

The Project area consists of subdued topography. The area, topography, and climate are amenable to the conventional open pit mining operations proposed for the Project, similar to historical operations. No underground mining is planned at this stage although the potential for development of underground mining of the Gilt Creek Deposit will be evaluated in the future.

The Wenot mining operations will encompass a single large open pit with 55o hard rock inter ramp slopes and 30o saprolite slopes that will be mined with conventional mining equipment in two pushback phases. In order to improve mining selectivity and reduce dilution, two different bench heights and sets of mining equipment will be used. Mineralization will be mined using a 5 m high bench height with 150 mm diameter blast hole drills, and a fleet consisting of 5 m3 bucket excavators and 35 t rigid body haul trucks. Waste rock and saprolite will be mined on 10 m high benches using 200 mm diameter blast hole drills, 22 m3 bucket hydraulic excavators, and 177 t haul trucks. Major pieces of mining equipment will be purchased via a lease financing agreement. Various support equipment will be required, such as dozers, graders, water trucks, and light vehicles for maintenance, personnel transport and mine supervision. The surficial saprolite cover, which is anticipated to be free digging and will not require blasting, is up to 60m thick forming the upper part of the 440 m deep open pit.

The open pit mine will have a mineralization production rate that averages 9,000 tpd over a 13-year mine life. A total of 322.3 Mt of waste rock is planned to be mined, with 2.6 Mt of mineralization in saprolite and 38.5 Mt of mineralization in fresh rock, for a total strip ratio of 7.8:1, at an average grade of 1.51 g/t Au containing 1.99 Moz Au. Total material mined will peak at 110,000 tpd.

Mineralization may be delivered either to the primary crusher or placed into a nearby stockpile. Waste rock is either taken to a waste storage facility or used in tailings dam embankment construction.

Figure 4. Wenot Open Pit Design (Two Phases)



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Metallurgy & Processing

An average of 9,000 tpd of gold mineralized material will be treated in the Omai process plant. The process plant will consist of a semi-autogenous grinding mill in closed circuit with a pebble crusher and ball mill in a closed circuit with cyclones (SABC circuit). Primary crushing will consist of a gyratory crusher for hard run-of-mine ("ROM") feed. A gravity circuit, which precedes leaching will recover coarse gold from the cyclone underflow, while the cyclone overflow is thickened and treated in a multi-tank carbon-in-leach ("CIL") or carbon-in-pulp ("CIP") circuit. Gold will be stripped from the loaded carbon, concentrated by electrowinning and recovered as gold bars in a gold room.

The Omai Gold process plant will be designed to be a compact facility with attached grinding media and reagent reception. The process plant facilities will include a laboratory, a mill maintenance workshop, and safety, personal services and management offices.

Metallurgical Data

The anticipated metallurgical performance for processing the Omai Mineral Resources has a dual base of verification: (i) A comprehensive test program by Lakefield Research (now SGS Canada) that was completed in 1990 on drill core representing seven mineralized zones, and (ii) The processing of 80 million tonnes of mineralized material over 12 years by Omai Gold Mines Limited (OGML) from the Fennel and Wenot pits as well as alluvial zones.

During operations from 1993 to 2005, the hard rock ROM feed was crushed in a gyratory crusher and ground by a combination of SAG and ball mills (a SABC designation). Soft mineralized material was blended by a backhoe into the crushed hard rock feed. A combination of gravity-based methods including spiral, Nelson centrifuge and tabling was employed to recover free gold. Gold leaching was conventional with a mild concentration of process reagents, air-sparged leaching followed by CIP gold recovery, stripping from the carbon, electrowinning and electric furnace refining. The historical gold recovery ranged from 92% to 94%.

Metallurgical testing at Lakefield included grinding tests indicating that the Bond Work Index was very high for the hard-rock composites at 19 to 25 KWh/t. As anticipated, the Work Index was very low (~6 KWh/t) for saprolite. Gravity concentration was examined for diorite and saprolite composites and a substantial proportion of gold (~30%) was recovered. A series of standard, 48-hour leach tests were performed on each composite, with the effect of pre-grinding of the samples to up to 90% passing -200 mesh. The results indicated a high gold extraction, from 92% to 97% on the hard rock samples, with only a small effect due to grind size.

Carbon-in-pulp (CIP) testing, representing the recovery of the extracted gold liberated as a process reagent-complex in leaching, was also tested. The recovery of gold to carbon was high for all composites. Flocculation and thickening tests indicated that reasonable performance could be anticipated in pre-leach thickening which is a key parameter when processing soft, saprolitic feeds.

While the processing history can be used as a new Omai process design basis, test-based options for process upgrading will be considered for crushing-grinding, gravity concentration, gold leaching and recovery (CIL vs. CIP). Since crushing-grinding is the most energy intensive stage, lower energy intensity options including a second stage crushing and high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR's) will be considered to address both cost and sustainability factors.

Access & Infrastructure

The Omai Project is located approximately 165 km south of Guyana's capital city of Georgetown and is accessible via a major road that connects Georgetown to Brazil, roughly 350 km south of the Project. This road is paved for the first 90 km to the town of Linden (population ~45,000). Linden is the second largest city in Guyana and was established for bauxite mining. When Omai was in production roughly 90% of the workforce lived in Linden, and it is expected to again be a source from much of the Omai workforce. The road from Linden is currently being widened and paved. It is expected that by year end 2024, there will be a paved road from Georgetown, via Linden, to within 8 km of the Omai Project. The Omai Mine road extends to the east bank of the Essequibo River where a public ferry takes passengers and vehicles across the river on a regular basis.

The Omai site is mostly cleared of forest and has an extensive network of dirt roads providing access to most areas of the Property. The site includes a number of large warehouses remaining from the mining days. The Omai camp consists of two large warehouses that have been repurposed as offices, accommodations, drill core logging facilities and drill core storage, and workshop. Two bunkies provide additional housing, with the camp currently having accommodations for 60 workers.

The mining and processing infrastructure will be located at the Omai site. The Project will require construction of the following infrastructure: 9,000 tpd process plant, offices, truck shop and warehouse, new camp accommodation, surface water management facility, service and haulage roads and initial tailings management facility. An existing airstrip will be used for emergencies and time sensitive transport.

Tailings and Water Management

The tailings storage plan will take advantage of existing facilities and features on the Omai Property, including the existing 350-acre tailings facility and the dewatered Fennel mined-out open pit. Tailings decant will be recycled to the process plant with the excess water treated for discharge. Based on historical (OGML) evidence, the natural degradation of residual process reagents will facilitate the meeting of strict discharge criteria, and only treatment for suspended solids removal will be required.

Workforce

During the construction of the mine, the workforce is estimated to consist of approximately 250 people for an 18-month period, this is in addition to employees who would be required for open pit pre-stripping operations in the 12 months leading up to the production phase of the mine life. During production from the Wenot open pit, the average number of employees at the mine and process plant is estimated at 439 people. The schedule will be two 12-hour shifts per day for 7 days a week.

Next Steps

The positive results of the PEA warrant advancing the Project to the next study stages. Work programs, recommended to advance the Project to Pre-Feasibility Study level, include:

Infill drilling of gaps in projected gold zones that could potentially reduce waste rock and increase mineralized material within the Wenot designed pit, focusing on the southern side of the Deposit.

Drilling to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated.

Drilling near-surface areas to improve the process plant feed grade in the first two years of mine life.

Conduct metallurgical studies including crushing-grinding, gravity, leaching and gold recovery tests on bulk samples. Process selection will depend on efficiency of gold recovery and minimizing electricity demand.

Evaluate gold leaching and recovery variability by Mineral Resource type and identify process options that result in lower energy consumption.

Detailed geochemical characterization of waste and mineralized rock.

Detailed geotechnical investigation in the Wenot pit and at various infrastructure sites.

Develop a water management plan

Studies of tailings management facility development and/or refurbishment.

Qualified Persons

The PEA and Mineral Resource Estimate were completed in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition Standards incorporated by reference in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") (2014) and CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines (2019).

The PEA and Mineral Resource Estimate, including verification of the data disclosed, was under the supervision of Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, President of P&E Mining Consultants Inc., who is a Qualified Person (QP) and is independent of Omai Gold for the purposes of NI 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this new release. The NI 43-101 MRE and PEA Technical Report will be published on SEDAR (www.sedarplus.ca) within 45 days from the date of this news release.

Elaine Ellingham P.Geo. is a Qualified Person (QP) under NI 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" and has reviewed the technical information contained in this news release. Ms. Ellingham is not considered to be independent for the purposes of NI 43-101.

About Omai Gold Mines Corp.

Omai Gold Mines Corp. holds a 100% interest in the Omai Prospecting License that includes the past producing Omai Gold Mine in Guyana, and a 100% interest in the adjoining Eastern Flats Mining Permits. The Company announced an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") February 8, 2024 that includes 2.0 million ounces of gold (Indicated) and 2.3 million ounces (Inferred)1. Once South America's largest producing gold mine, Omai produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold between 1993 and 2005. Mining ceased at a time when the average gold price was less than US$400 per ounce. As a brownfields project, Omai benefits from good road access and a wealth of historical data that provides knowledge of the geology and gold mineralization on the Property, as well as metallurgy, historical process recoveries and many other relevant mining parameters. The Company's first economic study, a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") is presented in this news release above.

For further information, please see our website www.omaigoldmines.com or contact:

Elaine Ellingham, P.Geo.

President & CEO

elaine@omaigoldmines.com

Phone: +1-416-473-5351

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively, "FLI") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. FLI is based on expectations, estimates, projections, and interpretations as at the date of this press release.

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are FLI that involve various risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. Generally, FLI can be identified by the use of statements that include words such as "seeks", "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "continues", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "projects", "predicts", "proposes", "potential", "targets" and variations of such words and phrases, or by statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "could", "would", "should" or "might", "be taken", "occur" or "be achieved." FLI herein includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the results of the Omai PEA, including the production, operating cost, capital cost and cash cost estimates, the projected valuation metrics and rates of return, and the cash flow projections, as well as the anticipated permitting requirements and Project design, including processing and tailings facilities, infrastructure developments, metal recoveries, mine life and production rates for the Project, the potential to further enhance the economics of the Project and optimize the design, potential timelines for obtaining the required permits and financing. Forward-looking information is not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events.

FLI is designed to help you understand management's current views of its near- and longer-term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes. FLI by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such FLI. Although the FLI contained in this press release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities of the Company that actual results will be consistent with such FLI, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such FLI. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such FLI contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law. Unless otherwise noted, this press release has been prepared based on information available as of the date of this press release. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the FLI or information contained herein.

Assumptions upon which FLI is based, without limitation, include the results of exploration activities, the Company's financial position and general economic conditions; the ability of exploration activities to accurately predict mineralization; the accuracy of geological modelling; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities; potential changes in project parameters or economic assessments; the legitimacy of title and property interests in the Project; the accuracy of key assumptions, parameters or methods used to estimate the MREs and in the PEA; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals; geological, mining and exploration technical problems; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the evolution of the global economic climate; metal prices; foreign exchange rates; environmental expectations; community and non-governmental actions; any impacts of COVID-19 on the Project; and, the Company's ability to secure required funding. Risks and uncertainties about Omai Gold's business are more fully discussed in the disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in FLI.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

Omai Gold has included certain non-IFRS financial measures in this press release, such as initial capital expenditures, sustaining capital expenditures, total cash costs and all in sustaining costs, which are not measures recognized under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. As a result, these measures may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. Each of these measures used are intended to provide additional information to the user and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Non-IFRS financial measures used in this press release and common to the gold mining industry are defined below.

Total Cash Costs and Total Cash Costs per Ounce

Total cash costs are reflective of the cost of production. Total cash costs reported in the PEA include mining costs, processing, general and administrative costs of the mine, off-site costs, refining costs, transportation costs and royalties. Total cash costs per ounce is calculated as total cash costs divided by payable gold ounces.

All-In Sustaining Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs per Ounce

All-in sustaining costs and all-in sustaining costs per ounce are reflective of all of the expenditures that are required to produce an ounce of gold from operations. All-in sustaining costs reported in the PEA include total cash costs, sustaining capital, closure costs, but exclude corporate general and administrative costs. All-in sustaining costs per ounce is calculated as all-in sustaining costs divided by payable gold ounces.

A description of the significant cost components that make up the forward looking non-IFRS financial measures of total cash costs and all in sustaining costs per ounce of payable gold produced is shown in the table below.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

Omai Gold prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to mineral resources in this press release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended ("CIM Standards"). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of "Measured Mineral Resources", "Iindicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources", which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards.

U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are "substantially similar" to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any Mineral Resources that Omai Gold may report as "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had Omai Gold prepared the Mineral Resource Estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of "Inferred Mineral Resources" cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances were permitted under NI 43-101.





Figure 5. Wenot Deposit Showing Pit Design and Mineral Resources Outside Pit



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SOURCE: Omai Gold Mines Corp.
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - In a significant step for the Turkish startup ecosystem, ikas has captured a $20 million Series A funding milestone, led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Re-Pie Asset Management. This infusion of funds underscores ikas' remarkable success within just two years in Turkey's e-commerce infrastructure space. The company now sets its sights on leveraging this capital to establish its leadership in Europe and other key markets.

.

Caption: Turkish E-commerce Platform ikas Raises $20 Million Series A Round

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ikas' journey of rapid growth has been widely recognized, earning it a spot in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program in 2023 as one of Turkey's fastest-growing tech companies. Moreover, the company has achieved an impressive SaaS milestone, reaching $1M to $10M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) within just 16 months, with the ambitious goal of scaling to $100M in the near future.

ikas' success comes from its commitment to giving SMEs and entrepreneurs an easy-to-use e-commerce platform that simplifies managing online stores without needing technical skills.

Reflecting the vibrant and youthful energy of the company, the ikas team, with an average age of just 28, demonstrates a profound commitment to innovation and excellence. Mustafa Namoglu, Co-Founder and CEO of ikas, voiced his appreciation for the support from customers, the team, investors, and all stakeholders.

Amidst this backdrop of growth and innovation, Dr. Emre Camlibel, Chairman of the Board of Re-Pie Asset Management, highlighted the investment strategy: "Re-Pie invests in ventures with high growth potential, technology and innovation-oriented business models and we continue to grow our portfolio. This investment was executed through a dedicated GSYF (Venture Capital Investment Fund) issued by Re-Pie. Having opened its office in Germany at the end of 2022, ikas is well-positioned to hit its target of becoming one of the leading brands in Europe in its vertical by 2030."

Caption: Wiebke Schloemer

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Wiebke Schloemer, IFC Director for Turkiye and Central Asia, emphasized the broader impact of ikas' innovation, "Boosting innovation and the growth of smaller businesses, particularly women-owned and-led businesses, is a priority for IFC," she said. "ikas' innovative software has the potential to transform e-commerce in Turkiye, enabling smaller businesses to access new markets, boost their online sales and productivity, and better adapt to the rapidly changing business landscape."

Namoglu shared the strategic vision behind the new funding, "We intend to leverage the new funding to expedite our international expansion. While this round of investment significantly excites us, it also serves as a reminder that we are just at the beginning of our journey, with much work ahead."

Contact: Cagri Mentes - cagri.mentes@ikas.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204273

SOURCE: B2Press BV
WASHINGTON, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EB5 Capital is excited to announce that its Green House Gravity Apartments (JF39) project was approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on March 25, 2024, after pending for approximately 11 months. This Form I-956F approval confirms that USCIS has assessed and verified the compliance of the project and its related documents. Now that the project is approved by USCIS, investors who filed I-526E conditional green card petitions in this project can anticipate receiving individual petition approvals in the near future.



Green House Gravity Apartments (JF39) is the development of a Class A multifamily building with a high-end design centered around health and wellness. The project is in Columbus, Ohio, and when complete will contain 313 apartment units, 5,200 square feet of ground-floor retail, 324 secured garage spaces, a full fitness center, a pool and sauna, hot and cold plunge tubs, therapy rooms, and other onsite wellness services.

"We are pleased with this swift project approval from USCIS," said Patrick Rainey, Senior Vice President of Investments at EB5 Capital. "The project began construction late last year when we started the EB-5 raise. We are happy that the raise is complete, and the project is approved, which are two significant milestones in the EB-5 process."

Green House Gravity Apartments (JF39) represents Phase 3 of a master development plan and builds upon the momentum of Gravity Phases 1 and 2. Phase 1 consists of 234 units and was completed in 2019. Phase 2 consists of 325 units and opened in 2023. All three phases are adjacent to one another and are managed by Kaufman Development. EB5 Capital will continue to carefully track USCIS' petition approvals in JF39 and attentively monitor the remainder of the construction process, keeping investors fully informed.

About EB5 Capital

EB5 Capital provides qualified foreign investors opportunities to invest in job-creating commercial real estate projects under the United States Immigrant Investor Program for more information.

Contact:

Katherine Willis

Director, Marketing & Communications

media@eb5capital.com
SECAUCUS, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / SupplySide East, the essential East Coast event dedicated to ingredient sourcing, functional nutrition and supplements, announces the addition of supporting Event Platform and mobile app as an all-in-one event management tool to discover and deepen connections between attendees and exhibitors at SupplySide East (Meadowlands Convention Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, April 16-17). The matchmaking resource provides brand-new avenues for face-to-face interactions throughout various curated touchpoints on the show floor to fuel connectivity in the ever-growing health and nutrition industry.

The Event Platform will enable attendees and exhibitors to streamline brand exploration, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) driven matchmaking, leveraging each participant's profile to deliver best-in-class networking experiences. The Event Platform assists in driving intentional show planning to ensure beneficial relationships to produce advancement in the ingredient and functional food and beverage space, creating a healthier future together.

In addition to technological resources, on-site networking events will be available at the SupplySide Connect Hub including the session Accelerating Newcomers in the Industry , designed specifically for first-time participants. Colleagues can meet other new professionals to establish ties and expand reach. Speed Networking , available on each day of SupplySide East hosts lively dynamic icebreakers to spark ideas with fellow professionals to kickstart conversations, enhancing even more opportunities for interaction with peers and highly sought experts.

"By cultivating additional avenues for engagement, SupplySide East inspires creativity and unlocks potential for deepening the value of relationships, propelling both individuals and the industry towards greater success," remarks Danica Cullins, Senior Vice President of SupplySide . "The event is not just about expanding our circles, but about forging richer bonds that fuel innovation and collaboration to create a lasting impact to accelerate business all year long."

Alongside SupplySide East's commitment to increasing collaboration, progressing diversity among executive suites, corporate boards, research leadership and financial investment across the nutraceutical industry is a key pillar to the platform. The Women In Nutraceuticals (WIN) Gender Equity Networking Reception (April 17), provides insight into WIN's commitment to empowering women by supporting development of personal and professional practices and knowledge, promoting leadership and career growth opportunities of women in science and research.

The SupplySide Education Theater will also highlight eight sessions focused on topics ranging from animal nutrition and supply chain development to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and formulation. Education on April 16 will also include sessions on The Maxobiome, offering The Business Case and Science for Microbiome Ingredients and as well as The State of Animal Nutrition providing Insights for 2024 and Beyond .

About SupplySide

SupplySide events are the premier gatherings for innovation and discovery in the development of finished consumer goods that drive the global business economy. SupplySide brings together thousands of suppliers and buyers to explore and learn the latest products, services, research, regulatory changes and more in the health and nutrition industry for more than 26 years. The following SupplySide events and information products are produced by the Health and Nutrition group at Informa Markets: SupplySide East, SupplySide West, Natural Products Insider and Food & Beverage Insider.

Engage with supplysideshow.com and follow the latest updates on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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, please visit www.informamarkets.com.
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Mary Kay Inc., a global leader in women's empowerment and staunch advocate for sustainability, is once again at the forefront of global ocean conservation efforts. The beauty brand was proud to participate at the 11th Annual World Ocean Summit & Expo, held in Lisbon, Portugal, from March 11-13. As a bronze level sponsor for the second consecutive year, Mary Kay demonstrated its unwavering commitment to fostering a sustainable blue economy as a private sector representative and through its long-standing collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

The Annual World Ocean Summit & Expo, organized by Economist Impact, convened over 200 expert speakers and a diverse international audience to engage in meaningful discussions, workshops, and "How to" sessions. These gatherings focused on actionable solutions to some of the most pressing oceanic challenges, underlining the importance of collaborative efforts across sectors.

Sandra Silva, General Manager of Mary Kay Portugal, took an active role in the panel discussion titled "Developing Blue Nature-based Projects." Silva shared insights on the crucial need for collaborative efforts in marine conservation and highlighted the impact of incorporating gender perspectives in initiatives tackling climate change challenges and biodiversity loss.

"Mary Kay's participation at this year's World Ocean Summit was not only about reinforcing our dedication to ocean conservation, but also about spotlighting the essential role of women in these efforts," said Silva. "We believe that our collective actions today are pivotal for the preservation of marine ecosystems. All stakeholders left the summit with a clear vision on new synergies, a focus on actionable strategies, and soundproof solutions to enhance ocean stewardship."

Dr. Lizzie Mcleod, Global Ocean Director for The Nature Conservancy, expressed gratitude for their long-term and impactful relationship with Mary Kay. "Our strong collaboration stands as a testament to the power of joining forces across the scientific community and the private sector to improve ocean health. Mary Kay's support of marine conservation initiatives, including the Super Reefs project in Palau, is one example of our collective effort to ensure a healthy and resilient ocean."

Mary Kay has been working to elevate ocean health and coral reef awareness through its support of The Nature Conservancy for 37 years. Some of the most recent projects include the Super Reef restoration in the Asia Pacific region and other projects in Hawaii, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Belize. These projects align with Mary Kay's mission to not only enrich lives but also to ensure the longevity and health of marine environments for future generations.

DID YOU KNOW?

Mary Kay began supporting The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 1987 and has now contributed to projects for more than three decades across 100 conservation projects around the globe.

As part of its mission to conserve the Earth's land and water, TNC aims to conserve 4 billion hectares of ocean by 2030-Including coral reefs.

Out of more than 1,500 articles published on coral reef sciences in OECD countries, 33% of authors were women. 1

13%-24% of women occupy senior positions in the EU's marine sciences sector. 2

In fisheries and aquaculture, 90% of women are more involved in less well-paid or unpaid work.3

About Mary Kay

Then. Now. Always. One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich women's lives. That dream has blossomed into a global company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. For 60 years, the Mary Kay opportunity has empowered women to define their own futures through education, mentorship, advocacy, and innovation. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in preserving our planet for future generations, protecting women impacted by cancer and domestic abuse, and encouraging youth to follow their dreams. Learn more at marykayglobal.com, find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or follow us on X (formerly Twitter).

About The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters, and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably, and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in 76 countries and territories -37 by direct conservation impact and 39 through partners- we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.

###

1 Source: https://impact.economist.com/ocean/sustainable-ocean-economy/valuing-women-in-the-blue-economy-for-international-womens-day

2 Source: https://impact.economist.com/ocean/sustainable-ocean-economy/valuing-women-in-the-blue-economy-for-international-womens-day

3 Source: https://impact.economist.com/ocean/sustainable-ocean-economy/valuing-women-in-the-blue-economy-for-international-womens-day

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
OXFORD, United Kingdom, April 04, 2024, a medical device company which is changing the paradigm in liver transplantation in the US and Europe with its groundbreaking normothermic machine perfusion technology, today announces that Stephen(NYSE: FNA), a leading medical device company exclusively focused on the foot and ankle orthopaedic market, where he has held the role of CFO since September 2020. Steve's leadership was instrumental in Paragon 28's successful IPO on the NYSE in the fall of 2021. Prior to Paragon 28, Steve held CFO roles in a range of public and privately held companies in both the US and Europe.



Craig Marshall, OrganOx Chief Executive Officer, said, "I am hugely looking forward to working with Steve as our new CFO. I have no doubt Steve's breadth of experience will prove to be invaluable to OrganOx as we continue to grow our customer base in the US and in Europe. I also wish to thank Graham Yeatman for his exemplary contribution over the past 5 years, and I am delighted Graham will be continuing to support the future growth of our business as Executive Vice-President, Finance and Company Secretary."

Executive Chairman of the Board, Dr. Oern Stuge, said, "Good people are critical for business success. Steve brings an outstanding track record of company and finance leadership which will serve the future needs of patients suffering from end-stage liver failure as we continue to build world class capabilities across the executive team and the broader company."

Stephen Deitsch, Chief Financial Officer, said, "It is an honour to join OrganOx, a truly innovative medical technology company founded with a mission to save lives. The Company's first product, the OrganOx metra, is experiencing explosive growth as it enables more precious liver donation gifts to be transplanted into critically ill patients, in a more predictable and less urgent manner. I look forward to working side by side with Craig, our Board of Directors, and the entire OrganOx team to realise the full value of our life-saving technologies."

About OrganOx

OrganOx is a commercial stage, UK-based medical device company with a focus on the therapeutic applications of isolated organ perfusion. Its first product, the OrganOx metra normothermic liver machine perfusion system, has been used to support more than 3000 liver transplant operations globally, optimizing the use of donated organs by enabling assessment of the quality of livers as well as longer preservation durations. Other therapeutic applications, including in kidney transplantation, are in development. Learn more at www.organox.com

Media Contact

Daniel Woodward)

Investor Contact

Steve Deitsch (steve.deitsch@organox.com)
LYNNWOOD, WA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Upright Education is thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Edmonds College to offer high-quality tech bootcamps that empower adults in Washington to successfully pivot into the tech industry, in fields such as UX/UI Design and Digital Marketing.

This partnership comes at a crucial time when the tech labor market in Washington and surrounding areas is experiencing substantial growth. By combining Upright's expertise in hands-on, industry-relevant training with Edmonds College's commitment to economic mobility and workforce development, this collaboration aims to help address the skills gap for adults and meet the tech labor need across industries.

"We are excited to expand our impact in Washington through this partnership with Edmonds College," said Benny Boas, CEO at Upright Education. "These programs will help create strong career pathways for individuals to enter and excel in the thriving tech landscape."

Upright's bootcamps are designed to be outcomes-focused - students are required to attend three weekly live sessions each week with experienced practitioners. This synchronous component allows students to actively engage in projects, assessments, and receive personalized support, fostering a dynamic and effective learning environment.

Jake Slade, Director of the Continuing Education department at Edmonds College, states, "We are excited to add these new options for learners throughout Washington state and beyond. This focus on expedited bootcamp- style education is crafted specifically for the learner looking for options to 'upskill' and become more marketable in an extremely competitive job market. This partnership is a testament to Edmonds College's commitment to providing options for all learners, regardless of their goals and how much time they have to commit to professional development."

For more information about bootcamp offerings, visit the Edmonds College program page or Upright Education.

Contact Information

Philip Chang

Director of Partnerships

pchang@uprighted.com

9172513606

SOURCE: Upright Education

View the original press release on newswire.com.
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

Xilam Animation (Paris:XIL), an independent animation production and distribution company, announces its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2023, reviewed by the Board of Directors at its meeting on 3 April 2024 chaired by Marc du Pontavice.

Marc du Pontavice, Chairman and CEO of Xilam, comments: "2023 is evidence of the Group's ability to anticipate and adapt to market changes, by adjusting both its strategic vision and its business model. While consolidating its ability to generate profitable growth, and creating assets with high long-term value, Xilam has also demonstrated that its new strategy, implemented since 2022, is also designed to generate significant free cash flow. In 2023, this reached a record 12.6M, giving a year-end net cash position of 3.8M. We therefore proved that in a deteriorated market environment, we can rely on a very solid business model, a healthy balance sheet and, above all, on the studio's creativity and expertise, the breadth of our content offering and the diversity of our clients".

Income statement ('000 euros) 31.12.2023 (1) 31.12.2022 % change Sales of new productions and developments 30,560 25,358 +21% Catalogue sales 9,166 10,356 -11% Total sales 39,726 35,714 +11% Grants (2) 6,006 6,299 -5% Total sales and grants 45,732 42,013 +9% Other current operating revenue (including ATC) 2,482 4,706 -47% Total operating revenue 48,214 46,719 +3% Operating expenses (43,109) (44,252) -3% Current operating income 5,105 2,467 +107% % Sales and grants 11.2% 5.9% Operating income 4,923 2,221 +122% % Sales and grants 10.8% 5.3% Financial income and expenses (476) (1,559) ns Group consolidated net income 4,860 1,345 +261% % Sales and grants 10.6% 3.2%

(1) Unaudited data

(2) Excluding audiovisual tax credit (ATC)

Xilam's new strategy, implemented since 2022, is a success

Anticipating the slowdown in the proprietary production model in the kids segment, and the consequences of the macroeconomic context in terms of cash management, the Group has rapidly and successfully changed its business model by implementing a production strategy that is more balanced between servicing (notably via the young-adult segment) and proprietary productions, so as to generate a significant free cash flow while continuing to enrich its catalogue. Both sales and earnings for 2023 already reflect the relevance of this strategy.

Double-digit sales growth for the seventh consecutive year (excluding Covid) to 39.7M

This performance is the result of very strong growth in servicing and a very good performance from catalogue sales:

Sales of new productions and developments amounted to 30.6M, up 21%, of which 26% for Xilam alone, excluding Cube. It was largely driven by growth in servicing (non-proprietary productions), which rose by 76%.

Catalogue sales are the second best in Xilam's history. While slightly down compared to 2022, they are 43% higher than in 2021, confirming the momentum of the Group's franchises and reaching a new plateau of around 10M.

After taking into account grants and other ordinary operating revenue, total operating revenue came to 48.2M, up 3%.

Current operating income of 5.1M, a very good performance at a time of strategic evolution

Current operating income amounts to 5.1M, giving a margin of 11.2% on sales and grants. It more than doubles compared to 2022, which was strongly impacted by a catalogue write-down.

This profitability in 2023 reflects the Group's strategic orientations, in particular: i) structural investments to prepare for future growth, in particular in the buoyant young-adult segment, ii) the high proportion of servicing in sales, which does not allow to capitalize the increase in fixed costs, iii) the priority given to cash generation and debt reduction.

Net profit of 4.9M, almost four times higher than in 2022

Owing in particular to the Group's strong debt reduction in 2023, financial expenses were divided by three, representing an expense of 0.5m, compared with 1.5m in 2022.

Income tax was a positive 0.8M.

As a result, net profit will rise to 4.9M from 1.3M in 2022, an almost fourfold increase.

Xilam has succeeded in evolving its business model, resulting in a strong free cash flow generation of 12.6m.

In 2023, the Group has thus generated free cash flow of 12.6M, doubled compared with 2022. This strong improvement is largely due to:

A stable net cash flow from operating activities at 31.7M.

A 21% reduction in acquisitions of tangible and intangible fixed assets to 19.7M (compared with 25.1M in 2022), due in particular to the lower share of proprietary productions.

Xilam strengthens its balance sheet by halving its net financial debt

After taking into account the repayment of rental debts and interest paid, net cash generation amounts to 8.6M, leading to a sharp reduction in net financial debt at 31 December 2023 to 7.3M, compared with 15.9M at the end of December 2022.

(In thousands of euros) 31.12.2023(1) 31.12.2022 Cash and cash equivalents 8,139 13,255 Corporate financial liabilitiest (2) (4,377) (15,738) Net cash 3,762 (2,483) Self-liquidating financial liabilities (11,053) (13,405) Net financial debt (7,291) (15,888)

(1) Unaudited data

(2) Non-self-liquidating financial liabilities

This net financial debt breaks down into:

Net cash, excluding self-liquidating liabilities, of 3.8M, an improvement of 6.2M since the end of 2022 which takes into account corporate financial liabilities of 4.4M compared with 15.7M in 2022. In particular, the Group repaid its 15M EuroPP in 2023.

Self-liquidating financial liabilities of 11.0M (compared with 13.4M), down by 2.4M due to the payment of receivables from major international platforms.

In January 2024, the Group also carried out a capital increase of 3.7M, strengthening its equity and increasing its liquidity.

At 31 December 2023, total equity stood at 74.1M (compared with 69.5M at the end of 2022). Pro-forma for the capital increase, total equity would be 77.8M at the end of 2023.

Social and environmental responsibility: a very encouraging first carbon footprint

Founded on the values of excellence, innovation, diversity and inclusion since its creation, Xilam Group is resolutely committed in 2023 to integrating the energy transition into the heart of its activities and to reinforcing, formalising and communicating its commitments in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

In 2023, the Group published its first Carbon Footprint (see press release of 31.01.2024), which shows that carbon consumption per employee (FTE) is 3.9 T of CO2, half that observed in the media sector. Based on this initial observation, in 2023 the company adopted new practices that constitute a significant step towards more eco-responsible management of its activities. As part of its structured and formalised sustainable development strategy, the Group has introduced a responsible purchasing policy, invested in more ecofriendly technologies, improved its production processes, reduced and optimised its data and storage volumes, extended the lifespan of its equipment and introduced awareness-raising initiatives within its teams. All these measures will be detailed in the Annual Financial Report 2023.

Agility and solid foundations, to deliver a strategy based on Xilam's powerful assets

Since the announcement of the contraction in investment in the kids' segment by the major streaming platforms in the second half of 2023, Xilam has been quick to adapt both its cost structure and its strategy.

The savings plan that has already been implemented is designed to preserve the Group's financial resources while maintaining and even strengthening the company's core expertise, in full agreement with the company's Social and Economic Committee.

To rapidly rebuild its order book, Xilam has successfully begun to deploy its strategy in three key areas:

1) Strengthening Xilam's ties with the major European channels, which remain keys for kids' animation content.

2) Pursue the conquest of the young-adult segment.

3) Launch the production of feature film format that proved so successful a few years ago with I lost my body.

Xilam is already well advanced in the deployment of this strategy and will be making a number of announcements by the end of H1.

Despite an expected sharp fall in sales in 2024, the group is maintaining its forecast of a current operating income close to breakeven.

Xilam is a strong brand with worldwide recognition. Its unique expertise is supported by a strategic vision and ability to adapt that places the Group at the heart of the global animation business, with the ambition of a rapid return to profitable growth.

Agenda

Availability of the 2023 Financial Report: 29 April 2024 (after market closing)

Combined Annual General Meeting: 6 June 2024

Publication of 2024 half-year sales figures: 18 July 2024 (after market closing)

About Xilam

As a major player in the animation industry, Xilam is an integrated studio founded in 1999 that creates, produces and distributes original programmes in more than 190 countries for children and adults, broadcast on television, and on SVoD (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon) and AVoD (YouTube, Facebook) platforms.

With a global reputation for creativity and innovation, coupled with cutting-edge editorial and commercial expertise, the company has cemented its position as a key player in the market. Every year, Xilam builds on soaring successes and capitalises on flagship franchises (Oggy and the Cockroaches, Zig & Sharko, Chicky) as well as new brands (Oggy Oggy, Mr Magoo, Karate Sheep), which are strengthening and expanding a substantial catalogue of more than 2,800 episodes and three feature films, including the Oscar-nominated I Lost My Body.

Xilam has unique CGI skills and employs around 500 people, including 400 artists, across its studios in Paris and Angouleme in France and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Xilam was ranked France's leading animation studio for the 2018-2022 period in a report by the French national centre for cinema and animation (CNC).

For more information, visit www.xilam.com

Xilam is listed on Euronext Paris Compartment B - PEA - SRD long Eligibility.

ISIN: FR0004034072, Symbol: XIL

Contacts

Marc du Pontavice - Chairman and CEO

Cecile Haimet - CFO

Phone: +33 (0)1 40 18 72 00

Image Sept Agency

xilam@image7.fr

Karine Allouis (Media Relations) - Phone +33 (0)1 53 70 74 81

Laurent Poinsot (Investor Relations) - Phone +33 (0)1 53 70 74 77
BH Macro Limited - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 04

BH Macro Limited (the "Company")

(a closed-ended collective investment scheme established as a company with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registered number 46235)

Transaction in Own Shares

4 April 2024

BH Macro Limited (the Company) announces today it has purchased the following number of its ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange from J.P. Morgan Securities plc:

Ordinary Shares: - Share Class Sterling Sterling Date of purchase: 4 April 2024 4 April 2024 Number of ordinary shares purchased: 36,545 105,000 Lowest price per share (pence) 331.5 331.5 Highest price per share (pence) 331.5 333.5 Trading venue JPSI LSE Aggregate volume per date per trading venue: 36,545 105,000 Weighted average price per day per trading venue (pence): 331.5000 333.1663

The Company intends to hold the purchased shares in treasury.

Following the above share transactions of the relevant US Dollar and Sterling Shares, the total number of shares in issue in each share class of the Company will be as follows:

Ordinary Shares in issue (excluding Treasury) Ordinary Shares held in Treasury 361,230,287 Sterling Shares 12,619,149 Sterling Shares 29,465,434 Dollar Shares Nil Dollar Shares

From 4 April 2024, the total number of voting rights in the Company (rounded up to the whole number) is 553,781,161.

Enquiries:

Company website: www.bhmacro.com

William Simmonds

JPMorgan Cazenove

Tel: 020 7588 2828

The Company Secretary

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

Tel: 01481 745001
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 04

For immediate release

4 April 2024

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 217,922 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 838.00 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 23 January 2024.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 37,975,431; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 187,015,872.

The figure of 187,015,872 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
Redde Northgate Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 04

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

4 April 2024

REDDE NORTHGATE PLC

("Redde Northgate" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Transaction in Own Shares

Redde Northgate plc (LSE:REDD) announces that on 4 April 2024 it purchased the following number of its own shares to be held in treasury:

Class of shares : Ordinary shares of 50p ("shares") Number of shares purchased : 50,000 Weighted average purchase price paid : 381.5 pence per share Highest purchase price paid : 381.5 pence per share Lowest purchase price paid : 381.5 pence per share

Following the above transaction, the Company's issued share capital consists of 246,091,423 ordinary shares of 50p each, of which 20,240,071 ordinary shares are held in treasury, and 1,000,000 preference shares of 50p each which do not carry any rights to vote. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 225,851,352 which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation) as incorporated into UK domestic law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the schedule below contains detailed information about the purchases made by Numis Securities Limited on behalf of the Company as part of the Company's buyback programme.

Schedule of Purchase - Individual Transactions (as at 4 April 2024)

Number of shares

purchased Transaction price

(GB pence per share) Time of transaction Transaction reference number Venue 50,000 381.50 11:04:05 00069451541TRLO0 LSE

Notes

This announcement is made in accordance with the requirements of Listing Rule 12.4.6.

For further information contact:

Buchanan

David Rydell/Jamie Hooper/Hannah Ratcliff +44 (0) 207 466 5000

Notes to Editors:

Redde Northgate is the leading integrated mobility solutions platform providing services across the vehicle lifecycle. The Company offers integrated mobility solutions to businesses, fleet operators, insurers, OEMs and other customers across seven key areas: vehicle rental, vehicle data, accident management, vehicle repairs, fleet management, service and maintenance, vehicle ancillary services and vehicle sales.

The Company's core purpose is to keep its customers mobile, whether through meeting their regular mobility needs or by servicing and supporting them when unforeseen events occur. With its considerable scale and reach, Redde Northgate's mission is to offer a market-leading customer proposition and drive enhanced returns for shareholders by creating value through sustainable compounding growth. The Group aims to achieve this through the delivery of its strategic framework of Focus, Drive and Broaden.

Redde Northgate services its customers through a network and diversified fleet of over 120,000 owned and leased vehicles, supporting over 600,000 managed vehicles, with more than 170 workshop, body shop and rental locations across the UK, Ireland and Spain and a specialist team of over 6,000 automotive services professionals.

Further information please visit the Company's website:
Regulatory News:

Clariane (CLARIA.PA ISIN FR0010386334): in response to rumours reported in the press, the Company confirms that it is currently studying various targeted disposal options as part of the implementation of its refinancing plan, as announced on 14 November 2023, aimed at improving cash flow generation and controlling debt levels.

In this context, the company confirms that it has held an information meeting with the members of the CSEC, following current French regulations, on the possible sale of its Hospitalisation Domicile and Services de Soins Infirmiers Domicile (HAD/SSIAD) business in France.

The Group currently owns 8 specialised HAD homes and 3 SSIAD agencies in France, employing 309 people (full-time equivalent). In 2023, this business generated sales of just over 46 million.

As of the date of this press release, the Group has not received any firm offer to acquire this business.

In this context, the Company will make no further comment on this eventuality and will communicate in due course any element relating to its refinancing plan, in strict compliance with the regulations in force.

About Clariane

Clariane is the leading European community for care in times of vulnerability. It has operations in seven countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Relying on their diverse expertise, each year the Group's 70,000 professionals provide services to over 900,000 patients and residents in three main areas of activity: long-term care nursing home (Korian, Seniors Residencias,etc.), healthcare facilities and services (Inicea, Ita, Grupo 5, Lebenswert, etc.), and alternative living solutions (Petits-fils, Les essentiels, Ages&Vie, etc.).

In June 2023, Clariane became a purpose-driven company and added to its bylaws a new corporate purpose, common to all its activities: "To take care of each person's humanity in times of vulnerability".

Clariane has been listed on Euronext Paris Section A since November 2006

Euronext ticker: CLARI ISIN: FR0010386334

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240404360904/en/

Contacts:

Investor relations

Stephane Bisseuil

Head of Investor Relations

+33 6 58 60 68 69

stephane.bisseuil@clariane.com

Press

Matthieu Desplats

Press relations Director

+33 6 58 09 01 61

Matthieu.desplats@clariane.com

Julie Mary

Press relations Manager

+33 6 59 72 50 69

julie.mary@clariane.com

Florian Bachelet

Press relations Manager

+33 6 79 86 78 23

florian.bachelet@clariane.com
CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --According to Arizton's latest research report, the UK data center market is growing at a CAGR of 2.37% during 2023-2029.???

To Know More, Click: https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/uk-data-center-market-investment-analysis

The UK Data Center Market Report Scope????

Report Attributes???? Details????? Market Size - Investment (2029)???? USD 10.13 Billion Market Size - Area (2029)? 955 thousand sq. Feet Power Capacity (2029)? 183 MW (2029) CAGR - Investment (2023-2029) 2.37 % Colocation Market Size (Revenue) USD 5 Billion (2029) Historic Year???? 2020-2022???? Base Year???? 2023 Forecast Year???? 2024-2029???? Market Segmentation???? Infrastructure, Electrical Infrastructure, Mechanical Infrastructure, Cooling Systems, General Construction, Tier Standard, and Geography? Market Dynamics????? Cloud Services Are Growing at a Great Pace

Big Data and IoT Services Are Widely Adopted, Driving Data Center Investments

Enhanced Connectivity Through Submarine Cables Fuels Demand, Driving Growth in Data Center Infrastructure

The UK data center market has around 200 data center facilities, while around 40 are currently in the pipeline. The influx of data infrastructure investments is fueled by top colocation operators such as VIRTUS Data Centres, Equinix, Digital Realty, and Ark Data Centres. The UK's strategic significance in global connectivity is underlined by its 56 submarine cables linking key regions such as the US, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Acquisitions such as nLighten's acquisition of Proximity Data Centres highlight the dynamic nature of the market. Meanwhile, the data center expansion initiatives by Pulsant, Telehouse, and other players reflect the industry's commitment to meeting the growing demand.

The UK data center market is experiencing a robust surge in investments, marked by expansion initiatives, acquisitions, and new projects, thereby showcasing the dynamic nature of the market. The market will experience cumulative core and shell investments of over $10 billion during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

The UK data center market is experiencing significant growth due to factors such as the widespread adoption of digital platforms, the expansion of 5G network connectivity, an increase in internet users, government and digital economy initiatives, as well as the integration of advanced technologies, including IoT, big data, and AI. The UK accounts for approximately 20% of Western Europe's total data center investments.

Investments from colocation data center operators including key players such as Equinix, VIRTUS Data Centres, Digital Realty, and Ark Data Centres fuel the growth of the UK data center market.

Major cloud service providers, such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google, are actively expanding their data center infrastructure in the UK. Investments and expansion initiatives by these providers align with the growing demand for cloud services.

Counties including Manchester, Berkshire, and West Sussex are witnessing investments in data center facilities. Sustainability efforts such as the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) by Datum Datacentres are prevalent across counties.

The UK government has launched initiatives such as the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, which is aiming to increase wireless network connectivity by 2030. The Digital Strategy, launched by the UK government, outlines a holistic approach to digital policy across critical domains, emphasizing the country's commitment to digital technology.

Investment Opportunities

In May 2023, Kao Data unveiled its plans to construct a 40 MW data center in Manchester's Kenwood Point for a projected investment of $440 million; the facility is set to go live in late 2025. The strategic move into Manchester aligns with Kao Data's commitment to advancing the region's computing capabilities and supporting the aspirations of the UK government.

In April 2023, Equinix planned to develop a 30 MW data center facility in Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire, outside London. It is a five-story building with two data halls on each floor.

In April 2023, Vantage Data Centers announced the development of a second data center campus, LHR2, in West London, with an investment of around $310 million. The LHR1 data center campus, with a total area of 40,000 square feet and two 24 MW multi-story data centers, is expected to be online by 2024.

In February 2023, Colt Data Centre Services started the construction of its hyperscale data center facility in its Hayes, West London, campus; the power capacity of the facility is around 50 MW.

Why Should You Buy this Research?

Market size is available in the investment, area, power capacity, and UK colocation market revenue.

An assessment of the data center investment in the UK by colocation and enterprise operators.

Investments in the area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across locations in the country.

A detailed study of the existing UK data center market landscape, an in-depth market analysis, and insightful predictions about market size during the forecast period.

Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in the UK

Facilities Covered (Existing): 200



Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 40



Coverage: 30+ Locations



Existing vs. Upcoming (Area)



Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)

Data Center Colocation Market in the UK

Market Revenue & Forecast (2023-2029)



Retail & Wholesale Colocation Pricing

The UK data center market investments are classified into IT, power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast.

A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, growth restraints, and prospects for the industry.

Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the industry.

A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the industry.

Existing VS. Upcoming Data Centers

Existing Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)

Greater London



Berkshire



Greater Manchester



Other Counties

List of Upcoming Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)

The Report Includes the Investment in the Following Areas:

IT Infrastructure

Servers



Storage Systems



Network Infrastructure

Electrical Infrastructure

UPS Systems



Generators



Transfer Switches & Switchgears



PDUs



Other Electrical Infrastructure

Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems



Racks



Other Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems

CRAC & CRAH Units



Chiller Units



Cooling Towers, Condensers & Dry Coolers



Economizers & Evaporative Coolers



Other Cooling Units

General Construction

Core & Shell Development



Installation & Commissioning Services



Engineering & Building Design



Fire Detection & Suppression Systems



Physical Security



Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Tier Standard

Tier I & Tier II



Tier III



Tier IV

Geography

Greater London



Other Counties

Vendor Landscape

IT Infrastructure Providers

Arista Networks

Atos

Broadcom

Cisco Systems

Dell Technologies

Fujitsu

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Huawei Technologies

IBM

Juniper Networks

Lenovo

NetApp

Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors

2bm

AECOM

Arup

ARC:MC

Atkins

BladeRoom Data Centres

Bouygues Construction

Deerns

Future-tech

HDR Architecture

INFINITI

ISG

JCA Engineering

Kirby Engineering Group

KMG Partnership

Mace

Mercury Engineering

MiCiM

studioNWA

Oakmont Construction

Sweet Projects

RED

SPIE UK

Skanska

STO Building Group

Sudlows

TTSP

Waldeck

Support Infrastructure Providers

ABB

Airedale International Air Conditioning

Caterpillar

Cummins

Delta Electronics

Eaton

Kohler SDMO

Legrand

Mitsubishi Electric

Piller Power Systems

Rolls Royce

Riello Elettronica (Riello UPS)

Rittal

Schneider Electric

Socomec

Siemens

STULZ

Vertiv

Data Center Investors

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Ark Data Centres

China Mobile International (CMI)

Colt Data Centre Services

Custodian Data Centres

CyrusOne

Cyxtera Technologies

Corscale Data Centers

Digital Realty

Data Datacentres

Equinix

Echelon Data Centres

Global Switch

Iron Mountain

Ionos

Infinity SDC

Keppel Data Centres

Kao Data

NTT Global Data Centers

Lumen Technologies

Microsoft

Proximity Data Centres

Serverfarm

Sungard Availability Services

Telehouse

Vantage Data Centers

Virtus Data Centres (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres)

Yondr

New Entrants

CloudHQ

Digital Reef

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Google

Global Technical Realty

Stratus DC Management

Key Questions Answered in the Report:

How much is the UK data center market investment expected to grow?

How many data centers have been identified in the UK?

What is the growth rate of the UK data center market?

What are the driving factors for the UK data center market?

Who are the new entrants in the UK data center market?

Get the Detailed TOC @ https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/uk-data-center-market-investment-analysis

Check Out Some of the Top-Selling Research Reports:??????????????

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France Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2023-2028

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Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovative and quality-driven firm that offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients worldwide. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

We offer comprehensive market research reports on consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals, materials, I.T. and media, logistics, and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-uk-data-center-market-investment-to-reach-10-13-billion-by-2029---get-insights-on-200-existing-data-centers-and-40-upcoming-facilities-across-the-uk---arizton-302108344.html
The DEA Games Continue To Delay Legitimate Marijuana Clinical Trials and Research

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Megan Sheehan and Associates, lawyers representing MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, is filing an interlocutory appeal in Federal Court this week contesting a DEA administrative law judicial hearing scheduled for April 10, 2024.

WHAT IS AN INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL?

MMJ is pleading to a federal appeals court to stop the DEA from continuing their unlawful actions thus commanding them to act in a manner as directed by presidential and congressional mandate .

Congressman Blumenauer (D Oregon) this week in committee stated "medical cannabis treatments being delayed and research being denied is politically damaging to the Biden administration" as is in the case of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation.

MMJ BioPharma Cultivation applied to the DEA in December of 2018 and has been patiently waiting DEA approval to grow federally legal marijuana for research and development to supply its FDA clinical trials for Multiple Sclerosis and Huntingtons Disease.

Federal suit challenging the DEA judges appointment

Under the Appointments Clause, inferior Article II "officers" such as DEA's administrative law judges must be appointed either by the President or the Head of their Department, the Attorney General of the United States. U.S. Const. art. II,  2, cl. 2.

However, the DEA 's, administrative law judge was appointed by neither .

Once served, the DEA Administrative Law Judge will hit pause this coming week on an agency dispute with MMJ's manufacturers application for cannabis medications treating Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington's disease patients in clinical trials.

Pending her granting of a stay requested by Megan Sheehan attorney for MMJ BioPharma Cultivation Inc., Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum may say the particular circumstances of the case justify the pause until a federal court makes a decision. MMJ BioPharma Cultivation's challenge to this DEA tribunal's authority is now allowed in the federal courts to entertain interlocutory structural challenges and is a sufficiently new issue that makes it challenging to gauge the DEA's likelihood of success.

MMJ will also accuse the DEA of unconstitutionally attempting to delay its registrations as a manufacturer of medications and to delay its supplying medicine to suffering patients in FDA sponsored clinical trials.

MMJ's complaint, which also targets the DEA Director Anne Milgram, Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division Thomas Prevoznik, and other government defendants, alleges that, due to her unlawful appointment, Judge Wallbaum cannot adjudicate the DEA's attempt to rule on MMJ's applications. The company also seeks a declaration that the DEA process for appointing administrative law judges is unconstitutional.

"Everyone agrees that there is a need for drugs to treat these neurological diseases- Congress, the FDA, the DEA, the doctors, parents' association - everyone's saying the same thing," said MMJ Biopharma Cultivations president Duane Boise . "And here we have an administrative agency that just completely arbitrarily attacks a company that's following the law to manufacture a marijuana soft gelatin capsule to help suffering patients."

"This is insanity," Boise added. "Someone's got to act."

MMJ BioPharma Cultivation alleges that the process used by the DEA to appoint Judge Wallbaum was the same process the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional in June 2018 in a case brought against the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The DEA ALJs were appointed pursuant to a process that violates the Appointments Clause, a fundamental defect in the DEA's administrative enforcement process.

In her anticipated order, Judge Wallbaum will note that, under the U.S. Supreme Court's Axon ruling, subjecting a party to a proceeding that is ultimately found to be conducted within an unconstitutional structure can, standing alone, constitute legal harm.

The delays in approving legitimate marijuana clinical trials and research applications, as highlighted in the case of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, can have far-reaching consequences. These delays not only hinder the progress of medical research but also impact the development of potential treatments for conditions like Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington's Disease. Patients who could potentially benefit from these treatments may be left waiting for relief due to bureaucratic hurdles.

DEA A ROGUE AGENCY?

The concerns about the DEA's alleged failure to follow congressional mandates for marijuana pharmaceutical development and clinical trials raise questions about the drug enforcement agency's accountability and transparency.

The accusations of the DEA acting in secrecy and maintaining a monopoly on marijuana cultivation for research purposes are troubling and warrant further investigation. Moreover, the legal challenges brought forth by MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, including allegations of unconstitutional processes in appointing administrative law judges, add another layer of complexity to the situation. If proven true, these allegations could have broader implications for the DEA's enforcement processes and decision-making authority.

DAMAGES AND BEYOND

The company has invested several millions of dollars in its agriculture facilities, good manufacturing practices, and research and development. MMJ Biopharma Cultivation has reached out to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's office and Senator Jack Reed's office requesting assistance to no avail. Each time the senators and MMJ tried to get a DEA directive and update the DEA never responded. The economic impact has been devastating with loss of employment in Rhode Island as a result of Biden's DEA failed marijuana policy.

The potential impact of MMJ BioPharma Cultivations legal action?

The potential impact of this legal action extends beyond the specific case of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation. It could set a precedent for how the DEA handles similar applications in the future and may prompt a reevaluation of its policies and procedures regarding marijuana research and development.

Ultimately, the outcome of these legal challenges and the broader discussions around marijuana policies under the Biden administration will shape the future landscape of medical research, patient access to treatments, and government oversight of controlled substances. It will be important to monitor how these developments unfold and how they may impact the broader cannabis industry and healthcare landscape.

MMJ is represented by Attorney Megan Sheehan of Rhode Island.

For more information on MMJ, please visit www.mmjih.com.

CONTACT:

Madison Hisey

mhisey@mmjih.com

203-231-8583

SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Val-d'Or, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - International Prospect Ventures Ltd. (TSXV: IZZ) (the "Company" or "International Prospect") announces that, further to its news releases of March 18 and March 28, 2024, it has issued 1,200,000 common shares at a deemed per share price of $0.05 in settlement of an aggregate of $60,000 in accrued debt owing as to $15,000 to 2973090 Canada Inc. ("2973090"), a company controlled by Glenn J. Mullan the President, CEO and a director of the Company, $15,000 to 9184-0876 Quebec Inc.("9184-076"), a company controlled by Jens Zinke, a director of the Company, $15,000 to Caracle Creek International Consulting Inc. ("Caracle") a company controlled by Scott Jobin-Bevans, the Vice-President Exploration and a director of the Company, $9,000 to Rico De Vega ("De Vega"), the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company and $6,000 to Robert Valliant ("Valliant"), a director of the Company (collectively the "Debt Settlors").

Each of 2973090, 9184-076 and Caracle forgave an additional $15,000 owed to each of them by the Company for consulting services rendered to the Company.

The debt owed to the Debt Settlors related to consideration payable under the terms of consulting agreements entered into between the Company and each of 2973090, 9184-076, Caracle and De Vega, and director fees owed to Valliant (the "Shares for Debt Transaction").

The shares issued by the Company under the Shares for Debt Transaction are subject to a hold period until August 5, 2024, in accordance with applicable securities legislation and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The issuance of shares by the Company to the Debt Settlors constitutes a related party transaction (a "Related Party Transaction") pursuant to the TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company availed itself of the exemptions contained in section 5.5(a) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement and Section 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the minority shareholder approval requirement of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the securities distributed in the transaction is not more than 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

The Company also announces that it has completed a non-brokered private placement offering (the "Offering") for gross proceeds of $305,000, which was over-subscribed by $5,000 over the amount outlined in the March 18 and 28, 2024 news releases. The Company issued 6,100,000 Units under the Offering at a per Unit price of $0.05, each Unit comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company and one-half of one non-transferable share purchase warrant, each whole warrant entitling the purchase of one common share at a per share price of $0.07 until April 4, 2026.

Four insiders of the Company participated in the Offering for aggregate cash consideration to the Company of $68,000, which constitutes a Related Party Transaction. The Company availed itself of the exemptions contained in section 5.5(c) of MI 61-101 (distribution of securities for cash) for an exemption from the formal valuation requirement and Section 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the minority shareholder approval requirement of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the securities distributed in the Offering, and the consideration received by the Company for those securities, insofar as the participation in the Offering by the interested parties did not exceed $2,500,000.

In connection with the Offering, the Company paid cash finder's fees in the amount of $2,200 and issued 110,000 finder's warrants exercisable at a price of $0.07 until April 4, 2026, to an arm's length finder.

The net proceeds raised from the Offering will be used by the Company for general corporate purposes and to pay certain debts owing to a non-arm's length party, who did not participate in the Offering.

All securities issued under the Offering, including common shares underlying the warrants, are subject to a hold period until August 5, 2024, in accordance with applicable securities legislation and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About International Prospect Ventures Ltd.

International Prospect Ventures is a junior mineral exploration company that holds interests in mining claims (and is continuing to acquire additional interests) located in the Pilbara, Western Australia, within an area Southeast of Karratha, where early-stage gold discoveries have been reported.

The Company also has a 100% interest in the Porcupine Miracle Gold Prospect, consisting of 4 mineral claims located in Langmuir Township, Ontario.

International Prospect Ventures continues to evaluate additional opportunities on an ongoing basis.

For additional information, please contact:

Glenn J. Mullan

President and CEO

2772 chemin Sullivan

Val-d'Or, Quebec J9P 0B9

Tel.: 819-824-2808, x 204

Email: Glenn.Mullan@GroupZedZed.com

Website: www.iprospectventures.ca

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 or realities 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.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204361

SOURCE: International Prospect Ventures Ltd.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / SILVER X MINING CORP. (TSX-V:AGX)(F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company") announces that the Company has closed the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering (the "Private Placement") with the placement of 6,156,199 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.18 per Unit for gross proceeds of $1,108,116.

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 $0.30 per Share for a period of 36 months from the date of closing of the Private Placement (the "Closing Date").

Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for capital expenditures and exploration related to the Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Peru (the "Project") and potential acquisitions of assets.

All securities issued and issuable in connection with the first tranche closing of the Private Placement are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on August 5, 2024. The closing of the second tranche is expected shortly as subscriptions are received. Closing of the Private Placement is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Under the first tranche of the Private Placement, the Company paid fees to eligible finders consisting of (i) $23,629.56 in cash and (ii) 62,982 finder's warrants (the "Finder's Warrants) exercisable into one Share at a price of $0.30, and (iii) 61,633 Finder's Warrants exercisable into one Share at a price of $0.18. The Finder's Warrants are exercisable for a period of 36 months from the Closing Date.

CEO, Jose Garcia, and Vice President, Corporate Development, Sebastian Wahl, (the "Insiders") have each expressed an interest in participating in the second tranche of the Offering. The participation by the Insiders of the Company in the Offering constitutes a related party transactions within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Such participation is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), as neither the fair market value of the securities issued, nor the fair market value of the consideration for the securities issued exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101. A material change report in connection with the Offering will be filed less than 21 days before the closing of the Offering. This shorter period was reasonable and necessary in the circumstances as the Company wished to complete the Offering in a timely manner.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About Silver X Mining Corp.

Silver X is a rapidly-expanding silver developer and producer in the Americas. The Company owns the +20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead and zinc from the district's Tangana Mining Unit. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jose M. Garcia

CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

T: +1 647 259 6901 x 101

E: ir@silverxmining.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may include, without limitation, exploration plans, results of operations, expected performance at the Nueva Recuperada Project (the "Project"), the ability of the new zones at the Project to feed production at the Company's Nueva Recuperada Plant in the near term, the Company's belief that the Tangana system will provide considerable resource expansion potential, that the Company will be able to mine the Tangana Mining Unit in an economic manner, the expected financial performance of the Company, the ability of the Company to complete the proposed Private Placement, if at all, on the proposed terms, and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement.

The following are some of the assumptions upon which forward-looking information is based: that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; demand for, and stable or improving price for the commodities we produce; receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, permits and renewals in a timely manner; that the Company will not experience any material accident, labour dispute or failure of plant or equipment or other material disruption in the Company's operations at the Project and Nueva Recuperada Plant; the availability of financing for operations and development; the Company's ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; that the estimates of the resources at the Project and the geological, operational and price assumptions on which these and the Company's operations are based are within reasonable bounds of accuracy (including with respect to size, grade and recovery); the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and directors; and the ability of management to execute strategic goals.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to those risks described in the Company's annual and interim MD&As and in its public documents filed on www.sedarplus.ca from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Silver X Mining Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Intuitive Health Opens 31st Location, Fourth with Presbyterian Healthcare Services

PLANO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Intuitive Health, the leading provider of combined emergency room and urgent care facilities and Presbyterian Healthcare Services today announced the opening of PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Menaul/Pennsylvania in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Menaul/Pennsylvania urgent and emergency care facility is located at 7400 Menaul Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110. The urgent care and ER are open 24/7. No appointments are needed and only walk-in patients are accepted.

Its 24/7 urgent and emergency care centers offer comprehensive services with an on-site lab and imaging suite, including CT scans, X-rays, ultrasounds and EKGs. This ensures patients' medical needs are met swiftly, with billing only for the services they utilize.

PRESNow is Albuquerque's only 24/7 Urgent Care and Emergency Care under one roof.

As a pioneer of the combined ER and urgent care model starting in 2008, Intuitive Health facilities eliminate the need for patients to self-diagnose before seeking care. Each location houses both emergency and urgent care services in the same location. Patients enter through the same door and are examined by ER-trained providers, who determine if ER or urgent care level treatment is needed. Approximately 70-80% of patients only need urgent care, resulting in significant convenience and cost savings.

The dual ER and urgent care model's goal is to remove financial concerns in deciding where to go. PRESNow informs patients whether their condition requires urgent or ER-level care and ensures they are billed accordingly. Patients are updated on their billing status throughout their visit. If ER-level care is required, additional consent is needed to confirm understanding of additional tests and treatments. This novel approach guarantees no surprise bills and that patients only pay based on the care level delivered while eliminating patient guesswork trying to self-diagnose condition severity, whether urgent care or emergency care.

This innovative model simplifies access to immediate patient care and helps drive value. The new PRESNow 24/7 - Menaul/Pennsylvania clinic will expand access to Intuitive Health's unique dual offering for New Mexico residents.

"We're excited to expand our unique ER and urgent care model in Albuquerque, where our PRESNow clinics have already proven successful by driving impressive volumes and meeting unmet needs," said Intuitive Health CEO Thom Herrmann. "We aim to continue to set a new standard for accessible value-based care with this new location."

The Menaul/Pennsylvania location marks Intuitive Health's 31st location nationwide and fourth facility in partnership with Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico. It expands Intuitive's footprint across 13 states. The four Albuquerque, New Mexico locations are:

PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Paseo/San Pedro - 6400 Paseo Del Norte Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113 - 505-596-2100.

PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Coors/Western Trail - 4515 Coors Boulevard NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120 - 505-596-2200.

PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Isleta/Rio Bravo - 3436 Isleta Boulevard SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 - 505-596-2300

PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Menaul/Pennsylvania - 7400 Menaul Boulevard NE - Albuquerque, NM 87110 - 505-596-2400

PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Menaul/Pennsylvania is in-network with all insurance plans for emergency care and is in-network with most major insurance plans, including all Medicare and Medicaid plans.



Please click here for additional details on PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care. Visit PHS.org to learn more about Presbyterian Healthcare Services and IHERUC.com to learn more about Intuitive Health.

###

About Presbyterian Healthcare Services

Presbyterian Healthcare Services exists to improve the health of the patients, members and communities we serve. Presbyterian is a locally owned, not-for-profit healthcare system of nine hospitals, a statewide health plan and a growing multi-specialty medical group. Founded in New Mexico in 1908, it is the state's largest private employer with more than 13,000 employees.

About Intuitive Health

Founded in 2008, Intuitive Health pioneered the combined emergency room and urgent care model. Intuitive Health partners with established health systems nationwide to build, operate and launch retail healthcare facilities that provide urgent care and emergency room services under one roof. Intuitive Health partners with leading health systems nationwide, including Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Intuitive's patient-centric approach to immediate care has saved payors and patients hundreds of millions in unnecessary emergency care spending. In addition, the Intuitive Health model increases market share for partnered healthcare systems by expanding their footprint with conveniently located centers. For more information, please visit IHERUC.com.

Media Contact:

Jo Trizila, TrizCom PR, on behalf of Intuitive Health

Jo@TrizCom.com

Cell/Text: 214-232-0078

Office: 972-247-1369

SOURCE: Intuitive Health

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Dalvi previously held the role of Strategy Partner, Europe, at Stagwell's (STGW) Assembly

LONDON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global media agency, Assembly, announced today the promotion of Kashif Dalvi from Strategy Partner to Head of Strategy in Europe, effective immediately. In this newly elevated role, Dalvi will drive the development of best-in-class strategies and insights, supporting the agency's goals of redefining brand performance and client experiences throughout the region. Dalvi will report to James Appleby, Managing Director, Europe.

Having joined Assembly Europe as Strategic Partner in July 2021, Dalvi has played a pivotal role in delivering exceptional media and performance strategies. With a keen understanding of creative, data, and technology, Dalvi has been instrumental in expanding Assembly's presence in the luxury and fashion sectors, where he has worked closely with renowned clients such as Moncler, Patagonia, Converse, and more.

Prior to Assembly, Dalvi amassed extensive experience in client leadership and strategy at Total Media, 360i, and Intelligent Reach, working with prominent brands like Nike, Lidl, Carnival, ITV, and many others.

"Strategy lies at the heart of Assembly's solutions to brands' challenges. I am thrilled to bring a new era of strategy to the table as we continue to evolve our brand performance offerings, leveraging our proprietary data technologies. Grounded in effectiveness and marketing fundamentals, we are well-positioned to level up brand performance in the long run," said Dalvi.

"Our people are the foundation of our success. I am delighted to witness Kash's remarkable progression into a leadership role as we grow our business propositions with an amazing team, and we are set to make even greater strides in the region," said James Appleby.

Dalvi's commitment to the industry extends beyond his role at Assembly. Keen to nurture talent by unlocking the potential of young professionals, Dalvi has provided media and pitching training as a mentor in the NABS Fast Forward programme, Media For All (MEFA), and Brixton Finishing School. He is also actively involved in various projects with local schools.

ABOUT ASSEMBLY EUROPE

Assembly is a leading global omnichannel media agency, operating in 26 offices worldwide. Our Europe headquarters in London serves as a dynamic regional hub, with presence in Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Warsaw, Barcelona, Madrid, Copenhagen, and Tel Aviv. With a team of over 400 experts specialising in omnichannel strategies, digital brand and performance, e-commerce, data science, and sustainability, we are committed to finding the change that fuels growth for the world's top brands. As a trusted strategic partner, our collaborations have predominantly centered around renowned brands in the spheres of luxury, fashion, beauty, retail, and technology. Assembly is honoured to be named one of the few recipients of the prestigious Google Premier Partner of the Year 2023. Our work is powered by our proprietary in-house technology solution, STAGE, and supported by our global talent base of over 1,900 professionals. Assembly is a proud member of Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing. For more information, visit assemblyglobal.com.?

Media Relations Contact:

Michelle Chan, Marketing Manager

Michelle.Chan@assemblyglobal.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2379858/Assembly_Europe_Kash_Dalvi.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1963651/Assembly_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/assembly-europe-elevates-kashif-dalvi-as-new-head-of-strategy-302108848.html
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Advanced Gold Exploration Inc (CSE: AUEX) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release of March 27, 2024, it has settled an aggregate of $16,650 of indebtedness to an arm's length creditor of the Company through the issuance of 602,410 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a price of $0.05 per Common Share (the "Debt Settlement"). The Common Shares issued pursuant to the debt settlement are subject to a four-month hold period.

About Advanced Gold Exploration Inc.

Advanced Gold Exploration (Formerly Advance United Holdings Inc.) brings an entirely different approach to the mining industry. We don't mine. Rather, we've acquired a portfolio of undervalued gold properties and are increasing their value through the application of modern technology. We have a growing pipeline of similar properties that we are looking to acquire. We are involved exclusively in the acquisition and advancement of past projects - with no intent to bring them back into production or to mine them ourselves. Our expertise is in identifying and acquiring undervalued properties with significant historical work, which were uneconomic at the time, but we believe have economic value at today's prices. We fund the re-working historic data and applying modern technology to underwrite new qualified reports, document quantifiable resources and reserves to current standards, thereby recognizing the current value. Our purpose is to bring immediate and long-term value to our partners and shareholders while seeking to eliminate exploration risk, so that we can all advance in the shortest possible time frame. For additional information about us, our projects, or to find out how we can assist in the advancement of your project contact our CEO.

Contact Information

James Atkinson, M.Sc., P. Geo.,

CEO Advanced Gold Exploration Inc.

Email: jim.atkinson@advancedgoldexploration.com

Tel: (647) 278-7502

Forward-Looking Information and Cautionary Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204359

SOURCE: Advanced Gold Exploration Inc.
Maniv, a Tel Aviv, Israel, and NYC based venture capital firm, closed its third fund, at $140m.

The vehicle, which brought the firms assets under management to nearly $320m, will invest in Seed and Series A stage startups focused on the intersection between mobility, transportation and energy.

Read more on VCWire.tech, our new website dedicated to the tech venture capital industry.

FinSMEs

04/04/2024
Volur, an Oslo, Norway-based global software company that develops AI technology to optimize the meat industry and make it more sustainable, raised $2.85M in funding.

Backers included Serra Ventures, York IE, Saria, and existing investors Idekapital, Fusion Fund, and Fortress Fund.

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach.

Led by newly appointed CEO Anna Turvoll, Volur is a global software company that leverages data and AI to empower meat processors with optimal sorting and decisions to optimize carcass value throughout the whole value chain. The solution creates value through a balance between supply and demand, increases in the value per pound of the finished products, meeting service levels towards customers, and up to 10% higher utilization of animals.

Turvolls expertise spans scaling operations in startups, working with meat processors, raising capital, and strategic roles at prestigious firms such as Goldman Sachs. Volurs Co-Founder and outgoing CEO, Robert Ekrem, will continue to contribute to Volurs vision and strategy in his role on the Board of Directors.

FinSMEs

04/04/2024
The continued evolution and adoption of blockchain technology will be key to unlocking the full potential of real estate tokenisation read more

In the evolving landscape of real estate, the integration of blockchain technology through asset tokenisation could present a transformative avenue for retailing real estate. This innovative approach, which is getting legally possible and popular in certain countries, not only democratises investment in real estate, but can also introduce a level of liquidity previously unseen in the sector. As Indias real estate market is projected to grow exponentially, reaching $1 trillion by 2030, the adoption of blockchain asset tokenisation with regulatory support could be the catalyst needed for this burgeoning growth.

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Essence of blockchain in real estate

Blockchain technology, with its decentralised nature, offers a secure and transparent platform for conducting transactions without the need for intermediaries. This technology underpins the tokenisation process, where real estate assets are converted into digital tokens that represent fractional ownership or interest in the property. These tokens can be traded on blockchain platforms, enhancing liquidity and making real estate investment accessible to a broader audience.

Mechanism of asset tokenisation

Asset tokenisation involves three core elements: the incoming asset (property), the blockchain infrastructure for substitution of the asset, and the virtual asset version (digital tokens). This process not only simplifies the investment in real estate but also opens up the market to small investors by enabling fractional ownership. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that asset tokenisation could reach $16 trillion within the next decade, with real estate tokenisation playing a significant role.

Role of Decentralised Finance (DeFi)

Decentralised Finance (DeFi) introduces a digital monetary ecosystem built on blockchain, facilitating borrowing, lending, and exchanging without traditional financial intermediaries. In the realm of real estate tokenisation, DeFi enhances efficiency, transparency, and inclusivity, further revolutionizing the sector.

Real estate asset tokenisation: A new era

Tokenizing real estate assets involves creating digital tokens that correspond to a specific portion of a property, allowing for fractional ownership. This approach not only makes real estate investment more accessible but also increases market liquidity. With the global property market valued at an estimated $228 trillion, tokenisation has the potential to significantly expand investment opportunities and is poised to be a tremendous volume business shortly. This not only increases liquidity in real estate but can also enhance general liquidity in the market for all businesses by allowing getting liquidity out of dormant fixed assets.

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Process and regulatory landscape

The process of real estate asset tokenisation encompasses several steps, from identifying the asset and clearing legal regulations to developing smart contracts, launching the token for fractional ownership and ensuring the distribution of income. Regulatory considerations are crucial, as the framework for asset tokenisation is still evolving. Countries like Singapore, Thailand, UK, and USA have already come up with regulations to facilitate asset tokenisation. Despite regulatory aversion for cryptocurrencies in India, there is a need to look at asset based cryptos like real estate differently as it is relatively safe underlying assets and more robust than the traditional fractional funding mechanism. Incidentally, GIFT City in Ahmadabad may be the first to effectively explore Asset Tokenisation in India.

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Future outlook and conclusion

The future of real estate asset tokenisation is promising, with potential impacts on traditional financial systems and opportunities for further research and innovation. This approach can revolutionize real estate. As the regulatory landscape evolves and more countries recognize the benefits of asset tokenisation, we can expect a significant shift in how real estate investments are made, ultimately leading to a more inclusive and liquid market.

Blockchain asset tokenisation can bring a significant leap forward for the real estate sector in India. Proper Regulatory framework can enable even Residential Asset Tokenisation triggering a huge market liquidity for investment by start-ups and MSMEs, by enabling fractional ownership, enhancing liquidity, and democratising investment. Tokenisation has the potential to reshape the landscape of real estate investment, making it more accessible and appealing to a wider range of investors. As we move forward, the continued evolution and adoption of blockchain technology will be key to unlocking the full potential of real estate tokenisation, paving the way for a more inclusive and dynamic real estate market in India and beyond.

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The author is CEO, Indialand Group. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
BRS MLC K Kavithas bail plea in the liquor policy case will be heard by a court in Delhi today. PM Modi will launch the BJPs Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar. The Thai princess will also be visiting China while Kuwait will hold elections. Heres all this and more read more

BRS MLC K Kavitha after she was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from her residence in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, in Hyderabad. PTI

Its going to be a busy Thursday.

BRS MLC K Kavithas bail plea will be heard by the Rouse Avenue Court.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar. The BJPs second manifesto meeting is likely to be held.

On the global front, the Thai princess will be visiting China. Kuwait will hold its parliamentary elections.

Heres a glimpse of how the day will unfold.

K Kavithas bail plea to be heard

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The Rouse Avenue Court will be hearing Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavithas temporary bail plea in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam case.

She has requested interim bail to be with her sons during their exams until 16 April.

For those uninitiated, Kavitha was remanded to judicial custody until 9 April by special judge Kaveri Baweja of the CBI in the case.

Her bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court on 22 March.

PM Modi to launch Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar

PM Modi will sound the poll bugle in Bihar on Thursday with a rally in Jamui, where voting will be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

PM Narendra Modi addressed rally in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. PTI

The announcement was made by Chirag Paswan, BJPs junior alliance partner, a second-term MP from Jamui who has now shifted base, passing over the mantle to brother-in-law Arun Bharti.

Paswan, who will contest from Hajipur, his late father Ram Vilas Paswans pocket borough, also shared a poster on X with the PMs image printed alongside that of Bharti, who is making his electoral debut.

BJPs second manifesto meeting

The second meeting of the BJPs newly formed Election Manifesto Committee is likely to be held today.

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The saffron partys manifesto for the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections is likely to be titled Modi Ki Guarantee, his campaign pitch for the upcoming electoral race.

Further, the ANI sources indicated that the BJP could make some big promises to farmers in its list of poll pledges.

Last date for filing nomination papers

The last date for filing nomination papers for 88 parliamentary seats across 12 states in the second phase of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is 4 April.

Tomorrow, the nomination papers will be scrutinised in all states and Union Territories, except Jammu and Kashmir.

Thai princess will visit China

At the invitation of the Chinese government, Thailands princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will visit China from 4 to 10 April.

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She will visit Beijing and southwest Chinas Sichuan province, according to Foreign Minister spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

Mumbai-Pune expressway traffic advisory

Commuters traveling on the Mumbai-Pune expressway should brace themselves for a brief traffic disruption today from 12 pm to 2 pm.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has set the installation of a gantry at the 93/900-kilometre mark on the expressway, facilitated by the Highway Traffic Management System on both the Pune and Mumbai lanes.

To ensure smooth installation, traffic flow in both directions will come to a halt.

Amit Shah in Port Blair

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting in Port Blair on Thursday in support of BJP Andaman and Nicobar Island Lok Sabha candidate Bishnu Pada Ray, who is contesting against sitting MP and Congress candidate Kuldeep Rai Sharma.

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Home Minister Amit Shah sound off BJPs poll bugle from the state of Karnataka. File image/PTI

After arriving, Shah will proceed towards the Indian Trade Fair ground, close to Veer Sarvarkar International Airport, for a public meeting.

Hemant Sorens judicial custody ends

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Sorens judicial custody in the alleged land scam case ends today.

He was sent to the Birsa Munda Central Jail after his 13-day ED custody.

Soren was arrested by the probe agency on 31 January in connection with allegedly forging the land documents of 8.5 acres in Ranchis Badgai area between 2020 and 2022.

ED summons Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad for questioning

Ed has summoned Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad for questioning in a money laundering case on Thursday.

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Her brother Ankit Sao has also been called on Friday, according to PTI.

The central agency wants to record their statements under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier, the agency had said it seized unexplained cash of about Rs 35 lakh and documents during a raid last month. The raids were in connection with the probe in alleged extortion, collection of levy, illegal sand mining and land grabbing.

Imran Khan and his wife are to be produced before Pakistan court

A district and session court in Islamabad ordered to produce former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, on Thursday.

According to details, the session court judge, Tahir Abbas Sipra, heard the bail pleas and issued production orders for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. FILE/AFP

PTI lawyer Khalid Yousaf Choudhary appeared before the court, where the court ordered the Adiala Jail superintendent to produce Imran Khan on 4 April.

The former Pakistan PM has been booked in two vandalism cases during the partys long march in Islamabad.

Khan has been facing over 100 cases since his ouster from office. He is currently incarcerated in Adiala jail following convictions in toshakhana, cypher and unlawful marriage cases.

Parliamentary elections in Kuwait

Kuwait will hold elections for its national assembly on Thursday, its latest round of voting after years of political turmoil.

In February, Kuwaits emir dissolved parliament after a lawmaker reportedly insulted the ruler.

According to the Justice Ministry, 123 schools have been prepared as polling stations throughout the five electoral districts.

A day to remember
NATO marks its 75th anniversary today. The military alliance faces a growing threat from Moscow and the spectre of Donald Trump read more

NATO, US and British flags are displayed along The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, in London, Britain. Reuters

The National Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), founded in 1949 with a commitment to collective defence and peace, celebrates its 75th anniversary today. It is the worlds oldest military alliance of democratic countries and the only one currently in place.

But, with all the celebrations, there are also many questions. How is NATO faring today? Is the organisation still relevant? Whats the road ahead?

Stronger, but under threat

The NATO military alliance marks its 75th anniversary on Thursday, reinvigorated by Russias invasion of Ukraine  but menaced by the growing threat from Moscow and the spectre of Donald Trump.

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In 2019, French president Emmanuel Macron slammed the US-led alliance  set up after World War II to face off against the Soviet Union  as suffering from a brain death.

Now, four-and-a-half years later, the alliance has grown to 32 members with the addition of Sweden and Finland after what Macron described as the electroshock of Russias all-out assault in 2022.

In response, NATO has ramped up troop numbers on its eastern flank and put in place new plans to deal with any Russian attack.

NATO has been re-energised after the invasion of Ukraine, said James Black, assistant defence and security director at RAND Corporation, a US think tank.

In two years, NATO has grown bigger, with more ambition in the scope of its activities, more forces in eastern Europe.

They say one way to convince the United States that NATO remains relevant is to step up the attention it pays to China, a key concern for Washington. File image/AP

The refocus on its old nemesis Moscow has given the alliance a clear sense of purpose after some questioned whether it was still needed at the end of the Cold War.

That process started back in 2014 when Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine  but it kicked up several gears with 2022s full-scale invasion.

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Just six months before Russia piled its forces into Ukraine, NATO was still grappling with its disastrous US-led withdrawal from Afghanistan that allowed the Taliban to sweep to power.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine  which is pushing to one day join NATO  its members have sent weaponry worth tens of billions of dollars to Kyiv.

But the alliance has carefully avoided getting dragged into a direct conflict with Russia that risks turning nuclear.

Threats looming over NATO

With Moscows forces now gaining the upper hand on the battlefield and Western weapons deliveries to Kyiv dwindling, there are fears NATO countries could be next in Russias sights if the Kremlin manages to grind out a win in Ukraine.

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If aid decreases and Ukraine is under pressure to negotiate and accept a bad peace, that would increase the danger of an aggressive Russia, said Black.

Thats why it is essential to support Ukraine now. Its an investment for NATO tomorrow.

But Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not the only threat looming over NATO.

Last month former US president Trump rocked allies by saying he would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want to any NATO country not meeting its financial obligations.

With Moscows forces now gaining the upper hand on the battlefield and Western weapons deliveries to Kyiv dwindling, there are fears NATO countries could be next in Russias sights if the Kremlin manages to grind out a win in Ukraine. AP

The comments from the volatile Republican candidate in this years US election unleashed a political firestorm as they plunged into doubt Washingtons commitment to allies should Trump beat incumbent Joe Biden in November.

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The real problem with Trump is his unpredictability, said Camille Grand, a former senior NATO official and current fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.

The withdrawal of the US from NATO is not even necessary. All it takes is a tweet or a statement like: not a single American soldier will die for an ally like Lithuania.

In a pre-emptive move, NATO has showcased the steep increase in countries meeting their target of spending two per cent of GDP on defence, up to an expected 20 nations this year from just three in 2014.

Diplomats at the alliances headquarters in Brussels remain sanguine about Trumps prospective return having come out of his first term with NATO in better shape.

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They say one way to convince the United States that NATO remains relevant is to step up the attention it pays to China, a key concern for Washington.

But, despite increased European spending on defence, many believe that NATO would not work without the might of the United States.

If the US backs out of this then we cant manage it, said one European diplomat, on condition of anonymity.

Europe is stepping up the pace but it will be some time before it could ever come close.

With inputs from AFP
The NATO military alliance marks its 75th anniversary of the signing of its founding treaty today. Here are some facts about the organisation forged amid the Cold War and re-energised by Russias war on Ukraine read more

Since its inception on 4 April, 1949, NATO has expanded from 12 founding members to 32 member countries, all working together to keep our people safe. AP

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has united the West for 75 years, and with two wars going on around the world, it now has greater responsibilities. Since its inception on 4 April, 1949, it has expanded from 12 founding members to 32 member countries, all working together to keep our people safe.

To commemorate the anniversary, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith will host all diplomats today, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other dignitaries, at her official residence outside Brussels, Truman Hall, named after President Harry S Truman, who oversaw the alliances formation in 1949.

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In July, President Biden will host a NATO leaders summit in Washington, where the founding treaty was signed. The pact aimed to defend members from Moscows hostility, a task that the alliance is now taking on again.

As NATO marks its 75th anniversary, here are some facts and figures about the organisation forged in the Cold War and re-energised by Russias war on Ukraine.

From 12 to 32

Just 12 founding member countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty back in 1949 as the United States, Canada and much of Western Europe clubbed together to face up to the threat of former World War II ally the Soviet Union.

As the alliances first Secretary General Lord Ismay quipped, NATOs purpose was to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.

In 1952, often uncomfortable bedfellows Turkey and Greece joined, before West Germany became a member three years later.

After the end of the Cold War, NATO went through several waves of eastward enlargement that saw its border with Russia grow with the inclusion of Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states.

After Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, Nordic neighbours Sweden and Finland reversed long-standing policies of non-alignment  taking the alliance to 32 members.

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In total, NATO countries account for close to one billion people and around 50 per cent of the worlds GDP.

Together they have 3.2 million men and women serving in their militaries.

Iceland is the only member without its own army.

An attack on one member is an attack on all

NATO has only ever once triggered its Article Five collective-defence clause  which says an attack on one member is considered an attack on all  after the 9/11 attack on the US in 2001.

In total, NATO countries account for close to one billion people and around 50 per cent of the worlds GDP. Together they have 3.2 million men and women serving in their militaries. File image/AP

That decision was a show of support for the alliances leading military power and far different from the threat in Europe originally foreseen by its founders.

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The fallout from 9/11 saw NATO get involved in Afghanistan where it remained until 2021, when a calamitous US-led withdrawal allowed the Taliban to take back power.

Goal to spend two per cent GDP on defence

In response to Russias seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, NATO allies agreed they would aim to spend two per cent of their GDPs on defence.

That goal was raised after Moscow launched its all-out invasion of its neighbour in 2022 to having two per cent as a minimum.

Former US president Donald Trump has railed against NATO countries not spending enough, warning he would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want to those not meeting their obligations.

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In 2024, 20 NATO members are expected to reach two per cent, up from just three in 2014.

25 years in Kosovo

June 2024 will mark 25 years since NATO deployed troops in Kosovo in 1999, completing the withdrawal of Serbian forces after its 77-day air campaign.

That military intervention was just the second in NATOs history, following its involvement in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.

After the end of the Cold War, NATO went through several waves of eastward enlargement that saw its border with Russia grow with the inclusion of Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states. File image/AP

A quarter of a century on, NATOs Kosovo Force (KFOR) still remains on the ground in the Balkans, making it the alliances longest-running mission.

After a rise in tensions last year led to rioting that wounded 93 NATO troops, allies agreed to send 1,000 additional soldiers to KFOR  taking its total to around 4,500.

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Beyond the Balkans, NATOs other major overseas missions have included its nearly two decades in Afghanistan and the 2011 bombing campaign in Libya.

France spent 43 years outside NATO

No country has ever withdrawn from NATO, but France spent almost 43 years outside its military command structure after President Charles de Gaulle pulled out in 1966 in protest at US domination.

The decision  which saw NATO move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels  was only reversed by President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.

Nonetheless, Frances sometimes strained relationship with NATO continues  and in 2019 President Emmanuel Macron accused the alliance of suffering brain death.

Macron later said Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine had woken up NATO with the worst of electroshocks.

With inputs from AFP
AAP leader Sanjay Singh walked out of Tihar jail on Wednesday, a day after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi liquor policy case. Known as a formidable strategist and orator, his release has changed the tone of the impending Lok Sabha elections read more

AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was behind bars since Oct. 2023 in the liquor policy case, addresses after he came out of the Tihar Jail following a Supreme Court order granting him bail, in New Delhi, Wednesday, 3 April 2024. PTI

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Wednesday walked out of Tihar jail a day after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in Delhi liquor policy case.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 4 October 2023 after a 10-hour search at his residence in North Avenue, New Delhi.

This is the time to struggle. The biggest leaders of our party  Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain  have been kept behind the bars. I am confident that one day the locks of this prison will be broken and they will come out. This is why I want to say that this is not the time to celebrate, this is the time to struggle, Singh said after his release, as massive crow of AAP supporters gathered outside the jail.

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Known as a formidable strategist and orator, Singhs release has changed the tone of the impending Lok Sabha elections.

Heres a look at why Singhs release is important for AAP.

A boost to the partys morale

Sanjay Singhs release will boost the partys morale.

Even though CM Kejriwal, his former deputy Manish Sisodia, and former minister Satyendar Jain are still in jail, the AAP has hailed his release as a moment of happiness and hope.

A senior AAP functionary told The Times of India, His release could not have come at a better time. We really needed a top leader now who can lift the partys morale and give the right direction to our campaign.

Raghav Chadha wrote on X in Hindi, Today is a very emotional day for every ordinary party worker. The happiness of the release of our lion, Sanjay Singh, cannot be expressed in words, Jai Bajrangbali.

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  ! pic.twitter.com/tnZo4vIDzF  Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) April 2, 2024

Singh visited Kejriwals wife Sunita right away at his residence, in an apparent political statement.

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AAP MP Sanjay Singh meets Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita Kejriwal after his release from Tihar Jail following a Supreme Court order granting him bail in the excise policy case, in New Delhi, Wednesday. PTI

In his speech at the AAP office later, the Rajya Sabha MP asked the people of the country to be wary of dictators who would bring tears to their eyes and said that the AAP leaders were sent to the jail because they wanted to provide good education, health facilities, free bus ride, and Rs 1,000 to women in Delhi.

In an attempt to restore confidence in AAP worker, Singh declared that the party will work harder and that voters will respond to Kejriwals imprisonment by casting their votes in the Lok Sabha elections.

Also read: How Arvind Kejriwal, undertrial 670, plans to run Delhi government from Tihar prison

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His exceptional skills

With his keen political sense and exceptional organisational skills, Singh has been instrumental in the partys growth throughout the years. These abilities would be useful for planning and rolling out AAPs campaign in four states where it is contesting 22 seats, the official told the newspaper.

Singh is a founder member of the AAP and has been close to Kejriwal from his activism days. He participated in the India Against Corruption campaign.

He played a key role in AAPs resounding victory in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections and oversaw Punjab when the party ran its first election in the state.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh addresses supporters at the party office after his release from Tihar Jail following a Supreme Court order granting him bail in the excise policy case, in New Delhi. PTI

Singh is renowned for his creativity, which has helped the AAP gain more popularity by coming up with catchy taglines and giving election campaigns an emotional touch.

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He is a great orator as well. His strong yet emotional speeches could get a lot of support from the general population in Kejriwals absence.

Also read: 3 reasons why Sanjay Singhs bail may help Manish Sisodia in Delhi Excise Policy Case

A breather for Bhagwant Mann

Bhagwant Mann, who has been manning the fort since Arvind Kejriwals detention, would probably feel less pressure now that Singh is free, as per India Today.

He often jumped between Punjab and Delhi for important meetings in his capacity as Punjabs chief minister and AAP leader.

Returning to Delhi, Sanjay Singh may maintain control and be a key player in the run-up to the elections.

Influence on poll campaign

While granting Singh bail on Tuesday, the apex court questioned why he had been imprisoned for over six months without a trial or any evidence of the alleged bribe that an accused-turned-approver had given him.

The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Prasanna B Varale permitted Singh to engage in political activities although stating that the ruling could not be regarded as precedent, as per NDTV.

This might be a significant factor for the AAP, whose campaign could gain momentum with less than three weeks left until the general elections.

For those uninitiated, the AAP has been claiming that the alleged Delhi liquor policy case is nothing more than a fabrication orchestrated by the probe agencies acting at the behest of the ruling BJP at the Centre to bring down Kejriwal and his government in Delhi.

In addition to AAP, the Centre has been singled out by the Congress as well as other opposition parties within the INDIA alliance.

During one of his electoral rallies, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of match-fixing the forthcoming elections, as per India TV.

In response to the arrest of Delhi CM, Rahul Gandhi stated that Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, had been jailed to ensure that the opposition is unable to contest the Lok Sabha polls on an equal footing.

With inputs from agencies
Rights groups Global Witness and Access Now have claimed that YouTube approved more than 40 ads containing false information about elections in India and aimed at voter suppression. Heres what happened read more

India is heading to general elections this month. The atmosphere is politically charged as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) seeks a third term and the Opposition INDIA bloc attempts to stop its return to power.

As India holds the worlds largest democratic elections, the menace of disinformation has again come to the spotlight. A new investigation by the rights groups Global Witness and Access Now has claimed that Google-owned YouTube green-lit more than 40 advertisements that contained false information about elections in India and obstructed the countrys voters.

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Lets take a closer look.

YouTube approves disinformation ads

As per a report by Global Witness, the rights groups submitted 48 ads  in Hindi, Telugu, and English  consisting of content banned by YouTubes advertising and election misinformation policies.

All the ads were approved within 24 hours of the review period, reported Time magazine.

These ads did not run on the platform as they were withdrawn by the rights groups before they could be published.

What did the false ads claim?

The false ads were intended for voter suppression, fanning communal tensions and attacking Indias electoral process.

One of the ads claimed ID is not required to cast ballots, another said that women could vote by a text message. Both are, of course, untrue.

An ad falsely claimed that the voting age in India had been raised to 21. The voting age in the country remains 18.

Due to an increase in infectious diseases, all voters will be automatically sent a mail-in ballot for the 2024 elections, one ad spreading disinformation said, as per Time magazine. There is no such guideline.

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YouTube has over 46 crore users in India. Reuters (Representational Image)

Some ads reportedly approved by YouTube could fall under incitement to violence. One ad accused a religious group of bribing voters, and urged people to show up in force at their voting stations and show them whos in charge.

Targeting a caste group, another ad said we will show them whos the boss at the polling booths, and that only certain castes have the right to choose who runs the country, reported Newslaundry.

Rights groups, YouTube react

The experiment shows that YouTube may be failing to impose its own policies in India.

By failing to implement its own policies around disinformation, YouTube raises serious questions about its role in ensuring that the upcoming Indian elections are free and fair. Heading into the crucial election year of 2024, tech platforms made tall promises about safeguarding electoral integrity, but the proof is in the pudding  YouTube greenlit all 48 ads violating its policies, submitted as part of our investigation, Namrata Maheshwari, senior policy counsel at Access Now, said in a statement on the website.

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The reports authors also flagged how social media platforms often fail to tackle election disinformation in developing countries, compared to developed nations where they have more resources, Time reported.

However, Google has rejected the charge, saying the American tech company applies its policies globally and consistently.

Not one of these ads ever ran on our systems and this report does not show a lack of protections against election misinformation in India. Our enforcement process has multiple layers to ensure ads comply with our policies, and just because an ad passes an initial technical check does not mean it wont be blocked or removed by our enforcement systems if it violates our policies. But the advertiser here deleted the ads in question before any of our routine enforcement reviews could take place, a Google spokesperson said in a statement, according to Time.

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The spokesperson said that an ad might initially pass our automated systems, however, this is just the first stage of the review and enforcement process. After this step, ads are still subject to several layers of reviews, to ensure the content complies with our policies. These protections can kick into place both before an ad runs or quickly after it starts to gain impressions, the spokesperson added.

Why this is worrying

India has 462 million (46.2 crore) YouTube users, making it the video platforms biggest market. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X are being utilised by political parties to target voters even before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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From memes to hiring influencers, political parties have gone all out to wield the digital space to spread their agenda and influence electors.

Amid this, misinformation and deepfakes have emerged as a big cause of concern in elections worldwide. Now, with the advancement in generative Artificial intelligence (AI), deepfakes have become cheaper and easier to generate.

A man rides past an election awareness poster displayed along a street ahead of Indias upcoming general elections, in Hyderabad on 26 March 2024. AFP File Photo

In a country where many people believe WhatsApp forwards or YouTube videos that echo their biases, it becomes all the more important to prevent the dissemination of fake content that could incite violence or undermine Indias electoral process.

The investigation mentioned that the Election Commission of India has identified a probable list of fake narratives to prepare for ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

As per The Hindu, rights agencies have warned that the average Indian voter is the most at risk of electoral misinformation in 2024. Thus, it is the prerogative of social media companies to tackle disinformation before it causes harm in real life.

With inputs from agencies
Highlighting the concerning trend, the advisory revealed that Indian nationals are being deceived by fraudulent promises of lucrative job prospects in Cambodia, ultimately falling victim to human traffickers read more

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a cautionary advisory on Thursday urging Indian nationals to remain vigilant against human traffickers offering enticing job prospects in Cambodia.

In the advisory, the ministry emphasized the importance of conducting thorough background checks on prospective employers for Indians considering job opportunities in the Southeast Asian nation.

Highlighting the concerning trend, the advisory revealed that Indian nationals are being deceived by fraudulent promises of lucrative job prospects in Cambodia, ultimately falling victim to human traffickers.

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According to the ministry, these individuals are often coerced into engaging in online financial scams and other illicit activities against their will.

The advisory serves as a timely warning to Indian citizens, urging them to exercise caution and diligence when exploring job opportunities abroad, particularly in countries where instances of human trafficking have been reported.

Indian nationals intending to visit Cambodia for employment are cautioned to do so only through authorised agents. It is also advised that the background of the prospective employer in Cambodia is checked thoroughly, it said.

In the meantime, the ministry of external affairs, through our mission in Phnom Penh, is working closely with the Cambodian authorities to address the issue as well as provide continuous assistance to the affected Indian nationals, it added.

With inputs from PTI
Ex-Cong leader Gourav Vallabh joins BJP

Hours after he left Congress, Gourav Vallabh joined the Bhartiya Janata Party on Thursday, joining the long list of leaders who quit the grand old party in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections 2024.

PM Modi to address election rallies in Bihar, West Bengal today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch NDAs Lok Sabha election campaign in Bihar today with a rally in Jamui. This marks his first campaign event in the state since the election announcement. PM Modi, who is seeking a third consecutive term in office, is slated to address the rally around noon. He is also scheduled to address a rally in Cooch Behar. North Bengals Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats, all named after the three districts where they are located, are going to the polls on 19 April in the first of the seven phases Bengal will witness.

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Gourav Vallabh resigns from Congress, calls party directionless

Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh, who represented the party on TV debates on finance and economy-related issues, on Thursday announced his resignation from the party. Calling the grand old party directionless, Vallabh, in a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Vallabh cited reasons such as caste census, and said that he cannot raise anti-Sanatan slogans, according to a Hindustan Times report.

22 leaders resign from Chirag Paswans party

Chirag Paswans Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has suffered a big blow after 22 of his party leaders resigned simultaneously while expressing anger at not getting tickets for the Lok Sabha elections. According to an NDTV report, among the notable figures who stepped down include former minister Renu Kushwaha, former MLA and national general secretary of LJP, Satish Kumar, state organisation minister Ravindra Singh, Ajay Kushwaha, Sanjay Singh and State General Secretary Rajesh Dangi. The resignation wave appears to stem from grievances within the party ranks, with allegations surfacing about the distribution of tickets in exchange for money, added the report.

With inputs from agencies
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said except Pakistan and China, Indias relationship with neighbouring countries has been much better than it has been for a long time read more

India right now has very abnormal relationship with China and Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, adding that apart from these two nations, New Delhi has much better ties with other neighbours including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

India has very challenging relationship with China

Addressing a gathering in Keralas Thiruvananthapuram, Indias foreign minister said: We have, in many ways, a very competitive, challenging relationship with China.

But this (India) is the country which is today confident and capable of advancing and defending its interests, the minister added.

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Forces in neighbourhood creating problems

The minister further said he wont agree that Indias neighbourhood is not in our favour.

If we talk about neighbours, please go to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and ask people what they think. During their deepest economic trouble, who stood by? Go to Nepal and ask them, Jaishankar said.

There may be forces in the neighbourhood and forces behind forces who create problems, there may be people in India who like to play out this problem. But, Indias relationship with neighbouring countries except Pakistan and China has been much better than it has been for a long time, Jaishankar added.

#WATCH | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar says, "We have challenging relationships with China. But, this is the Country that is confident and capable of advancing and defending its interests. If we talk about neighbours, please go to Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/PNRYWDTWlc  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2024

Indias relationship with its neighbours

Jaishankars remarks came amid strong allegations made by the opposition parties that Indias relationship with its neighbourbing nations has taken a hit under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The minister staunchly denied them.

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The claims that Indias ties with neighboring countries have plunged were made after the Maldives tilted toward China late last year following the accession of Mohamed Muizzu as the President of Male.

Recently, a Boycott India campaign has also started in Bangladesh.

While Muizzu has toughened his stand against India, Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has backed New Delhi.

With China, Indias relationship soured after 2020 Galwan clashes when the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) unilaterally entered the areas in East Ladakh claimed by New Delhi. However, since then, both the nations have engaged in several rounds of diplomatic and high-level military talks to resolve the standoff, but there has been no major breakthrough.

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With inputs from agencies
From launching attacks at the ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) to reiterating Modi ki Guarantee, PM Modi assured the people of West Bengal that BJPs governance in the state would herald in changes read more

After rousing the crowd in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in West Bengals Coochbehar where he touched upon a range of issues and highlighted the shortcomings of the Opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

From launching attacks at the ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) to reiterating Modi ki Guarantee, here are five key takeaways from the prime ministers speech in Coochbehar:

1. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi emphasised why it is important for the Bhartiya Janata Party to win the maximum number of seats in West Bengal.

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TMC, Leftists and Congress might look like they're fighting each other, but behind the curtains, they are all partners.



I say 'remove corruption'; they say 'save the corrupt leaders'.



- PM Shri @narendramodi #ModiMoyPoschimbongo



Watch the full video: https://t.co/DW7Bv3g1gn pic.twitter.com/75XQwcrmZD  BJP (@BJP4India) April 4, 2024

It is important for Bengals development that the BJP wins. BJP will put an end to the atrocities that the women face in Bengal. The entire country has seen how the TMC fought tooth and nail to save the culprits of the Sandeshkhali incident, Modi said.

2. Underlining the signs of progress made by the saffron party in the past 10 years, Modi said, Modi cares for your future and your future generations. It is because Modis intentions are pure that Jammu and Kashmir finally got rid of Article 370. Women got reservations in legislatures. After 500 years, Ram Mandir was built in Ayodhya.

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He added, Modi ki Guarantee begins from where expectations from everyone else end.

3. Recalling one of his rallies in West Bengal during the last election campaign in 2019, the prime minister said, I want to thank Mamata didi because when I came here in 2019, she created hindrance in my rally. I had said to her that the public would seek my revenge But today, she did not try to do any such thing and let me meet you all. I thank the Bengal govt for not creating any trouble today.

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4. Modi said that after India attained independence from British rule, the people of the country were only aware of the Congress Model of governance, but now the world is praising him for being a strong leader who makes big changes.

The world says that Modi is a strong leader who makes big decisions to those, Id like to say that I am merely a servant of my people. I make big decisions so that the aspirations of 140 crore Indians can be fulfilled, PM Modi said.

He added, For decades, Congress gave the empty slogan of Garibi Hatao, while Modi actually uplifted 25 crore people out of poverty in 10 years.

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5. Slamming opposition parties including TMC, Communist Party and Congress, the prime minister said, TMC, Leftists and Congress might look like rebels, but behind the curtains, they are all partners. A huge amount of money has been found in the houses of TMC leaders. Under the guise of giving jobs, they loot people. I say remove corruption, they say save the corrupt leaders.
Kisan Andolan 2.0 fails the test of inclusivity. Many of its camps and trolleys are openly displaying secessionist propaganda, including references to Khalistan read more

Rumour has it that the hardliner factions, also credited with breaking barriers during the farmers protest 1.0 and Red Fort incident, have taken shelter under the wings of Kisan Andolan 2.0. Image: PTI

As the Kisan Andolan 2.0 organises its big rally in Ambala to commemorate the death of Shubkaran Singh, one ought to go back to the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the highest decision-making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for a statement suggesting that the farmers Andolan 2.0 is an attempt to spread anarchy.

Farmers, leaders, and citizenry depending on their political allegiance, believe in different sides of the story. But the real question is: can there be smoke without fire? If there isnt, one must at least relook at the situation.

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Now, when it comes to Farmers Andolan 2.0, many things are uncertain, including the fact that who is leading the movement? There are many rumours bruiting. Some are hinting at the potential infiltration of farmers camps by fringe fundamentalist groups at the Shambhu and Kannuri borders. But even before we begin to analyse this premise and see its potential consequences for SKM and the larger question of agrarian distress, let us see the situation as it stands now.

When we speak of the movement, sadly, it is true that the farmers movement has now spilt up into two major factions. First being the original Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is a coalition of various farmers unions, Left organisations, workers unions, etc., which led the 13-month agitation against the three farm laws and retreated once the Modi government rescinded the three laws. The second is a new splinter group comprising of two subfactions: Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) (SKM-NP) along with Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), which can be credited for galvanising the movement by giving the 13th February Delhi chalo slogan and is currently organising the Ambala rally.

While KMM holds the Shambhu border, SKM-NP has camped at the Kannuri border. Although the cadres are intermixed, both subfactions have cadres camping at both protest sites.

Although both SKM and SKM-(NP)- KMM, agree on common demands, their approaches are very different. SKM-NP drew first blood by taking the high road, calling themselves non-political, and overtly calling SKM a political entity, endorsing the governments earlier stance that SKM is politically motivated.

But when it comes to proving the government right, SKM-NP and KMM are doing a much better job. First of all, the movement is mostly led by Punjabi Sikhs. The camps are highly homogenous, and the religious fervour runs high. Nihangs are present as official bodyguards of the camps and events, while the Gurudwara system offers langar and other support for the farmer groups.

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One wouldnt put the religious core of the protest against them, as rural folk are usually conservative and have deep connections with local gurudwaras and other religious bodies, but the problem is much deeper.

Rumour has it that the hardliner factions, also credited with breaking barriers during the farmers protest 1.0 and Red Fort incident, have taken shelter under the wings of Kisan Andolan 2.0. Many of them are entrenched in the camps. The proof, of course, is visible in plain sight.

Many of the camps and trolleys are openly displaying secessionist propaganda, including references to Khalistan. These also include pictures of Bindrewala and his associates and celebrate their martyrdom for Khalistan.

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Hindus, if any, are a clear minority in the camps and are often looked at with suspicion. Most of the messaging is in Punjabi, and non-punjabi languages are rarely used.

Kisan Andolan 2.0 fails the test of inclusivity, and instead of promoting harmony between different regions, it is clearly hinting at Punjabi Sikhs first. Again, one may argue that because the cadre is predominantly from rural Punjab, it is only right that they fight for Punjabi issues first. But this is exactly playing into all the earlier allegations made by the government.

The Dangerous Turn

Capturing the vacuum generated by the retreat of SKM after December 2021, the SKM-NP is coming to the centre stage of the Kisan Andolan. They have already had two months to expand their network and appeal in other parts of Punjab and Haryana.

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Haryana is new ground for them, and yet with their Kalash Yatra with the ashes of Shubkaran Singh, they have managed to win the sympathies of the agriculturists and agricultural workers. 10,000 farmers are expected to participate in the Ambala rally.

Most of the cadre of Kisan Andolan 1.0 was dimayed already with the SKM leadership over leaving Delhis borders too early without MSP. Kisan Andolan 2.0 has managed to capitalise on economic desperation and disgruntled cadres. An example is that all the breakaway factions from larger Punjab unions like BKU AZAD, BKU Ugrahan, etc. are taking centre stage here. It is a convergence of all the break-away subfactions, and they have taken a radical approach to protests. The leaders admittedly had to placate the cadre from further violence after Shubkaran died in police violence.

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Man is a political animal, no doubt, and hence there will be political implications for Kisan Andolan 2.0 and their campaigns too. If the BJP loses the state election, and judging from their current position, they may lose it too, one cant be sure that the next government doesnt give the Kisan hordes at Kannuri and Shambhu free passage to Delhi.

If this happens, not only will Kisan Andolan 1.0 and SKM be completely demolished, but the hardline factions within Kisan Andolan 2.0 will also get fertile ground to grow and perhaps take over the entire movement.

The efforts of SKM will also be in vain, and finally, everything the Union government said about the Kisan Andolan will be true. Whether they will be able to get MSP for the nation will soon become a secondary question.

The author is an independent agri-policy analyst and former director  Policy and Outreach, National Seed Association of India. He tweets at @Indrassingh. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Chinas recent renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh along the McMahon Line with 30 new names suggests how rattled it has become with the inauguration of the all-weather Sela Tunnel. The scale and speed of development in the North East, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh has been a significant worry for Beijing. On top of this, the work-in-progress Frontier Highway covering approximately 1,748 km from bordering Bhutan, China and Myanmar will be a solid strategic asset that will protect the border space and seriously check Chinas salami-slicing methodology and other interventionist modalities. In the Chinese strategic basket, several such modalities exist for territorial expansion. Its expansionist proclivity does not require any special study because it is so open. This tendency harboured by China makes relationships with its neighbours messy. Those countries that do not follow its diktat are bullied into giving forced consent. But the case of India is entirely different. It stands on its ground and speaks its mind. This irks China significantly. It devises ways to unsettle India by referring to border indeterminacy and making fictive claims along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

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The new India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given serious attention to the border space. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released the fourth list with 30 names of places in Arunachal Pradesh, as The Global Times reported on 31 March 2024. This exercise of renaming and cartographic redesigning is familiar in Chinas diplomatic and strategic parlance. This is a very old tactic used by Beijing to create tension in the region. It intends to determine the geopolitical temperature of the region. Indias determinacy to remain decoupled from the Chinese scope of influence has disturbed Chinese composure. The politics of nomenclature has seen its iteration in 2017 when China arbitrarily renamed six places in Arunachal Pradesh, in 2021 fifteen places, in 2023 eleven places and in 2024 thirty places. The number of places renamed seems to be increasing. This indicates the Chinese disappointment over Indias resolve to funnel development to the North East. Indias capacity-building measures in Arunachal Pradesh to challenge China face to face if such situations develop in future will decrease Beijings relevance.

However, given these invented claims made routinely by China, New Delhi does not take the formers claims seriously. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has called these claims ludicrous and asserted that the frontier state Arunachal Pradesh is a natural part of India. The response is sharp and clear. To add to this, the strong statement that came from the US on 09 March is as follows: The U.S. recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory, and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control. This disappointment is reflected in Beijings recent renaming of thirty places in Arunachal Pradesh. However hard it may try to make such unfounded and subjective claims, India will not succumb to Chinas synthetic pressures. These unilateral claims do not carry any weight. It is designed to trigger some tension in the region. Reacting to these renaming gimmicks of China, Chief Minister Pema Khandu asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable integral part of India. He added, Proud citizens and patriots of Arunachal Pradesh are rejecting such antics. It is now clear that the Chinese indulgences in phantoms are their own making without any empirical relevance.

The McMahon Line decided in 1914, as part of the Shimla Convention, the border demarcation between Tibet and British India, and China and Tibet were party to this discussion and ratification under the chairmanship of Henry McMahon, foreign secretary of British India. Chinas disagreement then and now on Tibetan territory sees no foreseeable end. Its annexation of Tibet and the Sino-Indian War in 1962 bolstered Beijings politics of obscurity. It does not accept any form of determinacy on border space along LAC. The claims it makes are often quite cluttered without any clarity or definitiveness. To perceive the logic behind this kind of whimsical exercise is to constrain India and its developmental goals at the border space. Chinas border fiction is a geopolitical gimmick to distract India from its economic and developmental aspirations. It cannot bear the rise of a competing power in the neighbourhood. Its bullying tactics and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)-related debt trap did not work with India as it has bullied other South Asian nations to remain in its sphere of influence. Therefore, the Chinese cosmetic assertiveness in renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, border skirmishes, cartographic redrafting and verbosity is to restrict India from realising its potential  the potential to rise as a challenging or competing player.

There is no shortage of symptoms in this direction, and it is self-evident from its growth trajectories. In addition, China also knows quite well that in the event of war between the two powerful Himalayan neighbours, there will be no winner. Therefore, Beijings routine practice is to set some limits against New Delhi, and if the latter goes beyond the Chinese-determined threshold, it devises ways to curb such extra signs of progress made. The main objective is to exercise Chinese relevance and its hegemonic structure and not to allow any other competing power to rise to the heights of challenging it. However, it seems China will not do anything beyond the usual exercise of bullying and threatening. Its export-driven economy needs the Indian market. Its sinking global image in the event of COVID-19 pandemic, debt trap ingrained BRI structurality, South China Sea hegemony, conflicts with the US over Taiwan, QUAD formations, etc., develops enough deterrence to ensure slowness of its economy. Economic fragility is likely to cause more internal issues. The geopolitical posturing in the form of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh may be construed as a distracting mechanism to control discontentment on the home turf.

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Jajati K Pattnaik is an Associate Professor at the Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Chandan K Panda is an Assistant Professor at Rajiv Gandhi University (A Central University), Itanagar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Instead of cash donations, parties, under the electoral bond scheme, could now take money in bonds. These were purchased through SBI. This was money that had to be properly accounted for. Source: News18

The electoral bonds are gone now. But we have to ask what was achieved by this moral panic. Did it make anything better? No, every party will now go back to a cash system. But they got a win against the Modi government. Not an electoral win, mind you. They just got some headlines, some retweets and some viral videos. In other words, they got to scratch their itch and nothing more.

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Was the BJP government using central agencies to extort money from companies through electoral bonds? Let us look at the data. A simple check shows that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out over 3,000 raids since 2014. Just 26 companies that were raided also bought electoral bonds. And of these 26 companies, only 16 bought them close to the time they were raided. And from the companies which were raided and also bought electoral bonds, how much money went to the ruling BJP? Just 37 per cent. The other 63 per cent went to the opposition. What kind of extortion is this?

It gets even more silly. The BJPs overall share of electoral bonds purchased between 2019 and 2024 is 47 per cent. Among companies that were raided by central agencies, the BJPs share drops to 37 per cent. In other words, companies that faced action were in fact less likely to donate to the ruling BJP. Again, how is this extortion?

So where did the idea of a scam in electoral bonds come from? It came from the media ecosystem of the opposition on the internet. Since 2014, they have failed to make a single charge of corruption stick to the Modi government. With electoral bonds, these people had promised too much to their audiences. For the last ten years, they have floated all sorts of conspiracy theories about one or two big business houses funding the BJP. They have repeated these theories too many times now. For many supporters of the opposition, these theories are now a matter of religious faith. They were sure they would finally get the proof they had been waiting for.

But that did not happen. When the files were opened, the big names they wanted to see just werent there. How did they deal with the disappointment? By moving goalposts. They quickly revised the charge of big business houses funding the BJP. Now it is a charge of extortion. If that doesnt work, some elements are already working on a backup charge of money laundering. For those committed to irrational hatred against the Modi government, electoral bonds are the biggest scam in the world. But what kind of scam exactly? Nobody knows. You can fill in the blanks any way you want.

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The media is also at fault here for not asking the right questions. Why did the BJP get the largest share of electoral bonds? Simply because it is also the largest political party in India. It has its own majority in the Lok Sabha. At any point, it has chief ministers in a dozen states. Back when the Congress had such power, they also had more money than any opposition party. That is only natural.

So the real question is this. Did the BJP receive donations that were disproportionately high compared to its political power? The answer is clearly no. The BJP got 47 per cent of the donations from electoral bonds. The TMC which rules just one state got 13 per cent. The BRS which used to rule Telangana got nearly 10 per cent. The BJD which rules Odisha got 6 per cent. The DMK has only Tamil Nadu, but it got 5 per cent.

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Ironically, the Congress got 11 per cent, which is less than the TMC. So if there is a lesson here, it is for the Congress. The Congress still considers itself the main opposition party in India. But the data from electoral bonds shows that nobody believes it can take on the BJP. The TMC may be limited to a single state. But they are able to fight the BJP better. Even in the opposition ranks, people are betting on winners, rather than losers.

This data also puts another conspiracy theory to rest. No, the BJP government was not secretly tracking donations to opposition parties. If it was, opposition parties would not have put so much faith in electoral bonds. The year 2021 was the most crucial for the TMC, when there were elections in West Bengal. But in the financial year 2021-22, the TMC got more than 99 per cent of its income (in donations above Rs 20,000) from electoral bonds. Clearly, the opposition realized it had nothing to fear.

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In fact, look at the pattern. The first year of the electoral bond scheme was 2017-18. That year, the TMC did not use the scheme at all. That is understandable, because it was something new. But the very next year, which was 2018-19, the TMC got almost 69 percent of its donations from electoral bonds. By 2019-20, they raised it to 92 percent. And then to over 99 percent in the last three financial years! That is a startling vote of confidence by the opposition in the electoral bond scheme.

And the TMC was not alone in this. The DMK went the same way. They did not use electoral bonds at all in the first two years of the scheme. But in 2019-20, they got 94 percent of their funding through electoral bonds. In the last two financial years, this has risen to over 99 percent. Almost the same goes for the BJD. They even hit a perfect 100 percent in 2021-22. It seems that successful opposition parties such as the TMC, the BJD and the DMK have no problems with electoral bonds. There are other opposition parties which are frustrated and failing. They have to float conspiracy theories to inspire the party faithful.

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This reminds us of one very special theory from former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. In December last year, the Income Tax Department raided a Congress MP and recovered several hundred crores in cash. But in Rajans world, the Congress MP was really a victim of the electoral bond scheme. The ruling party will get clean money, the opposition will have to use dirty cash, he explained. Then at the time of the election, the government can just raid the opposition and take their money away. Nice theory, but never mind the actual data. The TMC and DMK are both part of the INDIA bloc. Why not ask them?

Yes, the electoral bond scheme was not perfect. But think about what it was supposed to replace. Instead of cash donations, parties could now take money in bonds. These were purchased through SBI. This was money that had to be properly accounted for. This was money on which taxes had been paid. It was supposed to be a step forward. But now, everything will go back to cash. Worse, nobody will ever trust a guarantee by the Indian state again. The identities of the donors had been protected by a law passed by parliament. But as we have now seen, a court verdict can make that meaningless.

Those who are still spreading rumours over electoral bonds need to answer some obvious questions. First of all, define your accusation. If the ruling party was using agencies to extort money from companies, why would those companies give 63 per cent of their money to the opposition? During the ten years of UPA, the Enforcement Directorate carried out just 112 raids. This rose to over 3,000 in the Modi years. And just 26 companies which were raided even bought any electoral bonds. The correlation is almost non-existent. So where is the story here? If there was something for opposition parties to fear, why did they keep increasing their faith in electoral bonds?

The outpouring on electoral bonds began with a bang, but ended with a whimper. But whether on electoral bonds, or the now repealed farm laws, this is what much of opposition politics has been over the last ten years. It has been about bitterness. The country deserves better.

Abhishek Banerjee (@AbhishBanerj on X) is an author and columnist. Karuna Gopal (@KarunaGopal1 on X) is President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
BJPs salvo is less about taking back the island from Sri Lanka and more about busting the fake narrative and putting an end to the island being a rentier issue in Tamil politics through dissemination of key information in public domain read more

A mile long, uninhabited, barren speck in the Palk Bay between India and Sri Lanka, hard to trace on a map, has become the latest flashpoint in domestic politics ahead of general elections. Amid high-octane political rhetoric and public posturing, the Katchatheevu island controversy has already served three notable purposes.

One, it has shown Congress in unflattering light as a party in power that has historically been less than serious on matters of territorial integrity. Two, it has put paid to INDI Alliance member DMKs ability to cash in on local sentiment and play the politics of north-south divide while hiding its historic role over Katchatheevu, and three, it has given BJP an issue to pursue in a state where it has been trying hard to expand with limited success. Katchatheevu may yet have a fourth dimension, that of a bilateral one between India and Sri Lanka, but it may become eventually manifest.

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The controversy around Katchatheevu exploded with the prime minister on 31 March sharing a news article that reported on some documents released in public domain through an RTI application by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai. The hitherto unpublished documents from the Ministry of External Affairs reveal that Congress government in 1974 had handed over the strategically important islet to Sri Lanka bypassing Constitutional norms and that then DMK chief minister M Karunanidhi, who was kept in the loop by the Indira Gandhi government, was fully aware of it and acquiesced to the move.

These are momentous revelations. It may not seem so in terms of national politics, but Katchatheevu was and remains a sensitive issue in Tamil Nadu with the livelihood and sentiment of the states influential fisherfolk community intrinsically involved with the little islet. It naturally holds enormous political significance with all major players in Tamil politics trying their best to set the narrative.

The point to note here is that Katchatheevu wasnt suddenly brought out of the cold storage of history by the BJP ahead of elections for political gains. As External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a press conference on Monday, the island and fishermens issues have been consistently raised in Parliament and in the consultative committee by various parties in the past five years, and the external affairs minister has responded to Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalins letters on 21 occasions.

What were these letters about? The question takes us to the heart of the debate.

The dot on the Indian Ocean has been a consistent thorn and a diplomatic flashpoint in bilateral ties. Sri Lanka has constantly accused fishermen from the southern Indian state of extracting marine resources from its exclusive economic zone despite the 1974 maritime boundary agreement, and Tamil Nadu has often accused Sri Lankan navy of continued violent attacks, torture and arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen. In the past two decades, Sri Lanka has detained 6184 Indian fishermen and seized 1175 Indian fishing vessels.

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The tragedy is that both sides have a strong case to make. It is a legacy of the ambiguity baked into the 1974 agreement (subsequently formalized in 1976) and inability of the then Indian government to secure fishing rights over the waters around the island that were traditionally enjoyed by Indian fishermen.

Resultantly, the narrative around Katchatheevu in Tamil politics has settled on a forceful demand for retrieval of the islet as the only solution with dominant regional powers and interest groups such as fishers associations using the island as a rentier issue for political expediency. For instance, in 2013, a unanimous resolution was passed in the Tamil Nadu assembly demanding retrieval of Katchatheevu by the AIADMK leader and then chief minister, the late J Jayalalitha.

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Evidently, the entire issue is a manifestation of the complexities of Tamil politics in which though the Centre and the state governments in 1974 had relinquished sovereign rights over the disputed islet, it never received popular sanction, as has been proven by the recently released documents.

On 23 July, 1974, DMK MP Era Sezhiyan had walked out of the Parliament protesting Indira Gandhi governments decision to sign the India-Sri Lanka Maritime Agreement, saying that this agreement goes against the interests of the country since it amounts to pure surrender of our territory without going through any of the norms. This is an unholy and disgraceful act of statesmanship unworthy of any government. Therefore, we do not want to associate ourselves with the statement, as reported by the Times of India. We now know that the DMK lawmaker was then unaware of the fact that his leader Karunanidhi was a party to the decision.

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Therefore, when AIADMK leader Jayalalitha heightened Katchatheevu activism and vowed to bring it back, regardless of what had transpired between the Indira government and Karunanidhi in 1974, the DMK couldnt be seen as complicit in the decision to relinquish Indias claims over the island and hand on a platter to its Dravidian rival an issue that is so closely linked to local sentiments. This necessitated political posturing from the DMK, with the hope that its indefensible position on Katchatheevu wont become public knowledge. Except that it has, now.

The cache of documents released in public domain via the RTI show that the Katchatheevu island was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, and subsequently, the fishing rights were granted in 1976. This was done despite advice from governments legal officers at various times that even if sovereign rights over the islet is contestable, India has a strong case for asserting fishermens access to the waters around the island, such rights they have traditionally enjoyed through historical ownership by the Raja of Ramnad, who acquired it during the time of the East India Company without paying any taxes to Colombo.

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According to the RTI document, then attorney general of India MC Setalvad had suggested in 1958 that though the matter is by no means clear or free from difficulty but on the assessment of the whole evidence it appears to me that the balance lies in concluding that the sovereignty of India was and is in India, on the issue of zamindari rights over the island.

The document also reveals that Krishna Rao, then MEA joint secretary, Legal and Treaties, had noted in 1960 that judged purely from the evidentiary value of competing claims, I submitted above that those of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are more substantial. However, he goes on to write that on the other hand, it may be noted that India has a good legal case, which could be argues with considerable force. I am not suggesting that we have no case at all. I submit that our legal case in this connection may be used to obtain fishing rights around the island.

Despite these legal opinions, as well as historical records on Indias territorial claims over the islet, the Indira Gandhi government went ahead with signing the agreement in 1974 with the Sirimavo Bandaranaike administration in 1974. The agreement had three kay clauses.

Article 4 held that Each country shall have sovereignty and exclusive jurisdiction and control over the waters, the islands, the continental shelf and sub soil thereof, falling on its own side of the aforesaid boundary.

Article 5 held Subject to the foregoing, Indian fishermen and pilgrims will enjoy access to visit Kachchativu (sic) as hitherto, and will not be required by Sri Lanka to obtain travel documents or visas for these purposes, and Article 6, that stated: The vessels of India and Sri Lanka will enjoy in each others waters such rights as they have traditionally enjoyed therein.

Worth noting that though the issue of fishing rights was not explicitly stated in the 1974 document, it was understood that the rights of Indian fishermen would remain protected. This, however, remained ambiguous and a matter of interpretation.

Jaishankar said at the presser Monday that when this agreement was presented to Parliament on 23rd, July 1974, then-foreign minister Swaran Singh assured that it was fair and equitable for both countries, safeguarding fishing, navigation, and pilgrimage rights. The external affairs minister added that the 1976 agreement, that formalized the earlier version, also gave away the fishing rights along with all other priviledges.

The Sri Lankan side, however, has argued that the 1974 document never bestowed Indian fishermen the rights to extract marine resources around Katchatheevu. News18 has accessed a document, which is the reply of Sri Lankas then foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama in the countrys Parliament in 2008. It claims that India had surrendered fishing rights near Katchatheevu island in 1974 itself beyond doubt and the 1976 document serves to only cement the status.

Bogollagama told the Parliament in 2008 that all that the 1974 agreement permitted Indian fishermen to do was to allow them to rest, dry their nets and visit the church without a visa. According to the News18 report, the Sri Lankan minister said that the 1974 and 1976 agreements taken together with the Letters of Exchange signed between the foreign secretaries of both sides has put the question of fishing rights beyond doubt and clearly rules out any fishing rightsit clearly prohibits fishing vessels and fishermen of one country fishing in the others waters.

Article 5 of the 1976 agreement stated that: Each party shall have sovereign rights and exclusive jurisdiction over the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone as well as their resources, whether living or non-living, falling on its side of the aforesaid boundary.

It is hard to argue, as the DMK has done, that Karunanidhi was completely unaware of the circumstances when the Indira Gandhi sought his consent before signing the agreement with Sri Lanka in 1974. The RTI document reveals that the then foreign secretary Kewal Singh was dispatched to Madras on 19 June, 1974, for a meeting with the DMK patriarch. The minutes of the meeting, that lasted for over an hour, show that Karunanidhi, having signified his general acceptance of the suggested solution, said that for obvious political reasons, he could not be expected to take a public stand in favour of it. The chief minister, however, assured foreign secretary that he will help keep the reaction at a low key and would not allow it to be played up.

The minutes also show the foreign secretary making it clear that the Tamil Nadu govt had been kept informed throughout the negotiations with Sri Lanka and telling Karunanidhis chief secretary, who was also present at the meeting, that Sri Lanka had rejected the suggestion that fishing line be made to pass through Katchatheevu.

The agreement with Sri Lanka was signed within a week of this meeting. These revelations make DMKs activism on Katchatheevu issue untenable and exposes its political grandstanding as hollow, insincere, and without merit.

Consider the fact that Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin had been claiming during his interactions with the fisherfolk community even last year that his father and late chief minister M Karunanidhi had provided a report to the Centre that Katchatheevu belongs to India, and in his letters to Modi, had been asserting that the ceding of the island in 1974 occurred without the consent of the state government while demanding that the Centre initiate diplomatic efforts for the retrieval of Katchatheevu.

Addressing a conference of fishermen in August last year, an important political constituency, Stalin claimed that while some parties in Tamil Nadu were attempting to spread misleading messages about DMK being a party to the gifting of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, in no way would the party go against the wishes and interests of the fishermen, according to a report in The Hindu.

It is here that BJPs political gambit has dealt the DMK a crucial blow. It is to be expected that BJPs campaign in the state, where it is spending a lot of resources and effort, will be hammering home the narrative that RTI documents have unmasked the DMKs double standards, as the prime minister recently posted on X.

Its not just the DMK, however. The documents also put the Congress in a spot of bother, raising questions over its one-sided magnanimity. As has been already noted, the Indira government signed the agreement despite legal opinions to the contrary, but theres more to the decision. There is no evidence of the fact that the transfer of rights on Katchatheevu was ratified by the Union cabinet. The RTI document reveals that when Karunanidhi wanted to know whether the prime minister has sounded the opposition. Foreign secretary said that, to his knowledge, the proposal was known only to one or two senior Cabinet ministers and that the prime minister would like to have the views of Tamil Nadu before discussing it with opposition leaders.

According to scholars, personal equation between Gandhi and Bandaranaike played a big role in the decision, raising questions whether the ceding of rights took place through sound maritime principles and negotiations. It certainly wasnt accompanied by a Constitutional amendment, as should have been the norm.

Professor V Suryanarayan, former director of University of Madras, writes on the crisis in IPCS that the ceding of Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka was a political decision taken by two Prime Ministers who were bosom friends. In order to avoid constitutional amendment, New Delhi adopted the stance that the island was a disputed territory. For, if Indian territory is to be ceded to a foreign country, it is obligatory to amend Indian constitution He adds that Karunanidhi, then the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, should have taken the matter to Supreme Court, but, for strange reasons, he did not do so.

In another piece for Eurasia Review, professor Suryanarayan quotes professor Partha Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University, that Kachchativu (sic) was the most typical case of a personal equation, playing the role of diplomacy. When the negotiations had virtually failed, and the Indian official delegation was virtually pressurizing Gandhi not to give up Indias claim on the islet, Bandaranaike made a personal appeal to Indira Gandhi to come to her rescue, as it would otherwise spell political disaster for her. Gandhi appreciated Mrs Bandaraniakes predicament and manipulated the situation in such a way that it became a fait accompli even before the Indian delegation could react.

That Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi considered Katchatheevu to be a little island, or a rock of no consequence has been well documented. To relinquish territorial rights and dismiss Indias position as a legitimate stakeholder on Katchatheevu without a proportionate quid pro quo indicates the triumph of ad hocism over formal diplomacy, and reeks of arrogance and disregard.

Those accusing the BJP of politicizing the issue are being too clever by half. The alarmist takes on Indias domestic politics damaging bilateral relations overlooks the fact that for decades, Tamil politics kept Katchatheevu alive and made its retrieval a focal point in political grandstanding. The issue might create some unease in bilateral ties, but it is worth noting that the government of India has not said anything even remotely close that may be interpreted as New Delhi seeking to wrest back the island. Jaishankar, to a pointed question at the presser, referred to the matter as sub-judice in Supreme Court.

BJPs salvo, therefore, is less about taking back the island from Sri Lanka and more about busting the fake narrative and putting an end to the island being a rentier issue in Tamil politics through dissemination of key information in public domain. This certainly constricts the space of parties like the DMK to adopt an activist posture over the island and pose as the sole arbiter of Tamil interests.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Among the 22 arrested suspects, eight have been remanded in custody pending trial, while the remaining 14 are under house arrest. Additionally, one individual, an accountant implicated in the scheme, has been barred from practising read more

Europe Authorities have taken decisive action in a major crackdown Thursday, resulting in the arrest of 22 individuals across four European countries as part of an extensive investigation into an alleged 600 million fraud involving COVID recovery funds, announced the European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO).

Dozens of raids were carried out, leading to arrests in Italy, Austria, Romania, and Slovakia. The arrests were made in connection with an investigation into a suspected criminal network believed to have illicitly acquired the funds, stated the EPPO in a press release.

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The criminal organisation is accused of defrauding 600 million from the EUs Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) designated for Italy, according to the EPPO, headquartered in Luxembourg. The Venice office of Italys financial police unit, the Guardia di Finanza, has seized assets exceeding 600 million under the authority of a pre-trial judge.

Among the 22 arrested suspects, eight have been remanded in custody pending trial, while the remaining 14 are under house arrest. Additionally, one individual, an accountant implicated in the scheme, has been barred from practising.

The EPPO disclosed that its investigation has been focused on uncovering an alleged criminal network that orchestrated a fraud scheme between 2021 and 2023 to siphon funds from Italys allocation of the RRF.

The RRF, established to help the blocs countries bounce back from the economic blow dealt by the Covid pandemic, was worth more than 720 billion, financed in large part through common EU borrowing.

That model, particularly the joint borrowing, has been touted by some EU countries as one to replicate as the European Union steps up its defence industry and cooperation in response to the threat from Russia, and to support Ukraine.

With inputs from AFP
As per national surveys, the countrys war cabinet minister Benny Gantz is preferred as the next prime minister by Israeli citizens. Since the Oct 7 attacks, Netanyahus popularity has seen a major dip with 76 per cent Israelis wanting the PM to step down read more

Israeli war cabinet minister and Prime Minister Netanyahus rival Benny Gantz has called for early parliamentary elections in the country raising red flags on Netanyahus tactics in Gaza war and his decreasing local mandate.

Gantz suggested in an interview on Wednesday that Israel must conduct its elections in September as the war is approaching its first anniversary of war with Hamas, which was later vehemently rejected by Netanyahus Likud Party.

At this fateful moment for the State of Israel and in the midst of a war, Benny Gantz must stop engaging in petty politics just because his party is disintegrating, the Likud Party said.

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They said the national poll while Israel is at war would inevitably lead to paralysis and harm the defence forces fight in Gaza.

Here are five reasons why Gantz is calling for early elections

1. Gantz, the leader of the National Unity Party is ahead of Netanyahus Likud Party in the polls published on Friday by Maariv, with 45 per cent of Israelis preferring Gantz as their next prime minister.

The National Unity Partys projected seat count in the 120-seat Knesset would rise to 33 if elections were held today, a significant increase from its current 12 seats.

2. At home, Netanyahus popularity has witnessed a major dip. As per a national survey, 76 per cent of Israelis want the Prime Minister to step down, while 64 per cent believe an election should be held immediately after the war.

As per another poll by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Netanyahus Likud Party would see a decrease to 19 seats from its current 32 in the parliament if elections were to be held today.

3. Demonstrations were held across Israel where thousands of people rallied against the Israeli PM and reiterated their demands for the release of hostages. Relatives of those held captive by Hamas expressed their dissatisfaction with Netanyahu and blamed him for their ordeal.

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Gantz has cited the need to maintain unity and renew trust in the government through elections and said that Israeli people must know that we will soon return to ask for their trust, that we wont ignore the disaster of October 7 and what preceded it."

4. Netanyahu, who has been Israels longest-serving prime minister, has been facing backlash from the international community over his war strategies, failure to achieve a ceasefire deal with Hamas and non-stop offensive in Gaza amid a severe humanitarian crisis. Gantz suggested that early elections would provide Israel with international legitimacy.

According to Gazas health ministry, Israels retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,975 people, mostly women and children.

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5. Gantzs National Unity Party saw a significant rise in popularity ever since Netanyahu announced the decision to announce a judicial reform last year.

The move, driven by the countrys new right-wing government, would have weakened the role of the Israeli Supreme Court and invited protests across the nation, making Netanyahu delay his plan.
Singapores Home Minister K Shanmugam informed the Parliament that it tracks the number of such migrants falling for phishing, internet love, and loan scams. He said the government is taking preventive measures and education programs to curb financial frauds read more

500 foreign maids in Singapore fell victim to scams last year, an increase of 18 per cent from 2022. Representative image. Source: Reuters

The number of scams in Singapore hit a record high in 2023, Home Minister K Shanmugam said, adding that the country saw a rise of 18 per cent in duping cases against migrants, many of whom are from India and Sri Lanka.

A total of 46,563 cases of scams were reported in Singapore, with people losing SGD 651.8 million to scams in 2023, the police earlier told The Straits Times, saying this is the highest number of scam cases since they began tracking them in 2016.

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Falling prey to the scams are about 500 foreign maids from South Asian countries, mostly from India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, migrate to the country in search of better employment opportunities, higher wages and a stable political and economic environment.

How are they duped?

In 2020, a maid from Myanmar was reached out via messaging application Viber where a man who claimed to be a bank staff member asked her details to update her ATM card. Before she realised, around SGD2,600 were withdrawn from her account, leaving her with just SGD45. Fortunately, she managed to recover SGD1,700 from the bank, as per a report by the Singaporean newspaper.

How is government preventing the scam spike?

When Shanmugam was asked whether the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tracks the number of such workers and what measures the authorities are taking to prevent financial crimes, he assured that they are doing their bit by creating awareness and training the workers against the scams.

The foreign maids majorly fell for phishing, Internet love, and loan scams in 2021, the police had said in February.

The home minister said as part of the Ministry of Manpowers mandatory settling-in programme, workers are asked to adopt measures to protect themselves from scams adding that the authorities carry out anti-scam education efforts regularly for workers already working here.

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They are educated on the latest scam trends so that they are equipped to detect scams and become advocates for scam prevention within their own community, said Shanmugam in his reply.

As per the annual scams statistics for 2023, people in Singapore have lost more than $2.3 billion to scams since 2019. With many losing a large chunk of their income and lifetime savings.

Not only to protect themselves against financial scams, the police also run the Domestic Guardians Programme, which trains migrant domestic workers on how to prevent common crimes such as housebreaking, trespassing, and abuse.
The initial payment addresses Alaskas pretax losses stemming from the incident, encompassing lost revenue and expenses incurred in returning its Max 9 fleet to operation following a three-week grounding period read more

Alaska Airlines announced that Boeing has disbursed an initial compensation of USD 160 million to the carrier for an incident involving a panel detachment from an Alaska Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner in January.

In a statement on Thursday, the airline revealed that it anticipates further compensation, the specifics of which remain confidential.

The initial payment addresses Alaskas pretax losses stemming from the incident, encompassing lost revenue and expenses incurred in returning its Max 9 fleet to operation following a three-week grounding period.

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Details of the compensation were disclosed in a regulatory filing submitted by the airline.

Boeing refrained from immediate comment on the matter.

The incident, which occurred on January 5 as an Alaska Max 9 was flying at 16,000 feet over Oregon, involved the detachment of a panel designed to cover an additional emergency exit. Fortunately, the pilots successfully landed the aircraft, and no injuries were reported.

Alaska quickly grounded its other Max 9s, and the Federal Aviation Administration followed by grounding all Max 9s in the United States affecting Alaska and United Airlines.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, and the Justice Department is examining whether the incident violated terms of a settlement that Boeing reached in 2021 to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading regulators who certified Max jets for flights.

Alaska said in Thursdays filing that it expects to lose between USD 1.05 and USD 1.15 per share for the January-March quarter, with 95 cents per share of the loss related to the accident.

With inputs from The Associated Press
After the Iftar dinner invitations were declined, the White House hosted a pared down dinner for staffers and held a separate closed-door meeting with the Muslim community members that was attended by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris read more

Palestinian-Americans and progressives have held protests over the Biden administration's support to Israel in the Gaza War. Source: AFP

In opposition to President Joe Bidens support for Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza, members of the Muslim community in the United States declined the invitation for an Iftar dinner by the White House during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan.

After the dinner invitations were declined, the White House hosted a pared down dinner for staffers and held a separate closed-door meeting with the Muslim community members that was attended by Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan, and other senior administration officials, according to reports.

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The rejection of the Iftar invitation was the latest sign of frustration with Biden from his traditional support base over the Gaza War.

Muslim and Black Americans along with young progressives have voiced their anger against the Bidens support for Israel and this has been visible in the ongoing Democratic primaries as well where sections of these groups have mounted campaigns to not vote for Biden. They believe that the administration has not used its leverage over Israel to stop the devastation in Gaza.

How can we talk about famine & starvation over bread and steak?

Dr Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American doctor who was in Gaza in January, was among those who declined the invitation.

A report by The New York Times quoted Ahmad saying: How can we talk to you about famine and starvation over bread and steak?

In the closed-door meeting, Ahmad told Biden that Israels proposed ground invasion of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians displaced from the war have taken refuge, would be a blood bath and a massacre.

The report further said that Salima Suswell, the CEO of the Black Muslim Leadership Council (BMLC), attended the meeting and told Biden about the moral dilemma that some members of the Black Muslim community in the United States felt about supporting him because of the Gaza War.

Black people identify and somewhat relate to this issue that involves oppression and the dehumanisation of people. Our ancestors lived through 400 years of it, the report quoted Suswell as saying.

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After speaking for about six minutes, Ahmad told Biden he was leaving the meeting. The report quoted Ahmad as saying, I said, Out of respect for my community, and out of respect for the many people who are grieving, and who are in a lot of pain, I have to walk out of this meeting. Part of me wanted to express the frustration that the entire community has, the anger and the resentment. But also part of me wanted to get up and walk out on the decision makers and give them an idea of how it feels to have somebody walk away from them.

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Following the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden expressed his commitment to secure an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free the hostages and significantly increasing humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

And the president made clear that he mourns the loss of every innocent life in this conflict  Palestinian and Israeli, said Jean-Pierre further.

Deeply pained over unconditional US aid to Israel: Muslim advocacy group

After Muslim-American advocacy group Emgage declined the White House invitation, it said in a statement that it shared the communitys deep pain over the Biden administrations continued unconditional military aid to Israel.

The group further said it stood with the community that has loudly voiced its discontent with US policy on Gaza.

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In this moment of tremendous pain and suffering, we have asked the White House to postpone this gathering and to convene a proper policy meeting with representatives of the communitys choosing, rather than those selected by the White House, said Emgage in a statement.

Emgage said a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions has been unfolding in Gaza with millions facing famine and disease.

Emgage further said that Biden administration should leverage its enormous support for Israel and start taking demonstrable actions regarding: an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unfettered access for humanitarian aid and UN Palestinian agencys funding, end to any Israeli plans to invade Rafah, and the start of a legitimate political process for the Palestinian nationhood.
Reacting on Benny Gantzs call for early elections, Netanyahus Likud party said, At such a fateful moment for the state of Israel and in the midst of war, Gantz must stop engaging in petty politics just because his party is disintegrating read more

It appears that not just most Israelis, but members of the Benjamin Netanyahu-led governments war Cabinet member and his main rival, Benny Gantz, also want him Israel Prime Minister to step down. Gantz has called for snap parliamentary elections in September as pressure mounts at home and abroad over the war in Gaza.

It is for the first time Gantz, a former general and the leader of the National Unity party, has made such a call since joining the Israeli government on an emergency basis after the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists.

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Israel needs elections to renew trust

Gantz has cited the need to maintain unity and renew trust in the government whose military is invading Palestine and fighting Hamas terrorists who crossed into Israel on October 7 and killed more than 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages.

People of Israel must know that we will soon return to ask for their trust, that we wont ignore the disaster of October 7 and what preceded it," Gantz, the leader of the National Unity party which leads Netanyahus Likud in the polls, said.

Why Gantz wants Israel elections in September?

In a televised briefing, Gantz said elections in Israel should be held in September, approaching the first anniversary of the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

We must agree on a date for elections in September, about a year from the war, he said.

Setting such a date will allow us to continue the military effort while signaling to the citizens of Israel that we will soon renew their trust in us," he added.

Elections will prevent a rift in the nation

As per Israels Central Elections Committee, the next election for parliament should take place on October 27, 2026. However, Gantz, who wants to advance the polls, said early elections would leave us time to continue the security effort and also allow the citizens of Israel to know that we will soon renew the trust between us.

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This would prevent a rift in the nation, he added.

Gantz also suggested that early elections would provide Israel with international legitimacy.

Israels war Cabinet member went on to say that he has discussed the matter with Netanyahu in recent weeks and plans to continue to do so.

The intervention from Gantz came as Israel faced massive international criticism over the deaths of seven employees of the World Central Kitchen (WKC) in Gaza on Monday during a drone attack carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

US President Joe Biden said he was outraged and heartbroken by the killings and said Israel had not done enough to protect aid workers and civilians in the enclave.

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Also, thousands of Israelis, on Saturday, took to the streets demanding new elections and removal of Netanyahu. Many have criticised the Israeli Prime Minister and expressed anger at his governments handling of the 134 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza six months into the war.

But is Netanyahu ready?

Netanyahu, Israels longest-serving prime minister, has repeatedly ruled out early elections, saying that going to the polls in the middle of a war would only reward Hamas.

Likud party reacts to Gantzs comments

Netanyahus Likud party reacted to Gantzs call for early polls, saying: At such a fateful moment for the state of Israel and in the midst of war, Benny Gantz must stop engaging in petty politics just because his party is disintegrating.

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Elections now would inevitably lead to paralysis and division, affect the battle for Rafah and fatally damage the chances of a hostage deal. The government will continue until it has achieved all the goals of the war, the party added.

What early elections in Israel will mean for Netanyahu?

Gantz had joined Netanyahus government in the early days of the Gaza war as a gesture of political unity during the crisis.

However, recent polls and surveys indicate that most Israelis disapprove of Netanyahus leadership since the Hamas attack on October 7.

Latest polls suggest, in the event of early elections, Gantz would be well ahead of Netanyahu, whose popularity has been gradually declining since the October 7 attack.

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Polls also suggest Gantzs party would come top in any election and he would be favourite to take over as premier.

Also, early elections would require the agreement of 61 elected officials, or the majority of deputies in the Knesset, where Likud has the most seats but does not have a majority.

With inputs from agencies
The Chinese drugmaker said that the Ozempics biosimilar drug is called Jiyoutai which will help in controlling the blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes read more

A box of Ozempic, a semaglutide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes and made by Novo Nordisk. Source: Reuters

In order to capitalise on the growing popularity of the diabetes drug Ozempic, a drugmaker in China has developed a biosimilar version of Novo Nordisks infamous drug which is usually used by people with the intention to lose weight.

According to Reuters, Chinese drugmaker Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering said on Wednesday that it has applied for approval to sell the alternative drug in the country.

This announcement poses a major challenge to Novos expansion plans in the country which is already taken over by the Ozempic frenzy.

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The drugmaker said that the biosimilar drug is called Jiyoutai which will help in controlling the blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes.

How will it impact Novo Nordisk?

It is pertinent to note that Novos patent in China on Ozempic and another related drug called Wegovy are all set to expire in 2026. Hence, this opens the doors for local pharmaceutical companies to compete in the same market.

The announcement poses a major risk to Nordisks popularity and monopoly in the country. Novos Ozempic sales in China witnessed stellar growth last year.

According to Reuters, the sale of drugs in the country amounted to a whopping $694 million in 2024, accounting for 5 per cent of the global Ozempic sales.

The Ozempic frenzy in China

Ozempic became the worlds first best-selling diabetes drug last year. However, the demand for the drug was largely driven by people seeking to lose weight, since the drug comprises of active ingredient, semaglutide, which is also present in popular weight loss drug Wegovy.

In the past, several celebrities and social media influencers referred to it as a miracle drug, despite many concerns raised by medical experts about the drugs side effects.

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The frenzy has also swept through China, where being wafer thin is a prevailing beauty standard. The popularity has also led to a shortage of the drug in the country.

Ozempic was officially approved in China in April 2021 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Amid the growing popularity, medical experts have warned that the drug can have serious side effects.

The dark side

Several studies and patient reports have shown that many patients see their weight rebound soon after stopping the injections. The growing popularity of the drug in China has also caused problems for patients with diabetes who depend on the medication.

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In light of this, several hospitals in the country have stopped prescribing the drug altogether, CNN reported.

The social media hype around the drug became so enormous that Xiaohongshu launched a crackdown in February and deleted more than 5,000 posts sharing weight loss experiences with Ozempic. The social media platform accused several posts of exaggeration.

The platform also initiated a pop-up alert reminding users searching for the drug online to go to formal medical facilities for treatment.

With demand rising, the prices of the drug have soared online as well. The official cost of a 1.5 mg Ozempic dose is 478 yuan ($67) in public hospitals, according to Chinas National Reimbursement Drugs List.

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However, the prices for the same medication currently range from 36 per cent to 151 per cent higher on online shopping sites like Taobao.

With inputs from agencies
The Ministry also expressed concern over the recent attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria on April 1, 2024, highlighting Indias distress at the rising tensions in West Asia. MEA highlighted the potential for further violence and instability in the region read more

Indias Ministry of External Affairs has responded to the deployment of Indian workers in Israel, highlighting their safety amid escalating tensions. The Ministry stated that the workers were sent under a pre-existing Mobility Agreement between the two nations, signed before the Israel-Hamas war started.

They expressed awareness of the safety risks and urged Israeli authorities to ensure the well-being of the workers.

The Ministry also expressed concern over the recent attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria on April 1, 2024, highlighting Indias distress at the rising tensions in West Asia. MEA highlighted the potential for further violence and instability in the region, urging all parties to adhere to internationally accepted principles and norms of international law.

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In light of the shortage of workers in Israel, the first batch of Indian workers had departed for the conflict-affected country under the bilateral agreement. However, following the conflict, Israel has imposed restrictions on permits for workers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Earlier, Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gillon, had confirmed that more than 60 Indians are part of this group. He mentioned organising an event before their departure, underscoring the significance of the deployment.

The agreement to recruit workers from India and other countries was announced by Israel last year, amid restrictions on Palestinian workers due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initiated discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the deployment of Indian workers to address the shortage in Israel.

The Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement signed in 2018 aimed to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Israel. NSDC INDIA, a public limited company under the Ministry of Finance, plays a crucial role in providing skill development and vocational training to Indian workers.

In November 2023, India and Israel signed an agreement facilitating temporary employment of Indian workers in construction and home-based sectors. The employment opportunities include thousands of jobs for framework workers, bar-vendors, tiling, and plating, with lucrative monthly salaries.

However, workers are responsible for round-trip fares, taxes, health insurance, and social security insurance.
The 17-page letter was sent to the UK prime ministers office urging British government to work towards a permanent ceasefire and to impose sanctions on individuals and entities who have made statements inciting genocide against Palestinians read more

Three former Supreme Court Justice of the United Kingdom, including the apex courts former president Lady Hale warned the British government about the consequences of arming Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The judges were among 600 lawyers, and academics who wrote a letter to the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating that by arming Israel at this stage of the war, the UK would be breaching International law.

Many within and outside the United Kingdom have raised concerns over Israels ground operation in Gaza City, which eventually led to the death of thousands of Gazans.

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Throughout the war that broke out following the October 7 massacre by Hamas in the Southern Israeli territories, the United Kingdom has been an ardent supporter of Tel Aviv. In the past, Sunak has maintained that Israel has the right to defend itself.

What are they saying?

In the letter to the prime minister, the senior judges argued that the present situation in Gaza is catastrophic. They noted that given that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found that there is a plausible risk of genocide being committed in Gaza, the UK is legally obliged to prevent it.

The 17-page letter was sent to the prime ministers office on Wednesday.

To continue the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to UNRWA falls significantly short of your governments obligations under international law, the letter reads.

What are they suggesting?

The letter urged the British government to work towards a permanent ceasefire and to impose sanctions on individuals and entities who have made statements inciting genocide against Palestinians.

It also called for the restoration of the funding to the UNRWA. The Sunak administration withdrew the funding after Israel alleged that 12 staff members of the UN agency were involved in the October 7 attacks.

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Some of the prominent signatories of the letter included former Supreme Court justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, the former Lord Justices of Appeal Sir Stephen Sedley and Sir Alan Moses.

The UK must take immediate measures to bring to an end through lawful means acts giving rise to a serious risk of genocide. Failure to comply with its own obligations under the genocide convention would incur UK state responsibility for the commission of an international wrong, the letter further reads.

The letter also called on the government to continue to use all endeavours to secure the release of Israel hostages that have remained in captivity since Oct. 7.

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Meanwhile, the UK government has refused to publish its own legal advice on the matter. Earlier this week, Sunak told The Sun that arm licences were kept under careful review according to regulations and procedures that well always follow.

Sunak administration faces political pressure

The letter came after Conservative MPs continued to put pressure on Sunak to act after seven international aid workers, including three British nationals, were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Monday.

As per the reports, UK Former Secretary David Cameron is also urging Sunak to continue putting pressure on the government to harden its approach to Israel.

In the past, Conservative MPs David Jones, Paul Bristow and Flick Drummond, and the Tory leader Hugo Swire, all called for the suspension of arms exports to Israel.
Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat rejected WCK founder Jose Andres accusations, calling them nonsense, adding the strike that killed aid workers was a grave mistake read more

A person holding a placard picturing Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom marches to the Parliament of Victoria during a a pro-Palestinian demonstration. Reuters

An Israeli minister has denied allegations about Israeli forces deliberately attacking the seven aid workers of World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza after the organisations head accused Tel Aviv of targeting his employees systematically, car by car.

Talking to BBC, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat rejected WCK founder Jose Andres accusations, calling them nonsense.

Meanwhile, Israel admitted that the strike that killed WCKs aid workers was a grave mistake and vowed to launch an investigation into the attack.

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Barkat reiterated Israels stance on the attack, saying, Israel is terribly sorry adding that unfortunately, in wars friendly fire happens.

The minister also said that the deaths of aid workers and civilians are part of the war.

Attack happened systematically

In an emotional interview with Reuters, Jose Andres, a celebrity chef, said, This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.

This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of, he said. Its very clear who we are and what we do.

Andres claimed that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) was aware of the convoys whereabouts and called for an investigation into the incident by the US government.

They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They knowing that it was our teams moving on that road  with three cars, he added.

No trust in Israeli investigation

Another US-based humanitarian organisation called American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) working in Gaza said that Israels investigation into the attack cannot be trusted.

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President of Nera, Sean Carroll said, Any incident of this gravity, of this seriousness, you really need independent investigators. In this case, Israel has earned no trust on its investigations of these incidents.

Anera, like WCK, has paused its work in Gaza to provide 150,000 meals per day.
Iran backed Hezbollah started firing at northern Israel day after a Hamas October 7 attack in the southern part of the country. This prompted the swift evacuation of communities situated just 2 miles away from the Lebanese border read more

Sheltered in a temporary seaside abode in northern Israel, Shay and Reut Hanegbi endure the harrowing sounds of explosions as missiles are launched from Lebanon towards their hometown, a mere four miles (6 km) away.

They are part of the approximately 60,000 Israelis displaced from small frontline communities since October, when the formidable militia Hezbollah initiated attacks from Lebanese hilltop villages and forest hideouts.

Reut, 38, cradling their newborn girl Alex, recounted how a rocket landed in their backyard in the flat theyre currently renting, marking their fourth relocation since October. Their 11-year-old daughter has changed schools three times during this period of upheaval.

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Hezbollah, backed by Iran, commenced firing at northern Israel the day after a shocking attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7 in the southern part of the country. This prompted the swift evacuation of communities situated just 2 miles away from the Lebanese border.

Initially anticipating a brief evacuation, the Hanegbis find themselves ensnared in a prolonged displacement as Israel engages in ongoing confrontations with Hamas in Gaza, leading to frequent exchanges of fire with Hezbollah.

Shay remarked, It has ended up going on and on. You dont see the end.

Guided anti-tank missiles launched from within Lebanon have resulted in the destruction of numerous homes and farms. The relentless airstrikes, shelling, and rocket attacks have fueled the most intense conflict along the Israel-Lebanese border in nearly two decades. While it hasnt escalated into full-scale war, the situation is teetering on the brink.

As tensions mount, an Israeli strike in Damascus on Monday claimed the lives of two Iranian generals and five military advisers, including at least one Hezbollah member, as reported by Lebanese sources. This high-stakes attack has elicited a vow of revenge from Iran, further exacerbating the volatile situation.

All the while, Israeli ground forces have been preparing for a potential invasion of Lebanon, the military top brass say, warning that devastation from the accompanying air barrage would dwarf that suffered by the neighbouring country in the 2006 war.

Such rhetoric may be aimed at energising U.S.-mediated de-escalation talks that have limped along, with several deadlines floated for a diplomatic resolution passing unmet.

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For the displaced, this means uncertainty about education and employment and no clarity on when they can go back home.

We feel adrift, left half in, half out, said Shay.

WE WERE NEXT

The problem with returning home is not just the missiles that have so far killed at least 18 people, soldiers and civilians.

It is the danger of Hezbollah carrying out a similar attack to that of Hamas, whose gunmen burst into Israel, killed 1,200 people in their homes, on army bases, along roads and at an outdoor rave, and seized 253 hostages,

including children.

I felt like we were next, said Natalie Levy, 29, displaced with her husband and two young children from Liman, 2 miles from Lebanon. Frozen with fear, she said, it took a day to get a grip and leave.

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Hezbollah had been signalling it was preparing such an assault for years, said a senior Israeli official who requested anonymity due to security sensitivities.

What we saw in the south on October 7 was basically Hamas stealing the thunder from Hezbollah, said the official.

If anything, Hezbollah is more of a border threat than Hamas was, the official said, because its attack plan has twice as many elite fighters penetrating far deeper into Israel.

It is a danger Israel says it cannot accept. Its leaders are intent on pushing Hezbollah back from the border. The question is how. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that force was not his first choice.

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I prefer to do this diplomatically, if possible. But if not, then we will do it by other means. Id rather not share operational or scheduling details with our enemies, Netanyahu said, promising eventual safe return for the displaced.

But though she misses her home in Kibbutz Matsuva, Sarit Oved said sadly that she will not go back as long as she feels her children would be unsafe.

I dont want any more loss of life, on either side, she said.

Across the border, in southern Lebanon, around 90,000 people have also been displaced. Israels shelling has killed around 270 Hezbollah fighters and around 50 civilians. In Gaza, most the 2.3 million population has been uprooted with much of the enclave laid to waste and around 33,000 people dead.

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The people of Gaza that are not involved in terror are going through a very hard time. And my heart is with them, said Levy. But my heart is also with the people of Israel who are also going through a hard time.

With inputs from Reuters
The report claims that nearly 20 killings since 2020 in Pakistan were executed by unidentified gunmen, allegedly with the involvement of Indian intelligence. These operations purportedly targeted Sikh separatists associated with the Khalistan movement read more

Indian and Pakistani intelligence officials have been anonymously quoted in a report by The Guardian saying Indian government has been involved in targeted killings in Pakistan as part of a broader strategy to eliminate terrorists residing on foreign soil.

Interviews with officials from both countries and documents shared by Pakistani investigators shed light on the alleged actions of Indias foreign intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). It is claimed that RAW, directly controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modis office, embarked on these extrajudicial killings as a heightened national security measure after 2019.

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Although the allegations primarily pertain to individuals facing serious terror charges, India has also faced public accusations from Washington and Ottawa regarding the deaths of dissidents, including a Sikh activist in Canada, and a failed assassination attempt on another Sikh in the US last year.

The report claims that nearly 20 killings since 2020 in Pakistan were executed by unidentified gunmen, allegedly with the involvement of Indian intelligence. These operations purportedly targeted Sikh separatists associated with the Khalistan movement, both within Pakistan and abroad.

According to Pakistani investigators, Indian intelligence sleeper cells, predominantly operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), orchestrated these killings.

Indian intelligence officers claim that the shift towards targeting dissidents abroad was triggered by the 2019 Pulwama attack, where a suicide bomber targeted a military convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir. This attack, claimed by the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, resulted in the deaths of 40 paramilitary personnel.

In response to inquiries, Indias Ministry of External Affairs denied all allegations, reiterating previous statements disavowing involvement in targeted killings abroad.

The evidence, reportedly seen by the Guardian news desk, suggests that these killings were coordinated from the UAE, where RAW established sleeper cells to oversee various aspects of the operations and recruit perpetrators. Payments for these executions were purportedly channeled through Dubai, with coordination meetings also alleged to have taken place in other countries.

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Analysts feel Pakistan has been reluctant to publicly acknowledge the killings as most of the targets are known terrorists and associates of banned militant groups that Islamabad has long denied sheltering, the report says.
The attack was claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni terrorist group with presence in both Iran and neighbouring Pakistans Baluchistan province. read more

Ten Iranian security service personnel have been killed in a terrorist attack in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in the countrys southeast, according to reports in the state-run media on Thursday.

The attack was claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni terrorist group with presence in both Iran and neighbouring Pakistans Baluchistan province.

AFP quoted Iranian state media reports as saying that 18 Jaish terrorists were also killed in the clashes. Initially, five fatalities were reported among the security personnel and 15 terrorists were reported dead, but the toll was later revised.

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Majid Mirahmadi, Vice Minister of Interior, was quoted as saying that the dead security personnel belonged to the police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the vastly influential armed force of Iran thats separate from the countrys regular military and functions directly under the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei.

Mirahmadi further said that the attackers mounted two night-time attacks against an IRGC base in Rask and a police post in Chabahar. He added the attackers appeared to be foreigners but did not provide any other details.

The attackers had planned to take control of military bases but none of them survived the clashes, said Mirahmadi.

Mirahmadi further said that the death toll could rise as some of the injured security personnel were not in a favourable condition.

For years, the Sistan-Baluchistan province where the attacks occurred has faced unrest involving gangs dabbling in drug smuggling, the Baluch insurgency, and Sunni extremism. In addition to Pakistan, the province also borders Afghanistan. It is one of the few Sunni-dominated provinces in Iran, which otherwise has a Shia majority.

The group involved in the attacks, Jaish al-Adl, had also claimed an attack in December 2023 in which 11 officers were killed in the same province. It claimed another attack in the same province on January 10 in which an officer was killed.

On January 17, Iran struck a purported Jaish facility in Pakistan, which led to a retaliatory Pakistani attack inside Iran. The tit-for-tat cross-border strikes in the midst of West Asia crisis had raised tensions between the two countries and the region at large. However, the situation did not escalate further.
Fearing GPS-guided drone and missile strikes from Iran, Israel is scrambling all GPS data over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. As a result, people using the GPS are finding themselves to be in in Beirut, Lebanon read more

Commuters in Tel Aviv are now witnessing something strange. Traffic was delayed for hours and almost came to a standstill; people who ordered food were forced to wait for longer hours for their deliveries. Several motorists in Tel Aviv found that their GPS believed they were in Beirut, Lebanon. All of this is happening because navigation apps including Google Maps, Waze, Gett Taxi, Moovit and Wolt are getting disrupted across Israel.

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Reports of navigation signals being scrambled over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area on Thursday come amid reports of Israel bracing for a potential Iranian attack after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an air strike on the Iranian embassys five-storey annex in Syria on Monday, killing seven members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which runs Irans overseas military operations.

Iran had vowed to retaliate and now it appears Israel is bracing itself up for a possible attack.

How GPS disruption will help Israel?

The preemptive measure by Israel aims to disrupt GPS-navigated drones or missiles fired by Iran or its proxies.

The disruptions in navigational signals come a day after the IDF said it had bolstered its air defense array and had called up reservists, as it prepares for a potential Iranian response to the strike in Syria.

However, no new security directives have been issued by Israel to its citizens.

The Israeli military, for months, has been interfering with navigational signals in northern Israel and the Red Sea port city of Eilat, both of which have come under frequent rocket and drone attacks from terrorists in Lebanon and Yemen.

Similar GPS disruptions were also previously reported in northern Israel or areas close to Gaza, but have been less common in central Israel.

The Israeli military has not publicly acknowledged the GPS disruption in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

With inputs from agencies
Iran has pledged to take revenge against Israel after the country struck the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, killing seven of its military advisers, including three senior commanders, earlier this week read more

Israeli military participates in a drill near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel. Reuters file

As the threat of an Iranian counterattack looms large, Israel is going the extra mile to better equip itself in the event of such an ambush. Irans steadfast vow to pay back for the death of its military personnel in Syria has prompted the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to cancel leaves for all combat troops.

In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF (Israel Defense Forces) combat units. The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements, the IDF said.

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Iran has pledged to take revenge against Israel after the country struck the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, killing seven of its military advisers, including three senior commanders, earlier this week.

From Irans President Ebrahim Raisi to its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Tehran has taken major offence in the attack that might exasperate regional tensions.

Israel beefs up air defences

On Wednesday, Israel ramped up its air defence system and called reservists amid an Iranian attack threat.

Since Mondays attack, Irans proxy Hezbollah has launched several rockets from Lebanon against Israel, although there is no indication if the attack was something beyond daily cross-border firing.

Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also said that Israel is increasing preparedness as it faces threats from the entire West Asia.

We need to be prepared and ready for every scenario and every threat against near enemies and distant enemies, Gallant had said earlier.

CIA issues warning to Israel

The US Central Investigation Agency (CIA) has warned Israel that Iran might be preparing for an attack within the next 48 hours.

Lt Gen Alexus Grynkewich, the senior US Air Force commander for the Middle East also flagged concerns that Israels strike in Syria might prompt Tehran to attack US troops in the region.
Katchatheevu is a small uninhabited island in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. Since at least 1921, both the countries had laid claim over the island read more

The dispute over Katchatheevu was settled 50 years ago, Sri Lanka said in its first reaction to the row over the island in India, adding that theres no need to revisit it.

Sri Lankas first reaction on Katchatheevu row

Sri Lankas Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, as per a report to The Times of India, said: There is no controversy.

They are having an internal political debate about who is responsible. Other than that, no one is talking about claiming Katchatheevu, Sabry said.

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Katchatheevu row

In 1974, the Indira Gandhi-led Indian government had ceded the tiny island of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. Now, barely weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 election and by-polls in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, accused the former government of callously giving it away to Sri Lanka.

The Prime Ministers remarks were based on documents in a Right to Information (RTI) reply obtained by Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai suggesting that Indira Gandhi handed over Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka.

The next day, PM Modi alleged that new details about the matter had unmasked the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams double standards.

As per the RTI reply, the late DMK leader M Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadus chief minister at the time, had agreed to give away Katchatheevu despite his partys public disapproval of the deal.

BJP & Congress attacks and counterattacks

Amid the row, the BJP has accused Congress governments, led by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, of giving up the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the Congress said PM Modi was spinning a false narrative to divert attention from his silence in the face of Chinese provocation.

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In an election rally on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said the BJP has done a somersault on the Katchatheevu issue since the Lok Sabha 2024 polls are around the corner.

Katchatheevu is a small uninhabited island in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. Since at least 1921, both countries had laid claim over the island.

In 1974, India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement demarcating their maritime boundary.

With inputs from agencies
Myanmars Junta informed no damage or casualties was reported, adding that four drones approaching Naypyidaw airport and three drones approaching Zayarthiri township in Naypyidaw were successfully shot down and destroyed read more

Members of the Myanmar's security forces check cars on a road in Yangon on April 2, 2024. AFP

In army-ruled Myanmar, a military base situated in Naypyidaw was reportedly attacked by drones on Thursday. Though state-controlled media outlets mentioned no news of the incident, the National Unity Government (NUG) said Peoples Defence Force, fighting to overturn the militarys 2021 power grab launched drones at military targets in Naypyidaw.

NUG is an alliance of anti-junta formed to undermine military rule in the wake of a 2021 coup, that claimed responsibility for.

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According to a report by Reuters, a spokesperson of PDF said it carried out the attack under the instruction of the NUGs defence ministry and said it took place in two locations, one of which was an air force base.

How this attack can prove dangerous?

Naypyidaw is the seat of power for the military government in Myanmar. Also, it is home to much of its defence hardware that are being built in a remote area of central Myanmar about two decades ago by the previous junta that had ruled for more than two decades.

The attack is seen as a major blow to the credibility of a military that is facing its biggest test since first taking power of the former British colony in 1962.

The junta has been struggling on several fronts to contain uprisings around the country and stabilise an economy that has wilted since the coup.

Junta on attack in Naypyidaw

The junta, meanwhile, said Myanmar security services shot down seven drones over the military-built capital Naypyidaw.

Junta further informed no damage or casualties were reported, adding that four drones approaching Naypyidaw airport and three drones approaching Zayarthiri township in Naypyidaw were successfully shot down and destroyed.

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A report by AFP quoted a source saying one of the drones shot down had been carrying a bomb, which was defused.

Naypyidaw airport was temporarily closed after the incident.

Myanmar is locked in a civil war between the military on one side and a loose alliance of ethnic minority rebels as well as PDFs on the other side.

With inputs from agencies
The letters, enclosed in white envelopes sealed with cello tape, bore the names of the judges and their respective court addresses. They contained threatening messages, attributing responsibility for Pakistans societal challenges to the judges read more

Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Thursday that the government will initiate an investigation into threatening letters containing a suspicious powder received by judges of the Supreme Court and high courts in Islamabad and Lahore.

Eight judges from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and three from the Lahore High Court reportedly received letters containing white powder suspected to be anthrax.

During a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sharif emphasized the need for a thorough investigation into the matter, urging a responsible approach devoid of political influence.

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The government of Pakistan, with a sense of responsibility, will investigate this, Sharif stated, as quoted by Dawn News.

The letters, enclosed in white envelopes sealed with cello tape, bore the names of the judges and their respective court addresses. They contained threatening messages, attributing responsibility for Pakistans societal challenges to the judges.

Upon discovering the suspicious powder upon opening the envelopes, the staff of two judges promptly reported the incident to the IHC registrar, who then summoned court security officials and law enforcement.

An FIR has been lodged regarding the incident, highlighting the incomplete address of the sender on the letters.

The letters while giving reference to Tehreek-i-Namoos Pakistan criticised the justice system, with a particular photo and English word Bacillus Anthracis included for the threat, the FIR said.

Similar letters arrived in the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court (LHC) the next day, prompting the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) to register two cases in Islamabad and Lahore.

The letters in the top court were sent to Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Aminuddin.

The letters sent by an unknown group threatened the judges of the Supreme Court for rescuing evil. Suspicious powder was found inside the envelopes and sent to the forensic lab.

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The personal staff of the judges who received the threat found the letters in the daily mail received at the high court, said an official.

The official said the staff of all judges at the LHC was already alert in the wake of letters sent to the IHC judges.

Earlier on Thursday, the Islamabad Police said it was conducting checks at the entry routes of the higher courts and the high-security zone.

In a post on X, the police urged citizens to carry their identification documents.

The development comes more than a week after six IHC judges in a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members, complained regarding alleged interference by the countrys security apparatus in judicial matters.

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Prime Minister Sharif recalled the developments in the matter and noted the Supreme Courts suo motu proceedings about the allegations levelled by the IHC judges about interference in judicial affairs.

We had fulfilled our responsibility and after that, these changes came, he said.

Last week, Shehbaz met Chief Justice Isa and the two decided to form an inquiry commission, which was later approved by the federal cabinet.

However, ex-CJP Tassaduq Hussain Jillani - tasked to head the one-man inquiry commission - recused himself.

At the same time, the top court took suo motu notice of the matter.

With inputs from PTI
Pakistan remains committed to fighting against all the terrorist outfits which have targeted Pakistan and the symbols of Pakistan-China friendship, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said while responding to a question about a suggestion to Islamabad by Afghanistans deputy interior minister to hold talks with the rebels read more

A day after a senior Afghan Taliban leader urged Islamabad and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to sit together and negotiate for peace, Pakistan on Thursday ruled out any talks with the group and instead asked Taliban dispensation to take action against the TTP fighters who are using Afghan soil to attack Pakistan.

Responding to a question during a weekly briefing about a suggestion to Islamabad by Afghanistans deputy interior minister to hold talks with the rebels, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, Pakistan remains committed to fighting against all the terrorist outfits which have targeted Pakistan and the symbols of Pakistan-China friendship.

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Afghan Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Nabi Omari, while addressing an iftar gathering in the southeastern Khost town on Wednesday, advised Pakistan and the outlawed TTP to resolve their issues through dialogue as the violence in Pakistan is spreading to Afghanistan.

To the suggestion by Afghanistan, the spokesperson instead said that Pakistan expects the Afghan authorities to take urgent action against the terrorist outfits and their leadership for the crimes they are committing and terrorist incidents they are responsible for in Pakistan.

Wars and revolutions create widows, create orphans, destroy the country and the economy, Omari said while adding the Afghan Taliban have been through wars and revolutions.

Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban to take action against the TTP fighters who are using Afghan soil to attack Pakistan.

However, Afghanistan has shown reluctance to take action against the rebels, who in the past fought shoulder-to-shoulder with them against the NATO forces.

Pakistan had provided support to the Afghan Taliban with the hope that after coming to power, they would take action against elements using the Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan.

But its hopes floundered when the Afghan Taliban refused to take any action and instead asked Pakistan to hold talks with the TTP.

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The talks failed and the TTP launched a ruthless campaign of terror against Pakistan.

Separately, the spokesperson condemned the terrorist attack in Iran and showed solidarity with the Iranian people, adding that Pakistan would like to work with Iran to find joint solutions to terrorism.

She also said that Pakistan would support the Palestinians fresh bid for UN membership. She also called for international accountability of Israel for its crimes against humanity.

With inputs from agencies
The exercise coincides with US President Joe Bidens upcoming trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan, signaling a unified stance against Chinas assertiveness in the region read more

Philippines is set to conduct joint naval exercises with the United States, Japan, and Australia, in a move aimed at bolstering military cooperation among the four nations to counter Chinas growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Two diplomatic sources disclosed this information to AFP on Thursday, highlighting the deepening military ties among the countries involved.

Scheduled for Sunday, the drills will take place in the disputed South China Sea, an area over which Beijing asserts extensive territorial claims.

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The exercise coincides with US President Joe Bidens upcoming trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan, signaling a unified stance against Chinas assertiveness in the region.

The sources, who spoke anonymously due to the drills not being officially announced yet, revealed that the joint naval maneuvers are part of a broader effort to enhance regional security and stability.

The arrival of the Australian warship HMAS Warramunga in the Philippine island province of Palawan earlier this week underscores the strategic significance of the exercises.

Described by the Philippine military as a visit aimed at strengthening military relations with partner nations, the presence of the Australian vessel underscores the collaborative efforts to address escalating tensions in the region.

Chinas increasing assertiveness in asserting its claims over disputed waters has raised concerns among neighboring countries, including the Philippines and Japan, as well as self-ruled Taiwan.

In response to Chinas actions, the United States has intensified efforts to reinforce its alliances in the region, particularly with its treaty allies Japan and the Philippines. The joint naval drills represent a coordinated response aimed at upholding regional security and promoting stability in the face of growing geopolitical challenges.

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Bidens summit with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House on April 11 is the latest in a series of meetings with Asia-Pacific partners.

Biden will also hold separate bilateral meetings with Marcos and Kishida.

The exercise and summit follow repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels near disputed reefs off the Southeast Asian country in recent months.

Top US officials have repeatedly declared the United States ironclad commitment to defending the Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, talks between the Philippines and Japan for a defence pact that would allow the countries to deploy troops on each others territory were still ongoing, a spokesman for the Philippine foreign affairs department told reporters Thursday.

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Manila already has a similar agreement with Australia and the United States.

With inputs from AFP
Since November, rebels have targeted ships in the Red Sea in response to Israels offensive in Gaza. These attacks, however, have often affected vessels with ambiguous or no clear ties to Israel, jeopardizing shipping along a crucial route for trade between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. read more

The US military has destroyed one inbound anti-ship ballistic missile and two drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen toward the Red Sea.

US Central Command said no injuries or damage was reported. Additionally, during this timeframe, CENTCOM forces destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in Houthi-controlled territory, it said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

April 3 Red Sea Update



Between approximately 3:49 to 10:00 a.m. (Sanaa time) on April 3, USS Gravely (DDG 107) and United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed one inbound anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) and two unmanned aerial systems pic.twitter.com/H28k33hRsO  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 4, 2024

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The rebels launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted.

The rebels have described their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war.

The Houthis have kept up their campaign of attacks despite more than two months of U.S.-led airstrikes.

Earlier this month, CENTCOM said its forces also destroyed four unmanned aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. It also said Houthis fired four anti-ship ballistic missiles toward the Red Sea, but no injuries or damages were reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships.

The escalation in the Red Sea and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza impacted the U.N.-led efforts to relaunch political talks to end Yemens yearslong conflict, according to the U.N. envoy for Yemen.

Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council in mid-March that he had hoped to reach an agreement on a nationwide cease-fire in Yemen by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began early in March.

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He warned that Yemen could be propelled back into war, saying that the longer the escalatory environment (in the region) continues, the more challenging Yemens mediation space will become.

The war between the Houthis and pro-government forces backed by a coalition of Gulf Arab states has raged since 2014, when the Houthis swept down from the mountains, seized much of northern Yemen and the countrys capital, Sanaa, and forced the internationally recognized government to flee into exile to Saudi Arabia.

Since then, more than 150,000 people have been killed by the violence and 3 million have been displaced.

Fighting has decreased markedly in Yemen since a truce in April 2022, but there are still hotspots in the country.

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With inputs from AP.
The rare phone call between the Russian defense minister and his French counterpart marked the first such contact between the two nations ministries since 2022 read more

Amid growing animosities between Russia and the West, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu warned his French counterpart Sebastian Lecornu against sending troops to Ukraine in a rare phone call.

The conversation between the two ministers came a month after French President Emmanuel Marcon said that he was not ruling out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine.

It is pertinent to note that the phone call marked the first such contact between the Russian and French defence ministers since 2022.

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What was said in the phone call?

According to the statement released by the Russian Defence Ministry, Shoigu told his French counterpart that the implementation of plans to send Western troops to the Ukrainian territory would ultimately create problems for France itself.

The Russian defence minister went on to convey Moscows readiness for dialogue on Ukraine". However, he emphasised that a planned round of peace talks in Geneva would be senseless without Russias involvement, TASS reported.

He also mentioned that the possible future negotiations could be based on a draft document that Russia and Ukraine discussed during talks in Istanbul in March 2022.

The draft discussed in Istanbul weeks after Russia commenced its military operation in Ukraine envisaged that Kyiv would abandon its bid to join NATO and remain neutral. However, no final deal was reached and the talks collapsed soon after.

How did the French defence minister respond?

As per the statement released by the Russian defence ministry, Lecornu, for his part, offered condolences over the devastating terror attack on the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow that led to the death of around 144 people.

The French leader also persistently tried to clear Ukraine and Western countries of suspicions of involvement in the terrorist attack, shifting responsibility to ISIS (Daesh), according to the readout which was released by the Russian ministry.

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In response to this, Shoigu underscored that the investigation is ongoing and Russia is determined to find those involved in the incident. All those responsible will be punished. There is a Ukrainian trace in the terrorist attack organization, he said.

The Kyiv regime does nothing without the approval of Western curators. We hope that in this case, the French special services are not behind this, the Russian minister furthered.

Macron reacts

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday denounced as bizarre and threatening remarks made by the Russian defence minister to his French counterpart.

The comments by the Russian side were bizarre and threatening, the French leader told reporters, on Thursday, adding that France has been in contact with Russia since it has useful information to share on the origin and organization of the Moscow terror attack.

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With Inputs from agencies.
Russia on Thursday said that its relation with NATO has now slipped to the level of direct confrontation as the US-led alliance marked its 75th anniversary on Thursday read more

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on during a visit of CIS heads of state to the Catherine Palace at the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Reserve in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 26 December, 2023. Reuters File

Russia on Thursday said that its relation with NATO has now slipped to the level of direct confrontation as the US-led alliance marked its 75th anniversary on Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that NATO was already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards Russian borders and expand its military infrastructure towards the borders.

In fact, relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation, Reuters quoted Peskov as saying.

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President Vladimir Putin remains fixated on NATOs successive waves of eastern enlargement, a concern that precipitated the conflict in Ukraine two years ago, under the guise of preventing the alliances encroachment on Russias borders. However, rather than deterring NATO, the war has only served to strengthen its resolve, evidenced by the recent inclusion of Finland and Sweden into its fold.

Putin has consistently lamented Russias treatment by the West following the Cold War, arguing that while Moscows Warsaw Pact dissolved, NATO expanded eastward, absorbing former pact members along with the Baltic states once part of the Soviet Union.

The West dismisses Putins narrative, asserting that NATO operates as a defensive alliance, with membership being a democratic choice made by nations emancipated from decades of Communist rule.

NATO contends that its support for Ukraine stems from aiding the countrys fight for survival against Russian aggression, offering Kyiv advanced weaponry, training, and intelligence.

Russia perceives NATOs involvement as making it a de facto participant in the conflict. Putin warned in February that direct confrontation between Russia and NATO would dangerously escalate global tensions, bringing the world precariously close to a third world war.

With inputs from agencies
Tensions spiralled this year after Addis Ababa signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland that gives Ethiopia  one of the biggest landlocked countries in the world  long-sought after sea access read more

In a significant diplomatic development, Somalia issued an order on Thursday for the expulsion of Ethiopias ambassador and announced the recall of its own envoy to Addis Ababa, citing accusations of blunt interference in its internal matters by its neighbor.

The decision comes amidst growing tensions in the Horn of Africa region, particularly fueled by Ethiopias recent signing of a maritime agreement with the breakaway region of Somaliland in January, which has further exacerbated existing strains.

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According to Somalias foreign ministry, Ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware of Ethiopia has been instructed to depart the country within the next 72 hours, while Mogadishus envoy to Addis Ababa has been summoned back for comprehensive consultations.

Additionally, Ethiopias consulates in Somaliland and the semi-autonomous state of Puntland have been directed to shut down within a seven-day period, as stated in an official communication released in English.

The move, the ministry asserted, was taken in the interest of protecting the sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Expressing strong discontent, Somalias cabinet accused the Ethiopian government of blatantly meddling in the internal affairs of Somalia, thereby violating its sovereignty.

- Long-desired sea access -

The two Horn of Africa neighbours have a history of stormy relations and territorial feuds, fighting two wars in the late 20th century.

Tensions spiralled this year after Addis Ababa signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland that gives Ethiopia  one of the biggest landlocked countries in the world  long-sought after sea access.

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Under the January 1 pact, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometres (12 miles) of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast.

In return, Somaliland  which unilaterally declared independence in 1991  has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although these assertions have not been confirmed by Addis Ababa.

The dispute stoked deep concerns about the stability of the Horn of Africa in the region as well as globally, with many countries and international organisations calling for Somalias sovereignty to be respected.

Somalias President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has also accused Ethiopia of seeking to destabilise his country by helping to revive the activities of the Al-Shabaab jihadist group.

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Mogadishu has been battling the Islamist militant group since 2007, and launched a major offensive against it in 2022.

Although the government has claimed some success, there has been a resurgence of attacks in recent weeks, shattering a relative lull in violence.

The latest moves by Mogadishu followed a visit on Wednesday by a delegation headed by Puntlands finance minister Mohammed Farah Mohammed to Ethiopia, where he was welcomed by the state minister of foreign affairs Mesganu Arga.

Puntland, which has long had difficult relations with the central government in Mogadishu, announced on Sunday it would no longer recognise federal institutions over changes to the constitution approved by parliament.

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- Ill-afford more conflict -

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with 120 million people, has been searching for an outlet to the sea ever since Eritrea declared independence in 1993.

Somaliland is a former British protectorate of 4.5 million inhabitants and enjoys relative stability when compared to Somalia.

But it remains isolated because of the lack of international recognition, despite being on the Gulf of Aden leading to the Red Sea, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.

Last month, Molly Phee, the top US diplomat for Africa, called on Somalia and Ethiopia to resolve their dispute.

She had met separately in Addis Ababa with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and in Mogadishu with President Mohamud and said the United States offered to help them communicate better.

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The region can ill-afford more conflict, she told reporters.

With inputs from AFP
South African parliaments speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has been accused of receiving about $135,000 in bribes from a defense contractor when she was the countrys defense minister read more

South Africas National Assembly (NA) Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has resigned after being named in a corruption case. The NA is the lower house of the South Africas parliament.

Mapisa-Nqakula resigned on Wednesday after a court rejected her application for protection from arrest in the case. She also vacated her seat in the countrys parliament.

Mapisa-Nqakula has been accused of receiving about $135,000 in bribes from a defense contractor when she was the countrys defense minister. She has denied the charges and has maintained that she is innocent.

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I have made this conscious decision in order to dedicate my time and focus to deal with the recently announced investigation against me by our countrys law enforcement agencies. My resignation is in no way an indication or admission of guilt regarding the allegations being levelled against me, said Mapisa-Nqakula in a statement.

The corruption case against Mapisa-Nqakula has also put her party, South Africas ruling African National Congress (ANC), in a crisis ahead of the elections two months later.

Whats defence corruption case Mapisa-Nqakula is named in?

The prosecutors have accused Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula of receiving around $135,000 in bribes from a defence contractor to award it contracts when she was the Defence Minister of South Africa (2014-21), according to reports.

Ther reports said Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of allegedly receiving the bribe between December 2016 and July 2019. Another tranche of alleged bribe, amounting to around $105,000, was not paid.

The Sunday Times has reported that Mapisa-Nqakula was named in an affidavit submitted to the countrys National Prosecuting Authoritys (NPA) Investigative Directorate (ID) by Nombasa Ntsodwa-Ndlovu, the owner of Umkhombe Marine, a company engaged in transporting cargo for the countrys military.

Last month, the NPAs ID raided Mapisa-Nqakulas house and carried out a search and seizure operation.

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Mapisa-Nqakulas corruption case puts ruling party in rough spot ahead of polls

The case against Mapisa-Nqakula has plunged her party, South Africas ruling ANC, in a crisis ahead of the polls scheduled in May. The ANC is set to contest the polls amid high unemployment, rising poverty, and anger over corruption charges against its leaders.

Recent surveys have suggested that ANC could get less than 50% votes in the elections, which would be the lowest for the party since 1994.

Mapisa-Nqakula is not the only ANC leader to face corruption. Her case follows the case of Jacob Zuma, the former party chief and South African president, who has been accused of widespread corruption to enrich himself, his family, and his friends.
The prosecutors have alleged that Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the former Speaker of South Africas National Assemblys (NA), took bribes to the tune of $135,000 from a military contractor read more

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the former Speaker of South Africa's parliament, has been arrested

South Africas National Assemblys (NA) former Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, was arrested on Thursday in a corruption case.

Mapisa-Nqakula resigned as the Speaker of NA, the lower house of South Africas parliament, on Wednesday after a court denied her protection from arrest. She also vacated her seat in the parliament.

The prosecutors have alleged that Mapisa-Nqakula as the Defence Minister of South Africa took bribe from a military contractor. She has denied the charges against her and has maintained her innocence.

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Following her arrest, Mapisa-Nqakula is set to be produced in a magistrates court in Pretoria, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Spokesperson Henry Mamothame to AFP.

Mapisa-Nqakulas arrest has put her party, South Africas ruling African National Congress (ANC), in a rough spot ahead of the next months elections.

The case against Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of taking around $135,000 in bribe from a defence contractor in lieu of military contracts when she was the Defence Minister of South Africa, as per reports. She was the Defence Minister during 2014-21. The reports said the alleged bribe was taken during 2016-19.

The Sunday Times has reported that Mapisa-Nqakula was named in an affidavit submitted to South Africas National Prosecuting Authoritys (NPA) Investigative Directorate (ID) by Nombasa Ntsodwa-Ndlovu, the owner of Umkhombe Marine, a contractor of the countrys military.

Last month, NPAs ID raided Mapisa-Nqakulas house and carried out a search and seizure operation.

Following her resignation, Mapisa-Nqakula said that it was in no way an indication or admission of guilt.

I have made this conscious decision in order to dedicate my time and focus to deal with the recently announced investigation against me by our countrys law enforcement agencies. My resignation is in no way an indication or admission of guilt regarding the allegations being levelled against me, said Mapisa-Nqakula in a statement.

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Mapisa-Nqakulas arrests effect on her party ahead of polls

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakulas arrest just weeks ahead of the national and provincial elections has put the party in a rough spot.

The ANC is going to polls amid high unemployment, rising poverty, and anger over corruption charges against party leaders. Recent polls have shown that ANC could get under 50% votes in the May 29 elections, which would be the lowest-ever for the party.

Mapisa-Nqakula is the senior-most party leader after Jacob Zuma, the former party chief and countrys president, to be arrested for corruption. Zuma has been accused of enriching himself and those close to him through widespread corruption.

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There is, however, also a chance that ANC may spin Mapisa-Nqakulas arrest as a sign of alleged corruption by party leaders being tackled systematically. In a statement released after Mapisa-Nqakulas resignation, ANC expressed relief at the fact that she had voluntarily resigned and that she did not have to be forced to take the action.
Reactions poured in online, with users expressing shock and admiration for the mans calm demeanor amid the crisis. Meanwhile, another video shared on social media depicted a rooftop swimming pool cascading water like a waterfall read more

As images of shaking buildings and panicked crowds flood the internet, a harrowing video from Taiwan has surfaced, depicting a man trapped in a swimming pool amidst the chaos of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the countrys east coast on Wednesday.

The viral footage captures the man struggling in the pool amid surging waves caused by the earthquake, yet remarkably maintaining composure despite the perilous circumstances. According to reports by the British broadcaster BBC, the incident occurred at a hotels rooftop pool in Taipei, Taiwans capital city.

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Apparently, a swimming pool somewhere in Taiwan at the time of earthquake pic.twitter.com/Ta0MBnGV1K  Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) April 3, 2024

Following the widespread circulation of the video, social media platforms buzzed with expressions of concern over the situation in Taiwan, which faced extensive damage from the earthquake, including collapsed buildings and tsunami warnings stretching to Japan and the Philippines.

Reactions poured in online, with users expressing shock and admiration for the mans calm demeanor amid the crisis. Meanwhile, another video shared on social media depicted a rooftop swimming pool cascading water like a waterfall from a neighboring building.

The earthquake, described as the most powerful to hit the island in decades, claimed at least nine lives and left thousands injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences, extending Indias solidarity to Taiwans resilient population.

In his message, Prime Minister Modi conveyed deep sadness at the loss of lives and wished a speedy recovery for the injured. He emphasized Indias support for Taiwan as it navigates the aftermath and strives towards recovery.

Despite ongoing rescue efforts, many remain stranded in areas inaccessible due to massive landslides triggered by the earthquake, particularly in tunnels traversing Taiwans mountainous terrain from north to south.
Theyre not coming to plant trees. Theres a strong MNDF [Maldives National Defense Force] harbor in front Theyre coming in front to do military work of a big country far from here, said MDPs Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail read more

Maldives main opposition party the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has alleged that a Chinese company tasked with an agricultural project on Uthuru Thila Falhu island has not come here just to plant trees but may be engaged in military activities.

Highlighting the proximity of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) harbour to the project site, MDPs Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail suggested that the company may be involved in military activities associated with a larger foreign country.

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Theyre not coming to plant trees. Theres a strong MNDF [Maldives National Defense Force] harbor in front Theyre coming in front to do military work of a big country far from here, Fayyaz was quoted as saying by Male-based news organisation Adhadhu.

Fayyazs claims align with the actions of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, who has been working to reduce Indian presence in the region. Muizzu recently announced that there would be no Indian troops in the Maldives, not even in civilian attire. Since assuming office in November last year, Muizzu has implemented several policies against India, effectively strengthening Chinas influence in the Indian Ocean Region.

After his first official trip to China in January, Muizzu allowed a Chinese research vessel to dock in Male. This raised concerns about the vessel potentially mapping the Indian Ocean seabed, a strategic area of contention between China and India.

The opposition leader confirmed reports that the Chinese research vessel had been conducting underwater mapping in Maldivian waters for the past few months. Fayyaz accused the Muizzu administration of inviting China, a distant superpower, into the region, thereby endangering the peace and stability of the Indian Ocean.

Indian geostrategist Brahma Chellaney had also warned in January that China is aggressively mapping the Indian Ocean seabed to enhance its submarine operations, with the Maldives increasingly supporting such activities under its new pro-China president.

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China is aggressively engaged in mapping the Indian Ocean bed and collecting seismic and bathymetric data to facilitate submarine operations in Indias maritime backyard. And the Maldives, under its new Islamist-leaning, pro-China president, is becoming an enabler, Chellaney wrote on X.

China is aggressively engaged in mapping the Indian Ocean bed and collecting seismic and bathymetric data to facilitate submarine operations in Indias maritime backyard. And the Maldives, under its new Islamist-leaning, pro-China president, is becoming an enabler.



After  Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) January 24, 2024

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After terminating the 2019 hydrographic surveying agreement with India and ordering the expulsion of several dozen non-combat Indian military personnel tasked with rescue and relief in that disaster-prone archipelago nation, Maldivian President Muizzu has agreed to host a Chinese spy ship whose mission is to collate data on undersea conditions, he added.

He said the Muizzu governments claim that the PLA-linked ship would not conduct oceanographic research in the Maldivian waters is laughable as the Maldives has zero capability to detect such activity.

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Muizzus latest provocation, by mocking the security concerns of the traditionally friendly India, is unlikely to escape scot-free, he added.

In March, the Maldives Industrial Development Free Zone (MIDF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinas Harbour Engineering Company for a significant agriculture project after land reclamation in Uthuru Thila Falhu, an atoll which is on the northern side and closest to India.

The MoU aims to establish an Agricultural Economic Zone in the Maldives. However, opposition leaders expressed concerns, alleging that the Chinese company may be involved in military activities rather than just agricultural projects.

China Harbour Engineering, renowned for land reclamation, was previously involved in Sri Lankas Hambantota port development, which was later taken over by Beijing due to debt issues. In 2018, Bangladesh blacklisted the firm over bribery allegations.

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Operating under a special commission overseen by Chinas State Council, China Harbour Engineering faces accusations of direct military ties with Chinese army, reported Adhadhu

The US reportedly took action against the company in 2020 for its land reclamation projects in the South China Sea.

With inputs from agencies
Homosexuality was earlier already illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law criminalising sexual activity against the order of nature read more

Ugandas Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality despite widespread condemnation from rights groups and others abroad.

President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill into law in May last year. The law is supported by many in the East African country, where some see it as behavior imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.

One activist petitioner quickly vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court,

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Constitutional Court judges said the law was legally passed by parliament and does not violate the constitution. Homosexuality was already illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law criminalising sexual activity against the order of nature. The punishment for that offense is life imprisonment.

The law in question defines aggravated homosexuality as cases of homosexual relations involving a minor and other categories of vulnerable people, or when the perpetrator is infected with HIV. A suspect convicted of attempted aggravated homosexuality can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, and the offense of attempted homosexuality is punishable by up to 10 years.

The court, however, ruled that members of the gay community should not be discriminated against when seeking medication. Uganda was one of the earliest and hardest hit countries when AIDS emerged, and public health experts have long warned against letting stigma or fear of punishment impede access to care.

They should be medically and culturally accepted, Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera said.

One of the 14 petitioners, Andrew Mwenda, said they would appeal.

What we have witnessed in court is what I would call a temporary reversal in an overall strategic battle or a strategic war against cultural bigotry and prejudice, so we are going to appeal to the Supreme Court, not for striking down the different components of this law but for overturning this law into its entirety, he said.

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The UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, in a statement expressed dismay at the courts decision and called on Ugandas government to repeal the law. He said nearly 600 people have been reportedly subjected to rights violations and abuses based on their actual or assumed sexual orientation or gender identity since the law was enacted in May.

When the law was passed, the U.N. human rights office called it a recipe for systematic violations of the rights of LGBTQ+ people and others. U.S. President Joe Biden called the law a tragic violation of universal human rights  one that is not worthy of the Ugandan people, and one that jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country.

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The World Bank halted new loans to Uganda, saying additional measures were necessary to ensure projects align with the banks environmental and social standards.

Homosexuality is criminalised in more than 30 of Africas 54 countries.
Venezuelan Prime Minister Nicolas Maduro said that the existence of such bases acts as an aggression against the people of southern and eastern Venezuela and is allegedly built to prepare for an escalation against Venezuela read more

Aerial view of the Essequibo region taken from Guyana on December 12, 2023. AFP file

The US is allegedly building secret bases in Guyanas oil-rich region of Essequibo which Venezuela claims as its own.

Venezuelan Prime Minister Nicolas Maduro accused the US by saying, We have information proving that in the territory of Guyana Essequibo, temporarily administered by Guyana, secret military bases of the (US) Southern Command a body of the CIA, have been installed.

Maduro said that the existence of such bases acts as an aggression against the people of southern and eastern Venezuela and is allegedly built to prepare for an escalation against Venezuela.

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Venezuela has maintained a military buildup off the coast of Guyana as it claims the territory as its own. In February, Caracus even accused Guyana of allowing illegal oil exploration in its region and even threatened to take diplomatic actions if necessary.

Guyana governed by CIA

In his recent comments, which can stoke controversy and trigger regional conflicts, Maduro also claimed that Guyanas President Irfaan Ali, does not govern Guyana and that Guyana is governed by the Southern Command, the CIA and ExxonMobil.

Southern Command, a part of US Department of Defence, has a US Security Cooperation Office in Guyana.

The office serves as a military consultant to the Guyana Defense Force, coordinating security cooperation engagement activities and providing military support and training.

Whats the dispute over Essequibo?

The oil-rich territory of Essequibo, which makes up about two-thirds of Guyana, has been a disputed territory, with Venezuela staking claim over it despite the fact that Guyana has been administering the region for more than a century.

The dispute over Essequibo intensified in 2015 after the discovery of oil deposits by US-based energy giant ExxonMobil.

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Last month, Venezuelan lawmakers unanimously approved a law backing Caracass right to own and govern Essequibo.

This National Assembly vindicates the right of the Venezuelan people to defend their territory, said MP Diosdado Cabello after the vote.

Reacting to the developments in the Venezuelan Parliament, Guyanas Foreign Ministry said, This is a flagrant violation of Guyanas sovereignty and territorial integrity, and called for international support to uphold the rule of law by rejecting Venezuelas illegal expansionism.
Alan Estevez, the chief of U.S. export policy, is slated to hold discussions with Dutch government officials and ASML Holding NV representatives in the Netherlands next Monday to address the issue of servicing contracts, the sources revealed read more

In a concerted effort to curb Chinas technological advancement, the Biden administration is set to exert pressure on the Netherlands to halt its leading chipmaking equipment manufacturer ASML from servicing certain tools in China, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Alan Estevez, the chief of U.S. export policy, is slated to hold discussions with Dutch government officials and ASML Holding NV representatives in the Netherlands next Monday to address the issue of servicing contracts, the sources revealed.

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Additionally, Washington may contemplate expanding the list of Chinese chip manufacturing facilities barred from acquiring Dutch equipment as part of the deliberations, one of the sources disclosed.

While the Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed the forthcoming meeting, it refrained from providing specific details regarding the agenda.

The Netherlands always values constructive discussions with our partners. Mondays meeting is a testament to that, the Ministry stated in response to queries from Reuters.

Both the Commerce Department and ASML declined to offer comments on the matter, and there was no immediate response from the Chinese Embassy in Washington to requests for comment.

ASML shares briefly turned negative after the news.

The meeting is the latest move by Washington to convince allies to join its efforts to further crackdown on Beijings ability to produce cutting-edge chips, after sanctioned Chinese telecoms giant Huawei shocked the world last year with a new phone powered by a sophisticated chip.

The Huawei Mate 60 Pro is seen as a symbol of the Chinas technological resurgence despite Washingtons ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.

Chip-related exports to China are vital for its economy. Chinese President Xi Jinping complained to President Joe Biden this week about U.S. efforts to block certain U.S. technologies, including advanced semiconductors, saying it hindered Chinas development.

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Restrictions on servicing ASML machines could be particularly painful given the large and expensive tools require constant maintenance. China was ASMLs second-largest market by sales last year (29%), after Taiwan.

With inputs from Reuters
The West introduced the oil cap shortly after Russia commenced its military operation in Ukraine. The main aim of the restriction was to limit the profits Russia acquires from the sale of the oil read more

Amid the brewing animosities between the United States and Russia, two senior American officials from the US Treasury Department are in India with the intention to urge New Delhi to adhere to the oil price cap imposed by the West.

The West introduced the oil cap shortly after Russia commenced its military operation in Ukraine. The main aim of the restriction was to limit the profits Russia acquires from the sale of the oil.

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According to the statement released by the US Treasury Department, Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Anna Morris and PDO Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand are travelling to New Delhi and Mumbai from April 2-5.

During their visit, the US officials will be meeting with government and private sector counterparts and will discuss key bilateral issues, including cooperation on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, and other illicit finance issues.

Not only this, but the officials will also urge their Indian counterparts to continue the implementation of the price cap.

Russia remains Indias top oil supplier

Shortly after the commencement of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the G7 nations, the European Union and Australia jointly implemented a price cap on the purchase of Russian oil.

The cap prohibited the utilisation of Western maritime services, including insurance, flagging, and transportation of Russian oil priced at or above $60 per barrel.

In the midst of all this, in 2023, Russia emerged as Indias top oil supplier. One of the major reasons for this is the fact that throughout history, New Delhi and Moscow had strong economic and defence ties.

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Earlier this year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishakar reaffirmed Indias stance on buying Russian oil despite all the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West.

During an interview with the German economic daily, Handelsblatt, Jaishankar insisted that Europe should understand that India cannot have a view of Russia which is identical to the European one.

Everyone conducts a relationship based on their past experiences. If I look at the history of India post-independence, Russia has never hurt our interests, the EAM averred.

We have had a stable and always very friendly relationship with Russia. And our relationship with Russia today is based on this experience, he added.

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What do the US officials have in mind?

According to the PTI, Morris and Nostrand will deliver remarks on the price cap and will take part in a Q&A session which will be hosted by the Ananta Aspen Centre in New Delhi on Thursday.

Last month, both US officials noted in a blog post that the second phase price cap will continue to achieve its twin goals: restricting Russias oil profits, while supporting energy market stability.

The officials stated that the price cap is maintaining a steady supply of energy to global consumers and businesses, and providing key importers like India with more leverage to drive steeper bargains.

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With agency inputs.
Speculation suggests Iran could attack Israel from its own territory rather than through proxies, as has been the case so far, sparking wider hostilities read more

People walk past a banner showing a portrait of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi who was killed in an airstrike widely attributed to Israel on Monday in Syria, on a building at the Felestin (Palestine) Sq. in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday. AP

Amid reports suggesting that Iran could directly attack Israel by launching missiles from its own territory rather than via any of its proxy groups, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Wednesday bolstered its air defence array and called up reservists following a threat assessment as Iranian payback for Syria strike looms.

Both Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have pledged retaliation against Israel following the Monday attack on a consular building near Irans embassy in Damascus, which resulted in the deaths of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the most senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, his deputy, five other IRGC officers, and at least one member of Hezbollah.

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According to a Times of Israel report, citing Channel 12 news, Israeli speculates that Iran might retaliate directly by launching missiles from its own territory, bypassing its various proxy groups such as those in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.

Should Iran choose to respond via a proxy, like a Hezbollah rocket barrage, Israel may opt to let the conflict simmer down. However, a direct attack from Iranian territory would likely prompt a significant reprisal from the Israeli Defense Forces, potentially escalating tensions further, added the report.

I wont be surprised if Iran fires directly at Israel, Times of Israel report quoted former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin as telling Channel 12 news, explaining that a January missile strike carried out by Iran on neighboring Pakistan set a precedent for such action.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge for the Monday strike, and posters parroting his words have gone up around Tehran, in a sign of public pressure for an Iranian response.

The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution, Times of Israel quoted Khamenei as saying in a speech to the countrys officials in Tehran Wednesday.

Desperate efforts like the one they committed in Syria will not save them from defeat. Of course, they will also be slapped for that action, he added.

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Earlier on Wednesday, Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Israel is ramping up its readiness amid threats from across the Middle East.

Addressing a home-front readiness exercise in Haifa, Gallant emphasised the expansion of defensive operations against Hezbollah and other entities posing a threat. He reiterated Israels resolve to strike its adversaries across the region.

We need to be prepared and ready for every scenario and every threat, against near enemies and distant enemies," Times of Israel quoted Gallant as saying, vowing that we will know how to protect the citizens of Israel and we will know how to attack our enemies.

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Addressing the daily attacks on the northern border by the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Gallant said that one of the main issues Israel is facing is how it will let some 80,000 displaced Israelis return to their homes in northern Israel.

We prefer an agreement that will result in the removal of the threat, but we have to prepare for the possibility of [using] force in Lebanon that can also take into account the scenario we are describing here, which is a scenario of war, and we need to be prepared for this issue and understand that it can happen," Gallant said.

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The alleged Israeli attack on Damascus came after Israel indicated it was stepping up action against Hezbollah, hitting sites deeper inside Lebanon, in a bid to pressure the group into stopping the daily rocket fire.

It also occurred hours after an Iran-backed militia launched a drone at Eilat, hitting a naval base, in one of the more serious attacks on Israel since war erupted on 7 October.

With inputs from agencies
I would not agree with that characterisationWe have made it clear on a number of occasions that we want to see everyone in Pakistan treated consistent with the rule of law, treated with respect for human rights, said Department of State spokesperson Mathew Miller read more

The US on Wednesday expressed its disagreement with the characterisation of political cases in India and Pakistan when questioned about the State Departments selective parameters for evaluating them in both the countries.

#WATCH | On being asked about the United States' strong position on Delhi CM Arvind Kerjiwal's arrest and freezing of Congress bank accounts, but not on the political prisoners in Pakistan, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller says, "I would not agree with that pic.twitter.com/RosXg1dutO  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2024

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At a daily briefing on Wednesday, Department of State spokesperson Mathew Miller was put in a tight spot after a journalist questioned him on US taking a strong stand on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal but not doing the same on arrests of Pakistani opposition leaders.

I would not agree with that characterisationWe have made it clear on a number of occasions that we want to see everyone in Pakistan treated consistent with the rule of law, treated with respect for human rights said Miller.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 21 March in connection with a money laundering case linked to Delhi excise policy case. On 1 April, a Delhi court had sent the Delhi CM to to judicial custody till 15 April.

Following his arrest, Miller was asked about his response to Indias summoning US diplomat over comments on Delhi CM Kejriwals arrest and freezing of Congress partys bank accounts, to which he said that they are following these actions closely.

We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. We are also aware of the Congress partys allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections, Miller added.

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And we encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes for each of these issues, he stressed.

Stating that India is proud of its robust and independent democratic institutions, the Ministry of External Affairs called the remarks by the US State Department on the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal unwarranted, adding that any such external imputation on our electoral and legal processes is completely unacceptable.

Prior to this, India summoned the German Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi to lodge a strong protest against their foreign office spokespersons remarks on the arrest of Kejriwal.

On Tuesday, highlighting on US, Germany and the UN envoys making political remarks over Indian politics after Kejriwals arrest, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar used the word Maryada, saying that we are sovereign countries and should not be interfering in each others internal affairs.

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Speaking at a press conference in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, EAM Jaishankar emphasised that these are old and bad habits.

These are old habits. These are bad habitsThe word I use is Maryada among countries, we are sovereign countries. We should not be interfering in each others internal affairs. We should not be passing comments about each others politics, he said.

He further underscored that they have told the diplomats of these countries that India strongly objects to this.

Because once, if this becomes a rule, where do you stop? So we have been, in the cases where it has happened, we have told the diplomats of that country very clearly that we take very strong objection to it, Jaishankar said.

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He said that other countries do not hold any right to comment on another countrys politics.

We think this is not a good practice. And we would sincerely urge all countries in the world to say that you please, by all means, you can have your views about the world. But no country has the right to comment on another countrys politics, especially in situations like this, he said.

With inputs from agencies
Zimbabwe is the third southern African country after neighboring Zambia and Malawi to declare the ongoing drought as a disaster read more

Drought in southern African countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi has led to a food crisis. Source: AP

Zimbabwe has declared a state of national disaster over a drought that has plunged millions in the country in a food crisis.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said that the country needs $2 billion in humanitarian assistance to deal with the drought. He has attributed the drought to El-Nino, the phenomenon that raises sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and disrupts weather in parts of the world.

Zimbabwe is the third southern African country after neighboring Zambia and Malawi to declare the ongoing drought in the region as a disaster. The southern Africa is dealing with one of the leanest phases in decades in terms of rainfall.

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The condition in Zimbabwe has been grave since early this year. During January-March, the World Food Program (WFP) provided food assistance for around 2.7 million people, which is around 20% of the countrys population.

More than 17 million need food relief in southern Africa: UN

The food crisis in southern Africa is such that more than 17 million people require food relief, according to the United Nations (UN).

Associated Press cited the data from UNICEF to report that around 9 million need food relief in Malawi and 6 million need assistance in Zambia. Separately, the WFP has already been providing assistance to around 2.7 million in Zimbabwe.

In February, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema declared the current drought as a national disaster and said that almost half of his countrys staple corn had been destroyed, as per the report.

Then, within a month, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said his country required over $200 million in urgent humanitarian assistance. He said the drought had affected around 2 million households in 23 of the countrys 28 districts.

While these three countries have declared disasters, the entire region is affected from the drought. A report by Sky News said that general low rainfall that followed a delayed start to the rainy season has dried the stretch of land from Angola to Mozambique and has devastated harvests that tens of millions in the region rely on.

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El-Nino, climate change driving extreme weather in southern Africa

While it is natural for the first few months of the year in the region to be lean as households await fresh harvests, there is little hope for the stores to be replenished this year as the region is going through the worst drought in decades, according to AP.

In recent years, Zimbabwe has relied more on aid agencies to avert mass hunger due to extreme weather conditions such as heat waves and floods, as per the report.

A report by Sky News said that the El-Ninos effect as amplified the existing impacts of climate change in the region.

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In a separate report, AP said that the region has been caught in recent years in a cycle of extreme weather events. A year ago, much of this region was drenched by deadly tropical storms and floods. It is in the midst of a vicious weather cycle: too much rain, then not enough, it added.

With inputs from agencies
Google is considering the idea of adding premium features to its AI-driven search engine, as reported by the Financial Times. These features might become part of Googles subscription services, offering more AI capabilities alongside the Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and Docs.

It would be a new move for Google to put some of its core products behind a paywall, marking its entry into the competitive AI domain. However, the regular Google search engine will remain free, with ads continuing to appear even for subscribers.

The company clarified that it isnt considering an ad-free search experience but is focusing on enhancing subscription services with premium features. And it seems like Google is in a race with industry giants like OpenAI and Microsoft, both of whom are heavily invested in AI technologies.

The new search features could include AI-generated summaries and responses to questions. This might make it easier for users to find what theyre looking for, but it could also mean fewer clicks on ads, which is how Google makes money.

The report noted that Google hasnt decided yet when or if these changes will happen. Theyre still working on the technology and figuring out how to make it work. But theyre considering adding these features to subscription services like Gemini Advanced or Google One.

So, while the basic Google search will stay free, you might need to pay for the AI-powered version in the future. And, well likely hear more about this as the Search Generative Experience (SGE) gets closer to its one-year anniversary.

Source
Elon Musks Tesla is looking into potential locations in India for its proposed electric car manufacturing plant, with an investment ranging between $2 billion to $3 billion, according to a report from the Financial Times.

India recently reduced import taxes on certain electric vehicles, provided carmakers invest at least Rs. 4,150 crore and commence commercial production within three years.

Tesla intends to send a team from the United States by late April to scout sites for the plant, with a focus on states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, due to their automotive hubs. Although Haryana also hosts automotive plants, Tesla prefers states with ports for easier car exportation.

This move by Tesla coincides with a slowdown in EV demand globally, prompting the company to report a decline in first-quarter deliveries. Nonetheless, the company might consider establishing its battery plant similar to its gigafactories in California, Texas, Berlin, and Shanghai.

India gets closer to Tesla deal for EV imports and plant setup

Elon Musk has been striving to enter the Indian market for years, with talks ongoing between Tesla officials and Indian government representatives since last year.

The company expressed interest in manufacturing an EV priced at $24,000 in India, along with a request for reduced taxes on higher-priced models.

Teslas potential entry into the Indian market could encourage further EV investments and benefit local auto parts manufacturers, analysts suggest.

The Indian government mandates a localization level of 25% by the third year and 50% by the fifth year for availing lower custom duty on Completely Built Units (CBUs), applicable to cars priced at a minimum of $35,000.

Industry experts believe this policy could facilitate access to global technologies, expand product ranges, and enhance cost competitiveness, ultimately promoting greater EV adoption in India.

Source
New York, US (PANA) - All warring parties must allow safe, swift and unfettered humanitarian access and protect civilian infrastructure, top UN officials told the Security Council on Wednesday
Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - UN officials launched assessment visits to Gaza and its agencies will resume night-time aid deliveries on Thursday after a 48-hour pause following Israeli forces killing seven World Central Kitchen relief workers in a convoy delivering food in the enclave, where intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations continue
Kirchheim, a computer scientist and IT engineer, discovered her passion for intralogistics right after finishing her studies, when she went to work at the Bremer Institut fur Produktion und Logistik (BIBA) at the University of Bremen. While there, she conducted research on automatic systems for unloading packaged goods from containers. Excited about the idea of not only furthering automation but also researching cognitive logistics systems, she worked on one of the first research projects with participation from industry as part of the information and communication technologies thematic area under the EUs Seventh Framework Programme. A desire for an even deeper understanding of how intralogistics works in practice took her into the private sector. Kirchheim joined the KION Group, where she worked on the planning and design of manual and automatic intralogistics systems in sales at affiliates STILL and Dematic. After that, she used her years of practical experience to do holistic applied research in intralogistics and share her knowledge with young people. This role took her to professorships first at Aalen University and then, in the past three years, at Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg.

Prof. Holger Hanselka, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, explains: With its holistic approach, Fraunhofer IML develops solutions for all fields of internal and external logistics. Thanks to this expertise and with additional key research areas in the fields of artificial intelligence, smart finance, and the internet of things, the institute is helping to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the German and European economies on a lasting basis. I am delighted that we were able to bring Prof. Kirchheim in as a director at Fraunhofer IML, as she is such an accomplished and experienced scientist. With her expertise, she will be instrumental in advancing the institutes outstanding development and industry-shaping research work.



I think its important to deliver results that really work. Michael ten Hompel showed how successful this connection between science and real-world practice is here at Fraunhofer IML over the decades. Im really excited and energized about taking over from him and continuing the tradition of cutting-edge research here in Dortmund. The next few years will show just how much change artificial intelligence will bring to intralogistics as part of autonomous systems. For now, though, Im looking forward to getting to know the people and projects at the institute better and to diving into the world of Fraunhofer, Kirchheim says.

The change means the institute management now consists of Prof. Alice Kirchheim (Material Flow Systems), Prof. Uwe Clausen (Logistics, Traffic and Environment), and Prof. Michael Henke (Enterprise Logistics), who is serving as interim executive director.



About Fraunhofer IML

Fraunhofer IML is a leader in holistic logistics research, working across all fields of internal and external logistics. In line with Fraunhofers mission, the institute devises solutions for immediate use by companies while also engaging in pre-competitive research for periods of two to five years and in some cases even longer. The institute was founded in 1981 and currently has over 700 employees, about 470 of whom are research scientists.


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Russo-Ukraine War - 03 April 2024 - Day 770

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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 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of April 3, there were 54x tactical engagements.

Russian forces launched a total of 5x missile and 50x air strikes, 37x MLRS attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the russian areas bordering Ukraine. Russia conducts subversion, continues shelling of Ukrainian settlements from the territory of Russia and increases the concentration of mining operations along the state border of Ukraine. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Slobozhanske and Vovchans'k (Kharkiv oblast). Around 20x settlements came under Russian artillery and mortar fire, including Bleshnya (Chernihiv oblast), Nova Huta, Havrylova Sloboda, Tovstodubove, Lukashivka (Sumy oblast), Veterynarne, Strilecha, Krasne (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 1x attack in the vicinity of Andriivka (Luhansk oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Holubivka, Kup'yans'k, Syn'kivka, Petropavlivka, Kalynove, Borova (Kharkiv oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 15x settlements, including Syn'kivka, Stepova Novoselivka, Kotlyarivka (Kharkiv oblast).

Lyman axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 3x assaults in the vicinity of Terny (Donetsk oblast), where Russian forces made attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs'ke (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Yampolivka, Tors'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 10x attacks in the vicinities of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, Andriivka, northeast of Vyimka and Klishchiivka (Donetsk oblast). In that area Russian forces made attempts to improve its tactical position. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Druzhba (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Bohdanivka, Kalynivka, Chasiv Yar (Donetsk oblast).

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 8x attacks in the vicinities of Berdychi, Umans'ke, Yasnobrodivka, Pervomais'ke, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast), where the Russian occupiers made attempts to dislodge Ukrainian forces from their positions. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Keramik, Semenivka (Donetsk oblast). The invaders fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Novokalynove, Novobakhmutivka, Semenivka, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Novopavlivka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to block Russian forces near Novomykhailivka and Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), where the Russian invaders, using air attacks, made 15x attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. The Russian occupiers launched air strikes in the vicinities of Krasnohorivka, Vodyane and Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Heorhiivka, Paraskoviivka, Kostyantynivka, Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast).

Orikhiv axis: Russian forces conducted no offensive operations, however launched air strikes in the vicinities of Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast), Malynivka, Orikhiv and Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Around 20x settlements, including Poltavka, Malynivka, Chervone, Bilohir'ya, Novodanylivka, Shcherbaky (Zaporizhzhia oblast), were under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Kherson axis: Russian forces do not abandon their intention to drive Ukrainian units out of their footholds on the left bank of the Dnipro. In particular, Russian forces executed 4x assaults on positions of Ukrainian defenders. The settlement of Krynky (Kherson oblast) came under Russian artillery fire.

During the day of April 3, the Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes on 1x anti-aircraft missile system, 14x concentrations of Russian troops, weapons and military equipment.

The Ukrainian Missile Forces hit 2x concentrations of troops, weapons and military equipment, 1x artillery system, 1x radar station, 1x electronic warfare station, 1x UAVs control post of the Russian invaders.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in the areas of Stroyevka (Kharkov region) and repelled three attacks launched by assault groups of the AFU 60th Mechanised and 95th Air Assault Brigades near Terny (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, one 155-mm U.S.-made M777 howitzer, and two 152-mm D-20 howitzers.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and inflicted damage on manpower and hardware of the 24th, 28th, 53rd mechanised, 5th assault brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the 241st Territorial Defence Brigade near Chasov Yar, Kurdyumovka, and Krasnogorovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

Ten counter-attacks launched by the AFU's 81st Airmobile, 10th Mountain Assault, 67th, 72nd mechanised brigades and 4th National Guard Brigade of Ukraine were repelled close to Belogorovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Krasnoye, Bogdanovka, and Konstantinovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 390 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles (Kozak and MaxPro), as well as 19 motor vehicles.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, the following enemy's military hardware was hit: one U.S.-made 105-mm M119 gun, one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, and one 100-mm MT-12 Rapira anti-tank gun.

In Avdeyevka direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line, defeated enemy formations, and repelled nine counter-attack attacks launched by the 25th Airborne, 24th, 47th, 59th mechanised brigades of the AFU near Pervomayskoye, Kirovo, Vodyanoye, Berdychi, and Tonenkoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 305 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 howitzer, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, two 122-mm D-30 howitzers, and one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

In South Donetsk direction, the Vostok Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation and inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of the AFU 72nd Mechanised Brigade near Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

In addition, one counter-attack launched by an assault detachment of the AFU 58th Motorised Infantry Brigade was repelled near Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 155 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, as well as one 122-mm BM-21 Grad MLRS combat vehicle.

In Kherson direction, the units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on the units of the 65th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU and 121st Territorial Defence Brigades close to Novodanilovka, Nesteryanka (Zaporozhye region) and Respublikanets (Kherson region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 35 Ukrainian troops, four motor vehicles, one 155-mm UK-made AS-90 Braveheart self-propelled artillery system, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have been eliminated during the day: one hangar for the production and storage of unmanned aerial vehicles, one armament depot, as well as manpower and military hardware of the AFU in 131 areas.

Air defence systems shot down 164 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and two U.S.-made JDAM aerial guided bombs.

In total, 581 airplanes and 270 helicopters, 18,538 unmanned aerial vehicles, 495 air defence missile systems, 15,684 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,262 combat vehicles equipped with MRLS, 8,644 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 20,576 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.





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NEWARK, Del, April 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global foodservice paper bag market size is poised for significant growth, attaining US$ 953.1 million in 2024. The sales revenue of foodservice paper bag is expected to witness a CAGR of 3.1% from 2024 to 2034. By 2034, the demand for foodservice paper bag is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$ 1293.3 million.



Future growth is anticipated, propelled by the government's rules, the booming foodservice industry, and the increased awareness of environmental issues. The foodservice industry's strong growth is fueled by several causes, such as consumers' growing inclination towards environmentally friendly packaging options, strict policies that encourage sustainability, and the growing demand for delivery services.

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The foodservice sector initially utilized conventional plastic bags when distributing food products to customers. Global demand for foodservice paper bags is expected to expand due to the change towards sustainable practices prompted by government initiatives and plastic usage constraints.

Growing demand for ecologically friendly foodservice paper bags, is expected to accompany the proliferation of food service outlets. This aligns with the foodservice paper bag market increasing inclination toward environmentally friendly solutions.

Regional Outlook:

Due to the region's vibrant food delivery culture and the application of stringent environmental regulations, foodservice paper bag adoption is on the rise throughout Asia Pacific.

Foodservice businesses in Europe are adopting more recyclable and biodegradable packaging options to lessen their environmental effect, which encourages demand for foodservice paper bags.

Due to stricter laws, consumer desire for environmentally friendly packaging, and the growth of the food delivery industry, the adoption of foodservice paper bags is prevalent in North America.



Growing demand for environmentally friendly packaging options is expected to propel significant expansion in the foodservice paper bag market. Government rules and rising environmental consciousness act as major forces shaping market dynamics of foodservice paper bag. says Lead Consultant Ismail Sutaria in Packaging at Future Market Insights (FMI).

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Key Takeaways:

In the material category, the brown kraft segment to acquire a market share of 82.9% in 2024.

The restaurants segment in the end use category to grab a share of 50.7% in 2024.

From 2024 to 2034, the India biodegradable paper bag market is projected to strengthen at a 6.7% CAGR.

China restaurant paper bag market is expected to surge at a CAGR of 5.9% through 2034.

Thailand foodservice paper bag industry anticipates flourishing at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2024 to 2034.

The Spain foodservice paper bag market is expected to evolve at a CAGR of 3.5% between 2024 and 2034.

Between 2024 and 2034, the Japan biodegradable paper bag market is projected to evolve at a CAGR of 2.6%.

The United Kingdom foodservice paper bag market is expected to experience expansion at a CAGR of 2.6% through 2034.

Through 2034, the United States eco-friendly paper bag market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 2.4%.

The foodservice paper bag market in Canada is forecast to rise at a CAGR of 2.1% until 2034.

The eco-friendly paper bag market in South Korea is forecast to rise at a CAGR of 2.1% until 2034.

The Germany foodservice paper bag market is projected to exhibit growth between 2024 and 2034 at a CAGR of 2.0%.

The food delivery paper bag market in Italy is expected to rise at a CAGR of 1.8% until 2034.

The France takeout paper bags industry anticipates flourishing at a CAGR of 1.6% from 2024 to 2034.

Competitive Landscape:

Prominent foodservice paper bag vendors are attempting to grow their facilities to increase their capacity. Several key foodservice paper bag providers use the merger and acquisition approach to bolster and expand their resources. These food service paper bag manufacturers are concentrating on creating cutting-edge paper bags to increase their market shares.

Purchase the Report for Key Insights: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/12666

Key Foodservice Paper Bag Vendors:

WestRock Company

Hutamaki Oyj

Novolex Holdings LLC

Ronpak Inc.

Mondi Group

Amcor Ltd

International Paper Company

Smurfit Kappa Group

Welton Bibby And Baron Limited

ProAmpac LLC

Gerhard Schurholz GmbH

Toybe Global Packaging

AB Group Packaging

Smith Anderson Group Ltd.

Milhe & Avons



Noteworthy Developments:

Novolex Holdings LLC announced in August 2022 the introduction of novel paper bags for restaurants and stores to provide more secure delivery. The paper bag features a flat bottom to keep objects safe, a wide opening for easy loading, and strong paper twist handles for dependable and simple carrying.

WestRock Company invested US$ 47 million at its Claremont consumer factory in March 2022, expanding its production capacity.

Huhtamaki Oyj purchased Portland-based Smith Anderson Group Ltd. in January 2022. The company is based in Eastern Europe and produces paper bags.



Key Segments:

By Material Type:

Brown Kraft

White Kraft

By Bag Type:

Handle Bags

Non-handle Bags

By End User:

Restaurants

Online Food Delivery

Institutional



By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

South Asia

East Asia

Middle East and Africa

Oceania



Authored by:

Ismail Sutaria (Lead Consultant, Packaging and Materials) has over 8 years of experience in market research and consulting in the packaging & materials industry. Ismails strength lies in identifying key challenges faced by the client and offering logical and actionable insights to equip the clients with strategic decision-making power.

Ismail has been an instrumental part of several transformational consulting assignments. His key skills include competitive benchmarking, opportunity assessment, macroeconomic analysis, and business transformation advisory. Ismail is an MBA holder in Marketing and has a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics.

Explore FMIs related ongoing Coverage in Packaging Domain:

Compostable foodservice packaging market is forecast to attain a valuation of US$ 18.9 billion in 2023. Total compostable foodservice packaging sales are projected to surge at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2023 and 2033, totaling a colossal valuation of US$ 29.3 billion by 2033.

The global meat, poultry, and seafood packaging market is expected to record a growth of 5.3% during the forecast period. The market value is projected to increase from US$ 7.7 billion in 2024 to US$ 13.2 billion by 2034

The global food packaging market size is expected to increase from US$ 353.7 billion in 2023 to US$ 592.8 billion by 2033. In 2022, the worldwide food packaging industry was valued at US$ 335.9 billion. Over the forecast period from 2023 to 2033

The global antimicrobial packaging ingredient for food packaging market is expected to garner a market value of US$ 2,810 million in 2023. By 2033, it is expected to accumulate a market value of US$ 4,281 million by registering a CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2033.

The global poultry packaging market is set to enjoy a valuation of US$ 2.6 billion in 2023, and further expand at a CAGR of 4.0% to reach US$ 3.85 billion by the year 2033

The global meat packaging market size is estimated to reach US$ 7.4 billion in 2023 and further exhibit a steady CAGR of 5.2% during the assessment period (2023 and 2033). Overall meat packaging sales are projected to surpass a valuation of US$ 12.3 billion by the end of 2033.

North America Fresh Meat Packaging Market: is expected to attain a valuation of US$ 724.4 million in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 1,070.9 million by 2033. As per FMIs study, fresh meat packaging demand in North America is expected to rise at a CAGR of 4% from 2023 to 2033.

The global processed meat packaging market size was valued at around US$ 1.4 Billion in 2021 and is projected to increase at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2022 to 2032. During the forecast period, the processed meat packaging market is expected to create an incremental opportunity of US$ 2.4 Billion in 2032.

The global high barrier packaging films market is expected to surpass US$ 18.5 billion in 2023, and is likely to witness a moderate CAGR of 3.9% in the estimated time frame (2023 to 2033).

The global high barrier packaging films for pharmaceuticals market size is projected to exceed US$ 812.5 million by 2033.

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 400 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries.

Contact FMI:

Nandini Singh Sawlani

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware  19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com

Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com

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Chicago, April 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market size is expected to grow from USD 636 million in 2023 to USD 825 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 5.3% according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Nuclear energy as clean energy is a more reliable way of producing electricity on a large scale. The versatile nature of nuclear energy could enable the transition to a cleaner world and a stronger global economy this is pivotal in propelling the expansion of the Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market.

Furthermore, the global expansion of nuclear power has heightened the adoption of nuclear power plant control systems. The amalgamation of these systems with renewable energy contributes to their increased demand, aligning with global efforts to diminish reliance on fossil fuels and minimize carbon footprints. Government support and stringent safety regulations are pivotal factors driving the growth of the Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market. To incentivize the development and expansion of nuclear power plants, many governments provide financial support, subsidies, and favorable regulatory environments.

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Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Size USD 825 million by 2028 Growth Rate 5.3% of CAGR Largest Market Asia Pacific Market Dynamics Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities & Challenges Forecast Period 2023-2028 Forecast Units Value (USD Million) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market by component, solution, application, and region. Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East & Africa. Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Expansion of nuclear power plant control system market in emerging economies Key Market Drivers Growing demand for clean energy

The Distributed Control System (DCS) is expected to be the largest segment in the nuclear power plant control system market.

Based on the solution, the nuclear power plant control system market is segmented into five categories: distributed control system (DCS), programmable logic controller (PLC), supervisory control & data acquisition (SCADA), industrial safety, and others. Establishing diversity and fault tolerance in DCS components enhances operational continuity and shows a strong commitment to the required safety and reliability standards in nuclear power plants. Reliability is crucial in the complex world of nuclear power operations, providing a robust architecture for backup and fault tolerance in DCS components. It is important to strengthen the control system against potential failures due to the critical nature of nuclear reactors.

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Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Growing demand for clean energy Global nuclear power capacity expansion Government-led support and implementation of stringent safety regulations to curb potential risks associated with nuclear technology

Restraints:

Availability of alternative energy sources Nuclear proliferation concerns

Opportunities:

Development of new control system technologies Expansion of nuclear power plant control system market in emerging economies

Challenges:

Radioactive waste management Lack of skilled workforce to operate industrial automation devices and systems

Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the Nuclear Power Plant Control System Industry

Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the Nuclear Power Plant Control System Market during the forecast period. The Asia Pacific region comprises major economies such as China, Japan, South Korea, Rest of Asia Pacific. Greater energy supply is required with the rapid urbanization and economic growth, and nuclear energy is developing as a clean, dependable baseload alternative. Governments are encouraging its development, especially in the case of elderly plants in need of upgrading. The need for advanced control systems is being driven by increased safety concerns. There are 53 nuclear power plants operating in China right now, and there are 143 in planning and 21 more under construction. The need to develop a qualified workforce and use renewable energy sources is also driving market expansion. The Asia Pacific region's chances for nuclear power plant control systems seem bright in the face of competition and environmental concerns.

Key Market Players:

Some of the major players in the Nuclear Power Plant Control System Companies are Siemens (Germany), ABB (Switzerland), General Electric (US), Fortum (Finland), and Framatome (France).

Browse Adjacent Markets: Energy and Power Market Research Reports & Consulting

Browse Related Reports:

Nuclear Power Plant Equipment Market - Global Forecast to 2027

Power Plant Control System Market - Global Forecast to 2026
Chicago, April 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Machine vision market is expected to grow from USD 12.9 billion in 2023 to USD 18.4 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 7.3%. The growth of the machine vision market is propelled by growing need for quality control and automated inspection in manufacturing sector, increasing installation of vision-guided robotic systems in various sectors, and rising need for safety and enhancing product quality in industrial sectorto boost the machine vision market.

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Robotic cell segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Robotic cell segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of robotic cell in the machine vision market is driven by the the increasing need for automation and stringent quality control across industries. The combination of machine vision technology with robots enables precise assembly, defect detection, and improved quality control, thus fueling the rise of robotic cells. Their versatility in handling diverse tasks and ability to quickly adapt to changing production environments, along with the enhanced performance and safety features provided by machine vision, firmly establish their foothold for substantial growth within industrial domains.

Camera segment to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period

Camera segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The machine vision market has experienced significant growth in camera technology. High-resolution cameras equipped with advanced features like higher frame rates, lower latency, and improved image processing capabilities have become indispensable for applications such as automation, robotics, and quality inspection. Additionally, there has been a rise in demand for specialized cameras tailored to specific industry requirements, further driving the market's expansion.

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Smart Camera-based segment to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period

Smart Camera-based segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to their cost-effectiveness, ease of integration, flexibility, and scalability. These systems integrate image processing capabilities directly into the camera hardware, reducing overall system costs and making them accessible to a wider range of industries. Additionally, their compact design and simplified installation process make them attractive to small to medium-sized enterprises and industries seeking to implement machine vision with minimal technical expertise. Moreover, smart camera-based systems offer flexibility and scalability, allowing for easy adaptation to changing production needs and environments.

Food & Packaging segment will dominate the market during the forecast period

Food & Packaging segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. There is a growing emphasis on quality control and food safety, driving the adoption of machine vision systems to uphold product standards and regulatory compliance. Additionally, these systems enhance production efficiency by minimizing errors and increasing throughput. Moreover, the demand for traceability in the supply chain fuels the adoption of machine vision technology, allowing for accurate tracking of products throughout their lifecycle. Furthermore, ongoing technological advancements tailored to the specific requirements of the food and packaging sector further contribute to its growth potential in the machine vision market.

Asia Pacific is expected to account for the largest share of the machine vision market during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific is expected to account for the largest share of the machine vision market during the forecast period. Rapid industrialization across sectors like manufacturing, automotive, and electronics drives demand for machine vision technologies to enhance productivity and quality control. Additionally, the increasing adoption of automation, particularly in manufacturing, fuels the need for machine vision systems for automated inspection and process monitoring. Furthermore, the region's prominence in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing contributes to the growth of the machine vision market, as these industries rely heavily on advanced vision technologies for quality assurance and production efficiency..

Key players operating in the Machine vision market include Cognex Corporation (US), Basler AG (Germany), Omron Corporation (Japan), Keyence Corporation (Japan), Teledyne Technologies (US), Sick AG (Germany), National Instrument Corporation (US), TKH Group (Netherland), Sony Corporation (Japan), Texas Instruments Incorporated (US), Intel Corporation (US), Atlas Copco (Sweden), Microsoft (US) and Others in the Machine vision market.

This research report categorizes the overall Machine vision market based on Deployment, Component, Product, industry, and region. This report describes the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges influencing the markets growth. The value chain analysis, ecosystem, trade analysis, and the competitive landscape of the market leaders have also been included in the reports scope.
London, United Kingdom, April 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

On 22nd to 25th March 2024, more than 1,200 pioneers, business partners and associates from around the globe gathered at Sheraton Grand Macao, China, Macau to celebrate ProCap International 1st Anniversary.

In his welcome speech, Mr. David Sinclair mentioned that when ProCap started this business more than one year ago, many doubters had challenged our authenticity and legitimacy. ProCap faced numerous obstacles along the way, but through the dedication and hard work of our outstanding leaders, business partners, and colleagues, ProCap has overcome them all. The 1st Anniversary was a celebration of hard work, perseverance, commitments, and can-do attitude from all the stakeholders of ProCap International.

During the celebration, ProCap Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Spencer Lee reviewed ProCaps 2023 financial performance with the distinguished guests. Despite our short history, ProCap has achieved outstanding results. The review provided valuable perspectives on the company achievements and areas for further improvement.

The event culminated in Mr. Spencer Lee conducting a management presentation where the company proudly showed the audience the company's reserves of more than 31 million USDT tokens, a significant increment from 20 million years ago. This presentation demonstrated the company's strong financial strength and its unwavering commitments to provide comprehensive coverage for all the clients capital.

The highlight of the celebration was when Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Max Tan, introduced ProCaps latest product offering - Digital Asset Insurance. This new product is a testament to the companys commitment to providing innovative solutions that not only protects but empower our clients at the same time in the digital age.

ProCap is aware that in today's fast evolving digital landscape, the need for digital asset insurance has never been greater. Now, with the rise of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, investors are increasingly exposed to risks such as theft, market volatility and cyberattacks. ProCap recognised the potential demand for Digital Asset Insurance and the company sees it as a way to mitigate the above risks to give investors a peace of mind. ProCap is confident that it will fill this growing need in the market and provide comprehensive protection for digital assets in the current climate.

The distinguished guests present at the celebration strongly believed that what sets ProCap apart, is their unwavering dedication to clients' needs. ProCap is not just in the business of selling; they are in the business of creating relationships and creating value. ProCap is fully aware that the world of insurance could be complex and daunting, and are committed to simplifying it for their clients, ensuring they have the protection they need without the hassle.

In addition to their client-centric approach and innovative spirit, ProCap also boasts a team of highly skilled professionals who are passionate about what they do. From their top-tier leadership to their dedicated support staff, everyone at ProCap is committed to delivering excellence at everything we do. This level of expertise and dedication is something that all business partners and associates value very deeply in the company.

Furthermore, ProCap's forward-thinking approach to product development is impressive. The company is not content with resting on our laurels; they are constantly seeking out new opportunities and emerging trends so they can stay ahead of the curve.

ProCap International would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to all business partners, associates and stakeholders who made the anniversary celebration possible. This event not only demonstrated the capabilities of ProCap International, but also paved the way for further cooperation and growth within the industry. The company will continue to uphold our commitment to clients as we remain steadfast in our mission to innovate and develop reliable capital protection services.

About ProCap International

ProCap International, a technology-empowered, innovative financial services provider, is the pioneer of Capital Protection. The company is built on the basis of risk management in prediction games; and selected trading instruments on exchanges.

By following the ProCap System 7 Winning Formula, clients can get to enjoy stable returns daily by making the correct predictions; without the need to worry about making the wrong predictions and incurring any financial losses.

As the industry transits through consolidation and technological disruptions, ProCaps avant-garde operating model is poised to provide the most competitive and cost-effective insurance products tailored to our clients ever evolving needs. The amalgamation of ProCap, Clients and Gaming Operators seamlessly is an industry first with the company having tremendous growth potential to carve out a niche for itself with this revolutionary business model.



Media Contact:

Full Name: Steve Hughes,

Job Position: Media PR Manager

Email: steve.hughes@ProCap.insure






Oslo, 4 April 2024  DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced that production and field operations at its operated Tawke license (DNO 75 percent) in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have recovered from torrential flooding that also washed away large sections of the banks of the Khabur River, damaging roads and interfering with loading of tanker trucks for deliveries to buyers.



The flooding resulted from local downpours combined with snowmelt in neighboring Turkiye in the latter half of March. This led DNO to temporarily shut in its Tawke field for safety reasons while maintaining uninterrupted operations at the less exposed Peshkabir field, also within the Tawke license. Gross license production dropped from above 80,000 barrels per day (bopd) to an average of 65,000 during a 10-day period but was restored to its pre-flooding level on 30 March 2024 as DNO worked to minimize flooding exposure, inspect damage and take remedial actions including installing additional truck loading facilities.

Given shortages of heavier crudes in regional markets, DNO negotiated with its customers to nudge Tawke/Peshkabir prices to the mid-USD 30 per barrel level. DNO share of sales continue to be paid directly to the Company in advance of loadings and have averaged in excess of USD 25 million per month in 2024.

No DNO employees were hurt though several substantial pieces of equipment weighing tons were washed away and have yet to be located. Notwithstanding major damage in the town of Zakho, neighboring the Tawke field, the 2,000 year-old Roman-era arched bridge, a popular tourist attraction, survived intact. The Company provided relief to the local community by supplying home appliances, including refrigerators, to families most impacted by the flooding.

Workovers and other field work at Tawke and Peshkabir have quickly resumed, whilst the Companys Board of Directors has given the nod to plan for new investments to maintain and then begin to bolster production. Elsewhere in Kurdistan, DNO resumed drilling with the latest well (B-3) at the operated Baeshiqa license (DNO 64 percent) spud on 21 February 2024. The well has reached 1,850 meters or nearly one-half of the target depth.



For further information, please contact:

Media: media@dno.no

Investors: investor.relations@dno.no



DNO ASA is a Norwegian oil and gas operator active in the Middle East, the North Sea and West Africa. Founded in 1971 and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the Company holds stakes in onshore and offshore licenses at various stages of exploration, development and production in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Norway, the United Kingdom, Cote d'Ivoire, Netherlands and Yemen.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.




Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "TEPEZZA Market Size, Forecast, and Market Insight - 2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report provides comprehensive insights about TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy in the seven major markets. A detailed picture of the TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy in the 7MM, i.e., the United States, EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and Japan for the study period 2019 -2032 is provided in this report along with a detailed description of the TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

The report provides insights about mechanism of action, dosage and administration, as well as research and development including regulatory milestones, along with other developmental activities. Furthermore, it also consists of future market assessments inclusive of the TEPEZZA market forecast analysis for Graves' Ophthalmopathy in the 7MM, SWOT, analysts' views, comprehensive overview of market competitors, and brief about other emerging therapies in Graves' Ophthalmopathy.



Drug Summary



Teprotumumab, an insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor inhibitor (IGF-1R), is a fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody produced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-DG44) cells with a molecular weight of approximately 148 KD.



The metabolism of teprotumumab has not been fully characterized; however, it is expected to undergo metabolism via proteolysis. TEPEZZA for injection is supplied as a sterile, preservative-free, and white to off-white, lyophilized powder for IV infusions. Each single-dose vial contains 500 mg of teprotumumab, L-histidine (7.45 mg), L-histidine hydrochloride monohydrate (31.8 mg), polysorbate 20 (1 mg), and trehalose dihydrate (946 mg). After reconstitution with 10 mL of sterile water for injection, USP, the final concentration is 47.6 mg/mL with a pH of 5.5.



Mechanism of action



Teprotumumab's mechanism of action in patients with Graves' Ophthalmopathy has not been fully characterized. It binds to IGF-1R and blocks its activation and signaling.



Scope of the Report



The report provides insights into:

A comprehensive product overview including the TEPEZZA description, mechanism of action, dosage and administration, research and development activities in Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

Elaborated details on TEPEZZA regulatory milestones and other development activities have been provided in this report.

The report also highlights the TEPEZZA research and development activities in Graves' Ophthalmopathy across the United States, Europe and Japan.

The report also covers the patents information with expiry timeline around TEPEZZA.

The report contains forecasted sales of TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy till 2032.

Comprehensive coverage of the late-stage emerging therapies for Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

The report also features the SWOT analysis with analyst views for TEPEZZA in Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

Report Highlights

In the coming years, the market scenario for Graves' Ophthalmopathy is set to change due to the extensive research and incremental healthcare spending across the world; which would expand the size of the market to enable the drug manufacturers to penetrate more into the market.

The companies are developing therapies that focus on novel approaches to treat/improve the disease condition, assess challenges, and seek opportunities that could influence TEPEZZA dominance.

Other emerging products for Graves' Ophthalmopathy are expected to give tough market competition to TEPEZZA and launch of late-stage emerging therapies in the near future will significantly impact the market.

A detailed description of regulatory milestones, and developmental activities, provide the current development scenario of TEPEZZA in Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

This in-depth analysis of the forecasted sales data of TEPEZZA from 2024 to 2032 will support the clients in the decision-making process regarding their therapeutic portfolio by identifying the overall scenario of the TEPEZZA in Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

Key Questions Answered

What is the product type, route of administration and mechanism of action of TEPEZZA?

What is the clinical trial status of the study related to TEPEZZA in Graves' Ophthalmopathy and study completion date?

What are the key collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, licensing and other activities related to the TEPEZZA development?

What are the key designations that have been granted to TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy?

What is the forecasted market scenario of TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy?

What are the forecasted sales of TEPEZZA in the seven major countries, including the United States, Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and Japan?

What are the other emerging products available and how are these giving competition to TEPEZZA for Graves' Ophthalmopathy?

Which are the late-stage emerging therapies under development for the treatment of Graves' Ophthalmopathy?

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/af7h3j

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.
Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Netherlands Social Commerce Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook - 50+ KPIs on Social Commerce Trends by End-Use Sectors, Operational KPIs, Retail Product Dynamics, and Consumer Demographics - Q1 2024 Update" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Social commerce industry in Netherlands is expected to grow by 21.9% on annual basis to reach US$4.61 billion in 2024. The social commerce industry is expected to grow steadily over the forecast period, recording a CAGR of 17.7% during 2024-2029. The social commerce GMV in the country will increase from US$3.78 billion in 2023 to reach US$10.41 billion by 2029.







This report provides a detailed data centric analysis of social commerce industry, covering market opportunities and risks. With over 50+ KPIs at country level, this report provides a comprehensive understanding of social commerce market dynamics, market size and forecast, and market share statistics.



The research methodology is based on industry best practices. Its unbiased analysis leverages a proprietary analytics platform to offer a detailed view on emerging business and investment market opportunities.

Reasons to buy

In-depth Understanding of Social Commerce Market Dynamics: Understand market opportunities and key trends along with forecast (2020-2029).

Insights into Opportunity by end-use sectors - Get market dynamics by end-use sectors to assess emerging opportunity across various end-use sectors.

Develop Market Specific Strategies: Identify growth segments and target specific opportunities to formulate social commerce strategy; assess market specific key trends, drivers, and risks in the industry.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 70 Forecast Period 2024 - 2029 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $4.6 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $10.4 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 17.7% Regions Covered Netherlands

Scope



Netherlands Social Commerce Key Players

Facebook

Instagram

eBay

Orderchamp

Productpine

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Future Growth Dynamics by Key Performance Indicators, 2020-2029

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by Retail Product Categories, 2020-2029

Clothing & Footwear

Beauty and Personal Care

Food & Grocery

Appliances and Electronics

Home Improvement

Travel

Hospitality

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by End Use Consumer Segment, 2020-2029

B2B

B2C

C2C

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by End Use Device, 2020-2029

Mobile

Desktop

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by Location, 2020-2029

Domestic

Cross Border

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by Location, 2020-2029

Tier-1 Cities

Tier-2 Cities

Tier-3 Cities

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by Payment Method, 2020-2029

Credit Card

Debit Card

Bank Transfer

Prepaid Card

Digital & Mobile Wallet

Other Digital Payment

Cash

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by Platforms

Video Commerce

Social Network-Led Commerce

Social Reselling

Group Buying

Product Review Platforms

Netherlands Social Commerce Industry Market Size and Forecast by Consumer Demographics & Behaviour,2023

By Age

By Income Level

By Gender

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/p53lhb

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ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
NEWARK, Del, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The epoxy resin market is anticipated to surpass US$ 13.8 billion in 2024 and is likely to attain a valuation of US$ 24 billion by 2034. The epoxy resin market size is projected to thrive at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2024 to 2034.



Epoxy resins are widely used in the electronics and electrical industries, such as shielding delicate electronic components from moisture, dust, and mechanical harm. The demand for dependable, high-performance materials like epoxy resins rises as technology develops and gadgets get more complicated. The market is anticipated to increase as electronics become increasingly integrated into everyday life, from smartphones to smart home appliances, and as sectors like renewable energy and telecoms grow.

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Waterborne epoxy resins' environmental benefits over solvent-based counterparts drive their growing popularity. Waterborne formulations have fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and dangerous air pollutants than solvent-based resins. Waterborne epoxy resins are likely to be in high demand across various sectors, including paints, adhesives, and composites, as environmental restrictions tighten and customers seek more environmentally friendly goods.

Epoxy resins are widely demanded by the healthcare industry, especially in dental products and medical equipment. Epoxy resins are biocompatible and multipurpose materials that are used to make dental composites, adhesives, and coatings for medical equipment. The capacity of epoxy resin to produce accurate and long-lasting dental components helps the dental business and advances dental treatment. Epoxy resins are used in medical devices to ensure the effectiveness and safety of different equipment, assisting in providing high-quality healthcare services.

"Success in the growing epoxy resin market depends on being flexible enough to adjust to technological changes and keeping sustainability in mind. Meeting the varied demands of the sector requires customization, and maintaining competitiveness requires both innovation and regulatory compliance. Being adaptable is essential for surviving in this fast-paced industry." Says Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.).

Key Takeaways from the Epoxy Resin Market Report

The global epoxy resin market size expanded at a 7.7% CAGR from 2019 to 2023.

The DGBEA segment is anticipated to rise at a 5.6% CAGR through 2034.

The solvent cut epoxy segment is predicted to develop at a 5.3% CAGR through 2034.

The market size in the United States is projected to rise at a 5.9% CAGR through 2034.

The market size in China is anticipated to develop at a 6.1% CAGR through 2034.

The market size in the United Kingdom is estimated to surge at a 7.2% CAGR through 2034.

The market size in South Korea is expected to increase at a 7.0% CAGR through 2034.





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Competitive Landscape

The epoxy resin market is typified by a competitive environment that includes both local firms like Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd. and worldwide giants like Hexion Inc. and Huntsman Corporation. Ongoing innovation, strategic partnerships, and sustainability efforts drive competitiveness. Startups introduce disruptive innovations, while market dynamics are reshaped through mergers and acquisitions. A wider trend towards eco-friendly formulations and materials is reflected in the growing importance of sustainability practices for market positioning.

Key Players in the Epoxy Resin Market

Hexion Inc.

Huntsman Corporation

Aditya Birla Chemicals

Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd.

Olin Corporation

Nan Ya Plastics Corporation

Dow Inc.

Sika AG

Ashland Global Holdings Inc.

3M Company

DIC Corporation

Atul Ltd.

Evonik Industries AG

Kemper System America, Inc.

Reichhold LLC (Polynt Group)





Recent Developments

In November 2023, Induron Protective Coatings introduced Novasafe, their latest product. Novasafe is a furfuryl-modified, thick film, ceramic-filled novolac epoxy that can endure the most severe conditions in treatment facilities.

In October 2023, Matsumoto Fine Chemical (Ichikawa, Japan) introduced X-1366R, a one-part thermosetting epoxy resin designed for composite infusion operations. It does not require pre-mixing and may quickly enter fibers due to its low viscosity at room temperature.

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Epoxy Resin Market Segmentation

By Type:

DGBEA

Novolac

DGBEF

Aliphatic

Glycidylamine

Others

By Technology:

Solvent Cut Epoxy

Liquid Epoxy

Waterborne Epoxy

Others

By Application:

Composites

Paints & Coatings

Grouts & Mortars

Adhesives

Electronic Encapsulation

Others

By End-use:

Aerospace

Automotive & Transportation

Building & Construction

Electrical & Electronics

Marine

Others

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

Japan





Authored by:

Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has over a decade of experience in market research and business consulting. He has successfully delivered 1500+ client assignments, predominantly in Automotive, Chemicals, Industrial Equipment, Oil & Gas, and Service industries.

His core competency circles around developing research methodology, creating a unique analysis framework, statistical data models for pricing analysis, competition mapping, and market feasibility analysis. His expertise also extends wide and beyond analysis, advising clients on identifying growth potential in established and niche market segments, investment/divestment decisions, and market entry decision-making.

Nikhil holds an MBA degree in Marketing and IT and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering. Nikhil has authored several publications and quoted in journals like EMS Now, EPR Magazine, and EE Times.

Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage in the Chemical and Materials Domain:

From 2023 to 2033, global epoxy curing agent demand is projected to rise at 4.6% CAGR. The market observed a 3.7% year-on-year growth in 2022 and is estimated to reach US$ 3,658.7 million in 2023.

The epoxy paints market is likely to estimate a CAGR of 5% through 2032. The market is likely to be estimated at US$ 36.38 Billion by 2032, up from its current valuation of US$ 59.26 Billion in 2022.

The usage of polysulfide resins in the building sector is expected to increase since they provide final goods with remarkable flexibility as well as weather resistance. It is thus likely to have produced US$ 254.61 million by 2033, alongside a CAGR of 4.1% from 2023 to 2033.

The polyurethane resins paints and coatings market was valued at US$ 33786.16 million in 2022, with a CAGR of 4.5% expected during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific epoxy resin industry size reached US$ 4,715.5 million in 2023. In the estimated period 2024 to 2034, epoxy resin demand in the region is anticipated to rise at 5.5% CAGR.

The global epoxy paint thinner market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.5% garnering a market value of US$ 39.42 million by 2033. As of 2023, sales of epoxy paint thinners will most likely reach US$ 21 million in valuation.

The chlorinated polyethylene resins & elastomers market is forecast to reach US$ 600 Million by 2022, expected to flourish at a CAGR of 8% to reach US$ 1,297 Million by 2032.

The global market for dimer acid-based polyamide resins is expected to be valued at US$ 2.5 Billion in 2022, anticipated to flourish at a CAGR of 7% to reach US$ 5 Billion by the end of the 2022-2032 forecast period.

The global amino resin market is expected to reach US$ 19.3 billion by 2032, with a significant CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period. Currently, the market is expanding at a size of US$ 10.75 billion.

The global ion exchange resins market is estimated to be valued at around US$ 1.47 million in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 2.37 million by 2033.

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Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai and has delivery centers in the United Kingdom, the United States, and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis helps businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.

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Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Aerospace Riveting Equipment Market by End Use (OEM, MRO), Equipment Type (Pneumatic, Hydraulic, Electric), Mobility (Fixed, Portable), Technology (Automated, Manual), Rivet Type (Solid, Blind, Semi-tubular) and Region - Forecast to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Aerospace Riveting Equipment market is valued at USD 109 million in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 134 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2023 to 2028

This market study covers the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market across various segments and subsegments. It aims to estimate this market's size and growth potential across different parts based on Rivet Type, End Use, Equipment Type, Mobility, Technology and region. This study also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the market, their company profiles, key observations related to their product and business offerings, recent developments, and key market strategies they adopted.

Over the last few years, the Aerospace Riveting Equipment industry has continued to evolve with expanding use cases, better cost efficiencies, and a more significant impact of new technological developments in the aerospace industry. The Aerospace Riveting Equipment market is experiencing growth driven by rising demand for commercial aircraft and an increase in aircraft fleet modernization programs.

Based on Equipment type, the Pneumatic Rivet Equipment segment is estimated to have the largest market share in 2023



The Pneumatic Rivet Equipment segment in the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market is being driven due to its efficiency, versatility, and widespread adoption in aircraft manufacturing processes. Pneumatic riveters utilize compressed air to drive rivets, offering a lightweight and agile solution to enable precise and rapid riveting, contributing to increased production rates. The Pneumatic Rivet Equipment offers cost-effectiveness, reliability, and ease of maintenance which contributes to its widespread adoption by both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aerospace suppliers.



Based on mobility, the Portable Equipment is estimated to have the largest market share in 2023



The Portable Equipment segment within the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market is being driven due to its flexibility, mobility, and adaptability to diverse aerospace manufacturing environments. The demand for on-the-go repairs, maintenance tasks, and scenarios where flexibility in aerospace manufacturing processes is paramount are driving factors for portable equipment. Portable tools play a vital role in facilitating dynamic aerospace operations, ensuring adaptability in various work environments.



Based on technology, the Manual Riveting Equipment is estimated to have the largest market share in 2023



The Manual Riveting Equipment segment within the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market is being driven due to its, its advantages in simplicity, flexibility, and suitability for specialized aerospace scenarios. Manual riveting allows for hands-on precision which ensures rivets are accurately placed and secured. Manual riveting equipment is cost-effective for smaller-scale operations, maintenance tasks, or in situations where automation may not be practical. The flexibility of manual riveting equipment makes them valuable for addressing specific needs in the aerospace industry.



Based on End User, the OEM is estimated to have the largest market share in 2023



The End User segment in the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market is being driven by the OEM segment. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market rely heavily on construction of airframes, fuselages, and other critical components. These OEMs play a crucial role in providing the essential systems that contribute to the safe and efficient operation of aerospace assets. The OEMs offer high-quality standards for their products through rigorous testing, quality control measures, and adherence to industry standards, which results in the growth of OEMs.



Based on regions, the North America region is estimated to have the largest market share in 2023



The North America region is witnessing robust growth in the Aerospace Riveting Equipment market, driven by the presence of various aerospace companies. The US is a global leader in aircraft production, and its commitment to military and commercial aviation drives the demand for aerospace riveting equipment. Governments in the region are making substantial investments in advanced technological-based aerospace systems. Additionally, the North America focus on research and development, and collaborations between industry stakeholders contributes to grow the market growth.





Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 182 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $109 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $134 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.3% Regions Covered Global





Premium Insights

Increasing Demand for Aircraft Deliveries and Development of Innovative Riveting Technologies to Drive Market

Manual Riveting Equipment Segment to Have Largest Market Share in 2023

Solid Rivet to Register Highest CAGR During Forecast Period

Saudi Arabia to be Fastest-Growing Market During Forecast Period

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Growing Emphasis on Lightweight Materials

Increasing Complexities in Aircraft Designs

Rising Focus on Precision and Quality in Manufacturing Aerospace Components

Restraints

Stringent Regulatory Compliance and Certification Standards

Limited Adoption of Advanced Technologies

Opportunities

Innovations in Materials and Joining Techniques

Integration of Smart Riveting Technologies

Aftermarket Services and Maintenance Contracts

Challenges

High Initial Investment and Certification Challenges

Cyclical Demand Dependent on Aircraft Production Cycles

Limited Availability of Skilled Workforce

Market Scenario Analysis

Value Chain Analysis

Raw Materials

Research & Development

Component Manufacturing

OEMs

End-users

Aftersales Services

Technology Analysis

Auto-Feed Riveting Tools

Battery-Powered Rivet Guns

Industry Trends

Technology Trends

Advanced Automation and Human-Robot Collaboration

Advanced Materials Solution

Additive Manufacturing

Energy-Efficient Riveting Process

Impact of Megatrends

Industry 4.0

3D Printing

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Predictive Maintenance

Company Profiles

Key Players

Stanley Engineered Fastening

Cherry Aerospace

Brown Tool

Las Aerospace Ltd.

Ingersoll Rand

Fastening Systems International

Broetje-Automation

Atlas Copco Ab

Aircraft Spruce

Gemcore Ascent

Kuka Systems

Avdel

Cleco Tools

Sioux Tools

Other Players

Bay Supply

Aircraft Tool Supply Company

Skyshop Australia

Monroe Aerospace

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/30nyx1

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Market for Molded Fiber Packaging 2024-2035" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

As a green and sustainable packaging materials, molded fiber, also known as molded pulp, has increased in commercial use as a replacement for single-use plastics. Molded fiber packaging (MFP), traditionally used for packaging dunnage, egg boxes, and cartons, is finding increasing applications in primary and secondary packaging as a sustainable alternative to plastics. MFP is used for handling and packaging a wide range of products, including food containers, household items, industrial supplies, electronics, and single-use medical service items. It offers protection during shipment, customer convenience, and various economic and environmental benefits.

Molded pulp products are a sustainable substitute for rigid single-use plastics, with applications spanning food containers and tableware, electronic product packaging, compostable containers for agricultural seedlings, medical and health products, building materials, and furniture. The development of innovative barrier solutions and the growing demand for fiber-based packaging have led to the adoption of MFP in other markets, such as FMCG.

The raw materials for MFPs are typically derived from biodegradable lignocellulosic fibers, which include recycled paper, newsprint, cardboard, and other natural planted fibers. MFP is recyclable, compostable, and eventually biodegradable, making it a viable alternative to oil-based packaging products like expanded polystyrene (EPS) or vacuum-formed polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The market for natural fiber packaging products has experienced consistent growth for over a decade, leading to a struggle among molded fiber producers to keep up with the increasing demand. As a result, production capacity expansions have become necessary to meet the growing market needs.

The Global Market for Molded Fiber Packaging 2024-2035 offers an in-depth analysis of the latest trends, innovations, and opportunities in this rapidly growing industry. The report provides a detailed market segmentation by application, including food service, retail food and drink, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), industrial packaging, single-use medical, and horticulture.

Each segment is thoroughly examined, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities within these sectors. The report also offers regional market insights and forecasts for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World, enabling stakeholders to identify high-growth markets and tailor their strategies accordingly.

One of the key focuses of the report is the technological advancements in materials, manufacturing processes, and barrier coatings. These innovations are enhancing the functionality and versatility of molded fiber packaging, making it a viable alternative to traditional plastic packaging across a wide range of applications. The report explores the latest breakthroughs in materials science, such as the use of agricultural waste and novel fibers, as well as cutting-edge manufacturing techniques like 3D printing and precision molding.

To provide a comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes detailed profiles of over 70 key players in the molded fiber packaging industry. These profiles range from established manufacturers with global reach to innovative startups. Companies profiled include HZ Green Pulp, Omni-Pac, PulPac, Sabert Corporation, Tanbark Molded Fiber Products and TekniPlex.

The report also identifies the primary growth drivers, challenges, and opportunities within the molded fiber packaging market. It examines the impact of changing consumer preferences, regulatory pressures, and sustainability goals on the demand for eco-friendly packaging solutions. Additionally, the report explores the potential for molded fiber packaging to replace traditional materials in a wide range of industries, from food and beverage to electronics and automotive.

For packaging manufacturers, suppliers, investors, and end-users looking to capitalize on the expanding molded fiber packaging market while contributing to a more sustainable future, this report is an indispensable resource. With its comprehensive analysis, long-term outlook, and actionable insights, this report empowers stakeholders to make informed decisions, forge strategic partnerships, and stay ahead in this dynamic and rapidly growing industry.

As the world transitions towards a circular economy and seeks to reduce its environmental footprint, the molded fiber packaging market is poised for significant growth. This report is a vital tool for anyone looking to understand the complexities of this market, anticipate future trends, and seize the opportunities that lie ahead. By investing in molded fiber packaging, companies can not only meet the growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions but also contribute to a greener future for generations to come.



Key Topics Covered:

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Plastics packaging issues

1.2 Molded fiber market

1.2.1 Increased demand in recent years will continue

1.2.2 Meeting sustainability needs

1.2.3 New coatings technologies

1.2.4 In-house tooling

1.3 Advantages of molded fiber packaging

1.4 Packaging megatrends

1.5 Industry developments 2020-2024

1.6 Main market players

1.7 Global revenues for molded fiber/pulp packaging, 2018-2035 (millions USD)

1.8 Market segmentation for molded fiber/pulp packaging, 2018-2035 (millions USD)

1.9 Regional segmentation for molded fiber/pulp packaging, 2018-2035 (revenues, millions USD)

1.10 Market and technology challenges

2 TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS

2.1 Cellulose fiber sources

2.1.1 Virgin fibers

2.1.1.1 Bagasse

2.1.1.2 Shredded bamboo

2.1.1.3 Wheat straw

2.1.2 Recycled fibers

2.2 Manufacturing processes

2.2.1 Mechanical pulping and chemical pulping

2.2.2 Forming process

2.2.3 Drying process

2.2.4 3D printing

2.3 Types of molded pulp

2.3.1 Wet molding

2.3.1.1 Thick-wall

2.3.1.2 Transfer Molded

2.3.1.3 Thermoformed Fiber

2.3.1.4 Processed Pulp

2.3.2 Dry-molded/thermoformed fiber

2.4 Properties of molded products

2.4.1 Grades and prices

2.4.2 Additives

3 MARKETS AND APPLICATIONS

3.1 Food service

3.2 Retail food and drink

3.3 Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) including cosmetics

3.4 Industrial or engineered packaging

3.5 Single Use Medical

3.6 Horticultural

4 COMPANY PROFILES

Acorn Pulp Group

Advanced Paper Forming

AIM Sweden

Be Green Packaging

BIO-LUTIONS International

Blue Ocean Closures

Brodrene Hartmann

Buhl Paperform

Celwise

Cirkla

CKF

Cruz Foam

Cullen Eco-Friendly Packaging

E6PR

Ecologic Brands

Eco-Products

Eco-SQ

Ecovative Design

EnviroPAK

E-molding International

Fibercel Packaging

Fibmold

Footprint

Frugalpac

Genera

Genpak

Golden Arrow

Henry Molded Products

Heracles Packaging Company

Huhtamaki

HZ Green Pulp

International Paper Company

Keiding

Kiefel

Lean Orb

Matrix Pack

MCC Verstraete

Metsa Spring

Michelsen Packaging Company

Molded Pulp Engineering

The Navigator Company

Nippon Molding

Nippn

Omni-Pac Group

Paper Bottle Company (Paboco)

Pacific Pulp Molding

Pactiv

Papacks

Paperfoam

Primapack-S.A.E.

Pulp Molded Products Inc. (PMP)

PulPac

Pulp-Tec

Qingdao Wing Fat Molded fiber Co.

Rottneros Packaging

RyPax

Sabert Corporation

Starfleet Impex

Stora Enso

Sustainable Fiber Technologies

SustainaPac

Taiwan Pulp Molding Co.

Tanbark Molded fiber Products

TART

TAW Holdings Limited

TECNARO

TekniPlex Consumer Products

Tellus Products

ThermoFibre (Polyco Healthline Group)

Tridas Technology

UltraGreen Packaging

Varden Pty Ltd

UFP Technologies

Yangi

Yash Pakka

YFY Jupiter

Western Pulp Products

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jia95g

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.
Columbus, OH, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Steve Corle, Director of the Plains Region for the Tim Lamb Group, headquartered in Columbus, the largest auto dealership sales, and acquisitions firm in North America, has brokered the sale of Metro Toyota in Ohio to Michigan based Victory Automotive Group. Metro Toyota was owned previously by Jerry Schneider, sons Ken Scheider and Dan Schneider, Barry Greenfield, and Jim Greenfield, sons of the late Dick Greenfield. The dealership will now be called Victory Toyota of Brook Park. The dealership is located at 13775 Brookpark Rd, in Brook Park, Ohio.

The 70,000 square foot space includes an Imaged Toyota Showroom, with an attached service center, and a Used Car Showroom, located next door at 13813 Brookpark Road. The service center includes a parts and accessories department which offers one of the largest inventories of genuine Toyota parts available in the country, as well as hard-to-find regional Toyota parts and accessories.

Steve Corle of the Tim Lamb Group represented both family-owned agencies in the transaction that closed on Monday, March 18, 2024. The buyer and seller worked through the details quickly and without hesitation. The communication I had with Steve was excellent, and he provided me with timely and straightforward information, stated Ken Schneider, General Manager at Metro Toyota. Ken Schneider made quick decisions that kept the process moving forward and the Victory Automotive Group helped make the process easy from the moment they were presented with the deal, stated Steve Corle, Director of the Tim Lamb Group.

Jerry Schneider and the late Dick Greenfield opened Metro Toyota in 1969 and have been dedicated to serving members of the community for over 55 years. Jerrys sons Ken and Dan, and Dicks sons Barry and Jim, joined the dealership in 1987 and have worked closely with other family members throughout the years. The importance of working closely with family every day meant a lot to the Schneiders and Greenfields, and this impacted their decision to leave their store to another family-owned company. Being able to speak directly with Jeff Cappo, President of Victory Automotive Group, was an enjoyable experience and one of the deciding factors in choosing a successor to take over our family business, stated Ken Schneider, General Manager at Metro Toyota.

Throughout its 55 years in business, the Schneider and Greenfield families achieved many accolades for Metro Toyota, including being a 20-year recipient of Toyota Presidents Award. Metro Toyota also worked closely with community organizations such as The City of Brookpark, Rainbow Babies & Childrens Foundation, Wheelchair Ballet, March of Dimes, and several pet rescue organizations. We appreciate the loyalty of our customers over the last 55 years, and we look forward to Victory Automotive Group continuing to provide our customers with excellent service and community support, stated Ken Schneider.

Victory Automotive Group is a family-owned company, started over 25 years ago by Jeffrey Cappo, and is headquartered in Canton, Michigan. Cappo now works alongside his sons Eric and Michael, who are involved in the daily operations of their 50+ locations, in eleven states including Ohio, Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Illinois. Victory Automotive Group represents fourteen of the best automotive brands including eleven Toyota locations with three of those stores located in Ohio. They continue to see the value that the Toyota brand brings to their company and plan to continue to grow the business in the Cleveland market.

Tim Lamb Group has worked closely with Victory Automotive Group and continues to facilitate deals with their team. I am honored to have assisted both families with this sale and appreciate the trust they put in the Tim Lamb Group, stated Steve Corle, Director at the Tim Lamb Group. I wish the Schneider and Greenfield families all the best in their next endeavors.

For more information on Tim Lamb Group visit, https://timlambgroup.com/

About Tim Lamb Group

Since 2006, Tim Lamb Group has been the number one choice for dealers looking to sell, or purchase, a new vehicle dealership. Fifteen regional directors manage billions of dollars per year in transactions for multiple dealer operators in every part of the United States and Canada. The Group has leveraged their factory management experience and retail dealership background to become the largest auto dealership sales and acquisitions firm in North America. For more information and dealerships for sale, visit www.timlambgroup.com.

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Lexington, MA and MUNICH, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation, a leading provider of diagnostic and enterprise imaging solutions and Brainlab, a leading digital medical technology company, announced today that Brainlab will be the exclusive U.S. distributor of the ARIETTA Precision Ultrasound for neurosurgery applications to be utilized with Brainlabs surgical navigation systems. ARIETTA Precision, in conjunction with a Brainlab surgical navigation system, becomes a powerful intraoperative neurosurgery solution, delivering advanced guidance and image quality for critical surgical decisions. Together, the systems serve as a deeply integrated end-to-end solution providing comprehensive intraoperative information leveraging the best of both worlds in imaging and navigation. The new offering is an attractive expansion, poised to enhance surgical workflows for the over 2,000 neurosurgery departments across the U.S.

Brainlab will distribute the ARIETTA Precision as a standalone product alongside and soon with its Ultrasound Navigation software. This combined solution is expected to be FDA cleared and available in the United States in mid-2024.* The combination of these technologies provides neurosurgeons with real-time insights through live intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) during neurosurgical procedures. The high quality, continuously updatable ultrasound images deliver a dynamic layer of confidence throughout the entire procedure, helping neurosurgeons achieve their goal of maximum safe tumor or lesion resection, even if brain shift occurs.

Studies show that navigation greatly improves the surgeons ability to approach, assess and operate on brain tumors, but may lose its accuracy as the surgery progresses and brain shift occurs. IOUS has proved to serve as a solution by providing real-time patient information that can be used to update navigation images and provide the neurosurgeon with real-time information on the resection progress.

Digital integration between Brainlab surgical navigation solutions and Fujifilms ARIETTA Precision will offer streamlined system setup for cranial imaging and plug-n-play workflows with pre-calibrated and sterilizable neurosurgery transducers, eliminating the need for user calibration in the sterile field. Additionally, the combined technologies provide neurosurgeons with automatic view layouts, including the ability to superimpose intraoperative 3D ultrasound scans onto the preop dataset for a more comprehensive overview of the resection cavity. With this technology integration, neurosurgeons can positively impact their practice, their facility and most importantly, their patients.

Fujifilm has been a leader in neurosurgical ultrasound for decades and is committed to bringing to market systems and probes that help neurosurgeons make critical surgical decisions, said Hideyuki Honda, vice president, ultrasound solutions, FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas. "The ARIETTA Precision was specifically designed for surgeons, and we believe the deep technology integration of Brainlabs sophisticated software platform with the ARIETTA Precision will not only provide neurosurgeons with the technology they need for critical decision making but will enhance patient care across the nation.

Surgeons can easily visualize any misalignment between an intraoperatively acquired 3D ultrasound scan and a preoperative MRI with Brainlab Ultrasound Navigation software. Furthermore, with Elements Ultrasound Snap to MRI** software, Brainlab enables automated rigid fusion between the preoperative MRI image and the intraoperative ultrasound image, allowing surgeons to update the registration and navigate on updated patient anatomy. R&D projects are already underway that will take the technology beyond rigid to elastic fusion, leveraging ultrasound images with virtual iMRI software to adapt and update.

"Fujifilms ARIETTA Precision ultrasound is an important addition to our neurosurgery portfolio," said Sean Clark, president, Brainlab Inc. Brainlab will leverage our market-leading advanced software capabilities to transform the ARIETTA Precision into a 3D image digitizer, providing updates on patient anatomy throughout surgery.

To learn more about Fujifilms ARIETTA Precision ultrasound system, click here. To learn more about Brainlabs ultrasound navigation solutions, click here.





*Not yet commercially available in the US.

**Cleared medical device name: Brainlab Elements Image Fusion.





About Fujifilm Healthcare Americas Corporation

FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation is a comprehensive healthcare company that has an extensive range of technology and expertise in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Fujifilms innovative medical imaging portfolio includes solutions for digital radiography, mammography, CT, MRI, ultrasound, gastroenterology, pulmonology, endosurgery, and minimally invasive surgery. The award-winning Synapse Enterprise Imaging portfolio provides healthcare professionals with the cross-departmental imaging and data access needed to deliver a complete patient record. Fujifilms AI initiative, REiLI, combines Fujifilms rich image-processing heritage with cutting-edge AI innovations to inspire clinical confidence and combat burnout. The In-Vitro Diagnostic portfolio provides the gold standard of molecular based immunoassay technology for liver surveillance, cutting edge clinical diagnostic chemicals for leading laboratories and diagnostic chemicals for OEM white labeling products. The company is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit healthcaresolutions-us.fujifilm.com.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver Value from Innovation in our products and services in the business segments of healthcare, materials, business innovation, and imaging. Our relentless pursuit of innovation is focused on providing social value and enhancing the lives of people worldwide. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information about Fujifilms Sustainable Value Plan 2030, click here. For the year ended March 31, 2023, the company had global revenues of approximately 2.9 trillion yen (21 billion USD at an exchange rate of 134 yen/dollar). For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

About Brainlab

At Brainlab, we digitize medical workflows from diagnosis to therapy, and our innovative ecosystem forms the basis for modern healthcare technology. We help healthcare providers build three-dimensional patient-specific models with data that is structured, mapped and aggregated with industry-leading artificial intelligence. This builds the basis of our navigation system for the human body, clinicians can safely remove brain tumors, place screws in the spine precisely, and irradiate breast tumors with millimetric precision.

Our robotics and mixed reality technologies and expertise allow users to connect and innovate between the digital and physical worlds. In addition, Brainlab technologies power the collection of structured long-term data and medical registries. Through the neuroscience of play, Brainlab advances clinical training and education, promoting the adaptation to technological advances and creating digital models of complete interventions. Our digital ecosystem is an open interface and forms a framework for third parties to accelerate innovation in other clinical areas as well.

Brainlab systems are established in around 6300 hospitals in 120 countries to offer doctors and patients better treatment possibilities. At the forefront of health technology for over 30 years, the company headquarters are in Munich, and we employ around 2200 people of 85 nationalities in 25 locations.

For more information, visit Brainlab or follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Facebook.

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Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Key Global e-Cigarettes Markets Database" database has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This database provides a detailed analysis of key vaping markets in more than 50 countries in seven regions of the world. The filtering tool enables you to view dashboards of each country and make quick comparisons of country-specific data.



Data includes market size estimates up to 2025; smoking rates; vaping statistics; form factors (basic open systems, advanced open systems, pre-filled pods, and disposables); online and offline pricing; distribution channels; brands and chains; and key contacts. Also included are total and daily vaping population estimates, the most popular e-liquid brands, top brands, per country, and historical data from 2016 onwards for vaping statistics, form factor split, and distribution channel split.



You can also find market size distribution and a split between consumables, e-liquid, and pre-filled pods, as well as, hardware, basic open system, advanced open system, pre-filled pod kits, disposables, and replacement coils. The retail channel analysis offers a split between online retailers, physical vape stores, and other brick and mortar. E-liquid pricing for TPD countries includes the average price per ml cheapest 10ml freebase e-liquid, 10ml nicotine salt, 50ml e-liquid in 60ml shortfill, 20 ml aroma in 60 ml longfill, and 10 ml nicotine booster.

This product enables you to:

Understand market evolution and trends

Identify key players and market dynamics

Compare data and statistics across all countries

Access current market size estimates and forecasts for the next five years

Compare prices of product categories across countries

Gain knowledge of sales channels and market split

Key Topics Covered:

Country dashboard

Market size estimates

Market size distribution

Vaping population

Retail channels

Form factors

Pricing ratios

Open system pricing

E-liquid pricing

Closed system pricing

Sources, methodology and product information

All information for all countries studied to date, filterable by country and region

For more information about this database visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m7zhml

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.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenridge Exploration Inc. (Greenridge or the Company) (CSE: GXP | FRA: HW3), is pleased to announce it has undertaken a detailed technical review of the Nut Lake Uranium Project (the Nut Lake Property or the Project) located in the Thelon Basin in Nunavut. The Project covers approximately 4,036 hectares near the Northern Tip of the Yathkyed Basin, a sub-basin of the Thelon Basin (Please see Figure 1).

Russell Starr, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, We continue to unveil more exciting geological information at the Nut Lake Uranium Project. The Thelon Basin and sub basins are extremely underexplored compared to the world renowned Athabasca Basin just to the south. With a sound database of historical work, including both high grade surface sampling and near surface drilling, it is giving us a clear route to build upon the historical success using new technology and expanding on our deposit model.

Historical Showings, Geology & Various Surveys Completed at The Nut Lake Property





Figure 1  Localized Nut Lake Property Geology Map. Source GSC Open File 4236. Abbreviations: PDs  Proterozoic Dubawnt Sediments, Agn / Ar-gn  Archean granitic rocks, Pt-g  Undivided Granites

Historical Showing Highlights

Historical exploration undertaken by Pan Ocean in 1979 conducted over the large regional grid resulted in the discovery of four prospects/showings on the Nut Lake Property (Please see Figure 1).

Tundra Showing

Discovered in July 1977 and named the Tundra showing due to its proximity to a syenite U 3 O 8 anomaly on the lakeshore.

O anomaly on the lakeshore. Hole Winkie AX W-24 intersected 9ft of 0.69% U 3 O 8 including 4.90% U 3 O 8 over 1ft from 8ft depth.

Drilling extended the depth of mineralization to 20 feet vertically below the surface.

The structure appears to steepen with depth to about 80-85.

A total of 17 holes amounting to 568 ft. of drilling were completed.



Heartbreak and Lakeshore Showings

The Heartbreak showing uncovered two pitchblende fractures in an area where a swarm of biotite trachyte occurs, 200 meters to the east-southeast of the Tundra showing.

The most noteworthy samples were from the Heartbreak showing which returned samples across a 3.0 and 3.5 fracture that assayed 2.11% U 3 O 8 and 4.36% U 3 O 8 respectively.

O and 4.36% U O respectively. Fracture descriptions and assay results indicate significant mineralization potential.

Frost heave on the surface suggests a potential strike length for the fractures.

Lake Showing

Two noteworthy grab samples yielded 0.32% and 0.15% U 3 O 8 .

The Lake showing was located through general prospecting and is situated beside a biotite feldspar trachyte dike.

It comprises numerous anomalous fractures containing chloritic mafic alterations, sulphides, hematite, and uranium mineralization.

Some fractures cut across the felsic to mafic gneiss host rock, while others run subparallel to it.

This suggests that the mineralization and alteration may be controlled by fractures, with a foliation influence. It is likely that some of these fractures extend into the water.



Geology of The Nut Lake Project

Regionally, the Project lies along the eastern edge of the northeasterly trending wedge of Paleohelikian or Late Aphebian Dubawnt Group rocks and the contact with Archean basement gneisses. These units are in fault contact along a northerly trending fault zone. Dubawnt Group rocks within the area are basal sedimentary rocks of the South Channel Formation, composed of white quartzites and pink to grey arkose and arkosic rocks. The sedimentary sequences of the lower Dubawnt Group are overlain by volcanic rocks of the Christopher Island Formation, including trachytic lithic and crystal tuffs and mafic to felsic trachyte flows.

Archean gneisses are generally granitic to granodioritic in composition, with thin inter-layered bands of paragneiss or amphibolite. Syenites within the area are predominantly red, aphanitic, microsyenite, with some hornblende syenite locally. Microsyenite dikes intrude all other rock types along a northerly trend, exhibiting varying degrees of brecciation, especially near fault zones. These rocks contain variable amounts of magnetite, chlorite, disseminated hematite, and pyrite, with accessory zircon noted. The microsyenites are the most radioactive rocks in the area, containing an average of 100 ppm U, with uranium believed to be bound up in refractory minerals (Please see Figure 1).

Surveys Completed at the Nut Lake Project

An abundance of both Government and industry geological / geophysical / hyperspectral surveys have been conducted over the Project area including: a regional residual magnetic geophysical survey conducted by the Geological Survey of Canada in 20113; a property scale VLF-EM and Magnetometer survey carried out by Pan Ocean in 1979; and a hyperspectral survey carried out in 2023 by the vendors of the Project.

Lines for the 1979 geophysical surveys were spaced 100m apart with 24m to 50m station intervals.

VLF-EM Survey

Several interesting anomalies resulted from the survey including a pattern indicating a north-northwesterly trending structure of interest.

Anomalies are likely related to a fault zone, continuous with a VLF-EM anomaly.

A major anomaly was identified from L14W to L2S and 14E to 19E. This anomaly is not known to be related to any specific feature and should be followed up on.

Identification of north trending anomalies which may be related to structural or lithological features.

Magnetometer Survey

Magnetic anomalies show less distinct north to northwesterly trends compared to VLF-EM map.

Anomalies in northwest section related to syenitic intrusive rocks.

Irregular pattern in this area possibly due to close-spaced dikes and lenses of mafic gneiss.

A gravity survey is recommended to pair with both surveys moving forward.





Figure 2 - Regional Magnetics showing a strong NE-SW trending Fault3

Hyperspectral Survey

Helium is a decay product of Uranium and is an exploration vector for buried uranium deposits. Helium is released as a daughter product of radioactive decay as uranium breaks down into other elements. As helium is a very light element it migrates through the overburden and into the atmosphere. Where the release of helium is concentrated enough, it will have a spectral signature in specific wavelengths that can be seen by satellite sensors. These are in the Visible-Near Infra-Red (VNIR) and Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR) wavelengths parts of the spectrum. The Sentinel-2 satellite data contains spectral bands which can be processed to identify areas with an anomalous helium spectral signature. A stronger spectral signature in the helium wavelength could be due to a buried radioactive source (Please see Figure 3).

The survey identified 2 clusters with anomalous spectral responses that are coincident with a northeast-trending structure identified by geophysical surveys.





These two target areas have not historically seen extensive exploration, and therefore warrant ground truthing to explain the helium response.









Figure 3 - Hyperspectral Survey

About The Nut Lake Property

The Project is located approximately 55km north of the Angulak Uranium Deposit or 180Km southwest of Baker Lake, Nunavut in the Yathkyed Basin (a sub-basin of the prolific Thelon Basin) in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The Project consists of three contiguous mineral licences encompassing a total land area of approximately 4,036 hectares (~40km).

In 1979, Pan Ocean Oil Ltd. performed an exploration program consisting of ground geophysics, geological mapping, prospecting and Winkie drilling as follow up to previous sampling with elevated uranium in dyke swarms, fractures and contacts between syenites and trachytes. The geology of the Project area consists of basal sedimentary rocks of the South Channel Formation, composed of white quartzites and pink to grey arkose and arkosic rocks. The sedimentary sequences of the lower Dubawnt Group are unconformably or disconformably overlain by volcanic rocks of the Christopher Island Formation.

The Project hosts high grade vein hosted grab samples of up to 4.36% U 3 O 8 , 53.16 oz/t Ag, 1.15% Pb and 7.0% Ni.

During the 1979 field season, geological mapping at a scale of 1:1,000 was completed on a major portion of the Project. This was concurrent with prospecting on, and in the immediate area of the Project. Results from prospecting were the discovery of two (41 m wide) syenite dikes and a frost heaved area of felsic gneiss with up to 3,000 cps on fracture surfaces. Two significant Uranium bearing showings were discovered, the Lake Showing and the Heartbreak Showing. The most noteworthy was the Heartbreak showing which revealed 3.0 and 3.5 samples across a fracture that assayed 2.11% U 3 O 8 and 4.36% U 3 O 8 respectively. The results were followed up with a radon gal survey, a VLF-EM survey and an overburden sampling program. The radon survey results showed that the response is irregular with several good highs and the VLF-EM survey showed a series of northwesterly trending anomalies. It was concluded that further drilling of the Lake Showing is recommended.

The Project and surrounding proximal area have seen approximately 805ft of Winkie Drilling and 6920ft of diamond drilling completed on it. Multiple holes intersected significant uranium mineralization, with the most noteworthy being at the Tundra Showing Hole Winkie AX W-24 intersected 9ft of 0.69% U 3 O 8 including 4.90% U 3 O 8 over 1ft from 8ft depth. Additional noteworthy holes were hole P049 which returned approximately 0.20% U3O8 over a one-foot interval and hole 068 which was Drilled to intersect fracture mineralization and successfully encountered approximately 0.59% over 1 foot. (Pan Ocean Oil Ltd., 1979 Assessment Report #81075).

The combination of historically defined anomalies and modern exploration techniques provides prime ingredients for the potential of discovering a high-grade uranium system within the Project area. The Nut Lake Property has the potential to host unconformity vein and breccia type, sygenentic and sandstone-hosted phosphatic type mineralization.

References

1Source: 1978 Assessment report (number 81075) by Pan Ocean Oil Ltd

2Source: Reported by ValOre Metals Corp. in a Technical Report entitled Technical Report and Resource Update For The Angilak Property, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada, prepared by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geo. of APEX Geosciences, Robert Sim, B.Sc., P.Geo. of SIM Geological Inc. and Bruce Davis, Ph.D., FAusIMM of BD Resource Consulting Inc., dated March 1, 2013. Note: The historical mineral resource estimate was calculated in accordance with NI 43-101 and CIM standards at the time of publication and predates the current CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May, 2014) and CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November, 2019).

3Source: Tschirhart, V. L., Morris, W. A. & Oneschuk, D. (2011). Geophysical series, geophysical compilation project, Thelon Basin, Nunavut, NTS 66A, B, and parts of 65N, O, P, 66C, F, G and H. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File, 6944, https://doi.org/10.4095/288806.

4Source: Wilkinson, L. & Brown, N. (2000). Selected geoscience data from the Western Churchill NATMAP Project, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut - Volume II. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File, 3749, https://doi.org/10.4095/211855.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

Nicholas Rodway, P. Geo, (NAPEG Licence # L5576) is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Rodway has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release.

About Greenridge Exploration Inc.

Greenridge Exploration Inc. (CSE: GXP | FRA: HW3) is a mineral exploration company dedicated to creating shareholder value through the acquisition, exploration, and development of critical mineral projects in North America. The Companys Nut Lake Uranium Project located in the Thelon Basin includes historical drilling which intersected up to 9ft of 0.69% U 3 O 8 including 4.90% U 3 O 8 over 1ft from 8ft depth. Additionally, the Companys Weyman Copper Project in southeast British Columbia sits on the south portion of the famous Quesnel Terrance. The Company is led by an experienced management team and board of directors with significant expertise in capital raising and advancing mining projects.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Russell Starr

Chief Executive Officer, Director

Telephone: +1 (778) 897-3388

Email: info@greenridge-exploration.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the project acquisition bringing a low-risk opportunity, the Company, building a strong battery metals portfolio with low-risk opportunities that positively impact the Company and its shareholders and the Company providing an initial work plan are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Project and its mineralization potential; the Companys objectives, goals, or future plans with respect to the Project; and the Company's anticipated exploration program at the Project. These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bdf3181c-fde3-418c-aa13-f6a65418acf2

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5beffd94-303b-4074-bbf6-a18fc0793b5f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/571bbdc4-e39c-4c01-9c0b-ff0377361aaa
San Francisco, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tradeshift, the B2B e-commerce and fintech platform, today announces Raphael Bres has rejoined the company as Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO). Raphael will spearhead strategic product innovation and technological transformation across Tradeshifts portfolio of solutions.

With a history of advancing Tradeshifts mission during his previous tenure, Raphaels return to the CPTO role follows a two-year stint at sales commission software Spiff company, which was acquired by Salesforce in December 2023. His appointment comes at a pivotal time as Tradeshift continues to excel in global e-invoicing, digital procurement & payables automation, marketplaces, and embedded finance, all solutions leveraging artificial intelligence.

Tradeshifts vision has always resonated with me. Rejoining the team feels like a natural progression of the journey we embarked upon together said Raphael Bres. Our B2B marketplace is transforming procurement, and with the embedded finance standard set by our HSBC partnership, the future looks more promising than ever. I am eager to work with the team to elevate our solutions, making a transformative impact on the way businesses transact globally.

A proven leader, with a reputation for innovation, cross-team collaboration and product improvements, Raphaels 25 years of experience spans Enterprise Financial Applications and B2B SaaS Solutions at companies like Oracle, Microsoft, Workday and Certinia. Raphael started his career at Deloitte audit.

Immediate enhancements to our capabilities will focus on broadening our reach to a wider range of businesses Raphael added. We are also perfectly positioned to capitalize on AI developments, driving unparalleled efficiency and value across our customer base.

Raphaels reappointment further strengthens Tradeshift's new-look executive team, which boasts extensive experience and expertise in scaling high-growth businesses across B2B SaaS and fintech. In February, Tradeshift announced the appointments of Iain Balchin as Chief Financial Officer and Jim Modak as Chief of Strategy & GTM. Jovita OByrne has also been promoted to the role of Chief People Officer.

Raphaels leadership during his previous tenure was transformative, setting a high standard for innovation, said James Stirk, CEO at Tradeshift. His return is a testament to our growth and the exciting direction we are headed.

-ENDS-

About Tradeshift

Tradeshift is the business e-commerce and fintech platform that redefines how B2B buyers and suppliers connect, trade and grow. The Tradeshift network connects over a million companies, enabling them to transact seamlessly and digitally with customers and suppliers anywhere in the world. Our unique blend of e-invoicing, marketplace commerce and embedded fintech services gives businesses the tools to streamline finance and procurement processes, access new markets, source new suppliers, and optimise working capital to suit their needs. All in one place. Find out more at: Tradeshift.com .

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STUDIO CITY, Calif., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At the conclusion of this years Myeloma Action Month, the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) was truly grateful and overwhelmed by everyones support in making the annual campaign a global success with over 52 million reached in 36 countries!



Myeloma Action Month is held every year for the entire month of March to encourage individuals and groups to take actions that positively impact the myeloma community.

A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link.

This year, the IMF took action through its worldwide social awareness campaign, centering on the question, What is the one thing you wish people knew about myeloma?

With the support of the Global Myeloma Action Network (GMAN), the IMF engaged with the global myeloma community and encouraged those living well with the disease to share their stories of resilience and hope.

Through the power of personal stories and experiences from those affected by multiple myeloma, the #MyelomaACTIONMonth campaign was able to raise global awareness about the disease while strengthening ties with the members of the global myeloma community.

IMF Director for GMAN and European & Middle Eastern Patient Programs Serdar Erdogan was truly elated about GMANs role in the #MyelomaACTIONMonth campaign this yearextending the multinational patient-action-focused awareness campaign with the support of thirty myeloma patient organizations around the world.

From South Korea to Portugal, India to Poland, all myeloma communities spoke as one voice once more for Myeloma Action Month! Our global impact was outstanding in various activities: we ran for our loved ones, educated ourselves and our network, created awareness with action, and put the spotlight on multiple myeloma. Journeys were recounted, and new friendships were formed. Resilience and hopeful messages empowered the pursuit of discovering new treatments. We are stronger together, learning from the incredible strength of people who create a better world! said Serdar.

31 Days of Creating Ripples with #MyelomaACTIONMonth

Beyond the numbers, this years #MyelomaACTIONMonth global campaign created ripples through the power of each myeloma story shared. These ripples converged to create a mighty wave of awareness for multiple myeloma across the globe.

To initiate the ripple effect, the IMF asked thought-provoking questions throughout the global campaign. These questions brought an influx of myeloma stories on social media with the hashtag #MyelomaACTIONMonth. These stories were gathered in the Wall of Action to create an uplifting narrative mosaicaccessible to anyone seeking to learn more about myeloma.

The IMF also created an inspirational video mash-up of stories, featuring members of the myeloma community answering the question, What is the one thing you wish people knew about myeloma? The video was translated into several languages and shared with the global myeloma community to signify that myeloma has no borders.

Additionally, the IMF hosted Facebook Live Events with key figures in the myeloma community including healthcare professionals and educators.

During these Facebook LIVE Q&A Events, the myeloma community learned about best day-to-day practices to live well with myeloma from IMF NLB Member Beth Faiman ; the future of myeloma from IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael and Dr. Gurbakhash Kaur (UT Southwestern Medical CenterDallas TX) ; and the benefits of good nutrition from Dr. Urvi Shah (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterNew York, NY).

2024 Boca Raton Patient Family Seminar: A Huge Success

The IMF recently held its annual Patient and Family Seminar (PFS) in Boca Raton, FL from March 15-16, 2024.

One of the highlights of the PFS was a virtual keynote speech made by Saad Usmani, M.D. (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterNew York, NY), who presented on What is the Future of Myeloma?

More than a dozen sessions covered topics from the basics of myeloma to the latest in myeloma research. Sessions included Myeloma 101 & Understanding Your Labs, Financial Considerations in Myeloma, and Symptom Management and Living Well with Myeloma and much more.

At the conclusion of the seminar, patients, care partners, their families, and other members of the myeloma community were genuinely excited and grateful for the learnings they gained from world-renowned myeloma experts while bonding with others in the community.

The IMF Patient and Family Seminar allowed me to have unprecedented access to some of the worlds leading multiple myeloma experts and to also draw strength from other patients on the same journey who shared their experiences, hopes, and concerns in a non-judgmental setting, said PFS participant Alex Sacharoff.

March for Myeloma 5K: An Engine for Change

#MyelomaACTIONMonth is all about taking action for the disease. This year, the IMF launched the March for Myeloma 5K Run on Friday, March 15 in Boca Raton, FL to encourage everyone to participate in taking action, raising awareness, and finding a cure for myeloma.

The 5K race was not just a run but an engine for change that inspired, transformed, and shifted the narrative for patients and their loved onesfrom a place of uncertainty to an embracing myeloma community, united in hope. Runners and walkers alike gathered in Boca Raton, while others joined virtually.

Because of the incredible support from both in-person and virtual participants, the March for Myeloma 5K Run was able to raise over $49,000. Twenty-five virtual participants from around the world joined on-site walkers and runners at Boca Raton and made the 5K run a special, collaborative, and amazing global event.

The IMF extends its warmest congratulations to Dawns Legacy for raising $3,105the highest number of donations from an in-person team; and to the Orange County California Warriors  OCCM Support Group for raising $3,880the highest amount raised by a virtual team and the highest among in-person and virtual teams combined.

This year, the IMF launched the March for Myeloma 5K run as an 'engine for change'and that's exactly what it did. Having run myself, the 5K event was symbolic of the IMF's mission and stance: running or walking alongside myeloma patients, care partners, and other members of the myeloma community throughout the course of their myeloma journeys. By taking action not only for Myeloma Action Month but every single day of the year, the IMF is leading the way in supporting patients to live their fullest life as we pursue the cure for myeloma," said IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Mikhael.

A Wave of Myeloma Awareness Across the Globe

By encouraging members of the myeloma community to share their stories and experiences of living with the second most common blood cancer in the worldwhether as a patient, a family member, a care partner, a researcher, or a healthcare professionalthe #MyelomaACTIONMonth global campaign created a wave of myeloma awareness around the world.

Through the tireless efforts of GMAN member organizationsfocusing on the needs and topics that are relevant to their respective communitiesthey were able to build empathy and foster a deeper understanding of the disease.

As Myeloma Action Month draws to a close, the International Myeloma Foundation is deeply grateful for our global community's incredible outpouring of support. Throughout March, we've witnessed patients, caregivers, researchers, and advocates come together in a powerful display of unity. The stories shared, the voices raised, and the actions taken will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact. We are closer than ever to a world where every myeloma patient can live life to the fullest, unburdened by the disease. Our work continues. Let us carry the momentum forward, keep the conversation going, and ensure that every day turns into a day of action for myeloma. Together, we can make a difference, said IMF President & CEO and 28-year myeloma survivor Yelak Biru.

Myeloma Action Month is a powerful reminder that every moment and action make a difference in the lives of myeloma patients and care partners. Our goal of bringing awareness to the myeloma community and beyond is surpassed every year, with the campaign reaching millions of people across the globe. Myeloma has no borders, nor does the IMF; we are here to serve the global community. The IMF is grateful to those who leverage this campaign by helping amplify the importance of education, support, advocacy, and research; and by bringing hope and resilience to the myeloma community at large, said IMF Vice President of Marketing Peter Anton.

Having experienced MAM for the first time, I am incredibly inspired by the collective power of a global community that is unwavering in its desire to raise awareness for myeloma and to find a cure and a better quality of life for all myeloma patients. We had people from all walks of life participate in many events and activities throughout the month of March and contribute to advancing the goals for myeloma patients in profound and significant ways, said IMF Vice President of Development Sylvia Dsouza.

The IMF is grateful to the following Platinum Sponsors for supporting Myeloma Action Month: 2seventy bio , Amgen , Binding Site , Bristol Myers Squibb , GSK , Johnson and Johnson , Karyopharm Therapeutics , Pfizer , Regeneron , and Sanofi .

ABOUT THE GLOBAL MYELOMA ACTION NETWORK

In 2013, the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) led the development of the Global Myeloma Alliance, which later became the Global Myeloma Action Network (GMAN) in 2014. GMAN is composed of multiple myeloma patient organization leaders around the world with the global mission of improving the lives of myeloma patients, raising awareness of multiple myeloma, enhancing the capabilities of patient advocacy groups, building the capacity of local myeloma organizations, and increasing worldwide access to medicine and treatment. GMAN upholds its mission by improving access to care; influencing health policy change favorable to myeloma care, research, and drug access; boosting knowledge and access to clinical research; and enhancing GMANs collective capacity through sharing best practices while working together as a global community.

ABOUT MULTIPLE MYELOMA

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow plasma cells  white blood cells that make antibodies. A cancerous or malignant plasma cell is called a myeloma cell. Myeloma is called multiple because there are frequently multiple patches or areas in bone where it grows. It can appear as both a tumor and/or an area of bone loss, and it affects the places where bone marrow is active in an adult: the hollow area within the bones of the spine, skull, pelvis, rib cage, and the areas around the shoulders and hips.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL MYELOMA FOUNDATION

Founded in 1990, the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) is the first and largest global foundation focusing specifically on multiple myeloma. The Foundations reach extends to more than 525,000 members in 140 countries worldwide. The IMF is dedicated to improving the quality of life of myeloma patients while working toward prevention and a cure by focusing on four key areas: research, education, support, and advocacy. The IMF has conducted more than 250 educational seminars worldwide, maintains a world-renowned InfoLine, and in 2001, established the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG), a collaborative research initiative focused on improving myeloma treatment options for patients. In 2012, the IMF launched the Black Swan Research Initiative, a groundbreaking research project aimed at curing myeloma. The IMF can be reached at (800) 452-CURE (2873). The global website is www.myeloma.org .

Follow the IMF on:

X: @IMFmyeloma

Instagram: @imfmyeloma

Facebook: @myeloma

LinkedIn: International Myeloma Foundation

Media Contacts:

Peter Anton

Panton@myeloma.org
Tokyo, Japan, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

i-PRO Advocates for Responsible AI Practices in Physical Security

Company shares its Ethical Principles for AI

By 2026, Gartner predicts that 50% of governments worldwide will enforce the use of responsible AI through regulations, policies, and the need for data privacy. While these guidelines are being developed, AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

i-PRO Co., Ltd . (formerly Panasonic Security), a global leader in professional security solutions for surveillance and public safety, underscores the critical importance of ethical and responsible AI practices in the physical security domain.

Recognizing the profound impact of AI on society, i-PRO has always placed paramount importance on fostering an environment of responsible and ethical AI usage. To this effect,

i-PRO has formulated its Ethical Principles for AI, creating a framework designed to balance the advancement of AI technology with social responsibility and ethical considerations.

The key tenets of the i-PRO Ethical Principles for AI include:

Achieving enhanced quality of life and fostering a safer, more secure society:

i-PRO endeavors to create enduring value that contributes to the safety and security of society, through continued AI research and development. The company will continuously evaluate the human, societal, and environmental impact of its AI products and services to further improve its technology offering.

Protecting human rights and privacy: i-PRO prioritizes the protection of fundamental human rights in the development and deployment of AI solutions. Upholding data protection and privacy principles guides every aspect of our operations. We enforce stringent authorization and authentication protocols to safeguard sensitive data within our AI-driven applications. Furthermore, we are committed to providing our customers with embedded tools to facilitate compliance with evolving AI regulations.

Transparency and fairness: i-PRO pledges to uphold principles of transparency and fairness, fostering diversity and equality to combat bias, discrimination, and unfair practices that could potentially be created by the use of AI. We will achieve this by consistently and thoroughly testing our AI models to build confidence in their performance and mitigate risks.

Education and training: As a driving force in the development of AI solutions, i-PRO will continue to focus on educating its workforce, partners, customers and the industry at large on the power, potential and ethical consideration of AI in the physical security environment. By fostering collaboration and establishing an open dialog with key stakeholders, i-PRO will be able to address emerging challenges and drive meaningful change within the AI ecosystem.

While we believe AI solutions can enhance automation and inform decisions, we also believe that this should not come at the expense of responsible usage, ethical standards, or privacy compliance, said Masato Nakao, CEO at i-PRO. As the physical security industry continues to embrace the promise of AI, we look forward to working together with our industry colleagues, partners, and customers to foster a culture of responsible AI development and usage.

By championing ethical principles, i-PRO endeavors to set a new standard of integrity within the physical security industry, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to safety, security, and societal well-being.

About i-PRO

i-PRO Co., Ltd., is a global leader of advanced sensing technologies in the fields of Intelligent Surveillance, Public Safety and Industrial/Medical Imaging. Established in 2019, i-PRO was built on a legacy of over 60 years of innovation with Panasonic. The companys products, software and services extend human senses to capture moments of truth with innovations that inform and protect. In order to help create a safer world, i-PRO Co., Ltd., supports the work of professionals who protect and save lives.

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RIMOUSKI, Quebec, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puma Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PUMA, OTCQB: PUMXF) (the "Company" or "Puma") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing 2,000 metres drilling program at the Tiger Gold Zone (TGZ) at its 100% owned Williams Brook Gold Project in Northern New Brunswick. The Tiger Gold Zone is a new gold area discovered last year by applying the Companys successful discovery model. Positive initial drill core observations prompted the expansion of the program.



Drilling Highlights

Fifteen (15) holes with depths from 25 to 150 m have been completed for a total of 875 metres.

The holes were drilled 425 metres from the Lynx Gold Zone (Figure 1).

All holes intersected the targeted favourable gold-bearing horizon of quartz veins / stockwork in altered sediment and gabbro units.

Visible gold was observed in hole WB24-151 in a quartz vein in altered gabbro (Figure 2).

The same pervasive alteration corridor characteristic of the LGZ is observed at Tiger (Figure 3).



We are thrilled with what we see in the first 800 metres drilled so far at Tiger. The core exhibits the same pervasive alteration and mineralization characteristic of the Lynx Gold Zone. This further supports our belief that we are dealing with a large gold system and that the Lynx Gold Zone extends at least 1.5 kilometres along strike. Following these observations, we have expanded our drilling program by adding scouting drill holes along another 2-kilometre extension. With our exploration program fully funded, our focus is to grow the scale and resource along the Lynx Gold Trend in 2024, stated Marcel Robillard, President and CEO of Puma.

2024 Expanded drilling program at the Tiger Gold Zone

The inaugural drilling program at TGZ aims to prove the 1.5 km northeast extension of the pervasive gold mineralized corridor of the Lynx Gold Zone ("LGZ") (Figure 1) and demonstrate a potential width increase. The shallow fan-patterned drilling is testing the mineralization below the gold veins, identified by trenching and mapping last year. Drilling also aims to understand what controls gold mineralization at the TGZ and how this zone fits in our current structural and lithological model.

Figure 1. Gold zones along the Lynx Gold Trend (LGT)





The reader is cautioned that grab samples are selective by nature and may not represent the true metal content of the mineralized zone.

Geophysical and geochemical surveys previously identified a series of targets along the Lynx Gold Trend, which were followed up by limited trenching by previous operators. Last year, Puma discovered a new prospective area, the Cheetah Gold Zone ("CHGZ"), which returned 6.69 g/t Au in the Companys initial trenching and sampling exploration program.

We are so excited and encouraged about what we see in the core at Tiger that we decided to test the favourable contact along another 2 km. Well be drilling step-out shallow holes along the Lynx Gold Trend to test the presence of gold mineralization up to 4 km away from Lynx. This preliminary scout drilling and continued systematic surface exploration work will enable us to prove the extent of the gold mineralized zone. Our drilling at Tiger shows that the system extends at least 1.5 km along strike, and well continue to successfully extend the zone with our tried and true exploration methods, said Rejean Gosselin, geologist and Pumas Executive Chairman.

Figure 2. VTEM mag survey with core drilled at the Tiger Gold Zone





Figure 3. Visual comparison of core from the Lynx and Tiger Gold Zones





More about the Tiger Gold Zone (TGZ)

In 2023, surface exploration work along the Lynx Gold Trend expanded the TGZ, located 350 m away from the LGZ, thereby confirming the presence of gold mineralization at surface over more than 1.5 km along strike. Four (4) sizeable mineralized quartz veins-oriented W-NW discovered at the TGZ returned significant high-grade gold results, including 19.90 g/t gold and 14.50 g/t gold, and confirmed that high-grade gold mineralization is continuous within the pervasive hydrothermal alteration corridor seen at surface. The current program confirms the shallow depth extension at Tiger and that the gold mineralized corridor is open along strike and at depth.

The Tiger Gold Zone area now spans 400 m by 180 m. The gold mineralization occurs in quartz veins (typically drusy to massive) with minor carbonate and sulphides such as chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and malachite typical of the high-grade veins discovered at the Lynx Gold Zone (Figure 3). Pervasive sulphidation is observed within the quartz veins. As seen at the Lynx Gold Zone, the quartz veins occur at the contact between rocks of different competencies  volcanic and sediment units and a sizeable mafic unit.

About the Williams Brook Gold Project

Puma's flagship Williams Brook Gold Project comprises four properties covering more than 49,000 ha in Northern New Brunswick, an established and mining-friendly jurisdiction near paved roads and excellent infrastructure. The land package is located near the Rocky Brook Millstream Fault (RBMF), a major regional structure formed during the Appalachian Orogeny and a significant control for gold deposition in the region.

Pumas successful exploration model returned, amongst others, 5.50 g/t gold over 50.15 m in hole WB21-02 (see Sept.15, 2021, News Release), 2.77 g/t gold over 42.80 m in hole WB 22-66 (see June 8, 2022, News Release), 2.49 g/t gold over 63.05 m in WB23-139 (see Oct. 31, 2023 News Release), 5.15 g/t gold over 23.15 m in WB23-142 and 1.24 g/t gold over 98.05 m in WB23-145 (see Nov. 16, 2023 News Release).

Since 2021 and with less than C$12.5M of exploration investment. Puma has made multiple gold discoveries at the Williams Brook property and believes that the property hosts an extensive orogenic gold system. Pumas ongoing exploration programs are focused on building a gold camp in Northern New Brunswick, Canada.

Dr. Gregg Morrison, a leading expert on intrusion-related, porphyry and epithermal gold systems, stated: I believe Williams Brook is part of the same family of gold systems as Fosterville and Sunday Creek in Australia and Valentine Lake in Newfoundland.

These other deposits are known for their structure-controlled mineralization, metal zoning, free gold in bonanza shoots and kilometre scale depth extent. The similarities to these more comprehensively explored deposits gives real confidence to deeper drilling in the Lynx Zone and continued exploration around the feeder structures in the Williams Brook District.

Upcoming Gold Investor Events

Puma invites shareholders and interested parties to stop by the booth, attend a presentation, or schedule a meeting at the upcoming conferences to discuss the Company's recent news and proposed developments:

The Mining Investment Event of the North

Quebec City, Quebec

June 4-6, 2024

Qualified Person

The technical information in this release was reviewed and approved by Dominique Gagne, P. Geo, a Puma consultant and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

On-Site Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Measures

Drill core and surface samples are bagged, sealed and sent to ALS CHEMEX in Moncton, New Brunswick, where each sample is crushed and pulped before being fire-assayed (Au-ICP21). The remaining coarse reject portions of the samples remain in storage for further work or verification as needed. As part of its QA/QC program, the Company inserts external gold standards (low to high grade) and blanks every 20 samples in addition to standards, blanks, and duplicates. All samples over 10 g/t gold or with abundant visible gold are analyzed with a gravity finish (Au-GRA22). Check assays are routinely performed for samples with visible gold to ascertain the gold content of the mineralization zone.

About Puma Exploration

Puma Exploration is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company with precious metals projects in New Brunswick, near Canada's Famous Bathurst Mining Camp ("BMC"). Puma has a long history in Northern New Brunswick, having worked on regional projects for over 15 years. As a first mover, the Company quickly and strategically accumulated an impressive portfolio of prospective gold landholdings in the area.

Pumas successful exploration methodology combines old prospecting methods with detailed trenching and up-to-date technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to facilitate an understanding of the geology and associated mineralized systems. Armed with geophysical surveys, geochemical data and consultants expertise, Puma has developed a perfect low-cost exploration tool to discover gold at shallow depths and maximize drilling results.

The Company is also committed to deploying its DEAR strategy (Development. Exploration. Acquisition. and Royalties) to generate maximum value for shareholders with low share dilution.

Connect with us on Facebook / X/ LinkedIn.

Visit www.explorationpuma.com for more information or contact:

Marcel Robillard. President and CEO. (418) 750-8510;

president@explorationpuma.com

Mia Boiridy. Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. (250) 575-3305;

mboiridy@explorationpuma.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve several known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Puma to be materially different from actual future results and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made, except as required by law. Puma undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. The quarterly and annual reports and the documents submitted to the securities administration describe these risks and uncertainties.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a6deed45-b03c-43e0-8ad1-2da448544179

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/534c44c8-00d8-4fda-9875-6d83dbd9d78f

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d25e6f30-eb65-47fd-b2d3-edaf1f570656
Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Hydrogen Compressors Market by Lubrication Type (Oil-based, Oil-free), Type (Mechanical, Non-mechanical), Application (Hydrogen Infrastructure, Industrial (Oil Refining, Chemicals & Petrochemicals), Design Region - Forecast to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global hydrogen compressors market is estimated to grow from USD 2.1 billion in 2023 to USD 2.6 billion by 2028; it is expected to record a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. Growing investments in hydrogen-related infrastructure and projects from both the public and private sectors contribute to the growth of the hydrogen compressor industry. These investments accelerate the adoption and commercialization of hydrogen compressor technology. Government subsidies and regulatory frameworks aimed at promoting clean energy technologies further drive the growth of the hydrogen compressor market.







Oil-based compressor: The largest segment of the hydrogen compressors market, by lubrication type



Based on lubrication type, the hydrogen compressors market is split into two segments: oil-based & oil-free. Oil-based compressors dominate the hydrogen compressor industry because they are more efficient than oil-free compressors. Oil-based compressors employ oil as a cooling medium, absorbing around 80% of the heat generated by the compressor during compression, resulting in higher efficiency. They are deemed appropriate for a variety of industrial applications that demand increased compression. The increased investment in the oil and gas sector is expected to raise demand for hydrogen compressors.



The hydrogen value chain/infrastructure, by end-use application, is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period



Based on end-use application, the hydrogen compressors market has been split into hydrogen value chain/infrastructure & Industrial application. The hydrogen compressors market for hydrogen value chain/infrastructure is anticipated to be the fastest growing market share over the forecast period. It is further divided into Hydrogen production & storage, Transportation, hydrogen refueling stations, hydrogen fuel cells. There are lot of initiatives & billions of dollars being invested in the market by both government & private companies. For example, The Biden-Harris Administration stated that seven regional clean hydrogen hubs in the United States will receive a total of USD 7 billion in funding.



These centers are planned to produce more than three million metric tons of clean hydrogen per year, helping the United States meet its clean hydrogen production goal by 2030. Efforts are being made to construct new hydrogen pipeline networks, with an emphasis on overcoming the specific problems posed by hydrogen's characteristics to pipeline materials and compressor design. One of the major initiatives in Europe is a partnership between Phillips 66 and H2 Energy Europe to build a network of around 250 hydrogen refueling stations by 2026.



North America is expected to be the second largest growing region in the hydrogen compressor market



North America is expected to be the second largest region in the hydrogen compressors market during the forecast period. The region's emphasis on sustainable energy, as well as the increasing usage of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, are all contributing to market growth. Furthermore, the United States Department of Energy's financing and support for R&D efforts has resulted in multiple patents and new technologies in the market, cementing North America's position as a pioneer in hydrogen compressor production.



One of the recent contracts in the region includes collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Toyota Motor North America in developing a one-megawatt proton exchange membrane fuel cell system showcases advancements in large-scale power production using hydrogen fuel cells which will lead to need in hydrogen compressors. Companies in the United States have been making investments to increase their market share in the hydrogen compressor sector. This includes the development of improved compressor technologies specifically designed for hydrogen production, transit, and use. Ariel Corporation, Atlas Copco Group, and Burckhardt Compression AG are among the prominent players in the region.





Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 197 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $2.1 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $2.6 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.5% Regions Covered Global





Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

Hydrogen Compressors Market Snapshot

Mechanical Compressors Segment to Dominate Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Type, in 2028

Industrial Segment to Account for Larger Share of Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Application, During Forecast Period

Multi-Stage Segment to Lead Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Design, in 2028

Oil-based Segment to Account for Larger Share of Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Lubrication Type, During Forecast Period

Asia-Pacific Held Largest Share of Hydrogen Compressors Market in 2022

Premium Insights

Attractive Opportunities for Players in Hydrogen Compressors Market -Increasing Demand for Clean Energy and Industrial Growth to Drive Market During Forecast Period

Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Region - Hydrogen Compressors Market to Witness Fastest Growth in Asia-Pacific During Forecast Period

Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Type -Mechanical Compressors Segment Dominated Hydrogen Compressors Market in 2022

Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Design -Multi-Stage Segment Held Larger Share of Hydrogen Compressors Market in 2022

Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Lubrication Type - Oil-based Segment Accounted for Larger Share of Hydrogen Compressors Market in 2022

Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Application - Industrial Segment Accounted for Larger Share of Hydrogen Compressors Market in 2022

Asia-Pacific: Hydrogen Compressors Market, by Application and Country - Industrial Application and China Dominated Hydrogen Compressors Market in Asia-Pacific in 2022

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Government Initiatives and Policies to Curb Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

Substantial Clean Energy Investments in Developing Economies

Rising Demand for Oil-Free Hydrogen Compressors

Restraints

High Maintenance Cost of Hydrogen Compressors

Safety Standards Associated with Hydrogen Compressors

Opportunities

Increasing Emphasis on Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goals

Expansion of Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure

Increased Demand for Hydrogen Compressors from Oil & Gas Industry

Challenges

Underdeveloped Hydrogen Infrastructure

Technology Analysis

Reciprocating Compressors

Rotary Compressors

Ionic Compressors

Centrifugal Compressors

Non-Mechanical Compressors

Case Study Analysis

Adoption of Hydrogen Compression for Fueling Stations

Howden and Pioneer EPC Contractor Partnered to Integrate Hydrogen Compressors in Refineries

Companies Featured

Atlas Copco

Linde

Air Products and Chemicals

Ingersoll Rand

Siemens Energy

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Kobe Steel

Hitachi Industrial Products

Sundyne

Howden Group

Neuman & Esser Group

Haug Sauer Kompressoren

Ariel Corporation

Indian Compressors

Adicomp

Keepwin Technology Hebei

Pure Energy Centre

Fluitron

Cyrus

Aerotecnica Coltri

Hydro-Pac

Sollant

Idex India

Mehrer Compression

Gruppo Siad

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pyuopg

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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BALTIMORE, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Urology Care Foundation, the worlds leading nonprofit urological health foundation and the official foundation of the American Urological Association, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Research Awards of Distinction.

The awards acknowledge outstanding contributions to urology research, specifically in pediatrics and prostate cancer. It also recognizes the accomplishments of previous Urology Care Foundation grant recipients' accomplishments, celebrates exemplary research mentors' dedication, and highlights the efforts of talented early-career scholars.

"We are optimistic about the future of urologic research with the selection of the recipients of this years Urology Care Foundation Research Awards, said Harris M. Nagler, MD, Urology Care Foundation President. Individuals dedicated to enhancing urological care through their research endeavors are fundamental to fulfilling the Foundation's mission."

Congratulations to this years recipients:

John W. Duckett, Jr., MD Pediatric Urology Research Excellence Award

John M. Park, MD, Cheng-Yang Chang Endowed Professor of Pediatric Urology, University of Michigan Medical School

Established in 2009, the Duckett Award is named in honor of the late world-renowned pediatric urologist and professor and made possible through a fund established by Mrs. Peggy Duckett-Drach and the Societies for Pediatric Urology. The Duckett Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding work in pediatric urology research.

Richard D. Williams, MD Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award

Felix Feng, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Urology, and Medicine, George and Judy Marcus Distinguished Professor, Vice Chair for Translational Research, Department of Radiation Oncology, Director, Benioff Initiative for Prostate Cancer Research, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at San Francisco

Established in 2013, the Williams Award is named in honor of the late urologist, scientist, mentor, and humanitarian and is made possible through a fund established by Mrs. Beverly Williams. The Williams Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding and impactful research in prostate cancer over the previous 10 years.

Distinguished Mentor Award

Wayne J.G. Hellstrom, MD, FACS, Professor of Urology and Chief of Andrology, Department of Urology

Established in 2003, the Distinguished Mentor Award recognizes researchers and physician-scientists with an outstanding track record of fostering the next generation of research by continually providing an excellent training environment and guidance to early-career investigators.

Distinguished Scholar Alumnus Award

James Eastham, MD, Peter T. Scardino Chair in Oncology, Chief, Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Established in 2003, the Distinguished Scholar Alumnus Award recognizes former Urology Care Foundation Research Scholars who have achieved substantial impactful research and demonstrate an unwavering commitment to scholarship and academic leadership in the field.

Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award

Established in 2016, the Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award recognizes one one-year and one two-year Research Scholar Award recipient completing their Urology Care Foundation-funded research. Awardees are chosen based on the quality and difficulty of the applicants project, the potential impact of their studies, demonstrated research productivity and publications generated during the award period, and the scholars potential as future research leaders. Recipients for this award undergo a competitive application process and are selected by the AUA Research Council and Committees.

Heiko Yang, MD, PhD, Endourology Fellow, University of California, San Francisco Department of Urology, has received a 2024 Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award for a one-year research project on the role of macrophages in Randalls plaque formation, conducted under the mentorship of Marshall Stoller, MD.

Kait F. Al, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Division of Urology, Western University, Lawson Health Research Institute, has received a 2024 Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award for a two-year research project on The Role of Toxic Xenobiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Kidney Stone Formation, conducted under the mentorship of Jeremy Burton, PhD.

We are thrilled with the Urology Care Foundation Research Awards of Distinction awardees this year, said Steven Kaplan, MD, Chair of the AUAs Research Council. With these dedicated urologists and researchers advancing our field, the future of urology shines brightly."

The awardees will be celebrated at the Urology Care Foundation Research Honors Program held at the AUA Annual Meeting in May 2024.

To learn more about the UCFs investment in urologic research, visit: https://www.urologyhealth.org/research-and-impact

About the Urology Care Foundation: The Urology Care Foundation is the world's leading nonprofit urological health foundation, and the official foundation of the American Urological Association. Collaborating with physicians, researchers, patients and the public, the Foundation supports and improves urologic clinical care by funding research, developing patient education and pursuing philanthropic support. To learn more about the Urology Care Foundation and its programs visit: www.urologyhealth.org.

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 25,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. www.AUAnet.org

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SAN DIEGO, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP is investigating potential violations of securities laws by Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW) ("Lamb Weston" or "the Company"). We are looking into whether the Company or its executives failed to disclose vital information to investors, leading to losses on their investments. If you have purchased Lamb Weston securities and have experienced losses, we encourage you to join our investigation to potentially make claims and recover under federal securities laws.



What if I purchased Lamb Weston securities? If you believe that you may have a potential claim against Lamb Weston and would like to participate in the investigation or learn more about your legal rights and options, please contact Johnson Fistel, LLP at (619) 814-4471) or click here to join the investigation online. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Click Here to Join the Investigation

What is Johnson Fistel investigating? On April 4, 2024, Lamb Weston announced its results for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. The Company missed analyst earnings projections; The Company reported that an implementation of a new ERP system brought about a temporary decrease in the visibility of finished goods inventories housed at their distribution centers. This significantly hampered capacity to fulfill customer orders in a timely and efficient manner. As a direct consequence of the disruption, the Company experienced a substantial decline in sales volume as well as margin performance. Following this news, Lamb Weston stock was 16% lower in early morning trading on April 4, 2024.

What if I have relevant nonpublic information? Individuals with nonpublic information about the Company should consider whether to assist our investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the SEC program, whistleblowers who provide original information may, under certain circumstances, receive rewards totaling up to thirty percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, contact Jim Baker at (619) 814-4471 or jimb@johnsonfistel.com .

About Johnson Fistel, LLP | Top Law Firm, Securities Fraud, Investors Rights:

Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York, Georgia, and Colorado. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. We also extend our services to foreign investors who have purchased on US exchanges. Stay updated with news on stock drops and learn how Johnson Fistel, LLP can help you recover your losses. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonfistel.com .

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Johnson Fistel, LLP has paid for the dissemination of this promotional communication, and Frank J. Johnson is the attorney responsible for its content.
LAKEWOOD, Colo., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FirstBank , one of the largest privately held banks in the nation with a focus on banking for good, recently named Adam Sands the Chief Banking Officer (CBO). Sands will assume the majority of the responsibilities formerly held by the companys President, including supporting the banks markets, customers, loan and deposit production as well as the companys growth strategy.



Sands promotion to CBO follows recent leadership changes. As of March 29, 2024, former CEO Jim Reuter announced his retirement . The board elected previous FirstBank President Kevin Classen as the new CEO and promoted Kelly Kaminskas to Chief Operating Officer.

Adam is well known for creating successful business alliances and being a strong collaborator throughout FirstBank and Colorado, said Kevin Classen, CEO of FirstBank. Were confident hell continue to be an asset as CBO and help steer the bank in the right direction.

After joining the bank nearly 20 years ago, Sands worked in senior officer roles across several Front Range markets. Since 2019, he served as President of the Cherry Creek Market, one of FirstBanks top-performing trade areas with over $1.2 billion in deposits and $1.4 billion in loans. He also received the Denver Business Journals 40 under 40 award in 2017 for his significant impact on FirstBanks commercial portfolio and his efforts to improve the Denver community.

Its an honor to be appointed and to help lead an organization thats been a driving force within Colorados economy and business community, said Sands. FirstBank is nationally recognized as a top performing bank, known for its workplace culture, customer satisfaction, and corporate philanthropy. As CBO, my goal is to build on that success by doing what FirstBank does best: banking for good. We know if we focus on strengthening our communities, increasing access to innovative products and resources, and creating happy customer and employee experiences, well continue to sustainably grow and take market share.

This is an exciting time at FirstBank, added Classen. Were a strong organization thanks to our predecessors, but are well poised to continue our upward momentum thanks to our new leadership teams expertise and know-how.

As of Dec. 31, 2023, FirstBank reported $28.2 billion in total assets . The company was also identified as one of the nations 10 Top-Performing Banks by a 2023 American Banker study.

About FirstBank

FirstBank began providing banking services in 1963. Today, its known as an industry leader in digital banking and has grown to be one of the largest privately held banks in the United States, maintaining more than $28 billion in assets and 100 branch locations across Colorado, Arizona and California. FirstBank offers a variety of consumer deposit accounts, home equity loans, mortgages, rental property loans and a full range of commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate loans, treasury management and more. Since 2000, FirstBank has been recognized as a top corporate philanthropist, contributing over $85 million and thousands of volunteer hours to charitable organizations. The company is also unique in that a large portion of its stock is owned by management and employees, giving employees a financial stake in the banks success through its Employee Stock Ownership Program. For more information, visit www.efirstbank.com .

Media Contact:

Chandra Brin

303.235.1402

Chandra.Brin@efirstbank.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5fec639a-4903-48a5-b1d5-999589d0a917
NEW YORK, April 04, 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:



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, relating to its proposed sale to Sunoco LP. Under the terms of the agreement, NS shareholders are expected to receive 0.4 shares of Sunoco per share they own. Catalent, Inc. (NYSE: CTLT ), relating to its proposed sale to Novo Holdings. Under the terms of the agreement, CTLT shareholders will receive $63.50 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/catalent-inc . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.





relating to its proposed sale to Novo Holdings. Under the terms of the agreement, CTLT shareholders will receive $63.50 in cash per share they own. The L.S. Starrett Company (NYSE: SCX ) , relating to its proposed sale to an affiliate of MiddleGround Capital. Under the terms of the agreement, SCX shareholders are expected to receive $16.19 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/ls-starrett-company . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.





, relating to its proposed sale to an affiliate of MiddleGround Capital. Under the terms of the agreement, SCX shareholders are expected to receive $16.19 in cash per share they own. Everbridge, Inc. (Nasdaq: EVBG ), relating to its proposed sale to Thoma Bravo. Under the terms of the agreement, EVBG shareholders will receive $28.60 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/everbridge-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 file class actions and go to Court? When was the last time you recovered money for shareholders? What cases did you recover money in and how much?



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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.

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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
Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "IIoT Applications in the Oil and Gas Industry - 5th Edition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This study investigates the worldwide market for wireless IoT applications in the oil and gas industry. Typical applications include pipeline, tank and well field equipment monitoring and control. The installed base of wireless IoT devices in the oil and gas industry is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19.3 percent from 7.8 million units at the end of 2023 to 18.8 million units by 2028.

Oil and gas operators utilise wireless industrial IoT (IIoT) solutions to increase operational efficiency, secure assets and achieve regulatory compliance throughout the entire value chain. Industrial control systems such as Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Distributed Control Systems (DCSs) are used to monitor and control remote facilities. These solutions enable operators to remotely monitor a multitude of data points such as pressure, volume levels, flow rates, temperature and operating status and conditions of various equipment at well sites, tank farms and pipeline facilities. A combination of wired and proprietary radio solutions is typically used for communications between sensors, controllers and systems, although cellular, satellite and non-3GPP LPWA technologies are increasingly used for non-mission critical applications.

The report estimates that the number of installed wireless devices featuring cellular, satellite and LPWA connectivity for oil and gas applications reached 7.8 million units worldwide in 2023. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.3 percent, the installed base is expected to reach 18.8 million units by 2028.

Remote monitoring of assets such as industrial equipment, tanks and pipeline infrastructure in the midstream and downstream sectors comprise the most common applications for wireless solutions in the oil and gas industry. The expected growth in cellular device shipments is attributed to a higher adoption rate of sensor applications based on LTE-M and NB-IoT technologies and continued preference for cellular communications in the remote tank monitoring segment. Since many remote monitoring applications have limited requirements on bandwidth, non-3GPP LPWA technologies such as LoRa can achieve a significant position on this market as well.

Internationally, the upstream oil and gas market is dominated by National Oil Companies (NOCs) and Integrated Oil Companies (IOCs), which are largely served by major industrial automation vendors including ABB, Emerson, Hitachi, Honeywell, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens and Yokogawa. These companies are increasingly focusing on selling complete and integrated systems rather than individual control systems.

Today, the major automation suppliers' IIoT solutions are aimed at helping customers acquire data from assets and optimise processes further through data management and analytics. Industry players that specialise in data-oriented software applications for SCADA systems and asset management include Quorum Software, AUTOSOL, eLynx Technologies, Inductive Automation, Peloton and PSI. Vendors of wireless instrumentation solutions include Banner Engineering, Endress+Hauser, OleumTech and Pepperl+Fuchs. Providers of remote terminal units (RTUs) for SCADA applications include Ovarro, High Tide Technologies and Willowglen Systems.

Solutions for remote monitoring and tracking of assets such as wellheads, storage tanks and pipelines are also offered by a large number of specialised vendors. The market for remote tank monitoring (RTM) is led by Canadian Otodata with an installed base of about 2.0 million units. Additional providers of RTM solutions include Anova, Skybitz, Sensile Technologies, Dunraven Systems, Kingspan, PowTechnology, ATEK Access Technologies, SilentSoft and Varec. Companies specialising in remote pipeline monitoring solutions are Abriox, American Innovations, Atmos International, OmniMetrix and OptaSense. Specialists in gas leak detection include Blackline Safety and GasSecure. Asset tracking solutions for upstream, midstream and downstream operations are offered by ORBCOMM, Quake Global, Geoforce and Tektelic.

Due to the remoteness of oil and gas facilities, cellular and unlicensed proprietary radio solutions are typically used for data acquisition and backhaul communications. The largest providers of cellular IoT gateways and routers in the industrial space are Cisco, Belden, Semtech (Sierra Wireless), Digi International, Moxa, HMS Networks, Advantech, InHand Networks, MultiTech and Eurotech. While cellular solutions are today primarily used for non-mission critical applications, there is growing support for use of private cellular networks across critical infrastructure industries.

In contrast, unlicensed proprietary radio solutions are today already used in mission critical applications, primarily at well sites, where wired installations are unfit. Vendors of proprietary radio modems include 4RF, FreeWave Technologies, RACOM, GE Vernova and Schneider Electric.

Key market trends:

Integration of wireless capabilities into single box solutions of technologies

Partner ecosystems continue to be an integral part of business strategies

Upstream operations will rely more on data to support decision-making

The adoption rate of LPWA networking technologies is set to accelerate

The maturing landscape of private LTE/5G networks for oil and gas fields

Wireless IIoT solutions can benefit operations during energy transitions

The report answers the following questions:

Which are the leading wireless IIoT solution providers for oil and gas applications?

What offerings are available from device vendors and service providers?

What are the main drivers and barriers for the adoption of IIoT solutions?

What is the split between terrestrial and satellite connectivity?

How are satellite communications providers involved in the ecosystem?

What impact will technology advancements have on the market?

What are the recent merger and acquisition activities on this market?

Key Topics Covered:

1. The Oil and Gas Industry

1.1 Introduction to the oil and gas industry

1.2 Industry players

1.2.1 International and national oil companies

1.2.2 OPEC

1.2.3 Independent exploration and production companies

1.2.4 Oilfield service companies

1.3 The oil and gas market

1.4 Oil and gas production and distribution

1.4.1 Exploration, development and production

1.4.2 Transportation and storage

1.4.3 Refining and marketing

2. Wireless IIoT Solutions in the Oil and Gas Sector

2.1 Wireless IIoT infrastructure in oil and gas

2.1.1 Asset segment

2.1.2 Control and sensing segment

2.1.3 Connectivity hardware segment

2.1.4 Network segment

2.1.5 Backoffice segment

2.2 Operations management

2.2.1 Exploration and production management

2.2.2 Distribution and marketing management

2.3 Equipment management

2.3.1 Equipment diagnostics and maintenance planning

2.3.2 Security and safety

2.4 Regulatory compliance and reporting

2.5 Business models and project strategies

3. Market Forecasts and Trends

3.1 Market Analysis

3.1.1 Installed base and unit shipments

3.1.2 Wireless technologies

3.1.3 Regional markets

3.1.4 Major IIoT vendors

3.2 Market drivers and barriers

3.2.1 Macroeconomic environment

3.2.2 Regulatory environment

3.2.3 Competitive environment

3.2.4 Technology environment

3.3 Value chain analysis

3.3.1 Industrial wireless solution vendors

3.3.2 Industrial technology vendors

3.3.3 Wireless network operators and managed service providers

3.3.4 IoT platform and IT industry players

3.3.5 M&A activity along the value chain for IIoT solutions in the oil & gas industry

3.4 Market trends

4. Company Profiles and Strategies

ABB

Banner Engineering

Emerson

Endress+Hauser

General Electric

High Tide Technologies

Hitachi

Honeywell

OleumTech

Ovarro

Pason Systems

Pepperl+Fuchs

Rockwell Automation

Schneider Electric

Siemens

SPOC Automation

Willowglen Systems

Yokogawa

Abriox

Aloxy

American Innovations

Anova

ATEK Access Technologies

Atmos International

Blackline Safety

Dunraven Systems (Tekelek)

Four Data

GasSecure (Drager)

Geoforce

IMI

iTankData

Kingspan Group

OmniMetrix (Acorn Energy)

OptaSense (Luna Innovations)

Otodata

PowTechnology

Sensile Technologies (WIKA Group)

SilentSoft

SkyBitz (Ametek)

SRETT

Tecson

Tektelic

TWTG

Varec (Leidos)

WellAware

4RF

Acksys

Advantech

AMCi Wireless

BEC Technologies (Billion Electric)

Belden

Bentek Systems

Cisco

CSignum

Digi International

Elecsys (Lindsay Corporation)

Eurotech

FreeWave Technologies

HMS Networks

InHand Networks

Lantronix

Moxa

MultiTech

ORBCOMM

Quake Global

RACOM

Red Lion

Robustel

Sierra Wireless (Semtech)

Automation Solutions

Critical Control Technologies

eLynx Technologies

geoLOGIC

IFS

Inductive Automation

Klarian

Peloton

PSI

Quorum Software

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/kjedk

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ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Plastic Material and Resins Global Market Report 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.







Projected Market Growth



The global plastic materials and resins market has demonstrated a significant growth trajectory, expanding from a substantial value of $898.26 billion in 2023. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2%, it is set to ascend to an estimated $998.8 billion by the year 2024. This notable increase is largely attributed to the escalating demands across various sectors including industrial packaging, automotive, and construction. The following period historical period anticipates continued growth, propelling the market to reach an impressive $1498.73 billion by 2028, courtesy of an unwavering CAGR of 10.7%.



Market Drivers and Innovations



Industry growth is anticipated to be spurred by a suite of advancements in the packaging sector. High-impact introductions such as smart packaging solutions leveraging CO2RE foaming technologies, and the integration of big data and IoT are set to play pivotal roles. Consumer-centric improvements such as resealable packaging, simpler opening mechanisms, stand-up pouches, and compact servings are enhancing user experience and loyalty, ultimately driving market dynamics. The marked emergence of eco-friendly biodegradable plastics is yet another sector drawing interest, as they are engineered to decompose naturally with the aid of microorganisms, thus aligning with the pressing global sustainability mandates. Parallel to such developments, the surge in electric vehicle (EV) popularity is ushering the plastic material and resin market into new realms of industrial growth. EVs necessitate lightweight, durable plastics for various applications, thus providing a potent stimulus to the market. Such trends are mirrored in the United States, where hefty EV registration numbers signal a robust demand for advanced plastic materials and resins in the automotive sector.



High-Performance Plastic Breakthroughs



Recent strides within the industry have yielded innovative high-performance plastics, smart polymers notable for their responsive nature to environmental fluctuations. These advancements deliver high electrical conductivity, stability, and resistance to a variety of physical stresses, finding broad applications across medical, electronics, packaging, automotive, and aerospace sectors. Additionally, industry players continue pursuing sustainable alternatives to traditional petroleum-derived products, with developments like seaweed resin setting a new bar for environmental responsibility in the materials sector.



Regional Insights



Asia-Pacific has been identified as the market leader in the plastic material and resins sector as of the year 2023, with North America closely trailing as the second-largest contributor. The comprehensive coverage extends across a multitude of regions including the Middle East and Africa, solidifying the industry's global impact. The market comprises an extensive range of products that serve as a testament to the versatility of plastic materials and resins. The spectrum includes commonly recognized polypropylene and high-density polyethylene to specialty materials for diverse industrial applications. The end-user base is equally vast, branching into chemical, electronics, food, pharmaceuticals, and a host of other significant industries.



Market Outlook Overview



The insights shared offer a lucid perspective on the current standing and the prospective horizon of the plastic material and resins industry. Poised for continuous advancements and holding pivotal importance in a multitude of sectors, the market is set on a robust growth path, indicative of the significant role it plays in the global economy.



Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 400 Forecast Period 2024 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $998.8 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $1498.73 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 10.7% Regions Covered Global



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:

LyondellBasell Industries Holdings BV

Total SE

Ineos AG

Lotte Chemical Corporation

BASF SE

Covestro AG

Formosa Plastics Corp.

Huntsman International LLC

Westlake Chemical Corp

Dow

Nolato

Sintex Industries Ltd (India)

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)

Zamil Plastic Industries Ltd

Sealed Air Corp.

Silgan Holdings Inc.

Northern Vinyl Supplies

Australian Vinyls Corporation (Australia)

Plastral (Australia)

Dagu Chemical Co. Ltd.

China Petrochemical Corporation

ENPI Group

SPREA MISR

Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited (China)

Yabang Investment Holding Group Co. Ltd.

Zhenjiang Chimei Chemical Co. Ltd.

Sanmu Group

DuPont

Cosmoplast

ExxonMobil

Sunstar Engineering Italy S.R.L.

Shanghai Huayi (Group)

Awgifts Europe

Ncs Resins (Pty) Ltd

Are Plastocure cc

Celanese Corp.

Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (India)

Soltex Group

Braskem

Horizon Plastics International

Qatar Petrochemical Company

Kkalpana Industries India Ltd

Chevron Phillips

Formulated Resins Ltd

Flowcrete South Africa

Glezco Plasticos

Messe Brasil

Plastic OJSC

Rosti Poland Sp.

BUFA Composite Systems

VIP Industries Ltd

Solvay S.A.

Graham Packaging Company

China National Petroleum Corporation

GAP Polymers

Black Horse Plastic Products

Sonoco Products Company

Bemis Company

Sichuan Jinlu Group Co. Ltd.

LG Chemical

INEOS Group

SA de CV

TCR Plastics

Berry Global Group Inc.

Matsui Technologies India Ltd

RESITEC PRODUCTION SA

Osterman's Latin American Polymers

POLYNT SPA

Amcor Plc

Xinghua Xinfeng Plastic Co. Ltd.

Johannes H. Andress GMBH & CO. KG

Brovary Plastic Plant

Eastman Chemical Company

Geeta Plastic Products

Advanced Polymer Trading FZC (APT)

Arabian Plastic Industrial Company Limited

Saudi Aramco

HEKRO PET

PolyOne Corporation

Reliance Industries Ltd

Borealis Group

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/a4lpqq

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 Delhi, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global data center market is projected to hit the market valuation of US$ 792.29 billion by 2032 from US$ 328.10 billion in 2023 at a CAGR of 10.64% during the forecast period 20242032.

The global data center market is massive, with approximately 8,000 data center locations worldwide as of 2024. Worldwide data center capital expenditure (capex) grew by 4% in 2023, reaching $260 billion, with servers leading all technology areas in revenue. However, this marked a slowdown from the double-digit growth in the previous year. Globally, I.T. data center spending is expected to reach $222 billion in 2023, up from $212 billion in 2022 and $216 billion in 2021.

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Cloud spending is a major driver of data center growth in 2024. Public cloud services spending is expected to grow by 20.4% in 2024, due to both price increases by cloud vendors and increased utilization. Cybersecurity investments are another significant factor, with around 80% of CIOs planning to increase their spending on cyber/information security in 2024. Advancements in accelerated computing for AI applications, like Nvidia's expected delivery of 100,000 AI server platforms in the current year, and expanding data center footprints are also poised to drive market growth. Investments in the Mexico data center market specifically are expected to reach USD 1.32 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 8.60%.

Despite lingering economic uncertainties and an expected slowdown in overall IT spending growth to 6.8% in 2024 (down from 8% forecast previously), data center spending by businesses remains strong. Some Wall Street analysts expect a dramatic slowdown in cloud computing spending by major tech firms. However, others believe 2022 capex spend targets and business trends for hyperscalers remain solid. Weaker economic sectors do exist, but data center construction for manufacturing and alternative energy is offsetting this.

Data center operators anticipate a temporary dip in demand growth due to economic headwinds, leading to longer sales cycles in 2023. However, overall demand for data center space remains robust and continues to outpace supply. Most experts predict that while near-term growth may slow, they remain bullish on the longer-term outlook. From a vendor perspective, Schneider Electric, Vertiv, and Eaton were the top 3 data center physical infrastructure providers in 2023, with all experiencing double-digit revenue growth.

Key Findings in Data Center Market

Market Forecast (2032) US$ 792.29 billion CAGR 10.64% Largest Region (2023) North America (35.20%) By Component Solution (65.92%) By Type Co-location (40.08%) By Enterprise Size Large (69.51%) By Industry ICT (33.49%) Top Trends Rapid growth of cloud services and hyperscale data centers

Edge computing and micro data centers for low-latency processing

Sustainability focus with renewable energy and efficient cooling technologies Top Drivers Exponential data growth from IoT, AI/ML, and digital transformation initiatives

5G network deployments enabling new edge computing use cases

Increased enterprise adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud strategies Top Challenges High energy consumption and environmental impact of data centers

Ensuring data security and privacy in distributed edge environments

Market Analysis: High Demand for Solution from Large ICT Enterprises Shaping the Global Data Center Market

The solution segment currently dominates the global data center market, commanding over 65% of revenue share. This is driven by the explosion of data generation due to technologies like IoT, cloud computing, and AI. To store and manage this data, IT and telecom companies prefer the cost-efficiency and security of third-party data centers. However, the services segment is experiencing rapid growth, with a projected CAGR of 11.29%. This reflects the increasing demand for cloud-based services, with major cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google becoming some of the biggest customers for data center operators. In 2022, hyperscalers alone accounted for over 50% of global data center leasing activity.

Large enterprises are the primary drivers of data center market growth, accounting for over 69% of the global market. Their increasing reliance on cloud computing, big data, and IoT technologies necessitates a robust IT infrastructure that many find easier to outsource to third-party data center providers. To manage explosive data growth, large enterprises are rapidly moving workloads to the cloud. These digital-first strategies demand modern infrastructure to support innovation. This shift is underlined by statistics showing the average enterprise uses multiple public and private clouds and is heavily invested in cloud infrastructure spending.

The ICT industry dominates the data center market with a projected share of over 33.49%. Its rapid expansion is fueled by cloud computing, 5G networks, IoT, and AI. Cloud migration, in particular, is a significant driver, with the global cloud IT infrastructure market seeing remarkable growth. Telecom operators are also heavy investors as they build data centers to support 5G networks. Additionally, data-intensive sectors like blockchain and machine learning are placing specialized demands on data center infrastructure. Hyperscalers within ICT are the major customers and operators of data centers, leveraging economies of scale to drive innovation, sustainability, and an evolving, competitive landscape.

The Future of Hyperscale Data Center Market: Efficiency, Expansion, and Carbon Neutrality Goals

As of 2022, there were over 700 hyperscale data centers worldwide, operated by more than 30 companies. The average hyperscale data center spans over 200,000 square feet and consumes 20-50 megawatts of power. In 2022, hyperscalers leased a record-breaking 1,087 megawatts of data center capacity globally. Hyperscale data centers can achieve up to 40% lower TCO (total cost of ownership) compared to traditional data centers. Amazon Web Services operates over 80 availability zones across 25 geographic regions worldwide. Microsoft Azure has 60+ regions, more than any other cloud provider. Google Cloud operates 27 cloud regions and 82 availability zones globally. Alibaba Cloud, the largest cloud provider in Asia, operates 25 regions and 80 availability zones.

The top 5 hyperscale spenders across global data center market are were Amazon ($18.6B), Google ($13.1B), Microsoft ($12.4B), Facebook ($11.7B), and Apple ($7.5B). In 2021, hyperscalers deployed over 6,000 prefabricated modular data centers globally. The average PUE (power usage effectiveness) of a hyperscale data center is 1.2, compared to 1.8 for traditional data centers. In 2022, hyperscale data centers consumed an estimated 100-150 terawatt-hours of electricity, or 0.5-1% of global electricity use.

By 2030, hyperscale data centers could consume up to 8% of global electricity demand if efficiency gains don't keep pace.

Microsoft has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030 and remove all historical carbon emissions by 2050. Amazon aims to power 100% of its operations with renewable energy by 2025. Facebook has committed to reaching net zero emissions across its value chain by 2030.

Alibaba Cloud aims to have its data centers running on 100% clean energy by 2030.

Edge Computing is the Future of Data Center Market

The edge data center market is poised for significant expansion. Its global market size is expected to reach a staggering $33.9 billion by 2028, demonstrating a remarkable CAGR of 23.1% from 2021. Data processing is undergoing a fundamental shift away from traditional centralized data centers. By 2025, a massive 75% of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed at the edge, a sharp contrast from only 10% in 2018. This translates to a surge in new edge data center deployments expected to grow by 226% between 2019 and 2025. Moreover, by 2028, 90% of industrial enterprises will utilize edge computing, solidifying its critical role in modern infrastructure. As per Astute Analytica, global edge computing capacity is forecast to grow at a staggering 50% CAGR between 2020 and 2024. This growth underscores the importance of edge processing to handle the influx of data, with 51% of data expected to be stored and processed at the edge by 2024 (compared to 49% in core data centers). Investments in edge computing are expected to reach a massive $800 billion by 2028. In particular, telecom operators in the data center market are poised to invest a significant $500 billion in edge computing development over the next decade. Additionally, 57% of mobility decision-makers plan to invest in edge computing within the next year, further demonstrating strong industry interest.

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5G networks promise to be a major catalyst for edge data centers, with deployments expected to increase by 5x by 2025. The explosive growth of IoT devices, expected to generate 79.4 zettabytes of data by 2025, significantly drives the need for edge processing capabilities. Furthermore, by 2025, 50% of new enterprise IT infrastructure will be deployed at the edge, showcasing the widespread adoption across industries.

Benefits and Challenges

Edge data centers offer significant latency advantages, achieving a 50% reduction compared to traditional centralized data centers. Cost savings are another compelling benefit, with edge computing potentially reducing data transmission costs by 50%. In areas like manufacturing, the power of Edge AI is expected to dramatically improve operational efficiency by 45%. While compelling, edge computing deployments do face challenges - 33% of organizations highlight security concerns and 32% cite the lack of skilled workers as top adoption barriers.

Ecosystem Evolution

The edge data center ecosystem is predicted to grow 4x by 2028, encompassing data centers, nodes, and a vast array of edge devices. Colocation providers are anticipated to play an increasing role, operating 50% of edge data centers by 2028, a dramatic increase from the 10% share in 2020.

Top Investments to Reshape the Data Center Market

AWS to Invest $10 Billion in New Data Centers in Mississippi in 2024

In 2024, AWS has already said it will invest $10 billion to construct new data centers in Mississippi.

AMD's Data Center Revenue Reaches $6.5 Billion in 2023

Demand for AMD's high-performance data center product portfolio is accelerating as AI reshapes the market thanks to AMD chips such as its Instinct GPUs and fourth-generation EPYC CPUs. The longtime Silicon Valley semiconductor company generated $6.5 billion in data center revenue during 2023.

American Tower Partners with IBM for Edge Data Centers in 2024

In 2024, American Tower formed a partnership with IBM where its Access Edge Data Center ecosystem will now include Red Hat OpenShift and IBM Hybrid Cloud.

Digital Realty Joins Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association in January 2024

Digital Realty, a real estate investment trust that owns and operates data centers, recently joined the Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association (APDCA) in January 2024 with the goal of engaging with governments to co-develop policies.

NTT Communications Pledges $11 Billion Investment in Data Centers Over 5 Years

In 2023, NTT Communications, the parent company of NTT Global Data Centers, pledged to invest US$11bn on data centres over the next five years.

Cloud Providers Boost Italian Data Center Space by Over 60%

New developments by cloud providers are boosting the Italian data center market space by more than 60%.

Microsoft, Oracle and Google Open Data Centers in Switzerland in 2024

With Microsoft, Oracle and Google all opening data centres in Switzerland this year, the sector will see dynamic change and likely consolidation.

AI Progress Fuels Transformative Shifts in Data Center Strategies

The exponential progress of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is fueling a wave of transformative shifts in data center design, site selection, and investment strategies.

Global Data Center Market Key Players

Amazon Inc.

Dell Technologies

Digital Realty

Equinix, Inc.

Google LLC

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

IBM Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

N+ONE Data Centers

NTT DATA, Inc.

Oracle Corporation

SAP SE

Other Prominent Players

Key Segmentation Overview:

By Component

Solution

Services

By Type

Co-location

Hyperscale

Edge

Other

By Enterprise Size

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Large Enterprises

By Industry

Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI)

Information and Communication Technology

Government Agencies

Energy & Utilities

Healthcare

Other

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

South America

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About Astute Analytica

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New York, NY, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday, April 5, 2024, at 7:00 PM ET, students of the New York Film Academy (NYFA) BFA in Musical Theatre and 1-Year and 2-Year Musical Theatre programs will come together to perform the original work Paper Valley by composer and director, Nicholas Connors. The show is part of the schools long-standing New Works Series and is open to the public. Tickets are free and can be secured at this link.

The original musical, Paper Valley, written by 2023 Dramatists Guild Fellow, Nicholas Connors, follows Nashville songwriter Kate Sullivan as she returns to her small Wisconsin hometown ten years after leaving with no intention to return. The emotional journey follows Kate as she faces old memories, tough truths, and self-discovery through music. Paper Valley is a story about love, loss, and finding your way back home, one song at a time.

Connors is a recent finalist for the Larson, Ebb, and Kleban Awards. The musical was directed by Mary Cynthia McGowan (How To Dance in Ohio), and infused with a folk and rock mix with musical direction by Joshua Zecher-Ross (The Queen of Versailles).

The creative team touts impressive Broadway credits with Connors serving as Assistant Music Director for Almost Famous. Connors wrote the book and composed the original music and lyrics for Paper Valley. The musical was directed by Mary Cynthia McGowan whose Broadway Credits include Jagged Little Pill, and How To Dance in Ohio. Joshua Zecher-Ross, the shows musical director, has credits including Be More Chill and The Queen of Versailles, starring Kristin Chenoweth. Zecher-Ross also serves as Music Supervisor to the NYFA Musical Theatre department. Clark Mantilla, famous for the popular YouTube series, Clark on Stage, served as the alumni assistant for the production.

The 2024 New Works Series is a long-standing series of original works created and performed by the New York City campus students of the NYFA Musical Theatre department. The series, founded in 2014, was designed to promote the relationship between existing students and emerging composers, writers, and directors across the schools alums, faculty, and external creatives.

It is such an honor for NYFA to present 'Paper Valley' as our thirtieth New Works show since our series began in 2014. This opportunity to work on new shows with the writers in the room is always rewarding and educational for our students. I know that an environment of collaboration and creativity only enhances their experience here and prepares them for a future in this business, says Kristy Cates, Chair of NYFAs Musical Theatre department at the New York City campus.

NYFAs Musical Theatre department faculty includes Department Chair, Kristy Cates (Wicked, Finding Neverland, Charlie and Chocolate Factory); Ricardo Coke-Thomas (Book Of Mormon); Robert W. Schneider (Author: Fifty Key Musicals); Joshua Zecher-Ross (Be More Chill, Once Upon a One More Time); Karl Maier (Pippin); Kathy Calahan (Mary Poppins); Taylor Gordon (Radio City Spectacular); Michelle Potterf (Chicago, Crazy For You, Will Rogers Follies); Jennifer Swiderski (Mamma Mia, The Drowsy Chaperone); Nick Cartell (Les Miserables, Scandalous, Jesus Christ Superstar); Todd Buonopane (Spelling Bee, Grease, Cinderella, Chicago); Wysandria Woolsey (Parade, Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast); David Solomon (Tootsie, Side Show, 9-5, The Mystery of Edwin Drood); Stephen Nachamie (She Loves Me); Charissa Bertels: (If/Then, A Christmas Story).

For those interested in learning about studying musical theatre at NYFA, check out the school's degrees, programs, short-term workshops, and teens and kids camps on the musical theatre discipline page.

About NYFA

New York Film Academy (NYFA) is a world-renowned film, media, and performing arts college that offers BFA and MFA degrees, short-term workshops, 1-and-2 year programs, certificates, online classes, and Summer Camps for teens and kids. NYFA has campuses across the globe in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Italy, Australia, and also online. NYFA students gain hands-on experience alongside industry professionals in Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Screenwriting, Cinematography, Producing, Game Design, Musical Theatre, Broadcast Journalism, Photography, and more.

Learn more at https://www.nyfa.edu/

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Cedar Park, Texas, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shop LC Fashion Collective High School designers from Round Rock ISD and Leander ISD are set to dazzle the community with their innovative designs and creative prowess at "The Fashion Show," happening on April 6, 2024, from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM at Parqsocial (Facilities Resources), located at 1641 Scottsdale Dr, Cedar Park, TX 78613.

This unique event features the creative talents of students from Westwood, Round Rock, Stoney Point, Cedar Ridge, and Cedar Park High Schools. Each student is prepared to present original or upcycled designs on Saturday's catwalk, promising a variety of themes and inspirations that showcase the remarkable talents of these young designers.

Event Schedule:





Model Call Time: 12:15 PM  12:30 PM

12:15 PM  12:30 PM Doors Open for Guests: 1:00 PM

1:00 PM Show Time: 1:30 PM  2:30 PM





Location: Parqsocial (Facilities Resources), 1641 Scottsdale Dr, Cedar Park, TX 78613

"The Fashion Show" is honored to be supported by Shop LC, a key sponsor, and is thrilled to announce BridgeBetween (a past Cedar Park High School grad) as the DJ for the event, offering an eclectic mix of House and Bass music to complement the runway presentations.

"We extend our deepest gratitude to the teachers, district administrators, and everyone involved in making "The Fashion Show" a reality," says Michelle Long, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Shop LC and Program Founder. "Their unwavering support and commitment to fostering creativity and innovation in education is what make events like this possible."

This event is the perfect platform for students to showcase their designs and an opportunity for the community to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work and dedication of students and educators from the participating schools and districts.

The community and media are invited to join us in celebrating the achievements of these young talents. The venue can comfortably seat up to 250 guests, with additional standing room available to accommodate the expected high turnout. Cost is $5 at the door.

Twelve best-in-class designers will advance to walk the runway during Austin Fashion Week on April 20.

About Shop LC

Based in Austin, Texas, home shopping channel Shop LC operates as a full subsidiary of Vaibhav Global Ltd. (VGL), a company with extensive global sourcing and manufacturing resources. Serving as a budget-aware, interactive retailer, Shop LC offers a variety of products spanning fine jewelry, beauty, fashion, home decor and lifestyle categories. Since its establishment in 2007, Shop LC has extended its reach to over 70 million American households, providing live high-definition programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the year. Additionally, the Your Purchase Feeds Program ensures that with every purchase made, a meal is provided to a child in need. For further details, visit www.shoplc.com or download the interactive app available on iTunes, Google Play, and other streaming devices or televisions.




Atlanta, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) showcased Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day and the accompanying Learning Series at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit held this week in Atlanta.

PDFNJ highlighted these initiatives, which are critical in providing New Jersey communities with vital information on preventing opioid misuse, as part of the Rx Summits poster sessions.

The poster detailed Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day, an event organized with the support of the Governor's Council on Substance Use Disorder, the New Jersey Department of Human Services: Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Community Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Morris. Through this program, more than 10,000 volunteers throughout the state share opioid prevention and awareness messages and materials.

The poster also featured the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series, which offers healthcare providers and others involved in addressing the opioid crisis expert insights on preventing and treating opioid use and misuse. The series is a collaboration of PDFNJ, the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (NJ CARES), and the Opioid Education Foundation of America (OEFA). Founded in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Learning Series has grown each year, reaching nearly 10,000 attendees in 2023.

At the Rx Summit, we shared our strategies for reaching New Jersey communities with essential information on preventing opioid misuse, said Angelo Valente, Executive Director of PDFNJ. It is essential that we provide the necessary tools and knowledge so that both patients and providers can make safe and informed decisions about pain management.

The Rx and Illicit Drug Summit is a major national event that brings together professionals from various sectors, including local, state, and federal agencies, businesses, academia, clinicians, and advocates impacted by the opioid crisis. The 2024 Summit, held from April 1-4, in Atlanta, attracted thousands of attendees from across the nation, underscoring its significance as a platform for discussing and addressing the ongoing opioid crisis.

###

Best known for its statewide substance use prevention advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $200 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnerships New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jerseys history. Since its inception, the Partnership has garnered 226 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.

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Houston, Texas, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- University of Saint Thomas-Houston announces Fr. David Michael Moses, a charismatic Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and well-known speaker, musician, and songwriter, as its 2024 Keynote Commencement Speaker on Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m., at NRG Stadium, 8400 Kirby Drive. UST commencement celebrates the achievements of 684 undergraduates and 302 graduate students. Both the Baccalaureate Mass held on Friday, May 10 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and the Commencement the following day will be livestreamed here. For more information in the meantime, go to www.stthom.edu/Commencement.

Graduates are in for a treat, because Fr. David Michael, who is on a mission to share his faith through digital media with contagious joy, good humor and a genuine love for others, is known for his ability to connect with youth. His talk is titled A Generation of Hope. As a young priest, Fr. David Michael Moses will seek to encourage the newest generation of UST graduates to use the foundation of education they have been given to become beacons of hope in a world so in need of direction, meaning, and purpose. Through humor, storytelling and tradition, Fr. David Michael will convey to each graduate the deep significance of the role their lives will play in the Kingdom of God.

The fifth of six children, Fr. David Michael is homegrown born and raised in Nassau Bay, Texas. He started college when he was 14. He graduated from the University of Houston-Clear Lake with a bachelors degree in the Humanities (Pre-Law) when he was 18. He was then accepted to the University of Houston Law School, but ultimately felt called to the priesthood and entered seminary for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. After studying philosophy at Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas, he returned to Houston to continue his formation at St. Marys Seminary, where he earned his Master of Divinity and Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology. Fr. David Michael was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 2019. Currently, he is the parochial vicar at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Spring, Texas.

In addition to his seminary studies and spiritual formation, Fr. David Michael has developed his music composition, performing a series of Concerts for Life that have collectively raised more than $640,000 to assist Houston women in crisis pregnancies. He also enjoys making videos about daily life as a priest shown on YouTube This is Priesthood, which he shares on social media with 140,000 followers.

Honorary Degree

UST will present an honorary doctorate to Mother Adela Galindo, Foundress of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, which seeks to help many hearts to discover the splendor of the Magisterium and Treasures of the Church, and so form ardent and luminous witnesses of the faith to build a new civilization of love and life.

UST President Dr. Richard Ludwick said, Mother Adela Galindo is gifted with the love of God and service to His people. Specifically, through founding the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary she shows faith in action. The Church entrusts Mother with the mission to take the first-class pilgrim relic of the blood of St. John Paul II throughout the western hemisphere, and that mission is one that touches the hearts of our Saint Thomas community. Mother Adela is an evangelizer and one who shares the power of Gods love with the world and exemplifies the University of Saint Thomas values  goodness, discipline, knowledge, and community. We are very happy and honored that she will receive this high award.

The honorary Doctorate is the highest award conferred by the University to recognize profound contributions in the arts, science and technology, education, politics and law, public service, humanitarian pursuits, religion and moral leadership, and civil rights.



About University of Saint Thomas-Houston

University of Saint Thomas-Houston is a comprehensive university, grounded in the liberal arts. Committed to the unity of all knowledge, UST offers programs in the traditional liberal arts, professional, and skills-based disciplines. Graduates of the University of Saint Thomas think critically, communicate effectively, succeed professionally and lead ethically.

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Salinas MRE increases global resources by 45% to 47.8Mt M&I: 5.86Mt @ 1.09% Li2O Inferred 8.9Mt @ 0.97% Li2O ~65% of the MRE is considered open pit

PEA for Salinas initiated; completion expected in H2 2024

Bandeira Operational Update Feasibility Study to be released in May 2024 Construction permits remain on track to be granted in early Q3 2024



TORONTO, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Ionic Corp. (TSXV: LTH; OTCQX: LTHCF; FSE: H3N) (Lithium Ionic or the Company), is pleased to announce an initial NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Salinas Lithium Project (Salinas or the Project), increasing its global mineral resources by 45%. The Salinas property covers 662 hectares or ~4.5% of Lithium Ionics large 14,182-hectare land package within the Lithium Valley in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, and represents the third NI 43-101 compliant lithium MRE the Company has established to date. The Lithium Valley is a unique geological belt that hosts a significant concentration of lithium-bearing pegmatites, which are among the largest and highest grade in the world. The Companys properties are located in a district that is quickly emerging as an important global lithium producer.

The MRE was prepared by GE21 Consultoria Mineral Ltda. (GE21) in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

Salinas MRE Highlights:

Measured and Indicated (M&I) MRE of 5.86 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 1.09% LiO, with an additional 8.90Mt of Inferred MRE grading 0.97% LiO, for a total of 14.76Mt.

The MRE demonstrates rapid growth in a short timeframe. The estimate is based on 122 drill holes, or 27,030 metres, drilled between May and November 2023.

GE21 has identified potential for significant mineral resource growth from additional lithium-rich spodumene mineralization at Salinas, including the recently discovered high-grade Noe target announced on February 6, 2024, which returned a highlight of 1.63% LiO over 5.60m.

Exploration and drilling will continue at Salinas throughout 2024 with an upgraded and expanded MRE for Salinas expected in Q4 2024.

The Salinas MRE significantly increases the Companys consolidated, global mineral resources by 45% to 47.8Mt* with planned exploration programs at existing deposits, Salinas and Bandeira, as well as other regional targets, expected to support significant further mineral resource growth.

GE21 has been engaged to initiate a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) at Salinas, which is expected for completion in H2 2024 with the objective to accelerate directly to a Feasibility Study.

The Company intends to select a suitable consultant in the near-term to initiate the permitting process and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for Salinas. A target of Q1 2025 has been established for the completion of the EIA.



*See the following NI 43-101 compliant technical reports related to Lithium Ionics two other deposits: Mineral Resource Estimate for Lithium Ionic, Itinga Project (effective date of June 24, 2023; authored by Maxime Dupere, B. Sc., P.Geo. and Faisal Sayeed, B. Sc., P.Geo.) and Bandeira Project Aracuai and Itinga, Minas Gerais State, Brazil (effective date of August 30, 2023; authored by Carlos Jose Evangelista Silva, MSc Geo., MAIG)



Blake Hylands, P.Geo., CEO of Lithium Ionic, commented, The initial mineral resource at Salinas marks a significant milestone for us, establishing the Project as another cornerstone asset for the Company. When we acquired the Salinas properties 12 months ago, we recognized the capacity for these claims to quickly and significantly scale our resource base, and its very exciting for us to see this materialize. Our exploration team is confident that the initial discoveries at Salinas are just the beginning, and the next phase of drilling is underway to reveal the full scope of the potential. While our focus remains on near-term production at Bandeira, we now have another meaningful deposit to advance in parallel.

Carlos Costa, P.Geo., Lithium Ionics VP of Exploration, commented, This maiden NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate at a third project site is a major achievement for Lithium Ionic and I am very proud of what our exploration team has accomplished in only eight months. Our efforts will continue over the next year, with a focus on significantly expanding upon the excellent foundation established at both Salinas and Bandeira. We are one of the only lithium companies in the region with large lithium deposits being delineated at multiple sites. Within our large land package in the Lithium Valley, it is our belief that we will continue to identify additional deposits over time and continue to grow our resources to a globally important scale.

Salinas Lithium Project  Initial Mineral Resource Estimate

Strong Foundation with Outstanding Scale Potential

The Salinas Project is located in the lithium-rich Aracuai Pegmatite District, in the northern part of the Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province, which hosts the largest lithium reserves in Brazil.

Salinas is situated approximately 100 kilometres north of the Bandeira Project where feasibility studies are being finalized, and approximately 20 kilometres east of the Salinas municipality, a town of approximately 40,000 people (see location map in Figure 1).

The Salinas MRE contain M&I resources of 5.86Mt grading 1.09% LiO, containing 158,678 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE), the benchmark equivalent raw material used in the lithium industry, along with Inferred resources of 8.90Mt grading 0.97% LiO in the Inferred category, or 214,572 tonnes of LCE (see MRE results in Table 1). The MRE is based on 122 diamond drill holes comprising 27,030 metres of drilling completed between May 2023 and November 2023. An additional 24 holes (6,001 metres) have been drilled since then.

GE21 collaborated closely with the Companys geological team to confirm the presence of a series of North-East trending moderately SE dipping pegmatite veins extending up to 1,200 meters along strike, from surface to a depth of approximately 300 meters (see isometric view of the Salinas deposit in Figure 2).

In addition to the MRE, GE21 analyzed results from drill holes located outside of the mineral resource area in the newly discovered Noe target (see Figure 1), which is believed to be the northeast extension of a large outcropping pegmatite that has been mined for spodumene intermittently for several decades called Lavra do Zoe. This pegmatite body is at least 15 metres thick and has a strike length of at least 210 metres.

Based on the initial drilling to date, GE21 has identified the Noe target as having strong near-term potential to further increase the MRE by between 10-15Mt with grades ranging from 1.0-1.3% Li2O following the completion of additional drilling*.

Exploration work and drilling will be ongoing at Salinas for the remainder of 2024 to continue to expand and upgrade the mineral resources. An upgraded MRE for Salinas is expected later this year.

The NI 43-101 technical report for the MRE, will be accessible on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) under the Companys issuer profile and the Companys website within 45 days of this news release.

*The potential quantity and grade of the lithium mineralization at the Noe target is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource or Reserve and it is uncertain if further exploration will confirm the target ranges.

Table 1: Salinas Mineral Resource Estimate Summary

Deposit / Category



Resource (tonnes)



Grade Contained LCE (t)



Cut-Off Grade (% Li2O)



Salinas

Open-Pit*

(0.5% cut-off)











Measured 940,000 1.22 28,360 Indicated 3,140,000 1.11 86,194 Measured + Indicated 4,080,000 1.14 114,554 Inferred 5,540,000 0.99 135,634 Salinas

Underground

(0.5% cut-off)











Measured 170,000 0.93 3,910 Indicated 1,610,000 1.01 40,213 Measured + Indicated 1,780,000 1.00 44,123 Inferred 3,360,000 0.95 78,938 TOTAL











Measured 1,110,000 1.18 32,270 Indicated 4,750,000 1.08 126,407 Measured + Indicated 5,860,000 1.09 158,678 Inferred 8,900,000 0.97 214,572

(*) SR limited to 18

The spodumene pegmatite domains were modeled using composites with Li2O grades greater than 0.3% The mineral resource estimates were prepared in accordance with the CIM Standards, and the CIM Guidelines, using geostatistical and/or classical methods, plus economic and mining parameters appropriate to the deposit. Mineral Resources are not ore reserves and are not demonstrably economically recoverable. Grades reported using dry density. The effective date of the MRE is January 4, 2024. The QP responsible for the MRE is geologist Leonardo Soares (MAIG #5180). The MRE numbers provided have been rounded to the estimate relative precision. Values cannot be added due to rounding. The MRE is delimited by Lithium Ionic Baixa Grande Target Claims (ANM). The MRE was estimated using ordinary kriging in 16m x 16m x 4m blocks. The MRE report table was produced in Leapfrog Geo software. The reported MRE only contains fresh rock domains. The MRE was restricted by a pit shell using a selling price of 2750 US$/t Conc., Mining cost of 2.50 US$/ton mined, processing cost of 12.50 US$/ ton ROM and a selling cost of 112.56 US$/t conc.





Figure 1. Salinas Project Location

View Figure 1 here: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0e3bc4e8-7e5b-4fe1-a18e-6ee825d0650f





Figure 2. Isometric View of the Salinas Deposit

View Figure 2 here: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/26a3415f-224a-4ac0-b89c-f8bc119c940f

Salinas PEA Underway

Independent Brazilian consultancy, GE21 Consultoria Mineral Ltda , based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, has been engaged to carry out a PEA based on the Salinas MRE. The PEA is planned for completion in H2 2024.

Salinas Permitting process underway with EIA completion expected in 2025

The Company is in the process of selecting a suitable consultant to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the Salinas property, which will contain an analysis of the Projects potential environmental and social impacts. Following the completion of the EIA which is expected in Q1 2025, the Company can apply for the Prior License (LP or Licenca Previa in Portuguese), the first stage of the environmental licensing process for mining projects in Brazil.

Details related to the calculation of the MRE

The MRE was prepared by Leonardo Soares, P.Geo., M.Sc., of GE21 (the Author or QP) with an effective date of January 4, 2024.

The MRE was prepared using the following geological and resource block modeling parameters which are based on geological interpretations, geostatistical studies, and best practices in mineral estimation.

The QP is not aware of any factors or issues that materially affect the MRE other than normal risks faced by mining projects in the province in terms of environmental, permitting, taxation, socio-economic, marketing, and political factors, and additional risk factors regarding inferred resources.

The Project geology comprises Neoproterozoic age sedimentary rocks of Aracuai Orogen intruded by fertile Li-bearing pegmatites originated by fractionation of magmatic fluids from the peraluminous S-type post-tectonic granitoids of Aracuai Orogen. Lithium mineralization is related to concordant and discordant swarms of spodumene-bearing tabular pegmatites hosted by cordierite-biotite-quartz schists.

Drilling conducted by Lithium Ionic included diamond core drilling of NTW (64.2mm diameter).

Diamond core has been sampled in intervals of ~ 1 m where possible, otherwise intervals less than 1 m have been selected based on geological boundaries. Geological boundaries have not been crossed by sample intervals.  core samples have been collected and submitted for analysis, with regular field duplicate samples collected and submitted for QA/QC analysis.

Drill core samples were submitted to SGS Geosol laboratories in Brazil where they were analyzed for a 31-element suite via ICP90A (fusion by sodium peroxide and finish with ICP- MS/ICP-OES). Assay data were composited to 1 m.

The MRE was estimated from the diamond drill holes completed by Lithium Ionic from May 2023 until November 2023. Data from a total of 122 drill holes comprising 3,276 assays were included in the mineral resources model.

The 3D modelling of lithium Mineral Resources was conducted using a minimum cut-off grade of 0.3% Li 2 O within a preliminary lithological model.

O within a preliminary lithological model. The interpolation was conducted using Krigging methodology with three interpolation passes.

The block model was defined by a block size of 5 m long by 5 m wide by 5 m thick and covers a strike length of approximately 1,200 m to a maximal vertical depth of 300 m below surface.

The MRE was classified as Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource based on data quality, sample spacing, and pegmatite continuity. The Measured Mineral Resource was defined using a search ellipsoid of 50 m by 50 m by 30 m, and where the continuity and predictability of the mineralized units was reasonable. The Indicated Mineral Resource was defined using a search ellipsoid 100 m by 100 m by 50 m. The Inferred Mineral Resource was assigned to areas where drill hole spacing was greater than 100 m by 100 m by 50 m for all remaining blocks.

Classification focused on spatial relation using a minimum of five composites in at least three different drill holes for the Measured and Indicated resources.

Validation has proven that the block model fairly reflects the underlying data inputs. Variability over distance is relatively moderate to low for this deposit type therefore the maximum classification level is Indicated.

Mineralization at the deposits extends to surface and is expected to be suitable for open cut mining; no minimum mining width was applied; internal mining dilution is limited to internal barren pegmatite and/or host rock intervals within the mineralized pegmatite intervals; based on these assumptions, it is considered that there are no mining factors which are likely to affect the assumption that the deposit has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.

It is the QPs opinion that the current classification used is adequate and reliable for this type of mineralization and MRE.

Initial Metallurgical tests results are not available at this stage of project advancement. An assumed concentrate (DMS) recovery of 65% has been applied in determining reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction.

Mineral Resources were constrained within the boundaries of an optimized pit shell using the following constraints: Concentrate price: USD$2,750; mining costs: USD$2.5/t ROM; Processing costs: USD$12.5/t ROM, General/Admin: USD$4.0/t ROM, Lithium Recovery: 65%, Mining Recovery: 95% and Pit slope: 60.

The MRE reported is a global estimate with reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction.

Bandeira Feasibility Study Update

A Feasibility Study for Bandeira is currently being finalized by AtkinsRealis (formerly SNC-Lavalin). Results were recently presented to the Company, which were in line with guidance and expectations, however certain aspects of the study require additional work to meet the standard of accuracy expected at a feasibility level study. Further detail is being developed on installed equipment costs to ensure the capital estimate meets a level of precision suitable for project financing. While the CAPEX of the Project is not expected to be materially different from the PEA results, this additional work will increase the certainty of the economic model and better support the transition to the execution phase of the project. AtkinsRealis has indicated that they require approximately 4-6 weeks from todays date to complete this additional work. The Company is capitalizing on this additional time to complete further metallurgical process tests to optimize dense media recoveries. Losses associated with fines during the crushing stage are typical in DMS (Dense Media Separation) circuits, however the Company is exploring solutions to maximize the recoveries of these fines to further enhance the project. The completion of the Feasibility Study is now expected in May 2024.

Helio Diniz, President of Lithium Ionic, commented, The Feasibility Study is nearing completion, with results aligning closely with our expectations and projections. Our current focus is on ensuring that the quality and level of detail of the study meets our expected standard, while also exploring every avenue for project optimization before advancing to the next stages of development. We are confident that this diligent work will result in a highly accurate and reliable study that will support a seamless transition to the execution phase of the project.

Bandeira Environmental Licence On-Track

The review of the Concomitant Environmental and Installation License (LAC, or Licenca Ambiental Concomitante in Portuguese) application for the Bandeira Project is well underway by the Minas Gerais State Department of Environment and Sustainable Development ("SEMAD). Since submitting the application in November 2023 (see press release dated November 21, 2023), Lithium Ionic has engaged in productive discussions with SEMAD, during which no significant concerns or issues were highlighted. The license is expected to be granted in early Q3 2024, aligning with our projected timeline.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Lithium Ionic Corp.

Blake Hylands

Chief Executive Officer, Director

About Lithium Ionic Corp.

Lithium Ionic is a Canadian mining company exploring and developing its lithium properties in Brazil. Its flagship Itinga and Salinas projects cover 14,182 hectares in the northeastern part of Minas Gerais state, a mining-friendly jurisdiction that is quickly emerging as a world-class hard-rock lithium district. The Itinga Project is situated in the same region as CBLs Cachoeira lithium mine, which has produced lithium for +30 years, as well as Sigma Lithium Corp.s Grota do Cirilo project, which hosts the largest hard-rock lithium deposit in the Americas.

Qualified Persons

Leonardo Soares, P.Geo., M.Sc., of GE21 is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 And has reviewed and approved the technical information and data regarding the MRE included in this news release. Mr. Soares is independent of Lithium Ionic. All other scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by Carlos Costa, Vice President Exploration of Lithium Ionic and Blake Hylands, CEO and director of Lithium Ionic, and both are qualified persons as defined in NI 43-101.

Investor and Media Inquiries:

+1 647.316.2500

info@lithiumionic.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-statements. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words estimate, project, belief, anticipate, intend, expect, plan, predict, may or should and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the prospectivity of the Companys mineral properties including Salinas and Bandeira, the Companys ability to produce a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate, PEA and/or Feasibility study and the timing thereof, the Companys ability to obtain the requisite licences and permits, the economic viability of the Bandeira project, the Companys ability to obtain adequate financing, the mineralization and development of the Companys mineral properties, the Companys exploration program and other mining projects and prospects thereof and the Companys future plans. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Information and links in this press release relating to other mineral resource companies are from their sources believed to be reliable, but that have not been independently verified by the Company.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.




NEW YORK, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Xponential Fitness, Inc. (Xponential or the Company) (NYSE: XPOF). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.



The class action concerns whether Xponential and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

You have until April 10, 2024 , to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Xponential securities during the Class Period. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com .

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On June 26, 2023, short-biased analyst firm Fuzzy Panda published a research report titled Xponential Fitness (XPOF)  Abusive Franchisor That Is A House Of Cards (the Fuzzy Panda Report). Among other revelations, the Fuzzy Panda Report alleged that Xponentials Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anthony Geisler has had a long history of misleading investors, including being exposed on camera for using boiler room tactics to mislead investors in connection with a prior venture and issuing false claims that Xponential never closed a store. The Fuzzy Panda Report disclosed that its examination of 64 Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) demonstrated 8 of 10 Xponential brands are losing money monthly and more than 50% of its studios never make a positive financial return. The Fuzzy Panda Report also revealed that more than 100 of Xponentials franchises were for sale at a price 75% less than their initial cost and that the same-store sales (SSS) and average unit volume (AUV) the Company reports to investors selectively and misleadingly exclude underperforming stores.

Following publication of the Fuzzy Panda Report, Xponentials stock price fell $9.39 per share, or more than 39%, to close at $15.72 per share on June 27, 2023.

Although Xponential attempted to deny the allegations in the Fuzzy Panda Report, on December 7, 2023, Bloomberg Businessweek (Businessweek) published an expose on the Company that largely corroborated the Fuzzy Panda Reports allegations entitled Club Pilates, Pure Barre Owners Say Xponential Left Them Bankrupt. The article stated that Businessweek had interviewed dozens of former business partners, employees, and franchisees of the Company who revealed that Xponential misled many franchisees into a financial nightmare. The article stated that CEO Geisler has a track record of combative management, deploying growth-at-all-costs tactics and unleashing aggressive reprisals against anyone who gets in his way. The article disclosed that these unscrupulous tactics caused many of the companys franchisees . . . [to] have either declared bankruptcy or los[e] their retirement savings.

Following publication of the Businessweek article, Xponentials stock price fell more than 26% over two trading days on heavy trading volume to close at less than $9 per share on December 11, 2023.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com .

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Vancouver, April 3, 2024 - American Pacific Mining Corp. (CSE: USGD) (OTCQX: USGDF) (FSE: 1QC) ("American Pacific" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, due to overwhelming investor demand, it has increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") (see news releases dated April 2, 2024 and April 3, 2024) an additional 2,500,000 units at a price of $0.20 per unit (the "Unit") for gross proceeds $4,500,000. The private placement is fully subscribed.

"We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from both new and existing investors in this private placement," commented CEO Warwick Smith. "This strong demand is a testament to the confidence investors have in our company's vision and ability to create long-term shareholder value as we accelerate the exploration of our key projects."

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for exploration and development on the Company's Palmer Project, Madison Project, other mineral exploration and development projects, and for general corporate purposes. Closing of the Offering is expected to occur as soon as practicable and may occur in one or more tranches. The Company may pay a finder's fee in connection with the Offering to eligible arm's length finders in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. Eventus Capital Corp. has been appointed as a Finder in connection with the Offering.

This Offering is being conducted under the listed issuer financing exemption as per Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions. As a result, the securities issued will not be subject to a hold period under the prevailing Canadian securities laws. A Second Amended and Restated Offering Document dated April 3, 2024, related to this Offering is available on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on www.americanpacificmining.com. Potential investors are advised to thoroughly review the offering document prior to making any investment decisions.

The securities issued pursuant to the Offering have not, nor will they be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons in the absence of U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About American Pacific Mining Corp.

American Pacific Mining Corp. is a precious and base metals explorer and developer focused on opportunities in the Western United States. The Company has two flagship assets: the Palmer Project, a Volcanic Massive Sulphide-Sulphate (VMS) project in Alaska, under joint-venture partnership with Dowa Metals & Mining, owner of Japan's largest zinc smelter; and the Madison Project, a past-producing copper-gold project in Montana. For the Madison transaction, American Pacific was selected as a finalist in both 2021 and 2022 for 'Deal of the Year' at the S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards, an annual program that recognizes exemplary accomplishments in 16 performance categories. Also, in American Pacific's asset portfolio are high-grade, precious metals projects located in key mining districts in Nevada, USA, including the Ziggurat Gold project, partnered with Centerra Gold and the Tuscarora Gold-Silver project. The Company's mission is to grow by the drill bit and by acquisition.

On Behalf of American Pacific Mining Corp. Board of Directors:

Warwick Smith, CEO & Director

Corporate Office: Suite 910 - 510 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC, V6C 3A8 Canada

Investor relations contact:

Kristina Pillon, High Tide Consulting Corp.,

604.908.1695 / Kristina@americanpacific.ca

Media relations contact:

Adam Bello, Primoris Group Inc.,

416.489.0092 / media@primorisgroup.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this new release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements related to the completion of the Offering and the anticipated use of proceeds therefrom. 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 the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the 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 applicable securities laws, 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.

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/204220
51.8m @ 3.24 g/t Au (Sulphide)

42.7m @ 3.96 g/t Au, incl. 3.10m @ 21.1g/t (Sulphide)

VANCOUVER, April 4, 2024 - Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX: OLA) (NYSE: ORLA) ("Orla" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its exploration at the South Railroad Project ("South Railroad" or the "Project") including 2023 activities and 2024 work plans. This news release presents the second of two updates and highlights Orla's regional drilling activities at the Project.

Highlights:

Confirmation of strong Carlin-Type mineralization at North Bullion sulphide deposit.

Infill and metallurgical drilling at Jasperoid Wash near-surface oxide deposit.

Mineralization extensions at North Bullion and Jasperoid Wash deposits.

Identification of potential deposit extensions and new targets on South Railroad Project.

Extension of key mineralized trend with planned addition of the Pony Creek property through the acquisition of Contact Gold Corp. ("Contact Gold").

"Since our acquisition of the South Railroad project in August 2022, we've made tremendous progress in our exploration efforts on the South Carlin Trend. Recent positive drill results beyond the projected oxide open pits at Pinion and Dark Star deposits reveal significant potential for resource expansion. These new drill results, ongoing target definition efforts, and the forthcoming acquisition of the Pony Creek project, scheduled to close in the second quarter, underscore our commitment to exploration and discovery in the region. With expanded 2024 program planned, we aim to drill over 22,000 metres, with the goal of unlocking further value from this exceptional project."

- Sylvain Guerard, Orla's Senior Vice President, Exploration

North Bullion Deposit - Upgrading Sulphide Resources

Following the positive drill intersections reported outside the projected open pit at South Railroad (see March 7, 2023 news release), Orla is pleased to report strong drill results from the infill drill program at North Bullion (Figure 3).

The North Bullion deposit, located in the northern part of the South Railroad property, approximately 9.5 kilometres north of the Pinion Deposit, contains a sulphide inferred mineral resource of 3.72 million tonnes grading 4.49 grams per tonne of gold (g/t Au), for a total of 457,000 ounces. The 2023 infill drilling program successfully achieved its objectives in validating historical data for upgrading the mineral resource estimate category from inferred to indicated. Assay results confirmed positive gold values consistent with historical assays (Figure 4), leading to a revision of the geological model and identification of targets for the 2024 drilling extensions of the deposit.

North Bullion 2023 Results RR23-05 3.24 g/t Au over 51.8 m (sulphide) RR23-04 incl. 2.37 g/t Au over 24.4 m (sulphide) 3.46 g/t Au over 15.2 m RR23-12 incl. 2.55 g/t Au over 21.3 m (sulphide) 3.09 g/t Au over 16.8 m RR23-13 incl. 1.78 g/t Au over 105.2 m (sulphide) 2.54 g/t Au over 54.9 m

South Railroad Satellite Deposit Drill Program

Building on the 2022 exploration program, which concentrated on advancing satellite deposits (see news release dated February 8, 2023), Orla conducted a 2023 drilling campaign focused on testing exploration targets across the South Railroad property. This 2023 program returned encouraging assay results justifying follow-up exploration drilling in 2024 on the extension of the North Bullion and Jasperoid Wash mineralized zones.

North Bullion Extension - Targeting Sulphide Growth

Infill drilling at North Bullion identified a steep east-northeast dipping structure controlling sulphide-hosted high-grade gold mineralization. Review of historical geophysical data suggests the structure controlling high-grade gold mineralization continues to the north-northwest of the currently defined North Bullion deposit and may be analogous to the northwest-southeast structural control noted at Nevada Gold Mines Rain deposit 7.4 kilometres to the north. As a result, drilling is planned in 2024 to test the extension northwest of the deposit (Figure 4).

Jasperoid Wash - Targeting Oxide Additions

Drilling at the Jasperoid Wash deposit, located approximately 6 kilometres south of the Pinion Deposit, targeted potential shallow gold mineralization along the north extension of the mineralized trend (Figure 5). Selective infill drilling was conducted to confirm the geological model and provide material for metallurgical testing. Results confirmed significant oxide mineralization in and below inferred resource open pits, such as holes JWC23-01: 0.53 g/t Au over 17.7 m and JWC23-02: 0.85 g/t Au over 44.2 m. Drilling also intercepted shallow low-grade gold mineralization outside the inferred resource open pits (JWC23-04: 0.23 g/t Au over 21.9 m in oxide, Figure 6).

In 2024, follow-up drilling will aim to increase the oxide resources beyond the currently defined inferred resource open pits. Drilling will target an approximately 200-metre by 300-metre area underlain by favourable siliciclastic host rocks (Pennsylvanian-Permian conglomerate) with a coincident gold-in-soil anomaly, suggesting potential underlying mineralization, to the east of the north-south mineralized zone.

POD Extension - High Grade Silver Potential

Drilling in the POD area targeted the potential northwest extension of the deposit. This recent drilling intercepted high-grade silver mineralization, including RRC23-04: 534 g/t Ag over 2.1m, including 1,511 g/t Ag over 0.6m, and 477 g/t Ag over 3.7m, including 1,101 g/t Ag over 1.5m. Follow-up drilling in 2024 is planned to the southwest, near the Bullion Stock, which is interpreted as the potential intrusive source of this distinct style of mineralization.

2024 Exploration Drill Program

In 2023, Orla's exploration successfully demonstrated mineralization beyond projected open pits, advanced satellite deposits, and identified new target areas. This work significantly enhances the Project's geological potential for resource growth and new discoveries. Continuing into 2024, Orla has planned a drill program of approximately 22,800 metres.

The planned 2024 exploration program includes 4,400 metres of drilling to extend mineralization at the Pinion and Dark Star deposits, 6,400 metres of drilling to test extensions and grow satellite deposit resources, and 12,000 metres to drill test exploration targets on the South Railroad and Pony Creek properties (Figure 1).

Expanding Projected Oxide Open Pits

Building on the near-deposit exploration in 2023, the Company is looking to extend mineralization and expand gold resources and reserves at Pinion and Dark Star.

At Dark Star, Orla will follow-up on high-grade oxide drill results obtained outside the projected open pit, such as the recent intercept of 36.6m at 3.53 g/t Au, including 19.8m at 5.23 g/t Au (oxide; see news release dated March 7, 2024). The 2024 drilling program will target the potential extension of oxide gold mineralization while also testing for high-grade sulphide mineralization. This will involve exploring down-dip and the northern extensions of key structures hosting high-grade mineralization, as well as assessing the continuity of gold mineralization between Dark Star's northern and southern pits.

At the Pinion Deposit, Orla will focus on the southeast extension area where recent drilling revealed continuous mineralization, including 112.7m at 0.72 g/t Au in oxide (news release dated March 7, 2024), aiming to increase ounces and upgrade blocks from inferred to indicated resource category.

Advancing Satellite Mineralized Zones:

Orla will target the extension of mineral resources at satellite deposits in 2024, including extending sulphide mineralization at North Bullion and targeting shallow oxide mineralization at Jasperoid Wash on the South Railroad property. Following Orla's proposed acquisition of Contact Gold in the second quarter of 2024, drilling on Pony Creek will focus on extending oxide mineralization at the Stallion and Appaloosa mineralized zones.

New Exploration Targets:

In 2024, Orla will drill test new exploration targets across the South Railroad and Pony Creek properties. The focus will be on Carlin-type oxide hosted gold mineralization in the southern part of South Railroad and northern part of Pony Creek, where strong Au-in-soil anomalies remain untested. In the northern part of South Railroad, corresponding to the original Railroad District area, Orla will target potential skarn-hosted Au(-Ag-Cu) mineralization supported by magnetic anomalies near the margins of the granodioritic Bullion stock.

2024 Exploration Budget:

To enhance continued exploration efforts at the extended South Railroad project, Orla intends to increase the exploration budget by $3.0 million, subject to closing of the Contact Gold acquisition. This additional expenditure will increase the total 2024 exploration spend at South Railroad to $13.0 million.

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 (FAPB30-ICP) at American Assay Laboratories in Sparks, Nevada, USA. Over limit gold assays were determined using fire assay fusion with gravimetric finish (GRAVAu-30). Gold cyanide extraction was determined 8 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 Laboratories 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), and March 7, 2024 (Orla Mining Drills Oxide Mineralization Outside Projected Open Pits at South Railroad Project in Nevada). For additional information on South Railroad, see the technical report entitled "South Railroad Project, Form 43-101F1 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Elko County, Nevada" dated March 23, 2022, which is available on Orla's website at www.orlamining.com, and on SEDAR+ and EDGAR under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, respectively.

About Orla Mining Ltd.

Orla's corporate strategy is to acquire, develop, and operate mineral properties where the Company's expertise can substantially increase stakeholder value. The Company has two material gold projects: (1) Camino Rojo, located in Zacatecas State, Mexico and (2) South Railroad, located in Nevada, United States. Orla is operating the Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Mine, a gold and silver open-pit and heap leach mine. Orla is also developing the South Railroad Project, a feasibility-stage, open pit, heap leach gold project located on the Carlin trend in Nevada. The property is 100% owned by Orla and covers over 160,000 hectares which contains a large oxide and sulphide mineral resource. Orla also owns 100% of Cerro Quema located in Panama which includes a pre-feasibility-stage, open-pit, heap leach gold project and a copper-gold sulphide resource. The technical reports for the Company's material projects are available on Orla's website at www.orlamining.com, and on SEDAR+ and EDGAR under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, respectively.

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 and the Company's ability to unlock further value from the project and make new discoveries; the Company's proposed transaction with Contact Gold, including the closing of the transaction and the timing thereof; and the Company's 2024 drill program, including the planned expenditures, goals, and timing thereof. 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; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services remaining as estimated; 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; the obtaining of a subsequent agreement with Fresnillo to access the sulphide mineral resource at the Camino Rojo Project and develop the entire Camino Rojo Project mineral resources estimate; 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; the impact of coronavirus ("COVID-19") on the Company's operations; that the Company's activities will be in accordance with the Company's public statements and stated goals; the Company's transaction with Contact Gold, including the closing and timing thereof; 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: risks associated with the Company's transaction with Contact Gold, including the failure to obtain securityholder, regulatory or court approvals in connection with the transaction; 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; foreign country and political risks, including risks relating to foreign operations; risks related to the Cerro Quema Project; 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 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; risks related to natural disasters, terrorist acts, health crises, and other disruptions and dislocations, including the COVID-19 pandemic; financing risks and access to additional capital; risks related to guidance estimates and uncertainties inherent in the preparation of 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; the Company's significant shareholders; gold industry concentration; shareholder activism; other 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 19, 2024, 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 in this news release 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 ("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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. 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 Industry Guide 7 under the U.S. Securities Act. As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multijurisdictional disclosure system, the Company is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and provides disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, mineral reserve and mineral resource information contained in this news release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies.

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 above terms are "substantially similar" to CIM Definition Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. 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 Industry Guide 7. Accordingly, information contained in this news release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Appendix: Drill Results

Table 1: North Bullion Composite Drill Results (Composites Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au cog & Sx 0.5g/t Au cog)

HOLE-ID From

(m) To

(m) Core Length

(m) Au

(g/t) CN Rec

(%) Au GXM Oxide

Domain Including

1g/t Au COG Including

2g/t Au COG Including

10g/t Au HG







RR23-01 137.16 140.21 3.0 1.04 6.7 3.17 Sulphide 1.52m @ 1.21g/t Au & 4.1% CN Rec







RR23-01 294.13 297.18 3.0 0.68 3.6 2.08 Sulphide









RR23-01 310.90 312.42 1.5 0.57 5.3 0.87 Sulphide









RR23-01 324.61 355.09 30.5 1.30 4.7 39.55 Sulphide 22.86m @ 1.58g/t Au & 5% CN Rec 6.1m @ 2.13g/t Au & 5% CN Rec

1.52m @ 2.8g/t Au & 8.2% CN Rec





RR23-01 370.33 371.86 1.5 0.86 2.3 1.31 Sulphide









RR23-04 163.07 187.45 24.4 2.37 3.3 57.86 Sulphide 15.24m @ 3.46g/t Au & 4.5% CN Rec 15.24m @ 3.46g/t Au & 4.5% CN Rec





RR23-04 259.08 321.56 62.5 1.07 3.9 66.90 Sulphide 9.14m @ 1.54g/t Au & 5.2% CN Rec

6.1m @ 2.59g/t Au & 4.1% CN Rec

15.24m @ 1.15g/t Au & 3.6% CN Rec 6.1m @ 2.59g/t Au & 4.1% CN Rec





RR23-04 329.18 353.57 24.4 0.60 1.9 14.75 Sulphide 1.52m @ 1.03g/t Au & 1% CN Rec







RR23-05 138.68 141.73 3.0 1.16 1.3 3.54 Sulphide 1.52m @ 1.56g/t Au & 1.3% CN Rec







RR23-05 150.88 202.69 51.8 3.24 3.0 168.06 Sulphide 48.77m @ 3.4g/t Au & 3.1% CN Rec 44.2m @ 3.6g/t Au & 2.9% CN Rec





RR23-06 173.74 198.12 24.4 2.00 1.2 48.82 Sulphide 18.29m @ 2.44g/t Au & 1.2% CN Rec 16.76m @ 2.56g/t Au & 1.2% CN Rec





RR23-08 286.51 297.79 11.3 0.51 1.6 5.73 Sulphide









RR23-09 207.57 250.24 42.7 3.96 8.7 168.90 Sulphide 42.67m @ 3.96g/t Au & 8.7% CN Rec 20.73m @ 3g/t Au & 9.7% CN Rec

13.72m @ 7.09g/t Au & 7.4% CN Rec 3.05m @ 21.07g/t Au & 11.2% CN Rec



RR23-09 311.51 377.04 65.5 1.15 3.2 75.61 Sulphide 46.63m @ 1.33g/t Au & 3.6% CN Rec

1.52m @ 1.76g/t Au & .6% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2g/t Au & 5.5% CN Rec

1.52m @ 2.08g/t Au & 4.3% CN Rec





RR23-10 92.96 96.01 3.0 0.59 4.2 1.80 Sulphide









RR23-10 292.61 301.75 9.1 0.57 1.0 5.20 Sulphide









RR23-10 332.23 338.33 6.1 0.64 1.8 3.92 Sulphide









RR23-10 361.19 362.71 1.5 0.52 9.6 0.80 Sulphide









RR23-12 323.09 344.42 21.3 2.55 0.8 54.46 Sulphide 16.76m @ 3.09g/t Au & .8% CN Rec 13.72m @ 3.5g/t Au & .9% CN Rec





RR23-12 355.09 382.52 27.4 0.81 2.9 22.23 Sulphide 7.62m @ 1.17g/t Au & 1.3% CN Rec

4.57m @ 1.66g/t Au & 7.1% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2.3g/t Au & 7% CN Rec





RR23-13 275.84 381.00 105.2 1.78 1.7 187.70 Sulphide 76.2m @ 2.16g/t Au & 1.5% CN Rec

6.1m @ 1.65g/t Au & 2.1% CN Rec 54.86m @ 2.54g/t Au & 1.7% CN Rec

3.05m @ 2.42g/t Au & 2.5% CN Rec





RR23-14 265.48 281.64 16.2 1.24 1.4 19.98 Sulphide 11.28m @ 1.5g/t Au & 1.4% CN Rec 1.07m @ 3.19g/t Au & 3.4% CN Rec

2.13m @ 3.57g/t Au & .8% CN Rec





RR23-14 299.44 305.11 5.7 1.09 0.8 6.16 Sulphide 2.44m @ 1.48g/t Au & .9% CN Rec







RR23-14 317.91 320.50 2.6 0.59 1.7 1.52 Sulphide









RR23-14 327.48 379.93 52.5 1.17 2.2 61.20 Sulphide 10.67m @ 2.77g/t Au & 2.3% CN Rec

9.75m @ 1.35g/t Au & 1.4% CN Rec 5.88m @ 3.85g/t Au & 3% CN Rec

3.66m @ 2.15g/t Au & 1.8% CN Rec





RRC23-01 191.11 194.16 3.0 1.14 4.0 3.46 Sulphide 3.05m @ 1.14g/t Au & 4% CN Rec







RRC23-01 232.26 256.03 23.8 1.51 7.9 35.88 Sulphide 17.37m @ 1.86g/t Au & 6.5% CN Rec 7.92m @ 2.5g/t Au & 6.6% CN Rec





RRC23-02 198.58 204.83 6.2 0.64 0.8 4.01 Sulphide









RRC23-02 220.07 223.11 3.0 0.87 5.3 2.65 Sulphide 1.52m @ 1.21g/t Au & 5% CN Rec







RRC23-02 232.26 249.33 17.1 2.27 4.8 38.79 Sulphide 15.54m @ 2.47g/t Au & 4.8% CN Rec 9.45m @ 3.64g/t Au & 6.2% CN Rec





RRC23-02 266.40 267.92 1.5 0.68 0.7 1.03 Sulphide









RRC23-02 277.98 279.50 1.5 0.60 0.8 0.92 Sulphide









RRC23-02 329.79 335.28 5.5 0.76 1.4 4.15 Sulphide 1.22m @ 1.24g/t Au & 2.4% CN Rec







RRC23-02 346.25 355.70 9.4 4.30 2.1 40.62 Sulphide 9.45m @ 4.3g/t Au & 2.1% CN Rec 9.45m @ 4.3g/t Au & 2.1% CN Rec 1.83m @ 11.6g/t Au & 6.6% CN Rec



RRC23-02 361.80 369.42 7.6 0.82 1.5 6.26 Sulphide









RRC23-02 377.04 385.27 8.2 0.82 0.7 6.73 Sulphide











Criteria: Cut off grade Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au & Sx 0.5g/t Au, minimum length 1.5m, maximum consecutive internal waste 6m OX= Oxide, TR= Transition, SX= Sulphide. True width of intercepts is uncertain but estimated to range between 40-85% of core length.

Table 2: POD Regional Program Composite Drill Results

HOLE-ID From

(m) To

(m) Core Length

(m) Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Including







RRC23-04 84.28 85.95 1.7 0.01 487.0





RRC23-04 155.30 157.43 2.1 0.01 533.9 0.6m @ 1511g/t Ag



RRC23-04 212.90 213.67 0.8 0.01 163.0





RRC23-04 226.92 233.32 6.4 0.02 95.0 1.2m @ 349g/t Ag



RRC23-04 258.32 261.98 3.7 0.06 477.0 1.5m @ 1101g/t Ag





Criteria: Cut off grade 41.7g/t Ag, minimum length 1.5m, maximum consecutive internal waste 6m, if Ag grade x length > 62.5 the composite will be added. True width of intercepts are uncertain.

Table 3: Jasperoid Wash Regional Program Composite Drill Results

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







JW23-03 132.59 134.11 1.5 0.17 74.7 0.27 Oxide







JW23-04 225.55 227.08 1.5 0.20 40.8 0.30 Oxide







JWC23-01 0.00 17.68 17.7 0.53 91.0 9.37 Oxide 10.67m @ .73g/t Au & 96.5% CN Rec 1.52m @ 1.99g/t Au & 97% CN Rec



JWC23-01 38.28 42.73 4.4 0.35 59.1 1.57 Oxide







JWC23-01 127.04 128.38 1.3 0.73 33.0 0.98 Sulphide







JWC23-01 128.38 153.31 24.9 0.32 84.9 8.00 Oxide 1.31m @ 1.15g/t Au & 70.4% CN Rec 1.31m @ 1.15g/t Au & 70.4% CN Rec



JWC23-02 3.66 47.85 44.2 0.85 76.6 37.56 Oxide 42.67m @ .86g/t Au & 76% CN Rec 2.74m @ 1.46g/t Au & 96.6% CN Rec

18.29m @ 1.21g/t Au & 59% CN Rec



JWC23-02 117.35 118.87 1.5 0.27 93.3 0.41 Oxide







JWC23-03 21.95 31.91 10.0 0.24 81.8 2.37 Oxide







JWC23-03 47.24 56.78 9.5 0.24 88.1 2.26 Oxide







JWC23-03 63.09 78.64 15.5 0.27 81.4 4.24 Oxide







JWC23-03 92.66 94.18 1.5 0.19 94.7 0.29 Oxide







JWC23-04 41.45 63.40 21.9 0.23 80.3 5.00 Oxide 1.52m @ .58g/t Au & 82.5% CN Rec





JWC23-04 72.85 83.52 10.7 0.20 75.0 2.16 Oxide







JWC23-04 89.67 92.05 2.4 0.20 79.2 0.48 Oxide







JWC23-05 5.09 6.71 1.6 0.24 84.4 0.38 Oxide







JWC23-05 12.80 28.04 15.2 0.19 79.3 2.86 Oxide







JWC23-05 38.71 40.23 1.5 0.17 76.0 0.26 Oxide







JWC23-05 49.07 52.12 3.0 0.30 82.0 0.91 Oxide







JWC23-05 63.09 65.47 2.4 0.19 84.4 0.46 Oxide







JWC23-05 70.10 71.63 1.5 0.19 83.3 0.29 Oxide







JWC23-05 85.34 92.05 6.7 0.37 73.4 2.50 Oxide 2.26m @ .6g/t Au & 72.1% CN Rec







Criteria: Cut off grade Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au & Sx 0.5g/t Au, minimum length 1.5m, maximum consecutive internal waste 6m OX= Oxide, TR= Transition, SX= Sulphide. True width of intercepts is uncertain but estimated to range between 30-85% of core length.

Table 4: South Railroad Drill Hole Collars

Hole number Target Hole type Grid Easting m Northing m Elevation m az_utm dip Depth (m) JW23-01 Jasperoid Wash RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585673.9 4472391.86 2310.4 30.0 -45.0 97.5 JW23-02 Jasperoid Wash RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585363.6 4472432.08 2328.9 30.0 -60.0 262.1 JW23-03 Jasperoid Wash RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585093.7 4472480.24 2325.5 30.0 -60.0 298.7 JW23-04 Jasperoid Wash RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584802.6 4472044.61 2188.2 60.0 -50.0 243.8 JWC23-01 Jasperoid Wash DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584849.3 4473494.46 2356.1 0.0 -60.0 162.2 JWC23-02 Jasperoid Wash DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584847.6 4473502.32 2356.0 180.0 -60.0 118.9 JWC23-03 Jasperoid Wash DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585167.3 4473160.95 2462.8 70.0 -50.0 94.2 JWC23-04 Jasperoid Wash DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585068.5 4473181.95 2427.3 70.0 -50.0 92.0 JWC23-05 Jasperoid Wash DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584949.1 4473165.68 2396.1 70.0 -50.0 92.0 RR23-01 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584864.3 4488438.04 2064.3 220.0 -70.0 426.7 RR23-02 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584945.4 4488230.79 2045.3 220.0 -70.0 408.4 RR23-03 North Bullion RC/DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584954.7 4488800.08 1989.6 180.0 -83.0 198.1 RR23-04 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584870.5 4488604.17 2028.5 160.0 -75.0 353.6 RR23-05 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584871.7 4488605.53 2028.5 125.0 -70.0 243.8 RR23-06 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584863.4 4488608.55 2028.5 35.0 -78.0 249.9 RR23-07 North Bullion RC/DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584817.1 4488931.71 1993.5 225.0 -70.0 219.5 RR23-08 North Bullion RC/DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584784.9 4488795.27 2002.0 210.0 -70.0 326.3 RR23-09 North Bullion RC/DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585073.5 4488799.80 1981.4 238.0 -66.0 381.6 RR23-10 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584806.0 4488276.42 2057.1 220.0 -70.0 365.8 RR23-11 POD RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 583754.3 4487685.30 2233.4 210.0 -75.0 365.8 RR23-12 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584953.0 4488807.28 1989.6 315.0 -87.0 426.7 RR23-13 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584953.3 4488805.48 1989.7 248.0 -83.0 419.1 RR23-14 North Bullion RC/DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584953.9 4488801.38 1989.0 180.0 -83.0 420.0 RR23-15 North Bullion RC NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 583779.5 4488645.29 2116.6 0.0 -90.0 542.5 RRC23-01 North Bullion DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585075.5 4488804.10 1981.4 230.0 -71.0 257.3 RRC23-02 North Bullion DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 585066.2 4488855.24 1976.5 220.0 -70.0 412.1 RRC23-03 North Bullion DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 584946.4 4488801.55 1989.5 253.0 -75.0 93.9 RRC23-04 POD DD NAD27 / UTM zone 11N 583792.5 4487709.66 2219.1 210.0 -75.0 332.1

SOURCE Orla Mining Ltd.
VANCOUVER, April 04, 2024 - Greenridge Exploration Inc. ("Greenridge" or the "Company") (CSE: GXP | FRA: HW3), is pleased to announce it has undertaken a detailed technical review of the Nut Lake Uranium Project (the "Nut Lake Property" or the "Project") located in the Thelon Basin in Nunavut. The Project covers approximately 4,036 hectares near the Northern Tip of the Yathkyed Basin, a sub-basin of the Thelon Basin (Please see Figure 1).

Russell Starr, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "We continue to unveil more exciting geological information at the Nut Lake Uranium Project. The Thelon Basin and sub basins are extremely underexplored compared to the world renowned Athabasca Basin just to the south. With a sound database of historical work, including both high grade surface sampling and near surface drilling, it is giving us a clear route to build upon the historical success using new technology and expanding on our deposit model."

Historical Showings, Geology & Various Surveys Completed at The Nut Lake Property





Figure 1 - Localized Nut Lake Property Geology Map. Source GSC Open File 4236. Abbreviations: PDs - Proterozoic Dubawnt Sediments, Agn / Ar-gn - Archean granitic rocks, Pt-g - Undivided Granites

Historical Showing Highlights

Historical exploration undertaken by Pan Ocean in 1979 conducted over the large regional grid resulted in the discovery of four prospects/showings on the Nut Lake Property (Please see Figure 1).

Tundra Showing

Discovered in July 1977 and named the Tundra showing due to its proximity to a syenite U 3 O 8 anomaly on the lakeshore.

O anomaly on the lakeshore. Hole Winkie AX W-24 intersected 9ft of 0.69% U 3 O 8 including 4.90% U 3 O 8 over 1ft from 8ft depth.

O including 4.90% U O over 1ft from 8ft depth. Drilling extended the depth of mineralization to 20 feet vertically below the surface.

The structure appears to steepen with depth to about 80-85.

A total of 17 holes amounting to 568 ft. of drilling were completed.



Heartbreak and Lakeshore Showings

The Heartbreak showing uncovered two pitchblende fractures in an area where a swarm of biotite trachyte occurs, 200 meters to the east-southeast of the Tundra showing.

The most noteworthy samples were from the Heartbreak showing which returned samples across a 3.0" and 3.5" fracture that assayed 2.11% U 3 O 8 and 4.36% U 3 O 8 respectively.

O and 4.36% U O respectively. Fracture descriptions and assay results indicate significant mineralization potential.

Frost heave on the surface suggests a potential strike length for the fractures.

Lake Showing

Two noteworthy grab samples yielded 0.32% and 0.15% U 3 O 8 .

O . The Lake showing was located through general prospecting and is situated beside a biotite feldspar trachyte dike.

It comprises numerous anomalous fractures containing chloritic mafic alterations, sulphides, hematite, and uranium mineralization.

Some fractures cut across the felsic to mafic gneiss host rock, while others run subparallel to it.

This suggests that the mineralization and alteration may be controlled by fractures, with a foliation influence. It is likely that some of these fractures extend into the water.



Geology of The Nut Lake Project

Regionally, the Project lies along the eastern edge of the northeasterly trending wedge of Paleohelikian or Late Aphebian Dubawnt Group rocks and the contact with Archean basement gneisses. These units are in fault contact along a northerly trending fault zone. Dubawnt Group rocks within the area are basal sedimentary rocks of the South Channel Formation, composed of white quartzites and pink to grey arkose and arkosic rocks. The sedimentary sequences of the lower Dubawnt Group are overlain by volcanic rocks of the Christopher Island Formation, including trachytic lithic and crystal tuffs and mafic to felsic trachyte flows.

Archean gneisses are generally granitic to granodioritic in composition, with thin inter-layered bands of paragneiss or amphibolite. Syenites within the area are predominantly red, aphanitic, microsyenite, with some hornblende syenite locally. Microsyenite dikes intrude all other rock types along a northerly trend, exhibiting varying degrees of brecciation, especially near fault zones. These rocks contain variable amounts of magnetite, chlorite, disseminated hematite, and pyrite, with accessory zircon noted. The microsyenites are the most radioactive rocks in the area, containing an average of 100 ppm U, with uranium believed to be bound up in refractory minerals (Please see Figure 1).

Surveys Completed at the Nut Lake Project

An abundance of both Government and industry geological / geophysical / hyperspectral surveys have been conducted over the Project area including: a regional residual magnetic geophysical survey conducted by the Geological Survey of Canada in 20113; a property scale VLF-EM and Magnetometer survey carried out by Pan Ocean in 1979; and a hyperspectral survey carried out in 2023 by the vendors of the Project.

Lines for the 1979 geophysical surveys were spaced 100m apart with 24m to 50m station intervals.

VLF-EM Survey

Several interesting anomalies resulted from the survey including a pattern indicating a north-northwesterly trending structure of interest.

Anomalies are likely related to a fault zone, continuous with a VLF-EM anomaly.

A major anomaly was identified from "L14W to L2S and 14E to 19E". This anomaly is not known to be related to any specific feature and should be followed up on.

Identification of north trending anomalies which may be related to structural or lithological features.

Magnetometer Survey

Magnetic anomalies show less distinct north to northwesterly trends compared to VLF-EM map.

Anomalies in northwest section related to syenitic intrusive rocks.

Irregular pattern in this area possibly due to close-spaced dikes and lenses of mafic gneiss.

A gravity survey is recommended to pair with both surveys moving forward.





Figure 2 - Regional Magnetics showing a strong NE-SW trending Fault3

Hyperspectral Survey

Helium is a decay product of Uranium and is an exploration vector for buried uranium deposits. Helium is released as a "daughter" product of radioactive decay as uranium breaks down into other elements. As helium is a very light element it migrates through the overburden and into the atmosphere. Where the release of helium is concentrated enough, it will have a spectral signature in specific wavelengths that can be seen by satellite sensors. These are in the Visible-Near Infra-Red (VNIR) and Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR) wavelengths parts of the spectrum. The Sentinel-2 satellite data contains spectral bands which can be processed to identify areas with an anomalous helium spectral signature. A stronger spectral signature in the helium wavelength could be due to a buried radioactive source (Please see Figure 3).

The survey identified 2 clusters with anomalous spectral responses that are coincident with a northeast-trending structure identified by geophysical surveys.





These two target areas have not historically seen extensive exploration, and therefore warrant ground truthing to explain the helium response.









Figure 3 - Hyperspectral Survey

About The Nut Lake Property

The Project is located approximately 55km north of the Angulak Uranium Deposit or 180Km southwest of Baker Lake, Nunavut in the Yathkyed Basin (a sub-basin of the prolific Thelon Basin) in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The Project consists of three contiguous mineral licences encompassing a total land area of approximately 4,036 hectares (~40km).

In 1979, Pan Ocean Oil Ltd. performed an exploration program consisting of ground geophysics, geological mapping, prospecting and Winkie drilling as follow up to previous sampling with elevated uranium in dyke swarms, fractures and contacts between syenites and trachytes. The geology of the Project area consists of basal sedimentary rocks of the South Channel Formation, composed of white quartzites and pink to grey arkose and arkosic rocks. The sedimentary sequences of the lower Dubawnt Group are unconformably or disconformably overlain by volcanic rocks of the Christopher Island Formation.

The Project hosts high grade vein hosted grab samples of up to 4.36% U 3 O 8 , 53.16 oz/t Ag, 1.15% Pb and 7.0% Ni.

During the 1979 field season, geological mapping at a scale of 1:1,000 was completed on a major portion of the Project. This was concurrent with prospecting on, and in the immediate area of the Project. Results from prospecting were the discovery of two (41 m wide) syenite dikes and a frost heaved area of felsic gneiss with up to 3,000 cps on fracture surfaces. Two significant Uranium bearing showings were discovered, the "Lake Showing" and the "Heartbreak Showing". The most noteworthy was the Heartbreak showing which revealed 3.0" and 3.5" samples across a fracture that assayed 2.11% U 3 O 8 and 4.36% U 3 O 8 respectively. The results were followed up with a radon gal survey, a VLF-EM survey and an overburden sampling program. The radon survey results showed that the response is irregular with several good highs and the VLF-EM survey showed a series of northwesterly trending anomalies. It was concluded that further drilling of the Lake Showing is recommended.

The Project and surrounding proximal area have seen approximately 805ft of Winkie Drilling and 6920ft of diamond drilling completed on it. Multiple holes intersected significant uranium mineralization, with the most noteworthy being at the "Tundra Showing" Hole Winkie AX W-24 intersected 9ft of 0.69% U 3 O 8 including 4.90% U 3 O 8 over 1ft from 8ft depth. Additional noteworthy holes were hole P049 which returned approximately 0.20% U3O8 over a one-foot interval and hole 068 which was Drilled to intersect fracture mineralization and successfully encountered approximately 0.59% over 1 foot. (Pan Ocean Oil Ltd., 1979 Assessment Report #81075).

The combination of historically defined anomalies and modern exploration techniques provides prime ingredients for the potential of discovering a high-grade uranium system within the Project area. The Nut Lake Property has the potential to host unconformity vein and breccia type, sygenentic and sandstone-hosted phosphatic type mineralization.

References

1Source: 1978 Assessment report (number 81075) by Pan Ocean Oil Ltd

2Source: Reported by ValOre Metals Corp. in a Technical Report entitled "Technical Report and Resource Update For The Angilak Property, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada", prepared by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geo. of APEX Geosciences, Robert Sim, B.Sc., P.Geo. of SIM Geological Inc. and Bruce Davis, Ph.D., FAusIMM of BD Resource Consulting Inc., dated March 1, 2013. Note: The historical mineral resource estimate was calculated in accordance with NI 43-101 and CIM standards at the time of publication and predates the current CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May, 2014) and CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November, 2019).

3Source: Tschirhart, V. L., Morris, W. A. & Oneschuk, D. (2011). Geophysical series, geophysical compilation project, Thelon Basin, Nunavut, NTS 66A, B, and parts of 65N, O, P, 66C, F, G and H. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File, 6944, https://doi.org/10.4095/288806.

4Source: Wilkinson, L. & Brown, N. (2000). Selected geoscience data from the Western Churchill NATMAP Project, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut - Volume II. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File, 3749, https://doi.org/10.4095/211855.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

Nicholas Rodway, P. Geo, (NAPEG Licence # L5576) is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Rodway has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release.

About Greenridge Exploration Inc.

Greenridge Exploration Inc. (CSE: GXP | FRA: HW3) is a mineral exploration company dedicated to creating shareholder value through the acquisition, exploration, and development of critical mineral projects in North America. The Company's Nut Lake Uranium Project located in the Thelon Basin includes historical drilling which intersected up to 9ft of 0.69% U 3 O 8 including 4.90% U 3 O 8 over 1ft from 8ft depth. Additionally, the Company's Weyman Copper Project in southeast British Columbia sits on the south portion of the famous Quesnel Terrance. The Company is led by an experienced management team and board of directors with significant expertise in capital raising and advancing mining projects.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Russell Starr

Chief Executive Officer, Director

Telephone: +1 (778) 897-3388

Email: info@greenridge-exploration.com

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the project acquisition bringing a low-risk opportunity, the Company, building a strong battery metals portfolio with low-risk opportunities that positively impact the Company and its shareholders and the Company providing an initial work plan are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Project and its mineralization potential; the Company's objectives, goals, or future plans with respect to the Project; and the Company's anticipated exploration program at the Project. These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

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VANCOUVER, April 4, 2024 - Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSXV: SCZ) ("Santacruz" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that is has entered into a binding term sheet (the "Term Sheet") dated March 28, 2024 with certain Glencore entities ("Glencore") to amend certain transaction documents in connection with the prior sale by Glencore of its Bolivian mining assets to Santacruz (the "Transaction"), as previously announced by Santacruz on March 21, 2022 and October 13, 2021.

Arturo Prestamo, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of Santacruz, commented, "This amended agreement represents a significant milestone for the Company, as it strengthens our balance sheet and equips us with the financial flexibility necessary to effectively manage our business. We continue to value Glencore as our partner and look forward to maintaining a collaborative relationship with them."

Pursuant to the Term Sheet, Santacruz and Glencore have agreed to the following terms:

The total consideration payable by Santacruz to Glencore under the Term Sheet will be in lieu of all present and future amounts owing or payable by Santacruz under the transaction documents entered into pursuant to the Transaction.

Subject to the Acceleration Option (as defined below), Santacruz will pay up to US$80 million in cash to Glencore in eight equal annual instalments of US$10 million each (the "Base Purchase Price") with the first payment being made on or before November 1, 2025.

Santacruz can exercise an option to accelerate the payment of the outstanding balance of the Base Purchase Price in full at any time, such prepayment amount will be US$40 million if exercised prior to November 1, 2025 and shall decrease by US$2 million for each annual instalment of US$10 million that has been paid by Santacruz (the "Acceleration Option").

Santacruz grants to Glencore a contingent value right (the "CVR") whereby Santacruz will pay Glencore a monthly payment of US$1,333,333.33 (the "CVR Payment"), subject to a total cap of US$77.7 million, in the event that in any calendar month after the date the parties enter into the Term Sheet, the average LME spot price of zinc (or the highest open hedge price if the Hedging Option (as defined below) has been exercised) in the calendar month is at least US$3,850 per tonne (the "Base Price"). The CVR Payment will increase by US$83,333.33 for each increase of US$100 per tonne above the Base Price and up to a price of US$5,049.99 per tonne (the "CVR Escalator").

In addition to the CVR Payment, in the event the average LME spot price of zinc (or the highest open hedge price if the Hedging Option has been exercised) in a calendar month is at least US$5,050 per tonne (the "Additional Payment Price"), Glencore will be entitled to certain additional payments (the "Additional Payments"), which will increase for each increase of US$100 per tonne above the Additional Payment Price.

Upon the occurrence of the monthly average zinc LME spot price exceeding the Base Price, Glencore can require Santacruz to hedge a limited amount of zinc production from its Bolivian mining operations (so long as the hedging price would exceed the Base Price) subject to certain conditions (the "Hedging Option").

The CVR and Additional Payments will be effective from the date of the Term Sheet until December 31, 2032. The Additional Payments will terminate once Santacruz is no longer obligated to make CVR Payments.

The parties will use good faith efforts to finalize, execute and deliver the definitive agreements (the "Definitive Agreements") containing the terms and provisions outlined in this Term Sheet and other customary terms.

The completion of the transactions contemplated by the Term Sheet are subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV").

About Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.

Santacruz is engaged in the operation, acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Latin America. The Bolivian operations are comprised of the Bolivar, Porco and the Caballo Blanco Group, which consists of the Tres Amigos, Reserva and Colquechaquita mines. The Soracaya exploration project and San Lucas feed sourcing business are also in Bolivia. The Zimapan mine is located in Mexico.

'signed'

Arturo Prestamo Elizondo,

Executive Chairman and Interim CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward looking information

This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "expects" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or will "potentially" or "likely" occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forwardlooking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding the terms of the Definitive Agreements, the potential maximum consideration payable to Glencore pursuant to the Definitive Agreements and the approval of the Term Sheet, Definitive Agreements and the transaction contemplated thereby by the TSXV.

These forwardlooking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks that the parties may not be able to reach an agreement regarding the terms of the Definitive Agreements, that changes to the market price of zinc may affect the total consideration payable to Glencore pursuant to the Definitive Agreements, that the TSXV may not provide approval for the Term Sheet, Definitive Agreements and the transaction contemplated thereby, risks related to changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets, changes in applicable laws, and compliance with extensive government regulation, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's disclosure documents filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedarplus.ca.

In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, the assumption that the parties will be able to negotiate the terms of the Definitive Agreements, that the market price of zinc may be above certain minimum thresholds for the payment of the CVR Payments and Additional Payments and that the TSXV will provide approval for the Term Sheet, Definitive Agreements and the transaction contemplated thereby.

There can be no assurance that any forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information or statements, other than as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.
Letter urges FIA to return legal action fire

A raft of FIA member clubs and federations are urging F1's governing body to fight fire with fire amid an obviously escalating conflict.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem

 FIA

Susie Wolff, wife of Mercedes boss Toto, recently filed a criminal complaint in France following accusations by controversial FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem of conflict of interest and the exchange of confidential information.

But just before that, Ben Sulayem faced accusations of interfering with F1 stewards' decisions and even trying to block homologation of Liberty Media's new prestigious F1 venue in Las Vegas.

The FIA's ethics committee cleared him of wrongdoing.

And now, multiple FIA member clubs and federations of the Americas have signed a letter in defiant support of Ben Sulayem, claiming the accusations were made out of self interest and with the sole purpose of causing harm .

The letter, including the signature of South America for Sports' Fabiana Ecclestone - wife of former F1 supremo Bernie - among many others, also urged the FIA to hit back with its own legal action.

We will recommend that the FIA initiate legal action against those who, without cause, slander the FIA and its leadership, the letter reads.

(GMM)
By SA Commercial Prop News

Commenting on the funding deal, Standard Bank's Head of Real Estate Finance Wholesale, Vanessa Murray says this is a key win for the bank in KwaZulu-Natal and the Durban market.



Standard Bank Group, Africas biggest lender by assets and earnings, has granted R1 billion to Shree Property Holdings, to enable the company refinance existing loan facilities and acquire new properties to add to its industrial property portfolio in KwaZulu-Natal.

Shree Property Holdings, whose founder and owner is Pran Shree, has been banked by Standard Bank for over 25 years. The organisation has strategically refinanced its operations for additional development and acquisitions.

The Shree Property Holdings portfolio comprises of more than 30 properties located in three key industrial nodes within Durbans South Industrial Basin, Riverhorse Valley and the Dube Trade Port regions.



This is a key win for Standard Bank in the KwaZulu-Natal and Durban market and is testament to our long-standing relationship with Shree Property Holdings, said Vanessa Murray, Head of Real Estate Finance Wholesale at Standard Bank.

This is a client that we have grown with for over a quarter century, and assisted in growing his business from an initial cold-storage and distribution operation, with a key presence in the fruit industry, into a multi-billion rand property and development business, Murray says.



Standard Banks stated objective is to partner with clients who have outstanding business acumen in their respective fields, and who have developed strong property portfolios with good quality tenants located in strategic regional and national nodes.

The banks partnership with Shree Property Holdings will see it realign its banking offering to enable the developer to grow locally, as well as into Africa and internationally.



Shree Property Holdings has been successful in securing only blue-chip tenants, with the likes of Samsung, DHL, Unilever and Tongaat-Hulett to name a few. This international profile of tenants is now growing across borders with great interest, and Shree Property Holdings being able to provide world-class warehousing solutions.



The evolution of our partnership with Standard Bank will enable us to take our business to the next level and further enhance our footprint both locally and abroad, said Pran Shree, Chief Executive Officer of Shree Property Holdings.

We have already acquired land in Mauritius, USA, India, and the UK, and we are looking to leverage these properties into future growth opportunities, Mr Shree said.



With the commencement of Shree Property Holdings internationalisation strategy into the SADC regions, the company begins with construction in the third quarter of 2015 at the Mauritius Airport. This will be its springboard onto the global platform. Together, Standard Bank Group and Shree Property Holdings would be able to drive business activity and investment opportunities to and from Durban.

As of 31 December 2014, Standard Bank Group had total assets of R1 907 billion (about USD 165 billion), while its market capitalisation was R232,2 billion (about USD20 billion).
Marko quiet over latest explosive Red Bull rumours

Dr Helmut Marko has issued a firm "no comment" to the latest wild speculation surrounding the Red Bull power struggle.

Peter Bayer, Helmut Marko, Australian GP 2024

 Red Bull

The public fire surrounding the Christian Horner scandal seemed to have been somewhat doused in the days after the Saudi Arabian GP - but whispers are still being made in the background.

For instance, Auto Bild claims that Horner and the energy drink company's Thai faction have essentially won the struggle for now - with potentially explosive ramifications.

It is rumoured that the Austrian contingent, involving consultant Marko, may respond by simply walking away from Formula 1 completely - including the lapsing of the Austrian GP contract at the Red Bull Ring after 2030.

Another whisper is that Suzuka could be 80-year-old Marko's last in his current role - potentially triggering Max Verstappen's departure to Mercedes and even Adrian Newey taking up a big-money offer from Aston Martin.

No comment! Marko is quoted as having responded to Osterreich newspaper.

It is believed Horner's plan A if the saga results in Verstappen leaving the team is Fernando Alonso, who admitted on Thursday that plenty of rumours are doing the rounds.

Obviously if Max leaves Red Bull, this may influence my decision, said the Spaniard. But I think the probability of this is zero.

Former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, who won all four of his titles for the brand, was asked about the ongoing Red Bull unrest by Sky Deutschland.

I think it's always difficult when you read one thing and then the other - and then the opposite again, he said. "It seems like everything is going in circles now.

"The shame is that Max is actually doing a great job, and the team - including a lot of people I remember from my time there - are doing a great job in the background.

That's kind of forgotten when the main topic is about something else.

(GMM)
A woman sends text messages on her BlackBerry phone. A former BlackBerry employee sued the tech company and its CEO, saying the top executive was promoted despite complaints of sexual harassment. KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images

A former employee at BlackBerrys San Francisco office has accused the company of hiring its chief executive, John Giamatteo, despite allegations of sexual and workplace harassment against him that were known to its board of directors, according to a lawsuit filed in California on Wednesday.

The former employee, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, sued Giamatteo and BlackBerry in San Francisco on Wednesday, alleging the company created a hostile work environment in which the CEO harassed women and then retaliated against them.

In the suit, the ex-employee alleges that Giamatteo sabotaged her career after she resisted his romantic overtures, which took place while she was employed in the Canadian companys Bay Area office beginning in 2011.

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BlackBerry conducted an extensive investigation, which found no evidence of wrongdoing or violations of the company code of conduct, and we are confident that the robustness of our process and its findings will be made evident in court, a spokesperson said in a statement to the Chronicle, adding that BlackBerry and Giamatteo believe that these allegations are without merit and intend to vigorously defend against them.

The spokesperson also said the company is committed to maintaining a respectful and productive work environment free from discrimination and harassment.

According to the lawsuit, the ex-employee reported Giamatteos alleged harassment to BlackBerrys human resources department in 2023, before he was promoted to CEO. The lawsuit also states that she provided the department with names of other female employees who had made similar allegations of harassment.

BlackBerrys response, the suit states, was to try and create increased separation between the two.

The ex-employee, described in the suit as a woman of color who occupied senior roles in the company, said she received a letter on Dec. 4 notifying her that she had been relieved of all job duties effective immediately and that a severance payment was conditional upon signing a separation agreement disavowing her complaints against the company. She did not sign the companys proposed severance agreement, the suit states.

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BlackBerry publicly announced Giamatteo as CEO seven days later, according to a statement.

The suit alleges that the board of directors knew about the allegations during its executive search.

Giamatteo was not only shielded from consequences but rewarded with a promotion to the highest position in the company, said Maria Bourn, the attorney representing the ex-executive.
While the Wyoming Legislature's 2024 Budget Session officially ended several weeks ago, a series of vetoes from Governor Mark Gordon prompted discussion of a special session. The special session was voted against, however, leaving the legislature finished for now. Overall, many Sweetwater County representatives and local government leaders expressed positive opinions about how this year's legislative session wrapped up.

Governor's vetoes

While Governor Gordon signed many of the bills presented by the legislature and let others pass into law without his signature, he also vetoed several bills w...
SHERIDAN  Starting July 1, gender-affirming care for minors will be banned in Wyoming.

While signing the bill, Gov. Mark Gordon was critical because the bill may contradict other bills passed by the Legislature to enhance parental rights in education.

I signed SF99 because I support the protections this bill includes for children, however it is my belief that the government is straying into the personal affairs of families, Gordon said in a statement. Our legislature needs to sort out its intentions with regard to parental rights. While it inserts governmental prerogative in some places, i...
POWELL  Speaking to a crowd of Powell area residents on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) tamped down hopes for many legislative victories this year.

With Democrats controlling the Senate and White House, Hageman indicated that she and the GOP face an uphill battle on everything from boosting American energy production to ousting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to delisting the Yellowstone regions grizzly bears.

However, if Republicans make gains in the upcoming election, what we have done is we have set ourselves up for success starting very, very quickly in Janua...
Mary Ruth Hardy, age 83, passed away on Friday, March 22nd, 2024 in SLC, Utah.

Mary was born in Merrill, Wisconsin on October 13, 1940. She was one of six children born to Ruth Deloris Streich and Aurthur Gilbert Peters.

She attended public schools in Merrill, and later graduated from Merrill High School. She then went on to attend College at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She graduated from Wyoming Community College with an associates degree in Business.

In her younger years Mary helped tend to the many horses that their family owned and raised. She ran the stables alongside her brothers. She used to take people on trail rides to earn extra money for the family. Mary loved horses and it became a passion of hers.

Mary met Donald Trapp who lived in the Northwoods, they quickly began their lives together. They lived in Canada and Minnesota before moving to Wyoming, due to Donald being employed at the Jim Bridger Power Plant. Mary and Donald had three children, one passing away at birth.

They lived at Point of Rocks where Mary managed the mercantile store. Donald later passed away from aplastic anemia.

Mary later met Ray Hardy at Point of Rocks, while he was working as a mechanic for Southwest Kenworth. They married in December 1984,they were together 40 years before her passing. The two of them could often be seen out dancing, as Mary loved being twirled around on a hardwood floor. They loved to travel and see the country from the seat of their Goldwing motorcycle. The two of them traveled to numerous locations and met many lifelong friends along the way. They were members of the Goldwing Road Riders Association.

Mary loved spending time with family and hosting dinners at her home. She was the best at Barbecuing steaks, no one could come close to making them like she did. She loved staying in Mesquite where she could enjoy the warm weather and make donations to the casinos.

Mary was a joker and had a great sense of humor. She was a fighter in politics and a big supporter of women holding any role in the world. She was a coin collector and had quite the collection. She enjoyed painting and hiding rocks alongside her daughter for the community in Rock Springs. She was a loving and caring person, devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend, always thinking of others.

Her love and devotion was for her Grandson Ethan whom she cherished greatly. She said that he was always the best part of her. He brought her so much joy and loved spending every moment she could with him.

Mary served as a principal volunteer for Cowboys Against Cancer for 28 years. She gathered sponsorships, donations and auction items for each year's benefit/banquet. Mary felt the importance of volunteering for such a worthy cause after losing her own mother to liver cancer. Mary was a committed member to this program and we all know that her efforts made a difference in the lives of many.

Mary is survived by her husband Ray Hardy of Rock Springs, Wyoming, her children, Camara (Jeff) Cannon of Golden Valley, AZ, Thomas (Sadie) Trapp of Rock Springs,WY, William (Dianna) Trapp of Daniel, WY, Grandson, Ethan Trapp of Rock Springs,WY.

Step GrandChildren - Stetson Mellor of Grand Junction, CO, Madison (Vicky) Perez of Rock Springs,WY, Jaden Mellor of SLC,UT Logan Mellor of Vernal,UT, John Gilmore, Ogden, Ut. Great Grandson Hudson Bushman, Rock Springs, WY.

Brothers, Jim Peters of Pahrump,NV, David Peters and Colleen Huxley of Madison,WI.

Step Children, Holly Hardy, Ogden, UT, Falleen Hardy, Ogden, UT, Cherie (Patrick) Gilmore, Ogden, UT, Ray Jr. Hardy, SLC, UT.

Preceding her in death are her parents, Ruth and Aurthur Peters, son, Scott Trapp, siblings, Dick Peters, Kathy Renn, and John Peters.

Donations can be made to the National Jewish Hospital at nationaljewish.org.

Mary's request for cremation has been fulfilled; a graveside service and inurnment will be held at a later date at the Rest Haven Memorial Cemetery, North Rock Springs.
Acknowledging receipt of Governor Mark Gordons veto letters addressed to him in his capacity as Wyoming Secretary of State and in accordance with Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming State Constitution, Secretary Chuck Gray issued a response noting his disagreement with many of the vetoes in a letter.

While acknowledging receipt of these vetoes, our republic is built on discourse and debate, Secretary Gray said. In this vein, I wanted to respond to some of the points made in your letters that I disagree with as well as express disagreement with many of your veto actions. Wyoming can and should lead the way in providing meaningful property tax relief, protecting the unborn, defending our Second Amendment rights from tyranny at all levels, ensuring a way to fight back against attacks on our core industries, and guaranteeing that our only land grant university represents the values of Wyomingites, not leftist elites. Unfortunately, your vetoes do not do that and in that way set us in the wrong direction.

In closing, Secretary Gray noted, While these are not the only veto actions that I took issue with, I felt it was important to submit responses expressing my opposition to some of the points made in your veto letters addressed to me and to many of your veto actions themselves. I look forward to working with you to address these issues and to build a conservative future for our state.

A copy of Secretary Grays letter can be found online.
Second veterans columbarium put in place in Riverview Cemetery

The sky was overcast and the air was cold when a small group of veterans, supporters, and workers gathered on the morning of Good Friday to place the second columbarium for veterans in place at Riverview Cemetery.

The columbarium was covered in tarps on the back of a semi truck, with a crane from the John Bunning Transfer Co. nearby. Those standing by waited patiently while steel plates were brought in to put under the crane so it wouldn't sink into the dirt as it lifted the 18,000-pound columbarium. Small stacks of dry ice were placed on the concrete pad for the columbarium to be lowered on top of. This gave enough space and time to get the straps out from under the columbarium, which slowly settled into place as the dry ice melted. After it was lowered into place, all that was left was to remove the bright orange tape on the compartments. With that, years of work came to a completion.

"It's a long time coming," Earl McDonald said as he peeled off a piece of tape.

McDonald is the District Commander for the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2321, which spearheaded the effort to put two columbariums for veterans in Riverview Cemetery.

McDonald explained that 12 years ago he was doing a funeral when he realized that they were running out of space. The VFW has a plot in the cemetery specifically for veterans, which was donated by the city of Green River in 1931. After almost a century, the plot has nearly filled up, partially due to the fact that plots have been used for cremains, which don't take up as much space but were still being given full plots. From that point, the VFW began to consider getting a columbarium, which is specifically used to store cremains while taking up less space and being able to hold more by having compartments for urns.

"We tossed around the idea for quite a few years," McDonald said, adding that they started working on the project in earnest about three years ago. "Once we got going, it picked up momentum. Money was coming in fast."

Star photo by Hannah Romero

"In a short time a lot of people came together and made this happen," Tom Niemiec said.

Niemiec is a member of both the VFW Post 2321 and the American Legion Tom Whitmore Post 28 in Green River, as are many of the people who worked on the columbarium project. Both organizations hosted fundraising events, and they had significant help and support from other local veterans groups.

Others also rallied around the project as well, with individuals, organizations, and businesses giving donations. This included significant monetary donations from businesses such as Williams, as well as help from the City of Green River workers donating their time to put the columbarium in and Bunning donating the use of the crane.

"That's basically a lot of people's gift to the community," Niemiec said of the columbarium. "We had to raise a lot of money for it. And we had so many sponsors, it was awesome."

"We've got a good bunch of people here in this region," McDonald said, thankful for all the benefactors who made the project possible.

Initially, $35,000 was raised to purchase one columbarium, which was put into place last year. It was clear that a second columbarium would be needed, and enough money had come in to make it possible. After purchasing the first, the VFW decided to move ahead with ordering the second columbarium right away in order to avoid prices going up. They paid $37,000 for the second one, which McDonald said was the right decision, because both prices and wait times due to backorders have increased over the last year. Ordering both columbariums close together allowed the VFW to save money and time.

"I'm just glad that everything all came together," McDonald said.

"It looks beautiful," Niemiec said, admiring the new columbarium in its spot across from the first. "It'll only grow from there," he added, pointing out that there are other plans to develop the area, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution planning to put in benches.

As the VFW has been working to give more space for veterans in the cemetery, the City of Green River is also working on expanding the cemetery, as the available space is starting to run out. The City Council recently approved an agreement to work with a company on developing a master plan to be a strategic blueprint for the enhancement and development of the cemetery.

For now, the new veterans columbariums create more space. They have 96 compartments each, creating 192 spots for veterans and their spouses. This option is also offered for free, and the first columbarium has already started being used. The VFW plans to have an official dedication ceremony for the new columbarium during their Memorial Day ceremony this year.
April is a month full of awareness and recognition for important causes, organizations, and groups of people.

On Tuesday, April 2, both the Green River City Council and the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners shared proclamations recognizing National Library Week, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, Child Abuse Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

National Library Week is April 7-13, and it recognizes libraries as playing a critical role in communities and being a cornerstone of democracy through the resources they provide and programs they offer. This yea...
Eli Noyes was a stop-motion prodigy whose first film in that medium was nominated for an Academy Award while he was still a student at Harvard University. Ralph Guggenheim

In his dorm room at Harvard, Eli Noyes put off studying by making an 8-minute animated film that involved the torturously slow act of building and moving clay figures around a miniature set.

It was years later, when Noyes was 23 and in his first year of graduate school of architecture, that the film, titled Clay or the Origin of Species, was nominated for an Academy Award.

He skipped class to fly out to Hollywood for the Oscars, with his older sister Meridee as his date. His father, who had loaned him the 16mm camera to make the film, also paid for their flights.

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Though he did not win, it was close enough to mark the end of graduate school and a career in the family trade of architecture, in favor of one entirely of his invention. An innately creative person, who played first oboe in the Bach ensemble at Harvard while also racing on the cross-country ski team, Noyes made films for Sesame Street, and created graphic blandishments for Nick at Night and MTV during the early years of cable when there was no advertising.

After moving to San Francisco, he joined forces with Toy Story producer Ralph Guggenheim, who had seen Clay as a high-school kid. It was a big reason why Guggenheim became an animator himself.

Eli would take a common material and play with it until something emerged that became a story, Guggenheim said. His stories were always terrific, and he had a long career looking for innovative techniques that enhanced his storytelling.

Noyes always had a bemused smile on his face, as if he knew he was talented enough to only ever have to do things he found to be fun. He was still wearing that smile the day he died, March 23, at his home in Noe Valley. He was 81. Cause of death was prostate cancer, said his wife Augusta Talbot.

Eli was a happy 8-year-old for at least the 45 years that I knew him, said Talbot, a childrens book illustrator who also makes sculptures and collages in a carriage house. Her studio is downstairs, and his studio was upstairs, where he worked in all the same media of his wife, plus knitting caps, quilting tapestries, doing vintage British motorcycle repair, practicing jazz piano, and scavenging the Recology yard for lamps and chairs to refurbish. The cappuccino machine had also been scavenged and repaired by him.

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Eli was one of the most lovable, imaginative and talented people on the planet, said his proud older sister Mary D. (Meridee) Brust, a nurse in New York City. He had focus and concentration like you wouldnt believe and for much longer than anyone could have expected.

If he had to put one of his talents on a business card it would be animator/filmmaker, said his wife. Hed been doing it the longest, going back to Noon, about the 20-minute lag time between lunch and class at the Putney School in Vermont, which he made in 1960, while at the boarding school. He continued this theme with Peanut Butter & Jelly, involving the construction and eating of a too-high sandwich by his younger brother, Fred Noyes.

Even from the beginning his films are always funny, or they have a point of view which makes you laugh from the gut, if youre not laughing out loud, said Fred, an architect who completed the same graduate program at Harvard that Eli dropped out of. His early films are just terrific, Fred said, noting Sandman and Alphabet, animated films that show off his graphic talents, each around six minutes in length.

They showed Elis inventive spirit and amusing point of view, Fred said, unencumbered by the need to make money.

After moving to San Francisco, animator Eli Noyes joined forces with Toy Story producer Ralph Guggenheim, who had seen his Clay or the Origin of Species film while he was in high school. It was a big reason why Guggenheim became an animator himself. Courtesy of Augusta Talbot

Encumbrances came soon enough, and Noyes started making TV commercials for cereal and candy, and spots for cable, while living in New York City. In 1991, Noyes and Talbot left their SoHo loft and moved to San Francisco so that Noyes could join Colossal Pictures, a production studio focused on animation and based in the Dogpatch neighborhood. He also directed CD-ROMs for Broderbund Software of Marin County. Ruffs Bone, a storybook featuring an acrobatic dog was a favorite.

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In 2003, Noyes, Guggenheim, Tim Boxell and Alan Buder formed Alligator Planet, to produce short films and animated segments for documentaries. While there, Noyes was involved in a second Oscar-nominated film, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, for which he was the animation director.

He also edited videos for environmental causes. One, called Saving Valentina, for the Great Whale Conservancy, has more than 14 million hits on YouTube. In 2011, he was commissioned to produce a series of go green ecological stamps on commission for the United States Postal Service.

Eli had a playful approach to making art, said Guggenheim. Where other artists come out of a formal discipline, he had not even gone to art school.

Eliot Fette Noyes Jr., was born Oct. 18, 1942, in Alexandria, Va. When he was a toddler, the family moved to New Canaan, Conn., a magnet for modern architecture in the 1950s. His father, also named Eliot Noyes, was known as one of the Harvard Five, who practiced modern architecture in New Canaan. Elis father also worked in industrial design, building the model for the original IBM Selectric typewriter.

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Eli started piano lessons at age 6 and switched to the oboe at age 14, when he was sent to the Putney School, a famed progressive boarding school in rural Vermont. Within six months he was playing Bach in the orchestra at Putney, said his sister. At Harvard, he played first oboe in the Bach Society Orchestra and could have continued professionally, but he sold his instrument. He decided he wanted more danger, more motorcycles, so he gave up the oboe.

He graduated from Harvard in 1964 and continued with graduate school. Dropping out exposed him to the draft during the Vietnam War, but he was able to skirt it by joining the Peace Corps and serving two years in Tanzania, said his brother.

Years later, while living in San Francisco, he happened to see an oboe for sale, and took the instrument back up, rising to the position of first oboe of the Mill Valley Philharmonic. He also played the accordion.

Kids would come to our house because they wanted to play with Eli, said his wife, Augusta Talbot. He was on their level, added his brother, Fred Noyes. Kids could relate to him in a wonderfully direct way. Courtesy of Augusta Talbot

The Noyes home is an 1897 Victorian on Church Street, where Noyes and Talbot raised a son, Isaac, and a daughter, Abigail. There is an electric train in the attic, and Noyes was always willing to knock off work in his studio and come operate for the other 8 year olds.

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Kids would come to our house because they wanted to play with Eli, said Talbot.

He was on their level, added his brother Fred. Kids could relate to him in a wonderfully direct way.

In 2015, Noyes was first diagnosed with prostate cancer, which he managed to stave off with surgery. He never missed a day of work, even when the cancer came back last summer.

Just before the COVID-19 lockdown, Noyes gave a series of talks about his life, before an audience of 100 or more packed into the great room of a private home in Mill Valley and in a theater at New York University.

He is also featured as a comic figure in Modernism, Inc: the Eliot Noyes Design Story, a documentary film by Jason Cohn of Berkeley, which had a West Coast premiere at the Roxie Theater in February. Noyes sat in the audience with his wife, wearing that bemused look on his face as he watched the audience laugh at his comments onscreen, making light of his father. That was his last outing.
One is about celebrating all things ocean, and the other focuses on a key element of art  color.

The two art exhibits  Chie Numanos Ocean Colors and HUE-mogenous by a small group of artists  will open at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, at the Lees-Reyes Art Gallery at Tumon Sands Plaza.

A meet the artist event will also be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. that day.

The art exhibits will be open until May 21.

In the main gallery, Numanos Ocean Colors celebrates her love of all things ocean.

In the annex, HUEmogenous, by a small group of artists, delves into the very important element of art: color. It features a presentation of monochromatic work.

Artists Julia Birn, Ian Harris, Aja Reyes, Eunkyung Jeon, Victor Consaga, and Dawn Lees Reyes are part of this group exhibit.

Love for the ocean

Chie Numano, a Japan-born, Guam-based artist, said love for the ocean played a big part in her earlier life, but her business and family kept her busy.

A few years ago, she closed her company, which she had run for nearly 30 years, and finally decided to pursue her other passion: art.

She returned to school and graduated from the University of Guams Fine Arts Department in May 2023.

What is at the core of my art is clear and simple: I create art inspired by the boundless beauty of the ocean. This exhibition is a series of ocean art, she said. Walking on the beach and swimming in the ocean are my favorite pastimes. My admiration for the ocean started with scuba diving and windsurfing years ago. The beauty of the ocean makes me happy. We must keep it clean and healthy. I make art to embrace these thoughts, and I have genuine fun in the process. It is the way I free my soul.

Numano started her career in the advertising business in Tokyo after graduating from university.

She fell in love with the warm tropical waters during a diving trip to the Marianas with her colleagues. She left her life in a big city to live on a small island. That was in the early 1980s. Fast forward a few decades, and Guam is still her home.

In her solo Ocean Colors exhibit, Numano showcases mainly seascapes and images of ocean life, mostly Tumon Bay and Guam fish.

Through the fluidity of acrylics, the transparency of watercolors, and the tactile nature of ceramics, I capture the essence of Ocean Colors, she said. Through my work, I render visual pleasures to radiate happy vibes and good energy rather than to deliver complex conceptual narratives. My genuine and lifelong admiration, appreciation, and respect for the ocean and ocean life are reflected in my work.
Get ready shoppers as variety megastore Don Don Donki is set to hold a grand opening on April 25 after more than five years of anticipation from the public.

Makoto Hanawa, president and director of Donki investor Pan Pacific Retail Management Guam, confirmed the grand opening date for the Pacific Daily News Thursday night.

But the deals will begin a few days early for certain VIPs, Hanawa said, who will be able to attend pre-opening of the 171,000-sq. ft. store.

A limited soft opening will kick off on April 22, and April 23, he said.

Once fully opened up, store hours will run from 6 a.m. to midnight, according to Hanawa.

Initially billed as a $114 million investment, money put down on the mall is now closer to $150 million, the president said. He told the PDN he had just arrived on Guam about six months ago, and couldnt speak to the specifics of the cost increase.

Whispers of the Japanese retail giants arrival on the island were first reported in 2019, and ground broke the next year, a month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the island. A September 2021 opening date was delayed, and an expected opening in the summer of 2023 was likewise held off.

Just like every other business, weve had issues because of Typhoon Mawar, said Juniver David, assistant store section manager for Don Don Donki.

Details on what shop and eateries will fill up the huge space on opening couldnt be shared yet, but details will be forthcoming for the public, David said

The Village of Donki retail store, which also operates the mall, is expected to fill up the bulk of floor space.

Over $100 million worth of revenue is expected to be generated in just the first year of operations, officials said, with around $7 million coming back to the government of Guam in the form of taxes.

By next week, Pan Pacific Retail Management Guam expects to have a total of 202 employees, according to company attorney Nick Ennis.

They continue to actively recruit from the local workforce, with a forecast of 448 employees needed at the Village of Donki.

Liquor license in the works

Though doors are about to open, Don Don Donki still has yet to get a liquor license to sell alcohol for off-premise consumption, due to limits in Guam law on how many liquor licenses can be issued in each village.

Only one license can be issued per 200 residents, and Tamuning has too many.

But a process to get an exemption, which was pushed by Sen. Joe San Agustin, was included in GovGuams budget law this year.

Officials appeared Thursday night at the Tamuning Senior Center to gather information from the public at a hearing hosted by the Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon Municipal Planning Council.

Getting feedback from the community is needed for Donkis application for an exemption to the law.

No one appeared to raise opposition or ask questions about the project, though a number of residents interested in the final opening of the mall did show up out of curiosity.

Hanawa told the PDN that the final decision on the liquor license will be left up to the government, and its unclear what the timeline for alcohol sales will be.

He said they havent stocked up on any alcohol, and will have to order it if and when they get approval.

But on April 25, we still open, no matter what, Hanawa said.

Ennis on Thursday described alcohol sales as a small fraction of overall business at the store, though previous Pan Pacific Retail Management Guam executives have said the license could cause Donki to lose out on as much as 30% of store revenue.

The village municipal planning council will meet next at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, to decide whether to recommend that Don Don Donki get the license exemption, according to Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon Mayor Louise Rivera.

Testimony can still be submitted to her office, she said.

She said the hearing is the first of its kind, and there are already other businesses interested in applying for an exemption.

A final decision will be left up to the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, which will meet on April 17.

Rivera has already received letters from several businesses, including Triple J. Enterprises and Miki Taxi Service, supporting the exemption.

Besides getting public feedback, a business also needs to invest over $5 million into the building where the liquor license will be located, employ at least 150 employees, and prioritize hiring in the local workforce, among other things, to get an exemption, Ennis said.
Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares addresses fellow mayors and vice mayors during a Jan. 4, 2023 meeting of the Mayors Council of Guam in Hagatna.
Superior Court Judge Maria T. Cenzon granted a felony case defendant's motion to disqualify prosecutor Joseph McDonald from further action in the case.

Sen. Tom Fisher, representing defendant Theresa Marie Aflleje Blas during a pre-trial conference on Oct. 17, 2023, verbally requested McDonald to recuse himself because of an "incurable conflict of interest."

McDonald is the latest following a string of five different assistant attorneys general to represent the government against Blas.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Joseph A. Guthrie designated McDonald, who has a contract with the Office of the Attorney General, as a special assistant attorney general that same day, Oct. 17, 2023.

McDonald, a former deputy attorney general and chief prosecutor for the AGs office under former AG Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson, now runs a private practice. Court documents state he is the defense attorney for two clients with active cases.

Cenzon required Fisher and other attorneys to file written briefs. Fisher filed his on Nov. 3, 2023, arguing that McDonald should be precluded from serving as both prosecutor in this case and criminal defense attorney in other cases brought by the AG's office on behalf of the people of Guam.

In his response, McDonald argues that he has implemented a program to ensure no conflict of interest exists and that his appointment is a limited "narrow engagement" for purposes of taking the case to trial.

McDonald's prosecutorial role was protested in at least two other criminal cases, one of which involved an employee of the AG's office.

Cenzon applied the tests for disqualification using the 2002 Guam Rules of Professional Conduct. She also made note of how some of McDonald's statements were contradictory, and how each of the multi-prong arguments were met.

Moreover, she compared the situation to one where an allowable conflict can exist, and declared it unable to pass muster.

The decision also said that Fisher's argument that McDonald be barred from engaging in outside employment had no grounds because McDonald was a private attorney before contracting with the AG's office.

Cenzon said the court will issue an asserted criminal trial scheduling order in Blas' case, as she has asserted her right to a speedy trial.
Potential cannabis industry upstarts and advocates for the plant want to see the green market move forward without mandatory laboratory testing.

Lawmakers on Thursday heard testimony on Sen. William Parkinsons Bill 260-37, which seeks to temporarily waive the need for all cannabis grown on Guam to be tested for potency and safety before going to market.

Cannabis would have to be labeled for how much cannabinoid content, like psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is in the flower. Once a lab opens up, testing would be required.

With no lab to test locally grown marijuana, testing regulations are keeping any retail shop or grow operation from opening up, argues Parkinson.

Stephen Roberto told senators that his company Guams Real Deal wants to open up a legal cannabis business, but hasnt due to the hurdles.

He received his responsible official card from the Department of Revenue and Taxation, one of several steps needed to open up shop, back in October 2022.

But hes since had to make the difficult decision to allow the license to expire, as it would be a waste of money to start growing product that cant be sold due to the lack of a testing facility.

Roberto testified in support of Bill 260-37, and said that even if a lab opened tomorrow, lengthy certifications required for the lab in local regulations would take at least another six months to get testing going.

He asked senators to make the process of doing cannabis business as efficient as possible, or else the legitimate industry would be unable to compete with the unregulated black market, a problem now seen in California.

Kayla Del Rosario of Homegrown Collective said her group is in support of Bill 260-37, but still wanted to see labeling included on cannabis products to keep consumers informed.

She suggested that sellers who failed to include such labeling should be fined.

Disclaimers informing buyers that the product theyre looking at was untested for contaminants was one idea, Del Rosario noted.

Other labels that should be considered included advisories that marijuana use could be addictive, could impair ones ability to drive, and should be kept out of reach from children.

Doing so would empower consumers, she said.

James Hemley, from the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, said he had helped the CNMI Legislature draft the laws that now govern the active cannabis industry up north.

He said he knew that Guam would see a very big road bump opening cannabis businesses, as soon as he saw the bills that legalized cannabis use.

The lab testing alone already killed the industry before it started, Hemley said.

Untested cannabis has been around Guam and the Marianas since the 1970s, Hemley said, and the community is already familiar with the product.

Up in the CNMI, he said, the sky has not fallen despite not having a testing requirement.

Lawmakers should not overthink it, he said, while a number of sick people on Guam continue to have no access to safe and legal cannabis.

Lab testing has its upsides for quality control, especially for edible cannabis that would be used for medicinal reasons, and should be dosed appropriately, he said.

But it also comes with a cost, Hemley said. Bill 260-37, he said, is a good way to deal with that compromise.

At least one lab wants to open up shop on Guam this year, but still has to clear regulatory requirements, the PDN has reported.

Nobody testified against the bill during the public hearing.
The search for Guams 80th Liberation Day queen candidates has opened, though some mayors have been having difficulty getting young women to sign up.

Guam celebrates the 80th anniversary of its liberation from Japanese occupation during World War II on July 21  a day marked with festivities as well as memorials to honor the lives lost and forever changed by the war.

Im trying to get a candidate, but its either by the pound or theyre coming out. I cant convince them enough. I told them, Well even buy you a dress, but its really difficult, Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares said at the Mayors Council of Guam meeting on Wednesday. If you have nieces in Dededo that are 18 to (25), can you please send them to me? Id like to interview them.

MCOG President and Piti Mayor Jesse Alig urged all the villages to participate in the event.

Everybody should join. You guys should have a candidate. Its the 80th, Alig told the mayors and vice mayors.

Only three villages  Piti, Santa Rita-Sumai, and Mangilao  have so far submitted applications for the event.

The Liberation Day Queen contest began in 1948. Young women aged 18 to 25 vie for the title by selling tickets.

The candidate who sells the most tickets is crowned Liberation Queen, while the runner-up becomes the Princess Royal.

The Liberation Queen is expected to attend all official Liberation events throughout the year, while the Princess Royal could take the place of the Queen if she failed to fulfill her duties.

Qualified Liberation Day Queen candidates must be sponsored by a civic or non-profit organization, government of Guam and federal agencies, private businesses, or individuals.

Sponsors organize various fundraising events, including door-to-door sales, dances, and community gatherings, to support their candidate.

Alig said the candidates or sponsors must first submit an application to the MCOG office before they can collect the raffle tickets at the Hagat Mayors Office.

This years raffle prizes will amount to $20,000, where the grand prize would be $10,000, and the baby grand prize, $5,000.

Alig also said the council plans to work with the Guam Visitors Bureau to assist with the parade and block party.

Its public information that GVB has been working on a promotion with United regarding the travelers from the mainland to Guam for the 80th Liberation. And so, I communicated with our vice president to see if perhaps maybe we can engage GVB in assisting with the parade and with the block party, he said.

Meanwhile, the theme and logo for the 80th Liberation Day have yet to be finalized, but they will be determined before the next MCOG meeting in May, according to Alig.

In the previous MCOG meetings, mayors discussed that this years celebration would emphasize cultural or Guam-centric activities, and doing more of what was done last year.

The mayors have also agreed to make the 80th Liberation Day festivities to last for three days, which will consist of a Mass, memorial, block party, and fireworks.
Rippling leased office space for a new headquarters at 430 California St. Courtesy of Rippling Rippling leased office space for a new headquarters at 430 California St. Courtesy of Rippling Rippling leased office space for a new headquarters at 430 California St. Courtesy of Rippling Rippling leased office space for a new headquarters at 430 California St. Courtesy of Rippling

Tech firm Rippling has signed a 123,000-square-foot lease for a new San Francisco headquarters, quadrupling its office space as it plans to hire hundreds of new local workers.

Rippling, which creates workplace management software for human resources and finance, will move into nine floors at 430 California St. It now leases 30,000 square feet across two floors at 55 Second St.

The new lease is the citys second-largest of the year, following Adyens 150,000-square-foot deal last month.

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Matt MacInnis, Ripplings chief operating officer, said easy access to public transit and the spaces high quality build-out made 430 California St. attractive.

In 2018, then-booming co-working startup WeWork leased what is now Ripplings space, turning the former Union Bank building into flashy modern offices. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase later leased it from WeWork. But Coinbase abandoned San Francisco during the pandemic, declaring it no longer had a headquarters and touting remote work.

In contrast, Rippling requires its employees in the office three days a week. Its San Francisco employees number 500, making its office at 55 Second St. far too small.

We were very clear since the beginning of the pandemic that we would have a strong in-office culture, MacInnis said. Weve never wavered from it.

Were competing for a pool of people who want in-office jobs, he added. We need to have a space thats going to have a modicum of wow factor.

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MacInnis said that widespread tech layoffs in the past year have boosted Ripplings opportunity to hire more talent. He said the industrys focus on cost-cutting has actually bolstered Ripplings business, which touts cost savings and automation for human resources, tech and finance tasks.

Were one of the few companies that is growing very, very rapidly, he said. Were a beneficiary of the era of austerity.

Rippling also benefited from having more office leasing options in a San Francisco market that hit a new record high vacancy rate of 36.7%, according to an updated figure from real estate brokerage CBRE.

But MacInnis said that the top-quality space that Rippling eventually leased wasnt deeply discounted, though he declined to disclose the price. Real estate owners and brokers have cited a flight to quality, in which the high end of the office market is performing relatively well, while lower quality space has become mostly empty.

The top third is still very competitive. Landlords are holding out for high rents, MacInnis agreed. You have to fight for it.

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Mayor London Breed said in a statement that Ripplings expansion is great news for our city and our economy. San Francisco is an innovation hub brimming with the most talent of anywhere in this country and the place to be for those who want to be a part of whats next.

Rippling was founded in 2016 by Prasanna Sankar and Parker Conrad, who previously co-founded Zenefits. The company has raised $1.2 billion from major investors including Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital. It has more than 2,500 workers globally and is also expanding in New York, where it is receiving up to $3.5 million in state tax credits by creating 390 jobs.

MacInnis, who lives in San Francisco, said the citys global brand as the premier tech hub has weathered the pandemic and said he remains optimistic about the citys future.

Its extraordinarily difficult for somewhere else in the world to take the top spot, he said. Im long (on) San Francisco.

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A number of residents waiting for approval to fix damaged homes or start new construction on CHamoru Land Trust property will have to wait longer, after land trust commissioners on Wednesday decided to pause any action due to a lack of legal counsel.

Issues facing over a dozen people, including some who need the CHamoru Land Trust Commissions approval to get loans to repair damage dating back to Typhoon Mawar, were on the agenda for a Wednesday commission meeting.

But no attorney from the Office of the Attorney General has been assigned to CLTC, so commissioner Earl Garrido motioned to table matters that commissioners need legal advice for.

He told those lessees that had appeared for the meeting that the commission wanted to help them.

But we want to do it the right way. There were many errors made in the past, but it was not through our efforts, he said. Were trying to clean it moving forward.

Attorney General Douglas Moylan in February withdrew from representing Land Trust, which is one of over 20 agencies now under AGs office investigation.

The bulk of the items on the CLTC meeting agenda was set aside.

According to CLTC program coordinator Joey Cruz, most of the matters involving Land Trust lessees had some sort of anomaly.

For example, commissioners were supposed to address the issue of 75-year-old suruhana or healer Bernice Tudela Nelson.

Nelson was issued a lease years ago for the Land Trust property she runs an amot farm on, despite not having documentation to prove her eligibility for the program.

Also on the agenda was the case of Philbert Flores, who was given a lease for a parcel of un-surveyed, unregistered property from Land Trust despite it being illegal for the agency to do so.

In both cases, the anomaly was discovered when the lessees asked Land Trust to back a loan from the Small Business Administration to fix damage from Mawar.

Other matters, like what to do with the residents whose leases were technically declared null and void because they switched places in the waiting list for land, also needed consideration, Cruz said.

He suggested that commissioners refrain from making any decisions, with no lawyer present, as they could open Land Trust to legal liability.

Garrido ultimately motioned to set the matters aside until Land Trust can hire counsel.

At one point during the meeting, Garrido said it was unclear to him why the attorney general had withdrawn counsel.

He said he heard the investigation had to do with the issues at the old raceway on Land Trust property in Yigo.

But we stopped the raceway from operating because of the activities that were not sanctioned by the board, he said.

A public auditors audit report issued last September found GovGuam had failed to monitor the raceway property over the 25 years the Guam Racing Federation was occupying it.

An alleged illegal mining operation was going on at the site, and the AG listed the audit as one factor that had launched his numerous investigations into the government in a confidential letter issued in February.

Option of hiring private counsel

CLTC Chairman David Herrera on Wednesday said he believes the commission could use about $500,000 in leftover funds from a previous expense for Land Trust to hire attorneys.

But Herrera and Garrido disagreed on whether the funds were available to be moved around.

Hiring of an attorney would require final approval from the attorney general, according to Cruz, but theres been no positive feedback on whether Land Trust is able to do that.

Moylan has said he would not stop any agency from hiring its own attorneys, but Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has put the question before the Supreme Court, whether executive branch agencies like Land Trust can legally do so.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the issue on May 20.




Haiti - Justice: Amnesty International urges the Dom. Rep. to put an end to its racist policies





Tuesday April 2nd, 2024, Amnesty International urged the Dominican Government to put an end to "the violations of fundamental rights suffered by Haitians, Dominicans of Haitian origin and black people" in the application of its immigration policy, which the organization has described as racist.



In an open letter addressed to the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and State institutions, Amnesty International, along with six other organizations including the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), stated that these policies immigration policies are based on racial discrimination... and generate discriminatory effects for the racialized exclusion of Haitian and Dominican peoples.



The signatories of this letter call on the Dominican authorities to guarantee Haitians access "to asylum procedures, without any discrimination" and "to reestablish legal channels of entry and stay for workers, students, people in seeking asylum, migrants seeking legal residence in the country, as well as within the framework of family reunification."



Reacting to Amnesty International's intervention, Venancio Alcantara, the Director General of Immigration, described what Amnesty International said as "abusive",

saying these accusations are reckless and denied that foreigners transferred to their countries of origin are mistreated.



Alcantara assured that the ban processes are carried out in accordance with the provisions of Law 275-04, with respect for human rights and in accordance with international standards of which the Dominican Republic is a signatory.



Likewise, he affirmed that immigration would continue with the expulsion and repatriation of all Haitian foreigners or other nationalities in an irregular migratory situation affirming "The General Directorate of Migration (DGM) rejects any type of interference in its national immigration policy and that any foreign institution interferes in the actions of the Dominican State in accordance with what is established by the Constitution, Dominican laws and international conventions."



So far this year, the DGM has repatriated 45,640 Haitians and 60,453 have returned voluntarily, for a total of 106,093 in addition to Haitians in an irregular migratory situation, 7 Americans, 3 Colombians, 1 Cuban, 1 Venezuelan, 1 Dutch and 1 have been deporte. In 2023, the Dominican Government expelled more than 250,000 Haitian nationals from its territory.



S/ HaitiLibre


















The fight over a proposed housing project for formerly homeless people in a quiet Peninsula suburb kicked into high gear Wednesday when supporters and opponents squared off at a one-day trial over the city of Millbraes attempt to block the proposal.

For months, many residents and city officials have decried the plan from San Mateo County to spend $33 million to buy the La Quinta Inn & Suites across the freeway from San Francisco International Airport and turn it into a 75-unit building for families and seniors experiencing homelessness with onsite services. The issue has become so fraught that two Millbrae City Council members are facing recall elections this summer, in a large part, for supporting the project.



In November, the city sued the county, asking a court to kill the proposal, arguing its unconstitutional. At the heart of the suit is Article 34 of the California Constitution, which prohibits government agencies from developing affordable-housing projects without voter approval and has been labeled racist by housing advocates.

The judge presiding over the court case is expected to make a ruling in the coming months.

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The calendar for Judge Nancy L. Finemans courtroom, where the trial over a project to house homeless people in Millbrae was held. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle

Opponents argue that theyre not anti-homeless but simply dont support this specific project. About 50 Millbrae residents, many Cantonese-speaking Chinese Americans, showed up at the courthouse Wednesday to voice their concerns.

They dont care about us, Patrick Louie, a Millbrae resident of 38 years, told the Chronicle ahead of the trial. Theyre only looking for a place to dump the homeless. How many of the homeless are from Millbrae? Theyre making us carry the burden of somewhere else.

Millbrae had only nine unsheltered homeless people, according to a 2022 point-in-time count while San Mateo County had about 1,800 homeless individuals  including nearly 1,100 who were unsheltered  though experts say the one-night counts may underestimate the size of a countys unhoused population.

Millbrae, a predominantly Asian and white Peninsula city of about 22,000, is the latest frontier in a battle over where housing for formerly homeless people should be built. Currently, the city has no shelter and no housing projects for homeless people.

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Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung, the first Asian American immigrant mayor of the city, told the Chronicle this week that Millbrae is committed to being part of the solution to zero homelessness. But we have to be able to do it in a way that fits our community, in a way that we can afford.

People gather outside a courtroom where a one-day trial over a project to house homeless people at a La Quinta hotel in Millbrae was being held. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle

County officials say the project is key to the strategy to get to functional zero homelessness, when unhoused people are willing to accept services and have a place to go.

The Millbrae hotel was chosen because of its proximity to public transit and its good condition, said Michelle Durand, a county spokesperson.

The county had applied for funding for the project from Gov. Gavin Newsoms statewide plan to fund housing for homeless people, known as Project Homekey, which funds the purchase and conversion of buildings into homeless housing.

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Homekey projects are exempted from Article 34s requirement. But both parties sparred in court Wednesday over whether the Millbrae hotel counts as a Homekey project, given that the county has not yet obtained the Homekey funds and may not.

Millbrae residents opposed to San Mateo Countys proposal for a homeless housing project in their city gathered at the site for a protest on April 1, 2024. The plan to convert the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Millbrae to a housing project for low-income people experiencing homelessness is being challenged by the city in court. Courtesy of Liann Ho

Meanwhile, San Mateo County argued Wednesday, among other legal points, that only Millbrae voters, but not the city itself, have the right to bring the lawsuit.

Not all residents oppose the project. Jess Hudson, a Millbrae resident of 12 years who works for the anti-poverty organization United Way Bay Area, began organizing in support of the countys proposal last year. The battle over the La Quinta Hotel, she said, has made her feel embarrassed of and unsafe in her city.

As a low-income resident, its really heartbreaking to hear how my City Council and how my fellow residents are talking about low-income people and how they feel low-income people are a threat, Hudson said. I dont appreciate that theyre using a racist and classist law to ban low-income people from coming into the community.

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San Mateo County has proposed converting a La Quinta Inn in Millbrae into housing for homeless people, but the city of Millbrae is contesting the plan. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle

Opponents say they are being villainized unfairly.

We do not lack compassion, Albert Yam, an organizer of the opposition said, adding that he is not universally opposed to all homeless housing in the city and is not a NIMBY, a term that he said many have called him and his colleagues.

Residents concerns include job losses; $750,000 in lost taxes from the closure of the hotel; what they call an abuse of taxpayer funds because the county would buy the hotel for 10% above its appraisal value; public safety risks; and a lack of transparency from county officials.

Fung said he would work with the county to find another site for the project, pointing to fire- and smoke-damaged apartment buildings along Richmond Drive in Millbrae.

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Millbrae residents opposed to San Mateo Countys proposal for a homeless housing project in their city gathered at the site for a protest on April 1, 2024. The plan to convert the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Millbrae to a housing project for low-income people experiencing homelessness is being challenged by the city in court. Courtesy of Liann Ho

Were not anti-permanent supportive housing, Fung said. Were not anti-homelessness. We just believe there are alternatives to the La Quinta proposal that would lessen the impact on the community.

Yam said that he is concerned that crime and drug overdoses that have occurred in other homeless housing projects in the Bay Area would happen in Millbrae as well if the project materializes. He is also upset that the La Quinta is within a five-minute walk of an elementary school and a high school.

Yam pointed to the track record of the operator contracted to run the housing project, Episcopal Community Services, which runs a project in San Francisco where a man died and it took days for his body to be found in a shared bathroom.

A one-day trial over a project to house homeless people at a La Quinta hotel in Millbrae was held at a courthouse in San Mateo. Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle

Episcopal Community Services Executive Director Beth Stokes said she strongly disagrees with any characterization of her organization as negligent. She added that if the Millbrae project goes forward, she is confident in her groups ability to effectively run the program.

Nonprofits in the (permanent supportive housing) sector are relentlessly scapegoated and deprived of genuine support, serving as convenient public and media targets in the midst of a complex homelessness and drug crisis, Stokes said.
Brothers Alexander, left, and Oliver Boesch won honorable mention in a C-SPAN student documentary video contest. Courtesy of Alexander Boesch

The video documentary that won Alexander and Oliver Boesch honorable mention in C-SPANs StudentCam competition may last only five minutes, but it tackles a meaty and touchy topic in the wealthy Peninsula suburbs where the brothers attend private schools: affordable housing and NIMBYism.

Their documentary, NIMBYism: Why Affordable Housing Is So Difficult in California, addresses the battle over affordable housing and the opposition it attracted in the affluent town of Atherton, where Alexander, 18, attends Menlo School, a private college preparatory school. Oliver, 16, attends another private college preparatory school, Crystal Springs Uplands School in upscale Hillsborough.

Both towns feature more mansions than multifamily homes and are among the communities where mandates by California state officials to build denser, more affordable housing have engendered fierce and sometimes emotional pushback from residents who argue that they want to protect their privacy.

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Those opponents included Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and his wife, actress, cookbook author and entrepreneur Ayesha Curry, who live with their three children in Atherton. Early last year, the Currys wrote a letter to the city complaining that plans to allow dense housing near their home would adversely affect their lives.

We hesitate to add to the not in our backyard (literally) rhetoric, the pair wrote. Safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home, they added.

The Boesch brothers, who live in San Mateo, start their documentary with the Curry letter, then delve into the issue with a series of clips of an Atherton City Council meeting packed with community members objecting to the housing plan.

Who in the world wants Atherton to encourage the cluster of multifamily developments? one unidentified man said on a call into the meeting. There are other cities to move to.

In an interview with the Chronicle just after a recent swim practice, Alexander said he wanted to point out the hypocrisy of people who decry homelessness and talk of the need for more affordable housing, then fight against it when its near their homes.

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I tried to focus on the hypocrisy, he said. For me, my documentary focuses on NIMBYism.

The documentary explains the concept of NIMBYism  the acronym stands for not in my backyard  and shows how it played out in Athertons state-ordered planning for future development.

A section of the documentary focuses on a letter from billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and his wife, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, demanding the town remove all multifamily zoning from its housing plan in a letter last year. It points out that Andreessen two years earlier wrote an essay criticizing the nation for not building enough housing.

This sort of hypocrisy often causes people like Andreessen to be labeled NIMBY or not in my backyard, the documentary states.

Alexander said he first developed an interest in issues surrounding housing after befriending a homeless man who lived near the doorstep of his apartment in New York City a few years ago.

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With homelessness, the biggest issue is the lack of affordable housing, he said, adding, There really needs to be housing for people of all income levels. The crux of the issue is the ability to build affordable housing.

Alexander said people dont often take the time to understand homelessness or get to know homeless people.

I would really just hope people understand the complexity of the homelessness problem, he said. Its not just one monolithic problem and theres not one monolithic solution. Everyones story is different.

This is not Alexanders first foray into researching homelessness and housing  he studied it during a two-week project at the end of his junior year, and the five-minute video is a short version of a 45-minute documentary on homelessness in the Bay Area.

And it wont likely be his last. Alexander is headed to college in the fall, possibly to Duke University, he said, where he would study public policy.

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More than 3,200 students in grades 6 through 12 entered short documentary films in the 20th annual C-SPAN contest, which organizers say encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation. The theme this year was Looking Forward While Considering the Past. The contest awarded cash prizes totaling $100,000 to the student filmmakers of the top 150 documentaries.
(CNBC) You can count billionaire investor Steve Cohen among those who believes artificial intelligence is already making an impact on the business world. The Point72 founder says his financial firm has found ways for even the early AI models to save the company money. Ill give you one little anecdote. My CTO comes to me and says I can save the firm $25 million by using these LLMs to improve our efficiency.

To read this article:
Bullying has been determined as the motive of the act. The suspect has stated in interrogations that he had been subjected to bullying, and this detail has been corroborated in the pre-trial investigation, reads a press release issued by Eastern Uusimaa Police Department on Wednesday.

BULLYING has been identified as the motive of the shooting that occurred at the Viertola school in Vantaa, Southern Finland, on Tuesday.

YLE had named bullying as the motive earlier yesterday, based on its reporting.

The suspect, a 12-year-old boy, shot three of his classmates at the school, killing a 12-year-old boy and inflicting life-threatening injuries to two 12-year-old girls at the start of the second class of the schoolday on Tuesday, according to Helsingin Sanomat. One of the girls is a dual Finnish-Kosovan national, while the suspect and the other two victims are Finnish nationals.

The suspect had transferred to the comprehensive school at the beginning of the year.

Officers at Eastern Uusimaa Police Department have also determined that, after the shooting, the suspect used his firearm to threaten pupils who were on their way to school in Siltamaki, Helsinki. The neighbourhood is where he was ultimately apprehended by police, some four kilometres south-west from the scene of the shooting.

He is therefore suspected not only of murder and two attempted murders, but also of illegal threat. He admitted to carrying out the act on Tuesday.

Kimmo Hyvarinen, a detective chief inspector at Eastern Uusimaa Police Department, said yesterday that police have developed a provisional understanding of how the suspect gained access to the firearm used in the shooting, a 22-calibre revolver. The revolver was licensed to a family member of the suspect.

We now suspect that a crime has taken place where the gun ended up in the possession of someone who isnt licensed to have one, he was quoted saying by Helsingin Sanomat.

Matti Tolvanen, a professor of criminal law at the University of Eastern Finland, told MTV on Tuesday that although under 15-year-olds cannot be found guilty of an offence under the criminal code, they can be found guilty of a criminal act.

That means that the pre-trial investigation can be carried out in accordance with the pre-trial investigation act. The justification presented in the act is that an investigation is necessary to determine the right to compensation or the need for child welfare services, he said to the news outlet. Its worth stressing that under 15-year-olds can of course also be liable for compensation.

Police are continuing their forensic investigation and interviews of people with knowledge of the matter.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Raviv, hailing from Kuhmo, was buried on the same day in the military section of the Rishon LeZion cemetery near Tel Aviv, in accordance with Jewish tradition.

A 21-year-old Finnish-Israeli soldier , Lior Raviv , died in Gaza on March 23. He became the 252 nd Israeli soldier killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sgt. First Class Raviv was reportedly killed during Israels operation targeting Hamas militants in Gaza Citys Shifa Hospital. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the news, and his death notice was published in the newspaper Kuhmolainen and Times of Israel .

This is the first reported death of a Finnish-Israeli dual citizen, who participated in Israeli army against the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Ravivs demise highlights the challenges faced by dual citizens like himself, torn between allegiance to their homeland and a sense of duty to a country embroiled in conflict.

No statistics of dual citizens in combat

It has proven extremely difficult for the media to find information on dual citizens who as reservists have to serve and fight in two armies, such as Finnish citizens fighting for IDF in Gaza at the moment. Government agencies, either lack sufficient data on dual citizens engaging in combat in other countries or refuse to give such information out. Helsinki Times reached out to multiple agencies, including the Finnish Defence Forces, Interior Ministry, and Foreign Ministry.

The Finnish Defence Ministry stated that they do not maintain statistics on reservists with dual citizenship.

Unfortunately, Finnish Defence Forces do not compile statistics on dual citizenship. For the Defence Forces, it is Finnish citizenship that matters to us, said a spokesperson of Finnish Defence Force.

We do not endorse or send Finnish citizens to fight wars in different countries and unfortunately, many citizens do not inform us when they engage in such activities, the spokesperson added.

The Finnish embassy in Tel Aviv maintained the same stance on Finnish fighters in Israel. We do not track exact numbers of the dual citizens that are serving currently either as regular soldiers or as reservists, the embassy told Helsinki Times.

The embassy added that due to the variety of units in the service, many, when called, are in duty in offices or in medical corps also. If there is anyone in duty, they would be serving under the Israeli authority, Finnish embassy in Israel said.

However, the Israeli Defence Forces declined to release the numbers of Finnish soldiers in combat in Gaza, citing security concerns.

According to data provided by statistics.fi, as of 2022, there are at least 177 Finnish men and 122 Finnish women with Israeli dual citizenship, aged between 15 and 44. Among the males, 34 fall within the 15-24 age range, while 143 are aged between 25 and 44. Similarly, among females, 33 are aged 15-24, while 89 are aged 25-44, holding Finnish-Israeli dual citizenship.

In Israel, military service becomes mandatory at the age of 18, lasting 32 months for men and 24 months for women. While in several countries, like Finland, women have the option to volunteer for military service, the Israeli Defence Forces uniquely conscripts the entire female population. Following their compulsory service, individuals may be called upon to serve in reserve units in Israel in case of a national emergency.

In the meantime, The Israel Defence Forces plans to extend conscript and reservist service durations to enhance readiness amid prolonged conflict in Gaza. Female soldiers in combat roles will serve 36 months, while the consecutive days of reservist service will increase from 25 to 40.

The IDF also enlists over 7,000 lone soldiers, with nearly half being recent immigrants from global Jewish communities. Through the Mahal program, individuals under 24 for men and 21 for women, with at least one Jewish grandparent, can join the IDF for 18 to 24 months without requiring to have Israeli citizenship.

Debate around foreign fighters

Israels reported use of foreign mercenaries in its attacks on Gaza has stirred significant debate and controversy. Helsinki Times had earlier reported that high-ranking UN experts warn of a potential genocide in progress in Gaza, urging the international community to take all necessary measures to prevent further atrocities. Israel is under investigation by the International Court of Justice for alleged genocide and there are numerous allegations of war crimes such as deliberate targeting of civilians, aid workers and journalists.

When questioned about the potential persecution of soldiers for war crimes outside the country, Finlands Justice Ministery clarified that Finnish law applies to crimes committed abroad by Finnish citizens.

As a rule, this presupposes that the offence must also be punishable at the place where the offence was committed (double criminality requirement), which is often the case for the offences that may be involved. In addition, many offences related to combat operations are international crimes that can be tried in Finland regardless of the law of the place where they were committed, Janne Kanerva, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Legislative Affairs, Ministry of Justice said.

If Finnish authorities become aware of a suspected crime committed abroad by a Finnish citizen, they will assess whether the conditions for initiating criminal proceedings are met.

In these situations, as a rule, a decision by the prosecutor is required to start a pre-trial investigation. In the case of offences suspected of having been committed outside Finland, the possibility that the criminal case may be processed outside Finland (for example, in the court of the place where the crime was committed) must always be taken into account, Kanerva added.

In cases where soldiers become victims of war crimes during conflicts, the Ministry of Justice ensures assistance and intervention through various channels. They might need medical assistance or other social welfare and healthcare services, such as emergency social services, hospital treatment and physical and mental rehabilitation. The victim may use these services in Finland under the same conditions as all the other clients. Many organisations in Finland also provide support, advice, and guidance for crime victims, Kanerva said.

International mercenaries

The involvement of mercenaries from various countries, such as Spain and France, has come to light through recent revelations, including a Spanish mercenary providing compelling evidence of their presence in the Israeli army, as reported by Spanish outlet El Mundo. This evidence includes details of a weekly payment of 3,900 euros to mercenaries, suggesting the existence of a well-funded operation.

Moreover, reports by French media indicate that a considerable number of French-Israeli dual citizens, approximately 4,185, have enlisted in the Israeli army specifically for the Gaza conflict. These revelations have sparked discussions not only within France but also internationally, drawing attention to the potential legal implications of such involvement.

In December 2023, the Australian Centre for International Justice sent letters to key Australian authorities, including the Minister for Home Affairs, the Attorney-General, and the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, regarding Australian citizens involved in hostilities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The exact count of American citizens engaged in combat in Gaza remains uncertain, with estimates suggesting a figure in the hundreds. Since the onset of the Israeli offensive on October 7th, approximately 10,000 individuals residing in the US have received draft notices from the Israeli army, compelling them to report for duty. Among these individuals, many hold dual Israeli citizenship, posing a legal quandary regarding accountability for potential war crimes.

Furthermore, Italys Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, has remarked that roughly 18,000 Italian nationals were living and working in Israel when the conflict erupted, with about 1,000 of them serving in the IDF. Similarly, the UK Foreign Office has confirmed that at least 80 British nationals were serving in Israels military one month before October 7th, as per a report by Declassified UK.

Mass slaughter of civilians

In a devastating update by Aljazeera that underscores the severity of the ongoing conflict, the situation in Gaza remains dire, with Israel intensifying its military operations across the region, including strikes near hospitals and in the southern parts of the enclave. As of April 4, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports a staggering toll: at least 33,037 people have been killed, including more than 13,000 children and 8,400 women, with injuries surpassing 75,668 individuals. Additionally, over 8,000 people are missing.

While some have questioned the reliability of the statistics from Gaza Health Ministry, the high toll of civilian casualties has been confirmed by US authorities. Speaking during a congressional hearing on Thursday 29th of February, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was asked by Congressman Ro Khanna how many Palestinian women and children had been killed by Israel, replying: It is over 25,000.

The conflict's impact has not spared the occupied West Bank, where at least 457 people have been killed, including 117 children. The destruction in Gaza is vast, with significant damage to residential buildings, educational facilities, healthcare infrastructure, and critical water sources. The UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs highlights the harrowing reality: every hour, 15 lives are lost, 6 of whom are children. Israel has also killed more than 100 journalists in Gaza, most of them Palestinians.

Seven international aid workers belonging to charity World Central Kitchen, distributing food to the famine ridden Gazan civilians were killed last Monday by what seems to be a deliberate precision targeting of their well-marked vehicles moving in a convoy kilometres apart.

Sonali Telang - HT
A FOOTPATH diversion put in place due to a closed bridge in Henley has been dubbed ridiculous by a councillor.

National Trails has unveiled the official diversion between Henley and Shiplake following the closure of the Marsh Lock Horsebridge, a section of the Thames Path, by the Environment Agency almost two years ago.

The 2.7-mile route takes walkers one hour and 15 minutes from Lower Shiplake to Mill Lane in Henley and involves crossing the busy A4155 twice.

It comes after the Culden Faw Estate, owned by Swiss financier Urs Schwarzenbach, closed the temporary diversion across his land on Sunday due to frustration at the Environment Agencys delay in repairing the bridge.

This helped walkers avoid having to use the busy road between Henley and Reading.

Critics claim the new lengthy diversion would not have been necessary if the agency had fixed the bridge promptly. The Henley Standard understands that the agency has finally accepted responsibility for the bridge after a wrangle with Oxfordshire County Council and Wokingham Borough Council over its ownership.

Since it closed the bridge, the agency has spent more than 50,000 on surveys and site visits.

It must now apply to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a grant to repair the bridge, which it is estimated will cost at least 1 million.

The crossing was closed in May 2022 after structural and safety issues were highlighted by the agencys staff. An assessment found 161 faults that needed repairing or replacing before the bridge could be opened again.

Stefan Gawrysiak, Henleys representative on the county council, called the footpath diversion absolutely ridiculous.

He said: It was established in 2022 that this bridge had problems from a safety point of view. It should not have taken two years to actually work out what the problems were and get them fixed.

This is going to inconvenience all the walkers of the Thames Path because now they have a three-mile diversion whereas if the bridge had been repaired, there wouldnt be an issue.

Apparently, the bridge is not going to be fixed for another two years because the Environment Agency has to apply for a grant.

For two years it has vacillated over whether it actually owns the bridge. It should have accepted the ownership and just got on because then by now the problem would have been fixed and we wouldnt be talking about it.

Fellow county councillor David Bartholomew, whose division includes Shiplake, said: The Thames Path attracts a wide range of walkers because its flat, easy to navigate and you cant get lost and can avoid a lot of hills.

This alternative route is very steep and muddy in places and certainly not accessible for anyone other than fairly able-bodied people so it will be a challenge and, of course, its longer. Im dismayed about the length of time this has taken to resolve. We have had the bridge closed now for two years and, as far as I can tell, all that has been achieved is a reluctant admission by the Environment Agency that it is the owner and will probably have to be responsible for the repair.

The agency doesnt have the budget for it so it is going to have to apply for funding. In my experience, these things can take ages and ages so this diversion could drag on for many months or years.

I think the Environment Agency has been influenced by its budget shortage and tried to see if somebody else would pick up the work.

Im disappointed that the other authorities have allowed it to get away with this for so long.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Henley-based Open Spaces Society, said: The society is dismayed that walkers on the Thames Path National Trail are being forced to use a lengthy and circuitous diversion. This takes them far from the river, across busy roads and on to lanes shared with vehicles. It is hardly the idyllic experience that walkers on the National Trail expect.

It is tragic that the Culden Faw Estate has withdrawn its permissive alternative, which was much shorter and closer to the river.

We urge the Environment Agency to speed up its work on the footbridge to enable people to use it once more.

John Case, footpath officer for the Henley and Goring Ramblers, said: Everybody is fed up with having a diversion but these repairs always take a long time. It will be two years come May and we have not really got any idea of how much longer it is going to take. We have other diversions up and down the river in place at the moment.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: It has now been clarified that the agency is the legal owner of the bridge.

Our engineering assessment indicates that the bridge is likely to require either a major refurbishment or replacement.

We will be working to ensure the project is included in our medium-term navigation capital investment programme.

Projects in this programme are funded through grants provided from Defra. The projects are prioritised against all our navigation asset needs across 45 lock sites, 195 weirs and approximately 100 bridges on the River Thames.

Major navigation projects such as this are included in our bids to Defra for funding. Timescales for the work will depend on what is required.

We appreciate the concerns of users caused by the closure. The bridge was closed due to concerns for public safety and this remains the priority.

Since the bridge was closed, an engineering assessment of the bridge has been undertaken and this has helped identify what might be required before the bridge can be reopened.
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.
A Stanford lecturer who was suspended after delivering a controversial lesson on colonization three days after Hamas invaded Israel has sued the university for wrongful termination in federal court. Michael Macor/SFC

A Stanford lecturer who was suspended after delivering a controversial lesson on colonization three days after Hamas invaded Israel in October has sued the university in federal court, alleging wrongful termination. His contract expired in March and was not renewed.

Varying accounts of the lessons Ameer Hasan Loggins taught on Oct. 10  which some Jewish students called deeply offensive and other students did not object to  were picked up around the world, including in the Chronicle. Stanford suspended Loggins, pending an investigation.

Loggins alleges that Stanfords administrators, including interim President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez, suspended him and posted campus updates about his work status because he is Black and Muslim. The suit, filed Wednesday, says those actions were discriminatory because the administrators do not publicly confirm personnel actions taken against Caucasian, Jewish and non-Muslim employees. The updates did not name him, but the suit says he was easily identifiable.

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Loggins received threats of death and violence, according to the suit he filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California in San Jose. In an interview, he said he has been called the n word more than 100 times.

The suit also accuses a postdoctoral researcher of slander and defamation, citing a Stanford Daily article that says the student worker told a congressional committee on March 1 that Loggins was one of Stanfords most racist faculty members.

Loggins is categorically not racist, the suit says.

The student worker could not immediately be reached for comment, so the Chronicle is not naming him.

We are disappointed that Mr. Loggins has chosen to file this lawsuit and we will vigorously defend against the claims being made, said Dee Mostofi, a Stanford spokesperson.

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On March 25, Stanfords interim vice provost for undergraduate education, R. Lanier Anderson, a named defendant, informed Loggins that neutral fact finders did not establish that you intended to target Jewish or Israeli students for different treatment, according to a letter included in the lawsuit. Nor did the investigators find intentional discrimination, according to wide differences in student perceptions of the lessons.

Yet, some students were in fact deeply upset by what transpired, Anderson wrote, noting that Loggins pedagogical strategies were unwise and that the bad educational outcome was predictable.

Loggins lawsuit offers his first public account of the lessons he taught at a raw moment in history: three days after thousands of Hamas-led militants entered Israel from Gaza, killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped more than 250 people.

His suit says that he told students he wanted to discuss dehumanization, Israel and Palestine, and that it would be a difficult topic. He told students he condoned neither the loss of innocent lives nor the  slow death that comes with dehumanization.

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According to the suit, Loggins told students that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had likened Palestinians to animals and had vowed to deny them food, electricity and fuel, prompting Loggins to mention the Geneva Conventions Article 54, prohibiting starvation as a war tactic. (Gallants quote following the invasion, according to the New York Times, was: We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.

Loggins told the class that he was not asking the students to pick sides between Israel or Palestine and to focus on Palestinian civilians, not Hamas, the suit says. He then asked if any Jewish students were present.

The idea was not to isolate Jewish students, according to the suit, but to speak to diversity within the Jewish diaspora.

Ameer Hasan Loggins, a Stanford lecturer who was suspended after teaching a lesson on colonialism three days after Hamas invaded Israel, is suing the university for wrongful termination. The Cochran Firm

The suit confirms a widely reported part of the lesson, in which Loggins asked how many people died during the Holocaust. When the students said that 6 million Jews were killed, Loggins reminded them of other mass atrocities and said King Leopold of Belgium had overseen the deaths of more than 10 million Africans in the Congo.

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According to the suit, one Jewish student and a student of Asian descent agreed to participate in an exercise, chosen by Loggins because of where they were sitting and for their physical size to illustrate a power differential between the large and the small, the oppressed and the oppressor.

Loggins took their backpacks and computers and had them face a window. They could turn around if they could produce identification, the suit says, noting that the purpose was to do an exercise on profiling and policing in an echo of Gaza.

Lastly, Loggins asked students if they believed the Palestinian civilians were living a good life and quoted a Gazan literature professor, Refaat Alareer, who had said if he had only a whiteboard marker, he would use it to throw at the Israeli soldiers. Even if it is the last thing that I will be able to do. (Alareer was killed eight weeks later by Israeli airstrikes.)

Using students size to represent powerlessness was particularly troubling to some students, Anderson, the vice provost, wrote in the letter included in the lawsuit.

Andersons letter referenced another complaint by students, which Loggins did not address in his lawsuit, in which the lecturer asked members of the class to identify their national origin, then labeled them as colonizer or colonized.

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Anderson noted that the lesson took place as many people were acutely fearful, or angry, or both, which helped create substantial risk that students emotional responses would interfere with the goal of understanding.

As a result, Loggins was to remain on paid leave, Anderson concluded. Loggins said in his suit that he did not segregate Jews in his classroom and did not call them colonizers.

His suit seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.

What Ameer wants is justice. His reputation. His ability to teach and support his family, said his lawyer, Derek Sells.

A popular instructor who received numerous messages of support alongside the hateful notes, Loggins said in an interview that he grew up in Richmond, the son of homeless, drug-addicted parents who have become clean over the past decade.
(JTA)  Georgia Hunter was 15 when she discovered that her grandfather was Jewish. The revelation took place a year after his death, while Hunter was interviewing her grandmother for a school project.

A high school English teacher said, Go out and interview a relative to learn a bit about your roots and in turn about yourselves, Hunter told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. I sat with my grandmother Caroline and I will never forget that hour I spent with her, sitting in her home and discovering that my grandfather was from this town called Radom, Poland, that he was one of five siblings, tha...
(JTA) - Jewish actress and writer Lena Dunham is the latest Hollywood star to discover that her family has ties to the Holocaust on the PBS celebrity genealogy series "Finding Your Roots."

Dunham, the sometimes controversial comedian who was born to a Protestant father and a Jewish mother, has previously described herself as "very culturally Jewish," and she stars in a forthcoming film, "Treasure," that features a family grappling with its Holocaust history. But until taping the "Finding Your Roots" episode that airs next week, she did not know that she herself had family members who survived...
(JTA)  Joseph Lieberman, a longtime senator from Connecticut who as Al Gore's running mate in 2000 became the first Jewish member of a major presidential ticket, died Wednesday. He was 82.

A statement sent to former staffers and reported widely said Lieberman had suffered complications from a fall.

A moderate - some would say conservative - Democrat turned independent, Lieberman was known for his attempts to build bridges in an increasingly polarized Washington, sometimes losing old friends and allies along the way.

He also became one of the most visible role models for Jewish observance in h...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Howard Kohr, the CEO who has led the powerhouse American Israel Public Affairs Committee since 1996, is set to retire by the end of this year.

Under Kohr's leadership, AIPAC has traversed five presidencies and more than 10 Israeli elections. In that time, its budget and staff have enjoyed significant growth as it has become one of the best known and most powerful lobbies in Washington. During his tenure, the United States' military aid to Israel increased to $3.8 billion per year, and AIPAC has been a leader in adding sanctions on Iran. In the last election cycle, 98 percent...
(JNS)  Israels National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has accused U.S. President Joe Biden of siding with the enemies of the Jewish state.

During an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir said, Presently, Biden prefers the line of [Palestinian-American Democratic Representative from Michigan] Rashida Tlaib and [Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya] Sinwar to the line of [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir.

I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours, he added.

While the Biden administration provi...
An all-electric vehicle is seen at a public charging station near Polk Street and Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

New research shows that the Bay Areas embrace of electric cars is having a measurable impact on the regions carbon footprint.

UC Berkeley scientists tracked a modest but steady decrease in carbon dioxide emissions between 2018 and 2022, a trend that held true even when factoring outside impacts like pandemic traffic reductions and seasonal differences.

While data was tracked from 50 air-quality sensors posted throughout the Bay Area, many atop schools, the largest concentrations of carbon dioxide were recorded along highway corridors, according to lead researcher Ronald Cohen. The researchers concluded the drop can be attributed to cleaner transportation options like hybrid and electric cars plus improved fuel-efficiency standards.

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He said the 1.8% average annual decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide detected by these sensors may seem small, but for comparison, a 3.5% annual decrease would bring the region in line with the states carbon neutrality goals in 2045.

If we do it for 20 years, its a big number, said Cohen, a professor and executive associate dean of UC Berkeleys College of Computing, Data Science and Society.

Greenhouse gases make California more susceptible to extreme wildfire, drought, heat and storms. Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas, and reversing global trends in carbon dioxide emissions represents one of the greatest challenges facing humankind today, according to the report, published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

In the Bay Area, Cohen said the largest local sources of carbon dioxide come from transportation, heavy industry like oil refineries and wintertime heating. He and other researchers wanted to find out whether data supports clean transportation policies so people could put energy into climate policies that really work.

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In addition to information from the sensors, they analyzed state Department of Motor Vehicles registration data to understand how many more electric and other clean vehicles were introduced each year. They factored in natural gas data from utilities as well as traffic data from Caltrans to account for reduced travel during the COVID-19 pandemic when great numbers of people stayed home and emissions dropped.

The sensors also measured pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. Cohen said this study focused on carbon dioxide because its a key target of state and local policies aiming to curb planet-warming emissions. San Francisco, for example, aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 by encouraging electrification.

Prior studies attempted to track carbon dioxide emissions in cities including Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Paris, and all reported reductions. In the Los Angeles study, researchers reported a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions during the recession from 2008 to 2010. In Paris, a study found a 2% annual decrease from 2016 to 2020.

But Cohen said their study is the first to look at a broader region and link reductions to electric cars. Cohen said their findings showed a stronger link between electric vehicles and reduced emissions than he had expected.

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By Andrew Lapin

(JTA)  For years, Candance Owens and Ben Shapiro traveled parallel paths.

Both are millennial right-wing culture warriors with social media followings in the millions. And both depart from broader communities that have historically voted Democratic  Owens is Black, Shapiro Jewish.

Occasionally, they would defend each other online. Meeting Shapiro in 2018 at the Trump White House, Owens wrote on Twitter, now X, the future of America is bright. In 2020, Owens joined Shapiros media company, the Daily Wire.

But like so many other ideological alliances, their bond has frayed an...
WASHINGTON (JTA) - President Joe Biden said the United States would continue to "impose costs" on Russia for its imprisonment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested one year ago.

The Journal marked the March 29 anniversary by leaving most of its front page empty below a headline reading, "HIS STORY SHOULD BE HERE." Every other article and headline on the front page involved Gershkovich.

"Today we mark a painful anniversary: one year of American journalist Evan Gershkovich's wrongful detention in Russia," Biden said in a statement.

"As I have told Evan's parents, I w...
(Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security via JNS)  President Joe Bidens Middle East strategy has been problematic since the Oct. 7 attack. The Hamas onslaught proved that Israel cannot contain its enemies Hamas, Hezbollah and above all, Iran, and can only fight to reduce their capabilities, while Biden has reiterated his policy of containment regarding Iran and its proxies.

Iran was to be rewarded with the release of bank deposits the United States has frozen since the fall of the shah. Biden also sent his special negotiator to try to broker a deal in which Hezbollah would withdraw bey...
By Etgar Lefkovits

(JNS)  Most evangelical Christians around the world are being intimidated into silence by a vociferous social justice camp that is fanning a false narrative on Israels war against Hamas in Gaza and being presented by the global media, the head of a Jerusalem-based evangelical organization said this week ahead of Easter Sunday.

Rev. Peter Fasts remarks during the Christian Holy Week come as public opinion polls have shown a drop in support for Israel, including among young evangelicals as the war in Gaza grinds on, and as the oldest Black Protestant Church in the United...
(Israel Hayom via JNS)  There has been no shortage of hints when it comes to the White Houses efforts to convey the message that Israel should refrain from taking action in Rafah, find a path to a ceasefire, and increase aid to Gaza.

Vice President Kamala Harris turned this subtlety into explicit policy when she threatened Israel that there could be consequences to an operation in the city. On Monday, the rhetoric turned into action at the U.N.

Israelis by and large will likely brush off the Security Council resolution as yet another example of a delusional U.N., but high-ranking Israeli o...
(JNS)  Hamas will not release any of the 134 hostages it holds until Israel ends the war, withdraws its troops, allows all Gazans to return to their homes and lifts the blockade on the coastal enclave, the terrorist groups leader Khaled Mashaal said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a womens event in Jordan, Mashaal declared that the organizations leadership is waging a negotiating battle no less fierce than the military conflict with the Israel Defense Forces, according to a readout of his remarks posted to Telegram by Hamas.

Inshallah [God willing], we will defeat them in the field and in t...
(JNS)  Incoming Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa vowed on Tuesday to appoint a cabinet that can gain both the trust of our people and the support of the international community.

In a vision statement seen by the Associated Press, Mustafa promises to reunify Gaza with Judea and Samaria and establish an internationally managed trust fund to rebuild the Strip after the Israel Defense Forces operation against the Hamas terrorist organization there ends.

Mustafa claims Ramallah aims to enact wide-ranging administrative reforms and hold its first election since 2006. Howeve...
(JTA)  Authorities in Newton, Massachusetts, said they are investigating a string of seven recent instances of vandalism targeting homes with pro-Israel signs as individual hate crimes.

In one incident this week, more than 100 posters displaying Israeli hostages who are being held in Gaza were destroyed, in what the Jewish homeowners said had been a site of communal memory since shortly after Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Most of the reported incidents in the heavily Jewish Boston suburb over the past month involve the defacement or removal of pro-Israel signs from lawns or fences. Police a...
(JTA)  In the largest antigovernment demonstration since Oct. 7, thousands of protesters gathered in Jerusalem to call on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to step down and for Israel to reach a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza.

And in a dramatic turn in Tel Aviv, the main organization lobbying on behalf of the families of Israeli hostages in Gaza said it would cease its Saturday night rallies in what has come to be known as Hostages Square and instead join in anti-government protests that have taken place in a different location several blocks away.

This is the la...
(JTA)  A school district in suburban Virginia is drawing backlash for announcing that middle school students could opt out of a talk by a Holocaust survivor on Monday.

Critics of the school connected the announcement with widespread reports of spiking antisemitism in K-12 schools following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. But the school and the local Jewish Community Relations Council denied those claims, later announcing that the opt-out was specifically intended to help Jewish students.

Fairfax County Public Schools, in a populous area outside Washington, D.C. with a number of Jewish i...
The United States Postal Service is putting Ansel Adams work on a series of stamps. United States Postal Service

A collection of Ansel Adams most beloved prints will soon become accessible to collectors at an affordable price.

The United States Postal Service is set to honor the San Francisco photographer with a series of Forever stamps, debuting next month.

The release is to be commemorated with a special event at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park on May 15, featuring park officials and Adams grandson, Matthew Adams.

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The United States Postal Service is set to honor the San Francisco-born photographer Ansel Adams with a series of stamps featuring his images of landmarks in the American West, such as the Golden Gate Bridge. United States Postal Service

The stamp series showcases Adams revered black-and-white images of the American West, including Half Dome at Yosemite, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Sierra foothills. Derry Noyes served as art director of the collection for USPS.

His ability to consistently visualize a subject  not how it looked in reality but how it felt to him emotionally  led to some of the most famous images of Americas natural treasures, USPS officials said in a statement. As evidenced by the striking images in this collection, Adams devoted much of his career to the advancement of photography as a fine art.

The USPS is celebrating Ansel Adams with a series of stamps featuring his black-and-white photographs of the Bay Area and American West. United States Postal Service

Adams, who established the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) before he died in 1984 at 82, left a legacy of photographs celebrated for their sharp focus and rich detail. His work has been featured in the nations largest institutions, including the de Young Museums Ansel Adams in Our Time exhibition last summer, marking a full circle to his first museum show in 1931.

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His extensive work for the Sierra Club Bulletin, nationwide museum exhibitions, lectures, workshops and his role in establishing the Museum of Modern Arts first photography department highlight his influence.

Yosemite, which Adams first visited at age 14, remained a lifelong source of inspiration, providing the landscape for some of his most famous photographs, including 1927s Monolith, the Face of Half Dome.

Ansel Adams photos featuring landscapes of the western United States will appear on a series of stamps. United States Postal Service

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WASHINGTON (JTA)  A range of Jewish and pro-Israel figures, including Israels antisemitism envoy, accused Sen. Jeff Merkley of advancing a blood libel for linking Easter to what he called Israels indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.

Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, had already marked Easter Sunday on X with a generic wish for a blessed holiday. He followed up with a post citing the holiday in his call to cut arms shipments to Israel and to pressure the country to facilitate the entry of more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

On this Easter, lets ponder [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Neta...
LOS ANGELES (JTA) - Steven Spielberg warned that "the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses" and lamented those killed in Israel and Gaza while being honored for his Holocaust remembrance work at the University of Southern California.

The renowned Jewish filmmaker spoke at a ceremony Monday afternoon in which USC bestowed its prestigious University Medallion on the 56,000 Holocaust survivors who have provided testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation, which Spielberg founded three decades ago. Thirty of the survivors were present at the ceremony. The award's text also says the s...
(New York Jewish Week)  When event producer Erez Safar announced a Valentines Day comedy show to raise funds for survivors of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the flier included a date, time and photo of headliner Daniel Ryan Spaulding, the non-Jewish comic who has stood out since the attack for his pro-Israel activism. But fans hoping to attend the show wouldnt be able to get there by looking at the poster. All it said was Location upon RSVP.

Following a spike in antisemitic incidents in New York City and beyond following Oct. 7, Safar is one of several Jewish activists and promoters who hav...
Raam Party head pushing US to recognize Palestinian state

(JNS)  Mansour Abbas, chairman of Israels Raam Party, said in a recent interview that he has been advocating for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in meetings with U.S. government officials and others.

Every week I have two or three meetings with international officials, delegations, ambassadors and the like. And I say to them in a clear mannerIts on you to take an immediate decision to recognize a Palestinian state, Abbas said in an undated Arabic-language interview, a clip of which was posted to X on March 26....
The White Rose Tribute event, to be held April 11 at the Orlando Museum of Art from 6 p.m.  8 p.m., will honor Jonathan and Nancy Wolf with the Tess Wise White Rose Award. The evening will feature a commemorative program, culinary treats, local wines and an exclusive update on the new Holocaust Museum for Hope and Humanity.

Jonathan and Nancy Wolf's dedication to diverse causes includes support for the Orlando Museum of Art, Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, and the University of Central Florida. Through the Nancy and Jonathan Wolf Global Academic Initiative a partnership between UCF and...
I was a battalion physician in Sinai during the Yom Kippur War. Those who fought and survived the 1973 Yom Kippur War hoped that the bitter lessons of that war had been learned and that Israel would never experience a similar catastrophe. Tragically, one day after the 50th anniversary of that war, history repeated itself with the devastating Hamas attack of Oct. 7. The similarities between these events are chillingly striking.

The Yom Kippur War began with an attack by Egypt and Syria on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. There were many signs that war was imminent. Both countries visibly...
(JNS)  In a life full of accomplishments, Joe Lieberman will almost certainly be best remembered as the answer to a trivia question. Even more significant was his role as a supporting player in one of the most intense political controversies as well as one of the great what ifs in American history. But as much as the 2000 presidential electionduring which he became Al Gores running mate and the first Jew ever to achieve such a distinctionand its denouement over recounts in Florida was his moment in the sun, his life should be recalled with honor and affection for much more than that.

As...
(JNS)  Trying to understand current events in the Middle East without knowing its history is doomed to failure. Trying to understand Israel without an understanding of Jewish history and Zionism is equally futile.

Over 100 years ago, the Jewish people began to realize they would never be safe without their own land, government and army, along with the power to determine their own future. For its entire history, the State of Israel they founded has been under attack. Although Israel has extended its hand in peace to its enemies from the beginning, it has never known a day of peace.

It will tak...
(JNS)  On March 24, Al Jazeera posted a video on YouTube that accused the Israel Defense Forces of raping Palestinian women during their recent operation in Shifa Hospital. IDF Arabic spokesman Lt.-Col. Avichai Adraee immediately and categorically rejected the rape claims. The next day, the Al Jazeera video was removed without comment or retraction.

A subsequent post on X by Yasser Abu Hilalah, Al Jazeeras former managing director, admitted that the rape accusations were fabricated and that the woman who made the claims, Jamila al-Hissi, admitted that she lied. She justified her exaggeratio...
Charles and Katrina Santos drink cappuccino cocktails at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle Tosca Cafes sign seen in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle

Theres a tall tale in my family about the first time my mother went to Italy, in the 80s. She was scandalized to see Italians drinking cappuccinos so early in the morning. What a country, what a lifestyle! How did they get any work done with such a boozy start to the day?

To my mom, a cappuccino was synonymous with North Beachs Tosca Cafe, and it wasnt a coffee drink at all. Instead, bartenders would coax steam from the hulking imported espresso machine, frothing milk and stirring it into chocolate and brandy. The drink was supposedly a lifeline for the business, which opened in 1919 months before Prohibition went into effect. Nothing to see here, officer, just some paesani enjoying their cappuccinos.

Despite the cafe part of the name, Tosca has always first and foremost been a bar. By the time Jeannette Etheredge purchased the business in 1980, the kitchen had been closed for nearly 30 years, and it remained shuttered throughout that legendary era. Whatever Lars Ulrich, Sean Penn and Robin Williams were consuming in that back room, it wasnt food.

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A cappuccino cocktail seen at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle

Tosca Cafe is now a full-fledged restaurant, and although its possible to cobble together an acceptable meal, the kitchen is wildly uneven and the dining room so loud on weekends that it helps if you read lips. Its a spot you go to for vibes and revelry, not for the food.

None of this would surprise any of Etheredges regulars. Its only noteworthy because for a few years, Tosca Cafe was one of the best restaurants in America.

In 2013, Etheredge was served an eviction notice by her landlord, and acclaimed New York chef April Bloomfield and her longtime backer Ken Friedman stepped in to save Tosca. After 60 years as a bar, it was suddenly a restaurant  and an incredible one at that, landing on Bon Appetit and Esquires lists of the best new spots in America. Michael Bauer raved about the Marsala chicken and the mushroom-topped grilled polenta. New York Citys local paper ran a review. It could take upwards of an hour to get a table during primetime, and yet I dutifully gave my name to the host whenever I visited San Francisco. Between Bloomfields food and the energy and history of the room, there was no restaurant in America where I would rather be.

Signed posters and photographs decorate the walls of Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle

It was short lived. In 2017, Friedman was accused of sexual harassment by numerous employees, some of whom also alleged that Bloomfield had not done enough to protect them. Bloomfield severed ties with Friedman, but the damage was done. Her Tosca closed in 2019.

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Restaurateur Anna Weinberg, chef Nancy Oakes and designer Ken Fulk, three heavyweights of the San Francisco culinary scene, stepped in to save this slice of San Francisco history. With Oakes at the helm, we had hope that the kitchen would maintain its excellence. A 2019 Chronicle article announced the change in leadership and mentioned that Oakes envisions writing a menu each day that will include dishes like rabbit cacciatore, Dungeness crab cioppino and artichoke stuffed with shrimp and lemon mayonnaise. But Oakes has not been involved with Tosca since the pandemic, and that vision is not the current state of Tosca, where I noted the menu remained static over the course of six weeks. Theres no nod to seasonality, with springy peas, winter chicories and summery basil all bunked up together.

Which would be fine  not every restaurant has to be seasonal  if the classics were well executed. Often, this is not the case. The pesto pappardelle ($28) was violently undersalted. The lumache cacio e pepe ($27), while tasty in the way that cheesy pasta tends to be, was gloopy and clumpy, the sauce not properly emulsified. Oakes left behind her recipe for Tuscan fried chicken ($35), but I wonder if she would recognize it. Some bites were completely without seasoning while others were notably spicy thanks to a final drizzle of chile oil, despite there being no mention of it on the menu. For someone with a sensitivity to heat, that dish would have been a game of Russian roulette.

Pork saltimbocca seen at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday evening, April 3, 2024. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle

At Boulevard, where Oakes made her name and the cooking is still assured, the pork chop never leaves the menu, and so I guessed Toscas pork chop saltimbocca ($42) might be a smart order. One night it was, juicy with a shimmer of pink. On another visit, it was a slog to finish more than a couple of bites of a thin, overcooked chop. What was consistent was the miserly use of prosciutto in a dish where it should be a headliner. Instead of a slice of cured ham wrapped around or draped over the pork, there were motes of prosciutto freckling the otherwise flavorful sauce.

Not everything is a sad trombone. If you roll the dice and end up visiting on a bad-pork-chop night, the accompanying crispy marble potatoes, drizzled with salsa verde, will console you. They remind me of the pork-fat fried spuds from the Bloomfield days, and they can also be ordered as a side ($12). Spaghetti and meatballs ($28) were nicely done. And there is reason to hope: Weinberg is bringing in a new consulting chef later this month.

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The weekend crowd is not there for food anyway. Tosca seems to be the preferred spot for large parties of hot girls to lay down a base coat of pasta before a big night out. On a Saturday in March, each new arrival to a large birthday party was met with a cascade of shrieks and a glass of Champagne poured from a magnum. The month before, a bachelorette party  I could tell because of the sashes  strutted around the tables to the back room. Later in the bathroom, I listened to someone discreetly throw up in the next stall.

Tosca Cafe in San Francisco, Calif., seen on Wednesday evening, April 3, 2024. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle

But on a recent Tuesday evening, I walked in and easily found two spots at the bar. The music, inhospitably loud on my two previous weekend visits, was set to a reasonable volume. My martini was very cold, and I had no complaints about my fried calamari ($18) or spaghetti. The bartender was kind  would we like him to take our photo?  and the host helped us identify all the famous faces in the new mural facing the bar.

Toscas moment as a culinary player was a short one, a blip in its 105-year history. But it remains a great bar. And the cappuccino? Still very much worth ordering.

Tosca Cafe

242 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. instagram.com/toscacafesf

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Hours: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday; 5-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.

Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible tables, although the bar area is on the narrow side, especially if crowded. No outdoor seating.

Noise level: Not bad on a Tuesday, positively deafening on a Saturday.

Meal for two, without drinks: $120 to $160.

What to order: Spaghetti and meatballs ($28), crispy potatoes ($12), house cappuccino ($16).

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Meat-free options: Truffle gnocchi ($31), lumache cacio e pepe ($27), melanzana fritta ($18).

Transportation: Street parking can be challenging; an eight-minute walk from Chinatown-Rose Pak Station; 12 Folsom/Pacific and 8 Bayshore buses.


Thursday April 4, 2024







Mumbai, Apr 3 (PTI) The Mumbai police arrested nine pirates who were brought to India on Wednesday, days after the Navy caught them for hijacking an Iranian fishing vessel with 23 Pakistani crew members on board off the Somalia coast, an official said.



The hijacking incident took place on March 29, he said.





"After the successful operation of the Indian Navy team, the pirates surrendered and the crew members were rescued. The pirates were then taken into custody by the Navy and after six days of journey, the pirates were brought to Mumbai," he said.The Navy then handed over the pirates to the city police, he added.The Mumbai police registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, the Passports Act and the Foreigners Act against the pirates and placed them under arrest, he said.The arrested pirates were identified as Gelie Jama Farah (50), Ahmed Bashir Omar (42), Abdikarin Mohmmad Shire (34), Adan Hasan Warmase (44), Mohammed Abdi Ahmed (34), Abdikadir Mohmmad Ali )(28), Aydid Mohmud Jimale (30), Said Yasin Adan (25) and Jama Said Elmi (18), the police said.The action comes two weeks after the Navy rescued another vessel and 17 hostages, and captured 35 armed pirates in a nearly 40-hour dramatic mid-sea operation off the Somalia coast. These 35 pirates were also brought to Mumbai and placed under arrest by the police.


Thursday April 4, 2024







Somalis celebrate the electoral victory of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hassan Ali Elmi/AFP via Getty Images



Ethiopia and Turkey, which have had cordial ties since the early 20th century, have drawn even closer in recent years as both battle criticism from the west over domestic policies. But new developments are putting the relationship to the test. These include Turkey assuming the role of protecting Somalias waters  deemed to include the Gulf of Aden  as well as efforts by Ethiopia to gain access to the sea through a deal with Somaliland.



Michael Bishku, a Middle Eastern and African history scholar who has recently researched Ethiopia-Turkey relations, explains why Turkeys ties with Ethiopia are largely economic while those with Somalia are sentimental, in assisting an impoverished Muslim country.



What binds Ethiopia and Turkey historically?





The new Republic of Turkey opened its first embassy in sub-Saharan Africa in Addis Ababa in 1926. Ethiopia reciprocated by setting up its embassy in Ankara in 1933.When Italy invaded Ethiopia between 1935 and 1937, Turkish soldiers volunteered for the Ethiopian army, with the Turkish government strongly supporting sanctions against Italy. During the occupation, which lasted until 1941, Ethiopias embassy in Turkey never closed. Turkey was neutral until the end of the second world war. But it embraced alliance with the United States after the war, as did Haile Selassies Ethiopia.Relations between Turkey and Ethiopia remained close during the 1960s. At the time, both countries took the pragmatic approach of improving relations with both the Soviet bloc and the Arab world.In 1974, Haile Selassie was overthrown by the military. The military then established a Marxist regime in Ethiopia which lasted until 1991. Relations were suspended by Turkey during this time.A united Somalia, including former British Somaliland, achieved independence in 1960. The enlarged state coveted the Somali-populated Ogaden region in Ethiopia. Turkey did not establish an embassy in Somalia until 1979, when that country shifted away from close ties to the Soviet bloc in the midst of a war against Ethiopia when it attempted unsuccessfully to occupy Ogaden (1977-1978).Somalias President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 and the country fell into chaos. The Turkish embassy closed until 2011. Turkey participated in the two United Nations operations in Somalia, the first one between 1992 and 1993 and the second one from 1993 to 1995.In 2011 Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then Turkeys prime minister and whose government regarded itself as a defender of Sunni Muslim interests, became the first non-African leader to visit Somalia in two decades. Five years later, he visited the country again as president, to open Turkeys largest embassy complex in the world. Mogadishus airport and seaport are run by Turkish companies.In 2017, Turkey opened a military base in Mogadishu to train Somali soldiers. It has also built hospitals and infrastructure though the offices of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) as well as providing scholarships for Somalis to study in Turkey.Turkey has provided more than US$1 billion in humanitarian aid since 2011, part of which came from Muslim NGOs.Both Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) support the efforts of the Somali government against the threat of al-Shabaab.The UAEs assistance to Somalia has been far less than that of Turkey. However, its been involved in the country in other ways. In 2015, it also participated in the second UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia, and set up a military training facility in Mogadishu. It also upgraded Berbera airport in Somaliland and manages two Somali ports: Berbera and Bosaso. Bosaso Port is in Puntland, another breakaway Somali territory.These moves were regarded as a means to increase security against Iran and its Houthi ally in Yemen.Somaliland declared its independence in 1991. But it is still internationally recognised as a de jure part of Somalia.Ethiopia, Turkey and Djibouti have established consulates in Hargeisa, Somalilands capital city. Other countries such as Kenya and the UAE have liaison offices there. But only the UAE and Ethiopia have bypassed Mogadishu to make deals directly with the Somaliland government even though the UAE publicly supports the territorial integrity of Somalia.The UAEs deal involved setting up a military base in Somaliland and training Somalilands security forces.In January 2024 Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding under which Somaliland has offered Ethiopia port access through a lease for 50 years of 20km of Somalilands coastline. In return, Ethiopia would give Somaliland diplomatic recognition.Somalia countered the announcement of this deal by making Turkey a key security partner. Turkey is to train and equip Somalias naval force and help patrol the Somalias coastline.
On September 6, 2007, four Israeli F-16 jets flew deep into Syria, evaded Syrian air defences and struck what was purportedly an under-construction nuclear facility (Al-Kibar) in the Deir-al-Zour province, about 450 km north-east of Damascus. The Israeli strike (Operation Orchard) irreversibly damaged the facility which could have (if fully constructed) produced enough plutonium for one or two weapons per year according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Eleven years later, Israel officially claimed responsibility for the 2007 strike as the Islamic State took control of key areas where the facility had existed. Now, another Israeli strike in Syria has sent ripples in a region already gripped by the fallout of the Gaza war. On April 1, Israeli F-35 jets struck Irans consulate in Damascus killing seven, including two senior officials of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). One of them, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was the senior-most IRGC official killed in an air strike since Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Irans vow to decisively respond has triggered fears of escalation to the level of full-fledged hostilities. However, there is more to it.

Syria is Israels old battle-ground

The Syrian Arab Republic is among Irans oldest and strongest allies in the region. Both states have long found a common purpose in militating against Israel and the United States, right from the inception of Iran as an Islamic Republic in 1979. In the first war-ridden decade of Irans existence, Arab Syria was strongly allied with Persian Iran, against Saddam Husseins Iraq.

The mutual trust and strategic ties nurtured in that decade have only grown since. The dynamics of this older relationship evolved further in the 2010s with Syrias Bashar-al-Assad depending heavily on Iran to sustain it as Syria descended into a Civil War (with the momentum of the Arab Spring) mixed with the rise of an unprecedented territory-seeking jihadist force in the form of the Islamic State. Irans support of Assad manifested in a larger role for its IRGC (especially its Quds Force) in Syria.

While Syria itself has long been in direct conflict with Israel, the increase in Iranian presence in Syria has supplied greater rationale for Israel to conduct more air strikes against Iranian interests in Syria, like the strike in 2007 which was directed as a message against potential Iranian nuclearisation. While it has kept up such attacks across the decade, in 2023 alone, Israel carried out about 20 strikes in Syria, principally targeting Iranian presence. Members of the IRGC rank and file have regularly featured in the casualty list, with an Israeli strike in December 2023, killing a senior IRGC adviser in Syria.

The Netanyahu gambit

While Israels attacks against Iranian targets in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq have waxed and waned in recent years, it has come closest to striking Iran proper with the attack on the Consulate (whose inviolability the UN has affirmed). The increase in Israels skirmishes with Iran-backed Hezbollah at its northern border, as well as an earlier attack on the Red Sea port of Eilat by Iraqi militias, have largely been taken by media reports to be the immediate triggers for Israel to strike Iranian targets directly.

This is in line with recent shifts in Israeli attitudes  in December 2023, former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett outlined at least two operations he had ordered against Iran when he was premier, in an article for the Wall Street Journal. This went against the pattern of Israel not claiming official responsibility for such attacks (evident again in April) and was part of a growing Israeli desire to take the fight directly to Iran in return for proxy strikes.

However, the position that the current Benjamin Netanyahu-led government finds itself in arguably added a new tactical layer of objectives to an old strategic layer. Given the centrality of the Gaza war to Netanyahus political survival amidst unprecedented international and domestic pressure, drawing Iran into full-scale hostilities with Israel would fundamentally change the dynamics of the war. On one hand, it would transform one states counter-terrorism-focused campaign against an armed non-state actor in Gaza (notwithstanding its grossly disproportionate nature), into full-scale inter-state hostilities.

On the other hand, the variables which pushed the United States to scale down its diplomatic support for Israels Gaza war, might possibly be superseded by those which would require it to support a campaign against Iran; this is especially true as the Iraqi militias which Israel has accused for the Eilat attack, have principally targeted the American military in the region across the past year.

Irans options and priorities

Given the unprecedented nature of the Israeli strike, Iran has vowed a response, with Khamenei promising that Israel will be punished. Israel, which has begun preparations for war (such as by cancelling all military leaves), is expecting an Iranian attack - reportedly after warnings from American intelligence, Reuters reported. While Iran's response could very well be a scale-up of time-tested proxy attacks, even a direct response might be expectedly restrained. This is for two reasons, principally.

First, the longer and wider Israels war, the worse its own international position gets (with adverse ICJ rulings and UN resolutions), and the lesser the chances of Arab-Israeli normalisation coming back on track. Moreover, Washingtons own position vis-a-vis Iran and Israel has been shifting. On one hand, there have been no Iran-backed proxy attacks on US forces/bases in Iraq and Syria since February 4 when the United States retaliated for the Tower-22 attack in Jordan. A Financial Times report in March showed active Oman-based back-channels between Washington and Tehran, with officials of the former believing that Iran had actually reined in Iraqi militias. Essentially, the United States is actively seeking de-escalation with Iran to contain the effects of the Gaza war. On the other hand, while Washingtons ties with Israel have been subject to new strains, fresh stressors appeared after an Israeli strike in Gaza killed a number of aid workers from the World Central Kitchen Workers, including one America, drawing a strong reaction from President Biden who asserted that Israels investigation into the incident must be swiftand its findings must be made public. Washington has conveyed strongly to Iran through existing back-channels that it had no prior knowledge of the Israeli attack, as one United States Institute of Peace report has shown. More interestingly, the US Representative to the UN asserted that diplomatic missions had to be protected especially in times of armed conflict, showing the decreasing diplomatic latitude that Washington is ready to give Tel Aviv.

Second, Irans current focus remains as much on its economic health as much as it does on regional power projection amidst deepening Arab-Israeli fault lines. In his customary address to the nation on the occasion of Nowruz, Khameneis 2024 speech focused especially on economic issues, indirectly (and surprisingly) blaming President Ebrahim Raisis administration for its policy failures. On March 20, Khamenei also asserted that measures at the global level were the only resolution to economic issues, evidently a reference to getting sanctions relief. Hence, Iran has enough reason to avoid a conventional war, no matter how much Israel punctures Iranian deterrence in the short term.

Note that even when Qassem Soleimani, Irans star General, was assassinated in 2020, Irans preferred response was to use its proxies against US bases. Irans desire to avoid direct losses was further evident in its significant reduction of IRGC presence in Syria in early February 2024. However, should Israel continue such attacks or increase hostile rhetoric, the chances of pragmatic decision-making in Tehran giving way to the need for a reprisal attack to preserve deterrence, only grow.

Bashir Ali Abbas is a research associate at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research, New Delhi, and a South Asia Visiting Fellow at the Stimson Center, Washington DC. The views expressed are personal.
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio defended his long term investment in China and said that he wont abandon the country despite all of the problems there hes identified and the risks of war with the US. He said in a LinkedIn post, I have had a wonderful 40-year relationship with the Chinese people and the Chinese culture that has led me to love them. For me, being involved with them and their markets go together and I wouldnt want to be without either." Ray Dalio, billionaire and founder of Bridgewater Associates LP, during a interview in New York US. He said in a nearly 5,000-word post on LinkedIn that he agrees with Chinese President Xi Jinping's warning of a 100-year period of unprecedented change.(Bloomberg)

He added, "I dont jump in when things are booming and jump out when things are tough because I am neither a fair-weather friend nor a fair-weather investor.

Ray Dalio on difficulties in China

In an earlier post last month, the hedge fund titan discussed difficulties and challenges China faced and warned that the country should cut its debt and ease monetary policy. He then said that Chinas problems are manageable now if Chinese leaders do their job well by being both smart and courageous" as he pointed to signs that leader in China are preparing to conduct quantitative easing along with debt restructuring.

Chinese policymakers are able to manage how to deal with political, geopolitical, nature, and technology forces well", he said.

Ray Dalio on US-China war

Ray Dalio said he understands others when they are concerned if there is a US-China war it would be disastrous especially if one is an American investor.

To me the key question isnt whether or not I should invest in China so much as how much I should invest, he wrote.
Kolkata, Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has resumed its flight operations to Pakyong airport in Sikkim from Kolkata and Delhi, the airline said on Thursday. HT Image

The Delhi-Pakyong route will be operational five days a week, while the Kolkata-Pakyong flight will operate daily, it said.

The airline said in a statement that it has also launched non-stop flights between Hyderabad and Ayodhya from Tuesday.

We are happy to enhance connectivity to Ayodhya and Pakyong ahead of the forthcoming peak travel season. With an expanding fleet, we are poised to launch new routes and reinstate services on key ones," the statement quoted Debojo Maharshi, Chief Business Officer, SpiceJet, as saying.

The airline's services resumed on March 31.

The resumption of flight services to the Pakyong airport during the summer will cater to a huge number of tourists who visit the Himalayan state, B T Pote, the officiating airport director , Pakyong airport, told PTI.

All the flights have been full since the services resumed, the weather is very good and we are fully prepared to handle flights to the airport even during the monsoon season, the officiating D said.

The road connectivity to the airport from all parts of the state and surrounding areas is also good for hassle-free travel of tourists, he said.

The flight services at the airport, which has a table-top runway, were suspended approximately six months ago owing to some operational reasons.

SpiceJet began flight operations to the Pakyong airport in 2018, but services have been irregular due to various operational reasons, including visibility issues.

According to the schedule, the daily flight from Kolkata will take off at 8.05 am and reach Pakyong at 9.35 am. It will depart from there at 10.30 am and reach Kolkata at 12.10 pm.

Similarly, the flight from New Delhi will take off at 9.45 am and land at the airport in Sikkim at 12.40 pm. The return flight will take off at 1.10 pm and reach New Delhi at 4.10 pm.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The industry secretary of India, Rajesh Kumar Singh, on Thursday, said that Tesla Inc. now has the responsibility to outline its investment strategies for the country following the government's decision to cut import duties on electric vehicles. Last month, the industry department also introduced a detailed policy to enhance EV manufacturing in the country. Visitors check a Tesla Model 3 car next to a Model Y displayed at a showroom.(REUTERS)

We will help them out in terms of giving them the contacts at state level, secretary of department for promotion of industry and internal trade, Rajesh Kumar Singh told Bloomberg. There have been contacts made at that level with state governments and the central government. VinFast has already announced and we expect a few others, he added.

VinFast, a Vietnamese automaker, recently initiated the construction of an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

READ | Tesla to start searching site in India for $2 bn-$3 bn electric car plant: Report

According to reports from the Financial Times earlier this week, Tesla is set to deploy a team to explore potential locations in the country for a proposed electric car plant valued at $2 billion to $3 billion. Additionally, Tesla aims to increase its procurement of auto parts from India to approximately $15 billion.

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, has persistently advocated for reductions in import taxes as a prerequisite for committing to significant investments in one of the world's largest automobile markets.

As per the government's announcement in March, companies seeking tax concessions must invest a minimum of 41.5 billion rupees ($500 million) and commence electric vehicle production from a local plant within three years.

Singh emphasized on Thursday that this policy is expected to stimulate the growth of electric vehicles in the country.

READ | Teslas Berlin factory kicks off production for Indian market

We expect it to lead to a penetration of four-wheeler electric vehicles to at least 10% by 2030, he said. My view is that if we have these manufacturing units up and running, along with the battery infrastructure that is now going up, it should be closer to 15% by 2030, after which it will just snowball.

Based on estimates from BloombergNEF, approximately 96,000 passenger electric vehicles were sold in India in 2023, nearly doubling from the previous year, with a potential increase of another 40% projected for 2024.

However, it's worth noting that India's electric passenger vehicle market has primarily been dominated by electric scooters due to their lower cost. Additionally, the country currently lacks a robust electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and the available electric vehicles are predominantly higher-priced models.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)
Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee(KPYCC) has alleged that some of the colleges in Bengaluru forcefully made its students participate in the nomination rally of BJP MP Tejasvi Surya. Former MLA and Congress leader Sowmya Reddy shared screenshots from student WhatsApp groups and said that management threatened the students with severe actions if they did not show up at the nomination rally. Bengaluru students forced to attend Tejasvi Surya's nomination rally: Congress(PTI Photo)

Also Read - Former CM Kumaraswamy, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya file nominations for LS polls

On Thursday morning, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya filed his nomination papers by going as a rally with large crowds. The social media handle of KPYCC shared the screenshots from student WhatsApp groups and asked, How right is it for Tejasvi Surya to instruct the college students to compulsorily attend the political program?? Is there no action against MP Tejaswi Surya who is forcing students?? Isn't this a violation of the code of conduct?

Sowmya Reddy, who is contesting against Tejasvi in Bengaluru, urged the Chief Election Commission (CEC) to act against the sitting MP and called it a violation of the model code of conduct.

According to the screenshot shared by Sowmya Reddy, a private college in VV Puram sent a message to students which said, Tomorrow, all the members of the student council have to assemble near maiyas hotel Jaynagar at 9.0 AM for Tejaswi Surya rally. Youll be getting T-shirt so dont be late. Everyone has to be there at the reporting time and no excuses will be entertained. You will be getting attendance for this. Thank You!

Union minister Anurag Thakur accompanied Tejasvi Surya in his nomination rally and asked the people of Bengaluru South to send the latter to Parliament once again. Tejasvi said that he will win with a bigger margin in his constituency.
Former Karnataka CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy filed his nomination papers on Thursday as he is contesting for Lok Sabha polls from the Mandya constituency. In his affidavit, the two-time chief minister and his wife, Anita Kumaraswamy, have declared their assets. HD Kumaraswamy doesn't have a car and owns tractor. What his affidavit reveals

According to the affidavit, HD Kumaraswamy and his wife, Anita Kumaraswamy, together own a wealth of 217.21 crore. However, Anita Kumaraswamy, the former Ramanagara MLA is wealthier than her husband as she has assets worth 154.39 crore and HD Kumaraswamy only owns assets worth 54.63 crore along with other 8.17 crore under Hindu Undivided Family. (HUF)

Also Read - Former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy to contest LS polls from Mandya as NDA candidate

Kumaraswamy, the son of former Prime Minister HD Devegowda, surprisingly does not own a car but has a tractor and called himself an agriculturalist, politician and social worker. He also has three pending police cases against him. His other assets are a house in Bengaluru worth 6.46 crore, agricultural lands worth 37.48 crore, gold worth 47.06 lakh and diamonds worth of 2.60 lakh.

Anita Kumaraswamy owns a car worth Rs. 11 lakh which is in the name of her company Nikhil & Co. She is also a director of Kasturi Media Pvt Ltd and Nikhil & Co.

After a long suspense, HD Kumaraswamy declared last week that he will be contesting from Mandya in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The BJP, which is in alliance with the JD(S), has allotted this seat to the latter and Kumaraswamy himself decided to contest from this Vokkaliga bastion. Congress has already fielded Star Chandru, a close aide of DK Shivakumar from Mandya.

Sumalatha Ambareesh, the sitting MP of Mandya who won as an independent candidate in the 2019 elections against Nikhil Kumaraswamy, will be joining the BJP soon, and she decided to stay away from the contest.

(Inputs from agencies)
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka Excise Department recovered a huge amount of illicit liquor worth 98.52 crore from a unit of United Breweries in Mysuru district, officials said on Thursday. Illicit liquor worth over  98 cr seized from United Breweries in Mysuru

According to the excise department officials, the district collector and district election officers raided the brewery unit in Nanjangudu taluk on April 2 based on a tip-off.

Also Read - Bengaluru students forced to attend BJP MP Tejasvi Surya's nomination rally: Congress

The officials said that a case has been registered against the brewery unit following the seizure.

"On April 2, Illicit Liquor worth 98.52 crore was recovered from the unit of United Breweries Limited in the Tandya industrial area of Immavu village, Nanjangudu taluk under the jurisdiction of Lok Sabha constituency," Deputy Commissioner of Excise, Nagashayana, said while speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Thursday.

"A case has been registered against the brewery unit after confiscating the worth of illegal liquor. According to an anonymous phone call received at the District Election Officer's office on Tuesday, District Collector and District Election Officers visited the brewery unit," the Deputy Commissioner added.

More details are awaited.
A confirmed case of cholera has been recorded in Bengaluru, and the samples of two other persons suffering from symptoms are sent for testing, said Karnataka Health Department. Cholera could be a result of contaminated water or food, and health officials are closely monitoring cases with similar symptoms. One cholera case confirmed in Bengaluru amid severe water crisis: Report

Also Read - Two-year-old rescued after falling into borewell in Karnataka after 18-hour-long operation

Speaking to News18, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said, It is too early to call it an outbreak and the officials are already monitoring the situation. The samples have gone for testing.

All three samples tested in the lab were of people who belong to the same paying guest accommodation in Bengalurus Malleshwaram. It is suspected that these three people might have consumed contaminated water supplied to their residences. Health officials are reportedly tracking the origin of the water supply to study the spread of infection.

However, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Tushar Girinath said that the water board did not supply the water to the PG. That particular PG gets water from a nearby borewell. We are also conducting tests on other residents in that PG accommodation. It is not an outbreak as only one case has been confirmed. We are waiting for the results of two other people who gave samples, he told the publication.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is also asked to increase the chlorination of water and water samples. The civic body also directed BWSSB to be cautious about the Cholera strain.
Winemaker Steve Edmunds, seen in his Berkeley home in 2018, is retiring. Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle

A special California winery is coming to an end.

Edmunds St. John, which for nearly 40 years has produced soul-stirring wines inspired by the south of France, will no longer produce wine. Its owner, winemaker and sole employee, Steve Edmunds, is retiring.

It kind of decided itself for me, said Edmunds, 76. Health issues for him and his wife, Cornelia St. John, made it impossible for him to make wine during the last two harvest seasons. Then Ron Mansfield, a grape-grower whose vineyards were an integral part of Edmunds St. John, died in February. That was the final blow, Edmunds said.

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California winemakers retire all the time, but wineries rarely do. More often the businesses are bought or bequeathed. But through the end, Edmunds St. John remained an uncommonly independent entity: It didnt own any vineyards or a winemaking facility, and it was largely a one-man show, inextricable from Edmunds himself.

Edmunds never became mainstream-wine famous. He never produced much in the way of volume. He never charged much for his bottles; even today, they top out around $30-$35. His wines never became culty collectors items. You had to know about Edmunds St. John. And if you did, chances were you loved it.

A resident of Berkeley, Edmunds shares an aesthetic with the East Bay citys most famous wine personality, Kermit Lynch, the importer of many legendary southern French wines. One of Lynchs early discoveries, Provences Domaine Tempier, inspired Edmunds to start making wine. In 1985, he bought Mourvedre grapes from the Brandlin Vineyard in Napa Valleys Mount Veeder, hoping to evoke something of Tempiers earthy, rustic Mourvedre.

He succeeded. When Lynch showed the Edmunds St. John Mourvedre to Francois Peyraud, the owner of Domaine Tempier, Peyraud paid it the highest compliment: La terre parle. The earth speaks.

I could not believe what he was doing with the Rhone varieties, Lynch told the Chronicle in 2018. I was introducing America to northern and southern Rhone wines, and Steve seemed to be able to make some of the best  right there in Berkeley, using California grapes!

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The Brandlin Mourvedre set the tone for what Edmunds St. John would become. But the most pivotal partnership was with Mansfield, who farmed several vineyards in El Dorado County. Mansfield planted several new grape varieties at Edmunds request, including, in 2000, Gamay  one of the few such plantings in the state at that time.

In the last few years, Edmunds scaled back, making wine only from Mansfields vineyards and from Shake Ridge Ranch, a highly regarded site in Amador County. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019, and a surgery for it in the spring of 2022 forced him to sit out that years vintage. (Hes cancer-free now.) Then, in 2023, St. John broke her hip, and Edmunds felt that he couldnt leave her for the long stretches of time that another harvest season would require.

I just felt like, OK, I think my life is telling me that Im supposed to stop making wine now, he said. In the end, it wasnt a hard decision at all.

He still has wine to sell  hell be sending a note to his mailing list soon, he said, and plans to hold at least one celebratory dinner with customers this spring. The 2021 vintage, which he hasnt yet released, will be the last.

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Does he miss winemaking? I cant say that I really do, now that Ron is gone, Edmunds said. Hes enrolled in a memoir writing class. He writes music, and may record another album. He walks about five miles a day around Berkeley.
The two-year-old boy, who had fallen into an open borewell in Karnataka's Vijayapura district while playing has successfully been rescued. The child was stuck in the 16 feet deep borewell for more than 18 hours. Rescue personnel could see the boy throughout the operation through a camera that was dropped into the borewell. (HT)

News agency ANI shared visuals of the rescue operation:

Authorities rushed to the spot to assess the situation, and supplied oxygen to the toddler through a pipeline while carrying out the rescue operation. The incident happened on Wednesday evening in Indi taluk's Lachayan village.

ALSO READ | Karnataka: 2-year-old falls into 16-ft-deep borewell, rescue mission on

Rescue personnel could see the boy throughout the operation through a camera that was dropped into the borewell. The boy had fallen into the pit head first, and officials dug a parallel pit - about 21 feet deep - to rescue him, news agency PTI reported.

ALSO READ | Man slits his own throat in front of chief justice in Karnataka high court

A medical team, that was stationed near the incident site, is expected to assess the child for injuries and trauma. His exact condition is not yet known. "We could see movement of his leg through the camera," A senior police officer had said earlier.

Officials from the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force personnel are also at the scene. Heavy police force has also been deployed to contain the crowd gathered at the spot.

ALSO READ | Bengaluru: 4 arrested for cheating woman of 4.10 crore with fake govt job offer

The borewell was dug on Tuesday by the child's grandfather in a bid to gain access to water for irrigation purposes. The incident came to light when a passer-by heard the cry of the child and immediately informed the family.
Senior vice-president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)s Haryana unit Anurag Dhanda on Wednesday cornered the Haryana government on the issue of several unemployed youth from the state stranded abroad. Senior vice-president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)s Haryana unit Anurag Dhanda on Wednesday cornered the Haryana government on the issue of several unemployed youth from the state stranded abroad. (HT File)

Addressing a press conference in Kaithal, he said that the youth migrated to the war-torn Russia due to lack of jobs and are stuck and the government is not taking any cognisance of them.

The situation regarding unemployment in Haryana has gone from bad to worse especially in the areas of Kaithal and Kurukshetra, where families are selling their land to send their children to foreign countries, he said.

Dhanda further hit out at chief minister Nayab Saini and his cabinet colleague Subhash Sudha as well as former minister Kamlesh Dhanda, all from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha, for failing to meet any of the aggrieved families.

The Prime Minister claims through advertisements that he had stopped the war between Russia and Ukraine for a few hours. Cant they bring back the youth trapped there? This issue has been around for several weeks and is in everyones attention, he asked.
Digging deeper into the international drug syndicate busted last week, police took custody of the mastermind who was lodged in a Ferozepur jail. Upon his disclosure, the teams recovered an additional 2 kg heroin from Amritsar, bringing the total recovery up to 3.6 kg. The accused in the custody of police. (HT)

Notably, this is the highest drug seizure by the Chandigarh Police, with the past biggest drug haul from a single case being 2.2 kg heroin.

Police took custody of 27-year-old Krishan Singh, a resident of Laluwala village form the Ferozepur jail, after being informed of his involvement by one of the accused arrested last week. He was brought on a production warrant on April 1 and remanded to a six-day custody.

He revealed information about the heroin, following which the recovery was made from Amritsar.

Police had on March 31 arrested Vikramjit Singh, Avneet and Lovepreet Singh and recovered 1.5 kg heroin, Toyota Glanza Car, Audi A6 Car, Endeavour car and 4.5 lakh from their possession.

During questioning, Lovepreet, the son of a retired Punjab Police officer, disclosed that he had come in contact with Krishan Singh telephonically while the latter was still serving a 15-year term for possessing 15 kg heroin in the Ferozepur jail.

Krishan introduced Lovepreet to Dogar alias Nambardar, a Pakistan-based drug peddler through a virtually generated international number on WhatApp. On Krishans surety, Dogar started supplying heroin through his agents in India. The delivery of drugs to Lovepreet was made through an unknown person at a fixed place, while the money was sent back to Dogar through a hawala network.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Udey Pal Singh said it was the biggest drug bust by the Chandigarh Police and they are expecting to make more recoveries in the case.

According to the information, Krishan began smuggling heroin from Pakistan into Punjab after coming in contact with Dogar through a friend from Barike village. He used to get the drugs from the destined place across border fencing and collect it at odd hours.

After his arrest by Punjab Police and subsequent conviction, he began operating the network from jail, using mobile phones to liaison with his links.

The drug was being sold at 1,100 per gm and its price increased approximately 100 per gm to the next supply chain. End drug users in Chandigarh were getting heroin at 2,200 per gm.

A team of the Sector-26 operations cell, meanwhile, arrested a 35-year-old Cameroon national after recovering 100 gm heroin from her possession.

The accused, Neh Charlotte, a resident of Phase 4, New Delhi, hails from Bamenda, City Literal, Cameroon, Central Africa, was arrested by a team patrolling near the Sector-52 petrol pump. A search led to the recovery of 100 gm heroin from her.

A case under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered at the Sector 36 police station.

Police investigations revealed that the woman came to India on a tourist visa in October 2023. Further investigation to ascertain the source of recovered drugs is underway..
National Conference president and sitting MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah would not contest the Lok Sabha polls because of his heath, party vice-president Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday. Farooq Abdullah (HT File)

The announcement was made by his son Omar at a party function in Rawalpora on the outskirts of Srinagar.

He (Farooq Abdullah) has taken permission from (partys general secretary) (Ali Mohammad) Sagar and other party members to not contest the polls this time because of his health, Omar said.

He said it is now the partys responsibility to field the best candidate from the constituency. He hoped that the voters would help the NC candidate succeed so that he/she becomes a voice of the people of Srinagar in New Delhi.

The NC has announced former minister and Gujjar leader Mian Altaf Ahmed as its candidate for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. The party is, however, yet to announce its picks from Baramulla and Srinagar seats. Omar is likely to contest from one of the two seats.

In the 2002 assembly elections, Omar was chosen to lead the NC, while the 86-year-old Farooq Abdullah shifted base to the Centre.

Farooq Abdullah was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 from J&K and then re-elected in 2009. He resigned from the Rajya Sabha in May 2009 and won a seat in the Lok Sabha from Srinagar.

Abdullah joined the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as a cabinet minister of new and renewable energy.

Abdullah contested the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat again in the 2014 elections, but was defeated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Tariq Hameed Karra.

However, Karra resigned from Lok Sabha in 2017, leading to a by-election for the Srinagar parliamentary seat which Abdullah won defeating PDP candidate Nazir Ahmed Khan.

He won the polls again in 2019. Omar said the upcoming parliamentary election was very different from the past polls.

For the last 30 years, the elections have been affected in one way or the other due to which the people did not participate in the polls -- be it because of the gun or boycott calls. Our politics in Srinagar had been limited. Few areas used to come out to vote and our politics used to run on that.

This time, the atmosphere will be different. We will not see any boycott calls, and the impact of guns will be far less. This time, the people of Srinagar have to decide whether they want to participate in politics here or not. They have to decide whether they want to raise their voice or not, whether they want to choose their representative or not, the NC vice-president said.

With agency inputs
Rattandeep Singh, 49, a former chief of militant outfit Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK), was shot dead at Balachaur in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar early on Thursday. Rattandeep Singh, 49, a former chief of militant outfit Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK), was shot dead at Balachaur in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar early on Thursday. (HT file photo)

Police said Rattandeep Singh, who belongs to Karnal in Haryana, was accompanied by his nephew, Gurpreet Singh, when two motorcycle-borne, unidentified assailants opened fire at him. Gurpreet escaped unhurt.

Also read: Man murders mother, sister-in-law, two-year-old nephew in Amritsar, surrenders

A one-time hardcore militant, Rattandeep was the prime suspect in the bomb blast in the parking area of the old passport office in Sector 34, Chandigarh, on June 30, 1999, in which four people were injured. He owned the scooter used for carrying the bomb. The BTKF militant was behind the blast on the railway bridge in Panipat the same year and had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) at the Shahabad-Markanda bridge in 1998. He was an accused in the arms recoveries in Jind district in 1996 and 2000.

Though Haryana Police arrested him in August 1999, he managed to escape. He was the kingpin of a group of militants who planted explosives in a vehicle near Circuit House in Amritsar in May 2010. He had smuggled the consignment of weapons and explosives from across the border.

A state special operations cell (SSOC) of Punjab Police finally arrested Rattandeep from the outskirts of Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh on September 17, 2014. He was carrying a Pakistani passport and identity card in the name of Hussain Sheikh Zahid. An official said Rattandeep was a Pakistan-based militant, who had been living there since 1993. He visited India to carry out terror strikes.

Jailed for his terror links, Rattandeep was released in 2019 after he completed his term. Since then, he had been staying with his family in Karnal as no case was pending against him.

Superintendent of police Mukesh Kumar said Rattandeeps nephew told the police that they had come in their car to meet unidentified persons near a private hospital at Garhi village in Balachaur when the two motorcycle-borne men opened fire indiscriminately. The assailants targeted Rattandeep, who was injured in the chest and stomach and died on the spot.

The police recovered incriminating documents from his car and launched an investigation into his former links with the militant outfit.

Soon after the incident, gangster Gopi Nawanshahria took to social media to claim responsibility for the killing. Rattandeep was acting as a police tout and has committed a fraud with innocent youngsters, the gangster posted on Facebook.

The SP said the social media post could not be verified at this stage.

On the statement of Rattandeeps nephew, a case was registered under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC besides the Arms Act.
A constable of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) allegedly shot himself dead at Nagloi Metro Station on Thursday morning. The deceased was enrolled in the CISF as a constable (GD) in 2014, and has been posted in Delhi since January 2022.(HT File)

"He was found dead with a gunshot wound on his forehead," officials said, adding that the deceased had allegedly died by suicide.

The deceased was enrolled in the CISF as a constable (GD) in 2014, and has been posted in Delhi since January 2022. His body was found near a baggage scanning machine installed at the metro station.

READ | Delhi Police sub-inspector shoots self in Madhur Vihar apartment

Officials said that Nangloi Metro Police Station received a call at 7:03 am about a 2014 batch constable, identified as Shahre Kishore, being found dead with a gunshot injury mark on his head on the metro station's premises.

Following the information, a team of police reached the spot, and the body was later sent for a post-mortem examination.

"He (the deceased constable) was found dead at the X-ray machine scanner, committing suicide by gunshot on his forehead. A crime team was called," officials said.

"The constable's family members residing at Narela government quarters have also been informed. And we are further looking into the incident," they added.

Further details are awaited.
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a message from Tihar Jail on Thursday directed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs to visit areas under their constituencies on a daily basis to find out the problems people are facing and fix them. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was sent to Tihar Jail by the Rouse Avenue Court on April 1 in the Delhi excise policy case (File Photo)

The chief ministers wife Sunita Kejriwal shared the message with the media on Thursday in a fresh video from the CMs residence.

Your (Arvind) Kejriwalji has sent a message for all MLAs from jail. I am in jail, but no Delhiite should face any kind of difficulty. Every MLA should visit localities in their area every day, find out if people are facing any problems, and fix whatever problems people are facing, she stated.

Also Read: ED rejects Arvind Kejriwals arrest linked to polls claim in Delhi high court

I am not talking about the problems related to the government departments. We also have to fix other problems of the people. The 20 million people of Delhi are my family members and none among them should be upset because of any reason. God bless all. Jai Hind, Sunita added.

At the CMs residence, from where Sunita delivered the message, a photoshopped portrait of Arvind Kejriwal behind bars, being used as display pictures by various AAPs social media handles, was fixed between the portraits of revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and the architect of the Indian Constitution BR Ambedkar, the national flag emblazoning the overall background.

Earlier, Sunita had called her husband a lion who would not be behind bars for long as she addressed the Loktantra Bachao rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.

To be sure, AAP has maintained that Arvind Kejriwal will not resign and continue to be the chief minister of Delhi and run the government from jail.

Earlier on March 24 following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kejriwal had issued an order from its custody, directing Delhi minister Atishi to address water and sewage-related grievances in the city and make arrangements for water supply in the upcoming summer season.

The ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy scam 2021-22.

Also Read: Kejriwal sent to judicial custody in Tihar till April 15

A Delhi court on April 1 remanded Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15 in connection with the now-scrapped 2021-22 excise policy, making him the fourth prominent lawmaker from the AAP to be lodged in Tihar Jail just three weeks before general elections.

The AAP has categorically dismissed the allegations, calling them politically motivated to crush their party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls because of its rising stature in the national opposition space.
Kolkata: Making India the worlds third-largest economy and freeing West Bengal of corruption unleashed by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) are the key agendas in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday at Cooch Behar in north Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in West Bengal (Twitter/@narendramodi)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Cooch Behar had swept the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 assembly polls.

Speaking about the raging local issues, such as the alleged sexual exploitation of village women in the Sandeshkhali area of North 24 Parganas district by local TMC leaders, Modi said that strengthening the BJP is necessary for Bengals development.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjees poisonous snake dig at BJP during Lok Sabha poll rally in Bengals Cooch Behar

Only the BJP can stop atrocity on women. The nation has seen how the TMC used its full power to shield the guilty at Sandehskhali. BJP has vowed to punish them. They will spend the rest of their lives in prison, Modi said, emphasing it is necessary to vote for the Lotus symbol.

Modi also targeted the TMC for opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which chief minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged to be a precursor to the enforcement of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that may lead to an Assam-like situation.

TMC is spreading rumours to mislead people. It is Modis guarantee that CAA will grant citizenship to people, he said.

Passed in the Parliament in 2019 and enforced on March 11 this year, CAA offers citizenship to non-Muslims who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution.

This moment in the 21st century is crucial for our nation. It is time to make India a strong nation. Bengal and its people will be benefitted. It is time to fulfil the dreams of Maharaja Naranarayan, brave warrior Chila Ray and Thakur Panchanan Barma, Modi said, paying tributes to the three icons of the Koch Rajbanshi community that have a sizeable presence in the BJP-controlled Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Lok Sabha constituencies. All three constituencies will go to polls on April 19 in the first of the seven phases.

In 2019, the BJP bagged a record 18 of the states 42 Lok Saha seats. In North Bengal, it secured seven of the eight seats. The party has targeted 25 seats this time.

Appealing to the people to cast their votes on March 19 for the BJP, Modi said that all should remember that this is an election for India.

Also Read: PM Modis Sandeshkhali reminder to Mamata in Coochbehar: Culprits will spend life in jail

Delhi cannot have a weak government. It needs a strong and stable government, he said, and asked, Shouldnt India become the worlds third strongest economy? Doesnt Modi give you a strong government?

...After Independence, people saw only the Congress model for decades. Over the past 10 years, the nation has seen the BJP government getting elected with absolute majority. Modi is a small servant of the people. Modi takes strong and big decisions because he has to fulfil the dream of 1.4 billion people, said Modi.

Your dreams comprise Modis resolutions. Modi has taken strong decisions to free the country of corruption and terrorism so that 1.4 billion people get new opportunities. Even villages are getting into the digital age. Many developed nations have not achieved this yet. People from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities are getting these benefits, he said.

Targeting the INDIA bloc and its leaders, Modi said that the INDIA alliance of Left, Congress and the TMC is made up of lies.

Here (in Bengal) you see TMC and Congress fighting each other but in Delhi, they share food from the same plate, he said and assured that in the coming years, stronger actions will be taken against corruption. Sending a message to TMC in this election is necessary, Modi said.

Slamming Congress, Modi said that the party has only raised slogans but BJP has dragged 250 million people out of poverty in 10 years.

It happened because our intentions were honest. If intentions are right, then the results are right. Modi is thinking about your future. He is removing hurdles, he said, citing examples of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and reservation for women in Parliament.

Also Read: People seen just the trailer, lot more to be done: PM Modis poll pitch in Bihar

Speaking about his governments guarantees, he said that Modis guarantee starts where the peoples hopes die. He said that the people of Bengal are getting free ration, and millions of families are getting electricity, water and toilets at their homes under the central governments scheme.

Our government has deposited Rs.8,500 crore directly to farmers under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The list is long. Families in every corner of India have benefitted. What happened in 10 years is just a trailer. I have more to do, he said.

Reacting to Modis speech, TMC spokesperson Santanu Sen said that the entire West Bengal knows it was Banerjee who cracked down on chit fund operators.

Modi talks about the safety of women in Bengal but kept silent on the plight of the woman who was paraded naked in Manipur. He has not bothered to visit Manipur even once after the killings started last year, Sen said.

West Bengal chief minister Banerjee also addressed voters at Cooch Behar and the adjoining Jalpaiguri hours before Modi arrived after his Bihar rally.
Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee are scheduled to address back-to-back Lok Sabha campaign rallies on Thursday at Cooch Behar in north Bengal, a region where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made maximum electoral gains since the 2019 elections. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.(HT File Photo)

This is the first time in this election season that Modi and the Trinamool Congress chairperson will be addressing voters of a constituency on the same day.

North Bengals Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats, all named after the three districts where they are located, are going to the polls on April 19 in the first of the seven phases Bengal will witness.

The BJP wrested all three seats from the ruling TMC in 2019. Two of the winners, Nisith Pramanik from Cooch Behar and John Barla from Alipurduar, are serving as Union ministers of state.

On Thursday, Modi is scheduled to address one rally in Cooch Behar, while Banerjee will address two, their parties announced on Wednesday night.

In 2019, the BJP bagged 18 of the states 42 Lok Saha seats, creating a record. In north Bengal, it secured seven of the eight seats. The eastern states main opposition force plans to win at least 25 seats this year.

Although the BJP could win only 77 of Bengals 294 assembly seats in the 2021 polls, against 213 grabbed by the TMC, it still managed to bag 30 of the 54 seats in the eight north Bengal districts. The TMC later wrested two of these north Bengal seats in the bypolls.

Banerjee is touring the north Bengal districts and meeting voters since Sunday when she hurriedly took a chartered flight within hours of norwesters hitting parts of the region. Two community blocks in Jalpaiguri district, where five people died, were the worst affected.

Preparing the ground for a political confrontation, the chief ministers nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee targeted the prime minister on Wednesday for the Centres decision to stop funds for housing projects for the poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) citing irregularities in implementation.

I expect him (Modi) to furnish a white paper on the amount paid to Bengal under PMAY after the BJP lost the assembly polls in 2021. Had people been living in pucca houses they would not have faced the wrath of the massive storm, Abhishek said.

Bengal BJPs chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya countered him.

Bhattacharya said, The Centre stopped the funds because it is tax payers money. Corruption during TMCs regime has been exposed by the scams federal agencies are probing under court orders. People of Bengal have taken their decision. They want Narendra Modi to lead the nation once again.
VARANASI A delegation of advocates met chief minister Yogi Adityanath in the circuit house here on Thursday and demanded that an advocate who had gone missing under suspicious circumstances on March 27 should be recovered. Lawyers delegation with chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Varanasi (HT)

The delegation comprising Banaras Bar Association president Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Banaras Bar Association general secretary Kamlesh Yadav, Central Bar Association president Murali Singh and general secretary Surendra Pandey and former president of Banaras Bar Ghanshyam Patel submitted a letter of their demand to the chief minister.

We met chief minister Yogi Adityanath and told him that an advocate had gone missing under suspicious circumstances eight days ago. He has not been traced so far, said Kamlesh Singh Yadav, adding, We demanded that the missing lawyer should be traced.

Taking serious note of the demand , the CM instructed the Varanasi police commissioner to take necessary action in this regard and ensure recovery of the missing advocate Surendra Patel.

Surendra Patel had gone missing from Manduwadih area on March 27 under suspicious circumstances. The advocate had sent a message to his brother from his mobile to save his life. The seriousness of the matter increased in view of this message.

His kin lodged a complaint with Manduadeeh police following which police registered a missing complaint and swung into action. The advocates bike was recovered from Phulwaria area. But till date the advocate has not been found .
A federal judge says Border Patrol officers have illegally held hundreds of immigrant youths in unsheltered detention sites south of San Diego without adequate food, water or protection from the elements. Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

A federal judge says Border Patrol officers have illegally held hundreds of immigrant youths in unsheltered detention sites south of San Diego without adequate food, water or protection from the elements.

Saying the governments practices since late 2022 have violated a legally binding settlement that federal officials signed 25 years earlier, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ordered immigration officers on Wednesday to stop sending minors to the unprotected detention sites and to reunite them with their parents or other adult relatives.

The ruling was a tremendous victory for children, said Neha Desai, immigration director for the National Center for Youth Law, the nonprofit that filed the suit.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it was reviewing the ruling and did not say whether it would appeal. CBP will continue to transport vulnerable individuals and children encountered on the border to its facilities as quickly as possible, said Jason Givens, a spokesperson for the agency.

The practice began in October 2022 when large numbers of migrants began crossing the border west of San Ysidro. After taking them into custody, Gee said in her ruling, the Border Patrol placed them for hours or several days at seven open-air sites in the desert, where temperatures ranged from over 110 degrees in the summer to just 20 degrees in the winter, before moving them to indoor detention centers.

Sanitation at the outdoor sites consisted of a few handwashing and water stations that were quickly filled with trash and dirt, Gee said. Under federal standards, she said, the detainees were supposed to get a meal every six hours and two hot meals a day, but instead, according to testimony, their daily supply was one bottle of water and a package of crackers. Gee said she also received testimony that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents ignored calls for medical help.

She ruled that the government was violating a 1997 legal agreement, known as the Flores settlement, that requires U.S. immigration officials who take minors into custody to place them in the least restrictive setting available. They must then be released, without unnecessary delay, to a parent, adult relative or legal guardian, or, if none is available, they must be freed and placed with a program that provides education and social services.

President Donald Trumps administration sought to end the Flores settlement in 2019, saying it was unneeded and unworkable, arguments Gee rejected in 2020. President Joe Bidens administration has not challenged the settlement  although it has proposed regulations that could replace it  but its lawyers argued that the youths in the current case were not actually in Border Patrol custody and therefore were not covered by Flores.

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Gee disagreed. The officers agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, exerts control over (the youths) health, welfare, and physical movement at the outdoor detention sites, she said. And she added that the unclean, foul-smelling sites, where youths often must relieve themselves outdoors, violate the settlements requirement of safe and sanitary facilities.

The judge told the government to stop sending minors to open-air sites and to put them in contact with adult relatives who were arrested. She ordered Customs and Border Protection to notify a court-appointed monitor by May 10 on the number of minors it was detaining and on how it was complying with her ruling.

After more than a year of children unnecessarily suffering in open air detention sites, we are thrilled the court agrees that the government has been violating the Flores settlement by holding children in filthy and unsafe conditions, failing to provide children with appropriate food, and not processing children as expeditiously as possible, said attorney Mishan Wroe, who argued the case for the National Center for Youth Law.

Though she welcomed the ruling, Desai, the groups immigration director, said it remains a tragedy that a court had to direct the government to do what basic human decency and the law clearly require.
Lucknow Dismissing a plea filed by a couple of different religions who were in a live- in relationship, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court observed that such live- in relationship of the petitioners like marriage could not be approved by the court of law. With this observation, the court directed to send the young woman to the Womens Protection Home, Prag Narayan Road, Lucknow till solemnization of her marriage in accordance with law. The court directed the state counsel to ensure the womans safe admission in the Womens Protection Home, Prag Narayan Road, Lucknow till solemnization of her marriage in accordance with law as per her wish. (Pic for representation)

The order was passed by a division bench of justices Vivek Chaudhary and Narendra Kumar Johari on a petition filed by a couple of Ayodhya. The petitioners sought directives to quash an FIR lodged against the youth under sections 363 and 366 of the IPC.

The petitioners counsel submitted that they were friends since long and were major. When the woman expressed her desire to marry the youth, her family issued life threats . Therefore, she left home and started living with the youth of her own free will . At present, the couple was in a live- in relationship which was permissible by law. Hence, the said FIR was liable to be quashed, the counsel further submitted.

Opposing the plea, the state counsel contended that both the petitioners belonged to different religions. They had not applied for conversion of religion according to section 8 and 9 of the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act,2021. Therefore, since they were in a relationship against the provisions of law, the FIR could not be quashed.

The court said that admittedly, both the petitioners belonged to different religions and had not solemnized their marriage in accordance with law, rather they were in a live -in relationship. Section 3(1) of the aforesaid Act,2021 prohibited such live-in relationship which was in the nature of matrimonial bond. Hence such residing of petitioners in live-in relationship like marriage could not be approved by the court of law. In view of the same, the FIR could not be quashed unless they solemnized their marriage in accordance with law, the court further observed, dismissing the plea. However, the court provided liberty to the petitioners to move an application as per legal provisions or file a complaint case if they felt any threat to their life or any act which constituted an offence.

Thereafter, on the request of the woman, the court directed the state counsel to ensure her safe admission in the Womens Protection Home, Prag Narayan Road, Lucknow till solemnization of her marriage in accordance with law as per her wish.
KANPUR A dramatic scene unfolded at the MP-MLA court in Kanpur on Thursday when one of the accused in the Jajmau arson case, Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki, expressed apprehension about a potential encounter by the UP police. While being escorted to the court under tight security, Solanki also repeatedly referred to himself as janwar (an animal). (File Photo)

While being escorted to the court under tight security, Solanki also repeatedly referred to himself as janwar (an animal). He was brought from the Maharajganj jail for the verdict in the case that was expected to be delivered on Thursday. But the matter was postponed again. The court had deferred the judgement six times since March 12.

During a brief interaction with media, Solanki questioned the circumstances in which he was being produced.

I am not in police custody but judicial custody. Why I was kept in police lines...you should ask the police commissioner, he said, adding: I hope there is no such news of me suffering a heart attack like Mukhtar Ansari or killed in an encounter.

Special Judge Satyendra Nath Tripathi of the MP-MLA sessions court scheduled a re-hearing in the case on April 6. Prosecution lawyer Bhaskar Mishra said the court intends to clear all the technicalities before delivering the judgement. The defence was not prepared for the arguments on Thursday thus April 6 had been fixed.

Defence lawyer Saeed Naqvi said the arguments were necessitated as there was contradiction in the testimonies of 18 prosecution witnesses.

The Jajmau arson case stems from a fire that broke out at the home of Nazir Fatima in Defence Colony of Jajmau on November 7, 2022. Hearings have been on against Irfan, his brother Rizwan, Mohd Sharif, Shaukat Ali, Haji Ajjan and Israel Aatawala. Besides Solanki, Rizwan, Shaukat Ali and Israel Aatawala are in Kanpur jail while Mohammad Sharif and Ajjan were released on bail.
MUMBAI: The Yellow Gate police arrested nine more Somali pirates handed over to them by the Indian Navy after rescuing hijacked Pakistani crew members onboard the Iranian fishing vessel Al Kambar. After more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures, the pirates on board were forced to surrender, and the 23 Pakistani nationals were safely rescued by the Indian Navy on March 29. Indian Navy rescued 23 Pakistani crew members from Somali pirates

The Indian Navy brought the nine pirates in guided missile frigate INS Trishul and handed them to us. We have booked them under sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 383 (extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 342 (wrongful confinement for ten or more days), 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022 and Indian Arms Act, said DCP Sanjay Latkar of the Port Zone.

Latkar said the pirates have been formally placed under arrest and will be produced before the court on Thursday.

Iranian fishing vessel Al Kambar was hijacked by 9 Somali Pirates. Indian Navy Ship Sumedha intercepted the vessel approximately 90 nautical miles southwest of Socotra and was reported to have been boarded by nine armed pirates.

The Indian Navy after reaching the fishing vessel warned the pirates of action after which, keeping the Pakistani nationals as shield, they agreed to surrender and threw all the weapons in the sea. The Navy has handed us one AK-47 rifle and 728 live cartridges and a GPS device recovered from the pirates, said the police officer.

The Pakistani nationals told the Navy that the pirates had rocket launchers, hand-grenades and several more AK-47 rifles which were thrown in sea.

The police officers said they will interrogate the arrested pirates with the help of a translator.

Amir Khan, the master of the fishing vessel Al Kambar, while talking to Hindustan Times earlier said, I left from Iran and Somali pirates hijacked my vessel. The Indian navy fought the pirates and freed us. He and his Pakistani colleagues thanked the Indian Navy for rescuing them.

The crew comprising 23 Pakistani nationals was given a thorough medical checkup before clearing the boat to continue fishing activities. The nine pirates were brought to India for further legal action and were handed to the cops.

The nine arrested Somali pirates have been identified as Gelie Jama Farah, 50, Ahmed Bashir Omar, 42, Abdikarin Mohmmad Shire, 34, Adan Hasan Warmase, 44, Mohammed Abdi Ahmed, 34, Abdikadir Mohmmad Ali, 28, Aydid Mohmud Jimale, 30, Said Yasin Adan, 25, and Jama Said Elmi, 18.

Recently, INS Kolkata, carrying 35 pirates who were arrested in an operation off the coast of Somalia, reached Mumbai on March 23. These pirates were then handed over to the Mumbai police for further legal action.
MUMBAI: Sanjay Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress, launched a sharp attack on the party and its leadership on Thursday, claiming that there were now five power centres in the party and that infighting among them was hurting the party. Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam addresses a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday (PTI)

Nirupam, 59, also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi but declined to give a clear response to a question on the possibility of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Im not in a position to say anything of this sort I will tell you about this only after 9 April, he said at a media interaction on Thursday.

Nirupam has been upset with the Congress after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) declared its candidates for four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including the Mumbai North West seat, which he was eyeing.

On Wednesday, Sanjay Nirupam was expelled for six years for indiscipline and anti-party statements, hours after he was removed from the list of star campaigners over his remarks against the partys Maharashtra leadership.

The former MP hit back on Thursday. There are five power centres in the Congress. They all have their caucuses, interests, and lobbies. The first and foremost is of former president Sonia Gandhi, another is of former president Rahul Gandhi, then comes Priyanka Gandhi who exerts her own authority, then one headed by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, and the last one is of KC Venugopal, general secretary, who is involved in his own politics, Nirupam said.

He suggested that he had suffered because he, like lakhs of Congress workers, wasnt part of any of these power centres.

There is infighting going on among these power centres. It is affecting the party and those meritorious leaders who are holding party units in different states. If this continues, then many things will go wrong for Congress in the coming years, he alleged.

Asked about PM Modi he said: Currently in India, the price of gold, age of daughters, and popularity of Modi ji are continuously on the rise; do I have to say anything more?.

Atul Londhe Patil, chief spokesperson of Maharashtra Congress, brushed aside his statement, saying Sanjay Nirupam was mudslinging because he didnt get a ticket. First of all, he has been removed. Secondly, he wouldnt have said anything against the party if he had got the election ticket from the Mumbai North West constituency. People will not believe him, Londhe said.

Sanjay Nirupam first came into the limelight when he edited the Shiv Senas Hindi mouthpiece Dopahar Ka Saamana and aggressively defended the party. Later, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by Balasaheb Thackeray and was widely credited with helping soften the Shiv Senas stand towards north Indians.

Nirupam left the undivided Shiv Sena to join the Congress in May 2005. He was the Congress MP from Mumbai North constituency between 2009 and 2014.

He also headed the Mumbai Congress unit for four years and was blamed for the partys lowest-ever tally in the civic polls before he was removed.

Nirupam was among the few Congress leaders who criticised the partys decision to join hands with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi and then form the government in the state under Thackerays leadership.

While Nirupam is yet to spell out his stand on his next move, BJP leader Mohit Kamboj put out a video message, asking chief minister Eknath Shinde to steer clear of the Mumbai politician.

When a person takes his garbage from his house onto the road, other residents dont take it into their homes. They want it to be taken to the dumping ground. Similarly, Congress has thrown their garbage, Sanjay Nirupam, out of their house, and there is no need for other parties to take this garbage into their houses, Kamboj said in a video message to his party on Thursday, reminding the leadership that Nirupam had made multiple personal attacks on PM Narendra Modi and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. If a party inducts him to give responsibility, then it will be an unfortunate thing, he said.
Ranchi: The Jharkhand Police in the wee hours on Thursday seized Rs.1.09 crore cash from two bus passengers travelling from Gaya in Bihar to West Bengal, officials said. (HT Photo/sourced)

Police said the raid was conducted around 2am in Jharkhands Giridih district, adding that three persons have been detained in this connection.

Giridih superintendent of police (SP) Deepak Kumar Sharma said that those detained are being questioned to ascertain the source of the cash. The matter has been informed to the income tax department, he said.

While Rs.67 lakh was recovered from the possession of one person, Rs.42 lakh was recovered from his co-passenger, Sharma added.

One person carrying Rs.67 lakh cash identified himself as a jewellery dealer. He said he was carrying the cash for business to save GST. Another carrying Rs.42 lakh said he was carrying the cash of his employer to deliver someone in West Bengal, he added.

A police official familiar with the recovery said, It appears all three were part of one team sitting in a different place dividing the cash. They had chosen a bus for their journey to ensure that police could not suspect as it is unusual for a man of money to use a common passenger bus during night hours to travel.

Carrying more than Rs.50,000 cash without prior permission during the election is prohibited. We are trying to find out who this cash belongs to and to whom it was to be delivered in West Bengal, he said.
The killing of seven international aid workers delivering food to the starving people of Gaza marks yet another low point in Israels bombardment of the enclave. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered a tentative apology of sorts, speaking of troops unintentionally hitting the aid workers, but evidence that has emerged suggests the convoy of the World Central Kitchen was systematically targeted multiple times, with Israeli forces striking as the aid workers sought to move between three vehicles that were hit one after the other. While there can be no justification whatsoever for Hamas terror attacks that triggered this conflict, Israels heavy-handed response is only whittling away support for it across the world. It is also difficult to fathom the goals of the war being fought by the Benjamin Netanyahu government unless it is meant to strengthen Israels grip on all the territories it currently holds and to remove the possibility of a two-State solution.

The governments of the US and the UK, which have lost citizens in this incident, are facing increased pressure from the public to press Israel for a course correction. There is also a growing clamour for them to stop arming Israel in view of the human rights excesses that have been recorded in the Gaza Strip. The daily toll of deaths will only serve to strengthen extremist elements in the Arab States, which have walked the extra mile in efforts to normalise relations with Israel. Irrespective of all this, Israel has prolonged this war for far too long, and its actions  the strike on the Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria, for instance  carry the frightening prospect of dragging the entire neighbourhood into the conflict. The time has come for Israel to heed global calls to stop the bombardment of Gaza and allow humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people.
Prakash Raj has broken his silence after speculation that he will be joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. On Thursday, the actor reacted to a tweet that said he 'is all set to join the BJP at 3pm today'. His tweet surfaced at 2.56pm, minutes before he was allegedly set to join the political party. Also read: Ram Gopal Varma announces he is joining politics Prakash Raj works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi film industries.

Prakash Raj's tweet

A critic of the ruling government, the actor tweeted, "I guess they tried (laughing emojis); must have realised they were not rich enough (ideologically) to buy me (squinting face with tongue out emoji)... what do you think friends...just asking."

Reacting to his tweet, a person said, "Lie no. 01: They tried. Lie no. 02: They aren't rich enough. Lie no. 03: They can't buy me." Another tweeted, "Ideology has no price." A third wrote, And it's 3pm already.

Prakash Raj clarified he is not joining BJP.

Prakash on joining politics

The award-winning actor is known for his work in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi films such as Kanchivaram, Singham and Wanted. He had contested as an independent candidate from Bengaluru Central in the 2019 general elections unsuccessfully.

Earlier in January 2024, Prakash said that 'three political parties' were after him to be their candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, not for his ideology, but because he is a critic of the union government. "I don't want to get into the trap," he had said at the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF).

Prakash backs Sonam Wangchuk

Prakash recently visited climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on hunger strike in Ladakh, demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Prakash extended his support to Sonam.

Its my birthday today... and Im celebrating by showing solidarity with @Wangchuk66 and the people of Ladakh who are fighting for us... our country... our environment and our futurelets stand by them, Prakash tweeted on March 26, 2024.

Prakash Raj will be soon seen in Devara and Pushpa 2: The Rule.

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A clip of Pakistani actor and TV presenter Nadia Khan is grabbing attention on X (Formerly Twitter), in which she is claiming that top Bollywood actors, 'including the Khans' are insecure of the talented artistes from Pakistan. She was speaking on an episode of Kya Drama Hai Uncut Version. A clip of her taunting Indian celebs was shared on X with, "I need her delusion." Many are reacting to it. Also read: Mahira Khan calls ban on Pakistani artistes sad Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan perform at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's pre-wedding bash in Jamnagar in March, 2024. (File Photo/PTI)

What Nadia Khan said about Indian actors

She said in Urdu, "After working in their films, Fawad Khan and other Pakistani celebs are so popular in India that some of Bollywood's top actors became insecure about them. They only tried to create a political issue between the two countries and made sure our artistes were banned there (After Uri attack). It was not just the Indian politicians that had an issue with us, the top actors there were scared."

Nadia further said, It is not just a fear of getting films, but also how much the Indian public was starting to love Pakistani actors. They were so scared of our talent that they got us banned. Recently what our actors Wahaj and Bilal (Seemingly hinting at Wahaj Ali and Bilal Abbas Khan), have done has made the Indian public fall in love with them... these stars in India are viral, you have no idea about their fan following in India. Even the Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan) are insecure  'If these boys come in our films, what will we do?'

How Twitter reacted to her claims

Responding to Nadia's clip, an X user asked, "Is she okay??!!" To which, a person reacted, "Apparently not." A tweet read, "Delulu ki bhi seema hoti hai (There's a limit to delusion)." A person joked, "Khans are shaking." One said, "She is high." Reacting to the host's expression as Nadia spoke, one tweeted, "Anchor's energy (laughing emoji)." Another reacted, "Hes dumbfounded."

Some agreed with Nadia. One wrote, "Dude I am Indian. I love my country, but whatever she is saying is true; the insecurity amongst the top actors is the reason they banned them (Pakistani artists)... Ranbir Kapoor is the best actor Hindi cinema has produced in coming 50 years, but in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Fawad Khan's 10 minute role, just his sheer screen presence, was one of the best. Of course there will be insecurity."

Ban on Pakistani artistes

After the Uri attack in 2016, Pakistani artistes were banned from working in Bollywood. The All Indian Cine Workers Association had announced a total ban on Pakistani artistes after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019.

In relation to Pakistani government banning Indian movies in Pakistan AICWA (All Indian Cine Workers Association) urges all the film industries to put a complete stop to any association with Pakistani artists, musicians, and diplomats, read the statement at the time in response to Pakistans own ban on Indian films.

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Kirsten Dunst has been dropping some truth bombs lately. After revealing recently why she prefers to work with women directors, she's taken another step in that direction and explained why she turned down Sam Mendes' 1999 Oscar-winning dramedy American Beauty, in an interview with Variety. (Also Read: Kirsten Dunst says it was miserable filming Spider-Man kissing scene with Tobey Maguire upside down) Kirsten Dunst reveals why she rejected American Beauty, doesn't watch Marvel movies(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Kirsten on rejecting American Beauty

Kirsten was offered the role of the neighbourhood teenager Angela Hayes, who's the object of desire for the middle-aged protagonist Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey). The role was eventually essayed by Mena Suvari, and the still of rose petals covering her naked body became an iconic shot from the film.

While Kevin won the Best Actor at the Oscars next year, years later, he was called out in the Me Too movement. The disgraced actor is still battling multiple lawsuits of sexual harassment. However, Kirsten reveals Kevin wasn't the reason she turned down the role in American Beauty. I think I just turned down the meeting or something. But yeah, I just didnt feel comfortable with the sexuality, she said, instead opting for longtime collaborator Sofia Coppola's directorial debut feature, The Virgin Suicides.

On not watching Marvel movies

Kirsten is one of the few actors who have been a part of Marvel movies, but haven't been enamoured by their success. She played the leading lady, Mary Jane, in Sam Raimi's 2002 superhero movie Spider-Man. However, she didn't sign any Marvel movie after that and in fact, revealed in the interview very succinctly why she hasn't caught up with the Spider-Man trilogy or Marvel movies at large. Its just not my thing, she said.

Kirsten and her Spider-Man co-star Tobey Maguire gave one of Hollywood's most memorable kisses in the film, but it was kind of miserable to shoot. In the film, Mary Jane removes Spider-Man's (Tobey) mask halfway to give him a "thank you" kiss in the pouring rain as he hangs upside down.

"I remember Sam Raimi giving me a book of famous kisses to be inspired, but also he really wanted to make it special, even though it was kind of miserable actually doing it. It was pouring with rain, freezing, Tobey couldnt breathe so it was almost like I was resuscitating him," Dunst said on The Jonathan Ross Show.

Kirsten will be next seen in Civil War.
Alan Ritchson has revealed that he attempted suicide after being sexually assaulted multiple times. I hung myself, the Reacher star told the Hollywood Reporter. Alan Ritchson has revealed that he attempted suicide after enduring multiple sexual assaults (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Ritchson reportedly tried to hang himself with a green extension cord in the attic of his Encino, California home. It all happened so fast, and I was dangling there, he recalled.

Ritchson survived after pulling himself up at the last moment, before blacking out. He said he made the last-minute decision after seeing a vision of his sons, Calem, 11, Edan, 10, and Amory, 8, in their mid-30s. He shares his children with Catherine Ritchson, his wife, whom he has been married to for nearly 20 years.

The 41-year-old actor said he sought help after the incident, and was subsequently diagnosed with bipolar at the age of 36. When he was 40, he found out that he was also battling ADHD.

Times and situations where I was put in horrific environments

Ritchson said that he endured years of sexual abuse while he was in the modeling industry, which followed him into the acting world. It broke him, he confessed.

There are very few redeeming qualities to working in [the modeling] industry. Lets be honest, its like legalized sex trafficking, he claimed. The industry is not regulated, and its a widely known secret that if youre hired on a job, youre basically being passed off to a photographer to be trafficked.

The number of times and situations where I was put in horrific environments where sexual abuse was the goal and the paycheck that you were desperate for in order to survive was the carrot, I cant count on two hands. It was quite often, he added.

There was one incident that he alleged made him quit the modelling world completely. I was booked for a shoot for this very famous photographer, he remembered. I was sent into a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line. I was sexually assaulted by this guy.

I was super depressed

Ritchson later transitioned into the television and film industry. However, here he suffered another blow.

Ritchson recalled that he had been having business meetings with a person he partnered with for a film fund all day. But things turned scary when the person threatened him. She gave me an ultimatum to come to her room and said that if I didnt, she would destroy the business and she would destroy me by calling TMZ to claim I sexually assaulted her, he recalled.

The incident devastated Ritchson. I was super depressed and didnt know how to navigate that, he said. Shortly after, he attempted suicide.

Ritchson is always in contact with his psychiatrist as he deals with his mental health struggles, and speaking about his past issues fuels his soul. I came out of that whole thing asking myself, OK, if I am going to choose to be alive here  a decision we all make, some to a greater degree than others  what am I doing? Why am I here?' he recalled.

What I kept falling back on was the meaning and purpose of life as someone who believes that there is a creator and we are created beings, our purpose in life is, without qualification, to make the world a better place and serve others, Ritchson said. That is what life is all about.

Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
An artists rendering of Sutter Healths planned $442 million care center at its California Pacific Medical Center Mission Bernal Campus. SmithGroup An artists rendering of Sutter Healths planned $442 million care center at its CPMC Mission Bernal Campus. SmithGroup An artists rendering of Sutter Healths planned $442 million care center at its CPMC Mission Bernal Campus. SmithGroup

Sutter Health is nearing the last phase of its long-planned build-out of its California Pacific Medical Center Mission Bernal hospital campus, with plans to break ground on a $442 million care center next summer.

The five-story, 129,000-square-foot medical office building will sit adjacent to Sutters existing 120-bed CPMC hospital at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Valencia streets, which was built in the place of the former St. Lukes Hospital and officially opened in 2018.

S.F. Bay Area property map: Here's who owns every building in the region

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Services in the new building will include ambulatory surgery and a center for brain health. The care center is expected to welcome its first patients in 2028.

The San Francisco Planning Commission was reviewing the project at an informational hearing Thursday.

The buildings construction represents Sutters final commitment under a 2013 development agreement with the city that allowed the nonprofit health care system to demolish and reconstruct the St. Lukes campus and build its CPMC Van Ness Campus at the site of the former Cathedral Hill hotel. Sutter, headquartered in Sacramento, is Northern Californias largest health care system.

Sutter was required to submit a proposal for the new care center within five years of opening the larger Mission Bernal Campus. Christina Oh, president of Sutters greater San Francisco market, said that the buildings construction timeline was complicated as a result of the pandemic.

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The care center was initially approved as a 86,400-square-foot facility, but Sutter moved to increase the amount of dedicated to patient care and the building's lobby in 2017. San Francisco's Boldt Company has been hired as the general contractor for the project.

Until the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the Mission Bernal hospital also housed labor and delivery services, which were moved to Sutters Van Ness hospital to utilize the space for COVID-19 surge planning. Those services will not return to the Mission Bernal Campus, Oh confirmed. She said Sutter will meet with the city next week to discuss this change in the context of its development agreement.

The focus will be to keep obstetrics operations running the way they currently are  they did get consolidated over to the CPMC Van Ness Campus, said Oh.

She added that Sutter plans to expand its primary care and womens care services at the Monteagle building at 1580 Valencia St. on the Mission Bernal Campus.

An artists rendering of Sutter Healths planned $442 million care center at its California Pacific Medical Center Mission Bernal Campus. SmithGroup

Separately, Sutter recently opened a new innovation center at Pier 1, with a focus on health care tech and artificial intelligence.

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Sutter President and CEO Warner Thomas said that Sutter is doubling down on its commitment to make significant investments that expand access to advanced specialty care.

Were proud to invest more than $440 million in the community, planned in partnership with our physician colleagues, to deliver comprehensive neurological and neurosurgical care, notable specialized programs, and all support, diagnostic and ambulatory surgery services in this new state-of-the-art care complex, Thomas said.

Mayor London Breed said in a statement that Sutter Healths investment in the Mission Bernal Care Complex demonstrates renewed commitments that will create opportunity, help grow our economy, and strengthen the communities it will serve. I want to thank Sutter Health for their partnership and continued investment into San Franciscos economy, jobs, and the future of our great City.

The new facility will house the Ray Dolby Brain Health Center, which is currently located at Sutters Davies Campus on Castro Street and the Forbes Norris MDA/ALS Research and Treatment Center, which will relocate from the Van Ness Campus.

Having all of these services under one roof will create a more convenient, coordinated experience, said Oh. The hope is that this kind of coordinated care will reduce the time it takes to treat patients, which is currently estimated at between 60 and 180 days for appointments with specialists due to limited access.

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An artists rendering of Sutter Healths planned $442 million care center at its CPMC Mission Bernal Campus. SmithGroup

Still to come are two neurological intervention suites that will be added to the larger hospital campus by 2027.

Its really important to us  if we are going to center patients with neurological issues at the care complex  to also treat advanced neurological conditions inside the Mission Bernal hospital, said Oh, adding that the suites will be outfitted with biplane imaging equipment.

That allows our providers to go inside the brain to treat aneurysms, brain bleeds and strokes, she said. It helps us to intervene both in advance or in an emergent situation.

The new care facility will initially house 33 neurological and spine specialists, with Sutter seeking to hire an additional 85 specialists in the coming years.

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A few videos of actor Ajith shooting for Vidaa Muyarchi have emerged on social media platforms. Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Lyca Productions shared videos of Ajith doing a daring stunt without a stunt double. The clips are from November last year. (Also Read | Ajith Kumar whips up some piping hot biryani for his biker friends. Watch) Ajith and Arav shoot for Vidaa Muyarchi.

Ajith chooses a daring stunt

In the first clip, Ajith drives a car with Arav strapped in the passenger seat. Amid a fast and furious car chase, the vehicle, after a few seconds, topples as the duo balance themselves. The next two videos show different angles of the car being driven off the road and toppling over. Following that, the crew of the film rushed towards the car.

Watch videos of Ajith toppling car

Sharing the clips, Lyca Productions wrote, "Bravery knows no bounds! (Flexed biceps emoji) Witness Ajith Kumar's fearless dedication as he takes on a daring stunt sequence in #VidaaMuyarchi without any stunt double (saluting face and fire emojis)." Ajith's manager, Suresh Chandra, posted the clips and wrote, "Vidaamuyarchi filming. November 2023.

Fans react to clips

Reacting to the videos, a fan wrote, "Dedication levels at peak." "Even though not required to take that risk, still doing it," tweeted another person. "Movie is going to be a Huge Blockbuster anyways," wrote a person. "Shocking #AjithKumar Hard work," read a tweet. "What a dedicated person to the job he is doing," said another fan. "Don't take too much risk for us please, Thala," commented an X user.

About Vidaa Muyarchi

The film also features Arjun Sarja, Trisha and Regina Cassandra. It has been directed by Magizh Thirumeni. The film's release date is yet to be revealed. As per Cinemaexpress, it was announced in January this year, that the Azerbaijan schedule for Vidaa Muyarchi was wrapped. The upcoming film is written and directed by Magizh Thirumeni and is backed by Lyca Productions.

The shooting of the film began in October 2023. Initially, it was supposed to be directed by Vignesh Shivn. He was later replaced by Magizh Thirumeni. The technical crew of Vidaa Muyarchi, as per the report, include music composer Anirudh Ravichander, editor N B Srikanth, and cinematographer Nirav Shah. Netflix has acquired the film's post-theatrical digital rights.

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Actor Mrunal Thakur might be making waves in the Telugu film industry now, but there was a time when she wanted to quit the industry. In fact, she even told her first Telugu film co-star, Dulquer Salmaan, that she didnt want to make any more films in the language after Sita Ramam. In an interview with Galatta Plus, she revealed why working in Telugu was difficult. (Also Read: Vijay Deverakonda hits back at trolls for song from Family Star; Mrunal Thakur refuses to accept lucky tag) Mrunal Thakur in a still from her first Telugu film Sita Ramam

I wanted to give up

Mrunal revealed in the interview that not knowing Telugu made her feel handicapped initially, given that Hindi and Marathi were her preferred languages. She would dub her dialogues in the language to understand the nuances, but had a hard time lip syncing in the language. I didnt want to be in a space where I felt handicapped because I didnt know the language. It made me restless, and I kid you not, I had moments when I wanted to give up. I have literally cried but every drop of tear has brought praise my way, she said.

She explained that while debuting with the 2022 film Sita Ramam, she told Dulquer (who debuted with Mahanati in Telugu) that she did not want to work in the language anymore. I remember we were shooting in Kashmit and I told him Sita Ramam will be my first and last Telugu film. I wont do any more films in Telugu, I said. He just looked at me and said, well see. I think today, one of the reasons I am considering branching out into Tamil or Kannada also is because he gave me the confidence to.

Mrunals upcoming work

Since Sita Ramam was a massive success, Mrunal has also starred in Shouryuvs Hi Nanna with Nani in 2023. The film was a success also. Her third Telugu film Family Star, directed by Parasuram Petla and co-starring Vijay Deverakonda will be released on April 5. She is yet to announce other projects in Telugu, but will soon be seen in Pooja Meri Jaan in Hindi.

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Nabha Natesh is making a comeback after taking a break for a couple of years. The actor, who was last seen in the 2021 OTT release Maestro, will soon be seen in Bharat Krishnamacharis Swayambu, also starring Nikhil Siddhartha and Samyuktha. The filmmakers officially announced her being roped in on Thursday. (Also Read: Nikhil Siddhartha officially announces Karthikeya 3; promises a brand new adventure) Nabha Natesh has been roped in to star in the Nikhil Siddhartha, Samyuktha-starrer Swayambhu

Did you miss me

Nabha made her comeback announcement on Instagram, sharing a video. She addressed her comeback, writing, Hey you, Did u miss me, I certainly did. Not anymore coz I AM BACK! See you in the theatres soon. -love. Thank you team #swayambhu for the most amazing welcome. I am overwhelmed.

The video begins with news reports of Nabhas accident in early 2022. It soon sees her get back on sets and don her costume. She can also be seen interacting with Nikhil and Bharat on sets before posing for a few clicks. The video ends with her first-look from the film, which sees her in traditional-wear.

Nabhas accident

For the unversed, Nabha met with an accident in Karnataka in early 2022. Its only in 2023 that the actor revealed on Instagram that she met with a major accident that resulted in a fragmented shoulder bone. She even shared a picture of her scar on the platform. She relapsed at the gym before recovering fully and had to get operated again in Bengaluru. She took it slow and completely recovered before returning back to shooting this year with Swayambhu.

About Swayambhu

Nikhil underwent training to play a warrior in Swayambhu. He trained in weapons, martial arts and horse riding for the role. Bhuvan and Sreekar are producing the film under Pixel Studios banner with Tagore Madhu presenting it. Samyuktha also trained for her role in the film but her first-look is yet to be revealed. Nabha plays a crucial and powerful role in Swayambhu, according to a press note shared by the makers. Ravi Basrur of KGF and Salaar fame is composing the films music. Shooting for the film is underway.

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Adah Sharma's The Kerala Story finally released digitally last month after a postponement of months. "It was banned in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, and now with social media I am getting tagged everywhere. It's great that we can reach places through OTT that weren't reached before. It feels great that OTT as a medium has created that space for us," says the actor. (Also Read  Bastar movie review: Adah Sharma fails to impress in film which believes Naxalism exists only because of communism) Adah Sharma on OTT

Sharma, who has done OTT projects, including, Pati Patni Aur Panga (2020), The Holiday (2022), and the latest being Commando (2023), says that the medium gives chances to explore. "OTT does motivate to do creative projects without worrying about numbers, it's like an added advantage of the medium," says the 31-year-old.

"As an actor, we try not to think about these things and let the producers worry. Having said that, if you look at it that way, we as actors would put in the same effort in a music video, theatrical film or an OTT release, numbers or medium won't make us think twice," she further adds.

Going forward, the actor wants to do distinct roles. "I just want to try different characters and hopefully people will offer me roles that I have not done before. That has always been my main aim, I don't want to repeat. For example, I did the same action genre in both Bastar and Commando, but the action that I did was different in both," Sharma continues, "Commando was hand to hand combat and we were larger than life heroes, while Bastar was realistic, gritty and violent, as we were fighting a war. I am glad people are giving me different things to do and it should continue."

Talking about her experience of working with her co-star, actor Sunil Grover in Sunflower 2 and how she was happy to be a part of season 2, she says, "It was amazing to work with such cool people. We had such seasoned actors, everyone had a different style of comedy. And, Sunil is a very funny person, be doesn't take himself very seriously. He improvises and tries new things, it's fun working with him," adding, "Moreover, I had never seen any role written like this for anyone before, I was fortunate to play Rosy's role. I was glad that people had expectations after season one, it made us work harder."
Hyderabad, Amid a rise in mercury levels during the current summer, the Telangana government has geared up to ensure drinking water supply in Hyderabad and other parts of the state. The government has appointed 10 IAS officers as special officers to monitor the drinking water situation in rural and urban areas and allotted different districts to them. The Special Officers should visit the districts immediately to coordinate with the district Collectors and state level departments and monitor the drinking water situation till the end of July, 2024, an order issued on Wednesday by Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari said. The officers should ensure adequate supply of drinking water to all rural and urban households every day, it said. The Chief Secretary, in a video conference with district Collectors a couple of days ago, instructed that water could be drawn from agricultural wells on rent if there is any disruption in the supply of fresh water in any village, official sources said. She said water should also be provided through tankers. Repairs and flushing of borewells in all the villages and wards have been completed, she said. Water pipeline leakages have been stopped. Meanwhile, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board said there is no shortage in the supply of drinking water in the city. Water is being supplied to the city from the Nagarjuna Sagar and Yellampalli projects and Manjeera river and Singur dam, besides the twin reservoirs of Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar here, according to an official release yesterday. Citing a survey conducted by the Board, the release said demand for water supply by tankers arose due to a dip in groundwater levels in the city. The same thing was conveyed by the groundwater department as well. The Board's personnel are working round the clock to meet the demand from consumers who book water tankers for water delivery, it said. The demand for tankers is seen mainly from Manikonda, Gachibowli, Kondapur, Madhapur, Kukatpally, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. The release also said that construction of Sunkisala project has been going on with great speed and that it is likely to be inaugurated in December this year. The project is envisaged to cater to the drinking water needs of Hyderabad. The Met Centre of IMD here, in its daily weather report for the state on Thursday said the state reported maximum temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius and above at a few places with the highest being 41.4 degrees at Nizamabad. In its weather warnings, the Met Centre said heat wave conditions are likely to prevail at isolated pockets in Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahabubnagar and Nagarkurnool districts of Telangana on April 5 and April 6.

HT Image
Two persons lost their lives after falling into a well while trying to flee during an attack by assailants at a toll plaza in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district on Wednesday. The incident, captured on a CCTV camera, took place at the toll plaza situated within the jurisdiction of Chirula police station on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. A screengrab of the CCTV footage from the toll plaza. The miscreants fired at the men for around 15 minutes.(X/Siraj Noorani)

The miscreants fired at the men for around 15 minutes. There were a total of 12 people who fired at the men at the toll plaza. Speaking about the incident, Chirula police station in-charge Nitin Bhargava said, "12 miscreants on six motorcycles reached the toll plaza and opened fire at the employees working there."

Due to the firing, the toll plaza employees started running helter-skelter. Some of them ran towards the adjoining fields. Two of them fell into the well there, the official said. The bodies of these two deceased were taken out later.

A case has been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway in the matter, the official added.

In an unrelated incident, a car driver allegedly hit and ran over a staff of the NHAIs Chijarsi toll plaza in Uttar Pradeshs Hapur district last August.

The car driver was in the queue behind a truck at the toll gate and was proceeding towards Hapur from the Ghaziabad side. When the truck passed the gates, the car also sped behind it and escaped the gates without paying the toll. A staff on the other side of the toll tried to stop the car but it sped. However, the car turned back towards the toll on the wrong side and deliberately hit the toll staff. After hitting the staff, the driver again fled towards Hapur, said Deepak Verma, manager of the Chijarsi toll plaza.

The injured staff was identified as Shekhar Yadav. The staff was rushed to hospital. He suffered multiple injuries, along with a fractured leg.

(With inputs from PTI)
New Delhi: Tata Group owned airline, Vistara, continued to see flight cancellations for the fourth consecutive day even as pilots from sister airline Air India urged the group chairman to look into the concerns of Vistara pilots Around 20 Vistara flights were cancelled on Thursday, taking the total number of cancelled flights to 147. (Pti file photo.)

At least two Vistara officials , who asked not to be named, confirmed that around 20 flights were cancelled on Thursday, taking the total number of cancellations to around 147.

Around 20 Vistara flights were cancelled on Thursday. Its on time performance (OTP) however, marginally improved from 85.9% on Wednesday to 86.4% on Thursday, one of the above said.

An airline spokesperson did not comment on the number of flights cancelled or the most affected routes.

The spokesperson, however, said that the airline has been doing its best to mitigate the impact of flight cancellations.

In order to minimise inconvenience caused to customers, cancellations are being done well ahead of the departure date as we have temporarily reduced capacity while ensuring adequate connectivity across our network. Furthermore, we are also offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected customers, as applicable, the spokesperson said.

Also Read: Airline will resume normalcy by the weekend: Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan

Vistara pilots have called in sick after being forced to sign revised contracts, restricting flying time for a co- pilot from 70 to 40 hours and reducing salaries.

The airlines situation is due to poor planning and rostering. They do not have adequate designated examiners required to train pilots and conduct various tests for them to get additional rating on their certificate, an airline official said. The airline dismissed the claim: We confirm that we have an adequate number of instructors.

The airlines chief executive officer (CEO) Vinod Kannan had a 30-minute townhall with pilots on Wednesday. He met the airlines pilots assuring them that airline services will be normalised by the weekend, adding that the pilots rosters will be fixed to maintain their work-life balance.

Meanwhile, Air Indias two pilots unions Indian Pilots Guild (Boeing pilots association) and Indian Commercial Pilots Guild (Airbus pilots union) wrote to the Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday urging the Tata Group to have a dialogue with pilots and address the concerns raised by Vistara pilots.

Also Read: Vistara crisis: DGCA asks airline to submit daily report on cancellations and delays

The unions stated: It is crucial to recognise that the concerns expressed by the Vistara pilots are not isolated incidents but rather indicative of systemic issues that extend across various Tata Group aviation entities.

The letter read: The pilots of Vistara have been steadfast in their advocacy for fixed 70 hours compensation, improved working conditions, and stable roster. After thorough assessment and consultation, we firmly believe that their demands are not only reasonable but also reflective of broader challenges prevalent within Tata Group airlines.

The pilots claimed that the issues of fixed remuneration for 70 hours of work, lack of leave approvals, lack of adequate rest periods, unstable rosters, stretching pilots to max their flight duties, and an unsupportive work environment are consistently echoed by pilots across different Tata Group airlines.

..it is distressing to witness instances where pilots are being exploited, overworked and deprived of their basic rights across Tata Group Airlineswe urge (the)Tata Group leadership to engage in constructive dialogue with the pilot community, listen attentively to their feedback and take proactive measures to address their legitimate grievances. By addressing the concerns raised by the Vistara pilots, Tata Group can demonstrate its commitment to fostering a culture of fairness, transparency and employee welfare across all its aviation ventures, which is missing at the moment, the pilots said.
NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has begun the induction of the indigenous Akashteer system to boost its air defence capabilities, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday. The automated air defence control and reporting system will allow the armys air defence units to operate in an integrated manner. The deployment of Akashteer has begun with the flagging off of the first batch of control centres from BEL Ghaziabad on Thursday (X/adgpi)

The development came almost a year after the defence ministry signed a 1,982-crore contract with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to sharpen the armys air defence capabilities with the new system.

It will enable the army to monitor low-level airspace over battle areas and effectively control the ground-based air defence weapon systems.

The deployment of Akashteer has begun with the flagging off of the first batch of control centres from BEL Ghaziabad on Thursday. It is a significant move towards enhancing Indias defence capabilities and technology absorption, said one of the officials cited above.

It will enhance the operational efficiency and integration of the armys air defence mechanisms by digitising the entire process, said a second official. The induction comes in a year designated by the army as the Year of Tech Absorption.

Induction of Akashteer is one of the major milestones achieved by the Indian Army on its path to transformation that will meet the current and futuristic requirements of complex air defence operations, he said.

The development came on a day the Indian Army revealed plans to boost the ongoing atmanirbharta drive by setting up specialised Army Design Bureau (ADB) cells at various command headquarters, with the organisational restructuring aimed at absorption of niche technology for capability development.

By integrating radar and communication systems at all levels into a unified network, Akashteer aims to deliver an unprecedented level of situational awareness and control; enabling swift engagement of hostile targets, and significantly reduce the risk of fratricide, and ensuring the safety of friendly aircraft in contested airspace, the officials said.

A noteworthy aspect of Akashteer is its emphasis on mobility and resilience. The systems control centres, which are vehicle-based, can maintain operational capabilities even in challenging communication environments. The system will facilitate the complete automation of air defence operations and significantly enhance the air defence posture of India, said the first official.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal held another press conference on Thursday, April 4 and read out the jailed chief minister's message. In the Delhi chief minister's message from jail, he has asked AAP MLAs to visit their areas daily and ensure people don't face any problems, Sunita Kejriwal said. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, issues a video statement in New Delhi. (HT file)

"Arvind Kejriwal has sent a message to all MLAs: 'Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out'...," Sunita Kejriwal said.

The press conference comes a day after AAP MP Sanjay Singh walked out of the Tihar jail after six months and later, met Sunita Kejriwal at her residence in the national capital.

Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, is lodged in the Tihar jail under judicial custody till April 15.

Notably, Kejriwal's wife, Sunita, who stayed away from politics while her husband was at the helm, has come out with three impassioned video statements in the recent past.

In the last video message on March 29, Sunita Kejriwal announced the Kejriwal ko Aashirwad campaign, urging people to support her husband.

In a digital media briefing, Sunita Kejriwal said her husband has challenged the "most corrupt and dictatorial forces" in the country and asked people to support him through their blessings and prayers.

Issuing two WhatsApp numbers -- 8297324624 and 9700297002 -- Sunita Kejriwal said people can send their blessings, prayers or any other messages to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and she will communicate those to him.
New Delhi: The last of the Indian Air Forces (IAF) MiG-21 fighter planes are taking part in the ongoing pan-India exercise, Gagan Shakti-2024, which seeks to showcase IAFs capability to carry out high-tempo operations and involves all air bases and assets scattered across the country, officials familiar with the development said on Thursday. Indian Air Forces MiG-21 fighter plane (File Photo)

The drills began on April 1 and are being carried out in a realistic environment till April 10. This is the last major exercise that the MiG-21 Bisons are participating in ahead of their upcoming retirement, the officials said asking not to be named.

The MiG-21, Indias first supersonic fighter whose induction began in 1963, will be pulled out of service by 2025, as previously reported by Hindustan Times.

IAF currently operates only two MiG-21 squadrons  the No.3 or Cobras at Nal near Bikaner and No.23 or Panthers at Suratgarh, both in Rajasthan. A squadron consists of 16 to 18 fighter jets. Both squadrons operate the MiG-21 Bison, the last variant of the single-engine workhorse.

IAF has operated a raft of MiG-21 variants  Type 74 or MiG 21F, Type 76 or MiG 21PF, Type 77 or MiG 21FL, Type 96 or MiG 21M, Type 75 or MiG 21 Bis (upgraded Type 96) and the MiG-21 Bison.

As part of the ongoing exercise Gagan Shakti-24, IAF aircraft recently operated from the Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) in the northern sector in Kashmir valley. A large number of troops were airlifted and subsequently, air landed utilising Chinook, Mi-17 V5 and ALH Mk-III helicopters by night, IAF said in its first statement on the ongoing drills.

IAF plans to practice similar drills in coordination with different state governments for the activation of ELFs in other sectors too, it said.

The capability to operate by night at these stretches of highways, and the capability to transfer troops from such surfaces will greatly enhance the operational capabilities of Indian armed forces, the statement added.

Gagan Shakti was last held in 2018 when IAF clocked more than 11,000 sorties during the two-phase air manoeuvres that saw the concentration of the air forces deployed assets move from the western sector to the eastern front in less than 48 hours.

It sought to test IAFs readiness for a two-front war with China and Pakistan. From deep strikes to air dominance and maritime operations to air defence, the IAF practised every manoeuvre in the book in its preparation for a short and intense war.

The latest drills follow Exercise Vayu Shakti-24, conducted on February 17 at the Pokhran air-to-ground range near Jaisalmer. That exercise saw IAF deploy its frontline assets, including Rafale fighter jets, Mirage-2000s, Sukhoi-30 MKIs, Tejas light combat aircraft, Jaguars, Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, Apache attack helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and surface-to-air missile systems.

APACHE DAMAGED IN LADAKH

An Apache attack helicopter of IAF was damaged on Wednesday after it carried out a precautionary landing in the Ladakh sector, the air force said on Thursday. The two pilots of the US-origin helicopter are safe.

During the landing, it sustained damage due to undulating terrain and high altitude, the IAF said in a statement. A court of inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause. The helicopter was on an operational training sortie.

India placed orders worth $3.1 billion for 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers for IAF in 2015.

IAF has inducted all the Boeing-made helicopters, and both platforms have operated extensively in Ladakh amid the ongoing military standoff with China along the contested Line of Actual Control.
San Francisco District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin will kick off his mayoral campaign in a Saturday morning rally. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

Aaron Peskin, the progressive president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, says he is entering the citys already-crowded mayors race partly because of what he sees as a chaotic governing strategy from incumbent London Breed.



Peskin, who plans to formally declare his candidacy with the citys elections department on Friday, told the Chronicle in a Thursday morning interview that he would be a mayor who loves the city and doesnt beat up on it for cynical political gain. He criticized Breed for what he described as an incoherent approach to solving the citys most pressing problems, including drug abuse, homelessness and housing.

What is ranked-choice voting? In the ranked-choice system, voters can rank up to 10 candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote on the first ballot, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and his or her votes are redistributed to their voters next-highest choices. The tallying process gets repeated until one candidate secures a majority of the votes.

There has been no consistency. There has been no follow-through. This is an administration that is largely driven by press, Peskin told the Chronicle. It is not an administration that is being run maturely.

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The comments from Peskin were a possible preview of a message he will promote after he kicks off his long-expected mayoral campaign during a Saturday morning rally in Chinatown, a storied neighborhood he has represented in the more than 16 years he has served on the Board of Supervisors. His entry into the November mayors race comes more than a month after the Chronicle reported he privately told associates he would run.

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Peskin stands to be a formidable opponent to Breed. He has deep connections in San Francisco political circles and is likely to capture significant support from the citys progressive voters, who have shown little enthusiasm for a field of candidates that lines up to his political right. But hes also expected to be a polarizing figure among moderate-leaning voters. Breed and other candidates are already using his extensive record at City Hall to characterize him as someone who has repeatedly blocked needed progress, particularly on housing.

We are living in a time that has a disproportionate amount of anger and hatred, and I think if were going to recover, yes, we need to be firm, and yes, we have to draw clear lines, but we have to be compassionate and uniting, Peskin said.

What I see in the other candidates is, rather than taking responsibility, they are all engaged in finger-pointing and blaming, he said. Theyve blamed compassion. Theyve blamed nonprofits. Theyve blamed judges. But at the end of the day, the buck stops with the mayor.

A February poll conducted by the Chronicle found Breed may be at serious risk of losing reelection, with a majority of San Francisco voters disapproving of her performance as mayor. Her closest competitors in the poll, conducted before Peskin entered the race, were moderate candidates Mark Farrell, a former mayor and supervisor, and Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir.

The poll found about 40% of the electorate remained undecided, with those describing themselves as progressives in particular unsure of their vote. Supervisor Ahsha Safai is also running for mayor and has been seeking to attract progressive voters, including by coming out strongly against a March ballot measure spearheaded by Breed that expanded police powers.



Peskins candidacy adds more uncertainty to the race, particularly in how San Franciscos ranked-choice voting will influence the results  and how campaign strategies may shift in the months ahead.

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Peskin, 59, is a seasoned politician who is intricately familiar with San Franciscos laws, procedures and history, and he often draws on that knowledge during policy debates with his colleagues or the mayors office. Over two separate stints since the turn of the century, he has represented District 3, which includes North Beach, Chinatown and the Financial District.

But Peskins long tenure at City Hall could also be a liability. Farrell and Lurie, who contend that Breed represents the status quo in a city in need of big changes, are extending that argument to Peskin.



I am committed to doing everything I can to stop Supervisor Aaron Peskin from becoming Mayor, Farrell said in a statement. Peskin is abusive, toxic, and a documented obstructionist to the progress San Francisco needs to make to get back on track.



Breed and her allies in the YIMBY movement, which supports an aggressive expansion of housing at all income levels, are likely to highlight Peskins record of opposing or seeking to slow down various development projects.



Peskin is known for his staunch support of rent control and neighborhood preservation. Supervisors recently passed legislation he sponsored that restricted development in parts of his district. Peskin described it as a necessary correction to an earlier city law that he said unwittingly allowed for overly tall towers he considers too tall to be built in historic areas along the northeast waterfront.

Breed vetoed the legislation, saying it passes off anti-housing policy in the guise of historic protections, but supervisors overrode her veto in an 8-3 vote last week.



Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for Breeds reelection campaign, told the Chronicle in a statement that Breed is happy to put up her record against Aaron Peskins, any day of the week and said Peskin has a well-documented career of blocking major housing projects.

The voters of San Francisco shouldnt be fooled. Aaron Peskin is the architect of obstruction on the Board of Supervisors, Arellano said. Hes led the Board during five different mayoral administrations and the divisiveness in city government has continually ramped up over the years to the fever pitch where it now resides. Now, hes seeking the Mayors Office to try and finish the job of turning San Francisco into a NIMBY state and the City of No. 

In his interview with the Chronicle, Peskin defended his record on housing policy and said he supported building more affordable homes for middle-class families instead of a wall of 200-foot luxury housing towers for the international elite along the Embarcadero. He said other candidates reactions to his campaign so far showed they have something that they are scared of.



Peskin has worked with Breed in some areas, collaborating with her on legislation to lower affordable-unit requirements in housing developments, promote office-to-housing conversions and allow police to access live feeds from privately owned surveillance cameras. But hes also expressed frustration with her leadership on the fentanyl crisis, notably confronting her at a 2023 hearing he called in United Nations Plaza, where he argued she hadnt done enough to shut down the citys drug supermarkets.

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Peskin and Breed also backed dueling housing measures on the November 2022 ballot. Both failed.

Peskin has not been immune to controversy during his time on the board. In 2021, he entered treatment for alcohol abuse after some elected officials, department heads and others accused him of being visibly intoxicated on the job and of bullying colleagues and lower-level government staff members.

Theres no question that, in the last 24 years, I have behaved poorly, and I have apologized for those things, Peskin told the Chronicle. Stopping drinking alcohol has been a remarkable change in my life three years ago that I am deeply grateful for.



Peskin indicated he would draw on his experience recovering from alcohol abuse while campaigning for mayor, saying that he thought San Francisco needs to recover from its current crises and he thought his new lease on life makes him uniquely qualified to accomplish that.

His extensive time in office may turn off many voters eager for fresh leadership in City Hall. Such criticism is especially likely from Lurie, who is trying to position himself as an outsider with a moderate agenda who would bring much-needed new perspective to the mayors office.



Tyler Law, a consultant for Lurie, said in a statement that Peskins candidacy would prompt the chattering class to cover the mayors race as a fight between moderates and progressives  but that completely misses the point. He said Luries campaign stands in stark contrast to the gang of City Hall insiders who have failed to get the job done.



The people who got us into this mess are not equipped to get us out of it, Law said.

Safai, meanwhile, said Peskins decision to become Breeds fourth major challenger shows that she faces unusually stiff competition in her bid for another term.



I think Aaron getting in is more of a statement about London Breed, Safai said Thursday. But its a democracy, and if hes choosing this journey in life, God bless.

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Peskin first won election as District 3 supervisor in 2000, as part of a wave of progressives who defeated moderate former Mayor Willie Browns allies. Peskin had risen to prominence in the late 1990s, when he helmed a powerful neighborhood group called the Telegraph Hill Dwellers.

By the time he finished his first two terms on the board in early 2009, Peskin, labeled by some as the Napoleon of North Beach (he once remarked that he stood 5 feet 4 on a good day), had become a polarizing political figure who often clashed with Brown and then-Mayor Gavin Newsom. But he also commanded respect.

Peskin was under consideration to become the citys appointed mayor after Newsom won election as lieutenant governor in 2010. But he was one of several people passed over by the Board of Supervisors in favor of Ed Lee, then the city administrator.

After Peskins District 3 successor, David Chiu, won election to the state Assembly in 2015, Peskin staged his return to the Board of Supervisors.

Peskin was reelected to represent District 3 in 2016 and 2020. He served four years as board president in his first stint as supervisor and regained the presidency in an upset in January 2023 after the former board president, progressive Supervisor Shamann Walton, was unable to secure enough votes for another term.
The Bharatiya Janata Partys decision to support the ruling National Peoples Party (NPP) in Meghalaya by not fielding its candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha election from both Shillong and Tura parliamentary seats has dampened the spirit of the partys workers and supporters. In return, NPP is backing the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh.

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra announced on X last month that his party would support NPF in the Outer Manipur Constituency and NDPP in Nagaland.

As per the instructions of the Honble National President of@BJP4India, Shri @JPNaddaji, I am pleased to inform that BJP will extend its support to Lok Sabha Candidates of NPP in both the seats of Meghalaya (Shillong and Tura), to NPF in the Outer Manipur Constituency and to NDPP in Nagaland in the ensuing Parliamentary elections 2024, Patra said.

BJP is a minor partner in the ruling coalition in Meghalaya which is headed by NPP. Significantly, the BJP put up candidates for the Shillong and Tura seats in 2014 and 2019. Though they lost in both the elections, the party had cornered 9.2% of the total votes in 2014. In 2019, the vote share dropped to 8%.

The announcement by the saffron party not to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Meghalaya has shocked BJP ticket aspirants for the two parliamentary seats even though it has boosted NPP candidates, Ampareen Lyngdoh and Agatha Sangma, who are contesting from Shillong and Tura seats respectively.

The BJP ticket aspirants for the Shillong seat include cabinet minister Alexander L. Hek, former state party president Ernest Mawrie, Fenela Lyngdoh Nonglait, state BJYM president Mewaker Lyngdoh and BJP national executive member Sumitra Laloo.

The ticket aspirants for the Tura seat include sitting Tura MDC Bernard N. Marak, and former MLAs Winnerson. Sangma and K C Boro, former MDC Boston Marak, Riya Sangma and Thomas Marak.

However, the decision by the central leadership of the BJP not to put up candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Meghalaya appeared to show that the party wanted to reciprocate the recent decision by the NPP to back the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh, party leaders said.

NPP is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre and is also a constituent of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the BJP-led platform of anti-Congress regional parties in the northeast. Apart from supporting BJP candidates in the two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh, NPP has also extended support to the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) candidate for the lone seat in Nagaland.

Pressure is now mounting on Rikman G. Momin, the BJP Meghalaya unit president, to quit in acknowledgement of his failure to convince the partys central leadership to contest the two Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya.

Leaders and workers of the BJP, especially in the Garo Hills region comprising the western half of Meghalaya, feel that their hard work over the years went to waste when the party decided not to field candidates for the Shillong and Tura constituencies and to support the candidates of the National Peoples Party (NPP) instead.

AL Hek who is a minister in the NPP-led coalition government in Meghalaya and aspirant for ticket from Shillong, said, You see the BJP is also looking out for all its NDA partners throughout the country like theyve done in Manipur and elsewhere.

He admitted that the Shillong seat seemed viable after all the labour and toil of all party karyakartas. Why they missed this golden opportunity remains unexplained, but we will follow the top leaderships desire, adding, Now they (karyakartas) are wondering how they will go next time to seek votes for the party.

The state unit is utterly dismayed at this decision by the central leadership. The karyakartas are disillusioned. Especially in Garo hills, they are saying we have been campaigning against the NPP, now going to seek votes for it is a herculean task, especially after the top leaders of the party have publicly called it the most corrupt party and the most corrupt government in the country. It is a total sale of their conscience, senior member of the party Arnab Das, the BJP Meghalaya spokesperson said.

Retired Pro Vice Chancellor of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Eugene D. Thomas said, "They (BJP) are scared about their numbers. Therefore, they really want to concentrate in places where they have 50/50 percent or more chances of winning. In places where they know they are definitely losing they dont want to waste time and energy. Former Meghalaya deputy director of information and public relations, and former editor of Dongmusa, a popular weekly newspaper, Billy P Domes said, It's all because there is no loyalty in politics here, and for that matter in the entire northeast. Political parties always get swayed by the Centre. When it was the Congress, they all ran towards it. Now it's the BJP, theyre all clamouring for it. No thought for the people. Just plain selfish interest. Thats the way I see it.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday, while hearing the pleas that sought a probe into sexual harassment and alleged land grabbing, extortion and sexual crimes against local women by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan, expressed its discontent over the issue before the bench. Suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman and Sandeshkhali. (ANI Photo)

Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said as per LiveLaw, The entire district administration and ruling dispensation must owe a moral responsibility. Even if [the affidavit] 1% is true it is absolutely shameful. And West Bengal says it is safest for women? If one affidavit is proved to be right all of this falls.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya was hearing the Public Interest Litigations (PILs). The bench was hearing arguments seeking an independent probe into the harassment of women by Shahjahan and his men in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali.

The Calcutta HC reserved its verdict.

Advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, who filed a PIL, said that the court should be transferred to a court-monitored commission, LiveLaw reported. She said she had visited the affected area and spoke to women who were afraid of the police and repercussions but wanted to raise their voices against Shahjahan.

Submitting affidavits of women who were allegedly sexually assaulted, Tibrewal said, If they prove a single affidavit is wrong, I will quit my practice forever.

In February this year, the high court took suo motu cognisance of the Sandeshkhali case after allegations surfaced that women were sexually assaulted at gunpoint.

Later in February, the court also ordered the arrest of the TMC leader stating that there was no stay on his arrest.

Read Here | Sandeshkhali accused used shell firms to divert profits: ED

In March, the probe into the January 5 attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Sandeshkhali and the custody of Shahjahan was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

ED officials were attacked when they went to search Shahjahan's house in connection with the ration distribution scam. While the TMC leader, who gained significant power in the area, was on the run, several women claimed that they had been sexually assaulted by him.

The agency is investigating multiple FIRs filed against Shahjahan by the West Bengal police several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act, SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and West Bengal State Highways Act. The crimes are  sexual assault, murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and land grabbing among others.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to ask workers of his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to desist from using the clock symbol in ads, news agency PTI reported. NCP chief Ajit Pawar (File Photo)

Stating that the allocation of the symbol is an issue that is currently sub-judice, the apex court told the Ajit faction to give advertisements in prominent newspapers to inform people about the matter. It also asked that workers loyal to the Maharashtra deputy CM must be sensitised to use disclaimers to inform public that the allocation of the clock symbol is sub-judice.

The development came a day after the bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan asked Pawar to file an affidavit before it in 24 hours, demonstrating how his group has adhered to the bench's earlier direction that mandated that disclaimers be inserted in party ads and public notices, specifying that the clock allocated to his side was subject to the ongoing judicial scrutiny.

On March 19, the bench had allowed the Ajit group to keep both the NCP name and clock symbol, though with a caveat that the deputy CM's side will give public notices in leading English, Marathi, and Hindi dailies, informing the public that the allocation of the clock symbol is subject to the outcome of the petition heard by the court.

The issue stems from the vertical split in the NCP in July last year, when the party, co-founded by Ajit's uncle Sharad Pawar in June 1999 after the latter was expelled from the Congress, witnessed a vertical split into two groups, with the uncle and the nephew leading one faction each. The united NCP was a constituent of the three-party opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT); upon split, the Ajit camp joined the ruling coalition of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.

In February this year, the Election Commission of India (ECI) recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the real NCP and gave it the original clock symbol. It is this recognition that Sharad Pawar has challenged in the Supreme Court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has coordinated the return of Shokat Ali, who was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a 2020 gold smuggling case, from Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the development said. An Interpol red notice had been issued against Ali in September 2021. (HT photo)

An Interpol red notice had been issued against Ali in September 2021.

Gold bars weighing around 18.5 kgs were smuggled by a group of persons from Saudi Arabia to Jaipur international airport in July 2020. The NIA, which is investigating the case, filed a charge sheet against 18 individuals in the case including Ali in 2021.

Also Read: Two smugglers held with over 13 kg gold biscuits in Uttar Pradeshs Bhadohi

The Global Operations Centre of CBI has coordinated via Interpol channels with National Central Bureau-Riyadh for return to India (Mumbai) late Wednesday

from Saudi Arabia of a red notice subject Shokat Ali, wanted by NIA in a gold smuggling case, said a CBI spokesperson in a statement.

He was earlier geo-located in Saudi Arabia with close follow up through Interpol, he said.

During investigation it had been found that accused Shokat Ali had conspired with his co-accused in illegal smuggling of gold bars from Saudi Arabia into India.
New Delhi, The Delhi LG Secretariat has written to the Union home secretary over "violations" by the Delhi government and "concerted attempts" to "mislead" courts with the aim to "influence" the justice delivery system, Raj Niwas officials said on Thursday. HT Image

The Delhi government attempts to "influence" the justice delivery system through filing of "motivated and premeditated" petitions and presenting "patently false" affidavits, they said.

The Aam Aadmi Party government, however, said courts are the last resort after officers do not follow ministers' directions. No action was taken by the lieutenant governor against such officers, it said in a statement.

"Even after repeated instructions issued by ministers concerned, the Centre's officers do not act and the lieutenant governor doesn't respond to requests by the ministers," the government said.

The letter from Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena's principal secretary cited various cases in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court and the alleged "violations" of the Delhi government with regard to its "dealings" with these courts.

"Of late, there have been concerted attempts at misleading the courts, with an apparent aim of influencing the justice delivery system by way of filing motivated and premeditated petitions and trying to secure an endorsement of the same from the courts by presenting patently false affidavits," the letter alleged.

It said "GNCTD Vs the Lt Governor" in various matters in different courts has become the "prevalent norm" rather than an exception.

"The attempts obviously are, apart from misleading the courts, to create a false media narrative which maligns the constitutional office of Lt Governor in public domain," said the letter sent to the Union home secretary with Saxena's approval.

The cases quoted in the letter include matters related to infrastructure in the Delhi High Court and subordinate courts, release of funds for Delhi Jal Board and 'Farishtey' scheme, DCPCR, classification of conforming and non-conforming wards related to the 2021-22 excise policy.

The letter is intended to apprise the home ministry of the developments in Delhi with regard to "avoidable litigation" in various courts, it said.

The A government said it is quite "unfortunate" that attempts are being made to encroach the jurisdiction of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi.

The Supreme Court has clearly stated that Delhi has a democratically elected government which is accountable to the people. Delhi cannot be subsumed as a unit of the Union, it said.

In the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Union of India must exercise its powers within the boundaries created by the Constitution, it added.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Months before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, a group of leaders from Kerala met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and asked him to contest from the southern state. The leaders said it would boost the partys prospects in the state. Gandhis aides maintain he did not choose Wayanad fearing defeat in Uttar Pradeshs Amethi. They say he agreed to the plan simply because the party leaders convinced him that his presence would boost the partys prospects. And they were spot on. The Congress and its allies swept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Kerala, winning 19 of 20 seats. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad on Wednesday. (X)

Congresss show of strength

Five years later, Gandhi is again contesting from Wayanad and Congress hopes to repeat its performance. On Wednesday, he filed his nomination. A sea of people joined him for a roadshow as a show of strength. Gandhi called the 2024 election a fight for Indias soul and to preserve democracy from the forces of hatred, corruption, and injustice that seek to suppress the voice of Bharat Mata (Mother India).

Gandhi called Wayanad his home, and its people his family. From them, I have learned a great deal over the last five years and received an abundance of love and affection, Rahul Gandhi said in a social media post after he filed his nomination after the roadshow. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was among the party leaders who accompanied him.

The Left parties, which have fielded Communist Party of Indias Annie Raja from Wayanad, grumbled. The Congress has said there would be no friendly fight with the Left in Kerala.

Suspense continues over Raebareli and Amethi

The Congress is yet to announce its candidates from the Gandhi family stronghold of Raebareli and Amethi. There has been speculation that Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi might contest from these two seats. A leader considered close to Priyanka Gandhi told HT, I would be surprised if she does not contest from Raebareli. For years she nurtured the seat for her mother and she is the natural choice to succeed Sonia Gandhi for Raebareli.

INDIA bloc collapses in Jammu and Kashmir

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) suffered a blow as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday announced it will contest three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir. Mufti blamed National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah for non-cooperation. She added the INDIA bloc partner left the PDP with no option other than fielding candidates.

There are also no seat pacts between major INDIA allies in Kerala, West Bengal, and Punjab. In Trinamool Congress-ruled Bengal, the Left has a seat adjustment with the Congress.The NC, which has left two seats for the Congress in Jammu, announced that former chief minister Farooq Abdullah will not fight elections.

Congress expels Sanjay Nirupam

The Congress on Wednesday expelled the partys former Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam for six years days after he lashed out over Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)s announcement of Lok Sabha candidates in Mumbai. Nirupam, who was hoping to contest the Mumbai North West seat, was earlier dropped from the list of star campaigners.

Mamata plucks tea leaves

Indias lone woman chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written over 50 books. She paints, sings, and plays synthesizer besides running her party and winning elections. On Wednesday, she took a leaf out of Prime Minister Narendra Modis book and had chai pe charcha. Banerjee prepared tea at a local stall in Jalpaiguri as she interacted with the tea plantation workers.
New Delhi: Congress Spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigned from the party on Thursday ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, calling the party directionless and claiming that it was opposing the entire Hindu society. Former Congress spokesperson, Gourav Vallabh (File photo)

Vallabh submitted his resignation in a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and also announced it on social media.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, I am not able to feel comfortable with the directionless way in which the Congress Party is moving forward today. I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country in the morning and evening.

That is why I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the Congress Party, he added.

In the letter to Kharge, Vallabh said, I am emotional. I want to say, write, tell a lot. But, my values forbid me from saying anything that might hurt others. Still, I am putting my views before you today, because I feel that hiding the truth is also a crime, and I do not want to be a part of the crime.

Vallabh, who is a professor of finance, said he was made the national spokesperson of the Congress party but the partys stand on many issues was forcefully presented before the people of the country.

He added: When I joined the Congress Party, I believed that Congress was the oldest party in the country where young, intellectual people and their ideas are valued. But in the last few years, I realised that the current form of the party is not able to adjust itself with the youth with new ideas. The ground-level connection of the party has been completely broken, which is not able to understand the aspirations of a new India at all due to which neither the party is able to come to power nor is able to play the role of a strong opposition.

This discourages a worker like me. It is very difficult to bridge the gap between big leaders and grassroots workers, which is politically necessary. Unless a worker can give direct suggestions to his leader, no positive change is possible, he added.

Referring to the Congress partys stand on consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Vallabh said: I am a Hindu by birth and a teacher by profession, this stand of the party has always made me uncomfortable and troubled. Many people associated with the party and the alliance speak against Sanatan, and the party remaining silent on it is like giving tacit approval to it.

On one hand we talk about caste based census, while on the other hand we seem to be opposing the entire Hindu society, this working style is giving a misleading message to the public that the party is the supporter of a particular religion only. This is against the basic principles of Congress, Vallabh said

Vallabh said Congresss stand on economic issues has always been to humiliate and abuse the wealth creators of the country.

He said, Today we have turned against those economic liberalisation, privatization, and globalization (LPG) policies for which the world has given us full credit for implementing in the country. The partys view on every disinvestment taking place in the country was always negative. Is it wrong to earn money by doing business in our country?
In a setback to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, as many as 22 leaders of Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) resigned from the party after they were denied tickets to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, with one leader even accusing Paswan of selling tickets for money. Jamui, Bihar, India -March .28, 2024: Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) president Chirag Paswan addresing public meeting after filling his nomination paper of NDA candidate Arun Bharti for Lok Sabha elections in Jamui, Bihar, India, Thursday, 28, 2024. (Photo by / Hindustan Times)

The leaders, who resigned simultaneously, also declared they will support the state's opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) which is part of the larger I.N.D.I.A bloc.

Ex-MP Renu Kushwaha, who is among those who resigned from the Paswan-led party, said that when it comes to ticket allocation, preference should be given to party workers over outsiders.

Tickets were given to the outsiders, which means that there are no able people in your party. Are we the labour class people who will work for you, make you a leader? We are not here to serve as labourers, a miffed Kushwaha said.

Among other notable names to exit LJP (Paswan), Satish Kumar, its now former national general secretary and an ex-MLA, remarked that the party workers were 'stunned.'

The people who used to raise slogans of Hail Chirag Paswan, day and night, and hoped for a new Bihar, have been betrayed, their aspirations were crushed. Now to save the country, the INDI alliance has to be supported. Now we will support the INDI alliance, Kumar stated.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Singh, LJP's secretary, organisation, who also quit, alleged that Paswan sold the tickets.

He played an emotional game with the people. He got five seats due to our hard work, but he sold the tickets. The people will now give him an answer, Singh said.

Under the NDA's seat-sharing agreement, LJP (Paswan) will contest on five of Bihar's total 40 seats: Vaishali, Hajipur, Samastipur, Khagaria, and Jamui. While Chirag himself will stand from Hajipur, Arun Bharti will contest from Jamui, Rajesh Verma from Khagaria, Shambhavi Choudhary from Samastipur, and Veena Devi from Vaishali.

(With ANI inputs)
Ghaziabad The lane just off the main road is caked with hay and framed by open sewage lines. The sun beats down on flat-walled buildings that are struggling to keep their posture. Most of their windows are shut. At the far end, a metal wall cuts off the road, but being less than 10 feet high, it is dwarfed by a towering mass of filth. This is the infamous Ghazipur landfill. Homes and dairy units dot the foot of the Ghazipur landfill, on the fringe of the Delhi-Ghaziabad border. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Surender Sharma zips down the street on his bicycle, stopping at the foot of the cramped lane that leads to his home  a shanty with a tin panel for a roof and a worn tarpaulin sheet for a door. Off his bicycles handle hangs a plastic bag of medicines. His chest has felt tight for two weeks, he says. But I havent ever breathed freely. The 49-year-old was born in a slum at the foot of the landfill.

A pair of jet-black sunglasses, usually prescribed to patients after cataract surgeries, sit awkwardly on his face. I also have an eye infection, he says, pointing to a vial of eye drops. Sitting on the edge of a sewage line in front of the slum, Feroz Khan cuts him off. Its not just you. All of us have eye infections all the time, says the 24-year-old, who lives near Jama Masjid and runs a dairy in Ghazipur. And its not only our eyes, Khan adds, pointing to two more people with bloodshot eyes standing by him. Our skin, our hair -- all of it is ruined.

At the fringe of Delhis border with Ghaziabad, the Ghazipur landfill throttles life around it, casting a toxic shadow for miles around. Doctors have, for decades, underscored the harms of living in such a toxic setting  respiratory, digestive, skin and eye illnesses in the short term, as Sharma and Khan have experienced, and a raft of crippling ailments, including cancer, in the longer term.

Doctors have, for decades, underscored the harms of living in such a toxic setting

But from the cheek-by-jowl slums around the waste mountain to the gated colonies of Indirapuram that form the Ghaziabad constituency, Ghazipur is just the most visible identifier of an existence orchestrated by pollution  of the air, the water, and soil  and the surprising lack of public and political will to change the status quo.

Top of the chartsA heavily industrialised city packed with over 27,000 factories and manufacturing units that spit out hazardous fumes and waste, Ghaziabad is a permanent fixture on national and global air pollution rankings.

The 2023 World Air Quality Report by Swiss firm IQAir ranked Ghaziabad as the 35th most polluted city in the world, with an average PM2.5 (a microscopic pollutant that enters and settles in the lungs) concentration of 76.1g/m, 15 times above global safe standards. In November, this number spiralled to 191g/m, the equivalent of constantly breathing air thick with smoke from a dozen cigarettes.

But much like the rest of the National Capital Region (NCR), the citys travails with pollution are compounded by neighbouring towns. Apart from sharing a border with Delhi, the vast Ghaziabad parliamentary constituency spans five assembly segments  Ghaziabad, Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad (which together form Ghaziabad district) and Hapur. In many cases, the smaller towns dont even have adequate monitoring systems to measure the toxins its inhabitants are inhaling.

HT photo

But on April 26, when Ghaziabads 2.6 million people vote in the Lok Sabha elections, none of this will likely make an impact. Why will a political party bother? asks Rakesh Singh, 52, a resident of Khoda in Ghaziabad.  On the way to the main road, I have to ride my motorcycle through unpaved streets that kick up clouds of dust. I travel to the dairy farms in Ghazipur to get milk every other day. Who knows how contaminated the produce is?.

Parties are only concerned with national issues. Nobodys interested in addressing such local problems, whether its a general election or a civic one, says his wife, asking not to be named.

By the waysideThe Ghaziabad constituency was carved out of the expansive Hapur segment in 2008. In the elections since, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held a vice-like grip on the seat. In 2009, now defence minister Rajnath Singh won the contest by nearly 60,000 votes. The partys margin swelled to 550,000 in 2014, when General (retd) VK Singh eased past the Congresss Raj Babbar. He nearly equalled that winning margin in 2019, defeating the Samajwadi Partys Suresh Bansal by around half a million votes.

In such a seemingly lopsided contest, complex issues such as pollution  which neither have one source nor just one stakeholder, and which doesnt bring immediate political returns  are often overlooked. Politicians admit that this is true.

Sanjeev Sharma, the BJPs Ghaziabad district president, says that pollution is much less of a voting issue than it should be. We need a fix. Everybody in the administration is on the same page about this, he said. The issue comes up in meetings very often. Bureaucrats, MLAs, ministers, all raise the issue, but arriving at a consensus is a major hurdle.

The Congress agrees. The partys district president Bijender Yadav stresses that a clean environment has always been a key feature of the Congresss developmental agenda.

We will carve out more parks, plant more trees across the region and crack down on polluting units in Ghaziabad, Yadav says.

Ghaziabad parliamentary constituency spans five assembly segments  Ghaziabad, Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad & Hapur.

But Sanjeev Sharma is not too worried, because he knows that pollution wont remotely move the vote-count needle. No matter who the candidate is, were confident of sweeping this constituency by more than 500,000 votes.

From dust to dustA dollop of dust coats National Highway 709B in Loni. The corridor slices through the town of around half a million people and bridges Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh with Akshardham in Delhi. Known locally as Saharanpur Road, the highway is the backbone of the towns economy. Street vendors, shops, offices and malls crowd either side of the sepia-stained street. Yet, even on an afternoon when the towns local air quality index (AQI) monitors read in the respectable 160s, plumes of dust blur ones vision.

Bablu Mishra, 40, who runs an electronics store along the highway, points to a line of dusty washing machines, refrigerators and coolers. And this is what it looks like when we cleaned every unit two hours ago, he says. Customers walk in and walk out instantly when they see the dust. They think were selling old products. Just think  would you ever buy anything so dirty for a special occasion?.

Neither Mishra nor his neighbours have much choice. Ive lived here for all 26 years of my life. This town has always been dusty and will remain dusty, said Sunny, who asked to be identified by a single name and who owns a mobile phone store a few shops away from Mishras.

Officials at the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) believe much of Lonis difficulties are down to the construction of the Delhi-Dehradun highway, which started in December 2021. Controlling dust along this stretch is the National Highway Authority of Indias (NHAI) responsibility. In November 2023, we fined them 25 lakh for letting pollution spiral out of control, says Vikas Misra, UPPCBs regional officer in Ghaziabad.

The air is just as unforgiving in urban Ghaziabad, for a similar reason. Vikas Singh, 42, a resident of Lajpat Nagar colony, says the near-constant construction work in the city, coupled with the zig-zags of unpaved streets keep the air foul all year. There isnt a single local officer I havent approached for a fix to the air pollution. Forget the political parties. Even the bureaucrats dont care.

Thick with industriesPolluting industries are another part of the puzzle. Factories with grey chimneys puff out dark smoke into the Ghaziabad sky at Vijay Nagar industrial area, flanked by residential properties and commercial units. Were resigned to breathing such air now, because we have to live with it. But ask anybody in Ghaziabad how long their AC lasts. A couple of years at best, says Kaveri Pandit, a 24-year-old resident of Crossings Republik.

Rakesh Singh from Khoda concurs. It isnt just an inconvenience  its also a major recurring expense. And if the air does this to an AC, you can only imagine what its doing to our bodies.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies industrial units into four categories based on the severity of their emissions  red, orange, green and white. Industries categorised red are, at least on paper, subject to the highest thresholds of pollution control measures and monitoring. According to a June 2023 report by UPPCB, 426 units in Ghaziabad were in the red zone. And even as authorities insisted that each of these units were subject to stringent checks, data from 2023 also showed that the city was able to only exact 27% of the fines imposed on its polluting units.

Polluting industries are another part of the puzzle.

Taken together  the landfill, the peri-urban areas choking with infrastructure dust, the urban heartland struggling to manage traffic and construction work, and the industrial areas spewing smoke into the air  Ghaziabad presents a microcosm of the hydra-headed problem that pollution poses in urban India. And it also shows how feeble the official response is in addressing this.

We have to fend off pollution at every step of our lives. But the administrative and civic apathy whenever we raise a concern is even worse. Its better to take matters into our own hands and sort it out on a local level, says Vikas Misra.

The expert view is that Ghaziabads troubles germinated with poor planning. Allowing industrial units to proliferate in and around residential areas massively increases peoples exposure to pollution, whether of the air or water, says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, (research and advocacy) at the Centre for Science and Environment.

Such industrialisation also promotes development that will only suit these industries. Ghaziabad has, for instance, grown while facilitating the movement of private vehicles  wider roads, more flyovers, more underpasses  but not of pedestrians, or even public transport, she adds.

Whats left unsaid is that many of these polluting activities are key sources of income for large chunks of the population, creating barriers in generating public pressure for action. A 2023 paper by Shikhar Singh and Tariq Thatchill also pointed to two other reasons behind air pollution not becoming an election issue  sensitivity to personal costs from any climate mitigation steps, and hyper partisanship that allows voters to selectively blame politicians for health crises. A complex interplay of these factors is how these issues evade one election after another.

Back at Ghazipur, Surender Sharma is only too aware of this, as he takes off his thick glasses to squeeze eye drops out of a green bottle. Khan, standing by his side, is irate. This was once a park. We used to play here. It was the only patch of green in this place, so they thought it best to turn it into another dumping ground, he says.

But Sharma is calm. We will all live and die in this squalor. And elections wont change that.

This is the second in a series of election reports from the field that look at national and local issues through an electoral lens.
At least five people were killed and 10 were injured after an explosion in a chemical factory in Telanganas Sangareddy district on Wednesday evening, police said. The explosion took place in SB Organics Private Ltd, a pharmaceutical company at Chandapur village of Hatunura mandal, about 60 km away from Hyderabad (Getty Images)

The explosion took place in SB Organics Private Ltd, a pharmaceutical company at Chandapur village of Hatunura mandal, about 60 km away from Hyderabad, at around 5.30 pm.

There were around 60 workers on the shift in the factory and around 15 workers were operating at the reactor. When the explosion took place, it resulted in flames engulfing the entire unit, a police officer from Patancheru police station, close to the factory, said, adding that the entire building of the factory unit collapsed due to the impact of explosion.

Soon after receiving the information, the Patancheru Police led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ravinder Reddy rushed to the spot along with two fire tenders to take up rescue operations. The firemen managed to bring the flames under control within an hour, the police said.

The police recovered five bodies, including that of the production manager, identified as Ravi and shift in-charge Perni Subrahmanyam. The bodies of others, which are badly mutilated, are yet to be identified. The workers are believed to be from Bihar, the officer said.

Some of the injured workers were rushed to Sangareddy government hospital and some others were shifted to Hyderabad for better treatment. The exact cause of the mishap is yet to be identified, the police said.

Sangareddy superintendent of police (SP) Ch Rupesh, state minister Konda Surekha, Narasapur MLA Sunitha Laxma Reddy and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Medak Lok Sabha seat M Raghunandan Rao also visited the factory and enquired about the incident.

Meanwhile, Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy reviewed the situation with the officials on the reactor explosion at SB Organics Pvt Ltd. He ordered the officials of the fire department to speed up the rescue operations and bring the fire under control.
Residents in the area of Seventh Avenue and Lawton Street in San Francisco use an empty lot owned by the San Francisco Unified School District to exercise their dogs. Now it may be developed into affordable housing for S.F. teachers. Lance Iversen/The Chronicle

A former dog park and part-time pumpkin patch could be the next site developed for affordable teacher housing in San Francisco, along with a second lot currently used for nonessential office space, officials announced Thursday.

District leaders said the two sites will be presented to the school board on April 16, which is expected to declare them as surplus property. That would be the first step in a lengthy process to develop the land, including at least a few years to go through legal hoops and secure funding and then at least two years of construction.

The first site, at Seventh Avenue and Lawton Street in the Inner Sunset, was acquired by the district in a land swap with the city about 25 years ago and has since sat weedy and vacant, bringing in around $40,000 per year in rent from an annual pumpkin patch and Christmas tree lot. For many years, it sat as a de facto dog park the rest of the year.

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The second site, at 95 Gough St. near the Civic Center, holds a few administrative offices in a portable building.

We strongly believe that when educators are able to live in the community in which they work, it promotes staffing stability, community involvement and stronger ties between schools and families, said Superintendent Matt Wayne. After careful consideration of how to best serve our communities with these properties, we are excited about the potential to develop even more affordable homes for educators.

The district is nearly finished with the construction of its first educator housing project, the $105 million Shirley Chisholm Village, a 135-unit apartment complex on 43rd Avenue in the Sunset District, formerly a school site. Applications for the site opened this week, with income-qualified residents expected to move in this fall.

District officials designated that property for employee housing in 2017 and construction began in 2022 after the city and district teamed up to bundle various sources of funding from bonds, loans, federal tax credits and affordable housing programs, among other sources.

While the idea of building affordable housing for teachers and other public school staff isnt new, it has gained momentum across California in recent years as districts compete for educators amid rising rents and skyrocketing cost of living, with a pandemic-fueled teacher shortage tossed in for good measure.

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Districts up and down the state have built or are building affordable housing for educators who meet income requirements. In San Francisco, that pencils out to about $121,000 for a household of one and $172,900 for a household of four to qualify for a spot at Chisholm Village.

If we want to keep families in San Francisco, we need more housing and we need good public schools. Good schools require teachers, and teachers need a place to live, said Supervisor Joel Engardio, who represents the Sunset neighborhoods, in a statement. Thats why the affordable housing were building in the Sunset for SFUSD employees is essential for our city to thrive. Lets do more. This should only be the beginning.

Last year Mayor London Breed allocated $32 million for two educator housing projects on property not owned by the school district. That includes a 63-unit development at 2205 Mission St., and a 75-unit project at 750 Golden Gate Ave., both for teachers, teachers aides and preschool educators in the school district and community college district.

The empty lot owned by the San Francisco Unified School District sits idle most of the year until fall, when its used as a pumpkin patch and Christmas tree lot. Now it may be developed into affordable housing for S.F. teachers. Chris Stewart/The Chronicle 1999

Identifying the next two possible district-owned sites for educator housing is arguably the easy part of the process for San Francisco Unified officials.

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The district is hoping to get a state waiver to skip the competitive bidding process for developing the sites and head straight to requests for proposals from developers. At this point theres no way to know how much neighborhood resistance there might be to such developments, but building on the Seventh and Lawton site will likely draw pushback.

Its also unclear at this point where the money would come from to build the apartments, with many funding options identified for the Chisholm site likely unavailable. Its possible developers might bring a hybrid proposal with affordable and market rate housing mixed together.

And there could be questions about the locations of the selected sites, which leave out the southeast side of the city, where many of the most disadvantaged students live and where the schools struggle to attract and retain experienced teachers.

District officials said there is likely more to come down the road.

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Gourav Vallabh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, hours after resigning from the Congress, saying he can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans, nor abuse "wealth creators" day in and day out. Former Bihar Congress president Anil Sharma also joined the BJP in the presence of its national general secretary Vinod Tawde. Former Congress leader Gourav Vallabh joins BJP in the presence of BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde.

Gourav Vallabh, a Congress spokesperson often seen on news channels, shared his resignation letter written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on social media platform X (former Twitter).

He said he was not feeling comfortable with the directionless way the party was moving.

Gourav Vallabh said, I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse wealth creators day in and day out. Therefore, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party.

At the joining ceremony in the BJP, Gourav Vallabh slammed the Congress over its economic policies. He said the former party ridicules the policies of reforms, liberalisation and globalisation pursued by former prime minister Manmohan Singh because of its dislike for Modi whom its leaders abuse all day.

"Wealth creating cannot be a crime in the country," he added.

Gourav Vallabh also said he always pursued issues-based politics and was attracted to Modi's agenda of Viksit Bharat.

He added that he always wanted the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and could not accept the Congress's decision to not go to the consecration ceremony.

"The Congress leaders and allies raised questions on Sanatan Dharma but the party gave no response," he said.

In the two-page letter, the former Congress spokesperson also alleged that Congress's stand on economic matters had "always been to humiliate and abuse the wealth creators of the country."

"Today, we have turned against those economic liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) policies, for which the world has given us credit for implementing in the country. Is it wrong to earn money by doing business in our country?" he wrote.

"When I joined the party, my only aim was to use my ability and capability in economic matters in the interest of the country. We may not be in power, but we could have presented the party's economic policy-making in the national interest in a better way in our manifesto and elsewhere. But, this effort was not made at the party level," he said.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been critical of industry bigwigs such as Gautam Adani and has alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given them undue favours.

Gourav Vallabh had contested the Rajasthan assembly election from the Udaipur constituency in 2023. However, he lost to the BJP candidate with a margin of around 32,000 votes.
The Congress suffered yet another loss ahead of the Lok Sabha election on Thursday as its spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigned from the grand old party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to Vallabh, he quit the Congress party as he did not feel comfortable with the directionless way in which they had been moving. Gourav Vallabh resigns: List of top Congress leaders who joined BJP since 2019

I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country in the morning and eveningI am emotional. I want to say, write, tell a lot. But, my values forbid me from saying anything that might hurt others. Still, I am putting my views before you today, because I feel that hiding the truth is also a crime, and I do not want to be a part of the crime, Vallabh wrote in his resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The now-former Congress leader said that he joined the BJP as he supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda of Viksit Bharat.

Vallabh's switch over to the BJP comes a day after ace boxer-turned-Congress leader joined the saffron party. Meanwhile, former Bihar Congress president Anil Sharma also joined the saffron party earlier in the day.

Let's take a look at some of the top Congress leaders who have quit the grand old party to join the BJP since 2019:

Jagdish Shettar

Jagdish Shettar, the former chief minister of Karnataka, quit the Congress party in January 2024 - a year after joining the grand old party and rejoined the BJP. He had quit the ruling party in 2023 after he was denied a ticket for the assembly election.

Anil Antony

Anil Antony, the son of Congress veteran AK Antony, joined the BJP on April 6, 2023. He held the position of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) digital media convenor and the national coordinator of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), however, he quit the party following the row over his opposition to the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hardik Patel

Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who had joined the Congress party in 2020, quit in May 2022 and joined the BJP. The same year, the BJP fielded him as a candidate for the Viramgam seat in the Gujarat assembly election, which he won.

RPN Singh

Former union minister RPN Singh quit Congress and joined the BJP in January 2022. Singh, who is a key backward caste leader, said that the party that he worked for with dedication and honesty for 32 years was not the same anymore. He also said that his decision to switch sides was prompted by PM Modi's work for the country.

Sunil Jakhar

Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar quit the Congress party and joined BJP in May 2022. Jakhar, whose resignation came as a big shock for the grand old party, said it was not easy for him to leave his now-former party of 50 years, but had to due to issues such as nationalism, brotherhood and unity in Punjab.

Amarinder Singh

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh joined the BJP in 2022 and merged his then-newly launched Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) with the saffron party. He had formed the PLC party in 2021 following his split with the Congress party.

Jaiveer Shergill

Former Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill quit the grand old party and joined BJP in December 2022. Upon joining the ruling party, Shergill had said that he was moving forward from Congress' "negative politics" to the "politics of positive development".

Jitin Prasada

Former union minister Jitin Prasada switched sides from Congress to BJP in June 2021 - a year before the Uttar Pradesh assembly election. Prasada had said that his decision to leave the Congress came after a lot of deliberation, adding that his connection with the party spanned three generations.

Jyotiraditya Scindia

Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress and joined the BJP in March 2020, ending his 18-year-old association with the grand old party. Scindias exit from the Congress was followed by resignation letters from around 22 MLAs who were sequestered in Karnataka.

Alpesh Thakor

Former Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor quit Congress and joined the BJP in July 2019, just days after the Lok Sabha election. Shortly after joining the saffron party, he was fielded for the bypoll from the Radhapur constituency in Gujarat, but he lost the seat.
The government is rapidly implementing a comprehensive strategy to make the landlocked northeastern region an export hub for markets in Bangladesh and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations even as it negotiates a better free trade deal with the 10-nation Asean block, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. HT Image

The fourth round of talks on renegotiating the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) is scheduled for May 7-9 in Kuala Lumpur and an improved deal is expected to be concluded by 2025, they said, adding the revised agreement will give a major boost to the economy of the northeastern states.

India is renegotiating several adverse provisions of the 2009 trade deal with Asean that opened the floodgates for low-quality, cheap Chinese goods, which were routed through the regional bloc, three officials said requesting anonymity.

India will gain significantly once this historical error is corrected. The northeastern region, which currently has a negligible share in Indias total exports to Asean, could be its biggest beneficiary, one official said. Out of Indias merchandise exports to Asean worth $44 billion in 2022-23, the northeasts share was less than $10 million, he said.

The AITIGA was signed in August 2009 in Bangkok and came into force from January 2010. The hastily signed FTA adversely impacted India, particularly because of its weak provisions for rules of origin, which led to massive dumping of Chinese goods via some Asean countries. It led to a massive trade deficit, a second official said.

During 2022-23, Indias trade deficit with Asean was $43.6 billion, almost equal to its total exports during that period, while its imports were worth $87.58 billion, a 29% year-on-year jump. The 10 Asean members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The northeast is advantageously positioned to harness benefits of deals like AITIGA. Besides, it has the potential to become Indias manufacturing and exports hub for the entire region, including Bangladesh and Myanmar. The government is focused on developing the northeast and a major impetus in this direction will be seen after the polls, a third official said. Results for the general elections are set to be announced on June 4.

The comprehensive strategy to develop the northeast, which is in the works, envisages identification of market requirements and policy support to produce goods and services for neighbouring markets, the people said. The focus is on creating infrastructure such as special economic zones, warehouses, customs facilities and highways to connect Bangladesh and Asean countries, the third official said.

Highways and waterways linking major global markets with the landlocked northeast are a must to restore the old glory of these states. Before Partition in 1947, the northeast was well connected with the neighbouring region. Partition disrupted connectivity and left the region relatively inaccessible to most parts of the world, he said.

The distance between Agartala and Kolkata, which was 350km through erstwhile East Bengal, increased to 1,645 km.

There has been buy-in from a key global player - Japan  in efforts to improve connectivity and infrastructure in the northeast. The Japanese envoy and Indias foreign secretary chair a unique body called the Act East Forum to drive these initiatives and Japan has invested more than 1,600 crore in the northeastern states, barring Arunachal Pradesh.

A majority of Japanese investments has gone into improving road and bridges and Tokyo has supplemented these efforts with similar initiatives in Bangladesh. Japan also wants to create a new industrial value chain that links the northeast with Matarbari sea port in Coxs Bazar district of Bangladesh. Matabari port, for which the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) extended loans worth $1.2 billion, is expected to become operational in 2027.

India shares borders with Bangladesh (1,880km), Myanmar (1,643km), Bhutan (516km) and Nepal (99km), which can be constructively used for mutual benefits, they said. Industrialisation of the northeast will help it become a gateway for trade with Asia-Pacific countries, the third official said.

The northeast comprises 8% of Indias geographical area and includes the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, with about 3.8% of the total population, according to the 2011 census. According to the Economic Survey 2022-23, these states generated only 2.2% of Indias GDP in 2020-21, with the lions share coming from Assam.
New Delhi, The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed happiness over the Delhi health minister and health secretary deciding to implement the central government statute- The Clinical Establishments Act, 2010- to regulate clinical establishments in the national capital. HT Image

The Delhi government informed the high court that the health minister and the department's secretary have agreed to forward the Delhi Health Establishments Bill to the Government of India for necessary approval.

In the meantime, the central governments statute will be implemented in Delhi, it said.

This court is happy to note that after the last hearing the Delhi health minister and the secretary have agreed that the already prepared Delhi Health Establishments Bill will be forwarded to the government of India for necessary approval.

They have further agreed that during the interregnum the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 shall be adopted in the NCT of Delhi in compliance to a 2023 letter of government of India and a 2022 order passed by the high court, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmohan PS Arora said.

Taking note of the decision taken by the authorities, the high court disposed of a 2018 petition by Bejon Kumar Misra, represented by advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, who alleged that unauthorised laboratories and diagnostic centres were functioning in the national capital with unqualified technicians and giving incorrect reports to patients.

Accordingly taking note of this decision of the minister and the secretary, the petition is closed, the bench said and made it clear that the law will be implemented within two weeks.

The high court had on March 21 warned Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Health Secretary SB Deepak Kumar, who were present during the proceedings, of sending them to jail for their failure to comply with judicial orders on enactment of a law to regulate clinical establishments.

The bench had said the minister and the secretary were servants of government and cant have large egos.

The petitioner had argued before the court that pathological labs in the city were unregulated and posed a threat to the lives of citizens.

The plea said, "Such illegal labs continue to mushroom in and around Delhi-NCT and it can be easily estimated that the total number of such illegal pathological and diagnostic labs can be anywhere between 20,000 and 25,000, and every street in the capital has such illegal pathological labs."

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday expressed concern at the Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria, saying the escalating tensions in West Asia have the potential to fuel further violence and instability. Smoke rises after what the Iranian media said was an Israeli strike on a buidling close to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1 (REUTERS)

An Israeli airstrike on Monday targeted a building within the Iranian embassy complex in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing seven people. Among the dead were Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who oversaw operations in Syria and Lebanon, and two other generals.

We have noted with concern the attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria on April 1, 2024, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.

India is distressed at the escalating tensions in West Asia, and their potential to fuel further violence and instability. We urge all parties to avoid actions that go against commonly accepted principles and norms of international law, he said.

The Indian government, which describes West Asia as part of the countrys extended neighbourhood, has called for the cessation of hostilities in Gaza and for a return to diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a two-state solution.

While the Indian leadership had initially expressed solidarity with Israel following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas, it adopted a more nuanced approach after several Arab states conveyed their concerns about New Delhis approach.

Key partners in West Asia such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continue to be major energy suppliers for India, and the region is also home to nearly nine million Indian expatriates. The Indian side has watched the escalating tensions in West Asia with concern and has called for an end to fighting and immediate steps to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, who walked out of the Tihar jail after six months, on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over widespread tyranny in the country and claimed that "the time has come to give a reply to the BJP. Sanjay Singh, who was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise policy case on Tuesday, accused the BJP of inducting all corrupt leaders from different parts of the country. Sanjay Singh with other AAP leaders at the party office in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

The AAP MP asserted that Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy, would not resign as the Delhi chief minister and continue to serve the people of the city.

Dressed in a white kurta-pajama with a brown jacket, Sanjay Singh was garlanded by AAP workers as he walked out of jail. The Rajya Sabha member climbed atop his vehicle to greet his supporters.

What AAP's Sanjay Singh said: Top quotes
A case of kidnapping has been registered against former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA M Munirathna and his associates for allegedly coercing a Congress worker to joining the party, Nandini Layout police inspector J Lakshman said on Thursday. Kidnapping case filed against BJP MLA for forcing Cong worker to join party: police

The police quoted the complaint, which was filed by Samuel, Congress party worker and a painter hailing from Lakshmidevi Nagar on Wednesday, as stating that he was allegedly lured to MLA Munirathnas associates, identified as Suresh, Vasanth, Wasim, and Seena, to Rajkumars tomb under false pretences and subsequently escorted to the MLAs office in Vayalikaval. He further stated that he was detained for two days and subjected to intimidation tactics in a bid to compel him to defect to the BJP.

ALSO READ- Navneet Ranas meteoric rise from silver screen to politics in a decade

Lakshman said, Following the complaint by Samuel, we have registered a case against Munirathna and four others under IPC Section 363 (kidnap), 504 (intentional insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation). The investigation is ongoing, and we are collecting CCTV footage to ascertain the facts.

However, MLA Munirathna has denied the accusations and said that the allegations of coercion and intimidation are baseless. He said, Samuel himself came to me and told me that Narendra Modi should become the Prime Minister again, and CN Manjunath should become an MP. Our party would welcome anyone who wishes to join the party.

ALSO READ- Maoist-hit Bastar navigates rising hostility ahead of polls

The BJP MLA criticised the police for registering an FIR without conducting any investigation, aiming to hinder my campaigning for the BJP in the Bengaluru Rural Constituency elections. This intimidation tactic is reminiscent of what happened in Kanakapura before.
Lok Sabha Election 2024 news highlights: On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned in West Bengal, with a rally in Cooch Behar in north Bengal. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also campaigned in Cooch Behar, holding two rallies in the district. This is the first time in this election season that the two leaders will be addressing voters of a constituency on the same day....Read More

West Bengal has 42 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the highest after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48). In the previous 2019 polls, the BJP registered its best-ever performance in the state, winning 18 seats, including seven of the eight seats in north Bengal. The states ruling Trinamool Congress won 22 seats, and the Congress, two.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday filed his nomination papers from Keralas Wayanad constituency, from where he is the sitting MP. On April 5, the grand old party will unveil its manifesto for the general elections.

Lok Sabha Election 2024: Phase-wise schedule:

 Phase 1- April 19

 Phase 2- April 26

 Phase 3- May 7

 Phase 4 - May 13

 Phase 5 - May 20

 Phase 6 - May 25

 Phase 7 - June 1

The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry on Thursday steered clear of the political row over Katchatheevu island, with the spokesperson saying external affairs minister S Jaishankar has clarified all issues related to the matter during recent media interactions. Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal faced a flurry of questions on Katchtheevu island. (Screengrab)

Under two agreements signed by India and Sri Lanka in 1974 and 1976, the island located about 20 km from the Indian coastline fell on the Sri Lankan side of the maritime boundary. The opposition Congress party was in power at the time, and the government was led by late prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Since the head of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, K Annamalai, obtained documents through a Right To Information (RTI) query that appeared to indicate past Congress governments had not attached much importance to the island, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jaishankar have targeted the Congress and the DMK for their handling of the issue.

During the external affairs ministrys weekly media briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal faced a flurry of questions on Katchtheevu island.

I would like to tell you that on the issues that have been raised, the external affairs minister has spoken to the press here in Delhi and also in Gujarat, clarifying all the issues. I would [ask] that you please look at his press engagements  you will get your answers there, Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal faced questions on what the current BJP-led government had done regarding the issue over the past 10 years and whether the matter has been raised with Sri Lanka. He was also asked about Indias response to comments by Sri Lankan leaders asserting that countrys position on Katchatheevu island.

He responded by saying all questions had been answered by the minister in his press engagements in Delhi and Gujarat.

The external affairs ministry, in its response to numerous questions in Parliament, submissions in the Supreme Court, and responses to RTI queries in recent years had said Katchatheevu island lies on the Sri Lankan side of the maritime boundary delineated in 1974 and that the pact did not involve either acquiring or ceding any territory belonging to India.

The Indian governments position has galvanised calls within political quarters in Sri Lanka for a response by the government in Colombo, and a leading Sri Lankan think tank on Wednesday called for the setting up of a marine research station on Katchatheevu island.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Wednesday made a veiled reference to the Katchatheevu Island issue and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to spread rumours using the Right To Information Act. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin (ANI Photo)(Lakshmi)

The DMK chief, addressing a rally in Tiruvannamalai, accused Modi of engaging in "jugglery by spreading rumours" in the name of the Right to Information (RTI) as he understood that people would not believe his words.

By referring to RTI, the Tamil Nadu chief minister denoted disclosures on Katchatheevu Island from the external affairs ministry obtained by BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai. Using the information, the BJP squarely blamed the Congress and DMK for giving away the island to Sri Lanka.

Modi speaking about the Katchatheevu issue in Uttar Pradesh shows that he is confused, MK Stalin said.

He also slammed Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for speaking the language of a lender when she sought the accounts of the  5000 crore released by the Centre for the state government.

Stalin said Sitharaman could not label the payout to the state as something from the Union government as it was the Tamil Nadu government's borrowing that was merely routed through the Centre.

Stalin lodged an attack on the Bharatiya Janta Party, saying that to ensure pluralism and social justice in India, the current government should be dislodged. Every citizen is prepared to do it and PM Modi has realised this, and he is hence attempting to garner votes by spreading rumours and lies every day, he said.

Out of fear, Modi's "ally, the Income tax department" has undertaken to not initiate any coercive action over tax demands against the Congress party, Stalin said. Similarly, the ED has not opposed bail for AAP's Sanjay Singh, he added.

"As if the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI are not enough, he (Modi) has now roped in the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the alliance to confuse people," the Tamil Nadu CM alleged.

(With inputs from PTI)
by Arun Kumar Goswami





Which actors and their interests were affected due to existing power relation in Bangladesh and India? How power relation in the respective neighbouring countries help evolving Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India and India-centric politics in some other countries of South Asia? These questions are important and need to be addressed to gain a clear understanding about the current India-centric uproars in Bangladesh. While some elements of Bangladeshi society are engaged in anti-India campaigns, on the contrary, there is a strong public opinion against these campaigns. On the whole, the India centric interactions consist of anti-Indian and pro-Indian power relation in the society, politics and economy.





Dhaka, Bangladesh [Photo: Ahmed Hasan/ Unsplash]





Power relation affects how we understand our surroundings and the world around us. At the same time power relation affects political participation by making some actors appear credible while others are framed as being less so. Thus, some actors and their viewpoints may be left without any legitimacy due to power relations. A power relation is formed the moment someone desires something that depends on the will of another. This desire establishes a relationship of dependence of individuals or groups on others. According to French Philosopher Michel Foucault (2002), power relations are a set of actions upon other actions.





Traditionally, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is known as anti-Indian force. Prominent political scientists see the partys traditional anti-Indian stance as one of its foundational positions. However, for quite a while it has been trying to change its power relation with India. Observers view, a powerful faction of the BNP wanted to end the partys historic hostility to India and build sustainable ties with the neighbouring country based on more than a short term election-centric relationship. Failing to change Indian stance about BNP-Jamaat alliances positions, they again (informally) started anti-Indian campaigns.





Dependence of BNPs interests on the funding and instructions from ISI of Pakistan, made the party anti-Indian. Currently in social, political and economic aspects Pakistans position is gradually deteriorating. Bangladeshs status has remarkably improved under the Premiership of Sheikh Hasina. At the same time, Indias power, position and status in the world has significantly increased. This change has brought a corresponding change in BNPs attitude towards Pakistan and India. Accordingly, on June 3-10, 2018 a three-man BNP delegation, led by Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, member of BNP National Standing Committee; Abdul Awal Mintoo, the partys vice chairman; and Humayan Kabir, its international affairs secretary visited New Delhi. Media reports said, the BNP leaders have taken the initiative for engagement on the advice of the partys acting chairman Tarique Rahman. Rahman was even quoted as saying, The hostile policy attitude (towards India) was wrong and misguided, implying they were looking for a change.





On 16 March 2023 night a five-member BNP delegation attended a dinner hosted by Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma. The BNP delegation, led by party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. The other members of the BNP delegation are its standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury; Vice-Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo and Organising Secretary Shama Obaed.





On 31 August 2023, while going to Singapore for medical treatment, three top BNP leaders, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Mirza Abbas and Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain met three Indian diplomats. According to eyewitness accounts, they first had a half-hour meeting in the cafeteria of a shopping mall adjacent to Mount Elizabeth Hospital. Later they met in the lobby of Marina Bay Hotel. The third meeting took place in the suite room of a five-star hotel. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was present in all the three meetings.





Why such a meeting was held in Singapore instead of going to India had raised the question in diplomatic circles. Various sources said that India did not want to have a formal meeting with BNP for various reasons. And that was why the meeting place was selected in Singapore.





However, at that time, BNPs demand for elections under a non-partisan caretaker government was repeatedly cited as a condition for its participation in the elections. Although this position had not received international support. India, on the other hand, described the Bangladesh elections as their internal affairs and emphasized that the democratic stability of Bangladesh should be integrated. Indian envoys repeatedly mentioned its believes that elections in Bangladesh should be conducted in the same way as elections are conducted in other democratic countries. That is according to the constitution. So it became quite clear that India was rejecting the caretaker governments demand of BNP. After that, all the programs announced by BNP to resist the 12th JS elections ended in failure. Thus BNP became angry in the context of holding the election properly. The party continued to announce various destructive programs but that all failed again. Thus the recent uproars of India-centric politics are the consequences of power relation based on the set of actions upon other actions by the respective actors in Bangladesh and India.





In recent times, the warmth of India-centric politics is also being noticed in the small island nation of South Asia, Maldives. Surprisingly, the uproars of India-centric politics have been the manifestation of electoral competition between two or more political parties and/or personalities to change power-relations. Accordingly, this India-centric politics has started around the elections in the respective country.





The presidential election held in the Maldives in September last year was contested between pro-Indian candidate of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Ibrahim Mohammed Solih and anti-Indian President candidate of the Progressive Party of Maldives(PPM) and seating Mayor of capital city Male, Muizzu..





During election campaigns of Maldives the PPM candidate used #India Out. However, after being elected as president, Muizzu faced harsh reality of #Boycott Maldives campaign from Indian tourists. Realizing the ground-level reality the Muizzu government has announced a number of measures to curb Indian discontent and anti-India activities in the Maldives.





On the other hand, it is known from the social media that after being failed to get Indian support, the Bangladedh Nationalist Party (BNP) had attempted to resist 12th Jatiyo Sangsad(JS) election in Bangladesh. Why India did not extend support to BNP-Jamaat alliance of Bangladesh? The main reason for the lack of Indian support for the BNP-Jamaat alliance lies in the internal ideological conflicts of Bangladesh.Whereas the current government of Sheikh Hasina is trying to establish the ideologies of non-communal Bangladesh achieved through the liberation war under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sheikh Hasinas government has to do this ideological struggle against two ideological enemies, Jamaat and BNP. The first one is the defeated forces of the 1971 Liberation War and the another is the mastermind and beneficiary of the assassination of Bangabandhu and jail killings in 1975. In addition, BNP has been constantly playing an anti-Indian role, since its establishment in 1 September 1978.





It may be mentioned that when military ruler Gen. Ziaur Rahman established the BNP, one of its goals was to form an anti-Awami League platform. So, it brought beneath its crease all the religious and political elements against Awami League. The Awami League led the Liberation War of Bangladesh. In that war, India wholeheartedly supported the freedom loving Bengalis with money, military training, compassionate, and political help. The largest democratic nation India, battling with a not-so-good economy at that time, had given not only shelter to 10 million Bengali men, women, and children but also intervened militarily to battle beside the Muktijoddahs. Finally, within nine-month war 93 thousand Pakistani soldiers surrendered and the crimson sun of victory rises in the sky of Bengal on 16 December 1971.





With the victory of Indo-Bangla Allied Forces the friends of Pakistani defeated forces in independent Bangladesh were cornered. In independent Bangladesh, the anti-Indian politics started getting momentum after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the overthrow of his government on August 15, 1975. Ultimately, the anti-Indian force has come ahead again and call for #Boycott Indian Products. While the economic outcome of the Boycott India campaign is yet unknown, the political and symbolic impact is palpable. However, for obvious reasons, majority people of Bangladesh did not support this anti-India campaigns.





The CAA in India is also the consequences of power relation based on communal campaigns conducted by anti-Indian elements in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Due to weak and marginal position in their societies, the religious and ethnic minorities of some South Asian countries have been the helpless victims of communalism. Bangladeshs Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wanted to bring an end of such cummunalism, thats why he has been assassinated. The communal forces of different parts of South Asia are the main strengths of anti-Indian campaigns. As the largest democratic nation, India is the vital support-base for building a democratic and non-communal society in the sub-continent. Its a matter of sorrow to observe that the communal forces have come-up again with their anti-Indian campaigns. However , on the whole, the recent India centric uproars in Bangladesh are the consequences of power relation of BNP and its like-minded groups with India. After the brief analysis on the issue with the approach of power relation, it will be proper to mention Goutam Buddhas quotation Everything is changeable nothing is permanent, everything appears and disappears. As Bangladeshs friendship-relations with India grows, the equation of present power relation will also change. Until then we have to wait and see.





Dr. Arun Kumar Goswami, former Chairman of Political Science and Director of the South Asian Study Circle at Jagannath University, Dhaka
The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) dropped some references to the Babri Masjid, the politics of Hindutva, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and minorities, in its political science textbook for Class 12 that will come into effect from this academic session, adding to a growing list of textbook changes and updates on sensitive topics in recent years. The changes were made public by the body on its website on Thursday. (HT ARCHIVE)

The changes were made public by the body on its website on Thursday. The NCERT textbooks are taught in schools under the Central Board of Secondary Education, to which roughly 30,000 schools in India are affiliated.

To be sure, references to the same subjects might occur at other places in the textbook.

NCERT officials did not respond to requests seeking comment.

In chapter 8, Recent Developments in Indian Politics, references to the Ayodhya demolition was dropped.

What is the legacy of the Ram Janambhoomi movement and the Ayodhya demolition for the nature of political mobilisation? was changed to What is the legacy of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement?

To bring the initial questions in synchronisation with internal latest changes made in the chapter, was the rationale offered by the body.

In the same chapter, reference to the Babri Masjid and the politics of Hindutva were dropped.

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The earlier paragraph was  Fourth, a number of events culminated in the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya (known as Babri Masjid) in December 1992. This event symbolised and triggered various changes in the politics of the country and intensified debates about the nature of Indian nationalism and secularism. These developments are associated with the rise of the BJP and the politics of Hindutva.

This was changed to  Fourth, the centuries old legal and political dispute over the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya started influencing the politics of India which gave birth to various political changes. The Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Movement, becoming the central issue, transformed the direction of the discourse on secularism and democracy. These changes culminated in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya following the decision of the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (which was announced on November 9, 2019).

NCERT said in the document that the content was updated as per latest development in politics.

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In chapter 5, Democratic Rights, a reference to the Gujarat riots, was dropped in the caption to a news collage.

The earlier version was  Do you notice references to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the news collage on this Page ? These references reflect the growing awareness of human rights and struggles for human dignity. Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields, for instance, Gujarat riots, are being brought to the public notice from across India.

This was changed to Many cases of human rights violations in diverse fields are being brought to the public notice from across India.

The news collage and content refer to an incident that is 20 years old and has been resolved through the judicial process, the rationale given by NCERT said.

Some places where the Muslim community was mentioned earlier have also been altered.

In chapter 5, Understanding Marginalisation, a reference to Muslims being deprived of the benefits of development has been dropped.

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The earlier version was  According to 2011 census, Muslims are 14.2% of Indias population and are considered to be a marginalised community in India today because in comparison to other communities, they have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio-economic development.

The updated version  According to 2011 census, Muslims are 14.2% of Indias population and are considered to be a marginalised community because of their having comparatively lower status of socio-economic development.

No rationale was given.

In the same chapter, the older book said, Often this becomes an excuse to treat them unfairly and discriminate against them. This social marginalization of Muslims in some instances has led to them migrating from places where they have lived, often leading to the ghettoisation of the community. Sometimes, this prejudice leads to hatred and violence.

In the new book, the word unfairly was changed to differently and the last line changed to, sometimes, this prejudice has also led to hatred and violence.

In a chapter titled Gender, Religion and Caste, a line that said, Human rights groups in our country have agreed that most of the victims of the communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities. They have demanded that the government take special steps to protect religious minorities was changed to, Human rights groups in our country have demanded that the government should take special steps to prevent communal riots and protect religious minorities.

In another chapter titled Secularism, the new book changed the phrasing of a sentence describing the 2002 riot victims.

More than 1,000 persons, mostly Muslims, were massacred during the post Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002, was changed to more than 1,000 persons were killed during the post Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.

In any riots people across communities suffer. It cannot be just one community, was the reason for the change given by NCERT.

Some updates have made more explicit references to China. In a chapter titled Contemporary Centres of Power, the line ...military conflict over a border dispute between the two countries marred that hope was changed to ...Chinese aggression on the Indian border has marred that hope.

The history and sociology textbooks were also updated, with several changes to the history of the Harappan civilisation, tribals and peoples movements.

In Class 12 sociology textbook, some images of communal riots were removed. These photos are not relevant in the present time, the body said in its rationale.

Another change related to the movement around the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The coming of private property in land has also adversely affected tribals, whose community-based forms of collective ownership were placed at a disadvantage in the new system. The most recent such example is the series of dams being built on the Narmada, where most of the costs and benefits seem to flow disproportionately to different communities and regions, was changed to: The coming of private property in land has also adversely affected tribals, whose community-based forms of collective ownership were placed at a disadvantage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the NDA's 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign from Jamui while campaigning for Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan, who recently joined the alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi being felicitated by Bihar deputy chief ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha and Lok Janshakti (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan during a public meeting ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Jamui on Thursday.(PTI Photo)

Addressing a public rally in Jamui, Modi said the people of Bihar have resolved to help the NDA win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and 400-plus across the country.

Visibly pleased at the huge turnout, Modi said, It seems the people of Bihar have decided to help the NDA win all 40 seats in the state, and achieve the 400-plus target in the country.

Glad that my little brother Chirag has stepped into the shoes of my friend late Ram Vilas Paswan, Modi told the massive gathering.

The ruling NDA in Bihar put up a show of solidarity on Thursday when leaders of all constituents of the BJP-led coalition turned up at Modi's rally.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and has stayed indoors for some time, was out in the scorching heat to share the stage with the prime minister.

LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan profusely thanked Modi for choosing the seat being fought by his party for the rally in the state.

Also present on the occasion were deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both from the BJP, and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha who heads Rashtriya Lok Morcha.

PM Modi slams Congress in Jamui

PM Modi also hit out at the Congress for having brought disrepute to the country, while lauding Nitish Kumar for maintaining an unblemished record.

Modi refrained from mentioning Pakistan by name, but said under the BJP-led NDA government, India has started hitting back, reviving the ancient glory of the Magadha empire.

The PM also took an indirect jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party, which has struck an alliance with the Congress in Delhi.

All these people who used to accuse each other of corruption have now come together to hurl abuses at Modi, the prime minister said.

Modi claimed that when the Congress was in power, terrorists from small countries struggling for wheat supplies could strike at will.

He also mentioned the land for jobs scam in which RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav is named as an accused. Our ally Nitish babu (Bihar CM) was also the railway minister. What an unblemished record he had, Modi said.

Modi, addressing his first public meeting in Bihar since the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, also charged the RJD-Congress combine of heaping scorn on Ram temple at Ayodhya and opposing the election of a tribal woman (Droupadi Murmu) as the President of the country.

(With inputs from agencies)
Former member of Parliament (MP) Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Thursday filed his nomination for Bihars Purnea Lok Sabha constituency days after he merged his party with the Congress and hoped to be the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)s candidate for the seat. Pappu Yadav merged his party with the Congress last month. (PTI)

The Purnea seat was allocated to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is contesting 26 of Bihars 40 seats and the Congress nine. The Left parties have got the remaining seats.

Yadav said he is symbolic to Purnea and vice versa. Today for the first time, neither there is an organisation, nor religion, nor caste. There is just humanity. I made no mistake. I always stood with everyone in all difficulties. I will work hard to fight corruption and develop Seemanchal and Kosi for the rest of my life, he said after filing his nomination.

I have been tortured and distressed during the last 14 days but I have won the countrys heart. Winning elections does not matter to me...winning the trust of the country does and I have won the trust of Bihar. He insisted the Congress was with him. I have won their trust and I will be with this family forever.

Yadav insisted he remained a dedicated Congress worker. My only aim is to make Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister and to strengthen the Congress in Bihar. When asked whether he is contesting as an independent, he said, Only time will tell.

Yadav said he would continue to work to strengthen Congress and INDIA bloc in Bihar. Though I am not contesting on Congress ticket, we all have the one goal of ousting [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi from power.

Yadav said a leader must shun politics of hatred. He should also have met me, I am not his enemy, he said without naming RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who accompanied his partys Purnea candidate Bima Bharti when she filed her nomination on Wednesday. Pappu Yadav alleged that some leaders wanted him to die a political death. ...but Purnea would give them a befitting reply in the elections.

Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh said the seat-sharing deal has been finalised. If any Congress leader files nomination outside of their nine seats, the party will not support the candidate.

Bihar Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore said Pappu Yadav is not a Congress nominee. The party is united in support of Bima Bharti in Purnea.

Purnea will go to the polls in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 26. Thursday was the last day for nomination for this phase. Janata Dal (United) has renominated two-time MP Santosh Kumar from Purnea.
Professor Gourav Vallabh, a Congress spokesperson who represented it on TV debates on finance and economy-related issues, resigned from the party's primary membership on Thursday. Gourav Vallabh, in his resignation letter, wrote that over the past few years, the Congress party has failed to realise' expectations of New India. (File Photo)

Calling the grand old party directionless, Vallabh, in a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, cited reasons such as caste census behind his decision to exit, adding that he cannot raise anti-Sanatana slogans.'

I feel uncomfortable given how the party has become directionless today. I cannot raise anti-Sanatana slogans and abuse the nation's wealth creators. Therefore, I am resigning from all party posts and its primary membership, his resignation letter said.

He added: "I joined the Congress with an aim to use my knowledge in finance, for the welfare of the country. Yes, we are not in power today, but we could have presented our manifesto, and our policies, in a better way. However, this was done at any level of the party.'

Vallabh, who was fielded by the Congress in last year's Rajasthan assembly elections and the 2019 Jharkhand assembly polls, further stated that a message was going out that the party only works for a particular religion.

We are moving in a wrong direction. On the one hand, we talk about caste census, and on the other, it appears that we are completely opposed to the Hindu society. This is sending a wrong message that we are biased towards a specific community. Also, this is against basic principles of the Congress, the Chartered Accountant, who holds a PhD as well, stated.

Vallabh also wrote that over the past few years, the party has failed to realise' expectations of New India.

We have lost our ground-level connect, and therefore, did not realise what 'New India' expects from us. Because of this, we have failed repeatedly in coming to power or to become an effective opposition. This demotivates workers like me. No positive change is possible if a worker cannot reach his leader directly, he said, also saying that the leadership's decision to skip the Ram Temple ceremony, shocked and upset him.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi targetted West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and said the entire country saw how the Trinamool threw its weight to save the culprits of the Sandeshkhali incident. But BJP's focus is empowering the women. The culprits of Sandeshkhali will spend their lives in jail, PM Modi said adding that only the BJP can stop the injustice meted out to the women of Bengal and hence the BJP must be strengthened in West Bengal. What happened to the women of Sandeshkhali was a result of TMC's misrule. BJP has vowed that it will ensure the punishment of the Sandeshkhali culprits, Narendra Modi said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a public rally in Coochbehar, West Bengal on Thursday

PM Modi in Coochbehar thanks Mamata Banerjee, Bengal govt, explains why

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee -- both were in Coochbehar on Thursday for their election campaigns. While Mamata vowed against CAA, Narendra Modi in his public rally thanked Mamata Banerjee and the West Bengal government. As his statement created a ripple among the people who were present at his rally, PM Modi explained: "In 2019 when I came here, I addressed a rally from this same ground. But then Mamata Didi made a platform on the ground leaving a narrow space for me. I said at that time that Didi would see the result of it. And you have shown her the result. This time, there is no such roadblock and so I want to thank Mamata Banerjee and the government," Modi said.

The BJP made maximum electoral gains in North Bengal since the last Lok Sabha election in 2019. North Bengals Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri seats are going to the polls on April 19 in the first of the seven phases Bengal will witness.

Calcutta HC on Sandeshkhali

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attack over Sandeshkhali came on a day the Calcutta high court made some stinging comments about the incident and said even if 1% of it is true, it is absolutely shameful. "The entire district administration and ruling dispensation must owe a moral responsibility. Even if (the affidavit) 1% trues it is absolutely shameful. And West Bengal says it is safest for women? If one affidavit is proved to be right all of this falls," the court said.

Early this year, several women started protesting against now-suspended Trinamool leader Seikh Shahjahan alleging land grabbing, sexual assault by him and his associates. Shahjahan remained absconding for nearly two months after which he was arrested by the West Bengal police on February 29. Now he is in ED custody until April 13.
It seems like everyday business with the smell of salty sea water and fish at the boat jetty in Tamil Nadus Rameshwaram but there is a new spirited chatter here on Katchatheevu island  only about 16 nautical miles from this point  which has come into focus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a fortnight before Tamil Nadu goes to polls on April 19, blamed the Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (then led by Indira Gaandhi and M Karunanidhi, respectively) for ceding the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. A political row has erupted surrounding the Katchatheevu island ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. (Divya Chandrababu/HT Photo)

Edison Aruldas, who was born the same year when the island was ceded, accompanies his father on the boat to fish across Katchatheevu since he was six years old. He recalls a time when it was not so hostile with the Sri Lankan navy in the high seas. As a child I remember a navy officer giving bread and jam. We would exchange food when we met mid-sea, said Aruldas, now the head of the Yagappa fishermens organisation. This was even after India had ceded the island, but the situation, he says, turned violent after the anti-Tamil riots which began in 1981 in Sri Lanka. The ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Hindu Tamil minority led to a 30-year-long civil war which ended in 2009 with the island nations army crushing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who fought for separate statehood for Tamils in Lanka.

For Edison and his fishermen peers here, it no longer matters who gave away the uninhabited island (spanning 1.6 km in length and 300 mts in breadth in the Palk Bay between India and Sri Lanka) five decades ago. It has not been an election issue in Tamil Nadu in recent years. On the ground it doesnt have much resonance in the constituency where the local economy is fed by fishing and its allied activities with a coastline of 271 km and Rameshwaram in a Hindu pilgrimage site which was also Modis last stop before he went for the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya in January.

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They want their current issues to be solved from retrieving the rights of Indian fishermen to fish in Katchatheevu to bringing back arrested fishermen and detained boats to reducing the cost of diesel prices. They want to access the island to dry their fishing nets and halt for repair work which is promised under article 5 of the 1974 agreement to determine the boundary line between India and Sri Lanka in the presence of late prime minister Indira Gandhi and her Sri Lankan counterpart Sirimavo Bandaranayake. Subject to the foregoing, Indian fishermen and pilgrims will enjoy access to visit Kachchativu as hitherto, and will not be required by Sri Lanka to obtain travel documents or visas for these purposes, states the Boundary Agreement in Historic Waters between the two countries. However, Katchatheevu was declared a No Go Zone for Indians in 1976 after the two countries reached another agreement. The only time when Indian fishermen are allowed into Katchatheevu is to attend the annual three-day festival at the St Anthonys Church on the island. Around 3,500 Tamil fishermen attended it last March. The fishermen say that the Indian side doesnt have much fish and they are forced to go past Katchatheevu and the Indian Maritime Border Line (IMBL which is 12 nautical miles from this point) for fish which leads to their arrest by the island nation.

The meaning of enjoyment here is that we can safely access the island which we cannot do now. We are being attacked and arrested and our boats caught. We want our rights to fish in Katchatheevu to be restored, says a fisherman S Dominic. On the Bharatiya Janata Partys stand that the Union government is trying to retrieve Katchatheevu which then would lead to fishing rights for Indians, the fishermen questioned why this was not done for the last 10 years. If they bring back our arrested fishermen and boats before April 19, we are ready to vote for the BJP, says Edison. A month after Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, his boat number 038 was downed by the Lankan navy at 1.30am in Katchatheevu, he said. Seven of my labourers were on that boat and another adjacent boat of ours saved them, he said. Before that during the Congress regime my boats were caught thrice but they were sent back. Our main problem during the Congress regime was the multiple shooting by the Sri Lankan navy against our fishermen.

Of the 1,000 odd boats in Rameshwaram, 360 boats are caught in Lanka and 10 fishermen remain imprisoned in the island in the last decade, said, Fishermens Association President, Emiric Sesupattiyam. In my 50 years of fishing this is the highest number of boats that have been impounded, he said. First, the BJP government should help us by bringing our boats and fishermen back. This is what we are angry about. This is the real issue. But they are talking about Katchatheevu as though it happened yesterday, another fisherman J Sagayam said.

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Rameshwaram is part of the Ramanathapuram constituency where former chief minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) is fighting for political relevance. OPS is now contesting as an independent but with the support of the BJP. In a constituency with 75% Hindus, 19% Muslims and 6% Christian, the AIADMK has fielded P Jeyaperumal, DMK has fielded incumbent IUMLs Nawaz Kani. OPS is facing another challenge here since four of his namesake- O Panneerselvam- are also contesting. His supporters have blamed the AIADMK led by Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) for playing this trick to confuse voters since OPS is contesting on an independent symbol. OPS who has all his life contested under the iconic two-leaves symbol of the AIADMK is trying hard to take his independent symbol-jackfruit- to the voters. OPS has not commented on Katchatheevu but his former colleague turned rival EPS who quit the BJP last September attacked the national party.

Late former AIADMK chief minister J Jayalalithaa filed a case in the Supreme Court in 2008 to retrieve Katchatheevu, EPS said while the case is pending. For the past ten years, the BJP government did not take steps to retrieve Kathchatheevu. Now they are bringing it up for political gain ahead of the elections, EPS said, blaming the DMK-Congress and the BJP stating that only the AIADMK truly fought for the issue. Chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin raised concerns on how wrong information concerning Indias national security was given under the RTI to BJPs Tamil Nadu state president K Annamalai. It was based on this RTI reply that the BJP claimed that the then UPA governments decision to cede the island to Sri Lanka affected national interests. External affairs minister S Jaishankar on April 1 said that the RTI reveals that DMK-led by Karunanidhi was consulted and he was inclined to accept the transfer of the island but couldnt be expected to take a public stand in favour of it for political reasons.

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Stalin on April 2 said that in earlier RTIs on Katchatheevu the BJP government had not provided answers by stating that the subject is sub judice as a case is pending before the Supreme Court. The BJP regime in 2015 said that Katchatheevu had never been a part of India. That information was provided by S Jaishankar who was the then foreign secretary, Stalin said. Since the elections are round the corner, they have changed the information as per their wish. Why this somersault? Jaishankar had earlier refuted the Oppositions allegation that the issue is being politicised ahead of the elections and said it continues to be a live topic.
The Delhi high court on Thursday rejected another plea seeking chief minister Arvind Kejriwals removal, saying courts will not enter into this thicket and that remedy lies with some other authority. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal being taken to a court on Monday. (HT PHOTO)

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said courts do not remove a chief minister. It added that is to be done by the legislature. The bench said the lieutenant governor (LG) was examining the situation. At times personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his [Kejriwal]s personal call. The other forum is already seized of the matter. The remedy does not lie in this court. The remedy lies with some other authority. You go to them, the bench said, allowing Vishnu Gupta, president of Hindu Sena, to withdraw his petition.

The court rejected Guptas prayer to direct the LG to implement the scheme of the Constitution for the functioning of the Delhi government. Let the democracy take its way. It will take its own time to come to a conclusion. Constitutional morality is being considered by the governor and President. We do not administer the state.

In his petition, Gupta said Kejriwal committed a breach of constitutional trust as soon as he was arrested. It added Kejriwals continuation as the chief minister is unconstitutional. The plea said the LG was under constitutional obligation to dismiss Kejriwal.

Guptas counsel argued a constitutional deadlock has been created in the capital following Kejriwals arrest since the Cabinet is no longer there.

Acting Chief Justice Manmohan rejected on Thursday a similar plea saying that it failed to show any legal bar against Kejriwals continuation as the chief minister. He said if any constitutional failure exists due to the arrest of a chief minister, it is for the President to act on it rather than the court.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 after the high court denied his request for interim protection in the Delhi excise policy case. Hours after his arrest, Delhi minister Atishi said that Kejriwal would continue as the chief minister and run the government from prison if needed. Since then, Kejriwal has issued two orders to his ministers from the custody.
Former MP Sanjay Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress on Wednesday, is likely to join the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday, reported The Indian Express. Sanjay Nirupam said he will announce his next course of action on April 4. Expelled Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam(Hindustan Times file photo)

Hours before his expulsion from the Congress party, a source close to Sanjay Nirupam told the newspaper that he would be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai seat, which he is likely to be offered from Shinde's Shiv Sena.

He has taken the decision to quit the Congress and wants to contest from a seat in Mumbai, which is likely to be offered to him by the Shinde Sena," the source said.

Sanjay Nirupam wanted to contest the elections from the Mumbai North-West seat, but Congress ally, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, declared Amol Kirtikar as its candidate. The BJP-Shiv Shine alliance has not announced its candidate from the seat yet.

Sanjay Nirupam was earlier a part of the undivided Shiv Sena and later joined the Congress in 2005. He had contested the Lok Sabha elections 2019 from the Mumbai North-West seat but lost to Gajanan Kirtikar of the Shinde Sena.

It is reported that after Nirupam's statements against Uddhav Thackeray and his Sena faction, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect. Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress dropped Nirupam's name as a star campaigner, indicating that the crisis was escalating.

The Congress later issued an official order expelling Nirupam from the party on Wednesday night, citing indiscipline and anti-party statements as the reason.

Sanjay Nirupam's stationary attack at Congress

Hours before being expelled from the party, the former Rajya Sabha MP had launched a sharp attack on the Congress saying it should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself.

"It (Congress) should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself, as the party is experiencing a serious financial crisis. The time frame I had given to the party ends today. I will spell out my next course of action tomorrow," Sanjay Nirupam wrote on X (formally Twitter).

The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the Maharashtra Congress leadership for "ceding" constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party during seat-sharing talks of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance for Lok Sabha elections.

(With inputs from PTI)
The Union government cannot be given special treatment when there is egregious delay in prosecuting cases, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday, drawing the curtain on a 43-year-old civil suit and rejecting the Centres plea to reopen proceedings against an order for the evacuation of a property within the Pune cantonment limits. The top court lamented that the tenor of the ministry suggests that it wants to fix its own period of limitation for instituting the proceedings for which law has prescribed a period of limitation (HT)

It hardly matters whether a litigant is a private party or a state or Union of India when it comes to condoning the gross delay of more than 12 years. If the litigant chooses to approach the court long after the lapse of the time prescribed under the relevant provisions of the law, then he cannot turn around and say that no prejudice would be caused to either side by the delay being condoned, held a bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and JB Pardiwala.

The judgment, authored by justice Pardiwala, highlighted that the litigation over the recovery of the possession of the suit property and arrears of rent started in 1981. We are in 2024. Almost 43 years have elapsed. However, till date, the respondent (property owner) has not been able to reap the fruits of his decree. It would be a mockery of justice if we condone the delay of 12 years and 158 days and once again ask the respondent to undergo the rigmarole of the legal proceedings, said the bench.

The top court also took umbrage at the defence ministrys rigid stance over handing over the possession of the suit property to its owner as a precondition to remit the matter back to the high court for deciding the case on merits. Attorney general (AG) R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, expressed his inability to persuade the ministry to give back the possession of the property to its owner even as he argued that the super structure alone belongs to him while the land in the cantonment area belongs to the government.

However, Sudhanshu Chaudhari, senior counsel appearing for the property owner who leased the bungalow to the ministry in 1951, asserted that there was no error in the 2019 high court judgment. He added the judgment categorically recorded there is no explanation worth the name as to why the department did not follow up the matter while refusing to condone the unpardonable delay of 12 years and 158 days in moving the high court for the restoration of the appeal against the orders of the subordinate courts in favour of the property owner. Chaudhari further underlined that the suit was decreed in favour of his client in 1987 but the possession is still to be given.

The top court lamented that the tenor of the ministry suggests that it wants to fix its own period of limitation for instituting the proceedings for which law has prescribed a period of limitation. Once it is held that a party has lost his right to have the matter considered on merits because of his own inaction for a long, it cannot be presumed to be non-deliberate delay and in such circumstances of the case, he cannot be heard to plead that the substantial justice deserves to be preferred as against the technical considerations, said the bench.

According to the court, the rules of limitation are not just a matter of technicalities but are based on the principles of sound public policy and principles of equity. We should not keep the Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of the respondent for an indefinite period of time, to be determined at the whims and fancies of the appellants...Rendering substantial justice is not to cause prejudice to the opposite party, it held.

The bench then went on to dismiss the ministrys plea for condonation of delay and letting it revive the appeal against the order of delivering the possession of the suit property to its owner, noting, The appellants have failed to prove that they were reasonably diligent in prosecuting the matter and this vital test for condoning the delay is not satisfied in this case.
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a June 2021 Bombay high court order cancelling Amravati Member of Parliament (MP) Navneet Ranas scheduled caste certificate. Amravati MP Navneet Rana. (x)

The high court ruled Rana obtained and validated her certificate by submitting fabricated and fraudulent documents to a scrutiny committee. It fined her 2 lakh while directing her to surrender the certificate.

A Supreme Court bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol said the scrutiny committees order did not merit the high courts interference. In the instant case, the scrutiny committee passed the order after due application of mind and after hearing all parties in detail, it said. Considering the peculiar circumstances, we allow the appeal [of Rana]. The order of the high court is set aside.

The Supreme Courts 2021 stay on the high court order allowed Ranas continuation as an independent MP. Rana, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the run-up to the April-June national polls, is contesting the election from the reserved constituency of Amravati (Maharashtra).

Former Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul challenged Ranas caste certificate in the high court citing collusion and fabrication of documents presented to the committee.

The scrutiny committee in November 2017 rejected Ranas claim of being Ravidasia Mochi but accepted her to be Sikh Chamar to award her a Mochi caste certificate.

Adsul told the high court that the committee erred by accepting her claim to be Sikh Chamar, which is not a recognised scheduled caste in the Presidential Order for Maharashtra.

Rana questioned the high court order saying it could not have conducted a fact-finding inquiry. She added if there were any shortcomings in the committee findings, the matter ought to have been returned to the panel.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Shadan Farasat, who appeared for Adsul, argued Rana claimed to belong to the Sikh Chamar caste and simultaneously produced documents claiming she is Ravidasia Mochi by relying on some purported certificates from Punjab. They added this was done after her initial documents showing she belonged to the Mochi caste were found to be forged and fabricated.

Sibal earlier this year requested the Supreme Court to take up the matter as the term of the Lok Sabha would expire before May.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) headed by former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is facing the threat of losing the support of majority Muslims in the state in the May 13 elections, following its return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold by forging an electoral alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with JanaSena Party. On March 31, Andhra Pradesh Muslim Parirakshana Samithi (Andhra Pradesh Muslim Protection Committee) held a meeting near Vijayawada and gave a call to all the Muslims in the state to vote against the NDA allies in the state (HT)

After days of negotiations and deliberations, Naidu entered into an alliance with the BJP on March 9 and signed a seat-sharing agreement with it, according to which the BJP was allocated six out of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 10 out of 175 assembly seats in the state.

Within days, Muslim groups in Andhra Pradesh have launched a huge campaign on social media, warning the community voters against voting for the TDP in the coming elections.

On March 31, Andhra Pradesh Muslim Parirakshana Samithi (Andhra Pradesh Muslim Protection Committee) held a meeting near Vijayawada and gave a call to all the Muslims in the state to vote against the NDA allies in the state.

The BJP is creating a rift among the people in the country in the name of religion. Any party that has joined hands with the BJP will be treated as anti-Muslim, said Samithi state general secretary Lal Ahmed Ghouse.

He alleged that the TDP had breathed life into the BJP which had no strength at all in the state. How can the TDP ally with the BJP which has been witch-hunting Muslims in the country and indulged in atrocities against minorities in the name of Halal, cow vigilantism, NRC and CAA? Ghouse asked.

The Samithi also took a dig at the ruling YSR Congress party headed by chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for adopting a soft-stand towards the Narendra Modi government all these days, though it had not directly allied with the BJP.

Meanwhile, a WhatsApp group created in the name of Muslim Intellectuals Association has been allegedly sending messages to all the Muslims in the state, asking them to be wary of the BJP, which was trying to resurrect itself by joining hands with the TDP. Wake Up Muslim Brothers! Think twice before voting for the unholy communal alliance of the TDP-BJP-JanaSena in the coming general elections. Any vote for the TDP is a vote for the communal BJP, a pamphlet doing rounds in the WhatsApp group.

The group warned the Muslims that if the alliance comes to power and the TDP supports the BJP at the Centre, the latter would implement dangerous programmes like CAA, Uniform Civil Code, NRC and NPR.

A senior minority leader of the TDP on condition of anonymity said the Muslims, who account for around 7% of the total population in the state, were not politically polarised. They had mixed loyalty till 2014. Majority of them were supporting the Congress and others the TDP in the past, he said.

After 2014, the majority of the Muslims had moved towards the YSR Congress party, as the TDP had joined hands with the BJP then. After 2019, when Jagan came to power and started maintaining good relations with the BJP, a section of the Muslims began tilting towards the TDP. But now with the TDP openly allying with the BJP, they are angry, he said.

Though the Muslims were sceptical towards Jagan, too, as his party supported the Modi government on various issues, including voting in favour of the CAA in Parliament, the YSRCP is now saying that it had extended only issued-based support to the BJP government at the Centre.

Jagan made it clear many times that he is against discrimination of people on religious and caste lines. Therefore, YSRCP doesnt accept CAA rules in its current format and we have sought amendments to the law so that it is acceptable to each and every one, YSRCP lawmaker Mohd Hafeez Khan said.

The TDP president, who addressed a rally at Madanapalle in Chittoor district last week, said his party had allied with the BJP only for the sake of development of the state.

Please dont get carried away by the false propaganda against the NDA regime. Our whole effort is to see that the lives of Muslim minorities will see progress and development in all areas, he said.

Senior BJP leader and former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said, The YSRCP is instigating the Muslims for the sake of votes. The rights of the Muslims would be fully protected under the Modi regime, he said.
Anyone will be forgiven for thinking that the events of this week alone are enough to understand the mistrust between the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the two significant regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir.

Heres a quick recap.

On Monday, National Conference vice president and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah announced that veteran Gujjar leader, Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi (whose great grandfather was a renowned saint) was the party candidate from Anantnag Poonch Rajouri Lok Sabha seat. This was a jolt for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners, in particular, the PDP, whose president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is contesting from the same seat.

By Wednesday, the INDIA blocs agreement had collapsed in Kashmir, after Mufti announced that her party would field candidates from all three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley and accused the C of high-handedness, just two weeks ahead of general elections.

Despite losing the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, south Kashmir is still considered a strong bastion of the PDP. For most party leaders, NCs announcement was a shock especially since it came a day after Abdullah and Mufti put up a united show at the INDIA blocs Loktantra Bachao Rally in New Delhi. Mehbooba has represented Anantnag in 2004 and 2014.

Mehbooba ji said in Delhi that Farooq Saheb and we are together and we will not break the INDIA alliance. Why are you people trying to make us fight here? You should expose the A team, B team and C team, Omar Abdullah told reporters in South Kashmirs Pahalgam.

"If NC and PDP go solo then it's going to be a big advantage to their opponents in Kashmir and will also be the end of both the Indis and the PAGD alliance in J&K," said Ishfaq Ahmad, a political columnist for vernacular dailies.

While the NC and the PDP are part of the INDIA bloc, they did not field candidates in Jammu and Udhampur seats; the Congress of the INDIA alliance has put up candidates from there. If they (PDP and NC) have some issues, they can have a friendly contest on three Kashmir seats, Congress general secretary Mir Iqbal said. It wouldve been better if the National Conference and the PDP had jointly contested polls, he said.

A historical rivalry

The PDP, which was formed by former Union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 1999, is the main rival of NC, a regional party that ruled J&K for years. Soon after its formation, Sayeed took oath as J&K chief minister in 2002 with the help of the Congress despite the fact that the PDP had won just 16 seats in the assembly elections and the NC in fact had emerged as the single largest party.

The National Conference was formed before partition in 1939 by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah when J&K was ruled by the erstwhile Maharaja, Hari Singh. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the grandfather of Omar Abdullah, was considered a staunch nationalist and one of the tallest leaders the J&K has produced, his mass following extended to all regions of the state.

NC governed Kashmir since Partition, losing power a couple of times when the Congress and a breakaway faction of the NC won in the 1960s and mid-80s. In the late 80s, the NC and Congress came together and formed a coalition government after defeating the Muslim United Front (MUF) candidates in elections, which the opposition claimed was heavily rigged. This was one of the triggers of militancy in the now-Union territory.

Between 2002 and 2008, the NC was the main opposition party; and then from 2015 to 2018, when the PDP and Congress and, later the PDP and BJP, ran coalition governments.

Till 1999, after which the BJP started making inroads in J&K, especially in Jammu, the Congress and small regional parties like the Peoples Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party acted as the main opposition.

The rivalry between PDP and NC dates back to the early 1990s, when Sayeed, as Union home minister (he held the post for a year), and J&K was brought under the Governors rule. This was also the time when militancy was starting to affect the Valley, and when Sayeed appointed Jagmohan as Governor for the second time, Farooq Abdullah resigned in protest.

In 1996, NC won a landslide victory in the assembly elections. The rivalry passed to the second generation till both parties came together under the banner of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) in 2020, however, on the ground the mistrust between the cadres and leaders remained.

Senior political analyst and former dean of social sciences department, Kashmir University, professor Noor Ahmad Baba said that the NC has had a longer history in the Valley and it draws support from that. Ideologically there is no fundamental difference between the parties. Both stand for autonomy though with different names. NC talked about autonomy and Article 370 while PDP talked of self-rule and tried to bring additional elements in that narrative. PDP was born at a time when the peace process between India and Pakistan was on. They built them into their own proposals like cross LoC activities."

There are people who question the timing of PDPs creation and how it divided power. Till then Kashmirs role in government was predominant. Mehboobas party had to build itself out of nothing. It empathised with the suffering of people but separatist politics was never their agenda," he said adding that historically the people who formed PDP have been closer to Indian politics than others. "NC leadership was always regionally based. Mufti Sayeed was part of larger national politics."

Sayeed passed away in 2016.

Also read: All you need to know about Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

Necessity brings them together

With the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K into two Union Territories, the leaders of both parties came together in August 2019 stating that they will fight for a broader cause to safeguard the interests of the people of J&K and strive hard for reinstatement of statehood.

In 2020, more than two decades after its formation, the PDP along with the NC contested the joint District Development Council polls and the NC won the highest number of the DDC seats.

For the past several months, NC leadership, especially Omar Abdullah, has insisted on contesting all three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir on the basis that the party had won all three seats in the 2019 elections. Senior PDP leaders were hopeful NC would finally leave the seat, which didnt happen.

"We can't leave seats for NC especially when the vice president, Omar Abdullah has shown arrogance without taking members of the INDIA bloc or PAGD into confidence. The party (PDP) leaders are of the strong opinion that we should have candidates on all three seats of Kashmir," a senior PDP leader.
New Delhi: Two Indian nationals reported missing following Taiwans biggest earthquake in at least 25 years have been contacted by Indian authorities and are safe, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal (File photo)

The two Indians  a man and a woman  were at Taroko Gorge, close to Hualien county, near the epicentre of the 7.4-magnitude quake that killed nine people and injured more than 1,000 on Wednesday. A search was launched to locate them soon after the quake.

According to our information, we were unable to contact two Indians after the earthquake, but now we have been able to contact them and they are safe, Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.

Also Read: Taiwan earthquake: 9 dead, over 1000 injured; 42 hotel workers still missing

A group of 50 workers travelling in four minibuses to a hotel in Taroko National Park, named after Taroko Gorge, had been reported missing after the quake.

Taiwan is home to several thousand Indians, including 3,000 students. There were no other reports of Indians being affected by the quake, which struck offshore on Wednesday morning and triggered massive landslides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among world leaders who expressed grief at the loss of lives and damage caused by the quake.

Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to earthquakes in Taiwan today. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. We stand in solidarity with the resilient people of Taiwan as they endure the aftermath and recover from it, Modi said in a post on X.

The India Taipei Association, the de facto Indian mission in Taiwan, issued an advisory that said an emergency helpline was set up to provide assistance and guidance to Indian nationals.
NEW DELHI: The US has not asked India to reduce its imports of Russian oil and the price cap and sanctions regime imposed by the G7 are aimed at squeezing Moscows profits from crude sales and impeding its ability to finance the war in Ukraine, two US officials said on Thursday. Russian oil is priced above $60 a barrel (File Photo)

The US officials, speaking after meetings to brief their Indian counterparts on the second phase of implementing the price cap, which came into effect in December 2022, said the focus will now be on channels created by Russia to export crude without using Western service providers for shipping or insurance.

US assistant secretary for economic policy Eric Van Nostrand and acting assistant secretary for terrorist financing Anna Morris were asked during an interaction at Ananta Centre if there had been any fresh demand for India to reduce Russian oil imports.

Also Read: US bears some responsibility for Moscow concert attack, claims Russia, everyone knows that the Kyiv is

No, its important to us to keep the oil supply on the market. What we want to do is limit [Russian President Vladimir] Putins profit from it, and thats what this policy is designed to engender, Nostrand said.

He added, As one of the most significant global consumers of oil, we know that the Indian economy has much at stake in the Russian oil trade, and has much at stake from the global supply disruptions that the price cap is designed to avoid.

Morris said that since the second half of 2023, the US had detected Russian efforts to build a shadow fleet, or an infrastructure of ships, insurers and other maritime services with providers with opaque ownership structures and a history of sanctions evasion activities.

Russias investments diverted funds from the battlefield in Ukraine. Were happy to see them spending money on oil tankers and not tanks, but also importantly, its now time for us to respond to a different reality where Russia has created a larger channel to move oil without touching [Western] coalition services, Nostrand said.

Soon after Russias invasion of Ukraine two years ago, the US and its Western partners pressured India not to buy discounted Russian commodities, especially oil and fertilisers. New Delhi, which has not publicly criticised Moscows actions, ramped up purchases of Russian crude and Russia soon displaced the countrys top energy suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The Indian leadership has said its actions were aimed at ensuring cheaper energy supplies in the domestic market amid volatility in global markets. However, India and Russia have struggled with payments for the crude, especially after billions of rupees accumulated in Russian bank accounts in India.

The US officials declined to answer questions regarding India paying for Russian oil in currencies such as the UAE dirham and acknowledged the price cap of $60 a barrel would not apply to crude imports that did not use shipping or services from the Western coalition.

Also Read: Talking peace with Moscow

The price cap imposed by the G7, European Union and Australia prohibits the use of Western services such as insurance and transportation when tankers carry Russian oil priced above $60 a barrel.

Since October 2023, the coalition tightened enforcement of the price cap through stringent enforcement on oil trade using coalition services and by increasing the costs for Russia to sell oil through the shadow fleet, Morris said. The US treasurys department is now publicly sanctioning vessels involved in oil trade above the price cap, she said.

In February, the US treasury department designated Sovcomflot, Russias state-owned shipping company and fleet operator, and publicly identified 14 of its oil tankers as blocked property, the officials said.

Morris contended that Russian oil prices had fallen in comparison to global prices, and the discount on the loading price of Russian Urals oil moved from $12-$13 below world prices to around $17-$18 in February.

Phase two of the price cap is intended to make it harder for Russia to move oil outside services offered by the Western coalition, thereby forcing it to sell more oil either under the cap with coalition services or importantly, offering even bigger discounts to other global buyers outside the coalition, Nostrand said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Communist Party of India's (CPI) Annie Raja were among the high-profile candidates who filed their nominations on Wednesday for the April 26 Lok Sabha elections. Annie Raja, general secretary of the CPI's National Federation of Indian Women and the wife of the party's general secretary D Raja, filed her nomination against Rahul Gandhi. Communist Party of India's (CPI) Annie Raja and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Both Rahul Gandhi and Annie Raja held roadshows in the constituency ahead of filing their nomination papers.

According to the affidavit filed by Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress president has stock market investments of 4.3 crore, mutual funds deposits of 3.81 crore, and 26.25 lakh in a bank account, India Today reported.

The affidavit shows Rahul Gandhi has 55,000 in cash and a total income of 1,02,78,680 during the financial year 2022-23.

According to the affidavit, the gross total value of movable assets of Rahul Gandhi has increased by 59 per cent in five years, reported Onmanorama.com. Rahul Gandhi's movable assets were valued at 5.8 crore in 2019, while in the latest affidavit, the value of movable assets was 9.24 crore.

Also Read | If you threaten to defame the country: Smriti Irani's warning to Rahul Gandhi over SDPI's support to Congress

India Today reported that the Congress also possesses gold bonds worth 15.2 lakh. He has also invested in National Savings Schemes, Postal Savings, insurance policies and other places worth 61.52 lakh. He also has a liability of about 49.7 lakh, it reported.

News18, citing the affidavit, reported that Rahul Gandhi has assets worth 20 crore with an annual income of over 1 crore.

Rahul Gandhi has also declared agricultural land, owned jointly with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in Delhis Mehrauli, along with office space in Gurugram valued at 11 crore.

Annie Raja's assets

Annie Raja's total assets are worth only  72 lakh, News18 reported.

72 lakh, News18 reported. Annie Raja has declared only  10,000 cash in hand, bank deposits worth  62,000, jewellery worth  25,000 and an inherited property worth  71 lakh.

Also Read | Lok Sabha elections: Congress says no friendly fight in Kerala after Rahul Gandhi's nomination from Wayanad

Rahul Gandhi is contesting against Annie Raja and Bharatiya Janata Party state president K Surendran in Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi had registered a thumping victory from the Wayanad seat in 2019 with a margin of more than four lakh votes.

Polling will be held in all of Kerala's 20 parliamentary constituencies on April 26, in the second phase of the nationwide elections, for which the last date of filing nomination papers is April 4, according to an Election Commission notification.
Gourav Vallabh, Congress leader and spokesperson, on Thursday, April 4, tendered his resignation from all party posts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, adding to the long list of Congress leaders who quit the party recently. Former Congress leader Gourav Vallabh joins BJP in the presence of BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde ahead of Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi on April 4.(PTI)

Hours later, Gourav Vallabh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Former Bihar Congress president Anil Sharma also joined the BJP in the presence of its national general secretary Vinod Tawde.

In his resignation letter, Gourav Vallabh said, I do not feel comfortable with the directionless way in which the Congress party is moving forward. I can neither raise anti-Sanatana slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country. I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the Congress party.

What did Gourav Vallabh write in his resignation letter?

In the resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Hindi, Gourav Vallabh said, I am a professor of finance. After joining the Congress, the party made me the national spokesperson But for the last few days, I have been feeling uncomfortable with the party's stand. When I joined the Congress party, I believed that the Congress was the oldest party in the country. Where young, intellectual people and their ideas are valued. But in the last few years, I realised that the current form of the party is not able to adjust itself with the youth with new ideas.

Also Read | Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigns, says party directionless

Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigns, says party directionless The ground-level connection of the party has been completely broken, which is not able to understand the aspiration of the new India at all. Due to this, neither the party is able to come to power nor it is able to play the role of a strong opposition. This discourages a worker like me. It is very difficult to bridge the gap between big leaders and grassroots workers, which is politically necessary. Unless a worker can give direct suggestions to his leader, no positive change is possible.

I am upset with the stand of the Congress party in the consecration of Lord Shri Ram in Ayodhya. I am a Hindu by birth and a teacher by profession. This stand of the party always made me uncomfortable and troubled. Many people associated with the party and the alliance speak against Sanatana, and the party remaining silent on it is like giving tacit approval to it.

These days, the party is moving in the wrong direction. On one hand, we talk about the caste-based census and on the other hand, we are seen opposing the entire Hindu society. This working style is giving a misleading message to the public that the party is a supporter of a particular religion only. This is against the basic principles of the Congress.

At present, Congress's stand on economic matters has been to humiliate and abuse the wealth creators of the country. Today, we have turned against those economic liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies, for which the world has given us full credit for implementing in the country.

Who is Gourav Vallabh?
YouTube approved 48 ads in English, Hindi, and Telugu that intentionally spread misinformation about voting procedures as well as Indias electoral process, a report based on a joint investigation by London and Washington DC-based NGO Global Witness, and digital civil rights focussed non-profit body Access Now has said. The ads violated Googles policies on election misinformation. (X)

Access Now and Global Witness withdrew the ads, which violated Googles policies on election misinformation, before publication to ensure that they did not run on YouTube.

The Election Commission has disqualified the largest opposition parties from standing in the 2024 elections. Their votes will not be counted and Combatting ageism: new election rules to promote participation mean if you are over 50 your vote counts double were two of the nine-second ads approved.

The platforms inability to detect and restrict content that is designed to undermine electoral integrity and that clearly violates its own policies presents serious concerns about the platforms vulnerability to information operations and manipulation campaigns, the report said.

READ: Govt alerts YouTube about 9 channels spreading misinformation about central govt

These ads were all issued from outside of India. We submitted them from the UK, targetting an Indian audience. There was no verification check. ... We may have been using VPNs occasionally, but they were not set to India, Henry Peck, campaigner, digital threats at Global Witness, told HT.

Google said that its Google Ads policy prohibits advertisers from directing content about politics, social issues or matters of public concern to users in a country other than their own, if they misrepresent or conceal their country of origin or other material details about themselves.

Global Witness and Access Now uploaded 16 ads each in English, Hindi, and Telugu with the same content from three channels created in the last two months. The researchers deleted the channels after the investigation was over.

The total budget for the 48 ads was 35 (10 for the English ads, 15 for Hindi ads, and 10 for Telugu ads with two different cost-per-thousand impressions). The payment is made after the ads go live but users are required to set an initial budget, Peck said.

The ads were targeted at all people over 18 in India. Impressions for a cohort of eight ads in each language were estimated to be 11,000-49,000. For the cohort of the remaining eight ads in each language, they were estimated to be 11,000-50,000 (English), 20,000-79,000 (Hindi), and 4,200-17,000 (Telugu).

READ: Cause and Effect | The rise of climate denial: Social media's role in climate misinformation

They were each a nine-second video containing just the text in a black font in front of a coloured background. And it moved very slightly to demonstrate that it is a video. ... We wanted them to contain election misinformation as blatantly and as visibly as possible. We were not trying to trick the optical character recognition systems they have. We were trying to make it very obvious and straightforward, Peck said.

Despite making it easy for the algorithms to catch the misinformation, all 48 ads were approved, raising questions about the efficacy of YouTubes content moderation process and the platforms preparedness for the Indian general elections.

A previous investigation by Global Witness in October 2022 found that when ads containing misinformation about elections in the US were uploaded to the platform, they were detected and the channels carrying them were suspended. In Brazil, in August 2022, similar ads were approved.

What has been very striking for us is the regional disparity underlying the enforcement. The success rates in a US versus a Brazil or an India [varies]. We deliberately kept some of the content, some of the ads very similar to what had been tested in Brazil ... just to see if they were learning from past mistakes. But unfortunately, the answer seems to be no, said Namrata Maheshwari, senior policy counsel at Access Now.

The fact that all the ads in English were also approved busts the assumption that it is an issue of linguistic capability, Maheshwari said. We assume that they have a better capacity for English and not so much for other Indian languages but here [all] the English ads were also accepted. ... It is not so much a language issue as it is a regional prioritisation issue and investment of resources perhaps, she said.

The YouTube ad manager also does not require users to label an ad as a political or election-related ad. With Meta platforms, there is a requirement that you check a box if the ad is political, election, or related to other defined social issues. But it is very common that advertisers post ads that do fit within those categories without declaring them as such and so they are later detected by a user flagging it...it might be by an internal system or it might be overlooked, Peck said.

Access Now and Global Witness intend to share their report with the Election Commission of India (ECI). HT reached out to the ECI spokesperson for comment but did not receive a response immediately.

In response to a detailed questionnaire by HT, a Google spokesperson said, Not one of these ads ever ran on our systems and this report does not show a lack of protections against election misinformation in India. Our policies explicitly prohibit ads making demonstrably false claims that could undermine participation or trust in an election, which we enforce in several Indian languages. Our enforcement process has multiple layers to ensure ads comply with our policies, and just because an ad passes an initial technical check does not mean it wont be blocked or removed by our enforcement systems if it violates our policies. But the advertiser here deleted the ads in question before any of our routine enforcement reviews could take place.

Google said that in this case, its enforcement systems were not able to work as intended. While an ad may initially be eligible to serve via our automated systems, this is just the first stage of our review and enforcement process  it does not mean the ad wont be subject to further enforcement actions. ... In fact, after this step, ads are still subject to several layers of reviews, including human evaluations as needed, to ensure the content complies with our policies. These protections can kick into place both before an ad runs or quickly after it starts to gain impressions.

Maheshwari said this is not enough in the din of an election season. We set our publication date to much later to ensure that the ads were never made public, she said. Political parties while campaigning or those with mala fide intentions are not going to wait that long, she said.
Laylatul Qadr (also called Laylat al-Qadr or Laylat-ul-Qadr) is the Night of Decree or Night of Power and it is considered one of the most important nights in the Islamic calendar as Muslims believe it to be the night in Ramadan (Ramazan, Ramzaan or Ramzan) when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Allah through the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) and as Ramadan 2024 draws to a close, Muslims around the world are seeking Laylat al-Qadr by sacrificing sleep, engaging in extra prayers, recitation of the Quran, charitable acts, spending the night in worship and contemplation and seeking forgiveness and blessings from Allah. This is because the exact date of Laylat al-Qadr is not known but it is believed to occur during the last ten nights of Ramadan, specifically on an odd-numbered night, such as the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th night of the Holy month and it is believed that worship and good deeds performed on this night are more valuable than those performed on any other night of the year and that the rewards for such deeds are multiplied many times over. Eid, Alvida sleep tips: Ensuring restful sleep for overall health post Laylatul Qadr in Ramadan 2024 (Photo by Thirdman on Pexels)

These nights of Shab-e-Qadr are the time when Muslims amplify their prayers and good deeds and it is called the Night of Power as some Islamic scholars define the meaning of Qadr as power, indicating the greatness of the honour and might of the night where the righteous deeds performed during this night are far more powerful than they would be on any other night. It is also called the Night of Decree as some Islamic scholars define Qadr as destiny/decree as this is believed to be the night in which the destiny of each person is decided i.e. a persons sustenance, lifespan and other critical matters of good and evil and even the pilgrimage of the pilgrim would be sealed for the coming year as Allah will decide so-and-so will perform pilgrimage hence, the Night of Decree marks all the affairs of lifespan, deeds, creation and provision that are decreed on Laylatul-Qadr in the month of Ramadan and will come to pass in the coming year.

With sleep taking a back seat during these last few days of Ramadan and Alvida and Eid celebrations around the corner, Dr Pushkar Shikarkhane, Department of Physician\Internal Medicine at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, shared in an interview with HT Lifestyle, With the excitement of Eid-Alvida, people should give importance to sleep to improve overall well-being. Stick to a structured bedtime routine that signals your body it's time to sleep. This could include various activities like reading a book, taking a shower, practicing deep breathing exercises, or listening to music. Try to create a comfortable sleep setting that can induce sleep. Ensure your bedroom is cool, dark, and quiet to get a sound sleep at night without any disturbance. Opt for a supportive mattress and pillows customized to your preferences. By adhering to these simple yet beneficial tips, you can enjoy Eid-Alvida while prioritizing a proper sleep routine.

Bringing his expertise to the same, Dr Jinendra Jain, Consultant Physician at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai's Mira Road, advised, Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is crucial for overall health and well-being. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day helps regulate your body's internal clock, leading to better quality sleep. It's important to create a relaxing bedtime routine, such as reading a book or taking a warm bath, to signal to your body that it's time to wind down. Additionally, limit exposure to screens before bed as the blue light emitted can disrupt melatonin production and interfere with sleep. Avoid consuming caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol close to bedtime, as they can interfere with sleep.

He suggested, Creating an optimal sleep environment can significantly improve the quality of rest you get each night. Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet to promote deep sleep. Investing in a comfortable mattress and pillows tailored to your sleeping preferences can also make a world of difference. Finally, try incorporating stress-reducing activities into your daily routine, such as meditation or Yoga, to relax both body and mind before bedtime and ensure a restful night's sleep for enhanced health and well-being. Prioritizing good sleep hygiene and adopting healthy sleep habits are vital for enhancing overall health and well-being.

Dr Shantanu Tandon, HOD and Senior Consultant - Ear , Nose and Throat (ENT) at Sakra World Hospital in Bengaluru, recommended the following tips for getting restful sleep -
Incorporating mindful eating principles into a Yoga practice can deepen the connection between body, mind and food where mindful eating involves paying full attention to the experience of eating, including the taste, texture and sensations of each bite. According to expert, when combined with Yoga, it can enhance the overall mindfulness practice and promote a more balanced and harmonious relationship with food. Tips to integrate mindful eating principles into your Yoga routine (Image by Racool_studio on Freepik)

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Himalayan Siddhaa Akshar, Founder of Akshar Yoga Kendraa, suggested how you can integrate mindful eating principles into your Yoga routine -

Set an Intention: Begin your Yoga practice with a clear intention to cultivate mindfulness not only on the mat but also at the dining table. Setting an intention helps to focus your mind and create a purposeful practice. Practice Breath Awareness: Before meals, take a few moments to center yourself with deep, mindful breaths. Notice the rhythm of your breath and use it as an anchor to bring your attention into the present moment. Express Gratitude: Cultivate gratitude for the food you are about to eat. Reflect on the journey of the food from farm to plate and acknowledge the effort and energy that went into producing it. Mindful Preparation: If possible, engage in the preparation of your meals mindfully. Pay attention to the colors, smells, and textures of the ingredients as you chop, stir, and cook. This can enhance your appreciation for the food and the process of nourishing yourself. Practice Yoga Before Meals: Consider practicing yoga before meals to enhance mindfulness and awareness. Yoga postures, such as twists and forward bends, can stimulate digestion and prepare the body to receive nourishment. Eat with Awareness: When it's time to eat, take a moment to pause and observe your food without judgment. Notice the colours, shapes and arrangement on your plate. Allow yourself to become fully present with the experience of eating. Engage the Senses: Engage all your senses as you eat. Notice the aroma of the food, the sound of chewing, the taste, and the texture. Pay attention to how each bite feels in your mouth and how your body responds to the nourishment. Chew Slowly and Mindfully: Chew your food slowly and thoroughly, savoring each bite. This not only aids digestion but also allows you to fully experience the flavors and textures of the food. Stay Present: It's natural for the mind to wander during meals, but gently bring your focus back to the present moment whenever you notice distraction. Be patient with yourself and practice non-judgmental awareness. Listen to Your Body: Tune into your body's hunger and fullness cues. Eat until you are satisfied, not overly full. Pay attention to how different foods make you feel and make choices that support your well-being.

By incorporating these mindful eating principles into Your yoga practice, you can cultivate a deeper sense of awareness, gratitude and connection with your body and the food you eat. Over time, this practice can lead to greater enjoyment of meals, improved digestion and overall well-being both on and off the mat.
In Indian culture, festivals are of special significance as they unite people in joy and excitement. Chaitra Navratri stands out among these celebrations, as it is celebrated in every corner of the country. It lasts nine days and is dedicated to honouring the Goddess Durga in all of her incarnations. This year it will be celebrated with much pomp and enthusiasm from April 9 to 27. It is celebrated in a variety of ways to represent the victory of good over evil. With vibrant decorations, upbeat music, and traditional dances, the nation comes to life at this time. For tourists seeking an authentic cultural experience, Navratri provides numerous possibilities to explore and uncover the essence of Indian tradition. (Also read: Chaitra Navratri 2024: Is Chaitra Navratri starting from April 8 or April 9? Know correct date of the Hindu festival ) Dive into India's vibrant Chaitra Navratri celebrations with our curated itinerary.(Unsplash)

Exploring India's Vibrant Chaitra Navratri Festivities

Bernard Corraya, General Manager, Wego shared with HT Lifestyle an itinerary for those who are keen to discover the Chaitra Navratri celebrations held around India.

1. Gujrat

Navratri is one of the most eagerly awaited festivals in Gujarat. Devotees hold a nine-day fast in honour of Goddess Shakti, which falls on the first nine days of the month Ashwin. When darkness descends, women carry out the ritualistic aarti while glowing diyas adorn earthen pots, or "Garbis" to light the nights. Men and women dressed traditionally join joyfully in these highly esteemed forms of expression, and the air is filled with the contagious energy of Garba dance and Dandiya Raas.

2. West Bengal

Navratri in West Bengal is transformed into the great Durga Puja celebration. Paschim Banga comes alive during the last four days of Navratri, with brilliant colours and bright lights illuminating each and every space. Believers hold dear the notion of Goddess Durga descending from the heavens to her earthly maternal abode, greeted with boundless warmth and affection. In addition, stunning pandals that display life-sized idols of Durga are revered with utmost devotion. Navratri ends on the tenth day with joyous celebrations honouring Durga's victorious battle against evil.

3. Kolkata

With the fervour of Durga Puja, a major celebration spanning ten wonderful days, Kolkata sets the stage for an incredible show that coincides with Navratri celebrations across the country. The joyous opening honours the beloved Maa Durga, sparking spirits in a way never seen before. Devotees in Kolkata, like others around the country, honour the goddess's nine divine incarnations: Durga, Klai, Jagdamba, Annapoornadevi, Sarvamangala, Bhairavi, Chandika, Lalita, Bhavani, and Mookambika. Furthermore, dressed in colourful garments, the devotees offer sincere thanks to Goddess Durga, infusing every ceremony with a deep sense of devotion and sincerity.

4. Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, Navratri is celebrated with the brilliant colours of "Bathukamma Panduga" which translates as "Come Alive Mother Goddess". Goddess Gauri is worshipped on this occasion, and her idol is housed inside the magnificent Bathukamma floral arrangement. Bathukamma Panduga is widely celebrated as the biggest celebration in Andhra Pradesh, especially in the Telangana region, and is considered to be both significant and a sight to behold. Gathering around Bathukamma, women decked out in exquisite gold jewellery and silk sarees pray to goddess Gauri for her good graces.

In India, the festival of Navratri is a huge celebration with a wide range of festivities. Every region of the nation has a unique celebration custom such as Gujarat hosts exciting Garba nights and West Bengal is home to the magnificent Durga Puja. Additionally, Bathukamma is celebrated with lovely flowers in Andhra Pradesh. These festivities provide a vibrant and lively display of India's rich history and culture.
BJP versus Democracy  a huge banner at the Opposition  Save Democracy rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi was aiming to set the 2024 election agenda. The last time an Opposition gathering focused on a similar narrative was during the historic 1977 election when Indira Gandhi was defeated by a combined force. But a reality check would suggest that 2024 is not 1977 and Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is not quite Mrs Gandhi.

First, a 21-month-old Emergency in which hundreds of politicians and political activists were jailed cannot be compared to the arrests of two Opposition chief ministers (CMs). While the weaponisation of agencies and their unbridled use against Opposition leaders is a grim reminder of abuse of power and the absence of a level playing field, to suggest that we are entering an Opposition-mukt Bharat phase is excessively alarmist at this stage. Just witness the intense seat-by-seat competition in a state like Maharashtra.

Secondly, the Opposition leadership in 1977 was far more seasoned and respected than the disjointed INDIA bloc, which has struggled to project a united front. The Janata Party was forged overnight by disparate forces such as the Jan Sangh and Socialists, held together by the glue of fierce anti-Congressism. The moral compass was provided by a freedom movement stalwart like JP Narayan. Can any of those gathered at Ramlila Maidan invoke a JP-like sense of principled leadership? While anti-Modiism binds the Opposition at the top, the on-ground contradictions have scarcely melted away: the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) versus Congress in Punjab, Trinamool Congress versus the Left-Congress combine in Bengal, even the Left and Congress in Kerala remain at loggerheads.

Thirdly, the Opposition doesnt come into the democracy in danger debate with clean hands. Charges of autocratic behaviour have been made against several Opposition CMs in the last decade. Dissenting voices in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Maharashtra (when it was under Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi rule) have also faced punitive action. If the Enforcement Directorate has been a sword arm of the Centre, so has the local police in state capitals.

Fourthly, there is a growing disconnect between the need to preserve democratic values and the citizenrys preoccupations. In 1977, there was perceptible public anger against the stifling of democratic freedoms which manifested itself, principally in North India where the Indira governments forcible sterilisation drive led to excesses that affected the masses. Recall how South India, where Emergency measures did not directly impact the electorate, stood firmly in the Congresss embrace in 1977.

Moreover, the urban middle class  once a torchbearer of democratic ideals  is a very different socio-economic category now than in the 1970s. In a fast-growing, tech-driven economy, an aspirational, me-first generation is increasingly disengaged from political activism unless personal interests are directly at stake. For example, youth angered by repeated paper leaks have hit the street as did farmers during the farm law agitation. But for vast multitudes, clickbait activism where a Dhruv Rathee viral video might be excitedly shared is the limit of public participation in any battle to protect constitutional freedoms. In the 1970s  a period of combative trade unionism, committed civil liberty groups and idealistic politics  fighting for democratic spaces mattered. Now, it rarely goes beyond handwringing and platitudinous WhatsApp messages.

Ironically, the last time urban middle-class anger appeared to shake the political class was when Arvind Kejriwal and his cohorts launched their anti-corruption movement in 2011. Billed as a crusade to cleanse politics, it was a well-calculated protest against the entire political class. Sab neta chor hai became a rallying cry for anti-establishment sentiment. Now, the wheel has come full circle. From being the face of an anti-corruption andolan, Kejriwal seeks to erase the alleged Delhi liquor scam taint in the company of those he once vociferously accused of corruption. How can such a political arrangement primarily aimed at self-preservation be credible, or even sustainable?

Paradoxically, the biggest beneficiary of the extreme anti-politician mood created by Kejriwals India Against Corruption movement is PM Modi, who rose to power on the debris of an embattled Manmohan Singh government. Without being attached to any code of political correctness, Modi has artfully borrowed from Mrs Gandhis playbook in his attempt to remove all institutional checks and balances to fulfil his overarching desire for complete domination of the polity.

As an unabashed populist strongman, Modi is arguably politically sharper and more ruthless than even the late Congress PM. Mrs Gandhis anxieties, fuelled by the vaulting ambitions of her son Sanjay Gandhi, pushed her into declaring the Emergency. Modi, on the other hand, claims to work within the framework of constitutional democracy while systematically pushing it towards an electoral autocracy and religious majoritarianism. Why invoke an Emergency provision when existing laws are enough to intimidate the Opposition? Or when a mostly pliant media has fallen in line? For example, bail provision amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act were pushed through Parliament as a money bill and then inexplicably ratified by a Supreme Court bench headed by a judge on the verge of retirement, who is now the Lokpal. This is a classic example of a draconian law being used to settle political scores under the guise of anti-corruption populist fervour. In the process, the bail-not-jail credo has been overturned and vendetta politics normalised. Which is another reason why it may take much more than just a Save Democracy Opposition rally to challenge a domineering politician backed by the most formidable election machine in post-Independence India.

Post-script: A Pew survey in February this year found that 67% of Indians thought that a system in which a strong leader can make decisions without interference from Parliament or courts would be a good way of governing the country. That figure is up from 55% in 2017. Whither democracy?

Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author. The views expressed are personal
As China accelerates its bid for hegemonic control over Asia, the Philippines  vastly outnumbered and outgunned in economic and military might by its giant northern neighbour  is desperately attempting to put up a spirited defence of its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national honour in what it terms as the West Philippine Sea and China calls and claims in entirety as the South China Sea.

This David-Goliath fight is not a routine bilateral dispute. The regional order in the Indo-Pacific and, by extension, the world order itself is at stake. The increasing tempo of harassment and browbeating of inferior Filipino boats and ships by the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy in locations like the Second Thomas Shoal of the Spratly Islands are meant to provoke and instil fear in smaller Asian countries.

It is a contemporary manifestation of the Greek historian Thucydidess Melian Dialogue, where the overwhelmingly powerful Athens issues an ultimatum to tiny Melos to surrender with the diktat  while the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must. Asian countries which do not accept Chinas maximal ten dash line claims face a stark choice like Melos did  concede to China or fight for existence with no guarantee of external help. Open threats by Chinese Communist Party propagandists that the Chinese Navy can leave Filipino ships riddled with bullets and retaliate without mercy or even sink them, and taunts that the US may not dare provoke a military conflict with China to defend its ally, the Philippines, indicate unambiguously that Beijing operates on the logic of might is right.

During an earlier round of tensions in 2012, China forcibly occupied the Scarborough Shoal, which falls inside the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone and never relinquished it thereafter. Since 2013, China has illegally built artificial islands over 3,200 acres throughout the South China Sea and militarised these acquisitions with weaponry to establish a fait accompli of conquest. For governments in the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan, no matter whether they adopt a conciliatory or softer approach to China or put up a tougher posture, the reality is China has been unyielding in its hunger for land and maritime resources. Beijing wants to resurrect its ancient construct of Tianxia  a hierarchical world order in which China is at the pinnacle and smaller neighbours have to kowtow before it.

Under President Xi Jinping, China believes that treating neighbours with moderation amounts to showing weakness. So far, neither direct diplomatic dialogue and negotiation with China nor appeals to international law have protected the rights of disputant countries in the South China Sea. In 2016, the Philippines won a case in an international tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which ruled that Chinas claims were illegal. This did not deter Chinese expansionism or give Beijing even a minor pause in its rapacious conduct.

Given Chinas Communist ideology  which believes in the superiority of material forces  and its self-glorifying nationalism that seeks to impose its will over Asia, the only practical way to block a Sino-centric regional order is through counter-mobilisation of sufficient military might. Washingtons partnerships in the Indo-Pacific do keep some checks on Beijing, but the latter has pushed and poked its way to attaining a predominant position in the region. Indeed, the Quad grouping of the US, Australia, Japan, and India has made bold strides. The AUKUS alliance of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US, is taking shape. But these formations have not yet produced any direct benefit for the Philippines, Vietnam or Taiwan against a marauding China.

The Quad countries official stance that they are not a military alliance and are not aiming for containment of China has not helped the cause of smaller Asian nations. There is a two-way loop of hesitation at play. Small Asian countries are unsure of how credible the US or Quad could be in getting down to real action in the maritime domain. Quad countries also want to maintain ambiguity to avoid getting dragged into a war with China.

Unless this mutually reinforcing loop of hesitation is overcome, China cannot be halted in its tracks. Xi is a practitioner of Mao Zedongs maxim that power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Quad, AUKUS and bilateral strategic partnerships in Asia must have a strong security component. Indias sale of BrahMos anti-ship missiles to the Philippines and its unequivocal firm support for the national sovereignty of the Philippines are steps in the right direction. Securitisation of regional partnerships is the only hope. Otherwise, China will keep seizing territory and squeezing adversaries until the world order is remade as per its wishes.

Sreeram Chaulia is the author of the forthcoming book, Friends: Indias Closest Strategic Partners. The views expressed are personal
(Bloomberg) -- Gucci owner Kering SA is spending 1.3 billion ($1.41 billion) for a property on Milans toniest shopping street. Gucci owner Kering SA is spending 1.3 billion ($1.41 billion) for a property on Milans toniest shopping street. (Pexel)

The French luxury group said Thursday that its buying Via Monte Napoleone 8 from a unit of Blackstone Property Partners Europe.

Also Read: The end of luxury? Gucci slowdown sends alarms: Turned itself into a streetwear brand but later

The 18th-century property covers five floors and boasts more than 5,000 square meters of retail space, making it one of the largest on the famed street, according to Kering.

The building already hosts a location of Cova, the high-end Italian cafe brand owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, as well as fashion label Prada.

Via Monte Napoleone, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world, has an impressive roster of top-end fashion, jewelry and footwear sales locations.

The announcement Thursday follows Kerings January move to purchase a building on Manhattans Fifth Avenue for $963 million, as luxury retail real estate purchases heat up.

Also Read: Gucci, Prada and Tiffanys bet big on property

Paris-based Kering, which derives two-thirds of its profit from the Gucci brand, called the Milan investment part of a selective real estate strategy, aimed at securing key highly desirable locations for its labels.

The firm said it wants to manage its real estate portfolio with the short- to medium-term objective of retaining a stake in prime assets alongside co-investors in dedicated vehicles.

Also Read: Gucci owner pays 8,000 crore to buy building near Trump Tower in New York City

Kering will only purchase exceptional buildings in a limited number of cities if they create value for the groups labels, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Duplaix said in February. Duplaix said that Kering had about 1,800 selling points yet owned only about three flagships.

The groups objective is to own up to 15 buildings, the executive said at the time. Were talking about 1% of our network, he said. Duplaix also said the company was exploring partnerships with financial funds to become more agile while limiting exposure to real estate. Kering has no plans to become a property developer, CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said at the time.

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Scientists have developed the largest digital camera ever constructed on Earth, boasting an astonishing 3,200 megapixels. This groundbreaking creation, known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera, serves as the focal point of Chile's Vera Rubin Observatory and is poised to survey the southern skies. The camera weighs 2.8 metric tons. LSST camera

It is set to delve into various realms of astronomical inquiry, including the universe's composition, its expansion, solar system dynamics, and the enigmatic properties of dark energy and dark matter.

Measuring 5.1 feet in width, the optical lens of the camera will capture 15-second exposures of the sky at intervals of 20 seconds, employing automatic filter changes to observe light across a spectrum ranging from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared. Moreover, the camera will serve as a sentinel, detecting transient phenomena for further analysis by astronomers, facilitating real-time monitoring of dynamic celestial events in the southern hemisphere.

READ | Three companies in the running for NASA's next Moon rover

"The data collected by the LSST camera and Rubin will be really groundbreaking. It will enable really incisive studies of the expansion of the universe and dark energy," Aaron Roodman, SLAC professor and Rubin Observatory Deputy Director and Camera Program Lead, told Space.com.

The LSST survey will allow us to see billions of galaxies, an estimated 17 billion stars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way and millions of solar system objects, he added.

Commencing in early 2025, as the $800 million camera captures its inaugural images, it will systematically survey the sky every three days, enabling scientists to achieve unprecedented advancements in their exploration of the cosmos.

Bruno Dias, president of the Chilean Society of Astronomy (Sochias), said that researchers will transition from thoroughly studying individual stars to analyzing thousands of stars simultaneously.

The project reinforces Chile's leading role in astronomical observation. The South American nation hosts one-third of the world's most advanced telescopes and is renowned for its exceptionally clear skies.

(With AFP inputs)
Those headlines simply write themselves. If you claim to be concerned about data privacy and still largely relying on web services by tech giants (thats Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) and social media platforms (X, TikTok, Meta and so on), your approach needs a rework. We seem to have reached a point where it is clear big tech doesnt care about lawsuits, the settlements it has to dish out and the regular grilling sessions with regulators in the US, EU and other countries. Your web browser history, photos and documents stored on the cloud, the apps on your phone and how you use them or quite simply your message conversations, nothing is as private as you expect it to be. Some online services are better than others, but thats the only silver lining to a dark, very dark cloud.

Here's a snapshot Id like you to contemplate. In December 2022, Facebook parent Meta agreed to a $725 million privacy lawsuit settlement for giving third parties access to data without user consent. This sounds similar to 2019, when Google and YouTube agreed to pay $70 million to settle a lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for collecting personal information of children using the services, without the consent of their parents.

Data irrespective of the user, weighed against millions of dollars.

In June last year, Microsoft settled a lawsuit for illegally collecting the personal information of children using the Xbox services without any consent from the parents, for $20 million. In July, another lawsuit for collecting user information even in Edge browsers private mode. In January this year, OpenAI and Microsoft were sued by authors Nicholas Basbanes and Nicholas Gage for using their work to train artificial intelligence (AI) models without their permission. American author and comedian Sarah Silverman joined later.

In case you are wondering, Microsoft Edges web browser has a private browsing mode that, as the name suggests, shouldnt be retaining any data that can be tracked. It is the same with Googles Chrome browser too. Numbers by research firm TechMonitor indicate that between the years 2015 and 2021, $30 billion worth of antitrust fines too have been imposed on big tech companies.

The craving for data is relentless. Do you think thats all for today? Just this week, a class action lawsuit filed against Google by users in 2020 accusing the tech giant of illegally collecting user data on the Chrome web browser in Incognito Mode, is nearing settlement: Google has agreed to destroy the data it had wrongfully collected.

Just when will this stop? Attempts have been made by regulators globally, in the US and now in an even stricter avatar, in the EU. Your answer perhaps is best summarised by American Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) who said in January that these hearings have been happening for years, but nothings changed. And it wont because the foundations of most popular web services (free to use too) rely on data you share, which is then monetized in different ways to serve you targeted advertisements. Remember Gmail, which wasnt joking when launched on April 1, 2004? Fast email and 1GB cloud storage (then 100 times more than its rivals Hotmail and Yahoo), for free.

The caveat? Email scanning to serve you ads. There wasnt an opt-out then, and there isnt a true opt-out now, though methods have evolved across more services. Ecosystems, rather. Even if you pay every month (or annually) for a Google One subscription, the basics dont really change. And it isnt just Google or its broad range of services. Those uncannily precise advertisements on Facebook and Instagram about something you browsed on Amazon a few moments ago? Thats you being tracked.

Where we are, and where were headed

There have been some solutions incoming, such as Apples App Tracking Transparency across iOS for iPhone, iPadOS for iPad and macOS for Mac computing devices, that requires a users explicit permission to allow an app to track the users browsing and data across other apps and websites  if you dont give that consent, the app is largely locked down. Those ads become less targeted. Google responded with Privacy Sandbox for Android last year, though the mileage you get will vary.

The occasion for Senator Tillis observation was a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the turn of the year, summoning CEOs of social media platforms including TikTok, Snap, Meta, X. They had been called to testify on each companys failure to protect children using their platforms. Metas Mark Zuckerberg apologised and confirmed an Instagram version for children isnt in the works. Snapchats Evan Spiegel offered condolences to parents whose children were believed to have obtained deadly illegal drugs via the platform. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew pointed out that keeping teens safe online requires a collaborative effort and collective action.

Companies such as Proton are trying to create a privacy-focused ecosystem, complete with Mail, Drive, Calendar and a VPN, to give Google, Microsoft and Apple users an alternative. Theres also the DuckDuckGo app tracking protection available on Android phones, which blocks trackers on apps, to get a fair idea of what youre up to. And for individual services, such as a VPN or virtual private network to keep encrypt your web activities to lock out snooping, there are worthy examples such as the ExpressVPN app thats available across devices including smartphones, Mac, Windows, Linux and even installable directly on Wi-Fi routers.

A research by Security.org in February this year caught my attention. Web platforms try and collect your activity data such as search terms, browsing history, purchase activity online, videos watched, articles read and so on, which are then paired with unique identifiers including internet protocol (IP) addresses, device type, date and time as well as location, and often personal information such as name, username, email address and payment information. All this helps in creating an individuals virtual profile.

If nothing else, the data privacy problem is only about to get worse. Generative AI tools, including chatbots such as OpenAIs ChatGPT, Microsofts Copilot and Googles Gemini are gaining rapid traction, and therefore by definition, the next hotbeds for data collection. It is not surprising that many organisations globally are restricting the use of generative AI tools on work machines, with the fear data may be leaked in some form to the cloud. When the US Congress stepped in late last week to ban the use of Microsofts Copilot on government-issued devices citing the threat of House data leaking online, you know things are serious.

Vishal Mathur is the technology editor for the Hindustan Times. Tech Tonic is a weekly column that looks at the impact of personal technology on the way we live, and vice-versa. The views expressed are personal.
Patricia Eriksson, a resident of Sweden, flew to Nagpur on April 3 in the hopes of finding her biological mother. The 41-year-old was born in February 1983 to a 23-year-old unwed mother in Daga Hospital. She was adopted by a Swedish couple a year later from an orphanage. Snapshot of Patricia Eriksson. (X/@ANI)

"The kids in school started to explain that they have their mother's hair and father's nose...That was a hard time. I wanted to look like someone (mom and dad). Then I realised I couldn't do the same...," Eriksson told ANI.

While talking about how hard it was for her, she said to ANI, From a child's perspective, you cannot compare yourself to your mother. You are just put in a place where you don't look like anyone. So that's why my thought (of searching for my biological mother) started in childhood. It's been a tough time...I hope this can lead to something more. (Also Read: Womans moving note to daughters birth mother goes viral)

Watch the video of Errikson here:

Erikkson began her search for her biological mom in 2022. It was in 2022, when she made a short visit to her elder sister, who is a Pune-based social worker and 'roots search' expert, Anjali Pawar. However, her short trip was unsuccessful.

Advocate Anjali Pawar appealed to anyone who used to live in Shantinagar in 1983 and knows anything about her parents to come for help. (Also Read: UK mother gives birth to twins 22 days apart in different hospitals, baffles doctors)

"We are helping Patricia in her search. When we received this case in 2022, we first contacted Shradhanand Ashram and verified the documents. Anyone who used to live in Shantinagar in 1983 and knows her or knows about Shanta and Ramdas, we appeal to them to come forward and help us...Patricia wants to meet her mother once," Pawar said to ANI.
A man shared a post on X claiming that one of his friends was rejected based on his earnings in an arranged marriage setting. As per the X user, a woman turned down the man's engineer friend, citing that his salary was too low. A post on X about a woman rejecting an engineer based on his salary has gone viral (Representative image). (Unsplash/@kography)

The X user also added that his friend was "rejected for an arranged marriage by a girl who left her job last year because she felt exhausted, and now she's not doing anything now.

In a tweet on the same thread, he added, The reason for rejection is that the boy's salary package is less, and the girls family wants a minimum 25 LPA package.

Take a look at the tweets here:



The post was shared a day ago. Since then, the share has collected more than 5.1 lakh views. The tweet has further accumulated more than 3,900 likes. People posted varied comments while reacting to the post.

What did X users say about this viral tweet?

It's fine. Whats wrong with having expectations? Also, its a win for the boy, as she clearly reveals her expectations before marriage. Now, he will be on his way to making 25 LPA in the next 2-4 years (hopefully) and marry a different girl who expects him to make 5 LPA, commented an X user.

8 LPA is way too low if they have to live in a metro city. At Least 15 LPA is mandatory, expressed another.

That's rough, but there's someone out there who will appreciate him for who he is, shared a third.

Girl is right in her expectations. I'm curious to know what she would do if the 25LPA per guy loses his job down the lane. There are also chances that this 8 LPA guy can progress and get more than 25 LPA in a few years. How can volatile employment be a critical criterion, posted a fourth.

Don't condemn people who share their preferences openly. It's much better than having problems post-marriage, wrote a fifth.
A 19-year-old Brazilian student has been ranked the worlds youngest billionaire, according to the Forbes Billionaires List 2024 that was released recently. She has taken the youngest billionaire title from Italian teen Clemente Del Vecchio who is just two months older than her. Livia Voigt is the granddaughter of Brazilian businessman who cofounded an electrical motors manufacturing company. (Representational image)

Who is Livia Voigt?

Livia Voigt is the heiress of one of Latin Americas largest electrical motors manufacturers.

She is the largest individual shareholder at WEG, a company that her grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt co-founded.

Currently a university student, Livia Voigt is not yet a part of the companys board, Forbes reported.

She has a net worth of $1.1 billion.

Her elder sister, Dora Voigt de Assis, is one of the seven new names among the 25 youngest billionaires featured on the Forbes Billionaires List this year. The 26-year-old has a net worth of $1.1 billion. She earned an architecture degree in 2020.

Who is Clemente Del Vecchio?

Clemente Del Vecchio, meanwhile, has more assets than his Brazilian counterpart, with a net worth of $4.8 billion.

The 19-year-old from Italy has been ranked the world's second youngest billionaire, according to the Forbes Billionaires List 2024.

He is the son of Leonardo Del Vecchio, who owned EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyeglasses company.

The teenager's father, who was one of Europe's wealthiest men, died in 2022 at the age of 87. The young man inherited a 12.5 per cent stake in his fathers company after his death.

Clemente is one of the six children of Del Vecchio, whose eyeglasses company which owns top eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. His father was married thrice and Clemente is his son from the third wife.

Clemente Del Vecchio is based in Italys Milan.

India's youngest billionaires

In India, the youngest billionaires on the Forbes rich list this year are Zerodha founders Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, and Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal.
Atlantans are revelling in their city's unique digital identity today, April 4th, as they celebrate 404 Day. From tech giants to local restaurants, the whole city is getting in on the fun. Atlanta celebrates 404 Day on April 4 every year

Why celebrate 404 Day?

Atlanta celebrates 404 Day on April 4th every year. The date 4/04 mirrors the HTTP error code 404 Not Found, indicating the requested web page cannot be found. And, of course, Atlantas area code is 404. Atlanta celebrates its booming tech industry alongside its area code on April 4.

What to do in Atlanta for 404 Day?

The city offers a plethora of ways to join the 404 Day festivities

Immerse yourself in tech: The Georgia Tech College of Computing is hosting a day of special events and exhibits, showcasing the latest advancements and Atlanta's thriving tech scene.

Indulge in 404-themed treats: Many restaurants and bars are offering creative 404-themed dishes and drinks. Get your hands on a "404 File Not Found" burger or a refreshing "Page Not Found" cocktail!

Score some deals: Businesses across Atlanta are hosting online contests and giveaways. You might just snag some amazing 404 Day swag or discounts.

Share your Atlanta love: Take to social media and share your favourite memories of Atlanta using the hashtag #404DayATL.

There is an Instagram page dedicated to all things 404, @404day, where all the things happening around Atlanta are being updated.

Not just that, there is even a website page dedicated to 404 day where you can buy tickets, get to know about shows happening around the city, and buy some merchandise as well.

People are showing their excitement with comments such as, "beautiful weather too Atliens".

Even those who have left the city showcase their excitemnt , with one user commenting, "@404day Will y'all be broadcasting it live on Instagram like y'all did last year for those who don't live in the city anymore?"

and others pouring in their enthusiasm with a stream of comments like this one, Cant wait!! 

So, if you're in Atlanta today, be sure to join the 404 Day celebrations. There's something for everyone, and it's a great way to experience something new.
Geneva, Actor Bhumi Pednekar is one of the five Indians who have been recognised as part of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Community: The Class of 2024. HT Image

The international organization has come out with its list of nearly 90 changemakers under 40 who are shaping the future and accelerating positive change through their groundbreaking work across the fields of public health, economic development, technology and sustainability.

In a statement, the World Economic Forum said the 2024 list is made up of a remarkable group of rising stars from politics, business, civil society, the arts and academia.

Besides Pednekar, the list also includes Adwaita Nayar, CEO of Nykaa Fashion; Arjun Bhartia, Director at Jubilant Group; Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director at Vedanta Limited; and Sharad Vivek Sagar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dexterity Global.

Pednekar, known for starring in critically-acclaimed movies such as "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha", "Bala", "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" and "Badhaai Do", said she is thrilled to join the 2024 Class of Young Global Leaders with the World Economic Forum.

"Always believed in the power of collective action and I'm looking forward to making impactful changes for the planet alongside fellow WEF leaders. Together, let's pave the way for a greener and sustainable future. #ClimateWarrior #YGL24 #WEF24," the actor said on X.

For the past two decades, the Forum of Young Global Leaders has been at the forefront of cultivating a unique community of leaders who are dedicated to tackling the world's most pressing problems head-on, according to the World Economic Forum.

As we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Forum of Young Global Leaders, we are thrilled to welcome our newest cohort of Young Global Leaders. They represent the future of leadership, and we are confident that their perspectives and innovative ideas will contribute significantly to addressing the world's most pressing challenges, said Ida Jeng Christensen, Head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders.

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Beijing, China has held a major conference of influential Asian Buddhist monks where its top monk has affirmed that Beijing has played a pivotal role in the promotion of Buddhism globally. HT Image

The conference on Buddhism was part of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference held in Boao, Hainan province in the last week of March.

In this years forum, the Chinese Buddhist monks held an interactive session organised for the first time with their counterparts from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea, according to a report from the official media here.

At the conference organised by the Chinese think tank, there was no representation from India, from where Buddhism came to China in 68 AD.

In recent decades, the ruling Communist Party of China has permitted the Sinicised or Chinese version of Buddhism to be practised at home after the crackdown on Buddhist temples during its founder leader Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 aimed at purging remnants of capitalists and traditional elements from the society.

Beijing also seeks to project it globally as part of its efforts to tap into Buddhisms global influence.

Speaking at the meeting in Boao, Yan Jue, president of the Buddhist Association of China said "Chinese Buddhists have, through the large-scale translation of scriptures, elucidation of Buddhist thought, establishment of sects, institutional innovation and cultural integration, embodied the original intention of the Buddha, inherited the essence of Buddhism, enhanced the compatibility of Buddhism with East Asian cultures, civilisations, societies and people, and promoted the spread of Buddhism to countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam".

His deputy Yin Shun said China played a pivotal role in promoting the religion globally, state-run China Daily reported this week.

"Buddhism, followed by a significant portion of Asia, is the oldest religious tradition advocating peace, he said.

When Buddhism was introduced to China, it integrated with native Confucian and Taoist philosophies, creating a uniquely Chinese form of Buddhism. This tradition spread to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas and beyond, becoming an influential force in promoting global peace. Throughout history and today, China has played a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism," he said.

China as part of its promotion of Buddhism made Sanskrit and Buddhist studies as part of academic courses in its prominent universities.

Sanskrit studies in China are on the upswing, over 2000 years after the ancient Indian language came to the country along with Buddhism, according to Wang Bangwei, a well-known Chinese scholar in Sanskrit and Director of Sino-Indian Buddhist studies, Institute of Oriental and Indian Studies of Peking University a senior Professor of Peking University.

The Indian Buddhist monk Kumarajiva was instrumental in translating Buddhist sutras into Chinese language during his stay in China over 2000 years ago and earned the royal title of National Teacher of China.

He was the first among the numerous scholars who laid a firm foundation for civilisational links between the two countries, scholars from both countries said here.

The Sanskrit tradition and its development were kept alive by numerous Chinese scholars like Fa Xian and Xuan Zang and others who visited India.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
A French court on Wednesday sentenced Audrey Mondjehi to a 30-year jail term for helping an Islamist militant who killed five people in a 2018 attack on a Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg. HT Image

The 42-year-old was the main defendant among four accused of helping Islamist militant Cherif Chekatt, who shot and stabbed shoppers at the market and was killed by police after a 48-hour manhunt.

Prosecutors said Mondjehi, who is of Ivory Coast origin, helped Chekatt obtain a gun for the attack in a square in front of Strasbourg cathedral on December 11, 2018.

Chekatt killed five people, including a Thai tourist and an Italian journalist, and wounded 11 people before he was wounded and escaped in a taxi.

He was killed in a shootout two days later after hundreds of police and security forces launched a manhunt. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, and a video of Chekatt pledging allegiance to the group was found at his home.

Mondjehi was found not guilty of complicity in the "terrorist murders" however as the court said he did not know what the gun was to be used for.

Mondjehi was one of four defendants in the trial held before a special court in Paris.

Two other men were found guilty of playing a minor role in helping Chekatt and were given jail terms of up to five years. A third defendant was acquitted.

Mondjehi was a former prison cellmate of Chekatt, who the court was told was a hardened criminal who had been on a list of security risks.

Prosecutors said the two had a close relationship in the months leading up to the market attack.

"I think deeply and feel a lot of sadness for all the victims. All my life I will regret what happened," Mondjehi told the court in his final statement on Thursday ahead of the verdict.

"I would never have thought that he would have done that, I never thought that he was radicalised," he said.

While defence lawyers acknowledged Mondjehi had admitted to helping obtain the weapon, they insisted he was unaware of Chekatt's plans and so should not be convicted of terrorism.

The trial, which began in February, is the latest legal process over a number of jihadist attacks in France since 2015. Most of the actual attackers were killed, but a number of people have faced trials for complicity.

In December 2022 eight suspects were convicted over a 2016 attack in the Mediterranean city of Nice, when an Islamist in a truck killed 86 people.

In June 2022, 20 defendants were convicted over their roles in attacks in the French capital in November 2015 when 130 people were killed.

ab/tw/bc

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The two Indians reported to have gone missing on Wednesday, after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan, were found shortly after midnight, India Taipei Association (ITA) official said on Thursday. A fire broke out at the chemistry department at National Dong Hwa University on Wednesday. (Rageshnath/Sourced by HT)

The Indians were found. They were outside in the Tarako National Park and were riding in a car. Since the road got blocked due to the quake, they couldnt travel. However, in the evening they reached the hotel around midnight, he said.

The earthquake, Taiwans worst in the past 25 years, on Wednesday, killed 10 people, injured about 1,067 individuals and trapped over 600 others.

Fire broke out at Hualien University

Indian-origin PhD student Rageshnath studying in Taiwans Hualien, which was one of the most affected areas in Wednesdays quake, said that he felt like it was his last day and he feels like he got his life back.

A student of the Physics department of the National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), Rageshnath was in his colleges physics lab when the earthquake hit the country. So, it happened in the morning. I went to the lab and was doing some work and the quake began between 7.55am and 8am.

A 20-meter bridge fell in Hualien. (Stanislaus Irudayaselvam/Sourced by HT)

While Taiwan is used to earthquakes, the 7.2 magnitude quake left severe damage in several cities including Hualien, the countrys capital Taipei and nearby areas.

Rageshnath said that he felt like usual when the earthquake hit first. However, he only realised the severity of the situation when the building began shaking rigorously. Speaking to Hindustan Times, he said, I got out of the lab and saw no one outside since the students usually arrive around 8.30am. The building was shaking like a boat. Since the lab is on the 4th floor, it was worse in height. I felt like it was my last day.

He added that due to a short circuit and possible spillage of chemicals, a fire broke out. After the earthquake, I went inside the lab and there was a short circuit. I am not sure if it was because of the short circuit or chemicals but a fire started. I went up again to the lab and another earthquake came. I got really panicked and tried to extinguish the fire with 7-8 cylinders, but it kept raging. Everything in the lab was collapsed. I couldn't see or do anything. By this time, a few people came, but nothing happened.

While the fire department arrived in an hour, Rageshnath said that another fire broke out in the universitys Chemistry department. Even the firefighters couldn't do anything. I think the whole chemistry department has gone away.

Hualien, the worst hit by the earthquake, saw about 300 aftershocks. As per Rageshnath, there are less than 100 Indians in Hualien.

Rageshnath said that the students were extremely worried since all the data and research work was destroyed in the lab. We lost almost everything.

Like Rageshnath, several Indians were shocked to experience the intensity of the quake.

Damages occurred

Stanislaus Irudayaselvam, a Catholic priest in Taiwan and a professor at the FuJen Catholic University, said that while he has experienced several quakes in the past 13 years in the country, this one was longer and stronger. It lasted for over a minute, he said.

Irudayaselvam, who is currently in Hualien, said that the city was completely cut off from the capital Taipei. Hope the trains will start running tomorrow. The land route may take a few days. A bridge of 20 meters has fallen. Its really terrible as Im typing I feel another aftershock. It has been shaking from this morning, has been about 10 hours now, all aftershocks. We had hundreds of them. A house about half a KM from here also fell this morning [Wednesday].

He said that the epicentre of the quake was Chongde, about 20 km from Hualien.

A house collapses in Hualien, one of the most affected areas. (Stanislaus Irudayaselvam/Sourced by HT)

For several, the tremors on Wednesday brought back memories of the 1999 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which killed over 2,400 people and damaged around 5,000 buildings.

Girish Hiranandani, an export firm owner and a restauranteur in Taipei, said that the last such quake was the Jiji earthquake. He said, Fortunately, today the damage to the residences and the properties, as well as the infrastructure was not as devastating as the one we had in past. The major inconveniences that people in general had to go through were the sudden halt of the train and metro services.

The India Taipei Association issued a circular across the Indian diaspora with helpline numbers and advisory. The circular read, In view of the earthquake striking off the coast of eastern Taiwan during the early hours of Wednesday, 03 April 2024, the following emergency helpline has been set up by India Taipei Association for assistance, guidance, or clarification to all Indian nationals living in Taiwan: Mobile: 0905247906 Email: ad.ita@mea.gov.in. All Indian nationals are further requested to follow advisories issued by the local authorities. ITA also request Indian nationals in Taiwan to share this advisory through their local networks for wider circulations.

Speaking about the Indian diaspora being adversely affected, ITA said it only knew of one or two people who sustained minor injuries on their hands and faces.

Talking about the severity of the earthquake, he added, If the earthquake went on for over 8-10 mins continuously, things here would begin to collapse. Houses were shaking and everything was falling down. Taiwanese people are extremely used to these earthquakes but the quake was so strong that the infrastructure was affected even though buildings here are built earthquake-proof. If the same intensity would happen in India, everything would collapse. In our country, illegal floor constructions do take place, but they are extremely strict in Taiwan in that sense. They have proper protocols to follow since the country is extremely prone to earthquakes.

People come out of their houses as aftershocks occur across Taiwan. (Stanislaus Irudayaselvam/Sourced by HT)

Irudayaselvam also said that while the buildings were made to withstand quakes, several houses fell in Hualien alone due to the high magnitude of the quake.

Hiranandani said, Also, there are areas where there have been landslides, which have disrupted the traffic and the connection to the other major cities from Hualien. Power outages and Internet services have also been disrupted.

Living in Taiwan for about 30 years now, Hiranandani said that he saw a vast difference in infrastructure damage and loss of lives from the 1999 quake. He said, Today it is nothing even close to that. We did not see much damage and none of the services have been disrupted for beyond a few hours in Taipei. Of course in Hualien, the rescue work is in progress and I think they have a lot more to do as some of the people are still trapped in establishments which have collapsed but Im sure the government is doing their best.

Dr. Susan Zachariah, who works at Yung Hsin Contain Industry, said she was riding a scooter when the quake occurred. Even though we have had earthquake experiences before I felt it much more strongly this time, I saw buildings shaking this time got a bit scared and stopped my scooter aside in an open area. I have been living since 2016 here. So normally we take this casually but this time we all got afraid and the shake was not just once today, it continued. So everyone came out of offices and buildings, normally we dont care about shakes.

Response from authorities

As per the ITA, about 4,000 Indians are working in Taiwan and the country hosts about 1,500 students. Several Indians said that the ITA contacted them within hours of the earthquake occurring. Members of the Malyali association in Taiwan also contacted Rageshnath.

Buildings tilt in most affected areas in Taiwan. (Stanislaus Irudayaselvam/Sourced by HT)

The authorities were quick in their response and evacuation process, said Irudayaselvam. If it had happened in any other countries, it would have had hundreds of casualties.

An Indian-origin Taipei resident Nirzari Gupta said, Taiwan authorities quickly released advisories, people in most of the cities got an emergency earthquake alert from Taiwan government a few seconds before the main quake started and another alert for tsunami as well. I also saw many public servants performing damage assessments of public areas and metro stations throughout the day.

Mental impact

Gupta said that while the damage was low, the experience left a mental impact. The experience was very scary and left a mental impact on some of us. We also experienced aftershocks for the entire day.

She added, My parents were extremely worried when I informed them about it. And after videos started coming up on News channels, other relatives also started reaching out about my well-being.
Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Israel would "be slapped" after an air strike on the Iranian consular annex in Damascus killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Reuters)(via REUTERS)

"The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution," Khamenei said in a speech to the country's officials in Tehran.

"Desperate efforts like the one they committed in Syria will not save them from defeat. Of course, they will also be slapped for that action," he added.

Read more: First batch workers from India under G2G agreement arrives in Israel to boost construction industry

Iranian state media said 13 people were killed in the strike in which, according to Tehran's ambassador, Israeli F-35 jets fired six missiles that levelled the five-storey consular building adjacent to the embassy.

Iran said the strike killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members, including two commanders of the Quds Force -- the Guards' foreign operations arm -- Brigadier Generals Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Zahedi, 63, had held a succession of commands in the force in a Guards career spanning more than four decades.

Iran's official media said the funeral ceremony of the IRGC members would be held on Friday, coinciding with the annual Quds Day, which will see Iranian people march in support of Palestinians and against Israel.

Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say in major state policies, urged people to take to the streets for this year's event.

"If in previous years, Quds Day was celebrated only in Islamic countries, this year, most likely, Quds Day will also be celebrated in non-Islamic countries."

He also said he hoped for a day that "the Muslim world can celebrate the destruction of Israel."

Israel has long fought a shadow war of assassinations and sabotage against Iran and its armed allies, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and other militant groups.

Regional tensions have soared since the Gaza war erupted with Hamas's October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The Palestinian militant group is backed by Tehran, although Iran has denied any direct involvement in the attack.

Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 32,975 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
President Emmanuel Macron believes France and its Western and African allies "could have stopped" Rwanda's 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, the presidency said Thursday. France's President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP)

In a video message to be published Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide, Macron will emphasise that "when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act", said a French presidential official, asking not to be named.

The president believes that at the time the international community already had historical experience of witnessing genocide with the Holocaust in World War II and the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

Macron will say that "France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, did not have the will" to do so, the official added.

The president will not be heading to Kigali to attend commemorations of the genocide this Sunday alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and France will instead be represented by Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.

Macron, during a visit to Rwanda in 2021, recognised France's "responsibilities" in the genocide and said only the survivors could grant "the gift of forgiveness".

But he stopped short of an apology and Kagame, who lead the Tutsi rebellion that ended the genocide, has long insisted on the need for a stronger statement.

A historical commission set up by Macron also concluded in 2021 there had been a "failure" on the part of France under former leader Francois Mitterrand, while adding there was no evidence Paris was complicit in the killings.
The United States issued its strongest public rebuke toward Israel on Thursday since the start of its war with Hamas, warning that American policy on Gaza will be determined by whether Israel takes steps to address the safety of Palestinian civilians and aid workers. US President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023. (REUTERS)

President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel must take immediate action to reduce civilian harm and suffering, the White House said after the two leaders spoke by phone.

ALSO READ- No show at Joe Biden's iftar party, upset over Gaza many Muslim leaders turn down White House invite

Biden also told Netanyahu, in a call lasting less then 30 minutes, that an immediate ceasefire in the region was essential and called on Israel "to conclude a deal without delay" with Hamas to bring Israeli hostages home, nearly six months after the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 attack.

The White House statement reflected a sharp change in Biden's tone and, for what appears to be the first time, a set of strings attached to continued U.S. support.

By suggesting a shift in U.S. policy toward Gaza was possible if Israel did not address the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, Biden channeled his own frustration along with mounting pressure from his left-leaning political base to stop the killings and alleviate hunger among innocent civilians.

ALSO READ- Biden and Xi's two-hour phone call sets the tone for future China-US relations

Biden "made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers," the White House said in its statement.

The president also "made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps," it added.

On Monday, Israel launched an attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.

The White House has described Biden as outraged and heartbroken by the attack but, prior to Thursday's call, the president had made no fundamental change in Washington's steadfast support for Israel in its conflict against Palestinian Hamas militants.

ALSO READ- Stop it now: Joe Biden gets stern warning from wife Jill as US authorises more bombs for Israel

In Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel, as a democracy, to place the highest value on human life and increase the flow of aid to Gaza, adding that this week's "horrific attack" on World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza must be the last such incident.

"Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment," Blinken told reporters.

Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that the Israeli attack had targeted his aid workers "systematically, car by car."

Israel said on Thursday it would adjust tactics in the Gaza war after describing the attack as the result of a misidentification, and that inquiry findings would be made public soon.
A royal expert has revealed that Prince Harry has found himself in a painful place following Kate Middletons cancer diagnosis, and is regretting making revelations about his estranged family in his memoir, Spare. When you do discover that your sister-in-law has cancer and youve written stuff that cant be retracted, thats quite a painful place to be in, royal expert Tessa Dunlop told Us Weekly. Im not saying it isnt. Prince Harry regrets making revelations about royal family after Kate's cancer, an expert has said (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)(AP)

They deliberately criticize the monarchy [and then offer] themselves as an alternative to monarchy. So then when the monarchy is in trouble, we do kind of make a comparison. Can Harry and Meghan really hold themselves off as the caring example now? she asked.

Dunlop added, Theyre certainly going to have to be careful of their timing with any releases so that it doesnt look opportunistic.

That just reframes everything

Dunlop believes that Harry and Meghan Markle will now have to think before revealing anything else about their family, with both Kate and King Charles III battling cancer. When that comes creeping in the door, that just reframes everything, she said.

After Spare was released in January 2023, reports claimed Kate was shocked by the allegations against her and the other family members. As per reports, she was not going to forgive the Sussexes for their public betrayal. At the time, royal experts said that Harry will come to regret the remarks he made against his family.

Harry opened up about the bitter relationship between Kate and Meghan in the book. He even wrote about the infamous dress-fitting set-to between the women, which led to Meghan sobbing on the floor. Meg asked if Kate was aware of what was going on right now. With her father. Kate said she was well aware, but the dresses. And the wedding is in four days! Harry wrote in the book.

Harry also recounted a time when Kate lent Meghan her lip gloss, but seemed visibly taken aback when Meghan asked for it. He claimed that Kate grimaced when Meghan took the gloss by squeezing the tube and applied it to her lips.
New Delhi Two Indian nationals were reported missing on Wednesday after Taiwans biggest earthquake in at least 25 years, which killed nine people and injured more than 1,000. Emergency personnel stand in front of a partially collapsed building leaning over a street in Hualien, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan's east, on Wednesday. (AFP)

The missing Indians  a man and a woman  were last seen at Taroko Gorge, close to Hualien county, near the epicentre of the 7.4-magnitude quake, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. A search was underway to locate them, the people said.

A group of 50 workers travelling in four minibuses to a hotel in Taroko national park, named after Taroko Gorge, were reported missing, fire department officials told the media.

Taiwan is home to several thousand Indians, including 3,000 students. There were no other reports of Indians being affected by the quake, which struck offshore on Wednesday morning and triggered massive landslides.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among world leaders who expressed grief at the loss of lives and damage caused by the quake.

Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to the earthquake in Taiwan today. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. We stand in solidarity with the resilient people of Taiwan as they endure the aftermath and recover from it, Modi said in a post on X.

It is rare for Indian leaders to publicly comment on developments related to Taiwan and Modis post on X was reciprocated by both President Tsai Ing-wen and president-elect Lai Ching-te.

We are deeply grateful for your kind words and support, @narendramodi, at this challenging time. Your solidarity means a great deal to the people of Taiwan as we all work toward a swift recovery, Tsai said in a post on X.

In a separate post, Lai said: Thank you, Prime Minister Modi @narendramodi, for your heartwarming message. Your support & solidarity are a source of strength to the people of Taiwan during these trying times.

The India Taipei Association, which is Indias de facto mission in Taiwan, extend its condolences to the victims and sympathies to communities affected by the earthquake. We sincerely pray for the speedy recovery of those injured and stand ready with the people of Taiwan during these difficult times #IslandOfResilience, the association posted on X.

Taiwans foreign ministry, in a post on X, said it was touched by Modis heartfelt words of sympathy & solidarity. It added: Your compassion is deeply appreciated amid this dark hour for #Taiwan. Were thankful for the kind thoughts from #India & will remain resilient as we rebuild & recover.

The India Taipei Association said in an advisory that it had set up an emergency helpline for assistance, guidance and clarifications for Indian nationals in Taiwan. The helpline can be contacted at the mobile number 0905247906 or the email ID ad.ita@mea.gov.in.

All Indian nationals are further requested to follow advisories issued by the local authorities, the association said.
Taiwan rebuked China on Thursday, branding its actions as "shameless," following the expression of gratitude from Beijing's deputy ambassador to the United Nations for the global concern in connection with the powerful earthquake that struck the island on Wednesday. Taiwan's foreign ministry solemnly condemns China's shameless use of the Taiwan earthquake to conduct cognitive operations internationally, it said. This shows China has no goodwill towards Taiwan, the ministry added. A trapped tourist of Taroko National Park walks to an ambulance after being rescued in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Thursday.(AP)

Following the earthquake in eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, referenced it during a discussion earlier on Wednesday.

READ | Felt like this was my last day: Indians in Taiwan on strongest quake in past 25 years

"China is concerned about the damage and has expressed condolences to Taiwan and offered aid, he said, according to a transcript of his remarks carried on the Chinese mission to the U.N.'s website We thank the international community for its expressions of sympathy and concern," he said.

China asserts sovereignty over Taiwan, considering it as part of its territory, and thus claims the right to represent it internationally. This stance infuriates Taipei, given that Beijing's communist government has never governed the island and lacks authority over its leadership selection process.

Wednesday's magnitude-7.4 earthquake resulted in the tragic loss of ten lives in Taiwan. The quake also left over 1,000 individuals injured. In the hardest-hit city of Hualien, numerous residents chose to spend the night outdoors instead of risking aftershocks in their still-shaking apartments. A significant engineering effort is also underway to repair damaged roads and support leaning buildings.

READ | Taiwan earthquake: Two missing Indians found, safe, says MEA

In a remarkable rescue effort captured in video footage released by the island's central emergency operation centre on Thursday, a helicopter successfully evacuated six miners trapped in a gypsum quarry in Hualien county, near the quake's epicentre.

Taiwan has experienced more than 300 powerful aftershocks. The government has cautioned the public to remain vigilant against the possibility of landslides or rockfalls if they choose to travel to rural areas for Qingming, a two-day public holiday that commenced on Thursday.

(With inputs from Reuters)
Three former Supreme Court justices have joined more than 600 members of the British legal profession in calling for the government to halt arms sales to Israel, saying it could make Britain complicit in genocide in Gaza. Israeli soldiers stand near military vehicles, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. (Reuters)

Their call was also backed by two of the country's leading intelligence experts, who argued that Britain needed to use any leverage it could to persuade Israel, and its biggest backer the United States, to change course in the conflict.

The British government has been a staunch ally of Israel since the eruption of hostilities on Oct. 7 but Foreign Secretary David Cameron has hardened his language in recent months over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Cameron said on March 8 that Israel had to be compliant with international humanitarian law in order for Britain to grant export licences allowing arms sales to Israel, and that a judgement on that was underway and due in the "coming days".

The Foreign Office said on Thursday it kept advice on Israel's adherence to the law under review but that the content of government advice was confidential.

Senior members of Britain's legal profession said the government needed to halt sales now to avoid "aiding and assisting an international wrongful act".

"The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law," the judges, barristers and legal academics said in a 17-page letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

One of the former justices, Jonathan Sumption, told BBC Radio he was concerned the British government had lost sight of its own obligations under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called any suggestion of genocide as "outrageous", and has said Israel has an "unwavering commitment to international law".

RESISTING PRESSURE

Sunak has resisted calls to immediately halt weapons sales to Israel, saying the government adheres to a "very careful licensing regime".

But the killing of seven aid workers, including three British nationals, in Israeli airstrikes this week has ratcheted up the pressure. Israel said they were mistakenly killed.

Britain licenses the sale of British-made explosive devices, assault rifles and components for military aircraft to Israel but it is a relatively small supplier, with Israeli exports making up about 0.4% of Britain's total global defence sales in 2022, the last full-year data was available.

Two senior figures in Britain's intelligence community - former national security adviser Peter Ricketts and Alex Younger, the former head of the MI6 foreign spy service - have said those sales should be used as leverage.

Ricketts said there was "now abundant evidence" that Israel was not compliant with international humanitarian law and that a ban would send a message that could stir debate in Washington.

Younger told the BBC that Britain needed to "achieve leverage, and create incentives for more focus to be put on the issue of what is technically called collateral damage but what we would call as killing innocent civilians".

Earlier this week, Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of parliament's foreign affairs select committee, said ministers had been told by their lawyers that Israel had violated international law in its war in Gaza.

The government has in the past blocked sales to Israel, such as in 2009 when it revoked some licences and in 1982 when there was a formal restriction on weapon sales after the invasion of Lebanon.
The Department of Justice is demanding prison time for Aimee Harris, the woman who stole Ashley Biden's personal diary. On Tuesday, the DOJ urged a New York district judge to sentence her for up to 10 months. Harris sold the diary of US President Joe Biden's daughter to conservative media site Project Veritas for a hefty paycheck before the 2020 elections. DOJ seeks prison time for Ashley Biden's diary thief(AFP)

DOJ seeks to put Aimee Harris behind bars

At the time of the theft, to which she pleaded guilty in August 2022, Harris was temporarily staying at Ashley's Delray Beach, Florida, residence. The DOJ adds that in addition to stealing the diary containing highly personal entries, Harris also stole tax records, a cellphone and family photographs.

Initially, the prosecutors for the US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York sought a six-month home confinement for Harris, followed by three years of supervised release, per NY Post. Since she has moved the hearing date for her sentencing 12 times, prosecutors say that her efforts to improperly delay her punishment merits a stiffer sentence.

US Attorney Damian Williams issued a filing to District Judge Laura Taylor Swain that reads, The defendants sentence must also account for the manner in which she has abused the administration of justice throughout the pendency of this court proceeding, per the outlet.

The document adds, The defendant has repeatedly and consistently engaged in tactics to improperly delay this proceeding, including by misleading the Court with false information to justify belated and unmerited requests for adjournments, refusing to appear when directed, and failing to comply with court orders to disclose or produce certain information.

A sentence involving no period of incarceration would be wholly insufficient to reflect the gravity of the defendants conduct, including her apparent belief that she is above the law and that she need not comply with this Courts orders, prosecutors argued.
A seasoned crew of thieves executed a sophisticated heist on Easter Sunday, stealing approximately $30 million from a vault at the GardaWorld facility in Sylmar, Los Angeles. The theft went unnoticed until the following morning. Armored trucks are parked outside the GardaWorld facility in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Thieves stole as much $30 million in an Easter Sunday burglary at a Los Angeles money storage facility in one of the largest cash heists in city history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)(AP)

The money was stolen on Easter Sunday from an unspecified location in the Sylmar area, Officer David Cuellar told CNS.

The GardaWorld facility in Sylmar handles cash for several businesses in the area, sources told Eyewitness News.

The LA Times reported that very few people would have known about the cash being stored at the facility, hinting that it was a job done by seasoned burglars.

Break-In leaves no trace

The thieves were so stealthy that the safe showed no signs of a break-in from the outsideand the operators of the business were none the wiser until they opened it on Monday," the Los Angeles Times said.

According to officials involved with the inquiry, the burglars gained access to the facility through the roof and avoided setting off any alarms when they entered the money storage unit.

On Wednesday, footage of the facility revealed a big hole on the side of the building, with a mound of debris next to it. It is unknown if this damage was caused by the break-in, according to the outlet.

Law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI, are actively investigating the heist. As of now, there are no leads or suspects identified.

Largest heist in LA History?

"The heist is one of the largest in Los Angeles history and also outpaced all of the regions armoured-car thefts." Los Angeles Police Department, Cmdr. Elaine Morales.

The incident occurs nearly two years after up to $100 million in jewels and other valuables were stolen from a Brink's big rig at a Southern California truck stop.

The thieves have not been apprehended, leaving the case unsolved.
Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, criticized President Joe Biden's response to Israel's recent airstrike that killed seven aid workers, calling it "weak" and suggesting that Biden's "private anger" is insufficient without leveraging change from the Israeli government. Jon Favreau, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama has termed called Joe Biden's response to Israel's recent airstrike as weak(Getty Images via AFP)

Favreau stated, The President doesnt get credit for being privately enraged when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people. He added, These stories only make him look weak.

Favreau's comments came in response to a Politico report, citing senior officials, which indicated that Biden has no intention of altering his current Israeli policies. A source from the report described the U.S. government's reluctance to challenge the Israeli government as regrettable.

Its just rinse and repeat with the Israelis. The American political system cant or wont draw a real line with them and that is regrettable, said a senior U.S. official told Politico.

Despite his criticism og Biden's Israel policy Favreau maintains he is a Democrat supporter and would vote for Biden, I'm voting for Joe Biden, campaigning for Joe Biden, love most of what Joe Biden has done, but hate his Israel policy and want it to change. Not sure why that's hard to get.

7 World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Israeli attacks

The Israeli airstrike, which took place on Monday, targeted humanitarian aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, killing seven individuals, including a U.S.-Canadian citizen. Israel has claimed the incident was accidental and is reviewing its protocols to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

White House spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that thousands of civilians, including over 200 aid workers, have been killed in Gaza so far.

Republicans have criticized Biden for directing his anger towards Israel instead of Hamas, the group responsible for initiating the conflict in October.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) commented, How about Biden being outraged over the American and Israeli hostages being brutalized by the Hamas savages and remembering that Hamas is the cause of all of this tragedy. Biden has abandoned Israel. I have not.

While Biden has denounced Hamas and supported Israel following the terrorist group's actions, his support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has diminished as Palestinian civilian casualties continue to rise.

Biden's handling of the Israel war has also faced criticism within his own party. In several Democratic primaries, tens of thousands of Democratic voters chose to vote uncommitted or uninstructed on Tuesday night. Despite this, Biden still won all of the primaries.
A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state's 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former U.S. president argued violate his free speech rights. FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, U.S. March 9, 2024. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo(REUTERS)

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made "in furtherance of criminal activity" and are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Trump and the other defendants have been charged with racketeering and other offenses over their effort to overturn Trump's defeat in Georgia to Democratic President Joe Biden. They have pleaded not guilty.

The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces as the Nov. 5 election nears. His first trial, related to hush money payments to a porn star, is due to get underway in New York later this month.

President Trump and other defendants respectfully disagree with Judge McAfees order and will continue to evaluate their options regarding the First Amendment challenges," Steve Sadow, Trump's lead lawyer on the Georgia case, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.

The Georgia charges focus on attempts to assemble an alternate slate of presidential electors pledged to vote for Trump despite Biden's win in the state, and Trump's January 2021 phone call urging the state's top election official to "find" enough votes to overturn his narrow defeat.

McAfee's ruling is a signal he will continue moving the case toward trial even as Trump and eight co-defendants continue their efforts to disqualify Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the case. A Georgia appeals court is set to decide whether to take up that issue in the coming weeks.

McAfee said it will be up to a jury to determine if Trump and other defendants, which include his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, acted with criminal intent.

He said the defendants may be able to revive their challenge as additional evidence is revealed.

Trump has other pending challenges to the case, including a claim that he is immune from charges tied to official actions he took as president.
A New York judge has rejected Donald Trumps plea to delay his upcoming criminal trial until after the Supreme Court finally rules on the former presidents claim of presidential immunity. Back in March, Trump urged Judge Juan Merchan to delay the trial, but Merchan has said that Trump raised the argument too late. A New York judge has rejected Donald Trump's plea to delay his criminal trial with immunity defense (Photographer: Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg)(Bloomberg)

The trial will begin on April 15. Trump has been accused of and charged with falsifying business records by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on April 4, 2023.

Why did Donald Trump want to delay the trial?

Trump previously said that if the Supreme Court reviewed the scope of presidential immunity in his federal election interference case, the risk of having to re-try the case would significantly reduce. This is because the New York court failed to apply the immunity doctrine properly. The oral arguments have been scheduled on April 25.

Trumps attorneys are trying to keep some evidence out of the case pertaining to statements that he made about two key prosecution witnesses: former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels. Merchan said on Wednesday, April 4, that the former president had been on notice that prosecutors were going to use evidence of "the alleged pressure campaign" on the two of them.

The Defendant had ample notice that the People were in possession of, and intended to use, the various statements allegedly made by Defendant on social media, in public, and in various interviews. He was also well aware that the defense of presidential immunity, even if unsuccessful, might be available to him, the judge wrote, according to NBC News.

Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records related to money he had paid to Cohen. He was accused of doing so in an attempt to reimburse him for a $130,000 hush money payment he made to Daniels in 2016. Trump denied Daniels claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Cohen later pleaded guilty to related charges.

In Wednesdays ruling, Merchan noted that Trump attempted to raise an immunity defence last year while seeking to have the Manhattan district attorneys case moved to federal court. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected that effort.

The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President  a cover-up of an embarrassing event. Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a Presidents official acts, Hellerstein wrote in his ruling at the time.

Merchan said that although Trump tried to use the defence last year, he strategically waited until March 7 to raise it in the state case. Calling the delay unjustifiable, Merchan said it raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.
In a big embarrassment for the White House, President Joe Biden's iftar dinner invite was turned down by many Muslim community leaders, according to an NY Times report. Protesters pray during a demonstration in support of Palestinians, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington,. AP/PTI(AP04_03_2024_000011B)(AP)

Many of the invitees, reportedly unhappy with President Bidens support for Israels actions in Gaza, opted not to attend the iftar meal on Tuesday evening. The report claims they cited concerns over the ongoing siege affecting Palestinians.

Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American doctor who was in Gaza in January, told the media outlet, How can we talk to you about famine and starvation over bread and steak?

Also Read: Joe Biden addresses deaths of 7 World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza

White House's Iftar party had to be reorganised

Recognizing the controversy surrounding the Ramadan event, the White House cancelled the annual Iftar extravaganza and organized a smaller meal for staff and a separate meeting with Muslim community leaders. The meeting, which lasted over an hour, was attended by President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and other senior officials.

During the meeting, attendees discussed their experiences in Gaza, with one doctor showing photos of children from the region. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris expressed their desire to end the war as soon as possible. When questioned about calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, President Biden expressed concerns that Israel would resist due to hostage concerns.

Also Read: Biden-Xi phone call: US warns China on supporting Russias military industrial base

After speaking for about six minutes, Dr. Ahmad claims he left the meeting, stating, Out of respect for my community, and for the many people who are grieving and in pain, I have to walk out of this meeting. President Biden indicated he understood Dr. Ahmad's feelings, the report stated.

This event contrasted sharply with last year's White House celebration marking the end of Ramadan, which was a festive occasion with hundreds of attendees.

In recent months, the Biden administration has held several meetings with Muslim leaders to address widespread discontent over the Gaza conflict. The president's stance has upset key groups in his base, including young people, Black voters, and progressives.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged the sensitivity of Tuesday nights meeting, describing it as a "deeply painful moment for many in the Arab and Muslim communities." She stated that President Biden remains committed to securing an immediate ceasefire and increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Biden losing support in US over his Israel policy

This situation highlights the challenges President Biden faces over his stance on the Gaza conflict in the upcoming events. He is losing support of his majority vote bank that constitutes Muslims and Black community. After months of support he is now condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza, despite that, he has not acceded to demands within his party to impose conditions on arms sales to Israel.
As US President Joe Biden continues to receive backlash over his handling of the Gaza crisis, US First Lady Jill Biden issued a "no-nonsense" warning to the POTUS. Jill Biden's warning to Joe comes amidst the report that the Biden administration has authorised to hand over 1,000 500-pound bombs and more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs to Israel.(Bloomberg)

The warning comes amidst the report that the Biden administration has authorised to hand over 1,000 500-pound bombs and more than 1,000 small-diameter bombs to Israel, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

When and where was the warning issued?

According to The Mirror, Jill issued the warning on Tuesday night during a Ramadan gathering at the White House with Muslim community members. During the dinner, a guest confronted Biden, saying that his wife had denied him attending the meeting due to the president's support for Israel.

In response, Biden stated that he understood because his own wife, Jill, had put pressure on him over the matter. A witness who heard Biden stated that he took notes since they were surprised by the First Lady's staunch position on the issue.

Also Read: Joe Biden breaks silence after 7 World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

When questioned about Biden's comments on Wednesday, White House representatives claimed there was no disagreement between Jill and the President about the Israel-Hamas war. Biden and Jill have similar goals, according to a statement made by the First Lady's communications director, Elizabeth Alexander.

"Just like the president, the First Lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza. They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians."

Before leaving the Tuesday meeting, a doctor, who is Palestinian-American, raised his voice over killings in Gaza and gave Biden a note and a picture of an 8-year-old orphan from Rafah, which Israel intends to attack next.

According to doctor Thaer Ahmad, Biden responded, saying, I understand.

US approves more bombs for Israel despite global criticism

The Biden administration approved the transferring of MK82 bombs and small-diameter explosives, more than 2,000 weapons in total, on Monday. This authorisation comes at a time when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is being blasted over the recent raid on a humanitarian convoy in Gaza that led to the deaths of seven workers from the non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK). Netanyahu admitted that the humanitarian workers had been "inadvertently" singled out.

However, a State Department official said the approval was made before the Israeli raid in Gaza.

Also Read: It makes him look weak, Obama's former speechwriter chides Biden over Israel attack response

The approval's announcement coincides with mounting calls for the Biden administration to start limiting military aid to Israel.

While Biden expressed his outrage over the WCK strike and said that he will speak with Netanyahu on Thursday, Blinken said in a press conference in Paris that the United States has "a longstanding commitment to Israel's security and to helping ensure its ability to defend itself."

Over 190 humanitarian workers had already lost their lives amidst the ongoing war, reported CNN.

Biden's endorsement of Israel's military operations in Gaza, which include the sale of US arms, has angered a large number of Muslim Americans. The war began on October 7 when Hamas launched an onslaught that claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis. Over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed so far.
With the anticipation of the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, scientists are delving into the psychological effects, such as awe, that the cosmic phenomena can evoke. The eclipse, with its rare alignment of the Moon and the Sun resulting in a spectacular corona, was highly likely to trigger feelings of awe.(AP)

Defined as a sense of wonder and amazement triggered by the perception of vastness, awe has been increasingly recognised for its potential to shape human behavior and perception.

"It's an emotion you feel when you perceive something that is vast and which challenges your view of the world," explains Jennifer Stellar, a psychologist at the University of Toronto., according to BBC. "It is the feeling that you have towards an object or a person that is so extraordinary as to be beyond comprehension.

Awe, as described by Dacher Keltner of the University of California, Berkeley, can quiet the self-critical voice of the ego, empowering individuals to collaborate and perceive the deep patterns of life. Stellar adds, "Our ego guides our perceptions and decision making, but when you feel a self-transcendent emotion like awe, it diminishes the power that it has over you.

Besides fostering humility, awe may also enhance social connection. "When I have diminished focus on myself, the line between you and me can blur. I might see us as all part of the web of humanity," says Stellar.

Also Read: Total Solar Eclipse: US issues warning to pet owners; Here's why do animals freak out during cosmic event

What did the 2017 total solar eclipse tell us about human psychology?

The 2017 total solar eclipse presented a unique opportunity for researchers like Sean Goldy, who sought to study people's spontaneous reactions to such momentous natural events. Awe was anticipated to be sparked by the eclipse because of the Moon and Sun's unusual alignment, which produced a magnificent corona.

Also Read: Total Solar Eclipse: Delta offers 'path of totality' flights for up-close view, here's how much it will cost you

Goldy's analysis of social media posts surrounding the eclipse revealed intriguing insights. Those who witnessed the event were more likely to express awe, humility, and pro-social behavior. Furthermore, their language reflected a sense of collective experience, with increased use of pronouns like "we" or "us."

The effects, however, were relatively short-lived, lasting only within a 24-hour period.
Amid the furore over a massive boom in transgender children receiving drugs to change their gender in the US, a new long-term study conducted by researchers in the Netherlands state that a majority of gender-confused children grow out of that feeling by the time they are fully grown adults. Representational Image

The study was conducted by researchers in the Netherlands that tracked 2,700 children from the age of 11 to the mid-twenties, and that focused on asking them every three years about their feelings about gender.

Results showed that at the start of the research, one-in-10 children expressed gender non-contendness in varying degrees. However, by the age of 25, only one-in-25 said they were often or sometimes discontent about their gender.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the researchers concluded: The results of the current study might help adolescents to realize that it is normal to have some doubts about ones identity and ones gender identity during this age period and that this is also relatively common.

Reacting to the research, Elon Musk, never one to shy away from weighing in wrote on X: Im cool with adults doing whatever they want, so long as it doesnt harm others, but kids need to be protected at all costs.

A fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center (who was not involved in the research) told the Mail: This study provides even more reason to be skeptical towards aggressive steps to facilitate gender transition in childhood and adolescence. The fact that rates of satisfaction are lower even just a few years later suggests that for the vast majority of people, prudence and caution, rather than a rush towards permanent surgeries or hormone therapies, will be the best approach for teenagers struggling to make sense of the world and their place in it. As such, policies that prohibit gender transition for minors make a great deal of sense.

While the study is one of the longest conducted into the issue of gender in children, researchers urged caution and pointed out the limitations of the study. Firstly, the study looked at a mixture of the children from the general population and kids who received mental health care (though not related to gender per se). This would mean that the study doesnt primarily focus on children diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

The Methodology

Researchers from the University of Groningen analysed the data of 2,770 individuals through the Tracking Adolescents Individual Lives Survey. The participants were asked to respond to the statement: I wish to be of the opposite sex. The question was put to them at six different points in 15 years. They were given multiple choices as answers:

0  Not True

1  Somewhat or Sometimes True

2  Very True or Often True

Researchers tallied those who expressed gender non-contentedness with being gender aligned with their biological sex. The study, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that 78% of people had the same feelings about their gender for the one-and-half decades. Around 19% became more content with their gender while 2% became less comfortable.

The study also showed that females were likely to report being unhappy with their gender, that both increasing or decreasing non-contentedness was associated with lower self-reported self-worth, more behavioural issues and more emotional struggles.

The authors added: 'Gender non-contentedness, while being relatively common during early adolescence, in general decreases with age and appears to be associated with a poorer self-concept and mental health throughout development.'

The gender debate has been particularly intense in the WENA countries (Western Europe and Northern America) of late. JK Rowling recently challenged Scotlands new hate laws around misgendering by naming various transwomen and calling them men. Elon Musk is at the centre of the debate himself and has a personal stake as one of his children, Xavier Alexander Musk expressed her desire to change her name to conform with her gender identity. She asked her aunt not to tell Elon Musk.

She texted her aunt: Hey, Im transgender, and my name is Jenna.Don't tell my dad.

Musk had claimed that his daughter was a Communist and broke off her relationship with him because she was influenced in school in California, accusing the school of brainwashing his daughter into thinking that being rich is bad.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the United States' support for Ukraine on Thursday. During his meeting with foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels, Blinken told reporters that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. The 61-year-old diplomat also expressed his confidence in US-Ukraine ties and the support for the embattled country and its President Volodymyr Zelensky as rock solid. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a press conference on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Johanna Geron / POOL / AFP)(AFP)

Antony Blinken says Ukraine will become a member of NATO

During the press conference, Blinken also addressed the upcoming alliance's annual summit, which is set to be held in Washington in July. Our purpose of the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward, he said.

Blinken continued, We have done a lot of work on that over the last couple of days here in Brussels, a lot more work to be done between now and the summit. But we will see, I think, in the summit, very strong support for Ukraine going forward in this relationship with NATO, he added.

The US diplomat further said, But we're equally focused, as I said, on the immediate and on Ukraine's needs today, tomorrow, and the day after, to help it withstand this ongoing aggression from Russia.

Blinken's statement comes as the NATO alliance is marking its 75th anniversary. Meanwhile, Kremlin recently declared that Russia is now in direct confrontation with NATO. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Kremlin told reporters in Moscow, Relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation, per the Daily Mail.

Peskov added that NATO was already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders, per the outlet.

Blinken held back on exactly what commitments the US would declare as part of its support for Ukraine at the summit. During the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO allies agreed that Ukraine could join NATO when certain conditions are met, per The Hill.
Ahead of the US presidential elections, a group of House Republicans has introduced a bill, seeking to rename the international airport close to central Washington DC after Donald Trump. After introducing the bill, Reschenthaler spoke to Fox News Digital and hailed Trump for his leadership as the 45th president of the United States.(Getty Images via AFP)

Chief Deputy Whip U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Washington, introduced the bill on Friday along with six cosponsors, including Reps. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn; and Troy Nehls, R-Texas.

After introducing the bill, Reschenthaler spoke to Fox News Digital and hailed Trump for his leadership as the 45th president of the United States.

In my lifetime, our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump," he stated.

As millions of domestic and international passengers fly through the Dulles International Airport, he said: There is no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength than hearing Welcome to Trump International Airport as they land on American soil.

Also Read: Donald Trump's niece spells doom for Truth Social, it's destined for failure, experts agree

Democrats counter the bill: 'I'd suggest they find a federal prison'

While he said that the renaming would reflect "no better symbol of freedom, prosperity and strength", Democrats countered that it would be more fitting to name "a federal prison" in Trump's honor.

It is unlikely that the bill would become a law due to the Senate's Democratic majority and the lower house's narrow Republican majority.

After the proposal, Democrat Gerry Connolly issued a statement in response to the criminal charges that Trump is facing.

"If Republicans want to name something after him, I'd suggest they find a federal prison," he said.

Also Read: After a high Trump Media's share plummet, experts warn of risks linked to Trump

As per the proposal, the airport would be renamed as "Donald J Trump International Airport", replacing the current name which was adopted in honor of John Foster Dulles, who served as the secretary of state during Dwight Eisenhower's administration in the 1950s.

"Any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the airport referred to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference to the Donald J. Trump International Airport," the bill stated.

Know about Dulles International Airport

The White House is only about 27 miles from Virginia's Washington Dulles International Airport.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics rated Dulles 33rd out of 764 airports in the United States in terms of passenger volume in 2023. Last year, Dulles handled almost 25 million travellers between domestic and international travel.

According to the website Air Advisor, it is also the fourth-largest airport in the United States in terms of land size.
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert has been diagnosed with a condition called May-Thurner syndrome and was found to have an acute blood clot, her campaign announced on Tuesday, March 2. The 37-year-old Republican congresswoman went to the hospital after she noticed severe swelling in the upper portion of her left leg. She had to undergo surgery to remove the clot, and a stent has been placed to ensure her vein does not narrow again. What is May-Thurner syndrome, the condition Lauren Boebert has been diagnosed with? (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)(AP)

After taking time to rest as recommended by doctors, she is expected to make a full recovery with no significant concerns for her long-term health and no hindrance to her ability to perform her duties as a Congresswoman, her campaign reportedly said.

What is May-Thurner syndrome?

The website of Cleveland Clinic says that May-Thurner syndrome affects blood flow and occurs when the right iliac artery, which sends blood to your right leg, presses on the left iliac vein, which carries blood from your left leg to your heart. While some people develop no symptoms at all, others develop vein thrombosis (DVT) or blood clots in the legs, as did Boebert.

The website also says the condition is a little more common in women and people assigned female at birth. It is more common in adults between the ages of 20 and 50.

Of how common the condition is, the website says, Iliac vein compression is common, occurring in about 1 in 5 people. However, many people with iliac vein compression dont have a formal diagnosis of May-Thurner syndrome. This may be partly because most people dont have symptoms of May-Thurner syndrome unless they develop DVT.

The treatment for May-Thurner syndrome involves improving blood flow and reducing the risk of DVT. There is no way to prevent it from happening because experts are not aware of what causes it. It can even cause pulmonary embolism, which is a life-threatening complication.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 12 kilometres long tunnel under 13,700 feet high Se La on March 9 from Itanagar, the Xi Jinping regime has gone berserk. A file photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.(ANI file)

First, they publicly protested against PM Modis visit to Arunachal Pradesh stating that the state belonged to them and then on March 30 decided to give Mandarin names to 30 places in Arunachal.



ALSO READ: View: Se La tunnel will allow faster Indian response in case of Chinese aggression



External affairs minister S Jaishankar called the first move ludicrous and the MEA spokesperson called the second move senseless. This is the fourth list of names of places in Arunachal Pradesh released by the Xi Jinping regime since 2017, a move that was then triggered by the visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to Tawang.

While Jaishankar has dismissed the exercise by saying that you cannot own my house just by giving it a new name, the Chinese aggressive moves against India, Taiwan and in South China are designed to project Jinping as the great unifier before his domestic audience.

Just as Mao Zedong gave the Chinese respect, Deng Xiaoping economic empowerment, Xi wants to go down in history as the man who unified China with dreams of militarily conquering Taiwan, lording over the South China Sea and occupying Tawang, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama. This may be the sound mind game in theory but is delusional in reality.

Why did China rename 30 places in Arunachal?

The real reason behind the latest round of renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh by China is really to finger the Narendra Modi government and instigate the Opposition on the eve of the 2024 elections.

It is also a reaction to the Modi government taking decisive steps in integrating the border state with the mainland through better air and land connectivity and military upgradation of infrastructure from Tawang to Kibuthoo. The new international airport at Itanagar will lead to economic development of the state through tourist arrivals from all over the country.

Before Narendra Modi was sworn as the prime minister in May 2014, the upgradation of roads and military infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh existed on paper and plans.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) defence minister A K Antony is on record in Parliament stating that his government was not keen on developing border infrastructure all along the 3488 km Line of Actual Control as they feared the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) would use the roads to come into Indian hinterland. Even the Indian Army suffered from the 1962 hangover and efforts were made to pacify the Chinese dragon lest it breathed fire.

The renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh by China is part of the Middle Kingdom mindset of the Xi Jinping regime. It believes that China is at the center of the world and all others are tributary states. This has given rise to the Chinese military and cultural expansion in the present decade with routine violations of Taiwan air corridors, coercion of Philippines, Indonesia through aggressive PLA Navy and efforts to block Indian patrols along the Ladakh LAC.

Chinese spokespersons should do research before they swear in the name of Arunachal Pradesh as the position of the Chinese Communist Party has changed over the past decades. In 1960, the then Chinese premier Chou En Lai told his Indian counterpart that China would give up claims on the eastern sector if India accepted the 1959 line on the western sector through Kongka La. The same position was reiterated by Deng Xiaoping in 1984. But in 1987 during a vice minister dialogue, it was communicated that China will stake claim on both sectors.

While the PLA continued military nibbling at the LAC in both the sectors, the Modi government decided to give it back to them when the Chinese army transgressed into the Chumar area in September 2014 while President Xi Jinping was hosted by PM Modi in Ahmedabad.

PM Modi told President Xi bluntly that either he tells the PLA to withdraw from Chumar or he will assume that the transgression has the approval of the Chinese president.

That Arunachal Pradesh was totally off the Special Representative dialogue on boundary resolution was made clear by NSA Ajit Doval to his current counterpart Wang Yi. When Wang Yi mentioned the word Tawang during an SR dialogue, NSA Doval told him that the dialogue needs to be stopped immediately and henceforth as Tawang is not on agenda under any circumstance.

The NSA made it clear that just because his grandfather used to go for pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in Tibet without a passport, should India lay a territorial claim to Tibet. So what will India do after the fresh round of renaming?

The Modi government is currently in the election mode and hence the matter currently stands dismissed as senseless. However, the Chinese aggravation will not go unanswered as India also has the option of revisiting the strong influence of Indian civilization in Tibet with Sanskritised names of places and the foundation of Sanskrit Sutras in Tibetan Buddhism like Om Mani Padme Hum.

It will further integrate Arunachalis into mainstream to the first village in Kibuthoo with advanced military capabilities and capacities along the eastern sector for faster deployment of troops, mountain guns and BrahMos missiles. President Xi Jinping should realize that he is not dealing with India of 1962 and Narendra Modi is not Jawaharlal Nehru, who went to attend a non-aligned summit in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the midst of the 1962 war.
Mathew Miller, the US department of state spokesperson, was put on the spot during a press briefing on Wednesday when a journalist questioned him on the country taking a stand on the arrest of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal but not doing the same on arrests of Pakistani opposition leaders. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.(Youtube)

At a press briefing, the journalist said the US department of state issued daily statements on the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of assets of the Congress party. He questioned why the US has such a strong stance for Indian opposition, but maintained its silence on the political prisoners in Pakistan.

Mathew Miller refused to categorise both cases into one and said that the US wanted to see everyone in Pakistan treated with consistent rule of law and human rights.

Miller said, I would not agree with that characterisation. We have made clear on a number of occasions that we want to see everyone in Pakistan treated consistent with the rule of law, treated with respect for human rights, as is our position with respect to any country in the world.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. He is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, his judicial custody is expected to end on April 15.

EAM S Jaishankar's rebuttal to US

On Tuesday, responding to the US, Germany and the UN remarks over Indian politics, after Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, external affairs minister S Jaishankar used the word Maryada, saying that we are sovereign countries and should not be interfering in each other's internal affairs.

These are old habits. These are bad habits...The word I use is 'Maryada' among countries, we are sovereign countries. We should not be interfering in each other's internal affairs. We should not be passing comments about each other's politics, Jaishankar said at a press conference.

Stating that other countries don't hold a right to comment on India's politics, the external affairs minister said, Because once, if this becomes a rule, where do you stop? So we have been, in the cases where it has happened, we have told the diplomats of that country very clearly that we take very strong objection to it.

(With inputs from PTI)
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is issuing a warning a about new wave of Russian troops heading for the front lines.



Alongside Finish President Alexander Stubb, Zelesnkyy claimed on Wednesday that Russia plans to mobilize 300,000 new troops by June 1, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to conscript 150,000 citizens into his war effort.



Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes Russia will mobilize 300,000 additional troops by June 1 and said so during a joint press conference with Finish President Alexander Stubb.



"I can say that Russia is preparing to mobilize 300,000 additional troops by June 1," Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian military intelligence is predicting that Russia will ramp up its mobilization efforts after Russian President Vladimir Putin won a fifth term in office in March in what many called a "fixed" election.

The UK Defense Ministry believes Russia is recruiting approximately 30,000 people a month to boost its war effort.

Ukraine is also looking to mobilize troops as well and has updated a mobilization bill currently being considered in parliament. Back in December, Zelenskyy said that the original mobilization bill called for up to 500,000 additional conscripts.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 29 that this number has been "significantly reduced."

"We don't need half a million. The corresponding number that was not at the front - they will be at the front. As for the exact number, I am not ready to say how many will be mobilized," Zelenskyy said."I can say that Russia is preparing to mobilize an additional 300,000 troops on June 1," he added.

The Kremlin reportedly has said their new troops would not be sent to Ukraine, but analysts balk at that notion.

According to Andrii Kharuk, a professor at Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy, conscripts can be pressured or forced to sign contracts with the Russian army to make them eligible to be sent to the front line.

"They will put pressure on these young guys. And after signing the contracts they can be used as 'gun meat.' But not many of them are going to do this because even in the Russian regions people already know how bloody the war is here, so I think they will get about 20-25 percent of conscripts to sign contracts," Kharuk told Kyiv Post.

Krotenko wrote: "If the conscript ignores it for seven days, he becomes a criminal with all the penalties - such as fines, sanctions on operations with real estate, prohibition from holding a driver's license, etc."

Analysts also believe that Russia will use the recent terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State to bolster its ranks and stock patriotism in the war against Ukraine.

"In Moscow and other Russian cities, the number of people willing to enlist in the Russian Armed Forces under contract has significantly increased," the Russian Defense Ministry posted on Telegram, on April 3.
Amazon is restructuring its "Just Walk Out' program as it remodels the popular supermarket, according to a report

The company first announced, according to the New York Post, a cashier-less system in 2018 when it debuted the first 10,400-square-foot "Amazon Go Grocery" store near its Seattle headquarters.

The concept ushered in a new approach to grocery shopping.

Amazon Prime members would scan their member QR code, gather their chosen items, and seamlessly exit the store with a fully stocked cart, all without the hassle of traditional checkout or credit card swiping.

Users would later be notified via their Amazon account of the total amount spent.

Amazon is also eliminating its tech option, according to Bloomberg, as it refreshes existing Fresh grocery stores.

It also said it does not intend to feature the program in new locations that are set to open later this year; however, the "Just Walk Out" technology will still be offered in Amazon Go stores.

Tony Hoggett, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide grocery stores and a three-decade veteran of British retail giant Tesco, told The Information that "Just Walk Out" makes sense in smaller shops where customers are purchasing a few items but isn't ideal for larger grocery stores like Fresh.

Budget-conscious shoppers have voiced concerns about the program's practice of sending receipts via email, sometimes hours after leaving the store. They want to see what they're spending in real time.

Amazon will now rely more on its Dash Cart feature, where shoppers scan items as they go using a scanner on their shopping cart.

The smart shopping carts still allow customers to skip the checkout line, including other benefits like viewing the receipt while shopping, Amazon spokesperson Carly Golden told The Post.

"We've invested a lot of time redesigning a number of our Amazon Fresh stores over the last year, offering a better overall shopping experience with more value, convenience, and selection-and so far we've seen positive results, with higher customer shopping satisfaction scores and increased purchasing," Golden added.
A decorated Navy veteran arrested early this week after allegedly ramming his car into the FBI's Atlanta headquarters is apparently a QAnon supporter, Wired reported Wednesday.

Ervin Lee Bolling, who served in the Navy 20 years as a submarine warfare specialist, has been lilnked to social media accounts that boosted QAnon conspiracy beliefs and political positions, according to research by the nonpartisan nonprofit Advance Democracy, which was was shared with Wired.

Bolling's apparent sentiments  shared on X and Facebook, among other platform sites linked to him  expressed "love" for Donald Trump, opposition to vaccines, and the desire to "join" a militia to battle a federal stimulus bill, Wired reported.

He also appeared to express support for pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell's call to "release" the mythical "Kraken" monster in response to baseless claims of a rigged presidential election. Powell has since pleaded guilty to election interference charges.

The 48-year-old vet from Easley, South Carolina, was arrested after law enforcement officials said he drove his SUV through a final gate protecting the FBI office in suburban Chamblee. He then left the car and tried to follow an FBI staffer into the secure parking lot, according to the affidavit supporting his arrest cited by Wired.

When agents told Bolling to sit on a curb, he tried again to enter the office, and then resisted arrest, the affidavit stated.

He faces one federal count of destruction of government property, and one count of interference with government property, according to local officials and court records, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

He faces up to ten years in prison if convicted of the counts.

Officials did not reveal any information about what Bolling intended to do had he gained access to the building  or if he was armed.
A former Google programmer was sentenced, according to a report, to 14 months in prison for threatening to "kill" U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in an expletive-laden voicemail.

Neal Brij Sidhwaney, 43, of Fernandina Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty in December to transmitting an interstate threat to kill, according to federal prosecutors.

In July, Sidhwaney called the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., identified himself, and repeatedly threatened to kill Roberts in a voicemail.

"I will f kill you... go tell the f Deputy U.S. Marshals you f p. I will ftalk to them and then I'll f come kill you anyways you f c," Sidhwaney said, according to court documents.

Roberts wasn't named in the documents, but was identified in a psychological evaluation, which indicated Sidhwaney suffered from a provisional delusional disorder and unspecified schizophrenia and other psychotic disorder.

Sidhwaney originally faced up to five years in prison.
Steadfastly defiant Jan. 6 rioter Taylor James Johnatakis was handed a hefty seven-year-plus prison sentence Wednesday by a judge who criticized him for his lack of remorse and cited a recent complaining podcast.

Johnatakis has long declared that he is a "sovereign citizen" not subject to the laws of the nation, and he appeared to stand by that at his sentencing.

He was convicted in November on felony counts of obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting officers and civil disorder, as well as four misdemeanor charges in the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Ronald Reagan-apppointed Judge Royce Lamberth said he feared that Johnatakis' "lack of remorse" could lead him to violence again. Lamberth also said that while Johnatakis at times appeared to express contrition, he recently raged on a podcast about the "injustice" that Capitol rioters are facing.

Earlier during the trial Lamberth said he worried that "meritless justifications of criminal activity" such as those voiced by Johnatakis represented a "danger" to the country. He sentenced the rioter to 87 months in prison.

"This cannot become normal. ... We cannot condone the normalization of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot," Lamberth said during the sentencing, CNN reported.

Prosecutors had sought nine years in federal prison for Johnatakis. They argued that he "came equipped to organize rioters by strapping a megaphone onto his back ... led the charge" and "coordinated a violent assault on a line of police officers defending the U.S. Capitol."

Before exiting the courtroom in his prison jumpsuit, Johnatakis conceded to Lamberth: "I do honor what you do for this country," NBC reported.

He then blew a kiss to his family members in court, waved goodbye and gave a thumbs up before being led out to serve his sentence.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin vowed to hold a cell of the MS-13 criminal gang accountable for the killing of a five-year-old male correctional Belgian Malinois named Rivan, who was protecting his human colleague, Corrections Officer Kharmishia Phillip Fields, earlier this week.

Four inmates from the Sussex I State Prison - all from Latin America, and three of which have confirmed ties to MS-13 - were involved in a prison attack on Monday (Apr. 2) that left Rivan dead while protecting Fields at the scene.

Another inmate was attacked during the altercation, which prison staff eventually broke up. The inmate was taken to hospital for treatment before returning to the facility.

"God bless Rivan, a heroic K-9 who was killed in the line of duty in Virginia. These barbaric members of MS-13 will be held accountable," Youngkin said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

Read Also : New Mexico Middle School Broken Into by Migrants for 2nd Time in a Week

The dog was killed after being "repeatedly stabbed and kicked by the inmates," who were all reportedly illegal immigrants at the time of their arrest, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC).

The VADOC is mourning the line of duty death of Rivan, a K-9 killed by MS-13 gang members while heroically protecting its assigned Corrections Officer, staff, and inmates at Sussex I State Prison.



Read more: https://t.co/yA1H7wsJ2L pic.twitter.com/MQpJBRkgTK  VADOC (@VADOC) April 3, 2024

"The VADOC is mourning the line of duty death of Rivan, a K-9 killed by MS-13 gang members while heroically protecting its assigned Corrections Officer, staff, and inmates at Sussex I State Prison," the department wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a photo of the canine officer and the date of his death, euphemistically described as "End of Watch" in the security and emergency services community.

"The loss of Rivan is truly tragic, but it is important to remember he did not die in vain," VADOC Director Chad Dotson said following the attack. "He lost his life while potentially saving the lives of two people, his assigned Officer and an inmate. The VADOC will never forget Rivan's sacrifice."

Rivian, who joined VADOC in 2019, would have turned six on April 30.
A New York judge dismissed his contentions of presidential immunity in his hush money case on Wednesday. The judge ruled that Trump's defense was raised too late, eventually denying his argument.

Judge Juan Merchan's ruling eliminates another avenue for Trump to prolong his imminent hush money trial, which is scheduled to be the first criminal trial of a former president on April 15.

Trump's Bid for Immunity Rejected

Trump hasn't declared protection from the 34 allegations of paying hush money which date back to before he was elected president. He has, however, maintained that if the Supreme Court supports his claims of immunity in a different case, likely trial evidence may be left out.

Trump wants to postpone the trial until the Supreme Court rules on the basis of his claim for immunity. The date of the oral arguments is April 25. Trump's move was met with opposition from Manhattan District Attorney's office prosecutors.

The whole request of the defendant is denied due to its lateness. In a criminal case, evidence of alleged official presidential activities may not be included due to the concept of presidential immunity, according to Merchan.

The judgment says, "This Court finds that Defendant had numerous opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024."

Jury selection for the criminal trial involving hush money transactions given to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign is set to start on April 15. To all of the accusations, Trump has entered a not guilty plea.

Merchan earlier decided that Trump's attorneys may raise objections when prosecutors present evidence in court that they feel has relevance to the president's actions, but he did not go into greater detail in his decision on Wednesday, according to CNN News.

Trump's Bid for Trial Delay Denied

Trump's attorneys said in latest documents that the trial ought to be postponed indefinitely until the case's "prejudicial media coverage" disappears.

Additionally, they argue that the liberal borough's prosecutors are "attempting to give jurors an opportunity for a referendum" on Trump's victory in that election by attempting to present the case on the 2016 election.

On Wednesday, prosecutors resisted that, claiming that media attention to the historic trial of the former president is "unlikely to recede" at any moment. They attributed the notable exposure to Trump's "own incessant rhetoric," saying that it would be "perverse" to give him a delay "based on media attention he is actively seeking."

The jury selection procedure, says to the charges, will let both sides select an unbiased jury since it includes extra questions meant to screen out potential jurors who may be biased.

Trump's attorneys previously asserted presidential immunity in an unsuccessful attempt to have the hush-money lawsuit transferred from state court to federal court last year, but Merchan, in his order on Wednesday, said it was hard to believe that Trump hadn't brought up the immunity issue sooner.

Trump's argument that the allegations in the hush money accusation contained official responsibilities was rejected by the US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who said in a July ruling that "the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the President a cover-up of an embarrassing event."

The payment of hush money to an adult film actress has nothing to do with a president's official duties. Hellerstein continued, "It does not in any way represent the color of the President's official duties".

There is no clear legal precedent on whether a former president is exempt from federal prosecution for actions made while in office.

In the Washington case, the prosecutors have made clear that there is no such immunity and that none of the conduct mentioned in the indictment qualify as official acts. Both a federal appeals court and the trial judge in Washington have rendered decisions against Trump, AP News reported.
On Wednesday, renowned chef Jose Andres, the founder of the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), called out the Israeli military following the deaths of seven workers in one of its attacks, claiming that the group was "systematically" targeted "car by car."

Andres told Reuters that WCK, a nonprofit organization that feeds people in disaster zones, including Gaza, was transparent about its operations in the besieged strip.

Andres Accuses Israel of Systematically Targeting Aid Workers

The seven workers were killed in a convoy that was marked in Gaza after removing 100 tonnes of food aid from a barge.

"This was not just a bad luck situation where 'oops' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres said. "Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians."

He also disclosed to the outlet that the charity's convoy may have been the target of more than three strikes.

WCK said on Tuesday that it was stopping operations in the occupied Palestinian territory. Andres told Reuters that the charity would investigate the safety of returning to Gaza before resuming operations in the area.

The charity founder said that the US must do more to tell Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu this war needs to end now. He and President Joe Biden communicated by phone after the incident.

An administration official informed The Independent that Biden would speak to Netanyahu on Thursday.

In a statement on Tuesday, Biden expressed his "outrage and heartbreak" at the deaths of the humanitarian workers. He said that they were brave and selfless.

Israel has vowed to conduct an investigation into the incident despite the US saying it does not intend to. Biden called for "swift" action and said that the inquiry must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.

Andres' blame on the IDF's knowledge contrasts sharply with remarks made by Netanyahu.

Netanyahu said that the military forces of the country would do everything so this would not happen again and referred to the event as an unintended strike of their forces on innocent people in the Gaza Strip.

Read Also : Zimbabwe: President Mnangagwa Declares National Disaster as Drought Sweeps Across Southern Africa

Michigan Congresswoman Backs Andres

Early on Wednesday, Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib supported Andres' sentiments in an Instagram post. She called the attack "fully intentional."

She claimed in the post that they bombed the convoy three times. She said that WCK gave Israel their coordinates, and they were still targeted and killed as Netanyahu wants Gaza to starve to death and use starvation as a weapon of war.

Senator Dick Durbin also expressed his concerns on Wednesday and said, "Enough."

Durbin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the killing of the World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers makes it clear that Netanyahu cannot or will not protect the innocent people in Gaza. He noted that they need a ceasefire and release of all remaining hostages now.
A new poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal indicates that in six key swing states, former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden.

The data reflects growing voter dissatisfaction, driven by concerns over the Democratic sitting president's job performance and his handling of the economy.

In Arizona, Trump has a 5-point lead, while in Georgia it's a 1-point margin. Michigan shows Trump ahead by 3 points, according to the WSJ survey, North Carolina by 6 points, Nevada by 4 points and Pennsylvania by 3 points.

Swing States Key to 2024 Election

Completed between March 17 and 24, the study has attracted an unusual amount of attention since it shows that, in six of the seven states examined Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina former President Donald Trump is leading incumbent President Joe Biden.

The findings indicate that Trump continues to lead Biden in a number of indicators in each of these states. For example, in North Carolina, Trump maintains a six-point advantage that does not change when independent and third-party candidates have been taken into account.

In a similar vein, Trump leads by five points in Arizona, four in Nevada, and three in Michigan and Pennsylvania. While both candidates are deadlocked in Wisconsin, the contest becomes closer in Georgia, where Trump is ahead of Biden by a mere point.

These benefits for Trump go beyond fictitious head-to-head competitions; in larger contests such as other contenders, Trump usually holds a lead. This dynamic is an important alteration from the last election, when Biden secured the president by only beating Trump in a handful of these contests, according to Fox News.

Trump vs. Biden's Performance

The poll additionally investigates popular perceptions of the candidates' work performances and problem-solving skills. A majority of people in each of the seven crucial states approve of Biden, which is a stark contrast to Trump's relatively high popularity rating during his presidency.

Also, respondents had more faith in Trump's ability to handle immigration and economic issues, while Biden has been selected to handle abortion-related issues.

Interestingly, concerns over the candidates' physical fitness also emerge in the survey results. A significant portion of voters perceive Trump as more fit for the presidency compared to Biden, citing doubts about the latter's mental and physical capabilities.

Though it provides some insight into voter mood, the WSJ survey is not the exclusive indicator of public opinion. Another national survey by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist paints an alternative picture, with Biden just ahead of Trump. However, both surveys show how deeply opposed modern politics are, with substantial percentages of the public holding reservations of both candidates.

The political envision is further complicated by the existence of third-party candidates. In the battleground states, support for independent and third-party candidates including Jill Stein, Lars Mapstead, Cornel West, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. varies.

While pollsters think that these candidates may sway undecided voters and affect the balance between Trump and Biden, their impact on the result is yet unknown, Daily Mail reported.
Italian jockey Stefano Cherchi, a 23-year-old who rode more than 100 winners in the UK, has died two weeks after being hurt in a fall at a race meet in Canberra, Australia.

Cherchi was riding in Canberra when his mount fell into the Affinity Electrical Technologies Plate on March 20.

Cherchi Dies After Fall in Canberra

Cherchi's girlfriend, Brittany, the daughter of former British jockey Kieren Fallon, had flown to Australia to be by his bedside.

The New South Wales Jockeys Association wrote that with deep sadness, the Cherchi family peacefully announced their beloved son Cherchi's death today. It added that the family is grateful for the love, prayers, and messages the racing community sends worldwide.

Cherchi was admitted to intensive care with a significant head injury after his mount went down during a race in Canberra. Hasime, his horse, was involved in the incident with two other horses when it went down.

He received medical attention from physicians on the track for about an hour before being transported to the hospital, while the other two riders and horses avoided injury.

Trainer Marco Botti stated that today is a heartbreaking day for them all, but Cherchi will always be with them. He added that his charming character and smile can never be forgotten.

"Our thoughts are with the Cherchi family and his close friends." The rider was "much loved and will be missed," the Professional Jockeys Association said.

It added that Cherchi was immensely famous in the weighing room due to his humbleness, compassion, sense of humor, and gifted rider.

Leading jockey Hollie Doyle also posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Cherchi will be sorely missed as he was one of the good guys.

Furthermore, Cherchi struck gold four times for David Loughnane, who said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was an absolute gentleman and a pleasure to have known and worked with. He continued that his thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

According to the British Horseracing Authority, Cherchi is well respected worldwide. It said that the entire racing industry will be mourning after losing such a talented young man.

Botti Trains is One of the Best Italian Jockies

For most of his career in Britain, Cherchi rode horses trained by his fellow Italian, Marco Botti. In November, Chelmsford was his most recent mount.

During his time in the UK, the handler of Newmarket said that the rider had been "like a son" to him. Cherchi, who was born in Sardinia, partnered 38 winners for Botti.

In 2018, Cherchi made his debut in the UK. The following April, he rode his first winner at Wolverhampton, Withoutdestination, trained by Botti.

Furthermore, he collaborated with a diverse group of trainers, such as Saeed bin Suroor, the handler of Godolphin, and Amy Murphy, the trainer of Newmarket.
Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor embroiled in a scandal, has been accused of contempt of court by his estranged wife.

In court papers filed on Wednesday, Joycelyn Wade alleged that her former partner had neglected to cover $4,400 in medical expenses.

Nathan Wade Failed to Provide for Ex-Wife, Children

The filings state that the defendant is in need of immediate medical procedures, including an endoscopy, colonoscopy, and ultrasound, due to the severe physical symptoms she has been experiencing.

Jocelyn Wade finds herself in the middle of a judicial struggle about her immediate medical needs in addition to the divorce of her marriage.

According to court documents, Jocelyn is in critical condition and needs medical procedures such an endoscopy, colonoscopy, and ultrasound immediately because of excruciating physical symptoms.

The filings detail the significant impact these symptoms have had on Jocelyn's daily life, particularly her ability to consume most foods, resulting in substantial weight loss. Her health struggles have rendered her unable to work, exacerbating her financial strain.

Perhaps the main cause of Jocelyn's problem is that she has no way to pay her own medical expenses. This predicament is made much more difficult by having to contend that her separated husband, Nathan Wade, unexpectedly stopped making payments for child support.

Nathan Wade, who is now involved in a long-term divorce procedure, has been accused of giving court orders that mandate his financial support for Jocelyn and their two children. These orders have been given by court orders.

The divorce process has become far more contentious as a result of Wade's statement to the public that he was involved in a scandalous affair with Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County. As a result of this scandal, Wade resigned from his position as a senior prosecutor, which caused lawyers to be shocked, according to Daily Mail.

Nathan Wade's Alleged Affair With Fani Willis

Despite being aware that Wade has been faced with censure for his actions, he has not yet been subjected to severe repercussions; the court has simply provided a temporary injunction concerning his repayments.

Judge Scott McAfee of the Superior Court gave a stinging censure to Willis, praising her for the "tremendous lapse in judgment" and her "unprofessional manner."

However, Willis was able to keep her position on a high-profile case because to the decision made by McAfee, provided that Wade removed himself from the proceedings.

Jocelyn says that Wade's actions have put her in a perilous financial situation where she is unable to provide for her children or pay for her rising medical bills. Jocelyn claims that Wade broke his promises to pay back her for living and educational expenses for their children, forcing her to shoulder the whole financial burden on her own.

An already complicated divorce case is further complicated by Jocelyn's urgent medical demands.

Jocelyn and her legal team are requesting immediate action to make sure she receives the assistance and medical attention her children need because her health has declined and her savings are running low, New York Post reported.
Rick Slayman, a 62-year-old man from Weymouth, Massachusetts, has been given a new lease on life after he became the first person in the world to receive a pig kidney transplant at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on March 21.

Slayman was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday (Apr. 3), two weeks after the surgery.

"This moment - leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health I've had in a long time - is one I wished would come for many years," he said in a statement. "Now, it's a reality and one of the happiest moments of my life."

He went on to thank all of the doctors and nurses who cared for him.

"The care I received was exceptional and I trust the physicians of the Mass General Brigham health system with my life," he added. "I'm excited to resume spending time with my family, friends, and loved ones free from the burden of dialysis that has affected my quality of life for many years."

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According to CBS News, Slayman was living with end-stage kidney disease, along with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. He already received a human kidney transplant back in 2018, but it started failing five years later.

Mass. General said the transplant was the first time a pig kidneydonated by eGenesis in Cambridge and genetically edited to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human ones to improve its compatibilityhad been transplanted into a living human patient.
The Israeli army is being accused of deliberately targeting civilian homes in the weeks after Hamas' terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023 and of using an AI-based program named "Lavender" to generate targets for assassination, resulting in a large number of bombings based on decisions made with little to no human review.

The allegations emerged in a new in investigative report by +972 and Local Call that found the Israel Defense Forces system applied mass surveillance in Gaza to compile a list of 37,000 potential bombing targets.

That list included a significant number of low-level individuals who were allegedly associated with Hamas  whose terrorists killed over a thousand Israelis on Oct. 7 and took scores of hostages, more than 100 of which are belived to still be held in Gaza  even though they would not typically be the primary focus of bombing operations.

"We were not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity," A., an intelligence officer, told +972 and Local Call.

"On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option. It's much easier to bomb a family's home. The system is built to look for them in these situations."

Israeli Military's AI Use in Gaza War

The reporting is based on interviews with six Israeli intelligence officials who were deeply involved in the use of AI to select targets. Those officials provided a potentially troubling picture of AI's involvement in the battle.

According to the officers, the Lavender AI program, developed by Israel's elite intelligence division, Unit 8200, allegedly played a pivotal role in identifying potential targets, often referred to as "junior" operatives.

The sources told +972 and Local Call that, during the first weeks of the war, the IDF almost completely relied on Lavender, which targeted as many as 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants linked to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad  and their homes  for possible air strikes.

Additionally, the officers revealed pre-authorized allowances for civilian losses, with some indicating that up to 15 or 20 people were considered acceptable collateral damage in attacks targeting low-ranking terrorists.

These allowances were recognized by the government. According to reports, the attacks were carried out using indiscriminate weapons, which led to the destruction of whole homes and the loss of lives among civilians.

The IDF said "analysts must conduct independent examinations, in which they verify that the identified targets meet the relevant definitions in accordance with international law and additional restrictions stipulated in the IDF directives."

But one official told +972 "that human personnel often served only as a 'rubber stamp' for the machine's decisions" and typically devoted only around 20 seconds to each target  ensuring they are male  before authorizing a bombing.

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Israel-Hamas War

The purpose that they played in the targeting process was compared by one officer to that of a simple "rubber stamp" on Lavender's judgments, with very no actual human assessment of the ideas made by the system.

Another commander voiced their preference for AI-driven targeting over human judgment, focusing on the emotional toll that the battle had taken on soldiers who had lost partners in the conflict.

Though the IDF confirmed that they use "information management tools" for target identification, they denied that they use artificial intelligence to identify terrorists. This was in response to the states that were made against them.

The IDF has said that its analysts carry out independent assessments to ensure that targets satisfy both legal and operational demands prior to the authorisation of attack. In addition, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) placed a high priority on conforming to international law and maintaining proportionality while evaluating the possible impact of attacks on civilian populations, The Sun reported.
The possibility of NATO offering increased military assistance to Ukraine is currently under discussion, according to the organization's senior civilian representative. This comes as Russian forces, who are better equipped, continue to exert their dominance on the battlefield.

"Support for Ukraine should rely less on short-term, voluntary offers and more on long-term NATO commitments," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of presiding over a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels.

NATO Considers Enhanced Military Support for Ukraine

The top civilian official of NATO announced on Wednesday that the organization is looking into a plan to offer more organized military assistance to Ukraine, as the country is still facing conflict with Russia.

Ukraine agreed earlier this week to reduce the conscription age from 27 to 25, with a view of rebuilding its ranks, as a result of years of conflict leaving the military short-staffed and severely lacking in weapons.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, briefed the press and stressed the critical nature of the situation on the battlefield, where Russian troops are making progress and pursuing their strategic goals.

Stoltenberg advocated for more coordination through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is a multinational organization dedicated to providing support to Ukraine throughout the crisis. Stoltenberg urged a change in the approach that NATO employs. Through this action, attempts to transfer essential weapons and ammunition would be simplified, with the goal of improving Ukraine's capabilities in the area of defense.

Considering the recognition that members of NATO are ready to provide additional help to Ukraine, they continue to be wary about raising tensions with Russia, which is a military force that holds nuclear weapons, according to PBS.

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NATO Weighs Coordinated Response

Stoltenberg underlined the need for a concerted response from NATO, which would focus on evaluating the requirements of Ukraine, collecting pledges, and enabling meetings to coordinate the efforts of military support.

Concerns have been expressed, however, regarding the implementation of Stoltenberg's idea as well as its ability to secure funding. Hadja Lahbib, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, issued a warning against making pledges without having concrete plans for that promise's execution. She also emphasized the importance of continued debate on the subject.

Annalena Baerbock, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, has voiced her support for the idea and reiterated the significance of setting up trustworthy and long-term systems for the provision of aid to Ukraine.

During this time, Russian officials declared reservations of the moves taken by NATO, accusing the alliance of adhering to a worldview comparable with that of the Cold War and increasing tensions.

The situation on the ground in Ukraine continues to be hazardous with continuous military operations and geopolitical tensions affecting the future of the area. This is despite the reality that discussions over the suggested approach are still taking place inside NATO, Al Jazeera reported.
Alan Ritchson opens up about his ongoing battle with bipolar disorder and ADHD, a suicide attempt that he attributes to the support of his children, and his experience as a survivor of sexual assault.

The actor, who has been in episodes of Smallville, Black Mirror, Blue Mountain State, and Prime Video's 'The Reacher,' said to the Hollywood Reporter in a piece that was released on Wednesday that "I hung myself."

Alan Ritchson Opens Up About Mental Health

Alan Ritchson recently shared his story of overcoming mental illness, experiencing sexual assault, and coming dangerously close to death.

The 41-year-old talked candidly about his horrific experiences as well as his path to recovery and purpose-finding in an emotional discussion.

Ritchson talked about the horrible event that nearly drove him to commit suicide. "I hung myself. It all happened so fast, and I was dangling there," he said.

But in a moment of supernatural intervention, Ritchson saw a vision of his three kids, who were then eight, ten, and eleven years old, respectively Calem, Edan, and Amory urging him to think twice.

He realized how important it is to be there in his children's life when he saw them as adults in their mid-30s. "They calmly asked me not to do it, and told me that they wanted me to be here, alive and part of their lives," he added.

An important turning point in Ritchson's life was the suicide attempt. He sought help right away following the occurrence and, at the age of 36, was given a bipolar illness diagnosis.

He found out he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) a few years later. His troubles were clarified by these diagnoses, and it was consoling to know that his condition had a name.

But Ritchson's issues with mental health might be linked to the modeling profession, which he said served as a refuge for sexual assault.

"There are very few redeeming qualities to working in [the modeling] industry. To be honest, it resembles sanctioned human trafficking," he said in reference to the profession itself, according to Page Six.

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Alan Ritchson Triumphs Over Trauma

He revealed many experiences of being sexually abused and used, and he disclosed that he had permanently left the modeling industry following a terrible event in which he was sexually attacked by a well-known photographer..

Transitioning into the television and film industry didn't bring an end to the challenges. Ritchson shared another distressing experience in which his business partner threatened him with ruin if he did not engage in a sexual relationship with her. The pressure and emotional toll caused him to sink into deep depression. "It really broke me in that moment, and it took me a while to recover," he admitted.

Ritchson found comfort in an uncommon treatment suggested by a friend: MDMA therapy. Despite his initial doubts, he made the decision to give it an attempt because he had nothing to lose. His brain was rewired by the life-changing occurrence, which facilitated his recuperation. After considering his trip, Ritchson feels that serving people and improving the world is his mission.

Following his pursuit of more rewarding possibilities, his resilience and clarity helped him land a role in the recently released television series Reacher, which is based on the well-known Jack Reacher novels.

When the program debuted in February 2022, it quickly gained popularity, topping Amazon Prime Video's streaming rankings and setting records for the most amount of time watched. After the difficulties he faced in his early career, Reacher's success provided Ritchson with the needed validation, Daily Mail reported.

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Recent study findings have suggested that the rapidly expanding family of GLP-1 medications, which includes Ozempic and Wegovy, is also demonstrating early promise in treating brain-related ailments such as mental health issues, Alzheimer's disease, and even Parkinson's disease after being successful in treating diabetes and obesity.

In a trial, Lixisenatide was found to lessen the progression of tremors and slow movement, hailed as a "significant step forward" for treating the disease.

Ozempic-like Injections Could Prevent Parkinson's Disease

Under the brand name Lyxumia, scientists think it might protect the brain and lessen the harm caused by the disease.

Around 156 participants who had recently received a Parkinson's diagnosis participated in the study.

While the other half received a placebo in addition to their regular medicine, the other half received daily injections of the approved diabetes treatment.

After a full year, the motor symptoms of those on lixisenatide medication slowed down and even showed some indications of improvement, whereas the other group's problems continued to progress.

According to charities, the results were "very positive" and would give real hope to the 18,000 patients diagnosed in the UK annually.

Dr. Richard Wyse, director of clinical development at Cure Parkinson's, said he was happy to see the extremely positive, revolutionary clinical outcome of the lixisenatide trial, which might have significant value for people with Parkinson's.

The drug belongs to the class of medications known as GLP-1R agonists, which also includes Wegovy and Ozempic, and has drawn attention from all over the world for its ability to aid in weight loss.

They function by imitating insulin release from the pancreas, which aids in the body's cells' absorption of glucose, which is eventually converted into energy. This effect resembles a naturally occurring gut hormone produced following a meal.

Scientists repurposed the drug that was previously used to treat type 2 diabetes based on established conditions between the two illnesses.

According to earlier studies, people with diabetes have a 40% increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, which also tends to be more aggressive in these patients.

Meanwhile, it has been discovered that people taking diabetes medications had a lower chance of getting the neurological condition.

Experts Show Confidence Despite Lack of Evidence

The principal researchers of the trial, Professors Wassilios Meissner and Olivier Rascol of Toulouse University Hospital, expressed confidence that the results will be translated into practical therapies.

They said that for 30 years, they have been trying to understand how to slow the decline associated with Parkinson's disease over time.

"In this context, the positive results of the Lixipark phase 2 trial showing less progression of motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease over a year constitute a significant step forward in the future management of the disease."

The professors added that they look forward to confirming these encouraging results and translating such findings into clinical practice.

Two months after the end of treatment, the outcomes were consistent, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Similar to other weight-loss drugs, nausea affected nearly half of the users (46 percent), and vomiting affected 13% of them.

Masud Husain, an Oxford University professor of neurology, stated in response to the findings that the results of this trial are encouraging for people with Parkinson's disease.

Husain claimed that after a year, patients who were on the drug were significantly better off in their movements than those who were not on the medication.

However, he noted that the findings do not provide conclusive evidence that the drug has a protective effect on the brain to slow disease progression effectively.

Professor David Dexter, Director of Research at Parkinson's UK, said that the most significant part of these results is the small improvement in the clinical measurement of motor symptoms in those receiving lixisenatide.

He stated from their 12-month study that whether the drug is slowing the condition's progression is hard to say. He noted that a longer trial could be able to show this and could be a logical next step.
Humanitarian Legal Relief (SJH), a human rights organization focusing on legal assistance, said in a recent report that at least 241 people have died in El Salvador prisons since the start of President Nayib Bukele's "war on gangs" two years ago.

According to the group's director, Ingrid Escobar, they received 500 reports of deaths in state custody but have confirmed that about half, including two minors.

Last year, the organization documented 126 deaths, just half of the number documented this year.

Bukele announced a "state of exception" in March 2022, which waived many constitutional rights to combat the gangs terrorizing the Central American nation, the Associated Press reported.

The arrests have swollen to 80,000, over 1% of the country's population, most of them often with little evidence of their ties to gangs and almost no access to due process. The prisons were also likened to torture chambers.

"[O]f these deaths, 44% died of violent death, serious torture, 29% due to lack of medical attention," the group's report said.

While the government has been accused of committing mass human rights abuses in their crackdown, Bukele remained highly popular in El Salvador because the homicide rates sharply dipped following the detentions, transforming it from being one of the most dangerous countries in the world to having the lowest homicide rate in Central America.

This resulted in Bukele's re-election last February despite the country's constitution prohibiting second terms for presidents.

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The government already released 7,000 of those arrested due to lack of evidence, and the country's vice president told the AP that the government had "made mistakes" in their arrests.

The rights group also estimated that of the people arrested in the two years of the exception regime, 35% were innocent and affirmed that 94% of the deceased had no gang affiliation.

"The majority were working people such as informal traders, cab drivers and/or informal transport workers, farmers, fishermen, evangelical pastors and preachers, municipal employees and one trade unionist," the report added.

SJH also demanded El Salvador's government investigate "homicides" that have occurred in prisons and "all the forced disappearances of detainees."

The group further intended to present its legal recourse to the Inter-American Human Rights System, where it will request moral and material reparation measures for the affected citizens, teleSUR reported.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International also released a similar statement last month, calling on the international community to condemn Bukele and his government's crackdown on the gangs, claiming that innocent people were affected by the policy.

"Reducing gang violence by replacing it with state violence cannot be a success," Amnesty's Americas director Ana Piquer said. "The international community must respond in a robust, articulate and forceful manner, condemning any model of public security that is based on human rights violations."
World Central Kitchen on Thursday demanded an independent investigation into the Israeli airstrikes that killed seven of its aid workers in Gaza as President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone to express his anger over the deaths.

Chef Jose Andres, the founder of the global food charity, accused the Israeli military of "systematically" targeting the aid workers' convoy on Monday as they delivered much needed supplies to Palestinians in Gaza.

"This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission," WCK said in a statement.

"We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law," the statement continued.

WCK said an independent investigation is the only way to "determine the truth of what happened," hold those responsible accountable and prevent such attacks from occurring in the future.

Biden, who has faced mounting criticism over his handling of the war and the escalating civilian death toll in Gaza, said he was "outraged and heartbroken" over the killings of the seven aid workers, calling their deaths a "tragedy."

The president said the deaths are not a "stand-alone incident," adding the war "has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed."

"This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult - because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians," he said in the statement released by the White House.

Netanyahu has been largely dismissive, saying only that the strike on the aid workers was "unintentional," and noting "this happens in war."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also "expressed his outrage" over the killings to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, in a phone call Wednesday.

The secretary "stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups," the Defense Department said in a readout of the call.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in the war, which began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Gaza's Health Ministry reported, according to the Associated Press.

While the health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, it said women and children make up about two-thirds of those killed, the AP reported.
Oklahoma is set to execute a death row inmate on Thursday morning, even as the condemned man maintains his innocence in two 2002 murders.

"I pray to God, if I continue to be denied this [appeal], no matter if I get executed or not, this fight will continue with my family," Michael Smith told NewsNation on Wednesday.

Smith, 41, was convicted of murdering 40-year-old Janet Moore and 24-year-old Sharath Babu Pulluru in one late February day. Smith initially said that he shot Moore while searching for her son, whom he wrongfully believed was a snitch. Moore panicked and screamed for help, prompting the attack.

Later that same day, Pulluru was shot nine times before being soaked with lighter fluid and set on fire. Smith incorrectly believed that Pulluru had made comments to an Oklahoma newspaper about a gang-related shooting two years prior, KOSU reported.

Even before the killings, Smith was already a fugitive because of his role in a 2001 nightclub shooting. He was convicted of handing a gun to David Burns who then shot and killed Otis Payne.

Though Smith initially confessed to killing Moore and Pulluru, he subsequently claimed that he was innocent and made the confessions while high on PCP.

"Despite the conviction there are numerous inconsistencies and irregularities in my case, from representation issues in my trial and questionable interrogation process," Smith told KFOR. "I'm sorry for [the victim's families'] loss, and I'm not the person that killed their family members."

Smith's family believes he had inadequate legal counsel - arguing that his attorneys should've told the courts that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. They've further argued that the state failed to test DNA evidence that might have called Smith's involvement into question, KFOR reported.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied Smith clemency in March, with just one member of a five-person panel voting in his favor.

"Michael Smith's outrageous claims of innocence have been repeatedly rejected in court," Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. "He is a ruthless killer who has confessed to his crimes on multiple occasions. There is no doubt in my mind that his request for clemency should be denied."

Smith will be the fourth person and first Oklahoman executed in 2024, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The death penalty is banned in 23 states and the District of Columbia, while six other states have gubernatorial holds that prevent executions. In 2023, only five states - Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama and Florida - carried out executions.
California burglars pulled off a daring and elaborate heist from a money storage facility on Sunday, according to a report, making off with roughly $30 miillion in cash without setting off a single alarm and leaving investigators stunned.



On Easter Sunday, the unnamed facility, later identified as GardaWorld facility in Sylmar by ABC7, was robbed in the middle of the night. L.A. Police Department Commander Elaine Morales said on Wednesday that the crooks were able to breach the buidling and gain access to where the money was stored.



Images from ABC7's helicopter show a breach in the side of the building.



Law enforcement sources are stumped as to how the thieves were able to pull off the heist without setting off any alarms, according to the L.A. Times. The safe that was empited shows no sign of break in, and only a very select few people even knew large sums of money were in there prior to the heist, the Times reported.



The FBI confirmed to the Times that the bureau is investigating the heist alongside LAPD officers.



The Company that owns the building did not discover the crime until Monday morning.
Donald Trump recently met with Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a private meeting, sources close to the former president revealed in a report.

Trump's visit comes as President Joe Biden is working to secure a delicate peace agreement in the Middle East to end Israel's War on Gaza.

In order to secure lasting peace in the region, many experts believe that Saudi Arabia must be on board with a plan to recognize both Israel and Palestine. Biden also reportedly hopes to broker an American-Saudi defense treaty, which would require two-thirds approval in the Senate.

Two Trump associates confirmed to the New York Times that the meeting took place but did not share details as to what was discussed behind closed doors. Trump has a warmer relationship with the Saudis than many world leaders - at one point describing the prince as " a friend" who was doing a "spectacular job."

These comments were made nine months after the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Central Intelligence Agency later determined that Prince Mohammed gave direct orders to murder the dissident reporter.

"I was able to get Congress to leave him alone," Trump bragged while in office. "I was able to get them to stop."

Biden, by contrast, said that Prince Mohammed should be treated as a "pariah" during his 2020 election campaign - though in subsequent years he has maintained a friendlier relationship with the Saudi leader.

Trump and his family also have a vested financial interest in their relationship with Prince Mohammed. In 2021, the prince overruled a panel of advisors who argued that the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund should not give $2 billion to Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners.

The Trump Organization has also made a multibillion-dollar real estate development deal with a Saudi firm and the government of Oman.






A Dutch woman is slated to end her own life despite being physically healthy, and can do so legally under Netherlands law, according to a report.



While Zoraya ter Beek is in good heath physically, she has been diagnosed with a litany of mental health issues, including depression, borderline personality disorder, and autism, according to the Free Press. While challenging, these illnesses are not terminal.



However, ter Beek, 28, has decided, after doctors informed her that they exhausted all treatment options, that these conditions are untreatable and overwhelming, and has elected to legally end her own life via euthanasia.



The practice of medically-assisted suicide is legal in the Dutch country and ter Beek's story is part of a growing trend where those that suffer from mental illnesses are choosing euthanasia, despite not being in terminal condition.

The Free Press further reported that the procedure is expected to take place in early May. Her post-life plans are to be cremated as she 'did not want to burden [her] partner with having to keep the grave tidy".

According to NDTV, the case of Ter Beek has ignited fierce debate. While some assert it underscores a troubling pattern of healthcare professionals quickly turning to euthanasia as a solution for mental health issues, others contend it empowers patients to exert greater autonomy over their end-of-life decisions.

"I'm seeing euthanasia as some sort of acceptable option brought to the table by physicians, by psychiatrists, when previously it was the ultimate last resort," Stef Groenewoud, a healthcare ethicist at Theological University Kampen, in the Netherlands, told The Free Press. "I see the phenomenon especially in people with psychiatric diseases, and especially young people with psychiatric disorders, where the healthcare professional seems to give up on them more easily than before."
Convicted killer Drew Peterson's murder case was back in court on Thursday as the sister of his third wife revived sonar images that she says show her sibling's skeletal remains at the bottom of an Illinois canal.

Peterson, convicted in 2012 of killing Kathleen Savio, and sentenced to 38 years in prison, is seeking a new trial because his lawyer, Joel Brodsky, would not let him testify on his behalf, according to WGN.

Savio's death raised numerous questions about Stacy Peterson, the former cop's fourth wife who disappeared in 2007.

Cassandra Cales, in an interview on NewsNation on the eve of the court hearing, told NewsNation that sonar technology that spotted what she believes is her skeletal remains of her sister in the canal in Lockport, about 35 miles southwest of Chicago.

She showed NewsNation images of the sonar search.

"You can actually see a fish above her body. She still had flesh, but if she lost her eyes and her feet were gone. It was kind of turning skeletal," she told NewsNation.

Cales said she contacted the FBI, the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement agencies about the find, but she claims they failed to do a thorough search.

She said whenever they have new information or tips about her sister she alerts the police, but "it's just like they close the door in my face."

Police have conducted searches in the canal for Peterson, including in October 2021 but none of them have been successful in finding the remains.

The Illinois State Police said they are receptive to Cales.

"ISP's investigation is active and ongoing and special agents follow-up on any and all credible and viable leads," Melissa Albert, a spokeswoman for the department, told HNGN.

Peterson, 70, has blamed bias against police officers for his conviction and claimed that the prosecutor intimidated witnesses.

"People enjoy seeing policemen in trouble. I've seen a lot of cops get in trouble and people enjoy that," Peterson told NewsNation in February.

In the interview, Peterson also denied allegations that he abused his wives.

"Disturbance doesn't mean you were abused. It means you're having a confrontation. And it got out of hand, where (there) was yelling and screaming and somebody called the police," Peterson said. "Some of my wives were very combative. They didn't want to put up with my bulls**t."
The tight-knit group of high schoolers accused of beating 16-year-old Preston Lord to death on Halloween are turning on each other, according to a report, with one even attempting to turn in a video of the alleged killing to authorities for the reward money.

Lord was attacked outside a Halloween house party on Oct. 28 and died two days later.

Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Brice spoke to AZ Family after his department released a 1,163 page report with more than 40 minutes of 911 calls, as well as text exchanges between the suspects discussing the incident. The report goes on to reveal that the accused teens started a group chat and purchased burner cell phones days after Lord died.

The 7 suspects went from threatening others to turning against each other, according to Brice, with one,Taylor Sherman, 19, saying they wanted in on the $10,000 reward.

"Oftentimes, people turn on each other. They revert to saving themselves," Brice said to AZ Family.

Brice also added that there are two new charges for adult suspects that police have recommended to prosecutors, the outlet reported. However, he wouldn't say if these are for suspects who attacked Lord or others, perhaps for obstruction.

HNGN previously reported that Lord was badly beaten at a Halloween party on Oct. 28 and succumbed to his wounds in a hospital two days later.

Authorities in Queen Creek, a suburb of Phoenix, Ariz., began investigating his death as a homicide and have since arrested the seven suspects in relation to the crime.

According to People, the police report revealed that the suspects allegedly discussed the deadly attack via text message after it occurred.

Talan Renner, 17, Talyn Vigil, 17, William Owen Hines, 18, Dominic Turner, 20, Taylor Sherman, 19, Treston Billey, 18, and Jacob Meisner, 17, are facing first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
Egis, a leading international group in the consulting, construction engineering and mobility sectors, has

been awarded a contract for the landmark Souq Al Mubarakiya Development and Reconstruction Project in Kuwait.

Building on the successful pre-design and design project management phase of the project, Egis will

now serve as the construction management consultant.

Led and financed by Kuwait Finance House (KFH) with Alghanim International (AGI) as the main contractor and Gulf Consult (GC) as the design consultant, this project aims to revitalize and preserve the historic market's unique 120-year-old heritage.

A significant landmark in Kuwait, Souq Al-Mubarakiya played a pivotal role in shaping the country's political, commercial, and social history.

Egis will oversee the reconstruction of 17 buildings, along with a complete upgrade of the infrastructure

network to meet current standards and comply with the latest regulations.

Its previous scope included project management of the pre-design and design phase of the project working alongside a team of architectural and heritage specialists, said the company in a statement.

Following a fire that partially damaged portions of the landmark, the design ensures the reconstruction adheres to modern specifications while meticulously preserving the historical significance of this treasured site, it stated.

"Egis brings a long history of technical expertise and project management experience to the Souq Al-

Mubarakiya Development project," remarked Khaled ElMir, the Country Managing Director at Egis in Kuwait.

"We are committed to collaborating closely with all stakeholders to deliver this significant project to the highest standards, ensuring the revitalized Souq becomes a cherished landmark for generations to come," he stated.

According to him, Egis has been a cornerstone of Kuwait's development since 1992, providing engineering consultancy across diverse sectors including buildings, infrastructure, roads and bridges, waste management, and more.

With a proven track record of successful collaborations with government entities, ministries, municipalities, and private organizations, Egis is committed to shaping Kuwait's future.

KFH Chairman Hamad Abdulmohsen Al Marzouq said: "We are delighted to celebrate the launch of

the reconstruction project for the area damaged in the Al Mubarakiya fire."

"This follows the successful completion and approval of the design phase by the relevant advisory team dedicated to addressing the effects of the incident," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene warned Speaker of the House Mike Johnson that she was "not backing off at all" in her quest to remove him from power - arguing that his effort to move ahead a bipartisan Ukrainian aid package was "the most egregious things he could do."

Greene told CNN that many Republicans are "furious that our so-called Christian conservative, Republican Speaker of the House did this to them," in reference to Johnson working with Democrats on a $1.2 trillion funding bill that prevented a partial government shutdown.

"[Johnson] literally turned into Mitch McConnell's twin and worse. He's a Democrat," Greene told CNN. "There's not even any daylight between him and Nancy Pelosi at this point."

House Republicans currently hold the narrowest majority in the history of Congress and can only afford to lose one vote on any given piece of legislation. After Johnson introduced the bipartisan funding package, Greene introduced a motion to vacate which could remove the Speaker from power.

Many within the Republican party have warned that with such a narrow majority, removing Johnson could lead to Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries taking control of the House leadership - something which Greene characterized as a "stupid lie."

For Greene and other hardline conservatives, funding Ukraine's resistance to the Russian invasion is a non-starter. In the past, Johnson has gotten bills through Congress, with bipartisan support, through a process called "suspension of rules." Under the suspension of rules, floor debate is limited and amendments are banned - but the bills must be passed with a  majority.

"Let me tell you, when he forces that vote, again, under suspension with no amendments, and funds Ukraine and people find out how angry their constituents are about it, that's going to move the needle even more," she told CNN.

"I'm not saying I have a red line or a trigger, and I'm not saying I don't have a red line or trigger. And I think that's just where I'm at right now. But I'm going to tell you right now: Funding Ukraine is probably one of the most egregious things that he can do."

Johnson acknowledged Greene's exasperation during a recent Fox News appearance but emphasized that this was a reality of working within a divided House.

"These are not the perfect pieces of legislation that you and I and Marjorie would draft if we had the ability to do it differently," he told pundit Trey Gowdy. "But with the smallest margin in U.S. history, we're sometimes going to get legislation that we don't like."
New Delhi, Apr 3 (UNI) Senior Congress leader from Maharashtra, Sanjay Nirupam was expelled from the party with immediate effect on Wednesday.

Nirupam was expelled for a period of six years for indulging in indiscipline and anti-party statements.

The party in a statement issued by its general secretary KC Venugopal said, "Taking note of the complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements,the Hon'ble Congress president has approved the expulsion of Shri Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect".

Earlier in the day, Nirupam on his social media post X had asked the Congress "not to waste much energy and stationery for me. Instead use your remaining energy and stationery to save the party".

"Anyway, the party is going through a severe financial crisis. The period of one week that I had given has been completed today. Tomorrow I will take the decision myself".

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New Delhi, April 4 (UNI) Hours after resigning from the Congress' primary membership Prof Gourav Vallabh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Thursday alongside former Bihar Congress President Anil Sharma and RJD leader Upendra Prasad.

The former Congress spokesperson joined the BJP in the presence of General Secretary Vinod Tawad and other senior leaders at the party headquarters here.

Vallabh called the grand old party "directionless" as he cited his expanding disagreement on the partys view especially on the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya.

In a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday, Vallabh wrote that the party is not able to adjust itself to the youth with new ideas.

In his letter to Kharge, which was posted on social media platform X, Vallabh,who debuted in politics in 2019, said, "I don't feel comfortable with the directionless way the Congress was moving today, which is against the basic principles of the party. I can't raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country day and night. Hence, I am resigning from all the posts and the primary membership of the Congress Party."

Vallabh also wrote that over the past few years, the party has failed to realize' expectations of New India. Coming from an economic background Vallabh who on numerous occasions was seen defending his former party on TV debates, on Thursday criticized the party's stance on caste-based census and Hindu society, arguing it misleads the public into thinking the Congress supports a specific religion.

The former Congress spokesman, who lost his 2023 election contesting the Rajasthan Assembly polls, said that he was shocked when the party declined to be a part of the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram in Ayodhya.

Boxer Vijender Singh also quit the Congress and defected to the BJP on Wednesday. The political crossovers come just days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that take off on April 11. Counting of votes will take place on June 4.

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Trademark Collection by Wyndham to further bolster its presence in over 25 countries with opening in India.

Gurgaon, 04 April, 2024: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company with approximately 9,200 hotels across more than 95 countries, today announced the opening of The Earth Amritsar, Trademark Collection by Wyndham, its first for the brand in India. The 57-room heritage hotel operates in collaboration with Earth Suites & Resorts Private Limited, a hotel operator with properties currently in Amritsar, Goa and Raipur.

Located in the heart of Amritsar, the northwestern Indian state of Punjab and home to the famed Golden Temple, the holiest destination of the Sikh religion, the sprawling five-acre upscale The Earth Amritsar offer a selection of rooms in two unique buildings. Accommodations are spread across the hotel's 130-year-old heritage building, once home to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, built to commemorate the 55 th year of Queen Victoria's reign, and even more accommodations will be available in a new build addition, currently under construction. The hotel will provide the perfect getaway for those looking to stay and explore this culturally rich destination.

India continues to be an important market for Wyndham as the company currently has more than 60 hotels across the country and approximately 40 additional hotels in the pipeline, highlighting continued demand and growth in this region.

"Trademark Collection by Wyndham is one of the fastest growing brands in Wyndham's portfolio and just as no two travellers are alike, Trademark Collection hotels are equally distinctive and defined by a spirit of independence and individuality," said Dimitris Manikis, President , Wyndham Hotels & Resorts EMEA . "We see strong potential for the brand in India as it caters to midscale and upscale hoteliers seeking independence while leveraging competitive advantages that come with the scale of a partner such as Wyndham. The Earth Amritsar is an excellent representation of the Trademark Collection brand and will provide guests with an upscale experience in beautiful Amritsar. We look forward to furthering the brand's presence in the country."

"The Earth Amritsar, Trademark Collection by Wyndham reflects our fruitful collaboration with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and we are looking forward to being the first to bring one of the Company's most popular brands to this spiritual city," said Mr. Vivek Shah, Director, Earth Suites & Resorts Private Limited. "With the support of Wyndham's size, scale, and distribution we will deliver an elevated guest experience in a beautiful heritage setting unlike any other."

The Earth Amritsar, Trademark Collection by Wyndham boasts 57 contemporary suites designed to seamlessly blend with the property's natural surroundings and historical elements. High-end amenities includes a fitness centre, outdoor pool as well as two restaurants delivering guests elevated culinary experiences. One restaurant offers an open air setting and the other provides an all-day dining option. The hotel also boast a sophisticated whiskey lounge, as well as a banquet hall, meeting space and luxury transfers to and from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport.

Hotel website
KSL Resorts (KSLR) announced today the appointment of industry leader Greg Kennealey as its new chief executive officer. In his new position, Kennealey takes charge of overseeing the operation, development and strategic direction of KSLR and its growing portfolio of resort properties. Kennealey succeeds Scott Dalecio, who will step down as CEO but continue as a senior advisor to KSLR and executive chairman of Outrigger Resorts & Hotels.

A former principal and head of hospitality at KSL Capital Partners (KSLCP), a global leader in hospitality, travel and leisure investing, Kennealey has served as CEO of Mission Hill Hospitality since its inception in 2021 and will continue on in that capacity.

According to Scott Dalecio, a 40-year industry executive who co-founded KSL Resorts in 2004, "We are immensely proud of our skilled people, their accomplishments and the growth we have achieved over 30 years and are thrilled to entrust KSL Resorts' continued strategic expansion to Greg, who has a stellar track record of leadership. We are confident he will be a highly effective and dynamic leader, while additionally creating value and unique experiences."

Prior to his 10-year tenure at KSL Capital Partners, Kennealey worked at Strategic Hotels & Resorts, where he oversaw an international portfolio of luxury hotels.

Kennealey says he is anticipating putting his nearly 30 years of business and hospitality experience to good use in his new position. "I am deeply honored and humbled to follow the successful leadership of Scott Dalecio and to continue the legacy he has built for three decades overseeing many iconic resorts," said Kennealey. "I look forward to collaborating with our very talented team as we focus on expanding our portfolio as well as working to boost operational efficiencies and innovation."
Indian School of Hospitality (ISH) and Sommet Education, the distinguished leaders in hospitality education are delighted to announce a pioneering collaboration with Accor, a global leader in hospitality, to unveil the Indian Talent Development Initiative.

The three-year alliance was officialised at the HICSA 2024, 19th Hotel Investment Conference in Bengaluru.

This endeavour will be led by the Sommet Education Foundation, with Accor serving as its founding patron. The Indian Talent Development Initiative aims to invest in the skills of the Indian youth and deliver them opportunities for growth in the thriving hospitality industry.

Under the initiative, Sommet Education Foundation and Accor will sponsor 16 deserving individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enrol in ISH's Intensive Culinary Arts Programme and Intensive Pastry and Bakery Programme. Each intake will consist of 5 to 6 students, with the program scheduled to commence in August 2024, followed by subsequent intakes in January 2025 and January 2026.

''As a prominent hospitality education institution, we recognise the transformative potential of the Indian Talent Development Initiative to uplift and inspire individuals aiming to make a difference in the hospitality sector. ISH is dedicated to providing top-tier training and exceptional learning experiences to nurture a generation of new talents for hospitality who will set new benchmarks and create lasting impact on the future of hospitality,'' said Mr. Kunal Vasudeva, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Indian School of Hospitality.

Echoing his views, Mrs Anne-Sophie BERAUD, SVP Diversity & Inclusion & Social Care

Accor, said As a leading hospitality group, we acknowledge the significance of investing in the next generation of talent. We want to guarantee each of our Talent the opportunities to reach their full potential by preventing inequalities and discrimination. The success of our employees must not be determined by diplomas neither origins nor nationalities. Supporting Sommet Education Foundation and developing this first initiative also in India signifies our devotion to bringing positive change by providing world-class education and hands-on training for the aspiring youth in India.

At Sommet Education, we believe in the power of education to drive positive change and create pathways to success. Through the Indian Talent Development Initiative, we are proud to join forces with Accor to support talent development and foster social inclusion in India's hospitality sector. By offering scholarships and employment opportunities, we aim to empower individuals with the necessary skills and resources to emerge as change agents of the future, said Mrs Anouck Weiss, Vice-President Executive at Sommet Education Foundation.

The Indian School of Hospitality (ISH), recognised for its dedication to excellence in hospitality education, will play a vital role in driving the success of the initiative. With its state-of-the-art facilities and highly proficient faculty, ISH will deliver valuable support by offering world-class training and facilitating immersive learning experiences for sponsored students.

ISH has carved a distinctive reputation in hospitality management and culinary arts programs in association with renowned global education institutions such as globally recognized culinary School - Ecole Ducasse, France, and Les Roches, Switzerland. As a part of Sommet Educations global network of 20 campuses across 10 countries, ISH is committed to empowering students and nurturing them into influential leaders within the hospitality industry.

These programs are designed to fast- track culinary careers and will incorporate a three-month on-the-job immersion at Accor, followed by pre-qualified employment contracts that assure 100% employability for the students.

India's tourism and hospitality sector has experienced significant growth in recent years, emerging as one of the key contributors to the country's economy. According to Mordor Intelligence, the Indian hospitality industry is projected to reach $24.61 billion in 2024, with further growth expected to touch $31.01 billion by 2029, demonstrating a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.73%.

However, despite these promising figures, the rate of youth unemployment is still considerably high in India, as according to the Indian Employment Report, over 82 percent of the total unemployed population consists of youths.

To address this significant challenge, Sommet Education and Accor are dedicated to promoting sustainable growth, addressing employment gaps, and empowering individuals from underserved communities to pursue rewarding careers in hospitality.

The launch of the Indian Talent Development Initiative is a testament to the shared vision and dedication of Sommet Education, ISH, and Accor towards promoting talent development, fostering social equality, and bolstering economic growth in India. The unique and noble initiative will also create new avenues for development and elevate the standards and prospects of the hospitality sector in India.

About Accor

Accor is a world leading hospitality group offering experiences across more than 110 countries in more than 5,500 properties, 10,000 food & beverage venues, wellness facilities or flexible workspaces. The Group has one of the industrys most diverse hospitality ecosystems, encompassing more than 45 hotel brands from luxury to economy, as well as Lifestyle with Ennismore. Accor is committed to taking positive action in terms of business ethics & integrity, responsible tourism, sustainable development, community outreach, and diversity & inclusion. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information, please visit www. group.accor.com or follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

About Indian School of Hospitality

Indian School of Hospitality (ISH) is an institution of higher education focused on reimagining hospitality education for todays generation and tomorrows businesses. ISH is a part of Sommet Educations global network of 20 campuses across 10 countries. The ISH philosophy is to impart lifelong skills to students to help them succeed as leaders of tomorrow  giving them the tools they need to shape one of the biggest industries worldwide. At its ultra-modern campus in Gurugram (Delhi NCR), ISH offers an International degree as well as diploma and certificate programs in Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Their undergraduate culinary program is offered with the expertise, know-how and industry recognition of the global Ecole Ducasse brand, and their hospitality management program is offered in alliance with Les Roches, one of the worlds leading hospitality business schools.

About Sommet Education

Sommet Education is the worlds leader in hospitality education with a global network of 5 education brands.

It comprises two of the Top 5 globally ranked institutions: the prestigious Swiss originated hospitality business schools Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches. Sommet Education reinforced its leadership with culinary and pastry arts schools Ecole Ducasse; South African Education leader Invictus and Indian School of Hospitality.

These institutions offer 400 undergraduate, graduate and technical training programs to 10,000 students and learners from 100 different nationalities in 10 countries. Teaching is offered on 20 campuses, as well as through state-of-the-art remote learning platforms. Together the schools have a network of 60,000 influential alumni in hospitality and beyond.

For more information, visit https://www.sommet-education.com/

Anouck Weiss

Chief Communication Officer Sommet Education

Sommet Education

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11 Oct 2024 | 3:33 PM

New York, Oct 11 (UNI) Eighty-four-year-old Iconic actor Al Pacino, who portrayed Michael Corleone in the 1972 classic The Godfather, is enjoying being a late-in-life dad and thinks it has changed him for the better.
Following a landmark year for Accor in India in 2023 with a record-breaking signing of eleven strategic hotels and the opening of six key hotels across the country, the Group is set to unveil more strategic hotel announcements in 2024 to further solidify its position as one of the largest international hotel groups by rooms in India.

Notable hotel signings for the Group in 2023 included the prestigious Fairmont Agra, Pullman Amritsar, Novotel Bengaluru Airport Varun, Grand Mercure Jaipur Kukas, and ibis Styles Bengaluru Airport Varun. This momentum demonstrates Accors commitment to catering to diverse traveller preferences. The Group also expanded its Indian portfolio in 2023 with the addition of near 1,000 rooms through the openings of Novotel Mumbai International Airport; Novotel Jaipur Convention Centre; Novotel Jodhpur ITI Centre; Grand Mercure Agra; ibis Mumbai Thane; and ibis Styles Goa Vagator.

Accor currently operates 62 hotels across a diverse array of iconic brands, including Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, and ibis Styles. The Group's commitment to innovation and excellence remains steadfast, contributing significantly to the evolution of India's hospitality landscape.

The Groups strategic approach to growth in 2024 includes the opening of six hotels in the premium, midscale, and economy segments and three luxury and lifestyle hotels, to further enriching its diverse portfolio.

Accors commitment to the luxury hospitality market is evident in the opening of Raffles Jaipur in the second quarter of 2024, a hotel that will redefine grandeur and opulence in the heart of the largest city in Rajasthan.

In the premium sector, the opening of Grand Mercure Goa Candolim in the second quarter of 2024 will offer discerning travellers a harmonious blend of comfort and cultural connections.

The openings of Mercure Chandigarh and ibis Styles Mysuru in 2024 further exemplify Accors commitment to providing quality and affordable accommodation options for the evolving needs of budget-conscious travellers.

Scheduled for the third quarter of 2024, Accor's Novotel brand will see its footprint expand to key cities with the openings of Novotel Goa Panjim, Novotel New Delhi City Centre, and Novotel Bhubaneshwar.

Sebastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO Accor, remarks, India holds a strong place in Accors global vision, embodying not just a market, but a place of opportunity and growth. We, at Accor, are resolute in our commitment to this dynamic and rapidly changing nation, where every hotel opening and signing stands as a testament to our unwavering dedication and desire to help positively shape a prosperous future for the country. We stand poised, brimming with excitement, to shape India's vibrant hospitality landscape, offering not just accommodation, but meaningful experiences that resonate with both business and leisure travellers alike.

About Accor
WASHINGTON  The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) announced today that Green Key Global, the sustainability certification body for hotels, is now jointly operated by the associations in the U.S. and Canada.

A roster of hotel companies across the continent, including Accor, Best Western, Choice Hotels, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Highgate, Hyatt, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and more continue to lead the way as some of Green Key Globals partners committed to sustainability through their involvement with the third-party certification program.

HAC created Green Key Global in 1994 to certify hotels environmental sustainability policies and processes, and its certification criteria are aligned with all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Hotels complete a robust assessment and audit process to measure their performance in areas such as energy and water conservation, land use, hazardous and solid waste management, indoor air quality, and more.

We are thrilled to collaborate with Green Key Global to advance our sustainability efforts, said Denise Naguib, Marriott International Global Vice President of Sustainability and Supplier Diversity. Marriott International and Green Key Globals agreement will help support our properties in the U.S. and Canada as they pursue a third-party sustainability certification that demonstrates dedication to environmental stewardship.

The AHLA and HAC partnership is crucial for the industry, as sustainability is increasingly shaping the behavior of leisure, business, and group travelers. Green Key Global programming is designed to give credibility to the sustainability initiatives properties are already undertaking, while equipping them with a plan for continued improvement.

The partnership builds on AHLAs Responsible Stay initiative, which underscores AHLA member companies long-standing and growing commitment to energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and responsible sourcing.

We are excited to see the momentum with the Green Key Global platform as we enter this partnership with HAC. This is an opportunity for AHLA to continue to do what we do best, supporting and educating our members on key factors influencing their business day in and day out, said AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey. This is a vital time for hoteliers, and AHLA is proud to be partnering with HAC to meet the moment.
The future of hotel distribution channels: Seizing opportunity in channel disruption

The hotel distribution channel landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. Online travel agencies (OTAs) that once leveled the playing field for independent properties now dominate, their economic muscle squeezing hotel margins. Metasearch engines commoditize the search experience, making standalone properties indistinguishable. Meanwhile, the growth in alternative lodging threatens hotels' grip on the accommodations sector.

Yet within this disruption lies opportunity for savvy hoteliers. Emergent technologies now enable hotels to tailor the guest experience as never before. Strategic partnerships build localized affinity. Targeted social media expands reach. As we'll explore here, taking an imaginative, omni-channel approach to distribution can transform a threat into an opportunity to acquire customers at a fair cost.

We'll look at:

The forces disrupting hotel distribution

Key technologies shaping guest acquisition

Lower-cost booking channels

Strategies for localized marketing

Social media distribution opportunities

The role of personalized pricing

Streamlining the booking process

Optimizing channel management

Building a distribution technology stack

The tsunami hitting hotel distribution creates openings for hotels willing to ride the wave. By adopting an integrated, imaginative channel approach, hoteliers can thrive amid industry turbulence.

The evolving hotel distribution landscape

Firstly, for those who are not familiar with the term, hotel distribution strategy refers to a plan of action for selling rooms profitably through a variety of channels. Get the full hotel distribution strategy definition here.

Hotel distribution resembles a game of musical chairs, with global mega brands and major OTAs claiming seats of power while smaller properties scramble for leverage. Three interconnected forcesNthe ascent of OTAs, meta search domination, and alternative lodgingNhave upended traditional distribution:

The OTA oligarchy

The early promise of OTAs to democratize discovery has given way to an oligarchy controlling guest access. Online travel agencies now account for over 35% of hotel bookings globally. Giant OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia have raised the table stakes so high that boutique hotels struggle to compete:

Booking.com lists over 28 million listings across hotels, homes, and other properties.

The Expedia Group owns 400+ booking sites spanning 75 countries.

Airbnb offers over 6 million alternative lodging options worldwide.

Wielding unmatched reach and budgets, mega OTAs influence every stage of trip planning and booking. Flight aggregators like Kayak funnel airline shoppers to integrated hotel booking options. Sites like Tripadvisor siphon organic search traffic while earning commissions through hotel referrals.

The cost of distribution via OTAs keeps rising. OTA commissions that once ranged from 15-20% now reach 30% or higher. Recent finds hotels paying up to 40% commission when accounting for volume discounts.

With commissions devouring hotel margins, direct bookings emerge as an urgent priority. Tools like integrated loyalty programs can shift bookings from OTA channels while lowering guest acquisition costs.

The Commoditization of Search and Discovery Meta search engines like Tripadvisor, Trivago and Google Hotel Ads have conditioned guests to filter primarily by quantitative metrics like star rating, guest rating, and nightly price during hotel evaluation. By reducing differentiation to sortable criteria, the meta-search boom commoditizes hotel discovery and accelerates price transparency.

While vital for visibility, meta-search marketing costs keep rising even as click-through rates decline. Research by Kalibri Labs finds meta-search producing over 30% of site traffic for some hotels but driving under 20% of bookings.

With high volumes of low-intent traffic, meta-search efficiency suffers. Still, with over 40% of online bookings touching a meta site at some point, hotels can hardly abandon the channel. Creating differentiated meta landing pages through unique descriptions and imagery becomes critical for rising above rate comparisons.

Competition from alternative lodging

The spectacular rise of Airbnb has inspired a Cambrian explosion of alternative lodging platforms. Airbnb now claims listings in nearly every country worldwide, its 6+ million global listings far exceeding major hotel chains. Vrbo, a key Expedia holding, manages another 2 million vacation rental listings. Other alternative stay platforms serve rapidly expanding niches:

Outsite - Coliving rentals for remote workers

Zeus Living - Furnished corporate rentals

Hipcamp - Campground and glamping sites

While extended stay rentals compete most directly with urban hotels, unique alternative properties also threaten to siphon leisure and business demand. As the chart below shows, Airbnb has gained significant market share across global cities.

Hotel rates prove highly elastic in markets with low barriers to entry for short-term rentals. A 2022 study by STR and AirDNA analyzed over 8 million Airbnb listings across 10 key markets, finding:

New York: 10K+ new entire-home Airbnb listings resulted in a -4% change in hotel occupancy and -7% fall in ADR

10K+ new entire-home Airbnb listings resulted in a -4% change in hotel occupancy and -7% fall in ADR Los Angeles: 6K+ new entire-home listings led to -11% occupancy drop and -12% ADR decline

These impacts underscore the need for integrated hotel distribution covering both transient and group/extended booking channels.

Seeds of opportunity in channel disruption

Yet for all the challenges in distribution, immense possibility exists for hotels that take an imaginative omnichannel approach. While OTAs will remain a significant channel at least in the near term, technologies that optimize conversion across the guest journey enable hotels to gradually shift share. After years of steadily rising customer acquisition costs, lower cost, and higher intent booking avenues emerge.

We group these opportune channels into four key categories:

Emergent booking technologies streamlining hotel websites and powering personalized engagement Strategic partnerships forging localized bonds Targeted social media marketing connecting with relevant audiences Optimized channel management dynamically driving demand across platforms

Now let's explore key strategies and technologies hotels can deploy within each avenue to sustain growth amid industry disruption.

Future-proofing hotel distribution: Key technologies and strategiesE

1. Streamline conversion with emergent booking technologies

Travelers visit 38 websites on average before making a hotel booking. With guests demanding seamless booking, website conversion optimization becomes mission-critical.

Integrating key technologies creates frictionless purchase pathways while enabling personalized guest interactions. Mobile responsiveness also proves vitalN55% of hotel website visitors now access from mobile devices.

Here we'll look at five technologies delivering outsized ROI through higher online conversion:

CMS personalization

A/B & multivariate testing

Chatbots

Mobile Optimization

Merchandising analytics

CMS personalization

Drag-and-drop CMS platforms like WordPress and Webflow incorporate built-in personalization based on factors like:

Geolocation - surface location-relevant offers

Referrer data - tailor messaging for OTA traffic

Search terms - respond with relevant landing pages

Returning visitor status - create loyalty incentives

A/B & multivariate testing

A/B testing compares different versions of web pages to determine which option better converts site visitors. Multivariate testing builds on this by changing multiple page elements at once.

For example, testing could pit a 15% off offer against a discounted extra night. Or feature hero images showcasing different hotel amenities. Testing across devices also proves criticalNcalls-to-action that pop on desktop may fail on mobile.

Chatbots

AI-powered chatbots enable 24/7 assistance via instant messaging apps, SMS, smart speakers, and websites. Guests value immediacy - 73% expect a response within 5 minutes of reaching out online. Chatbots deliver sub-minute answers at all hours using Natural Language Processing (NLP), reducing reliance on call centers.

Integrations with property management systems equip bots to handle common inquiries without human assistance:

Questions on reservations, rates, inventory

Requests for amenity delivery, maintenance issues

Recommendations for local attractions, dining

Chatbots also encourage direct bookings by prompting site visitors to book via the hotel website. Contextual bots even adjust messaging based on factors like user history and loyalty status. Mobile optimization

With over half of hotel website traffic now mobile, ensuring flawless mobile conversion becomes imperative. Core elements include:

Responsive web design (RWD) enabling dynamic resizing across devices

Accelerated load speeds through size reduction

One-click calls-to-action removing friction from bookings

Native app integration bridging mobile commerce

Travel metasearch firm Trivago reported bookings made within 24 hours of searching rising 6X higher via mobile apps compared to desktop. Ensuring mobile seamlessness earns the direct bookings that determine hotel profitability.

Merchandising analytics

Merchandising analytics guide online promotional strategy using reams of hotel data. Key insights uncovered relate to:

Booking lead times - set early bird offers aligned with behavior

Length of stay - promote add-on nights to match patterns

Pages viewed prior to booking - feature these amenities prominently

Which images drive more bookings

Seasonal demand trends

With intense competition across booking channels, ensuring seamless, personalized conversion on hotel websites gives operators their best opportunity to secure direct bookings. Mastering the above technologies builds tremendous advantage.

2. Strategic partnerships

While cost efficiencies drive hotel distribution strategy, forging genuine bonds with local partners also expands market reach. As chains encroach on independent properties, cultivating community affinity becomes vital for building brand love.

We'll look at two potent approaches hereNindustry collaborations and experiential partnerships:

Strategic industry collaborations

Partnering with proximate organizations expands visibility dramatically when co-marketing opportunities. Researchers find mere proximity creates perception of affinity among brands. Events also drive powerful exposure.

For example, a hotel adjoining a major university can collaborate on lodging promotions tied to family weekend, graduation, or homecoming. These build awareness while establishing the property as part of campus life.

The Montage hotel in Beverly Hills, California partners with nearby luxury retailers like Gucci to co-host experience-driven shopping weekends. These encourage extended guest stays while associating the Montage brand with exclusive luxury goods.

Proven examples highlight the power of location-based collaborations to elevate smaller brands. Savvy independent owners actively seek such opportunities.

Experiential partnerships

Immersive travel gains ground, with travelers increasingly seeking transformation. Hotels catering to this market by partnering with practitioners of emerging modalities create deep guest connections.

Examples include:

Hosting rotating resident artists from local galleries

Featuring teachers of adjacent yoga or spin studios

Promoting neighboring surf schools or SUP clubs

These informal affiliations bring elevated visibility and prestige to niche hotels while capturing business from another brand's existing customer base.

Location-based partnerships enable smaller hotels to punch above their weight in competitive markets. Identifying win-win promotional opportunities with local organizations earns the authenticity and prestige chain hotels struggle to manufacture.

3. Targeted social media marketing

Hotel social marketing historically relied on shotgun-style campaigns broadcasting to the ether. Today precision targeting distributed across emerging platforms enables truly personalized guest connections.

We'll break down current best practices into three areas:

Community building on NextGen networks

Success on recently launched networks like Reddit, TikTok and Snap depends on community integration. Reddit in particular proves hospitable for travel brands attracting valuable long-form commentary. Hotels organically build affinity by:

Being helpful first rather than promotional

Commenting knowledgably on local threads

Creating Reddit AMAs allowing candid brand Q&A

Sponsoring geo-targeted posts to niche groups

This community caretaking earns credibility driving significant website referrals. Hotel marketers actively nurture subreddits aligned with positioning like family travel or pet-friendly properties.

On TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram Reels, viral travel moments resonate. User-generated hotel highlight reels outperform corporate accounts. Hashtags expanding reach include #hotelsoftheworld and #luxuryhotel.

Pay-Per-Stay ads on Facebook

Sponsored travel posts on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger enable pay-per-booking hotel promotions. Dynamic ads adjust display based on past user actions, serving highly targeted offers:

Viewed a specific hotel page - display a special offer

Searched rival property - cross-sell better experience

Location parameters also trigger contextual messages on travelers' arrival to a hotel's metro area. Facebook's expert planner tool designs the optimal sequential ads for moving guests along the booking funnel.

Given Facebook's unrivaled targeting capabilities, pay-per-stay emerges as the lower-cost performance marketing option, now extended to Instagram Stories and Messenger.

YouTube masthead ads

YouTube video ads enable lavish storytelling unconfined by character limits. YouTube also offers the Masthead and Video Discovery ad series across devices:

Masthead = Top video banner ad earning 30 billion+ impressions annually

Video Discovery - Skippable YouTube sidebar units

Travel publishers generate billions of YouTube views annually. Conversion rates are favorable across many industries, for hospitality brands investing in YouTube it might be particularly rewarding as the content lends itself so well to video format.

Sponsored videos allow elaboration beyond soundbites to share full property stories. With YouTube charging only when viewers opt-in past skippable ads, hotels gain affordable access to the world's second-largest search platform.

In an echo chamber marketplace, social platforms finally enable genuine traveler connections, their broadcasting reach now matched by targeting precision. Hotels marrying data intelligence to creative content development can nurture meaningful guest relationships across channels.

4. Optimized channel management

With hotels paying over 30% commission for OTAs bookings, direct reservations produce 10-20% higher revenue. Still OTAs deliver over one third of hotel website traffic, which often leads to over-dependancy on them to fill rooms but with a hefty price tag.

This leaves savvy hoteliers askingNhow to tap OTAs' vast reach while maximizing profit. A data-led distribution strategy provides the path. We examine two key prongs:

Dynamic rate variation

Varying room rates across booking channels maximizes revenue and optimizes channel cost. Dynamic pricing platforms like Integrated Channel Management enable rate variability by responding to factors like:

Channel cost differential - higher margins for direct bookings

Competitive conditions - parity for brand presence

Period demand - higher OTA rates during peak seasons

Length of Stay - add-on incentive for longer stays

Machine learning drives nightly rate optimization channel-by-channel. Brand consistency stays protected by limiting lower-bound differentials. The outcome? Expanded booking channels without margin erosion.

Channel attribution analytics

As visitors visit more booking sites, quantifying actual conversion sources grows impossible without analytics. Multi-touch attribution (MTA) modeling attributes bookings algorithmically based on weighted visitor interactions.

For example, analysis may find 60% of bookings originate from paid search, yet final lead sources are:

15% Google Hotel Ads

35% TripAdvisor clicks

20% metasearch referral sites

30% direct and other channels

This nuanced understanding ensures precise media budget allocation to highest ROI channels. Top hotel marketers use attribution intel to optimize annual channel spend.

An intelligent ratio of OTA bookings to direct reservations optimizes distribution at the highest possible margins. Weighing dynamic pricing precision against real-time channel analytics unlocks this advantage.

The future of hotel distribution

Rather than retreat amid the rising OTA oligarchy, hotels now counter by getting smarter and faster. As audiences fracture further, forging community bonds builds loyalty. Cloud platforms unlock the potential for personalization at scale. Blockchain-verified customer data enables flawless service anticipation.

While the face of hospitality distribution changes almost daily, the imperatives for hotels remain constant - curate unique experiences to develop devoted guests. Commitment to authenticity still proves the surest path to prosperity.

The opportunities illuminated here only hint at possibilities, now it's over to you to leverage the hotel distribution channels that make sense for your hotel and hotel chain.

Jochen de Peuter-Rutten - Consultant at EHL Advisory Services. Connect with Jochen on LinkedIn.
TikTok for Hotels: 9 Best Practices & Examples to Get You Started

Challenges, trends, duets, hashtags - TikTok is taking over the social media landscape.

The way people consume content is rapidly changing, with short-form videos becoming increasingly important as a research tool among travelers. TikTok is one of the most effective video marketing tools, and lodging operators can take advantage of its extensive reach across international audiences of all ages to promote their property and build brand awareness.

Read on to learn more about the growing importance of TikTok marketing for hotels, how to get started on TikTok, what types of content to post, and 9 best practices.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is the leading social media platform for short-form videos. It uses a powerful algorithm to display targeted videos ranging from comedic skits to informational walkthroughs and travel tips.E

TikTok was founded in China in 2016 under the name Douyin and expanded worldwide in 2018 when the TikTok brand was established. Initially, videos could only be 15  60 seconds long; however, in February 2022, TikTok extended this limit to 10 minutes.

Creators on TikTok can easily make entertaining, fast-paced videos with special effects, music, filters, and voiceovers to connect with like-minded users across their target audience.

TikTok users: more than just Gen Z?

There's a common myth that TikTok is full of teenagers participating in dance challenges and other viral crazes. While this does exist, a growing number of people use TikTok as a place of community and a platform for connection.

TikTok's algorithm makes it easy to find other users and brands with similar values and interests N and increasingly attracts broad demographics. As of 2024, out of 1.5 billion monthly active users, 37% were between 18-24 years old, with 30% being over 35.

5 benefits of using TikTok

As a lodging operator, you may be hesitant to add one more social media platform to your list; however, here's why you should prioritize TikTok.

Reach a new segment of travelers

According to Morning Consult'sEreport, TikTok is the third most popular social media platform for Gen Z, behind Instagram and YouTube. As this demographic, along with millennials, accumulates more purchasing power, lodging operators will want to expand their marketing efforts to reach them wherever they are online.

TikTok also has excellent local search capabilities, allowing hoteliers to promote their amenities to locals. If you have a coworking space, bar, or spa, create TikTok content to showcase these amenities that anyone in your area can use.

Try a new search engine for travel

You may be surprised to hear that TikTok is quickly becoming the internet's newest search engine. Adobe found that 64% of Gen Z and 49% of millennials have used TikTok as a search engine, most likely due to the platform's authenticity and ease of use. To be discovered online, hoteliers must be active on TikTok and post videos that make users stop scrolling. In addition to quality content, you should include your website and booking engine linked in your bio to streamline the traveler's journey.

Increase engagement and visibility

Do you struggle to get people to engage with your posts on social media apps? TikTok can help properties increase visibility online thanks to its targeted algorithm tailored to user preferences. Compared to other platforms, TikTok accounts with very few followers can still achieve sky-high engagement, with niche TikTok audiences more likely to convert. Research suggests that the average user now spends more than an hour per day using TikTok.

Produce and repurpose rich content

Ross Bordem, CEO and Founder of Matador Network, a travel content creator community, predicts that short-form video will become the most crucial form of marketing in the next decade, and we agree. Hoteliers creating TikTok videos can repurpose content across various hotel marketing channels, including Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and their website. As Google's algorithm changes to favor video, the hoteliers incorporating short-form video as part of their hotel marketing strategy will be ahead.

Increase brand awareness

Connecting with travelers before they're ready to book is a crucial part of marketing within the hospitality industry. Younger generations want to buy from (or stay with) brands who share similar values, and therefore, hoteliers must put in the time on social media to educate users about who they are before trying to sell a hotel room.

How to get started on TikTok

Getting started on an unfamiliar platform can be intimidating for hotel brands, but here are a few tips to help get you started.

Identify what you want to accomplish. Familiarize yourself with the platform and determine what goals you want to achieve and who your target audience will be. Feel free to experiment with genres like educational or comedic, but keep some consistency across your profile (i.e., 80% education content, 20% humor).E

Familiarize yourself with the platform and determine what goals you want to achieve and who your target audience will be. Feel free to experiment with genres like educational or comedic, but keep some consistency across your profile (i.e., 80% education content, 20% humor).E Set up a business account. A business account will provide real-time analytics and audience insights like monthly users, views, and demographics. On your profile, you can link your other social media accounts along with your website and booking engine.E

A business account will provide real-time analytics and audience insights like monthly users, views, and demographics. On your profile, you can link your other social media accounts along with your website and booking engine.E Identify who will be responsible for creating TikTok videos. Sticking to a consistent posting schedule is crucial for success. See if someone on your team is familiar with TikTok and marketing trends and has a passion for social media. You can easily create TikTok's ahead of time on the app and keep them in draft mode, therefore, it could be part of someone's weekly role to create pre-recorded content.

Sticking to a consistent posting schedule is crucial for success. See if someone on your team is familiar with TikTok and marketing trends and has a passion for social media. You can easily create TikTok's ahead of time on the app and keep them in draft mode, therefore, it could be part of someone's weekly role to create pre-recorded content. Create your first video! When it comes to TikTok, you just have to start. Take advantage of existing videos and the music, effects, filters, and voiceovers that TikTok offers. Be aware that some music is not available for business accounts, so check that out prior to planning your posts.

When it comes to TikTok, you just have to start. Take advantage of existing videos and the music, effects, filters, and voiceovers that TikTok offers. Be aware that some music is not available for business accounts, so check that out prior to planning your posts. Measure your success with TikTok Analytics. Test out different video styles and see what performs best. Using TikTok Analytics, you can dive deeper into your content performance and audience.

9 TikTok best practices for hotels

So, you're ready to make your first TikTok video. Follow these best practices to get the most out of the platform.

Be authentic.

Richard Hyde, Managing Director of Smallluxuryhotels, says that authenticity is quickly becoming the new cultural currency [and that TikTok] doesn't require polished content. Travelers don't want a perfectly curated video; they want a realistic and authentic look at what they can expect at your hotel.

Be creative.

TikTok is all about being playful, engaging, and entertaining. Step outside your brand's comfort zone and do something interactive that engages travelers and converts them to hotel guests.

Stay on top of trends.

Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers+Shakers, says that the vast majority of TikTok content follows a trend. To stay relevant, hotels need to keep on top of TikTok trends (and ensure proper timing, as being late to a trend or doing it wrong can harm your brand).

Keep your videos short.

While TikTok upped the time limit for videos, research recommends that hotels keep their TikTok's between 21-35 seconds. This provides enough time to get your message across while keeping the attention span of viewers.

Incorporate relevant hashtags.

TikTok users love a hashtag challenge, and it gives brands a fun way to interact with travelers. Hashtags also help increase your discoverability, so consider incorporating relevant hashtags into your posts, like #besthotel or #tiktoktravel.

Engage with comments.

Actively monitor your TikTok page and respond to comments. Not only does it help to boost reach and improve your ranking in the algorithm, but provides a connection point with travelers and guests.

Include a link to your booking engine in your bio.

Why not incorporate another channel to capture direct bookings? Within your videos or captions, you can tell users to visit your bio to book a stay N making the path to purchase as seamless as possible.

Engage with other accounts.

Seek out other local businesses with TikTok accounts and engage with their profiles. Do collaborations, stitches, or duets to increase your reach and visibility.

Add captions to your videos.

Captions make your videos more accessible and open up a larger demographic of viewers. They are shown to increase impressions by 55.7% and are a good business practice to have across all of your video content.

What to post on TikTok

Depending on the goals you want to achieve with your TikTok account, the types of videos that you post will vary. However, here are a few ideas for hoteliers to increase brand awareness, drive engagement, and reach a new segment of travelers.

Participate in TikTok challenges & trends (or start your own!).

TikTok is a hub for viral trends and challenges. Trends incorporate popular sounds, visual effects, and hashtags, while challenges are based on performing a specific task. Both are timebound and require fast action to stay relevant. Participating in trends and challenges offers great creative content creation opportunities and a connection point with guests.

Jo & Joe, a youth hostel, participates in a ton of trends and challenges on their TikTok account, including the popular trend Odon't let anyone know your next move,' where users perform a series of unpredictable actions.

Leverage the power of TikTok influencers.

TikTok influencers, or Ocreators' as they're known on the platform, are an extremely valuable resource for hotels to leverage. Studies show that 65% of TikTok users enjoy when creators post about products and brands, with 35% discovering new brands from creators they follow. As part of an influencer marketing strategy, hotels can choose creators from the OCreator Marketplace' that align with their brand values and goals. From here, you can exchange a free stay and comped food and beverage for a post on their account.

Dylan Mulvaney, a TikTok influencer with 10.5 million followers and over 385.1 million likes, partnered with The Pod Hotels as part of her O100 days of girlhood series.' She does a mini-tour of her hotel room and provides a link and discount code for her followers to book.

Utilize user-generated content.

User-generated content on TikTok are videos created by other users that showcase your hotel. Ideally, it involves guests posting about their stay and recommending your property as a spot for others to visit. A Stackla study found that user-generated content was believed to be the most authentic, with 80% of people saying that this type of content influences their purchasing decisions. Consider using signage within your rooms or a quick text post-arrival to encourage people to post on TikTok and tag your property. You can offer simple incentives like a free drink to increase the volume of videos. Once guests post, stitch or duet their videos or repost on your page (assuming they've given consent).

Selina reposted a Oday in the life' video from bellandlevi, showcasing the different amenities offered in its Costa Rica property. Selina credited the original poster in the caption and used relevant hashtags to expand reach.

Do mini-tours.E

When researching, travelers love to use TikTok to get a realistic view of their hotel. They want to see what their room will actually look like and if the amenities will work for them. Digital nomads will want to see what different coworking spaces look like, while partygoers will want to see what activities are available.

Alma Maya has a variety of videos highlighting its unique bubble rooms and geodesic domes, where guests sleep under the stars in the heart of the jungle. In this video, they show a range of amenities and experiences guests can expect from their stay.

Show off your amenities.

Similar to mini-tours, hotels can create videos that just show off their amenities. Not only does this help sell rooms to travelers, but it also boosts local visibility. For those with facilities open to the public, you can significantly increase the volume of local visitors (who are more likely to return).

Hotel Hubertus showcases its beautiful views from the Heaven & Hell Sky Spa in its TikTok videos. The comments are full of users admiring the steaming pools and asking how to book.

Highlight your local attractions.

Don't feel constrained on TikTok to just showcase your property. Share travel tips and establish your brand as a local expert. Not only does this type of video provide great content for your page, but it will also help travelers discover your property when looking for things to do on their next vacation.

Pillows Hotels does a great job on its TikTok page highlighting local attractions and sites close to its properties. In this video, they combine recommendations with a promotion for their hotel.

Introduce the faces behind the brand.

In the hospitality industry, people are everything. They make or break the guest experience N and should be included in your social media videos! One of the primary purposes of TikTok is to humanize your brand and connect with your audience. Showcasing the people on your team will make your brand more authentic and relatable.

CitizenM Hotels creates a variety of relatable and entertaining videos on its TikTok page. They respond to user questions and comments and participate in viral trends. Their creative videos have resulted in 15.4K followers and 203.7K likes on TikTok.

Get active on TikTok

Travelers are increasingly moving to TikTok to discover new destinations and hotels to try. To capture this growing audience, hoteliers and hosts need to get their properties active on TikTok and create relevant content that captures viewers' attention. Browse some of the profiles highlighted in this post and develop your TikTok strategy to increase visibility and drive reservations.

Elevate your property's TikTok with our guide OHow Hotels Win on Social Media. Download here.

About Cloudbeds

Cloudbeds is the platform that powers hospitality, enabling tens of thousands of lodging businesses in more than 150 countries worldwide to grow and thrive. The award-winning Cloudbeds Platform brings together technology solutions to increase revenue, delight guests, and streamline operations into a single unified system, enhanced by a curated marketplace of third-party integrations.

Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds was named No. 1 PMS, No. 1 Hotel Management System, and No. 1 Guest Messaging Software by Hotel Tech Report in 2023 and was recognized as a major player in the 2022 IDC Marketscape Report. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com.
Infamous Record Store Crawl returns for a 7-City Comeback Tour

Music lovers, record enthusiasts, and audiophiles are checking their collections and ironing their CBGB t-shirts in anticipation of the upcoming Record Store Crawl tour, making a comeback after a four-year pandemic-induced hiatus.

Presented by Audio-Technica and WMG, the crawl will return to New York City for multiple stops on May 18th, before embarking on a journey to iconic record stores nationwide.

Tickets go on sale on April 9th.

A Celebration of Vinyl Culture

The Record Store Crawl is a celebration of vinyl culture that includes exclusive performances, special edition vinyl releases, giveaways, and even snacks aboard the Record Store Crawl bus.

Exclusive limited-edition vinyl releases will include the first-ever vinyl release of Portraits by Quarters of Change and the highly anticipated re-issues of the Twilight Saga soundtracks. Record Store Crawl exclusive LPs will also be available at independent record stores nationwide and on the Record Store Crawls website.

In collaboration with the voter registration non-profit HeadCount, the seventh crawl location will be voted on by vinyl collectors. After casting their crawl ballots, participants are encouraged to check their voter status for the 2024 election.

Record Store Crawl 2024 Dates & Cities

5/18/24: New York, NY with Quarters of Change

6/15/24: Seattle, WA with Joe P

7/20/24: Austin, TX with Joe P

8/10/24: Nashville, TN with Knox

9/7/24: HeadCount VOTE Crawl (TBD City) with Joe P

9/28/24: Chicago, IL with Deux Visages

10/19/24: Los Angeles, CA with Alicia Creti

Hotter, smarter and sexier than ever. Presented by @USAudioTechnica, the 2024 Record Store Crawl tour is here. Tickets on sale 4/9. Visit https://t.co/Nw1UJyhawM for more info and dates. pic.twitter.com/7fn7lo3k1S  Record Store Crawl (@recstorecrawl) April 2, 2024

Kicking off at Tower Records Brooklyn outpost, Tower Labs, the New York City Crawl will feature stops at prominent stores such as Generation Records, Rough Trade, and Crawlers, which will have a first look at Audio-Technicas turntable store coming soon to SoHo.

For tickets and additional information, visit www.recordstorecrawl.com.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.

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New Delhi, April 4 (UNI) The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday urged Israeli authorities to do their best to take care the safety and well-being of Indians who have gone to Israel under government-to-government (G2G) agreement.

Addressing a weekly press conference here, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said, "The first batch of people from India have gone to Israel. For us, their safety is important.

We have urged Israeli authorities to do their best to take care of their safety and well-being."

The spokesperson said the workers were sent under a pre-existing Mobility Agreement between the two nations, signed before the Israel-Hamas war started.

The first batch of 60 Indian construction workers arrived in Israel on Tuesday evening under a G2G agreement.

"Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. . This is an outcome of the hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA. Im sure that the workers become 'ambassadors of the great P2P relations between India and Israel," Israel's ambassador to India Naor Gilon posted on X on Tuesday.

Replying to the query on two Indian nationals who were reported missing in Taiwan earthquake, Randhir Jaiswal said "We have been now able to get in touch with the two people with whom earlier we could not establish contact. They are safe."

On Wednesday, atleast nine people were killed and more than 1,000 by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings that extended to Japan and the Philippines.

On China renaming the places in Arunachal Pradesh, MEA Spokesperson said, "By naming something you don't change the reality. Reality is what it is. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral, inalienable part of India and it will remain so".

On Tuesday, China released a list of so-called 'standardised' geographical names in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing recognises as Zangnan.

It also renamed the 30 places include 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass, 11 residential areas and a piece of land. Apart from the list of names, the Chinese ministry also shared detailed latitude and longitude and a high-resolution map of the areas.

UNI JA CS




iciHaiti - FAO : Distribution of poultry in the communes of Coteaux and Port a Piment





The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - Haiti) and the Ministry of Agriculture, carried out a distribution of poultry in the communes of Coteaux and Port a Piment as part of the "Reinforcement livelihoods of vulnerable populations in areas affected by food insecurity in the South department".



The objective of the project is to improve the food and nutritional security of 2,000 vulnerable people in areas affected by severe food insecurity through strengthening their productive livelihoods.



Funded by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the project distributed 2,500 laying hens and 500 Plymouth / Rhode Island roosters to 250 women from the commune of Coteaux and 250 other women from the commune of Port a Piment.



FAO is committed to supporting the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations in areas affected by food insecurity.



IH/ iciHaiti


















Thursday 4 April 2024, 09:27 - Last updated: 5 April, 08:52

 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This article is automatically translated

The American flag, cutting-edge military uniforms, and a decisive stride. 'American soldiers have arrived in Kiev,' reads a video that went viral on Tiktok. The video lasts 15 seconds. You can see the recruits marching in front of a crowd of spectators, gathered behind security barriers. But reality is not as it seems. And while there has been widespread talk in recent months about NATO troops in Ukraine, with France pushing for the deployment of new units, it is different from them already being deployed in the Ukrainian capital. Russia attacks Kharkiv, 5 dead and 12 injured: kamikaze drones against buildings in the center of the Ukrainian city. Where was it filmed Let's analyze the images together. If you zoom in on the facade of the yellow building visible behind the soldiers, we can read an inscription in Estonian 'Tallinna kesklinna pohikool,' which means, in French, 'elementary school in the center of Tallinn'. As highlighted by the journalists of Rfi who dealt with the case. The inscription indicates that it is an elementary school located in the center of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Google Maps Research A search on an online mapping service like Google Maps confirms that the scene takes place in one of the main arteries of the Estonian capital, 350 meters from the famous Freedom Square. The school is located in the center of Tallinn, more than 1,300 kilometers from Kiev. Source RFI The original video To restore the context of this video, we performed several queries on online video platforms with the keywords 'American soldiers' and 'Tallinn', translated into English and Estonian. This allowed us to find the original video published on YouTube on February 26, 2023, two days after the traditional military parade that celebrates the Country's Independence Day every February 24. The route planned for that day corresponds to the geolocation of the images. At the parade, there were also French, British, and German soldiers present. The patch So, this video has no connection with Ukraine. In reality, it shows American soldiers parading in Tallinn. The patch, visible on the left shoulder of the soldiers, indicates that they are part of the 75th artillery brigade. A unit, some of its members, are stationed at a NATO base on Estonian soil. This is why they were invited to the military parade. This is not the first time that diverted videos falsely claim that American soldiers were deployed on Ukrainian soil.
Thursday 4 April 2024, 10:44 - Last updated: 18:57

 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This article is automatically translated

Serbian police have arrested two people suspected of the murder of Danka Ilic, the 2-year-old girl who disappeared last week from the Bor area in Serbia. This was announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during an extraordinary session of the government, as reported by Belgrade's public TV. "We have bad news about the little girl from Bor, Danka Ilic has been killed," said Vucic. "The police have arrested two people who killed Danka and, from what I understand, both have confessed to their crime," he added. The Serbian president specified that the police are taking the two to the place where the girl's body would be found. The little girl had escaped her mother's attention while she was in the city of Bor. The case has become of international interest, and Interpol has issued a search notice, while in the country of origin, the Amber Alert system, the national alarm procedure in case of a minor's kidnapping, was activated for the first time. The disappearance of Danka was also covered by "Chi l'ha visto?" (Who has seen her?). Danka's mother, Ivana, recounts the moment of disappearance: "We were at Banjsko Polje for a walk. One moment she was there, and the next she was gone." Interpol is now asking for the support of all European law enforcement agencies, indicating the possibility that little Danka may have been taken out of Serbia. A supposed sighting of Danka had been reported in Vienna, by a man who captured on video a girl with a pacifier and her hair tied in a ponytail. The Austrian police thus joined the search. A similar appeal was extended to citizens, with the embassy inviting anyone with information to immediately contact the authorities. Meanwhile, a new investigative thread had opened in Montenegro, although it has not led to significant developments at the moment. Now the tragic epilogue.
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A new exhibition at the British Museum will explore the final three decades of Michelangelos life and is aiming to encourage audiences to think about the artist beyond David and the Sistine Chapel.

The first exhibition since the appointment of the museums new director, Nicholas Cullinan, Michelangelo: the last decades will explore not only the final work of the Italian Renaissance master but also elements of his personality by showcasing personal poems and letters.

Sarah Vowles, Curator of Italian and French Prints and Drawings, told The Independent: I think a lot of people, when they think of Michelangelo, automatically think of David and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Perhaps they dont realise that when he was 60 years old, he still had almost 30 years of dynamic creativity left in his life.

Explaining that there has never been an exhibition that looks specifically at these 30 years, Vowles said: His work becomes, in the last 10 years, very introspective and very poignant. I think the show enables people to get a good sense of what he was like as a person, as well as an artist.

open image in gallery ( The Trustees of the British Museum )

open image in gallery ( The Trustees of the British Museum )

She hopes that visitors will be able to engage with Michelangelo in a personal way, saying the exhibition aims to show people hes not just this towering genius of Renaissance art, but a real man, struggling with concerns that we all have at various points of our life.

We want people to get a sense of who Michelangelo was. We want them to have the feeling of sort of peering over his shoulder as hes working and understanding where these beautiful drawings are coming from.

One of the highlights of the show will be the monumental Epifania, displayed for the first time since conservation began back in 2018. For the first time in over four centuries, the cartoon will be reunited with the painting made from it by Michelangelos biographer, Ascanio Condivi.

open image in gallery Epifania will be on display for the first time since 2018 ( The Trustees of the British Museum )

The exhibition aims to celebrate the amazing drawings hes producing, but at the same time look at the context in which theyre being produced, showcasing the artists fears and vulnerabilities.

Vowles added: People have an idea of Michelangelo as this very confident, stubborn character. Im hoping this might offer a slight counter, or complement to that view.

Work on the exhibition began back in 2018, with 20 of the 80 Michelangelo drawings in the British Museums collection being displayed in this exhibition. Pieces from Casa Buonarroti in Florence and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford will also appear on display.

Michelangelo: the last decades will run from May 2 - July 28, 2024.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal has shared the first look at Christian Bale as Frankensteins monster in her forthcoming film, The Bride.

Gyllenhaals second directorial feature, following The Lost Daughter (2021), riffs on James Whales 1935 horror classic Bride of Frankenstein.

The plot follows a lonely Frankenstein who travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aide of a Dr Euphronius in creating a companion for himself. The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.

Jessie Buckley plays the eponymous bride while Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening also star.

Sharing the first film stills of Buckley and Bale on Instagram on Thursday (4 April), Gyllenhaal wrote: Meet The Bride & Frank.

The post was supportively reshared by Gyllenhaals brother, actor Jake Gyllenhaal who wrote simply: THE BRIDE!

In another Instagram Story, Jake said his sister eclipsed me many moons ago.

The Bride marks Gyllenhaal and Bales second time working together; though, it is the first time she has directed the American Psycho star. The two co-starred in Christopher Nolans Dark Night film saga  Bale played Batman/Bruce Wayne while Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes as Waynes love interest Rachel Dawes from the second film, The Dark Knight (2008).

Sarsgaard, who is married to Gyllenhaal and plays the detective trailing Frankensteins monster (Bale), told The Independent in a recent interview: Its this big, romantic, deeply romantic, wild, punk monster movie! I think its going to be energising! Its rambunctious! People are going to be very surprised that this is Maggies second movie. It is nothing, at all, like The Lost Daughter.

He added: Now I have my own director whos gonna put me in her movies. I always wanted to work with someone over and over, making that relationship deeper and more interesting. I dont think Ive ever worked with the same director more than once. My wife is the only one!

When theyre at home, Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal dont discuss work. Were shooting The Bride at the start of April, he said. I know Maggies talking to some of the other actors in the movie, but she and I have almost said nothing. She just knows thats not my way of working. I read a script a lot. Then I daydream about all the things that arent in it.

The Bride is set for release in cinemas on 2 October 2025.
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Playwright Jez Butterworth has revealed why he punched disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein on the set of a movie they worked on together.

Award-winning writer and film director, Butterworth, 55, is behind blockbusters including Spectre and Jerusalem and has won both Tony and Laurence Olivier awards for his work.

In a new interview, he explained why both men threw punches in the altercation.

While Weinstein worked with the playwright on the 2001 movie Birthday Girl, an erotic comedy thriller starring Eyes Wide Shut star Nicole Kidman and Cinderella actor Ben Chaplin, the pair fell out over staffing.

The disagreement started when Weinstein punched an unnamed producer he wanted to have fired, Butterworth told The Guardian.

The playwright, who boxed while he studied the English tripos at Cambridge, wanted the producer to remain, and so he hit Weinstein in return.

If Harvey wants to start throwing punches, he should know that I know what to do, he said about the fight.

Butterworth has previously been critical of Weinstein, 72, whose predatory behaviour was a catalyst for the #MeToo movement and who is serving decades in prison for rape and sexual assault.

In 2017, the playwright read out a moving letter on BBC Newsnight in which he shared his concerns for his young daughter who one day dreamed of entering the movie industry.

open image in gallery Butterworth punched Weinstein on the set of 2001 movie Birthday Girl ( Getty Images )

Harvey, it began. My daughter is 11 years old and all her life has dreamed of being a performer. She attends a local drama group and loves to sing, dance and act.

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Were she one day able to realise those dreams, and had Ashley Judd and others not been brave enough to come forward, theres every chance in a few years time she would have been taken to a hotel, duped by your staff, ended up alone with you, and chased round the suite by you, naked, masturbating, threatening her, terrifying her, for your own enjoyment.

Weinstein is incarcerated at the Mohawk Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Multiple attempts by his legal team to appeal his convictions have been unsuccessful.

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
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Lionel Shriver has shared her views on Harry Potter actors speaking out against JK Rowlings stance on transgender issues.

Rowling, 58, has stoked much debate in recent years due to her comments about gender identity.

The author of the globally beloved wizard novels recently taunted Scottish police, daring them to arrest her after Scotland introduced new anti-hate crime legislation.

In a new Telegraph interview, American writer Shriver, 66, spoke out on the gulf between Rowling and the stars of the films inspired by her books.

While discussing ideas of free speech, the We Need to Talk About Kevin author criticised the personal disloyalty between individuals who maybe go back decades.

She then contextualised her view in terms of the Harry Potter cast and JK Rowling. Notably, film series star Daniel Radcliffe published an open letter in 2020 in which he proclaimed that transgender women are women.

Elsewhere, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who played Harrys best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the franchise, have also publicly opposed Rowlings views.

Its been really hideous to watch, Shriver said of the films stars expressing their distaste for Rowlings views. Its almost always someone to the Left disavowing someone whos a little bit to the Right.

Lionel Shriver and JK Rowling ( Getty )

Shriver has personal experience with this scenario; a friend of over a decade distanced herself from the author following her appearance on Question Time in 2019, during which Shriver questioned mass immigration and defended Boris Johnsons comments that likened hijab-wearing Muslim women to letterboxes.

The author said: There was one person in particular who ended our friendship for purely political reasons. Wed been friends for 13 years, and then suddenly she couldnt. I always thought there was an undercurrent of she couldnt afford to be associated with me.

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Elsewhere in the interview, published on Wednesday (3 April), Shriver dismissed diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives and claimed that men are disadvantaged because of them.

Lionel Shriver in 2017 ( Getty )

Right now, being male, I would say, is on a career level, a disadvantage because of the DEI business [diversity, equality and inclusion], which has been going on for a long time, she explained.

Shriver then added that she was very hostile to all this equality legislation and claimed that racism shouldnt be against the law as it denies people of their right to have conceptions and sometimes misconceptions of groups of people.

This hate speech legislation is evil. Its about controlling what you can and cant say, she claimed. Im willing to make the sacrifice of living in a world where people are not always nice, because thats the real world.

You know, racism shouldnt be against the law, as an internal state, Shriver added.

We all have our conceptions and sometimes misconceptions of groups of people. And we have a right to that. We are now well on our way to criminalising internal states.

The Independent has reached out to a representative of Lionel Shriver for further comment.
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Michael Douglas has discovered he is related to one of his Marvel co-stars.

The actor, who is the son of three-time Academy Award nominee Kirk Douglas and is married to Best Supporting Actress winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, appeared on an episode of genealogy series Finding Your Roots.

At the end of his segment on the episode, Douglas received a surprise from host Henry Louis Gates, who told the Ant-Man actor he is distantly related to one of his Marvel Cinematic universe (MCU) co-stars: Scarlett Johansson.

Your DNA cousin is the actress Scarlett Johansson, Gates told the star, who won Best Actor for Wall Street at the 1988 Oscars.

Gates added: Michael and Scarlett share identical stretches of DNA on four different chromosomes, all of which appear on Scarletts maternal lines, which stretch back to Jewish communities in eastern Europe.

open image in gallery Michael Douglas on Finding Your Roots ( PBS )

Visibly surprised, Douglas said: Are you kidding? Oh, thats amazing. Alright, this is cool. This is so cool. Thats incredible.

He said he looks forward to seeing Johansson again to inform her of their connection.

The actors both appeared in superhero mash-up Avengers: Endgame  Douglas as Hank Pym and Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.

open image in gallery Scarlett Johansson is revealed to be a relative of Michael Douglas on Finding Your Roots ( PBS )

While Douglas has enjoyed a successful Hollywood career as an actor and producer since the 1970s, he does not want his children to follow in his footsteps.

In 2021, Zeta-Jones, whom hes been married to for 23 years, revealed that Douglas warned their kids away from acting as he believes it is harder to succeed with famous parents.

Zeta-Jones said that Dylan, 23, and Carys, 21, want to follow in their parents footsteps, but said their Wall Street star father has tried to steer them away from the idea.

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Douglas, who is 79, believes that they would have to work harder to overcome the association of who their parents are.

open image in gallery Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have been married for 23 years ( Getty Images for Hollywood Forei )

In the same episode of Finding Your Roots, Gates told Girls star Lena Dunham that she is a distant relative of Curb Your Enthusiasms Larry David.

Dunham replied: Its Larry David  the other LD! This is the hottest information I could have ever gotten.
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Scoop, Netflixs dramatisation of Newsnights infamous 2019 sit-down with Prince Andrew, positions the interview as one of the most crucial journalistic works of recent history. Its all immaculately recreated  the royals oblivious defence of past associations with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his claim to it being almost impossible for him to sweat, his repeated references to a Pizza Express in Woking. Youve got Gillian Anderson as host Emily Maitlis and Rufus Sewell as Andrew. She, wielding her BIC pen and unflinching stare. He, huffing like a toad who cant figure out how to leap off his capsizing lily pad.

But this is a film that is uncomfortably smug about a hollow victory. Virginia Giuffre, the woman who would sue Andrew for sexual assault (the case was eventually settled out of court), is merely a name mentioned in passing conversation. Epsteins victims exist merely as a collection of terror-struck faces caught on camera by New York pap Jae Donnelly (Connor Swindells), who famously photographed Andrew and Epstein walking together in Central Park in 2010.

Scoop, instead, considers its mic-drop moment to be a scrolling wall of tweets. It adapts the memoirs of Sam McAlister, the Newsnight booker who first secured the Prince Andrew interview, and in doing so turns the collective battle to expose powerful abusers into an individualistic tale of a woman attempting to pierce the elitist circles of British media.

McAlister (Billie Piper), whose leopard-print booties, black leather coat, and Dont Rain on My Parade ringtone offer a hint of mafia don, has tired of her colleagues apathetic reliance on booking far-right agitator Nigel Farage for their news programme. Shes here for the stories people actually care about, any way she can get them. Piper wears the part well, having always excelled playing the kind of women with no interest in likeability.

And, so, when some humdrum PR pitch about Andrews business mentorship initiative crosses her inbox, shes sent down a Google rabbit hole (Scoop does, realistically, show how much journalistic work starts by simply typing something into a search engine and hoping for the best). She ends up at the desk of Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes), Andrews former private secretary.

There is, undoubtedly, a miserable lack of attention paid to the issue of class in journalism. But not only is Scoops take on it entirely perfunctory, it also serves as a slightly too-convenient distraction from whats destined to ruffle a few gilded feathers. Here, its all about who gets credit for the story (Maitlis is executive producer on a rival series at Amazon), and not what the storys about. Its happy to revel in the most meme-primed aspects of the interview  from the camera cuts, repeatedly, to Pipers embarrassed face as it plays out  but, otherwise, Peter Moffats script defangs Andrew where it can. It hones in on his attachment to stuffed animals and has him leap out of the bath and potter naked around his apartments. The royal family as a whole fade entirely from view (minus Andrews daughter, Beatrice, played by Charity Wakefield), and were never offered any real sense of the threat posed by someone living under the protection of the most powerful institution in the country.

open image in gallery Uncanny: Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell as Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew in Scoop' ( Netflix )

Scoop ends with a semi-farcical scene of McAlister in Piccadilly Circus, as she watches every person there lift up their phones, dumbstruck, to film the Newsnight interview splashed out across the digital billboards. We then return to the BBC itself, as editor Esme Wren (Romola Garai), declares, like a knight in battle, This is what Newsnight is. We hold the powerful to account.

Granted, theres urgency to her words, in the wake of the news that the programme will soon be shortened due to budget cuts and no longer provide a showcase for investigative journalism. There remain real questions about mainstream medias ability to hold the powerful to account. But Scoop, which declares it a job-well-done simply to see a man stripped of honorary titles without ever having to defend himself in a criminal court, fails to make the argument for why any of this mattered beyond making good TV.

Dir: Philip Martin. Starring: Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes, Connor Swindells, Romola Garai. 15, 102 minutes.

Scoop streams on Netflix from 5 April
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A journey from cynicism to optimism, is how Ezra Koenig describes Vampire Weekends fifth album, Only God Was Above Us. Beginning with the muttered line F*** the world and ending with a song called Hope, its a record that sucks in all of the bands best-known sounds and blows them out in a wild confetti blast of twisty-indie-anxious-punk-jazzy-joy.

While 2019s Father of the Bride was presented as a solo project, Only God Was Above Us is billed as a group effort, restoring the original 2006 lineup with drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio officially back on the team, and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij in the studio as a guest. Koenig says hes spent the five-year gap between releases chilling with his wife (actor Rashida Jones) and their son, spending time walking through London and Tokyo.

The trauma of world events over those years is acknowledged in both the sound and the lyrics of the new songs, but the bouncing soles of Koenigs bright melodies encourage fans to dance and sway through the disasters and reach for positivity. Opener Ice Cream Piano sidles up to old fans with distorted guitar and pensive, pub pee-anah, while Koenig buttonholes them with musings on war and peace before the track explodes into a mosh pit pogo-sesh. Perfect for flattening that summer festival grass.

Then we get a typically ping-pong melody on Classical, skipping across the tracks Nineties trip-hop beat. Koenigs sweet conversational vocals skitter through images of bridges burning, bodies breaking and temples crumbling  putting modern conflicts in a centuries-old context. Like Paul Simon, Koenig is a conversationally impressionist lyricist/vocalist who travels alongside his listeners rather than opting for some Dylan-esque preaching.

He lobs in pretty polysyllables, seemingly as much for the patter of the beat as for their meaning. He admits to being a smartass in the past; now he wears his learning less showily, but no less playfully. Here, hes tossing out the paradoxical ideas that the nothingness inside your DNA is a catastrophe... and also that none of it really matters at all. He throws up his palms at the realisation that the cruel, with time, becomes classical. The throwaway ease of the tune is irresistible.

The idea of deep time also grinds through the slower stagger of Capricorn, on which guitars and keyboards scrape murky offkey notes like tectonic plates beneath a breezy acoustic strum that dials into Seventies AM soft rock. Cascading pianos, bongos, and jazzily twanged double bass bop through Connect, as Koenig reaches casually for his falsetto like an old-school hepcat flipping down a fedora from a hatstand. Dev Hynes from Blood Orange drops in to play drums on Prep School Gangsters, after an injury forced him to abandon the bass.

open image in gallery Album artwork for Vampire Weekends Only God Was Above Us ( Press )

On Gen X Cops, Koenig concedes that time ensures each generation makes its own apology over guitar lines that screech and spark like New York subway trains cornering through the dark. Although theyre now mostly based in LA, Vampire Weekend reference their hometown throughout this record. Over the baggy beat, choir and hand claps of Mary Boone they celebrate the septuagenarian art dealer whose pioneering gallery showed early works by Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat until she was jailed in 2018 for tax fraud.

Shes still famous for pointing out that, in the Seventies and Eighties, the violence and poverty of New York gave people more time to focus on art. Koenig seems to be suggesting that modern challenges could allow us time to do the same.

Eight-minute closer Hope takes its time to gently lift the spirits, like a parental palm under the chin and kiss on the forehead. Over a trudging beat, throbbing bass, liquid piano and swelling brass, Koenig repeats I hope you let it go like a mantra. Only God Was Above Us takes its title from a 1988 newspaper headline, in which a plane crash survivor reflected on how it felt when the roof was ripped off the aircraft. It really captures the mood of this music, as it invites us all to feel the wind in our hair even as were surrounded by disaster.
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British actor Adrian Schiller has died suddenly and unexpectedly aged 60.

As well as the historical series The Last Kingdom, in which he played Aethelhelm, Schiller was known for playing Cornelius Penge in ITV series Victoria.

The stars agent announced the news on Thursday (4 April).

Talent agency Scott Marshall Partners, who represented Schiller for more than three decades, wrote in a statement: He has died far too soon, and we, his family and close friends are devastated by the loss.

His death was sudden and unexpected and no further details around its cause are yet available.

A prodigiously talented actor, he had just returned from Sydney, where he had been appearing in The Lehman Trilogy and was looking forward to continuing the international tour in San Francisco.

London-born Schiller had been a professionally credited actor since the early Nineties, with appearances in shows such as Prime Suspect (1992 and 1993), Ghosts (1994) and the TV movie RKO 281 (1999).

open image in gallery Adrian Schiller attending the World Premiere of Fast & Furious Live in 2018 ( PA )

The 2000s saw Schiller continue to rack up credits across British dramas and comedies, including A Touch of Frost (2000), My Family (2001), Judge John Deed and Silent Witness (2007).

One of his most recognisable roles came in 2018 when he joined the third season of the historical drama series The Last Kingdom as Aethelhelm, the richest man in Wessex, and one of the most powerful.

Schiller is also known for playing Mr Penge, a member of the royal household, in Victoria for three seasons from 2016 to 2019.

open image in gallery Adrian Schiller ( Isabel Infantes/PA Wire )

In January, Schiller played a criminal named Drake Underwood in an episode of the BBC detective series Father Brown. The episode, titled The Father, The Son, centred on a heist gone wrong.

Also known for his theatre work, Schiller was among the cast in the World War II play The White Factory at Marylebone Theatre last year.

Elsewhere in the statement, Schillers agent also said he enjoyed a varied and successful career across all media.

The agent added: Our deepest condolences go to his family, who ask for privacy at this most difficult of times.
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Viewers were left in shock as The Good Doctor said goodbye to a series regular in a surprise twist during its final season.

The medical drama, which began in 2017, stars Freddie Highmore as Dr Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgeon working at a hospital in San Jose, California.

In January this year, it was confirmed that the ABC series would be coming to an end following its seventh season.

Promotional material for episode five of the seventh and final season promised a must-see hour with a heartstopping moment, and fans were not left disappointed.

*Spoilers ahead!

In the episode, titled Who At Peace which aired on Tuesday (2 April), a veteran cast member is killed.

At the end of the hour, Dr Asher Wolke (played by The Real ONeals actor Noah Galvin) suffers an antisemitic attack that ends his life.

Dr Wolke first appeared in the series in season three, episode four. Throughout the show, he is seen struggling to reconcile his religious views with his sexuality, but appears to have finally made peace with it by the time the tragedy occurs.

His boyfriend, nurse Jerome Martel (played by Giacomo Baessato), is seen waiting for him at a nearby restaurant where he plans to propose as a surprise on their second anniversary.

open image in gallery Freddie Highmore in The Good Doctor' ( ABC )

Devastatingly, however, Dr Wolke never makes it to Martel. After attending a patients wedding, he is seen driving the rabbi back home when they come across a couple of thugs vandalising a synagogue.

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Dr Wolke asks them to leave, after which the first assailant asks: What do you care? while a second says: Hes a Jew too.

The doctor responds: I am a Jew. A gay one, in fact, and Im calling the cops.

open image in gallery Jerome Martel waits to propose to Dr Asher Wolke as the tragedy occurs ( Disney )

After believing the matter to be resolved and ended, the vandalisers return to hit Dr Wolke over the head, leaving him for dead.

A message at the end of the episode reads: If you or anyone you know has experienced antisemitism, racism, anti-LGBTQ+ related incidents or hate crimes, or if you want to learn more about what you can do to stop hate, please visit splcenter.org.

I was not ready, said devastated fans on X/Twitter reacting to the heartbreaking scene.

I just GASPED the way they just ended the most recent The Good Doctor episode, wrote another.

Others expressed disappointment at the death, arguing that the characters journey warranted a happier ending.

I usually dont like making criticism like this but The Good Doctor killing Asher is horrifying. Im appalled they went with a storyline like this as hes reconciled his religious views, said one person. Its frustrating this keeps being the narrative for queer characters. Its sick.

The seventh and final season of The Good Doctor premiered on ABC on 20 February at 10pm EST. In the UK, the series is available to stream on NOW, with some seasons also streaming on Prime Video and Channel 4.
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Actor Alan Ritchson has laid bare the painful details of a sexual assault and long-term struggles with mental health which culminated in a suicide attempt in 2019.

The 41-year-old star of the Amazon Prime Reacher series spoke out about being abused as a model by a very famous photographer and credited his wife and children with saving his life.

The industry is not regulated, and its a widely known secret that if youre hired on a job, youre basically being passed off to a photographer to be trafficked, he told The Hollywood Reporter.

I was sent into a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he [the very famous photographer] would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line. I was sexually assaulted by this guy.

Ritchson, who has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADHD, said that the incident led him to quit modelling. He reports driving to his agency in LA, I stormed in and said, F*** you for sending me there. you knew what was going to happen, and you did it anyway.

He told them to never call me again. The pictures were never seen or published and it was the last photo shoot he would ever do.

I swore it off and thank God acting found me at the exact same time so I was able to make a switch to a new career, but it left some scars.

open image in gallery Richson opened about his experience of sexual assault and mental illness ( Getty Images )

Ritchson adds that the experience was not uncommon: The number of times and situations where I was put in horrific environments where sexual abuse was the goal and the paycheck that you were desperate for in order to survive was the carrot, I cant count on two hands. It was quite often.

His experience led him to completely empathise with women in the same situation, saying, Imagine how terrifying it must be.

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Following his stint in modelling, the breakdown of a business relationship while working over 20 hours a day, including post-production on Dark Web: Cicada 3301 (released in 2001), led to a deep depression for the actor.

I was reeling from the fallout and the fatigue, and it got to the point where I was stuck in bed for weeks. My wife and kids were concerned, and I could see confusion in their eyes. Nobody knew what was wrong, he explains.

open image in gallery Ritchson stars as former US military man Jack Reacher ( Amazon Studios )

Ritchson said it was a vision of his sons, Calem, 11, Edan, 10, and Amory, 8, in their mid-30s that saved him from his suicide attempt in 2019.

They calmly asked me not to do it, and told me that they wanted me to be here, alive and part of their lives.

The actor said he was diagnosed as bipolar after the attempt.

Ritchson enjoyed huge success for his role as former US miltary man Jack Reacher in the action crime drama based on the novels by Lee Child. Reacher became Amazons most-watched title of 2023 exceeding 1.69 billion watching minutes in one week for its season two debut in December.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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Dean Butler has revealed his anxiety about sharing a kiss with his co-star when she was 15 and he was 23.

The 67-year-old actor kissed Melissa Gilbert on classic series Little House on the Prairie  and believes their eight-year age gap negatively impacted their performance.

Reflecting on the scene, Butler said in a new interview: I think that there was anxiety on both sides of that kiss and how is this going to go? But we stepped up to it.

The actors starred as Almanzo and Laura on the hit NBC show from 1979 to 1983, with their characters having a 10-year age gap.

Butler wished they could have been a little closer in age during filming, but thats not the way it really happened.

They shared their first kiss in season six, episode 22  Sweet Sixteen  after growing closer when Almanzo drives Laura to an out-of-town teaching job.

He called the characters romance beautiful, heartfelt and simple, and praised Gilbert for her performance given how little life experience she had at the time.

In the following episode, Butlers character proposes, but Laura declines due to her fathers wish that she wait until she is 18 to marry. However, they eventually marry and have children.

open image in gallery Dean Butler and Melissa Gilbert starred as Almanzo and Laura ( Getty Images )

Speaking to People at a 50th anniversary event for the show, the actor explained: From the perspective of playing it, I thought, wouldnt it be great if we could have [had]  a little more common ground, so we wouldve been able to play the loving side of this in perhaps a little bit more interesting way.

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The critically acclaimed series received 16 Emmy nominations, and three Golden Globe nods. It was based on the childrens novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder, set in Minnesota.

The series is still popular with audiences today, and Gilbert believes it is because its a reflection of all the things that people crave in life: family, community, love, faith and hope.

Its all the good juicy things that make human beings so wonderful and different from animals. I mean, that connection. And Little House is a reminder of that.

open image in gallery Gilbert played Laura in all nine seasons of the show ( Getty Images )

The show also dealt with some hard-hitting topics, such as the recession, equal rights for women, and antisemitism.

Gilbert added: We dealt with all of that, but we didnt do it in an exploitative way.
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Star Trek: Discovery actor Sonequa Martin-Green has revealed that she and her castmates only discovered that season five would be their last after filming had wrapped.

The revival series launched on CBS All Access, now Paramount+, in 2017 and played a pivotal role in renewing interest in the original Star Trek series which started in 1966.

Season five will begin airing in the US on Thursday (4 April) and will conclude the characters interstellar adventures.

Series star Martin-Green, who plays Captain Michael Burnham, has spoken out about the unexpected ending of the programme in a new interview.

Weve had a lot of time to process it, she told Radio Times.

We found that after the fact, right  we had shot all of season five, and thought it was just another season, and then found out a few months later, after we had wrapped. Then we went back to do a shoot, and really wrap up the series.

Despite the programme ending sooner than she expected, Martin-Green expressed her pride in the show lasting as long as it did.

TV has changed, and were in the streaming era, and so I feel that five seasons is solid. I think we had a good run, you know? So I always felt peace, she noted.

open image in gallery Star Trek: Discovery has previously debuted on Netflix in the UK ( Paramount )

I feela sense of achievement, ownership and gratitude. I think all of us feel that way.

Discovery was the seventh Star Trek series in the long-running science fiction franchise but the first to debut on a streaming service. Its immediate success was the catalyst for several other Star Trek spinoffs.

The responsibility to usher in a whole generation of spinoffs brought with it its own pressures, Martin-Green added.

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I dont think we ever felt comfortable enough, at that time, to feel like leaders, right? We had been given the baton, and we would look at the older iterations as our leaders  and of course they are and they were  but then to be in that position in our own way, in this new day and time, it was encouraging, she said.

open image in gallery Doug Jones as Saru and Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham ( Paramount+/CBS Studios Inc./Michael Gibson. All Rights Reserved )

Elsewhere, Martin-Green spoke about the generational impact of the franchise in an interview with IGN.

Ive had the pleasure of meeting so many fans around the world  in Brazil, in Germany, in London. When I meet people who say that Discovery is their very first Trek, theyre younger. Theyre usually teenagers.

Theyll say, Youre my Trek, she added. And that could bring a tear to my eye, because thats the whole point of this.

Star Trek: Discovery is available on Paramount+.
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Rescuers in Taiwan raced against time on Friday to find 18 people, including foreign nationals, still missing two days after the island was jolted by the strongest earthquake in 25 years.

The death toll from Wednesdays 7.4-magnitude earthquake rose to 12, authorities said, with more than 1,000 people sustaining injuries.

Taiwans Fire Department said searchers discovered two more bodies in the mountains, with the death toll expected to rise further.

Authorities identified three of the missing individuals as Australian and Canadian nationals as rescuers continued to try and save hundreds of people still stranded after rocks and mud blocked the roads leading to their hotels, campgrounds or work sites in the eastern Hualien area.

At least 50 aftershocks rattled the area overnight, some felt as far away as capital Taipei, after 400 tremors were initially recorded from Wednesday morning into Thursday night by the Central Weather Administration.

Rescuers said about 400 people cut off in a luxury hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park were safe, with helicopters ferrying out the injured and bringing supplies.

Rain increases the risks of rockfalls and landslides, which are currently the biggest challenges, Su Yu-ming, the leader of a search team helping the rescue effort, told Reuters.

These factors are unpredictable, which means we cannot confirm the number of days required for the search and rescue operations.

Some 700 people remained cut off, the vast majority of them employees and guests at a hotel in the national park.

Authorities said they were safe and had food and water, and that work to repair the roads to the hotel was nearly finished. Another 10 workers from the same hotel were stranded elsewhere in the park, after most of the others in the group were rescued or managed to walk out.

A relative hugs a man who was rescued from a remote area, following the earthquake, in Hualien ( Reuters )

A group of 50 workers, who were on their way to the hotel and had been trapped on roads, were later rescued.

I am lucky to survive this disaster. We were terrified, especially when the earthquake first happened, we thought it was all over, all over, all over, because it was an earthquake, right? said David Chen, 63, a security manager at the hotel.

As we were leaving, rocks were still falling. We had to navigate through the gaps between the falling rocks, with the search and rescue team upfront, he added.

Premier Chen Chien-je visited a disaster response center in Hualien as the federal government announced the allocation of NT$300m (7.41m) for recovery efforts.

Japan on Friday said the would provide $1m (791,750) in relief aid to Taiwan to support rescue activities and recovery.

Some 200 residents of Hualien County near the epicentre were staying in temporary shelters when the aftershocks struck, and the main road linking the county to Taipei was still closed Thursday afternoon.

The aftershocks were terrifying, said Yu, a 52-year-old woman from Hualien, who gave only her family name. Its non-stop. I do not dare to sleep in the house.

Outside the city, a helicopter ferried to safety six miners trapped on a cliff in a dramatic rescue after the quake cut off the roads into Hualiens soaring mountains, in footage shown by the department.

Two trapped workers of Taroko National Park have a physical examination after being rescued ( AP )

The Agriculture Ministry urged people to keep away from the mountains because of the risk of falling rocks and the formation of barrier lakes as water pools behind unstable debris.

Rescue workers reached the a in Taroko Gorge, cut off by the quake, by helicopter and established that all 400 people there were safe. The fire department said work to reopen the road would continue in the morning.

In the city, dozens of residents queued outside one badly damaged 10-storey building, waiting to go in and retrieve belongings.

Clad in helmets and accompanied by government personnel, each was given 10 minutes to collect valuables in huge garbage bags, though some saved time by throwing items out of windows into the street below.

People look on as workers carry out operations on a partially-collapsed building following the earthquake ( Reuters )

This building is no longer liveable, said Tian Liang-si, who had a home on the fifth floor, as she scrambled to gather her laptop, family photographs and other crucial items.

She recalled the moment the quake struck, sending the building lurching and furniture sliding, while she rushed to save her four puppies.

A relative hugs a man who was rescued from a remote area, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan ( Reuters )

Of the 12 dead, at least four were killed inside Taroko National Park, a tourist attraction famous for canyons and cliffs in mountainous Hualien about 90 miles from Taipei.

One person was found dead in a damaged building and another was found in the Ho Ren Quarry. Rescuers also carried out the body of a man, who had severe wounds on his head, from a hiking trail on Thursday.

Hualien was last struck by a deadly quake in 2018 which killed 17 people and brought down a historic hotel.

Taiwans worst recent earthquake struck on 21 September 1999, a magnitude 7.7 temblor that caused 2,400 deaths, injured around 100,000 and destroyed thousands of buildings.
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Indias leading Catholic body has asked schools associated with it to not force Christian traditions on students of other faiths  one of a raft of suggestions to tackle growing social and political hostility against the minority community.

In a 13-page guideline and instruction document, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has asked all educational institutions under its jurisdiction to respect all faiths and traditions, to have students recite the Preamble to the Indian Constitution for the daily morning assembly, and set up an inter-religious prayer room on school premises, reported The Indian Express.

The suggestions are meant to help address the emerging challenges due to the current socio-cultural, religious and political situation in the country.

Christians in India  especially staff of educational institutions run by Catholic groups  have faced several attacks and protests in recent months from Hindu national groups aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

There are around 14,000 schools, 650 colleges, seven universities, and hundreds of vocational and technical institutions under the CBCI.

The document was released just a few days after Indias Home Ministry revoked the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) licence of five prominent non-governmental organisations  the majority of them Christian. The ministry accused them of violating foreign grants and being involved in religious conversion.

The ministry, which has cancelled the FCRA licences of more than 100 NGOs so far, had issued a six-month extension to several of these NGOs in September 2023. When the extension ended on 30 March, they lost their licences.

As a result, these organisations will no longer be able to receive or utilise foreign contributions, unless their licences are renewed.

The church is watchful of such situations, according to Father Maria Charles SDB, the national secretary of CBCI.

Given the political and social situation which is emerging these days, I think we need to be more sensitive as Catholic schools. It is also a reminder to the principals to be more sensitive, because the majority of our students and teachers are always from other faiths, he told The Indian Express.

In December 2021, the Indian government rejected a request from Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity to renew its licence to receive foreign donations under FCRA.
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An anti-army resistance alliance in Myanmar attacked several military targets in capital Naypyitaw with drones in a significant blow to the junta.

The National Unity Government (NUG), an alliance of anti-junta groups, launched coordinated strikes and confirmed an unspecified number of casualties.

The attack, involving around 30 drones, targeted the military headquarters, the residence of Myanmars ruling general Min Aung Hlaing, and an airport in Naypyitaw, an NUG spokesperson told The Independent.

Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for NUG, said it was the most powerful drone attack yet on the military with long-range drones.

Multiple long-range drones have been used in the strike. The attack has been successful and we are still assessing the situation, he said. Preliminary reports suggest there were casualties.

According to the spokesperson, eyewitnesses reported smoke coming out of the airport and several ambulances going in and out of Naypyitaw military hospital.

The military has not confirmed any damage or casualties from the attack and The Independent cannot independently verify the details.

The capital is the seat of power and heavily fortified with the most sophisticated defence. Despite that, the resistance was able to penetrate into Naypyitaw and attack high-value targets, he said.

The airport compound, which includes both a military air base and a civilian airport, is about 25km (16m) southwest of the military headquarters that the resistance group said it attacked.

The attack has come as a major blow to the Myanmar military which has been fighting on multiple fronts to contain the uprisings around the country while attempting to stabilise the economy.

NUG is an alliance formed to challenge army rule after the military overthrew the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi government in a coup in February 2021. The coup triggered a civil war in the country that has killed thousands of people and displaced 2.6 million people in the span of three years, according to the UN.

open image in gallery NUGs minitry of defence shared pictures of target sites in capital ( NUG Ministry of Defence )

The military officials, however, said seven drones were shot down and one exploded on the airport runway.

It comes as the army is said to have suffered losses in large areas as an alliance of ethnic minority rebels as well as an armed movement mounted pressure in the aftermath of a bloody clampdown on anti-coup protests.

A spokesperson for the NUGs armed affiliate in Naypyitaw, the Peoples Defence Force (PDF), said it carried out Thursdays attack on the instruction of the NUGs Defence Ministry. It did not provide details of the incident.

The attack on the capital is said to be one of the most serious and rare by the resistance groups this year.

The military suffered a huge setback in October last year after ethnic insurgents overran its outposts along the border with India and China, losing control of large areas of territory to insurgents.

It comes as last week Myanmars ruling general Min Aung Hlaing urged people to maintain calm as the military was holding power temporarily.

He urged the people to unite with the military to fight armed groups, which he said had foreign backing and were seeking to destroy the country.

Last month, the army announced new conscription laws, making it compulsory for all young women and men to join the military amid the ongoing emergency situation in the country.
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Passengers on board a ferry jumped into the sea to escape a large fire that engulfed the vessel in the Gulf of Thailand on Thursday.

There were 108 people on board the Ko Jaroen 2, according to the Associated Press, 97 of those were passengers. All of them are now reported to be safe.

The overnight ferry from Surat Thani province was about to reach its destination, the popular tourist island of Koh Tao, when one of the passengers reported hearing a crackling sound. The passenger also said that they smelled smoke.

Within five minutes, flames engulfed the ferry and plumes of thick smoke rose from the vessel. Panicked passengers on board started jumping into the sea.

One passenger, Maitree Promjampa was quoted as saying by AP: We could barely get the life vests in time. It was chaotic. People were weeping  I also teared up.

The incident occured at about 7am local time, according to the Bangkok Post.

The vessel was reported to be carrying a combination of cargo and overnight travellers, with 97 passengers and 11 crew members on board.

Ko Jaroen 2 departed from Surat Thani around 11pm local time on Wednesday and was bound for Koh Tao.

Kritphet Chaichuai, the head of the Marine Department, said the local emergency services first received reports of the fire at 6.40am, while the ferry was approximately two nautical miles away from the coast near Chalok Ban Kao bay in Koh Tao.

Boats from Koh Tao immediately rushed to aid passengers and crew, all of whom were successfully rescued.

The fire was contained by 8.20am local time.

Some passengers have reportedly suffered minor injuries, including some suffering from the after effects of smoke inhalation.

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire.
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Two Chinese state-owned banks and Dutch bank ING are among a group of lenders who could play an important role in the stability of Thames Water, as its funding crisis deepens, according to new reports.

The banks are owed 190 million from a loan given to the water giants parent company, Kemble Water Finance, which expires at the end of the month.

The deadline could be extended after Thames Water said it would not be able to repay it.

ING, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Allied Irish Banks are among the lenders behind the loan, according to new information reported by Sky News and the Financial Times.

It means they could take a stake in Thames Water if the loan is not repaid and Kemble is in default.

Thames Waters crisis worsened last week when it said its investors had pulled a 500 million funding lifeline that was due to be paid at the end of April.

Some of that was understood to be earmarked to pay the Kemble loan.

Shareholders said the water regulator, Ofwat has not been prepared to provide the necessary regulatory support for a business plan which ultimately addresses the issues that Thames Water faces, after more than a year of negotiations.

As a result, shareholders are not in a position to provide further funding to Thames Water, the group said.

The group behind Thames Water is owned by a consortium of pension funds and sovereign wealth funds which already have links to China, as well as Canada and Abu Dhabi.

Both Ofwat and Thames Water sought to reassure customers that services would not be affected by the funding woes.

Thames Water serves 16 million households in London and the south-east of England.

Thames Water declined to comment on the information, and Kemble could not immediately be reached for comment.
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A rare phenomenon that hasnt occurred since Thomas Jefferson was in the White House is set to take place - but possibly for the last time.

It isnt a comet or the upcoming solar eclipse  rather, the emergence of trillions of cicadas. Two broods of the flying insects  named XIII and XIX  are set to invade the east coast and midwest in the coming weeks after last burrowing out of the soil together in 1803.

Their next co-emergence isnt expected until 2245.

Ive actually been looking forward to this for many years now, Dr Katie Dana, an entomologist and cicada expert from Illinois told The Independent. Ive been trying to spread the word  people havent listened until this year.

open image in gallery This map illustrates where cicada Brood XIX (light blue) and Brood XIII (brown) will emerge in the coming weeks ( A. M. Liebhold, M.J. Bohne and R.L. Lilja/United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service )

open image in gallery Cicada expert Dr Katie Dana, pictured in Pennsylvania in 2019. Shes thrilled about the rare co-emergence of the insects and wants to share the event with her son ( Courtesy of Katie Dana )

Im just so excited, added Dr Dana, who goes by Cicadidae (Ci - Katie - D) enthusiast, on X/Twitter. She plans to share the magical event with her son.

Cicadas, best known for their loud singing or chirping, are classed as different broods, depending on when they emerge from spending most of their lives underground.

There are 15 periodical cicada broods in the US  three which emerge on 13-year cycles, and the rest every 17 years. That means theres usually just one type of cicada at a time.

open image in gallery Cicadas land on the arm of Dr Katie Dana in Bloomington, Indiana in 2021 ( Courtesy of Dr Katie Dana )

This year is expected to be one for the record books. Brood XIII, which appears every 17 years, and Brood XIX, on a 13-year cycle, will coincide for the first time in over 200 years. These cicadas are smaller varieties, growing to 1.4 inches, but other broods can double that and have 8-inch wingspans.

Ground zero for this event is Illinois but around a dozen states will experience trillions of the winged insects  and then unavoidable heaps of carcasses.

The good news for farmers is that cicadas dont attack plants  although they can cause damage to fruit trees. The female periodical cicada is known to slit the bark on young tree branches to lay her eggs.

While some might be freaked out by the cicada invasion  and the fear of cicadas is real and common  others are embracing the natural phenomenon.

open image in gallery A pile of cicadas in Bloomington, Indiana in 2021. Entomologists are eager to study two broods of cicadas co-emerging this spring for the first time in more than 200 years ( Courtesy of Katie Dana )

A professor in Ohio has created a free app, Cicada Safari, so users can upload photos of the insects and track where the biggest numbers emerge.

In Illinois, the Lake County Forest Preserves is holding a Cicadafest with demonstrations, opportunities to dress up as cicadas and get involved in an insect hunt.

And the more culinary adventurous might enjoy them as a springtime snack. Cicadas can be cooked into stir frys, dumplings and even rhubarb pie, according to the Cicada-licious cookbook.

open image in gallery A person cooks cicadas in Maryland in 2021. Enthusiasts are set to celebrate this years mass emergence by attending festivals, tracking the insects on apps and enjoying them as snacks ( Getty Images )

But after the hottest year in human history, experts are worried about cicadas resilience in face of the climate crisis.

Its feared that humans could wipe entire species out of existence from fuelling a fungus that turns cicadas into zombies to destroying their habitats.

Feeding frenzy

For those who live in cicada-infested areas, it might be hard to imagine a decline in the species.

Periodical cicadas ensure their survival by producing so many offspring that their large number of predators are quickly satiated, making an insignificant dent in numbers.

They overwhelm their predators, so everybody gets full, Dr Dana said.

However, this evolutionary development means that even a small dip in population numbers caused by external factors like higher temperatures or forest destruction, could allow predators to wipe out entire broods, she explained.

Cicada populations are difficult to study over the long-term because they emerge so rarely, said experts at the University of Connecticut.

However, all available evidence indicates the climate crisis will take a toll.

What climate change might eventually have impact on is their population sizes, if a brood emerges in a year that has a high mortality rate due to adverse conditions, Dr Douglas Yanega, an entomologist at University of California, Riverside, toldThe Independent via email.

Weather conditions dont impact when cicadas emerge, Dr Yanega said, but environmental factors do have consequences.

It gets smelly

While the consequences of a hotter world are still being understood, humans have already impacted cicada species.

In order to grow, cicadas must moult by shedding their hard, outer layer of protection, called an exoskeleton. During this process, the insects take shelter in trees as they wait for a larger exoskeleton to regrow. Without trees or thick forest underbrush to hide in, cicadas will die prematurely.

Any sort of deforestation is absolutely going to affect their numbers, Dr Dana said.

In areas where trees and shrubs have been cleared, cicadas have been observed emerging from the ground and piling up in the grass, unable to moult.

open image in gallery Cicadas on a tree trunk in Bloomington, Indiana in 2021. Trees play a vital role in the cicada lifecycle, meaning deforestation threatens to their existence in the US ( Courtesy of Katie Dana )

Theyre everywhere, stuck in their shells, the scientist said. It gets smelly, and you feel bad for them because theyre stuck, just dying slowly.

Deforestation is driven both by human development and an overheating planet. In the US, the increase in wildfires over the past 20 years has destroyed 48,000 square miles of tree cover, according to Global Forest Watch. More frequent and intense droughts have made this worse, sucking trees of moisture and leaving them primed to burn.

Two US cicada broods are already known to have gone extinct - XI and XXI.

Brood XI died out sometime after 1954 when their last emergence was recorded in Connecticut. However, their extinction was unrelated to deforestation or urban growth, according to University of Connecticut entomologists. Some scientists have suggested that the brood was vulnerable because it was made up of a single sub-species and existed in less than ideal environmental conditions.

Brood XXI went extinct in 1870 but experts have little information on why they disappeared.

Saltshakers of death

One of the biggest threats to cicadas is Massospora, a fungus which infects insects as they burrow out of the soil, causing them to die prematurely.

In an echo of the fictional HBO series The Last of Us, the fungal infection turns the insects into zombie-like creatures. The fungus causes spores to grow in their abdominal cavity, pouring out of the cicadas as they fly, earning them the nickname of saltshakers of death, said Dr Dana.

You could pick up an individual and if you push on the tip of its abdomen, it falls off and you can see all of the spores inside, she added.

open image in gallery Dr Dana, pictured in Illinois in 2015, told The Independent she looks forward to studying the impacts of climate change on Massospora, a deadly fungus that infects cicadas ( Courtesy of Katie Dana )

During this years rare co-emergence, the scientist hopes to study what impact the climate crisis might have on Massospora.

Theres a lot of questions about this fungus. Is it going to increase, or is it going to decrease? she said.

Its just one of many unanswered questions related to cicadas, and Dr Dana said this springs rare event is the perfect opportunity to gather the data and samples to learn more.

I like to remind people this is like a natural wonder of the world, and nowhere else do you see this sheer biomass of organisms in one place, she said. It is magical.
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Like Winston Churchills bowler hats and Margaret Thatchers tailored suit-skirts, the image of Rishi Sunak as prime minister appears destined to become synonymous with the cropped trouser.

The tailored, skinny fit look, reminiscent of a mid-noughties indie band, is said to be preferred by the PM because he believes it helps him appear taller in photographs. But according to Saville Row tailors, the tiny trousers may inadvertedly mean 5ft 6in Sunak is coming up short.

Iordana Marin, a London tailor from JohnDana explained: Shorter trousers are more of an Italian style of tailoring that was worn four years ago. That kind of cut is not for Rishi Sunak.

Its not for people who are in positions of power. The cut is more for party wear, for more fashionable people. For him the trouser length should be touching his shoes, its not working for him.

Another tailor, of Hidalgo Brothers on Saville Row, said that Sunaks ankle grazers may not be doing him any favours.

open image in gallery Sunak and his ankle swingers at a battery factory in July ( Getty )

When asked if shorter trousers could help the vertically challenged, they explained: I dont think so necessarily. It could, but they would have to be more narrow. Because if it is shorter and wide it will actually make you look shorter. Thats very important.

The topic first hit the headlines in 2021 when the prime minister sat down to interview Gordon Ramsay, which caused his trousers to rise awkwardly.

At the time, Mr Sunaks bespoke tailor, Henry Herbert, jumped to the prime ministers defence telling The Independent that short cropped trousers are a more professional look.

The sartorial conundrum reared its head again on Tuesday when The Suns political editor quizzed the PM on his apparent fashion faux pas.

Mr Sunak defended himself, replying: Well I dont think they are that short.

Pushed on whether he thought his style was trendy, he added: I tend not to like lots of baggy, baggy stuff at the bottom of my ankle.

Personal stylist, Nick Hems, agrees with the PM and called on critics to cut his slacks some slack.

Hes being current and having his own individual style. People think its a younger persons game of wearing trousers like that but its still a very common thing to do. Its not unusual to ask your tailor to alter your trousers in that manner.
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As we say hello to the warmer months, now is the time to put away your corduroy trousers, thermal tops and heavy coats and give your wardrobe a seasonal update. But what menswear looks are trending this spring?

Nick Drewe, retail and trend expert from online platform Wethrift, predicts mens fashion this season will continue to lean towards a more retro look, blending nostalgia from the Eighties, Nineties and early Noughties with some fresh updates.

Personal stylist Daniel Johnson (daniel-johnson.com) agrees: Fashion is cyclical, old trends come back around, and right now that trend is without doubt the Nineties.

Tapping into trends doesnt have to mean buying everything new, however. And you certainly dont need to be buying things you dont think youll wear beyond one season.

Johnson adds: Buy to last, buy pre-loved. Attitudes towards buying clothes have changed significantly, especially with eBay sponsoring Love Island. The throw-away culture is dwindling and the buy less, buy better quality idea is setting in. Preloved designer clothing is something to look at if you want to wear a designer piece that youll keep forever.

Relaxed silhouettes

Looser fits and more casual proportions will take a lead, such as relaxed-fit jeans, shirts and outerwear. These slightly oversized styles embody the laidback and effortless style reminiscent of the Nineties and early Noughties.

Sonny Grant-OSullivan, director and master tailor at clothing atelier Grant and OSullivan, says: The shift towards comfort and functionality post-pandemic has kept relaxed silhouettes in the spotlight. Brands like Loewe and Isabel Marant have been pivotal in bringing this comfortable yet stylish aesthetic to the forefront.

Experts say this style reflects a growing demand for fashion that seamlessly blends style, comfort and practicality.

To make this trend more everyday, pair relaxed trousers or an oversized blazer with more fitted items to maintain structure, suggests Grant-OSullivan. This works well for most body types, emphasising comfort without sacrificing style.

And if you want to nail the Nineties vibe, Johnson says: What this means is bigger, wider silhouettes. Wider cuts on jeans are firmly in, think Levis 501s rather than skinnys. Bermuda shorts instead of tailored slim fits. Hoodies instead of jackets.

Covid made us all more relaxed in our clothing choices. After a few years of either fluctuating between extreme comfort or being suited up, comfort and style have found a good balance; think knitted polo shirts with denim jeans and bomber jackets, rather than blazers and trousers, he adds. If you are to wear tailoring, make it unstructured and relaxed.

Drewe suggests channelling your inner Justin Timberlake, with baggy acid-washed jeans and a matching denim jacket, saying you can layer this outfit with a vest underneath for a stylish yet lightweight look this spring.

Dont fancy going too head-to-toe baggy? Jennifer Lemm, founder and embroidery expert at The One Stop Embroidery Printing Co, says: I suggest you try and pair oversized outerwear with slim-fit bottoms to maintain neat proportions, and dont be afraid to experiment with colour combinations to add visual interest. When wearing relaxed clothes, I would aim to balance the loose fit with more structured pieces to avoid looking sloppy.

Veeraj Haria-Shah, founder of clothing brand Coconut Residence, says overshirts and mid-weight chore jackets or shackets are a great addition for this look, adding: These bridge the gap between casual and smart-casual attire, making them essential additions to any wardrobe during transitional weather.

Bold prints

Bold prints, including floral and abstract patterns, have made a significant comeback this season too. Grant-OSullivan says designers like Gucci and Versace showcased these patterns on the runway, embracing a more vibrant and expressive approach to menswear.

Designers appreciate bold prints for their versatility and ability to inject personality into any outfit, Grant-OSullivan adds. Theyre seen as a celebration of individuality and a departure from more traditional, subdued menswear.

For everyday wear, incorporating bold prints in statement pieces like a shirt or a bomber jacket is bang on. Pairing these with solid colours helps maintain a balanced look, if youre keen to avoid anything too overpowering.

Vibrant colour

Following seasons dominated by neutral tones, more vibrant colour schemes have emerged as a refreshing change in menswear, championed by designers such as Dries Van Noten and Prabal Gurung.

Grant-OSullivan says: These colours reflect optimism and a forward-looking attitude. Designers appreciate their ability to make a statement and uplift the wearers mood.

How colourful you go is a personal choice. But even the colour-cautious can experiment with brighter looks. Lemm suggests: For pastel colours, try adding them into accessories like your trainers or hats for a subtle pop of colour. Just make sure you dont overpower the outfit.

You could also consider integrating vibrant hues with neutral basics to keep your look accessible. For example, a bright top can really complement classic denim or khaki bottoms, which results in a balanced and versatile everyday look.

Linen and lightweight wool

As we move into the warmer months, fabrics like linen and lightweight wool provide comfort and breathability, with brands such as Zegna often emphasising these materials for their combination of elegance and practicality.

Appreciated for their natural fibres and sustainability, these materials are favoured for spring and summer collections, says Grant-OSullivan.

Drewe suggests: Crochet cardigans are a great alternative that you wont overheat in once we see warmer climates. For example, you can opt for a plain crochet pattern for a day-to-day casual outfit at work, or a more colourful patterned cardigan if you want to stand out.

These looks can be styled in a number of ways too, from formal suits to casual blazers or trousers. Stylists recommend pairing them with cotton shirts for a classic and breathable outfit suitable for all occasions.

Vests and denim

Theres nothing more simple than a plain vest  but Drewe predicts well see a lot of men sporting this wardrobe staple this spring and summer.

Their versatility is perfect for the unpredictable weather throughout spring, as you can layer them during colder periods, or style with shorts or jeans as the warmer weather hits, adds Drewe.

He recommends pairing a simple white vest with a statement jacket for a more dressed-up look, or you can keep it casual by layering with a sweater. Reviving the classic Nineties retro look, the double denim trend has made a full-circle comeback too  and this is a great combo to pair with a simple vest.
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Julia Stiles and her husband Ben Cook have privately welcomed their third child.

The 43-year-old actor revealed that she welcomed her baby a few months ago during an interview withThe New York Times, published on 3 April. Im kind of like a bundle of emotions, because I have a five-month-old baby and I went into directing my first movie, she said.

Stiles is now a mother of three, as she and Cook also have two sons, Strummer, six, and Arlo, two.

Speaking to the NYT, she noted that while directing her first-ever movie, Wish You Were Here, she kept the news of her third child under wraps. She also acknowledged that she never publicly revealed that she was pregnant, adding: I didnt really talk about it.

However, the 10 Things I Hate About You star still expressed shes happy to be a parent again, before opening up about the professional skills shes gained over the years through motherhood.

I think that actually being a mom is really great training for being a director, she said. You have to think 10 steps ahead but also be in the present moment. You have to be good at time management. You have to be sensitive to peoples needs and guide them, but also hold a boundary.

She went on to address how shes had a busy schedule lately, as a mother and first-time director. I am running on fumes in terms of sleep, she said. But I feel more energised than I ever have.

Stiles and her husband first tied the knot in 2017, while she was pregnant with her first child. In January 2022, she took to Instagram to reveal that she and Cook had welcomed their second child.

Welcome to the world, Baby Arlo! The newest addition to our family, reminding me how infinite love can be, she wrote in the caption of the post, which included a photo of her babys feet.

Scroll Forward to see how my four year old is taking it, she added, while also sharing a photo of a toilet covered in red marker.

Stiles has previously opened up about balancing her career and responsibilities as a mother. During an interview with People in February 2019, she described how special it is to come home to her children after a day at work.

One of the most remarkable things is that, in many ways, having my attention focused on my son has made me a better actress because I dont come home every night dwelling on every little scene, every little line, and obsessing over my work, she said. It takes your focus off [the work], which makes you better [in the moment].
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Elizabeth Hurley has once again dispelled rumours that she took Prince Harrys virginity.

The British actor, 58, recently addressed the speculation during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. During the 3 April episode, Hurley insisted she wasnt the unnamed older woman who the Duke of Sussex wrote about losing his virginity to in his 2023 memoir, Spare.

That was ludicrous! Hurley said, in response to the speculation. He said: She was English. She was older than me. It was in Gloucestershire. And they were like: Ah, its Elizabeth. It was absurd. It was ridiculous.

The Austin Powers star told Bravo host Andy Cohen: It was like saying: Hes great-looking. Hes American. Oh, its Andy Cohen.

Hurley even maintained that shes never met the 38-year-old royal in [her] life.

The speculation began after Prince Harry detailed losing his virginity to an older woman in his bombshell memoir, Spare. The royal shared that the humiliating episode took place behind a very busy pub with an older woman who liked macho horses and who treated me like a young stallion.

Hurley has previously denied rumours she was the mysterious woman who took Harrys virginity, telling The Times in December 2022: Not me. Not guilty. Ha!

Since then, former Highgrove staffer Sasha Walpole has come forward as the older woman who took the royals virginity. The now 40-year-old disclosed her identity in an interview with The Sun on Sunday following Spares release, revealing that the event occurred in summer of 2001 when Harry was 16 years old.

Walpole described the encounter as a wham-bam between two friends, telling The Sun: The sex was passionate and sparky because we shouldnt have been doing it. One thing just quickly led to another. We ended up on the floor.

Walpole, who now runs her own groundworks company, claimed the pair had downed several shots of tequila at the time, with Harrys security team out looking for him while they canoodled.

She said: But we were both drunk. It wouldnt have happened if we werent. It was just a moment of passion - spontaneous, wild, exciting. Obviously I must have fancied him on some level, as he was sparky and up for a laugh.
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The final night of Ramadan will soon pass and bring Eid-Al-Fitr, as Muslims prepare for celebrations around the globe.

Eid al-Fitr is calculated in accordance with the sighting of the new moon by the Saudi Arabia moon-sighting committee and is typically announced by local Mosques.

Ramadan is expected to conclude on Tuesday 9 April 2024, meaning Eid al-Fitr is likely to fall on Wednesday 10 April 2024.

Why does the date change?

Each year the Islamic Lunar calendar is typically shorter than the Solar calendar by 10-12 days and usually Eid and Ramadan rotate and are celebrated in different seasons of the year.

However, the precise timings and dates change from country to country, depending on the geographical location.

Festival of Breaking Fast

Eid-Al-Fitr, also known as the Festival of Breaking Fast is the first of two Eids in the Islamic calendar and is typically celebrated after the Muslim fasting month, known as Ramadan.

Many Muslims celebrate Eid by spending time with their loved ones, making unique dishes for this special day and connecting in prayer to commemorate and acknowledge the end of the fasting month. Its a way of showing gratitude and remembering Ramadan and the charitable sacrifices many Muslims made during the fasting month.

This, as many Muslims believe, is in accordance with The Holy Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

What is Ramadan and why do Muslims fast?

Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, an act of worship that teaches patience, perseverance and charity. Its a means of Muslims making time for worship and becoming closer to God.

Many Muslims fast to break away from bad habits, while also following the teachings of Islam, which is seen as a compulsory act of worship.

However, many are exempt if they are unable to fast, such as the elderly, pregnant women, those who are physically or mentally incapable, those who have not reached puberty yet and women who may be menstruating. Ramadan takes place for 29-30 days, during which time Muslims wont eat or drink between dawn and sunset.

How do Muslims celebrate Eid-Al-Fitr?

Eid celebrations begin with special prayers at the mosque. Many Muslims dress in new garments, as it is believed that Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) would wear his best cloak to commemorate this day.

open image in gallery ( Getty Images )

Communities members, family and friends also gather to share sweet treats, gifts and stories. Its a festival that celebrates the goodness of life and the blessings that came with the Holy month of fasting.

Women welcome Eid by applying henna on their hands to mark the celebration, this has been a tradition for many centuries. Children are also commonly gifted with money or toys from elders.

What does Eid mean and when is the second Eid celebrated?

Eid-Ul-Adha is also known as the Festival of Sacrifice and is typically celebrated two months after Eid-Al-Fitr. Eid-Ul-Adha marks the completion of Hajj, The Muslim Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca and is a reminder to many Muslims of the willingness and sacrifice Prophet Abraham made.

Eid-Ul-Adha is considered as the bigger Eid celebration, where many Muslims complete their Hajj and sacrifice a sheep or goat. The meat is then shared equally between family, friends and those that are in need. Charity is a big part of the Muslim faith and one of the Five Pillars of Islam, so Eid is another reminder for Muslims around the world, to give even in moments of celebration.

Eid is also a celebration of life, devotion and understanding of the Muslim faith.

How can I take part in Eid if I am not Muslim?

Everyone is welcome to celebrate! If you have Muslim friends or co-workers, be sure to just wish them an Eid Mubarak or Happy Eid. You can get involved by dressing up or just acknowledging the celebration that many are partaking in around the globe.
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A two-year-old Serbian girl whose disappearance last month gripped the nation died after being hit by a car and her body was dumped in a landfill by the people in the vehicle, police said Thursday.

Police have arrested two men suspected of hitting Danka Ilic with their vehicle when she walked out of a yard in the eastern town of Bor, Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said.

The two suspects are employees of the local state waterworks company and were on assignment when they hit the girl with their car, Gasic said.

They picked up the girls body, put in the trunk where they kept their tools and drove to a landfill where they dumped the body, Gasic said. They are facing charges of grave murder.

The suspects admitted committing the crime, police said in a statement.

Serbian Police Rescue team search a forest near Bor, Serbia, Friday, March 29, 2024

The girl was first reported missing on March 26. Police issued a nationwide alert asking for help and published the girl's photo.

The girls father stopped them in his car and asked if they saw the girl, and they said no, Gasic said. One of the men later even joined the search.

The dayslong ordeal that followed was closely followed by local media and the public in Serbia and the region, prompting concern and sympathy.

Police are still looking for the girls body. Gasic said the men probably moved it later to another location.

Hundreds of disappearances are reported annually in Serbia, including children who run away from their homes and abductions.
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Ugandan gay rights activists asked the international community to mount more pressure on the government of Uganda to repeal an anti-gay law which the country's Constitutional Court refused to nullify on Wednesday.

Activist Frank Mugisha said Tuesdays ruling was wrong and deplorable.

This ruling should result in further restrictions to donor funding for Uganda  no donor should be funding anti-LGBTQ+ hate and human rights violations, said Mugisha.

The court upheld a law that allows the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, and up to 14 years in prison for a suspect convicted of attempted aggravated homosexuality. The offense of attempted homosexuality is punishable by up to 10 years.

President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act into law in May last year. It's supported by many in the East African country but widely condemned by rights groups and others abroad.

The court ordered that members of the LGBT community should not be discriminated against when seeking medicine, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday dismissed that concession as a small and insufficient step towards safeguarding human rights.

The remaining provisions of the AHA pose grave threats to the Ugandan people, especially LGBTQI+ Ugandans and their allies, undermine public health, clamp down on civic space, damage Ugandas international reputation, and harm efforts to increase foreign investment, he said.

A Ugandan human rights advocate who was a petitioner in the case, Nicholas Opiyo, expressed his disappointment.

While we respect the court, we vehemently disagree with its findings and the basis on which it was reached. We approached the court expecting it to apply the law in defense of human rights and not rely on public sentiments, and vague cultural values arguments, said Opiyo.

Homosexuality was already illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law criminalizing sexual activity against the order of nature. The punishment for that offense is life imprisonment.
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A young man shot dead in London was part of a group who killed and dismembered a jazz musician after he got into an argument about money with drug dealers.

Janayo Lucima, 21, died on Easter Monday after he was shot at an address in Comeragh Road, West Kensington, shortly before 10.20pm.

He was treated by paramedics but pronounced dead at the scene just over half an hour later.

Police said the area would have been busy at the time and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Police officers at the scene in Comeragh Road, West Kensington, after the shooting on Easter Monday ( PA )

It has since emerged Lucima had just been released from prison after being convicted of perverting the course of justice after he helped cover up the murder of jazz musician William Algar, 53, who was dismembered in late 2019 at his home.

Lucima was said to have bought bleach and J Cloths and helped run errands as other gang members cut up Mr Algars body in his own bathtub.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said the attack on Mr Algar was of extraordinary viciousness beyond anger. He told jurors it was frenzied and a work of borderline psychopathic proportions.

Mr Algar was described in court as a good guy who had a lot of interests and did not have a harmful bone in his body. He suffered from mental health problems and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

His life spiralled down after he began using and dealing Class A drugs and his home was taken over by other dealers in what is known as a cuckoo situation.

The remains of William Algar, known as Blaise, were found at his home in Barnes ( Metropolitan Police )

Jurors heard that before his death around 1 December 2019, Mr Algar had fallen out with a 19-year-old unnamed defendant over money.

It was alleged that the defendant, described as a drug-dealing gangster, had bullied Mr Algar and threatened to kill his cat, which was never found.

Following Mr Algars death, the defendant held a meeting on 16 December with gang members to decide what to do about the body, the court heard.

In 2019 Lucima was jailed for three years and three months for his role in the disposal of the body of Mr Algar ( Metropolitan Police )

Lucima bought cleaning products at Tesco, and over the next couple of days Mr Algar was dismembered with a Rambo knife in his own bath and his arms and legs were dumped on Hounslow Heath.

Police found his head and torso at his home a month later after he was reported missing by his mother.

A post-mortem examination found he died from a stab wound to the chest.

Mr Algars family said in a tribute at the time: We are utterly horrified to lose our son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, friend in such tragic circumstances.

William Algar, also known as Blaise, was an incredibly talented musician and a gentle man. He was a brilliant jazz trumpeter and his playing brought joy to so many people.

He was also a very vulnerable man.

Anyone who witnessed the killing of Janayo Lucima or has information, but has not yet spoken with police, should call 101 or post on Twitter/X @MetCC quoting CAD 6709/01Apr. To remain 100 per cent anonymous call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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The mastermind behind an armed robbery that ended in police officer Sharon Beshenivsky being shot dead almost 20 years ago has been found guilty of her murder.

Piran Ditta Khan was on Thursday convicted of murdering PC Beshenivsky, who was shot dead while interrupting a raid at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

She and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had carried out the robbery as he emerged from the business.

Two months later, Khan fled the country for Pakistan, where he remained until he was arrested in 2020 and extradited back to the UK last year to stand trial.

The 75-year-old is the last of seven men to be convicted for their roles in the crime, with Khan said to be the groups ringleader who had orchestrated the plot. Six of the robbers had already been convicted years ago for their various roles on the day.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, who has been found guilty of murder at Leeds Crown Court ( PA )

Although he did not leave the safety of a lookout car during the raid, he played a pivotal role in planning it and knew that loaded firearms were to be used.

He was also the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used them in the past to send money to family in Pakistan, the court heard.

Khan had denied the murder charge, and claimed the businesss owner, Mohammad Yousaf, owed him 12,000 and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq offered to get his money back after the pair met through a business associate.

Khan, a former doorman, said he thought the men Razzaq sent would intimidate the staff at Universal Express, or at worst, slap them, and that he had no knowledge an armed robbery was due to take place.

The interior of Universal Express where the robbery took place in 2005 ( West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )

However, jurors heard Khan, who was living in Enfield, north London, at the time, was driven to Yorkshire by Razzaq on a reconnaissance trip five days before the raid.

The day before the robbery, they travelled up again to a safe house in Leeds where they spent the night.

Francois Baron, who was working on renovating the house, later told police he had heard the robbers discussing the plot in one of the bedrooms.

Mr Baron said he heard gunman Muzzaker Shah asking Khan: Uncle, is it safe? Khan was said to have replied: Yes, its safe. Genuine.

Jurors heard Shah asked: How much can we get? and Khan replied: Minimum 50,000, maximum target 100 grand.

Image of the Toyota Rav 4 connected to the robbery of the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford ( PA )

Prosecutors said the three robbers who were to go into Universal Express then changed into smart clothing, telling jurors this was because Khan knew they would have to appear respectable in order for staff to let them in through the electronically locked door.

In three cars, the group then drove in convoy to Bradford, where Muzzaker Shah and brothers Yusuf Jama and Mustaf Jama went into the travel agents posing as customers.

After initially asking about plane tickets, the three men jumped over the counter and started demanding money, striking several of the staff with their weapons, tying their hands and threatening to shoot the youngest if they did not hand over cash.

The group demanded 100,000, later saying they would not leave with less than 50,000, jurors heard.

Khans fingerprints were found on a wardrobe at a safe house in Harehills Lane which was used by the robbers ( West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )

Waqas Yousaf, Mohammad Yousafs son, told the robbers they did not have that kind of money and managed to press an alarm which alerted the police.

PC Beshenivsky and PC Milburn, who were about to finish their shift, responded to the alert, the trial was told.

The robbers shouted the Feds are here before fleeing with around 5,400, with one of them gunning down the officers as they approached the doors of Universal Express.

PC Beshenivsky, 38, who had three children and two step-children, was shot on her youngest daughters fourth birthday and had only been an officer for nine months when she died from her injuries.

PC Milburn, who survived being shot in the chest, told police the pair didnt have a chance to get away from the gunman, and that they would have run away if he had given them any warning.

The safe house used by the group to plan and execute the armed robbery ( West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )

Khan was convicted of murder by a majority of 10-1 after 11 jurors deliberated for almost 19 hours over four days.

He was also found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, also by a majority of 10-1. He was unanimously convicted of two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon while he had pleaded guilty to robbery.

Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of West Yorkshire Police said: Today as always our thoughts remain with PC Sharon Beshenivsky and her family. Sharon went to work to protect the public, she responded to a call for help alongside her colleague Teresa but tragically never came home.

This verdict is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts.
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A London hospital was put on lockdown after a woman was rushed to A&E after swallowing poison which was found on her in the building.

Croydon University Hospital was closed off after the woman was rushed in by the London Ambulance Service at around 3.46am on Thursday.

Two police officers were exposed to the hazardous substance and are also under observation, the Metropolitan Police said.

A police spokesperson added: Police were called at 3.46am by London Ambulance Service to reports of a woman having ingested poison at an address in Thornton Heath.

The woman was taken to a south London hospital by LAS where she was found to be in possession of a possible hazardous substance.

Were you affected by this incident? Email alexander.butler@independent.co.uk

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Officers and the London Fire Brigade attended Mayday Hospital and safety cordons and closures were established while specialist officers examined the item and safety procedures were enacted.

Ambulances and emergency vehicles were given access to the hospital throughout the incident response. Road closures have since been lifted and the incident stood down. There were no arrests.

A spokesperson for Croydon Health Services NHS Trust said: Following an incident in Croydon this morning (Thursday 4 April) we have treated a small number of patients, including two police officers for chemical exposure.

This was an isolated incident and Croydon University Hospital has remained open for patients throughout.
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The existence of American Bully XL dogs was a very controversial and emotive topic last year.

Rishi Sunak recently moved to ban the breed in the UK after 23 fatal attacks since 2021 and several high-profile public maulings.

But now designer breeders have returned with a new invention: the Exotic Bully, with varying degrees of mini sizes known as a Bully Nano, Micro or Pocket (but somehow, not XS Bully). They are essentially a bite-sized version of an XL Bully, bred to be as small as possible.

According to experts, there are a couple of hundred genuine Exotics in the UK. But urbanites wanting a Bully type without being kicked out of their flat by a landlord or terrified housemates could encourage numbers to soar.

Ladies and gentleman, meet the Exotic Coco ( Richard Dozsa )

The ultimate objective in Exotic breeding is to achieve extreme musculature as if it were on steroids, but reducing the height by half and removing any aggression.

After years of breeding Pocket Bullies with small French and English Bulldogs, the first ever Exotic was born in 2008  known in hushed tones as Mr Miagi.

Despite their powerful yet compact appearance, Exotics are bred to be docile in temperament and gentle with children, other dogs and small animals.

It bonds strongly with its owner making the Exotic Bully an excellent family companion, according to BRC Global pedigrees, where pets can be registered to compete at competitions.

It adds that aggression, viciousness or shyness are highly undesirable traits and very uncharacteristic for Exotics.

It is now a criminal offence to own an XL Bully in England and Wales without a certificate, with the dogs needing to be neutered, kept on a lead and muzzled in public.

The Legend of Mr Miagi

The UK government defines an adult male XL Bully as at least 20in (51cm) at the withers, but Pocket Bullies tend to be significantly smaller than this. They normally reach 22 to 27cm in height, so in theory are safe from the ban.

But regardless, Exotic competitions were shut down last year after bad press resulting from the spike in XL Bully attacks.

One of the heartbroken organisers and Exotic Bully fanatic is former competitive bodybuilder Richard Dozda, 42, who is holding another competition called Bully Flex in Stafford in May.

He told The Independent: People message me all the time saying I have the devils dog and its gonna kill you.

But Im more likely to be licked to death. It will only get me if I lie on the floor and he gets me by the throat.

Theyre definitely not going to kill me - maybe at most a nasty nip round my ankle.

During lockdown, every idiot wanted to become a breeder and cash in at the expense of the dogs health and the bad press for Bullys everywhere.

Introducing Chapo the Exotic Bully ( Richard Dozsa )

He got into Exotics, which he claims can sell for 1 million, when he suffered a horror car crash and became disabled forcing him to give up his strict exercise routine.

He channelled that energy into raising his four-strong Exotic family, with the boys named after drug kingpins Pablo and El Chapo and the girls Coco and Reina.

He added: I should have been dead after the crash, to be honest with you, my health isnt what it used to be.

But these dogs give me the strength to live because I had to give up my old life as a bodybuilder in an instant. My Bullies saved me.

You have to be responsible but the love that they give back for it is worth everything.

His close friend and esteemed worldwide Exotic competition judge Mark Law told The Independent what he is looking for in the breed.

First and foremost I have a full-time job in an aquatics shop, six days a week, so unlike many others I am not hustling dogs to make money, he said.

I have judged dogs for over 30 years, so you have to learn the breed standard and then make your own interpretation.

Lets get something straight, these dogs are not in any way shape or form like an XL Bully.

Mark Law is an esteemed worldwide Exotic competition judge ( Facebook )

He said as a judge he is very, very picky.

I judge to find the best one on the day, not necessarily one I really would like because you can only judge whats in front of you, he added.

They must be able to move correctly front and rear, so this means that the conformation has to be correct for the movement to work properly.

In Exotics the front of the dog is important to have those Exotic features.

He added: I think Exotics and Micros will get more popular but in a different way to XLs. Everyone knows XLs were persecuted because of bad owners but a tiny Micro isnt going to give that same feel on the street. The Micro and Exotic is a fun and loving dog.

Exotic Bully Facebook groups biggest complaints are when the critters chew the skirting boards or what to do about their breathing difficulties.

One breeder selling a Nano pup for 3,000-a-pop said: Breathing difficulties is definitely something that isnt uncommon in certain Bullies but we specifically chose our dogs to minimise any problems and still give us the look of a Bully.

So many Bullies for sale that just dont have the distinct bully look. None of our bullies have any issues with movement or breathing but these are a lazy pet dog, similar to the British Bulldog. A good half an hour to an hour walk and you will have a tired sleepy dog for the rest of the day.

They are beautiful pups. You wont have to worry about Pockets or Micros at all. There are no laws against them and I would say with absolute certainty there wont be any bans or restrictions on them.

But campaign group Bully Watch, aiming to raise awareness of the scale of Bully-related dog attacks, has a different take and said it involves grotesque levels of inbreeding to create the new breed.

A spokesperson said since the XL Bully ban breeders had changed to Exotics to protect their income streams.

They said: Nano, Micro, Exotic and Pocket Bullies have been considerably inbred in order to achieve an exaggerated aesthetic, sometimes with grotesque levels of inbreeding. These dogs are currently virtually uninsurable.

Due to poor breeding, they will almost certainly have considerable health problems. Anyone with any sense of concern for animal welfare would condemn these sub-types in the strongest terms possible.

The (not so) Big Don: Pablo ( Richard Dozsa )

They added: It was already happening. They were developed during a big push in designer breeding - similar to what people were doing with French Bulldog breeding.

People wanted to be the first to develop a certain type or colour. Almost Victorian-like. You have all these backyard breeders who have equipment, knowledge, and brands who found that their main source of income has vanished and theyre now trying to move to different breeds with this very recent push into smaller American Bully categories.

An RSPCA spokesperson said they havent noticed more Exotic Bully dogs coming into their care despite the boost in popularity. They added the pocket bully isnt a banned dog, so they dont need a muzzle by law.

They said: Breed is not a reliable indicator of aggression in dogs. All dogs have the capacity to be aggressive. Aggression in dogs develops because of complex interactions between genetics and the experiences dogs have throughout their lives.
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A third of MPs have rallied behind a campaign to raise 20m for research into a forgotten form of breast cancer with no specific treatment.

Around 15 per cent of breast cancers are invasive lobular, making it the second most common form in the UK after ductal breast cancer.

However, despite proven differences between the two, there is no specific treatment for lobular breast cancer and it remains widely underresearched.

Invasive lobular breast cancer begins in the cells that line the lobules, which are milk-producing glands, and spreads into the surrounding breast tissue.

Unlike other breast cancer types, lobular breast cancer is less likely to form lumps in breast tissue due to its unique single-file cell pattern.

It also means it is harder to detect on diagnostic scans such as mammograms and MRIs and therefore is sometimes diagnosed later.

Dr Susan Michaelis, 61, who has been diagnosed with terminal lobular breast cancer, launched a campaign last year calling for further research into the form of cancer.

Now, her call to secure government funding for research has garnered the support of more than 220 MPs.

Dr Susan Michaelis launched the Moon Shot project to raise funds for further research into lobular breast cancer ( Supplied )

She told The Independent: When I was diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer in 2013 I asked the doctor I beg your pardon, whats that?

Its the second most common form of breast cancer but its honestly a forgotten and hidden type.

Breast cancer research is largely based on ductal breast cancer, which means treatments are as well - but theyre different forms.

Research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that there are meaningful differences between the two forms of cancer, supporting evidence that they require different clinical management.

Dr Susan Michaelis (centre) with Katy Swinburne (left) who also has lobular breast cancer and Dehenna Davison MP (right) ( Supplied )

In Dr Michaelis case, she initially became concerned when a spot on her breast appeared in 2013. A mammogram came back clear and it was not until the spot became redder that she had a biopsy, which confirmed she had lobular breast cancer.

She went on to have a double mastectomy and endocrine treatment, but her cancer returned in both 2016 and 2021. A full body MRI then showed that the cancer had spread to her bones.

Ive been through countless types of standard treatment for breast cancer to the point theyre running out of options now. she said. No one wants to be diagnosed with a disease that doesnt have a specific treatment.

Dr Susan Michaelis (centre right) with health secretary Victoria Atkins (centre) Katy Swinburne (centre left) and Dehenna Davison MP (left) and and Sir Jeremy Quin MP (right) ( Supplied )

Dr Michaelis personal experience promoted her to set up the Lobular Moon Shot Project to raise awareness and call for further research into treatment.

She contacted The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), which told her 20m of funding over five years would allow it to carry out vital research on the disease and hopefully develop specific treatments.

She said: Even though researchers already acknowledge that lobular breast cancer behaves differently to ductal breast cancer, to really understand the distinct biology of lobular, and to provide targeted therapies, there needs to be an intensive research project and thats what we are proposing.

There has never been a more crucial time to ensure that those with lobular cancer get the early diagnosis and effective treatment needed to save their lives Dehenna Davison MP and Sir Jeremy Quin MP

While the campaign has raised 75,000 through community funding, Dr Michaelis has turned to parliament for help.

Having delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street and met with the health secretary, Dr Michaelis has now secured the support of more than a third of parliament with help from fellow campaigner Katie Swinburne.

Like Dr Michaelis, Ms Swinburne did not have symptoms typically associated with breast cancer and initial tests did not discover the cancer.

By the time she was diagnosed with stage three lobular breast cancer in March 2023, her tumour was 6.5cm.

Getting a cancer diagnosis turns your world inside out as it is. But to then find out you have to undergo treatment youre not even sure is working feels so unjust, she told The Independent.

Tory MPs Dehenna Davison and Sir Jeremy Quin, the first two MPs to support the project, said: With over 220 MPs now backing the pledge to see funding for vital research, there has never been a more crucial time to ensure that those with lobular cancer get the early diagnosis and effective treatment needed to save their lives.

To find out more about The Moon Shot Project click here.

Symptoms of invasive lobular breast cancer include:
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A new mural bearing a striking resemblance to the work of Banksy that appeared in Birmingham overnight remains at the centre of a mystery.

The renowned street artists spokesperson has confirmed it is not the work of Banksy, but no one else has yet come forward to claim it.

The painting appeared on Kent Street, in the West Midland citys gay village overnight on 3 April. It appears to depict Dorothy from the 1930s film The Wizard of Oz, an adaptation of L Frank Baums 1900 childrens fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The fictional character can be seen reaching for a pair of ruby high-heels hanging from a cable that crosses over the street.

A mural depicting Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz, on the side of Sidewalk bar on Kent Street in Birmingham ( PA Wire )

An art historian based in Birmingham said the mural displayed all the hallmarks of mysterious artist Banksy, whose identity remains unknown.

Banksy doesnt just stick to 2D art, he plays with objects in real life, Ruth Millington told Birmingham Live.

We can see the artwork interacting with the shoes on the telephone wire which is very clever. Its also interesting to note that Banksy has used Dorothy in his art before, he likes putting her in interesting places.

The fictional character can be seen reaching for a pair of shoes hanging from an overhead cable ( Jacob King/PA Wire )

But a spokesperson for Banksy later confirmed that the work was not his, saying; This isnt by the artist Banksy.

Banksys work has previously appeared in Birmingham. In 2019 the artist and activist produced a powerful piece of graffiti highlighting homelessness in the city at Christmas.

Banksy painted reindeer on a wall pulling a bench on which a homeless man was sleeping, in an apparent reference to the festive legend of Santas sleigh being powered by the caribou species.

In a video posted to Banksys Instagram page , a homeless man named Ryan could be seen having a drink before settling down on a bench with his belongings.

Dorothy reaching for the shoes in the artwork ( Jacob King/PA Wire )

As the camera pans outwards, the reindeer can be seen appearing to carry him away into the star-filled sky.

God bless Birmingham, Banksy wrote in the post.

Banksy is one of the worlds most famous street artists, with his work appearing in cities across the globe but his identity officially remains unknown.

It comes after it was confirmed that a tree mural in north London, which appeared on 17 March, was his.

The artwork, on the side of a building on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, features shades of green painted behind a cut-back tree with a stencil of a person holding a pressure hose to the side.

Banksy usually claims responsibility for art by posting on his social media pages.

A new Banksy mural recently appeared in north London ( AP )

He uploaded an image of the tree to his Instagram profile, showing the scene before the green paint was applied to the wall.

The mural was later fenced off by authorities after vandals threw paint over it.
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Teachers have spoken out about the vast and unnecessary pressure Ofsted has put on staff after four out of five said a new inspection system should be rolled out.

A new poll from the National Education Union (NEU) revealed that 62 per cent felt Ofsted had caused them mental ill-health while 59 per cent say it affects their home life.

Of the 4,500 state school teachers surveyed, 90 per cent said they do not believe single-word judgments are a fair reflection of a schools performance.

As a result, teachers will vote on whether the NEU, the largest teaching union in the UK, should lobby political parties ahead of the next general election to endorse its campaign to replace Ofsted.

It comes as the current system comes under continuous scrutiny following the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry after an unfavourable Ofsted report and a growing dissatisfaction amongst teachers.

Ruth Perry took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns ( PA Wire )

Nick Wigmore, a primary school teacher from Rochdale, told The Independent that he has spent an awful lot of time supporting colleagues who have been affected by the current system.

In some cases, people are unable to work due to the stress and anxiety, the 51-year-old said. Its caused by a combination of workload and pressure. When you trace these things back they very often come from pressures Ofsted cause.

He added: Ive got countless examples of conversations where teachers and senior leaders in schools have been in tears talking about the impact Ofsted has on their working and home life alike.

He made clear that teachers calling for the abolition of Ofsted are by no means calling for an end to accountability but are instead hoping for a fairer and more productive system.

Ofsted turns up every four to five years to provide one-word judgements and cause distress Nick Wigmore

Ofsted turns up every four to five years to provide one-word judgements and cause distress. Its a system that doesnt work, he said.

Hours and hours are spent playing to this accountability game which is meaningless and teaching and learning but teachers feel like they have to do.

Its really difficult to find evidence to suggest that Ofsted inspections do anything to improve teaching or education incomes - but there is lots of evidence pointing to the fact that Ofsted have a negative impact on the workforce.

The NEU survey suggests only 3 per cent of teachers believe Ofsted acts as a reliable and trusted arbiter of standards ( PA )

He added that while abolishing Ofsted wouldnt make teaching any easier, it would remove a fundamental threat to staff retention and education that hangs over every teacher and support staff.

Another teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Independent the pressure Ofsted inspections place on teachers is crushing and results in a huge workload physically and mentally.

The languages teacher said that the reality of the criteria means schools are often developing time-consuming initiatives that look good, but rarely have any real impact on children.

She said: I dont think anyone wants unmonitored schools. Obviously, as a public sector there has to be checks but the current Ofsted system just doesnt work.

Ofsted should not rush to judge schools with lower GCSE grades after the pandemic, an education group has urged (Ben Birchall/PA) ( PA Archive )

The NEU survey suggests only 3 per cent of teachers believe Ofsted acts as a reliable and trusted arbiter of standards and just 4 per cent believe it acts independently of Government.

More than four in five (82 per cent) agreed with a statement that said Ofsted has so many problems that it would be better to start afresh with a new system of inspection.

One respondent said: Ofsted has created toxic environments, resulting in damaging pressure on staff and ending the careers of excellent staff.

Another respondent, who cried after speaking to an Ofsted inspector in the last academic year, said: I was absolutely petrified that I would say something wrong and let the school and my colleagues down.

I felt so stressed and overwhelmed by the process.

Daniel Kebede, joint general secretary of the NEU, said Ofsted is out of touch and out of favour with teachers ( PA Archive )

Daniel Kebede, joint general secretary of the NEU, said Ofsted is out of touch and out of favour with teachers.

He added: No amount of rebranding will eradicate the entrenched view that Ofsteds days are numbered. If it ever commanded respect, those days are now long gone.

Single-word judgments are destructive and wrong, and our members agree. But the faults of Ofsted run much deeper. There are serious wellbeing concerns, brought to stark public attention last year.

Mr Kebede added: Only root-and-branch reform can bring an end to the tyranny of inspection.

An Ofsted spokesman said: We inspect schools on behalf of children and their parents, but we are very mindful of the pressures on school staff.

We have already made several changes to inspection over the last year, focused on school leaders and staff welfare. But we have promised to go further to strengthen confidence in our work.

A Department for Education spokesman said: Our plan to ensure every child benefits from a world-class education is working with 90% of schools now judged to be good or outstanding, up from 68% in 2010.

Ofsted is central to driving forward that improvement. Their independent inspections are vital to ensuring children are safe in school, parents are informed, and the department is able to intervene where strictly necessary.

Both the DofE and Ofsted highlighted the Big Listen, which launched last month to hear from parents, teachers and education experts to understand where more improvements can be made
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Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure  including from within his own party  to immediately suspend arms sales to Israel amid a growing chorus of opposition to the number of civilians killed in its war on Hamas.

The prime minister faces calls from Tory grandees, hundreds of lawyers, dozens of MPs and peers from across the political spectrum, as well as top military commanders to halt arms exports to the nation.

Mr Sunak has also been urged to exert Britains influence on Israel to force a change of approach in how Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conducts the invasion.

Days after the slaughter of seven aid workers, three of them British, The Independent joins the call for the sale of arms to Israel to stop.

Conservative former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said Britain must suspend arms sales to Israel unless it demonstrates an urgent change in the behaviour of the IDF.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind said it is difficult to believe Israels approach meets acceptable standards ( Getty )

The former cabinet minister said unless Israel offers Britain and other backers credible evidence that it is changing the instructions being given to its troops, Britain should stop providing it with weapons.

It is a question of the instructions given to the military as to how much care you have to take to avoid mistakes or collateral damage, he told The Independent.

It is very difficult to believe the rules of engagement being used by the Israel Defence Forces, not just in this instance but increasingly over the last few weeks, meet the standard that ought to be applied.

Sir Malcolm said that, without evidence of a change in approach, it is almost impossible to justify continuing to help them with the provision of arms.

The government does not directly supply Israel with weapons. Instead, it grants export licences for British companies to sell arms to the country and can block those sales by suspending the licences.

The UK has taken this course twice before. Margaret Thatchers government suspended arms exports following Israels 1982 invasion of Lebanon, while Tony Blairs government blocked sales of some military equipment in 2002.

Sir Malcolm, who served in Thatcher and John Majors governments, said if Israel is not prepared to change course, then there have to be consequences.

But the former defence secretary dismissed the idea Israel has deliberately targeted civilians or aid workers as nonsense.

He said that in the countrys understandable zeal to get rid of every Hamas terrorist, the precautions any army has to apply to avoid collateral damage are not as rigorous as they should be.

His stance was echoed by figures including Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, and Mark Logan, a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Work and Pensions. Sir Alan Duncan, who served as a minister between 2010 and 2019, voiced concerns from Conservative ranks in strongly condemning Israels killing of the aid workers as merciless. Conservative MPs Flick Drummond and David Jones also called on the government to suspend arms to Israel.

Layla Moran, an MP whose family have just escaped the Gaza Strip after being trapped in the war-torn territory for months, told The Independent that a suspension of arms exports would send a powerful message.

It would send a powerful message not only to the US but also the Israeli government that if it breaks international humanitarian law it cannot do so without consequences, said the British-Palestinian Liberal Democrat.

Layla Moran said suspending arms sales to Israel would send a powerful message to the US and Israel ( AFP via Getty Images )

It will also send a message to those in Israel who are resisting Netanyahu, that the international community will no longer allow Israel to act with impunity if it breaks the law.

Ms Moran also called for an immediate bilateral ceasefire so that no one is put in harms way British or not, adding: That is the only immediate answer to stopping the killing right now.

There is a sea change in British public opinion right now but it shouldnt have taken the deaths of brave British aid workers and tens of thousands of people in Gaza for that to happen.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, the former head of the British army, called on Mr Sunak to look very carefully at what Britain sells to Israel and said ministers should ensure Britains defence relationship with the country remains within international law.

He said the prime minister should take note of the very large number of legal professionals who are concerned about this.

But Lord Dannatt added that it is not just a legal issue, it is a moral issue, and we need to think very closely whether we are on the right side of the moral line on this.

There is no doubt that Israel had right on its side, in war terms, to decide to go on the offensive against Hamas, he said.

But he added: What is not reasonable is the way they have conducted themselves, they have killed far too many people, and far too many people who are innocent Gazan citizens wrapped up in their attempts to kill Hamas terrorists.

Sir Malcolm and Lord Dannatts interventions came after Sir Alex Younger, ex-head of M16, said the aid workers deaths showed Israel was using systematic targeting that risked slaughtering innocent people by mistake.

He said Benjamin Netanyahu was in danger of squandering Israels right to claim a moral purpose in the war with Hamas over the reckless killings.

Sir Alex Younger said Benjamin Netanyahu risks squandering international support for Israel ( EPA )

More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court president Lady Hale, have signed a letter to the prime minister warning that the government risks breaching international law by continuing to export weapons to Israel.

The signatories said the worsening situation in Gaza and the International Court of Justices conclusion that there was a plausible risk of genocide obliged the UK to suspend arms sales to the country. Palestinian health officials say nearly 33,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far. More than 200 aid workers have died.

Former Supreme Court justice Jonathan Sumption was a signatory. He told Sky News: The point about having an obligation to prevent genocide is that you have to take steps to ensure that it doesnt happen, or it doesnt continue.

It is perfectly clear, therefore, that to supply arms to Israel is not consistent with our obligations.

Meanwhile, Labours shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, urged the government to publish any legal advice it had received on whether Israel had broken international law, and to suspend arms sales if there was a risk weapons could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law. The SNP and the Liberal Democrats have also called for arms exports to be suspended.

Labour MP and former frontbencher Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said Israels killing and destruction in Gaza was indiscriminate and had been horrifying to witness.

Downing Street has declined to say whether it believes Israel was operating within international humanitarian law, saying it would not comment on legal advice.

Israels highest-ranking military officer has apologised for making a grave mistake after the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed.

Rishi Sunak said Israels war in Gaza is becoming increasingly intolerable ( The Sun )

British victims John Chapman, 57, James Jim Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were part of the WCK security team.

They died alongside American-Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33; Australian national Lalzawmi Zomi Frankcom, 43, who was the leader of the relief team; Polish national Damian Sobol, 35; and Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25.

The IDF attacked the aid convoy because officials believed an armed member of Hamas was travelling with the group, though no such person was with the aid workers, Haaretz reports.

An Israeli army source told the outlet that the strike wasnt a matter of poor coordination, but rather because every commander sets the rules for himself.

The charity had just offloaded 100 tonnes of food aid from a barge which sailed from Cyprus when Israel attacked its vehicle convoy on the Gaza coastal road in Deir al-Balah.
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The health tech company belonging to disgraced Conservative party donor Frank Hester has been dropped as a sponsor from Yorkshires largest LGBTQ+ celebration after the CEO was embroiled in a racism row.

Mr Hester came under fire after it was revealed he had made racist comments about Labour MP Diane Abbott, having said she made him want to hate all back women and that she should be shot.

Now the organisers of Leeds Pride have announced they are ending their sponsorship deal with Mr Hesters company in a stance against discrimination.

In a statement confirming it was cutting ties with TPP, Leeds Pride said: This move comes after discussions with the board of directors and collaborative partners, reflecting a stand against discrimination and in support of creating an inclusive atmosphere.

Frank Hester allegedly made the comments in 2019 (Screengrab/PA) ( PA Wire )

The TPP chief executive came under fire after it was revealed that he had donated 10m to the Conservative party which Rishi Sunak has refused to return despite condemning his remarks as racist and wrong.

Leading government figures have since asserted that retaining the money was justifiable since Mr Hester is not a racist and has issued an apology.

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch dismissed the row over the alleged comments as trivia and insisted the Conservative party should not return the businessmans 10m.

Ms Abbott, who is currently suspended by Labour, described Mr Hesters reported comments as frightening.

Mr Hester has since apologised for his remarks, which he said were rude, but insisted they were not motivated by race or gender. His comments are now subject to an investigation by West Yorkshire police.

In its statement, Leeds Pride added: In light of recent developments involving alleged racist comments made by the TPPs chief executive, it became imperative for Leeds Pride to reassess its association with the company. The decision to terminate the sponsorship agreement underscores the organisations dedication to upholding the values of diversity within the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

Leeds Pride acknowledges the concerns voiced by members of the community and recognises the importance of taking steps to uphold its principles. Through this decision, Leeds Pride asserts its position as an advocate for inclusivity, striving to ensure that Pride celebrations remain a platform for equality.

Diane Abbott called Frank Hesters comments frightening ( PA Wire )

Hesters company has been a sponsor of celebration since 2017 and said in a post on X last month that it was Proud to be supporting Leeds Pride again! at this years event.

TPP has been approached for comment. The news was first reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post.
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Controlling immigration is more important than membership of a foreign court, the Prime Minister has said in his strongest hint yet that he could back leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In an interview on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak defended his approach to tackling small boats crossing the Channel, but indicated he would be willing to leave the ECHR if it blocked his Rwanda policy.

The Prime Minister told The Suns Never Mind The Ballots programme: I believe that all plans are compliant with all of our international obligations including the ECHR, but I do believe that border security and making sure that we can control illegal migration is more important than membership of a foreign court because its fundamental to our sovereignty as a country.

Right-wing Conservative MPs, including former home secretary Suella Braverman, have previously pushed for the UK to leave the ECHR, fearing its provisions could prevent asylum seekers being deported to Rwanda.

The Prime Minister has previously resisted such calls, but said he would be willing to defy orders from the European Court of Human Rights if necessary to implement his Rwanda plan.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill currently making its way through Parliament includes provisions that would allow ministers to ignore such orders.

But members of the more moderate One Nation Group of Tory MPs have warned against leaving the convention, while others have said such a move would breach the Good Friday Agreement which includes a requirement to incorporate the ECHR into Northern Irish law.

Stephen Kinnock in Whitehall ( PA )

Labours shadow immigration minister, Stephen Kinnock, said: Rishi Sunak must think were stupid to tell us his plan on small boats is working when weve just seen record high Channel crossings over the Easter Bank holiday weekend.

Arrivals on small boats are up this year and the Tories are floundering around trying to find anyone to blame but themselves. When will they take responsibility and admit they are failing on a staggering scale?

This is just another desperate attempt by the Prime Minister to appease factions in his own party and stave off an attack from right-wing Tory MPs.

Yet again the interests of the country come second.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael described the Prime Ministers comments as nothing more than an empty threat to try to keep his mutinous MPs on side.

He said: It doesnt matter how many times Rishi Sunak tries, the Rwanda scheme will remain a colossal waste of time and taxpayers money.

In his interview on Wednesday, Mr Sunak insisted that the Government had plans in place to implement the Rwanda policy as soon as the Bill was able to overcome opposition in the House of Lords, denying reports that there was no airline willing to take asylum seekers to the Central African nation.

He also defended his broader approach to small boats, saying he had done more than any other prime minister in history to tackle the problem.

After a fall in crossings last year, more than 5,000 people made the journey in the first three months of this year, exceeding the previous record set in 2022.

Mr Sunak said: Progress is still being made. What are we doing with Albania? They accounted for a third of the arrivals we had the year before last.

I negotiated a new deal with Albania. Obviously its a safe country. If somebody comes here illegally well be able to return them back.

Weve then returned thousands of people back to Albania and what happened? They stopped coming. Now we need to replicate that.
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Former foreign minister Sir Alan Duncan is being investigated by Tory chiefs after he said pro-Israel extremists in the party should be kicked out because they refused to support international law.

Sir Alan said ex-cabinet minister Eric Pickles and Tory peer Stuart Polak, both members of the powerful Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) organisation, should both be thrown out of the party.

The CFI was being used to exercise the interests of another country by lobbying for Israel, he said.

He also branded Michael Gove, Oliver Dowden, Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Priti Patel extremists for failing to denounce unlawful Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

Conservative head office responded by launching an inquiry into Sir Alans comments, which could lead to him having the party whip withdrawn.

It comes as the party faces a split over the Gaza war, with figures including Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Winston Churchill, former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, and Mark Logan, a PPS in the Department for Work and Pensions, among those calling for a suspension of UK arms to Israel.

Sir Alan, who stepped down as an MP in 2017, launched an outspoken attack on Israel in an article in The Independent in which he argued it could no longer be considered an ally by the UK. He then he used an appearance on LBC to call for security minister Tom Tugendhat to be sacked for not believing in international law.

Sir Alan Duncan is under investigation by the Conservative Party ( Getty Images )

Sir Alan, who served as a Conservative minister between 2010 and 2019, cited Mr Tugendhats past condemnation of the United Nations Security Council for criticising Israels settlements policy.

Now, that may have been some years ago, but hes never removed that, hes never changed his view, Sir Alan added. How can you have a security minister in the British government, who does not believe in international law, when all this is going on? I think he [Tom Tugendhat] should be sacked.

In the extraordinary radio interview, Sir Alan also said Lord Polak is exercising the interests of another country, not that of the parliament in which he sits.

And he said the peer and Lord Pickles are the sort of Laurel and Hardy who should be pushed out together.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said Sir Alan had effectively accused two Conservative peers, one of whom is Jewish, of dual loyalties.

It said: This is disgraceful; we understand the Conservatives have opened an investigation into Sir Alans conduct, and we believe the party should consider whether his position as a party member is tenable.

Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to suspend arms sales to Israel ( The Sun )

Conservative Friends of Israel vice-chairman, Tory MP Andrew Percy, said: Alan Duncan is a ridiculous character and accusing a Jewish parliamentarian of working for Israel at a time of record levels of antisemitism not only puts that individual in danger but also risks fuelling Jew hate here in the UK. It is a reckless, ignorant and dangerous comment.

He urged Sir Alan to remember Hamas raped, butchered and murdered innocent civilians on 7 October and said supporting Israel is standing up to a terrorist rape and death cult.

In a s separate article in The Independent this week, commentator Peter Oborne said the CFI had far too much power in the Conservative party.

A CCHQ source said: Following his comments on LBC, Alan Duncan has been informed that he is under investigation by the party. These investigations generally take a couple of weeks and can result in expulsion.

But a defiant Sir Alan said the decision to investigate him over accusations he used antisemitic tropes could prove dangerously harmful to the partys reputation.
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Botswana has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany, escalating an ongoing row over the import of hunting trophies.

The dispute began earlier this year when Germanys environment ministry, citing concerns about poaching, suggested imposing stricter limits on the import of hunting trophies. Germany is the EUs chief importer of African elephant trophies, according to a 2021 report by the Humane Society International.

On Tuesday, Botswanas president Mokgweetsi Masisi told Bild that further restrictions on hunting would impoverish the African nation due to an explosion in the number of elephants.

Germans should live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to, he told the German daily.

This is not a joke, Mr Masisi added.

Conservation has led to a boom in Botswanas elephant population but also increased man-animal conflict.

The landlocked nation is home to 130,000 elephants, accounting for a third of the worlds tuskers. In recent years, the president said elephant herds have been trampling people and destroying homes and crops.

Facing pressure from local communities to tackle the problem, Mr Masisis government in 2019 lifted the prohibition on trophy hunting imposed five years earlier.

Botswana had previously offered to send 8,000 elephants to Angola and 500 to Mozambique to deal with the overpopulation.

Mr Masisi said he would like to offer such a gift to Germany and not take no for an answer.

He criticised the German government and particularly the environment ministry for seeking to ban the import of trophies. It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world, he said.

We want our elephants to roam freely. The German weather is bad enough for them, he added. If you like them so much, then please accept this gift from us.

The German environment ministry said Botswana had not yet contacted them on this matter, Politico reported. However, environment minister Steffi Lemke signalled that she will accept Botswanas invitation if an opportunity arises to inspect wildlife protection.

In March, Botswana had threatened to send 10,000 elephants to Hyde Park in London in protest against a potential UK ban on safari hunters importing trophies.
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Authorities trying to bring the Port of Baltimore back to a fully operational state have opened two temporary channels around the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge but are still unable to support commercial traffic.

The bridge collapsed on 26 March after it was struck by a cargo ship similar in size to the Eiffel Tower. The incident resulted in the deaths of six construction workers, who were sent into the Patapsco River, and brought all commercial traffic coming into the port to an immediate stop.

Two other workers were injured but immediately rescued following the collapse. Four are presumed dead and officials say their remains are intertwined with debris from the structure.

As workers continue their efforts to reopen the port, shipping companies are turning to other ports across the East Coast to bring goods into the US. At least 8,000 people are employed by entities operating out of the Port of Baltimore, which takes in the largest amount of cars of any port in the country.

Complicating matters, larger commercial ships, including the Dali, which hit the bridge, are still unable to leave the harbour as debris remains in the channel blocking its path.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Admiral Shannon Gilreath, a Coast Guard official overseeing the response to the incident, said that the 21-person crew had planned for a 35-day journey from Baltimore to Sri Lanka.

The crew have been unable to disembark from the vessel, reportedly because they lack the proper visas to do so. Still, Mr Gilreath said that the crew has all the supplies they need and officials are monitoring the situation.

At news conferences, Maryland Governor Wes Moore has indicated that the mission to reopen the port will take longer than a month.

I want to be clear, this work will not take hours. This work will not take days. This work will not just take weeks, he said last week. We have a very long road ahead of us. We understand that.

The two temporary channels, one on the northeast side and another on the southwest are 11 and 15 feet deep. The northeast channel has a 264-foot horizontal clearance and a vertical clearance of 95 feet.

The southwest channel has a depth of 15 feet, a 280-foot horizontal clearance and a vertical clearance of 124 feet. A third channel is expected to open up soon, but officials say the timing will depend on how quickly theyre able to remove debris from the site of the incident.

The weather has made it difficult to use a crane to remove parts of the bridge from the site.

Our operations continue but will be adjusted as necessary in response to any adverse weather conditions, US Coast Guard Chief Officer Frank Schinao said in a news release, explaining how authorities are reacting to this weeks stormy conditions.

The Unified Command remains committed to re-opening the port while ensuring safety and environmental protection.
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Missing Wisconsin toddler Elijah Vue was banned from playing with the one toy he had in the week leading up to his disappearance over a month ago, a court heard on Thursday.

Detectives who first responded to the Two Rivers apartment where the boy had been staying with suspect Jesse Vang were on the witness stand at the Manitowoc County Court, as the 39-year-old appeared for his preliminary hearing on a charge of chronic child neglect.

Elijah Vue, 3, was last seen in Two Rivers, Wisconsin on 20 February 2024 ( Two Rivers Police Department )

There was one toy in the residence which was given to the child at Christmastime, Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office Detective Michael Herrmann told the court, as he gave new details of the tactics used on Elijah.

However, during this stay, because it was a punishment, he was not allowed to play with that toy.

The three-year-olds mother, Katrina Baur, 31, had sent the boy to stay with Mr Vang on 12 February so he could learn to be a man. He was then reported missing eight days later and has still not been found.

Jesse Vang and Katrina Baur are both accused of chronic child neglect ( Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office )

Mr Vang allegedly admitted to police much of the tactics he used on Elijah, and some of that detail has been shared previously, including the child being subjected to lengthy time-outs, where he was forced to stand for two to three hours and pray.

In court on Thursday, new and expanded descriptions were given by both Detective Herrmann and Lieutenant Jacob Glaser from the Two Rivers Police Department, who first responded to the report that Elijah had disappeared.

District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre asked Detective Herrmann about the alleged neglect by Mr Vang, including leaving the boy in soiled diapers.

The detective said the defendant claimed he changed the childs diaper at least one time per day but not necessarily each time it got dirty.

Mr Vang advised that the child was still bottle fed, Detective Herrmann added. He was attempting to get the child to move to more solid or adult-style food during the time he was with him.

Did he withhold any food from him? the DA asked, with the officer stating that Mr Vang had allegedly kept Elijah from drinking milk.

An Amber Alert was issued for Elijah Vue the day he disappeared, 20 February 2024 ( National Center for Missing and Exploited Children )

Lieutenant Glaser was then asked about messages between Mr Vang and Ms Baur, in which they discussed Elijah, as well as two photos mentioned in an updated criminal complaint in mid-March.

The photograph depicts [Elijah] wearing what is believed to be a black blindfold and appears to have bruising to his cheek, neck and arm area, Lt Glaser said, describing a photo found to have been deleted by Ms Baur.

The officer said that was taken in the early hours of 14 February, two days after Elijah had been taken to Mr Vangs home.

The court later heard more details on the threats of cold water made to Elijah, should he misbehave.

The lieutenant said that on 17 February, Mr Vang messaged the boys mother to say the toddler had filled his diaper, which had made Mr Vang upset.

I recall him stating that he had given [Elijah] a cold shower and that he appeared to be scared afterwards, Lt Glaser told the court.

The next day, messages between the two defendants showed Mr Vang telling Ms Baur that Elijah didnt respect me... now Im making him respect me.

Two days later, Elijah was reported missing, with searches so far only turning up the three-year-olds blanket.

Despite a previous attempt by Mr Vangs defence attorneys to overturn the criminal complaint against him, Judge Robert Dewane ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed with the case against him.

Mr Vang will next appear in court for his arraignment hearing on 16 April. Ms Baur is next scheduled to appear in court on 26 April, also facing a charge of chronic child neglect, plus three other charges.
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Threatening jailhouse phone calls made by James Crumbley  the father of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley  towards the prosecutor leading his criminal case have now been released ahead of his sentencing next week.

Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter last month. His wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was also convicted of the same charges at a trial weeks earlier.

The Crumbleys made history as the first parents to ever be held criminally held accountable for a mass shooting committed by their child, after he murdered four of his classmates at Oxford High School in November 2021.

The shooter, who was 15 at the time, is now serving a life sentence over the school shooting.

While both parents now face up to 60 years in prison  15 years per count  James Crumbley is asking for the judge to take into account his time served, the Detroit Free Press reported.

James Crumbley in mug shot ( via REUTERS )

Prosecutors meanwhile are seeking lengthy sentences for both, saying that they have both shown a lack of remorse for their crimes.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonalds office is arguing that James Crumbleys various phone calls attacking Ms McDonald call for him to be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Defendants jail calls showed that he blamed everyone but himself for what happened and that he repeatedly referred to himself as being persecuted and considered himself a martyr, they argued.

The phone calls were detailed in a Wednesday memo, showing how Crumbley referred to Ms McDonald as a f***ing stupid b****. I hope youre listening to this, you f***ing b****.

James Crumbley also reportedly told the prosecutor on 9 October 2023: Yeah, Karen McDonald, youre going down.  Go ahead, record this call. Send it to Karen McDonald. Tell her how James Crumbley is going to f***ing take her down.

In January, just months before his trial began in March, he allegedly said: I am f***ing on a rampage, Karen. Yes, Karen McDonald. Your a** is going down and you better be f***ing scared.

In the memo, proseuctors wrote he showed a complete lack of remorse and disrespect for the court proceedings.

Why were both parents put on trial?

School Shooting Michigan ( Oakland County Sheriff's Office )

James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, after prosecutors accused them of ignoring their sons mental health condition and making the gun he used in the 30 November 2021 shooting accessible at home.

Four days before the shooting at Oxford High School, James Crumbley bought his son a gun, which Ethan described on Instagram as his new beauty.

Jennifer then took her son to a shooting range for practice.

A few days later, a teacher noticed the high school sophomore searching online for ammunition, sparking concerns and prompting school administrators to contact his parents.

Instead of responding to the school, his mother allegedly texted her son: Lol. Im not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.

The following day, the Crumbleys were called into the school for a meeting after school officials then found disturbing drawings done by Ethan in the classroom. The parents declined to take him home  and, just hours later, Ethan opened fire in his murderous rampage, killing four classmates: Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17.

James Crumbley was presented with the easiest, most glaring opportunities to prevent the deaths of four students and he did nothing, Ms McDonald told the court last month. He did nothing  over and over and over again.

Prosecutors argued repeatedly that both parents had the power to stop the shooting from happening, pointing out that James Crumbley knew the shooter must be his son when he heard of the shooting at his school.

A memorial outside of Oxford High School on December 03 2021 in Oxford, Michigan. ( Getty Images )

They also said the parents ignored signs of their sons poor mental state in the months leading up to the tragedy.

In a taped police interview, Jennifer Crumbley said she wished she had taken her son home that day.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the pair came under scrutiny for their strange behaviour. Reports showed the couple drained their sons bank account. They withdrew cash, sold their horses, and bought four burner phones in the hours after finding out what their son had done.

When they were arrested four days after the shooting, the couple reportedly had $6,600 in cash, credit cards, gift cards and four phones.

A landmark case

Before Jennifer Crumbleys case, never before had a parent been tried for their alleged involvement in a mass school shooting.

A judge for Michigans appellate court acknowledged the historic nature of the case in his opinion ruling that the Crumbleys should stand trial, saying: Our legal system does not, nor should it, criminally punish people for subpar, odd, or eccentric parentingHowever, before us is the unusual case.

Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter on 6 February, after two weeks of testimony and 10 hours of jury deliberation, while her husband was convicted of the same charges on 14 March.

The pairs convictions on manslaughter charges could set new precedents for future school shooting cases.

Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver, who was killed in the Parkland mass school shooting, previously told The Independent that the Crumbleys case will become a small step in our fight to end gun violence in the United States.

The Crumbleys are both due to be sentenced on 9 April.
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Oklahoma has executed death row inmate Michael Smith for two murders the state said he committed in 2002.

Smith died at 10.20am CT on Thursday by lethal injection using doses of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Officials with the Department of Corrections said that Smith did not give a final statement before being executed.

Smith was convicted of killing Janet Moore, 41, and Sharath Pulluru, 22, in fatal shootings in February of 2002.

His death was announced after the US Supreme Court denied a request from his attorney to stay his execution. His attorneys argued that his 2002 confession to the police might not have been adequately corroborated.

Justice Neil Gorsuch did not take part in making the decision and was recused from the case.

Todays event and the circumstances that led to it have affected many people  especially the family and friends of victims Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru, Oklahomas Department of Corrections Director Steven Harpe said.

Smith, 41, had been in custody for 20 years. He became the first person to be put to death in Oklahoma this year. Hes also the 12th inmate to be put to death since the state resumed executions in 2021. The state had put executions on hold due to problems with the procedures around 2014.

At a clemency hearing last month, Smith broke into tears as he spoke about his innocence regarding the crimes.

I didnt commit these crimes. I didnt kill these people, he said. I was high on drugs. I dont even remember getting arrested. His clemency application was denied 4-1.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond reads a statement on behalf of murder victim Janet Moore on 4 April 2024, while standing between Moore's son, Phillip Zachary, Jr., and niece Morgan Miller-Perkins at the Oklahoma State penitentiary in McAlester, Okla., following the execution of Michael Dewayne Smith. The 41-year-old was sentenced to die for killing Moore and Sharath Pulluru in separate shootings in February 2002 ( AP )

Prosecutors previously described Smith as a gang member who killed his victims for revenge. Its believed that he killed Ms Moore because he was looking for her son, who Smith thought had given his identity to police.

Pulluru was a convenience store clerk, who Smith thought had disrespected his gang. Mark Henricksen, an attorney for Smith argued that his client is intellectually disabled and should be allowed to spend his life behind bars.

He added that Smith was in a PCP-induced haze when he confessed to police and that elements of his confession were not supported by facts.

Reverend Don Heath, Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty chair, made the following statement in response to the execution.

Michael Smith was a troubled and vulnerable young man with intellectual disabilities, he said. He was ill-served by advisers who encouraged him to proclaim his innocence instead of accepting responsibility for his crimes. That cost him any chance for clemency. He needed mercy and forgiveness and got none.

Smith did not request a final meal.
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An Oklahoma judge told state execution staff that they needed to suck it up after they asked for more time between executions to recover from stress.

Judge Gary Lumpkin made the comments during a hearing last week regarding whether the state should increase its time between executions from 60 days to 90 days, according to The Frontier, an Oklahoma non-profit outlet.

A decision on the matter is expected to be issued at a later date. State agencies, including the Attorney Generals Office and the Department of Corrections, supported the change in a motion filed in January.

According to the agencies, the move would help to combat stress and prevent staffing shortages and botched executions. Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Steven Harpe called the current 60-day intervals too onerous and not sustainable.

In the court filing, Mr Harpe explained that each execution triggers a series of actions that must be completed sometimes weeks in advance. He added that the entire state penitentiary has to go into lockdown on the day of an execution until it is completed.

Eight different teams participate in an execution. Before an inmate is put to death, the teams must complete required training, including mock executions.

According to The Frontier, Judge Lumpkin told the state officials to man up, adding, We set a reasonable amount of time to start this out and yall keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it. Whos to say next month you wont come in and say I need 120 days?

A representative for Judge Lumpkin said his office did not have a comment on the matter.

Per the court records, the officials asked for the execution dates for several death row inmates to be scheduled in 90-day intervals.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond previously asked the court to schedule executions 60 days apart, citing concerns about botched executions. The state paused executions around 2015 and resumed them in 2021.

An autopsy in 2015 revealed that the state had used the wrong drugs to put someone to death.

Officials botched the first lethal injection execution after returning to schedule. So far, 12 people have been put to death ever since 2021.

Still, the judge continued, This stuff needs to stop and people need to suck it up, realise they have a hard job to do and get it done in a timely, proficient, professional way.

On Thursday, Oklahoma executed Michael Smith over two murders he said he committed in 2002. His attorneys argued that officials did not find corroborating evidence to back up his execution. Smith maintained his innocence and did not give a final statement.
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A man in Utah is facing seven charges over the death of his mother after his pit bulls attacked and killed her in October last year.

Jeremy Miller, 38, was charged with seven counts of attack by animal earlier this week.

His mother, 63-year-old Sandra Miller, was left with multiple injuries to her hands, face and legs in the attack in Taylorsville on 31 October.

One of her legs had to be amputated, according to KSL News Radio, but she died a few days later.

When police officers first arrived on the scene, they tried using pepper spray to corral the seven dogs.

"The dogs were still extremely aggressive, and it took multiple Taylorsville City Police officers and animal control officers to keep the dogs away from the victim and contained in the yard," charging documents seen by Fox 13 read.

After the victim was taken to safety, officers tried approaching the dogs and the mother tried to escape from the group, the outlet reported. At this point, the dog was shot at least six times.

Mr Miller was then called and he arrived at the home around 20 minutes later.

"[He] was clearly upset about his fence being damaged and his dogs being taken by animal control," documents read.

The other six dogs were reportedly put down later on.

While Mr Miller was not at home at the time, the charging documents reportedly say that he was responsible for the dogs and therefore is liable for the offence.

Following Ms Millers death, her family thanked emergency services for doing all they could.

"Our family would like to thank the dispatcher for staying on the phone with our mother, the statement given to Fox 13 read. The police officers that didnt hesitate to get to her as soon as possible.

Wed also like to thank the paramedics, nurses, the doctors, the trauma team and everyone that helped our mother. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers."

The Independent has approached Taylorsville City Police Department for further comment.
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Six New York prison inmates have won their right to watch Mondays solar eclipse, after suing the states prison system.

The group, all from different religious backgrounds, had argued that a planned lockdown of 23 correctional facilities during the rare event, effectively keeping them from viewing it, violated their religious freedom rights.

In an update on Thursday, the plaintiffs dropped the case after reaching a favourable settlement of the matter with the Department of Corrections, per court documents seen by The Independent.

Attorneys Chris McArdle, Sharon Steinerman, and Madeline Byrd of Alston & Bird told The Independent that the case was dismissed Thursday afternoon.

We are pleased that, in response to our lawsuit alleging religious discrimination, New York State has entered into a binding settlement agreement that will allow our six clients to view the solar eclipse in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs, a statement read.

The six men are all being held at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, around a two-hour drive north-west of New York City and on the edge of the path of totality of the eclipse on 8 April.

The April 8, 2024, solar eclipse will be visible in the entire contiguous United States, weather permitting ( Nasa )

The lawsuit, filed last Friday, came from men of different religious backgrounds, including a Baptist, a Muslim, an atheist, a Seventh-Day Adventist and two practitioners of Santeria.

All argued that they had the right under their different beliefs to watch the event, as eclipses held significance for them all.

However, the New York State Department of Corrections had said it was planning to cancel visitation at all 23 facilities in the eclipses path, while other facilities would suspend visitation past 2pm.

The department said it would give eclipse viewing glasses to inmates and staff who would be able to see the event through windows, but those being held in accommodations without a view of the outside would not be allowed out to watch.

Thursdays announcement did not specify how the plaintiffs would now be able to watch the event.

In response to Thursdays news, the Department of Corrections told The Independent that it had already started reviewing religious accommodations requests when the lawsuit was filed.

The Department has agreed to permit the six individuals to view the eclipse, while plaintiffs Counsels firm has agreed to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice as to the six named individuals, among other things. The lawsuit came to an appropriate resolution, a statement read.

The eclipse will happen on Monday afternoon, with the sun fully blocked by the moon for around five minutes.

Parts of New York state are within the so-called path of totality, which will stretch from the Pacific coast of Mexico, before heading up and east: taking in Texas, Oklahoma and all the way up to New England, before disappearing in Canada.
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An 80-year-old American woman was killed during a wildlife safari in Zambia after an aggressive bull elephant unexpectedly charged at the vehicle, the tour operators said.

The incident happened at around 9.30am local time on 30 March at the Kafue National Park in Zambia and the shocking video of the moment was captured and posted on social media.

The video showed the adult male elephant chasing the car which came to a halt as the animal closed in. The elephant then knocked the vehicle over as the guide screamed, Hey, hey, hey!

The woman has been identified as Gail Mattson by her family, according to ABC News. Safari operators, Wilderness Destinations, said the elephant unexpectedly charged at the vehicle that was on an excursion with six guests and a guide.

An aggressive bull elephant charged the vehicle carrying six guests and a guide who were on a game drive from Lufupa Camp, the company said in a statement to ABC News.

Our guides are all extremely well trained and experienced, but sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guides route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harms way quickly enough, Wilderness CEO Keith Vincent said.

The group, which was staying at the Lufupa Camp inside the largest game reserve in Africa, had gone out for a photography tour at the time of the attack, the Telegraph reported.

The park dispatched a helicopter to the scene. The woman was airlifted and transferred to a hospital in South Africa after suffering unspecified injuries. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Four other people received treatment for minor injuries.

An investigation has been launched into the incident by local police and Zambias Department of National Parks.

The local authorities and the US embassy in Lusaka are collaborating to repatriate the womans body to her family. African elephants are among the largest land mammals on Earth.
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British billionaire Joe Lewis, whose family trust owns Tottenham Hotspur, is set to be sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to insider trading and conspiracy charges in New York.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had plenty of stern words to say about the 87-year-olds crimes in court papers, but they also agree that his age, medical issues and willingness to come to the U.S. to face criminal charges have earned him leniency that might result in no prison time.

US sentencing guidelines call for Lewis, a citizen of the United Kingdom and resident of the Bahamas, to serve 18 months to two years behind bars.

At his January plea, Lewis admitted that he agreed in 2019 to share secrets about publicly traded companies with several individuals. He told Judge Jessica G.L. Clarke that he was so embarrassed for his conduct. Prosecutors said afterward that his company, Broad Bay Limited, and Lewis would pay $50 million in financial penalties, the largest financial penalty for insider trading in a decade.

Prosecutors wrote in their presentence submission that Lewis deserved leniency because he is elderly and battles significant health issues that would cause a term of imprisonment to be more difficult for him than others.

They cited his acceptance of responsibility that he demonstrated by voluntarily surrendering rather than forcing a drawn-out extradition battle, and said that he'd otherwise lived a law abiding life.

Joe Lewis leaves Manhattan Federal court, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in New York

The government also noted that Lewis is recognized as one of the 500 richest people in the world with approximately $6.2 billion as of February, including homes in several countries, a $250 million yacht, private planes valued at $90 million and an art collection worth $100 million.

Defense attorneys said in their presentence submission that Lewis is nearing the end of life in declining health and that the court's probation office had recommended no prison time, a period of three years probation and a $5 million fine.

They said Lewis, if he received no prison time, will immediately leave the United States knowing that his conviction will mean he can't return to see his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who live in the U.S.

From the start, Lewis was no ordinary defendant. After his arrest less than a year ago, he had been free on $300 million bail after putting up a yacht and private plane as collateral.

In court papers, prosecutors said Lewis learned secrets about public companies after making large investments. They said that on at least four occasions, he tipped off his girlfriend, personal pilots, employees and friends, enabling them to profit from the secrets.

This insider trading was not the result of aberrant, one-time conduct, but rather, a troubling pattern of misconduct over the course of several years, they wrote.

Prosecutors said it was possible that the insider activity resulted from hubris, ego, a desire to make a financial gift without parting with his own money, an irrational form of greed, or some other reason.

But, regardless, it is clear that Lewis believed he was above the law  that he had achieved a level of wealth and stature that relieved him from having to operate by the same rules that apply to everyday investors," prosecutors said.
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The worlds first patient to receive a genetically modified kidney transplant from a pig has been discharged from hospital and is returning home, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery.

Richard Slayman, 62, was relieved from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) on Wednesday in a moment that marks a new beginning, he said in a statement issued by the hospital.

The patient from Weymouth, Massachusetts was battling end-stage kidney disease. He received the kidney transplant in a four-hour-long operation on 16 March.

His discharge is being hailed as a major landmark for medical science after two previous attempts to transplant organs from genetically modified pigs failed.

The kidney transplanted to Mr Slayman is functioning properly, producing urine, removing waste from the blood and maintaining the balance in the bodys fluids, according to doctors at the hospital.

This moment  leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health Ive had in a long time  is one I wished would come for many years, he said in the statement. Now its a reality.

He thanked his physicians, surgeons and nurses for the exceptional care he received, saying that going home was "one of the happiest moments" of his life.

Today marks a new beginning not just for me, but for them as well, Mr Slayman said.

Pig kidney transplant patient Richard Slayman, who was discharged from hospital on Wednesday ( Massachusetts General Hospital )

"Im excited to resume spending time with my family, friends and loved ones free from the burden of dialysis that has affected my quality of life for many years, he added.

The kidney came from a pig that was bred with 69 genetic modifications to make it suitable for human transplantation. It was supplied by eGenesis, a Massachusetts biotechnology company who say they removed "harmful pig genes and added certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans.

Rick Slayman with doctors during discharge ( Massachusetts General Hospital )

Two previous xenotransplantations  meaning animal-to-human transplantations  from pigs have failed and both patients who received hearts died a few weeks later. The immune system of one of the patients had rejected the organ.

Whether Mr Slaymans body rejects the kidney is still yet to be seen, doctors have said.

The breakthrough has raised hopes for over 100,000 Americans who are on waiting lists for a kidney transplant and more than 550,000 Americans who have suffered kidney failure, requiring dialysis.
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US Rep. Raul Grijalva has announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer, but he said he is continuing to work while undergoing treatment.

A few weeks ago, I sought medical treatment for a persistent cough which was initially diagnosed as pneumonia. After further testing and imaging, my physician discovered that I have cancer, the 76-year-old Democrat, who is the dean of Arizona's congressional delegation, said in a statement.

This diagnosis has been difficult to process, but I am confident in the vigorous course of treatment that my medical team has developed, and Ive begun my journey to fight this cancer," Grijalva added.

It is unclear what type of cancer Grijalva has. The congressman's office said no other information was being released at this time.

I am working hard to get healthy and return to business as usual as soon as I am able, said Grijalva, who was first elected to the US House in 2002 and is seeking a 12th term in this year's election.

Ruben Reyes, who works for Grijalva as his Southern Arizona district director, said he didnt think the cancer treatment will affect the congressmans ability to do his job.

The district Grijalva represents spans most of the Arizona-Mexico border and includes sections of Cochise, Maricopa, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties.

My congressional office remains open and the many services we provide for our constituents continue uninterrupted. I am in regular communication with my staff, Grijalva said in his statement. It is a privilege to serve as a Representative for the people of Arizona and take this responsibility very seriously.
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President Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future US policy towards Israel will be determined by whether its government takes action to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza.

The warning came in their first telephone conversation since Israel Defense Force drones fired three missiles into a World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

In a readout of the call, the White House said Mr Biden told the Israeli leader that the strike on aid workers and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza were both unacceptable and made clear to Mr Netanyahu that US policy will hinge on whether his government can announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, the White House said.

The White House also noted that Mr Biden underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians and urged Mr Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay so hostages held by Hamas can be returned home.

Speaking to reporters at the daily White House press briefing, national security communications adviser John Kirby declined to go into detail about any possible future policy decisions, but stressed that the US wants to see some real changes on the Israeli side that go beyond merely making statements about changes.

Its not just about the announcement of concrete steps and changes in their policies, but its the execution of those announcements and those decisions and implementing them as we obviously will watch closely and monitor how they do on the commitments that they make, he said.

Biden told Netanyahu 'urgent ceasefire essential', says Blinken.mp4

If theres no changes to their policy and their approaches, then theres going to have to be changes to ours, he said.

Mr Kirby said its clear that there are things that need to be done by the Israeli government because there are too many civilians being killed and the risk to aid workers is unacceptable, but he stressed that the US will look to see what actions Israel takes before taking any further actions itself.

He also told reporters that the call was very direct, very businesslike, very professional on both sides and said Mr Biden had felt strongly that it was time to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu about his concerns.

The president made clear that absent changes in the protection of civilians on the ground, absent changes to the volume of humanitarian assistance getting in, absent any movement on a ceasefire that will allow hostages to get out and more aid to get in, absent ... a calming down, that he will have to reconsider his own policy choices with respect to Gaza.

The call between the two leaders, their first interaction since the Israeli strike killed seven aid workers, including one American, comes as Mr Biden faces increasing pressure from a growing chorus of voices who are fed up with what they perceive as a callous refusal to rein in Israeli violations of international humanitarian law.

There have been calls for the American president to back a complete ceasefire in Gaza since the first weeks of Israels military response to the 7 October terrorist attacks by Hamas, but those insistent voices were once limited to the leftward flanks of his party and peace activists who could be dismissed as cranks by the experienced foreign policy hands in the Biden administration and ignored by most Democrats in Congress.

But as Israel has continued to carry out operations in protected facilities such as hospitals and has appeared to repeatedly target aid workers even as civilian protesters have blocked food deliveries from entering Gaza, the calls for Mr Biden to make full use of Americas leverage against its longtime ally have grown to encompass a diverse cross-section of the Democratic base, including prominent Jewish lawmakers such as Vermonts Senator Bernie Sanders.

Mr Bidens warning to Mr Netanyahu comes just days after he issued a statement saying he was outraged and heartbroken over the strike on the World Central Kitchen workers.

The statement, made public late on Tuesday, contained what might be the strongest criticism of Israel expressed over his half-century in public life.

In it, Mr Biden said incidents like the strike on the convoy by Israeli Defence Forces should not happen and said Israel has not done enough to protect civilians or aid workers during the six-month-old war against Hamas.

This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult  because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians, he said.

For his part, Mr Kirby denied that the presidents warning to Mr Netanyahu meant any change in what he described as Americas ironclad support for Israeli self-defence. Instead, he stressed to reporters that it reflects changes to the humanitarian situation after half a year of war.

Were talking about a conflict here, which is dang near at six months here this weekend ... and it has changed over time, he said. The presidents message today was we need to see some changes in the way Israel is dealing with that threat.

The threat that Mr Biden could end his administrations policy of backing Israel without conditions in its conflict with Hamas could, if carried out, be a first step towards healing a political wound that has imperiled his re-election bid.

His refusal to more loudly call for a ceasefire or criticise Israels handling of the war has started to cost him support from Arab-American and other pro-ceasefire voters who, if they stay home on Election Day, could deny him enough votes in key states such as Michigan to allow former president Donald Trump  Mr Bidens presumed Republican opponent  to return to the White House next year.

White House officials and staffers with Mr Bidens 2024 campaign have at times had to closely guard the locations of his public appearances because his speeches have routinely been interrupted by protesters. And Arab-American and Muslim leaders who backed him against Mr Trump in 2020 have soured on him as the civilian death toll in Gaza has continued to grow.

Though he has continued to be steadfast in his support for Israel and has sought to draw distinctions between the Israeli state and the Likud-led Israeli government, in the wake of the attack on the World Central Kitchen aid workers Mr Biden has reportedly been angry and increasingly frustrated with Mr Netanyahu, and according to a source who spoke to CNN ahead of the call, the president was ready to express those frustrations with his Israeli counterpart.

Yet even as Mr Bidens aides have privately communicated to reporters that his patience with Mr Netanyahu may be running thin, administration officials have  until now  steadfastly refused to even entertain the possibility of conditioning aid to Israel on whether aid to Palestinians can get into the war zone and aid workers can do their work unmolested by Israeli fire.

Under questioning from The Independent earlier this week, Mr Kirby stressed that the administration would continue to make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself and declined to say whether Mr Biden had considered putting any conditions on future military aid to Israel.

No country should have to live next door to a threat that is truly genocidal as Hamas has been, Mr Kirby said on Wednesday. So, while we make no bones about the fact that we have certain issues about some of the way things are being done, we also make no bones about the fact that Israel is going to continue to have American support for the fight that theyre in to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

Mr Kirby and other top officials have also dismissed questions over whether Israel is in compliance with a US statute known as the Leahy Law, which bars American military aid from going to countries known to commit gross violations of human rights.

The author of that legislation, former Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, was asked by The Independent last month if US support for Israels military complies with that law.

He replied: No. Is that succinct enough for you?

Continuing, he said the number of civilians who are being injured or killed by US paid armaments indicated a clear violation of the law.

But multiple former US officials whove spoken to The Independent in recent days say Mr Biden is unlikely to change his mind about supporting Israel militarily. They also warn that the presidents decades-long and deeply held personal connection to Israel, however sincere, has had the effect of rendering US laws and regulations concerning US arms sales essentially toothless.

Theres no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional, said Brian Finucane, who worked for a decade in the office of the legal adviser at the State Department advising on arms transfers and the laws of war.

That means they dont want to hear inconvenient legal conclusions, he said.

Mr Finucane also told The Independent that senior administration officials he had spoken to had been met with a shrug by the US intelligence community when they quizzed them about mass civilian casualty incidents caused by Israeli bombing, because its no ones job in the US intelligence community, apparently, to actually investigate these things.

Charles Blaha, former director of the State Departments Office of Security and Human Rights, which regulates weapons transfers, said investigations into breaches of humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict  if they are taking place at all  are likely not being taken seriously.

My sense is that people get patted on the head and say, this is all very interesting, But I think the president is the decider here, he said.

But the sheer horror of the Israeli attack on the aid workers may end up forcing Mr Bidens hand due to the high-profile nature of the killings as well as WCK founder Jose Andres personal connection to the president, with whom he spoke on Tuesday.

Russell Honore, a retired US Army Lieutenant General who oversaw multiple high-profile humanitarian operations during his decades-long career, told The Independent in a phone interview that the US must demand more accountability from Israel in the wake of the airstrike on the World Central Kitchen aid workers.

He explained that the investigation Israels government has pledged to undertake into the strike must shed light on the intelligence used to plan the strike,

What was that intelligence they were using that told them that this was a potential Hamas target, as opposed to what had been coordinated through World Central Kitchen? Whatever that coordination cell is, was it done locally? Or was it done at a central command centre in Tel Aviv  or a regional command centre? Thats the question thats got to be answered. And then some commander has got to stand up and say: My team did it, because it takes a commander to say shoot,  he said.

Thats the level of accountability we got to have. And thats the answer they owe the world, and theyre not gonna be able to bulls*** their way out of this.

Gen Honore also said it appears to him as if the Israel Defense Forces are operating with attitude of revenge after the shock of the 7 October attacks, particularly in light of how Israeli army units were not on station along the Gaza border because of Mr Netanyahus priorities.

They didnt listen to their own intelligence and they were totally embarrassed by what happened on October 7. Weve seen the reports that they were told that they were planning to get attacked, and then disregarded the intelligence in that case, and they were focused on the West Bank doing some political s*** behind what Netanyahu wanted them to do. That army was not focused on Hamas, and theyve been in a fit of revenge since, bottom up, he said.

He added that if the US were enforcing the Leahy Law fairly, Israel would have already been barred from receiving US defence aid, and said Mr Biden needs to communicate to Mr Netanyahu that he is ready to enforce that law in the wake of what Mr Andres called an intentional attack on his aid workers.

If its intentional, and you are causing atrocities, then thats a violation of the Leahy Law, which means we cant sell you weapons. And we need to f***ing remind them of that, he said. You lost 1,400 on the seventh of October, but it does not give you impunity to shoot whoever the f*** you want, when you want.
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First Lady Dr Jill Biden is reportedly one of the strongest voices calling for the end of civilian deaths in Gaza in the White House and has been urging her husband, President Joe Biden, to help cease the violence.

Earlier this week, Mr Biden met with Muslim community members  something the first lady allegedly said she disapproved of because of Mr Bidens support of Israel in the conflict with Hamas, according to a New York Times report.

One meeting attendee, Salima Suswell, the founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, said that Mr Biden recounted that Dr Biden had been urging him to, stop it, stop it now.

The first ladys plea comes as human rights organisations warn world leaders that innocent Palestinians are facing threats of starvation and disease with little access to humanitarian aid. Just this week, seven World Central Kitchen workers who were delivering food to civilians in Gaza were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

White House officials told The New York Times on Wednesday that Mr Biden shares the same outrage and concern for civilians in Gaza as Dr Biden.

Jill Biden speaks during a reception honouring Womens History Month on 18 March 2024 ( AFP via Getty )

As the war in Gaza wages on, more Democrats have pressed Mr Biden to do more to increase humanitarian aid and end the war.

Lawmakers in the US have become less willing to support legislation that backs Israel without stipulations that require countries who receive US military assistance to comply with international law.

Mr Biden was a fervent supporter of Israel in the days after the 7 October attack, sending military assistance in its fight against Hamas. But in recent months, his support has become quieter as the conflict becomes bloodier and more innocent Palestinians are killed.

Following the killing of the seven World Central Kitchen workers, Mr Biden launched his harshest critique of Israel, saying they have not done enough to avoid attacks on innocent lives.

Even voters have expressed opposition to Mr Bidens position on the war in Gaza by refusing to cast primary ballots in his favour, instead leaving them blank.

Dr Biden urging Mr Biden is apparently tied to her long-held disfavour of American involvement in international conflicts. This is, in part, due to Beau Bidens service in the Delaware Army National Guard in 2003, which led him to serving in Iraq in 2008.

The first lady supported the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Mr Biden is set to speak with Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday.
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Investigations into potential Israeli war crimes and violations of international law are being undermined by President Joe Bidens insistence on providing his close ally with billions of dollars in unconditional military support, several former State Department and Pentagon officials told The Independent.

Speaking out after the killing of seven international aid workers by Israel in Gaza, among them an American citizen, one former Pentagon attorney said that any US investigations into Israels actions were perfunctory and performative due to pressure from the White House.

The former officials say the presidents decades-long and deeply held personal connection to Israel renders US laws and regulations concerning US arms sales essentially toothless.

Theres no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional, said Brian Finucane, who worked for a decade in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the State Department advising on arms transfers and the laws of war.

That means they dont want to hear inconvenient legal conclusions, he told The Independent.

Mr Finucane said senior administration officials he had spoken to had been met with a shrug by the US intelligence community when they quizzed them about mass civilian casualty incidents caused by Israeli bombing, because its no ones job in the US intelligence community, apparently, to actually investigate these things.

It flows directly from Oval Office, as a function of Biden's long-held views on Israel, he added.

His assessment was corroborated by two former State Department officials and a former Pentagon attorney  all of whom worked on the issue of US arms transfers  in interviews with The Independent.

Charles Blaha, former director of the State Departments Office of Security and Human Rights, which regulates weapons transfers, said investigations into breaches of humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict  if they are taking place at all  are likely not being taken seriously.

My sense is that people get patted on the head and say, this is all very interesting, But I think the president is the decider here, he said.

President Biden is under increasing pressure from within his own party and from international allies over his refusal to consider suspending arms sales to Israel. The war in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, since October.

The US provides some $4bn in military support each year to Israel and is weighing sending another $18bn more imminently. But the president has stubbornly refused to consider such a measure despite a steady stream of atrocities being broadcast to the world.

This combination of photos provided by World Central Kitchen/WCK.org, shows seven aid workers who were killed in Gaza Monday, April 1, 2024 ( AP )

The killing of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK)  a non-profit humanitarian aid organisation founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres  by three precision strikes from an Israeli drone made with British components, drew swift condemnation from the president, who said he was outraged and heartbroken over the deaths.

The workers had been returning from delivering food aid to northern Gaza, which is on the brink of famine, when the drone struck their three vehicles, which were clearly marked with the WCK logo.

Among the victims was Jacob Flickinger , 33, a US-Canadian dual citizen. That strike pushed the death toll for aid workers in the conflict to over 200 .

On Wednesday, just one day after the killings, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tersely rejected the notion that the US should reconsider sending weapons to Israel while it is potentially breaching international humanitarian law.

The State Department continues to review incidents as they arise, he said, emphasising that they havent found an incident yet that has pointed to a violation of international humanitarian law.

But the former officials described such reviews and investigations by the US government into those incidents as fatally flawed due to the presidents own policy.

Civil society and the media can keep pointing out that Israel is violating the law or that its conduct of operations requires certain actions by the US government to cut assistance; but at the end of the day, whats driving the entire process is the ideological and political perspective of the president, Sarah Harrison, a former Pentagon attorney in the Office of General Counsel between 2017 and 2021, serving the Secretary of Defense, told The Independent.

Often, those investigations are intentionally mired in bureaucracy because those charged with reviewing the incidents are aware of the presidents commitment to providing unconditional support for Israel, she added.

The delays concerning the assessments are on purpose, Ms Harrison said. They are the result of prioritising administration policy objectives, which are to not ever say Israel commits violations and to not cut off assistance to Israel. Those goals are coming directly from the president. We know from speaking to US officials that this is President Bidens ideology and, if theyre even trying, nobody is able to change his mind.

Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in October 2023 ( AFP via Getty Images )

Mr Finucane, who advised on the legality of arms transfers during his time at the State Department, tells The Independent that potential war crimes by Israel are not really looked at.

[John] Kirby is clearly overstating the extent to which theres any process to examine how Israel is conducting hostilities and how those using US weapons in Gaza, he said.

Ms Harrison said that there was a culture within the various processes for investigation, as a result of the presidents policy, that silences dissent on the issue.

The culture that permeates to the bottom of the bureaucracy is one in which the US does not criticise Israel or ever acknowledge that its committing violations of international law, she said.

The Biden administrations refusal to consider halting arms sales to Israel was having a devastating effect on State Department staff, says Mr Blaha.

I was in the State Department for 32 years, including during the Iraq War. I have never seen this much unhappiness in the State Department, he said. It was even worse than Iraq. So yeah, people are concerned.

Josh Paul, who resigned in October as director of the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in protest of the Biden administrations unconditional military support to Israel, describes his former department as being on autopilot.

War in Gaza ( Associated Press )

It continues to approve transfers to Israel on a daily basis, he said. And no one at the lower level is willing to stick their head above the parapet for as long as the direction from the top remains to move forward.

Mr Paul noted that previous US presidents, from Ronald Reagen to George W. Bush, had threatened to suspend aid to Israel to achieve US policy objectives, but Mr Biden has remained steadfast in his commitment to leave conditions off the table.

There's been essentially some atrophying of the muscles that we used to use in this space, because it's been so long since anyone tried to apply leverage in this way and conditionality. But you know, that can be relearned. This is all a question of political will, he said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent for this story.

However, Mr Kirby, the White House spokesperson, made clear on Wednesday morning that the Biden administration would continue supporting Israel despite the international uproar.

We make no bones about the fact that we have certain issues about some of the way things are being done, he said. We also make no bones about the fact that Israel is going to continue to have American support for the fight that they are in to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

In fact, the Biden administration authorised the transfer of over 1,000 500-pound bombs and over 1,000 small-diameter bombs to Israel on Monday, shortly before the strike on the aid workers.
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A sizable list of US academics is urging President Joe Biden to take a firmer stance against Iran and come out in support of democratic resistance aimed at overthrowing the countrys autocratic government in response to the chaos enveloping much of the Middle East after 7 October.

The date, which marked a deadly attack by Hamas militants against civilian and military targets in Israel, has also come to signify the beginning of a new era for the Middle East which has been thrown into disarray by the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip. Violence stemming from the conflict has already spread to nearby Jordan and Lebanon, while in the Red Sea militants linked to Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked merchant ships bound for Israel and other vessels including US warships.

Several of the militant groups on the edge of being drawn into the fighting including the Houthis and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon are thought to be supported tactically and financially by Tehran, a factor the US once tried to mitigate through the now-abandoned 2015 nuclear accord. Now, with little cooperation between the US and Iran to speak of, many groups backed by Iran remain in a sort of soft conflict with the West.

This week, a group of US academics including some with Iranian-American backgrounds re-issued a letter to the US president urging him to formally support democratic resistance movements within Iran and cease efforts to appease the regime in Tehran through diplomatic means. Some Iran hawks with allies in the former Trump administration have pushed for such a policy to be the official course pursued by the US for years, arguing that Washington should follow a path of maximum pressure including sanctions against the Iranian government and support for popular movements holding the stated goal of overthrowing it.

Originally put together over 2022-2023, the letter was re-issued to the president this week with a larger number of signatories (more than 4,400) in response to the carnage that has developed over the region since October. More than 30,000 people have died just in Gaza, the majority as a result of Israeli strikes, since the initial Hamas attack.

Those same groups, including the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), state their opposition to direct US involvement in regime change.

The Middle East is at an inflection point. Unfortunately, the current policies are only obstacles to the noble cause of the people of Iran. At this critical juncture, the United States must instead choose to stand with them and adopt an unyielding policy of firmness and decisiveness against the mullahs, the letter to the president reads.

We assert that the real power to sever the heads of the snake in Tehran and bring about a just peace to the Middle East lies with the Iranian people, it continues.

It would be a risky course for the US and the State Department, which remains stung by the failure under Barack Obama of the Syrian democratic resistance forces to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, the authoritarian leader of that country who remains in power after a bloody civil war tore apart his country and being accused of war crimes at the international level.

My colleagues and I from across the United States are advocating for a decisive stance on Tehrans regime. To date, US policies have not achieved a peaceful and prosperous Middle East. The time for a change in policy towards Iran, addressing the head of the snake in Tehran, is long overdue, Kazem Kazerounian, the dean of the school of engineering at the University of Connecticut who spearheaded the recent effort, told The Independent.

The US public also remains heavily sceptical of any sustained military involvement in the Middle East following the controversial and messy withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, which came as the country was retaken by Taliban forces after two decades of fighting. Many Americans question whether a more direct approach against Iran would inevitably draw the US into a military conflict.

In the months before Hamass deadly attack last fall, US officials were thought to be continuing informal talks with representatives of Irans government around the issues of Tehrans nuclear programme and support of militant groups. However, State Department officials have acknowledged that there remains little political will to resume any kind of formal negotiations amid the renewed conflict in the region.
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A judge in disgraced former New York City Mayor Rudy Giulianis bankruptcy case has not yet granted his creditors the ability to force him to sell his Palm Beach, Florida condo.

Mr Giuliani is in bankruptcy court after voluntarily filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December following a judge ordering him to pay a colossal penalty of $148m for defaming two Georgia election workers: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Now, his creditors are trying to figure out how to get the funds they are owed.

At a 4 April hearing in bankruptcy court, Judge Sean Lane heard arguments from lawyers for Mr Giuliani and the Committee of Unsecured Creditors after the committee filed a motion last month to compel the former mayor to sell his Florida condo.

The judge did not rule on this motion on Thursday.

Lawyers for the committee said they filed the motion because the committee is concerned about the debtors intentions, given his spending habits. One of the committees lawyers, Rachel Biblo Block, said Mr Giuliani spent $120,000 in January alone  roughly $30,000 of which was spent on maintenance for the condo.

Ms Block added that the committee is unable to determine if these fees are an anomaly or typical because the February spending report hasnt been filed.

The committees team also pointed out that Mr Giulianis argument relied on the pending Freeman judgment; Mr Giulianis lawyers believe the amount could be reduced upon appeal.

In order for the Freeman judgment to become a non-player here, the judgment would have to be reduced by over 95 per cent, Ms Block said. But even then the numbers still dont work and you have to sell the Florida condo.

So, its unlikely that the judgment is going away, she told the court. We dont see a scenario where the debtor will be able to possess the Florida condo at the end of the Chapter 11 case.

Gary Fischoff, a lawyer for the former mayor, argued, There is no statutory authority for the committees motion to compel the debtor to sell this property.

He said the presumption by many in the case that the debtor owes $150m and thats not going to change, referring to the Freeman judgment.

I dont see why the debtor cant be given the opportunity to propose a plan that deals with a much smaller universe of debt, and retains the Florida residence to live there at that time, Mr Fischoff added. He added that Mr Giuliani plans to leave Manhattan and relocate to Florida.

The judge then asked Mr Giulianis lawyers, Would it be a Pyrrhic victory for your client if the motion is denied? And it simply forces the committee then to ramp up other alternatives, which are more draconian than simply marketing the Florida property?

Mr Fischoff responded, Hopefully, in a short period of time, [the committee] can get a true picture of the debtors finances, adding that his client will comply with the discovery requests from the committee.

He told the court that there seem to be a lot of questions, and in turn suspicion. To quell those, Mr Fischoff said that they are planning on holding an examination of Mr Giuliani later this month which may remove some of those suspicions and some of those questions.

The hearing highlighted some discrepancies over Mr Giulianis finances, including the maintenance fees for the Florida condo.

For example, Ms Block said that court filings suggest he put $160,000 into just the Florida condo. However, the ex-mayors filings claimed that he pays roughly $8,400 per month on maintenance and real estate taxes.

Are the [payments] $8,416 or are they something more? she asked the court. We cant find any calculation in the amount of a sense that would add up to that sum.

The numbers are all over the place, Judge Lane said, adding that the debtor needs to provide more financial information.

While the judge conceded that because Mr Giuliani is paying for the condo maintenance with non-exempt funds and that is of significant and legitimate concern to the committee, he said he wouldnt be making a ruling on the motion to force the sale of his Palm Beach property on Thursday.

He encouraged the lawyers to have a meaningful conversation about practical solutions going forward.

Judge Lane explained that it is a challenging legal position to say that the committee, however right minded and legitimately concerned, to compel a debtor in possession to sell a property. But the committee has other options. He interpreted this motion as a warning shot across the bow.

Although Mr Giuliani can succeed in fending off this motion, he could be faced with far more draconian requests for relief by the committee in the future.

The Independent previously reported that the committee is discussing the possiblity of suing Mr Giulianis former client and close friend Donald Trump for $2m in alleged unpaid legal fees.

On Thursday, the judge granted three uncontested motions, including discovery requests into Mr Giulianis personal and business finances.

The next status conference will be held on 14 May.
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A Tennessee court is hearing arguments today calling for a temporary block of the states abortion ban  months after a request filed by seven women who were denied abortions and two doctors who have been unable to perform the procedure.

A three-judge panel began hearing oral arguments on the morning of 4 April in Blackmon v. State of Tennessee after lawyers from the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the plaintiffs, filed a motion on 8 January requesting a temporary injunction on the states near-total abortion ban.

Attorneys have asked for clarity on the medical exceptions to the ban, referring to seven women who were denied necessary and potentially life-saving medical care because doctors are hamstrung by the laws vague language.

The ban, the group wrote, is preventing pregnant women across Tennessee from receiving medically necessary abortion care, resulting in an ongoing public health crisis. The ban also violates the states constitution, the lawyers claimed.

The attorneys slammed the laws ambiguity when it comes to medical exceptions to the abortion ban  not only for patients but for doctors too. The bans harsh penalties have chilled physicians from performing most medically necessary abortions, they wrote.

A declaratory judgment is necessary to give physicians the clarity they need to provide medically necessary abortion care to their patients without fear of imprisonment and loss of their medical licenses, the filing states.

The ban has been in effect since August 2022  just two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

Meanwhile, the state is trying to dismiss the case.

Thursdays hearing is just one step in a lengthy process to stop the states abortion ban.

Nicole Blackmon is among plaintiffs suing Tennessee over its abortion bans exceptions for medical emergencies after she was denied life-saving abortion care in the state ( Splahs Cinema )

The nine plaintiffs  Nicole Blackmon, Allie Phillips, Katy Dulong, Monica Kelly, Kathryn Archer, Rebecca Milner, and Rachel Fulton and doctors Heather Maune and Laura Andreson  are seeking a permanent block on the states abortion ban.

They are suing the state of Tennessee and a host of prominent officials and agencies, including Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners.

Ms Blackmon, the lead plaintiff in the case, realised she was pregnant in July 2022, the court filing states. She suffered from serious ongoing health issues, but had to stop taking her medication to avoid harming the foetus.

Despite taking this precaution, Ms Blackmon learned just 15 weeks into her pregnancy that it had a lethal diagnosis.

Ms Blackmon didnt have the resources to leave her home state to get an abortion, so she was forced to continue her pregnancy despite the grave risks it posed to her health  including showing warning signs of preeclampsia, a dangerous condition that can lead to a stroke.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Ms Blackmon gave birth to a stillborn baby.

Another plaintiff, Ms Phillips, decided to run for office  as a Democrat in House District 75  after being denied an abortion in February.

This is something new for me, she told the Nashville Post at the time. Given my story and the outreach Ive had with it, it seemed like a no-brainer to take this and open new doors. I can scream online all day, but in order to make a change I need to actually be in a position to make that change.

Tennessee is one of more than 20 states to have enacted abortion bans.
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The judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump has denied his motion to dismiss the case based on the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which the former president claims gives him the authority to retain papers containing national security information.

In a Thursday afternoon filing, District Court Judge Aileen Cannon denied Mr Trumps request to dismiss the case saying the counts in the indictment made, no reference to the Presidential Records Act and that it does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss.

The PRA, a 1978 law, requires presidents to return official records, notes and documents to the government upon leaving office but allows them to keep personal ones.

The former president has often invoked the PRA in declaring his innocence in the case, claiming he made documents, even those containing national security information, personal when he took them to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House in 2021.

Federal prosecutors have pushed back on the argument, claiming it is the wrong interpretation of the PRA.

Last month, it seemed Judge Cannon was willing to accept the PRA as a valid defence when she filed proposed jury instructions to each side, asking them to embrace parts of Mr Trumps PRA argument.

Special Counsel Jack Smith responded to her filing earlier this week with frustration, calling her pursuit of the legal premise wrong.

US district judge Aileen Cannon ( Southern District of Florida/Wikimedia Commons )

But in the final paragraph of Thursdays three-page filing, Judge Cannon also denied Mr Smiths request for finalised jury instruction and defended her proposed jury instruction form.

Mirroring the federal prosecutors tone, Judge Cannon called Mr Smiths request unprecedented and unjust.

She added that her proposed jury instruction should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition of any essential element or asserted defense in this case and was only a genuine attempt to better understand the parties competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury.

Mr Trump or Mr Smith can appeal Judge Cannons decision.

Judge Cannon, who was appointed to the district court by Mr Trump in 2020, is presiding over the governments case against Mr Trump and two co-defendants who are accused of willfully retaining documents, some containing national security information, and concealing them from the federal government.

The trial was initially slated to begin in May but that start date has been pushed back to an undetermined time. Mr Trump has asked for the trial to begin after the election while federal prosecutors requested it start this summer.
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Documents for Donald Trumps $175m bond in his New York civil fraud case were rejected and returned for correction to the former president due to missing financial information.

A docket appeared on the New York County Supreme Court website on Wednesday, detailing that a Bond/Undertaking had been returned for correction.

The court said that the reason for the rejection was that some of the documentation filed on behalf of the Republican presidential candidate failed to include a current financial statement, power of attorney or list an attorney-in-fact.

The blunder was first spotted by New York attorney Jeffrey K Levine, who posted a screenshot of the courts explanation for the rejection, which read: The court has returned the documents listed below for the following reasons: Please include a current financial statement and Power of Attorney.

Additionally, please list the name of the Attorney-in-Fact under the signature line on the Undertaking. Please use the Refile Document link for Doc. No. 1707 to resubmit the corrected filing. Thank you and have a great day.

Mr Levine added a comment of his own: 175 million reasons why 1 mistake should not have been made, much less 3!

On Thursday, Mr Trump resubmitted the documents with the proper information in order for his bond to be accepted.

While there was speculation that it would include some of the former presidents financial records, the missing information actually related to Knight Speciality Insurance Co, which is underwriting the bond, as first noted by MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin.

The former president posted his $175m bond this week after he was handed an extraordinary lifeline by a New York appeals court, enabling him to pay only a portion of the total $464m judgment against him as bond and granting him a 10-day extension to the original deadline in which to do it.

That came after Judge Arthur Engoron concluded a three-month trial on 16 February by ruling that Mr Trump was liable for a decade-long scheme that saw the value of Trump Organization assets routinely inflated in order to obtain favourable loans from banks and insurers. The former president was ordered to pay $354m in fines and a further $110m plus in interest within 30 days.

As the interest ticked ever-upwards at 9 per cent or $120,000 a day, the exact total he owed by the time the original deadline day of 25 March arrived was closer to $468.1m, with Mr Trumps lawyers complaining in the interim that he had been unable to find a surety company willing to stump up the cash  after approaching more than 30  given the sheer scale of the money involved.

After the panel of New York Appellate Division judges intervened to offer the candidate a major concession, he was finally able to raise the money for his bond with the help of Californias Knight Specialty Insurance Company.

The companys owner Don Hankey is a prolific Republican donor whose Axos Bank has refinanced several property loans for Mr Trump in recent years.

What the $175m bond really buys the candidate is time  several months in fact, as his appeal against the fraud judgement will not take place until September at the earliest, when the courts autumn term commences.

That, however, does bring the matter uncomfortably close to Election Day on 5 November  a period when many of the candidates other legal entanglements likewise threaten to come to a head.

In addition to running for the presidency, Mr Trump is also battling four criminal cases in Washington DC, New York, Georgia and Florida, chewing up an estimated $230,000 per day in legal expenses and struggling to fund time to accommodate both court dates and campaign commitments, a problem that could become ever-more convoluted as the year progresses.
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This week was Donald Trumps second week on criminal trial  the first of courtroom testimony  and it was certainly eventful.

Jurors heard from the prosecutions first witnesses in the case including lengthy testimony from tabloid mogul David Pecker, who outlined the catch and kill scheme at the heart of the hush money case.

The former president faced calls for $10,000 fines over gag order violations over his continued attacks on witnesses.

And Americans heard Mr Trump both fume about the landmark trial and use it as a campaign platform on Truth Social and in the courthouse corridors.

Mr Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, in order to stop her coming forward with allegations of a 2006 affair.

Here are the key takeaways from the week:

Day one

Prosecutors lay out criminal conspiracy and cover-up

During opening statements on Monday, prosecutors were direct in laying out the heart of the case, with Manhattan Assistant District Attorney

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo speaks during a hearing ( REUTERS )

telling jurors it was about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up.

The defendant Donald Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. Then he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his business records, over and over and over again, Mr Colangelo continued.

The prosecutor then laid out the catch-and-kill scheme, arranged between Mr Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen and Mr Pecker to block negative press about Mr Trump.

Mr Colangelo told the jury that while no politician wants bad press, evidence will show this was a planned, coordinated, long-running conspiracy. It was election fraud. Pure and simple, he said.

Defence tries to humanise Trump

In the defences opening statement, lead attorney Todd Blanche tried to humanise Mr Trump  while still vowing to refer to him as President Trump.

This is a title he has earned, Mr Blanche said.

But hes not just the former president, the defence attorney continued. Hes not just Donald Trump that youve seen on TV or read about or seen photos of. Hes also a man, hes a husband, hes a father. And just like me, said Mr Blanche.

Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court and delivers remarks to the media ( AP )

President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan District Attorneys office should have never brought this case.

Mr Blanche also tried to discredit the prosecutions star witness in the case, Michael Cohen, stressing his 2018 guilty plea for lying to Congress and that he had been found liable for perjury in the past.

On top of this, Mr Blanche argued that Cohen is obsessed with Mr Trump.

Cohens financial livelihood depends on President Trumps destruction, according to Mr Blanche. He cannot be trusted.

Day two

Potential gag order violations

Judge Juan Merchan held an hour-long hearing around potential gag order violations.

Prosecutors accused Mr Trump of violating the gag order, which bars him from making public statements about potential witnesses, court staff and the families of the judge and DA, on at least 10 different occasions.

Defence attorney Todd Blanche meanwhile argued that Mr Trumps posts were responding to political attacks. However, he failed to provide any example of what Mr Trump was responding to, leading to a scolding from the judge.

You presented nothing, a frustrated Judge Merchan said. Youre losing all credibility, Ill tell you that right now.

The judge also warned Mr Trump directly against intimidating jurors in his courtroom.

The judge has yet to make a ruling on the alleged gag order breaches. Prosecutors suggested imposing a $10,000 fine against Mr Trump and ordering him to remove the offending posts, noting they have not yet asked for jail time.

The threat of penalty hasnt deterred Mr Trump from continuing to rant about the case on Truth Social and to reporters as he enters and exits the courtroom.

A behind-the-scenes look at tabloid journalism

In his testimony, Mr Pecker provided a peek behind the curtain on what was happening at some of his tabloids.

Mr Pecker described a mutually beneficial scheme to keep the National Enquirer jam-packed with stories boosting Mr Trumps 2016 election odds while ensuring negative stories never saw the light of day.

As part of the arrangement, Mr Pecker would notify Cohen of any unflattering stories about the candidate  particularly those involving women. Since Mr Trump was well-known as the most eligible bachelor, dating the most beautiful women, and it was clear based on my past experiences that when someone is running for office like this, it is very common for these women to call up a magazine like the National Enquirer to try and sell their stories, the former publisher testified.

Writing positive stories about Mr Trump and negative stories about his opponents would help him and it would help me, Mr Pecker explained  as it would help him sell his tabloids.

Jurors were shown a number of positive National Enquirer headlines and covers about Mr Trump, like DONALD TRUMP: HEALTHIEST INDIVIDUAL EVER ELECTED! They were also shown negative ones about his 2016 GOP primary opponents, like DONALD TRUMP BLASTS TED CRUZS DAD FOR PHOTO WITH JFK ASSASSIN.

Pecker is questioned by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass ( REUTERS )

Doormans story about a love child

Jurors heard how the scheme was first put into practice after a former Trump World Tower doorman, Dino Sajudin, claimed that the then-2016 candidate had a love child with a maid working at Trump Tower.

Mr Pecker testified that Dylan Howard, then editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, told him that Dino was in the market for selling a story and so he called Cohen to tell him. Cohen told Mr Pecker it was absolutely not true but that he would look into it, he testified.

I asked Dylan to negotiate a price, negotiate a number, to buy the story and take it off the market, he said.

Mr Pecker told the court they agreed upon $30,000 for the story and Cohen told him that the boss was very pleased, referring to Mr Trump.

I thought it was very important that Dino wouldnt be shopping the story to other media outlets, he told the court.

However, he then revealed his more selfish motivation for the transaction  if he could have verified the story, he would have published it. It would probably be the biggest sale of the National Enquirer since the death of Elvis Presley, Mr Pecker said.

Day three

How Playboy model affair story unfolded

During the third day of testimony, Mr Pecker shed light on how he came across former Playboy model Karen McDougals story  that she had a 10-month affair with Mr Trump in 2006, one year after he had married Melania.

Mr Howard had interviewed Ms McDougal, learning of the alleged affair and how Mr Trump apparently called her a 12 out of 10, Mr Pecker told the court.

Although Mr Howard warned there was no corroborating evidence, Mr Pecker said he believed the story to be true. He testified that he initially offered the former model $10,000 to buy the story but she turned it down.

Mr Howard later told Mr Pecker that ABC was interested in buying Ms McDougals story, but that I knew from my experience that ABC doesnt buy stories.

Mr Howard had concluded that Ms McDougal didnt want the story to be published. She said she didnt want to be the next Monica Lewinsky, Mr Pecker added.

The boss will take care of it

During testimony about buying the rights to these stories, Mr Pecker told the court about his interactions with Mr Trump on the matters  directly linking the criminal defendant to the arrangements.

Cohen had given Mr Pecker the green light to pay the former Playboy model $150,000 for the rights to her story, Mr Pecker told the court.

Dont worry about it. Im your friend. The boss will take care of it, Mr Pecker recalled Cohen telling him, inferring that the boss meant Mr Trump.

Mr Pecker recalled another occasion after he had won the 2016 election, when Mr Trump asked him: Hows our girl? referring to Ms McDougal. Mr Trump also thanked him for handling the McDougal story and the doorman situation, he told the court.

He said the stories would be very embarrassing  to him, his family and the campaign, Mr Pecker testified.

Mr Trump even invited the former tabloid boss to a thank you dinner at the White House to show his gratitude for killing damaging stories, Mr Pecker testified  testimony that shone a light on how the former president used his position in the White House to manage blowback from the scheme.

An unhappy-looking Trump appears in criminal court ( EPA )

Trump was very upset when McDougal affair story leaked

Despite the substantial efforts to block other outlets from getting access to Ms McDougals story, it did eventually become public  and, according to Mr Pecker, this made Mr Trump very upset.

The Wall Street Journal published an article just days before Election Day in 2016, unleashing the blockbuster story.

Mr Pecker recalled Mr Trump phoning him, very upset, saying, How could this happen? I thought you had this under control.

Mr Pecker testified that AMIs deal with Ms McDougal was for the lifetime rights to her story. Mr Pecker recalled then telling Cohen that the deal was off after his conversations with counsel about the transaction. He was very, very angry, very upset, screaming basically at me, Mr Pecker said. He recalled Cohen saying: The boss will be very angry with you.

To this day, the publisher has never been reimbursed, Mr Pecker said on the stand.

Celebrities dragged into the case

During the former AMI chiefs testimony, several celebrities and high-profile figures were dragged into the case, including Rahm Emanuel, Mark Wahlberg and Tiger Woods.

But one person in particular set the stage for Mr Peckers wariness to conceal politically-linked stories: The Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr Pecker said he had struck up an arrangement with the actor to conceal compromising stories about him when he was campaigning to become governor of California  long before the publishers dealings with Mr Trump.

Mr Pecker recalled Schwarzenegger saying: I plan on running for governor and I would like you to not publish any negative stories about me now and in the future, and Ill continue being the editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex and be a spokesperson. Mr Pecker said he agreed to the arrangement.

When the actor announced his gubernatorial bid, a number of women called up the National Enquirer with stories to sell on different relationships, or contacts, or sexual harassment that they felt that Arnold Schwarzenegger did, the former publisher testified. Mr Pecker outlined the agreement: I would call him and advise [Schwarzenegger] of other stories that were out there and I wouldbuy them for a period of time.

This experience made me sensitive about buying any stories in the future. Thats how I became sensitive about this topic, Mr Pecker told the court.

None of the celebrities are accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

First mention of Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels name cropped up in Mr Peckers testimony for the first time on Thursday when he told the court that Cohen had come to him asking for his help to get Mr Trump to pay him his bonus.

I understood he was complaining that he had not been repaid, Mr Pecker said.

Michael Cohen had paid Stormy Daniels out of his own funds, which is the first time that I had heard of that. I wasnt involved in that transaction, the former publisher testified.

Stormy Daniels, speaks outside US Federal Court with her lawyer Michael Avenatti in 2018 ( AFP via Getty Images )

So Mr Pecker approached Mr Trump, telling him: Michael Cohen is very concerned about this bonus this year and I want you to know hes very loyal, hes been working very hard from my perspective, I believe hed throw himself in front of a bus for you.

The former publisher recalled Mr Trump saying: I dont know what youre talking about. Michael Cohen has multiple apartments in my buildings.  He owns 15 taxi medallions.

Mr Pecker testified Mr Trump then added: Dont worry about it. Ill take care of it.

Day four

Two sides spar over whether Trump deserves title of president

Early in the day on Friday, the two sides briefly sparred over whether or not Mr Trump deserves to go by the title of president during his trial.

The moment came about as Mr Trumps defence attorney Emil Bove repeatedly referred to the defendant as President Trump when speaking about events prior to him taking office.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass tried to object saying: He wasnt president in June 2016.

In opening statements on Monday, defence attorney Todd Blanche had told the jury that his legal team planned on referring to their client as President Trump because its a title he has earned.

Trump attorneys try to poke holes in Peckers testimony

During cross-examination, Mr Bove tried to cast doubt on the former tabloid bosss lengthy testimony about the catch and kill scheme.

But despite multiple attempts to impeach Mr Peckers credibility, the former publisher repeatedly affirmed his under-oath descriptions of his meetings with Mr Trump.

At one point on Friday, Mr Bove tried to get Mr Pecker to admit that he either lied on the witness stand or to federal law enforcement about Mr Trump thanking him for his help burying stories of Mr Trumps alleged affairs.

Pecker being questioned on the stand ( AP )

Was that a mistake? Mr Bove asked. Do you believe Trump said that to you as we sit here right now?

Mr Bove then handed Mr Pecker a report from his interview with federal prosecutors and the FBI in 2018, alleging that Mr Peckers prior testimony contradicted his earlier interview.

This is the FBIs interview, is that correct? These are the FBI notes? The FBI notes, some of these here, are wrong. I know what I testified to yesterday, Mr Pecker said.

I know what the truth is, he added. I cant state why its written this way.

Pecker doubles down that McDougal payment was made to help Trumps election odds

Mr Pecker previously called his relationship with Mr Trump mutually beneficial  using his tabloid empire to identify negative stories about the then-2016 candidate in an effort to boost Mr Trumps election chances.

However, the former AMI chief testified on Friday that one aspect of the agreement did not benefit him at all: the Karen McDougal story. That story was killed and the payment made with the sole purpose of helping Mr Trumps election odds, he testified,

Mr Pecker repeatedly testified that stories about Mr Trump were big sellers for the National Enquirer. Burying Ms McDougals story was against his own business interest, prosecutors sought to point out.

Karen McDougal speaking to CNN about Donald Trump ( CNN )

Had you published a story about a Playboy model having a yearlong sexual affair while he was married  Would that have sold magazines? Mr Joshua Steinglass asked. That would be like, National Enquirer gold.

Mr Pecker agreed.

At the time you entered into that agreement, you had zero intention of publishing that story, Mr Steinglass said. You killed the story because it helped candidate Donald Trump.

Yes, Mr Pecker said.

Stormy Daniels Trump Tower visit - and Apprentice plans - revealed

Two new witnesses briefly took the stand on Friday.

The first was Rhona Graff, Mr Trumps former personal assistant at the Trump Organization, who testified that she has a vague recollection of seeing Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower before his 2016 presidential campaign.

She assumed that Ms Daniels may have been at the office to discuss a role with The Celebrity Apprentice, Mr Trumps former hit reality TV competition series on NBC, she said.

The network severed ties with Mr Trump in 2015 after his presidential campaign launch and his derogatory comments about immigrants.

Ms Graff recalled that Mr Trump believed Ms Daniels would be a good contestant on the show.

I cant remember a specific incident when I heard it. It was part of the office chatter, she said.

Third witness takes the stand

Gary Farro, a banker assigned to Cohen at First Republic Bank, testified that Cohen urgently asked for his help setting up an LLC shell company while negotiating a hush money payment to Ms Daniels in 2016.

That account, Essential Consultants LLC, was used to wire Ms Daniels the $130,000 payment at the heart of the presidents criminal case.

Mr Farro will resume his testimony on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Trumpworld

Beyond the courtroom, there was a lot of other happenings in Trumpworld this week.

Civil fraud bond deal

On Monday, lawyers for Mr Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia Jamess office reached a deal around the payment of his $175m bond in his civil fraud case, so long as the collateral remains in cash.

The AGs office had previously expressed concerns about the underwriter Knight Specialty Insurance Company.

E Jean Carroll

On Thursday, a federal court upheld the verdict in former Elle columnist E Jean Carrolls $83m defamation case against Mr Trump  rejecting his request for a new trial.

In May 2023, Mr Trump was found liable for sexually abusing Ms Carroll, and earlier this year, a jury determined that Mr Trump had defamed Ms Carroll, awarding her $65m in punitive damages and $18m in compensatory damages.

Supreme Court immunity case

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday in the landmark case involving the former presidents claims of presidential immunity from prosecution.

During oral arguments, the justices appeared poised to allow some, but not absolute, immunity. The case stems from special counsel Jack Smiths federal indictment against Mr Trump, accusing him of engaging in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and stay in the White House.
Robin Chataut in The Conversation:

Have you ever wondered how an email sent from New York arrives in Sydney in mere seconds, or how you can video chat with someone on the other side of the globe with barely a hint of delay? Behind these everyday miracles lies an unseen, sprawling web of undersea cables, quietly powering the instant global communications that people have come to rely on.

Undersea cables, also known as submarine communications cables, are fiber-optic cables laid on the ocean floor and used to transmit data between continents. These cables are the backbone of the global internet, carrying the bulk of international communications, including email, webpages and video calls. More than 95% of all the data that moves around the world goes through these undersea cables.

These cables are capable of transmitting multiple terabits of data per second, offering the fastest and most reliable method of data transfer available today.

More here.
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A Georgia judge has rejected Donald Trump and his co-defendants attempt to dismiss the state election interference trial for violating their right to free speech.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Thursday denied the defendants latest attempt to delay or dismiss the case, saying the unsubstantiated claims of election fraud that the defendants made were allegedly, in furtherance of criminal activity and constitute false statements knowingly and willfully made in matters within a government agencys jurisdiction which threaten to deceive and harm the government.

Mr Trump and 17 co-defendants were indicted last year for, among a slew of alleged crimes, violating state racketeering laws for participating in a scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state with a so-called fake elector scheme.

Four of those original co-defendants have reached plea deals with prosecutors.

In March, Mr Trumps attorneys argued that the charges in the case should be dismissed because his claims of election fraud in Georgia were political speech and expressive conduct and therefore protected from government regulation and criminal prosecution.

Judge McAfee said those and even core political speech addressing matters of public concern were not impenetrable from prosecution if they allegedly furthered criminal activity.

Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee presides in court, Friday, March, 1, 2024, in Atlanta ( AP )

He added that the allegations that the defendants speech was conducted with criminal intent are something only a jury can resolve meaning the defendants could bring forward their motion again but only when the facts of the case are established.

In response to the judges decision, Steve Sadow, a lawyer for Mr Trump, said, they disagree with the ruling but will continue to evaluate [our] options regarding the First Amendment challenges.

The motion to dismiss on First Amendment claims is the latest in Mr Trumps attempts to delay or dismiss the multitude of criminal cases against him.

The former president and his co-defendants already tried to delay the Georgia election interference case by raising concerns about District Attorney Fani Willis relationship with a former prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade.

A trial date has not been set, but Ms Willis suggested an August start date.

That suggestion is unlikely to remain given the former president is also facing a criminal trial in Washington DC for federal election interference and in Florida for allegedly retaining classified documents. Dates in those cases have not been set but both were slated to take place this year.
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Donald Trump has recently spoken by phone with Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, The New York Times reports.

The newspaper states that it is not known precisely what the Republican presidential candidate discussed with the prince  his countrys de facto leader, commonly referred to simply as MBS  or whether this was their first exchange since the former president left the White House in January 2021.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Trumps campaign team for more details about the reported conversation with His Majesty.

During his tenure as president, Mr Trump enjoyed warm relations with Saudi Arabia. The country was the first he visited after taking office in 2017, a trip memorable for mr Trump joining in a ceremonial sword dance and going viral after placing his hands on a mysterious glowing orb at an exhibition centre in the company of King Salman and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

He also referred to MBS as a friend of mine after meeting him again at a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019, hailing him as a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms of [the] opening of Saudi Arabia.

He further praised the prince for doing a spectacular job and said they had had meetings on trade, economic development and the military, but refused to be drawn on the brutal murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.

Mr Trump later boasted to veteran journalist Bob Woodward in 2020 that he had shielded the monarch from congressional scrutiny following the outcry over Khashoggis killing.

I saved his ass, Mr Trump bragged to Mr Woodward. I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.

Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, King Salman and Donald Trump with the infamous orb ( Saudi Royal Palace/AFP/Getty )

Since returning to life as a private citizen, both Mr Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have inked lucrative deals with Saudi investors, with the Trump Organization notably signing a $4bn agreement to allow the use of Trump branding on luxury developments in Oman.

President Joe Biden, by contrast, has maintained a rather less cosy relationship with MBS and Saudi Arabia, refusing to speak to Riyadh at the start of his administration over the Khasshogi murder before posing for an awkward fistbump with the leader in summer 2022 and then a hearty handshake at another G20 gathering in New Delhi, India, last September.

They have since been in contact by phone to discuss the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Donald Trump and Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammed bin Salman shaking hands at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019 ( Reuters )

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had been due to travel to Saudi Arabia this week to meet with the crown prince but had to postpone his plans after suffering a cracked rib.

This was a minor accident of his own, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby assured reporters. It was not caused by anybody. It was not the result of a nefarious act.

Mr Sullivan was due to sit down with the prince as the US seeks to normalise relations between the Middle Eastern powers.
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Denmark closed part of its airspace and one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes on Thursday following a failed missile test.

Vessels were warned not to sail through the Great Belt strait, the main maritime access to the Baltic Sea, after a technical error on a navy vessel close to the Danish coast.

The problem occurred during a mandatory test where the missile launcher is activated and cannot be deactivated, the military said in a statement.

Until the missile launcher is deactivated, there is a risk that the missile can fire and fly a few kilometres away.

A naval exercise was ongoing in the area, a navigational warning showed.

The warning covered an area some five to seven kilometres of the Great Belt bridge, which crosses the strait. The bridge remained open to traffic, its operator said.

Area of shipping lane and airspace affected by the test failure ( Danish Armed Forces )

The Danish military said the missile was launched from the frigate Niels Juel, which has taken part in Nato exercises after joining its standing naval force last year.

In a statement, the military said the missile failure had been caused by a technical problem and that specialists had been deployed to carry out an investigation.

However, until the booster is disabled, there is a risk that the missile could launch and fly several kilometres away.

The incident happened during a test of a Harpoon missile, with the military saying the failure affected only the booster, meaning there was no danger of the missile exploding.

Local police were also informed about the incident and ships were asked to wait while the problem was resolved.

Earlier this year the Niels Juel was part of a number of Nato warships that took part in exercises off the UK coast.

HMS Prince of Wales also took part in Joint Warrior, a mission aimed at testing the readiness of the UK Carrier Strike Group and its ability to deter threats.

Nato has ramped up exercises in the waters around Europe since Russias invasion of Ukraine.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's move to sign into law the results of a recent referendum laying claim to two-thirds of Guyana triggered fierce condemnation Thursday from the neighboring South American country's government.

The text of the law was not immediately made public. Even so, Guyanas Ministry of Foreign Affairs vowed not to yield any land to Venezuela and called the move targeting Guyanas western Essequibo region an egregious violation of the most fundamental principles of international law.

In early December, Maduro held a referendum to claim sovereignty over the oil- and mineral-rich region that represents two-thirds of Guyana, arguing it was stolen when the border was drawn more than a century ago. On Wednesday, Maduro held a signing ceremony recalling the referendum as a stellar and historic moment.

The decision of December 3, has now become the Law of the Republic, to form part of the legal structure of the internal political and institutional movement of our country, Maduro tweeted on Wednesday. "The decision made by the Venezuelans in the consultative referendum will be fulfilled in all its parts, and with this Law, we will continue the defense of Venezuela on international stages."

Guyana's government responded sharply hours later: If Venezuela wants to contest title to the territory in question, the proper forum is the International Court of Justice."

It's not clear how Venezuelan authorities intend to implement the idea of exercising jurisdiction over Essequibo. Maduro said that until the dispute is resolved, the appointment of an Essequibo governor will remain in his hands and that the National Assembly will exercise legislative powers of the territory. He did not provide further details.

Guyana and Venezuela have been feuding over the region for decades, with tensions deepening after vast oil deposits were found near Guyanas coast in 2015 in offshore areas intersecting the disputed territory.

In 2018, Guyana took the case to the United Nations highest court, asking judges to rule that an 1899 border decision is valid and binding. Meanwhile, Venezuela insists that a 1966 agreement nullified the original arbitration.

A court ruling is not expected before next year.

Meanwhile, Guyana is collaborating with the U.S., France and India to fortify its military in the event of any annexation attempts, President Irfaan Ali said recently. Guyanas military also has stepped up recruitment exercises with advertisements on social media sites and visits to various regions around the country.

Satellite imagery has revealed that Venezuelas military is amassing troops and expanding bases near the border it shares with Guyana.

The presidents of Guyana and Venezuela met in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent in mid-December at the urging of regional leaders who have tried to diffuse the situation, but they failed to resolve the territorial dispute, agreeing only to not use threats or force against each other.

A second meeting between Ali and Maduro was supposed to been held last month, but not date has been scheduled.
 Close UK has fasttracked the production of laser energy and radio waves weaponry

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German chancellor Olaf Scholz said he urged Chinese president Xi Jinping to press Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

Mr Scholz told Mr Xi in a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday that Chinas word carries weight in Russia.

I have therefore asked president Xi to influence Russia so that Putin finally calls off his senseless campaign, withdraw his troops and ends this terrible war, he wrote on social media platform X.

Earlier, a Russian source said Moscow was ready to redeploy Wagner troops working in Africa to bolster its offensive in Ukraine.

The source claimed Russian authorities are preparing to redeploy unspecified detachments of the Africa Corps from Africa to Belgorod, Ukraine, according to US think tank Institute for the Study of War.
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World leaders have expressed outrage following the deaths of seven aid workers in Israel in an IDF air strike, prompting calls for an immediate investigation.

US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) said on Tuesday that their staff members had been killed in a targeted attack, despite previous liaison with the IDF.

The aid workers were from Palestine, Australia, Poland, the UK, and US-Canada.

Their deaths have brought Israels record on humanitarian workers fatalities under intense scrutiny. United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the situation was the inevitable result of the way this war is being conducted.

Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

At least 196 humanitarians have been killed since October in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is one of the worlds most dangerous and difficult places to work, he said. Let humanitarian workers do their job.

Responses have come from leaders across the world, with Israel taking responsibility for the deaths, which it said was unintentional, and promising to conduct an independent investigation. Heres whats been said so far:

World Kitchen Organisation: This is unforgivable

The WCK initially acknowledged the attack in a X/Twitter post shortly after 12am UK time, writing: This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.

We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza. This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.  World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 1, 2024

The humanitarian aid charity later issued a fuller statement, confirming the deaths of seven team members, and outlining the circumstances around the attack.

The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle, the report said.

Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.

The World Central Kitchen members killed in the attack ( World Central Kitchen/PA )

WCK CEO Erin Gore said: This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.

The organisation has paused its operations in Gaza with immediate effect, saying it will make a decision in the near future about the future of its work in the region.

On 4 April, WCK released another statement, writing: We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks.

Including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.

Israel: It shouldnt have happened

Following reports of the attack, the IDF accepted responsibility, calling it an unintentional mistake.

The strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers, said IDF chief of the general staff LTG Herzi Halevi.

It was a mistake that followed a misidentification, at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldnt have happened.

Herzi Halevi, Israels highest-ranking officer, claims strike that killed three Brits was grave mistake ( Israel Defense Forces )

The IDF says it is conducting an independent investigation into the attack, and has promised to learn from its findings. The military force also claims to have established a humanitarian command center to improve the coordination of aid distribution in Gaza.

Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza, said Mr Halevi. We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK. We share in the grief of their families.

Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu also responded to the attack, saying: Unfortunately in the past day, there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip.

This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.

United States: This is not a stand-alone incident

In a statement released on 3 April, US president Joe Biden condemned the convoy attack, saying he is outraged and heartbroken.

Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident, president Biden said. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.

The US president adds that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers or civilians.

The United States will continue to do all we can to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, through all available means. I will continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid.

People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip ( AP )

President Bidens statement marks the latest shift in US support for Israel. Last week (25 March), the UN Security Council voted for the first time to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the US abstained on the vote. This brought a deadlock of over five months to an end.

Mr Netanyahu subsequently cancelled a visit to the White House by two of his ministers, arguing the USs actions harms both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages.

The White House has said that president Biden is due to speak to Mr Netanyahu over the phone on 4 April.

Questioned by The Independent whether he believed the IDF convoy strike was intentional, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: Theyre [the IDF] investigating it. Let them do that work, and let them see what they come up with. And then well go from there.

Asked whether the US would support criminal penalties if the attack was found to be deliberate, Mr Kirby said: Should there be need for accountability, that accountability [should] be properly put in place for whoever may be responsible for this.

United Kingdom: PM says he is appalled

A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak says the PM is appalled by the deaths and believes too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable.

The spokesperson said the PM expects to see immediate action by Israel to end restrictions on humanitarian aid, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks.

The prime minister reiterated that Israels rightful aim of defeating Hamas would not be achieved by allowing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, they added.

Pro-Palestine protest, London, December 2023 ( Getty Images )

The UK currently provides humanitarian aid to the Palestinians who are impacted by the Israel-Hamas conflict, trebling their commitment in the 2023/24 financial year to provide an additional 70m.

However, the government also has not answered calls to suspend arms sales to Israel, which amounted to 42 million in 2022. Over 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court president Brenda Hale, signed a joint letter on 4 April calling for the UK to stop arms sales to Israel as the government risks breaching international law.

The intervention came a day after Lord Peter Ricketts, the UKs first national security advisor during the premiership of Lord David Cameron, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think theres abundant evidence now that Israel hasnt been taking enough care to fulfil its obligations on the safety of civilians.

And a country that gets arms from the UK has to comply with international humanitarian law.

Several MPs from all parties have backed this position, as Mondays convoy attack brings Israels record on international law under increased scrutiny.

Both the Lib Dems and SNP call for arms exports to be suspended, while Labours position is to demand suspension if legal advice suggest Israel has broken international law. The government has not yet answered calls to publish legal advice it has reportedly received on the matter.
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Humanitarian food charity World Central Kitchen has called for an independent investigation into the Israeli air strike that killed seven of its aid workers, including three British nationals, in Gaza on Monday.

WCK issued a statement on Thursday morning calling for the governments of Australia, Canada, the US, the UK and Poland  the countries from which six of the workers hailed  to join a third-party investigation into the drone bombardment on the charitys convoy.

The investigation must establish whether [the drone strikes] were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The charity has said seven of its workers, including a Palestinian driver, were killed by a sustained drone barrage against their marked convoy, after unloading 100 tonnes of food aid from a barge on 1 April.

The victims include British nationals John Chapman, 57, James Jim Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

The killings have drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders, including rare and forthright criticism of Israel from US president Joe Biden, who said he was outraged and heartbroken and accused his ally of not doing enough to protect aid workers.

Israeli president Isaac Herzog has apologised for the deaths and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was unintended and tragic while pledging an inquiry.

The charity said it has asked the Israeli government to immediately keep all the records, including documents, communications, and video and audio recordings relevant to the strikes.

A Palestinian man rides a bicycle past a damaged vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip on 2 April 2024 ( REUTERS )

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers, the statement added.

The joint statement by chief executive Erin Gore and executive co-chairman Javier Garcia said the Israeli Defence Forces killed seven humanitarian aid workers employed by the WCK.

The aid workers killed were nationals of Australia, Canada/US (dual citizen), Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom, it said.

Undated handout photo issued by World Central Kitchen of Briton James "Jim" Henderson, one of the World Central Kitchen seven aid workers who were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Issue date: Wednesday 3 April 2024 ( World Central Kitchen/WCK.org/PA Wire )

Israel has admitted to the killings but called it a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants and something that happens in war, the statement noted.

The three vehicles which were carrying the civilians were clearly marked with WCK logos and targeted with multiple strikes, it said.

A vehicle damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza, 2 April 2024 ( REUTERS )

Their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission, they said.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak has demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation into the killings in Gaza.

Downing Street said Mr Sunak spoke to Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday evening and conveyed that he was appalled by the drone strike. The prime minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable, it said.

Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, 2 April 2024 ( AP )

Mr Biden, who has been criticised for providing American military, financial and diplomatic support to Mr Netanyahu throughout Israels military campaign in Gaza, said: The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties.

It comes as the US and the UK governments are under intense pressure to suspend arms sales to Israel.

More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court justices, have signed a letter to demand that the British government cut off defence exports to Israel amid the war in Gaza. The letter said the government risks breaching international law by continuing to allow the export of weapons.

Britain is accused of being complicit in the strike following claims by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) that weapons used in the attack were powered by UK-made engines. It said the Israeli army struck the convoy with a Hermes 450 drone  known as a Zik drone in Israel  which could have been powered by a British component.

The remains of six foreign WCK workers have been transported to Egypt for repatriation, while their 25-year-old Palestinian colleague was laid to rest in his hometown of Rafah, located in southern Gaza, on Tuesday.
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Nasa has unveiled the lunar buggy concepts that will be developed for its upcoming crewed missions to the Moon.

Among the vehicles is a self-driving Moon RACER built by US startup Intuitive Machines that is capable of transporting people and cargo across the surface of the Moon.

The US space agency awarded Intuitive Machines $30 million to develop and deploy the Moon RACER, which stands for Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover.

Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus said the contract covers up to 10 years of lunar surface activity.

Nasa plans to begin using the lunar vehicles for crewed operations during the Artemis V mission, which is currently scheduled for March 2030.

This vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions, said Vanessa Wyche, director of Nasas Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

open image in gallery A design for Nasas Lunar Terrain Vehicle ( Nasa )

Other lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) concepts to be selected for development include buggies built by Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab. Each one is required to feature autonomous capabilities so that Nasa can continue to use them even when astronauts are not onboard.

We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries, said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at Nasas Washington headquarters.

With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the Moon year around.

The announcement comes just two weeks after the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) approved the development of a rail network on the Moon that could connect different lunar bases.

The introduction of transport infrastructure on the Moon represents a large paradigm shift for the lunar economy, according to DARPA program manager Michael Nayak.

China is also planning crewed missions to the Moon before the end of the decade, while several private companies and startups have plans to send payloads to the lunar surface.

This increase in activity, which comes more than five decades after the last humans walked on the Moon, is expected to supercharge the lunar economy.

Estimates from the European Space Agency suggest it could be worth 142 billion (120bn) by 2040, while plans to use the Moon as a launching pad for Mars missions could boost it even further.
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The Sun is going to disappear from the sky in the US  before coming back again, almost five minutes later.

A total solar eclipse on 8 April, visible across North America, means that day will briefly turn into night. And this time around it is relatively easy to see.

The eclipse is much longer than the previous one. This time around, the total darkness will last up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds  twice as long as a similar event in 2017.

It will also go through a more populated route, meaning more people are likely to see it. It will start on the Pacific coast of Mexico, before heading up and east: taking in Texas, Oklahoma and all the way up to New England, before disappearing in Canada.

An estimated 44 million people live inside the 115-mile-wide path of totality stretching from Mexico to Canada. About 32 million of them are in the US, guaranteeing jammed roads for the must-see celestial sensation.

The eclipse will allow many to share in the wonder of the universe without going very far, said NASA's eclipse program manager Kelly Korreck.

Here's what to know about April's extravaganza and how to prepare:

What happens during the total solar eclipse?

The moon will line up perfectly between the Earth and the sun, blotting out the sunlight. It will take just a couple hours for the moon's shadow to slice a diagonal line from the southwest to the northeast across North America, briefly plunging communities along the track into darkness.

Fifteen U.S. states will get a piece of the action, albeit two of them  Tennessee and Michigan  just barely.

Among the cities smack dab in the action: Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Indianapolis, Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal  making for the continent's biggest eclipse crowd.

Don't fret if you don't have front-row seats. Practically everyone on the continent can catch at least a partial eclipse. The farther from the path of totality, the smaller the moon's bite will be out of the sun. In Seattle and Portland, Oregon, about as far away as you can get in the continental U.S., one-third of the sun will be swallowed.

Why is totality longer?

By a cosmic stroke of luck, the moon will make the month's closest approach to Earth the day before the total solar eclipse. That puts the moon just 223,000 miles (360,000 kilometers) away on eclipse day.

The moon will appear slightly bigger in the sky thanks to that proximity, resulting in an especially long period of sun-blocked darkness.

What's more, the Earth and moon will be 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the sun that day, the average distance.

When a closer moon pairs up with a more distant sun, totality can last as long as an astounding 7 1/2 minutes. The last time the world saw more than seven minutes of totality was in 1973 over Africa. That won't happen again until 2150 over the Pacific.

How do I safely watch the eclipse?

Sunglasses won't cut it. Special eclipse glasses are crucial for safely observing the sun as the moon marches across the late morning and afternoon sky, covering more and more and then less and less of our star.

During totality when the sun is completely shrouded, it's fine to remove your glasses and look with your naked eyes. But before and after, certified eclipse glasses are essential to avoid eye damage. Just make sure they're not scratched or torn.

Cameras, binoculars and telescopes must be outfitted with special solar filters for safe viewing. Bottom line: Never look at an exposed sun without proper protection any day of the year.

Where are some eclipse watch parties?

Towns up and down the path of totality are throwing star parties. Festivals, races, yoga retreats, drum circles and more will unfold at museums, fairgrounds, parks, stadiums, wineries, breweries and even one of Ohio's oldest drive-in movie theaters and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Besides looking up, you can attend a space prom in Texas Hill Country, get married at eclipse-themed ceremonies in Tiffin, Ohio, and Russellville, Arkansas, or brush up on moonwalking history at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio  Neil Armstrong's hometown.

As the eclipse unfolds, NASA will launch small rockets with science instruments into the upper atmosphere from Virginia and chase totality's shadow from high-altitude planes. Satellites and the International Space Station crew will attempt to capture the show from space.

When is the next total solar eclipse?Full solar eclipses occur every year or two or three, often in the middle of nowhere like the South Pacific or Antarctic. The next total solar eclipse, in 2026, will grace the northern fringes of Greenland, Iceland and Spain.

North America won't experience totality again until 2033, with Alaska getting sole dibs. Then that's it until 2044, when totality will be confined to Western Canada, Montana and North Dakota.

There won't be another U.S. eclipse, spanning coast to coast, until 2045. That one will stretch from Northern California all the way to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Aside from Carbondale, Illinois, in the crosshairs of both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses, it usually takes 400 years to 1,000 years before totality returns to the same spot, according to NASA's Korreck.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
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Google could put some of its search results behind a paywall, according to a new report.

The company is considering charging a premium for users to get access to a version of its search engine powered by generative artificial intelligence, according to the Financial Times.

It would mark the first time that Google has put any of its core products behind a paywall. While the company does charge for some features  such as additional storage and features in its products  search has always been free for all users and funded by advertising.

The traditional search engine, which gathers results from across the web, would remain free, the report said. Ads would also continue to appear even for subscribers.

But those who pay for its premium subscription services would also get access to results generated by generative artificial intelligence, which could be tailored to their searches.

Some experts have suggested that AI generated results could represent the future of web search, since they will allow users to receive direct and specific answers to their questions. But critics have expressed worries that those answers could include unchecked falsehoods, especially given large language models can sometimes generate answers that include hallucinations that look reliable but are wrong.

Google already charges for some AI-powered tools inside of its other products. Users who pay a subscription get access to its new Gemini assistant within Gmail and Google Docs, for instance, where it can be used to suggest text.

The company denied that it was working on any kind of search experience without ads. It did not confirm the FTs report but did confirm that it was working on new, paid-for features.

Were not working on or considering an ad-free search experience. As weve done many times before, well continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google, the company said.

After the launch of ChatGPT kicked off a period of global excitement over the future of artificial intelligence, Google received some criticism for being slower to market with its own products. That is despite having invented the technology that underpins many competitors products, including ChatGPT itself.

Google launched its own Bard chatbot in response, with a reveal video that included mistake, and later named it Gemini. In February, Google had to remove some features from Gemini after it was found to generate inaccurate images of historical events, seemingly in an effort to ensure they were racially diverse.

Nonetheless, Google has continued to add Gemini into existing products. In February, it began to integrate it into its messages app, allowing people to use it to automatically generate responses to their friends.
Sam Klug in the Boston Review:

But single expressions are merely pieces of a man, as Adam Shatz, quoting Gil Scott-Heron, observes in The Rebels Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon. In this timely and engaging new bookthe first full-length biography in English since David Maceys in 2000Shatz restores a sense of wholeness to Fanons life and work. The unifying pursuit of Fanons life, Shatz argues, was the disalienation of those suffering from racial and colonial oppressiona project at once individual and social, clinical as well as political. For Fanon, Shatz concludes, this was the end goal of psychiatry as a practice of freedom.

At a moment when Fanon is once again being deeply misread and distorted, The Rebels Clinic helps us return to all of Fanonthe fullness of his thought and practice beyond the familiar aphorisms.

More here.
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Many airline passengers say the worst part of any journey is the airport security check. Worldwide, an average of half a million people pass through airport security every hour. Travellers resent the limit on LAGs (liquids, aerosols and gels) in cabin baggage, as well as the obligation to extract electronics such as laptops and tablets from hand luggage.

The liquids rules were introduced hastily worldwide in 2006 as a temporary measure to protect against explosives. Despite repeated promises they remain in place.

In 2019 Boris Johnson vowed the rules would be eased at major UK airports by 2022, allowing larger quantities and eliminating the need to have liquids separately scanned. Rishi Sunaks government then extended that deadline to 1 June 2024.

While new scanners are being installed at checkpoints at all the UKs main airports  the work was not fast enough to meet the June deadline.

The big four UK hubs  Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted  said several months ahead they would not be ready in time. The then-transport secretary, Mark Harper, granted airports an extension, but warned that they could be fined if they further delay the roll-out of smoother security.

A week afterthe deadline, progress in aviation security actually went into reverse, with the Department for Transport (DfT) ordering airports with the new equipment to restore the old 100ml limit on LAGs.

Simon Calder, former security officer at Gatwick airport and current Independent travel correspondent, explains more.

Cabin baggage: what are the rules?

The list of items that cannot be taken through an airport security checkpoints in carry-on bags has increased over the decades. Prohibitions have evolved in reaction to terrorist attacks  successful and otherwise.

All weapons, whether firearms, knives or explosives, are banned from hand luggage. But there are also strict rules about larger quantities of liquids, aerosols, gels, pastes, lotions and cosmetics, extending even to yoghurt, soft cheese and Creme Eggs.

For passengers, the best plan is to assume that no container for any liquid, aerosol or gel can be above 100ml.

At most airports LAGS must be carried within a resealable clear plastic bag with a maximum volume of one litre, and removed for the security check. But at seven UK airports with advanced equipment already installed, the liquids can be left in the passengers luggage.

How did the liquids rule come about?

In August 2006 the aviation industry  and baffled passengers  awoke to find security rules for passengers had tightened overnight. The government announced that it had uncovered a terror plot to blow up transatlantic jets from Heathrow to North America.

The perpetrators aimed to take the ingredients for improvised explosive devices on board a number of aircraft. The ingredients, derived from hydrogen peroxide, were intended to be smuggled aboard in soft drink containers. The plotters aimed to assemble the bombs on board before detonating them and destroying the plane. They were later convicted of offences including conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

The bosses of Britains airlines were called in the early hours of 10 August 2006 to be told their passengers would be banned from carrying anything more than a purse or wallet into an aircraft cabin. Even pens were banned from transatlantic flights, on the grounds that the ink they contained was a liquid.

One concession was made, for nursing mothers: they could take milk for their baby through the checkpoint, but only if they tasted it first in front of security staff to demonstrate it was the real thing.

Baggage systems could not cope with two or three times the normal number of items, and Heathrow airport ground almost to a standstill. Flight networks elsewhere in the UK and Europe were also affected.

Three months later, the rules were eased  but with strict limits that prevail today at almost all UK and overseas airports.

Were they always intended to be permanent?

No. The limits were introduced as a temporary measure while airport security technology caught up. But progress has been painfully slow.

Even a very modest relaxation of the rules  to allow airport purchases of drinks to be taken through checkpoints in a sealed security tamper-evident bag (Steb)  took years to be implemented. Many passengers are still being caught out, losing their expensive airport purchases, because duty-free drinks are not allowed through the airport where they change planes.

Is there a technological solution?

Yes. Modern scanners use computed tomography (CT)  the same technology as medical scanners  to analyse the molecular structure of the contents of a passengers bag. The machines can detect potential threats and present security officers with a three-dimensional image of the contents.

They can also analyse whether laptops and other electronic equipment present a danger.

At airports where the technology is installed, liquids and laptops no longer have to be removed.

The aim is that security should be enhanced, with more sophisticated assessment of potential threats. The amount of staff time consumed in secondary searches should be reduced, allowing officers to spend more time assessing passenger behaviour.

Travellers have a much easier experience: they no longer need deconstruct their cabin bags, and the whole airport process feels much smoother and less stressful.

That sounds great  so what are we waiting for?

The new kit was first used in Europe at Shannon in the west of Ireland, where liquids, gels, pastes, lotions and cosmetics in containers of any size have been allowed through security since March 2022.

To reduce stress for passengers and increase security, in 2019 the government told all major UK airports to have advanced CT scanners at security checkpoints by 1 December 2022. But the deadline was missed.

During the Covid pandemic, airports faced catastrophic losses as passenger numbers collapsed. The obligation to make the multi-million pound investment required was lifted.

In 2022, the then-transport secretary Mark Harper promised the airport experience would become easier from 1 June 2024: The tiny toiletry has become a staple of airport security checkpoints, but thats all set to change. Im streamlining cabin bag rules at airports while enhancing security.

By 2024, major airports across the UK will have the latest security tech installed, reducing queuing times, improving the passenger experience, and most importantly detecting potential threats.

How did that turn out?

Badly, with the vast majority of airports failing to meet the deadline. They include the UKs four biggest airports, which handle most of the nations passengers: Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted.

A spokesperson for Heathrow airport told The Independent: Heathrow has to replace 146 lanes, while some of the smaller airports have less than 10 to replace, this shows the magnitude of the work ongoing at Heathrow while we continue to ensure smooth security experiences for passengers.

Gatwick expects to be fully ready in the first three months of 2025. A spokesperson for the Sussex airport said: We currently plan to have completed the major logistical operation required to install the remaining scanners in Q1 2025, after the busy summer peak period has concluded.

Manchester Airports Group, which owns Stansted and East Midlands as well as Manchester, has the new scanners in place on a large number of our security lanes  but the programme will not be completed until 2025.

A senior aviation figure, Jonathan Hinkles, told Airliner World: For airports  many still battling to repair their financial balance sheets after the pandemic  the huge cost of this new equipment is an unwelcome burden.

The government-imposed deadline date deprived them of any real ability to negotiate prices with suppliers of the new equipment, and much of the new kit is turning up late too.

In April 2024, the government said: We recognise that installing the new security equipment at busy airports has been a logistical challenge, with some airports having to undertake significant construction work to allow the new, extremely heavy equipment to be fitted. In some cases, airports have been required to construct entirely new screening halls.

Mr Harper said: Its important we give those airports yet to meet the deadline a second chance to get the job done.

The then-transport secretary said aviation security law would be changed so non-compliant airports could be fined  though that legislation was scuppered by the election being called.

Some complied, though?

Yes. Seven airports met the 1 June 2024 deadline: Aberdeen, Newcastle, Teesside, Leeds Bradford, Birmingham, Southend and London City. In addition, Bristol airport says it will have the new equipment fully in place by 14 June 2024.

They saw having the kit in place as a competitive advantage, with the promise of an almost complete relaxation of the liquids rule  with up to 2 litres being allowed through.

But in a shock move, from 9 June 2024 they were ordered to restore the 100ml limit. It was not a complete reversal; passengers will still be able to leave liquids, aerosols, gels, etc, in their cabin baggage. They must, though, be in containers of 100ml or less.

Why did that happen?

It was not the airports choice. At London City and Teesside, for example, the new scanners have been working well for over a year.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: This temporary move is to enable further improvements to be made to the new checkpoint systems.

Mr Harper later said: Weve reintroduced that rule while updates, changes are made to the scanning equipment at the airport to make sure we can continue delivering our world-leading levels of aviation security.

The Independent understands the move has nothing to do with fears of weaker aviation security. Instead, it resulted from concerns about long queues at UK airports as the summer rush  amplified by football fans departing for Euro 2024 in Germany.

Ministers fear that delays at security checkpoints could build up because the new equipment is mis-identifying many innocuous items in passengers baggage as posing a threat.

Sources have told The Independent that harmless liquids such as sunscreen have been misidentified as high-threat substances.

While security has never been compromised, a number of airports using the new scanners have experienced long queues due to a higher-than-expected rejection rate, with security officers obliged to carry out hand searches of cabin baggage.

On several occasions while passing through checkpoints at non-fully compliant airports with the new kit, I have witnessed the system snarling up due to the large number of bags required to undergo a hand search  and gone from imagining I had plenty of time for a coffee before the flight to sprinting to the gate.

If sunscreen shows up as a possible threat, why does the quantity matter?

Because the 100ml limit was selected as a sufficiently low volume to avoid an on-board threat. Effectively, the airports with new scanners can pass bags that would otherwise be rejected. The aim is to speed up the process and reduce queues.

When everyone is ready, will that be the end of problems?

Not necessarily: passenger confusion is a constant problem for aviation security. It was difficult enough conveying the two sets of rules, old and new, for items carried in cabin baggage. Because of the publicity surrounding light-touch security at a handful of airports, there are fears that travellers may infer rules have changed everywhere.

Worldwide, lack of conformity is a key issue for aviation security professionals  and passengers.

At many airports liquids are limited but can stay in the travellers bag. Laptops and tablets such as iPads must be removed in the UK and many other countries, but in some nations they need not be.

The European Union (and wider Schengen Area) has also reverted to the old rules at all airports from 1 September 2024, following concerns about the new equipment installed at some airports. Olivier Jankovec, director general of the airports body ACI Europe, said: Those airports which have been early adopters of this new technology are being heavily penalised both operationally and financially.

In Israel, procedures are entirely different. The authorities say: Passengers should arrive three hours prior to departure for the security check procedure. There is sometimes intense questioning by officials, and laptops must be removed. But liquids are permitted without restriction.

The main issue: passengers should not expect aviation security to be the same worldwide  or even UK-wide. At some small Scottish airports including Barra, Campbeltown and Tiree there have been no security checks since 2017.

Is this going to cost me more?

The airports that are collectively investing hundreds of millions of pounds will be seeking a return  and that could include raising fees. But the long-term aim is that new tech should cut staff costs, representing savings for airports.

Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata)  representing airlines worldwide  said: Implementing this technology should not come with a big bill. In fact, simplified processes should deliver significant efficiencies.

Speedy deployment should be possible. The technology has already been used successfully and for a long time at various airports across the world with measurable improvements to the passenger experience.

Will aviation security remain a permanent pain?

No. In 2019 Iata described the prevailing security situation as no longer sustainable. It has been working with airports for over a decade on a project called Smart Security.

Ultimately walk-through metal detectors and security pat-down of many passengers should be eliminated, with technology assessing possible threats more effectively than humans watching screens.

The passenger should be able to walk unchallenged along a corridor flanked by detectors, barely aware that they are being checked.

Checkpoints will still be staffed, but security personnel will be freed up to do what people do best, which is to study the behaviour of passengers and identify persons of interest for further investigation.

However, as the reversals at UK and EU airports show, there is a long way to go.
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The Canary Island government is set to tighten its smoking regulations, including a ban on lighting cigarettes in the outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants.

A more radical national smoking bill is due to be discussed at the upcoming Interterritorial Health Council meeting between regional authorities and Spains Ministry of Health.

Among the strengthened measures to protect against passive smoking, the national bill proposes generic packaging for cigarettes, removing brand logos and prohibiting the sale of single-use vapes that are non-biodegradable.

Sports facilities, bus stop shelters and entrances to schools and healthcare facilities could all become smoke-free spaces under the proposal, according to Canarian Weekly.

The significant rule change would affect the lifestyle of many travellers visiting the summer holiday hotspot that welcomed 5.7 million British arrivals in 2023.

Duty-free and cheaper tobacco prices alone have been known for drawing in UK holidaymakers to weeks in Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.

Additional tightening of restrictions and regulations on the sales and advertising of vapes and electric cigarettes are included in the bid to control tobacco consumption.

Regional authorities say a financial plan for each area would need to be outlined for the measures to be successful.

In January, Rishi Sunak announced a plan to ban disposable vapes in Britain using powers already in place under the Environmental Protection Act  which is expected to come into force at the end of 2024 or the start of 2025.

As part of the ban, trading standards officers across the UK will be given powers to act on the spot to tackle underage tobacco and vape sales.

Canaries authorities suggest that introducing the new smoking law could implement the proposed regulations throughout Spain if they are agreed to by the government.

The rule change comes as anti-tourism sentiment is growing in the Spanish archipelagos due to strains on local infrastructures to meet tourism demands.

Drunken revellers could also be banned from Spanish party islands under new plans being considered by local officials to crack down on anti-social behaviour by tourists.

Tourists who break strict rules could be blacklisted from notorious party hotspots in the Balearic Islands, such as Magaluf in Majorca and the West End of San Antonio in Ibiza.
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Delta Airlines has recently gained attention for its alleged treatment of women for what they showed up wearing on one of their flights.

In the last two months there have been instances in which women were almost removed from planes because they were not wearing a bra. Here is what the airlines rules state and whether or not a person can actually be removed for what they are wearing.

Delta has recently updated its Contract of Carriage, as of 12 March 2024, which is essentially their list of rules for passengers flying with them. Rule seven specifies its refusal to transport policies.

Various methods that Delta states will allow them to remove any passenger from its aircraft at any time include: government request, refusal to allow themselves or their property to be searched, refusal to produce appropriate identification, failure to comply with Deltas rules or Contract of Carriage, and the passengers conduct or condition.

Under that section, the rule explains that a passenger may not be removed from a Delta flight for having a disability. Delta will not refuse to provide transportation based upon race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry, the rule reads.

In terms of a dress code, the airline does require that the passengers wear shoes and says they may be removed for being barefoot. The rule also states a passenger may be refused transportation, when conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.

According to this rule the airline can make the decision to remove a passenger for not wearing a bra.

Last week, a woman said that Delta Airlines targeted her for not wearing a bra. During a news press conference on Thursday, 28 March, 38-year-old DJ Lisa Archbold held a news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, claiming that when she showed up to board her Delta Airlines flight at Salt Lake City Airport in January, she was singled out by airline staff. Archbold told the press: I was targeted and humiliated.

It felt like a scarlet letter was being attached to me, Archbold recalled of being escorted off the plane in baggy jeans and a loose white T-shirt with no bra. I felt it was a spectacle aimed at punishing me for not being a woman in the way she thought I should be a woman as she scolded me outside of the plane.

Once the entire plane was seated, a flight attendant came to Archbolds seat. She asked her to speak in private and escorted her off the plane. Allred noted that Archbold suspected her braless outfit was the cause. The attorney said, The gate agent told her that when passengers are wearing offensive or revealing clothing, Deltas official policy is to remove them from the flight.

Archbold was reportedly only allowed to fly under one condition: that she must wear another shirt on top of the one she was wearing. At the time, the head flight attendant reportedly informed her that women must cover up according to Deltas official policy. She had been flying from conservative Salt Lake City, Utah, to the much more liberal San Francisco, California.

Male passengers are not required to cover up their T-shirts with a shirt or a jacket, Allred argued. They also do not have to wear a bra to board or remain on a plane and women should not have to wear one either.

Her attorney noted at the time that according to US federal rules, airlines can only remove passengers who present a clear safety or security risk to the plane or its passengers. Archbold, however, was neither.

Although there are no plans to go forward with a lawsuit, Allred said that she and her client want a sit-down meeting with the president of Delta Airlines to ensure that their policies will be updated to reflect 21st-century values and standards.

The Independent has contacted Delta for comment.
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A Jet2 plane bound for the Canary Islands was forced to make an emergency landing this morning (4 April) after pilots discovered an on-board fault soon after it took off.

The flight took off at 8.45am from Leeds Bradford Airport and was making its way to popular holiday spot Fuerteventura when it landed at East Midlands Airport just after 9am.

A spokesperson for Jet2 told The Independent: Flight LS249 from Leeds Bradford to Fuerteventura followed standard procedure and diverted to East Midlands Airport this morning, due to a minor fault indication. The aircraft landed safely, and customers will be transferred onto a standby aircraft and flown to their destination.

The airline is yet to release any information about the nature of the issue.

Simon Hinchley, operations director at East Midlands Airport, said: A flight had to make an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport this morning, this was dealt with in line with our emergency procedures.

We are working to ensure the affected passengers can continue their journey as soon as possible.

Jet2 confirmed to BBC News that affected passengers would be taken to a new plane to continue their journey.

Flight LS249 from Leeds Bradford to Fuerteventura followed standard procedure and diverted to East Midlands Airport this morning, due to a minor fault indication.

The aircraft landed safely, and customers will be transferred onto a standby aircraft and flown to their destination.

A tweet posted on Twitter/X by Flightradar24 reads: After departing Leeds Bradford (LBA) at 0900UTC, LS249 to Fuerteventura (FUE) squawked 7700, indicating a general emergency. Reason currently unknown. The aircraft is currently holding in the area.

In February, a Jet2 aircraft travelling from Tenerife South to Birmingham had to make an emergency landing after smoke was reportedly seen inside the cabin.

The Airbus A321neo was duly diverted to Faro Airport in Portugal, where all 220 passengers were safely removed. The incident prompted a major response, with 80 firefighters, police and civil protection forces present at the scene.

A relief aircraft, a Boeing 757, was arranged to transport the stranded passengers home to Birmingham.
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A series of strikes on the London Underground have been cancelled just days before they were due to begin.

Tube drivers who are members of the Aslef union were due to walk out on Monday 8 April and Saturday 4 May.

The industrial action was likely to bring the network to a halt.

But the union has now said that after a series of meetings involving the conciliation service Acas, its negotiating team has received a proposal that resolves the key issues in the dispute.

Read more: April rail strikes: How will train drivers walk-out hit passengers?

An official said: Management have confirmed that they have disbanded their Trains Modernisation team and will not be implementing their plans to change drivers working arrangements without agreement.

They have also agreed to reinstate annual refresher training stopped during the pandemic.

The now-dropped strike did not involve train drivers on the Elizabeth Line, who are covered by a separate agreement. Services on London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway would have run as normal, though with crowding expected.

Members of Aslef working for London Underground voted by more than 98 per cent in favour of strike action on a turnout of over 70 per cent. They would have been the second and third days of action on the same issue. A one-day strike in March last year resulted in the closure of almost all the Tube network.

Nick Dent, director of customer operations for London Underground, said: We are pleased that Aslef has withdrawn its planned industrial action on Monday 8 April and Saturday 4 May. This is good news for London and we will continue to work constructively with the trade unions to avoid disruption and address concerns.

The cancelled action has been described as good news for Londoners by the citys mayor, Sadiq Khan, who wrote on Twitter/X: This demonstrates  once again  what can be achieved by talking and engaging with transport staff and trade unions rather than working against them.

In a separate dispute, drivers at 16 rail companies are staging a fresh wave of strikes, plus a six-day overtime ban, beginning today.
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An Australian man was allegedly removed from a Jetstar flight from Sydney to Brisbane after taking a photo on the tarmac.

Jimmy Mitchell has claimed that a crew member called him an idiot for using his phone which led to a confrontation resulting in his removal from the plane.

The incident has sparked debate on social media regarding airline policies and customer treatment.

On Wednesday, Mr Mitchell, with his wife Pauline and two children, were about to board the flight when he took out his phone to click a photo of the family.

He failed to realise that an announcement had been made that stated that passengers were prohibited from using phones on the tarmac due to the refuelling of the plane.

He reportedly said later that he had noise-cancelling headphones on and had not heard the announcement.

While eventually allowed back on board, Mr Mitchell has now demanded an apology from Jetstar, criticising their handling of the situation.

Mr Mitchell shared his experience on TikTok. He recounted that when a crew member attempted to capture his attention to stow away the device, it left him feeling embarrassed and taken aback.

This is the worst experience Ive ever had flying, he said in the clip.

I try and get on the plane, I take a photo of my kids as they get on the plane, in flight mode, and the lady calls me an idiot.

The flight attendant reportedly informed Mr Mitchell, whose family had already boarded, that he wouldnt be allowed to board the flight and threatened that police would be awaiting him.

I can see how she maybe felt I was being intimidating because I am a big guy and I am a loud guy. She turns around to me and goes you almost assaulted me, get off the tarmac, youre not getting on this plane.

Mr Mitchell reportedly returned inside the terminal and awaited further instructions. Eventually he was permitted to board the flight after cooler heads prevailed.

He is demanding an apology from the airline for the stressful ordeal. He also criticised the airline for their treatment of his family and their failure to allow him to communicate with them about the situation, deeming it entirely unacceptable.

The affected passenger claimed that he was almost reduced to tears.

Its one thing that she was completely out of line for calling me an idiot, I can get over that I am a big boy  and youre probably sitting there going hes a sook and he shouldnt have reacted that way  but next time someone youre supposed to be a customer of calls you an idiot  you tell me next time how you would react in that situation.

He said we travel full time, we do about 25 flights a year and Ive never had anyone call me an idiot as I boarded a flight. This is, this is absolutely incredible.

The Independent has contacted the airline for comment.

JetStar told News.com.au that phones are not allowed to be used while on the tarmac as this is an operational space and we remind customers of this via gate PAs.

All our customers and team members have the right to feel respected when flying with us or when at work and were looking into what took place in this instance, the spokesperson said.

On social media, there was a raging debate on the matter. One user wrote: Take it further and dont let them get away with what they have done.

Others said that a staffer calling Mr Mitchell an idiot was unacceptable.

Meanwhile, in 2017, Jetstar was branded the worst airline in the world, after receiving one star out of five for overall customer satisfaction.
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As the latest bout of industrial action by train drivers gets under way, The Independent has uncovered an extraordinary rail fare anomaly  whereby a one-mile walk can save passengers 34, while some travellers may be paying more than twice as much as they need to.

Members of the Aslef union will be walking out on Friday 5 April at Avanti West Coast and others. On Saturday 6 April, the East Coast operator LNER will be one of the targets of the strikers; only a limited service will run on the link from Edinburgh, Newcastle and York to London Kings Cross.

As a result, many Scottish travellers are seeking alternative routes from Edinburgh to London. But some risk paying much more than they need due to the bizarre fares structure between the Scottish and English capitals.

Anyone searching for a Saturday morning train from Edinburgh Waverley to London Kings Cross on the LNER website is told that the cheapest fare is 200 one way. The state-owned train operator quotes only the Anytime fare, even though Saturday is an off-peak day.

The traveller will need to broaden the search to London Terminals to become aware of a direct train on Avanti West Coast from Edinburgh to London Euston, for which the fare is 125.

Yet even this is far more than passengers need to pay. The Avanti West Coast train stops at Haymarket station, just over one mile west of Edinburgh Waverley station. Passengers for London who board here pay only 91, saving 34 on the fare from the Scottish capitals main station.

Stranger still, with that same 91 ticket they could instead board a train in the other direction, to Edinburgh Waverley, and connect to any of the London Kings Cross services currently showing as costing 200. Other passengers on the same train could be paying more than twice as much.

Such an extreme anomaly on one of the UKs key intercity links arises from the absurdities baked in during privatisation three decades ago  together with a pilot scheme on LNER of abolishing off-peak tickets on certain key journeys.

Earlier this year the state-run company said: Were piloting the removal of the complicated and outdated off-peak and super off-peak fares.

As a result, LNER sells only Anytime, Advance and 70min Flex tickets from Edinburgh, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Newcastle to London.

The 70min Flex is a variety of Advance tickets that allows passengers to switch to a train within 70 minutes. When Advance tickets are sold  as they almost all are on strike days  the only fare that shows from Edinburgh is a 200 one-way ticket.

The 125 fare from Edinburgh Waverley is restricted to Avanti West Coasts route via Carlisle, Preston and Crewe to London. But the 91 ticket is a super off-peak ticket available for any permitted route  which includes Avanti West Coast plus LNER and other operators on the East Coast main line.

Travellers with super off-peak tickets can break their journey and opt for less-common routes  such as the Settle-Carlisle Railway across the Pennines  and could choose to pause in cities such as Sheffield or Oxford.

An LNER spokesperson said: Reduced capacity because of strike action on Saturday means some services between Edinburgh Waverley and London Kings Cross have sold out. Approximately 90 per cent of the Standard Advanced tickets sold for that day were cheaper than the previously available Super Off-Peak fare.

We continue to monitor our Simpler Fares pilot between Edinburgh, Newcastle and London and will make adjustments so that as many people as possible can access the right ticket at the right price for them.

Mark Smith, the former British Rail manager who runs the Seat61.com website, said:  LNERs Simpler Fares trial on the Edinburgh-London route has been bad news for passengers.

The most important thing about it is knowing how to circumvent it. A flexible and refundable super off-peak fare still exists between Haymarket and London and is a far better deal than the restrictive and non-refundable Advance fares that have replaced the super off-peak on the Edinburgh-London flow, so buy from Haymarket instead.

Mr Smith concluded: One day, Britain may have sensible, logical rail fares, and itll make train travel so much easier and more attractive. But I wonder whether Ill live long enough to see it?
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On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse will sweep across North America, providing an astronomical experience in many alluring locations.

Only a tiny proportion of humanity has ever witnessed a total eclipse  but tens of millions of people will be able to experience one as the path of totality sweeps from the Pacific to the Atlantic during the course of that magical Monday.

Heres what you need to know about why you should see it and where to be.

What happens during a total solar eclipse?

The greatest show on earth comes courtesy of the lifeless moon. Normally the orbiting lunar lump merely provides earth with tides, moonlight and somewhere to aim space rockets. But roughly once a year the natural satellite aligns with the sun and, thanks to a geometric miracle, blots out the hub of the solar system to create a total eclipse.

open image in gallery On track? Part of the path of the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse in the US ( NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio/Michala Garrison )

Even though the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, its also about 400 times closer to earth than the sun is, says Nasa. This means that from earth, the moon and the sun appear to be roughly the same size in the sky.

A narrow band marking the path of totality carves an arc of darkness across the surface of our planet. If you are somewhere on that line at the predicted time, and you have clear skies, then the experience will become a lifelong memory.

The closer you are to the centre of the path of totality, the longer the total eclipse will last. The astronomer Dr John Mason, who has guided dozens of eclipse trips (and will be doing so again in 2024), says: People down in southwest Texas will get about four minutes 20 seconds, and that reduces to about three minutes 20 seconds up in the northeast. Thats a pretty good, long total eclipse.

Whats so good about seeing an eclipse?

In the days leading up to the eclipse, locations in the path of totality acquire something of a carnival atmosphere as astronomical tourists converge in excited anticipation.

On the day, the cosmological performance begins with a warm-up lasting more than an hour, during which the moon steadily nibbles away at the surface of the sun.

Suddenly, you experience totality. The stars and planets appear in the middle of the day. The air chills.

To testify to the heavenly fit between our two most familiar heavenly bodies, faint diamonds known as Bailys beads peek out from behind the moon. They actually comprise light from the sun slipping through lunar valleys.

A sight to behold  so long as you can see the moon blotting out the sun and appreciate the mathematical perfection of nature in our corner of the galaxy.

Eclipses are entirely predictable: we know the stripes that the next few dozen will paint upon the surface of the Earth. But the weather is not. Cloud cover, which blighted the Cornwall eclipse in 1999, downgrades a cosmological marvel to an eerie daytime gloom.

Almost as predictable as the eclipse is that traffic towards the path of totality will be heavy on the morning of 8 April 2024.

Accommodation rates are astronomical: even humdrum motel rooms in Niagara, central in the path of totality, are selling for C$600 (350) for the night of 7-8 April 2024.

open image in gallery Heavens above: Viewing the last great American eclipse in Wyoming in 2017 ( Simon Calder )

Where will the great American eclipse 2024 be visible?

The path of totality makes landfall from the Pacific at Mazatlan on Mexicos Pacific Coast and sweeps northeastwards to reach the US-Mexican border at Piedras Negras.

In the US, three big Texan cities  San Antonio, Austin and Dallas  are on the extremes of the path of totality; many citizens are likely to drive to locations near the centre of the line.

Arkansas will be an attractive place to see the eclipse, with both Texarkana (on the border with Texas) and Little Rock within the path of totality.

In the Midwest, Indianapolis and Cleveland share the distinction of being fairly central in the path of totality. In upstate New York, Buffalo and nearby Niagara Falls (shared with Canada) could be extremely attractive  though prone in early April to cloudy skies.

In Canada, Montreal is just touched by the path of totality. The line then reverts to the US, passing across northern Maine  which promises to be a superb with clear skies. Then back to Canadas Maritime Provinces, with New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland all in the line of darkness.

Will I be able to see a partial eclipse from the UK?

Yes. The eclipse ends with the sunset in the eastern Atlantic, about 600 miles off the coast of Cornwall, before it reaches the UK and Ireland. But on the island of Ireland and western parts of Great Britain, a partial eclipse may be visible with the sun low in the sky.

If skies are clear and you have an open view to the west, it will start at around 7.55pm in Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

BBC Weather presenter Simon King said: With the partial solar eclipse occurring late in the day UK time, the Sun will be low to the horizon and will actually set before the spectacle is over.

Can I combine an exciting city with a partial eclipse?

Boston, New York and Chicago are among the big cities that will see a sizeable chunk of the sun blotted out. Viewer as far apart as Alaska and the far north of Colombia and the Caribbean will, if skies are clear and they use the correct eye protection, see a partial eclipse. But there is nothing to compare with a total eclipse.

Eclipse guru Dr Mason sums up the difference between a 99 per cent partial eclipse and a total eclipse as far apart as a peck on the cheek and a night of passion.

There will be people who will look at the map and say, I live in Cincinnati or I live in Columbus [Ohio] and Im just outside the zone of totality. But Im going to get a 99 per cent-plus eclipse, so maybe I wont bother to travel.

What they dont realise is there an enormous difference between 99 per cent and 100 per cent. And theres a range of phenomena that they wont see if they put up with 99 per cent.

You must use special eclipse safety glasses or viewers when viewing a partial eclipse or during the partial phases of a total solar eclipse.

open image in gallery Selfie star: Dr John Mason, wearing his special eclipse headgear, with a young astronomical fan in Wyoming ahead of the 2017 eclipse ( Simon Calder )

Where should I be for the total experience?

There are no guarantees of clear skies: all you can do is play the odds based on the record of cloud cover for the corresponding date in previous years.

Dr Mason says the average expected cloud cover amounts increase from around 40-45 per cent on the Mexico/Texas border to over 80 per cent in Maine, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

Three particularly tempting locations:

Southern Texas , close to San Antonio or Austin. Besides clear skies being more likely than not, access is easy with direct flights to Austin. Importantly there is much to explore in the region before and after the eclipse, from Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande to Space Center Houston  an excellent place to continue the cosmological theme.

, close to San Antonio or Austin. Besides clear skies being more likely than not, access is easy with direct flights to Austin. Importantly there is much to explore in the region before and after the eclipse, from Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande to Space Center Houston  an excellent place to continue the cosmological theme. Northern Arkansas , a picturesque part of the state, with the added attraction of Memphis just a couple of hours away.

, a picturesque part of the state, with the added attraction of Memphis just a couple of hours away. Niagara Falls: the dramatic border between the US and Canada could be an eclipse washout due to clouds. But the natural surroundings are impeccable  and there is plenty of accommodation, which will avoid the risk of being caught in severe traffic congestion on the freeways from Toronto and locations in New York State.

However, the most recent forecasts for cloud cover suggest that the Midwest around Indianapolis and the northeastern state of Maine could have the best prospects.

open image in gallery Darkening skies: the track of the total solar eclipse 2024 ( HeavensAbove.com )

When are the next total solar eclipses?

Summer 2026  Wednesday 12 August, to be precise  should bring a spectacular eclipse visible in northern Spain at the height of the European holiday season. The path of totality begins in the Arctic and crosses Greenland and Iceland before arriving in the northern half of Spain. The stripe of darkness will traverse the great cities of Bilbao, Zaragoza and Valencia in mainland Spain before arriving in Palma de Mallorca.

The following summer (2 August 2027), the southern tip of mainland Spain is in the path of totality for an eclipse that will sweep across North Africa and the Arabian peninsula: going east from the Strait of Gibraltar, it will encompass Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the northeasternmost corner of Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Just under 12 months later, on 22 July 2028, Outback Australia will be the place to be. A total eclipse will make landfall in northern Western Australia, sweep across the Northern Territory and part of southwest Queensland  then clean across New South Wales, with Sydney in the middle of the path of totality.

Winter cloud cover could disrupt the experience in Australias largest city  and is very likely in the southern portion of New Zealands South Island where the eclipse reaches a finale.

Australia also features in the cosmological plans on 25 November 2030. This is early summer in the southern hemisphere, and likely to be good conditions for viewing in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa (Durban is on the path of totality) as well as South Australia.
A huge jet of water spewed from a New York City high rise on Thursday morning.

Footage posted to the Citizen social media app showed the massive jet of water bursting from a building in Hells Kitchen, on West 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, just before noon.

FDNY told the New York Post they were responding to a water leak and that no injuries had been reported.

According to a post on Citizen the water had been turned off by around 12:15pm, indicating the leak lasted for around 25-30 minutes.
Stop it  stop it now. It is not just Jill Biden who is begging her husband to act decisively to end the war in Gaza. The deaths of the seven heroic international aid workers have triggered a global howl of humanitarian anguish.

In all likelihood, Joe Biden, a compassionate and emotional man, doesnt need Flotus to tell him what needs to be done. He has struggled with the painful dilemmas the present crisis has created for many months. He was as shocked as anyone at the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October.

Instinctively, the president stood by Israel. So did the world. But the president has also clearly been increasingly troubled by the conduct of the war. He has grown more outspoken about the casualties and breaches of international law. He has lifted the US veto at the UN and called for a ceasefire.

The question, and the conundrum, now is whether the man at the head of a superpower can manage to prevail upon the Israeli government  which crucially relies on America  to order a ceasefire and cancel the invasion of Rafah. If allowed to go ahead, the onslaught will probably begin soon after the end of Ramadan next week. President Biden must understand that it is impossible to protect civilians in the event of ground operations, and a humanitarian disaster will necessarily follow.

To dissuade the Israelis from following their current plan, the president will have to use more than words: he must make Americas diplomatic, financial and military support for Israel firmly conditional. American aircraft, tanks and missiles used in combat in Gaza must now have a new fitment  some political strings attached. If they do not, then the flow of American armaments and technology to Israel will have to cease. Indeed, depriving Israel of the weapons of war, and adding to its international isolation, is becoming, sadly, inevitable. If need be  and that seems highly likely  America must stop sending arms to Israel.

There are compelling, if rare, historical precedents for such pressure to be brought to bear. In 1992, the administration of George HW Bush felt it necessary to delay a $10bn aid package for Israel until the government of Yitzhak Shamir stopped illegal settlements on the West Bank  a perennial source of tension.

In the case of the UK, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher, both staunch defenders of Israels right to exist and live in peace, blocked arms exports in 1982 and 2002. Rishi Sunak, who is as frustrated as Mr Biden at Israels lack of cooperation, is rightly subject to increasing political impetus to toughen his stance on arms supplies, and a growing consensus among very senior legal figures that he will be breaking international law if he permits British industry to supply Israels war machine. It is true that the British arms trade with Israel is small, but it is a matter of doing the right thing and sending an unmistakeable symbolic message.

In all of this, though, it is of course the United States that counts, and historical relations between America and Israel also make it easier for Washington to exert some influence.

Though the British are sometimes surprised to learn it, the country whose association with the United States most closely conforms to the idea of a special relationship is Israel. It dates back to the time of JFK, and successive administrations have sought to build close and supportive links with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. At moments when the very existence of Israel has been imperilled, such as during the 1973 Yom Kippur war, America has sent lavish quantities of materiel unconditionally, backing an effectively unlimited security guarantee, and made tireless diplomatic efforts to bring conflicts to an end and peace to the region.

Presidents Carter and Clinton made the more successful of the many peace initiatives; George W Bushs interventions were less fruitful. Even Donald Trump, who erred too far in his sympathies towards the Israeli side, can be credited with the Abrahamic Accords, which accelerated the process of normalising Israels recognition by and diplomatic links with states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. America is always the key player.

President Biden has the advantage over most of his predecessors in his long experience and personal acquaintance with the key players. His misfortune is not that of being tasked with trying to stop the war, but of being confronted with the obdurate features of Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli premiers very physiognomy seems to growl No  and it does not seem that he has taken very much notice of whatever mix of threats, blandishments and promises his closest ally communicated to him via the hotline.

Mr Biden is a cautious man, and the political consequences of taking a tough line with Mr Netanyahu in an election year do complicate matters. But, in this strained and curiously unbalanced relationship, there must come a time when the president says no to Bibi, and echoes the words of the first lady: Stop it  stop it now.
The chief executive of IDA Ireland has said that increased regulation in the EU is off-putting to investors in the life sciences sector.

Michael Lohan, who has appointed as head of the state's inward investment agency last year, told the Financial Times that this rise in regulation could threaten innovation.

Europe is probably becoming too burdensome from a regulatory and approval perspective . . . and that could impact innovation, he said.

He described the regulatory system in the US as more agile, more responsive, while the European system, one could argue has moved in the opposite direction.

Mr Lohan said that Europe has lost its position as being the location of choice for new medical devices.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) said that the US attracted a third more R&D investment than Europe in 2010. In 2020, that had risen to more than two-thirds, according to the group.

Mr Lohan told the publication that new rules proposed by the European Commission last year could contribute to widening the gap between the US and the EU.

The suggested new rules from the Commission, which are under discussion and have not yet become law, state that manufacturers must market new drugs in all 27 countries of the EU within two years of product launch.

It also proposed a minimum period of regulatory protection of 8 years, down from the previous market exclusivity for new medicines of 10 years.

The Commission said new rules would offer better access to innovative and affordable medicines for patients and national health systems.

However, Lohan warned that they could contribute to new barriers within the research and development cycle of new treatments, potentially leading to a delay in market access.

From a European perspective, we have to get the balance right, he said.

Junior minister Neale Richmond added that Irish authorities must also regulate faster to see the amazing drugs that are being made in Ireland being sold and used in Ireland as well.

He said that Ireland cannot simply be an export destination to the US.

Lars Fruergaard Jrgensen, president of EFPIA and chief executive of Novo Nordisk, also told the Financial Times that innovation is heading to the US.

He added that companies will be less likely to fund new drugs in Europe if payback is cut.
Broadcasters Laurita Blewitt and Hector O hEochagain last year recorded strong profits from their involvement in the highly successful Tommy, Hector and Laurita (THL) podcast.

This week, the two along with TV host, actor and stand-up comedian Tommy Tiernan announced that the podcast has come to an end over difficulties in finding time to record together due to the trios individual careers and schedules.

Underlining the financial success of the podcast venture, accounts recently filed for Ms Blewitts podcasting firm, Lightning Seeds (IRL) Ltd, show that it recorded post-tax profits of 103,929 in the 12 months to the end of September last.

This followed post-tax profits of 190,775 in the prior year at the firm owned by Ms Blewitt, who is a cousin of US president Joe Biden. Ms Blewitts company last year paid out a dividend of 65,000 and this followed a dividend payout of 150,000 in the prior year.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

The success of the THL podcast has also coincided in a surge in profits at Hector O hEochagains media firm, Low Profile Ltd.

Separate accounts recently filed show that the well-known presenters Low Profile Ltd recorded post-tax profits of 130,723 in the 12 months to the end of December last.

This followed profits of 172,181 in 2022 and profits of 132,548 during the first full year of the podcast in 2021. At the end of December last, the Co Galway-based company had shareholder funds of 477,210, while its current assets, made up of cash and money owed by debtors, totalled 295,839.

The THL podcast generated over 20 million listens in its first two-and-a-half years.

Ms Blewitt is one half of one of the countrys best-known media couples after her marriage to outspoken GAA pundit and barrister Joe Brolly.

Mr Brolly has his own successful podcast with journalist Dion Fanning called Free State and it is produced by Mr Brollys Gold Hat Productions.

The most recent accounts for Brollys Gold Hat Productions ROI Ltd show that it had cash funds of 391,757 at the end of September 2022. The company paid out dividends of 48,733 in 2022 and this followed dividends of 74,329 paid out in 2021. The company recorded profits of 57,797 in 2022.

The award winning THL podcast generated income through subscriber only content, advertising and the sale of merchandise.
The glitch-prone Irish banks latest technical difficulty blocked users from logging into their accounts or completing some credit card transactions online

Bank Of Irelandhas restored access to its online banking operations after an outage left customers without services for four hours.

The outage, which the bank has put down to an unspecified technical issue, saw customers locked out of their online banking accounts through Bank Of Irelands apps and websites.

"There was a technical issue this afternoon which required us to take it offline while we fixed the problem, the bank said in a statement at 4.20pm, over four hours after the outage began.

"We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to our customers today.

During the outage, attempts to log on were met by error messages, while some customers could also not use their Bank Of Ireland credit cards online because the bank was unable to fulfil the verification process.

Hundreds of angry customers took to social media to complain about the outage, which affected login attempts on all platforms.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

In a further statement, the bank added what while online purchases using Bank Of Ireland issued credit cards could not all be completed, physical credit cards could still be used as normal in shops and physical locations.

Bank Of Ireland has had a number of IT problems and glitches over the last two years, culminating in a rebuke and a fine from the Central Bank.
The technological expertise that turned Taiwan into a semiconductor powerhouse appears to have kept damage and casualties relatively low from its worst quake in a quarter of a century, according to an academic who worked on the islands disaster response.

The quake measured 7.4 in magnitude and struck the east coast of Taiwan early yesterday, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 800.

The temblor levelled dozens of buildings in Hualien County and shook buildings in Taipei.

While the toll may rise  several were reported killed as of yesterday afternoon  a milder quake that hit in 2016 killed over 100 people, while more than 2,400 people died in a major quake in 1999.

Revised building codes after 1999s disaster and better technology helped mitigate casualties during yesterdays quake, which could still have major implications for the global tech supply chain.

Wu Yih-min, a professor of geosciences at National Taiwan University and a team head at the National Science and Technology Centre for Disaster Reduction, said that in the last three-to-five years a disaster response system developed by the agency became more sophisticated, meeting a crucial need in one of the most seismically active parts of the world.

Taiwan continues to develop these technologies, and we have advantages, Mr Wu said, adding that it would be harder for regions without a strong tech industry.

Mr Wu said the islands disaster response system scans key words and photos posted online, allowing the government to deploy resources quickly.

It can also detect mobile signals in affected areas to track the flow of people, while also collecting screenshots from surveillance cameras.

That tech savvy has seen the island become a key player in the global market for laptops, motherboards and network devices.

Crucial chipmakers such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics halted operations at some plants and evacuated some staff.

Those chipmakers often have to deal with seismic activity or typhoons, and TSMC said the evacuations were procedural.

When factories in Taiwans science parks were being built, companies factored in seismic activity in their plans and had standard procedures for emergency responses, Deputy Minister Lin Minn-tsong of Taiwans National Science and Technology Council said in a statement.

Similarly, while more than 300,000 households lost power after the quake, the islands power company said it had restored electricity to more than two-thirds in less than two hours. Only 3,478 were still dealing with outages as of mid-afternoon yesterday.

After the earthquake hit at 7.58am Taipei time, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen announced an emergency response office and said the military will provide support to stricken areas.

Road and rail links to and around Hualien have been severely damaged, with workers continuing to try to rescue trapped residents. The quake hit just ahead of the start of a four-day holiday in Taiwan observing Qingming.

Tens of thousands of people normally travel to their home towns over the period.
A united Ireland would add about 5pc of gross national income (GNI) to the Governments deficit, according to a new study published today.

If social welfare payments and rates of public-sector pay in Northern Ireland were aligned with those in the south, the cost would be almost 10pc of modified GNI.

This would add a quarter to public expenditure in Ireland, where total government spending currently amounts to about 40pc of GNI*, while producing only a limited increase in revenue, according to the authors.

To deal with the resulting deficit, which would be likely to persist for many years after unification, there would have to be a dramatic increase in taxation and/or a major reduction in expenditure south of the border, they say.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

The calculations, which take Northern Ireland deficit figures for 2019 as their basis, are contained in a paper published by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).

Entitled Northern Ireland Subvention: Possible Unification Effects, it was authored by John FitzGerald from the Department of Economics in Trinity College Dublin and Edgar Morgenroth of DCU.

Mr Fitzgerald said: Even though Ireland has a much higher national income, funding the needs of the people of Northern Ireland in a united Ireland would put huge financial pressure on the people of Ireland, resulting in an immediate major reduction in their living standards.

The paper argues that the cost of a united Ireland could be substantially reduced if the north made major changes in its economy in order to raise productivity.

Reforms would reduce the Northern Ireland deficit, thereby cutting the costs associated with unification. But even in the most favourable circumstances and with the best policies, the paper says that it is likely to be at least two decades before the productivity gap could be substantially narrowed.

The paper, which examines the subvention from the UK government that is needed to support the Northern Ireland budget, is a follow-up from previous research in 2019. It updates figures on the subvention and how it might be affected in a 32-county state.

The authors stress that they take account of the wider economic effects of Irish unification, which could have implications for public finances both north and south.

Professor Morgenroth said: Given the very detailed integration of the Northern Ireland economy into that of the UK, separating the two economies, as would occur under a united Ireland, would involve major costs for Northern Ireland.

"While some of these costs would eventually be offset by the wider benefits of integration into the wider EU economy, this would take some considerable time. Also, under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland currently enjoys some of the benefits of EU membership insofar as it affects goods produced in Northern Ireland.
Roger Casement longed to be part of a bigger cause but could never escape his loneliness

The Anglo-Irish rebel is brought to life in a biography that delves into his troubles but skims over his controversial Black Diaries

Roger Casement, who was hanged in 1916. Photo: George Rinhart via Getty Images

Andrew Lynch Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 03:30







TE Lawrence saw Roger Casement as a kindred spirit. Shortly before his death from a motorcycle crash in 1935, the English adventurer best remembered as Lawrence of Arabia was hoping to pen a short book about the equally enigmatic Easter Rising martyr.
Not for the first time, Im led to believe that humanity has learned precisely nothing. In June 2011, Amy Winehouse was mercilessly booed at a Belgrade concert and dragged viciously online for seeming troubled and incapacitated onstage.
While the US Department of Agriculture has said there's little safety risk, the outbreak is unsettling the industry, with cattle and milk prices taking a hit. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

A virus that has killed millions of birds is spreading among US dairy cows, raising concerns that the outbreak may hurt demand for dairy and beef.

While the US Department of Agriculture has said there's little safety risk, the outbreak is unsettling the industry, with cattle and milk prices taking a hit. There's concern some shoppers will balk at drinking milk or eating beef.

"Risks to consumer demand for dairy are prevalent in conversations," StoneX Group Inc. analyst Dave Kurzawski said in a note to clients. He added that while there are "big risks on the table," the impact of the illness on buyer behavior is unclear.

Bird flu has been confirmed in dairy cows across several states, with the USDA saying Monday it has been found in New Mexico and five additional herds in Texas. The virus has even infected a person in Texas, while the biggest US egg producer idled a plant after the virus was found in the facility.

The infection of cows by the same virus strain that emerged in Europe in 2020 and has since caused an unprecedented number of deaths in wild birds and poultry globally is also raising concerns on the supply side.

Infected Texas dairy cattle are experiencing decreased lactation and low appetite, with older cows more likely to be severely impacted. Some herds have reported pneumonia and clinical mastitis an inflammatory disease the Texas Animal Health Commission said by email. Most animals seem to recover in as many as two weeks with supported care, albeit with reduced milk production levels.

Some cows may never see their milk production recover to pre-infection levels, in which case they might be culled, according to a HighGround Dairy report Monday. "The longer-term impact on supply is not entirely clear, as farmers are trying to maintain herd inventories in a time of tight cattle supplies," it said.

For an individual farmer who has already been struggling with low prices and low margins, even a small amount of lost production adds another challenge, according to Alan Bjerga, executive vice president of communications and industry relations at the National Milk Producers Federation. But he added that the overall impact to the industry should be mild.

"When you consider the tiny number of farms with confirmed illnesses, the limited number of cows affected, the limit of that sickness to only older animals, and the fact that cows that become ill eventually recover to produce milk again," the impact on the milk supply is minuscule, he said.

While no cases have been found in beef herds so far, cattle futures fell 2.7% on Monday following the confirmation of a person in Texas had been affected. The market trimmed some losses on Tuesday.

The person in Texas most likely contracted bird flu after being exposed to infected dairy cows, public health officials said. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the general population remains low.

"The market has made a huge leap here into the idea that beef demand is definitely going to be severely impacted by bird flu," Dennis Smith, an analyst at Archer Financial Services Inc., said in an interview.

Meanwhile, milk futures have fallen for four straight days on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, even as the USDA said the contamination of cows poses no major threats to the safety of milk and other dairy products sold at grocery stores because they're sterilized before entering the market.

Still, milk from impacted animals is being diverted or destroyed so it doesn't enter the human food supply, and the CDC said people should not eat uncooked or undercooked food from animals that may be infected. The Food and Drug Administration isn't aware that any milk or dairy product from symptomatic cows has been sent for commercialization.

"There continues to be no concern that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health, or that it affects the safety of the commercial milk supply," the USDA said. In addition, milk loss has been too limited to have a major impact on supply and prices, the agency said.

Bloomberg.
An investigation has been launched by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment into alleged breaches of UN and EU sanctions by an Irish company.

The company, run by former members of the Irish Defence Forces, allegedly provided training to members of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftars forces in Libya.

Following the death of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Haftar rejected the authority of the new government and established the breakaway Libyan National Army.

Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Micheal Martin said the allegations are deeply shocking and could cause reputational damage to the country.

"The alleged breaches of UN and EU sanctions in the manner outlined in this report are deeply shocking and cause reputational damage to Ireland and our Defence Forces, a spokesperson for Mr Martin said.

No Irish citizen should knowingly be involved in activities that breach these sanctions, least of all former members of the Irish Defence Forces.

The high level of training and proficiency gained by members of the Defence Forces should never be used in circumstances such as those found in eastern Libya, nor for supporting the forces of Khalifa Haftar.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

Since 2011, an arms embargo has been in place in Libya, prohibiting the sale, supply or transfer of arms or weaponry to Libya.

The arms embargo was imposed by the UN Security Council and given further effect by restrictive measures from the EU. Also included in the arms embargo is a prohibition on technical assistance, training, and other assistance related to military activities.

It also includes the provision, maintenance or use of arms and related materials, subject to certain limited exceptions.

The spokesperson said Mr Martin has spoken with Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean Clancy and confirmed the Department of Enterprise has launched an investigation.

"The Tanaiste has spoken with the Chief of Staff to outline his deep concern at the matters alleged in this report, which need to be examined further, the spokesperson said.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has confirmed it has now commenced an investigation into these allegations as the relevant competent authority.

This investigation is at an early stage and all avenues will be pursued.

The Tanaiste has also asked officials for consideration to be given to further legislation to strengthen safeguards in relation to the activities of both serving and former members of the Defence Forces in regions covered by UN or EU sanctions.

The Department of Foreign Affairs advises against all travel to Libya by Irish citizens.
Anti-vaccine activist Antonio Mureddu tells judge in assault case: I am not Antonio Mureddu

In court, Mr Mureddu - flanked by a prison officer on either side - told Judge Gabbett that he was in court under duress after being kidnapped

Antonio Mureddu. Photo: North West Newspix

Gordon Deegan Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 08:54







A judge has told anti-vaccine activist Antonio Mureddu that he is facing quite serious charges after returning him to trial to the circuit court.
Videos

Twenty years on from the killing of John Frog Ward by farmer Padraig Nally the tragic events of that day still cast a shadow over the lives of many
Armed Spanish police arrest Irish gangster (36) in major cannabis trafficking investigation

Detectives believe the Irish national was part of a British-led gang that had been sending large quantities of cannabis  amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros - to Ireland

Irish suspect is cuffed by Spanish cops

Niall Feiritear Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 08:41







Armed Spanish police have dramatically arrested an Irishman whom they accuse of being a dedicated drug trafficker.
Pictured: Man beaten to death in Clondalkin attack as gardai continue hunt for gang involved

Investigators are awaiting the results of a post-mortem but the resources of a murder investigation have been allocated to the inquiry

Josip Strok

Robin Schiller Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 13:32







Friends of a Croatian man beaten to death in Dublin over the weekend have set up a fundraiser to support his family as gardai continue to hunt for the gang involved.
Grave vandalised in unholy row which threatens to tear village apart

Its been claimed that some unmarked graves in the cemetery adjacent to St Marys Catholic Church have been disturbed for new burials  a suggestion dismissed by the parish priest.

A unholy row has broken out at St. Mary's Church, in Stewartstown between the congregation

Ciaran O'Neill Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 08:23

Police have been called in after an unholy row about burial plots at a Co Tyrone cemetery took a sinister twist.
Some patients who should be in a hospital bed are to be monitored virtually at home as part of a new set of measures to alleviate severe overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has revealed.

Mr Donnelly saw at first hand the emergency departments trolley logjam yesterday.

He announced a new package of measures to tackle the high levels of congestion at the hospital including more beds, virtual wards and six-day rosters for senior consultants, as well as early-morning on-the-floor presence of managers.

The opening hours of the regions three acute medical assessment units at Nenagh, Ennis and St Johns are to be extended to 24/7 on a phased basis.

Outlining the plan, Mr Donnelly said key measures will include better patient flow and faster discharge of patients.

The measures include the hospital being designated as one of two national hospitals to be tested for acute virtual wards where patients who would normally be in a hospital bed are remotely monitored and receive treatment in their homes.

A number of investigations are currently under way into the circumstances around patient deaths at the hospital, including that of Aoife Johnston (16) from Shannon who died in December 2022 from sepsis after waiting 12 hours to be treated.

Mr Donnelly also said a procurement process has been started to secure a new 50-bed nursing home in Nenagh as a step-down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility for the hospital until a 96-bed block is opened.

The new block will now have 71 beds instead of the previous plan for 48 by holding on to some of the beds from old wards.

A further 20 permanent step-down transition and rehab beds will be procured in Clare. There will be 16 additional fast-build beds commissioned on site with this capacity to be available in advance of next winters surge.

Safe staffing will be extended to all wards in UHL as per the national rollout.

The hospital will provide GP and advanced nurse practitioner-on-the-door services for the emergency department in an effort to alleviate overcrowding and allow the staff to treat urgent and emergency patients in a more timely manner.

The minister said Limerick has consistently the highest number of people waiting on trolleys for admittance to a hospital bed in the country.

So far this year, 17pc of those who waited on trolleys did so at UHL, a hospital which has 6pc of emergency department attendances and 6pc of attendances of those over 75.

The hospital has recorded a 14pc or 2,400 patient increase in the number of people presenting at the emergency department this year compared to the same period last year.

The number of patients on trolleys has increased by 1,600.

Of the five hospitals with the highest numbers of patients on trolleys, UHL is the only one showing an increase in trolley numbers for this year.

This continued problem is not acceptable to me and it most certainly is not acceptable to the people of this region, said Mr Donnelly.

Those hospitals that are improving their performance are doing so through a combination of increased resources  we have more beds and more staff right across our health service, albeit not to the same extent as here in Limerick  and reformed work practices.
The means test for a GP visit card was eased last year. Photo: Stock image

Hundreds of thousands of people who are entitled to free GP care have yet to apply for a card that could save them up to 75 a visit.

The means test for a GP card entitling people to free visits to their doctor was eased last year.

The aim was to extend the benefit to about 430,000 people. However, because of low levels of applications, just under 39,000 people aged eight to 69 have received a GP visit card.

One in six people are paying between 26 and 50 to see their GP, while more than a third are paying between 51 and 75, with prices highest in Dublin, according to a Department of Health survey.

Around 20,350 people received the GP visit card after applying directly. Another 18,643 were given one after first seeking a medical card, which has a more stringent means test. However, they found they were eligible for a GP visit card instead.

Thousands of parents of children aged six and seven, who were extended automatic entitlement to a GP visit card last August, have not availed of one, although take-up is high.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

Around 78,000 children were estimated to be in this age bracket, and figures show 71,555 of those have been granted a card.

A HSE spokeswoman said that figure includes new applicants and children under six who already had a card they could hold on to when they got older.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said earlier this year the HSE had made the explanation around who is eligible for a means-tested card too complicated and he wanted it simplified. The HSE has now made it easier to understand on its website.

Although the numbers applying for the card have increased, the take-up remains slow, despite the high cost of living.

Anyone who is given a card will be assigned a GP if they fail to get on the books of family doctor.

The HSE said a means-tested card involves looking at an applicants income, personal circumstances and expenses.

Its possible that you may qualify for a GP visit card even if the amount of money you earn is high. If your expenses are also high, you could still qualify, the HSE said.

If a person is single, their first 36,000 of savings, investments or property is not assessed, and for a married couple it is 72,000.

Allowable expenses include rent, mortgage, childcare costs, commuter costs, maintenance payments, the cost of private nursing-home care, mortgage protection and life assurance for mortgage protection.

Cabinet approval has also been given to legislation that will make it easier to qualify for a medical card by disregarding the income of 14,000 a year from the rent-a-room scheme.

A strategic review of general practice is currently under way, with input from various interests including doctors.
Shakira Williams and her brother Thabo at their home in Tuam, Co Galway where their mother Nadia, requires round-the-clock care. Photo: Ray Ryan

Shakira Williams and her brother Thabo say it's very difficult being carers for their mother Nadia. Photo: Ray Ryan

Two teenagers are appealing for help as they care for their mother, as one is just weeks away from sitting her Leaving Certificate exams.

Shakira Williams (17) and her brother Thabo (15), who live in Tuam, Co Galway, are the primary carers for their mother Nadia (51). She was badly injured in a car accident on the N83 near Corofin in 2020.

Nadias eldest children, Abigail and Samuel, are providing financial support to the family, who moved to Tuam from Co Donegal in 2013.

However, the day-to-day care of Nadia, who sleeps in a hospital bed in the living room of their home, has fallen to her two youngest children.

Shakira said the roles of mother and child had been reversed since her mothers accident. She does not know whether she will be able to sit her Leaving Cert because she has missed so much school.

Ive been caring for Mom since her accident when she was left with a variety of medical issues from memory problems to sleep apnoea and post-concussion syndrome, Shakira said.

I wake her, shower her, dress her and I administer her medication. I have gone from being her child to being the one who parents her.

Instead of focusing on my Leaving Cert, Ive had to take Mom to her numerous medical appointments, so Ive missed a lot of school.

Keeping her alive is my priority, not my education. I went from being a top student to not knowing if I will even be able to sit my exams.

Shakira Williams and her brother Thabo say it's very difficult being carers for their mother Nadia. Photo: Ray Ryan

I shouldnt be caring for an adult, its the most difficult thing I have ever had to do and if I had a choice, I wouldnt be a carer. But I love my mom and I will do everything I can to keep her safe.

I have also had to fight for our family to be put back on the housing list, after we were removed from it, and Ill continue to fight for a house that is suitable to Moms needs.

Thabo said he too had missed school, because he helps look after his mother.

Mom comes first, he said.

I dont get much sleep because Mom has to wear a mask for her sleep apnoea and if it comes off during the night I have to put it back on.

Im always thinking of and worrying about her  she needs proper care. It shouldnt be the responsibility of a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

Elaine OHara, a support manager with Young Carers Ireland, has been helping the family access help over the past 12 months. She said agencies were working together to try to help the family.

We are trying to support the family but because Nadia is only 51, she is not eligible for home help support, Ms OHara said.

We have managed to secure a personal assistant through disability services where the family receive one hour of help, six days a week, but this has only recently been granted and it needs to be increased.

There are a lot of barriers to overcome, but young carers like Shakira and Thabo shouldnt have to sacrifice their education to ensure their mother is cared for and safe.
Teachers have voted at their unions annual conference to establish a taskforce on faith schooling

But during the debate at the INTO gathering in Derry, one teacher told delegates: Id not be a teacher but for the Christian Brothers.

Teachers at the meeting had argued that Catholic patronage in the schooling system no longer represented a diverse Ireland.

Teacher Ann Marie Collins (34), who was raised Catholic in a Traveller family from Navan, Co Meath, vowed she would support the motion, but said she could not help but admit she owed the Catholic church for helping her realise her dream of teaching.

In an unplanned speech, Ms Collins faced the unions Central Executive Committee (CEC) as she said the the Church had indeed helped her, but the system had not.

Ms Collins, looked close to tears, as she said: It wasnt my religion that was stopping me from being a teacher, it was the Teaching Council. It was the minimum requirements.

I started out at 30-years-old. Id done my Leaving Cert. Id worked in education for years. I had a VTEC level five. I had a Trinity Access Programme level five. I had a degree in occupational therapy and I was told that I was not competent as a primary school teacher by the Teaching Council as I didnt have the Leaving Cert requirements.

Thats whats stopping Travellers becoming primary school teachers. Thats whats stopping diversity in the classroom. Not the fact that Im a Catholic.

Ms Collins, who is studying for a PhD at Trinity College Dublin, said she had been for the motion to examine the role of religion in schools.

But she added: Im just so upset that thats what you actually think. Im so annoyed. I feel we need more time to talk about this. There are 10 Travellers that are teachers that I know of. Talk to them. Ask them about their journeys. Its not just about what religion you are.

I would not have become a teacher only for the Christian Brothers in Marino funded me. Id not be a teacher but for the church gave me books to read. We got our money as children from our local parish.

She said she would agree with the abolition of the requirement for teachers to hold a religious education certificate so they could teach in denominational schools

But Ms Collins said: Right now, I know so many Travellers that want to be teachers. And theyre getting their money from their church, who are going, Yes, you should be a teacher.

Delegates voted on a motion on faith formation and school patronage, resulting in the planned establishment of a union taskforce on the issue.

While the INTO said it acknowledges the history and that infrastructure and leadership was formed by religious organisations within the education system, there had been a marked sea-change in Irish society.

The union stated: Irelands population demographics have shifted. According to Census 2022 data, Roman Catholics accounted for 69pc of the population. This figure was 78.3pc in 2016 and 84.2pc in 2011.

Despite this clear trend, only about 150 primary schools in this jurisdiction are multi-denominational. 90pc are Catholic.

One teacher, Caroline Moore, took to the stage and diverted from the topic of religious patronage in a controversial moment met by jeers from the crowd.

She told delegates the majority of the country was still Catholic, and while she was Presbyterian raised she had taught Catholic students and felt teachers needed to watch whats going on.

This Easter, the most important day of the Christian calendar, got hijacked by trans rights, she said.

Male and female teachers in the conference hall began to jeer, but she carried on speaking.

We had Easter eggs, which became special gesture eggs. We need to be careful about identity politics, she warned.

As a result of the motion, the INTO proposes to establish an INTO taskforce on school patronage and to conduct a survey among members on issues relating to religious patronage, including the role of schools in faith formation and their experiences with religious and secular patronage systems.

The INTO said it will endeavour to conduct this survey within the next 12 months.

The Central Executive Committee will set up a taskforce to examine the survey findings and make public the results with members at next years congress.

The union said it would also engage with the primary school patrons and management bodies to remove the requirement for a religious education certificate in order to teach in denominational schools.

Tomas OReilly, from the Roscommon north branch of INTO, said: It is the requirement to teach a faith in 94pc of our primary schools, whether you hold those beliefs or not or even whether that faith explicitly ignores or denigrates your personal identity, sexuality or religion.

Teachers should have the opportunity to work in an environment that allows them to teach the curriculum and doesnt impose that they must teach faith formation religion, something which should be the duty of the family and the religious or non-religious community of their choice.

INTO deputy general secretary Deirdre OConnor said: Teachers, pupils and parents now live in a diverse Ireland. Our schools should reflect the wider school community. Faith formation and religious practice is an understandably emotive and complex issue.
Chief Medical Officer discusses the importance of the MMR vaccine in preventing measles

Measles is gaining ground in Ireland, with another confirmed case bringing the total to 11 so far this year.

There has been one outbreak of measles here where the infection was passed on, which involved four people.

It means that measles cases are not just imported from abroad but have spread within Ireland.

Another 14 probable and possible cases are being investigated, with swabs sent to laboratories for confirmation.

The weekly infectious disease report shows that two cases were confirmed last week.

Among the confirmed cases and those under investigation last week, two were in the east, two in the midlands, one in the north-east, one in the south and two in the south-east.

Five of these cases were in children under four, three in children aged five to nine, one in a teenager and one in a person aged 45 to 54. Six were in males and four in females.

The incubation period from exposure to early symptoms averages 11 to 12 days. The time from exposure to rash onset averages 14 days, with a range of seven to 21 days.

Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth.

Earlier this year, cases involved a man in his 40s from Westmeath who died after contracting measles abroad. Last month two air passengers were found to have measles and there was another case involving a person in the west.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) offers protection against measles, as well as prior infection. However, vaccination levels here are below 90pc when they should be at 95pc.

There is particular concern for people with lowered immune systems, pregnant women and babies under 12 months.

The HSE is currently rolling out a measles vaccination programme which is delivered by GPs and also its own teams.

MMR vaccines are available free of charge from GPs to all groups, but primarily to those under 18 years, and from HSE community clinics for everyone eligible who is aged five and over.

A list of vaccination clinics is available on the HSE website. It is possible to book an appointment and walk-in appointments are also available.

Additionally, the HSE is providing clinics for specific groups including students and young people in education settings, underserved groups including refugees, applicants and other minority groups.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said he has no plans to step down from Cabinet before the next general election and will run again with the hopes of returning to his department.

However, the Fine Gael minister said it is up to the new Taoiseach if he will return to his post.

His comments follow intense speculation that Minister Donohoe would step down from Irish politics before next September, with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney announcing that he will step down from Cabinet next week.

No I am not planning any announcement about standing down. Yes, I hope to continue doing the work that I am doing but that is a matter for the new Taoiseach and party leader, he said.

I am not going to say anything that is going to make his job even more difficult.

He added that there is some change happening however, he stressed that change can be a regular feature of a Government and that the Government will continue to fulfil its mandate.

He was speaking after a briefing on the exchequer returns for the first quarter of 2024 with Finance Minister Michael McGrath.

Mr Donohoe said he believes there is a really important debate yet to be had regarding the work that he and Minister McGrath are engaged in and its benefit to our society and economy.

He said that together through four budgets, both departments have supported the country through a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis and managed to get the budget into surplus.

He said that this amounted to a further 2.25 billion in capital expenditure growth which he said few economies are able to do at the moment.

I want to make the argument for that in the time ahead, so I will be running in the next general election and it is a matter for Minister Harris regarding who he wants to do what, he said.

Minister Donohoe and Minister McGrath both denied any plans for a mini-budget after Minister Harris becomes Taoiseach next Tuesday.

We have no plans to bring forward an additional budget, Minister Donohoe said.

His remarks come ahead of the Fine Gael Ard Fheis which is set to take place this weekend in Galway, with motions to be tabled on key issues such as AI, water supply, VAT, health and housing.

One motion at the Ard Fheis in University of Galway calls on the Government to create the position of Minister of State for Online Safety and Artificial Intelligence.

Another calls on Government to plan and invest in appropriate medical care infrastructure, appropriately skilled personnel, proactive health screening and preventative strategies.

The VAT rate for food-based hospitality businesses will also be discussed, with the Ard Fheis calling for the rate to be reduced to 9pc

In relation to road deaths, a discussion will take place calling on Fine Gael in government to increase investment for local and rural roads with a special fund to tackle identified black spots on rural roads.
Simon Harris tied up the vital votes of three Independent TDs last night as he bids to become taoiseach next Tuesday.

Roscommon-Galway deputy Denis Naughten confirmed he had thrown his weight behind the new Fine Gael leader and it is understood Tipperary independent Michael Lowry and former Fianna Failer Marc MacSharry will also back Mr Harris.

Mr Naughten is very much from the Fine Gael gene pool, but his support nonetheless augurs well for Mr Harris.

I know Simon Harris for well over 20 years, said former Fine Gael TD Mr Naughten last night after a meeting between the pair.

I have worked with him in the past on flooding issues, health matters and science questions. And I hope to continue to do so.

I look forward to working with him over the next 12 months as taoiseach and Ill be voting for him next Tuesday.

Mr Lowry confirmed to RTE that he planned to support Mr Harris after what he described as robust and positive discussions and that Mr Harris agreed to liaise with him about projects for his constituency.

Mr Harris has contacts planned for today with Independents Cathal Berry TD (Kildare South) and Noel Grealish TD (Galway East).

Meanwhile, the taoiseach-designate had a meeting with his internal party committee on business with a view to promoting his campaign message to better reward enterprise in Ireland.

The new leader of Fine Gael said businesses would continue to be supported and their challenges responded to in future.

Speaking following a meeting last night with the Fine Gael Small Business and Enterprise Council, Mr Harris said: This is one of the policy areas that I intend to focus on as Fine Gael leader.

Small businesses are at the heart of our communities  they are crucial to the local economy, to employment in the regions and to the social fabric of our country.

I want to thank members for the chance to engage and for all their work, for travelling and listening to people.

It is now essential we gather that information and take concrete steps to address the concerns of this vital part of our economy and society.

Kathryn Lynch, business consultant and chair of the Fine Gael Small Business and Enterprise Council, said: The council was delighted to have the opportunity to meet the new leader to discuss how government can continue to support small and medium-sized businesses. Sinn Fein has criticised Mr Harris for being focused on his own elevation through his talks this week, rather than the issues facing the nation.

Eoin O Broin, the party spokesperson on housing, claimed Mr Harris clearly does not care about the people who are suffering as a result of this housing crisis.

The Dublin Mid-West TD said there had been a deafening silence from Mr Harris on the societal crux of accommodation since he was elected leader of Fine Gael more than a week ago.

Why is Simon Harris silent still on housing? Mr O Broin asked.

He hasnt said a word about what is the biggest crisis in the State since he became Fine Gael leader.

He has listed his priorities as supporting SMEs, law and order, and supporting agriculture.

Does this mean that tackling the deepening housing and homelessness crisis is not one of his priorities? he asked.
Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) delegates overwhelmingly supported motions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as two Palestinian teachers received a standing ovation when they warned what was now occurring in the territory was fast-tracked genocide.

TUI President David Waters personally proposed one motion on behalf of the union executive which slated the attacks on Gaza as "intentional and cruel violence upon children and other innocent, defenceless people".

Several delegates were visibly distressed when the conference was told that over 13,000 children have now been killed in Gaza - with three university presidents and 95 professors also losing their lives in Israeli air attacks.

TUI Gaza solidarity demonstration

A shocking total of almost 1,300 teachers have been killed or seriously injured in Gaza.

All 12 universities and colleges in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes or artillery.

Over 500 TU delegates - attending the third and final day of the union's Killarney conference - held a solidarity demonstration where they held aloft banners including 'peace' and 'ceasefire now'.

Also discussed at the conference were plans to merge the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) and Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) and create a new Irish teacher 'super-union'.

TUI and ASTI members will be consulted via a special survey to be conducted between April 10 and 25 on proposals for both unions to amalgamate. Both unions have mooted the possibility of amalgamation though there are concerns over the potential impact on staffing levels, operations and finances.

The TUI and ASTI have both acknowledged that a single union to represent teachers at second and third level would be extremely effective. If the amalgamation is eventually given the green light by members, it would create one of the most powerful unions not just within the education sector but within the entire Irish trade union movement.

The survey is not a definitive vote - and will be used to gauge member views and opinions on the proposal.

It is expected that the survey findings will underpin detailed proposals to be brought before both the ASTI and TUi conferences, most likely in 2025. The TUI boasts 20,500 members while the ASTI represents 18,800 members.

TUI general secretary Michael Gillespie strongly endorsed the concept of amalgamation in his conference address.

"Personally, having taught in a dual union school, I have believed in this for all my teaching and trade union career," he said.

Speaking today, TUI President David Waters said the benefits offered by a single, unified union for teachers were clear for all to see.

"The ultimate aim is to create a new union that at its heart is member focussed," he said.

ASTI President Geraldine O Brien said a significant amount of work has already been devoted to the concept of amalgamation by officials in both trade unions.

"In recent times, representatives from the TUI and the ASTI have engaged in extensive discussions around the prospect of unification," she said.

Three key motions on ending the Gaza conflict from the TUI executive, Limerick city and Dublin colleges branches were passed overwhelmingly.

Motions also referenced demands for Hamas to release all Israeli hostages taken in the October 7 terror attacks which sparked the conflict.

But the motions warned that Israel's actions in Gaza have now gone "beyond any semblance of defence and was in fact a declared genocidal act of collective punishment, mass murder and ethnic cleansing against the people of Gaza".

"TUI needs to send a clear message of solidarity," Mr Waters warned.

The TUI boss said what was occurring in Gaza was horrific and shocking.

Mr Waters said it was a depraved level for any Government to sink to in terms of what the Israeli administration was now allowing to happen in Gaza.

The motions called for an immediate ceasefire, an economic boycott of Israel to hamper war aims and urgent action on the two state peace plan.

Two Palestinian teachers addressed the conference.

Salem Gharbia teaches in Sligo while Tamar Famaz Nijim is a masters student at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.

There was silence in the auditorium as Ms Nijim told the story of Gaza children, Suhaib, Ebrahim and Yazan, all 17, who died along with their entire family in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza.

She had urged the children to learn English as a universal language.

In the ultimate callous act, their remains had to be collected after the air strike, along with the remains of other family members, in a single bag for burial.

She urged people to back campaigns for a ceasefire and for greater humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Ms Nijim also urged people to boycott relationships with Israeli universities that help develop weapons now used in the Gaza genocide.

She also urged Irish schools and universities to stop exchange programmes with Israeli colleges and universities that don't back fair education for Palestinian children.

"Act now and gather all teachers around Ireland to organise a large protest objecting to the deaths of your colleagues and students who could have been yours."

She warned that children in Gaza were paying a terrible price in the conflict.

"They were all taken away, along with their dreams, aspirations and futures. These could have been your students or children. So, I dare you to say there is nothing you can do to help.

"Because eight billion people said that without realising the impact they could have done. If you cannot help directly, then invent something like Ebrahim. Don't let their dreams go in vain.

"Remember in every household there are (such children) - you are their last hope so show me that you're ready to act."

Mr Gharbia warned that the conflict in Gaza was simply shifting from a slow genocide to a quicker genocide.

"We cannot allow this to happen - we have to take a stand," he said.

Mr Gharbia said it was deeply moving to witness the support within the TUI and the Irish trade union movement towards the plight of Palestinian people.

"This (Gaza atrocities) are against every value we stand for as educators," he said.

"It is appalling, it is disgusting what is happening there. It is a shame on humanity."

"As educators we have to stand for our values."

Mr Gharbia said it was also clear that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian educators and academics.

One Gaza professor and writer was targeted in his own home by an air strike.

But he had already warned: "If I must die, you must live to tell my story."
You may as well be broke in other countries than broke in Dublin  travelling to escape Irelands cost-of-living crisis

Work exchange websites offer food and accommodation in return for short-term work. These Irish twenty-somethings logged on to escape the soaring cost of living back home...

Fionnuala with Mount Fuji in the background

Fionnuala Walsh Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 03:30

Taking a dark and winding road through the mountains of Japan, I had my first creeping doubts about leaving my rented house in Dublin in favour of a fishing village in the middle of nowhere.
Returning to Wooster, my hometown of 27,000 people in north-eastern Ohio, is usually an occasion not to worry about street parking or dinner reservations. But next Monday, April 8  thanks to the areas position in the path of the total solar eclipse  Ill be among the throngs of out-of-towners donning funky glasses to watch the sun disappear, albeit briefly, behind the moons shadow and experience eerie darkness at 3.15 in the afternoon.

In Ireland and Britain its only possible to view a partial eclipse. But for the small towns from Texas to Maine in the path of totality, next weeks celestial event will be their moment in the sun, while also out of it. One Texas judge has already declared a state of emergency in anticipation of Bell Countys population of about 400,000 doubling or tripling in the days leading up to the eclipse.
'The choice to no longer want to live can be freely and thoughtfully made. But is it a choice that we sit comfortably with if its made because of the circumstances of a poor health, social care or housing system'

Our national ethos is that a dignified death should be a birthright. Perhaps this is why the recent move from a group of TDs and senators to call for an assisted dying law, while headline news, did not really initiate a hugely terse or controversial debate. Maybe its because were a little battle scarred from too many other heated rights-based debates over the years. Or perhaps its simply because our own unique brushes with illness, death, disability and grief have neutered our ability to judge. Most Irish families are probably familiar with the nuanced ways that a terminal diagnosis can rupture and shift the dynamic of a family. And maybe those that are not familiar feel its a privilege to have such matters be none of their business.
The images have been horrible. The facts as they are known are heartbreaking and enraging. The humanitarian organisation World Central Kitchen, which has been delivering food in Gaza, reported that seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli attack late on Monday.

Those who died came from all over the world  British, Polish, Australian, Palestinian and North American  and were focused on bringing help to those who were suffering. In its short history, World Central Kitchen seems to be everywhere there is devastation. It was in Israel after the October 7 invasion by Hamas, in which Israeli civilians were killed and terrorised. It had gone to Gaza as the civilian population there teetered on the brink of starvation.
Campaigners outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh protest against the introduction of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Photo: PA

The Laramie Project, a play about the torture and murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, in 1998, has been seared on my mind since I saw it at the Civic Theatre in Tallaght some years ago.

In 2009 Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The law expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victims actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

On Monday in Scotland, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force. It makes it illegal to stir up hatred based on prejudice towards age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.

With respect to Ian ODoherty (If hate-speech bill becomes law, well all end up in court for voicing our opinion, Irish Independent, April 3), he is wrong.

The Government should face down the populists and the do-nothing brigade and pass the The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 without further delay.

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry

Hate-speech laws are case of government over-reach and form of gagging order

The new Scottish hate-crime laws came in for severe criticism from author JK Rowling, who said they were wide open to abuse, and she looked forward to being arrested on her return to Scotland. This hasnt happened as the police found no issues regarding her statement.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which itself has been mired in controversy, said the new law will help stymie the rising tide of hatred. It may have the opposite effect and could harm the SNP and the Labour Party, who voted in favour of its enactment.

Similar hate-speech laws are about to be enacted in this country and have been met with widespread criticism because, like the Scottish laws, they will be seen by many as stifling free speech; there are concerns they will be exploited by minority groups who wish to silence the majority.

Article 40.6.1.i of the Constitution allows every citizen to freely express their convictions and opinions. However, it can be limited in the interests of public order or morality.

The idea that it takes a government to enact laws that curtail freedom of expression or open debate  that which we honestly disagree with others about  is a step too far.

If I want to openly criticise transgender matters, Traveller feuding or migration, will I find myself in the dock?

This over-reach by the Government, like so many EU laws, is a form of gagging order.

Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal

Irelands hedgerows help protect the environment and should be preserved

A report from Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency confirms the role of hedgerows as carbon sinks. What a shame the report wasnt published just a few weeks ago before the end of the biannual hedgerow destruction season.

Steps should be taken now to protect Irelands 700,000 kilometres of hedgerows. Much too late, Im afraid, as some counties appear denuded of this valuable contributor to reducing carbon in the air.

Peter Declan OHalloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan

Simon Coveney was a decent and hard-working politician of whom we can be proud

Simon Coveneys decision to step down as a minister came as a great shock to a lot of people.

I dont know the inner workings of the Dail, but he always came across as a decent, hard-working public figure who wasnt afraid to tackle uncomfortable problems. There was a reassurance about him during our many national and international crises.

When I look at the standard of senior politicians around the world, I feel we were very lucky to have him representing us. I have no doubt many of your readers will join me in wishing him the best in the future. Thank you, Simon.

Dr Aidan Hampson, Artane, Dublin

Ministers record calls for closer examination after announcing his departure

I dont wish to put the boot in on Simon Coveney as he bows out, but Senan Molonys article (From key Brexit talks to Gargle-gate: The hits and misses of a decades-long career, Irish Independent, April 3) illustrates how quickly we forget. No mention of the Katherine Zappone saga or our failures on homelessness.

On the hit sheet was Irelands winning a seat on the UN Security Council for a two-year term.

It should be recalled that Mr Coveney and the Government were mandated by the Dail  that is, the people  to recognise the state of Palestine, but Mr Coveney as foreign affairs minister pushed for an all-EU consensus on that.

This was a non-runner given Germanys arms support and Frances backing for Israel.

The Coalition had the gall to use the Palestine issue to secure that 2021 Security Council seat.

What did we do? Not nearly enough, Im sorry to say. To borrow Berties words, wafflers all.

John Cuffe, Co Meath

Heres hoping Simon Harris will continue his fine work in autistic peoples interests

It is wonderful to see autistic people and the issues they live with recognised on Autism Awareness Day.

My son Matthew is non-verbal and has been living with autism for many years now. Currently, he is in constant pain due to dental issues. We are told that, despite being a centre of excellence in this area, his local hospital, University College Hospital Galway, does not have proper facilities to X-ray him to see what the matter is.

Deputy Simon Harris is now Taoiseach-designate. He began his rapid rise to the top of Irish politics by laudably campaigning for services for his autistic brother.

I hope when he takes office he will remember this cause.

Ann Heneghan, Address with the editor

League of Ireland reports were on the ball  lets hope for more of the same

Congratulations on your coverage of Easter Mondays SSE League of Ireland games in Tuesdays Irish Independent print edition.

To paraphrase the inimitable Van the Man, wouldnt it be great if there could be days like this, all the time?

Jim Dalton, Perrystown, Dublin 12
How did Emmet ONeill end up as CEO of one of the most successful kids' app companies in the world? Was it an easy road? And how often did the company flirt with disaster?

On this weeks episode of The Big Tech Show Adrian chats to CEO of StoryToys.

Over 10 years ago, Emmet left a comfortable job in online education to join StoryToys which wasnt without its risks.

The CEO spoke about always following his passion in whatever career choice he made. A passion for filmmaking turned in to two years working with Element Pictures. A curiosity about advertising led him to set up a studio for Rothco and when he left online education to work for StoryToys his favourite part of the job was developing kids' apps.

Emmet said that one of the memorable successes for StoryToys was the collaboration with the 1970s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar which they developed into animated games.

It wasnt all plain sailing though; Emmets brother Barry who was CEO of StoryToys at the time, had contacted liquidators as the boards patience began to run thin regarding investor spending. It was at this low point while the company was downsizing that an email came in from Lego asking StoryToys to pitch for a new project they were working on. Vitally, Lego said that they would pay them for pitching their idea which kept the wolf from the door and the digital animation company ended up winning the contract.

You can listen to the full episode on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts.
What started out as a mundane piece of legislation aiming to tackle hate speech in Scotland has become a lightning rod for debate. A Scottish law that came into force on Monday has received significant pushback from many, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Rowling, who has become an outspoken critic of the Scottish governments stance on transgender rights, declared freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal on X. Posting about the issue, Rowling, who is currently out of the country, added that if what she had written was an offence under the Act the she would look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: The comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken.

But here in Ireland, we also have our own proposed hate-speech bill which is attracting opposition from the likes of Elon Musk. With a new taoiseach coming in next week, some in the Government parties want Simon Harris to kill the bill. After a bruising defeat in last month's referendums, could the Government shelve the proposed legislation or will it be brought in despite growing opposition?

Today on The Indo Daily, Kevin Doyle is joined by Conor Matchett, the political editor with the Scottish Sun, and Gabija Gataveckaite, political reporter on the Irish Independent, to look at the controversy in Scotland and how it might be a mirror for whats coming down the line here.
The temporary payments scheme intended to support staff members with long Covid was introduced in July 22 and it ensured that the health care workers still enduring symptoms of the virus would be paid their regular salary.

The scheme came to an end at midnight on Sunday, March 31 and the ending of the pay scheme now means that the workers concerned will be paid under their contractual sick pay rules, an arrangement which has a limited time span.

Cllr Quaide who has worked with many patients with long Covid in his role as a clinical psychologist said healthcare staff risked everything during the pandemic. Perhaps the greatest injustice of the Covid pandemic, aside from those who lost their lives, involves the plight of healthcare workers who contracted the virus in the course of their duties, and who later developed severe long Covid. Healthcare staff risked everything and some paid an enormous price. By healthcare staff I include, not just clinicians but catering and cleaning and other staff in healthcare settings, he said.

While some people with long Covid experience an easing of symptoms over time, for others a severe form of the condition can become entrenched, said Cllr Quaide. The long-term prognosis for this cohort is unclear. Their symptoms may include debilitating fatigue after modest levels of activity, joint and nerve pains, vertigo, shortness of breath, chronic sleep disturbance and cognitive difficulties. Some can struggle with basic activities of daily living. There are very limited medical treatments available to alleviate these symptoms and no clear rehabilitation programme.

Many of these healthcare workers have been unable to resume employment since they originally contracted Covid. These healthcare staff were being paid their basic salary by the HSE in recognition of the fact that they contracted Covid in the workplace and remained unable to work due to the severity of their symptoms. Over the last two years they have been in a very distressing limbo, waiting for the latest union negotiation to provide some certainty regarding their financial security, he added.

Mr Quaide said the decision by the government to suspend the special Covid leave with pay scheme for the healthcare workers was a crude decision. The termination of a pay scheme for healthcare workers with severe long Covid by the government is a shocking way to treat people who were characterised as heroes during the pandemic. The applause that healthcare workers received from Oireachtas members in March 2020 rings hollow for many now. This crude decision will mean that many healthcare workers will soon be forced to retire on medical grounds. It will impose major financial hardship on them and put them into mortgage distress.

Cllr Quaide reiterated his call for the Irish Government to immediately restore the basic salary of all the healthcare workers affected until an occupational injury scheme can be agreed. They should be provided with pay security by the state into the future to remove financial stress from the many other major challenges they face. The government should immediately restore their basic salary until an occupational injury scheme has been agreed. I would also call on Bernard Gloster (CEO of HSE) to intervene given his duty-of-care towards these workers as their most senior manager.
The village was granted 50,750 under the 2022 Village Enhancement Scheme

Elected members of Macroom Municipal District met with local volunteers from Aherla to showcase some of the enhancements made to the area under the 2022 Village Enhancement Scheme.

Aherla Village, located west of Ballincollig, was granted 50,750 under the Cork County Council-funded scheme for targeted enhancements including a new paved focal point.

The new focal point has features consisting of a bicycle stand, seating, a new display board and a structure to accommodate the new Christmas Tree which the village showcased during the festive period.

New speed detector signage and town signs were also added to the village as part of this funding.

The enhancements made to Aherla were a feature of the Municipal District Officers Report at the latest Macroom MD meeting, where all representatives present, including Independent councillor Martin Coughlan, welcomed the work that has been done in the village.

"Its great to see villages like Aherla and the community groups there being supported, Cllr Coughlan said.

Very nice bit of work done in the centre of the village and it enhances it, lifts the village, and they [the community] were very appreciative.
Emma Govha also known as The Wee Donegal Mammy is hosting a meeting tonight, Wednesday, April 3, in the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny at 7pm to discuss the consistent pressure facing the healthcare service in County Donegal. Stock image.

A frustrated County Donegal mother whose child has been waiting five years for a consultant appointment has called a public meeting to discuss the ongoing pressures facing the health service.

Emma Govha also known as The Wee Donegal Mammy hosted a meeting last night, Wednesday, April 3, in the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny at 7pm to discuss the consistent pressure facing the healthcare service in County Donegal.

Elected public representatives and election candidates were urged to attend the meeting to explain their plans for the future of the health service.

Emma is a mother of four but two of her children have complex medical needs.

Due to the medical care her children need, she has seen first hand the pressure the health service is under and the impact it is having on patients and staff.

Her daughter needs surgery costing 135,000 which can only be carried out in Barcelona, while her child is also waiting five years on a consultant appointment.

She questions what happens if she cant raise the money for the surgery and said the situation within the health service cannot be allowed to continue as it is having a detrimental on patients, families and workers.

"If I cant raise the money, I am handing my child a death sentence.

The doctor told me that my daughters neck could dislocate and compress her spinal cord which would shut down her respiratory system but the surgery is not available in Ireland.

"It is available in Barcelona so we are looking at around 200,000 by the time we cover everything.

"My daughter is waiting five years to see a consultant in the childrens hospital but she is almost 16 and then she will be classed as an adult.

"She was deferred in June 2018 and she has never seen a consultant.

There are children waiting seven years for surgery.

This cannot be allowed to continue.

We currently dont have a sitting neurologist or an ENT consultant in this county, said Emma.

She called the public meeting after listening to the many concerns of quite a few members of staff, paramedics and patients.

She believes there is not enough resources within the county to adequately care for local people.

"I said to a nurse last week, I dont know how you do it.

"These staff members have to deal with frustrated people who are waiting 14 or 15 hours to be seen, while also doing the job they are there to do.

"It is completely unfair.

"The paramedics are also on their knees.

They have one ambulance to Inishowen which is the size of County Louth  what if there is a cardiac arrest in Burt and an incident in Malin Head?"

All those currently in Council and seeking election in June were asked to attend the meeting to discuss how they plan to support the hospital and all healthcare staff.

"I called a meeting like this four years ago and we were promised everything but got nothing.

"Now, I appreciate the pandemic occurred but we cannot continue looking back at that time and using it as an excuse for the challenges our health service is facing.

Some politicians do have genuine reasons why they couldnt come but for those who did not respond, we need to take a good long look at them.

"If they are not willing to stand up for the most vulnerable in society, they will not stand up for anyone.

"We need to know their plans on how they intend to support the hospitals and the staff working within them, said Emma.
Ashlee Bentley has been doing stand-up comedy on and off for about 10 years.

Ashlee Bentley has been performing stand-up comedy on and off for about 10 years. In her time, she has seen things improve for female comedians but still believes that more can be done.

Things are getting better but I still think there needs to be improvement. Unless theres a special night, I very rarely get to gig with other women, she said.

Its not that often I see other female comedians in the wild. But there are more opportunities now compared to when I first started.

My comedy is about me, the things Ive been through, maybe mental health and things that have happened to me.

I dont think I wouldve done those types of things at the start. People are more open to hearing about that stuff now and maybe making fun of it too. I am quite self-deprecating.

The reason I do comedy is to get through life. I definitely think being able to make fun of things, which are maybe a bit more serious, helps.

It can be a shared experience as well; people are more open about their mental health now. I think its nice that people can relate and open up.

Ashlee was crowned winner of the 2016 Show Me The Funny Competition, and in 2017, won the Ireland Regional final of Funny Women. Her work has been described as a unique blend of quirky humour, sharp writing and brutally honest yet hilarious personal tales have left audience members in tears all over Ireland and beyond.

She has been working for over a decade, but unfortunately her stand-up career isnt recognised as an art form, along with other comedians, meaning that they dont get funded by the Arts Council.

Comedy should be funded by the Arts; I dont understand why its not. I think itd be such a help for up and coming and established comedians just to have it recognised, said Ms Bentley.

A lot of people will tend to just leave and go to the UK or go elsewhere where there are more opportunities and theyre getting more help which is unfortunate.

It should be funded here and not have to lose really good comedians because they have no other choice.

This Friday, she will be the headline act at a new comedy show called StoneyBanter, a comedy club for those living in the Dublin 7 area who are tired of going into town for good comedy, taking place upstairs in Kavanaghs pub.

I get to perform with other female comedians which is nice. Theres things we can joke about that we mightnt feel comfortable doing when its not an all-female line-up.

Therell be a really nice atmosphere where we can joke about womens issues.
A Sligo/Leitrim TD has urged all TDs across the North West not to vote for Simon Harris as the next Taoiseach.

A vote for the new Taoiseach will be held next Tuesday, April 9, when the Dail returns with Harris set to be appointed.

However, Sinn Fein TD for Sligo Leitrim Martin Kenny believes local TDs in the northwest should not vote for Simon Harris and instead allow the people to have their say in a general election.

Deputy Kenny said, I am urging local TDs across Sligo and Leitrim not to back the installation of Simon Harris in next weeks Dail vote.

"Instead, they should ensure the people can have their say in a general election.

Its time for change, not more of the same with Simon Harris.

"He has sat at the cabinet table for eight years as home ownership collapsed, as rents sky rocketed and as our health system crumbled.

He is a member of a government that has lurched from crisis to crisis, out of ideas and failing to deliver.

"A government that is out of touch, out of ideas and out of time, said Deputy Kenny.

Deputy Kenny believes the people of Ireland should have the opportunity to make their voices heard in a general election.

Across the North West we know all too well the impact of this poor governance.

"People deserve better.

If the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and Green government are so certain that the people of Sligo and Leitrim want Simon Harris as Taoiseach, they should back a general election now and let the people decide.

"Sinn Fein are absolutely clear that it's time for change. It's time for new people with new ideas.

"It's time for a general election, where the people can have their say, said Deputy Kenny.

Sligo/Leitrim Independent TDs, Marc MacSharry and Marian Harkin have already stated they will be voting for Harris as Taoiseach.
The Mid-West Hospital Campaign group was left disappointed by the measures announced today by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, who visited University Hospital Limerick this morning as the group protested outside the hospital.

Minister Donnelly announced a number of long-awaited measures to alleviate overcrowding at the visit on April 4. Among them, a procurement process has been initiated for the operation of the new 50 bed Community Nursing Unit in Nenagh, works at the second 96-bed block to be built at UHL have been accelerated, and a further 20 permanent step-down transition and rehab beds will be procured in Clare.

Also, the opening hours of the regions three Acute Medical Assessment Units at Nenagh, Ennis and St Johns are to be extended to 24/7 on a phased basis, safe staffing will be extended to all wards in UHL as per the national rollout, UHL will be one of two national test sites for Acute Virtual Wards and it will provide GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner-on-the-door services for the ED.

However, Mary Cahillane, spokesperson for the Mid-West Hospital Campaign in Limerick, told the Irish Independent she is disappointed with the measures.

She said: They are all welcome changes but nevertheless they only provide a sticking plaster for the problems that exist there. Only a Model 3 hospital or a reopening of one of the A&Es will do anything to solve the issue.

She added: Were going to look into all of the new provisions and see if they make a different but our initial thought would be that.

Mary was among those who this morning, from 10am to about 12pm, gathered outside UHL to demand action to tackle the ongoing overcrowding issue at UHL.

She said: We just put the demand that we have been making on Stephen Donnelly and the HSE for a very long time now, which is the reopening of A&Es that closed in 2009 or a Model 3 hospital in the area, given that were the only region in Ireland that doesnt have a Model 3 hospital.

She added: We are literally second class citizens in comparison to the rest of Ireland. We have a population of 420,000 people, a growing population, and its very hard to understand why we have areas in this country that have a smaller population than us and are serviced by a model 4 hospital and a model 3 hospital, and we are not, even though we have consistently the greatest amount of overcrowding according to INMO trolley figures.

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The number of patients waiting on trolleys in UHL remain extremely high compared to the rest of the country.

This morning, UHL was once again the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation with 101 patients waiting on trolleys (42 in the emergency department and 59 in other wards).
An appeal has been lodged to An Bord Pleanala after the project for a new library at Mary Immaculate College received planning permission from Limerick City and County Council.

In February, Limerick City and County Council approved planning permission for a new library and resource centre at Mary Immaculate College, on the South Circular Road in Limerick city.

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The development would consist of the redevelopment of the existing library and educational complex building with a new four-storey library and a new learning and resources centre over a one-storey basement, with all associated teaching and pupil facilities.

To do so, the existing library would be largely demolished, with a small lecture theatre on site to be integrated into the new complex.

The project would also include the provision of a refurbished public plaza to the south-west of the new library, tree removal and replacement, and hard and soft landscaping.

The project comes after the government agreed to jointly fund the development under the Ireland 2040 plan to a maximum of 30 million, in May 2023.

In February 2024 the project was approved by the council despite several objections submitted by residents.

Among them, residents cited issues linked to the large height and scale of the building in relation to the close proximity of the residences on Summerville Avenue, the substantial carbon footprint generated from demolishing an existing building and replacing it with a new development, and the loss of mature trees resulting in loss of biodiversity.

The Limerick City and County Councils decision was recently appealed to An Bord Pleanala by residents of Summerville Avenue.
A Limerick woman has recalled the moment her niece was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis ahead of 65 Roses Day, when Cystic Fibrosis Ireland will try raise 300,000.

Cystic Fibrosis Ireland aims to raise 300,000 on 65 Roses Day, taking place on Friday, April 12 nationwide.

Supporting the campaign this year and encouraging the public to get involved is Amy Keller of Dooradoyle, whose niece Hazel (2), has Cystic Fibrosis.

Amy recalled the moment Hazel was diagnosed: Hazels diagnosis came as a huge shock. We had no idea that CF was in our family. We learned a lot in the beginning, and we are learning every day since. But knowledge is power, and the outlook is so different now from twenty years ago. Although there is still a lot of work to be done, who knows what the CF story will be a few years from now, says Amy.

She added: Hazel will have as bright a future as anyone. But to make sure of that, Im asking everyone to get out and support 65 Roses Day and help CFI support families and PWCF in Ireland. Because if you do, Hazel and others like Hazel will benefit from all the work CFI do now and in the future.

On April 12, volunteers will be selling purple roses across the country. In Limerick, you will have the chance to buy a rose in six locations: Arthurs Quay Centre, Patrick Street; Crescent Shopping Centre, Dooradoyle Road; Dunnes Stores, Childers Road, Unit 5 Childers Retail Park; Dunnes Stores, Harvey Quay Shopping Centre, Harveys Quay; Dunnes Stores, Jetland Centre, Ennis Road; and Dunnes Stores, Parkway Shopping Centre, Dublin Road.

Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that primarily affects the lungs and the digestive system. Ireland has the highest incidence of CF in the world and some of the most severe types. There are more than 1,400 people living with CF in Ireland and the number is increasing each year as a result of improvements in treatment and care.

Funds raised on 65 Roses Day will help to provide exercise equipment, counselling sessions, and grants for people with CF undergoing a transplant, fertility assessment or families with CF who have recently been bereaved. Funds also go to support Cystic Fibrosis research and the building of new CF hospital facilities and the funding of specialist CF staff.

65 Roses Day derives its name from the way in which young children often first say the words "cystic fibrosis" and seeks to raise much-needed funds for Cystic Fibrosis services and supports for people with Cystic Fibrosis in Ireland.
A very naive former law student who allowed his Revolut account to dupe an unsuspecting victim out of over 3,000 has been told return to court in September with a 2,500 charitable donation.

Thirty-one-year-old Michael Downey, of 9 Jutland Hall, Steamboat Quay, Limerick appeared at a sitting of Mullingar District Court today (Thursday) charged with money laundering arising out of an incident at Oakwood Cottage, Coolnagun, Lismacaffrey, Co Westmeath on November 21, 2021.

Downey admitted his culpability in a scam that saw 3,250 being deposited into his own Revolut account in four separate transactions of 880 each.

The court heard Downey met gardai in March of last year at Limerick Garda Station during which he made full admissions in allowing his account to be used as part of the fraud.

Sgt Orla Keenan said Downey told investigating officers he had been contacted by a friend who told him he was selling his car and wanted money to be electronically transferred into an account that he didnt possess internet banking capabilities.

Downey, under questioning, stated he gave his Revolut card to this man and only became aware something was amiss when noticing the four separate transactions going into his account.

The court was told Downey transferred the 3,520 and deposited it into a crypto account within the Revolut.

Judge Bernadette Owens was also informed how Downey claimed four men called to his parents home the next day demanding the return of the money.

Downey later withdrew 1,200 and handed it to his friend with the remainder being transferred electronically through his Revolut account.

It was revealed Downey made no financial gain from fraud an hasnt seen or heard from his friend since.

Michael Downey outside Mullingar Courthouse.

Sgt Keenan, in finalising the States case, said investigating gardai had described Downey, who cooperated fully with the investigation as being a very small player and very naive.

The court was also told Downey had nine previous convictions and had been on a one month suspended prison sentence for damaging property picked up in June 2021.

In defence, solicitor Louis Kiernan said the episode occurred at a time when his clients life had gone off the rails owing to heavy drinking and associating with bad company.

Mr Kiernan said Downey was presently signed up to a quantity surveying course having previously studied law at the University of Limerick.

He does regret his involvement and he did try to make it better as soon as it was detected and he tried to back out of it once he realised that this sequence of lodgements wasnt what he expected, said Mr Kiernan.

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He knew there was something wrong but it was too late to get out of it at that stage.

Judge Owens directed a probation report to be carried out on the accused and ordered him to amass 2,500 for three locally based charities.

In adjourning the case until September 12, Judge Owens said 1,000 of that sum, upon submission to the court, will be directed to Westmeath Support Services, a further 1,000 towards a new MRI unit at Mullingars Midland Regional Hospital with the remaining 500 going towards St Vincent de Paul.
36-year-old arraigned before sitting of Queens County Criminal Court

Funeral arrangements for the late Sarah McNally are expected to be announced tomorrow (Friday).

The former boyfriend of Longford woman Sarah McNally has been charged with her murder in a New York bar last weekend.

Thirty-six-year-old Marcin Pieciak was arraigned before a sitting of Queens County Criminal Court on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon following the fatal stabbing of Ms McNally at the Ceili House Bar, Maspeth, Queens last Saturday evening.

The court was told Ms McNally was working as a bartender at the popular Queens establishment when Pieciak allegedly walked in and fatally stabbed Ms McNally before then injuring himself.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

District Attorney Melinda Katz said the brutal nature of the incident was one which had left the community of Queens and Ms McNallys home town of Longford in a state of numbed disbelief.

This is an attack that shocked the community. It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family. We are using every resource to make sure there is accountability.

According to the charges, Pieciak, of 76th Street in Glendale, arrived at Ms McNallys place of work at 6:30pm where it is alleged the Longford woman, who was described as his girlfriend had been on duty.

Pieciak is then alleged to have stabbed the Longford woman multiple times and injuring himself before leaving the bar.

A customer is said to have tried to detain Pieciak after the alarm was raised and police arrived on the scene.

The charges also state police witnessed two knives on the ground after noticing Pieciak drop them as he attempted to leave the bar.

Pieciak, who was remanded and ordered to return to court on Friday, faces 25 years in prison upon conviction.

Meanwhile, efforts to repatriate Ms McNallys remains to Ireland are continuing.

In a post on its Facebook page, Longford based Glennon Funeral Directors revealed formal arrangements for Ms McNallys return home would be made on Friday.

The post read: The death has occurred of Sarah McNally, New York and Longford town, Longford, tragically on 30th March 2024 .

Sadly missed and remembered with love by her family, her loving mother Dorrie, dear father Des, grandmother Kathleen OConnor, aunts, uncles, relatives, extended family and a wide circle of friends in Longford and New York

May she rest in peace.
Mattie and Josephine Geraghty of Bru Chlann Lir B&B celebrating their awards success.

A County Mayo B&B has been recognised on an international scale following its recent award win.

Bru Chlann Lir, a charming Bed & Breakfast in Tirrane, Blacksod on the Mullet Peninsula, has been honoured with the prestigious Irish Enterprise Award for the Best Seaside Bed & Breakfast 2024  Belmullet.

This esteemed recognition comes from EU Business News, a prominent publication covering the latest business developments in Europe.

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Bru Chlann Lir B&B

Owned by Josephine and Mattie Geraghty, Bru Chlann Lir has captured the hearts of locals and visitors alike with its warm hospitality and breathtaking coastal views since 1992.

Expressing her joy, Josephine said, "We are absolutely thrilled and honoured that our B&B has been recognised on an international scale.

"This is not only an award for us but a nod to the stunning area in which we live."

This has already been a significant year for the Geraghty family as they passed the helm of their other business, Wild West Boat Tours, formerly Geraghty Charters, to their sons after 30 years in operation.

Mattie and Josephine Geraghty of Bru Chlann Lir B&B celebrating their awards success. Photo: Mayo North Tourism

Mairead Melody Carr, Manager of Mayo North Tourism, paid tribute to Josephine and Mattie, acknowledging the work they have done for the area in the past 30 years.

Ms Carr added, "Bru Chlann Lir offers visitors a genuine West of Ireland welcome.

I am delighted for their accomplishments, and this award truly reflects their dedication.

Given Bru Chlann Lir's ideal coastal location, nestled between Blacksod Bay and the wild Atlantic, just a short 15-minute drive from Belmullet, it is a deserving recipient of the Best Seaside B&B 2024 award.

"Visitors to this coastal retreat experience the true essence of the West of Ireland, said said Ms Carr.

Awards Coordinator Jack Ford of EU Business News shared his admiration for this year's winners, emphasising their commitment, determination, and innovation.

He remarked, "These businesses represent a culmination of commitment, determination, and innovation."
New Ross Good Shepherd laundry survivor and author of girl in the tunnel, Maureen Sullivan has welcomed the opening of The Mother-and-Baby Institutions Payment Scheme for applications.

The scheme  which aims to acknowledge the circumstances experienced in mother-and-baby or County Home Institutions in Ireland  will provide financial payments and health supports to those who are eligible.

I think its a good thing. I think these women deserve to be recognised and deserve an apology because terrible things were done in Ireland. We have to face up to it and acknowledge it and only then can we heal, said Maureen.

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She said: We need to go on from that era, from that terrible dark cloud that shaped Ireland. I know some womens lives were destroyed.

Maureen was taken to the laundry in Irishtown from her Carlow home when she was 12 and spent two years there. The facility was one of ten laundries in Ireland. It closed its doors 50 years ago in 1967. After two years in the New Ross laundry, Maureen was moved on to other Magdalene facilities in Athy and Dublin.

She said: They stole my childhood. They destroyed it. I got no education. Society was just wrong back then; to take a young innocent child to put them working in a laundry. Our lives will never be right. Our lives are destroyed and we will never have peace.

Parts of the Mother-and-Baby Institutions scheme have been criticised, including the six-month stay requirement to ensure that all eligible children, including children who were adopted, boarded out and fostered, were resident in a relevant institution. It is estimated that 24,000 survivors have been excluded from redress.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and others have said the 180-day period is not an indicator of whether a child suffered harm, such as from the forced separation of mother and child. Similarly, a person must have been resident for 180 days to be entitled to a health support payment or eligible for the provision of health services without charge.

However, many believe those who were resident in an institution for any length of time should be eligible for those supports.

There has also been a call for the removal of the rule excluding mothers accessing the enhanced medical card if they were resident for less than six months.

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Questions have also been posed about the number of people that have died since the act was signed into law last year and its enactment.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic OGorman has pointed out that under the act, the personal representative of a deceased relevant person, who died on or after 13 January 2021, can apply to the scheme, which was the date of the then Taoiseachs apology to survivors of these institutions on behalf of the State.

The apology followed the leaking of the Commission of Investigations final report into the Mother-and-Baby Institutions to the print media. It caused considerable distress among the survivors and an investigation was conducted into the Taoiseachs office to establish how it occurred. In response to a parliamentary question submitted by Aontu, the Taoiseach said the internal investigation into the leak of the report was completed in December 2022.
There was a poignant send off for New Ross resident, Michal Piotrowski, in his adopted hometown, when family and friends said a final farewell to a man who was a well-known face in the town.

Michals remains were found in woodland in County Waterford on Thursday, March 7. He had previously not been seen since he was discharged from University Hospital Waterford on December 19.

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His family made an emotional appeal on RTEs Crimecall for information about his whereabouts.

Mr Piotrowski (69) had lived in New Ross for 19 years,

It was nice to have the funeral. Everything went very well and his family, we were all there, said his daughter Ewa, who led the search for her father since Christmas.

Waterford gardai said they did extensive searches and used drones to try to find him, but ultimately it was someone out walking who came upon his remains.

Irish people are so good. They wrote such nice words about my father. A lot of people came to the funeral and many phoned me too.

Fr Tom Orr spoke about Michals work life as a builder, including his time working at Rosslare Harbour.

Reflecting on the past few difficult months, Ewa said: It was a very hard time. I didnt speak at the funeral because if I would have Id have broke down crying.

Michals ashes were interred in the columbarium at St Stephens Cemetery.

He is sadly missed by his loving daughters Ewa, Barbara and Maja, son Kamil, grandchildren Klaudia, Anastazja, Szymon, Antoni, Laura, Sara and Mateusz, extended family and friends.

May His Gentle Soul Rest In Peace
Many commuters who travel on the Rosslare and Wexford to Dublin train line were outraged by the recent news that the National Transport Authority (NTA) were considering proposals to terminate the line at Wicklow or Greystones stations.

Two reports by the NTA proposed this termination and for a Dart shuttle to be put in place instead to cater to areas further south. Senator Malcolm Byrne has been campaigning on improved services for the Rosslare Rail line for years and says that forcing passengers to change at Wicklow or Greystones will not incentivise people to use the train.

"Its very much more on the table now. Barry Kenny from Irish Rail came out and said that this is certainly being considered and that theyd be looking at a mix of direct and indirect or interchange services. I certainly know that chatting to commuters over the last day or two that a lot of them are angry even to the point that some of them are saying that theyll be switching back to using cars, said Senator Byrne.

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The change in this service would be done with the hopes of improving the service for Kilcoole and Wicklow, however it would cause more difficulty for passengers travelling on the line from Wexford to Dublin.

A statement by South East on Track, an organisation established to improve rail services in the South East region, highlighted that Wexford Town had more passenger boardings than Wicklow Town, Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey and Enniscorthy according to a Heavy Rail Census. Furthermore, Wexford Town had more passenger boardings than Kilcoole.

Senator Byrne was informed about the NTAs proposals for the first time at the end of 2023 and that they were considering imposing a changeover at the Wicklow station. It was confirmed to him at the start of 2024 that work is currently ongoing on the proposal for this project which aims to increase train frequency between Greystones and Bray.

Senator Byrne says the NTA should conduct a consultation with passengers that use the Rosslare line in order to put together a longterm plan. "The NTA needs to be far more imaginative and look at a longterm plan to make it a double track along the Rosslare line because that will resolve a number of the difficulties.

"We do need a number of spots along the Rosslare line running into Dublin city where the intercity train can overtake. I get that that is expensive but were currently investing millions in the battle to protect the track against marine erosion and if we want to switch people out of their cars onto the train, we have to provide reliable efficient and regular services, said Senator Byrne.

The number of passengers using this line has increased in the last few years with figures showing that daily boardings at Wexford station more than doubled between 2013 and 2022 according to the Irish Times. Due to high demand, a new night-time service was also introduced between Gorey and Connolly in 2022.

Clodagh Cecil from Gorey uses the line to travel to Dublin for work at least once or twice a week every week and said she was absolutely flabbergasted when she first heard about the proposed changes to the line.

"I was really surprised that somebody somewhere would think this is a viable option and I would really encourage them to take the train and see how it operates and see how much of a delay thats going to cause everybody. I got the train this morning and there was a huge variety of people such as elderly people, buggies, people with mobility issues, commuters for work so trying to get all of those people off and back on is time consuming, said Clodagh.

Clodagh works in several locations in Dublin and uses the train to get to the city centre but drives to Dublin on the days she is working in other areas.

When she opts to take the train, she parks in Gorey town, boards the train to Connolly station and then takes the Luas to get to work. Altogether, this journey takes her three hours one way. I do that because its productive time, I can sit on the train and I can work. Its two hours door to door if I drive but in my head thats four hours out of the day that arent productive. Even though its six hours taking the train, of that four hours are productive time that I can be working and its more environmentally friendly and less stressful than sitting in rush hour traffic and its safer if the weather is bad, said Clodagh.

One the key reasons Clodagh takes the train is so she can use that time to work on her laptop. However, the Dart is not set up like the train and she will not be able to work on it.

Once you get to Wicklow the train is completely packed, theres a scrum to get on the train. Adding to all of that by getting people to move around and change trains is going to add a significant delay to the whole process so something thats already not quicker than driving is going to become significantly slower than driving and it will stop me using it, said Clodagh.
There were huge tailbacks on the main N11 road at Ferrycarrig outside Wexford town this afternoon after a two-vehicle road crash there.

The incident took place on the main road near the turn off for the Irish National Heritage Park.

The National Ambulance Service, Wexford Fire Service and Gardai all rushed to the scene. Despite the concerns of several passers-by, who described it as a very serious crash, everyone emerged from the crash relatively unscathed.

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One woman was removed from the scene by Ambulance to Wexford General Hospital for further treatment. However, her injuries are understood to be non life-threatening.

In the past, several councillors have raised concerns in relation to two junctions onto the main N11 at Ferrycarrig - both the turn for Wexford town off Ferrycarrig Bridge and the turn towards the Irish National Heritage Park and Killurin where this latest incident occurred.

Among them was Fianna Fail councillor Garry Laffan who described the setup at Ferrycarrig as an accident waiting to happen as far back as July 2021.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

Firstly, I hope everyone is okay, Cllr Laffan said in the wake of this accident. But Im very annoyed about this. Ive brought this up so many times. If anything, the bollards that the council have put in at the junction for the Heritage Park have made it even worse.

"When the right-hand turn was taken away onto the Ferrycarrig Bridge, it had a knock on effect and were seeing a lot more cars doing u-turns at the turn off for Killurin or even in the entrance to the Heritage Park.

"In my view, the actions we've taken with the road are forcing people into making bad decisions and something needs to be done. We need to find some kind of solution to this before theres another serious accident.

Independent councillor Ger Carthy is also on the record as having raised concerns in relation to the speed limits on Ferrycarrig Bridge and the approach along the N11, having attended the scene of a number of accidents there over the years in his role with the National Ambulance Service.
Wicklow County Council is managing the rollout of grants worth up to 5,000 for qualifying applicants in the county to address the increased costs of doing business.

As part of Budget 2024, the Government signed off on a package of 257m for the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) Grant as a vital measure for small and medium businesses. Wicklow County Council, funded through Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE), will oversee the provision of the grant to qualifying businesses.

Eligible businesses will receive a once-off grant payment, and the amount is based on the value of the Commercial Rates bill the business received in 2023. However, it is not a Commercial Rates waiver and businesses should continue to pay their Commercial Rates bill as normal.

The grant is available to qualifying businesses as a contribution towards the rising costs and is intended to aid businesses but is not intended to directly compensate for all increases in wages, or other costs, for every business. It is based on the value of the Commercial Rates bill received by an eligible business in 2023.

For qualifying businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of less than 10,000, the ICOB grant will be paid at a rate of 50pc of the businesss Commercial Rate bill for 2023.

For qualifying businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rate bill of between 10,000 and 30,000, the ICOB grant will be 5,000.

Businesses with a 2023 Commercial Rates bill greater than 30,000 are not eligible to receive an ICOB grant.

The following are the main qualifying criteria:

Your business must be a commercially trading business currently operating from a property that is commercially rateable.

Your business must have been trading on 1st February 2024 and you must intend to continue trading for at least three months from the date you verify your information.

You must provide confirmation of your bank details.

Your business must be rates compliant. Businesses in performing payment plans may be deemed to be compliant.

Your business must be tax compliant and must possess a valid Tax Registration Number (TRN).

Wicklow County Council reserves the right to claw back any grant payment which is later found to be incorrect.

An online system is being developed to manage the submission of essential information. The system is expected to be available in mid-March. The closing date for businesses to confirm eligibility and to upload verification details will be 1st May 2024.

Further correspondence and guidance will be issued to commercially rateable businesses. In addition, an FAQ will be available online when the grant scheme opens.
Speaking after a meeting with Minister Harris, Michael Lowry TD said he raised a number of issues, including University Hospital Limerick, farming and small businesses

Independent Tipperary TD Michael Lowry has said he will agree to back Simon Harris as Taoiseach following a recent meeting with the Fine Gael leader.

Deputy Lowry said he had a constructive and robust exchange on several issues of local and national importance with Minister Simon Harris ahead of his nomination for Taoiseach.

Speaking after a meeting with Minister Harris, Deputy Lowry said he raised a number of issues, including University Hospital Limerick, farming and, small businesses.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 4th April 2024

I took the opportunity to discuss the ongoing appalling crisis in University Hospital Limerick, he said. The stark situation at UHL is totally unacceptable.

Many patients from North Tipperary have had a distressing experience arising from overcrowding and lack of medical attention. The shortage of beds in Limerick is having a direct negative impact on the function of Nenagh General Hospital.

The overflow of medical patients at Limerick are transferred to Nenagh and occupy the beds designated for day-care surgery. This is resulting in the continual cancellation of Day Surgeries in Nenagh, to the detriment of patients from across North Tipperary.

Peoples health is being compromised because they are unable to access the prescribed surgeries. Simon Harris expressed his grave concern and said it was a key priority for Government to examine every possible workable short term solution until such time as the current financial investment in additional bed capacity and resources come on stream.

On farming Deputy Lowry said he impressed on Minister Harris the urgent need for a support package for the farming community.

Farmers are diligent, hard working and committed to earning a living from the land. Due to prolonged persistent bad weather, farm practices are in disarray. Farmers are upset, disillusioned and on the brink of depression arising from unprecedented events and financial challenges. Their livelihoods are decimated and for many the outlook is catastrophic.

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Every farm sector is fighting for survival. They are in desperate need of a once off financial aid package. Simon Harris empathised with farming community problems and committed to immediately examine ways to support the sector during these extremely difficult times.

Owners of small businesses across the Tipperary and North Kilkenny region are struggling to keep their doors open in the face of rising costs much of which has been imposed by Government measures, added Deputy Lowry.

Unfortunately many have already succumbed to the pressure. Hundreds of restaurants, cafes and food outlets were forced to close across the country. They were joined by a multitude of independent retail businesses and small enterprises. Existing and potential small business owners feel abandoned by the Government.

I appealed to Minister Harris to make these small businesses a priority for urgent funding assistance to halt the exodus of enterprises from our cities, towns and villages.

Minister Harris confirmed that the Government are intent on providing supports and are currently studying a range of recommendations to reduce costs on business and stimulate the sector.

Minister Harris also confirmed that he will address issues raised by me and other Independents during the course of his Ard Fheis speech at the weekend and also when he sets out his policy objectives on the resumption of the Dail next Tuesday.

Minister Harris has arranged to open Government channels to communicate and liaise with me on projects and local matters of importance to my constituents.

I found the meeting to be positive and useful in assisting me to fulfill my continued ambition to give the best possible service to the people of Tipperary I am privileged to represent. Therefore I have agreed to support the nomination of Simon Harris as Taoiseach next Tuesday, added Deputy Lowry.
Wicklow Rapid Response, the voluntary charity that provides advanced pre-hospital care in the county, has reported a significant increase in the number of emergency call-outs compared with last year, and has highlighted the alarming rise in traffic accidents, which are not just a blip.

Commenting on the statistics for the first quarter of 2024, the charitys doctor, Dr David Menzies, an Emergency Medicine Consultant at St Vincents University Hospital, said that theres definitely been an increase in emergency call-outs.

Dr Menzies is tasked by the National Ambulance Service (NAS) for serious emergencies, when he is the closest available resource, or where the specialist critical care skills he can provide are required.

In January, February, and March, he attended to 55 incidents, including 15 cardiac/respiratory arrests and two STEMIs (a type of heart attack that mainly affects the hearts lower chambers), eight road traffic collisions, four paediatric calls, one water incident, two blood and plasma transfusions, three stabbings and two multiple casualty incidents.

Demand for healthcare in general is going up, Dr Menzies explained. So, the number of people attending emergency departments, the number of people calling ambulances, the number of people in the country has all increased since last year.

It would be surprising if demand had gone the other way. So I suppose thats the first thing, that everything is busier compared to this time last year.

Thats more people in the country, more elderly people, more pathology, more need for healthcare.

The second thing is, it is a small service. Its basically, currently, mostly me. So the number is also related to my availability to respond, obviously with work, time off, holidays and so forth. So, you could look at a different quarter and the demand could be exactly the same, but I might be more available or less available.

But, he conceded, demand is going up.

Remarking specifically on road traffic collisions, Dr Menzies said the statistics were stark.

A total of 55 people have died on Irish roads so far this year, with 16 deaths in March, including that of truck driver John Hudson (48), who was killed in a single-vehicle on the M11 at Arklow, on Tuesday, March 19.

Everybodys aware its been a really bad [period of] weeks and months for road traffic deaths in Ireland and also serious injuries, which are often not as reported as much because its not as apparent at the time of the crash, he said.

But a death is a death and a road traffic collision is a really stark statistic and its one thats easily tracked. Thats gone up significantly in the last couple of weeks and months.

Wed all love to hope that thats a blip on the back of a couple of years where weve had really good improvements in road safety. But its starting to look like its not a blip. And I mean, this isnt so much on foot of my work, but I think in general, driver behaviour is a huge factor.

I think drink driving is a lot less than it used to be. Drink and drug driving is something that cant be tolerated. But I dont think were in a place that we were 10 years ago with that. I think that has become socially unacceptable.

The other things, though, whether its speeding or mobile phone use, I think probably are factors that can be harder to prove. You can do a blood test for blood alcohol level.

There was gridlock on the M11/N11 between exits J06 and J05 Bray (northbound) at around 3pm on bank holiday Monday, April 1, following a crasg and a few hours later, at 7pm, lanes were affected further south at Coynes Cross when animals strayed onto the road and caused havoc for drivers. While not commenting specifically on those events, Dr Menzies pointed out driver behaviour that makes his job, and that of other emergency services, a lot more difficult, which can be critical.

When we have a road traffic collision, particularly on a national road or motorway, the hard shoulder is essential for the emergency services to get to that collision, he said.

The behaviour of motorists is often to use the hard shoulder to short circuit their delay. And that actually ends up compounding it because then we have to clear the hard shoulder to get all the emergency services to the crash, to clear the crash, to reopen the road.

So if the traffic in front of you is stopped, the last place you should go is the hard shoulder. Its for the emergency services and for breakdowns and other emergencies.

It can be used to allow somebody to overtake you if youre moving slowly. But other than that, you shouldnt be in the hard shoulder. I would really make a plea to people to perhaps follow that advice. No one wants to be delayed. But the quickest way we can reopen the road is to get out from there quickly and do our job and move on.

While the statistics for one of our busiest periods ever at Wicklow Rapid Response were daunting, the charity pointed out that it also undertook training sessions with local Community First Responder teams, Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team, the National Ambulance Service, Wicklow Fire Service and Greystones Wicklow Coastguard.
The release of Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson's autobiography has been delayed in the UK and Australia.

Rebel Rising was published in the US on Tuesday and was due to be released in the UK and Australia on Thursday.

The release is now scheduled for April 25.

Publisher HarperCollins said its release "in the UK and Australia has been moved to coincide with Rebel Wilson's press tours".

The book has been controversial for her account of work with Sacha Baron Cohen.

The British Borat and Ali G comedian has vehemently denied any impropriety, saying her description of shooting his 2016 film Grimsby is "demonstrably false".

Australian actor Wilson told the Sunday Times making the spy comedy was "the worst professional experience of my career".

In the book, she claimed that she was asked to do some things that were "derogatory to women or to my size", and some scenes made her feel like she was "being humiliated" and "sexually harassed".

She compared Baron Cohen to a "fourth-grade bully who teases the fat girl on the playground and tries to make her life a living hell".

Wilson played the girlfriend of Baron Cohen's character in the film, which was known as The Brothers Grimsby in North America.

In a statement, Baron Cohen's spokesperson said: "While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of The Brothers Grimsby."

Last week, the Daily Mail published outtake video footage from one of the scenes she described.

She said the release was "unauthorised and misleading" footage which was "bullying and gaslighting me".

Wilson will go on tour to promote her book in Edinburgh, Manchester and London on 24, 26 and 29 April.

She will then move on to Australia, visiting Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne on 9, 12 and 14 May.

In an appearance on Kelly Clarkson's US TV talk show on Tuesday, she said the "book itself is obviously not about this one guy", adding: "Like, that is one thing in one chapter."

Baron Cohen made his name as Ali G and fake Kazakh journalist Borat.
Candles, flowers and other memorabilia are placed at the Viertola school in Vantaa, Finland, yesterday where the shooting took place. Photo: Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP

The 12-year-old boy who shot and killed a fellow sixth-class pupil and severely injured two others at a school in Finland has explained that he was a target of bullying, and this was the motive for his attack, police said yesterday
LATEST | This was not some mistake in the fog of war  World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres writes in Israeli newspaper

Deadly strikes have renewed criticism of Israels conduct in the nearly six-month-old war

People carry the body of one of the foreign workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, before they are transported to their families outside Gaza. Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Mohammad Jahjouh and Samy Magdy Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 03:30







The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes began the journey back to their home countries yesterday as they were transported out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt, Palestinian officials said.
Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community!

Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region.
Image Credit: UNI

Vijayawada/UNI: Five people, including an elderly couple, were killed in two road accidents that took place in Visakhapatnam and Krishna districts in AP on Thursday.

Police said that three people were killed and three were injured when a Tata Ace van collided with a lorry at Akkireddypalem village in Pendurthi mandal in Visakhapatnam district.

The deceased belonged to Kovvuru town in WG district. The deceased were identified as Hanumanthu Ananda Rao (45), Hanumanthu Sekhar Rao (15), and Chintadi (65). The injured were admitted to the KG hospital.

In another road accident, an elderly couple was killed when the scooter on which they were riding rammed a stationary lorry at Lankapalli village in Ghantasala Mandal on National Highway 216. The deceased belonged to Paccharlanka village in Challapalli Mandal and were identified as Dasari Nageswara Rao (70) and Dasari Sarojani (60).
Photo courtesy: video grab | wikipedia.org

Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Bengal government while hearing a string of petitions filed on the Sandeshkhali violence, media reports said.

Referring to the case as "extremely shameful", the court reprimanded the ruling Trinamool Congress-led government, asserting that it bears "100% responsibility" if the "safety of a citizen is under threat," reported India Today.

"What has happened in Sandeshkhali is extremely shameful. The entire district administration and the ruling dispensation owe moral responsibility for what has happened in Sandeshkhali. 100% responsibility lies with the ruling party if the safety of a citizen is under threat; the government is responsible," the High Court was quoted as saying by India Today.

During the hearing, advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, petitioner in the suo motu matter in the alleged sexual violence and land grab cases, said she had received several complaints from Sandeshkhali.

"So many people came. They said nothing happened. I am putting the affidavit on record. I am not mentioning their names or they will be under threat. There was a lady who went to visit her father whose land was grabbed. She was taken in daylight and raped (by people), including (Sheikh) Shahjahan and other workers.

"This is not just land grabbing but deep issues, including government land officials. The land records were changed and (they were) asked to file a civil suit. How will these people file a civil suit? If they resist, they are tortured and raped. Even police are involved," she told the court, according to the report.

Suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by the Bengal Police on February 29 in connection with an attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali on January 5, along with his aides.

Further, several women accused the Shahjahan of involvement in land grabbing and sexual assault under coercion.

This sparked a fresh political feud between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.

During Thursday's hearing, Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court TS Sivagnanam said that even if only 1% of what advocate Tibrewal stated is true, it would be disgraceful, especially considering Bengal's claim of being the safest state for women based on statistical reports.

The Chief Justice also criticized the lawyer representing Sheikh Shahjahan, who called for an investigation into the allegations.

Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam admonished the lawyer by stating, "You are appearing for an accused who is under investigation. You first clear the shadow around you, then voice your grievance."

He further warned the expelled Trinamool leader's lawyer that by continuing to represent him, there is a "reasonable apprehension" that he may have been manipulated by those currently in custody.

Moreover, the lawyer assisting the court in the case mentioned that a report has been submitted addressing all issues, including land grabbing, the report said.
Photo courtesy: UNI

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Thursday met Delhi Chief Electoral Officer P Krishnamurthy over objectionable hoardings and posters placed by the Bharatiya Janata Party across the national capital.

The BJP has placed many objectionable hoardings across Delhi; at some places, they have even used the photo of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Minister Atishi Marlena Singh alleged.

We (AAP) and our legal team filed a complaint against this six days ago, but surprisingly, no action has been taken yet. It's worrying as it raises questions over the level playing field for Lok Sabha elections, Atishi said.

She said, It has happened for the first time in the history of the country that the sitting Chief Minister (Kejriwal) and convener of the national party were arrested after the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls; bank accounts of a major opposition party were frozen

"The Income Tax Department is sending notices to political parties amid campaigning; and the AAP office was sealed for four days.

The whole country is worried whether all the parties are getting a level playing field in the Lok Sabha elections because if no action can be taken on these hoardings and posters in these six days, then what will happen to the bigger issues? Atishi questioned.

She said that the party will seek an appointment from the Election Commission if no action is taken by the Delhi chief electoral officers office.

Raising concerns that the poll panel is not giving appointments to the opposition parties, Atishi said, This Lok Sabha election is becoming historic for all the sad reasons.

(With UNI inputs)
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Three were killed and 10 others were injured in a fire that broke out at a nursing home in south China's Guangdong Province on Thursday, said local authorities.

The fire broke out at the Kangyi nursing home in Dongguan City around 4:21 a.m. Thursday and was extinguished at 4:48 a.m., according to the city's emergency management bureau.

Among the 10 injured, one is in critical condition and the others are in stable condition. Relevant investigation into the accident is underway.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee has announced it will hold a protest in Balochistan against genocide in the region on Eid.

The spokesperson for the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) stated that protests will take place across Balochistan on Eid as part of the fifth phase of the ongoing movement against the Baloch genocide.

Additionally, the BYC extended its support to the protest call by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in Karachi and Quetta against enforced disappearances.

"The Baloch nation is currently enduring systematic genocide based on its identity, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, military operations, forced displacements, economic oppression, and other atrocities," the group said in a statement.

The BYC has initiated a movement against this genocide, including a prolonged sit-in in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.

"However, despite these efforts, the state persists in its policy of Baloch genocide, with enforced disappearances continuing unabated," the group said.

Moreover, extrajudicial killings of those subjected to enforced disappearances persist.

Recently, two Baloch youths who forcibly disappeared from Lyari last year were extrajudicially killed. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee's campaign against the Baloch genocide is currently in its fifth phase.

"We call upon the Baloch people to actively engage in this resistance movement against the Baloch genocide and to fully participate in the protests occurring in their respective areas on the day of Eid," the group said.
Photo courtesy: Facebook/Justin Trudeau

Toronto/IBNS: Canada has announced a pay hike for all Members of Parliament (MPs) effective Apr 1 helping them make over $200,000 per year.

Additional salaries for special offices like ministers, parliamentary secretaries, the Speaker and the Prime Minister will also increase with PM Justin Trudeaus salary topping $400,000 per year.

The precise number of the increase each year comes from tracking an index of increases from settlements in the private sector, according to the House of Commons.

For this years bump, that figure works out to 4.4 percent, meaning the standard salary for a backbench MP will increase by $8,500.

Trudeau will now earn $406,200, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre will take in $299,900 and cabinet ministers will also be paid just under $300,000.

Pay boosts will also be received by those who hold special offices, such as federal party leaders, parliamentary secretaries, house leaders and whips.

Salaries for senators will also go up by $8,500 increasing to $178,100.

The increase in salaries for the Federal government employees has already been criticized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), an advocacy group, dedicated to lowering taxes and scrutinizing government spending.

All members of Parliament took a raise today ranging between an extra $8,500 to $17,000the prime ministers salary is now $406,200.MPs are taking more money out of Canadians pockets and stuffing more money into their own and thats wrong, Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director has said in a release.

MPs should be providing tax relief, not hiking taxes and their own pay.

The federal government is set to release a budget on April 16.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Heeramandi: Nikhil Advani believes Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi will become a worldwide sensation. He recently said that he could see Bhansali winning an Emmy for his Netflix series next year. Nikhil talked about what the Indian diaspora expects from Indian material in an interview, adding that they still enjoy mythical stuff.



Heeramandi: Nikhil Advani Wishes To See Sanjay Leela Bhansali At The Emmys

I have been shooting in places like Khejarla, Patiala, the amount of exposure that the audience in India has to the West, I dont think Indian diaspora has. What they want to watch is the mythos. They still want their children to go to Bhagvad Geeta classes. So when they suddenly see a big film, with a big Indian actor challenging that, they reject it, he said i an interview with Film Companion.

Nikhil mentioned the Korean series Squid Game in response to a question on Indian OTT shows attempting to enter the international market. He claimed that none of the Indian shows had yet to achieve the same degree of success abroad. Heeramandi, however, has the potential to be that Indian hit, he continued.

Why are we not doing Squid Games numbers? People who are watching Family Man are there, its there on your platform, its there on your service. I think what will break everything is Heeramandi, globally, he said.

He also added, After Padmaavat the Indian diaspora was doing ghoomar in San Francisco.



Also read: Sanjay Leela Bhansali Birthday Edition: Know What Shapes His Dark Films Before Heeramandi Release

Now, the West will watch because what is it that we have? We have snake charmers and elephants, right? Unfortunately, we have been the country of snake charmers. But foreigners want that only. They still come in for exotica. RRR was an exotica, said Nikhil.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.will star Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chaddha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Manisha Koirala, and Sharmin Segal.

Also Read: Gaami OTT Release, 64YO Tamil Actor Visweswara Rao's Death And More From Ent



For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


1. Monkey Man OTT Release Date: When And Where To Watch Dev Patel's Film

"Monkey Man's OTT Release Date: 'Monkey Man,' the directorial debut of actor Dev Patel, is set for release. The film narrates the tale of a masked man on a mission to combat evil, navigating through a corrupt administration. Initially slated for a Netflix premiere, 'Monkey Man' was later shifted to Universal, as reported by Screenrant."

Monkey Man OTT Release Details/X

2. Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai Actor Saanand Verma Bravely Opens Up About Being Sexually Assaulted By A 'Big Man'

Actor Saanand Verma, who portrayed Anokhe Lal Saxena in Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai, talked about how, at the age of 13, he was sexually molested by a large man. Speaking about these kinds of events is not always simple. It frequently returns the trauma to the present. Not only that, but even if the victim of sexual assault is not at fault, people frequently feel embarrassed to discuss such situations.



Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai Actor Saanand Verma was sexually assaulted by big man/Indiatimes

3. Deepika Padukone's 'Deewani Mastani' Dance Gets On The Academy's Instagram, But Why?

Following Deepika Padukone's appearance on the Academy's official Instagram account on Thursday, fans went crazy. A video of the actress performing to the popular song "Deewani Mastani" was published by the account.

Deepika Padukone's 'Deewani Mastani' Dance Gets On The Academy's Instagram, But Why?/IMDb

4. Premalu Hindi OTT Release: When And Where To Watch This Girish AD's Malayalam Film

The Malayalam movie "Premalu," which has been one of the biggest hits to hit theatres thus far, is soon to be available in Hindi on small screens.

Under the direction of Girish AD, this romantic comedy stars Naslen K. Gafoor and Mamitha Baiju in the key parts.

Premalu Hindi OTT Release: When And Where To Watch This Girish AD's Malayalam Film/IMDb

5. Twitter Abuzz As Pakistani Actor Accuses Aamir Khan, SRK & Salman Khan Of Insecurity Towards Pakistani Talent

Pakistani actor and TV presenter Nadia Khan caused a sensation when she claimed in a recent video that went viral on the social media site X (previously Twitter) that prominent Bollywood actors, such as the well-known Khans Aamir Shah Rukh and Salman, are unconfident about Pakistani ability.

Twitter Abuzz As Pakistani Actor Accuses Aamir Khan, SRK & Salman Khan Of Insecurity Towards Pakistani Talent/X

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


Shab-e-Qadr, also known as Laylat al-Qadr, is an Islamic festival celebrated worldwide. It commemorates the night when the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during the month of Ramadan.

Laylatul Qadr is observed every year in the last 5 odd nights of the holy month of Ramadan, which is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. Muslims believe that during these nights whatever they wish for is granted through their prayers. This year, these nights will fall on five auspicious nights April 1, April 3, April 5, April 7, and April 9.

Shab-e-Qadr, also known as Laylat Al-Qadr, is one of Islam's holiest nights. People of the Muslim community perform special prayers and seek forgiveness for all their sins on Shab-e-Qadr. They stay awake the entire night.

Shab-e-Qadr Mubarak 2024: Wishes, Images, Quotes And Messages | Freepik

As the holy month of Ramadan is coming to an end. And, to mark the end of the holy period, Muslims across the country will observe Shab-e-Qadr (Laylat ul-Qadr). Here are a few wishes and quotes that you can share with our friends and family on Shab-e-Qadr 2024:

Laylatul Qadr 2024 Date | Shab-e-Qadr Date Nights Of Power Date Day 21st Night April 1 Monday 23rd Night April 3 Wednesday 25th Night April 5 Friday 27th Night April 7 Sunday 29th Night April 9 Tuesday

Happy Laylat ul Qadr Mubarak wishes 2024

1. Pray to Allah the Almighty that this night brings good for everyone in the community and those who we deeply love. Laylat al-Qadr Mubarak.

2. On this special night, may Allah purify our intentions and accept us. May He put us in his book of those released from hellfire. Shab-e-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

3. This is a night that is better than a thousand nights. This is the time when we got our exodus. It's the night God saved us from the craws of the evil one and purified for the heavenly welcome. Have a blessed night. Shab-e-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

4. Today's the Night of Power when Allah will dine with us. I wish that he will be there for you. I wish that Allah will protect your family and give everyone what they have long in life. Laylat Al-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

5. Shab-e-Qadr is a good time to review our hearts and repent of all our sins. Allah is there to listen to us and grant us forgiveness. Laylat Al-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

Shab-e-Qadr Mubarak 2024: Wishes, Images, Quotes And Messages | Freepik

Laylat ul Qadr Greetings 2024

1. I pray that may Allah accepts your dua, protects your family, and relieves your stress on this special night. Have a blessed time and tons of Shab e Qadr wishes!

2. Let this graceful month enlighten all our darkness, wash away our sorrows, and ease our pains. May our prayers get accepted by the Almighty! Ramzanul Mubarak.

3. In this power of night, may Allah make it easy for you to keep fast and grace you with the strength to do all the prayers! Laylat al-Qadr Mubarak.

4. The month of great blessings and Barkat has come. spend these days worshiping the one and only Allah Almighty. Laylat al-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

5. The night of power is another chance to do good to humankind. It is even stated that all the good deeds done on this special night will be rewarded handsomely. Laylat al-Qadr Mubarak!

Shab-e-Qadr Mubarak 2024

1. May this Shab-e-Qadr bring good news, blessings, happiness, and peace in your life. Sending my wishes to you and your family. Laylat al-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

2. Allah, you have given me a beautiful life and I thank you for the same. Bless me so that I can do well in life. Always grateful to you.

3. This is the night of forgiveness. Try to forgive all those who have done wrong to you in some way or the other. Shab-e-Qadr Mubarak!

4. On this Holy night, I pray to Allah to seek forgiveness on behalf of myself, my family and friends. May Allah bless us. Shab-e-Qadr 2024 Mubarak!

5. I wish all the good things for you on this auspicious night. Believe in Allah and he will be there for you. Shab-e-Qadr Mubarak!

Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is based on general information.

For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events.
Clearing the civil services examination (CSE) is the dream of many Indians. However, despite lakhs preparing for the UPSC every year, only a miniscule 0.2% actually pass the exam. And few have a backup plan. But with the vast amount of knowledge gained while preparing for the examination, one neednt worry that much.



Best backup plans if you dont clear UPSC CSE

Here are the top backup plans if you dont clear the UPSC:

Opt for state civil services exams

Consider appearing for exams conducted by state-level Public Service Commissions for various government job opportunities within your state.

iStock

Pursue higher education

Pursuing higher studies in a subject of your choice is always a good option. This could be a masters degree or any specialised courses that align with your career goals.

Join Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs)

Apply for jobs in PSUs or government-owned corporations where your skills and qualification are relevant.

Look for job openings in Public Sector Undertakings like BHEL, ONGC, IOCL, and NTPC, which offer positions in engineering, management, finance, and other fields.

Banking sector jobs

Consider jobs in banking sector such as probationary officers (POs) in nationalised banks or clerical positions.

You can prepare for exams such as the IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection) or SBI (State Bank of India) exams for positions like Probationary Officer (PO) or Clerk.

Representative image/ Unsplash

SSC exams

Look into exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission for recruitment to various government departments and organisations, including Group B and Group C posts.

NGOs

Consider working with NGOs or nonprofit organizations dedicated to social causes and development work in areas such as education, healthcare, environment, and human rights.

Representative image/ Seruds

Remember that there are numerous career paths available, and clearing the UPSC exam is just one of them. It's essential to assess your interests, strengths, and career goals to choose the path that aligns best with your aspirations.



For more information on exams, results and careers, please visit Indiatimes Education.


A 34-year-old woman, apparently inspired by Bollywood drama, climbed an electric pole after her love affair was exposed in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. It all started when Ram Govind, found out that his wife had been having an affair for many years.

The woman was having an affair with a man from a nearby village. Ram Govind confronted his wife, demanding answers and explanations for her betrayal. But the woman said that she wanted her paramour to move in with them and contribute to the household finances!

She climbed atop an electric pole. The crowd gathered below gasped in horror as she perched herself on the high-tension wires, her demands echoing in the air.



For a change this time its not a Husband who climbed to an electric Pole but instead its the wife. In Gorakhpur, UP a Mother of three fall in love with a Man and asked her husband to allow her lover to stay in the same house. When the husband refused she climbed to an electric pic.twitter.com/MJA7yfFAm2  NCMIndia Council For Men Affairs (@NCMIndiaa) April 3, 2024

As the situation escalated, local authorities swung into action. Teams from the police and electricity department rushed to the scene, trying to reason with the woman and coax her down from her precarious perch. Negotiations stretched on for hours, with the woman refusing to budge until her demands were met.

Finally, with the electricity supply cut off and the authorities promising to address her grievances, the woman descended from the pole.




You may have often heard the term 'delulu is the solulu' which has been all over the Internet for quite some time. This popular Gen Z phrase basically means that delusion is the solution to all your problems. But for this man in China diagnosed with delusional love disorder, being delulu became his lifes biggest problem!

Liu believes that all girls in school like him

Liu, a 20-year-old second-year university student from Jiangsu province in eastern China, recently received a diagnosis of delusional love disorder.

This condition causes him to believe that all his female classmates have romantic feelings for him.

"All the girls in school like me," Liu confidently told Lu Zhenjiao, a doctor from Huaian No.3 Peoples Hospital.

"He thinks that he's the best-looking guy in the university," Lu shared with Litchi News.

Weibo/ SCMP

Liu's delusion is so strong that he interprets any negative responses from females he approaches as mere shyness.



His behavior has also changed significantly, with him staying up all night, being unable to concentrate in class, and spending money recklessly.

But now, with psychotherapy and drug treatments, he is finally in recovery.

What is delusional love disorder or, Erotomania and what causes it?

Erotomania is a rare condition where someone believes that another person is in love with them, even when there's no evidence for it.

People with this disorder may struggle to understand social cues correctly.

Representative image/ Freepik

Also known as de Clerambault syndrome, common traits of people with erotomania include feeling low self-esteem, rejected, or lonely, and having trouble seeing things from others' perspectives.



The condition is often seen in spring, possibly due to changes in hormone levels caused by the weather. When the condition sets in, patients may become hyperactive, talkative, and may have an increased interest in sex.

Experts aren't sure why it happens, but it's often linked to low self-esteem or stress. Social media can make these delusions worse for some people.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


Rejection letters are difficult for everyone. Most of us fear reading letters that inform a job candidate that he did not win the post or that a start-up founder may not receive any funding.

However, using the appropriate words and providing comfort can help the candidate absorb the news. A person recently turned to Reddit and stated that he received a job rejection from a company and found it "very comforting".

Who found the rejection letter from company comforting?

Reddit user ready-4-it shared their story on reddit | Image: Pexels

Reddit user ready-4-it wrote on the platform, "This may seem like a run of the mill rejection letter, but the choice of wording left me feeling better about myself. Am I overthinking this?"



He also provided a screenshot of the company informing the employee about their decision. They wrote, "We were impressed with your application and felt you were a strong candidate for the role of Freelance/Consultant General Legal Counsel. Unfortunately on this occasion, we felt there were candidates that were marginally better suited for the role, with whom we have decided to progress. We would love to retain your details, whether that be because we would like to reconsider your application for this role, or consider you for future roles with EXTREME International."

They then congratulated the individual for his attention and wished him luck in the future.

How did people on the internet react?

Since being shared, the post garnered a lot of reactions from people on the internet. "Choice of words make a difference in the case the other candidate doesn't work out. Good on them! Sounds like you did the good work and found a real mature team. Don't hold any expectations but an openness," said a user.

Another person added, "Rejection brings so much negativity but these guys were able to navigate it so well! You're right about expectations. I don't have any, but at the same time, I'm not mad about it."

"You were acknowledged, and judging by the email it seems like they might have had to make a tough choice. If you liked the company it's good the door isn't completely closed on it for the future. Best wishes for success for you!" commented another user.

Check the post here.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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A video of a thief's odd and humorous disguise was circulated online. In the footage, the porch pirate is seen taking a gift while disguised as a rubbish bag.

What did the thief do?

The video depicts an unremarkable sight with a waste bag in front of a house | Image: Instagram

"A robber disguised in a rubbish bag slowly approached and snatched someone's box from their porch. Happened on Northwood Road," one Instagram user commented while uploading the video.



The video depicts an unremarkable sight with a waste bag in front of a house. However, the scene becomes more exciting when the bag begins to move. As the video progresses, the robber discreetly approaches a package laying on a porch and snatches it before fleeing.

Who shared the CCTV footage?

Homeowner Omar Munoz, who witnessed the incident on his CCTV system, told ABC10, "You see the bag approaching my door. At first, I thought they were playing with me."

Homeowner Omar Munoz witnessed the incident on his CCTV system | Image: Instagram

"At first, I was irritated because it was what I had expected. But, at the end of the day, it was sort of humorous," he explained.



"I look at everything positively because that's what life is all about. If you only see the negative aspects of everything, you'll never get anywhere," he added.

How did people on the internet react?

The video was shared one day ago. Since then, the clip has received over 4.5 lakh views. The post has received nearly 4,000 likes. People offered various remarks in response to the video.

"This is something out of a movie," wrote one Instagram user. "Gotta give it to him, that's a pretty genius move," added another. "If you're willing to go to this length, you can have it just for putting on a show.

"I'll simply have Amazon send a replacement," said a third. "I wouldn't even be mad if I caught this on camera," wrote a fourth. "I apologize." "I'm not sure if I should be mad or laughing," added a fifth.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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Vishesh Khurana's narrative is not your typical success story. With just a fleeting encounter at Amity University, he embarked on a journey that would redefine the traditional paths to success. Today, he stands as a beacon of inspiration, leading Tribe Capital's endeavours in India, a testament to grit, determination, and the power of unconventional routes.



Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Tribe Capital invests in businesses and manages $1.6 billion. They have 27 successful startups in their portfolio.

Tribe Capital has been focusing more on India for the past four years. They've invested 20% of their money in India, including in a few very successful startups. Khurana will be in charge of their $250 million fund for India. He'll be working with founders and other investors who went to top engineering and business schools worldwide.

The Unlikely Rise: From Dropout to Venture Capitalist

Khurana's trajectory into the world of venture capitalism defies convention. While many navigate the corridors of academia, he charted his course through practical experience and unwavering tenacity.

Vishesh Khurana is considered a 'college dropout' because he only attended Amity University in Noida for five days. If he had stayed longer, he would have completed 12th grade. Despite not finishing college, he's become a partner at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He is the co-founder of a successful e-commerce shipping company called Shiprocket where he worked as chief experience officer. Tribe Capital has been working with Shiprocket, and now they've officially hired Khurana because of his expertise. Even though Khurana isn't a college graduate, he's managed to succeed in the world of venture capital.

Pioneering Ventures: Khurana's Entrepreneurial Journey

Vishesh Khurana | Photo: Yourstory

Hailing from a modest background in Pitampura, Delhi, Khurana's entrepreneurial spirit blossomed amidst adversity. From assisting his family's business to venturing into app development, each endeavour served as a stepping stone towards his ultimate calling.



Khurana grew up in a family that ran a small business. His dad had a shop selling auto spare parts. "Once upon a time, our business was doing really well. We had a good life. But then, a few things went wrong, and things got tough," Khurana tells ET Prime.

In 2008, as a teenager, he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey to support his family financially.

After briefly attending Amity University, Khurana ventured into selling tickets for music concerts. This initial endeavor laid the foundation for his future business ventures. In 2010, he founded Mobiz Infotech, a startup focusing on developing apps for brands. Despite lacking technical expertise, Khurana's knack for entrepreneurship led to significant profits, with each project earning around Rs 10 lakh.

Riding the E-commerce Wave

Recognising the potential of e-commerce, Khurana transitioned his focus to online retail. He founded Statusstores.com, inspired by the success of Fashion and You. However, faced with challenges, Khurana pivoted to Lastmilecod.com, catering to the logistics needs of the burgeoning e-commerce industry.

Embracing Change: The Evolution of Shiprocket

In 2015, Khurana co-founded Shiprocket, a company revolutionizing e-commerce logistics. Despite initial challenges, Shiprocket gained traction and support from prominent investors, becoming a cornerstone of India's e-commerce infrastructure.

Shiprocket's inception marked a pivotal moment in Khurana's career. Witnessing the transformative potential of e-commerce, he spearheaded the company's evolution, navigating through challenges and seizing opportunities with unwavering resolve.

Also Read: List Of Rich Businessmen Who Have Been Sentenced To Jail



Transitioning to Tribe Capital

Khurana's entrepreneurial journey took a new turn when he joined Tribe Capital, a Silicon Valley investment firm. Despite lacking formal education, Khurana's entrepreneurial experience and insights positioned him as a valuable asset to Tribe Capital's Indian division. His role involves identifying and nurturing promising startups in India's dynamic ecosystem.

Tribe Capital's beckoning marked a new chapter in Khurana's odyssey. Despite lacking conventional credentials, his entrepreneurial acumen earned him a pivotal role within the organization. Armed with invaluable experience and a penchant for innovation, he spearheads Tribe Capital's ventures in India with unwavering zeal.

Embracing Education and Experience

Reflecting on his unconventional path, Khurana highlighted the importance of both education and experience in entrepreneurship. While acknowledging the benefits of structured education, he highlights the value of hands-on experience and creativity in problem-solving.

Vishesh Khurana's journey from a teenage entrepreneur to leading the Indian division of Tribe Capital exemplifies the power of resilience, adaptability, and entrepreneurial spirit. His story serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of seizing opportunities and persevering in the face of challenges.

Also Read: Goldman Sachs Predicts Mukesh Ambani's Next Big Investments Over the Next 3 Year

For the latest and more interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here
As the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gears up for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala's Wayanad from where he is a sitting MP, he declares his financial assets and investments which total around Rs 20 crore including cash in hand, mutual funds, stocks and more.

In this article lets understand the income declarations and investment details provided by Rahul Gandhi in his recent affidavit, shedding light on his financial standing and strategies.



Rahul Gandhi's assets overview:

Total assets in 2024 - Rs 20.4 crore

- Rs 20.4 crore Movable assets - Rs 9.24 crore

- Rs 9.24 crore Immovable assets - Rs11.15 crore

- Rs11.15 crore Liabilities : Rs 49.7 lakh

: Rs 49.7 lakh Total assets in 2019 - Rs 15.89 cr

Rahul Gandhi's Diverse Investment Portfolio:

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (R) files his nomination papers for the upcoming India's general elections, in Wayanad on April 3, 2024 | Photo: AFP

In his recent filing, Rahul Gandhi disclosed a diversified investment portfolio that encompasses various financial instruments. From stock market ventures to mutual fund deposits, his financial assets reflect a strategic approach towards wealth management.



Rahul Gandhi has invested Rs 4.33 crore in the stock market as of March 15, 2024. He bought shares in several companies like Alkyl Amines Chemicals, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Deepak Nitrite, and many others. These companies include big names like Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Nestle India, and Tata Consultancy Services.

From Cash Holdings to Mutual Fund Investments:

One notable revelation from Rahul Gandhi's affidavit is his declaration of Rs 55,000 in cash and 26,25,267 in his two bank accounts, symbolising his liquidity reserves. This modest yet essential component of his finances underscores the importance of cash management in personal finance strategies. Moreover, his substantial mutual fund investments amounting to Rs 3.81 crore highlight a penchant for long-term wealth accumulation and financial security. Some of the mutual funds he has invested in are HDFC MCOP DP GR, HDFC Small Cap DP GR, ICICI EQ&DF D Growth, PPFAS FCF D Growth, HDFC Small Cap Reg-G, HDFC Hybrid Debt Fund-G, and ICICI Prudential Reg Savings-G.

Additionally, Rahul Gandhi owns 1,900 shares in Young Indian, which is the parent company of the Congress-supported National Herald newspaper. These shares are valued at Rs 1.90 lakh.

Steady Growth in Assets:

Over the past five years, Rahul Gandhi has witnessed a commendable growth in his assets, with a significant increase observed in his total worth. Despite fluctuations in the economic landscape, his astute investment decisions have contributed to this upward trajectory, positioning him as a prudent investor in the public eye. When he first contested from Wayanad in 2019, the total value of his assets was Rs 15.89 crore.

Diversification Beyond Conventional Assets:

Apart from conventional investment avenues, Rahul Gandhi's financial portfolio includes investments in gold bonds, National Savings Schemes, Postal Savings, and insurance policies. This diversification underscores his inclination towards risk mitigation and wealth preservation, showcasing a holistic approach towards financial planning.

The Congress leader also bought 220 units of special gold bonds (SGBs) worth Rs 15.21 lakh. He also said he put money into schemes like the National Savings Scheme (NSS), Postal Savings Scheme, Insurance Policies, and investments in things like post office or insurance companies. Altogether, he put in Rs 61.52 lakh.

He also has 333.300 grams of gold and other fancy jewelry worth Rs 4.20 lakh. Gandhi also said he has agricultural land with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and both pieces of land are worth Rs 2.10 crore.

Rahul and his sister Priyanka share some land in Mehrauli, New Delhi that they got from their family. But Rahul doesn't own any cars. He also has an office in Gurugram that he bought in 2014. It's worth about Rs 9 crore now and is 5,838 square feet big.

The value of Raul Gandhi's movable assets, like money in the bank or investments, is worth about Rs 9.24 crore. The total value of his immovable property, like land or buildings, are worth around Rs 11.14 crore. Altogether, his total assets are worth more than Rs 20 crore, as stated in the documents he submitted with his nomination. He also has a liability of about Rs 49.7 lakh.

Criminal cases

Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (C) along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (C, left) waves to his supporters during a roadshow | Photo: AFP

Rahul Gandhi has 18 criminal cases against him, written in a document he filled out on Wednesday in Wayanad. One of these cases is about saying something bad about a person with the last name "Modi." He was found guilty by a Gujarat High Court, but the Supreme Court granted him bail.



Transparent Disclosure Amidst Political Landscape:

The meticulous disclosure of his financial details reflects Rahul Gandhi's commitment to transparency and accountability, especially in the realm of politics where financial probity is closely scrutinized. Such transparency fosters trust among constituents and strengthens the democratic process by offering a glimpse into the financial ethos of political leaders.

Also Read: Shark Tank India: 4 Healthcare Startups That Bagged Deals Because Of Their Disruptive Ideas

The Road Ahead:

With the filing of his nomination and a resounding roadshow in Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi embarks on yet another electoral journey, poised to contest against formidable opponents. His financial declarations serve as a backdrop to his political narrative, resonating with voters who seek leaders with a clear vision and sound fiscal stewardship.

Rahul Gandhi won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a margin of over four lakh votes in the 2019 general election. In the 2024 election, he is contesting against CPI leader Annie Raja and state BJP chief K Surendran in the high-profile contest scheduled for April 26.

As Rahul Gandhi navigates the electoral landscape, his financial disclosures provide insights beyond mere numbers, offering a glimpse into his financial philosophy and approach towards wealth management. In the dynamic intersection of politics and finance, such transparency reinforces the democratic ethos and empowers voters to make informed choices.

Also Read: From Education To Investments, 10 Money Habits Of Middle-Class Indian Families That Are Fail Proof


Palestine Poster Screen Printing Workshop

Date:

Saturday, April 06, 2024

Time:

11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Event Type:

Class/Workshop

Organizer/Author:

San Jose Against War

Location Details:

San Jose Peace & Justice Center

48 South 7th Street

San Jose, CA 95112

Palestine Poster Screen Printing Workshop



The unprecedented upsurge of protest in support for Palestine has been accompanied by a renaissance in screen printed artwork on posters, signs, banners, T-shirts, and bags.



This workshop conducted by the San Francisco Poster Syndicate will provide an opportunity to screen print a variety of amazing recent designs as posters. Come and try your hand at screen printing your own posters and T-shirts.



Screen printing for San Jose May Day in solidarity with Palestine will also be done for T-shirts.



For T-shirts, please bring your own blank white or light-colored T-shirts. Blank T-shirts will also be available for sale. Posters will be distributed for free, but donations for future screen printing workshops are welcomed.



Free and open to the public

Please wear a mask indoors

Wheelchair accessible



Sponsored by the San Jose Peace and Justice Center, San Jose Against War, San Francisco Poster Syndicate, FRSO San Jose, San Jose SDS, Jewish Voice for Peace South Bay, Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, San Jose May Day Coalition, Human Agenda, and American Student Union
A former judge playing a key role in a criminal ring that involved bribery for favorable court decisions will be extradited to Greece, it was announced on Thursday
He also referred to his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, saying they had discussed issues that concerned NATO and bilateral relations between Greece and Turkiye
The Scandinavian airline Norwegian is expanding its range of flights from Munich with immediate effect.

In addition to its three Scandinavian destinations of Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, it

will begin serving Alicante and Malaga again from the start of April, having suspended flights to these destinations during COVID.

Under the airline code D8, Norwegian Air Sweden -one of several subsidiaries of the Norwegian Group- will offer a late-morning flight every Monday and Friday to the Spanish port city of Alicante, known for its beautiful beaches, vibrant nightlife, narrow streets and colorful houses.

Picassos birthplace, Malaga, is famed for its miles of beaches and its warm climate  just two of the reasons it is very popular with German vacationers. Flights to the city in Andalusia will depart Munich at 10:40 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

In addition to these Spanish destinations, Norwegian serves Oslo five times a week, Copenhagen three times a week, and Stockholm twice a week.

  Norwegian resumes flights from Munich to the Spanish cities of Malaga and Alicante    Metaforespress.
The Inter-Agency Joint Task Force of the Federal Road Safety Corps has revealed that 35 trailers carrying a total of 982 passengers along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway and in Bauchi-Maiduguri area last week were seized.

The Corps Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Jonas Agwu, made this known in a statement released to the public on Thursday.

Agwu disclosed that the operation was a strategy to combat trailer-related accidents and the practice of transporting people in trailers.

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The statement partly reads: In what seems to be an effective strategy in the fight against trailer crashes and conveyance of human beings by these same category of vehicles, the Inter-Agency Joint Task Force recently constituted by the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dauda Ali Biu, to operate along critical corridors have apprehended 35 trailers carrying 982 passengers.

READ MORE: Eight Dead, Others Injured In Bauchi Auto Crash  FRSC

According to the reports of the special intervention patrol operations forwarded to the national headquarters, a total of 19 trailers carrying 810 people where apprehended on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.

While, the JTF team covering Bauchi-Maiduguri general operation area of the Corps also arrested 16 trailers conveying 172 passengers on that route.

The arrests were perfected within the first one week beginning from March 23 to 30 of its operations on the identified routes.

At the points of arrests, the Inter-Agency Joint Task Force ensured that all passengers onboard the trailers were dropped, cautioned against the deadly act, and asked to join passenger vehicles designed for conveying people.

While the special operations are going on, the corps marshal also directed sector commanders of the states where the act is more prominent, to sustain ongoing engagement with the leadership of road transport unions as well as owners of articulated vehicles.

This is to ensure that drivers who engage in such traffic violations are cautioned.
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday, accused Governor Similanayi Fubara of plotting to procure interim orders to declare the state House of Assembly illegal.

At an unscheduled sitting last month, the assembly had ruled against Fubara to enact the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) Service Commission Law.

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The lawmakers had said they observed that more than the constitutionally required 30 days had elapsed since they sent the notice of the amendment of the RSHA Service Commission law to the Governor for his assent.

To this end, the State House of Assembly threatened to commence fresh impeachment proceedings against him.

Recall that the Governor, on Wednesday, while addressing members of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in Government House, Port Harcourt, the state capital; vowed to surprise those who consider his decision to implement the presidential peace pact as a sign of weakness

The Governor also urged members of the NULGE in the State to prepare and brace up, saying, The next phase is fire for fire.

However, according to the states main opposition Party, Fubaras outburst was drumming war and disrespect for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Rivers, Tony Okocha, at a press conference in Port Harcourt alleged that the Governor is planning to engage some judges to obtain the interim order so as to announce as illegal the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly.

Okocha alleged that the Governor wants to leverage on the interim order in other to appoint Caretaker Committee of Chairmen of the Local Government Areas in the State.

I want to use this opportunity to inform Rivers people and Nigerians of the move by the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, to procure interim orders from Judges that I may not name here, but I will put in my petition today to the National Judicial Council.

READ ALSO: Peace Pact: If You See Me As Weak, Ill Surprise You  Fubara Warns Opponents

He wants to procure interim order stopping the implementation of the laws which he was vetoed over. He wants to procure an order to announce as illegal the Rivers State House of Assembly as constituted and as led by Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule. The Governor is in the business as we speak and I speak with all authority because the walls have ears.

These are the plans that are on and he is doing that so that he will now leverage on that order to go ahead to appoint caretaker committees in local government against the warning of the man he says he respects, the President.

But let me put it clearly here that we will stoutly, vehemently oppose such negative subterranean moves by a man who ought to protect the dignity and integrity of a state called Rivers. Rivers State cannot be turned to a pariah because of cluelessness of one person. Rivers State is a state to be reckoned with in the comity of nations, highly respected and regarded

But see how dangerously we have fallen because we have a Governor that does not understand his left from his right. So we (have) to put this out clearly to Nigerians and to Rivers people that we will stoutly disobey that. The gift according to Frantz Fanon that I like so much, the gift to an intransigence government is civil disobedience.

If the Government of Siminalayi Fubara tends towards intransigence, then he will meet with civil disobedience. It is just natural, he stated.

Reacting to the allegation Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson, said the Governor does not do backyard business and cannot make such plot.

There is nothing like that we are not given to backyard business. My governor does not do anything that is illegal and he is not interested in any illegality. Whatever will come from the courts will not come from the back door. We are not like them and the governor has said that he will surprise them so he will surprise them.

They are afraid because they know their fall is near. Rivers people spoke yesterday through the NULGE, and that organic love expressed threw the camp of the factional acting APC chairman into this feverish situation, he said.
Bello Bodejo, detained President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, currently facing a three-count terrorism charge, has urged the court to release him on bail, as he is innocent.

The Leader of the group, who is being prosecuted before the Federal High Court in Abuja, also denied any involvement in the establishment of an ethnic militia group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya.

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He stated this through his brother, Mohammed Musa, in an affidavit in support of his bail application.

Recall that Bodejo has been in custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, since January 23, even though the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had on March 22, okayed his detention.

Musa said his brother only had a registered vigilante company that offered security services to the members of society and promoted peace.

He said, The defendant/applicant neither established nor has any involvement with the Kungiya Zaman Lafiya ethnic militia group, as alleged in the charge preferred against him on the 12th March 2024.

The defendant/applicant only established a vigilante company, which was duly registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 as Nomad Vigilante Nigeria Limited as opposed to an ethnic militia known as Kungiya Zaman Lafiya, as alleged by the complainant in the charge preferred against the defendant/applicant.

The aim of establishing the vigilante company is to render security services to the members of society and promote peace but not to commit any act of terrorism whatsoever.

In a counter-affidavit dated April 2, and deposed to by a litigation clerk in the Department of Public Prosecutions, Federal Ministry of Justice, Noma Ganau Wando, the Federal Government urged the court to dismiss the Bodejos bail application.

Wando also contended that contrary to Bodejos claim, he was not suffering a life-threatening illness, adding that the defendant would not attend trial if granted bail.

READ ALSO: FG Arraigns Miyetti Allahs Bodejo On Three-Count Terrorism Charge

He said, All the facts deposed to by the deponent about ill health and heart failure, among others in the affidavit brought before this honourable court, have not been proven to be cogent, credible, material or genuine to support his application to enable the court to exercise its discretion in his favour.

The defendant/applicant will not show up for his trial if granted bail due to the gravity of the alleged offences and the severity of punishment prescribed by law.

Bodejo was arrested on January 23 at the Miyetti Allahs office in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State for allegedly unveiling a militia group.

At the hearing on his bail application on Wednesday, his counsel, Dr. Sulaiman Usman, sought an adjournment, stating that the Federal Government, in its counter-affidavit, raised fresh issues he would need to respond to.

The prosecution lawyer, Y. A. Imana, did not oppose Usmans plea for an adjournment.

Usman made an oral application for an order directing the DIA to grant Bodejo access to his lawyers.

He told the court that his client needed access to his lawyers as well as adequate time to prepare for his trial.

Usman said, We urge Your Lordship to order the DIA to grant the defendant access to his lawyers. He needs to be prepared for the trial.

But the prosecutor, in response, maintained that Bodejo had not been denied access to his lawyers.

She said, I dont agree with him. After the last time that court ordered that he should be given medical attention and lawyers, we wrote them and the feedback we got was that the counsel had visited him.

Reacting, Trial Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo said, Report to the court at any time you are denied access to him.
The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, has vowed that the International Criminal Police Organisation will re-arrest the escaped Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla.

Recall that Nadeem, the crypto companys Regional Africa Manager, reportedly ran away from custody in Nigeria.

However, Egbetokun, in his reaction on Thursday, while addresing journalists at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja, vowed that one of the Binance personnel will be rearrested.

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Egbetokun said: I am not going to tell you what INTERPOL is doing, but I must tell you that we are doing a lot.

I can assure you that the suspect would be re-arrested.

On the flip-side, we will continue to strive for excellence by being more proactive in our policing approach.

Our responses to the current internal security threats require strategic deployments that are not only proactive but also technology and intelligence-driven.

Through meticulous analysis of available information, we shall endeavour to pre-empt criminal activities, disrupt their illicit networks, and apprehend perpetrators swiftly. It is essential that we remain vigilant and adaptive in our approach, continuously refining our strategies to stay ahead of evolving threats.

I am pleased to report a substantial advancement, propelled by the execution of diverse strategies aimed at mitigating the escalating trend of criminal activities across the nation after our last conference held on February 8, 2024.

In the past eight weeks, we recorded 141 cases of terrorism/secessionist attacks, 537 cases of murder, 126 cases of armed robbery, 214 cases of kidnapping, and 39 cases of unlawful possession of firearms.

Also, during the period under review, the Nigeria Police Force arrested 3,685 suspects for their participation in various crimes, 401 kidnapped victims were rescued, 216 various firearms, 3,601 ammunition and 82 vehicles were recovered.

We have in the last nine months cumulatively presented cheques totalling N7,263,391,051.73 to 2,5143 families of deceased police officers.
Last night, stacks and stacks of intricately placed paper were laid on Independence Mall.

A new art installation open to the public Thursday morning, Waiting Workforce, is a call to action as part of Second Chance Month this April. Thirty-eight figures made from stacks of paper stand together waiting, meant to represent the majority of U.S. states that have yet to pass laws which automatically clear some criminal records.

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Without automatic record sealing, the process can be complex, time consuming and full of paperwork for people whose records would otherwise be eligible for sealing or expungement. Pennsylvania was the first state to enact automatic sealing in 2018, and its legislation was updated and expanded in 2024 to allow for some felony convictions to be sealed.

 READ MORE: That pressure is being released now: A newly expanded law is helping people seal their felony records and start fresh

But those Clean Slate laws dont cover all individuals or all justice system interactions immediately.

Having a documented history of justice system interaction often makes it difficult for people to get good jobs and advance in their careers. And even when a person with a criminal history can get their foot in the door to be considered for jobs, hiring managers can be biased against those applicants.

According to a national survey by the Alliance for Safety and Justice, more than half of individuals with a past criminal conviction have had difficulties getting a job, maintaining employment or making a living.

We all know somebody who can use a second chance

Its why JPMorgan Chase is advocating for more Second Chance opportunities in Philadelphia with the Waiting Workforce installation, and other activations, this month building off the states pioneering work with Clean Slate.

A lot of the people who get caught up in [the justice system] are aware, but theres not necessarily a broader awareness of the impact that this is happening on individuals and their ability to get into good jobs with career pathways and create more economic opportunity for themselves and their families, said Nan Gibson, executive director of the JPMorgan Chase Policy Center.

We all know somebody who can use a second chance, she said.

 READ MORE: There are 400,000 people in Philly with convictions and criminal records. Expungement clinics can offer a fresh start.

After Pennsylvania passed its Clean Slate law in 2018 and Utah followed with bipartisan legislation, JPMorgan lawyers worked with advocates in states like Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, Colorado and New York to pass similar legislation.

In addition to Waiting Workforce, JPMC is hosting a day-long conference today at the Wharton Business School on the Business Case for Second Chance Employment, which brings together business executives, academics, community members and other leaders, like Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker, together to discuss building more Second Chance pathways for hiring.

Its the right thing to do, and its good for the economy. Nan Gibson

A coalition of like-minded businesses

JPMC also has recently expanded its Second Chance Business Coalition, a group of organizations leading and collaborating on Second Chance hiring efforts, to 50 members, most recently adding the NBA.

Its the right thing to do, and its good for the economy, Gibson said about creating more opportunities for people with criminal records.

She referenced a report from the Brennan Center for Justice, which estimated that felony convictions keeping people from working costs the economy roughly $77 billion, and an additional $240 billion because of misdemeanor convictions.

Gibson said JPMC has been focused on Second Chance hiring internally, too. About 10% of JPMCs nationwide new hires last year had a criminal record, she said. Roughly 80 million Americans have one.

That doesnt impact the safety and soundness of the financial industry or the financial system, she said.

Changing the narrative

Jason Whyte, the founder and CEO of the National Reentry Workforce Collaborative, a Philly-based group that advocates for and trains other organizations on reentry workforce development, said they make the case to businesses that Second Chance hiring is not charity, but makes its workforce stronger.

Youre not going to the employers to ask for a favor. Youre bringing [them] the most valuable asset that they could ever have, which are their employees, he said.

 READ MORE: The Inquirer is launching the Up for Review initiative to consider requests to update old stories

NRWC is one of the members of JPMCs Second Chance Business Coalition, and is currently working with Philadelphia Works to develop training programs for people with criminal histories that lead to employment in partnering companies.

Whyte said that an important part of their work will be teaching these organizations how to build meaningful relationships with Second Chance workers that last after they transition into their new careers.

Youre not going to the employers to ask for a favor. Jason Whyte

Without that supportive environment, Whyte said a person is less likely to succeed.

When a person goes through the process of incarceration, theres so much [of a] challenge that they have to deal with when they come back ... it requires, really, an ecosystem to be coordinated for it to be really effective at scale, he said.

JPMC has also hosted free expungement clinics since 2021. Its first clinic this month was held in Philadelphia on Wednesday, but another is coming up April 29 in Delaware.

The Second Chance Record Clearing Clinic and Employment Fair at Delaware State University will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Center, located at 1200 N. Dupont Highway in Dover.

For organizations interested in Second Chance resources and information, like how to enhance their hiring practices, and more details on the business case for hiring workers with criminal histories, free, open-source resources are available at secondchancebusinesscoalition.org.
A South Jersey school bus discharges a student in Gloucester County. State education officials say busing or transportation issues may have contributed to a recent increase in chronic absenteeism in New Jersey's public schools. Read more

On an average school day, thousands of New Jersey public school students are skipping school as fallout from the pandemic continues to disrupt education.

In its annual School Performance Reports, released Wednesday, the state Department of Education said while some schools have returned to pre-pandemic levels, others still lag in attendance.

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Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days. In the latest report, which is about the 2022-23 school year, 16.6% of New Jerseys 1.4 million public students were chronically absent.

During the 2018-19 school year  before the pandemic disrupted in-person learning  the chronic absenteeism rate statewide was 10.6%. The rate was not reported for 2019-20 when schools were closed for months.

State officials attributed the absenteeism to students staying home because of sickness or exposure to COVID-19, or possible busing or transportation issues.

This is the first year since the pandemic that the annual report has provided a snapshot of how schools performed for a full school year since the shutdown. Many findings follow national trends showing that students were still experiencing significant challenges, the state said.

State Acting Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer and a team presented the findings to the state Board of Education at its monthly meeting. The report also includes various achievement and performance measures, such as graduation rates, PSAT and ACT test scores, dropout rates and dual enrollment measures.

Board members expressed concern because the latest attendance figures are worse than they were before the pandemic. Said one board member: I say the house is on fire. If theyre not there, you cant teach them.

(New Jersey leaves it to individual districts to come up with attendance policies, but schools are required to open for 180 days.)

Absenteeism was highest among preschoolers, a trend that began during the pandemic when parents were reluctant to send younger children to school. Preschool is not mandatory, but experts say it promotes social and emotional development.

Among South Jersey districts, KIPP Cooper Norcross, Camden City and Camden Prep had the highest absentee rates, each at least twice the state average, although they all saw improvement from the last school year. Districts that also saw improvement in their rates were Beverly, Burlington City, Lindenwold and Paulsboro.

Districts with a chronic absenteeism rate of 10% or higher must submit a corrective action plan, the state said. A new website with resources to target attendance will be provided, too.

Here are some other takeaways from the School Performance Reports:

Spike in violence, vandalism and bullying incidents

The report also found an increase in disciplinary incidents during the 2022-23 school year. Violence and vandalism, as well as harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) incidents also increased. The state said similar trends are occurring nationally.

A chart that prompted questions from board members showed there were 44,261 out-of-school suspensions, up from 37,791 the previous year.

HIB incidents went from 30,568 in 2021-22 to 36,039 in 2022-23. New Jersey has some of the toughest anti-bullying laws in the country. Schools are required to adopt policies to prevent harassment, intimidation and bullying.

The South Jersey districts with the highest number of incidents per 100 students in 2022-23 were Glassboro, Mount Holly, Willingboro, Lumberton, Burlington County Special Services School District and Somerdale.

Experts have said that the pandemic impacted students mental health and wellness, which may have contributed to the increases. Some are still recovering from learning losses when schools shifted to virtual lessons.

 READ MORE: Bullying in N.J. schools has jumped to its highest level ever, state report finds

A recent state report found that HIB incidents in the states public schools have escalated at an alarming rate to their highest levels ever. Bias-based incidents quadrupled between 2018 and 2023.

Discipline data by race that was expected Tuesday was delayed

The state said newly available data that would show discipline incidents broken down by race and ethnicity will be released in the coming months. The state was expected to release the highly anticipated demographics Tuesday. A reason for the delay was not provided.

 READ MORE: A South Jersey high school student was kicked out for fighting. Her mother has spent the year trying to overturn the suspension.

The ACLU-NJ pushed the state Legislature to pass a bill recently to address allegations of racial disparities in school discipline. Previously, only statewide data, not aggregated by race, was made public.

The new law requires all public schools to report student expulsions and suspensions by race, ethnicity, gender, and eligibilty for free or reduced meals. Schools must also post the data annually on their websites.

State Attorney General Matthew Platkin has cited disproportionate discipline for some students of color when compared with the same actions committed by their white peers. He issued last August guidelines on steps schools should take to ensure that their policies treat all students fairly.

Although Black students comprise only 15.5% of the states student population, they account for 29.8% of referrals from schools to law enforcement, and 28.9% of arrests in schools, according to the state Department of Education..

Districts with more Black and Hispanic students offer fewer AP classes

According to the report, more students are taking Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes, but participation by students of color in economically distressed districts like Camden continues to lag behind counterparts in suburban districts.

About 35% of juniors and seniors statewide were enrolled in at least one AP or IB course for the 2022-23 school year. About 21% of students scored the 3 or higher needed to pass an AP exam, ranking third overall in the nation, the state said.

The more rigorous AP and IB classes are widely viewed as a stepping stone to college, giving students a head start. The offerings may vary widely depending on where students live and what school they attend.

There remains a stark racial divide in New Jersey with 40% of white students enrolled in AP or IB courses, compared to 22.4% for Hispanic students and 19.2% for Black students, according to the report.

Despite the enrollment disparity, New Jersey ranks second in the country with the highest percentage of schools that offer at least one AP course, the state said.

 READ MORE: AP course offerings vary widely depending on where you live in New Jersey and where you go to school
Christa Barfield of FarmerJawn and Muhammad Abdul-Hadi of Down North Pizza are among the 2024 Leadership Awards honorees from the James Beard Foundation. Read more

Perhaps the James Beard Foundation is tired of Philadelphias stream of winners and wants to give other towns some glory.

That was one wags cheeky explanation for how a single culinary star from Philadelphia  Jesse Ito of Royal Izakaya in Queen Village  landed on this years list of James Beard Award finalists, announced Wednesday by the nonprofit. Aside from 2021 and 2022, when the Beards were paused during the pandemic, Philadelphia has had multiple nominees each year for at least the last decade.

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Last year, there were six nominees  and three major-category winners  for what are widely regarded as the Oscars of the food community: Friday Saturday Sunday (Outstanding Restaurant), Ellen Yin (Outstanding Restaurateur), and Chutatip Nok Suntaranon of Kalaya (Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic Region).

By and large, Philadelphia restaurant insiders seemed happy, though a bit let down. The one left standing, Jesse, is incredibly strong and deserving, said one publicist, who does not represent Ito or his restaurant.

And theres the glow surrounding Vietnam Restaurant in Chinatown, which will receive an Americas Classics Award, one of six given to longtime, locally owned restaurants that serve quality food, have timeless appeal, and reflect the character of their communities. This award has been given annually since 1998. Vietnam joins such local Americas Classics destinations as Corinnes Place (2022) in Camden, White House Sub Shop (2000), and Chef Volas (2011) in Atlantic City, and Johns Roast Pork (2006) in South Philadelphia.

Philadelphia had high hopes earlier this year when the list of semifinalists was released.

My Loup, Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemps bustling bistro near Rittenhouse Square, was up for Outstanding New Restaurant, and Dionicio Jimenez of Cantina La Martina in Kensington, a previous nominee for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, was on the list for Outstanding Chef. Isgro Pastries in South Philadelphia was a semifinalist for Outstanding Bakery. Yun Fuentes was on the Emerging Chef list for his work at Bolo, and Rittenhouse Squares a.kitchen+bar, co-owned by 2023 Outstanding Restaurateur Ellen Yin, was on the list for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. Besides Ito, four of the 20 semifinalists for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic were from the Philadelphia area: Carlos Aparicio of El Chingon in South Philadelphia, Dane DeMarco of Gass & Main in Haddonfield, Randy Rucker of River Twice in South Philadelphia, and Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate of Honeysuckle Provisions of West Philadelphia.

This is Itos seventh nomination.

On Wednesday, while firing up his rice cooker for the afternoon, he said he felt that familiar pang when he realized that the nominations were due out but was relieved to learn he had been nominated.

Ito is excited to break out the tux, fly to Chicago, and attend the ceremony on June 10. Its a lot of fun being at the ceremony, though Im sad that theres no one else, he said, killing the buzz. Last year was the first time where there were so many people and a lot of my friends. It was a lot of fun being there with everyone.

Perhaps the more profound takeaway from the announcement is that Philadelphia is a hotbed of leadership in the industry: Two of the five recipients of the foundations 2024 Leadership Awards work in the region, recognized for working to set standards that create more equitable, just, sustainable, and economically viable food systems for producers, workers, and consumers alike. Muhammad Abdul-Hadi of Down North Pizza and the Down North Foundation in North Philadelphia was cited for Industry Culture and Practices, while Christa Barfield of FarmerJawn was honored for Emerging Leadership as someone at the beginning of their career but already doing significant work.

Abdul-Hadi, who opened Down North in 2000, said he hopes to continue to shine the light on the issues were trying to tackle, as far as giving voice to individuals in the culinary space. Among Down Norths causes is employing previously incarcerated employees. Not having a culinary background but making an impact means a lot to be recognized by organization thats as prestigious as James Beard. Abdul-Hadi said the group is working to develop other restaurants, not just pizzerias, to spread its mission.

Barfields 128-acre farm in Chester County specializes in regenerative organic food production through a community supported agriculture program, storefronts, and educational programs. Its designed not just to provide organic foods in areas with few such options but also to educate on the importance of sustainable agriculture and healthy eating. Barfield said she conceived FarmerJawn  the largest Black-owned food grower in Pennsylvania  as a vehicle to change our food system. Its not just about the fact that were growing and what were growing, but its also about how we believe in taking care of people and plants as well. She said her goal this season is to grow a million pounds of food.

Abdul-Hadi and Barfield will be honored in a ceremony on June 9.
Diners in Kalaya with palm trees and a sky light in the center of the Fishtown restaurant on Friday, January 20, 2023. Read more

Since it opened in the Italian Market in 2019, Kalaya has been one of Philadelphias favorite restaurants. Chef Nok Suntaranons southern Thai cooking seems to inspire obsession in her guests, the food at once comforting and surprising in its richness, textural variety, and sometimes, heat. Since moving the restaurant to a larger space in Fishtown at the end of 2022, Suntaranon expanded the menu, but that variety hasnt stopped chefs across the city from developing strong feelings about the restaurants menu. These are the dishes that Phillys chefs cant stop going back for.

Gui Chai

The crispy garlic chive rice cakes are a good way to understand one of the most appealing qualities of Kalayas food: the textural contrast between the chewy-soft interior and the crunchy-fried exterior. Chef Michael Ferreri of Irwins says no meal at the restaurant is complete without them.

Being able to achieve that level of crunch and that soft, almost gelatinous texture is wild, he says. They also are very chive-forward and I always prefer food that tastes like what it says. Its hard to hide behind simple flavors like that so I appreciate that aspect as well.

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Alongside the chive cakes, Ferreri is loyal to the tofu curry for the same reason.

The tofu is so spicy and sweet and again, texture is king, he explains. The soft tofu against the snappy beans, next level. And its the perfect example of the spice that I love, a little sweet but perfectly balanced so you keep wanting more instead of being turned off by the heat.

Pad Pak Kad Dong

While Kalaya is known for large format options like the Tom Yum Kalaya, a show-stopping dish that comes towering through the dining room with river prawns cascading out of the bowl, several chefs mentioned how much they love the vegetable sides. The pad pak kad dong, or pickled mustard greens, are a particular favorite.

Always order at least one pickled mustard greens for yourself, and some more if you want to share, said Fred Muser, a Philadelphia restaurant industry veteran. Its been my go-to since Nok was at the original location.

Joey Seitz, a restaurant chef de cuisine in Philadelphia, reiterated this point.

The mustard greens are funky and a little bit too salty, but the amount of salt allows it to act as a palate cleanser, he said. You cant miss the sides of mustard greens or charred cabbage, they might literally be the best two bites of the meal.

Nam Prik Kuhn Pu

The caramelized pork belly slaps so hard, say A.J. Sarno, co-owner of Isgro Pastries, referring to the restaurants nam prik kuhn pu. Its got everything: fattiness from the pork, sweetness from the caramelization, heat from the chili, a mixture of textures. Its a perfect dish in my opinion.

Pla Satia

This caramelized mackerel dish is a new addition to the menu. Suraya executive chef Rob Wolff says its his favorite thing on the menu right now.

They cook a whole mackerel for seven hours and it absolutely melts in your mouth, he says.

Of course, Suntaranon herself has opinions about whats best on the menu. After a night on the line, she says she often eats a bowl of rice with salted mackerel, or whatever is left in the curry pot.

When I have friends at the restaurant, I always make sure everyone gets the goong phao, she says, referring to the whole grilled river prawn entree. I also make them order the pla nung manao  our whole steamed branzino.

Jesse Ito, chef-owner of Royal Izakaya, confirms this.

The branzino is an absolute flavor bomb, he says. Thats my favorite dish.
State inspectors say Taylor Hospital failed to protect a 65-year-old patient who left the hospital without shoes or a working cell phone and was missing for six days because hospital staff did not take sufficient safety measures after her previous attempts to flee.

The womans disappearance Jan. 31 set off a multistate search for her and her adult son, with whom she lived prior to being hospitalized. She was found on Feb. 5 at a Delaware motel room where she had been staying with her son.

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The incident drew one of the states harshest sanctions for Taylor Hospital, a 105-bed hospital owned by Crozer Health in Delaware Countys Ridley Park. Inspectors said that hospital staff failed both to protect the womans safety and to recognize that she was a runaway risk. She had attempted to leave the hospital against medical advice twice before.

State inspectors briefly placed the hospital under an immediate jeopardy warning, indicting life-threatening safety problems, during a Feb. 7 investigation. By then, the woman had been found safe. The warning was lifted three hours later, after the hospital submitted a plan to prevent future lapses.

Crozer Health said in a statement it has put plans in place to ensure that something like this will not happen again across its for-profit health system. Crozer also owns Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, which was cited multiple times by state inspectors in the last year for other safety violations, such as delayed medications and improper biohazard waste disposal.

 READ MORE: Piles of biohazard bags, delayed medications: inspection reports find ongoing problems at Crozer-Chester

Safety failures for a vulnerable patient

Hospital staff knew the woman posed an escape risk and should have put extra protections in place, inspectors said. The patient was not identified in state inspection reports. Police reports show she was a 65-year-old who had previously lived in Philadelphia and Delaware.

The woman had been at Taylor since August 2023 and had previously attempted to leave, according to the inspection report.

Staff found her in the lobby on Sept. 21, and alerted nurses that she was a flight risk.

On Jan. 19, the woman left second floor unit where her room was located and walked to the hospital lobby, where she tried to push through the hospital staff to reach her son, according to the inspection report.

Officials believed the son had abused and stolen from his mother, and he had been banned from the hospital after threatening to shoot staff, according to police.

Hospital staff allowed the two to speak briefly before bringing the woman back to her room, according to the inspection report.

Nurses moved the woman to a room closer to the nurses station and took away her cell phone.

A six-day missing person search

Hospital inspection reports and Ridley Park police reports describe what happened when Taylor Hospital staff realized the woman was missing on Jan. 31.

When the medical director arrived at her room for an assessment at 2 p.m., she was missing, according to the inspection report. A staff member had last seen her two hours earlier, police were told.

Hospital security began searching the building and reviewing security camera footage outside. She didnt have shoes or her cell phone, and walked slowly, so she would not be able to make it far, staff told police.

Police later learned she had called her son from a Rite Aid near Taylor Hospital  the closest is a mile away  and asked him to pick her up. He brought her to a motel in Claymont, Del., a few miles from the Pennsylvania border.

He said he didnt know anyone was looking for his mother or for him.

She was evaluated at Wilmington Hospital and did not appear to be in obvious medical distress, according to a police report. There is nothing wrong with me. I am perfect, it noted she told officers.

She didnt know the month or her age, and said she hadnt taken unspecified medications since leaving the hospital.

She was admitted to a secure unit at Wilmington Hospital.

The Inquirer was unable to reach the woman, her son, or a sister who police identified during their search.

Taylor Hospital responds

In response to the states citation, Taylor Hospital created an elopement log to track patients who attempt to leave against medical advice, express a desire to elope or have limited ability to make decisions for themselves.

The hospital also trained nurses to screen patients for indications of runaway risk when theyre admitted and follow up every 12 hours. Nurse supervisors and security staff should be notified of any updates or changes to the log.

Administrators agreed to audit the log five times a week for three months, or until there is 100% compliance.
Interstate 95 northbound in Chester has reopened after police shut it down to investigate a stolen police vehicle that crashed along the roadway Thursday morning.

The incident began around 2:30 a.m. when New Castle County police responded to a domestic-related incident at the Cynwyd Club apartments in Wilmington, Del.  where some of the suspects family members lived  New Castle County Police Chief Joseph Bloch told reporters at news conference Thursday afternoon.

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During that time, a man New Castle County police identified as 25-year-old Tyrese Knuckles ran from the apartment complex to the intersection of Limestone and Milltown Roads, where he had a physical altercation with officers.

After trying to use a stun gun on Knuckles during the altercation, an officer identifiedonly as an eight-year veteran of the force shot Knuckles in the torso, Bloch said.

Then, Knuckles jumped in a nearby police cruiser and drove off, police said, instigating a police chase across Wilmington that caused several accidents before going 20 miles up I-95 into Chester, where the final crash occurred and Knuckles was taken into custody.

It put a large amount of large amount Delawares law enforcement personnel in intense danger, said Bloch, who said officers from the New Castle County, Wilmington, Delaware State Police, and Pennsylvania State Police force were all involved in the chase at one point or another. Nearly all of the collisions involved police vehicles, Bloch said.

Knuckles is being treated fornon-life-threatening gunshot wounds and crash-related injuries at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, Bloch said. Another New Castle County police officer is in stable condition at Christiana Care Hospital, where he was also being treated for injuries related one of the crashes. A Delaware State Police officer was also transported to a local hospital for crash-related injuries.

The New Castle County officer who shot Knuckles has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation and another led by the Delaware Department of Justice Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust, per department policy. The county declined to name the officer.

New Castle County police said Knuckles was also wanted by the Philadelphia Police Department for stalking. Knuckles has warrants out for harassment, criminal mischief, criminal conspiracy, terrorist threat, and stalking, the Philadelphia Police Department confirmed.

No new charges were immediately filed, Bloch said, and police are still taking inventory of the damage down to their cruisers. This is an ongoing investigation.

All lanes on I-95 north between the Commodore Barry Bridge and Exit 5/Kerlin Street were reopened to traffic as of 11:30 a.m. after having been closed throughout the morning.
Married for 53 years and seeing their very first eclipse, Sue and Reinhard Kruse joined hundreds of others along the Ben Franklin Parkway on Aug. 21, 2017. Read more

Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Good morning and apologies to those who hoped to see Beyonce at Made in America: The Labor Day music fest is canceled for the second year in a row.

Who else is getting pumped for Mondays solar eclipse? Today we have a rundown on why you should, courtesy of someone freaking out about it.

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And New Hope developers are at odds with some shop owners and history buffs, who are questioning whether the towns quirkiness can be preserved. Read on for these stories and many more.

 Julie Zeglen (@juliezeglen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

This weekend may be WrestleMania in Philadelphia, but Monday will see eclipsemania as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, obscuring 90% of the sun at its afternoon peak. Compare that to the 2017 solar eclipse, when the region only saw 75% coverage. And the next total eclipse, when the sky will go completely dark for a few minutes, wont hit the region until 2079.

Not convinced its a big deal? Columnist Stephanie Farr lays out a pretty clear case for the spectacles significance.

 Why to watch: The eclipse brings a rare chance to slow down, go outside, and experience wonder. Remember, were talking about celestial bodies behaving oddly here. (Animals, too  quiet birds and loud bees, for instance.)

Its exhilarating and wonderful and once you see one youve got to see more, a local physics professor and NASA eclipse ambassador told Farr. I wish more people would find the joy in this because its so bizarre.

 Where to watch: You can, of course, step outside wherever you happen to be between 2:08 and 4:35 p.m. this Monday. But you might also consider the eclipse a chance to gather with others seeking oneness with nature. The Franklin Institute is hosting a free viewing event on its steps, as are other nature-y orgs.

 How to watch: Safely, with the proper solar viewing glasses. You can grab those at places like the Franklin Institute or the Science History Institute, or even make your own. Plan ahead.

 What about kids? Since many area schools let out riiiight about when the eclipse is expected to reach its peak, some school districts are adjusting dismissal time so kids can see it. Abington will extend the elementary school day by 25 minutes, while Cherry Hill will let students out in the early afternoon. Philly hasnt announced its plans.

Leading up to the big day, look for even more eclipse coverage from The Inquirer, including an up-to-date weather forecast, explainers on the science behind (and myths surrounding) the eclipse, and more guides to help you make the most of it all.

Call New Hope the Austin of Pennsylvania. As developers and big chains move in, the Bucks County borough long known as a haven for artists and LGBTQ people is having a bit of an identity crisis.

Tension between old and new has been exacerbated by pandemic-fueled gentrification and flashy development projects, such as a new resort complex proposed for North Main Street.

Theyre trying to make New Hope into an enclave for the very rich, one local creative said. But New Hope has always been a place where you see a drag queen next to a biker next to a millionaire.

Can the town balance historic preservation with fresh blood? Kevin Riordan has the full story on the battle for New Hopes soul.

What you should know today

 Trivia time

New Jersey just got its first true food-based weed edible since cannabis was legalized in the state in 2021. What type of infused food does Morristowns ButACake make?

A) Peanut butter and jelly brownie

B) Olive oil citrus cake

C) Chocolate pretzel cookies

D) Brioche French toast

Think you know? Check your answer.

What were...

 Checking out: Muralist Betsy Casanas solo exhibit at Taller Puertorriqueno, as they both turn 50 this year.

 Eating: Pretzels, so many pretzels, now that Center City Soft Pretzel Co. has reopened after its 2022 fire.

 Reading: James Baldwins writing in what would be the year of his 100th birthday.

 Unscramble the anagram

This popular purveyor of gourmet food is getting a substantial investment from the regional grocery chain founded by onetime mayoral candidate Jeff Brown.

Hint: 

BOURBON RIDS

Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Maya Mehrotra, who correctly solved Wednesdays anagram: RuPauls Drag Race. Philly drag queen Sapphira Cristal is in the top four on the latest season of the Emmy Award-winning reality competition show.

Photo of the day

You know what they say about April showers.

Enjoy your Thursday. See you again 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.
Rosalind Pichardo, community activist and owner of Sunshine House, has lived in Kensington her whole life, writes Helen Ubinas, where she has seen countless people struggle with addiction. Read more

The womans wails announced her arrival.

It was her birthday, she sobbed as she walked through the door, and she missed her father.

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But no matter how much the woman, small and gaunt and inconsolable, cried out for her dad, there was nothing Rosalind Roz Pichardo could do.

The womans father had died some time ago. Her tears were for a life that could never be fully recaptured, not even on her birthday.

Pichardo hugged her tight and let her cry.

Reconnecting families was among Pichardos top priorities when she reopened the old Kensington Storefront in the epicenter of Philadelphias opioid crisis last month.

Sometimes shes successful, sometimes shes not. Thats often the reality of Kensington. Even with compassionate people who want nothing more than to help, yet still the results can be so cruel.

After the old storefront  an artistic and community hub that also served people in addiction  closed during the pandemic, Pichardo, 46, had one singular objective: to reopen it in the same spot at 2774 Kensington Ave.

She renamed it the Sunshine House, a nod to what she calls people in active addiction: her Sunshines.

Much as it did in its prior incarnation, Sunshine House offers hope in one of the citys poorest neighborhoods  through art, music, and crafts, and whatever else Pichardo can bring to the small space. She also educates people on the front lines of the epidemic on reversing overdoses and treating gunshot wounds, some of the services shes long offered through her nonprofit, Operation Save Our City.

Its a safe haven in the midst of chaos, where those in need can access welcome essentials, be it a hot cup of coffee, a warm pair of socks, or a shoulder to cry on.

Among the first things Pichardo did when she opened the center, in the shadow of the Market-Frankford Els Somerset Station, was set up a messaging center where her Sunshines and families desperate to connect with them could communicate.

The longtime community activist, who once worked and volunteered in the old space, hopes Sunshine House will become a centralized location for families who routinely travel to Kensington from all over to safely search for loved ones. Messages can also be left by calling 267-804-7166.

A wall is already filling up with photos of missing friends and family members, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, mothers and fathers.

Like many Philadelphia residents, Ive been watching Mayor Cherelle L. Parkers Kensington initiative with a mix of hope and skepticism.

For far too long, people who dont live anywhere near the neighborhood have had a lot of ideas  and say  about whats best for the community.

I want you to know that the status quo for me and Kensington is unacceptable, Parker said during her comments at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerces annual Mayoral Luncheon in February. She added that she would prioritize the voices and hopes of the people who actually live in Kensington.

Help is on the way, she said.

Im just not sure Parker and I share the same definition of help in this case. Last month, while discussing her proposed budget, she said not one city dollar will fund syringe exchange. Yet, there is ample evidence that clean syringes reduce the transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and other diseases that will only soar without access on these streets.

I visited Pichardo a couple of weeks after her opening to get her thoughts on some of the changes in Kensington, those already rolled out, and those still in the works: increased police presence, new legislation requiring some Kensington businesses to adhere to a curfew, and a plan for triage and wellness facilities for people in addiction. All for a promised new day.

One of the biggest concerns echoed all over the neighborhood is that the latest initiatives will only accelerate the ongoing gentrification of a place where residents, often with no other choice, hung on only to be cut out of its better days.

Are we going to be here in the end? Pichardo said.

There is no lack of Kensington residents with real-life lived experience, as Parker is fond of saying when discussing her own life, with valid and valuable and  yes  sometimes opposing opinions on how best to fix the neighborhood they love deeply.

Pichardo is one of those people. Shes lived in Kensington her whole life. She has family and friends and countless Sunshines who have struggled with addiction. Some have made it out. Many have not.

Residents, she acknowledged, have long deserved better than having to navigate a humanitarian crisis on their own, and the people in active addiction deserve more than being neglected or exploited or politicized  sometimes all three.

And yet, thats the intersection weve been stuck in for decades, isnt it?

Were at a virtual standstill at the corner of indifference and acceptance. And only a jump-start of compassion and thoughtful action can get us on the right road again.
During Jalon Alexander's campaign for City Council at large last year, he presented a plan to utilize a fleet of drones in all 21 police precincts to fight and deter crime in a cost-effective, colorblind approach to policing. Read more

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker deserves huge applause for investing in technology to improve public safety in her budget proposal, allocating $2.7 million toward police drone technology. During my campaign for City Council at large last year, I presented a plan to the former mayor, members of City Council, and the police commissioner titled Drone Force Philly  a strategy to utilize a fleet of drones in all 21 police precincts to fight and deter crime in a cost-effective, colorblind approach to policing.

Drones can be used to respond to violent crimes and drug transactions, allowing police to address crimes in real time. Race doesnt factor in, as drones see crime, not color, in a manner that is uniquely different from a stop-and-frisk approach to policing.

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The mayors proposed investment is a great step forward. Until now, the city has not gotten serious about using a drone system to help deter crime and violence. The Philadelphia Police Department, in a memo released by the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, noted that the city has only two operational drones.

As a cybersecurity attorney who specializes in artificial intelligence technology, I understand that some people fear new mechanization. And I also recognize the concerns around privacy, which my plan addresses through statutory laws such as requiring drones to be used in the line of sight, flight-height requirements, and no facial recognition software. But we must overcome those fears if we want to reduce violence and drug deaths in Philadelphia.

I am heartened that my efforts to advocate for a drone program that will save lives were heard.

Drones have been used effectively in over 1,500 police departments nationwide, and are a staple in policing internationally. Their capabilities to help fight gun violence and deter crime are limitless. Drones, via advanced software and automation, can respond to the scene of live ammunition fire faster than police vehicles can, giving first responders enhanced abilities to intercept suspected criminals who flee the scene. A drone can help coordinate an undermanned police force by allowing the nearest precinct to respond exactly where they are needed based on footage from the drone at the scene of a high-speed chase, car theft, or other crime.

In addition, drones can help patrol areas with illegal drug activity such as Kensington, allowing the city to arrest sellers of lethal illegal drugs or get emergency help to overdose victims.

While investment in drones is a great starting point, to fully maximize their benefit, I propose a model similar to my plan, Drone Force Philly. This includes:

Hiring a staff of employees to both monitor the drones, as well as provide IT support and a check against malfunctions. The unit would coordinate with and provide additional information to police to help inform responses to violent crime that can intercept and deter criminals. Utilizing drones will allow law enforcement to have footage of crimes that occur in real time and increase safety in responding to high-speed pursuits and active shooters. Operating one drone at each police division allows the department to patrol all 142 square miles of Philadelphia simultaneously.

Utilizing the fleet in this manner will ensure that drone patrol is effective, equitable, and reduces crime.

Evidence indicates how effective such a plan can be. In Tijuana, Mexico, the use of drones led to more than 500 arrests and a 10% decrease in overall crime rates, with a 30% drop in home robberies. Drones were also extremely effective when deployed by the Los Angeles Police Department. Additionally, the Beverly Hills, Calif., police chief has noted an initial 34% decrease in crime after implementing drones, which ultimately was key to the approved expansion of the program.

Drones used effectively will help to protect communities in our city that are crying out for help, like mine in Strawberry Mansion, where two people were killed and six shot in a mass shooting this January.

Drones used effectively will help an understaffed police force have a presence where officers cannot deter violence, and ensure we can identify criminals without resorting to facial recognition software  which research shows discriminates against Black people  to make arrests.

I look forward to City Councils consideration of Mayor Parkers proposal. The drone program may be a tiny item in the overall proposed budget, but it can make an enormous difference in helping make our city significantly safer.

Jalon Alexander is a cybersecurity attorney and former at-large City Council candidate.
New Leash on Life senior vice president of programs Rob Rosa and 4-year-old pit bull Junior in a New Leash on Life office in Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Junior is head of morale at New Leash on Life. Read more

In May 2005, I was one of the estimated 25,000 people who returned every year to Philadelphia after being released from prison.

So much was stacked against me. As early as age 9, I had struggled with substance use; by the time I was 16 years old, I was labeled as a career criminal. When I was sentenced, the judge said I would never be rehabilitated.

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 READ MORE: I was sentenced to life without parole at age 18. Im proof that redemption is possible. | Opinion

Every year, millions of Americans are released from our jails and prisons, and most face significant barriers to becoming engaged, productive citizens. Nearly 40% of adults who are incarcerated have not graduated from high school, which severely limits the types of jobs they qualify for. Whats more, most potential employers will conduct background checks, and hesitate to hire someone with a criminal record. Landlords, too, will often check your background, and have the right to refuse to rent to someone with a criminal record.

With all of these obstacles to building a life after being incarcerated, it should be no surprise that almost two-thirds of people who are released from prison are rearrested within three years.

But while I was in prison, something happened that changed everything.

Around 2002, I volunteered to train service dogs as part of a prison dog program. I was given a dog that had been adopted and returned to a shelter three times, and something clicked. Working with that dog, I found my purpose in life  I decided that I no longer wanted to live in addiction, that I no longer wanted to spend my life in and out of institutions, and that I wanted to commit myself to saving the lives of dogs that were thrown away.

So when I got out of prison in 2005, I was fortunate enough to have a job, because the organization that operated the dog program recognized my potential and offered me employment. My father was no longer living in subsidized housing, so he could provide me with a place to stay.

Today, I work for New Leash on Life, an organization I helped create that also offers a program to help shelter dogs and people who are incarcerated heal each other.

So when I got out of prison, did I get a second chance? No.

My experience showed me that returning citizens need a lot of support to overcome the challenges related to housing, employment, substance use, mental health, and family reunification. Im proud to be a part of that effort.

In doing this work, Ive learned that language matters. It matters to the people we serve, and it influences society in how it perceives people who have been incarcerated.

Language matters.

Thats why I and everyone at my organization have decided to no longer use the term second chance when describing someone who has been released from prison.

Its true that the term second chances is used throughout public policy around incarceration. For instance, the U.S. government offers grants to people who provide help for returning citizens through the Second Chance Act.

But the term second chance implies that everyone had a legitimate first chance. And after more than a decade of experience working with people who have been incarcerated, I know that is not true to their story. Many peoples life chances are a function of the circumstances of their birth. Its not fair to argue that a child born in poverty, who had to skip meals and regularly witness violence and trauma, had the same chance at life as someone who grew up in a loving, stable home, with access to plenty of food and great schools and opportunities.

Consider it from the perspective of the shelter dogs we serve: Would you expect a dog that was abused and abandoned three times to be as open to new people as a dog who was raised in one home its whole life, and knew only love and kindness? Would you say both dogs had an equal chance of finding a new home? Yet, both are equally deserving.

I did not come from a place of privilege that provided the best of opportunities. While I had both my parents in my life and they did the best they could, they struggled in poverty and had to put all of their time into trying to keep a roof over our heads and food in the fridge. The neighborhood I grew up in was not generous and filled with resources that could steer me toward success and financial security.

The dogs at highest risk of euthanasia in our shelters have experienced similar circumstances and are often abandoned, abused, and neglected. Yet, in working with hundreds of dogs over the years, Ive seen that these animals are capable of tremendous resiliency, respond to empathetic care, and become valued, loving family members.

Even the word chance itself is problematic, as it implies an aspect of luck or gamble. It removes individual agency. And when it comes to rebuilding your life, especially after being incarcerated, individual agency is the most important factor.

So I dont think of my life as a second chance, nor do I think of the work I do in that way. Heres a better term, instead: fresh start.

Fresh start conveys a more positive and optimistic tone than second chance; it speaks to new beginnings, invites opportunity, and puts ownership on the individual. The term empowers people to actively work toward a better future, rather than passively waiting for a second chance.

My life chances were impacted by poverty and lack of resources, so my influences and decisions were molded by those circumstances. Thus, offering me a second chance when I was paroled in May 2005 would have been kicking me while I was down because I did not have a real first chance to begin with.

When I left prison, I didnt want a second chance or a do-over; I only wanted to start off fresh.

Rob Rosa serves as senior vice president of programs for New Leash on Life USA, where he works with people impacted by the legal system and at-risk dogs.
Sometimes primary voters are in a position where they must choose from a slate of highly qualified, unimpeachable candidates, where the options available make it difficult to decide. Then there are the Democratic primary voters for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 10th District.

The three candidates, running in a rematch of 2022  Amen Brown, Cass Green, and Sajda Purple Blackwell  are all flawed in their own way.

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The incumbent, Brown, has repeatedly fallen short of the standards expected of someone in his office. Brown has struggled to properly fill out and file campaign paperwork  and been fined by the state for late reports at least five times  while his business dealings have resulted in a trail of debt and repeated accusations of financial impropriety.

The West Philadelphia native has an inspiring story of growing up in poverty and moving beyond adversity all the way to Harrisburg, but his continued flouting of election law, minimal legislative accomplishments after two terms, and a dismissive and entitled attitude toward his opponents, as evidenced during his interview with The Inquirer Editorial Board, make it all but impossible to ask voters to give him another opportunity.

Radio personality Blackwell, part of a familial political dynasty that has dominated West Philadelphia for decades, also brings her own baggage to the race. Beyond the aforementioned association with a family that has not always behaved with the citys best interests at heart, Blackwell also counts Sheriff Rochelle Bilal among her prominent supporters. Those connections might understandably dampen the enthusiasm of some voters.

Green, a community organizer who most recently worked for the district attorneys office, lacks the fraught personal history of Brown and isnt as strongly associated with the party machine as Blackwell. Still, Green has her own troubling connections. She has been endorsed by far-left progressive groups like the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, both of which have declined to support Joe Biden in his critical fight for reelection.

Given the existential stakes for American democracy, the decision of those progressive groups to capitalize politically on discontent over Bidens support for Israel during that countrys brutal war in Gaza  rather than join in the fight to prevent a second term for Donald Trump  is wrongheaded and dangerous. Also, while Green deserves kudos for her work in the community, if elected, her progressive bent is unlikely to find much of a foothold in the legislature.

During their interview with the Editorial Board, out of three candidates, only Blackwell seemed to take the threat of Trump capturing support in their West Philadelphia-based district seriously. She noted that clearing up misinformation  including false right-wing claims that Biden had designated Easter as Transgender Day of Visibility  was part of her door-knocking efforts. She also said she would bring a pragmatic approach to the position, noting she did not fit easily under a progressive or moderate label.

Blackwell is a longtime community organizer and gun violence prevention activist. She and her husband founded the Blackwell Culture Alliance, which hosts regular food distributions, collects socks for people dealing with homelessness, and supports a monthly event for young musicians who promote uplifting messages through their work. While her style is at times bombastic, that can be a positive attribute in a chamber with 203 members.

In recent local elections, this board has decried the lopsided nature of Philadelphia politics, which has too often stifled the emergence of newcomers with fresh ideas who arent also in lockstep with the Democratic Partys leadership. Still, the partys potent political machine, which is fueled by a 7-1 advantage in voter registrations, grinds on.

After last springs primary, in fact, local Democratic Party Chairman Bob Brady drafted a statement boasting about the efficacy of the partys well-resourced election apparatus. Certainly, the partys record in office, both locally and nationally, is deeply imperfect. But perfection is not on the ballot. Blackwell, Green, and Brown are.

In the Democratic primary race for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 10th District, the Editorial Board endorses Sajda Purple Blackwell.
The 1906 state capitol building in Harrisburg is reflected in the windows of an office building on North Third Street. Read more

State Rep. Kevin Boyle, a Democrat who represents Northeast Philadelphia, lost his access to the Pennsylvania Capitol building following a public outburst at a Montgomery County bar in February.

Since losing his security privileges, Boyle must enter at the main security checkpoint and must be escorted by a member of the House Democratic leadership team around the building, Beth Rementer, the spokesperson for House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery), said Thursday.

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Boyle, 44, is seeking reelection for an eighth term to represent the 172nd House District. He is being challenged by fellow Democrat Sean Dougherty, 30, a former assistant public defender and member of the politically powerful Dougherty family.

Boyle has been open in the past about his mental health struggles, following a 2021 psychotic episode. At this point, House Democratic leaders are supporting Dougherty over him, and he recently lost his position as chair of the House insurance committee.

Rementer said Boyle has been in the Capitol since his security privileges were revoked, and that Bradford and House Speaker Joanna McClinton are continuing to encourage their colleague and dear friend to seek help.

Responding via text Thursday night after the story was posted online, Boyle denied that his Capitol security privileges were revoked.

In early February, a video that circulated on social media captured Boyle at Gaul & Co. Malt House in Rockledge, threatening to end this bar. He also allegedly threatened to hit female employees, police said at the time.

The outburst occurred a few days before the deadline to file paperwork to appear on the April 23 primary ballot, and House Democratic leaders said at the time that their colleague was seeking help. House Democrats scrambled to recruit Dougherty to run in his place, but Boyle still submitted his petitions and will appear on the ballot. The House Democratic Campaign Committee and top Democratic leaders are supporting Dougherty over Boyle in the upcoming primary.

In 2022, Boyle wrote a letter to his constituents detailing that hed had a psychotic episode the year prior. He attributed to the use of Adderall he had been taking for ADHD. (There is some research that shows a relationship between psychosis and Adderall usage, but it is relatively rare.)

Boyle was arrested in 2021 while experiencing that mental health crisis. Those charges were later withdrawn and expunged from his record. Boyle said in his 2022 letter to constituents that his life was saved after his arrest and subsequent treatment at a mental health facility.

I am very, very lucky, Boyle wrote. I now understand, in a personal way, that a mental health problem can develop in any person.

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.
City Councilmember Nicolas ORourke planned on proposing a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, but he abandoned it Thursday. Read more

The months-long saga over whether Philadelphia City Council will call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war was supposed to come to a head on Thursday, with Councilmembers Nicolas ORourke and Curtis Jones Jr. planning to call for a vote on the issue.

But at the last minute, the lawmakers decided to abandon their cease-fire resolution  and they may be done with the issue for good.

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ORourke, a member of the progressive Working Families Party, said he pulled the symbolic legislation after impacted communities, including Palestinians in Philly and pro-Palestinian activists, demanded that it include a provision related to divestment from the Israeli military. He declined to go into details but said they wanted stronger language related to investments that the city or the country or anyone makes that could contribute to the war.

 READ MORE: Tempers flare in City Council after pro-Palestinian speaker cut off | Council roundup

Its likely that a resolution that merely called for a cease-fire would have been able to get majority approval in Council, several members said Thursday. But ORourke said that if he included the language requested by the activists, it would have failed  and he didnt want to go forward without their support.

I remain of the conviction that a cessation of the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and peace in the region is always a noble call and cause, he said.

For Council, its deja vu all over again. Earlier this year, Jones drafted a cease-fire resolution, but abandoned it at the request of other members. But Thursday may have been the final word on the subject because Jones and ORourke both said they had no plans to pursue a new version of the resolution anytime soon.

Council resolutions are statements of the bodys opinion, and almost all pass without controversy. But the war in Gaza has been a source of tension among Philly lawmakers since shortly after Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when Kenyatta Johnson, who has since been elected Council president, authored a resolution condemning Hamas.

 READ MORE: Philly City Council voted to condemn the Hamas attack against Israel | Council roundup

That measure drew scores of protesters to Council for a heated meeting that saw several pro-Palestinian demonstrators removed from the chambers.

Johnson said Thursday that he thinks its appropriate for Council to move on at this point. As for whether he personally supports a cease-fire, Johnson said, I wish we had peace all throughout the world, so hopefully in that part of the country there will be some level of peace and someone will resolve that conflict.

Im focusing right now on making sure we address the issues right here in the city of Philadelphia, he said.

What else happened?

Kensington development: Debates over zoning issues are often sleepy affairs. But Councilmember Mike Driscoll introduced a package of bills Thursday that may impact the future of Kensington and are likely to provoke mixed reactions among developers and neighbors.

One bill would expand the controversial Mixed Income Neighborhoods law, which requires that new developments of more than 10 housing units make a fifth of them available to lower-income Philadelphians. The bill currently covers parts of University City and Kensington, and Driscolls legislation would expand it along the Market-Frankford Line in his district.

The original law provoked fierce pushback from the development industry, which argued that mandating affordable housing with few incentives would prevent almost anything from being built. Driscoll tried to temper those critiques by also proposing two zoning bills that would allow developers to build taller buildings with more units and fewer parking requirements, which can drive up costs.

We recognize that sometimes you have to give incentives for development, and particularly if youre going to have affordable housing as a component, said Driscoll, a moderate Democrat not usually known for pursuing urbanist policies.

The goal, Driscoll said, is to spur development in the long-troubled neighborhood.

We just think its perfect timing because the mayor is going to come up with a plan for Kensington, Driscoll said. Simultaneous with that, if we can get this enacted, we got a lot of momentum. I think were going to get a lot of developers coming down and thinking this is the new Northern Liberties or the new Fishtown.

More mural money: In the $6.29 billion budget plan she unveiled last month, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker proposed cutting about $1 million from the popular Mural Arts program, reducing the citys contribution from $3.7 million to $2.7 million.

Council members indicated this week theyre not down for that. They added $500,000 to the programs current budget, which expires in June, and some members said they plan to do more to help during negotiations with the Parker administration over the budget for the next fiscal year as well.

 READ MORE: Mural Arts Philadelphia may lose $1 million under Mayor Parkers new budget

Jane Golden, the charismatic longtime head of the agency, testified at a Council budget hearing Wednesday, and said a reduction could jeopardize important programs, potentially including the closure of a location in Kensington.

Parker spokesperson Joe Grace, however, said that the administration did not intend for the reduction to affect any particular locations. Instead, the proposal to lower the citys contribution was the result of temporary funding bumps added over the last two budgets that were set to expire this year, he said.

The Parker administration supports the Mural Arts Program, Grace said.

Quotable

I just wanted to commend Minority Leader [Kendra] Brooks for her leadership and her offices leadership working on the eviction diversion program and making it permanent, and Im also grateful to so many of our colleagues that cosponsored. ... I also want to encourage us to, as we go through these budget negotiations, to make sure that rental assistance gets in the budget. Eviction diversion works best when there is rental assistance is on the table because many times its a payment issue. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, politely encouraging her colleagues to put money on the table

Eviction allocation: Progressive Council members including Kendra Brooks and Jamie Gauthier scored a victory this week by securing majority support for their plan to permanently extend Philadelphias eviction diversion program, which Council created during the coronavirus pandemic and which has become a national model.

 READ MORE: Philly lawmakers want to expand eviction diversion and rent relief as Mayor Parker proposes cuts

But those members are still fighting to convince their colleagues to support their plan to send $100 million to the rental assistance program, which pays landlords if they participate in the diversion program and which Gauthier said is needed to achieve optimal results.

Inquirer staff writer Anna Orso contributed reporting.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will sign three public safety bills today, including one that requires some businesses in Kensington adhere to a curfew and another that bans skill games. Wednesday, April 3, 2024 Read more

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed three public safety-oriented bills into law Wednesday that aim to crack down on nuisance businesses and make it harder for people who have committed crimes to evade the police.

During a bill signing ceremony in City Hall, Parker said the legislation she approved in just her third month in office demonstrates her commitment to reducing crime rates and improving the quality of life.

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We are not going to tolerate chaos and disorder in our city. Period, she said. We will restore a sense of order and public safety.

The bill signing Wednesday was Parkers first as mayor  shes signed other legislation, but has not held public events to celebrate  and reflects that public safety remains a key priority. Amid historic rates of gun violence, Parker ran in the Democratic primary last year with a tough-on-crime platform and vowed often to end what she described as a sense of lawlessness in the city.

The specifics of how shell accomplish that arent yet clear. On her first day in office, she directed Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel and Managing Director Adam Thiel to develop a comprehensive plan to tackle public safety, from retail theft to shootings to the open-air drug market that has plagued the citys Kensington neighborhood for years. Their plan is due to be completed next week.

 READ MORE: Philly City Council advances bill requiring the city to collect more data on homelessness and overdose reversals

One of the bills Parker signed Wednesday applies only to parts of Kensington and requires that some businesses adhere to an 11 p.m. curfew.

City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who represents Kensington and was the prime backer of the legislation, said the idea is to cut down on nuisance activity taking place late at night in smoke shops, corner stores, and takeout restaurants along the Kensington Avenue corridor.

Gone are the days when you can fuel disorder in Kensington by operating your business into the wee hours of the morning, Parker said. We will not allow nuisance businesses all day and all night to prey on people with substance use disorder.

 READ MORE: Where the Kensington business curfew applies and how it will work

The second bill Parker signed bans casino-style skill games that have proliferated in convenience stores and bodegas across the city. Supporters of that legislation, including Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who authored the bill, say theyre unregulated and attract crime.

Under the legislation, businesses with casino licenses and bars or restaurants with at least 30 seats are exempt.

The city is already facing litigation over it. Last week, Tariq Jalil, the owner of a South Philadelphia 7-Eleven, and G&B Amusements, a skill game operator, sued and argued that the bill is unconstitutional. That effort is being organized by Pace-O-Matic, a Georgia-based skill games manufacturer that isnt a party to the suit.

On Wednesday, Parker also signed a bill, championed by City Councilmember Mike Driscoll, that institutes a $2,000 fine for people caught with tag-flipping devices, which rotate in a second license plate at the push of a button. Driscoll has said the devices, which are already illegal in Pennsylvania, are often used by people who commit crimes and want to evade identification by law enforcement.

And Parker had a stark warning for people who use the devices and for auto shops that install them: We will find you.
Love Saves the Day store mannequins are shown in front of the Mansion Inn in New Hope. The small town with a "funky soul" on the Delaware River in Bucks County has long drawn artists, artisans, and LGBTQ people, and its small businesses and restaurants have brought tourists. Read more

The busiest downtown intersection in New Hope has a Starbucks, a Dunkin, an empty storefront, and a shop called Love Saves the Day.

Were trying to keep New Hope weird, said Stasia Kauriga, whose store at Bridge and Main Streets is a showcase for vintage clothing and pop culture memorabilia. Its a signal that this is no ordinary town.

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Places like Love Saves the Day are what make New Hope funky, said Lori Stagnitto, founder of a Facebook page called Save New Hopes History & Funky Soul.

New Hope is a 250-year-old patchwork quilt of buildings that together tell a beautiful story, she said. But now the story is all about developers ripping out buildings and replacing them with synthetics.

A Bucks County borough of 1.4 square miles and 2,700 people, New Hope overlooks a scenic stretch of the Delaware River between the metropolitan expanses of Philadelphia and New York. The town has long been known as a welcoming place for artists, artisans, eccentrics, LGBTQ people, lovers of antiques, and proprietors of unusual small businesses.

Day-trippers and vacationers are drawn by the towns cachet as well as by the proximity of vibrant downtown Lambertville, N.J., a short walk across the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge.

But higher rents in the five-block-long Main Street historic district have put the borough out of reach for many emerging artists and aspiring entrepreneurs. Service workers who staff the restaurants, hotels, and other businesses are having to commute.

Young people are being priced out by the gentrification of everything, said Hope Gaburo, 24, a painter. Shes one of six artists renting discounted studio space at New Hope Arts. Otherwise she couldnt afford to make art downtown, she said.

Plus, the pandemic boosted residential sales to out-of-towners looking to relocate, according to real estate professionals, borough officials, and developers.

Twenty years ago we had maybe 35 homes worth a million or more, and today we have a couple hundred, said Larry Keller, an antiques store owner who has served as New Hopes mayor for 26 years.

I remember when artists moved to New Hope because it had inexpensive housing, said retiree Dick Evans, 81. But the people moving in now are tearing down lovely old Victorian homes.

Nicholas Esser, a Realtor with Addison Wolfe Real Estate, said: I do not think New Hope is going to lose its vibe and charm. Some things may be lost, but a lot more will be added.

LGBTQ landmarks disappear

A hot real estate market led to the 2019 closure of the Raven, a hotel and restaurant complex on the outskirts of town that had been popular for decades with LGBTQ patrons. Three other New Hope LGBTQ bars had previously closed, although one called the Cub Room reopened in 2023.

The Raven was torn down to create a valet parking lot for the River House at Odettes, on the south end of New Hope. The new resort is named for Chez Odette, the French restaurant and cabaret the Paris-born actress Odette Myrtil ran on the site during New Hopes postwar years.

 READ MORE: Shifts in attitude kill off suburban gay bars

Developers are completely altering the town, said former Raven bartender Michael Gardner, a drag artist known as Miss Pumpkin. So much has been torn down and replaced by what looks like a strip mall trying to look historical.

Theyre trying to make New Hope into an enclave for the very rich. But New Hope has always been a place where you see a drag queen next to a biker next to a millionaire.

More rooms at the inns

Aside from the makeover and reopening of the Bucks County Playhouse, a community anchor since 1939, the transformation/expansion of the Logan and the Mansion Inns is perhaps the most dramatic downtown development in recent years.

With roots in the 18th and 19th centuries, respectively, the Logan  which reopened in 2021  and the Mansion, where an addition is under construction, are among a trio of New Hope projects envisioned by a company called Landmark Hospitality. The family-owned firm invested $38 million into the two properties, adding a total of 32 guest rooms as well as space for two restaurants.

The theater and the hotels are what keep the vibe and the energy going and keep downtown filled, Esser said.

Developer Frank Cretella, who grew up on Staten Island and founded his company with his wife, Jeanne, specializes in renovating vintage buildings and incorporating them into deluxe hotels, fine dining locations, and wedding venues. Landmark has properties in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, including Elkins Park, Montgomery County.

Cretella proposed a resort complex called the Landing on a mixed residential and commercial block of North Main Street. It would have 36 guest rooms, space for two artists-in-residence, and a public walkway along the river.

Stagnitto and other critics said the walkway would frequently be underwater due to rising tides. They also took issue with the size, location, and elements of the proposal that called for moving two existing structures and demolishing part of one.

Cretella withdrew the proposal last month. Im only paused. Im never defeated, he said during an interview from his North Jersey office. I have invested $2.5 million toward ownership of this property, in stages, and I am proceeding.

The New Hope Borough Council, he said, is made up of people who have an agenda that is not in favor of any more development.

Developers with good intentions welcome

If thats his opinion, fine, council president Ken Maisel said. But I wouldnt entirely agree with it.

He described New Hope as a little town that has found burgeoning development to be a blessing and maybe a curse at times. Developers who have good intentions and are willing to work within the guidelines would be welcome.

First-term council member Kelly Whitman said she sees development as a challenge, rather than a problem.

Its great that people want to move here and start new businesses and expand their businesses here, she said. Welcoming new businesses and residents and historic preservation dont have to be mutually exclusive.

Said second-term council member Louise Feder: I completely understand where [development opponents] are coming from ... about the scope and scale of development.

We have to be mindful when we try to decide what the future of the town is going to be. I dont think that means were antidevelopment.

A parking garage rejected

Last year, as Cretella was revising his Landing proposal, preservationists lost a battle some are still smarting over: When the more than 200-year-old Cintra Mansion was found to be geologically unsafe, it was bulldozed.

Meanwhile, after years of debate, studies, and other preliminary work costing $600,000, a divided borough council shot down a proposal for New Hope to build a $2 million, 152-space, multilevel parking garage that would have been handy to Route 202 and within walking distance of downtown.

Ultimately, it would have been too expensive to build and operate, said Maisel.

Mayor Keller is among those who said they saw parking in downtown New Hope as more a matter of perception than need.

But Alexander Fraser, producing director of the Bucks County Playhouse, said parking is the playhouses biggest challenge as it works to build an audience. The 459-seat theater is running at about 60% of capacity and expects to reach 80% in the next five years.

While killing the parking garage may have been a testament to democracy, Fraser said, it underscores what may be downtown New Hopes biggest challenge.

Its a shame that in 2024 New Hope still lacks a consistent vision of what this town is going to become, he said.

Creating a new comprehensive plan

New Hopes most recent comprehensive plan dates from 2011, and the borough council has begun a process to create a new one. Doing so will involve a lot of public meetings and a lot of planning over the next 18 months, Maisel said.

Although supportive of the effort, Stagnitto contends that all of the ammunition we need to stop developments such as the Landing already exists.

If we lose our history, we lose our soul, and we lose the main reason people come to New Hope, she said. They come here because its unique.

Said Love Saves owner Kauriga: Change is inevitable, and thats fine. But how about we find a balance, keep the quirkiness, and work the ordinary in as well?

People come here for the unordinary, she said. And I think the ordinary is starting to take the fun away in New Hope.
New Hope has always been a funky town, residents say, and they want to keep it that way.

The Bucks County borough of 2,700 people draws day-trippers and vacationers, as well as out-of-towners who want to relocate. And longtime residents see their community changing. Transplants are tearing down lovely old Victorian homes, an 81-year-old resident said, and home prices have gone up.

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I remember when artists moved to New Hope because it had inexpensive housing, he said.

Times have changed, and some residents are pointing their finger at developers.

Keep scrolling for that story and to read about a record condo sale in the Wildwoods, learn about a plan for a large new apartment development in West Philly, see how much income a Philly household needs to afford the typical home, and get tips for choosing an interior design game-changer: window treatments.

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I know New Hope for the Bucks County Playhouse, set off of South Main Street among restaurants and shops. But people who work in the service industry at the businesses that help create the boroughs vibe increasingly cant afford to live in town.

Revealing quote: Twenty years ago, we had maybe 35 homes worth a million or more, and today we have a couple hundred, said New Hopes mayor, Larry Keller, who also owns an antiques store.

As the borough faces development pressure, its working on a new plan to guide its growth. Its council president, Ken Maisel, told my colleague Kevin Riordan that New Hope is a little town that has found burgeoning development to be a blessing and maybe a curse at times.

Keep reading to learn more about New Hopes past and present and what could be in its future.

Summers around the corner. And if you were in the market for a Shore home, you know youd have to pay a lot in Avalon or Stone Harbor. But what about the Wildwoods?

The traditionally more accessible location is getting pricey along with everywhere else. One real estate agent said that newly built properties that sit blocks and blocks from the beach can go for $700,000 or $800,000.

Now a condo in Wildwood Crest has sold to a developer for a record price  $2.25 million.

The seller did have to cut the homes price  down from $2.39 million.

The four-bedroom, 4-bathroom condo spans more than 3,400 square feet on the top floor of the Coastal Colors complex. The homes wraparound deck has ocean views.

Keep reading for the condos amenities, the new buyers plan for the property, and more about the real estate market in the Wildwoods.

The latest news to pay attention to

Long before you read the Wildwood Crest condo story, youve known home prices are up. And youve probably seen in your own paycheck that theyve been rising faster than incomes.

Across the country, the typical household makes about $29,000 less than it needs to afford a typical home, according to a new analysis from the online real estate brokerage Redfin.

Redfin found that in most major U.S. metros, households need to make six figures to be able to afford to buy the typical home.

The Philly area is one of the places where thats not the case. According to Redfin, the income needed to buy a median-priced home in Philadelphia and Delaware Counties is the fifth lowest compared to incomes needed in other large metros nationwide.

Keep reading for more about why homes are getting less affordable, how much income a Philly household needs, and where families need to make the most money to afford a typical home.

Last month, I wrote about how renters can renovate their spaces, and I shared some tips I got from talking to a few local interior designers. Window treatments were a design game-changer that kept coming up.

So lets dive into the transformative materials.

Kate Watson and David Jacowitz had 15 windows to think about when they moved into their newly built townhouse in Fishtown this year.

They needed shades that would block the morning sunlight in the bedrooms. In the living room, drapes frame their view of the Delaware River. In the dining room, they didnt have to worry about the sunlight as much, so they went with a patterned Roman shade that matches the rooms vibe.

They spent about $20,000 on custom window coverings.

Your budget is one of the main things to consider when it comes to window treatments, as well as light control, privacy, and your tastes.

Read on for tips for choosing the right window treatments for your home.

 Trivia time

As of last Saturday, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive is closed to traffic on weekends through November, allowing pedestrians and bikers to take over.

Question: What year did the road start seasonally closing to traffic?

A) 1985

B) 1995

C) 2005

D) 2020

This story has the answer.

 Photo quiz

Do you know the location this photo shows?

 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.

Last weeks quiz showed a photo taken at the Shofuso Japanese Cultural Center in West Fairmount Park. A lot of people knew that one and share my excitement for enjoying springtime in and around the site.

Shout out to Beth G., Randall H., and Sally S.H. for being some of the first readers to answer.

Beth in South Philly said:

Ahh, the peaceful escape and hidden gem of Philly. I am a member and love to support this cultural center.

Come for the koi fish, the hidden Buddha statue, the shoes-off pagoda tour, and breathe.

I think thats pretty good advice. I like to make my way over there during the annual cherry blossom festival.



As the weather gets nicer, are you looking for a neighborhood to explore? My colleague Henry Savage put together this guide of what to eat, drink, and do in Point Breeze.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

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.
As outrage built Tuesday over an Israeli strike that killed seven workers from the Jose Andres-run World Central Kitchen, President Biden issued a rare direct rebuke of Israel for creating the conditions that have made the distribution of aid inside Gaza so difficult and deadly.

This is not a stand-alone incident. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed, Biden said. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult - because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.

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Yet there is no indication that the Monday deaths of the workers - who included one American - will result in any significant changes to the Biden administrations unwavering support of Israel. The presidents sharp condemnation stands as the latest example in what experts, outside advisers and even some Biden officials say is an increasingly contradictory approach to Israels six-month assault in Gaza.

While Biden has shown a willingness over the past two months to use significantly tougher rhetoric with Israel, he has been so far unwilling to pair his criticism and calls for restraint with concrete pressure. Biden and his top aides have little appetite for imposing punitive action on Israel, such as conditioning or suspending weapons sales, despite immense frustration at how Israel is conducting the war, according to White House advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.

Hours after Bidens statement that he was outraged and heartbroken about the World Central Kitchen workers, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday morning that the administrations ironclad support for Israel would not change.

We make no bones about the fact that we have certain issues about some of the way things are being done, Kirby said. We also make no bones about the fact that Israel is going to continue to have American support for the fight that they are in to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

Andres said Wednesday in an interview with Reuters that Israel targeted his workers systematically, car by car. He called on the United States and other countries whose citizens were killed to conduct their own investigations of what happened.

Kirby said earlier Wednesday, however, that the United States trusts Israel to conduct a thorough, comprehensive and transparent investigation, adding that the administration is not imposing a deadline for its completion. He also said he was unsure whether the weapons used in the strike were supplied by the U.S. government.

Andres also called on the United States to do more to end the war and questioned how the Biden administration could provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza while continuing to supply Israel with weapons.

Its very complicated to understand.  America is going to be sending its Navy and its military to do humanitarian work, but at the same time weapons provided by America  are killing civilians, Andres said in the Reuters interview.

The United States has long called for Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe with much of the population on the brink of starvation. About 200 humanitarian aid workers - mostly Palestinians - have been killed during the war, which a top U.N. official said is nearly three times the death toll recorded in any single conflict in a year.

Biden and Vice President Harris have said there are no excuses for Israel not facilitating the delivery of more aid into Gaza. But the United States also said last month that Israel was not obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid, a precondition for countries receiving U.S. weapons and military assistance that the Biden administration implemented this year.

To some analysts, such seeming contradictions have resulted in a policy that is increasingly confusing, as Biden ramps up his rhetoric but does little to pressure Israel to change its approach.

Its the actions that matter, not the rhetoric. If words are not accompanied by the types of actions that will really get Israels attention, history has shown its essentially meaningless, said Frank Lowenstein, a former State Department official who helped lead Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2014 under President Barack Obama.

At the same time were saying were angry about the dire humanitarian assistance issues punctuated by these extreme incidents, were also saying our official position is that Israel has acted in accordance with U.S. and international law, Lowenstein added. If were saying Israel hasnt actually done anything wrong and there are no consequences, why would they change their behavior?

A growing number of Democrats and Biden allies say the administration should demand an immediate cease-fire and suspend or at least condition military aid.

The killing of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen is another devastating and deeply preventable tragedy which is, as President Biden put it, outrageous, said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). President Biden has said Israel needs to do a better job protecting civilian life. He now needs to make it clear that we will not greenlight new offensive weapons to Israel and call for a permanent cease-fire and release of all the hostages.

The muddled policy has had political implications for Biden as his support of Israel has alienated key swaths of his Democratic base, including Arab Americans, progressives, young voters and people of color. Yet Bidens rhetorical shift does not appear to have moved those voters. In the latest protest of Bidens policy, nearly 50,000 voters in Wisconsin - twice Bidens 2020 margin of victory in the state - voted uninstructed delegation in Tuesdays Democratic primary to signal to Biden that he must change course or risk losing their votes in November.

At the same time, the presidents increased public criticism of Israel has prompted many Republicans to position themselves as more-reliable allies of Israel and accuse Biden of caving to the left-wing sections of his party.

Even when Biden has split with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his aides have been quick to soften the impact.

Last week, the United States abstained from a U.N. Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza that would last at least until the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan next week. The resolution also urged immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as assuring humanitarian access.

The United States had vetoed three previous U.N. cease-fire resolutions, and initially the abstention seemed to signal a notable policy shift on Bidens part. But within hours of the vote, Kirby emphasized that the resolution was nonbinding and stressed that the U.S. abstention did not represent a change in policy.

Israel launched its military assault in Gaza after Hamas-led militants rampaged across the border on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and taking 253 hostages. Israels assault on Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, a majority of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It has also created a humanitarian disaster as the health system has collapsed and dozens of children have died of malnutrition and starvation, according to the United Nations.

Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former official of the U.S. Agency for International Development under Obama, said the Biden administrations unwillingness to impose consequences on Israel sends a message to Netanyahu and the Israeli government that they do not need to listen to the presidents public statements.

What theyre telling Israel is, this is just rhetoric. These concerns are purely rhetorical. Theyre purely a communications device until they show differently, Konyndyk said. Thats how Netanyahu is treating this. Hes treating this as something he can ignore safely, because hes got six months of data points to show he and the Israeli military can get away with ignoring what the president is telling them with no recourse.

The repercussions of Bidens embrace of Israel were also evident Tuesday evening, when the president, vice president and senior White House aides met with a group of Muslim leaders - the second time Biden has met with such a group since the war began in October.

The attendees had rejected the White Houses initial invitation for an iftar - the meal in which Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan - and instead asked for a policy meeting. Nahreen Ahmed, medical director at the aid organization MedGlobal, and her colleague, Thaer Ahmad, an emergency physician who completed a medical mission in Gaza this year, shared firsthand accounts from the besieged enclave, Ahmed said in an interview.

Thaer Ahmad, who is Palestinian American, at one point walked out of the meeting to protest the Biden administrations policy on the war, Nahreen Ahmed said. But she stayed, to describe alleged violations of international humanitarian law by the Israeli military in Gaza, and also raised concerns about the Israeli strikes that killed the World Central Kitchen workers.

It was touted as a meeting with the president to be able to share whats happening in Gaza from those who have been there, Ahmed said. But truly, what the meeting was, was to bring the Muslim community together to basically be talked at and told to manage our expectations about whats happening with the response from the administration.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the meeting with Muslim community leaders was meant to be private, and largely declined to comment on anything that happened during it.

Asked specifically about Bidens reaction to Ahmads decision to leave the meeting, she said, He understands that this is a painful moment for many Americans across the country. And so he respects their, you know, their freedom to peacefully protest. I dont have anything outside of that.

She also would not answer whether the president had read a letter from an 8-year-old girl from Rafah who lost both of her parents. It was given to him at the meeting.

For most of the war, Biden has adopted a bear hug approach to Netanyahu, giving Israel unwavering public support in the hope that it would enable the United States to influence Israel in private. Biden officials argue they have influenced Israel at key moments, including by persuading the country to reduce the number of troops in Gaza, allow in a limited amount of aid and refrain from attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But the strategys limitations are increasingly evident as Netanyahu has continued to publicly defy the United States on major issues. Over the past several weeks, the United States has publicly disapproved of a planned large-scale invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering after fleeing there under Israeli orders. U.S. officials recently held a virtual meeting with Israeli officials on their Rafah plans and said they are still seeking to influence Israels approach, but Netanyahu has said he still intends to move ahead with a major invasion.

Netanyahu has also rejected Bidens calls to accept the notion of a Palestinian state, and he has made little apparent effort to let in more aid to the stricken Gazan population, human rights groups say.

Even as Biden and his top aides express outrage at the killing of the World Central Kitchen workers, they do not plan to mount their own investigation into the attack on the clearly marked convoy, which was struck three times. Israel has said the strikes were "unintentional" and has apologized for the incident.

One White House adviser experienced in such investigations said that relying on Israels probe significantly reduces the chance of accountability.

Israel investigating itself is not going to result in any meaningful consequences for the IDF soldiers involved, the adviser said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
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As the election draws near, there is a timely opportunity to address these pressing issues, offering a path to greater affordability, fairness, and resilience for the people of Queensland, especially those in cyclone-prone North Queensland, ACIL said. ACIL is open to speaking with any politician interested in discussing the impact of the cost-of-living on insurance and reforms in stamp duty.
It needs to be a wider survey and this national survey has been done to back that [the 146 cases] up, he said. If anyone questions why Im doing this I can tell them I certainly have nothing to gain personally from this.
Building a collateralized reinsurance specialist for cedents and investors has taken time but is now ready to scale. As an innovator in a new asset class, MultiStrat has successfully solved many challenges, including an initial soft market and low investment yield environment in casualty, continual education needs of investors, new designs for collateral and investments, and, more recently, improved collateral transparency. Our company has a proven track record and is excited for our next chapter.
Looking ahead, the cyber risk landscape is expected to be shaped by several key trends and threats. The adoption of artificial intelligence poses both opportunities and challenges, with AI expected to automate and personalize cyberattacks. However, AI is also expected, in some cases, to bolster cyber defense capabilities. The regulatory landscape, such as the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, is evolving to address these new challenges.
The lawsuit was filed against Dellwood and former AIG executives Thomas Connolly, Kean Driscoll and Michael Price, according to a report by AM Best. The suit alleges that Price and Driscoll  who left AIG on June 30, 2023, and March 3, 2024, respectively, violated non-compete agreements that were in force during the time Dellwood was being established.
As long as the person enters the fraudulent account number and it matches the receiving banks account number, the transfer goes through. For example, if the wire instruction says its supposed to go to a companys bank account, it can still end up in a completely different named account because the account numbers are the same, Lyle said.
Citigroup on Tuesday urged a federal judge to dismiss New York Attorney General Letitia James lawsuit accusing its Citibank unit of failing to reimburse customers who fall victim to online scammers.

While recognizing that the problem of online wire fraud is real, the third-largest U.S. bank faulted James misguided effort to hold it liable under a federal law governing electronic fund transfers because it expressly excludes wire transfers.

Citigroup said the proper standard from the Uniform Commercial Code, which all U.S. states use, excuses banks from covering losses if in good faith they adopt commercially reasonable security measures to verify customer identities.

The New York-based bank said it has done so, and stops countless fraudulent transactions each day.

No system will catch every scam every time, but the solution is not a lawsuit that would abruptly and dramatically upset how banks have organized their policies and practices for decades, Citigroup said in a filing in Manhattan federal court.

James office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The attorney general sued Citibank in January.

She said the failure of its security systems to effectively investigate red flags such as using unrecognized devices, changing user names and passwords, and phishing enabled scammers to steal millions of dollars.

In one instance, a customer allegedly lost $40,000 of retirement savings after clicking a link in a text message that appeared to be from Citibank.

James also accused Citibank of coercing victims into signing affidavits that purported to narrow their ability to recoup losses, and then summarily rejected reimbursement claims.

The attorney general wants Citibank to pay back defrauded New Yorkers, pay a $5,000 civil fine per violation, and appoint an outside monitor to review bank records and locate victims.

The case is New York v Citibank NA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-00659.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Topics Lawsuits New York
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at HSB Canada and Canopius Group.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

HSB Canada announced the appointment of Barbara Bellissimo as president and chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2024. She replaces John Mulvihill, who has retired after a 34-year career with the Toronto-based specialty insurer.

Under Mulvihills leadership, HSB Canada doubled its revenue, introduced a host of new specialty products, and initiated a significant transformation program.

Bellissimo began her insurance career in 1986 and is a Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP). She was former Canadian head for the largest insurance company in North America (State Farm) and one of the top P/C insurers in Canada (Desjardins). She recently served as chair on HSB Canadas board of directors.

HSB Canada, part of Munich Re, is a multi-line specialty insurer and provider of inspection, risk management and IoT technology services.

***

Canopius Taps Lee From AIG as CEO, Asia-Pacific & MENA

Canopius Group, the global specialty and property/casualty re/insurer, announced the appointment of Soon Keen Lee (SK Lee) as chief executive officer of Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East & North Africa (MENA), subject to regulatory approval.

She will report to Canopius Group Chief Executive Officer Neil Robertson and will join the Canopius Group Leadership Team.

Lee joins from AIG APAC, where she most recently served as head of Commercial Property and SME for APAC. She has worked at a number of high-profile P/C insurance roles throughout her 28-year career, becoming a leading underwriter for the region.

At AIG, Lee managed the Asia Pacific commercial property and SME portfolio, leading a team with diverse backgrounds and cultures. Her most recent tenure at AIG was the second time Lee had worked at the insurer, previously holding a number of property underwriting and management roles over a decade at AIG Malaysia and Singapore. She also previously held both senior insurance and treaty roles at Catlin and Aspen Re Singapore.

Lee will lead Canopius APAC Business Unit across both Singapore and Australia, taking over from long-time Canopius APAC CEO Mark Newman, who recently moved to become UK CEO in London. Lee will lead the regional Executive Committee, and is charged with continuing to evolve Canopius APAC operations, which grew by 35% in 2023. Lee will join Canopius before the end of Q2 2024.

Canopius is an international specialty and P&C (re)insurer. Canopius underwrites insurance products on several platforms to offer a wide range of specialty solutions, with offices in Australia, Bermuda, Singapore, the UK and the US. It underwrites through Lloyds Syndicate 4444 (managed by Canopius Managing Agents Ltd.); a US surplus lines insurer, Canopius US Insurance Inc.; and Canopius Reinsurance Ltd, a Bermuda-based Class 4 reinsurer.

Topics Canada AIG
An Iowa man was sentenced in March after pleading guilty to one count of Theft 3rd Degree (Aggravated Misdemeanor) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Divisions Fraud Bureau.

Khalil Justin Crawley, age 22, of Waterloo was sentenced on March 22.

The investigation began in March 2023 after the Iowa Insurance Divisions Fraud Bureau received information indicating Crawley provided false information in support of an insurance loss claim and received monetary benefits to which he would have not otherwise been entitled.

The investigation determined that Crawley and a passenger were involved in a single vehicle roll over crash that resulted in severe damage to the vehicle as well as bodily injury to both occupants of the vehicle. Crawley reported to the insurer that he was driving the vehicle when the loss occurred and that the vehicle slid on ice before going into a ditch. The insurer paid $10,895 in insurance benefits to Crawley before discovering that Crawley was eluding a police officer and operating the vehicle in a reckless manner resulting in the crash. Crawley was arrested on November 5, 2023.

Crawley was sentenced to probation for a period of one to two years. Crawley was also ordered to pay a civil penalty of $855 as well as restitution.

Source: Iowa Insurance Divisions Fraud Bureau

Topics Fraud Iowa
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is asking publicly traded tech companies about their relationships with distributors and other business partners outside the US in a push to root out possible corruption, according to people familiar with the matter.

The SEC started sending letters to the firms earlier this year under its mandate to enforce the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it a crime to offer anything of value to non-US officials in an effort to win business.

The agencys FCPA unit is asking whether the companies did business with a list of dozens of intermediaries  some of which have been implicated in other investigations  across various regions, including Asia, Latin America and Africa, said one of the people. All of the people familiar asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter.

The companies that have received the inquiries about their contractors couldnt immediately be identified. They havent been accused of wrongdoing and the inquiry, which is in its early stages, could result in no action.

A probe by the agencys enforcement division, of which the FCPA unit is a part, can lead to fines or other civil penalties against companies and individuals. The SEC declined to comment.

The inquiries came from staff at the SECs Fort Worth office, which has been involved in high profile investigations into alleged corruption. One of those led to a $144 million settlement by Walmart Inc., which accepted the findings. That same office was also involved in an investigation into software giant Oracle Corp., which in 2022 agreed, for the second time, to resolve corruption charges. Oracle didnt admit or deny wrongdoing.

The letters are part of an enforcement sweep, which typically involves sending questions to multiple companies in a particular industry. The SEC, which shares a mandate with the Justice Department to enforce the FCPA, is focusing across the tech supply chain on companies that sell equipment and/or services to governments, said one of the people.

In a sign of the regulators increased scrutiny of the sector, the SEC in January accused SAP SE of illegally using intermediaries to win business from public-sector customers in South Africa, Indonesia and other countries. The German firm ultimately paid $220 million to settle cases with the SEC and the Justice Department.

The tech sector is especially vulnerable because those companies tend to lean heavily on local distributors and partners to sell their products and services around the world. Scrutiny of those entities can cause multiple companies to be swept into a probe.

Photo: Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.

Topics Tech Contractors
Vertafore Delivers Policy Binding in Personal Lines Rater

Vertafore, headquartered in Denver, launched the industrys first bind capability within a personal lines rater. Vertafores personal lines rating and quoting platform, PL Rating, enables independent agencies to quickly find and bind the right coverage for their clients.

Agents select a participating carrier to generate a verified, real-time rateincluding additional report ordering and underwriting editsand then issue the policy, providing down payment through the carriers payment processing method of choice.

Vertafore launched PL Ratings bind capabilities with Acuity Insurance, which partners with nearly 1,000 independent agencies around the U.S. Acuity Insurance served as a design partner for the project, working alongside Vertafores insurance experts to deliver functionality built by people who know and understand the needs of agencies and carriers.

For agencies, this new feature means a simplified and faster workflow for quoting coverage. Participating carriers will be able to meet their agency partners where they are working while accelerating the delivery of their insurance products to the marketplace.

In 2023, PL Rating processed 150 million rating transactions, connecting agencies and carriers in real-time.

***

Amwins Online Marketplace Provides Bindable Quotes From Multiple Carriers

Amwins, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, launched an online marketplace enabling access to firm, bindable quotes from multiple carriers within minutes.

With Amwins InstantQuote (Amwins IQ), retailers can quote and compare multiple markets, gaining quick access to A-rated carriers while retaining the opportunity to benefit from the support and expertise of Amwins specialists. Amwins IQ marketplace users can select from markets with pre-negotiated amendatory endorsements automatically added, which are well-suited for middle market and personal lines accounts.

The companys digital technology leverages data for additional predictive insights, underwriting control and portfolio management. There is also a built-in referral system that enables manual underwriting.

Amwins IQ marketplace provides homeowners, dwelling, condo and wind coverage, with flood coverage to be offered soon. Retailers can seamlessly transition between personal lines and professional lines offerings.

The new technology offers multiline quoting on personal lines coverage, including cyber liability, miscellaneous errors and omissions (E&O), directors and officers (private and non-profit), employment practices liability and tech E&O with cyber. Crime, fiduciary and registered investment advisers are expected to launch soon.

Topics InsurTech Tech
Thousands of homes and businesses were without power Tuesday as severe weather roared through several states, causing at least one death and spawning possible tornadoes.

Parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and Georgia were under tornado watches into Tuesday night, while Wisconsin was experiencing a spring snowstorm.

Storms in Northeastern Oklahoma unleashed three suspected tornadoes and dumped heavy rain that was blamed for the death of a 46-year-old homeless woman in Tulsa who was sheltering inside a drainage pipe.

The womans boyfriend told authorities the two had gone to sleep at the entrance of the drainage pipe and were awakened by floodwaters, Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson Andy Little said. Up to 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of rain fell in Tulsa in about an hour, National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Darby said.

It wasnt a whole lot. But when it came down, it was pretty rapid, Darby said.

In West Virginia, about 140,000 customers were without electricity Tuesday afternoon, or about 14% of all customers tracked in the state by poweroutage.us. A storm blew off part of a vacant buildings roof in Charleston, littering the street with bricks and closing the roadway to traffic. Trees were uprooted and lay in roads, lawns and in some cases, on top of cars.

Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for several counties and urged people to exercise extreme caution.

In Ohio, firefighters rescued two people who were trapped under a bridge Tuesday morning when a river began rising. The two were sleeping when the Scioto River started to rise, preventing them from returning to shore, the Columbus Fire Department reported. A fire department boat was sent to rescue them. No injuries were reported.

Mindy Broughton rushed into her mobile home Tuesday morning as hail began and winds picked up at the RV Park where she lives near Hanging Rock, Ohio.

Broughton and her fiance hunkered down as the mobile home quickly began rocking. Broughton said her fiance used his body to shield her as the winds raged outside.

I said I think we may die today, she said.

In a matter of seconds, the winds died down. When Broughton opened her mobile home door, she saw the RV Park littered with debris and overturned RVs. Luckily, Broughton said there was no one inside the overturned mobile homes.

Northeast of Cincinnati, part of Interstate 75 was blocked Tuesday afternoon when about a half-dozen power poles toppled in high winds near Wetherington, WLWT-TV reported.

In Wisconsin, forecasters warned more than a foot (30 centimeters) of heavy snow could fall in eastern parts of the state, including the Green Bay area. The states top election official, Meagan Wolfe, urged residents planning to vote in Tuesdays presidential primaries to consider voting earlier in the day to avoid travel woes.

The National Weather Service said snowfall totals could range from 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) over central Wisconsin and 8 to 14 inches (20 to 35 centimeters) over eastern Wisconsin, while wind gusts of 30 mph to 50 mph (48 kph to 80 kph) will create very limited visibility and make travel difficult.

Just three weeks ago, we were in the 70s. So that kind of got people thinking spring is right around the corner  and here were in April and were getting a major snowstorm, meteorologist Scott Cultice with the weather services Green Bay office said. As people say, Thats springtime in Wisconsin.'

More than 70,000 homes and businesses in Wisconsin had lost power Tuesday night, according to poweroutage.us.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency after severe storms swept through his state Tuesday morning.

We have reports of substantial damage to a number of structures  and thankfully, as of right now we are not aware of any fatalities, Beshear said in a statement.

Another round of storms Tuesday afternoon led to multiple tornado warnings in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

One person was hurt and taken to a hospital after a tree came down on their house in Lexington, Kentucky, Mayor Linda Gorton told WLEX-TV. Homes were damaged and a tree crushed a University of Kentucky students car.

I looked out my blinds and I see the wind just start roaring, Reese Sherrard told the news outlet. I see one big tree just fall right on top of my car. No trees fell on our house, so it seems like we got pretty lucky.

In Louisville on Tuesday night, Mayor Craig Greenberg reported serious storm damage in the nearby city of Prospect and throughout the county, but said no injuries had been reported. He said fire crews were checking on people street by street in the most impacted areas and that he had declared a county-wide state of emergency.

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in northeast Tennessee on Tuesday. A funeral home and a house were damaged in the town of Sunbright, a town of about 500 people, said Matthew Brown, Morgan Countys 911 director. Power lines and trees were down, and some roads were closed, he said.

The utility company in Memphis, Tennessee, reported that about 40,000 homes and businesses lost power temporarily Tuesday morning after an electric substation was struck by lightning, which then affected two other substations.

Storms also swept through far southwestern Indiana on Tuesday morning, toppling trees and causing power outages, leading several local school districts to cancel classes. More than 18,000 homes and businesses were without power shortly before noon Tuesday, including in Vanderburgh County, home to Evansville, Indianas third-largest city.

Severe weather was expected to move into New England on Wednesday night into Thursday, with forecasts of 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 centimeters) of snow in parts of New Hampshire and Maine and lesser amounts in other areas, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph (80 kph) in some places, bringing the possibility of power outages.

Photo: A billboard in Dunbar, West Virginia, after severe storms blew through the area. (Chris Dorst/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Ohio Virginia Tennessee Wisconsin Kentucky West Virginia
An analysis by two prominent economists on the potential high costs of a united Ireland has been criticised by Seamus McGuinness, an economics professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), as being unrealistic in terms of the way constitutional change would unfold.

The analysis for the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin by John FitzGerald, adjunct professor at TCD, and Edgar Morgenroth, professor of economics at DCU Business School, examines the potential size of the subvention to support the Northern Ireland budget and how it might be affected under a united Ireland.

Read More Edgar Morgenroth: Spending between the regions needs more clarity

According to the analysis, unification would add around 5% to the Irish Governments deficit and would add as much as 10% to the deficit under other assumptions that public sector pay rates in the North were to match those in the Republic.

Unifying the country would put huge financial pressure on citizens in the Republic, resulting in an immediate major reduction in their living standards, Mr FitzGerald said in a commentary on the IIEA analysis, which argues that the low productivity in the North should be tackled over a long period.

However, Mr McGuinness at the ESRI said the authors have presented a static analysis on the size of the Northern subvention that is unrealistic in terms of the way unity would unfold.

This mini-industry of estimating subvention, which seems to assume it is a constant that will apply immediately following a border poll, really makes no sense in terms of the reality of how a transition around constitutional change has to happen and has to be managed and planned for, Mr McGuinness said.

He said the IIEA analysis ignores fundamental facts that subvention exists because the Northern economy has very low productivity, but that low productivity is not set in stone and can be changed with proper policy and investment.

Mr McGuinness said economists have long recognised that low productivity in the North had been getting worse over time. But policies and investments would seek to reverse the decline in the Norths productivity and reduce the subvention, he said.
TOUR OF CORK



Both Nirvana and their well-established label-mates Sonic Youth came to Cork and the Top Hat in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, as a warm-up for the Reading Festival and other European dates.



Nirvana had arrived in the southern city early on Tuesday morning and checked into the Grand Parade Hotel, part of the same complex as Sir Henrys. The modest, redbricked hotel provided a welcome chance to rest after what had been a gruelling week.



Just three days earlier, the band had been in California, shooting the video for the yet-to-be-released song, Smells Like Teen Spirit. Dave Markey, who had been invited by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth to capture Super-8 footage of the tour, met Nirvana at LAX airport for the flight to London.

They'd been up all night making the video so were really tired, but we all still drank plenty on the plane on the way over, recalls Markey, whose footage would become the landmark tour documentary, 1991: The Year Punk Broke. They were so excited and giddy, and we were all really up for the adventure.



Nirvana and Markey met up with Sonic Youth in the UK capital and the filmmaker journeyed with the Seattle trio to Ireland in a rented Euro-Van via a car ferry from Wales.



On the day they arrived in Cork, music journalist Shane Fitzsimons, of the citys Evening Echo newspaper, met up with the bands at their hotel and offered to bring them for a walk around the city.



Not everyone was interested, but Fitzsimons and local woman Siobhan Bardsley were joined for the stroll by Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic from Nirvana, and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon.



Their first stop was Comet Records on Washington Street, where the Sonics signed a few autographs. Nobody bothered much with the Nirvana lads, says Fitzsimons. Then the sextet headed to MacCurtain Street to visit second-hand record store the Swap Shop (Leeside Music).



Thurston  whos a big record collector  was on the hunt for a single named The Shamrock Shuffle, by the Billy Roche Band, from Wexford. They had a browse, but he was disappointed not to find it, says Fitzsimons.



After a stop-off at Crowleys music shop down the street, where Grohl was nonplussed by Fitzsimons efforts to get him to buy a bodhran, the quiet Nirvana drummer at last got animated when they spotted a sign Baltimore Stores above the door of a long-derelict fish shop at no 31 MacCurtain Street.



He got all excited and wanted a picture taken underneath it so he could show his friends at home. I explained to them how the original Baltimore was in West Cork, says Fitzsimons.



Bardsley had brought her camera and happily obliged.
Primavera Sound

Porto Parque da Cidade, Porto June 6-8

Headliners: SZA, PJ Harvey, Mitski, Lana Del Rey, Pulp

A slimmer version of its parent festival a week earlier in Barcelona, Primavera Porto would still be the envy of most other festivals. Primavera is all about the music, with critically acclaimed bands like Choice Prize winners Lankum next to the aficionados' favourite Water from your Eyes, pop acts like Ethel Cain alongside Bjork collaborator Arca, and rapper du jour Billy Woods beside cult favourite Shellac. Porto, hillier than Barcelona, is easier to explore during the day, too, before the music gets going.

Full festival passes from 175

Direct flights from Dublin Airport to Porto with Ryanair.

Rock Am Ring

June 7-9 Nurburgring, Germany

Rock am Rin in Germany. Picture: THOMAS FREY/DPA/AFP via Getty Images

Headliners: Avenged Sevenfold, Green Day, Maneskin, Corey Taylor

Keanu Reeves band Dogstar are touring around Europe in June and will be among the star attractions at the starried Rock Am Ring, which holds a special place in music fans hearts - as well as motorsports heads, Nurburgring having played host to Formula One over the decades. Its heavy on the metal, of course, with Slayers Kerry King also appearing over the weekend. Ireland trad-metal four-piece the Scratch should feel right at home at Rock Am Ring, too.

Weekend passes from 249.

Direct flights from Dublin Airport to Frankfurt, about 80km from Nurburgring.

Sideways

June 13-15 Helsinki, Finland

Headliners: Peggy Gou, Jungle, Bat for Lashes

Offering house parties, Japanese arcade games, karaoke, arts and crafts, and quizzes, as the name suggests, Sideways has a quirky side that kicks off the Helsinki festival summer. Set at the Helsinki Ice Hall Nordis (it used to be at the citys old slaughterhouse, it also plays host to 00100ENSEMBLE, a Helsinki collective inspired by high school daydreams, diaries, andes, it will crown a prom king and queen.

Day tickets from 109, three days from 189.

Direct flights from Dublin Airport with Finnair.

La Prima Estate

June 14-16, June 21-23 Lido di Camaiore, near Lucca, Italy

Headliners: Peggy Gou, Paolo Nutini, Dinosaur Jr, Kasabian, Janes Addiction

More than a music festival. A holiday experience. La Prima Estate is not quite a festival either, more a series of gigs set right by a beach on the Mediterranean, in BussolaDomani park, which played host to the likes of Frank Zappa and Miles Davis in the 1970s and 1980s. More than 20,000 people attended the inaugural festival in 2022, and it sounds quite dreamy: As well as the music in the evenings, you can bike or surf, practise yoga on the beach, cooking classes next to the sea, trekking in the hills - or just stay on the beach all day.

From 52

Direct flights from Dublin Airport to Pisa, 30km from Lucca.

Hurricane Festival/Southside Festival

June 21-23 Eichenring/Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany

The National pop up at several festivals this summer. Picture: SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP

Headliners: Ed Sheeran, The National, Offspring, Avril Lavigne, Bring Me the Horizon

Dating back to the mid-1970s, Hurricane Festival, set on a racetrack near Hamburg, and its sister festival Southside, close to Zurich, are some of the biggest festivals on offer in Germany, with more than 80,000 passing through the turnstiles in recent years. Its an eclectic lineup, with local acts dotted among the usual international names, and pop acts standing right next to heavy metal bands.

Tickets: From 259.

Direct flights from Dublin Airport to Hamburg, 100km from Eichenring; and Zurich Airport, 100km from Neuhausen ob Eck.

Glastonbury

Worthy Farm, Somerset, England June 26-30

A guitarist gets up close and personal with the crowd at the Glastonbury Festival. Picture: Toby Melville.

Headliners: Dua Lipa, SZA, Coldplay, Shania Twain

Perhaps best enjoyed from the comfort of your living room and the BBC coverage of the festival, Glastonbury has, well, everything for every type of music fan. Its 20 years since it basically made Snow Patrol, their version of Run instantly going down as a Glasto classic. Who is most likely to get the boost this year? Michael Kiwanuka, Confidence Man, and the Last Dinner Party should all shine, as should Irish acts like Fontaines DC, who played at least three sets over the weekend in June 2022, and the irresistible Mary Wallopers. There are throwbacks like Avril Lavigne and the Streets (22 years since Original Pirate Material), while Shania Twain, who is also coming to Dublin and Cork, is taking the 5pm Sunday legends spot. Lets go, girls!

355 + 5 booking fee.

Fly from Cork and Dublin airports to Bristol, 30km away.

Paredes de Coura

August 14-17 Praia Fluvial Do Taboao, Paredes de Coura, Portugal

Headliners: Girl in Red, Idles, Andre 3000: New Blue Sun Live, Killer Mike

Running for over three decades, Paredes de Coura takes place next to the fluvial beach of Taboao, where you can take a dip the morning after the festivities of the previous night, relax in hammocks over the lapping rivers, and take in some glorious Portuguese sun. Heavy on the guitars - Dublin four-piece Sprints can expect a raucous reception - the water might be needed to help you recover.

Day tickets from 60, weekend tickets from 120.

Direct flights from Dublin Airport to Porto, about 100km away, with Ryanair.

We Are Out Here

Wimborne, Dorset, Aug 15  Aug 18

Andre 3000 will be at We Are Out Here, in Dorset. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Headliners: Andre 3000, Kae Tempest, Sampha, Floating Points, Moodyman

Curated by Gilles Peterson, this event will attract a slightly older demographic for the type of soul, jazz hip hop and house-orientated sounds the great DJ plays on his BBC 6 show.

Weekend tickets are currently 240.

Nearby town Salisbury is about 80 minutes by train from London, or a two-hour drive from Gatwick Airport.

Cabaret Vert

August 15-18 Charleville-Mezieres, France

Headliners: Queens of the Stone Age, 21 Savage, Justice, Korn

Running since 2005, Cabaret Vert places a focus on eco-responsibitiy, detailing a dozen actions and obecjtives, from controlling energy consumption to supporting cultural diversity, promoting the circular economy. But dont think that detracts from having fun in the Ardennes. The lineup is brilliant, split across four days, with One Direction alumnus Louis Tomlinson rubbing shoulders with the likes of Macklemore, and Flogging Molly and PJ Harvey showing the eclectic offering for the more than 120,000 who will attend Cabaret Vert.

Day tickets from #49, four-day pass 219.

Direct flights from Cork Airport to Paris, about 200km away; direct flights from Dublin Airport to Brussels, 100km away.

End of the Road

August 29-September 1 Larmour Tree Gardens, Dorset, England

Headliners: Idles, Slowdive, Fever Ray, Bonnie Prince Billy

End of the Road marks the end of festival season - and it also marks an increasingly rare occurrence: Next to no advertising on its site. Its a treat for the senses, exploring the green site and not being inundated with vape and drinks sponsorship. Taking place since 2006, EotR has grown steadily over the years but retains an intimate feeling, helped by stellar curation. It also attracts a heavy Irish travelling contingent, both fans and artists alike - CMAT, Lisa ONeill, Sprints, and Gurriers all play this year.

Tier 4 from 255.

Direct flights from Cork to Bristol, 100km away; direct flights from Dublin to Southampton, 60km away.

Five more to consider

Fans at the main entrance to the Rock in Rio Festival. Picture: MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images)

Fuji Rocks, Japan July 26-28: SZA, Kraftwerk, Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds

Lollapalooza, Chicago August 1-4: Tyler, the Creator, Hozier, SZA, The Killers, Blink-182

All Points East, London August 16-25: Kaytranada, Loyle Carner, LCD Soundsystem, Justice, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service

Rock in Rio, Brazil, September 13-22: Travis Scott, Imagine Dragons, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Shawn Mendes

Le Guess Who? Utrecht, November 7-10: Headliners TBC (one for experimental music fans)
Over 65s are paying 43% more for private health insurance than they were a year ago, pushing their average premium to over 2,100, a new report has found.

Other adults have seen price hikes of up to 17% for their health insurance, with the average increases pushing the annual average premium close to 1,600.

Irish Life Health recorded the highest price increase range, between 0.8% to 17.1%, with an average increase of almost 11%, Laya Healthcare had a price hike ranging up to 7.5%, with an average increase of 5%, while Vhi Healthcare hiked some prices by up to 13.7%, with an average increase of 4.7%.

The revelation from the private health insurance industrys watchdog prompted fresh calls last night for consumers to shop around for a better deal.

The Health Insurance Authoritys (HIA) 2023 Market Report published yesterday shows that the average cost of health insurance increased by 10% since 2022 to 1,594.

The report also shows that people over the age of 65 are paying 43% more on average for health insurance.

Orthopaedic or joint replacement cover is one of the main reasons this age group is paying more, with two thirds of over 65s on high orthopaedic cover compared with only 27% of under 65s.

Just under three quarters of those under 65 are on restricted orthopaedic cover.

The report also found that while some 2.48m people in Ireland have private health insurance, 47% of the population, the growth in people taking up policies has slowed, with an increase of only 1.6% since 2022.

The HIA, the independent statutory body that regulates the private health insurance market, said price increases throughout 2023 by all three health insurers, as well as the cost-of-living crisis have combined to make insurance policies less affordable.

Daragh Cassidy of price comparison website Bonkers.ie said the fact that over 65s pay 43% more for health insurance is pretty eye opening.

Although some of this can be explained by the extra level of cover that people in this age bracket choose, it also shows that older policyholders arent shopping around and looking for the best deals.

People are understandably reluctant to change provider as theyre afraid they might lose cover. However if you switch insurer you wont have to serve any waiting periods again  as long as you switch within 13 weeks. This is not known by many people and is often a reason why people are afraid to switch. If you switch insurers while you are serving a new customer waiting period, the amount of time served with your first insurer will be taken into account with your new one.

Regardless of your current health or claims history, any new insurer must take you on  by law they cannot restrict you from cover or charge you extra. This is how the Irish system works.

In short, everything youre accustomed to with your current provider will be available with a new provider. He also said the expansion of free healthcare in Ireland in recent years might explain the slowdown in numbers seeking health insurance.

More free GP care, relaxed thresholds for a medical card, and the removal of the 80 a day public in-patent charge means some may be more prepared to take a bet on the public health system, he said.

Vhi continues to have the largest market share, accounting for 48.9% in 2023 followed by Laya Healthcare at 28% and Irish Life Health at 20.5%.

The report also found there are 350 plans and three insurers in the health insurance market, yet half of all those with insurance are on one of just 30 plans.

There has been a 15% increase in claims to 2.85bn compared to 2022. Hospital day admissions continue to increase at a faster rate than overnight stays.

Total premium income for the three health insurers is 3.2bn  an increase from 2.9bn in 2022.

The HIAs chief executive officer, Ray Dolan, said its annual market report informs the HIA as to the state of play in the market.

It is very useful to see the landscape of the sector and means we are able to assess and monitor trends in the industry and inform policy on that basis, he said.
Ten-year-old Ebrahim, with bright blue eyes and shiny blond hair, already spoke seven languages before he and his entire family were killed in their home of Gaza.

Following the massacre, their remains were collected in a single bag, English teacher Tamar Famaz Nijim, who is from Gaza, told the Teachers Union of Irelands annual congress in Killarney.

Ebrahim wanted to be one of the most famous inventors in the world with plans to create a game to help children learn.

His sister Malak, who Ms Nijim also taught, was 16. She was learning English to help her become a doctor to heal the wounded before she was killed.

I taught them the language of the world so that they could pursue their dreams, and yet the entire world betrayed them.

These could have been your students or children.

Ms Nijim, who is currently studying for a Masters in Applied Linguistics at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, called for action on Gaza at the TUI annual congress. She urged delegates to teach their students about Palestine and to use their social media accounts to raise awareness about it.

She also called for a boycott of relationships and exchange programmes with Israeli universities that support and manufacture weapons used in Gaza, and she called for a national teachers strike for one day to demand an end to the genocide.

Tamar Gamaz Nijim:'An entire generation is being disabled, and future generations are at risk.' Picture: Tommy Clancy

Occupation is depriving Palestinians of their right to education.

An entire generation is being disabled, and future generations are at risk.

"Why do schools have to be shelters?

Why do our seats have to turn into our graveyards? Why do our principal's rooms have to turn dark, and why do our clothes have to be stained with blood?

350 schools have been targeted and destroyed. Students aged 4-18 have no school to go to. Their teachers, parents, classmates, and administrative staff have been killed.

This is a war against education.

Delegates at the TUI congress overwhelmingly supported motions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

TUI President David Waters slammed the attacks on Gaza as "intentional and cruel violence upon children and other innocent, defenceless people" when proposing one motion.

Gaza featured at every day of the three-day congress, with numerous motions calling for peace and hundreds of teachers carrying placards with messages like ceasefire now and boycott Israel throughout the congress.

Gaza featured at every day of the three-day congress. Picture: Tommy Clancy

Another Palestinian teacher, Salem Gharbia, from ATU Sligo also addressed the congress on Thursday. He said that what was a slow genocide has turned into a quick genocide in Gaza.

More than 33,000 people got killed, 13,000 kids. 700,000 school-age kids have been denied an education, Mr Gharbia said.

Some 75% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed, he said. And more than 90% of educational infrastructure has been destroyed, including 12 universities, while 95 professors have been killed, he said.

For a small area in the Middle East this is a genocide.

"Its a shame on humanity.

They do not have access to food. We cannot allow this to happen.

"This ongoing genocide is against everything we stand for as educators. I really urge you to act."
The family of a five-year-old girl who was critically injured in a stabbing outside of her school in Dublin last November have said she is "doing well as she navigates her rehabilitation journey.

In an update, her family said their little warrior has not stopped smiling or showcasing her curiosity, despite her immense setback.

These past weeks have shown us even more so how resilient she is, but also put our own strength into check as we have to match her determination, the family said in an update shared to their Go Fund Me page on April 3.

The child was one of four victims who were attacked, which included two other children and a creche worker, outside Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire on Parnell Square on November 23.

The family said the questions regarding their daughter's future as she enters her rehabilitation phase "are present".

Despite this, they are determined to remain hopeful, adding: "We have to believe in her, mainly because she does".

'Thank you for all the love sent our way,' the family said. File picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

In a further update, the family said their little girl remains in hospital, with "no set date of discharge".

"Thank you for all the love sent our way," the family added.

The Go Fund Me fundraiser, named "Barrog do Chailin Beag", meaning "A hug for a little girl", has raised over 88,000 since its creation in November.

The fundraiser has amassed a huge number of donations, with over 4,100 people chipping in to help the five-year-old's family.

The attack in November led to a chain reaction of events that saw severe riots across Dublin city.

A 50-year-old man, Riad Bouchaker, appeared in Dublin District court in November, charged with the attempted murder of three children and the assault of creche worker Leanne Flynn during the Parnell Square incident.
Gardai in Dublin have arrested a man following a significant drug seizure on Wednesday.

Revenue officers, with the assistance of detector dog James, discovered the illicit drugs when they stopped a van that had arrived at Dublin Port from the UK.

Officers seized 55.3kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of 1,106,000.

The van containing the drugs had travelled to Dublin from the UK. Picture: Revenue

The drugs were hidden in vacuum-packed packages among a consignment of bottled water and garden furniture.

The man was arrested at the scene and is currently being detained at a Garda station in Dublin where he can be held for up to seven days.

Investigations are ongoing.
A tractor driver who failed to pull in on a country road to allow other motorists to pass has been handed a hefty fine in the district court.

Prosecuting, Sgt Trish OSullivan told Macroom District Court that Michael ORegan, 65, of Currabeg, Ovens, Co Cork, was driving his red Fiat tractor along a narrow country road near Kilmurry, Co Cork, on July 17, 2023.

The road was not wide enough for vehicles to pass him safely and Mr ORegan was driving at a very slow pace and a queue of traffic began to build up behind him.

Among the cars was a garda who observed that Mr ORegan had at least seven opportunities to pull in and allow traffic to pass him but did not do so.

The court was told that Mr ORegan drove on for at least 4kms without pulling in and he was eventually stopped for driving without due care and attention.

He was issued with a fixed charge penalty notice for 80 which he failed to pay. The court heard that he had 12 previous convictions, all road traffic related including driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

Defence solicitor Jack Purcell said that Mr ORegan was a small scale agricultural contractor who was just disorganised and not good with paperwork.

Judge James McNulty said: Hes more than disorganised, hes inconsiderate to other road users. They were all delayed while he toddles along on his way, not pulling in for anybody. Thats bold behaviour.

The judge said that the penalty had to be meaningful and he said that he intended to fine Mr ORegan 600. He adjourned the case until May 1 to give Mr ORegan a chance to gather the funds and to pay his legal bills.
A 15-year-old boy with autism was brought before Cork District Court charged with injuring another teenager in a knife fight on Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork at 6.30pm on Wednesday evening.

It was alleged that this teenager had a knife and the other youth had a broken champagne bottle and that they were making slashing movements towards each others head and torso.

Detective Garda Joe Crowley arrested the teenager and brought him before an in camera hearing of the court  because he is a juvenile and cannot be identified  on a charge of assault causing harm to an 18-year-old male.

Det. Garda Crowley said: I explained to him he was lucky he was not killed or the other person was not killed.

The detective said there was an objection to bail because of the seriousness of the case. The detective said the teenager made certain admissions in respect of the charge of assault causing harm and that he told gardai he threw the knife in the river after the alleged incident.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke, applied for bail and said the teenager was doing well in education and would reside with his mother. The defendant broke down in tears at one stage during the hearing and was comforted by his mother. His father was also present for the court hearing.

After it emerged that no bed was available in Oberstown detention centre in Dublin, Judge Mary Dorgan remanded the 15-year-old on bail with conditions that required him to remain intoxicant-free, have no contact with other parties to the incident and to abide by a curfew and stay out of Cork city centre.

Second defendant

A co-accused was arrested and appeared before the adult court later in the day at Cork District Court. As he is 18 years old, Samuel Ekpemoga of St Patricks Terrace, Gerald Griffin Street, Cork, can be identified.

He is charged with assault causing harm to another teenager  a friend of the 15-year-old defendant.

Garda Shane Hayes objected to bail being granted to Mr Ekpemoga because of he seriousness of the allegations. It was alleged that he slashed the head of one young man with half of a broken champagne bottle causing deep lacerations to his head which required immediate medical treatment.

The incident was captured in full on high definition garda CCTV cameras. The suspect was apprehended close to the scene after an attempt to flee, Garda Hayes said.

This defendant, represented by solicitor Frank Buttimer, was remanded on similar conditions to appear in court on May 16, to allow time for the garda file to be completed and directions obtained from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
New charges, including one alleging the importation of drugs for supply, were brought against a Slovakian national with a Welsh address who was remanded in custody.

This arises out of an investigation into an alleged 160,000 drugs transaction in a hotel car park in Cork.

43-year-old Julius Sobul of Collingwood Avenue, Newport, Gwent, Wales, appeared at Cork District Court where Garda Ruairi McGovern testified that the accused made no reply when charged with two new counts.

The two fresh counts allege that he had more than 13,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply and imported drugs with a similar value. 13,000 is a threshold figure for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Judge Mary Dorgan adjourned the case until April 10 against Mr Sobul, on the application of Sergeant Aisling Murphy at Cork District Court.

It is alleged that gardai observed a transaction taking place in the car park of the Radisson Hotel in Little Island, County Cork, between the occupants of two vehicles and when officers moved in to carry out a search they found 160,000 worth of cannabis and 39,500 in cash on the occasion on December 19, 2023.

The allegations previously outlined in court were that an English-registered Vauxhall and an Irish-registered Range Rover were observed by gardai in the carpark that Tuesday morning.

It was alleged that one man exited the Range Rover with a package and entered the Vauxhall while the driver of the Vauxhall placed a large bag in the rear of the Range Rover. At this point they were approached by gardai and informed they were to be searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The package placed in the Vauxhall was recovered and found to contain 39,500 cash and the large bag was found to contain approximately eight kilograms of cannabis with an estimated street value of 160,000, it was alleged by the prosecution.

Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer represents the accused who was previously charged with other counts under the Misuse of Drugs Act arising out of the same alleged incident. He also faces a money-laundering charge.
The boyfriend of an Irish woman stabbed to death in New York on Saturday has been charged with her murder.

Sarah McNally from Co Longford died after a man walked into the Ceili House bar in Queens where she worked as a bartender and attacked her with a knife.

Marcin Pieciak with an address at 76th Street, Glendale, Queens, appeared in court on Thursday charged with her murder.

The 36-year-old, who was the partner of the victim, is also charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

In a statement, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz described Ms McNally as the accused's girlfriend. Ms Katz said the attack was "unprovoked" and one which has shocked the community.

"It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family, she said. "We are using every resource to make sure there is accountability."

Ms McNally was stabbed in the neck during the incident which happened at around 6.35pm last Saturday evening. She was rushed to Elmhurst hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Mr Pieciak received stab wounds to the neck and back and was also taken to hospital  the injuries were self-inflected.

The victim moved to New York 10 years ago but had kept close ties with her family and friends in Longford where she was employed by the Irish prison service prior to her move to the US. Locals described her as a lovely girl who was very friendly.

Ms McNallys aunt Mary said the family were heartbroken over her tragic death. She wrote online Rest in peace my beautiful niece Sarah, we are heart broken, Love you always.

Some members of her family have flown to New York to help repatriate her remains home to Ireland.

Her funeral details will be announced on Friday, according to a notice on Rip.ie which said she would be sadly missed and remembered with love by her family, her loving mother Dorrie, dear father Des, grandmother Kathleen OConnor, aunts, uncles, relatives, extended family, and a wide circle of friends in Longford and New York".

Mr Pieciak is due to appear in court again on Friday.
Gardai have seized 10 guns and drugs worth more than 5m in a major crackdown on serious crime in Dublin.

Gardai carried out 20 search operations targeting serious crime and illegal drugs supply in the city over the last week.

On Friday, March 29, a semi-automatic machine pistol, and nine 9mm rounds of ammunition were recovered by gardai in Clondalkin during the search of a house.

One of the guns seized in Dublin this week.

A man, aged in his 20s, was detained under section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939, as amended and subsequently released pending further investigations.

On Saturday, March 30, two firearms were recovered by gardai in Ballyfermot following a search of a local park. So far, no arrests have made in connection with this discovery.

On Tuesday, April 2, gardai conducted a planned search of a residential property in Fortunestown, Dublin 24.

During this operation, cannabis with an estimated value of 80,000 was seized, and a man, aged in his 40s was arrested and charged.

On Wednesday, April 3, gardai from Ronanstown seized seven firearms and ammunition, along with cannabis and cocaine with a combined estimated value of 200,000 and 100,000 in cash, following planned searches of four residential properties in the Clondalkin area.

Additionally, 67,000 was frozen in a bank account as a result of the searches. Tracker devices and mobile phones were also seized during the course of the operation, and investigations are ongoing.

One of the guns seized in Dublin this week.

Separately on April 3, during a search of a vehicle on Beresford Street, Dublin 7, gardai seized cannabis with an estimated value of 200,000.

Two men, aged in their 30s, were arrested at the scene. A follow-up search at a residential property in Finglas led to the seizure of cannabis with an estimated value of 300,000, and a man, in his late 20s, was also arrested.

Another search on the same day at a business premises in Dublin 12 resulted in the recovery of cannabis herb and cocaine valued at 3m.

The three men arrested are currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act, 1996 at Garda stations in the Dublin Region.

The 10 guns and drugs worth over 5m seized in Dublin this week.

Elsewhere on April 3, Revenue officers discovered 55kg of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of 1.1m at Dublin Port. It was concealed in a van arriving on a ferry from the UK.

Gardai have arrested a man in his 50s, and he is being held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996, at a Garda station in the Dublin Region.

All seized drugs will undergo analysis by Forensic Science Ireland, and the firearms will undergo ballistic and forensic examination.

Commenting on the seizures, Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Region, Angela Willis, says removing 10 firearms from circulation will no doubt save many lives.

Some of the cash and drugs seized in Dublin this week.

"I wish to acknowledge the continuous efforts of our members working across the city in tackling serious criminality and those that cause the most harm to communities.

"Removing 10 lethal firearms from circulation will no doubt save many lives and contribute to our efforts to keep communities safe.

"The impact of the seizure of significant quantities of illicit drugs and cash, believed to represent the proceeds of criminality, will also ensure that we continue to affect the ability of criminal networks to operate in our communities," she said.
Cork County Council has settled claims worth almost 7m for injuries sustained on public footpaths in the past five years, figures show.

Despite the number of claims falling significantly in recent years, the amount paid out remained above 1m in 2022 and 2023.

The average over the five years was around 1.4m, according to the data.

The figures were released to Labour councillor Eoghan Kenny via a Freedom of Information request, and he said they demonstrate that action needs to be taken to prevent trips and falls on Corks footpaths.

As the [local] election draws near, you will hear many perspective candidates seeking election or re-election saying that it is not good enough, he said.

We need to go further than that. We need a definitive independent audit across the county footpath infrastructure and a cost to bring them back to code.

The first year for which the records stretch back to, 2019, saw both the highest number of footpath claims settled and the highest amount paid out at 79 claims and 1.86m respectively.

The following year saw a further 70 claims settled and 1.69m paid out.

The number of claims almost halved in 2021 to 42, with 930,362 paid out.

This pattern was replicated in 2022 and 2023, at 44 and 49 claims, respectively.

However, the data shows that the average paid out under these claims has risen in recent years.

In 2019, the average payout for injuries sustained on a road path stood at 23,647.

However, in 2023, the average payout had risen to 27,260.

The total amount paid between the start of 2019 and the end of 2023 was 6,973,650.

Data for the first quarter of 2024 is not yet available.

Roads budget

In its annual budget, Cork County Council said that its roads budget had increased for 2024 but warned of its capacity to meet the publics expectations across the board on all the areas under its remit.

It added that investment last year went towards footpath repair in Bandon and Fermoy.

Cork County Council is committed to working hard to meet the needs of its citizens, it said.

However, it is never possible to meet the considerable level of demands and expectations and despite the dedication and the commitment of our staff, the demand for services is well beyond our capacity to respond.

The Labour councillor had asked for a breakdown of the injury claims settled by the electoral division in which the injuries occurred.

However, Cork County Council said that such records giving this breakdown do not exist.

Mr Kenny said the millions spent were a damning indictment on the state of the footpaths across Co Cork.

He added: Were not looking for gold-plated runways, just good, honest, safe paths for pedestrians whether they have a buggy, wheelchair, mobility aide or not,

The public infrastructure in Mallow, is simply not fit for purpose.

This is due to a lack of funding from central government.

"We need targeted, direct investment in public infrastructure, in particular for wheelchair users, people using prams, and older people.
The health minister met with "burnt-out" nurses and doctors as part of a crisis visit to University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which is struggling with persistent overcrowding.

Stephen Donnelly said that the trolley crisis at the hospital will not be resolved unless consultants become more visible on the floor of the hospitals overwhelmed emergency department and engage with management on the Public Only Consultant Contract (POCC).

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly with Sandra Broderick, HSE regional executive officer at the 96-bed unit at University Hospital Limerick. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

The minister said frontline staff told him they needed more beds and more support from senior clinical decisionmakers on site.

Mr Donnelly said an additional 86 beds, including 16 rapid-build beds at UHL, 50 step-down beds in Nenagh, and 20 community healthcare beds in Clare, would be provided ahead of an expected winter surge of patients, to try to help alleviate pressure on patients and staff.

A 96-bed block, presently under construction on the grounds of UHL, is to open in 2025 and a second 96-bed block would also come on stream. However, Mr Donnelly said UHL consultants needed to step up and make changes to their workplace practices.

In order for this to work, we have to see reform in the hospital. Limerick has one the lowest uptakes of the new public-only consultant contract; the level of weekend discharge is not where it needs to be, Mr Donnelly said.

He added that "many" consultants are working "night and day" to tackle patient-flow issues, but he said he wants to see more "rostered on site" throughout the hospital after hours and at weekends.

Colette Cowan, chief executive of the UL Hospitals Group, told a regional health forum last week that only 28% of emergency medicine consultants employed by her group had signed up to the POCC, which could see them being asked to work an extra five hours on Saturdays and an extra two hours on weekdays.

Mr Donnelly, who was accompanied at UHL by HSE cheif executive Bernard Gloster, told reporters: UHL ranks ninth in the country for weekend discharges; that must improve, and there will be a progression to immediate rostering over six and, where contractually possible, seven days.

He said an all-of-hospital approach to treating ED patients was required, which would include the presence of non-ED consultants to support ED colleagues in the emergency department when necessary.

Mr Donnelly said that while trolley numbers had reduced in other hospitals, in spite of increased patient presentations nationally, UHL remained a significant outlier, as they have seen about the same increase in presentations, but rather than a fall in trolleys they have seen a 50% increase in trolleys.

Members of the Mid West Hospital Campaign (MWHC) protested outside the hospital, calling for the reopening of emergency departments in Nenagh, Ennis, and St John's Hospital which were closed and reconfigured to UHL in 2009.

Mr Donnelly conceded that reconfiguration had not worked as it was not properly resourced.

It was not done properly. What should have happened here [at UHL] is this kind of investment should have happened first, so that this hospital had the capacity it needed to take on all those extra patients. That didnt happen and thats what we are now rectifying," he said.

When asked if he would consider reopening the regional EDs, the minister said the latest advice he had received from the chief clinical officer of the HSE Dr Colm Henry was that it would not be safe for patients to open emergency departments in those hospitals.

However, Mr Donnelly acknowledged that the current situation here [UHL] is not tolerable, and not acceptable.

Stephen Donnelly said 'the current situation here [UHL] is not tolerable, and not acceptable'. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

When asked if he was satisfied with the quality of management at UHL, he replied he was not going to comment on any individual but that all at the hospital were working hard to provide the best care for patients.

Mr Donnelly was also asked about several high-profile incidents at the hospital.

He said an ongoing investigation into the death of Aoife Johnston, a 16 year old who waited for care for 12 hours on a trolley before her death, would be completed in May.

Additionally, Mr Donnelly said he was "very concerned" at the details of an unpublished internal report into the death of UHL patient Martin Abbott who, it was revealed last week at the Shannon mans inquest, had been dead on the floor of the UHL ED for over an hour before staff noticed his body.

Mr Donnelly said the report catalogued a series of failures in Mr Abbotts care, and the report also called out the fact that solutions to overcrowding which have worked in other hospitals have yet to be seen here [in UHL].

What happened was not acceptable; it shouldnt have happened, he said.
Like many other readers in the Cork City area, last week I got a brochure in the door from the local authority. Was away for a few days so I only came across it on my return, shouting up from the mat in the hall: OUR CITY IS CHANGING.

Bold title, all caps. Aerial pictures of the city. Stirring words for the future, the opportunities ahead, the challenges we face. The city is changing, and we all need to change with it. I felt like shouting back at the brochure BUT IS IT IMPROVING?, but I didnt (I dont talk to myself. Out loud).

I had a good ramble through the brochure, its case studies and its slick images, and despite all the plans and predictions, something was missing.

There were chapters on travel and housing, on the future plans for the docklands region and for quality streetscapes. I read about Cork City Councils plans to combat the effects of both climate change and flooding while also creating a greener, healthier city. I saw the list of festivals and events planned for 2024, the list of city councillors.

When I say something was missing I dont mean wisecracks and zingers, much as some readers may be expecting them. In section 4, on streetscapes, theres a panel on the Bishop Lucey Park renewal plans which includes a provision for a new pavilion and plaza to stage events, for instance.

If I were not a model of self-restraint I'd muse on the odd reference in the past few years to other plans. Plans for somewhere to stage events near Bishop Lucey Park.

Anyway. What struck me was the fact that the brochure carried precious few references to one of the mainstays of municipal work, one of the key activities of any local authority.

Maintenance.

A casual stroll around Cork City last Saturday revealed plenty of areas crying out for attention rather than re-imagining or re-thinking. No sweeping changes needed, just some upkeep.

Take the tourist maps at various parts of the city, many of which are defaced by graffiti: one hasnt been cleaned for so long that there seems to be some kind of moss growing on it. Or those metal poles/bollards in Oliver Plunkett Street which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago here, smeared with paint and disfiguring stickers.

Or the white arrows showing where to turn on some roads, worn away and not repainted. Or the classic Cork traffic crossing, half tiles and half tarmac, so ubiquitous it should be on the coat of arms. Or the partial cleaning of the South Gate Bridge.

The last-named is the most glaring example, as it also reveals something about the councils attitude to maintenance: graffiti was scrubbed from the bridge wall only after councillors complained about it, with their complaints highlighted in these pages.

The partially cleaned section of the stonework on South Gate Bridge, but the remaining sections look very dirty in comparison. Picture: Larry Cummins

The whole point with a litany like this is simple. The plans being made for Corks future are laudable. We cant afford to sit around and wait for change to occur; we must take ownership of the future and direct that change.

But future-proofing can't be done at the expense of the present. The decline and decay in the city centre is a current issue that must be addressed immediately for the benefit of those living in and using the city centre right now.

No one can be held to account for plans that are still on the drawing board, or in the early stages of delivery, but it would be encouraging to see some priority given to the here and now.

In the 28 pages of OUR CITY etc, I learned about the ideas for Corks future but little enough about arresting the present decline of the city. Its just a personal opinion, of course, but I believe a focus on the energy, time, and money being spent on improving Cork as it is would be warmly welcomed by the people using the city.

Relegating maintenance to the end of the brochure was a telling indication of its importance among the councils priorities.

The Docklands, Bishop Lucey Park, the renewal of MacCurtain Street, flood protection measures  these are all large-scale projects costing millions of euro, and the first-named in particular is years in the future.

Read More Michael Moynihan: Oliver Plunkett Street should be a jewel for visitors to Cork City

Is there something worth investing in right now in Cork for both current citizens and future denizens? Its easy to think of something not covered in OUR CITY IS etc. which would make an appreciable difference to peoples quality of life, which would not cost millions of euro, which could be made available quickly, which would be welcomed by all.

Public toilets.

This is a long-running issue in Cork. Yours truly first wrote about the topic four years ago and it has not been resolved since then. Only last summer this newspaper reported that tour operators who bus cruise-ship passengers from Cobh to the city warned that the perceived lack of public toilets in the city was damaging its reputation.

At that point, the situation was so farcical that councillors attending a meeting in Cork City Hall admitted they were unaware that there was a new public toilet on the Grand Parade.

If a public toilet is so obscure that nobody knows it exists, is it even public? Or is it public and private simultaneously: Schrodinger's Loo?

Just to rub it in, at the same council meeting those in attendance were told toilets had also been provided at the English Market, Marina Park, Bishopstown Park, Tramore Valley Park, the Regional Park in Ballincollig, and in Fitzgeralds Park.

Anyone familiar with Corks geography will see a pretty obvious issue there for people looking for a toilet in the city centre.

On the one hand, this is a problem all over the world: the disappearance of public toilets from city streets, often because of antisocial behaviour, has left private operators taking up the slack.

Councillors attending a meeting in Cork City Hall admitted they were unaware that there was a public toilet on the Grand Parade. Picture: Denis Minihane

Cafes and restaurants are reasonable alternatives if theyre open (which isnt always the case) and accessible to all (not always the case either, ask anyone with a disability or pushing a toddler). Often theyre neither, and the whole idea is flawed anyway.

Simply put, if a city does not provide public toilets for its citizens the lesson is that the city does not care about those citizens if they don't have money.

On the other hand, Cork once led the way when it came to such conveniences: four years ago I cited Klondykes battle for public toilets. Since then Cork City Council was able to find money to restore the Firemans Rest after years of neglect. The council was also able to source funding to install, or inflict, the Robot Trees.

In each case, the bill came in around the 300,000 mark. Could a public toilet not be opened and staffed for that amount?

That would show our city is changing and with no need to blare it in all-caps. Just Fir and Mna.
The name of the Facebook page was Promote the use of knacker babies as shark bait. On the page there was a reference to suggest that Traveller babies could be useful at feeding time in the zoo. There was also a phrase suggesting Travellers could be used for testing new drugs in viruses.

The man responsible for the postings was prosecuted in Killarney district court under the 1989 Incitement to Hatred Act. He was a barman who created the page after he had a bad experience with a group of Travellers in his workplace. Garda Stephen Hourigan, who received a complaint about the posting and interviewed the man responsible, told the court he thought it was outrageous.

It was a direct attack against a group in society, he said. Despite that, Judge James OConnor ruled that while the material was revolting and insulting, it could not be deemed incitement to hatred. He dismissed the case.

That occurred in 2011, and was one of a very small number of prosecutions taken under the 1989 act. The ineffectual nature of that law prompted a whole range of people, from gardai to prosecuting authorities to various groups representing minorities, to the belief that it required updating.

The result was the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. This is now known as the hate speech bill.

The bill has gone from being hugely popular to being shunned. Some of the opposition is based on genuine flaws which could be rectified. However, even if the flaws are addressed, there will remain opposition on the basis that it has come to represent both in political and public opinion an instrument in what is known as the culture wars.

And in that respect, a bill designed to protect all sorts of minorities looks set to fall over the overblown  by both sides in the culture war  issue of gender dysphoria. Such an outcome should, but probably wont, give pause to anybody who worries about the kind of society we are creating.

Hate speech is only one, and arguably the lesser, part of a complex piece of legislation. The other part involves hate crime, such as physical attacks on a person or on property as has been seen in the recent arson attacks on accommodation centres due to host asylum seekers.

In 2022 there was a 29% increase in hate crimes up to a total of 582 incidents. These included public order incidents, assaults causing harm and criminal damage. The gardai believes that the existing law is not sufficient to deal with this kind of crime.

Very few, if anybody, appears to be objecting to updating the law to tackle hate crime. But as it is in the same bill as the hate speech element the chances are that it wont see the light of day. So while there are frequent calls across society for new laws to tackle crime in general, it would appear the urgency to address this aspect of crime is completely absent.

According to the bill, the possibility of hate crime or speech arises when it is directed at people who have up to 10 characteristics. These include, race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation and disability.

Hate Bill flaws

One of the flaws is that hate is not defined in the bill. This has elicited concern on both the left and right of the political spectrum. The government says the failure to define hate is on the advice of the Attorney General.

Yet organisations like the Council for Civil Liberties have pointed out that it is defined in other jurisdictions. Certainly, it is an issue that could be examined.

Another issue arises in section 10 of the bill that makes it a crime to be in possession of material likely to incite hatred even if the material has not been disseminated. Again, this has been referenced as a problem across the political spectrum, but it also could be addressed through amendment.

The problem is that large tracts of the body politic have gone beyond framing amendments and just want shot of the bill following the recent referendum results which were interpreted as an anti-woke mandate.

The reasoning for such is unclear, as are the precise reasons why both referendums were rejected. But politics is about perception and right now many are viewing the hate crime and speech legislation as an example of some woke agenda, or an instrument in the culture wars.

Fianna Fail TDs, Willie ODea and John McGuiness have said it should be dropped. Sinn Fein, which once had a protective attitude to minorities, has called for its abandonment. Simon Harris is expected to give it lip service when he takes the Taoiseachs office, but few believe he has any interest in its passage through the Oireachtas.

One indicator of the prospects for the bill will be whether Helen McEntee, who has been vocal in supporting it, will be moved from the Justice portfolio.

Gender dysphoria

Why has it become so unpopular, in an alleged enlightened society, to protect all sorts of minorities from physical or verbal attack? The answer is both bizarre and alarming. Much of the opposition arises from positions that have been adopted on gender dysphoria.

Those on the right who have major issues with transitioning gender dont want it included as a protected characteristic. Senator Ronan Mullan, for instance, has voiced concerns in this regard on air and on his own blog.

The protected characteristic of gender in the Hate Bill is a radical, new untested definition, he writes. Since the foundation of the State, our legislation has ALWAYS defined gender as binary, while referencing gender identity as something different. This new definition conflates both. It is NOT an accidental mistake in draughtsmanship.

He and those who share his opinion suggest that expressing concerns about aspects of gender dysphoria could lead to prosecution. Nobody actually knows, he writes.

He goes on to suggest that the framing of the bill in relation to gender was not an accident or mistake. Some activist voices are shaping  if not brainwashing  political thinking, he writes.

Mullans analysis, it is reasonable to assume, is shared by those who class the bill as woke.

Patrick King joins in a show of solidarity following the riots in the capital last year after the Irish Congress of Trade Unions called on workers to gather outside the GPO on O'Connell Street for the demonstration. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie

He may have a point about activist voices. There has been, in recent years, a huge degree of intolerance among some of those on the illiberal left for any debate around legitimate concerns to do with gender dysphoria.

It is also the case that transgender people are frequently victims of hate crimes such as assault simply because of who they are. Being subjected to verbal or physical attack over their physical characteristics requires that they, like every other minority group, receive special protection.

What is really alarming is that the whole bill is now likely to fail because of the noise created around this relatively minor element. As such, the protection of all minorities, in an increasingly fractured society, is being relegated to an afterthought in a dispute that has come to be dominated by strongly held views on gender dysphoria among a relatively small group of people.
Spending a lot of time on social media could increase the chances of teenagers taking up smoking or vaping, according to a study.

The findings advocate for the promotion of healthy online habits for young people, researchers said, rather than blanket bans and over-protection.

Academics from the University of Glasgow explored how social media use among 14-year-olds influenced nicotine use when they reached 17.

Educators, health professionals, and care givers must enhance their social media literacy to prepare teens for the realities of the social media landscape

The team surveyed 8,987 teenagers for the study, which has been published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Some 28.9% of those who responded were smokers, while 23.7% vaped. Some 8.2% of the teenagers polled used both.

Mental health, socio-economic status and past smoking behaviours were also factored in.

Researchers found that spending more than two hours a day on social media platforms increased the likelihood of a teenager smoking by two and a half times.

They were also more than three times more likely to vape when compared to their peers who used social media for one hour to less than 30 minutes a day.

Lead author Amrit Kaur Purba, said: Our findings advocate for the regulation of risky content on social media and tailored guidance for teens on social media use so they can navigate the complex social media environment.

Educators, health professionals, and care givers must enhance their social media literacy to prepare teens for the realities of the social media landscape.

We need to model healthy online habits, instead of resorting to blanket bans and over-protection, to help young people navigate the digital world.
Nato has marked 75 years of collective defence across Europe and North America, with its top diplomats vowing to stay the course in Ukraine as better armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield.

The anniversary comes as the now-32-nation alliance weighs a plan to provide more predictable longer-term military support to Ukraine.

Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine this week lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg adjusts a ribbon during a wreath-laying ceremony at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP)

Ukraine is under heavy attacks, like daily, 24-7, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna told reporters, appealing for more military materiel for Ukraine such as air defence systems, drones and artillery shells.

We need to give these systems which we are not using to Ukraine, to take and protect their people, civil infrastructure and also energy infrastructure, he said, before a ceremony with his counterparts to mark the day Natos founding treaty was signed: April 4 1949 in Washington.

A bigger celebration is planned when Nato leaders meet in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Hundreds of staff filled the vast air terminal-like space at the centre of Natos sprawling Brussels headquarters, while scores of others looked down from glassed walkways and stairways as Belgian and Dutch military bands played the Nato Hymn, the original Washington Treaty laid before them.

I like the Washington Treaty. Not least because it is very short, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said with a smile.

From left, Polands foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Bulgarias foreign minister Mariya Gabriel, British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron and Estonias foreign minister Margus Tsahkna attend a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary

Just 14 paragraphs over a few pages. Never has a single document with so few words meant so much to so many people. So much security. So much prosperity, and so much peace.

Outside Brussels on Wednesday evening, US secretary of state Antony Blinken paid tribute to the millions of soldiers, sailors, and aviators whose courage and willingness to put their lives on the line have given weight to our sacred commitment to defend one another.

Mr Blinken said that even as foreign ministers mark more than seven decades of peace, that security  together with the alliances core principles of democracy, liberty, and the rule of law  is once again being threatened by those who believe that might makes right and who seek to redraw borders by force.

Swedens foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, is taking part in the first ministerial-level meeting since his country became Natos 32nd ally last month.

Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 drove Sweden and Finland into Natos arms.

Nato represents the freedom to choose, Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen said, reflecting on the way the Nordic neighbours recently joined.

NATO has never been stronger.



With Ukraine closer to the Alliance than ever, we must sustain the support they need to win the war.



This means spending more, producing more and delivering more on defence. #NATO75 pic.twitter.com/w707PjkHP1  David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 3, 2024

Democratic nations, free people chose to join. Unlike how Russia expands by aggression or by illegal annexation.

The alliances ranks have almost tripled from its 12 founding members, but Finland and Sweden joined in record time to shelter under Natos collective security guarantee, after coming under pressure for compensation from populist leaders in Turkey and Hungary.

That promise  Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which has been shipped to Brussels for the ceremony  stipulates that an attack on any one of their number must be met with a united response.

It has only ever been used once, after the al Qaida attacks on US soil in 2001.

Nato was founded on a single, solemn promise: An attack on one ally is an attack on all, Mr Stoltenberg said on the eve of the anniversary.

From that foundation, we have built the most powerful and successful alliance in history.

Among the more recent successes as it grew from the Cold War and after the Berlin Wall collapsed, Nato would count its 1999 air campaign against former Yugoslavia to end a bloody crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and its effort to avert near civil war in Macedonia in 2001.

At the other end of the scale lies the operation in Afghanistan.

Belgiums premier and foreign minister Paul-Henri Spaak, seated centre, tests a new pen before signing the North Atlantic Pact in Washington DC on April 4 1949, flanked by Belgiums ambassador to the US Baron Silvercruys, left, and John W Fole

Nato took command of the security effort in 2003 and it became the longest, costliest and deadliest in alliance history.

It was marked by a chaotic retreat in August 2021, many of the successes over almost two decades abandoned.

Today, Ukraine also wants a seat at Natos table, but the alliance works on unanimity and there is no consensus on whether it should join.

Most allies oppose membership while war rages on anyway.

For now, Nato promises only that its door is open for Ukraine in the future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he launched the war, in part at least, because Nato was expanding closer to Russias borders.

Nato allies cannot agree on whether to arm Ukraine either.

As an organisation, the alliance only provides non-lethal support such as transport vehicles, fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and demining equipment.

Two military personnel walk past Nato banners prior to a wreath-laying ceremony at Nato headquarters in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP)

However, many members provide arms and ammunition bilaterally or in groups.

The bulk of Natos efforts since Russian troops began massing for the invasion has focused on reinforcing its own borders near Russia and Ukraine to dissuade Mr Putin from targeting any of the allies next.

Article 5 was given perhaps its toughest test during Donald Trumps term as president of the United States  by far Natos most powerful member country.

Mr Trump suggested the US might not come to the defence of any Nato ally who declined to boost their own defence spending to at least 2% of gross domestic product, as they had agreed to do in 2014.

He has repeated the threat during election campaigning this year.

Nato predicts that 18 of its 32 members will reach that target this year, up from only three a decade ago.
A new diplomatic crisis between Poland and Israel has erupted following the death of a Polish aid worker in Gaza, with the Polish president denouncing a comment by the Israeli ambassador as outrageous and the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw saying it was summoning him for a meeting.

Damian Sobol, 35, was among seven people who were killed while delivering food to besieged Palestinians with the charity World Central Kitchen.

Israel has called the incident a mistake that followed a misidentification.

Damian Sobol (World Central Kitchen/WCK.org via AP)

The charity said its vehicles were clearly marked.

Amid shock in Poland over the death of the charity worker, Israels ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne pushed back at what he said were attempts by the extreme right and left in Poland to accuse Israel of intentional murder in the attack.

He said on social media on Tuesday that anti-Semites will always remain anti-Semites, and Israel will remain a democratic Jewish state that fights for its right to exist. Also for the good of the entire Western world.

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday called the comment outrageous and described the ambassador as the biggest problem for the state of Israel in relations with Poland.

Mr Duda said authorities in Israel have spoken about the tragedy in a very subdued way, but added: Unfortunately, their ambassador to Poland is not able to maintain such delicacy and sensitivity, which is unacceptable.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while a political opponent of Mr Dudas, voiced a similar position.

He said on Thursday that the comment was unacceptable and had offended Poles, and said that the ambassador should apologise.

The deputy foreign minister was quoted in the Polish media as saying that Mr Livne was summoned to a meeting on Friday morning.

Polands Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the comment had offended Poles (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)

A day earlier, Mr Tusk published a comment on social media addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Livne saying that the vast majority of Poles showed full solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack. Today you are putting this solidarity to a really hard test. The tragic attack on volunteers and your reaction arouse understandable anger.

Mr Duda on Thursday also called for Israel to pay appropriate compensation to the family of aid worker Mr Sobol.

Mr Sobol had been on an aid mission to Gaza for the past six months following work in Ukraine, Morocco and Turkey.

Polish and Israeli relations have recently been on the mend after several difficult years.

Ties were badly damaged due to disputes over how to remember Polish behaviour during the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany occupied Poland and carried out the mass murder of Jews.

For eight years until December, Poland had a nationalist government that played down Polish participation in the German killings of Jews and focused largely on Polish aid to Jews.

Israels government believed that approach amounted to historical distortion.

Israel also objected to a law that limited property restitution claims, something that affected the heirs of Polish Holocaust victims, and recalled its ambassador in 2021 before sending Mr Livne the next year as ties improved.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and its allies could have stopped the 1994 Rwanda genocide but lacked the will to do so, a strong declaration ahead of the African countrys 30th anniversary of the slaughter that left over 800,000 people dead.

Mr Macrons office said in a statement that the French president will release a video on social media on Sunday as Rwanda marks the solemn commemoration of the genocide.

In the video, Mr Macron says that France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, lacked the will to do so.

In 2021 during a visit to the central African country, Mr Macron acknowledged Frances responsibility in the genocide that left over 800,000 people dead, mainly ethnic Tutsis and the Hutus who tried to protect them.

French President Emmanuel Macron (Thibault Camus/AP)

He stopped short of an apology, but Rwandan President Paul Kagame signalled that a page had been turned in France-Rwanda ties, following a series of French efforts to repair ties between the two countries.

Since he was first elected in 2017, Mr Macron notably commissioned a report about Frances role before and during the genocide and decided to open the countrys archives from this period to the public.

In Sundays video, Mr Macron will recall that when the genocide started, the international community had the means to know and to take actions based on the knowledge about genocides that had been revealed by survivors of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, his office said.

Mr Macron will reaffirm that France stands by Rwanda and the Rwandan people, in memory of the one million children, women and men martyred because they were born Tutsi, according to his office.

Mr Macrons office said France will be represented by Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne at the commemoration of the genocide scheduled on Sunday in Kigali, the French president himself being held back in France by Second World War commemorations that day.
President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future US support for Israels Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahus roughly 30-minute call just days after Israeli air strikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza added a new layer of complication to the leaders increasingly strained relationship.

Mr Bidens message marks a sharp change in his administrations steadfast support for Israels war efforts, with the US leader for the first time threatening to rethink his backing if Israel does not change its tactics and allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The White House would not specify what could change about US policy, but it could include altering military sales to Israel and the USs diplomatic backup on the world stage.

Administration officials said they expected the Israelis to make announcements on next steps within hours or days and that the US would then assess whether the Israeli moves go far enough.

President Joe Biden, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP)

Mr Biden made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a statement following the leaders call.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Mr Biden also told Mr Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is essential and urged Israel to reach such an accord without delay, according to the White House, which described the conversation as direct and honest.

There was no immediate reaction to the call from the Israeli government.

The leaders conversation comes as the World Central Kitchen, founded by restauranteur Jose Andres to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the groups staff members, including an American citizen.

The White House has said the US has no plans to conduct its own investigation even as it called on Israel to do more to prevent the harming of innocent civilians and aid workers as it carries out its operations in Gaza.

Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that US support would be curtailed if Israel does not make significant adjustments to how it is carrying out the war.

If we dont see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy, he said.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed the call for tangible and concrete changes to be taken by the Israelis beyond reiterating long stated calls for allowing additional aid to get into Gaza.

If theres no changes to their policy in their approaches, then theres going to have to be changes to ours, Mr Kirby said.

There are things that need to be done. There are too many civilians being killed.

The demands for Israel to bring the conflict to a swift close were increasing across the political spectrum, with former president Donald Trump, the Republicans presumptive nominee to face Biden this autumn, saying that Israel was absolutely losing the PR war and calling for a resolution to the bloodshed.

Get it over with and lets get back to peace and stop killing people. And thats a very simple statement, Mr Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

They have to get it done.

Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to  you have to get back to normalcy and peace.

The two leaders also discussed Iranian threats against Israel, Mr Kirby said.

Earlier this week, Iranian leaders vowed to hit back after an airstrike widely blamed on Israel destroyed Irans Consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.

Irans President Ebrahim Raisi said the attack will not remain without answer.

Mr Biden also renewed his concerns about Mr Netanyahus plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant groups deadly October 7 attack.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan also joined the call.

Still, the Biden administration has proceeded apace with arms transfers and deliveries to Israel, many of which were approved years ago but had only been partially or not at all fulfilled.

Just this week, on Monday, the Democratic administrations Daily List of munitions transfers included the sale to Israel of more than 1,000 500-pound bombs and more than 1,000 1,000-pound bombs.

Officials said those transfers had been approved before the publication of the list on Monday, the day Israeli airstrikes hit a World Central Kitchen aid convoy in Gaza, killing seven of the groups employees, and that they fell below the threshold for new congressional notification.

Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in Gaza Strip (Leo Correa/AP)

Also, they noted that the bombs are not for delivery to Israel until 2025.

Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the strikes but said the convoy was not targeted and the workers deaths were not intentional.

The country continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killings.

Mr Andres harshly criticised the Israeli military for the strike, and his organisation has paused its work in Gaza.

The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.

It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon, he wrote on X.

No more innocent lives lost.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, is among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history.

Within two months, researchers say, the offensive already has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syrias Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraines Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in the Second World War.

It has killed more civilians than the US-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.
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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.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  The incredibly brave and resourceful Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham revealed Wednesday in a hard-hitting piece of investigative journalism that the Israeli military has used two artificial intelligence programs, Lavender and Wheres Daddy, to target some 37,000 alleged members of the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The programs used GPS to discover when a Hamas member had gone home, since it was easiest to hit them there, ensuring that his wife and children would also be killed. If he lived in an apartment building, which most did, then all the civilians in neighboring apartments could also be killed children, women, non-combatant men.

Science fiction writer Martha Wells has authored a series of novels and short stories about a Murderbot., an artificial intelligence in the body of an armored warrior. Her Murderbot, despite being lethal, is a good guy, and in noir style frees himself from the control of his corporate overlords to protect his friends.

The Israeli army, in contrast, is acting much more robotically.

Lavender is just a program and doesnt have a body attached, but uses Israeli fighter jet pilots as an extension of itself.

The AI programs identified the Hamas militants according to vague specifications. It is known to have a 10% error rate and in other cases the supposed militant might have only loose connections to the Qassam Brigades paramilitary or the IJ. There was, Abraham writes, almost no human supervision over the working of the algorithm.

AI Lavender, at a 10% error rate, could have identified 3,700 men in Gaza as Hamas guerrillas when they werent. It could have allowed as many as 20 civilians to be killed in each strike on each of these innocents, That would give a total of 77,700 noncombatants blown arbitrarily away by an inaccurate machine.

One of Abrahams sources inside the Israeli army said, We were not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they were in a military building or engaged in a military activity, A., an intelligence officer, told +972 and Local Call. On the contrary, the IDF bombed them in homes without hesitation, as a first option. Its much easier to bomb a familys home. The system is built to look for them in these situations.

I hope the International Court of Justice, which is considering whether Israel is committing a genocide, is reading +972 Mag.

The AI program included extremely loose rules of engagement on civilian casualties. It was set to permit 10-20 civilians to be killed as part of a strike on a low-level Hamas member, and up to 100 civilians could be killed to get at a senior member. These new rules of engagement are unprecedented even in the brutal Israeli army.

The Wheres Daddy program identified and tracked the members.

37,000 Hamas paramilitary fighters did not carry out October 7. Most of them did not know about it beforehand. It was a tiny, tight clique that planned and executed it. The civilian wing of Hamas was the elected government of Gaza, and its security forces provided law and order (refugee camps are most often lawless). It may be that Lavender and Wheres Daddy swept up ordinary police in the definition of low-level Hamas fighters, which would explain a lot.



Gaza Guernica 12: Terminator, by Juan Cole, Digital, Dream, PS Express, IbisPaint, 2023

This new video game way of war violates the Rules of Engagment of the US military and all the precepts of International Humanitarian Law. The Marine Corps Rules of Engagement say,

c. Do not strike any of the following except in self defense to protect yourself, your unit, friendly forces, and designated persons or property under your control:  Civilians.  Hospitals, mosques, churches, shrines, schools, museums, national monuments, and other historical and cultural sites. d. Do not fire into civilian populated areas or buildings unless the enemy is using them for military purposes or if necessary for your self-defense. Minimize collateral damage. e. Do not target enemy Infrastructure (public works, commercial communications facilities, dams), Lines of Communication (roads, highways, tunnels, bridges, railways) and Economic Objects (commercial storage facilities, pipelines) unless necessary self- defense or if ordered by your commander. If you must fire on these objects to engage a hostile force, disable and disrupt but avoid destruction of these objects, if possible.

None of the Israeli soldiers operating Lavender were in danger from the civilians they killed. They made no effort to minimize collateral damage. In fact, they built very substantial collateral damage into their standard operating procedure.

If the Israeli military killed an average of 20 civilians each time they struck one of the 37,000 alleged militants, that would be 740,000 deaths, or three quarters of a million. Of babies, toddlers, pregnant mothers, unarmed women, unarmed teenagers, etc., etc. That would be about a third of the total Gaza population.

That is certainly a genocide, however, you wish to define the term.

And there is no way that Joe Biden and Antony Blinken havent known all this all along. It is on them.
The Gaza War at Six Months: Five Recommendations for Ending the Fighting and Ensuring Human Security in Israel-Palestine

( The Center for International Policy )  This week marks six months since the horrific Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack and atrocities against civilians in southern Israel, followed by the devastating and often indiscriminate Israeli assault on Gaza. At least two-thirds of the more than 30,000 Palestinian dead are civilians, with more than one million people on the brink of a famine that is already starving children to death. In addition to the more than 1,150 Israelis killed in Hamas initial attack, some 130 Israeli hostages remain in captivity in Gaza.

This memo updates our recommended steps for the Biden Administration to take to stop the fighting, end the nightmare faced by Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages, and ensure the security, rights and well-being of Israelis and Palestinians in the longer term.

Recommendation #1: Use U.S. leverage to press for a full ceasefire

A bilateral and sustained ceasefire by both Israel and Hamas  even if initially agreed as temporary and then extended  is vitally necessary to prevent further loss of civilian life and suffering on a mass scale given continuing bombardment, deepening famine across Gaza, the ongoing holding of hostages and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus repeated threats of a Rafah offensive. Prolonged fighting in Gaza also fuels and increases the risk of escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and between the US and Houthis in Yemen  as well as with the Iranian regime which is playing an aggravating role in those conflicts.

While the Biden administrations multilateral diplomatic efforts behind the scenes to secure an extended, second ceasefire have been commendable, the administration has unfortunately muddied its own efforts with its unconditional supply of weapons to Israel even as Netanyahu publicly disparages U.S. pleas for restraint, as well as its inaccurate and counterproductive characterization of the recent United Nations Security Council call for a ceasefire  long delayed by U.S. vetoes of previous resolutions and finally allowed to pass in late March with a U.S. abstention  as non-binding. President Biden needs to affirmatively support UN action and not merely warn Netanyahu that he will withhold arms in response to further stalling, but demonstrate it.

Recommendation #2: Fully enforce U.S. law and arms policy to ensure accountability and adequate humanitarian aid delivery

Pressured by Democratic lawmakers efforts to legislate against Israels misuse of U.S. arms and its impeding of humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza, President Biden on February 8, 2024 issued National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), requiring Israel and other recipients of U.S. military assistance to affirm that they would use American-origin arms in accordance with international humanitarian law and were complying with longstanding U.S. law, Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA), prohibiting countries from restricting the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid. Contrary to the assessments of numerous international aid agencies and many of the interested lawmakers, on March 25, the administration indicated that it accepted Israels initial assurance that it is and would remain in compliance with these requirements as credible and reliable.

Treating the assurances received from the Israeli government as credible and reliable in the face of deepening famine, disproportionate civilian casualties and repeated threats of an offensive in Rafah immediately undercut NSM-20 and damaged the administrations credibility while functionally greenlighting the continued use of American weapons in ways that clearly violate U.S. laws, interests and values. Failure to take action under NSM-20 or Section 620I of the FAA also compounded the longstanding failure to adequately enforce the Leahy Law, which prohibits U.S. assistance to foreign security units engaged in a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights. The administration should immediately correct course and fully enforce U.S. law by suspending delivery to Israel of the arms it is using in Gaza, while pressing for and helping coordinate a massive emergency increase in humanitarian aid and services to the territory, including by land through Israel.

Recommendation #3: Focus diplomacy toward a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on multilateral rather than bilateral normalization efforts

There is broad consensus in Israel, Palestine and globally that returning to the status quo that existed before October 7 is impossible. While the Biden administration has rightly acknowledged this reality in rhetoric emphasizing the need for a resolution to the underlying Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has nonetheless reverted to prioritizing the Trump/Netanyahu vision of piecemeal bilateral normalization agreements between Israel and Arab- and Muslim-majority autocracies incentivized by massive US advanced arms sales. Rather than increase stability and advance a just end to the conflict, these accords have given cover to metastasizing permanent Israeli control of the occupied Palestinian Territories and the inherently discriminatory denial of fundamental Palestinian national, political and human rights in violation of international law.

A meaningful and viable effort to resolve the underlying conflict requires prioritizing Palestinian self-determination and championing the inherent benefits of Israels full acceptance and integration in the Middle East, while moving away from an arms for peace model where recognition of Israel is bought with U.S. weapons and defense guarantees that tie the United States to autocrats and increase militarization and instability in the region. It also means avoiding the failed model of a peace process based on direct, bilateral negotiations between parties with a massive imbalance of military and diplomatic power.

Instead, the United States should seek to construct a truly multilateral framework involving key regional players with universal normalization and recognition of the national rights of both Israelis and Palestinians  alongside ensuring the security and well-being of both peoples  as its North Star. Different models, such as the Arab Peace Initiative or recent joint proposals from Holy Land Confederation and Land For Peace could be proposed by participants as terms of reference. Absent such an effort, the lack of a political horizon will only continue to feed despair, distrust, and extremism among both peoples.

Recommendation #4: Take meaningful anti-occupation, anti-annexation steps

Permanent Israeli occupation and ongoing de facto annexation of Palestinian territory are incompatible with international law and shared human values. Failure to impose consequences for Israels ongoing effort to consolidate permanent, undemocratic control in the territories would doom any diplomatic conflict resolution effort and continue to feed the current cycle of violence.

The Biden administration has rightly begun to move away from the demonstrably inadequate practice of limiting itself to mild criticism of deepening occupation. Explicitly reinstating State Department legal guidance that settlements are inconsistent with international law and the issuance of an Executive Order to combat settler violence and other destabilizing activity in the West Bank are welcome, if overdue, first steps.

Yet the administrations testimony attempting to exculpate Israeli actions in an International Court of Justice case against the occupation and efforts to ease the impact of its own sanctions on the relatively small number of violent settlers penalized under its Executive Order again undermines the credibility it was just beginning to build in this area. The administration should instead press forward using its anti-occupation tools, including consistently applying its Executive Order to designate Israeli officials responsible for evictions, demolitions and forced relocations in West Bank Palestinian communities, while making clear that use of U.S. arms in connection with such settlement and annexation activity also violates NSM-20.

Recommendation #5: Substantially expand support for the Palestinian people and Palestinian leaders who seek peace with Israel

The Biden Administration should strengthen the legitimacy of Palestinians seeking a peaceful path to conflict resolution by upgrading the United States own bilateral relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), including by finally following through on its promise to reopen a consulate in Jerusalem serving Palestinians, exercising existing executive authority to terminate the decades-old legislative designation of the PLO as a terrorist organization, and working with regional and other international partners toward a major economic support program benefitting the Palestinian people.

This is especially necessary In the wake of the shameful statutory cut-off of all U.S. funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for one year in a hasty, politically-driven response to the alleged participation of a small number of its 13,000 Gaza-based staff in the October 7 attack. Not only should the Biden administration do its utmost to ensure that the international community is able to make up the shortfall to UNRWA caused by this shortsighted collective punishment of the top relief agency in Gaza and the millions of refugees it serves throughout the region, but it must work now to ensure that adequate funds and service-provider infrastructure are in place as soon as possible to meet the substantial ongoing needs of Palestinian people in Gaza and elsewhere.

The Biden administration must also recognize and meaningfully act on the fact that paying mere lip service to Palestinian self-determination while blocking lawful, nonviolent initiatives toward Palestinian statehood only delays the day when such intensive international support is no longer needed. The United States must stop discouraging international organizations and other countries from recognizing Palestinian statehood.

While a comprehensive final resolution to their conflict can only be agreed between Israelis and Palestinians themselves, Palestinians are well within their rights as a nation to seek recognition of their state from international organizations and governments around the world. Binding themselves to the obligations of statehood and acceding to treaties that require responsible conduct is a non-violent, international law-affirming effort that should be applauded, not discouraged or penalized. The United States should therefore cease its practice of delegitimizing these efforts, and instead welcome them as bolstering the prospects for a peaceful and just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Reprinted with permission from The Center for International Policy

Featured illustration: Peace in the Holy Land, by Juan Cole, Digital( Dream/ Dreamland v 3/ IbisPaint) 2023 .
VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2024 /CNW/ - Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSXV: ZNG) (OTCBB: GRLVF) (FRA: 3GE) ("Group Eleven" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from the first four holes of the 2024 drill program at the Company's 100%-owned Ballywire zinc-lead-silver discovery ("Ballywire"), PG West Project ("PG West"), Republic of Ireland.

Highlights

Mineralization intersected in all four step-out holes testing the previously undrilled C2 and C3 gravity-high anomalies (located 530m and 930m east of the Ballywire discovery area)

and east of the Ballywire discovery area) Key intersections include: 4.6m of 5.2% Zn+Pb (4.4% Zn and 0.9% Pb) and 15 g/t Ag (from 288.9m down hole), including 1.9m of 6.9% Zn+Pb (5.5% Zn and 1.4% Pb) and 22 g/t Ag within a 59.7m package of intermittent mineralization (not yet fully assayed) in G11-3552-08, a 930m step-out (testing Anomaly C3) 2.7m of 4.3% Zn+Pb (1.1% Zn and 3.2% Pb) and 7 g/t Ag, including 0.6m of 12.9% Zn+Pb (1.5% Zn and 11.4% Pb) and 16 g/t Ag (from 291.5m down hole) within a 22.5m wide zone of mineralization in G11-3552-06, approx. 100m south of the above hole; and 4.4m of 304 g/t Ag, 0.73% Cu and 1.0% Zn+Pb (0.9% Zn and 0.1% Pb) (starting at 331.6m down hole), including 0.6m of 1,440 g/t Ag, 3.03% Cu and 1.6% Zn+Pb (1.5% Zn and 0.2% Pb), the highest silver value ever intersected by the Company, within a 91.9m package of intermittent mineralization in G11-3552-07, a 530m step-out (Anomaly C2)

The above results combined with the projection of the high-grade trend at the discovery area, suggest that the strength of the system is increasing to the north of the C2 and C3 anomalies

Drilling continues with two rigs, testing further north on Anomaly C3 and in between the discovery area and Anomaly C2, respectively

"We are very pleased that robust mineralization at Ballywire has now been intersected over a strike length of over 2.6km, up from 1.7km previously," stated Bart Jaworski, CEO. "This extended breadth includes 710m at the discovery area, a historic intercept 1km to the west and now step-out drilling up to 930m to the east. The fact that gravity-high anomalies C2 and C3 are spatially associated with mineralization bodes well for the rest of our prospective trend which is defined by gravity-high anomalies over a strike-length of 6km. We look forward to systematically drill testing these anomalies over the coming weeks and months. With a 2.6km-long footprint, a 6km-long prospective trend and some of the highest silver values ever attained in Ireland, Ballywire is increasingly showing signs of a major zinc-lead-silver discovery."

First Four Holes from 2024 Drill Campaign at Ballywire Discovery

The Ballywire prospect at the Company's 100%-owned PG West Project in Republic of Ireland, is a new zinc-lead-silver discovery (first announced Sept-2022). In addition to 21 holes drilled and reported by Group Eleven to date, the next four step-out holes (G11-3552-05 to -08) of the 2024 program are reported today (see Exhibits 1 to 6). Holes G11-3552-09 to -11 are in-progress.

Mineralization occurs as sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite and suspected tennantite- tetrahedrite, and is bedding parallel along and close to the base of the Waulsortian limestone. Notably, significant volumes of dark grey, dolomitic breccias are present in hole G11-3552-08 (see Exhibit 4). Today's drill results combined with the projection of the high-grade trend at the discovery area (see Exhibits 1 and 2), suggest that the strength of the mineralizing system is increasing to the north of the C2 and C3 gravity-high anomalies.

Exhibit 5. Summary of Assays from G11-3552-05, -06 and -08 at Ballywire

Item From (m) To (m) Int (m) Zn (%) Pb (%) Zn+Pb (%) Ag (g/t) G11-3552-05 312.36 313.34 0.98 0.20 0.04 0.24 - And 322.84 323.80 0.96 0.23 0.10 0.33 - And 325.71 326.57 0.86 0.24 0.04 0.28 - And 329.53 330.49 0.96 0.17 0.04 0.21 - G11-3552-06 291.54 314.00 22.46 0.63 0.45 1.08 2.1 Incl. 306.51 314.00 7.49 1.37 1.22 2.60 4.2 Incl. 310.92 314.40 3.48 0.96 2.40 3.36 5.6 Incl. 311.75 314.40 2.65 1.06 3.24 4.30 6.9 Incl. 313.40 314.00 0.60 1.54 11.40 12.94 16.3 G11-3552-08 279.00 298.40 19.40 1.18 0.35 1.53 5.5 Incl. 286.96 298.40 11.44 1.95 0.57 2.52 8.3 Incl. 288.90 293.54 4.64 4.36 0.86 5.22 15.0 Incl. 289.75 291.66 1.91 5.52 1.35 6.87 22.3 Incl. 289.75 290.75 1.00 7.69 1.34 9.03 11.6

Note: True width as a percentage of drilled intercept is approximately 90-100% for G11-3552-05, -06 and -08

Exhibit 6. Summary of Assays from G11-3552-07 at Ballywire

Item From (m) To (m) Int (m) Zn (%) Pb (%) Zn+Pb (%) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) G11-3552-07 330.30 343.55 13.25 0.38 0.04 0.43 105.0 0.26 Incl. 331.57 332.09 0.52 1.27 0.17 1.43 12.4 0.03 And 332.09 332.43 0.34 1.14 0.05 1.19 14.6 0.04 And 332.43 333.10 0.67 1.07 0.10 1.16 469.0 1.56 And 333.10 333.45 0.35 0.64 0.04 0.69 30.7 0.05 And 333.45 333.70 0.25 0.74 0.02 0.76 485.0 0.94 And 333.70 334.07 0.37 1.20 0.01 1.21 20.9 0.12 And 334.07 334.82 0.75 0.08 0.01 0.08 5.8 0.01 And 334.82 334.99 0.17 0.73 0.29 1.02 220.0 0.48 And 334.99 335.54 0.55 1.47 0.17 1.64 1440.0 3.03 And 335.54 335.97 0.43 0.51 0.08 0.60 90.8 0.17 331.57 335.97 4.40 0.87 0.09 0.96 304.1 0.73 Incl. 332.43 335.54 3.11 0.82 0.08 0.90 414.1 0.99 Incl. 334.82 335.97 1.15 1.00 0.16 1.16 755.2 1.58 And 386.08 389.04 2.96 0.03 0.01 0.04 28.3 0.95 Incl. 386.08 386.47 0.39 0.18 0.00 0.18 104.0 5.90 And 395.62 395.82 0.20 0.01 0.03 0.04 68.1 0.51

Note: True width of the overall mineralized package above is estimated at approx. 90-100%, however, at the centimetre-scale, mineralization is predominately hosted within two orthogonal sets of steeply dipping veins (dipping to NE and NW, respectively)

Notes to Exhibit 8: (a) Pallas Green MRE is owned by Glencore (see Glencore's Resources and Reserves Report dated December 31, 2023); (b) Stonepark MRE: see the 'NI 43-101 Independent Report on the Zinc-Lead Exploration Project at Stonepark, County Limerick, Ireland', by Gordon, Kelly and van Lente, with an effective date of April 26, 2018, as found on SEDAR; and (c) the historic estimate at Denison was reported by Westland Exploration Limited in 'Report on Prospecting Licence 464' by Dermot Hughes dated May, 1988; the historic estimate at Gortdrum was reported in 'The Geology and Genesis of the Gortdrum Cu-Ag-Hg Orebody' by G.M. Steed dated 1986; and the historic estimate at Tullacondra was first reported by Munster Base Metals Ltd in 'Report on Mallow Property' by David Wilbur, dated December 1973; and later summarized in 'Cu-Ag Mineralization at Tullacondra, Mallow, Co. Cork' by Wilbur and Carter in 1986; the above three historic estimates have not been verified as current mineral resources; none of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to prepare the historic estimates were reported and no resource categories were used; significant data compilation, re-drilling and data verification may be required by a Qualified Person before the historic estimates can be verified and upgraded to be compliant with current NI 43-101 standards; a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify them as a current mineral resource and the Company is not treating the historic estimates as current mineral resources. 'Rathdowney Trend' is the south-westerly projection of the Rathdowney Trend, hosting the historic Lisheen and Galmoy mines.

Stonepark - Planning Underway

Planning is underway for a drilling program at the Company's 76.56%-owned Stonepark Project later in 2024. This will include follow-up on drilling at the Carrickittle West target in 2022, which resulted in the first intersection by Group Eleven of a major fault in the Limerick basin. The Company expects to drill a series of widely spaced holes to examine mineralization, brecciation and Waulsortian thickness variations in the area to improve understanding of the best area of potential for a major discovery. This incremental follow-up on the target reduces the risk associated with a single, deep hole and follows the exploration model that successfully resulted in the Ballywire discovery in 2022. In addition, other prospective targets across the Stonepark Project will be drill tested during the course of the program. Further details on the program will be provided in due course.

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Professor Garth Earls, Eur Geol, P.Geo, FSEG, geological consultant at IGS (International Geoscience Services) Limited, and independent 'Qualified Person' as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Information

Group Eleven inserts certified reference materials ("CRMs" or "Standards") as well as blank material, to its sample stream as part of its industry-standard QA/QC programme. The QC results have been reviewed by the Qualified Person, who is satisfied that all the results are within acceptable parameters. The Qualified Person has validated the sampling and chain of custody protocols used by Group Eleven.

About Group Eleven Resources

Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSX.V: ZNG; OTCBB: GRLVF and FRA: 3GE) is a mineral exploration company focused on advanced stage zinc exploration in the Republic of Ireland. Group Eleven announced the Ballywire discovery in September 2022. Key intercepts to date include: (i) 3.3m of 12.5% Zn+Pb and 48 g/t Ag (G11-468-01), (ii) 10.8m of 10.0% Zn+Pb and 109 g/t Ag (G11-468-03); (iii) 10.1m of 8.6% Zn+Pb and 46 g/t Ag (G11-468-06); (iv) 10.5m of 14.7% Zn+Pb, 399 g/t Ag and 0.31% Cu (G11-468-12) and (v) 11.2m of 8.9% Zn+Pb and 83 g/t Ag (G11-3552-03). The Company's two largest shareholders are Glencore Canada Corp. (18.2% interest) and Michael Gentile (15.0%). Additional information about the Company is available at www.groupelevenresources.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bart Jaworski, P.Geo.

Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company, including the timing, content, cost and results of proposed work programs, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/ reserves and geological interpretations. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located. All of the Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
Vancouver, British Columbia  TheNewswire - April 4, 2024 - Leocor Gold Inc. (the Company or Leocor) (CSE: LECR, OTCQB: LECRF) is pleased to announce plans for summer exploration programs at its Baie Verte project, which comprises both the Dorset Gold Project, and the Copper Creek project, among others, located in north central Newfoundland, Canada.

The Company is targeting its Baie Verte holdings with multiple drill programs this summer. The scope and details (drill type, meterage, exact locations) are currently under discussion and will be released upon finalization in the coming weeks.

The Dorset Gold Project is already established as containing several known gold zones, and presents additional, highly prospective exploration targets. The 2024 program will be designed to test priority zones within a prominent 1 x 2 km gold-in-soil anomaly delineated by Leocor in 2022. Copper Creek is a copper target with compelling historical results. The Company is eager to begin detailed prospecting within areas of interest and systematically testing known zones of copper mineralization.

Dorset Gold Project

Located south of the Pine Cove Gold Mine, Dorset features multiple zones of high-grade gold mineralization. The Company completed a Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drill program in late 2022 that tested six different target areas for gold and/or copper mineralization with 18 drill holes. The program was designed to follow up on previously announced soil and GT (GroundTruth Exploration) Probe results.

Highlights from the 2022 RAB program include*:

Sharpie Ridge Target: 2.32 grams-per-tonne (g/t) gold (Au) over 10.67m; including 10.2 g/t Au over 1.52m. New target that is open along strike and at depth.

Braz NE Target: 3.18 g/t Au over 4.57m from surface. New target that is open along strike and at depth.

Dorset Main Target: 1.41 g/t over 7.62m. Confirming geometry of the mineralized zone.

* See Leocor News Release dated December 1, 2022.

The Dorset project is highly prospective for additional high-grade gold zones and the 2024 program will be designed to test some of the priority zones within a prominent 1 x 2 km gold-in-soil anomaly delineated by Leocor in 2022.

Figure 1: Fall 2022 drill locations, Dorset claims, Baie Verte Project, NW Newfoundland

Figure 2: soil anomalies, Dorset claims, Baie Verte Project, NW Newfoundland

Copper Creek Claims

The Copper Creek portion of the Baie Verte Project has had little copper-focused work completed over the past few years and provides excellent exploration potential. In 2021 the Company completed exploration work at Dorset and Copper Creek that included soil sampling, GT Probe sampling, geophysics, LiDAR and high-resolution drive imagery surveys*. Highlights of the program include:

Multiple targets identified along 7km northeast trending zone of anomalous gold in soils and a 4km subparallel trend of anomalous copper (+/- gold) in soils with results up to 1601 ppb gold (Au) and 2862 ppm copper (Cu).

Indications of two styes of mineralization on the project including VMS style copper (+/-gold-zinc) mineralization and structurally controlled gold mineralization with similarities to the nearby Pine Cover Mine.

Shawn Ryan, Leocors Technical Advisor, said at the time, Here we have an area that has seen a lot of previous exploration work, from gold to base metal and the detailed 2021 soil program outlined a brand new 6.5 Km mineralized gold trend that has not been previous seen. And the soil work also outlined a nice base metal Copper-Zinc target measuring 1200m by 400m sitting directly across from the old Terra Nova base metal deposit. Having one of these anomalies is impressive but having two is exceptional.

* See Leocor News Release dated May 19, 2022.

Historic results* at Copper Creek includes grab sample values of 1019 - 9414 ppm Cu and assays of up to 4.4% Cu while channel sampling yielded assays of up to 0.85% Cu over 2m (Dunsworth, 2004).

Channel sampling, by Anaconda, returned assays of up to 0.196% Cu over/2 m (Dunsworth, 2004). However, further southwestward extension of the T5 site, by Chan, in 2007 (via a 2x14 m trench) revealed a notable increase in sulphide content and grades; samples from a 1 m wide subzone of semi-massive to massive sulphide (60-70% pyrite) returned several assays in the range of 1.46% - 7.1% Cu.

Prospecting performed in 2015, along the access road, trending 100-300 m NW of the T5 site, resulted in the discovery of several roadside ditch exposures of chalcopyrite mineralized, sheared/chloritized, gabbro to micro gabbro, which returned sample assays of 1.3% & 3.22% Cu as well as several values in the range of 1760 - 9770 ppm Cu. Soil sampling, also carried out in 2015  involving several 100-200 m-spaced sample lines emplaced across the general strike of the above mineralized chlorite and chlorite-sericite- quartz schist zones  returned consistently anomalous Cu results of 100-762 ppm. Three closely spaced soil samples taken over the T5 site (prior to the 2004 trenching) returned Cu assays of 237 ppm, 522 ppm & 586 ppm Cu.

* General Report on the Copper Creek (Gold) Property, Baie Verte Peninsula, Newfoundland MINERAL LICENCES 22882M, 23602M, 23603M, 23801M, 26090M & 23802M (41 CLAIMS) Prep. By: Wilson Jacobs For: Lai Lai Chan, February 28, 2020

About Leocors Baie Verte Project

The Baie Verte Peninsula represents one of the more productive and historical gold and base metal mining districts in Canada. The former Terra Nova base metal mine  one of several copper mines of the region, which operated during the late 1880s to early 1900s  lies 200 meters west of Leocors Copper Creek claims. Former gold mining operations in the area include the Goldenville mine (of 1903-1906), located 8 km NE of the property, and the more recent Nugget Pond mine (1997-2000) of the eastern Baie Verte Peninsula area. Currently producing mines in the area include the Rambler base metal-gold mine (1961-present), located 14 km ESE of Baie Verte, and the Pine Cove and Stogertite mines (collectively, 2011-present) located 1.6 km and 5.4 km NE of the current property.

The Baie Verte project combines the Dorset, Dorset Extension, Five Mile Brook and Copper Creek projects consisting of fourteen mineral licenses, totalling 80 claims, and covering 1995 hectares (19.95 square km).

The Dorset Gold Project is a 275-ha gold exploration project, located south of the Pine Cove Gold Mine, and features multiple zones of high-grade gold mineralization. The Main Dorset Zone includes three historic showings, referred to as Dorset 1, 2 and 3 Showings. High-grade grab samples from Dorset 1 returned 407.9, 349.2, 147.1, 143.9, 138.2, 108 g/t Au, among others. Grab samples from Dorset 2 returned 167.0, 96.12, 84.3, 49.7, 23.8,4.33 and 1.33 g/t Au (MacDougall and Walker, 1988).

Historic select sampling at the Braz Zone returned values of 314 g/t Au, 40 g/t Au, 31.4 g/t Au, 21.2 g/t Au, 19.2 g/t Au, and 14.8 g/t Au. Historic channel sampling across the vein returned 9.5 g/t Au over 0.4m, 5.7 g/t Au over 0.5m and 1.2 g/t Au over 0.65m. Weighted averages of historic rock sampling encompassing vein and mineralized wall rock returned values of 5.8 g/t Au over 1.9m, 3.1 g/t Au over 2m and 2.5 g/t Au over 1.5m (MacDougall, 1990).

Copper Creek (1,025-ha) hosts several gold prospects and copper occurrences associated with extensive alteration/shear zones developed within a thrust-faulted sequence of quartz-Fe-carbonate-fuchsite-altered gabbros, ultramafics and mafic volcanics, of the Advocate (ophiolite) Complex, and intermediate to silicic volcaniclastics & tuffs and micro gabbroic dykes/sills, of the Flatwater Pond (cover sequence) Group.

Five Mile Brook (350-ha) has been subject to minimal exploration in the past but shows potentially important geological continuity to the Companys Dorset Gold Project, which lies directly contiguous to the northern boundary.

*Data reported here is historic in nature and has not yet been verified by a Qualified Person. Leocor has relied on the information supplied in the Noranda assessment reports (quoted above) and others, and from information found in MODS (Mineral Occurrence Data System) published by the Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources.

Figure 3. Regional location of Leocors Baie Vert District landholdings.

* Historic rock samples and grab samples mentioned in this release are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades of the property

* The reported drill intercept is an intersected length and is not a true width

*The Company cautions readers that samples are selected samples and not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property.

Private Placement

The Company also announces that it intends to conduct a private placement of up to 30,000,000 units (each, a Unit), at a price of $0.05 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company, and one-half-of-one common share purchase warrant exercisable at a price of $0.10 for a period of thirty-six months.

The Company intends to use the gross proceeds to advance the exploration and development of its gold and copper projects in Newfoundland, and for general working capital purposes.

In connection with the placement, the Company may pay finders fees to eligible third parties who have assisted in introducing subscribers to the Company. All securities to be issued in connection with the placement will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, and Jodie Gibson, P. Geo, both independent qualified persons as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

About Leocor Gold Inc.

Leocor Gold Inc. is a British Columbia-based resource company involved in the acquisition and exploration of precious metal projects, with a current focus in Atlantic Canada. Leocor, through outright ownership and earn-in agreements, currently controls several gold-copper projects in prime exploration ground located within the prolific Baie Verte Mining District. Leocors Bae Verte portfolio includes the Dorset, Dorset Extension, Copper Creek and Five Mile Brook projects, creating a contiguous nearly 2,000-hectare exploration corridor. The Company also controls district scale land packages in North Central Newfoundland, known as Roberts Arm, Hodges Hill, and Leamington, (collectively Western Exploits) representing over 144,000 hectares (1,440 square kilometers) of prospective exploration ground.

Contact Information

Leocor Gold Inc.

Alex Klenman, Chief Executive Officer

Email : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Telephone : (604) 970-4330

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.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the terms and conditions of the Option. Although Leocor believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Leocor cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Leocor is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the state of the financial markets for Leocor's securities; the state of the natural resources sector in the event the Option, or any of them, are completed; recent market volatility; Leocor's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks and factors that Leocor is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to Leocor's initial public offering prospectus for a more complete discussion of applicable risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through Leocors issuer page on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Leocor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Sun Peak Metals Corp. (the "Company" or "Sun Peak") (TSXV:PEAK) (OTCQB:SUNPF) is pleased to report that drilling has commenced on the Shire Project in Ethiopia. The initial 2024 drill program has 6,000 to 7,000 meters planned and will focus on new, untested copper-gold VMS targets which have been developed by the Company. The target currently being drilled is the Hamlo VMS prospect on the Terer Exploration License.

"It is very exciting to restart our work on the Shire Project after more than three years" stated Greg Davis, Sun Peak's President and CEO. "Our team's expectations are high that new copper-gold VMS discoveries will be made on the project this year."

The Hamlo Prospect

The Hamlo VMS Prospect is one of several high priority anomalies that are part of a well-developed VMS cluster located on the south-central part of the Terer Exploration License. The prospect was identified by exploration work which showed a significant gold and copper soil geochemistry anomaly. The 2019 airborne VTEM survey then identified a strong electromagnetic (EM) conductor, coincident with VMS style geology which was mapped over one kilometer. Subsequent detailed ground gravity work defined a gravity high anomaly that appears to be related to the subsurface extension of the gossan at surface.

"We are excited to drill test these new targets which our team has been developing over the past several years" stated David K. Daoud, Sun Peak's VP of Exploration. "The Hamlo prospect exhibits a similar signature as other VMS deposits in the Arabian-Nubian Shield with coincident VMS style geochemical and geophysical anomalies, with VMS gossan outcrop at surface."

Map 1: Hamlo Target Geology, Geophysics, and Gossans

The initial phase of drilling at Hamlo will be targeted to intercept a gravity anomaly located below the gossan at surface and will attempt to test up to three mineralized zones: the oxide cap (gossan), the Cu enriched supergene zone and the primary sulfide zone initially to a depth of 250 meters.

Following the initial phase of drilling at the Hamlo prospect, drilling will then test other high priority new targets on the Shire Project including Terer, Anguda North, Meda, and Inda.

The Company is fully funded to carry out the planned drilling for 2024.

Summary of Work from Suspended Program in November 2020

Exploration work, including drilling with two diamond drills, had begun in October 2020 and was abruptly suspended when the regional conflict in Ethiopia began on November 4, 2020. During this time, 11 drill holes for 1,534 meters were drilled at the Meli Main Target, 2 drill holes for 108 meters were drilled at the Meli Far West Gossan Target, and 10 drill holes for 730 meters were drilled at the Anguda Southern Limb Target, located on the Terer License.

The exploration team has been able to recover and assess the core from these holes. Some of the core was damaged but the geological team has now logged and sampled the drill core and the samples were recently sent for assay.

In addition, rock samples taken from the field during target generation work on other parts of the Shire Project before the conflict have now been submitted for assays.

Results of the 2020 program and interpretation of them will be released when assays are received.

Map 2: Shire Project Plan Map - Key Targets

Community Engagement

Sun Peak has been active on engagement with communities and other stakeholders to ensure that stakeholders provide consent and agreement to our activities that create surface disturbance, including drill holes. All disturbance to the land will be reclaimed after completion of the exploration work. Ongoing community engagement is a vital element of respecting human rights and hearing their voice. The Company's current operations in Ethiopia are exploratory in nature and cause very little surface disturbance. Community engagement is performed by our experienced local liaison team before the beginning of any activities, which encourages positive interactions. We consider Sun Peak's presence and continued support and involvement in the Tigray region, during the current circumstances, a positive contribution and we consider our conduct to be consistent with Multinational Enterprises Guidelines. Sun Peak is committed to doing business with integrity and in an ethical manner that is clear and apparent to all internal and external stakeholders. Sun Peak adheres to the Company's Human Rights Policy and does not tolerate violations of human rights in any way, shape, or form, whether these violations are committed by Sun Peak personnel or contracted third parties.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by David K. Daoud, B.Sc. P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

The Shire Project

Sun Peak is exploring the district-scale Shire VMS Project in the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. The Shire Project is comprised of six exploration licenses and covers approximately 1,450 square kilometers in the prospective Arabian Nubian Shield. The licenses are in the same geological environment as both the Bisha Mine and the Asmara Projects. The Sun Peak team have worked in East Africa for more than two decades and the Company's strategy is to apply exploration techniques that have worked successfully in the region before, to build assets through major copper-gold VMS discoveries.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SUN PEAK METALS CORP.

Greg Davis

President, CEO & Director

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Greg Davis

(T): +1 (604) 999 1099

(E): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information



Certain information and statements in this news release may be considered forward-looking information or forward-looking statements for purposes of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), which reflect the expectations of management regarding its disclosure and amendments thereto. Forward-looking statements consist of information or statements that are not purely historical, including any information or statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information or statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the goal of making a significant discovery and the development of a large-scale project in Ethiopia and identifying other potential properties and opportunities both in Ethiopia and globally. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits Sun Peak will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including without limitation: the risk that the results of the planned exploration programs at the Shire Project do not meet expected results. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable securities laws, Sun Peak assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results differed from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additional information about these and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties are set out in the "Risks and Uncertainties" section in the Prospectus filed with Canadian security regulators.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Core Assets Corp., ("Core Assets" or the "Company") (CSE:CC) (FSE:5RJ) (OTC.QB:CCOOF) is pleased to announce assay results from the 2023 surface sampling campaign at the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project (the "Silver Lime Project" or "Silver Lime"), central Blue Property (the "Blue Property"), Atlin Mining District of NW British Columbia.

HIGHLIGHTS

In 2023, 89 surficial rock samples were collected within the 9.5km x 10km mineralized footprint at the Silver Lime Project. The highest-grade rock samples collected last season are listed below in Table 1.

Table 1: 2023 Surface Sample Assay Highlights for the Silver Lime Project Sample ID Target Ag g/t Cu % Pb % Zn % Au g/t Bi ppm Te ppm F422059 Jackie CRD Target 1130 0.10 7.3 13.5 0.02 2540 240 F422076 Gally CRD Target 680 0.55 6.9 9.5 0.04 1315 155 F422068 Jackie CRD Target 646 0.18 10.7 13.3 0.01 1285 163 F422095 Grizzly CRD Target 545 0.03 1.3 4.9 1.32 330 260 F422070 Jackie CRD Target 480 0.58 20.0 11.6 0.02 433 190 F422071 Jackie CRD Target 409 2.99 17.8 14.2 0.02 237 140 F421232 Jackie CRD Target 347 0.19 9.3 5.5 0.23 179 110 F422075 Gally CRD Target 281 0.26 20.0 14.2 0.02 26 269 F421207 Gally CRD Target 260 0.10 6.5 3.8 0.75 2 76 F421213 Jackie CRD Target 257 0.36 3.2 5.8 0.54 213 53 F422062 Jackie CRD Target 257 0.23 7.6 6.2 0.03 423 80 F421164 Jackie CRD Target 92 0.06 6.7 5.6 0.02 4 56 F421154 Jackie CRD Target 16.9 0.22 0.1 15.8 0.01 13 30 F421156 Jackie CRD Target 11.4 0.21 0.1 13.6 0.02 - 20 F421203 Gally CRD Target 11.9 0.05 0.1 13.4 0.36 - 2

Core Assets' President & CEO Nick Rodway commented, "The Team continues to discover significant, high-grade mineralization at surface at Silver Lime enhancing the surficial footprint and metal endowment of the Project. We are currently preparing for another exciting and fully funded exploration season at Silver Lime which will continue to prove how significant this polymetallic deposit is."

At the Gally Target, located immediately southwest of the Sulphide City Porphyry, high-grade, Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization was extended by 850m along trend to the south (Figures 1, 2) increasing the Pete's-Sulphide City-Gally trend to 2.5km in length. Samples of marble hosted massive sulphide carbonate replacement and sulphide-bearing veins in schist were collected along this trend extension in 2023 and graded up to 680g/t Ag, >20% Pb, 14% Zn, 0.55% Cu, 0.75g/t Au, 0.14% Bi and 155ppm Te.

The Company's longest and best drilling intercepts to-date were obtained from the Pete's and Gally targets in 2023. SLM23-028 intersected 6.40m grading 159g/t Ag, 8.7% Pb, 7.7% Zn and 0.23% Cu from 27.43m depth, including 0.57m of 301g/t Ag, 11.5% Pb, 10.7% Zn, and 0.31% Cu, whereas SLM23-048 returned 8m of 139g/t Ag, 3.5% Pb+Zn and 0.18% Cu, including 0.50m of 1,030g/t Ag, 32.4% Pb+Zn, 1.16% Cu, 0.19% Bi and 270ppm Te from surface.

This year's surface sampling program also extended mineralization at the Jackie CRD Target, where 6 out of the top 10 samples were collected, returning up to 1,130g/t Ag with 13.5% Zn, 7.3% Pb, 0.25% Bi and 240ppm Te.

High grade carbonate replacement mineralization was extended for 35m along trend to the northwest at Jackie in 2023, where semi-massive sulphide veins grading up to 347g/t Ag, 9.3% Pb, 5.5% Zn, 0.41g/t Au, 0.36% Cu and 110ppm Te were found crosscutting an intermediate dyke.

We look forward to presenting our 2023 Exploration Summary and announcing our plans for the 2024 Program in the coming weeks.

Figure 1: Photographs of high-grade mineralization styles at the Gally CRD Target - 850m south of the 2023 drilling area.

In 2023, 12 samples returned over 200g/t Ag, 14 greater than 2% Pb, 26 greater than 2% Zn and 14 samples graded over 0.20% Cu.

Superimposed high-grade mineralization styles spanning the full Porphyry-CRD continuum are widespread at the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project.

Steep, district-scale (>1 kilometer) and long-lived structures affect all country rocks surrounding the younger mineralized intrusions at Silver Lime including marble, limestone, and variable schist. These structures served as ore fluid pathways for recurring mineralizing events - meaning that significant base and precious metal occurrences reside together along these deep structures and manifest as massive-to-semi massive replacement style or semi-massive and disseminated vein-hosted styles of mineralization.

The Company has recently obtained ASTER and Sentinel-2 remote sensing data for the entirety of the 1,140 km2 Blue Property Mineral Tenure. Spaceborne multispectral datasets are used to identify mineralogical assemblages from prospective host rocks, alteration halos and target mineralization styles on a regional scale.

Other works in progress include the development of dynamic 3D structural models for our target areas at the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project with SRK Consulting prior to the start of the 2024 field season, and comprehensive geochronological studies in conjunction with academics at the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom focusing primarily on U-Pb age dating of carbonate and prospective porphyries and dykes at the Laverdiere and Silver Lime Projects.

Figure 2: Simplified Plan Map of the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project highlighting 2023 surface sampling assay (Ag) results. Target structures or "spokes" (highlighted in yellow) acted as pathways for repeated mineralizing events in which ore fluids evolved from Zn to Ag to Au-bearing while utilizing the same pathways.

About the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project

The Silver Lime Project is predominantly hosted in carbonate rocks of the Florence Range Metamorphic Suite (ca. 1150Ma). Target limestone and marble host rocks are intercalated with upper amphibolite grade metapeltic rocks, quartzite, and amphibole-bearing gneiss. The protoliths to the metasedimentary units include continentally derived clastic strata and platform carbonate, whereas the amphibole-bearing gneiss is interpreted as probable basaltic flows, sills, dykes, and tuffaceous units related to early rifting of the ancestral North America continental margin (i.e., Mihalynuk, 1999). Younger felsic to intermediate intrusive rocks are also widespread within the project area and range from Triassic to Eocene in age. Widespread Eocene magmatic activity was associated with Cordillera-wide, brittle strike-slip faulting. Eocene volcano-plutonic centres in the western Cordillera are known to host porphyry, skarn, and epithermal-type mineralization extending from the Golden Triangle in NW British Columbia to the Tally-Ho Shear Zone in the Yukon (>100 kilometers).

To-date, A total of 9,809.70 metres of exploratory diamond drilling has been completed at the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project. First-pass drilling successfully confirmed the presence of high-grade Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu carbonate replacement (CRD) mineralization at depth, as well as widespread porphyry Mo mineralization and associated mineralized skarn.

The explored extent of the Silver Lime CRD-Porphyry Project currently measures 10KM by 9.5KM. High-grade carbonate replacement mineralization has been observed in folded marble host rocks ranging up to 250-meters-thick. In 2022, Ag-Zn-Pb-Cu-bearing mineralization was intersected near the bottom of Sulphide City hole SLM22-006 near 453 meters depth.

Currently, the Silver Lime Project consists of 7 highly prospective targets that span the complete mineralization spectrum from Porphyry Mo-Cu to Fe-Zn-Cu-Ag massive sulphide skarn (Sulphide City) and Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu-Au carbonate replacement mineralization (Gally, Pete's, Grizzly, Jackie), to distal, sediment-hosted Ag-Au bearing quartz veining and Au-bearing base metal sulphide vein occurrences (Amp, Falcon). Prospecting and surface sampling in 2022 and 2023 more than doubled the number of exposed, high-grade carbonate replacement massive sulphide targets at Silver Lime that remain open in all directions and at depth.

Sampling Protocol, Quality Assurance & Quality Control

All recovered drill core and rock samples were transported by helicopter to the core logging facility in Atlin, British Columbia for processing. Down hole surveys were conducted on all drill holes upon termination, using a Reflex Gyro Sprint downhole survey tool equipped with an azimuth positioning capability. Drill core was typically sampled over two-meter intervals and occasionally reduced in areas of higher visual sulphide mineralization. Core samples were cut in half with an electric core saw, bagged, labelled, sealed, and submitted to ALS Minerals preparation facility in Whitehorse, YT with the remaining core stored in Atlin, BC. Surficial rock samples were bagged, labelled, and sealed prior to submittal to ALS Minerals as well, however no further processing was completed for surface samples in Atlin, BC. Half core samples and rock samples submitted to ALS, were finely crushed, and sieved to <75 microns. Samples were then shipped to ALS Geochemistry in North Vancouver, British Columbia where they were analysed for Au by fire assay with an AA finish, over limits for Ag, Pb Cu, and Zn and additional elements were analysed using four acid digestion with an ICP-AES or ICP-MS finish, In some cases, gravimetric separation was used to determine and compare Ag overlimit assays.

Blank rock (siliceous river rock), duplicate, and certified reference materials were inserted into the sample stream for at least every 20 samples. For surficial rock samples, certified reference materials and blanks were inserted in the sample stream for every 20 samples, on average. Certified reference materials were acquired from OREAS North America Inc. of Sudbury, Ontario and CDN Resource Laboratories Ltd. of Langley, British Columbia for the 2023 diamond drilling campaign.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

Nicholas Rodway, P.Geo, (Licence# 46541) (Permit to Practice# 100359) is President, CEO and Director of the Company, and qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Rodway has reviewed and approved the technical content in this release.

About Core Assets Corp.

Core Assets Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects in British Columbia, Canada. The Company currently holds 100% ownership in the Blue Property, which covers a land area of114,074 hectares (~1,140 km). The project lies within the Atlin Mining District, a well-known gold mining camp located in the unceded territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation and the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. The Blue Property hosts a major structural feature known as The Llewellyn Fault Zone ("LFZ"). This structure is approximately 140km in length and runs from the Tally-Ho Shear Zone in the Yukon, south through the Blue Property to the Alaskan Panhandle Juneau Ice Sheet in the United States. Core Assets believes that the south Atlin Lake area and the LFZ has been neglected since the last major exploration campaigns in the 1980's. The LFZ plays an important role in mineralization of near surface metal occurrences across the Blue Property. The past 50 years have seen substantial advancements in the understanding of porphyry, skarn, and carbonate replacement type deposits both globally and in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. The Company has leveraged this information at the Blue Property to tailor an already proven exploration model and believes this could facilitate a major discovery. Core Assets is excited to become one of Atlin Mining District's premier explorers where its team believes there are substantial opportunities for new discoveries and development in the area.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

CORE ASSETS CORP.

"Nicholas Rodway"

President & CEO

Tel: 604.681.1568

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, expectations regarding the pending core assays, including speculative inferences about potential copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, zinc, and lead grades based on preliminary visual observations from results of diamond drilling at the Silver Lime Project and the Laverdiere Project, as applicable; the Company's plans to further investigate the geometry and extent of the skarn and carbonate replacement type mineralization continuum at the Silver Lime Project through additional field work and diamond drilling and any planned or proposed program related thereto; and any other general statement regarding the Company's planned or future exploration efforts at the Blue Property. It is important to note that the Company's actual business outcomes and exploration results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include that expectations regarding pending core assays based on preliminary visual observations from diamond drilling results at the Silver Lime Project and the Laverdiere Project, as applicable, may be found to be inaccurate; that results may indicate further exploration efforts at the Silver Lime Project and the Laverdiere Project, as applicable, as not warranted; that the Company may be unable to implement its plans to further explore at the Silver Lime Project and the Laverdiere Project, as applicable; that certain exploration methods, including the Company's proposed exploration model for the Blue Property, may be ineffective or inadequate in the circumstances; that economic, competitive, governmental, geopolitical, environmental and technological factors may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices; our specific plans and timing drilling, field work and other plans may change; that the Company may not have access to or be able to develop any minerals because of cost factors, type of terrain, or availability of equipment and technology; and we may also not raise sufficient funds to carry out or complete our plans. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, the global financial climate and the conflict in Ukraine and surrounding regions are some additional factors that are affecting current economic conditions and increasing economic uncertainty, which may impact the Company's operating performance, financial position, and prospects. Collectively, the potential impacts of this economic environment pose risks that are currently indescribable and immeasurable. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and, accordingly, are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty of such statements. Additional risk factors are discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for its recently completed fiscal period, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Except as required by law, the Company will not update or revise these forward-looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Aclara Resources Inc. ("Aclara" or the "Company") (TSX:ARA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jose Augusto Palma as Executive Vice President of the Company effective June 1, 2024.

Jose Augusto will be a key member of the Company's leadership team and will be closely involved in all activities of strategic significance to the Company, including leading the development of relationships with public and private stakeholders and business partners, overseeing the permitting strategy, management of complex strategic issues and the development of corporate strategy and governance.

Ramon Barua, CEO of Aclara, commented: "Jose Augusto is a fantastic addition to the Aclara team and will play a key role in the development of our two key projects in Chile and Brazil. He brings significant experience in the resources sector and has a proven track record of delivering results in the various positions he has held. Mr. Palma has previously led a team of professionals responsible for the approval of eight environmental and operational permits for mining projects in various countries, including in the State of Goias in Brazil, and capital market transactions totaling approximately $3 billion. His appointment strengthens Aclara's senior management team in areas that are critical for the development of the Penco Module in Chile and the Carina Project in Brazil."

Jose Augusto is a senior mining executive with over 17 years of experience in the sector and currently Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs of Hochschild Mining PLC ("Hochschild"), a leading precious metals mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange with mining operations and projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. Mr. Palma joined Hochschild in 2006, and during his tenure has had direct responsibility over the legal, permitting, sustainability and institutional affairs matters of Hochschild, allowing him to develop a deep understanding of the region and its key stakeholders.

Prior to joining Hochschild, Jose Augusto had a successful 13-year legal career in the United States, where he was a partner at the D.C. law firm of Swidler Berlin, and subsequently worked at the World Bank. He also served in the Government of Peru for two years from 2002 to 2004.

Jose Augusto has been serving as a board member of Aclara since June of 2023 as a nominee of Hochschild but will step down as a director at Aclara's upcoming annual general meeting. He is a board member of the National Association of Mining, Petroleum and Electricity Industries in Peru (SNMPE) where he served as President of the Mining Sector between 2019 and 2020.

Jose Augusto holds degrees from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico and Georgetown University Law Center (LLM).

About Aclara

Aclara Resources Inc. (TSX:ARA) is a development-stage company that focuses on heavy rare earth mineral resources hosted in Ion-Adsorption Clay deposits. The Company currently has two projects under development: the Penco Module in the Bio-Bio Region of Chile, and the Carina Project in the State of Goias, Brazil.

Aclara's rare earth extraction process offers several environmentally attractive features. It does not involve blasting, crushing, or milling, and therefore does not generate tailings, thus eliminating the need for a tailings storage facility. The extraction process developed by Aclara minimizes water consumption through high levels of water recirculation made possible by the inclusion of a water treatment facility within its patented process design. The ionic clay feedstock is amenable to leaching with a common fertilizer, ammonium sulfate. Further, harmful levels of radionuclides, typical of hard rock rare earth deposits, are not concentrated within the Aclara flowsheet.

Simultaneously, alongside the development of the Carina and Penco projects, the Company intends to identify and evaluate further opportunities to increase future production of heavy rare earths. This will involve greenfield exploration programs and the development of additional projects within the Company's concessions in Brazil, Chile, and Peru.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including statements with regard to, among other things, the Company's expectations including statements with regard to, among other things, management's expectations as to the accretive value to the Company from the appointment of Mr. Palma as Executive Vice President. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated as of March 22, 2024 filed on the Company's SEDAR+ profile. Actual results, timing, performance, achievements or future events or developments could differ materially from those expressed or implied herein. Unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise indicates, the forward-looking information contained in this news release is provided as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required under applicable securities laws.

For further information, please contact:

Ramon Barua

Chief Executive Officer

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Kingsmen Resources Ltd. (TSXV: KNG) (OTCQB: KNGRF) ("Kingsmen" or the "Company") is pleased to report the recent completion of multi-element analyses on all rock samples collected in and around the old Soledad mine area (1.0 square mile) of the total Las Coloradas project. The Las Coloradas project is located 30km from Hidalgo de Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico. Portions of the Soledad structure were mined by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company), the U.S. based subsidiary of Grupo Mexico in the period 1944 to 1952.

The silver values and silver equivalent values for the Soledad Mine area targets and subsidiary structures are presented in Table 1 and Figure 1. Silver equivalent values are overall significantly higher than the silver grades and reflect the silver-lead-zinc gold-copper composition of the mineralization. The Soledad mine area is presently one of four areas recognizable for significant mineralization.

Kingsmen's sampling of residual mineralization in the old workings (where accessible) on the NW-trending Soledad structure/vein system, and subsidiary structures, confirmed the presence of high-grade silver mineralization which likely continues at depth below the water table. Sample widths ranged from 0.5 to 1.3 meters. The Soledad structure/vein system, as currently recognized, is approximately 1.7 km long. Blind extensions to all the mineralized structures, as well as new structures, are likely at depth. The underground ASARCO workings (1943 to 1952) are located on the southern end of the Soledad vein system (Figure 1; Soledad and Rosario shafts). The workings extend in excess of 250 meters along strike and to a vertical depth of approximately 125 meters on four levels. The workings did not extend below the water table.

The mineralization is shallow, high-grade, silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper quartz-calcite veins hosted by all rock types in structures that cut all rock types. The sizes of the old workings suggest the mined mineralization may have been up to several meters in width. The mineralized structures have not been explored by drilling. There are strong similarities/parallels with the mineralization in the underground Santa Barbara mine where vein systems vary from 3 to 6.5 km along strike and the vertical extension of the shoots have a vertical extension of up to 900 meters. The Santa Barbara mine is an underground mining complex belonging to Grupo Mexico, Mexico's largest mining company.

Scott Emerson, President commented: As we continue with our systematic and disciplined exploration approach on this newly consolidated district, the results from the Soledad Mine area are confirming that distinct areas of mineralization are recognizable indicating potential for significant mineralization in the other locales as we identify new and existing target areas for our drill campaign.

Table 1

Sample Width (m) Au ppm Ag ppm AgEq ppm Cu ppm Pb ppm Zn ppm PRSLC-0094 0.8 0.027 81.7 99.6 21 11720 2570 PRSLC-0095 1.3 0.397 97.4 133.3 122 6860 4480 PRSLC-0096 0.9 0.316 144.1 226 150 26550 11540 PRSLC-0097 1 0.494 174.9 232.5 92 23320 2480 PRSLC-0098 0.7 0.218 186.1 200 103 14020 1570 PRSLC-0099 1 0.015 17.6 27.1 45 895 3740 PRSLC-0100 0.9 0.31 69 133.2 123 15710 8280 PRSLC-0101 0.6 0.478 152.7 203.3 198 15040 5100 PRSLC-0102 0.7 0.174 31.7 57.6 158 1340 6150 PRSLC-0103 0.9 0.109 35.7 49 84 2360 2680 PRSLC-0104 0.5 0.23 42.3 63.5 116 2750 2570 PRSLC-0105 0.8 0.006 2.9 18.9 34 63 6130 PRSLC-0106 0.9 0.09 22.8 36.4 45 726 3850 PRSLC-0107 0.5 0.447 484.5 529.7 159 23710 22120 PRSLC-0108 1.3 0.027 7.1 16 54 372 2770 PRSLC-0109 0.9 0.012 5.6 9.4 30 624 949 PRSLC-0110 0.6 0.627 54.7 193 56 43500 4280 PRSLC-0111 0.9 0.083 34.4 58.9 47 6380 4400 PRSLC-0113 0.5 1.288 571.4 919.9 322 162710 6510 PRSLC-0114 0.9 0.647 177.8 301.7 54 47480 4190 PRSLC-0115 1 0.021 3.7 13 72 452 2730 PRSLC-0116 0.5 3.81 246 739.9 86 119010 7560 PRSLC-0117 0.9 0.316 134.8 163.3 42 12030 2610 PRSLC-0118 0.7 0.242 278.2 278.2 140 13630 2370 PRSLC-0119 0.5 0.27 155 194.3 526 15220 5230 PRSLC-0120 1.2 0.007 8.6 10.1 40 603 398 PRSLC-0121 1.3 0.007 9.9 10.8 68 351 369 PRSLC-0125 0.5 3.709 397.2 733 71 59150 10710 PRSLC-0126 0.8 0.035 1.4 7.1 68 68 1080 PRSLC-0127 0.6 1.429 184.8 324.7 37 33870 1310 PRSLC-0128 0.7 0.012 1.9 6.7 61 81 1410 PRSLC-0129 0.5 0.176 23.9 58.8 48 3190 7840 PRSLC-0130 0.5 0.75 138.9 303 130 25620 32340 PRSLC-0131 0.6 0.034 2.2 14.2 47 357 3480 PRSLC-0132 1.3 0.045 38.4 48.9 28 1550 4410 PRSLC-0133 1.1 0.039 9.7 15.3 35 1150 765 PRSLC-0134 0.6 1.304 75.1 197.5 98 7450 11540 PRSLC-0136 0.5 2.06 80.9 258.2 51 16830 5110 PRSLC-0138 0.5 0.393 22 54.0 42 1610 2020 PRSLC-0139 0.7 0.026 10.5 17.2 58 1450 1300 PRSLC-0140 0.5 0.631 534.8 756.4 298 113590 13550 LC-220623-003 Composite 0.25 400 513.1 110 78800 1160 LC-220623-005 0.5 1.09 72.2 303.3 193 57500 17000 LC-220623-006 0.5 0.45 15.9 174.5 133 48600 9480 LC-070723-001 Composite 1.32 108 293.5 30 29600 19800 LC-070723-002 Composite 0.78 108 188.6 72 12900 7440 LC-070723-003 Composite 0.68 132 392.7 164 30800 67000 LC-070723-004 Composite 0 1.36 2.2 2 308 158 LC-070723-005 Composite 0.75 304 661.4 261 65900 86100 PRS-00011 Composite 0.443 83.4 118.6 58 0 7898 PRS-00014 Composite 3.522 60.3 312 72 0 7009 PRS-00023 Composite 1.319 154 250.3 104 0 13235 PRS-00026 Composite 1.709 34.7 170.9 244 0 8604 PRS-00029 Composite 0.965 393 419.6 103 0 13968

The silver equivalent calculation utilizes the standard equation and is based on current spot metal prices of silver $25/oz, gold $2163/oz, copper $4.04/lb, lead $$0.98/lb and zinc $1.16/lb. Recoveries are set at 100% for all metals for purposes of the silver equivalent calculation as no metallurgical test data is available. AgEq is used for illustrative purposes only and does not imply that the metals are economically recoverable.

QA/QC Program

The QA/QC program employes blanks and certified reference standard, and check sampling. Samples from separate areas were analyzed at Actlabs, Zacatecas. Sealed and tagged sample bags were transported to the laboratory where the entire sample was crushed to a nominal -2 mm, mechanically split to obtain a representative sub-sample and then pulverized to at least 95% -105 microns (m).

All samples were analyzed for gold by Fire Assay Fusion-AA finish. All samples were analyzed for silver by aqua extraction with ICP finish. Multi-element analysis was by four acid extraction with ICP-OES finish.

About Las Coloradas

Acquired and consolidated in 2023, the 100% owned Las Coloradas Project (8.5 km2 -3.3 sq miles) represents a consolidation of a historic mining district which covers numerous silver-gold-lead-zinc-copper mines previously exploited by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company), the U.S. based subsidiary of Grupo Mexico.

Las Coloradas is in the Parral mining district of the Central Mexican Silver Belt, and is located approximately 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Hidalgo de Parral and 40 kilometers east of the San Francisco de Oro and Santa Barbara mining districts where several old major mines are located, such as La Prieta, Veta Colorada, Palmilla, Esmeralda, San Francisco del Oro and Santa Barbara. As well, new major mining projects are currently being explored in the district; Cordero (Discovery Silver Corp.), 35 kms north of Parral, and La Cigarra (Kootenay Silver Inc.), 35 kms northwest of Parral. Click here to see locator map, https://www.kingsmenresources.com/area-history.

Qualified Person

Kieran Downes, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure set out in this news release.

About Kingsmen Resources

In line with Kingsmen's organic-growth strategy, the Company's focus is on exploration and development, and is currently focused on district-scale exploration for high -margin metallic mineral deposits in the prolific mining districts of Parral Mexico. In addition, the company has a 1% NSR on the Los Ricos North project in Mexico operated by GoGold Resources Inc. The Company's leaders have extensive experience in the mining and financial sectors. Kingsmen is a publicly-traded company (TSXV: KNG) (OTCQB: KNGRF) and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On behalf of the Board,

"Scott Emerson"

Scott Emerson,

President & CEO Phone:

6046859316

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statement:

All statements, trend analysis and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events or results constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding the completion of the acquisition of the Las Coloradas Project and receipt of regulatory approval, are forward-looking statements. Although Kingsmen believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Kingsmen can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in Kingsmen's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators, and assumptions made with regard to: Kingsmen's ability to make the required payments under the definitive agreements; and Kingsmen's ability to secure the necessary regulatory approvals. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Kingsmen's expectations include risks associated with the business of Kingsmen; risks related to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions to the closing of the acquisition of the Las Coloradas Project; non-completion of the acquisition of the Las Coloradas Project; risks related to exploration and potential development of the Las Coloradas Project; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time and additional risks identified in Kingsmen's filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedarplus.ca). Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Kingsmen does not undertake any obligation to update forward looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire - April 4, 2024 - Red Canyon Resources Ltd. (CSE: REDC) (the Company" or "Red Canyon") is pleased to announce it has entered into a definitive Exploration Lease and Option to Purchase Agreement (the Agreement) with a private landowner on key private land at the Scraper Springs project (the Project) in Nevada.

Highlights:

This Agreement covers important internal and adjacent private blocks of land associated with the interpreted mineral system at Scraper Springs in northern Nevada;

The Agreement includes full surface estate and partial mineral estate in fee lands situated within the Project area. Red Canyon retains the option to lease the property for a 30-year period and purchase the private land outright;

The Scraper Springs copper project in northern Nevada hosts a 4 x 4 km alteration footprint comparable in scope to some of the worlds largest copper deposits. Interpretation of project geochemistry, geology and geophysics suggests Scraper Springs could potentially be associated with a large-scale copper system. A deep penetrating IP geophysical line completed by Red Canyon has identified a large chargeable drill target starting at approximately 400m below surface; and,

Red Canyon is focused on impactful, value-add exploration to make discoveries of copper and copper-gold deposits in established mineral belts in North America. It controls a portfolio of seven 100%-owned, internally generated copper and copper  gold projects, four of which are drill ready.

Wendell Zerb, the Chairman and CEO of the Company, states: "We are very pleased to have finalized this definitive Exploration Lease and Option to Purchase agreement. This Agreement consolidates high-value land associated with our Scraper Springs project, clearing a path to conduct important exploration work including diamond drilling.

Terms of the Agreement

Red Canyon, through a wholly owned US subsidiary, has entered into an Agreement with an arms length private landowner on private land that occurs within and adjacent to 100% owned BLM mining claims held by the Company.

The Agreement covers important internal and adjacent private blocks of land associated with the interpretated mineral system at Scraper Springs in northeastern Nevada.

Figure 1: Location map of Red Canyons 100% owned mineral claims and private surface and mineral ownership at Scraper Springs.

Private land optioned through the Agreement consists of full private surface estate and 50% ownership of applicable mineral rights, with the remaining mineral interest controlled by a third party (Figure 1). By making an initial cash payment of US$5,000 on signing and making annual payments over the 30-year term, Red Canyon is granted exclusive surface rights, exclusive rights to the landowners 50% mineral interest, and an option to purchase the land. Annual fees start at US$5,000 on the first anniversary, increasing US$1,000 yearly over the first 9 years; US$20,000 on the tenth anniversary, increasing US$2,500 yearly over the next 10 years; and US$40,000 on the twenty-first anniversary, increasing US$5,000 yearly until the thirtieth anniversary on which the Agreement terminates. The Company has the right to purchase the private land and associated mineral interest outright for US$2.375 million. The Agreement is subject to a retained 4% NSR on the private land, which may be purchased by Red Canyon at any time for US$1.5 million.

Scraper Springs Project Overview

Scraper Springs is in northern Nevada approximately 125 km from the cities of Winnemucca and Elko. The Project is 100% owned, subject to a 2% NSR royalty and consists of 190 unpatented mining claims, spanning 1,589 hectares. The approximate 4 x 4 km alteration footprint surrounding the Scraper Springs target is comparable in scope to some of the worlds largest copper deposits.

Figure 2: Scraper Springs plan view shallow IP with 2022 IP section.

Previous operators at Scraper Springs mostly targeted shallow, high-grade gold systems or Carlin-related gold systems whereas a reinterpretation of the alteration and geology by Red Canyon and third-party consultants suggests high-temperature, low-pH clays and Eocene-aged intrusions at Scraper Springs could be associated with a deeper, large-scale porphyry copper system. In 2022, Red Canyon completed a deep IP survey, which has outlined a significant, undrilled chargeable zone. One historical drill hole approximately 1.5 km east of this new chargeability target intersected strong propylitic alteration and near the end of the drill hole intersected anomalous copper mineralization with values up to 0.17% copper over 10.7 metres.

The Company views Scraper Springs as an important, high-profile copper project with excellent discovery potential. Red Canyon is reviewing options regarding conducting deep penetrating MT geophysics and extending IP geophysical coverage prior to initial drill testing.

Corporate Strategy

Red Canyon is focused on exploring for copper and copper-gold related mineral systems within mining friendly jurisdictions in North America, with a particular focus on British Columbia and the Western United States. The Company is specifically targeting new or underexplored areas within established, premier copper districts.

The Red Canyon team has sourced and advanced its portfolio of 100% owned projects over the last 3.5 years using leading-edge geoscience to generate new large-scale exploration concepts.

Red Canyon intends to drill test several priority projects in 2024 with a goal of bringing targets to a decision point as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. The Company also intends to advance several additional projects to a drill stage by executing geologic, geochemical, and geophysical programs. Red Canyon is executing a corporate strategy of seeking out strategic alliances and will evaluate opportunities to joint venture, option or sell projects to qualified partners to maximize its exposure to exploration success.

The Companys Peak copper-gold project in central British Columbia has multiple targets highlighted by magnetic features, coincident IP, and elevated copper geochemistry. An initial minimum 1,000 m drill program to test priority targets including the Peak Central area is planned for the first half of 2024.

Additional information on the Peak and Scraper Springs projects can be found in the NI 43-101 Technical Reports dated May 1, 2023 and September 26, 2023 respectively, as filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Additional information on the Companys other projects can be found on the Companys website www.redcanyonresources.com. Further projects are in development and details will be disclosed as information comes available.

About Red Canyon Resources

Red Canyon Resources Ltd. (CSE: REDC) is a geoscience-driven, discovery-focused mineral exploration company focused on exploring North Americas top copper jurisdictions. The Companys core goal is to make impactful copper discoveries to benefit all stakeholders and aid in the clean energy transition. Red Canyon has a portfolio of 100% owned copper and copper-gold porphyry exploration projects. The Companys technical team consists of experienced geoscientists with diverse capital market, small cap and major mining company backgrounds, and a track record of success.

For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.redcanyonresources.com.

Red Canyon is part of the NewQuest Capital Group which is a discovery-driven investment group that builds value through the incubation and financing of mineral projects and companies. Further information about NewQuest can be found on the company website at www.nqcapitalgroup.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Wendell Zerb, P. Geol

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

+1 (604) 681-9100

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For further information, please contact:

Brennan Zerb

Investor Relations Manager

+1 (778) 867-5016

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Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this update has been reviewed and approved by Wendell Zerb, P. Geol, a Qualified Person (QP) as defined in National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding future capital expenditures, exploration activities and the specifications, targets, results, analyses, interpretations, benefits, costs and timing of them, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward looking information can be identified by words such as pro forma, plans, expects, may, should, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, believes, potential or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the Companys exploration plans and the proposed expenditures for exploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, the ability of the Company to obtain the required permits, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, the Companys limited operating history, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims, environmental issues and liabilities, as well as those factors discussed under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys prospectus dated October 12, 2023 and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Companys profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law.




(All dollar amounts are in United States dollars, unless otherwise stated)

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Omai Gold Mines Corp. (TSXV: OMG) (OTCQB: OMGGF) ("Omai Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce positive results from its first Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Wenot Project, one of the two gold deposits located on its 100%-owned Omai Property, in Guyana. The PEA supports an initial open pit mining scenario for production averaging 142,000 ounces of gold per year over a 13-year mine life, with peak year production of 184,000 ounces. Total Wenot production is estimated at 1,840,000 ounces of payable gold. A spot gold price sensitivity of $2,200/oz supports an after-tax Net Present Value 5% ("NPV") of $777 million, a 24.7% Internal Rate of Return ("IRR"), and a payback period of 3.5 years.

Elaine Ellingham, President and CEO comments: "We are extremely pleased with this first economic assessment for the new Omai that incorporates only our Wenot open pit deposit at this time. This PEA is an important step forward as it converts our successful exploration programs into a baseline production scenario that shows potential for robust economic development for Omai to once again become a large-scale gold producer, supported by the many benefits of a brownfields project including good road access, a nearby skilled workforce and the strong support of government for re-development."

"Although we have not included the adjacent Gilt Creek Deposit in this PEA economics, we are confident that it will contribute to an overall future mine plan. Since Gilt Creek would be an underground mine, it would have required significant additional engineering, time and cost, and our priority was to establish a baseline valuation for our shareholders. We have fast-tracked the advancement of this project over the past two years and are pleased to deliver these tangible results."

PEA Highlights for Wenot Open Pit

After-tax NPV 5% of $556 million and after-tax IRR of 19.8% based on $1,950/oz gold with a sensitivity case at $2,200/oz gold giving an after-tax NPV 5% of $777 million and IRR of 24.7%

of Initial capital ("Capex") of $375 million and sustaining capital of $172 million over life-of-mine

Projected average gold production of 142,000 oz per year over a 13-year mine life

After-tax payback of 4.3 years at base case $1,950/oz gold (3.5 years at $2,200/oz gold)

Average cash operating costs of $916/oz gold and all-in sustaining costs of $1,009/oz

Cumulative cash flow of $1.07 billion after-tax over 13 years on base case assumptions

Total payable gold production of 1.84 million ounces

Average head grade of 1.51 g/t Au and 92.5% process recovery

Average strip ratio for the open pit life-of-mine estimated at 7.8:1

Click here to view a 3D model of the Wenot Open Pit Deposit

Omai's CEO continued, "We are pleased with the PEA results as it establishes the potential for a single "superpit" for the Wenot deposit. We further believe that Omai holds exceptional potential to both expand the mine plan and to boost the economics: 1) At Wenot, there are gold zones identified along strike and at depth that can be expected to expand Mineral Resources within and outside the designed PEA pit; 2) By completing engineering studies and incorporating the adjacent Gilt Creek Deposit, the Omai mine plan could potentially expand to a 20+ year mine life; and 3) By advancing work on two high-grade near-surface zones, there is potential for higher grade process plant feed for the first few years that would boost economics considerably. The PEA sets the stage for Omai to advance engineering and permitting initiatives towards a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS"). With these goals in mind, we are anxious to continue our work advancing the Omai Project in 2024."

Financial and operating metrics from the PEA are presented in Table 1 below.

Note: The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 1. Financial and Operating Metrics from the Preliminary Economic Assessment

2024 Wenot Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) Highlights Production Mine life (years) 13.0 Total gold production (ounces) 1,840,000 Average annual gold production (ounces) 142,000 Total mineralization mined (tonnes) 41,101,000 Total waste mined (tonnes) 322,291,000 Total material mined (tonnes) 363,392,000 Total waste-to-mineralization ratio 7.8:1 Average gold grade (grams per tonne) 1.51 Gold Process Recovery (%) 92.5% Average Process Plant throughput (tpd) 9,000 Operating Costs Mining cost per tonne (Total Material) $1.63 Mining cost per tonne (Mineralization) $14.44 Processing Cost per tonne $15.58 G&A cost per tonne $3.16 Total cost per tonne processed 1,3 $33.19 Total cash cost (per ounce sold)1,3 $916 Mine-site all-in-sustaining cost (per ounce sold)2,3 $1009

1 Total cash costs include mining, processing, surface infrastructures, transport, G&A and royalty costs.

2 All-in sustaining cost ("AISC") includes total cash costs, sustaining capital expenses to support the on-going operations, and closure/reclamation.

3 Non-IFRS financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS. Refer to the note at the end of this press release.

Capital Costs Initial capital expenditure (Initial Capex)3 $375.2 M Sustaining capital expenditures3 $171.5 M Net reclamation costs (cost less salvage value) $0 Total capital expenditure - life of mine $546.8 M Total capital expenditure (per ounce sold) - life of mine $297/oz Base Case Economic Analysis: $1,950 per ounce Gold Price IRR (after-tax) 19.8% NPV @ 0% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $1,067.7 NPV @ 5% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $556.4 Payback (years) 4.3 Economic Analysis Sensitivity at $2,200 per ounce Gold Price IRR (after-tax) 24.7% NPV @ 0% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $1,402.5 NPV @ 5% discount rate (millions, after-tax) $776.6 Payback (years) 3.5

Financial Analysis and Sensitivities

The Project generates cumulative after-tax free cash flow of $1,067 million and average annual free cash flow of $112.5 million over the 13-year producing mine life.

Figure 1. After-tax Cash Flow over Life-of-Mine

The PEA financial analysis is significantly influenced by gold price, operating costs and capital costs as shown in Table 2. For example, at the base case gold price of US$1,950/oz, the Wenot Project generates after-tax NPV of $556.4 million using a 5% discount rate with an after-tax IRR of 19.8%. However, a 10% sensitivity increase to the base case gold price to $2,145/oz, results in an after-tax NPV of $728.2 million and an after-tax IRR of 23.7% with a payback period of 3.6 years from the commencement of production.

Table 2. PEA Sensitivities to Gold Price, Operating Costs (Opex) and Capital Costs (Capex)

Gold Price Sensitivities

Range GOLD PRICE After Tax NPV (5%) ($M) IRR Payback (Yrs) -20% $1,560 210.1 11.1% 8.4 -10% $1,755 384.1 15.7% 5.8 0 $1,950 556.4 19.8% 4.3 10% $2,145 728.2 23.7% 3.6 20% $2,340 899.8 27.3% 3.2

Opex Sensitivities

Range OPEX After Tax NPV (5%) ($M) IRR Payback (Yrs) -20.0% $807 706.3 23.6% 3.7 -10.0% $908 631.5 21.7% 3.9 0.0% $1,009 556.4 19.8% 4.3 10.0% $1,110 481.1 17.9% 4.7 20.0% $1,211 406.0 15.9% 5.8

Capex Sensitivities

Range CAPEX After Tax NPV (5%) ($M) IRR Payback (Yrs) -20.0% $300 638.8 24.7% 3.5 -10.0% $338 597.7 22.1% 3.9 0.0% $375 556.4 19.8% 4.3 10.0% $413 514.9 17.9% 4.7 20.0% $450 473.5 16.2% 5.4

Gold Production

Annual production over the life-of-mine from the Wenot pit is expected to average 142,000 ounces of gold with a peak year production of 184,000 ounces, for total payable gold production of 1,840,000 ounces.

Figure 2. Wenot Production Profile

Capital Costs

The initial capital costs are estimated at $375.2 million, with life-of-mine sustaining costs estimated at $172 million. Contingencies of $54 million and $18 million are included in initial and sustaining capital costs, respectively. These estimates were based on current costs and quotes received from potential local vendors with other estimates based on references and experience from similar operations.

The main components of the $375.2 million initial capital costs include: $100 million for the processing plant equipment and buildings plus $75 million indirect costs to construct the process plant, $46 million for mining equipment and surface preparation, $45 million for surface civil and infrastructure, $33 million for capitalized pre-stripping, $20 million for owner's costs, and $54 million contingency.

The main components of the $172 million sustaining capital include: $139 million for mining equipment, $9 million for tailings and water treatment, $6 million for process plant equipment, and $18 million contingency.

Cash Costs

Total cash cost including royalties is estimated at $41.00 per tonne processed or $916/oz of payable gold. The all-in-sustaining cost is estimated at $1,009/oz of payable gold. Operating cost estimates were developed using vendor quotes and knowledge of similar operations with productivities being derived from benchmarking and industry practices.

Table 3. Total Cash Costs

Mining Cost (per tonne processed) $14.44 Processing Cost (per tonne processed) $15.58 G&A Cost (per tonne processed) $3.16 Total Cost (per tonne of processed) 1 $33.19 Royalties (per tonne processed) $7.81 Total Cash Cost (per ounce sold)1,3 $916

Mineral Resource Estimate

The PEA is based only on the Wenot Open Pit Deposit and excludes the adjacent Gilt Creek Deposit. Management believes that the Gilt Creek Deposit, which would require underground mining, is sufficiently attractive to be integrated into a larger mine plan, however, to accelerate and simplify this current PEA, it was excluded.

On February 8, 2024, the Company announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Omai Property in Guyana (Wenot and Gilt Creek Deposits). It details a total Indicated MRE of 1.985 million ounces of gold averaging 2.15 g/t Au and an Inferred MRE of 2.279 million ounces averaging 2.26 g/t Au.

The PEA is based on the Wenot Deposit, with an Indicated MRE of 834,000 ounces averaging 1.48 g/t Au and an Inferred MRE of 1,614,000 ounces averaging 1.99 g/t Au. The pit design used in the PEA does not include 58,600 oz of Indicated Mineral Resources and 456,900 oz of Inferred Mineral Resources, which represents approximately 21% of the total Wenot MRE ounces (Figure 5). These excluded MRE ounces are either hosted within multiple, narrow veins or are isolated zones at depth that result in a high strip ratio. However, it is expected that at least a portion of this currently excluded Mineral Resource could be incorporated in future economic scenarios upon further drilling.

Figure 3. 3-D Model of Wenot and Gilt Creek Deposits, Omai Gold Property, Guyana

The Mineral Resource Estimates for Omai are presented in Table 4. Notes accompanying the 2024 MRE are shown below the table, summarizing the economic and technical assumptions.

Table 4. 2024 (January) Mineral Resource Estimates

Indicated Resources Inferred Resources Resource Area Mining Method Tonnes

(k) Au

(g/t) Au

(koz) Tonnes

(k) Au

(g/t) Au

(koz) GILT CREEK (1.5 g/t Cut-Off) Underground 11,123 3.22 1,151 6,186 3.35 665 WENOT (0.35 g/t Cut-Off) Open Pit 17,572 1.48 834 25,183 1.99 1,614 Total Mineral Resource Estimate 28,695 2.15 1,985 31,369 2.26 2,279 Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate by Deposit Type WENOT Saprolite & Alluvium Open Pit 2,048 1.07 70 153 1.13 5 Fresh Rock & Transition Open Pit 15,524 1.53 764 25,030 2.00 1,609

Notes to Accompany the 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate:

1. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

3. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could potentially be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.

4. The Mineral Resources were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices Guidelines (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council.

5. Wenot wireframe constrained gold assays were composited to 1.5 metre lengths and subsequently capped between 10 to 25 g/t. Gilt Creek Wireframe constrained gold assays were composited to 1.0 metre lengths and subsequently capped between 12 to 40 g/t.

6. The Wenot Mineral Resource Estimate incorporates 9,840 assay results from 603 diamond drill holes totalling 87,323 m within the mineralized wireframes.

The Gilt Creek Mineral Resource Estimate incorporates 7,056 assay results from 46 diamond drill holes totalling 27,997 m within the mineralized wireframes

7. Grade estimation was undertaken with ID3interpolation.

8. Wenot wireframe constrained bulk density was determined from 30 site visit samples.

Gilt wireframe constrained bulk density was determined from 28 site visit samples.

9. Wenot gold process recoveries used were 92% for Alluvium/Saprolite and 92% for Transition/Fresh Rock.

Gilt Creek gold process recovery used was 92%

10. The gold price used was US$1,850/oz

11. Wenot US$ open pit operating costs used were $2.50/t for mineralized material mining, $1.75/t for waste mining, $10/t for Alluvium/Saprolite processing, $14/t for Transition/Fresh Rock processing and $2.50/t G&A. Gilt Creek US$ underground operating costs used were $60/t for mining, $15/t for processing and $7/t G&A.

12. At Gilt Creek, MRE blocks were reviewed for grade and geometric continuity. Isolated/orphaned and single block width strings of blocks were removed in order to only report Mineral Resources with a reasonable prospect of economic extraction.

13. Wenot pit slopes were 45o.

Mining

The Project area consists of subdued topography. The area, topography, and climate are amenable to the conventional open pit mining operations proposed for the Project, similar to historical operations. No underground mining is planned at this stage although the potential for development of underground mining of the Gilt Creek Deposit will be evaluated in the future.

The Wenot mining operations will encompass a single large open pit with 55o hard rock inter ramp slopes and 30o saprolite slopes that will be mined with conventional mining equipment in two pushback phases. In order to improve mining selectivity and reduce dilution, two different bench heights and sets of mining equipment will be used. Mineralization will be mined using a 5 m high bench height with 150 mm diameter blast hole drills, and a fleet consisting of 5 m3 bucket excavators and 35 t rigid body haul trucks. Waste rock and saprolite will be mined on 10 m high benches using 200 mm diameter blast hole drills, 22 m3 bucket hydraulic excavators, and 177 t haul trucks. Major pieces of mining equipment will be purchased via a lease financing agreement. Various support equipment will be required, such as dozers, graders, water trucks, and light vehicles for maintenance, personnel transport and mine supervision. The surficial saprolite cover, which is anticipated to be free digging and will not require blasting, is up to 60m thick forming the upper part of the 440 m deep open pit.

The open pit mine will have a mineralization production rate that averages 9,000 tpd over a 13-year mine life. A total of 322.3 Mt of waste rock is planned to be mined, with 2.6 Mt of mineralization in saprolite and 38.5 Mt of mineralization in fresh rock, for a total strip ratio of 7.8:1, at an average grade of 1.51 g/t Au containing 1.99 Moz Au. Total material mined will peak at 110,000 tpd.

Mineralization may be delivered either to the primary crusher or placed into a nearby stockpile. Waste rock is either taken to a waste storage facility or used in tailings dam embankment construction.

Figure 4. Wenot Open Pit Design (Two Phases)

Metallurgy & Processing

An average of 9,000 tpd of gold mineralized material will be treated in the Omai process plant. The process plant will consist of a semi-autogenous grinding mill in closed circuit with a pebble crusher and ball mill in a closed circuit with cyclones (SABC circuit). Primary crushing will consist of a gyratory crusher for hard run-of-mine ("ROM") feed. A gravity circuit, which precedes leaching will recover coarse gold from the cyclone underflow, while the cyclone overflow is thickened and treated in a multi-tank carbon-in-leach ("CIL") or carbon-in-pulp ("CIP") circuit. Gold will be stripped from the loaded carbon, concentrated by electrowinning and recovered as gold bars in a gold room.

The Omai Gold process plant will be designed to be a compact facility with attached grinding media and reagent reception. The process plant facilities will include a laboratory, a mill maintenance workshop, and safety, personal services and management offices.

Metallurgical Data

The anticipated metallurgical performance for processing the Omai Mineral Resources has a dual base of verification: (i) A comprehensive test program by Lakefield Research (now SGS Canada) that was completed in 1990 on drill core representing seven mineralized zones, and (ii) The processing of 80 million tonnes of mineralized material over 12 years by Omai Gold Mines Limited (OGML) from the Fennel and Wenot pits as well as alluvial zones.

During operations from 1993 to 2005, the hard rock ROM feed was crushed in a gyratory crusher and ground by a combination of SAG and ball mills (a SABC designation). Soft mineralized material was blended by a backhoe into the crushed hard rock feed. A combination of gravity-based methods including spiral, Nelson centrifuge and tabling was employed to recover free gold. Gold leaching was conventional with a mild concentration of process reagents, air-sparged leaching followed by CIP gold recovery, stripping from the carbon, electrowinning and electric furnace refining. The historical gold recovery ranged from 92% to 94%.

Metallurgical testing at Lakefield included grinding tests indicating that the Bond Work Index was very high for the hard-rock composites at 19 to 25 KWh/t. As anticipated, the Work Index was very low (~6 KWh/t) for saprolite. Gravity concentration was examined for diorite and saprolite composites and a substantial proportion of gold (~30%) was recovered. A series of standard, 48-hour leach tests were performed on each composite, with the effect of pre-grinding of the samples to up to 90% passing -200 mesh. The results indicated a high gold extraction, from 92% to 97% on the hard rock samples, with only a small effect due to grind size.

Carbon-in-pulp (CIP) testing, representing the recovery of the extracted gold liberated as a process reagent-complex in leaching, was also tested. The recovery of gold to carbon was high for all composites. Flocculation and thickening tests indicated that reasonable performance could be anticipated in pre-leach thickening which is a key parameter when processing soft, saprolitic feeds.

While the processing history can be used as a new Omai process design basis, test-based options for process upgrading will be considered for crushing-grinding, gravity concentration, gold leaching and recovery (CIL vs. CIP). Since crushing-grinding is the most energy intensive stage, lower energy intensity options including a second stage crushing and high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR's) will be considered to address both cost and sustainability factors.

Access & Infrastructure

The Omai Project is located approximately 165 km south of Guyana's capital city of Georgetown and is accessible via a major road that connects Georgetown to Brazil, roughly 350 km south of the Project. This road is paved for the first 90 km to the town of Linden (population ~45,000). Linden is the second largest city in Guyana and was established for bauxite mining. When Omai was in production roughly 90% of the workforce lived in Linden, and it is expected to again be a source from much of the Omai workforce. The road from Linden is currently being widened and paved. It is expected that by year end 2024, there will be a paved road from Georgetown, via Linden, to within 8 km of the Omai Project. The Omai Mine road extends to the east bank of the Essequibo River where a public ferry takes passengers and vehicles across the river on a regular basis.

The Omai site is mostly cleared of forest and has an extensive network of dirt roads providing access to most areas of the Property. The site includes a number of large warehouses remaining from the mining days. The Omai camp consists of two large warehouses that have been repurposed as offices, accommodations, drill core logging facilities and drill core storage, and workshop. Two bunkies provide additional housing, with the camp currently having accommodations for 60 workers.

The mining and processing infrastructure will be located at the Omai site. The Project will require construction of the following infrastructure: 9,000 tpd process plant, offices, truck shop and warehouse, new camp accommodation, surface water management facility, service and haulage roads and initial tailings management facility. An existing airstrip will be used for emergencies and time sensitive transport.

Tailings and Water Management

The tailings storage plan will take advantage of existing facilities and features on the Omai Property, including the existing 350-acre tailings facility and the dewatered Fennel mined-out open pit. Tailings decant will be recycled to the process plant with the excess water treated for discharge. Based on historical (OGML) evidence, the natural degradation of residual process reagents will facilitate the meeting of strict discharge criteria, and only treatment for suspended solids removal will be required.

Workforce

During the construction of the mine, the workforce is estimated to consist of approximately 250 people for an 18-month period, this is in addition to employees who would be required for open pit pre-stripping operations in the 12 months leading up to the production phase of the mine life. During production from the Wenot open pit, the average number of employees at the mine and process plant is estimated at 439 people. The schedule will be two 12-hour shifts per day for 7 days a week.

Next Steps

The positive results of the PEA warrant advancing the Project to the next study stages. Work programs, recommended to advance the Project to Pre-Feasibility Study level, include:

Infill drilling of gaps in projected gold zones that could potentially reduce waste rock and increase mineralized material within the Wenot designed pit, focusing on the southern side of the Deposit.

Drilling to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated.

Drilling near-surface areas to improve the process plant feed grade in the first two years of mine life.

Conduct metallurgical studies including crushing-grinding, gravity, leaching and gold recovery tests on bulk samples. Process selection will depend on efficiency of gold recovery and minimizing electricity demand.

Evaluate gold leaching and recovery variability by Mineral Resource type and identify process options that result in lower energy consumption.

Detailed geochemical characterization of waste and mineralized rock.

Detailed geotechnical investigation in the Wenot pit and at various infrastructure sites.

Develop a water management plan

Studies of tailings management facility development and/or refurbishment.

Qualified Persons

The PEA and Mineral Resource Estimate were completed in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition Standards incorporated by reference in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") (2014) and CIM Estimation Best Practice Guidelines (2019).

The PEA and Mineral Resource Estimate, including verification of the data disclosed, was under the supervision of Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, President of P&E Mining Consultants Inc., who is a Qualified Person (QP) and is independent of Omai Gold for the purposes of NI 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this new release. The NI 43-101 MRE and PEA Technical Report will be published on SEDAR (www.sedarplus.ca) within 45 days from the date of this news release.

Elaine Ellingham P.Geo. is a Qualified Person (QP) under NI 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" and has reviewed the technical information contained in this news release. Ms. Ellingham is not considered to be independent for the purposes of NI 43-101.

About Omai Gold Mines Corp.

Omai Gold Mines Corp. holds a 100% interest in the Omai Prospecting License that includes the past producing Omai Gold Mine in Guyana, and a 100% interest in the adjoining Eastern Flats Mining Permits. The Company announced an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") February 8, 2024 that includes 2.0 million ounces of gold (Indicated) and 2.3 million ounces (Inferred)1. Once South America's largest producing gold mine, Omai produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold between 1993 and 2005. Mining ceased at a time when the average gold price was less than US$400 per ounce. As a brownfields project, Omai benefits from good road access and a wealth of historical data that provides knowledge of the geology and gold mineralization on the Property, as well as metallurgy, historical process recoveries and many other relevant mining parameters. The Company's first economic study, a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") is presented in this news release above.

For further information, please see our website www.omaigoldmines.com or contact:

Elaine Ellingham, P.Geo.

President & CEO

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: +1-416-473-5351

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively, "FLI") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. FLI is based on expectations, estimates, projections, and interpretations as at the date of this press release.

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are FLI that involve various risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. Generally, FLI can be identified by the use of statements that include words such as "seeks", "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "continues", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "projects", "predicts", "proposes", "potential", "targets" and variations of such words and phrases, or by statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "could", "would", "should" or "might", "be taken", "occur" or "be achieved." FLI herein includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the results of the Omai PEA, including the production, operating cost, capital cost and cash cost estimates, the projected valuation metrics and rates of return, and the cash flow projections, as well as the anticipated permitting requirements and Project design, including processing and tailings facilities, infrastructure developments, metal recoveries, mine life and production rates for the Project, the potential to further enhance the economics of the Project and optimize the design, potential timelines for obtaining the required permits and financing. Forward-looking information is not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events.

FLI is designed to help you understand management's current views of its near- and longer-term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes. FLI by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such FLI. Although the FLI contained in this press release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities of the Company that actual results will be consistent with such FLI, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such FLI. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such FLI contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law. Unless otherwise noted, this press release has been prepared based on information available as of the date of this press release. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the FLI or information contained herein.

Assumptions upon which FLI is based, without limitation, include the results of exploration activities, the Company's financial position and general economic conditions; the ability of exploration activities to accurately predict mineralization; the accuracy of geological modelling; the ability of the Company to complete further exploration activities; potential changes in project parameters or economic assessments; the legitimacy of title and property interests in the Project; the accuracy of key assumptions, parameters or methods used to estimate the MREs and in the PEA; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals; geological, mining and exploration technical problems; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the evolution of the global economic climate; metal prices; foreign exchange rates; environmental expectations; community and non-governmental actions; any impacts of COVID-19 on the Project; and, the Company's ability to secure required funding. Risks and uncertainties about Omai Gold's business are more fully discussed in the disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in FLI.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

Omai Gold has included certain non-IFRS financial measures in this press release, such as initial capital expenditures, sustaining capital expenditures, total cash costs and all in sustaining costs, which are not measures recognized under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. As a result, these measures may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. Each of these measures used are intended to provide additional information to the user and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. Non-IFRS financial measures used in this press release and common to the gold mining industry are defined below.

Total Cash Costs and Total Cash Costs per Ounce

Total cash costs are reflective of the cost of production. Total cash costs reported in the PEA include mining costs, processing, general and administrative costs of the mine, off-site costs, refining costs, transportation costs and royalties. Total cash costs per ounce is calculated as total cash costs divided by payable gold ounces.

All-In Sustaining Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs per Ounce

All-in sustaining costs and all-in sustaining costs per ounce are reflective of all of the expenditures that are required to produce an ounce of gold from operations. All-in sustaining costs reported in the PEA include total cash costs, sustaining capital, closure costs, but exclude corporate general and administrative costs. All-in sustaining costs per ounce is calculated as all-in sustaining costs divided by payable gold ounces.

A description of the significant cost components that make up the forward looking non-IFRS financial measures of total cash costs and all in sustaining costs per ounce of payable gold produced is shown in the table below.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

Omai Gold prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to mineral resources in this press release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended ("CIM Standards"). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of "Measured Mineral Resources", "Iindicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources", which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards.

U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are "substantially similar" to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any Mineral Resources that Omai Gold may report as "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had Omai Gold prepared the Mineral Resource Estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of "Inferred Mineral Resources" cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances were permitted under NI 43-101.

Figure 5. Wenot Deposit Showing Pit Design and Mineral Resources Outside Pit
Tens of thousands of Rwandans have been convicted over the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, during the genocide 30 years ago.

Hundreds more suspects are still at large, several dozen of whom are living in Europe, mainly in France or in former colonial power Belgium.

AFP looks at the global push to ensure those responsible for the mass killings are brought to justice:

- International tribunal -

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was set up by the United Nations in 1994 in the Tanzanian city of Arusha just months after the April-July genocide.

In September 1998, it became the first international tribunal to hand down a conviction for genocide. The court convicted 62 people, including former planning minister Augustin Ngirabatware who was arrested in Germany and extradited to Arusha, before closing in late 2015.

Its work has since been taken over by the UN's International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT) in Arusha and in the Dutch city of The Hague.

In September 2022, one of Rwanda's richest men, Ngirabatware's father-in-law Felicien Kabuga, went on trial in The Hague, accused of setting up a hate broadcaster that urged members of the Hutu majority to kill Tutsis with machetes.

Kabuga, who was arrested in 2020 near Paris, was later declared unfit for trial but has not yet been released.

- Rwandan justice -

Rwanda started trying genocide suspects in 1996, two years after the genocide.

On a single day in April 1998, 22 convicted killers were executed by firing squad.

Rwanda abolished the death penalty in 2007, lifting the main obstacle for the ICTR to extradite genocide suspects to Rwanda for trial.

Nearly two million people passed through Rwandan village "gacaca" courts, in which attackers faced their victims. To help foster reconciliation, those who confessed were often allowed to return home without further penalty or with orders to carry out community service.

- Europe and North America -

The first case in Europe was held in Belgium, where two nuns were convicted in 2001 of complicity in the massacre of up to 6,000 Tutsis who had taken shelter at their convent.

Several senior figures from the Hutu regime behind the slaughter were also put on trial.

They included a former Rwandan army major who was convicted over the murders of 10 Belgian peacekeepers, a former bank manager dubbed the "genocide banker" who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murders and rapes, and a former senior government official who was the first person ever to be convicted of the crime of genocide in Belgium in 2019.

In December 2023, a Belgian court sentenced former militia leader Seraphin Twarhirwa, 66, to life in jail for dozens of murders and rapes committed during the genocide.

A second defendant Pierre Basabose, a one-time close associate of former president Juvenal Habyarimana, was also found guilty of "genocide" and "war crimes" for funding the militia.

In France, which was for years accused of shielding Rwandan genocide suspects, the first trial only took place in 2014 when a former spy chief, Pascal Simbikangwa, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Two years later, the former mayors of two Rwandan villages were sentenced to life imprisonment over killings in their localities.

The highest-ranking person to be convicted was Laurent Bucyibaruta, a former governor of Gikongoro province who was given a 20-year jail sentence in 2022 for complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity.

He died in December 2023 aged 79 before his appeal could be heard.

A dozen or so convictions have also been handed down in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and Canada.
A visionary hero who ended the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and brought peace to a traumatised country, or a despot who rules through fear and repression.

The only leader most Rwandans have known, veteran President Paul Kagame is a deeply polarising figure, but victory in his bid to secure a fourth term in July 15 polls is beyond doubt.

He won the last three elections with more than 93 percent, and only two candidates have been approved to run against him this time.

Kagame was just 36 when his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel army routed the Hutu extremists who had slaughtered hundreds of thousands of mainly Tutsis over 100 days in 1994.

Swapping fatigues for suits, he became de facto leader -- officially vice president and defence minister -- before being elected president by parliament in 2000.

He won plaudits from Western nations seeking to atone for their inaction during the genocide, and as an uncompromising manager who claims to run the country like a business, he oversaw an economic renaissance.

An assured diplomat, the 66-year-old is commander-in-chief of an army that has a key peacekeeping role in Africa but is also accused of destabilising the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kagame has sought to burnish Rwanda's image abroad -- hosting conferences, forging sponsorship deals with top international football clubs and selling itself as a leading ecotourism destination.

But this cannot mask a dire human rights record under the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), with activists and opponents accusing Kagame of crushing dissent with intimidation, arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances.

- 'Product of Rwanda' -

"Paul Kagame shaped Rwanda but he is also the product of Rwanda," said Paul-Simon Handy, East Africa director at the Institute for Strategic Studies.

Born to Tutsi parents, Kagame and his family fled to neighbouring Uganda in the early 1960s to escape pogroms.

The refugees suffered discrimination and served as a fertile recruiting ground for a rebel force led by Yoweri Museveni.

After Museveni seized power and became president in 1986, Kagame rose to become Uganda's intelligence chief.

But he never gave up hope of returning to his homeland.

Kagame received military training in the US and Cuba and eventually took command of a small rebel force of Rwandan exiles that snuck home hoping to overthrow the Hutu-dominated regime of Juvenal Habyarimana in 1990.

Civil war broke out. But worse was to come.

When Habyarimana's plane was shot down in April 1994, Hutu extremists went on a rampage, whipping up a vicious frenzy of hate targeting the Tutsi minority.

Around 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi but also moderate Hutus, were slaughtered before the bloodletting came to a halt as Kagame's RPF militia captured Kigali.

With not a single franc left in the national treasury, his band of rebels had to rebuild the country.

Foreign aid poured in from a guilt-ridden international community.

Even as the RPF was accused of killing tens of thousands of people in the DRC while pursuing genocide perpetrators, foreign nations turned a blind eye.

A turning point came in 2012, when accusations Kigali was arming rebel groups in the DRC prompted Washington to suspend aid to Rwanda.

In a report seen by AFP this week, UN experts said several thousand Rwandan soldiers fought alongside M23 rebels in eastern DRC and that Kigali had "de facto control" of their operations.

- 'Only one voice' -

Rights groups have frequently sounded the alarm about the unabated repression of the media and political opposition.

The most notorious case is the 2020 arrest of "Hotel Rwanda" hero Paul Rusesabagina when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed instead in Kigali in what his family called a kidnapping.

The Rwandan government has admitted financing the operation.

The fierce Kagame critic was sentenced to 25 years in jail on terrorism charges, before being freed following a presidential pardon last year.

Rwandan constitutional lawyer and political analyst Louis Gitinywa said the RFP had "killed democratic space".

"We have only one voice in Rwanda and there is no one challenging the narrative. This is bad for a country that is in the process of developing."

All but one of Rwanda's 11 registered opposition parties back the RPF, and Kagame has presided over controversial constitutional changes that allow him to potentially rule until 2034.

The father of four coolly dismisses any criticism as baseless.

"Every day we are being fired at. A lot of lies, hundreds," he said in a 2021 interview with AFP.
On sketch pads or computer tablets, a group of young Rwandan artists painstakingly recreate portraits of victims of the 1994 genocide for their loved ones.

The illustrators -- like the majority of Rwanda's population -- were not even born when the 100-day killing spree by Hutu extremists was unleashed against the Tutsi minority 30 years ago this month.

Their work has not only helped preserve the memories of some of the 800,000 victims of the vicious bloodletting, but also given the artists themselves a new insight into their country's deeply painful past.

The project -- to create new portraits of the dead and missing copied from old and often damaged photographs -- was the inspiration of Kigali artist King Ngabo.

The 28-year-old founded the Art for Memories initiative a year ago, during the last Kwibuka or remembrance commemorations for the genocide.

Since then, the collective says it has produced about 450 portraits of genocide victims, all for free.

Members of the team work together on a long wooden paint-smeared table in his Kigali gallery, the walls adorned with an eclectic mix of artworks.

- 'Bring back to life' -

"We invite people to send pictures of their beloved ones, on emails, on social media, on WhatsApp," says Ngabo, his charcoal-coloured overalls spattered with paint.

"And then for those damaged pictures, we bring back in the studio... and bring it back to life."

Ngabo said that before starting the project, he thought he knew a lot about the genocide, having visited many memorial sites.

But he says he never before had the "privilege" of being able to talk to survivors of the mass slaughter that still haunts the tiny nation.

"So I have learned a lot, the memories..."

Genocide survivor Nyirahabimana Aliette, 41, could not hold back the tears after she handed over old photographs of her parents and older sister, all murdered in 1994.

"I would like someone to draw these pictures for me so I can keep them with me," she said, her voice breaking.

"(My children) ask me a lot of questions about what happened with the family," she added.

"Being able to see these drawings at home will allow them to have an image (of their lost relatives)."

The murderous rampage saw families and friends turn against each other, the killings fuelled by vicious anti-Tutsi propaganda broadcast on TV and radio.

"During the genocide against Tutsi, artists of that day used illustrations to spread the ideology of genocide against Tutsi," said Mucyo Martin, a 20-year-old independent illustrator.

"So now there is us young artists who make illustrations too, we decided to correct that."

Art student Manzi Yvan Bryan, 19, said the experience was invaluable in finding out more about the events of 1994.

"When I was a child we learned about the genocide at school, and sometimes at home, my parents talk about it.

"But when I joined this initiative I learned more... some things that I didn't know."
Here's what we know so far about the seven aid workers for the US charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza.

Six were foreigners whose bodies are being repatriated Tueday. The sole Palestinian among them was buried in his hometown of Rafah.

WCK has hailed them as "heroes".

- Lalzawmi Frankcom, Australia -

Frankcom, 43, was from Melbourne, Australia and had worked for the relief team at the charity, which cooks for people in disaster or conflict zones, for five years.

In recent years she had worked in earthquake-hit Morocco, the Bahamas after a devastating hurricane, and in her home country ravaged by forest fires.

Her family in a statement said the woman known as "Zomi" had died "doing the work she loves".

WCK colleague Dora Weekley described her as "larger than life" and "huge-hearted".

In a video from the warehouse-cum-kitchen in central Gaza which she and her colleagues were leaving when they were killed, she beamed as she showed off colleagues preparing a meal of aromatic rice for people in need.

Frankcom studied psychological science at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology.

Before joining WCK she had worked at the Commonwealth Bank for more than eight years.

When a documentary on WCK directed by Ron Howard was nominated for an Emmy, Frankcom walked the red carpet in Hollywood.

- Damian Sobol, Poland -

The 35-year-old relief worker from Przemysl in south-eastern Poland, not far from the border with Ukraine, was described as a "fantastic young man" by the city's mayor Wojciech Bakun.

He joined WCK in 2022 in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, working first as translator, then coordinator for the NGO which was serving up meals to Ukrainians fleeing the fighting within hours of Russia's invasion.

Before joining the mission in Gaza, Sobol had also participated in aid missions inside Ukraine, from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, scene of alleged Russian war crimes, to the war-scarred eastern city of Kharkiv.

He was in Turkey last year to help victims of the massive earthquake, then went to Morocco following the violent quake of September.

- Jacob Flickinger, US-Canada -

A dual US-Canadian citizen, Flickinger, 33, was also part of the relief team.

Little is known about the father of a year-old baby boy, who had been working in Gaza since the start of March after a previous stint as a volunteer for the NGO in Mexico.

Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly wrote on X that she was "horrified" by the deaths of the seven WCK employees, "including a Canadian citizen."

- Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Gaza -

The Palestinian 25-year-old was working as a driver and interpreter for WCK when he died in the strike.

He was buried in a ceremony attended by hundreds of people in his hometown of Rafah on Tuesday.

"He was happy to work with an organisation that provides humanitarian aid to the displaced, our hearts are broken by your death, Saif," said his close friend, interviewed by the BBC.

- John Chapman, Britain -

Chapman, 57, was one of three Britons who were killed in the strike. All were part of WCK's security team.

According to British media, all three were former soldiers in the British military, and worked as private security contractors for the firm Solace Global.

Chapman, a former special forces operative, was a married father-of-two and had been in Gaza for a few weeks, British media reported.

He had joined the military directly out of school.

"He was an incredible father, husband, son and brother," his family said in a statement, calling him a "hero".

- James Henderson, Britain -

The 33-year-old Briton known to all as Jim had served for six years in the British Marines, according to his LinkedIn page.

He left the navy in 2016.

On his LinkedIn page he described himself as "a highly disciplined, courteous and proactive individual."

- James Kirby, Britain -

From Bristol in southwest England, Kirby, 47, a former sniper marksman and rifleman had served tours in Bosnia and Afghanistan.

The family in a statement said they were "utterly heartbroken".

"A genuine gentleman, James was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone, even in the face of senseless violence," his family said.

"Despite the risks, his compassionate nature drove him to offer assistance to those in dire need."

burs-eab/cb/db
The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli strike were on Wednesday taken out of Gaza to Egypt for repatriation, a security source said, as Israel faced a chorus of outrage over their deaths.

The Israeli military killed seven staff of the US-based food charity World Central Kitchen on Monday in an attack that UN chief Antonio Guterres labelled "unconscionable" and "an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted".

The remains of the six international staff, who were killed alongside one Palestinian colleague, were taken in ambulances to the Rafah crossing to Egypt, where they were handed over to representatives of their respective countries, the security source said on condition of anonymity.

Israel's armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a "grave mistake", which he blamed on night-time "misidentification", adding in a video message that "we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the "tragic case" would be investigated "right to the end", and President Isaac Herzog expressed his "deep sorrow and sincere apologies".

The seven deaths piled more pressure on Israel, whose war since the Hamas attack of October 7 has brought devastation and mass civilian casualties to Gaza, where the UN warns the population of 2.4 million is on the brink of famine.

US President Joe Biden said he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the deaths and charged that Israel "has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians".

- 'Anger and concern' -

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had voiced his "anger and concern" to Netanyahu, while Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador and demanded "full accountability".

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that "the tragic attack against volunteers and your (Israel's) reaction are generating an understandable anger".

The charity said it was mourning the loss of its seven "heroes" and "beautiful souls".

It said they had been killed in a "targeted attack" that was launched despite the group having coordinated its movements with Israeli forces.

It named those killed as Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25; Australian Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43; Britons John Chapman, 57, James (Jim) Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47; Pole Damian Sobol, 35; and US-Canadian Jacob Flickinger, 33.

After their deaths, the charity suspended operations and a ship that had carried food aid from Cyprus to Gaza turned back towards the Mediterranean island with around 240 tons of supplies that had not been unloaded.

Human Rights Watch said the attack "displays the characteristics of a precision airstrike", adding that it gave greater urgency to an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

- Mass protests -

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war erupted with Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in about 1,170 deaths of Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,975 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Palestinian militants took more than 250 hostages on October 7 and presently 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.

Talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have stalled, with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accusing Israel of procrastinating.

Qatar, which is mediating the indirect talks, said Israel had objected to the demand to allow displaced Gazans to return to their homes.

On Wednesday, the army said its forces had "killed and apprehended a number of terrorists" in fighting near the Al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

It followed a two-week operation around Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, which destroyed much of the medical complex and left scores dead.

The families of the captives have staged four straight nights of mass protests, joined by a resurgent anti-government movement.

Benny Gantz, a leading rival to Netanyahu and a member of his war cabinet, on Wednesday called for early elections.

The UN Human Rights Council will on Friday consider a draft resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel, citing the "plausible risk of genocide in Gaza".

The draft "condemns the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects by Israel in populated areas in Gaza" and of "the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare".

There are 47 countries serving on the Human Rights Council -- among them 18 states which brought forward the draft resolution. Twenty-four votes are needed for an outright majority, or possibly fewer if there are abstentions.

Israel has long accused the Human Rights Council of being biased against it.

burs-jxb/jsa
Human Rights Watch on Thursday called for the United Nations to investigate "war crimes" committed by the Ethiopian army in Amhara, a region that has been plagued by conflict.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a public independent institution, estimated in February that at least 45 people were killed on January 29 by government forces in Merawi city after clashes with local militia Fano.

According to testimonies collected by the New York-based rights group, after the Fano withdrew from Merawi, Ethiopian soldiers shot civilians on the streets as well as during house raids over a six-hour period.

"The soldiers also pillaged and destroyed civilian property," HRW said in a statement.

It said the incident "was among the deadliest for civilians during the fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and Fano militia since the outbreak of fighting in Amhara in August 2023".

HRW urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to launch an independent inquiry into abuses in the region.

The NGO called on the African Union to suspend all deployments of Ethiopian federal forces to peacekeeping missions until "commanders responsible for grave abuses are held accountable".

Laetitia Bader, the group's deputy Africa director, said: "The Ethiopian government's failure to ensure meaningful accountability for abuses by federal and regional forces contributes to ongoing cycles of violence and impunity."

The deliberate killing of civilians has become a "daily occurrence" for Ethiopians in conflict zones, she said.

In early February, Ethiopia's parliament extended a state of emergency introduced in August 2023 in Amhara -- the country's second most populous region -- in an attempt to quell a so-far unsuccessful Fano insurgency.

The Fanos and other Amharas felt betrayed by a peace agreement signed in November 2022 by the government and dissident leaders of the Tigray region -- long-time foes of Amhara nationalists who claim parts of Ethiopia's northernmost region as their ancestral lands.
Landmines and unexploded munitions killed or wounded almost three people every day in Myanmar last year, the UN said Thursday, an almost threefold increase from the previous year as the civil conflict rages.

The military's ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi's government in 2021 sparked renewed fighting with ethnic rebel groups as well as with pro-democracy "People's Defence Forces" in areas previously untouched by decades of conflict in Myanmar.

More than 2.5 million people have since been displaced by the fighting.

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, reported 1,052 verified civilian casualties from landmines or unexploded ordnance during 2023.

That figure was nearly triple the 390 incidents recorded in 2022. Over 20 per cent of the victims were children, it said.

The Southeast Asian nation is not a signatory to the United Nations convention that prohibits the use, stockpiling or development of anti-personnel mines.

Myanmar's military has been repeatedly accused of atrocities and war crimes during decades of internal conflict.

All sides in the current conflict were using landmines "indiscriminately," UNICEF said.

More than one-third of casualties were reported in northern Sagaing region, an area that was largely peaceful before the coup but has since emerged as a hotspot of resistance to military rule.

In recent months the junta has lost swathes of territory in border areas and analysts say it is relying more on air and artillery strikes to support its embattled troops.

In 2020, the year before the coup, there were 254 landmine casualties nationwide, according to UNICEF.

More than 6,000 people have been killed by anti-coup fighters and allied ethnic rebels since the coup, according to the junta.

A local monitoring group says the military's crackdown on dissent has killed more than 4,800 people and jailed more than 26,000.
Alette Smeulers stands next to the bookcase that covers the wall of her living room, where she receives us in her comfortable house in Groningen, a city in the north of The Netherlands. You are now looking at the section on the Holocaust, says the professor of international crimes at the University of Groningen. The black shelves carry hundreds of books about perpetrators, wars and conflicts. Her new book, Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities, lies on the table. The result of thirty years of research into perpetrators of large-scale violence such as war criminals, genocidaires and terrorists. She drinks her coffee from a mug that has the words Terribly and Terrifyingly Normal? printed on it. The text is the subtitle of her book and the name of the podcast which she produces together with her son.

Smeulers focusses on the dark side of humanity. It started in her childhood, when she read novels about resistance fighters during the Second World War. My childhood heroes, she says. This inevitably led to the question she posed herself: but who wants to be a Nazi? As a criminologist specialized in international criminal law, she came to focus on how people become perpetrators. As she was researching Smeulers started to give the uncomfortable answers during public presentations, lectures at university, and now also in her book.

Its a process

The biggest mistake we can make is to think that a perpetrator is completely different from ourselves. Research shows that we are all potentially capable of committing atrocities. If the circumstances are as such, we can become perpetrators. Not because we are devilish, but because we are weak, Smeulers explains. While reading scientific literature on the subject, drawing on psychology, law, sociology, political science, history and biographies, she unraveled how people think and act in times of authoritarian regimes and wars. It is a process in which we go with the flow. We dont dare to say no, because we dont want to be outside the group, she says. Step by step people go further. It is small choices that transform people into perpetrators. A gradual process that leads us to evil, Smeulers says.

These questions have always been acute and present. But now more than ever. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And even more extremely with the war between Israel and Hamas, she says. Currently Smeulers is studying Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. Its not a compliment when I read someones biography, she smiles. Of course, he has the right to protect his country against groups that want to destroy Israel. But he doesnt make sufficient distinction between the extremists and ordinary Palestinians.

Typology

Smeulers looks at the large sheet of paper in front of her with the overview of fourteen perpetrator types that she developed. We should not lump all perpetrators together. There are enormous differences. Also, not everyone can become every kind of perpetrator.

1. The criminal mastermind. These powerful top leaders are crucial because they run the atrocity system. They are strong-willed, generally believe in their superiority, feel themselves above the law and are ruthless in gaining and maintaining power. They develop the policies and give - sometimes explicit, sometimes more implicit - orders to others to carry out their commands and commit crimes. They are heads of state of violent and repressive regimes such as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Saddam Hussein.

2. The careerist. Then there are perpetrators where everything revolves around self-interest. The ambitious career makers strive for status, power and money. They are strategic, cruel and opportunistic and are close to the leaders. They are senior military officers and officials within the bureaucracy. Radovan Karadzic is one of these, for Smeulers.

3. The profiteer. The profiteers also pursues self-interest. For this type, Smeulers refers to someone like Dick Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, which benefited from the privatization of the United States military sector. When vice-president of the country, he still had financial interests in Halliburton, that was hired for wars such as in Iraq. Perhaps I have most difficulty with such people, who use war to acquire wealth, prestige and power, Smeulers says.

4. The devoted warrior. The devoted warrior surrenders completely to a leader, party, idea or ideology. They are often citizens with a strong sense of duty, who follow the law and are conforming. Smeulers includes Duch, commander of the Tuol Sleng torture center in Cambodia, among this type of perpetrator. She also refers to Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann who did everything to be the best boy in class. Eichmann was responsible for mass transports of Jews to the concentration camps. His case shows that bureaucrats can also be perpetrators, without having tortured or killed anyone themselves.

5. The follower. The largest group of perpetrators are the people who obey, or go along because they are pressured by leaders or people they are close with. Smeulers gives the example of the reservists of the German police battalion 101 who were ordered to execute Jews in the Polish village of Jozefow during the Second World War. After the fall of the Nazi-regime in Germany such perpetrators saw themselves as a small cog in a machine, says Smeulers. But the police battalion had murdered 38 thousand people and deported 45 thousand Jews, making it responsible for the murder of 83 thousand people.

Other types

In her book she also describes nine other perpetrator types she distinguishes, such as the fanatic, the professional, the true believer, the holy warrior, the avenger, the criminal, the predator, the deranged and the compromised. Contrary to popular belief, the mentally disturbed are a small group. But obviously, other perpetrator types, for different reasons, also become involved in the worst atrocities. Precisely because perpetrators are so diverse, together they form a powerful machine of violence, says Smeulers.

Almost all perpetrators are shocked when they torture or kill someone for the first time, she explains. But they move past their horror. Knowing that their actions go against human values, they overcome those conflicting feelings by justifying their actions. We explain it away by saying that we couldnt do otherwise, or that we are good and fighting against evil. It is a psychological trap in which we become entangled, she describes.

Stay critical

Smeulers warns: The unconditional belief that you are good is dangerous. It blinds you to the evil you can do. The Nazis thought they were good, she points out. They were driven by the idea of a better world. In their eyes, it was one without Jews, gays and disabled people.

Knowledge about international crimes and the different types of perpetrators can help in legal cases to determine in a fairer way the degree of guilt and culpability of those involved, she argues. Smeulers explains that her typology shows how those higher up in the chain of command create a political, ideological or social context which can be qualified as an atrocity producing situation, that influences and steers to a large extent the behavior of lower ranking perpetrators. In her book, she gives the example of how Eichmann (a devoted warrior) put pressure on Nazis (the followers) in the Netherlands who in turn gave a Jewish woman Ans van Dijk (a compromised perpetrator) an impossible choice which led her to betray many other Jews. The typology gives more insight in the roles perpetrators have, their influence on others and their responsibility, which is significant to determine the sanctions on them, she says.

Her insights can also help in finding the right ways to prevent and fight this violence. If we really focus on human rights, the chance becomes smaller that we will turn into perpetrators, says Smeulers. What we each personally must do is critical self-reflection and always examine our thoughts and actions. Although I realize that it is quite a difficult task.
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - American investors are too afraid to invest in Kenya due to President William Rutos bad policies.

In a report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative titled Foreign Trade Barriers, US companies cited taxation and government policies as stumbling blocks for foreigners investing in Kenya.

They specified that the 1.5 per cent Digital Service Tax (DST) was a trade barrier for companies and investors involved in digital trade.

The tax is applied to income generated in Kenya from services that are offered on online platforms.

Further, the report listed the Kenyan government's policies on land ownership and inspection of imported goods as other impediments.

The report highlighted that foreigners were not allowed to own land in Kenya except through a lease.

The investors added that the current leasing model was prone to land cartels who take advantage of them.

For investors importing products into the country, it was explained that the process was expensive.

The investors also asserted that there were multiple inspections by government agencies, which they cited as bureaucracy that deters the timely release and movement of goods.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Embakasi East Member of Parliament, Babu Owino, has initiated a motion aimed at removing Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha from office, citing incompetence.

In a notice of motion to the clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge dated Wednesday, Babu accused Nakhumicha of being incompetent in handling the ongoing doctors' strike.

The outspoken lawmaker further accused the embattled CS of violating Articles 26(1) and 43(1)(a) of the Constitution.

"Pursuant to Article 152(6) of the Constitution as read with Standing Order 66, I wish to notify you of my intention to move a Special Motion for removal of the Cabinet Secretary for Health from office on two grounds," reads the letter in part.

Babu explained that due to the ongoing strike by doctors, many Kenyans have been denied the right to life as well as the right to the highest attainable standard of health.

"Since the strike began on 15 March 2024, scores of Kenyans have been unable to access medical care, and in some dire cases, some have even lost their lives," he stated

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Two rogue city council askaris were captured on CCTV at a construction site in Parklands receiving a bribe.

In the CCTV footage shared by Jerotich Seii on her X platform, the two officials are seen talking to a site manager who hands over a bribe.

They walk away smiling after receiving the bribe.

The video comes amid lamentations from Nairobians that the face of the city's lavish suburbs is being shattered and transformed into concrete jungles of high-rise apartment blocks.

However, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja maintained that the construction of high-rise apartments in Kenya's posh neighborhoods will not stop.

Speaking during a church service in Bahati, Nairobi County, Sakaja said that the capital is taking an inevitable expanding trajectory and more room to accommodate more Kenyans must be created.

I have heard people complaining that in areas of Kileleshwa and Lavington, our homes were one-storey now apartments have come.

"Nairobi is 696 square kilometers in 2050 it will have a population of 10.5 million people. Will we expand Nairobi? No the only place we have to go is up he said.

Watch video of the city council officials receiving a bribe.





The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Thugs wearing balaclavas attacked the rural home of Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah demanding to know his whereabouts on Wednesday night.

The goons, suspected to be heavily armed, tried, without success, to force their way into the senators palatial home in Kwangamor village, Amukara sub-county.

They reportedly harassed his relatives for nearly an hour, as they demanded to be taken to the senators house.

Omtatah, a major critic of the Kenya Kwanza government, was not at home at the time.

We do not know who those people were but we suspect they were in the compound for some time because they claimed they knew the compound very well.

I left home on Tuesday evening after a series of functions only to be called at 2 am to be told there were people in my compound looking for me.

I do not meet anyone at night. Those who want to see me know they can see me during official working hours but not at night, the senator told the Star.

The group is suspected to have arrived at the senators home around 2 am under heavy downpour.

They grabbed my wife after she went to help herself. Beat her and tried to force her to reveal the senators whereabouts.

"When she refused, they dragged her towards the swamp but she raised an alarm that attracted my uncle and other people who rushed to her rescue, said the senators younger brother Isdor.

The incident has been reported to the local police who have visited the home.

We are aware of this incident and have launched investigations to find out who this people were and what their motive was, said area OCPD Alice Tedanyong.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Investigative journalist John-Allan Namu has revealed how powerful cartels in President William Rutos government, among them well-known politicians, attempted to block the expose of fake fertilizers from being aired on TV.

Speaking before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, Namu revealed that some politicians from Parliament approached them before the story was aired.

He indicated that the unnamed politicians had the intention of ensuring that the investigative piece, which was titled FertileDeception, did not air on TV.

According to Namu, the politicians would likely have an interest in the investigations and join the Senate Committee in investigating the matter.

Nonetheless, he affirmed that the team from Africa Uncensored did not give in to the demands given that the leaders did not have the interest of Kenyans at heart.

"There are politicians who reached out to us to kill the story before it run. These politicians sit amongst you. They debate with you. They will likely be investigating along with you.

"But from where I sit, they do not have the honest and right intentions of the public at heart," he stated.

Namu made the revelation during the ongoing investigations of the fertilizer scandal. As reported by a section of farmers across the country, the fertilizers being distributed may have been mixed with stones.

It is suspected that unscrupulous businessmen took advantage of the government subsidy programme to make profits at the expense of the food security of the country.

Meanwhile, a section of government officials have disputed the fake fertilizer allegations, terming them as propaganda aimed at derailing President William Ruto's agenda in agriculture.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, April 4, 2024  A New York judge has decided that actor Jonathan Majors will still be sentenced next week on his assault and harassment conviction.

Judge Michael Gaffey denied the defence motion to set aside the verdicts and strip the guilty results against the Creed III actor that a jury delivered on December 18 last year. With this last unsuccessful effort, Majors will be sentenced on April 8 and faces up to a year behind bars.

In his decision, Judge Gaffey took on each objection by the defence.

Defendant first argues that his conviction of reckless assault in the third degree should be set aside because the court erred in submitting the count to the jury, the judge wrote This Court disagrees. At the outset, contrary to Defendants contentions, the court submitted the count of reckless assault as an alternate theory to the intentional assault count, and not as a lesser included offencethere was a reasonable view of the evidence to support that Defendant acted recklessly

Defendant next contends that the court should not have submitted the reckless assault count to the jury without a justification charge, Judge Gaffey says in the order. This argument is wholly unpreserved, and as a result, this Court is without power to consider it. Certainly, on appeal, Defendant is free to request that the Appellate Term exercise its interest of justice jurisdiction and reach whether the court should have sua sponte charged justification, or alternatively, whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request such charge.

Finally, the trial evidence was legally sufficient to establish Defendants guilt of harassment in the second degree, he noted. Such evidence clearly established that Defendant subjected Ms. Jabbari to physical contact, and the jury reasonably could have inferred his intent from the conduct and surrounding circumstances.

Wednesdays ruling from Judge Gaffey comes almost a month after the much accused Majors ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari sued him for defamation.

Lawyers for Majors said at the time he would be filing counterclaims, but that doesnt seem to have occurred.

Wednesdays ruling from Judge Gaffey comes almost a month after the much accused Majors ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari sued him for defamation.

Majors, who was arrested in March 2023, was convicted late last year of reckless assault and harassment.

Originally up against a total of four misdemeanour charges, Majors, who pleaded not guilty, was not convicted by the jury of three men and three women of intentional assault in the third degree and of aggravated harassment in the second degree against then-girlfriend Jabbari in the incident over a year ago.

Majors always insisted he never attacked British dancer Jabbari after his girlfriend of almost two years discovered texts from another woman on his phone while the duo were being driven through the NYC night in March 2023.

Attorney Chaudhry said Majors was the actual victim of abuse by Jabbari and racism by the NYPD. Before the trial began, the Magazine Dreams star took Jabbari to court and had the police issue a de facto warrant for her arrest, a move the DAs office shut down quickly.
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Former Bahati Member of Parliament, Kimani Ngunjiri, has poured the dark secrets within President William Rutos UDA, revealing the rot in the presidents party.

Speaking during an interview, Ngunjiri, who has since dumped UDA, revealed that the ruling party is rotten to the core.

Ngunjiri accused the party of shortchanging party loyalists who played a key role in ensuring that Ruto ascended to the presidency in the 2022 general elections in State and party appointments.

I want to say in this media and everybody in Kenya to hear me, I am not in UDA. I will never wear yellow, the former MP noted.

Somebody like me, they were giving people positions, where am I? I was almost dying fighting for UDA.

He further accused UDA of bias, claiming the party dismissed his quest for UDA leadership and instead granted the role to an individual from another party.

As a result, he noted that the UDA Party doesnt deserve him, and might even choose to join Raila Odingas ODM where he will be respected and given what he rightfully deserves.

I have been with Moi and Kibaki, I know the structure of elections I know how leaders should put people together.

"I know how you should get your light on nominations, it did not work, the former legislator noted.

Let me tell you like in Nakuru, they did something where 7 family members were given nominations yet my people got nothing, he added.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, April 4, 2024  A South African woman, Thandeka Ngcongo took to Facebook to narrate how she was allegedly physically assaulted by her boyfriend, Mbongeni Mthembu, who is a police officer.

Yesterday, I was brutally Beaten by my boyfriend, who is a police officer who works at Mpumalanga police station in Hammardale, I didn't get help to open a case. Please help. I need justice for myself, she wrote.

The Provincial Deputy Chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters in KZN, Thobisile Kamlenzeni Nkosi, who confirmed the incident in a post on Facebook, said a case has been opened as the accused officer attached to Hammarsdale Police Station, had been arrested and made his first appearance in court on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

He was released on bail and will appear in court on May 3, 2024.


Thursday, April 4, 2024  The American tourist killed The American tourist killed when a bull elephant flipped over their safari vehicle in Zambia has been identified as an adventurous 79-year-old woman who wanted the trip to be her last big adventure.

Mattson, who was visiting from Minnesota, was pictured the day she was killed on the safari vehicle holding a flower, her grieving family told KSTP.

She was one of six tourists with the group Wilderness Zambia who were out on a game drive Saturday, March 30, in Kafue National Park when they came under attack by the animal.

Terrifying video footage shows the elephant chasing after the safari vehicle moments before it charged the group, tipping the truck over as the guide repeatedly yelled at the creature. The passenger continues to record as the elephant flips the vehicle over.

Family told the outlet that the US Embassy contacted them about her death.

Loved ones described the 79-year-old as kind, adventurous and very active in her community.





She had told us that this safari was going to be her last big adventure, her friend John Longabauth said.

Because her birthday is in the summer  I think she was going to be 80, and she felt like she would start slowing down. To be honest, I dont know if shed slow down or not. But at least you wouldnt be traveling as far, probably.

Mattson split time between living in Minnesota and Arizona, her family said. Her friends in Arizona held a memorial for her following her sudden death.

According to the Safari company, one other guest was hurt and taken to a private medical facility.

The four other tourists on the trip were treated for minor injuries after the violent outburst.

The horrifying incident unfolded at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday during a game drive through Kafue National Park, Wilderness Zambia CEO Keith Vincent said in a statement.

Kafue National Parks management sent a helicopter to evacuate the victims.

This is a tragic event and we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the guest who died. We are also, naturally, supporting those guests and the guide involved in this distressing incident, Vincent said.

The group of tourists had been staying at the luxurious Lufupa Camp in the Kafue National Park, the largest game reserve in Africa. The tour group is making arrangements for Mattsons body to be returned to the US.

Police and other authorities are investigating the incident.


Thursday, April 4, 2024  A lawmaker in California has proposed legislation that would give workers the right to ignore routine job messages outside of work hours.

Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) is introducing a state bill to create a "right-to-disconnect" law that guarantees workers uninterrupted personal and family time, free from calls or messages after work hours.

Assembly Bill 2751 would give workers the right to ignore work communications except in cases of emergencies or schedule changes.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the law would also order workers to create and publish plans to implement the new law into their policies and enable the California Labor Commissioners Office to investigate and fine employers who routinely violate it.

The politician also told the news outlet that the bill would validate California as a "forward-thinking state" and it would follow similar policies in a dozen countries, including France.

If approved, Assembly Bill 2751 "would require a public or private employer to establish a workplace policy that provides employees the right to disconnect from communications from the employer during nonworking hours, except as specified."

This means that, except in cases of an emergency or for scheduling, workers would have the "right to ignore communications from the employer during nonworking hours," according to the text of the bill.

Nonworking hours would be established by a written agreement between the workers and the employer.

If the employer violates the rule, they could face a civil penalty of at least $100, according to the current version of the bill.

California would become the first state in the US to consider such a law.
Thursday, April 4, 2024  Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga yesterday chaired the ODMs Central Committee meetings amid wrangles over who will succeed him as he heads to the African Union.

However, conspicuously missing in the meeting was former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, who is angling to replace Baba in ODM.

Speaking after the meeting, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said Joho is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and sent his apologies for missing the meeting.

We have had a meeting of the central committee, it was full house except with the apologies of deputy party leader Hassan Ali Joho who is in Mecca, said Sifuna.

During the meeting, the committee discussed the ODM grassroots elections, the political parties fund, the ongoing doctors strike, the schools capitation, and the fake fertilizer scandal.

The ODMs top decision-making organ called on the government to release the political parties fund.

The committee also resolved to kick off the party grassroots elections on April 27, 2024, in Kwale Busia and Siaya Counties.

On April 29, 2024, the elections will be held in April Kajiado, Migori, and Wajir followed by April 30, 2024, in Kisii, Vihiga, and Muranga counties.

A further timetable covering the next batch of counties shall be released in due course, ODM stated.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) is now calling for the resignation of three cabinet secretaries over incompetence in running the affairs of their respective ministries.

In a statement on Wednesday, NCCK said CSs Susan Nakhumicha(health), Mithinka Linturi( Agriculture) and Kipchumba Murkomen (Roads and Transport) should resign since they have failed in their ministries.

NCCK Nairobi region chairman Alphonse Kanga said Nakhumicha has caused wanton suffering to Kenyans by being unable to handle the ongoing doctors strike.

If I was the minister of health by this time either if one person dies in some countries because there is something wrong it is either she fixes it or steps out it is simple, said Dr Kanga.

On Linturi, Kanga said the minister has failed the country over the spread of fake fertilizer in the country.

Kanga said Kipchumba Murkomen on his side has failed to tame increasing road carnage that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Kenyans in the last few months.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Last month, a Kenyan lady took to social media to expose her marital woes after her husband, who is a pilot, eloped with a lady identified as Grace Masila in their matrimonial home.

She travelled to her parents home in Tanzania after she had a marital dispute with her husband, only for Grace to move into her matrimonial home.

How do you shamelessly move into my home 1 week after my kids and I travel to Dar es Salaam. What's wrong with you. You think you can move into a home I have built with sweat and tears for 4 years, she ranted.

The disgruntled lady has resurfaced and revealed that she has given up on her troubled marriage.

She revealed that she left her matrimonial home to her husbands girlfriend, Grace.

She can have him, the house and the life, she said during a question and answer session with her followers.

She will soon find out why I left, she added.

She also vowed that she will never fall in love with a pilot again.

See the screenshots below.





















Below are photos of the lady who wrecked her marriage and eloped with her husband in their matrimonial home.





















The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Thursday, April 4, 2024  Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah is now living in fear after unknown people raided and attacked people at his village home in Kwangamor Village, Busia County.

Confirming the incident that has left him badly shaken, Omtatah noted that he was not at home at the time, as he had travelled to Nairobi on Tuesday evening.

I was told at around 3:00 am by my brother, who I stay in the same compound with, that his wife was accosted by a group of men who demanded to know where I was, Omtatah stated.

They beat her up, and kept pacing around the compound shouting they will kill her.

The incident, which occurred in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, left the sister-in-law nursing major tissue injuries.

She was subsequently rushed to a local mission hospital where she was treated and discharged.

The doctors recommended a further check-up on Thursday.

They did not steal or damage anything in the compound, but the police are on the case to know what exactly happened, Omtatah added.

On March 22, the Activist survived yet another attack after a group of armed goons trailed his car while he was leaving the court premises in Busia.

The Senator was forced to seek refuge at Busia Agricultural Training College (ATC) which is heavily guarded by Administration Police, after youths from the trailing vehicle started pelting stones at him.

Police later arrived at the premises and escorted him home. Omtatah was working on a case against the county before the attack.

"I was not injured, they only damaged the vehicle, Probox, which has a strong body. The vehicle emerged from the incident with minor dents. The stones did not hit the windows, Omtatah noted at the time.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is inches away from becoming the African Union Commission Chairperson, following President William Ruto's visit to Ghana.

Speaking on Wednesday during the Kenya-Ghana Joint Media Briefing at Jubilee House, Accra, Ruto thanked President Akuffo-Addo for agreeing to support Railas AU candidature.

Your excellency, my dear brother, I thank you most sincerely for accepting to support Kenyas candidature for the position of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (2025-2028), which has been initiated following a comprehensive Stakeholder engagement process across government, said Ruto.

He noted that Kenya will in turn support Ghanas candidature for the Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

On our part, I have assured His Excellency that Kenya will support the Republic of Ghana for the candidature of Hon Shirley Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, for the position of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth for the period 2024-2029. Excellency, this presents an opportunity for Kenya and Ghana to collaborate, Ruto added.

Raila is eyeing the seat to replace incumbent AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad for the elections scheduled for February 2025.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, April 4, 2024  The recipient of the world's first pig kidney transplant is out of the hospital after a medical milestone.

Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old Weymouth man, received the world's first genetically edited pig kidney transplant. He's now recovering at home with his family.

Slayman was discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital about two weeks after the successful transplant.

"This moment  leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health I've had in a long time  is one I wished would come for many years," Slayman said in a statement. "Now, it's a reality and one of the happiest moments of my life."

"It was such a joyful day for all of us," Dr. Leonardo Riella, the hospital's medical director for kidney transplantation, told NBC10 Boston.

He says this gives hope to thousands of patients in need.

"Unfortunately, there are not enough kidneys out there," he said. "This would be a huge hope for them to receive a kidney in a timely manner before they get too sick to actually get a kidney transplant  which is the best treatment for kidney disease."

Slayman had a kidney transplant in 2018 but had to go back on dialysis last year when it showed signs of failure.

"We were confident that we may create a new opportunity for patients," Dr Riella said. "It could be seen as a bridge, meaning that this transplant will get them and keep them healthy until they get a human kidney, or even, in the future, that this will be a permanent solution."

One of the transplant surgeons on the team believes the pig kidney will work for at least two years.

Riella says doctors will follow up with Slayman twice a week with blood tests to monitor his new kidney.

"This just gives us so much joy, because ultimately, this is what we wanted to do, is give him back the life that he used to have and provide him with a quality of life that he deserves," Riella said.
Thursday, April 4, 2024- Veteran Kenyan comedian Walter Mongare alias Nyambane has been sacked from the Foreign Ministry.

This was announced by Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, Dr. Korir Singoei, who said on Wednesday night that Nyambane is no longer the Director of Programmes, Advocacy, and Outreach of the Ministry.

"This is to inform you that Walter Onchonga Mongare Director of Programmes (Advocacy and Outreach) is no longer authorized to act in any capacity on behalf of the State Department or myself," Korir said in the memo seen by Citizen Digital.

Singoei subsequently urged the department heads to refrain from conducting any official business with Mong'are.

"This is, therefore, to instruct you to refrain, with immediate effect, from any official interactions and/or engagement with Mr...Mongare," said Korir in the memo copied to Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi.

It was not clear why Nyambane was sacked at night.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - President William Ruto has suffered a major blow after former Bahati Member of Parliament, Kimani Ngunjiri, ditched the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

In an interview with Spice FM on Wednesday, Ngunjiri clarified that he is no longer associated with the ruling party.

"I'm here to tell the truth. You know, if you wanted to know exactly the truth, I was a candidate.

"And I want to say in these media and for everybody in Kenya to hear me that I'm not in UDA.

"I'll never wear yellow anymore," Ngunjiri said.

Ngunjiri claimed UDA shortchanged his constituency by allegedly nominating seven close relatives of the Nakuru governor.

"Because I've been with Moi and Kibaki, and I know the election structure.

"I know how people should put people together.

"I know how you should get your right to the nomination.

"It did not work. In Nakuru, seven families of the governor were nominated, but in Bahati, no one was nominated," he claimed.

The outspoken lawmaker said he would continue supporting Ruto, but in 2027, he will vie under a different political party.

"I will support the president. I will go on independent or any other party, but not in UDA. It's a big problem ahead of us," he stated.

He accused the president of overlooking him in government appointments, yet he worked hard to deliver for the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Thursday, April 4, 2024  Siaya Governor James Orengo has received a huge blow.

This is after veteran Journalist Benjamin Agina quit his position as the Director of Orengo's Press Service.

Agina confirmed his departure in a phone call, citing personal reasons but declined to expound.

"Yes, it is true. I have left for personal reasons and if they are personal, then they are personal," he firmly stated.

Agina was appointed to the position in October 2022 alongside former Government Spokesperson Colonel (retired) Cyrus Oguna who is serving as Orengo's Chief of Staff.

I have nominated for appointment the following persons to serve in my office with immediate effect in the specified positions subject to the conduct of suitability tests, the Governor forwarded a list of nominees at the time which included Agina's name.

Agina, a respected communications expert, served as a journalist with an 8-year stint at the Standard Media Group as an investigative reporter.

He later transitioned to British High Commission in Kenya where he served as a political advisor for three years before heading to GlaxoSmithKline as the government affairs head.

Between 2021 and August 2022, Agina provided consultancy services to both the private and public sectors before landing a job in the Siaya County Government.

The resignation comes a year after wrangles rocked Orengos office following the governor's fallout with his deputy William Oduol.

Oduol lamented that some forces within the county's executive were working against him therefore alienating him from county functions.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Last month, the daughters of Wendy Miller, a 68-year-old author of three bestselling books about her experience with dementia, posted online her final words: In the end, I died simply by deciding not to eat or drink anymore.

Her stark statement reminded me of my interviews with Dan Winter, 62, which had begun nine months before he, too, took his own life. Alzheimers disease was slowly disassembling Dans rich and complex personality, and he, like Wendy, remained determined to actively decide how and when to die. Dan had witnessed a parent slowly tumble down the rabbit hole of dementia and resolved not to follow that example.

Given a choice, he and Wendy would have preferred to rely on medical assistance in dying (MAiD), but that method isnt available in the U.K. where she lived, while in the 10 American states and the District of Columbia that have passed death with dignity laws these effectively exempt people with dementias. They mainly do this by requiring patients to have a prognosis of 6 months or less to live, and it is the rare person with dementia who still retains mental capacity when they reach that point.

Dan appreciated that most Americans with neurodegenerative disorders want their lives to be maximally prolonged, even if it involves years in which they can no longer care for themselves, recognize loved ones, or be able to crack a joke and laugh. He would never have tried to talk somebody out of the idea of letting Alzheimers do its thing. He recognized that there are plenty of folk who think, Gee whiz! Grandma seems really happy staring out her window or watching television all day long.

Dan explained to me that he hoped the people with dementias who want to foreshorten life ought to freely have access to information about all the available methodsbe it a DIY overdose, withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging treatments, palliative sedation, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED), or spelling out in a directive that they dont want to be fed if they cease evincing interest in eating. He believed that people should be able to make plans in advance and openly discuss their wishes with loved ones.

I admired Dan for candidly articulating his viewpoint, and I never doubted his mental capacity to make decisions. He fully subscribed to Rebecca Solnits comment: The self is also a creation, the principal work of your life, the crafting of which makes everyone an artist. As Dans disease progressed, he intermittently got lost in space and time and experienced the erasure of his bold creation of a self. Dans suffering was existential and excruciating.

But Dan also understood that the notion of hastening ones death is a taboo subject, and it requires juggling complex issues like the sanctity of life, ageism, and the innate rights of people with cognitive disorders.

There is a small body of research concerning fates worse than death. It includes a study of older outpatients, where 89 percent of subjects endorsed they would decline life-saving treatments if these resulted in severe cognitive impairment. In another study involving hospitalized patients, the majority of respondents identified six conditions as bad as or worse than death, including being bed-bound, permanently dependent on others to function, irreversibly unable to swallow, and having the experience of constant confusion. 13 years into Alzheimers, Dans father had all of them.

Wendy and Dan are hardly the only people who have decided to actively truncate dementia. Others include Sandra Bem, Gillian Bennett, John LHeureux, Janet Adkins, Cheryl Hiebert, Gayle Garlock, Annie Zwijnenberg, Brian Ameche, John Strong Macauley Smith, Ruth Oppenheim, Wayne Briese, Cheryl Hauser, and Hugo Clause.

Each woman and man on this list chose to preemptively die. Preemptively because their neurodegenerative diseases would have sooner or later resulted in their demise. Some sought a medical professionals assistance and went so far as to travel to another country where the process of MAiD is legal; some acquired and ingested lethal substances by themselvesan approach that the Hemlock Society used to promote.

Janet Adkins was the first patient attended to by Dr. Jack Kevorkian. The original Dr. Death did not have a problem with ending the suffering of a woman who was deteriorating from Alzheimers. Sandra Bem, a psychologist, found dementia to be intolerable and decided to die with the support of her husband and friends. Bem relied on a barbiturate overdose. Hugo Clause, a celebrated author and poet, arranged to be euthanized by his physician. In a moving tribute, the former prime minister of Belgium said, I can live with the fact that he decided thus, because he left us as a great glowing star, right on time, just before he would have collapsed into a stellar black hole.

Dan was prepared to ingest a carefully assembled cache of medications before he, too, descended into a black hole. But he altered the plan when family members expressed their concern about his imminent suicide. Although Dan did not believe this was the appropriate word for the action he was considering, he understood that his kinfolk might not accept the distinction. He hoped that a more natural death by relying on VSED would potentially be more acceptable. He knew that dehydration was not going to be an especially rapid or easy way to die, but he told me, There are a couple in the [Winter] crew who still identify as Catholic, and theres no key to heaven for people who suicide.

He died 13 days later.

Before beginning her own fast, Wendy Miller wrote: The only legal choice we shouldnt have in life is when to be born; for everything else, we, as humans, should have a choice; a choice of how we live and a choice of how we die. She and Dan wished that existing and future MAiD bills and protocols would be liberalized to no longer exclude dementia. I, too, hope this method will become an option.

Lewis Cohen is a psychiatrist and author of Winters End: Dementia and Dying Well.
In recent years, malpractice attorneys have intensified their efforts to target physicians, becoming more aggressive in their pursuit of legal action. This relentless pursuit can be likened to Captain Ahabs relentless quest for the white whale in the famous novel Moby Dick. The landscape has become increasingly challenging for physicians, as recent tort reform legislation in numerous states is rolling back the protections they once enjoyed. This unsettling trend underscores the critical importance of having a comprehensive compliance system in place.

With fewer regulatory safeguards available, physicians must now take proactive measures to safeguard their practice and protect their assets. A robust compliance system is essential in navigating the evolving legal landscape and mitigating the risks associated with malpractice claims. By implementing effective compliance measures, physicians can enhance their ability to defend against allegations, minimize the potential for legal action, and ultimately, safeguard the integrity of their practice.

The need for such a system has never been more critical than it is now, given the changing legal climate and increasing polarization and politicization of health care. These trends have increased the aggressiveness of malpractice attorneys. Physicians should view a compliance system as an indispensable tool that enables them to navigate the complex legal terrain with confidence and protect their professional reputation and financial well-being.

Gone are the days when physicians could enjoy regulatory safeguards through a states medical licensing board or medical society. These provisions, once the gatekeepers of administrative due process, are now hollow shields, serving more as platforms to enhance legal scrutiny on physicians rather than protecting them. The numbers bear this out.

In 2023, we saw a total of 57 medical malpractice verdicts in the United States exceeding $10 million. Over half of these cases reached or surpassed a sum of $25 million.

A review by TransRe revealed that between 2012 and 2022, verdicts equaling or exceeding $10 million increased from just 34 payouts of $10 million to a peak of 52 in the last recorded year of 2022.

Historically, such substantial verdicts, known somewhat crassly as mega payouts, were usually concentrated in states such as New York, Illinois, and Florida. However, Robert E. White Jr., president of TDC Group and The Doctors Company (a national medical liability insurer for physicians), noted an unexpected emergence of colossal verdicts from regions like Utah and Georgiastates where they had once been considered rare.

Mr. White attributes this shift partially to widespread rollbacks on tort reforms throughout multiple jurisdictions across the nation. State-led judicial reviews in higher courts have challenged the legality of financial restrictions applied on noneconomic damages claimed in medical malpractice verdicts, and as a result, such restrictions have been declared unconstitutional. Even in physician-friendly states like Utah, though financial caps remain on noneconomic damages, significant sums are still allotted in certain instances of malpractice verdicts, particularly related to wrongful death cases.

This trend coincides with systemic shifts in how malpractice cases are adjudicated in the state. In a landmark decision made by Utahs Supreme Court in 2019, a provision concerning its pre-litigation panel process was struck down, eliminating a crucial stop-gap in the burgeoning floodgate of physician litigation in the state.

Physicians, even in states with favorable legislation, have fewer safeguards available and are now increasingly left to fend for themselves. The strongest defense remains a robust compliance system. Clinical documentation and a framework for regulatory oversight of clinical care are the two strongest pieces of evidence a physician can produce. Most legal arguments against physicians speculate harm or deviations in clinical practice in the gaps in care management. A compliance system fills those gaps.

While colossal judgments are rarely sustained, they provoke long-lasting repercussions on forthcoming claims and remain enshrined in a physicians claims history. These awards serve as legal bellwethers and instigate more substantial settlement demands from future claimants. Moreover, they augment the expense of settling disputes down the road for similar claims.

Such verdicts become benchmarks against which all future settlements are gauged. The legal perils associated with mounting a defense against such potential astronomical rulings can dissuade insurers from even contesting certain malpractice lawsuits, consequently compelling them to propose more generous settlements as a strategic move to avoid courtroom proceedings.

This legal maneuvering, while seemingly rational, escalates the trend toward massive verdicts. But legal proceedings arent the only reason for this. Public sentiment has significantly been affected due to heightened frustrations stemming from pandemic-related challenges faced by societies worldwide. Divisive issues such as mask mandates or vaccine efficacies seem to have fuelled this collective ire. Initially, everyone celebrated health care professionals who were perceived akin to heroes due to their pivotal roles in frontline services through challenging times.

That celebratory perception has dwindled to the point of now being outright adversarial at times. This collectively fueled anger directed toward the health care system manifests itself most poignantly in liability suits. Jurors often see themselves as righting societal wrongs in health care by making examples out of physicians.

A compliance system allows physicians to clearly defend their actions to jurors who otherwise wouldnt be dissuaded by more clinically erudite arguments. It simplifies the art of clinical care into a system of checks and balances, protocols, and procedures so that anyone, regardless of their political persuasion or education, can see what the physician is doing and understand his or her rationale.

In an era where the legal tides have turned health care into a political referendum of personal belief, emotions carry an outsized influence. Sometimes just appearing relatable is the best argument. Recognizing how physicians appear in court and, most importantly, to the judicial bench and jurors is an essential aspect of crafting a viable legal defense.

A compliance system is the modern equivalent of a Rosetta stone, translating the clinical complexities of medical decision-making into something palatable for the courts. People appreciate what they can understand, and they tend to sympathize with what they understand.

That alone might be the most compelling rationale for why you should upgrade your compliance system.

Jay K. Joshi is a family physician and author of Burden of Pain: A Physicians Journey through the Opioid Epidemic. He is also the editor-in-chief of Daily Remedy, which is on Facebook, YouTube, X @TheDailyRemedy, Instagram @TheDailyRemedy_official, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Daily Remedy was founded in 2020. It has quickly transformed into a trusted source of editorialized health care content for patients and health care policy experts. Readership includes federal policymakers and physician executives who lead the largest health care systems in the nation.

Ron Chapman II is a federal criminal defense attorney.
The healing potential of human interaction should always be considered, particularly when practicing medicine. Early in my medical career, I worked in the electromyography laboratory at Charity Hospital, Louisiana State University. During my time there, I saw an astonishing variety of patients. Among other things, we were the hospital of choice for the nearby Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, or The Alcatraz of the South. This prison was infamous for housing violent offenders.

I was still a somewhat inexperienced doctor the day I watched correctional officers bring this imposing man into my clinic. He was robust, muscular, and shackled from his neck down to his ankles. I watched, astonished, as it took the officers minutes to fully unbind him. Then, adding to my growing unease, they left me alone with him. By law, the correctional officers had to wait outside the room while I examined the prisoner. Unfortunately, it was my job to stick him with needles and administer other intrusive diagnostics to evaluate him. I noticed I was sweating as I set up the medical instruments. My hands were also shaking. However, surprisingly, I also noticed his hands were sweaty as well. Will this hurt, doc? he asked in a profound yet fragile voice. I do not like needles, he added.

I looked up into his face with a jerk, unable to disguise my surprise. In my minds eye, I saw him looking back at me, growing angry and trying to make some desperate attempt to escape. Instead, I found him watching me with evident anxiety, the same as I might see in many other patients. His unease may have been augmented by very overt apprehension. But I found myself placing my trembling hand on his for comfort. It will hurt, I said, but not much, I reassured him.

The man took a deep breath, half a sigh of relief and half steeling himself. Unexpectedly, he shared, I killed somebody, and Thats the reason Im in Angola. My mouth went dry. I did not know how to respond. What could you say to that? I focused on the tests I was administering. Regardless of the unusual circumstances, I was finding it impossible to see this man as anything other than another patient. He was a nervous human being waiting for the needle. I wondered what circumstances he must have been in so that committing murder seemed necessary. His willingness to expose his fears increased my empathy for his situation.

As I spent more time in the lab during that period, I found that my work resulted in more of these atypical interactions and related introspections. Perhaps there was something about the fact that the work required physical touch. Also, the fact that many of the patients were unexpectedly afraid and felt better by sharing their feelings. They took this opportunity with me, a stranger, to show vulnerability and share their most profound burdens, perhaps because they considered a doctor to be a non-judgmental player.

As a health care professional, I have listened to countless stories from my patients. However, I must admit that at times, their stories leave me in disbelief, at times, in awe. Its incredible how much we can learn and appreciate about the people around us when they open up and share their experiences. Perspective is everything, and learning about someones struggles and history provides a fantastic focus on appreciation. I often wonder, as I pass people on the street, about their stories and what roads they have traveled to be at the places they are at the moment.

The doctor-patient relationship is a unique bond built on trust, confidentiality, respect, and empathy. Patients often feel comfortable sharing their deepest concerns and fears with their health care providers, which can foster an atmosphere of honesty and openness in the relationship. Several factors contribute to this dynamic, including doctors being trained to listen well and provide compassionate patient care. Additionally, patients may feel relieved knowing they can speak freely without fear of judgment or reprisal, perhaps for the first time in their lives.

This level of trust and vulnerability can be humbling and rewarding for health care providers, as they can provide support and guidance to those who need it most. Ultimately, the doctor-patient relationship is an essential aspect of health care, and it plays a crucial role in promoting healing and well-being for patients and their families.

In todays world, technology is advancing rapidly, and medicine is no exception. While technology has undoubtedly brought many benefits and improvements to the medical field, one must ask whether we are losing the art of medicine through a significant increase in the pace of medical care. The art of medicine is solidly based on the human connection between the patient and the doctor, considering the patients unique circumstances and needs.

As technology and automated diagnostic capabilities become more prevalent in the medical field, it is essential to remember the importance of the human element in medicine. While technology can significantly impact diagnosis and treatment, the value of human interaction and empathy should be recognized. Doctors must remember that they treat a patient with a disease. By maintaining the art of medicine, we can ensure that patients receive the best care possible and that doctors can connect with their patients on a deeper level.

Francisco M. Torres is an interventional physiatrist specializing in diagnosing and treating patients with spine-related pain syndromes. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Pain Medicine and can be reached at Florida Spine Institute and Wellness.
Mr Jacob Markson Oboth has assumed office as the new Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs (MODVA).

He takes over the office from Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja following a recent cabinet reshuffle by President Museveni, the Commander in Chief of the armed forces on the March 21, 2024.

The handover ceremony happened at the MODVA Headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala.

Additionally, Ms Sarah Nyirabashitsi Mateke assumed office as the new Minister of State for Defence and Veterans Affairs, a role that was previously held by Oleru Huda.

Speaking at the hand over ceremony, Oboth expressed commitment to implementing the core values of the Defence Ministry.

We have a mandate to do the work under Article 208 and 209 of the UPDF Act, look at the Defence policy and more so, importantly, our role should be at all times to establish the Commander in Chiefs intent through the directives he gives and through consultations, he noted.
A County Kilkenny nursing home slated for closure in the coming weeks has become the focus of a groundswell of community support to stay open.



Since the news emerged, last week, that the Aperee Living nursing home in Callan is to move all residents to other facilities there has been shock in the town and among staff of the home.



Last Friday, staff gathered at the gates of the home, formerly known as Strathmore Lodge, in a protest aimed at seeking answers on several issues from the current HSE management and from directors of Aperee Living. A community petition has also been started, calling for the facility to stay open, for the sake of the residents. (You can find the petition here: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/don-t-close-apperee-living-in-callan-co-kilkenny-aka-strathmore-lodge )

At Fridays protest, staff of the Aperee Living nursing home said they are looking for answers from the directors of Aperee Living and the HSE, who stepped in to manage the home last November.



They said staff members are unhappy with the lack of information currently available to them concerning possible redundancy payments and are also calling for all efforts to be made to keep the home open and residents in Callan.



A statement from the HSE, last Tuesday, said the 40-plus residents were being moved because it is at a point where we can no longer safely provide care to residents in this facility. Staff have asked the HSE to clarify this as they say the word unsafe reflects badly on them. It has not gone down well with the community or staff one staff member said.



Necessary fire safety works, as required by HIQA, are 70% complete according to staff and the final phase was due to start on the day of the protest.



Family members of the residents have also expressed their unhappiness.

Our family found out through social media about the closure of the nursing home. A letter telling of the closure was left on a table in the bedroom of my elderly father who has dementia, one woman told the Kilkenny People.

She described the ordeal as showing zero respect for their staff, their patients and their families.



Members of the wider Callan community, along with former staff of the home and family members of residents, joined with the staff in a show of support on Friday morning. One former staff member, who had worked there for nine years, said it was heartbreaking.



The Kilkenny People has seen a letter from Aperee Living director Paul Kingston to the staff, sent last January, in which it says: Our intention is to keep Aperee Living Callan open into the future and remain part of the Callan community.

Staff from the nursing home hope to meet with Mr Kingston next week.

Residents of the nursing home will begin moving to other care facilities this week.
St Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny took in more than 360,000 as a result of parking charges in 2023, the Kilkenny People can reveal.

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed the total income from parking in St Lukes in 2023 was 360,466.91.

A spokesperson for Ireland East Hospital Group said that management at St Lukes are 'very aware' of the financial implications of these parking costs for patients and families, but that the income generated goes towards providing car park spaces at the hospital.

Hospitals introduced car-parking charges in order to manage the demand for car parking at each hospital, the spokesperson explained.

The income generated from these car-parking fees covers the cost of providing these services, such as the initial capital cost of purchasing or renting parking areas, the cost of developing extra parking spaces, the need to provide and upgrade security systems, providing staffing and general maintenance of these car parks.

Management in St Lukes are very aware of the financial implications of these parking costs for patients and their families, particularly for those with long-term and chronic illnesses.

St Lukes have had a maximum daily fixed parking charge of 4 for a number of years and reduced rates and/or concessions for patients with long-term and chronic illnesses inclusive of their families and visitors, for whom this payment of the full rate would cause hardship.

Management in St Lukes General Hospital acknowledges that there has been a significant increase in demand for parking in the hospital, the spokesperson added. The hospital provides a large number of spaces. However, the car park is usually at capacity during morning and visiting times for patients.

As a result, management in the hospital are encouraging people to use public transport if travelling to the hospital for an appointment. If driving is necessary, please give yourself plenty of time and allow for delays in getting parking at the hospital, he advised.

The hospital is constantly looking at potential overflow car parking spaces to help alleviate the demands on the car park. A reminder to the public that other car parks are available within walking distance of the hospital.
There has been a significant increase in investment fraud in Ireland that has seen 25 million euro stolen from people last year.

Gardai said that a total of 25,360,000 was reported stolen in 2023, which is almost equal to the same amounts stolen in 2021 and 2022 (14 million euro and 11.5 million euro respectively).

In the first two months of this year, over 55 people have reported investment fraud, double the number of reports in January and February last year.

People are being advised to be alert to criminals posing as investment managers and trying to fool someone into investing money in schemes and projects that do not exist.

Gardai said that sophisticated criminals are taking advantage during the cost-of-living crisis by cloning webpages and targeting victims through online and social media adverts by promising once in a lifetime opportunities to instantly invest with fast and large financial returns.

It said over 965 people have reported incidents of investment fraud to Gardai in the four-year period from January 2020.

Increasingly the victims are male; last year 69% of victims were male and the vast majority of those affected are over 40.

In May 2023, a man in his 40s clicked on a social media link advertising investment opportunities and entered contact details. He was later contacted by phone from a person purporting to be from a reputable financial institution about purchasing bank bonds and was defrauded of 100,000 euro.

During 2023, a man in his 60s reported that he had been contacted online about investing with a British financial institution and then had 300,000 euro stolen after transferring funds.

Gardai said that in January 2024, a man in his 70s based in the east of Ireland reported that he had over 190,000 euro stolen after he invested the money in what he thought was a legitimate British company.

Earlier this year, a man in his 50s had 121,000 euro stolen through investment fraud.

The victim understood that he was legitimately engaged in online trading and was communicating with someone online who had encouraged him into it.

Gardai said this was a particularly sophisticated crime as the victim had access to an online trading app and believed that he could see his funds being traded  but the app itself was fake.

Gardai have urged the public not to respond to pop-up or social media ads or messages with claims about investment returns and to ignore unsolicited cold calls about investments.

They also asked people not to invest until they get reliable financial and legal advice and to check the regulatory status of companies via the Central Bank of Ireland website.

Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau said: People are always going to be attracted to the promise of big profits.

That is why these sophisticated, fraudulent investments are on the rise.

Those affected by this type of crime are ordinary people who really unfortunately can lose their life savings, nest eggs or a retirement lump sum.

Investment fraud can quite easily happen, the fraudster will sound convincing and claim to have insider knowledge but they are following a well-rehearsed script, theyre prepared for potential questions and they tend to be excellent actors.

They may purport to be working with a reputable firm and may even quote authorisation numbers or give the real address of a legitimate firm but this is all a (ploy).

I strongly encourage anyone who has been a victim in the past or who has more recently become a victim of investment fraud to please come forward and speak with us in any Garda station.
The water supply in an area of north Kilkenny has been described as deplorable at times, by a local councillor.



Speaking at the March meeting of the Castlecomer municipal district councillors, Cllr Mary Hilda Cavanagh called for action to improve the public water supply in the Johnstown area.

In all my career as a politician this is the most frustrating issue I have had to deal with, Cllr Cavangh expressed her frustration with the ongoing issues.



The Fine Gael councillor who is based in the Crosspatrick area, also expressed her frustration with Uisce Eireann (formerly Irish Water).

They dont liaise with us, she said, adding that Uisce Eireann dont need to investigate the issues in Johnstown because the people who live there are constantly telling them they have low pressure in their supply.

Booster Pumps

Cllr Cavangh said the local people are asking for booster pumps to strengthen the pressure in their water supply, especially in the Donoghmore area.



She went on to say that now there is a fear in the area that when residents move into the new houses in the area the water pressure will get lower again. Cllr Cavanagh asked that the council write to Uisce Eireann in support of her demands.



Cllr Michael McCarthy said he agreed wholeheartedly. He described the water condition in the area as deplorable adding that the pressure is atrocious at times.
Are you counting on a public pension and Social Security? Perhaps you had two careers. In one job, you were a government employee whose earnings were exempt from the Social Security payroll tax . You also worked in the private sector, paying into the Social Security system. When you retire, you'll get your public pension , but don't count on getting your full Social Security benefit.

Under federal law, any Social Security benefits you earned will be reduced if you were a federal, state or local government employee who earned a pension on wages that Social Security did not cover. Reductions also apply to Social Security spousal or survivor benefits claimed by government pensioners.

The public pension "penalty"

David Walrath, a California Retired Teachers Association lobbyist, says many government employees don't realize their Social Security will be squeezed until they apply. "People will get their annual statement with a benefit number, but they're not told they're subject to an offset," says Walrath, with the consulting firm of Murdoch, Walrath & Holmes, in Sacramento, California.

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The two rules that cover government employees are the "windfall elimination provision" (WEP) and the "government pension offset" (GPO). The WEP applies to workers, and the GPO applies to government pensioners who are applying for Social Security spousal and survivor benefits.

If you have ever worked in a job not covered by Social Security, you need to become familiar with the two rules. While some federal, state and local employees have paid into Social Security, others have not. Also, if your Social Security statement lists $0 for years you worked for a government agency, that's an indication you may be subject to the two rules.

"The WEP and GPO provisions were initially designed to address perceived inequities in the Social Security system regarding individuals who received both a government pension and Social Security benefits based on other employment," Michele Walthert, Managing Director & Head of Advisor Success at Wealthspire Advisors tells Kiplinger. "However, they can disproportionately affect certain groups, such as individuals who worked in both the public and private sectors over their careers (State and local government employees, including teachers, firefighters, and police officers tend to be among those most affected by the WEP and GPO)."

Windfall elimination provision

First, let's look at the windfall elimination provision (WEP). To understand how the WEP works, you need to know how Social Security calculates benefits. Social Security looks at the average monthly earnings for the years a person paid into the system. Benefits are intended to replace a percentage of a worker's pre-retirement earnings. Lower-income workers get a larger percentage of their earnings replaced than higher-income workers.

Until the mid-1980s, the Social Security Administration used a formula that treated government employees, who may have contributed to the system for only a few years, as low-wage workers. As a result, public employees received a disproportionately large Social Security benefit  plus their government pension. In 1983, Congress ended this so-called windfall.

Under the windfall elimination provision, Social Security benefits for workers (and eligible family members) are reduced if the worker receives a pension based on earnings from employment not covered by Social Security. However, the WEP includes a guarantee that this reduction in benefits can never exceed more than one-half of the noncovered pension, or the maximum monthly reduction limit for 2024, which is $587. You can use a WEP calculator at www.socialsecurity.gov to figure out how the WEP will impact your benefits specifically.

Additionally, the windfall provision does not apply to government pensioners who have paid into the Social Security system for 30 years or longer. Nor does it apply to workers who receive a military pension or a private pension.

Government pension offset

A government pensioner who applies for a spousal or survivor benefit based on his or her spouse's Social Security earnings record will also face cuts thanks to the government pension offset (GPO). Typically, a spousal benefit is about 50% of a husband or wife's benefit if that's more than the spouse would receive based on his or her work record. A survivor generally receives 100% of a deceased spouse's benefit.

But if the government pension offset applies, your Social Security spousal or survivor benefit will be reduced by two-thirds of your government pension. For example, if an individual receives a monthly noncovered pension of $900, two-thirds of that amount (or $600) is deducted from his or her Social Security spousal benefit. And if two-thirds of your government pension is more than your Social Security benefit, your benefit could be brought down to zero.

Survivor and spousal benefits

Patricia Kohlen got hit by both the "windfall elimination provision" (WEP) and the "government pension offset" (GPO). Kohlen paid into a public pension system for 28 years when she worked as an elementary school teacher in Atascadero, Cal. She also worked part-time as a secretary and paid Social Security taxes through that job.

Just before Kohlen retired with a disability in 2003, her statement showed that she was due $247 a month in Social Security disability payments. At that time, the windfall provision reduced the payments to $108 a month. Her monthly teacher's pension was $1,930.

But the big shock came when she asked the Social Security Administration about a survivor benefit after her husband, Kenneth, died at age 62 in 2006. A retired college professor, Kenneth was getting a Social Security benefit of $1,406 a month, plus a private pension of $4,000 a month.

Widows and widowers are typically eligible for a Social Security survivor benefit that's 100% of the deceased spouse's benefit. However, because of the formula used to calculate the government pension offset, Kohlen was told she would receive nothing when she became eligible for a survivor benefit.

The earliest a survivor can apply for a benefit is age 60, six years before full retirement. A survivor benefit is reduced by 28.5% if a widow or widower applies that early. If Kohlen had applied at 60, as she had hoped, the survivor benefit would have been reduced to $1,005, from Kenneth's monthly $1,406 benefit. Then the GPO would kick in. At the time, Kohlen's teacher pension was a little less than $1,900. Two-thirds of $1,900 is $1,266. Because $1,266 is larger than $1,005, she was not eligible for a Social Security survivor benefit at age 60.

Kohlen said she and Kenneth had been counting on his Social Security payments. "He paid into Social Security for 49 years, and I feel, as a widow, that I am entitled to that money," she says. "It's just so terribly unfair."

The same goes for spousal benefits. Assume your wife receives a $2,000 Social Security payment each month. You want to take a $1,000 spousal benefit. If your public pension is $1,200, your spousal benefit would be reduced to $200. (That's $1,000 minus $800, which is two-thirds of $1,200.)

"Despite their importance, many government employees may not fully comprehend the implications of these provisions until they are nearing retirement age," shares Walthert. "This lack of awareness can lead to unexpected financial strain during retirement, especially if they had been planning based on the assumption of receiving full Social Security benefits. Given the complexity of these regulations, seeking guidance from a financial advisor or Social Security representative becomes crucial. By understanding the intricacies of the WEP and GPO, individuals can make informed decisions about their retirement planning, ensuring a more stable financial future."



How to minimize the impact of the WEP and GPO

Use these strategies to mitigate the impacts of the WEP:

Work longer at a job that pays into Social Security: After 20 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, the effect of the WEP gets smaller by 10% each year. And after 30 years, the WEP doesnt apply. Consider working even just part-time at a job that pays into Social Security after you reach full retirement age.

After 20 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, the effect of the WEP gets smaller by 10% each year. And after 30 years, the WEP doesnt apply. Consider working even just part-time at a job that pays into Social Security after you reach full retirement age. Delay claiming Social Security: While this won't lessen the WEP impact, it will boost your overall Social Security benefit.

While this won't lessen the WEP impact, it will boost your overall Social Security benefit. Anticipate the WEP when retirement planning: Thoroughly understanding how the WEP will affect your benefits can help you plan appropriately for retirement. Use the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) Online Calculator to get started.

Use these strategies to mitigate the impacts of the GPO:

Use the last 60-month rule: You can avoid the GPO altogether by utilizing the last 60-month rule, which requires that you pay taxes on your earnings during the last 60 months of government service.

You can avoid the GPO altogether by utilizing the last 60-month rule, which requires that you pay taxes on your earnings during the last 60 months of government service. Maximize covered work credits: If possible, increase the amount of time you work in a job that pays into Social Security to accumulate more substantial earnings and credits, which can help lessen the impact of the GPO.

If possible, increase the amount of time you work in a job that pays into Social Security to accumulate more substantial earnings and credits, which can help lessen the impact of the GPO. Consider other retirement plans: If you know you'll be greatly impacted by the GPO, use alternative methods to invest and save for retirement, like contributing to an IRA account or a 403(b) retirement plan.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this article was published in the August 2010 issue of Kiplinger's Retirement Report.
Recently the PPTA begged parents to be far more supportive of teachers and schools re the skyrocketing rates of stand-downs in NZ schools ( stand downs up 18% 2023 to 22,000). I agree to a significant degree that parenting is a huge factor in the behaviours of students  or at least those turning up  in our schools. I do not believing parenting skills have declined by 18% so something else must be going on.

Today the PPTA were in the news again. This time bagging David Seymour for suggesting parents might be fined for absent kids and that children with a sniffle should come to school. I happen to agree that both of those proposals have problematic aspects.

But then  PPTA President Abercrombie  outlined all kinds of family based reasons for kids not attending school.

The PPTA need to realise and take responsibility for their own actions:

strikes.

paid union meetings.

moaning about teaching as a job.

negotiating more teacher only days.

having a nationwide collective contract that does not recognise the need to incentivize schools and regions that really struggle to staff well.

they have actively worked against school choice  including pretty much putting all of their resources from 2011  2017 opposing 11 small Charter Schools (including spending millions of their members subs on this).





Where President Abercrombie really lost the small part of my brain I allocate to the PPTA is that he neither took any responsibility for the creation of the attendance crises  nor did he propose the two most obvious effective solutions:

the improvement of teacher quality.

the improvement of school quality (including a clear purpose for being there and highly credible qualifications pathways).

Knowing the NZ school system as I do  at least half of the high schools I would really struggle to recommend without caveats. At least 100 of our 460 high schools I would simply steer people away from.

If they actually want to make a difference the PPTA need to have a very big look in the mirror.

ps  good to see many voting with their feet  good to see that families are discovering the efficacy of online learning. (NB  no longer involved in Mt Hobson Academy but there fees are incredibly reasonable  as opposed to what was mentioned. They are brilliantly staffed and great curriculum).

Alwyn Poole

Innovative Education Consultants

www.innovativeeducation.co.nz

alwynpoole.substack.com

www.linkedin.com/in/alwyn-poole-16b02151/

www.wood2water.co.nz

www.russellinfo.co.nz



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North Korea said Thursday it has accomplished major economic plans for the first quarter as it held a plenary meeting of the cabinet to review economic performances and discuss measures.

The North made the assessment on performances in 12 major sectors during a video conference presided over by Premier Kim Tok-hun on Wednesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In 2022, North Korea laid out 12 major economic goals, putting top priority on boosting grain production amid the country's chronic food shortages.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for developing backward provinces by building modernized factories in 20 counties over the next decade to raise the "basic material and cultural living standards of the people."

The South Korean government has voiced skepticism over the plan, raising questions about whether the resource-scarce country would have sufficient equipment and funds to implement the project. (Yonhap)
By Kim Hyun-bin

At an event commemorating the cultural ties between Norway and Korea, Ambassador Anne Kari Ovind emphasized the importance of the 65th anniversary of bilateral relations and cultural exchange. This milestone coincided with the debut of Henrik Ibsen's play "John" in Korea.

The celebration took place at the ambassador's residence in Seoul, Wednesday, highlighting the significance of the play in fostering cultural exchange between the two nations.

"Henrik Ibsen is not only a Norwegian playwright; he belongs to the world," Ovind said. "Every day, a play written by Henrik Ibsen is shown somewhere in the world, and also here in Korea."

Henrik Ibsen (18281906) was a Norwegian playwright and one of the most influential dramatists of the late 19th century. He is often referred to as the "father of realism" in theater for his groundbreaking plays that challenged social norms and conventions of his time.

Ibsen's works explore themes such as the role of women in society, individuality versus conformity and the consequences of societal expectations.

Ovind expressed her delight at the Korean embrace of Ibsen's works, noting that despite over a century passing since his death, the themes of his plays remain topical and relevant.

"He was often named the father of modern theater, and I think that is quite astonishing," she said. "Coming from a population of only two million at the time, he has left an indelible mark on theater and playwriting for many years."

The ambassador extended her gratitude to Koh Sun-woong, chief director of the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre, for staging an important Ibsen play, which has been receiving positive responses since its premiere. She also commended Kim Miy-he, professor emeritus of Hanyang University's Theatre and Film Department, for her dedication to translating all of Ibsen's plays into Korean and for her efforts in promoting Ibsen's works to Korean audiences.

"Professor Kim spent 15 years of her life not only translating all of Ibsen's plays but also learning Norwegian," Ovind said. "She wanted the Korean audience to have direct access to the original texts, and I know she has worked tirelessly for this cause."

"John" is directed by Koh and focuses on the themes of loneliness and conflict between family and generations, with a contemporary edge. The play is an adaptation of Ibsen's original play "John Gabriel Borkman" and has been given the title of "John."

The ambassador expressed anticipation for the forthcoming celebration of the 200th anniversary of Ibsen's birth in 2028, hoping for worldwide recognition of the playwright's legacy. She highlighted the significance of Kim's efforts, which were recognized by the Norwegian king with an award last year, making Ibsen's plays accessible to Korean speakers.

Kim was appointed Commander of the Royal Order of Merit by his Majesty King Harald V for her great work in translating Henrik Ibsen's plays. Thanks to Kim's translations, this is the first time that a translated adaption of this Ibsens play is set up in Korea.

"I hope that tonight's gathering will inspire more Henrik Ibsen plays to be staged in Korean theaters in the years to come," Ovind said. "I look forward to engaging in conversations that delve into the profound reflections and guidance that Ibsen's plays offer us."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday would not rule out additional steps to protect American clean energy industries from China's excess investment and production capacity, but declined to say whether she would raise the possibility of new tariffs in talks with Chinese officials.

During a fuel stop in Alaska on her second trip to China for economic talks, Yellen told reporters the Biden administration was serious about nurturing U.S. supply chains for electric vehicles, EV batteries, solar panels and other key products.

"We're providing tax subsidies to some of these sectors, and I wouldn't want to rule out other possible ways in which we would protect them," she said, when asked whether she would raise a threat of new trade barriers in talks with her Chinese counterparts, without specifying whether those steps included tariffs.

"But I think it's not just the United States, but quite a few countries, including Mexico, Europe and Japan, that are feeling massive pressure from massive investment in these industries in China," Yellen added.

The Treasury secretary intends to raise U.S. concerns about China's large and growing excess manufacturing capacity, particularly in new energy goods, during her nearly weeklong trip to China's southern factory and export hub, Guangzhou, and the capital, Beijing.

"We are trying to nurture an industry in solar cells, electric batteries and electric vehicles. And these are actually all areas where massive investment in China is creating overcapacities," Yellen said.

She will meet with her main counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Guangdong Province Governor Wang Weizhong and executives of U.S. companies in China, the Treasury Department said.

She will hear firsthand about business climate challenges that are prompting U.S. companies to limit their investment in China.

The trip is Yellen's second in-person visit to China as Treasury secretary. She visited Beijing in July 2023 to re-establish economic ties after years of frosty relations  fueled in part by U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods imposed by then-President Donald Trump and maintained by President Joe Biden, along with increasing national security curbs on American exports of semiconductors and other high-technology goods to China.

Her trip comes a day after Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first direct talks since November, in which Taiwan tensions and U.S. national security technology curbs on China took center stage.

Yellen last met with Vice Premier He in November, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco, where Biden also met with Xi.

Her outreach has led to a series of meetings between U.S. Treasury officials and counterparts in China's finance ministry and central bank, exchanging views on a range of economic topics, including difficulties in China's property sector. But because the discussions are not set up as negotiations, they have not led to policy shifts.

The European Union is investigating whether China's EV industry is benefiting from unfair subsidies, which could lead to tariffs to protect European carmakers. The U.S. Commerce Department has opened a probe into whether Chinese vehicles pose national security threats due to the data they transmit, and U.S. lawmakers have urged Biden to hike tariffs on Chinese EVs. (Reuters)
The law firm of Sojang has requested the deletion of the YouTuber's personal information online after the figure reportedly suffered from privacy violation and emotional distress.

Read more to learn further details.

Sojang Requests To Delete Personal Information Online After Figure Suffers Privacy Violation, Emotional Distress

On April 3, Korean news outlets reported that infamous YouTuber Sojang had complained of emotional distress after experiencing a privacy leak.

"The YouTube channel TakDulSooYongSo (Sojang), which has been accused of indiscriminately spreading false rumors about several female celebrities including IVE Jang Wonyoung and aespa Karina, has complained of emotional distress after having its information blinded."

It continued, "The organization's legal representative, Law Firm Daehan, has blinded its NamuWiki page with information related to the controversy."

According to sources, Sojang's representative requested a temporary solution for the privacy concerns by deleting the documents posted on the NamuWiki site.

"As a representative of Sojang's operator, we would like to request temporary measures and the deletion of documents posted on the (NamuWiki) site," the firm shared. "The page contains a lot of details about Sojang's identity, which caused the operator to suffer extreme leakage of personal information and privacy breaches."

Furthermore, it revealed that Law Firm Daehan has taken appropriate measures to remove the post and prevent similar incidents from happening again. It also disclosed that the NamuWiki page sharing Sojang's personal information is currently unavailable.

Here's how netizens reacted to the incident:

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below.

Read KpopStarz for more K-pop news.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: IVE Jang Wonyoung's Hate Train Reportedly Fueled by Sojang's 'Part-Timers' + DIVEs, K-Netz Enraged

KpopStarz owns this article

Written by Israel Monte
A Japanese media outlet is drawing flak for spreading fake dating news concerning LE SSERAFIM members Kazuha and Chaewon.

Recently, Kazuha was embroiled in dating rumors with &TEAM member K. The news was broken out by a Japanese media outlet that claimed to have spotted the two on a date in Japan. After HYBE Labels denied the rumors, it was recently brought to light that the same media outlet once broke out a dating rumor concerning Chaewon.

Keep on reading for all the details.

LE SSERAFIM Chaewon & Kazuha Become Victims of Fake Dating News

On April 3, 2024, HYBE Labels denied that Kazuha was dating K. That same day, Japanese media outlet Shukan Bunshun claimed the LE SSERAFIM member was dating a handsome male idol who is six years older than her and stands at 186cm tall.

The outlet claimed the two enjoyed a two-hour date in a high-end yakiniku restaurant in Ginza back in March. Allegedly, the two started dating during the summer of 2022.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: LE SSERAFIM Chaewon Draws Flak For Recent Styling - Is It Cultural Appropriation?

Since both LE SSERAFIM and &TEAM are housed under HYBE Labels, netizens speculated that the two started dating due to interactions within the company. However, Source Music stated that the two are simply friends.

Following the news, it was soon discovered that the same media outlet released fake dating news concerning Chaewon in January.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: LE SSERAFIM Yunjin Criticized for Wearing Crop Top: 'She Loses Her Prettiness...'

In their report, they claimed Chaewon was dating a male rapper and released a supposed photo of them together. However, it was soon discovered the photo was photoshopped, and the original image was a selfie of Chaewon with co-member Sakura.

The rapper also stated that he is just a fan of Chaewon, and the photo was edited. Source Music quickly released a statement denying the rumors.

Japanese Media Outlet Slammed for Spreading 'Fake' Dating Announcements on LE SSERAFIM Chaewon & Kazuha

With two dating rumors concerning LE SSERAFIM members debunked, netizens are now questioning the credibility of Shukan Bunshun.

FEARNOTs are especially upset, as the publication has allegedly attempted to ruin the reputation of two LE SSERAFIM members.

CHECK THIS OUT: LE SSERAFIM Huh Yunjin Goes Viral for Using Sign Language to Communicate with Deaf FEARNOT

Shukan Bunshun stated they would release more photos of Kazuha and K on April 4 after being debunked by Source Music. With that in mind, people are wondering what cards the outlet will play this time around.

KpopStarz Owns This

Written by Alexa Lopez
PRNewswire

New Delhi [India], April 4: In a pivotal event for the Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) community, Exterro and MH Service convened a Partner Day in New Delhi, drawing experts and professionals from across India. This gathering was celebrated as a significant step toward fostering dialogue, collaboration, and innovation within the digital forensics discipline, emphasizing advancements and challenges in the context of India's evolving role on the global stage.

Also Read | X New Feature Update: Elon Musk Activates Community Notes Feature in India Ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

Groundbreaking Collaboration and Insights

The Partner Day was conceptualized to deepen connections between Exterro, MH Service, and the broader partner network, facilitating a robust exchange of ideas and strategies. A highlight of the event was the showcase of Exterro's FTK platform, demonstrating cutting-edge technological advancements designed to meet the intricate demands of forensic investigations.

Also Read | Qingming Festival 2024 Date & Significance: Why Is Tomb Sweeping Done During the Ching Ming Festival? Everything You Need to Know.

Garreth Scott, Global Leader - Public Sector Digital Forensics at Exterro, reflected on the Partner Day event "The Partner Day event was a significant moment for me, one that I will always remember. My first trip to India with Exterro turned out to be truly remarkable. Witnessing the largest gathering of DFIR professionals in the channel space was truly impressive. Bringing together partners from all aspects of DFIR, from industry leaders to law enforcement, felt like a reunion of old friends and the beginning of many promising partnerships. The energy and enthusiasm in the room were undeniable, paving the way for collaborative efforts that will shape the future of digital forensics in India and beyond."

Distinguished Perspectives on DFIR's Future

Lt Col (Dr.) Santosh Khadsare, Vice President - Digital Forensics & Incident Response at eSec Forte Technologies and a Tedx Speaker, expressed the significance of collaboration within the DFIR community to reduce backlogs and create a better and faster justice process. He also highlighted the opportunities and innovation potential within India's digital forensics sector. His emphasis on centralized data labs and the 'Make in India' initiative underscored the strategic direction for advancing the industry.

The Founder & CEO, and Chief Cyber Officer of CyberSleuths, Col (Dr.) Inderjeet Singh, discussed the necessity of industry-wide collaboration to develop comprehensive solutions addressing the DFIR industry's unique challenges, showcasing the event as a pivotal moment for strategic partnership formation.

Naveen Kumar Singh, Founder (Digital Forensics & Intelligence) at Power Forensics & DI, spoke on the transformative impact of AI in DFIR, indicating a significant shift towards more efficient and effective investigative processes. His insights spotlighted the technological advancements and their alignment with global DFIR practices.

Embracing 'Make in India' for Global Impact

The collaboration between Exterro and MH Service reflects a shared commitment to nurturing a strong DFIR community in India. The event's discussions embraced the 'Make in India' ethos, aiming to position India as a leader in the global digital forensics arena.

Jignesh Suba, CEO of MH Service, commented on the enthusiastic reception of the FTK platform's features by the community: "The positive feedback on FTK's capabilities from everyone at the event has been overwhelming, affirming our strategic direction and the critical role of the 'Make in India' initiative in achieving global excellence in digital forensics."

Advancing Through Innovation and Resilience

The event underscored the DFIR sector's journey through both its challenges and significant advancements in growth and innovation. It emphasized the essential task of directly confronting the obstacles unique to DFIR--ranging from regulatory complexities to the rapid shifts in market dynamics.

Reflecting on the path forward, Rajkumar Manickam, Regional Director - South Asia & MEA at Exterro, shared, "The extraordinary resilience and adaptability displayed by our partners and stakeholders have truly set a new standard in overcoming challenges. Witnessing the industry's development, driven by Exterro's dedication to enhancing our FTK product suite, has been incredibly inspiring. This progress is not only reshaping the DFIR landscape in India but also forging new avenues for collaboration. Our journey underscores the extensive potential within our sector and bolsters our commitment to driving meaningful transformation and delivering unparalleled value across our ecosystem."

Charting a Collaborative Path Forward

The Partner Day event has laid a foundational stone for future dialogues and innovations within the DFIR community, representing a collective stride toward addressing future challenges and seizing opportunities with a unified vision for elevating India's standing in the global DFIR ecosystem.

Exterro, along with its partners in the region, stands poised to advance the industry, championing a future marked by innovation, resilience, and sustainable growth.

About Exterro-MH Service Partnership

In a strategic move last year, Exterro and MH Service entered into a partnership aimed at addressing the complexities within India's forensic sector. This collaboration combines Exterro's expertise in advanced forensic solutions with MH Service's established network in the local legal landscape, focusing on overcoming the challenges faced by professionals in the field. The partnership's primary objective is to enhance the distribution of Exterro's digital investigation tool, FTK, throughout South Asia, thereby improving access to sophisticated forensic technologies. FTK 8.0 is known for its efficiency, stability, and ease of use, playing a significant role in streamlining forensic processes for Exterro's customers. This initiative represents a meaningful step toward advancing forensic investigation capabilities in the region, emphasizing an informative approach to technological adoption and sectoral improvement.

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PRNewswire

Udaipur (Rajasthan) [India], April 4: The Indian Institute of Management Udaipur hosted its 12th Annual Convocation for its Two-Year MBA (Batch of 2022-24), One-Year full-time MBAs in Global Supply Chain Management and Digital Enterprise Management (Batches of 2022-23) and PhD, on Monday, April 01, 2024, at its pristine 300-acre campus at Balicha, Udaipur. Pankaj Patel, Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM Udaipur, presided over the Convocation. The Convocation Address was delivered by Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director of Nestle India Ltd., who was the Chief Guest of the Convocation and the concluding address by Prof. Ashok Banerjee, Director, IIM Udaipur. The convocation was graced by the faculty & staff of IIM Udaipur, besides parents and relatives of the students of graduating batches.

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In the 12th Annual Convocation, a total of 429 students graduated, including 3 PhD students, 310 students of Two-Year MBA (Batch 2022-24) and 116 students each of One-Year MBA in Global Supply Chain Management and One-Year MBA in Digital Enterprise Management (Batches 2023-24).

Addressing the 12th annual convocation at IIM Udaipur, Chief Guest Suresh Narayanan, Chief Director of Nestle India, shared profound wisdom with the graduating batch. Lauding the institute's 16th NIRF ranking, he emphasised the importance of understanding the culture and values of the communities they will work in. Narayanan cautioned against the widespread desire for quick success, urging the students to instead focus on finding contentment without being complacent. He encouraged them to pursue their passions wholeheartedly while giving back to society, stressing that true fulfilment lies in making a positive impact. Narayan also exhorted the graduates to hone practical communication skills, value their parents' sacrifices, and nurture empathy and compassion as guiding principles. Ultimately, he advised whatever they do in life should contribute to the greater good of the community around them. He emphasised the importance of making wise choices in life, highlighting seven key pillars: Clarity, Culture, Contentment, Curiosity, Community, Communication, and Context.

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In his welcome address, Pankaj Patel, Chairman, highlighted the Institute's achievements, including its steady position in global rankings and its commitment to digital transformation and research excellence. He emphasized the importance of faculty and announced significant collaborations and initiatives, such as the J M Financial Centre for Financial Research and the India Digital Conclave. The Chairman praised the graduating students for their resilience and urged them to continue learning and striving for excellence. He concluded by congratulating the Institute's community and wishing the graduates success in their future endeavors.

He said,"In celebrating the achievements of our institution, we must acknowledge the dedication of our faculty, the success of our collaborations, and the resilience of our students. As you embark on your careers, remember that learning is a lifelong journey, and your experiences here have equipped you to navigate the challenges ahead. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all graduates and commend the Director, faculty, and community of IIMU for their outstanding contributions. Here's to a bright and prosperous future for each of you."

In his concluding address, Prof. Ashok Banerjee, Director of IIM Udaipur, said, "This convocation is not just an ending, but a new beginning. This Institution has provided you with a transformational learning experience. Therefore, I urge you to never stop learning, to never stop growing, and to never stop pushing yourself to be the best you can be. You are now part of a vast network of IIM Udaipur alumni, you are all stakeholders in the institute's success. We look forward to we continued contributions and mentorship as they embark on their exciting careers.

Today marks the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and commitment. As you step into the world beyond these walls, carry with you the values instilled in you during your time here. Embrace every opportunity with courage, never ceasing to learn and grow. Remember, success is not just measured by wealth, but by the impact you make on society. As you embark on this journey, lead with integrity, ethics, and a sense of social responsibility. And never forget to express gratitude to those who have supported you along the way. Congratulations, graduates. The world awaits your brilliance."

Stuti Arora, Suman Choudhary and Sunanda Katewa were awarded the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree. Ashish Kumar Gupta was awarded a gold medal for scholastic performance in the One-year MBA in Global Supply Chain Management (GSCM) Program. Pavit Teg Bir Singh was awarded a Gold Medal in a One-year MBA in Digital Enterprise Management (DEM) Program. Priya Jain, Ritik Raj, and Aditya Singhal were awarded the Gold Medal for scholastic performance in the Two-year MBA Program. Mitusha Mishra of the One-Year MBA (GSCM) program won the Manhattan Award for Women in Supply Chain. Vinayak Karewa won the JM Financial Centre for Financial Research Merit Award for the best Finance Student.

About IIM Udaipur:

IIM Udaipur is well on its way to becoming a globally recognised B-School. It has broken new ground by focusing on world-class research and transforming students into tomorrow's managers and leaders. The Institute arrived on the global education stage by securing accreditation from the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) in merely eight years of its establishment. With this accreditation, IIM Udaipur is counted in the same league of global institutes, such as Harvard Business School, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the MIT Sloan School.

IIM Udaipur is ranked 16th by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings 2023 of the HRD Ministry. IIM Udaipur is the only IIM in the Top 100 of the prestigious FT Masters In Management World Rankings consecutively for 5 Years since 2019. Ranked #5 amongst IIMs in the list of 2023. Indian Institute of Management Udaipur featured in the prestigious Masters in Management (MIM) QS World University Rankings 2024 for the fifth consecutive year. IIMU is also currently ranked 4th in India, after ISB, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore, for research in management according to the methodology used by UT Dallas, which tracks publications in the leading global journals.

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Chennai, Apr 4 (PTI) The Indian Coast Guard swiftly coordinated the rescue of a 10-member fishing boat crew after the vessel was flooded and brought them back here safely on Thursday

The Coast Guard's ships and merchant vessels participated in the operation where eight fishermen were rescued. However, one fisherman died and another is missing, for whom a search and rescue operation is continuing.

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The mission started immediately after the CG received a distress message on Wednesday from a Chennai fishing boat, 'Periya Nayagi' stranded about 60 nautical miles east of Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) diverted three merchant vessels to provide assistance, a Defence release said.

All the ten-member crew onboard the fishing boat were engaged in damage control after flooding onboard. The boat crew was however reluctant to get on to the CG's vessel as they were apprehensive of losing their boat.

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Despite repeated requests by CG personnel, the fishermen were unwilling to abandon their boat and board the merchant vessel. Hours later, a distress message was again received from the same boat and at that time, it was about 50 nautical miles away from Krishnapatnam.

After the MRCC diverted three merchant vessels, one of them, the MV Singapore Bulker, rescued nine men including a person who was battling life due to "excess water in lungs". He died later.

Coast Guard Ship C-440 from Chennai took onboard all the eight survivors from the Singapore Bulker and reached Chennai on Thursday evening. The body and the survivors were handed over to the state fisheries authorities here. The search for the missing fisherman is in progress.

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New Delhi, April 4: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday released its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Party General Secretary Sitatam Yechury in the presence of senior party leader Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and Nilotpal Basu promised that if the party comes to power, then it is committed to scrapping the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

After releasing the party manifesto, Yechury said at a press conference at the party office in Delhi that the CPI(M) pledges to fight for an uncompromising adherence to the principle that religion is separated from politics, the state, the government and administration. It will fight for a law against hate speech and crimes. It is committed to scrapping the CAA, he said. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: CPI Announces Four Candidates for Kerala; Fields Annie Raja in Rahul Gandhis LS Seat Wayanad.

CPI-M Releases Manifesto for General Polls

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Polls 2024: CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury), party leaders Brinda Karat and Prakash Karat release the party's election manifesto in New Delhi.#LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/VdQEBQ2m4l  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 4, 2024

#WATCH | At the release of the CPI(M) manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party's general secretary Sitaram Yechury says, "Our appeal to the electorate of India that the Secular, Democratic Republic of India today is facing an existential threat and the main task is pic.twitter.com/bjVxg0OGv4  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2024

CPI(M) in a Manifesto said that it stands for the restoration of the constitutional rights of the states which have been severely diluted by the Modi government. The CPI(M) stands for devolution of 50 per cent of the total collection of Central taxes to the states, including share of surcharges and cess levied by Centre. It stands for a Governor to be chosen out of a panel of three eminent persons proposed by the Chief Minister; for an end to policies which promote centralization at the expense of the states. Lok Sabha Election 2024: PM Narendra Modi To Address Rallies in Maharashtras Chandrapur on April 8, Ramtek on April 14 Ahead of General Polls.

CPI(M) also promised in Manifesto that party stands for the scrapping of all draconian laws like UAPA and PMLA; for steps to protect and strengthen the autonomy of independent institutions, for defence of the democratic rights of the people.

The CPI(M) Manifesto also emphasized its ongoing support for the autonomous status guaranteed under Section 370 of Jammu and Kashmir. It pledges to advocate for the rights of the region's people through all available platforms. Furthermore, the CPI(M) advocates for prompt elections to the State Assembly and the reinstatement of full statehood as an initial measure.

In CPI(M) Manifesto also promised that party stands for a law for reservations in the private sector. "The CPI(M) stands for a law for reservations in the private sector and for immediate filling of vacancies in reserved posts without dilution; for protection of constitutional and legal rights of adivasis and an end to cultural assimilation. In order to acquire proper data on the OBCs in the country it is necessary to conduct a caste census along with the 2021 general census that is overdue. It stands for the immediate implementation of one-third reservations for women; for strengthening processes of justice for women victims of crimes", the party's manifesto added.

In its manifesto, the CPI(M) also committed to urgent electoral reforms aimed at reducing the influence of monetary resources in the electoral process. "The CPI(M) stands for urgent electoral reforms to curb the use of money power in the electoral system. For this, the Party wants State funding of elections and a ban on corporate donations to political parties. Corporates must fund to strengthen democracy and such contributions must be credited in a State electoral fund and used for State funding" CPI(M)'s manifesto added.

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New Delhi [India], April 4 (ANI): A 23-year-old woman was injured on Thursday after the speed of the lift of a building at the Barakhamba road in Delhi spiked up automatically and struck the base of the lift on the ground floor, said police.

According to Delhi Police, on Thursday, information was received at the Police Station at Barakhamba Road from RML Hospital regarding the injured Manpreet Kaur, a resident of Shri Muksar Sahib, Punjab. The victim is an employee of Muthoot Micro Fin Ltd., Dera Basi branch of Punjab.

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On Thursday she along with her senior visited the office of Muthoot situated at Vijaya Building BK Road for an official meeting. At around 13:35 Hrs above girl along with her four to five colleagues boarded lift No. 3 from the 11th floor. When they reached the 3rd floor, suddenly the speed of the lift spiked up automatically and struck the base of the lift on the ground floor due to which the victim received an injury in her leg, the police said.

The police said that no lift operator was present at that time. The ambulance of the building took the victim directly to the RML Hospital.

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Due to a rush at RML, she was taken to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where her Medico-Legal Case (MLC) was prepared.

The nature of the injury is awaited, said the police.

Estate officer of Vijaya Building Jitender who looks after the maintenance of the building had applied for the renewal of the license of the said lift but the same is still pending. The license was valid till 16 November 2023, said the police.

The police said that, from the facts and circumstances, there appears negligence in handling the lift. The police said that if approved, a case will be registered under sections 287/337 of IPC and an investigation will be taken up. The association is directed not to use the lift till inspection is done by the Electrical Department, GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi). (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], April 4 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain another Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to remove Arvind Kejriwal from the post of Chief Minister.

During the arguments, the bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora made oral observations and stated that, at times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest.

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"We do not administer the state. The petitioner can approach the Lieutenant Governor with the grievance raised in the petition," said Delhi HC.

The plea moved by the Hindu Sena organization stated that the Constitution of India did not visualize a situation where in the event of arrest, the Chief Minister can run his government either from judicial custody or from Police custody.

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Hindu Sena last week filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to remove Kejriwal from the post of Chief Minister.

In the petition, it has been demanded from the court that the court should order the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to dismiss Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal from the post and run Delhi as per the Central Government and LG Constitution.

Recently, the Delhi High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction for the removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of Chief Minister of NCT Delhi. The Court while dismissing the said PIL, stated that there is no scope of Judicial interference in the matter.

The fresh PIL was moved by Vishnu Gupta, president of an organisation named Hindu Sena. The plea stated that the Constitution of India did not visualise a situation where, in the event of arrest, the Chief Minister can run his government either from judicial custody or from police custody.

However, it is not settled law that constitutional courts can interfere with the provisions of the Constitution to ensure purity in administration and governance.

"Therefore, the makers of the Indian Constitution have carefully made provisions in Articles 163 and 164 to the effect that the Council or Minister, with the Chief Minister as the head, will aid and advise the Governor to exercise his function, except discretionary functions under the Constitution," stated the plea.

The plea was moved through Advocate Barun Sinha, who stated that Arvind Kejriwal, as Chief Minister of the NCT of Delhi, had committed a breach of the constitutional trust reposed in him by the Constitution of India as soon as he was arrested in connection with an ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

Therefore, owing to constitutional morality, he ought to have resigned before being taken into custody by the investigating agency.

However, Arvind Kejriwal decided to continue as Chief Minister and run the government either from police custody or judicial custody. Be it as it may, the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister violates constitutional trust, which is inhibited in Article 164 of the Constitution of India.

"Therefore, the Governor is under constitutional obligation to dismiss Arvind Kejriwal from the office of Chief Minister," the plea read.

Since Arvind Kejriwal is in police custody or judicial custody till date, therefore, in terms of Articles 154, 162 and 163 of the Constitution of India, the Lieutenant Governor of NCT of Delhi is unable to exercise his power in the absence of advice by the council of ministers.

With effect from March 21, 2024, the functions of the government of the NCT of Delhi are not being carried out in accordance with the scheme of the Constitution.

"Therefore, the dismissal of Arvind Kejriwal from the Office of Chief Minister is necessary to uphold the constitution and parliamentary democracy, which are fundamental rights of citizens," stated the fresh petition. (ANI)

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Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 4 (ANI): Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bhopal has provisionally attached 10 immovable properties located in Satna and Sehore in Madhya Pradesh worth Rs. 2.36 Crore on March 30, 2024 under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in the case of Nava Bharat Press (Bhopal) Pvt Ltd, the ED said in a press release.

ED initiated an investigation on the basis of a chargesheet filed by CBI, SPE, BS and FC, New Delhi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against Nava Bharat Press (Bhopal) Pvt Ltd.

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ED investigation revealed that Nava Bharat Press (Bhopal) Pvt Ltd. through its Director Sumeet Maheshwari and others had availed various credit facilities from the Bank of Maharashtra, Gautam Nagar branch, Bhopal for modernization of press and purchase of machineries during the year 2004.

"However, the loan amount which was sanctioned for the purchase of machineries and to meet other capital expenditures was diverted through bank accounts of various companies which were in the name of the employees of Enbee group of companies controlled by Sundeep Maheshwari (brother of Sumeet Maheshwari)," the ED said in the press release.

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It was found during the investigation that Maheswari family (owner of Nava Bharat Press (Bhopal) Pvt Ltd) diverted the loan amount for the purpose of settling various corporate and personal liabilities and thus, mis-utilized the loan disbursed, thereby cheating the Bank of Maharashtra, Gautam Nagar, Bhopal to the tune of Rs. 15.67 Crore as loan account turned NPA.

During investigation, a total of ten properties in the name of Nava Bharat Press (Bhopal) Pvt Ltd and family members of Maheshwari family were identified in the district of Satna and Sehore in Madhya Pradesh.

A Provisional Attachment Order was issued under provisions of PMLA, 2002 vide order dated March 30, 2024 attaching these 10 immovable properties located in Satna and Sehore in Madhya Pradesh amounting to Rs. 2.36 Crore.

Further investigation is under progress. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The external affairs ministry on Thursday cautioned Indian nationals against falling prey to human traffickers promising lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia.

In an advisory, the ministry called upon Indians looking at job opportunities in the Southeast Asian country to thoroughly check the background of the prospective employer.

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"It has come to attention that Indian nationals, lured by fake promises of lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia, are falling into the trap of human traffickers," it said.

The ministry said these Indian nationals are "coerced" to undertake online financial scams and other illegal activities.

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"Indian nationals intending to visit Cambodia for employment are cautioned to do so only through authorised agents. It is also advised that the background of the prospective employer in Cambodia is checked thoroughly," it said.

"In the meantime, the ministry of external affairs, through our mission in Phnom Penh, is working closely with the Cambodian authorities to address the issue as well as provide continuous assistance to the affected Indian nationals," it added.

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New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The ultimate test of a moral person is their willingness to raise a voice for justice even when it means rocking the boat, said Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Thursday while praising eminent jurist Fali S Nariman.

Speaking at a full-court reference held at the Supreme Court in honour of Nariman, who passed away on February 21, the CJI said his mental agility, dedication to work and commitment to the law remained uncompromised till the day he finally rested.

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"The ultimate test of a moral person is their willingness to raise a voice for justice even when it means rocking the boat, and Mr Nariman was always willing to speak for what was right and just," the CJI said.

Chandrachud said Nariman's life and career before our courts lived up to the highest ideals of the legal profession.

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"No matter the client, the government or the case, Mr Nariman sought to advance a vision of the law grounded in liberty, equality and justice, the foundational values of our Constitution and ultimately, our society. No matter the occasion or the opponent, he conducted himself with grace and poise," he said.

The CJI said with the imposition of the Internal Emergency in June 1975, Nariman resigned as additional solicitor general.

"However, his continued accomplishments at the Supreme Court are a testament not only to his enduring legal prowess that saw him through turbulent times, but also to that finest tradition of the Bar in rising above the disagreements of the day to unfailingly serve their clients, assist the Court and work towards our nation's betterment," he said.

Chandrachud said Nariman always recognised that his highest duty was to the court and the Constitution despite appearing for countless clients of various backgrounds and creeds.

Nariman, a doyen of Indian judiciary, was part of several landmark legal proceedings that helped shape modern India, including the Kesavanand Bharati case in which the Supreme Court laid down the basic structure doctrine.

Nariman, 95, was born into a well-to-do Parsi family on January 10, 1929 in Rangoon, now Yangon, in Myanmar. His family fled to India during the Japanese invasion when he was only 12.

Nariman enrolled as an advocate of the Bombay High Court in November 1950 and was designated a senior advocate in 1961.

He practised law for more than 70 years, initially at the Bombay High Court, and since 1972, in the Supreme Court.

Nariman was appointed as the additional solicitor general of India in May 1972. He resigned from the post a day after the imposition of Emergency on June 26, 1975.

In his long and illustrious career, Nariman argued in several landmark cases, including the Bhopal gas tragedy case, TMA Pai case (rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions), J Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets case and the case involving the National Judicial Appointments Commission, which was struck down by the Supreme Court.

Nariman, who was often referred to as the "Bhishma Pitamah" of the Indian judiciary, authored books including "Before the Memory Fades", "The State of the Nation", "India's Legal System: Can it be Saved?" and "God Save the Hon'ble Supreme Court".

He received the Padma Bhushan in 1991 and the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian honour, in 2007.

He was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha in November 1999.

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Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 4 (ANI): TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu said that after seeing the excitement among the youth, it is clear that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will win the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections.

He was addressing the Praja Galam public meeting at Kovvur, Rajahmundry on Wednesday.

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Chandrababu Naidu said, "After seeing the enthusiasm of the youth, I can feel that there is no doubt that we are winning in Andhra Pradesh. YSRCP arranged 1500 buses and mobilised paid people. But people are fleeing from the meeting venue even before the meeting gets started. People are ready to press two buttons and defeat YSRCP."

He said that the trend among people has changed and it is sure that they will dethrone Jagan Mohan Reddy.

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"As an egoist ruler, Jagan Reddy destroyed the state, the future of the people, and their children. By the time the children become adults, the state will remain a desert and a cemetery," he said.

Naidu said that to save the state, they formed an alliance and came before the people.

"From the beginning, Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan said that the anti-YSRCP government vote shouldn't split. YSRCP should be defeated and AP should be freed from the Jagan Reddy's party. I wholeheartedly appreciate Pawan Kalyan from this Kovvur meeting," he said.

He said that the BJP is in power in the centre and will be re-elected. "To save the state, the three political parties have come together for the betterment of the state," he added.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Jana Sena Party (JSP) have sealed a seat-sharing pact in Andhra Pradesh which has 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats.

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly consists of 175 seats and a party would need at least 88 seats to form a government.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP won with a majority of 102 seats. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP won 67 seats. BJP could only win four seats contesting against the two regional heavyweights.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the YSRCP won with a thumping majority of 151 seats while the TDP was confined to 23 seats.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha as well as the Assemblies will take place on June 4. (ANI)

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Chandrapur, Apr 4 (PTI) Maharashtra minister and BJP's Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat candidate Sudhir Mungantiwar has said voters made a "mistake" once of giving a chance to the Congress from the constituency but they would not do it again.

In an interview with PTI, Mungantiwar, the MLA from Chandrapur, said he has carried out 300 development works in the area and asked the Congress to spell out even two such initiatives taken by it in the last five years.

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He also ruled out any sympathy votes going in favour of his Congress opponent.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Suresh alias Balu Dhanorkar who was the lone Congress MP elected in Maharashtra from Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat. He died in May last year.

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To a query on whether aiming for 400 Lok Sabha seats is realistic for the BJP, Mungantiwar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "divya drishti" and the target will be achieved under his leadership.

Mungantiwar, who is currently Maharashtra's forest and culture, is locked in a direct fight with Congress candidate Pratibha Dhanorkar, wife of Balu Dhanorkar, in Chandrapur.

Polling in Chandrapur, located in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, will be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

Asked if it would be a tough fight as Chandrapur seat was won by the Congress in the last Lok Sabha polls, Mungantiwar said voters made the "mistake" once and gave a chance to the grand old party, but they will not do that again.

Mungantiwar asked the Congress to spell out even two development works initiated by it in Chandrapur in the last five years compared to the works done by him.

"I am not fighting for myself but for the country. As a state minister and Chandrapur MLA, I have done more than 300 development works. I am known as a simple MLA, who listens to the people and works for them. A PhD has been done on me... and I have done several works for the people. The public of Chandrapur will support me," he said.

The BJP leader said his focus will be on irrigation, agriculture, health, education and industries, he said.

Asked if his Congress opponent Pratibha Dhanorkar may get sympathy votes due to the passing away of her husband and sitting Chandrapur MP Balu Dhanorkar, Mungantiwar wondered if there is a time limit for the expiry (date) of sympathy or not.

Sympathy is not the issue in this election. Even her own party leaders don't want her to win, he claimed.

To a query on whether he is happy to go to the central politics after being reluctant earlier, Mungantiwar said he never knew that when he sent doors from Chandrapur during the construction of the new Parliament building, it would be waiting to call him.

Notably, teakwood from Chandrapur was used for the construction of the new Parliament building.

Mungantiwar said he never thought of becoming an MLA or MP, but had thought of about 150 development initiatives (to restore the legacy of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) and 40 of them have been completed.

"But after going to Parliament, I will be able to complete all the 150 works of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj," he said.

Asked about pollution in Chandrapur, which has several power plants and industries, being one of the key poll issues, the BJP leader said the Congress did nothing about it and that he would work to resolve it and make efforts for the overall development of the constituency.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mandya (Karnataka) [India], April 4 (ANI): Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday accused the Congress of pursuing the policy of dividing people based on religion.

While addressing an election rally in Karnataka's Mandya, he said that in contrast to the Congress government in Karnataka, the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi pursued the policy of 'Sabka ka sath, Sabka ka Vikas'.

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"You all have to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi win all 28 seats in Karnataka... I am here to tell you about our vision, 'Abki baar 400 paar'," CM Sawant said.

"PM Modi's government works on the policy 'Sabka ka sath, Sabka ka vikas'. The Congress government in Karnataka pursues the policy of division based on religion," he added.

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He alleged that the Congress governments did not work for the development of the states or the country. He said that the Modi government at the Centre worked for the welfare of women, farmers, youth and the poor.

In the 2019 general election, the BJP secured its biggest tally ever in Karnataka - winning 25 of the 28 seats. In that election, Congress was in alliance with the JD(S).

The Congress won from just one of the 19 constituencies it contested from, while the JD(S) won one out of nine in the 2019 election.

This time the BJP is in alliance with JD(S).

The Congress, having won the last Assembly election by a big margin, is expecting a better performance this time.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that the Congress will create history by winning a large number of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in the coming election.

"We will create history by winning more seats from Karnataka...As Parliament elections and assembly elections go on, as per the ratio more than the assembly, we will have the parliament seats," Shivakumar told ANI.

Further talking about Lok Sabha elections DK Shivakumar said, "This election is not important for me but for the country and the state. A country which has to have a new change...There are a lot of issues...including the time of COVID-19, the different attitudes toward helping a common man who suffered, I believe people will remember and they will go for a change."

Karnataka will have elections in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies. Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, including five seats reserved for SC candidates and two for ST candidates.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 25 seats with a vote share of 51.7 per cent, while the Congress won 1 seat with a 32.1 per cent vote share, and JD(S) and Independent won one seat each in Karnataka. The general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19, with counting to be held on June 4. (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, Apr 4 (PTI) The apex consumer forum body NCDRC has dismissed the petition filed by the government seeking damages of Rs 640 crore from FMCG major Nestle over the Maggi fiasco dating back to 2015.

The government had in 2015 alleged before the NCDRC that Nestle was indulging in unfair trade practices by manufacturing and selling hazardous and defective Maggi noodles to the public.

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The National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) dismissed the two petitions filed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, seeking compensation of Rs 284.55 crore and punitive damages of Rs 355.41 crore.

The government had moved NCDRC after Nestle's popular instant noodles Maggi was banned by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in June 2015 for allegedly containing lead beyond permissible limits, forcing the company to withdraw the product from the market.

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"Complaint filed by the Union of India, Department of Consumer Affairs in 2015 before NCDRC on the allegation that by selling MAGGI Noodles in the past... was dismissed by NCDRC in favour of the Company vide NCDRC's Order dated 2nd April 2024," Nestle India in regulatory filings said.

It was for the first time that the government had taken action under Section 12-1-D of the Consumer Protection Act, under which both the Centre and states have powers to file complaints.

In this matter on January 13, 2016, the Supreme Court had stayed the proceedings at NCDRC and had directed the NABL-accredited CFTRI to clarify if the results of sample tests on Maggi Noodles show lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) levels to be within the permissible limits.

The results were forwarded to the Supreme Court on April 11, 2016, stating that 29 tested samples showed lead levels within permissible limits.

On January 3, 2019 the Supreme Court revived the government case in NCDRC saying the report of CFTRI, where the samples of Maggi noodles were tested following earlier orders of the court, will form the basis for the proceedings before the NCDRC.

The food safety regulator FSSAI had banned Maggi noodles after it found excess level of lead in samples, terming it as "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption.

FSSAI had also said Nestle violated labelling regulations on taste enhancer 'MSG' and ordered the company to submit a compliance report on its orders.

However, it returned to market five months later after a relaunch in November 2015.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Geneva [Switzerland], April 4 (ANI): The political activists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) organised a protest against Pakistan to highlight the hardships faced by local residents due to various issues, including the increasing presence of terrorism and fundamentalism.

The protest against human rights violations in Pakistan and its occupied Jammu and Kashmir was held during the 55th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

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Activists from the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP) and Swiss Kashmir Human Rights were seen carrying banners with messages such as 'Stop land grabbing occupying hilltops in PoK and Gilgit Baltistan' and 'Stop Human Rights abuses in PoJK and Gilgit Baltistan'.

Nasir Aziz Khan, the central spokesperson of the United Kashmir People's National Party said, "Our main purpose was to highlight the miseries and the plight of the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, where people are protesting for their basic rights. They are deprived, their rights are compromised and people are protesting and demanding that Pakistan must give them the ownership of their natural resources and self-rule. People are protesting, they are demanding that illegal taxes on the electricity bills must be abolished by Pakistan".

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Subsequently, the UKPNP organised an event at the John Knox Centre, where activists raised concerns about the presence of terror camps in the region and the increasing rise of fundamentalism.

Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of UKPNP said, "The conference aimed to address the scourge of terrorism, which has far-reaching impacts globally, particularly on communities advocating for peace and dignity. Terrorism disrupts their efforts for peaceful coexistence, and democracies face significant threats as a result."

Sardar Asif, a human rights activist and member of UKPNP said, "The entire Jammu and Kashmir region is affected due to terror activities. Similarly, Pakistan's provinces like Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are affected due to terrorism and we condemn this. We will raise the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan at various international platforms".

Political activists from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan have been voicing their concerns at various international platforms, but the silence of organizations like the United Nations worries them.

The people in the regions under Pakistan's forceful occupation have been struggling due to basic human rights like education, health, employment, and infrastructure development. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Abu Dhabi [UAE], April 4 (ANI/WAM): ENOC Group, the leading integrated global energy player, has contributed AED 9,839,219 towards its CSR initiatives largely focused on youth development, education and upskilling, health and supporting the less privileged communities during the holy month of Ramadan.

These initiatives have benefited nearly seven million individuals across the UAE during the past five years.

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ENOC has forged promising partnerships with government authorities, businesses, NGOs and communities to achieve social, environmental and economic wellbeing.

Between 2019 and 2023, ENOC Group ran over 279 campaigns, featuring over 20,000 volunteers who spent more than 23,000 volunteer hours. Every year during Ramadan, the group supports over 400,000 beneficiaries.

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Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO, ENOC, said, "Corporate Social Responsibility continues to play an increasingly important role within the ENOC Group. Alongside accelerating the development of the emirate's energy sector, we are also working towards positively benefitting the local communities in which we operate. We will continue our efforts to support the community and making a positive difference to the society in the spirit of caring and sharing that reflects the Holy Month."

The Group partners with Beit Al Khair Society and Al Ihsan Charity Association every Ramadan to deliver iftar boxes to the less privileged; between 2021 and 2023, the Group donated over 23,700 iftar boxes, and in 2024, volunteers from the Group plan to distribute 10,000 boxes around the UAE.

This year too, ENOC Group has organised a series of initiatives during the holy month encompassing the packing and distribution of grocery items, as well as the distribution of iftar boxes to over 500,000 beneficiaries in collaboration with Al Ihsan Charity Association in their Annual Ramadan Aman Campaign.

The group will additionally allocate 10,000 iftar meals to labour camps and 25,000 food items to underprivileged families.

The distribution activities will be executed by dedicated volunteers from ENOC Group at various locations around the UAE. For the second consecutive year, the Group will also host an annual iftar initiative for senior Emirati citizens. (ANI/WAM)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London, Apr 4 (PTI) Significantly higher salary thresholds for overseas workers, including Indians, applying for the UK's Skilled Worker visas kicked in on Thursday, as part of tough new measures announced earlier to cut Britain's overall migration figures.

For those applying under the Skilled Worker visa route, the salary threshold for an application will rise from GBP 26,200 to GBP 38,700  an increase of 48 per cent.

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The UK Home Office said it forms part of a robust and fair package of measures, which will mean 300,000 people who arrived in the UK last year would now not be able to and also prevent undercutting of domestic workers by cheap overseas labour.

It's time to turn off the taps and end the flow of cheap workers from abroad. Mass migration is unsustainable, and it's simply not fair. It undercuts the wages of hard-working people who are just trying to make ends meet, said UK Home Secretary James Cleverly.

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We are refocusing our immigration system to prioritise the brightest and best who have the skills our economy needs while reducing overall numbers. I promised the British people an immigration system that serves their interests, and to bring numbers down - these tough measures deliver on that commitment. Employers must also play their part and put British workers first, he said.

On April 11, an incremental increase to the minimum income required for overseas applicants to bring their dependents on Family Visas will also come into force  rising to GBP 29,000 from GBP 18,600.

By early next year, this is set to match the Skilled Worker visa threshold of GBP 38,700, which the Home Office said would ensure family dependents brought to the UK are supported financially.

The government is clear that no sector should be permanently reliant on immigration, so today, the Shortage Occupation List has also been abolished, with employers no longer able to pay migrants less than UK workers in shortage occupations, the Home Office said.

Under a new Immigration Salary List (ISL), created on the advice of the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), roles will only be included where they are skilled and in shortage, considering the efforts being made by sectors to invest in the resident workforce.

The Home Office said inclusion on the ISL must not serve to reduce pay and undermine the recruitment of British workers, and employers should be encouraged to invest in training, upskilling, and hiring domestic workers first.

For too long, we have relied on labour from abroad when there is great talent right here in the UK The changes coming into force today, coupled with my next generation of welfare reforms, will unlock the huge potential of the great British workforce, said UK Work and Pension Secretary Mel Stride.

The latest moves follow a recent ban on post-graduate students, except on major research projects, from bringing family dependents to the UK.

Last month, reforms to restrict care workers from bringing family members also came into force, with providers required to register with industry regulator Care Quality Commission (CQC) to crack down on reported visa misuse and exploitation in the sector.

The changes are expected to impact Indians as a nationality, which currently leads the UK's tally of skilled workers, healthcare professionals and students from overseas.

According to recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics, Indians under the Skilled Worker route registered a small decline of 11 per cent from 20,360 visas to 18,107 between September 2022 and 2023.

On the dependent family visa front, Indian nationals had the second-highest number of dependents after Nigeria at 43,445 in the year ending September 2023.

In the student visa category, Indian nationals continued to represent the largest group of students granted leave to remain on the post-study Graduate visa route, representing 43 per cent of grants.

A review of the route is now underway by MAC, which the Home Office says would prevent abuse and ensure it works in the best interests of the UK. It is expected to report later 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)
Geneva, Apr 4 (AP) The UN's leading human rights body agreed Thursday to measures aimed at putting pressure on Myanmar and Iran, whose governments have been accused of using violence against their own people.

The Human Rights Council, made up of 47 member countries, backed by consensus a measure that calls on governments to avoid exporting or selling jet fuel to Myanmar if they believe its ruling military junta might use the fuel to violate human rights in the war-wracked southeast Asian country.

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It also urged a halt to the illegal transfer of weapons, munitions and other military equipment to Myanmar.

An independent expert commissioned by the council warned last month that Myanmar's military government is escalating violence against civilians as it faces more setbacks on the battlefield against pro-democracy and ethnic armed groups.

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The military seized power more than three years ago from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering widespread nonviolent opposition that was met with deadly force. The repression gave birth to armed resistance and embroiled the country in a civil war.

Advocacy group Amnesty International has repeatedly called out illicit shipments of fuel to Myanmar and in January pointed to shipping data that pointed to efforts to avoid sanctions in the aviation fuel supply chain. It said at least seven shipments of the fuel went to Myanmar last year, with direct links to a storage unit in Vietnam.

Vietnam, which currently holds one of the seats in the council, did not stand in the way of the council's consensus.

This is an important message from the U.N.'s main human rights body that business as usual is not acceptable when supplying jet fuel to those who use airstrikes to commit war crimes, said Iniyan Ilango, Amnesty's representative to the U.N. in Geneva.

He said it was a good start but the U.N. Security Council should impose a suspension of the direct and indirect shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar, saying such a move would have an important impact on the ground because it would help prevent the military from continuing its airstrikes, many of which have constituted war crimes.

The decision on Myanmar came as the council was wrapping up its first session of the year, which began on Feb. 26, with action on more than 40 resolutions on issues as diverse as rights of the child, the environment and human rights, and prevention of genocide, and rights situations in council like Sudan, Belarus and North Korea.

One resolution expected to come up in Friday's session finale calls on countries to stop sending weapons to Israel amid its military campaign in Gaza that has led to the killings of nearly 33,000 Palestinians in response to the murderous attacks in Israel by armed militants on Oct. 7.

In other action, the council voted 24-8, with 15 abstentions, to adopt a resolution to extend by a year investigations of human rights in Iran by two separate teams  one led by a special rapporteur looking into the overall rights situation, and another by a fact-finding mission focusing on rights violations related to protests since September 2022.

Members of the mission told the council last month that Iran's government was responsible for physical violence that led to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in a hospital after her arrest by the country's morality police over allegedly not wearing her hijab to the liking of the authorities.

Amini's death sparked huge protests and a months-long security crackdown killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. (AP)

(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, April 4: A 26-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her live-in partner, who stuffed her body into the wardrobe at their rented accommodation in Delhi's Dwarka area before fleeing, police said on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Rukshar Rajput.

Police said a police control room (PCR) call was received at Dabri police station at 10:40 p.m. on Wednesday regarding the murder of a woman in Gali No 10, Rajapuri, following which a police team rushed to the spot. Delhi Shocker: Man Stabbed to Death Over Personal Enmity in Badarpur, Three Juveniles Among Five Arrested.

The caller, Mustkim, father of Rukshar, told the police team that a man named Vipal Tailor, his daughter's boyfriend, had killed her. He said that his daughter had been living in this flat with Vipal Tailor for the past one and a half months.

Upon entering the flat, the dead body of the deceased was found in the almirah of the room. The crime scene was inspected by the crime team and FSL personnel," a senior police official said, adding that the deceased's body was transferred to DDU Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination. Delhi Shocker: Gym Trainer Stabbed Multiple Times Day Before Wedding in Raju Park Area, Father Missing.

"Efforts are underway to locate the accused, Vipal Tailor, a native of Gujarat's Surat, and based on the statement of the complainant, Mustkim, a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered, the official said, adding that police teams are also scanning CCTV cameras in the area to know the sequence of the crime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2024 07:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, April 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart NDA's Lok Sabha election campaign in Bihar on Thursday. He will address a public rally in Chirag Paswan's stronghold Jamui.

NDA partner LJP-Ram Vilas has fielded Chirag Paswan's brother-in-law Arun Bharti from the Jamui Lok Sabha seat. Major events that will unfold across the country today: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Samajwadi Party Issues Fresh List of Candidates for Upcoming Polls, Fields Atul Pradhan From Meerut (Check Full List).

* Union Home Minister Amit Shah will commence his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu on Thursday. During the visit, the Home Minister will campaign for NDA candidates from five Lok Sabha seats of the state. He will attend four roadshows and a public meeting.

* The second meeting of the BJP manifesto committee will be held in the national capital on Thursday. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

* BJP National President J.P. Nadda will hold public meetings in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh and Vikas Nagar under Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. On the same day, he will hold a meeting of the party's core committee for Tehri Garhwal in Dehradun. On Friday, the party chief will hold a roadshow in Haridwar. He will also interact with saints there. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: AAP Releases Second List; Fields Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal From Hoshiarpur.

* Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad, daughter of former minister Yogrendra Sao, will appear before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a money laundering case on Thursday. The Central probe agency has summoned her brother Ankit Raj in the same case on Friday.

On March 12, the ED raided 20 locations in Ranchi and Hazaribagh, including premises linked to Yogendra Sao, his daughter Amba Prasad and other family members and associates.

* The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha will celebrate its 45th foundation day in Hazaribagh on Thursday. Chief Minister Champai Soren and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren will participate in the programme.

* Former Bihar MP Pappu Yadav has said that he will file the nomination for the Purnea Lok Sabha seat on Thursday. It is likely that the Congress leader will contest the Lok Sabha election from Purnea as an Independent candidate.

* The MP/MLA Court in Kanpur is scheduled to deliver on Thursday the judgment in the Jajmau arson case in which Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki, his brother and three others were accused.

* CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury will release the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday at the party office in the national capital.

* Union Minister Smriti Irani will hold a roadshow in Kerala's Wayanad on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. BJP has fielded its state president K. Surendran against the sitting Congress MP.

* Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will address a conference of the booth-level workers at Ramlila Maidan in Aligarh on Thursday.

* Haryana's Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapoor will inaugurate a three-day IG/SP conference in Faridabad on Thursday. During the conference, officers will brainstorm on various topics related to security and law & order.

* Actor-politician Hema Malini will file her nomination as the BJP candidate from the Mathura Lok Sabha seat on Thursday in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. On Wednesday, she offered prayers at Yamuna's Vishram Ghat in Mathura.

* The Congress is likely to announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana on Thursday. The party's state unit has shortlisted probable candidates and sent the names to Congress' central election committee for taking the final decision.

* The JEE-Main session 2 entrance test will commence on Thursday and will continue till April 12. Recently, the National Testing Agency released admit cards for the examination, which will be conducted in two shifts -- paper one from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and paper two from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

* Gujarat Titans will lock horns with Punjab Kings in the 17th Match of IPL 2024 on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2024 09:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
In his latest effort to blame the ongoing border crisis on Joe Biden, Donald Trump claimed he met with a Latino family whose daughter was killed by an illegal migrant. However, the sister of the slain Ruby Garcia says they never even met him and slammed him for politicizing her sister's death.

During one of his rallies on Tuesday, the former president tried to use the alleged killing of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia by an undocumented immigrant as a way to attack Biden and prove that his immigration policies are not working, describing the late Garcia by saying, "She lit up that room, and I've heard that from so many people, I spoke to some of her family."

The former president was caught lying once again when Mavi Garcia, Ruby Garcia's sister, spoke with ABC News and debunked Trump's claims.

"I can confirm and assure you he did not speak with me or my immediate family," she said.

"He did not speak with us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us, and misinforming people on live TV," added the sister. "The focus should be on my sister right now, who she was in life."

Soon after, ABC News tried to reach out to the Trump Campaign but would not comment on the record about the contradiction, instead insisted that they "don't share details of who they spoke with and what was said during private meetings unless given explicit permission by the families involved."

Donald Trump Fact-Checked After Another Claim on Ruby Garcia's Death

Donald Trump tried to blame the incident directly on Biden, his top rival in the general election this November. He claimed that the suspect. a Mexican national in the US illegally, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, was deported under the Trump administration but then was let back into the country under Biden.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Lies About Why He Had to Post Bond in Fraud Trial

Trump was immediately fact-checked once again, as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson issued a statement that said that the suspect re-entered the US after deportation "at an unknown date and location," which meant that Trump was just trying to blame this on Biden without any solid evidence.

As Donald Trump tried using Ruby Garcia's death for his political ends, it was noted that the former president went back and forth between saying Garcia was 25 years old and 17 years old.

"It's always been about illegal immigrants," Garcia's sister told NBC News. "Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes and it's kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like this?"

Who Was Ruby Garcia and What Is Her Relationship To the Illegal Immigrant That Killed Her?

Ruby Garcia is a 25-year-old Hispanic woman who was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, a Mexican citizen who was arrested days after her death. Authorities stated he entered the country as a child and had previously been deported in September 2020.

According to the BBC, she was found shot dead on a highway near the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 22. Trump has been using her death to push his rhetoric since.

READ NEXT: Donald Trump's Trump Media (DJT) in Free Fall After Company Admits to $58 Million Loss in 2023

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Family of slain woman angered by Trump's speech - WOOD TV8
As Haiti grapples with political turmoil and escalating gang violence, a humanitarian crisis looms larger.

Aid workers, doctors, and missionaries sound the alarm as hunger grips more and more people across the Caribbean nation, CNN reports.

In the capital city of Port-au-Prince, an American missionary anonymously reported encountering individuals who hadn't eaten for a week.

Food scarcity intensifies as Haiti gang-controlled areas face a dire shortage, leaving livelihoods dependent on small-scale trading crumbling.

Haiti's political landscape remains paralyzed following Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation.

Amid the vacuum of leadership, vital decisions linger, impeding the formation of a new government.

Efforts to initiate a multinational security mission stall amid the confusion, exacerbating the already precarious situation.

Haiti gangs effectively isolate Port-au-Prince from outside aid, rendering it nearly impossible to reach thousands of malnourished children in urgent need.

The blockade of Port-au-Prince extends beyond political implications to encompass essential supply chains.

Roads, airports, and ports are barricaded, choking off access to critical resources. Hospitals and warehouses become targets of vandalism and looting, exacerbating the scarcity of life-saving supplies.

The recent attack on a key container terminal further constricts Haiti's ability to import essential food items, amplifying the humanitarian crisis.

READ NEXT: Haiti: 53,000 Flee Port-au-Prince Amid Gang Violence

Diplomatic Efforts and Haiti Transition Solutions

Diplomatic pressure mounts as regional bodies urge Haitian politicians to expedite the formation of a Haiti transition council, a crucial step towards restoring stability, Reuters noted.

The proposed council, mediated by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc, faces internal discord that is delaying its implementation.

However, diplomats emphasize its potential to instigate the deployment of an international security force, which is vital for quelling rampant violence and ensuring humanitarian aid access.

While challenges persist, the Haiti Transition Council represents a beacon of hope for the country's beleaguered population.

CARICOM emphasizes the importance of constructive dialogue in navigating the nation toward recovery.

The establishment of a Haiti transition government not only signifies progress but also paves the way for international assistance in restoring order and rebuilding trust.

Human Rights Concerns Across Borders

Amnesty International condemns the Dominican Republic's discriminatory treatment of Haitians, highlighting mass expulsions and racial profiling.

Instances of human rights violations targeting both Haitians and Black Dominicans of Haitian descent prompt international scrutiny, according to the Miami Herald.

The lack of accountability exacerbates tensions, fueling further injustices against vulnerable communities.

The Dominican Republic's hardline stance exacerbates the refugee crisis, with thousands of Haitians expelled without due process.

Despite calls for a cessation of deportations, the government persists, perpetuating a cycle of persecution and marginalization.

Amnesty International urges the Dominican government to address xenophobia and racism, emphasizing the importance of upholding human rights obligations.

Tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic escalate, further straining relations.

Disputes over border construction exacerbate existing animosities, leading to border closures and immigration restrictions.

The suspension of legal avenues for Haitians exacerbates their vulnerability, deepening the humanitarian crisis along the shared border.

Haiti confronts multifaceted challenges ranging from political instability to humanitarian emergencies; international cooperation and concerted efforts are imperative.

Addressing the root causes of the crisis demands collective action, prioritizing human rights and dignified treatment for all affected populations.

Only through collaborative endeavors can Haiti begin to chart a path toward sustainable recovery and resilience.

READ MORE: Haiti: Downtown Gunfire Near National Palace

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Humanitarian crisis worsens in Haiti - From CBS News
The Humanitarian Legal Relief organization revealed that El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's "war on gangs" has taken its toll, and at least 241 people have died inside prisons, including some minors.

Ingrid Escobar, the director of Humanitarian Legal Relief, stated that their organization received 500 reports of deaths in state custody but was only able to confirm around half of them. Of these deaths, they confirmed that two minors died while in government custody.

The NGO noted that "of these deaths, 44% died of violent death, serious torture, 29% due to lack of medical attention," with Escobar noting that there had been a sharp rise in deaths this year, as compared to last year's numbers.

It has been over two years since Bukele began his gang crackdown when Congress and his administration announced a "state of exception" that waived several constitutional rights in order for the government to fight the violent gangs plaguing El Salvador, most notably Barrio 18 and MS-13. Since then, police have just arrested people suspected of being gang members without evidence that they actually are. As a result, many innocent young men were arrested as well.

According to the Associated Press, since the crackdowns began, over 80,000 people have been arrested under Nayib Bukele having emergency powers. This is now over 1% of the country's population. Those accused of being gang members, including innocent ones, have been thrown into prison, often with little to no evidence of their ties to gangs and almost no access to due process.

Despite human rights groups decrying the humanitarian conditions in El Salvador, Nayib Bukele remains very popular in the country, as his gang crackdown has led to declining homicide rates in the country, which used to have one of the highest murder rates in the world.

READ MORE: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's Allies Gain Supermajority in Congress After Contentious Vote

El Salvador Homicide Rates Declined by 70% in 2023, Says Nayib Bukele Government

Meanwhile, as human rights groups decried Nayib Bukele's methods, the El Salvador leader revealed that under his policies. The number of homicides in the country has declined by nearly 70% during 2023. He credited that prolonged state of emergency and his gang crackdown for this.

Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro stated that in 2022, El Salvador had around 495 murders. However, last year, there was a dramatic decrease as the number is now down to 154 murders.

NBC News ran the numbers and stated that this means that El Salvador now has one of the lowest murder rates in the Americas, with a homicide rate of 2.4 per 100,000 people. Only Canada has a lower murder rate than this.

Town Praising Nayib Bukele in Transforming It After Gang Crackdown

It is not just the big cities that have seen massive safety changes since Nayib Bukele's gang crackdowns began, but also small towns around the country, including Puerto el Triunfo, El Salvador.

Despite this, there were still reports of human rights violations from the government. One woman spoke with Al Jazeera and stated that the police arrested her nephew, a government employee, and accused him of being a gang member. They did not find any gang tattoos, nor did they have evidence, but they arrested him anyway.

Because of the random arrests, many are now afraid of police or military presence, with many questioning if this was the price for their safety against the gangs.

READ NEXT: El Salvador Authorities Dismantle Migrant Smuggling Ring

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Life as a prisoner in world's most strict jail | El Salvador CECOT - Luisito Comunica
Former President Donald Trump's $175 million bond had to be reduced as part of a civil fraud case in New York. However, it wasn't Trump himself who fronted the bill.

California billionaire Don Hankey, a known Trump supporter and a figure in the subprime auto loan industry, covered the bond instead, as reported by the Washington Post, USA Today.

Without Hankey's intervention, Trump would have had to dip into his own funds to pay the bond or risk having his properties seized by authorities.

This action came at a critical time for Trump, who faced hefty penalties from two civil cases totaling over $450 million.

Trump expressed his frustration in a social media post, criticizing the judicial process.

Hankey, whose net worth is estimated at $7.4 billion according to Forbes, is renowned in the world of subprime auto loans. His business empire, including Westlake Financial Services, spans various auto-related services and assets amounting to over $22.5 billion.

Hankey's journey to success started humbly, working as a car washer before venturing into auto sales and eventually establishing his empire.

READ NEXT: Trump's Assets Safe as $175M Bond Secured in NY Fraud Case

Pursuit of Trial Delay

Donald Trump's legal team is striving to delay the commencement of his criminal trial concerning hush money payments, scheduled for April 15.

Despite multiple attempts, including requests for trial postponement and judge recusal, Trump's efforts have faced significant resistance from Judge Juan Merchan, CNN noted.

Merchan has consistently rejected motions for trial postponement due to publicity and declined requests for his recusal based on alleged bias.

Trump's legal strategy seems geared towards pushing all trials beyond the 2024 election.

Merchan has delayed the trial previously but appears reluctant to further postpone it. Additionally, he dismissed Trump's request to await a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

Manhattan prosecutors have opposed Trump's motions, arguing that pretrial publicity won't cease and that any potential bias can be addressed during jury selection.

Hankey's History and Its Implications

California billionaire Don Hankey's financial support for Trump isn't without controversy.

His company, Westlake Services, faced legal trouble in the past, including a lawsuit from the Justice Department for unlawful lending practices targeting military personnel, according to The Daily Beast.

The lawsuit revealed that Westlake unlawfully repossessed cars belonging to servicemembers, violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

Westlake settled the case, paying damages to affected service members and fines to the government.

This history is crucial in understanding Hankey's loan to Trump.

His firm's clashes with federal authorities and potential implications under a Trump administration shed light on the significance of his financial support to the former president.

Hankey's wealth, derived from subprime auto loans, reflects a pattern of targeting low-income customers with high-interest loans.

Prior penalties from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau further underline Hankey's contentious business practices.

Don Hankey's backing of Donald Trump's $175 million bond intertwines with his business history, providing context to his involvement in the former president's legal affairs.

READ MORE: Michigan Passes Law Legalizing Paid Surrogacy

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Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Bombshell bribe? Trump's billionaire ally finances his jaw-dropping $175 million bond - From MSNBC
Protests have begun all over Argentina after President Javier Milei took his chainsaw to the state and cut down over 24,000 government jobs amid his austerity measures to deal with the country's ongoing financial difficulties.

As El Pais noted, Javier Milei believes that the state "is the enemy" and "a criminal organization" and as president, he believes that it is his duty to reduce it to its minimum size. He has since employed radical austerity measures, including cutting down on spending he believes were not essential, including research grants for science and cuts to food aid.

When Milei first took office, the state had 341,477 people employed. Just two months later, the libertarian had already fired 9,000 people, with another 15,000 more layoffs being ordered this week.

This has many government employees on edge about who will be fired next, with around 50,000 workers living in uncertainty, especially from branches of the government believed to be considered unneeded by the far-right president.

"We're experiencing a situation of psychological terror," a worker for the National Secretariat for Children, Youth and Family told El Pais. "Milei said that there were going to be 70,000 layoffs. Then, he said 15,000 or 20,000. This back-and-forth impacts our mental health and daily life. Everyone is frozen without knowing what's going to happen, no one knows who will be next."

Milei has argued that Argentina is "an impoverished country" and that the state is "too large and inefficient." He has promised to cut down government spending, and so far, he is making good on that promise at the cost of many of the government's functions.

Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni was the one who announced the job cuts.

"It's part of the work we are doing to reduce state expenses," he said, adding that the dismissed workers are a drag on taxpayers, saying, "They perhaps did not have a very defined job."

READ MORE: Argentina Senate Rejects President Javier Millei's Economic Reforms in Blow To Right-Winger's Agenda

Hundreds of Government Workers Protested Vs. Argentina President Javier Milei's Job Cuts

With many government workers not knowing if they would be fired next, hundreds of them marched in protest against Milei. Some of those protesting were notified of their termination last week, while others were still unsure if they were going next, according to the Associated Press. They stormed their workplaces in Buenos Aires and nearby cities and held a strike against their possible dismissal.

Many wore the green t-shirts of the country's biggest union, The Association of State Workers (ATE), with some even having scuffles with police who tried to evict some of them from government buildings.

Javier Milei Also Vows To Bring Back Falkland Islands to Argentina from British Rule

Meanwhile, as workers protested, Milei was establishing a "roadmap" to have Argentina get back sovereignty over the British-ruled Falkland Islands, according to CNN.

"I want to reiterate our unwavering claim for the islands, and I commit that during our government, we will be able to have a clear roadmap so that the Malvinas return to Argentine hands," the president said during a ceremony in Buenos Aires to mark the 42nd anniversary of the start of the Falklands War, where the British defeated Argentina and gained control of the island chain.

READ MORE: Argentina Rightwing President Javier Milei Hugs Man He Called a 'Filthy Leftist,' Pope Francis

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Is Milei delivering in Argentina? Expectation vs Reality - VisualPolitik EN
The Allentown School District will dismiss students earlier Monday due to safety concerns during the solar eclipse.

Officials posted on the districts Facebook page Thursday the decision was made out of an abundance of caution. The timing of the eclipse Monday afternoon has caused multiple school districts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania already to either close entirely or dismiss early due to safety concerns.

School district leaders said they are worried students will look at the sun without protective glasses or devices and seriously damage their eyes. Some also said they are concerned about traffic dangers at dismissal time when drivers may be distracted by the eclipse.

Allentown School District officials stated the following in its posting for parents:

A solar eclipse is an awe-inspiring event where the moon passes between the sun and Earth, casting its shadow over our planet. This presents a unique opportunity for learning and exploration, but it is crucial to ensure the safety of our students, staff, and community members during this time. Our schools have been provided safety guidance, issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which teachers will share with students.

Allentown middle and high schools will dismiss at 11:30 a.m., while the districts elementary schools will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. There will be no afternoon Lehigh Career & Technical Institute( LCTI) classes and Early College students will return with the morning LCTI students, the posting states.

In the Lehigh Valley, the sun will be about 92% blocked by the moon at about 3:23 p.m. Monday, according to TimeAndDate.com. Parts of the moons shadow will cover the sun from 2:08 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. Monday.

NASA warned the public not to look at the eclipse without special safety glasses, to avoid eye damage. The agency also warned looking at 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 last total solar eclipse to cross the United States happened in 2017. The next wont occur until 2044.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Lehigh University President Joseph J. Helble told the campus community Thursday he was deeply disappointed to learn that a swastika had been found etched on a handrail in a residence hall.

I am profoundly angry, he said in a message posted on Lehighs website. Such expressions of hatred are absolutely unacceptable, and in stark contrast to what we stand for as a Lehigh community.

Helble said in the message that a concerned student first reported the swastika. University police were immediately notified, he said.

His message did not disclose the name of the residence hall where it was found.

It was promptly removed, and an investigation was immediately initiated, the president said. I want to be clear that this incident will be investigated fully, and we ask for the communitys help in identifying those responsible.

This behavior is not tolerated at Lehigh and will be met with appropriate consequences including potential prosecution by law enforcement.

Helble called the incident ... a stark reminder that antisemitism is real and growing.

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A federal appeals court upheld a lower court judges ruling putting a temporary halt on New Jerseys primary ballot design, widely seen as helping those with party establishment support.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia denied an appeal by county clerks seeking to halt U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishis recent order preliminarily stopping how the officials design primary ballots. The appeals court ruling means Quraishis order stays in place ahead of the June 4 primary.

The higher courts ruling on Wednesday is just the latest in a flurry of developments affecting how the states elections are carried out. Quraishi clarified over the weekend that his order applies only to the Democratic primary, not the Republican.

The suit was brought by Democratic Rep. Andy Kim as part of his campaign to succeed indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez. Kim and two other Democratic candidates sued in federal court to block New Jerseys so-called county line primary system.

New Jersey is the only state to set its primary ballots in that way, which groups candidates who have won the county partys backing in a single column, and listing others in discrete places elsewhere on the ballot. Kim  and many people in New Jersey politics  contend that such a system of bracketing party-backed candidates gives them an unfair advantage and relegates other candidates to ballot Siberia.

Quraishi agreed to the extent that he ruled the county clerks in most of the state must stop using that system for the June primary. What happens beyond that is unclear.

Kims suit originated out of his contest against first lady Tammy Murphy for the states Senate seat, but she has since dropped out of the race, leaving Kim in favorable position.

The crux of his argument was that because Murphy earned the backing of powerful county party leaders in populous areas, she was unfairly given favorable ballot position. Her departure from the race leaves Kim as a dominant candidate in the party, though hes vowed to continue to fight the county line system.

That aligns with progressives in the party who have railed against the county line for years, arguing it unfairly tips primaries toward influential party leaders who make their choices behind closed doors.

Republicans were not originally part of Kims lawsuit, though they recently petitioned Quraishi to join. He denied their request, saying they missed a deadline.

New Jersey hasnt elected a Republican to the Senate in over five decades, but the GOP is hopeful that their rivals might be tarnished because Menendezs second corruption trial. Hes pleaded not guilty to federal charges he accepted bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury vehicle in return for helping business associated get a lucrative contract from Egypt.

Democrats have nearly a million more registered voters than Republicans in New Jersey.

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Lehigh Valley residents may see a bevy of military helicopters flying in and out of the area beginning this weekend, but officials say its no cause for alarm.

The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority on Thursday announced Lehigh Valley International Airport outside Allentown is serving as a staging area Saturday through Monday, April 6-8, for U.S. Army Boeing AH-64 Apache, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

The public should not be concerned with the increased air traffic, airport authority officials said in a news release.

Arrivals and departures are scheduled daily from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the area of Hangar 7 at the airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. Hangar 7 houses Lehigh Valley Aviation Services and is at 600 Hayden Circle, off Postal Road south of the airports runways, according to flyabe.com.

There will no public access to the airfield, authority officials stated.

Lehigh Valley International is serving as a staging area for some 70 of the U.S. army helicopters flying in from Fort Drum, New York, en route to Philadelphia, according to the airport authority.

Army public affairs Capt. Daniel Andrews elaborated that the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, is flying the helicopters from Fort Drum into the Port of Philadelphia.

This movement of military equipment is in support of the units mission to deploy to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility as a regularly scheduled rotation of forces, a news release provided by Andrews states.

Central Command or CENTCOM, is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and has an area of responsibility spanning more than 4 million square miles and populated by more than 560 million people in 21 nations, stretching from Northeast Africa across the Middle East to Central and South Asia.

Helicopters attached to the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade in Fort Drum, New York, stop over Aug. 29, 2019, at Lehigh Valley International Airport. The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority announced the airport once again is serving as a staging area Saturday through Monday, April 6-8, 2024, for U.S. Army Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters as part of a regularly scheduled rotation of forces.Mike Nester file photo| lehighvalleylive.com contributor

Helicopters attached to the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade in Fort Drum, New York, stop over Aug. 29, 2019, at Lehigh Valley International Airport. The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority announced the airport once again is serving as a staging area Saturday through Monday, April 6-8, 2024, for U.S. Army Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters as part of a regularly scheduled rotation of forces.Mike Nester file photo| lehighvalleylive.com contributor

Helicopters attached to the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade in Fort Drum, New York, stop over Aug. 29, 2019, at Lehigh Valley International Airport. The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority announced the airport once again is serving as a staging area Saturday through Monday, April 6-8, 2024, for U.S. Army Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters as part of a regularly scheduled rotation of forces.Mike Nester file photo| lehighvalleylive.com contributor

Helicopters attached to the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade in Fort Drum, New York, stop over Aug. 29, 2019, at Lehigh Valley International Airport. The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority announced the airport once again is serving as a staging area Saturday through Monday, April 6-8, 2024, for U.S. Army Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters as part of a regularly scheduled rotation of forces.Mike Nester file photo| lehighvalleylive.com contributor

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
UPDATE: Allen Jahmell Grimes, 18, of Bethlehem, was arraigned Tuesday, July 9 on attempted homicide and related charges and sent to Northampton County Prison with bail denied, court records show. A preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled for July 23 to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the charges toward trial in the county court of common pleas.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: An 18-year-old attempted homicide suspect accused in a South Bethlehem shooting has been apprehended in New York, city police said.

Allen Jahmell Grimes, of the 600 block of Cherokee Street in Bethlehem, on Monday was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals, city police Capt. Nicholas P. Lechman told lehighvalleylive.com. Grimes was found by law enforcement at the home of a relative, Lechman said.

Hes currently being held at Rikers Island in New York City as he awaits extradition back to Pennsylvania. Grimes is charged with felony criminal attempted homicide; four counts felony aggravated assault; misdemeanor simple assault; misdemeanor reckless endangerment; and misdemeanor possessing instruments of crime.

A warrant previously was issued for his arrest.

Bethlehem police said the case against Grimes unfolded at 3:15 p.m. Feb. 28. Thats when the department received multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting in the 400 block of Cherokee Street. Witnesses reported a woman struck by at least a single gunshot and taken to an area hospital for treatment in a personal vehicle.

Investigators later determined the 22-year-old victim suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. She later was listed at the hospital with serious, but stable injuries, police had said.

Investigators connected Grimes to the alleged crime by reviewing video surveillance footage of the area. Grimes is shown in the footage entering an involved vehicle prior to the shooting and running away after the shooting, according to police.

A witness who was with the victim at the time of the incident reported Grimes knew the victim and that witness also had a prior conflict with Grimes, according to police.

Bethlehem Police Departments Emergency Response Team later obtained a search warrant for Grimes home and raided it by 9:30 p.m. Feb. 28. Grimes was not located in that search.

Grimes currently is awaiting to be arraigned on the Bethlehem charges. Lechman said the process with out-of-state extraditions, however, can take a few weeks to be sorted out in the court system.

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Thousands of homes and businesses are in the dark Thursday as powerful wind gusts knocked down power lines and toppled trees across the Lehigh Valley, utilities companies reported.

The region has experienced rainfall, often heavy at times, for multiple days this week. The National Weather Services Mount Holly office has issued a flood warning, in effect until noon, as excessive rainfall is expected to continue throughout the day. The warning includes a portion of east-central Pennsylvania, including Lehigh County.

Flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations is imminent or currently occurring. Streams continue to rise due to excess runoff from earlier rainfall, meteorologists say.

As of 5:46 a.m. Thursday, weather gauge reports indicate flooding occurred on the Little Lehigh in Allentown. Flood stage is 5 feet and waters reached 5.16 feet, according to the reports. Though the heaviest rain has left the region, forecasters say itll take time for the waters to recede, with between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of rain already fallen.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, DeSales University in Upper Saucon announced power outages were shutting down all classes on campus for the evening. The university told students living in several residence halls to evacuate if the outages persisted, according to an emergency weather alert on the universitys website.

A little before 8 a.m. Thursday, the university posted all classes continue to be canceled. Please be safe! the posting stated.

PPL spokeswoman Jane George told lehighvalleylive.com the utilitys service territory sustained damage and outages due to the heavy storms and winds. And it likely isnt over yet, she said.

Current predictions of strong and sustained wind may result in additional outages throughout the day, George said.

In Lehigh County, 2,313 PPL customers remain without power. This includes more than 800 of those customers in Upper Milford Township and another 280 customers in Lower Macungie Township. In Northampton County, a total of 1,852 remain without power with 1,248 of those folks in Lower Saucon.

Hundreds of electric personnel, including line workers, foresters, damage assessors and call center staff are working across PPLs service territory to restore power to those affected. Additional crews from outside the region also have been mobilized to respond.

We will work around the clock to respond as safely and quickly as possible to any outages that may occur, George said.

Todd Meyers, a Met-Ed spokesman, said heavy rain and high winds caused trees and tree limbs to damage many of the utilitys poles and wires in various regional locations throughout much of Wednesday. It interrupted power to about 3,000 Met-Ed customers in both Northampton and Lehigh Counties, Meyers said.

Our Met-Ed crews are being assisted by about 35 contracted line workers who moved into the region to help restore power, Meyers told lehighvalleylive.com Thursday morning.

Currently, Met-Ed, a First Energy company, has 99 customers in Northampton County without power, Meyers said. The majority are in Lehigh Township with 40; and Williams Township with 23. Crews made solid progress in the overnight hours, restoring power to nearly 700 customers in Northampton County, Meyers said.

Lehigh County currently has another 49 Met-Ed customers remaining without power, with 45 of those in Weisenberg Township.

There are three locations in the township where trees have damaged equipment and crews are on scene making repairs, Meyers said. We are continuing to assess damage in the area.

Meyers said estimated restoration times to these customers is yet to be set. The utility plans to send updates on its website.

JCP&L, another First Energy company, reports 1,360 Warren County customers without power, according to its outage map.

Utility companies are reminding folks to stay at least 30 feet away from downed wires, which could still be live and energized.

Thursdays forecast is expected to bring another chance of rain showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3 p.m. Some of the storms could produce small hail, the weather service says. The high temperature is forecast to hover around 50 degrees, with the chance of precipitation at 30%.

New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms, are expected. AccuWeather is making similar predictions, calling for a couple of showers with some small hail and a rumble of thunder possible.

The low temperature for Thursday evening is forecast by weather agencies at 36 degrees, with a chance of more showers and thunderstorms. The chance of precipitation Thursday evening is 50%. The weather service expects new precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, but higher amounts are possible in thunderstorms.

Both weather agencies predict Friday to bring another slight chance of showers by early afternoon. Then, everything is forecast to pretty much dry out by evening. The high temperature for Friday is predicted to be 48 degrees before falling to a low temperature of 36 degrees by Friday night, the weather service says.

Current weather radar

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
Two vacant shops on Main Street in Portlaoise have been filled with attractive new businesses, reflecting the growing town's appeal for new residents.

However the Laois county town continues to show a high commercial vacancy rate.

Dan Alexi from Moldova is the proprietor of newly opened Bubble Hills cafe, filling was once a shoeshop, then an icecream cafe, at the entrance of Hynd's Square.

"I am in Ireland six months, I had the same business in Moldova for the last eight years," Dan told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

Dan lives in Clane with his wife and daughter, all coming here to make a new life in Ireland.

"I opened on St Patrick's Day. I will open in Clane too in maybe three months. I like that the shop is here on the Main Street. I like Portlaoise. It is fairly quiet so far. I will open every day," he said.

As for the name, it comes from the trendy Bubble tea he creates, along with tasty sandwiches, endorsed already by business support group Laois Chamber Alliance

The vacant takeaway premises opposite Bubble Tea at the entrance of Hynd's Square is also about to be occupied, by Infocus Opticians after a huge renovation.

The two new shops at the entrance to Hynd's Square. Photo: Leinster Express

Further down Main Street, dressmaker Diana Kerpaite from Lithuania has just turned a vacant pharmacy into a beautiful store, having moved a very short distance from a smaller unit that was once a well known florist.

"I moved from across the road. I needed a bigger place. Business is good," she said.

Diana who is in business in Portlaoise for the past six years, employs two staff. Before that she worked in Dublin and in Mullingar.

"I live in Portlaoise. All the time I think about my business. Portlaoise is a good place, it is good to rent. In Dublin it's expensive. Every year here I am about 10% more busy," she said.

She had some professional help with her decorating of the prominent shop, keeping it in the family.

"My mother Birlite helped, she is a professional painter," Diana said.

Her busy period is just starting, with clothes alterations also a big part of her dressmaking work.

"I am busiest from March to December really, from communions to weddings and then Christmas," she said.

Near her shop however are several vacant units. While the recently closed Lily's venue is soon to reopen under a new name, the former Office Centre remains vacant, alongside the unit Diana vacated, with the former Ken Blacks shop remaining derelict as is the old County Hotel, now covered in a mural.The most prominent nearby vacant shop, the old Shaws, has been rebuilt as Portlaoise library.

The commercial vacancy rate in Portlaoise stands at 15.5 per cent, higher than the national rate of 14.3%, according to latest figures from GeoDirectory.

Evelyn Reddin, enterprise officer at Laois County Council outlined the help they give to businesses.

"The Business Support Unit at Laois County Council together with the Local Enterprise Office provides comprehensive support for businesses in Laois towns.

"The Business Incentive Scheme encourages the use of vacant commercial premises over a three-year period and covers 75% of the commercial rates cost in Year 1, 50% in year 2 and 25% in year 3.

"The Shop Front Grant Scheme supports the improvement of shop fronts, covering 50% of the cost up to a max of 750 per unit and the Vacant Commercial Property Incentive Scheme aims to encourage the use of vacant commercial premises within town centres.

"The Local Enterprise Office provides additional support in the form of training and mentoring and in some cases, funding may be available to eligible businesses in the form of grants, trading online vouchers, lean, green and digital supports," she said.

For more information on the various supports and eligibility criteria, please contact the Business Support Unit/Local Enterprise Office on 057 86 64000/057 86 61800.
The work of prison officers at prisons in Laois and elsewhere in Ireland in making communities safer is not seen by the community but is vital, according to the Minister for Justice.

Helen McEntee spoke on as she welcomed the graduation of 133 recruit prison officers in Dublin Castle.

The Department of Justice says the new officers have now completed their Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care (HCCC) and have already been placed in prisons throughout the State, including the Operational Support Group and the Prison Service Escort Corp.

The graduating class is part of the Irish Prison Services latest recruitment drive and Minister McEntee congratulated the graduates on April 3.

"I am honoured to congratulate our graduates for reaching this milestone and to thank them for their commitment. Over the course of their training, they will have gained the knowledge and skills to carry out their work in a professional and meaningful way, and to show patience, compassion, and strength under challenging circumstances.

Because they work within the walls of our prisons, the wider community dont get to see first-hand the vital job prison officers do. But they are the front line of a system that makes our communities safer, not just through providing secure custody in our prisons, but also by providing the care and rehabilitation that often vulnerable people in custody need to be able to make the right choices and lead meaningful lives when they are released.

I wish them all the best in what Im sure will be a long and rewarding career in the Irish Prison Service, he said.

The Director General of the Irish Prison Service Caron McCaffrey said:

Prison officers play a vital security role while also serving as catalysts for positive change, guiding individuals in custody towards rehabilitation. Together, we envision a safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity.

The HCCC is developed and delivered jointly by the Irish Prison Service and South East Technological University (SETU).

Recognising the crucial role played by prison officers in delivering an important public service, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell emphasised the need to provide a high standard of training and education to support them.

The Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care develops the character and competence of recruit prison officers so that they can effectively contribute to the safe, secure, and humane custody of the people in their care.

You are all leaving with a university-level qualification that will allow you to continue to pursue your Irish Prison Service career with the appropriate skills, knowledge and competencies, she said.

The Department of Justice says the Higher Certificate in Custodial Care is a two-year part-time programme designed to develop the professional competencies of Prison Service staff in working with prisoners. The HCCC is intended to facilitate a greater understanding of how officers can confront challenges through the exploration of different subjects including, resilience, mental health, social psychology and human rights.

After initial training RPOs are assigned to a prison in Portlaoise or elsewhere, with assignments based on the security and operational needs of each prison.

The Department says the most recent RPO recruitment campaign was launched in August 2023 and closed in October 2023 and 1,813 applications were received for this campaign. A further recruitment campaign will launch later this year.

It says an additional 9m was provided to the IPS in 2024 specifically for staffing to provide for increased payroll costs, recruitment, and 65,000 additional hours to address current demands and maximise service delivery.

In addition to recruit prison officers, throughout 2023 and to date, the Department says the Irish Prison Service launched numerous recruitment and promotion campaigns across all grades and disciplines to meet business needs both in headquarters and across the prison estate.
A initiative to reconnect Mountrath with the Whitehorse River as a link to its rich history of linen and cotton weaving is set to benefit from thousands of euro as well as expert advice in funding under the Irish Architecture Foundations (IAFs) Reimagine Hometown Architect initiative.

The Mountrath project is one of three selected for 10,000 each plus mentoring and practical support from the IAFs experienced placemaking team.

The Foundation says the Hometown Architect project seeks to creatively explore, with the local community, how the town can reconnect socially, culturally and artistically with the River.

In choosing Mountrath, the Foundation say the proposal met the Hometown Architect brief by focusing on an issue of particular concern, and an opportunity or innovation for town centre regeneration, in line with the Government of Irelands Town Centre First Policy. This policy aims to make town centres across Ireland viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit.

The Mountrath Hometown Architect project team is Joseph Mackey Architects, Denise Rainey, Town Regeneration Officer with Laois County Council, and the Mountrath Town Team, which comprises representatives from all the local community groups in Mountrath.

Speaking on behalf of Mountrath Town Team, the chairperson Mark Sheeran said: This project will provide an opportunity for the Town Team to engage with an architect and create a connection between the town and one of its most important amenities, the river.

A series of workshops are being organised to engage and collaborate with the community and local stakeholders in order to discuss and explore the towns relationship with the Whitehorse River. Further information can be found at www.josephmackey.ie.

The foundation says Mountrath, has a rich history dating back to the 17th century, and its location on the Whitehorse River allowed the town to become an industrial hub with extensive linen and cotton weaving traditions.

Mountrath Tidy Towns and the Mountrath Town Team are already working closely with Tim Austin from Austin Associates and Brian Gaynor from Green Pine Consultants to create a landscape plan to help revitalise and improve the town.

The community also embarked on a ReImagine Mountrath process to come up with ideas to regenerate the town.

A proposal for the regeneration of unused building in Mountrath called Join the Dots featured in the Housing Unlocked exhibition in 2022 which was a partnership between the Housing Agency and Irish Architectural Foundation.

Announcing the new Mountrath Hometown Architect project, director of the Irish Architecture Foundation, Emmett Scanlon, said: The team and I are very excited to reveal that Mountrath is one of this year's selected Hometown Architect projects. This project proves the innovative architectural imagination and strong local ambition that exists right across Ireland for communities to work together to harness the potential of their towns.

Hometown Architect is one of several Irish Architecture Foundation programmes that seek to build local capacity in towns, empowering communities and supporting architects to imagine and drive change. We in the IAF welcome the continued support of Government, whose Town Centre First Policy for improving, energising and transforming towns to make them better places to live, work and enjoy, is at the heart of our Hometown Architect programme.

Pictured at a recent gathering in Bailieborough, Co Cavan, to announce the new Hometown Architect projects were (from left) Andrew Forde, head of the Rural Regeneration Unit in the Department of Rural and Community Development, Mountrath architect Joseph Mackey, Denise Rainey, Town Regeneration Officer with Laois County Council, and Emmett Scanlon, director of the Irish Architecture Foundation. Photo: Barry Cronin

Also commenting, Heather Humphreys, T.D., Minister for Rural and Community Development, said: My Department of Rural and Community Development shares responsibility for the national Town Centre First Policy. A key aim of this policy is to enable local communities and local businesses to be key drivers of development as well as central to the reimagining and planning of their towns for the future.

With its clear focus on placemaking, the IAFs Reimagine programme further enhances the Town Centre First approach and the work of local communities towards making our towns attractive places to live, work, visit and invest in. This second call has once again showcased a wide variety of quality projects aimed at affecting change on a local level. The selected projects will set the scene for others attempting similar focus on reimagining their towns as vibrant hubs of activity, addressing vacancy and dereliction, and bringing new life and focus back to our town centres.

The Foundation says Hometown Architect is a key initiative of its Reimagine placemaking programme. It supports collaborative projects between local architects and community stakeholders to explore possibilities to regenerate their town centres.

This is the second round of Hometown Architect, which supports collaborative regeneration projects by architects and community groups in small and medium sized towns outside of major urban centres. The other towns are Bailieborough, Co Cavan and Moville, Co Donegal.

Hometown Architect is part of the Irish Architecture Foundations Reimagine placemaking programme and is funded by the Arts Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development, with additional support to the IAF from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

For more information, visit the official website at https://reimagineplace.ie/fieldwork/hometown-architect/

Reimagine is the Irish Architecture Foundations nationwide placemaking programme. The Foundation says it is a key way in which it works with communities across Ireland to co-create and co-design solutions to problems or opportunities theyve identified in their locality. Reimagine facilitates the connection of architects and local partners, enabling communities to play an active role in the development of their neighbourhoods, streetscapes, parks, villages and towns.

Since 2019, Reimagine has worked with seventeen communities around Ireland on projects identified by the communities themselves. Through annual Open Calls, we select communities and projects proposing solutions to improve their built environment.

The Reimagine programme was initially developed with funding from the Creative Ireland Programmes National Creativity Fund. Reimagine and associated projects are now funded by the Arts Council, Department of Rural and Community Development, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Established in 2005, the Irish Architecture Foundation is Irelands independent organisation for the advancement of the culture and communication of architecture. The Irish Architecture Foundation is principally funded by the Arts Council, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Office of Public Works.
The HSE has advised that the MMR Vaccine is the only protection against measles, and two-lifetime doses are needed for full protection.

The HSE MMR vaccine catch-up programme runs in community vaccination clinics across Sligo and Leitrim.

Measles is a highly infectious disease that can cause serious complications, particularly in children under one year of age, pregnant women, and the immunosuppressed.

The MMR catch-up campaign aims to protect against measles due to a rise in disease cases in the UK and Europe.

The campaign focuses on delivering the MMR vaccine to key groups who may have missed their vaccines in the past: children, young adults, and health and care workers.

MMR vaccines are free of charge from GPs to all groups, but primarily to those under 18 years and from HSE community clinics for everyone eligible aged five years and over.

Sinead McConnell, Vaccination Lead, Community Healthcare Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo, said: The MMR catch-up campaign aims to protect against measles due to a rise in cases of the virus in the UK and Europe. Two doses of MMR vaccine are needed to be fully vaccinated, and if not fully protected, then MMR vaccines can be obtained from your GP or HSE Vaccination Clinic.

Clinics in Leitrim will take place at the below times and dates:
It could take up to 20 years to revamp Northern Irelands education system to bring it up to the same standard as the Republic, a study has suggested.

The report, from the Institute of International and European Affairs, suggests that the Government in Northern Ireland would have to invest more and change how it runs its education system to narrow the gap with the Republic.

The details were published in the report which also shows that a united Ireland would cost the Republic some 20 billion euro a year for 20 years.

This would require an increase in taxation and a significant reduction in public expenditure.

A new paper 'Northern Ireland Subvention: Possible Unification Effects' authored by Co-Chair of the @IIEA Economists Group, John Fitzgerald and Member of the Economists Group Professor @MorgenrothEdgar has been published. Read the full paper here: https://t.co/C3SimRAVcn pic.twitter.com/ndlvAQgxUq  IIEA (@iiea) April 4, 2024

Professor John FitzGerald, co-author of the report, said the Northern Ireland education system has not advanced in a similar way to the Republic.

Changing education takes time. It would take probably about 20 years before they caught up, Prof FitzGerald said.

The Northern Ireland education system was better than the Republic up to 1970, but we then introduced free secondary education.

The way we did it is that kids in Cootehill, or Claremorris, or Chapelizod go to the same schools.

In Northern Ireland, 40% of kids go to the really good schools, the grammar schools, and nearly all of them go on to university.

The other 60%, in particular those from disadvantaged backgrounds, go to what are called secondary schools.

An awful lot of them drop out already and thats a real cost to society.

There has been a series of studies which shows that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds (have) very poor access to education and they drop out early.

The other thing in Northern Ireland is an awful lot of their kids, especially from a Protestant background, go to Britain for university and never come back.

In our case, many graduates do go abroad but theyre like homing pigeons, the bulk of them come back.

Prof FitzGerald outlined the costs the Republic would have to plug between Northern Irelands revenue and expenditure.

In 2019 to the central government in London had to transfer 11 billion to Northern Ireland to pay for health, education and so on, he told RTE.

The gap would be somewhat smaller in the case of unification because the British Army costs a lot. But it would just knock about a billion off the costs so youre down to 10 billion.

Also, welfare payments and public sector pay rates are dramatically lower in Northern Ireland than the Republic. You couldnt really have unification and have the poor cousins up north paid two thirds of what they are in the south.

So that would cost 10 billion to equate social welfare payments and public sector pay.

He added: If you have to find 20 billion, thats like a third of a bank bailout every year, its a lot of money.

It would be very expensive. The solution is if Northern Ireland dramatically changes how they run their economy, in particular in the educational sphere, which would mean that the gap between the North and the South would narrow, and also that at that their revenue would rise substantially more.

He also cast doubt on whether the British Government would pay towards the reunification.

I think thats unlikely because, if Scotland became independent, its much bigger and if they were exceptionally generous with Northern Ireland, it would actually break the UK if they had to be as generous with Scotland, he added.

You could see a transition for two or three years.

But the way it would happen, there would be a referendum in the North, vote for unification. There would be a referendum in the South. My real fear is that we in the South would vote no because itd be too damned expensive.

But assuming it goes through you, then goes (through) the British and say were leaving and unification is going to happen. Now what will you give us? And at that stage our bargaining power is gone.

Those who advocate very strongly for Irish unity trust British generosity and Im not sure that when were richer than the British that they would be generous.
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG Completes Acquisition of Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (D.O.R.C.); Companies Unite to Shape Ophthalmology Market





ZEISS secures regulatory approvals to acquire D.O.R.C.; companies now shift focus to integration implementation, fueling world-class innovation, and driving market expansion strategy for ophthalmic medical devices and surgery.

JENA, Germany and DUBLIN, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Carl Zeiss Meditec AG announced today that, after securing all required regulatory approvals, it has completed the acquisition of 100% of D.O.R.C. (Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center) from the investment firm Eurazeo SE, Paris, France. The acquisition enhances and complements ZEISS Medical Technology's broad ophthalmic portfolio and range of digitally connected workflow solutions for addressing a wide variety of eye conditions, spanning retina and cornea disorders, cataract, glaucoma, and refractive errors.

"Together we are better. Today holds significant importance for us as we bring our teams together and turn our collective attention toward delivering breakthrough innovations and solutions for our customers. We are very excited to welcome D.O.R.C.'s team members to our ZEISS family and to begin integrating our products and practices as we work toward a brighter future together," says Dr. Markus Weber, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

"Together we can offer an unmatched portfolio of advanced technologies and digital workflows. With D.O.R.C., we have an incredible opportunity to serve ophthalmologists around the world with more complete workflows and solutions than ever before," says Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., President of Ophthalmology and Head of the Digital Business Unit for ZEISS Medical Technology. "We've set our sights high to become the top player in the world for ophthalmology by leveraging our workflow solutions, enhancing our portfolio offerings and market position in the anterior surgery segment, and by significantly expanding our presence in the posterior surgery segment."

"Together we are stronger. With four decades behind our amazing business and surgeon-inspired innovation, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our success story together with ZEISS Medical Technology," says Pierre Billardon, CEO of D.O.R.C. "By joining forces, we can extend our reach, scale our efforts, and accelerate ophthalmic surgery advancements for more surgeons faster than before. I am filled with a great sense of pride and gratitude for every D.O.R.C. team member. Together, we have achieved so much to arrive at this pivotal moment in our journey. And together with ZEISS, we have so much more to accomplish in our bright future ahead to help patients see again."

Combination of portfolios will create unmatched end-to-end solution within the digitally-connected ZEISS Retina Surgery Workflow

As a leading player in the retina surgical devices and consumables market, D.O.R.C.'s contributions will be critical to ZEISS Medical Technology's long-term strategy and success going forward. With D.O.R.C., ZEISS is in a unique position to offer an unmatched portfolio of market-leading technologies to ophthalmologists, including an expanded, digitally-connected Retina Surgery Workflow from ZEISS. The companies' portfolios are highly complementary and the powerful combination of the EVA NEXUS platform from D.O.R.C. with ZEISS's extensive range of visualization, diagnostic and therapeutic devices, and surgical instruments and consumables, all connected to a digital ecosystem, will enable the creation of efficient clinical workflows that will reshape the ophthalmology market for the benefit of surgeons and their patients alike.

D.O.R.C. brings to the acquisition one of the market's most advanced dual-function systems - the EVA NEXUS platform. EVA NEXUS is the core of a strong portfolio, comprising a full range of accessories, instruments and liquids, offering one of the best-in-class solutions across vitreo-retinal (VR) and combined cataract procedures. The expansion that D.O.R.C.'s overall portfolio brings to ZEISS ensures that surgeons will have more options to choose the solutions that best meet their specific surgical requirements and preferences.

With the completion of this acquisition, health care professionals can expect to benefit from an extensive and unique combination of digitally connected devices and workflow solutions, from clinical pre-operative needs to the surgical operating room. This supports efficient clinical workflows and helps surgeons to improve outcomes for their patients. The two companies' immediate priorities span maintaining business continuity and customer satisfaction, cultivating areas of deep expertise, and enhancing the value of their solutions and services for current and future customers.

Not all products, services or offers are approved or offered in every market and approved labeling and instructions may vary from one country to another. For country-specific product information, see the appropriate country website. Product specifications are subject to change in design and scope of delivery as a result of ongoing technical development.

Contact for investors:

Sebastian Frericks

Head of Group Finance and Investor Relations

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Phone: +49 3641 220 116

Mail: [email protected]

Contact for the press:

Frank E. Smith

Head of Global Communications Ophthalmology

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Phone: +1 925 487 3036

Mail: [email protected]

www.zeiss.com/newsroom

Company Profiles:

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (ISIN: DE0005313704), which is listed on the MDAX and TecDAX of the German stock exchange, is one of the world's leading medical technology companies. The Company supplies innovative technologies and application-oriented solutions designed to help doctors improve the quality of life of their patients. The Company offers complete solutions, including implants and consumables, to diagnose and treat eye diseases. The Company creates innovative visualization solutions in the field of microsurgery. With approximately 4,823 employees worldwide, the Group generated revenue of ?2,089.3m in fiscal year 2022/23 (to 30 September).

The Group's head office is located in Jena, Germany, and it has subsidiaries in Germany and abroad; more than 50 percent of its employees are based in the USA, Japan, Spain and France. The Center for Application and Research (CARIn) in Bangalore, India and the Carl Zeiss Innovations Center for Research and Development in Shanghai, China, strengthen the Company's presence in these rapidly developing economies. Around 41 percent of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG's shares are in free float. The remaining approx. 59 percent are held by Carl Zeiss AG, one of the world's leading groups in the optical and optoelectronic industries.

For more information visit our website at www.zeiss.com/med.

About D.O.R.C. Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (International) B.V.

D.O.R.C. is one of the world's leading suppliers of equipment, instruments, and liquids for ophthalmic surgery. For 40 years, D.O.R.C. has grown into a successful international business, shaping its product portfolio through close collaboration with leading top surgeons. The company improves eye surgery globally and maximizes surgeon control by providing innovative quality approaches for eye disorders. Its products are exported to more than 80 countries worldwide. The company is headquartered in Zuidland, the Netherlands, and has more than 800 employees.

SOURCE Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

4 april 2024 at 07:00

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Hello Alice Announces Series C Funding Round and Expands Community to 1.5 Million Small Businesses





The latest funding round with QED Investors and a leading group of funders, supports Hello Alice's mission to improve SMB access to credit and capital

HOUSTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hello Alice, the fintech platform connecting 1.5 million small businesses to capital, connections and opportunities, announced today the close of a Series C funding round with QED Investors, as well as Mastercard and others, bringing their total company valuation to $130 million. This new funding will continue to fuel Hello Alice's expansion of its capital offerings and AI-driven financial health tools for small businesses. Additional investors in this round of funding included Backstage Capital, Guy Fieri, Golden Seeds, Harbert Growth Partners Fund, How Women Invest I, LP, Lovell Limited Partnership, Tyler "Ninja" and Jessica Blevins, and Tamera Mowry and Adam Housley.

Hello Alice is a financial technology providing access to credit, loans, grants, and business planning services to small business owners, enterprise customers, and hundreds of business networks across the United States. Led by Elizabeth Gore, Carolyn Rodz, and Kelsey Ruger, Hello Alice is committed to equitable access to capital and to supporting any entrepreneur with a good idea, especially those in the New Majority. Hello Alice's enterprise SaaS offering gives banks and business services engagement and data analytics tools that provide transactions for their SMB customers.

This year, the platform has significantly expanded its community and now supports 1.5 million small business owners, one of the largest SMB networks in the country. Recently, Hello Alice has broadened its suite of inclusive financial products and programs with the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard, the Business Health Score, the Equitable Access Program and the $70 Million Equitable Access Fund, and Elevate the American Dream. The first 14 grants under Elevate the American Dream have already been distributed this year to small businesses across the U.S. and Hello Alice will continue to award more grants over the next several weeks, putting their grant funding at over $40 million.

The latest funding round will contribute to the expansion of the Hello Alice AI-driven financial health services and Small Business Funding Center. This center connects owners with the capital they need to grow their small businesses, as well as the company's Equitable Access to Capital program, a commitment to ensure that all small businesses have access to the capital they need to cultivate sustainable enterprises that drive the national economy forward. Hello Alice is utilizing AI to continue to lower barriers for every entrepreneur. From improving the relevance of recommendations for capital and connections to sharing best practices across the community of over 1.5 million entrepreneurs, Hello Alice is focused on leveraging AI developments to improve efficiencies and equity across the small business ecosystem.

"We are thrilled to hit the milestone of 1.5 million small businesses utilizing Hello Alice to elevate the American dream. There are more entrepreneurs launching this year than in the history of our country, and we will continue to ensure they get the capital needed to grow," said Elizabeth Gore and Carolyn Rodz, co-founders of Hello Alice. "In closing our Series C, we welcome Mastercard to our family of investors and continue to be grateful to QED, How Women Invest, and our advocates such as Guy Fieri."

"Our team focuses on finding and investing in companies that are obsessed with reducing friction and providing superior financial services solutions to their customers," said QED Investors co-founder Frank Rotman. "Hello Alice has proven time and time again that they are on the leading edge of providing equitable access to capital and banking services to the small business ecosystem. We're thrilled that they're now serving 1.5MM small businesses and show no signs of slowing down."

"With Hello Alice, we're investing to provide support to small business owners as they look to access capital, helping to address one of the most cited business challenges they face," said Ginger Siegel, Mastercard's North America Small Business Lead. "By working together to simplify access to the products and services they need when building and growing their business, we're helping make a meaningful impact on the individuals who run their businesses, the customers they serve, and our communities and economy at large."

ABOUT HELLO ALICE

Hello Alice is a financial technology serving more than 1.5 million small business owners in all fifty states. Hello Alice is committed to equitable access to capital and to supporting any entrepreneur with a good idea, especially those in the New Majority. Hello Alice offers funding, education, tools, and curated opportunities. Working with enterprise business services, ecosystem partners, affiliates, and government agencies, Hello Alice provides its growing community with everything they need to grow their businesses. To learn more, visit www.helloalice.com, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Contact:

Jennifer Laski

[email protected]

SOURCE Hello Alice

4 april 2024 at 07:00

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Lifeguard Digital Health Partners with Pathways to Housing PA to Assist with Safer Living for Vulnerable Individuals in Philadelphia





Lifeguard Digital Health announces a partnership with Pathways to Housing PA that will enable the installation of LifeguardLitetm at multiple social housing sites.

Pathways to Housing PA launched in Philadelphia in 2008 utilizing the Housing First model, first founded by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in New York in 1992 on the belief that housing is a basic right for all. The organization instituted the Housing First model to provide immediate access to homes to anyone struggling with homelessness, mental health issues, or drug dependence.

BC-based Lifeguard Digital Health is dedicated to staying ahead of the toxic substances crisis through its overdose prevention technologies including, the Lifeguard Connecttm App and LifeguardLitetm. Together, Lifeguard Digital Health and Pathways to Housing can help prevent accidental overdose deaths for people in social housing across North America.

Jeff Hardy, Chief Executive Officer of Lifeguard Digital Health, said of the partnership, "Partnering with Pathways to Housing PA is the next big milestone for us as we expand our presence in the United States. With the installation of our solution, LifeguardLitetm, at their residential facility this month, they will be able to provide preventive support to vulnerable individuals in Philadelphia who live in Single Resident Accommodations (SRA's)."

Bill Maroon, COO at Pathways to Housing PA said, "Through our partnership with Lifeguard Digital Health, we hope to add value for our participants by addressing safety concerns around substance use by utilizing their technology innovations."

Lifeguard Digital Health will showcase the LifeguardLitetm solution alongside Pathways to Housing PA during the annual Housing First Partners Conference (HFPC) to be held at the Hilton Atlanta, Atlanta, GA from April 9 - 11, 2024. HFPC is co-presented by the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) and the Pathways Housing First Institute and is dedicated to spreading awareness about ending homelessness and harm reduction.

Speaking of Lifeguard Digital Health's appearance at HFPC, Hardy said, "We are excited that, with this partnership, we will be able to spread awareness about our solution at the upcoming Housing First Partners Conference in Atlanta."

LifeguardLitetm is a life-saving tool that alerts housing staff and emergency services in the event of an overdose, or any type of crisis where a person becomes unresponsive. LifeguardLitetm can be placed in Single Room Occupancy buildings (SROs), public restrooms, and safe injection sites and is equipped with a timer, smoke detector, and temperature monitor to provide real-time local drug alerts and prevent overdoses. As of February 2024, Lifeguard Digital Health has recorded 2,137 LifeguardLitetm sessions, serving 800+ app users in British Columbia.

Pathways' Housing First University provides training and consultation to service organizations, cities, counties, and national governments, through webinars, program site visits, and consultations. Pathways to Housing PA also collaborates with local and international provider agencies and educational institutions as a resource on homelessness.

See LifeguardLitetm in action at the HFPC in Atlanta at the Lifeguard Digital Health stall: Table no.16.

About Lifeguard Digital Health

Lifeguard Digital Health creates digital health solutions that reduce harm, prevent involuntary deaths, and improve quality of life. The company integrates digital health technology innovations on its ?evan' platform, including artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and informatics. Complying with the highest/current levels of security and privacy regulations, it works closely with health authorities and emergency health services. For more information, please visit www.lifeguarddh.com

About Pathways to Housing

Since 2008, Pathways to Housing PA has provided housing and comprehensive wrap-around services following the evidence-based Housing First model in Philadelphia to help end chronic homelessness. Pathways currently houses more than 550 individuals in regular apartments across the community, with an unprecedented 85% housing retention rate. These same participants would be considered not housing ready in other programs. Visit www.PathwaysToHousingPA.org for more information.

4 april 2024 at 07:05

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Safeture's Tech Elevates SEPAR International's Security Services





LUND, Sweden, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeture AB has signed a three-year partnership agreement with SEPAR International Ltd, a leading security advisory and risk mitigation service provider.

SEPAR International Ltd specializes in risk management, training, and global operations. It provides creative resolutions to solve complex problems in challenging environments.

SEPAR International Ltd has extensive experience in training and supporting the media and the humanitarian sector in hostile environments. It leads by example and is recognized by clients as trusted, supportive, and valued.

The company provides accurate and timely intelligence and information regarding cultural, political, legal, environmental, threat, and risk data and conducts research and business intelligence to enable organizations?to function effectively and safely.

Karen Lawrie, Separ International's CEO, commented, "We are delighted to announce our partnership with Safeture. In an increasingly complex, hostile global landscape, we believe people and organizations deserve the right to safety, and Safeture's technological platform will enable us to create innovative, highly individualized plans for the protection of our clients and employees."

Magnus Hultman, Safeture CEO, commented, "We are delighted to enter this partnership with SEPAR. Bringing our technology and their expertise to protect what matters the most, people."

Through the agreement, SEPAR International and its client will access Safeture's leading technological platform for travel security, risk and crisis management, and emergency communication. The central components of the platform are the Safeture Management Tool, with which companies can locate their employees anywhere in the world, communicate with them, and support them in crises, and the Safeture App. It offers users a real-time alert system on security-related issues in their environment and, using the Emergency Button, the possibility to call for help in an emergency with one click. The app includes other features like country information, medical databases, flight information, currency converters, and e-learning.

For additional information, visit www.safeture.com or contact:

Safeture CEO Magnus Hultman: +46 706 00 81 66. [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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4 april 2024 at 07:08

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AAR announces exclusive commercial distribution agreement with TRIUMPH





WOOD DALE, Ill. , April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AAR CORP. (NYSE: AIR), a leading provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs, and OEMs, has announced an exclusive multi-year commercial distribution agreement with TRIUMPH's Actuation Products & Services business unit.

"This relationship will expand AAR's offerings to the commercial aftermarket," said AAR's SVP of Distribution.

Under the agreement, which commences in January of 2026, AAR will exclusively distribute TRIUMPH's commercial actuation product line, which includes more than 100 top-level assemblies and their subcomponents used on various Boeing and Airbus commercial platforms. AAR will support commercial airlines and MRO customers through its global distribution network.

This new OEM distribution relationship complements AAR's existing product offerings and customer base. Additionally, TRIUMPH will benefit from AAR's services and robust global sales force in efficiently executing the delivery of inventory to customers.

"This relationship will expand AAR's offerings to the commercial aftermarket on key Boeing and Airbus platforms," said Frank Landrio, AAR's Senior Vice President of Distribution. "We are excited to distribute this product line as part of the AAR product portfolio given TRIUMPH's reputation for quality."

For more information on AAR's distribution capabilities, visit https://www.aarcorp.com/en/products/distribution/.

About AAR

AAR is a global aerospace and defense aftermarket solutions company with operations in over 20 countries. Headquartered in the Chicago area, AAR supports commercial and government customers through four operating segments: Parts Supply, Repair & Engineering, Integrated Solutions, and Expeditionary Services. Additional information can be found at aarcorp.com.

About TRIUMPH

TRIUMPH, headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, designs, develops, manufactures, repairs, and overhauls a broad portfolio of aerospace and defense systems and components. The company serves the global aviation industry, including original equipment manufacturers and the full spectrum of military and commercial aircraft operators.

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, reflecting management's expectations about future conditions, including anticipated activities and benefits under the commercial distribution agreement. Forward-looking statements may also be identified because they contain words such as ''anticipate,'' ''believe,'' ''continue,'' ''could,'' ''estimate,'' ''expect,'' ''intend,'' ''likely,'' ''may,'' ''might,'' ''plan,'' ''potential,'' ''predict,'' ''project,'' ''seek,'' ''should,'' ''target,'' ''will,'' ''would,'' or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. These forward-looking statements are based on beliefs of Company management, as well as assumptions and estimates based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize adversely, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described. These events and uncertainties are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many are beyond the Company's control. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

Contact:

Media Team

Corporate Marketing and Communications

+1-630-227-5100

[email protected]

SOURCE AAR CORP.

4 april 2024 at 08:00

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Kraus Hamdani Aerospace Wins Contract to Provide the U.S. Navy with Its First Electric VTOL Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)





U.S. Navy procures first-of-its-kind 100% electric, solar-powered Group 2 UAS from Kraus Hamdani Aerospace (KHAero), allowing them to radically simplify the operational footprint required

EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy, through PMA 263, has chosen KHAero to provide its first electric, solar-powered VTOL UAS. It will be fielded by the United States Marine Corps Small Unit Remote Scouting System.

The Navy asked KHAero to demonstrate their offering through a comprehensive evaluation of capabilities.

Conducted at both KHAero and government test facilities and overseen by UAS Research and Operations Center at the University of Maryland, this included evaluation of:

- Enhanced maneuverability, reduced transportation and logistics requirements, radically simplifies the operational footprint required to operate a UAS from 120-150 people to under 5

- Quiet operations to minimize the risk of detection (goes nearly undetected by radars)

- Long flight endurance, where the K1000ULE remains a world leader

- Vertical take-off and landing, ensuring runway independence

- Ability to operate in various environmental conditions, day and night

- Reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition tests

- Compliance with SOCOM modular open system architectures (MOSA)

- Mission systems packages, including full motion video capabilities that incorporate target identification and classification

The K1000ULE provides the Navy with the capacity to perform Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations better, simpler, faster, and more cost-effectively. Additionally, the Navy will get enhanced beyond line-of-sight communication capabilities, securing continued coverage in denied and contested environments.

World-leading hardware. Game-changing software.

The K1000ULE, while providing the longest flight endurance in eVTOL category, is also enabled to share information between different platforms, repositioning aircraft on demand based on sensor needs, while dynamically populating the Common Operating Picture.

A single operator can operate a swarm of K1000ULE unmanned platforms through our simple user interface, identifying a specific coverage area and then launching the correct number of assets. The pilot can view flight time, number of assets in the sky, battery power and positioning. Additionally, the operator can review or change coverage area or mission objectives using a gamified and simple user interface.

"Today we live with the prospect of a new era of defense technology in which autonomy and artificial intelligence will become more important. The Navy wants to discover what's possible. And we're honored to give them the solutions they need." says KHAero CEO, Fatema Hamdani.

About Kraus Hamdani Aerospace

KHAero is the world leader in building ultra-long endurance UAS that mimic nature by utilizing onboard artificial intelligence to silently glide through the air and generate clean onboard energy. KHAero's K1000ULE is the world's longest endurance fully electric zero emissions autonomous unmanned aircraft in its size and weight category.

The KHAero offering comprises aerial-based data, intelligence and communication services enabled by multi-drone coordination systems. This addresses critical customer needs within various sectors such as emergency and disaster relief, data and telecommunications, defense, agriculture, oil and gas, climate change, and wildlife preservation.

Contact:

Marta Martinez

+1(678)561-7207

[email protected]

www.khaero.com

SOURCE Kraus Hamdani Aerospace

4 april 2024 at 08:41

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Egypt's Loyalty Programs Market Intelligence & Growth Dynamics Explored - Forecast to 2028 - ResearchAndMarkets.com





The "Egypt Loyalty Programs Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook - 50+ KPIs on Loyalty Programs Trends by End-Use Sectors, Operational KPIs, Retail Product Dynamics, and Consumer Demographics - Q1 2024 Update" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The loyalty programs market in Egypt is undergoing significant growth and transformation, according to a new comprehensive databook. This pivotal research publication has been added to our repertoire of industry-specific intelligence, offering a meticulous exploration of over 50 key performance indicators (KPIs) influencing loyalty program trends across various end-use sectors. Notably, the databook reveals that the Egyptian loyalty market is expected to ascend to US$785.0 million by 2028, showcasing the burgeoning opportunities in this sphere.

The databook dives deep into the operational KPIs, retail product dynamics, and consumer demographics that are shaping the current loyalty landscape in Egypt. It uncovers the value accumulated and redemption rate of loyalty programs while also breaking down market dynamics by loyalty program type, encompassing points, tier-based, mission-driven, and spend-based programs, among others.

Market Segmentation and Functional Domains Analysis

The insights extend across various channels including in-store, online, and mobile app-based loyalty engagements. When it comes to strategic business models, the report taps into seller-driven, payment instrument-driven, and other loyalty schemes market sizes and potential growth dynamics.

Egypt Loyalty Spend Market Size and Growth by Key Sectors

Detailed Analysis by Online, In-Store, and Mobile App Channels

Spend Dynamics by Retail Category Including Diversified Retailers and Specialty Stores

Accessibility Insights: Card-Based vs. Digital Access to Loyalty Programs

Consumer Engagement: B2C vs. B2B Loyalty Schemes

Egypt's loyalty market has demonstrated an impressive CAGR of 13.0% from 2019-2023, signaling robust momentum. Retail, financial services, healthcare & wellness, and travel & hospitality represent key sectors driving loyalty program adoption. The databook also provides an examination of loyalty schemes spend by membership type, from complimentary to premium models, and explores the technology infrastructure underpinning loyalty platforms, from analytics and AI integration to cloud and on-premise deployments.

Consumer Demographics and Behavioural Insights

The future of loyalty programs in Egypt is also dissected through a lens of consumer demographics and behavior. The databook offers comprehensive projections and analytics across age groups, income levels, and gender, providing businesses with a strategic understanding of consumer engagement nuances.

The databook is integral for business leaders, market analysts, and strategists looking to gain a competitive edge in the Egyptian market. By offering an unvarnished view of the market's operational mechanics and consumer dynamics, it ensures that stakeholders are well-equipped to tailor their loyalty initiatives in alignment with potent market trends and consumer expectations.

Key Attributes:
NS Pharma Announces Research Alliance with MiNA Therapeutics to Develop Therapies for Rare Diseases of the Central Nervous System





PARAMUS, N.J., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NS Pharma, Inc. (NS Pharma) announced that its parent company, Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. (Nippon Shinyaku) ? headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, entered into a joint research agreement with MiNA Therapeutics ? headquartered in London, United Kingdom, to develop nucleic acid drugs for the potential treatment of intractable and rare diseases of the central nervous system. The agreement was facilitated by the NS Pharma Innovation Research Partnering (IRP) team, located in Cambridge, MA.

We are excited about the innovative possibilities that come from working with small activating RNA (RNAa) therapeutics.

"We are incredibly proud of our IRP division and the work it is doing with the great team at MiNA Therapeutics," said NS Pharma President Tsugio Tanaka. "We are excited about the innovative possibilities that come from working with small activating RNA (RNAa) therapeutics."

Through this agreement, MiNA Therapeutics will provide Nippon Shinyaku RNAa therapeutics, which are oligonucleotides that can increase the transcription of a target gene. Nippon Shinyaku will have the right to exercise an option to exclusively research and develop pharmaceutical candidates derived from the alliance with MiNA Therapeutics by paying lump sum payments and milestones associated with the progress of research and development. After exercising the option, the company will pay milestones and royalties commensurate with the progress of the development and the sales of the product(s) after launch.

"Through this research alliance with MiNA Therapeutics, we will continue our efforts to apply our nucleic acid drug technology in the central nervous system," Tanaka stated. "NS Pharma is committed to extending our technology as far as it can go to help improve the lives of patients with rare diseases."

Nippon Shinyaku has been developing compounds in several therapeutic fields, including hematologic malignancies and intractable/orphan diseases. The company's U.S. subsidiary is NS Pharma, headquartered in Paramus, NJ with additional offices in Cambridge.

About MiNA Therapeutics

MiNA Therapeutics is the global leader in small activating RNA (RNAa) therapeutics. Harnessing innate mechanisms of gene activation, RNAa therapeutics are a revolutionary new class of medicines that can restore or boost normal function of genes and thereby protein-modulated pathways in cells. The company is advancing a proprietary pipeline of new medicines with an initial focus on genetic medicine, while collaborating with leading pharmaceutical companies to apply its technology platform across a broad range of other therapeutic areas. Based on its unique know-how in RNA activation, MiNA Therapeutics is expanding the possibilities of RNA-based medicine. www.minatx.com.

About NS Pharma, Inc.

NS Pharma, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. NS Pharma is a registered trademark of the Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. For more information, please visit nspharma.com.

U.S. Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE NS Pharma, Inc.

4 april 2024 at 09:00

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Nevada to transform state ERP systems with cloud-based CGI Advantage solution





CARSON CITY, Nev., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) today announced it has been awarded a contract by the State of Nevada for an upgrade of the state's enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems with CGI Advantage, a cloud-based solution that integrates financial, personnel and performance data in a modern, unified platform. Extending a 30-year partnership with the state, CGI will deploy a built-for-government solution to help the state transform their operations. The planned upgrade will help address the state's resourcing capacity while modernizing Nevada's systems on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.

"CORE.NV's vision is to build an integrated, statewide Enterprise Resource Planning solution for our State Financial and Human Resource systems, based upon CGI Advantage. This new solution will expand functionality, increase responsiveness, and enable our State to quickly adapt to a rapidly approaching future," said State of Nevada OPM Director, Brian Bowles.

The CGI Advantage solution for Nevada features a secure design and a responsive user experience. With the state's move to SaaS, it will gain AI-powered monitoring and automation for critical functions and continually leverage the latest technology without having to manage costly and time-consuming customizations and upgrades.

"These new capabilities will provide the state with a user experience that is simple, smart and intuitive for its government workforce," said Virginia Williams, Senior Vice-President of CGI's U.S. Northwest operations. "The transformed role-based and responsive design, coupled with functional enhancements, will continue to help the state simplify their business processes while integrating smart technologies, including mobility and analytics, into their existing systems."

CGI's history of on-time and on-budget implementation for state government ERP solutions was a critical decision factor for Nevada, as was the ability to support complex union agreements and end-to-end grants life cycle management.

About CGI Advantage

CGI Advantage is a unified ERP platform featuring a powerful combination of modern technology and built-for-government solutions. Hosted in the Cloud, this secure, intuitive SaaS platform organically meets state and local government requirements and streamlines financial management, human resources, performance budgeting, procurement, and business intelligence operations. A proven solution, CGI Advantage is based on more than 46 years of public sector expertise and is supported by an active client community that values innovation and access to CGI's global network of experts. Learn more at cgi.com/advantage.

About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 90,500 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2023 reported revenue is C$14.30 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com .

www.cgi.com/newsroom

SOURCE CGI Technologies and Solutions, Inc.

4 april 2024 at 09:00

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Sentient Jet Partners with Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay for Multi-Year Collaboration





Sentient Jet, a leading private aviation company and inventor of the jet card category today announced a multi-year partnership with renowned chef Bobby Flay. This will be the 8th year Sentient Jet has partnered with Chef Flay.

As part of this exciting partnership, Sentient Jet Card Owners will enjoy VIP access to dine at Flay's acclaimed Las Vegas-based restaurants, Brasserie B and Amalfi. Additionally, they will receive exclusive invitations to Sentient Jet's annual Derby Day Breakfast hosted by Bobby Flay at the Kentucky Derby, an invite-only tradition where Chef Flay will prepare breakfast for guests.

Bobby Flay, an award-winning chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and media personality, brings his signature flair and expertise to every culinary venture. With Brasserie B at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and numerous other upscale dining establishments under his belt, Chef Flay is celebrated for his innovative approach to classic dishes and bold flavors.

Bobby Flay has been a strong partner to Sentient Jet since November 2016, when the partnership kicked off with special Card Owner access to VIP reservations. Since then, Chef Flay and Sentient Jet hosted many exclusive Card Owner events, including a 2019 al fresco cocktail hour and dinner in Amagansett, New York to celebrate Sentient Jet's 20th anniversary. In 2022, Chef Flay hosted a pre-race brunch before the Travers Stakes race in Saratoga, New York, where he shared racing insights and prepared brunch for Card Owners. Each year, Bobby also hosts a signature Derby Day breakfast for Sentient Jet Card Owners ahead of the Kentucky Derby race, complete with cocktails, a themed breakfast and racing picks. Bobby has also participated in other exclusive events, such as intimate Q&A discussions with Card Owners on his businesses, career, travel, etc.

"Sentient Jet is thrilled to continue our partnership with Bobby Flay, an icon in the culinary world. Now in our 8th year, Chef Flay and his brand have been a perfect addition to the benefits we offer our client base. Our partnership highlights Sentient Jet's ability to seamlessly integrate lifestyle and service with utility." said Andrew Collins, Co-CEO of Flexjet, Sentient Jet's parent company. "As Sentient Jet celebrates its 25th anniversary, we remain committed to loyalty with longstanding partners. For the next 25 years and beyond, we are dedicated to providing our Card Owners with unparalleled experiences, from world-class dining to exclusive events."

Chef Bobby Flay expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, "I am delighted to continue my collaboration with Sentient Jet, a company that shares my passion for creating memorable experiences. Together, we look forward to elevating the dining experiences of Sentient Jet Card Owners while celebrating the culinary arts."

As anticipation builds for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, Sentient Jet reaffirms its status as the Preferred Private Aviation Partner of the Derby and Churchill Downs. Sentient Jet Card Owners will once again have the opportunity to experience the excitement of the Derby firsthand, with seamless, convenient, and reliable transportation provided by Sentient Jet. Sentient Jet's partnership with Bobby Flay will allow Card Owners to enjoy another exclusive Derby Day Breakfast hosted by the renowned chef.

In addition to his fine dining restaurants, there are several outposts of Bobby's fast-casual concept, Bobby's Burgers, across the country, with more set to open later this year. Bobby is the author of 17 best-selling cookbooks. He has starred in dozens of Food Network programs, including Bobby's Triple Threat, Beat Bobby Flay, BBQ Brawl, Bobby & Sophie on the Coast, and Iron Chef America, as well as numerous specials.

Earlier this year to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Sentient Jet launched its highly anticipated 2024 Exclusive Benefits Guide, providing Card Owners increased opportunities to maximize their membership with Sentient Jet with 12 new partners. The benefits guide, now in its 11th year provides thoughtfully sourced partnerships across food and beverage, travel, wellness and more. Card Owners who take full advantage of Sentient Jet's Exclusive Benefits Guide can experience benefits with a value of approximately $225,000.

About Sentient Jet

Founded in 1999 with the invention of the Jet Card, and now a Flexjet company, Sentient Jet is one of the most innovative private aviation companies across the globe. The Sentient Jet Card offers clients the flexibility and convenience of flying private for their personal and business air travel needs along with a host of unique digital booking tools, including an industry-first with instant, automated text-based booking, a unique sustainability program, and an outstanding service heritage. Sentient Jet is known for its commitment to safety and is guided by an Independent Safety Advisory Board with former FAA and NTSB officials. Sentient Jet's extensive network of certified operators ensures that clients will always have access to executive aircraft that meet their rigorous standards for safety and quality. Visit sentient.com for more information. You can also follow Sentient Jet on social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Download the Sentient Jet Mobile App: iOS | Android.

4 april 2024 at 09:20

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QuantalRF Launches Groundbreaking 5-7 GHz Wi-Fi 7 Front-End IC in CMOS SOI





ZURICH, Switzerland, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QuantalRF, the pioneering developer of RF semiconductor and antenna solutions, is proud to announce the launch of its innovative QWX27105 single-chip 5-7 GHz front-end IC, its first release in the Elementumtm family of Wi-Fi 7 products. This cutting-edge product integrates all RF front-end components into an ultra-compact CMOS SOI design, outperforming current GaAs and SiGe products.



Based on QuantalRF's game-changing RF architecture, announced in October 2023, the RF power amplifier efficiency is boosted to unprecedented levels, reducing power consumption by up to 50% in Wi-Fi 7 client devices such as smartphones and laptops, enabling longer battery life and less heat dissipation.

The QWX27105 delivers up to +22 dBm of linear transmitted output power, greatly enhancing the range of Wi-Fi. It fully supports 320MHz wideband channels and 4K QAM modulation at a dynamic EVM of -45 dB or better, for the highest speed connections of Wi-Fi 7, marking a first-ever achievement for an all-silicon 5-7 GHz RF power amplifier.

Moreover, achieving full integration including RF matching into a sub-2mm silicon die, manufactured in a high-volume 12-inch SOI process, shipping either as bare die or in standard packages, offers substantial cost advantages compared to current alternatives.

Yet another key advantage of our architecture is a high degree of on-chip configurability. This allows versatile reconfiguration for different supply voltages, channel optimizations, and operational modes (linear vs non-linear), accommodating a wide array of applications and products with the same silicon.

"We are excited to now launch our groundbreaking QWX27105, 5-7GHz FEM in CMOS SOI, and are absolutely delighted to see the keen interest from top names in the Wi-Fi industry," said Dr. Ali Fard, CEO of QuantalRF. He continues, "We have delivered first silicon to our lead customers and look forward to the close collaboration on next-gen, energy-efficient Wi-Fi systems."

At the same time, QuantalRF announces the release of a comprehensive DockOn antenna portfolio for Wi-Fi 7, leveraging our innovative and patented CPL antenna technology to set new industry standards. These antennas deliver unparalleled efficiency and true omni-directional radiation for improved range and spatial coverage, thereby greatly enhancing the Wi-Fi user experience. The compact antenna designs are manufactured in standard material circuit boards, offering the lowest cost and seamless integration into devices such as gateways, access points and IoT modules.

QuantalRF's lineup of Wi-Fi front-end ICs and antennas will encompass all relevant frequency bands and modulation schemes required for Wi-Fi 7 and future advancements of the standard. Evaluation boards and samples are now available to select partners and customers.

For more information on our transformative RF technology please visit www.quantalrf.com

About QuantalRF AG

QuantalRFtm is transforming the RF signal chain for wireless communications to deliver an unmatched user experience. Its ultra-compact, highly configurable front-end ICs and extremely efficient antennas substantially improve area, cost, power, and overall performance. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with R&D centers in the USA and Sweden, QuantalRF has an extensive portfolio of over 200 patents.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations and projections about future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. A non-exclusive list of risk factors may be found on our website at www.quantalrf.com/forward-looking-statement

4 april 2024 at 11:00

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Owl Labs' New Data Report Reveals Pressure and Tension Amid Ongoing Return To Office Mandates and Hybrid Work Preferences





Owl Labs, the first company to build AI-powered, 360-degree video conferencing solutions for hybrid organizations, today released new survey data about the state of today's workplace, four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Surveying more than 500 full-time knowledge workers across the United States after the annual New Year return to office (RTO) push, the data provides a pulse check on the current state of hybrid work, demonstrating that many employers are grappling with a desire to return to pre-pandemic policies despite employee resistance to attempts to turn back the clock.

The report explores how seasonal return-to-office cycles, unequal policies and the resulting "shadow management," and tensions around work styles are still fueling discord. It also examines what's keeping workers away from the office ? from neurodivergence, disabilities and health conditions that cause challenges with on-site work to classic pet peeves.

"Our new survey data found that the modern workplace is still full of conflict and tension around work styles ? between employers and workers, company leaders and team managers, and peers," said Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs. "As we pass the fourth anniversary of when the pandemic reached the U.S., the push and pull of annual return-to-office mandate cycles and the challenges of finding balance in the nebulous world of hybrid work still continue. The reality is that offices may never return to how they were pre-pandemic ? although many employers haven't yet given up on trying to turn back the clock, no matter how much discord it can cause among workers."

Workers Feel Pressured By Employers' Cyclical RTO Pushes Twice a Year

Nearly two-thirds of hybrid workers (61%) have felt pressured by their employers to go into the office over the past three years.

Over the past few years, seasonal RTO mandate trend cycles have emerged, with workers feeling more pressure from their employers to be on-site in the fall and winter months. Back-to-school season coincides with peak "back to office" time as well, with September being the most popular month for employers to mount RTO campaigns ? 17% of hybrid workers feel more pressure when summer and Q3 come to an end. The second most popular time for RTO is the New Year, with 13% of hybrid workers feeling stronger pushes in January.

Employees Say Workplace Policies Aren't Applied Equally to Everyone

Strict RTO mandates that come from the top, including C-suite executives and human resources teams, have triggered a trend of "shadow management," where team leaders grant more flexibility to the employees who report to them ? regardless of what the official company policy is ? to retain the productive, happy workers they need. Nearly half of employees (41%) say their employers' policies about where and when people work are not applied equally across the company.

Workers feel the following groups tend to have more flexibility than others:

Certain departments/teams (15% of workers say they have more flexibility than others) or specific office locations (7%)

Senior executives (10%) and their favorite employees (5%)

People with longer tenure at the company (8%)

As everyone has very different needs and styles, hybrid work is not "one-size-fits-all" ? which means it inherently involves more nuance. Employers need to be more intentional about the equitability of their policies, with so many different formats and degrees of hybrid work.

A Customized Approach to Flexibility Works for Some But Breeds Resentment Among Others

"One-size-fits-one" hybrid workplaces are satisfactory for many people, with more than 1 in 4 workers (28%) minding their own business and saying they don't care if their coworkers have more flexibility because it doesn't affect them. Another quarter of workers (24%) say they are even supportive and happy for their colleagues who have more flexibility than they do.

However, some companies' unclear or unequal policies are not well-received by others, breeding resentment, envy, and feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. Negative emotions among employees who think colleagues have more flexibility than they do include:

Feeling like they're being taken advantage of, and others with more flexibility aren't working as hard ? 17%

Resentful of people with more flexibility ? 15%

Resentful of their employers for allowing it ? 13%

Hybrid and Remote Work Are More Inclusive for People with Neurodivergent Differences, Disabilities or Health Conditions

Several studies have found that hybrid and remote work increases inclusivity and team diversity across gender, race, caregiver status, and more. Owl Labs' survey examined another intersectional facet of diversity, equity and inclusion, finding that 1 in 3 employees (33%) report having neurodivergent differences, disabilities or health conditions. One in five of them (21%) say these conditions make it difficult for them to go to work in person.

The most common conditions that make it challenging for them to go to the office include:

Physical disabilities or injuries ? 7% of respondents who said their conditions make in-office work difficult have one of these

Chronic physical illnesses or pain ? 7%

Neurodivergent differences, such as ADHD or autism ? 6%

When given more flexibility in where and when they do their jobs, workers with neurodivergent differences, disabilities or health conditions can complete their responsibilities more easily, effectively, and safely. Studies have shown that remote and hybrid work may remove barriers preventing them from participating in the job market at all ? the COVID-induced shift to remote work even cut the unemployment rate in half for people with disabilities, from 12% before the pandemic to 6%, a 14-year record low. With more than 6 million people in the U.S. labor force having some form of disability ? and only 23% of them being employed, when many would want to have jobs if they could find one that meets their needs ? this is an important consideration and benefit of hybrid work.

Most Workers Face Annoyances at the Office That Could Be Keeping Them Away

Another possible reason for RTO resistance emerged in Owl Labs' study, which found the vast majority ? nearly 9 in 10 workers (86%) ? have experienced common annoyances at the office. The most common pet peeve overall is loud talking, with more than 1/3 of respondents (35%) saying they've experienced it at the office. The famed "thermostat wars" also continue to rage on as the #2 complaint, with 32% of workers irked by uncomfortable temperatures.

Additional common irritations about office environments include:

Chatty people talking to you when you're focused on work ? 33%

People coughing / sneezing ? 28%

Cliquey or rude behavior ? 25%

Slow WiFi / internet ? 21%

Smelly food ? 19%

To review the full report, visit https://resources.owllabs.com/blog/2024-pulse-survey and for more future of work data, see Owl Labs' most recent annual State of Hybrid Work report. To learn more about Owl Labs and its ecosystem of video conferencing solutions for hybrid organizations, visit www.owllabs.com.

About Owl Labs:

Owl Labs is the first company to build AI-powered, 360-degree video conferencing solutions for hybrid organizations. Its suite of products makes meetings more inclusive and collaborative by leveling the playing field between remote and in-room participants. The company's flagship product, the Meeting Owl 3, is the first WiFi-enabled, 360-degree camera, microphone and speaker that automatically zooms in on whoever's speaking. Owl Labs has raised $47 million in funding and is based in Boston, with remote and hybrid employees all over the world. To learn more, visit OwlLabs.com.

4 april 2024 at 11:10

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Hu Sheguang Launches "Power of Time - Dongbei Dahua by the Bund"





SHANGHAI, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Hu Sheguang launched"Power of Time-Dongbei Dahua by the Bund", an haute couture collection, at the BUND Space, dazzling at the 2024 A/W Shanghai Fashion Week, on March 30.

All made with jacquard fabric with a soft sheen, the new collection is comprised of three-piece suits, windbreakers, cloaks, qipao dresses. Hu said, "Instead of using extravagant fabrics and decorations, I'd like to explore the power and strength of Chinese in a more innovative and diversified way."

This series is no longer confined to traditional Chinese patterns, but also integrates modern aesthetics, making them a fashion symbol. Integrating Chinese elements and Western culture, Sheguang Hu conducted an in-depth analysis of details and layouts.

The highlight of the show came when Wang Deshun, an 88-year-old model and actor, dressed in a shirtless clean-cut suit with a touch of dongbei dahua decorations, strut the catwalk. Chinese influencer Li Meiyue, sporting his iconic suit on the catwalk, mesmerized the audience and turned the show into a carnival celebrating the enduring power and beauty of dongbei dahua.

Presenting the garments were Yu Weiwei, Miss World China in 2013, and 34 of Hu Sheguang's Supermodels, a team of fashion enthusiasts with an average age of 55. The designer hopes to break the stereotype that fashion only belongs to young people.

Set up in 2018, the organization called Sheguang Hu's Supermodels, giving everyone a chance to light up the catwalk, has grown into the world's leading platform for aesthetic education for women. Known as Sheguang Hu's Supermodels, it is a nation-wide community of fashion enthusiasts of all ages as well as a platform offering modeling training and promoting a healthy, fashionable lifestyle.

"Fashion is a carrier, not only for the latest trends, but also for dreams. Women should never give up their pursuit of beauty as they grow older, they can still be stunning on the fashion stage, I hope I can present the beauty of all Chinese women through diversified and innovative ways. The initial purpose for me to create Sheguang Hu's Fashion Women's Army was to build a platform for Chinese women who entertain fashion dreams and make fashion no longer a synonym of luxury, Chinese women are self-motivated and confident. They are telling their stories in a variety of ways," said designer Sheguang Hu.

The fashion show is a cultural gift - to show the world the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, but also highlight the style of Chinese women in the modern world.

"What appeals to me most about Mr. Hu's work is his commitment to promoting ethnic traditions around the world," one of the models presenting the Shanghai show added.

The Shanghai fashion show reminded many of the history of dongbei dahua.

According to Hu, the origin of the floral print can be found in the traditional Chinese pattern yi nian jing, literally meaning "the scenery of a year", featuring representative flowers of the four seasons including the peach blossom, the lotus flower, the chrysanthemum, the peony and the plum blossom. Used in fabrics, lacquerware, ceramics and jewelry, the print flourished during the Song dynasty (960-1279).

In the 1950s and 60s, designers at the East China Textile Management Bureau in Shanghai borrowed inspiration from the traditional pattern and created the dongbei dahua prototype featuring blossoming peonies and the phoenix. Cotton cloth with the floral print has since become a popular choice for blanket covers and bed sheets in Northern China, especially in rural areas.

Experts say that dongbei dahua designs have found increasing resonance with modern urbanites because they could easily evoke collective memories in which the print was popular in large swaths of China. The popularity of dongbei dahua has also coincided with the rise of guochao, a consumption trend wherein younger consumers prefer products with Chinese cultural elements. The print is viewed as one of the visual symbols from China's recent history.

"The fashion industry is a microcosm of social development. I hope to show the prosperity and rise of China through this show. "said designer Sheguang Hu.

Some people commended the designer for promoting Chinese aesthetics on a global stage. Designer Sheguang Hu is skilled in translating Chinese cultural history into fashion elements.

"I held the show in Shanghai because dongbei dahua was born here and I want to re-define it as a classical pattern in fashion," Hu told reporters during an interview after the release.

"As many brands are characterized by a certain color or style, I think dongbei dahua is the same to me," said the designer, adding that he aspires to influence a generation of people with this pattern and help it go global as a culture.

"I've been given a lot of labels by a lot of people, but labels don't define me. Fashion, for me, is for self-innovation. " Hu said. 2024 marks the 12th year of Hu's return to China, where he, a native of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, grew up before moving to the Netherlands to pursue fashion design at the age of 16. Committed to incorporating Chinese cultural elements into the fashion context, Hu has developed his distinctive style over the last decade.Designer Hu Sheguang hopes to create fashion legends again.

Hu has been studying traditional Chinese patterns. "The royal patterns housed in the Palace Museum, and those in paper cuts, Batik, shadow plays and ancient architecture, are all our precious cultural heritage worth researching and revitalizing through fashion," he remarked.

"Heritage can only be truly passed down when it becomes a part of people's daily lives. This is not only the goal of cultural inheritance efforts but also a mission of mine as a fashion designer."

Hu wants Chinese design to enter the global stage. Hu is offering "voice" to China's creative power.

Media Contact:

Name: Sheguang Hu

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Wuhan Hu Er Ye Cultural Media Co., Ltd.

4 april 2024 at 11:25

View the original press release on accesswire.comNews published onand distributed by:
Protecting and expanding affordable housing





WINNIPEG, MB, April 4, 2024 /CNW/ - Everyone deserves to succeed. But today, for too many Canadians, your hard work isn't paying off like it did for previous generations. Your paycheque doesn't go as far as costs go up, and saving enough seems harder and harder. It doesn't have to be this way. Every generation should get a fair chance to get ahead.

One of the biggest pressures on people right now is housing, especially for young Canadians and low- and middle-income families who rent. In the last decade, hundreds of thousands of affordable homes have been lost in Canada ? some demolished and not replaced, others sold to speculators and large corporations. With skyrocketing rents, renovictions, a lack of housing options, and tenants being priced out of their communities, for renters, it feels like the deck is stacked against them.

We've taken bold action to build more homes, faster, improve access to housing, and make homes more affordable ? and we need to do more.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the launch of a new $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund to protect affordable housing and create thousands of new affordable apartments.

A key measure in the upcoming Budget 2024, the Fund will provide $1 billion in loans and $470 million in contributions to non-profit organizations and other partners so they can acquire units and preserve rent prices in the long term. Co-led and co-funded by the federal government and other partners, the Fund will mobilize investments and financing from the charitable sector and the private sector to protect and grow affordable housing in Canada.

These loans will help preserve more rental homes and make sure they're affordable ? and they will protect the most vulnerable renters. That means if an affordable rental building goes up for sale, instead of that apartment being sold to a speculator or profiteer, it can go to non-profit organizations, community housing providers, and the middle class. It will mean Canadians can live in the communities they love, with rent prices they can afford. This program will be available later this year, and it will have a direct impact in making the housing market fairer for renters.

This is just one of the things that we are going to be doing in Budget 2024 to cut red tape, build more homes, and grow our communities. This week, we announced a $15 billion top-up to the Apartment Construction Loan Program, a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, and a $400 million top-up to the Housing Accelerator Fund. That's hundreds of thousands of new homes fast-tracked. Alongside these measures, we're getting healthy food on the plates of kids, investing in health care, making life more affordable, and creating good jobs to make sure every generation can get ahead.

Quotes

"We're making the playing field fairer for renters. Through Budget 2024, we're working with non-profits to protect affordable housing, preserve rent prices, and build thousands of new apartments. It's simple ? you should be able to live in the community you love, with a rent you can afford."

? The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

"Affordable housing providers are doing important work to help keep rents affordable and stable for thousands of Canadians. But market pressures are putting affordable apartments at risk. So, we're launching a $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund to preserve and grow our affordable housing supply, helping more Canadians save on rent."

? The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

"We need to make sure affordable housing stays affordable in Canada. The Canada Rental Protection Fund is going to help protect the affordable housing we have so Canadians can live in the communities they love."

? The Hon. Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

Quick Facts

The Government of Canada's Budget 2024 will be tabled in the House of Commons by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 .

Budget 2024 will be tabled in the House of Commons by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on . In recent days, the Prime Minister announced new action in advance of Budget 2024 to ensure fairness for every generation. Budget 2024 will:

Restore generational fairness for renters, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, by taking new action to protect renters' rights and unlock pathways for them to become homeowners. Learn more.



Save more young families money and help more moms return to their careers by building more affordable child care spaces and training more early childhood educators across Canada . Learn more.

. Learn more.

Create a National School Food Program to provide meals to about 400,000 kids every year and help ensure every child has the best start in life, no matter their circumstances. Learn more.



Launch a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the construction or upgrade of essential infrastructure across the country and get more homes built for Canadians. Learn more.



Top-up the Apartment Construction Loan Program with $15 billion, make new reforms so it is easier to access, and launch Canada Builds to call on all provinces and territories to join a Team Canada effort to build more homes, faster. Learn more.

The new Canada Rental Protection Fund builds on other initiatives we have implemented to help maintain a resilient community housing sector and deliver below-market housing options in Canada , including:

, including: The Affordable Housing Fund, a $14+ billion initiative that supports the creation of affordable rental housing and the repair and renewal of existing housing. It is designed to attract partnerships and investments to develop projects that meet a broad spectrum of housing needs, from shelters to mixed-income and mixed-use rentals. As of December 31, 2023 , the Fund has committed $8+ billion to repair or renew over 150,000 homes and support the construction of more than 32,000 new homes.

, the Fund has committed $8+ billion to repair or renew over 150,000 homes and support the construction of more than 32,000 new homes.

The Rapid Housing Initiative, a $4 billion fund that is fast-tracking the construction of 15,500 new affordable homes for people experiencing homelessness or in severe housing need by 2026. The Rapid Housing Initiative also supports the acquisition of existing buildings for the purpose of rehabilitation or conversion to permanent affordable housing units, focusing on the housing needs of the most vulnerable, including people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, women fleeing domestic violence, seniors, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities.



The Federal Community Housing Initiative, a $600+ million initiative that provides funding to federally administered community housing providers to stabilize their operations, subsidize rents for tenants in need, and maintain the current federally administered community housing stock, which includes 55,000 households.

Canada's economic plan is to build more homes faster and to make housing more affordable. This plan also includes:

economic plan is to build more homes faster and to make housing more affordable. This plan also includes: The Apartment Construction Loan Program, a $40 billion initiative that will be topped up with an additional $15 billion in Budget 2024 to boost the construction of new rental homes by providing low-cost financing to homebuilders. Since 2017, the Apartment Construction Loan Program has committed over $18 billion in loans to support the creation of more than 48,000 new rental homes. With yesterday's announcement, the Apartment Construction Loan Program is now on track to help build over 131,000 new rental homes across Canada by 2031-32.

by 2031-32.

The Housing Accelerator Fund, a $4 billion initiative that will be topped up with an additional $400 million in Budget 2024 to encourage municipalities to incentivize building by making transformative changes, such as removing prohibitive zoning barriers. To date, the federal government has signed 179 Housing Accelerator Fund agreements which, combined, will fast-track an estimated total of over 750,000 housing units across the country over the next decade.

Progress on these and other programs and initiatives under Canada's National Housing Strategy are updated quarterly at?www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map?shows affordable housing projects that have been developed.

National Housing Strategy are updated quarterly at?www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map?shows affordable housing projects that have been developed. Since 2015, the federal government has helped almost two million Canadians find a place to call home.

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

4 april 2024 at 11:54

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Nicklaus Children's Announces $15 Million Gift from South Florida Philanthropists Helen and Jacob Shaham





This significant gift will elevate care so no family has to leave the state for expert pediatric cancer treatment

MIAMI, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nicklaus Children's Hospital today announced a $15 million gift from South Florida philanthropists Helen and Jacob Shaham to further elevate world-class pediatric cancer care and research through the hospital's cancer and blood disorders institute. In recognition of the gift, the program now proudly bears the name, the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute.

Helen and Jacob Shaham founded The Palace Group in 1980. The family-owned and operated business focuses on providing luxury living for seniors across South Florida. And now, the Shahams' generous gift will ensure world-class pediatric cancer care for the patients and communities served by Nicklaus Children's.

"We are incredibly thankful to Helen and Jacob Shaham for their remarkable generosity and commitment to the children and families of our community," said Matthew A. Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children's Health System, parent organization of the hospital. "Their naming gift will be transformational for children with cancer and blood disorders, helping us advance our mission to inspire hope and promote lifelong health by providing the best care to every child."

"My father-in-law died from cancer," said Jacob Shaham. "My identical twin brother died from cancer two years ago. It's close to us. For the last 45 years, we did everything for our elderly residents; now, it's time to do something for our youngest residents. Thank you for allowing us to belong to this hospital. Thank you for allowing us to be in your family."

The naming gift was announced during a reception at the hospital attended by the Shahams, their family and friends, community leaders, and hospital leaders and supporters. During the event, a sign bearing the new institute name was unveiled in the cancer and blood disorders unit on the sixth floor of the Advanced Pediatric Care Pavilion.

The gift will elevate pediatric cancer care and research so no child ever has to leave the state for treatment and enhance the hospital's standing as leading cancer care provider for children through investments in groundbreaking research focused on new cures, treatments and diagnostic procedures.

The Shaham gift is the first gift to name a Nicklaus Children's Hospital clinical institute. It is the second transformational gift to Nicklaus Children's as part of the hospital's comprehensive campaign to invest in the future of pediatric care, Forward For Generations. Last year, Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin donated $25 million to the campaign, naming the Kenneth C. Griffin Surgical Tower which opens this summer.

To learn more about supporting Nicklaus Children's Hospital, please visit http://give.nicklauschildrens.org

About Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Where Children Matter Most

Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately 850 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 307-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rachel Perry Bixby

Nicklaus Children's Hospital

[email protected]

305-898-9165

SOURCE Nicklaus Children's Hospital

4 april 2024 at 14:00

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The Big College Challenge: Money How We Can Make College Affordable for Everyone





By Russell Lowery-Hart, Chancellor, Austin Community College

AUSTIN, Texas, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- When I first came to Austin Community College District (ACC) in fall 2023, I knew I wanted to get to know our students and learn about our community. What I discovered wasn't a surprise, but it was unsettling.

People are experiencing a life that's not affordable, and they can't find a way to climb out and up.

The cost of higher education is, more often than not, too great to bear. It's the biggest challenge students today face. The numbers may surprise you: our data show that 58% of students who applied to go to ACC and then chose not to enroll say affordability is their main concern.

We have been asking students to mortgage their future ? to take on big loan debt. They're not enrolling because they can't afford it or they don't see the return on investment. There has to be a better way.

So, we asked ourselves at ACC: If we can eliminate that barrier, can we make college a reality for more people? We think so. Starting in the fall of 2024, we're going to test it out.

With the support of our board of trustees, Austin Community College will pilot the ACC Free Tuition Program. It's the first step in a bold idea to make college tuition free for everyone.

It's going to take time to get there. So, we're starting small, beginning with a pilot program that will cover the cost of tuition and general fees for the class of 2024. That applies to all high school graduates from local school districts and charter schools across the ACC service area, as well as home-schoolers and GED completers.

We picked this group for a couple of reasons. When you look at the demographic shifts over the last decade, you'll see that more students are not going to higher education than are going. Only 43% of high school graduates are enrolling in postsecondary education. Our competition isn't between colleges and universities. Our competition is between somewhere and nowhere, and nowhere is winning. It's a startling reality.

There are growing questions about the value of a degree because college has become almost unaffordable. We need to do better. There is a profound national discussion on the cost of higher education. A discount doesn't mean anything on something already financially out of reach. Free means something to those who need us most.

This is just the beginning. It's not about getting students in the door. It's about eliminating barriers so that they not only come, they persist, they graduate and they enter our local workforce with the skills and talents our community needs. This is particularly important for those students and families living in the war zone of poverty. We believe in those students so much, that we want them to use their financial aid and scholarship to support their lives, while we find resources to cover their tuition for learning.

A program like this won't be easy. We have teams at ACC working to identify potential issues and develop solutions. I have no doubt a free tuition program can work at ACC, and I have no doubt it can grow. I think that's exactly what our community needs.

Every student's success is something we can all celebrate. It's going to force us to think in new and different ways, and it will be worth it. We can lead the nation in redefining how colleges and communities work together to lift lives.

The future of our region, and the economic stability that we enjoy, rests on our ability to ensure that more of our students who are graduating high school get a credential of value that leads to a family-sustaining wage.

Uniquely American, community colleges serve more than 10 million students annually, providing critical access to higher education in academic and workforce development. As the voice of the nation's community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), delivers educational and economic opportunity for more than 10 million diverse students in search of the American Dream. Uniquely dedicated to access and success for all students, AACC's member colleges provide an on-ramp to degree attainment, skilled careers, and family-supporting wages. Located in Washington, D.C., AACC advocates for these not-for-profit, public-serving institutions to ensure they have the resources and support to increase economic mobility for all. https://www.aacc.nche.edu/ .

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges

4 april 2024 at 14:15

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Ocho Candy, Inc. Executes Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, Initiates Sale of Intellectual Property & Proprietary Recipes





On February 8, 2024, Ocho Candy, Inc., a Delaware Corporation ("Ocho" or the "Company"), executed a General Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (the "Assignment") in favor of Ocho ABC a Delaware Series limited liability company (the "Assignee") in accordance with the applicable provisions of California law governing General Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors.

Pursuant to the Assignment, the Company transferred to the Assignee for liquidation all of the Company's ownership of, and all of its rights to and in, the Company's tangible and intangible assets. The Assignee will, as appropriate, liquidate any such assets and rights, wind down the Company, and distribute any net proceeds to creditors of the Company that timely submit claims as instructed below.

The Company was an organic chocolate confection manufacturer that operated out of Oakland, California until 2021 when it outsourced its manufacturing operations. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company continued to be unprofitable, with no clear path to profitability. In early 2024, Ocho made the decision to shut down operations permanently and entered into the Assignment for the benefit of creditors.

The Assignee has begun the process of marketing and selling off the intellectual property including the Company's proprietary recipes as listed below:

Milk Chocolate Recipes

Caramel

Coconut

Caramel & Peanut

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Peanut Butter

Peppermint

Dark Chocolate Recipes

Peanut Butter

Coconut

Plant Based Recipes

Classic Caramel

Chocolate Caramel

Coffee Caramel

Cinnamon Caramel

All inquiries should be directed to representatives of the Assignee, Development Specialists, Inc..

Please contact Tom Frey at (312) 263-4141 or [email protected] with a copy to Matthew Sorenson at [email protected].

About DSI

Development Specialists, Inc. (DSI) is one of the leading providers of management consulting and financial advisory services, including turnaround consulting, financial restructuring, litigation support, fiduciary services and forensic accounting. Our clients include business owners, private-equity investors, corporate boards, financial institutions, secured lenders, bondholders and unsecured creditors. For almost 48 years, DSI has been guided by a single objective: maximizing value for all stakeholders. With our highly skilled and diverse team of professionals, offices in the U.S. and international affiliates and an unparalleled range of experience, DSI has built a solid reputation as an industry leader.

4 april 2024 at 14:25

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Estonia's First Pumped-Hydro Energy Storage Project Zero Terrain partners with the Estonian government and receives a grant of ?1,9M





TALLINN, Estonia, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Estonian Ministry of Climate signs the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with energy company Zero Terrain to help Estonia achieve its 100% renewable energy goal by 2030. With this cooperation, Zero Terrain is collaborating closely with the government to devise solutions to enable the realisation of the pumped-hydro energy storage (PHS) project in Estonia, including supporting securing capital and addressing market challenges.

Additionally, Zero Terrain receives a grant of ?1.98M from the state's applied research programme to support Zero Terrain project development in Estonia and technology export.

The Zero Terrain Paldiski 500MW underground long-duration energy storage plant is a significant advancement of the conventional PHS technology, making it possible to build anywhere, even on flat land.

Zero Terrain Paldiski represents a notable milestone in the country's energy system. Paldiski Pumped Hydro Energy Storage plant is an EU Project of Common Interest (PCI project). It is the only greenfield pumped hydro energy storage project in the Northern Baltic region and will also be the largest facility in the country.

"Signing the MoU is a significant step forward in Zero Terrain's journey towards a clean and secure energy future. We believe there can't be a renewable energy-driven energy system without large-scale, long-duration energy storage. This collaboration signifies the cooperation and a commitment to driving positive change in the Estonian renewable energy landscape," says Peep Siitam, the Founder and CEO of Zero Terrain.

Estonias first long-duration energy storage project, Zero Terrain Paldiski, obtained the main building permits in December 2022. Construction of the country's first pumped-hydro storage plant will begin in 2025. During the nominal operating cycle of 12 hours, Zero Terrain Paldiski generates 6GWh of power to the grid, which is somewhat more than the average daily consumption of all Estonian households.

Zero Terrain also receives a grant of 1.98M? from the state's applied research programme. According to Siitam, the grant will be used to develop Zero Terrain modular design, start development activities in other countries, and involve new investors in Zero Terrain Paldiski, Estonia.

"Zero Terrain is developing large-scale energy storage technology, enabling Estonia and other countries to switch to renewable energy more widely with such significant advancement of the conventional PHS technology," says Arbo Reino, an energy expert of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency.

"The global need for long-duration energy storage (LDES) capacity is undeniable. 85?120 TWh-hours of LDES is needed globally by 2040 (McKinsey, 2021), so the interest in our technology and project is high, especially in regions where the traditional PHS was impossible to implement due to geographical limitation," explains? Siitam.





Zero Terrain is jointly owned by the Estonian energy company AS Alexela, Baltic-Polish renewable energy company Sunly AS, Vool OU, Combiwood Grupp OU, Warmeston OU, and Ronnivara OU.

For media inquiries and more information, please contact: [email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2cbd052e-529e-4878-b248-52bed8e1134f

4 april 2024 at 14:40

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Migrants sit onboard a fishing boat at the port of Paleochora, following a rescue operation off the island of Crete, Greece, November 22, 2022. STRINGER / REUTERS

At dawn on Monday, April 1, just hours before the visit of Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis, another 74 migrants were rescued in southern Crete, off the 27-square-kilometer island of Gavdos. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 1,500 exiles from Tobruk, in northeastern Libya, have arrived on the islet, which counts a total of 70 out-of-season residents, a school with just four children, two grocery stores, and a single policeman. This unusual migration route took the Greek authorities by surprise, as there is no reception center on the island, located about 300 kilometers from Tobruk.

For several months now, the mayor of Gavdos, Lilian Stefanakis, has been appealing to the government for help in providing a warehouse with food and first-aid equipment for the new arrivals, who are often exhausted after more than 36 hours of a journey that costs them between $4,000 and $5,000 (or between 3,700 and 4,600), according to testimonies.

In February, in a letter to the Ministry of Migration, the mayor insisted on "the lack of resources to welcome migrants:" "As I write to you, 74 souls are stranded on our island and we are trying with the locals to feed them, but we can't offer them the essentials." On Monday, April 1, Stefanakis reiterated her requests to the minister of migration: "We would like financial support to be able to prepare [for an increase in arrivals] and, given the approach of the tourist season, to see how the problem will be managed because, let's not forget, Gavdos lives on tourism." The Socialist Party (PASOK), for its part, warned that "Gavdos must not turn into Lampedusa."

Faced with the situation, Kairidis, during his visit to the island the municipalities to allocate "extra financial help." To quickly transfer the new arrivals from Crete to camps on the mainland, a conservative Cretan MP, Sevi Voloudaki, also asked the minister to "increase the number of coastguards and police." "The figures are low for the moment, but there's no doubt that given what's happening today in Egypt, and of course in the Sahel more widely, we need to be vigilant and keep an eye on how the situation develops," said Kairidis to Le Monde.

More complicated access to Italy

Despite recurring accusations of violent pushbacks by the Greek coastguard, the islands in the northeastern Aegean facing Turkey remain the main gateway to Greece. Since the beginning of 2024, 8,000 refugees have arrived on these islands, compared to 3,000 over the same period in 2023. But, for smugglers operating in Libya, access to Italy seems increasingly complicated.

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Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen (center left, standing) addresses the Congress to seek a vote of confidence to allow Peru's President Dina Boluarte to remain in office, at the National Congress in Lima, on April 3, 2024. JUAN CARLOS CISNEROS / AFP

Peru's Congress on Wednesday, April 3, granted a crucial vote of confidence to President Dina Boluarte's new cabinet, allowing it to proceed in office amid a scandal over the leader's luxury Rolex collection. The vote, which lawmakers passed with 70 in favor, versus 38 against and 17 abstaining, gives the green light for Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen to move forward in his post, which he took up last month.

In a speech that lasted nearly two hours, Adrianzen proposed "an administration with clean hands, a transparent government to face corruption and inefficiency." He also listed economic growth, public order, and action against drug trafficking among his government's priorities. After the vote, Adrianzen expressed "humility" and gratitude for the support, and urged lawmakers to join the government in its plans for economic revitalization and "citizen security." Adrianzen was appointed prime minister in March to form Peru's third cabinet in 16 months after his predecessor resigned over a separate scandal in which he allegedly granted political favors to a love interest. Peru's constitution requires new cabinets to go before Congress for a vote of confidence within 30 days of their appointment. If denied, Adrianzen and his cabinet would have been forced to step down  deepening the political turmoil in Peru, which has had six presidents in eight years.

The vote came as 61-year-old President Boluarte is being investigated for suspected illegal enrichment and failing to declare her luxury timepieces  a scandal dubbed "Rolexgate" by the media. On the eve of the vote, Attorney General Juan Villena announced an expansion of the probe into Boluarte's possession of a "$56,000 Cartier bracelet" and other jewelry valued at more than $500,000. Bank deposits of about $250,000 are also being investigated.

Rolex scandal

Boluarte, who assumed office in December '22 after her predecessor Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and govern by decree (resulting in his arrest), currently holds an approval rating of around 10 percent. Subsequently, violent protests erupted, demanding Boluarte's resignation and calling for new elections.

She is also facing a constitutional complaint regarding the crackdown on those protests, which resulted in the deaths of over 50 individuals. If she is indicted in the Rolex case, a trial might not occur until after her term concludes in July 2026, or unless she is impeached, as per the Constitution.

Peru's constitution gives Congress outsized power in being able to remove presidents, with impeachment requiring only 87 votes out of 130 lawmakers. Impeachment votes can be brought on a vague "moral incapacity" provision that does not require lawmakers to show legal wrongdoing. So it would be in "Congress where it will be decided whether she remains in the presidency," said analyst Augusto Alvarez Rodrich, a columnist with La Republica newspaper.

Leftist lawmakers have presented three motions to impeach Boluarte  the latest started Monday  but none have yet advanced to debate. Alvarez said impeachment is unlikely, as Congress would prefer to avoid the risk of early elections being called. "The main forces in Congress intend to maintain the status quo as long as possible," said political scientist Carlos Melendez, from Chile's Diego Portales University. But he said it would be "a miracle" if Boluarte made it to the end of her term "because no one wants to be an ally of an unpopular president" when the 2026 elections roll around.

Read more Subscribers only Peru's interim President Dina Boluarte is facing a luxury watch scandal
The president of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), Roberto Carlos Vidal Lopez, in Bogota, Colombia, June 6, 2023. VANESSA JIMENEZ / ANADOLU VIA AFP

They murdered so now they are going to plant trees. "We're going to sow life to try to make amends and build peace," explained Henry Torres, an army general and the highest-ranking officer to confess his crimes to the court's magistrates. "We are extremely grateful to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace [the JEP], which is offering us this opportunity."

The JEP was set up by the peace agreement signed in 2016 between Colombian authorities and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Its function is to adjudicate guerrillas and military personnel guilty of atrocious crimes committed during the country's long period of armed conflict. Individuals who admit to their crimes and ask their victims for forgiveness are given alternative sentences.

On Tuesday, April 2, the JEP inaugurated its first restorative justice program in the Sumapaz mountain range, south of the capital Bogota, at an altitude of over 3,000 meters. Forty-eight ex-military defendants will take part in the reforestation project known as "Seeds of Life."

Read more Subscribers only 'I murdered innocent people': In Colombia, soldiers confess to crimes against humanity

6,402 young people murdered by the army

All have confessed, but none have yet been convicted. "The idea is to begin the reparation work for victims and rebuild trust," said Torres. The ceremony was attended by JEP President Roberto Carlos Vidal Lopez, alongside the mayor of Bogota and representatives from victims associations for the armed conflict.

Two other projects will start up in the coming weeks, one in the Medellin region and the other with the indigenous Awa community in the country's south. Hundreds of former guerrillas and soldiers are to be incorporated into community projects to serve their alternative sentences. The tasks assigned will vary widely and include protecting nature, clearing mines, promoting literacy, building rural infrastructure and engaging in work to honor and remember the past. "The idea is not to repair the harm caused to a specific community or group of individuals, but to symbolically repair and compensate all the victims and the country as a whole," said Vidal Lopez.

The 48 soldiers who are about to plow the earth have been indicted in connection with "macro case" No. 3, which concerns "false positives"  a "positive," in military jargon, is a successfully achieved objective. In the 2000s, these men ordered, organized or carried out the assassination of young boys, falsely claiming them to be guerrillas who had died in combat. This was done to secure a leave of absence, financial bonuses or promotions. In September 2023, General Torres admitted to having taken part in the murder of 196 civilians. The JEP determined that the army was responsible for the murder of 6,402 young individuals.

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Somalia on Thursday, April 4, ordered the expulsion of Ethiopia's ambassador and said it was recalling its own envoy to Addis Ababa, accusing its neighbour of "bluntly interfering" in its internal affairs.

The diplomatic moves come as Somalia continues to seethe over a maritime deal Ethiopia signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland in January  ratcheting up tensions in the Horn of Africa.

Somalia's foreign ministry said Ethiopian ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware had been told to leave the country "within the next 72 hours" and that Mogadishu's envoy to Addis Ababa had been summoned back "for comprehensive consultations."

In addition, the Ethiopian consulates in Somaliland and the semi-autonomous state of Puntland have been ordered to close within seven days, it said in a statement published in English. "These measures were taken in the interest of safeguarding the sovereignty, unity independence and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia," it added.

Somalia's cabinet in turn charged that the Ethiopian government was "bluntly interfering with Somalia's internal affairs and is in violation of Somalia's sovereignty."

Read more In Somalia, plans to withdraw African Union troops raise fears of a security vacuum

Long-desired sea access

The two Horn of Africa neighbours have a history of stormy relations and territorial feuds, fighting two wars in the late 20th century. Tensions spiralled this year after Addis Ababa signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland that gives Ethiopia  one of the biggest landlocked countries in the world  long-sought after sea access.

Under the January 1 pact, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometers of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast. In return, Somaliland  which unilaterally declared independence in 1991  has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although these assertions have not been confirmed by Addis Ababa.

The dispute stoked deep concerns about the stability of the Horn of Africa in the region as well as globally, with many countries and international organisations calling for Somalia's sovereignty to be respected. Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has also accused Ethiopia of seeking to destabilise his country by helping to revive the activities of the Al-Shabaab jihadist group.

Mogadishu has been battling the Islamist militant group since 2007, and launched a major offensive against it in 2022. Although the government has claimed some success, there has been a resurgence of attacks in recent weeks, shattering a relative lull in violence.

The latest moves by Mogadishu followed a visit on Wednesday by a delegation headed by Puntland's finance minister Mohammed Farah Mohammed to Ethiopia, where he was welcomed by the state minister of foreign affairs Mesganu Arga.

Puntland, which has long had difficult relations with the central government in Mogadishu, announced on Sunday it would no longer recognise federal institutions over changes to the constitution approved by parliament.
Women carry a bag of sorghum during a food distribution in Mangwe district in southwestern Zimbabwe, Friday, March, 22, 2024. TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI / AP

Zimbabwe declared a state of disaster Wednesday, April 3, over a devastating drought that's sweeping across much of southern Africa. The country's president declared it needs $2 billion for humanitarian assistance. "Due to the El Nino-induced drought  more than 80% of our country received below normal rainfall," President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a speech calling for international aid. The country's top priority, he said, is "securing food for all Zimbabweans. No Zimbabwean must succumb to, or die from hunger." He appealed to United Nations agencies, local businesses, and faith organizations to contribute towards humanitarian assistance.

El Nino, a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific Ocean every two to seven years, has varied effects on the world's weather. In southern Africa, it typically causes below-average rainfall, but this year has seen the worst drought in decades. In Zimbabwe, the United Nations' World Food Program has already rolled out a food assistance program targeting approximately 2.7 million people, nearly 20 percent of the country's population, from January to March.

Zimbabwe, once a regional agricultural powerhouse and grain exporter, has in recent years relied more and more on aid agencies to avert mass hunger due to extreme weather conditions such as heat waves and floods.

Read more Will El Nino make climate change worse?

' 20 million people' in southern Africa needing food relief

Much of Southern Africa is in the throes of a food crisis due to the ongoing drought. Zimbabwe declared a state of national disaster and appealed for humanitarian assistance from international donors in 2019, after a failed crop left tens of thousands in need. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema declared the current drought a national disaster in February, saying that almost half of his country's staple corn crop had been destroyed. According to the United Nations Children's Fund, more than 6 million in Zambia, half of them children, have been affected by the drought.

Less than a month later, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said his country needed more than $200 million in urgent humanitarian assistance over a drought that he said has affected 2 million households in 23 of the tiny country's 28 districts. The UN Children's Fund said about 9 million people, half of them children, need help in Malawi.

The United States Agency for International Development, the US government's foreign aid agency, has estimated through its Famine Early Warning Systems Network that 20 million people in southern Africa needed food relief between January and March. These needs could extend into early 2025 for many people in areas of highest concern such as Zimbabwe, southern Malawi, parts of Mozambique, and southern Madagascar due to El Nino, USAID said.

Read more Subscribers only After 2023's extreme temperatures, scientists debate whether global warming is accelerating
A JUDGE said he was not going to send a 78-year-old great grandfather to prison for bad cases of professional burglary as he suffered an extraordinary wrong as a child in the care of the State.

Edward (aka Paddy) Brennan, aged 78, of Grianan, Westbury, pleaded guilty to two burglaries, at Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium on April 22, 2019, and Loftus Maher & Co Accountants, Courtfields Commercial Centre, Raheen on June 13, 2019.

Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard at a sentencing hearing in February how manhole covers were lifted, phone lines cut, surveillance conducted, alarms pulled off walls and CCTV cameras were tampered with.

Andrew Sexton SC, barrister for Mr Brennan who has a number of previous convictions for burglary and breaking and entering, said his client ended up in Letterfrack (an industrial school for young boys).

He was a victim, said Mr Sexton, who handed in reports and a letter from Mr Brennan to the judge.

Counsel said when Mr Brennan was a child, his father suffered a grave injury and if that hadnt happened his client could have been his apprentice.

He got into trouble, ended up in Letterfrack and went down a road that led to a, b and c, said Mr Sexton.

Judge Sheehan adjourned sentencing until March as he said he was going to think about this.

He described the crimes as bad cases of professional burglary.

When the case was back before him, Judge Sheehan imposed a three-and-a-half year prison sentence and a one-year sentence on Mr Brennan to be served consecutively for the two burglaries. Judge Sheehan suspended the jail sentences in their entirety.

It is truly exceptional for a number of reasons. Time has passed - he hasnt come to adverse notice. He is an elderly man. It is not in societys interest to suffer imprisonment given what he suffered in Letterfrack, said Judge Sheehan.

Judge Sheehan also gave judgement on a co-accused and son-in-law of Mr Brennan - Brendan Wallace, aged 62, of Fernleigh, Westbury.

He pleaded guilty to burglaries at Loftus Maher & Co on June 13, 2019; Mercy Mounthawk School, Tralee on November 20, 2015 and Marist College, Athlone on February 8, 2013.

Brian McInerney SC, who represented Mr Wallace, told Judge Sheehan in February that his client wont be back before the courts.

Mr Wallace has previous for larceny, handling stolen property, assault, affray, possession and production of an article, and in relation to an illegal money-lending operation.

Today can be marked as his official retirement, said Mr McInerney.

READ MORE: Limerick man receives suspended sentence for growing cannabis in 'unusual case'

Counsel said in none of the offending is there any engagement with anybody or was any person put in fear.

Mr McInerney asked Judge Sheehan to structure a sentence in which the interests of justice can be reflected.

He wont be back before the courts. Today can be marked as his official retirement. He is a grandfather who takes care of his family. He is in a different place than where he was, said Mr McInerney.

Judge Sheehan imposed a three and a half year jail sentence with the final 18 months suspended; three and a half year jail with the final 18 months suspended and a three and a half year jail sentence with the last 24 months suspended to be served concurrently for the three burglaries.

Mr McInerney broached the subject of fully suspending Mr Wallaces sentences.

Judge Sheehan said: The offending behaviour is so serious that it would be an error to suspend it. His co-accused (Mr Brennan) has suffered an extraordinary wrong as a child in the care of the State. The judge said they were truly exceptional circumstances.
A SENIOR Fianna Fail councillor has predicted the office of Limericks new directly elected mayor will be a flop and not a success.

Newcastle West councillor Michael Collins, who leads the partys bloc on the local authority has also accused Fianna Fail nationally of showing a lack of respect to local members over its selection of former Chamber chief executive Dee Ryan as its candidate.

Nobody asked me or my colleagues what I thought of the selection of a candidate. I think Fianna Fail headquarters should have consulted with the grass roots and especially the councillors who will ultimately have to work with whoever is elected mayor on June 7, he said.

I think the party did not respect me and my colleagues on council who have vast experience and know how this thing should work.

Another long-serving Fianna Fail council member Kieran OHanlon admitted he probably wont be campaigning for his partys candidate in the upcoming mayoral election.

I am not at all enthused by the whole thing. Ill campaign, but only if I have time. Im extremely busy - people will tell you that locally, Im out and about all the time. I wouldnt see myself having time to work on it, he said referring to the mayoral election.

Cllr Collins added: My focus now and my focus only is getting myself re-elected on June 7 and continuing the work Ive done effectively the last 20 years.

Fianna Fail has continued to stick with Ms Ryan as its mayoral candidate despite a series of historic posts on X, formerly Twitter, emerging after she announced her intention to run as the Fianna Fail candidate.

In these old posts from 2016, she questioned Tanaiste Micheal Martins leadership skills, and also reposted tweets from Fine Gael in 2016 which criticised the Soldiers of Destiny for its role in the 2008 economic crash.

Addressing the posts last month, Ms Ryan said she had no difficulty in saying her opinions of Fianna Fail and its leader have evolved, and could not be more positive.

I remain unafraid to speak my mind and if the people of Limerick choose to do me the honour of electing me as their mayor, I can assure them I will be a strong voice in pursuing our shared agenda to make Limerick a better place, she said.

READ MORE: Limerick City TD Maurice Quinlivan to contest mayoral election

But Cllr Collins and Cllr OHanlon said personalised criticism of Mr Martin had caused disquiet. I think it was disappointing, said Cllr Collins.

She was not a member of the party then and she certainly didnt speak well of the party or party leader previously.

Cllr OHanlon added: It was disappointing to read she was critical of our party leader. He also said many of his constituents might not go out to vote in June, given the number of contests on the same day.

Here in Limerick, voters will be asked to elect a mayor, local councillors, European parliament members as well as vote in a referendum. Cllr OHanlon said the local election should have been held on its own day.
JJ BOWLES, in Thomondgate, has been crowned the Limerick Pub of the year at the Irish Restaurant Awards Munster Regional Final.

They were one of a number of Limerick establishments to be honoured at the event.

The awards, which are in their 15th year, received over 160,000 public, nominations with one winner from each county being announced. Once county winners are announced, regional and all Ireland winners will be crowned in May.

Finn Robson, of Angel Dust Patisserie and Bakery, on Thomas Street, was awarded Limericks Local Food Hero.

Mother Macs, on High Street, was awarded Innovator of the Year while Timmy Macs Bistro at Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel in Adare was crowned Best Sustainable Practices.

Copper and Spice, Annacotty was awarded Best World Cuisine while La Cucina Espresso, on Ballysimon Road, were given the title of Best Cafe.

READ MORE: Communities across Limerick rally to aid Wexford native diagnosed with a life-altering condition

The Silver Room Restaurant, Newcastle West, was awarded Best Customer Service, Best Wine Experience went to The Copper Room, on OConnell Street, and The Terrace, on the University of Limericks grounds, was awarded Best Newcomer.

The Best Contemporary Irish Cuisine went to 1826, Adare while The Curragower Bar, Clancy Strand, was given the title of Best Gastropub.

House Limerick, Howleys Quay, was crowned Best Casual Dining and the Employee Excellence Award went to Collins Bar.

Best Hotel and Guesthouse Restaurant went to The Oak Room, Adare, Best Restaurant Manager went to Liz Phelan of Freddys Restaurant on Theatre Lane, and Derek Fitzpatrick, The East Room Restaurant, Plassey House won Best Chef.

Finally, 1826 in Adare was honoured once again, this time as Limericks Best Restaurant.
TRIBUTES have been paid to an Abbeyfeale woman who helped feed generations of West Limerick families throughout the years.

Kitty Cotter (nee O'Flynn) of Main Street, Abbeyfeale, passed away at her son Philips home and in the presence of her loving family, on Saturday, March 23.

Ms Cotter, who was nearly 104 when she passed, had experienced a great deal of change in over a century of living. Born in May 1920, as one of five sisters, Ms Cotters earliest years were lived in a time of historical upheaval.

She would have seen the earliest days of Ireland as a free nation, being born during the War of Independence and growing up against a backdrop of the Irish Civil War, The Second World War, and countless other historical moments that defined the nation.

Ms Cotter was born and raised in OFlynns Restaurant on the main street of Abbeyfeale. The restaurant, which is now over 150 years old, has fed generation upon generation of Abbeyfeale people - and is still open to this day.

At the time, farm-to-table was the norm rather than a luxury selling point and Ms Cotters daughter, Maria McCarten, recalls her mother walking up the Hill Road, six or seven miles, to fetch milk and eggs.

Everything was hands-on. We would have lived in town, but we were very inclusive on the farm. Everything was done ourselves, thats how it was for her. It was what she knew, Ms McCarten said.

A quiet soul, Ms Cotter worked very much in the background in the restaurant.

Her son Philip Cotter said his mother had a busy life, but a quiet one, often working 11 hours in the kitchen while also taking care of her three children as well as her own mother.

Her family meant everything to her, he noted. It was family, work and that was it.

READ MORE: Sadness as Rose of Tralees Limerick grandmother passes away

Given the era that Ms Cotter grew up in, she had very interesting stories to tell her children, having witnessed moments of historical importance.

Ms McCarten recalled her mothers stories of secret meetings being held in the family home during the more turbulent years of Irelands history, including one in which Eamon de Valera was present.

Predeceased by her husband Ted and grand-daughter Aine, Ms Cotter will be sadly missed by her sons Jim and Philip, daughter Maria, daughter-in-law Evelyn, son-in-law Jim, grand-daughters Katie, Sorcha, Catherine, Maeve and Michelle, grandsons Fiachra, Aodhan and Cillian, great-grandson Rory, as well as extended family and friends.
HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly is expected to be at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) this Thursday.

It follows an unannounced visit to its emergency department on Wednesday evening.

The Fianna Fail TD is to meet with the chief executive of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, the regional executive officer, and the management team in the Dooradoyle hospital.

His visit comes as the number of patients waiting on trolleys in UHL remain stubbornly high.

READ MORE: 'People running UL need to be available to answer questions', says Mary-Lou McDonald

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, almost one in every six patients awaiting a bed were in Limerick on Wednesday.

Nationwide, 603 patients were on trolleys, according to the union.

Of these, 92 were at UHL.

A protest takes place outside UHL in response to Mr Donnelly's visit.

Run by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign, one of its activists, the former Solidarity councillor Mary Cahillane said: "We hope Stephen Donnelly saw the overcrowded, dangerous conditions for himself on Wednesday evening and we hope his early arrival wasn't a sneaky attempt to avoid protesters or to avoid meeting the people of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. If he has any courage he will come and address the people who will be gathered at the hospital and address their concerns."
A new report examining the logistics surrounding a united Ireland has found the expected cost to be astronomical.

The report conducted by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) suggests the cost of supporting Northern Ireland would amount to 20 billion every year for 20 years, and this expense would require an increase of approximately 20% and/or a substantial reduction in expenditure.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, co-author of the report and co chair of the IIEA Professor John Fitzgerald said,

"To deal with the resulting deficit, which would be likely to persist for many years after unification, there would have to be a dramatic increase in taxation and/or a major reduction in expenditure south of the border.

"Even though Ireland has a much higher national income, funding the needs of the people in Northern Ireland in a united Ireland would put huge financial pressure on the people in Ireland, resulting in an immediate major reduction in their living standards.

"The solution is if Northern Ireland dramatically changes how they run their economy, in particular in the educational sphere, which would mean that the gap between the north and the south would narrow and also that their revenue would rise substantially more.

"Looking for somebody else to pay for unification is not going to happen. If it happens, we've got to pay for it ourselves."

Professor Fitzgerald also said that the ordinary taxpayer would foot the bill for unification.

"Given that the Irish Government expenditure is about 40% of national income, it would represent an increase of a quarter in Irish Government expenditure.

"To fund it", he added, "you'd need to increase taxes by the same amount, by a very large amount."

The report states that if Northern Ireland were to remain as part of the UK indefinitely, it would substantially benefit them more "in the long run".

By reforming its economy, Northern Ireland could significantly enhance its economic position within the UK and greatly improve its relative standard of living.

The report stated that the productivity gap, even under the most favourable circumstances, could take at least two decades to be significantly narrowed.
Thousands of Bank of Ireland customers across the country have been impacted by a significant outage of the bank's mobile and online banking services.

A spokesperson for the bank has confirmed that its "mobile banking is currently not available" and that engineers and IT experts are working to identity and resolve the issue

"We are very sorry for the inconvenience to our customers. We are working on this as a priority," said the spokesperson.

The issue first emerged this Thursday lunchtime when users reported they could not log into the 365online app or the Bank of Ireland web portal.

Numerous customers have contacted the bank directly to report issues with some posting queries via the official customer support service on X, formerly Twitter.

"Who is going to pay for the diesel I just pumped?" asked one customer while another posted: "BOI now not taking transactions online. I got errors when paying for items online knowing I have a + balance on account".

Posting on social media, a representative of Bank of Ireland reassured customers that physical card transactions are not affected by the outage.

Our mobile banking is currently not available.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience to our customers. We are working on this as a priority.  Bank of Ireland (@talktoBOI) April 4, 2024

The bank says it is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible but that it's not possible to say when a full service will be restored.

"There is not an exact time frame for this. Rest assured, this is being worked on to be resolved ASAP," read a post on X.
A drop of 25% in Irelands corporate tax income in the first three months of 2024 has been blamed on a technical factor and is expected to be made up later in the year, a cabinet minister has said.

Finance Minister Michael McGrath said corporation tax receipts of 2.4 billion euro were down by 0.8 billion euro year on year, but expected them to recouped as the year went on.

Mr McGrath said the drop illustrated the exceptional volatility of this tax revenue stream.

Department of Finance chief economist John McCarthy said officials could not give a month by which they expect the funds to be recouped.

Were not allowed to have access to revenue-specific data but Revenue have informed us that the shortfall will be made up over the course of the year without specifying the particular time, he said.

Ireland collected a record total of 23.8 billion euro in corporate tax in 2023.

In its Budget 2024 estimates, 3.5 billion euro in corporation tax was expected in quarter one, with a total of 24.5 billion euro expected by the end of the year.

Mr McGrath said they are still sticking to their Budget Day forecast for what corporate tax is expected in the year ahead.

As has so often been the case, the standout feature of the quarter one tax performance was on the corporation tax front. Receipts of 2.4 billion euro are down by almost a quarter on the same period last year, he said.

It appears that this is likely due to a technical factor relating to the timing of large payments and we believe is likely to be made up later in the year.

In other words, the March decline does not suggest that, at least at this early stage, the corporate tax performance would differ significantly from what we set out on Budget Day last October.

Nonetheless, it does underscore again the exceptional volatility from month to month in this tax head, where a small number of large companies can have a pronounced impact on overall receipts.

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said that although overall expenditure in March has improved compared to a month earlier, on a year-by-year basis it is increasing by 14.9%.

He said: We have a considerably improved position at the end of March versus where we were at the end of February.

However, that being said, expenditure is increasing by 14.9% on a year-by-year basis and well need to continue work during the year to bring in spending in line with the commitments that were made on budget day.

If you look at where we are with current expenditure at the moment, its 1.3% ahead of profile and that spend that it is ahead of profile, to some degree, is offset by where we are with capital expenditure being slightly below profile, but that in turn is simply due to timings with regards to the increased cost of business scheme.
New Delhi, 2nd April, 2024  Skill Online Games Institute (SOGI) announces the onboarding of distinguished Dr. Yatan Pal Singh Balhara to its esteemed advisory board. Dr. Balhara brings unparalleled expertise in mental health and addictive disorders, furthering the institute's mission to promote responsible gaming practices and foster industry growth.

Dr. Yatan Pal Singh Balhara serves as the Secretary General of the World Association on Dual Disorders (WADD) and offers consultancy to esteemed organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNODC. Additionally, he is a Global Master Trainer on Drug Demand Reduction for The Colombo Plan and UNODC. He currently serves at the All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi where he overseas the Dual Diagnosis Clinic and Behavioural Addictions Clinic with a prolific career spanning two decades, he has made significant contributions to the field of mental health and addictive disorders.

Commenting on Dr. Balhara's appointment, Mr. Amrit Kiran Singh, Founder President of SOGI, said, "We are delighted to welcome Dr. Yatan Pal Singh Balhara to the advisory board of SOGI. His extensive experience and deep understanding of mental health and addictive disorders will be invaluable as we endeavour to champion responsible gaming practices and cultivate a culture of holistic well-being within the gaming community. The online Gaming industry is 3 times the size of the worldwide movie & music industry taken together so it is imperative that while we harness its full potential for the benefit of the country, we install robust guard rails to ensure the negative aspects of the industry are minimized.

In his role at SOGI, Dr. Balhara will provide strategic guidance on issues related to mental health, addictive behaviours, and eHealth. His expertise will inform SOGI's initiatives aimed at promoting a holistic approach to online gaming, prioritizing the mental and physical well-being of players.

Dr. Yatan Pal Singh Balhara shared his enthusiasm about joining SOGI, and said, I am delighted to join the advisory board of Skill Online Games Institute. The intersection of mental health and online gaming is a critical area that requires comprehensive understanding and effective strategies. I look forward to collaborating with the honoured members of SOGI to advance responsible and skilled gaming practices and promote the well-being of gamers worldwide.

Other distinguished appointments at the beginning of the year to SOGI's advisory board include Yashvardhan Sinha, IFS, Former Chief Information Commissioner of India & former High Commission to UK and Shivani Jha, a dynamic tech policy lawyer and the leader of the E-Gamers & Players Welfare Association (EPWA) earlier this year.

The Skilled Online Games industry, an emerging sector in India, has garnered significant global acclaim for its economic contributions. Recognizing India's immense growth potential, SOGI is dedicated to facilitating informed decisions that propel the development of this sector, empowering stakeholders and fostering its continued success.

About Skill Online Gaming Institute (SOGI): The Skill Online Gaming Institute (SOGI) is a pioneering institution dedicated to providing comprehensive knowledge and data-driven insights into the online games industry. With a mission to promote responsible gaming and industry growth, SOGI collaborates with leading academic and research institutions and engages with government bodies to chart a path that maximizes the industry's benefits for India. Under the leadership of Amrit Kiran Singh, SOGI aims to unlock the enormous potential of the online games sector and create a thriving, innovative, and sustainable industry.

Media Contact: Pratvii Ponnappa, Weber Shandwick | M: 9886321381

Hamsa Yogitashri, Weber Shandwick | M: 9686410006
An Airbus unit developing high-altitude drones that offer mobile connectivity and Earth observation services is open to an initial public offering after it launches commercial operations in the coming years, its chief executive told The Wall Street Journal.

Based in Farnborough just outside London, Aalto HAPS makes solar-powered, fixed-wing drones that operate above 60,000 feet. Known as Zephyr, these high-altitude platform stations, or HAPS, can be fitted with payloads that provide 5G connectivity as well as services such as wildfire prevention and border control via Earth observation.

Airbuss involvement in Zephyr, which was conceptualized in the early 2000s, dates back to 2013. Almost a decade later, the European aircraft maker launched Airbus HAPS Connectivity Solutions as a dedicated subsidiary to commercialize Zephyr. It rebranded the company as Aalto last year.

Now, Aalto is on the hunt for investors other than Airbus to scale up its business and launch commercial operations. Were targeting an entry into service in early 2026," Chief Executive Samer Halawi said in an interview.

At some point, the company will become publicly accessible Whether its through an IPO or an M&A transaction of some sort," Halawi said. Shareholders will have to decide what is the best outcome at the time, but of course, an IPO is going to be a possibility."

While Aaltos official entry into service is about two years away, the company has already been working with selected customers. In 2014, Zephyr was used in a flight trial for an undisclosed civil customer from a site near Dubai Airport. Two years later, the British Ministry of Defence became the first government client.

The business in 2022 signed a letter of intent with Space Compass to service the Japanese market with mobile connectivity and Earth observation. A year later, Aalto also signed a memorandum of understanding with stc Group in Saudi Arabia.

The company has been building revenue ahead of its planned rollout of services and expects to invest a few hundred million dollars by 2026. By that time, we will have developed the project to a point where its available on a commercial basis to multiple customers around the world with enough of a supply of aircraft," Halawi said.

The market for the provision of connectivity and Earth observation services is relatively crowded with companies offering services to rural and remote areas through constellations of satellites, but Halawi said Aalto wouldnt be competing directly with the likes of satellite operator SES or Starlink, the satellite-internet service operated by Elon Musks SpaceX.

What we do is very different," Halawi said, noting that Aaltos aircraft would be ideal not in cities or deserted areas, but somewhere in between, with enough population density to justify coverage but where it is not economically viable for network operators to do so through traditional towers.

We sell the mobile operators a tower service," Halawi said. We do not sell a service directly to an end user on a mountaintop somewhere." Zephyr can complement or replace non-terrestrial networks, connecting to mobile platforms without relying on expensive satellite dishes.

The drones have a coverage of roughly 2,895 square miles-equivalent to up to 250 towers on the ground-and weigh about 165 pounds. Still, Halawi said they arent designed to go through storms and Aalto is looking to establish a presence in four or five different locations that have favorable weather patterns.

We are working quite aggressively with the Kenyan government to establish as soon as possible so that we can start flying from Kenya this year," he said. Aalto is also looking to set up an assembly line to manufacture the aircraft in the African country.

Meanwhile, the company is engaging with governments in Latin America and Asia to establish operations there. Its a matter of where we can find the best facilities," Halawi said.

Aalto counted some 65 employees when Halawi took the helm in July 2022, he said. The company just exceeded the 200 mark and it expects a headcount in the upper hundreds in the next few years.

But for the time being, its priority remains to bring in investors. Airbus is really good at the aviation part, so were looking to bring telecom partners now into the mix," Halawi said.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com
Bengaluru: Online beauty retailer Purplle plans to open more offline stores this year on the back of a shift in preferences for hybrid modes of shopping. There are also early-stage negotiations for a $100 million investment from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), according to two people familiar with the developments.

This investment would largely be through a secondary transaction in which some early investors would exit, they said.

The valuation that Purplle is seeking is not yet known. The investment is expected to take place in the coming months and may be a part of the companys pre-IPO round, one of the people said. CEO Manish Taneja said Purplle plans to tap the public markets between the second half of next year and early 2026 but is in no hurry to do so.

Purplle and ADIA declined to comment on the proposed investment.

If the deal goes through it will be ADIAs second investment in the startup in 12 months. It previously invested $50-60 million in Purplle in May 2023 at a valuation of $1.1 billion. That was the same valuation Purplle commanded in its funding round in June 2022, in which Paramark Ventures invested $33 million. The company has so far raised $387 million across 16 rounds, according to data from Tracxn. Its other investors include Peak XV Partners, Blume Ventures and Premji Invest.

Offline push

The companys offline push is due to increased spending on beauty products and a growing preference for hybrid shopping, Purplle's chief executive Manish Taneja told Mint. The company, which has just two offline stores, plans to open 5-10 more in the next few months, he added.

Indias young, growing population, higher disposable incomes and increased penetration of mobile phones fuelled online consumption during the heights of the pandemic. But over the past two years consumers have been seeking offline touchpoints for their purchases as they have gradually returned to pre-pandemic lifestyles.

This has caused several online beauty and personal care companies such as Nykaa and Mamaearth  and now Purplle  to look at increasing their offline presence.

In February, Mamaearth's co-founder Ghazal Alagh said the company would continue to strengthen and expand its omni-channel distribution with about 1.7 lakh retail touchpoints, and increase distribution by 37% year-on-year. The company also has a partnership with Purplle and other players to address the tier-2 and tier-3 segments. Nykaa, meanwhile, had about 150 stores as of FY23 compared to 72 stores two years prior, according to media reports.

That said, Purplles focus will remain online, from where it earns about 99% of its revenue, Taneja said. "I would say starting our own stores is probably at an experimental stage. We will see how it plays out," he added. Stocking inventory for offline is "very different" from online, and the company needed to keep profitability in mind, he said. "We need to learn the ways of running an offline business and set up the process. Once we are comfortable with that and we know how to make it profitable, we will expand further," he added.

Playing catch-up

But with high gross margins and recent claims of profitability, the company now needs to play catch-up in the offline space as consumption is slowly moving back that way, one of the people cited above said.

Purplle saw its total income more than double to 508.6 crore in FY23 while losses widened 13% to 230 crore, according to the company's latest filings sourced from Tofler. The company claims to have been profitable in the past two quarters but has not disclosed any figures.

Lowering marketing spends and logistics costs has contributed much of the companys growth and profitability of late, Taneja said. "We have moved closer and closer to our customers. We try to ship products from the nearest warehouse and that reduces our logistics cost. so that is a big direct cost that comes down," he added. Although it continues to spend on acquiring new users, it receives more than 75% of its revenue from repeat customers, he added.

Purplle has also expedited its growth through a couple of acquisitions in the past few years. The company acquired cosmetics and skincare brand Faces Canada in December 2021 to get more private labels on its platform. It has also acquired content company Glamrs and female-hygiene brand Carmesi.

While the company has no plans for more acquisitions, industry watchers have said there is scope of consolidation in the industry. Market-research firm Statista estimates that India's beauty & personal care will generate revenues of $31.51 billion in 2024 and grow at 3% a year until 2028.

Founded in 2012 by Taneja and Rahul Dash, Purplle sells a wide range of beauty and personal care products, typically catering to households with an annual income of 5 -30 lakh. Most of its target market is in tier-2 and tier-3 towns and it gets about half its revenue from more than 78 cities such as Mysore, Coimbatore, Kochi, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Siliguri.
Mumbai: Senior-level hiring is taking time to hit the bullseye, as companies want to scrutinize candidates history of competence and behaviour over as long as 10 years, and candidates in turn sit on the fence, waiting to be sure before jumping in after having burnt their fingers earlier.

Headhunters, therefore, are hit by both sides, leading to mandates taking longer to close than usualup to six months or even more. Companies in the IT, product services and retail sectors, for instance, want search firms to look into the past decade of candidates selected for CXO posts.

The compensation negotiations for middle and senior management have stopped and the changing demands of businesses are making HR firms rethink their decisions on candidates.

There is a delay in closing open positions and clients are asking for competency and behavioural references that date back to a decade," said Suresh Raina, partner at global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles India.

On the candidates part, many CXOs are now regretting their decision of shifting firms quickly during a hiring frenzy about 16 months ago. Until a year ago, senior management at 5-15 crore had changed firms and are now regretting their calls. They are available in the market, but are not in a hurry to take up another offer," Raina said.

"Over the last 6-8 months, while mandates have opened up, companies are talking long to close positions," said Anshuman Das, chief executive and co-founder of Careernet, a talent solutions provider. During the hiring frenzy, while employees were given offers in a couple of weeks, now it is taking 4-6 months to hire as compared to 1-3mths earlier,"

The recruitment firm said companies are also looking at 95%-plus fitment, which even a year ago was 50-60%. The hikes while changing jobs are also now reasonably muted.

The delays reflect a selection process that a senior search firm executive calls careful calibration". The Delhi-based headhunter did not want to be named but highlighted that companies are now wary of making mistakes in recruitment that they made during the pandemic.

Clients are talking about non-linear transformation and for that the number of candidates available is less. They are not in any hurry and are advised by the promoters and the Board to wait before they make a hire in haste," this executive said.

Shiv Agrawal, managing director of ABC Consultants, said that while the time taken continues to be long, firms in the IT and finance sectors are at least talking about the mandates. When markets get choppy, companies will take a longer time to decide. With IT sector slowing down, its domino effect was felt in the consumer sector as well since people movement became more cautious."

After a year of frenzied recruitment in 2021 and the first part of 2022 that led to excess staff, many IT companies and startups have paused hiring due to budget crunch and poor visibility on deal pipelines. Recruiters for IT services companies are also worried that their sub-contracting costs will get reduced. However, manufacturing, automotive, and energy are sectors that are showing higher signs of ramping up.

Hiring companies are paid a certain percentage of the compensation of the candidate and if the person leaves before six months, the search firm will have to get a replacement without additional fees.

The timelines are getting stretched in middle to senior levels since the talent available at junior levels is filled in quicker via temporary route if permanent hiring is taking time. The fee in this case is a flat rate as the hirings are done on a large scale.
Ride-sharing aggregator Rapido, backed by the likes of Swiggy and TVS Motor, is in the process of securing a $100 million fundraise, led by current investor Westbridge Capital, according to a person familiar with the knowledge of the deal who wished to remain anonymous.

Rapido has received commitments of $70 million or so and is approaching domestic family offices for additional capital," the person cited above said.

Currently, the company is engaged in negotiations that might result in a 'flat round' of funding, potentially valuing the firm at nearly $900 million, as per another individual familiar with the matter.

In April 2022, Rapido had raised $180 million from Swiggy at a valuation of around $830 million.

Negotiations continue despite the bike sharing segment facing regulatory challenges and opposition from traditional service providers, such as auto drivers in some states like Karnataka, which recently revoked permission for electric bike taxis in March.

A spokesperson for Westbridge Capital declined to comment. Westbridge had invested in Rapido, operated by Roppen Transportation Services Pvt Ltd, as early as 2019 and has participated in rounds in 2021 and 2022.

They (Westbridge) are our existing investors and invested in every round. They will keep supporting us in future as well, whenever we raise," Rapido co-founder Aravind Sanka said when reached for a comment.

Sanka added that the company is well capitalised and closer to cash flow positive".

Rapido, which started off as bike taxi aggregator in 2015, has diversified into three-wheeler ride and four-wheeler ride sharing aggregator since October last year.

Sanka's emphasis on pursuing profitability reflects a broader shift in the startup ecosystem away from the previous focus on growth at any costa trend that dominated 2021. This pivot comes as startups closer to profitability now stand a better chance at attracting investors and securing favourable valuations.

Rapido saw its losses widen to around 675 crore in fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) from 439 crore a year ago. Companies have time till end of September to file their latest financial statements with the Registrar of Companies.

The company said that a capital raise is not imminent.

We wish to clarify that Rapido is adequately capitalized and not looking to raise funds in near future. Any discussions regarding fund raise by Rapido are purely speculative," a Rapido spokesperson reiterated.

Rapido co-founder Pavan Guntupalli had told CNBC in December 2023 that the startup expects to hit unicorn valuation in a few months".

Rapido's reluctance to confirm its fundraising efforts could stem from ongoing discussions about the company's valuation, according to people cited above.

The investment climate in 2024 has grown more cautious, with investors less inclined to offer the generous valuations that were common in the boom year of 2021.

A successful capital raise would bolster Rapido's resources for expansion and growth in a competitive market, where it offers auto and bike-sharing services and recently entered the four-wheeler segment through a pilot programme in Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bengaluru.

Additionally, in February, Rapido introduced a zero-commission model for auto drivers on its SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform, requiring only a one-time onboarding fee, to attract more service providers.
Mumbai/New Delhi: Vodafone Idea is preparing to raise 20,000 crore from the markets through a follow-on public offer (FPO) likely as early as next week, said three people aware of the discussions the cash-strapped company was having with banks.

It is learnt to have appointed Axis Bank, Jefferies Financial Group, and State Bank of India as lead bankers for managing the share sale. Two of the people cited above said that a price band may be decided by early next week, which is likely to be at a discount to the current price. On Thursday, Vodafone Ideas shares on BSE closed 1.4% lower at 13.36 apiece.

One of the persons cited above said that long-only investors are likely to come in as anchor investors in the follow-on offer. The FPO will be followed by raising a larger level of debt from banks, which has long been contingent on their fundraise through equity," the third person said. The three spoke on condition of anonymity, as theyre not permitted to speak to the media.

Queries to Vodafone Idea and SBI did not elicit a response till press time. Axis Bank and Jeffries Financial Group declined to comment.

A fundraise through the FPO will be the culmination of many attempts made by the loss-making telecom services provider that had first announced its intention to raise capital back in September 2020.

Vodafone Ideas shareholders approved a 45,000-crore fundraising initiative, including the 20,000-crore equity-based capital infusion from existing investors, earlier this week. Existing promoters will be involved in the equity fundraise, the company had said earlier. Following the equity fundraise, Vodafone Idea will look to raise debt, taking the total amount of funding to up to 45,000 crore. It is expected to complete the fundraise by the end of June.

In a capital-intensive and cut-throat telecom sector, a lack of funding for three years has created several challenges for India's third-largest carrier, including a persistent erosion in subscriber base and revenue. The fundraise is crucial for the company, which is saddled with a 2.1 trillion debt. It has not been able to pay a large portion of dues to its vendors, that amount to as much as 10,000 crore as per industry estimates. Its larger rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have stolen a march over it in rolling out 5G services in the country.

Vodafone Idea chief executive officer Akshaya Moondra had said in earnings calls in previous quarters that the carrier was in discussions with multiple external investors, and that promoters were willing to put in more equity. While the talks with external investors appeared to have fizzled out, promoter equity infusion continues to be available to the telco.

The carriers board of directors will meet on Saturday to consider issuing equity or convertible securities of up to 2,075 crore, on a preferential basis, to one or more promoter group entities. Promoters had previously made a financial assistance of 2,000 crore available to the company for paying the annual installment against 5G spectrum bought in 2022.

The same year, Indian government became the single largest shareholder in the carrier after it converted interest on dues the company owed to the government amounting to 16,000 crore into equity.
CUET UG 2024: The official last date for online submission of the application for the Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduate courses (CUET UG 2024), as declared by National Testing Agency (NTA), is tomorrow i.e April 5. Aspiring candidates must note that the registration link will remain active until 9.50 pm on the aforementioned date, after that the NTA will deactivate the window link.

As per the revised schedule, candidates can register their online application for the entrance examination till April (9:50 pm) at exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG/, the official website to apply for CUET UG 2024.

Before the first deadline extension, the last date for online submission was March 26. The CUET-(UG) 2024 deadline was later extended till March 31, now the last date has been further extended by 5 days.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhis asset portfolio: Needs a facelift just like his politics Earlier on March 17, the UGC chief had informed that there will be no change in the schedule of the entrance exam in view of the Lok Sabha elections, the CUET-UG 2024 will be conducted between May 15 and May 31, 2024, as announced earlier.

The date sheet of the CUET UG 2024 will be released after the registration process is completed, the UGC Chairman had said.

Two more subjects added In another development, the National Testing Agency informed that in pursuance to the direction of the UGC and CBSE, the NTA has introduced two additional subjects (Fashion studies and Tourism) in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET UG) - 2024 to promote skill subjects in true spirit in line of the NEP recommendations.

Also Read | Byjus seeks arbitration over NCLT trial in dispute with investors The NTA further said, The candidates may note that those who have already submitted their online application form for CUET (UG)  2024 may also add these subjects during the correction period. However, the candidate for selecting more subjects will pay an additional fee (if applicable)."

The entrance test is expected to be scheduled between May 15 and May 31, 2024 (tentative). The results will be declared tentatively on June 30, 2024.

CUET UG 2024 Registration: How to apply for the exam Open the CUET UG 2024 application form link.

Open the new candidate registration page.

Register and get your login details.

Log in and fill out the application form.

Upload the required documents, and make payment of the application fee.

Submit your form and download the confirmation page.

Examination scheme: There will be 33 languages and 29 subjects. A candidate may choose any subject/language as desired by the applicable University/ Organisation. The candidate is supposed to attempt 40 questions out of 50 in each language paper.
Maharashtra Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam was expelled by the party leadership on Wednesday for "indiscipline" and "anti-party statements as he made remarks against Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)  an INDIA ally  over seat-sharing ahead of the Lok Sabha election and gave one-week ultimatum to his party over the Mumbai North West constituency  the seat of contention.

The former Maharashtra Congress chief had been eyeing the Mumbai North West seat which he lost in the 2019 elections. However, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena declared its candidate, Amot Kirtikar, on the Lok Sabha seat and other Mumbai constituencies.

Upset over the Congress giving away the Mumbai North West seat to Shiv Sena (UBT), Sanjay Nirupam said the grand-old party shouldn't let itself to be arm-twisted by its ally in Maharashtra and the candidate announcement was done to sideline Congress.

Sanjay Nirupam said, "The Congress should not come under the threat of Shiv Sena (UBT) as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is not capable of winning any seat without Congress support. Shiv Sena (UBT) arm-twisted the Congress to take five of the six seats in Mumbai. But the Congress should not allow itself to be arm-twisted like this. This action is against the Congress and it's a ploy to finish off the party in the city.

Now it is likely that Sanjay Nirupam will join hands with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena which has not yet announced its candidate on the contentious seat.

Sanjay Nirupam has blamed Congress for not asking him why he wanted to contest this seat. After Shiv Sena (UBT) announced its candiate, Sanjay Nirupam told Indian Express, The [Congress] leadership does not care about local leaders. Nobody had a talk with me in the last two weeks, nobody asked me if there was any alternative, nobody asked me why I want to contest this. At a time when Congress leadership is talking about extending nyay (justice) to different sections of the society, it is not looking into the injustice committed against its own party workers.

In 2009, Sanjay Nirupam had won the Mumbai North seat. However, he lost in the 2014 elections against BJP's Gopal Shetty and again in 2019.

With 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 seats. The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four.
President Biden is set to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday as pressure mounts on Israel over the killing of aid workers in Gaza, with World Central Kitchen calling for an independent investigation into the strikes that left seven of its staff dead earlier this week.

Israel has apologized for the incident, saying its forces misidentified vehicles carrying the aid workers as hostile targets and struck them. The killings prompted questions about the effectiveness of the mechanism used by the Israeli military to keep humanitarian workers out of harms way on the battlefield. In response to the incident, the Israeli military said it was changing the way it coordinated with aid groups on the ground.

President Biden has sharply condemned the strikes on World Central Kitchen, a Washington, D.C.-based charity, and urged Israel to complete its probe quickly. The president has repeatedly criticized Israel for not doing enough to ensure the safety of civilians in Gaza, including humanitarian workers who are providing lifesaving aid to the local population.

Israeli authorities are carrying out an investigation into what went wrong. Jose Andres, the founder of the charity, has called for more. Andres said he asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the U.S., Poland and the U.K. to join his organization in demanding a third-party investigation into whether the attacks violated international law.

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers," he said on Thursday.

Andres said he asked the Israeli government to preserve all communications and documents relevant to the strikes to assist in the investigation. When asked whether Israel would cooperate with such an investigation, a senior Israeli government official said Israeli authorities are conducting their own, thorough investigation and that they would make the findings public.

The strikes resulted in the first known deaths of foreign aid workers in Gaza since the start of the war. As well as a Palestinian, the victims were a Pole, an Australian, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and three British security advisers. Their deaths were condemned by Western leaders who voiced frustration with Israels inability to contain the civilian toll of its war against Hamas.

Separately, in a sign that Israel is bracing for an Iranian response to the assassination of senior Iranian military officials in Damascus on Monday, Israels military said this week it was calling up reservists to bolster air defenses and on Thursday announced it was pausing leave for all combat soldiers.

In his call with Netanyahu, Biden is expected to discuss the strikes on the World Central Kitchen convoy and the war in Gaza more broadly, U.S. officials said.

The World Central Kitchen incident has added to questions about Israels conduct of the war in Gazaand how an operation in the southern city of Rafah could play out. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late Wednesday addressed that issue with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.

This tragedy reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, specifically focusing on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid," Austin said, according to a U.S. readout of the meeting.

Israels planned ground offensive in Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering, is a significant point of tension between the U.S. and Israel. Israel considers Rafah the last major bastion of Hamas in Gaza, and believes clearing it is essential to achieving its goal of defeating the militants.

But the U.S., along with its Western allies and aid groups, warns that a military operation in Rafah could have devastating consequences for the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. More than half of the population is estimated to be sheltering in Rafah after escaping the fighting further north. Rafah is also the hub of the humanitarian operations for the whole of the strip: Food and other essential items enter through Rafah, and it is there that United Nations agencies and aid groups are now based.

World Central Kitchen, like other aid groups working in Gaza, seeks security guarantees from all parties to the conflict. The aid groups share the locations of their guesthouses and other facilities with the Israeli military, and coordinate their movements with them through Cogat, the militarys civil administration body.

The Israeli military said after the incident on Monday that it was taking over direct coordination with international aid organizations from Cogat.

Since the start of the war, more than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, Palestinian health authorities said Thursday. Around 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 people kidnapped in the Hamas-led assaults that triggered the war on Oct. 7. Some 130 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, some of whom have died.

The fallout from the strikes is hindering the humanitarian response in Gaza, where the majority of its 2.2 million people are desperately hungry, displaced and without access to medical care. World Central Kitchen, one of the main providers of food to Gazans, suspended its operations in the enclave following the attacks. Other aid groups have also paused their work there.

Anat Peled and Dov Lieber contributed to this article.

Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
For years foreign companies were desperate to get into China, and faced formidable bureaucratic obstacles in their way. Now many are getting out. Over the past year several foreign law firms have closed some or all of their Chinese offices. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, an American one, said on March 22nd it would shut the Shanghai office it opened 20 years ago. Another, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, plans to exit China altogether this year. Some global investment banks are pruning their Chinese staff. So are a few large accountancies and due-diligence groups. In 2023 foreign direct investment in China fell to its lowest level in 30 years.

One reason for foreigners change of heart is the sorry state of the Chinese economy. Of the 18 largest multinational companies that report their earnings from China, 13 saw annual revenues there fall in 2023. Qualcomm and Samsung, two technology giants, recorded sales drops of more than 20%. Apple sold nearly a quarter fewer iPhones in the first six weeks of 2024 than it did in the same period the year before. In February Tesla shifted 19% fewer electric cars. Weak Chinese sales are the main reason why Kering, the French owner of Gucci, expected to flog a fifth less of its bling in Asia in the first quarter.

President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party are keenly aware of these problems. And they care. At least that was the message broadcast loudly at the China Development Forum (CDF) in Beijing on March 24th-25th, and echoed a few days later at the Boao Forum, Chinas answer to Davos. The mood at both jamborees was decidedly better than last year, when it was spoiled by a suspected Chinese spy balloon which floated above America before being shot down on the order of President Joe Biden. Many Western corporate bigwigs who stayed away were back; more than 80 foreign chief executives turned up in Beijing, including far more Americans. In Boao a senior official promised that China would make it easier to move capital in and out of the country. Two days earlier, at a separate event, Mr Xi assured a handful of American CEOs that China would continue to reform and open up.

Participants report that Mr Xi and party officials are doing more now than in the past four years to stress that China is still open for businessa nice change after the pandemic years, when Chinas leaders self-quarantined themselves from the outside world. At the very least the meetings showed there is a strong desire to communicate," says a boss who attended the CDF both this year and last. Earlier in March the State Council, Chinas cabinet, launched a 24-point action plan" for attracting foreign investment. It included familiar ideas such as protecting intellectual property and promoting trade agreements, and welcome additions such as fostering cross-border data flows. A few weeks later the main internet regulator eased some onerous data rules that in the past two years have made foreign businesspeople nervous about routine things such as sending emails to colleagues abroad.

The trouble is that Mr Xis desire to lure back foreign business runs up against his other objectives. Observers describe his leadership model as wanting this, that and the other". Foreign companies are to do business in China but keep their hands off Chinese data. Multinationals are to double down on China and homegrown brands are meant to give them a run for their money. Chinas technology industry is to decouple from the West while attracting Western investment. And global businesses are to like all this, never mind that it works against their commercial interests.

Marxist theories of the sort Mr Xi likes to elevate may be able to resolve these contradictions. But capitalists see trade-offs and choices. And business logic increasingly argues in favour of greater circumspection about China.

Consider data flows. Regulators may have loosened some restrictions but weeks earlier they tightened others, by updating a state-secrets law for the first time since 2010. The law now covers work secrets", or information that is not state secrets but will cause certain adverse effects if leaked". The vague wording gives security agencies broad powers to consider any communication between foreigners and Chinese employees as a potential violation. On March 28th, as foreign bosses mingled with party ones at the Boao summit, the Ministry of State Security released a six-minute instructional video. In it a Chinese engineering company is convinced by foreign investors to allow a foreign due-diligence firm to investigate it. An executive at the company travels in time to visit an incarcerated version of his future self, who warns him not to hand over company secrets to the investigators. When, back in reality, they ask him to share sensitive information, the enlightened executive reports them to the authorities instead.

Spooked

The lessons of the film are as unsubtle as the acting. For Chinese viewers, it is that foreign investors and consultants could be working for hostile foreign governments and must not be trusted. For foreigners, it is not to look too hard into obvious material concerns such as a companys supply-chain vulnerabilities or its links to the state, which could make a business susceptible to Western sanctions.

Any such investigation of Chinas chip industry, a big target of American restrictions, has long incurred the partys wrath. Now less sensitive sectors, such as electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, renewables and biotechnology, are increasingly out of bounds, too. Chinese executives at the Beijing branch of a climate consultancy were recently questioned by security agents about the information it collects on local firms and to what foreign entities it has divulged it. The interrogation came as a surprise, because the outfit had enjoyed seemingly strong support from Chinas environmental regulators. The incident led it to slim down its Chinese operations and try to eliminate reporting lines between staff based in China and in other countries.

A further reason foreigners are having second thoughts about China is stiffening local competition, a lot of it given a leg-up by the state, one way or another. Government support for makers of EVs, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines has created oversupply and pushed down prices. This has been a blessing for foreign importers of Chinese-made components. For multinationals trying to compete in China it has been a curse. Margins on sales of electrolysers, bulky machines used to produce hydrogen, are said to have dropped to almost nothing in recent months. In March BYD , a Chinese EV giant and longtime recipient of state largesse, dropped the price of its compact electric car to just $9,700, perpetuating a price war that has forced Tesla to sell its EVs for less. Foreign industrial firms face hundreds of local rivals that appear to operate in the red. In 2023, 22% of industrial companies in China lost money, an all-time high.

Officials also invoke a mix of national security and national pride as a reason to choose Chinese products over Western ones. Apple must contend not just with downbeat consumers but also with a new line of smartphones from Huawei, a Chinese tech champion targeted by American sanctionsand with public servants and employees of state-run firms being told not to buy iPhones, lest they contain backdoors through which the American government can steal information. Teslas have been banned from some government facilities and airports on the grounds that they film their surroundings. State-owned enterprises and government agencies have been instructed to replace chips from Intel and AMD, two American semiconductor firms, with Chinese-made ones by 2026. They are also to phase out Microsofts Office software over the next few years.

For many foreigners, overcoming these obstacles may be a price worth paying. In a survey of 354 multinationals conducted by Morgan Stanley, a bank, two-thirds of foreign firms were optimistic about China in the last quarter of 2023, the most in two years and up from a trough of 46% in the first quarter of 2022. For some companies China is a place to sharpen their competitive edge: if they can make it there, they can make it anywhere. Plenty want to preserve access to Chinas vast market and manufacturing base. On March 21st, to much fanfare, Tim Cook opened a new flagship store in Shanghai and reiterated that Theres no supply chain in the world thats more critical to us than China." To ram the point home, four days later he told an audience at the development forum in Beijing, I love China and the people."

Yet to many Western ears, Mr Xis commitment to openness rings increasingly hollow. His regime can repeat such bromides only so many times before you grow cynical, says a weary boss of a multinationals Chinese branch. In the long run a surfeit of foreign cynicism may end up being even more damaging to Chinas economy than a glut of EVs and electrolysers.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Indias steel exports are likely to maintain their upward trajectory through the ongoing first fiscal quarter as the election season has softened domestic demand for the alloy.

Some analysts predict India will shortly return to being a net exporter of steel owing to a deceleration in domestic demand in the runup to the national election. Governments are barred from making major announcements or decisions that could influence voting during election season, which effectively cuts government spending on infrastructure and other construction activity.

The election begins this month and stretches on till June.

In February, India's steel exports surged by more than 21% over the preceding month to reach one million tonnes. Despite this, the country was a net importer of the alloy at 0.9 mt during the first 11 months of FY24 (April-February).

India, which was a net exporter of steel till October, started to turn a net importer in November, when imports for the first eight months of the year (April-November) stood at 4.3 mt, 0.3 mt more than the exports.

Rating agency Icra Ltd expects demand growth for domestic consumption to slow to 7-8% in FY25 from an estimated 12-13% growth in the year gone by.

Citing data of domestic steel companies during state assembly elections last year, Ritabrata Ghosh, vice president, sector head, corporate sector ratings, at Icra, said trends since December reveal a marked slowdown in consumption growth to 6-7%.

Our channel checks with some regional steel players indicate that there was a lull in demand in states that had assembly elections in November. These early signals hint at demand remaining soft over the next two quarters as the government spending could moderate around the union election period, Ghosh said. Therefore, domestic mills are looking at increasing opportunistic exports during this period as demand back home remains soft.

Steel industry executives shared these views, but they believe that this is a temporary lull and domestic demand will improve after the election.

"Although exports have recorded a consecutive rise, our overall status remains that of a net importer... The recent export increase can be linked to a decrease in domestic demand, likely stemming from a slowdown in infrastructure project implementationsa typical occurrence before a general election," said Ranjan Dhar, chief marketing officer, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India.

Implementing import barriers is a must to balance demand and supply. As soon as the election period concludes, we can anticipate a rebound in demand, which could lead to a dip in exports.

Analysts at BNP Paribas India also believe growth in steel exports won't sustain for long, and attributed the rise to the European Union import quota, which was exhausted in January.
Flexible office space providers have emerged as a significant challenger to technology firms in leasing offices, as companies across sectors gradually enforce return-to-office mandates for their employees.

Between January and March, flexible office space providers have already captured a significant 22% share of leasing activity, as per a report by real estate consultancy CBRE.

This translates to a leased area of about 3 million sq.ft., marking a significant rise in the sector's influence. Flexible space operators consistently exceeding a 15% share in leasing activity over the past five years, a trend CBRE anticipates will continue.

The technology sector remains the largest in terms of total space leased, accounting for a 26% share during the January-March quarter. The tech and flexible spaces sector together account for nearly half of all the office space leased in the March quarter, compared with 32% in the preceding three months.

This growth is attributed to a surge in demand from domestic firms, particularly those in the technology and financial services sectors. Notably, software and services companies within the technology sector took up 95% of the space leased by tech firms in the January-March period.

The office sector continued witnessing meaningful gains in 2023, enhanced by a resurgence in occupiers sentiments and pent-up demand post a rise in return-to-offices, said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO-India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE. During 2024, occupiers would prioritise high-quality office space as they continue to facilitate portfolio expansion and consolidation.

According to CBRE data, the office sector in India witnessed a gross absorption of 14.4 million sq.ft. between January and March.

Bengaluru emerged as the leader in office leasing activity, followed by Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad. These three cities together accounted for 65% of all leasing activity in the first calendar quarter of 2024. Bengaluru also dominated the flexible space absorption market, followed by Delhi-NCR and Chennai.

Global capability centers, or the technology centres of companies across sectors, contributing to one-third of the overall leasing activity in the April-June quarter. Engineering and manufacturing companies were the major players within the GCC space, followed by automobile firms.
For those who are new to the world of dividend investing , a dividend is a distribution of some of the earnings of the company to its shareholders.

The dividend yield is just a simple percentage of how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its stock price.

For example, if the stock price of a company is 100 and the company issues 5 in dividends, then the dividend yield is 5%.

Consider the example of the following companies which have some of the highest dividend yields in the BSE 500 index:

View Full Image Equitymaster (Equitymaster)

If you would have invested 100,000 equally across these companies, you would have received on average around 3,000 on each stock last year just as dividends.

This is not including any gains you would have made holding on to the stock.

And voila here lies the allure for dividend investing.

This is considered the holy grail of investing

If you have sufficient capital and allocate to these high-yielding dividend stocks, not only will you get a steady cash flow in the form of dividends, but you could also potentially enjoy the benefits of capital appreciation.

Keeping that in mind, lets look at the top 3 high dividend yields stocks in the current market.

These stocks are filtered using the Equitymaster stock screener.

Apart from high dividend yield, these companies have strong growth prospects in place, making them strong contenders for capital appreciation as well.

Take a look

1: Oracle Financial Services Software (OFSS)

How often do you see a highly priced stock command a high dividend yield?

Its very rare, right?

Trading at 8,800 per share, Oracle Financial Services (OFSS) currently commands a dividend yield of 2.6% at the current price.

In financial year 2023, the company paid out a dividend of 225 per share.

In the current financial year (2023-24), OFSS has so far declared an interim dividend of 225 per share.

Chances are, owing to the stellar performance in the year gone by, and the AI companys best year in terms of stock performance as well, OFSS may declare a special dividend this year.

The proof is in the pudding IT companies usually declare big dividends or reward shareholders by way of buybacks.

In case of OFSS, the company has increased its dividend payout consistently throughout the years.

View Full Image Equitymaster (Equitymaster)

Starting 2024, OFSS share price woke up from a long underperformance and almost doubled from 4,300 at the start of 2024 to over 8,800 at present.

Initially, the stock price moved up after the IT company posted strong set of numbers in its December 2023 quarterly earnings.

OFSS reported a 69.4% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at 740 crore for the third quarter that ended 31 December 2023.

Revenue from operations spiked 26% to 1,820 crore as against 1,450 crore reported in the corresponding period last year.

The company's MD and CEO Makarand Padalkar said that license fee signings aided the margins during the quarter.

"Our license fee signings were US$ 49.5 million across our product lines for both Cloud/SaaS and on-premises deployment modes. For the nine months ended December 2023, our license signings were US$ 117.4 million, 76% higher than the corresponding period last fiscal."

During the quarter, the company's operating margin came in at 46.1% while net profit margins came at 40.6%.

OFSS signed a landmark cloud deal with Navy Federal Credit Union, USA, during the quarter.

The company's management also highlighted that they continue to see a robust deal pipeline across all the regions.

With the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in every industry, the future of Oracle Financial looks promising.

A steady increase in profit could result in OFSS paying even higher dividends going forward.

In recent years, OFSS has made significant investments in rapidly moving its solutions to cloud and launched solutions for Liquidity Management, Virtual Account Management, and Supply Chain Finance as cloud services, much ahead of its peers.

The adoption of AI in financial services andfintech companiesis expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.37% in the next two years, which is a huge prospect for Oracle Financial as a leader in the AI space.

2: Banco Products

Second on the list isBanco Products.

Trading at 600 per share, Banco Products currently commands a dividend yield of 3.6% at the current price.

The company manufactures and supplies engine cooling modules and systems for the automotive and industrial markets.

Its products include radiators, charged air coolers, fuel coolers, oil coolers, and metal layered gaskets.

The company has paid dividends to its shareholders every year since 2001.

View Full Image Equitymaster (Equitymaster)

Banco Products has remained debt-freefor the last five years, indicating low-interest obligations, which explains the high dividends.

In financial year 2023, the company paid out a dividend of 22 per share. So far for financial year 2023-24, the company has paid an interim dividend of 20 per share.

Given its good performance in the current financial year, theres a good chance that Banco Products may declare a final dividend as well.

In the last five years, the company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of 8.3%, driven by growth across all products. The net profit also grew at a CAGR of 23.1%.

Going forward, the company plans to focus on developing a new range of products for electric vehicles (EVs) and expand its base in India and international markets.

3: Power Grid Corporation

Last on this list is Power Grid Corporation.

Trading at 165 per share, Power Grid currently commands a dividend yield of 5.3% at the current price.

Heres a table showing the power companys dividend payout over the years

View Full Image Equitymaster (Equitymaster)

In financial year 2023, the company paid a dividend of 14.8 per share.

So far for the current financial year, Power Grid has paid two dividends of 4 and 4.5 each, respectively in November 2023 and February 2024.

In the past five years, the dividend per share has averaged more than 10.

So, theres a good chance that Power Grid may continue its dividend spree by announcing a final dividend soon.

It even rewarded shareholders with bonus shares in September 2023 in the 1:3 ratio.

From humble beginnings in 1989, it has grown to become the largest power transmission company in India.

By carrying electricity through its nationwide grid network, the company acts as a connecting factor between power-generating companies and power-trading companies.

When it comes to getting renewable energy to the home of every Indian, it has a pivotal role to play in the coming decades.

The company also ventured into EV charging infrastructure and is setting up charging stations across the country.

In the December 2023 quarter, the company added transformation capacity, commissioned substations and even several transmission lines.

As of December 2023, it has an order book (work in hand) of 77,770 crore

Going forward, the company plans significant investments in expanding the transmission network with a focus on interstate and intrastate projects. This aims to connect renewable energy sources, improve grid stability, and facilitate electricity trading.

Snapshot of High Dividend Yield Stocks on Equitymaster Stock Screener

Apart from the above, here is the list of stocks with high dividend yields.

View Full Image Equitymaster (Equitymaster)

Please note that these parameters can be changed according to your selection criteria.

This will help you identify and eliminate stocks not meeting your requirements and emphasise those stocks well inside the metrics.

In Conclusion

Since the dividend yield for these stocks will keep fluctuating depending on valuations, you need to invest in the stocks when the yield is at least 2%.

Besides the dividend yield, the other valuation ratios, such as PEG (price to earnings growth) can help keep a check on margin of safety.

Apart from that, we are shifting into an era of growth companies... so the next time you look at a potential investment based on the dividend hypothesis, dig one level deeper. It might give you a different perspective that you had missed.

Happy Investing!

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com
The Nifty closed at 22434.65, up by 0.36% today. Throughout the day, the Nifty reached a high of 22619.0 and a low of 22303.8. Meanwhile, the Sensex traded between 74501.73 and 73485.12, closing 0.47% higher at 73876.82, which was 350.81 points above the opening price.

In comparison to the Nifty 50, the Nifty Midcap 50 underperformed and closed 0.11% lower. However, the Nifty small cap 100 outperformed and ended at 16146.4, up by 72.95 points or 0.45% higher.

Looking at the historical performance of the Nifty 50, it has provided the following returns:

- In the last 1 week: 0.81%

- In the last 1 month: 0.45%

- In the last 3 months: 3.92%

- In the last 6 months: 15.8%

- In the last 1 year: 28.19%

The top gainers in the Nifty index today were HDFC Bank (up 3.06%), Eicher Motors (up 2.04%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.92%), Titan Company (up 1.89%), and Asian Paints (up 1.71%). On the other hand, the top losers in the Nifty index were Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (down 2.31%), Shriram Finance (down 2.24%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (down 2.17%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 2.04%), and Bharti Airtel (down 1.54%).

The Bank Nifty ended at 47624.25, with an intraday high of 48254.65 and a low of 47712.7. The performance of the Bank Nifty in different time frames is as follows:

- In the last 1 week: 1.97%

- In the last 1 month: 1.25%

- In the last 3 months: -0.3%

- In the last 6 months: 9.3%

- In the last 1 year: 17.2%

In the trading session on April 4, 2024, the top gainers in the Sensex were HDFC Bank (up 3.06%), Titan Company (up 1.98%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.74%), Asian Paints (up 1.72%), and Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.41%). The top losers in the Sensex were State Bank Of India (down 1.52%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.44%), Power Grid Corporation Of India (down 0.96%), ITC (down 0.60%), and Reliance Industries (down 0.54%).

In the Nifty MidCap 50, the top gainers were Bandhan Bank, UPL, Coforge, Au Small Finance Bank, and Indus Towers. The top losers were Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Tube Investments Of India, Petronet LNG, P I Industries, and Yes Bank.

In the Nifty Small Cap 100, the top gainers were CESC, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, KEC International, PNB Housing Finance, and Cyient. The top losers were Angel One, Redington India, Indiamart Intermesh, Swan Energy, and RITES.

In the BSE, the top gainers were Aster DM Healthcare (up 9.66%), Gujarat Ambuja Exports (up 7.14%), Balaji Amines (up 6.93%), CESC (up 6.71%), and Indiabulls Real Estate (up 5.86%). The top losers were Capri Global Capital (down 7.08%), Dabur India (down 4.77%), Angel One (down 4.73%), Ajanta Pharmaceuticals (down 3.96%), and JM Financial (down 3.83%).

In the NSE, the top gainers were Jubilant Pharmova (up 9.92%), Aster DM Healthcare (up 9.75%), Balaji Amines (up 7.07%), Gujarat Ambuja Exports (up 7.03%), and CESC (up 6.66%). The top losers were Capri Global Capital (down 7.15%), Angel One (down 4.77%), Dabur India (down 4.70%), JM Financial (down 3.82%), and Ajanta Pharmaceuticals (down 3.81%).
(Bloomberg) -- London-based asset manager Aviva Investors is tapping Australias pension funds to partner in private deals in the UK and Europe, as the surging pool of retirement savings lures more offshore suitors.

The firm, which manages 262 billion euros ($284 billion) of assets globally, has been talking to some funds about co-investments in logistics centers and residential developments, said Head of Real Asset Equity Specialists Tom Graham. Theyre looking at a range of deal sizes up to A$1 billion, he said.

Aviva Investors, part of insurer Aviva Plc, is seeking to strengthen its existing ties with Australias A$3.7 trillion pension fund industry, which has added about A$1 trillion of assets since 2019. Its part of the firms push to double its real assets portfolio, currently worth 48 billion euros, over the next five years.

To do that, we need to be doing more at scale and naturally, globally, London-based Graham, who met funds in Melbourne and Sydney last month, said in an interview. Theres a finite audience that can really operate at that kind of scale.

Some of Australias largest pension funds have already made big inroads into the UK and European markets. AustralianSuper, the nations top pension, recently pledged to pour more than 8 billion pounds into large-scale investments in UK over the next six years. Both that fund and Aware Super have London offices and are hiring to build them out.

Graham highlighted residential opportunities in Spain and the UK, where there was development potential due to housing shortages. Meanwhile, there were both investment and development opportunities in logistics properties across Europe due to undersupply in some areas, he said.

Australias pension funds were now seen as offering similar size and scale to their large Canadian and European peers, along with Middle East sovereign wealth funds, Graham said. Australian pension assets are forecast to more than triple to A$13.6 trillion by 2048, a Mercer report said this month.

UK pension funds have been under pressure to funnel more into investments into the UK. Graham said the UK system was still transitioning into a defined contribution system, where wages are set aside during employment. That meant the UK industry didnt currently have the same scale of capital as Australia, said Graham.

The hallmarks of our legal and tax systems are such that its an obvious place for a super fund looking to diversify away from Australia to put capital to work, said Graham.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Former Congress leader Gourav Vallabh on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024 that are scheduled to take place in seven phases beginning from April 19.

After joining the BJP, Vallabh said, I posted a letter in the morning on various social media platforms...In that letter, I wrote all the pains of my heart...This has been my view from the beginning that the temple of Lord Shri Ram (in Ayodhya) should be built.

An invitation was received and Congress rejected the invitation, I cannot accept it...The leaders of the alliance raised questions on Sanatana, why was Congress not responding to it?...I joined BJP today and I hope to use my ability and knowledge to take India forward, he said.

He Vallabh tendered his resignation from the party earlier today, saying he cannot raise anti-Sanatana slogans or abuse the wealth creators". Resigning from the primary membership of the Congress, Gourav Vallabh said he does not feel comfortable with the direction" the party is moving forward.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gourav wrote, I do not feel comfortable with the directionless way in which the Congress party is moving forward today. I can neither raise anti-Sanatana slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country. I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the Congress party.

Vallabh, in his resignation letter, alleged that the party's ground level has completely broken down, which does not at all understand the aspirations of New India.

As a result, the party is neither coming into power nor able to play a strong role as an opposition. This disappoints a worker like me. Bridging the gap between senior leaders and grassroots workers is very difficult, which is essential politically," he said.

These days, the party is moving forward in the wrong direction. On one hand, we talk about the caste-based census, while on the other hand, there is a perception of being against the Sampurn Hindu Samaj (entire Hindu society). This approach is giving the public a misleading message that the party is supportive only of a particular religious group. This goes against the fundamental principles of the Congress party, he added.
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US support for his war in Gaza would depend on new steps to protect civilians, a shift in position for the US leader who has faced mounting pressure to take a harder line against Israel amid mounting deaths.

Biden in a Thursday phone call with Netanyahu said an Israeli strike that killed seven people delivering food to displaced Palestinians in Gaza was unacceptable, according to a White House description of the conversation. The incident further heightened tensions between the two leaders and prompted Democrats to issue fresh calls for placing conditions on American military backing for Israel.

The US president said Israel must announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White Hoiuse said in a statement.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, the statement said. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.

Biden did not specify when and how he might shift his approach to the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its sixth month. But his statement is the closest he has come to placing new requirements on US support for Israels military operations.

The US for weeks has urged Netanyahu to curb civilian deaths and has objected to a plan to invade the southern enclave of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinian fled during Israels war with Hamas. But the air strike on a convoy of workers from World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief group founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, has appeared to mark a breaking point for the White House.

Israel has said the strike inadvertently hit the aid workers and is conducting an investigation to determine how the strike occurred.

The president is facing mounting political pressure from progressives, as well as Arab- and Muslim-Americans, who object to his support for Israels war effort.

Read More: Gaza, Iran Strikes Show Limits of Bidens Influence on Israel

Israels conduct of its war against Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, has also drawn criticism from Republican Donald Trump, who vocally supported Netanyahu during his presidency.

Trump in a Thursday interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Israel has to finish the war quickly and that it is losing the PR war, while declining to answer whether he still remains 100% behind Israel.

Youve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy. And Im not sure that Im loving the way theyre doing it, because youve got to have victory, he said. They shouldnt be releasing tapes like that. Theyre doing, thats why theyre losing the PR war.

--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.

(Adds new information and context starting in first paragraph)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
The first solar eclipse of 2024 is set to occur on Monday, April 8.

This rare celestial phenomenon will occur when the moon blots out the sun.

During the total solar eclipse, a swath of North America will plunge into a few minutes of darkness.

Tens of millions who live along a narrow stretch from Mexico's Pacific coast to eastern Canada can just look skyward on Monday to have a glimpse of the day turning into twilight.

The first solar eclipse of 2024 will not be visible in India.

The next total solar eclipse will happen in 2044.

Here are some things to do and avoid during the total solar eclipse  - Eclipse glasses or handheld viewers are a must to watch a solar eclipse to prevent damages to eyes.

- The only time it is safe to watch a solar eclipse without protective glasses is during totality, or the few minutes of complete darkness.

ALSO READ: Solar Eclipse on April 8: What is significant about the cosmic event this year?

- People should use only certified eclipse glasses.

- Eclipse glasses are not regular sunglasses.

- Sunglasses, smoked glass, unfiltered telescopes or magnifiers, and polarising filters are unsafe.

- Avoid fake eclipse glasses

- Solar filters are at least 1,000 times darker than even the darkest regular sunglasses.



- Those who are travelling, or are far away, can watch the solar eclipse online.

- NASA is offering several hours of streaming online on NASA+. It will also be aired on NASA TV, and the agency's website, starting at 1 p.m. EDT, from several cities along the totality path.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office ordered the assassination of individuals in neighbouring Pakistan, Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives have told the Guardian. According to the report, the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), an agency that is directly controlled by PM Modi's office, had undertaken the strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil.

The Guardian report says India's foreign intelligence agency allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019.

Notably, this is the third time India has been accused of assassinating or attempting to assassinate people on foreign soil. Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had claimed that there were credible allegations against India in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Later, the United States had also claimed that they had thwarted an assassination attempt on another Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

In May 2023, Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead by unrecognised assailants in Pakistan's Lahore. Reports had said that Panjwar, one of the most wanted terrorists, was pumped with bullets fired from a 30 calibre pistol while he was out for a morning walk at Johar town in Lahore along with his gunman.

In June 2023, Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed on Canadian soil.

The Guardian report concentrates on killings in Pakistan, which it claims have crossed 20 since 2020. While India has previously been unofficially linked to the deaths, this is the first time Indian intelligence personnel have discussed the alleged operations in Pakistan, and detailed documentation has been seen alleging RAWs direct involvement in the assassinations.

The allegations also suggest that Sikh separatists in the Khalistan movement were targeted as part of these Indian foreign operations, both in Pakistan and the West.

Indian sleeper cells at work The latest documents note that the deaths of people, whom PM Modi's office thought were hostile towards India, were orchestrated by Indian intelligence sleeper cells, mostly operating out of the United Arab Emirates.

The Guardian report says that the sleeper cells paid millions of rupees to local criminals or poor Pakistanis to carry out the assassinations. A surge in these deaths has been noticed since 2023.

Indian agents also allegedly recruited jihadists to carry out the shootings, making them believe they were killing infidels.

Pulwama attack effect The Guardian report, quoting intelligence officers, said RAW's focus on terrorists outside of India was triggered by the Pulwama attack in 2019. The Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for sending a suicide bomber targetting a military convoy in Kashmir.

How is PM Modi featured in these attacks? An Indian intelligence operative told the Guardian, After Pulwama, the approach changed to target the elements outside the country before they are able to launch an attack or create any disturbance. We could not stop the attacks because ultimately their safe havens were in Pakistan, so we had to get to the source.

To conduct such operations, we needed approval from the highest level of government, he added.

Jamal Khashoggi's killing - an inspiration According to the intelligence officer, the murder of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, inspired the Indian government, apart from Israels Mossad and Russias KGB. The two agencies are known to have conducted extrajudicial killings on foreign soil.

What the Saudis did was very effective. You not only get rid of your enemy but send a chilling message, a warning to the people working against you. Every intelligence agency has been doing this. Our country cannot be strong without exerting power over our enemies, the intelligence officer told the Guardian.

India's extrajudicial killings Senior officials from two separate Pakistani intelligence agencies said they suspected Indias involvement in up to 20 killings since 2020. They pointed to evidence relating to previously undisclosed inquiries into seven of the cases  including witness testimonies, arrest records, financial statements, WhatsApp messages and passports  which investigators say showcase in detail the operations conducted by Indian spies to assassinate targets on Pakistani soil. The Guardian has seen the documents but they could not be independently verified.

The intelligence sources claimed that targeted assassinations increased significantly in 2023, accusing India of involvement in the suspected deaths of about 15 people, most of whom were shot at close range by unknown gunmen.

In the killing of Zahid Akhund, an alias for convicted Kashmiri terrorist Zahoor Mistry who was involved in the deadly hijacking of an Air India flight, the Pakistani documents say a RAW handler allegedly paid for information on Akhunds movements and location over a period of months. She then allegedly contacted him directly, pretending to be a journalist who wanted to interview a terrorist, in order to confirm his identity.

Are you Zahid? I am a journalist from the New York Post, read messages in the dossier shown to the Guardian. Zahid is said to have responded: For what u r messaging me?

Millions of rupees were then allegedly paid to Afghan nationals to carry out the shooting in Karachi in March 2022. They fled over the border but Pakistani security agencies later arrested their handlers.
"USA is a filthy and disgusting country," said Jimmy Kimmel, the host of the talk-show Late Night soon after his trip to Japan.

Kimmel was on a 7-day family vacation in Japan, where he claims to have witnessed the Asian country's "high standards of hygiene". However, his praise for Japan during Tuesday's show ended up being a severe criticism of the United States.

The Late Night show's host said that Japan has "fundamentally altered" his views about the cleanliness in his country as he compared the bathrooms in Japan to the operating rooms in US hospitals. Kimmel said that even bathrooms in Japanese cities are cleaner.

After his visit to Japan, Kimmel said he realised that the US, he once thought to be "pretty buttoned-up" despite the scope for development, is actually a "filthy and disgusting country.

'Cleaner than Jennifer Garner's teeth' The talk show host did not stop at just lambasting the US, he also dragged American actress Jennifer Garner to his series of comparisons.

In an attempt to emphasize on how clean the bathrooms were in Japan, Kimmel said that the loos their were "cleaner than Jennifer Garner's teeth".

'I've never felt dirtier' Kimmel, in total awe of the Japanese cleanliness, said that his stay in Japan felt like a trip to Disneyland.

However, he said, that ever since he returned to his home in US, he has been feeling "dirty".

"It's like the whole country is Disneyland, and we're living at Six Flags. I've been home 36 hours. I've never felt dirtier."

However, his comments were not met with enthusiasm.

Netizens hit out at Kimmel saying that the country doesn't have immigration, and that maybe diversity isn't America's strength.

Japan has a very strict immigration system. 99% of the country is Japanese. Maybe diversity isnt our strength, an X (formerly Twitter) user said.
Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump has had a recent conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the New York Times, citing information from two individuals briefed on the matter.

Reuters reported that the newspaper reported that it was unclear what Trump and the prince, known as MBS, discussed and whether this was their first conversation since Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, left office.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan postponed his scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia this week to meet with the crown prince, who is widely regarded as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, due to a cracked rib.

Sullivan was originally scheduled to engage in discussions with the prince, coinciding with the US's efforts to advance the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It's noteworthy that Saudi Arabia was the destination of Trump's inaugural foreign trip when he assumed office in 2017.
US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday said the United States wants India to conduct a full investigation into the Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murder plot.

We have made clear to the Government of India that we want to see them conduct a full investigation, and we continue to look forward to the results of that investigation, Miller said.

The Biden administration earlier stated that the US is working with India to hold accountable those behind a plot to kill Pannun.

""This is a serious issue. A serious issue between the United States and India. The Department of Justice has alleged that an Indian citizen at the behest of someone working in the Indian government has attempted to kill an American citizen on American soil. We take this in the administration incredibly seriously and have raised it at the highest levels with India," said Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu.

Last year, Indian national Nikhil Gupta was charged by federal prosecutors in connection with his involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate the Khalistani terrorist.

Nikhil Gupta has been charged that he was working with an Indian government employee and had agreed to pay an assassin $1,00,000 to kill Pannun. The Khalistani terrorist has dual citizenship in the US and Canada.

India has submitted the findings of the government-appointed investigation panel to US authorities, as per RAW.
Rageshnath, a PhD student at Taiwan's National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), was in his college's Physics lab when the earthquake, most intense since 1999, shook the country. Recalling the moments of horror, Rageshnath said that he felt "like it was my last day".

While talking to Hindustan Times (HT), he said that the building of his department "was shaking like a boat". "Everything in the lab was collapsed. I couldn't see or do anything," he said.

The earthquake, which had around 300 aftershocks, had the most impact on Hualien, where Rageshnath's NDHU is located. He recalled that all the research work of the students got destroyed in the earthquake.

"We lost almost everything," he said.

Another Indian-origin resident of Taipei, Nirzari Gupta, said that even though the physical damage of the earthquake was low, the experience was "very scary". She said that her parents were extremely worried about her after they came to know about the earthquake.

The 7.4 magnitude earthquake, which hit Taiwan on Wednesday, left 10 people dead and over 1,000 injured. For many, it brought back the memories of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in 1999 which killed over 2,400 people.

An export firm owner in Taipei, Girish Hiranandani, was quoted in the report as saying that today, the infrastructure in the country has improved. So, the damage to life was not as severe as it was in 1999.

The Taiwanese authorities have reiterated that the rescue operations are underway in the country to rescue those who are missing.

According to Anup Meena, communications affairs head at the India Taipei Associations (ITA), there are around 4,000 Indians in Taiwan and another 1,500 Indian-origin students. Just after the earthquake, ITA issued circulars to the Indians with advisory and the helpline numbers.

Moreover, two Indians had gone missing after the earthquake but according to Meena, they were found later. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also later said that the two were safe.
The United States, on Thursday, said that it would not entertain questions concerning its silence on the arrest of Pakistan Opposition leaders but its vocal stance on Arvind Kejriwal. The Biden administration stressed that the US does not equate its silence on the arrest of Opposition leaders in Pakistan with its vocal stance on the case involving the Delhi CM.

US Department of State spokesperson Mathew Miller during a press briefing refused to combine the two cases and stated that the US wanted to see everyone in Pakistan be treated equally under the law and with respect for human rights.

Miller was questioned on why the US was speaking out against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal but was maintaining silence on the arrests of opposition leaders in Pakistan.

"I would not agree with that characterization. We have made clear on a number of occasions that we want to see everyone in Pakistan treated consistent with the rule of law, treated with respect for human rights, as is our position with respect to any country in the world," Miller said.

Delhi CM Kejriwal was detained by the federal probe agency on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government. The Delhi CM is in judicial custody till April 15.

Also Read: 'Courts don't remove a CM': HC refuses to entertain PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister On Tuesday, in a stern warning to the international community, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar cautioned against unwarranted political commentary on India's internal matters, stressing that any such interference would be met with a "very strong reply."

Also Read: Ensure people don't face problems: Sunita Kejriwal shares jailed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's message for AAP MLA's "Somebody asked a person from the UN (about Kejriwal's arrest), and he gave some reply. But in other cases, I would say very frankly these are old habits, these are bad habits," Jaishankar told reporters.

He added, There is a certain 'maryada' (restraint) among countries. We are sovereign countries, we should not be interfering in each other's internal affairs, we should not be passing comments about each other's politics.

Also Read: US reacts as India summons diplomat, speaks on Kejriwal's arrest, Cong bank accounts, don't think anyone should Jaishankar further said that if foreign country comments on India's politics they will get a very strong reply from us, and that is what has happened." "...we sincerely urge all the countries in the world that by all means you have your views about the world, but no country has the right to comment on another country's politics especially in situations like this," Jaishankar said.
Theres a grey area in artificial intelligence (AI) filled with millions of humans who work in secrettheyre often hired to train algorithms, but end up operating much of their work instead. These crucial workers took the spotlight this week when The Information reported that Amazons Just Walk Out technology, which allowed customers to grab grocery items from a shelf and walk out of the store, was being phased out of its grocery stores. It partially relied on more than 1,000 people in India who were watching and labelling videos to ensure that the checkouts were accurate.

Amazon says on its website that Just Walk Out uses computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning" but doesnt mention offshore contractors. The company told Gizmodo that the workers were annotating videos to help improve them, and that they validated a small minority" of shopping visits when its AI systems couldnt determine a purchase.

Even so, the Amazon story is a stark reminder that artificial intelligence still often requires armies of human babysitters to work properly. Amazon even has an entire business unit known as Amazon Turk devoted to helping other companies do just thattrain and operate AI systems. Thousands of freelancers around the world count themselves as M-Turkers," and the unit is named after the story of the Mechanical Turk, an 18th-century chess-playing contraption that was secretly controlled by a man hiding inside.

Far from an incident consigned to history, there are plenty more examples of companies that have failed to mention humans pulling the levers behind supposedly cutting-edge AI technology.

To name just a few:

Facebook famously shut down its text-based virtual assistant M in 2018 after more than two years, during which the company used human workers to train (and operate) its underlying artificial intelligence system.

A startup called x.ai, which marketed an AI personal assistant that scheduled meetings, had humans doing that work instead and shut down in 2021 after it struggled to get to a point where the algorithms could work independently.

A British startup called Builder.ai sold AI software that could build apps even though it partly relied on software developers in India and elsewhere to do that work, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Theres a fine line between faking it till you make itjustifying the use of humans behind the scenes on the premise they will eventually be replaced by algorithmsand exploiting the hype and fuzzy definitions around AI to exaggerate the capabilities of your technology. This pseudo AI or AI washing was widespread even before the recent Generative AI boom.

West Monroe Partners, for instance, which does due diligence for private- equity firms, examined marketing material provided to prospective investors by 40 US firms that were up for sale in 2019 and analyzed their use of machine learning and AI models. Using a scoring system, it found that the companies marketing claims about AI and machine learning exaggerated their technologys ability more than 30%, on average. That same year, a London-based venture capital firm called MMC found that out of 2,830 startups in Europe that were classified as being AI companies, only 1,580 accurately fit that description.

One of the obvious problems of putting humans behind the scenes of AI is that they might end up having to snoop on peoples communications. So-called supervised learning in AI is why Amazon had thousands of contractors listening in on commands to Alexa, for instance. But theres also the broader proliferation of snake oil.

The good news for investors is that regulators are on the case. Last month Ismail Ramsey, the US attorney for the Northern District of California (also known as Silicon Valley) said he would target startups that mislead investors about their use of AI before they go public.

In February, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler warned that AI washing could break securities law. We want to make sure that these folks are telling the truth," Gensler said in a video message. He meant it: A month later, two investment firms reached $400,000 settlements with the SEC for exaggerating their use of AI.

Even when AI systems are not exaggerated, its worth remembering theres a vast industry of hidden workers, who are still propping up many high-tech AI systems often for low wages. This has been well documented by academics like Kate Crawford and in books like Code Dependent by Madhumita Murgia.

In other words, when AI seems a bit too magical, sometimes it is. bloomberg
The Directorate of Civil Aviation, DGCA, has asked Vistara to adhere to rules for compensating passengers who couldnt fly because their flights were cancelled, delayed, rescheduled, or they were denied boarding.

However, most of these passengers may find that the refunds and compensations will barely cover what they paid for the tickets, and may not even compensate them for any inconveniences or losses suffered as a result.

The reason is that India does not have a legally enforceable passenger rights charter, unlike other countries. If you buy an airline ticket, what that entitles you to isnt legally binding on airlines and your rights arent enforceable.

Whether you will get compensation for canceled flights, how much, if so, or if the airline will put you in a taxi instead of a flight (as happened recently for passengers booked on a low-cost airline) or what precisely you are buying when paying for an airline ticket isnt covered by law.

This is unlike what happens when you buy an equity share on a stock exchange or transfer funds into a fixed deposit account of a bank, when the transaction gives you exactly what you are promised.

Even if the airlines claim that they will compensate passengers in case of delays, without a passenger charter, there is no legislation to enforce any of the airline commitments. As a result, air passenger experience is often underwhelming.

Every time you buy a ticket, the boarding pass tends to advise arriving at the airport more than two hours before departure time for a hassle-free airport experience, which may not always be the case. Whether it is the winter fog months in Delhi, or the summer congestion in Mumbai, the chaos is unavoidable and doesnt get passengers any compensation.

Airlines often pass the blame to airports in their communication with passengers, but often it is their own operations that are the real cause for delays and inconvenience. A classic case is you are in the queue but unable to check in, and the airline ground staff would tell you that it is due to the airport network being down  even when the airline network is down. Or if incoming aircraft are delayed, airlines simply say that the flight departure is delayed due to delays in incoming flight without specifying that that particular flight is also operated by them and the cause of the delay is their own operations.

Often airlines will ensure that the first bag out of a flight arrives on the baggage belt super-fast, and the rest follow with lags. While this ensures that they can report timeliness, passengers still have to contend with delays.

If an airline has 150 flights departing from Delhi in the mornings, during winters they should be able to deploy a minimum of 100 pilots trained for using runways in fog and low-visibility conditions. But airlines dont invest in training and are content to let flights be delayed as they can get away without incurring the costs of compensation to passengers.

When there is no charter, passengers have no recourse but to accept whatever the airline decides to do. A passenger charter confers consumer rights, such as what you are buying when you buy an airline ticket, and what to do if the airline fails to deliver this.

In most countries, legislation provides passengers with legally enforceable rights that are reviewed routinely by regulators, who also specify the fines and penalties to be imposed for slip-ups on various aviation entities, such as airports, airlines, air traffic navigation, and ground handlers.

There is continuous tracking and monitoring of the conduct of each of these entities in a transparent way so that accountability can be fixed, and passengers can be assured of air travel service quality standards.

Improving air travel experience goes beyond overcoming logistical hurdles. It's also about showing a commitment to provide dignity and respect to every passenger through legally enforceable rights.
Katchatheevu row: A former Sri Lankan envoy to India, Austin Fernando has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of exploiting the Katchatheevu island issue as a "vote-puller" and cautioned that the Indian government could face issues if they were to backtrack after the Lok Sabha elections.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Fernando said that if India crosses the Sri Lankan maritime international boundary line, it would be seen as a violation of Sri Lankan sovereignty.

Fernando asked if Pakistan proposes such sea encroachment near Goa, will India tolerate it? "Or if Bangladesh does something like this in the Bay of Bengal, what will be Indias response, he questioned?

The former Sri Lankan envoy to India said, BJP does not have much of a hold in Tamil Nadu comparatively, so it has sparked off a vote-puller.

Katchatheevu, an island that was ceded to Sri Lanka decades ago has gained newfound significance in political discussions sparked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who are aiming to win Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. However, the Sri Lankan foreign minister responded days after the controversy erupted, stating that Sri Lanka sees no necessity to reopen discussions on the contentious island, which was ceded to it by New Delhi 50 years ago.

In the lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, along with PM Modi, has been leveraging the Katchatheevu island issue to criticize Congress leaders. Seeking to make electoral gains in Tamil Nadu, the BJP aims to address the Katchatheevu island issue, following its failure to secure any of the state's 39 seats in India's 545-member parliament in the previous Lok Sabha election.

The once low-key territorial dispute, which has now become a contentious election issue in India, has drawn international attention. The BJP asserted that Indian fishermen have been dissatisfied since a 1976 agreement with Sri Lanka prohibited them from accessing the waters around the island.

"This is a problem discussed and resolved 50 years ago and there is no need to have further discussions on this," Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told the domestic Hiru television channel on Wednesday.

"I dont think it will come up," he said, adding that no one had yet raised the question of a change in the status of the island, located 33 km (21 miles) off India's coast in the Palk Strait that divides the neighbours.

Katchatheevu Island row The Katchatheevu island had been ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, in lieu of a pact between both governments. According to reports, fisherfolks of both countries occasionally violated the pact on the waters around the uninhabited island.
Lok Sabha elections 2024: Maharashtra leader Sanjay Nirupam was expelled from the Congress for indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal said in an official statement.

Nirupam said that he would announce his next decision on Thursday.

Venugopal said in the statement on Wednesday night, Taking note of the complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, the Hon'ble Congress President has approved the expulsion of Shri Sanjay Nirupam from the party for six years with immediate effect.

As reported by PTI, the party's decision comes after Nirupam's removal from the Congress party's list of star campaigners for the 2024 Lok Sabha general elections, earlier in the day.

Nirupam threw a strong comment, suggesting that in light of the party's serious financial crisis, it should prioritize using its resources wisely.

It is to be further noted that calls for action against Nirupam strengthened after he criticized the Maharashtra Congress leadership for ceding Mumbai constituencies to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party during seat-sharing discussions within the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance for the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress has dropped Nirupam's name from the list of star campaigners and disciplinary action has been initiated against him for his utterances against the party and the state unit leadership, said state party president Nana Patole after attending a meeting of the party's campaign committee in Mumbai.

"It (Congress) should utilise its energy to save itself, as the party is experiencing a serious financial crisis. The time frame I had given to the party ends today. I will spell out my next course of action tomorrow," Nirupam said in a post on X.

Nirupam, a former MP from Mumbai North, criticized the state leadership of the Congress after the Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, announced its candidates for four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including the Mumbai North West seat that Nirupam had his sights on.

He also said that the Congress leadership allowing itself to be influenced by the Shiv Sena (UBT). Nirupam contended that accepting the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s unilateral decision to field candidates in Mumbai would essentially lead to the downfall of the Congress, as asserted by the former Mumbai Congress president.

Having previously been associated with the Shiv Sena, Nirupam parted ways with the party in 2005. He championed the cause of north Indian hawkers and later joined the Congress.

In 2009, he successfully contested and won the Mumbai North seat. However, Nirupam faced defeat in the 2014 elections from the same constituency, losing to BJP's Gopal Shetty.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Chirag Paswan has got a major blow as 22 leaders of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) tendered their resignations. The aggrieved leaders said they resigned because they did not get tickets for the Lok Sabha polls.

The resignation wave appears to stem from grievances within the party ranks, with allegations surfacing about the distribution of tickets in exchange for money.

Some of the notable names who have resigned from Paswan's LJP are Renu Kushwaha, former MLA and national general secretary of LJP, Satish Kumar, state organization minister Ravindra Singh, Ajay Kushwaha, Sanjay Singh, and State General Secretary Rajesh Dangi.

Chirag Paswan's party is fielding candidates in five seats, including Hajipur. The other seats where Paswan's LJP is contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are Vaishali, Samastipur, Khagaria, and Jamui.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address a rally in Jamui on Thursday. Paswan handed over the mantle to brother-in-law Arun Bharti after having represented Jamui two times on the trot.

In Bihar, the BJP is contesting from 17 seats, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) from 16 seats, and Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Aawam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) will contest one seat each.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD (U), and LJP won 39 out of 40 seats. Whereas, the Mahagathbandhan, led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and RLSP managed to secure only one seat.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Communist Party of India's (CPI) Annie Raja were among the high-profile candidates who filed their nominations for the April 26 Lok Sabha Election 2024 on Wednesday. Notably, Annie Raja is contesting against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad.

Polling is scheduled for all 20 parliamentary constituencies in Kerala on April 26 as part of the second phase of the nationwide polls. The Election Commission notification states that the last date for filing nomination papers is April 4.

Rahul Gandhi holds shares valued at  4.3 crore.

 3.8 crore mutual fund investments in Rahul Gandhi's assets

 3.8 crore mutual fund investments in Rahul Gandhi's assets According to the affidavit filed by Rahul Gandhi, he holds stock market investments totalling 4.3 crore, mutual fund deposits amounting to 3.81 crore, and 26.25 lakh in a bank account. Additionally, the 53-year-old leader declared 55,000 in cash and a total income of 1,02,78,680 ( 1.02 crore) for the financial year 2022-23.

The movable assets of Rahul Gandhi are valued at 9.24 crore, including gold bonds worth 15.2 lakh. Furthermore, he has investments in National Savings Schemes, Postal Savings, insurance policies, and other ventures totalling 61.52 lakh.

Rahul Gandhi's total assets amount to 20 crore, with an annual income exceeding 1 crore. He also declared joint ownership of agricultural land with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhis Mehrauli, along with an office space in Gurugram valued at 11 crore.

Rahul Gandhi's  20 crore portfolio

Total assets in 2024: 20.4 cr

Movable: 9.24 cr

Immovable: Rs11.15 cr

Liabilities: 49.7 lakh

18 pending FIRs

One defamation conviction

Total assets in 2019: 15.89 cr

Rahul Gandhi holds shares valued at  4.3 crore Rahul Gandhi holds shares valued at 4.3 crore. Among his shareholdings are companies such as Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Deepak Nitrite, Divi's Laboratories, Dr Lal Pathlabs Ltd, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Info Edge (India) Ltd, Infosys, LTI Mindtree Ltd, Nestle India, Pidilite Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan Company, Vinyl Chemicals (India) Ltd, and Britannia Industries Ltd.

Annie Raja's assets Annie Raja's total assets amount to just 72 lakh. She has declared only 10,000 as cash in hand, bank deposits totalling 62,000, jewellery valued at 25,000, and an inherited property worth 71 lahks.

Total Assets: 1.61 cr

Movable: 89 lakh

Immovable: 72 lakh

No liabilities
Kerala's Wayanad is among the Lok Sabha constituencies set to witness a tough contest between INDIA bloc allies. The Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI), which are part of the Opposition's INDIA bloc, will be contesting against each other for the key Wayanad seat.

While the Congress has fielded its sitting MP and leader, Rahul Gandhi, from Wayanad, the CPI has fielded its senior leader, Annie Raja. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kerala unit chief, K Surendran, is also in the fray.

Annie Raja is the wife of CPI general secretary D Raja and holds the post of general secretary in the party's National Federation of Indian Women. She's also a member of the national executive of CPI.

The CPI is a partner of the ruling CPI(M)- led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala. However, both the CPI and the CPI(M) are allies of the INDIA bloc at the national level.

INDIA bloc allies also fighting one another in Wayanad is not the only constituency where the INDIA bloc allies are contesting against each other. The situation is the same in all the constituencies of Punjab and West Bengal.

In Jammu and Kashmir, too, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC), both part of the INDIA bloc, will compete against each other for the three seats in the Kashmir valley in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Who won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the past? Wayanad has been a Congress bastion since 2009.

Rahul Gandhi, the current sitting MP of Wayanad, won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a vote margin of nearly 40 percent. Gandhi got 64 percent of the total votes polled. His closest rival, CPI's PP Suneer, received only 2,74,597 votes.

In the 2014 and 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, Congress leader M I Shanavas won the Wayanad seat. He had won the 2014 elections by a margin of 2.31 percent votes.

The Congress won the most, 15 Lok Sabha seats, in Kerala in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Revolutionary Socialist Party, and Kerala Congress (M) won one seat each, while the Indian Union Muslim League won two. The state sends 20 members to the 543-member Lok Sabha.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 out of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The UDF included the Indian Union Muslim League, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Kerala Congress (M).
Communist Party of India (Marxist) has warned that military institutions influenced by Hindutva ideology could undermine the secular values upheld by the Indian armed forces.

Condemning the "communalizing of Sainik Schools," CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, in response to a Reporters' Collective report indicating that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government has facilitated the participation of private players in running Sainik Schools, expressed concern on Thursday. He stated that Hindutva-run military schools have the potential to undermine the high secular standards of the Indian forces.

According to the report, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliates, BJP leaders and other Hindutva groups, such as Sadhvi Rithambara have been chosen by the Ministry of Defence to run 60 per cent of new Sainik Schools.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the CPI(M) leader shared the link to the Reporters' Collective report along with the party's statement on the issue. Stop communalising Sainik Schools. CPI(M) Polit Bureau condemns this move that is loaded with the potential to destroy the high secular standards of our military establishments, the post read.

The statement said that the Sainik Schools have been traditionally run by the autonomous Sainik School Society and play an important role in nurturing students to get entry to the premiere National Defence Academy and the Indian Naval Academy.

"Eventually a substantial number of Sainik School pass outs occupy the higher echelons of Indias defence forces. This new policy is just not about sharing finances and infrastructure on a Publicprivate partnership (PPP) model."

Demanding that the government withdraw the move to ensure the national and secular character of the Sainik Schools, the party said, The schools that are entering into agreement with SSS and the government, include a significant number of institutions with avowedly RSS and BJP links.

On Wednesday, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor lashed out at the Centre for the move calling the move a 'shocking disregard' for the standards of these schools.

"How on earth can this shameless government compromise Indias national security and its education system in this manner? The #Agniveer scheme is already an assault on the professionalism of our armed forces. Now this compounds the shocking disregard for the standards that have made our sainiks among the most respected in the world. Please withdraw this decision, @rajnathsingh ji!" the Congress MP wrote in a post on X.

The findings of the report have revealed that of the 40 Sainik School agreements so far, at least 62 per cent were awarded to schools linked to the RSS, BJP and other Hindutva organisations and their allied organisations and individuals.
The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the Bombay High Court order of 2021, which set aside incumbent Amravati MP Navneet Kumar Ranas Scheduled Caste certificate. Rana recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A bench comprising justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol said the High Court should not have interfered with the report of the scrutiny committee on the issue of Rana's caste certificate.

Those who raised questions on my birth got an answer today. I thank the Supreme Court. The truth always wins. This is a victory of those who walk on the path shown by Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Rana told ANI news agency.

Rana had challenged the Bombay High Court order of 2021, where the court observed that she fraudulently obtained a 'Mochi' certificate even though records showed she belonged to the 'Sikh-Chamar' caste, Live Law reported. The Bombay HC had also imposed a fine of 2 lakh on the Amravati MP.

After this, Rana knocked on the Supreme Court's door and argued that her forefathers belonged to the Sikh-Chamar caste, wherein 'Sikh' is a religious prefix and is not related to a caste. Her case was she belongs to the 'Chamar' caste.

On March 28, Independent MP Rana joined the BJP in Nagpur in the presence of state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

Rana filed her nomination papers from Maharashtra's Amravati constituency on Thursday ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. She and her husband, Ravi Rana, offered prayers at Hanumangarhi Mandir in Amravati before filing nominations for the LS polls.

Rana won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amravati as 'Independent'- a constituency reserved for the SC category. Rana had defeated Shiv Sena candidate and former Union minister Anandrao Adsul from Amravati in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The devastating earthquake in Taiwan on Wednesday, which killed at least nine people and injured more than 1,000 others, elicited an expression of solidarity from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His statement, one of the very few he has made about the island as prime minister, drew attention to Indias curious policy on Taiwan.

Although India does not officially recognise the island democracy thats home to 23 million people, it has been more willing to engage with Taiwan in recent years. Heres a brief history of the relationship and why their unofficial ties are stronger than ever.

Why does India not recognise Taiwan?

Indias lack of formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan stems from Beijings One China Principle, in which it claims Taiwan as an inalienable part of its territory and bars countries hoping to establish diplomatic ties with it from also having relations with Taiwan.

India has maintained formal diplomatic ties with China since 1949. It was only in 1995 that it established the India-Taipei Association to facilitate business, tourism and cultural exchange with Taiwan. Taiwan also maintains the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) in India, with offices in Delhi and Chennai.

What does India do with Taiwan?

Cooperation with Taiwan has always been a sensitive issue in New Delhi, given its concerns about Chinas reaction. However, Indias engagement with Taiwan has increased in recent years  albeit while ruling out the possibility of formal ties.

Taiwans semiconductor firms have been closely involved in the Indian governments efforts to carve out a place in this lucrative industry. In February the Indian cabinet approved a proposal for Taiwans PowerChip to partner with the Tata group to build Indias first semiconductor fab in Gujarat.

India and Taiwan have also signed a labour mobility agreement that will allow Indian workers to find jobs in the island country. Engagements between the two countries have also started to attract more attention, such as when three retired Indian service chiefs visited Taiwan for a conference last year. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also recently acknowledged the increase in cooperation with Taiwan.

The government of Indias policy on Taiwan is clear and consistent. Government facilitates and promotes interactions in areas of trade, investment, tourism, culture, education and other such people-to-people exchanges," the Ministry of External Affairs said about Indias relationship with Taiwan in 2021.

What is driving this change?

Taiwans dominant position in semiconductors is one of the primary reasons India has increased its engagement of late, as is its desire to attract foreign investment in general.

Indias political troubles with China are probably also playing a role here. The two countries have spent the last four years locked in a border standoff that has frozen bilateral relations. As such, India may acquire from this a greater risk tolerance in dealing with Taiwan, even at the expense of a negative reaction from China.
Chennai: Earlier this year, Delhi witnessed some unusual protests. On 7 February, the entire Karnataka state cabinet, led by chief minister Siddaramaiah, landed up at Jantar Mantar, a popular protest square in the capital city, raising objections to what they said was the central governments biased fiscal policy". The next day, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan protested at the same venue and for the same reason. A short distance away, members of Parliament from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Tamil Nadus ruling party, held a black shirt demonstration for non-allocation of funds to the state.

The problem? Fiscal devolution. Thats a process by which taxes raised by the central government are shared with the states.

For every rupee it contributes towards central taxes, states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala get far less compared to what Bihar and Uttar Pradesh corners. Thats because re-distribution of resources helps the less developed states, so that they can bridge the inequality gap. But, over the years, the better developed states have seen significant reduction in transfer of devolution funds. And it is now beginning to hurt them.

While redistribution is an important element of equity, it should remain within limits. Today, Kerala is in a financial crisis on account of it," said Thomas Isaac, Keralas former finance minister.

Last year, the Centre reduced Keralas borrowing limit and it faced a severe cash flow problem, to the extent of 15,000 crore. The state was unable to pay salary and arrears among other payments. Subsequently, Kerala dragged the union government to the Supreme Court for limiting its borrowing powers. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court refused to grant any interim relief to the state and referred the matter to a larger constitutional bench.

View Full Image File photo of Palanivel Thiaga Rajan in the Tamil Nadu state assembly. (PTI)

Politicians from southern states said that even with significant redistribution for many decades in their favour, states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar continue to have poor records when it comes to social and economic development. As it stands today, the devolution process rewards bad outcomes and penalizes good governance," said Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (popularly called PTR), Tamil Nadus IT minister who till recently held the finance portfolio.

With elections knocking on the door, regional parties in south India have made fiscal devolution into an electoral issuein nearly every speech, politicians in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala take potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indias ruling party, accusing it of depriving funds to opposition-ruled states.

Politics aside, Indias devolution process does need an urgent revamp, experts said. The 16th Finance Commission, which will arrive at the devolution formula for the 2026-31 period, has its task cut out.

The structure

In Indias fiscal structure, the central government raises much of the tax revenue and states, by virtue of delivering last-mile governance, bear much of the expenses. To tackle this imbalance, a process of transferring resources is in place.

The Finance Commission is the constitutional body that oversees this transfer, which happens in two stages. Vertical devolution determines how the revenue raised by the central government is shared between the Centre and the states. The 15th Finance Commission had recommended that 41% of the divisible pool (arrived at after deducting cess, surcharges and the cost of collecting taxes from gross tax revenue) be shared with the states.

The Finance Commission then determines the horizontal devolutionin other words, what each state receives. It does so using a formula that looks at many parameters such as population, land area and so on. As mentioned earlier, to bring about more equitable development, the redistribution of resources is also based on the per capita income of each state. Apart from devolution funds as per Finance Commission recommendations, states also get funds from the central government through grants and centrally sponsored schemes.

This process worked well initially but recent protests underline significant heartburn.

The claw back

Till 2014-15, the central government got 68% of the gross tax revenue while states received the balance. The 14th Finance Commission, under former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Y. V. Reddy, increased the states share from 32% to 42% (February 2015). After Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were categorized as union territories, the share fell to 41%.

The problem intensified since then.

View Full Image Y. V. Reddy, former Reserve Bank of India governor. (Mint)

The 14th Finance Commission gave a substantial increase. It left the central government with less money," said C. Rangarajan, former RBI governor who had led the 12th Finance Commission.

This is when the Centre started to claw back resources by accelerating the levying of cess and surcharge, revenue that are not shareable with states.

In 2014-15, the share of cess and surcharge in gross tax revenue was just 9%. It increased to 12% in 2015-16, the year the 14th Finance Commission recommendation took effect and rose sharply to touch 20% in 2020-21 before declining to 15% in 2023-24.

While the Centre has every right constitutionally to levy cess and surcharges, it is ethically wrong and against the spirit of federalism," said R. Ramakumar, professor, Tata Institute of Social Science. If the quantum of cess and surcharges that were raised by the Centre is added to the divisible pool, then the share of devolution that states received would be 32%, he added.

The 14th Finance Commission gave a substantial increase. It left the central government with less money C. Rangarajan

The increase that the 14th Finance Commission gave was effectively neutralized," said Nilakantan R.S., a data scientist and author of the book South Vs NorthIndias great divide.

In 2011-12, the size of the divisible poolthe total fund that is shared by Centre and stateswas 90% of the gross tax revenue. By 2019-20, it had fallen to 70%, as the quantum of cess and surcharges in the gross tax revenue increased sharply. So, the divisible pool itself had shrunk.

Government officials clarified that states have not seen any fall in the quantum of transfers in absolute terms. In almost all cases they have only increased. Also, the revenue raised through cess and surcharges have not been retained entirely by the central government but has been spent on highways, railways and plethora of centrally-sponsored schemes which benefit the states.

Total transfers from New Delhi to states (excluding GST compensation) as a portion of the Centre's gross tax revenues rose from 32.4% during the third finance commission to 58.7% in the 14th and 15th finance commissions (2015-20 and 2020-25).

The central government has always argued before the Finance Commissions that it needs more resources to meet expenses on defence, internal security, foreign affairs and interest obligations but it actually spends a lot on areas such as education, agriculture, health and social welfare that fall under the state subject through centrally sponsored schemes," said Neelakantan.

View Full Image Union finance secretary T.V. Somanathan.

Opposition ruled states resent them as it infringes on their rights.

Centrally sponsored schemes have other shortcomings too. They are tied funds and states do not have the freedom to spend as they want. Most of the time, they are poorly designed and one-size-fit-all schemes that are ineffective," said PTR.

Isaac agreed. Kerala has built very strong social infrastructure, especially schools and higher education institutions. What is the point in centrally sponsored schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan for us? We want to build roads and other hard infrastructure," he said, stressing that Kerala needs untied funds. The Centre-state fiscal relationship has indeed sunk to an all-time low," Isaac added.

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is the Indian governments programme aimed at elementary education.

Ramakumar studied different Finance Commission recommendations and concluded that successive governments have fallen short in implementation.

During the 13th Finance Commission period, the total funds transferred was only 31% of the divisible pool as against 32% recommended. For 14th and 15th Finance Commission period, it was 40.3% and 38.1% respectively, as against 41%," he said.

Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan dismissed this claim. Devolution to the states is done every month exactly as per the norms. There is no deviation at all. Initial devolution is based on budget estimates, and it is modified after revised estimates are available. Final adjustments are made after CAG (Comptroller And Auditor General Of India) audit becomes available. Every rupee is completely accounted for," he said.

Horizontal Devolution

View Full Image Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Mint)

The biggest responsibility of the Finance Commission, when it comes to horizontal devolution, is equity. An important criteria is income distance or how far is a state, in terms of per capita income, from the richest state. The further the state (which means less developed), the higher the devolution. This explains why Bihar receives a lot more than Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Over the years, this approach has reduced what better developed states get from devolution (see chart).

However, the union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has denied that better developed states are receiving less. Speaking in the Parliament, she said that tax devolution for Kerala increased 224% between 2004-14 (period when the United Progressive Alliance was in power) and 2014-24 (period of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the BJP). Grants, she said, increased by 458%.

These absolute numbers are misleading and belie the fact that gross tax revenue grew at a much higher rate, countered PTR. In the last five years alone, the Government of Indias tax revenue jumped from 11.55 trillion to 32.62 trillion, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Sushil Kumar Modi, former deputy chief minister of Bihar, believes that the contention of the southern states is untenable. If Finance Commissions were to distribute the divisible pool of taxes among states matching their contributions to it, ignoring the needs of different states, it would not be necessary to have a Finance Commission at all," he wrote in an article in the Times of India, on 3 May 2018.

As long as disparities remain, the devolution pattern should favour the poorer states. Just as it is desirable for the state governments to reduce inter-district disparity, it is equally desirable for the Centre to reduce inter-state disparity," he further wrote.

We are not against redistribution. All we are asking is what is the outcome of decades of redistribution? Hindi-heartland states continue to remain underdeveloped, both socially and economically," said Isaac.

Why have their (states getting more funds) debt levels risen so sharply despite such high transfers from the central government? It is because they are inefficient," said R. Srinivasan, member, Tamil Nadu Planning Commission. Tamil Nadus total expenses to GSDP (gross state domestic product) ratio is around 11% while that of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are about 17%. Spendthrift states are given more resources," he added.

Short of funds, developed states are borrowing more. In the long run, this could hurt their growth.

The Way Forward

View Full Image Arvind Panagariya is leading the 16th Finance Commission of India. (HT)

The 16th Finance Commission, therefore, has a difficult task.

It has to come up with innovative parameters to ensure that better developed states get enough funds without depriving the less developed ones of their needs. It should also recommend ways that can push the less developed states to grow faster.

PTR suggested that there be no fixed ratio for five years. Instead, change it every year based on performance on various social parameters. This will ensure that there is a good feedback loop," he said.

Rangarajan suggested that a sunset clause on the income distance parameter could motivate the less developed states to reform faster. But will such a clause work? The mandate for a Finance Commission is only for five years.

The 16th Finance Commission will take into cognizance the states concerns. Gopal Krishna Agarwal

An ideal mathematical devolution formula would be impossible to arrive at, Neelakantan said. If the Centre stays away from spending on state subjectssuch as education, healthcare, agriculture and social welfarethe money it gets from the current devolution ratio is sufficient to meet its needs. There will be no need for cess and surcharges at all. However, the reality is that no central government wants to give up spending on social needs. It is a political necessity, other experts Mint spoke to said.

Gopal Krishna Agarwal, an economist and a national spokesperson of the BJP, sounded hopeful things could be sorted out soon. The 16th Finance Commission will take into cognizance the states concerns," he said.

Jayaprakash Narayan, general secretary of Hyderabad-based Foundation for Democratic Reforms views the problem differently. The political parties in the south are setting the stage for hard negotiation on fiscal and other issues, going forward. Like always, a reasonable compromise will be found," he said. But, he added: Our bark is always worse than our bite."
US space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has named three companies to develop rover for the first crewed missions to the Moon since 1972.

Texas-based Intuitive Machines, which landed a robot near the lunar south pole in February; Lunar Outpost of Colorado, and Venturi Astrolab of California, have been tasked with developing designs under a contract with a combined maximum potential value of $4.6 billion, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday.

We are building up the capabilities needed to establish a longer-term exploration and presence of the Moon, Jacob Bleacher, NASAs chief exploration scientist, said.

I like to imagine the views and the vistas that the LTV will enable us to see from the surface of the Moon, he added.

Artemis 5 mission The NASA will choose one of these companies to carry out a test run for its Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) before the arrival of the crew for the Artemis 5 mission.

The Artemis missions are aimed at returning humans to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Rover Intuitive Machines has been given an initial $30 million to advance its prototype, called the Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover (RACER), with partners including AVL, Boeing, Michelin and Northrop Grumman.

Astrolabs contract could be worth up to $1.9 billion for its Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover, which it is building along with Axiom Space and Odyssey Space Research.

The FLEX rover is designed to carry two suited astronauts, support scientific exploration with a robotic arm, perform cargo logistics, and withstand the extreme temperatures at the lunar South Pole, the company said in a statement.

We look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the Moon, Vanessa Wyche, director of NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.
CAIRNS, AustraliaStanding on the bridge of a 270-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Lt. Channing Meyer listed the recent upgrades to the 40-year-old ship.

A new deck gun. Reliable power generators. An improved electronic navigation system. And better internet connectivity.

This thing runs like it was built yesterday," he said a short time later inside a hallway on the Harriet Lane, which was docked at a naval base in the northern Australian city of Cairns. Maybe even better."

The Coast Guard transferred the Harriet Lane to the Pacific from the U.S. East Coast a few months ago, part of the Biden administrations latest move to compete with China for influence in the region. U.S. officials view the Coast Guard as a potent soft-power tool in the Pacific, which is home to U.S. military assets and strategic waterways that could be crucial in a military confrontation over Taiwan.

But the Coast Guard is deploying retrofitted vessels such as the Harriet Lane because a plan to build a new class of more modern ships will take yearsand has been bogged down by delays and cost increases. At the same time, the Coast Guards enlisted workforce is 10% below its authorized strength, one of the largest shortages in its 233-year history, and it is expected to worsen this year, officials said.

China, meanwhile, has reinforced its coast guard with more than 20 former navy corvettes and is increasingly asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where Chinese fishing vessels double as a maritime militia. Beijing is also actively seeking influence in the Pacific, after scoring recent wins such as persuading the tiny island nation of Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in January.

Certain Chinese coast guard vessels may have longer-range guns compared with the Harriet Lane, some analysts said, but the move could still pay off. The aim isnt to directly take on Chinas coast guard in high-seas confrontations, such as the ones playing out between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Instead, the Harriet Lanes main role will be to shuttle between Pacific island nations, offering law-enforcement support and training.

U.S. officials hope the increased Coast Guard presence will help build closer relations with island nationsand convince them they are better off joining with Washington instead of Beijing. The white hulls of Coast Guard ships are seen as a softer touch than Navy ships and ideal for dealing with smaller nations that dont have their own militaries.

They have different resources than the Navy a lot of times," Christine Elder, a longtime U.S. diplomat who is now a consul general in Australia, said from the deck of the Harriet Lanewhich will be based in Hawaii but stopped in Cairns on its inaugural 79-day patrol in its new role. Our Coast Guard is uniquely equipped to look at these missions."

The Coast Guard now has 11 cutters based in Hawaii and Guam, the U.S. territory in the western Pacific. Some of those ships also conduct missions to Pacific island nations, but the Harriet Lane has greater range and endurance than many of themand will be the flagship of the Coast Guards efforts to increase support to island nations.

Chinas coast guard, in contrast, is more focused on the South China Sea, according to analysts. But its largest ships can deploy deeper into the Pacific, which could be made easier if China negotiates security deals with more Pacific island nations.

The Pentagons 2023 report on Chinas military said Chinas coast guard has more than 150 regional and oceangoing patrol vessels, 50 regional patrol combatants that can be used for limited offshore operations, and 300 coastal patrol craft.

One Coast Guard cutter is not going to really make much of a difference in a shooting war," said Mike Green, a former official in the George W. Bush administration who is now chief executive at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. This really isnt about increasing U.S. firepower."

Pacific island nations often dont have the resources to patrol swaths of the ocean, and Coast Guard vessels like the Harriet Lane help them fight illegal fishing and transnational crime. In some nations, the Coast Guard takes along local law enforcement officers and conducts boardings on their behalf.

The Coast Guard presence also gives the U.S. the opportunity to monitor Chinas fishing fleets, which Beijing can use to put economic pressure on island states and cultivate influence. Illegal fishing is a big concern for island nations, and Chinese vessels have been documented illegally fishing around some islandsthough Beijing has said its fishers must comply with local laws.

Indirectly blocking Chinese access in the Pacific islands by offering an alternative way for small island countries to protect their livelihoods and sovereignty is one way the U.S., working with other allies, can curb Chinese maritime coercion from migrating further south," said Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, who served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

But the aging Coast Guard fleet is a problem. A Government Accountability Office report outlined issues with propulsion, power systems, corrosion and mold on the medium-endurance cutters, the class of ship that includes the Harriet Lane and a smaller 210-foot version. Spare parts for obsolete generators, for example, are hard to get, and repairs can take 10 months.

In one instance, mold was growing on pipes directly above a bunk where the crew sleeps, the report said. In another, constant wetness in the galley, where food is prepared, led to corrosion on the exterior hull. A davit, a crane-like device used to lower small ships into the water, malfunctioned in another episode and stranded crew members 4 feet above the water.

So before its move, the Harriet Lane got $21 million in upgradesincluding even basic items such as fresh decks and ceilings, according to the crew. The Coast Guard plans to retrofit several other medium-endurance cutters to keep them in service while new boats are being built.

While we are 40 years old, we still bring a lot, were still very capable," said Cmdr. Nicole Tesoniero, Harriet Lanes commanding officer.

Before stopping in Australia, the Harriet Lane spent a few days patrolling the seas around the island nation of Vanuatu. With local authorities, the Harriet Lanes crew boarded 12 ships that all turned out to be Chinese. The boardings were amicable and the violations were minor, such as not logging their catches properly or using incorrect buoys, crew members said.

Were not targeting Chinese vessels," Meyer said. Thats just what was out there."

The Coast Guard has other plans for the Pacificif it can get the money from lawmakers. It is planning to get more of its new 154-foot fast-response cutters for the Indo-Pacific and wants to outfit forward operating locations in remote areas to support the ships. It is also looking at deploying another cutter to the region to serve in a similar role as the Harriet Lane.

We have some great bipartisan support on the Hill, people who understand us and understand the imperative of investment in the Coast Guardbut theres also just as many who dont really even, just dont know who we are," said Adm. Linda Fagan, the Coast Guard commandant, at a think tank event in October.

Meyer said the Coast Guard is proud of doing more with less. But theres a limit.

We cant always do more with less," he said. When asked what else the Coast Guard needs, he said: Its everything. Its people, it is assets, it is resources. Its all of the above."
Its career advice weve all heard: Make yourself indispensable. Many who thought theyd accomplished that goal have been burned in recent white-collar layoffs.

Jilted workers and others whove witnessed job cuts say theres no such thing as an irreplaceable employee. Some contend striving to be untouchable at work can backfire or invite exploitation. You can naively do more than whats required, thinking effort means job security, then get axed anyway.

That disillusionment is fueling debate over the wisdom of pursuing indispensability, often along generational lines. Older workers recount times when they survived rounds of job cuts by being too skillful or versatile to let go, while their younger counterparts tend to share examples of great performances that yielded no protection.

Beth McLaughlin McDonald, 52, is a recent convert to the more cynical side.

Though shed endured three layoffs over the years, she still believed it was possible to become bulletproof when she took a recruiting job in 2022. Working remotely in Savannah, Ga., she was promoted quickly and felt she made her team at a healthcare-technology startup better by shouldering tasks that used to bog down others.

I truly thought I was indispensable, McLaughlin McDonald says.

She discovered she wasnt when the company downsized last year. In less than an hour her department was slashed from 13 employees to three, she says. Each affected person was given notice in a five-minute video call. McLaughlin McDonald now thinks nobody is ever safe, so she works several part-time jobs, believing its wise to have multiple income streams in case one dries up.

It isnt that the labor market is in a rout. The national unemployment rate remains at 3.9% and hiring exceeded economists predictions in the latest jobs report. Instead, two other factors drive workers pessimism: the march of artificial intelligence and the way cuts are handled.

I hear constantly from people who worry that AI-powered tools threaten positions that seemed secure a short time ago. Now that pink slips are frequently doled out virtually, in emails or on Zoom, many workers question whether they were truly valued in the first place.

Managers counter that workers job hopping in recent years, though slowing, means savvy leadership includes minimizing a businesss dependence on individuals.

Some bosses say they strategically prevent employees from becoming irreplaceable. It isnt sabotage, they insist. Rather, being overly reliant on their best team members is risky.

So if you sense a higher-up is trying to limit your importance, your gut might be right.

Too indispensable for anyones good The veterinary technician was good at her job. Debbie Boone fired her anyway.

Boone managed veterinary clinics in the Carolinas for two decades before becoming an independent consultant and says she sometimes dismissed talented employees who hoarded knowledge to make themselves more valuable. She recalls this particular tech went further, stashing equipment manuals and implements in a private drawer.

It was enhancing her status, but it was diminishing us as a whole, she says.

Employees shouldnt try to be indispensable, in Boones view. Being the only person with certain skills or information might feel like insurance. But it can lead to selfishnessand a surprise ouster by a boss who prefers team players.

Avin Kline, chief executive of the cannabis marketing agency Lucyd in Florida, says he expects most of his 55 employees to spend two to five years with the company. Understanding that turnover is inevitable, and perhaps imminent, he guards against individuals becoming essential.

Each client account has a point person, but those employees are required to share notes and reports with colleagues so that someone else can step in if needed. The idea: No account manager should be so important that a client would take its business elsewhere if the primary contact left the agency.

When we have to replace someone, I want to feel that were losing somebody thats providing a lot of value, Kline says. But I dont want my business or myself to freak out.

From irreplaceable to obsolete Shannon Howard argues indispensability remains an ideal worth pursuing. The content-marketing director at a software company made that case recently to a group of college students near her home in North Carolina, urging them to resist the act your wage sentiment that drives many young workers, and others, to withhold extra effort.

At 31, Howard says she gets it. At-will employees can go above and beyond and get canned anyway, so why bother?

Still, Ive seen times when being the person who does their best, with a good attitude, saves someones neck, she says. At minimum, it builds a positive reputation and can help get another job.

Jim Moechnig, laid off by a data-storage company in November, is still waiting for 17 years of service and good karma to be reciprocated.

He devoted nearly his entire tenure to a single software line, building unsurpassed institutional knowledge. Rather than irreplaceable, he says he came to be seen as one-dimensional.

When sales of his software slowed, his role was eliminated and job prospects for his narrow specialty were limited. Moechnig, 46, is working toward additional tech certifications that he hopes will yield new opportunities remotely or locally in Minnesota.

With several months to process his job loss, he takes a coolly objective view of the situation. His team was full of smart, hardworking people, but the business needed to cut costs. Ability provided no protection.

If they were going to cut somebody, they were going to cut somebody good, he says.
Elon Musk's micro-blogging platform X has announced its much-awaited Community Notes program in India. As per the platform, this initiative empowers users to actively participate in fact-checking tweets shared on the platform, creating a more informed digital environment.

Announced on Thursday via X's affiliate handle, Community Notes, the roll-out invites new contributors in India. According to X, Community Notes is designed to combat misinformation by enlisting individuals from diverse backgrounds as note authors. The platform refrains from endorsing any specific viewpoint, instead relying on the collective input of contributors to assess content credibility.

How to contribute to Community Notes

To become a contributor to Community Notes, accounts must meet specific criteria outlined by X. These include having no recent violations of X's Rules, being a member of X for at least six months, and having a verified phone number from a trusted carrier not associated with other Community Notes accounts.

Contributors can add notes by clicking or tapping the  menu on a post's top right and selecting "Write a Community Note." After answering required multiple-choice questions and providing contextual information, the note will be available on the Community Notes site for other contributors to read and rate.

Notes claiming a post is potentially misleading will be eligible to show on the post if rated as helpful by enough people. Conversely, notes claiming a post is not misleading will be shown as additional information but will not display on the post if they earn a status of Helpful.

If a note earns the status of Helpful, it will be shown on X as context, and the contributor will earn Writing Impact. Contributors have the option to delete their notes at any time.

As per X, there is a restriction on the number of note proposals contributors can submit within a 24-hour period in order to maintain the quality of notes and prevent spams.

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Elon Musk acknowledged Tesla Inc. is having to make special efforts to retain artificial intelligence specialists, some of whom have left the carmaker in the past year to join his AI venture.

Tesla is increasing compensation for its AI engineering team, contingent on performance milestones, Musk wrote on X, his social media network. In responding to a report by The Information on how his startup xAI has poached four engineers from Tesla, the chief executive officer blamed the craziest talent war Ive ever seen!"

An exodus of personnel from Musks most valuable company to his newest may exacerbate concerns about conflicts and governance within the billionaires empire. In January, Musk said that unless hes awarded around 25% voting control at Tesla, he prefers to develop AI and robotics products elsewhere. Two weeks later, a Delaware judge voided a massive stock award that Teslas board arranged for him in 2018.

Musk announced the formation of xAI in July of last year, after months of hinting that he wanted to build an alternative to the hit product ChatGPT. He played a pivotal role in co-founding OpenAI, the chatbots developer, but fell out with other leaders at the startup.

As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon," OpenAI said in a February 2018 blog post announcing his departure from the board.

After The Information reported on Wednesday that Ethan Knight, a member of Teslas team working on computer vision for advanced driving systems, left last month to join xAI, Musk said that OpenAI had tried to hire him.

Ethan was going to join OpenAI, so it was either xAI or them," Musk wrote on X. They have been aggressively recruiting Tesla engineers with massive compensation offers and have unfortunately been successful in a few cases."

Months after Tesla lost Andrej Karpathy, its senior director of AI, in July 2022, he rejoined OpenAI and worked on ChatGPTs large-language model. Karpathy left the company early this year.

Musk launched a competitor to ChatGPT called Grok in November. Hes said that investors in X  which has lost significant value since he acquired the company formerly known as Twitter  will own 25% of xAI.

There are over 200 excellent engineers in the Tesla AI/Autonomy team," Musk wrote Wednesday in a post downplaying Knight leaving for xAI. Teslas pace of progress with autonomy is accelerating."

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A bill to require Idaho public and school libraries to move materials deemed harmful to children, or face lawsuits, passed the Idaho Senate and House on Wednesday.

House Bill 710, backed by Republican legislative leaders, follows years of attempts by the Idaho Legislature to regulate materials deemed harmful to children in Idaho libraries.

The bill now goes to Idaho Gov. Brad Little for final consideration.

House Bill 710 would allow children or their parents to file a legal claim against a public or school library if they obtain materials deemed harmful to minors.

Thats if libraries dont move materials within 60 days of receiving a request to relocate the material to a section designated for adults only. Children or parents could receive $250 in statutory damages, along with actual damages and other relief, such as injunctive relief, under the bill.

Some librarians have called the bill unneeded, telling lawmakers in a House committee this year that local library relocation policies handle community complaints, while others worried it would strain libraries.

Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, said if harmful material isnt in libraries, relocating material shouldnt be difficult or cause libraries to close.

There is no book banning. This codifies a relocation policy that is fair. This process is fair for both sides of the issue, Carlson said. Harmful materials is already in (Idaho) Code. We are actually taking away language from the Code to clear up the possibility of legal challenge.

The Idaho Senate passed the bill on a 24-11 vote on Wednesday.

Sen. Treg Bernt, R-Meridian, said the issue boils down to liability that libraries would face under the bill.

I believe that the language that weve used in this bill  although with great and good intent  will cause greater problems for our libraries than they solve, said Bernt, who said he voted for previous library bills in the Legislature.

Most Idahoans  69%  trust library staff with book selection, while 23% of Idahoans do not, according to this years Idaho Public Policy Survey. More than half of Idaho librarians are considering leaving library work as a result of library-related legislation, according to an informal survey conducted by the Idaho Library Association.

Libraries could seek additional relocation policies. But some worry bill invites mischief and grift.

Sen. Geoff Schroeder, R-Mountain Home, said libraries could adopt policies restricting the ability of people to complain.

What I thinks important to remember here is that the person whos going to complain about a work is going to have to at least see, repeated on the form, this standard, Schroeder said.

But some lawmakers worried the bill could prompt frivolous complaints.
A Clarkston woman celebrated her 101st birthday Wednesday with greetings from her three surviving siblings and other family members.

As guests arrived with flowers and cards, Marie Shinneman was especially excited to see her younger brother and two sisters. They all reside in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and enjoy spending time together.

We made it through another winter, said Jane Johnson, 84, of Lewiston. Happy birthday, big sister.

Marie, who lives with her daughter, Joy, on Maple Street, remembered when she found out her mother was having a sixth baby.

I was 16 when you were born, and I was so upset that Mom got pregnant, Marie told Jane. Thats why your middle name is Rochelle. Mom let me name you to make up for it.

Just like Marie and all the other children born to Lloyd and Beula Birdsell, the sisters arrived at home rather than a hospital. Jane, the baby, weighed 11 pounds, 7 ounces.

Marie was born in Milton-Freewater, Ore., and moved to Clarkston around 1982 after her husband, Jay, passed away. He was a fighter pilot in World War II and a decorated captain who spent his career in the military.

The couple married shortly after she graduated from high school in 1942, and went on to have three children and live all over the globe.

When we were in Japan, Marie said, I learned how to do flower arrangements.

In addition to horticulture, Marie became an excellent seamstress. She made draperies, worked for a Walla Walla telephone company, and made flower arrangements at a shop in Clarkston.
Foster Park will be closed to the public and homeless campers from 8 a.m. to noon daily, beginning Thursday.

Clarkstons new public works director said the closure was prompted by a need to water and maintain Foster Park, which is located near churches, residences and a private school.

It became necessary for the city to close Foster Park daily to allow for maintenance of the grounds and facilities, said Public Works Director Edward Coffland. Due to accumulation of items at the park, the city has not been able to turn on or test the irrigation system or mow the grass. The closure will allow the city to provide daily watering and maintenance that is necessary to ensure that the park remains viable.

How long the morning closures will remain in place is unknown at this point.

Clarkston officials designated the park near Diagonal and 10th streets as the one piece of public property within city limits that unhoused individuals are allowed to spend the night.

The ordinance allows overnight stays from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Homeless people cannot be criminalized for having no place to sleep when a shelter is not available.

However, laws still apply to the people staying at Foster Park, officials said. Clarkston police have cited numerous individuals for various alleged violations. According to statistics from the Clarkston Police Department, law enforcement has responded to at least 246 complaints at Foster Park since Feb. 14. Thats about the time the homeless camp near Walmart was disbanded.

Police made 36 or more arrests during that time span. Most charges center around criminal trespassing, displays of deadly weapons, fighting, barking dogs and vagrancy.

Portable restrooms have returned to the site after being removed last month.

Asotin County Public Health Administrator Brady Woodbury said the district recently found another vendor willing to provide port-a-potties at Foster Park. The previous provider had to remove the toilets because of vandalism.
Just as Idaho legislators were hoping to wrap up their annual legislative session, the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation asked for a last-minute, emergency supplemental funding request Wednesday because the division is facing a $4.7 million shortfall and is unable to pay its bills.

Currently, we have funds authorized for payments we do not have appropriations to cover, Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Administrator Jane Donnellan wrote in a letter to the chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. Furthermore, we have three months remaining of this fiscal year to provide services.

According to the divisions website, the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation is a state/federal program that helps people with disabilities prepare for, secure, retain or regain employment. Currently, the division is serving 8,244 Idahoans with disabilities.

The impact of ceasing services would be significant in their ability to become contributing members of their community and to the state, Donnellan wrote to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee co-chairs in the letter.

Reasons for budget shortfall for Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation are still unclear

It was not immediately clear where the money went or why it was just brought to legislators attention right as they announced their plan to wrap up the annual legislative session. Donnellan told legislators she checks the divisions budget monthly, and just learned of the shortfall Friday. Donnellan also told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee the division has experienced recent turnover multiple times with its fiscal officer position since 2022.

While few details about the shortfall were publicly disclosed Tuesday and Wednesday, what is known is that the shortfall represents almost 18% of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitations total overall budget for this year. The divisions total budget for the current fiscal year 2024 is $26.5 million. That compares to an estimated budget shortfall of $4.7 million.

To make up the shortfall, Donnellan requested $2.7 million in supplemental funding, pulled mostly from federal funding. The division also plans to use salary savings to make up an additional $550,000 and push some of its payments back until the 2025 fiscal year that begins July 1.

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, voted 17-3 to approve the $2.7 million supplemental funding request. JFAC also voted to approve budget language that blocks the division from hiring additional new positions in fiscal year 2025 and blocks the division from paying for replacement items in fiscal year 2025.
John Heitstuman, 68, of St. John, Wash., passed away at his home Monday, March 11, 2024.

He was born March 13, 1955, to Gene and Betty Heitstuman, on the familys farm in Uniontown. John attended St. Boniface Catholic Grade School from 1961-1969. He then attended Colton High School, graduating in 1973. He was an active FFA member and enjoyed wood shop.

After graduating, he began ranching for his uncle, Harold Heitstuman. Based on his numerous stories, some of the best days of his life were spent in the saddle. He worked alongside his uncle and cousins on the ranch where they raised cattle and hay. This was a large operation including BLM, state and Potlatch leases, totaling more than 85,000 acres. They ran well over 3,000 head of cows, calves, yearlings and bulls each year. John had a true love for the Western lifestyle, including a lifelong attachment to his horses and dogs.

In 1984, Johns parents moved their trucking business from Uniontown to St. John. John took a break from ranching to help his dad with his trucking business. During this time, John met the one who completes him, Julie Blumenshein, and they married on March 15, 1986. In addition to two step-kids, Chad and Gil Pierce, John and Julie welcomed two more children. Jodi was born in 1988 and Jason in 1992. John and Julie were active members of the St. John Saddle Club and the family enjoyed trail riding and camping trips in the mountains. Julie passed away in April of 1997 from complications of cancer and pneumonia.
This editorial was published in The Seattle Times.



For first time in state history lawyers wont be required to take the state bar exam to show competency to earn a law license. Washington joins Oregon as the only two states with alternatives to the bar exam.

There have been longtime concerns within the legal community about whether the bar exam puts too much emphasis on rote memorization but does little to truly assess competency.

In 2020, some law school graduates expressed concern about taking the in-person bar exam during the pandemic. In response, the state Supreme Court allowed graduates whod applied to take the exam to instead receive law licenses through diploma privilege, meaning that those who qualified could go straight on to be licensed to practice law without passing the exam. That year, 567 people received their state law licenses through diploma privilege.

Then-Chief Justice Debra Stephens commissioned a task force of law professors and lawyers to study alternatives to the traditional bar, which prompted questions about the efficacy of the exam. The group also looked at the history of the exam and how it affects communities of color.

The task force found that the Uniform Bar Exam is a barrier to marginalized groups that wish to practice law, and the exam is minimally effective in ensuring competency among lawyers. Unfortunately, it took COVID-19 and the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery for the court to develop more equitable pathways to the law, but the results could mean more lawyers licensed to practice more quickly and more of them in underserved communities.

Starting in summer 2026, the state will administer the National Conference of Bar Examiners NextGen bar exam, a revised version of the current exam that includes fewer topics and reduces the amount of material that graduates need to memorize. In exchange, the NextGen test will provide candidates with legal material and ask them to apply it in a practical situation. The current bar exam will remain as an option.
John Connell is a man with many strings to his bo. His 2018 memoir The Cow Book immediately springs to mind, but he's developed a career that spans television, print and public speaking.

As a film-maker his documentaries have won over a dozen international awards, as a bestselling author The Running Book augmented the international acclaim of the aforementioned publication, both of which spent numerous weeks as Irish bestsellers.

His work as a playwright has led to a New York Festivals award win. He writes for national publications and he's developing a number of TV projects. As a public speaker John has talked all around the world including Ireland, Australia, the USA, and the UK.

Also read: Longford Lives: John Connell on farming, faith and his future

He still finds time to be one of the primary drivers of Granard's Booktown Festival. Just to add to the workload he is also a farmer.

Twelve Sheep: Life Lessons from a Lambing Season contains the eclectic blending of history, philosophy and nature with which the author has struck a chord with readers across the globe.

As Granard's Booktown Festival prepares to launch the John is surprisingly calm despite having a full plate in front of him: It's all going well. It is a very busy time, but I am very happy, he told the Leader.

Passion plays a significant role in the choice of Connell's topics. He returns to pastoral themes for his latest publication: I love farming. It's something that's part of my life. It's part of so many people's lives in Longford and rural Ireland.

Following up on the success of The Cow Book and The Running Book is a tricky prospect: When I finished the last book I was unsure what to write about. I was a bit burnt out. I got this idea to buy 12 sheep, and I ended up buying them off mum and dad.

I said to myself, I'm going to slow down, I've been very busy in life'. I follow the life of the sheep over a lambing season on the farm. It's a love letter to farming, but more than anything it's a book about happiness and joy.

John wants to pass on some of that joy: It's a story people can pick up, it's a shorter book. It's a series of 12 lessons for people to read, and perhaps say to themselves, 'I learned something about slowing down a little bit and appreciating the little things'. When you work with animals and new life, it makes you appreciate how beautiful life can be.

PICTURES | John Connell's The Stream of Everything is a love letter to Longford

The connection with the heritage of agricultural life is deep-seated: We don't know any other way of living. Farming is a way to keep rural communities alive and well.

The money spent by farmers in local communities, three quarters of that stays in the local community. It's a very important business.

I met a lot of people in the five years since the Cow Book came out, people from America, Australia and all over the world.

A lot of farmers wanted another farming book and I wanted to talk about the good and the bad and the in between. Sheep were the natural progression after the cow. I like sheep and I learned a lot in the process.

The international appeal of John's writing contrasts with the jumping off point of its subject matter: I think the beauty of Ireland's farming is that it's family farming.

Farm families make up the majority of the farms in Ireland. It makes us so special, because people actually have a relationship with their animals.

I write about America in the book. I've been to the big feedlots. There isn't a relationship there. Ireland is really unique in that we have that intimate relationship.

We have small farms where people have names for their animals, they know them well. I think family farming is the present and, hopefully, the future of farming in Ireland. We do it so well.

Also read: Longford ready to take a hold of its future again

John is quite philosophical about his latest publication: This one is about how 12 sheep helped a man find the meaning of life. I don't mean that in a fantastic way. The meaning of life is the meaning we give to it.

These 12 sheep I have, they helped me figure out the next step in my journey. I hope they will do the same for everyone that reads the book.

Twelve Sheep: Life Lessons from a Lambing Season will be launched this Friday, April 5 at 7pm in Longford Library by Deputy Eamon O Cuiv.

Also read: Author John Connell explores Longfords personality in Travel Tales with Fergal Podcast
After disclosing his autism diagnosis on Autism Awareness Day, Irish MEP, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, has drawn widespread support and admiration from the public.

Mr Flanagan took to social media to share his diagnosis on April 2, stating: "I was diagnosed with Autism at the beginning of February. I always kinda knew. Now I actually do know. It really helps to know."

The MEP's openness prompted an outpouring of support from social media users, commending his bravery and advocating for greater understanding of neurodiversity. One user responded, "Another brave post, Ming. Fair play coming out with this. I hope youre doing ok."

Others shared their own experiences, stressing the significance of Flanagan's disclosure in destigmatising autism and encouraging self-awareness. "Diagnosed as ADHD as a kid so never gave much thought to any other ND (neurodivergent) until a few years back when wife's psychologist friend specialising in ASC recommended I get a diagnosis which confirmed I was autistic. Fair play Luke, good knowing who you are," one user shared.

Another commenter expressed respect for Flanagan's decision to speak out, despite political differences: "I may not agree with your political standpoint but I do have huge respect for you coming out and posting this. Autism is seen by some as a weakness. But in ways it can also be a strength. Good luck and take care."

The Roscommon man's update also inspired individuals who have been contemplating seeking diagnosis themselves, with one user saying: "Fair play Luke. I've been thinking of getting it done myself. It seems like a no-brainer for me. Just need to take the first step."

Mr Flanagan has been an MEP for Midlands-North-West since 2014, and was elected to the Dail in 2011.
The gardai have been urged to develop a new policy on addressing racial profiling after a report reveals how people from ethnic minority communities feel unfairly treated.

The report from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) details the perceptions and experiences of racial discrimination of people from ethnic minority communities when interacting with gardai.

Policing and Racial Discrimination in Ireland: A Community and Rights Perspective outlines findings from a series of workshops held with members of ethnic minority communities.

The report shows that while each participant had their own unique experiences, and experiences were uneven, participants were critical overall where their perception was of unfair treatment of members of racialised groups by gardai.

Participants detailed some positive experiences with gardai, but also shared stressful and traumatic interactions and experiences.

Overall, their experiences have led them to feel unsupported, unprotected and unrepresented by gardai, the report shows.

Out of 36 participants, 83% expressed a fear of being racially profiled or discriminated against by gardai.

More than 30% of participants specifically mentioned issues around being black and their belief that gardai assume that black people cannot be Irish.

Participants also noted that there is a lack of trust between minority communities and An Garda Siochana.

Asked if they believed gardai treated members of racialised groups the same as the wider white, settled Irish population, the vast majority (more than 80%) felt they received differential treatment.

Shane OCurry, director of INAR, said: Relations between police services and the communities they serve are paramount for good policing in any society.

The findings of this study indicate an unevenness in the application of good practice, as well as gaps in policy and practice.

This leaves a poor impression on communities who often also find themselves marginalised in other ways.

We must work to create the conditions where minorities have full confidence in An Garda Siochana. It is in all of our interests.

Liam Herrick, executive director of ICCL, said: This report raises significant questions for An Garda Siochana in terms of how the organisation and its members are perceived by minority communities in Ireland.

It is imperative that gardai now work to improve relations with and experiences and perceptions of minoritised communities.

As recommended by the report, An Garda Siochana should improve diversity within the force and also develop its expertise, policies and training on racial profiling to tackle unconscious bias and improve cross-cultural communication and intercultural understanding.

The report makes 18 recommendations, including six to Government, one to the Policing Authority and 11 to gardai.

Its recommendations include that the Government immediately mandate the collection of disaggregated data pertaining to race, ethnicity, religion, gender and disability across the entire Irish criminal justice system, including in all policing operations, the courts and crime statistics, to properly understand how racial and ethnic minorities are treated within the justice system.

It further recommended that gardai develop and publish a new policy on addressing racial profiling and how to prevent, prohibit and monitor it, and also develop and deliver specific training on racial profiling that addresses, among other things, unconscious bias, cross-cultural communication and intercultural understanding.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: April 04 2024

These additions to your home do require maintenance and can come with their own share of issues  such as leaks  that can lead to costly repairs if youre not careful.

For many homeowners, having a skylight installed in your residence can help instill a sense of luxury, in addition to bathing the room that its in with attractive, natural light. Skylights can give you a front row seat to a raging thunderstorm or a gorgeous star-filled evening, and while the idea of having one installed may sound like a no-brainer if its within your budget, these additions to your home do require maintenance and can come with their own share of issues  such as leaks  that can lead to costly repairs if youre not careful.

That being said, if you are interested in having a skylight installed  or have a preexisting one that is giving you problems fixed  theres no company more qualified to do so than Clearview Roofing and Construction.

Clearview Roofing and Construction specializes in residential roofing, construction, and restoration, and they've been steadfastly earning the sentiment behind their well-known tagline  Trust Clearview  since they first opened their doors for business in 1961.

The company has offices in Port Washington, Huntington and Rockville Centre, and services all of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens counties. And when it comes to residential repair, construction, and skylight installation and repair  especially when it comes to those aforementioned pesky leaks that can wreak havoc upon your home  no company on Long Island can compete, according to managing partner Chris Feniello.

Feniello notes that the number one cause of skylight leaks is surprisingly not due to the elements, but instead by home improvements that are not properly performed by hired contractors.

Its roofers. Its not the skylight, Its not the roof, shingles or the rain. The fact is we are fixing skylights constantly that were done incorrectly by roofers, he said. From our experience we have seen skylights done multiple ways, none of which are correct- using tons of tar, improper waterproofing application, shingles roofed incorrectly around the unit, and some are even installed crooked. We truly believe that the installer was just taught incorrectly or the job was simply rushed. There are many certified roofers certified in roofing that are botching skylights constantly. An improper skylight can leak immediately after it was installed or it can leak a few years after the install. Both are unacceptable. A properly installed skylight should be leak free for 20 years or more.

When the time comes that a skylight needs to either be repaired or replaced, obviously there can be significant costs associated with doing so, but Clearview Roofing endeavors to always carry out top-notch work at a price their customers can afford.

If a skylight needs to be reset and resealed, it can cost anywhere between $800-$1,000 to take shingles out and redo it correctly. However, if the only avenue is a full replacement, that can be a bit more work, and the associated costs, of course, go up.

It is always most cost-effective to replace a skylight while replacing a roof, Feniello said. An average cost with interior trim is usually around $1,300-$1,600 if not an overly large unit. Solar units are also more. If you are not doing a new roof and just replacing one, it is usually $2,500 or more, and if you have to cut a new hole and frame a new one it can be over $4,000.

Feniello said that, when properly installed by an experienced professional, a skylight can last up to 30 years. It is important however, that the flashing and rubber gasket around the glass is checked on a regular basis; if you notice the glass is foggy or holding moisture, its a sign to replace the skylight. You can caulk the gasket temporarily, but once the glass is damaged, you will need to replace the unit or the top.

If the glass is not an issue when it comes to an issue with a skylight, there are many different approaches that Clearview Roofing takes to make an effective repair, depending on the cause of the leak.

If it is an installation error, then we can reset and reinstall the skylight, Feniello said. This does involve removing and replacing roof shingles and waterproofing. Sometimes you can also replace just the top of a skylight, which is the frame and glass of the unit. However, it does not address the flashing, and many times it is best to change the whole unit which has the flashing and top.

One question that Feniello says he gets asked often is if it is necessary for a homeowner who is having a new roof installed to have pre-existing skylights replaced, or if it is possible to keep the original units intact.

That question depends on the year and condition of the skylight. If the skylights are 20+ years old, I would definitely say yes, he said. You are putting a 30- or 50-year roof on a home and you would want the skylights to last as long as the roof. If the skylights are newer, they can be properly sealed when a new roof is installed. It is important that the flashing is in good condition or replaceable. A skylight that is not leaking can leak after a new roof is installed due to improper manipulation of flashing open shingle removal.

One way NOT to go about repairing a leaky skylight, Feniello pointed out, is using tar to seal it, as while it may temporarily address the issue at hand, it could lead to more serious problems down the road.

If a roofer decides to smear a bucket of tar around a skylight it may temporarily stop water from entering the skylight, but it also prevents water from coming out, he said. We have seen instances where this has been done and now a homeowner might experience a leak three feet over and be told its a new leak when really the water trapped in the unit had to find a path of least resistance.

New technology advancement has led to the advent of what is known as Solar Skylights, which is essentially a skylight that can open and close with the help of a motor and remote control, powered by a very small solar panel installed on the unit in question. Feniello noted that his company specializes in installing Solar Skylights for a cost of approximately $3,500 if there is an existing opening; that price can go up upwards of $5,000 if a new hole has to be cut and framed in.

When it comes to replacing a skylight, you not only have to deal with making it fit properly on the roof that its inhabiting, Feniello said, but also that it fits your homes interior properly as well; to that end, some additional work on the inside will be required as well as the outside.

If you are replacing a skylight and you get the exact same size, there is still a small gap when dropped into the existing opening that may need trim, a trim kit, molding or a sheetrock repair, Feniello said. This all depends on the interior construction, and we will always advise a homeowner of the situation before we start. Often, homeowners are left with an interior bill and a roofer not willing to execute the interior. We handle both aspects from start to finish. We will even paint and repair any ceiling stains if needed.

And finally, Feniello addressed the fact that not all roofs are created equal, and if you want a skylight installed in an unconventional setting  for example, flat roofs and shingles roofs  Clearview Roofing can certainly accommodate you when other companies cannot.

I cant tell you how many times Ive seen a shingle roof skylight on a flat roof and a competitor quoting the wrong type of skylight, he said. It is a completely different design and flashing detail.

To find out more about Clearview Roofing and Construction, please call 631-262-7663 or visit their website at https://longislandroofs.com.

To find out more information from Clearview Roofing and Construction about Long Island skylights, please visit https://longislandroofs.com/skylight-installation-repair-long-island-suffolk-nassau.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: April 04 2024

Andrew Avila strangled 39-year-old Rebecca Carlson to death after an altercation; left her body next to a dumpster in South Hempstead.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that an Elmont man pleaded guilty yesterday to manslaughter charges for strangling a woman to death and leaving her body beside a dumpster behind an Advanced Auto Parts in South Hempstead on Valentines Day 2023.

Andrew Avila, 26, pleaded guilty Tuesday before Judge Caryn Fink to Manslaughter in the First Degree (a B violent felony). The defendant is due back in court on June 3, 2024, where he is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Andrew Avila met with Rebecca Carlson in his car in the early morning hours of Valentines Day for a sex act. When the victim refused his demands for more, he strangled her and discarded her body next to a trash bin, said DA Donnelly. Carlson was a mother who had tragically fallen on difficult times and met a cruel end because of this defendants violent outburst. Her family remains in our thoughts.

DA Donnelly said that, according to the indictment and investigation, in the early morning hours of February 14, 2023, defendant Andrew Avila met with 39-year-old Rebecca Carlson in his vehicle in Mineola.

Avila had contacted the victim through a website, and they agreed to meet in person to perform a sex act.

The defendant and the victim got into an argument that became physical and Avila strangled Carlson to death.

Avila then disposed of the victims body next to a dumpster behind an Advanced Auto Parts retail store at 1146 Grand Avenue in South Hempstead.

Carlsons body was discovered later that morning by a store employee.

Avila was arrested by the Nassau County Police Departments Homicide Squad on March 2, 2023, in Hewlett.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: April 04 2024

Jolly 51 was the call sign of a U.S. Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter that crashed on March 15th, 2018 in western Iraq near the Syrian border.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Suffolk County) spoke on the floor of the House to honor the heroes of the Jolly 51, including Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso of Huntington and Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs of Riverhead, based out of the 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton Beach. During the speech, LaLota recommitted to doing everything in his power to ensure the heroes of Jolly 51 are posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

For far too long, the valiant men of the Jolly 51 have been unjustly denied the recognition they rightfully deserve. Despite prior attempts, the Air Force has yet to award them the Purple Hearts they earned through their ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. It is imperative that we honor and memorialize their bravery, declared LaLota. Having had the honor of speaking at a memorial service in Westhampton Beach commemorating the sixth anniversary of the tragic crash, I am reaffirming my dedication to the families of the Jolly 51 crew. I pledge to exert every effort within my capacity to ensure they are posthumously granted the Purple Hearts they earned. Their unwavering commitment to defending the United States against its enemies merits this recognition. Awarding each of these seven courageous men the Purple Heart is the least we can do to honor their sacrifice and preserve their legacy.

Background:

Jolly 51 was the call sign of a U.S. Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter that crashed on March 15th, 2018 in western Iraq near the Syrian border. The crash resulted in the deaths of all seven service members aboard, making it one of the deadliest incidents involving U.S. military aircraft in recent years. The helicopter was reportedly conducting a routine troop transport mission at the time of the crash.

The crew was comprised of Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso of Huntington, Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs of Riverhead, Capt. Mark Weber, Capt. Andreas OKeefe, Capt. Christopher Zanetis, Master Sgt. William Posch, and Staff Sgt. Carl Enis.

Raguso, Briggs, OKeefe, and Zanetis were stationed out of the 106th Rescue Wing at Francis Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, NY.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: April 04 2024

Kyle Colthirst shot and killed 24-year-old Kyle Midtlyng in his car in Uniondale.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Uniondale man was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of a 24-year-old man during a November 2021 attempted robbery in Uniondale.

Kyle Colthirst, 20, was convicted after a trial before Judge Tammy Robbins on November 20, 2023, of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony); Attempted Robbery in the First Degree (a C violent felony); and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony).

The trial began on October 24, 2023, and the jury deliberated for three days before delivering their verdict. Colthirst was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison.

Kyle Colthirst hatched a plan to rob Kyle Midtlyng, luring the victim to Alexander Avenue and lying in wait for him to arrive, said DA Donnelly. Colthirsts set up took a deadly turn when he pulled out a loaded gun and fired, fatally striking Kyle Midtlyng. Colthirst then fled the scene, leaving his victim to die alone in the street. Todays sentence holds this defendant accountable for his inexcusable violence and for senselessly taking another young mans life.

DA Donnelly said that on the night of November 10, 2021, Colthirst and three co-defendants against whom charges are currently still pending, went to 1001 Alexander Avenue in Uniondale to rob 24-year-old Kyle Midtlyng.

The three co-defendants are Tyrel Cason Jr., Tariq Pitaud, and Khamarie Elie.

It is alleged that Pitaud texted Midtlyng to set up a marijuana purchase, and Elie drove Colthirst and the co-defendants to the scene.

Cason Jr. also allegedly accompanied Colthirst to confront Midtlyng as he waited in his vehicle.

Colthirst entered the front passenger side of the victims vehicle and moments later shot Midtlyng once in the right side, piercing both lungs and his aorta.

Colthirst then exited the vehicle and fled down Lee Road.

Nassau County Police Department officers responded to the area after a 911 call was placed and found Midtlyng lying in the middle of the road outside of his car.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A shell casing was recovered from the passenger side floorboard of the victims vehicle and blood droplets were found on the sidewalk of Lee Road that matched Colthirsts DNA.

Colthirst was also wearing an Electronic Monitoring device at the time of the murder, and GPS data placed the monitor at the scene during the time the crime was committed.

Colthirst was arrested in Suffolk County by members of the Nassau County Police Departments Bureau of Special Operations on January 15, 2022.

Co-defendant Tariq Pitaud, 21, of West Babylon, was indicted and arraigned on April 5, 2022, on charges of Murder in the Second Degree; Attempted Robbery in the First Degree; and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. The case against him is pending.

Co-defendant Khamari Elie, 20, of Hempstead, was indicted and arraigned on November 9, 2023, on charges of Murder in the Second Degree; Attempted Robbery in the First Degree; and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. The case against him is pending.

Co-defendant Tyrel Cason Jr., 21, of South Farmingdale, was indicted and arraigned on November 27, 2023, on charges of Murder in the Second Degree; Attempted Robbery in the First Degree; and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. The case against him is pending.

The cases are being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Tracy Keeton of the Homicide Bureau. Colthirst is represented by Doug Rankin, Esq. Pitaud is represented by Greg Madey, Esq. Elie is represented by Jeffrey Groder, Esq. Cason Jr. is represented by Mitch Barnett, Esq.
Video still of an IDF strike on Hezbollah infrastructure on April 3.

On April 3, the Israel Defense Forces said they were increasing manpower for their air defenses by calling up reservists. Israel operates a complex, integrated and multi-layered air defense array that is used to intercept everything from mortars and drones to ballistic missiles. Since October 7, the air defenses were thrown into action, intercepting thousands of rockets fired from Gaza, in addition to ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones launched from Yemen, as well as rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah

The decision to call up reservists happens as Iran has vowed to respond to the killing of members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp in an airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1. The airstrike hit the building adjacent to the consulate used by the IRGC. Iran blamed Israel and mobilized condemnations from some regional countries.

On April 1, Irans president Ibrahim Raisi called Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad to condemn Israel. Israels assassination of Iranian military advisors in Syria shows desperation and helplessness of the Zionist regime, Irans president stated, according to Irans pro-government Fars News. Iran vowed to punish Israel. There is no doubt that Zionists and their supporters are responsible, Iran said. Irans Ayatollah Khamenei doubled down on the threats on April 3, claiming that Iran would respond to the airstrike. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah also put out a statement, asserting that the war in Gaza was leading to Israels isolation. Israel has not taken responsibility for the airstrike. Nasrallah also said that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 has led to Israels decline. This is the Iranian narrative, which portrays Gaza as a quagmire for Israel. Over the last several days there has been unrest in the West Bank and protests in Jordan that Irans regime appears to be exploiting.

On the afternoon of April 3, Hezbollah carried out numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel. They began at 2:31 in the afternoon, targeting communities around Mount Dov in the northeastern Galilee, a border area that Hezbollah claims is part of Lebanon. It adjoins Mount Hermon, which rises thousands of meters above sea level towering over the Galilee. Hezbollah has often targeted Mount Dov since October 8, when it began its attacks in the wake of the Hamas attack.

After the attacks near Mount Dov and near the city of Kiryat Shmona, Hezbollah moved its attacks closer to the Mediterranean. Sirens sounded in a dozen communities around 3:56 in the afternoon. The IDF said that the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched rockets at the Har Dov area in northern Israel from a military post in the area of Kfar Hamaam. Within a few minutes, IAF fighter jets and aircraft struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure and military posts, including the post from which the rockets were launched and the operatives who fired the rockets. The IDF also said it used artillery to strike at Hezbollah positions in Ayta as Shab, an area frequently targeted by the IDF. On Tuesday, the IDF said it struck Hezbollah military structures and terrorist infrastructure in the area of Blida and Aynata. In addition on April 3, the IDF said it had determined the March 30 explosion near the Christian town of Rmeish in Lebanon which wounded several UN observers was carried out Hezbollah.

Israel appeared to prepare for an Iranian response on the evening of April 3, which is also towards the end of Ramadan and the eve of Irans Quds Day on which it demonstrates for Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause. Therefore, a number of issues are converging at the same time.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDDs Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).
Matariki is a couple of months away, but A Kiwi mum who originally hails from the Philippines has gone above and beyond to get behind it.

TikTok user Jen Lourdes shared a video of her Filipino mother learning the words to the 'Matariki 9 Star Song' by Te Reo content creator Missy Nicky Says. The waiata is to the tune of the famous 'Macarena' song, and mumma even whips out the iconic dance.

Jen's TikTok has been viewed over a quarter of a million times and liked by nearly 50 thousand people. "My Filipino mum has lived in Aotearoa for over 30 years and still loves to learn a waiata," the caption reads.

Commenters can't get enough of the mum, with many saying she's part of the whanau now.

"Mana aunty," wrote one person. "Keep it up, won't be long before you'll be performing at Te Matatini."

"Aw your mum is so cute," said another. "Kia ora whaea."

"I LOVE it when people put in the effort to learn more about our culture and reo," a third added. "It makes my heart so full."

"She's our aunty now," one more wrote.

Turns out our newest aunty is a natural in front of the camera. In another TikTok, she gives it her all rapping to a Biggie Smalls song despite not knowing the lyrics.

Aunty's Matariki waiata takes me back to when Producer Troy, AKA T-Money, from the Mai Morning Crew shocked everyone in the office by learning 'Pa Mai' on guitar and crushing his performance.

After celebrating the holiday with the whanau in Ngati Whatua Orakei, he was inspired to learn more about Te Ao Maori.

We had to make sure he knew his Maori Strum AKA 'The jingachhak' for when he gets the invite to the next Shed Party!

I might be biased, but Te Reo waiatas just hit different.
The Bulletin has been keeping readers in the UK up to date on the relevant changes to travel requirements as a result of Brexit and recently it was reported that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a reminder to Britons heading for Mallorca and other EU holiday destinations that Britons may need to show extra document at the border.

There is a new rule saying that travellers from the UK will have to show where theyre going to stay.

The information is available on the Foreign Offices official advice to British holidaymakers going to Spain and it states: If you enter the Schengen area as a tourist, you may need to provide additional documents at the border.

As well as a valid return or onward ticket, when travelling to Spain you could be asked to show you have enough money for your stay.

Well, according to the Spanish governments website, the figure Britons, if stopped, witll have to prove they have a minimum amount per person per day of 113.40 euros, about 97.

While few Britons have been stopped, the FCO goes on to state: As well as a valid return or onward ticket, when travelling to Spain you could be asked to show you have enough money for your stay; proof of accommodation for your stay, for example a hotel booking confirmation, proof of address if visiting your own property (such as second home) (or) an invitation or proof of address if staying with a third party, friends or family.

A carta de invitation completed by your hosts is one of the options available.

The best advice is to make sure that you check with either the FCO's website or your tour operator or travel agent with the exact documents required and make sure that they are in order.
Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

Rain. High 48F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Low 34F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
A former MBTA transit police officer whose controversial traffic dispute spiraled into allegations of a cover-up, casting a harsh light on the Suffolk District Attorneys Office during an election year, is suing his former employers and politicians he said leaked details of his story to the press for their political gain.

The discrimination complaint filed by Jacob Green stems from the 2021 episode that ultimately led to his resignation from the Transit police.
The Powerballs massive $1 billion-plus jackpot may still remain at large after Wednesday nights drawing turned up no winners, but two tickets sold in Massachusetts made for a pretty good consolation prize.

A pair of $1 million winning tickets were sold in the Bay State  one in Medway and the other in Medford, according to the lotterys website.

The Medway ticket was sold at a Cumberland Farms on Milford Street and the Medford winner was sold at a Wegmans on the Mystic Valley Parkway.

Additionally, a lottery player won $150,000 during the drawing from a winning ticket theyd bought at a shop in Halifax called Harmony Two Liquors.

Since the Powerball jackpot was not hit on Wednesday night, its soared to an estimated $1.23 billion  the eighth-largest lottery prize offered in U.S. history.

The last time the Powerball jackpot was hit was Jan. 1, when a ticket sold in Michigan won $842.4 million.

In Powerball, players select five numbers between 1 and 69 and one Powerball number between 1 and 26. They then choose how many drawings they want to use those numbers for. Powerball drawings take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m., and tickets cost $2 each.

The two $1 million winners in Massachusetts matched all five numbers, but not the Powerball number.

Players who match all five numbers and the Powerball number win the jackpot, which currently stands at more than $1 billion. They have 1 in 292,201,338 odds of winning that prize.
Ashby police have charged a North Middlesex Regional School District bus driver with assault and battery in connection with an incident during which he shoved a student, according to the police department.

Ashby police have issued a summons for the 64-year-old Ashby resident, the department said in a press release. Their initial investigation  during which they reviewed video of the incident  indicated that the bus driver shoved a student to the floor of the bus while dropping off students from school.

No injuries were reported in connection with the incident, but the driver will no longer transport students from the school district, North Middlesex Regional School District Superintendent Brad Morgan said previously. The bus driver is employed by Dee Bus Service, which is contracted to provide transportation for the school districts students.

School officials were made aware of the incident Tuesday afternoon and immediately launched an investigation, officials said previously. Other students witnessed the incident, which happened while the bus was stopped.

It is unclear if the incident will impact the school districts contract agreement with the bus service. No further information about the incident  including when it happened and the identity of the bus driver  has been released.
A juvenile was arrested Wednesday at the High Road School in East Bridgewater after the boy claimed to have a gun in his possession, police said.

The juvenile, who was not named in a statement from East Bridgewater Police, is facing a charge of making terroristic threats to a school, according to police.

A school resource officer at the High Road School alerted the department that a student claimed to have a gun at 1:46 p.m. Wednesday.

The officer reported the student was isolated in a separate room and the gun was not seen, according to the statement.

All on-duty East Bridgewater police rushed to the school, which was evacuated following the report of the threat, police said.

Officers spoke with the boy and ultimately determined he did not have a gun or any other weapon in his possession, the statement from Chief Michael Jenkins said. The boy was then arrested.

Police determined that the threat was not credible and at no time were students, faculty or staff in danger, Jenkins said.

The boy was taken to the police department and will be arraigned in Brockton Juvenile Court, police said.
A 30-year-old man who is a former employee of a public high school in Essex County was sentenced to one month in prison for sabotaging the schools computer network after he was fired in June 2023, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy announced.

Conor LaHiff, of Ayer, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized damage to protected computers in federal court in Boston in December.

The statement does not say what school LaHiff worked for, though court records indicate the crime took place in Haverhill. In addition to the prison time, LaHiff was sentenced to three years of supervised release, with the first year to be served in home confinement. He must also pay $34,110 in restitution.

LaHiff worked as a desktop and network manager at a public high school in Haverhill, but was fired in June 2023. After he was dismissed, LaHiff used his administrative privileges to deactivate and delete thousands of Apple IDs from the schools Apple School Manager account, software it used to manage student, faculty, and staff IT resources, according to Levys office.

He also deactivated more than 1,400 other Apple and IT administrative accounts and shut off the schools private branch phone system, which left its phone service unavailable for roughly 18 hours, prosecutors said.

Individuals who exploit their specialized knowledge to retaliate against a former employer through costly and dangerous cyberattacks will be held accountable, Levy said in the statement.

After he was fired, LaHiff got a job at another public high school, according to the statement.

Committing a cyber intrusion to settle a score with your former employer is a bad idea but thats exactly what Conor LaHiff did, Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, said. This short-sighted scheme has brought serious consequences and should serve as a warning to others: the FBI will track down and bring to justice cyber criminals, regardless of what their motivation is for willfully breaking the law.
Editors note: This story contains a description of child sexual abuse.

A 27-year-old man living in the Bronx in New York City was sentenced to 24 years in prison for coercing a minor girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct to make child sexual abuse materials and traveling to Massachusetts with the intent to engage in illicit conduct with the minor victim, prosecutors announced.

Markell Greene pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual exploitation of a minor and travel with intent to engage in illicit conduct in October 2023, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levys office said in a statement.

In late 2021, Greene sent what prosecutors dubbed an unsolicited Snapchat message to a 12-year-old girl who believed he was about 16. Over the course of several months, he coerced the girl into sending him sexually explicit photos and videos, including videos in which she bragged about her age, according to Levys office.

In February 2022, Greene convinced the girl to meet him in person at a parking lot in Arlington. On Valentines Day that year, he picked the girl up and drove to another lot where he raped her while recording Snapchat videos, according to the statement.

It is hard to find the words to capture how horrific and reprehensible Mr. Greenes conduct was here, Levy said in the statement. It does not get much more despicable and depraved than that. Thanks to the bravery of this victim, Mr. Greene will be behind bars for many years and not able to terrorize other young girls.

The case against Greene was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, according to the statement.

Markell Greene is a monster, and no sentence will ever wipe away the untold heartache, pain, anxiety, and fear that he inflicted upon this young child and her family, said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
A Peabody man was hospitalized after his Jeep grazed a telephone pole before colliding with a tree in Danvers on Thursday, Massachusetts State Police announced.

At around 10:05 a.m., troopers arrived at a crash site near the northbound side of Route 1, State Police said in a statement. Investigators closed the right lane to allow first responders through, with the scene cleared by 11:43 a.m.

Early findings in the investigation suggest that a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a Peabody man, 34, went off the road at around one-half mile before the Route 62 exit, State Police said. The Jeep grazed a telephone pole before it crashed into a large tree, where it stopped.

The driver was taken to Beverly Hospital before they were moved to Lahey Hospital in Burlington, State Police said.

The crash remains under investigation, led by the State Police-Danvers Barracks, State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and State Police Crime Scene Services Section.
A New Hampshire man was charged in connection with a gun accidentally firing at an Ipswich brewery, which left him and two other people, including a child, injured, the Ipswich Police Department announced.

Donald Terenzoni, 35, of Newton, New Hampshire, was charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, possession of ammunition without a Firearms Identification Card and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon,

At around 5:17 p.m. on March 29, police were called to the True North Ale Company brewery at 116 County Road for a report of a gun being fired. Officers found Terenzoni in the brewerys dining area, injured by a gun he carried and accidentally fired.

Elsewhere in the dining area, a child was grazed by shrapnel and another man was injured by shrapnel, police said. The child went to the hospital as a precaution while the other man declined to go to a hospital by ambulance. Terenzoni also went to a local hospital for treatment.

A subsequent investigation found that he was not licensed to carry a gun in Massachusetts, police said.

Terenzoni will appear in Ipswich District Court for his arraignment on Friday.
The presiding judge in the Karen Read murder case is expected to allow a motion for a buffer zone around the courthouse when the trial begins in two weeks, although smaller than the 500 feet sought by Norfolk prosecutors.

Judge Beverly Cannone of Norfolk County Superior Court delivered remarks during a brief hearing on Thursday morning regarding the request by the Norfolk County District Attorneys Office to create a 500-foot buffer zone around the courthouse and prevent posters and signs from being allowed into the courtroom.

Reads supports regularly picket outside the courthouse with posters and t-shirts with messages such as Free Karen Read, but Norfolk prosecutor Adam Lally described the motion as neutral on Tuesday.

(The motion) applies equally regardless of viewpoint, Lally said. Regardless of content of signage or clothing items or anything else ... (the motion) is more about jurors and about the jurors freedom to be free to come and perform their civic duty free from extraneous influence.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is charged with the killing of her boyfriend John OKeefe, a Boston police officer, on Jan. 29, 2022. Norfolk prosecutors claim she struck OKeefe while driving under the influence of alcohol after dropping him off at a Canton home during a snowstorm.

Read pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash causing death. Her attorneys claim other people are responsible for OKeefes death and that alleged conflicts of interest have compromised the case .

Shes currently free on bail.

Substantial risk to a fair trial

Reads trial is scheduled to begin on April 16, and for months, avid supporters who believe Read is innocent of the charges against her have gathered at nearly every hearing with posters and signs referencing various aspects of the case.

In a motion filed last week, Norfolk prosecutors argued a substantial risk to a fair trial for both Read and the Commonwealth could be created should jurors during the trial be exposed to such signs and messages, Boston.com reported.

Reads attorney, Tanis Yannetti, told Cannone that her team did not take a position on the prosecutions motion for a buffer. Other than receiving our sympathy and our blessing, we are not joining in their argument, she said.

Yannetti described the protestors as an organic movement that arose because ordinary citizens were made aware of the case and apparently agree with us that the prosecution of Karen Read is unjust.

My client is appreciative of the support that she has received and continues to receive but we in no way dictate or instruct anyone to do anything, she added.

On Tuesday, Cannone said she had to balance the undisputed right of the public to protest and freely express their views while still upholding the bedrock principle of assuring Reads and Norfolk prosecutors rights to a fair trial.

Sometimes these are competing interests, Cannone said. But in balancing them, in weighing all the factors, I do find that an external buffer zone is appropriate and that we do need prudent regulation on in court expression. But the 500 feet is far too excessive.

Cannone said she expects to issue a written order either Thursday or Friday.

Before Cannones statements, Lally said that empaneled jury members are asked daily if theyve been exposed to any type of extraneous influences or if theyve gone online and seen posts about their case.

How is a jurist supposed to truthfully answer that in the negative when theyre bombarded with it every single time that they walk in and out of this courthouse? Lally asked.

Lally made the analogy that there are similar restrictions at voting locations that prevent signs within a certain distance or within the polling booths.

You cant go in the voting booth next to somebody, take your candidates sign and shove it in somebodys face when they are exercising their right to vote, Lally said.

Cannone mentioned that a citizens motion to intervene in the case was filed with the court, but she did not hear from their legal representation. She quoted from an appeals court ruling that found intervention is a concept foreign to criminal procedures.

The American Civil Liberties Union had filed an amicus curiae memorandum, which Cannone said was helpful and persuaded her on many points.

Last week, Cannone denied a motion by her attorneys to dismiss the case based on allegations of an improper investigation .

Federal investigators provided 3,074 pages of documents related to their investigation of Reads case in late February, which delayed her trial by a month.

Reads final pre-trial conference is scheduled for Friday, April 12.
Wegmans Food Markets, a grocery store chain with over 100 locations in the northeast, is planning to shut down some of its stores for 30 minutes to give its employees a chance to view the total solar eclipse on April 8, the company announced in a press release Wednesday.

The opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse comes once in a lifetime, and we dont want our employees to miss out, Patrick Bourcy, Wegmans regional manager, said in a press release. We appreciate all that our employees do to help our customers prepare for and enjoy events like this, and in return, we welcome the opportunity to make this a celebratory and memorable occasion for them.

In all, 48 Wegmans stores throughout upstate New York and in Erie, Pa., will shut down from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the press release stated.

During the half-hour shutdown all services, including pharmacy, grocery and Meals2Go pickup and delivery will be unavailable.

On April 8, a total solar eclipse will cut through North America. There are roughly 15 U.S. states where people can see the moon block the sun, according to pbs.org.

Those states are Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, according to greatamericaneclipse.com, a website dedicated to tracking solar eclipses.

Wegmans has 17 stores in greater Rochester; 11 stores in greater Buffalo and along the Lake Erie shore; 10 stores in the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions; eight stores in greater Syracuse and two stores in Erie, Pa, the company said.

Prior material from MassLive was used in this article.
A Quincy man has pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime in 2022 after he was charged with violently attacking a Vietnamese person with his car in front of their young family members outside a post office.

John Sullivan, 78, pleaded guilty on April 3 to one count violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in U.S. District Court, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levys office announced.

On Dec. 2, 2022, a Vietnamese family with three children under 12 years old were at a post office in Quincy. Sullivan, who had never met them before, came across the family outside the building, the office said.

Read more: Ashby police charge school bus driver with assault in incident with student

He yelled, Go back to China, at the family, prosecutors said, and threatened to kill them.

Sullivan then drove his car into one of the family members, who landed on the hood of his moving car as Sullivan drove another 200 feet, the office said.

The family member slid off the car as Sullivan stopped. He again drove the car forward, Levys office said. He hit the person for a second time and into a construction ditch, the office said.

This defendants hate-filled attack not only seriously injured the victim, but also traumatized three children in his family, solely because they were Asian American, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division said in a statement.

No person in this country should have to fear for their own or their familys safety because of who they are or where they are from. The Justice Department is determined to stem the rising tide of hate crimes and will vigorously prosecute those who commit them, Clark said.

Sullivan could be sentenced up to 10 years, with three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, Levys office said

Hed been indicted by a federal grand jury for the crime in Feb. 2023, and his sentencing has been scheduled for June 26, the office said.

The announcement was made by Levy, Clarke and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.

The Quincy Police Department and Norfolk County District Attorneys Office assisted in the case. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Torey B. Cummings of the Civil Rights & Human Trafficking Unit and Tara Allison of the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division.
A statewide panel has unanimously approved Gov. Maura Healeys plan to pardon potentially hundreds of thousands of Bay State residents with misdemeanor simple cannabis possession convictions.

The action by the Governors Council on Wednesday was still just the first step in a lengthy process that will require the states court system to identify people who qualify for the amnesty and then update their records.

That enormous task in the words of one official, could require an infusion of funding from the state Legislature, State House News Service reported.

In a statement, the Democratic governor hailed the move, which was widely expected, calling it history-making.

Im grateful to the Governors Council for their due diligence in approving my request to pardon all state misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions, Healey said.

Thousands of Massachusetts residents will now see their records cleared of this charge, which will help lower the barriers they face when seeking housing, education or a job, she continued. I want to thank President [Joe] Biden for his leadership on this issue, and Im proud that Massachusetts was able to answer his call to action in this momentous way. I hope that other states will follow our lead as we work together to make our communities more fair and equitable.

Before its vote, the panel put its action in a national context, where attitudes about marijuana prosecutions have changed dramatically.

Massachusetts changed state laws around marijuana possession and this proposal is based on the simple premise of fairness and equity that a person should not bear the mark of conviction for an offense that is no longer a state crime, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden told the panel, according to State House News Service, as he referred to the 2016 ballot initiative that legalized adult-use cannabis.

Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, D-10th Hampden, and the co-chair of the Legislatures Public Safety Committee, said removing collateral consequences is an act of equity and justice and that the mega-pardon can uplift individuals, particularly those in Springfield and my communities which have been burdened by past convictions.

In a statement, the Bay State branch of the American Civil Liberties Union thanked Healey for what it described as her life-changing leadership on the issue.

People in every community across the state  especially Black and Brown people, who were disproportionately charged with marijuana-related crimes over the years  will no longer be punished for something that is now legal in our state, ACLU-Massachusetts Executive Director Carol Rose said. Lets be clear: Tens of thousands of people in Massachusetts will now get a second chance, and will face fewer barriers to housing, jobs, education, student loans, and stability.

Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, released the following statement in response:

We thank Governor Healey for her leadership on this life-changing issue, and we applaud the Governors Council for swiftly approving this pardon.

On Wednesday, Councilor Terrence Kennedy, of Lynnfield, asked Hayden about the actual number of pardon recipients covered under the blanket action, noting that he heard the number between 69,000 and 100,000, and that Trial Court Chief Justice Heidi Brieger referred in a letter this week to approximately 22,000 adult cases contained in electronic records.

Dont you think we should be making more of an effort to find those other people, and who they are? Most people that have a marijuana conviction dont know whats going on in this room today, and never will, Kennedy said, according to State House News Service.

... Theyre not going to get on a portal and fill out a form to get a pardon document, Kennedy continued. Theyre not going to be writing on a job application that theyve been pardoned. Because theyre never going to know it unless we reach out somehow. Dont you think we should be doing more?

Hayden said he believed officials should be doing as much as possible.

And I dont mean to be glib, but thankfully thats a problem I dont have to worry about. Thats for the governor and probation office to worry about. ... We expressed this concern at the time that the issue was raised. It should be as automatic as possible, Hayden said, according to State House News Service.

Healey and Driscoll have been clear that no action is needed on the part of recipients to receive their pardon, though they may apply for an optional pardon certificate if they wish to, State House News Service reported.
SPRINGFIELD  Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard BJ Calvi will not face criminal charges related to the killing of a raccoon in late February.

A newly released report from the Massachusetts Environmental Police obtained by The Republican portrays Calvis slaying of the animal by running it over with his city-issued vehicle as something of a mercy kill, despite a public outcry over the incident that was captured on video.
SPRINGFIELD  A Westfield man convicted last week of first-degree murder for stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2019 was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without the possible of parole in Hampden Superior Court, according to a statement issued by the office of Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.

Blake Scanlon was 23 when he called 911 on Jan. 13, 2019, to report he was bleeding out.

When police arrived, they found his girlfriend, Alexis Avery, 20 at the time, lying dead on the kitchen floor with 28 stab wounds in the apartment they shared with their child.
(*This story was updated at 9:43 a.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024 to correct a quotation from a spokesman for City Manager Eric Batista.)

As deaths caused by opioid overdoses continue to rise yearly in Worcester, the citys Board of Health is calling for the creation of a safe injection site  the first of its kind in Massachusetts.
MET Eireann has issued a Status Orange weather warning for Co Mayo this Saturday with Storm Kathleen expected to bring high winds and gusts.

The weather warning was issued by Met Eireann at 10.48am this morning and will be in effect for Mayo, Cork, Kerry and Galway from 7am to 5pm on Saturday.

Met Eireann stated that Storm Kathleen will bring gale force southerly winds with some severe and damaging gusts with possible impacts including very difficult travel conditions, fallen trees, coastal flooding, wave overlapping and some power outages.

A Status Yellow weather warning for the whole of Ireland will be in effect from 7am on Saturday until 8pm.

A small craft warning has also been issued for all coasts of Ireland will be valid from 6am on Friday morning to 6am on Saturday morning with southerly winds to reach force six or higher on all coasts.

A status yellow gale warning has also been issued from Carnsore Point to Valentia to Malin Head with southerly winds will reach gale force right or strong gale force nine on Irish coastal waters from 11pm on Friday and will be valid until 7pm on Saturday.

Met Eireann said that overall the weather will remain unsettled with spells of rain and strong winds at times.
Mayo county is poised for a transformation under Lisa Chambers European energy initiative.

The Castlebar based senator has launched an ambitious campaign to ensure Ireland, and particularly county Mayo, secures the influential European Energy Commissioner post.

The Fianna Fail senator reached out to the coalition government leaders, advocating for a united front to nominate an Irish candidate for this crucial role, emphasising the vast wind energy resources available off the west coast of Ireland.

Ms Chambers' comprehensive plan, as outlined in her letter to the coalition leaders, positions Mayo as a central player in Europe's energy independence, focusing on renewable energy sources to tackle the pressing challenges of climate change and energy security.

"Securing the Energy Commissioner role for Ireland is about leveraging our natural resources to not only achieve energy independence for Europe, but also to drive significant economic growth and job creation here in Mayo," Ms Chambers explained.

This would also be another significant step in realising the potential of the West Coast for wind energy and, in turn, would mean jobs for those counties.

Furthermore, Senator Chambers has proposed the inception of an annual global energy conference to be held in Ireland, beginning in Mayo in 2025.

This conference would aim to position the country, with Mayo at the forefront, as a leader in the global energy transition.

While the selection of Ireland's next European Commissioner remains the prerogative of the Government, there is certainly an expectation within Fianna Fail that the next EU Commissioner for Ireland will be a Fianna Fail nominee.
INDEPENDENT local election candidate, Harry Barrett has called for promised pay awards for staff in Western Care, the Irish Wheelchair Association and HSE-funded organisations in Mayo to be delivered.

Strike action from numerous Section 39 workers was averted last October when unions and government reached a deal in the early hours of the morning that promised pay increases to 5,000 staff across 17 organisations.

The promised increases, totalling 8 per cent and to be distributed in three phases, were set to begin with a 3 per cent backdated payment from April of the previous year.

However, many of them have yet to receive increases, according to Mr Barrett, who said he has been inundated with calls from concerned workers.

Independent local election candidate Harry Barrett

The delay in pay increases is particularly hard for staff members with families, including those with children in school or facing college fees. Without adequate compensation to cover rising living costs and inflation, these workers face an uphill battle to provide for themselves and their families. Cost of living is through the roof and their pay doesnt match this, stated Mr Barrett, who is standing in the seven-seat Castlebar Local Electoral Area.

I have been inundated with calls from concerned staff asking me for a response, so I am now calling on Government TDs in Mayo to advocate on behalf of these hardworking Western Care staff and all other voluntary bodies affected, ensuring that they receive the pay increases they were promised and rightfully deserve.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 3, 2024

A California appellate court confirmed this week that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak can attempt to proceed with a lawsuit against YouTube over videos that used his image as part of a cryptocurrency fraud.

In a revised opinion issued Tuesday, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected YouTube's argument that it was completely protected from lawsuits by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. That law broadly immunizes web companies from lawsuits over illegal material posted by third parties.

The appellate judges said that while Section 230 broadly protects YouTube from liability for frauds committed by third parties, the law doesn't immunize YouTube for allegedly providing verification badges to channels that were hijacked by scammers.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by Wozniak in 2020, when he alleged that YouTube featured scam videos and promotions that wrongly used his image and videos in order to cheat YouTube users.

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He alleged that fraudsters used his likeness to persuade YouTube users that he was hosting a bitcoin giveaway, and that people who sent in bitcoin would receive twice as much in return. Instead, when people transferred their cryptocurrency, they received nothing, according to the complaint.

His original complaint listed a host of claims, including that YouTube negligently failed to prevent the channel hijackings.

A trial judge dismissed the entire complaint, ruling that YouTube was protected by Section 230.

Last month, the California appellate court upheld the bulk of that ruling, but allowed Wozniak to attempt to proceed against YouTube for allegedly verifying the scam accounts. The allegations regarding verification centered on YouTube's own statements, as opposed to content posted by fraudsters, the court ruled.

Unlike the scam videos themselves, the third-party scammers did not create or develop the verification badges -- defendants allegedly did, the judges said.

At the same time, the appellate court said Wozniak's allegations would have to be fleshed out before he could move forward with the case. For instance, the judges wrote, the complaint didn't make clear whether YouTube issued the verifications before or after the channel hijackings.

The court sent the matter back to the trial judge with directions to allow Wozniak to beef up the allegations and bring them again.

YouTube then petitioned the appellate court for a new hearing.

On Tuesday, that court tweaked some of the language in its original opinion, but left in place the part of the decision allowing Wozniak to attempt to sue over the alleged verifications.

That portion of the ruling could also affect X Corp. (formerly Twitter), Santa Clara law professor Eric Goldman suggests in a blog post about the decision.

Though YouTube is the defendant in this case, this ruling is of high interest to Twitter, which is well-known for having issued blue-check verified accounts to pretenders and interlopers, Goldman wrote.
by Fern Siegel , April 4, 2024

Jet service JSX believes it has a better way to fly.

Its new brand campaign, courtesy of PMG, its agency of record, created "This Is How I Fly" which underscores the ease of a public charter airline.

JSX says it makes air travel less stressful, since its passengers avoid crowded terminals, baggage claims, fast-passes, long waits and priority boarding. Customers regain control.

The "This Is How I Fly" is a digital campaign that includes video, social, display, audio and OOH. The idea is to make everything from booking to flying easy and enjoyable. PMG is also responsible for a new brand look and design system for JSX.

Ben Kaufman, director of marketing for JSX, said: Public charters bring a simplified, premium experience to a diverse range of travelers across the nation.

There are 6-, 15- and 30-second spots airing in 22 markets across the U.S. and Mexico. The ads will run across high-impact media placements, DOOH, CTV, online video, targeted content takeovers, social and search channels. Spots include "Class" and "This Is Flying."

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To help signal a change, PMG also created an internal campaign to introduce JSX crew members to the new brand campaign, which includes JSXs refreshed guiding principles, branded travel sets, binders, business cards and office decor.

Andrew Harper, executive creative director at PMG, says: JSX is in a class of its own, challenging the big airlines with its reimagined flying experience. 'This is How I Fly' embodies JSXs business model by being bold and unexpected. We show the JSX experience as simple, seamless and something to be enjoyed, on your own terms.

PMG client work includes SurveyMonkey, Kohler and Old Navy.
by Wayne Friedman , April 3, 2024

National Amusements, which holds a near 80% voting stake in Paramount Global, has reached a deal to sell its interest to Skydance Media, a major film/TV production company on Paramounts lot, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Representatives for National Amusements did not respond to inquiries by press time.

Skydance -- which has worked with Paramount on hit films including Top Gun: Maverick -- has had interest, according to previous reports, in only acquiring the studio operations at Paramount Global.

The deal is believed to be a bit complex -- predicated on Paramount also striking other deals, all of which need approval from Paramount board of directors, according to the story.

Skydance Media is run by David Ellison. His father is billionaire Larry Ellison, chairman and chief technology officer and founder of Oracle.

Shares of Paramount stock rose sharply late on Wednesday, closing up 15% at $13.52.

In addition to Skydance, Paramount continues to field other offers for the company -- a $11 billion offer for its studio from Apollo Global Management, as well as other deals that are wider in scope from media entrepreneur Byron Allen and Warner Bros. Discovery.
by Ray Schultz , April 3, 2024

El Diario Nueva York, the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States, has joined the Empire State Local News Coalition, a group that seeks to foster local journalism in New York State.

The group, which has more than 150 members, urges passage of The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, a bill that would provide tax credits to news outlets for hiring local reporters.

El Diario Nueva York published a front-page editorial in support of the bill, saying it represents a significant opportunity for New York to lead by example, demonstrating a commitment to the values of free press and informed citizenship.

As the oldest Spanish language paper in the United States, thousands of our Latino neighbors count on us to deliver the stories that matter most to them, adds Ivan Adaime, president of Impremedia, the publisher of El Diario. But we are not immune to the existential challenges many local newspapers face.

The coalition notes that New York State has seen a 50% decrease in newspapers since 2005. It lost 30 local newspapers in 2022 alone. Moreover, 13 New York counties are news deserts.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding, an alliance that has proven exceedingly important for global security and peace throughout history. Unfortunately, this anniversary comes at a time when significant hostilities are unfolding, creating considerable insecurity on the international stage.



Ukraine, in particular, constitutes a huge challenge that requires immediate attention. All member states should assess their ability to offer assistance to Ukraine, especially at this stage when Russia's aggression tends to heighten.



For this reason, I had a one-on-one meeting yesterday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, during which we assessed the possibilities for providing substantial, useful, and effective assistance to Ukraine. It is extremely important to support Ukraine, as the fundamental value on which not only NATO but also the global security architecture is based is at stake right now, namely full adherence to international law, commitment to respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as combating any tendency towards revisionism.



I also had the opportunity yesterday to meet with my Turkish counterpart, with whom we discussed the issues on NATO's agenda, as well as matters regarding our bilateral relations, particularly in light of our two leaders meeting to be held next month in Turkiye.

Thank you very much.
More than three decades after his actions during the infamous Battle of Mogadishu, retired Army Maj. Larry Moores has been awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for acts of valor.

Moores was presented with the medal in a ceremony March 25 for his role in the fight as a young Army Ranger with 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, which included coming to the aid of other troops who were pinned down while under fire.

"Mr. Moores, I personally salute you for your tenacity, your toughness in a crucible combat, and your commitment to our Army, and your fellow soldiers," Gen. Gary Brito, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, said while presenting the award. "Your actions in Somalia were for them, your brothers in arms, and are a living tribute to the Ranger Creed, which I know that you hold dearly."

Read Next: Newly Approved Rapid Blood Test for Traumatic Brain Injury Could Speed Up Treatment for Troops

Immortalized by the 2001 blockbuster movie "Black Hawk Down," the real battle between U.S. troops and Somali militiamen occurred from Oct. 3 to Oct. 4, 1993.

Moores was assigned to Task Force Ranger, which had been deployed that summer to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and included Rangers, special operations troops and aviators.

What started as an overnight firefight between militiamen and U.S. forces quickly went south when two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down while conducting a raid aimed at capturing two of Farrah Aidid's lieutenants.

According to retired Army Col. Larry Perino, a fellow Ranger platoon leader who served alongside Moores during the battle, Moores played an active role in saving other service members' lives that night.

"Larry is deserving because he chose to go back to that street to try and break us out," Perino said at the ceremony, according to a statement from the Army. "Despite going out there and getting riddled with bullets time and time again and losing Rangers, he had the intestinal fortitude to lead his men to help us."

Moores recalled the battle at the ceremony, saying, "We lost 18 [soldiers] in battle and had more than 70 Rangers wounded. That was a tough experience because we were overwhelmed, with the odds against us. But it was amazing to watch the young Rangers still execute under very difficult circumstances."

For his service, Moores was inducted as a distinguished member of the 75th Ranger Regiment in 2005 and into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2017.

In 2021, the Army upgraded 60 awards for troops injured and killed in the battle, including 58 Silver Stars and two Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism displayed during "aerial flight."

Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, both Delta operators, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for attempting to protect one of the downed Black Hawk pilots, Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant, as Somalis closed in around them.

Although more than 30 years has passed since the infamous battle, the U.S. has maintained a tumultuous presence in Somalia.

Between 2019 and 2021, the U.S. drew back its physical presence in the African country. The following year, then-U.S. Africa Command commanding officer Gen. Stephen Townsend told lawmakers that the drawdown was a mistake, citing the need for a continued counterterrorism force, which the U.S. maintains to this day.

"In East Africa, al-Qaida's al-Shabab remains the greatest threat to U.S. persons and interests in the region as well as the homeland, while undermining peace, security and political progress in Somalia," Townsend told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a 2022 hearing. "If left unchecked, al-Shabab will soon expand beyond Somalia's borders and become an even greater threat to regional stability and American interests."

Most recently, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a resolution in April 2023 to the House floor that would have required the U.S. withdraw entirely from its counterterrorism efforts in Somalia. The resolution was shot down in a 102-321 vote.

Just shy of 500 troops -- mostly special operations personnel -- made up the U.S. military's remaining presence in Somalia as of June 2023.

Related: Army Upgrades 60 Awards for 'Black Hawk Down' Battle
Two Space Force Guardians have graduated from the Army's Drill Instructor Academy at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, marking a first for the nation's newest service branch.

Space Force Tech. Sgt. David Gudgeon and Sgt. Yuji Moore graduated from the Army's program Wednesday, according to a news release from Fort Jackson.

"This is historic, and I don't think it's lost on anybody how we bring the joint force together in order to get after it," Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Harris, Army Training and Doctrine Command senior enlisted leader, said in the news release. "The Army will never fight by itself; the Space Force will never fight by itself. In the entire Department of Defense, we fight in a joint force."

Read Next: Air Force Proposes Bypassing Governors in 7 States to Move Guard Units into Space Force

The two Guardians went through the school as part of a program that allows other service branches to send instructors to the academy at Fort Jackson, granting them a chance to see how the Army trains its own recruits and instructors.

The Space Force is continuing to grow its number of service-specific military training instructors and working to establish its own culture and traditions for Guardians going through boot camp.

Air Force and Space Force military training instructors go through their school at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland -- the same location for basic training for new airmen and Guardians.

In October 2020, Guardians started going to basic military training with airmen at San Antonio-Lackland. By the following December, the first seven Space Force Guardians had been trained by Air Force drill instructors and graduated alongside airmen.

By 2021, the service created the 1st Delta Operations Squadron Detachment 1 to formulate its own training, curriculum and standards.

In 2022, Military.com embedded with Guardians for the first-ever separate and specialized Space Force boot camp and examined the culture and changes in a three-part series.

The service now has 10 Space Force-specific military training instructors who are currently certified, and it aims to graduate around 500 new Guardians from basic military training each year, according to a Space Training and Readiness Command spokesman.

"So, about 25% of all Guardians on active duty were trained by Guardian military training instructors and now Guardian drill sergeants," Maj. Clinton Emry, commander of 1st Delta Operations Squadron/Detachment 1, said in Fort Jackson's press release.

In addition to the routine physical training, Space Force Guardians also go through an additional 35 hours of classroom instruction compared to airmen during basic military training, Military.com reported, where they learn about the service's origins, the wide variety of global threats in space and the arsenal of satellites under the branch's control.

Both Gudgeon and Moore enlisted in the Air Force and later transferred into the Space Force, Fort Jackson said. Both instructors said they're ready to bring what they learned back to Guardians.

"I think we're definitely gonna be bringing in a different flavor to that training environment that they haven't seen yet," Gudgeon said in the press release.

Related: How Do You Create a Guardian? A Look Inside Space Force's First Specialized Basic Training
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future U.S. support for the Gaza war depends on new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza and added a new layer of complication in the leaders increasingly strained relationship.

He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a statement following the leaders call. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Biden, a Democrat, also told Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is essential and urged Israel to reach deal "without delay," according to the White House.

The leaders conversation comes as the World Central Kitchen, founded by restauranteur Jose Andres to provide immediate food relief to disaster-stricken areas, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the groups staff members, including an American citizen.

The White House has said the U.S. has no plans to conduct its own investigation even as they called on Israel to do more to prevent the killing and wounding innocent civilians and aid workers as it carries out its operations in Gaza.

Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels that U.S. support would be curtailed if Israel doesnt make significant adjustments to how it's carrying out the war. If we dont see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy, he said.

Biden was also expected to reiterate his concerns about Netanyahus plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant groups deadly Oct. 7 attack. Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call.

Despite the growing divisions, the Biden administration has proceeded apace with arms transfers and deliveries to Israel, many of which were approved years ago but had only been partially or not at all fulfilled. Just this week, on Monday, the Democratic administrations Daily List of munitions transfers included the sale to Israel of more than 1,000 500-pound (225-kilograms) bombs and more than 1,000 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) bombs.

Officials said those transfers had been approved before the publication of the list on Monday  the day Israeli airstrikes hit a World Central Kitchen aid convoy in Gaza, killing seven of the groups employees  and that they fell below the threshold for new congressional notification. Also, they noted that the bombs are not for delivery to Israel until 2025.

Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the strikes but said the convoy was not targeted and the workers deaths were not intentional. The country continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killings.

Andres harshly criticized the Israeli military for the strike, and his organization has paused its work in Gaza.

The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon, he wrote on X. No more innocent lives lost.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, sits among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. Within two months, researchers say, the offensive already had wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syrias Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraines Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.

___

AP writers Matthew Lee in Brussels and Chris Megerian contributed.
Troops at Colorado Space Force Base Will Have to Bring Their Own To-Go Boxes for Dining Hall

While the initiative is aimed at reducing waste on base, the spokesperson added that they hope it will give troops on base...
A former Air National Guardsman has allegedly defected and joined the Russian army in its fight against Ukraine, according to the Rhode Island attorney general's office.

Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28, a former security forces technical sergeant with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, allegedly fled the country in response to a pending criminal case against him for possession of child pornography. Social media posts claim he volunteered with the Russian military and fought against Ukrainians in a fierce battle for a key eastern city.

"We are aware Mr. Puello-Mota left the country in response to civil criminal charges filed against him," Don Veitch, a spokesperson for the 104th Fighter Wing in Massachusetts, told Military.com in an email.

Read More: Boonie Caps Permitted for Soldiers at Fort Bliss But Remain Unauthorized for Rest of Army Bases

The charges, which Veitch called "very serious," led to Puello-Mota's separation from the Guard in October 2022. "Criminal activity is not compatible with our values as an organization and will not be tolerated in our ranks," he said.

Before joining the National Guard, Puello-Mota served in the active-duty Air Force, also as a security forces airman, according to an Air Force press release about the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing's 2015 deployment to Afghanistan.

Puello-Mota was charged in 2020 with possession of child pornography after allegedly soliciting nude photos from a teenager, legal documents show. He was a city councilman in the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, from January 2022 to January of this year through most of the legal proceedings stemming from the charge.

According to court documents provided to Military.com by the office of the Rhode Island attorney general, Puello-Mota was last known to be in Istanbul, Turkey. He boarded a flight Jan. 7, two days before he was supposed to be in court regarding the child pornography charges, departing from Dulles International Airport in Virginia for Turkey.

Posts from both Puello-Mota on Facebook and users of the social media platform Telegram allegedly in Russia claim the former Guardsman had joined Russian President Vladmir Putin's army in his war against Ukraine.

In a post on Telegram, a video of what posters say is Puello-Mota shows him signing up to serve in the Russian army.

"'Will' served in the US Armed Forces, but realizing what was really happening in Ukraine, several months ago he came to the North Military District as a volunteer," the video reads. "Together with the Russian guys, shoulder to shoulder, I liberated Avdiivka."

Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022. Since the start of the war, the U.S. has sent Ukraine approximately $44.2 billion in security assistance, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service in February.

U.S. troops have spent the last two years training Ukrainian and other allied Eastern European forces on weapons systems and tactics in the hope of deterring Russia from invading other neighboring countries.

While it's unclear whether the social media posts are genuine, court documents reveal that they are considered evidence enough of Puello-Mota having left U.S. jurisdiction.

"The state has received photos and videos purporting to be the defendant in Russia and Ukraine, where he is alleged to have joined the Russian military," Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha wrote. "While the state cannot verify the authenticity of the videos and photographs, if they are accurate, the defendant is well beyond the jurisdiction of this court and, if false, the defendant is engaged in an elaborate ruse to conceal his whereabouts."

Because Puello-Mota is involved in an ongoing case, Neronha's office told Military.com in an email that there would be no further comment available at this time.

Usually, the Massachusetts National Guard waits until civilian legal proceedings are completed before taking action against its service members.

Last summer, a U.S. soldier in South Korea crossed the demilitarized zone and fled into North Korea, according to the Army. Pvt. Travis King had just been released from South Korean detention after being held on assault charges and was bound for Fort Bliss, Texas, according to the Defense Department.

Instead, King ended up on a tourism tour to the border village of Panmunjom, from which he made his escape. He was returned to the U.S. in September and now faces eight different charges from the Army, including child pornography and desertion.

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the time period that Puello-Mota served as a councilman.

-- Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

Related: Pvt. Travis King: Everything We Know About the Soldier Who Ran into North Korea
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

In general, Americans don't trust their government institutions as much as they used to -- and that includes the military.

In part, that's because the military can be used as a tool to gain a partisan advantage rather than as a professional group that should be trusted by both parties. For instance, the day he was inaugurated as president, Donald Trump spoke at a luncheon and pointed to retired Marine four-star generals John Kelly and James Mattis, who were serving in his cabinet. "See my generals," he said. "Those generals are going to keep us so safe." This was the first of many times that he referred to top-ranking military officers, whether active-duty or retired, as "my generals" -- rather than as military leaders who serve the nation as a whole.

The former president's actions, while perhaps gaining the most attention, reflect a trend among recent presidential candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, who emphasize their connections to the military.

President Joe Biden has claimed he had support from numerous four-star military officers and cited his years of interactions with retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin as justification for a congressional waiver for Austin to serve as secretary of defense.

We are active duty Army officers who teach at West Point and instruct a mandatory course for cadets on the Constitution and American politics. We are concerned about the implication that the military somehow owes allegiance to specific individuals. Military officers do take an oath upon commissioning -- but not to a person. Our oath is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution as Curriculum

The foundation of what we teach at West Point is that the military's allegiance is to a system of government codified in the Constitution. Article I of the Constitution says that Congress declares war and funds the military. Article II of the Constitution makes clear that the military must follow the orders of the democratically elected civilian president. The Framers of the Constitution shared authority over the military among elected officials to ensure no one person has unchecked power to direct the military, and that the actions of the military are beholden to the public it serves.

The course we teach provides context and depth for cadets to understand their oath. On their first day at West Point, cadets take an oath to the Constitution. When they graduate, they take a similar oath, also to the Constitution, as they transition from cadet to military officer. Graduations, promotions, reenlistments and other major milestones are commemorated by service members reaffirming their commitment to the Constitution.

We are West Point graduates ourselves and have been taught, as we now teach, that our oath forms the basis of a nonpartisan ethic. In the U.S., unlike in many other countries, the oath implies military leaders should be trusted for their expertise and judgment, not for their loyalty to an individual or political party. We emphasize to cadets the rules and professional expectations associated with this profound responsibility.

We explain that they will likely face challenges that cannot be addressed by the text of their oath. We teach cadets that when the rules are vague or inadequate, they should live and lead without political partisanship and in ways that will maintain the trust of the elected leaders and the American public they serve.

Our assessments of students' learning provide evidence that our lessons are working. Among the concepts taught, cadets demonstrate the largest growth in understanding the Constitution's provisions for civilian control of the military and the expectation of nonpartisanship.

Moreover, we find that by the end of the course, their increased political awareness and understanding corresponds with less cynicism about the state of American politics.

Our course and similar efforts at the other service academies teach future officers to internalize the importance of their oath to the Constitution, especially in the current hyperpartisan political climate.

From Students to Stewards

We also expect that these lessons will extend well beyond the cadets in our classrooms. When they graduate, they will begin leading soldiers. As stewards of the military profession, officers shape the values and behaviors of all service members throughout their military careers.

More than 80% of the military is comprised of noncommissioned officers and enlisted service members. Most of them do not receive the same sort of instruction on the oath and the importance of a nonpartisan military.

They also take a slightly different oath that has changed over the years as the relationship between the military and society evolved. While both officers and enlisted service members swear first to support and defend the Constitution, enlisted service members also commit to obeying the orders of the president and the officers appointed over them. This added provision could be construed as a weakness, or as a justification for soldiers to prioritize obedience to a person over principles.

We believe concerns about enlisted personnel's oath to obey the president are overstated, for two reasons. First, in terms of both demographics and political preferences, enlisted soldiers are more representative of the wider society they serve than are the officers who lead them.

This combination of diverse backgrounds and interests among the ranks of citizen-soldiers follows the logic behind the Constitution that we teach our cadets. By encompassing a greater variety of different interests, it is less probable that any group bent on acting outside of the military's rules and expectations could act together with such strength as to overthrow civilian authority.

Second, the military remains a hierarchical institution, in which decisions are made and resources are allocated by officers in the chain of command. No single officer or elected official can easily direct the military to take actions that violate both rules and professional expectations. This structure underscores the importance of officers' education about the Constitution. As instructors of future officers, we know that the lessons we impart will not only influence a cohort of officers, but could also shape a generation of service members.

At the dawn of the republic, then-Gen. George Washington influenced the expectations of what it means to be a citizen-soldier. In a June 1775 letter that set the foundation for civilian control of the U.S. military, Washington emphasized that though he was serving in uniform, he was also part of the nascent nation's democracy: "When we assumed the (role of) Soldier, we did not lay aside the (role of) Citizen." That principle was later codified in the Constitution and in the military's professional ethic.

In today's contentious political environment, we believe that training and educating officers to live in accordance with Washington's example is more important than ever. As fewer Americans know someone who is or has been involved in military service, we want the public to know that educating officers on their oath to the Constitution is and will continue to be a priority in shaping the future leaders of our military.

Lee Robinson is the American politics program director at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Joseph G. Amoroso is an assistant professor of American politics there.

The views in the article are those of the authors and not the United States Military Academy, U.S. Army or the Department of Defense.
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Postal Code
The Cardinals are still waiting for right-hander Sonny Gray to make his regular season debut with the club, after he suffered a right hamstring strain during the spring. His path back to the big leagues got muddied, literally, when this weeks weather prevented his ramp-up from going as planned.

Per John Denton of MLB.com, Gray was going to make a rehab start for Triple-A Memphis at Indianapolis today but the club changed plans due to the heavy rain in the forecast. Instead, the new plan is for a 50-pitch simulated game today in Springfield, Missouri, followed by a Triple-A start on April 9, which was around when he was hoping to be back with the big league club. But hell now be looking at a return on April 14, assuming a normal four-day rest period after his outing for the Redbirds.

When Gray is ready to return, he should slot into the rotation next to Miles Mikolas, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson and Steven Matz in the rotation. That will likely mean that left-hander Zack Thompson gets nudged out. Thompson started todays game for the Cards and Denton noted that his velocity is way down, more than three ticks below his previous start. Whether thats indicative of some kind of undiscovered injury remains to be seen.

If hes healthy, Thompson has an option and can be sent to the minors when Gray gets back. He could also be moved to the bullpen to take over the long relief role currently held by Matthew Liberatore, as Liberatore also has an option and could be sent down for work in the Triple-A rotation.

Gray was signed to a three-year, $75MM deal in the offseason after posting a 2.79 earned run average with the Twins last year. He combined a 24.3% strikeout rate with a 7.3% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate, finishing second to Gerrit Cole in American League Cy Young voting.

Elsewhere in Cardinal news, right-hander Riley OBrien was placed on the 15-day injured list on the weekend due to a flexor strain. But earlier this week, Denton relayed that an MRI showed no structural damage.

OBrien will still require a shutdown period before ramping back up, but thats clearly a better alternative to requiring surgery and missing extended time. Acquired from the Mariners in November, OBrien has just 3 1/3 innings of major league experience but had a 2.29 ERA in 55 Triple-A innings last year. His 13.6% walk rate was scary but he also struck out 37.7% of batters faced and got grounders on 57.1% of balls in play.
For as long as there have been reporters working for our company in Michigan  and in some of our traditional communities, thats nearly 200 years  there has been a need and a demand for investigative journalism.

We look into fishy situations, dig up records and track down elusive people in our quest to hold those in power accountable and right wrongs on the behalf of our communities and our readers.

We have a mission statement of sorts  who is being harmed, is there hope, and what can be done about it, said John Counts, editor of MLives investigative reporting team.

The desire to fulfill that mission is in journalists DNA, and based on readership numbers we track, and letters I get from you, there is a strong appetite for more investigative reporting.

Thats why MLive this year has moved to bolster investigative reporting by doubling the number of reporters on our investigative team from two to four and making leadership of the team Counts full-time job.

A few years ago, we were starting to get some traction with some good investigative pieces, but it was more like on an ad-hoc basis. We would see something wrong and so we would go investigate, said Sara Scott, senior director of news for MLive.

That led to strong journalistic packages around sexual assaults at the Faster Horses and Electric Forest music festivals; profound enrollment challenges at Michigan public universities; record profits by hospital systems during the COVID era; and weed wars in Michigan border towns Up North. Those stories were largely the work of investigative reporters Gus Burns and Matthew Miller.

We thought if we got more strategic and organized about the way that we approached investigative journalism, we could build something really great, Scott said. The most important thing is impact  I want us to tackle tough issues and to right some wrongs.

So recently MLive Vice President of Content Kelly Frick and Scott reorganized staffing to add two reporters to the beat and focus Counts on leading the team. His primary role had been as a local editor for The Ann Arbor News.

Joining Burns and Miller on the investigative team are reporters Simon Schuster and Rose White. Counts joked that it now resembles the old TV action show The A Team, which featured four soldiers of fortune whose various specialties formed a formidable unit. Call ours The I Team.

Gus Burns has crime; Matt Millers got education and health care; Rose White has economy and business; and Simon Schuster has a political background, Counts said. That covers a lot of your basic newsroom beats right there.

Those additional reporters already have made an impact this year. Schuster dug into the background of controversial former Ottawa County Administrator John Gibbs, and White has published deeply reported pieces on the 10-year anniversary of a one-day window when same-sex marriages were legal in Michigan and on a rare, fatal brain disease that sprung up in a concerning cluster in west Michigan.

This allows us to take the time to get all the documents and to go out and get those hard-to-secure interviews with family members and officials who dont want to talk, Counts said.

Sometimes the investigative reporters work independently, and in other instances they team with local reporters in our eight newspaper markets. One great example from February was Burns pairing with Bay City Times reporter Cole Waterman to dig into citizen complaints against Michigan State Police troopers in urban cities.

This teams territory is the entire state of Michigan and their focus is old as our profession.

Were looking for bad actors throughout the state, right? said Counts. The old journalism credo is to root out chicanery and skullduggery and corruption and all that kind of good stuff. Well go to wherever the big story takes us.

# # #

Have a story idea or tip for our investigative team? Contact John Counts at johncounts@mlive.com.

# # #

John Hiner is president of MLive Media Group. If you have questions youd like him to answer, or topics to explore, share your thoughts at editor@mlive.com.
LANSING, MI -- Election year politics surrounding illegal immigration and Michigans newcomer rent subsidy program has sparked a firestorm of outrage in conservative media, linking Gov. Gretchen Whitmers administration to the influx of migrants at the southern border.

If you would like to house a migrant in your home in the state of Michigan, Michigan will give you $500 a month, Dave Bondy, a former journalist turned social media influencer, says in a video posted in late March, a narrative that quickly spread online.

Tudor Dixon, the Republican nominee in the 2022 gubernatorial election, appeared on Fox News to accuse Whitmer of handing out cash to anyone who will take in unvetted illegal immigrants, undoubtedly risking the safety of our neighborhoods and communities.

Right-wing publication Breitbart ran with that angle, inaccurately citing MLives past coverage of one of those programs.

I say migrants because not all of them are illegals, Bondy clarifies in his video. Some of them might have a green card or might have something like that, but many of them are illegal.

But undocumented immigrants who cant legally reside in the U.S. are not eligible to get the subsidy, and the state never asked Michiganders to set up new arrivals in their own homes  though that did happen in Massachusetts.

Only people who are legally in the country can receive federal funding under this program, Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity spokesperson Aundreana Jones-Poole told MLive. Federal funding is provided to qualified landlords for legal residents who meet the federally mandated eligibility requirements.

The department declined to provide any officials to speak about the program with MLive.

The subsidy program has a litany of requirements. Applicants must be receiving federal assistance and living under the poverty limit while working or in an employment program. Their landlord must verify theyre a tenant and the migrants must provide a form of identification, though the documents accepted are broad.

The issue has become embroiled in election year politics. Whitmer is a key surrogate for President Joe Biden in Michigan, who remains an unpopular president, while Whitmers job approval rating has remained above 50% in polling since her reelection. For Republicans supporting former President Donald Trump, the policy offers a way to tie Whitmer and Michigan to the influx of undocumented immigrants at the southern border.

The alleged killing of Ruby Garcia by Brandon Ortiz-Vite, an undocumented immigrant who had been previously deported from the U.S., placed fresh attention on the issue. Trump appeared at a press conference with law enforcement Tuesday to highlight the topic.

More: Carnage and chaos: Trump attacks Bidens border policy after Grand Rapids killing

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, called the killing a tragic instance of domestic violence and expressed support for immigrants in a statement on social media.

We know that immigrants (of all statuses) are a net-positive to our economy, public safety, culture and community, Brinks wrote in the post.

Susan Reed, an attorney and director of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, said the rent subsidy program fills an urgently needed void for migrant housing, noting in a statement to MLive most public benefits programs are limited to people who have held green cards for five years or longer and very few include anyone with a temporary status or a pending application for status.

Criticism of the program from elected Republicans in Michigan has landed on a finer point: the availability of the subsidy to undocumented migrants who, some assert, are exploiting the countrys overwhelmed immigration courts.

Gretchen Whitmers rent subsidy program makes handouts available to illegals who were caught in the country and then frantically claimed asylum to avoid deportation, House minority leader Rep. Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said in a statement. The Whitmer administration must come clean about this dubious program to the taxpayers who are paying for it. Michiganders shouldnt have their dollars taken to reward those who broke our immigration laws.

Hall penned a letter with Rep. Joseph Aragona, R-Clinton Township, to the Office for Global Michigan requesting more information on the subsidies and insisting the program prioritizes those who have gone through the process correctly, such as approved refugees.

Hall is opposed to providing subsidies to undocumented immigrants who claim asylum once removal proceedings against them have begun, known as a defensive asylum claim. Its in contrast with an affirmative asylum claim, requested upon entering the U.S.

U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, wrote a letter to Biden asserting the used by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to provide a rental subsidy up to $500 per month to house illegal immigrants who are claiming asylum status.

At the end of last year, Michigans immigration court in Detroit had a backlog of 6,085 asylum cases, according to Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Nearly 9 out of 10 cases, 5,338, were defensive claims. The average time from the court filing until an asylum hearing, according to TRAC data, was 1,074 days  nearly three years  though delays have declined since 2021.

This has allowed migrants who entered the country illegally to stave off removal and give authorities the slip while they await a decision, critics argue. About 74% of defensive asylum claims are denied in Detroits court.

Asylum applicants also need to have received work authorization to apply for the rental subsidy, something they cant apply for until their application has been pending for 150 days.

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimated there are 91,000 immigrants in Michigan without authorization, while more than 22,000 refugees have been placed in the state from fiscal year 2013 through 2022.

A February press release called on Michigan residents to work with the Welcome Corps to meet refugees at the airport and assist them with finding housing, employment and enroll children in school. The Welcome Corps program requires would-be sponsors to secure their own funding for the sponsorship.

The Office of Global Michigans goal is to make Michigan the home for opportunity for our immigrant, refugee and ethnic communities, Poppy Hernandez, Michigans chief equity and inclusion officer and director of the Office of Global Michigan said in a statement. With expanded refugee resettlement pathways, everyday Michiganders can provide refuge and build a state where people are welcomed with open arms.
EASTPOINTE, MI -- Police arrested six teenagers Wednesday morning after a car chase that started in the 15000 block of Charles R Avenue. Police were dispatched to the home around 1:30 a.m. after receiving a call regarding three males who were looking into a parked car in a driveway.

At some point, the Eastpointe Police Department says the suspects ran to a silver Hyundai and fled from the area. Police were able to locate the Hyundai and attempted to stop the vehicle, however the driver refused to pull over. A pursuit began and eventually ended when the vehicle crashed in the area of 10 Mile and Saxony.
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP)  During campaign events in Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday, Donald Trump used the recent death of a Grand Rapids woman killed by a man who immigration officials say entered the country illegally to amplify his inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail accusing President Joe Biden of causing a bloodbath at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The woman, 25-year-old Ruby Garcia, was found dead on the side of a Grand Rapids highway on March 22. Police say she was in a romantic relationship with the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who is a citizen of Mexico.

Immigration has emerged as the focal point of Trumps reelection campaign. He frequently highlights incidents involving immigrants to fuel concerns about Bidens border policies and on Tuesday attempted to tie Garcias death to that of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who officials say was killed by a man who entered the U.S. illegally.

While authorities believe Rileys death was random, Garcias case is different.

Heres what we know and where Trumps claims strayed from the truth.

The death of Ruby Garcia

Trumps campaign has said that Garcia was killed by an immigrant in a drunken carjacking attempt. This conveys a sense of randomness that isnt supported by facts.

On the night of March 22, a Grand Rapids police officer discovered Garcia on the side of a highway in Grand Rapids with multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Ortiz-Vite told authorities that he shot Garcia multiple times during an argument while inside her car. He then exited the passenger side, walked around the rear of the car and opened the drivers door. He said he shot her once more because he believed she was still alive. He then pulled her from the car and drove away.

Ortiz-Vite has since been charged with felony murder, open murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm possession. He was arrested with a 9mm Taurus pistol, which Ortiz-Vite said he had used to shoot Garcia and that he had purchased it illegally, according to the affidavit.

Authorities say Garcia and Ortiz-Vite were in a romantic relationship. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said in announcing the charges that this is another case of a domestic violence homicide that weve seen, quite frankly, far too often over the last few years.

The killing received minimal attention until a conservative media outlet began reporting that Ortiz-Vite was an illegal immigrant. Republicans across Michigan began citing the case to highlight issues at the southern border. Soon after, Trump announced that he would travel to Grand Rapids for a campaign event.

Trump initially correctly referred to Garcia as a 25-year-old on Tuesday before later saying that she was a 17-year-old. He also said that his administration had thrown Ortiz-Vite out of the country and crooked Joe Biden took him back and let him back in and let him stay in and he viciously killed Ruby.

But Trump has no way of knowing whether Ortiz-Vite returned to the U.S. on Bidens watch or his own. Ortiz-Vite had been deported in September 2020 following a drunk driving arrest, a little over a year after his status with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program expired, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration officials dont know whether Ortiz-Vite reentered the country in the final months of Trumps presidency or during Bidens tenure.

At an unknown date and location Ortiz-Vite reentered the United States without inspection by an immigration official, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

Flanked by sheriffs and Republican officials, Trump asserted on Tuesday that Garcias death was a direct result of Bidens border policies. He added that Garcias loved ones and community are left grieving for this incredible young woman.

When she walked into a room, she lit up that room and Ive heard that from so many people, said Trump. I spoke to some of her family.

Rubys sister, Mavi, who has become the spokesperson for the family, has disputed the former presidents account, telling multiple outlets that neither Trump nor anybody from his campaign has contacted anybody in her immediate family.

It was shocking. I kind of stopped watching it. Id only seen up to that  after I heard a couple of misinformations he said, I just stopped watching it, Mavi Garcia told WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.

At the event, a Trump spokesperson could not identify who the former president had spoken with in the Garcia family. The campaign has not clarified since.

The mainstream media is abhorrent for spending more time nitpicking President Trumps words and obsessing over his rhetoric than writing about the heinous crimes committed by Joe Bidens illegal immigrants, like the one who killed Ruby Garcia, said Trumps national press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement.

Trump told conservative Michigan radio host Justin Barclay on Monday that hed like the Garcia family to be at his event and asked Barclay to coordinate with them. Barclay told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he had not been in communication with the family.

Its always been about illegal immigrants, Mavi Garcia told WOOD-TV. Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and its kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like that?

Immigrant crimes

Michigan Republicans have tried to link Garcias death to other crimes reportedly committed by immigrants to indicate a concerning trend. Trump on Tuesday mentioned a string of robberies in Oakland County homes authorities said were orchestrated by transnational gangs " and also the death of 22-year-old Leah Marie Gomez.

Gomez was killed in Grand Rapids last year by the father of her 1-year-old child, Mexican national Luis Bernal-Sosa. Gomez was sitting in her car with her daughter when Bernal-Sosa shot her multiple times, according to police.

One is a tragedy, two is a trend. West Michigan is not going to accept illegal immigrants making us feel unsafe in our community, said Michigan GOP chair Pete Hoekstra last week.

But while Republicans have highlighted these high-profile crimes reportedly committed by individuals in the country illegally, the most recent FBI statistics reveal a continued decline in overall violent crime in the U.S., following a temporary increase during the pandemic.

Many studies have found immigrants are less likely to commit violent crime than native-born citizens. One 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.

The argument from Democrats

Democrats have pointed to a bipartisan compromise to shore up border security that Trump helped derail by letting House Republicans know he opposed it.

There was a solution on the table. It was actually the former president that encouraged Republicans to walk away from getting it done, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said Monday. I dont have a lot of tolerance for political points when it continues to endanger our economy and, to some extent, our people as we saw play out in Grand Rapids recently.

____

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed from New York.
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  A 21-year-old man accused of attacking multiple people with a knife was given a $1.5 million bond on Thursday.

Noah Matthew Williams was charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery during a hearing before 14A-1 District Court Magistrate Elisha Fink on April 4.

Williams, of Ann Arbor, allegedly slashed a 25-year-old woman across the chest around 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 3, while on an Ann Arbor Transportation Authority bus near the 22000 block of Fuller Road, police said.

The woman had intervened in an ongoing situation between Williams and another person when Williams slashed her before fleeing, Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Emmons said during the arraignment hearing.

The woman was taken to the hospital with injuries, but has since been released, Chris Page, spokesperson for the Ann Arbor police, said Thursday.

Her wounds required suturing and gluing, Emmons said. He also alluded to similar incidents that have happened in other areas.

Read more: 3 reports of man pulling knife on people in 1 week could be linked, Ann Arbor police say

What Im seeing is a pattern of behavior for somebody who has been looking for confrontation in order to justify some kind of violent tendencies, Emmons said. And that has just been an escalation over the past couple of weeks.

Williams was charged with two of the crimes, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery, for allegedly putting a knife to someones throat on Monday, April 1, at Target, 231 S. State St., police said.

Read more: Man holds knife to persons throat in Target near University of Michigan

Preliminary investigation showed Williams and another person had bumped into each other while entering the store around 9 p.m., police said. They then got into a verbal altercation, after which he brandished a folded pocket knife and held it against the other persons throat, according to police.

The other person then pushed Williams away, and he exposed the blade, police said.

Williams claimed to his grandparents that he had forgotten about the incident at Target, Emmons said, citing calls from jail between Williams and his grandparents.

Either that means that hes been deliberately manipulative towards his grandparents, or that this is such a routine thing that like it would just fall away in the normal course of business, he said.

Police are investigating if Williams is also connected with a third incident with similar details that occurred near North Ingalls and Ann streets.

Read more: Man pulls knife, spits on person who bumped into him near University of Michigan campus

Two men were walking down the sidewalk in opposite directions around 4 p.m. March 27 when they pumped into each other, according to a release from the University of Michigans Division of Public Safety and Security.

One of them followed the other, pushing him and spitting on him before brandishing a pocket knife, according to police.

Williams is currently being held in the Washtenaw County Jail on a $750,000 bond on each case. He is next set to appear in court on April 11.

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KALAMAZOO, MI  Mohamed Farwana went to bed expecting to be woken by a call from relatives 6,000 miles away. They were fleeing their home in Gaza on March 23 to escape war and missiles raining down.

The phone rang around midnight  earlier than expected.

It was a Kalamazoo phone number. Bronson hospital.

The caller said Farwanas son was hurt in a car crash. They asked Farwana how long itd take to get to the hospital.

His mind raced from Gaza back to Kalamazoo.

I knew it must be something bad, Mohamed Farwana said, heading straight to the emergency room. Access was locked down because a shooting victim was there for treatment.

Minutes later, he found out the shooting victim was his son.

Bader Mohamed Farwana, 25, was shot and pronounced dead sometime before midnight, police said. He was the second person killed in Kalamazoo in 2024.

The family is Palestinian. They are from Gaza and lived as refuges in Saudi Arabia before coming to the U.S. Mohamed Farwana said he knew Gaza wasnt a place he could return to, so he brought his family here.

Bader Farwana was faithful to the U.S. and Palestine, and loved both countries, his dad said. He was glad to be here.

Young dad, fierce competitor

Bader Farwana was born May 8, 1998, in Saudi Arabia, the third of four brothers. He was a graduate of Kalamazoo Central High School, and was currently studying information technology at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. He was on a scholarship from the Kalamazoo Promise, his brothers said.

He was the father of a 1-year-old girl named Eleanor.

Mohamed Farwana wants his sons killer to see the babys face, to know the person who will no longer have a father.

No one will love her like her dad, he said. But Mohamed Farwana will do everything he can to be second best.

Shes a part of us now, he said, though hes loved the baby from Day 1.

Mohamed Farwana and baby Eleanor.(Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com)

During a family interview with MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette at the family home, Eleanor crawled to the room where her dad had stayed.

Dadda, she calls out.

Its the only word she knows, family members say.

She keeps repeating it, as her grandma Maha Farwana (the victims mother), scoops her off the floor and tries helping her learn new words.

A blanket that smells like Bader Farwana is the one the baby sleeps with, Maha Farwana said. Her son was a positive influence on his baby and those around him, she said.

The grandparents love and pain is seen in their eyes as they talk about their late son and granddaughter.

The girls mother, Mackenzie, married Farwana in a ceremony recognized by their religion, family said. The grandparents and mother are working to be sure the baby has the support she needs.

For Mohamed Farwana, a master mechanic at a local car dealership, that means looking for a second job and learning how to raise a girl, he said.

A GoFundMe has been established to raise money for funeral costs and for the baby.

Bader Farwana was known as a competitor in martial arts. He planned to make his professional debut in a few weeks.

It doesnt feel real to lose him, family members said.

I just feel like hes supposed to be here, older brother Zuhair Farwana, 27, said.

Bader Farwanas medals hang on the wall from competitions, above the toys set up where his daughter plays.

He was gaining ground as a fighter and in other areas of his life, according to his brother who trained with him.

He was always so consistent in my life and teaching me about everything, 19-year-old Saleem Farwana said. Hes looking forward to continuing his brothers legacy.

Bader Farwana's three brothers, Saleem, Zuhair and Ghazi, pose for a photograph in the backyard of their parent's Kalamazoo home. (Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com)(Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com)

Zuhair Farwana is beyond proud of what his brother did with his 25 years on earth.

He had a private generosity to him. The family found out after his death he was paying for phone lines and gym memberships for friends.

Bader Farwana was proud of his heritage and planned to fly the Palestinian flag after his upcoming fight. He was also an American citizen, his father said.

He was focused on his pursuits as a fighter and competitor in Jiu Jitsu, where he earned a blue belt with stripes, Saleem said.

Bader Farwana holds up a finger on top of the podium following a recent competition. (Courtesy | Zuhair Farwana)(Courtesy | Zuhair Farwana)

He wanted to make it, to raise that flag high for Palestine, Saleem Farwana said.

Instead, he was buried with it.

Night takes deadly turn

Farwana was killed March 23 in Kalamazoo.

Before the shooting, he was watching a televised UFC fight at a friends house in Kalamazoo, according to his dad.

Mohamed Farwana said his son could fight off multiple people if he were attacked.

But not against a gun. Thats a cowards weapon, he said.

Bader Farwana helped train police officers on how to fight with someone trained in martial arts, family members said.

Mohamed Farwana doesnt know of any reason his son could have experienced this violence. While the family hasnt been told all details of the case from police, he guesses it could have been a robbery or some kind of dispute.

It wasnt worth his sons life, he said.

It will always be a big why? for the family, his oldest brother, Ghazi Farwana, 30, said. He admits they may never know.

This is another sad case, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Chief David Boysen said. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family, especially his young child.

Since this is an open and ongoing investigation, Boysen said he cant provide details about the homicide at this time.

The killing comes on the heels of a record high number homicides last year in Kalamazoo, compared to the past two decades.

Related: Kalamazoo homicides increased by 91% in 2023. Heres where each case stands.

Violence, decades apart

Hours after learning of his sons death, Mohamed Farwana received another phone call. His family members made it safely out of Gaza and into Rafah, Egypt.

Scrolling through Arabic Al Jazeera headlines on his laptop in Kalamazoo, Mohamed Farwana said hes glued to the news coverage. A number of family members remain in and around the war zone.

Family members were leaving Gaza to flee violence the same night Bader Farwana was killed. One was injured from shrapnel in an explosion in recent weeks and needed surgery.

Mohamed Farwana recalls the story, passed down generations, of how his parents fled Gaza because of violence in 1948. His wifes family left during violence that erupted there around 1967.

The family lived in Saudi Arabia. Mohamed Farwana brought his family to the U.S. in 2000.

We came here from nothing to make something, brother Ghazi Farwana said, adding they didnt get equal rights while living overseas as refugees. This country offered us equal opportunity.

Echoes of the violence that drove their ancestors from their homeland are heard again today, Mohamed Farwana said.

Losing his son was the worst pain of any loss hes ever felt, he said.

It was a mix of emotions, as his son was tragically taken in Kalamazoo as other family members made it to safety, escaping a war zone.

He was taking a big step in his life, Mohamed Farwana said. Somebody stopped all that.

How many lives are being destroyed by this?

Mohamed Farwana.(Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com)

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety is asking anyone with information to contact its Criminal Investigation Division at 269-337-8139 or reach out anonymously through Kalamazoo Silent Observer at 269-343-2100, the P3Tips app, or online at www.KalamazooSilentObserver.com.

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoos City Commission approved a $450,000 settlement with a Kalamazoo resident who suffered life-altering injuries after a collision with a city-owned vehicle.

Bianca Wilson, 26, of Kalamazoo, was hit by a city-owned 2006 Sierra GMC 1500 work truck on June 9, 2021. The driver, Chad Burke, ran a red light at the intersection of South Park Street and West Michigan Avenue, according to court documents.

The collision pushed Wilsons vehicle into another lane, where it was hit again. The car rolled several times before landing on its wheels.

As a result, Wilson has suffered traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic headaches and neck strain. The mental and physical trauma have affected her ability to work, drive, take classes or otherwise lead a normal life, according to court documents.

Wilson sued Burke and the city of Kalamazoo for negligence and ownership liability in April 2023.

The city of Kalamazoo has reached a settlement to end a lawsuit against the city involving an employee stemming from a traffic incident, city Public Information Officer Mike Smith said. The settlement agreement will become a public document once approved by the State Circuit Court.

City commissioners did not discuss the proposed settlement before unanimously approving it during the public meeting on Monday, April 1.

The commissions approval was the last step in the legal process of Wilsons claims against the city, her lawyer Jon Jilek said.

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.
LANSING, MI  The Michigan Attorney Generals Office is again alerting the public about a massive data breach affecting millions of AT&T customers.

If you have ever held an account with AT&T, we strongly recommend you take simple precautions now to protect yourself against this significant breach, said AG Dana Nessel.

She advised current AT&T customers to immediately change their login credentials and update any other accounts using similar passwords or security questions. Former customers should also consider taking these steps.

All customers who receive notice should take this seriously, Nessel said. This data is already available on the dark web, which indicates the involvement of fraudsters and criminals.

AT&T on March 30 disclosed that customer account information appeared in a large dataset released on the dark web earlier in the month. This affected about 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and more than 60 million former account holders.

According to AT&T, the dataset appears to be from 2019 or earlier and contains information such as Social Security numbers and four-digit numerical PIN passcodes. Full names, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and AT&T account numbers may have also been compromised.

AT&T plans to notify customers via email or letter. Michigan law does not require companies to notify the AGs Office of data breaches, so the number of affected Michigan residents is unknown.

Nessel advised ex-customers with sensitive data attached to older accounts should take protective measures and not wait for official notice from AT&T. To that end, she directed citizens to her offices Data Breaches: What to do Next. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also has consumer guidance available for creating strong passwords and securing accounts.

My department has resources available online to help those impacted, and my consumer protection team is ready to assist any Michigan resident who may become a victim of identity theft due to this breach, Nessel said.

Consumers can protect themselves during a data breach by taking the following actions:

Watch out for phishing emails

Strengthen or change your passwords

Do not retain unnecessary data or files

Use multifactor authentication on devices and accounts

Consider locking your credit to prevent unauthorized activity

Review your credit report often. Take advantage of free weekly credit reports from each of the three main credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion by contacting the Annual Credit Report website.

To file a complaint with the Attorney General, or get additional information, contact:

Consumer Protection Team P.O. Box 30213 Lansing, MI 48909 517-335-7599 Fax: 517-241-3771 Toll-free: 877-765-8388 Online complaint form
PM Modi calls Chirag Paswan 'little brother' at Jamui rally, says people of Bihar have resolved to help NDA win all 40 LS seats
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Three security personnel killed in 'terrorist attacks' in Iran
By MSU Public Relations | Apr 4, 2024

MURRAY, Ky.  The latest Murray State University Racer Report includes student, faculty, staff and alumni accomplishments, announcements, upcoming campus events and more for the week of April 1-5.

**

Dr. Abdul Yarali

Dr. Abdul Yarali has signed a contract for his new book, "Identity and Access Management: Cybersecurity and Risk Management, with Cambridge Publication in London, United Kingdom. The book is set to be published by August 2025.

The rapidly evolving threats add to the vulnerability of systems. Cybersecurity threats, as well as attack techniques, are constantly evolving, which makes it difficult for organizations to keep up. This leaves them exposed to new attack vectors that exploit their existing defenses. More resources and budget constraints are needed to ensure organizations implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures, said Yarali. In this book, I will discuss engineering design access control and identity management, which involves a systematic and detailed approach to ensure that the right individuals have appropriate access to resources while protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access. The proposed book covers the latest identity and access control developments at data storage, process and motion at edge, fog, and cloud layers of network connectivity.

**

Professor Emeritus Roger Haney

Professor Emeritus Roger Haney, Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communication has published the first of four textbooks dealing with the effects of the mass media entitled "An Introduction to The Effects of The Mass Media."

The textbook covers the basics of media research, through which the reader will learn the advantages of scientific research over other types of knowledge, and how to conduct experimental and survey research, including polling procedures. The book also presents the historical development of mass media, the nature of the audiences of each medium, the basics of various learning theories, research on childrens learning from Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and discussion of critical thinking techniques. Also included is extensive research on how the media socializes individuals, encompassing studies on stereotypes presented by the media and how to offset them, eating disorders and the prosocial effects of the media.

The book is available on Amazon.com as well as on: https://www.cambridgescholars. com/product/978-1-5275-7572-1 .

**

SmartPark, a myGate/smart parking application designed to help new and existing students gain more clarity on where they can park on campus

Senior electromechanical engineering and technology student Boaz Burnett, of Murray, Kentucky, has created SmartPark, a myGate/smart parking application designed to help new and existing students gain more clarity on where they can park on campus.

Burnetts efforts in pursuing a smart parking solution for universities started as a senior design project. He was awarded a $5,000 grant by Kentucky Commercialization Ventures in fall 2023 to commercialize his solution.

The app is free and can be downloaded at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ msu-smart-park/id6478200886 .

**

Dr. Tina Bernot

Executive Director of Development Dr. Tina Bernot has been selected for inclusion in Marquis Who's Who. Individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Bernot has established herself as a distinguished professional in educational fundraising and development. Currently serving as the executive director of development at Murray State University since 2016, she is responsible for spearheading all private fundraising initiatives for the institution.

Bernot received a Bachelor of Science in business management and marketing from Edgewood College in 1996. She subsequently earned a Master of Science in organizational communication in 2014 and a Doctor of Education in P-20 and community leadership with a focus on higher education administration in 2021 from Murray State University.

Bernot remains active in her professional community as a member of the International Association of Women. In recognition of her contributions, she was honored with the title of Kentucky Colonel by The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels in 2022.

**

Mark Manning and Dr. Simone Silva were recognized for their contributions to the economic development program at Murray State.

Murray State Universitys Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Development (CEED) recently held its annual meeting of regional economic development professionals to discuss new academic program developments for the Universitys Master of Science in Economic Development program and its Certificate in Economic Development. Also discussed was the newly developed agricultural track in the economic development program. At the meeting, President and CEO of the Murray Calloway County Economic Development Corporation Mark Manning was recognized for his vision and leadership assisting the University in the creation of the economic development program.

Additionally, Dr. Simone Silva, director of the Master of Science in Economic Development, was recognized for efforts to use her academic education and training to support outreach efforts in supporting those communities.

It was a great opportunity to receive feedback from our economic development leaders on how we can work together on both academic and outreach efforts for the growth of jobs and wealth, while also recognizing Mr. Manning and Dr. Silva for their leadership and support, said Chris Wooldridge, director of the CEED.

**

Jon Parrish Peede, a Murray State University student pursuing his Doctor of Arts in English Pedagogy, was recently named president at Ashland University and Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio.

The DA program has proven invaluable for making me aware of higher education trends and the pressures that faculty overcome daily, said Peede. I commend my Murray State professors and grad school peers for their insights, collegiality, and dedication. I will be a better president due to this superb doctoral program.

Peede is the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal grant-making agency. As NEH chairman, he awarded more than $500 million to universities, museums, libraries and scholars. Currently, he is a faculty member in the department of English and foreign languages at Mississippi Valley State University.

Peede will complete his DA at Murray State in May 2025.

For more information on Murray States Doctor of Arts in English Pedagogy, contact Dr. Kevin Binfield at kbinfield@murraystate.edu or at 270-809-2401.

**

Dr. Randy Keller, retired MSU professor, is pictured in a 2019 photo with Dr. Claire Fuller (left), dean, Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering and Technology; and Dr. Tracey Wortham (right), past chair, Department of Occupational Safety and Health.

Dr. Randy Keller, a retired Murray State University professor in the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, was recently designated an American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) fellow. Only five percent of the AIHA membership qualifies for a Fellow Award. According to the AIHA, the designation is a reflection of your exceptional contributions to industrial hygiene and related disciplines. Your dedication, leadership, and expertise have left an indelible mark on our profession, and your recognition as a Fellow is a testament to your exemplary track record.

**

Dr. Ismail Karabas

Dr. Ismail Karabas, assistant professor of marketing in the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business, was recently featured in Fox Business and New York Times stories centered around tip prompts at restaurants, cafes and businesses.

Read the stories at https://www.foxbusiness.com/ media/tipflation-explained- professor-explains-explosion- tipping-prompts-restaurants- cafes-businesses and https://www.nytimes.com/2023/ 11/17/your-money/tipping-self- checkout-inflation.html .

At Murray State, Karabas teaches Integrated Marketing Communications (undergraduate), Marketing Planning and Application (MBA), among others. His primary research interests are services marketing and advertising, and a list of his publications are available at https://bit.ly/3VHdXX6.

**

Equestrian stock team for the 2023-24 academic year

The Murray State University Western Seat Equestrian Team traveled to one of three western semifinal competitions held in the United States in March. Riders had to qualify for semifinals by placing first or second in their regional competition. Semifinal competition was held at the Middle Tennessee State University Livestock Arena in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The team took riders and also furnished seven University horses for the competition as well. Riders had to place in the top four in a class of 16 to move on to IHSA national competition.

The Murray State Equestrian Team had two riders qualify for national competition. Josie Spratt of Purcell, Oklahoma was first in reining, qualifying for nationals and ninth in Horsemanship. Mallory Ritzman of Elkhorn, Wisconsin placed third in rookie horsemanship, qualifying for nationals. Kenleigh Davis of Clinton, Tennessee placed fifth in level I horsemanship, narrowly missing qualifying, and Clara Damman of Napoleon, Ohio placed sixth in beginner horsemanship. Qualifying riders will now be traveling to Tryon International Equestrian Center in Tryon, North Carolina the first week in May to compete in the IHSA National Horse Show.
The District Court of Guam is seen Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Hagatna.
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THE State yesterday objected to the release on bail of five suspected hitmen hired from South Africa to kill a Zimbabwean businessman.

The five were allegedly hired by an associate of the businessman after he failed to refund US$800 000 that had been advanced to him to pay for liquid gas tankers in Turkiye.

Moses Monde (37), Malvin Manzinde (30), Malvin Tatenda Nyamuranga (33), Nobert Muponda (45) and Joshua Mapuranga (41) appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje charged with conspiring to commit murder.

Prosecutor, Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti told the court that they were abiding by the affidavit of the investigating officer, Tirivangani Madhibha, that if granted bail, the accused would not return to attend trial as they were not residents of Zimbabwe.

Mr Mutsokoti added there is evidence extracted from the accuseds phones with chats explaining how they were planning to kill the complainant.

Evidence led in court indicates a high degree of planning and if released, there was a likelihood of them attacking the businessman at his house again.

The lawyer for the five, Mr Moffat Makuvatsine, challenged the State submissions, saying that it had failed to offer any evidence linking the five to the commissioning of the crime.

He said that there is no evidence of alleged recovered firearms that were to be used to kill the businessman and the source of conspiracy was not given except for hearsay evidence.

Mr Makuvatsine submitted that the five were just victims of a vicious game between two business moguls.

The bail ruling will be given tomorrow.

The State alleged that in November 2022, Obrian Obert Mapurisa, who is still at large, entered into an agreement with businessman Mr Oliver Chipindu to buy seven liquified petroleum gas tankers in Turkiye worth US$800 000.

In January this year, Mr Chipindu made a follow up with Mapurisa who was evasive.

Mr Chipindu then contacted the company in Turkiye that had been contracted to do the gas tankers and was informed that only a deposit of US$132 000 was paid.

He then contacted Mapurisa who confirmed that he had diverted the funds, but was going to pay for the tankers.

The court heard Mr Chipindu then confronted Mapurisa asking for a refund, but he was evasive.

Then on February 28, Mr Chipindu travelled to Turkiye to try and talk to the Mimak Company to secure his tanks and was given time to pay the balance up to the end of March.

As an attempt to avoid being bothered by Mr Chipindu, Mapurisa hired the five to kill him. Mr Chipindu was not in the country at the time but later returned to Zimbabwe on March 11 and was informed by his friend that the accused persons had been hired from South Africa to kill him and he made a police report.

The following week, Mr Chipindu and his friend lured the five to come to Zimbabwe from South Africa and they came through and were arrested by police in Avondale.

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PlutoniumKun, who as readers may recall follows Chinese social media and also has a keen interest in development economics, sent a new article by Jonathon P. Sine, a first part in a two-part series on the rise and fall of local government financing vehicles, the shadow banks behind Chinas housing bubble. PlutoniumKun describes Sine as one of the very few western based Chinese commentators who tries to stay above the ideological fray. PlutoniumKun also reports that this article is garnering very keen interest on Chinese Twitter. That piece is so meaty, and intended to be a reference work, that we will turn to it in a later post.

But before we turn to this deep dive into LGFVs, which as of 2020 had liabilities of roughly 75% of Chinas GDP, lets first turn to Sines 2021 must-read piece, Financialization: Is it Worse in the PRC? Readers who have gotten a big dose of Michael Hudson describing how Chinese leadership has steered clear of the Anglopshere traps of neolibearlism and financialization will tend instictively to reject this claim.

But what Sine presents, and many commentators fail to deliver, is data. Lots of it. From lots of angles. One youve read his piece in full, it is hard to dismiss his argument that China is pretty bloody financialized, and even more so on a relative basis than the US.

Skeptics might argue that if Sine is correct, why hasnt the China-bashing media seized on his thesis? One possibility: depicting financialization, and in particular the level of US financialization, as bad is not something the Western business media is keen to promote. Even if the claims that China is cruising for a bruising include some financial metrics, like declining economic productivity of borrowing (how much incremental debt it now takes to generate a dollar more of GDP), debt levels, debt growth, real-estate related bankruptcies, the doubters tend to focus on the notion that Chinas growth rate is flagging or overstated, and contend that that has knock-on effects, particularly making it difficult for China to deliver rising standards of living. They also point out the implications of Chinas low birth rate.

And even though Hudson is a critic of financial capitalism, as opposed to industrial capitalism, hes not alone in that view. None other than the IMF pointed out that financialization, once it passed a not-very-high level, is a negative for growth. From our 2015 post on their study:

Their conclusion was that the growth benefits of financial deepening were positive only up to a certain point, and after that point, increased depth became a drag. But what is most surprising about the IMF paper is that the growth benefit of more complex and extensive banking systems topped out at a comparatively low level of size and sophistication.

The only way to keep a bigger financial system not to act as a drag is via strict regulation, something in absence these days.

Now to turn to the main event. There is so much compelling and carefully argued detail that its hard to know which bits to showcase. And I do strongly urge you to read it in full.

Sine starts with the attention-getter that Chinas FIRE (finance, insurance, and real estate) sector was already a bigger proportion of GDP than that of the US as of the mid-teeens: 8.5% in the US in 2017 versus 9% in China in 2015, per the deputy director of the Finance and Economics Committee of the National Peoples Congress. The official, Yin Zhongqing, recognized this was not a desirable development:

with the fast expansion of the money supply, vast volumes of funds have cycled back into the financial system, vast amounts of liquidity have never entered the real economyand casting off the real for the empty [] has grown more intense.

This sounds an awful lot like the massive capital flows in Japan that Western bankers swooned over in the mid-later 1980s, and the 2006-2007 wall of liquidity. And he invokes that image:

Retirement savings collected from households by institutional investors (such as pension funds and other SPVs), trade surpluses and sovereign funds), surplus money resulting from recent quantitative easing policies and the rise in accumulated profits of transnational companies in tax havens have all created a wall of money that gradually pushed for the financialization of built environment.

In China, FIRE is nearly all real estate; even seemingly normal manufacturing companies are very often heavily involved in development projects (and not as builders). In a rare sour note, Sine depicts the driver as a savings glut, when that line of thinking comes out of the bogus loanable funds model, that loans come out of savings. In fact, its the reverse: banks lend out of thin air, creating deposits. So what Sine is really saying is there is more lending than productive outlets. That is also what we saw in Japan in the mid-1980s, when among other things, companies could (and did) borrow 100% of the fictive value of urban land (fictive because it virtually never traded; selling land was regarded as akin to selling your children, an admission of bankruptcy). Similarly, as we explained long form in ECONNED, the pre-global-financial-crisis wall of liquidity resulted from the massive gearing of heavily-synthetic subprime CDOs.

This schematic shows how it works:

China has a savings rate of 50%, highest in the G-20, and mainly from households and non-financial companies. This lends some support to the complaint that China does not consume enough. Economic activity is sending more income and revenues to workers and their employers, but they arent plowing it back into the system by buying things, but by investing/speculating in real estate to an excessive degree.

Another sign of financialization is the rise in wealth disparity, with China approaching US levels

Additional measures:

Sine then turns to loan and financial system growth, which if you were of the loans create deposits school of thought, youd put first:

Logan Wright and Daniel Rosen have written extensively on the topic, and in a recent note in 2020 try to frame the stunning numbers in a comprehensible fashion. The PRCs financial system has increased in size by 4.5 times since the global financial crisis, rising from 64.2 trillion yuan ($9.4 trillion) in assets as of the end of 2008 to 292.5 trillion yuan as of last month ($41.8 trillion). To put the current value in context, it represents about half of global GDP. In the same interval, Chinas GDP roughly tripled in size, adding around $9 trillion in annual output. Here is the phenomena in graphic form:



The US banking system is $21 trillion. So, in terms of raw financial system size, that problem is worse in China.

Household borrowing is also very high for a country that is only at best on the cusp of being an advanced economy:

Remember, China does not have Americas student debt overhang or much use of credit cards and therefore presumably only pretty trivial credit card debt. But apps hand out microloans like candy and young borrowers reportedly fall prey to them. They do finance car purchases, but not as frequently as in the US.

But all the household dough is going overwhelmingly to real estate, with it accounting for 80% of typical net worth, versus 35% in the US. That much money going into property has unbalanced the entire economy:

Theres even more evidence in this post, but the extended recap above will hopefully prove to be persuasive. Well stop here and again suggest you read it in its entirety.

And yes, the update via Sines deep dive into local government financial vehicles only adds more grist to this view. We hope to turn to that tomorrow.
Maryam Abolfazli has officially launched her campaign for Tennessee's 5th Congressional District seat, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Andy Ogles. Abolfazli is running as a Democrat in a gerrymandered district that encompasses parts of Davidson and Williamson counties and southern Middle Tennessee.

After the Covenant School shooting, Abolfazli arranged a protest on gun safety that drew thousands of Tennesseans to the state Capitol. Leaning on her background in nonprofit work and international political and economic development, she later founded nonprofit Rise and Shine Tennessee, which seeks to build a culture of civic engagement, advocating around issues like gun safety, education and more. Abolfazli and her colleagues have become familiar faces at the Capitol, sitting in committee rooms with signs, holding press conferences and testifying against different bills.

During last years special session, Abolfazli and two fellow Rise and Shine representatives were removed from a House committee after new rules sought to prevent spectators from holding signs. The next day, they filed a successful lawsuit against the House  citing the First Amendment, a Nashville judge temporarily barred the House from prohibiting signs.

Chair of the Metro Human Relations Commission, Abolfazli has also done a lot of local-level advocacy in Nashville around issues like the Titans stadium deal and LGBTQ rights. A press release about her campaign emphasizes reproductive rights.

+8 Nashvillians of the Year: The Gun Safety Advocates Sarah Shoop Neumann, Ibtihal Cheko and Maryam Abolfazli are at the center of a Nashville community calling for change

Abolfazli tells the Scene that while she thought she would eventually run for office, she wasnt planning to do it this year.

The GOP keeps pushing women and moms to the edge, says Abolfazli on her decision to run. It's so difficult to have a family and raise your children in a safe and warm and free environment. And after the Alabama decision on IVF, it just got really clear that this isn't stopping.  I just decided, I could wait two years, I could wait four years, but more bad stuff will happen.

Acknowledging that we've got incredible people running at the state level, Abolfazli decided to run for Ogles seat because he clearly has just demonstrated that hes basically doing nothing that has anything to do with Tennessean concerns.
Foreign Ministers gathered at NATO Headquarters on Thursday (4 April 2024) to mark 75 years since the signing of the Alliances founding document, the North Atlantic Treaty. Since 1949, the Alliance has ensured peace, democracy and prosperity for its members, now counting 32 Allies and one billion people on both sides of the Atlantic. This years NATO Day comes just weeks after Sweden joined as the thirty-second member of the Alliance.

In a speech marking the anniversary, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed that NATO is bigger, stronger, and more united than ever. He welcomed that the founding treaty, normally kept in Washington, D.C., was on display at NATO Headquarters for the first time, saying: "never has a single document with so few words meant so much to so many people. So much security, so much prosperity, and so much peace. All because of its solemn promise: that we stand together, and protect one another, as we have for 75 years." Admiral Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee, stated that across Europe and North America, 3.5 million men and women in uniform are upholding a shield against aggression. Together, we are protecting much more than physical safety. We are collectively defending freedom and democracy, Admiral Bauer said.

Twelve Allied Foreign Ministers delivered statements to mark their 25th (Czechia, Hungary, Poland), 20th (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), and 15th (Albania, Croatia) accession anniversaries. As the host nation, the Belgian Foreign Minister delivered a speech and offered a 75th anniversary cake. The commemorations also included a wreath-laying ceremony and a live musical performance by The Royal Band of the Belgian Air Force and The Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Monuments throughout Brussels also marked NATOs anniversary. In Parc du Cinquantenaire, the NATO flag flew under the Memorial Arch, and buildings in the city were illuminated in NATO blue, including the City Hall of Brussels and the Egmont Palace. The iconic Manneken Pis statue, one of the best-known symbols of Brussels, donned a special NATO Day costume to join the festivities. Other Allies also marked the anniversary with events including public discussions, musical performances and the illumination of buildings in NATO blue.
Foreign Ministers concluded two days of talks in Brussels on Thursday (4 April 2024) with a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, and another meeting with Indo-Pacific partners and the European Union. Thursday marked 75 years since NATOs founding. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the landmark, saying: "since 1949, we have been the strongest and most successful Alliance in history."

Speaking at the end of the ministerial, Mr Stoltenberg welcomed that Allies continue to step up with new support to Ukraine. In recent days, this includes nearly 600 million euros from Germany for the Czech-led artillery initiative; as well as 10,000 drones from the United Kingdom; more missiles and armoured vehicles from France; and just yesterday, a new package of aid from Finland worth 188 million euros, he said. He added: we need to do even more, and we need to put our support on an even firmer and more enduring basis. Allies have now agreed to move forward with planning for a greater NATO role in coordinating necessary security assistance and training for Ukraine.

Foreign Ministers also discussed the global implications of Russias war against Ukraine, including support for Moscow from China, North Korea and Iran. Allies were joined by Indo-Pacific partners Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea, as well as the European Union. Together, ministers discussed how to enhance cooperation in responding to cyber and hybrid threats, as well as new technologies and defence industrial production. As authoritarian powers increasingly align, NATO and its partners must stand united to defend a global order governed by law, not by force, said the Secretary General.

On Wednesday, NATO Foreign Ministers met to address NATOs support to Ukraine, as well as security challenges in the Alliances southern neighbourhood.
(As delivered)

Ministers,

Excellencies,

Dear Friends.

Today we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the strongest, most enduring and most successful Alliance in history.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

NATO.

Congratulations!



In the years following the Second World War,

the fear of yet another devastating war was real.



So on this day in 1949, the Foreign Ministers of twelve countries from Europe and North America,

came together to sign the Washington Treaty.

To create our Alliance.

It kept our people safe through the long years of the Cold War.

From the Berlin Airlift and the Cuban Missile Crisis to the fall of the Berlin Wall.



In 1979, I served in the Norwegian army.

If there was a war, we would be on the front line.

But I was not afraid.

Because I knew we were not alone.

We had the might of the NATO Alliance behind us.



When the Cold War ended,

NATO helped to bring two brutal ethnic conflicts in the Balkans to a close.

In 2001, after 9/11 attacks, for the first time, we invoked Article 5 of the Washington Treaty,

which states that an attack on one Ally is an attack on all.

NATO has been on the front line in the fight against terrorism ever since.

2014 and Russias illegal annexation of Crimea was another turning point.

Since then, we have undertaken the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence in generations.

Today, NATO is bigger, stronger and more united than ever.



***



In the beginning, we had 12 members.

Today we are 32.

So we must be doing something right!



We have helped to spread peace, democracy and prosperity throughout Europe.

And today, we also celebrate important anniversaries for many of our members.



***

Two World Wars, the Cold War and every challenge we have faced since then,

have taught us that we need each other.



Europe needs America for its security.

Fair burden sharing is essential.

And Europe is investing more.

Much more.

This year, the majority of NATO Allies will invest at least 2% of their GDP in defence.

At the same time, North America also needs Europe.

European Allies provide world-class militaries, vast intelligence networks and unique diplomatic leverage.

Multiplying Americas might.

Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more Allies than any other major power.

I do not believe in America alone.

Just as I dont believe in Europe alone.

I believe in America and Europe together.

In NATO.

Because, we are stronger and safer together.

***

This morning, Admiral Bauer and I laid the wreath at memorial stone here at the NATO Headquarters.

To pay our respects to all those in uniform who have served under the NATO flag.

And remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

We honour them.

And their lasting contribution to peace and freedom for us all.

***

Dear friends,

As we mark the 75th anniversary,

we have the great privilege of having our founding treaty with us.

For the very first time at the NATO Headquarters.

Its just in front of me.

You can watch it afterwards.



Thats the Washington Treaty, the original and I like the Washington Treaty.

Not least because it is very short,

Just 14 paragraphs over a few pages.

Never has a single document with so few words,

meant so much to so many people.

So much security,

So much prosperity,

And so much peace.



All because of its solemn promise.

That we stand together,

And protect one another.

As we have for 75 years.



Thank you and happy anniversary!

Thank you.
BAD BOT: AI chatbot tells businesses in New York City to break the law

In October 2023, New York City (NYC) announced a plan to use a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to provide New Yorkers with information on starting and operating a business in the city. But this chatbot is apparently telling businesses to break the law

The information it provides on housing policy, worker rights and rules for entrepreneurs is often incomplete  and in worst-case scenarios "dangerously inaccurate," as one local housing policy expert said. (Related: AI can influence people's decisions in life-or-death situations.)

If you're a landlord wondering which tenants you have to accept, for example, you might pose a question like, "Are buildings required to accept section 8 vouchers?" or "Do I have to accept tenants on rental assistance?" In a test, the bot said: "No, landlords do not need to accept these tenants." Except, in NYC, it is illegal for landlords to discriminate by source of income, with a minor exception for small buildings where the landlord or their family lives.

After being alerted to the testing of the chatbot, Citywide Housing Director Rosalind Black said she tested the bot herself and found even more false information on housing. For example, the bot said "it is legal to lock out a tenant," and that "there are no restrictions on the amount of rent that you can charge a residential tenant." In reality, tenants cannot be locked out if they've lived somewhere for 30 days, and there are restrictions for the many rent-stabilized units in the city.

Black said these are fundamental pillars of housing policy that the bot was misinforming people about. "If this chatbot is not being done in a way that is responsible and accurate, it should be taken down," she 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. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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.

Chatbot appears clueless about the NYC's consumer and worker protections

It's not just housing policy where the bot has fallen short.

The NYC bot also appeared clueless about the city's consumer and worker protections. For example, in 2020, the city council passed a law requiring businesses to accept cash to prevent discrimination against unbanked customers. But the bot didn't know about that policy when asked. "Yes, you can make your restaurant cash-free," the bot said in one wholly false response. "There are no regulations in New York City that require businesses to accept cash as a form of payment."

The bot also said it was fine to take workers' tips (wrong) and that there were no regulations on informing staff about scheduling changes (also wrong). It didn't do better with more specific industries, suggesting it was "OK" to conceal funeral service prices, which the Federal Trade Commission has outlawed. Similar errors appeared when the questions were asked in other languages.

It's hard to know whether anyone has acted on the false information, and the bot doesn't return the same responses to queries every time. At one point, it told a Markup reporter that landlords "have to accept housing vouchers," but when 10 separate Markup staffers asked the same question, the bot told all of them "no, buildings did not have to accept housing vouchers."

When Markup reached out to Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, an advocacy organization for restaurants and bars, he said a business owner had alerted him to the inaccuracies and that he'd also seen the bot's errors himself.

"AI can be a powerful tool to support small business so we commend the city for trying to help," he said in an email. "But it can also be a massive liability if its providing the wrong legal information, so the chatbot needs to be fixed ASAP and these errors can't continue."

Leslie Brown, a spokesperson for the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, said in a statement that the city has been clear the chatbot is a pilot program and will improve.

Visit Robots.news for similar stories.

Watch this video about AI chatbots like ChatGPT making some jobs obsolete.

This video is from the Victor Hugo Art channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Conservative AI Chatbot 'GIPPR' shut down by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Google now restricting queries to its AI chatbot Gemini related to elections.

AI chatbot tries to get British anti-terrorism advisor TO JOIN ISIS.

Google CEO admits he DOESNT UNDERSTAND how his companys AI chatbot Bard works.

New York City is now the worlds fifth most expensive city for luxury living.

Sources include:

TheMarkup.org

Brighteon.com
Facebook fact-checker RMIT accused of misconduct, criticized for spreading misinformation about energy

RMIT ABC Fact Check  a collaboration between RMIT University and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation  is continuing to lose whatever credibility it had left after a series of previous scandals.

(Article by Didi Rankovic republished from ReclaimTheNet.org)

And, this case once again sheds negative light on the phenomenon that is the fact-checking industry, one of the by-products of the censorship and information control thats dominated the media over the past years.

The latest scandal saw businessman Dick Smith directly accusing RMIT of being the actual spreader of misinformation and lies  after the group came out with its fact-check of his remarks related to nuclear and renewable energy.

And despite RMIT at first attempting to stick to its guns, maintaining that its assertions were accurate, Smith yesterday received an apology from the ABC, which also had to correct its original report, which is now described as riddled with errors thanks to RMITs fact-checking.

It all started several days earlier when Smith spoke for a Sydney radio station, refuting a claim made by Australias government agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), which said it is possible for an entire country to depend solely on solar and wind energy.

That is simply a lie () they (CSIRO) are telling lies said the businessman, adding that since there is no example anywhere of a country managing to sustain itself, energy-wise, on renewables  we should be making a decision to go nuclear now.

This activated RMIT ABC Fact Check, that quickly came out with a report supposedly proving that Smith was wrong by making what turned out to be a false claim that Nepal (and three others) is an example of a country which uses 100 percent renewable energy sources.

What possessed RMIT to pick Nepal of all places as an example remains unknown, since reports say the country is highly reliant on the debilitating burning of bio-fuel. But it did provide Smith with another opportunity to call out liars.

Im angry. The whole document is full of misinformation and lies, its designed to discredit me. Absolutely disgusting, Smith said.

They (RMIT) say on the document this is your inoculation against misinformation and their document is just completely misinformation because the left at the ABC have to be against nuclear, so they just make up every lie they can to distort anyone who says we have to move to nuclear, he added.

Smith also said that the three other countries mentioned by RMIT  Albania, Bhutan and Paraguay  also all use fossil fuel.

Elon Musk was quick to support Smiths comments, responding to journalist Michael Shellenberger by writing, Having government fact-checkers is a giant leap in the direction of tyranny.

Previously, even Facebook had to cut ties with RMIT after the group was accused of hijacking its fact-checking program and behaving as an activist.

Read more at: ReclaimTheNet.org
Homeless encampments make Los Angeles look like a Third World country

Downtown Los Angeles has been likened to a "third world" area following the release of disturbing footage showcasing a homeless encampment, complete with open fires in the streets and sidewalks strewn with trash.

The alarming video, shared by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin on X, reveals numerous homeless individuals gathered on filthy sidewalks at the intersection of San Pedro Street and 6th Street in LA's Skid Row neighborhood. Some are shown near open fires on the street, mere steps away from the Midnight Mission, a $17 million facility catering to the homeless.

Billionaire Elon Musk, known for his commentary on California's homelessness crisis, simply reacted with "wow" upon viewing the footage.

Commenters on X expressed astonishment, with one stating, "Gavin Newsoms California may be the wealthiest state, but its cities resemble those of Third World nations," while another remarked, "If you didn't tell us this was LA, we would think this was a city in a third-world country!"

The homeless population in LA currently exceeds 46,000 individuals, marking a 10 percent increase from the previous year, as reported by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

LA, in particular, has witnessed a surge in homelessness since the onset of the pandemic, with over 10,000 more individuals living on the streets compared to 2019. Since 2015, homelessness in the city has risen by 70 percent. (Related: HOMELESSNESS in the U.S. reaches RECORD HIGH amid worsening economic downturn post-pandemic.)

The Midnight Mission, located just meters from the distressing scene captured in the online video, is facing severe strain on its resources.

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. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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 Mission provides three daily meals, temporary accommodation, a barbershop, and a women's crisis center. However, despite their efforts, female homelessness in LA has spiked by 55 percent in three years, with over 90 percent of these women reporting experiences of physical or sexual assault.

To address the opioid crisis gripping Skid Row, the city has deployed mobile teams equipped with oxygen cylinders to prevent overdoses.

Meanwhile, workers from the non-profit organization Homeless Health Care Los Angeles traverse the streets, attending to individuals living among makeshift dwellings and witnessing dire health conditions, including substance abuse.

Los Angeles County has allocated a budget of $609.7 million to combat homelessness in 2023-2024, a $61.8 million increase from the previous year. Despite these efforts, Governor Gavin Newsom admitted last summer that the state's homeless crisis was a "disgrace" and pledged additional resources.

During his tenure, homelessness in California has surged by 13 percent, prompting Newsom to acknowledge the challenges related to high housing costs, regulatory hurdles, and local opposition to new housing construction.

LA mayor faces big challenge

Following her election as mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass made a bold declaration that would serve as a defining measure of her tenure: "We are going to solve homelessness."

The Democratic congresswoman, who was previously considered for vice president by Joe Biden, envisioned a transformed city with over 40,000 homeless individuals provided with housing and vital services to mend their fractured lives. "We are going to build a new Los Angeles," she proclaimed.

Now, one year into her mayoral term, Bass reported that over 21,000 unhoused individuals were transitioned into leased hotels or temporary shelters in 2023, marking a 28 percent increase from the previous year.

Numerous drug-ridden street encampments were dismantled, and housing initiatives are underway. Yet, behind these promising statistics lies a harsh reality: this is merely the beginning.

Billions of dollars had been invested to address homelessness in the region, and new programs had been implemented. However, the mayor acknowledged the possibility of continued increases in homelessness, partly due to evictions and the cessation of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) aid for low-income households.

While Bass has made progress, tackling LA's homelessness crisis presents a formidable challenge. The city grapples with managing a potentially expanding homeless population, equivalent to the size of Palm Springs, without an efficient computer system capable of tracking individuals within it.

Visit CaliforniaCollapse.news for more stories like this.

Watch this report about homelessness in California.

This video is from the Right Edition channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Homeless camp pops up on a Beverly Hills sidewalk as homelessness spills into the wealthier areas of California.

NBC News: Inflation and illegals to blame for HOMELESSNESS among LA students.

Poll shows 86% of Americans believe homelessness is a major problem in the U.S.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
Israel attacks Iranian embassy in Syria to provoke Iran, rope U.S. into WWIII

Iran has promised a very "harsh" response to Israel's latest attack on its embassy and consulate in Damascus, Syria.

Iran's foreign minister slammed the attack as "a violation of all international obligations and conventions," with Syria itself calling what Israel did a "terrorist attack."

The attack reportedly occurred at the very moment a high-level meeting was taking place at the facility. Hossein Akbari, Iran's Ambassador to Syria, was present for the gathering but was not injured.

Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi did not survive, though. Zahedi was a senior commander in the elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Reports indicate that an additional two top IRGC commanders may have also been among the slain.

"Tasnim reported that Zahedi's deputy was also killed in the strike," a regional media source also confirmed.

(Related: One of the leader pro-Zionist voices pushing war in Gaza is Ben Shapiro, a product of the Israeli military intelligence complex.)

Regional war in Middle East a near certainty

While it remains to be seen if this latest provocation leads to another world war, it is almost certain that it will result in a major regional conflict throughout the Middle East.

Lebanon and Yemen have been bombing Israel with ballistic missiles and drones for several months now, and Israel has been responding here and there to these attacks. What Israel did to Iran's embassy, though, crosses a red line into "uncharted territory" because the targets were leaders across the Middle Eastern region.

It is very possible that Iran could retaliate by targeting Israeli embassies around the world, or worse.

Israel reportedly conducted the strike during the day, which is not usually the case. The attack also directly hit an annex of the embassy rather than the main building, though both were damaged.

Israel was aiming for top officials and leaders in the IRGC. Iran seems to be the nation that Israel fears most, and the nation that it wants the United States to wage war on for Israel's protection.

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. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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 video below shows a row of cars at the embassy on fire right after the attack:

Did Israel miss the Iranian embassy or is this a warning? 6/ pic.twitter.com/ySNhNLyYoq  Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) April 1, 2024

The official death toll stands at eight people. Syria confirmed significant damage to the embassy and its surroundings.

Earlier in the week, Israel's Eilat navy base on the Red Sea was targeted in what media reports are describing as an unprecedented targeted drone launch from an Iraqi militia allegedly backed by Iran.

Oil prices are now spiking, the excuse being all these attacks and the rising global tensions they are creating.

"Killing of top Iran Quds Force commander in Damascus is a major blow ... but Iranian media says bldg destroyed was part of Iranian consulate  Israel hit a diplomatic mission which should enjoy immunity  Israel has crossed red lines  how will Iran react?" commented Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr about the matter.

"So, let me get this straight, IDF intelligence is good enough to find out when one specific individual is going to be located at a precise time and space in a foreign country, yet they didn't see over 1000 HAMAS terrorists' stream over the border and to kill and capture countless Israelis?" wrote another commenter, making an excellent point about the false flag nature of the October 7 Hamas attack.

How much longer do you think it will be before full-fledged WWIII is upon the world? Learn more at WWIII.news.

Sources for this article include:

TimesOfIsrael.com

NaturalNews.com
Journalists keep stealing items for souvenirs from Air Force One

A reporter and a White House staffer recently met to address a recurring issue of items being taken from the presidential plane Air Force One

The problem came to light when the Office of the President noticed several branded items missing from the press cabin following a trip to the West Coast in early February. In response, an anonymous email was circulated, offering discreet assistance for the "quiet return" of any items "accidentally" taken.

The individual responsible for taking linens from the presidential plane arranged to meet a White House representative near the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Square to confidentially return the item.

This instance of petty theft appears to be part of a larger pattern, with multiple sources reporting instances of Air Force One being used as a source of souvenirs by members of the traveling press pack. Anonymous tips even identified a former major newspaper correspondent who reportedly served a dinner party using stolen Air Force One crockery.

Unfortunately, petty theft on official property extends beyond the plane. The executive mansion also experienced incidents in 2015 involving disappearing items, some of significant value. (Related: Journalists are educated to lie, betray and never tell the truth.)

To deter theft, Kelly O'Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, reminded reporters not to take items from the aircraft. She suggested that items with Air Force One logos could be purchased outside the plane. However, sources indicate that collectible items available for purchase are not of comparable quality to those found onboard.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

Members of White House press corps view Air Force One as a source of souvenirs

The clandestine meeting between the White House staffer and the unnamed reporter was reminiscent of a scene from the television series "House of Cards." However, this covert rendezvous wasn't orchestrated to exchange state secrets or divulge presidential gossip. Instead, it aimed to rectify an unusual situation  a reporter returning an embroidered pillowcase from Air Force One.

Politico reported on this peculiar incident, shedding light on efforts to curb the pilfering of branded items from the presidential plane. The reporter in possession of the pillowcase likely didn't acquire it accidentally, prompting the arranged meeting where the item was returned confidentially.

According to Politico, the White House press corps has a long-standing tradition of viewing Air Force One as a source of souvenirs. Instances of reporters suggesting taking items from the plane have been recounted, illustrating a prevalent sentiment among some members of the press.

Furthermore, reports emerged of a former White House correspondent hosting a dinner party using gold-rimmed Air Force One plates allegedly acquired over time. These incidents of light-fingered behavior aren't new, with anecdotes dating back to 2012, including one involving the daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams using a stolen napkin from Air Force One to impress a date.

One unnamed current White House reporter said: "On my first flight, the person next to me was like, 'You should take that glass.' They were like, 'Everyone does it.'"

Visit Journalism.news for more stories like this.

Watch this video that talks about mainstream media meltdown as Donald Trump appears to be on his way back to the White House.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Journalists attack the powerless, then self-victimize to bar criticism of themselves.

Lawsuit reveals SECRET LIST of journalists pushing propaganda on behalf of U.S. government.

'A war for our minds': Journalists warn of vast propaganda, censorship network unlike any before in human history.

Sources include:

TheNationalPulse.com

Politico.com

TheGuardian.com

Brighteon.com
A recent Environmental Working Group (EWG) study has found that the use of paraquat in the agricultural regions of California is affecting low-income Hispanic communities.

Paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide commonly used as a weed killer, has been linked to multiple health issues, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, respiratory damage, kidney disease and childhood leukemia. This toxic herbicide, which is considered deadly when ingested even in a small amount, has been banned in over 60 countries worldwide. But despite all this, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) still approves its use due to its economic benefits. (Related: The toxic herbicide industry  guilty of causing cancer  is seeking LEGAL IMMUNITY across the United States.)

However, the EWG study found that the economic benefits that the EPA claims do not really outweigh its health risks.

The study, released on Mar. 27, examined paraquat usage in California from 2017 to 2021, focusing on Kern, Kings, Fresno, Tulare and Merced counties, where farms primarily produce almonds, corn, peanuts, soybeans, wine grapes and other crops.

According to the study, authored by Al Rabine, a geographic information system analyst for the EWG, California has sprayed 5.3 million pounds of paraquat for over five years. The study found that 66 percent of those paraquat applications have been on the farms of those counties, where 75 percent of the population and 96 percent of the farm workers are Hispanic. It also reveals that 90 percent of the population in the said counties is foreign-born and frequently employed at low wages.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

EWG found that 1.2 million pounds of paraquat were dispersed across approximately 1,200 square miles of farmland in Kern County, with a poverty rate of nearly 30 percent. This, in turn, made Kern County, along with its three most populous cities  Bakersfield, Shafter and Wasco  "hotspots" for paraquat use. These cities have a combined population of over 80 percent Hispanic residents, who witnessed almost 180,000 pounds of paraquat spraying in five years.

The study argued that paraquat could remain in the soil, travel through the air and even contaminate workers' clothing. Thus, its use in California not only posed a threat to the laborers directly involved in spraying but also exposed their families and endangered farm workers residing in neighboring areas.

EPA ignores all the risks associated with paraquat use in farmlands

The study also found that the EPA has been ignoring epidemiological studies from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Oxford Academy, Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) as well as 90 articles of evidence and cutting edge studies submitted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, indicating that individuals exposed to paraquat are at an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Liberal protesters in Israel urge government to enlist orthodox Jews in the Army to make them fight (and die) in New Gaza War

"The army needs more people" the Israeli liberals decry, as they are all up-in-arms that the orthodox Jews called Haredi can't be drafted into the military there. The orthodox Jews have no intentions of serving in a proxy war, alongside liberals and gays, who don't believe what they believe, including in God. The seculars and atheists are running out of patience, waiting for the government to change the law to make these holy Jewish folks fight to the death, while the Globalists (USA, Israel and NATO) pull puppet strings, fund insurgencies, provoke more war, and profit off all of it.

The ultra-orthodox community of Israel is exempt from compulsory service in the military, for religious and financial reasons. Roughly 12 percent of the population of central Israel is orthodox, which amounts to over a million people. Though Haredi is not the only sect of orthodox Judaism, it is more conservative and reclusive, whereas Modern Orthodox Judaism, is more open to outer society. Haredi strict interpretation of Jewish law and traditions basically opposes military "lifestyles," although there are over 6,000 Haredi soldiers currently serving in the ranks. This number increased after October 7th, when the never-ending war over Gaza was reignited.

Orthodox Jews do not want to expose their younger generation to the LGBTQ "influence" of the Israeli military camps

Most liberals and gays do not believe in God, or at least they question whether there is one or not. This often changes the values and ethics that go along with belief, so thousands of orthodox Jews in Israel want no part of the military, where soldiers sleep, shower, eat, train and fight side-by-side, 24/7/365. But it's not all about religious reasons, because much of this exclusion has to do with financial protections the orthodox have in place through schooling. It's like a business they do not want to dismantle, especially now.

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Plus, the War in Gaza has many variables at play, and could be a massive proxy for the USA's continued (Democrat-led) aggression in the Middle East, Mediterranean and Ukraine. There's a bigger, more insidious plot going on now, and the orthodox Jews seem to be quite aware of it.

It is true that the rabbis of the Ultra-Orthodox dont want to expose their younger generation to modernity [by sending them to the IDF  ed.]. But whats also true is that the more students they have, the more money their yeshiva [religious school] receives. They treat it as a business, and they have no plans to loosen their grip.

Each year, Israel spends over $80 million on over 50,000 yeshiva students, and about a quarter-billion on religious students with families. This proves the nuclear family is vital to Israel's strength and integrity, but the liberal fanatics don't see it that way and don't like it.

Liberals are also demanding the money Israel spends on yeshivas and other religious institutions be significantly reduced. Here in America, the Liberals would rather spend their money on ultra-expensive gender mutilation surgeries, hormone pills and high heeled shoes for cross-dressing on the "front lines."

It's no wonder the Liberals in Israel aren't fighting to change the Israeli flag to the gay pride rainbow flag. The War in Gaza is not a religious war, or a war for the "Promised Land," or the "Holy Land" anymore. It may be a fight for the unholy land, or the unholy autocracy that's sweeping the planet ever since the plandemic began.

Tune your apocalypse dial to Preparedness.news for updates on real news about surviving and thriving through World War III.

Sources include:

Censored.news

rt.com

NaturalNews.com
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION: Russia can still launch its entire nuclear arsenal even if all Russians are dead

Russia currently has the largest arsenal of tactical and strategic nuclear weapons in the world. All of these weapons are tied to a system known as the Perimeter, also known as the "Dead Hand," an automatic nuclear weapons control system that could launch the entirety of Russia's nuclear arsenal

Russia has an estimated 1,549 deployed strategic warheads on 540 strategic delivery systems like intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers. Russia also has an estimated 4,489 strategic nuclear weapons in military stockpiles. This makes Russia the largest nuclear power, beating the United States' approximately 5,100 deployed and stockpiled nuclear warheads.

In times of extreme crisis, including an nuclear first strike from the U.S., a high-ranking Russian government official or military commander could activate the Dead Hand, guaranteeing that Russia could respond to a nuclear attack even if the entirety of the Russian Armed Forces were wiped out. This is the only purpose of the Dead Hand system.

The creation and deployment of the Dead Hand as an active military system of the former Soviet Union was done as part of the Cold War doctrine of "mutually assured destruction," a means by which a nuclear attack was deterred by ensuring that the side who initiated a first strike would also be annihilated by retaliatory nuclear strikes.

Dead Hand can automatically launch entire Russian nuclear arsenal in response to nuclear attack

It is still not entirely known how the Dead Hand works. But the assumption is that a command-and-control system measures communications on military radio frequencies, radiation levels, air pressure, heat and short-term seismic disruptions.

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. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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.

If the measurements appear to confirm that Russia is under nuclear attack, the Dead Hand begins a sequence that ends with Russia firing all of its ICBMs and other nuclear assets.

The Dead Hand would launch a command rocket, equipped with a radio warhead that communicates launch orders to Russian nuclear silos, even with the presence of radio jamming. Several tests demonstrated the operability of such a command rocket. (Related: Ben Armstrong: Russia's new NUCLEAR MISSILE test a WARNING to America.)

The Dead Hand system was made operational in 1985, but confirmation only came in 2011 when Russian Strategic Rocket Forces commander Gen. Sergei Karakayev said during an interview with a Russian newspaper that the system could destroy the U.S. within 30 minutes. Further pronouncements from Russian state-owned media outlets further suggest that the system has been upgraded to include radar early warning systems and new hypersonic missiles.

The Dead Hand is supported by radar systems within Russian territory and satellites that collect intel from space that is funneled through a complex computer system that constantly analyses a wide range of parameters, including seismic activity and radiation levels.

"The system passed several modifications throughout the years of exploitation," explained Ivan Konovalov, development director with the Russian think tank the Foundation for the Promotion of Technologies of the 21st Century.

"First of all, Russia integrated into its new means of radio-electric intelligence such as Voronezh class radars capable of detecting missile launches up to 7,000 kilometers away," he continued. "Secondly, engineers modified its warhead to withstand new emerging means of electronic warfare that shut down radio signals."

Konovalov added that nuclear missiles tied to the Dead Hand are in line to receive hypersonic missile blocks, which would allow them to fly at speeds of five to seven kilometers per second (three to four miles per second), making them nearly impossible to shoot down.

"The new missiles will be integrated into the military alongside new Sarmat class ICBMs. The latter missiles will be added to the military in the mid-2020s. So, the modified hypersonic version of the Dead Hand's missiles will appear alongside them," Konovalov said.

Watch the video below to learn more about Russia's current arsenal of nuclear weapons.

This video is from the SOS channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Russia's nuclear-capable Satan II ICBM goes on active combat duty for the first time.

Pentagon warns China now has over 500 operational nuclear warheads as it seeks nuclear parity with the U.S.

U.S. to deploy previously banned missiles against China as a deterrent.

Russian, Chinese nuclear arsenals have been upgraded in race to dominance over outdated U.S. ICBMs.

Russia has "super weapons" that it can use against America.

Sources include:

Military.com

ArmsControl.org

RBTH.com

Brighteon.com
NASA warns: Solar storms could cause internet apocalypse by 2025

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has warned that the Sun is entering a time of high volatility as it approaches the peak of its 11-year solar maximum cycle

During this period, sunspots can produce intense solar storms, which if directed toward the Earth could create widespread outages to electronics and radio communications. The first two months of 2024 alone have witnessed a surge in solar activity, with sunspots producing numerous coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are phenomena responsible for solar storms.

NASA, which has been watching the Sun's activity using the Parker Solar Probe (PSP), warns the probability of a solar storm-caused "internet apocalypse" remains a cause for alarm through 2025.

Such an event could increase currents through the Earth's infrastructure, destroying navigation, communications systems and the GPS-enabled time synchronization crucial to the operation of the internet.

Solar storms are an aspect of the solar system like any other, although they arrive with a severe amount of danger.

They can be attractive and harmless, with images showing awesome displays of auroral beacons. But they can also be destructive, as NASA has time and time again warned.

The PSP has successfully journeyed through solar winds in space to understand the phenomenon better. Scientists have long warned about the likely negative results of such storms, possibly the largest being what has been conceived as an "internet apocalypse" that could occur in 2025.

In simple terms, when a solar storm happens, magnetic fields tear through the Earth's atmosphere and send current soaring through manmade infrastructure.

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. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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.

Sun launches CMEs toward Earth at least 20 times a week

The Sun launches CMEs toward Earth at least 20 times per week, based on where it currently is in its 11-year activity cycle. Nobody in living memory has experienced a burst that has seriously harmed human society.

The only recorded incident that caused some damage occurred in 1859, well before humans became dependent on electricity. The solar storm of that year was three times more powerful than the one that turned off power to a whole Canadian province in 1989.

If a CME on a comparable scale hit the Earth today as it did back then, electronics in orbiting satellites would be severely damaged, ruining navigation and communications systems, as well as the the GPS time synchronization that the internet depends on to work. Without power and the internet, society would come to a standstill. (Related: Solar storms could bring down modern civilization)

Some prediction models suggest that such an event could arrive as soon as 2025 when the Sun enters a specifically active period called the "solar maximum."

Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, a computer science professor at the University of California at Irvine, invented the term "internet apocalypse."

"We've never experienced one of the extreme case events, and we don't know how our infrastructure would respond to it. Our failure testing doesn't even include such scenarios," Abdu Jyothi said. He added that a solar storm could even interrupt things like submarine communication cables, which might obstruct long-distance connectivity.

The northern latitudes of the planet are especially vulnerable to such solar activity. There is no way to forecast how long the interruptions might last, but experts said they could go on for months.

Follow Space.news for more stories about activities in space.

Watch the video below about a solar storm hitting Earth possibly causing GPS and radio disruptions.

This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Solar storm could kill 90% of the population in a year, Dennis Quaid warns are you prepared to survive?

NASA can only give a warning 30 minutes before a killer solar storm, so PREPARE before SHTF.

Solar storms, magnetic pole shift loom as hundreds of dolphins and whales wind up dead worldwide.

Giant coronal hole on the sun creates second hole, unleashing solar winds toward Earth.

THREE IN ONE GO: Huge solar eruption hits Earth, the moon and Mars all at once for the first time in history.

Sources include:

TheNationalPulse.com

Science.NASA.gov

DailyExpress.co.uk

Space.com

Brighteon.com
Book exposes CIAs promotion of gender ideology

In addition to its primary mission of safeguarding the U.S. from external threats, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) appears to have embraced another agenda  that of promoting gender ideology.

Cliff Sims, former deputy director of national intelligence during Donald Trump's presidency, reveals in his upcoming book, "The Darkness Has Not Overcome: Lessons on Faith and Politics from Inside the Halls of Power," the presence of pro-transgender messaging within the CIA. Obtained exclusively by Breitbart News, the book recounts Sims' initial encounter with the CIA upon assuming his new role.

"I walked through an inconspicuous entrance and swiped my badge while standing inside a plastic tube reminiscent of an eighties sci-fi film," he recalls. Once inside the CIA's Original Headquarters Building, Sims describes navigating a labyrinth of hallways adorned with locked doors and vague plaques.

Upon reaching the main floor, he encounters a blend of historical paintings and corporate-style promotional posters lining the wide corridors.

Notably, the CIA's Diversity and Inclusion office is adorned with numerous posters highlighting its various programs and initiatives, emphasizing the significance of each officer's "identity." However, Sims is struck by a particular poster in the cafeteria: "TRANS LIVES ARE HUMAN LIVES." (Related: Startling video exposes how aggressive trans ideology has taken over American lives.)

Even in this setting, Sims reflects, someone within the agency had prioritized promoting identity politics over the critical task of safeguarding the nation from foreign threats.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

Sims encourages defiance against the Left's assault on human biology

While Sims acknowledges the importance of diversity within the CIA for operational purposes, he argues that the agency's fixation on "diversity" carries a political agenda. Despite the Left's emphasis on trusting science, Sims observes a swift backlash against those asserting biological truths about gender.

He warns of repercussions for dissenting from the notion that gender is a matter of personal choice rather than biological reality, highlighting pressure to conform, share bathrooms with individuals of different sexes, and dismantle women's sports.

Sims urges fellow Christians to stand firm in asserting biblical truths about gender, emphasizing empathy for those struggling with identity while refusing to compromise religious convictions. He invokes Thomas Jefferson's commitment to resisting tyranny over the mind of man and encourages defiance against the Left's assault on human biology.

From his roots in the Wiregrass region to his current position at the forefront of U.S. national security discussions, Cliff Sims has forged an impressive path, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by China.

In February, U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson appointed Sims as a Commissioner to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a vital group tasked with advising Congress on the intricate national security and economic dynamics between the United States and China.

Sims embodies the Speaker's commitment to pursuing a robust China policy.

As Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications under Director John Ratcliffe and Trump, Sims played a pivotal role in shifting the Intelligence Community's focus toward the growing threat posed by China.

Emphasizing the importance of media and messaging, Sims worked alongside Ratcliffe to galvanize a comprehensive government-wide approach to address the challenge posed by China. This effort included a 20 percent increase in China-focused intelligence spending and the publication of a rare op-ed by Ratcliffe in the Wall Street Journal, underscoring China's intent to assert dominance on a global scale.

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe praised Sims for his integral role in this strategic shift, commending Speaker Johnson for the appointment and reinforcing the importance of Trump's approach in confronting the China challenge.

Visit Transhumanism.news for more stories like this.

Watch this video about the fight to defeat gender ideology.

This video is from the LauraLynnTV channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

CIA slammed for 'dystopian' pride tweet.

New evidence shows the CIA has turned on the American people.

CIA secretly targeted 26 Trump associates in 2016, including Alex Jones.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
Offering free healthcare to illegal immigrants could cost California BILLIONS PER YEAR

Recent estimates by state and federal lawmakers have revealed that a law in California providing free healthcare for all illegal immigrants living in California could cost taxpayers as much as $3 billion to $6 billion per year

While free healthcare for illegal immigrants isn't a new concept, the most recent law expands access to include illegals of all ages. Earlier state legislation allowed minors to receive coverage, with subsequent measures including adults up to 25 years old and people who are 50 and older.

It is estimated that at least 700,000 illegals will have access to the new benefits, with estimates varying based on how many people enroll and the number and type of medical services covered.

According to a population study by the nonpartisan group Federation for American Immigration Reform, more than 3.2 million illegal aliens now reside in California, along with their more than 1.1 million children who were born in the United States and are citizens.

Together, illegal immigrants and their children represent 11.1 percent of the states population. The study also revealed that costs to taxpayers for benefits offered to illegal immigrants for some age groups in 2023 amounted to at least $31 billion.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Washington-based immigration reform group, said that it is "unconscionable to be spending this kind of money," particularly when California is already struggling with a $68 billion deficit. This calculation comes from a December 2023 report issued by California's Legislative Analyst's Office. Gov. Gavin Newsom claims the budget deficit is closer to $38 billion. (Related: Illegal immigrants in New York City are leaving their shelters to go door-to-door begging for money and food.)

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

Mehlman has suggested that the deficit is partly due to a change in demographics. He added that the replacement of businesses, educated residents and middle- and upper-class residents with illegal immigrants is potentially affecting California's finances.

He warned that the state "incentivizing more people to come that will rely on the government" while causing high-income earners to leave is not a "sustainable model."

Critics, including a group of senators behind a new federal bill titled the Protect Medicaid Act, which would prevent U.S. states from providing Medicaid  known as Medi-Cal in California  to noncitizens, have warned that California is encouraging illegal immigration by offering these benefits.

Sen. Cassidy: Medicaid for migrants is a magnet for more illegal immigration

In a statement announcing the bill last Jan. 11, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) explained that "Medicaid for migrants is a magnet for more illegal immigration." He also said that the public policy can cause issues for California citizens who depend on Medicaid, along with middle-class families paying taxes and state debt.

Cassidy, who is a lawmaker with a background as a physician, explained that Americans should be prioritized, with resources reserved for people who are most in need of assistance. He explained that trying to provide healthcare to everyone "for free is not possible or feasible."

"Compassion that cannot be sustained is not compassion," he added.

Cassidy's newly introduced legislation is supported by several Republican colleagues who said that their constituents don't want to see their tax dollars pay for such healthcare plans.

In the statement, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) explained that Tennesseans and the American people do not want to see their tax dollars used to pay for Medicaid for illegal immigrants. She added that this is unfair to hard-working citizens, and that it also incentivizes more illegal immigration while delaying the care of millions of Americans.

Bill co-sponsor Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) advised that California has long taken advantage of federal funding to pay for its progressive policies.

In the same statement, Hyde-Smith said California and other liberal states have "gamed the system for years to provide Medicaid to illegal immigrants," a tactic which she says is against the law and forces Mississippi taxpayers to carry some of the financial burden.

Hyde-Smith also warned that President Joe Biden's border crisis and liberal policies are "making the situation worse and more costly."

Critics have also voiced their concerns that adding hundreds of thousands of new patients to the states healthcare system will continue to stretch an already struggling industry.

According to KFF, an independent healthcare research group, estimates from November 2023 suggest that California already has to add at least 1,500 primary care providers to meet the level of demand that existed before the new law even took effect.

Other state lawmakers have argued against the proposal as early as 2022, citing similar concerns about provider shortages. They also warned that it is important to first resolve current healthcare system inadequacies before further jeopardizing patient access by giving illegal aliens free healthcare.

Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Corona), who is trying to reverse the new law, introduced Assembly Bill 1783 on Jan. 3. If approved, the measure would remove all funding for illegal immigrant healthcare from the state budget.

Essayli explained that tax dollars must be used to benefit residents, adding that others must follow the path his family and others took to observe immigration laws when entering the country.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Essayli said that law-abiding immigrants like his parents "are part of the great fabric of our state and nation." He added that Americans must first take care of their citizens "before trying to care for the citizens of other nations."

Visit Migrants.news for more stories about illegals in California and the rest of the United States.

Watch this clip from "The Dana Show" as host Dana Loesch talks about New York's decision to slash spending as it allots more money to deal with the migrant crisis.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

MOBS of Chinese illegal immigrants SWARM California border.

America sees 550% increase in illegal immigrants coming in from Canada.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams warns illegal immigrants will DESTROY the city.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

Cassidy.Senate.gov [PDF]

LegInfo.Legislature.ca.gov

Twitter.com

Brighteon.com
Gags and jibes

Have you noticed how quickly our Ukraine problem went away, vanished, phhhhttttt? At least from the top of US news media websites. The original idea, as cooked-up by departed State Department strategist Victoria Nuland, was to make Ukraine a problem for Russia, but instead we made it a problem for everybody else, especially ourselves in the USA, since it looked like an attempt to kick-start World War Three. Now she is gone, but the plans she laid apparently live on.

(Article republished from Kunstler.com)

Our Congress so far has resisted coughing up another $60-billion for the Ukraine project  most of it to be laundered through Raytheon (RTX), General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin  so instead Joe Biden sent Ukraines President Zelensky a few reels of Laurel and Hardy movies. The result was last weeks prank: four groups of mixed Ukraine troops and mercenaries drawn from sundry NATO members snuck up to the border of Russias Belgorod region to capture a nuclear weapon storage facility while Russia held its presidential election. I suppose it looked good on the war-gaming screen.

Alas, the raid was a fiasco. Russian intel was on it like white-on-rice. The raiders met ferocious resistance and retreated into a mine-field  this was the frontier, you understand, between Kharkov (Ukr) and Belgorod (Rus)  where they were annihilated. The Russian election concluded Sunday without further incident. V.V. Putin, running against three other candidates from fractional parties, won with 87 percent of the vote. Hes apparently quite popular.

Joe Biden, not so much here, where he is pretending to run for reelection with a party pretending to go along with the gag. Ukraine is lined up to become Afghanistan Two, another gross embarrassment for the US foreign policy establishment and JB personally. So, how long do you think V. Zelensky will be bopping around Kiev like Al Pacino in Scarface?

This time, poor beleaguered Ukraine wont need Americas help plotting a coup. When that happens, as it must, since Mr. Z has nearly destroyed his country, and money from the USA for government salaries and pensions did not arrive on-time, there will be peace talks between his successors and Mr. Putins envoys. The optimum result for all concerned  including NATO, whether the alliance knows it or not  will be a demilitarized Ukraine, allowed to try being a nation again, though in a much-reduced condition than prior to its becoming a US bear-poking stick. It will be on a short leash within Russias sphere-of-influence, where it has, in fact, resided for centuries, and life will go on. Thus, has Russia at considerable cost, had to reestablish the status quo.

Meanwhile, Saturday night, Joe Biden turned up at the annual Gridiron dinner thrown by the White House [News] Correspondents Association, where he told the ballroom of Intel Community quislings: You make it possible for ordinary citizens to question authority without fear or intimidation. The dinner, you see, is traditionally a venue for jokes and jibes. So, this must have been a gag, right? Try to imagine The New York Times questioning authority. For instance, the authority of the DOJ, the FBI, the DHS, and the DC Federal District court. Instant hilarity, right?

As it happens, though, today, Monday, March 18, 2024, attorneys for the State of Missouri (and other parties) in a lawsuit against Joe Biden (and other parties) will argue in the Supreme Court that those government agencies above, plus the US State Department, with assistance from the White House (and most of the White House press corps, too), were busy for years trying to prevent ordinary citizens from questioning authority. For instance, questioning the DODs Covid-19 prank, the CDCs vaccination op, the DNCs 2020 election fraud caper, the CIAs Frankenstein experiments in Ukraine, the J6 insurrection, and sundry other trips laid on the ordinary citizens of the USA.

Specifically, Missouri v. Biden is about the governments efforts to coerce social media into censoring any and all voices that question official dogma. The case is about birthing the new concept  new to America, anyway  known as misinformation  that is, truth about what our government is doing that cannot be allowed to enter the public arena, making it very difficult for ordinary citizens to question authority. The government will apparently argue that they were not coercing, they were just trying to persuade the social media execs to do this or that.

Maybe one of the justices might ask how it came to be that a Chief Counsel of the FBI, James Baker, after a brief rest-stop at a DC think tank, happened to take the job as Chief Counsel at Twitter in 2020. That was a mighty strange switcheroo, dont you think? And ordinary citizens were not generally informed of it until the fall of 2022, when Elon Musk bought Twitter and delved into its workings.

Read more at: Kunstler.com
Israel is a ROGUE nation, Dennis Kucinich tells Judge Napolitano

Independent candidate for Congress in Ohio's 7th district Dennis Kucinich appeared with Judge Andrew Napolitano this week to talk about how the United States military-industrial complex is leading America straight into World War III, including with its virtually unquestioning support for the Israeli war machine.

During the conversation, Kucinich discussed how Israel has become a "rogue nation" that pays no mind to international law when it comes to how it wages war on its enemies.

"What's happening in Gaza and the West Bank together with Israel being involved with attacking Iraqi interests, Iranian interests, Syrian interests, Lebanese interests, Yemeni interests, with the instability going on in Egypt and Jordan  we have all the elements for World War III here," Kucinich explained.

"And the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus is clearly an act of war against Iran. It is a violation of international law. And at this point, the Netanyahu government doesn't care about international law. As far as they're concerned, there is no international law  they are now a rogue government."

(Related: Did you know that Republican Congressman Tim Walberg of Michigan believes that the United States should drop nuclear bombs on both Russia and Gaza?)

Why should Americans die for Israel?

In no uncertain terms, Kucinich made it clear that none of what Israel is doing is in America's interests  or Israel's interests, for that matter. Israel's behavior is also deeply violative of international law, rendering the Zionist state guilty of war crimes.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

"They've destroyed the Al-Shifa hospital; they've killed about 33,000 Palestinians and more, injuring countless people; they're driving a famine in Gaza right now, killing at least seven aid workers who were only there from the World Central Kitchen to give people food  and the United States is financing this; our taxpayers are paying for this," Kucinich explained to Napolitano.

"I do not want to see any of our sons and daughters from this country sent into a conflict that we're being dragged into by Netanyahu and his people in the Likud. It is time that we took a stand for American interests. It is not in our interests to go into World War III. If Netanyahu wants to have an expanded war, he should be told, 'pal, you're on your own. We're not going to be there with you if you're going to ignite a war in Iran.'"

In other words, if Israel wants to fight a war, it can do that on its own without forced support from the U.S. If they are really "God's chosen," then they should be just fine without needing our tax dollars, weapons and soldiers, right?

"Netanyahu is calculating that America is going to have to do whatever he says because there's an election right now," Kucinich added.

Western media and politicians from both sides of the aisle are quick to blame Russia for everything that happens in the U.S., including alleged election interference, but Kucinich says enemy number-one right now when it comes to interference in American elections is Israel, our "greatest ally."

"The false charge that 'Russia interfered with our election' needs to be displaced by the actual interference with Israel and Israeli interests in the American election. And we have to realize  we have to wake up; America has to wake up  as to what's going on here."

"We're seeing our own freedoms undermined by things that are going on in other countries. And we're ignoring the needs of our own people. I've had it with this group that feels that America's freedom must be linked with a country that is right now committing genocide and is getting away with it because of the politics of America that are not in the interest of our own people."

The latest news about Israel's actions in Gaza and elsewhere throughout the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

YouTube.com

NaturalNews.com
Leaked cellphone data exposes visitors to Epsteins pedophile island

Newly leaked data obtained by sheds fresh light on who traveled to Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile island between July 2016 and his arrest in July 2019, along with the routes they took.

Nearly 200 people, the cellphone data shows, took multiple trips to Little Saint James during those years. Pedophile island, by the way, is where Epstein and his clients committed sex crimes with trafficked minors.

According to the mobile data, many influential and wealthy people traveled to pedophile island. A Near Intelligence analysis of the data shows travelers coming from multimillion-dollar homes across the United States and around the world.

Some of the travelers also hailed from lower-income areas where Epstein's victims are known to have lived and attended school, including parts of West Palm Beach, Fla.

Around 40 of Epstein's victims have been identified and found, reports claim, though it remains unknown how the incriminating cellphone data was obtained or how it was used.

(Related: Did you know that Epstein created a baby harvesting farm to "seed humanity" with his and other elitists' offspring?)

Many travelers to pedophile island have ties to defense industry

Among the names identified as having traveled to Epstein's pedophile island are former President Bill Clinton and Great Britain's Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew, as you may recall, reached an out-of-court settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual assault back in 2022.

Epstein was eventually arrested himself for similar crimes, though he is said to have died in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial.

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. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend and "madam," was also charged, convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for her involvement in the child trafficking that took place. She is currently appealing the verdict.

WIRED further reported that many of the wealthy people who took trips to pedophile island have ties to the defense industry.

Their travel details include origination in the U.S. with stop-offs at the Ritz-Carlton on neighboring St. Thomas Island. Others were traced to a specific dock at the American Yacht Harbor, a marina once co-owned by Epstein.

That dock hosts an "impressive array" of pleasure boats and mega-yachts, many of which WIRED was able to track by movement from the released data.

After arriving at Epstein's island, these pleasure boats and yachts were docked and those on board led to pristine beaches, pools and cabanas scattered across the nearly 71-acre estate.

An astounding 11,279 coordinates were obtained showing a flood of traffic to pedophile island during that time. As many as 166 locations throughout the U.S. were pegged as areas where travelers originated, with locations in Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan and New York topping the list.

"The coordinates point to mansions in gated communities in Michigan and Florida; homes in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts; a nightclub in Miami; and the sidewalk across the street from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City," WIRED reported.

"The coordinates also point to various Epstein properties beyond Little St. James, including his 8,000-acre New Mexico ranch and a waterfront mansion on El Brillo Way in Palm Beach, where prosecutors said in an indictment that Epstein trafficked numerous 'minor girls' for the purposes of molesting and abusing them. Near's data is notably missing any locations in Europe, where citizens are safeguarded by comprehensive privacy laws."

In the comments, someone pointed out that all this potential blackmail is a CIA and Secret Service specialty.

"Getting powerful people in compromising positions is worth its weight in gold," this person added.

"Epstein was a Mossad-CIA operative," suggested another. "The media never covers the most important part of the scandal, which is the Mossad-CIA blackmail operation part of it."

More related news about the Epstein scandal can be found at Evil.news.

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

NaturalNews.com

WIRED.com
Pair of massive 7.5 magnitude EARTHQUAKES shake Taiwan, trigger tsunami warnings

The strongest earthquakes in 25 years just struck Taiwan  a 7.5 followed by an immediate 7.4  destroying multiple buildings and leaving many dead or missing.

There have been nine confirmed deaths from the mega-quake pair, along with more than 900 injuries. Another 50 workers traveling in minibuses to a hotel in a national park remain missing.

The scene around Hualien, the epicenter of the quakes, was harrowing. Large buildings were seen tilted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A tsunami warning was also issued as the quakes occurred offshore around 8 a.m., also triggering landslides throughout the area.

Many people lost their homes and have had to take up shelter in tents and other makeshift living arrangements. Emergency workers, meanwhile, are working overtime to assess the damage and find any remaining people who are missing or in need of rescue.

"The Uranus building behind us is a very badly damaged place," commented Deputy Acting Chief of Hualien Fire Department Lee Lung-Sheng. "It is a building with one basement level and nine floors above ground. The first and second floors are now underground."

?#BREAKING: Multiple buildings have collapsed after a Pair of Massive 7.5 Earthquakes Strikes Triggering Tsunami Warnings ?#Taipei | #Taiwan Currently, a pair of powerful, massive earthquakes has just occurred. The first one measured a magnitude of 7.5, followed by a 7.4 pic.twitter.com/XCKd7ocjel  R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 3, 2024

?#UPDATE: More video is emerging from Hualien Liyu Lake in Taiwan, shows violent shaking as live webcams capture the moment when the 7.5 magnitude earthquake strikes, followed by aftershocks measuring 7.4 and 6.5. pic.twitter.com/fmV8RFfpWh  R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 3, 2024

(Related: It would seem as though the upcoming eclipse on April 8 has many prophetic implications for which the powers that be are hastily preparing.)

Taiwanese says these were largest earthquakes they've ever felt

Hualien city mayor Hsu Chen-Wei issued a statement that all residents and businesses in buildings that had either tilted or in some way settled dangerously following the quakes have been evacuated.

Officials are currently in the process of demolishing four badly damaged buildings as aftershocks continue.

"I'm afraid of aftershocks, and I don't know how bad the shaking will be," said a 52-year-old Hualien resident who shared her family name as Yu. This person is now having to stay in a shelter because her home was damaged.

The first earthquake struck at a depth of 9.6 miles, setting off emergency evacuation alarms and a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.

The shaking was felt all around the island of Taiwan, including in the capital city of Taipei on the western side of the island opposite where the earthquakes occurred. For a brief time, Taipei's subway system was closed due to the shaking.

In addition to the 50 missing workers aboard the national park minibuses, reports indicate that about 80 mining workers became trapped in a mining area, possibly inside a mine.

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. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. 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 is the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced," said a woman who runs a bed-and-breakfast accommodation in Hualien city, and who goes by the family name of Chen.

Speaking outside of a collapsed building in Hualien, President-elect Lai Ching-te said that the current top priority is to make sure that everyone still in need is rescued.

The White House here in the United States has also indicated that it is ready to provide any needed assistance as rescue and cleanup operations continue.

In the end of days, it was foretold that there would be many earthquakes in diverse places, which we are now seeing. Learn more at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheReaderApp.com

Yahoo.com

NaturalNews.com
Spain to officially recognize Palestinian state, calls on Western powers to do same

The world has had enough of Israel's genocidal war crimes in Gaza, prompting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to state that Spain will recognize Palestinian statehood by July.

"We have to seriously consider doing it in the first half of this year," Sanchez said, urging other Western nations to do the same.

Sanchez has repeatedly spoken up about Israel's atrocious behavior in Gaza, which includes bombing and starving Palestinian women and children, as well as conducting targeted airstrikes on food and medicine aid workers.

At the start of a planned trip to Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Sanchez made these remarks in support of creating a Palestinian state that is off-limits to the agenda of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

(Related: Proportionally speaking, most U.S. slave owners at the height of slavery were Jewish.)

Many European counties already recognize Palestinian statehood

Many people may not know this, but many countries around the world, including across Europe, support Palestinian statehood.

European Union (EU) members Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria all already recognize Palestine. Ireland and Malta are also reportedly in the process of unilaterally supporting the recognition of Palestine.

Until an agreement for a two-state solution is solidified by Israel itself, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are refusing to recognize the existence of Palestine.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has vowed to never, under any circumstances, recognize a Palestinian state. Netanyahu continues to declare plans to illegally occupy both the West Bank and now Gaza indefinitely, meaning forever.

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.

Those who oppose a two-state solution under the guise that it violates a biblical mandate should know that prior to 1948, Israel itself did not even exist, the land atop which it now sits having previously been considered Palestine.

Back in 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) also signed the Oslo Accords, which are regarded as an early stepping-stone towards the creation of a Palestinian state.

At the time and thereafter, Israel basically hit the pause button, though, delaying any final negotiations on the matter while accelerating its building of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

"As more Jewish settlers began living on occupied Palestinian land, it became more difficult politically, both domestically within Israel and internationally, to demand their removal," reports The Cradle about what transpired.

This latest move by Spain will reportedly help accelerate a finalization of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. As soon as this month, meaning April, Palestine could become a full-fledged member of the United Nations (UN).

Sanchez and other authorities in Madrid say they hope to see the Palestinian Authority (PA) ultimately govern the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the entirety of Gaza, with Hamas playing no role in Gaza's government after the war comes to an end.

Those who oppose the two-state solution say it violates biblical mandates, not to mention that Palestine has no recognizable government or economy of its own, at least not yet. Those who support a two-state solution argue it will quell tensions and create "peace and safety."

"How can you have a two-state solution when the Palestinians think that Israel has no right to exist?" complained one commenter in opposition to the two-state solution. "Hamas and Iran are dedicated to its total destruction."

"Wait for the United States to abstain from a UN resolution to recognize Palestine as a state and it'll be game over for Israel," wrote another about how Israel seems to be digging itself into a hole with its actions over the past six months.

More related news coverage of the conflict between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors can be found at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheCradle.co

NaturalNews.com
The latest report warned of the potential impacts of climate change and habitat loss on the endangered population of scrub mints in Florida, which has been exacerbated by the development of agricultural pastures.

Scrub mints are one of the unique and beautiful perennials in Florida, and branches can spread despite being short-lived. The said mints can grow in sand pine scrub, including in sandhill habitats and oak scrub, which is mostly found in Florida and the southeastern US.

The retreat of glaciers provides a unique plant diversity in the region. The rare scrub mints used to grow more in the Apalachicola Basin of Florida about four million years ago. Despite its ecological and cultural importance, scrub mints have suffered from continued threats of climate change and human disturbance.

Researchers raised concerns about the alarming impact on their species. Other threats include habitat loss, wildfires, and invasive species. Without urgent conservation and protection efforts, scrub mints can suffer from imminent extinction or widespread loss, as many species are now considered threatened and endangered.

Florida's Endangered Scrub Mints

According to a report, scrub mints have experienced an alarming population loss. Of the 24 known species, about half are listed as endangered or threatened due to climate change and habitat destruction. The research findings were published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

"If we continue with business as usual, this entire group of plants could go extinct within the next 100 years. And we won't just lose these species. We'll lose the scrub, one of the most truly authentic and formerly ubiquitous Florida habitats will just go away," Andre Naranjo, the study's lead author, as quoted in a report.

In addition, the falling sea levels allowed the scrub mints to undergo a rare hybridization. For instance, the Titusville balm is considered a hybrid scrub mint, showing the diversification in plants. Understanding the evolution history of scrub mints can be helpful with conservation efforts amidst the growing threats to their numbers.

The Lakela's mint (Dicerandra immaculata) is also critically endangered together with other scrub mints. The increasing development of agricultural pastures and commercialization of areas have reduced the habitats of mints. Mints have also been threatened by the potential spread of invasive species.

Also Read: 6 House Plants to Ease Scorching Heat and Improve Air Quality

Protection Efforts for Endangered Scrub Mints

Understanding the DNA and historical interactions of mints will offer new insights into their shrinking habitats. The researchers also raised concerns about other unidentified species of mints that are lacking federal protection, which is subject to decline or extinction.

In the past, the mints had a wider distribution despite their short-lived population. Researchers explained that the mints could undergo the mints have separate evolutionary trajectories. As a result, protection trees is crucial for the environment and many species.

Related Article: The Survivor Tree: A Symbol of Hope and Inspiration After 9/11

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News
Residents in the eastern and northeastern US can expect a potential winter storm threat this week, causing power outages and travel delays. Cold air can bring a chilly feeling in the region, with possible blizzard conditions in the mountainous or higher elevation areas.

Here are the latest Key Messages for the nor'easter developing tonight over New England. pic.twitter.com/uHny84uI94  NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) April 3, 2024

An NWS Weather Prediction Center report warns of heavy snow and sleet conditions in the Northeast this Friday. The threat of potent storms can impact parts of north-central New England and northeast New York, including Maine. Homeowners should stay alert for snowfall accumulations reaching from 1 to 2 feet, particularly in the areas of the northeast part of the Adirondacks.

Wet Snow Outlook and Colder Conditions in Eastern and Northeast US

According to the latest advisory, residents can expect harsh winds and cooler conditions this late week. The threat of hypothermia and frostbite is possible, and it is best to avoid prolonged exposure to much colder weather outlooks, particularly for older adults, children, and people with medical conditions.

The NWS advisory warns of heavy snow and wind impacts this early week, damaging trees and power lines. Power outages can be dangerous due to cold-related health concerns. Meanwhile, coastal flooding can emerge on the northern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts, bringing roadway flooding risks.

Through Wednesday, the latest advisory warns of much colder weather, with a threat of a winter storm. The chilly outlook is expected to unload in the following areas:

Washington

Charleston

Pittsburgh

Indianapolis

Detroit

Syracuse

Portland

New York

In Boston, the forecast monitors the development of a late season Nor'easter. Homeowners should stay alert for river and rain flooding, with a chance of heavy snow. Potentially damaging winds can also unfold. Motorists should be extra cautious in navigating the roads due to a mix of rain and snow, which brings slippery commutes and low visibility.

On Friday, homeowners can anticipate the widespread cold in the following areas:

Portland

Boston

New York

Burlington

Washington

Virginia Beach

Charlotte

Charleston

Washington

Nashville

Columbus

Pittsburgh

Buffalo

Little Rock

Indianapolis

St. Louis

Des Moines

Peoria

Green Bay

In Chicago, the forecast monitors a slow-moving low-pressure system, causing potential rain and snow on Friday. On the weekend, residents should check for a chance of rain. Next week, a warming trend can ease the cooler temperatures in the region. Meanwhile, the slushy snow can lead to slower commutes.

Also Read: Northeast Spring Weather: Localized Flooding to Hit This Week After Heavy Snow Threats

Wet Snow and Winter Storm Threat This Week

Winter storms and heavy snow can cause a hazardous weather outlook in the US. Residents can struggle against slower commutes and dangerous travel. Additionally, preparing emergency kits is advisable to stay safe from the weather.

When the weather becomes challenging, it is best to stay at home until the storm abates.

Related Article: Pacific Northwest NWS Forecast: Strong Front to Bring Cooler Temperatures Midweek

For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
Extreme drought is endangering millions of people in several countries across Africa, ranging from Angola to Mozambique. Fueled by the El Nino phenomenon, the southern part of the continent has experienced dry conditions and lack of rainfall, as well as water shortages and crop losses. The drought is also threatening southern Africa's energy production and food supplies, which could potentially impact the region's economy.

Amid climate change, El Nino has delayed the start of the region's rainy season, which typically spans from October to April. The extreme heat and humid conditions from the drought have also devastated harvests, agricultural lands, and water reservoirs that tens of millions of people rely on.

According to experts, the El Nino climate pattern that releases heat from the Pacific Ocean has caused the lack of rainfall in southern Africa.

Since 2015, southern Africa has been impacted by the worst drought in decades. Elsewhere in the continent, the Horn of Africa and sub-Saharan Africa regions have also experienced the same natural disaster in recent years. Multiple organizations associated with the United Nations have confirmed that many nations in the continent are experiencing similar hardships due to the extreme drought, which is expected to continue indefinitely.

Africa Drought Crisis

In a media release by the UN earlier this year, the Africa drought crisis has taken its toll in multiple countries across the continent, including Madagascar, which experienced the most severe drought in four decades. The disaster caused widespread hunger and placed thousands of people into near-famine conditions. Being prone to extreme weather events, the island nation of Madagascar has also been hit by El Nino.

The UN has also warned that many areas across Africa are also experiencing immediate threats from extreme drought, including Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

In Zambia, up to 70% of the country's agricultural fields have experienced dry spells in its Eastern Province. Meanwhile, reports as of early April 2024 show that areas from Angola to Mozambique are not spared by drought, with Zimbabwe being on the brink of declaring a national disaster.

Also Read: California Keeps Experiencing Extreme Drought in Spite of Record-Setting Snow

Drought and Climate Change

Drought is defined as the deficiency or lack of average precipitation in a certain area, region, or country. It occurs over an extended period of time, resulting in water shortages and other environmental hazards. In terms of scope, climate change is increasing the chances of worsening drought in multiple parts of the United States and the rest of the world, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).

The US-based non-profit organization C2ES explains how climate change contributes to drought in the following pointers:

Warmer temperatures accelerate the evaporation process in the atmosphere, reducing surface water and drying up soils and vegetation.

Warmer winter temperatures are also altering water availability in the Northern Hemisphere, decreasing snowy precipitation and accumulation of snowpack.

Climate change is also causing different regions of the world to be drier than normal, including the drought-stricken Southwest US.

Related Article: Amazon Extreme Drought Exposes Ancient Dozens of Rock Formations, Carvings
The Botswana government criticized Germany over remarks banning imported trophies from hunting animals and threatened to send 20,000 elephants.

Earlier this year, Germany's environment ministry proposed tighter restrictions regarding the matter.

Poaching Concerns

Earlier this year, Germany's environment ministry, led by Green Party member Steffi Lemke, proposed tighter restrictions on the import of hunting trophies in response to poaching concerns.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi said that conservation efforts have resulted in an increase in the number of elephants and that hunting is a crucial tool for keeping them under control.

Botswana prohibited trophy hunting in 2014 but overturned the prohibition in 2019 due to criticism from local people. The country currently sets annual hunting quotas.

Elephant herds were tramping citizens, consuming crops, and causing property damage.

"It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world," he said.

Botswana, which has the world's largest elephant population, has previously offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique in an effort to combat what Masisi termed "overpopulation.".

In March, officials threatened to transport 10,000 elephants to London.

The African leader said that Germans should "live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to," and threatens to send 20,000 elephants to the country.

Botswana has not expressed any concerns to the German government about this, according to a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry.

German Environment Ministry spokeswoman Iris Throm said the government was still in talks with African countries affected by import limitations, including Botswana.

According to the ministry, Germany is one of the EU's largest importers of hunting trophies, and African hunting trophies are already subject to import authorization under present standards.

According to figures from Germany's Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, 26 hunting trophies from African elephants were imported in 2023, out of a total of roughly 650.

The ministry is in talks with the EU on tighter import restrictions, with an emphasis on expanding the list of protected species, Throm said.

Read Also: Botswana's Biggest Elephant was Killed for its Almost 8-Foot-Long Tusksby Trophy Hunters

Larger Issue

Mary Rice, executive director of the NGO Environmental Investigation Agency, said that Masisi's vow is a "rather empty threat" that is "unclear what it would achieve if it were remotely possible."

However, Rice believes the spat is related to larger issues around trophy hunting.

"Regardless of whether you are for or against hunting as a conservation tool, the hunting industry - as that is what it is - needs to get its house in order," she said.

In March, United Kingdom MPs voted to endorse a ban on importing hunting trophies, but the measure must go through further vetting before becoming law.

The Conservatives' 2019 general election platform included a commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies.

Botswana and other southern African countries profit from wealthy Westerners who pay thousands of dollars for permission to shoot an animal and then return home with its head or skin as a trophy.

They claim that this money is used to support conservation initiatives and local communities, making them less likely to hunt animals.

Animal rights organizations claim that the practice is cruel and should be prohibited.

Related Article: Botswana: Mystery of Mass Elephant Die-off Solved
The network is the new business imperative

As we fully get into the swing of the new year, the sole guarantee business leaders have is that change is constant. According to Accentures Pulse of Change: 2024 Index, released ahead of Januarys World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, business disruption is expected to accelerate much faster than expected, with technology ranked as the number one reason.

Generative AI, IoT, and other connected technologies continue to reset business expectations and create challenging dynamics for IT teams to accommodate. Networks play a pivotal role in enabling data services and are increasingly looked to as the lifeline for IT to address priorities around user experience, application performance, access and deployment, interoperability, and integration.

Advanced automation capabilities like AIOps and integrated IoT operations connections are needed to help IT teams manage new scale and complexity requirements while security concerns become a natural part of the networking conversation and are becoming a leading necessity in next-generation refresh initiatives. But as these capabilities are made available, piecemeal, distributed, and overlay solutions intended to address gaps in IT infrastructure will more than likely create more chaos rather than simplify design. As you build out your next-generation network, look to a security-first, AI-powered network solution as the foundation needed to unify your infrastructure and scale your resources for the future.

Introducing security-first, AI-powered networking

By implementing a unified infrastructure solution with HPE Aruba Networking, you benefit from decades of networking and security design advancements made within the hardware and software capabilities you choose to deploy. Policy follows the user and use case of your deployment to ensure consistent access and segmentation is applied no matter when and where connectivity is required. AIOps capabilities leverage the industrys largest networking data lake for instant network services availability, providing your IT team with a jumpstart to network performance optimization and diagnostics. Flexibility and choice in deployment architecture also help you maintain control and adhere to your industry or corporate compliance requirements.

Unified infrastructure benefits help your network work smarter, not harder, by providing:

Improved IT efficiency: Encourage collaboration between IT teams focused on end-user services, IoT and application development, network operations, and security, risk, and compliance by ensuring network tools and operations are accessible and collaborative.

Encourage collaboration between IT teams focused on end-user services, IoT and application development, network operations, and security, risk, and compliance by ensuring network tools and operations are accessible and collaborative. Consistent enduser experience: Ensure users and devices are granted access where neededand the network can proactively optimize and analyze areas of concern by using advanced visibility and segmentation capabilities across access, core, and data center network fabrics.

Ensure users and devices are granted access where neededand the network can proactively optimize and analyze areas of concern by using advanced visibility and segmentation capabilities across access, core, and data center network fabrics. Reduced cyber risk: With the appropriate visibility and access controls automatically in place, network teams can more efficiently secure against external actors, identify and mitigate at-risk assets, and meet industry compliance requirements with instant access to appropriate alerts and reports available across cloud and on-premises deployment options.

With the appropriate visibility and access controls automatically in place, network teams can more efficiently secure against external actors, identify and mitigate at-risk assets, and meet industry compliance requirements with instant access to appropriate alerts and reports available across cloud and on-premises deployment options. Accelerated IoT adoption: Accelerate deployment of line of business technologies such as onsite Wi-Fi and wired networking, point of sale systems, security cameras, Bluetooth and Zigbee sensors, and more by utilizing vendor direct IoT integrations built into HPE Aruba Networking Central, our cloud-native network services platform.

Its time to make a move

For more information on how you can get started with a security-first, AI-powered approach to networking, visit our unified infrastructure home page for resources such as brochures, product documentation, and contact sales for next steps.
"I would like to take this opportunity to say that the Ministerial Cabinet and the speaker are absolutely committed to each of the commitments that we have assumed yesterday when presenting the Government General Policy," he told RPP Noticias.

In this regard, the Cabinet chief announced that trips will be made to regions and talks will be held with business guilds, labor unions, and "all bloods."

"Because dialogue is the most important (element), and we have the ability to understand one another in the only project that matters, which is to reactivate Peru and grant security to all Peruvians," he said.

Moreover, Adrianzen stated that the Government's two main lines of action are economic reactivation and citizen security, essential for generating a favorable climate for investments.

Concerning the situation in Pataz province (La Libertad region) , he expressed that comprehensive solutions are being sought, since "it is not merely a police or military issue; they (residents) also need services, education, and projects to benefit families."








After winning the confidence vote in Parliament, the Cabinet chief underscored that all State ministers will embark on a series of trips throughout the regions in order to work on essential issues related to the government administration.





"The only project that matters is aimed at reviving Peru and providing security to citizens. The Cabinet is fully focused on each of the commitments that we have assumed before Parliament," he said in an interview with a media outlet.





Investments for development





Adrianzen emphasized that important initiatives are under way, such as the Port of Marcona, whose contract worth US$415 million was awarded a few days ago, as well as the Lima Road Ring, whose contract will be awarded at the cost of US$3.4 billion.





According to the Cabinet chief, the country has a portfolio of only public-private partnerships worth US$8 billion.





"We hope more investment will continue to come. These sectors are linked to others and, in succession, generate economic movement," he stated.





In this regard, the Prime Minister referred to the Chancay Megaport, which will not only be the hub port in the Pacific region, but will also include a police mega-center and other infrastructure projects that will connect it with Lima and Callao.





"We are convinced that Chancay will be inaugurated in November, under the anticipated conditions," he affirmed.





(END) NDP/JCC/RMB/MVB
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In a recent study published in the journal JAMA Neurology, researchers reviewed the progress thus far in pharmacologically managing the various neuropsychiatric syndromes that manifest in neurodegenerative disorders and discussed the recent advances in understanding the pathobiology of neurodegenerative disorders that help improve clinical care and therapy.

Study: Progress in Pharmacologic Management of Neuropsychiatric Syndromes in Neurodegenerative Disorders. Image Credit: PopTika / Shutterstock

Neurodegenerative disorders and neuropsychiatric syndromes

Neurodegenerative disorders encompass a wide range of conditions, many of which are a factor of progressing age and manifest symptoms only in late middle age or old age. However, with the growing aging population in the world, the frequency of neurodegenerative disorders and associated conditions continues to increase. While Lewy body dementia, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Alzheimer's disease are some of the more commonly heard neurodegenerative disorders, others include frontotemporal dementia, corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, traumatic encephalopathy syndrome, and multiple system atrophy.

All neurodegenerative disorders are associated with neuropsychiatric syndromes, with neuropsychiatric syndromes being part of the diagnostic criteria for some of the neurodegenerative disorders. These neuropsychiatric syndromes can occur sequentially or simultaneously and play a major role in functional impairment and overall decline in quality of life, not to mention adding to caregiver distress.

Non-pharmacological interventions such as psychosocial treatments have been extensively explored to ameliorate neuropsychiatric syndromes in cases of neurodegenerative disorders and to prevent relapse. These include exercise programs, environmental modifications, music, acupressure and massage therapy, activities such as art in combination with music, and animal-assisted interventions.

However, in cases where psychosocial interventions are not successful in reducing the symptoms of neuropsychiatric syndromes or in cases where the patient might be a threat to themselves or others, pharmacological interventions are preferred. Although the development of pharmacological therapies to treat neuropsychiatric syndromes has been challenging, several medications have been approved for use by the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA), specifically for patients with neurodegenerative disorders.

In the present review, the researchers discussed in detail five of the major neuropsychiatric syndromes, their occurrence, symptoms, and options for pharmacological management of these syndromes.

Depression

Depression is one of the common symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders, with a high prevalence of major depressive disorders among patients with dementia. In patients with Alzheimer's disease dementia, depression that is not diagnosed or treated in time often accelerates cognitive decline, suicide risk, and mortality risk. The incidence of depression in other neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies can often be close to 80%.

Although the diagnosis of depression in patients with neurodegenerative disorders is challenging, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and selective serotonergic and noradrenergic reuptake inhibitors have been prescribed. For depression that is life-threatening or psychotic, electroconvulsive therapy has often been effective. However, studies have found that Alzheimer's disease pathology involving a high brain amyloid burden can result in resistance to pharmacotherapy.

Disinhibition

Disinhibition has often been observed in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, Huntington's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. It involves behavior that is considered inappropriate according to social norms, such as touching strangers, making sexually explicit jokes or remarks, improper sexual acts, speaking loudly, and oversharing personal details. It is most common in patients with the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia.

Atypical antipsychotics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and antiepileptic or mood-stabilizing agents have often been used to treat disinhibition. However, none of these are specifically for treating disinhibition in patients with neurodegenerative disorders.

Apathy

Apathy in dementia patients is often linked to a two-fold increase in the risk of cognitive decline. It is believed to increase caregiver distress, decrease treatment responses, and elevate the risk of frailty. While no approved treatments exist for apathy in patients with neurodegenerative disorders, psychosocial interventions, noninvasive brain stimulation, and non-psychostimulant pharmacologic interventions have been explored.

Psychosis

Psychosis, which involves a wide range of delusions and hallucinations, has varied associations with different neurodegenerative disorders. Patients with dementia with Lewy bodies often experience misidentification, misrepresentation, visual hallucinations, and feelings of presence, while frontotemporal dementia patients often also experience paranoia. The antipsychotics that have been approved for patients with neurodegenerative disorders based on results from placebo-controlled, double-blind trials include Pimavanserin, Risperidone, and Aripiprazole.

Agitation

One of the most prevalent and disruptive neuropsychiatric syndromes in most neurodegenerative disorders is agitation, which involves kicking, shoving, shouting, hitting, and resisting care. It is associated with rapid progression of dementia and earlier mortality. Agitation also results in a higher probability of hospitalization and substantially negatively impacts the quality of life of the patients and their families.

Agitation is often treated with antipsychotics such as Risperidone, Aripiprazole, Quetiapine, and Brexpiprazole. Antidepressants such as Citalopram and the anticonvulsant Carbamazepine have also been used as pharmacological treatment options for agitation.

Conclusions

To summarize, the review examined the latest advances in the pharmacological management of neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with neurodegenerative disorders. The researchers provided a comprehensive summary of the symptoms of five major neuropsychiatric syndromes and the pharmacological options for their management.
A recent Acta Psychologica study investigates the role of personality traits on over-the-top (OTT) service use and binge-watching.

Study: The effect of personality traits on over-the-top service use and binge-watching. Image Credit: SeventyFour / Shutterstock.com

The phenomenon of binge-watching and OTT services

A global increase in the use of OTT media services, such as Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix, has been documented. In the United States, approximately 80% of the population has at least one streaming service subscription, thus demonstrating widespread consumer interest in OTT content.

Binge-watching describes watching multiple episodes of a television series in a single sitting. Since the inception of OTT platforms, about 75% of consumers have binge-watched at least some content. Although OTT use and binge-watching have become a widespread phenomenon, few studies have investigated the psychological characteristics associated with an individual's binge-watching trait.

Every person is inherently different in their technology-related interests. Therefore, differential OTT use and binge-watching patterns are, to a certain extent, linked to personality traits like cognition, emotion, and behaviors. These personality traits are robustly associated with environmental and biological factors.

Since a significant portion of the global population is shifting towards OTT services, it is important to understand the psychological background behind OTT use and binge-watching.

About the study

The current study evaluated the Big Five personality traits, which include emotional stability, openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. An individual's need for cognition, which refers to their willingness to be involved in effortful and thoughtful activities, was also assessed.

The study's key objective was to document evidence that personality traits and need for cognition are associated with OTT use and binge-watching. The researchers also investigated whether daily and non-daily OTT use influence the association between personality traits and binge-watching.

A diverse and large cohort that resembled the Korean population was used for the analysis. Relevant data were provided by the Korean Information Society Development Institute.

The average age of the cohort was 52.5 years, 54.9% of whom were female. All study participants had either an undergraduate or high school degree, and most of the cohort was married.

Study findings

Personality traits were found to significantly impact OTT use and binge-watching to some extent. However, binge-watching was not significantly associated with other physiological variables.

OTT use significantly correlated with age and education. Moreover, individual-level differences in personality traits influenced OTT use somewhat, with the effect size ranging between 10-30%.

The probability of using OTT services depends on an individual's openness to experience and need for cognition. Since openness to experience is characterized by one's inclination to experience and adopt new ideas, this trait could be associated with one's willingness to watch different OTT content on different platforms.

The need for cognition was also positively correlated with OTT use. This could be because individuals inherently gravitate towards cognitively challenging materials, such as original series with convoluted plots and documentaries. Importantly, additional studies are needed to confirm this observation.

A negative correlation was observed between binge-watching and an individual's emotional stability, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and need for cognition. A similar trend was observed for daily OTT users, even when the sample was stratified by OTT frequency. In addition to the need for cognition, personality traits showed no effect on binge-watching for non-daily OTT users.

Extraversion was negatively correlated with OTT use, possibly due to the lack of preference for being alone to watch OTT content. However, these individuals might be prompted to watch for socialization purposes. This resulted in a conflicting association between extroverts and OTT use.

A similar neutralizing trend was observed between conscientiousness and OTT use. Conscientious people exhibited better self-control and were less prone to distraction and impulsivity.

Previous studies have shown that binge-watching could be an ideal way to cope with emotional distress, such as frustration, anxiety, and anger. Emotionally stable individuals are less inclined to binge-watch OTT content, as they do not require binge-watching as an escape route.

Individuals with low emotional stability and conscientiousness tend to prefer animation, cartoons, and cult classics. However, those with a higher need for cognition prefer content linked to political and social issues.

Conclusions

The current study revealed that personality traits, particularly openness to experience, positively influence binge-watching for addictive OTT users. This observation has practical implications for businesses associated with OTT services.

A better understanding of personality traits that influence binge-watching tendencies could be used to develop content tailored for certain consumers. Furthermore, policies and regulations could also be developed to prevent the adverse effects for daily OTT consumers with binge-watching tendencies.
Since the conflicts that followed 9/11 in 2001, military veterans deployed to areas in Southwest Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa have been developing respiratory diseases caused by inhaling particulate matter linked to their deployment locations and job duties. New research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows levels of silica and other silicates are significantly higher in the lungs of those who have had past deployments compared to normal lung tissue.

"Using elemental analysis of lung tissue, we examined the content of different elements -- silica, titanium, lead and other metals in lung tissue samples from veterans who have deployed since 2001," said Cecile Rose, MD, MPH, occupational pulmonologist at National Jewish Health and senior author of the published study. "This research gives us greater insight into hazardous military exposures. It is important for our service members, because when they come back from deployment with respiratory symptoms, their symptoms get taken seriously."

Environmental dust storms, local polluting industries and military operations generate airborne hazards, not only in the line of duty, but also during leisure activities and sleep. Military operations frequently contribute to particulate matter burden due to sources such as exhaust from vehicles, aircraft, and heaters, along with smoke from fires, explosive blasts and burn pits. Some military personnel have jobs that expose them to potentially hazardous airborne vapors, such as dusts, gases or fumes.

For this study, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) worked with National Jewish Health investigators to test the lung tissue samples using sensitive tools.

The sophisticated equipment and techniques used by USGS were essential to measure the amount and types of dusts that are retained in the lungs following deployment. This was a cutting-edge approach combining the tools of geological science and pulmonary medicine to answer questions about what causes lung inflammation and disease." Lauren Zell-Baran, PhD, MPH, researcher, National Jewish Health

This study underscores the importance of controlling particulate exposures in military occupational settings, particularly dusts containing silica and silicates, to minimize risk for chronic respiratory diseases.
New research being presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April) finds that pneumonia-causing bacteria are common in the over 60s and that contact with pre-school and young school-aged children appears to be the most important factor in the onward transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) to the over 60s.

Pneumococcus is the main bacterial pathogen involved in ear and sinus infection, but is also a major cause of more severe diseases such as pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Pneumococcal infections mainly affect children under two and the elderly, and claim almost two million lives worldwide every year.

The US CDC estimates that pneumococci cause more than half of all cases of bacterial meningitis in the USA with around 2,000 cases of pneumococcal meningitis occurring each year. Over 150,000 hospitalizations from pneumococcal pneumonia occur every year in the USA, and pneumococci is also the most common bacterial cause of childhood pneumonia, especially in children under 5 years. In adults, pneumococci account for 10% to 30% of adult community-acquired pneumonia.

Since pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) were included in America's childhood vaccination program in 2000, invasive disease caused by vaccine-type strains in children has decreased by over 90%, an effect that has not been seen in older adults. This suggests that pneumococci might be transmitted by age groups other than children.

Pneumococci commonly inhabit the respiratory tract of healthy persons and are transmitted via respiratory droplets. Rates of asymptomatic carriage vary-;the CDC estimates that among school-age children, 20% to 60% may be colonized, while only 5% to 10% of adults without children are colonized.

Important questions remain about the sources of transmission of pneumococcus to older adults in the community. This information is vital for understanding the potential indirect effects of using PCVs in children and older adults.

If substantial pneumococcal transmission occurs between adults, then vaccination of older adults could have the additional benefit of reducing transmission and potentially serious disease." Dr. Anne Wyllie, lead author from the Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, USA

To find out more about the importance of within-household transmission between adults aged 60 and older, and the risks associated with acquiring pneumococcus in the community, researchers conducted a longitudinal study in New Haven, Connecticut of household pairs (e.g. married couples) aged 60 and older without younger individuals living in the household.

Over the course of autumn/winter 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, a total of 183 adults (average age 70 years; 51% female; 85% White) living in 93 households were enrolled.

Researchers collected saliva samples and data from questionnaires about social behaviors and health from participants every 2 weeks over six visits (over a period of 10 weeks).

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to test saliva samples for the presence of pneumococcal DNA and the diversity of pneumococcal strains. Usually, testing for pneumococcus in adults is assessed using nasopharyngeal swabs  taken from far back inside the nostril. Previous work by the same author established that this is insufficient to capture carriage in adults so sampling saliva is more effective at detecting pneumococcus in adults.

The analyses found that overall, 52/1,088 (4.8%) samples tested positive for pneumococcus, with 28/183 (15%) individuals colonized on at least one sampling visit.

Several individuals tested positive for pneumococcus at multiple timepoints including two participants who were colonized throughout the 10-week sampling period. Two other adults tested positive at five of the six time points-;one of whom reported daily contact with children aged 2-59 months and 5-9 years.

In 5/93 (5.4%) households, both members were carriers, though not necessarily at the same time point.

Pneumococcal carriage point prevalence (at any sampled time) was substantially (six times) higher among older adults who had contact with children daily/every few days (10%) compared to those who had no contact with children (1.6%).

For those participants who reported recent contact (within 2 weeks of sample collection): point prevalence was highest in those in contact with younger children, with those who reported recent contact with <5-year-olds and 5-9-year-olds having point prevalences of 14.8% and 14.1%, respectively; compared with those reporting contact with children aged 10 years and over that had a point prevalence of 8.3%. Looking in detail at the youngest children, the point prevalences were: for children up to age 1 year (14%), 1-2 years (11%) and 2-5 years (17%).

While the numbers were small, those who had contact with children daily or every few days had the highest prevalence (15.7% and 14.0%, respectively). Those who had contact once or twice a month or no contact had lower prevalence (4.5% and 1.8% respectively).

Recent (within 2 weeks of sample) contact with children aged under 10 years was associated with a significant (3-times) increase in acquisition rate compared with no contact. Likewise, those over-60s with contact with children daily or every few days had a 6-times higher risk of acquisition than those without contact with children.

"Our study found no clear evidence of adult-to-adult transmission even though there were households in which an individual was positive for pneumococcus across numerous sampling moments, and instances where both adults in the household carried pneumococcus around the same time", says Dr Wyllie.

"Instead, we found that transmission was highest among older adults who had frequent contact with young children. This suggests that the main benefit of adult pneumococcal vaccination is to directly protect older adults who are exposed to children who may still carry and transmit some vaccine-type pneumococcal strains despite successful national childhood vaccination programs."

The authors note that the study period coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, so they were able to explore risk factors for pneumococcal carriage when strict transmission mitigation measures were in place and eased over time. Interestingly, carriage rates remained consistent across both study seasons, despite a return to community activities in the second season and an increased circulation of respiratory viruses in the local community.

The authors note that the findings are based on a small community-based study (with comparatively few carriers detected) in one region of the USA involving mostly White individuals with higher education which might limit the generalisability of the findings to people from other racial or ethnic groups and countries. They also note that while saliva is generally more sensitive for the detection of pneumococcal carriage in adults, it is still possible that the overall carriage prevalence may have been underestimated since they did not sample other sites in the upper airway.
Scientists at the National Central University, Taiwan, have explored the relationship between skin microbiota and brain cognitive functions using electroencephalography and machine learning methods.

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Study: Exploring the possible relationship between skin microbiome and brain cognitive functions: a pilot EEG study. Image Credit: ART-ur / Shutterstock

Background

Human microbiota is defined as a vast pool of heterogeneous microorganisms that mainly reside in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (gut microbiota) and on the skin (skin microbiota).

The gut microbiota is known to play essential roles in regulating many physiological functions by producing short-chain fatty acids and other metabolites. Besides maintaining intestinal homeostasis and regulating metabolic and immune functions, gut microbiota plays a crucial role in regulating vital brain functions through the bidirectional gut-brain axis.

Like the GI tract, microorganisms residing on the skin are crucial for maintaining skin homeostasis, preventing foreign invaders (pathogens and chemicals) from entering the body, regulating immune functions, and decomposing natural products. These functions are exerted by short-chain fatty acids produced by the skin microbiota.

Bacterial growth on the human skin depends on several factors, including skin microenvironment, age, sebum level, hormonal level, and sweat production. An imbalance in skin microbial composition and diversity (dysbiosis) can lead to several skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis, wounds, psoriasis, acne vulgaris, diabetic foot ulcer, or Pityriasis Versicolor.

In this study, scientists have assessed the interactions between skin microbiota and cognitive function-related brain signals in healthy individuals.

Study design

The study was conducted on a total of 20 healthy individuals. Each participant's attention (cognitive function) level was measured using a classical oddball task comprising an odd and a standard stimulus with different frequencies that were presented in a random series.

The electrical brain activities of each participant were measured during the oddball task using electroencephalography (EEG) under three different conditions of bacterial population manipulation on the participant's forehead.

Bacterial populations were subjected to alcohol, glycerol, and water manipulations to investigate the impact of skin microbiota on brain cognitive functions. Alcohol, glycerol, and water manipulations were applied to eliminate skin bacteria, increase skin bacterial growth, and mimic natural skin bacterial growth.

The EEG changes (event-related potentials; ERPs) were analyzed using statistical and machine learning methods to detect the impact of skin microbiota manipulations on brain activities related to attention.

(A) Significant effects of experimental manipulations on bacteria population; (B) Color changes after experimental manipulations indicated bacterial fermentation.

Important observations

The optical density measurements of bacterial populations under three experimental manipulations revealed significantly increased bacterial growth under water and glycerol conditions compared to that under alcohol conditions.

The levels of cognitive processes of the participants were determined by measuring ERPs of N200 (a negative peak at 200 milliseconds) and P300 (a positive peal at 300 milliseconds) in response to experimental stimuli.

According to the available literature, increased N200 amplitudes are indicative of selective allocation of spatial attention, detection of novelty or mismatch, and cognitive control. Similarly, enhanced P300 amplitudes are related to selective attention.

The effective implementation of the oddball task was determined by examining ERPs under the water manipulation condition. The findings revealed significantly higher P300 amplitudes in the central-parietal area in response to oddball stimulus compared to that for standard stimulus. This indicates effective implementation of the task.

The ERP measurements under experimental manipulations revealed that the alcohol manipulation (bacteria removal) causes significant induction in P300 amplitudes in response to only oddball stimulus when compared to the water and glycerol conditions (increased bacterial growth). These observations suggest that removing bacteria from the skin increases the attention level of participants.

However, despite significant variation in bacterial growth under water and glycerol conditions, these two experimental manipulations observed no significant differences in P300 amplitudes.

This observation indicates that the effect of the skin bacterial population on the P300 signal is not proportional to the number of bacteria. Instead, it can be assumed that the increased bacterial population does not degrade the brain signals.

Based on pre-existing evidence, the scientists hypothesized that glycerol can increase the growth of specific but not all bacteria and that not all bacteria can affect the brain signals. They further assumed that the reduction in P300 amplitudes under water and glycerol conditions might be due to an imbalance in short-chain fatty acid concentration on the skin due to bacterial overgrowth.

Study significant

The study finds that removing the skin bacterial population can significantly increase P300 amplitudes along mid-line channels, indicating a considerable improvement in attention level.

The study also finds that machine learning classifiers can separate each experimental manipulation by utilizing EEG data with more than 88% accuracy.
The SynGAP Research Fund 501(c) today announced a grant to Dr. Danielle Andrade, Dr. Miles Thompson, Dr. Ryan Yuen, Dr. Rogier Kerssebook, and Dr. Anatoljevna Anna Kattentidt to support research on SynGAP-Related Disorder (SRD) in adults. SRD is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that causes severe intractable epilepsy, and intellectual disability, and is one of the leading genetic causes of autism.

Dr. Andrade's team recently published the only research on SRD in adults in Neurology Genetics, Rong 2023 which SRF was instrumental in encouraging and supporting via recruitment. See Dr. Andrade's readout on this work at the 2022 SRF SYNGAP1 Conference here. The grant SRF is announcing today will build on that groundbreaking work.

Dr. Andrade, MD, the principal investigator for this work says "This research holds deep significance not just for the adults in this study but also for children affected by SYNGAP1. As children become adults, investigating the outcomes of SYNGAP1 is pivotal in empowering families and clinicians alike, equipping them to screen for, diagnose, and manage manifestations seen in adults. Also, findings of this study will be important to guide precision therapies as well as evaluate their efficacy."

Michael Graglia, Managing Director of SRF, and father to a child with SRD says "Dr. Andrade is the world's leading expert in adults with DEEs, the SYNGAP1 community is very fortunate to have her attention focused on our disease. She and her colleagues are world-class."

Dr. Marta Dahiya, MD, SRF's Head of Clinical and mother to an adult with SRD says, "While many patients today are not yet adults, they will all become adults and this research will inform and support their care and created the opportunity for adult patients to be included in therapeutic studies. Every family should be thrilled about this work."

It is exciting to see this transatlantic cooperation where the large number of adults with SYNGAP1 Related Disorders in the Netherlands are able to be studied and included in this essential work." Katrien Deckers, head of SRF-Europe

How to sign up

Families with a loved one with SYNGAP1 Related Disorder age 16 or older can join the accessible online study by emailing [email protected], more information is available in the study flyer.

About the project

The primary goal is to comprehensively understand the adult phenotypes and natural history of SRD patients, as well as the differences between those with and without epilepsy, in order to promote optimal care among adult patients.

They will investigate the presence of seizures and their severity, movement abnormalities, adaptive skills, behavior, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep difficulties, and comorbidities among patients at our Adult Genetic Epilepsy (AGE) clinic in Canada, at the adult SYNGAP1 clinic in the Netherlands and externally through patient organizations such as the SynGAP Research Fund.

They will also determine the genotype/phenotype correlations between SYNGAP1 patients with and without epilepsy. This will be achieved via WGS sequencing to search for rare variants with large effect size that influences the phenotype, and the contribution of common variants to individual features of the phenotype, through calculating the polygenic risk score (PRS) for different comorbidities. This research will provide valuable insight into the unique experiences and clinical outcomes of adult patients with SRF while promoting dialogue on the importance of precise and timely diagnosis and treatment of adult patients.

About the team

Dr. Danielle Andrade, MD, MSc, FRCPC, is the Medical Director of the Epilepsy Program at University Health Network and founder and Director of Krembil Neuroscience Institute Adult Genetic Epilepsy (AGE) Program. Dr. Miles Thompson, Ph.D., GCGCVI Scientific Associate, is with Krembil Research Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, and University Health Network. Dr. Ryan Yuen, Ph.D. is the Senior Scientist, Genetics & Genome Biology Program, at The Hospital for Sick Children - Toronto, Canada. Dr. Rogier Kerssebook, MD, Ph.D. is a Consultant in Clinical Genetics, at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Dr. Anatoljevna Anna Kattentidt, MD, is a Clinical Geneticist and Physician, at Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

University Health Network, Toronto, Canada - https://www.uhn.ca

The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada - https://www.sickkids.ca

Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands - https://www.erasmusmc.nl/nl-nl/

About SYNGAP1-related intellectual disability (SRD)

SYNGAP1-related intellectual disability (US ICD-10 F78.A1 / Global ICD-11 LD90.Y) is a rare genetic disorder caused by variants on the SYNGAP1 gene that reduce SynGAP protein levels. This protein acts as a regulator in the synapses (where neurons communicate with each other). When SynGAP protein levels are too low, we see an increase in excitability in the synapses making it difficult for neurons to communicate effectively. This leads to many neurological issues seen in SynGAP patients.

Symptoms of SYNGAP1 include intellectual disability; epilepsy; hypotonia (low muscle tone); gross and fine motor skill delays; autism spectrum disorder; gastro-intestinal issues; sleep and behavior disorders and visual abnormalities.
Air India has launched its revamped Flying Returns loyalty program today, bringing in a fresh new structure and exciting features for its customers.

The new version comes with a simplified structure, user-friendly features, updated tiers, and a fresh identity. Aimed at providing more convenience, rewards, and recognition to its members, the enhanced Flying Returns program promises instant global status and privileges worldwide.

Breaking away from its traditional miles-based system, this overhaul marks the programs first major transformation in over a decade. Now, members will earn points based on their spending rather than the distance flown, ensuring a fairer and more equitable approach As per the Press Release.

According to Nipun Aggarwal, Air Indias Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer, The revamp of Flying Returns is an important step forward in the way the new Air India intends to serve and delight customers. We spent the past year listening, gathering insights from over 50,000 customers, and benchmarking our program against the best loyalty offerings out there. This deep dive, coupled with a complete digital overhaul, has resulted in a much stronger and value-delivering programme that we are proud to present today.

Reimagined Flying Returns Program: Key Highlights

Spend-based Rewards: Members will earn points based on their ticket spending, offering better value for money.

Members will earn points based on their ticket spending, offering better value for money. Evergreen Points: Points will never expire as long as members fly with Air India at least once every 24 months.

Points will never expire as long as members fly with Air India at least once every 24 months. No Black-out Dates & No Restrictions: Members can redeem points for any available Air India seat without blackout dates or restrictions.

Members can redeem points for any available Air India seat without blackout dates or restrictions. Cash+Points: Flexibility to pay for award flights using a combination of points and cash.

Flexibility to pay for award flights using a combination of points and cash. Global Reach: Members can earn and redeem points on 25 Star Alliance partner airlines, covering over 700 destinations worldwide.

Members can earn and redeem points on 25 Star Alliance partner airlines, covering over 700 destinations worldwide. Renamed Tiers: Membership tiers have been renamed for clarity.

Membership tiers have been renamed for clarity. Priority Service: Exclusive member services for Silver, Gold, and Platinum tier members.

Exclusive member services for Silver, Gold, and Platinum tier members. Family Pooling: Free pooling of points within families for quicker redemptions.

Free pooling of points within families for quicker redemptions. Direct Booking Bonus: Extra points for bookings made directly on Air Indias website or app.

In addition to these updates, Air India plans to introduce co-branded credit cards and partnerships with other brands for more travel benefits.

Updated Status Tiers

To streamline operations, the airline has decided to rename its status tiers. The previous long-form titles such as Silver Edge, Golden Edge, and Maharaja Club have been replaced with simpler terms: red (base tier), silver, gold, and platinum. This change aligns the tiers more closely with global status standards.

Additionally, members will now enjoy enhanced benefits across these tiers, earning bonuses on top of the standard 6 FR points/Rs 100 spent on Air India:

Silver Tier: 8 FR Points/Rs 100 spent (+2 / +33 percent)

Gold Tier: 9 FR Points/Rs 100 spent (+3 / +50 percent)

Platinum Tier: 10 FR Points/Rs 100 spent (+4 / +66 percent)

Earning Structure

The reward points and tier points mentioned above are earned per Rs 100 spent. Furthermore, members will receive an additional 2 bonus Reward Points per Rs 100 for direct bookings made through the Air India website and mobile app, applicable across all tiers.

Air Indias Flying Returns program, launched in 1994, is Indias oldest frequent flyer program. This update follows the airlines recent initiatives, including a new brand identity, website, mobile app, crew uniforms by Manish Malhotra, and the induction of Airbus A350 aircraft into its fleet.
Infosys Founder N R Narayana Murthy has said he experienced hunger for 120 hours non-stop when he was hitchhiking in Europe 50 years ago. Murthy, 77, was addressing a special event Achievements in Food Security: Indias Strides Towards Sustainable Development Goals, hosted by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN on Tuesday at the UN headquarters here.

Commemorating the milestone four billionth meal served by Indian NGO  The Akshaya Patra Foundation , the event showcased Indias innovative strategies, policies and achievements in food security and nutrition and their alignment with SDGs, particularly the target of zero hunger. Most of you have not experienced hunger. I have, Murthy said while addressing an audience of UN diplomats, officials, academia, civil society organisations and members of the Indian diaspora during the event.

He said that 50 years ago, I experienced hunger for 120 hours non-stop when I was hitchhiking in Europe and at a place called Nish, a border town between Bulgaria and what was then Yugoslavia and today Serbia, Murthy said. Most Indians here and I have received good quality and highly subsidised education from the Indian government. Therefore, as civilised people, we must show gratitude to our nation and help the future generation of these helpless, poor children to get (a) good education, he said.

Adding that success is bringing a smile to the face of helpless people, Murthy said, Akshaya Patra is hugely successful by that count. If our poor children lose hope and faith in our society, they will turn to violence and destroy all the good that India has achieved and is hoping to achieve. Murthy appealed to leaders of other countries at the UN to emulate the Akshaya Patra model and bring joy, health, confidence, hope and success to poor children in their own countries. Lauding the work done by the Foundation, Murthy said that Akshaya Patra raises our confidence that good things can indeed happen in India.

The Infosys founder emphasised that India has been making good economic progress due to the success of the governments economic policies, vision and the hard work of Indian entrepreneurs and citizens as well as the foreign direct investment from multinationals. He noted that the government of India runs the worlds largest food security programme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which benefits over 800 million people. As part of it, the school feeding programme PM POSHAN (Poshan Shakti Nirman) scheme directly benefits over 118 million children. Akshaya Patra is a proud addition and a proud partner of this fantastic initiative of the Government of India, Murthy said. Poverty is not unique to India. It is there in every society. Akshaya Patra makes the future of India safe by bringing inclusivity to the countrys growth and making the poor people enthusiastic partners in our quest towards prosperity, Murthy added.

He stressed that Akshaya Patra is a worthy example of a  successful public-private partnership and it very importantly rises above religion, region and caste. Murthy said he is very impressed that Akshaya Patra has used technology in a big way to ensure that food is clean and delivered hot and dust-free. Any rational discussion on such an initiative would make people say it is impossible. However, the Akshaya Patra leadership and the team have proved that a plausible impossibility is better than a convincing possibility, Murthy said. Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Madhu Pandit Dasa, also addressed the event.

On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner for International Affairs New York City, Dilip Chauhan presented a citation to Dasa on behalf of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, honouring Akshaya Patra for its work. With their relentless efforts over the past 23 years, Akshaya Patra has made a significant impact in alleviating hunger, not only in India but also overseas, Chauhan said. Their remarkable milestone of serving four billion meals is a testament to their dedication and compassion to commit to this global cause as we celebrate their achievements and continue our collective journey towards a hunger-free world, he added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has stock market investments worth Rs 4.3 crore and mutual funds deposits worth Rs 3.81 crore, as per an affidavit that he submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) as he seeks re-election from Wayanad seat in Kerala. His assets include Rs 9.24 crore movable and Rs 11.5 crore immovable assets.

Gandhi filed his nomination from Wayanad in Kerala on April 3. He had won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a margin of over four lakh votes. Single phase polling in the state to elect MPs from its 20 Lok Sabha seats will be held on April 26.

Affidavits filed along with the nomination papers contain personal details about wealth, property and pending cases against the candidate.

Stock Holdings

His top holding is smallcap Suprajit Engineering followed by ITC and ICICI Bank.

In Suprajit he held 4,068 shares which are worth over Rs 16.65 lakh. The stock has delivered returns of nearly 20% over the last 12 months and today it was trading at Rs 419.80 on the NSE, down by Rs 3.15 or 0.74%.

In ITC and ICICI Bank, he held 3,039 shares and 2,299 shares, respectively at a market value of Rs 12.96 lakh and Rs 24.83 lakh.

The other stocks in his portfolio include Alkyl Amines, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Deepak Nitrite, Divis Laboratories, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Britannia Industries and Titan Company.

In market value terms, Pidilite Industries topped the table followed by Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints. The market value of his 1,474 shares in Pidilite stood at Rs 43.27 lakh as of March 15. As for Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints, the value of 551 shares and 1,231 shares stood at Rs 35.89 lakh and Rs 35.29 lakh, respectively as of this date.

Rahul Gandhis Mutual Fund Investments

Mutual funds brought by Gandhi include HDFC small cap Reg-G, ICICI Prudential Reg Savings-G, PPFAS FCF D Growth, and HDFC MCOP DP GR. He also owns sovereign gold bonds with a market value of Rs 15.21 lakh as of March 15, 2024.

His assets include land in Delhis Mehrauli that he owns with sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Gandhi also owns office space in Gurugram which is currently valued at over Rs 9 crore. While the agricultural land has been mentioned as inherited property, the office space is not.

Rahul Gandhis Sovereign Gold Bonds

Rahul Gandhi owns sovereign gold bonds with a market value of 15.21 lakh as on March 15, 2024.

Gandhi also declared in the affidavit the police cases he faces. These include a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for allegedly disclosing the identity of family members of a rape victim in a social media post. The other cases include those filed on complaints of defamation by BJP leaders. He has also mentioned the criminal conspiracy case linked to Associated Journals Limited.

In the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi is up against CPI leader Annie Raja and Kerala BJP chief K Surendran.
The Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that their MP Locket Chatterjees dignity was ruthlessly assaulted by a TMC legislator. The party said that MLA Asit Majumdar shamelessly hurled the derogatory term 2 number maal at her in full public view.

This despicable incident lays bare the deep-seated misogyny within TMCs ranks. Sandeshkhali serves as a stark reflection of the grim reality faced by women under TMCs oppressive regime. Bengal deserves leaders who uphold the dignity of women, not ones who stoop to such appalling levels, the party added.

Locket Chatterjee's dignity was ruthlessly assaulted when TMC MLA Asit Majumdar shamelessly hurled the derogatory term "2 number maal" at her, in full view of the public.This despicable incident lays bare the deep-seated misogyny within TMC's ranks. Mamata Banerjee's pitiful pic.twitter.com/Yvral0E78k  BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) April 4, 2024

The derogatory remark has come on a day when the Congress is already facing the heat over MP Randeep Surjewalas vile sexist comment against actor-politician Hema Malini.

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya took to X and said, Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general.

He asks, MLA/MP kyun banate hain? Taaki vo humari awaaz utha sake, humare baat manvaye, isliye banate honge. Koi Hema Malini toh nahi, jo chatne ke liye banate hai? [Why make MLA/MP? So that they can raise our voice, get our views accepted, that is why they must be making it. It is no Hema Malini, whos made to lick?], Malviyas post read.

The BJP leader said that this Rahul Gandhis Congress is misogynistic and abhors women.

Locket Chatterjees Attacks on TMC Over Sandeshkhali

The BJP has earlier attacked the TMC over the Sandeshkhali issue and alleged that TMC-linked goons were hunting down Hindu women and sexually assaulting them.

During a press conference, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee had stated that houses of women who had been accused of sexual assault by local TMC leaders were being robbed after giving news interviews.

Banerjees party has nominated the host of popular TV game show Didi No. 1 and actor Rachana Banerjee to contest against Chatterjee in Hooghly.
16:00 | Willemstad (Curacao), Apr. 4.









At a joint press conference, Ambassador Aguero and the BAP Union Commander, Captain Jose Arce, highlighted the role of the ship as an Itinerant Embassy of Peru since 2020.





BAP Union, through its circumnavigation trip around the world, disseminates Peruvian millenary culture, export supply, and tourist attractions, strengthening the bonds of friendship between Peru and the nations it visits.





On Wednesday, Ambassador Aguero and Commander Arce paid official visits to Curacaoan authorities.





In the evening, at a reception, Peruvian Navy cadets came together to put on a performance of traditional dances.





Starting on Thursday, BAP Union will be open to public for two days. After that, it will leave for Panama to continue its journey through the Caribbean.





(END) NDP/FHG/CVC/RMB/MVB

In order to strengthen friendship ties and promote Peruvian culture and the country's export supply, the Peruvian Navy's BAP Union sailing training ship has arrived at the port of Willemstad, Curacao.Published: 4/4/2024
For Supriya Sule, the Lok Sabha contest this time is personal as she is pitted against her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, in Baramati  the bastion of the family.

The Baramati MP, who has been stationed in the turf for the last few months, is also fighting for her fathers prestige as these are the first big polls after the split in the NCP when Ajit Pawar walked out with his supporters.

Baramati is considered a model town, which has well-known industries, a textile park, and an agriculture training institute. The Pawar family, which has been representing this Lok Sabha and state assembly constituency for the past 60 years, has developed Baramati from a village to a model town. So what next for the high-profile constituency?

Sule said development is a constant process and we would like to take this process to the next level. In the last 60 years, Sharad Pawar has got massive support from people and anyone can tell you that Baramati means Sharad Pawar, she added.

Before the inclusion of Ajit Pawar and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan into their fold, BJP leaders  including Prime Minister Narendra Modi  would often term the NCP corrupt. However, these leaders are now with the saffron party and Sule cited Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans latest speech to highlight the irony.

Sitharaman, when asked recently about BJP inducting tainted leaders into the party, said hers was an open party where all were welcome.

Sule said 95 per cent cases filed by central agencies were against opposition leaders as she cited the examples of Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren. Unfortunately, this is not the India where I grew up. Its sad to see the Income Tax department, CBI and ED get misused. The data also shows that 95 per cent cases are against opposition leaders.

Talking about the law and order situation in Maharashtra, Sule slammed the state government for not taking up the issue raised by Sr Pawar about missing women. I raised the issue but didnt get any answer from this government. They are busy breaking parties and breaking homes using agencies. This government has no time to look at administration, said Sule.

Sule, who had raised the issue of droughts in Maharashtra, feels the Eknath Shinde government did not plan considering water scarcity in the state.

I had raised the issue of water scarcity. I must say this government is completely insensitive towards the issue. The dams in Pune and Baramati Lok Sabha constituency were not full but the insensitive government has not bothered to do anything. When our local MLAs asked about it in the assembly, they just got empty assurances. It is the failure of a government that has got 200 MLAs. They have no time to focus on an issue which hurts the farmers of the state, she said.

On the electoral front, Sule believes that the Pawar Vs Pawar battle is not a repeat telecast of the 1960s. Sharad Pawar had not contested the election against his brother, though he only campaigned against him. ND Patil, my uncle, has always campaigned against my father. We have no problems with ideologies. But within our party, within our family to date, no one has contested against each other. PWP is very close in ideology to us and we have close relations with them, said Sule.

She also laughed off the Oppositions allegations that she has not done anything significant for the Baramati constituency, with development being restricted to Baramati city.

I get amused when my opponent says that we have not done any work because we were on the same side six months ago and worked together. In a democracy, they can say whatever they want. One can see my performance in Parliament; there is not a single charge of corruption against me. My contacts in my constituency, the work we have done here can be corroborated with data.
The CPI(M) on Thursday released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, promising to scrap all draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Calling on the people to defeat the BJP and its allies in the polls and ensure that an alternative secular government is formed at the Centre, the party appealed to voters to increase the strength of Left parties.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Republic of India is facing an existential threat and if its secular, democratic and republic character has to be safeguarded, then the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be separated from holding the reins of power.

The party, a member of the opposition INDIA bloc, said that besides the UA(P)A and the PMLA, it is also committed to scrapping the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The bloc comprising parties such as the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, was formed to take on the counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the polls, voting for which will take place in seven phase between April 19 and June 1.

Counting of votes is scheduled on June 4. Protecting Indias secular democracy, addressing issues related to peoples livelihood, restoration of constitutional rights of states, guarantee of minimum support price to farmers for crops, conducting a caste census and holding elections immediately in Jammu and Kashmir were among the other promises made by the party in its manifesto.

The Republic of India is today facing an existential threat, it should be protected, and the character of the republic  secular, democratic, republic, that character has to be safeguarded. If that has to be done, the BJP and Mr. Modi must be separated from holding the reins of power, Yechury said after the release of the manifesto at the partys office here. First point is strict adherence to secular democracy and protection of all regardless of caste, creed or sex as the Constitution says we are all equal That equality must be ensured along with the delivery of justice, he said.

The CPI(M) said the Lok Sabha elections are taking place at a time when the secular and democratic Republic of India faces an existential crisis created by the Narendra Modi-led decade-long rule of the BJP government.

It is the bounden duty of every patriot to first and foremost ensure the defeat of the BJP and its allies, it said and pledged to fight for an uncompromising adherence to the principle that religion is separated from politics, the State, the government and the administration. The CPI(M) said it will fight for a law against hate speeches and crimes, and is committed to scrapping the CAA, as well as draconian laws such as the UA(P)A and PMLA.

The party is committed to protecting Indias economic sovereignty, it said and added that this will not be possible without protecting the public sector. Privatisation of the public sector must be revisited and reversed, the party asserted in its manifesto. The Left party promised a legislation for a tax on the super-rich, to bring pro-worker laws to replace the labour codes, include Right to Work as a constitutional right, fill vacancies in the government and the public sector and strengthen the MSME sector to generate jobs. The CPI(M) said the budgetary allocations for the MGNREGS must be doubled, a new law guaranteeing urban employment must be legislated and an unemployment allowance must be provided.

The destruction of Indias demographic dividend must be reversed through a change in current policies of job loss growth, it said. Food security depends on ensuring security of the farmers of India, the CPI(M) said as it promised a legal guarantee to MSP according to the Swaminathan Commissions recommendations.

The party also called for strengthening the universal Right to Education, stopping privatisation of higher education, allocating at least six per cent of the GDP in the budget to education and reversal of privatisation of education.

On the caste census, which is among the key poll issues of the INDIA bloc, the CPI(M) said in order to acquire proper data on the other backward classes in the country, it is necessary to conduct the census along with the 2021 general census that is overdue. The party said it stands for the restoration of the constitutional rights of the states, and supported the devolution of 50 per cent of the total collection of central taxes to states, including the share of surcharges and cesses levied by the Centre. It also said that a governor of a state should be chosen out of a panel of three eminent persons proposed by the chief minister. The CPI(M) called for immediate implementation of one-third reservation for women and for strengthening the processes of justice for women victims of crimes.

While expressing its continuing support to the restoration of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, the CPI(M) called for immediate elections to the assembly and restoration of full statehood as first steps. The party, which has been critical of the governments stand on the Israel-Hamas conflict conflict, also called for a non-aligned foreign policy for India.
A day after being expelled from Congress for indiscipline, Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday said the disciplinary action against him by the grand old party came following his resignation from the partys primary membership. The Congress on Wednesday expelled the Maharashtra leader from the party for six years for making anti-party statements amid seat-sharing talks with Shiv Sena (UBT) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Nirupam, a former MP, shared a screenshot of his resignation mail to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on X and wrote, Looks like immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see such promptness. Just sharing this information.

Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion.Good to see the such promptness.Just sharing this info.I will give detail statement today between 11.30 to 12 PM pic.twitter.com/3Wil8OaxuE Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) April 4, 2024

The 59-year-old journalist-turned-politician addressed the media later in the day and attacked Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) for making Khichdi chor Amol Kirtikarcandidate from Mumbais North-West seat.

Beginning address with Jai Shri Ram, Nirupam said,  MVA made a khichadi chor our candidate. BJP was called the Bhrasht Janata party. What is your standing to call BJP, when you give a Khichadi chor a ticket? I had expected that my party would take note. I wrote my resignation to Kharge Ji at 10.43 PM, he said.

Calling Congress directionless, he said there is no organisational strength in the party. Taking a dig at the Gandhi family and party high command, Nirupam said Congress has five power centres.

All five Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal have their own lobbies and clash with each other, he said.

He further stated that his patience has ended now. There is huge frustration amid party cadres. On the ideological front as well, Congress calls itself secular. Mahatma Gandhi believed in sarva dharma samabhav. All ideologies have a time limit. Nehruvian secularism which denies religion, has ended. The unfortunate thing is, that Congress isnt willing to accept it, he added.

Nirupam further claimed that India has become a fully religious country now.

Even industrialists go to temples with a lot of pride. Ideologically, and organisationally, the (Congress) party is in a state of disarray. Congress has lost touch with reality. Half of the people are outdated and have to be scrapped, he said.

When asked about his future plans, the former Congress leader said he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Mumbai North-West constituency.

I will fight elections. I will fight from here. I will win from here. Those planning to write my obituary, I will disappoint them. I will decide future course of action after Navratri, he added.

There was no immediate reaction from the Congress on Nirupams allegations, which could cause more unease in Maharashtras opposition bloc amid visible differences over seat-sharing.

Earlier, he also removed Congressman from his X bio.

In his resignation letter to Kharge, Nirupam wrote, I have finally decided to fulfil your much awaited desire and hereby announce that I choose to resign from the primary membership of All India Congress Committee.

Action against Nirupam came after the Maharashtra unit of the Congress initiated disciplinary action for his recent remarks targeting party ally and Maha Vikas Aghadi member Shiv Sena (UBT) in the state.

Earlier, the Congress had also dropped Nirupams name as a star campaigner.

The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the state leadership for ceding constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena during seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections.

The former Congress MP was aiming to contest from Mumbais North-West seat, and had expressed his unhappiness over the Sena (UBT) fielding Amol Kirtikar.

Kirtikar, son of MP Gajanan Kirtikar, was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged irregularities in the distribution of khichdi to migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Incidentally, Nirupam is a former two-time Rajya Sabha MP from (undivided) Shiv Sena and an ex-Mumbai North Lok Sabha MP of the Congress. There has been speculation claiming Nirupam may join BJP or Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday refuted a false WhatsApp message circulating regarding government employees being barred from casting their vote through postal ballot. The poll body notified that the facility of voting through postal ballot would be made available for polling personnel engaged in election duty.

False Claim: A message is being circulated on Whats App that Govt employees cannot cast their vote through postal ballot, ECI said in a post on X.

Reality: Message is misleading & fake. Eligible Officials on election duty can cast their vote through postal ballot at designated Voter Facilitation Centre, it added.

False Claim: A message is being circulated on Whats App that Govt employees cannot cast their vote through postal ballot.Reality: Message is misleading & fake. Eligible Officials on election duty can cast their vote through postal ballot at designated Voter Facilitation Centre pic.twitter.com/Lxa4BozpLH  Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) April 4, 2024

Postal voting or absentee voting is a method of voting where electors are allowed to cast their ballots by mail rather than in person at a polling station.

Officials who are enrolled in the electoral roll, would be on duty on the day of the polling. Therefore, on account of their official duties and would not be able to cast their vote at their respective polling stations. To make sure they could exercise their franchise to vote, the Election Commission set up facilitation centres to enable them to vote through postal ballot.

Apart from voters on election duty, the poll body also allows special voters, service voters, and electors subjected to preventive detention to cast their vote via postal ballot.
The Supreme Court on Thursday restored the caste certificate of Amravati MP and BJP leader Navneet Kaur Rana by setting aside the 2021 Bombay High Court verdict.

The order came on the last day of filing nomination for the Amravati Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra from where Rana has been fielded as the BJP candidate.

On June 8, 2021, the high court had said the mochi caste certificate was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents by Rana. It had also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the Amravati MP, saying the records indicated that she belonged to the Sikh-Chamar caste.

Allowing the appeal of Rana, now a BJP leader and an official candidate of the party to contest from Amravati parliamentary seat in Maharashtra, a bench comprising justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol said the high court should not have interfered with the report of the scrutiny committee on the issue of caste certificate of Rana.

Thursday is the last day for filing nomination papers for Amravati constituency that is reserved for scheduled castes.

Upholding the validity of the caste certificate issued to Rana, the top court said, In the instant case, the scrutiny committee duly considered the documents before it and passed its decision complying with principles of natural justice.

It did not merit any interference (by the Bombay High Court) under Article 226. In light of the discussions, the instant appeal stands allowed and the high court order is set aside, Judge Maheshwari said while pronouncing the operative part of the judgement. It restored the caste validation order of the scrutiny committee.

The detailed judgement is awaited.

Rana, who had won the reserved Amravati parliamentary seat as an independent candidate in 2019, has recently joined the BJP and is all set to contest from the same constituency.

She was backed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2019 and had claimed that she was a member of the Mochi caste. The top court, on February 28, reserved its verdict on the plea of Rana against the high court verdict cancelling her caste certificate.

The top court had earlier stayed the high court verdict cancelling Ranas caste certificate.

A division bench of the high court had asked Rana to surrender the certificate within six weeks and asked her to pay the penalty of Rs 2 lakh to the Maharashtra Legal Services Authority.

The high court had held that Ranas claim of belonging to the Mochi caste for obtaining the Scheduled Caste certificate itself was fraudulent and made with the intention of obtaining various benefits available to a candidate from such a category despite knowing she does not belong to that caste.

The application (for caste certificate) was made intentionally to make a fraudulent claim to enable the respondent no.3 (Rana) to contest the election for the post of Member of Parliament on a seat reserved for a Scheduled Castes candidate, the high court had said in its judgment.

The high court had passed the order on a plea seeking cancellation of the caste certificate dated August 30, 2013 issued by the Mumbai deputy collector, identifying Rana as a member of the Mochi caste.

Shiv Sena leader Anandrao Adsul had filed a complaint with the Mumbai District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, which ruled in Ranas favour and validated the certificate. He then approached the high court.

He had contended that Rana obtained the certificate using forged and fabricated documents. It was obtained by using the influence of Navneet Ranas husband Ravi Rana, who was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, he alleged.

The high court had held that the order passed by the Scrutiny Committee was totally perverse, without the application of mind, and contrary to the evidence on record.

The bench had noted that the original birth certificate of Rana did not mention the caste Mochi.
Days after Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) announced candidates for all the five seats in Bihar, at least 22 leaders from the primary membership of LJP. One of the leaders accused chief Chirag Paswan of nepotism.

Partys organisational secretary Ravindra Singh, who wanted to contest elections from Vaishali, made the charge. The leaders also accused Chirag Paswan and his close confidantes of virtually selling tickets for the Lok Sabha elections.

Besides Ravindra Singh, former state minister and national vice-president Renu Kushwaha, former MLA and national general secretary Satish Kumar and vice-president Sanjay Singh along with dozens of their supporters sent their resignation to state president Raju Tiwary.

The shocker for Paswan just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gears up to trailblaze the NDAs Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar. The LJP is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

This will be PM Modis first campaign in the state since the announcement of the elections. Interestingly, the rally will be held in Jamui, where Chirag Paswan has handed over the mantle to brother-in-law Arun Bharti after having represented Jamui, a reserved seat, two times on the trot.

It is a matter of pride for Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the people of Jamui that the prime minister has agreed to launch his campaign in Bihar from the constituency. We are committed to helping him achieve the target of 400 plus seats for NDA, including all the 40 in Bihar, Paswan said on Wednesday.
Does the Samajwadi Partys last-minute Lok Sabha poll candidate-changing spree reflect its lack of preparedness and a state of utter confusion? Many political rivals and analysts in Uttar Pradesh have criticised the SP for such actions. They have also called it a sign of fear, poor input mechanism, and desperate bid to save the first family. So far, the SP has changed about 10 candidates for Lok Sabha seats such as Meerut , Baghpat, Gautam Buddh Nagar, and Bijnor.

Changing electoral candidates is not new in politics, say analysts. But what has raised eyebrows in the SPs case is the scale of it, they point out. For instance, the party has switched its nominee for Meerut a second time within a few days. Now Sunita Verma will contest from the seat, replacing Atul Pradhan, who earlier replaced Bhanu Pratap Singh. In a list shared on social media site X on Monday night, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party had announced Pradhan and Suresh Chand Kadam as its candidates for the Meerut and Agra (Reserved) seats, respectively.

Soon after being replaced, Pradhan took to X and said, Whatever is the decision of National President Shri Akhilesh Yadav Ji, I accept it. I will soon sit and talk with my colleagues. The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded TVs Ram Arun Govil from Meerut.

In Baghpat, SPs Amarpal Sharma has replaced Manoj Chaudhary, with the party apparently deciding to play the Brahmin card in Jatland.

There was chaos for the SP in the Rampur and Moradabad Lok Sabha constituencies with two candidates each filing their nominations from the seats. In Rampur, Asim Raja, who contested the 2022 Lok Sabha by-election as an SP candidate, filed his nomination papers, claiming to be the partys pick. Mohibullah Nadvi, the imam of a mosque in Delhi, did the same. Nadvi told reporters that he was the partys authorised candidate and SP president Akhilesh Yadav was backing him.

In Moradabad, SP leader Ruchi Veera and area MP ST Hasan both filed their nomination papers, while claiming to be the partys official candidate. Samajwadi Party spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said the SP is a democratic party and there is no confusion over its Lok Sabha candidates.

Could demotivate leaders

For the first time, changing of candidates on such a mass level has been witnessed and this is certainly not a good sign for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, said political analyst Shashikant Pandey. Candidates being considered for the Lok Sabha polls certainly have their own political base in their respective regions. Shifting them at the last moment may send a wrong message not only among the leaders but also among their vote base, which may turn things against the party. It also adds to disappointment among the candidates and demotivates them.

Pandey also said that it reflects a poor input mechanism in the party. Shortlisting candidates is a gruelling exercise that is carried out on the basis of inputs from workers of the party in those regions. And such frequent changing of names reflects the SPs poor input mechanism and party structure. It also shows that the party is less aware of the caste chemistry in various constituencies. In the 2022 assembly elections too, the SPs ticket distribution drew a lot of criticism, he said.

BJP targets Akhilesh

An SP ally till recently, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Singh also took a dig at the party. In opposition, only the fortunate one gets a chance, maybe only for a few hours, to be a Lok Sabha candidate. And those who are still in the race are the fortunate ones, he said.

BJP spokesperson Anand Dubey said his party has a strong mechanism through which the names of candidates are shortlisted at various levels and announced only after the nod of the central committee. But the entire mechanism of the SP seems to have been dismantled. The frequent changing of names of candidates reflects a fear of the BJP and a state of confusion. Akhilesh Yadav, who inherited the party from his father, actually doesnt know how to run the party, whom to field, and from where, Dubey said.

The BJP spokesperson also alleged that Akhilesh Yadav was just the face of the SP while key decisions were being made by others. He claimed that only the BJP was contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to form the government and serve the nation while all other parties in UP were only looking out for their vested interests the Congress to register its presence, Bahujan Samaj Party just for show, and SP to protect the family (parivar).
Television star Sreejita De recently made her small screen comeback with the ongoing supernatural daily soap Shaitani Rasmein. In the show, the actress plays the negative character of Chaya Dayan and Sreejita has been successful in winning the hearts of the viewers. Following her marriage with long-time boyfriend Michael Blohm-Pape in July 2023, this marks Sreejitas return to television after a hiatus. Due to her busy shooting schedule, the former Bigg Boss contestant credits her supportive partner for managing their home and caring for their two dogs while balancing his work commitments.

Now, due to her demanding shooting schedule, Sreejita only gets to spend time with Michael after work and expresses her desire to create special memories with him on a blue island.

In a recent conversation with ETimes, the actress appreciating her husband said, Michael has been more supportive than ever. When I was doing Nazar, we were dating at that time, we dated for 5 and a half years. He had seen me going for the shoot but at that time we were dating so we had fixed timings, we could meet when we got free. And with Bigg Boss, he was prepared that we werent going to see each other for another 2-3 months. So we were mentally prepared.

I would love to spend quality time with Michael on a blue island, but with Shaitani Rasmein, it just suddenly happened and I was on the set shooting and not coming back home. He is very supportive and understanding. I also have two dogs at home, he has his own work and everything but he is managing very well. I am saying this proudly that I was not expecting this much as usually when I am home, he is quite dependent on me. Especially for the household and kitchen chores and I really like it. But he is managing very well, Sreejita De added.

Talking about returning to the TV set, Sreejita states that it feels like coming back home. As an actor, she admits to missing the thrill of playing characters and performing action scenes, which provides her unique sense of satisfaction. However, she also feels challenging to balance her professional commitments with her personal life, especially since her last full-fledged show was Nazar and Jaadu Hai Jinn Ka. The actress further admits that she misses her life at home, including her gymnastics, sleep and various responsibilities as a married woman.

Sreejita De tied the knot with Michael Blohm-Pape in a Christian wedding ceremony in Germany on July 1, 2023. Later that year, they also had a Bengali marriage ceremony in Goa. The couple have been together since 2019. Meanwhile, Sreejita and Michaels love story blossomed and soon the two got engaged in 2021. The proposal itself was a romantic affair, as Michael proposed to her under the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
India is expected to shift to the living wage system by 2025 from the current minimum wage norm, with the government seeking consultations with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop a framework to implement the new norm, according to a report by The Economic Times.

With more than 50 million workers in the unorganised sector, the living wage system is aimed at pulling out maximum people out of poverty, and improve their livelihood.

Less than 5% of Indians are expected to be below the poverty line (BPL), and extreme destitution has gone away, according to Niti Aayogs CEO BVR Subrahmanyam, citing a survey on household expenditure for 2022-23.

While many labourers earn a daily minimum wage of Rs 176, the national floor wage has been stagnant since 2017.

The national floor level minimum wage (NFLMW) is the minimum wage below which no state government can fix the minimum wage. It was brought into effect from 1996 by the Centre. State governments can set their own minimum wages.

Minimum vs Living Wage Rate

The living wage is theoretically described as income level that allows individuals or households to afford minimum adequate shelter, food, and other basic necessities. Economists suggest that it should be enough to ensure that no more than 30% of this income gets spent on housing. The ILO considers the countrys circumstances and the work performed during normal hours to estimate living wage rate.

Minimum wage rate, in contrast, is the lowest amount of remuneration required to be paid by law to an employee by an employer for work performed during a given period.

The minimum wage protects a worker from low pay, but the living wage rate supports an individual to be able to cover food, clothing and shelter without falling below the poverty line.

When Did This Become a Hot Topic?

The living wage was widely discussed during the Great Recession, which highlighted how some individuals just cannot afford to make ends meet.

Some experts believe that people who dont earn a living wage face certain challenges, such as having to work more than one job, dropping out their children from school, and succumbing to unexpected health issues that they cant afford to address.

According to research from MIT, the living wage in the US was $25.02 per hour ($104,077.70 per year) before taxes per year in 2022 for a family of four (two working adults with two children).

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

Under the living wage system, employees get higher salaries, which not only benefits the corporates, but also help them remain satisfied. Another advantage is that they reduce corporate costs associated with recruitment and training.

Naysayers, however, believe that living wages support minimum wage floor that not only hurts the economy but also the small businesses that cannot afford to increase the salaries.

If the employers are forced to pay the minimum wage floor, it would reduce hiring, and create unemployment in an economy.

What are the Challenges for India?

A careful planning is required by both states and the Centre to implement living wage that might strain small and medium businesses financially due to increased labour costs.

The living cost would differ based on the cities, states and districts, making it challenging for a uniform living wage rate.

India is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, including the goal of promoting decent work and economic growth.

Despite robust economic growth rate of 8.4%, India is pushing for living wages, with workers concerned about minimum wages, which cannot help them meet basic needs.
Kerala is charged up, given the power meter is running fast, and the state is scrambling to meet the rising electricity demand.

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) even before the 2024 summer has logged a peak demand of 5,031 megawatts (MW), an all-time high for the state. Electricity minister K Krishnankutty has urged consumers to reduce power from 6 pm to 11 pm as the increased dependence on air conditioners has led to high consumption of electricity.

The all-time record for daily consumption in Kerala stands at 102.99 MU, recorded on April 19, 2023. Going by the current figures, there will be a requirement of 5,300-5,500 megawatts in the state, in the month of April.

The Central share of electricity that Kerala receives is 1,600 MW. Besides, the state receives 1,200 MW of electricity through various contracts. It generates 1,600 MW through hydel power. Thus, the total amounts to 4,400 MW, as reported by Kerala daily Matrubhumi.

Interestingly, of the average 50 lakh ACs being sold in the country in a year, 3.5 lakh ACs are being sold in Kerala. The annual business of ACs in the state is worth Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200 crore.

Current Situation

The KSEB is forced to buy power worth Rs 16-20 crore daily to meet the peak hours demand, according to a report in The New Indian Express.

A senior official in the state power department warned that all dams have only 52.28% of water, which would generate only 2,164.5 million units of power, as quoted by The New Indian Express.

Meanwhile, KSEB has announced a 19 paise per unit surcharge on Aprils power bills. This comprises a 10-paisa charge carried out over from previous months and an additional 9 paise approved by the regulatory commission. The aim is to cover extra expenses KSEB incurred on power purchases in February ahead of summer season, as reported by Mathrubhumi.

Power Politics

How the power crisis is turning into a power tussle? The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) have been engaging in a war of words over the power crisis and the financial crunch faced by the KSEB.

The previous UDF regime had signed the contract for 25 years and the Pinarayi Vijayans LDF regime continued to purchase power under the same agreement. But leader of opposition VD Satheesan alleged that the contract was cancelled due to corruption charges. As a result, the state electricity board is now buying power at a high price of Rs 8-9 compared to Rs 4.29 per unit, which is causing a loss of Rs 10 crore per day.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, has refuted the charges, and said the contract was cancelled as per the direction of the Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Can Smart Meters Help?

Under the Centres Smart Meter National Programme, 250 million smart meters will be installed across the country by 2025 to improve the financial and operational efficiencies of distribution companies. The scheme was introduced in July 2021.

In India where power theft is widespread and inefficiencies in infrastructure exist, a study published in the International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis found Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses at 15-65% with an average of 34% annually, as mentioned in a report by The Economic Times.

Not only it provides more accurate view of energy consumption, smart metering offers tamper detection, automated billing, and eliminates the need for manual meter readings.

India has so far installed 8.6 million smart meters. It has also targeted free solar-powered electricity to 10 million households this fiscal for which the government has allocated $9 billion.

Why Kerala is Opposing Smart Metering?

KSEB is against the Totex model, that is, total cost of expenditure combining capital expenditure and operational expenditure, and demanding its implementation with the help of C-DAC.

The TOTEX scheme recommended by the Centre is one in which private companies install and maintain the meters at their expense and recover the amount from consumers in instalments over 93 months.

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) national secretary Elamaram Kareem said the disadvantage of installing smart meters is that they need to be replaced every five to eight years, as reported by The New Indian Express.

In fact, Kerala is planning its own smart metering by not adopting Totex. In the first phase, smart meters will need to be installed on the premises of only industrial and commercial consumers.

The smart meters will be developed by public sector establishments, and the software for billing and other services will be created by KSEB. The task of replacing the old meters with the new ones will be carried out by employees of the board.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal filed a petition in the Rouse Avenue court on Thursday, requesting an increase in the number of permitted legal meetings per week. His plea seeks to raise the number of mulaqats to five times a week from the current allowance of two.

In his plea, Kejriwal stated that he is facing multiple FIRs in various states, requiring a significant amount of legal work. He argued that the number of meetings should be increased to accommodate this workload.

The court has requested a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Tihar Jail authorities regarding this matter.

During a press conference earlier today, Sunita Kejriwal relayed a message from husband Arvind Kejriwal to all party MLAs, asking them to discuss the problems of the states people and resolve them.

Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss peoples problems and sort them out, Sunita Kejriwal conveyed, while reading out her husbands message.

On Thursday, the authorities at Tihar Jail said that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann can meet his Delhi counterpart, but only as a regular visitor in the mulakat jangla.

The mulakat jangla is a room inside the jail with an iron mesh that separates the inmate from the visitor. By sitting on different sides of the mesh, a visitor and an inmate can talk to each other.

Despite Manns request for a meeting inside the prison, the interaction will occur through the mesh, with necessary security arrangements made due to Manns Z+ security cover. The Punjab CMO has sought time and requested the Tihar administration to make necessary arrangements for the meeting.

Delhi CM Kejriwal, lodged in jail number 2, has listed five names, including his wife, children, personal secretary, and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, whom he can meet in jail. He will have to add Manns name to the list, as per jail protocol. Currently, Kejriwal is meeting his lawyer daily and had a video conference with his wife and children on April 2.

(With inputs from PTI)
In yet another case of online scam, a senior citizen allegedly lost over Rs 3 lakh in fraud when he tried to call Swiggys customer care number when the ordered food was delayed. The victim searched the customer care number, reported Times of India, adding that the son of the victim then informed police and cyber security officials for help.

Nikhil Chawla, son of the victim informed that his father ordered food from the application, but it was not delivered on time. He got frustrated and took assistance from Google to connect with Swiggys customer care number. Little did he know that this step can lead to a loss of Rs 3 Lakh. The ordeal was narrated by Chawla through a video message on his social media accounts.

He said that his 65-year-old father lost Rs 35,000 in the first transaction. The man then again called to the customer care number to get the money back but was fooled once more into handing over credit card details. The man claimed that the cheaters copied his fathers SIM card and cloned the phone to get details, leading to a succesfully transaction of Rs 3 lakh. The son is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and urged the Delhi police to help his father.

He also posted the details of the crime on microblogging site X and tagged Delhi Police, Swiggy, and Airtel India. Concerned about the frequency of phony numbers showing up at the top of Google search results, he called for increased knowledge and caution.

He also thanked everyone who had helped him. He emphasized that in order to stop such frauds from happening in the future, there has to be more awareness and multilingual help.

Swiggy Responds To Scam

Swiggy does not have any official customer care number said the application, adding that for any issues customers are encouraged to use in-app chat support only. The company said that they can help in providing details of the order.

Swiggy responded to the situation by taking down the fake website and adding cautionary notes about internet frauds to their search results. Nikhil drew attention to the fact that these alerts were only available in English, which could have put non-native English users at risk.
Rising temperatures, water shortage and consumption of contaminated food or water have led to Bengaluru seeing one confirmed case of cholera. State health department officials have confirmed that consumption of contaminated water has led to one confirmed case of cholera. Two other samples have gone for testing.

We are keeping a close watch on cases that are being reported related to diarrhoea and are also being tested for cholera. However, it cannot be termed as an outbreak, explained Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, while speaking to News18.

The person confirmed positive for cholera has been living as a paying guest in Bengalurus Malleswaram and the premises is said to have been using water that had not been treated properly. All three samples sent for testing are from the same PG. Health officials have also sent water samples from the PG to trace the origin of the water supply to understand how the infection spread.

Tushar Girinath, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner, spoke to News18 on the case of cholera and the tests being done. He reiterated that this was not an outbreak. He said that there are two tests that are done to test for cholera, and the first one, which has more immediate results, came out positive.

The officials are awaiting results of the second confirmation test. Two more cases of diarrhoea were reported from the same PG, following which they have taken a large number of samples from the area to conduct further tests, he explained.

The laboratory test results are awaited. What we know is that they have not been consuming water supplied by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). Their source of water has been from some borewell, we are trying to find the cause, Girinath said.

He added that as a precaution, BWSSB also has taken steps to increase chlorination of water, and water samples from different points in the city are being taken to keep a check on the cholera strain.

With the IT city witnessing temperatures breaching 37 degrees, water shortage due to drought across the state, there has been an unprecedented demand for water from various sources. Officials also pointed out that people who have tested positive for cholera earlier, ate food from roadside eateries where the threat of water contamination is higher.

Rao also said that the state will be issuing an advisory to create awareness on the issue. People should ensure they boil water well before drinking. They should also consume fresh food and avoid eating at small eateries or roadside places where hygiene is questionable. Places that sell food like pani puri stalls are at the risk of such contamination and should be avoided, the health minister warned.

Cholera is a waterborne disease which leads to dehydration, potentially affecting the kidneys and causing fatalities, explain doctors. Doctors suggest people should be extremely careful while drinking water, ensure that it is clean and safe drinking water, improve sanitation, and encourage vaccination in high-risk regions on a regular basis.
India is planning a major move to unify its four Flight Information Regions (FIRs) in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, into one continuous airspace in Nagpur and have harmonized Air Traffic Management from Nagpur which has a unique central location in the country.

The move is expected to enhance safety, reduce carbon footprint, reduce separations (between flights) and have more fuel-efficient flight paths for aircraft.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has asked for a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to be made for Indian Single Sky Harmonized ATM (Air Traffic Management) at Nagpur (ISHAN) and to understand the technology available in Indian and the global market for the job. News18 has a copy of this document.

India is the major air navigation service provider in the Asia-Pacific region and controls over 2.8 million square nautical miles. This quantum of airspace is controlled by India through four flight information regions (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) with a sub-FIR at Guwahati. India is sharing its Flight Information Regions (FIR) with 12 neighbouring countries.

As per the growth statistics, there are huge challenges which are mainly safety, airspace capacity, airport constraints, resource management and environmental concerns. These challenges in vast Indian airspace are mitigated through various strategies like the implementation of PBN, Indian SBAS (GAGAN), Upper Airspace harmonization, ATM Automation, and Surveillance coverage by PSR/MSSR and ADS-B over continental as well as oceanic airspace. Having gained experience on upper airspace harmonization at Chennai and Kolkata FIR commensurate with Indias strategic plan India shall now progress towards the Single Sky Harmonized ATM with a standby Disaster recovery system (DRS) located at a different place, Nagpur, the document with News18 says.

Benefits of Nagpur

The single continuum FIR would yield a lot of benefits in terms of safety, efficiency, user satisfaction, reduced carbon footprint and optimum manpower utilization, the document says.

To have most efficient utilisation of airspace in terms of air traffic capacity the airspace route structure and sector boundaries are required to be restructured holistically that will benefit all stakeholders. The surveillance and communication gap areas have to be minimised to reap the benefits of the Single Sky Harmonized ATM with reduced separations and fuel-efficient flight paths, the document has added.

The unification of the four Flight Information Regions (FIRs) in India into one continuous airspace in Nagpur aims to streamline and enhance air traffic management (ATM) operations in the region.

The objective of the implementation of Single Sky Harmonized ATM is to provide seamless, unhindered, cost-effective, state-of-the-art developed technologies, customer satisfactory airspace which would be provided from one location (identified as Nagpur) which is strategically critical to meet the challenges by automation, remote facilities, including emerging technologies, the document says.

The implementation of Indian Single Sky Harmonized Air Traffic Management at Nagpur (ISHAN) would require a thorough study of current and projected air traffic growth and the challenges related to the management of increased air traffic.

A selected consultant will carry out an extensive feasibility study for planning and implementation of Single FIR and technical Co- operation and guidance from some renowned International organisations or ANSPs experienced or engaged in Single Sky Harmonized ATM will be taken.

This can be a stepping stone for developing a complex yet efficient Airspace and ATM infrastructure in India, the document says.
Indian officials have dismissed a media report that said the Indian government orchestrated killings of individuals in Pakistan as part of a bid to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil.

Officials familiar with the developments told CNN-News18 that the article by British daily The Guardian is false and fabricated, and designed to malign the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They accused Pakistans notorious spy agency of carrying out the assassinations.

They stressed that when India says we will eliminate terrorists by entering their homes, it only refers to tensions in the border region and eliminating terrorists there who pose a threat to Indias sovereignty.

The Guardian, citing unnamed intelligence officials, mentioned almost 20 killings since 2020 which have been carried out by unknown gunmen in Pakistan. The report said the assassinations increased significantly in 2023. That year, seven terrorists  most wanted in India  were killed in Pakistan by unknown miscreants.

This policy of Indian agents organising killings in Pakistan hasnt been developed overnight. We believe they have worked for around two years to establish these sleeper cells in the UAE who are mostly organising the executions. After that, we began witnessing many killings, a Pakistani official told The Guardian.

The report suggested Indias Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) developed a sleeper cell in the UAE, and orchestrated the killings from there. In order to carry out the assassinations, the article said, Indian officials gave big amounts of money to poor Pakistanis  and, on occasions, got the job done by jihadists who were made to feel that they were killing infidels.

Analysts feel Pakistan has been reluctant to publicly acknowledge the killings as most of the targets are known terrorists and associates of banned militant groups that Islamabad has long denied sheltering, the report said.

Defence expert Sanjay Kulkarni told News18 that the Indian government does not operate in such ways. These are false allegations. All these killings happened as part of a local gang war. These have nothing to do with the Indian government, Kulkarni said.

The Pakistan government has already said that the Baloch Liberation Front and local gangs are responsible, he further added.

The Guardian also reported that Indias external affairs ministry rejected the allegations and said they were false and malicious anti-India propaganda. It highlighted a denial made by foreign minister S Jaishankar where he said that targeted killings in other countries were not the government of Indias policy.

Paramjit Singh Panjwar, the head of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), was killed in Lahore May last year. Zia-ur Rahman of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Mufti Qaiser Farooq, a close aide of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed were killed in September. JeM terrorist Shahid Latif who masterminded the 2016 attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot was shot dead by unidentified assailants in a mosque in Daska town of Pakistans Sialkot in October.

One of the masterminds of the 2018 terrorist attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmirs Sunjuwan that led to the death of five Indian Army soldiers, Khawaja Shahid, and LeT recruiter and commander Akram Khan Ghazi and JeM chiefs close aide Raheem Ullah Tariq were all killed in November.

The people who spoke to CNN-News18 said that the killings were conducted by the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during restrictions placed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to get rid of terrorists.

No one from the Indian security establishment is tasked with the job of killing another individual on the other side of the border in a civilian area. No such officer or agency is assigned the job. Pakistan is a terror state and they do such activities, the people cited above said.

They also said that they follow diplomatic solutions. They also reiterated their demand that mob boss and terrorist Dawood Ibrahim should be handed over to India.
Norwegian Research Vessel (RV) Argeo Searcher has set sail for the central Indian Ocean with a group of 12 Indian scientists on board in search of precious mineral deposits on the ocean floor. The month-long expedition is part of the governments ambitious Deep Ocean Mission valued at Rs 4,000 crore.

The team led by Goa-based National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) will spend a month at sea surveying the 15 selected sites where scientists expect to find polymetallic sulphide deposits. These are sources of critical minerals like Copper, Nickel, Zinc and Manganese, and are found around naturally-existing Hydrothermal Vents in the deep sea.

We have remotely detected 15 of these vents through our 2016 survey data. But we do not know their exact location or size, which could be anywhere between 6 to 10 kms in diameter. Our goal is to obtain this precise data because it will be necessary for mining these minerals in near-future. This is the third leg of the expedition this year, says John Kurien P, senior scientist leading NCPORs deep sea exploration program.

Hydrothermal vents are formed in the sea-bed where the tectonic plates collide and produce fractures where seawater percolates down. However, the magma within the ocean crust superheats the water, causing it to re-surface as mineral-rich fluid vents. Scientists recognise such vents by hot water plumes that rise several hundred metres above the sites.

A SPECIALISED UNDER-WATER VEHICLE

The exploration will be carried out using a specialised Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)  Hugin Superior  which will be dropped into the sea. It will dive nearly 4,000 metres deep very close to the seabed and scan the site, capturing high-resolution images. The robotic underwater vehicle has a suit of geophysical and electromagnetic sensors on board to collect a treasure trove of data.

With a battery life of nearly 60 hours, it will remain underwater for two days at a time, and then be brought to the sea-surface. The Indian delegation will be assisted by a team of 21 staff members from the Norwegian firm operating the ship.

Deep-sea exploration has gained pace as countries race against each other to explore rich massive mineral deposits which are likely to have huge commercial as well as strategic value in the near future.

The terrestrial mineral deposits are getting depleted at a rapid pace, and there will come a time when well have to depend on marine resources. Also, the demand of these critical minerals will grow exponentially over the 20-30 years, as we switch to green energy and battery storage. So its important that we conduct this exploration now, says Dr Kurien.

Rs 4,000 CR DEEP OCEAN MISSION

India has two contracts with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), and it has secured rights of exploration to look for potential sites of polymetallic sulphides (PMS) in the 10,000 sq km area in international waters of the central Indian Ocean.

The initial exploration began in 2016 with basic geological surveys, which enabled scientists to zero down on nearly 15 sites where they could do deep-ocean studies. Last year, the NCPOR had sought global tenders for an AUV and a specialised ship with a sufficiently experienced crew to conduct the near-seabed survey. The contract was awarded to the Norway-based offshore service company Argeo which is now enabling the expedition.

This is just the beginning. We would like to conduct more exploration work to develop 3D models of these vent sites. Once we have the required data, then we can consider ways to sample it. Its a long journey ahead, Dr Thamban Meloth, Director, NCPOR, had told News18 earlier.
Rescuers in Taiwan are working hard to reach over 600 people stranded after the country was hit by its worst earthquake in 25 years on Wednesday.

The powerful quake, measuring 7.4 in magnitude, struck just south of Hualien County, the worst-affected area, resulting in at least 10 deaths and injuring over 1,000 people. It also trapped hundreds of individuals under collapsed buildings and triggered landslides.

Describing the incident to Hindustan Times, Rageshnath, an Indian student from Hualien, recounted being in his colleges physics lab when the earthquake struck. Despite the chaos, he managed to escape unharmed but witnessed the devastation caused by the quake.

I got out of the lab and saw no one outside since the students usually arrive around 8.30am. The building was shaking like a boat. Since the lab is on the 4th floor, it was worse in height. I felt like it was my last day, he shared with the publication.

He also mentioned that a fire broke out due to a short circuit and possible chemical spillage. After the earthquake, I went inside the lab and there was a short circuit. I am not sure if it was because of the short circuit or chemicals but a fire started. I went up again to the lab and another earthquake came. I got really panicked and tried to extinguish the fire with 7-8 cylinders, but it kept raging. Everything in the lab was collapsed. I couldnt see or do anything. By this time, a few people came, but nothing happened.

Another Indian national, Stanislaus Irudayaselvam, a Catholic priest in Taiwan and a professor at the FuJen Catholic University, also shared his experience. He said that while he has experienced several earthquakes in the past 13 years in the country, this one was longer and stronger, lasting for over a minute.

Irudayaselvam, who is currently in Hualien, mentioned that the city was completely cut off from the capital Taipei. He expressed hope that the trains would resume operations by the next day, although the land route might take a few days to recover.

He described the situation as terrible, noting that a 20-meter bridge had collapsed. Its really terrible as Im typing I feel another aftershock. It has been shaking from this morning, has been about 10 hours now, all aftershocks. We had hundreds of them. A house about half a KM from here also fell this morning [Wednesday], he added.

Girish Hiranandani, an export firm owner and restaurateur in Taipei, who has been living in Taiwan for about 30 years, compared the recent earthquake to the devastating one in 1999 but noted that the damage this time was less severe.

He stated, Today it is nothing even close to that. We did not see much damage and none of the services have been disrupted for beyond a few hours in Taipei.

The earthquake evoked memories of the 1999 earthquake in the country, that claimed over 2,400 lives and damaged around 5,000 buildings.

In response to the earthquake, the India Taipei Association (ITA) issued advisories and established helpline numbers to assist Indian nationals living in Taiwan.

According to the ITA, around 4,000 Indians are employed in Taiwan, and the country is home to about 1,500 students. Several Indians reported that the ITA reached out to them within hours of the earthquake.

On Thursday, India confirmed that two of its nationals reported missing in Taiwan following the earthquake have been found safe. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) assured that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian citizens in Taiwan.

As per our information, two persons, we were not able to establish contact in the wake of the earthquake there (in Taiwan). But now, we have established contact and they are safe, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Japan rolled out its e-Visa programme for several countries, including India, on April 1. This single-entry visa, which eliminates the need for physical visa stickers in passports, grants a validity of up to 90 days.

The e-Visa programme is specifically designed for travellers planning to enter Japan by air holding an ordinary passport.

Who are Eligible for Japans e-Visa?

Travellers from Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the USA are eligible for the programme.

The eligibility extends to both Indian citizens and foreign nationals residing in India, and the application process remains centralised through the Visa Application Centres managed by VFS Global, streamlining the procedure.

Here How to Apply

To start the application, on needs to visit the Japan Visa Application Centres official website, managed by VFS Global, at https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/jpn/. Download and fill out the application form.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police has registered a case of forgery, cheating and criminal breach of trust against the directors and former directors of KJS Cement including Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia.

The FIR also names Ahluwalias wife Indu Ahluwalia Sanjeev Bhalla and others for cognizable offences of forgery, fraud, cheating and criminal breach of trust allegedly committed by the accused persons in collusion & connivance with each other. The FIR has been registered on the complaint by Himangini Singh, who is the daughter of Late KJS Ahluwalia, the deceased brother of Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia.

It is alleged that Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia created a forged and fabricated gift deed dated March 10, 2017, for an unsecured loan of a huge amount in favour of Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia allegedly by forging the signatures of Late KJS Ahluwalia.

Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia, along with his wife Indu Ahluwalia, in collusion and connivance with his associates, resorted to illegal and fraudulent means in a systematic manner to oust the family of his deceased brother Late KJS Ahluwalia from the management and control of KJS Cement (I) Limited, the FIR states.

The FIR further states that Ahluwalia, in collusion and connivance with other accused persons, created a forged and fabricated Gift Deed dated September 27, 2017, to alienate the shares of Late KJS Ahluwalia in KJS Cement (I) Ltd to his wife Indu Ahluwalia on the basis of Power of Attorney dated August 8, 2000, issued by late KJS Ahluwalia

The FIR has been filed under IPC Sections 406, 409, 420, 468, 471, 120B and other relevant provisions, alleging criminal breach of trust, cheating, fraud and forgery, and misuse of false documents and criminal conspiracy. The charges include wrongful loss and dishonest inducement, with potential severe legal consequences.
An accident took place on the newly inaugurated Coastal Road tunnel in Mumbai that connects Marine Drive and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a black-coloured Toyota car hit the corner wall near Cross Passage-05 at 12:37 pm on Thursday. The driver and one passenger travelling in the car were not harmed in the accident.

The 10.8-km-long road has a two-kilometre-long tunnel between Priyadarshini Park and Marine Drive.

The authorities were informed of the accident by a person who called from the nearest Emergency Call Box (ECB) around 12:43 pm. The operator at the Local Operation Maintenance Room (LOMR) received the call and immediately informed the respective department after checking the CCTV camera.

A rescue team with marshals quickly arrived at the site of the accident and called a towing van that reached shortly. The marshals controlled the traffic and cleared two lanes immediately to avoid any jams inside the tunnel.

According to the driver of the vehicle involved in the accident, the steering of the car was loose because of which the car crashed. The vehicle was moving at a speed of 60 km/h when the accident happened.

The south-bound corridor of the coastal road between South Mumbais Worli and Marine Drive, also called Mumbai Coastal Road Project Phase 1, was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde last month.

The Coastal Road has reduced the travel time between Worli to Marine Drive to 10 minutes. Vehicular traffic is allowed at this stretch between 6:00 am and 8:00 pm from Monday to Friday.

The speed limit for vehicles on the straight road is 80 km/h, which is reduced to 60 km/h inside the tunnel and at the turning points and entry/exit points, the speed limit set for vehicles is 40 km/h.
I have now examined the archaeology of every county in Britain bar one  Wiltshire. This was no accident, for I have a confession to make: Wiltshires archaeology terrifies me. There is so much of it, so many famous names, such passion aroused. It is the toughest archaeological nut to crack in the United Kingdom, and so I left it to last. To ease my burden, I will split my examination into four different parts, with two columns on the county and two others on Stonehenge and Avebury. Alas, Wiltshire is a case-study of famous sites like these eclipsing others that are less well-known but equally important. There is surprisingly little reported in the magazine, for example, on the Vale of Pewsey, and some notable urban absences. Bar mention of its excellent museum, for example, Devizes barely gets referenced. So I begin with a plea: if youre working in Wiltshire away from you-know-where, then please let us know. Wed love to report more from the wider county.

GATHERING PLACES

I will begin my explorations in what is, in a strange sense, the centre of not just the countys but also the countrys heritage: Swindon. To explain, although Swindon is sometimes denigrated as a town, it has some excellent historical sites, and it is also a political powerhouse, with the head office of the National Trust a scones lob from the offices of English Heritage and Historic England, including the latters archive  what used to be known as the National Monuments Record (see CA 140, September 1994, and CA 371, February 2021). Take a weekday peak-time train through its station, and you stand a reasonable chance of bumping into the senior management teams of all these organisations. And all of them are based within the former GWR railway works, which originated in 1843 and continued in use until 1986, with much of the remains still in place and listed Grade II and II* (see CA 216, March 2008; CA 271, October 2012; CA 301, April 2015; and CA 367, April 2020).

Further afield, the wider Swindon area has no shortage of sites, among them an Iron Age enclosure on the northern edge of the town in Groundwell (see CA 177, January 2002); a hoard of 12 Iron Age cauldrons discovered immediately south of the town at Chiseldon (see CA 214, January 2008, and CA 229, April 2009); and an enigmatic Roman site at Blunsdon on the extreme northern edge of the town (see CA 163, June 1999).

UPS AND DOWNS

As I head south-west from Swindon, first up is Yatesbury, halfway between Calne and Avebury. CA 171 (December 2000) paid a visit there to explore not its prehistoric origins but its later Saxon and Viking communities, which were at that time under examination by a team from University College London. Further west still lies Lacock, best known for its picturesque village and manor house. CA 296 (November 2014) focused not on these, though, but rather on the spectacular 15th-century silver drinking vessel long associated with the parish church of St Cyriac, diving into its origins and complex life history.

The next natural stopping-place on my itinerary would be Avebury, but as I mentioned in my introduction, I am saving that site for a column all of its own. Heading east along the A4, therefore, Fyfield Down is a fine place to pause. CA 16 (September 1969) includes an article well worth reading in depth, on fieldwork begun there in 1959 by Peter Fowler, which revealed a wealth of sites ranging from the Neolithic to the medieval period. This is the type of long-term interdisciplinary fieldwork that the magazine has championed from its outset, and the article is one of the finest expositions of such an approach, undertaken in a post-war, pre-rescue, pre-commercial period that now seems impossibly distant, but which produced results that stand the test of time. Immediately south of Fyfield are the West Woods, long thought to be the source of the Stonehenge sarsen stones. I will not dwell on these  Stonehenge, like Avebury, will get its own column in due course  but for those of you who are interested, the major mentions come in CA 311, CA 345, and CA 367 (February 2016, December 2018, and October 2020).

CA 16 reported on a multi-period site  spanning in time from the Neolithic through to the medieval period  at Fyfield Down, excavations of which first began in 1959,

led by Peter Fowler.

In Marlborough itself is the extraordinary Neolithic mound in the grounds of the eponymous college, second only to nearby Silbury Hill in terms of height. I am ashamed to admit that this site was new to me  as I mentioned in the introduction, the risk in a county like Wiltshire is that the famous sites obscure others equally deserving of attention, as was the case here. Thankfully, there is a charitable trust devoted to its care  see www.marlboroughmoundtrust.org. CA 257 (August 2011) visited the site when its early origins were first being properly appreciated (it had previously been thought to be a late 11th-century motte associated with the Norman Conquest), and CA 337 (April 2018) usefully puts it in its wider perspective, examining the large round mounds of England.

CA 257 paid a visit to Marlborough Mound, the smaller cousin of the more famous Silbury Hill.

VALLEY OF THE HENGES

Heading further south still, I come to my personal favourite part of the county: the Vale of Pewsey. CA 316 (July 2016) summarises the archaeological significance of this area, rich in prehistoric monuments, and CA 234 (September 2009) its wider appeal, especially its numerous chalk-cut hill figures. Like many, I love it for its wide views and rolling downlands: see CA 329 (August 2017) for perspectives on the wellbeing benefits of such places. If anyone is in any doubt of its merits, then meet me for a walk along the footpaths of its northern escarpment around Martinsell Hill fort. But these have never featured in the pages of Current Archaeology  until now  so I cannot report more on them here.

Down in the valley, it is a different matter. Two significant archaeological sites demand our attention: Marden Henge and Wilsford Henge, a few miles west along the valley from Pewsey. As explained in CA 316, these sites and this area had historically been under-examined until Geoffrey Wainwright excavated the former in the late 1960s, producing in the process one of the most terrifying front covers in terms of site safety in the magazines history (see CA 17, November 1969). Wainwrights work put Marden on the map, alongside the other three great superhenges: Avebury and Durrington Walls in Wiltshire, and Mount Pleasant in Dorset. It remains the largest Neolithic henge enclosure discovered to-date in the UK, enclosing a total area of 10.5ha, but visitors will be disappointed: there is little to see there, bar a modest interpretation board amid the rough pasture. Current Archaeology then went quiet on the site until CA 247 (October 2010), when a team from English Heritage uncovered more of its history, including a previously unknown henge within the henge, and a well-preserved Neolithic house and associated middens: CA 253 (April 2011) followed up on this find in the context of other such discoveries.

Even less well-known than Marden is Wilsford. This sites significance is not helped by the fact that there are two prehistoric Wilsfords in Wiltshire: this one, and the Wilsford Shaft, a prehistoric feature near the village of Wilsford cum Lake, 15 miles to the south on the eastern edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The former comprises a rich array of prehistoric sites on the downs around the village, including a Bronze Age round barrow and cemetery (see CA 368, November 2020), and also the Neolithic henge itself (only visible as a cropmark in aerial photographs), which was excavated in 2015. This work uncovered a Bronze Age burial of a boy aged 14-15 years old, wearing a necklace of well-crafted amber beads. The burial is possibly associated with the larger Bronze Age barrow cemetery mentioned above (see CA 316, July 2016).

That, then, is it for the first of my forays into Wiltshire. In next months column, I will head further on into central and south Wiltshire, examining the wider area around Stonehenge and Salisbury Plain, as well as going down into and around Salisbury itself.

CA has reported frequently from the Vale of Pewsey, including in CA 17 and CA 316, which featured the henges at Marsden and Wilsford, as well as in CA 329, when we highlighted the wellbeing benefits of archaeological sites.

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.
Hello readers, todays afternoon digest brings you the latest stories: Sonia, Rahul And: Sanjay Nirupam Hits Out At 5 Power Centres In Congress, Starts Address With Jai Shri Ram, and top stories.

Sonia, Rahul And: Sanjay Nirupam Hits Out At 5 Power Centres In Congress, Starts Address With Jai Shri Ram

A day after being expelled from Congress for indiscipline, Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday said the disciplinary action against him by the grand old party came following his resignation from the partys primary membership. The Congress on Wednesday expelled the Maharashtra leader from the party for six years for making anti-party statements amid seat-sharing talks with Shiv Sena (UBT) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. READ MORE

Elections 2024 LIVE: 1st Polls without Bihars Son Ram Vilas Paswan, Says Modi; SP Changes Meerut Candidate for 2nd Time After Arun Govils Entry

As the political heat rises with the first phase of Lok Sabha polls around the corner, Congress suffered a huge jolt as one of the most vocal leaders, Gourav Vallabh, resigned from the party on Thursday saying he felt uncomfortable with his directionless party. LIVE Updates Here.

Vile, Sexist, Misogynistic: BJP Launches Scathing Attack At Congresss Surjewala Over Remark On Hema Malini

The Bharatiya Janata Party launched a scathing attack on Congress MP Randeep Surjewala for his vile sexist comment against the saffron camps MP Hema Malini. However, the grand old party has claimed that only selectively parts of the speech were put out by the BJP. READ MORE

LIVE: Wall Behind Sunita Kejriwal in New Video Catches Attention, Delhi CM in Jail Photo Put Up Between Bhagat Singh & Ambedkar

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita addressed press conference to deliver AAP chiefs message. She said Kejriwal has asked AAP leaders and workers to ensure that people of Delhi dont face any issues. He has urged them to look into the problems and resolve. Meanwhile, Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of chief minister. LIVE Updates Here.

IPL 2024: All-round Kolkata Knight Riders go Top With Crushing Win Over Delhi Capitals

Kolkata Knight Riders produced a clinical show in Delhi Capitals second home of IPL 2024 for a big 106-run win that took them to the top of the points table in Vizag on Wednesday night. This is the first time in their history that KKR have won first three games of an IPL season. KKR were a class apart with the bat and the ball. READ MORE

Madhuri Dixit Cried, Refused to Do Molestation Scene During Prem Pratigya Shoot; SHOCKING Details Out

Veteran actor Ranjeet has revealed some shocking details about the 1989 movie Prem Pratigya, which also starred Madhuri Dixit in the lead. In a recent interview, Ranjeet revealed that Madhuri cried on the sets and refused to do a molestation scene for the film. He shared that even though he was waiting for the actress, she did not turn up and nobody told him about what was happening. READ MORE
Vistara pilots have pressed on the exhaustion issues that they face due to operating on the edge of their maximum flying hours. Their statement came hours after the airline said that it hoped for its flight operations to return to normalcy over the weekend.

Pilots are flying at the edge of their maximum flight duty limitations. This is causing major health issues and everyone is falling sick frequently," NDTV reported citing sources.

Vistara has been hit by an increase in its flight cancellations due to shortage of pilots. The airlines pilots having been calling in sick, protesting over the revised contracts following Vistaras merger with Tatas Air India.

However, the allegations of coordinating and going on a mass sick leave has been dismissed by the sources. Everyone is just tired from flying. The new FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) rules should have given us some relief but as expected that is also not happening," they were quoted as saying.

The airline, on the other hand, has told its protesting pilots that salaries for extra working hours" will be credited post-integration with Air Indias roster and asked them to call off the strike, Moneycontrol reported citing sources.

As many as 26 flights were cancelled on Wednesday by the airline due to non-availability of crew.

Vistara Top Brass Hold Virtual Meeting With Pilots

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan, along with other top officials of the airline, held a virtual meeting with the pilots to discuss their problems on Wednesday.

Notably, Vistara did not give any official statement over the meeting with the pilots.

Sources, however, said that the flight operations are returning to normalcy and the number of flight cancellations has come down, adding that the airline has assured the pilots of resolving the rostering and stretched working hours issue by May.

Vistara, which is in the process of getting merged with Air India, has around 1,000 pilots, including about 200 who are at various stages of training.

DGCA Seeks Daily Report From Vistara

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation asked Vistara to submit daily report on flight cancellations and delays as the airline cancelled over 50 flights for a second straight day on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is closely monitoring the situation of Vistaras flight cancellation, even though the operations are managed by the airlines themselves.

Vistara has been asked to ensure that the relevant provisions of CAR Section-3, Series M, Part-IV on Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights" are complied with like advance information, an option of refund, compensation (if applicable) etc. to the passengers.

The airline had said that due to the limited flight operations, it was using so

(With PTI inputs)
Mom-to-be Alanna Panday is leaving no stone unturned to make her pregnancy journey memorable. She recently treated her followers to glimpses of her babymoon escapade in Milan, which left us in awe of her style, grace, and choice of destination. As we immerse ourselves in Milans allure through Alannas Instagram posts, it becomes apparent why every mom-to-be should consider this Italian gem for their babymoon adventure.

In the video, Alanna can be seen striking poses against the backdrop of the Cathedral of Milan, the Duomo. Additionally, she offers glimpses of herself strolling inside the Duomo, providing viewers with a closer look at its stunning architecture.

Her adorable style and baby bump steal the spotlight. As for her outfit, she looks stunning in a chic strapless body-hugging dress adorned with horizontal stripes and elegant gold buttons. Her ensemble is elevated by a fur jacket in beige. To complete her look, she opts for pearl jewellery including studs, a choker, and bracelets, along with a white Chanel bag and chic flats. Accompanying the video, Alanna captioned, Morning walks around the city.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

She also posted a couple of photos with her husband, Ivor McCray, and together they exuded fashion goals. Ivor looks dashing in a striped shirt and blue denim jeans paired with a teddy jacket.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

Before her Milan Trip, Alanna visited the streets of Paris. The video shared by her captures stunning visuals of the beautiful Eiffel Tower, the iconic Catholic church La Madeleine, and the streets of Paris. The clip further showcases her two stunning looks. The first ensemble features her in a beautiful white slip dress with an ankle-length hem and plunging neckline, while the second outfit exudes a more relaxed vibe, consisting of mommy pants and a striped top. Both her looks were elevated with a matching furry coat, sunglasses, and a white handbag. She captioned the post, Bonjour Paris.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

The young diva also uploaded a video showcasing the babymoon gifts she acquired during her trips. The video unveils two luxurious bags, one from Chanel and the other from Dior.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

What are your thoughts on Alanna Pandays luxurious trips?
The auspicious nine-day Hindu festival of Chaitra Navratri will start on April 9 as per the Drik Panchang and devotees will worship Goddess Durga and her nine divine forms during this festival. On the last day, devotees celebrate Ram Navami which marks the birth of Lord Rama.

In an interaction with News18 Hindi, Pandit Manotpal Jha from Purnia said that Kalash Sthapna should be done on April 9 from 06:02 am to 12:30 pm. As per the astrological beliefs, in Kalash Sthapna, the metal pot or Kalash represents various things. It is considered a container of fertility- the earth and the womb are known for nurturing life. Pandit Manotpal said that it would be even better if the Kalash Sthapana is performed in the Abhijit Muhurat from 11:50 am to 12:50 pm as installing the Kalash during this period is considered lucky. Abhijit Muhurat is the 8th Muhurat out of 15 Muhurats which prevail between the sunrise and the sunset.

In the Kalash Sthapna, many other things are also used like the mango leaves, coconut, etc. The mango leaves are considered to represent the Kama, the god of love, which symbolises the pleasure aspect of fertility. The coconut represents prosperity and power and it is said that the Kalash Sthapana brings good luck and positivity, and Navratri is incomplete without it.

According to the expert, there is going to be a special omen this year on Chaitra Navratri, because as per the beliefs, Goddess Durga is believed to ascend on the earth on a horse. Due to this phenomenon, this year will be considered very fruitful for the devotees, especially the farmers who will get a thriving yield from their crops.

During the 9 days of Chaitra Navratri, nine forms of Maa Durga will be worshipped by Hindu devotees. They are  Maa Shailputri, Maa Brahmacharini, Maa Chandraghanta, Maa Kushmanda, Skanda Mata, Maa Katyayani, Maa Kaalratri, Maa Mahagauri and Maa Siddhidatri. During this time, the devotees are expected to avoid non-vegetarian food, onion, garlic, etc. Moreover, during Navratri vrat, individuals also restrict their intake of grains and pulses and opt for ingredients like buckwheat flour, singhara atta, sama rice, and sendha namak or fasting salts.
Randeep Hooda in a recent interview recalled the success of his 2016 film Sarbjit. He played the lead in the film, alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The film won several awards, including international ones. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, the 47-year-old actor reacted to the fact that Aishwarya took home more awards than he did for her portrayal. Randeep played the title role of Sarabjit Singh, a man who spent 22 years in prison for alleged acts of terrorism and espionage. He was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1991.

Randeep Hooda explained that it is not helpful to measure the value of an artist based on the number of awards. The recognition you get from your brotherhood can be encouraging, but I can only say that I am happy for Aishwarya that she won, even if I didnt. To complain now that I deserve more would be indecent. If people say that, its a victory in itself, explained Randeep Hooda, as reported by Indian Express.

He also made it clear that he does not like to participate in such conversations. Did I feel bad? Of course, I have. But its not as if the world has gone down, said Randeep Hooda and explained that he will continue striving for better work.

Randeep Hooda also believed that it would destroy him if he left control of his self-image to others. He spoke on several occasions about his extreme methods of adapting to the role of Sarbjit. Randeep Hooda is known for his devotion to his unconventional roles. Recently, he lost an incredible amount of weight for Swatantra Veer Savarkar. His fans also called him Indian Christian Bale because of his shocking transformation.

Randeep Hooda has acted in many hit movies like Highway, Inspector Avinash, Operation Fryday, Cat, and Radhe. He has showcased his remarkable acting skills in many projects but remains a lesser-known actor compared to his counterparts. He said in an interview that earlier he did a lot of films with first-time directors which didnt reach the audiences.
Ananya Pandays cousin and content creator, Alanna Panday, is expecting her first child with her husband, Ivor McCray. The couple got married in a lavish ceremony in Mumbai last year and announced the pregnancy earlier this year. Recently, they were in India for the baby shower celebration. Alanna and Ivor then jetted off for their babymoon in Milan, and she has been enthusiastically sharing glimpses from their Italian getaway.

Keeping her fans updated, Alanna Panday shared a few photos from Milan on her Instagram account. In the mesmerising pictures, the couple is seen posing against the backdrop of the historic Milan Cathedral. The first image captures them holding hands, followed by another stunning shot. In the second photo, Ivor wears a radiant smile as his partner plants a kiss on his cheek. Sharing her excitement to welcome a new member into the family, Alanna wrote, 3 in the caption.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

In response to the post, Alannas mother, Deanne Panday, affectionately commented, Love you three, followed by heart and evil-eye emojis. Fans also flooded the comments section with heart emojis and wished her for the future.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

A few days ago, she shared several solo snapshots from Milan with the caption, Mom In Milan. Alanna was stunning in a strapless black and white stripe printed bodycon midi dress featuring a plunging square neckline. She effortlessly layered the dress with a fleece jacket draped over her shoulders. Her accessories included a chic chain bag, trendy sunglasses, pearl bracelets, rings, captivating pearl earrings, a stylish pearl choker and tan flat sandals.

While Alanna was in India, her family hosted a luxurious baby shower in her honour. The extravagant event saw the presence of numerous celebrities, including Alannas cousin, actor Ananya Panday as well as Aditya Roy Kapur, Gauri Khan, Shanaya Kapoor, Maheep Kapoor and many others, who joined in to celebrate the joyous occasion.

Earlier, Alanna revealed the gender of her baby, announcing that she was expecting a baby boy. Alanna Panday shared a heartwarming video on Instagram featuring herself and Ivor dressed in elegant white attire. Positioned beside a white gender reveal cake adorned with the word baby, they eagerly cut into it. The moment the knife sliced through the cake, the blue sponge inside unveiled the joyful news.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alanna Panday (@alannapanday)

While Alanna Panday has a successful career as a model and content creator, she will soon be seen in the series The Tribe.
The film Kill, starring Raghav Juyal and Laksh Lalwani, has been a prominent topic since its announcement. Produced by filmmaker Karan Johar, the much-anticipated teaser for the upcoming film has finally been unveiled. The teaser offers a glimpse into the intense and chaotic world inhabited by Raghav Juyal and Laksh Lalwani.

Sharing the teaser on his Instagram profile, Karan Johar wrote, One night. One train. One reason to#KILL Presenting the #KILLTeaser, featuring Lakshya, Raghav Juyal & Tanya Maniktala. Directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat. The official theatrical release date for India is set for 5th July. Warning: This film contains violent content that may be intense and distressing for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

In the teaser, Lakshyas character is depicted traveling alongside Tanya when they encounter a harrowing assault by a ruthless and armed group. A brief appearance of Raghav Juyal, portraying the films antagonist, adds to the tension. As the situation intensifies and Lakshyas character is pushed to his limits, he embarks on a relentless and fierce rampage.

According to the films official website, Kill unfolds a relentless narrative on a passenger train en route to New Delhi, where a fierce confrontation ensues between two commandos and a gang of 40 bandits. Amidst the turmoil, star-crossed lovers Tulika (portrayed by Tanya Maniktala) and Amrit (played by Lakshya) must protect their forbidden romance while navigating the perilous journey. With their martial arts skills put to the test, Amrit and his comrade Viresh embark on a daring rescue mission, facing ruthless adversaries to ensure the safety of the passengers and their love.

For the unversed, in his Bollywood debut with this film, Laksh Lalwani will transition from TV appearances to the silver screen. Additionally, he is set to appear in Dharma Productions Bedhadak alongside Shanaya Kapoor and Dostana 2 with Janhvi Kapoor.

Kill made its debut in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival last year, earning a spot among the ten selected films for screening at the prestigious festival. Marking this announcement through an Instagram post, the filmmaker unveiled the initial look of the action-packed film.

The cast of the film also includes Tanya Maniktala and Raghav Juyal. Notably, Nikhil Nagesh Bhatt, known for directing Hurdang starring Sunny Kaushal, Vijay Varma, and Nushrat Bharucha, helms this film. Karan Johar shared that Kill is slated for a theatrical release on July 5, 2024.
Director Wes Balls upcoming film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, is generating excitement among cinema enthusiasts as its release date approaches. With each passing day, the filmmakers are dropping intriguing details about the upcoming trilogy, sparking excitement among the audience. While its obvious from the trailer and previous instalments that the film will heavily rely on CGI to transform actors into apes, however, whats surprising is that the rest of the world shown in the movie will be real. In a recent interview with Collider, Ball disclosed that they used minimal blue screen backgrounds during filming. The team was determined to enhance authenticity, so they decided to shoot in real locations.

Ball explained, We probably had one blue screen set on the movie. For the most part, were out in real locations shooting with real actors. They happen to be in these funny dots with this stupid camera in their face everywhere, which they eventually kind of forget about, but you make it like a live-action movie. You just have to imagine that, Oh, thats going to be an ape doing that in a year. Thats the whole thing. How do you give the spontaneity? Thats the thing for me. The challenge on this movie was, How do you make a movie thats so technically? I kind of liken it to youre building a jigsaw puzzle, all in separate pieces, its own piece individually and you gotta carve it just right way over here in these different kinds of arrangements.

Using spontaneous cameras and complicated moves, Wes Ball wanted to enhance the performances of the actors, who, despite wearing motion capture suits with tracking dots, provided the essential material for transforming into apes in the post-production process. He claimed that the team used multiple cameras which captured every expression and movement of the actors. Infrared cameras were also cleverly placed in the surroundings, which played a crucial role in capturing detailed information necessary for the CGI process.

The filmmaker explains that despite certain scenes being entirely CGI, viewers wont be able to easily distinguish them from real footage. He reveals that approximately 30 to 40 minutes of the film features full CGI scenes.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was originally set to release on May 24, 2024, but to avoid a clash with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie, the release date was pre-poned to May 10. The film is set 300 years after the events of the Caesars Trilogy. While Freya Allan will star as the human lead, the voices for the apes have been provided by William H. Macy, Eka Darville, Travis Jeffery, Neil Sandilands, Sara Wiseman, Lydia Peckham, Ras-Samuel Weld Aabzgi and Dichen Lachman.
A video featuring Pakistani actor and TV presenter Nadia Khan has caught the eye of netizens on X (formerly Twitter). In the clip, she says that prominent Bollywood actors, including the Khans, feel threatened by the talented artists from Pakistan. This statement was made during an episode of Kya Drama Hai Uncut Version. A snippet of her teasing Indian celebrities was circulated on X.

The actress said in Urdu, After working in their films, Fawad Khan and other Pakistani celebs are so popular in India that some of Bollywoods top actors became insecure about them. They only tried to create a political issue between the two countries and made sure our artistes were banned there (After Uri attack). It was not just the Indian politicians that had an issue with us, the top actors there were scared.

Nadia further said, It is not just a fear of getting films, but also how much the Indian public was starting to love Pakistani actors. They were so scared of our talent that they got us banned. Recently what our actors Wahaj and Bilal (Seemingly hinting at Wahaj Ali and Bilal Abbas Khan), have done has made the Indian public fall in love with them these stars in India are viral, you have no idea about their fan following in India. Even the Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan) are insecure  If these boys come in our films, what will we do?

Nadia added that its not just about getting roles; its also about how much the Indian audience was starting to appreciate Pakistani actors. They were so scared of our talent that they got us banned. Recently what our actors Wahaj and Bilal (Seemingly hinting at Wahaj Ali and Bilal Abbas Khan), have done has made the Indian public fall in love with them these stars in India are viral, you have no idea about their fan following in India. Even the Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan) are insecure  If these boys come in our films, what will we do? she added.

I need her delusion pic.twitter.com/TVDBuP754j Ash (@ashilikeit) April 3, 2024

While most laughed her statement off, many also agreed with it. Ranbir Is the Best Actor our hindi cinema ever produced in coming 50 years but In Ae dil Hai mushkil Fawad 10 min role just his sheer screen presence is one of the best insecurity to ayegi hi ayegi, read one comment. Another read, I am Indian I love my Country but whatever she is saying is true the insecurity amongst the top actors is the result they banned them. ane 20 saal tak to ye lobby chalti rahegi most of our young Indian actors have faced the same problem you guys know their names love. The second hand embarrassment I am having, read a third comment from a user who thought shes delusional.

Actors like Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan have earlier worked in Bollywood films. The All Indian Cine Workers Association banned Pakistani artistes after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019.
Priyanka Chopra was in India for a short vacation with her husband Nick Jonas and daughter Malti Marie. PeeCee clearly had an eventful time, as she was seen quite busy, marking her attendance at various events including a Holi party, her brothers engagement and a reunion with her friends. Now that the family of three is back in the US, Priyanka has already resumed her work on her upcoming Hollywood film, Heads Of State.

Priyanka Chopra shared a picture of the films script with her name written on it. Besides, the page also included the movies title and Harrison Querys name, thus leaving no room for doubt. And were back, she mentioned on her Instagram Stories.

Notably, this comes just a day after Priyanka Chopra made a big announcement about her new project. She is all set to collaborate with popular filmmaker Barry Avrich and will produce a documentary titled Born Hungry. Aligning with stories and filmmakers that have the ability to move the audience by having a unique point of view is what we always look for at @purplepebblepictures. @barryavrich22s new feature documentary, Born Hungry is exactly that. I was so moved by Sashs incredible story of resilience and determination, and also that it is an amazing rendition of an extremely sensitive story, it was a no-brainer for us to collaborate. We cannot wait to share this story with you, she wrote on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Priyanka (@priyankachopra)

The documentary will narrate the journey of a young Indian individual who leaves home, finds refuge with a Canadian family and ultimately rises to fame as a successful celebrity chef in Toronto. This is not the first time that Priyanka has tried her hand as a producer. She had earlier produced films like The White Tiger and To Kill A Tiger under her production company, Purple Pebble Pictures.

Priyanka Chopras India visit

The Sky Is Pink actress attended her brother Siddharth Chopras roka ceremony during her visit to India. It was a complete family affair, pictures of which are now going viral. Besides that, she was also spotted at Mannara Chopras birthday celebrations with her husband, Nick Jonas.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Priyanka (@priyankachopra)

Pictures of Priyanka, Nick and Malti Marie from a grand Holi party also went viral on the internet. On top of it, the family also didnt miss the chance to visit the newly inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Apart from her family events, Priyanka also attended a Bulgari event in Mumbai. For the unversed, the actress is the brands global ambassador.
Today, Smallhythe Place in Kent is best known as a bohemian rural retreat once owned by the Victorian actress Ellen Terry and her daughter Edy Craig. As this months cover feature reveals, however, the surrounding fields preserve evidence of much earlier activity, including a medieval royal shipyard and a previously unknown Roman settlement.

Our next feature comes from the heavy clays of the Humber Estuary, where excavations sparked by the

construction of an offshore windfarm have opened a 40km transect through northern Lincolnshire, with illuminating results.

We then take a tour of Iron Age, Roman, and medieval Winchester, tracing its evolution into a regional capital and later a royal power centre.

Leaving urban surroundings behind, we next head out into the uplands of South Wales, searching for late Bronze Age and Neolithic rock art. What can recent discoveries tell us about how this landscape was used more than 4,000 years ago?

Our closing feature turns the spotlight on the Cerne Abbas Giant, an imposing outline cut into a Dorset hillside. What have the last few years of fieldwork revealed about the hill-figures date and the development of its design?

Finally, the summer digging season is rapidly approaching, and we are taking a slightly different approach with our Digs Guide for 2024. We will be running several spreads across successive issues; if you have a project you would like to include in the next one, please email [email protected].

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



ROMANS, ROYAL SHIPS, AND A RURAL RETREAT

Exploring the archaeology of Smallhythe Place

Today a National Trust property in Kent, Smallhythe Place is best known as the home of Victorian actress Ellen Terry  but recent excavations have revealed much earlier activity in its surroundings, including a medieval royal shipyard and a previously unknown Roman settlement.

BETWEEN THE SALT WATER AND THE SEA STRAND

Excavating the Hornsea Project One Cable Route in Lincolnshire

Works to link an offshore windfarm to the National Grid sparked eight years of archaeological excavations in the clay marshes of northern Lincolnshire, unearthing evidence of occupation and industry spanning prehistory to the present day.

VISUALISING VENTA BELGARUM

Touring prehistoric, Roman, and post-Roman Winchester

The recent publication of excavations conducted in Winchester in the 1960s and 1970s has shed light on the citys evolution from an Iron Age trading hub to a Roman regional capital to a medieval royal centre.

DOCUMENTING A SACRED LANDSCAPE

Rock art and monuments of the South Wales uplands

Surveys of the upland areas of Glamorgan have revealed previously undocumented examples of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age rock art, and hints of a complex symbolic landscape.

A TALE OF THREE GIANTS?

New evidence for the evolution of Cerne Abbas chalk colossus

While the original Cerne Abbas Giant has been dated to the early medieval period, recent research has highlighted how it has evolved over time, showing that there were at least three iterations of the famous hill-figure.

NEWS

Analysis of Aylesburys Roman egg reveals possible contents; More exciting clues uncovered at early medieval site in the Coquet Valley; Preserving a Palmerston Fort; Confirming a 5th-century mosaic at Chedworth Roman Villa; Excavation reveals Larkhalls prehistoric past; Science Notes; National Gallery excavations uncover more of Anglo-Saxon London; Finds Tray

REGULARS

COMMENT

Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive

CONTEXT

A spring filled with votive offerings? Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf Community, Anglesey

REVIEWS

Crypt: life, death, and disease in the Middle Ages and beyond; Derrycarhoon: a later Bronze Age copper mine in south-west Ireland; The Palace: from the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 years of history at Hampton Court; Excavations at Redhouse, Adwick Le Street, Doncaster: Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman occupation; The Archaeology of Worcester in 20 Digs; The Archaeology of the Hornsea Project One Offshore Windfarm Cable Route

MUSEUM NEWS

The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions



EXHIBITION

Introducing Must Farm, a Bronze Age Settlement at Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery

LISTINGS

Our selection of exhibitions and events, as well as historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from around the world that are still available online.



GO DIGGING!

An inaugural array of upcoming opportunities to get involved in archaeology this summer  get in touch to feature your project next!



CONFERENCE

A round-up of what happened at Current Archaeology Live! 2024

SHERDS

Chris Catlings irreverent take on heritage issues

ODD SOCS

Historic Buildings & Places

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.
Sholay is considered Indian cinemas iconic masterpiece that continues to resonate with audiences worldwide as it is one of Bollywoods greatest blockbusters. The movie has been lauded for its performances, unforgettable songs and gripping story. Over the years, the Ramesh Sippy directorial has garnered numerous honours. Meanwhile, the dialogue Kitne aadmi the? said by Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh cant be forgotten by the true fans of the iconic film. Surprisingly, the late actor wasnt the sole contender for the role, as 70s superstars Danny Denzongpa and Ranjeet were also considered for the character during the casting process.

In an ANI interview, Ranjeet shared his decision to turn down the opportunity to star in Sholay out of respect for his friendship with Danny.

The Amar Akbar Anthony actor said, When they came to me, they told me that Danny would not come now. In fact, I had no idea about the role as well. I clearly told them, Danny is a good friend of mine. Either you get me no objection letter from him or at least let him talk to me. If he agrees, then I will do the film. But I knew why he was not coming and I refused to be a part of the film. This role was destined for Amjad Khan. Ho sakta hai main Gabbar karta toh shayad audience ko nahi acha lagta. (Its possible that if I played the role of Gabbar, maybe the audience wouldnt have liked it).

All these years, the bond between Danny Denzongpa and Ranjeet has only grown stronger. Ranjeet often shares glimpses of their bond by uploading pictures and videos on various social media platforms. Both actors have left their mark in Bollywood with their powerful and intimidating performances in classic Bollywood movies.

Directed by Ramesh Sippy, Sholay stars Dharmendra as Veeru, while Amitabh Bachchan plays Jai. Their characters are hired by a retired police officer, portrayed by Sanjeev Kumar, to catch the cruel dacoit, Gabbar Singh. Alongside them, Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan play the love interests of Veeru and Jai, respectively. Hema plays Basanti, while Jaya plays the character of Radha.

Meanwhile, BBC India honoured the movie as the Film of the Millennium in 1999, while Time magazine included it in their Best of Bollywood list in 2010. Recently, in 2023, Time Out ranked it as the top film among the 100 Best Bollywood Movies.
Rashmika Mandannas connection with Vijay Deverakonda often piques fans interest. Neha Dhupia also seemed curious when she spoke to Rashmika on the latest episode of her podcast, No Filter Neha. Rashmika faced many questions about her co-star from Dear Comrade and Geetha Govindam. During the same discussion, Rashmika also disclosed that she secretly calls Vijay Vijju and praised him for offering the best advice among all her friends.

When host Neha asked what she likes best about Vijay, Rashmika said, We come from middle-class families. Our thinking and perspectives are very alike. I love it, its easy with him. When she asked about his worst qualities, Rashmika shared, Hes way too serious all the time, hes like a rocket, its all about work for him.

Meanwhile, the rumoured couple has almost confirmed their dating rumuors. Rashmika recently shared on her Instagram stories that shes in Abu Dhabi, where shell celebrate her birthday on April 5. She posted a picture of a peacock, showing her fans where shes staying.

Shortly after, Vijay Deverakonda posted a video on his Instagram stories discussing his upcoming movie, Family Star. But what caught everyones attention was something else: a peacock in the background of Vijays video. This left everyone wondering if the Liger actor and his rumored girlfriend are vacationing together. Rumours of Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna dating have been circulating for a while. Earlier this year, their trip to the Maldives fueled speculation about a possible marriage announcement. However, Vijay clarified later that he wasnt getting engaged or married.

Im not getting engaged or married in February. It feels like the press just wants to get me married every two years. I hear this rumour every year. Theyre just walking around waiting to catch me and get me married, he told Lifestyle Asia.
There is much anticipation amongst cinema lovers to watch actor Dev Patels directorial debut, Monkey Man, which will hit theatres on April 5. The action-thriller film premiered at the famed South by Southwest festival in Texas, USA on March 11. It received a grand standing ovation. It has gotten 94 per cent positive reviews on the review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 62 verified critic reviews. Other than directing the film, Dev Patel shares screenplay writing credits with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. The film features actors like Sobhita Dhulipala, Makarand Deshpande, Sikander Kher, Sharlto Copley and Pitobash.

Recently, Patel spoke to Variety about the films representation of the trans community and how he aims to challenge the orthodoxy of faith via the story. Patel described Monkey Man as an anthem for the underdog, voiceless and marginalised. Patel elaborated on how the film takes many symbols from Hindu mythology and said, For me, I wanted to take this old mythology and take these characters, who I thought was the hero  Hanuman  who had lost faith in himself, he needed to be reminded by fellow outsiders of who he was. And together they waged this war for the good and the just.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Variety (@variety)

He emphasised the importance of rightly portraying the trans community in the film and said, I just really wanted to include the Hijra community, the third gender in India. This is at its core, a revenge film about faith and the beauty of faith. With faith, we should be fighting for each other, not against each other. Thats what it should do at its best.

Patel highlighted how in the current atmosphere faith has become rigid, which is divorced from the ancient spiritual philosophies. He continued, Faith has become rigid over time. But when you look at the old carvings in these temples in India, the freedom, the sexuality, all of it, the philosophy was so ahead of its time. So I wanted to dive into it and make that the lore of the film.

Previously, Patel spoke about the tight financial constraints that hindered the making of the film. In an interaction on Reddit, Patel described Monkey Man as the most demanding thing he has ever done. The 33-year-old said that he had to beg and plead with the financers to not withdraw their backing. Now, it appears that Patels hard work and persistence have paid off.

Initially, Monkey Man was set for Netflix release but when actor and filmmaker Jordan Peele, whose production company has a distribution deal with Universal Pictures, watched the film, he decided that Monkey Man deserves a theatrical release instead.
Looks like Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna have finally confirmed their dating reports. Recently, Rashmika took to her Instagram stories and revealed that she is in Abu Dhabi where she will be celebrating her birthday on April 5. She dropped a picture of a peacock and treated her fans with a glimpse of the place she was staying at.

Soon after, Vijay Deverakonda also dropped a video on his Instagram stories in which he was seen talking about his upcoming movie, Family Star. However, what caught everyones attention was something else. A peacock was seen in the background of Vijays video, leaving everyone wondering if the Liger actor and his rumoured girlfriend are vacationing together.

Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandannas dating rumours have been making headlines for a long time now. Earlier this year, the rumoured couples trip to the Maldives fuelled speculation about a possible marriage announcement. It was also said that Vijay and Rashmika would get exchanged soon. However, the Liger actor later clarified that he was neither getting engaged nor getting married. Im not getting engaged or married in February. It feels like the press just wants to get me married every two years. I hear this rumour every year. Theyre just walking around waiting to catch me and get me married, he told Lifestyle Asia.

Recently, Vijay was promoting Family Star when he was asked about his romantic relationships. The actor decided not to address dating rumours with Rashmika and rather said that he is in a relationship with his parents and brother. Yes, with my parents, with my brother, with you, and we all are in a relationship, he said.

Vijay and Rashmika have worked together in two films  Geetha Govindam (2018) and Dear Comrade (2019). While they are rumoured to be in a relationship, they have never accepted or denied their relationship in public.
Respecting and supporting minorities is an integral part of Indian culture. Our ideology, Hindutva, treats all religions equally and with utmost respect, following the principle of Sarva Mata Sama Bhava. We believe that truth is one, but it can be perceived in different forms, as stated in Ekam Sad Viprah Bahudha Vadanti. This principle forms the foundation of our governments functioning. Prime Minister Modi guarantees the social and economic upliftment of Indias minorities, drawing strength from the centuries of dedication and heritage that Bharat embodies.

The minority groups in India, including Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, and Muslims, make up approximately 20 per cent of the countrys population. Among these, Muslims and Christians are the largest minority groups in India. Since the beginning of his first term in office, Prime Minister Modi has implemented various outreach initiatives to connect with minority communities. While Muslims account for around 14.23 per cent of Indias population, Christians make up 2.30 per cent.

Modis efforts to engage with the Bohras and Sufi Muslim communities have included delivering a keynote address at the 2016 World Islamic Sufi Conference in Delhi and visiting a Dawoodi Bohra mosque in Indore, where he met with community leaders during an Ashara commemoration. The government has consistently reached out to the Pasmanda Muslim community, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, where 35 per cent of PMAY beneficiaries, 37 per cent of PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries, and 30 per cent of PM Mudra Yojana beneficiaries belong to this community. Prime Minister Modi has been honoured by many Islamic republics around the world in recognition of his efforts to strengthen collaborations with Islamic nations and to propagate world peace through mutual collaborations.

He has made regular visits to churches and celebrated Christmas with the Christian community last year. Nagaland has more than 85 per cent Christian population and Meghalaya has more than 75 per cent Christian population and these two states have openly embraced Prime Minister Modis vision of inclusive India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today has the largest number of legislators belonging to the Christian community than any other political party of Kerala. Modis visit to the Holy See in October 2021 was taken well with Christian believers across the world. Continuous outreach programs have also been initiated for Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, and Jain communities, including events like Veer Bal Diwas, the retrieval of the holy Guru Granth Sahib from war-torn Afghanistan, and the Kartarpur Corridor. The abolition of Triple Talaq has empowered women in Muslim minorities, while the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has provided Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Through a series of policies and legislations over the past decade, the government has ensured the protection of minority rights in India.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), focuses on improving the socio-economic condition of identified minority concentration areas. It provides infrastructure in various sectors such as education, health, skill development, and women empowerment. Additionally, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has introduced the Pradhan Mantri Virasat ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) scheme, which combines five existing schemes to support the underprivileged segment of the minority community throughout their life cycle. This scheme aims to provide livelihood opportunities and aligns with the objectives of the fifteen finance commissions for transparent and effective utilisation of grants. Notably, the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) has achieved significant credit disbursement, reaching a record high of Rs 881.70 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23, benefiting over 2.05 lakh beneficiaries. Since its inception, NMDFC has disbursed over Rs 8,300 crore, benefiting more than 22.5 lakh beneficiaries, with a majority of them being women.

In a groundbreaking move for the Haj pilgrimage, the Lady Without Mehram (LWM) category allowed single ladies to apply for Haj without the need for a group. This resulted in a record-breaking number of over 4000 successful applications under the LWM category for Haj 2023. The elimination of VIP culture during the pilgrimage is a significant step forward.

The interim budget of 2024-25 reflects the governments commitment to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, with an increase of Rs 574.27 crore from the revised estimates of 2023-24. Out of the total allocation of Rs 3183.24 crore for the welfare of minorities, Rs 1575.72 crore has been specifically designated for educational empowerment. This highlights the continuous emphasis of the Modi government on the education of minority communities and showcases their vision of achieving intellectual excellence through educational empowerment.

As the BJP continues its march towards achieving a majority of 400 seats, it is evident that the minority community will play a leading role. The minority communities have been the primary beneficiaries of the guarantees provided by Prime Minister Modi. As India strives to become a developed nation, we will set an exemplary model for the world on how to uplift our minorities socioeconomically. India will serve as a shining example to other countries on how to effectively harness the skills of minority populations for the collective progress of the nation. The Indian example of minority progress will pave the way for the creation of benchmarks for future international conventions on minorities across the world. This election will witness a significant shift in the voting patterns of these minority communities towards Prime Minister Modi and his party.

Adarsh Kuniyillam is a Parliamentary, policy and political analyst from Kerala and has supported various Members of Parliament in Parliamentary works. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Priorities reveal a lot about a person. And it is therefore important to pay attention to them. Rahul Gandhi has made his priorities clear by declaring his unequivocal loyalty to Keralas Wayanad. In 2019, the voters of Wayanad after all saved the Congress scions face when he was handed an ego-pulverising drubbing by bete noire, BJPs Smriti Irani, in his family bastion of Amethi.

But by not declaring his intent on contesting from Amethi  located in the Indian political crucible of Uttar Pradesh  ahead of contesting from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi has all but sacrificed family pride or his own self-esteem for survival.

This probability gains credence when one considers that in 2019, the Congresss first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections featured both Amethi and Raebareli. Sonia Gandhi and then Congress president Rahul Gandhi contested from their familys traditional bastions.

Now, in 2024, almost a month and a dozen lists later, there is still no clarity on whether Gandhi will contest from Amethi. Is it because Rahul Gandhi knows that theres just no possibility of him clawing back the seat? Or does he know that the majority in Uttar Pradesh is unconvinced about his commitment to its interests? Lets not forget the BJP has made it a point to drill into voters that the Congress is a Muslim Party that has privileged minorities in policy matters and legislation.

Nevertheless, make no mistake, exalted gratitude to Wayanads voters is not the only reason for Rahul Gandhis unambiguous betrothal to the picturesque Kerala parliamentary locale.

Gandhi is facing a stiff challenge in the seat. First, reports emerging from Wayanad suggest that the novelty of being associated with a political celebrity is now inexorably wearing off. The good people of Wayanad dont just want to be surrogates  the temporary custodians of the young Gandhis political fortunes. They are seeking instead a long-term engagement, with preferably a local, who has as much to gain from Wayanads success as they do. Any prevarication on Rahuls part could then put off voters.

Sensing this new expectation among Wayanads voters, the BJP for one has fielded its state president K Surendran. This signals two things. The BJP is mighty serious about emerging as a genuine alternative to the two dominant players  the Congress and the Left  in the states politics. Second, that the party thinks it has a chance now that Congress partys I.N.D.I.A bloc ally the CPI has also fielded a strong candidate for the seat.

And this brings us to the second important question: Apart from self-esteem, is the Gandhi scion prepared to even sacrifice his partys and the I.N.D.I.A blocs commitment to secularism to survive?

The Left is cut up with Rahul Gandhi for contesting from Wayanad. Aside from seeking to further its own prospects, the commissars are worried about the message to voters.

The I.N.D.I.A bloc was conceived primarily as a secular alternative. A conglomeration that would rid India of the Modi-led NDAs alleged authoritarian Hindu nationalism.

The members of the alliance never tire of pointing out that the I in I.N.D.I.A stands for inclusive. With Rahul Gandhi deciding to contest from Wayanad, he stands to split the secular vote, thereby undermining the very raison detre of the I.N.D.I Alliance.
As a student of law, there were certain fundamentals that I internalised as non-negotiable features of modern Indian jurisprudence, and indeed, of jurisprudence in all democratic nations. The first is that a person is assumed innocent unless proven guilty. The second is that bail is the rule and jail is the exception. The third is that due process of law will be followed in all prosecution proceedings to eliminate the arbitrary use of state power. The fourth is that no person shall be forced to incriminate himself or herself in a crime. The fifth is that there must be a reasonable nexus between crime and punishment. And, the sixth is that justice delayed is justice denied.

These principles apply to all governments, and are, therefore, beyond the realm of partisan politics. They are in the interests of citizens, to ensure that every personrich and powerful, or poor and helplessgets a fair and impartial trial. Very often, people think that somebody else, not them, will be the victim of the infringement of these principles. But the truth is that once infringements become the norm, nobody is safe.

The first two jurisprudential principles enumerated abovea person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and bail is the rule and jail the exceptionhave been upended by the draconian provision of Article 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, as amended in 2018. This article states that: Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, no person accused of a crime (under this Act) shall be released on bail on his own bond unless (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release, and (ii) when the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence.

In practical terms, what this provision ensures is that bail is almost impossible. The accused has to provide to the court, at the stage of the bail itself, before the case is argued or sometimes even a charge sheet is filed, that he or she is not guilty, while the prosecuting authority can oppose the bail on any grounds based on material whose veracity has not yet been tested through a judicial process. Which judge, therefore, will grant bail on the assumption that even before the trial has begun, the accused is prima facie not guilty?

Money laundering is a serious offence and deserves strong and stringent punishment. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has an important role to play in identifying and penalising the guilty, but the conviction rate is low, and the ambit of the mandate seems to have been widened to include many other scheduled crimes. Article 45 was struck down by a two-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench of Justice Sanjay Kaul and Justice Rohinton Mistry in March 2022, but was restored a year later by a three-judge SC bench. However, a review petition has been admitted, and in March this year, Justice Sanjiv Khanna observed that bail can be granted under this article if there is a delay in the trial or the period of incarceration is too long. Kerala High Court (HC) judge, Justice Badharudeen also recently said that the reversal of the proof of innocence is a very dangerous thing. In 2022, then Chief Justice N.V. Ramanna too, while admitting the review petition, expressed serious concern about this article.

We have to await the results of the review petition, but in the opinion of many eminent jurists, it violates due process of law and creates a situation by which the process itself becomes the punishment.

The violation of the principle of justice delayed is justice denied, is evident by the lakhs of undertrial prisoners languishing in jail for over a year, since their cases have not come up for hearing or disposed of. In 2023, there were 59,78,714 cases pending in the HCs, and 69,598 in the SC. Shockingly, at the same time, against the sanctioned strength of 1114 judges in the HCs, 329 posts were lying vacant. Is it any surprise then that delay in justice is inevitable?

All democracies, irrespective of the government in power, must keep a balance between the powers of the state as against the remedies available to citizens. This balance is critical, because those in power today, may well be in the Opposition tomorrow. CJI DY Chandrachud, while delivering the 20th D.P. Kohli Memorial Lecture in memory of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)s first director, said a few days ago: In the realm of criminal justice, the delicate balance between search and seizure powers of agencies like the CBI and individual privacy rights stands at the cornerstone of a fair and just society. At the heart of this balance lies the need to uphold due process while ensuring the effective functioning of law enforcement agencies.

In India, our ancient systems of jurisprudence had always stressed that nyaya or justice must always conform to niti, correct policy. It is time to restore this equation again.

The author is a former diplomat, an author and a politician. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
AAP Complains Against 'Objectionable Hoardings' Put Up By BJP In Delhi, Says No Action Taken The BJP has placed many objectionable hoardings across Delhi, at some places they have even used the photo of CM Arvind Kejriwal. We filed a complaint against this, 6 days back but surprisingly no action has been taken. Its worrying as it raises questions over the level playing field for Lok Sabha elections Today we met CO Delhi regarding the hoarding issues and got the assurance, but still, if action wont be taken, we will seek time from the ECI. Even the ECI doesnt give time to meet the opposition leaders. This Lok Sabha elections are becoming historic for all the sad reasons said AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi on Thursday.

BJP Leader Tarun Chugh Reacts to Arvind Kejriwal's Photo Put Up With Bhagat Singh & Babasaheb on Wall BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh reacted to Arvind Kejriwals photo put up with Bhagat Singh & Babasaheb on wall which grabbed attention during Sunita Kejriwal (Delhi CMs wife) press conference and called it disrespect of both the great personalities. You (AAP leaders) have not been jailed for the freedom movement or any public grievance. You are in jail because of scams, betrayal and bribery. Unfortunately, press conferences are being done by putting Arvind Kejriwals picture parallel to those of BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. Both these personalities are being disrespected by this act. On one hand, its a person indulged in a liquor scam and on the other hand, are those who never took a step back in the freedom movement of the country. On the one side, its the person who formed the Constitution and on the other side its the person who doesnt follow the Constitution, he said.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Delhi CM Moves HC Seeking Increase In Number Of Legal Meetings Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has moved the High Court seeking an increase in the number of legal mulaqats from two to five times a week.

Wall Behind Kejriwal's Wife in New Video Grabs Eyeballs, 'Delhi CM in Jail' Photo Put Up With Bhagat Singh & Babasaheb Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has sent a request to all MLAs, asking them to discuss the problems of the states people and resolve them, said Sunita Kejriwal as she read out her husbands message on Thursday. Addressing a press conference, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenors wife said, Arvind Kejriwal has sent a message to all MLAs. Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss peoples problems and sort them out.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Delhi BJP Leader Slams CM's Wall On Photo with Babasaheb & Bhagat Singh BJPs Delhi unit Vice President Kapil Mishra said, Putting photo of Arvind Kejriwal with Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh is very wrong and insulting. It is shameful to put the photo of a man who is accused in a liquor mafia case equal to that of Baba Saheb. This crime of AAP is unforgivable, he added.                                        AAP      pic.twitter.com/tWKC9DmMzd  Kapil Mishra (Modi Ka Pariwar) (@KapilMishra_IND) April 4, 2024

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Sunita Kejriwal Delivers CM's Message, Asks AAP Workers To Look Into People's Issues Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita addressed press conference to deliver AAP chiefs message. She said Kejriwal has asked AAP leaders and workers to ensure that people of Delhi dont face any issues. He has urged them to look into the problems and resolve. He has wished for everyones good health and peace, Sunita added.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: HC Dismisses Plea Seeking Delhi CM's Removal The Delhi High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of chief minister, Bar and Bench reported. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora refused to entertain the PIL filed by one Vishnu Gupta, president of an organisation called Hindu Sena. At times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his (Kejriwals) personal call, the court was quoted as saying. How can we declare that the government is not functioning? The LG is fully competent to decide it. He (LG) does not need our guidance. We are no one to advise him. He will do whatever he has to in accordance with law, Bar and Bench reported quoting the division bench.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: AAP Ready To Fight Injustice, Dictatorship, Says Sanjay Singh AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, Firstly I will go and take blessing from Bajrangbali and then I will also visit Rajghat. Later, in the day I will visit the residence of Satyendra Jain and Arvind KejriwalAAP workers are ready to fight against injustice and dictatorship. All of us stand with our leader Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Sunita To Deliver Delhi CM's Message From Jail At 12 PM

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Delhi CM 'Kingpin, Key Conspirator' In Liquor Scam, ED Reiterates In Court The Enforcement Directorate in Delhi High Court reiterated the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was the kingpin and key conspirator in the liquor policy scam case. The federal agency said so while opposing Kejriwals petition challenging his arrest and ED remand in the case. In its reply filed to the petition, said there were reasons to believe on the basis of material in possession that Kejriwal was guilty of the offence of money laundering. Sh Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of NCT of Delhi, is the kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi Excise Scam in collusion with Ministers of Delhi Govt, AAP leaders and other persons.. Sh Arvind Kejriwal was directly involved in the formulation of the Excise Policy 2021-22. This policy was being drafted considering the favours to be granted to the South Group and was formed in collusion with Sh Vijay Nair, Sh Manish Sisodia and members representatives of the South Group, the response said. It further noted that Kejriwal is involved in the use of proceeds of crime thus generated in the Goa election campaign of the AAP of which he is the convenor and the ultimate decision-maker.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Delhi Court Directs Tihar Jail To Provide Kettle, Table & Chair To CM A Delhi court directed Tihar jail authorities to provide an electric kettle to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in view of his medical condition, along with a table and chair for reading books. Special judge Kaveri Baweja passed the directions on an application moved by Kejriwals lawyer, who claimed the Aam Aadmi Party convenor required an electric kettle for heating water and for having tea.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Punjab CM Seeks Permission To Meet AAP Chief In Tihar Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann wrote to Tihar jail administration seeking permission to meet his Delhi counterpart and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, party sources said on Wednesday.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: He Will Remain CM, Says AAP Leader Sandeep Pathak AAP leader Sandeep Pathak, ruling out any signs of resignation, said that party supremo Arvind Kejriwal is the Delhi chief minister and will continue to hold the post. He alleged that part of the conspiracy of BJP was that they would first arrest Kejriwal and say he should resign and then try to break the AAP. Kejriwal is CM and will remain the CM, and if need be he will run the government from inside the jail, Pathak said. After Kejriwals arrest, 10-15 per cent vote share (of AAP) increased in Delhi. BJP must be conducting survey, they must be seeing this. Sometimes, over smartness is harmful, the AAP leader added.

Who Is Kavitha? From KCR's Daughter Who Plunged Into Politics In 2014 To 'South Group' Member In Delhi Excise Case Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) shortly after the central probe agency, along with the Income Tax department, conducted searches at her residence in Hyderabad on Friday. The BRS MLC is being taken to Delhi for questioning in connection with a money laundering case associated with the now-defunct Delhi excise policy.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: After Delhi CM, ED Named K Kavitha As 'Kingpin' Of Liquor Scam After calling Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal the kingpin and key conspirator in the liquor scam case, the ED termed BRS leader K Kavitha to be the kingpin and co-conspirator in the case. The ED had said that the BRS MLC is evasive in her statements and not dispensing the complete truth.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Sanjay Singh Visits Arvind Kejriwal's Wife After Release #WATCH | AAP MP Sanjay Singh meets Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, at the CM's residence Singh after his release from Tihar Jail on bail first visited CM Kejriwal's residence pic.twitter.com/nJUB6BSAnZ  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2024

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE: Sanjay Singh Meets Manish Sisodia's Wife #WATCH | AAP MP Sanjay Singh meets Manish Sisodia's wife Seema Sisodia. He was released from Tihar Jail on bail after six months in the Delhi excise policy case. pic.twitter.com/bGnfCiqtLs  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2024

Delhi BJP Sends Defamation Notice to Atishi, Demands Public Apology Over Her 'Join BJP Offer' Claim The BJPs Delhi unit has sent a defamation notice to senior AAP leader Atishi and demanded a public apology for her claim that the saffron party approached her through a very close person to join it. A day earlier, the Delhi minister claimed that four senior AAP leaders, including herself, would be arrested soon and claimed that she was advised to join the BJP or be ready to be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a month. At a press conference here on Wednesday, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said a defamation notice has been sent to Atishi, demanding a public apology for her claim.

Arvind Kejriwal Lost 4.5 Kg Since Arrest, Claims AAP's Atishi; No Change in Weight, Say Tihar Jail Sources Even as Delhi Minister Atishi on Wednesday raised concerns over the health of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and CM Arvind Kejriwal, claiming he has lost 4.5 kg in 12 days since his arrest in the Delhi liquor policy case, sources from Tihar jail said his weight was the same  65 kg  since Monday, when he was brought in. Atishi, however, said that officials reporting to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cant be trusted.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi kicked off his poll campaign for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat by holding a roadshow, he faced backlash over the absence of their ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)s flag during the event.

Kerala Chief Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Congress party of not including IUMLs flag in Rahul Gandhis roadshow, for the fear of BJP.

Vijayan said the stand taken by the grand old party indicates it wants the votes of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) but it is not acknowledging the flag important to the IUML. The Congress has fallen to a level where it is afraid of communal forces, the Kerala CM said during a press conference.

Vijayan further alleged that the Congress party was forgetting itself in front of the Sangh Parivar and was scared to show its own flag which is not expected from a party going to the Lok Sabha as the representatives of the people.

They (Congress) need clarity of thought and a firm stand as the people of Kerala will need representatives who can fight on national issues and stand with the public. The LDF is able to do both and that is why there is a popular sentiment in its favour, he said.

BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani also slammed the Wayanad MP accusing him of being ashamed of party ally IUML for not having its flag in his roadshow.

Campaigning for the BJP in Wayanad, the hill constituency Rahul Gandhi currently represents, Smriti Irani said if the Congress leader was ashamed of the IUM, he should reject their support. The BJP has fielded K Surendran from Wayanad against Rahul Gandhi.

The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, who had defeated Gandhi in Amethi in the 2019 general elections, accused him of being silent over the alleged misgovernance by the Left Front in Kerala.

Scams in cooperative banks in Kerala, mismanagement of state funds, the silence of Rahul Gandhi on these issues, especially the misgovernance of the INDI alliance partner  the Left front  speaks volumes. Rahul Gandhi would rather have power than have good governance, Irani said.

(With PTI inputs)
Actor Prakash Raj on Thursday clarified that he would not be joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the much anticipated Lok Sabha elections.

Responding to the viral post, the actor sarcastically remarked, I guess they tried must have realised they were not rich enough (ideologically) to buy me.. .. what do you think friends #justasking.

The actor, known for his strong criticism of the ruling BJP-led government, shared a post by a user named The Skin Doctor, which claimed: Eminent actor Prakash Raj will join BJP today at 3 pm. The post quickly went viral on social media, leading many to speculate about his potential joining the party.

I guess they tried must have realised they were not rich enough (ideologically) to buy me.. .. what do you think friends #justasking pic.twitter.com/CCwz5J6pOU Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) April 4, 2024

Eminent actor Prakash Raj will join BJP today at 3 pm. THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) April 4, 2024

In January, the actor claimed that three political parties have approached him to be their candidate in the upcoming elections. He emphasized that they are interested in him not for his ideology but because he is a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I dont want to fall into that trap, added the 58-year-old.

Now, elections are coming, three political parties are behind me. I have switched off the phone because I dont want to get into the trap. They are not coming for the people, for my ideology, they say because I am a Modi basher, you are a good candidate, stated the actor during an event in Kozhikode, Kerala.

The award-winning actor has worked in films such as Kanchivaram, Singham, and Wanted. In his political career, he ran as an Independent candidate from Bengaluru Central in the 2019 general elections but was unsuccessful.
After three years of scrambling to hire and train pilots, United Airlines is encouraging its aviators to take unpaid time off next month, the latest example of how woes at Boeing - including delays in aircraft delivery - are rippling through the aviation industry.

Production limits imposed on Boeing after a piece of the wall blew off an Alaska Airlines plane midflight in January are in part responsible for the delays, which are forcing carriers to halt hiring and rethink schedules even as demand for air travel remains robust.

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Southwest Airlines, which operates an all-Boeing fleet, had anticipated receiving 58 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft but will instead receive 46. Boeings continued challenges, Southwest said in a regulatory filing, may require it to reduce the number of seats it offers and rethink its capital spending program, which includes investments in aircraft and technology upgrades.

As a result, Southwest said it would pause hiring, including for pilots and flight attendants, as it revamps its schedule for the second half of the year. The carrier said it will offer updated guidance for 2024 operations during its earnings call this month.

United has also paused pilot hiring for May and June, though it may resume in July.

As you know, United has hundreds of new planes on order and while we remain on a path to be the fastest growing airline in the industry, we just wont grow as fast as we thought we would in 2024 due to continued delays at Boeing, the carrier said in a memo to employees. For example, we had contractual deliveries for 80 Max 10s this year alone - but those aircraft arent even certified yet and its impossible to know when they will arrive.

A note sent by union officials to United pilots last week cited recent changes to our Boeing deliveries as a reason for the voluntary time off programs. The airline confirmed the offer saying the voluntary time off programs will be used to reduce excess staffing for the month of May.

Story continues

At a Bank of America industrials conference last month, Boeings chief financial officer, Brian West, acknowledged the impact of the companys troubles on its customers.

We put the customers in a tight spot [and] the most important thing we do is communicate with them, West said. And they have been supportive of everything were trying to do to enhance safety and quality for the industry. We are in regular, very transparent communications and they know precisely where we stand and the progress that were making and we, at the same time, have to understand what their needs are as they think about their flight schedules and their passengers.

The ripple effect of Boeings ongoing troubles on some of its largest customers may become clearer this month with several carriers, including Alaska Airlines, scheduled to report earnings. Alaska previously said the grounding of the 737 Max 9 following Januarys blowout incident cost it an estimated $150 million.

How Boeings woes will impact travelers, however, is yet to be seen.

Aviation analyst Henry Harteveldt said larger carriers with significant numbers of Boeing jets in their fleets plan carefully to ensure they have enough aircraft to meet demand during peak periods. However, possible impacts from the delivery delays could include fewer nonstops flights or less frequent service to some destinations, he said. In the most extreme cases, carriers could halt flights to certain cities.

It could mean, possibly, more inconvenience to travelers, Harteveldt said. Depending on where you live and where youre going, your options may not be as plentiful.

Boeing is scrambling to reassure regulators, its customers and the flying public after part of an Alaska Airlines jet blew out in midflight shortly after takeoff from Portland International Airport on Jan. 5 and left a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft. No one was seriously injured in the accident, but subsequent audits and investigations have exposed shortfalls in its manufacturing and quality control programs and made the company the target of late-night comedians and social media memes.

A preliminary report by National Transportation Safety Board investigators found that four bolts designed to hold the portion that blew out of the 737 Max 9 plane - known as a door plug - were missing. But efforts to find out why the bolts were not replaced after being removed during final assembly at Boeings Renton, Wash., plant have been stymied because the company said the paperwork does not exist.

A six-week audit by the Federal Aviation Administration identified significant weaknesses in Boeings quality control and assurance programs. The agency gave Boeing 90 days - with a deadline in late May - to come up with a plan to address the issues. The FAA also imposed a limit on the number of 737 Max jets Boeing can produce each month until the agency can ensure the company is following its own quality control procedures.

The company also has run into delays as it seeks FAA certification of the 737 Max 10 under a new process in which the regulators are more deeply involved in scrutinizing Boeing. The company is eager to win approval of the Max 10 because it is designed to compete with Airbus A321neo jet.

The company is also seeking FAAs sign-off on its 737 Max 7. In late January - following the Alaska Airlines incident and under pressure from lawmakers - Boeing withdrew its request for an exemption to current safety regulations linked to a de-icing system on several 737 Max models, including the Max 7. An exemption would have helped speed the Max 7s certification.

Last week, the company announced the departure of its chief executive, David Calhoun, who is stepping down at the end of the year, and the executive who ran its commercial aircraft program, Stan Deal, who is retiring. The chair of the companys board of directors, Lawrence W. Kellner, who oversaw the establishment of a new board aerospace safety committee following fatal Boeing 737 crashes in 2018 and 2019, also announced he would not seek reelection.

Scott Kirby, chief executive of United Airlines, said at last months J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference that he is willing to accept a delay in deliveries if it means Boeing has taken the necessary steps to right itself.

I am encouraged with the following at Boeing: I think they have accepted that there are larger changes that they need to make, Kirby said. I think that means this year deliveries are going to be way behind what they originally forecast and expected and I am glad that is the case.

As much as I would like those deliveries, this is not a 12 -month issue. This is a two decade issue, Kirby continued. And Id rather Boeing do what they need to do.

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Microsoft is looking to spearhead a new era of customer support as the companys Xbox division is rumoured to be working on an AI-powered chatbot. The Verge has claimed that some sources familiar with Microsofts plans for AI have stated that the software giant is testing an embodied AI character that comes to life with animations when responding to support queries or interactions.

The update about this feature has been shared by the General Manager of Gaming AI at Xbox Haiyan Zhang quoted by The Verge in a statement. We are testing an Xbox Support Virtual Agent, an internal prototype of an animated character that can query Xbox Support topics with voice or text, he said.

This development is one of Microsofts broader initiatives to apply AI capabilities to its Xbox platform. The primary goal of this integration is to enhance the platform and services for a seamless user experience. The prototype makes it easier and quicker for players to get help with support topics using natural language, taking information from existing Xbox Support pages., Haiyan Zhang further said in the same statement.

The chatbot starts by asking the user, How can I help you today? Depending on the answer, it can then help you resolve the issue which can range from hardware difficulties to problems with paid subscriptions. The same report from The Verge also suggests the Xbox AI chatbot is currently being tested internally at Microsoft against support queries for the Minecraft Realms.

Microsoft is currently also considering building AI-powered Copilots for safety and moderation tasks. This also includes content moderation on the Xbox platform that will speed up the process of enforcement and appeals. This could see the company add AI-based game assistants which could help players in their gameplay.

This also includes experimentation with AI-generated in-game art and assets. It involves AI game testing and the generative AI NPCs for which the company has already partnered up with Inworld for development. Microsoft is also encouraging its customers to build to automate support tasks.

Coming back to the new development in Microsoft gaming, the broader AI efforts have still not been publicly acknowledged by Xbox employees yet. The company is currently navigating the perceptions around AI gaming with caution.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, has constantly been encouraging the companys departments to think about how AI can be used in products and services. Yet, Xbox has largely been focused on the developer side of AI tools as of now.
The human-dog relationship has always been incredibly special. We often have seen dogs showing loyalty to their masters, saving their lives, but it is rarely witnessed humans doing the same. Some incredible piece of news came out of Florida, as an elderly US man was seen to jump in the face of death to rescue his pet dog from a 7-foot-long crocodile, that attacked the dog.

As per a report on the New York Post website, 77-year-old Auwaerter lives with his wife near the Caloosahatchee River in Florida, with his wife and their Italian Mastiff named Roger. He shared that Roger loves water and whenever they visit the nearby river he splashes in. Though they usually go to visit the river very frequently together, something different took place last year.

The 77-year-old man and his Italian Pet Roger were wandering near a river bank. While he thought that his dig would sit by the river, Roger jumped into it to swim alone. He went to the bank of the river which is slightly above the level of the river while his dog was swimming in the river. As the level of the bank was higher, the dog swimming in the river went out of his eyesight. A few moments later, Auwaerter heard the sound of splashing water. He swiftly understood the presence of a crocodile which must have come to the coast.

Racing to the river bank, Auwaerter saw his dog in the jaws of the 7-foot-long crocodile. Being a heavyweightlifter with years of training under his belt, he fearlessly charged toward the crocodile catching his jaws. Amidst the chaos, he noticed that his hand was inside the crocodiles mouth. He gave his full effort to open its jaws by lifting the back part of the crocodile and striking it to the ground, rescuing his dog from the jaws of the 7-foot-long crocodile.

While fighting for the life of Roger, the crocodile lunged at his left thigh. The owner immediately instructed his wife to call 911 and rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment.
When Tim Cook took over as the CEO of Apple in 2011, it was said to be one such corporate transaction unlike any other. Stepping out from the shadow of one of the best-known American CEOs, he took on the reign of the worlds biggest tech company, however, amid concerns about how successful it would be. Over years into the job, Tim Cook now presently leads the most valuable company with billions of people using its devices and millions of developers already building businesses on its software platforms.

It was on August 24, 2011 when Cook took over as the CEO from Steve Jobs, less than 2 months before the Apple founder passed away. Since then, Apples market capitalisation has only seen growth to nearly $2.5 trillion with its annual revenue also being doubled. Besides expanding its business, Cook has also changed the way the company functions.

With that said, an X user recently shared two pictures, one of the former Apple founder and the other of Tim Cook, sharing how the company has been working differently under the latter.

X post shares how Apple is working differently under Cook

The post shared on the X handle of Sherman McCoy includes two pictures. While one of them shows Cook from Apples current office, another one is of Steve Jobs, which was seemingly taken at his California house on 7 December 7 2004 for Time Magazine. Steve Jobss office versus Tim Cooks office I think this says a lot about why Apple feels different under Cook, the posts caption read.

Steve Jobss office versus Tim Cooks officeI think this says a lot about why Apple feels different under Cook pic.twitter.com/m3eCi5SYt8  Sherman McCoy (@wasphyxiation) April 3, 2024

The post went immediately viral, with many coming forward to share their views and opinions in the same regard. A user wrote, Apple are a lot safer than they used to be, which is a shame. The edges have been smoothed off, but then theyre a $3tn company. Corporate governance is king. That said, not sure about this take. SJs office at Infinite Loop wasnt much better, while another one commented, I mean to be fair, the digitization of books made offices more minimalistic.

A user also gave details about the pictures and wrote, The one on the left is Jobs HOME office, at his former residence in Palo Alto the one on the right is clearly in an Apple office building.

A user shared his views on how Jobs and Cook had been handling Apple and wrote, If you ever think about why Apple doesnt have that same magicTim Cook came from operations, hes vital to a company because he knows how to make money, but Steve Jobs was the soul of Apple, he had a vision for products. To be fair to Tim Cook, hes good at what he does.

So far, the post has gained over 3 million views along with more than 9,000 likes and many more comments. What are your thoughts on this?
Ultrahuman, an Indian fitness and nutrition tracking business, released a smart ring that gives fitness analytics in 2023. Now, for most of us, it would sound unwise to entrust this second-generation gadget to a stranger given its starting price of more than Rs 29,000. The same was the case with a business entrepreneur who shared a humorous story about this smart ring on social media platform X (Formerly Twitter), which happened during the application process for a US visa.

Deepak Abbot, the founder of the digital gold platform Indiagold, detailed his experience at a US visa interview, emphasising the severe limitations of bringing gadgets and his quick thinking to overcome a problem. Abbott said that since he was wearing an Ultrahuman fitness ringan electronic gadget that is not allowed insidehe was turned away when he came for the interview.

When Abbot found himself in a dilemma, he resolved to follow in his grandfathers footsteps when he left Pakistan. Abbot reportedly moved just a few yards away from the visa office, dug a hole, placed his ring inside, and marked it with a stone. Only difference  I went back and took it back, Abbot jokes. With the words, Do not carry any electronics to US visa interview, Abbott concluded his tweet with advice for anybody else hoping to visit the US.

I had my US visa appointment yday at the consulate. I didnt carry my phone and bag as it isnt allowed inside. I forgot that I was wearing @UltrahumanHQ ring and they refused to let me in. I came out and realized there is no one I could hand that over. Confused what to do next.. Deepak Abbot (@deepakabbot) April 3, 2024

The post had 313,100 views on the social media platform at the time of reporting. Most individuals in the comments section were curious about the prospect of a visa office without providing a locker or a safe location to keep visitors items.

How come they dont have any facility to store? a user asked. I doubt people would be just leaving their phones outside randomly.

How come they dont have any facility to store ? I doubt people would be just leaving their phones outside randomly SiriusLee? (@SiriusLee666) April 3, 2024

Another said, No idea which consulate you went but in Delhi, they do have lockers.

No idea which consulate you went but in Delhi they do have lockers . Pratima (@pratima25522827) April 3, 2024

A user talked about his own experience, writing, Even I had faced a similar situation in Delhi. There was no place to keep my mobile and smartwatch. The locker facility is removed. An auto guy charged me 100 Rs for 200 meters and took me to a shady place where a guy charged me Rs 100/gadget.

Even I had faced similar situation in Delhi. There was no place to keep my mobile and smartwatch. The locker facility is removed. An auto guy charged me 100 rs for 200 meters and took me to a shady place where a guy charged me Rs 100/gadget. Breakout Trader (@amitshama1) April 3, 2024

The primary features Ultrahuman specifies for the Ring Air are skin temperature, heart rate variability (HRV), movement, sleep, and heart rate (HR) tracking around the clock. You may organise your training or other physical activities with the assistance of this monitoring combination, which yields a (post-sleep) daily Recovery Score in addition to Sleep and Movement Indexes.
India had its first lockdown in 2020 due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. This instigated authorities to implement precautionary measures to safeguard public health. Individuals were asked to stay indoors and follow some proactive measures for their well-being. However, things got better over time, markets began to reopen and people resumed their normal routines.

Despite this, a recent advisory issued in specific areas of Rajasthan, urging to stay indoors has created a stir on social media. In Mangrol town, Dholpur, residents have been asked to remain indoors, not due to COVID-19, but because of a leopard sighting. The leopard has been seen in the area and has attacked two people already. They both suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospital for proper medical treatment.

The event unfolded late at night in the town. A woman kept the authorities posted about seeing a leopard. This is not the first time when such an indecent took place. A while back in Udaipur, an individual experienced the same concern highlighting to take necessary precautions to prevent such happenings.

Although the forest department is taking significant actions, authorities have advised residents to stay indoors until the situation is resolved. A woman has also been reported missing since morning. Concerned locals were the first to gather at the scene and notified the forest department.

Despite an extensive search operation, the search for a leopard is still underway. Authorities are actively looking for a sign and have asked residents to stay indoors as a precautionary measure. They released a statement asking people to step indoors until the leopard is caught.

Last year, two leopards were accidentally electrocuted in the forest area of Dholpur district in Rajasthan. The incident took place on a Sunday, near the Sone ka Gurja police station. It happened when electricity poles fell due to heavy rain and thunderstorms. Unfortunately, the leopards died from electric shock caused by the live wires. Forest Ranger Amar Lal Meena has confirmed that following forensic examinations, the bodies of the leopards were laid to rest in the forest. The deceased leopards were identified as a male and a female aged between three-and-half to four years.
An 80-year-old man married a woman half his age after they fell in love on social media. This unique wedding took place in the Agar Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The love which blossomed between a 34-year-old woman named Sheela from Maharashtra and Baluram from Magaria village in MP resulted in a court marriage in Susner town. Baluram was highly active on social media and used to upload funny videos on Instagram with the help of his friend Vishnu Gujjar. Sheela was impressed with the funny reels and decided to contact Baluram via social media. Conversations that began on the networking platform have now resulted in them living together as husband and wife for life. Their unique love story is now going viral.

Baluram hails from Magaria, a small village of about 100 houses in Agar Malwa district. He was in severe depression about 2 years ago. Baluram has one son and three daughters. Each got married and now lives separately. Balurams wife died of illness thereafter.

After her death, he also started facing troubles due to increasing debt. His health started deteriorating and he reportedly went into severe depression. In this time of need, a man named Vishnu Gujjar came to his help who used to work in the tea shop along with the old man.

After observing his condition, Vishnu brought him to his hotel and made a reel of his jokes to welcome positivity in his life. The reel made in jest became popular. The duo started making more funny videos and uploaded them on Instagram. The videos started going viral. The reels gradually became so popular that everyone in the village started laughing and joking with Baluram and Vishnu Gujjar. Even in the surrounding areas, he gained fame by the name of Balu Ba. Due to this whole incident, he came out of depression and started living a happy life. Their followers reached thousands within a few months.

During this time, Baluram met Sheela Ingle  who lived in Amravati, Maharashtra  on social media. Both of them started chatting through Instagram. During the conversation, Baluram would tell his friend Vishnu to type his replies as he was unable to operate the Android phone. Impressed with his humour, Sheela fell in love with Baluram. Their love blossomed to such an extent that Sheela decided to marry the 80-year-old man. She left her home and reached Balurams residence. On Monday, April 1, both of them first reached Susner and had a court marriage. Later, they got married as per Hindu customs by garlanding each other in the temple located in the court premises.
All around the world, most people want to earn money and make a living for themselves and their families. People work hard, learn new skills, and implement them so that they can earn money. Nowadays, the culture of side hustles is getting more popular. A side hustle refers to a side business or job that provides a passive and additional source of income. Many people are now opting for a side hustle to earn more money. A similar incident has gone viral on social media, where a US woman named Rachel Jimenez has been in the news for making $74,000 (Rs 62 lakh) a year by just spending five minutes a day on her work. She has also been inspiring and giving tips to others on how to earn money more smartly.

According to reports, Rachel Jimenez is a 36-year-old mother and does a side hustle. In India, side hustles are often referred to as part-time jobs, but people are now earning a lot from their side hustles. Women are working from home and making a lot of money. Talking about Rachel, she earns around $74,000 (Rs 62 lakh) a year. She does it by selling self-printed items on the online website Etsy, a marketplace like Amazon and Flipkart.

She revealed that when the printed product is complete and ready to be sold, one only has to spend 5 to 10 minutes every day. Apart from that, she also runs a blog named Money Hacking Mama, where she explains and inspires people to earn money.

Rachel Jimenez talked about her experience selling her products on Etsy. She revealed that its quite easy to sell it on the platform, as one can even test the market reach of their product. But she advised everyone that they should start by selling products on a smaller scale.

She revealed that whether the products are digital or physical, people should make them as per the demand in the market. For instance, she explained that if someone is selling physical goods, they should not start the business directly with 1,000 items. First, they should only buy the required quantity. She also said that research is very important in this kind of work. Following this strategy, she was able to earn lakhs in just a few months and quit her full-time job.
The bond between parents and children is incredibly special. While mothers are often recognised as pillars of support, theres something truly heartwarming about a fun-loving and cool dad. Such is the case with a viral video circulating on the internet, showcasing the playful antics of a father shopping with his three babies. The video truly shows him as father of the year as this man clearly has it all figured out.

In the video shared on the X handle of The Best, a man can be seen taking out his babies for shopping. However, what wins everyones hearts is the daddy putting the babies strollers on a trolley to help move them effortlessly. As the video plays, it begins with the man trying out a trolley by putting the baby strollers on it one by one while also swinging the babies adorably. Later, he goes for a second, bigger trolley and finally places the strollers before pushing them away.

While the man clearly enjoyed the moment, as evident from the big smile on his face, onlookers also seemed amused by the same. The dad of the year with 3 babies, the videos caption read.

WATCH:

The dad of the year with 3 babies. pic.twitter.com/sbgk8N93MZ The Best (@ThebestFigen) April 2, 2024

Social media users also reacted to the video and shared many other heartwarming father-kid moments. A user wrote, Im sorry, judging by his truck, he could afford a triple stroller and that would have been safer, while another impressed X user commented, Impressive parenting skills there! Juggling three babies must be quite the challenge, but the love and dedication shine through. Its all about finding that delicate balance in the beautiful chaos of everyday life.

Incredible fatherly commitment and love shown by taking care of three little ones. Admirable parenting! another one wrote in the comments, while one wrote, He has this all backwards  there are way easier ways  lol

Dad regretting his decision of giving her mic as a gift pic.twitter.com/omHCFYtYAg Itsme (@itsme_urstruly) April 2, 2024

The video has so far gained over 8 million views, along with more than 70,000 likes.

Notably, there are many such videos that perfectly depict a father-son/daughter relationship. Recently, a video went viral that shows how a dad carries out adorable tricks to convince his five-year-old daughter about her outfits at school.
Experts have raised alarm over the potential threat of a bird flu pandemic, warning that it could be 100 times worse than Covid and potentially lead to fatalities in up to half of those infected.

The concerns were raised during a recent briefing where researchers discussed on the H5N1 strain of bird flu. They expressed apprehension that the virus may be approaching a critical threshold that could spark a global pandemic, according to a report by UK-based tabloid Daily Mail.

During the briefing, Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, a prominent bird flu researcher in Pittsburgh, warned that H5N1 has the potential to cause a pandemic, given its ability to infect a range of mammalian hosts, including humans, stating, we are getting dangerously close to this virus potentially causing a pandemic.

We are not really talking about a virus that is yet to make a jump, we are talking about a virus that is globally present, already infecting a range of mammals and is circulating It is really high time that we are prepared, he added.

John Fulton, a pharmaceutical industry consultant and founder of Canada-based pharmaceutical company BioNiagara, echoed these concerns, emphasising the severity of a potential H5N1 pandemic and suggesting it could be far deadlier than Covid-19.

This appears to be 100 times worse than Covid, or it could be if it mutates and maintains its high case fatality rate. Once its mutated to infect humans, we can only hope that the [fatality rate] drops, Fulton stated.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 52 out of every 100 people diagnosed with H5N1 bird flu have died since 2003, with a total of 462 deaths out of 887 cases. In contrast, the current fatality rate for Covid is less than 0.1 percent. However, at the start of the pandemic, it was around 20 percent.

First Case of Human Infection From Mammal

The latest development comes after a poultry facility in Michigan and an egg producer in Texas in the US reported outbreaks of avian flu this week. Additionally, reports have surfaced of infected dairy cows and the first documented case of a human contracting bird flu from a mammal.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed an H5N1 infection in a dairy farm worker in Texas, prompting the White House to initiate close monitoring.

This marks the first instance of a person contracting bird flu from dairy cattle, contrasting with a previous case in Colorado in 2022, where an individual tested positive for bird flu after direct exposure to poultry and subsequent bird culling.

The virus has rapidly spread among dairy herds in five states across the country  Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas  affecting millions of animals on both land and sea.

Although US health officials said that the risk to the public remains low, there is mounting concern, in part due to news of an outbreak reported by the largest producer of fresh eggs in the country.

What is H5N1?

According to a report by Live Science, H5N1 is a subtype of avian influenza A, a group of related bird flu viruses. Its considered highly pathogenic because it causes severe and often fatal illness in poultry. While it mainly affects birds, H5N1 can also infect wild birds and occasionally mammals, including humans. In non-bird species, the disease can be fatal, but some cases may be mild or show no symptoms.

The first detection of the H5N1 virus was reported in birds in China in 1996. A year later, an outbreak occurred in Hong Kong, resulting in 18 human cases and 6 deaths from direct bird-to-human transmission.

(With inputs from agencies)
A former British teacher jailed for raping a child with her boyfriend while serving as the deputy head at a primary school has been permanently barred from the profession.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Julie Morris was the safeguarding lead at St Georges Central Primary School in Tyldesley when she engaged in acts of grave sexual depravity with her mechanic boyfriend.

Julie, now 46, met David, 52, on a dating website in 2016 and their relationship quickly became intensely sexual, a court hearing the case was told. Police further informed the court that between 2018 and 2021, Julie and David abused a girl aged under 13 on numerous occasions. The report said David would often record the abuse on his phone during which Julie was caught giggling.

HOW THE ABUSE WAS EXPOSED

It was September 2021 when police followed the phone messages that David had shared with another person who was arrested and cops raided his home. A day later, police received a tip-off about the Morris crimes and that the couple was planning to flee and decided to swoop down on them.

Julie, who admitted 18 sexual offences, including two counts of rape, was jailed for 13 years and four months, with an extended four years on licence. David, who admitted 34 offences, including seven counts of rape, was jailed for 16 years with an extended four years on licence.

After the conviction, Julies case was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) which concluded that her actions were fundamentally incompatible with her being a teacher, leading to her permanent ban from the profession.

The panels report said: The fact Ms Morris was also the safeguarding lead at her school makes her offence all the more shocking in that, while the designated point of contact for welfare and safety concerns at the school, she herself was engaged in abusing a child, albeit not one at the school.
A coral expert is warning some regrowth may not actually be good for the longterm future of the Great Barrier Reef

When it comes to the Great Barrier Reef, it sometimes feels like its all bad news. And while there are sometimes glimmers of hope about sections of the reef recovering, disturbing new images reveal sections of this regrowth are now dying.

Bleaching over the 2023-2024 summer has impacted newly formed varieties that grew back after the consecutive bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Most of them are from the genus Acropora which are able to grow back faster than larger varieties  but unfortunately these smaller corals are not heat resistant.

Great Barrier Reef expert Professor Terry Hughes has shared images from James Cook University (JCU) showing widespread die-off close to Lizard Island on the northern end of the reef. It has severely bleached at a comparatively modest level of heat exposure because its now populated by the most vulnerable corals, he told Yahoo News.

Young branching and table-shaped Acropora corals have bleached near Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Source: James Cook University

Read more: What is coral bleaching?

Hughes is concerned these Acropora species are responsible for most of the recent coral recovery on reefs that escaped bleaching in 2020 and 2022. "The rapid recovery somewhat ironically has made those reefs more vulnerable to heat exposure. So the reefs that have bleached the least this time are the ones with lower amounts of recovery," he said.

What does coral regrowth mean?

As director of the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at JCU, Hughes is adept at explaining coral bleaching. But when it comes to talking about coral recovery, he concedes the term can be confusing to many. Generally speaking it can refer to either bleached corals regaining colour, or the regrowth of depleted populations.

But probably the most comprehensive definition of recovery would be reassembly of the original mix of species and sizes and ages with corals, Hughes said. And that's simply not happening anymore, because the gap between one (bleaching event) and the next is too short for that to happen. Particularly with loss, albeit at a lower rate, of the long lived tougher corals compared to the short with fast growing ones.

Coral near Lizard Island has bleached before its seventh birthday. Source: James Cook University

Why the Great Barrier Reef is becoming unstable

Hughes is concerned sections of the Great Barrier Reef are becoming increasingly unstable because the gaps for recovery are shrinking as mass bleaching events become more frequent. On top of that, areas that have died and then been recolonised by Acropora are more vulnerable to future bleaching and are at risk of dying young  those photographed near Lizard Island are likely less than seven years old.

During the early events, there was a very clear relationship between where the heat was and where the corals were bleaching and dying. That relationship is getting more complicated because it's now driven by the history of not just the current bleaching event, but the one before it, Hughes said.

The term ecological memory is used to explain the process of previous bleaching events shaping future ones. Understanding how these recurring climate events impact ecosystems is now a challenge researchers face.

We don't have the luxury of studying them one at a time as a single unprecedented event. We've got to figure out what five bleaching events do to the Barrier Reef. Its a complicated story, Hughes said.

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The Israeli military tightened its defence and called up reservists amid a potential Iranian response to the strike in Syria earlier this week, in which several high-ranking Iranian military officials were killed, reported The Times of Israel.

Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have both pledged retaliation against Israel for the attack on a consular building near Irans embassy in Damascus. The attack resulted in the deaths of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the most senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, his deputy, five other IRGC officers, and at least one member of Hezbollah.

Israeli speculation, as reported by Channel 12 news, suggests that Iran might respond by launching missiles directly from its own territory, rather than through its proxy groups in Lebanon, Iraq, or Yemen. If Iran chooses to retaliate through a proxy, such as Hezbollah, Israel may opt to let tensions subside. However, a direct attack from Iranian territory could provoke a significant response from the Israeli Defence Forces, escalating tensions further.

Former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin expressed his anticipation of Iran directly targeting Israel, citing a previous missile strike on Pakistan by Iran in January as a precedent for such actions. Hebrew-language media reports indicated that the decision to enhance air defenses and mobilize troops stemmed from a threat assessment.

Despite several rocket launches from Lebanon by Hezbollah since the attack on Monday, there is no evidence suggesting that these actions surpassed the usual cross-border skirmishes that have escalated tensions along Israels northern border since October 8th. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed retaliation for the attack, with posters echoing his sentiments appearing across Tehran, indicating public pressure for an Iranian response.

Khamenei, in a speech to officials in Tehran, asserted that the downfall of the Israeli regime in Gaza will persist, signaling its impending decline and dissolution.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated earlier that Israel is heightening preparedness in response to threats emanating from the Middle East.

Speaking at a readiness drill in Haifa, Gallant emphasized the expansion of operations against Hezbollah and other hostile entities, reiterating Israels proactive stance in striking its enemies throughout the region. He stressed the importance of readiness against both proximate and distant adversaries, affirming Israels commitment to safeguarding its citizens and retaliating against its foes.
A judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trumps bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases  spurning another of the former presidents ploys to put off the historic trial. Several more are pending.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan declared the request untimely, ruling that Trumps lawyers had myriad opportunities to raise the immunity issue before they finally did so last month, well after a deadline for pretrial motions had already passed.

The timing of the defenses March 7 filing raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion, Merchan wrote in a six-page decision.

Lawyers for Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, had asked Merchan to adjourn the New York trial indefinitely until Trumps immunity claim in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is resolved.

Trump contends he is immune from prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyers have not raised that as a defense in the hush-money case, but they argued that some evidence  including Trumps social media posts about former lawyer Michael Cohen  is from his time as president and should be excluded from the trial because of his immunity protections.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on April 25  a week-and-a-half after the start of jury selection in the hush-money case.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined to comment. The Manhattan district attorneys office also declined to comment.

Trump first raised the immunity issue in his Washington criminal case, which involves allegations that he worked to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Merchan, in his ruling, drew a distinction between the Washington case  which he referred to as the Federal Insurrection Matter  and the hush-money case hes overseeing.

In Washington, Trump is trying to use presidential immunity to get the charges thrown out on the grounds that he has absolute immunity from federal criminal liability, the judge wrote. In the hush-money case, he said, Trump is trying to preclude evidence of what prosecutors said was his pressure campaign against Cohen and other witnesses.

The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his companys internal records to hide the true nature of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign. Among other things, Cohen paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and not part of any cover-up.

The hush-money trial, the first of Trumps four criminal cases scheduled to go before a jury, was originally scheduled to begin March 25. Merchan postponed it until April 15 after Trumps lawyers complained about a last-minute document dump from a prior federal investigation into the matter that sent Cohen to prison.

Trump and his lawyers have continued to lobby for even more delays, parlaying gripes about Merchan and concerns about getting a fair trial in heavily Democratic Manhattan into eleventh-hour pleas for more time. Its the latest iteration of the strategy Trump proclaimed to TV cameras outside a pretrial hearing in February: We want delays.

Trumps lawyers are again urging Merchan to step aside from the case, arguing in a letter to the judge this week that he may have a conflict of interest because of his daughters work as a Democratic political consultant. Merchan rejected a similar recusal request last year. If he were to exit now, it would throw the trial schedule into disarray, with time needed to assign a new judge and get that person up to speed.

In other recent filings, Trumps lawyers argued that the trial should be delayed indefinitely until prejudicial media coverage of the case dissipates. They also contend that by seeking to make the case about the 2016 election, prosecutors in the liberal borough are endeavoring to give jurors an opportunity for a referendum on Trumps win in that race.

Prosecutors balked at that Wednesday, arguing that publicity about the unprecedented trial of the former president is unlikely to recede anytime soon. They blamed Trumps own incessant rhetoric for generating significant publicity, adding that it would be perverse to reward him with a delay based on media attention he is actively seeking.

Prosecutors said the jury selection process  with additional questions designed to weed out biased prospects  will allow both sides to pick an impartial jury.

In his ruling Wednesday, Merchan wrote that Trumps failure to raise the immunity issue sooner strained credulity since the former presidents lawyers had previously invoked presidential immunity in a failed bid last year to get the hush-money case moved from state court to federal court.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trumps claim that allegations in the hush money indictment involved official duties, writing last July, The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President  a cover-up of an embarrassing event.

Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a Presidents official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the Presidents official duties, Hellerstein added.

The question of whether a former president is immune from federal prosecution for official acts taken in office is legally untested.

Prosecutors in the Washington case have said no such immunity exists and that, in any event, none of the actions alleged in the indictment count as official acts. The trial judge in Washington and a federal appeals court have both ruled against Trump.
A traditional animist priest in Ghana, who sparked a national outcry after his wedding to a young girl, has claimed that the marriage is not about sexual relations.

Without disclosing her age, priest Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIIIs spokesperson said the girl would not be expected to fulfil marital duties until she reaches the legal age of consent, which is 16 in Ghana.

Its not a marriage ceremony. There is nothing sexual attached to it. The priest has three customary wives already. Its a customary role to help the priest with his spiritual duties, spokesperson Mankralo Shwonotalor told news agency AFP over the phone. He said her rights had not been infringed and the girl was still attending school.

The 63-year-old priest, also known as Gborbu Wulomo, married the girl in a ceremony on Saturday near the capital Accra.

Her age is in dispute between 12 and 16, but she and her mother were placed under police protection soon after the marriage and Ghanas attorney general opened an investigation.

The allegations, if proven, constitute a criminal offence for which all persons involved must face prosecution, a statement from the attorney generals office said.

Under Ghanaian law, the legal minimum age for marriage is 18.

Police and officials initially said the girl was 12 or 13, but the traditional authorities involved say she is 16.

We seem to be unravelling some few things. For instance, the age of 12, which we were made to believe is incorrect. The child is almost 16 still a minor, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister Stephen Asamoah Boateng told a local radio station.

But public condemnation intensified over the traditional ceremony.

Gender activist and former minister Nana Oye Bampoe Addo said the marriage was illegal. The state must act immediately, she told AFP, saying the cultural practice was incompatible with Ghanas law and constitution. What has just happened is a crime and unlawful.

[With AFP inputs]
At least 11 Iranian security forces were killed on Thursday in two separate terrorist attacks on Irans Revolutionary Guards headquarters in the countrys southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

The attack came after at least 15 militants were killed in overnight clashes between the militants from the Jaish al-Adl group and security forces in the Iranian towns of Chabahar and Rask in the impoverished province, Reuters reported citing state media.

The terrorists failed to succeed in achieving their goal of seizing the Guards headquarters in Chabahar and Rask, Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi was quoted as saying.

According to a report published in Reuters, the attack was in reponse to the extremist Sunni Muslim militant groups, Jaish al-Adl, demand for greater rights and better living conditions for ethnic minority Baluchis in Shiite dominated Iran.

Meanwhile, the group also claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent years on Iranian security forces in the countrys southeastern province.

The area, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long been the site of frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and Sunni militants, as well as well-armed drug traffickers and Iranian security forces.

Iran is a key transit route for narcotics smuggled from Afghanistan to the West and elsewhere.

In December, the militant group attacked a police station in the town of Rask, killing 11 security personnel and wounding several others.

In January, Iran targeted two bases of the militant group in Pakistan with missiles, prompting a rapid military riposte from Islamabad targeting what it said were separatist militants in Iran.

(With agency inputs)
In his first reaction on the Katchatheevu row, Sri Lankas Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said the issue was settled 50 years ago and there was no need to revisit it, reported The Times of India.

There is no controversy. They are having an internal political debate about who is responsible. Other than that, no one is talking about claiming Katchatheevu, Sabry was quoted as saying by the media outlet.

BJP has alleged that the Congress governments led by Nehru and later Indira Gandhi gave up the island under pressure from Sri Lanka.

In response, Congress said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was spinning a false narrative to divert attention from his silence in the face of Chinese provocation.

Addressing a poll rally on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the BJP has done a somersault on the Katchatheevu issue since the Lok Sabha polls are round the corner.

Stalin claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have the guts to neither condemn Sri Lanka over fishermen arrests nor oppose China on its claims over Arunachal Pradesh. When that is the case, how can he talk about Katchatheevu, he said.

The president of the ruling DMK hit out at Modi for staging a drama and coming up with stories on the Katchatheevu issue and dubbed the disclosures by the Centre on the matter under the RTI Act as wrong information. He asked how the government had given wrong information concerning the nations security under the RTI Act to an individual belonging to the BJP (Tamil Nadu state chief K Annamalai).

The BJP government had earlier failed to provide answers on Katchatheevu by stating that the subject was sub-judice as the matter was pending before the Supreme Court. The BJP regime in 2015 said that Katchatheevu had never been a part of India.

(With PTI inputs)
Could Iran launch another missile attack on Pakistan? Intelligence sources say that tensions have spiralled after 11 Iranian security force members were killed in an attack on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters in the southeastern border province of Sistan-Balochistan on April 4.

The possibility of a second missile attack in three months at the Iran-Pakistan borders is increasing, they said.

A Pakistan response is unlikely because most of its deployments are towards India, said an official.

In clashes with Iranian security forces, 16 members of Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice)  a Sunni armed group  were killed, reports said.

Jaish al-Adl is an anti-Iranian group that wants independence for Irans eastern Sistan and Pakistans southwestern Balochistan provinces.

Highly placed sources in Pakistan say they have nothing to do with Jaish al-Adls attack on Iran, but this Baloch group operates from the borders and civilians too face the consequences of Tehrans response.

Pakistan and Iran have been trying to capture these militants but without much success and Iran blames Pakistan for it, analysts say.

On the other hand, Baloch separatists target Pakistani security forces at the borders with Afghanistan and Iran, and Pakistan says these attackers have Iranian backing.

Jaish al-Adl has carried out dozens of large and small operations over the years against Iranian military forces, mainly the IRGC.

According to the Iranian security establishment, the group is supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
Upset over US President Joe Biden-led administrations support for Israel in the Gaza war, the members of the Muslim community in the US declined the White Houses iftar dinner invitation in the holy month of Ramzan.

Many invitees expressed their unhappiness over President Bidens support for Israels war in Gaza, stating that they would not attend an iftar meal with the President on Tuesday evening while so many Palestinians were under siege, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The White House held a pared-down meal just for staffers. How can we talk to you about famine and starvation over bread and steak? Dr Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American doctor who was in Gaza in January was quoted as saying as per the report published in The New York Times.

Dr Ahmed attended a separate hour-long meeting of the community leaders and President Biden. Notably, the meeting on Tuesday was attended by Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Muslim advocacy group Emgage, which declined the invitation from the White House, said a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions has been unfolding with millions now facing famine and disease.

In this moment of tremendous pain and suffering, we have asked the White House to postpone this gathering and to convene a proper policy meeting with representatives of the communitys choosing, rather than those selected by the White House, the group said in a statement.

Emgage said in order to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the Biden administration can and should leverage its enormous support for Israel and begin to take demonstrable actions on an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The US should also ensure an unfettered access for humanitarian aid convoys and the resumption of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) funding; an end to any Israeli plans to invade Rafah where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering; and the initiation of a legitimate political track that leads to Palestinian statehood, it added.

It is important to note that the Muslim community in the US is frustrated and angry at the Biden administration for not stopping the killing of innocent people in Gaza.

In fact, many Muslim American groups in some of the critical battle ground states like Michigan have announced that they will not vote for Biden in the November general elections.

White House officials have travelled outside of Washington to meet with Muslim American community leaders in Detroit and Chicago in recent months but were not welcomed by some who were invited to participate.

The Biden campaign has also tried to engage with key Arab American voters in swing states like Michigan, where more than 100,000 people chose uncommitted on their primary ballots in February, NBC News said.

(With agency inputs)
Heath Ledger: the late actor's 10 greatest roles on what would have been his 45th birthday

Heath Ledger: the late actor's 10 greatest roles on what would have been his 45th birthday

Heath Ledger would have celebrated his 45th birthday on Thursday had he still been alive.

Few acting talents shone so brightly and ephemerally than the Australian actor, who died aged just 28 in 2007. He left behind a body of work countless actors spend decades trying to emulate.

From his first appearances in the early 90s to his final film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus posthumously released in 2009, Ledger displayed gravitas and craft far beyond his years.

From 10 Things I Hate About You to The Dark Knight, these are 10 of the late actors greatest roles.

Brokeback Mountain

Ledger (right) with Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (Focus)

Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were exceptional in the 2005 romantic drama Brokeback Mountain. They played two Wyoming sheepherders who developed a complex and irrepressible relationship over two decades.

Ledger delivered a tender, nuanced performance in what is widely regarded as one of the most important LGBT films of the 21st century.

Candy

Ledger and Abbie Cornish in Candy (Dendy Films)

One of the most overlooked films in Ledgers filmography, Candy, involved him playing a heroin-addicted poet. He found love with Abbie Cornishs Candy and battled addiction.

It was one of Ledgers most challenging films but although the Australian production is a difficult watch at times, the actors compelling performance was one of his best.

Lords of Dogtown

Ledger in the skateboarding film Lords of Dogtown (Sony)

Venice Beach was the setting for this 2005 drama, following the real-life exploits of Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams. They became world-famous after swapping surfboards for skateboards in the 70s.

Ledger gave a near-faultless performance as surf shop owner Skip Engblom in the film highlighting the effects of fame and the powerful strain it can put on friendship.

10 Things I Hate About You

With Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You (Touchstone)

Frankly, that Ledgers character has a name is a surprise. Most of us remember him being far too handsome; drilling a hole through a textbook (what a bad boy); and his brassy rendition on the bleachers of Frankie Vallis I Love You Baby.

He might have embarrassed Julie Stiles Kat, but my, what charm. This was everything, helping elevate the film above the usual 90s rom-com fare. Though only his third film, it was the part that launched his career  which is extraordinary when you think of his haircut.

The Dark Knight

As the Joker in one of his final roles (Warner Bros)

Despite acclaimed turns in Brokeback Mountain, Monsters Ball, and the Bob Dylan film Im Not There (though, in retrospect, its near criminal he didnt win anything for A Knight's Tale), it was Christopher Nolans Dark Knight which secured Ledgers reputation.

This wasnt a sure thing; after Brokeback, he wasnt a popular choice  look back and there are countless homophobic comments online about how a gay cowboy could be the Joker. However, Ledger turned in a rattling performance, his character sinister, anarchic, cruel, uncaring  and disturbingly capable.

He still charmed the audience, though. His Joker might have been grotesque, but he made it a little cool; how unsettling to watch.

It was such a captivating performance that at the time in the cinema, it briefly distracted from the fact hed died  just 28 and just six months before the films release. His well-deserved Oscar for best supporting actor was awarded posthumously.

Casanova

With Sienna Miller in Casanova (Touchstone)

Never has Ledgers natural charisma come across more strongly than when playing the titular Casanova in 2005. Ledger brought warmth and humour to the movie, starring alongside Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons and Oliver Platt. Chocolat director Lasse Hallstrom was at the helm.

It was wiggy and fun and Ledger seemed to have a great time playing the lead.

A Knight's Tale

As William Thatcher in A Knights Tale (Columbia)

Before properly announcing himself in Hollywood with critically adored films such as The Dark Knight and Brokeback Mountain, Ledger proved his credentials as a leading man in films like A Knights Tale.

From the medieval version of Queens We Will Rock You over the opening credits, to Paul Bettanys portrayal of Geoffrey Chaucer, the film was great fun. Ledgers multi-faceted performance as swashbuckling hero William Thatcher was at the heart of the movies appeal.

Monsters Ball

With Billy Bob Thornton in Monsters Ball (Lionsgate)

While Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry attracted the headlines for performing in the hard-hitting 2001 drama Monsters Ball, Ledger played an integral part too.

The film's early sections explored the troubled father-son relationship between two corrections officers working in a Louisiana prison. Ledgers Sonny struggled to come to terms with the harsh treatment enforced on prisoners by his father Hank (Thornton).

It was a gut-wrenching performance from Ledger, which deserves to be remembered as one of his finest moments.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Ledger and Lily Cole in what would be his final film (Lionsgate)

Terry Gilliams The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus marked the last film in which Ledger starred. It was released a year after his death.

Ledger died midway through filming, meaning the role was shared four ways between him, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law.

In typical Gilliam style, the film was mind-bending in parts and not the most accessible. However, it remains one of Ledgers most significant movies.

I'm Not There

Ledger as Bob Dylan in a scene from I'm Not There (Weinstein Company / Tobis Film)

Ledger was one of six actors to appear as Bob Dylan in this ambitious film from Todd Hayes. It chronicled the life of the legendary musician.

Ledger played Robbie Clarke, the actor who portrayed Dylan in a 70s biopic and became nearly as famous as the man himself.

Alongside Cate Blanchett, Ledgers performance was the most memorable in the film. Much like The Dark Knight, the movie showed his dedication to embodying a character.
David Azadi Scott is a long-time storyteller and theater enthusiast. He was born right here in the beautiful Black Hills but has also spent time living in Utah and Missouri. In his spare time he enjoys writing, exploring the hills, and letting his nerd flag fly with a game of D&D.
Chief Meteorologist

Brant came to Rapid City as soon as he got an offer to work for NewsCenter1. I thought I was dreaming, he said. Ive been given an opportunity to forecast some of the most diverse and wide-ranging weather on the planet, in one of the most beautiful places in the country."
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has been impressed by the countrys gold reserves after inspecting the bullion ahead of the 2024 Monetary Policy Statement this Friday.

The President was given an update of the reserves in the vaults, with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr John Mushayavanhu disclosing that the country has 1,5 tonnes worth of gold reserves, 1,1 tonnes which are in solid gold form, while the remainder is in other mineral forms.

The gold in the vaults 1,1 tonnes, 1,5 tonnes converted we have other gold offshore. So, in total in the form of gold reform, cash balance is US$100 million in cash," he said.

Under the President Mnangagwa led government the country now stores 10% of its minerals in gold form.

After he inspected the gold reserves, the President spoke to members of the media.

With RBZ we just normally walk in, but this time I decided I want to physically see the assets, because in the past we did not have any reserves of commodities, we sold all. I then gave instructions to the new governors that 10 percent of our minerals be kept in solid commodity, that is 10 percent of platinum or whatever mineral we are covering that to gold. We have been doing that for 18 months, I felt I must inspect physically, and Im satisfied that the outgoing governor reserved my instructions because for the first time we have solid gold. A few months ago, I went outside, and I inspected the countrys gold reserves there, I wont say where, said the President.

In addition to the gold reserves and the US$100 million, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Mr George Guvamatanga disclosed that banks are holding US$300 million as the countrys reserves.

As the Government of Zimbabwe, in various banks of Zimbabwe we have US$300 million US over and above the other reserves which can be verified, so if we add everything, we have more than enough, he said. zbc
Investigators from the FBI, the NYPD, and New York state police have returned to farms in New York state in what is believed to be a search for victims of the Gambino crime family. NBC New York reports that the sites were first searched for a suspected "Gambino graveyard" in November, after 10 suspects linked to the crime family were arrested in connection with an alleged violent conspiracy to control the garbage hauling and demolition industries in New York. Six other suspects were arrested in Italy.

Both properties searched on Tuesday are horse farms in rural areas of Orange County, the Times-Union reports. Investigators did not disclose what they were looking for, though witnesses saw excavators and K-9 units at the sites. It's not clear if any bodies were found Tuesday, NBC New York reports. None of the 10 suspectswho have nicknames including Joe Brooklyn, Vinny Slick, and Uncle Ciccio, according to a US Attorney's Office news releasehave been charged with murder. The November release said "the defendants committed violent extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes" in their effort to dominate industries. (More Gambino crime family stories.)
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson comes from the wrestling equivalent of royalty and he will be welcoming another family member to the WWE Hall of Fame on Fridayhis grandmother. Lia Maivia, who died in 2008, was "one of the first female promoters in professional wrestling," Johnson said in an Instagram post . He said he was honored to announce that he will be inducting her. "She was a trail blazer. She was a protector of our family. She was the real Final Boss." Maivia took over Polynesian Pro Wrestling after her husband, Peter "High Chief" Maivia, died in 1982, NBC News reports. The WWE describes Maivia and her husband as "the two key figures in the rich wrestling history of Hawaii."

"She took over my grandfather's wrestling company here in Hawaii, and she made a promise to my grandfather when he was dying on his deathbed" that she would make his dream come true and make it a success, Johnson said. Her biggest event was "A Hot Summer Night," which attracted more than 20,000 people to a stadium in Honolulu with stars including Canadian wrestler Rocky Johnsonher son-in-law and The Rock's father. Maivia will be joining other members of the Anoi'a family, known as the "Samoan Dynasty," in the Hall of Fame, including her husband, Rocky Johnson, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Rikishi, and Afa and Sika, aka the "Wild Samoans," per Bleacher Report.

NBC notes that Johnson made Maivia a main character in the Young Rock sitcom. He has also been open about what NBC calls the "more complicated aspects" of her legacy. In a 2022 Instagram post, he said his "sweet Samoan grandmother" operated the business with an iron fist and "some violence when she felt it was necessary." She was indicted on extortion charges and was deported to Samoa after she was acquitted. Johnson said she was homeless by 1991 but he managed to get her back into the US the following year and found her an apartment in Tampa. "Once I started making some decent money in WWE, I bought her a condo where she would live happily for the rest of her life," he said. (More wrestling stories.)
At a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday, Donald Trump described local woman Ruby Garcia as a "beautiful young woman who was savagely murdered by an illegal alien criminal." He added, "When she walked into a room, she lit up that room and I've heard that from so many people. I spoke to some of her family." Garcia's sister, however, said nobody in the immediate family spoke to Trump or his campaign and she was shocked by the remark, reports the New York Times.

"He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us, and misinforming people on live TV," Mavi Garcia told WOOD-TV. She said she stopped watching Trump's speech after hearing a "couple of misinformations."
A French couple found to have been keeping 159 cats and seven dogs in their small Nice apartment have received a lifetime ban from having pets. Police arrived at the apartment last year to intervene in a neighborhood dispute and discovered the animals, and their poop, spread around the 861-square-foot space, the BBC reports. At least two cats and two dogs were found dead in a bathroom. Police said some of the animals died later due to poor health. Many were dehydrated, malnourished, and infected with parasites.

The man, 52, and the woman, 68, had been investigated in 2014 for keeping 13 cats and a dog in a smaller, 194-square-foot studio apartment. After last year's discovery, the woman was diagnosed with Noah's syndrome, also known as animal hoarding disorder, a psychiatric condition in which patients compulsively collect animals, even those they can't properly care for. She said the animals were "the love of her life" but she'd "screwed up." She reportedly took in her parents' three cats and three dogs in 2018 before taking in 30 cats living in an abandoned building. The cats then reproduced.

Prosecutors requested an 18-month prison sentence. The Nice Criminal Court judge, who found the couple "guilty of the offense of abandonment," instead issued a one-year suspended sentence and a permanent ban on the couple keeping pets. They were also ordered to pay more than $162,000 in damages to animal welfare groups. The woman was not pleased. "Who wouldn't appeal against an injustice like this?" she said, per the Independent. "It's like telling a woman she won't have any more children." (More pet hoarding stories.)
Federal prosecutors are calling it the "Beer Theft Enterprise." According to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, eight Bronx residents are charged with stealing beer worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in heists at rail yards and warehouses across the Northeast, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors said that in a typical heist, members of the Enterprise would assemble in the Bronx before driving a U-Haul truck to the targeted rail yard or distribution facility. In the rail yard thefts, they would cut a hole in fencing and cut locks on rail cars before filling the truck with pallets of beer.

The beerusually Corona and Modelowould then be taken back to the Bronx, "where it was inspected and made available for sale," prosecutors said. They said Enterprise members were usually paid hundreds of dollars for a night's work. According to the indictment, alleged ringleader Jose Cesari recruited participants with Instagram posts, including one that said "Need workers who want to make money" and had a moneybag emoji and an image of railroad tracks, the Times reports. Authorities say seven defendants are in custody but Cesari, 27, is still at large.

The suspects face charges including conspiracy to steal from interstate or foreign shipments by carrier. Cesari, who allegedly often used a weapon during the heists, also faces Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy charges. "Train heists harken back to the days of the Wild West and gunslingers riding horses, stealing loot from rail cars," FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said in a statement. "The romanticized image has nothing to do with the modern-day criminals we allege took part in a theft ring in New Jersey, New York, and beyond," he said. "Our team of agents and investigators working on this case has done an outstanding job bringing these alleged thieves' crime spree to the end of the line." (More beer stories.)
Brisbane man Peter Wells, 71, drowned when his ute was swept away at a flooded river crossing in Greenbank, Ipswich, early on Thursday.

A beloved grandfather who died in flash-flooding after wild weather lashed Queensland has been remembered as "one of the most humble and talented men you'll ever meet" and a "world-class talent" in the Australian drag racing community.

Brisbane man Peter Wells, 71, is believed to have drowned when his ute was swept away at a flooded river crossing off Begley Road in Greenbank, Ipswich early on Thursday. Police were called to conduct a welfare check at a private property around 5.20am when they found Wells' body nearby.

His white ute was located "submerged" around 50 metres down a river embankment, wedged between trees. The area had copped a staggering 150mm worth of rain in 24 hours.

Peter Wells, 71, died on Thursday when the utility he was driving was swept away in floodwaters in Greenbank in Ipswich. Source: Facebook / AAP

Beloved grandfather remembered

Friends, loved ones and family have since taken to social media to remember the "lovely man" who they say will be missed by "many all around the country".

"We are in shock with the tragic news that our friend Peter Wells has passed away," a friend wrote on Facebook. "To Bev, Ian, Darryl, and all his family and friends we give our sincere condolences.

"Peter was one of the most humble and talented men you will ever meet. His work was immaculate and his talent was world class, and can never be replaced. Drag Racers and car enthusiasts around the country have lost a great man. Godspeed our friend."

Peter Wells' ute was found in floodwaters at Greenbank. Source: AAP

Another friend Keith Draper said Wells had lived in the area for decades and travelled the road in which he was swept away "many, many times".

"Theres going to be a lot of saddened people today. I just cannot believe he died this way," Draper told media. "Everyone around here loved him and he was part of Greenbank."

Another neighbour said Wells was loved by his children and grandchildren. "He was just starting to enjoy that chapter of his life," they said, The Courier Mail reported.

The wild weather on Wednesday night caused the road to flood more than usual, the neighbour added.

"Ive never seen anything like it, it was crazy, and Ive been here for 10 years. The pipes were bursting... the water tanks were like fire hydrants," they said. "The rain just sat over Greenbank and didnt move."

Acting Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski branded the incident "clearly an absolutely tragic circumstance". A report is being prepared for the coroner.

East coast pounded by intense rain as deluge continues

Much of the eastern states have been warned to prepare for bucketing rain today, with several extreme weather warnings in place across NSW and Queensland in particular.

Residents of Sydney and surrounding areas are being urged to stay indoors as damaging winds and heavy rain sweep through, causing life-threatening flash flooding. Sydney had already received 110mm of rain in the 24 hours up to 9.00am on Friday.

Drivers are being warned to avoid non-essential travel as the dangerous storm system hits along Australia's eastern seaboard.

Why is it raining so much in #NSW?

It's all to do with the interaction between different weather events occurring in different levels of the atmosphere at the same time. Severe Weather Warnings are currently in place for central & southern NSW. Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh pic.twitter.com/wjvq17113A  Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) April 4, 2024

An inland low and coastal trough joining forces over NSW is forecast to bring heavy localised falls to much of the state on Friday.

Authorities warned 24-hour totals could top 200mm in Sydney and the south coast, with as much as 300mm dumped on the Illawarra Escarpment overlooking Wollongong.

The intense downpours could lead to "dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding" from Friday evening, NSW's State Emergency Service said in a watch and act warning just after 5am.

The SES is urging residents of Sydney, Gosford, Wollongong, Nowra, Batemans Bay and Goulburn to "stay indoors" due to the dangerous weather.

Major flooding was possible along the Hawkesbury-Nepean River bounding Sydney from late Friday, with Penrith likely to cop as much rain in a day as one-and-a-half Aprils.

Transport NSW took the rare step of warning drivers statewide to avoid non-essential travel.

In Queensland, there are some 20 weather warnings in place across the state.

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California authorities are celebrating something that's becoming increasingly rare: a normal snowpack measurement. The early April surveya key indicator of water supply and wildfire risk in the months aheadfound a snowpack measurement of 110% of the historical average, the Guardian reports. The last winter this close to the average was in 2010, when the Sierra snowpack was 104% of average, reports the San Jose Mercury News . Snow supplies about 30% of water in the state, which has been in severe drought for 11 of the last 17 years. In 2022, snowpack was at just 34% of the historical averagebut last year, after massive storms, it was 237%.

"Average is awesome," said Karla Nemeth, director of the state's Department of Water Resources, per the AP. "We've had some pretty big swings in the last couple of years, but 'average' may be becoming less and less common." She was speaking alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom, who wore snowshoes to join a measuring team south of Lake Tahoe. He said the state is working on new strategies to store and distribute because extremes are the "new reality and that new reality requires a new approach and a new sophistication in terms of the way we address and manage our water."

The state's reservoirs are fuller than normal. As the snowpack melts, it will supply water to rivers and streams in the dry months ahead. There could still be problems if warm weather causes it to melt too fast, but the back-to-back wet years are a "badly needed reprieve" that gives the state time to make changes before drought returns, the Guardian reports. Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, described the winter as "unusually normal," the Mercury News reports. "This is a usefully boring year," he said. "It will be useful if people use the lack of urgency to work on long-term preparations for both floods and droughts. That would be time well spent." (More California stories.)
UPDATE

Apr 10, 2024 8:13 AM CDT

Arrests have been made in last week's murder of a South African soccer star and Olympian. Police on Wednesday said six people have been arrested in connection with Luke Fleurs' murder at a gas station. Two men reportedly ordered the 24-year-old out of his Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI at gunpoint and shot him before driving off. CBS News and the BBC report Fleurs' stripped car was recovered on Monday. Investigators believe the suspects are part of a syndicate that is behind other carjackings in Johannesburg's Gauteng province. Police say they continue to search for additional suspects.

Apr 4, 2024 12:35 PM CDT

South African footballer and Olympian Luke Fleurs has been killed in a carjacking in Johannesburg, his Kaizer Chiefs club said on Thursday. The 24-year-old defender was shot Wednesday night while waiting for service at a gas station in the Honeydew suburb in Johannesburg, according to police. "The suspects pointed [at] him with a firearm and took him out of his vehicle, then shot him once on the upper body," police rep Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told local media, per the BBC. Masondo said the attackers fled with Fleur's vehicle and police are investigating.
Rebel Wilson's high profile memoir Rebel Rising has reportedly been pulled from sale in New Zealand by publisher Harper Collins NZ.

Newshub understands in an email sent to suppliers last week the local publisher said the action was taken "due to legal reasons" but did not specify any further details or confirm a future release date.

Rebel Rising was due to be released on April 2.

Last week, the Pitch Perfect actress claimed Ali G actor Sacha Baron Cohen was trying to stop the book from being published amid claims from Wilson about his alleged behaviour on the set of 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby.

It is not known whether the legal issues cited by Harper Collins NZ refer to any potential action from Cohen and his lawyers.
Rebel Wilson has revealed the celebrity with whom she claims she lost her virginity at the age of 35.

The information has come from Wilson's memoir 'Rebel Rising', which has stirred controversy after Sacha Baron Cohen reportedly tried to stop it being published.



In a chapter entitled "Late Bloomer", Wilson shared details about several of her ex partners, as well as opening up on her first sexual encounter at the age of 35.



The Bridesmaids star said actor and comedian Mickey Gooch Jr was her first-ever sexual partner - adding that he had no idea it was her first time and she was "almost at my highest weight" when it happened.


PSA National Secretary Duane Leo said the current proposal would see the office close with the number of staff working on suicide prevention halved while others are dispersed across the Ministry. Leo said the proposal would also see the Director for the Office role axed as well as the Senior Advisor Maori.

"The Government should be investing more in suicide prevention, so we stop more families from suffering the tragedy of suicide, not making these cold-hearted and dangerous cuts," Leo said.

"This was an Office that was set up for a good reason, it developed the first national Suicide Prevention Action Plan and was working closely with communities experiencing high rates of suicide."

Other specialist teams in the Clinical, Community and Mental Health Directorate have also been earmarked for possible downsizing.

The Ministry is also proposing downgrading the drug-checking services function and the loss of people working in mental health and addictions.

"This is core work in a functioning health system and the impact will be felt across the country. We should not be losing more specialist health workers in the Ministry of Health."

Leo said the proposal makes "a mockery of the Government's new portfolio of Minister for Mental Health".

"We call on Minister Matt Doocey to overturn these cuts which are simply being made to fund tax cuts that New Zealand cannot afford.

"We know this is an anxious time for many dedicated health workers. Their work, including advising Ministers and supporting our health system overall is vital. How at this time of stress in the health system, does it make sense for the Government to drive such damaging cuts at the Ministry?

"We have an ageing population and face the increasing cost of medical technology - all that requires a well-resourced Ministry to provide expert advice and support, so we make the best decisions for an effective health system."

Leo added it is "another sad day for the public services New Zealanders rely on and for dedicated public service workers who want to make a difference for communities across the motu".

"The Government has made a clear choice - it has the money to invest in a public service that meets the challenges we face today and tomorrow but would rather give $15 billion away in tax cuts."

Ministry of Health Deputy Director-General of Clinical Community and Mental Health Robyn Shearer said the proposal comes from changes in "our priorities as an organisation, changes to improve efficiency, and changes to our organisational structure to make it more coherent and consistent".

"These changes include proposals to change the organisation to support more integrated use of expertise across the range of work programmes we lead. We have also made these changes in order to meet our future budget, as a result of an end to time limited funding and to meet savings requirements."

Shearer said the Ministry needs to deliver on the Government's priorities while staying within budget in a" more fiscally constrained environment".

"The Suicide Prevention office has always been established as a team within the Ministry of Health with an option to review its tenure," Shearer said.

"They have provided an important role working within the Directorate to establish the 10 year strategy and action plan which guides the work of the suicide prevention sector and all Government agencies who have a role in preventing suicide and promoting mental health and wellbeing.

"With the changes required in resourcing and with the role of the Director of the Suicide Prevention Office currently vacant, it is proposed this role would be disestablished. The work of the team has changed since the funding and contracts for Suicide Prevention transitioned to Te Aka Whai Ora in 2022 and to Health New Zealand recently.

"Two roles that supported the focus of the previous work priorities are also proposed to be dis-established. There remain two roles as Principals that will work as part of the broader team and ensure the Ministry is supported in its leadership role with suicide prevention expertise sitting within the clinical, lived experience and system intelligence group."

Shearer said the Mental Health and Addiction team within the Ministry of Health will continue to lead the suicide prevention work.

"Health New Zealand is responsible for funding suicide prevention programmes in health and many Government agencies continue efforts to support people who may need support to prevent suicide.

"The Ministry of Health will continue to monitor progress on suicide prevention as it has done."

However, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey said the PSA's statement was disappointing and "misleading".

"Mental health and suicide prevention is an absolute priority for this Government," Doocey said.

"The closure of the Suicide Prevention Office has not been raised with me and I have spoken with the Director-General of Health to make my expectations clear that the office will remain open and that the suicide prevention work programme will continue."

The latest data, released in October last year, show the number of people dying by suicide in New Zealand increased compared to the previous year with Maori continuing to be disproportionately negatively affected.

The figures, for the financial year to June 30, 2023, showed 565 people died by suspected suicide and the rate was 10.6 people per 100,000.

It's an increase on the 2022 year when 538 people died by suspected suicide and the rate was 10.2.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defended the imminent large-scale job cuts across the public sector, saying his Government wants more "medical doctors, not more spin doctors".

Where to find help and support:


Masisi told Bild that Germany's Green party could learn to cohabitate with elephants without hunting them.

"It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world  and even for Lemke's party," Masisi said.

Germans should try to "live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to," he added.

According to Masisi, Botswana has seen its elephant population grow to some 130,000.

To tackle the country's "overpopulation" of the animals, Botswana has already offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique, Masisi said, adding that Mozambique had yet to collect the elephants.

"We would like to offer such a gift to Germany," Masisi told Bild, adding that he would "not take no for an answer."

Botswana's president argued that conservation efforts have led to an explosion in the elephant population, and hunting is an "important means to keep them in check."

Masisi said that elephants were trampling people to death, eating crops and causing damage to villages, and a ban on the import of hunting trophies would only impoverish Botswanans.

Masisi claimed that his country does more to protect wildlife "than any other country in the world," and invited the German minister to inspect wildlife protection in his country.

CNN has contacted Botswana's Ministry of Environment and Tourism for comment.
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By J. Keeler Johnson ("Keelerman") Twitter: @J_Keelerman

The Road to the Kentucky Derby makes a pivotal stop at Keeneland this Saturday for the $1 million Blue Grass (G1).

Although the Blue Grass hasn't produced a Kentucky Derby winner since Street Sense in 2007, a strong field has turned out for the 2024 edition, led by two colts who rank among the current favorites for the Derby: #4 Dornoch (3-1) and #10 Sierra Leone (2-1).

Dornoch and Sierra Leone have already faced off once over the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Blue Grass. In a deep renewal of the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct last December, Dornoch got the better of Sierra Leone by a nose. But there are reasons to believe the outcome will reverse in the Blue Grass.

In the Remsen, Dornoch had an experience advantage. He'd already started three times, finishing second in a Saratoga maiden special weight and Monmouth Park's Sapling S. before breaking his maiden at Keeneland by 6 1/2 lengths. The Remsen marked his third route race, whereas Sierra Leone was making only his second start (and his two-turn debut) after winning a one-mile maiden special weight at Aqueduct.

Furthermore, the Remsen took place over a muddy, sealed track that played strongly in favor of speed horses. Dornoch carved out the pace and enjoyed a much better setup than Sierra Leone, who trailed the 10-horse field by a dozen lengths early on. Despite this disadvantage, Sierra Leone launched a giant homestretch rally and actually led past the eighth pole before Dornoch battled back to narrowly prevail.

Dornoch and Sierra Leone have since gone their separate ways, with each winning a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier to kick off 2024. Dornoch led all the way to win the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park, while Sierra Leone closed from ninth to first in the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds.

At first glance, the performances seem comparable. But dig into the details, and Sierra Leone's effort becomes more impressive. Three of the favorites scratched from the Fountain of Youth, including a couple of speed horses, leaving Dornoch to cruise on an uncontested lead through fractions of :24.39, :47.14, and 1:11.43. He ultimately edged away in a drive to win by 1 3/4 lengths over Le Dom Bro and Frankie's Empire, who subsequently finished ninth and sixth in the Florida Derby (G1).

Sierra Leone, on the other hand, overcame modest fractions of :24.32, :49.67, and 1:14.74 over a sloppy track to win the Risen Star by half a length over pacesetter Track Phantom, who had previously won the Lecomte (G3) and Gun Runner S. Furthermore, Sierra Leone finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Smarty Jones S. winner Catching Freedom and 6 1/4 lengths clear of Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) hero Honor Marie, two talented runners who returned to finish 1-2 in the Louisiana Derby (G2). In other words, Sierra Leone overcame an unfavorable pace scenario to beat a deep field in the Risen Star.

Cementing Sierra Leone as the horse to beat in the Blue Grass is the record of his trainer, four-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown. When a Brown trainee shows Kentucky Derby potential at age two, he typically gives them a two-prep three-year-old campaign in which they improve sharply in their second run of the Derby year. Examples abound:

Normandy Invasion, beaten a nose when second in the Remsen, kicked off his three-year-old year with a fifth-place finish in the Risen Star before improving to run second by less than one length in the Wood Memorial (G1).

Practical Joke won the Hopeful (G1) and Champagne (G1) at age two, but was beaten 5 3/4 lengths when starting his three-year-old season with a second in the Fountain of Youth. He ran much better next time, finishing second by only three-quarters of a length in the Blue Grass.

Good Magic, voted champion two-year-old male after winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), was beaten to third-place when starting his sophomore campaign in the Fountain of Youth, but quickly bounced back to win the Blue Grass.

Highly Motivated won the Nyquist S. as a juvenile, but struggled in his three-year-old debut, finishing third in the Gotham (G3). One month later, he pushed two-time champion Essential Quality to the limit in the Blue Grass, finishing second by a neck.

Zandon followed a similar path to Sierra Leone. After winning his debut, he finished second by a nose in the Remsen. But Zandon could only manage a non-threatening third-place finish in the Risen Star before bouncing back to win the Blue Grass in his second start at age three.

The fact Sierra Leone conquered a strong Risen Star field in his three-year-old debut bodes well for his long-term potential. History suggests we'll see Sierra Leone move forward in the Blue Grass, setting the stage for another victory. And who knows? Normandy Invasion, Practical Joke, Good Magic, and Zandon all moved forward again in their third starts at age three, recording top-five finishes in the Kentucky Derby. A similar trajectory for Sierra Leone could land him in the Kentucky Derby winner's circle.

Sierra Leone is my top pick in the Blue Grass, but I'll also give a shout-out to #2 Be You (8-1) as a midrange longshot worth considering. The son of Curlin debuted in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Saratoga last summer, finishing second by a nose against future Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Just Steel while coming home 3 1/2 lengths ahead of subsequent Breeders' Futurity (G1) winner Locked.

Be You subsequently finished fourth in the Hopeful (G1) and third in the American Pharoah (G1) before regressing in a couple of maiden special weight routes at Churchill Downs and Gulfstream. He appeared to be off form until he cut back in distance for a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park; after settling a couple lengths off a decent pace, he charged home to win by 2 1/2 lengths.

It's possible the cutback in distance triggered Be You's rebound, but it's also possible he's finally figuring things out and moving forward in a meaningful way. Two bullet half-mile workouts at Palm Beach Downs suggest he's ready for another big run under five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., so don't leave Be You off your tickets.

Good luck!

*****

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J. Keeler Johnson (also known as "Keelerman") is a writer, videographer, voice actor, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Report by Ashen Tharaka

The US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, stressed the urgency of a ceasefire by the Houthi rebel group during a press briefing yesterday. He warned that Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are jeopardizing the Yemen peace process and hindering vital humanitarian aid deliveries across the region.

Lenderking concluded a week of meetings in Oman and Saudi Arabia, focusing on regional stability and the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

His discussions included commending Omans efforts in facilitating peace talks and engaging with regional partners in Riyadh on April 2nd.

These attacks undermine the Yemeni peace process and disrupt humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people and others in need, including the Palestinians, Lenderking stated.

He emphasized that a cessation of Houthi attacks is crucial on two fronts: Houthi attacks must stop, he said.

Then we can refocus on the Yemen peace process and address the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a two-state solution.

The envoy highlighted the devastating economic impact of the conflict in Yemen.

Ship arrivals at Al-Hudaydah Port, a vital lifeline for the country, have fallen by 15%.

Additionally, shipping traffic through the Suez Canal has rocketed by 60%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Finance and National Economy, under the leadership of His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, unveiled significant achievements in its Economic Recovery Plan during a session addressing MP Ahmed Al-Sallooms inquiries.

Launched in 2021, the plan, aligned with His Majesty the Kings vision, focuses on five key priorities and 27 strategic programs, aimed at fostering sustainable growth and prosperity. Collaborating with relevant organizations, the ministry successfully concluded 22 of the 27 recovery programs.

These achievements include surpassing expectations by providing employment opportunities to 59,528 citizens and training 21,422 individuals from 2022 to 2023. Additionally, the ministry attracted foreign investment by streamlining business processes, finalized 13 projects worth a combined $30 billion, and witnessed a remarkable 6.6% growth in the non-oil GDP in 2022.

Notably, the deficit was reduced by 83% in the same year. Paramount importance MP Al-Salloom emphasized the paramount importance of economic development, while MP Ahmed Qarata expressed concerns about the nations economic challenges, including deteriorating standards of living and unemployment.

Economy and economic development should be our main focus at the moment. We strive to make the economy our main priority in our struggle to achieve sustainable development and provide a dignified life standard to our citizens, emphasized MP Al-Salloum.

Bahraini citizens are extremely concerned about the current economic difficulties the nation faces, including deteriorating standards of living, labor market challenges and unemployment, decreasing demand for goods and services, and state budgets and the deficit brought on by public debt, stressed MP Qarata.

Strategic focus Shaikh Salman highlighted the ministrys strategic focus on key sectors such as tourism, logistics, finance, telecommunications, and oil and gas in the economic recovery plan.

The economic recovery plan specifically targets the aforementioned industries since they provide the most promising opportunities for residents to pursue career and investment options, Shaikh Salman affirmed. Additionally, the minister announced a 50% decrease in the budget deficit of social insurance in 2023.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bahrain are grappling with the weight of service fees, as highlighted by a prominent Member of Parliament (MP).

Strategic Thinking Bloc president Ahmed Al Salloom has urged the government to reassess the fees levied on companies, particularly those burdening micro and small businesses.

MP Al Salloom contends that employing a one-size-fits-all approach to fees is unjust. It is inequitable to impose uniform fees on micro-sized enterprises and large corporations, he asserted.

In an interview with the Daily Tribune, the MP stressed the necessity for a revised fee structure that is equitable and responsive to the economic climate. He believes such a review would safeguard small businesses from being forced out of the market due to financial strain.

While acknowledging the governments efforts to enhance the efficiency and fairness of direct subsidies, MP Al Salloom expressed apprehension regarding the pace of progress. He called for the joint committee overseeing these reforms to intensify meetings and establish a clear timetable for completing its tasks.

Dr. Abdulhasan Al-Dairi, Chairman of Bahrain SMEs, echoed MP Al Sallooms apprehensions, particularly concerning the impact of fees associated with Company Registration (CR), Chamber of Commerce memberships, notary fees (where applicable), bank charges for opening business accounts, and Nehra licences essential for medical enterprises.

The prosperity of SMEs contributes directly to the national economic well-being, and conversely, Al-Dairi informed the Daily Tribune. The significance of SMEs in Bahrain cannot be overstated, with over 80,000 enterprises constituting more than 90% of the countrys business landscape. These enterprises serve as the backbone of the national economy, he emphasised.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

International Motor Trading Agency, the sole authorized distributor for Mazda passenger vehicles in Bahrain, announces the launch of exceptional Ramadan offers on new 2024 models, exemplifying its commitment to delivering unparalleled customer service and value.

Suzan Salman Kanoo, President of IMTA, expressed her enthusiasm about the promotion, stating, "This year, we are thrilled to unveil our exclusive Ramadan deals.

Our offers not only boast competitiveness but also deliver superior value, ensuring our beloved customers can drive home a brand new, stylish Mazda at unbeatable prices during this auspicious month." IMTA Vice President, K.N. SINGH added: Mazda vehicles excel in combining style, performance, safety and comfort seamlessly.

This year, our Ramadan offers are created to offer unparalleled savings, value and stress-free after-sales services to our valuable customers. We welcome customers to our showrooms across Bahrain to capitalise on our special deals.

Frankly speaking, we're thrilled with the response so far. Many customers have already secured their cars as we launched our Ramadan offers earlier than usual this year, starting in mid-February.

The Mazda brand has experienced remarkable growth in the GCC region, with Bahrain emerging as a pivotal market.

This is evidenced by Mazda Bahrain (IMTA) receiving the prestigious highest volume growth award for 2023 by Mazda Corporation, Japan.

Renowned for its ability to cater to the diverse needs of modern families and driving enthusiasts alike, Mazda stands out for its insightful solutions and driving pleasure.

Competitive pricing on the new 2024 Mazda models and special auto finance rate of interest makes it easier to drive home your dream Mazda.

Complimentary 5-year or 100,000kms service package ensures peace of mind for years to come, while free extended warranty for 7 years enhances protection and confidence in the investment.

IMTA experts simplify the ownership process with complimentary insurance and registration services.

Drive comfortably during harsh climate and boost the aesthetics of your vehicle with Mazdas complimentary window tinting and rust-proofing treatments.

Due to limited stock and high demand, interested individuals are encouraged to secure their Mazda early to avoid disappointment.

This limited-time offer is valid until the end of Ramadan. During this period, customers have the opportunity to book their favorite Mazda and secure the offer for later deliveries.

Terms and conditions apply.
AFP | Jerusalem

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli strike were yesterday taken out of Gaza to Egypt for repatriation, a security source said, as Israel faced a chorus of outrage over their deaths.

The Israeli military killed seven staff of the US-based food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Monday in an attack that UN chief Antonio Guterres labelled unconscionable and an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted.

The remains of the six international staff, who were killed alongside one Palestinian colleague, were taken in ambulances to the Rafah crossing to Egypt, where they were handed over to representatives of their respective countries, the security source said on condition of anonymity.

Israels armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a grave mistake, which he blamed on night-time misidentification, adding in a video message that we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK.

Sorrow and apologies

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the tragic case would be investigated right to the end, and President Isaac Herzog expressed his deep sorrow and sincere apologies.

The seven deaths piled more pressure on Israel, whose war since the Hamas attack of October 7 has brought devastation and mass civilian casualties to Gaza, where the UN warns the population of 2.4 million is on the brink of famine.

US President Joe Biden said he was outraged and heartbroken by the deaths and charged that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.

Anger and concern

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had voiced his anger and concern to Netanyahu, while Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador and demanded full accountability.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X to Netanyahu and Israels ambassador, saying the deaths were straining ties and that the tragic attack against volunteers and your reaction are generating an understandable anger.

Pope Francis also voiced deep sorrow and renewed his appeal for access to aid for the exhausted and suffering civilian population of Gaza, and for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas.
AFP | Geneva, Switzerland

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The UN Human Rights Council will consider a draft resolution on Friday calling for an arms embargo on Israel, citing the "plausible risk of genocide in Gaza". If the draft resolution is adopted, it would mark the first time that the United Nations' top rights body has taken a position on the war raging in Gaza.

The text condemns "the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects by Israel" in populated areas of Gaza and demands Israel "uphold its legal responsibility to prevent genocide".

The draft resolution was brought forward by Pakistan on behalf of 55 of the 56 UN member states in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) -- the exception being Albania.

The text is co-sponsored by Bolivia, Cuba and the Palestinian mission in Geneva.

The eight-page draft demands Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territory and immediately lifts its "illegal blockade" on the Gaza Strip.

It calls upon countries to stop the sale or transfer of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel, citing "a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza".

The draft also "condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare", calls for an immediate ceasefire and "condemns Israeli actions that may amount to ethnic cleansing".

'Collective punishment'

Last week, the UN Security Council in New York passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire -- thanks to an abstention from Washington, Israel's closest ally.

The draft being brought in Geneva calls on states to ensure that UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, receives sufficient funding and demands Israel stop expanding settlements in Palestinian territories.

It "reaffirms that criticism of violations of international law by Israel should not be conflated with anti-Semitism".

The resolution condemns the firing of rockets against Israeli civilian areas and demands "the immediate release of all remaining hostages and detainees".

The council will discuss Friday whether to adopt the resolution, alongside three other resolutions concerning Israeli settlements, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan.
AFP | Paris, France

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A mysterious tunnel under construction has been discovered near a major prison in southern Paris during routine electrical works, although it did not appear part of an elaborate escape plan, police sources and city officials said on Wednesday.

Tuesday's discovery was made by a technician from Enedis, which manages the electricity distribution network in France, who was working "in a well for electrical connections" around 450 metres away from the La Sante Prison, a police source said.

"Bags of rubble and a bed" had been found at the scene, the source added.

Guillaume Durand, an official with the town hall of the French capital's 14th district, where the prison is located, said he doubted an elaborate escape plan had been in the works.

"It's a four-metre tunnel, in a cul-de-sac on rue de la Sante, but more than 500 metres from the prison," he said.

"Police believe that it is rather something which would aim to facilitate the arrival at the catacombs, therefore the work of cataphiles," he said, referring to clandestine catacomb explorers.

He said officials had sent an engineer to the site to fill in the hole.

The Paris Catacombs, the massive underground ossuary, are one of the city's most popular attractions and lure some 500,000 visitors a year.
US says it played no role in Israeli strike on Iran consulate

US says it played no role in Israeli strike on Iran consulate

AFP | Washington

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The United States had no involvement in an Israeli airstrike on Iran's consular annex building in the Syrian capital Damascus and was not informed about it in advance, officials said Tuesday.

Tehran has vowed to retaliate for the strike, which killed more than a dozen people -- including senior members of the Revolutionary Guards -- while Israel has so far declined to comment.

"We had nothing to do with the strike in Damascus, we weren't involved in any way whatsoever," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told a briefing.

Kirby dismissed as "nonsense" comments by Iran's foreign minister that the United States, Israel's main backer, bore responsibility for the attack.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh also said Washington's forces played no role in the strike, and that the United States conveyed this to Tehran through private channels.

"We were not notified by the Israelis about their strike or the intended target of their strike in Damascus," Singh told journalists. "We've made it very clear in private channels to Iran that we were not responsible for the strike."

Iranian state media said 13 people were killed in the Monday strike -- seven members of Tehran's Revolutionary Guards and six Syrian nationals.

The Guards said the dead included two top commanders: Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Singh said Washington assesses that senior Revolutionary Guards leaders were killed, but has not been able to independently confirm their identities.
In the news release, CJF-Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism goes to Jesse Winter, issued 04-Apr-2024 by The Canadian Journalism Foundation over CNW, we are advised by the organization that there have been additional media outlets listed in the first paragraph of the release. The complete, corrected release follows:

CJF-Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism goes to Jesse Winter

TORONTO, April 4, 2024 /CNW/ - The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) announced today that the CJF-Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism goes to Vancouver photojournalist Jesse Winter. Winter won for his series of stunning images from the frontlines of B.C.'s 2023 efforts to contain wildfires published in The Narwhal , The Globe and Mail, and CBC News, in Canada, as well as by Reuters internationally. The $5,000 award, launched in 2022 by the CJF in partnership with internationally renowned photographer and filmmaker Edward Burtynsky, celebrates provocative, impactful and inspirational climate photography.

Vancouver-based photojournalist Jesse Winter is the recipient of this year's CJF-Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism. (CNW Group/The Canadian Journalism Foundation)

"In Canada, wildfires are one of the most challenging outcomes of the climate crisis that we're facing as a country," says Burtynsky, who chaired the award jury. "Last year saw around nine times more than the annual wildfire average, with devastating effects on the Boreal forest  the health of which is key to maintaining a stable climate.

"Jesse's photos take us into the heart of the battle and show how small a force we are against such a major event. It's a perspective on climate that many people have not seen, showing the profound consequences for both the forest and for the human beings living in its shadow."

An award-winning freelance photographer, Winter's work has taken him from north of the Arctic Circle to the mangrove forests of the Niger Delta. His recent work focuses primarily on social justice, the environment and government accountability. It has appeared in The Guardian, The Toronto Star, The National Post, The Ottawa Citizen, The Winnipeg Free Press, The Yukon News, Up Here Magazine and The Narwhal, among other publications.

Of the award-winning photos, juror Jason Chiu, a visual editor at the New York Times says: "This is the first time I'm seeing firefighting in this way in Canada -- up close and deeply personal -- and it's truly impressive. I can imagine the heat radiating out of the image surrounding the firefighter in the burning forest. Jesse's photos connect the viewer with those who are directly on the front lines, in their battle to protect both the land, property, themselves and the delicate ecosystem that supports it all."

For tickets, tables and sponsorship opportunities, see contact information below or visit the CJF Awards page. The CJF-Edward Burtynsky Award for Climate Photojournalism jury members are:

Edward Burtynsky, chair;

Allie Rougeot, Toronto-based climate justice activist;

Jason Chiu, visual editor, The New York Times;

Hannah Yoon, photojournalist and 2014 Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award winner; and

Lucas Oleniuk, National Newspaper Award-winning photographer.

This award is generously supported by Marci McDonald and Clair Balfour, Lisa Balfour Bowen and Sony Canada.

Winter will be recognized at the CJF Awards ceremony on June 12 at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto.

The 2024 CJF Awards are generously supported by Rogers Communications, Labatt Breweries of Canada, Canadian Medical Association, McCain Foods, Aritzia, BMO Financial Group, Intact, Sobeys, TD Bank Group, CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada Life, Canadian Bankers Association, FGS Longview Communications, KPMG, RBC, Accenture, Aga Khan Development Network, Apple Canada News, The Balsillie Family Foundation, Bennett Jones LLP, Canadian Women's Foundation, CDPQ, Davies, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Maple Leaf Foods, Tom's Place, and The Woodbridge Company Ltd.

About The Canadian Journalism Foundation

Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, businesspeople, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research.

Related Links

http://www.cjf-fjc.ca

SOURCE The Canadian Journalism Foundation

Natalie Turvey, President and Executive Director, The Canadian Journalism Foundation, [email protected]; For sponsorship opportunities, contact: Josh Gurfinkel, Director of Operations, The Canadian Journalism Foundation, [email protected]
Q1 Revenue Grew Approximately 23% YOY to Over $34 Million

Cash Position Remains Strong at Approximately $18 Million

VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2024 /CNW/ - KITS Eyecare Ltd. (TSX: KITS) ("KITS" or the "Company"), a leading vertically integrated eyecare provider, is providing selected preliminary unaudited results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Select Preliminary First Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

Q1 2024 revenue grew to over $34 million , representing a 23% year-over-year increase and a 7% increase sequentially.

, representing a 23% year-over-year increase and a 7% increase sequentially. Finished the quarter with a healthy cash balance of approximately $18 million .

"Our business is off to a strong start in 2024," said Roger Hardy, Co-Founder and CEO of KITS. "We continue to grow revenue and customer count at industry-leading levels through our trend-setting product offerings, best-in-class customer experience and value price points. We've been able to sustain our growth momentum while maintaining consistent cost levels to previous quarters as we were able to grow our cash balance in the first quarter. We're proud of how we performed in Q1 and look forward to what we believe will be another banner year at KITS."

The Company looks forward to reporting its full first quarter 2024 results on May 8, 2024. Details for the first quarter 2024 conference call will be disclosed in the coming weeks.

About KITS

KITS makes eyecare easy. KITS is a leading vertically integrated digital eyecare brand providing eyewear for eyes everywhere. We offer customers access to a vast selection of contact lenses and eyeglasses, including our own exclusive KITS designed products, as well as a robust suite of online vision tools. Our efficient digital platform, backed by our industry-leading manufacturing and designs, removes intermediaries, and enables us to offer great prices and deliver made to order personalized products with incredible care and accuracy. We are creating disruption in the industry by constantly pursuing cutting-edge technologies to enable the best customer experience, including online eyewear fitting tools, and virtual try-on for glasses. We strive to delight our customers with our competitive prices, a convenient digital shopping experience, fast and reliable delivery options, and an unrelenting focus on earning our customers' lifelong trust. For more information on KITS, visit: www.kits.com.

SOURCE KITS

Investor Relations Contact: Cody Slach and Cody Cree, Gateway Group, Inc., 1-949-574-3860, [email protected]
OTTAWA, ON, April 4, 2024 /CNW/ - Ingenium  Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation is pleased to unveil the newest exhibition at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, The Cold War. The exhibition dives into a volatile period of history, marked by international tensions, espionage and the threat of nuclear attack. It was also a time of great technological and social change in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), throughout Canada and around the world.

Four circular images set against a black and red background. One image shows a black and white photo of a person in an RCAF uniform. The top image is of a person and two young children walking through a neighbourhood. The photo on the left shows a woman working at a radar scope and the bottom image is of several aircraft flying side by side. (CNW Group/Ingenium)

Visitors will take a journey through this tumultuous era that defined global geopolitics for just over half a century. Featuring rare artifacts and iconic Cold War aircraft, visitors of all ages will be captivated by the interactive displays and in discovering the personal stories behind the headlines. The exhibit is composed of five sections which include an immersive fall-out shelter experience, quiz-based interactives, a cypher interactive - which challenges visitors to decode an encrypted message, and a digital tour of a DEW Line Station in the Yukon. The exhibition conveys the impact of the Cold War as a transformative era for Canada's air force and encourages visitors to make connections between past and present.

The Cold War was developed with the collaboration and support of various public, private and academic organizations, including, the Ingenium Foundation, Osisko Mining, the Kenneth M. Molson Foundation, the National Aviation Museum Society, the National Research Council of Canada, CAE, Algonquin College and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The exhibition marks the RCAF Centennial being celebrated in 2024.

Quotes

"We are very excited for visitors to discover the diverse range of stories presented in the new Cold War exhibition at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. This exhibition creates a greater appreciation for Canada's aviation heritage and explores the vital role of aviation in the lives of Canadians. It allows visitors to see themselves represented in the stories the museum tells about the significance of aviation in the growth and prosperity of this country."

- Christopher Kitzan, Director General, Canada Aviation and Space Museum

"This Cold War exhibition brings together a fantastic selection of aircraft and unique artifacts which illustrate an incredibly challenging, but dynamic period of the Royal Canadian Air Force's history. The RCAF has always been more than our aircraft, and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum has gone above and beyond to showcase the people factor, capturing the work they did, their initiative in finding solutions to new problems, and the hardship they endured to keep Canada and our Allies safe in a post-war world.

If the Second World War was where the RCAF showed its mettle, the Cold War showed the world that given the right people and equipment, and with the support of their families and friends, Royal Canadian Air Force personnel can achieve almost anything."

- Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny  Commander, RCAF

About Ingenium  Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation

Ingenium oversees three national museums of science and innovation in Ottawa  the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Its lngenium Centre houses an exceptional collection of artifacts, a research institute, and a digital innovation lab. Our museums, digital content, outreach programs, travelling exhibitions, and collaborative spaces help to educate, entertain, and engage audiences across Canada and around the world. Our mandate is to bring science literacy and inspiration to people in Canada of all ages, abilities, identities, and backgrounds.

SOURCE Ingenium

Media Contacts: Philippe Tremblay, Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation, [email protected], 343-543-5337
Helicity Space, a commercial space company developing in-space propulsion and power technology based on fusion power, announced an investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the venture capital arm of Lockheed Martin. This latest raise from Lockheed Martin Ventures comes on the heels of a $5 million seed round of Helicity Space funding from investors including Airbus Ventures, TRE Ventures, Voyager Space Holdings, E2MC Space, Urania Ventures and Gaingels in December.

Helicity Space wants to get an afterburner on an electric propulsion system. It will be pulsed-power magneto inertial fusion concept. It is similar to z-pinch but more like helical pinch. The Lockheed funding could be enough to make the 24-36 target for the actual nuclear power propulsion prototype. They will take 24-36 months (from 1 year ago) to get their lab system built and already have various components built and operating. The could now be 12-24 months from a working lab system at Caltech.

They generate the plasma, then pre-heat the ions and then compress to fusion and then mix it for propulsion exhaust.

The system mainly scales with the number of plasma guns. They will initially target 100 kilowatt hours of power to produce 50 kilowatts for generating high quality thrust and then scale 100 kilowatts powering 2 megawatt hours to produce thrust. They will then need to transition to more difficult to get to far more powerful systems. Various materials suggest they can get tens of newtons of thrust and then scale it to tens of thousands of newtons. The ISP would be 7000 to 160000.

The large system would get to 55-1000 newtons of thruyst with 30 plasma guns and convert about 100 kilowatts into 1-2 megawatts of power. The very large systems with 170 plasma guns could reach gigawatts of power and tens of thousands of newtons of thrust. Below are several charts describing specs for the planned scaling of the systems.

The screenshots of slides below go over scientific details and technical details of what they plan to do and how they plan to do it.

They plan to large systems with built about 30 plasma guns and able to reach the solar gravitational lens point (about 16 times further than Pluto) in less than 2 years.

It will start with D-D fusion and then scale to D-He3 fusion.

$500 million would be enough to generate an initial fusion system that can produce thrust and flown in space.

There will be larger and larger net energy gain as the systems evolve. It could lead this to great fusion drives as well as fusion energy on earth.
LOS ANGELESDisgraced porn star Ron Jeremy is no longer facing criminal charges, according to tabloid news outlet The Blast.

The Blast reports that it has viewed official documentation indicating that Jeremy saw all 34 of the criminal counts against him dismissed thanks to California Penal Code Section 1385, which permits a court to dismiss any and all criminal charges "in furtherance of justice."

The charges dismissed include felony counts of forcible rape, sexual penetration with force, sexual battery, lewd acts upon a child, forcible oral copulation, and sexual penetration of an unconscious victim with a foreign object.

AVN previously reported on Jeremy's release from prison to a "private residence" to address ailing health. In November 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported on emails it saw involving case stakeholders that resulted in Jeremy being granted medical release on the grounds of deteriorating health.

This came after a court declared him mentally incompetent to stand trial for the 34 counts he was facing.

Suffering from severe dementia, Jeremy was ordered under the supervision of a conservator. He was previously incarcerated at a men's jail in Los Angeles County, awaiting admittance into a state mental hospital for treatment. Jeremy, 71, has seen a dramatic decline in his health for much of the case against him.

One email seen by the Times stated that Jeremy required round the clock medical care after it was determined that no medical facility will take him.

Another email obtained by the Times featured remarks from Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson to the victims in the case, noting the accused rapist's medical condition has deteriorated to the point that he is essentially bedridden.



I feel very badly that this is where we are, but it is beyond our control. His mental and physical condition deteriorated rapidly, and we are left with no other options. Im sorry that we couldnt get complete justice for you in court," said Thompson in that email.

Jeremy was originally indicted in 2021 for alleged crimes over a 23-year span.
Last Call for Venus

Lady Venus has bowed at the altars of empathy. She has lingered with sweet friends at the church social until the janitor turned off the lights. She danced with her squad until the bartender hollered the last call. Alas, the group fun is over. Venus will cross into independent Aries where shell be asked to funnel all that love and energy back into herself.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Youre so consistently impressive that by now exceeds expectations is your brand. Of course, its easier to pull off when you also underpromise. Youll offer something small and then deliver something big.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Emptiness is the source of fullness and vice versa. Embracing emptiness will allow you to be receptive to the richness of life and to experience true fulfillment. The world is won by those who let it go. -- Lao Tzu

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Friends who dont agree can be the luckiest relationship you have. Somewhere between your differing points of view lies an answer that has, in more agreeable company, eluded you.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Once you thought you needed more money, hotter tickets or better company, when you really needed a sense of purpose. Todays meaningful work makes you feel more like yourself and simultaneously connected to all.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It would be impossible for experiences to play out as you project because reality involves more factors than could be contained in your mind. Knowing that everything is different in motion, youll reserve judgement until after youve put it in motion.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). If you invest too little in a relationship, it will still take your energy and give nothing in return. For this to be worth your while, either ramp up your commitment or get out completely.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Youll meet people who check a lot of boxes for you -- people who like similar activities, have compatible communication styles with yours and who prefer compromise over conflict, resolution over drama, which is key for a lasting tie.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). This is the moment to involve yourself in a positive and gradual change. Be like the methodical tortoise, setting a pace for the long game. Small steps ever-forward will add up to the win.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). How do you know if youre in alignment with the natural flow of things? For starters, it wont require big amounts of effort. Think of yourself as a sailboat. Rotate your sail until you catch the wind.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Charity is among your key values and youll happily give to those who are not in a position to give back. But among those who are fully able to reciprocate, some are not so inclined. Many will want your attention. Whos earned it?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Responsibility isnt always burdensome. In a strange way, one duty can prop up another one. Youll take on more and thrive because of it. Your rewards could come as soon as this evening.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Everyone remembers things differently and each will be convinced of their own rightness, so theres no use arguing about it. Focus on telling your story, your way, to the people whose reactions matter to you.

TODAYS BIRTHDAY (April 4). The wide variety of your experiences will stretch beyond your dreams. Your bright burning curiosity becomes a spotlight for interconnectedness and unity. More highlights: Love expands your thinking and sparkles up your lifestyle. Youll free yourself from excess responsibility and the principles of minimalism will deliver you into clarity and fulfillment. Virgo and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 10, 4, 41 and 5.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: In a rousing acceptance speech of the SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. mentioned his many admired colleagues ending with praise to his wife, Susan. Sun, Mercury and Venus in Aries aligns closely with the magnetism, passion and resilience the Mas-ruled rams are famous for. High-energy aspects are tempered Saturn in artistic, empathetic Pisces.

Holiday Mathis debut novel, How To Fail Epically in Hollywood, is out now! This fast-paced romp about achieving Hollywood stardom is available as a paperback and ebook. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM
A man living in North Jersey drove down to South Jersey to collect thousands of dollars he convinced an elderly couple to surrender, claiming to be a federal investigator, authorities said.

Police in Egg Harbor Township in Atlantic County say they arrested Vamshihar Katikreddy, 25, on Tuesday after he was seen driving away from the couples house in the municipalitys Harbor Woods section.

Katikreddy, of Jersey City, went to the home to obtain $20,000 provided by the couple in their 80s, police said Thursday. Police said Katikreddy is not a U.S. citizen.
A 29-year-old woman from South Jersey was killed Wednesday afternoon when her car crashed head-on with another vehicle on the Black Horse Pike in Atlantic County, authorities said.

Karina Castillo, of Pine Hill in Camden County, was driving a Honda sedan westbound on the pike when her car made contact with a Chevrolet SUV, Hamilton Township police said Thursday. The contact forced Castillos car into the eastbound lanes, where her vehicle collided with an oncoming Ford sedan, police said.

Castillo was pronounced dead at the scene. Both drivers of the Ford and Chevrolet were taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City for non-life-threatening injuries. Two adult passengers of the Ford were also taken to the same hospital for similar injuries, police said.

A juvenile was brought to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden for injuries that were deemed non-life-threatening. Police did not say in which vehicle the juvenile was a passenger.

An investigation into the crash was ongoing as of Thursday, police said.

Police were called to the area of the Black Horse Pike and High Bank Road around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday.

The crash shut down part of the pike in Hamilton Township in Atlantic County for several hours, diverting traffic onto other roads amid heavy rainfall that soaked New Jersey Wednesday. Police did not say if weather was considered a factor in the crashs cause.

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.
Dominic Sessa shot to fame with his breakout role in the Oscar-nominated film The Holdovers, set over Christmas break at a New England boarding school.

Now the young New Jersey actor has been cast in another holiday movie.

Sessa, 21, who was born in Cherry Hill and grew up in Egg Harbor Township and Ocean City, is joining the cast of Oh. What. Fun.

(Or, as Jingle Bells would have it, Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.)

The Hollywood Reporter says the movie will be directed by Princetons own Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Idea of You).

According to the report, the Amazon MGM holiday comedy will be a love letter to moms and in the spirit of films like Home for the Holidays and Plains, Trains and Automobiles.

Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Claire Clauster, whose family forgets her as they head out for the Christmas trip she planned.

The report says Sessa and co-star Chloe Grace Moretz will likely play Claires children.

The movie, which is filming in Atlanta in May, is based on a story by Chandler Baker and co-written by Baker and Showalter.

Sessas Hollywood career has taken off after his much-praised screen debut in The Holdovers.

The actor was cast right out of his Massachusetts boarding school for a lead role as Angus Tully in the Alexander Payne film opposite Paul Giamatti and Oscar winner DaVine Joy Randolph.

He went on to win the award for best young actor at the Critics Choice Awards and the award for breakthrough performance at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. He was also nominated for a BAFTA award for best supporting actor.

Before Oh. What. Fun. Sessa was cast in the real-life story Tow opposite Rose Byrne.

Thank you for reading. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup.
The leader of an interstate drug network has been convicted of having two people killed and murdering another person himself over fears that they would rat him out to authorities, federal prosecutors said.

Michael Healy, 43, of Montclair, was convicted of three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, conspiring to murder a federal witness, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute narcotics and multiple weapons offenses, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office District of New Jersey. A federal jury returned the verdict on Wednesday following a four-week long trial.

Healy, who is a member of a set of the Bloods street gang in Maryland, started his own drug network in 2012, according to charging documents. He used his status in the Bloods to create an elaborate interstate drug dealing organization, in which large quantities of drugs were transported from California to New Jersey by vehicles, air craft and the mail, authorities said.

The drugs  which included cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana  were then kept in stash houses in the Newark area before they were distributed to the buyers, officials said. Many of the drug deals were made through members of the Brick City Brims set of the Bloods in East Orange, according to court documents.

In February 2018, Healy learned that a member of his drug network was cooperating with law enforcement and providing information about his illegal activities. He then ordered members of the Bloods in East Orange to kill the man outside of his home in Bloomfield, federal prosecutors said.

The gangsters were outside of the mans residence on Feb. 3, 2018, when they instead shot an innocent bystander dead, mistaking him for the informant, court papers said. They later showed up in the informants neighborhood a second time on March 12, 2018, and shot the informant to death as he was walking his dog, authorities said.

Less than a month later, Healy feared that another member of the drug organization would go to authorities and shot the man dead in Newark, officials said.

Healys brazen violence resulted in the senseless killing of three men and caused incredible danger to the community, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He now faces multiple mandatory life sentences for his crimes, and the District of New Jersey is safer as a result.

The drug lords hitmen  Thomas Zimmerman, Tyquan Daniels and Ali Hill  all pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and have been sentenced for the two killings committed in Bloomfield.

A fourth accomplice, Leevander Wade, pleaded guilty to the same charge for his involvement in all three deaths and is awaiting sentencing.

Healy will be sentenced in Newark federal court on Oct. 1.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
Daoud-David Williams and the Miller branch of the Jersey City library system go way back. And music fans and city leaders will tell you both have gotten better with age.

For the past 47 years, the Miller branch has been the base of operations for the Williams Spirit of Life Ensemble as well as the Community Awareness Series (CAS). Now its auditorium is being named the Daoud-David Williams Cultural Arts Center for his years of dedication to the cultural space and the community.
The Stone Pony summer stage has a concert lineup you dont want to miss out on.

From Bealchers to The Gaslight Anthem there is no shortage of star power when it comes to the variety of artists heading to the iconic Asbury Park venue.

Below is a roundup of all the concerts heading to the New Jersey venue from now through the end of September with dates, times, and links to buy tickets.

Related: 33 concerts and big events coming to PNC Bank Arts Center in summer 2024

Anyone using Vivid Seats for the first time can get $20 off orders over $200 with promo code NJ20 at checkout.

The Stone Ponys Full Summer Stage Schedule for 2024

Sum 41s Tour of the Setting Sum

May 4 at 5:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Joe Russos Almost Dead tour

May 17 at 5:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong tour

May 24 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Solid Pink Disco with Trixie Pride Kickoff Party

May 30 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Dreamland Pride in Asbury Park with Purple Disco Machine

May 31 at 6 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

FLETCHER & FRIENDS

June 1 at 6 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

June 2 at 6 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Gary Clark Jr.s tour

June 12 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Band of Horses concert

June 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Lake Street Dives concert

June 14 at 6:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Shadow of the City festival featuring Bleachers

June 15 at 2:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

T-Pains Mansion in Wiscansin Party

June 21 at 6:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Jake Owens tour

June 22 at 6:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Orville Pecks The Stampede Tour

June 29 at 6:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

MOE.s The Best 4th Ever

July 4 at 4:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Railroad Earths Tour

July 5 at 6:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

The Useds Tour

July 12 at 6:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

O.A.R.s Summer Tour 24

July 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

The Bouncing Souls Stoked for the Summer tour

July 20 at 5:00 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Two Door Cinema Clubs tour

July 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Iration And Peppers Daytrippin in Paradise Summer 2024

Aug. 2 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Sad Summer Festival 2024

Aug. 4 at 1 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

The Gaslight Anthems History Books Tour

Aug. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Whiskey Myers tour

Aug. 21 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Something Corporates Out of Office Tour 2024

Aug. 23 at 6:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

New Found Glorys Catalyst 20 Years Later Tour

Aug. 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Sublime with Romes Farewell Tour

Aug. 25 at 6 p.m.

Buy tickets: TicketCity | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Almost Queens A Tribute To Queen

Aug. 30 at 6 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Waxahatchees tour

Sept. 1 at 5:30 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Dashboard Confessionals tour

Sept. 10 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Justin Moore & Randy Housers The Country Round Here Tonight Tour

Sept. 27 at 5 p.m.

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

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Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
NEW YORK  J.D. Martinez is ready to face pitchers in games, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza revealed on Thursday.

In his press availability before game one of the doubleheader against the Tigers in Citi Field, Mendoza provided an update on Martinez, who has been going through his hitting progression since being signed on March 23 in Port St. Lucie.
The alleged gunman in the death of a 23-year-old man who was the victim of what police called a targeted attack in Carteret about three weeks ago was captured on Thursday, police said.

Officers arrested 22-year-old Javon Robinson, charging him with first-degree murder in the death of Evan Blozen, who was killed by gunfire on March 12 in Carteret, authorities said.

Robinson, of Carteret, is also charged with unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office said Thursday.

Attorney information for Robinson was not immediately available.

Police said following the shooting it was not a random act of violence. It remained unclear on Thursday if investigators identified a motive for the attack.

Blozen was found shot multiple times around 10 p.m. on Roosevelt Avenue. He died from his injuries at Raritan Bay Medical Center.

Blozens killing was the second fatal shooting in Middlesex County that day.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Carteret police at 732-541-3852 or the prosectors office at 732-745-8843.

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.
A young driver whose car was traveling more than 40 mph above the speed limit at the time of a fatal crash in Ocean County has been charged with vehicular homicide, officials said.

The crash  which happened on the morning of March 3  left 82-year-old Jules Brotsky with serious injuries. He later died in a hospital on March 26, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office said.

The driver, Aryeh Bakst, 18, of Lakewood, was then charged with vehicular homicide on March 27. He showed up at the Lakewood Police Department with a lawyer on Wednesday and surrendered, authorities said.

The prosecutors office did not release the name of the mans attorney.

Police said the crash occurred at the intersection of West County Line Road and Laurelwood Avenue in Lakewood at about 9 a.m. on March 3.

Officers on the scene learned that the 18-year-olds car was traveling west on West County Line Road when it struck Brotskys vehicle at the intersection, prosecutors said.

Both drivers were brought to Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Brotsky was admitted in critical condition, while Bakst was treated for unknown injuries and later released, officials said.

A further investigation of the crash found that Baksts car was traveling at a speed of 88.6 mph in a 45 mph zone before the impact, authorities said. Prior to being charged with vehicular homicide, he was issued motor vehicle summonses for reckless driving, careless driving and speeding.

Bakst has since been released from police custody in accordance with New Jersey Bail Reform.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
Sen. Bob Menendez is threatening to run for re-election as an independent in November, a doomed effort that can only serve to give Republicans a shot at taking the seat.

A fresh poll from Emerson College shows Menendez getting 9 percent support in a three-way race. That would cut the Democratic lead to 7 points, the poll says.
Whats the constant theme behind Joe Bidens sagging approval ratings?

Nicholas Grossman, a professor of International Relations at the University of Illinois and senior editor of ArDigital, has a theory: Afghanistan.

Most of you really dont want to play which policy caused Bidens low approval rating?, because the timing shows the answer is withdrawing from Afghanistan. Its been pretty steady since. On October 6, 2023, his approval rating according to 538 was 39.1%. Today its 39.4%, Grossman posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Most of you really don't want to play "which policy caused Biden's low approval rating?," because the timing shows the answer is withdrawing from Afghanistan. It's been pretty steady since.



On October 6, 2023, his approval rating according to 538 was 39.1%.

Today it's 39.4%. pic.twitter.com/fwLtWuXjpU  Nicholas Grossman (@NGrossman81) April 4, 2024

Polling has repeatedly shown the economy and immigration are issues on the top of voters minds. But theres no arguing with Grossmans timeline of Bidens numbers taking a nosedive and the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Whats more?

Biden wasnt the only president to want troops out of Afghanistan.

When Biden took office, the U.S. was already committed to a withdrawal agreement that had been reached between the Taliban and his predecessor Donald Trump. And a majority of Americans, meanwhile, also wanted U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, per Pew Research Center polling.

Something The Atlantics Tom Nichols was quick to pick up on.

Doing the one thing that Americans claimed they wanted every president to do https://t.co/vDivKAiKdq  Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 4, 2024

Critics slammed the August 2021 evacuation of more than 120,000 American citizens, Afghans and others as poorly planned and badly executed. They say the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces opened the door to a resurgence of al-Qaida and Islamic State militants in the country. And the exit, they say, signaled the United States lack of commitment to the broader Middle East and its unwillingness to stand by a partner in need.

Supporters counter that it was time to end Americas longest war and that leaving forces in the country would risk their lives and gain little. It was time, they said, for the Afghan people to take charge of their own country and its security so that the U.S. could focus on threats from China and Russia, and on other critical issues such as climate change and the pandemic.

What is certain is that the government of Afghanistan collapsed at the hands of the Taliban, hundreds of Afghans who supported the U.S. during the war were left behind fearful of retribution, and the leader of al-Qaida found sanctuary in Kabul.

On the political front, the withdrawal marked a turning point for Biden. His high approval ratings started falling as Americans saw horrifying images of desperate Afghans swarming the airport, U.S. troops and Afghan civilians being killed in a suicide attack, and an innocent Afghan family mistakenly targeted and killed by an American drone strike.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s campaign sounded much like former President Donald Trump in recent days after it reportedly sent out a fundraising email to supporters that referred to Jan. 6 Capitol rioters as activists who have been stripped of their Constitutional liberties.

According to NBC News Alex Seitz-Wald and Ryan J. Reilly, In the appeal sent to supporters Thursday signed by Team Kennedy, the campaign called for the exoneration of political prisoner Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, suggesting he and Jan. 6 defendants are victims of prosecutorial abuse. This is the reality that every American Citizen faces  from Ed Snowden, to Julian Assange to the J6 activists sitting in a Washington DC jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties. Please help our campaign call out the illiberal actions of our very own government, the fundraising email read.

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to praise people who stormed the nations Capitol on Jan. 6 in what members of his own party have labeled as a violent insurrection. The former president has referred to people who pled guilty or have been sent behind bars by juries as hostages.

NEW: RFK Jr. campaign says Jan. 6 activists have been stripped of their Constitutional liberties



w/@ryanjreilly https://t.co/hXnllmv1YT  Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) April 4, 2024

Hours later, though, Kennedys campaign pulled it back.

After publication of this piece, Kennedy spokesperson Stephanie Spear told NBC News that the language was an error, NBC News posted in a new report.

That statement was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedys views. It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process, she said, according to the new report.

More than 100 police officers were injured at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Throughout the melee, police officers were injured, mocked, ridiculed and threatened, according to police officers descriptions of the event and videos from rioters posted online. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died from injuries suffered during the riot.

Approximately 1,350 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting terms of imprisonment ranging from several days to 22 years.

Nearly 500 people have pleaded guilty to riot-related charges, typically hoping that cooperating could lead to a lighter punishment.

About three-quarters of them pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in which the maximum sentence was either six months or one year behind bars. More than 100 of them have pleaded guilty to felony charges punishable by longer prison terms.

The first person to plead guilty to a Jan. 6-related crime was Jon Ryan Schaffer, an Indiana musician who joined the Oath Keepers. Schaffer was one of at least eight Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty before the groups founder, Stewart Rhodes, and other members went to trial on seditious conspiracy charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
Former President Donald Trump isnt letting up.

Trump continues to praise people who stormed the nations Capitol on Jan. 6 in what members of his own party have labeled as a violent insurrection.

Trump, meanwhile, has dubbed people who pled guilty to crimes or sent behind bars after a criminal trial hostages.

The latest move from the former president was a late-night post on his media site Truth Social, where Trump shared a video of the national anthem with the caption January 6th hostages with President Donald J. Trump

More than 100 police officers were injured at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Throughout the melee, police officers were injured, mocked, ridiculed and threatened, according to police officers descriptions of the event and videos from rioters posted online. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died from injuries suffered during the riot.

Approximately 1,350 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting terms of imprisonment ranging from several days to 22 years.

Nearly 500 people have pleaded guilty to riot-related charges, typically hoping that cooperating could lead to a lighter punishment.

About three-quarters of them pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in which the maximum sentence was either six months or one year behind bars. More than 100 of them have pleaded guilty to felony charges punishable by longer prison terms.

The first person to plead guilty to a Jan. 6-related crime was Jon Ryan Schaffer, an Indiana musician who joined the Oath Keepers. Schaffer was one of at least eight Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty before the groups founder, Stewart Rhodes, and other members went to trial on seditious conspiracy charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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 necessary read for the girls, gays and theys and our allies as we navigate a rapidly changing, culturally fraught, complicated country where our bodies are constantly being legislated. Sign up for Honey today!

TW: This story depicts intimate partner abuse and sexual violence.

Georgina Pierce is a (Dine) Navajo woman living in New Mexico. She documents her life on TikTok, sharing glimpses of life with her six children, her profile displaying her glamorous makeup looks. Her face is done up in an array of colorful eyeshadow combinations and eyelashes, highlighted by arched eyebrows. She says her makeup routine feels a little different now, after a near-fatal attack by her ex-boyfriend and abuser nearly in July 2021 left her with permanent nerve damage in her face.

Its hard to move my lips sometimes and then when Im doing my makeup, I cant feel that Im lining my lip on my left side, you know, but I just kind of adapted to it. It just kind of became part of me, she said.

Pierces abuser, a former friend for 19 years, stabbed her in the face when she tried to break off their 3-month-long relationship. As the wound healed, Pierce decided to share details of the incident on social media. Her video posted on Sept. 11, 2021 has since been viewed over 6.3 million times.

This wasnt her first brush with intimate partner violence. She told Reckon that growing up, domestic abuse of the women around her was the norm, though it was not openly discussed. Later, she found herself in several abusive relationships.

I was being dragged, I almost got my neck broken and I got my jaw broken. Ive got my teeth knocked out, she said, recounting some of her past relationships.

Since going viral, she continues to share her story and encourage other women to break through learned behaviors and cycles of abuse.

We were taught when we were younger to not talk about it. Dont worry about it, leave it alone, she said. But nowadays, why cant we talk about it? It makes you uncomfortable? Because you know its true. I just want to encourage everybody to reach out and to say something.

Her story underscores the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women.

According to a 2016 National Institute of Justice report, more than 4 in 5 Native American and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56 percent who have experienced sexual violence and 55 percent who have experienced intimate partner violence. In 2022, Amnesty International called this a failure on the U.S. governments obligation to uphold the human rights of Indigenous women.

The U.S. governments failure to protect Indigenous women from this epidemic of sexual violence is predicated on a shameful legacy of deeply entrenched marginalization, abuse and persecution, said Tarah Demant, national director of programs at Amnesty International USA Justice for Indigenous women cannot wait any longer.

Boundaries to justice

The rates at which Native women face violence are harrowing.

Over 43 percent of Native American women report being raped during their lifetime at a rate 2.5 higher than other groups, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs.

This violence often turns deadly. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the murder rate for Native women living on reservations is 10 times higher than the national average and the third-leading cause of death for Native women.

Historic and institutional issues like navigating jurisdictions, lack of resources and poverty all factor into this widely-perpetrated violence.

We have our laws, but we are incapable of holding non-Native Americans accountable, Kathy Gibson, the rural project coordinator for the Napuha Kha Nii Programs, the domestic violence and sexual assault programs for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, told the Nevada Current last year.

According to The Progressive Magazine, an estimated 86 to 96 percent of the sexual abuse of Native women is committed by non-Indigenous perpetrators. The complex jurisdiction process acts as a barrier to obtaining justice for these crimes. Though tribal police can detain non-natives suspected of committing crimes on reservations, state or federal police must arrest them which causes major delays, according to NPR.

That federal officers might not get there for hours and hours and hours if at all, that state police might not want to get involved, that this whole network is an indefensible morass of complexity and unworkability that creates lawlessness and impunity for criminals, Elizabeth Reese, an assistant professor at Stanford Law School, told NPR in 2021.

In 2022, Amnesty International released a report that cited the complex jurisdiction process Indigenous women face as a lacking on the U.S. governments end.

Tribal governments are hampered by a complex set of laws and regulations that undermine their authority and make it difficult, if not impossible, to respond to sexual violence in an effective manner, The Never-ending Maze: Continued failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA, the Amnesty International report, noted.

According to Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, this result of structural racism carries over into non-tribal lands as well. In 2018, her organization looked into sexual violence against American Indian and Alaskan Native women in Seattle.. They found that, of the women they talked to, 94 percent had been sexually assaulted in their lifetime but only 8 percent of their rapists were convicted in the justice system.

We see a lack of accountability. We see a lack of an investigation and, again, the systematic issues that place the blame of our victimization on our community, instead of looking at, why are we being targeted and why are we being victimized at such high rates? she told PBS NewsHour.

Pierces stabbing took place in Aztec, New Mexico but after committing the crime, her abuser fled to the Navajo reservation  out of the jurisdiction of local police.

He went on the run for one whole year by living back on the reservation where they couldnt get him, she explained.

Housing and other barriers

Aside from tribal jurisdiction, Indigenous women face other issues that contribute to the violence committed against them. According to census data, about 27 percent of Native Americans live in poverty.

In July 2023 STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Center hosted a national web series detailing issues with housing in Indigenous communities. Senior housing specialist Gwendolyn Packard said that the decades-long housing crisis on tribal lands has had a major impact on the abuse Indigenous communities face.

Families living on tribal lands face high poverty rates, poor housing conditions and limited infrastructure. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, more than one-third of families on tribal lands are living in overcrowded homes, doubling up to prevent homelessness.

Packard says theres also a lack of resources for Indigenous survivors of domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking. According to STTARS, there are less than 50 tribal domestic violence shelters in the country, compared to over 2,000 non-native domestic violence shelters. When victims dont have the funding to leave or support to seek help, they often stay in abusive situations, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Thats why we have such high rates of violence in our communities, is that theres no services, theres no resources. Theres no place for people to go for safety, said Packard.

Pierce says that her community normalized not talking about abuse and that being taught to stay silent is discouraging to many abused women. She told Reckon that its important for her to share her story as a Navajo woman because nobody else will share. She explained that the fear and shame prevent many in her community from speaking out against their abusers and she will continue to advocate for women on social media.

Were human beings, we do not deserve to live like this.
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If the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, Louisiana citizens may soon have neither, thanks to our state lawmakers and Gov. Jeff Landry.

The annual legislative session now underway in Baton Rouge features a plethora of bills that collectively  and in one case all by itself  would obliterate the Louisiana Public Records Law.

That is a big deal, because without a strong public records law, there can be no vigilance. And without vigilance, well 

Several dozen bills mention public records. Not all are bad. But heres a look at several that stand out for being particularly odious:

 Senate Bill 482 by Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Ville Platte, revives and injects with steroids former Gov. Bobby Jindals Orwellian deliberative process gubernatorial records exception, which Jindal relied on to keep his worst decisions under wraps. As originally drafted, Clouds bill would apply that exception to the formulation of ALL governmental decisions and policies  not just the governors. If SB 482 were already the law, Mayor LaToya Cantrells first-class flights at taxpayers expense and LSUs cover-up of sexual abuse by athletes would not have come to light. Almost nothing that citizens really need to know about their government would be a public record. This is the worst bill of all.

 House Bill 768 by Rep. Les Farnum, R-Sulphur, is almost as bad. It would repeal the provision in present law that makes custodians of public records personally liable for paying damages (read: attorneys fees) for arbitrarily and capriciously withholding records or failing to respond to a request. Absent personal liability, theres literally no reason for any public official to produce a public record. Worst of all, it would leave taxpayers on the hook for attorney fees when officials violate the law. Thats like making victims pay restitution for criminals misconduct.

 SB 423 by Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, seems almost benign, but it has horrible unintended consequences. The bill would add a provision that anyone requesting a public record must be a Louisiana citizen. Seems simple enough  and Morris has been a champion of public records in the past. He may have filed SB 423 in hopes of thwarting the many bad faith records requests that officials and agencies receive from out-of-state political committees. Unfortunately, the requirement of Louisiana citizenship would also prevent national banks, oil companies, mortgage lenders and many other entities from getting ordinary but vital business records. Ouch.

The late, legendary federal Judge Damon J. Keith wrote in one of his landmark opinions, Democracy dies in the dark. He wrote those words in a 2002 case  in the wake of 9/11  that courageously barred the federal government from closing deportation hearings to the press. Citing landmark First Amendment cases, Keith underscored the medias role in representing and preserving citizens right to know what government is doing.

Love us or hate us, were here for you, dear readers.

If Louisianans dont speak out loudly and often, our state could soon become shrouded in the very darkness Keith warned against.
The Imperial Household Agency reported that Emperor Naruhitos niece, Princess Kako, is set to visit Greece for one week in late May.



The Greek government extended the invitation to mark 125 years of friendship with Japan.



The princess will visit the President in Athens and attend other diplomatic events.



This will be the princesss third diplomatic visit abroad.
A water line in Fukuoka prefecture burst and flooded a road after a car collided with an overhead water pipe on April 2.



According to police, the collision was reported at sunset in Omuta City.



The water supply flooded across the road, but did not cause any injuries.
Cleveland-Cliffs said it lowered its carbon emissions intensity 28% below the global average last year.

The Cleveland-based steelmaker and mining company, which is one of the largest industrial employers in Northwest Indiana, released its Sustainability Report 2023 that offers on update on its decarbonization, greenhouse gas reduction and environmental, social and governance initiatives.

The company reported that it reduced its average emissions intensity to 1.54 metric tons of CO2 per metric ton of crude steel last year, down from 1.6 in 2022. It remained lower than the global average of 2.15 metrics tons of CO2 per metric ton of crude steel.

With our GHG emissions intensity 28% better than the global steel industry average, Cleveland-Cliffs is one of the cleanest and most energy-efficient blast furnace steel producers in the world. Through our advancements in steelmaking by the BF-BOF route, we supply our customers with lower carbon intensive steel," Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. "We took a major step forward in 2023 and early 2024 in this endeavor by completing successful trials of hydrogen injection into blast furnaces at our Middletown and Indiana Harbor integrated steel mills.

The report outlines Cleveland-Cliffs' progress toward its sustainability goals on a number of fronts, including greenhouse gas emissions, water, waste, talent management, labor relations, community relations, corporate governance and health and safety. It for instance it pursuing decarbonization through various methods, including hydrogen use, electrification and direct reduction.

The company also reported increasing charitable donations and employee giving to $7.5 million in 2023.

As we grow, we continue to foster a culture of safety and inclusion at Cliffs," Goncalves said. "I thank all our employees, particularly our union workforce, for their continued dedication to safe production.

For more information or to view the report, visit www.clevelandcliffs.com and click on sustainability.
VALPARAISO  A repeat drunken driver who caused a crash in August that landed a 70-year-old driver in a rehabilitation center was sentenced to prison Thursday after pleading guilty to two incidents of driving while intoxicated, records show.

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer sentenced Alison Cook, 34, of Crown Point, to two years in prison followed by two years on home detention and then four years of formal probation.

Cook is also to serve 10 days in the Porter County Jail and will be eligible to take part in a recovery program after serving 15 months of her prison term, according to the sentencing order.

Her driver's license was also suspended for two years.

Cook, who has been at the county jail for the past 243 days, pleaded guilty to felony counts of operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction and OWI with a prior conviction resulting in serious bodily injury, records show.

She also has a prior OWI from Lake County, according to defense attorney Jesse Harper, who referred to Thursday's sentencing as fair.

Police say Cook was nearly five times the legal limit when she crossed the center line along a local stretch of Ind. 8 on June 26 and collided head-on with another vehicle, landing that driver in a rehabilitation center to recover from serious injuries.

Emergency responders had to free the Hebron man from his vehicle and it was later learned his left leg and ankle were broken in the crash, as well as his left elbow, two ribs and sternum, police said. After spending two weeks at a hospital, the man was transferred to a rehabilitation center.

Cook was treated at the scene of the crash and was reportedly verbally aggressive with emergency responders, thought she was in Crown Point and tried to walk away, despite having various large cuts along her arms from broken glass, according to the arrest report.

Woman, children targeted in violent home invasion, Region police say The woman said she dialed 911, which caused the accused to grab the phone and smash it on the floor.

Cook admitted to drinking rum before driving and her blood alcohol concentration was found to be 0.39%, which exceeds the legal limit for driving of 0.08%, police said.

DeBoer ordered that Cook be held without bond at the Porter County Jail while her case proceeds, records show.

Police said they learned Cook had an OWI case pending at the time of this incident and a prior OWI conviction from Lake County in August 2022.
Franciscan Health hospitals will host suicide prevention classes this spring.

Franciscan Health Michigan City Hospital will offer a suicide prevention class from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 30. The free course will take place at the former St. Anthony Hospital now known as Franciscan Health Michigan Citys Homer Street Legacy Campus at 301 W. Homer St. in Michigan City.

Register with Community Health Improvement Coordinator Nila Williams at Nila.Williams@franciscanalliance.org in advance.

The south suburban Franciscan Health Olympia Fields Hospital will host a free suicide prevention course from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. May 20. It will take place in the auditorium at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields at 20201 S. Crawford Ave., which can be accessed through the main entrance. Email Franciscan Health Community Health Improvement Director Danielle Crowder at Danielle.Crowder@franciscanalliance.org to register.

And the Franciscan Health Main St. Outpatient Center in Crown Point will host a free course from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on May 23. It will be held the Marian Education Centers Bonzel Suite at 1201 S. Main St. Register up front by emailing Franciscan Health Community Health Improvement Coordinator Stacy Zembala at Stacy.Zembala@franciscanalliance.org.

The suicide prevention classes are based on curriculum developed by the QPR Institute, which aims to provide practical and proven suicide prevention education in the face of a growing global mental health crisis. The acronym QPR stands for question, persuade and refer, which is how it recommends handling people with suicidal ideation.

The QPR Institute teaches about how to recognize suicide warning signs, saying its just as vital to saving lives CPR or the Heimlich Maneuver.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates 50,000 people killed themselves in 2022, the highest rate in America since 1941. A suicide took place every 11 minutes.

An estimated 1,135 suicides took place in Indiana in 2022, according to the Indiana Department of Public Health. Lake County had the second most suicides in the state.
Nippon sent the United Steelworkers union a letter offering assurances about job security and investments if its proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel goes through.

The Japan-based steelmaker pledged to maintain jobs and invest in U.S. Steel's mills, but the union remained unconvinced, describing it as "window dressing" and "empty promises."

"Nippon Steel sent a letter to the USW in its ongoing attempt to gain our support for its proposed purchase of U.S. Steel. Instead of waiting for our response, Nippon leaked their letter far and wide, portraying it as an earnest effort to address our concerns. In truth, it was another meaningless piece of paper," International President David McCall and District 7 Director Mike Millsap said in a message to steelworkers. "Nippon called its letter a 'binding commitment,' but it is instead nothing more than another collection of empty promises and open-ended language that would enable it to skirt obligations to workers and retirees.

Nippon says its acquisition would deliver benefits to union workers, U.S. Steel and the American steel industry as a whole. It characterizes itself as a partner who can ensure U.S. Steel remains successful for generations to come.

"Through increased financial investment and the contribution of our advanced technologies to U. S. Steel, Nippon Steel will advance American priorities by driving greater quality and competitiveness for customers in the critical industries that rely on American steel while strengthening American supply chains and economic defenses against China," the company said in a statement. "No other U.S. steel company on its own can meet this challenge while also meeting antitrust requirements. Our aim is to bolster and grow U. S. Steel in the U.S. market in a way that prioritizes its talented employees, and we have provided significant commitments to the USW in our continued efforts to reach a mutually agreeable resolution. These include job security, pension security, capital investment, technology sharing, financial reporting, and the ability to enforce contractual obligations post-closing."

The USW said wants U.S. Steel to remain a domestic steel company instead of a foreign subsidiary. It has raised concerns about a foreign owner having conflicts of interest, such as on trade cases involving Japanese imports.

"In the response that we sent, we were firm and clear: our union sees through Nippons proposal and will not support the transaction in exchange for a pack of empty promises. Nor will we be deceived by so-called commitments that have baked into them ways to release Nippon from following through," McCall and Millsap said in a message to steelworkers. "Instead, our union remains committed to our work ensuring the long-term security of our jobs and our facilities."
It has been nearly 10 months since a man attacked Maryam Khan, the first Muslim elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives, outside an Eid al-Adha prayer service in Hartford, Conn. She is still struggling to heal, she said.

I have a lot of things to get through, both emotionally and physically, Ms. Khan said. Im still working on trying to heal and process what happened.

But she felt some closure in a courtroom on Tuesday, she said, when she watched her attacker plead guilty to felony charges related to the attack.

The man, Andrey Desmond, 30, of New Britain, Conn., pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree sexual assault, strangulation and risk of injury to a child, according to the clerks office at the State Superior Court in Hartford.
Eight Bronx men were charged on Wednesday with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of beer, mostly Modelo and Corona imported from Mexico, by robbing train yards and warehouses in dozens of thefts across the Northeast over the past two years.

An indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan accuses Jose Cesari as being the mastermind of what it describes as the Beer Theft Enterprise and says he recruited other participants in the brazen heists via Instagram posts.

In one post, the indictment says, Mr. Cesari wrote, Need workers who want to make money. The post had a Yes or No button, a moneybag emoji and a railroad track in the background, the indictment says. In another, the indictment says, he offered a guarantee that those he hired would make 100k+ in a month by following the beer train method.

Mr. Cesari, 27, who was at large on Wednesday, was charged with conspiracy to steal from interstate or foreign shipments by carrier and six other counts. The seven others face the same conspiracy charge, and several were also charged with other crimes.
NASA will be renting some cool wheels to drive around the moon.

Space agency officials announced on Wednesday that they have hired three companies to come up with preliminary designs for vehicles to take NASA astronauts around the lunar south polar region in the coming years. After the astronauts return to Earth, these vehicles would be able to self-drive around as robotic explorers, similar to NASAs rovers on Mars.

The self-driving capability would also allow the vehicle to meet the next astronaut mission at a different location.

Where it will go, there are no roads, Jacob Bleacher, the chief exploration scientist at NASA, said at a news conference on Wednesday. Its mobility will fundamentally change our view of the moon.

The companies are Intuitive Machines of Houston, which in February successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the moon; Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colo.; and Venturi Astrolab of Hawthorne, Calif. Only one of the three will actually build a vehicle for NASA and send it to the moon.
Emily Molnar, the artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater, is committed to giving her dancers, as she has said, creative agency and a greater sense of belonging.

That matters in the studio. You want it to matter onstage. But without substantial dances to dance, it cant help but to matter very little  especially not in promoting the individuality that comes, one hopes, from having creative agency in the first place.

The company, under Molnars artistic direction since 2020, returned to New York City Center on Wednesday with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels and three works, including N.N.N.N. (2002) by the esteemed William Forsythe. (As a dancer, Molnar was a member of his Frankfurt Ballet.) It isnt Forsythe on his best day  its too knowingly playful to really soar  but at least it was succinct, with dancers that looked like real people. As the evening dragged on, this wasnt necessarily the norm.

In the Forsythe work, four men create a score using their breath, which provides the rhythm and the choreographic pulse alongside barely-there music by Thom Willems. Swinging their arms, resting their hands on one anothers shoulders, they inhaled and exhaled with fervor. Their breathing, sharp and drawn out with the occasional whoosh, mirrored the rise and fall of their limbs.


Gaetano Pesce, who for more than 60 years created eccentrically shaped, brightly colored furniture, art objects and, occasionally, buildings, remaining the enfant terrible of the design world even as he became its grand old man, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 84.

The death, at a hospital, was caused by a stroke, his daughter Milena Pesce said.

Mr. Pesce, who was born in Italy but spent much of his life in New York City, may be best known for his translucent, brilliantly colored objects, including bowls, vases and trays, which he made by pouring resin into molds, then adding dyes that he chose on the spot. Other pieces, including tables, chairs and lamps, were made of hard plastic, also with vibrant pigments added extemporaneously.
Legal thrillers and true-crime sagas often succeed at generating momentum but fail at conveying genuine humanity. Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office, debuting Sunday at 9 p.m. on Masterpiece on PBS (check local listings), succeeds at both; it is a tender and shattering drama and a tense, twisty legal story.

Toby Jones stars as Alan Bates, a British sub-postmaster who radiates decency and integrity. Hes convinced  as are we, immediately  that his new Post Office-issued kiosk is the source of grave accounting errors, but dozens of calls lead him nowhere. He is told, repeatedly, that hes the only person encountering any problems, and the Post Office fires him and accuses him of theft. With the support of his thoughtful wife, Suzanne (Julie Hesmondhalgh, superb), he vows to clear his name.

Thus begins a 20-year saga, one of baffling malfeasance by the British Post Office that led to widespread suffering, with hundreds of people falsely accused of crimes. The sub-postmasters were contractually responsible for the perceived shortfalls, which sometimes amounted to tens of thousands of pounds. Some, like Jo (Monica Dolan), pleaded guilty just to avoid jail time. Some served prison sentences not just for crimes they did not commit, but crimes that did not even occur. Some filed for bankruptcy; some died from suicide.

We just gotta trust in the British justice system, and everythingll be all right, says Lee (Will Mellor), one of the victims. He might as well be the guy in the horror movie who asks whats the worst that could happen? before walking into a chain saw. When Alan finally manages to organize an advocacy and support group, we get our first glimmers of hope and relief barely poking through the Kafkaesque, viciously punitive morass.
Patricia Highsmiths 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley sets its dark action in a succession of colorful Italian locales: the Amalfi coast, San Remo, Rome, Palermo, Venice. Movies based on the book, like Rene Clements Plein Soleil (released in the United States as Purple Noon) and Anthony Minghellas The Talented Mr. Ripley, have taken the opportunity Highsmith gave them to capitalize on sun and scenery. The audience gets its brutal murders and brazen deceit wrapped in bright visual pleasure.

For Ripley, an eight-episode adaptation of the book that premieres on Netflix on Thursday, Steven Zaillian has decided to do without the color. Shot  beautifully  in sharply etched black and white by the Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood), Ripley offers a different sort of pleasure: the chilly embrace of the art house.

Reflecting what the more high-minded filmmakers of the shows time period (it is set in 1961) were up to, Zaillian, who wrote and directed all the episodes, takes an approach that harmonizes with Elswits austerity. The entire season moves along sleekly  you could say somnolently  at the same measured pace, with the same arch tone and on the same note of muted, stylish apprehension. Highsmiths pulpy concoction, with its hair-trigger killings and sudden reversals, is run through a strainer and comes out smooth. It feels like what you might get if the early-60s Antonioni or Resnais had directed a season of The White Lotus.

And Zaillian appears to have asked his actors to practice a similar restraint. Their overall affect isnt flat, exactly, but its within a narrow range, with physicality tightly reined in and the eyes asked to do a lot of work. When you have the eyes of Andrew Scott, the gifted Irish actor (Sherlock, Fleabag) who plays Tom Ripley, thats not a big problem.
During a tense 30-minute call today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Biden threatened to condition future American support for Israel on whether it improves its treatment of civilians in Gaza. Biden called the humanitarian situation in the enclave unacceptable, and insisted to Netanyahu that he quickly put in place specific protections.

It was the first time that the president has sought to leverage American aid to influence the conduct of Israels war against Hamas, a step some of his closest allies have publicly supported. Bidens frustration with Netanyahu has grown in recent months. But in public, he has staunchly supported Israels right to respond to Hamass Oct. 7 attack.

During the call, Biden urged Netanyahu to negotiate a deal that would result in an immediate cease-fire and the release of hostages taken by Hamas. A spokesman said the White House expects Israel to make announcements of specific changes within hours or days.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who dialed into the call, said afterward that Israel needed to do more to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza, a challenge made more difficult after Israels deadly attack on an aid convoy this week.
Ukraine lowered its draft age to 25

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law lowering Ukraines draft age from 27 to 25, an attempt to replenish the ranks of a battered army that could create a political backlash. He also signed laws to eliminate some medical exemptions and create a database to crack down on draft dodgers.

Parliament passed the draft law last May, but Zelensky had delayed signing it in the hope that it would not be needed. But casualty rates are high, most men who want to volunteer have already done so, and many soldiers have been in combat continuously for two years.

Russia has been on the offensive, and Ukraines generals have warned of a broader attack in the spring or the summer. Even with an influx of new soldiers and much-needed weaponry from the U.S., Ukraine is expected this year to hold the existing front lines  at best.

Concerns: Lowering the draft age will mobilize thousands of healthy and rested soldiers, but it poses long-term risks for Ukraines population, given the countrys demographics.
Despite major progress in protecting vast tracts of rainforest, the world failed again last year to significantly slow the pace of global forest destruction, according to a report issued on Thursday. Record wildfires in Canada and expanding agriculture elsewhere offset big gains in forest protection in Brazil and Colombia, the report found.

The annual survey by the World Resources Institute, a research organization, found that the world lost 9.1 million acres of primary tropical forest in 2023, equivalent to an area almost the size of Switzerland, about 9 percent less than the year before. But the improvement failed to put the world on course to halt all forest loss by 2030, a commitment made by 145 nations at global climate talks in Glasgow in 2021 and reaffirmed by all countries last year.
The maker of the newest treatment approved for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis said Thursday that it would withdraw the drug from the market because a large clinical trial did not produce evidence that the treatment worked.

The company, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement that it had started the process of withdrawing the drug in the United States, where it is called Relyvrio, and in Canada, where it is called Albrioza. As of Thursday, no new patients will be able to start the drug, while current patients who wish to continue taking the medication can be transitioned to a free drug program, the company said.

The medication is one of only a few treatments for the severe neurological disorder. When the Food and Drug Administration approved it in September 2022, the agency concluded there was not yet sufficient evidence that the medication could help patients live longer or slow the progression of the disease.

It decided to greenlight the medication anyway, instead of waiting two years for results of a large clinical trial, citing data showing the treatment to be safe and the desperation of A.L.S. patients. The disease robs patients of their ability to control muscles, speak and breathe without assistance and often causes death in two to five years.
In the animated French feature Chicken for Linda!, directed by Chiara Malta and Sebastien Laudenbach, a mother accuses her young daughter of stealing a ring of great and mournful value. When the mother, Paulette (voiced by Clotilde Hesme), discovers her error, she promises to do whatever Linda (Melinee Leclerc) wishes by way of apology. Linda was an infant when her father died, so she asks her culinarily challenged mother to cook her fathers go-to dish: chicken and peppers.

A general strike  Vive la France!  tosses a slapstick wrench into Paulettes pledge, closing stores and forcing her to secure the chicken by other means. Police officers give slapstick chase. A watermelon truck and its kindly driver enter the fray. Paulettes older sister, Astrid (Laetitia Dosch)  a yoga teacher who self-medicates with candy  is dragged into the mess. And the children and denizens of the congenial apartment complex observe and participate in the increasingly madcap antics of mother and child.
For his third feature, Housekeeping for Beginners, the writer and director Goran Stolevski returns to his birthplace, North Macedonia, to capture the tumbling energy and volatile emotions of a household in crisis.

The home, a haven of sorts for racial and cultural outsiders, belongs to Dita (Anamaria Marinca), a middle-age social worker whose partner, Suada (Alina Serban), has received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. While Dita anxiously seeks treatment options, the more abrasive Suada accuses her doctor of ill-treating patients who, like her, belong to the maligned ethnic group known as Roma. Suada fears for the future of her daughters: Vanesa (Mia Mustafa), an astringent teenager, and little Mia (a ridiculously charming Dzada Selim). Desperate to give them a better life, she begs Dita to adopt the girls and fraudulently register them as white. And as lesbians are not permitted to adopt, Dita will have to marry a man.
When Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth IIs second son, agreed to be interviewed on the BBC in November 2019, he likely didnt expect it would one day inspire a feature film. But Scoop, which comes to Netflix on Friday, follows a TV musical and a documentary in depicting the 58-minute interview and its fallout. (Amazon is also producing an upcoming limited series.)

In the explosive conversation, Prince Andrew discussed his friendship with the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and denied allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Viewers were appalled by his comments, and British and international news media characterized the appearance as a PR disaster. In the following days, Prince Andrew announced he would step back from public life.

Though the interview was conducted by the journalist Emily Maitlis, Scoop emphasizes the work of Sam McAlister, the producer who secured it. The Netflix film is based on McAlisters memoir, Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBCs Most Shocking Interviews, which was published in 2022.

Heres what else to know about the interview and its fallout.

Why did the interview take place?

When Maitlis asked Prince Andrew on-camera why it was the right time to speak out and give a rare public interview, he replied: Because there is no good time to talk about Mr. Epstein and all things associated.
The exposes that brought public attention to Watergate, the predations of Harvey Weinstein and the abuse tolerated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston have all been the subjects of movies. The drama revolved, in part, around the difficulty of getting people to talk.

Now comes the story of how the BBC program Newsnight landed its bombshell interview with Prince Andrew in 2019. Over a bizarre 49-minute segment, he unconvincingly addressed his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender, and repeatedly denied accusations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre that, at 17, she had sex with the prince after being trafficked to him by Epstein. The interview was less world historic than David Frosts conversations with an out-of-office Richard Nixon (themselves the basis for a play-turned-movie), but the fallout was real. Faced with widespread criticism, Prince Andrew resigned from public duties just days later.
The Old Oak is named for the pub where much of its action happens  an old drinking hole in a village outside of Durham, England, thats seen better days. Its back room, once a gathering place for the miners and their families who populated the town a generation ago, has been locked up for many years, fallen to disuse. Its walls are still hung with photographs of those miners taken during the lengthy strike of 1984-1985, a labor effort that ended without the resolution the miners sought and with weakened trade unions. But during the action, the village marched in solidarity  at least for a while  and came together to share meals in that back room, to support one another, a point of pride for the men who were children back then.

When the movie begins, it is 2016, the year of the Brexit vote. Its hard to imagine that kind of unity happening any more. The village has slowly emptied out, closing down places like the church hall, which had been a gathering spot. The villages real estate is being bought up at auction by entities abroad, driving down the value of houses owned by locals, leaving them with nothing to live on in old age. Jobs are scarce. Money is tight. Children barely have enough to eat. And so in the Old Oak, a handful of regulars sit around, bitterly decrying the state of things.
At first glance, you might think that with around a dozen movies to his credit, Quentin Dupieux is finally settling down. The French directors latest takes place entirely inside a Parisian theater, during a play  we are far from superheroes with a giant rat for a boss (Smoking Causes Coughing), time-travel passages (Incredible But True) and serial-killing tires (Rubber).

Dupieuxs fans will be happy to know that his surreal humor is gloriously intact, while newcomers might find in this movie a gateway into one of contemporary cinemas most idiosyncratic universes.
It was the day after a New York City police officer had been fatally shot in the line of duty and a man killed after being shoved onto the subway tracks, and Mayor Eric Adams had reached the end of a somber hourlong news conference.

He had spoken emotionally about the loss of the officer; blamed the two deaths on a system that he said left the city vulnerable to the effects of recidivism and mental illness; and sought to counter the narrative that New York had descended into chaos.

And now it was time for Burger King.

Give me those two pictures from Burger King, the mayor commanded, launching into an explanation for a recent unannounced visit to an outpost of the fast-food chain in Lower Manhattan that has attracted complaints for drug dealing. After some research and face-to-face conversations there, Mr. Adams concluded the complaints were unwarranted.

I did something revolutionary, he said. I went to talk to them and said, Who are you?

Earlier that morning, Mr. Adams had visited Rikers Island for another closed-press drop-in, and watched the baptisms of several detainees. Three days later, he returned to Rikers for his own rebaptism, with the Rev. Al Sharpton doing the honors that included a thorough washing of the mayors feet.
Sunday is Tulip Day in Manhattans Union Square.

A temporary field of 200,000 flowers, trucked in from farms in New Jersey and Virginia, will bloom in the plaza from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; more than 10,000 people have registered in advance to create their own free bouquets. (Walk-ins will also be admitted.)

While there is no shortage of flowercentric events and festivals in New York each year, this is the first time Royal Anthos, a Dutch trade association for flower bulb companies, is bringing Tulip Day to the city alongside the European Union and the Netherlands Consulate General of New York. (Similar events are held in Amsterdam and San Francisco.)
The California billionaire Don Hankey made his fortune by offering high-interest auto loans to buyers with bad credit. This week, he signed up a new client in need of urgent help: Donald J. Trump.

A company operated by Mr. Hankey came to the former presidents aid on Monday and provided a $175 million bond in Mr. Trumps New York civil fraud case, helping him avoid financial disaster. It was the first time one of Mr. Hankeys companies had done such a deal, and the State of New York has demanded the firm show its ability to provide the guarantee.

Mr. Hankey earned a reputation as a provider of risky and lucrative loans, specifically collateral-based debt that can be arranged more quickly than conventional loans and requires borrowers to pledge valuable assets. His companies are known for relentlessly calling people who miss payments by a day, and repossessing vehicles from delinquent borrowers, according to news accounts and regulators.

Now, Mr. Hankeys highest-profile client is running again for the White House and, if elected, could exert influence over federal regulation of his high-interest loan industry.
Beyonce released a genre-bending country album, Cowboy Carter, last week. After listening to it in all the requisite settings  on a walk, in a car and on a plane  I finally understand what Beyonce, a notoriously enigmatic pop star, wants to say to the world. She wants to be more than popular. She wants to be legendary. But first, she isnt through taking everyone who has doubted her to the woodshed.

In outlaw country tradition, Cowboy Carter settles scores with haters and with history. Beyonce has trilled, growled, marched, stepped, sweated and sung her heart out for almost 30 years. It is, this album argues, in conjunction with the others in her in-progress three-act Renaissance oeuvre, time for a little respect, for Black artists generally but also for her specifically.

Just by being Black, a woman, popular and impervious to country musics gatekeepers, Beyonce has made a political album. Puzzling over who is country enough to sing love songs to wheat fields and big trucks only seems prosaic. Big Country  the Nashville-controlled, pop-folk music that commodifies rural American fantasies  is the cultural arm of white grievance politics. In 1974, President Richard Nixon described the genre as being as native as anything American we could find. That must have been a shock to actual Native Americans. But the message was not for them. It was for the white Southern voters Nixon needed to win over amid massive resistance to Black enfranchisement. Todays Republican Party continues that tradition. Embracing country music is a loyalty test for conservative politicians and right-wing pundits whose career ambitions align with white identity politics. Beyonce singing country music in this political climate was always going to cause a stir.

I went into this album release expecting, like many cultural critics, that the biggest question would be: Is it country? She is from Texas, which should be enough. She also has that voice  not her singing voice, but her speaking voice. It is molasses slow and heavy-toned like Southern humidity. Doubting Beyonces country bona fides is like insisting that the realest Americans can only be found in small-town diners. It is a convenient shorthand for dismissing people you would rather not think about.
In 2007, I had a conversation about the culture war with the evangelical pastor Tim Keller that Ive never forgotten. Keller, who was the founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, died last year, a devastating loss.

Keller was describing a change in his churchs young adults. Ive long seen friendships flourish across political differences, he told me. Now I see that disagreement often ends friendships. As he put it, what he was seeing was a change from a culture in which younger Americans were intolerant of cruelty and tolerant of good-faith political differences to a culture in which people were intolerant of political differences and tolerant of cruelty  so long as that cruelty was aimed at the right targets.

Keller wasnt just describing young Christians. He was seeing the change everywhere. Your political or theological positions were becoming the primary measure of your virtue, and your conduct was a distant second. According to this ethos, being for or against abortion rights, for example, defines you far more than the way you treat other people.

Im reminded of a recent conversation I had with a college student who said, When I first heard you speak, I thought you were a decent conservative, and then I found out you were pro-life. Ive heard comments like that many times in recent years, and not just about abortion. Any disagreement about any important issue can lead to crushing disappointment and outright anger.
To the Editor:

Re Just Let People Eat, by Jose Andres, a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen (Opinion guest essay, April 4):

What a humane, heartfelt and balanced essay by Mr. Andres after the tragic death of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.

Now if only the Israeli people will hear his plea and require the government to open more humanitarian aid routes into Gaza. Food is not a weapon of war.

James Berkman

Boston

To the Editor:

Jose Andress essay deserves to be read by all. He beautifully points out the commonality across religions and cultures of our need for food. He deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his work and for calling on the world to concentrate on the most fundamental human need: nourishment for life itself.

Elena Reyes

Fort Myers, Fla.

The writer is a licensed psychologist.

To the Editor:

Re Is Biden Willing to Use Americas Leverage With Israel?, by David E. Sanger and Peter Baker (news analysis, April 4):

President Biden is outraged and heartbroken over the deaths of the seven aid workers in Gaza. David Cameron, the British foreign secretary, says Israel must make major changes to ensure the safety of aid workers.
When a Texas appeals court reversed itself last week and acquitted Crystal Mason, a mother of three, in a voting fraud case, it ended almost a decade in which Ms. Mason lived in fear of being torn away from her family and imprisoned.

In 2018 she was sentenced to a five-year prison term for illegally casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 election.

Though the prosecution of Ms. Mason ultimately failed, it still could chill peoples willingness to exercise their right to vote. Few would want to vote if it means going through what Ms. Mason did. As such, the reversal in her case cannot undo much of the damage that irresponsible Texas prosecutors wrought.

As the federal circuit court of appeals that oversees Texas recognized decades ago, short of physical violence, nothing has a more chilling effect on voting than baseless arrests and prosecutions. Unfortunately, that may be the point of bringing cases like Ms. Masons, as they suggest apparent racial disparities at work in voting-fraud prosecutions.
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with any questions.

astead w. herndon

One thing Ive learned about presidential campaigns is that youll almost never catch a candidate in New York City, unless, of course, they need to raise some money. [MUSIC PLAYING] And last week, that was the case, when three US presidents, Biden, Obama, and Clinton, all gathered at Radio City Music Hall for what the Biden campaign called, quote, The most successful political fundraiser in American history. And we just have to take their word for it, in part, because we werent able to get in. But heres the gist  tickets started at $250 on the low end and $100,000 on the high end, which got you a photo with all three presidents, an entrance to a private reception. There were performances by Queen Latifah, Lizzo, and an appearance from Stephen Colbert. In the end, the campaign says it raised more than $25 million. But this wasnt just another gathering of the rich and famous. Its an example of something the Biden campaign has done really well  courting big donors, and just, in general, raising a lot of money. In February alone, the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party raised $53 million, bringing their total cash on hand, as of the beginning of March, to $155 million. Thats more than $50 million ahead of where Donald Trump and the RNC say their current fundraising totals are, which, theoretically, should allow Bidens campaign to build out a more robust operation than their opponents. But to this point, Bidens money advantage is yet to solve his political problems, like weak poll numbers against Trump, continued concerns about his advanced age, and the enduring critiques of the administrations role in the war in Gaza. That cropped up at Radio City when activists disrupted the event several times. So with the general election in its early stages, I wanted to check in on the dollars and cents of 2024, on Bidens impressive totals, Trumps financial situation, and all the things money cant buy. Today, its all about the Benjamins. From The New York Times, Im Astead Herndon. This is The Run-Up.

robert wolf

So Ive been going to political fundraisers for over two decades. And I will tell you that night was electric.

astead w. herndon

I wanted to talk with someone who did get in to that Radio City event. Indulge me with some snoopy questions, like, did you see anybody cool, or were the biggest celebrities the presidents themselves?

robert wolf

Well, without a question, the biggest celebrities were the presidents.

astead w. herndon

This is Robert Wolf. He sat in the orchestra.

robert wolf

I have to admit, for me, I went with my wife, and it felt like a great date night. We dont come to the city all that often. And so it was great to see Queen Latifah before, and Lizzo, and Ben Platt, and people that I wouldnt necessarily go see perform. And obviously Colbert as the moderator, hes going to be funny, right? Theres a lot of tongue in cheek there. So for me it was kind of like  it was just a fun night.

astead w. herndon

Wolf is a prolific Democratic fundraiser and Wall Street veteran.

robert wolf

Most of my career I was on Wall Street at Salomon Brothers for about a decade. And then I moved to UBS, where I was there 18 years as the former CEO and chairman of the Americas and President and COO of the investment bank globally.

astead w. herndon

Wolf was an early fundraiser for Obama, an informal advisor to his presidential campaign. And like a lot of big donors, he later served in Obamas administration, including on the Economic Recovery Advisory Board after the 2008 financial crisis. Hes also whats been called a bundler.

robert wolf

I cant say I love the name, but bundler is you raise money and then you race other people. So lets just say I am going to an event, and I ask 10 other people to give $10,000 each, and they do. Then Robert Wolf will have not only his $10,000 assigned to him, but also that extra $100,000. And if you raise X amount of money, you get invited to fun things.

astead w. herndon

Its a way to supercharge your ability to donate as an organizer of other peoples money along with your own.

robert wolf

Correct.

astead w. herndon

Got it.

robert wolf

And Im not a bundler today.

astead w. herndon

Now Wolf serves on the Biden campaigns national finance committee, an elite group of some of its biggest donors. So hes well known in Democratic circles and is well appreciated for his insights and his wallet. I thought he would be a good person to give me the lay of the land when it comes to big money in politics. How does it work? And what should we expect when it comes to big donors and President Biden?

robert wolf

So I had the honor of seeing President Biden where I was able to chat with him in January, at a fundraiser in New York City. For me, Im not there to ask for anything. Im there to thank him, to let him know  thank him what hes doing on gun violence, or thank him what hes doing with respect to Ukraine. My wife and 

astead w. herndon

How does that  how much money does that take?

robert wolf

It was expensive.

astead w. herndon

Can I know how much?

robert wolf

I think 

[laughs]

I think we wrote a check that night  it was high. I think 

astead w. herndon

I just dont know what the scale of high is.

robert wolf

I mean, listen, you can write checks as low as $1 and $10. I think we wrote a check for $50,000 for that dinner.

astead w. herndon

OK.

robert wolf

Weve spent money on politics over the last 20 years.

astead w. herndon

One other question I have is, just how much have you spent do you think in aggregate, and is there a single thing  is the $50,000 the most youve written for a thing?

robert wolf

No.

astead w. herndon

Whats the most one check youve written?

robert wolf

I think it was $100,000.

astead w. herndon

For what campaign?

robert wolf

Hillarys.

astead w. herndon

For Hillarys?

robert wolf

Yeah.

astead w. herndon

And how much do you think youve probably given in aggregate?

robert wolf

I think you can look at the non-PAC side or non-committee side  I mean, my guess is, in aggregate  I mean, my guess is in excess of a million dollars weve given.

astead w. herndon

How did you get into political giving and fundraising period?

robert wolf

Well, I appreciate that. Back in the early 2000s, for the most part it was called FIRE, Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. And if you looked at everyone giving, the top people, the top companies were either finance, insurance, or real estate. At that time, I was a senior executive at UBS. Being on Wall Street, being a senior executive, it got you the opportunity to meet a lot of people. So I got involved early, specifically with the Kerry campaign.

astead w. herndon

OK.

robert wolf

I was anti-Bush. I was against the war. I had two young boys. And I just felt like, at that time, its not the direction I wanted to go. And so I got very active with Kerry. And then its the list you cant get off of. If you can get me off of, let me know how. But its the gift that keeps on giving. And then I hosted the first fundraiser for President, then-Senator, Obama in New York in March of 07. We raised a ton of money, and I became one of his biggest fundraisers nationally.

astead w. herndon

Again  and I guess, does that just  do you just text your phone and say, hey, I have this politician, I think hes really interesting? Whats actually the process of translating your interest in somebody to a larger group, and then the money part, too.

robert wolf

Yeah, so it was interesting, in 2007, most of the Democratic Party was all in Hillary. I was able to meet Obama. I aligned with a lot. It was like that bro card. Were both Ivy League guys. We both like sports. His mother died of cancer. My dad was going through cancer. All those things 

astead w. herndon

He was against the war part was big, too, especially 

robert wolf

And then against the war. And so what happened was I just invited people  like, hey, you should meet this guy. And they all knew of him from the 2004 convention, with his famous speech, Its not red state, blue state. Were the United States, so on and so forth. And so what happened was I became that guy. People at law firms wanted to meet him, even if it was just to meet him or get their book signed that he had  Audacity of Hope or take a picture with him. People wanted to get to know this guy. And it was a cheap date back then. It was only like $2,100.

astead w. herndon

And so theyre like  they could meet him and at a fairly accessible price.

robert wolf

Exactly.

astead w. herndon

Is it access-driven? When youre saying people wanted to sign a book, they want to meet him, what is the incentive, if were thinking about why people want to give?

robert wolf

I mean, politics is an aphrodisiac, right? Youre the most powerful person in the world at that time. Most people did not get the opportunity to meet a president in their life, and heres a possibility to meet someone that could become the president.

astead w. herndon

I get what youre saying. Youre saying, particularly when you were getting started, what you were able to connect people with is an ability to meet people they wanted to. And they have the means and access to be able to do it through you.

robert wolf

Yeah. I mean, I became kind of that guy.

astead w. herndon

I mean, I guess  again, Im still thinking broadly before we talk about Biden specifically  what is the brand like for Democrats among Wall Street right now? And how has that shifted maybe over the time in which were talking about?

robert wolf

Yeah. I think it was always about 40 percent were staunch Democrats, 40 percent were staunch Republicans, because of Reaganomics, which is when I started Wall Street in the 80s, and 20 percent would go either way. And that 

astead w. herndon

Thats kind of surprising to me. I think of that as more of a Republican crowd, maybe.

robert wolf

Its not because theres a lot of other issues important to them. And not everyone votes with their pocketbook. I know that they think  they view us as banksters instead of bankers. But what I would say is that  I would say when it was McCain/Obama, it was clearly  Obama got, Id say, 100 percent of the 20 percent. When it was Romney/Obama, I would say Romney was the majority of Wall Street. He was kind of a Wall Street guy, knew them all. I think with Clinton and Trump, in my opinion, I think Hillary and Bill just are so well-liked in New York. And my gut tells me there were Republicans that went her way, not for Trump as well. And then on the Biden/Trump, its hard to even assess because it was such a crazy period. There was no real campaign.

astead w. herndon

Yeah.

robert wolf

I mean, I dont even know.

astead w. herndon

I was going to ask you about that. And I guess Im asking about right now, too, is there a sense  Ive heard you previously talk about the ways that you think the progressive wing of Democrats has become too anti-Wall Street. Im wondering where you view the Biden Democratic Party on that question. And do you think that the party right now makes it easy for you to pitch them to your fellow Wall Street folks?

robert wolf

I mean, honestly, I dont think were front and center. Wall Streets not who it was and what it was. You can raise money from anywhere in almost any sector there is. I mean, media companies and everyone  tech companies. I dont have to tell you how many firms now lobby.

astead w. herndon

I guess thats part of what Im asking. Has small dollar donations has the ability to raise money from other groups changed it?

robert wolf

Yeah, grassroots are  its more important to get grassroots money than my couple grand or whatever I give  a little more than that  but what I would say is that, first of all, Wall Street wants to give their economic view. They dont like necessarily to get in the middle of the riff raff because I think theyre nervous about being the meme or being in a polarizing environment with their employees, right? I think voting is very personal today. And there is no generic Wall Street voter anymore. This idea that the progressives think that Wall Street is voting with their pocketbook I think is BS. They may care about climate more than the progressives care about climate, or they may care about gun reform. Gun reform, for me, is front and center. My wife works at Sandy Hook Promise on gun violence prevention and mental health. And so gun violence, for me, is front and center.

astead w. herndon

So yall are one issue voters in the 

robert wolf

Yeah, I would say there is no one issue voter. It used to be because of Reaganomics, right? Taxes, right, or anti-regulation. Thats changed dramatically.

astead w. herndon

The other thing  and this is going to get to Biden specifically  is we have been talking to so many people about how this election puts them in a kind of pickle, because for the majority of Americans, they talk about wanting other options or just being not happy with having the same options again. When youre in those circles, how is your community feeling about Biden right now?

robert wolf

Which community? [LAUGHS]

astead w. herndon

Yeah, thats a good question.

robert wolf

Because I have two sons in their late 20s and that would be 

astead w. herndon

I would be curious about them.

robert wolf

That would be a very different conversation.

astead w. herndon

We could  I would hear that answer. But Im really specific to  I was thinking specific to fundraisers. Is it easy to raise money for Biden right now?

robert wolf

The answer is yes. Its easy because theres now a campaign. Its Trump versus Biden. And President Biden was not candidate Biden. So this whole idea of Democratic bedwetters, or, hey, hes got to get out, I was totally the other way. In my opinion, that transition to becoming more of the candidate took place at the State of the Union. And that State of the Union, in my opinion, I thought he was fantastic. I think he has a hop in his step. I love that hes now out and about. I like that Kamala  Vice President Harris  Im sorry, Ive known her a long time.

astead w. herndon

No, its OK.

robert wolf

I think I love that shes out and about. And now were in a campaign. People are more active and engaged.

astead w. herndon

Yeah. Its interesting youre  I like that youre pointing to State of the Union as that hinge point because it did feel like there was  the bedwetting had reached its peak right before then, right? There was  whether it was the age questions from the special counsel, whether it was a polling 

robert wolf

The calls I was getting.

astead w. herndon

I want to hear about those.

robert wolf

No, insane.

astead w. herndon

I want to hear about  what were people  are you someone who feels the angst when people are angsty?

robert wolf

It was insane. I was getting calls, you know, why is he running? Do you think he should run? Hey, hes running. Lets not even have that discussion. Lets talk about hes running and who hes going to be competing against. And lets put all of our inner anxiety into helping him win. But I was fielding calls nonstop because, listen, people were seeing President Trump and Nikki Haley  they were in campaign mode.

astead w. herndon

Yeah.

robert wolf

So yes, I was fielding it as that nonstop.

astead w. herndon

Age, specifically, or other stuff?

robert wolf

I think other stuff. I think, age  I think there was just  listen, there was a nervousness. Can anyone beat Trump? The answer is yes. And now were in a situation where its much more mano a mano. And we now have choices to make. And forget about what was. Lets look at what is.

astead w. herndon

Well, let me ask something different then.

robert wolf

Yeah.

astead w. herndon

Why arent your sons convinced?

robert wolf

My sons are very convinced that they will be voting for President Biden versus President Trump. But we were talking, you and I, about the excitement and the issues.

astead w. herndon

Yeah.

robert wolf

Our dinner table issues are about Gaza and humanitarian  theres a big debate going on in the Gen Zs generation versus the older generation. Theres a debate going on on climate action versus Im for Im glad that were energy independent. These debates are becoming talked about more and more often. Because I said to you, this idea that democracy is on the line or these cultural issues are more front and center, they are more front and center. I would have never thought, when I was 27 or 29-and-a-half years old, like my boys  I dont think about the things they think about today because they werent front and center to me.

astead w. herndon

One question I have is, do you see what you do in terms of raising money as helping them get there to close that enthusiasm gap? How do you actually view the role of fundraising versus the work that they have to do to pull this off?

robert wolf

Money is critical. Lets not underestimate that. Yes, both sides will be able to have a lot of money. But getting out the vote, getting data, having the right research, being both on paid media and promoted media, having a bunch of people work with the grassroots, thats important. To think that politics isnt local, to think that you can do this national campaign and win, thats complete BS. People are tuning out  most people cut the cord. So the people that you have to get to, you got to be local. So Im  this idea that raising $26 million is anything other than fantastic is ridiculous.

astead w. herndon

Interesting, because right now theres a lot of talk about how Trump cant raise a lot of money. How much do we think a money advantage matters? How much does a money disadvantage matter? Donald Trump has no problem getting on media, right? He has no problem in that type of space. What do you think the money advantage can do for Biden? What do you hope it can do?

robert wolf

So I think theres a bunch to unpack there. Yes, Donald Trump, in some ways, owns the airwaves. You wake up to him. You go to sleep to him. But those are national airwaves. Thats not where voting gets done. So the answer is, yes, its important to localize the campaign. Its important to tell someone in a certain area how theyre helping your wages, or how theyre helping with climate action, or why its important that youre doing red flag laws in certain states on gun violence. The second part I would say is dont underestimate President Trump. Hes going to be able to raise his money. Ive said this the other day. Mar-a-Lago is not some homeless shelter, OK? So its not like he doesnt have billionaires sitting there.

astead w. herndon

The rumors of Trump is broke are overblown. [LAUGHS]

robert wolf

I mean, thats complete BS, right? Because youre going to have  his tax policy is going to be front and center. And so these billionaires, some do vote one dimensional. Theyre going to make sure that hes got money to run on.

astead w. herndon

Yeah, this is helpful because a lot of what were reading now is about the lack of funds. Youre saying you trust that in the end, maybe its because of tax policy or just because of peoples investment in Republicans, folks will give to him.

robert wolf

I think  listen, I want to be clear here. I think President Bidens going to outraise him. I think were going to outwork him. And I think having money early is important for building offices.

astead w. herndon

I get what youre saying.

robert wolf

But if youre telling me that we dont think that theres going to be money at the RNC or the Republican Party for a presidential election where the Senate is important and the House is important, were kidding ourselves.

astead w. herndon

Yeah. When you look about the next six months, is there a thing that worries you the most for the prospect of Biden getting reelected?

robert wolf

Listen, I think if its President Biden versus former President Trump, I think were in a good seat. I dont think theres more people voting for President Trump than in the past, and I think it would be less. I am worried about the third party situation because we saw what happened with Secretary Clinton. There was no question the third party impacted Secretary Clinton. And so, yeah, Im nervous of what a third party can  how it impacts us. And if I asked the most brilliant people or pollsters in the world, they could not give me an answer because they dont know.

astead w. herndon

We dont know.

robert wolf

So, yeah, Im a Wall Street guy. I buy and sell things. I dont live great in this gray area. OK, I just dont.

astead w. herndon

Do you  and this is kind of the last question  Im like, Citizens United, super PACs, there was so much talk about the influence of money in politics. Whats your assessment of it? Do you think campaigns are too expensive? Do you think theres too much money in it? Do you think that maybe money doesnt matter as much as folks saying and its all a little overblown?

robert wolf

No, yes, theres way too much money in it. Its insane. Were going to spend billions and billions of dollars on this presidential election. And, yeah, theres too much money in it. And for some, its transactional, being an ambassador, being this. Thats not where I am. But I guess to most people, this is the most important thing that they think about every four years. So it seems like its too much money at it, but then again, if youre saying the most important thing that happens every four years, I dont know, it doesnt seem that much versus our annual GDP.

astead w. herndon

Yeah, I hear what youre saying. Well, thank you. I appreciate your time. Thank you for joining us.

robert wolf

Thank you. Much appreciated.

astead w. herndon

After the break, the other side of the money race. After talking to Robert Wolf, I wanted to get a bigger picture of the role of money in this race, especially on the Republican side where Trump has been lagging behind in donations while facing mounting legal bills. Theres also the $175 million bond he just paid, the social media company going public, and those $60 bibles he started selling. Well, thank you for joining us.

shane goldmacher

Sorry.

[coughs]

I cough right before we start.

astead w. herndon

No, its all good. Its all good. Youre just allergic to me. So I brought in my colleague, Shane Goldmacher, national political correspondent for The Times and the person I usually go to when I have questions about money and politics. I started by asking him what to make of Bidens big money advantage and Trumps financial struggles.

shane goldmacher

Its a big gap. And I think the issue isnt just the size of the gap right now. Its the potential size of the gap in the coming months, because, by all accounts, Democrats are expected to raise more money in the coming months than Republicans are. So thats the gap now, and its expected to get even bigger 

astead w. herndon

Oh, wow. Interesting.

shane goldmacher

 throughout the rest of the race. What is the cause of it? I mean, one of them is just a general structural cause, which is the candidate whos sitting in the White House tends to enter the general election with more money.

astead w. herndon

Why is that? Just because people like giving money to the president?

shane goldmacher

Some of it is people like giving money to the president. But more important is that they have controlled the party apparatus for the three years leading up to the beginning of the general election. And so Joe Biden has been raising money with the Democratic Party for basically a year at this point. And it gives you an advantage because Trump was raising in much tinier increments just to fight through the primary. Just to give you a sense of scale, during the primary, Donald Trump was raising $3,300 increments to win that Republican primary. Thats the most he could raise from an individual person into his campaign account. Joe Biden was going around the country and raising in this big mega committee that he shares with the Democratic Party  $929,000 increments. And so you end up with a lot more money if you can raise in that big of a chunk.

astead w. herndon

Youre able to ask for more.

shane goldmacher

Youre able to ask for more. You have smaller donors that you can then fund by using those bigger contributions to advertise to get more small donors. It sort of builds upon itself.

astead w. herndon

Interesting. Why does it cost so much, and increasingly costs more, for these campaigns? I mean, theoretically, these are two candidates the country knows. These arent people who have name recognition problems. Why exactly are campaigns so expensive?

shane goldmacher

I mean, the number one answer is television ads or the digital version of television ads. And, look, you can spend an enormous amount of money on television really, really quickly. Just think about Mike Bloombergs campaign when he ran for president, right? He ran for president for only a few months, and he spent basically a billion dollars.

astead w. herndon

He was blanketing the television ads for a period. But it is a reminder of how high up that number can run.

shane goldmacher

If youre buying as many TV ads as you can, its basically an unlimited amount of spending that you can go. And so what is the driver? The driver is television ads, first and foremost, and digital ads that now run on television. A lot of people are streaming. But, yeah, running advertising is the overwhelming cost. Everything else you hear about  our field program, our ground game  it tends to be fractions of the dollars spent on advertising on television.

astead w. herndon

Interesting. So what is driving that big advantage that youre talking about? Do we know where the money gap is coming from? Does Biden have a specific advantage among small donors, big donors? How would we break down why he has so much more money on hand?

shane goldmacher

I think theres important to think about in two timeframes. The first is right now. And I think he has more money right now because hes been tapping those bigger institutional donors.

astead w. herndon

Got it.

shane goldmacher

Those people can give large chunks of money.

astead w. herndon

The big Radio City thing we saw last week.

shane goldmacher

Correct. They had 5,000 people in the room. So theres a lot of smaller donors. You know what, there were also people raising or giving $100,000, that they were going to get a picture with the presidents, right? The next day, he had a smaller gathering of 175 of his donors in New York City. Those people got personalized briefings from the entire senior campaign team.

astead w. herndon

How much did that cost you?

shane goldmacher

You had to, I think, at least given $47,000 something, right? That is the entry level. The highest tier for his bundlers  $2.5 million.

astead w. herndon

Wow.

shane goldmacher

Now, if youre raising $2.5 million, you might not be going to a big group briefing. You might be getting the president visiting your house on a fundraiser. But theres enough people that, at a roughly $50,000 limit, you still have 175 of them coming to New York for that personalized briefing. So your first question, where is his advantage right now, its a lot of these major donors. They have been tapped. Theyve built out a whole system. Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff, theyve been traveling around the country at events and scooping up big checks. In the coming months, though, theres a wider expectation that Joe Bidens advantage will be driven by smaller donors online, that online Democratic giving has become almost habitual for liberal donors who are amped up about an election, even about the candidates they may not be excited about. They give tons of money, right? Key Senate races are flooded with money each cycle. And whether the Democrats a household name or not, they end up raising a lot of money. And theres a wide expectation that online, even if Democrats arent enthused about Joe Biden, theyre going to be enthused about giving money to stop Donald Trump.

astead w. herndon

OK. Lets focus now on Donald Trump, someone who famously has a lot of money until he doesnt. Why is he struggling in fundraising so much, considering he has historically done well with small dollar donors. And it seems like what youre saying, those donations are slowing down. Why is that? Do we know?

shane goldmacher

Yeah, I mean, let me give you an answer  I want to take one little step back, which is that Trump is facing multiple different financial challenges all at once.

astead w. herndon

Its hard to keep them straight.

shane goldmacher

It is hard to keep them straight. So number one, youre talking about is politics. How much money does he have in his campaign account? And some of that is, look, he just got through a nominating contest, and he was raising money and spending money to win the nomination. Now, less than maybe some others have before. Usually, at the end of that, you end up with a little bit less and you have to build up. And he hasnt had that joint agreement with the Republican Party until just now, basically, to raise those bigger chunks of money. In fact, hes doing that. Just this coming week he has a big event in Palm Beach that theyve said theyre going to raise $25, $30 million  I think they put out the number $33 million  from a single dinner, because hes getting all these people who have not given till now.

astead w. herndon

To do that.

shane goldmacher

Theyre going to come, and a couple  each member of the couple gives $800,000. Thats $1.6 million for that couple at that dinner.

astead w. herndon

So this is his answer to Radio City.

shane goldmacher

This is his answer  its his coming out party for those mega donors checks.

astead w. herndon

This weekend.

shane goldmacher

Its just coming this week. So the first financial challenge is political, and he just has less money than Joe Biden does. The second one is his legal bills. And he has been spending  now, weve reported more than $100 million since he left the White House on legal bills. And the pot of money hes been tapping for that mostly has been this money raised in the aftermath of the 2020 election. And that money is almost all gone at this point.

astead w. herndon

Is that a different pot than the money he was spending to win the primary?

shane goldmacher

It is a completely different pot. So what happened is, at the end of 2020, he loses the election. And he says, Please give to me, dear supporters. This thing was rigged. And theres no evidence of this yet, but Im going to fight this in the courts. Im going to fight it everywhere I can. My Election Defense Fund. And Republican donors gave more money to Donald Trump in the post-election period of 2020 than almost any period they gave during the actual campaign.

astead w. herndon

That is so wild.

shane goldmacher

They were so   denying the election result paid off for him. He raised $250 million online between the day after the election in the day that Joe Biden was inaugurated. So he spent some of that money fighting recounts or whatever. But you know what, he pocketed most of that money  not personally pocketed, but he put it in a Political Action Committee. And that huge chunk of funds paid has been paying his lawyers ever since then. And so that money has been spent down slowly, slowly, now quickly and quickly. And the total amount of money left in the account thats been doing that  Save America  its his Political Action Committee  is less than $5 million at this point.

astead w. herndon

So hes basically tapped out that post-2020 surge of money that he got through people giving out of the election denial space.

shane goldmacher

Correct. And so hes facing not just a political shortfall versus Joe Biden, but this legal fund that hes been using to pay his lawyers, thats also going to be in a shortfall. And by the way, hes going on a trial soon. The costs dont go down typically when you go on a criminal trial.

astead w. herndon

Yeah, the legal problems have no signs of slowing in terms of what he has to owe.

shane goldmacher

Correct. So the first one is that political. The second is this legal. And the third one, we have a little bit of resolution right now, but it has been a big one, has been the bond he had to post in order to keep all of his businesses active during his appeal on one of the many cases hes faced, which is a civil fraud case in New York.

astead w. herndon

And that just went down. From what I understand, The Times reported he posted a $175 million bond in his civil fraud case, which means that the New York authorities cant seize his assets while hes appealing that larger $450 million judgment against him. Can you just explain what that means in more simple terms?

shane goldmacher

Yeah, that third category is like can he keep his businesses and can they keep running in New York?

astead w. herndon

Because the risk was that if he could not pay that, he would have to sell off the businesses to pay said judgment.

shane goldmacher

Yeah, so he has lost the case. And hes appealing that ruling. And under New York law, when you lose, you still have to pay, basically, the penalty. And so hes saying the penalty is so big  it was $454 million  its so onerous that I cant even get a bond to do that. And so that has been reduced. So its now $175 million. And he has since lined up money. And so its like youre borrowing in order to appeal. And eventually, look, if he loses at the appellate court level and he loses at the final final court, then he will have to make an actual payment. But for now, he can borrow a bond to stave off making those payments.

astead w. herndon

And does that actual payment have to be $450 or $175?

shane goldmacher

As of now, its still the $450. But some of the legal experts say the fact that the bond itself was being reduced is maybe a sign that eventually a final judgment could be shrunk. But we dont know yet.

astead w. herndon

We previously talked to Maggie Haberman about how Trumps legal fees were basically consuming the campaign in the way that you really just laid out for us. But one thing I couldnt understand is, like, what are the possible solutions he has to this? I know we have seen some of the efforts with things like Truth Social, his social media company, and other ways hes been trying to maneuver. I remember hearing about the RNC having an open question about whether they would do it. What is his best shot to come up with some of these answers?

shane goldmacher

I mean, the number one thing to remember is that he could, of course, pay for his own lawyers with his own money. Hes chosen not to do so so far, right? He has chosen not to use his own personal finances to pay for his attorneys.

astead w. herndon

Oh, youre right. All these buckets are separate from Donald Trumps bank account.

shane goldmacher

He could choose to use his bank account to solve the issue that hes running out of money to pay his lawyers. Hes just running out of other peoples money. It doesnt mean that he doesnt have any money.

astead w. herndon

[LAUGHS]: That is an important reminder.

shane goldmacher

Right? He has his own set of money that he has chosen not to use to pay his lawyers in his multiple criminal cases because he had this big pot of money from 2020. So option one is you just pay for them yourself. Theres other more complicated options like you create a special legal defense fund. And what are the rules around that if youre an active candidate for president? There are other ways he can raise money into the PAC that has been paying the lawyers. And in fact, hes done a small thing along those lines. There was a little float  well, will the RNC actually pay his legal bills? And they said, no, absolutely not. But then that first mega committee we talked about  you can raise those really big checks  theres a order of operations of who gets the money. The first always is the candidate. The candidate gets the money first. Typically, second is the party, like the Republican National Committee. But in this case, Trump didnt actually put the party second. He put his PAC second. And that PAC has been paying his lawyers.

astead w. herndon

So we see Trump coming up with these solutions. At this point, if I were to give $100 to Donald Trumps campaign, do we know how much of that is going to Save America and the legal fees versus how much is going to the actual job of winning an actual election?

shane goldmacher

Yeah, since early last year, $0.10 of every dollar thats been given online has gone to that Save America account, which has paid almost exclusively for legal stuff. And so, yeah, all those small donors, its 10 percent of what theyve been giving for the last year, which is not an insignificant amount of money and its helped pay for some of those. Look, the intertwining of all these things is real. To differentiate what is the Trump legal issues with what is the Trump political issues is kind of  its a fools errand, right? One of his lawyers was recently co-hosting a fundraiser for his super PAC, right? So theyre not totally separate. They have been separate in terms of actual cash flow. The campaign has not spent money on his personal lawyers. But the idea that theyre separate things  no, I think its very much the Donald Trump 2024 campaign is happening in and around courtrooms.

astead w. herndon

I know this is a really unprecedented situation that were in. But are these rules being made up as we go along or like 

shane goldmacher

That is an existential question.

astead w. herndon

Yeah! It is kind of  Im like  because weve never been here, is he just test casting new theories about how you use money in politics? Is it just completely uncharted?

shane goldmacher

Its a little bit uncharted. Its also that its not just him, right? Were in basically 20 years of candidates testing new theories of how they want to spend and raise money in politics and very little policing by the group thats supposed to oversee them. So there are rules that Trump is taking advantage of that others have plowed before him. There are rules that hes expanding. But I would say that this is not just a Trump issue. This is just the broader regime of campaign finance, that how we run this stuff is no longer a thing that makes intuitive sense to a regular American.

astead w. herndon

Yeah. I wanted to ask specifically about the Truth Social, Trump Media, as hes turned into a source of revenue. Ive only been halfway following this storyline. I guess help me understand how something can become such a campaign boon or was it  or has it been?

shane goldmacher

Yeah, so this is his private social media company. And it just went public. And on paper, Trump has become a multi-billionaire in a way that he really hasnt been. And so its a dramatic increase in his wealth on paper. This is a stock that when they have to also file all these official reports now that youre a publicly traded stock, you have to reveal your books, and the books dont look like a multi-billion dollar company, right? Theres nothing in the books that  its like $4.1 million of revenue last year  that screams multi-billion dollar company. But what it does have is supporters who are buying this stock online and driving up the price. And weve seen this not just for Trump. We saw it in all these meme stocks around 

astead w. herndon

GameStop.

shane goldmacher

GameStop, AMC, right? And it bears a lot of similarities. The actual finances dont merit the valuations that it has on the market. But it is valued at what its valued. Now, Trump is the biggest shareholder. And so, again, multi-billion dollar windfall. But he cant sell those shares yet. Theres a bunch of rules about how long he has to wait. And so all of this is really like theoretical money for him, and certainly very theoretical in terms of the campaign. I would actually pretty much wall that off, because, for now, that isnt money he has access to, and its not expected to immediately impact the campaign.

astead w. herndon

So that doesnt impact those initial three buckets, but it gives him a money on paper that he can possibly leverage to solve one of his many other problems.

shane goldmacher

Hope on the horizon.

astead w. herndon

Got you. Got you. What about these $60 bibles? Should we just expect a level of Trump gimmickiness to raise money? I guess I look at those things  and hes always felt someone willing to grift, to sell, to do whatever he needs to. Is your sense that were entering a moment of desperation for them? How should I read the Bibles?

shane goldmacher

I wouldnt read it as something different in kind, right? You go back to 2016 when he was winning those competitive primaries, and he had Trump-branded stuff all around him. He was using that as a sales pitch opportunity. He went to Sneaker Con to roll out his own set of sneakers.

astead w. herndon

Yes.

shane goldmacher

Right? He has rolled out his own picture book?

astead w. herndon

Yeah, a Bible is, I guess, just the next step in the journey.

shane goldmacher

The Bible is just  I mean, its hard to say its just the next step, but its certainly a step, right? But weve been on this pathway for a long time, right? Trump selling his name to sell things and make a profit  and again, this is money for him personally. This is not a Bible that you buy it from his campaign that the campaign  this is just a personal private business deal that hes entered into.

astead w. herndon

Oh this isnt even helping these buckets. This is just helping his own individual bank account, which he is not famously tapping to pay the lawyers.

shane goldmacher

Or for his campaign, right? He has not put money into his own political campaign basically since he became the nominee in 2016. He relied on donors in the Republican Party ever since.

astead w. herndon

That was such a huge part of his brand when he was running in 2016. It was like, I am not owned by these people.

shane goldmacher

I mean, you talk to voters all the time. It is still part of his brand.

astead w. herndon

Thats what Im saying.

shane goldmacher

Republican voters bring this up all the time.

astead w. herndon

Thats exactly what I was going to say is, its amazing how that brand has lasted. But it hasnt in our reporting seeped into anyone. And I was going to ask you, have you heard someone think, oh, Donald Trump with less money is a less appealing Donald Trump?

shane goldmacher

I mean, I think some of this is just the media silos and what is the information that youre consuming. But I think on a regular basis and traveling in Iowa and New Hampshire and other parts of the country this year, last year during the primary, voters would bring up his independence and say he doesnt need to be running. He doesnt need the money. That he is not beholden the way that Nikki Haley is beholden. Hes not beholden the way that Ron DeSantis is beholden. And meanwhile he is raising all the money from other people. But it was that initial spend that was his own money. And his vast claims of wealth and his idea that he didnt need their money, even if hes taking it, that has taken hold in such a real way that its hard to overstate how important thats been in his appeal, I think not just to Republican primary voters, but across the board.

astead w. herndon

Yeah, it is a core part of the brand, even if its gotten further from the truth. I want to ask, what do you think are the long-term impacts of this current cash crunch with Trump? When it comes to the campaign, what will he not be spending money on? What will we not see from the campaign that, otherwise, if he was flush, we would have seen?

shane goldmacher

Were talking a lot about money, but I think that money is often vastly overrated 

astead w. herndon

That was my next question.

shane goldmacher

 in its importance in presidential elections, in particular. Ive covered House races and Senate races. And an average House candidate running, theyre not known in their community. Even the best House candidates arent particularly well known. So if somebody comes and spends $1 million on television ads, that dominates the average voters knowledge of those candidates. With Donald Trump and Joe Biden, a bunch of advertising isnt introducing you to these two candidates. You know who these candidates are. You even know some of their positions on issues, right? And so money is incredibly important in American politics. It is least important in the biggest races.

astead w. herndon

Right. I guess with that in mind, then, what does it do?

shane goldmacher

It does a few things. I mean, the number one thing I think that it does is it allows the candidate or the campaign with more money to expand the map of what theyre looking at at presidential politics, right? If you are the Joe Biden campaign and you know that Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania are your absolute must win states, you want to hold those three  you hold those three states and you win the one little electoral college vote in Nebraska, you can get reelected, right? But thats not where theyre spending exclusively. Theyre also spending in Nevada, in Georgia, in Arizona.

astead w. herndon

They just released a memo about Florida.

shane goldmacher

Theyre releasing a memo about Florida. But lets see if they spend real money in Florida. But North Carolina, which they lost last time, right? Even as he won by a relatively large electoral college, they are spending in a state that he lost by the most narrow margin because they have enough right now to spread the map. So if youre the Democrats, elections arent usually won in the winter spring before the election. But you can get an edge. If youre Joe Biden, you enter this campaign behind in most public polling. The money is allowing you to either close that gap or build things, like campaign offices, that can pay off over time. But its really how thin can you stretch the defenses of your opponent. Can you make them need to spend money in North Carolina, if youre Trump, and take away from the state that he may otherwise have to win?

astead w. herndon

Right. And so speaking of the importance of this period of the race, the place we have seen the Biden campaign be the weakest is probably with enthusiasm among core constituencies. They talk a lot about bringing people home right now, and wanting to do that even more so than they think about persuasion or all that type of things come later in the year. What do we think about the impact of money? How much love can money buy? When you think about the impact of that, specifically the people who are probably Democrats but maybe soft on Biden, is that ads that theyre supposed to convince them? Is that texts? Is that door knocking? I guess its all of the above?

shane goldmacher

Yeah, I mean, I think that the most recent New York Times poll we did had Trump winning 97 percent of the people who voted for him in 2020 and had Joe Biden winning 83 percent of the people who voted for him in 2020. That gap tells you why Joe Biden was losing in that poll. And so what theyre going to try to do is use their money advantage to tell that chunk of Democratic voters this election is coming. And depending on the place, give them a reason to care or to highlight their awareness, right? I live this every day. You live this every day. This is not a central part of most peoples lives. And if youre an average voter, the whole promise of Joe Biden was partly I didnt need to care about politics every day. And so people have intentionally tuned out. And so theyre trying to re-engage voters who might be likely to vote for Joe Biden but not likely to be tuned into why they should care yet. And sometimes thats advertising. Sometimes thats spending in other ways that are trying to reach them. But that is their chief goal. And money is one of the ways theyre trying to solve it.

astead w. herndon

Thanks, Shane. I really appreciate it. This was really helpful.

shane goldmacher

All right, thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING]

astead w. herndon

As of Wednesday morning, just as Shane and Robert predicted, Republican fundraising numbers were going up. The Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign announced that theyd raised over $65 million in March, ending the month with $93 million in cash on hand. The Biden campaign has yet to release its March total, though a campaign spokesperson said we can expect the numbers in the coming days. [MUSIC PLAYING] Thats The Run-Up for Thursday, April 4, 2024. And now the rundown.

archived recording 1 All right, this morning, counting votes in four states that had presidential primaries.

astead w. herndon

Voters in Wisconsin, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut went to the polls on Tuesday. And although Biden and Trump won all those states easily, there were warning signs for both campaigns. On the Republican side 

archived recording 2 This primary is long over, but look at the support for Nikki Haley.

astead w. herndon

Nikki Haley won at least 10 percent of the vote in all four states, despite having dropped out of the race last month. And on the Democratic side 

archived recording 3 More than 45,000 people in Wisconsin voted uninstructed. Thats the terminology.

astead w. herndon

 people continued to voice their disagreement with Bidens handling of the war in Gaza by staging a protest vote at the ballot box. Also this week  [CHANTING]  Donald Trump held rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin. And in his speeches 

archived recording (donald trump) Under crooked Joe Biden, every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town.

astead w. herndon

 his rhetoric about immigration escalated.

archived recording (donald trump) The 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was barbarically murdered by an illegal alien animal. The Democrats say, please dont call them animals. Theyre humans. I said, no, theyre not humans. Theyre not humans. Theyre animals.

astead w. herndon

He used dehumanizing language about migrants 

archived recording (donald trump) But its a border bloodbath, and its destroying our country. Its a very bad thing happening.

astead w. herndon
Dear Tripped Up,

Last year, my husband and I splurged on round-trip first-class tickets on Japan Airlines from San Francisco to Tokyo for $13,474 each. We reserved them in February for an October flight through American Express Travel. On the same day, I also bought business class tickets for a couple who was traveling with us at $8,429 apiece. In September, Amex notified me that we had been downgraded to business class for the return flight. JALs conditions state that we would receive the difference between the normal fare amount of original class of service and for the normal fare of lower class of service. To me that means that since the difference between our first class seats and our friends business seats was $5,045 each, we should be refunded about half of that  around $2,522 per person  for the second leg. But we got only $941 each. I contested this with Amex Travel, but they rejected our claim. Can you help? Teri, San Francisco

Dear Teri,

Ive been collecting stories from readers about downgrade disappointments recently, so I looked not only into yours but also stories from four other travelers  three of whom believe they were stiffed by British Airways and another by Avianca.

All three airlines I contacted delayed, obfuscated or otherwise dillydallied before getting me answers, but lets start with your travel agent, American Express.

We worked with the card member and merchant to the best of our ability to resolve the issue, wrote Emily Vicker, a spokeswoman for Amex, in an emailed statement. Card members wishing to pursue additional compensation requests need to do so directly with the airline.
John Sinclair, a counterculture activist whose nearly 10-year prison sentence for sharing joints with an undercover police officer was cut short after John Lennon and Yoko Ono sang about his plight at a protest rally, died on Tuesday in Detroit. He was 82.

His publicist, Matt Lee, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was congestive heart failure.

As the leader of the White Panther Party in the late 1960s, Mr. Sinclair spoke of assembling a guitar army to wage total assault on racists, capitalism and the criminalization of marijuana. We are a whole new people with a whole new vision of the world, he wrote in his book Guitar Army (1972), a vision which is diametrically opposed to the blind greed and control which have driven our immediate predecessors in Euro-Amerika to try to gobble up the whole planet and turn it into one big supermarket.

He also managed the incendiary Detroit rock band the MC5. Their lyrics  Im sick and tired of paying these dues/And Im finally getting hip to the American ruse  were a kind of ballad for the cause.
Democrats in Congress, increasingly concerned about how Israel is waging war in Gaza, are weighing whether to use their leverage over weapons sales to register objections to the civilian death toll and ratchet up pressure on President Biden to place conditions on American backing for the military offensive.

While the top Republicans on the congressional foreign affairs committees have signed off on a State Department plan to sell $18 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets to Israel, according to several people familiar with the consultation, the deal remains in limbo. That strongly suggests that the top two Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees have yet to sign off.

Spokesmen for the two  Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland and Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York  declined to comment on the status of the deal, which would be one of the largest U.S. arms sales to Israel in years, and would also include munitions, training and other support. But other Democrats have said in recent days that Congress should be using its influence over weapons transfers to demand that Israel do a better job of protecting against civilian casualties in the conflict and allowing aid to reach civilians in Gaza.

An aide to Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, said on Wednesday that he was strongly considering several legislative options for doing so, including introducing a measure that would block weapons transfers. That would be an exceedingly long shot; it would take a supermajority in both chambers of Congress to overcome a veto by Mr. Biden, an almost impossible threshold given the strong bipartisan backing for Israel on Capitol Hill.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a hard-right Republican from Florida, has proudly described herself as a pro-life extremist.

My husband is a byproduct of rape, she told a conservative student group in 2022, explaining her support for abortion bans with no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Nobody, she said, deserves to be the judge, jury and executioner on whether or not he has a right to live or not.

But the Florida Supreme Courts ruling this week to allow a six-week abortion ban  and a second decision that would add a proposed constitutional amendment to the ballot in November overturning the ban  could pose political risks for a hard-liner like Ms. Luna. Now she and Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, another Republican whose Florida district is not solidly red, will have to defend their records of supporting anti-abortion measures at the national level, with control of the House at stake.

The courts ruling said that the six-week abortion ban could go into effect on May 1. But in a twist, it is also allowing a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee access to abortion before viability, around 24 weeks. The twin rulings have suddenly buoyed Democratic hopes of picking off House seats in a state that has long trended toward the right.
Battles over Israel are a defining feature of Democratic primaries across the country.

Now, the issue is coming to the fore in a Republican primary for a House seat in Indiana. The Republican Jewish Coalition is planning a significant campaign opposing former Representative John N. Hostettler, who served in Congress from 1995 until 2007, and is now running in the states Eighth District.

The R.J.C. has reserved $1 million for advertising on broadcast and cable television in the district to defeat Mr. Hostettler and support one of his opponents, State Senator Mark Messmer, said Matt Brooks, the R.J.C.s chief executive.

We want to send a message to everybody, loud and clear, that if you dont stand with the Jewish community, if you dont stand with Israel, Republican or Democrat, the R.J.C. is going to work to do what we can to defeat you, Mr. Brooks said.

The airtime reservation begins April 10.

Mr. Brooks said Mr. Hostettlers time in Congress reflected an anti-Israel record. He also voiced concerns about a book Mr. Hostettler wrote, Nothing for the Nation: Who Got What Out of Iraq, which has drawn criticism for using antisemitic tropes.
The presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic running as an independent candidate, said in an email on Thursday that rioters charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and held in a Washington jail had been stripped of their constitutional liberties.

Nearly four hours later, the campaign retracted the statement. Stefanie Spear, the press secretary for Mr. Kennedys campaign, said the statement was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedys views, adding, It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process."

Ms. Spear stressed that anybody who violated the law on Jan. 6 should be subject to appropriate criminal and/or civil penalties. The campaign later added that it had terminated its contract with the company it said was responsible for the error.

The email appeared to align the candidate closer to the position of former President Donald J. Trump, one of his opponents in the presidential race, as well as others on the right who say the rioters have been treated unfairly by the justice system  even painting them as martyrs. It follows comments from Mr. Kennedy this week suggesting that President Biden posed a greater threat to American democracy than Mr. Trump.
A May 1985 report in the journal Nature was alarming. High above Antarctica, a massive hole had opened in the ozone shield that protects life on earth from the suns ultraviolet rays.

The finding confirmed what scientists had warned of since the 1970s: Atmospheric ozone was being broken down by the wide use of chlorofluorocarbons, chemicals known as CFCs, which were found in aerosol sprays, refrigeration and air-conditioning.

Just over two years later, dozens of nations meeting in Montreal signed an agreement to significantly reduce CFCs, which the Environmental Protection Agency estimated would prevent 27 million deaths from skin cancers.

This is perhaps the most historically significant international environmental agreement, Richard E. Benedick, the chief United States negotiator, said at the time.
What Are We Told About the Health of Biden and Trump? They Decide.

President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump are the oldest people ever to seek the presidency, challenging norms about what the public should know about candidates health.
San Francisco residents have repeatedly told pollsters they dont support Mayor London Breed. But until now, every one of her challengers in the November election has sounded a lot like her.

They have talked about adding police officers and taking a tough-on-crime approach to the drug and mental health crises on the citys streets. They have tried to appeal to frustrated voters who recalled school board members and the citys prosecutor two years ago, then expanded police powers and restricted welfare benefits last month.

But as those mayoral contenders try to outmaneuver one another from the middle, they may have left an opening for a candidate on the left. Into that void has stepped Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Mr. Peskin, 59, confirmed in an interview that he will file papers on Friday to run for mayor. While other rivals thought Ms. Breed might be ousted by someone to her right, Mr. Peskin could win the race if enough liberals coalesce around him in a city known for its left-wing politics.
Stanford Universitys next president will be Jonathan Levin, an economist who currently serves as dean of the graduate business school and whose association with the university dates back to his undergraduate days in the 1990s.

Dr. Levins selection, announced on Thursday, was based partly on his deep understanding of the universitys culture, the school said.

His appointment is also viewed as a stabilizing force, as Stanford faces turmoil stemming from protests over the Israel-Hamas war, as well as controversy over a predecessor, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who resigned as president last summer amid questions about the quality of scientific research that was conducted in labs he supervised.

Jerry Yang, the technology entrepreneur who is the chair of Stanfords board of trustees, said that the selection committee chose Dr. Levin, 51, as someone who could chart a course for the university during these politically fraught times.
A Washington State man has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, where prosecutors said he used a megaphone to urge other rioters to barge through a police line.

The man, Taylor James Johnatakis, 40, of Kingston, Wash., was sentenced Wednesday after being convicted last fall of three felony charges  obstruction of an official proceeding, interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting law enforcement  and four misdemeanor charges, according to the U.S. Attorneys office for the District of Columbia.

Before Jan. 6, Mr. Johnatakis posted numerous messages on social media expressing his desire to interfere with the election certification process at the Capitol. Thats why I am going to D.C., to CHANGE the course of HISTORY #stopthesteal, he wrote in one post, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

Wearing a red MAGA hat and backpack and carrying a megaphone, Mr. Johnatakis led a group of people up to a police line on the Capitols Southwest stairs on Jan. 6, urging rioters to push them out of here, according to a court filing.
The war in Gaza, six months in

Sunday marks six months since the Oct. 7 attacks that started Israels war against Hamas. More than 32,000 Palestinians have died, people are desperate for aid and dozens of Israeli hostages are still being held in Gaza.

I spoke with Patrick Kingsley, our Jerusalem bureau chief, to understand the state of the war.

How close are we to a deal, or a meaningful pause in the fighting?

We are at an impasse.

Ceasefire negotiations are stuck for several reasons, but in large part because Israel wants to limit the ways in which Hamas could regroup during a temporary truce, whereas Hamas wants the kind of truce that would allow it to reorganize on the ground.

While those talks falter, Gaza is in limbo. Israel plans to invade Rafah, Hamass last major stronghold, but has delayed doing so while it tries to gather international support for the operation.
The 12-year-old boy who opened fire at his school in Finland on Tuesday, killing a schoolmate and injuring two others, has offered an explanation for the shooting: He was bullied.

The police said the motive emerged during interviews with the student, who had transferred to his school, north of Helsinki, at the beginning of the calendar year. After the shooting, the police said, the boy also threatened students heading to another school.

The boy, who cannot be criminally charged because of his age, was placed in the custody of social welfare authorities, the police said.

This incident is deeply upsetting, Finlands education minister, Anna-Maja Henriksson, said in an interview on Wednesday. We have to do more in the society to prevent bullying.
When NATOs leaders gather this summer to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their military alliance, the last thing they want to see is a resurgent Russian military marching across Ukraine because Europe was too weak to provide Kyiv with the support it needed.

What Ukraine wants, ultimately, is a formal invitation to join NATO. But alliance officials agree that is not going to happen at the festivities planned for Washington in July. NATO has no appetite for taking on a new member that, because of the alliances covenant of collective security, would draw it into the biggest land war in Europe since 1945.

That has sent NATO searching for some middle ground, something short of membership but meaty enough to show that it is backing Ukraine for the long haul, as Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, put it this week.

What that will be has so far proven elusive, according to senior Western diplomats involved in the discussions.
The British government is coming under escalating pressure to suspend arms sales to Israel after the strike on a convoy in Gaza that killed seven aid workers, including three Britons. More than 600 lawyers and retired judges sent a letter to the government, arguing that the sales violated international law.

Citing the risk of famine among Palestinians, a potential Israeli military assault on the city of Rafah and a finding of the U.N.s top court that there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, the lawyers urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to Israel.

Serious action, the 17-page letter sent on Wednesday concluded, is moreover needed to avoid U.K. complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention.

Among the signatories are Brenda Hale, a former president of Britains Supreme Court; Jonathan Sumption and Nicholas Wilson, former justices on the court; and dozens of the countrys most prominent lawyers.

Mr. Sunak has hardened his criticism of Israels conduct of the war in recent weeks, while stopping short of punitive measures. On Tuesday, he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy, in which the three Britons were killed, was appalling.

But Mr. Sunak has not signaled he is considering a halt to arms sales. Speaking to The Sun, a London tabloid, on Wednesday, he said, Weve always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to. There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that well always follow.
Iranian security forces battled simultaneous terrorist attacks by a militant separatist group in a southeast province that raged for nearly 17 hours, with intense gunfights in the streets of two cities that resulted in the deaths of 10 security officers and 18 militants, according to the Ministry of Interior on Thursday.

State television broadcast footage of gunmen running in the streets of Sistan and Baluchestan Province as loud explosions from rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire rocked the two cities, and large plumes of smoke billowed into the air. Forty-four people were injured, the ministry said.

Jaish al-Adl, a separatist ethnic Baluch group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Irans deputy interior minister, Majid Mirahmadi, said on state television that the fighting had raged for hours, from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 3 p.m. the next day. The gunmen entered homes, taking civilians hostage to use as human shields, but security forces released them, he said. The militants wore vests with explosives, and several blew themselves up during the fighting, he added.
Israels military said on Thursday that it was canceling leave for combat units, calling up more reservists and blocking GPS signals.

The Israeli military did not explicitly cite the reason behind the moves. Israeli newspapers said they came amid fears of an increased threat from Iran, a prospect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to in remarks to his Security Cabinet on Thursday night.

For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively, he said, without directly referring to the militarys moves. We will know how to defend ourselves, and we will act according to the simple principle of whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them.

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran has vowed to punish Israel for killing top Iranian commanders this week in an airstrike in Syria. The attack was one of the deadliest in a decades-long shadow war between the two enemies, and American officials have voiced concerns that it could prompt retaliatory strikes against Israel or its ally, the United States.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday night that it had decided to draft reserve soldiers for its aerial defense unit. It did not provide further details.

An announcement about pausing leave for all combat units came in another brief statement, issued on Thursday morning. The military said the decision  which it described as temporary  was taken given the latest situational assessment, adding that Israel is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment.

A military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said later on Thursday that Israel also had been disrupting GPS signals over the past day to intercept any threats. He did not attribute those threats to Iran or any group or country in particular.

During the war, we dealt with a large number of threats launched toward Israel  missiles, UAVs and cruise missiles, he told a news briefing, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, like drones, and adding that most of them were manufactured in Iran.

The moves come as Israels military is under strain from months of fighting against Hamas in Gaza. Reservists have been called to serve longer or additional tours of duty, and a fierce national debate over whether ultra-Orthodox Jews should be required to join the army has been reignited.

Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to press on in Gaza with a ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge. His promise to invade Rafah comes despite mounting calls for a cease-fire and international criticism over Israels conduct in the war.

U.S. officials have expressed alarm over the scale of civilian deaths in Gaza and warned that Israels plans to invade Rafah could lead to catastrophe. Israels deadly strikes on a convoy of aid workers this week amplified those concerns, prompting sharp critiques from President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.
As the clock struck noon on Thursday, the doors to dozens of polling stations across Kuwait opened and voters rushed in to elect one of the Middle Easts most robust Parliaments.

Candidates set up makeshift headquarters in tents, and coffee shops pledged discounts to voters. Swarms of people waited to cast their ballots  even though it was the fourth time in four years that they had been called upon to choose a new Parliament.

Parliament members convey the voice of the people, a voter, Asraa Al Ghareb, 31, said, adding that she hoped the new Parliament would bring actual and radical change for Kuwait.

Kuwait is far from a full democracy: Its ruler is a hereditary monarch, political parties are illegal, and the emir has the power to dissolve Parliament  the cause of Thursdays snap election. Frequent deadlocks between Parliament and the executive branch have led to political turmoil.
Despite the tough language, there was no indication that Mr. Austin threatened to halt the flow of American munitions or place conditions on U.S. weapons sales to Israel, as many congressional Democrats are now urging. In that sense, Mr. Austin loses nothing by talking tough.

The secretarys anger over the Israel airstrike on the humanitarian convoy comes a week after the two men sparred in private meetings in Washington over Israels plan to invade the southern city of Rafah, where U.S. officials have warned that a major military action could lead to catastrophe.

At that meeting on March 26, Mr. Gallant emphasized what he said was the urgent need to destroy Hamas, secure the release of Israelis taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attacks and ensure Israels military edge and capabilities. Mr. Austin focused on the dire consequences a major combat operation in Rafah would have on Palestinian civilians.

In the phone call on Wednesday, Mr. Austin urged Mr. Gallant to conduct a swift and transparent investigation of the strike on the convoy, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account, General Ryder said, a demand made earlier by White House officials.

The secretary said that this tragedy reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, specifically focusing on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid, General Ryder said.

Mr. Austin stressed to Mr. Gallant that Israels attack on the humanitarian convoy makes it more difficult to bring desperately needed aid into Gaza, which the secretary said must be increased in the coming days, especially in northern Gaza, to avert famine, General Ryder said.
President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Thursday, three days after international aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike, as senior American officials said his frustration over Israels actions in Gaza was coming to a head.

Mr. Bidens anger and frustration over Israels conduct in the war has hit a peak in recent weeks, said a senior administration official who discussed the planned phone call and was not authorized to speak publicly. On Tuesday, the president said he was outraged and heartbroken by the previous days strike in Gaza that killed seven humanitarian workers, including an American, who had been trying to bring food aid to civilians.

It was not immediately clear what, if any, changes in U.S. policy toward Israel would accompany the sharp criticism and anger from Mr. Biden and his top officials. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III also expressed outrage in a call on Wednesday with his counterpart Yoav Gallant, Israels defense minister, according to the Pentagon.

Asked about what consequences for Israel would follow the statements of indignation, John F. Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said it was too soon to say, as Israel was still investigating the strike.

Im not prepared at this point to speculate about anything we might or might not do. You know, were going to have to wait to see what the investigation says, Mr. Kirby told reporters in Washington. We are still supporting Israels ability to defend itself against this still-viable threat. And thats going to continue.

World Central Kitchen, the organization behind the convoy that was attacked, said in a statement on Thursday that it was calling for an independent third-party investigation into the strike that killed its workers. The group urged the governments of Australia, Britain, Canada, the United States and Poland, whose citizens were among the victims, to join in demanding an outside inquiry.
World Central Kitchen on Thursday called for an independent investigation into the killing by Israeli forces of seven of its staff members this week as they worked to deliver aid in Gaza.

Governments around the world have condemned the killing of the workers. They included a man from Gaza and citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland, as well as a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said that Israel deeply regrets the strikes, in which the military fired upon three vehicles carrying the aid workers on a coastal road in Gaza on Monday night. He said that Israel would make sure it did not happen again.

Israels military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said on Tuesday that the attack followed a misidentification, and that the Israeli military had started an investigation. But World Central Kitchen, the disaster relief organization founded by the Spanish chef Jose Andres, issued a statement Thursday saying that was not enough.

We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law, the group said.

Other Israeli actions in Gaza have prompted similar calls. In one example, Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said in February that there needed to be an independent investigation of an incident in which dozens of people died while trying to collect aid, after Israeli forces opened fire and there was a stampede. To date, no such investigation has begun.

World Central Kitchen also called on Israel to preserve any documentation related to the strikes, and pushed back on Mr. Netanyahus assertion that the mistake was something that happens in war.

This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three W.C.K. vehicles, the statement said. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as W.C.K. vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities.
Theres new optimism in this Caribbean capital. Tourists are coming in record numbers, and the city is recovering the energy it lost after the devastation of hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017; the emigration of tens of thousands to the mainland; a bankrupt economy; and the pandemic. In Old San Juan, the 500-year-old colonial enclave of pastel-colored architecture and ancient forts, and beyond, eclectic restaurants, experimental art and celebrated gritty bars like La Factoria are firing up the Puerto Rican spirit. Calle Cerra, a street in the former working-class barrio of Santurce, is now the epicenter of the islands public art movement, featuring giant murals alongside a lively nightlife scene where you can join in on the chinchorreo, a local term for bar hopping and street dancing.
 Has President Biden shown evidence of resting tremors, particularly in his hands or legs? Was there any evidence of curling up of the toes or fingers? Have the president's facial expressions been evaluated for changes over time, including his blink rate? Does the president show signs of hypophonia? Was the president evaluated on his ability to tap his fingers and was there any evidence of asymmetric finger taps? Did doctors evaluate the president's akinesia (stiffness) using any quantitate measurement or rating system? What were the results of these evaluations?   Has the president experienced any recent loss of smell or symptoms that would be consistent with REM sleep behavior disorder?  Has the president been given an MRI of his brain? If so, what were the results? Were there any signs of small strokes that might be indicative of vascular Parkinson's? Has the president had his skin biopsied for the presence of abnormal alpha-synuclein? Has the president been given a dopamine transporter scan or a blood test to test for synuclein?  Has the president ever been given any levodopa or a combination of carbidopa and levodopa? If so, was there a positive response to his taking of the drugs? Did that positive response change over time? Is he still taking any of the medicine? 7. Eye Exam Dr. O'Connor's letter indicated that the president wears contact lenses and that the prescription was updated during his latest examination. But the letter did not provide more detailed information about his need for corrective lenses.  What is his prescription? Is he near- or far-sighted? Has there been any change in the president's eyesight since taking office? How about since last year's letter? Please explain. 8. Mental testing In his letters, Dr. O'Connor made no mention of mental health screenings for the president. Many people who are 81 years old begin to exhibit dementia or other mental lapses, which raises the question of whether President Biden has been examined by any mental health professionals.
Freedom Solar Power has handed PR and social media AOR duties to French/West/Vaughan as the Austin-based renewable energy company expands its footprint across the US.

Founded in 2017 by Adrian Buck, Freedom Solar has more than 600 employees and chalked up $255M in residential and commercial revenue in 2022. Buck holds the chief installation officer title at the company

Raleigh-based F/W/V represented Freedom Solar when it moved into the North Carolina market (Charlotte and Triangle).

It will now support Freedom Solars national push from its offices in Denver and Colorado Springs; Orlando and Tampa; Norfolk; and Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

F/W/V ranks No. 18 on ODwyers Rankings of Independent PR Firms. It posted $40M in fee income in 2023, which was up 7 percent from 2022.
MINISTER Heather Humphrey has announced almost 90,000 for the Birr Municipal area as a funding allocation for recreational trail maintenance as part of the Outdoor Recreation Small Grants Scheme.

The three locations that will benefit from the funding include the Slieve Bloom Way and ancillary loops at Kinnitty & Cadamstown (30,000), Offaly Way and ancillary loops at Lough Boora and Kilcormac (30,000), and Lusmagh Heritage Bog Walk (26,460).

Cllr John Clendennen has warmly welcomed the funding allocation stating, since 2018 there has been an unprecedented level of multi million funding in biking and hiking trails across Offaly. it is critical that a consistent level of maintenance and repair funding is allocated to ensure the upkeep of trails, providing reassurance for all users of high safety standards and allowing people to enjoy the amenities to their full potential.

The Councillor for the Birr Area also highlighted the benefit for both the local community and visitors to the area. In recent years the use of trails has increased significantly, both from local communities using facilities for health and recreational purposes whilst also providing tourism development opportunities leading to new businesses and job creation.

I want to acknowledge the support of Minister Humpreys for the Birr area under this scheme, it is important that there is a continued annual commitment to such a funding allocation, and I will continue to convey that message with the Minister as the opportunity arises, concluded Cllr Clendennen.

Minister of State Pippa Hackett also welcomed the allocations. Im pleased to see 91,954 being invested in four Offaly projects and 180,000 in six Laois Projects under the latest round of Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) funding from Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys. Along with the three projects mentioned above in Offaly, 5,494 has been allocated to replace decayed fencing posts on the Figile Walk.

Offaly and Laois have so much to offer locals and visitors. We have fantastic outdoor amenities across both counties and this funding will help to extend those amenities; improving access to our Mountain trails and Bog, Forest, River and Lake walks.

With Spring in the air, brighter evenings, and summer just round the corner, theres no time like the present to get out and see what Rural Ireland has to offer, she said.

Announcing the funding, Minister Humphreys said: With summer just a couple of months away, Im really pleased to announce over 4.1 million to develop over 150 outdoor recreation projects right across Rural Ireland.

The investment Im announcing today will greatly enhance the natural amenities right on our doorstep - from our walkways, mountain trails and forest walks, to our cycleways, beaches and rivers.

I believe the projects receiving funding today will play an important role in attracting more visitors to our rural towns and villages.

So my big message as Minister today is to get out and explore those hidden gems in your community. The clocks are going forward  a perfect reason to go on that hike or cycle and enjoy the great outdoors.
With an impressive lineup featuring the likes of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Rod Stewart, P!NK, and Taylor Swift, set to captivate the country this year, fans won't have to cut their nights short or fork out for exorbitantly priced hotels as Irish rail announce additional services.

However, with heightened demand expected, organisers are urging patrons to plan ahead and make use of online booking facilities to secure their tickets and avoid disappointment.

Notable services include connections from Waterford to Kilkenny and a 00:40 service from Dublin Heuston to Cork with connection to Limerick Colbert on the nights of the P!NK and Taylor Swift shows.

As this service departs after midnight, Irish Rail are asking patrons to search the following morning in the Journey Planner when booking.

"Free travel pass holders please note free travel passes are non-transferrable and can only be used by the named person. You cannot use your free travel pass on services not listed in the official timetable, on tours and special rail services. You can only use it on all regular timetable services," advises a spokesperson for Irish Rail.

Taylor Swift will bring her Eras Tour to Dublin on June 28, 29 and 30, Springsteen is due to play Croke Park on May 19 while P!NK will bring her gig to the Aviva Stadium on June 20.
Veterans and active-duty military members are all around us. As many as 90,000 veterans live in Montana, nearly 10% of our population.

Sometimes, you can tell who they are just by looking, the hat naming the ship or aircraft they served on, the red and gold satin jacket, the wings or the star on the bumper sticker. Sometimes you can tell just by their demeanor.

What theyve done for us, both during their time in the service and in civilian life, is incalculable.

We at The Billings Gazette want to do more than say thank you. We want to share their stories of honor with everyone who will listen, to recognize their contribution no matter how far or how close it was to home.

If you know of someone whose story needs to be told, let us know. All active service members and all veterans from all branches and all types of duties are welcome.

To submit stories and nominations visit billingsgazette.com/contests/stories-of-honor/. You can also send a note to Gazette Editor Chris Jorgensen at cjorgensen@billingsgazette.com, or call 406-657-1311.

Ten nominations will be selected for stories published in print and online across the state in The Gazette, Butte Montana Standard, Helena Independent Record, Missoula Missoulian and Hamilton Ravalli Republic

Nominations are now open. Help us salute these heroes and submit your nomination today!
Kochi: Rahul Gandhis election rally in Wayanad has given the CPM another weapon to attack the Congress. Pointing to the absence of party flags in the massive procession held in Kalpetta on Wednesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the Congress has stooped to a new low that it fears to hold up its own flag fearing communal forces.

The chief minister, also a CPM politburo member, was referring to a media report that the Congress and its allies abandoned their party flags during the Rahul rally fearing it might create a controversy as in 2019. Then, the BJP had played up at the national level the use of Congress ally IUMLs green flag. The images of the green flag were used to stir up a fake campaign that Rahul was getting Pakistans support.

Apparently, to deny the BJP an opportunity to repeat the same campaign this time, the Congress-led United Democratic Front decided not to use any flag, including that of Rahuls party, during the rally this time.

Rahul Gandhi is contesting on Congress ticket and he is a national leader. It was his first election rally in Kerala this time. A media reported that Congress and League flags were avoided due to controversy last year. Isn't it a kind of cowardice? The Congress wants the Leagues votes but doesnt want its flags. While trying hard not to show the Leagues flag to the world, Congress stooped to hiding its own flag, Pinarayi said at a press meet here.

The CM reminded the Congress about the history of its tricolour flag. The Swaraj flag was designed in 1921 based on Mahatma Gandhis idea that it should represent the freedom struggle. The flag represented all Indians cutting across caste and religious lines. The national flag of the great democratic republic of India was designed based on that flag. How many Congress workers have suffered the brutal assault of British police for holding that flag? Doesnt the Congress know the history of its own flag? Now the Congress is hiding the same flag fearing communal forces. Its the Sangh Parivar that wants the Congress flag eliminated. Is the new Congress succumbing to the Sangh Parivars wish, Pinarayi asked.

Balloons and posters resembling the tri-colour were used during Rahul Gandhi's roadshow in Kalpetta, Wayanad on Wednesday. Photo: Manorama

The CPM veteran said the incident cannot be written off as an election tactic and the people will see through it.

Criticising the Congress over the support extended by the Social Democratic Party of India  the political arm of the now-banned Popular Front of India  Pinarayi said the UDFs stance was opportunistic.

On the media reports that the Directorate Enforcement has initiated a probe into the CPMs secret bank accounts, the chief minister replied that the party does not need a secret account. "We dont accept black money. Only communist parties showed the courage to call electoral bonds corrupt. For us, everything is transparent. People have the right to know how much money they have given us. Our income comes from membership fees, levies and through public donations. People have supported us wholeheartedly. All the common people who support us financially may not be our supporters, but they know its for them also, Pinarayi said.
Bulgaria and Romania have partially joined Europes vast Schengen Area of free movement, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks.

The Schengen rules will apply in both member states including on issuing Schengen visas and controls at the internal air and sea borders will be lifted.

Austria has opposed full membership, including land crossings, saying Romania and Bulgaria needed to do more to prevent irregular migration.

A unanimous decision on the lifting of checks on persons at the internal land borders is still expected to be taken by the European Council at a later date.

With the addition of Bulgaria and Romania, the Schengen zone will comprise 29 members  25 of the 27 European Union member states as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Romanias government said Schengen rules would apply to four sea ports and 17 airports, with the countrys Otopeni airport near the capital Bucharest serving as the biggest hub for Schengen flights.

Schengen Area

 Originally, the concept of free movement was to enable the European working population to freely travel and settle in any EU State, but it fell short of abolishing border controls within the Union.

 It started as an inter-governmental project between five EU countries  France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg  and has gradually expanded to become the largest free travel area in the world.

 Schengen is the name of a small village in Luxembourg, on the border with Germany and France, where the Schengen Agreement and the Schengen Convention were signed in 1985 and in 1990 respectively.

 The implementation of the Schengen Agreements started in 1995.

 The developments brought about by the Schengen Agreements have now been incorporated into the body of rules governing the European Union.

 The border-free Schengen Area guarantees free movement to more than 425 million EU citizens, along with non-EU nationals living in the EU or visiting the EU as tourists, exchange students or for business purposes (anyone legally present in the EU).

 Free movement of persons enables every EU citizen to travel, work and live in an EU country without special formalities.

 Schengen underpins this freedom by enabling citizens to move around the Schengen Area without being subject to border checks.

 Today, the Schengen Area encompasses most EU countries, except for Cyprus and Ireland.

 The Schengen provisions abolish checks at EUs internal borders, while providing a single set of rules for controls at the external borders applicable to those who enter the Schengen area for a short period of time (up to 90 days).

 Any person, irrespective of their nationality, may cross the internal borders without being subjected to border checks. However, the competent national authorities can carry out police checks at internal borders and in border areas, provided that such checks are not equivalent to border checks.

 While having abolished their internal borders, Schengen countries have also tightened controls at their common external border on the basis of common Schengen rules to ensure the security of those living or travelling within the Schengen Area.

 The set of rules governing the Schengen Area is called Schengen Borders Code.

 Every day around 3.5 million people cross internal borders for work or study or to visit families and friends, and almost 1.7 million people reside in one Schengen country while working in another.

 Europeans make an estimated 1.25 billion journeys within the Schengen Area every year, which also greatly benefits the tourism and cultural sector.

 The Schengen Area brings significant economic benefits to all citizens and businesses in its participating states. It is designed to be the bedrock of the European Union and of the single market as a whole.

EU countries issuing Schengen visas:

 Austria

 Belgium

 Bulgaria

 Croatia

 Czech Republic

 Denmark

 Estonia

 Finland

 France

 Germany

 Greece

 Hungary

 Italy

 Latvia

 Lithuania

 Luxembourg

 Malta

 Netherlands

 Poland

 Portugal

 Romania

 Slovakia

 Slovenia

 Spain

 Sweden.

Non-EU countries issuing Schengen visas:

 Iceland

 Liechtenstein

 Norway

 Switzerland.

EU countries not issuing Schengen visas:

 Cyprus

 Ireland.
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Hey, what if the next time Joe Biden visits the House of Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene is wearing a pin that says: "Donald Trump Lucks Out." Because he so often seems to, doesn't he? Only last week, a state appeals court cut the disastrous $454 million bond the former president was obliged to post in his civil fraud case, now on appeal, to a "mere" $175 million, potentially staving off financial disaster for him (and a distinct "win" under the circumstances). At the same time, his Truth Social media outfit went public and its value immediately soared to -- yes! -- close to $8 billion (no matter that anyone who followed his history, from his Atlantic City casinos to the Plaza Hotel, knew that such a figure was a futuristic fantasy and a half, even before it almost instantly took a dive). Meanwhile, three of his four criminal cases have been postponed (and postponed again) or delayed in deep doo-doo -- the only exception being his New York state sex scandal case, finally scheduled to begin in mid-April after a mere year of delay. And though it may be hard to believe, despite his unending troubles, he remains ahead of President Biden in most polling when it comes to election 2024, despite a recent poll that indicated a modest "Biden bump" in certain key battleground states.

While The Donald's life is now a chaos of postponed trials, he himself has, as TomDispatch regular Arnold Isaacs makes clear today, become something of a symbol of an all-too-over-armed country entering a state of seemingly eternal chaos. Perhaps the truest symbol of that chaos in our government is, of course, Representative MAGA herself, Marjorie Taylor Greene. She only recently introduced a motion to wipe out the speakership of her own party's House leader, Mike Johnson, after he did the unimaginable, not to say unbearable, and ushered an actual budget through the House of Representatives with the help of the Democrats there.

Talk about the weaponization of American politics! And that's the least of it in a country where, as Isaacs makes clear today, semi-automatic rifles are now being made not just for adults but even for -- no, I'm not kidding you! -- kids. Can you imagine what Dwight D. Eisenhower or John F. Kennedy, if brought back from the dead, might make of this country today? Tom

How About These Names, Marjorie Greene?

(And How About Some Accurate Facts?)

By Arnold Isaacs

"Say her name!" Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted from the House floor during President Biden's State of the Union Address. The same slogan was on the T-shirt she wore under her red jacket, which had a pin with a picture of the person whose name she was referring to -- a pin she'd also handed out to colleagues before that session as well as to the president as he passed her on his way to the rostrum.

The name was Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student murdered in Georgia, Greene's home state, on February 22nd. The man accused of killing her, Jose Antonio Ibarra, had been identified as an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Greene's theatrics that night were obviously meant to put a spotlight on Biden's immigration policies and blame him for Riley's death.

Looking back at that moment, a fantasy forms in my mind of someone calling out to Greene (maybe even interrupting a speech of hers) and urging her to say different names: Evelyn Dieckhaus, perhaps, or William Kinney, or Hallie Scruggs.

Those names belonged to three nine-year-olds killed in a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27, 2023. That day, the shooter carried an AR-15 assault-style rifle, a 9 mm carbine, and a handgun into the school where he fatally shot those three kids, as well as Mike Hill, Katherine Koonce, and Cynthia Peak (respectively a custodian, the head of the school, and a substitute teacher). Six names, then. And speaking of numbers, a question comes to mind: is Marjorie Taylor Greene one of a kind -- or not? Keep reading"

On the day those six people were shot in Nashville, Greene wasted no time turning the tragedy into fodder for a political message attacking President Biden and his record, not on immigration that time but on gun control.

"Joe Biden's gun free school zones have endangered children at schools leaving them as innocent targets of sick horrible disturbed people ever since he worked as a Senator to pass this foolish law," she tweeted less than four hours after the shooting. (The apparent reference was to the Gun-Free Zones Act, passed by Congress in 1990. Biden was in the Senate then but wasn't a sponsor of either that law or a subsequent version passed four years later.) A few sentences later, Greene mentioned the president again: "Gun grabbers like Joe Biden and Democrats should give up their Secret Service protection and put themselves on the same level as our unprotected innocent, precious children at school."

In other tweets that day Greene used the Nashville shooting as ammunition in the culture wars about gender identity. Citing accounts reporting that the shooter was a transgender male, Greene noted that "the female Nashville shooter identified as a man." In separate tweets, she suggested a possible connection between the shooting and "Antifa's plan for violence on the 'Trans Day of Vengeance,'" while asking, "How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking?"

In fact, no evidence has ever surfaced indicating any connection between that shooting and Antifa or the "Day of Vengeance" organizers (who gave that name to a planned nonviolent demonstration in Washington, which was called off before it even happened). Nor has it been confirmed that the shooter was receiving hormone treatments.

Compassion or Exploitation?

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Kochi: Season Two Rentable Senior Living Community in Kakkanad is celebrating second anniversary on April 6th. Located in a serene settings, the 50-unit community is one of the best retirement living facilities in the city. The fully-furnished living space offers personalised care, attention, and curated opportunities to live the life one wants. In general, life at Season Two is categorised into three-active living, assisted living and continuous care. 
4 April 2024 (Johor Bahru, Malaysia) - As Ramadan unfolds, Holiday Inn Johor Bahru City Centre is proud to announce its recent Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, underscoring its commitment to making a positive impact within the local community during this holy month. 27 March 2024: Bringing Joy and Necessities to Pusat Jagaan Impian Syimah In a heartwarming display of compassion, Holiday Inn Johor Bahru City Centre embarked on a charitable mission 
A tanker truck carrying about 102,000 spring chinook salmon smolts crashed near the Lookingglass Hatchery, about 20 miles north of Elgin, on March 29.

The driver, who works for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, sustained minor injuries, according to a press release from the agency.

The 53-foot-long truck, hauling the young salmon for release in the Imnaha River, overturned on a sharp corner, went over a rocky embankment and rolled onto its roof.

About 77,000 smolts went into Lookingglass Creek, which flows beside the road, but the remaining 25,500 or so died.

Some smolts did not survive the crash.Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

We are thankful the ODFW employee driving the truck was not seriously injured, said Andrew Gibbs, ODFW fish hatchery coordinator for Eastern Oregon. This should not impact our ability to collect future brood stock or maintain full production goals in the future.

The Union County Sheriffs Office responded immediately and assisted with on-scene assessments and vehicle recovery operations. Small amounts of diesel fuel were quickly contained and did not result in a hazardous material spill response, according to the press release.

Lookingglass Hatchery, which is north of Elgin, raises spring chinook as part of hydropower mitigation under the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan, for tribal and sport harvest, and to supplement the wild population on the Imnaha which is listed as threatened.

ODFW releases 490,000 chinook salmon smolts into the Imnaha River every year, Gibbs said. The smolts lost represent about 20% of the total that will be released this year. Fishery managers expect to see about 500 to 900 fewer adult fish returning in 2026 and 2027 due to the loss.

On March 29, near Lookingglass Hatchery in northeast Oregon, a fish tanker truck overturned. Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

Gibbs explained that the loss is unlikely to impact the hatcherys ability to raise enough smolts in future years. Thousands of adult smolts typically return to the Imnaha River every year, he said, and the hatchery only needs 248 adults in order to get the required amount of eggs.

Chinook salmon smolts are native to all the tributaries of the Grande Ronde and Imnaha rivers, Gibbs said. So, the fish that made it into Lookingglass Creek should not cause issues. In fact, Gibbs said that there is a program that releases chinook salmon smolts into Lookingglass Creek.

Gibbs said that the hatched smolts are returned to the same waters where their parents were caught because any local adaptations passed along from the parents would make the smolts more adaptive and give them a better chance to survive.

However, he added, that since the smolts born at Lookingglass Hatchery were raised in the water from Lookingglass Creek, the fish that made it into the creek have a high likelihood to survive. Gibbs said that within 48 hours of their unintended release, smolts from the crash were located at the lower Grande Ronde River just a few miles from the mouth.

The 77,000 fish that made it into Lookingglass Creek will likely return there and produce approximately 350 to 700 additional adults.

ODFW also notified fishery co-managers, the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT), and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) when the incident occurred. NPT staff responded and provided additional assistance by helping to collect, count and scan dead fish for PIT tags (Passive Integrated Transponders). Information collected from PIT tags, including those that werent released, will help ensure the best possible estimates of survival and future adult returns.

Gibbs said that ODFWs internal investigation into the crash is ongoing.
The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Boards take on personnel changes in Gov. Tina Koteks office left me disappointed, (Editorial: Oregonians need Kotek to cut through drama, not create it, March 31).

Certainly, the board understands that the lesson of former Gov. John Kitzhabers falland the cardinal sin in Oregon politics involves using public office to achieve private monetary gain. Yet the board acknowledges there is no allegation or evidence that Kotek or her wife Aimee Kotek Wilson sought to benefit financially from Kotek Wilsons participation in official functions. Comparing Koteks situation with Kitzhabers is irresponsible without leading with this caveat.
You dont have to travel far this spring to visit one of the best beaches in the entire country, at least according to a new ranking from the website Dive In Travel.

The ranking names Venice Beach in California the best beach to visit this spring, but in the second spot, the website picked an Oregon favorite, Cannon Beach.

Cannon Beach beat out beaches in Florida, Georgia and both Carolinas, based on its aggregate score from Dive In. The score took into account TripAdvisor reviews, hotel prices and availability, parking availability, drink and dining costs and Google search volume.

If youve ever been to Cannon Beach, you know that the reviews, hotels, drink and dining costs and Google search volume must be huge because there is very, very little parking (a great reason to take the bus).

According to Dive In, Cannon Beach is notable for its stunning natural beauty, and has an impressive 4.73 TripAdvisor rating across 2,560 reviews.

There could be a downside, though, the website noted. Because, even though the town is popular on Google, research showed only 25 available hotels nearby, so finding accommodation may be a struggle.

Of course, Dive In is not actually familiar with Cannon Beach and the fact that many visitors stay in rental homes.

If youre looking for a reason to hit up Cannon Beach this spring instead of Venice Beach and proximity and bus access arent enough of a reason, according to Dive In, a meal is only $18, a full $2 cheaper than a meal on Venice Beach.

You will, however, want to invest those extra $2 back into a sweatshirt. There will be minimal rollerblading in a bikini at Cannon Beach this spring.

 Lizzy Acker covers life and culture and writes the advice column Why Tho? Reach her at 503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com or @lizzzyacker

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The warning was for Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon.

"Some snow showers will persist through the day producing some further minor snow accumulations," says the National Weather Service.

Winter weather driving safety: Navigating the chill with expert tips from the weather service

Winter weather can make driving treacherous, leading to over 6,000 weather-related vehicle fatalities and over 480,000 injuries each year. When traveling during snow or freezing rain, prioritize safety by slowing down. In near-freezing temperatures, it's safest to assume that icy conditions exist on roadways and adjust your driving accordingly. Be cautious of ice accumulating on power lines or tree branches, which can lead to snapping and falling hazards. If possible, avoid driving in such conditions. If you must venture out, opt for routes with fewer trees and power lines. Never touch a downed power line, and immediately dial 911 if you come across one. Here are additional winter driving tips from the weather service:

1. Share your travel plans:

When venturing out of town in hazardous winter weather, be sure to inform family or friends of your destination, your intended route, and your estimated arrival time.

2. Prepare your vehicle:

Ensure your gas tank is full and equip your vehicle with essential winter supplies, including a windshield scraper, jumper cables, a small shovel, flashlight, cell phone, blanket, extra warm clothing, drinking water, and high-calorie non-perishable food.

3. Stay calm when stranded:

If you become stranded, remain composed. Inform someone about your situation and location. Avoid attempting to walk to safety. Indicate that you need assistance by attaching a cloth to your car's antenna or mirror, and make your vehicle more visible by using the dome light and flashers

4. Be aware of snow plows:

Keep an eye out for snow plows and provide them with ample room to pass. Only overtake a plow when you have a clear view of the road ahead.

5. Check road conditions:

Before embarking on your journey, check the latest road conditions to make informed travel decisions.

Stay safe on wintry roads with these valuable winter driving tips from the weather service, and reduce the risk of accidents during challenging weather conditions.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Portland will see cloudy skies and chances of showers Thursday. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

Slow-moving showers linger over the Portland metro area early Thursday as damp conditions continue into the end of the week.

The National Weather Service says rain amounts will be very light, anywhere from a trace to a tenth of an inch on Thursday. If the region sees thunderstorms (theres currently a 15-20% chance from Salem southward in the valleys), rain amounts may be higher where thunderstorms unload.

The bulk of Portlands showers should fall after the lunch hour. The high will be about 52 degrees.

The Cascades saw snowfall overnight that will continue through the rest of the work week in locations above about 2,000 feet. The chances of pass roads seeing 3 inches of snow are at 60-80%. Theres even a slight chance of snowfall exceeding 6 inches at 25-35%.

A portion of central Oregon is under a winter weather watch through about 4 p.m. Thursday. Locations including Bend, Sunriver, and Redmond will see anywhere from 1-4 inches of snow through the afternoon.

Portland may see some sky clearing overnight Thursday, and frost is a consideration through Friday morning. The weather service says advisories may be issued depending on the amount of cloud cover seen later in the day. Its a challenging forecast, but those with sensitive outdoor plants may want to cover them, just in case.

Portland has a 40% chance of showers Friday. Skies will be mostly cloudy, and the high temp should reach about 56 degrees. Any showers that do fall should be light. Precipitation amounts should stay under a tenth of an inch.

The weekend is looking damp with showers likely both Saturday and Sunday. Theres even a chance of a thunderstorm or two. High temps will be in the low-to-mid 50s.

The extended forecast still seems bullish on a ridge moving into the region later Monday and bringing warm and dry weather for next week. The confidence has slipped a bit early Thursday to only 85%, but thats still a really good bet.
The European Network and Information Security (NIS2) directive outlines cybersecurity requirements for organizations operating in the European Union (EU).

With an increase in cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, organizations in the industrial sector need to invest significant resources in understanding their responsibilities and ensuring compliance.

This white paper details the main requirements of NIS2 and how organizations can benefit from the Cisco security portfolio to drive compliance, safeguard their operations, and maintain a robust cybersecurity posture.

Read on to learn more.
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - A group of independent UN human rights experts on Wednesday expressed grave concern after death sentences were handed down to seven people by Egypts highest court in January, in the years long so-called "Helwan Brigade counter-terrorism case
Anchor Paper Names Landon Godley as Director of Sales and Marketing

Landon Godley Landon Godley

April 4, 2024 - Anchor Paper Company announced that Landon Godley has joined the company's leadership team as the Director of Sales and Marketing.

Godley brings a strong background in distribution sales leadership from Spartan Nash, a national wholesale foods distribution company.

"Landon brings tremendous depth and breadth of sales management experience throughout the Midwest," said Brooke Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Anchor Paper. "We are hitting the ground running and we are excited to welcome him to our team."

Godley will work out of Anchor Paper's downtown headquarters in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He will be responsible for marketing and for managing the fine paper and packaging sales and service teams.

Godley commented, "Anchor Paper has a storied legacy of success that has endured for a century, embodying values of excellence, innovation, and integrity. I am honored to join the Anchor team and look forward to the opportunities to work with our loyal customers, trusted suppliers, and the great personnel throughout the organization."

Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Anchor Paper Company is a distributor of fine paper and also a distributor of seed germination paper, industrial supplies, and luxury packaging materials. Additionally, the company has a facility in Hudson, Wisconsin, for both paper and packaging converting.

SOURCE: Anchor Paper Company
A student at North Carolina Central University was hospitalized following reports of gunfire at a residence hall, verified a university spokesperson.

North Carolina University Institutes Lockdown

Law enforcement responded to the Lawson Street Residence Complex at 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday, as per a university news release from Durham. The campus was placed under lockdown, with a warning issued to individuals in the vicinity regarding an "armed and dangerous person."

Durham Police Department officers closed off two blocks of Lawson Street for roughly two hours during the investigation. Meanwhile, Durham EMS, responding to an unrelated medical call nearby, arrived at the complex to assist a person who had been shot at least once, according to the university. The wounded student was transferred to Duke University Hospital.

The casualty of the gunfire has been identified as an NCCU student, presently hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries as of Wednesday afternoon, declared university spokesperson Stephen W. Fusi.

NCCU Police Chief Damon Williams reported at a press conference that the gunfire is being treated as a criminal investigation, although no details regarding possible suspects have been given.

Neither the Durham police nor the university has revealed any data about probable suspects or the identity of the gunshot casualty. In response to the circumstances, the university has declared plans to offer counseling support for affected students.

Similar Incident Involving a Shooting at Dormitory

According to law enforcement, the person arrested for the passing of two individuals at a dormitory at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs was the roommate of one of the casualties.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez confirmed on Tuesday morning that the suspect, 25-year-old Nicholas Jordan from Detroit, shared living quarters with victim Samuel Knopp, a senior at the university.

Knopp, aged 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, aged 26 and not affiliated with the university, were found deceased on Friday morning at the university's Crestone House residence.

Following the discovery, the campus was placed on lockdown for an hour until authorities determined that there was no active shooter, and the incident was treated as a homicide investigation.

Read Also : New Details Emerge in Colorado University Double Homicide: Dorm Room Shooting Unveils Roommate Feud

An arrest warrant was issued for Jordan, also a student at the university, late Friday on two counts of first-degree murder. He was located in a vehicle on Monday morning in Colorado Springs and taken into custody, according to police statements on social media.

During the search, Vasquez expressed concerns that Jordan may have attempted to flee the area, stating that search teams were continuously scouring as his whereabouts were uncertain. Authorities stated on Monday that their investigation indicated the shooting was a targeted incident involving individuals known to each other and was not a random attack on the university or its students.

Jordan, set to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon, is currently held on a $1 million bond, according to online records.

Knopp, originally from Parker, approximately 60 miles north of the campus, was studying music, as per university officials. Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet praised him as a highly-skilled guitarist in a statement to the campus community.

Senior Haden Garcia Gillespie, Knopp's best friend, echoed this sentiment, highlighting Knopp's extraordinary talent.

Montgomery, from Pueblo, about 45 miles south of the campus, had previously studied culinary arts at Pueblo Community College for a semester.

Pueblo Community College conveyed condolences and acknowledged the prevalence of such circumstances in an educational environment. In response to the misfortune, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs closed over the weekend, with classes canceled on Monday to allow students time for healing.
North Carolina and Virginia clinics are preparing for the possible influx of patients after Florida becomes stringent with abortion restrictions. The recently approved Florida six-week abortion ban is now being felt by patients and health workers in the southeast.

Impact of Florida's Six-Week Abortion Ban

In 2023, approximately 84,000 abortions were conducted in Florida, making up roughly 1 out of 12 abortions nationwide.

The Guttmacher Institute, an organization advocating for abortion access, reported that over 9,300 individuals traveled to Florida from other states for abortion services last year, a number that more than doubled compared to 2020.

However, following the recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court to permit a ban on abortions after six weeks, healthcare facilities in North Carolina and Virginia are bracing for an anticipated surge in patient numbers.

With this law slated to become effective on May 1, Florida will no longer serve as a haven for individuals seeking abortions in the southern region.

Presently, Florida permits abortions up to 15 weeks into pregnancy, a policy significantly less restrictive than neighboring states like Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, especially following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.

After May, individuals from Florida and other Southern areas seeking abortions will find their closest option in North Carolina, which permits abortions up to 15 weeks but mandates in-person counseling at least 72 hours prior to the procedure.

Virginia stands as the next nearest option. Clinics specializing in abortion services in both North Carolina and Virginia are taking proactive measures to accommodate the expected rise in patient volumes, such as hiring additional staff and extending operational hours.

Providers have been preparing for this scenario since Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida's six-week abortion ban in April 2023. The ban's enforcement was pending the recent state Supreme Court ruling, which was issued this past Monday.

Expected Patient Surge in North Carolina and Virginia Clinics

A network of clinics, A Woman's Choice, based in Jacksonville, Florida, recently established a new clinic in Virginia in anticipation of the impending abortion ban in Florida.

According to Amber Gavin, the organization's vice president of advocacy and operations, efforts are underway to recruit additional doctors for this new clinic.

Despite these proactive measures, Gavin expressed concerns about the potential surge in demand. "Florida has been experiencing a significant influx of patients from the Southeast, and I worry that neighboring states won't be able to accommodate all Floridians and individuals from the Southeast," Gavin remarked.

Jenny Black, president of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, echoed similar sentiments, noting that their clinics in North Carolina are ramping up appointment availability. However, these clinics already face a two-week waiting period for abortion services.

"Planned Parenthood staff in North Carolina are working tirelessly to expand capacity and appointments ahead of Florida's near-total ban," Black stated. "But it may not be sufficient to meet the growing demand from across the southern region, leaving patients with limited options."

Additionally, the Bristol Women's Health Center in southwestern Virginia has extended its operating hours to cater to individuals from Florida and other southern states. The center now offers services during the evenings and weekends to accommodate the increased demand.

Karolina Ogorek, the center's administrative director, emphasized the importance of providing choices amidst state-imposed restrictions on reproductive health. "We aim to offer as many options as possible for individuals to access the care they need, especially when their state limits their reproductive choices," Ogorek stated.
Prosecutors stated on Wednesday their aim to urge a judge to convict the Crumbley parents, who were liable for their son's deadly school shooting, to serve between 10 to 15 years in prison each. These details were acquired from copies of prosecution memos collected by NBC News.

Prosecutors Request 10 to 15 Years Prison Sentence for Crumbleys

James and Jennifer Crumbley, both found liable for unintentional murder in different trials, could face up to 15 years in prison for each of the four counts, representing every student killed by their son, Ethan, in 2021.

According to Oakland County prosecutors in Michigan, felonies stemming from identical circumstances must run together, meaning the highest convict the judge can command is 15 years in total.

The prosecution disagreed in its sentencing memos to Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews that the parents' cases warranted sentences beyond the advisory guideline range.

They asserted that the parents' "gross negligence" irreversibly altered the community and that they could have prevented the shooting with simple actions but failed to act when faced with grave danger.

Read Also : Parents of Victims in Michigan School Shooting Urges State for Further Investigation

First Instance in US where Parents Are Legally Held Accountable

The Crumbleys are expected to be sentenced on April 9 in an Oakland County court. It's ambiguous if the convicting will be concurrent, but family members of the dead students are anticipated to deliver impact statements, and the court may choose to have the parents present together for logistical reasons.

This convicting marks the first time in the U.S. that parents of a shooter have been lawfully held accountable for a mass school gunfire committed by their child.

James Crumbley, 47, and Jennifer, who turned 46 on Monday, were convicted based on evidence that they negligently stored a handgun their son used in the attack, not for having prior knowledge of the incident.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald hopes this conviction will lead to increased efforts to prevent gun violence and encourage greater accountability.

James Crumbley allegedly made threats against McDonald from jail, which his lawyer disputes. The prosecution's sentencing memo highlighted these threats as evidence of a lack of remorse on his part. Recordings of his calls, provided by Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Keast, captured explicit threats toward McDonald, indicating his awareness of being recorded.

Keast emphasized Crumbley's lack of remorse and shift of blame evident in these calls, arguing for a sentence exceeding recommended guidelines due to the severity of his actions.

During his pre-sentence interview, Crumbley maintained his innocence, expressing regret but denying knowledge of his son's motives. Keast also criticized the couple for downplaying their involvement and lying about alcohol consumption, citing evidence of excessive drinking following their son's friend's removal from his life.

The Crumbleys' lawyers have not determined whether they plan to petition the convictions. Meanwhile, the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office discharged concurrence with two Oxford school employees who testified in the trials.

These concurrence, known as "proffer" letters, commonly grant privilege to witnesses in exchange for their participation. However, the prosecutor's office maintains that no privilege was offered to witnesses in this case.
A Tennessee educator, known as Missy Testerman by her students, is named 2024 National Teacher of the Year. She is an educator for younger children known well in her community for helping children with diverse backgrounds.

Testerman holds a deep appreciation for students hailing from diverse cultural backgrounds, a segment representing only a small fraction among the 650 enrolled at Rogersville City School from pre-K to 8th grade.

This intrinsic connection with multicultural education led her to pursue additional qualifications, culminating in an endorsement to teach English as a second language in 2022, following three decades of dedicated teaching primarily in first and second-grade classrooms.

Mrs. Testerman's Work in Tennessee

On Wednesday, the Council of Chief State School Officers made public the selection of Testerman for the prestigious national title, chosen from a pool of exceptional state teachers of the year.

This recognition came alongside a delightful surprise from First Lady Jill Biden, who appeared on national television that same morning, presenting Testerman with a bouquet of flowers and announcing an upcoming state dinner at the esteemed White House, where Testerman and other top educators will be honored.

Reflecting on her journey and the challenges faced in the education landscape, Testerman voiced her observations in her finalist application.

She highlighted instances where state legislatures seemed to prioritize issues incongruent with the core challenges in education, citing examples like extensive book scanning initiatives driven by concerns about inappropriate content in elementary settings, juxtaposed with insufficient funding for crucial support roles like behaviorists to address classroom disruptions.

With decades of teaching experience under her belt, Testerman has honed a remarkable ability to embrace diversity and promote unity among those she educates.

Crafting a curriculum that intertwines literacy and social studies with a diverse selection of notable figures from American history, she navigates the educational journey of 21 students whose primary language is not English. This group represents a tapestry of linguistic and cultural backgrounds, spanning five languages and originating from five countries across four continents.

From newcomers grappling with the basics of English to seasoned learners nearing fluency, Testerman witnesses firsthand the transformative joy that accompanies language acquisition.

In Testerman's words, observing a child's progression in mastering a new language is akin to witnessing "an amazing, magical transformation," characterized by the palpable excitement that arises when learners grasp the intricacies of the language enveloping their everyday experiences.

2024 National Teacher of the Year

As part of her role as the recent recipient of this esteemed award, Testerman is slated to embark on a nationwide journey, serving as a spokesperson and champion for educators throughout the country.

Recognized for her adeptness at fostering cultural understanding within her rural Appalachian community, Testerman has garnered praise for her ability to bridge divides and cultivate connections among diverse groups.

A hallmark of Testerman's approach is her deep engagement with her students' families, going above and beyond to facilitate their integration into American society and local communities. This includes providing guidance on navigating essential aspects of American life, such as the library system and postal services.

Moreover, her efforts extend to fostering acceptance and inclusion among long-time residents in her town of approximately 4,500 inhabitants, ensuring that newcomers are welcomed and embraced.

The National Teacher of the Year Program, overseen by the Council of Chief State School Officers in collaboration with K-12 education leaders, aims to provide educators with transformative opportunities for professional growth and development.

Beyond the accolades and recognition, recipients like Testerman are afforded access to prestigious events and learning experiences, ranging from crafting TEDEd talks to immersing themselves in educational initiatives at Google and participating in enriching programs like Space Camp.
Here is a trio of new items on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. I hope that youll enjoy them:

Not by Bread Alone Episode 2: An Impossible Meeting with Mobutu

This episode tells the story of how an unlikely series of events that began with a Congolese man named BULA led to a four-hour lunch meeting at Gbadolite, the remote palatial estate of MOBUTU SESE SEKO, the former ruler of the DR Congo. In that 12 February 1986 meeting, approval was granted for official recognition of the Church in that country. For more information on the Not by Bread Alone: Stories of the Saints in Africa series, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/en/

For more information in French, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/fr/

To see all of our posts about The Church in Africa, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/africa/

Conference Talks: The Book of Moses as a Pre-Augustinian Text: A New Look at the Pelagian Crisis (2020 Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses Conference), presented by Terryl L. Givens

Terryl L. Givens spoke at the Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses Conference on Saturday, September 19, 2020 about The Book of Moses as a Pre-Augustinian Text: A New Look at the Pelagian Crisis. The principal contest over the future of Christianity occurs in the late 4th century, when Augustines re-interpretation of the divine and the human anthropology triumph, fundamentally damaging forever Christian soteriology. The Book of Moses, the Latter-day Saint traditions most neglected scripture, effectively restores the Great Plan of Happiness to its pre-Augustinian character. All of the conference presentations were filmed, and both video and audio recordings of each presentation are available. Videos, audio recordings and transcripts are available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-book-of-moses-conference/papers/. The videos are also available on the Interpreter Foundation YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/theinterpreterfoundation. A YouTube playlist is also available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRMn4gyXMWLv7A618LA-cCvxMqWRk8kxI.

Nibley Lectures: Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 15: The Lord Labors with Us: Jacob 5-7:

This week, we have lecture 25 from Hugh Nibleys Book of Mormon classes at Brigham Young University, covering Jacob 57 and Enos. During 1988, 1989, and 1990, Hugh Nibley taught Honors Book of Mormon classes for four semesters at Brigham Young University. The lectures were video-taped and audio cassettes and printed transcripts were made of the lectures. We believe these recordings will be interesting to listen to and valuable to your Come, Follow Me study program this year. Each week, we will include the lectures covering the Book of Mormon chapters being studied that week. All 112 lectures are immediately available in PDF, audio, video, and electronic formats, as well as in paperback books that are available for purchase. Links for all of the available online sources can be found in the Complete Bibliography for Hugh Nibley at https://interpreterfoundation.org/bibliographies/hugh-w-nibley/lectures/.

Im appalled and horrified, and therefore utterly and appropriately delighted, to report to you that there is rich material in The April 2024 Edition of the World Report of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that undeniably comes from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial How Religion Poisons Everything File. You will scream in terror as you watch the video Report. You will moan in agony, you will weep with sorrow, and, therefore, you will love it  whether its spewing news at you about the depravities of theism and theists in English, or in Spanish, or in Portuguese.

Among other things  and, please, prepare yourself for the sheer obscene horror of it  the World Report says just before its five-minute mark that the Churchs humanitarian/welfare contributions for 2023 totaled 1.36 billion dollars (that is, $1,360,000,000.00), spread over 4,119 distinct humanitarian/welfare projects in 191 countries or territories, on top of which 6.2 million hours of volunteer humanitarian service were offered. Thats 6,200,000 hours, the equivalent of 3,100 years of full-time employment at 2,000 hours per annum.

I mentioned most of this a few days ago, but it seems not to have registered in certain predictable circles.

Just looking at the figure of $1.36B in humanitarian/welfare contributions for 2023, considering it in isolation from all of the other expenditures of the Church on maintaining chapels and temples and the vast Church Educational System (CES) and its missionary program (including missionary training centers) and its global family history efforts and so on and so forth, the figure is (or should be) impressive.

If the Church were ranked simply as a humanitarian/welfare charity in Forbes Magazines list of Americas Top 100 Charities, it would come in as Number 9 in the top ten, behind Habitat for Humanity International ($1.54B) and Goodwill Industries International ($1.51B), but ahead of Americares ($1.35B) and Samaritans Purse ($1.26B), which round out the current top ten. However, neither Habitat for Humanity International nor Goodwill Industries International nor Americares nor Samaritans Purse also runs a multicampus group of universities in addition to its humanitarian/welfare efforts, or builds and maintains temples and chapels, or gathers and digitizes genealogical records around the world, or fields missionaries in more than 150 countries speaking more than sixty languages.

Now, some cynical critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may (and do) sniff at a mere $1.36B in 2023 humanitarian/welfare aid as too little, too cheap, even pathetic and disgraceful. But I doubt that the American National Red Cross ($1.05B) or the United States Fund for UNICEF ($959M) would be so dismissive. They come in at, respectively, Number 14 and Number 15 on the current list from Forbes. Nor would Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which spent $674M on humanitarian aid in 2023, just slightly more than half that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a level of giving that earned CRS the position of Number 24 on the Forbes report. Nor would St. Marys Food Bank Alliance, which at an expenditure level of $186M for 2023  no small sum, really, and no small contribution to human wellbeing  checks in at Number 100 on the Forbes Magazine list of Americas Top 100 Charities.

A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race. (Joseph Smith, Jr.)
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Indeed, about half of low-income countries and several emerging market economies were already in or at high risk of a debt crisis, and the further rise in debt is alarming. Just as they are starting to recover from the pandemic, many of these countries could suffer a second wave of economic distress, triggered by defaults, capital flight, and fiscal austerity. Preventing such a crisis can make the difference between a lost decade and a rapid recovery that puts countries on a sustainable growth trajectory. As IMF research has recently shown, waiting to restructure debt until after a default occurs is associated with larger declines in GDP, investment, private sector credit, and capital inflows than preemptive debt restructurings.

The world is at a critical juncture and should not sit idle waiting for a crisis.

No debt crisis has happened yet thanks to decisive policy actions by central banks, fiscal authorities, official bilateral creditors, and international financial institutions in the early days of the pandemic. These actions, while essential, are fast becoming insufficient.

First, the initiatives taken so far are temporary by design. The G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, which was a highly welcome response to a call by the IMF and World Bank, expires at the end of this year. The IMF has also provided about US$31 billion in emergency financing to 76 countries, including 47 low-income countries, as well as debt-service relief to the poorest countries under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust. With needs projected to remain high, developing countries will require additional low-cost financing in 2021 and beyond.

Second, most of the measures so far have focused on liquiditymaintain countries access to finance, both from official and market sources. But as the crisis continues, solvency problems the inability to repay debtsincreasingly come to the forefront.

Preventing a developing country debt crisis requires urgent additional steps.

Which areas need action?

The Debt Service Suspension Initiative must be extended into 2021. If not, its current recipients will be forced to resort to austerity measures to be able to resume debt service, compounding the human suffering already caused by the crisis. The extension of the initiative should provide incentives to tackle unsustainable debt problems early. For example, the length of the extension could be linked to IMF and World Bank programs designed to reduce debt vulnerabilities.

Countries with debt vulnerabilities must tackle them urgently through a combination of debt management and measures to restore growth. Where debt is unsustainable, it should be restructured, the sooner the better. Private sector claims should be included, where applicable. Ignoring solvency problems only makes them worse.

Perhaps most importantly, there is a need to reform the international debt architecture comprising sovereign debt contracts, institutions such as the IMF and the Paris Club, and policy frameworks that support orderly debt restructuring. The goal is to provide speedy and sufficiently deep debt relief to countries that need it, benefitting not only these countries but the system as a whole.

Today, we published a new report evaluating the current architecture for restructuring privately held debt and suggesting possible improvements . The existing contractual framework has been largely effective in restructuring sovereign bonds but the recent cases of Ecuador and Argentina restructurings demonstrate issues that still need to be addressed, including the significant expansion in the diversity of commercial creditors and lack of debt transparency. For example, the framework has proven less effective for restructuring the increasing volume of non-bonded debt, as well as for collateralized debt and debt with collateral-like features. While the terms of such loans in many instances remain undisclosed, they appear to be particularly prevalent in low-income countries exporting natural resources.

Looking beyond privately held claims, most official debt is now held by creditor countries that are not members of the Paris Club, and do not follow Paris Club procedures. This makes it more difficult than in an earlier era to restructure debt owed to official bilateral creditors, and to ensure high participation by both official and private creditors.

Which aspects of the current debt architecture require fixing?

First, debtors and creditors should continue to strengthen contractual provisions to help minimize economic disruptions when debtors run into trouble. The IMF and others have successfully promoted the adoption of enhanced Collective Action Clauses in international bonds. But more remains to be done. Similar provisions are needed to facilitate orderly restructuring of non-bonded debt. Clauses that lower debt payments or automatically suspend debt service, such as in the event of natural catastrophes and other large economic shocks, can also be helpful.

Second, debt transparency should be increased. Without knowing what countries already owe and on what terms, creditors cannot make informed lending decisions. They will also be reluctant to participate in restructurings unless they know the terms given to other creditors.

Third, official bilateral creditors should agree on a common approach to restructuring official bilateral debts. It should be acceptable both to Paris Club members and others. Restructurings could include a common term sheet that requires the debtor to transparently lay out its debts and seek restructuring agreements from all its creditorsboth official and privateon comparable terms. Such an approach would seek to ensure information sharing and fair burden sharing across all creditors. By doing so, it would likely raise participation and avoid costly delays.

Not all these reforms would have an immediate impact. While it will take time for contractual improvements to affect the debt stock, a common restructuring approach encompassing all official bilateral creditorscurrently being discussed by the G20could make a critical difference almost immediately.

The role of the IMF

The IMF is working hard to prevent a debt crisis, supporting its members with policy advice, financing, and capacity development. We will continue to provide debt service relief to the poorest countries under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust. We are also fostering debt transparency, including through a stronger debt limits policy, providing technical assistance on debt management, and are working with the G20 to extend the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. We support debtor-creditor coordination and debt restructuring through analysis of actions to restore debt sustainability, and by conditioning our financial support on high creditor participation.

All stakeholders need to do their part

The world is at a critical juncture and should not sit idle waiting for a crisis. It needs to review its arsenal of weaponsa task we have been conducting at the IMF. It also needs to do the utmost to prevent, and if necessary, preempt, another sovereign debt quagmire. The alternative could be large-scale defaults that would severely damage economies and set back their recoveries for years. Low-income countries are especially at risk, and their people are likely to suffer most if a debt crisis occurs.

The key steps are extending the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, addressing countries debt vulnerabilities, and building a more robust debt architecture. We call on all stakeholders to do their part to reduce the risk of a catastrophe and pave the way for a safer financial system.
Part of this weeks news includes yet another major data leak  this time involving AT&T, which announced that account information for 7.6 million current and 65 million former customers was released on the dark web in mid-March. Details consist of full names, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, account numbers and passcodes, and social security numbers.

But a relative of mine got a warning much sooner about being caught in that group of 72.6 million people. On March 22, an email from Google hit their Gmail inbox, with a simple subject line: You have new dark web results.

Clicking the link brought them to their Google One dark web monitoring results page, which showed not just what info triggered the alert, but affiliated data also found in the results. While their social security number wasnt part of their monitoring profile, they still got the comprehensive overview of what leaked.

As a result, they were ready late last week with already completed credit report freezes, password update, and also passcode change when AT&T finally broke its silence. They even had time to help other family members and chat with me about their experience. Previously, Id only seen Google One report on data breaches and leaks Id long known.

The only drawback of using Googles dark web monitoring is that its not free  Google One plans start at $20 per year. But it can be shared with up to five other users, each able to set their own profile for dark web monitoring. And of course, these subscriptions come with increased cloud storage  their main selling point.

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Having a source of timely security info can be invaluable, though, given how commonplace big data leaks and breaches are nowadays. If Googles offering isnt to your taste, similar alternatives exist, like within antivirus software. If youre already paying for one of the better suites (like our current top pick, Norton 360 Deluxe), itll keep track of the same kind of info as Google One. However, none of the antivirus plans that Ive tested so far were as fast to raise a flag as Google.

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The Chief of Wassa Old Subri, Nana Twumasi Ampaakwaw II, has been deeply concerned since 2022 about the encroachment of trees near the transmission lines in his community.



Every day while leaving our farms, we feared that we would come back home to no lights because a tree had fallen on the lines, he said. These trees have been progressively growing, posing a threat to the community's power supply. This power is not only vital for functioning health care facilities but is also essential for sustaining businesses and schools in the area.



In response to these pressing concerns, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has undertaken significant measures over the last three months to enhance transmission reliability. Collaborating with private entities, ECG has initiated efforts to clear overgrown vegetation along the transmission lines. Earlier this year, ECG partnered with Genser Energy, a prominent Ghanaian energy company operating in the Western Region, known for providing affordable and reliable power to various sectors, including mining giants like Gold Fields and Golden Star.



An assessment conducted earlier this year identified numerous trees and plantations under the transmission lines within the allowable distance These vegetation clusters posed a significant risk of disrupting power supply to fifty-eight communities reliant on electricity transmitted through these lines.



To ensure community participation and support, Genser Energy engaged over 200 stakeholders, including traditional leaders, local assembly members, and Project Affected Persons (PAPs). The maintenance work not only created local employment opportunities but also provided compensation to farmers whose trees needed removal. Genser Energy's Community Relations team worked closely with local leaders and residents to ensure that the project not only enhanced power reliability but also contributed to the welfare of the community.



Justice Kofi Yeboah, a PAP from Accra Town, expressed his gratitude towards ECG and thanked Genser Energy for providing employment opportunities and improving community safety. He also expressed his satisfaction with the project, indicating that the clearing works will help the entire community and his family. The clearing helps us all, if my son comes to my cocoa farm, I am now rest assured that the lines will not interfere with the cocoa trees and harm his life, he stated.



Under the supervision of Genser Energy's Construction Superintendent, Stephen Ayisi, teams selectively trimmed branches and removed high-risk trees posing a threat to the transmission lines. Local recruits from the affected communities were actively involved in these operations.



Since the clearing the communities have enjoyed an improvement in power supply to the communities. There has been a 50% reduction in power surges that caused power cuts in these communities between January and March this year, due to the cleared vegetation along these lines,



Samuel Acheampong, Mmratehene of Koduakrom stated during a public engagement with Koduakrom PAPs that, the only work we do here is farming and petty trading. If this project has employed our youth to gain skills beyond what we do, then I am happy Genser has made that possible.



The removal of high-risk trees will not only enhance the reliability of electricity supply to essential facilities but also contribute to the overall stability of Ghana's national grid. Beyond local gains, protecting the lines enhances overall stability of Ghana's national grid.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has lauded the Inspector General (IGP) of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, for instilling discipline and professionalism in the Police Service.



The Vice President, who is chairman of the Police Council, said the IGP and his management team have put into good use all the resources government has provided for them.



The Vice President was speaking during the commissioning of the second ultramodern brick-model police station at Kwahu Asakraka in the Eastern Region last Saturday.



The brick-model police station, which is indeed a departure from the traditional sand-block police station, is a novelty and I commend the current Police Administration for coming up with such a brilliant concept. This is indeed yet another fantastic initiative from the Police Administration that is worthy of emulation. I will urge all construction developers, both public and private, to adopt this concept of building with bricks to boost the local brick manufacturing economy, the Vice President said.



Continuing, he said, This government has invested heavily in infrastructure, recruited more police officers and provided armoured carriers, patrol vehicles and motor bikes to aid in the efforts of the Police Service, and we intend to do more in the future.



On the personal effort of the IGP in the construction of the model police station, Dr. Bawumia said the Police Administration, led by the Inspector General of Police Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, a son of Kwahu Asakraka, have put the investments to great use yielding massive peace and security dividends for all of us to see and enjoy.



On the various initiatives undertaken by the IGP since he assumed office, the Vice President observed, The massive deployment of police personnel and motor bikes in every corner of the country as part of the Police Visibility Initiative, Police Community Engagements across all levels including the exciting Snatch Them Young Police Initiative, and the high levels of professionalism and discipline now associated with the Ghana Police Service are testament to the good work being undertaken by the IGP and his team.



The police, he said are sustaining the security of our country and the deepening of our democratic values, dedicating their lives to the protection of lives and property and the thriving democratic rights of our people. Whenever the peace of our dear nation is threatened, the police are our first line of defence and they remain in the frontline to engage any potential or ongoing affront to law and order in the Ghana.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Tamale South Member of Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, has urged Ghanaian Muslims to view the issue of LGBT+ rights as a cultural battle rather than solely a religious one.



His remarks come amidst debate surrounding the recent passage of legislation criminalizing LGBT+ activities in Ghana.



Legal challenges to the bill have emerged, with two interlocutory injunction applications filed against its constitutionality.



Both applicants argue that the legislation violates constitutional rights pertaining to homosexuality.



Speaking at an Iftar (Ramadan fast-breaking banquet), organized by OkaiKoi North Member of Parliament, Theresa Awuni, Haruna Iddrisu emphasized the need to protect Ghana's cultural integrity.



He asserted that homosexuality is incompatible with Ghanaian culture and should be actively resisted.



"When we hear LGBT, take it beyond religion and conceive it as a cultural war, anyone who respects and admires Ghanaian culture must strive to preserve its honour and dignity by opposing the promotion of practices such as homosexuality, citinewsroom.com quoted him to have said.



The former Minority Leader further emphasized the cultural nature of the conflict, stating, "It is a cultural war, and therefore we must conceive it as a cultural war and fight it as such."



On February 28, 2024, Ghana's Parliament approved a bill criminalizing LGBTQ+ activities, including their promotion, advocacy, and financial support.



The legislation stipulates penalties ranging from six months to three years of imprisonment for individuals found in violation, with longer sentences of three to five years for those involved in promoting or sponsoring such activities. However, the bill awaits the president's signature to become law.















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Social commentator Allotey Jacobs has cautioned the general public as well as the Attorney General and the Ghana Police Service over the purported marriage between Gborbu Wulome, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, and 16-year old Naa Yoomo Ayemuede.



According to Allotey Jacobs, the customs and traditional rites of the Ga people can be traced to the ancient biblical Israelites. He added that the traditions being performed by the Ga people date back to centuries hence, the attack on the customary rites being performed is uncalled for, especially when the details have not been sought.



He added that, the controversies surrounding the alleged marriage are a conflict between western societal norms and Ghanaian traditional norms; hence, stakeholders who try to intervene in a rumble that does not exist must tread cautiously.



He said, "This is our debate, and to make sure our customs and traditional rites are inculcated into our constitution, otherwise the nerves of the Ga traditional rulers will be bruised. Our Wulomeis are the leaders of the clans. They inherit Aaron's order (Levites), and when they decide, it is final. Dont infuriate the Ga people. The Gas have their own customs."



Allotey Jacobs was of the view that thorough investigation needs to be conducted regarding the alleged marriage ceremony instead of engaging in mere speculation.



He added that, all those chastising the traditional ruler must go to the people of Nungua to ask the relevant questions instead of relying on the hullaballoos on social media.



He added, "You dont know whether she was married to the chief or she was married to the deity. I am not being controversial, but when you go to the Bible, Isaac was betrothed to a 10-year-old Rebecca at the age of 65. They should respect the traditions of the Ga people."



"Dont defy the traditions and customs of the Gas. Dont do it. Just as it took some time to abolish the trokosi system in the Volta, Gas also need education to discuss some of these traditions of the Ga people instead of pouring scorn on the Ga tradition."



"The Attorney-General may be offending a whole tribe if he doesn't know."



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' Morning Show, Wednesday, April 3, Allotey Jacobs emphasized the need to educate the very people for whom the laws have been made so they could revise their traditional laws instead of unduly tarnishing the image of the Ga state.





Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Bernard Allotey Jacobs has warned the Ghana Police and Attorney General against the way they are treating the marriage between the 16-year old girl and 63-year old priest, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII.



The priest, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, married the girl in a customary ceremony held at Nungua in Accra and following the marriage rite, which was captured in a video that has gone viral, the priest and the Nungua Traditional Council have come under intense criticism.



However, the traditional leaders claim the girl has not been married to the priest but the deity.



Following the incident, there have been concerns over the legal implications for such an event.



The issue has turned into a tussle of laws and customs as there is a school of thought that condemns this traditional practice and another that upholds the Nungua traditions, supporting the Gborbu Wulomo (priest) for preparing the girl for marriage.



Allotey Jacobs, commenting on the development during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, cautioned the parties speaking against the Nungua Traditional Council to desist from it.



He kicked against the Attorney General who has instructed for investigations into the incident and the Police for taking the child and her mother into their custody.



"Attorney General, he may be offending a whole tribe if he doesn't know", he cautioned.



He advised people to respect the traditions and customs of the Ga society, stressing "just dont defy the traditions and customs of the Gas. Dont do it!"



He threw his weight behind the marriage rite saying "it is a tradition. It is a norm...It is not being above the law. They should respect customs and traditions".



"Wulomo, they inherit Aaron's order. They are from the Aaron's order. They are Levites till today and when they decide, it is final. Don't provoke the Ga people!", he exclaimed.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Kenyan President, Dr William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto, has described Ghanas democracy as a beacon of hope and an inspiration to many countries, especially with the emergence of unconstitutional governments from all directions.



He explained that Kenya was proud of Ghanas democracy, particularly the almost equal Members of Parliament for both the Minority and Majority which, he said, demonstrated the level of maturity of Ghanas democracy and the extent to which it was entrenched.



President Ruto made the commendation during bilateral talks between Ghana and Kenya as part of his three-day state visit to Ghana at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.



President Ruto, who led a high-powered delegation of ministers and businessmen to Ghana, was given full honours by the Ghana Navy which mounted a guard of honour for him to inspect.



The Navy also fired a 21-gun salute and played the national anthems of both countries. President Akufo-Addo and the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, met the Kenyan President and his spouse at the foyer of the Jubilee House and after exchanging pleasantries, greeted the ministers from both countries.



The two Presidents then had a tete-a-tete and later joined the bilateral meeting which culminated in the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), while the bilateral relations were moved to the level of a bi-national commission.



President Ruto indicated that they had agreed that the inaugural session of the Bi-national Commission would provide the two countries with an opportunity to reaffirm friendship, deepen bilateral ties and strengthen the normal course of African economic integration.



He explained that as the home of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Ghana was leading a force in economic integration and development and, therefore, commended President Akufo-Addo for spearheading the AfCFTA Secretariat.



Visa requirements



President Ruto said the recent announcement by Ghana to remove entry fees for all Africans by December this year aligned with one of the goals of the AfCFTA to create a single market on the continent to drive economic growth, grow and create more jobs, and eradicate poverty.



He said he had also in a similar vein removed visa requirements for visitors from all African countries with effect from January 1, this year. President Ruto commended President Akufo-Addo for his role as the Champion for African Union institutions, which include the Africa Central Bank, the Africa International Monetary Fund, the Africa Investment Bank, and the Pan African Stock Exchange.



He reiterated his endorsement of President Akufo-Addos determination to ensure the building of these institutions as a mechanism for consolidating the economic and financial situation on the continent.



I concur, President, that we should as African countries, invest in these institutions, and Kenya last year invested $40 million in Afreximbank. We are considering investing in Trade and Development Bank as a way of putting a stamp of approval on these institutions and building their capacity to assist us develop our own financial institutions, he added.



What the President is championing is going to be part of the consolidation of the reform of the enhancement of institutions that will support the progress and prosperity of our continent, he added.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Amidst criticisms from Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong asserts that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration will not reconsider the recently adjusted passport fees.



In response to Ablakwa's pledge to demand a review of the fees upon resumption of Parliament, Ampratwum-Sarpong maintains the Ministry's stance, asserting that the revised fees are here to stay.



"If he wants us to come to the committee, we will respect the committee, we will appear before the committee, we will repeat the reasons behind the request and the approval given by parliament for the passport fees," he said in an April 3 interview with JoyNews.



"These figures, with the support of the majority of Ghanaians, have come to stay. There is nothing he can do about it. He can make his noise out there. If he wants to bring it to the committee; to Parliament, we will meet him on the floor of Parliament. We will discuss it, we will debate it, and at the end of the day, he will fall flat on his face," the deputy minister stressed.



He defended the fee hike, stating that the increased charges are essential for generating revenue to enhance service delivery at passport offices nationwide.



"We would have money to be able to invest to buy the equipment, the printers, and whatever other stuff that we need to be able to give excellent service.



"With the cash revenue flow, it will become possible for us to approach the suppliers of this equipment and materials and whatever that we need in our work.



"So once we get more computers, once we get more laminating machines, once we get more capturing machines, we will be able to capture more biometrics and therefore the six months, seven months, or eight months appointment days would be reduced.



"At the moment, it is out of control because we don't have the capturing machines. We do have some, but it is not enough," he added.



The adjustment, effective April 1, raised fees for passport applications from GH100 to GH500 for the 32-page booklet and to GH644 for the 48-page booklet under the standard service.



Amidst public outcry over the new price, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who is the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, has suggested that the fees be reviewed as it adds on to the already excruciating burden of Ghanaians.



"It is a matter we will revisit. We will summon the Ministers and officials from the Ministry to see what can be done because this is really terrible. It is going to add to the already excruciating hardship and anguish that Ghanaians are going through," he said.









Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Climate change impact on agriculture has become increasingly evident, with erratic rainfall patterns posing significant challenges for farmers.



According to experts, the need for irrigation is crucial, yet severe drought conditions persist due to human activities such as deforestation and farming practices near riverbanks.



Mr. Edward Kareweh, General Secretary of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), highlighted the detrimental effects of climate change on food crops like rice and maize, which are particularly vulnerable to the current lack of rainfall.



Additionally, he expressed concern over the loss of flowers in plants due to excessively warm weather.



In an interview with Peace FM News, Mr. Kareweh emphasized the importance of collective action in combating climate change. He urged all Ghanaians to actively participate in the nation's afforestation efforts to maintain forest cover, which plays a crucial role in attracting rainfall.



Mr. Kareweh also advised against farming near riverbanks, citing its contribution to exacerbating the climate crisis. He emphasized the need for concerted efforts at both individual and institutional levels to address the challenges posed by climate change in the agricultural sector.



Furthermore, he called upon scientists to develop drought-resistant and early-maturing crop seedlings to mitigate the impacts of changing climate patterns on agriculture.





Source: Sika Ayim/ Peace FM Newsroom









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In the spirit of fostering unity, togetherness and appreciating the unique diversity of their Muslim clients and staff, Stanbic Bank Ghana has continued its annual tradition of hosting Iftar  the breaking of fast. The event was attended by some Muslim clients, leaders of the Islamic community in Ghana, Muslim staff members, and executives of the bank.



The Head of Business and Commercial Clients, Farihan Alhassan, took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of togetherness as a community. He said, It is a privilege to spend this important evening with all of you. Ramadan is a period of spiritual rejuvenation which promotes a heightened focus on devotion for guidance and blessings from Allah. As a bank, we are blessed to have you as a core part of our family. We are grateful to you for your prayers, and support, over the years. Stanbic does not only care about your financial growth, but everything that concerns your general wellbeing; we are one family, and we will forever be.



He added that At Stanbic Bank, we believe in celebrating diversity and fostering inclusion. That is why we join our Muslim brothers and sisters every year to break bread in the holy period. We are committed to finding new ways to support you in the precious journey of faith. As the period for the Hajj pilgrimage draws nearer, we are excited to extend our support to facilitate the Hajj operations. We remain grateful for the opportunity to serve you.



To show his appreciation, Iddrisu Mohammed Osei, General Manager, Finance and Administration at Royal Crown Packaging, thanked the bank for their continuous support and for upholding the Iftar tradition. He said, We express our heartfelt gratitude to Stanbic Bank for its unwavering support. While banks are often seen as business entities, Stanbic Bank has gone above and beyond, demonstrating a personal touch that extends beyond mere business transactions. Through this act of support, Stanbic Bank has shown genuine care and dedication to our cause. Thank you sincerely, and we hope that more institutions will be inspired to follow this example of genuine support and empathy.



The session ended after the prayers and a light meal was shared. They were hosted at the Andani Centre of Excellence on the Spintex Road in Accra.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A leading member of Movement for Change, Hopeson Yaovi Adorye has cautioned Majority Chief Whip in Ghana's Parliament, Frank Annoh-Dompreh to be mindful of his utterances towards his group's founder, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.



The lawmaker openly criticised Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen for his remarks suggesting that Ghana, a predominantly Christian nation, should elect a Christian president.



Mr Kyerematen who was addressing a congregation on Easter Sunday emphasised the need for Ghanaians to elect a Christian leader.



"As a predominantly Christian nation, as Christians, it is our responsibility that we elect a Christian leader who is also a Christlike leader," the former ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minister of Trade and Industry said.



"If God touches your heart, and you vote for Alan Kyerematen, the transformative leader, then I can assure you, as our Lord Jesus did on the cross, promise that ye shall be in paradise with him; you shall also be in paradise when I come into power," he said.



Reacting to this on his social media handle, Annoh-Dompreh lambasted Alan Kyerematen, labelling his comments terrible, and ugly.



"This is backwards, terrible, and ugly, to say the least. The NPP has truly 'suffered' in bearing and tolerating you over the years. Show me one country globally that has succeeded by using your theory. Alan is not relevant in our 'modern' body politics! Bow in shame!" he posted.



But Hopeson Adorye, in an interview with NEAT FM's morning show, Ghana Montie, warned Annoh-Dompreh to stay away from his leader's issues.



"Who is Annoh-Dompreh? How old is he to rubbish what Alan has said? Because he has enriched himself through politics, he has the guts to insult Alan. I don't blame him.



Alan is well-mannered and speaks wisdom. Even he [Annoh-Dompreh] is proud and cherishes his running mate who doesn't speak well. Listen, whoever tries anything against Alan will regret it, we will equally face them. Hopeson Yaovi Adory told host, McJerry Osei Agyemang.







Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com









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North Tongu Member of parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has examined some ministers in the President Akufo-Addo administration, expressing his dissatisfaction and disappointment with their unsavoury public utterances.



The North Tongu lawmaker requested for a reevaluation of the conduct of government ministers and appointees, emphasizing the need for respect towards the Ghanaian citizens.



In an interview with TV3s Johnnie Hughes, April 3, Ablakwa said, President Akufo-Addos ministers must be sent back to an emergency workshop or seminar. Unfortunately, the bill that they will return with, we may regret that we even gave this advice, but we should tell them that they should do the workshop right at the cabinet room. And they need to talk to themselves."



He expressed utmost dismay at the manner in which government ministers respond to public concerns, questioning their understanding of their mandate.



Increasingly, the way ministers are speaking to citizens who have the power. Who put them in office? People should always remember this government appointees and officials and ministers should remember that without the peoples vote, you are not a minister, your party is not in power. The constitution is clear. Power belongs to the people in Ghana, he asserted.



He cited an instance involving the Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempehs remarks about persons asking for load-shedding timetable to produce it for themselves, describing it as unacceptable.



The last time the Energy Minister said go and produce your own timetablehow dare the minister, how dare him? Ablakwa quizzed.



Touching on the passport fee increase, in respect of which the Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey asked those complaining not to apply if they have no need for it, Ablakwa highlighted the importance of passports beyond mere travel documentation.



People dont apply for passports because they are wealthy or they want to go and buy expensive tickets, he emphasized.



There are many transactions today, banks and all of that, that require you to get a passport. People go for passports as identity.



Ablakwa concluded his impassioned plea for respect and consideration from government officials, urging them to remember the source of their authority.



The mindset of our ministers must change; they should show us some respect, he asserted, adding that "all the Ghanaian people want is that you show us respect. You honour us.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Chief Justice Her ladyship Gertrude Torkonoo has defended her decision to exercise an expedite hearing requested by the Attorney General, Mr. Godfred Dame for the case filed by South Dayi member of Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor for his petition to the speaker against the ministerial and deputy ministerial vetting.



The Chief Justice had come under a severe backlash from a section of the public following her decision to adjudicate Dafeamekpors case ahead of that of Richard Dela Sky, whose date for filing was two weeks prior to Rocksons.



Members of the opposition described the action taken by the Chief Justice and by extension, the Supreme Court as bias, hence a bad precedence for Ghanas democracy.



However, addressing members of the Judicial Press Corps on a wide range of issues on Wednesday, April 4, Justice Torkonoo revealed that the content of the letter from the A-G insisting the reasons for the request was cogent enough to warrant her granting the request.



"Immediately a process is filed, you have a maximum of 21 days. Give or take another three days for service, you would have another so the instruction is to wait for a minimum of 25 days. If no process is filed, then same here you notice that the thought was set.



"At that time, we'll know that everybody's been given all the opportunity given by the rules and they didn't follow their processes. So we can either deal with a motion on it. In this particular case, as soon as the case was filed, the Attorney General filed his response. He filed his affidavit to the opposition. So the case was ripe for hearing.



"We were going to go on Easter break and the Attorney General wrote and said that this is a matter of governance so could the court issue a hearing notice for the case to be heard, and the court was going to sit on Wednesday, so hearing notices were issued so that the applicant who filed the case himself and who should be interested in his case himself will come court and the two other respondents will also come to court," she said.



The Chief Justice said she knew that the applicants, Speaker of Parliament and Attorney-General had all been served.



Speaking on the generalities of the arrangements, she added, "so we dealt with the application on its merit and moved on it."



It is recalled that on March 27, the Supreme Court dismissed an application filed by South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, contesting the approval of the newly appointed ministers and deputy ministers.



In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the court deemed the application frivolous and an abuse of the court process.



Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the applicant, had aimed to halt the vetting process in Parliament until his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the President's decision to reassign Ministers without Parliament's involvement was resolved.



However, the Supreme Court concluded that the MP's case lacked direct relevance to the nominees under consideration in Parliament, as it primarily pertained to reassigned Ministers.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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Satirist Kwaku Sintim Misa popularly known as KSM, has advised creatives against the use of drugs.



Although he reveals that the biggest push for drug use among talents in the creative industry is the ability of the drugs to evoke wild creative ideas, he cautions that it is dangerous to rely on drugs for any creative activity.



"When you get on any drug, it can give you some amazing energy and some creative geniuses that can give you the boost. However, trust me, if you rely on the natural and you give yourself enough time, youll be amazed at what you can accomplish. The deception is that that one gives you an immediate thing that you can do and you think this is the way out. But the more you do it, the more you destroy that capacity. So you can be the greatest creative and everything but later on you realise that it brings you down again, very very fast. So my advice is, dont depend on any external high to get creative because it will give you just the boost but you cant depend on that boost," he said.



He also admitted to using drugs in the past but explained he did so to see if that could really enhance his creative abilities.



"I did it to see how best it can help me to be creative and the ideas that I got were all very wild and to me wow this thing is amazing, it can give you ideas and things. But then once it starts dying down then you realise these are not wild ideas, these were stupid things. But at that time you dont care. For me it doesnt work.



I believe in what they call the natural high. Creative who stay natural and depend on the natural high are always more successful and they have longevity than those who depend on the quick high thing," he noted.

Source: Joy News









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By Eliza Noe, The Virginian-Pilot (TNS)

NORFOLK, Va.  A K-9 on duty with the department of corrections was killed by gang members at Sussex I State Prison, officials said Wednesday.

According to a release from the Virginia Department of Corrections, K-9 Rivan and officer Kharmishia Phillip Fields were on duty when three members of the MS-13 gang were attacking another inmate in the housing unit, and the two responded. The department reports a fourth inmate appeared to be supervising the attack.

During the conflict, VADOC said Rivan was violently and repeatedly stabbed and kicked by the inmates. Phillip Fields was not seriously injured. Prison staff attempted to save Rivans life, but they were unsuccessful. The inmate who was being attacked was transported to the hospital.

Rivan, a K-9 at Sussex I State Prison, died April 2, 2024. (Virginia Department of Corrections/TNS)TNS

The inmates involved in the malicious attack are from El Salvador and Guatemala and at least threeare verified members of MS-13, a statement from the department reads. The department has confirmed that all four of the inmates were in the United States illegally at the time of their arrest and conviction.

Their identities were not released, but a department spokesperson said the inmates involved had been charged with first-degree homicide, attempted rape, abduction, malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, child pornography charges, grand larceny and possession of a schedule III drug.

The safety of our corrections team is our agencys top priority, said VADOC Director Chad Dotson. Officer Phillip Fields has the agencys full support during this difficult time, and I personally wish her well in her recovery. The heroics she displayed during this brutal assault demonstrate her courage, her commitment to public safety, and her care for the safety of the inmate population. I thank her for her service to the commonwealth.

Rivan was a Belgian Malinois who started his service in 2019. The department said he came from a K-9 family with a strong public safety tradition. His father worked for a police department in Southwest Virginia and his mother worked for the U.S. Secret Service.

There will be a memorial service, and the department says Rivans death is still under investigation.

More:

Meet the new dog joining Penn State Childrens Hospital to assist kids

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Dogs death brings Jon Stewart to tears on The Daily Show: video
Alan Ritchson is blowing the lid off the dark side of modeling after his extensive experience in the industry.

Best known for his work on Amazon Primes Reacher, the 41-year-old Hollywood star recently harkened back to his successful career as a model, appearing in campaigns for brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Calvin Klein.

Many years after quitting the industry, the star revealed on Wednesday that he was sexually assaulted by a very famous photographer.

He has yet to name the photographer.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he recalled the experience had left some scars.

As one of the highest paid at his agency, Ritchson said he was booked for a gig and was sent to meet a well-known photographer in a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line.

I was sexually assaulted by this guy, he revealed. I left and drove straight to the agency that I was at in L.A. I stormed in and said, [expletive] you for sending me there. You knew what was going to happen, and you did it anyway. There was a coy smile [on this agents face], knowing he got caught.

When his unnamed agent tried to get him to calm down, Ritchson told them to never contact him again.

I quit the industry and it was the last photoshoot Ive ever had. Those pictures were never seen or published. That was it, Ritchson continued. I swore it off and thank God acting found me at the exact same time so I was able to make a switch to a new career, but it left some scars.

Ritchson didnt skimp over other grim experiences hes had as a model, mentioning that there are very few redeeming qualities to working in that industry.

He also labeled the industry legalized sex trafficking.

Luckily for Ritchson, because of his size and build, he knew he could remove himself physically if he felt threatened in dangerous situations. But women, he said, arent as lucky.

The industry is not regulated, and its a widely known secret that if youre hired on a job, youre basically being passed off to a photographer to be trafficked, Ritchson said. The number of times and situations where I was put in horrific environments where sexual abuse was the goal and the paycheck that you were desperate for in order to survive was the carrot, I cant count on two hands. It was quite often.

The actor also claimed fashion photographer Mario Testino touched him inappropriately when the two sat next to each other at a Paris Fashion Week dinner in 2014.

He wouldnt keep his hands off me, Ritchson said during the interview. The entire time we were sitting at dinner, he was trying to rub my crotch under the table. I was like, Get your hands off me, dude. I lived that life with people like you where you feel like you can just have anybody. Im not an object to you. Im way past that now, dude. But he was entertained by it. He thought it was the funniest thing.

Ritchson said when he left the event early, Testino called him later that night, requesting the model to come to his hotel room. When Ritchson declined his request, the photographer tried his hand at bribing, offering him a shoot for the cover of Vogue.

I was like, I dont give a [expletive] about the cover of Vogue, Ritchson recalled saying. I dont give a [expletive] about whatever opportunity you want to dangle in front of me.

The actor also spoke about his suicide attempt, as well as his bipolar diagnosis and ADHD in the interview.

Making his acting debut as Aquaman in The CWs Smallville, he garnered other acting credits and went on to appear in such major blockbuster films as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Fast X.

Due to his performance on Reacher, the actor scored a deal with Amazon to develop and star in projects for the platform, The Wrap reported.

Reacher is currently working on its third season.
By Matt DiSanto, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) (TNS)

Many Pennsylvanians will get to see April 8s solar eclipse, and those in the northwest part of the state will have an even better view.

Before Mondays astronomical event arrives, though, youll need to ensure you have proper eye protection if you hope to look at the eclipse. Another total solar eclipse is not expected to be visible from American soil until August 2044.

Heres what you need to know about eclipse glasses, finding reputable suppliers and crafting your own.

Do I really need eye protection to look at the eclipse?

Yes. Unless you are located within the path of totality, in which the moon completely blocks the sun for a brief period, you risk serious eye injury by looking at the sun  even when it is partially obscured by the eclipse.

In the U.S., the upcoming eclipses path of totality will stretch from southwestern Texas up through upstate New York and Maine. The northwestern tip of Pennsylvania, including Erie, will see total obscuration between 3:16 and 3:20 p.m., according to eclipse projections.

Although the suns light may appear dimmer during an eclipse, it can still damage your eyes. Unprotected looks at the sun for even a brief moment can result in vision loss or blindness as wavelengths of light damage your retina.

Solar viewing glasses, better known as eclipse glasses, are necessary when watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse before and after totality. Eclipse glasses differ from run-of-the-mill sunglasses in that they are often thousands of times darker and, in most cases, comply with international safety standards.

Do not try to get around taking proper precautions by looking at the eclipse through a camera lens, a telescope, a pair of binoculars or any other optical device. Even if you are wearing the right eclipse glasses, concentrated solar rays can burn through the filters on these devices and cause serious eye injury, NASA warns. Proper solar filters for these devices can make viewing an eclipse safe.

Wearing properly rated eclipse glasses when viewing the total solar eclipse can ward off irreversible eye damage.Joanne Berger DuMound/Special to Cleveland.com

What to look for when buying eclipse glasses

As you look for solar eclipse glasses or viewers, make sure they meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard. This sets several benchmarks for safe solar viewers, including the transmittance of ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths, material and surface quality, mounting, labeling and more.

The American Astronomical Society keeps track of quality solar eclipse glasses and viewers through a vetted list of trusted suppliers. Though the AAS notes it cannot keep track of every potential seller, the retailers in its listings supply solar viewers and filters that you can be confident are safe when used properly.

For every seller on the list, weve confirmed three things: (1) the identity of the manufacturer, (2) that the manufacturers viewers have been tested for compliance with ISO 12312-2 by a properly accredited lab, and (3) that the viewers meet the standards transmittance requirements across the parts of the spectrum to which our eyes are at risk from overly bright light, the AAS wrote in a statement March 22.

You can view the AASs list of vetted suppliers by visiting eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters. You may be able to find safe eclipse-viewing products from retailers Walmart, Target, Amazon and other chains before April 8 arrives.

Be sure to watch out for counterfeit glasses that use the International Organization for Standardizations logo. If you find eclipse glasses and are unsure if they are legitimately safe to use, experts suggest running them through a few tests at home:

Put your glasses on indoors and look around. Only bright lights, such as halogen bulbs or smartphone flashlights, should be visible.

Wear them outside and look around. Your view through them should be too dark to see distant hills, trees or other surroundings.

If these two previous tests worked, take a quick glance at the sun. You should comfortably see a bright, sharp-edged round disc.

What if I cant find a new pair of eclipse glasses in time?

If your glasses from the 2017 total solar eclipse for the fall 2023 annual eclipse are still in good condition, they are likely fair game. Check to make sure there are no scratches, tears or holes in the lenses, Time magazine suggests.

You can even craft your own pair using materials from around the house, including aluminum foil and cardboard.

NASA recommends using a pinhole projector to view an eclipse indirectly. To create your own, poke a hole in a sheet of paper, such as an index card, and let the sunlight shine through the hole to create a shadow of the eclipse on the ground.

You might also choose to create your own projector using a cardboard box, a white sheet of paper, aluminum foil, tape and scissors, the agency says.

First, tape your sheet of white paper on the inside end of the box and, on the other end, cut out a section and cover it with aluminum foil, leaving a small hole poked out. Cut out a section from which to view on the other side of that end. Once the eclipse arrives, look through the viewpoint and face away from the sun. You should see the sunlight hit the small hole in the aluminum foil and create a shadow on the white paper inside the box.
By David Matthews, New York Daily News (TNS)

An 80-year-old American tourist was killed after an an aggressive bull elephant charged a safari vehicle in Zambia.

The incident occurred Saturday at Kafue National Park while six guests and a guide were driving. The elephant hit the vehicle and flipped it over.

An aggressive bull elephant charged the vehicle carrying six guests and a guide who were on a game drive from Lufupa Camp, Wilderness, the company operating the safari, said in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday.

Our guides are all extremely well trained and experienced, but sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guides route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harms way quickly enough, Keith Vincent, Wilderness chief executive officer, said in the statement.

The park dispatched a helicopter to the scene. The 80-year-old woman was transferred to a hospital in South Africa with unspecified injuries and was later pronounced dead. Four other were treated for minor injuries. The deceased woman was not identified.

The incident is being investigated by Zambias Department of National Parks & Wildlife and other local and federal agencies.

Local Zambian authorities and the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka are working to bring the womans remains back stateside, the company said. This is a devastating incident for everyone involved, and we are doing our best to support the family and all affected.

A similar elephant attack occurred 10 days earlier on a separate safari in South Africas Pilanesberg National Park, but no injuries were reported.
An elementary school bus driver veered off the roadway and crashed Thursday morning in Perry County sending four children to different hospitals, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Troopers from Newport responded to the single-vehicle crash at 8:30 a.m., where they found a West Perry School District bus off the roadway in Northeast Madison Township.

Police said the bus veered off Fisher Hill Road near the intersection of Dobbs Road while on a route picking up students who attend Blain Elementary.

The bus crashed into a utility pole, several fence posts, and traveled up the side of an embarkment, striking a street sign, according to police.

Police said 16 students plus the driver were onboard during the crash. Four students were taken to three hospitals with apparent or suspected minor injuries.

West Perry School District officials, Blain Fire Department and EMS units responded to the scene. Parents were notified, police said.

Students who were not injured were taken to school on another bus.

Police said the driver was wearing his seatbelt when the crash happened.

The bus was damaged, but able to be driven away from the scene after the crash, which caused a temporary power outage.

State police are investigating why the driver veered off the road.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has announced that a contractor is scheduled to inspect bridges on Interstate 81 in Cumberland and Franklin counties during the week of April 8, according to a news release.

Weather permitting, the northbound and southbound I-81 bridges spanning Letort Spring Run between Exit 47 (Route 34/Hanover Street) and Exit 48 (Route 74/York Road) in South Middleton Township, Cumberland County are scheduled to be inspected on Monday and Tuesday.

The northbound bridge will be inspected on Monday. There will be alternating left shoulder and right lane closures from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. between Exits 47 and 48.

The southbound bridge will be inspected on Tuesday. There will be a right lane closure from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM between the exits.

Then, on Friday, the Pine Stump Road bridge spanning I-81 between Exit 20 (Route 997/Scotland) and Exit 24 (Route 696/Fayette Street) in Greene Township, Franklin County, will be inspected. There will be a right lane closure on northbound and southbound I-81 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Travelers are reminded to be alert for these operations, to obey work zone signs, and to use caution when driving through work zones for their safety, as well as for the safety of the road crews.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following local alerts on X.

Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties at PennDOT District 8.
With heavy rain and wind continuing to push across Pennsylvania on Wednesday, PennDOT released an updated list of closures in place due to flooding.

The following closures are currently in effect, according to a PennDOT release:

Centre County:

Route 1002 (Marsh Creek Road) between the intersections of Howard Divide Road and Route 150 in Curtin and Liberty townships

Route 2008 (Sinking Creek Road) between the intersections of Egg Hill Road and School Street in Potter and Gregg townships

Route 3006 (Valley View Road, North Thompson St., Upper Coleville Road, Armagst Road, High Street) from the intersection of Warner County Road in Spring Township to the intersection of Coleville Road in Spring Township

Route 2012 (Penns Creek Road) in Penn Township between the intersections of First Alley and Paradise Road

Clearfield County:

Route 53 in Irvona Borough between the intersections of Henrys Road and Route 3005 (St. Lawrence Road)

Route 219 in Burnside Township between the intersections of Solley Road and Rager Road

Route 1003 (Mount Zion Road) in Lawrence Township between the intersections of 104th Calvary Road and Route 322

Route 3004 (Sylvis Road) in Burnside Township between the intersections of Route 219 and Line Road

St. Lawrence Road between the intersections of Route 53 and Market Street in Irvona Borough and Becarria Township

Route 3005 (Cherry Corner Road) in Greenwood Township between the intersections of Route 969 and Watts Road

Juniata County:

3005 (Chicken Plant Road/Nelson Road/Cedar Spring Road) from the intersection of Main Street in Walker Township, to the intersection of Route 75 in Walker Township.

Clinton County:

Route 4001 (Kettle Creek Road) at the intersection of Fourth Street in Leidy Township.

Mifflin County:

Route 103 in Wayne Township between the intersection of Bridge Street and Sugar Ridge Road.

A road in Hampden Township, Cumberland County was also closed on Wednesday afternoon due to flooding.

In addition, a downed tree landed on a vehicle in Lancaster County on Wednesday and sent two people to the hospital.

PennDOT also wants to remind drivers to never drive through flooded roadways, because it only takes two feet of fast-moving water to move a car.

Additionally, any drivers who disregard barriers closing a road can face increased penalties if emergency responders are called to make a rescue, the release said.
Costco may be one of Americas favorite places to shop. Being able to go to one store and get just about anything, from luxury wine to appliances to outdoor playgrounds to books to clothing...the big box store has just about everything you could need. Even their tech and digital photo shop is amazing. And you get all this at a marked down price.

And right now, Costco is offering an unbelievable deal: a Costco 1-Year Gold Star Household Membership (that is a $60 value) PLUS $20 Digital Costco Shop Card for just $60 total.

What does this deal include?

A Gold Star Membership includes a FREE Household Card and allows you to purchase products for your home and family. Its also valid for one year at any Costco location worldwide and at Costco.com. With the Gold Star membership program, you unlock perks like online and in-store shopping, gas savings and the warehouse retailers 100% satisfaction guarantee. Plus you score the $20 Digital Costco shop card that gets you additional savings.

Want to upgrade to an Executive Gold Star Membership? This will include a $40 Digital Costco shop card. Executive Membership is Costcos highest level of membership. Members earn an annual 2% Reward (up to $1,000) on qualified Costco, Costco.com, and Costco Travel purchases, as well as greater discounts on Costco Services, such as lower prices on check printing and free roadside assistance for vehicles covered through the auto insurance program.

Best online Costco deals this week

Ashley Dill covers the online shopping industry, writing about commerce. She can be reached at adill@pennlive.com.
The English Premier Leagues Thursday schedule wraps up a battle between Manchester United and Chelsea. That contest is slated for a 3:15 p.m. ET kickoff from Stamford Bridge in London, England.

The Manchester United vs. Chelsea contest will air on USA Network. Live streams are available with introductory offers from FuboTV (free trial), along with DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling TV (low intro price).

Manchester United vs. Chelsea

English Premier League matchup at a glance

When: 3:15 p.m. ET

Where: Stamford Bridge, London, England

TV channel: USA Network

Live streams: FuboTV (free trial) | DirecTV Stream (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro price)

Manchester United is still trying to salvage a Premier League season that got off to an uneven start and pushed a talented team all but out of the running for a league title. ManU currently sits in sixth position with a 15-3-11 record and 48 points, and the gap continues to grow between United and the leagues top three teams. The Red Devils went 5-0-1 in February and beat Premier League heavyweight Liverpool, 4-3, in the FA Cup, then registered a disappointing 1-1 draw with Burnley last time out.

See also: More coverage of the English Premier League

Consistency hasnt been a strong suit for Chelsea, either, as the club sits in 12th position with its 11-7-10 record and 40 points with a better goal differential (+2) than Manchester United in sixth. Also just like Man U, Chelsea had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Burnley, who sits in 19th position out of 20 Premier League teams, in its previous match.

Manchester United and Chelsea are set for a 3:15 p.m. ET start on USA Network. Live streams are available with introductory offers from FuboTV (free trial), along with DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling TV.
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Maximum payouts from a fund that covers medical costs of injured seafood harvesters would be boosted under a bill that won final passage in the Alaska Legislature on Thursday.

The measure, Senate Bill 93, would boost allowable payouts from the Fishermens Fund to $15,000 per injury or disablement from the current $10,000 maximum.

The Fishermens Fund serves as something of a stand-in for workers compensation. Commercial fishers in Alaska are not covered by workers compensation insurance. The fund, which predates statehood, is administered by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and is considered an emergency fund payer of last resort after insurance policies and other sources of medical payment are used. The fund also collects statistics on fishery-related injuries.

The fund is financed directly by commercial fishers through their license and permit fees. The change in maximum payouts under the fund would incur no new cost to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, according to the fiscal notes submitted for lawmakers review.

In addition to raising the allowable payments for injury events, the bill would boost maximum payouts to owners of commercial fishing vessels for coverage of insurance deductibles for injured or sick crew members. Under the bill, that maximum payout would beboosted to $15,000 from $5,000.

The bill addresses a particular problem that was brought up by fishing organizations during the committee process. While federal law requires vessel owners to carry insurance, many of those policies excluded coverage for medical costs of crew members who were sickened by COVID-19. Through an amendment made on the Senate floor just before May 3 passage in that body, lawmakers added a provision to enable the Fishermens Fund to make payments for costs incurred to treat viral infections, classifying those as being among the occupational diseases that affect fishers.

Also added in that amendment was a provision allowing maximum payments to fall back down to $10,000 if the total value of the Fishermens Fund falls below $7.5 million. If the funds value is below $5 million, maximum benefits would be capped at $5,000, according to the bill. The intent is to protect the fund financially, lawmakers said.

The funds value was about $14 million as of last May, Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, said in floor comments when the bill passed that body.

The May 3 vote in the Senate was unanimous. The vote in the House was nearly so, with only Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, in opposition.

The bill was supported by the council that administers the fund and by United Fishermen of Alaska, as well as other groups.

The Alaska Fishermens Fund Advisory and Appeals Council brought the need to increase the statutory limits on benefits payments to my attention, the main champion, Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, said in a statement issued Friday. I introduced SB 93 through the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, which I chair, and had the privilege of carrying the bill through the Legislative process.

The bill now goes to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for his signature.

The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
With three months until the deadline, only 16% of Alaska high school seniors have applied for federal student aid.

The funding mechanism, called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA, is an indicator of college-bound students.

Alaska has the lowest rate of applicants in the nation, which has been true for at least the last decade, said Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education Executive Director Sana Efrid.

The No. 1 reason we hear from students and families that they do not enroll in post-secondary programs is the cost, she said.

The application has been revised this year, and the federal government was slow to make it available. Even among students who have applied across the country, there have been federal delays in processing the data.

In Alaska, the low application numbers have implications for the states workforce, she said, because they mean Alaskans are losing access to a funding source thats crucial to meeting the states post-secondary school and workforce funding needs.

Efrid said the federal grants available through the FAFSA application can go a long way towards covering University of Alaska tuition.

(FAFSA) is a foundational piece of what could put together a really great financial picture for students and for Alaskans to complete a program, a certificate, a training that would raise their economic outlook for their life and their family, she said.

At this time last year, roughly 30% more of Alaskas high school seniors had applied, data shows. Efrid said that this years application rate pencils out to about 10,000 Alaska applicants. Last year by this time, more than 14,000 had applied, she said.

The state has been trying to turn its lackluster application numbers around. Last October, the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education and the University of Alaska held a FAFSA Summit, a two-day conference aimed at raising the number of students who complete the application.

Attendees heard from the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistances Ebony Holmes, who explained how her state invested in FAFSA requirements for secondary schools and significantly boosted its applicant rates. Louisiana lawmakers implemented universal FAFSA and made the paperwork a graduation requirement. It is one of 11 states with the requirement.

More than 40% of Louisiana high school seniors have submitted the paperwork so far this year.

Efrid said universal FAFSA is something the state of Alaska and its school districts should research to see if it could be a solution here, and how the state could financially support such a requirement.

There is still time for students to apply for the FAFSA; the deadline is June 30.

The format is new, and Efrid said there have been some struggles, but that ultimately the application is improved.

Were still hearing from families that it is much easier to fill out than it has been in the past. And so its well worth their time to do this, she said.

The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.


Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and his Australian counterpart Vice Admiral Mark Hammond in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and his Australian counterpart Vice Admiral Mark Hammond on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks focusing on boosting bilateral military ties and reviewing the situation arising out of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by Houthi militants.



Hammond, the Chief of Royal Australian Navy, is on an official visit to India from April 2 to 6.



"The discussions focused on avenues to strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation, including increased operational engagements, training exchanges, and information sharing," the Indian Navy said.



People familiar with the talks said the two officials also deliberated on the situation in the Red Sea and its adjoining areas.



There have been mounting global concerns over Houthi militants targeting various merchant ships in the Red Sea in the last few months.



Ahead of his talks with Admiral Kumar, Hammond laid a ceremonial wreath at the National War Memorial. He was also accorded a Guard of Honour at the South Block in the Raisina Hills.



The visiting Australian naval commander is also scheduled to call on Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane.



Hammond will also be visiting the Southern Naval Command at Kochi and Western Naval Command in Mumbai.



"India and Australia share commonality of perspective on several contemporary maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific and have been working together closely in several bilateral and multilateral fora," the Indian Navy said in a statement.



It said the visit by the Chief of Royal Australian Navy further consolidates the strong and long-lasting bilateral relations between both navies.


For a lot of different reasons, weve kicked the can. Were not kicking anymore. And we will figure it out. We have the experts to do it, and we will make it happen, Mayor Williams said.

Building trust from a kicked can, though, might take time.

I hear your promises, but those are hollow promises. Because if you could have done those [enforcement strategies], why haven't you done those already down there? Why have we waited two years, and the parking problems continue to persist, but nobody has done anything? Sean Sojack, of neighboring Hammonds Ferry asked.

Dianne LHeureux also asked why, when shes brought the issue to Council before, nothing was done.

Steve Cover, who said hes been a proponent of Riverside Village from the start, simply urged officials to make good on what theyve now acknowledged: we need to actively manage it, and we need City Council to work toward that, he said.

Sojack, LHeureux and Cover were three of nearly three dozen people who were at North Augusta Municipal Building for the public hearing and first votes on changes to the Village.

Many of the comments made during the 30-minute hearing were similar to those already addressed to the citys planning commission last month: regardless of what gets built, traffic and parking have to be managed.

I think if we had already proven the model, the concerns wouldnt be as high as they are. We have not proven that model to you guys yet, and thats on us to be sure that we prove it going forward, Councilwoman Jenafer McCauley responded, also repeating her words of two weeks ago, when the changed parking agreement got set.

I do believe that the [development] plan works based off the agreement. Everything in it when I combed through it, meets the developments needs, she said. But just because it meets the needs doesn't mean that we don't have to be proactive and do our part.

Members of Council also talked risk versus reward in approving the items before them this week as means to ending the five-year hiatus on development at the Village, even as the Village should have been built in total by 2019, per the original Master Development Agreement.
John McDermott has been the business editor of The Post and Courier since 2006. He's written about all facets of the South Carolina economy, served in the U.S. Air Force and is a graduate of the University of Hawaii-Manoa journalism program.
NORTH CHARLESTON  As the years go by, the pain doesn't disappear.

"It never goes away, it just becomes a little bit bearable," Anthony Scott said about the killing of his younger brother.

On April 4, 2015, 50-year-old Walter Scott was fatally shot by then-North Charleston Police officer Michael Slager during a confrontation that followed a traffic stop.

"That moment is something that's ingrained in our history at this agency," said Police Chief Greg Gomes, a three-decade veteran of the department who has led the agency for a year.

The shooting sparked increased scrutiny of a police department that long battled with allegations of discriminatory practices.

In the aftermath of the shooting, members of the community and activists worked to hold the police department accountable, demanding answers about what happened.

A cellphone video captured by a bystander held some answers. In the wake of its release, authorities charged Slager with murder, three days after the shooting. Slager pleaded guilty in December 2017 to violating Scott's civil rights during the shooting, and he is now serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison.

Scott's name was added to a growing list of unarmed Black people killed by police officers in the United States.

"Living in America, it seems to be a continual thing that for men of color, our lives are discredited and (have) no value to some police departments in areas all over the United States," Anthony Scott said. "It's something that has to change."

Around 9:30 a.m. on that Saturday morning nine years ago, Slager, who is White, was patrolling Remount Road on the border of North Charleston and Hanahan.
Theyll just keep making up new fantasies about dedicated public servants trying to do what they are actually the ones working around to clock to do: subvert our democracy. Because either theyre that completely off their rockers or else they rely on such tactics to make money or gather power or just sow discord, hoping to someday benefit from it. Besides, if they were the type of people who could appreciate the value of having someone of Mr. Shedds stature overseeing our elections, they never would have gotten into the business of circulating discredited lies and making up new ones.

Dennis Shedd is the highest-profile chairman of the State Election Commission in decades, if not ever. And he is both well-respected in conservative circles and quite rational: someone who has been deeply involved in government long enough to understand how it works, and to appreciate the rule of law that the conspirators dismiss except when they take selected words and phrases out of context and twist the many parts they dont understand to make it seem like they mean something they dont.

So for the rest of us, his appointment is a hopeful sign  not that Mr. McMaster isnt buying into the conspiracies (we never thought he was) but that we have someone who can help keep our legislators from buying them. And who might be able to help convince our legislators that they need to protect the poll workers and other public servants who run our elections, who have been under siege since Mr. Trumps defeat in 2020. Well, he might be able to convince those legislators who arent part of the problem.

The fact is that our Legislature is, for the most part, quite cognizant that S.C. elections long have been fair and honest and that they got better in 2022 when the Legislature passed an election reform law that nearly everybody voted for and nearly everybody celebrated  a law that gave voters two weeks to cast early in-person ballots, cleared up some actual problems with how our elections operated and made changes that addressed what some fringe elements called problems but did so in a way that didnt cause significant damage. But the fringe elements are constantly bombarding legislators with demands that they cure problems that don't exist, often using "solutions" that would disenfranchise anyone who views the world differently than the fringies do.
Press Release

April 4, 2024 Senate Health Committee tackles pertussis outbreak concern as Chair Bong Go urges DOH to strengthen prevention and response measures During a public hearing on Tuesday, April 2, conducted by the Senate Committee on Health joint with the Committee on Finance, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go expressed significant concern over the reported cases of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, prompting discussions on the country's readiness and response strategies. Opening the discussion, Go questioned Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa about the department's preparation and response efforts amidst several areas declaring states of calamity, notably Iloilo City, due to the pertussis outbreak. "How about dito sa emerging (diseases)... sa pertussis, Sec. Ted? Ano ba'ng preparation na ginagawa ninyo since marami pang mga lugar na nag-declare na po sila ng state of calamity like Iloilo City?" Go asked. Responding to Go's inquiries, Herbosa provided an update on the situation, noting, "Meron tayong total number of 862 cases reported as of January to March 23." Herbosa emphasized that pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease, controllable through DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus), DTaP, or pentavalent vaccines. According to experts, the surge in cases was attributed to a significant number of unvaccinated children, with Herbosa stressing the importance of vaccinating children below five years old to protect them against the disease. Further detailing the geographical impact, Herbosa mentioned, "Sa lahat ng region, ang pinakamataas po ay sa (Region) IV-B. May 11 cases tayo. At sa Quezon City po, 'yung nag-declare ng outbreak, sapagkat zero sila the previous year." Several areas in the country, including Quezon City, Iloilo City, and Cavite province, have declared localized outbreaks of pertussis (whooping cough). Other regions like Rizal, Taguig City, Pasig City, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon Province, and Lucena City are also experiencing a significant rise in cases. The DOH reports that from January 1 to March 23, 2024, there has been a surge in pertussis cases across the country, reaching 862. This figure represents a thirtyfold increase compared to the same timeframe in the previous year. Additionally, there have been 49 fatalities attributed to pertussis to date. The discussion shifted towards the availability and administration of vaccines, with Go inquiring about the sufficiency of the vaccine supply. Herbosa assured that vaccines were available and additional orders had been placed, encouraging the vaccination of children below five years old. Amid the discussions, Go highlighted a request for assistance from Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas, who recently declared a state of calamity due to the pertussis outbreak. Mayor Trenas requested DOH's support for training in RT-PCR testing for pertussis detection, emphasizing the need for immediate and effective response measures. Sec. Herbosa confirmed the coordination with regional health directors to address the city's needs. The inquiry also featured insights from Dr. Richard Mata, a health advocate and pediatrician, who offered a critical evaluation of the DOH's current approach to managing the pertussis outbreak. Dr. Mata underscored the necessity of a more proactive vaccination strategy, particularly targeting pregnant women to protect newborns from pertussis. In response to Mata's suggestions, Sec. Herbosa acknowledged the importance of the recommendations while outlining the bureaucratic processes in adopting new vaccination strategies. "Noted po 'yung suggestions nila. Gusto ko lang sana ipaliwanag kay Dr. Richard Mata may proseso ang National Immunization Program," Herbosa explained, noting the rigorous process for incorporating new vaccines into the national immunization schedule. He emphasized the government's commitment to following these processes to ensure public health safety and efficacy. Meanwhile, PhilHealth chief Emmanuel Ledesma informed the Senate Committee that PhilHealth offers a financial assistance package for pertussis patients. Ledesma further explained that should a patient's condition escalate to severe pneumonia, the benefit package would significantly increase to cover medical expenses. Go also emphasized the availability of Malasakit Centers for those affected and requiring medical assistance. The senator is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program to streamline access to medical assistance programs of various agencies for Filipinos particularly poor and indigent patients. Currently, 161 Malasakit Centers are operational nationwide. Earlier, Go has appealed to parents, urging them to support and cooperate with the government's vaccination program aimed at protecting their children from diseases. "Protecting our children's health is a shared responsibility. Hinihikayat ko ang lahat ng mga magulang na suportahan ang mga inisyatibo sa pagbabakuna ng pamahalaan," said Go previously. "Sa pamamagitan ng pagtiyak na nakakatanggap ang ating mga anak ng kanilang mga bakuna sa tamang oras, maaari natin silang ilayo sa mga malubhang sakit tulad ng tigdas at pertussis," he added. Republic Act No. 10152, known as the "Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011", mandates the provision of routine immunization services for infants and children up to five years of age, targeting diseases including pertussis and measles, among others. Moreover, Go reiterated his appeal for Filipinos to voluntarily wear masks, especially in public places saying, "Tulad ng lagi kong payo, kung hindi naman sagabal sa inyo, ugaliing magsuot na ng mask upang proteksyunan ang sarili at ang ating pamilya." Go then stressed the significance of learning from past public health challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in dealing with current outbreaks. With this, Go continues to push for proposed health measures that seek to establish the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virology Science and Technology Institute. Go has filed Senate Bill No. (SBN) 195, seeking to establish the CDC, and SBN 196 creating the virology institute. Both are designed to strengthen further the public healthcare sector of the country after the lessons learned from the challenges brought about by COVID-19. "We must ensure that the country is not caught unprepared, underequipped, or understaffed in the fight against future challenges to the health of our people," explained Go.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 22:10:16

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Accelbyte Fund representative, Mason Hill, shared valuable insights on why they decided to invest heavily in building the ID Planet platform in 2023. Accelbyte Fund, headquartered in the United States, focuses on providing AAA-level gaming service platforms for game developers. They have secured investments totaling $70 million in 2021 and 2022.Junai, the CEO of Accelbyte Fund, previously led the backend engineering team at EPIC. During his time at EPIC, he realized that the company lacked sufficient flexibility to support the growing backend demands of the emerging EPIC platform. Junaili aspired to empower independent creators by offering top-quality tools and platforms. This inspired the decision to construct a new game service platform in 2021 and invest in developing the ID Planet platform. Simultaneously, they also working on creating exciting Web3 games like Supreme Legend, Ecosmo, and Cool Gods.One of the main factors driving the investment in development of ID Planet is the projected growth of the metaverse market, which is expected to reach a size of US$1.3 trillion by 2030. The strategic positioning of ID Planet aligns perfectly with this projected growth, positioning it as a significant participant within the metaverse ecosystem. With a strong emphasis on innovation and collaboration, ID Planet is well-equipped to secure a substantial market share in this rapidly expanding landscape.ID Planet's vision as a Metaverse Hub is a key driver of its investment appeal. By serving as a Metaverse hub, it aims to connect platforms, applications, and communities, fostering collaboration and interoperability. This approach creates a vibrant ecosystem for developers, creators, and users, driving sustained growth and user engagement.ID PLANET's upcoming game releases further enhance its investment potential. The platform is set to launch two exciting games: "Supreme Legend" offering a 5v5 Mobile Legends gameplay experience, and "Cool Gods," featuring a 5v5 Mobile Legends gameplay with third-person view controls. These games tap into popular genres and gaming mechanics, attracting a wide user base. The successful release and adoption of these games will not only contribute to ID PLANET's revenue streams but also drive user acquisition and engagement within the metaverse ecosystem.ID Planet's commitment to collaborating with game developers and bringing them into its Metaverse Hub adds immense value to the platform. By partnering with established and emerging game developers, ID Planet can expand its game portfolio and enrich its offerings. The platform's Layer 1 EVM blockchain ecosystem provides developers with innovative tools and infrastructure, facilitating the integration of their games into the metaverse. These partnerships create a vibrant gaming ecosystem, attracting users of various types and driving network effects.The participation of US-based LAM Group and E Cosmo, along with JD Wealth, Accelbyte Fund, and a Hong Kong-listed company, demonstrates the confidence and commitment of both domestic and international markets in ID Planet. The investment alliance not only offers significant financial support but also brings strategic expertise and networks, enabling ID Planet to accelerate its global market growth and enhance its global influence.ID Planet leverages the technical expertise of AccelByte Fund, which has a global team of over 200 skilled professionals located in countries such as the United States, Vietnam, Japan, Russia, and others. During the pandemic in 2021, ID Planet successfully implemented remote work and attracted a diverse and talented group of professionals. These individuals contribute their exceptional skills and expertise to the team, enabling ID Planet to succeed in its mission.ID PLANET's ecosystem consists of several key components, including the IDC20 Layer-1 EVM blockchain, IDC20 Wallet, ID.Swap DEX, IDPlanetXC CEX, and ID.NFT NFT marketplace. These blockchain-based applications work in synergy to create a comprehensive and interconnected Metaverse platform.ID Planet is an exciting metaverse platform that showcases its potential through its strategic positioning, upcoming games, developer partnerships, strong investment alliances, technological innovations, and comprehensive ecosystem. With a focus on the rapidly growing and thriving metaverse community, ID Planet has the potential to become a significant player in the rapidly expanding metaverse industry, offering users a higher, more reliable, and secure platform.Website: https://accelbytefund.comTwitter:https://twitter.com/accelbytefundFacebook:https://facebook.com/accelbytefundEmail:info@accelbytefund.comCompany Name: Accelbyte FundContact Person Name: Mason HillEmail:mason@ accelbytefund.comWebsite:https://accelbytefund.com SOURCE: Accelbyte Fund
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 15:00:35

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DELRAY BEACH, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / AmeriSafe Moving Services proudly unveils its new brand identity, marking a significant milestone in its journey from its origins as Nation Wide Moving Services. Today, with this exciting announcement, AmeriSafe Moving Services steps into a new era, committed to delivering unparalleled moving services with enhanced efficiency and customer focus. This strategic move reflects the company's growth and evolution and aligns perfectly with its mission to redefine the moving experience for its clients. The rebranding symbolizes more than a name change and embodies the company's renewed dedication to innovation and excellence in the moving industry. With the launch of this new identity, AmeriSafe Moving Services invites current and future customers to join in celebrating this important chapter in their story.AmeriSafe Moving Services AmeriSafe Moving Services Logo Nation Wide Moving Services Becomes AmeriSafe Moving ServicesThe decision to rebrand Nation Wide Moving Services into AmeriSafe Moving Services stemmed from the desire to represent the company's values and services better. After careful consideration and client feedback, the company chose a name that reflects its commitment to safety and reliability in every move.With AmeriSafe Moving Services, clients can expect the same professionalism and dedication, but now under a name that resonates with the company's ethos. The transition signifies a new chapter for the company that emphasizes safety, efficiency, and trustworthiness in every aspect of the moving process.Key Innovations:Streamlined booking process Expanded network of trusted moving partners across the country Enhanced customer support services Introduction of new service packagesThe transition signifies a renewed focus on customer satisfaction throughout the moving process. The company wants to make every relocation as simple and stress-free as possible for its clients, even when they are moving interstate. With AmeriSafe interstate movers, you get reliable and efficient service tailored to your every need.About AmeriSafe Moving ServicesAs a trusted name in the relocation industry, AmeriSafe Moving Services is committed to providing reliable and efficient moving solutions to customers across the nation. Backed by years of experience, they established themselves as leaders in the field, earning recognition for their dedication to excellence. Authorized and qualified to handle various types of moves, AmeriSafe offers a comprehensive range of services tailored to meet the diverse needs of clients:Professional Packing Secure Transportation Flexible Scheduling Transparent Pricing Storage Solutions Insurance Coverage Contact InformationFrank LucidoCEOfrank@ nwmoving.com 954 256 3261SOURCE: AmeriSafe Moving ServicesView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 15:30:14

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New Learn English Fast' bilingual book engages Portuguese-speaking adults through activity-based methods.MISSISSAUGA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Language-learning innovator Angeline Pompei is pleased to announce a new ESL book in her Learn English Fast series, a Portuguese edition featuring vocabulary word searches for Portuguese speakers. The line-by-line translation book, one line in English and the next in Portuguese, allows adults to learn English vocabulary through word search activities.Angeline Pompei is the creator behind the Learn English Fast brand, continuing her goal to release new books with instructional materials designed uniquely for adult learners. The new Portuguese book underscores her comprehensive approach to infusing English learning into everyday leisure activities. Pompei's first book in the series is a songbook encouraging people to embrace learning English through music.The vocabulary word search book helps transform the way Portuguese-speaking adults learn English. Guided by Pompei's pedagogical method, the book makes learning English an engaging and fun activity rather than a tedious task. A learner develops spelling skills when searching for words and memory retention by repetitively spelling the words, audibly or internally."I created Learn English Fast to share what worked for me, and my books allow me to share it with the other-speaking world more easily than ever," said Angeline Pompei. "Now, native Portuguese speakers can use my new book as an effective way to learn English." The Learn English Fast Portuguese edition incorporates learning English through practical interaction in a way that integrates someone's leisure time, making the process less daunting for adult learners who find it challenging to learn a language. Through its uniquely crafted resources, the series of books offers a transformational change to the traditional way of learning English, reflecting Angeline Pompei's foundational principle of crafting interactive and fun learning experiences."A person can have more opportunities for a job by learning English," she said. "Anyone with a business can sell products online and offer services to people in other countries. Learning English helps people change their and their family's future. That is a big reason I created Learn English Fast, to help people have better lives." Angeline Pompei's complete bilingual book series is now already available in English/Spanish, English/French, English/Polish, English/Italian, and English/Portuguese.To learn more about Learn English Fast, visit Angeline Pompei's website at https://learnenglishfast.com About Angeline Angeline Pompei is a recording artist, entrepreneur, and adult language learner with a degree in aerospace engineering and a TELF certification to teach English internationally as a second language. Founder and CEO of Angeline Authentic, she created the Learn English Fast system for people to learn English as a second language. Learn English Fast comprises Angeline Pompei's unique series of line-by-line bilingual books for learning languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and Polish. She is also an artist with an album, "Verbiage," that teaches grammar, vocabulary, and verb conjugation through music. Her songbook that goes along with her album, "Verbiage," is also available for German and Japanese speakers.Angeline Pompei, an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in skincare and skincare marketing, is most proud of her skincare books, which include her 3D anti-aging formula to maintain youthful skin. A multi-faceted individual, she uses all her experience to teach adults English through interest-based learning, bilingual materials, and music. All Learn English Fast resources are available on Amazon, and her music is on major streaming platforms. Her songbook is available on Amazon and in a free PDF on her website.Contact InformationMaria PenalozaMedia and Content Strategistmaria.penaloza@issuerdirect.com Related ImagesSOURCE: Angeline AuthenticView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 18:45:34

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The class action filing accuses AT&T of negligence and breach of contract for failing to investigate the massive data breach for nearly three years.ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / On April 3, 2024, two plaintiffs filed a class action suit against AT&T on behalf of themselves and 70 million current and former AT&T customers after an immense data breach leaked their names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, PINs, and dates of birth. Upon learning of the breach in August 2021 when hackers auctioned the database of 70 million customers' personally identifiable information in an online hacking forum, AT&T denied the breach ever occurred and refused to investigate further."AT&T failed to protect the data of its current and former customers," said Douglas McNamara, partner at Cohen Milstein. "If AT&T has the power to require customers to hand over information for the company's commercial benefit, it bears responsibility for safeguarding it, at a bare minimum.Only three years later when the contents of the database were publicly leaked on the dark web and independently verified did AT&T admit the breach occurred and began an investigation.The lawsuit alleges AT&T was negligent in its handling of customer's sensitive personal information, which it requires from all customers and uses for commercial benefit, by failing to adequately monitor its security measures and act in a timely manner when it discovered the breach. It also alleges AT&T breached its contract with customers based on its assertions in the company privacy notice that it would adequately safeguard users' sensitive personal data and inform them of a data breach. The privacy notice also stated AT&T would destroy former customers' data once they were no longer needed, yet 65.4 million customers whose data was leaked were former customers.Plaintiffs are represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Barnes Law Group, Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, and Dicello Levitt LLP.###About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLCCohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, a premier U.S. plaintiffs' law firm, with over 100 attorneys across eight offices, champions the causes of real people - workers, consumers, small business owners, investors, and whistleblowers - working to deliver corporate reforms and fair markets for the common good. For more information visit https://www.cohenmilstein.com CONTACT: cohenmilstein@ berlinrosen.com SOURCE: Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 21:00:34

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Company also welcomes Joe Henson as Chief Product and Technology OfficerDALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Black Box Intelligence, the leading provider of market insights and customer experience solutions for the restaurant industry, today announced the appointment of Mark Dillon as its new Chief Executive Officer and Board Member. Dillon will succeed David Cantu, who announced his decision to step down as CEO while remaining an active member of the board.Dillon has 25 years of experience driving innovation and growth at software and technology companies. Dillon most recently served as CEO of Chicago-based, AI-driven ratings and reviews software platform PowerReviews, leading the company to a successful acquisition by strategic partner 1WorldSync, Inc."Black Box Intelligence and our GuestXM platform bring the voice of the guest together with the data and insights from the restaurant's workforce and financial results to enable operators to make smart decisions on how to improve and grow their business," said Dillon. "The team is exceptional and I am excited to work with them to integrate our solutions and make our insights the standard in the restaurant industry." Joining Dillon's executive leadership team is Joe Henson as Chief Product and Technology Officer. "Joe is a critical addition to the company, bringing a unique background in AI and analytics to our strong technical team," Dillon continued.Henson brings over 25 years of experience leading product and technology initiatives across startups and global organizations. He has a proven track record of building and scaling high-performing teams, fostering innovation, and achieving impressive business results. Henson was most recently CTO/CPO at PowerReviews with Dillon. Prior to that, he ran product and technology at Label Insight, Catalina, and Triad.Contact InformationMary HamillChief Customer Officermary@ blackboxintelligence.com 614-353-8115SOURCE: Black Box IntelligenceView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 14:04:55

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FORT MILL, SC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Catheter Precision, Inc. (NYSE American:VTAK), a leading MedTech company specializing in innovative products for cardiac electrophysiology, including its VIVO and LockeT products, has announced a major expansion in its business development team. The company is bolstering its sales team with experienced industry veterans to drive growth and market penetration.David Jenkins, Catheter Precision's CEO, commented on the expansion efforts. "This is a group that I have known for almost twenty years. They are top performers from a company which was acquired by a large medical device company a couple years ago. This group led their prior company, with its unique electrophysiology products, to reach over $100 million of sales and then its acquisition for $1.7 billion. I am confident that their efforts will be repeated here at Catheter Precision." The new expansion of these veteran sales persons includes five hired on and trained in the first quarter, two more slated to start next week, and one more toward the end of April. In addition to these hires, during the first quarter, the company also brought on technical expertise with Madison Spence, most recently from Acutus, and David Pollmeier in Europe, most recently from Galaxy Medical."This new group is expected to focus on both product lines, VIVO and LockeT", continued Mr. Jenkins. "Over the last year, we have been primarily working on getting VIVO into key accounts and accumulating clinical data on LockeT. This expansion demonstrates a new effort toward commercialization of both product lines. With a 90% gross margin on both products, we anticipate that the expected increase in revenue will bring about cash flow break even by the end of this calendar year." Robert Locke, newly hired in the position of Vice President, also commented. "I previously worked with David at EP MedSystems, where we took it from a start up to its acquisition by St. Jude Medical. Those products became well accepted in the market because of the hard-working team put together by David, and those products today are well integrated into the Abbott line of electrophysiology devices. I am excited that we can look forward to the same team effort here at Catheter Precision. I have been on board for just over one month and already I have over ten hospital accounts that either have agreed to order or agreed to try out the new LockeT product. Each of these hospitals performs hundreds of Afib ablations per year. I expect Locket, with its compelling value proposition, to become widely utilized, not just in the US, but worldwide as well, and not just in EP, but in vascular surgery and interventional radiology." About VIVO Catheter Precision's VIVO (View Into Ventricular Onset), is a non-invasive 3D imaging system that enables physicians to identify the origin of ventricular arrhythmias pre-procedure, thereby streamlining workflow and reducing procedure time. VIVO has received marketing clearance from the U.S. FDA and has the CE Mark.About LockeT Catheter Precision's LockeT is a suture retention device intended to assist in hemostasis after percutaneous venous punctures. LockeT is a Class 1 device registered with the FDA.About Catheter Precision Catheter Precision is an innovative U.S.-based medical device company bringing new solutions to market to improve the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. It is focused on developing groundbreaking technology for electrophysiology procedures by collaborating with physicians and continuously advancing its products. Reincorporated as Ra Medical Systems, Inc. in Delaware in 2018, the Company changed its name to Catheter Precision, Inc. on August 17, 2023.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believe," "anticipate," "may," "might," "can," "could," "continue," "depends," "expect," "expand," "forecast," "intend," "predict," "plan," "rely," "should," "will," "may," "seek," or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, the following: our belief that we are well positioned to fortify our sales efforts, our expectation that we can demonstrate the utility and cost effectiveness of our products, our belief regarding the growth and opportunities within our field of cardiac electrophysiology, statements regarding our interpretation of our initial clinical trial data for LockeT and regarding the timing of the completion of our second clinical trial for LockeT, and statements regarding our plans to file and prosecute patents throughout the global marketplace. The Company's expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements as a result of uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties included under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov . These risks and uncertainties include, but aren't limited to, that we do not have sufficient liquidity to fund our operations through May 2024 unless we are able to obtain additional financing or enter into a strategic transaction that would provide additional liquidity, we will not be able to reach profitability unless we are able to achieve our product expansion and growth goals, our research and development and commercialization efforts may depend on entering into agreements with corporate collaborators, we have entered into joint marketing agreements with respect to our products, and may enter into additional joint marketing agreements, that will reduce our revenues from product sales, royalty agreements with respect to our LockeT device will reduce any future profits from this product, if we experience significant disruptions in our information technology systems, our business may be adversely affected, litigation and other legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, if we make acquisitions or divestitures, we could encounter difficulties that harm our business, failure to attract and retain sufficient qualified personnel could also impede our growth, failure to maintain effective internal controls could cause our investors to lose confidence in us and adversely affec
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 20:00:52

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VANCOUVER, WA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / In a significant stride towards enhancing digital customer engagement, ConMet proudly introduces its newly revamped website. This launch marks a pivotal moment in ConMet's journey, especially as the company celebrates its 60th year of industry leadership. The redesigned platform boasts a modernized interface and architecture, aiming to make the user experience more intuitive and elevate engagement within the global commercial vehicle sector.ConMet Launches New Website With the introduction of three regional hubs-North America, Europe, and China - the website is finely tuned to meet the diverse needs of ConMet's international clientele. The website is also available initially in English, Spanish, French, and Chinese, catering to ConMet's diverse customer base across the globe. This thoughtful localization reflects ConMet's deep commitment to providing value and accessibility to its customers, regardless of geographical location.The overhaul of the website emphasizes streamlined navigation and an enhanced search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. By simplifying the user journey and aligning with cutting-edge SEO practices, ConMet aims not only to bolster its visibility but also to gather insightful analytics for continuous improvement. This approach is a testament to ConMet's dedication to innovation and growth, mirroring its vision for the future.Central to the website's redesign is the adoption of a modern, flexible platform capable of supporting ConMet's ambitious roadmap for innovation and expansion. This technical upgrade is a strategic move, underlining the company's foresight and adaptability in an ever-evolving technological landscape. As ConMet grows, so does its digital footprint, with the new website acting as a beacon for future developments."Our new website reflects our forward-looking mindset and our commitment to excellence in serving our customers worldwide," said John Waters, President of ConMet, expressing his enthusiasm about the launch. "As we commemorate six decades of innovation and success, this website lays the foundation for our future and our ongoing mission to deliver outstanding value." ConMet invites visitors to explore its new website and discover the enhanced features and comprehensive solutions that set the company apart in the commercial vehicle industry. Stay tuned to ConMet's digital channels for the latest updates and breakthroughs in the sector.About ConMetConMet, a division of Amsted Industries, is a leading global supplier of wheel hubs, aluminum castings, and structural plastics to original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket channels in the commercial vehicle industry. Founded in 1964, ConMet innovation has been critical in designing, engineering, and manufacturing revolutionary technologies for trucks and trailers. Today, ConMet products are standard equipment on most heavy-duty vehicles in North America and have a growing footprint worldwide.ConMet is celebrating 60 years in the commercial vehicle industry. For more information about ConMet's 60th anniversary celebration and achievements, visit conmet.com/sixty-years Contact InformationDavid BrierleyMedia Relations Managermarketing@ conmet.com 360 409 6570SOURCE: ConMetView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 17:01:28

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Invest in Tennessee's Rich Landscape Legacy with Dempsey Auction CompanySAVANNAH, TN / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Dempsey Auction Co is offering a monumental event in land acquisition: Premier Tennessee Land Absolute Online Auction, scheduled for Wednesday, April 24, 2024. This online-only auction boasts an impressive offering of 8,200 +/- acres divided into 10 parcels spanning across seven counties: Sequatchie, Rhea, Morgan, Clay/Overton, Perry, Decatur and Hardin.Tennessee Land Auction Aerial ViewOnline bidding begins on Wednesday, April 10th, marking the beginning of an exciting opportunity for prospective buyers to secure their slice of Tennessee's scenic landscape. With bidding closing on April 24th, interested parties have ample time to conduct thorough due diligence and participate in this historic auction event.All properties featured in the auction will be exclusively sold online through the innovative MarkNet platform, providing convenience and accessibility to bidders from across the globe. This digital approach ensures a seamless and transparent bidding process, allowing participants to engage from the comfort of their homes or offices.It's imperative to note that all properties available in this auction are protected by conservation easements in favor of Foothills Land Conservancy. Prospective buyers are encouraged to reach out to Dempsey Auctions for precise details regarding these conservation easements."Discover an extraordinary opportunity to own vast acreage across seven counties in Tennessee," remarked Chase Tolbert, VP of Online Sales at Dempsey Auction. "With a total of 8,200 +/- acres spread across 10 parcels, this auction presents a rare chance to acquire expansive land holdings in a variety of landscapes. Whether you are seeking to invest, develop or preserve natural beauty, these parcels offer endless possibilities." In addition to the vast acreage, parcels feature excellent interior roads, brow views, highway access, ecological diversity, hunting opportunities, and residential homesite potential with specific guidelines.For more information about this opportunity and to access the bidding platform, interested parties are encouraged to visit www.dempseyauction.com . Additionally, inquiries regarding specific properties or conservation easements can be directed to the Dempsey Auction Company office.In addition to the vast acreage available, Dempsey Auction Company offers additional information on each parcel that comes with detailed documentation outlining its unique features and potential uses. From sprawling farmlands to picturesque wooded areas, these parcels offer a diverse array of possibilities for investors, developers, and conservationists alike. Interested parties can explore interactive maps and aerial footage of the properties on their website, providing valuable insights into each parcel's topography and surrounding amenities.Don't miss this unprecedented opportunity to become a steward of Tennessee's breathtaking landscapes. Join us for the Absolute Tennessee Land Auction and make your mark in the Volunteer State.About Dempsey Auction Company:Dempsey Auction Company is a leading auction house specializing in land, estate and specialty auctions. With a commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction, Dempsey Auction Company delivers unparalleled service and expertise to clients across the nation.Contact InformationChase TolbertVice President of Online Salesctolbert@ dempseyauction.com 7062660707Related VideoSOURCE: Dempsey Auction CoView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 12:01:19

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FREMONT, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / In an era where the digital landscape is continuously evolving, Elsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has announced the launch of a definitive guide aimed at revolutionizing the jewelry e-commerce website design sector. This meticulously crafted guide offers an extensive blueprint for jewelry businesses aiming to carve out a successful online presence amidst a highly competitive market.The guide emerges in response to the burgeoning demand within the jewelry industry, which has seen expansive growth thanks to its appeal across a wide demographic. Elsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd.'s publication comes at a crucial time, providing businesses with the insights needed to leverage this surge in interest and translate it into tangible success online.Identifying a Niche and Developing a Unique Selling PropositionCentral to the guide's ethos is the concept of uniqueness and specificity. Businesses are encouraged to delve deep into the jewelry sector to identify a niche that resonates with their brand vision and market needs. This segmentation is critical in developing a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that distinctly positions a business in the e-commerce domain, setting it apart from competitors.This in-depth exploration into the jewelry market enables businesses to uncover untapped opportunities and cater to specific consumer segments with precision. By highlighting unique aspects of their offerings, whether through exclusive designs, ethical sourcing practices, or innovative jewelry solutions, businesses can create a compelling narrative around their products. Such a narrative not only elevates the brand's appeal but also fosters a deeper connection with its audience, laying the groundwork for a loyal customer base and distinguishing the brand in a crowded marketplace.Choosing the Right E-Commerce PlatformThe selection of an e-commerce platform is a decision of paramount importance, and the guide sheds light on this by comparing the features, advantages, and compatibility of leading platforms such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. This comparison aims to assist businesses in making an informed choice that aligns with their operational needs and customer expectations.This critical decision influences not only the initial setup and design of the online store but also its scalability, security, and overall user experience. An ideal e-commerce platform should not only match the current requirements of a jewelry business but also anticipate future growth and expansion possibilities. Factors such as ease of integration with other tools and services, flexibility in customization, and robust support systems play a significant role in ensuring that the chosen platform can support a dynamic and evolving online jewelry business. Through comprehensive analysis and expert insights, businesses are guided toward making a choice that ensures long-term success and sustainability in the digital marketplace.Key Elements of Jewelry E-Commerce Website DesignThe aesthetics and functionality of a website play a pivotal role in attracting and retaining customers. The guide emphasizes the importance of a responsive design that guarantees an optimal browsing experience across various devices, particularly mobile, which has become a primary access point for online shopping enthusiasts.User-friendly navigation and the incorporation of high-quality visuals are underscored as indispensable elements that enhance user engagement and convey the brand's quality. These aspects are crucial in crafting the design of a perfect online jewelry store that captivates and retains customer interest.Security and TrustworthinessAcknowledging the paramount importance of security in the online realm, Elsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd. advocates for robust security measures. The guide recommends the integration of secured payment gateways and SSL certification as essential practices to protect the website and its users from cyber threats, thereby building a foundation of trust with customers.In addition to these fundamental security measures, the guide emphasizes the significance of ongoing vigilance and regular updates to safeguard against evolving cyber threats. Implementing comprehensive security protocols, including two-factor authentication, data encryption, and regular security audits, ensures that customer data and transactions are securely managed. This proactive approach to security not only mitigates the risk of data breaches and cyber attacks but also reinforces the brand's commitment to customer safety. Establishing such trust is crucial for retaining customers and fostering a positive reputation in the competitive online jewelry market.Leveraging SEO for Enhanced VisibilityWith the vast expanse of the internet, visibility becomes the linchpin of success. The guide delves into the significance of SEO-rich content that elevates a website's search engine ranking, thereby increasing its visibility to potential customers. Elsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd. advises forming partnerships with skilled E-Commerce SEO companies to employ specialized SEO services that not only draw customers in but also ensure their continued engagement.Beyond the initial setup of SEO-rich content, the guide underscores the importance of a sustained SEO strategy that adapts to the ever-changing algorithms of search engines. This includes regular keyword analysis, content updates, and optimizations that keep the website relevant and highly ranked. Engaging with an E-Commerce SEO company enables businesses to leverage the latest trends and techniques in SEO, such as voice search optimization, local SEO for geographically targeted customers, and the optimization of visual content. By staying ahead in the SEO game, jewelry businesses can not only attract a steady stream of new customers but also establish a dominant online presence that outlasts fleeting digital trends.A Foundation for SuccessElsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd.'s guide serves as an invaluable resource for jewelry businesses embarking on or refining their e-commerce journey. By covering a comprehensive range of topics from niche identification and platform selection to design elements, security, and SEO, the publication lays down a solid foundation upon which businesses can build and expand their online presence.This guide represents a beacon for jewelry businesses seeking to navigate the intricate web of online retail, offering them a detailed roadmap to achieving digital excellence and market leadership.For further information, and insights, and to access the guide, please visitElsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd..For further details, contact:Harshal ShahElsner Technologies Pvt. Ltd.Email:sales@elsner.comPhone: +1 (607) 524-4040Address: 405 Pennsylvania Comm
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 14:02:05

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JINHUA CITY, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / In a strategic move that solidifies its position as a driving force in the global e-commerce landscape, Fulfillman has forged powerful partnerships with industry titans. This groundbreaking collaboration represents a significant milestone for the company, paving the way for exceptional growth opportunities and enabling businesses of all sizes to leverage Fulfillman's innovative solutions seamlessly across these leading e-commerce platforms.As the e-commerce sector continues to evolve at a rapid pace, businesses are seeking integrated solutions that can streamline their operations, enhance efficiency, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. To meet the growing demand of these businesses, Fulfillman has taken a proactive approach by aligning itself with the most prominent names in the industry. By partnering with these ecommerce giants, the company ensures that its wide range of services, including dropshipping, global fulfillment, China sourcing, branding, and more, are seamlessly accessible to a vast global customer base."We are thrilled to join forces with these industry titans and leverage their unparalleled reach and influence," said Angela Zeng, CEO of Fulfillman. "By integrating our cutting-edge solutions with these powerful platforms, we are empowering businesses to unleash their full potential, scale their operations, and deliver outstanding customer experiences that drive long-term success in the highly competitive e-commerce arena." Through these strategic partnerships, Fulfillman's clients can now effortlessly tap into the vast customer bases and robust ecosystems of these e-commerce platforms. This seamless integration not only streamlines operations but also opens up new paths for growth, enabling businesses to expand their reach, attract new customers, and capitalize on emerging market trends.Furthermore, Fulfillman's commitment to innovation and continuous improvement ensures that its solutions remain at the forefront of the industry. By combining its cutting-edge technology, optimized processes, and a vast network of verified suppliers, Fulfillman provides businesses with a comprehensive ecosystem that drives efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and sustainable growth.AliExpress Alternatives: Discover the Best Dropshipping Suppliers Today!"Our partnerships with these e-commerce giants represent a significant milestone in our journey, but they are just the beginning," added a Fulfillman representative. "We remain dedicated to forging strategic alliances that empower our clients to achieve their goals and unlock new frontiers of success in the dynamic world of e-commerce." As Fulfillman continues to solidify its position as a trusted partner for dropshipping and e-commerce businesses worldwide, these partnerships with industry giants serve as a testament to the company's commitment to innovation, excellence, and delivering unparalleled value to its clients. The company is now totally ready to offer valuable solutions to entrepreneurs worldwide and help enhance growth in their business operations.For more information about Fulfillman and its services, visit https://fulfillman.com/ About FulfillmanFulfillman is a leading provider of Global Fulfillment, China Sourcing, Dropshipping, and Order Fulfillment Services. Founded in 2016, the company is committed to offering unparalleled solutions that help businesses streamline fulfillment and dropshipping operations. They also offer Branding, Private Label, Product Photography, Third-Party Logistics, and Video Ads Marketing Services. For more information, please visit https://fulfillman.com/# Media Contact:To learn more, please contact;Company Name: FulfillmanContact Person: Arnel XingEmail:info@ fulfillman.comWebsite:https://fulfillman.com/#Phone: +1 (515) 361-7540; +1 (909) 399-0821Follow Fulfillman on social media:Twitter: @fulfillmanLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fulfillman/about/ SOURCE: Fulfillman
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-05 00:10:09

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LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Gabriel Resources Ltd. (TSXV:GBU) ("Gabriel" or the "Company") announced on March 8, 2024 that the Company's ICSID arbitration claims against the Romanian Government were dismissed by a two to one majority of the tribunal members ("Tribunal"), who also awarded Romania approximately US$10 million in legal fees and expenses ("Cost Order"). The Cost Order incurs simple interest from the date of the award at the 3-month US Treasury rate.Following further analysis of the Tribunal's decision with its professional advisers, the Company continues to believe that the Tribunal's decision is deeply flawed. Accordingly, the Company is evaluating the possibility of challenging the decision through the annulment process prescribed by the ICSID Convention. Any annulment application must be filed within 120 days of the date of the Tribunal's decision.The Government of Romania has requested the Company and its co-claimant in the ICSID arbitration, Gabriel Resources (Jersey) Ltd., ("Gabriel Jersey") to settle the Costs Order and noted that they will take action to enforce the same. In this regard, from public records, it appears that the Romanian State has sought precautionary measures in Romania to impose restrictions on the sale or transfer of the shares held by Gabriel Jersey in its Romanian subsidiary, Rosia Montana Gold Corporation S.A., pending settlement of the Cost Order. The Company believes that these actions are premature and suffer from procedural infirmities. Gabriel will vigorously defend its rights and interest in Romania and elsewhere.The Company currently has available funds of approximately C$2.0 million (US$1.5 million) and would expect such balance to be exhausted in the normal course of business by the end of May 2024. Gabriel continues to manage its cash resources and its current and future financial obligations carefully. The Company is in discussions with existing investors and other interested parties to source additional funds to finance its future strategic objectives (which may include, as appropriate, costs of any potential annulment proceedings) and for general working capital purposes. There is a significant risk that sufficient additional financing may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms, or at all. The failure to raise funds as and when needed would have a negative impact on the Company's financial condition and its ability to continue as a going concern.For information on this press release, please contact:Dragos TanasePresident & CEOPhone: +40 730 399 019 dt@ gabrielresources.comRichard BrownChief Financial OfficerMobile: +44 7748 760276 richard.brown@gabrielresources.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.About GabrielGabriel is a Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's principal business had been the exploration and development of the Rosia Montana gold and silver project in Romania. The Rosia Montana Project, one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Europe, is situated in the South Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania, Romania, an historic and prolific mining district that since pre-Roman times has been mined intermittently for over 2,000 years.The exploitation license for the Rosia Montana Project is held by Rosia Montana Gold Corporation S.A., a Romanian company in which Gabriel owns an 80.69% equity interest, with the 19.31% balance held by Minvest Rosia Montana S.A., a Romanian state-owned mining company.Following issuance of the exploitation license in June 1999, the Group focused substantially all of its management and financial resources on the exploration, feasibility and subsequent development of the Rosia Montana Project. Gabriel invested over US$760 million to develop the Rosia Montana Project and to define two promising gold, silver and porphyry copper-gold mineral deposits in the Bucium concession area located in the vicinity of Rosia Montana ("Bucium Projects" and together with the Rosia Montana Project, the "Projects").The Rosia Montana Project had the potential to be a flagship development project in Romania presenting opportunities to:boost the Romanian economy through direct and indirect contributions to GDP; create several thousand of much-needed direct and indirect jobs in an area that has record unemployment, thus ensuring Rosia Montana's sustainable economic development; make Romania the leading producer of gold and silver in the European Union; remediate, through significant investment in infrastructure and environmental rehabilitation, the severe environmental degradation that besieges Rosia Montana's landscape today as a consequence of unregulated historical State mining operations; and add further significant investments to the preservation and restoration of Rosia Montana's important cultural heritage (beyond the significant investments already made by Gabriel). Forward-looking StatementsThis press release contains "forward-looking information" (also referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of the Company's operating environment. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the ability of the Company to source further capital.In this press release, forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that may cause the Company's actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied herein.Some of the material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the uncertainties associated with: any challenge to the recent decision of the ICSID tribunal, actions by the Romanian Government, conditions or events impacting the Company's ability to fund its operations (including but not limited to the completion of further funding noted above) or service its debt, exploration, development and operation of mining properties and the overall impact of misjudgments made
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 14:30:50

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CROSSETT, AR / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Georgia-Pacific's Crossett paper mill in Crossett, Arkansas, received recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for reducing its energy intensity by 15.8%, exceeding the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry goal by 5.8% within just three years. The ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry is a national call-to-action to improve American manufacturer's energy efficiency. The EPA recognizes manufacturing sites that reduce their energy intensity by a minimum of 10% within five years.Operating a single boiler and taking a back-up boiler out of standby operation to reduce overall natural gas consumption More carefully managing the boiler burn rate when the mill's paper machines are down for an extended time Monitoring natural gas costs versus electricity costs and purchasing electricity from the local utility when it is more cost effective than generating electricity onsite"This is a great achievement by our Crossett team, and I am very proud of the work they have done these past three years," said Deb Coduto, the Crossett mill's vice president and mill manager. "This award aligns with Georgia-Pacific and the Crossett mill's environmental stewardship goals, and we continue challenging ourselves to find more ways to reduce our energy intensity." Georgia-Pacific's parent company Koch Industries Inc. has earned the EPA's ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award five times, maintaining its status in ENERGY STAR's Sustained Excellence category. And the Crossett mill joins other Georgia-Pacific facilities such as Leaf River Cellulose mill in New Augusta, Mississippi, and its containerboard mill in Brewton, Alabama, in receiving recognition from ENERGY STAR for its sustainability initiatives.The Crossett mill is among five Georgia-Pacific facilities in Arkansas. Georgia-Pacific employs 1,760 people throughout the state, and the company has made $867 million in capital investments and acquisitions since 2013.Learn more about Georgia-Pacific's approach to environmental stewardship. To learn more about energy efficiency and ENERGY STAR, visit energystar.gov View original content here.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Georgia-Pacific on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Georgia-PacificWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/georgia-pacific Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Georgia-Pacific
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 15:20:09

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JACKSON CENTER, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Halberd Corporation's (OTC PINK:HALB) Patented LDN+ Drug hits an enormous milestone as it enters a significant Safety Trial Protocol under a CRADA contract for Military Active Duty and Veterans.Halberd Corporation's patented drug, LDN+, a combination of low-dose Naltrexone and Cyclobenzaprine, is a central part of a just executed Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) contract in conjunction with the Exalted Warrior Foundation out of Tampa Florida and three other companies. The six-week safety study subjects will be current active-duty and retired military volunteers for a period of six weeks beginning immediately after execution of Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval."The significance of this new development with Halberd IP to the ongoing crisis of depression and PTSD leading into suicidal ideation in our military is critical", relayed Halberd's CEO, William Hartman. This effort kicks off a highly innovative CRADA to significantly reduce anxiety, depression, and addiction symptoms as well as PTSD and Suicidal Ideation in our active duty servicemembers and veterans. This four-company approach evolved from extensive discussions and numerous meetings over the last four months with the key players, and involves not only key pharmacological/nutraceutical interventions, but also adjunct therapies while integrating 24/7 physiological and psychological patient tracking technologies via cloud-based systems developed by the team with new biomarker assessments.Halberd's patented LDN+ drug uniquely combines drugs previously approved by the FDA and widely used both individually and in a compounded formulation for many years. In combination, the drugs are believed to act as an antagonist against chemical and alcohol addiction and to relieve pain and anxiety linked to more severe mental health issues facing our military today. Pending the results of this limited pilot safety trial, and the results anticipated, higher volumes and more extensive tests of military personnel and veterans will be launched in less than 2 months. The clear pathway forward is to then obtain FDA clearance for the combined new pharmaceutical.William A. Hartman, Chairman, President & CEO of Halberd Corporation stated, "This is a huge step forward for Halberd Corporation to have one of our technology products, LDN+, involved in such a targeted clinical trial addressing a very significant issue with both the military but also civilian mental illness".To stay updated on the latest developments from Halberd, subscribe by submitting this form. ( https://halberdcorporation.com/contact-us/) For more information please contact:William A. Hartman w.hartman@ halberdcorporation.comsupport@halberdcorporation.comwww.halberdcorporation.com Twitter: @HalberdCNote: Studies under this CRADA are funded by Non-Dilutive Financing, Participation in Ultimate Success Only.About Exalted Warrior Foundation"Exalted Warriors Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves wounded warriors in the active military, veteran hospital facilities, and veterans within communities around the country." About Halberd CorporationHalberd Corporation (OTC-PINK:HALB), a publicly traded entity on the OTC Market, adheres fully to OTC Market reporting regulations. Following its restructuring in April 2020, Halberd secured exclusive global rights to three granted patents and submitted 22 associated provisional, PCT, or utility patent applications. This strategic move aims to augment the company's value for stockholders and generate interest from potential development partners.Safe Harbor NoticeCertain statements contained herein are "forward-looking statements" (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). The Company cautions our readers that statements, and assumptions made in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and makes no guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties and associated estimates made by management. Actual results could differ materially from current projections or implied results. Halberd Corporation undertakes no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this news release.(C) 2024, Halberd CorporationSOURCE: Halberd Corporation
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 17:25:47

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SHANGHAI, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Hu Sheguang launched"Power of Time-Dongbei Dahua by the Bund", an haute couture collection, at the BUND Space, dazzling at the 2024 A/W Shanghai Fashion Week, on March 30.All made with jacquard fabric with a soft sheen, the new collection is comprised of three-piece suits, windbreakers, cloaks, qipao dresses. Hu said, "Instead of using extravagant fabrics and decorations, I'd like to explore the power and strength of Chinese in a more innovative and diversified way." This series is no longer confined to traditional Chinese patterns, but also integrates modern aesthetics, making them a fashion symbol. Integrating Chinese elements and Western culture, Sheguang Hu conducted an in-depth analysis of details and layouts.The highlight of the show came when Wang Deshun, an 88-year-old model and actor, dressed in a shirtless clean-cut suit with a touch of dongbei dahua decorations, strut the catwalk. Chinese influencer Li Meiyue, sporting his iconic suit on the catwalk, mesmerized the audience and turned the show into a carnival celebrating the enduring power and beauty of dongbei dahua.Presenting the garments were Yu Weiwei, Miss World China in 2013, and 34 of Hu Sheguang's Supermodels, a team of fashion enthusiasts with an average age of 55. The designer hopes to break the stereotype that fashion only belongs to young people.Set up in 2018, the organization called Sheguang Hu's Supermodels, giving everyone a chance to light up the catwalk, has grown into the world's leading platform for aesthetic education for women. Known as Sheguang Hu's Supermodels, it is a nation-wide community of fashion enthusiasts of all ages as well as a platform offering modeling training and promoting a healthy, fashionable lifestyle."Fashion is a carrier, not only for the latest trends, but also for dreams. Women should never give up their pursuit of beauty as they grow older, they can still be stunning on the fashion stage, I hope I can present the beauty of all Chinese women through diversified and innovative ways. The initial purpose for me to create Sheguang Hu's Fashion Women's Army was to build a platform for Chinese women who entertain fashion dreams and make fashion no longer a synonym of luxury, Chinese women are self-motivated and confident. They are telling their stories in a variety of ways," said designer Sheguang Hu.The fashion show is a cultural gift - to show the world the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, but also highlight the style of Chinese women in the modern world."What appeals to me most about Mr. Hu's work is his commitment to promoting ethnic traditions around the world," one of the models presenting the Shanghai show added.The Shanghai fashion show reminded many of the history of dongbei dahua.According to Hu, the origin of the floral print can be found in the traditional Chinese pattern yi nian jing, literally meaning "the scenery of a year", featuring representative flowers of the four seasons including the peach blossom, the lotus flower, the chrysanthemum, the peony and the plum blossom. Used in fabrics, lacquerware, ceramics and jewelry, the print flourished during the Song dynasty (960-1279).In the 1950s and 60s, designers at the East China Textile Management Bureau in Shanghai borrowed inspiration from the traditional pattern and created the dongbei dahua prototype featuring blossoming peonies and the phoenix. Cotton cloth with the floral print has since become a popular choice for blanket covers and bed sheets in Northern China, especially in rural areas.Experts say that dongbei dahua designs have found increasing resonance with modern urbanites because they could easily evoke collective memories in which the print was popular in large swaths of China. The popularity of dongbei dahua has also coincided with the rise of guochao, a consumption trend wherein younger consumers prefer products with Chinese cultural elements. The print is viewed as one of the visual symbols from China's recent history."The fashion industry is a microcosm of social development. I hope to show the prosperity and rise of China through this show. "said designer Sheguang Hu.Some people commended the designer for promoting Chinese aesthetics on a global stage. Designer Sheguang Hu is skilled in translating Chinese cultural history into fashion elements."I held the show in Shanghai because dongbei dahua was born here and I want to re-define it as a classical pattern in fashion," Hu told reporters during an interview after the release."As many brands are characterized by a certain color or style, I think dongbei dahua is the same to me," said the designer, adding that he aspires to influence a generation of people with this pattern and help it go global as a culture."I've been given a lot of labels by a lot of people, but labels don't define me. Fashion, for me, is for self-innovation. " Hu said. 2024 marks the 12th year of Hu's return to China, where he, a native of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, grew up before moving to the Netherlands to pursue fashion design at the age of 16. Committed to incorporating Chinese cultural elements into the fashion context, Hu has developed his distinctive style over the last decade.Designer Hu Sheguang hopes to create fashion legends again.Hu has been studying traditional Chinese patterns. "The royal patterns housed in the Palace Museum, and those in paper cuts, Batik, shadow plays and ancient architecture, are all our precious cultural heritage worth researching and revitalizing through fashion," he remarked."Heritage can only be truly passed down when it becomes a part of people's daily lives. This is not only the goal of cultural inheritance efforts but also a mission of mine as a fashion designer." Hu wants Chinese design to enter the global stage. Hu is offering "voice" to China's creative power.Media Contact:Name: Sheguang HuEmail: husheguang@163.comSOURCE: Wuhan Hu Er Ye Cultural Media Co., Ltd.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 15:00:33

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Community is now open for all levels of careMONROE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The IHM Senior Living Community, Inc. (IHM SLC) has received a license to provide assisted living services from the State of Michigan's Department of Human Services. This license, licensed under Act 368 and officially known as a home for the aged (HFA) in Michigan, allows IHM SLC to begin accepting residents who need assisted living care and services.Previously, IHM SLC had only accepted IHM Sisters into assisted living from the congregation already living on the campus. This new licensure allows IHM SLC to accept people from the public who need or want assisted living. Its independent living apartments do not require a license.IHM SLC currently has 216 units - 100 independent living apartments, 30 assisted living apartments, 28 assisted living memory care and a 58-room skilled nursing memory care and transitional care unit, which has received a 5-star rating from CMS. It is open to people of any faith tradition."We are delighted to begin showcasing our assisted living community to the larger Monroe area," said Lisa Kalla, Chief Operations Officer, Saint Therese. "Our community will be unmatched in terms of the quality of care we provide, the employees that work with our residents and the serenity and beauty of our surroundings." IHM SLC will hold an open house event later this spring to introduce the community to the Monroe area.An operation needs to be licensed under Act 368 as a home for the aged (HFA) if it provides room and board and supervised personal care to 21 or more unrelated people who are 55 years of age or older; or if operated as a distinct part of a licensed nursing home, can be provided to fewer than 21 residents.Saint Therese acquired IHM SLC in 2023 in a transfer of ownership agreement with the IHM Sisters.# # #About Saint Therese: Minnesota-based Saint Therese was founded in 1964 and prides itself on its rich tradition of providing exceptional care for seniors. It has locations and services in New Hope, Brooklyn Park, Woodbury, a new location in Corcoran (opening in 2024), IHM Senior Living Community in Monroe, Mich and Ascend Rehabilitation (rehabilitation therapy, health and wellness division). Most communities provide the full continuum of care from independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and transitional care. It also has a location specializing in hospice and palliative care in Shoreview. It is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) senior care organization.Media Contact :Barb Hemberger, 612-669-0381 barbarah@ sainttherese.org SOURCE: Saint Therese
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 14:17:19

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INNIO Group impresses the world's oldest independent design institution with brand identity based around the energy transition. This marks INNIO Group's second major prestigious design award after recently winning the Red Dot Award JENBACH, AUSTRIA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / INNIO Group recently impressed an international jury of experts, winning the renowned iF DESIGN AWARD in the Company Branding and Film/Video categories under the "Communication" discipline. The prize is awarded each year by iF International Forum Design GmbH, the oldest independent design institution in the world. Competition for this year's design awards was fierce, with roughly 11,000 submissions from 72 countries and review by 132 independent jurors.Winning the iF DESIGN AWARD once again confirms the impressive visualization of INNIO Group's guiding principle "Moving energy forward." The new branding extends across all global communication channels, creating a strong and consistent brand identity that optimally meets the needs of INNIO Group's stakeholders. In the conception and implementation of the new brand strategy, INNIO Group worked with MetaDesign, an international branding and design agency that is part of the Publicis Group.With its energy solutions and services, INNIO Group is driving the energy transition as it empowers communities and industries to transition to net zero and enables its customers to manage their energy supply sustainably today."The energy transition is happening now, with INNIO Group at its center," said Dr. Olaf Berlien, president and CEO of the INNIO Group. "Based on our slogan Moving energy forward,' our team worked with MetaDesign to create an identity and a design that would speak to our target customer base, which won us the iF DESIGN AWARD. It enables our customers to recognize that they are part of the movement and change." Following the Red Dot Award won in November 2023, the iF DESIGN AWARD is another prestigious design award and further testament to INNIO Group's appealing brand identity.###iF DESIGN AWARDSince 1954, the iF DESIGN AWARD has been recognized as an arbiter of quality for excellent design. The iF Design brand is renowned worldwide for outstanding design services, and the iF DESIGN AWARD is one of the most important design prizes in the world. It honors design achievements in all disciplines: product, packaging, communication and service design, architecture and interior architecture as well as professional concept, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). All award-winning entries are featured on ifdesign.com About INNIO GroupINNIO Group is a leading energy solution and service provider that empowers industries and communities to make sustainable energy work today. With its product brands Jenbacher and Waukesha and its digital platform myPlant, INNIO offers innovative solutions for the power generation and compression segments that help industries and communities generate and manage energy sustainably while navigating the fast-changing landscape of traditional and green energy sources. INNIO is individual in scope, but global in scale. With its flexible, scalable, and resilient energy solutions and services, INNIO enables its customers to manage the energy transition along the energy value chain wherever they are in their transition journey.INNIO is headquartered in Jenbach (Austria), with other primary operations in Waukesha (Wisconsin, U.S.) and Welland (Ontario, Canada). A team of more than 4,000 experts provides life-cycle support to INNIO's more than 55,000 delivered engines globally through a service network in more than 100 countries.In March 2023, INNIO's ESG rating ranked first out of more than 500 companies worldwide in the machinery industry assessed by Sustainalytics.For more information, visit INNIO's website at www.innio.com . Follow INNIO Group and its brands on Twitter (X) and LinkedIn.INNIO, Jenbacher, myPlant, and Waukesha are protected, registered trademarks (names) in the European Union or elsewhere and may only be used by INNIO GmbH & Co OG, its affiliates and its authorized licensees. This is an illustrative list and does not claim to be exhaustive.In general, Ready for H2' means Jenbacher plants can be converted to run on up to 100% hydrogen in the future. Details on the cost and timeline for a future conversion may vary and need to be clarified individually.Contact InformationSusanne ReicheltINNIO Media Relationssusanne.reichelt@innio.com +43 664 80833 2382SOURCE: INNIO GroupView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 22:01:35

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Intuitive Health Opens 31st Location, Fourth with Presbyterian Healthcare ServicesPLANO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Intuitive Health, the leading provider of combined emergency room and urgent care facilities and Presbyterian Healthcare Services today announced the opening of PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Menaul/Pennsylvania in Albuquerque, New Mexico.The Menaul/Pennsylvania urgent and emergency care facility is located at 7400 Menaul Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110. The urgent care and ER are open 24/7. No appointments are needed and only walk-in patients are accepted.Its 24/7 urgent and emergency care centers offer comprehensive services with an on-site lab and imaging suite, including CT scans, X-rays, ultrasounds and EKGs. This ensures patients' medical needs are met swiftly, with billing only for the services they utilize.PRESNow is Albuquerque's only 24/7 Urgent Care and Emergency Care under one roof.As a pioneer of the combined ER and urgent care model starting in 2008, Intuitive Health facilities eliminate the need for patients to self-diagnose before seeking care. Each location houses both emergency and urgent care services in the same location. Patients enter through the same door and are examined by ER-trained providers, who determine if ER or urgent care level treatment is needed. Approximately 70-80% of patients only need urgent care, resulting in significant convenience and cost savings.The dual ER and urgent care model's goal is to remove financial concerns in deciding where to go. PRESNow informs patients whether their condition requires urgent or ER-level care and ensures they are billed accordingly. Patients are updated on their billing status throughout their visit. If ER-level care is required, additional consent is needed to confirm understanding of additional tests and treatments. This novel approach guarantees no surprise bills and that patients only pay based on the care level delivered while eliminating patient guesswork trying to self-diagnose condition severity, whether urgent care or emergency care.This innovative model simplifies access to immediate patient care and helps drive value. The new PRESNow 24/7 - Menaul/Pennsylvania clinic will expand access to Intuitive Health's unique dual offering for New Mexico residents."We're excited to expand our unique ER and urgent care model in Albuquerque, where our PRESNow clinics have already proven successful by driving impressive volumes and meeting unmet needs," said Intuitive Health CEO Thom Herrmann. "We aim to continue to set a new standard for accessible value-based care with this new location." The Menaul/Pennsylvania location marks Intuitive Health's 31st location nationwide and fourth facility in partnership with Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico. It expands Intuitive's footprint across 13 states. The four Albuquerque, New Mexico locations are:PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Paseo/San Pedro - 6400 Paseo Del Norte Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113 - 505-596-2100.PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Coors/Western Trail - 4515 Coors Boulevard NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120 - 505-596-2200.PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Isleta/Rio Bravo - 3436 Isleta Boulevard SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 - 505-596-2300PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Menaul/Pennsylvania - 7400 Menaul Boulevard NE - Albuquerque, NM 87110 - 505-596-2400PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care - Menaul/Pennsylvania is in-network with all insurance plans for emergency care and is in-network with most major insurance plans, including all Medicare and Medicaid plans.Please click here for additional details on PRESNow 24/7 Urgent and Emergency Care. Visit PHS.org to learn more about Presbyterian Healthcare Services and IHERUC.com to learn more about Intuitive Health.###About Presbyterian Healthcare Services Presbyterian Healthcare Services exists to improve the health of the patients, members and communities we serve. Presbyterian is a locally owned, not-for-profit healthcare system of nine hospitals, a statewide health plan and a growing multi-specialty medical group. Founded in New Mexico in 1908, it is the state's largest private employer with more than 13,000 employees.About Intuitive Health Founded in 2008, Intuitive Health pioneered the combined emergency room and urgent care model. Intuitive Health partners with established health systems nationwide to build, operate and launch retail healthcare facilities that provide urgent care and emergency room services under one roof. Intuitive Health partners with leading health systems nationwide, including Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Intuitive's patient-centric approach to immediate care has saved payors and patients hundreds of millions in unnecessary emergency care spending. In addition, the Intuitive Health model increases market share for partnered healthcare systems by expanding their footprint with conveniently located centers. For more information, please visit IHERUC.com Media Contact:Jo Trizila, TrizCom PR, on behalf of Intuitive HealthJo@ TrizCom.com Cell/Text: 214-232-0078 Office: 972-247-1369SOURCE: Intuitive Health
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 17:50:28

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SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP is investigating potential violations of securities laws by Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) ("Lamb Weston" or "the Company"). We are looking into whether the Company or its executives failed to disclose vital information to investors, leading to losses on their investments. If you have purchased Lamb Weston securities and have experienced losses, we encourage you to join our investigation to potentially make claims and recover under federal securities laws.What if I purchased Lamb Weston securities? If you believe that you may have a potential claim against Lamb Weston and would like to participate in the investigation or learn more about your legal rights and options, please contact Johnson Fistel, LLP at (619) 814-4471) or click here to join the investigation online. There is no cost or obligation to you.Click Here to Join the InvestigationWhat is Johnson Fistel investigating? On April 4, 2024, Lamb Weston announced its results for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. The Company missed analyst earnings projections; The Company reported that an implementation of a new ERP system brought about a temporary decrease in the visibility of finished goods inventories housed at their distribution centers. This significantly hampered capacity to fulfill customer orders in a timely and efficient manner. As a direct consequence of the disruption, the Company experienced a substantial decline in sales volume as well as margin performance. Following this news, Lamb Weston stock was 20% lower in early morning trading on April 4, 2024.What if I have relevant nonpublic information? Individuals with nonpublic information about the Company should consider whether to assist our investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the SEC program, whistleblowers who provide original information may, under certain circumstances, receive rewards totaling up to thirty percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, contact Jim Baker at (619) 814-4471 orjimb@ johnsonfistel.com About Johnson Fistel, LLP | Top Law Firm, Securities Fraud, Investors Rights: Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York, Georgia, and Colorado. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. We also extend our services to foreign investors who have purchased on US exchanges. Stay updated with news on stock drops and learn how Johnson Fistel, LLP can help you recover your losses. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonfistel.com Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Johnson Fistel, LLP has paid for the dissemination of this promotional communication, and Frank J. Johnson is the attorney responsible for its content.Contact:Johnson Fistel, LLP501 W. Broadway, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101James Baker, Investor Relations or Frank J. Johnson, Esq., (619) 814-4471 jimb@ johnsonfistel.com or fjohnson@ johnsonfistel.com SOURCE: Johnson Fistel, LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 16:16:06

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The two organizations will pursue a range of joint efforts aimed at supporting innovative solutions to prioritize health and well-being.NEW YORK, NY and LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority on advancing healthy buildings, organizations and communities, and The Instant Group, the largest global marketplace for flexible workspace, announced today a strategic partnership to spur health and well-being practices in coworking and flexible workspaces. The partnership will encompass a range of joint efforts aimed at elevating health, including opportunities to advance innovative solutions to better support people-first spaces for all users of coworking and flexible workspaces."We are excited to be joining forces with The Instant Group," said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of IWBI. "This is an organization with an established track record of inspiring ingenuity, especially in the ways it supports the coworking and flexible workspaces on its digital marketplace, which is the largest in the world. As more and more organizations embrace the outsized role workspaces have on health, this presents a tremendous opportunity to elevate the well-being of the thousands of people who use these flexible spaces every day." Healthy workspaces, once considered a nice-to-have, have become a must-have in real estate, especially in coworking and flexible workspaces. A growing body of research shows that evidence-based health interventions help support workplace satisfaction, comfort and productivity, while also helping organizations better attract and retain talent. In addition, the extensive research behind the business case for healthy buildings shows that these strategies help drive several economic benefits, including higher rents and longer lease terms."Companies that optimize their spaces for health and well-being are transforming their workforce into an even greater asset and developing happier, more productive employees," said Sam Pickering, Executive Director, Sustainability at The Instant Group. "IWBI has unmatched expertise and experience, and we find them a valuable partner in providing best-in-class health guidance to people, companies, and providers. This collaboration is also a logical follow-up to our Sustainability Index, which launched in 2023 to ensure quality data on building performance and helping operators and occupiers track and report on their performance." Next month at the WELL Conference from May 7-9 in Long Beach, CA, IWBI and Instant will also shine a light on several coworking organizations that are leading by example in workplace health and well-being. For more information, please contact carly.yashinsky@wellcertified.com About the International WELL Building InstituteThe International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote health and well-being for everyone, everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.Media Contact: media@ wellcertified.com About The Instant Group:The Instant Group has been rethinking workspace since 1999 with over 600 experts working globally across more than 175 countries. Instant's digital platforms constitute the world's largest digital marketplace for flexible workspace listing meeting rooms, virtual offices, flexible office space and coworking memberships. Its global team advises on commercial real estate solutions from serviced offices to fully customized managed offices, and consulting services for portfolio and net zero strategies. Instant's approach enables agility, hybrid working solutions and improved operational resilience for more than 250,000 businesses every year. Clients include Prudential, Booking.com , Shell, Jaguar Land Rover, and GSK. Instant has global offices including London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Mexico City, and Sydney. www.theinstantgroup.com Media Contact: instantgroup@ fticonsulting.com / rachel@ winefsky.com View original content here.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from International WELL Building Institute on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: International WELL Building Institute Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/international-well-building-institute Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: International WELL Building Institute
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 22:16:07

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RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP informs investors that the firm has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit against agilon health, inc. (NYSE:AGL) ("agilon" or the "Company"). This action, captioned Hope v. agilon health, inc., et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-00305, was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and expanded the class period which was pled in a first-filed case in that same Court. After the Hope action was filed, another case was filed against agilon in another Court, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which even further expanded the class period as pled in the Hope action as that case is brought on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired agilon common stock between April 15, 2021, and February 27, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period").Important Deadline Reminder: The first-filed action in the Western District of Texas issued a notice of its filing pursuant to the federal securities laws which triggered the deadline of May 20, 2024, for any investors who purchased agilon common stock to seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. The filing of the Hope Action does not change the May 20, 2024, lead plaintiff deadline.CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR AGILON LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/agilon-health-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=agl&mktm=r LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: MAY 20, 2024CLASS PERIOD: APRIL 15, 2021, THROUGH FEBRUARY 27, 2024CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:Jonathan Naji, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Email at info@ ktmc.com DEFENDANTS' MISCONDUCTagilon is a healthcare and technology company that acts as an intermediary between physician groups that provide medical services to senior citizens and Medicare and Medicare Advantage insurers. One of agilon's key financial metrics is "medical margin," which the Company defines as medical services revenue less medical services expenses.The Class Period begins on April 15, 2021, which is the day after the Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC and the first day agilon shares were publicly traded in connection with the IPO.Throughout the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly touted the strength of agilon's medical margin. Additionally, Defendants downplayed the significant cost pressures on the Company's medical margin and profitability. For example, on June 7, 2023, just days before other health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. reported significant increases in medical costs, Defendant Bensley, speaking at an analyst-sponsored healthcare conference, reported that Defendants "expect this year to generate somewhere around $550 million of medical margin," noting that the Company has seen "steady progress on medical margin upwards." Investors began to learn the truth about the cost pressures impacting agilon's medical margin and profitability on November 2, 2023, when the Company announced its third quarter 2023 financial results after the market closed. Critically, agilon reported a net loss of $31 million for the third quarter of 2023 and slashed its fiscal year 2023 medical margin to a range between $455 million and $470 million. Defendant Sell also assured investors that agilon's more conservative approach to guidance "should reduce the risk of negative claims development next year." On this news, the price of agilon common stock declined $3.78 per share, or more than 22% over two trading-days, from a close of $16.89 per share on November 2, 2023, to close at $13.11 per share on November 6, 2023.After several additional disclosures in November 2023, investors more fully learned the truth about the cost pressures on agilon's medical margin and profitability before the market opened on January 5, 2024, when agilon updated its fiscal year 2023 financial results and provided its initial outlook for 2024. Critically, agilon further slashed its 2023 medical margin guidance more than $100 million, to a range between $340 million and $360 million, due to "higher-than-expected medical costs." This represented a decline of more than 34% from the $550 million in medical margin it had predicted. On the related investor guidance call, Defendant Sell acknowledged that agilon "failed to recognize these elevated cost trends" and had "a data and analytics gap that led to [the Company] being late in both recognizing the magnitude and source of the utilization shifts." Defendant Sell further indicated that the increased cost trends were expected to persist through 2024. Also on January 5, 2024, Defendant Bensley announced that he would retire in 2024. On this news, the price of agilon common stock plummeted $3.45 per share, or nearly 29%, from a close of $12.08 per share on January 4, 2024, to close at $8.63 per share on January 5, 2024.Finally, on February 27, 2024, agilon disclosed that its 2023 medical margin had in fact come in at just $299 million for the year - far lower than the range of $340 million to $360 million provided just a few weeks prior. Furthermore, agilon slashed its 2024 medical margin guidance by 27%. On this news, the price of agilon common stock dropped from $6.48 per share when the market closed on February 27, 2024, to $6.04 per share on March 1, 2024, a 7% decline on abnormally heavy volume of a three-day period. In subsequent days, the price of agilon stock continued to decline, falling to a low of just $5.66 per share on March 6, 2024, more than 85% below the Class Period high.WHAT CAN I DO?agilon investors may, no later than May 20, 2024, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff for the class, through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages agilon investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASEWHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF?A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affect
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 18:15:42

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Levi & Korsinsky informs shareholders that a settlement has been reached in the pending class action lawsuit against Envision Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:EVHC). The settlement provides for a fund of $177,500,000 to benefit class members. For the purposes of the settlement, the class is defined as: all Persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Envision between February 3, 2014 and October 31, 2017, inclusive, including common stock purchased or otherwise acquired in or traceable to the December 1, 2016 merger between AmSurg Corp. and Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc.If you are a class member as defined above, you may be entitled to a pro-rata share of the settlement fund. In order to receive a share of the settlement, you must file a claim form by April 8, 2024.For more details on the settlement, including a copy of the claim form, please visit: https://zlk.com/settlement-form/?redirect=aHR0cHM6Ly96bGsuY29tL3NldHRsZW1lbnQvZW52aXNpb24taGVhbHRoY2FyZS1jb3Jwb3JhdGlvbi1zZXR0bGVtZW50&spr=266&wire=1&ticker=EVHC Levi & Korsinsky did not act as lead counsel or otherwise participate in litigating the above class action. We are providing this information as a courtesy to remind class members of the claims deadline so they can file their forms in a timely fashion.Over the past 20 years, the team at Levi & Korsinsky has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders and built a track record of winning high-stakes cases. Our firm has extensive expertise representing investors in complex securities litigation and a team of over 70 employees to serve our clients. For seven years in a row, Levi & Korsinsky has ranked in ISS Securities Class Action Services' Top 50 Report as one of the top securities litigation firms in the United States.CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLPJoseph E. Levi, Esq.Ed Korsinsky, Esq.33 Whitehall Street, 17th FloorNew York, NY 10004 jlevi@ levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212) 363-7500Fax: (212) 363-7171 https://zlk.com/ SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-05 00:00:50

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WINNIPEG, MB / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV:MPH)(OTC PINK:MCUJF), a company focused on the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products for patients and prescribers in the United States market, will present the 2023 Year End Financial Results on a Conference Call on April 9, 2024 at 8:30 am Eastern Time. The 2023 Year End Financials will be filed after closing April 8, 2024.Conference Call Info: Topic: Medicure's 2023 Year End ResultsCall date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024Time: 7:30 AM Central Time (8:30 AM Eastern Time)Toll Free: 1 (888) 506-0062International: 1 (973) 528-0011Participant Access Code: 444626Webcast: This conference call will be webcast live over the internet at the following link: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2965/50272 You may request international country-specific access information by e-mailing the Company in advance. Management will accept and answer questions related to the financial results and operations during the question-and-answer period at the end of the conference call. A recording of the call will be available following the event at the Company's website.About Medicure Inc. Medicure is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the U.S. cardiovascular market. The present focus of the Company is the marketing and distribution of AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection and ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets in the United States, where they are sold through the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Medicure Pharma Inc. Medicure also operates Marley Drug, Inc. ("Marley Drug"), a pharmacy located in North Carolina that offers an Extended Supply drug program serving all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Marley Drug is committed to improving the health status of its patients and the communities they serve while reducing overall health care costs for employers and other health care consumers. For more information visit www.marleydrug.com . To learn more about The Extended Supply Generic Drug Program call 800.286.6781 or email info@ marleydrug.com . For more information on Medicure please visit www.medicure.com . For additional information about AGGRASTAT, please visit www.aggrastathdb.com or refer to the full Prescribing Information. For additional information about ZYPITAMAG, please visit www.zypitamag.com or refer to the full Prescribing Information.To be added to Medicure's e-mail list, please visit: http://medicure.mediaroom.com/alerts Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward Looking Information: Statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "believes", "may", "plans", "will", "estimates", "continues", "anticipates", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions, may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. federal securities laws (such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are hereinafter collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements, include estimates, analysis and opinions of management of the Company made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors which the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances. Inherent in forward-looking statements are known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's ability to predict or control that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, and as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, among others, the Company's future product revenues, expected results, including future revenue from P5P, the likelihood of receiving a priority review voucher from the United State Food and Drug Administration, expected future growth in revenues, stage of development, additional capital requirements, risks associated with the completion and timing of clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to market the Company's products, the ability to protect its intellectual property, dependence upon collaborative partners, changes in government regulation or regulatory approval processes, and rapid technological change in the industry. Such statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about: general business and economic conditions; the impact of changes in Canadian-US dollar and other foreign exchange rates on the Company's revenues, costs and results; the timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for the Company's research and development projects; the availability of financing for the Company's commercial operations and/or research and development projects, or the availability of financing on reasonable terms; results of current and future clinical trials; the uncertainties associated with the acceptance and demand for new products and market competition. The foregoing list of important factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of factors, other than as may be required by applicable legislation. Additional discussion regarding the risks and uncertainties relating to the Company and its business can be found in the Company's other filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities or the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and in the "Risk Factors" section of its current Form 20F.AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection, ZYPITAMAG (pitavastatin) tablets, and Marley Drug are registered trademarks.For more information, please contact: Dr. Albert D. FriesenChief Executive OfficerTel. 888-435-2220Fax 204-488-9823E-mail: info@ medicure.comwww.medicure.com SOURCE: Medicure, Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 20:14:22

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The DEA Games Continue To Delay Legitimate Marijuana Clinical Trials and ResearchWASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Megan Sheehan and Associates, lawyers representing MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, is filing aninterlocutory appealin Federal Court this week contesting a DEA administrative law judicial hearing scheduled for April 10, 2024.WHAT IS AN INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL?MMJ is pleading to a federal appeals court to stop the DEA from continuing their unlawful actions thus commanding them to act in a manner as directed bypresidential and congressional mandate.Congressman Blumenauer (D Oregon) this week in committee stated "medical cannabis treatments being delayed and research being denied is politically damaging to the Biden administration" as is in the case of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation.MMJ BioPharma Cultivation applied to the DEA in December of 2018 and has been patiently waiting DEA approval to grow federally legal marijuana for research and development to supply its FDA clinical trials for Multiple Sclerosis and Huntingtons Disease.Federal suit challenging the DEA judges appointmentUnder the Appointments Clause, inferior Article II "officers" such as DEA's administrative law judges must be appointed either by the President or the Head of their Department, the Attorney General of the United States. U.S. Const. art. II,  2, cl. 2.However, the DEA 's, administrative law judge was appointed by neither .Once served, the DEA Administrative Law Judge will hit pause this coming week on an agency dispute with MMJ's manufacturers application for cannabis medications treating Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington's disease patients in clinical trials.Pending her granting of a stay requested by Megan Sheehan attorney for MMJ BioPharma Cultivation Inc., Administrative Law Judge Teresa A. Wallbaum may say the particular circumstances of the case justify the pause until a federal court makes a decision. MMJ BioPharma Cultivation's challenge to this DEA tribunal's authority is now allowed in the federal courts to entertain interlocutory structural challenges and is a sufficiently new issue that makes it challenging to gauge the DEA's likelihood of success.MMJ will also accuse the DEA of unconstitutionally attempting to delay its registrations as a manufacturer of medications and to delay its supplying medicine to suffering patients in FDA sponsored clinical trials.MMJ's complaint, which also targets the DEA Director Anne Milgram, Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division Thomas Prevoznik, and other government defendants, alleges that, due to her unlawful appointment, Judge Wallbaum cannot adjudicate the DEA's attempt to rule on MMJ's applications. The company also seeks a declaration that the DEA process for appointing administrative law judges is unconstitutional."Everyone agrees that there is a need for drugs to treat these neurological diseases- Congress, the FDA, the DEA, the doctors, parents' association - everyone's saying the same thing," said MMJ Biopharma Cultivations president Duane Boise . "And here we have an administrative agency that just completely arbitrarily attacks a company that's following the law to manufacture a marijuana soft gelatin capsule to help suffering patients." "This is insanity," Boise added. "Someone's got to act." MMJ BioPharma Cultivation alleges that the process used by the DEA to appoint Judge Wallbaum was the same process the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional in June 2018 in a case brought against the Securities and Exchange Commission.The DEA ALJs were appointed pursuant to a process that violates the Appointments Clause, a fundamental defect in the DEA's administrative enforcement process.In her anticipated order, Judge Wallbaum will note that, under theU.S. Supreme Court's Axon ruling , subjecting a party to a proceeding that is ultimately found to be conducted within an unconstitutional structure can, standing alone, constitute legal harm.The delays in approving legitimate marijuana clinical trials and research applications, as highlighted in the case of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, can have far-reaching consequences. These delays not only hinder the progress of medical research but also impact the development of potential treatments for conditions like Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington's Disease. Patients who could potentially benefit from these treatments may be left waiting for relief due to bureaucratic hurdles.DEA A ROGUE AGENCY?The concerns about the DEA's alleged failure to follow congressional mandates for marijuana pharmaceutical development and clinical trials raise questions about the drug enforcement agency's accountability and transparency.The accusations of theDEA acting in secrecy and maintaining a monopoly on marijuana cultivationfor research purposes are troubling and warrant further investigation. Moreover, the legal challenges brought forth by MMJ BioPharma Cultivation, including allegations ofunconstitutional processes in appointing administrative law judges, add another layer of complexity to the situation. If proven true, these allegations could have broader implications for the DEA's enforcement processes and decision-making authority.DAMAGES AND BEYOND The company has invested several millions of dollars in its agriculture facilities, good manufacturing practices, and research and development. MMJ Biopharma Cultivation has reached out to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's office and Senator Jack Reed's office requesting assistance to no avail. Each time the senators and MMJ tried to get a DEA directive and update the DEA never responded. The economic impact has been devastating with loss of employment in Rhode Island as a result of Biden's DEA failed marijuana policy.The potential impact of MMJ BioPharma Cultivations legal action?The potential impact of this legal action extends beyond the specific case of MMJ BioPharma Cultivation. It could set a precedent for how the DEA handles similar applications in the future and may prompt a reevaluation of its policies and procedures regarding marijuana research and development.Ultimately, the outcome of these legal challenges and the broader discussions around marijuana policies under the Biden administration will shape the future landscape of medical research, patient access to treatments, and government oversight of controlled substances. It will be important to monitor how these developments unfold and how they may impact the broader cannabis industry and healthcare landscape.MMJ is represented by Attorney Megan Sheehan of Rhode Island.For more information on MMJ, please visit www.mmjih.com CONTACT:Madison Hisey mhisey@ mmjih.com 203-231-8583SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 22:05:37

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SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The law firm ofRobbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLPannounces that purchasers of New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB) securities between March 1, 2023 and February 5, 2024, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), have until this upcoming Monday, April 8, 2024 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit. Captioned Miskey v. New York Community Bancorp, Inc., No. 24-cv-01118 (E.D.N.Y.), the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit charges New York Community Bancorp as well as certain of New York Community Bancorp's top executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A previously filed complaint, captioned Lemm v. New York Community Bancorp, Inc., No. 24-cv-00903, is also pending in the Eastern District of New York.If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit, please provide your information here:You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchezor Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at info@ rgrdlaw.com . Lead plaintiff motions for the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than April 8, 2024.CASE ALLEGATIONS: On March 19, 2023, New York Community Bancorp acquired $38.4 billion in assets from Signature Bridge Bank, N.A.The New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed 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 plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which hasextensive experiencein prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud. You can view a copy of the complaintby clicking here.THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased New York Community Bancorp securities during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the New York Community Bancorp class action lawsuit.ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller is one of the world's leading complex class action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud cases. The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering more than $1.75 billion for investors in 2022 - the third year in a row Robbins Geller tops the list. And in those three years alone, Robbins Geller recovered nearly $5.3 billion for investors, more than double the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs' firm. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever - $7.2 billion - in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information:Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLPJ.C. Sanchez, Jennifer N. Caringal655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101800-449-4900 info@ rgrdlaw.com SOURCE: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 08:50:21

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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Vicore Pharma Holding (STO:VICO) The shareholders of Vicore Pharma Holding AB (publ), Reg. No. 556680-3804 ("Vicore Pharma" or the "Company"), with its registered offices in Stockholm, are summoned to the annual general meeting on Tuesday 7 May 2024 at 14.00 in the premises of the law firm Vinge at Smalandsgatan 20, SE-111 46 Stockholm, Sweden. Registration starts at 13.45.Shareholders can participate in the annual general meeting by attending the venue or by voting in advance.Right to participate in the annual general meeting and notice of participationParticipation in the annual general meeting at the venueA shareholder who wishes to participate in the annual general meeting at the venue in person or represented by a proxy must (i) be recorded as a shareholder in the share register maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB relating to the circumstances on Friday 26 April 2024, and (ii) no later than Tuesday 30 April 2024 give notice by post to Vicore Pharma Holding AB (publ), att. Nina Carlen, Kornhamnstorg 53, SE-111 27 Stockholm, Sweden, or via e-mail to nina.carlen@vicorepharma.com . When providing such notice, the shareholder shall state their name, personal or corporate registration number, number of shares held, address, daytime telephone number, and information about any accompanying assistant(s) (maximum two), and, if applicable, information about any proxy. Information submitted in connection with the notification will be computerized and used exclusively for the meeting. See below for additional information on the processing of personal data.If a shareholder is represented by proxy, a written, dated proxy for the representative must be issued. A proxy form is available on the Company's website, www.vicorepharma.com . If the proxy is issued by a legal entity, a certificate of registration or equivalent certificate of authority should be enclosed. To facilitate the registration at the annual general meeting, the proxy and the certificate of registration or equivalent certificate of authority should be sent to the Company as set out above so that it is received no later than Monday 6 May 2024.Participation by advance votingA shareholder who wishes to participate in the annual general meeting by advance voting must (i) be recorded as a shareholder in the share register maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB relating to the circumstances on Friday 26 April 2024, and (ii) give notice no later than Tuesday 30 April 2024, by casting an advance vote in accordance with the instructions below so that the advance vote is received by the Company no later than on that day.A shareholder who wishes to participate in the annual general meeting at the venue in person or represented by a proxy must give notice thereof in accordance with what is set out under "Participation in the annual general meeting at the venue" above. This means that a notification by advance vote is not sufficient for a person who wishes to participate at the venue.A special form shall be used when advance voting. The advance voting form is available on the Company's website www.vicorepharma.com . The completed and signed voting form must be received by the Company no later than Tuesday 30 April 2024. The completed and signed voting form may be submitted by post to Vicore Pharma Holding AB (publ), att. Nina Carlen, Kornhamnstorg 53, SE-111 27 Stockholm, Sweden or via e-mail to nina.carlen@vicorepharma.com . The shareholder may not provide special instructions or conditions in the voting form. If so, the vote (i.e. the advance vote in its entirety) is invalid. Further instructions and conditions are included in the form for advance voting.If a shareholder votes by proxy, a written and dated proxy shall be enclosed with the advance voting form. A proxy form is available on the Company's website www.vicorepharma.com . If the shareholder is a legal entity, a certificate of registration or equivalent certificate of authority should be enclosed. If a shareholder has voted in advance and then attends the annual general meeting in person or through a proxy, the advance vote is still valid except to the extent the shareholder participates in a voting procedure at the annual general meeting or otherwise withdraws its casted advance vote. If the shareholder chooses to participate in a voting at the annual general meeting, the vote cast will replace the advance vote with regard to the relevant item on the agenda.Nominee-registered shares To be entitled to participate in the meeting, in addition to providing notification of participation, a shareholder whose shares are held in the name of a nominee must register its shares in its own name so that the shareholder is recorded in the share register as of 26 April 2024. Such registration may be temporary (so-called voting right registration) and is requested from the nominee in accordance with the nominee's procedures and such time in advance as the nominee determines. Voting right registrations completed by the nominee not later than the second banking day after Friday 26 April 2024 are taken into account when preparing the share register.Number of shares and votes As per the date of this notice there are a total of 111,722,979 shares outstanding in the Company. Each share is entitled to one vote at the annual general meeting. As of the date of this notice, the Company holds no treasury shares.Proposed agendaOpening of the meeting Election of chairman of the annual general meeting Preparation and approval of the voting register Approval of the agenda Election of one or two persons to verify the minutes Determination of whether the annual general meeting was duly convened Presentation of the annual report and auditor's report and the consolidated financial statements and auditor's report for the group, and the auditor's statement regarding the Company's compliance with the guidelines for remuneration to the executive management in effect since the previous annual general meeting Resolutions regarding adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet allocation of the Company's profit or loss according to the adopted balance sheet, and discharge from liability for board members and the CEO Determination of the number of board members and auditors Determination of fees for the board of directors and the auditors Election of members of the board of directors Election of the chairman of the board of directors Election of auditors and, where applicable, deputy auditors Resolution on guidelines on remuneration to members of group management and board members Presentation of the board of directors' remuneration report for approval Resolution to authorize the board of directors to issue
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 02:34:15

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2024 / Hagens Berman urges Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Feb. 25, 2020 - Dec. 7, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Apr. 16, 2024Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/NOVA Contact An Attorney Now: NOVA@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NOVA) Securities Fraud Class Action:The litigation focuses on Sunnova's disclosures about its business practices and the recent award by the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) of a $3 billion partial loan guarantee pursuant to a new solar loan channel named Project Hestia.The complaint alleges that Sunnova made misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (1) it routinely engaged in predatory business practices against disadvantaged homeowners and communities, the same groups that Project Hestia was purportedly intended to benefit; and (2) the foregoing conduct subjected it to a heightened risk of regulatory and government scrutiny, as well as significant reputational and/or financial harm.That loan guarantee and associated benefits to Sunnova were all placed at risk of not coming to fruition on Dec. 7, 2023, after the Chair of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ranking Member of the US Senate Energy and Resources Committee sent a letter to the LPO Director (Jigar Shah) regarding "disturbing reports" about Sunnova and demanding additional information and documents by no later than Dec. 21, 2023.The Chair and Ranking Member wrote that they were alarmed about: (1) "recent, credible reports that Sunnova has racked up numerous consumer complaints, including those alleging troubling sales practices, such as Sunnova pressing elderly homeowners in poor health to sign long-term contracts costing tens of thousands of dollars[;]" (2) "predatory sales strategies[;]" and (3) "[a]dditional reports suggest these troubling reports are not isolated incidents".This news sent the price of Sunnova shares down $2, or about 16%, on Dec. 8, 2023.If you invested in Sunnova 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 Sunnova case and our investigation, read more Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Sunnova 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 NOVA@ 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: 2024-04-04 15:02:12

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The CEPI-funded study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of IAVI's single dose Lassa fever vaccine candidateKey takeaways:Participants in Nigeria have been vaccinated with a Lassa fever vaccine candidate in the first Phase 2 clinical trial of any Lassa vaccine. Lassa fever is a deadly hemorrhagic fever common to West Africa. No approved vaccine currently exists. More than 600 participants in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria are expected to enroll in the IAVI-sponsored trial, funded by CEPI. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Participants at HJF Medical Research International in Abuja, Nigeria, have been vaccinated in the first Phase 2 clinical trial of a Lassa fever virus (LASV) vaccine candidate to date, according to IAVI, a nonprofit scientific research organization and the trial sponsor. The study (IAVI C105/PREVAIL15) is funded by CEPI, an innovative global partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats.Dr. Bolaji (left) is the Nigeria-based HJFMRI principal investigator for the IAVI C105 Lassa fever vaccine clinical trial at HJFMRI in Abuja, NigeriaThe trial in Nigeria has been designed in consultation with in-country partners, including the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nigeria Lassa Vaccine Taskforce. HJF Medical Research International, Ltd/Gte (HJFMRI) has been conducting infectious diseases research in collaboration with HJF and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Nigeria since 2014. In addition to Nigeria, and pending regulatory approval, IAVI expects to enroll additional participants at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, and the Partnership for Research on Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in Liberia (PREVAIL)1."Nigerian clinicians, scientists and community members are key leaders in this international collaboration, which will ensure that vaccine development incorporates local context, experience and perspectives while fostering sustainable in-country research capacity and partnerships," said Dr. Abdulwasiu Bolaji Tiamiyu, clinical research center director, HJFMRI, and principal investigator of IAVI C105 in Nigeria.No approved vaccine currently exists for LASV, which causes an acute viral hemorrhagic illness called Lassa fever. Given its potential to cause a public health emergency of international concern, LASV is included in the World Health Organization R&D Blueprint of priority pathogens for which there is an urgent need for accelerated research and development (R&D) and countermeasures2. IAVI and members of the global Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium have been collaborating since 2018 to accelerate clinical development of IAVI's single-dose LASV vaccine candidate in studies supported and funded by CEPI and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Read more.An estimated 5,000 people die each year from LASV, and about 300,000 people fall ill across West Africa annually - though the true disease burden is thought to be much higher. Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are most affected, but increasingly, neighboring countries are experiencing their own emerging outbreaks, with travelers occasionally carrying infections to other regions. Although most people who develop LASV have mild or no symptoms, approximately 20% will develop more serious symptoms including widespread bleeding and major organ failure. Approximately a third of those infected with LASV experience associated deafness, sometimes resulting in lifelong disability. Children under 10 years old, pregnant people, and health care workers are especially vulnerable to LASV infection."Continued outbreaks of Lassa fever and the emergence of Ebola Sudan in Uganda both underscore the need to have vaccines for known disease threats available for evaluation and use during outbreak situations - the overarching goal of IAVI's emerging infectious disease program." said Swati Gupta, DrPH, MPH, vice president and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology, IAVI. "IAVI C105 is an important step toward attaining eventual licensure of a Lassa fever vaccine, should IAVI's vaccine candidate prove to have an acceptable safety profile and be efficacious. We are grateful to our funders, our clinical partners, and our consortium collaborators for their continued support of IAVI and commitment to a more secure world." "Lassa fever has long been a threat to much of West Africa, and factors like climate change and population growth could exacerbate its transmission in coming decades," explains Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI. "The world urgently needs a Lassa vaccine for routine immunisation. The initiation of IAVI's new Phase 2 trial - the most advanced Lassa vaccine trial to date - is an important milestone in public health and signals that better tools to manage and prevent outbreaks are coming. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with IAVI and regional partners to advance this promising vaccine as quickly as possible." IAVI's LASV vaccine candidate was well-tolerated and immunogenic among participants in both the U.S. and Liberian cohorts of IAVI's Phase I LASV vaccine trial (IAVI C102). Robust immune responses appear to be sustained for up to one year after vaccination3. In the Phase 2 study, researchers will evaluate the vaccine candidate's safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity at two different dosage levels in adults, including people living with HIV, as well as in adolescents and in children two years of age and older. Approximately 612 participants will be enrolled and followed for six months after vaccination to monitor their safety and immune responses. A subset of participants will be followed for an additional two years for extended safety and immunogenicity.CEPI and IAVI are united in their commitment to global equitable access. Should the candidate be found to be safe and efficacious in clinical testing, IAVI is committed to making its Lassa vaccine affordable and accessible to all populations in need.Harnessing a proven platform technology for global preparednessIAVI's LASV vaccine candidate uses the same recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector platform as ERVEBO, Merck's single-dose Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) vaccine, which is licensed in North America, Europe, and 10 African countries. The rVSV platform has been used extensively in adults and children4.IAVI's goal is to develop and test rVSV-based vaccines against emerging infectious disease pathogens that pose epidemic threats as part of an overall preventive strategy which includes routine immunization as appropriate as well as stockpiles which can be rapidly d
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 20:30:39

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The Middle Tennessee community is encouraged to nominate impactful teachers for their teacher's chance to win the $500 Cash Prize and well-deserved recognitionNASHVILLE, TN / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Ponce Law Firm is proud to announce the return of the sixth annual Outstanding Teacher Contest aimed at honoring exceptional teachers in Middle Tennessee communities. May is National Teacher Appreciation Month, making April the perfect time to begin recognizing those who go above and beyond for their students day in and day out.The Outstanding Teacher Contest invites community members to nominate K-12 teachers who have made an impact in Middle Tennessee. Nominations will be accepted from April 1st to April 26th at noon. Each entry is considered a vote for that teacher and will only be accepted once per nominator.To participate, individuals can nominate deserving teachers via thenomination formon the Ponce Law website. Each nominee will receive an Outstanding Teacher Certificate, regardless of the number of votes received. Additionally, the top 5 teachers with the highest number of entries will each be awarded a $500 cash prize, while the 6th through 10th will receive $100 each. The top 50 teachers with the most entries will also receive a goody bag.Moreover, the school with the most entries overall for its teachers will be awarded a $1,000 cash prize. All winners will be announced on Teacher Appreciation Day, May 7, 2024, via Ponce Law's Facebook page."As part of our commitment to supporting education and recognizing the hard work of educators, this initiative allows us to express our gratitude to those who strive to inspire and educate," said Michael Ponce, CEO of Ponce Law.The contest invites individuals to celebrate the remarkable educators who shape the future by nominating them for recognition. Through the contest, participants have the opportunity to showcase their appreciation for teachers who go above and beyond in their roles.For more information on the Outstanding Teachers Contest and how to participate, please visit and vote here: https://www.poncelaw.com/outstanding-teacher-contest-nomination/ About Ponce LawPonce Law is one of the premier law firms in the Nashville, Tennessee area. Our Injury Lawyers represent people who have been in car accidents, truck accidents, workplace accidents, and more. If you or someone you know has been involved in a personal injury accident, do not hesitate to reach out to one of our three locations for a free case review. Our Nashville personal injury lawyers have been helping injured victims in the community since 1994, and we have the experience and knowledge to build a strong claim on your behalf.Contact informationKim PonceCommunity Outreach and Marketing Director615 851-1776kim@ poncelaw.com SOURCE: Ponce Law
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 08:00:28

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Resolution Life to acquire Suncorp's New Zealand life insurance company, Asteron LifeContinues trans-Tasman growth with agreement to purchase Asteron Life for NZ$410m Elevates Resolution Life to the second largest life insurer in New Zealand Ongoing commitment and support to existing Asteron Life customers and advisers SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Resolution Life, a leading global manager of in-force life and annuity policies, announces that Resolution Life Australasia, its trans-Tasman life insurer, has entered into an agreement with Suncorp Group to acquire its New Zealand life insurance company, Asteron Life New Zealand (Asteron Life) for NZ$410m.The acquisition will provide Resolution Life with significant scale and capability in the New Zealand market, materially increasing its market presence to the benefit of customers.Asteron Life is a well-established and highly respected New Zealand life insurer, with a dedicated team of circa 165 people servicing more than 180,000 customers and their advisers.Tim Tez, Chief Executive Officer Resolution Life Australasia , commented:"This acquisition further demonstrates our commitment to the Australasian market and our success in growing our business in the region."It follows Resolution Life's entry into the Australian and New Zealand markets in 2020, and our recent acquisition of AIA Australia's Superannuation and Investments business."Our growth is predominantly through the acquisition of in-force portfolios of life insurance policies as well as remaining open to growing new business in select strategic markets. Asteron Life presents a compelling opportunity to continue to grow through new individual and group customers while continuing to support existing customers."Resolution Life will support the Asteron Life business with its momentum and success in the New Zealand life insurance market. As a trusted life insurer, Asteron Life will continue to operate as a standalone New Zealand licenced life insurance company, under its existing brand in New Zealand and support advisers and their customers using the same dedicated team and management." The acquisition is subject to New Zealand regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in ~nine months.ENDSNotes to Editors:About Resolution Life Resolution Life is a global life insurance group focusing on the acquisition and management of portfolios of life insurance policies. Since 2003 to date, prior Resolution entities together with Resolution Life have deployed c.$18billion of equity in the acquisition, reinsurance, consolidation and management of life insurance companies. Together, these companies have served the needs of c.14 million policyholders while managing over $377 billion of assets. Resolution Life today has operations in Bermuda, the U.K., the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, assisting the restructuring of the primary life insurance industry globally. Resolution Life provides a safe and reliable partner for insurers by:Focusing on serving existing customers, and supporting primary insurers with new sales Delivering policyholder benefits in a secure, well capitalised environment Returning capital over time to our institutional investors in the form of a steady dividend yieldVisit resolutionlife.com for more information.About Resolution Life Australasia Resolution Life Australasia is part of Resolution Life. It has approximately A$28.4 billion (NZ$30.4 billion) in assets under management and is a well-capitalised business with a dedicated focus on servicing its existing 1.1 million customers across Australia and New Zealand and providing them with competitive premiums, quality investment management, great customer service and efficient claims management.In New Zealand, Resolution Life NZ is an incorporated company that has been licensed by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to carry out insurance business in the country.About Asteron Life New Zealand Asteron Life is a well-established and highly respected life insurer in New Zealand.Asteron Life provides a range of life, trauma, income protection, total and permanent disability, and business cover to the New Zealand market. Its products are predominantly retail, sold through financial advisers as well as direct and group business.Media Enquiries: SEC Newgate Erica Borgelt +61 (0) 413 732 951Email: erica.borgelt@secnewgate.com.au Temple Bar Advisory Alex Child-Villiers: +44 (0)7795 425 580Juliette Packard: +44 (0)7425 826161Email: resolution@ templebaradvisory.com This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@ lseg.com or visit www.rns.com SOURCE: Resolution Life Group
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 16:00:36

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ALPHARETTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The leading healthcare revenue management services company, Savista, will exhibit at the MGMA Focus | Financial Conference, hosted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). The conference will be held April 25-27 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel in San Diego and Savista will sponsor the program's Wi-Fi services for attendees.The MGMA Focus | Financial program is made for CFOs, vice presidents and directors of finance, practice administrators, financial analysts and other healthcare professionals specializing in billing, coding and payer contracting. Attendees will gain insights and sharpen their skills from industry-leading experts in financial and revenue cycle management-including Savista's Chief Commercial Officer Dan Bugarin; Vice President, Strategic Solutions Gabrielle Graham; Vice President of Revenue Cycle Solutions Kyle Sherseth; and Vice President of Physician & Ambulatory Markets Michael Bergert-who will be onsite to discuss financial management service solutions that enhance medical practice performance and the patient experience.Located at booth #308, Savista's executive team will be on hand to discuss revenue cycle management, payer contracting and value-based care, compensation, productivity and more, touching on the latest techniques to improve patient care while ensuring financial stability.For more information about Savista, visit SavistaRCM.com or sign-up for its recently launched LinkedIn newsletter, Revenue Cycle Navigator. Financial management professionals can register for the conference here. Information on speakers, session details and schedule for the conference can be found online.About Savista Savista is a full-service revenue cycle services company partnering with hospitals, systems, and physician practices for more than 30 years. They solve revenue cycle challenges through comprehensive audits and assessments and their highly tenured workforce of revenue cycle experts. Savista provides solutions spanning eligibility and enrollment, health information management, charge description master, accounts receivable management and more. They tout one of the most highly trained workforces in the industry with more than 20 accreditations including Epic-certified trainers. Their global organization delivers quality custom solutions to more than 330 healthcare clients at over 770 facilities across 49 states. Savista has received the Peer Reviewed designation by the Healthcare Financial Management Association. To learn more about Savista, visit SavistaRCM.com or follow @savistarcm on LinkedIn.Media ContactAlison Boghosian / Emily PassmoreMower aboghosian@ mower.com /epassmore@ mower.com SOURCE: Savista
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 15:18:14

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Facility offers 80 new one-and two-bedroom affordable apartments for seniors 62 and older, preserved within Cleveland's the historic Henry W. Longfellow SchoolNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / The Longfellow Senior Housing, an historic redevelopment in Cleveland's Collinwood community financed by KeyBank, has been awarded CoStar's 2023 Impact Award for Redevelopment of the Year in Cleveland. KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) provided a $16.9 million investment, purchasing the housing and historic tax credits for the project. KeyBank also provided $8.8 million in financing towards construction.The Longfellow offers 80 new one- and two-bedroom affordable apartments for seniors 62 and older, preserved within the historic Henry W. Longfellow School and a newly constructed building on the property. The site's redevelopment kept the original building's integrity while also providing modern amenities that enhance seniors' social, physical, and mental well-being.For more than eight decades, the property was home to The Henry W. Longfellow Elementary School. However, the school faced demolition in 2011 until The Cleveland Restoration Society stepped in and had it become a designated historic landmark by the City of Cleveland, and thanks to Vesta Corporation's redevelopment project, Longfellow can continue to provide an essential service to the community.From the creation of a usable senior-focused fitness center to the development of green spaces and community social areas, The Longfellow offers a unique living experience for seniors. Additionally, a wellness room was also included in the plan to provide a confidential on-site space where third-party healthcare providers can conduct examinations and provide essential healthcare services to Longfellow residents.Learn more about KeyBank's commitment to helping clients and communities thrive View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: KeyBankWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: KeyBank
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 22:00:43

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / SILVER X MINING CORP. (TSX-V:AGX)(F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company") announces that the Company has closed the first tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering (the "Private Placement") with the placement of 6,156,199 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.18 per Unit for gross proceeds of $1,108,116.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 $0.30 per Share for a period of 36 months from the date of closing of the Private Placement (the "Closing Date").Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for capital expenditures and exploration related to the Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Peru (the "Project") and potential acquisitions of assets.All securities issued and issuable in connection with the first tranche closing of the Private Placement are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on August 5, 2024. The closing of the second tranche is expected shortly as subscriptions are received. Closing of the Private Placement is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.Under the first tranche of the Private Placement, the Company paid fees to eligible finders consisting of (i) $23,629.56 in cash and (ii) 62,982 finder's warrants (the "Finder's Warrants) exercisable into one Share at a price of $0.30, and (iii) 61,633 Finder's Warrants exercisable into one Share at a price of $0.18. The Finder's Warrants are exercisable for a period of 36 months from the Closing Date.CEO, Jose Garcia, and Vice President, Corporate Development, Sebastian Wahl, (the "Insiders") have each expressed an interest in participating in the second tranche of the Offering. The participation by the Insiders of the Company in the Offering constitutes a related party transactions within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Such participation is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), as neither the fair market value of the securities issued, nor the fair market value of the consideration for the securities issued exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101. A material change report in connection with the Offering will be filed less than 21 days before the closing of the Offering. This shorter period was reasonable and necessary in the circumstances as the Company wished to complete the Offering in a timely manner.This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.About Silver X Mining Corp.Silver X is a rapidly-expanding silver developer and producer in the Americas. The Company owns the +20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead and zinc from the district's Tangana Mining Unit. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARDJose M. GarciaCEO and DirectorFor further information, please contact:Investor RelationsT: +1 647 259 6901 x 101E: ir@ silverxmining.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" InformationThis news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may include, without limitation, exploration plans, results of operations, expected performance at the Nueva Recuperada Project (the "Project"), the ability of the new zones at the Project to feed production at the Company's Nueva Recuperada Plant in the near term, the Company's belief that the Tangana system will provide considerable resource expansion potential, that the Company will be able to mine the Tangana Mining Unit in an economic manner, the expected financial performance of the Company, the ability of the Company to complete the proposed Private Placement, if at all, on the proposed terms, and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement.The following are some of the assumptions upon which forward-looking information is based: that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; demand for, and stable or improving price for the commodities we produce; receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, permits and renewals in a timely manner; that the Company will not experience any material accident, labour dispute or failure of plant or equipment or other material disruption in the Company's operations at the Project and Nueva Recuperada Plant; the availability of financing for operations and development; the Company's ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; that the es
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SECAUCUS, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / SupplySide East, the essential East Coast event dedicated to ingredient sourcing, functional nutrition and supplements, announces the addition of supporting Event Platform and mobile app as an all-in-one event management tool to discover and deepen connections between attendees and exhibitors at SupplySide East (Meadowlands Convention Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, April 16-17). The matchmaking resource provides brand-new avenues for face-to-face interactions throughout various curated touchpoints on the show floor to fuel connectivity in the ever-growing health and nutrition industry.The Event Platform will enable attendees and exhibitors to streamline brand exploration, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) driven matchmaking, leveraging each participant's profile to deliver best-in-class networking experiences. The Event Platform assists in driving intentional show planning to ensure beneficial relationships to produce advancement in the ingredient and functional food and beverage space, creating a healthier future together.In addition to technological resources, on-site networking events will be available at the SupplySide Connect Hub including the session Accelerating Newcomers in the Industry, designed specifically for first-time participants. Colleagues can meet other new professionals to establish ties and expand reach. Speed Networking, available on each day of SupplySide East hosts lively dynamic icebreakers to spark ideas with fellow professionals to kickstart conversations, enhancing even more opportunities for interaction with peers and highly sought experts."By cultivating additional avenues for engagement, SupplySide East inspires creativity and unlocks potential for deepening the value of relationships, propelling both individuals and the industry towards greater success," remarks Danica Cullins, Senior Vice President of SupplySide. "The event is not just about expanding our circles, but about forging richer bonds that fuel innovation and collaboration to create a lasting impact to accelerate business all year long." Alongside SupplySide East's commitment to increasing collaboration, progressing diversity among executive suites, corporate boards, research leadership and financial investment across the nutraceutical industry is a key pillar to the platform. The Women In Nutraceuticals (WIN) Gender Equity Networking Reception (April 17), provides insight into WIN's commitment to empowering women by supporting development of personal and professional practices and knowledge, promoting leadership and career growth opportunities of women in science and research.The SupplySide Education Theater will also highlight eight sessions focused on topics ranging from animal nutrition and supply chain development to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and formulation. Education on April 16 will also include sessions on The Maxobiome, offering The Business Case and Science for Microbiome Ingredients and as well as The State of Animal Nutrition providing Insights for 2024 and Beyond.Extending the celebration, SupplySide East's Annual Happy Hour will take place April 16, as well as a Welcome Brunch on April 17. New to SupplySide East, the Headshot Lounge takes place on April 16 and 17. All professionals are invited to participate.Registration is still open, visit www.supplysideeast.comto attend the expo, April 16-17 in Secaucus, New Jersey.Industry press are encouraged to attend, registration is free and can be found on thePress Hub .About SupplySide SupplySide events are the premier gatherings for innovation and discovery in the development of finished consumer goods that drive the global business economy. SupplySide brings together thousands of suppliers and buyers to explore and learn the latest products, services, research, regulatory changes and more in the health and nutrition industry for more than 26 years. The following SupplySide events and information products are produced by the Health and Nutrition group at Informa Markets: SupplySide East, SupplySide West, Natural Products Insider and Food & Beverage Insider.Engage with supplysideshow.com and follow the latest updates on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.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, please visit www.informamarkets.com Media Contact: SupplySide PR supplysidepr@ informa.com SOURCE: Supply Side
PR-Inside.com: 2024-04-04 15:00:18

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Find out which world-famous beaches made the Top 25 Most Visited List, as per the travel App. The app, allows users to map their travels, check of places visited by travel lists, and see travel stats.TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Visited App publishes the Top 25 Most Visited Famous Beaches list, published by Arriving In High Heels Corp. The travel map app, Visited is an app that allows users to map their travels by countries, states, cities and places of interest. The app has over 150 travel lists, broken by interests, experiences and travel categories that users can check off as "been" or "want". Users can take away the guess work of where to travel to next, by using the travel itinerary feature, which shows all places users want to see by country. The travel app also features personalized travel stats such as total number of countries visited, % of the world visited and what part of their travel journey is still left.Most Popular Beaches Most Visited Beaches As per the Visited Travel AppThe most popular world beaches are found all over the world, including United States with South Beach Miami making it in 2nd most popular spot. The top 10 most Visited Beaches include:Cancun South Beach Miami Majorca Cannes Amalfi Tenerife Punta Cana Bondi Beach Ibiza Gran CanariaFor a full list of popular beaches and other travel lists, download Visited on iOS or Android.About Visited Travel AppVisited is a travel app that helps travelers remember their past travels and get inspired by discovering new destinations. The app, lets users map the countries or regions that they have been to or want to travel. The app also provides a city map, along with personalized travel stats. The travel list feature allows users to check of popular travel destinations by travel categories. There are over 150 travel experiences and travel lists, that will cater to any traveler. Users can print a personalized travel map, as a memory of their travel or as a perfect gift for travel lovers.The travel app is available in 30 languages and is available on iOS or Android, and is free to download.To learn more about the Visited app and its latest feature update, please visit https://visitedapp.com About Arriving In High Heels CorporationArriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company with apps including Pay Off Debt, X-Walk and Visited, their most popular app.Visited app has travel stats that are unique to the travel industry with a sample of the travel stats available has been published on their annual travel report.Contact InformationAnna KayfitzCEOanna@ arrivinginhighheels.com SOURCE: Arriving In High Heels CorporationView the original press release on newswire.com
The EFCC will arraign the controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, on a six-count charge on Friday bordering on money laundering and other offences.

The spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the crossdressers detention to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.

Mr Oyewale said Bobrisky was arrested for naira mutilation.

Bobrisky will appear before Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday.

EFCC Prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo, alongside seven other lawyers, filed the charges against Bobrisky.

The initial four counts relate to Naira abuse, while the remaining two counts involve alleged money laundering.

Counts

Details of the counts, as contained in a statement issued by EFCC, are presented below.

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Bobrisky, in the first count, is alleged to have tampered with the sum of N400,000 by spraying the same while dancing at a social event at the IMAX Circle Mall, Lekki, Lagos.

The offence was committed on 24 March 2024 and is contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.

In count two, Bobrisky, between July and August 2023 at Aja Junction, Ikorodu, also tampered with another sum of N50,000 by spraying the same at a social event while dancing.

In count three, Bobrisky, in December 2023 at White Steve Event Hall, Ikeja also sprayed and tampered with another sum of N20,000 while dancing.

Count four also accused Bobrisky of spraying and tampering with another sum of N20,000 while dancing at another event in Oniru, Victoria Island.

In count five, Bobrisky, while trading under the name and style of Bob Express between 1 September 2021 and 4 April 2024 in Lagos, failed to submit to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering a declaration of the activities of the said company, (Bob Express), within which period the total sum of N127. 7m was paid into the company account domiciled with Ecobank.

In count six, Bobrisky is also accused of failing to submit a declaration of the activities of the company within the same period when another N53 million was paid into the companys account, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 6(1)(a), and Section 19(1) (f) of the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act and punishable under Section 19 (2) (b) of the same Act.

Similar case

Bobriskys case is similar to that of actress Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, who was convicted for spraying and trampling on new Naira notes during a friends wedding in Lagos.

Ms Omoseyin was apprehended on 1 February 2023 after a viral video depicting her actions at a wedding in Lekki, Lagos State, on 28 January 2023.

On 2 February, Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke sentenced her to six months in prison, with the option of paying a fine of N300,000, as stated by Mr Oyewale, spokesperson for the EFCC.

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The EFCC has shared more details of popular crossdresser Idris Okuneye, known as Bobriskys arrest and detention.

The spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the crossdressers detention to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday morning.

Mr Oyewale said Bobrisky was arrested for naira mutilation.

He said: Yes, hes with us in our Lagos State Command. I want to confirm to you that hes in our custody for currency mutilation and abuse of naira.

We are investigating him, and he will be charged to court.

The crossdresser was invited by the EFCC on Tuesday but turned himself in on Wednesday.

A source at the agency said the crossdresser was captured on video spraying wads of Naira at the premiere of Eniola Ajaos Beasts of Two Worlds movie.

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Bobrisky had been in the news in the last few weeks for his infamous Best Dressed Female award at the Beast of Two World premiere in Lagos and for his spat with Portable.

Investigation begins

The Anti-Graft agency would later share more details of the controversial crossdressers detention on its social media handles on Thursday afternoon.

The operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC said they have commenced an investigation of Bobrisky for allegedly spraying Naira notes.

The EFCC said it invited the 31-year-old following a video report of spraying and flaunting wads of new Naira notes at the premiere of a movie, Ajakaju, produced by Eniola Ajao, a Nollywood actress and producer, at Film One Circle Mall, Lekki, Lagos on 24 March 2024.

The statement read: Investigation also revealed that he had committed the alleged offence at other event centres and parties at different times.

Following the invitation by the Commission, he arrived at the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC on the morning of Wednesday for interrogation and volunteered his statements.

They added that Bobrisky will soon be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.

Bobriskys detention is reminiscent of an actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, who was convicted for spraying and stepping on new Naira notes at a friends wedding in Lagos.

She was arrested on 1 February 2023 after a video clip showing her spraying some new Naira notes at a wedding in Lekki, Lagos State, on 28 January 2023, went viral on social media platforms.

On 2 February, the trial judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, sentenced her to six months imprisonment but with an option of a N300,000 fine, according to a statement by Mr Oyewale, EFCCs spokesperson.

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The Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, has said monarchs in Okuama and other neighbouring communities in Delta State must have played a role in the murder of 17 soldiers in the state.

Suspected residents of the Okuama Community, on 14 March, ambushed and murdered the Commanding Officer of 181 Army Amphibious Battalion, two majors, one captain and 13 soldiers.

The troops were attacked while responding to a distress call arising from a clash between Okuama and Okoloba communities in the southern Nigerian state, the military said.

In response, the Defence Headquarters, on Thursday, declared eight suspects wanted over the murder of the military personnel.

The traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, Clement Ikolo, was among those declared wanted.

Mr Ikolo has since surrendered himself to the police in the state from where he was whisked to the Nigerian army headquarters in Abuja for questioning.

The monarch was still in army custody at the time of this report.

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Meanwhile, members of the Traditional Rulers Council of Chiefs in Ewu-Urhobo, Delta State, in a statement on Saturday, called for the immediate release of Mr Ikolo.

The monarchs argued that they and their detained colleague were not connected to the communal crisis that led to the murder of the 17 soldiers.

His Majesty (Ikolo) is in no way associated with the ongoing feud between Okoloba and Okuama Communities, let alone the tragic killing of army personnel, the monarchs said in the statement.

They cant deny their involvment

But reacting when he appeared as a guest on Arise TVs The Morning Show on Wednesday, Mr Musa, an army general, insisted that the monarchs from the Urhobo ethnic group within the warring communities were complicit in the murder.

I have heard the Urhobo leaders talking. I have very serious respect for elders. But I would also like elders to speak from a position of strength.

They (Urhobo monarchs) cannot say that they do not know what is going on there. I am sure that you know that since they murdered the soldiers, there are a lot of human sacrifices ongoing in those areas and it was just part of them showing a way of saying they have strength and that was why they were able to kill the soldiers, he said.

We know that a lot of people knew what was going on and kept quiet and that makes them complicit. Maybe he (Ikolo) did not take part directly, but he will not tell us he does not have the knowledge or understanding of what was going on (in Okuama).

So, those (residents of the) communities (within the Urhobo ethnic group) know these criminals. Some of them benefit from this act of criminality. But investigations will unravel most of these things, Mr Musa stated.

Bodies of slain soldiers were dismembered, private parts removed

Mr Musa said the bodies of the slain soldiers were dismembered, with their private parts removed by the hoodlums who murdered them.

He said the slain commanding officer went to Okuama unarmed because it was a peacekeeping mission and he had thought he could restore peace between the warring communities.

When he (the commanding officer) tried to talk to them (the community members), they (the soldiers) were rounded up and shot. And not only shot, their body parts were cut, and their hands and private parts were removed. I think thats what all Nigerians should stand up against, he said.

Real reason the hoodlums murdered the soldiers

Mr Musa said the hoodlums murdered the soldiers because they were angry that the commanding officer and his team had been destroying illegal refineries to end crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region.

The attack (against the soldiers) was premeditated just because the group of criminals, cultists and militants that make a lot of money from crude oil theft, believe they are above board.

They murdered the soldiers deliberately just because the commanding officer and his team were ensuring that any acts of pipeline vandalisation, crude oil theft, and illegal refineries were completely eradicated from that region, he said.

The army chief alleged that the hoodlums had been benefitting from the illegal crude oil theft. He said they used the proceeds to procure arms and ammunition for their criminal activities.

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The scheduled arraignment of top Binance officials at the Federal High Court in Abuja failed on Thursday after the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said it could not serve charges on the defendants.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) similarly failed to arraign them in a separate case before another judge of the court.

A lawyer to the Nigerian tax agency, FIRS, Moses Ideho, informed the judge, Emeka Nwite, that his client made efforts to serve the charges on Tigran Gambaryan, one of the two Binance executives charged in the case, but was denied access.

Mr Gambaryan is being held by the EFCC in Abuja, Nigerias capital city.

Binance and its two officials  Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla  were to be arraigned on five counts of money laundering and tax evasion before Mr Nwite on Thursday.

My Lord, the prosecution has not been able to serve a copy of the charge on the second defendant (Tigran Gambaryan).

As a result, we mobilised the court bailiff to serve the second defendant but he was denied access, too, Mr Ideho told the court.

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Thereafter, the prosecution lawyer sought the courts permission to serve Mr Gambaryan with a copy of the charge.

He, also, prayed the court to allow Mr Gambaryan to confer with his lawyers to determine the mode of plea he would take.

But, Mr Gambaryans lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwazom, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), opposed his clients taking of plea in the matter.

Mr Iwazom said he needed time to discuss the case with Mr Gambaryan.

For another agency of government to say it has no access to the defendant shows the seriousness of how the prosecution handles the case, Mr Gambaryans lawyer told the court.

After a heated argument over the failure of the government to effect service on the second defendant, Mr Ideho sought an adjournment to enable Mr Gambaryan to consult with his team of lawyers regarding the charge.

The charge was eventually served on Mr Gambaryan, prompting the judge to adjourn further hearing until 19 April for arraignment of the defendants.

The other case

Meanwhile, a separate case against Binance and its executives before Mr Nwite was stalled on Thursday after Mr Gambaryans lawyer, Mark Mordi, a SAN, contested the mode of service of the charge concerning money laundering on his client.

The suit is being prosecuted by Nigerias anti-corruption agency, the EFCC.

At the hearing on Thursday, EFCC lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, urged the court to direct Mr Gambaryan to take his plea.

But, Mr Mordi challenged the joint nature of the charge which has Binance, Messrs Gambaryan and Anjarwalla as co-defendants.

The defence lawyer contended that the EFCC was statutorily required to serve the charge on each of the defendants.

This is a joint charge and it is incumbent on the prosecution to serve the charge on the 1st defendant (Binance). Having not done that I do not think this matter can go on, Mr Mordi argued.

Citing Section 477 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, Mr Mordi further contended that each of the defendants should be served separately.

However, the EFCC lawyer, Mr Iheanacho disagreed with the defence lawyers submissions.

The prosecution lawyer told the court that Mr Gambaryan declined to receive service of the charge on behalf of Binance.

Mr Iheanacho argued that Mr Gambaryan serves as a Binance representative in Nigeria, who should receive the charge on behalf of the crypto exchange company.

He based his argument on Section 487 of the ACJA.

Binance has no physical footprint in Nigeria. But Mr Gambaryan qualifies as an agent of Binance in Nigeria, the EFCC lawyer argued.

He noted that the service on Binance which Mr Gambaryan refused to accept was a proper service on the crypto exchange firm.

He urged the court to dismiss Mr Mordis submission, adding that the latter lacks the capacity to question the mode of service of the court document on Binance.

Responding, Mr Mordi told the court that his client declined to accept service of the charge on behalf of Binance because he is not a representative of the company in Nigeria.

My Lord, let us not treat this matter with trifle. Due process must be followed; service has not been effected, Mr Mordi said.

After taking the arguments both lawyers and the judge adjourned the case until 8 April for ruling.

Charges

In the FIRS case marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024 dated and filed 22 March by the FIRS team of lawyers, led by Moses Ideho, the prosecution accused the defendants of committing the alleged offences on or about 1 February.

Count one alleged that while involved in carrying and offering services to subscribers on their platform, known as Binance, they failed to register with the FIRS, for the purpose of paying all relevant taxes administered by the service.

Count two alleged that while they were offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform known as Binance, they failed to issue invoices to those subscribers for the purposes of determining and payment of their Value Added Tax (VAT).

Count three accused them of offering services to subscribers on their trading platform in the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets, and that having offered those services, it was obliged to deduct VAT and did fail to deduct necessary VAT arising from their operations.

In count four, the prosecution accused them of offering services to subscribers on their trading platform, aided and abetted those subscribers to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes, or neglect to pay those taxes.

The alleged offences, according to the prosecution, are punishable under Sections 8 and 29 of the VAT Act of 1993 (as Amended), Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act, 2007 (as amended) and under provisions of Section 94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended) respectively.

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Maritime drone deployment in offensive operations in the Black and Red Seas provides a glimpse of the future of naval warfare. On 18 February, the United States (US) Central Command reported the first instance of Houthi rebels using uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) in the Red Sea. The attack was unsuccessful  the vessels were intercepted and destroyed.

A USV, or maritime drone, is a remote-controlled pilotless boat that can operate at sea. Variations are already being used for surveillance, monitoring ports and offshore oil and gas facilities, detecting marine pollution, and oceanographic surveys.

While uncrewed watercraft arent new, their recent deployment shows that technology has advanced to enhance naval operations. The proliferation of uncrewed technology is outpacing African countries legislative and defensive measures. Given existing maritime security challenges and inadequate border protection, are African countries prepared for uncrewed technologies to hit their shores?

The area receiving the most public attention, and where the deployment of uncrewed systems will likely be most rapid, is in direct attacks on ships and maritime infrastructure  e.g. those used by non-state actors, like the Houthi rebels. These incidents occur as global naval forces show increasing interest in their potential to yield strategic impact.

Four factors spur this interest. First is their affordability compared to traditional naval assets, with lower procurement, maintenance, and operational expenses. They come in different shapes and sizes, ranging from repurposed speedboats to more specialised vessels. Manufacturing costs vary based on specifications. Maritime drones currently used by Ukraine cost around $250,000 per unit, while a recently launched corvette constructed for Ukraine amounts to $128 million.

Second, manufacturing a maritime drone is relatively simple. A functioning uncrewed vessel can be built from dual-use components readily available on the market. Several uncrewed surface vessels currently deployed in the Black Sea are considered off the shelf, with the engine and several other components adapted from commercial jet skis.

Third, uncrewed vessels pose a problem for conventional naval forces due to their design and the materials used for their manufacture. They are challenging to detect and identify when in or under water. Their smallness, speed, and high manoeuvrability also make them hard to destroy. Fourth, some drone variants have an operational range of over 800 km, allowing flexibility in how the vessel is used.

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The successful deployment of uncrewed vessels, especially as part of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, can be seen as a proof of concept for major arms-manufacturing countries. The United Kingdom, France, Turkey, and China are developing sophisticated naval drone technology, while other countries, including South Africa, are fast-tracking this technologys development.

The US, in particular, aspires to acquire large USVs for offensive sea missions and medium-sized ones for surveillance and intelligence-gathering, reconnaissance, supply, and electronic warfare.

But features that make uncrewed vessels attractive and innovative for conventional navies also make them appealing to non-state actors.

The unsuccessful 18 February attack came days after the US Coast Guard operating in the Red Sea intercepted a vessel bound for Yemen with various weapons and USV components on board. The shipment allegedly originated from Iran, which has long invested in developing unconventional naval capabilities, including USV variants.

The Houthis themselves have a track record of using maritime drones in their military operations. The most successful deployment to date occurred in 2016, damaging a Saudi frigate and killing two sailors using USVs.

USV proliferation seems largely for now to be thanks to states delivering existing capabilities to non-state actors. The danger increases when these capabilities are passed on to other non-state groups.

This is particularly important for African states lacking the resources to monitor their maritime areas effectively intercepting smuggling and trafficking and responding to rapidly unfolding maritime security incidents. While the Houthis dont necessarily align themselves with active armed groups in Africa, theres a well-documented arms smuggling route operating between Yemen and Somalia. Introducing uncrewed vessels as a source of potential maritime insecurity could compound Africas existing insecurity.

Evidence suggests that drug traffickers have also explored using uncrewed systems in their operations targeting the continent. In July 2022, Spanish police seized three uncrewed underwater drones intended for a French gang to support their drug trafficking operation from Morocco. This first incident is indicative of a potential trend of similar vessels being deployed for trafficking purposes.

The likelihood of criminals using USVs in Africa hinges primarily on a perceived trade-off between risks and rewards. Carina Bruwer, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies ENACT project, says, Many illegal commodities, like drugs, are still moved in rather unsophisticated ways, such as on dhows and container vessels. This shows that these methods are still perceived as easy to get away with.

For now, the relatively high cost of uncrewed systems for trafficking, compared to conventional methods, will likely serve as a barrier for criminal networks. This balance may change as cheaper equipment becomes accessible to non-state military groups. African countries should anticipate an increase in criminal actors use of remote-controlled vessels.

Addressing the emerging problem of USVs may involve leveraging uncrewed solutions. On 3 January, the US Navy commissioned a new task force to incorporate uncrewed systems and artificial intelligence into the US Fifth Fleets maritime operations. The fleet is responsible for a wide area of operations, including the Western Indian Ocean and Red Sea, and the initiative aims to improve maritime security and safety in the region.

The deployment of such systems as part of a hybrid fleet operating near the African continent could provide valuable lessons for African navies. Adopting similar platforms could strengthen their ability to tackle maritime crimes, improving the detection and identification of vessels, including small crafts, in the region.

As non-state armed groups and criminal networks test the effectiveness and utility of uncrewed technology, so should African states. They must understand the potential threat posed by uncrewed vessels and existing legal loopholes to mitigate the consequences of the inevitable spread of this technology.

Key steps should include improving maritime law enforcement entities capacity to detect and respond to unauthorised use of the USVs and adopting appropriate legislation to prosecute future cases.

Denys Reva, Researcher, Maritime, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Tshegofatso Johanna Ramachela, Research Associate, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria

(This article was published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

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The Kaduna State Government says bandits have displaced 289,375 people from 551 communities across 12 local government areas in the state.

The Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (KADSEMA), Usman Mazadu, stated this during the distribution of palliatives to economically vulnerable people in Maraban Kajuru on Wednesday.

Mr Mazadu gave some details of the crisis, citing the examples of Chikun, where 26,345 people were displaced from 134 communities and Birnin Gwari, where 70,893 people were displaced from 84 communities.

These statistics represent lives, dreams, and the resilience of our people,  the official stressed:

Emphasising the gravity of the situation, he expressed the governments commitment to providing immediate relief to those affected.

551 affected communities and 289,375 displaced persons across 12 Local Government Areas, he said.

Mr Mazadu commended Governor Uba Sani for allocating N11.4 billion to the palliative programme to assist the affected population.

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We extend our heartfelt appreciation to His Excellency for his responsiveness, he added.

He said relief distribution would be extended to all affected communities within the identified 12 local government areas in the coming weeks.

Deputy Governor Hadiza Balarabe, represented by her Chief of Staff, James Kanyip, said the government was unwaveringly committed to eliminating the menace of banditry.

He reiterated Governor Sanis dedication to providing aid and support to those affected by the insecurity crisis.

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President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Adams Oshiomhole, a senator, on the occasion of his birthday on 4 April.

Mr Oshiomhole was president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) from 1999 to 2007, governor of Edo State from 2008 to 2016, and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from 2018 to 2020.

The president joined the family and friends of the distinguished senator in celebrating his close ally and a man for all seasons.

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is of strong character. He is ever so committed to his principles, unbending and fearless in pursuing a just cause. He is a man you can take to battle and be sure of victory. He is fiercely loyal and stands firmly by his beliefs, the president said.

President Tinubu thanked Mr Oshiomhole for his fervent support while asking God Almighty to grant him many more years in good health.

Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

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(Media & Publicity)

April 4, 2024

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UN humanitarians in Gaza have suspended operations temporarily for 48 hours following the killing of seven aid workers.

The seven aid workers from the NGO World Centre Kitchen were killed in an Israeli air strike on Tuesday.

The move will allow for further evaluation of the security issues that impact both personnel on the ground and the people they are trying to serve.

UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing reporters in New York.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) reports that daytime operations are continuing, including ongoing efforts to get food aid convoys into northern Gaza.

World Central Kitchen and other charities have suspended aid operations which has had a double impact in the Gaza Strip, Mr Dujarric said in response to a reporters question.

It has a real impact on people who depend on these organisations to receive aid, he said.

But it also has a psychological and chilling effect on humanitarian workers, both Palestinians and international, who continue to do their utmost to deliver aid to those who need it at great personal risk.

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The World Central Kitchen staff, consisting of local and international personnel, were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes on their convoy while departing their warehouse in Deir al Balah in central Gaza.

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said he was horrified by the killing of the seven humanitarian workers, noting that their cars were marked and should never have been attacked.

This horrific incident highlights the extreme danger under which WHO colleagues and our partners are working  and will continue to work, Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said, speaking in Geneva.

WHO has been working with World Central Kitchen to deliver food to health workers and patients in Gaza hospitals.

Mr Ghebreyesus underlined the need for safe humanitarian access through the establishment of an effective and transparent mechanism for deconfliction.

He also called for more entry points, including in northern Gaza, cleared roads, and predictable and expedited passage through checkpoints.

The findings will be shared with World Central Kitchen and other relevant international organisations.

WHO again requested authorisation to travel to the destroyed Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the wake of the end of the two-week Israeli military siege.

Mr Ghebreyesus said teams have been trying to seek permission to access what is left of the hospital, to speak with staff, and to see what can be saved but at the moment, the situation looks disastrous.

Al-Shifa was the largest hospital and main referral centre in the Gaza Strip, containing 750 beds, 26 operating rooms, 32 intensive care rooms, a dialysis department and a central laboratory.

The WHO chief reiterated his call to respect and protect hospitals which must not be used as battlefields.

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, is working with the Palestine Red Crescent Society to assist in the repatriation of the remains of the international staff from World Central Kitchen.

According to the Israeli military, an initial investigation found that the strike was a grave mistake due to a misidentification.

Israeli authorities said that a new humanitarian command centre will be established to improve the coordination of aid distribution, while a full independent investigation will be completed over the coming days.

Two experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council have joined the growing international condemnation over the wholesale destruction and killing at Al-Shifa Hospital.

Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health, and Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, called for the international community to take action.

The extent of the atrocity is still unable to be fully documented due to its scale and gravity  and clearly represents the most horrific assault on Gazas hospitals, they said in a statement.

They said international law prohibits the besieging and destruction of a hospital and the killing of health workers, the sick and wounded, as well as the people protecting it.

Allowing this violence to take place has sent a clear message to the world and the international community that the people of Gaza do not have the right to health and critical determinants of health adequate for their existence.

The rights experts urged UN Member States to use all their powers to stop the horror in Gaza, saying they are appalled by the massacre of civilians by Israeli forces.

The world is witnessing the first genocide shown in real time to the world by its victims and unfathomably justified by Israel as compliant with the laws of war, they said.

Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.

(NAN)

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The Borno State Police Command says it has arrested four suspects for alleged illegal mining in the state.

The commands Public Relations Officer, Nahun Daso, stated this in a statement on Thursday in Maiduguri, the state capital.

He said the suspects were arrested for being in possession of 70 bags of assorted solid minerals suspected to be monoxide.

Mr Daso said that the suspects were arrested on 24 March with one diesel tanker truck.

He said that they were apprehended by the troops of 331 Battalion in Bayo Local Government Area of the state and handed over to the police.

The police spokesperson said that the suspects had confessed to the crime, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

He said that at the end of the investigation they would be charged to court.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Borno State is home to so many mineral resources which include Feldspar, Limestone and Kaolin.

Others are Potash, Iron-Ore, Quarts, Magnetite, Diatomite, Trona, Mica, Silica Sand, Gypsum, Granite, Flutters Earth and Uranium among others. (NAN)

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The World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity has said it is calling for an independent investigation into the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) strikes that killed seven members of its team in Gaza on Monday.

British victims John Chapman, 57; James Jim Henderson, 33; and James Kirby, 47, were among the seven who died in the attack.

WCKs chief executive officer Erin Gore and executive co-chairman/treasurer Javier Garcia said this in a joint statement.

On April 1, the (IDF) killed seven humanitarian aid workers employed by WCK, an internationally recognised humanitarian organisation.

The aid workers killed were nationals of Australia, Canada/U.S. (dual citizen), Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

Israel has admitted to the killings but called it a a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants and something that happens in war.

This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles.

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All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission.

The statement asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the US, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join them in a third-party investigation into the attacks.

The investigation would find out whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.

The charity said it had asked the Israeli government to immediately keep all documents, communications, video and audio recordings relevant to the strikes.

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers, the statement added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack as unintentional and tragic and pledged an independent inquiry.

(dpa/NAN)

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Another year, another push to ban the use of natural gas.

Last year, state lawmakers considered a bill to ban gas-powered appliances and building systems in existing buildings. Ultimately, lawmakers wisely rejected this plan, noting the steep costs it would add to ratepayers across New York.

However, this year, lawmakers are considering restricting natural gas in a piecemeal, neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach.

The State Legislature is considering a measure known as the NY HEAT Act, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has introduced a similar bill called the Affordable Gas Transition Act. Under these proposals, that state could require natural gas providers to forego maintenance of their distribution networks, and instead decommission gas service in areas where infrastructure needs repair.

In effect, this is a gradual natural gas ban for existing buildings.

Like countless consumers and businesses in our region, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership has strong concerns with this plan:

The HEAT Act would enable the decommissioning of natural gas in many neighborhoods, forcing buildings in those areas to transition to all-electric. In the sponsors own words, the bill grants the state authority to order the curtailment or discontinuance of the use gas for any customer, group of customers, or section of the gas distribution system.

Decommissioning natural gas would be deeply costly for consumers in those neighborhoods. Estimates to convert a gas-powered home to all-electric (meaning new heating systems, ovens, stoves, dryers, etc.) range from $20,000-$50,000, and would be much higher for larger commercial or industrial sites.

In addition to the conversion costs, this legislation has a larger obstacle: New York currently lacks the electric generation or transmission capacity to replace the load served by natural gas. The New York Independent System Operator  the entity responsible for ensuring electric supply meets energy demand  has said that New York would need to triple its electric generating capacity to meet CLCPA goals and peak demands. Nearly 60% of New York homes use natural gas for heating, and 49% of New Yorks electricity is generated from natural gas. While construction of renewable electricity infrastructure is underway, replacing natural gas cannot happen overnight.

Until New York demonstrates the ability to generate enough renewable electricity to replace the energy load served by natural gas, the HEAT Act, Affordable Gas Transition Act, and other gas bans should be off the table.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies on Wednesday agreed to keep oil output policy unchanged until its next meeting in June.

OPEC disclosed this at its 53rd Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting, a statement released by the organisation said.

The oil cartel explained that the JMMC reviewed the crude oil production data for January and February 2024 and noted the high conformity for participating OPEC and non-OPEC countries of the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC).

It said the committee welcomed the Republic of Iraq and the Republic of Kazakhstans pledge to achieve full conformity as well as compensate for overproduction. The committee also welcomed the announcement by the Russian Federation that its voluntary adjustments in the second quarter of 2024 will be based on production instead of exports.

Participating countries with outstanding overproduced volumes for the months of January, February and March 2024 will submit their detailed compensation plans to the OPEC Secretariat by 30 April 2024.

The Committee will continue to monitor the conformity of the production adjustments decided upon at the 35th ONOMM held on 4 June 2023, and the additional voluntary production adjustments announced by some participating OPEC and participating non-OPEC countries in April 2023 and the subsequent adjustments in November 2023 and February 2024.

The Committee will continue to closely assess market conditions and note the willingness of the DoC countries to address market developments and their readiness to take additional measures at any time building on the strong cohesion between OPEC and participating non-OPEC oil-producing countries, the oil cartel said.

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Background

OPEC and its allies had, in October 2022, agreed to cut oil output by 2 million barrels per day in November, the deepest cut by OPEC+ since the 2020 COVID pandemic.

The decision came despite pressure from the United States and others advocating that the group increase its output.

In April 2023, OPEC said it would start a voluntary reduction of 1.66 million barrels per day in its production of crude oil alongside other members of OPEC.

The cuts were to start in May and last through the end of the year, an official of the Saudi Ministry of Energy was quoted as saying by the Saudi state-run news agency, SPA.

The cut is in addition to the reduction announced by OPEC+ in October 2022, according to SPA.

Again in June last year, OPEC said it would extend the cut until 2024.

It noted that the decision was taken in light of the continued commitment of the OPEC and non-OPEC Participating Countries in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) to achieve and sustain a stable oil market and to provide long-term guidance for the market.

Earlier in October last year, the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), kept the groups output policy unchanged.

Last November, OPEC and its allies agreed to cut monthly oil output by an additional 1 million barrels per day starting in 2024.

The oil cartel had earlier in March announced an extension of additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for the second quarter of 2024.

The OPEC Secretariat noted that the announcements of several OPEC+ countries extending additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day, aimed at supporting the stability and balance of oil markets.

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BUA Foods will pay shareholders N99 billion in cash rewards for the financial year 2023, translating to a dividend per share of N5.50, according to a regulatory filing by the food processing company on Wednesday.

The highest ever in the companys history, the proposed dividend compares with the N4.50 per share paid for 2022 and the N3.50 paid a year earlier.

If the move receives shareholders approval at the next annual general meeting, the dividends will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the close of business on 23rd August 2024, the document said.

The payment is subject to appropriate withholding tax.

It puts Abdul Samad Rabiu, the billionaire tycoon who controls the parent BUA Group, on track for a N94.3 billion cash payment based on his 95.3 per cent ownership in the company.

His brother, Kabiru Isyaku Rabiu, also owns 1.4 million shares in the company and sits on its board as a non-executive director. He is also a member of the groups directors board, where he is an executive director.

The dividend proposal followed a remarkable financial result, which saw BUA Foods report a 22.7 per cent improvement in net profit from N91.3 billion in 2022 to N112.1 billion last year.

Revenue for the period quickened by 74.4 per cent to N729.4 billion, following a sharp surge in the sales of fortified and non-fortified sugar, which account for nearly three-fifths of the companys turnover.

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BUA Foods also derives income from the sales of rice, bran, pasta, bakery flour and molasses.

2023 witnessed a very challenging operating environment characterized by macroeconomic headwinds. We were able to navigate these challenges leveraging our unique strategic business model to deliver a strong performance, Managing Director Ayodele Oni said in a separate document.

BUA Foods was listed on the Nigerian Exchange three years ago at a market value of N720 billion. The company is now worth N6.8 trillion, 41 per cent higher than the valuation of BUA Cement, the groups flagship company.

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The Ihiala High Court, sitting in Nnewi, Anambra State, has rejected a bail application by Chukwudi Odimegwu, a suspected kidnapper of Obiora Agbasimalo, the 2021 Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Agbasimalo was abducted on 18 September 2021, less than a month before the governorship election in Anambra State, which was held on 6 November 2021.

Charles Soludo, a renowned banker and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, would later win the election.

Court denies bail

The LP candidate is still missing after more than two years.

Like Mr Odimegwu, the second defendant, Maxwell Nwokolo, faces a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping of Mr Agbasimalo.

The case was filed against them by the State Security Service (SSS).

The defendants have been remanded in prison custody.

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At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Mr Odimegwu, through his lawyer, Ikenna Obidiegwu, made an oral bail application.

But the judge, C.N. Mbonu-Nwenyi, rejected the oral application, according to a report by the Punch newspaper.

Justice Mbonu-Nwenyi instead directed the defence counsel to prepare a written application for bail and file the same at the Ihiala branch of the court for adjudication.

The defence counsel made the oral application shortly after the fourth prosecution witness, Chikezie Mbadugha, testified against Mr Odimegwu.

Witness testifies in court

When the matter was called up, the fourth prosecution witness, Mr Mbadugha, a farmer and an indigene of Umudim-Nnewi in Nnewi North Local Government Area of the state, mounted the witness box and gave an account of what he knew about the abduction.

The witness told the court that when he and other members of the victims political support group were about to set out for a campaign tour on the fateful day, 18 September 2021, Godwin Agbasimalo, otherwise known as Oga ndi Oga, the elder brother and political sponsor of the kidnapped victim, called all the representatives and LP coordinators for a meeting at his home town, Ezinifite in Nnewi South Local Government Area.

He said after the meeting, Mr Godwin instructed everyone who had branded vehicles for the campaign to go to a filling station and fill their tanks with petrol in preparation for their campaign tour.

Mr Mbadugha said on arrival at the filling station, he saw the leader and coordinator of the campaign tour, whom he simply identified as Nwammuo and the first defendant, (Odimegwu), who instructed that he and others should be given N4,000 each for petrol.

The first defendant told us that High Chief Godwin Agbasimalo (Oga ndi Oga) had selected the people that would go to the campaign rally, which never happened before, but the first defendant never mentioned the names of the people that will go either, he said.

Counsel to Mr Odimegwu, the first defendant, did not cross-examine the witness after making his testimony.

The counsel, however, said diligence was required in the matter, noting that developments during the hearing so far were suggestive of a game plan to keep the defendants perpetually in detention.

His comments infuriated the prosecution counsel, who countered him immediately.

The prosecution counsel, whom PREMIUM TIMES identified simply as Charity, told the defence counsel that she still has credible witnesses who will give their testimony over the matter as the hearing continues.

Initial drama, arguments

There were drama and altercations earlier when the prosecution counsel objected to the bail application because several prosecution witnesses were still lined up to testify against the first and second defendants with concrete facts and evidence.

The counsel to Mr Nwokolo, the second defendant, also pleaded that his client should be granted bail, but Justice Mbonu-Nwenyi asked him to file his motion at the Ihiala branch of the court.

The matter was adjourned until 26 April for continuation of trial.

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The Defence Headquarters says troops neutralised no fewer than 2,352 terrorists, apprehended 2,308 and rescued 1,241 kidnapped hostages in different operations nationwide between January and March.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, a major general, made this known on Thursday in Abuja while giving an update on military operations across the country.

Mr Buba said some of the terrorist commanders killed were Abu Bilal Minuki, aka Abubakar Mainok, the Head of Is-Al Furqan Province of ISGS and ISWAP, and Haruna Isiya Boderi.

He added that some terrorist commanders who operated in Birnin Gwari forest, Kaduna State, and along the Abuja-Kaduna highway were killed by troops on 21 February.

He listed those eliminated to include Kachallah Damina, who was neutralised in March alongside more than 50 combatants, Kachallah Alhaji Dayi, Kachallah Idi (Namaidaro), Kachallah Kabiru (Doka), Kachallah Azarailu (Farin-Ruwa), Kachallah Balejo, Kachallah Ubangida, and Alhaji Baldu, among others.

He said the feat was achieved through synchronised strikes between the ground and air forces on terrorist enclaves.

For instance, immediately upon acquisition of vital targets, fighter jets are scrambled to carry out major bombarding raids on significant terrorist enclaves, the defence spokesperson said.

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Mr Buba added that troops equally conducted ambushes, raids, fighting patrols and offensives against terrorists.

He said the attacks and offensive actions by troops between January and March resulted in the recovery of 2,847 weapons and 58,492 ammunition while oil thieves were denied more than N20 billion returns.

The breakdown of the weapons and ammunition seized include 1,497 AK-47 rifles, 33,878 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 12,698 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 948 assorted arms and 5,520 assorted ammo.

Others are 21,573,310 litres of stolen crude oil, 2,723,430 litres of illegally refined AGO, 53,300 litres of DPK and 52,730 litres of PMS among other item.

The foregoing demonstrates that ongoing operations are effective and result-oriented.

Accordingly, the military is raising the bar in the prosecution of the war, and citizens will continue to witness the incremental effectiveness and efficiency of the armed forces, he said.

(NAN)

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President Bola Tinubu has called on ECOWAS member states to come together, strengthen ties, and reject forces bent on causing division within the community.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament, on Thursday in Abuja, President Tinubu, who is the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said regional solidarity is imperative to strengthen the blocs resilience and effectiveness at this critical juncture.

He emphasised that member states cannot afford to remain passive spectators while the community faces the threat of disintegration.

We stand united against such forces and are committed to ensuring that our unity remains unshaken. We must ensure that cooperation amongst us is strengthened, with a view to building a sense of common destiny and purpose. No one can do this for us. We must come together.

To this extent, reinforcing the legitimacy of the decisions taken by the Authority of Heads of State is key in sending a message that ECOWAS is one indivisible body. It is also very important that the executives, on the other hand, show similar confidence in the Parliament, which would indeed deepen democracy in our region. Meanwhile, in the midst of ongoing challenges, our partnership can be a driving force for stability, growth, and prosperity in our region, the president said.

President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigerias unwavering commitment to the aspirations of the community and, by extension, the fundamental objectives upon which the ECOWAS Parliament was established.

Affirming the important role of the ECOWAS Parliament in the blocs journey towards a future of peace and prosperity for all, the president said success cannot be achieved without the loyal contribution and hard work of the communitys legislative agency.

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Furthermore, to realise the ECOWAS Vision 2050, we require greater involvement of the people in the decision-making processes of the community. That can only be achieved through their duly-elected representatives who, being members of their national parliaments, are seconded to the community parliament. We are here, collectively, to serve all the good and great people of West Africa.

I am aware that the ECOWAS Parliament is seeking enhanced powers, primarily through the election of its members by direct universal suffrage. This will increase the role parliamentarians must play and the responsibilities that they will assume in advancing our regional development objectives, particularly in harmonising laws and regulations across the member states.

Indeed, the practice of directly electing public officials aligns with the democratic principles that Nigeria upholds, as it enhances the legitimacy of our democratic institutions. This principle is also in line with the spirit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. As a one-time legislator myself, I look forward to reviewing a proposal regarding this matter, and we stand ready to support direct elections into the ECOWAS Parliament. We believe this would ensure that citizens have a direct say in their representation  in addition to the legitimacy and credibility such a process will confer, the President said.

President Tinubu also stated that Nigeria, as the host of the communitys institution, will continue to support the Parliament to achieve its objectives.

I am aware of the plan to have all ECOWAS institutions in one complex and of the good progress that has been made. Nigeria is also working to meet its responsibilities in constructing the ECOWAS Parliaments Headquarters in Abuja within the same complex.

I would like to emphasise that, as you conduct the business of the 6th Legislature, it is my hope that your discussions will provide you the opportunity to address the prime concerns of the region and come up with resolutions that will lead to the attainment of peace and the advancement of all. You can stand assured that Nigeria is always ready to support the ECOWAS Parliament, in whatever endeavours you are engaged in, to move the ECOWAS mission forward, the president stated.

Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

April 4, 2024

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The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has appealed against a recent decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissing his objection to his trial.

This comes barely three months after the Supreme Court, in December 2023, dismissed his earlier appeal aimed at quashing the trial that started in 2015.

The Supreme Court had in its December 2023 judgement, against Mr Kanus contention, affirmed the validity of the charges instituted against him by the Nigerian government.

The Supreme Court ordered him to return to the Federal High Court to proceed with his trial which hovers around the treasonable felony charges, which stemmed from his separatist campaigns for the secession of Biafra Republic from Nigeria.

Mr Kanu raised a fresh objection to the case shortly after the Federal High Court reopened it for the trial to continue in line with the Supreme Courts order.

The trial judge, Binta Byako, had dismissed the objection, triggering another appeal that may end up at the Supreme Court.

Mr Kanu, in his fresh notice of appeal filed on 28 March through his team of lawyers led by Aloy Ejimakor, prayed the Court of Appeal, Abuja, to grant his appeal and set aside the trial courts decision.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the IPOB leader had filed the dismissed preliminary objection to seek an order for some conditions to be met by the federal government before his trial at the Federal High Court could proceed.

He had alleged that the State Security Service (SSS) personnel often seized documents of his lawyers during visitation, stopped his lawyers from taking notes, and eavesdropped on his consultation with his lawyers on matters pertaining to his defence, among others.

He alleged that he had not been given adequate time and facilities to defend himself in accordance with Section 36(6)(b) of the Nigerian constitution.

He prayed that the court should make an order to address his concerns before the trial could commence.

But the trial judge, Binta Nyako, had, in a ruling on 19 March, declined to grant the objection of the detained IPOB leader.

She also dismissed a fresh bail application Mr Kanu filed after the Supreme Courts judgement.

The judge ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.

Grounds of appeal

He argued in his notice of appeal that the trial court erred in law when the court assumed jurisdiction to proceed with the hearing of the criminal trial against him when he was glaringly denied the constitutional right to a fair trial.

He alleged that he was denied adequate facilities to prepare for the defence of the criminal allegations against him and his right to counsel of his own choice, thereby occasioning a grave miscarriage of justice.

The denial of the appellant (Kanu) the opportunity to interact and brief his counsel on what line of defences the appellant tends to agitate in the trial court and rely on was adequately brought to the attention of the trial court by motion.

The trial court failed and neglected to make necessary orders that would protect the appellants aforesaid rights but rather held that the court cannot dictate how the respondent carries out its work, he said.

He said the trial court had the power to order the respondent to cease and desist from interfering with his constitutional right.

Besides, Mr Kanu said the lower court had the power to order an alternative custodial arrangement or non-custodial arrangement for him, where it is impossible for the respondent to comply or where the respondent persists in the act.

He stated, Denial of the appellants right to adequate facilities to prepare defence as enshrined in Section 36 (6) (b) of the 1999 Constitution is a jurisdictional issues in the absence of which the trial court cannot assume or proceed with the jurisdiction over the case unless and until such facilities are accorded to the appellant.

Mr Kanu argued that though he had prayed the court to stop the DSS alleged unconstitutional acts of forcibly seizing and photocopying confidential legal documents brought to him by his lawyers meant for his defence of the charges against him, the court declined to grant the plea.

He said the trial judge erred in law when the court ordered for an accelerated hearing despite the consistent refusal of the respondent to afford him the right to adequate facility to prepare for his defence of the charges levelled against him and his right to counsel.

According to him, the order for accelerated hearing of the case in the face of the constitutional breaches of fair hearing/trial rights of the appellant is a credence to the respondent to proceed on the unconstitutional denial of the appellant his right to adequate facilities to prepare for his defence and his right to counsel of his choice.

In the present case, where Sections 36 (6) (b) and (c) of the Constitution are violated by the respondent against the appellant, the trial court lacks the jurisdiction to hear and or proceed with the hearing of the case, he added.

Prayers

The IPOB leader, therefore, prayed the appellate court to allow the appeal, vacate the ruling of the lower court for the trial court to decline jurisdiction to proceed with the hearing of the case unless and until he is granted his right to a fair hearing under Section 36(6)(6)(b) and (c) of the constitution.

Alternatively, he urged the Appeal Court for the trial court to order an alternative custodial or non-custodial arrangement free of interference with his said constitutional right to a fair hearing.

He equally sought an order setting aside the order for accelerated hearing of the case in the circumstances of the case where he is not allowed facilities to prepare for the defence of the charges against him and denied his right to counsel. .

Mr Kanu sought a stay of proceedings pending when the respondent affords him the constitutional safeguards of being afforded adequate facilities to prepare for his defence and his unfettered right to counsel.

(NAN)

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A civil society organisation, DOHS Cares Foundation, on Thursday, led scores of women of different ages and from different fields in a walk against femicide on the streets of Lagos.

The walk also raised awareness about the negative consequences of femicide in society.

The group moved from the convergence point in Ikeja to the State House of Assembly in Alausa, where they presented a draft bill for consideration to criminalise femicide in the state.

Femicide is the killing of women or girls particularly by men on account of their gender. It is the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls, according to UN Women.

In her remarks, the founder of DOHS, Ololade Ajayi, described femicide as the intentional killing of women and girls by men, which is characterised by a history of domestic violence and social abuse.

Currently, there is nowhere in Lagos State laws on domestic violence that covers femicide, Mrs Ajayi said.

Femicide is the highest form of gender-based violence, the most violent form because it results in the murder of women and girls.

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She added that the draft bill with different sections takes cognisance of vulnerable persons, especially dependants left behind by the victim, sanctions for perpetrators, and sections that take care of missing women and girls who might have been victims of femicide.

House of Assembly receives group

The group was received by three members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Solomon Bonu, Badagry Constituency I; Adebola Shabi, Lagos Mainland Constituency II; and Abiodun Orekoya, Somolu Constituency I.

Addressing the group, Mr Bonu said: We have listened to you based on what you brought to the House. Protection of women and girls is essential and in Lagos, we dont joke with that.

He said while the state is currently reviewing the Protection Against Domestic Violence Law of Lagos State signed into law in 2007, femicide can be looked into to strengthen the state laws because women and girls are vital to society.

Mr Bonu reiterated that Lagos does not tolerate domestic violence and I can count three cases where they have prosecuted most men that have violated this law.

We are going to deliver what you brought before the speaker and the rest of the 39 members to debate it, he added.

Also, Mr Shabi said the female members would have been perfect to receive the group, but the House is in recess, and the female members are out of the country.

But be rest assured, the speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, doesnt joke with anything about women. He will receive it and you will be invited for possible addition or subtraction.

On his part, Mr Orekoya said: Our bills go through very thorough processes, we look at the effects before it now goes to the floor for debate.

He recommended collaboration between the group and the House committee chairman on womens affairs, Lara Olumegbon, for a prompt intervention.

More on femicide, cases

In reaction, Mrs Ajayi said: We know that

Lagos State is very proactive regarding cases of women and that is why we would love the development to happen first here, and we are going to the National Assembly too for the same cause.

Speaking further on femicide, Mrs Ajayi said it is a distinct form of Gender Based Violence (GBV), motivated by hatred, contempt, pleasure or a sense of ownership of women and a misogynistic killing of women by men.

She said femicide may occur as a result of stereotypes of gender roles and unequal power relations, with harmful impacts including psychological and emotional damage to families and society as a whole.

Citing cases of femicide, Mrs Ajayi said that the victims had not gotten justice to date, forcing her to shoulder the burden of supporting their dependents whose lives were forever marred by the incident.

Many femicide cases are usually ruled as yahoo or ritualistic killings and in the court of public opinion, with blame thrown at the feet of the victims for being greedy or not discerning enough. This makes it easy for perpetrators to escape appropriately, she noted.

Some documented victims of femicide in Nigeria, according to her, include Obiageli Anajekwu, Augusta Osedion, Damian Okoligwe, Ogochukwu Anene, Ndubuisi, Nana Fadimatu, Esther Aja, Ovye Yakubu, Evelyn Alifiya, Itunu Chigozie, Mercy Samuel, Osinachi Nwachukwu, Bimbo Ogbonna amongst others.

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Theres a place where Sams poetic prose and Jonathans enthralling story-telling meet: leadership. The failure of leadership is responsible for the booby traps and chaos thrown on Tinubus path in the run up to the 2023 election on Buharis watch. It also explains why African youths are risking everything to escape the continent.

Before The Human Flow was published, Jonathan Power, one of Europes most accomplished foreign affairs columnists and journalists, had talked with excitement about the book. It was his first novel. Like a woman who became pregnant when she thought she was past child-bearing, Jonathan, 82, couldnt wait to make Mary Wesley look like a child prodigy.

Sam Omatseyes book, Beating All the Odds: Diaries and Essays on How Tinubu Became President, on the other hand, is part diary, part essay. The diary would have been difficult to script, even if a fiction writer had tried to imagine the outcome of events in the months leading up to the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, Africas most populous country.

The thing about diaries is that you never know. When the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a legacy member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was compiling A Witness to History, for example, the party could not have imagined that it was writing the final chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government that had lost its way for good.

This gift of the unknown is also exemplified in The Diary of a Young Girl, the story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl caught up in the turmoil of the Second World War, but who in spite of it produced a diary that has become both a record of history and also a work of moral philosophy.

Damned Either Way

From the first part of Sams 349-page book, its improbable that he knew exactly which way the wind would blow when he started journaling ahead of the February 2023 presidential election, two months after the APC presidential primary in 2022.

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Unlike former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, who famously said he didnt know who would succeed him but he knew those who wouldnt, President Muhammadu Buhari appeared confused about both. His body language, which became a metaphor for his governments malaise, suggested that the front-runner, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the subject of Sams book, was not his preferred candidate.

Even though Tinubu had picked the APCs presidential ticket when Sam started his diary and decency required that Buhari would rally the party behind its candidate, the party became Tinubus worst enemy. It wasnt just the usual horse-trading, feather-ruffling, and back-stabbing that come with internal party politics. It was a betrayal of Judas-like proportions, plotted to swallow Tinubu alive.

I have looked at the whole situation, Tinubu tells Sam, I told myself, if I didnt run, Im damned. If I ran, they may want to damn me. So, I had to run, anyway.

Inside Ota Lair

Sams diary opens with an entry on 19 August, 2022, about Tinubus pilgrimage to Ota, the lair of one of Nigerias political gods, President Olusegun Obasanjo. Whatever the sacrifice Tinubu offered at the Ota shrine on that visit, his token may have fallen short.

The bulk of the entries however centres on the Atiku Syndrome, a condition that makes the sufferer utterly unable to see or seize an opportunity, even if beaten on the head with it; and the unrestrained bitterness of the Obidients towards the Tinubu campaign.

In spite of the photo-ops and pretensions of ethnic solidarity, Obasanjo, whom Sam describes as the old fox of Nigerias politics, later cast his lot with the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, reopening old memories of mutual distrust between Obasanjo and Tinubu.

Three main issues dominate the diary: One, the conspiracies within the APC, right up to the Presidency, to subvert Tinubus ambition; two, the division within the PDP, which split the party into at least three irreconcilable factions, with the Nyesom Wike faction being the most potent; and three, the bitter pushback by anti-Tinubu groups  masquerading sometimes as the religious police, sometimes as ethnic tin-gods, and yet at other times as the youth avant garde  all sparing neither mud nor kitchen sink in their desperate attempts to stop him.

It seems obvious, Sam says in his 17 February, 2023 entry, that the worries that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu expressed about efforts to scuttle his path to victory have never been better revealed than when the President (Buhari) went on national television and defied the Supreme Court ruling (on the currency crisis) the president gave ammunition to the other contestants.

The Atiku Syndrome

The bulk of the entries however centres on the Atiku Syndrome, a condition that makes the sufferer utterly unable to see or seize an opportunity, even if beaten on the head with it; and the unrestrained bitterness of the Obidients towards the Tinubu campaign.

Sam, whose diary makes no pretence of his support for Tinubu, not only highlights the misery that the division between Atiku and Wikes G-5 brought upon the PDP, he also invokes the worst of Atikus politics, and takes no prisoners amongst Obidients, who wanted his head on a platter, especially after his controversial article, Obi-tuary.

Even though the oppositions divided house set the ducks of Tinubus victory on a row, Sam had his anxious moments, which were not a few. At one point, he asks Tinubu if there is a Plan B, because, he says, I knew Buhari did not want him and the vampires around him did not want him.

The rest is history, enriched by the second part of his book  a careful curation of a decades worth of some of his most engaging weekly columns in The Nation.

Love Story

In The Human Flow, Jonathan takes a different tack away from  but enriched by  his commentary on foreign affairs published for decades on many platforms across the world. The novel is a love story expressed as a tragedy of our modern existence: the trafficking of West African migrants.

In some ways, the book reminded me of Sina Odugbemis Japa, a slim but horrific personal account of the authors search for greener pastures through the Sahara Desert, complete with tales of his Maghreb nightmares.

The difference, perhaps, is that while Odugbemis and Adeniyis accounts are based on real-life stories, The Human Flow is a narrative prose fiction of the life of a Tanzanian-based white British journalist, Jon, whose quest to expose the evils of human trafficking leads him into an odyssey of a complicated romance, adventure and tragedy.

Or perhaps Olusegun Adeniyis From Frying Pan to Fire, a searing account of the human tragedies experienced in the elusive chase for a better life in Europe by thousands of African migrants, who are consumed by the unforgiving desert or trafficked as slaves long before they could achieve their dreams.

The difference, perhaps, is that while Odugbemis and Adeniyis accounts are based on real-life stories, The Human Flow is a narrative prose fiction of the life of a Tanzanian-based white British journalist, Jon, whose quest to expose the evils of human trafficking leads him into an odyssey of a complicated romance, adventure and tragedy.

Complicated Affair

The main characters in the book are Jon, and his Tanzanian girlfriend, Agnes. In their pursuit for truth, they fall in love. Their affair is deepened by Agness brief kidnapping and the search for her that leads Jon into romantic entanglement with a married Spanish journalist, Ana.

The quest also reveals a web of human traffickers comprising religious leaders, local chiefs, border police, hustlers and deadly gangs. These forces sometimes work for or against each other, but unfailingly prey on the desperation of their victims for that basic human instinct of a better life.

In the end, Jon and Agnes are captured by a deadly guerrilla movement in Morocco and murdered in Libya.

In the former world, European migrants to Africa were impeded by geography and tropical diseases but they overcame by guile and gunpowder. In todays reverse migration, hope and dinghies are the main vessels for African migrants.

Conclusion of the Matter

Unfortunately, as we see from The Human Flow, the brutal realities confronting African migrants range from human traffickers to deadly gangs and compromised or hostile border police, leaving the migrants with forlorn hopes and broken dreams, if they survive.

Theres a place where Sams poetic prose and Jonathans enthralling story-telling meet: leadership. The failure of leadership is responsible for the booby traps and chaos thrown on Tinubus path in the run up to the 2023 election on Buharis watch. It also explains why African youths are risking everything to escape the continent.

Both diary and novel meet at the crossroads of Africas biggest problem: leadership.

Azu Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP.

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The linkage of the SIM to NIN is a government policy aimed at tackling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other criminal activities that leverage on the anonymity of communication. Every well-meaning Nigerian would ordinarily support the implementation of this policy, especially when you understand that the benefits far outweigh the stress of spending 10 to 20 minutes linking your NIN to your SIM.

Many Nigerians do not know the name Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike. But they are sure to have heard and know his alias: Evans, the Billionaire kidnapper. On Saturday 10th June 2017, the Nigerian Police, with over 20 operatives, stormed a mansion in Magodo, home to the vicious criminal and now convicted kidnapper and armed robber, Evans, picking him up and ending the reign of an underground network of kidnappers that tormented Lagos and most of the South Western parts of Nigeria.

For many, it could have been the biggest security achievement of the decade: Evans had evaded every sting operation that had been carried out on him for years. There was the myth that was told of how he would disappear upon near apprehension by security forces. But on this fateful Saturday, Evans met his Waterloo. He had committed the most heinous crimes, murdered several of his victims, and collected billions of naira in ransom before he was apprehended.

As was expected, Evans was charged to court, remanded, and placed on trial, and on the 25th of February, 2022, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

But what do Evans the kidnapper and Nigerias NIN-SIM linkage drive have in common? Two things: One, the Federal Government, as a strategy to combat the activities of kidnappers like Evans, among other intents promulgated a policy that mandated all SIM owners to link their lines with their National Identity Number (NIN). By linking SIM cards to a national identity, where biometrics of the individual are available on demand to security agencies, it would become easier to track criminals, like kidnappers, who through their phone lines demand ransom from family members of their victims.

The second thing that Evans the kidnapper has in common with Nigerias NIN-SIM linkage drive is the intersection of a certain lawyer named Olukoya Ogungbeje who represented Evans during his trial and has currently instituted a case against the Federal Government of Nigeria challenging its decision to have all SIM cards linked to a NIN within a time frame. This is the case of a man who is going in the opposite direction of the public interest.

Last week I stumbled on a news report on the case that he was suing the Federal Government for barring lines that did not link their NIN to their numbers, and also requesting N10 billion as damages for inconvenience, discomfort, and loss of business opportunities. It did not make any sense to me. For over two years, the government had called on all citizens to go and link their lines to their identity numbers. It had extended the deadline eight times within that two-year period. Anyone who had failed to do so, for me, was either too lazy or was evading the capture of their identity in the governments database.

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The linkage of the SIM to NIN is a government policy aimed at tackling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other criminal activities that leverage on the anonymity of communication. Every well-meaning Nigerian would ordinarily support the implementation of this policy, especially when you understand that the benefits far outweigh the stress of spending 10 to 20 minutes linking your NIN to your SIM.

Given Nigerias security challenges, the conversation on the NIN-SIM linkage is a no-brainer. The only persons who stand to profit against the linkage of SIMs to NINs are the members of the underworld. They are the ones who need the anonymity of calls. With no identity tied to SIM cards, fraudsters can commit heinous crimes on the internet and get away with it. Kidnappers like Evans are happy not to have SIMs linked to NINs, as it gives them the luxury to call the families of their victims and demand ransom with their identities hidden from the watch of the government. This is what criminals want, and it is unfortunate that Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje has taken this inglorious path that serves the interests of thieves, kidnappers, and criminals in Nigeria.

This lawyers actions are tantamount to going against traffic on a one-way road. Everyone has said this is a solution that works to keep us safe, but a self-acclaimed activist believes that it would bring about a loss of business opportunities. The question I am asking is, which business opportunities is this lawyer going to lose?

A friend of mine, on hearing that the same lawyer that stood for Evans the kidnapper was suing the government to challenge the NIN-SIM policy targeting kidnappers, immediately quipped, Only those who profit from insecurity can take this kind of stance. I agree with him!

The Federal Government must not take this matter with kids glove. A man who shows up to challenge the government when it puts policies in place to tackle kidnapping has questions to answer before the security agencies of the country.

As a matter of national security and interest, the national security apparatus of Nigeria needs to immediately take this matter serious and commence an investigation into the motives of Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje and those whose interests he possibly pursues.

Mohammed Abiodun, writes from Abuja.

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A member of the House of Representatives, Jonathan Gaza, and the Lower Benue River Basin Development Agency (LBRBDA) colluded in a N30 million constituency project scandal, an investigation by UDEME has revealed.

Mr Gaza, a three-term member of the House, nominated a project for the construction of a facility for the rehabilitation and integration of drug abuse victims in Keffi, Nasarawa State in 2020. But instead of constructing a building as provided in the budget, the lawmaker, in connivance with the implementing agency, renovated an existing one. It is not clear if the contractor deliberately participated in the deception or just did the work assigned to it.

Background

UDEME, a social accountability project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), while investigating the management of Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) of federal lawmakers, discovered the project nominated by Mr Gaza in 2020, under which appropriation was made for the construction of a centre for the rehabilitation and integration drug abuse victims in Keffi.

For a nation combating drug abuse especially among the youth, the nomination of such a project ordinarily commands commendation. However, the implementation of the project lacks transparency.

A desk review by this reporter showed that N10 million was allocated to the project in the 2020 federal budget after which a contract for the execution of the project was awarded to Ava-More Nigeria Limited, a Benue-based company, at a cost of N26.5 million. In 2021 and 2022, the project also appeared in the budget with N10 million again allocated in each of the years.

To confirm if the budgeted sums were released for the project, UDEME contacted the Office of the Account-General of the Federation (AGF) to ask how much was released for the project.

The office confirmed that all the funds budgeted for the project in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (a total of N46.5 million) had been released.

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Search for the location of the project

An assignment to locate the site of the project sent this reporter pounding the streets of Keffi, because of the poor description of the site in the project documents. The reporter looked for the construction site of a new rehabilitation centre but without any luck. Hours of working the phone also provided little results in locating the site of the project.

When UDEME contacted Mr Gaza for information on the location of the project site, he did not pick up several calls placed to his line or respond to text messages.

The whole of March 2023 was spent interviewing residents and relevant officials for the location of the project with no result. Most of those asked said they had no idea of any ongoing construction for a rehabilitation centre.

That was until Makama Dauda, a staff member of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Keffi, hinted at an ongoing renovation of a public facility along Government College Road in Keffi. However, he could not tell who was doing the work.

The facility Mr Dauda referred to is the Centre for Drug Abuse Victims in Keffi, owned and managed by the Centre for Drug Abuse Victims in Keffi.

However, since the project Mr Gaza nominated was labelled in the budget as construction of a building, not rehabilitation, this reporter initially did not establish a connection between the two.

When the reporter contacted an aide to Mr Gaza, Theophilus Egoh, he denied that his boss nominated any such project. However, the aide later called back and offered to facilitate a trip to the location.

Last year, Musa Abubakar, another aide of the lawmaker, took UDEME to the site of the project. Interestingly, the project turned out to be the same centre disclosed earlier by the NDLEA officer.

The building Mr Abubakar showed the reporter is an old dilapidated structure inside a bush being rehabilitated with a new roof, windows and doors.

This discovery raises the question: how did a construction project turn to rehabilitation? At what point did the scope of the work on the project change?

Mr Abubakar tried to provide answers to the questions.

The renovations started a year ago and it was stopped shortly before the general elections. But as soon as the elections are over, work will resume, Mr Abubakar said last April

This claim by the lawmakers aide was false because the government has been allocating funds to the project since 2020, according to the Office Account-General of the Federation.

Furthermore, UDEME noticed there was no signpost to indicate an ongoing project at the location. Was this a ploy by the handlers of the projects to dodge accountability?

In October 2023 when this reporter again visited the site, only the roof, doors and windows had been added to the old structure.

Tracing the origin of the project

Investigation revealed that the building belonged to the Nasarawa State Ministry of Works and Housing.

The President of the board of the Centre for Rehabilitation of Drug Abuse Victims in Keffi, Abubakar Madaki, explained the origin of the centre.

He said after the non-governmental organisation decided that it needed space for proper rehabilitation of drug addicts, it approached the Nasarawa State government during the administration of former Governor Tanko Almakura (2011  2019) for help. He noted that the Emir of Keffi, Shehu Chindo, played a major role in the organisations efforts. Mr Madaki explained that the former governor allocated an abandoned building of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the organisations use.

He said that due to the lack of funds, the organisation approached Mr Gaza for help with the renovation of the building.

I have been the president of the centre for about 20 years now without a place to use aside from the small office we are occupying. I and the Emir of Keffi solicited government assistance and the former governor, Al-Makura, handed us this place. Afterwards, we approached Honourable Jonathan Gaza to bring his constituency project for us at the centre.

So, the lawmaker came and saw this place, then he started renovating. It is not a new building, he said.

However, the lawmaker listed the project as construction instead of rehabilitation. And so, for three consecutive years, the government allocated funds to build a new building.

Was the label on the budget a clerical error? Was the work mislabeled as construction instead of renovation?

Implementation agency responds

In the course of its investigations, UDEME, through an FOI request to LBRDA, asked for the status of the project, the exact location, the total amount released and the details of the contractor handling the project.

In response to the FOI request, LBRDA sent a 10-page document outlining the details of the project and the total funds released so far.

However, in its letter of 23 October 2023, LBRDA maintained the false title, describing the project as the building of development centre for drug abuse victims rehabilitation and integration in Keffi LGA, Nasarawa State.

LBRDA claimed that the contractor did substructure work, including evacuation and earthwork, concrete work, reinforcement, formworks and blockworks.

On the main structure, the agency said the contractor did block works, reinforcement of columns, concrete work, formworks for columns, lintel and beam.

It said additional works included root covering, wood works, ceiling works, metal works, plumbing installation, walls, doors, and windows.

When UDEME visited the site again in March 2024, we discovered that the building had been fully rehabilitated. However, the only construction done was the demarcation of some parts of the building as toilets.

Eazi Benjamin, an engineer, during a phone interview with this reporter, said the title of the project was misleading. He noted that building is the process of making a new structure while rehabilitation is the art of breaking a part of an already existing building to add some part.

This project further highlights the inefficiency and corruption in the implementation of the zonal intervention projects (ZIPs). The ZIPs are proposed inserted by lawmakers into the annual federal budget. They choose the government agency they want to execute the project and often nominate the contractor to whom the project would be awarded. Many times, the projects are poorly done or not done at all despite the release of funds.

The anti-graft agency, ICPC, which has investigated the ZIPs, has also lamented the corruption inherent in it and has gotten some lawmakers to return the funds released for the projects or gotten them to implement the projects years after the funds were released.

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The U.S. Postal Service made the right decision in canceling its proposal to transfer mail processing operations from Buffalos William Street Postal Facility to Rochester.

The idea was preposterous from the beginning considering the logistics in sending mail up and down the Thruway, potential late-in-the-day delivery and the devastating effect on employees who might have lost their jobs. And, for what?

This Delivering for America plan was a dud of an idea and it marked the second time the Postal Service has targeted the William Street facility.

The William Street site not only has strong union and community backing, it also has the political power of Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York, who made clear that this facility was valuable, to its mission and to the community.

Schumers victory declaration was well earned. As he said, seniors who rely on mail delivery, families, businesses and postal workers have assurance that the facility will remain operational.

The Postal Services sudden turnabout came more than two months after an announcement for a public meeting to discuss converting the facility from a regional processing and distribution center into a local processing center. Postal higher-ups used bureaucratic word salad  unified movement of mail and streamlined package processing to put lipstick on this pig of a plan. It didnt work.

When politicians and the the postal workers union coalesced in opposition, the Postal Service postponed the meeting. Upon rescheduling, more than 500 people showed up to protest the plan. Citizen sent letters and emails to oppose it.

Frank Resetarits, president of the American Postal Workers Union local in Buffalo as well as its statewide operation, stressed the importance of those actions, which also involved then-Rep. Brian Higgins and State Sen. Timothy Kennedy, both Buffalo Democrats.

Rep. Nick Langworthy, a Republican who represents Buffalos suburbs, also opposed the proposal, and said he was proud to have pushed the Postal Service to maintain the current facility. Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand also referenced her advocacy on behalf of the William Street facility.

Indeed, this was a strong team effort in beating back what Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz aptly described as silly in even considering the move.

Memo to Postmaster DeJoy: Please keep away from the Williams Street Postal Facility.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) suspended the Chairman, Kano State Anti-corruption and Public Complaints Commission Muhuyi Magaji, on Thursday.

Mr Magajis suspension from office was contained in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES by the spokesperson for the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Veronica Kato.

The CCB is prosecuting Mr Magaji at the CCT in Abuja on charges of breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

Ms Kato recalled Mr Magaji was arraigned on 10 counts before Danladi Umar-led CCT, with the defendant denying all the charges.

Punch Newspaper had reported that the CCB arraigned Mr Magaji at the CCT on 17 November 2023 on charges of breach of the code of conduct for public officers including conflict of interest, abuse of office, false asset declaration, bribery, and accepting gifts, among others.

Specifically, according to Punch, the CCB alleged that Mr Magaji failed to declare some bank accounts bearing his name with a cumulative balance of N394 million.

The chairperson of the CCT, Mr Umar, was quoted as saying that the CCT has the statutory power to adjudicate on and determine the charges against Mr Magaji.

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He (Danladi Umar) explained that Mr Muhuyi Magaji can not continue to discharge the duties and responsibilities of his office while facing trial, to avoid any interference with the case. Hence the suspension, this is pending the conclusion of the trial, the statement quoted Mr Umar as saying.

The tribunal subsequently adjourned the trial until 7 and 8 May.

Background

Mr Magaji was appointed to head the Kano State anti-corruption agency by former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

However, while still serving as governor, Mr Ganduje, the current national chairperson of the ruling APC, came under the spotlight of the anti-corruption agency, leading to bad blood between him and Mr Magaji.

Mr Ganduje, as Kano State Governor, would later sack Mr Magaji from office as chairperson of the agency.

But upon assumption of office as Kano governor in May 2023, Abba Yusuf, in obedience to a subsisting court order, reinstated Mr Magaji as the states anti-corruption chairperson.

Mr Yusuf won the Kano State governorship election in March on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), defeating Mr Gandujes anointed candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, of the APC.

Following Mr Magajis reinstatement, he reopened Mr Gandujes investigation.

Mr Ganduje, while being governor, was seen in a viral video receiving wads of dollars from a contractor and pocketing them in his flowing gown.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and EFCC launched investigations against Mr Magaji over an alleged breach of the code of conduct, leading to allegations of using federal might to stifle local investigations.

A civil society organisation, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), had accused Mr Ganduje of exerting his influence on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the CCB to intimidate Mr Magaji for attempting to probe Mr Gandujes administration.

But, Mr Ganduje denied the allegation.

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The Abia State Government says it has spent over N9 billion to offset accumulated pension arrears in the state.

The Commissioner for Finance in the state, Mike Apara, disclosed this on Tuesday in Umuahia, the state capital, at a press briefing after the State Executive Council Meeting, ThisDay newspaper reported.

Mr Apara, however, said the amount might still increase because pensioners that had issues during the verification exercise could be sorted out later and consequently paid like others.

The finance commissioner explained that the pension payment covered both the arrears that piled up from 2014 and the balance of half payments the retirees received within the past nine months.

We had an agreement with the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and His Excellency (Governor Alex Otti) did exactly what we agreed. And the agreement is to pay the arrears of pensions and that is exactly what the government has done and they (pensioners) are happy about that, Mr Apara said.

The commissioner said the retirees agreed to forfeit some percentage of the arrears to make it easier for the government to clear the inherited debt to the pensioners.

Everybody knows that things are hard, so for a government to even own up and do what others have not done in the past deserves applause, he said.

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He stressed that some of the pensioners got as much as N8 million, adding that offsetting the pension arrears was not a mean feat for the government.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Culture in the state, Okey Kanu, said the state government was committed to making sure that no retiree was left out in the payment of pension arrears.

Mr Kanu said that a help desk had been set up in the ministry of finance to address all issues arising from the exercise, including those that their names might have been omitted.

The information commissioner said Governor Otti had made it mandatory that, going forward, retirees in the state must be paid their full pensions at the same time that civil servants receive their salaries on or before the 28 every month.

Contributory pension

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Kanu, during the press briefing, also announced that the government has adopted the contributory pension scheme for its civil servants to prevent a repeat of the pension crisis of the recent past which led to the mountainous arrears.

Read also: abia govt to introduce new pension scheme for civil servants

The state government has concluded plans to introduce a contributory pension scheme for Abia civil Servants.

The plans for establishing the scheme have gone very far and very soon we would start the cutover to a contributory pension scheme, he said.

Governor Otti had in his Easter message to the people of Abia State directed that payments of monthly salaries and pensions must take precedence above monthly entitlements of political office holders.

As a rule, political office holders will only be paid after our obligations to our senior citizens and civil servants have been fulfilled in full, the governor had said.

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The Chairman, Yoruba Unity, Ayo Ladigbolu, has affirmed the Yoruba roots of the Ewe people, which could be traced back to the Old Oyo Empire and the ancient City of Ile-Ife.

Mr Ladigbolu, emeritus archbishop, said this while delivering an address at the first Ewe National Cultural Day Celebration, held on Friday, at the coastal village of Atisese, Olomometa, in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Mr Ladigbolu, who was the guest speaker at the event, also urged the Ewe people to work towards transforming their traditional occupations of fishing and coconut cultivation to meet current and future global economic challenges.

Highlighting the Yoruba historical roots of the Ewe people, Ladigbolu said, The story of the Ewes is one of great historical significance, as they trace their roots back to the Old Oyo empire and the ancient City of Ile-Ife. It was under the leadership of Alaketu, a grandson of Oduduwa, that the Ewes embarked on a remarkable journey, migrating from Ile Ife during the twelfth century.

The Ewe ethnic group of Nigeria stands as the descendants of those who journeyed from Ile Ife to various parts of modern West Africa before returning to establish their presence in Badagry and the coastal villages of Lagos State well before 1914. Their rich history and cultural contributions are a testament to their enduring legacy, as documented in the BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EWES OF NIGERIA submitted to the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 2004.

In addressing misconceptions, it is vital to recognize that the Ewe ethnic group is distinct from the Agayin (Gnyi), both in historical and linguistic terms. The acculturation resulting from the Accra, Ada versus Akwamu war led to the settlement of a group of war refugees from Accra in Glidzi (Togo) with the assistance of the Anlo Ewes. The distinction between the G and Ewe speakers, now colloquially referred to as Aganyi, has been a point of misunderstanding, which we aim to clarify today.

The Ewe communities on the coast line of Lagos State have always been indigenes of Badagry Kingdom in Lagos State and bonafide citizens of Nigeria (See Memo from His Majesty the Akran of Badagry to the Nigeria Comptroller-General of Immigration of 30/07/2004). The communities along the beach stretch from Seme border through Takwa Bay to Epe beaches. They have been involved in traditional and modern fishing occupation and the planting of coconut trees for centuries. It is on record that the oldest coconut tree in Nigeria may have been planted by the Ewe-speaking Nigerians.

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Yoruba language was the lingua franca of the Ajah and Ewe. They also wholeheartedly embraced the Yoruba traditional religion and its practices are warmly embraced by all their communities in spite of the existence of, and their adherence to Islam and Christianity. Yoruba traditional names such as Fagbeji, Amosu, Akapo, Agboade, Abiodun, Famuyiwa still remain Ewe names till date as inerasable symbols of their historical and cultural affinity to the Yoruba race.

Speaking further, he advised the Ewes to device innovative means of repackaging coconut and its attendant contents for export and for the manufacturing industry.

He challenged them to move beyond fishing merely for local consumption to becoming a key player in the global fishing industry through value addition.

He further admonished them to participate actively in the politics by contesting political offices.

Mr Ladigbolu said, While we know for a fact that the authenticity of the Ewes historical and cultural connections with Oyo/Ile-Ife/Badagry is never in doubt, and their invaluable contributions to the growth and development of Lagos State and Nigeria is known to all, it can be assumed that the Ewes are prepared for the challenges of the future as true and patriotic Nigerians.

Some basic questions to ask are:

How are we impacting our immediate communities? How are we responding to intimidation, marginalization, and stigmatization/ discrimination?

Are we making ourselves available to vote and be voted for?

How are we transforming our traditional occupations to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow?

Apart from local consumption, how are we re-packaging coconut and its attendant contents for export and for the manufacturing industry?

What values are we adding to the fishing industry?

How important is a Central Ruling Authority to the seamless coordination and greater unity of the Ewe Community?

Other highlights of the event included goodwill messages by head of the delegation of Conference of Ewes of North America, Tsatsu Nyam, and leader of representatives of Ewes in Republic of Benin, Ghana and Togo,

Torgbui Agbelorm.

A welcome address was delivered by President of Ewe Indigenes of Nigeria, Herbert Ayeiadun.

The event also featured various displays of Ewe culture and Ewe traditional dances.

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Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Thursday, said he would ensure that every child in the state has access to quality and compulsory education, insisting that education remains a weapon in ensuring social, political, and economic growth of any society.

Mr Oyebanji made this known at the 28th convocation ceremony of the Ekiti State university held at the university campus.

He recalled that Ekiti was recently ranked as the highest in school enrollment in the country, saying that his government would continue to ensure the state has zero percent out-of-school children across the country.

The governor called for more conscious, creative, ingenious and concerted development of strategies for generating additional funds so as to reduce dependence on government subventions.

Mr Oyebanji also urged the university management to justify the increase in their subvention by showing greater commitment to work, avoiding incessant strike actions, and allowing for smooth running of the academic calendar so that students were not unduly delayed.

While congratulating the graduands, Mr Oyebanji charged them to always remember to give back to their alma mater.

We are gathered here today to celebrate scholarship, success, and the result of hard work. As we all know, education remains a weapon in ensuring social, political, and economic growth in any society. This is why we will continue to support the education sector. We are committed to ensuring our educational institutions are of the highest standards that can compete globally.

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A demonstration of this commitment can be seen in our various interventions in the sector from primary to tertiary institutions. It is, therefore, a thing of pride to note that Ekiti is ranked one of the highest in school enrollment in Nigeria and one of the states with the least out-of-school children with 2.5%. We are working hard to ensure we have 0% out-of-school children in our state, he said.

Earlier in his address, the newly inaugurated Chancellor of the University, Tunji Olowolafe, who appreciated the governor for the opportunity to serve, pledged his unflinching commitment to the growth and development of the institution.

Mr Olowolafe, a trained medical doctor-turned businessman, announced a one billion naira innovation fund to empower agro-technology companies founded by the latest graduands and current students of the institution.

This is in addition to the establishment of an endowment agenda to offer support and subsidies for up to 30 academic staff members so as to facilitate their participation in international conferences, training sessions, and research activities as well as creation of a platform for 100 of the brightest students from EKSU to engage in resourceful and sustainable work for skills acquisition and development.

Mr Olowolafe noted that it had become imperative for graduates and undergraduates in Nigeria to get actively involved in activities geared towards supporting food security, innovation and strategic entrepreneurship in the current circumstance.

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Residents of Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Thursday staged a protest at the Lagos State House of Assembly complex over the alleged misappropriation of N1.9 billion by John Ogundare, the council chairman.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the protesters, numbering about 500, carried placards with various inscriptions, calling for the suspension of the council chairman.

Speaking, Segun Williams, who led the protest, urged the State House of Assembly to act urgently on the matter.

Mr Williams said Mr Ogundare had been indicted by an investigative report of the local governments Legislative Council, adding he did not deserve to remain in office.

Therefore we are seeking his suspension pending the conclusion of the matter before your noble chamber (Lagos House of Assembly)

The allegations are contained in a report dated December 19, 2023, sent to the chairman since last year.

In the report, signed by the Majority Leader of Eti-Osa East LCDA, the chairman was indicted for diverting funds earmarked for critical sectors, including health and education.

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Among the allegations are failure to pay running costs to various departments of the council based on the 2023 budget; neglecting balance payments to past political office holders against governmental advice.

He was also indicted for unauthorised project execution and contract awards without legislative approval, non-adherence to the 2023 budget for schools and Primary Health Centres construction/renovation.

Also, failure to comply with legislative requests for income and expenditure records. He has perpetually approved contracts above his limit of N35 million, he said.

Mr Williams alleged that the chairman had ignored the invitation of the State Assembly on 25 March and 3 April and had been bragging that he had enough funds to influence the states lawmakers.

He said the Assembly needed to act and clear itself from this mess.

Receiving the protesters, Adebola Sabi, representing Lagos Mainland II, said the Assembly under the leadership of Mudashiru Obasa, would see to the matter.

Mr Sabi thanked the residents for their peaceful demonstration.

I am saying it categorically that on behalf of the Speaker, you will get justice.

We are here for the people of Lagos State and we will give you justice. We will deliver your message to the Speaker and I am aware that the chairman was invited because I was part of the ad hoc committee that was to investigate him.

You voted us to come here to serve you and we are going to serve you well. So, please go back home peacefully and dont allow anybody to torment you, he said.

Other lawmakers who received the protesters were Abiodun Orekoya (Shomolu I), and Bonu Solomon (Lagos Mainland I).

(NAN)

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned Medical Voice AI innovators, Augnito, made a momentous announcement during the prestigious LEAP 2024 technology conference. The company has established a pioneering partnership with Cloud Solutions, an industry-leader in digital transformation in the Middle East. This groundbreaking collaboration holds immense potential to revolutionize the healthcare landscape by significantly improving the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of healthcare services for patients and providers alike.

Pictured Above (Left to Right): Rustom Lawyer, Co-Founder & CEO, Augnito & Abdulelah AlMayman, CEO, Cloud Solutions.

"At Cloud Solutions,we have always prioritized both innovation and collaboration. We actively seek out global solutions that not only leverage the latest technology but are also integrative and supportive of evolving organizational goals. Augnito is a company that fits our criteria perfectly. They have showcased an unrivalled commitment to customer success and collaboration, as well as a rapid pace of innovation in the past three years. We look forward to working with them," said Abdulelah AlMayman,CEO of Cloud Solutions. Elaborating on the long-term vision for this collaboration, he added "Both entities envision an impact far beyond individual healthcare providers  we see a future in which there is a fully interoperable regional electronic health record (EHR) system in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.This partnership is a crucial stepping-stone towards this goal."

The digital transformation partner was highly impressed by Augnito's cutting-edge Ambient Clinical Intelligence technology, recognizing the remarkable benefits of integrating it with their flagship VIDA Hospital Information System (HIS). Ambient Clinical Intelligence employs Far Field Speech Recognition, Multi-lingual Speech Recognition (including Arabic) and Speaker Diarization, as well as Generative AI technology to enhance and optimize the capturing and structuring of Electronic Health Record (EHR) data.

Augnito's track record showcases how Clinical Voice AI softwares are already automating and streamlining administrative tasks to enable faster turnaround times (saving over 3 hours per day for doctors). Their products also ensure accuracy, smoother workflows, improved productivity, and resource optimization. In fact, Augnito's recent integration with one of the largest hospital chains in Asia highlighted a staggering 21x return on investment  achieved in just 6 months.

Speaking on the state of the industry and partnering with Cloud Solutions, Rustom Lawyer, Co-Founder & CEO of Augnito said, "In today's demanding healthcare landscape, clinicians need solutions that simultaneously free up their time and augment their capabilities. They need to be empowered  and that is precisely what we aim to do via this partnership. We are delighted to now be working directly with the largest healthcare provider in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), and we thank the team at Cloud Solutions for their faith and support in our technology. We look forward to comprehensively enhancing healthcare in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the most intuitive AI solutions in the world."

Augnito is a supporter of The Kingdom's Vision 2030 roadmap and hopes to create significant and ongoing impact in the Middle East. They have also partnered with Prime Hospitals,RAK Hospitals, King's College Hospital London (Dubai), and ATTIEH Medico in the region.

About Cloud Solutions Cloud Solutions is a leading force in digital healthcare transformation, boasting over two decades of experience in the Middle East. Their mission: to empower healthcare providers with cutting-edge technology solutions. Cloud Solutions seamlessly integrates medical equipment, clinical networking, and healthcare informatics into comprehensive, enterprise-level solutions. This integrated approach positions them at the forefront of the value chain, delivering services and solutions that directly benefit healthcare organizations. The company leverages its deep industry knowledge and state-of-the-art AI-powered solutions to shape the future of healthcare delivery and is a trusted partner to both government and private entities.

For more information,please visit https://cloudsolutions.com.sa/en/

About Augnito

Augnito is an intuitive and advanced Voice-AI solution innovator, revolutionizing clinical documentation in the global healthcare market. Their proprietary AI-based clinical speech recognition, natural language understanding (NLU) & generative AI technologies enable ergonomic data entry with 99% accuracy, anywhere, from any device. Augnito helps streamline clinical workflows, makes healthcare intelligence securely accessible, and ensures that physicians have more time to concentrate on their primary concern: patient care. Their solutions are currently in use at more than 375 hospitals, across more than 25 countries.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2378593/Augnito.jpg

For more information or assistance, please visit augnito.ai or email [email protected]

SOURCE Augnito
DUBLIN, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AerCap Holdings N.V. ("AerCap" or the "Company") (NYSE: AER) today announced it will host a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to review its first quarter 2024 financial results.

AerCap's first quarter 2024 earnings press release will be released before financial markets open in the United States on May 1, 2024. A copy of the press release will be posted on the "Investors" section of AerCap's website at www.aercap.com. At the same time, the presentation slides for the conference call will also be posted on AerCap's website.

The call can be accessed live by dialing (U.S./Canada) +1 929 477 0448 or (International) +353 1 246 5638 and referencing code 3977333 at least 5 minutes before start time, or by visiting AerCap's website at www.aercap.com under "Investors".

The webcast replay will be archived on the "Investors" section of the company's website for one year.

About AerCap

AerCap is the global leader in aviation leasing with one of the most attractive order books in the industry. AerCap serves approximately 300 customers around the world with comprehensive fleet solutions. AerCap is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AER) and is based in Dublin with offices in Shannon, Miami, Singapore, Memphis, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Dubai, Seattle, Toulouse and other locations around the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements, estimates and forecasts with respect to future performance and events. These statements, estimates and forecasts are "forward-looking statements". In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "intend," "will," "aim," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements and are based on various underlying assumptions and expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors, including the impacts of, and associated responses to the Ukraine Conflict, that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate or correct. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future performance or events described in the forward-looking statements in this press release might not occur. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results and we do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to, and will not, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For more information regarding AerCap and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.aercap.com .

SOURCE AerCap Holdings N.V.
Its like night and day. In stark contrast to the embattled Kensington Expressway project, which is moving ahead with a cap over the highway despite vocal opposition, conversion of the Scajaquada Expressway is advancing to its next phase in an atmosphere  so far  of cheerful approval.

There are a few reasons for that. One of them: Unlike the Kensington, the Scajaquada is seldom used for work commutes, with most drivers employing it as a local access road, rarely traveling its full 3.6-mile length

These and other data points emerged as part of a lengthy and comprehensive review process under the aegis of Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, which took over the planning of how to transform the Scajaquada in 2020.

Before that, the New York Department of Transportation was unable to find a solution with public support, despite a lengthy on-and-off attempt to find community consensus. However, some studies had been carried out and a few plans had emerged, so the Transportation Council had a foundation from which to proceed.

That process involved careful attention to every neighborhood, institution and natural resource along the expressways path, as well as frequent community meetings and presentations. In the end, four options evolved, with the final plan announced in January 2023.

That plan reduces the Scajaquada to an at-grade two-lane parkway, removes exit ramps to the 190 and 33, adds bridges and crossings for bridges and walkers, restores connections between the AKG and the Buffalo History Museum and raises the possibility of Buffalo State College becoming a waterfront campus. These and other modifications have met with wide approval from community stakeholders.

Now its time for the Department of Transportation to analyze the plan and proceed, with a completion deadline of 2027. State Sen. Sean Ryan, an advocate of the project, said he hopes the DOT can complete its work before the scheduled deadline.

GObike executive director Justin Booth, a member of the Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, remembers when the initial DOT process started in 2004, but is in support of what has finally emerged.

Sometimes, the wait is worth it. Those who participated in this work wanted a solution that would value pedestrians and bicyclists instead of prioritizing automotive traffic above all. This plan does that as well as calms car traffic, restores the beauty of an Olmsted Park and opens up possibilities for Scajaquada Creek to become a valued and useful waterway.

It deserves to proceed and those who shaped it deserve praise.
New Features Give Users Greater Control Over Their Health Making it Easier to Reach Health Goals

LOS ANGELES, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AHARA , a leader in personalized nutrition and the only evidence-based, food-first nutrition plan, is introducing two new product features to further enhance its personalized nutrition program for consumers. Daily Meal Plans and a user rewards program are now available to members. As a leading advocate in personal nutrition, AHARA's rewards initiative incentivizes users to prioritize healthy eating habits, offering points redeemable for credit, while its daily Meal Plan feature makes eating the foods rich in your key nutrients even easier.

AHARA

In line with its mission to revolutionize personal nutrition, the AHARA rewards system lets users accumulate points through daily engagement with the AHARA app. Points are earned for various activities, including saving recipes, creating shopping lists, and scanning menus. Users can redeem their points for credits on purchases.

The newly launched, highly requested, personalized Meal Plans target a user's unique key nutrients through a weekly Meal Plan that makes eating for better health easy. Users access their AHARA account to find their customized daily and weekly recipes completely tailored to their nutrient needs. Recipes can easily be saved, added, deleted, or added to a grocery list integrated with Instacart.

"At AHARA, we're committed to empowering individuals to take control of their health journey through accessible and effective nutrition solutions," said Julie Wainwright, Co-founder and CEO. "Our personalized Meal Plans and rewards program not only encourages healthy eating habits but also reinforces the value of utilizing the AHARA app daily as a comprehensive tool for personalized nutrition guidance."

AHARA's scientifically based questionnaire and personalized recommendations, give users a nutrition report featuring their body's key nutrients, as well as access to practical solutions for achieving their health and nutrition goals without the need for in-person consultations. For more information about AHARA and its precision nutrition solutions, visit AHARA.com.

About AHARA

AHARA provides personalized nutrition for optimal health and longevity. Leveraging the latest scientific, evidence-based research combined with users' personal data, its proprietary algorithm provides personalized recommendations for food and supplements. The venture- backed, female-founded consumer health tech company is the brainchild of physician nutrition specialist Dr. Melina Jampolis and serial tech entrepreneur Julie Wainwright. AHARA.com

Media Contact:

Chelsea Kershaw

Natural Brand Partners

[email protected]

(909) 573-7237

SOURCE AHARA
LAS VEGAS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AMH (NYSE: AMH), a leading large-scale integrated owner, operator and developer of single-family rental homes, today announced that the Company will release its first quarter 2024 financial and operating results on Thursday, May 2, 2024, after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call on Friday, May 3, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time to review first quarter results, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer period.

Live conference call

Toll free number: (877) 451-6152 (for domestic callers) Direct dial number: (201) 389-0879 (for international callers) Passcode: Not required Simultaneous audio webcast link: www.amh.com under "Investor relations"

Conference call replay

Toll free number: (844) 512-2921 (for domestic callers) Direct dial number: (412) 317-6671 (for international callers) Passcode: 13742950# Webcast link: www.amh.com under "Investor relations" Date accessible through: May 17, 2024

About AMH

AMH (NYSE: AMH) is a leading large-scale integrated owner, operator, and developer of single-family rental homes. We're an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing, and managing homes as rental properties. Our goal is to simplify the experience of leasing a home and deliver peace of mind to households across the country.

In recent years, we've been named one of Fortune's 2023 Best Workplaces in Real Estate, a 2024 Great Place to Work, a 2023 Most Loved Workplace, a 2023 Top U.S. Homebuilder by Builder100, and one of America's Most Responsible Companies 2024 and Most Trustworthy Companies in America 2024 by Newsweek and Statista Inc. As of December 31, 2023, we owned nearly 60,000 single-family properties in the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and Mountain West regions of the United States. Additional information about AMH is available on our website at www.amh.com.

AMH refers to one or more of American Homes 4 Rent, American Homes 4 Rent, L.P. and their subsidiaries and joint ventures. In certain states, we operate under AMH Living or American Homes 4 Rent. Please see www.amh.com/dba to learn more.

AMH Contacts:

Trent Frager

Media Relations

Phone: (855) 774-4663

Email: [email protected]

Nicholas Fromm

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE AMH
BOSTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, announces 32 promotions to vice president across nine offices.

"We are delighted to announce the largest group of consultant promotions to vice president in the history of our organization," said Martha S. Samuelson, CEO and Chairman of Analysis Group. "The intellectual rigor and creative problem solving that these consultants apply on behalf of our clients are remarkable. Among other contributions, they have analyzed complex finance matters; assessed climate change impacts on a variety of energy-savings incentives; built algorithms for real-time suspicious order monitoring of controlled substances; supported pharmaceutical regulatory drug application submissions; designed economic impact and worker misclassification studies for technology companies; evaluated the economic impact of advertising claims; conducted detailed analyses in mergers and litigation; evaluated intellectual property matters; and assessed quantum of damages in international arbitration. These dedicated professionals have made important contributions to our firm's success."

In Boston, Jonathan E. Baker specializes in the application of economic analysis to antitrust and competition, energy and environment, commercial dispute, class certification, and damages litigation matters. Chanont "Big" Banternghansa applies microeconomics, econometrics, and statistics to the analysis of various antitrust and competition issues across a range of industries, including health care, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, airlines, finance, and two-sided digital platforms. Anne Cai specializes in the application of consumer behavior and marketing research methods to litigation issues and strategic business problems, including false advertising, product liability, trademark infringement, patent infringement, competition, and data privacy matters. Michael Carson applies economics and data analysis to complex business issues in litigation and non-litigation matters. Rose Chang specializes in epidemiology and outcomes research, including the application of advanced methods to generate real-world evidence (RWE) on unmet needs, treatment patterns, and drug safety and effectiveness. Carlos Chiapa applies microeconomics, econometrics, and statistical methods to antitrust and competition matters involving class certification, damages, liability, and breach of contract claims. Rozi Kepes specializes in complex litigation matters in the areas of technology, privacy and data security, intellectual property (IP), health care, and antitrust and competition. Jess Marden applies expertise in epidemiology and biostatistics to questions in the field of health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), from early-phase clinical studies to post-launch RWE generation. Ngoc Pham specializes in quantitative analysis and consumer research related to complex litigation matters and class actions. Alex Robinson applies economics and statistics to questions arising in antitrust, government investigations, health care, and commercial litigation across a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and consumer and industrial goods. Erica VanSant specializes in economic analysis of complex litigation matters in the areas of health care, antitrust, and IP. Hadrien Vasdeboncoeur applies economic theory to complex securities and finance matters, and to injury assessments in antitrust and competition matters.

In Chicago, David A. Glick applies economic and quantitative analysis to complex matters involving federal and state antitrust laws, regulatory proceedings, commercial damages disputes, and financial and securities litigation. Veronica Huan specializes in conducting economic and quantitative analyses in a broad range of cases, including finance and securities, valuation, bankruptcy and insolvency, and damages. Hyun Lee applies economic and financial analyses to questions arising in complex business matters related to securities and finance, valuation, antitrust and competition, IP, and general commercial litigation. Ann Murray specializes in the economic analysis of complex problems in competition, finance, and commercial disputes, and has worked with digital platforms and technology companies on a range of litigation, regulatory, and strategic issues, including economic impact studies and worker misclassification suits.

In Dallas, Leah Kitashima specializes in conducting economic analysis and damages quantification in complex commercial disputes, including IP, false advertising, class certification, and breach of contract matters.

In Denver, Evan Carter specializes in complex financial reporting and the application of accounting concepts to questions arising in securities, finance, tax, and general business litigation. Laszlo Jakab applies financial analyses to complex business litigation related to valuation, venture capital, private equity, corporate governance, transfer pricing, materiality of information disclosure, and antitrust.

In Los Angeles, Owen Hearey applies economic theory and methods to questions arising in complex antitrust matters, consumer and business class action litigation, and commercial disputes. Brian Thomas applies economic, statistical, and financial analysis to complex litigation matters in the areas of finance, ERISA, privacy and data security, commercial disputes, insurance, and class certification. Yan Wang specializes in RWE generation and HEOR, particularly related to the analysis of clinical trial data, indirect treatment comparisons, health economics modeling, support for health technology assessment (HTA) submissions, surveys, and chart reviews. Haimin Zhang applies econometrics and statistical methods to complex litigation matters, including class certification, liability, and damages issues across a broad range of areas, including ERISA, false advertising, consumer protection, and commercial disputes.

In Montreal, Catherine Gendron-Saulnier specializes in applying microeconomics and statistical analysis to antitrust, competition policy, IP, and commercial litigation matters across a variety of industries, including telecommunications, consumer products, agricultural products, online platforms, and technology. Guillaume Germain has extensive HEOR experience, including retrospective database/claims analyses; clinical efficacy, safety profile, treatment patterns, and medication compliance studies; and biostatistics, epidemiology, and health outcomes research with advanced statistical methods, such as survival analysis, general estimating equations, and nonparametric testing.

In New York, Rachel Bechek specializes in economic and quantitative analysis related to questions arising in corporate governance, finance, antitrust, and IP litigation. Yuxiao Huang applies economic theory, econometrics, and statistical methods to complex litigation and business questions pertaining to M&A, financial instruments, health care, insurance, cryptocurrency, and IP matters. Rongzhang Wang specializes in the application of microeconomic theory, econometrics, and statistical methods to questions arising in complex business litigation.

In Paris, Philipp Tillmann applies microeconomics, econometrics, and statistical methods to litigation matters, government investigations, and strategy assignments.

In Washington, DC, Andrea Hugill applies economic theory and practical experience to questions arising in litigation, negotiations, and business strategy, including IP damages, breach of contract matters, antitrust disputes, tax issues, international trade matters, marketing disputes, valuations, and corporate governance investigations. Kate Schofield specializes in the application of economic and financial theory to questions arising in a range of complex business litigation disputes, including IP, class certification, and antitrust. Yuan Tian applies microeconomics to complex disputes and business problems arising from IP, antitrust, breach of contract, and finance matters.

To learn more about Analysis Group's capabilities, visit AnalysisGroup.com

About Analysis Group:

Analysis Group is one of the largest international economics consulting firms, with more than 1,200 professionals across 14 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1981, we have provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics, and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies, and government agencies worldwide. Our internal experts, together with our network of affiliated experts from academia, industry, and government, offer our clients exceptional breadth and depth of expertise.

Contact:

Analysis Group

Eric Seymour, 617 425 8103

[email protected]

SOURCE Analysis Group
ArcSpan's AMS Audience Insights Data Suite provides actionable audience and campaign data analytics to help publishers measure and achieve optimal programmatic sales results.

NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ArcSpan Technologies, the innovative publisher audience data monetization company, announced today the release of AMS "Identifier Audit" dashboards. Available within ArcSpan's AMS Audience Insights suite, Identifier Audit tracks the presence and correlation of various identifiers to won and rendered ad impressions. As different programmatic audience identifiers are increasingly deployed by publishers, SSPs, DSPs, clean rooms, and marketers to facilitate scalable audience targeting, the AMS Identifier Audit helps publishers recognize, sort, and optimize the most effective audience targeting solutions.

The AMS Identifier Audit dashboard fills a vital need for publishers to examine programmatic impression data highlighting the relationship between User IDs, identity provider solutions and Prebid auction CPMs. ArcSpan's easy-to-deploy ArcTag extracts and interprets the identifiers that are present in each bid request where the impression is won and rendered. The AMS Identifier Audit dashboard offers publishers numerous ways to filter and analyze their audience and campaign data by specific domains, browsers, and ID types, including whether they are deployed directly by the publisher or via their SSP.

"This is the most comprehensive view of identity analysis I have seen, so kudos to ArcSpan." - Premium Publisher Post this

ArcSpan's Identifier Audit dashboard illuminates how IDs impact programmatic sales results:

Identification: Which IDs are associated with each ad impression?

Which IDs are associated with each ad impression? Prevalence: How, where and when is a particular ID included in a transaction?

How, where and when is a particular ID included in a transaction? CPM Value and Attribution: How is the use of a particular ID correlated with incremental $CPMs and sales impact?

How is the use of a particular ID correlated with incremental $CPMs and sales impact? Demand Alignment: How does each ID correspond to demand from each SSP bidder?

"Today, publishers are deploying dozens of probabilistic identifiers and a handful of deterministic ones trying to boost CPMs while buyers figure out how they want to use these identifiers. With saturated bid requests, there is little accountability or transparency around who is providing value." said Scott Messer, Principal & Founder, Messer Media. "From my experience and speaking with others already using ArcSpan's Identifier Audit, this is an exciting, valuable innovation that helps publishers evaluate the best use and impact of identifiers across their revenue operations."

The Identifier Audit data and AMS Audience Insights suite advances ArcSpan's dedication to helping publishers overcome increasingly ineffective and overpriced technology platforms that are not fully aligned to support publishers' revenue opportunities. The AMS Audience Analytics suite may be licensed separately or bundled with ArcSpan's complete AMS Audience Data Monetization platform.

"We've built AMS Audience Insights based on the input from a variety of publishers and our deep experience processing and structuring first-party log-level audience data, transaction data and monetization data. Publishers clearly need smarter audience data and campaign insights to succeed in today's evolving, complicated digital advertising industry," said ArcSpan SVP, Solutions Engineering, Pete Rooney. "AMS Audience Insights and the Identifier Audit helps publishers up-level their revenue operations with actionable insights. We are excited to release AMS Identifier Audit to the market and support publishers at such an important moment."

About ArcSpan Technologies

ArcSpan Technologies is a best-in-class audience monetization company focusing on empowering publishers to unlock the full potential of their first-party data to generate incremental advertising revenue. ArcSpan's Audience Monetization System (AMS), is a next-gen DMP purpose-built to provide publishers with an easy to use, cost efficient platform that can process, manage, model, and activate the entire spectrum of publisher data to monetize audiences and drive ROI. Established by digital industry leaders from Accordant Media, Dentsu, NewsCorp, OpenSlate and Beeswax, ArcSpan prioritizes consumer data privacy and fosters industry transparency.

The company is headquartered in New York City with an additional office in London. www.arcspan.com

SOURCE ArcSpan Technologies
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Arsenal Capital Partners ("Arsenal"), a private equity firm that specializes in investments in industrial and healthcare companies, announced today it has sold its portfolio company, Seal For Life Industries LLC ("Seal For Life"), to Henkel AG & Co. KGaA ("Henkel"), a publicly traded German manufacturer of industrial and consumer products. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Seal For Life is a specialized supplier of protective coating and sealing solutions for a broad variety of infrastructure markets such as renewable energy, oil & gas, and water. The company employs more than 650 people and has a global production network. Seal For Life offers innovative coating and sealing products such as heat-shrink sleeves, visco-elastic coatings, epoxy & urethane coatings, fire protection, insulation, and sound dampening coatings. The performance and application capabilities of these solutions, marketed under different industry-leading brands including STOPAQ, CANUSA, COVALENCE, and LIFELAST, are pioneering in the protection and retrofitting of a wide variety of customer infrastructure assets, including onshore and offshore pipelines, jetty piles, storage tanks, valves, flanges, and high- performance industrial flooring.

Arsenal completed its investment in Seal For Life in 2019 and through seven strategic acquisitions, built a global platform in innovative coating and sealing solutions for both existing and new build infrastructure assets. The company's leading brands and technologies play a critical role in extending the asset life of aging infrastructure with a focus on sustainable materials. During Arsenal's ownership, Seal For Life significantly invested in technology development and innovation as well as expanded its end market exposure with novel solutions into applications such as district energy and renewable applications for wind and solar infrastructure protection.

Sal Gagliardo, an Operating Partner of Arsenal, said, "We are delighted with the growth achieved during our ownership, with Seal For Life's sales more than doubling and strengthening of the company's global market position. Seal For Life's team, led by Jeff Oravitz, achieved strong organic growth, completed and integrated complementary acquisitions, and created a best-in-class technology platform in the infrastructure coatings sector. We want to thank Jeff and the Seal For Life team for their efforts and leadership that drove to this successful outcome."

Jeff Oravitz, CEO of Seal For Life, stated, "Arsenal has enabled the transformation of Seal For Life into a unique platform of coatings solutions. The firm brought significant expertise in technologies and applications that drove a focus on where the markets are going and how we can address the long-term trends. We are grateful to the Arsenal team for their partnership and support over the last five years and are excited for the growth opportunities as we join the Henkel organization."

Roy Seroussi, an Investment Partner of Arsenal, commented, "Arsenal's close collaboration with Jeff and the team and the success of the Seal For Life platform further strengthens Arsenal's position as a leading investor and company builder in the coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers sector. We wish the Seal For Life team and Henkel the very best in their future success."

Arsenal is an active investor in the coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers sector, with current investments including Applied Adhesives, ATP Tapes, Fenzi Group, Meridian Adhesives Group, Polycorp, and Polytek, and with several prior investments in this sector.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to Seal For Life and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel.

About Arsenal Capital Partners

Arsenal Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm that specializes in investments in industrial growth and healthcare companies. Since its inception in 2000, Arsenal has raised institutional equity investment funds totaling over $10 billion, completed more than 290 platform and add-on acquisitions, and achieved more than 35 realizations. The firm works with management teams to build strategically important companies with leading market positions, high growth, and high value-add. For more information, visit www.arsenalcapital.com .

Contact for Arsenal:

Jackie Schofield

Prosek Partners

[email protected]

SOURCE Arsenal Capital Partners
- New Appointments Will Enable San Francisco Financial Services Company

to Meet Surging Demand for Venture Debt and Equipment Leases -

SAN FRANCISCO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ATEL Capital Group (ACG), a multi-billion dollar financial services firm focusing on venture debt, equipment leasing and real estate has announced four new team members as part of its strategy to meet growing demand for debt financing of venture-backed companies and equipment leasing to Fortune 1000 companies.

Todd Jaquez-Fissori joins ATEL Ventures, Inc., a division of ACG, as Senior Vice President. Jaquez-Fissori has almost two decades of experience originating venture debt and private credit deals, most recently with Structural Capital, where he was a Managing Partner, and previously with Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Hercules Growth Capital and TriplePoint Capital. Todd has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Simrat Wason joins ATEL Ventures, Inc. as a Director. Formerly a Vice President with New York hedge fund Arena Investors, Wason previously spent five years with Presidio Ventures, sourcing and managing predominantly early-stage equity in enterprise tech firms. Wason started her career as a software engineer, and spent six years with Apple Inc. She has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and an M. Eng from Cornell University.

"Entrepreneurs and VCs alike understand that venture debt is an essential tool of the capital stack, allowing them to accelerate growth without diluting equity," said Steven Rea, President, ATEL Ventures, Inc. "The collapse of several banks focused on venture lending in 2023 reduced market competition, allowing us to increase rates as well as volume. Our expanded team will enable us to service the increased demand for venture debt and continue to grow our portfolio, deploying the hundreds of millions of dollars we have available to lend."

Supporting ATEL Capital Group's increased deal flow is an enlarged legal team. Nick Martitsch joins ACG as Senior Counsel, bringing almost four decades of experience to the firm. In his career to date, Martitsch has handled a wide range of commercial, financial and intellectual property transactions and related matters, including public and private equity and debt financing, venture lending, and equipment leasing. Martitsch's experience includes several years with Hercules Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. Martitsch earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Maggie Adams joins ACG as Legal Counsel, with a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School. For the past five years has contributed her expertise to global law firms, where she specialized in providing legal services to the financial services industry.

About ATEL Capital Group

Founded in 1977, ATEL Capital Group (ACG) owns and manages a large portfolio of assets, including low tech equipment leased to primarily investment grade corporations (through ATEL Leasing), loans to high growth companies (through ATEL Ventures), and real estate (through ATEL Properties). For more information, visit: https://atel.com/

About ATEL Ventures, Inc

ATEL Ventures, a division of ATEL Capital Group, is a leading provider of venture debt and equipment financing to emerging growth companies. The company is a primary source of non-dilutive capital across the landscape of venture capital investments. ATEL Ventures is industry- and stage-agnostic, having provided capital to companies in Information Technology, Life Sciences, Energy, Agriculture, Material Sciences, and Consumer Products and Services. For more information, visit: https://atelventures.com/

About ATEL Leasing Corporation

ATEL Leasing, a division of ATEL Capital Group, is an international equipment leasing company providing lease financing of low technology equipment to primarily investment grade credits. ATEL leases a wide range of equipment including transportation, construction, manufacturing, mining, healthcare, and energy production assets. For more information, visit: https://atel.com/leasing/

SOURCE ATEL Capital Group
- Innovative technology set to redefine palletizing and streamline fulfillment processes for manufacturers, warehousers, and distributors -

TOLEDO, Ohio, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Autotec Solutions, a leading provider of innovative automation solutions, is pleased to announce the release of its latest development, the Autotec Random Case Palletizer (Autotec RCP). In a strategic collaboration with Liberty Robotics, a pioneer in vision-guided robotics, Autotec Solutions has integrated its highly advanced vision system into the RCP, a game-changing logistics and supply chain tool.

The Random Case Palletizer is an advanced automation solution designed to streamline the process of stacking cases of various sizes and shapes onto pallets in a random order, on the fly, without the need for manual pre-sorting or sequencing.

The Random Case Palletizer streamlines the complex process of palletizing mixed-size cases on the fly. Its sophisticated algorithms and vision systems enable it to stack cases of varying sizes and shapes without manual pre-sorting or sequencing, enhancing efficiency and space utilization within warehouses and distribution centers.

"This isn't just about the evolution of palletizing, but a significant transformation in the logistics industry," states Thomas Crihfield, Product Innovation Manager from Autotec Solutions. "By incorporating Liberty's advanced vision system, our robots can consistently build stable, mixed-load pallets more efficiently than traditional methods. This not only optimizes space but significantly reduces labor costs."

Utilizing an overhead and/or on-robot vision system, the Autotec RCP adapts in real-time to inventory changes, handling diverse products precisely with reduced operational costs. The RCP system matches or exceeds the pace of industry-standard manual palletizing while decreasing the incidence of labor-related injuries.

The Autotec RCP's compact design requires a minimal footprint, starting at 300 square feet, and offers optional configurations such as integrated stretch wrapping, robot on rails, and mobile robot interfaces. These features demonstrate Autotec's commitment to offering dynamic and adaptable solutions for fast-paced and high-volume environments.

To explore the myriad capabilities of the Random Case Palletizer and how it can transform your business operations, Autotec Solutions encourages you to visit their website for more information and contact them for a live demonstration at Autotec's Innovation Center.

About Autotec Solutions

Founded in 1972, Autotec Solutions is a leader in automation technology. The company assists manufacturers, warehousers, and 3PL providers throughout North America with innovative, reliable solutions designed to propel businesses into the future.

Contact

Autotec Solutions

Website: www.autotecinc.com/rcp

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 419-885-2529

SOURCE Autotec Solutions
Red Light Therapy Center Spreads Its Radiance Across Illinois through Franchising

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Avanti Body  the brand illuminating the path to weight loss, rejuvenation and overall wellness through red light therapy  is thrilled to announce its expansion plans to increase its presence in Illinois through franchising. With a vibrant studio already shining bright in Lake Zurich, Avanti Body is on the lookout for passionate partners in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs; entrepreneurs who are passionate about redefining wellness through science-backed and technology-driven innovative methods. There are roughly 8 to 10 territories up for grabs.

"In a world where health and wellness are taking centerstage, Red Light Therapy emerges as a beacon of growth and demand," said Andrea Dobkin, President of Franchise Development. "Our franchise partners aren't just joining a business; they're embarking on a journey to enhance their own well-being while making a positive impact on their communities. Our supportive business model ensures our partners receive guidance and assistance every step of the way."

Key Highlights:

Founded in June of 2019 by Terri Simpson , Avanti Body uses scientifically validated Red Light Therapy techniques to positively impact the mind and body.

Avanti Body currently has two corporate locations open in Vacaville, CA and Lake Zurich, IL , one affiliate open in Roseville, CA and one franchise location open in Idaho Falls, ID.

Unlike many businesses operating in the fitness and wellness space, Avanti Body has a high member frequency rate: 80% of clients visit an Avanti Body center an average of 2.5 times per week.

With a rapidly aging population in the U.S., as well as an increased wave of health consciousness amongst most age groups, cutting edge methods and techniques that emphasize preventative care are crucial to a wellness brand's success.

For more information about Avanti Body, visit https://avantibody.com/franchise/ .

"Society is embracing the new, leaving behind the 'old school' and seeking fresh approaches. In bustling metropolises like Chicago, there's a keen interest in investing in wellness to counterbalance the hustle and bustle," said Terri Simpson, Founder and CEO of Avanti Body. "Investing in an Avanti Body will allow both city goers and people living in the suburbs to bring wellness to their local communities, as well as their own friends and family."

Avanti Body is pioneering the wellness industry with its innovative, science-driven sessions that are specifically designed to address fat loss, anti-aging, body sculpting, and the reduction of pain and inflammation, among other health and wellness goals.

Avanti Body takes pride in equipping its franchise partners for success, boasting a business model that requires an investment from $300,000 to just under $600,000. This model is characterized by low labor costs and includes comprehensive training program and ongoing support, access to proprietary equipment and technology, marketing and brand development assistance, and a unique position in the wellness industry with a focus on red light therapy and holistic wellness solutions. To learn more about Avanti Body, please visit https://avantibody.com/franchise/ .

About Avanti Body

Avanti Body is reimagining wellness with its science-driven, technology-fueled approach to weight loss, wellness, health and rejuvenation. The Avanti Brand services, including state-of-the-art red light therapy and bespoke wellness programs, are grounded in scientific innovation and a deep understanding of client needs. As a franchisor, Avanti Body offers a compelling business model in a thriving industry, providing partners with extensive support and a path to success. Dedicated to empowering individuals and communities, Avanti Body is more than a brand; it's a movement towards a healthier, more vibrant future.

SOURCE Avanti Body
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global biomaterials market size is estimated to grow by USD 12907.35 mn from 2023 to 2027, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period. North America held the largest share of the global market in 2022, and the market in the region is estimated to witness an incremental growth of 41%.

To understand more about this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes!

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Biomaterials Market 2023-2027

Major Players in the Market

Numerous companies are capitalizing on this growing trend by implementing strategic measures such as alliances, partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions. Among the notable players in the cheese based snacks market are:

Algenesis Corp., BASF SE, Carpenter Technology Corp., Celanese Corp., CeramTec GmbH, CoorsTek Inc., Corbion nv, Covestro AG, Dimension Inx., Evonik Industries AG, Koninklijke DSM NV, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Riton Biomaterial Co. Ltd., Artoss Inc., Berkeley Advanced Biomaterials, CAM Bioceramics BV, Gelita AG, Noble Biomaterials Inc., Victrex Plc, Zeus Co. Inc.

Analyst Review

ai_research_analysis

Key Market Drivers

The biomaterials market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing global healthcare expenditure and the demand for advanced healthcare services, particularly in the context of an aging geriatric population. This demographic shift has led to a focus on target diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Novel medical devices, including biomaterial-based implants, are driving innovation in sectors like orthopedics, cardiovascular, dental, plastic surgery, wound healing, tissue engineering, and ophthalmology. Metallic biomaterials, polymeric biomaterials, ceramic biomaterials, and natural biomaterials are key segments in this market. Metallic biomaterials are widely used in cardiovascular applications, such as angiography procedures, cardiac stents, and implantable devices like pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators. Meanwhile, polymeric biomaterials and ceramic biomaterials are essential in orthopedic implants and tissue engineering. Technological advancements, including non-PCR methods and smart biomaterials, are revolutionizing the industry through bioengineering and drug delivery approaches. Companies like DSM Biomedical and ProMed Pharma are at the forefront of these developments, offering innovative solutions for various medical applications.

Challenges and Opportunities

The Global biomaterials market is experiencing significant growth, with key segments including porous-coated orthopedic implants and the polymer product segment. Innovations in technology, such as powder metallurgy, 3-D printing, and additive manufacturing, are driving advancements in elastic modulus and bone growth. Smart biomaterials, like piezoelectric scaffolds, are generating interest due to their ability to respond to bioelectric signals. DiFusion Inc and Zfuze are leading companies in this space, utilizing advanced polymers like poly-ether-ether-ketone and titanium. Biodegradability and biocompatibility are crucial factors, with natural and synthetic biomaterials undergoing remodeling in orthopedic applications. Industry trends include the development of bio-resorbable tissue fixation and the use of novel biomaterials in medical implants, cardiovascular diseases, and regenerative medicine. Pricing analysis, patent analysis, and research studies are essential for understanding market dynamics and key stakeholders. Government bodies and funds & grants play a vital role in driving innovation, with emerging economies presenting significant opportunities. The World Economic Forum highlights the importance of addressing inflammation and fibrous tissue formation through cytokine markers and load-bearing capacity in the development of new materials.

The biomaterials market has experienced significant growth due to increasing global healthcare expenditure and the application of advanced healthcare services in sectors like surgical procedures. With a growing geriatric population, target diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis in the orthopedic segment, and musculoskeletal disorders, the demand for biomaterial-based implants, including orthopedic implants, has surged. Technological advancements in non-PCR methods and bioengineering have led to the development of novel medical devices, such as cardiovascular segment devices like angiography procedures, cardiac stents, and pacemakers, as well as implantable cardiac defibrillators. The market is segmented into Metallic Biomaterials, Polymeric Biomaterials, Ceramic Biomaterials, and Natural Biomaterials. Key players include DSM Biomedical and ProMed Pharma. Innovations in smart biomaterials and drug delivery approaches continue to drive market expansion in segments like tissue engineering, wound healing, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, neurological/CNS, and other applications.

To understand more about this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes!

Market Overview

The Biomaterials Market is a significant and growing sector, driven by advancements in technology and the increasing demand for innovative solutions in healthcare and various industries. Biomaterials, such as polymers, ceramics, and composites, play a crucial role in the development of medical devices, tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, and regenerative medicine. The market is segmented based on type, application, and end-user. Polymers dominate the market due to their versatility and biocompatibility. The major applications include tissue engineering, drug delivery, and medical devices. The end-users are primarily the healthcare industry and research institutions. The market is expected to grow at a steady pace due to the increasing aging population, rising healthcare expenditures, and technological advancements. However, challenges such as regulatory requirements and ethical concerns remain. The market is competitive, with key players including BASF SE, Dow Inc., and Sigma-Aldrich Corporation.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Vendor Landscape

11 Vendor Analysis

12 Appendix

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluerock Value Exchange (BVEX), a long-time leading national sponsor of 1031 exchange and Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) programs since 2005, announced multiple special distributions to its investors totaling over $1.5 million in the form of Supplemental Rent across its current managed DST / 1031 exchange programs. These distributions, which were paid on March 28, 2024, represent audited excess cash flow generated above the stated annual distribution rate of the underlying assets in each of the applicable DST programs. The distributions effectively increase the annual return to investors, ranging from 4.10% to 5.73% for calendar year 2023.

BVEX reported a 96% average occupancy rate as of year-end 2023 across all current DST programs under management, which includes a diverse portfolio of residential, industrial, and net lease retail holdings. As of March 2024, Bluerock had completed more than $2.5 billion in past and current 1031 exchange programs.

"We are tremendously pleased with the excellent operating results of our DST portfolio in 2023 and the ability to make multiple special cash distributions to our investors in these programs, in excess of the stated distributable yields", said Josh Hoffman, President of BVEX. "In the current investment climate, Bluerock DST programs continue to excel and provide additional upside from the cash flow generated from the properties and with management favorably aligned with our investors to maximize results," added Hoffman.

BVEX DST programs seek to provide 1031 tax-deferred exchange investors with stable monthly cash flow, which may be partially tax-deferred as a result of depreciation, potential for capital appreciation during the hold period, and reinvestment optionality upon an eventual successful sale of the property/ies to include 721 exchange (UPREIT) and/or subsequent cash-out / 1031 exchange options.

About Bluerock Value Exchange

Bluerock Value Exchange is a national sponsor of syndicated 1031-exchange offerings with a focus on Premier Exchange Properties that seek to deliver stable cash flows and potential for value creation. Bluerock has structured 1031 exchanges of more than $2.5 billion in total property value and 13 million square feet of property. Additional information can be found at bluerockexchange.com.

About Bluerock

Bluerock is a leading institutional alternative asset manager with more than $18 billion of acquired and managed assets headquartered in Manhattan with regional offices across the U.S. Bluerock principals have a collective 100+ years of investing experience with more than $120 billion real estate and capital markets experience and have helped launch leading private and public company platforms. Additional information can be found at bluerock.com.

SOURCE Bluerock Value Exchange
The College Will Open a State-of-the-Art Nursing Lab for Immersive Education

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bryant & Stratton College announced the launch of its bachelor of science degree in nursing in its Western New York market starting in its Fall term starting September 4, 2024. The College has offered nursing programs since 2005 and has more than 2,000 nursing students currently enrolled in New York (Rochester, Syracuse), Wisconsin, Ohio, and Virginia. The program is now offered for the first time at the College's Southtowns campus located in Orchard Park. While the College currently offers a variety of health care associate and bachelor's degree opportunities in Buffalo, the new bachelor's degree in nursing program at the Southtowns campus will help address the critical need for nurses in Western New York. The College also offers health care degrees in medical assisting, occupational therapy assistant, physical therapist assistant, health services administration and medical reimbursement and coding.

Students enrolled in the nursing program will learn vital skills reflective of today's evolving health care environment in two brand-new, state-of-the-art nursing and simulation labs, built specifically for the curriculum. Students will have the ability to earn their bachelor's degree and begin their careers in less than three years. Additionally, in accordance with Bryant & Stratton College's long history of flexible education and remote offerings, nursing students will have the option of completing their liberal arts requirements on campus, online or via live remote courses.

Dr. Richard Guertin, DHA, MSN, RN-BC, CNE, is the Bachelor of Science Nursing program director. He has been an RN for 35 years and served 8 years as a US Navy Corpsman. He has worked in psychiatric, mental health and community health for more than 30 years.

"We are excited to introduce the bachelor's degree program in Orchard Park, addressing the urgent demand for nurses in Western New York." said Dr. Guertin. "By 2030, New York is projected to have a shortage of nearly 40,000 nurses. Bryant & Stratton is ready to educate the next generation of nurses to attack this shortage," he said.

The nursing program is registered and accredited by the Office of College and University Evaluation New York State Education Department. Students interested in applying can learn more on the Bryant & Stratton College admissions page at https://www.bryantstratton.edu/degrees/bachelor-degrees/bs-degree-in-nursing.

ABOUT BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE

Founded in 1854, Bryant & Stratton College, a non-profit institution, has built its reputation and success on a commitment to excellence and high standards. Bryant & Stratton College is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) www.msche.org. Bryant & Stratton College's accreditation status is Accreditation Reaffirmed. The Commission's most recent action on the institution's accreditation status on 6/22/2017 was to reaffirm accreditation. MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Bryant & Stratton College has campus locations in New York, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as an Online Education division, and a Continuing Education department. For 170 years, Bryant & Stratton College has offered students access to career-relevant education leading to bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and professional certificates in the fields of healthcare, business, criminal justice, design, financial services, hospitality, human resources, paralegal studies, and information technology. In addition to access to education, Bryant & Stratton College offers students access to tools to help ensure their greatest chance at success through their Career Life Prep program. Bryant & Stratton works with students to best map individual career paths - teaching the soft skills employers value most, helping establish valuable professional connections and internships and offering career services support even after graduation. Bryant & Stratton College is committed to helping students succeed in their education and beyond.

Media Contact:

Erin Foster

[email protected]

585-474-0258

SOURCE Bryant & Stratton College
Philip Wolff will empower beauty enthusiasts and stylists through educational initiatives while expanding brand awareness across North America

MONTREAL, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Canadian styling and hair care brand DESIGNME is thrilled to announce the appointment of Philip Wolff as its new Guest Creative Director. With a rich background in hairstyling and a passion for creativity, Philip brings a wealth of experience and fresh perspective to the brand, to inspire stylists and beauty enthusiasts alike.

Philip Wolff will empower beauty enthusiasts and stylists through educational initiatives while expanding brand awareness across North America. (CNW Group/DESIGNME)

Philip, a seasoned hairstylist and visionary educator from Los Angeles, California, will empower stylists through educational initiatives across Canada and the USA. As part of DESIGNME, he will be instrumental in providing cutting-edge hairstyling solutions to the community.

With over 25 years of experience in the beauty industry and a significant social media presence, Philip is dedicated to pushing the limits of hairstyling and authenticity. His journey began as an apprentice at a Toni&Guy salon, leading to prestigious roles in Beverly Hills and Seoul. He is also the co-founder of WolffBehr.

"My role with DESIGNME is to serve as Guest Creative Director, fully embracing the responsibility of helping everyone feel great about their hair. I'm thrilled to contribute to educational initiatives, as we embark on a tour across Canada and the USA to connect with stylists to inspire and empower them along the way. Leading the creative direction from the stylist's chair, I will infuse the brand with my global vision, expertise, and passion  approaching hairstyling with authenticity and innovation."  Philip Wolff, Guest Creative Director at DESIGNME.

Philip's collaboration aligns perfectly with DESIGNME's values, promising to elevate cutting-edge hairstyling solutions. Their motto, "WE DESIGN THE PRODUCT, YOU DESIGN THE BEAUTY," underscores their belief in empowering individuals to express their unique beauty.

"Philip is known to be one of the greatest cutters in the industry. At DESIGNME, we understand the importance of styling products in achieving the best look after a haircut. We believe Philip will be able to demonstrate through his talent and creativity what good products can achieve in any hairstyle and haircut."  Cynthia Desrochers, Marketing Director at DESIGNME.

DESIGNME's focus on cruelty-free and vegan products made from natural ingredients reflects their dedication to ethical practices without compromising on performance. Their diverse range of products caters to all hair types and styles, empowering individuals to embrace their authentic selves.

For more information, visit designmehair.ca .

ABOUT DESIGNME

DESIGNME is a proudly Canadian brand born from the seat of a stylist, with innovation and creativity at the heart of its inception. We prioritize cruelty-free, vegan products made from natural ingredients, delivering performance-driven innovation without compromise. Our values  creativity, performance, accountability, empowerment, and authenticity  guide everything we do, ensuring a diverse and inclusive beauty experience for all.

SOURCE DESIGNME
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CancerCare, the leading national nonprofit organization providing free, professional support services to anyone affected by cancer, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. May 4, 2024 commemorates this momentous occasion and the organization's enduring commitment to providing holistic, patient-centered support services for people facing the challenges of cancer.

Since its inception, CancerCare has been at the forefront of offering comprehensive emotional and practical cancer support, including counseling, support groups, educational resources, workshops and financial assistance.

"Over the past 80 years, CancerCare has evolved to meet the changing needs of those affected by cancer, while always maintaining a focus on the personal aspects of cancer care. We understand that behind every cancer diagnosis is a person facing challenges that extend far beyond medical treatment. Our goal has always been to address these challenges head-on, offering support that is as compassionate as it is comprehensive," said Christine Verini, CEO of CancerCare.

Throughout the year, the organization will feature stories of resilience and hope from a few of CancerCare's clients, as well as advice on coping with the challenges of cancer from the organization's masters-prepared oncology social workers. These stories aim to shed light on the diverse needs of those living with cancer, caregivers and those who have lost a loved one to cancer.

As CancerCare steps into its 80th year, it invites everyone touched by a cancer diagnosis  patients, caregivers, family members and friends  to join in the celebration by sharing their own stories and experiences with CancerCare. This collective storytelling will serve not only as a celebration of the impact of the organization's work but also as a source of inspiration for those currently navigating their cancer journey.

To learn more and to get involved, please visit www.cancercare.org/80.

Be sure to join the conversation and share your story on social media, using the hashtag #CancerCare80.

About CancerCare

Founded in 1944, CancerCare is the leading national organization providing free, professional support services and information to help people manage the emotional, practical and financial challenges of cancer. Our comprehensive services include resource navigation, counseling and support groups over the phone, online and in-person, educational workshops, publications and financial and co-payment assistance. All CancerCare services are provided by master's-prepared oncology social workers and world-leading cancer experts. To learn more, visit our website or call 800-813-HOPE (4673).

Media Contact:

Amanda Shlosberg

[email protected]

2127128323

SOURCE CancerCare
ZEISS secures regulatory approvals to acquire D.O.R.C.; companies now shift focus to integration implementation, fueling world-class innovation, and driving market expansion strategy for ophthalmic medical devices and surgery.

JENA, Germany and DUBLIN, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Carl Zeiss Meditec AG announced today that, after securing all required regulatory approvals, it has completed the acquisition of 100% of D.O.R.C. (Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center) from the investment firm Eurazeo SE, Paris, France. The acquisition enhances and complements ZEISS Medical Technology's broad ophthalmic portfolio and range of digitally connected workflow solutions for addressing a wide variety of eye conditions, spanning retina and cornea disorders, cataract, glaucoma, and refractive errors.

Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (D.O.R.C.)

"Together we are better. Today holds significant importance for us as we bring our teams together and turn our collective attention toward delivering breakthrough innovations and solutions for our customers. We are very excited to welcome D.O.R.C.'s team members to our ZEISS family and to begin integrating our products and practices as we work toward a brighter future together," says Dr. Markus Weber, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

"Together we can offer an unmatched portfolio of advanced technologies and digital workflows. With D.O.R.C., we have an incredible opportunity to serve ophthalmologists around the world with more complete workflows and solutions than ever before," says Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., President of Ophthalmology and Head of the Digital Business Unit for ZEISS Medical Technology. "We've set our sights high to become the top player in the world for ophthalmology by leveraging our workflow solutions, enhancing our portfolio offerings and market position in the anterior surgery segment, and by significantly expanding our presence in the posterior surgery segment."

"Together we are stronger. With four decades behind our amazing business and surgeon-inspired innovation, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our success story together with ZEISS Medical Technology," says Pierre Billardon, CEO of D.O.R.C. "By joining forces, we can extend our reach, scale our efforts, and accelerate ophthalmic surgery advancements for more surgeons faster than before. I am filled with a great sense of pride and gratitude for every D.O.R.C. team member. Together, we have achieved so much to arrive at this pivotal moment in our journey. And together with ZEISS, we have so much more to accomplish in our bright future ahead to help patients see again."

Combination of portfolios will create unmatched end-to-end solution within the digitally-connected ZEISS Retina Surgery Workflow

As a leading player in the retina surgical devices and consumables market, D.O.R.C.'s contributions will be critical to ZEISS Medical Technology's long-term strategy and success going forward. With D.O.R.C., ZEISS is in a unique position to offer an unmatched portfolio of market-leading technologies to ophthalmologists, including an expanded, digitally-connected Retina Surgery Workflow from ZEISS. The companies' portfolios are highly complementary and the powerful combination of the EVA NEXUS platform from D.O.R.C. with ZEISS's extensive range of visualization, diagnostic and therapeutic devices, and surgical instruments and consumables, all connected to a digital ecosystem, will enable the creation of efficient clinical workflows that will reshape the ophthalmology market for the benefit of surgeons and their patients alike.

D.O.R.C. brings to the acquisition one of the market's most advanced dual-function systems - the EVA NEXUS platform. EVA NEXUS is the core of a strong portfolio, comprising a full range of accessories, instruments and liquids, offering one of the best-in-class solutions across vitreo-retinal (VR) and combined cataract procedures. The expansion that D.O.R.C.'s overall portfolio brings to ZEISS ensures that surgeons will have more options to choose the solutions that best meet their specific surgical requirements and preferences.

With the completion of this acquisition, health care professionals can expect to benefit from an extensive and unique combination of digitally connected devices and workflow solutions, from clinical pre-operative needs to the surgical operating room. This supports efficient clinical workflows and helps surgeons to improve outcomes for their patients. The two companies' immediate priorities span maintaining business continuity and customer satisfaction, cultivating areas of deep expertise, and enhancing the value of their solutions and services for current and future customers.

Not all products, services or offers are approved or offered in every market and approved labeling and instructions may vary from one country to another. For country-specific product information, see the appropriate country website. Product specifications are subject to change in design and scope of delivery as a result of ongoing technical development.

Contact for investors:

Sebastian Frericks

Head of Group Finance and Investor Relations

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Phone: +49 3641 220 116

Mail: [email protected]

Contact for the press:

Frank E. Smith

Head of Global Communications Ophthalmology

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Phone: +1 925 487 3036

Mail: [email protected]

www.zeiss.com/newsroom

Company Profiles:

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (ISIN: DE0005313704), which is listed on the MDAX and TecDAX of the German stock exchange, is one of the world's leading medical technology companies. The Company supplies innovative technologies and application-oriented solutions designed to help doctors improve the quality of life of their patients. The Company offers complete solutions, including implants and consumables, to diagnose and treat eye diseases. The Company creates innovative visualization solutions in the field of microsurgery. With approximately 4,823 employees worldwide, the Group generated revenue of 2,089.3m in fiscal year 2022/23 (to 30 September).

The Group's head office is located in Jena, Germany, and it has subsidiaries in Germany and abroad; more than 50 percent of its employees are based in the USA, Japan, Spain and France. The Center for Application and Research (CARIn) in Bangalore, India and the Carl Zeiss Innovations Center for Research and Development in Shanghai, China, strengthen the Company's presence in these rapidly developing economies. Around 41 percent of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG's shares are in free float. The remaining approx. 59 percent are held by Carl Zeiss AG, one of the world's leading groups in the optical and optoelectronic industries.

For more information visit our website at www.zeiss.com/med.

About D.O.R.C. Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center (International) B.V.

D.O.R.C. is one of the world's leading suppliers of equipment, instruments, and liquids for ophthalmic surgery. For 40 years, D.O.R.C. has grown into a successful international business, shaping its product portfolio through close collaboration with leading top surgeons. The company improves eye surgery globally and maximizes surgeon control by providing innovative quality approaches for eye disorders. Its products are exported to more than 80 countries worldwide. The company is headquartered in Zuidland, the Netherlands, and has more than 800 employees.

SOURCE Carl Zeiss Meditec AG
This partnership will equip TCAT graduates for CereCore's Clinical Support and IT Help Desk jobs and beyond, welcoming a new era of healthcare IT operations professionals.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CereCore, a leading provider of healthcare IT services, today announced its partnership with Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) at Nashville, one of the top colleges of the 27 Colleges of Applied Technology in the state. TCAT has a long and successful history of providing hands-on, college accredited education at a low-cost to the residents of Middle Tennessee, with approximately 500 students earning a certificate or diploma in the past year.

This strategic alliance with CereCore aims to place the next generation of healthcare information technology (HIT)-focused graduates into high-demand, specialized healthcare technology jobs. Scott Tuck, Director of Enterprise Service Management at CereCore and 2005 TCAT graduate, was instrumental in launching the partnership in October 2023.

"The hands-on experience I learned from TCAT helped me be extremely successful in my first job at Dell," said Tuck. "When I talk with students at TCAT classes, I want to help them understand what it takes to have a career in technology. Certifications can help you stand out, but interpersonal skills are just as important."

Over the past six months, Tuck and his team have provided support as graduates from the main TCAT Nashville campus and three satellite locations are vetted for job opportunities on the CereCore Clinical Support and IT Help Desk.

"Co-op opportunities are beneficial for students and employers, and our new hire training programs help students manage having a job and going to school," said Tuck.

CereCore employees working in IT support roles help hospital and healthcare systems resolve common technology issues that hinder operations, resulting in 70% of incidents resolved at the first level so care providers get back to taking care of patients more quickly.

Like much of the country, Middle Tennessee is no stranger to staffing challenges, holding a deficit of roughly 28,000 unfilled jobs. As a managed IT services provider for healthcare clients, CereCore needed new ways to tap into talent to maintain high quality support. In the industry, support teams often struggle with high turnover. CereCore, however, has less than 10 percent turnover in help desk roles and has earned Modern Healthcare's Best Places to Work in Healthcare award multiple years running.

Traditional students, non-traditional students and job candidates seeking a career change find IT support roles at CereCore are a solid entry point for a career in healthcare IT. CereCore's economy of scale offers career paths that other organizations can't provide. A large majority of former level 1 support analysts have taken advantage of professional development and EHR certification programs, helping them transition to other areas within CereCore or specialize more within healthcare IT.

"At CereCore, we believe our strategic partnership with TCAT will put a significant dent in the worker shortage that has persisted since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Curtis Watkins, President and CEO of CereCore. "Much like CereCore and our deep heritage of hospital operations, TCAT also has a long track record of preparing the next generation of professionals to grow in careers that they enjoy while making tremendous impact. We are thankful for Scott Tuck's personal ties to the college and setting the wheels in motion for this partnership."

Most TCAT programs are designed to be completed in one calendar year, equivalent to 3 trimesters and 1,290 hours. Unlike a four-year-traditional college or university, these expedited programs are mutually beneficial for the TCAT graduate and CereCorebypassing an extended wait time to get to work.

"TCATs are focused on providing industry relevant hands-on training to all Tennesseans. This focus allows us to remain committed to serving as the premier suppliers of workforce development throughout the state of Tennessee," said Nathan Garrett, President of TCAT Nashville. "This strategic partnership with CereCore will allow us to live out a key part of our mission to build relationships of trust with community, business and industry leaders to supply highly skilled workers in areas of need."

To learn more about how CereCore is addressing staffing challenges in healthcare IT, visit our website: https://cerecore.net/life-at-cerecore.

About CereCore

CereCore provides IT services that make it easier for hospitals and healthcare systems to focus on supporting hospital operations and transforming healthcare through technology. We partner with clients to extend their team through comprehensive IT staffing and application support, technical professional and managed services, IT advisory services, and EHR consulting, because we know firsthand the power that integrated technology has on patient care and communities.

About TCAT

The Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Nashville, or TCAT Nashville for short, was formerly known as the Tennessee Technology Center at Nashville and the Nashville State Area Vocational-Technical School. The College is accredited by the Council of Occupational Education. Find more information about TCAT on their website: https://tcatnashville.edu/about/college.

Contact:

Laura Liles

[email protected]

SOURCE CereCore
SAN FRANCISCO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Partnership for the Bay's Future (PBF), one of the nation's largest private-sector housing funds focused on addressing the Bay Area's affordable housing crisis through innovative equity-centered solutions, is marking its fifth anniversary. Priscilla Chan, co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) joined San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell at an event hosted by PBF last week to highlight the progress made in the first five years of the partnership, including the protection of over 73,000 tenants and financing over 4,400 homes for 11,000 people. Other regions are now looking to replicate this unique public-private partnership model that pairs non-traditional loan products with a strategy to build capacity and provide resources across governmental, nonprofit, and developer spheres.

Priscilla Chan, co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative joined San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell, Unity Council CEO, Chris Iglesias and Silicon Valley Community Foundation CEO Nicole Taylor at an event in San Francisco to highlight the progress made in the first five years of the Partnership for the Bays Future - https://baysfuture.org - one of the nations largest private-sector housing funds focused on addressing the Bay Area's affordable housing crisis through innovative equity-centered solutions.

Launched in 2019 around a shared commitment to increase housing affordability for all and build vibrant communities through racial equity and economic inclusion, PBF uses innovative financing and leverages the power of leaders in the field who approach the housing crisis from diverse perspectives. It brings a variety of voices into the effort  from local governments, to non-profit and community advocacy partners and faith leaders.

"The housing crisis requires bold action on multiple fronts and it requires that all sectors come to the table to drive innovative solutions," said Fred Blackwell, CEO, San Francisco Foundation. "The housing crisis presents a complex challenge without simple solutions. Our journey underscores the importance of perseverance, showcasing numerous successes and equipping us with valuable insights for addressing future challenges."

Working with community groups uplifting the voices of renters, low-income residents, and people of color into conversation with governments at the local, regional, and state levels have directly impacted over 73,000 tenants and engaged more than 20,000 community members through transformative policies.

"Safe, stable, and affordable housing is crucial to a family's success and to building healthy and diverse communities," said Priscilla Chan, co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. "Philanthropy is a relatively small player in a problem as challenging as housing, so we needed to get creative to design solutions that were flexible and additive to existing support for affordable housing. Five years in, we've surpassed our fundraising goal and deployed that capital to provide housing for thousands of bay area residents."

The Policy Fund is one of the innovative solutions created by the Partnership for the Bay's Future, providing resources and technical assistance to help local and regional governments create and successfully implement policies to enable more Bay Area residents to remain in their communities. To ensure community voice remained at the forefront, local non profit organizations and government worked closely together providing for an inclusive policy process. To date, 36 policies have been proposed and 13 have passed including the City of Berkeley's Preference Policy and Antioch's Cottage Communities on Faith-Owned Land.

In addition, the Family of Loan funds supports the production and preservation of affordable homes in five Bay Area counties and has raised nearly $600 million, surpassing its goal. The loan fund has facilitated over $404 million in investments, financing over 4,400 homes, with 90% of the units at 80% AMI and below and 50% of the units at or below 50% AMI. CZI provided the initial low cost, risk tolerant capital, incentivizing other funders to come onboard.

Managed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation Bay Area (LISC), these funds are designed to address the lack of affordable homesa reality that disproportionately impacts households of colorby bridging funding gaps throughout the region's rental housing market.

Unity Council CEO, Chris Iglesias and Silicon Valley Community Foundation CEO Nicole Taylor joined Priscilla Chan and Fred Blackwell on the panel 'Exploring the Power of Philanthropy in Equitable Housing' at the Partnership for the Bay's Future event commemorating five years at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco with hundreds of housing champions.

CZI's housing affordability program is working to improve housing affordability and access so people from all backgrounds and income levels can live, work, and thrive in California and beyond and was one of the early investors in Partnership for the Bay's Future contributing $50M to the fund.

About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 to help solve some of society's toughest challenges  from eradicating disease and improving education, to addressing the needs of our communities. Through collaboration, providing resources and building technology, our mission is to help build a more inclusive, just and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit chanzuckerberg.com .

About Partnership for the Bay's Future

PBF addresses the Bay Area's affordable housing crisis through innovative and equity-centered solutions. Its Policy Grants and the Family of Loan Funds initiatives have catalyzed significant progress in tenant protection, affordable housing preservation and production, and empowering underrepresented communities in policymaking. Cross-sector collaboration among government leaders, community groups, housing developers, and philanthropic and private organizations is a central tenet of PBF's approach. For more information, visit baysfuture.org.

SOURCE Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
PUNE, India, April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report titled "Chitosan Market by Product (Food Grade, Industrial Grade, Pharmaceutical Grade), Source (Crab, Krill, Shrimp), Packaging Material, Application - Global Forecast 2024-2030" is now available on 360iResearch.com's offering, presents an analysis indicating that the market projected to grow from a size of $1.75 billion in 2023 to reach $4.07 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 12.80% over the forecast period.

" Harnessing Nature's Potential for Sustainable Innovation Across Global Industries "

Chitosan is a versatile polysaccharide derived from a unique alkaline treatment process, and deacetylation is derived from the chitin in crustacean exoskeletons. Its properties, majorly biocompatibility, biodegradability, and antimicrobial effects, are garnering attention, fueling its demand across various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food & beverages, cosmetics, agriculture, and water treatment. The search for biodegradable alternatives has never been more pressing, spotlighting chitosan despite its production hurdles, including high costs and labor intensity associated with chitin extraction. Ongoing research refines chitosan's applications, enhancing its market potential. Chitosan is increasingly adopted, especially in pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications, while Germany, France, and the UK show robust market presence due to their thriving pharmaceutical sectors. Asia-Pacific, majorly in China, Japan, and South Korea, excels in chitosan production and utilization, pioneering its use in sustainable agriculture.

Download Sample Report @ https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/chitosan

" Chitosan Emerges as a Key Player in the Shift Toward Natural and Sustainable Solutions Across Industries "

In recent years, a visible shift in consumer preferences toward natural and sustainable products has significantly influenced various sectors, prominently highlighting chitosan as a leading material choice due to its natural origin and environmentally friendly properties. Chitosan, derived from the shells of crustaceans, offers a biodegradable, biocompatible, and non-toxic alternative that perfectly aligns with the increasing demands across the water treatment, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food & beverage industries. Recognized for its natural biopesticide properties and ability to enhance soil health, chitosan represents a move towards cleaner agricultural practices. In the healthcare and cosmetic sectors, chitosan's adaptability and eco-friendly characteristics cater to the growing consumer pursuit of products that are effective and conscientious of health and environmental welfare. This trend highlights chitosan's integral role in driving the market toward greener, sustainable innovations that resonate with contemporary consumer values.

" Chitosan: Versatility Across Industries from Food to Healthcare "

Chitosan, a versatile substance derived from chitin, is increasingly recognized for its significant applications in various sectors, particularly as a thickener and coagulant in the food and healthcare industries. For its use in food & beverage applications, chitosan is meticulously refined to meet high safety and quality standards, ensuring it is free from impurities for safe human consumption. In contrast, industrial-grade chitosan, used outside the food sector, experiences a less stringent refinement process. This form of chitosan offers functionality in wastewater treatment, textile manufacturing, cosmetic formulations, agriculture enhancements, and biotechnological innovations. Pharmaceutical-grade chitosan is subject to the most rigorous quality controls to affirm its purity and reliability in pharmaceutical and biomedical contexts. This versatile compound's ability to meet diverse requirements across industries highlights its growing importance and utility.

Request Analyst Support @ https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/chitosan

" Merck KGaA at the Forefront of Chitosan Market with a Strong 6.78% Market Share "

The key players in the Chitosan Market include ADVANCED BIOPOLYMERS AS, Merck KGaA, Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd., Golden-Shell Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., ChitoLytic, and others. These prominent players focus on strategies such as expansions, acquisitions, joint ventures, and developing new products to strengthen their market positions.

" Introducing ThinkMi: Revolutionizing Market Intelligence with AI-Powered Insights for the Chitosan Market "

We proudly unveil ThinkMi, a cutting-edge AI product designed to transform how businesses interact with the Chitosan Market. ThinkMi stands out as your premier market intelligence partner, delivering unparalleled insights with the power of artificial intelligence. Whether deciphering market trends or offering actionable intelligence, ThinkMi is engineered to provide precise, relevant answers to your most critical business questions. This revolutionary tool is more than just an information source; it's a strategic asset that empowers your decision-making with up-to-the-minute data, ensuring you stay ahead in the fiercely competitive Chitosan Market. Embrace the future of market analysis with ThinkMi, where informed decisions lead to remarkable growth.

Ask Question to ThinkMi @ https://app.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/chitosan

" Dive into the Chitosan Market Landscape: Explore 184 Pages of Insights, 384 Tables, and 24 Figures "

Preface Research Methodology Executive Summary Market Overview Market Insights Chitosan Market, by Product Chitosan Market, by Source Chitosan Market, by Packaging Material Chitosan Market, by Application Americas Chitosan Market Asia-Pacific Chitosan Market Europe , Middle East & Africa Chitosan Market Competitive Landscape Competitive Portfolio

Inquire Before Buying @ https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/chitosan

Related Reports:

About 360iResearch

Founded in 2017, 360iResearch is a market research and business consulting company headquartered in India, with clients and focus markets spanning the globe.

We are a dynamic, nimble company that believes in carving ambitious, purposeful goals and achieving them with the backing of our greatest asset  our people.

Quick on our feet, we have our ear to the ground when it comes to market intelligence and volatility. Our market intelligence is diligent, real-time and tailored to your needs, and arms you with all the insight that empowers strategic decision-making.

Our clientele encompasses about 80% of the Fortune Global 500, and leading consulting and research companies and academic institutions that rely on our expertise in compiling data in niche markets. Our meta-insights are intelligent, impactful and infinite, and translate into actionable data that support your quest for enhanced profitability, tapping into niche markets, and exploring new revenue opportunities.

Contact 360iResearch

Mr. Ketan Rohom

360iResearch Private Limited,

Office No. 519, Nyati Empress,

Opposite Phoenix Market City,

Vimannagar, Pune, Maharashtra,

India - 411014.

Email: [email protected]

USA: +1-530-264-8485

India: +91-922-607-7550

To learn more, visit 360iresearch.com or follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , and Facebook .

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2359256/360iResearch_Logo.jpg

SOURCE 360iResearch
Elevating Holocaust Education In Schools, Survivors Take Their Testimony Directly To The Classroom, Sharing Their Critical Testimony With Children And Young Adults.

NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) launched the Survivor Speakers Bureau (SSB), a vast program of over 270 Holocaust survivors willing and able to tell their critical stories to students around the world.

Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, said, "At a moment of dramatically rising antisemitism, this program tells the history and educates for the future. A Holocaust survivor speakers bureau of this scale and reach is unprecedented. Holocaust stories remain as important as ever, for both ends of the generational spectrum. Survivors continue to feel the enormous need to share their harrowing stories, and, encouragingly, schools continue to want to fill their rooms with living, eyewitness testimony."

Since its founding in 1951, the Claims Conference has been dedicated to securing a measure of justice for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. As a result of ongoing negotiations with the German government, the German government has paid more than $90 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. Just as important, the Claims Conference has secured increasing funding for Holocaust education as the need and desire for sustainable Holocaust education has been proven globally. Funding has increased year over year from 30 million for 2024, 35 million for 2025, 38 million for 2026 and 41 million for 2027.

Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, said, "It is more important than ever that every student in every school, regardless of where they are, have the opportunity to hear directly from the Holocaust survivors who are still with us. First-hand accounts are essential to maintaining Holocaust memory and go much further to ensure people understand the impact of bigotry, antisemitism, and unchecked hatred."

In a 50 state survey of Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in the United States, 64 percent of Millennials and Gen Z over the age of 18 believe that Holocaust education should be compulsory in school, and 80 percent of all respondents believe that it is important to continue teaching about the Holocaust, in part, so that it does not happen again.

Holocaust survivor Hanne Holsten, in the United States, said, "It is one thing to read about the Holocaust in a textbook, a few paragraphs about the global politics of World War II and the history of Europe. It is another thing altogether to sit with someone who was deported from their hometown, stripped of everything they own, made to live in hiding or to endure a concentration camp. If speaking directly with the few remaining survivors makes an impact for even one person, I am more than willing to participate."

The importance of making sure survivors have ample platforms to share their testimonies in the limited time that they have with audiences who want to hear them, is vital to the overall impact and success of Holocaust education.

The Claims Conference Survivor Speakers Bureau connects Holocaust survivors with students both virtually and in-person. There are many schools in countries that do not have access to survivors. In order to provide these experiences to both survivors and schools regardless of location, the option for virtual presentations is critical for a successful speakers bureau with truly global reach and will ensure first-hand testimony is accessible even in communities that have perhaps never had the opportunity to hear a survivor share their story.

Holocaust survivor Eva Szepesi, in Germany, said, "Holocaust education is crucial, especially given the current events happening around the world. My goal in sharing my own story of survival is and has always been to show the human impact, not just of the Holocaust, but of all the racist and hateful actions being taken in the world. If hearing my testimony helps one person understand that they too have a role in the events happening in their community, and they can stand up for what is right, then I feel it is worth it for me to go remember and share those terrible stories."

To request a survivor speaker, a school or social group must register their institution on the bureau's website: www.claimscon.org/Speakers. Once registered, they can fill out an event request which includes forms for audience size, average audience age and venue, as well as any special requests and requirements. The Claims Conference considers each request before connecting institutions or groups with survivors.

About the Claims Conference: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), a nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Israel, Germany and Austria, secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951 by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individuals and organizations and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. As a result of negotiations with the Claims Conference since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. In 2023, the Claims Conference distributed over $560 million in compensation to over 200,000 survivors in 83 countries and allocate over $750 million in grants to over 300 social service agencies worldwide that provide vital services for Holocaust survivors, such as home care, food and medicine. For 2024, the Claims Conference successfully negotiated approximately $535 million in compensation for survivors globally and $888 million for survivors' home health care needs.

For more information, please visit: www.claimscon.org

With Assistance from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.

SOURCE Claims Conference
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global connected car market size is estimated to grow by USD 172767.39 mn from 2023 to 2027, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 27.36% during the forecast period. North America held the largest share of the global market in 2022, and the market in the region is estimated to witness an incremental growth of 35%.

For more insights on the historic (2017 - 2021) and forecast market size (2023-2027) - Request a sample report To understand more about this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes!

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Connected Car Market 2023-2027

North America is expected to play a pivotal role in propelling the global connected car market

Geographic Landscape:

The Connected Car Market in North America is experiencing significant growth, driven by advanced features like lane-keep assist and the adoption of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) connectivity. Technology companies, such as Autoliv Inc., Accenture Plc, and Bosch, are investing in the US to develop V2V infrastructure with added security support. The transition to 5G network technology is revolutionizing the Connected Car sector, with 3G and 4G services being phased out due to their limited data transfer speed and bandwidth. Satellite and telematics enable real-time communication, consumer demand for comfort, convenience, performance, safety, and security. Car manufacturers and service providers collaborate to offer connectivity solutions, integrating sensors, processors, and technological advancements into production vehicles. Aftermarket solutions and remote control access via smartphones and internet services are also gaining popularity. The 5G Automotive Association is leading the way in standardizing these services. Maintenance costs are reduced through advanced diagnostics and fleet management. Lightweight and advanced suspension systems further enhance the Connected Car experience. Telecommunication companies play a crucial role in providing reliable network services during this transition phase.

Research Analysis

The Connected Car Market is experiencing significant growth due to the integration of advanced technologies such as ADAS features, Blind Spot Detection, and Lane-keep assist. Technology companies are investing heavily in Vehicle Infotainment systems, enabling real-time communication through 3G, 4G, and soon, 5G networks. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication is also gaining traction, reducing vehicle downtime and enhancing safety and security. Car manufacturers and service providers are collaborating to offer aftermarket connectivity solutions, focusing on performance, safety, and consumer demand. The 5G Automotive Association is leading the charge towards autonomous cars, ensuring seamless network technology integration. Satellite communication is another key area of exploration, providing uninterrupted connectivity. Online platforms are increasingly becoming essential for vehicle production, development, and maintenance. The future of the Connected Car Market lies in delivering superior connectivity solutions to meet the evolving needs of consumers.

Market Drivers

In the rapidly evolving automotive industry, connected cars are revolutionizing the way we drive. Consumer demand for real-time communication and advanced features is driving car manufacturers and service providers to integrate online platforms and connectivity solutions. Sensors and processors are key components of these systems, enabled by technological advancements. During the production of vehicles, 3G/4G services facilitate data transfer between telecommunication companies and cars. High-speed data transfer and ample bandwidth are essential for telematics, enabling remote control access, infotainment, GPS tracking, and advanced diagnostics. Connected car services offer significant benefits, including fleet management, maintenance schedules, and diagnostic systems. Real-time monitoring of smoke emission and fuel consumption helps optimize maintenance cost. Lightweight suspension systems and advanced suspension systems are enhanced by connectivity, improving vehicle performance and reducing production costs. As we transition into this new era, smartphones and internet services become integral components of connected cars, offering seamless integration and convenience. Embedded connectivity solutions ensure reliable and efficient communication between car components and external networks.

Market Overview

The Connected Car Market is experiencing significant growth, driven by advanced technologies such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. ADAS systems, featuring predictive technology and real-time traffic information, are becoming increasingly common. Autonomous vehicles are also gaining traction, with companies investing heavily in developing self-driving cars. The market is further propelled by the integration of infotainment systems, enabling features like voice recognition and hands-free control. The use of cloud computing and big data analytics is transforming the way cars are maintained and serviced. The future of the Connected Car Market holds promise for enhanced safety, improved efficiency, and a more convenient driving experience.

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Related Reports:

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Vendor Landscape

11 Vendor Analysis

12 Appendix

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
Annual Initiative to Promote Industry Safety Runs May 6-10

MINNEAPOLIS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "Construction Safety Week" is celebrating its first 10 years as the construction industry's annual week-long, safety-focused event, designed to promote worker safety and wellness. It's an opportunity for people, companies, and the entire industry to join, celebrate and recommit to doing whatever it takes to send everyone home safe every day. In 2024, Construction Safety Week will be held from May 6-10.

This year, Construction Safety Week is partnering with OSHA and its National Safety Stand-down initiative to help prevent falls in construction, which is a leading cause of injury to workers. This joint effort encourages companies to pause work sites throughout the U.S. during Construction Safety Week from May 6-10 to create the largest industry-wide safety stand-down ever held.

Over the past ten years, the construction industry, which traditionally has higher than average incident rates compared to other occupations, has made considerable strides in prioritizing and committing to safety. The 2024 Construction Safety Week theme, Value Every Voice, is designed to connect and strengthen the message throughout the industry. The theme explores four components: driving personal ownership, encouraging and welcoming new ideas, embracing every voice, and strengthening our safety culture. Construction Safety Week provides related content for companies to plan activities, conversations and demonstrations with their teams.

"Construction Safety Week kicked off 10 years ago with a mission to make the industry safer for all workers. Over the years, the theme of this week-long initiative has evolved and strengthened the message that every person in the industry plays an essential role in safety," said Dan Johnson, Mortenson Chief Executive Officer and 2024 Safety Week Chair. "We encourage everyone participating in Construction Safety Week to extend their commitment and dedication to safety outside of this one week and implement higher safety standards throughout the year."

Ahead of the 2024 Construction Safety Week kickoff, workers and companies across the industry are encouraged to participate in the My Voice, My Vote Giveaway between April 8 - May 9. This year's Giveaway encourages workers and companies across the construction industry to vote for the reason that represents why they are committed to valuing every voice. It also asks participants to share how they demonstrate this commitment in the workplace for a chance to win a $1000 grand prize. Company participation rankings, live voting results, and more will be available at www.constructionsafetyweek.com/vote.

All workers and companies in the construction industry are invited and encouraged to participate in Construction Safety Week 2024. Free resources are available on the Construction Safety Week website and include promotional materials, discussion topics, event ideas, videos, at-home activities for families and materials translated into Spanish and French. Find these free tools at constructionsafetyweek.com .

About

Construction Safety Week is an annual event designed to raise awareness of the industry's ongoing commitment to building a culture of safety through sharing best practices, tools and resources at job sites and offices across the U.S. and Canada. Safety Week was founded by members of The Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI) and the Incident & Injury Free Executive Forum (IIF) and now includes 70 of the top contractors in the industry, representing thousands of workers. Additional support comes from Safety Week sponsors, partners, and advocates.

2024 Safety Week Members

Alberici, Aldridge, Allan Myers, APi Group, Atkinson Construction, Austin, Baker Construction, Barnard, Barton Malow, Black & Veatch, BMWC Constructors, Boh Bros., Branch, Brasfield and Gorrie, Caddell, Cashman, Clark, CNA, doka, DPR Construction, Eldeco, Flintco, Fluor, Forgen, Gaylor Electric, Gilbane, GPRS, Graham, Granite, Gray, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, Haskell. Hensel Phelps, Herzog, Hoffman, Holder, Hydro Temp, J.F. Shea, JE Dunn, Kiewit, Manson, Massman Construction Co,, McCarthy, Mortenson, New South Construction, PC Construction, PCL Construction, Phillips & Jordan, Rodgers, Rosendin, Schuchart, Shimmick, Skanska, Stacy Witbeck, Sukut Construction, Sundt, Superior, Terracon, The Cianbro Companies, The Lane Group, The Middlesex Corporation, Walsh, Traylor Bros, Turner, Villager Construction, Yates Construction, Webcor, and Zachry.

2024 Safety Week Sponsors

Signature Sponsor: AGC of America

Additional Sponsors: AON, Autodesk Construction Cloud, Chubb, Construction Industry Round Table, CURT, DeWalt- Stanley Black & Decker, EMC Insurance, Fastenal, KASK, Milwaukee Tool, National Academy of Construction, NAXSA, NTT Data, The Beavers, The Moles, Travelers, and Zurich.

SOURCE Construction Safety Week
News / National

by Staff reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday extended the begging bowl to raise over US$2 billion to avert starvation in Zimbabwe after declaring the El Nino-induced drought a state of disaster.The SOS comes after Zimbabwe appeared to be throwing money like confetti pampering ministers, judges, lawmakers and chiefs."Preliminary assessments show that Zimbabwe requires in excess of US$2 billion towards various interventions we envisage in the spectrum of our national response," Mnangagwa said.Zimbabwe faces a tough hurdle to mobilise resources from donor agencies and development partners with two sister countries in the region  Zambia and Malawi  having declared a state of disaster putting pressure on the cake that is getting smaller due to global challenges.Emmerson MnangagwaIn a statement declaring the state of disaster yesterday, Mnangagwa said 80% of Zimbabwe received below normal rainfall.He said the country had put 1 728 897 hectares under maize crop and other cereals during the 2023/24 agricultural season.According to the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee Report for 2023, approximately 2,7 million people are expected to be food insecure from April 2023 until the end of March this year.In declaring the state of disaster, Mnangagwa extended a begging bowl to Zimbabweans of goodwill, including those in the diaspora, the international community, United Nations agencies, development and humanitarian partners and international financial institutions.He urged the private sector, churches and other faith-based organisations and individuals to donate towards alleviating the national disaster.Mnangagwa's statement comes after Zambia and Malawi made similar declarations with Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera indicating that his country needs US$200 million to ensure food security.Mnangagwa said: "We are ordinarily a nation capable of feeding ourselves. The strategic grain reserve holds 189 505 metric tonnes of cereals. This constitutes 145 604 metric tonnes of maize and 43 964 metric tonnes of traditional grains."He said government had allocated 138 905 tonnes of surplus wheat towards the strategic grain reserve."This will give a combined total of about 356 000 metric tonnes of cereals in our strategic grain reserve," Mnangagwa said.He said Zimbabwe was expecting 868 273 tonnes of grains from the 2023/24 agricultural season with a food cereal deficit of nearly 680 000 metric tonnes of grains.Zimbabwe requires at least 2,2 million metric tonnes of grains annually to ensure food security.Emmerson MnangagwaThe deficit, Mnangagwa said, would be bridged by imports, adding that the government had put in place measures to encourage private sector participation."Top on our priorities is securing food for all Zimbabweans. No Zimbabwean must succumb to or die from hunger. Adequate resources will, therefore, be mobilised and re-directed towards national food security, including through supplementary grain imports."All available grain in the country will be secured through competitive prices and payment towards encouraging farmers to release and sell available grain, including to the Grain Marketing Board. A robust and responsive mechanism has been put in place to guarantee that food reaches needy communities timely," Mnangagwa said.His appeal comes after the government, which was being warned of the impending drought since last year, had been claiming that it has enough grain to last for the next 10 months despite revelations that the national silos were almost empty.The President said the agriculture mechanisation and modernisation programme would continue until most of small-holder farmers upgrade their operations.He said the government would also prioritise the provision of adequate drinking water to people, livestock and wildlife, adding that food security was linked with water security at household, community and national levels.Safe water sources which are drying up in many areas must be replaced through an accelerated exploitation of ground water, Mnangagwa said."More boreholes continue to be drilled under the Presidential Borehole Drilling Programme to ensure adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, to avert water-borne diseases, including cholera, typhoid and dysentery."Zimbabwe is battling a cholera outbreak which has spread throughout the country with experts warning of a surge in the new cases in the absence of water.Mnangagwa said priority would also be given to saving livestock.Farmers will be supported to prevent deaths or distress sales of livestock, he said.Zimbabwe has lost over 9 000 cattle to drought with over 1,4 million reported to be at high risk due to lack of pastures and water, according to USAid's food security arm.The current El Nino-induced drought saw Zimbabwe and other southern African countries suffering a record dryness and high temperatures in February resulting in severe moisture stress, reduced harvest potential and crop failure.It is also anticipated that Zimbabwe will have significantly below average harvests across the country negatively impact food access and crop sales.
"People matter most, always. The professionals from Lone Peak will be integral to the long-term success of M&S." Post this

Lone Peak provides independent valuations of business enterprises and intangible assets, forensic accounting, and other litigation services including damages calculations and expert witness testimony. The professionals at Lone Peak, primarily certified public accountants ("CPA"), include accredited senior appraisers in business valuation, ("ASA" or "ABV"), certified fraud examiners ("CFE"), certified in financial forensics ("CFF") and certified financial crime investigators ("CFCI").

"Our team found like-minded partners at Marshall & Stevens," said Rick Hoffman, Managing Director, and a Co-Founder of Lone Peak. "We formed Lone Peak in 2008 with a desire to approach every client matter with the utmost focus, attention to detail, and high quality service. I am proud to say we have been successful in meeting these goals and we will continue in this manner with Marshall & Stevens. Joining Marshall & Stevens allows us to offer a more robust portfolio of valuation services to our clients and referral sources, including fund valuations, securities, equipment and real estate appraisals, and Fairness Opinions. Marshall & Stevens expands Lone Peak's resources in the areas of financial reporting, estate and gift tax reporting, and in the energy and infrastructure arenas."

Law firms, courts, public and private companies, investors, governmental agencies, and other disputing parties across the US have engaged Lone Peak to assist with challenging matters. Lone Peak's specialists consult and testify on matters involving economic damages, business valuations, partnership disputes, divorce, personal injury, and fraud.

"People matter most, always. The professionals from Lone Peak will be integral to the long-term success of Marshall & Stevens," said Mark Santarsiero, President, and CEO of Marshall & Stevens. "Our goal as a company is to provide a platform for personal and career growth for our employees, and to provide high-quality, independent valuation opinions, investigative accounting, and dispute consulting services to the public and private parties we serve."

The addition of Lone Peak increases the capabilities and expertise of Marshall & Stevens' Dispute Resolution and Expert Witness practice, including highly respected consulting experts, expert witnesses, and special masters related to damages in commercial and civil litigations. The Lone Peak team also brings a unique perspective to Marshall & Stevens' Financial Valuation practice, applying their extensive dispute resolution experience to the analyses they perform.

MARSHALL & STEVENS

Public companies, private enterprises, investors, and trusted advisors rely on Marshall & Stevens to assist with the planning, execution, and reporting of important corporate and personal transactions, compliance, and matters of dispute.

Founded in 1932, our in-house professionals include specialists in Fairness Opinions, Solvency Opinions, valuations of businesses, debt and equity, intangible assets, equipment, and real estate, as well as investigative accounting, damages calculations, and expert witness testimony.

Marshall & Stevens recently acquired two Salt Lake City based firms that specialize in dispute resolution and financial advisory services. The acquisition of Rocky Mountain Advisory was announced last month.

For more information about Marshall & Stevens, visit marshall-stevens.com.

Marshall & Stevens Contact

Ralph Consola

Principal & Practice Leader

213.233.1511

[email protected]

Lone Peak Valuation Group Contact

Rick Hoffman, CPA/ABV

Managing Director

801-321-6334

[email protected]

SOURCE Marshall & Stevens
Transaction expands firm's capabilities, offering business leaders the critical economic information, insight, analysis to inform business decisions

CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, has entered into an agreement with ITR Economics, the oldest privately held, continuously operating economic research and consulting firm in the U.S., for the ITR team to become part of Crowe. The transaction will enhance and expand Crowe's strategic advisory capabilities  offering economic insights and analysis to complement the firm's existing portfolio of traditional consulting and deal advisory services. ITR Economics will operate as a subsidiary of Crowe upon completion of the transaction.

ITR Economics will operate as a subsidiary of Crowe upon completion of the transaction

"ITR is a well-established firm with a proven track record of nearly 95% accurate forecasts and delivering exceptional client insights and intelligence that empower business leaders to make informed decisions in this ever-changing business environment," said Chad Kellar, leader of Crowe's Strategy & Transactions consulting business. "Adding the ITR team and capabilities allows us to enhance the value we bring to our clients and play a more meaningful role across their value chains. We're very excited to welcome the ITR team to the Crowe family."

ITR Economics services include market and industry forecasting, sales and demand forecasting, and strategic and budget planning. Adding these capabilities to Crowe's robust portfolio of consulting offerings  including performance improvement, risk consulting, deal advisory, legal and compliance, business transformation, and more - will further enable the firm to maximize business value for its clients and guide them through an evolving marketplace. "Our ability to provide deep industry expertise alongside economic insights and analysis will help our clients unlock their full potential," Kellar added.

"The opportunity to join Crowe and its comprehensive, multi-disciplinary business provides an exciting opportunity to serve clients in new and different ways while also creating additional professional opportunities for ITR employees," said Brian Beaulieu, CEO of ITR Economics. "We take great pride in what we've built over our 76-year history, and we firmly believe joining Crowe will allow us to expand our reach and market capabilities while also joining a proven leader in consulting."

About Crowe

Crowe LLP is a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm that uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities. The firm and its subsidiaries also help clients make smart decisions that lead to lasting value with its tax and consulting services, helping businesses uncover hidden opportunities in the market  no matter what challenges the markets present. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the best places to work in the U.S. As an independent member of Crowe Global, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world, Crowe serves clients worldwide. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries around the world.

LinkedIn: Crowe

SOURCE Crowe LLP
Ruben Davidoff, an exceptional leader, attorney, and community advocate, has been at the forefront of the firm's success.

NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Davidoff Law, a leading law firm specializing in personal injury cases, is thrilled to announce the opening of their new location in Manhattan. As the firm expands its reach, it has garnered high praise from prominent individuals within the legal profession and the community.

Operating out of the prestigious landmark building, One Grand Central Place, located at 60 East 42 Street, New York, NY, the new office is conveniently situated directly across from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on the 9th floor, suite 910.

Ruben Davidoff Founder & CEO of Davidoff Law

Ruben Davidoff , a remarkable individual who excels as a leader, attorney, and community advocate, has received accolades for his contributions to the legal profession and his active engagement in various community initiatives. David Weprin, New York State Representative Assemblyman for District 24, commends Ruben's dedication to addressing a wide range of issues and recognizes him as an invaluable asset.

In addition to Ruben's outstanding reputation, Davidoff Law has also received glowing testimonials regarding their expertise and professionalism. Jonathan Riegel, Director of the Queens County Bar Association, expressed his admiration for Ruben Davidoff, highlighting his intelligence, creativity, insightfulness, and professionalism. Riegel further emphasized the significant contributions Ruben has made to the Queens County Bar Association, greatly enriching the organization.

With a long-standing presence in Queens County, Davidoff Law has now expanded into Manhattan, solidifying their commitment to serving the community. The firm specializes in personal injury cases, including construction site accidents, airline accidents, truck and car accidents, pedestrian accidents, slip/trip and fall incidents, and premises liability. However, their expansion presents an opportunity to extend their services to clients with diverse legal matters as well.

"I am dedicated to serving not only our clients but also the community as a whole. Giving back and making a positive impact is a core value of mine," states Ruben Davidoff, founder, CEO, and personal injury attorney at Davidoff Law. "I believe in the importance of using my skills and resources to support those in need and contribute to the betterment of society. Whether it's through providing pro-bono legal services, supporting non-profit organizations, or actively participating in community initiatives, I am committed to making a positive difference. It is not only about achieving success in the courtroom but also about making a lasting impact on the lives of individuals and the community as a whole."

The new location at 60 East 42 St., Suite 910, officially opened its doors on March 25, 2024. To celebrate this milestone, Davidoff Law will be hosting a release party on May 9th. This event will mark the official launch of their new law firm location, which is dedicated to serving the community.

About Davidoff Law: Davidoff Law is a leading personal injury law firm specializing in a wide range of cases and all legal matters. With a commitment to exceptional legal representation and community engagement, Davidoff Law has earned a reputation for providing dedicated service and obtaining favorable outcomes for clients.

Media Contact:

Liana Zavo

212-814-7176

[email protected]

SOURCE Davidoff Law
LabArchives customers will benefit from industry-leading data security practices including higher-level encryption, vulnerability scanning, audits, and more

BOSTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dotmatics , a leader in R&D scientific software connecting science, data, and decision-making, today announced that its LabArchives for Government solution has achieved the "In-Process" designation granted by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). LabArchives' FedRAMP application is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). LabArchives lets organizations securely organize, search, and share data in a powerful electronic lab notebook (ELN) that supports scientific research and breakthroughs. The news is a critical milestone on the path to attaining FedRAMP authorization. LabArchives for Government is now listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace and will operate as a trusted partner to federal agencies upon authorization.

FedRAMP is the U.S. government program that provides a safe, standardized approach to security and risk assessment for cloud technologies. The rigorous authorization process requires an in-depth examination of LabArchives data security and data governance capabilities, development processes, security procedures, and policies, and its cloud services technology.

Dotmatics LabArchives for Government solution achieved "In-Process" designation granted by FedRAMP Post this

"Scientists and their teams are racing to digitize information and make analytics-at-scale a possibility, however it's critical that their organizations can uphold the integrity and security of the data generated throughout its lifecycle, while enabling research collaboration," said Matt Dunie, President of LabArchives. "The U.S. federal government has incredibly high security standards for cloud technologies, which is why the FedRAMP Marketplace is the sole source for all federal agencies seeking authorized solutions. FedRAMP authorization for LabArchives will mean that our ELN, Inventory and Scheduler products meet all FedRAMP requirements and demonstrates Dotmatics' commitment to the highest standards of security and reliability."

The Path to FedRAMP

LabArchives made a decision in 2019 to build on its existing technological solutions and integrated commercially-reasonable information security as a key product feature set. The company began a multi-year journey to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data stored within the system. LabArchives elevated the security posture of all parts of the organizationfrom processes to policies, certifications to coding standardsresulting in SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications. FedRAMP is the next, and most difficult, stage of this journey. The company plans to achieve StateRAMP authorization as part of an independent process at a later date.

To obtain "In Process" status with FedRAMP, LabArchives has collaborated with two institutes in the NIH, including the official sponsoring agency, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The NIH is the single largest funding source for scientific research, fueling $38 billion of research grants.

In 2022, LabArchives secured a license for 1,000 users on a pilot basis at NCI. The following year, LabArchives became the first ELN licensed for agency-wide use at the NIH with a new license for 4,000 users available to all NIH scientists.

Introducing LabArchives for Government

In recent years, government and state agencies such as the White House Office of Science and Technology, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and National Archives and Records Administration have all issued recommendations, requirements, and regulations mandating that certain data must be kept in various levels of secure systems and that certain data be converted from print to electronic format. LabArchives products support those guidelines, and add significant end-user workflow tools to make the products more useful than an unstructured, native storage solution.

LabArchives for Government offers the same secure, cloud-hosted LabArchives products customized to satisfy additional NIST 800-53 requirements, approved by federal government agencies, and placed within an authorized environment. The solution includes three applications: LabArchives ELN, Inventory and Scheduler.

LabArchives ELN is a digital notebook and workspace for better data management, connectivity, and collaboration.





is a digital notebook and workspace for better data management, connectivity, and collaboration. LabArchives Inventory streamlines the organization, usage, tracking, and ordering of inventory items.





streamlines the organization, usage, tracking, and ordering of inventory items. LabArchives Scheduler is an easy-to-use calendar and scheduling software for the management and scheduling of laboratory equipment and resources.

LabArchives for Government will operate separately from all other LabArchives cloud sites, however, many of the added controls necessary to achieve FedRAMP authorization will also benefit commercial LabArchives customers. These include government-grade encryption at all levels of the system, further improvement of LabArchives' "security by design" approach to product development, more comprehensive documentation of policies and procedures, additional vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, and more extensive reviews by a certified third-party assessor.

Forward-Looking Statements

This article contains forward-looking statements that are intended to outline our general product strategy. It is intended for informational purposes only and speaks only as of the date the statements are first published. It is not a commitment to deliver any functionality and should not be relied upon for making purchase decisions. You should not put any contractual reliance on these statements. The development, release, and timing of any products or capabilities remains at the sole discretion of Dotmatics.

No representation or warranty, express or implied, is provided in relation to the fairness, accuracy, correctness, completeness or reliability of the information, opinions or conclusions expressed herein. Only those representations or warranties that are made in or pursuant to one or more definitive agreements involving the parties will have any legal effect.

About LabArchives

LabArchives is a suite of SaaS applications dedicated to better science used by more than 750,000 scientists to manage and protect research data, inventories and laboratory resources. LabArchives products help scientists document their research data, prove and protect discovery, and collaborate securely. Used in more than 500 of the world's leading research academic, commercial and government research organizations, and thousands of lab courses, LabArchives is a leading research data management SaaS application platform.

About Dotmatics

Dotmatics is a leader in R&D scientific software connecting science, data, and decision-making. Its enterprise R&D platform and scientists' favorite applications drive efficiency and accelerate innovation. More than 2 million scientists and 10,000 customers trust Dotmatics to help them create a healthier, cleaner, safer world. Dotmatics is a global team of more than 800 people dedicated to supporting its customers in over 180 countries. The company's principal office is in Boston, with 14 offices and R&D teams located around the world.

Dotmatics is backed by Insight Partners , a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software scaleup companies. Learn more about Dotmatics, its platform, and applications including GraphPad Prism, Geneious, SnapGene, Protein Metrics, and LabArchives at https://www.dotmatics.com .

SOURCE Dotmatics Inc
Free Virtual Summit Hosted by Leading Neurologists Offers Hope and Empowerment for Parkinson's Community

Key Takeaways:

The Parkinson's Solutions Summit 2.0 is a premier virtual event that aims to equip patients and their caregivers with knowledge and tools to manage and combat the disease effectively.

is a premier virtual event that aims to equip patients and their caregivers with knowledge and tools to manage and combat the disease effectively. Gain insights into holistic management strategies and treatment options from renowned neurologists and dozens of experts.

Open to everyone and free of charge, this summit makes vital knowledge accessible to everyone seeking real solutions to regain control of their lives.

CARLSBAD, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DrTalks , a leading platform dedicated to advancing health, wellness, and medicine education, is set to launch The Parkinson's Solutions Summit 2.0 . This groundbreaking virtual event, happening from November 5 to 11, 2024, offers participants insights into holistic management strategies and treatment options from renowned neurologists and dozens of experts in related fields.

The Parkinson's Solutions Summit 2.0 will feature various topics, including advanced tests, optimal lifestyle changes, and other holistic strategies to prevent or manage the condition. It will be hosted by two of the most recognizable experts in neurology: Kenneth Sharlin, MD , and Barbara Pickut, MD, MPH .

Dr. Sharlin is a beacon of hope in the area of neurology and functional medicine. His vast experience encompasses treating complex neurological conditions, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. He is also the founder of Sharlin Health and Neurology, where he's created a refuge that ranks among the top neuroscience centers in the country. He emphasizes treating the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases rather than just finding band-aid solutions for symptoms.

is a beacon of hope in the area of neurology and functional medicine. His vast experience encompasses treating complex neurological conditions, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. He is also the founder of Sharlin Health and Neurology, where he's created a refuge that ranks among the top neuroscience centers in the country. He emphasizes treating the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases rather than just finding band-aid solutions for symptoms. Dr. Pickut is a neurologist and movement disorders specialist. She has a double board certification in neurology and neuro-rehabilitation at the University of Antwerp in Belgium . Dr. Pickut served as chief of neurology at the Mercy Health Saint Mary's Hospital, where she was the medical director and director of research for Parkinson's and Movement Disorders. She is also an expert in mindful meditation, having conducted research into the correlation between mindful meditation and the reduction of symptoms of Parkinson's.

The Parkinson's Solutions Summit 2.0 serves as another springboard in their mission to give hope and support to people with this disease to enable them to take control of their lives. Participants will be given access to a wealth of free resources and have the opportunity to engage directly with leading experts to address their unique challenges.

This summit is more than just an event. It's a community coming together to share, learn, and support each other in the journey to regaining control of their lives. Participation is free, ensuring that everyone has access to this life-changing information.

For more information about this summit and to register for free, please visit https://drtalks.com/parkinsons-summit/ .

About DrTalks:

DrTalks brings together some of the most sought-after leaders on the front lines of health, wellness, and medicine. Get on-demand access to talks, summits, and morestraight from the source.

The goal of DrTalks.com is to empower one billion people to get educated on their serious health conditions, and The Parkinson's Solutions Summit 2.0 is a crucial step toward achieving that goal. To learn more about DrTalks, visit our newsroom at https://drtalks.com/newsroom .

Press Contact:

Mila Grandes

Head of Content

+1 (825) 945 - 2667

[email protected]

Calgary, Canada

SOURCE DrTalks
CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today announced it has reached an agreement to sell its 50% ownership interest in Pioneer Transmission LLC (Pioneer) to John Laing Group (John Laing), an international investor and active manager of core infrastructure assets.

Pioneer, a joint venture with American Electric Power (AEP), is a 42.5-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission line with its associated substation assets. The line was placed in service in 2018 and extends from Greentown Station to Reynolds Station  west of Lafayette, Ind. Pioneer is independent of Duke Energy Indiana.

Duke Energy will use the proceeds from the sale to invest in its clean energy transition in its state-regulated utilities.

The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

BMO Capital Markets is serving as financial advisor to Duke Energy for this transaction. Holland & Hart LLP is serving as legal counsel to Duke Energy.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition, keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and advanced nuclear.

More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.

Forward-Looking Information

This document includes 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. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "continue," "should," "could," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "will," "potential," "forecast," "target," "outlook," "guidance," and similar expressions. Various factors may cause actual results to be materially different than the suggested outcomes within forward-looking statements; accordingly, there is no assurance that such results will be realized. These risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Duke Energy's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and subsequent quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than Duke Energy has described. Duke Energy expressly disclaims an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media contact; Gillian Moore

24-hour media line: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy
Energy harvesting PMICs prove a sustainable alternative to primary-battery power across many connected applications.

LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE, Belgium, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- e-peas, a leader in energy harvesting power management technology, invites engineers to its booth located Hall 4A -301 at Embedded World 2024 to see just how easy it is to use e-peas PMICs to power wirelessly connected designs using harvested ambient energy. With complete ecosystem solutions for efficient power conversion, storage, and delivery using ambient light, thermal, or RF energy, e-peas and its partners provide a single point of contact for designers looking to move towards a greener IoT with a smaller PCB footprint, downsized storage element, and maintenance-free operation.

This year, e-peas will be showcasing its collaboration with several industry-leading partners in the fields of wireless Systems-on-Chip (SoCs), energy harvesting sources, and energy storage elements. Championing the shift from disposable batteries to sustainable energy, these efforts will be demonstrated with real-world design examples from five key application areas that have shown proven sustainability improvements by using e-peas technology: asset tracking, electronic shelf labels, PC peripherals, IoT sensors, and remote control units.

Strong relationships with several established wireless SoC vendors also position e-peas as an ideal partner for building batteryless designs that support Bluetooth LE 5.4, sub-GHz radio , proprietary protocols, Matter, and more. This confidence in e-peas' ability to convert ambient energy into a primary power source for real-world designs is highlighted by the presence of e-peas devices on the latest evaluation boards from these companies. These EVKs will also be displayed on e-peas' booth.

Geoffroy Gosset, CEO and co-founder of e-peas, stated: "e-peas PMICs ideally complement industry-leading wireless SoCs and other parts of the energy harvesting ecosystem to optimise the overall performance of our customer applications. Partnering with true experts in every aspect of the design means that e-peas focuses on creating the best PMICs to suit specific application requirements so that engineers don't need to compromise on efficiency. e-peas is delivering tens of millions of units of its products to the mass market to support designs where a reliance on primary batteries can be alleviated or overcome entirely."

e-peas looks forward to working with innovators in emerging technologies across many application areas and has just completed a new round of funding, solidifying investor confidence in e-peas' mission to create an energy-autonomous IoT. See the complete design journey from PMIC to end product on booth 4A-301 at the Embedded World Exhibition & Conference on 9-11 April at Nuremburg Messe, Germany.

About e-peas: e-peas develops and markets disruptive ultra-low power semiconductor technology. This enables industrial and IoT wireless product designers to substantially extend battery lifespans and eliminate the heavy call-out costs of replacing batteries, without in any way compromising on reliability. Relying on 15 years of research and patented intellectual property, the company's products increase the amount of harvested energy and drastically reduce the energy consumption of all power consuming blocks within wireless sensor nodes. Headquartered in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, with additional offices in Switzerland and the USA, e-peas offers a portfolio of energy harvesting power management interface ICs, microcontrollers, and sensor solutions.

For more information, please visit e-peas' website at https://www.e-peas.com, or contact us at [email protected]

SOURCE e-peas
JACKSON, Miss., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP) (the "Company" or "EastGroup") announced today that it will hold its First Quarter Earnings Conference Call and Webcast on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. On the call, Marshall Loeb, CEO, and Brent Wood, CFO, will discuss the Company's first quarter results, current operations, and earnings outlook for 2024.

EastGroup plans to release financial results for the quarter after the market closes on April 23, 2024. The earnings release and supplemental information package will be posted on the Company's website, www.eastgroup.net, at that time.

A live broadcast of the conference call is available by dialing 1-800-836-8184 (conference ID EastGroup) or by webcast through a link on the Company's website at www.eastgroup.net. If you are unable to listen to the live conference call, a telephone and webcast replay will be available on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The telephone replay will be available until Wednesday, May 1, 2024, and can be accessed by dialing 1-888-660-6345 (access code 35571#). The replay of the webcast can be accessed through a link on the Company's website at www.eastgroup.net and will be available until Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

EastGroup, a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder value by being a leading provider in its markets of functional, flexible and quality business distribution space for location sensitive customers (primarily in the 20,000 to 100,000 square foot range). The Company's strategy for growth is based on ownership of premier distribution facilities generally clustered near major transportation features in supply-constrained submarkets. EastGroup's portfolio, including development projects and value-add acquisitions in lease-up and under construction, currently includes approximately 59.7 million square feet.

EastGroup Properties, Inc. press releases are available at www.eastgroup.net .

SOURCE EastGroup Properties
New platform leverages cutting edge technology for advertisers to reach consumers in over 100 unique venue types

LOS ANGELES, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VenuEx, a first-of-its-kind venue-centric audience platform, is revolutionizing TV Out-of-Home (TVOOH) leveraging the programmatic infrastructure of ElementalTV, a pioneer in advertising technology. VenuEx is now available to advertisers nationwide, featuring an extensive, integrated exchange of over 800,000 screens that offer unparalleled audience scale and hyper-targeted advertising opportunities for brands.

The expansive VenuEx network spans all 210 designated market areas (DMAs) in the U.S. and includes over 100 unique venue types, including retail outlets, airports, gyms, restaurants & bars, healthcare practice waiting rooms, gas stations, college campuses, and a multitude of other venue types. Through VenuEx's innovative venue-based, audience-targeting platform, advertisers can now engage with audiences by accessing thousands of screens located in contextually relevant environments. VenuEx eliminates the legacy pain points associated with fragmented TVOOH channels with a comprehensive, unified solution that enables advertisers to optimize campaigns programmatically and achieve maximum ROI.

Tony Patel, General Manager of VenuEx, brings over two decades of digital media experience to the TVOOH front. In his most recent leadership role, Tony spearheaded the Programmatic Trading division at Loop TV. A recognized thought leader and trusted advisor in the evolving Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) landscape, he now brings his expertise as an innovator to TVOOH.

"ElementalTV serves as the perfect springboard for VenuEx with a differentiated formula of key DMP+DSP+SSP features, combining traditional audience segments with contextually relevant data to ensure a holistic and precise audience target," Tony remarked on VenuEx's synergistic relationship with ElementalTV. "In addition to delivering scale and geographical footprint, VenuEx aims to leverage ElementalTV's robust CTV audience activation capabilities, deep data insights, and supply relationships to help advertisers achieve unrivaled campaign success."

Emphasizing the strategic significance of incorporating TVOOH into advertisers' CTV budgets, Tony expressed, "We are on the cusp of DOOH's transition to TVOOH. Major programmatic ad budgets already transact via CTV; however, there's a glaring need to modernize traditional DOOH to TVOOH/CTVOOH with increasing research indicating the magnitude of the medium's impact on influencing brand perception among an often captive audience."

Today, nearly half (45%) of American adults say they notice OOH advertising more than before the pandemic. Beyond its unskippable nature, TVOOH is a powerful, premium advertising medium that delivers extensive reach, engagement, targeting, and measurement. A small 15% allocation of an existing CTV budget to TVOOH can result in up to double the total audience reach. Advertisers can amplify their campaign impact by integrating TVOOH into their cross-channel advertising strategies.

"The launch of VenuEx underscores the growing significance of TVOOH (aka CTV-DOOH) advertising in today's fragmented media landscape," remarked Brian Bloodgood, Head of Sales at Loop TV. "Leveraging the context of venues to enhance the effectiveness of brand messages, advertisers will now have unprecedented, programmatic access to their target audiences at scale. Loop TV is proud to be a key partner in powering VenuEx's rapidly growing network of in-venue screens primed to attract premium demand."

VenuEx's integration with the industry's top Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) and Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) streamlines the process of accessing TVOOH inventory at an unprecedented scale. Through this seamless integration, advertisers can leverage programmatic buying capabilities to efficiently reach their target audiences and drive campaign success.

Eric Spielman, Chief Strategy Officer at Atmosphere TV expressed his excitement saying, "Atmosphere TV is thrilled to partner with VenuEx to bring unprecedented scale to venue-based audience curation for TVOOH. Gone are the days of premium TVOOH supply being lumped together with DOOH, as more and more data depicts the high ROI derived from activating TVOOH supply and reaching consumers in public spaces and venues with high dwell times through CTV devices. As the industry shifts towards this convergence between CTV and TVOOH, VenuEx is well-positioned to drive meaningful results for advertisers seeking to amplify their campaign impact through cross-channel strategies."

As the TVOOH landscape evolves, VenuEx is focused on providing advertisers with innovative solutions to connect with consumers in meaningful ways. VenuEx's vast network of screens, expansive geographic footprint, superior targeting capabilities, and programmatic infrastructure position it to reinvent the future of out-of-home TV advertising.

For more information about VenuEx and its nationwide TVOOH network, please visit: www.elementaltv.com/venuex and www.venuex.tv .

About ElementalTV

ElementalTV, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Pasadena, CA, is pioneering the next era of adtech with innovations that unlock revenue opportunities in the CTV landscape. SmartCuration, the company's cutting-edge audience technology, is revolutionizing the media buying process through AI-powered audience planning that merges a robust suite of traditional targeting segments with contextually relevant data into premium, curated inventory. With access to over 95% of US-based households, ElementalTV enables unprecedented audience reach and engagement anytime, anywhere, across any CTV device. ElementalTV's relentless commitment to innovation is creating a step-change in CTV monetization where technology and audience connectivity converge, providing clients with solutions that maximize audience value through unparalleled, immersive advertising experiences.

Media Contact:

Shafi Mustafa

ElementalTV

[email protected]

(626) 465-3688

SOURCE Elemental TV
VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Elevation Gold Mining Corporation (TSXV: ELVT) (OTCQB: EVGDF) (the "Company" or "Elevation Gold") announces operating results for the three months ending March 31, 2024 ("Q1 2024") and provides information on other corporate matters. The Company expects to file its Q1 2024 financial statements and management discussion and analysis in May 2024.

First Quarter 2024 Highlights

Elevation Gold produced 6,303 ounces of gold from 654,354 ore tonnes processed with average grades of 0.42 g/t.

The Company sold 5,850 ounces of gold during Q1 2024.

Consolidated Operational Results Summary

The following table provides a summary of the Company's operational statistics for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and March 31, 2023.







Q1 2024 Q1 2023 Ore tonnes mined t

635,931 678,654 Ore tonnes stacked t

654,354 698,351 Contained gold ounces stacked oz

8,746 9,688 Gold grade g/t

0.42 0.43 Gold ounces produced oz

6,303 7,889 Silver ounces produced oz

42,152 43,709 Gold ounces sold oz

5,850 8,078

Tim Swendseid, Chief Executive Officer of Elevation Gold, stated "It has been a busy quarter. Production during the quarter was impacted by continuing throughput related issues with the crushing plant, resulting primarily from harder than typical ore and wet ore, a required condition for dust control. The ore hardness and throughput improved by the quarter's end, and we are expecting a meaningfully positive improvement in tons crushed and ounces produced for the second quarter. Additionally, mining efficiencies have significantly improved in the western area, beginning in February, as expected. On February 27, 2024, we were very pleased to announce positive exploration results in the Reynolds Pit area. Gold prices also strengthened during the quarter, which will help future revenues. We also successfully completed a reallocation of part of our permitted mining area from the east side of the boundary to the west side, to support the Reynolds Pit development. The Reynolds Pit development commenced during the quarter, and we are now on the second production bench. As a result of the weaker than expected production during Q1 2024, we are providing information in this press release concerning our liquidity, and as previously announced, our Q4 2023 financial results and management discussion and analysis will be released later this month."

Mine Plan of Operation Minor Amendment and Reynolds Pit Development

The Company is pleased to announce that on February 14, 2024, the US Bureau of Land Management Kingman Field Office approved a mine plan of operations (MPO) minor amendment for the Moss Mine near Bullhead City, Arizona. The MPO amendment allows for the reallocation of 38 acres around the previously authorized open pit areas of the Moss Mine to the Reynolds Pit area. Other amendment items include the relocation of acres associated with the barren rock stockpile and heap leach pad in the far west to accommodate the development of the 100% permitted Reynolds Pit.

The amendment allows for full development of the Reynolds Pit area. Pioneering work to access the upper benches of the pit commenced during February and ore shipments began in late March. Mining activity will focus initially on the low stripping ratio north end of the deposit and gradually move to the south where the higher grade, higher strip ratio ore will be mined. The Reynolds deposit remains open along strike and down dip, so further drilling is anticipated to expand the currently designed pit boundary. The operation is now successfully mining the second production bench.

Liquidity Update

The Company has been in ongoing discussions with Maverix Metals Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. ("Maverix"), which holds the silver stream in respect of the Moss Mine and is the Company's principal lender, as well as most royalty holders in respect of the Moss Mine, to try to restructure these obligations to help alleviate the current burden on revenues being generated by the Moss Mine. As a result of lower-than-expected production during the second half of Q4 2023 and the first half of Q1 2024, the Company has temporarily suspended its royalty/finder fee payments and silver stream delivery obligations to preserve sufficient liquidity for the continued operation of the Moss Mine. Maverix has consented to the delay of certain delivery obligations in respect of the silver stream, however the Company did not receive the consent of certain royalty holders. The Company has engaged with Maverix, its largest creditor, and is working to resolve the outstanding obligations owing to its royalty holders. The Company will update the market with the progress of the discussions as the situation evolves. The Company is examining all available options to ensure sufficient liquidity, including debt consolidation or restructuring, further debt or equity financing, or a sale of the Moss Mine.

Maverix Debt Consolidation and Security Arrangements

The Company also announces that it has consolidated outstanding unsecured debts owing to Maverix, in the aggregate principal amount of approximately US$28.2 million (the "Maverix Debt"), as obligations under the silver streaming agreement with Maverix. The Maverix Debt was incurred in a number of lending transactions during 2022 and 2023, the proceeds of which were used to provide additional operational and capital funding related to the leach pad expansion for the Moss Mine. The terms of the Maverix Debt remain unchanged as a result of the consolidation, with approximately US$10 million being payable on demand by Maverix and not subject to interest, and approximately $18.2 million being payable on maturity on April 1, 2025 and subject to interest at a rate of 10% per annum, which interest is payable on maturity. As a result of the consolidation, the Maverix Debt is now secured against all of the Company's assets pursuant to the security granted in connection with the silver stream.

Director Resignation

Mr. Mike Haworth, director, has announced his resignation from the Company's board, effective immediately. Doug Hurst, Elevation Gold's Chairman, stated: "Mike's contribution as a long-term board member has been exceptional. He was the representative for Greenstone Resources, a private equity firm based in London and the Company's largest shareholder. Mike will be missed, and we wish him all the best."

Qualified Persons

Unless otherwise indicated, the technical disclosure contained within this press release that relates to the Company's operating mine has been reviewed and approved by Tim J. Swendseid, P.E., MBA, CFA, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and a Qualified Person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF ELEVATION GOLD MINING CORPORATION

"Tim J. Swendseid"

Tim J. Swendseid, CEO of Elevation Gold Mining Corporation

About Elevation Gold Mining Corporation

Elevation Gold is a publicly listed gold and silver producer, engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of mineral properties located in the United States. Elevation Gold's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") in Canada under the ticker symbol ELVT and on the OTCQB in the United States under the ticker symbol EVGDF. The Company's principal operation is its 100% owned Moss Mine in the Mohave County of Arizona. Elevation also holds the title to the Hercules exploration property, located in Lyon County, Nevada.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this document constitute forward-looking information, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's plans, prospects and business strategies; the Company's guidance on the timing and amount of future production and its expectations regarding the results of operations; expected costs; permitting requirements and timelines; timing and possible outcome of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimations, life of mine estimates, and mine plans; anticipated exploration and development activities at the Company's projects; net present value; design parameters; economic potential; processing mineralized material; the potential of robust economic potential at the Moss Mine. Words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "plan", "goal", "aim", "intend", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "can", "could", "should", "schedule" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon various estimates and assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management, including that the Company can access financing, appropriate equipment and sufficient labour; assumed and future price of gold, silver and other metals; anticipated costs; ability to achieve goals; and assumptions related to the factors set forth below. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by the Company as at the date of this document in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, these 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 and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: risks inherent in mining, including, but not limited to risks to the environment, industrial accidents, catastrophic equipment failures, unusual or unexpected geological formations or unstable ground conditions, and natural phenomena such as earthquakes, flooding or unusually severe weather; uninsurable risks; global financial conditions and inflation; changes in the Company's share price, and volatility in the equity markets in general; volatility and fluctuations in metal and commodity prices; the threat associated with outbreaks of viruses and infectious diseases, including the COVID-19 virus; delays or the inability to obtain, retain or comply with permits; risks related to negative publicity with respect to the Company or the mining industry in general; health and safety risks; exploration, development or mining results not being consistent with the Company's expectations; unavailable or inaccessible infrastructure and risks related to ageing infrastructure; actual ore mined and/or metal recoveries varying from Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates, estimates of grade, tonnage, dilution, mine plans and metallurgical and other characteristics; risks associated with the estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, including, but not limited to, models relating thereto; ore processing efficiency; information technology and cybersecurity risks; potential for the allegation of fraud and corruption involving the Company, its customers, suppliers or employees, or the allegation of improper or discriminatory employment practices; regulatory investigations, enforcement, sanctions and/or related or other litigation; estimates of future production and operations; estimates of operating cost estimates; the potential for and effects of labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or shortages of labour or interruptions in production; risks related to the environmental regulation and environmental impact of the Company's operations and products and management thereof; exchange rate fluctuations; climate change; risks relating to attracting and retaining of highly skilled employees; compliance with environmental, health and safety laws; counterparty and credit risks and customer concentration; litigation; changes in laws, regulations or policies including, but not limited to, those related to mining regimes, permitting and approvals, environmental and tailings management, and labour; internal controls; challenges or defects in title; funding requirements and availability of financing; dilution; risks relating to dividends; risks associated with acquisitions and related integration efforts, including the ability to achieve anticipated benefits, unanticipated difficulties or expenditures relating to integration and diversion of management time on integration; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, production estimates and estimated economic return; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; and other risks and uncertainties including but not limited to those described the Company's public disclosure documents which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the Company's profile. All of the forward-looking statements made in this document are qualified by these cautionary statements. 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, forecast or intended and readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate and forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance. Readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein speaks only as of the date of this document. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forwardlooking information or to explain any material difference between such and subsequent actual events, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Elevation Gold Mining Corp.
President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili condemned the reintroduction of the 'Foreign Agents' bill by Georgian Dream.Zourabichvili asserted that the ruling party is actively undermining Georgia's progress towards the European Union. The president suggested that the solution lies in responding during the elections."The most fortunate thing is that you were able to (I apologize to Mr. Papuashvili for using this term, but) initiate the Russian law during the week from March 31 to April 9, a period which, for the recent history of Georgia, is loaded with national spirit.But you don't have this, neither national nor European spirit. Today, these two concepts - national and European - are intertwined; it is impossible to separate them, and Georgian society understands this very well. You don't want to see, you don't want to hear that Georgian society is united in this direction - to strengthen independence, Russia will never return here," Zourabichvili said.Non-governmental organizations have issued a statement highlighting that the abolition of the mandatory gender quota contradicts the will of the people as reflected in the Constitution of Georgia. They argue that this decision violates women's rights and poses obstacles to the country's process of European integration. The statement was signed by 80 organizations.NGOs wrote that achieving gender balance in the Parliament of Georgia directly reflects the will of the country's population and is considered one of the primary components of representative democracy."According to research, the majority of voters in Georgia support the equal representation of women and men in parliament (50-50), including the use of a mandatory gender quota (NDI, 2023), and believe that this will have a positive impact on the country's development (UNDP, UNFPA, 2020)," the statement reads.The statement highlighted that gender equality was among the 12 conditions set by the European Commission for Georgia's path toward a European perspective."One of the 12 conditions defined by the European Commission for Georgia was gender equality. Instead of progress (one of the three implemented recommendations was related to the issues of gender equality and women's participation in politics), the adoption of the bill to cancel the mandatory gender quota is a clear regression and a step back," the statement said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe's notable opposition figure, Nelson Chamisa, strongly criticized President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa for the delayed declaration of the El Nino-induced drought as a State of Disaster, which ravaged crops and pastures during the 2023/24 rainy season.President Mnangagwa declared a state of disaster on Wednesday, April 3, urgently appealing for international assistance, citing the need for over US$2 billion to alleviate the impending famine.Chamisa argues that recognizing a meteorological drought at the end of the summer season reflects a significant "leadership drought" within the country. He expressed:"The recurring drought in Zimbabwe is a pressing issue, with persistent extreme weather conditions exacerbating poverty, disease, and cholera, posing major threats to national security. It feels like a repetitive cycle since 07/08, highlighting leadership failure."Declaring a state of emergency belatedly is inadequate and lacks foresight. Warnings from experts, including the UN, WHO, WFP, and our meteorological teams, were disregarded over a year ago."Our lack of preparedness underscores the leadership and strategic drought, evident in underdeveloped dams and insufficient water harnessing plans.Chamisa, the former leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), challenged the Mnangagwa-led administration to learn from other nations achieving food security despite limited rainfall. He emphasized:"Other countries with lower rainfall manage better. With proper leadership and governance, Zimbabwe could thrive with initiatives like the Green Agenda revolution."Proactive climate-smart solutions demand effective water and land management for preservation and sustainability."Late disaster declarations offer no solution; lives continue to be lost due to sluggish policies. We're prepared to provide proactive leadership. Zimbabwe deserves better."We must address broken politics, resolve electoral disputes, and restore majority rule."Mnangagwa stated that Zimbabwe's anticipated grain yield for the 2023/24 agricultural season stands at 868,273 tonnes, falling short of the nation's food requirements by nearly 680,000 metric tonnes.
Emboline continues to build on the earliest and most comprehensive patent portfolio for aortic embolic protection, including debris deflector and full-body debris capture-and-removal filter technologies

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Emboline, Inc., a privately held medical technology company based in Santa Cruz, CA, USA, announced today the acquisition of a significant portfolio of key intellectual property from SWAT Medical AB for aortic embolic protection during interventional cardiology procedures. This acquisition adds to Emboline's existing comprehensive portfolio of platform technologies that reduce the risk of stroke and ischemic damage to other organs resulting from embolic debris released into the bloodstream during minimally invasive procedures such as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). The family of patents included in this acquisition include but are not limited to key technologies relating to deflection of debris from entering the three aortic arteries that provide the entire blood supply to the brain as well as alternative methods of embolic protection.

The Emboliner is the first device to provide complete brain and body protection from ischemic events such as stroke caused by embolic debris released into the bloodstream during transcatheter heart procedures. While transcatheter valve technology and techniques have continued to be refined over the past two decades since the introduction of TAVR, suffering a major debilitating stroke remains a real and persistent threat, and is often cited by patients as being feared more than death.

Emboline Announces Acquisition of Significant Embolic Protection Intellectual Property Portfolio from SWAT Medical AB Post this

"We filed our first patents for aortic embolic protection a few short months after Dr. Cribier demonstrated the very first human implant of a transcatheter aortic valve," said Dr. Amir Belson, founder of Emboline and the original inventor of the Emboliner. "We have continued to add to our extensive portfolio through the years with alternative approaches to addressing this critical need, including pioneering the field of transcatheter full-body embolic protection."

"Emboline's #1 focus is reducing and ultimately eliminating the fear that patients and their physicians have today of a major debilitating stroke, and this key acquisition brings us closer to that goal," said Scott Russell, President and CEO of Emboline. "We already had the earliest, broadest and deepest intellectual property portfolio in this key field, and this acquisition further strengthens and extends that portfolio. As we approach the commercial launch of our ground-breaking Emboliner device, our intellectual property will remain a key differentiator for us in all critical markets around the world."

Emboline is currently conducting the Protect the Head to Head IDE trial (NCT05684146), which is a prospective, randomized, open label, multicenter, 2-arm study to demonstrate safety and effectiveness of the Emboliner Embolic Protection Catheter compared to a control device (Sentinel CPS) for patients undergoing TAVR. Enrollment began in May 2023 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

About Emboline

Emboline, Inc., is a privately held medical technology company based in Santa Cruz, CA that has developed the Emboliner Embolic Protection Catheter, the first embolic protection device to provide full brain and body embolic protection by capturing and removing all debris from transcatheter procedures that would otherwise travel to the brain, kidneys and other critical organs, and reducing the incidence of stroke, cerebral ischemia, cognitive decline and other adverse outcomes associated with procedure-related emboli. More information is available at www.emboline.com.

The Emboliner is not commercially available and is intended for investigational use only. Emboliner is a registered trademark of Emboline, Inc.

Media Contact for Emboline: [email protected]

SOURCE Emboline, Inc.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club Journalism Institute is pleased to announce a free, four-part webinar series focused on ethics in the age of disinformation. These discussions are geared toward equipping journalists and the public with tools to combat mis and disinformation efforts aimed at disrupting journalism and democracy.

All of these webinars are free and open to the public and are designed to provide tools and best practices to support ethical, trustworthy journalism.

April 10: Framing the disinformation crisis for journalists

Journalism and democracy have been upended by the growth of mis- and disinformation. Countering it effectively requires understanding why people are susceptible and targeted  and how they can become more resilient. Psychological research can teach journalists how to pre-bunk disinformation and convey credibility in ways that readers, viewers, and listeners can process, which is more essential than ever as Election Day 2024 nears.

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the American Psychological Association, and PEN America at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, April 10, to learn strategies for coverage that informs and empowers your community and discuss the ways disinformation has affected the practice of journalism. Registration is open .

Panelists include:

Tiffany Hsu , reporter on the technology team covering misinformation and disinformation, New York Times

, reporter on the technology team covering misinformation and disinformation, Shannon Jankowski , program director, journalism and disinformation for PEN America

, program director, journalism and disinformation for PEN America Jay Van Bavel , director of the Social Identity & Morality Lab and associate professor of psychology and neural science, New York University

, director of the Social Identity & Morality Lab and associate professor of psychology and neural science, Moderator: Beth Francesco , executive director of the National Press Club Journalism Institute

April 17: How journalists can build and support a culture of credibility

Separating fact from fiction has long been the journalist's job. But in environments where multiple stakeholders are complicit in sourcing or profiting from mis- and disinformation campaigns, where can journalists turn to mindfully, ethically, and systematically navigate blatant attempts to circumvent the truth?

Strong journalistic standards and systems can help to chart the course for combatting mis- and disinformation while rebuilding trust in the news media.

Join a virtual discussion among standards editors with national news outlets at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, April 17, where they will raise the curtain on the important discussions that guide their outlets' coverage. From rigorously fact-checking reporting to framing global conflicts to language choices and beyond, they'll share best practices and considerations journalists should make while serving the public. Registration is open .

Panelists include:

Amanda Barrett , vice president of news, standards and inclusion for The Associated Press

, vice president of news, standards and inclusion for The Associated Press Anita Kumar , senior managing editor, North America , and standards editor for POLITICO

, senior managing editor, , and standards editor for POLITICO Natalia Mironova , editor of news standards and best practices for Voice of America

, editor of news standards and best practices for Voice of America Eileen O'Reilly , managing editor for standards and training for Axios and NPCJI board member

, managing editor for standards and training for Axios and NPCJI board member David Peterkin , vice president of news practice for ABC News

, vice president of news practice for ABC News Moderator: Ed Kelley , dean emeritus at Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and NPCJI board member

April 24: How journalists can champion news literacy and empower their communities

In today's connected society, everyone is a publisher. Our phones alone grant us unparalleled opportunities to share stories not only among friends and family, but also help take videos, photos, and audio viral in what can seem like seconds. And despite someone's best intentions, they may be helping to spread harmful mis- and disinformation, especially during times of crisis.

What role  and power  do members of the public have in halting or spreading mis- and disinformation, and what ethical considerations should they make before sharing a video or story?

Join a robust discussion among experts whose work focuses on news and information literacy and finding ways to help the public fact-check the information it interacts with. This virtual session will take place at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, April 24. Registration is open .

Panelists include:

May 1: How journalists can spot and disarm current tactics to influence voters

Election Day 2024 will be one of the most consequential in U.S. history, and disinformation campaigns loom large in influencing millions of Americans on what's really at stake when they head to polls this fall. Journalists across the country must be prepared with the skills to pre- and debunk conspiracy theories, misinformation, and more  well before Nov. 5.

Join us for a practical look at current tactics used by disinformation specialists to disrupt the 2024 election and what journalists can do to counter them. This virtual session will take place at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 1, and will empower journalists with the tools to challenge election-specific disinformation and lies with tact and authority while respecting audiences who may be vulnerable to such campaigns. Registration is open .

Confirmed speakers include experts from:

The New York Times

Associated Press

Cybersecurity for Democracy

VoteBeat

This series, produced in part with funding from the Inasmuch Foundation, is designed to provide tools and best practices to support ethical, trustworthy journalism.

About the National Press Club Journalism Institute

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the nonprofit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.

Press contact: Beth Francesco, executive director, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club Journalism Institute
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks a significant milestone in supporting and empowering the families of Air Force Air National Guard (ANG) and Air Force Reserve members with the official launch of the "Thrive Guide: Air National Guard Edition and Thrive Guide: Air Force Reserve Edition."

Five & Thrive, in partnership with ANG and AF Reserve Thrive Teams, developed these comprehensive guides to assist families in navigating the unique challenges and opportunities that come with the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve lifestyles. The Thrive Guide: Air National Guard Edition and the Thrive Guide: Air Force Reserve Edition, have been meticulously crafted to provide practical information, valuable resources, and personal support for Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve spouses.

"I would like to thank the Five & Thrive team for their outstanding work to make an Air National Guard Edition of the Thrive Guide. Having a National Guard focused Thrive Guide is very important to Air National Guard families who are navigating service to both their State and Nation. Taking care of our Airmen and their families is critical to building a strong and resilient Air National Guard," said Dianne Loh, spouse of Air National Guard Director Lt. General Michael Loh, USAF.

Both the Guard and Reserve forces play crucial roles in defending our nation, and behind many of our dedicated service members stands a resilient and supportive spouse or family member. Five & Thrive addresses the challenges of childcare, education, healthcare, housing, and spouse employment for military spouses and families. These issues directly affect military recruitment, readiness, resilience, and retention, impacting mission execution.

Cathy Healy, spouse of Air Force Reserve Commander Lt. General John Healy, USAF, expressed, "I am excited to see the newest Thrive Guide written specifically for our Air Force Reserve families come to fruition! Whether Reservists are serving one weekend a month, on full-time orders, or somewhere in between, the AF Reserve Edition helps families navigate the benefits, tools, and resources available to them in all statuses. Having this information in one place will empower our Reserve families to thrive throughout their service journey."

Key Features of the Thrive Guides:

Military Culture and Life : Practical information about life in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves, including pay, protocol, chain of command, OPSEC, and more.

: Practical information about life in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves, including pay, protocol, chain of command, OPSEC, and more. In This Together : A detailed section on connecting operationally, finding and building your support system, and accessing resilience resources.

: A detailed section on connecting operationally, finding and building your support system, and accessing resilience resources. Five & Thrive: A comprehensive directory of resources tailored to Air National Guard and Reserve families, including resources to support childcare, education, healthcare, housing, and spouse employment.

Five & Thrive champion, Sharene Brown stated, "We understand the unique challenges that Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve spouses and family members face, and these guides are designed to be reliable, accessible companions on their journey. We aim to provide the necessary tools and support to help ANG and AF Reserve spouses and families thrive in their roles and maintain a strong sense of community."

Learn more about Five & Thrive at https://www.fiveandthrive.org/home.

SOURCE National Defense University Foundation
LEUVEN, Belgium and STRASBOURG, France and PHILADELPHIA, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flamingo Therapeutics ("Flamingo") today announced its participation in the following upcoming investor and industry conferences:

23 rd Annual Needham Virtual Healthcare Conference, being held in a virtual format, April 8-11, 2024. Company management will meet with investors in one-on-one meetings during the conference.





BioTrinity London conference, being held April 23-24, 2024 , in London , United Kingdom. Stephane van Rooijen , MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting during the Oncology R&D Spotlight session at 9:15 AM on Tuesday , April 23, 2024.





BioEquity Europe24, being held May 12-14, 2024 , in San Sebastian, Spain and online. Company management will meet with potential partners during the conference. Dr. van Rooijen will give a company presentation during the congress.

About Flamingo Therapeutics

Flamingo is pioneering RNA-targeted therapies for oncology with a clinical-stage pipeline targeting undruggable transcription factors and long non-coding RNAs. Flamingo has an alliance with Ionis Pharmaceuticals and is supported by well-known biotechnology investors including Andera Partners, Bpifrance Large Venture, Bpifrance through its FABS and Fonds Biotherapies Innovantes et Maladies Rares funds, Eurazeo - Kurma Partners, Perceptive Advisors, PMV, Pontifax, Sphera, Abrdn (formerly funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC) and VIB.

Flamingo has initiated a Phase 2 trial 'PEMDA-HN' evaluating the STAT3 targeting agent danvatirsen, in combination with pembrolizumab, in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and a Phase 1 investigator-initiated study in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS).

For more information on Flamingo, please visit:

https://flamingotx.com



PEMDA-HN on clinicaltrials.gov:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05814666

Danvatirsen monotherapy followed by combination with venetoclax in relapsed/ refractory AML and MDS on clincaltrials.gov:

https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05986240

Please engage with us on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/flamingo-therapeutics.

Flamingo Media and Investor Contact:

Amy Conrad

Juniper Point

(858) 366-3243

[email protected]

SOURCE Flamingo Therapeutics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Part of the company's mission is that way out is through -- and that individuals will with any challenges, must face issues and KEEP PACE in their own process. Additionally, KEEP PACE's values of community and leadership with the promotional method of experiential events. Mark L. Mathews, CEO of FLUSH Promotions has been involved in the Autism Speaks community as a brand ambassador and Team Captain in major cities such as Florida, Indy, Chicago, and Detroit for the past seven years. Learn more at: www.questionmark. life

"I have a passion for mental health and growing as an individual," states Mathews, "Rather than focus on the boxes that so narrowly define what a person 'has' or is diagnosed with, we can talk about these experiences openly in our daily lives. The issues we each face are filled with complexity, and they are not so easily captured under the boxed categories that society asks us to subscribe to. Often time's members of our society are overlooked or looked down upon for their issues without individuals fully understanding their story, or even asking about it. We believe instead that there is value in those very things that challenge us and give us difficulty because ultimately, they are what makes us the very person that we are today. "

"We will emphasize a relaxed and informal environment for the event." Mathews continues, "Yes, we want the conversations to move mental health issues forward, however, we are not concerned with pushing or selling any ideologies, thus we guarantee with our events the spread of KEEP PACE will flow organically through word of mouth and social media."

Continuing the conversation is Mathews' newly launched Memoir entitled '?QuestionMark?', which takes you into a mental health guide-line truth-telling conversations, poems, and about past and present. Mathews recalls his own experiences visiting mental health clinics and having suicidal thoughts, along with his quest to become knowledgeable in identifying with emotional insecurity and having conversations with others about the experiences that transpired in his life as a character. "Throughout the book, I am performing deep-level magic," states Mathews, . Once read ANIMA FLOS 11. 5. (16) grows in the wild. THE JOURNEY NEVER ENDS when you visualize your existence as a butterfly: peaceful, calm, and with universal gifts." Mark had to become knowledgeable in identifying emotional insecurity, and having conversations with people about the experiences that transpired in his past life as a character. "I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share my work with you and your fellow colleagues."

Quote from Mathews, author of '?QuestionMark?' to follow:

"The Reality of Facing Mental Health Issues in society without a box. Creating a qualitative research project by collecting over 2,000 stories both positive and negative of mental health over the past seven years. The fundamental goal is to inform a generation with a core value of accountability with understanding mental health language autoethnography, and visual ethnography of lived organic experiences. We are in a mental health crisis without a tutorial to connect ourselves with art and literature. I don't have to sell myself to sell books. Dr. Fratila "Favorite pages! It's all a work of dedication and careful and REFLECTIVE thinking. So happy you put this together Mark!

When writing White-Magic (23) I allowed you to tap into the darkest moments in my life. "The hardest trick is to make everyone feel as GREAT as you're feeding them positive energy and creating illusions through a reality that doesn't exist. I saw Jordan in my dreams: PISTOL Pete's nightmares. I don't even know how to kill myself Call it Enormity. God sent Born with the ink of blood Christ on my arm...." The first to be verified in a city he doesn't live in. I AM a living example of the questions we ask are Self who we are and who are we trying to become ?QuestionMark?"

About FLUSH Promotions

FLUSH Promotions creates and organizes events in major cities such as Detroit, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Indiana, and Chicago. Envisioned and change in each community.

Learn more at: https://www.blurb.com/b/11184777-flush-enormity

About '?QuestionMark?' Memoir

?QuestionMark?, is a non-fiction magical roller-coaster memoir book, that will have you constantly pondering topics such as religion x child molestation learning and understanding the levels of (G.A.D.). The book also explores deeply personal issues. About society, generational trauma, and ultimately how to transpire to a state of peace.

Media Contact:

Mark L Mathews

Owner

[email protected]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glzcWIjSbo4

SOURCE FLUSH Promotions
The collaboration will kick off with a special scholarship to help the children of first responders pursue higher education

TAMPA, Fla., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ford's Garage, the home of burgers and classic comfort food served in an atmosphere that pays tribute to the heritage of Ford Motor Company, is partnering with First Responders Children's Foundation (FRCF), a nonprofit organization which offers programs and financial support to children of first responders. The partnership will launch with the debut of the Ford's Garage Academic Hero Scholarship, which will go towards up to four years of university, trade or graduate school for the recipient.

"Ford's Garage is pleased to announce its support for First Responders Children's Foundation, a national nonprofit charity that has made a significant impact in the first responder community for 23 years," said Steve Shlemon, President of Ford's Garage. "We are honored to further their mission and be involved in their essential work."

First Responders Children's Foundation provides financial support to families of fallen police officers, firefighters, paramedics/EMTs, medical personnel and 911 dispatchers. It also promotes and facilitates educational activities and programs created and operated by first responder organizations whose purpose is to benefit children and the community at large.

"We are deeply appreciative of the partnership with Ford's Garage and their dedication to supporting First Responders Children's Foundation," remarked Jillian Crane, President and CEO of FRCF. "Ford's Garage's commitment to giving back and their devotion to the families of first responders will empower us to expand our programs to more cities across the nation, providing more and bringing much-needed awareness and community support."

The Ford's Garage Academic Hero Scholarship application can be found here and is available to eligible children of first responders. The application period will close on May 31 at 11:30 p.m. and the recipient will be announced in summer 2024.

The scholarship program is just one piece of this impactful partnership, which will include various fundraising initiatives, special programs and events that will take place throughout the year.

To learn more about First Responders Children's Foundation, its mission and its programs, visit www.1strcf.org. For more information about Ford's Garage, visit www.fordsgarageusa.com

About Ford's Garage

Founded in 2012 and franchising since 2015, Ford's Garage opened its first location in Fort Myers, Florida, less than a mile from Henry Ford's winter home. Today, as an official licensee of the Ford Motor Company, enabling operators to use the company's iconic blue oval logo and other brand imagery, the 1920s garage-themed burger and craft beer restaurant franchise has expanded to include locations across five states. For more information, visit www.fordsgarageusa.com.

About First Responders Children's Foundation (FRCF)

First Responders Children's Foundation is a national nonprofit 501-c3 organization that provides programs and resources that address the specific needs of children of first responders. The Foundation focuses on critical areas, including scholarships, financial assistance grants; bereavement assistance, mental health counseling for children; disaster relief; and community engagement programs to foster positive relationships between first responder agencies and the communities they serve. FRCF was founded over 23 years ago in response to 9/11 when 800 children lost a first responder parent. Additional information about FRCF can be found at www.1stRCF.org and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @1strcf.

SOURCE Fords Garage
DENVER, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Great Place To Work and Fortune magazine have recognized PCL Construction Enterprises, Inc. as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2024.

This is PCL's 15th time being named to this prestigious list, this year coming in at 90th place. Earning a spot means that PCL is one of the best companies to work for in the country.

PCL Construction Places on the 2024 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For List (CNW Group/PCL Construction)

The 100 Best Companies to Work For list is the only recognition that focuses on how employees feel about their workplace. Great Place To Work evaluates confidential feedback from employees, matching against HR data from participating companies. Only companies with consistently high survey responses across the 60 statements that comprise the Trust Index Survey are honored with placement on the list.

"Knowing this recognition is based on feedback from our employees makes it all the more meaningful," said Deron Brown, PCL president and chief operating officer, U.S. operations. "Every day we strive to build a culture centered on our core values of honesty, integrity and respect. PCL's placement on this list affirms our success in building a vibrant and welcoming workplace. It's an honor to be in the company of elite corporations from across the country when it comes to employee satisfaction."

The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For List is highly competitive. Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected the list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback from more than 1.3 million U.S. employees. Companies are only considered for the list if they are Great Place To Work Certified organizations with 1,000 or more employees in the U.S.

Great Place To Work is the only company culture award in the world that selects winners based on how fairly employees are treated. Companies are assessed on their ability to create a great employee experience that cuts across race, gender, age, disability status, or any aspect of employee identity or job role.

Earning a spot on the list is an important indicator of overall company performance. Companies on the 100 Best list consistently outperform the market, and exceed their competitors on key business measures like retention and innovation.

"When people ask about what sets the Best Companies apart from their competitors, it's one key ingredient: trust," says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. "When employees trust their leaders, their colleagues, and the organization, they become empowered to reach their full potential."

"High-trust workplaces will be faster to innovate, more resilient in the face of disruption, and more likely to succeed in today's rapidly changing, AI-integrating world."

"Fortune is happy to have collaborated with Great Place To Work for the 27th year to recognize the 100 Best Companies to Work For," says Alyson Shontell, editor-in-chief at Fortune. "In a difficult macro environment with unprecedented challenges, these companies seemed to navigate their organizations toward steady and positive working environments for employees. Congratulations to all who were recognized."

This is the second year in a row PCL has been recognized as the only general contractor on the "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. The announcement comes as the company is poised to celebrate another milestone: 2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of working across the U.S.

About PCL Construction

PCL is a group of independent construction companies that operates throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Australia. As one of the largest contracting organizations in North America, PCL completes more than $7 billion USD in work annually, building projects that shape communities. The company's 100% employee ownership model fuels a culture of commitment for clients in the buildings, civil infrastructure, heavy industrial and solar markets. With a strategic presence in more than 30 major centers, PCL's leadership teams consistently drive innovation and set new benchmarks for excellence, bringing unparalleled skill to every project. Watch us build at PCL.com .

About the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For

Great Place To Work selected the 100 Best list by gathering and analyzing more than 1.3 million confidential survey responses representing the experiences of 8.2 million U.S. employees. Organizations are assessed on their efforts to create generous, supportive, high-performance work experiences for every employee in the organization. Companies must be Great Place To Work Certified with 1,000 or more employees in the U.S. and cannot be a government agency. Read the full methodology.

To be considered, all companies use the Great Place To Work Trust Index survey. To get on this list next year, start here.

About Great Place To Work

As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and For All Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List.

Follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram or visit greatplacetowork.com and sign up for the newsletter to learn more.

About Fortune

The Fortune mission is to change the world by making business better. We achieve that by providing trusted information, telling great stories, and building world-class communities. We measure performance by rigorous benchmarks. And we hold companies accountable. Our goal is to make Fortune a force for good through its second century and beyond. For more information, visit www.fortune.com

SOURCE PCL Construction
SANTA ANA, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a definitive nod to its innovative approach and stellar growth trajectory, SuperMoney has clinched a spot as one of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies in 2024 according to The Financial Times. The ranking was created using a four-step process, whittling a list of more than 30,000 companies down to the 500 winners - SuperMoney ranked #126. Amidst an increasingly competitive landscape, SuperMoney's platform shines as a beacon for financial clarity, offering a seamless solution to the once-daunting task of financial decision-making.

Revolutionizing Financial Decisions in the Digital Age

Imagine a world where financial clarity is the norm, not the exception Post this

SuperMoney isn't just a brand; it's a crusade against the financial stress that engulfs countless lives. With alarming research from CapitalOne indicating that 73% of Americans rank finances as their top stressor, SuperMoney stands as a bulwark against this tide. "Imagine a world where financial clarity is the norm, not the exception," envisages Miron Lulic, SuperMoney's CEO. "That's the world we're craftingone confident decision at a time." More than a platform, SuperMoney is a committed ally, transforming the landscape of personal finance with transparency and empowerment at its core.

The Quintessential Financial Marketplace

The SuperMoney platform stands unparalleled in its breadth and depth, allowing users to:

Scour : Dive into an expansive ocean of financial products ranging from loans to investment portfolios.

: Dive into an expansive ocean of financial products ranging from loans to investment portfolios. Scrutinize : Examine intricate details of rates, terms, and features from a repository of thousands of offerings.

: Examine intricate details of rates, terms, and features from a repository of thousands of offerings. Select: Make decisions with confidence, armed with insights that resonate with personal aspirations and fiscal objectives.

Accolades that Speak Volumes

The accolades adorning SuperMoney's mantle are a testament to its unwavering excellence:

Consistent Growth : For the third year running, SuperMoney is celebrated on the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing List.

: For the third year running, SuperMoney is celebrated on the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing List. Peer Recognition : Triumph in the "Best Financial Product Comparison Service" category at the FinTech Breakthrough Awards.

: Triumph in the "Best Financial Product Comparison Service" category at the FinTech Breakthrough Awards. Technological Vanguard: Securing a place on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list for the second successive year, SuperMoney is heralded for pioneering fintech innovation.

Charting the Future of Finance

With its compass set on relentless innovation and user empowerment, SuperMoney is not merely content with accolades. "We're here to chart a future where financial wellbeing is accessible to all," reaffirms Lulic. SuperMoney continues to forge paths that connect individuals with financial tools that simplify, clarify, and enhance their fiscal journeys.

About SuperMoney

Since 2013, SuperMoney has been the trusted name in financial decision-making. Our marketplace and embedded finance solutions have consistently been recognized for their impact and growth, offering transparent, top-tier financial choices to every American consumer. SuperMoney was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for 2021, 2022, and 2023, and Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list of fastest-growing technology companies in North America for 2022 and 2023. SuperMoney's commitment to data security is evidenced by its SOC2/Type II certification. Discover how SuperMoney is shaping a future of financial empowerment at https://www.supermoney.com.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE SuperMoney
LONDON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After many years of working together in various areas related to media metadata, IPTC, the global technical standards body of the news media, today announces that Google LLC has joined IPTC as a Voting Member.

As a Voting Member, Google will take part in all decisions regarding IPTC standards and delegates will contribute to shaping the standards as they evolve. This important work will happen alongside IPTC's 26 other Voting Member companies.

Google is the latest Voting Member of IPTC

"Google has worked with IPTC standards for many years, so it is great to see them join IPTC so that they can take part in shaping those standards in the future," said Robert Schmidt-Nia of DATAGROUP, Chair of the Board of IPTC. "We look forward to working together with Google on our shared goals of making information usable and accessible."

"Google has a long history of working with the IPTC, and we are very happy to now have joined the organization," Anna Dickson, Product Manager at Google, said. "Joining aligns with our efforts to help provide more information and context to people online. We think this is critical to increasing trust in the digital ecosystem as AI becomes more ubiquitous."

Google's work together with IPTC started back in 2010 when schema.org, a joint project managed by Google on behalf of search engines, adopted IPTC's rNews schema as the basis for schema.org's news properties such as NewsArticle and CreativeWork. In 2016, the IPTC was a recipient of a Google News Initiative grant to develop the EXTRA rules-based metadata classification engine.

Google staff spoke at the Photo Metadata Conference (co-hosted with CEPIC) in 2018, which led to Google and the IPTC working together (along with CEPIC) on adding support for copyright, credit and licensing information in Google image search results. This has continued to include support for the Digital Source Type property which will now be used to signal content created by Generative AI engines.

About the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC):

Founded in 1965, the IPTC is the global standards body of the news media. Headquartered in London but operating globally, the IPTC brings together news publishers and broadcasters, news agencies, photo agencies, software vendors, suppliers and consultants across all types of media. The IPTC maintains and promotes technical metadata standards for media content such as NewsML-G2, ninjs (News in JSON), SportsML and IPTC Sport Schema, the IPTC Photo Metadata Standard, IPTC Vidfeo Metadata Hub and the IPTC NewsCodes vocabularies. The IPTC also organises regular events where staff from member organisations share best practices and collaborate to discuss standards and protocols that provide the technical foundation for the news ecosystem.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2379436/IPTC_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2379435/Google_Logo.jpg

SOURCE IPTC
DALLAS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grossman Law Offices, a leading personal injury law firm in Dallas, Texas, has released its 2024 list of the best truck accident lawyers in Dallas. This initiative, part of the firm's commitment to helping people make informed decisions in selecting legal representation, highlights the most skilled and experienced attorneys in truck accident law.

Grossman Law's Picks: The 6 Best Truck Accident Lawyers in Dallas:

Attorney Mike Grossman's curated list of the best truck accident attorneys in Dallas.

Attorney Michael Grossman - Grossman Law Offices Attorney Clay Miller - Miller Weisbrod Olesky , LLP The Tate Law Offices PC Frank Branson - The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson Thomas J. Henry Quentin Brogdon  Crain Brogdon Rogers , LLP

These attorneys have been meticulously chosen for their profound expertise in truck accident law, their commitment to their clients, and their impressive track records of success.

The Purpose Behind the List:

Grossman Law Offices publishes these lists to assist individuals who have suffered significant injuries or lost loved ones in traumatic accidents. The firm recognizes the challenge people face when inundated with advertisements and pay-to-play lists while searching for qualified legal representation. As experienced personal injury lawyers, Grossman Law Offices offers these recommendations based on their extensive knowledge and professional interactions with high-quality attorneys.

Attorney Mike Grossman explains, "A lot of people think I'm crazy for giving my competitors free ad space on my website. But my mission and the mission of my firm is to help those who are injured. And if helping them means referring them to another attorney, then that's what we'll do."

This approach not only aids those in need of legal services but also serves as effective marketing for Grossman Law Offices, aligning with their passion for helping the injured achieve justice.

About Grossman Law Offices:

With over 30 years of experience, Grossman Law Offices specializes in personal injury law, particularly in cases involving serious injuries and wrongful death due to truck accidents. The firm is dedicated to delivering exceptional legal representation and ensuring that clients achieve the justice and compensation they rightfully deserve.

For More Information:

For detailed information about these top truck accident lawyers in Dallas and how they can assist with legal needs, please visit the Grossman Law Offices website at Grossman Law Offices - The Best Truck Accident Lawyers in Dallas.

SOURCE Grossman Law Office, P.C.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. one dollar banknotes are seen in front of displayed stock graph

By Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Reserve said last month it will make significant changes to a sweeping proposal for stricter bank capital requirements known as the "Basel III endgame" in a win for Wall Street banks that have waged an unprecedented campaign to water down the rule. What is Basel and why is it so contentious?

The rules, which would apply to banks with over $100 billion in assets, would overhaul the way the biggest banks manage their capital, with knock-on implications for their lending and trading activities.

Banks say additional capital is unnecessary and will hurt the economy, and have aggressively lobbied against the project.

Here are more details:

WHAT IS THE 'BASEL III' ENDGAME?

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is a panel convened by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, which aims to ensure regulators globally apply similar minimum capital standards so that banks can survive loan losses during tough times.

The committee's "Basel III" standard was agreed after the 2007-09 global financial crisis. It includes numerous capital, leverage and liquidity requirements. Regulators across the world have worked for years to implement many of those standards, and the so-called "endgame," agreed in 2017, is the final iteration.

The "endgame" proposal, unveiled in July, refines Basel's approach to setting capital based on the riskiness of banks' activities.

WHAT ARE THE PROPOSAL'S GOALS AND WHAT IMPACT WILL IT HAVE?

The U.S. proposal would overhaul how banks gauge their risk, and in turn, how much capital they should set aside as a cushion against potential losses. The main areas of focus are credit risk, market risk and operational risk.

On credit risk, regulators are seeking to end banks' ability to use their own internal risk models when determining how much capital should be held against lending activities, like mortgages or corporate loans.

Story continues

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said those internal models can often underestimate risk, as banks are incentivized to keep their capital costs low. Instead, regulators would prefer uniform modeling standards across large banks.

Similarly, the proposal would establish new requirements for how banks gauge the risk posed by swings in the markets and potential losses from trading. Regulators say these market risks are currently being understated.

When assessing these risks, banks will be permitted to continue using internal models approved by regulators, although Barr has said standardized models may be required for particularly complex risks. Banks will also have to model trading risks at the level of the individual trading desk, as opposed to at an aggregate level.

All told, the changes would result in higher capital requirements for banks with large trading operations.

Gauging operational risk is a key new area of the Basel Endgame. This refers to the potential losses banks could face from unexpected sources, such as failed internal policies, management mistakes, litigation costs or external events.

Similar to credit risk, regulators are looking to replace existing internal models with a standardized approach, which would take into account a bank's various activities and historical operational losses when calculating capital levels.

Banks have warned this approach could lead to significantly higher costs for some banks that rely heavily on non-interest fee income, such as credit card and investment banking fees. Those fees are included in a formula used to help calculate operational risk, and banks warn it could lead to disproportionately higher capital requirements for some firms if not capped.

WHY ARE BANKS UPSET?

While the rules have been years in the making, banks had hoped U.S. regulators would offer relief elsewhere by making tweaks to existing capital requirements to help offset the new hikes. They argue banks are well-capitalized, having withstood the COVID-19 pandemic and regularly clearing the Fed's annual stress tests, and any capital hikes are unjustified.

Banks have also complained that regulators have not provided sufficient data to justify the new increases, and have even threatened to sue.

Barr has said that most banks already have enough capital to meet the requirements, and those that need to raise funds could do so by retaining earnings for less than two years while still paying dividends. And regulators have also pointed to the failure of three lenders in 2023 as evidence they need to be vigilant.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT?

Following months of criticism and pressure from the industry, U.S. regulators are expected to meaningfully reduce the impact of the proposal in a broad rewrite. Reuters reported in March that the agencies are expected to significantly lower the overall capital impact of the new rules.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirmed that trajectory when he told Congress last month he expects "broad, material" changes to the plan.

The Fed and other regulators are currently digesting hundreds of public comments submitted on the proposal, most of which have been critical. Regulators are also expected to conduct additional data analysis around the proposal.

No timeline has been set for completing the rulewriting project, and an open question is whether regulators opt to re-propose the rule following the rewrite. Such a step could ease industry complaints by giving them a chance to offer more feedback, but would significantly delay the effort and potentially imperil it, as regulatory leadership could change following the November presidential election.

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Michelle Price, David Holmes and Andrea Ricci)
Molson Coors innovates in flavored alcohol category with bubble-free line in four refreshing fruit flavors

CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Move over Friday, there's a new favorite day of the week. Today, Molson Coors Beverage Company debuts their newest brand, Happy Thursday , the much buzzed-about fruity-flavored line of spiked refreshers, which is now available on shelves nationwide. Named in honor of the unofficial start of the weekend, these non-carbonated beverages liven up a hang and bring a taste of the weekend, any day of the week.

Molson Coors Beverage Company releases Happy Thursday, a new line of non-carbonated, fruit-flavored spiked refreshers.

Bloating that may come from carbonation is considered a top barrier for legal drinking age Gen Z 21-26-year-old category drinkers. Coupled with emerging social media trends of de-carbonating beverages and growing non-alcohol refreshers platform, Molson Coors developed Happy Thursday to meet the needs of this new age of drinkers in the alcohol category.

"Happy Thursday is a flavorful spiked refresher that will set the weekend feel - it's smooth, bubble-free, with refreshing flavor," said Amanda DeVore, senior director for marketing innovation at Molson Coors. "This delicious line is our first-of-its-kind entry in the flavored alcohol category, and we know our fans are going to experience love at first sip."

At 4.4% alcohol by volume, Happy Thursday comes in four non-carbonated flavors with less than 10 grams of sugar per 12 fl oz serving:

Strawberry  Bright and undeniably classic, our Strawberry flavored spiked refresher is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Not too sweet, not too sour  just ripe.

 Bright and undeniably classic, our Strawberry flavored spiked refresher is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Not too sweet, not too sour  just ripe. Pineapple Starfruit  Notes of sweet pineapple meet the zesty, citrusy notes of starfruit for a bright flavor fusion that is nothing short of tropical paradise.

 Notes of sweet pineapple meet the zesty, citrusy notes of starfruit for a bright flavor fusion that is nothing short of tropical paradise. Mango Passionfruit  The dynamic, tropical flavors of mango and passionfruit. Sun-drenched sweetness meets tangy tart notes of spiked refreshment.

 The dynamic, tropical flavors of mango and passionfruit. Sun-drenched sweetness meets tangy tart notes of spiked refreshment. Black Cherry  A nostalgic flavor, refreshed. Our Black Cherry balances ripe, flavorful sweetness with a touch of tartness for the perfect cherry moment.

Happy Thursday is sold in 12-pack variety packs, as well as 16-ounce Strawberry and 24-ounce Strawberry and Pineapple Starfruit singles. Ready to be opened, ready to be celebrated, each sip of Happy Thursday is a taste of that weekend feeling. Bubble-free, bright, fruity, and low ABV - the perfect spiked refresher for legal drinking age consumers.

This new line will also be supported with a bright, social-first creative campaign from Droga5 that highlights the celebratory weekend feeling that can be unlocked with Happy Thursday. The creative campaign will be supported across TV, digital, earned, and out-of-home assets rolling out in April. Watch the new ad here .

"Happy Thursday takes those serious weekday moments and delivers that refreshing weekend flavor, no matter what the calendar says," said Liz Cramton, marketing director of Happy Thursday at Molson Coors. "We're excited to introduce our new line of spiked refreshers to the world and kick off the weekend one day earlier in a bold, bubble-free way. Because when you have Happy Thursday, why wait for Friday?"

To learn more about Happy Thursday, visit www.drinkhappythursday.com and follow us on social media at Instagram and Facebook .

ABOUT MOLSON COORS BEVERAGE COMPANY

For more than two centuries, Molson Coors has been brewing beverages that unite people for all of life's moments. From Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson Canada, Carling, and Staropramen to Coors Banquet, Blue Moon Belgian White Belgian-Style Wheat Ale, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, Vizzy Hard Seltzer, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Simply Spiked Lemonade, Creemore Springs and more, Molson Coors produces some of the most beloved and iconic beer brands ever made. While the company's history is rooted in beer, Molson Coors offers a modern portfolio that expands beyond the beer aisle with sparkling cocktails, canned wine, kombucha, cider and more.

Molson Coors Beverage Company is a publicly traded company that operates through Molson Coors North America and Molson Coors Europe, and is traded on the New York and Canadian Stock Exchange (TAP). The company's commitment to raising industry standards and leaving a positive imprint on our employees, consumers, communities and the environment is reflected in Our Beer Print and our 2025 sustainability targets. To learn more about Molson Coors Beverage Company, visit molsoncoors.com.

SOURCE Molson Coors Beverage Company
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hercules Tire and Rubber Company (HTR), a subsidiary of American Tire Distributors (ATD), is proud to introduce the all-new AG-TRAC F-2, a robust tire designed for optimal performance on multiple farm surfaces.

This tire is offered in two key 16" sizes for 2WD Front Tractor wheel positions, providing the flotation, durability, and steering response needed for smooth operation in various agricultural settings.

The AG-TRAC F-2 is built to withstand the demands of farm work, with a durable construction that ensures long-lasting performance. Its robust design allows for superior traction and grip on a variety of surfaces, making it ideal for use in fields, pastures, and other agricultural environments.

In addition to its durability, the AG-TRAC F-2 also offers excellent steering response, allowing for precise control and maneuverability. This feature is essential for navigating tight spaces and making sharp turns in the field, ensuring efficient operation and maximum productivity.

The AG-TRAC F-2 is the latest addition to Hercules Tires' lineup of high-quality agricultural tires, which are known for their reliability and performance. With a commitment to innovation and excellence, Hercules Tires continues to provide farmers and agricultural professionals with the tools they need to succeed in their work.

The AG-TRAC F-2 offers:

Strong nylon cord casing designed to resist scuffs and damage in service.

4-Rib design offers enhanced flotation and self-cleaning leading to great steering response from the fields to hard surfaces.

Robust 10- and 12-ply offering allows for higher load carrying capacity, while the durable 4-rib design allows for even load distribution.

For more information about the AG-TRAC F-2 and other Hercules Tires products, visit our website at herculestirescommercial.com . Join us in revolutionizing the agricultural industry with the all-new AG-TRAC F-2 from Hercules Tire.

ABOUT HERCULES TIRES

Hercules Tires is one of three distinct brands owned by Hercules Tire and Rubber Company. The brand is widely recognized as the industry's premier value brand with a comprehensive selection of passenger, UHP, UTV, light truck, medium truck, agriculture, and specialty tires. Since 1952, independent tire dealers and distributors have trusted the Hercules brand to deliver outstanding quality, exceptional support, and unsurpassed value. The Hercules Tires brand is available at more than 4,000 retail locations across North America. Hercules Tire and Rubber company is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Tire Distributors, Inc. American Tire Distributors is one of the largest independent suppliers of tires in the North American replacement tire market. The company offers an unsurpassed breadth and depth of inventory, frequent delivery and value-added services via more than 115 distribution centers to approximately 80,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada.

Media Contact:

Nakia Medlin

Director of Marketing  Proprietary Brands

[email protected]

704-574-6278

SOURCE Hercules Tires
Minnesotans Who Spend $250 or More Will Receive $25 Prepaid Gas Gift Card; Consumers Also Eligible for Everyday Low-Priced Bundles and Deals on Cannabis Products

ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- C3 Industries ("C3" or "the Company,") a multistate, vertically integrated cannabis company with headquarters in Ann Arbor, announced High Profile Ironwood is kicking off its "Gas for Gas Campaign," giving Minnesota cannabis consumers the chance to earn prepaid gas cards by shopping at the Ironwood location. The offer is good while supplies last.

C3 Industries High Profile Ironwood kicks off "Gas for Gas Campaign" for Minnesotans

Minnesotans 21 years and older, who show their state driver's license and spend $250 or more at High Profile Ironwood, will receive a $25 prepaid gas gift card, and can also take advantage of amazingly low-priced bundles and deals on cannabis products when they visit the newly opened dispensary. C3's Gas for Gas Campaign pays homage to the term "gas" or "gassy," which is used to describe the distinctive scent of certain strains of cannabis. Originating from "gasoline," it denotes the potent, refined fragrance reminiscent of fuel found in many popular varieties.

"Here at C3 Industries, we're thrilled to launch our 'Gas for Gas Campaign' at High Profile Ironwood, offering Minnesota cannabis consumers a rewarding journey to our newest Michigan store," said Ankur Rungta, CEO of and cofounder of C3 Industries. "By combining the allure of high-quality, affordable cannabis with the practicality of prepaid gas cards, we're not just providing a product  we're creating an experience. Our campaign not only celebrates the distinct aroma of top-tier strains but also underscores our commitment to innovative offerings and customer satisfaction. We invite all enthusiasts to join us on this exciting venture as we continue to redefine the cannabis landscape."

Located at 100 West Cloverland Drive in Ironwood and open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. CST, High Profile Ironwood is approximately a two-hour drive from Duluth, Minn. The dispensary provides the best pricing and discounts relative to the competition in the area and offers everyday neighborhood discounts and savings for seniors, veterans, medical card holders, college students and cannabis industry staff. The new retail location has a carefully curated selection of high-quality cannabis products such as flower, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates, vape cartridges, tinctures, topicals and accessories. It also features C3's premium cannabis brand, Cloud Cover , and the Company's everyday flower, concentrates, vape cartridges and gummies line, Galactic .

Additionally, High Profile Ironwood provides all High Roller Loyalty members with the ability to earn points on every dollar they spend, then cash out whenever they are ready. At High Profile Ironwood, High Roller members also have the ability to earn 50 free points upon signing up, along with early access to special events and offers, referral perks, double points on Tuesdays and members-only bonus discounts.

About C3 Industries

C3 Industries is a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with multiple product brands including the award-winning Cloud Cover Cannabis and Galactic Cannabis, and a retail network, High Profile Cannabis Shop. The company retails high-quality cannabis products at its High Profile locations in Michigan, Missouri, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey. Additional High Profile retail locations are scheduled to open throughout 2024 in New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri and Connecticut. C3 currently operates almost 220,000 sq. ft. of total cultivation and processing facilities, with 125,000 sq. ft in Michigan, 37,000 sq. ft. in Massachusetts, 55,000 sq. ft. in Missouri. The company also has a 55,000 sq. ft. expansion nearing completion in Missouri and a 58,000 sq. ft. Connecticut facility in development.

For more information, visit www.c3industries.com . Additional information about High Profile Cannabis Shop can be found by signing up for the company's newsletters at www.highprofilecannabis.com and on Instagram at @highprofileofficial. Additional information on Cloud Cover Cannabis can be found at www.cloudcovercannabis.com and @cloudcovercannabis on Instagram. Additional information on Galactic Cannabis can be found at www.galacticcannabis.com and @galactic.cannabis on Instagram.

Media Contact

KCSA Strategic Communications

Ellen Mellody

[email protected]

570-209-2947

SOURCE C3 Industries
116-foot dome in Fremont, Nebraska expands availability of innovative low-carbon cement, boosts local economy

Fremont mayor praises Holcim's investment in community

CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With the start of construction season approaching, Holcim US is making a landmark $20.5 million investment in its Midwest operations to make cement abundantly available for area residential, commercial and industrial developments. The recently added 116-foot cement storage dome in Fremont, Neb., west of Omaha, will expand capacity for Holcim's leading low-carbon ECOPlanet cement, used in iconic developments such as the Seattle Spheres. The storage dome sits on 25 acres of land in Fremont and has capacity to store 50,000 tons of cement. Construction on the dome began in 2021, boosting local economic development and creating jobs at the terminal.

"Nebraska, Omaha in particular, and nearby Midwest cities are experiencing an influx of construction projects, with new infrastructure being introduced every day," said Patrick J. Cleary, senior vice president of Cement Sales at Holcim US. "We're proud to meet this local demand with local operations in one location and to support sustainably made products."

"Holcim and its products play an important role in state and local infrastructure," said Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg. "The company's investment in Fremont helps our community to continue to grow and the economy to expand."

With the Fremont storage dome, Holcim is meeting the Nebraska Department of Transportation's blended cement requirement to leverage the state's natural aggregate. The cement blended on site and distributed at the Fremont terminal adds natural pozzolan, a binding agent, to create a lower carbon product than traditional Portland cement. The combination of extra storage with the addition of new more efficient rail capacity optimizes transportation between Fremont and Holcim's flagship plant in Ste. Genevieve, Missourithe largest single-line kiln in the world.

While Holcim is the leading producer of cement in the US, the company also is a leader in transforming the way it does business to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations and products. The Fremont announcement follows other milestone initiatives at Holcim to advance sustainable building, including a $100 million investment to increase capacity at Ste. Genevieve , its largest solar array in the Midwest , power purchase agreements and a tire-derived fuel facility .

About Holcim US

Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions with net sales of CHF 27.0 billion in 2023. Driven by our purpose to build progress for people and the planet, our 63,448 employees are on a mission to decarbonize building, while improving living standards for all. We empower our customers across all regions to build better with less, with a broad range of low-carbon and circular solutions, from ECOPact and ECOPlanet to our circular technology platform ECOCycle. Through innovative systems, from Elevate roofing to PRB insulation, Holcim makes buildings more sustainable in use, driving energy efficiency and green retrofitting. With sustainability at the core of our strategy, we are on the way to becoming a net-zero company with 1.5C targets validated by SBTi.

In the United States, Holcim US includes nearly 350 sites in 43 states and employs 7,000 people. Our customers rely on us to help them design and build better communities with innovative solutions that deliver structural integrity and eco-efficiency. To learn more, visit holcim.us

SOURCE Holcim US
BEIJING, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Huahui Health Ltd.("Huahui Health"), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing virology, hepatology, and oncology therapies, announced that it will present the results of preclinical data of HH018-sesutecan, a tumor microenvironment targeting CD98-directed ADC, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024.

The AACR meeting will be held April 510, 2024, in San Diego, California.

Topic: A tumor microenvironment-targeting CD98-directed ADC confers robust anti-tumor activity in multiple cancers with favorable pharmacokinetics and safety profiles in preclinical models

Session Title: Late-Breaking Research: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics 4

Session Date and Time: Wednesday Apr 10, 2024 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Location: Poster Section 54

Poster Board Number: 1

Abstract Presentation Number: LB425

Presenter: Bin Chen, CEO of Huahui Health. Zhu Chen, CSO of ProfoundBio

About Huahui Health

Huahui Health is a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded in 2015 in Beijing, China. With a focus on virology, hepatology, and oncology, the company is dedicated to drug discovery, development, and antibody engineering. It has expanded its pipeline to include promising drug candidates in virology and oncology, aiming to launch multiple groundbreaking products and lead the way in antiviral and oncology research. Two leading programs have entered the pivotal clinical trial stage. One is HH-003, the first anti-preS1 HBV/HDV neutralizing antibody to enter a pivotal study for chronic HDV infection. The other is HH-120, an IgM-like ACE2-Fc recombinant fusion protein via nasal spray, currently undergoing a phase 3 trial for post-exposure prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2.

For more information, please visit www.huahuihealth.com.

SOURCE Huahui Health Ltd.
At the Grand Palais Ephemere, visitors and exhibitors will have the opportunity to taste the first coffee sourced from regenerative agriculture and explore the illy Art Collection designed by Lee Ufan

PARIS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- illycaffe, a global coffee company renowned for its sustainable quality and its unique connection with the contemporary art world, reaffirms its support for Art Paris, the leading international fair for modern and contemporary art, taking place from April 4th to 7th at the Grand Palais Ephemere.

Visitors and exhibitors from 25 countries, representing 136 art galleries, will have the chance to pause and enjoy the new illy Arabica Selection Brazil Cerrado Mineiro. This is the first coffee certified by regenagri and sourced from regenerative agriculture. It will be available at the bars within the fair, in the VIP lounge, or at the illy bike stationed outside the exhibition area. Additionally, attendees can discover the latest illy Art Collection designed by Lee Ufan.

A cup of illy coffee embodies the fusion of taste, beauty, and sustainability. Over the past 30 years, illycaffe has narrated this beauty through the language of contemporary art, via artistic projects, collaborations with major art exhibitions, and support for emerging talents and established masters. A pivotal project is the illy Art Collection, featuring numbered and signed cups that have transformed an everyday object into a canvas. Over 130 internationally acclaimed artists have expressed their creativity on these cups, resulting in one of the world's largest contemporary art collections, comprising 119 collections and 478 designs. In these collections, the refinement of contemporary art masters meets the excellence of quality masters, reflecting the union of beauty and goodness synonymous with the illy brand.

"We are delighted to participate in Art Paris once again, an increasingly global event focusing this year on two specific themes: Fragile Utopias and Art & Craft. The latter resonates particularly well with our approach to creativity, which is consistently balanced between contemporary art and design, innovation, and craftsmanship," says Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffe.

illycaffe is an Italian family-owned company, founded in Trieste in 1933 which has always set itself the mission of offering the best coffee to the world. It produces a unique 100% Arabica blend composed of 9 different ingredients. The company selects only 1% of the best Arabica beans. Every day more than 8 million cups of illy coffee are served in over 140 countries around the globe, in the cafes, restaurants and hotels, in single-brand cafes and shops, at home and in the office, in which the company is present through subsidiaries and distributors.

Since its foundation, illycaffe has oriented its strategies towards a sustainable business model, commitment that it strengthened in 2019 by adopting the status of Benefit Company and in 2021 becoming the first Italian coffee company to obtain the international B Corp certification. Everything that is "made in illy" is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, up to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 130 international artists, or coffee machines designed by internationally renowned designers. With the aim of spreading the culture of quality to growers, baristas and coffee lovers, the company has developed its Universita del Caffe which today holds courses in 23 countries around the world. In 2023, the company had a turnover of 595,1 million. The illy single-brand network has 159 points of sale in 30 countries.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE illycaffe
WAYNESBURG, Pa., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Iron Senergy ("Iron"), the owner and operator of the Cumberland Mine located in Greene County, Pennsylvania, recognizes Senator Robert P. Casey's concern for the Pennsylvania coal industry and its workforce. Through his recent press releases, Senator Casey has made it clear that the continued operation of coal-producing assets, like the Cumberland Mine, is in the "best interest of our nation." Iron could not agree more and believes it is important for politicians like Senator Casey to bring attention to coal's critical role in our national security, the reliability of our electrical grid, and lifting large portions of the world's population out of energy poverty.

Unfortunately, the issues of coal production and coal-fired electrical generation have long been the focus of partisan politics and discourse, often at the expense of communities like Greene County, Pennsylvania. Senator Casey has made it clear that he will fight for the miners, families and economy of Greene County. We need strong voices in Washington that dare to reach across the aisle and fight back against the regulatory regime that continues to challenge the ability of coal producers and coal-fired utilities to do business, including without limitation, the EPA's Ozone Transport Rule, Effluent Limitations Guidelines, and especially the Carbon Rule / Clean Power Plan 2.0.

Justin Thompson, Iron's owner and Chief Executive Officer, issued the following statement:

"I appreciate Senator's Casey's acknowledgement of the importance of the coal industry. Over the past ten years, however, Pennsylvania has lost half of its coal mining jobs. For that reason, I am inviting Senator Casey to visit our operations as soon as it can be arranged to discuss his support of the Cumberland Mine, which as Senator Casey notes, has been a large employer in Greene County since the 1970s. I am proud that Iron acquired the Cumberland Mine three years ago and deployed over $130 million in capital to extend the life of the mine and save over 700 jobs that would have been eliminated based on the closure plan of the previous owner. Senator Casey speaks of the need for coal miners to be certain about their future. So long as Iron continues to own the Cumberland Mine and can operate it safely and compliantly to serve a performing market, Iron stands ready to fight for the certainty of the coal industry.

Countless wars rage around the world over the control of energy assets. We are blessed in the United States, particularly the Appalachian region, with abundant natural resources. Iron and other fossil fuel companies are willing to do the hard work required to harvest those resources safely and productively and to continue serving as the economic cornerstones of our communities. However, we need a regulatory environment that supports us rather than hinders us, as the greatest threat to the continued operation of coal assets like the Cumberland Mine is bad federal and state policies, which are forcing the premature retirement of coal-fired power plants and causing the loss of jobs like those supported by the Cumberland Mine. I look forward to meeting and working with Senator Casey and other officials to promote sensible "all of the above" energy policies that provide a future for the coal industry, protect Pennsylvania jobs and keep the lights on throughout the Commonwealth.

Energy demand is growing exponentially both here and abroad. Rhetoric is now meeting reality as grid operators and energy officials are warning that our electricity supply is becoming unreliable and, as a result, large parts of the country face the risk of rolling blackouts. The U.S. electrical grid has failed five times in the past eleven years due to winter storms alone. Now is the time to act before it is too late. We need to face the coal hard truth."

SOURCE Iron Senergy
Nevada residents now have access to flexible, accelerated nursing pathways.

SALT LAKE CITY, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences continues its strategic expansion, now offering its full suite of hybrid nursing programs to residents of Nevada. Aspiring nurses in the state can become licensed in as little as 20 months through Joyce's prelicensure programs  and all with no prerequisites or prior nursing experience.

Joyce University Expands Nursing Education Reach to Nevada Residents

"Joyce University recognizes the urgent need for skilled nurses nationwide," said Dr. John Smith-Coppes, President and CEO of Joyce University. "Our expansion into Nevada, along with our recent entry into multiple states, is a key part of our effort to deliver accessible, high-quality nursing programs to as many students as possible."

Since 2021, Joyce University has expanded beyond its flagship campus in Draper, UT, and is now offering hybrid programs in Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, and Nevada. This hybrid model blends live and pre-recorded lectures for remote learning with immersive in-person labs and simulations at their campus in the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area. Clinicals take place in the student's state of residence, under the direction of expert faculty and local administrators.

"Our clinical partnerships across the United States enable us to secure great clinical opportunities for students right where they live, reducing travel costs and strengthening ties to their local communities," said Mykel Winter, Joyce University's Associate Dean of Nursing. "The only time students travel to Utah is for the incredible opportunity to gain hands-on experience in our high-tech, high-touch immersive skills lab, the Joyce Johnson Center of Simulation."

Joyce University's expansion benefits aspiring nurses in Nevada with a range of institutionally and programmatically accredited pre-licensure programs, including the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN), the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), and the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN). Nevada nurses looking to advance their careers can also enroll in two CCNE-accredited post-licensure options from Joyce: the 4-semester online RN to BSN program and the online MSN in Leadership program.

In a continued effort to meet the demands for well-trained registered nurses, Joyce University plans to expand into additional markets in the coming year. Enrollment for Nevada students is now open, with the next cohort beginning in the Fall Semester on September 3, 2024.

To learn more about Joyce University programs or employment opportunities, visit joyce.edu.

About Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences

Founded in 1979, Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences' mission is to prepare students to serve as competent professionals, to advance their careers, and to pursue lifelong learning. Located in Draper, Utah, Joyce University is proud to have helped thousands of students across the US graduate and launch lasting healthcare careers. With a recent expansion of its accredited nursing programs to select regional locations, including Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, and Nevada, Joyce University's expansion enables aspiring and working nurses in these regions to access the same high-quality education and opportunities that have defined the institution for decades. Join them as they continue to shape the future of healthcare, one student at a time.

Company Contact

Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences

[email protected]

https://www.joyce.edu/

SOURCE Joyce University of Nursing and Health Sciences
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Life Sciences Private Capital, Blue Horizon Advisors and United AlSaqer Group are pleased to announce the 11 finalists of the inaugural J.P. Morgan Asset Management: Life Sciences Innovation Summit. The summit will take place on May 14-15, 2024 at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi during Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week. The Department of Health - Abu Dhabi is sponsoring the event, aiming to bring together innovators, investors and industry leaders to explore the latest advancements and trends shaping the future of healthcare.

"We are very pleased to be partnering with the stellar leadership of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, Blue Horizon Advisors, United AlSaqer Group, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and other local leaders in launching our inaugural innovation summit," said Stephen Squinto, Chief Investment Officer, J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital.

The finalists were selected from a pool of exceptional candidates across more than 20 countries and represent a diverse range of companies and research institutions developing innovative therapeutic solutions. Each finalist has demonstrated a commitment to advancing healthcare through creativity and groundbreaking research, with the ultimate goal of addressing unmet patient need for diseases of prevalence in the Middle East. Finalists selected to compete in the summit include:

Algen Biotechnologies, Chun-Hao Huang , PhD, Co-Founder & CEO

, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO AnaCardio, Patrik Stromberg, PhD, CEO

Chimera Therapeutics, Matthew Lorence , PhD, Co-Founder & CEO

, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO Harmonic Discovery, Rayees Rahman , PhD, CEO

, PhD, CEO Lactocore, Anton Malyshev , PhD, Founder & CEO

, PhD, Founder & CEO Medicovestor, Seah Lim , PhD, CEO

, PhD, CEO Oncoheroes Biosciences, Cesare Spadoni , PhD, Co-Founder & COO

, PhD, Co-Founder & COO Paradox Immunotherapeutics, Natalie Galant , PhD, Co-Founder & CEO

, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO SaudiVax, Mazen Hassanain , PhD, CEO

, PhD, CEO Ypsilon Therapeutics, Dongxing Zha , PhD, Founder & CEO

, PhD, Founder & CEO ZTI Biosciences, Jaden Hyungseok Chang , PhD, CEO

The finalists will be judged by an esteemed panel, which includes:

Laurie Glimcher , MD, President and CEO at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

, MD, President and CEO at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Jorge Guzman , MD, CEO at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

, MD, CEO at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi Prof. Shahrukh Khurshid Hashmi , Director of Research at Department of Health, Abu Dhabi

, Director of Research at Department of Health, Abu Dhabi David Hung , MD, Founder, President and CEO at Nuvation Bio

, MD, Founder, President and CEO at Nuvation Bio Yasmine Hayek Kobeissi , PhD, CQF, BSc., Executive Director at Blue Horizon Advisors

, PhD, CQF, BSc., Executive Director at Blue Horizon Advisors Anya Schiess , Managing Partner at J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital

"We are grateful to these preeminent scientists and business leaders for coming to Abu Dhabi to experience our growing innovation hub and meet these stellar finalists," stated Nabil Kobeissi, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Horizon Advisors. "With over 150 highly qualified applications submitted from around the globe, clearly the medical research and innovation community is paying attention to this event."

In addition to the pitch competition, where winners will ultimately be awarded, the summit will feature keynote speeches and networking opportunities to provide attendees with investment opportunities and valuable insights into the future of life sciences innovation. Learn more about the finalists and summit here.

About J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital

J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital is a venture capital and growth equity investment team within J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives, founded in late 2022. Life Sciences Private Capital launched its first early-stage biotechnology venture capital fund in early 2023, focused on building "move-the-needle" innovations that will ultimately improve quality of lives worldwide. The group aims to leverage J.P. Morgan's market position in healthcare investment banking and business banking, robust relationships with the largest pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, and the tenure of the Life Sciences Private Capital investment team and strategic advisors to form, capitalize, and support leading innovative life sciences companies.

For more information: J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital press release.

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with assets under management of USD 3.1 trillion (as of 31 December 2023), is a global leader in investment management. J.P. Morgan Asset Management's clients include institutions, retail investors and high net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. J.P. Morgan Asset Management offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. For more information: www.jpmorgan.com/am

J.P. Morgan Asset Management is the marketing name for the asset management business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its investment advisor affiliates worldwide.

About Blue Horizon Advisors

Blue Horizon Advisors is the independent private investment arm of a leading, multi-billion dollar single United Arab Emirates (UAE) family office. Blue Horizon Advisors comprises of leading investment professionals in Europe and the UAE and undertakes global strategic investments in public markets, private markets and real estate. Most recently, Blue Horizon Advisors established a Life Sciences vertical ("BHLS"), with a mission to becoming a prominent and influential force within the MENA region's thriving life sciences sector.

BHLS is committed to enhancing health through research and development of innovative therapies and diagnostic tools to improve and prolong lives. BHLS is poised to execute its strategic vision through a multifaceted approach, encompassing strategic acquisitions, robust in-house development initiatives, dynamic joint ventures with global industry leaders / innovators to foster knowledge exchange, and pivotal collaborations with key stakeholders in our ecosystem, including esteemed hospitals, renowned universities, regulatory authorities as well as local and global investment houses.

SOURCE J.P. Morgan Asset Management
As seen on Global Brand Ambassador, Gabrielle Union

TORONTO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, category defining intimate and apparel brand Knix is showing off a sexier side with the launch of the new Sexy Mesh Capsule collection, as seen on Knix Global Brand Ambassador, Gabrielle Union. This new partnership with Gabrielle Union also debuted the tagline "Knix for Life," highlighting the brand's mission to provide products for every age and at every stage of life  this time, with a sexy, sheer mesh twist.

Knix is the leading Leakproof Brand in North America, with over 39,000+ 5-star reviews on Wireless Bras and 10+ million underwear sold. The new Sexy Mesh Capsule includes the Mesh Bra, Mesh Bodysuit and Light Leakproof No-Show Mesh High Rise underwear, designed with comfort in mind with the addition of smooth and sexy mesh, for wearing as underwear or outerwear.

Take Your Confidence To New Heights

Designed to take your confidence to new heights, with a peek of sheer mesh, a dash of sexiness, and the perfect amount of leak protection, the Light Leakproof No-Show Mesh High Rise underwear are period underwear that absorb about 2 tsp of liquid which is the equivalent of about 1.5 pantyliners or about 1.5 regular tampons to keep you protected when you need it most.

Inclusive Sheer Mesh Bra Sizing

The sheer Mesh Bra includes adjustable straps, wireless support and is available in sizes XS-XXXXL with plus cups available to those who prefer more coverage in the chest. This mesh bra has transparent cups for you to reveal your sexiest self.

Underwear As Outerwear

The Mesh Bodysuit includes double mesh paneling in the cups for you to feel sexy and pair it with your favorite pieces  whether you dress it up or down, whatever your style! With underwear as outerwear trending, this piece is the perfect addition to your spring wardrobe.

The new Sexy Mesh Capsule is available in colors Black, White and Citron (trending 2024 color) online and in Knix stores across Canada and California. The Mesh Bra retails for $54 USD/$64 CAD, the Mesh Bodysuit retails for $75 USD/$85 CAD and the Light Leakproof No-Show Mesh High Rise Underwear retails for $26 USD/$32 CAD.

To view the Sexy Mesh Capsule please click here .

About Knix

Knix is a direct-to-consumer category defining intimates and apparel brand. Through innovative products and a community-first approach, Knix is on a mission to empower people at every stage and every stage, everywhere to live unapologetically free. Every product, campaign and image that Knix puts into the world is tied to this mission that has been embedded in the company's DNA since day one. Founded in 2013, by Joanna Griffiths, Knix is the leading leakproof brand in North America and is globally recognized as an innovator and disrupter within the intimate and apparel space.

SOURCE Knix
Ford Presidents Annual Award Honors Dealerships that Exceed Customer Expectations in Sales and Service



DELAVAN, Wis., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kunes Auto Group, with 45 auto and RV dealerships spanning the Midwest, is honored to announce its Delavan location received the prestigious Ford President's Award for Customer Service and Satisfaction. Only 340 of the five thousand Ford dealerships across the country received the honor this year, and Kunes is the only Wisconsin dealer selected in 2024.

"We are honored to receive this distinguished recognition from Ford, which serves as a testament to everyone at Kunes Auto Group's unwavering commitment to prioritizing our customers above all. Being recognized as a frontrunner in customer service within the auto retailing sector year over year celebrates our consistent dedication to excellence and reinforces our pledge to maintain the highest service standards," said Scott Kunes, Chief Operating Officer of Kunes Auto Group.

This is the eighth time Kunes has won this award, which is given to Ford dealerships that demonstrate quality business practices and operate at the highest level of customer service, satisfaction and experience. Scoring is based on guest survey responses following their experience in the sales or service departments of the dealership. The President's Award is only given to dealerships that exceed guest expectations daily in every department.

To be eligible for the Ford President's Award, Ford Dealers must:

Be franchised on or before January 1, 2019 , and at the time the award is presented

, and at the time the award is presented Receive a minimum of 60 completed Sales and Service Customer Viewpoint surveys

Achieve 100% or higher retail Sales % Effectiveness for combined Car and Truck (CYTD)

Achieve a Customer Experience Index score greater than their CVP group score

Kunes Country Ford of Delavan opened its doors in 1997 and employs 75 people spanning customer service roles, service technicians and management. Kunes Auto and RV Group offers frequent training opportunities for employees on financing options, automotive features and more to give them the knowledge and confidence they need to help customers make the best purchase decisions for themselves and their families.

For more information on Kunes Auto Group and to find your location dealership, visit the website.

About Kunes Auto Group

Founded in 1996 in Delavan, Wisconsin, Kunes Auto Group has since grown to over 42 locations across the Midwest. Previously Kunes Country, Kunes Auto Group lives up to its mottoFaith, Family, and Giving Backby employing over 1,800 people and donating 10% of its yearly net profits to local charities.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Julia Trachsel, Interdependence PR

[email protected]

(541) 272-1726

SOURCE Kunes Auto & RV Group
HARTFORD, Conn., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LAZ Parking, the largest and fastest-growing privately owned parking operator in the United States, is pleased to announce an asset purchased of Seattle-based (IPM) in a deal that will give LAZ a market-leading presence in the Seattle metro area. The deal will add 14,000 parking spaces to the LAZ Parking family, making it one of the largest parking operators in Seattle.

"This acquisition is a melding of like-minded companies committed to providing opportunities for their employees and serving the parking needs of their clients and the parking public," said Alan Lazowski, Chairman, CEO, and Founder of LAZ Parking. "LAZ is thrilled to be expanding in the Seattle Metro area and to have been entrusted by IPM to continue their tradition of excellence dating back to their founding in 1985."

IPM is a parking market leader in Seattle, and the combined assets of LAZ and IPM will create a market-leading footprint in Seattle and surrounding communities with 74 employees. LAZ and IPM share cultural values in terms of the way they conduct business and care for employees. Other factors making IPM a strong fit include IPM's outstanding leadership team, solid track record of retaining clients, and extensive local knowledge and relationships that have potential to create growth opportunities for LAZ.

IPM's deep local knowledge, long-standing relationships, and extensive portfolio also offer LAZ new hotel storage opportunities.

IPM was founded in 1985 as Premier Parking by Joan and Steve Sundberg as an off-airport parking company. The company was purchased in 2006 by husband-and-wife team, Mark and Tracy Sundberg. The company has 74 employees and $40 million in managed revenues. Two senior leaders at IPM will join the LAZ leadership team: Scott Reisnouer, who brings over 30 years of experience in the Seattle parking market, and over 10 at IPM, and Scott Bly who also has 30 years of professional experience, including four years at IPM and work in the transportation industry.

"We are excited and honored to be building on the hard work and visionary leadership of Mark and Tracy Sundberg and their team," said LAZ President & Co-founder Jeff Karp. "Our shared cultures and approach to doing business make this an extraordinarily strong match and one that will enhance our ability to contribute to the Greater Seattle economy and deliver a state-of-the-art parking experience to customers and clients."

The agreement with IPM is the latest in a long history of thoughtful, strategic acquisitions and partnerships that have built LAZ into the largest privately held parking company in America. Founded in 1981, LAZ Parking grew out of the childhood friendships of Lazowski, Karp, and fellow founders Michael Harth and Michael Kuziak. More than 40 years later, LAZ is still guided by the original values of those founders to "Create Opportunities for Our Employees and Value for Our Clients," the same principles embodied in LAZ's laser-focused mission, "The LAZ Way."

About LAZ Parking

LAZ Parking is the largest, fastest-growing privately owned parking operator in the United States and a pioneer in digital parking technology. Founded in Hartford, CT, LAZ has been providing best-in-class parking management and transportation services since 1981 and operates over 1.48 million parking spaces in over 3,700 locations in 42 states and 469 cities in the U.S. LAZ is an industry leader in business intelligence, remote monitoring, eCommerce solutions, and Proximity On-Demand Services or "LAZ PODS". We leverage our national network of parking facilities to offer cutting edge, tech-enabled solutions, that include EV charging, micro warehousing, last-mile logistics, working across the hospitality, commercial, healthcare, airports, transportation, universities, government, retail, events, residential, and shuttle service industries. LAZ is a people first, conscious capitalist company, committed to elevating humanity through business. Additional information can be found at www.lazparking.com.

SOURCE LAZ Parking
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Meijer customers across the Midwest can now find a new option in the intimates section: AnaOno x Tranquil & True, a collaboration between the leading mastectomy bra brand and the Meijer intimate apparel label. The collection features chest-inclusive bras specially designed for individuals who've undergone mastectomy, lumpectomy, reconstruction, or other breast surgeries.

Meijer customers across the Midwest can now find a new option in the intimates section: AnaOno x Tranquil & True, a collaboration between the leading mastectomy bra brand and the Meijer intimate apparel label.

AnaOno was founded in 2014 by Dana Donofree, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27. Following bilateral mastectomies, breast reconstruction, and chemotherapy, Donofree struggled to find bras that fit her post-surgery body. As a recent graduate from Savannah College of Art & Design, she decided to combine her lifelong passion for style with her newfound mission of advocating for women's health to create her own line of comfortable, stylish, and supportive bras for individuals of all shapes and sizes. AnaOno has since become a pioneer in the industry, partnering with everyone from influential celebrity stylists to healthcare providers to reduce the stigma around conversations about breast cancer.

Originally from the Dayton, Ohio, area, Donofree grew up shopping at Meijer stores with her family. In 2022, she met Annette Repasch, Meijer Group Vice President of Softlines, at a Women in Retail Leadership conference. They hit it off, bonding over their lived experiences as breast cancer survivors and shared missions to ensure women feel beautiful through inclusive sizes and styles. This partnership marks the first retail collaboration for both AnaOno and Tranquil & True and is a demonstration of how Meijer extends its culture of inclusivity and belonging to its customers and communities.

"By pairing our Tranquil & True brand with this truly amazing women-owned business, we hope to make a difference in the lives of our customers who have undergone chest surgery or are battling breast cancer and inspire them to feel supported, confident, and empowered," Repasch said. "Our goal is to provide a shopping experience where they can find everything they need for their families, including themselves."

The AnaOno x Tranquil & True collection includes two styles of bras: the Front Closure Bra, a post-surgery recovery bra designed to secure bandages and surgical dressings in place while giving the chest a gentle, comforting hug. The Front Closure Bra is comfortable and practical, featuring a unique combination of softness, adjustability, and style, and was voted "Best Post-Mastectomy Bra" by InStyle Magazine. The Full Coverage Bra provides comfort and support through the healing process with a stylish, wire-free design, including elastic encased in soft, cooling, anti-microbial material designed to bring an added layer of comfort to healing.

"I'm so honored and humbled to be a part of this evolving and important conversation around breast cancer, helping bring it out into the open instead of hiding it behind closed doors," Donofree said. "Our ultimate goal is to make mastectomy garments accessible to all women who need them, no matter where they live or shop, and this partnership with Meijer gives incredible access to our garments in stores across the Midwest."

Following skin cancer, breast cancer is the leading cancer among women overall and is particularly prevalent among Hispanic women, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The models pictured in the Meijer launch campaign are mainly breast cancer survivors from the Midwest, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s, representing the diversity of women affected by the disease.

The AnaOno x Tranquil & True line is now available in more than 175 Meijer stores across six states.

About Meijer: Meijer is a privately owned, family-operated retailer that serves customers at more than 500 supercenters, grocery stores, neighborhood markets, and express locations throughout the Midwest. As the pioneer of the one-stop shopping concept, more than 70,000 Meijer team members work hard to deliver a friendly, seamless in-store and online shopping experience featuring an assortment of fresh foods, high-quality apparel, household essentials, and health and wellness products and services. Meijer is consistently recognized as a Great Place to Work and annually donates at least 6 percent of its profit to strengthen its communities. Additional information on the company can be found by visiting newsroom.meijer.com .

SOURCE Meijer
Topical pravibismane was found to be safe and well-tolerated for all doses tested in subjects with moderate to severely infected, chronic diabetic foot ulcers

Pravibismane treatment demonstrated favorable trends towards greater reduction of ulcer size and lower incidence of ulcer-related lower limb amputations compared to placebo

BOZEMAN, Mont. and VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Microbion Corporation today announced that the company has published results from its topical pravibismane Phase 1b study in the peer-reviewed International Wound Journal. The manuscript titled "Topical Pravibismane as Adjunctive Therapy for Moderate or Severe Diabetic Foot Infections: A Phase 1b Randomized, Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial" is available for free download at International Wound Journal's website (https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.14817). The main objective of the study was to assess the safety and tolerability of adjunctive administration of topical pravibismane added to standard of care, for 2 to 3 weeks, for subjects with moderate or severely infected chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFI). Though the study was not powered to demonstrate statistical efficacy, positive trends signalling clinical efficacy were demonstrated with pravibismane (versus placebo [vehicle]) added to standard of care, including greater reduction in wound area and lower amputation risk versus vehicle. Pravibismane is the first product in a new class of compounds that has a unique triad of novel modes of action, including potent broad spectrum anti-infective, antibiofilm, and immuno-modulatory activity.

"We are excited to share the results of this Phase 1b study that was designed mainly to assess the safety of topical pravibismane administration to DFI patients," said Dr. Benjamin A. Lipsky, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at University of Washington, and the primary author of the manuscript. "We are pleased with the safety results and signals of clinical efficacy, which we believe warrant further clinical development of pravibismane in future studies. There is currently a major unmet need for new, easy to apply drug agents with multiple modes of activity to treat infection, and possibly help close, these infected, chronic wounds."

"We are encouraged by the clinical efficacy signals demonstrated with pravibismane administration, such as greater wound size reduction, compared to placebo control," said Dr. David G. Armstrong, Professor of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, and co-author of the manuscript. "Diabetic foot ulcers more than double a person's mortality risk that year and dramatically reduce quality of life. Occurrence of infections, especially antibiotic-resistant infections, within a chronic, persistent foot ulcer increases the risk of sepsis, and makes the ulcer even more difficult to treat, especially with the presence of infectious biofilms. We need new agents that promote faster closing of infected wounds because we are currently dependant on an expensive, time-consuming, two-pronged approach: firstly, use of systemic antibiotics to clear the infection; and then secondly, another agent, device, or advanced cellular or tissue therapeutic to attempt to close the wound."

"We are pleased to have published the safety and efficacy results from this Phase 1b study," said Dr. Brett Baker, Microbion's President, Chief Innovation Officer and co-author of the manuscript. "Pravibismane is consistently demonstrating safety and tolerability, which is a primary consideration for any drug. Importantly, it appears that pravibismane's triple activity of anti-microbial, anti-biofilm and immune-modulatory activity may be important to promote wound closure and restoration of the primary barrier of the skin. This therapeutic objective is currently being assessed in our recently completed, 12-week Phase 2 study in moderately infected, chronic diabetic foot ulcers."

The published manuscript describes in detail the Phase 1b study that was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pravibismane in managing moderate or severe chronic diabetic foot ulcer infections. The study consisted of 39 individuals undergoing pravibismane treatment (in adjunct to standard of care) and 13 individuals in the placebo group (in adjunct to standard of care). In the study, pravibismane was well-tolerated, exhibited minimal systemic absorption, and was not associated with any treatment-emergent or serious adverse events. Pravibismane treated subjects showed an approximately 3-fold reduction in ulcer size compared to the placebo group (85% versus 30%). Furthermore, the incidence of diabetic ulcer-related lower limb amputations was approximately 6-fold lower in the pooled pravibismane group compared to the placebo group (2.6% versus 15.4%). The study results suggests that topically applied pravibismane has the potential to address the unmet need of a new DFI treatment that can simultaneously treat bacterial biofilm-related infections and accelerate ulcer size reduction, potentially leading to complete re-epithelialization and wound closure along with reduction of reinfection and amputation risks.

A Phase 2 study with the main objective of assessing the safety and tolerability of a higher concentration and longer, 12-week dosing duration of topical pravibismane in patients with moderately infected chronic diabetic foot ulcers was recently completed. While the primary endpoint is to assess safety and tolerability, secondary efficacy objectives include complete wound closure.

About Microbion

Microbion is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing a new class of therapeutic compounds to improve the lives of patients with rare and serious diseases. Microbion's lead drug candidate, pravibismane, is the first product in this new class and has multiple novel modes of action, including potent broad spectrum anti-infective, antibiofilm, and immuno-modulatory activity, offering unique potential to address the unmet needs of chronic and severe health conditions. Topical pravibismane is completing Phase 2 development for the treatment of chronic wounds. Local pravibismane is in Phase 2 clinical development for orthopedic infections and inhaled pravibismane is advancing into Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of chronic lung diseases, including non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and cystic fibrosis-related lung infections. Pravibismane has received backing from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, NIH, US DoD, and CARB-X with over $20 million in non-dilutive grants. The FDA has granted pravibismane Orphan Drug, Fast Track, and Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designations.

For more information visit: www.microbioncorp.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking, such as those, among others, relating to the success of clinical development of pravibismane and preparation for potential commercialization. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: our ability to enroll patients in our clinical trials at the pace that we project; the size and growth of the potential markets for pravibismane or any future product candidates and our ability to serve those markets; our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of pravibismane or any future product candidates; and our expectations regarding the potential safety, efficacy or clinical utility of pravibismane or any future product candidates. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Microbion Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Microbion Corporation
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global lifestyle brand MINISO will open a new IP collection flagship store in the iconic American Dream Mall, New Jersey, in May. Co-designed with Sanrio, the new store will be MINISO's first Sanrio IP-inspired store in the US, and is set to delight local families and young people with a fantastical and fashionable shopping experience. The new flagship reflects MINISO's latest ambitious exploration of IP collaborations in the US market, aiming to further accelerate its rapid expansion within North America on the back of strong growth in the past 2023.

MINISO American Dream Storefront Design Influencers celebrating the launch of MINISO x Barbie collection Customer taking photo of MINISOs Times Square

According to the brand's December quarter 2023 financial results, MINISO's total global revenue for the year of 2023 was 1.9 billion USD, with a YoY growth of 39.4%. In the North American market, the brand's performance was impressive. With 172 stores across the region by year-end, MINISO achieved a Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) of 178 million USD, with an annual growth rate of 120%. Additionally, total revenue of North America in 2023 surged to 160 million USD, soaring an annual growth rate of 128%. This rapid growth in the North American market outshines performance in all of the brand's other global markets (excluding China).

The remarkable growth is attributed to MINISO's steadfast IP collaborations, constant product innovation, and strategic store expansions across the region. Throughout 2023, MINISO introduced a diverse selection of beloved IP collaborations in North America. From Snoopy to Barbie and Care Bears, MINISO seamlessly and creatively integrated iconic characters into product and store designs, enhancing the shopping experience to promote sales growth.

MINISO also accelerated its store expansion in North America in the past year, entering even more core business districts in major cities. In May 2023, MINISO opened its Times Square flagship store, which saw exceptional opening day sales of nearly $80,000, setting both first day and first month sales records among all its global stores. In December, MINISO celebrated the opening of its 100th store in the US, a number that reached 120 soon after. In March 2024, the brand opened its second Times Square pop-up store, with an eye-catching Stitch storefront design helping it to achieve a highest sales per square-foot record among all US stores. Competitive store location and a high-quality shopping experience have led to excellent store performance, with same-store sales growing by 75% YoY in the MINISO North American market for the year of 2023, far exceeding the brand's global overseas markets' (excluding China) average of 26%.

"Our vision is to become the world's leading IP design retail group and North America has a vital part to play in achieving this," said Bella Tu, General Manager of MINISO Overseas Directly Operated Markets and Vice President. "We've made huge strides in this market thanks to our strategic IP collaborations, innovative store initiatives, and the amazing support we've received from local consumers. In the remainder of 2024, we are looking forward to opening our American Dream Mall New Jersey flagship, as well as stores in more key locations such as Santa Monica, Coronado, Miami Beach, and Burlington. We believe North American growth can act as a catalyst for our continued global expansion, with our aim to add 550-650 new stores worldwide by year-end to bring MINISO's Joy Philosophy to even more consumers."

About MINISO

MINISO Group is a global lifestyle brand offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide.

SOURCE MINISO
HOUSTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Starlab Space LLC (Starlab Space), the joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus, today welcomed Mitsubishi Corporation as a strategic partner and equity owner in Starlab Space. This partnership expands Starlab Space's reach beyond a transatlantic partnership and transforms the joint venture into a global organization.

Mitsubishi Corporation joins Starlab Space as strategic partner, equity owner in joint venture.

Mitsubishi Corporation, renowned for its innovative endeavors across diverse industries, brings extensive expertise and resources to this global partnership. Mitsubishi Corporation is expected to leverage its capabilities to significantly increase the value of Starlab, using space research to enhance and accelerate terrestrial product development in multiple industries and expand access to space-based technologies globally.

"We are excited to join forces with Starlab, a best-in-class team comprising Airbus and Voyager, to drive innovation and catalyze advancements in space exploration," said Mikito Nakaniwa, Division COO, Infrastructure, Ship & Aerospace Division of Mitsubishi Corporation. "Together, Mitsubishi Corporation and Starlab aim to open the commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) marketplace and create lasting value for global companies and industries."

Additionally, this partnership is expected to expand access for the Japanese space economy and industrial base into the LEO marketplace by harnessing Starlab's cutting-edge technologies and capabilities.

"It's an honor to welcome Mitsubishi Corporation as a partner in our joint venture," said Dylan Taylor, Chairman and CEO at Voyager Space. "Mitsubishi Corporation's customer-centric focus and commitment to innovation aligns perfectly with our vision for Starlab. Together, we'll unlock space technology on a global scale and drive meaningful impact across several industries, from space to ground."

"We are very pleased to welcome Mitsubishi Corporation as a strategic partner in our joint venture with Voyager Space. This brings Starlab Space to the next level on the way to a truly global endeavor," said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. "Our next-generation space station relies on both innovation and experience. Hence Mitsubishi Corporation, a pioneer of space business in Japan since the 1960s with a strong drive for shaping the future, is a perfect addition to our team."

With state-of-the-art research facilities and a global presence, Starlab Space is well-positioned to support advanced space research and serve end-use customers on a global scale. This partnership underscores Starlab Space's dedication to innovation not only in technology but also in operating a space station as a business in LEO, setting the standard for success in this new market.

About Starlab Space

Starlab Space LLC is a global joint venture between Voyager Space, Airbus, and Mitsubishi Corporation that is designing, building, and will operate the Starlab commercial space station. Starlab will serve a global customer base of space agencies, researchers, and companies, ensuring a continued human presence in low-Earth orbit and a seamless transition of microgravity science and research from the International Space Station into the new commercial space station era.

For more information on Starlab, visit the Starlab website at www.starlab-space.com and follow us on social media at @Starlab_Space ( X , Instagram ) and @Starlab ( Linkedin ).

SOURCE Starlab
Heartland Forward releases the fifth edition of its annual report of America's Most Dynamic Metropolitans

BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American metropolitans with robust manufacturing, energy assets and investment in IT are at the forefront of the Most Dynamic Metropolitans (MDM) in Heartland Forward's most recent index. For the fifth year in a row, the MDM provides a benchmark for growth areas in the country using key indicators of where Americans are thriving and highlighting communities where education, business and government are working well together.

The report blends data for area growth, young-firm prevalence and employment, education, income and other factors to create a snapshot of economic standing over the past year. This comparative perspective helps all economic planners create and evaluate policies that influence the well-being of their regions. This ranking uses data to identify and illustrate industry trends that have influenced economic growth over both the past year and the previous five years. By using multiple data points, the MDM index is a valuable resource for U.S. mayors and economic development departments.

Ross DeVol, president and CEO of Heartland Forward said: "Collaboration and cooperation are key takeaways from this year's edition of the Most Dynamic Metropolitans. Building sustainable businesses with the encouragement of local and state governments demonstrates the power of community. Providing training opportunities for the next generation of workers helps all of us build stronger communities. The MDM report gives our leaders data they can use to make smart, long-term decisions around economic growth. We applaud the mayors and their development teams who work to build these healthy communities and encourage sustainable growth. Their efforts are reflected in their rankings in this year's edition of the index."

MDM ranks 382 metros by 10 metrics that collectively summarize a region's vitality against its recent past including one- and five-year trends blending data for area growth, young-firm prevalence and employment, education, income and other factors to create a snapshot of economic standing. Metros can employ this data to evaluate their own policies and look at other regions for best practices around growth, development and community health.

The rankings

Top 25 Metropolitans Areas in the United States for 2023:

The Villages, Florida



Midland, Texas



Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, Texas



Naples - Marco Island, Florida



Provo - Orem, Utah



Boulder, Colorado



St. George, Utah



Sebastian-Vero Beach , Florida



Nashville - Davidson - Murfreesboro - Franklin, Tennessee



Coeur d'Alene, Idaho



Boise City , Idaho



Port St. Lucie, Florida



Las Vegas - Henderson -Paradise, Nevada



Odessa, Texas



North Port - Sarasota - Bradenton, Florida



Punta Gorda, Florida



Raleigh - Cary, North Carolina



Trenton - Princeton, New Jersey



Denver - Aurora - Lakewood, Colorado



College Station - Bryan, Texas



Daphne - Fairhope - Foley, Alabama



Salt Lake City, Utah



Missoula, Montana



Orlando - Kissimmee - Sanford, Florida



Idaho Falls, Idaho

Improvement in the heartland

The three most improved metros in this year's index were in the heartland  Odessa, Texas, Longview, Texas and Kokomo, Indiana. Their rise in the rankings were evidence of the strength of oil and gas production and industrial manufacturing respectively to their areas. The remainder of the top 10 metros with best improvement in the heartland rankings were: Wichita, Kansas, Florence-Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Peoria, Illinois, Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana, Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Arkansas, Lawrence, Kansas and Topeka, Kansas. Each of these 10 metros moved up significantly reflecting the importance of creating and promoting sustainable businesses.

While often considered boom-or-bust, oil and gas-centric communities are now diversifying into other energy sources and building out their communities to be sustainable over the longer term. Not only Odessa and Longview in Texas but also Midland and Houston as well as Oklahoma metros Tulsa and Oklahoma City showed strong growth in this year's rankings. These metros continue to demonstrate resilience and longer-term economic growth trajectories and their leaders should be commended for their foresight and planning.

Another significant finding this year was that the value of a skilled workforce capable of operating, programming and maintaining advanced robotic systems and AI-driven tools will continue to be key to advanced manufacturing operations and building strong metros.

Other key metros highlighted from the heartland include:

Huntsville, Alabama  With a concentration of aerospace and defense business, and its adherent technology needs, Huntsville showed improved employment momentum growth of 5.3% between June 2022- June 2023 . Located near the Cummings Research Park and the Redstone Arsenal , Huntsville's leaders encourage collaborations across academia, government and private industry. Our research also noted the state has created an environment where collaboration is thriving with initiatives like the Alabama Industrial Development Training program providing specialized training to meet the specific needs of local industries.

 With a concentration of aerospace and defense business, and its adherent technology needs, showed improved employment momentum growth of 5.3% between June 2022- . Located near the Cummings Research Park and the , leaders encourage collaborations across academia, government and private industry. Our research also noted the state has created an environment where collaboration is thriving with initiatives like the Alabama Industrial Development Training program providing specialized training to meet the specific needs of local industries. Lafayette - West Lafayette, Indiana  Not only is this metro one of the most improved in the MDM rankings, it, too, sits at the nexus of academia and business. Home to Purdue University , with its acclaimed STEM programming, the area has attracted investment from firms including Automotive Robotics Indiana Labs, which is creating a new $10 million , 50,000-square-foot facility in Purdue Research Park. This initiative included support from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation with tax credits and training grants  an example of government and business collaborating to support job creation and economic growth.

-  Not only is this metro one of the most improved in the MDM rankings, it, too, sits at the nexus of academia and business. Home to , with its acclaimed STEM programming, the area has attracted investment from firms including Automotive Robotics Indiana Labs, which is creating a new , 50,000-square-foot facility in Purdue Research Park. This initiative included support from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation with tax credits and training grants  an example of government and business collaborating to support job creation and economic growth. Topeka, Kansas  The Topeka MSA improved 125 spots to 138th this year with significant employment growth (5.4% for June 2022- June 2023 ) and a 7.2% increase in the same time frame for average annual pay growth. Again, the increased demand for advanced manufacturing, in this case, aerospace components, has fueled Topeka's growth with ongoing support from multiple businesses to support aviation workers and provide career pathways for those in the armed services. This is another instance of a community supporting job creation with an integrated approach to industry, government and education.

The five-year club

This year's report includes a special section spotlighting the 10 communities that have appeared in the top 30 all five years Heartland Forward has been compiling this data. These Most Dynamic Metropolitans share a number of traits: resilience, economic diversity, outdoor recreation, and the ability to support remote workers  particularly important during the pandemic and in the post-COVID years. These communities lie at the forefront of workforce development and sustained prosperity.

The 10 metros that have been the in the top 30 every year are:

Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, Texas

- - Boise City , Idaho

, Boulder, Colorado

Fort Collins, Colorado

Naples - Marco Island, Florida

- Provo - Orem, Utah

- Raleigh - Cary, North Carolina

- The Villages, Florida

San Jose - Sunnyvale - Santa Clara, California

- - St. George, Utah

We salute their communities' leadership for building sustainable business and economic centers, and particularly for their resilience in navigating through and after the challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdowns. Each of these metropolitans represents in their own way the best of America and the importance of creating communities where a mix of recreation, business, learning and investment can thrive.

About Heartland Forward:

Heartland Forward is a policy think-and-do tank dedicated to being a resource for states and local communities in the middle of the country. We do this by studying broad economic trends and building data-driven and community-tested partnerships, programs and policies to address the needs of the heartland  all while helping to change the narrative about the middle of the country and kick-starting economic growth.

Contact: Ross Owyoung [email protected], 870-501-2700

SOURCE Heartland Forward
FARMINGTON, Conn., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Mott Corporation, one of Connecticut's leading high-tech manufacturing companies, announced that it won a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate design and manufacturing of clean energy technology. Mott and its partners, Wallingford-based Nel Hydrogen, Forge Nano, and the University of Connecticut, will produce porous transport layers (PTLs), which are an essential component for the production of clean hydrogen. These next generation PTLs will help drive down the cost of clean hydrogen, consistent with the federal government's "Hydrogen Shot" initiative to "reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per 1 kilogram in 1 decade," by 2030.

Mott is the only Connecticut company to win an award in the electrolyzer supply chain category, which is part of the $750 million overall grant program, funded through $1.5 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dedicated to reducing the cost of clean hydrogen. The $10 million federal grant will be matched with $2.5 million in private sector support from Mott and its partners.

"Growing America's clean energy industry through investments like this is good for the environment, good for jobs, and strengthens national security," said Mott CEO Boris Levin. "Mott will use this funding to design and produce the next generation of a key high-tech component for clean hydrogen production. With this grant, we will be directly hiring more engineers and scientists  but we'll also be investing in the next generation of local talent here in Connecticut. We are looking forward to working with our partners at the University of Connecticut, Nel Hydrogen, and Forge Nano to do this important work, and we're grateful to our federal delegation and Governor Lamont for strong support of our state's clean energy industry."

Mott's clean energy business centers around green hydrogen, a low-emission fuel and chemical feedstock that will be essential for the world's energy transition. Mott already produces the most precisely engineered PTLs in the world. This grant aims to enable the production of PTLs that are not only structurally optimized, but coated with inexpensive corrosion-resistant layers to further lower the cost of green hydrogen.

"This $10 million will be a game changer for clean energy technology in Connecticut," said Senator Richard Blumenthal. "As we confront the climate crisis, the need for green energy has never been more urgent and I am excited that an innovative Connecticut company is taking the lead to design and manufacture this new frontier. I am thrilled that Mott received this award from the Department of Energy and I will keep fighting for federal resources to support our state's growing clean hydrogen power industry."

"Connecticut companies like Mott are at the forefront of clean energy innovation," said Senator Chris Murphy. "I'm proud to see this $10 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law support Mott and its partners as they develop and manufacture new technology to lower the cost of clean hydrogen. This project will not only help cement Connecticut as a leader in clean energy, but it will create good-paying jobs in our state and help build a resilient domestic supply chain."

"Mott is yet another example of a Connecticut company being at the forefront of cutting-edge technology," said Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. "I congratulate them on this $10 million U.S. Department of Energy award. This funding is vitally important to their efforts to design and manufacture clean energy technology."

"Clean energy technology presents so many opportunities for our state and country," said Dr. Pamir Alpay, the University of Connecticut's Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. "Beyond the critical importance of producing clean, renewable energy that mitigates the impact of climate change, the industry's growth brings with it excellent employment opportunities and the chance to establish Connecticut as a leader in the field."

"We are thankful for the support from the Department of Energy and proud to be among the partners on this exciting project, which will contribute very positively to the development of the hydrogen industry," said Nel's Vice President for Research and Development, Kathy Ayers.

"The Forge Nano team is excited to showcase the ability to improve key components in the hydrogen supply chain utilizing our Atomic Armor coating processes," said Arrelaine Dameron, Forge Nano EVP of R&D. "We're thankful to the Department of Energy for funding such critical research that allows Forge Nano to continue on its mission to improve performance of critical renewable energy sources."

About Mott

Mott is a Farmington-based advanced manufacturing company founded in 1959. It is a 100 percent employee-owned company. Mott's cutting edge filtration systems are used in key industries like aerospace, clean energy, and electric vehicles. Mott products help operate the most sophisticated products in the world, from smartphones to implantable medical devices to the Mars Rover.

For more information contact: Sean O'Brien ([email protected])

SOURCE Mott Corporation
Inaugural Expedition Kicked Off in Portland, OR, with FOOD & WINE's Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle and Debuts New Onboard and Land-Based Programming

NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Wine lovers and gastronomes rejoice! National Geographic Sea Bird has embarked on the inaugural Columbia and Snake Rivers: Food, Wine, and History expedition, co-created by Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic and FOOD & WINE. The first in a new series of gastronomic expeditions, this extraordinary journey promises to immerse guests in the rich tapestry of culture, cuisine and history along the iconic waterways of the Pacific Northwest.

FOOD & WINE Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle mingles with guests on the bow of National Geographic Sea Bird. (Photo Credit Chelsea Mayer, Lindblad Expeditions)

Onboard, guests will enjoy regionally inspired menus designed around ingredients and wine sourced almost entirely from within 250 miles of the destination and with farmers and fishers committed to sustainable practices; an extensive wine list featuring more than 40 regional varietals curated by Esteves in collaboration with FOOD & WINE's Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle; nightly onboard wine tastings; exclusive access including a private museum event and vineyard tours; cocktails, canapes, and spectacular scenery while transiting towering locks; and more. Expert-led discussions and immersive excursions will also offer discerning travelers insights into the rich, natural and cultural heritage of the Pacific Northwest, offering a deeper understanding of the ecosystems, traditions and personalities that shape this captivating region.

"Our reimagined Columbia and Snake Rivers: Food, Wine, and History expedition represents a unique fusion of adventure, education and culinary exploration. Our guests will deep-dive local food history and learn more about why the geological complexities of this region make it so culinarily rich and diverse," said Ana Esteves, Vice President of Hotel Operations, Lindblad Expeditions. "Our collaboration with FOOD & WINE has presented us with an exciting opportunity to further deepen our commitment to the local farmers, fishermen and foragers we work with along the way. We are proud of the new experience we have created together to offer guests an unforgettable journey, remarkable conversations around the dinner table and a unique connection to this rare yet extraordinary food region!"

Embarking on this pioneering voyage, travelers will be guided by seasoned experts and naturalists into a world where history comes alive and flavors are bountiful. From the historic seaside town of Astoria through the rugged cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge and an array of celebrated wine regionsincluding the charming vineyards of Walla Walla Valleyevery moment of the expedition offers an opportunity for discovery and delight.

"I'm thrilled that we're finally launching to the world this unique collaboration between FOOD & WINE and Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, andeven more than thatI'm happy that I'll get the chance to experience it firsthand, alongside a ship full of eager, and hopefully hungry, travelers on the inaugural voyage," said Isle. "The Pacific Northwest is one of the great wine regions in the world, one that I've been to and written about many times, and today we're embarking on a new type of expedition: traveling the world in a glass."

Nimble and intimately scaled, National Geographic Sea Bird and its sister ship National Geographic Sea Lion  which will also sail this new itinerary  each feature just 31 outside cabins and suites. These U.S.-flagged vessels were purpose-built and expertly designed to navigate shallow and tight waterways inaccessible to larger ships. Due to this intentional, unique design, Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic is able to access fast-moving channels where whales come to feed, transit a series of locks in the Pacific Northwest, approach waterfalls in secluded coves, and sail into small bay anchorages perfect for snorkeling and kayaking.

The inaugural season of the new Columbia and Snake Rivers: Food, Wine, and History expeditions will run through April 28, 2024, when the two ships then reposition to Alaska for a season packed with once-in-a-lifetime experiences exploring seldom-seen areas of The Last Frontier. Beginning Sept. 21, 2024, the ships will return to the Pacific Northwest for the fall 2024 season, where the changing leaves signal to guests an entirely new experience, fresh bounty and exciting flavors.

For itinerary details and more information about this exciting collaboration between FOOD & WINE and Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, visit www.expeditions.com/expeditions/columbia-and-snake-rivers-journey.

About Lindblad Expeditions :

Lindblad Expeditions reveals the beauty and wonder of the world by leading high quality, authentic and immersive travel to the world's most remarkable and wild places. In collaboration with National Geographic Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Expeditions is a co-brand that offers expeditions in 120+ destinations across all seven continents for curious and discerning travelers seeking to experience the world from a new perspective.

For reservations or additional information on voyages to some of the most beautiful, remote, and fascinating places on Earth, visit www.expeditions.com, call (855) 734-3271 to speak to an Expedition Specialist, or contact a travel advisor. Connect with Lindblad Expeditions on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

About National Geographic Expeditions :

For more than 135 years, National Geographic Explorers have ventured across continents and into remote cultures, down to the oceans' depths and up the highest mountains to further their understanding of the world. National Geographic Expeditions builds upon this legacy, inviting travelers to embrace their inner explorer and encounter the wonders of the world firsthand  up close and in depth  and be inspired by the experience. With many ways to explore the world via Signature Land, Expedition Cruise, River Cruise, or Private Jet, National Geographic Expeditions gives travelers unparalleled access to the world through the eyes of knowledgeable Experts. Additionally, traveling with National Geographic Expeditions helps further the work of the global community of National Geographic Explorers around the world. Through every trip booked, travelers support the National Geographic Society's researchers and Explorers who work to preserve, protect, and advance our understanding of the planet.

About FOOD & WINE :

Food & Wine celebrates the global epicurean experience with its award-winning magazine, website, social platforms, newsletters, podcasts, premium events such as the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, and accolades like its annual Best New Chef awards. With rigorously tested recipes and the most trusted restaurant, drinks, culinary travel, and home coverage, the brand inspires and empowers people to discover, create, and devour the best in food and drinkevery day and everywhere. FOOD & WINE is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.

SOURCE Lindblad Expeditions
Panel discussion addresses industry talent gap, acknowledges GlobalFoundries & Applied Materials, Inc. for semiconductor manufacturing Registered Apprenticeships (RA)

AUSTIN, Texas, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the National Institute for Innovation and Technology the nation's leader in semiconductor talent pipeline development and U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) national Intermediary responsible for establishing and expanding Registered Apprenticeships (RAs) throughout semiconductor and nanotechnology-related industry supply chainsawarded two semiconductor industry giants, GlobalFoundries and Applied Materials, Inc. for their work in establishing semiconductor manufacturing RAs.

Representatives from both companies were presented with the awards during "Texas Transistors: Building a Stronger Semiconductor Talent Pipeline," a live-panel event held in Austin, TX, with stakeholders in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries. GlobalFoundries was awarded for instituting the nation's first semiconductor Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP), which graduated its first apprentices last year at the company's manufacturing facility in Malta, New York. The company also has a successful RAP at its Essex Junction, Vermont, manufacturing facility.

"GlobalFoundries is committed to building a strong and sustainable pipeline for the next generation of semiconductor talent, and apprenticeships are a vital aspect of this effort," said Clay Nagel, deputy director of technical training at GlobalFoundries. "We are proud of our Registered Apprenticeship programs in New York and Vermont, the first of their kind in the U.S. semiconductor industry. With a high school diploma or equivalent, candidates can join us as a full-time paid apprentice, receive on-the job-training, and attend college courses at no cost to them. We thank NIIT for its partnership in strengthening our talented U.S. semiconductor workforce, and for this recognition."

Applied Materials received an award for having the nation's first semiconductor equipment manufacturer RAP, which began in 2022 at the company's facility in Texas.

"Applied Materials is honored to receive this award for our efforts to strengthen the talent pipeline which is vital to the growth and success of the U.S. semiconductor industry," said David Immenhauser, Vice President of Manufacturing at Applied Materials. "We are thankful for the support of the NIIT, and we look forward to continued collaboration as we expand our Registered Apprenticeship Program."

Both programs were launched through the Institute's Growing Apprenticeships in Nanotechnology and Semiconductor (GAINS) program. Through GAINS, the Institute works with regional sponsors and training providers to develop, implement, and administer competency-based RAPs that target training to meet job requirements and gaps in individual skills.

The awardees participated in the panels alongside other experts from NXP Semiconductors and ManpowerGroup, and leaders at the Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area boards. The panels focused on the collaborative efforts required to enhance the semiconductor manufacturing talent pipeline and what employers in the industry need from RAPs to align with real-time needs.

Mike Russo, President and CEO of the Institute, applauded the awardees, stating, "There is a growing shift in semiconductor manufacturing and related industries away from a more traditional model for how employers can train and educate their workers, and we're seeing an increase in companies looking to learn-and-earn type solutions to fill talent needs in their facilities. The growth of Registered Apprenticeship Programs in the industry starts with companies like GlobalFoundries and Applied Materials, Inc. taking that first step and pioneering a new model. We can see the amazing success and results of those programs, and we use that to expand Registered Apprenticeships to employers across the industry."

For those unable to attend, a replay will be made available in the days following the event. For additional information about the event or for media comments, contact the Institute's Outreach and Communications Manager Stephanie Frederick at [email protected].

About the National Institute for Innovation and Technology

The Institute is a 501(c)(3) with a mission to identify roadblocks to innovation in strategic industry sectors, those important to the U.S. national security and global competitiveness, and ensure they are eliminated. The Institute is responsible for a national strategy to support the development of the talent pipeline required for the Semiconductor Industry, including Advanced Manufacturing and the tech sector.

The Institute's National Talent Pipeline Development Initiative represents a comprehensive, nationally integrated approach that enables broader participation by promoting skills-based learning and hiring, connecting the public education system, returning service members and their families and adults from other occupations to related technician and engineering careers. For more information about the Institute, visit www.niit.org .

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc. is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials, our innovations make possible a better future. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.

SOURCE National Institute for Innovation and Technology
Nine Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were reportedly left behind on the African island of Sao Tome and Principe on March 27

The group was on a guided excursion that got delayed, leading them to miss the ships "all aboard" call

A statement from Norwegian Cruise Lines noted that all guests are responsible for returning to the docked ship at the designated call time

Eight people were able to catch up to the ship on Tuesday morning after reportedly traversing seven countries.

One, who had fallen ill before the incident, has safely returned to the U.S.

Multiple passengers were stranded on an island in Africa after their Norwegian Cruise Line ship reportedly left them behind. After several days of uncertainty and a trek across seven countries, they're now back on board the vessel.

On Wednesday, March 27, South Carolina couple Jill and Jay Campbell were enjoying a guided tour on the island of Sao Tome and Principe located off the continent's western coast, ABC15 News reported at the time. The pair was with six other American and Australian passengers when they realized they wouldnt make it back to the ship on time due to their tour taking longer than planned.

Though the tour operator contacted the cruise ships captain to inform them of the delay, the captain refused to let them back on the still-anchored ship when they arrived at the port because it was after the "all aboard" call, per the outlet.

The Sao Tome and Principe Coast Guard allegedly then took them by boat directly to the ship where the captain again did not permit them to board.

Related: Carnival Cruise Passenger Captures Ship Fire on Video After Reports of Lightning Strike

Getty Sao Tome and Principe

The group later encountered another stranded passenger, an 80-year-old woman, who was hospitalized on the island after a cruise line tour, the outlet stated. The woman reportedly experienced memory and vision loss due to a medical emergency.

In addition to the ill passenger, the group also includes one person who is pregnant, one with a heart condition and four elderly travelers.

The majority of the group left their medications and credit cards on the ship except for the Campbells, who have reportedly paid over $5,000 for food, accommodations, and other necessities for their fellow passengers.

On Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Angola allegedly arranged for the group to fly to the West African country of Gambia, the ship's next planned port of call, so they could reboard.

Related: 2 Holland America Line Crew Members Killed During Onboard 'Incident' in the Bahamas

Google Maps Map of West Africa that shows Sao Tome and Principe, Gambia, and Senegal

Unfortunately, the group discovered the cruise ship wasnt docked at the port in Gambia as planned because it had to spend another day at sea due to low tides. ABC News 4 reports the passengers spent fifteen hours traveling through six countries to make it to the port on Sunday.

We have to cross the ferry to get into Senegal, Campbell told the outlet on Monday, marking their seventh country. We just learned from the gentleman that the ferry hadnt been working, but he said no problem, if the ferry is not working we will get another little boat and then pick up a car on the other side. And then once we get on the other side of Senegal, its another four-hour drive.

Related: Royal Caribbean Confirms Death of Passenger on 9-Month World Cruise

In a statement to PEOPLE, Norwegian Cruise Line said, On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, while the ship was in Sao Tome and Principe, an African island nation, eight guests who were on the island on a private tour not organized through us missed the last tender back to the vessel, therefore not meeting the all aboard time of 3 p.m. local time."

The statement continued, While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ships intercom, in the daily print communication and posted just before exiting the vessel.

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.

The cruise line added that guests are responsible for any necessary travel arrangements to meet the ship at the next port and that they had each of their passports delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they missed their all aboard call.

The group was finally able to catch up to the vessel. They reached Dakar, Senegal, its next port, on Monday night, PEOPLE confirmed.

After what they'd been through, Jill told NBC News in a story published on Tuesday, "We are considering whether or not we are going to board the ship. We believe there was a basic duty of care that they had forgotten about, so it does concern us." While she allowed that Norwegian technically followed protocol, she says, "I believe that they really forgot that they are people working in the hospitality industry and really the safety and well-being of the customers should be their first priority."

On Tuesday morning, the eight passengers, less the person who had fallen ill and later safely returned home to the United States, chose to board the cruise. Norwegian confirmed the news to PEOPLE in a statement.

"Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal. We remain in communication with the guests and are providing additional information as it becomes available,"

The Norwegian Dawn departed from Cape Town, South Africa, on March 20 for a 21-day trip that will end in Barcelona on April 10.



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Global skincare and wellness brand earns top honors hailed for operational integrity and excellence

DALLAS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct Selling News announced that Neora is the recipient of two of its most prestigious honorsthe Bravo Impact Award, and the Bravo Leadership Award for the company's Founder and CEO, Jeff Olson.

The Bravo Impact Award honors the achievements of companies that take a holistic, measured and incremental approach to growth, innovation and operational integrity and excellence.

Jeff Olsen, Founder and CEO of Neora, has been honored with the Bravo Leadership Award.

"I can't think of any company that embodies this more clearly than Neora ," said Stuart Johnson, Founder and CEO of Direct Selling News. "They have always led with integrity, vision and grit. Neora is truly making a positive impact in the channel."

The Bravo Leadership Award is an esteemed recognition exclusively dedicated to CEOs and owners of direct selling companies who have demonstrated remarkable strategic insight, decision-making and transformative leadership.

"This award is something we take very seriously at DSN, and Jeff Olson is so deserving of this award," said Johnson. "He has always been a powerful voice not only for the channel but for the importance of personal development. He has impacted countless lives over his career, including mine."

Jeff has a long history of success in the industry, having served as a top field distributor, a CEO and founder of several companies, as well as a leader in the personal development space. He is the bestselling author of The Slight Edge, as well as the owner of Live Happy, a premier resource advancing the message of positive psychology.

Neora is a leader in the direct-selling industry. Since its inception in 2011, the family-owned and operated company has sold more than 40 million products worldwide, earned a top spot on INC 500's fastest-growing companies list, and been named one of the Best Places to Work. Through its Neora Ripple Foundation, the company has donated over $6 million to at-risk youth.

Neora recently made history with its monumental win against the FTC. The company's executive team led the way to this victory with their unwavering commitment to standing their ground and defending their beliefs. Neora's landmark win has become the new gold standard for establishing what a legitimate model in direct sales looks like.

"I started this company because I wanted to make people better ," says Neora Founder and CEO Jeff Olson. "I wanted to show everyone how to build a company the right wayone that brought value to the marketplace. These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of every member of the Neora family."

With eyes on what's ahead, Neora's expansion trajectory is in full 'go time' mode, marked by its recent acquisition of ACN Korea further solidifying its strategic growth in Asia Pacific. Neora has aggressive growth plans for all its markets, which includes continuing to improve its e-commerce experience, expanding its product line and footprint around the world, and launching in the U.S.- Hispanic market.

To learn more about Neora, visit https://www.neora.com/ .

PR Contact:

Victoria Shockley

[email protected]

919-780-9727

SOURCE Neora
$50,000 joint donation to No Kid Hungry will help kids access meals over the summer.

CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- All kids deserve a great summer, but for millions of children who rely on school meals, summer can be the hungriest time of year. That's why Nutri-Grain is teaming up with King Soopers to donate $50,000 to No Kid Hungry to make summer a time for all kids in Colorado and across the country to grow, learn and thrive.

Left to right: Jessica Trowbridge, King Soopers; Meredith Keegan, Kellanova; Kelleen Zubick, Share Our Strengths No Kid Hungry campaign; and Alexis Bishop, Kellanova.

When the last bell rings at the end of the school year, millions of children are cut off from the healthy meals they get each day at school. The need is especially acute in rural communities, where children may be far away from free summer meals served at schools, libraries and community centers. Data shows that traditional summer meal programs generally never reach more than 1 in 7 kids who rely on free/reduced meals during the school year.

"Today, 1 in 5 kids face hunger. It doesn't have to be this way, and we are proud to be a part of the solution so kids can have the joyful summer they deserve," said Sarah Reinecke, Vice President, Portable Wholesome Snacks, Kellanova. "Working with organizations like King Soopers to support partners like No Kid Hungry not only eases the burden for families facing hunger, but also creates better days for the communities in Colorado we both serve."

This year, kids are facing a brighter summer. Thanks in part to the work of No Kid Hungry, kids and families in rural communities will be able to access meals through delivery or pick-up services, instead of requiring children to travel to the sites where the meals are served. Additionally, Summer EBT, a grocery benefit, will be available for eligible families with school-age children. Together, these new programs could help more than 30 million children in the United States.

"We are proud to be joining Nutri-Grain and No Kid Hungry because it's critical that all kids, regardless of where they live, get three meals a day, every day," said Jessica Trowbridge, King Soopers Corporate Affairs Manager. "King Soopers has been working hard at the local level to end childhood hunger and this partnership is an exciting moment to come together as a collective to make a big difference."

This initiative not only addresses the critical issue of childhood hunger but also underscores the Nutri-Grain commitment to nourishing communities. Nutri-Grain ensures families are well-prepared for whatever their summer may bring by providing eight grams of 100 percent whole grain oats and other grains, and eight essential vitamins and minerals, including iron, calcium and vitamin D.

The partnership between Nutri-Grain, King Soopers and No Kid Hungry is one of the ways Kellanova and its iconic brands are bringing the Kellanova Better Days Promise to life. Kellanova is committed to advancing sustainable and equitable access to food, creating #BetterDays for 4 billion people by the end of 2030.

Since beginning its partnership in 2013, Kellanova has helped No Kid Hungry reach more than 1.8 million kids facing hunger in this country. Learn more about how you can help at NoKidHungry.org .

About Kellanova

Kellanova (NYSE: K) is a leader in global snacking, international cereal and noodles, and North America frozen foods with a legacy stretching back more than 100 years. Powered by differentiated brands including Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats, RXBAR, Eggo, MorningStar Farms, Special K, Coco Pops, and more, Kellanova's vision is to become the world's best-performing snacks-led powerhouse, unleashing the full potential of our differentiated brands and our passionate people.

Kellanova is guided by our purpose to create better days and a place at the table for everyone through our trusted food brands. We are advancing sustainable and equitable access to food by addressing the intersection of hunger, sustainability, wellbeing, and equity, diversity & inclusion, with the ambition of creating Better Days for 4 billion people by the end of 2030 (from a 2015 baseline). Visit www.Kellanova.com for more information.

About King Soopers:

At King Soopers, a company of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit. We are 22,000 associates who serve customers daily through a seamless shopping experience throughout Colorado. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America. But millions of kids in the United States live with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization committed to ending hunger and poverty.

SOURCE Kellanova
SAN DIEGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OUTbio San Diego, today marked a significant milestone by celebrating its first anniversary. Founded on April 4, 2023, the organization's mission is to empower LGBTQ+ professionals and allies in life science by fostering an inclusive community where diversity is celebrated.

"In the last year, OUTbio San Diego focused on nurturing the vibrant LGBTQ+ life science community in our region, providing a welcoming space for professionals to come together, connect, and thrive," said Tyler Brown, Chair of OUTbio San Diego's Board of Directors. "Membership has reached a new milestone of over 400 life science professionals from more than 250 companies, and growth is showing no signs of slowing."

OUTbio San Diego's first event in May 2023 drew over 200 life science professionals and local leaders, including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. Elected in 2020, Mayor Gloria is San Diego's first openly gay mayor and first mayor of color. "I was honored to be part of OUTbio San Diego's inaugural event, and I'm thrilled to witness the incredible growth and impact the organization achieved in its first year," said Mayor Gloria. "OUTbio's commitment to empowering LGBTQ+ professionals in San Diego's life science industry aligns with our city's values of inclusivity and diversity, and I'm grateful for their continued support of this community."

Over the past year, OUTbio San Diego has hosted quarterly networking events with community partners, initiated volunteer opportunities with the San Diego LGBT Community Center, Generation STEAM, and Ocean Connectors, and held monthly membership meet-ups. To mark the anniversary, OUTbio San Diego will host a "State of the Organization" event today.

Said Dr. Kelvin Chan, Director of Commercial and BD with Kudo Biotechnology, "Being part of our local OUTbio San Diego group provides me with a profound sense of belonging and empowerment that was harder to get from virtual participation in non-local groups, and I am delighted to see our group celebrate its anniversary! The unwavering community spirit and support from LGBTQ+ and allies inspire me to continue to advocate for enhanced representation in life science."

Inaugural supporters of OUTbio San Diego include platinum sponsors Travere Therapeutics and Inizio Evoke Comms, silver sponsor AmpersandPeople, and bronze sponsor Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Formation of the organization in San Diego was initiated by industry leaders Carin Canale-Theakston and Eric Dube.

About OUTbio San Diego

OUTbio is life science's largest LGBTQ+ and allies group founded to empower professionals in the industry through networking, education, advocacy, professional development, and peer support. OUTbio San Diego is a regional branch affiliated with the broader consortium of OUTbio regional organizations. OUTbio was originally established in 2015 in Boston and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2019. The OUTbio organizations have more than 1,300 members across the regional branches in cities throughout the world. For more information, visit OUTbioSanDiego.org.

SOURCE OUTbio San Diego
Winning portfolio captured in Gaza during October and November 2023

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) today announced freelance photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf as the 10th annual recipient of its Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. The global recognition honors women photojournalists who document humanity amid conflict as well as the challenges facing marginalized populations worldwide. This year's award is being issued on April 4, 2024, the 10th anniversary of German photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus's passing; Niedringhaus was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan with the Associated Press.

Abu Elouf's winning portfolio  and the bulk of her photojournalism  features reporting on war and its effect on women and children. Previously based in Gaza City, Abu Elouf puts herself at the center of danger to chronicle how conflict, loss, and need affect people in her own community. Late last year, Abu Elouf was forced to evacuate her home after it was partially destroyed. Her winning portfolio, 'Gaza Under Attack,' includes a series of 12 images commissioned by and featured in The New York Times.

"There are no more extreme conditions than what Samar endured to bring us these images from Gaza  a warzone that marks the deadliest period for journalists in modern history," said Elisa Lees Munoz, Executive Director of the IWMF. "Samar was separated from her children, her relatives were killed, and she slept in cars and on floors to keep reporting. Battling a lung infection and surviving on one meal a day, all to bring us the truth, Samar is the epitome of dedication, professionalism and courage."

"I am honored to receive this award, to be recognized for my work in Gaza, and to follow in the footsteps of Anja's courage," said Abu Elouf. "Still, it is hard to celebrate given the ongoing tragedy in my homeland. My work as a photojournalist taught me to respect the humanity of all people with fortitude and patience. The camera has made me a strong woman, and I will continue working and taking photos until my last breath."

Two additional photojournalists received honorable mentions this year for their extraordinary visual portfolios: British Swedish photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind and Egyptian Canadian photojournalist Nariman El Mofty. Taylor-Lind's portfolio includes imagery from her ongoing, long-term project '5K from the Frontline,' and unveils an intimate, extended narrative of courage during wartime in Donbas, Ukraine, made over the past six years. El Mofty's portfolio, which includes imagery from Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen, moves from timely spotlights to immersive storytelling, and focuses on people who require deeply gained trust.

This year's jury included renowned industry editors and photojournalists Corinne Dufka, Whitney Johnson, Brent Lewis, Enric Marti, Benny Snyder, Sandra M. Stevenson, and Bernadette Tuazon, who reviewed 97 qualifying portfolios from 37 countries. Following selection, the jury issued the following statement:

"This year's winner and honorees beautifully captured the spirit of Anja's work: They are on the frontlines of conflict, yet they are evoking a lyrical quality of humanity that causes us to pause and consider. The portfolios from Samar, Anastasia, and Nariman take months  even years  to report, which requires determination and trust, and shows how deeply invested these women are in their work. We applaud these remarkable, tenacious photojournalists for helping us to better understand today's world."

"Everywhere you look there is something happening that requires Anja's eye," followed Lees Munoz. "Anja encouraged journalists to turn the camera, and to document the way conflict and change affect those who do not receive the spotlight. The IWMF is honored to recognize Samar, Anastasia, and Nariman this year, and add their names to Anja's legacy of compassion, empathy and humanity in journalism."

Anja Niedringhaus was a recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005. The winner's $20,000 prize is made possible by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Courage in Photojournalism Award Winner

This year's winner, Samar Abu Elouf, is a Palestinian freelance photojournalist who recently evacuated Gaza City.

An award-winning journalist, Abu Elouf covers events where she lives, including stories about gender, women's and children's lives, and the consequences of war. Since 2010, she has worked as a freelance photojournalist on assignment for Reuters, The New York Times, and other news outlets.

Abu Elouf documented the 20182019 Gaza border protests, also known as the Great March of Return. She also worked with ZUMA Press to cover stories related to the COVID-19 pandemic for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and news agencies. In May 2021, on assignment for The New York Times, she covered the 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas that destroyed essential infrastructure and killed more than 230 people, including several of her own relatives.

Most recently, Samar covered the 2023 Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas' October 7th attacks for The New York Times. Her images, both intimate and shocking, convey both the anguish and dignity of her subjects.

Instagram: @samarabuelouf

Courage in Photojournalism Honorees

Anastasia Taylor-Lind is a British Swedish photojournalist with a 20-year career working for the world's leading magazines on long-form stories relating to women, war, and environment. In 2023, Taylor-Lind received the Canon Female Photojournalist Award for her project '5k from the Frontline,' and became a National Geographic Society Explorer in support of this ongoing reporting in Ukraine.

For the past decade, Taylor-Lind has collaborated with Alisa Sopova, a journalist and anthropologist from Donetsk, Ukraine. Their work has been published in TIME Magazine, The New York Times, and NPR, among other outlets. In 2023, more than 100,000 visitors experienced Taylor-Lind and Sopova's exhibition, 'Ukraine; Photographs from the Frontline,' at the Imperial War Museum in the United Kingdom. An exhibition of their work also recently debuted at Harvard University's Davis Center.

Taylor-Lind is a 2014 TED fellow, a 2016 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, and a 2017 non-fiction writing fellow at The Carey Institute for Global Good. Her first photographic monograph, 'Maidan  Portraits from the Black Square,' about the 2014 revolution in Ukraine, was published the same year by GOST books. Taylor-Lind's debut poetry collection, 'One Language,' was published by Smith|Doorstep in 2022.

Taylor-Lind is also a Visiting Professor of Photography at the University of Suffolk.

X / Twitter: @anastasiatl, https://twitter.com/cguzyInstagram: @anastasiatl

After years photo editing and photographing for the Associated Press (AP) Middle East photo desk, Nariman El Mofty  an honoree this year  is now working as a freelance photojournalist.

In 2019, El Mofty received the Overseas Press Club's Olivier Rebbot Award for her Yemen photo reportage, 'Yemen on the Edge'. That same year, she received a citation of excellence within the OPC's Hal Boyle Award  together with Maggie Michael and Maad al-Zikry from the AP  recognizing, 'Yemen's Dirty Way.' In 2020, El Mofty received OPC's Hal Boyle Award for 'Outsourcing Migrants' as a member of the AP reporting team recognized for the best newspaper, news service or digital reporting from abroad.

In addition, El Mofty was awarded two Robert Capa citations: the first, in 2019, for 'Disembarking in Hell,' which chronicled the perilous journey of Ethiopian migrants, and the second, in 2020, for reporting on Tigray refugees at the Sudanese-Ethiopian border. The latter work was also exhibited in the International Festival of Photojournalism 2021, 'Visa pour l'image,' in Perpignan.

Most recently El-Mofty was a member of the AP team covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for its visual coverage of the horrors of the Russia-Ukraine war since the start of the war in February 2022.

X / Twitter: @NMofty, Instagram: @narimanelmofty

About the International Women's Media Foundation

The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) is the only global organization built to serve the holistic needs of women and nonbinary journalists. We are a bold and inclusive organization that supports journalists where they are with awards, reporting opportunities, fellowships, grants, safety training and emergency aid. As one of the largest supporters of women-produced journalism, our transformative work strengthens equal opportunity and press freedom worldwide. Follow the IWMF on X/Twitter at @IWMF, on Facebook at @IWMFPage, on Instagram on @TheIWMF and on TikTok @theiwmf.

SOURCE The International Women's Media Foundation
PUNE, India, April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report titled "Patient Registry Software Market by Function (Health Information Exchange, Medical Research & Clinical Studies, Patient Care Management), Type (Disease Registries, Health Service Registries, Product Registries), Database Type, Software, Pricing Model, End-User - Global Forecast 2024-2030" is now available on 360iResearch.com's offering, presents an analysis indicating that the market projected to grow from a size of $1.58 billion in 2023 to reach $4.44 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 15.89% over the forecast period.

" The Rise of Patient Registry Software in Global Healthcare "

The healthcare industry is witnessing a transformation by adopting patient registry software, a dynamic tool designed to aggregate, manage, and analyze patient data across various medical specialties. This innovation aims to enhance patient management, monitor treatment outcomes, and facilitate cutting-edge clinical research, advancing patient care and streamlining healthcare delivery. A pressing need for effective disease management and a concerted push toward value-based care is observed with prevailing chronic diseases, propelling the growth of the patient registry software market. This technology empowers healthcare providers to improve treatment efficacy and patient outcomes and supports public health initiatives and research efforts. Challenges include ensuring the security of sensitive patient data. Opportunities include governmental support for health information technology and the integration of EHR. The demand for such software is flourishing worldwide, with significant advancements in the Americas due to advanced technology, robust healthcare infrastructure, and supportive regulatory policies. In the Asia-Pacific, chronic disease burdens and healthcare investments toward digital health are increasing, while in Europe and the Middle East, the emphasis is on managing chronic conditions and upgrading healthcare systems, aligning with stringent data protection laws. Africa is embracing the potential of patient registry software, driven by a commitment to addressing chronic diseases and enhancing healthcare quality.

Download Sample Report @ https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/patient-registry-software

" Enhancing Global Healthcare through Digital Innovation and Government Support "

Governments worldwide are increasingly recognizing the significance of digital technology in transforming healthcare services and improving patient outcomes. Initiatives such as India's MyDigiRecords, USAID's Vision for Action in Digital Health, and the Australian government's My Health Record exemplify this global trend towards digitalization. These efforts aim to create a more connected, efficient healthcare system, with patient registry software playing a crucial role by enabling the collection and analysis of health data securely and standardized. The EU's Health Data Space initiative highlights the importance of cross-border data exchange, fostering a cohesive digital health ecosystem. Government support includes financial investment and the creation of policies that ensure data privacy, system interoperability, and the secure handling of patient information. With such robust backing, the drive towards digital healthcare promises to streamline care delivery and empower research and development, paving the way for medical care and management breakthroughs.

" Patient Registry Software Paves the Way for Enhanced Care and Research "

Patient registry software is a pivotal tool, bridging the gap between health organizations by seamlessly exchanging critical health information and adhering to stringent national guidelines. This modern solution streamlines patient care, making it safer and more efficient, and propels medical research to new heights by providing advanced data collection, organization, and analysis capabilities. It is tailored to support thorough, evidence-based clinical choices and accelerate the growth of medical knowledge. The precise management of patient information crafts tailored care strategies vital for chronic condition management and ongoing health surveillance, reinforcing the continuum of care. It ensures that healthcare professionals have immediate access to essential patient data, thus enabling timely and informed decisions safeguarding patient wellbeing. This software works by meticulously gathering patient-related data over time, offering insights into treatment outcomes and potential side effects, thereby assessing medical interventions' real-world effectiveness and safety. Examining the application and results of healthcare products and practices plays a critical role in informing healthcare policies and setting new clinical standards, ultimately aiming to elevate the quality of healthcare delivery and patient outcomes globally.

Request Analyst Support @ https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/patient-registry-software

" International Business Machines Corporation at the Forefront of Patient Registry Software Market with a Strong 9.49% Market Share "

The key players in the Patient Registry Software Market include IQVIA Holdings Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Syneos Health, Inc., Oracle Corporation, Elekta AB, and others. These prominent players focus on strategies such as expansions, acquisitions, joint ventures, and developing new products to strengthen their market positions.

" Introducing ThinkMi: Revolutionizing Market Intelligence with AI-Powered Insights for the Patient Registry Software Market "

We proudly unveil ThinkMi, a cutting-edge AI product designed to transform how businesses interact with the Patient Registry Software Market. ThinkMi stands out as your premier market intelligence partner, delivering unparalleled insights with the power of artificial intelligence. Whether deciphering market trends or offering actionable intelligence, ThinkMi is engineered to provide precise, relevant answers to your most critical business questions. This revolutionary tool is more than just an information source; it's a strategic asset that empowers your decision-making with up-to-the-minute data, ensuring you stay ahead in the fiercely competitive Patient Registry Software Market. Embrace the future of market analysis with ThinkMi, where informed decisions lead to remarkable growth.

Ask Question to ThinkMi @ https://app.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/patient-registry-software

" Dive into the Patient Registry Software Market Landscape: Explore 191 Pages of Insights, 748 Tables, and 28 Figures "

Preface Research Methodology Executive Summary Market Overview Market Insights Patient Registry Software Market, by Function Patient Registry Software Market, by Type Patient Registry Software Market, by Database Type Patient Registry Software Market, by Software Patient Registry Software Market, by Pricing Model Patient Registry Software Market, by End-User Americas Patient Registry Software Market Asia-Pacific Patient Registry Software Market Europe , Middle East & Africa Patient Registry Software Market Competitive Landscape Competitive Portfolio

Inquire Before Buying @ https://www.360iresearch.com/library/intelligence/patient-registry-software

Related Reports:

About 360iResearch

Founded in 2017, 360iResearch is a market research and business consulting company headquartered in India, with clients and focus markets spanning the globe.

We are a dynamic, nimble company that believes in carving ambitious, purposeful goals and achieving them with the backing of our greatest asset  our people.

Quick on our feet, we have our ear to the ground when it comes to market intelligence and volatility. Our market intelligence is diligent, real-time and tailored to your needs, and arms you with all the insight that empowers strategic decision-making.

Our clientele encompasses about 80% of the Fortune Global 500, and leading consulting and research companies and academic institutions that rely on our expertise in compiling data in niche markets. Our meta-insights are intelligent, impactful and infinite, and translate into actionable data that support your quest for enhanced profitability, tapping into niche markets, and exploring new revenue opportunities.

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To learn more, visit 360iresearch.com or follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , and Facebook .

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SOURCE 360iResearch
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Davis Restoration will be volunteering for "Sound the Alarm," an American Red Cross emblematic national movement taking place each spring, to install free smoke alarms in neighborhood homes. These events are part of the Home Fire Campaign, founded in 2014 by the Red Cross to respond to the shocking and heart-breaking fact that every day, seven people die in home fires, most often in homes without working smoke alarms.

Paul Davis Restoration, a nationwide network of nearly 350 franchises, headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, pledged $500,000 to the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program (ADGP) in January of this year. This donation helps ensure the organization is prepared to meet the needs of people affected by disasters big and small across the U.S.

It's a shocking fact that every day, seven people die in home fires, most often in homes without working smoke alarms. Post this

Randall Minor, an Estimator at the Paul Davis of North Florida location, also took part in an event. "Spreading awareness about fire safety with the Red Cross was a very meaningful and rewarding experience for me. As someone who sees fire damage on a regular basis, I can tell you that the devastation caused by a fire can ruin more than just someone's property," added Minor.

"Not everyone is fortunate enough to live in a home with properly installed, functional smoke detectors," said Barry A'Hearn, Emergency Recovery Coordinator of Paul Davis of the Iowa-Corridor. In my position I see too often how destructive home fires can be; we try help make sure the destruction is limited to property damage and not life and limb."

Do you have a smoke alarm in your home? Would you like to volunteer in the

Sound the Alarm program in your area? Please go to your local Red Cross Chapter website or to: https://www.redcross.org/sound-the-alarm.html

About Paul Davis Restoration: Paul Davis Restoration has restored residential and commercial properties damaged by fire, water, mold, storms, and disasters for over five decades. Paul Davis is a one-stop shop for disaster damage and restoration with hundreds of locations throughout the United States and Canada. The professionals at Paul Davis are certified in emergency restoration, reconstruction, and remodeling. For more information visit the company website at www.pauldavis.com For further info on available franchise territories go to www.pauldavisbusiness.com.

SOURCE Paul Davis Restoration Inc.
HOUSTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PCS Software, a leading provider of Transportation Management Systems (TMS), is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark A. Hill as its new Chief Executive Officer. With over 35 years of experience in technology, sales, and consulting, Mr. Hill brings a wealth of expertise and a strong commitment to customer-centric leadership, further reinforcing PCS Software's dedication to customer satisfaction.

PCS Software is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark A. Hill as its new Chief Executive Officer. Post this Mark A Hill, CEO at PCS Software.

"PCS has a longstanding reputation for delivering innovative solutions to its over 1,500 customers," said Frank Adelmann, member of the PCS Software Board of Directors. "Mark's extensive leadership experience, coupled with his unwavering dedication to customer satisfaction and growth, make him the ideal CEO to guide PCS through its next phase of development."

Hill joins PCS from W Energy Software, where he served as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and subsequently as CEO. Under his leadership, the company experienced remarkable growth, achieving over 30% annual growth and successfully navigating the sale of the company, all while ensuring continued progress despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 market. In addition to W Energy Software, Mr. Hill held leadership positions with Value Creed, Bibliotheca, P2 Energy Solutions and Allegro Development where he helped build and grow , customer-first software organizations.

"I am deeply honored to join PCS at this pivotal moment," said Mr. Hill. "The company's commitment to customer success deeply resonates with me. I am eager to listen to our customers' needs and drive innovation in our products based on their feedback. I am passionate about supporting our customers' growth and ensuring their success remains at the forefront of everything we do."

Mr. Hill is a respected thought leader in the technology sector, having authored and published articles on technology, energy, trading, and industry trends in prestigious publications such as The Wall Street Journal and various industry media outlets.

About PCS Software

Since 1996, PCS Software has been leading the way in transportation management, providing award-winning TMS software for carriers, brokers, and shippers. PCS empowers transportation professionals to enhance efficiency and profitability while simplifying their workflows. With a clear focus on delivering a seamless, end-to-end transportation management solution that addresses the evolving needs of modern logistics, PCS Software transforms the transportation management experience from stressful to streamlined. Learn more about PCS Software at pcssoft.com.

Media Contact

Susan Collins

PCS Media Specialist

[email protected]

770-654-7054

SOURCE PCS Software
Renowned trust & estates attorney joins amid period of immense growth for Peak Trust

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Peak Trust Company ("Peak Trust") today announced the appointment of seasoned Alaska-based trust & estates attorney, Abigail ("Abby") O'Connor, as its new Chief Fiduciary Officer, effective in August. O'Connor's addition comes at a crucial time for the organization as it approaches its 27th year in business. Specializing in trust administration and structuring unique and efficient trust plans, Peak Trust has grown to be a national leader in complex and sophisticated estate planning.

Abigail O'Connor, Peak Trust Company's new Chief Fiduciary Officer (CNW Group/Peak Trust Company)

"I've always known Peak Trust to be the premier provider of fiduciary services." said O'Connor. "I've been following their success from afar, and I'm delighted to join the team at this pivotal time. I have immense gratitude for my years in private legal practice, as well as the relationships I've been able to foster."

O'Connor brings 15 years of experience in the trust industry to this critical role, leading her own private legal practice, O'Connor Law LLC, dedicated to estate and gift tax strategic planning, representation of trustees and beneficiaries, estate administration, as well as family business succession planning. A renowned speaker and author, O'Connor has been consistently recognized by the Estate Planning industry for her expertise, and by clients for her exceptional legal ability.

"The skills Abby brings to Peak Trust are unparalleled in our field," said Matthew Blattmachr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Peak Trust. "We are thrilled to welcome her to the team. Abby's proven track record in this industry and understanding of the dedication necessary for client success will be a significant asset to the organization's continued growth."

O'Connor will also continue to serve as Alaska state chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), collaborating with legal professionals around the country on wills and trusts, estate planning, as well as gift and estate tax law. Applying this comprehensive perspective, O'Connor will work closely with Peak Trust partners and referral sources, contributing to the company's trust administration processes and overarching growth strategy.

"The trust and estate field has undergone significant change, and I couldn't imagine joining a team better suited to secure the best results for clients in this evolving space," added O'Connor. "I look forward to connecting with the Peak Trust community and supporting clients in achieving their trust goals."

About Peak Trust Company

Peak Trust Company is the brand for a group of affiliated federally and state-chartered trust companies headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It serves estate planners looking for a professional corporate trustee, and who want reliable and accessible expertise to help them with their client's complex trust plans. Peak Trust Company offers the experience and sophistication to help clients quickly and accurately establish trusts, backed by easy-to-use trust administration. Unlike traditional banks and trust companies, "trust" is Peak Trust Company's core business. This enables Peak Trust Company to provide a highly customized delivery process tailored to clients' specific needs and an unbundled service structure; providing everything clients need but only what they want.

SOURCE Peak Trust Company
TORONTO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Pineapple Financial Inc. (NYSE American: PAPL), ("the Company" or "Pineapple"), a tech-focused mortgage brokerage with an integrated network of partner brokerages and agents across Canada, today announced the launch of PineappleONE , the first all-in-one deal management system that allows brokers to originate, manage, and submit mortgage deals to lenders and see all of the details of their mortgage deal in one time-saving view.

Pineapple Financial Inc. | NYSE American: PAPL Pineapple Financial Inc. | NYSE American: PAPL (CNW Group/Pineapple Financial Inc.)

Unlike the other five deal origination platforms in the Canadian mortgage industry, PineappleONE manages the entire deal process seamlessly from one system, eliminating the guesswork for brokers when selecting the right lender pool and submission agent. With a click of a button, the system automatically generates lender-specific notes, saving time and ensuring accuracy when submitting mortgage deals to lenders. It also automatically merges documents into a package, ensuring lenders get precisely what they need to approve the deal.

PineappleONE combines advanced automation systems to create an intuitive experience. The system is designed to evolve with the broker's behaviour, recognize their preferences, and learn from their actions. It transforms how Pineapple brokers interact with lenders and clients by automating daily tasks, reducing errors, providing the ability to email and call clients directly from the deal application, and unifying critical functions to maximize speed and efficiency.

Built from the ground up over the past year by Pineapple's award-winning technology team, the system is expected to increase the Company's gross revenue, which will significantly impact net profit margin in the next twelve months.

"With industry-leading automation, an intuitive workflow, and built-in compliance, PineappleONE will help our brokers submit deals faster and improve their acceptance rates, thereby driving more revenue," said Pineapple President and COO Kendall Marin. "Using this system, our brokers will get 100 percent of the required conditions when choosing a lender. Our innovative document management system, Doc Genius, instantly generates accurate conditions in the application and syncs the documents to the client portal based on the selected lender and their products.

"I am very proud of the work our technology team has achieved over the past year to build out this incredible system at an unparalleled pace."

Pineapple Chief Strategy Officer Christa Mitchell added, "Once again, Pineapple is at the forefront of innovation in the Canadian mortgage industry. PineappleONE is a significant competitive advantage and will further enhance our agent recruitment efforts as we expand across Canada in 2024."

Pineapple CEO Shuha Dasgupta stated, "Engineered with the latest mobile-first functionality, PineappleONE ensures that brokers can complete their mortgage deals anywhere, giving them back valuable time to build their book of business and spend cherished time with their families."

About Pineapple Financial:

Pineapple is an award-winning fintech and leading Canadian mortgage brokerage network, focusing on both the long-term success of agents and brokers as well as the overall experience of homeowners. With approximately 700 brokers within the network, Pineapple creates cutting-edge cloud-based tools and AI-driven systems to enable its brokers to help Canadians realize their dream of owning a home. Pineapple is active within the community and is proud to sponsor charities across Canada to improve the lives of fellow Canadians.

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @pineapplemortgage @empoweredbypineapple

Facebook: Pineapple Mortgage

LinkedIn: Pineapple Mortgage

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the Company's current expectations and projections about future events that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue" or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations that arise after the date hereof, except as may be required by law. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the initial public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the registration statement filed with the SEC. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and encourages investors to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company's registration statement and other filings with the SEC. Additional factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.go v.

Related Links:

https://gopineapple.com

http://empoweredbypineapple.com

SOURCE Pineapple Financial Inc.
CARPINTERIA, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PlanMember Financial Corporation is pleased to announce the opening of a new financial center, The 401(k) Group. Located in Red Bank, NJ, The 401(k) Group is owned and managed by Joe Fernandes, who has been a securities-licensed financial services professional for over 27 years. "My partnership with PlanMember is exciting for many reasons," says Joe. "As a Financial Center, I have so much support from PlanMember in terms of business development, marketing, recruiting and Compliance. With all of these services being provided, I can focus on serving the needs of my clients."

"While retirement planning is at the core of our services, we offer a broad spectrum of financial assistance," adds Joe. "Whether you seek guidance on retirement, general investing, college funding, income strategies, estate planning or insurance needs, our experienced team is ready to provide personalized solutions tailored to your unique circumstances." To learn more about The 401(k) Group, please visit planmember.com/the401kgroup/.

PlanMember, with more than $16 billion in assets, specializes in the 403(b), 457(b) and 401(k) marketplace. To date, PlanMember has established 48 Financial Centers in 25 states, with a goal of expanding to 80 Financial Centers nationwide.

"We're very excited to partner with Joe," says Jon Ziehl, President and CEO of PlanMember, "and the affiliation with The 401(k) Group supports PlanMember's continuing efforts to extend our business model across the United States, including our first Financial Center in New Jersey."

About PlanMember: For more than three decades PlanMember Financial Corporation, through its operating subsidiaries, has provided personalized retirement planning and administrative services to public and private sector employers and employees utilizing a broad selection of investment programs. The company is headquartered in Carpinteria, CA.

Securities and advisory services are offered through PlanMember Securities Corporation (PSEC), a registered broker/dealer, investment advisor and member FINRA/SIPC. The 401(k) Group and PlanMember Securities Corporation are independently owned and operated companies.

SOURCE PlanMember Securities
Smoking could be banned at outdoor bar and restaurant terraces (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Canary Island government is set to tighten its smoking regulations, including a ban on lighting cigarettes in the outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants.

A more radical national smoking bill is due to be discussed at the upcoming Interterritorial Health Council meeting between regional authorities and Spains Ministry of Health.

Among the strengthened measures to protect against passive smoking, the national bill proposes generic packaging for cigarettes, removing brand logos and prohibiting the sale of single-use vapes that are non-biodegradable.

Sports facilities, bus stop shelters and entrances to schools and healthcare facilities could all become smoke-free spaces under the proposal, according to Canarian Weekly.

The significant rule change would affect the lifestyle of many travellers visiting the summer holiday hotspot that welcomed 5.7 million British arrivals in 2023.

Duty-free and cheaper tobacco prices alone have been known for drawing in UK holidaymakers to weeks in Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.

Additional tightening of restrictions and regulations on the sales and advertising of vapes and electric cigarettes are included in the bid to control tobacco consumption.

Regional authorities say a financial plan for each area would need to be outlined for the measures to be successful.

In January, Rishi Sunak announced a plan to ban disposable vapes in Britain using powers already in place under the Environmental Protection Act  which is expected to come into force at the end of 2024 or the start of 2025.

As part of the ban, trading standards officers across the UK will be given powers to act on the spot to tackle underage tobacco and vape sales.

Canaries authorities suggest that introducing the new smoking law could implement the proposed regulations throughout Spain if they are agreed to by the government.

The rule change comes as anti-tourism sentiment is growing in the Spanish archipelagos due to strains on local infrastructures to meet tourism demands.

Drunken revellers could also be banned from Spanish party islands under new plans being considered by local officials to crack down on anti-social behaviour by tourists.

Tourists who break strict rules could be blacklisted from notorious party hotspots in the Balearic Islands, such as Magaluf in Majorca and the West End of San Antonio in Ibiza.
Join us in Chicago or access our virtual newsroom for this year's hottest nutrition news

BETHESDA, Md., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Complimentary press passes are now available for NUTRITION 2024, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. Join us June 29-July 2 in Chicago for the latest developments in nutrition research, practice and policy.

As the pre-eminent meeting in nutrition science, NUTRITION attracts thousands of scientists, practitioners, policymakers, advocacy leaders and industry professionals each year. Reporters are invited to attend in person to connect with the field's leaders and learn about exciting scientific findings, impactful policy developments and emerging technologies.

This year's meeting will explore cutting-edge advances aimed at answering some of today's most pressing questions in nutrition and public health, such as: How does what we eat affect how we age? How do our genes and environment influence our nutritional needs and preferences? And, what strategies actually work for preventing chronic disease?

To apply for a press pass to attend NUTRITION 2024 in Chicago, check our Media Policies and submit a Press Registration Form.

Qualifying journalists will receive:

A press badge granting entry to all in-person meeting sessions in Chicago

Access to recorded content from selected sessions on demand after the event

Early access to embargoed materials featuring high-impact research

Personal introductions for one-on-one interviews with featured scientists

Can't join us in person? With a press pass, you can still be part of the action with access to embargoed press materials before the meeting.

Stay in the know by joining the discussion and getting the latest nutrition news:

Subscribe to email updates geared for journalists

Visit the NUTRITION 2024 Virtual Newsroom

Follow #Nutrition2024 on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Facebook

Contact:

Nancy Lamontagne, Media Liaison

(919) 617-1330 (mobile)

[email protected]

About the American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

ASN is the preeminent professional organization for nutrition research scientists and clinicians around the world. Founded in 1928, the society brings together the top nutrition researchers, medical practitioners, policy makers and industry leaders to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition. ASN publishes four peer-reviewed journals and provides education and professional development opportunities to advance nutrition research, practice, and education. Since 2018, the American Society of Nutrition has presented NUTRITION, the leading global annual meeting for nutrition professionals.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise. For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com."

SOURCE American Society for Nutrition (ASN)
SEATTLE, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ProfoundBio , a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapies for patients with cancer, today announced its participation at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024, taking place from April 5-10 in San Diego, California. ProfoundBio will showcase its innovative ADC programs through an oral presentation on its EGFR- and cMET-dual targeting ADC PRO1286, a poster presentation detailing preclinical data of a SLITRK6-directed ADC PRO1106, and a late-breaking poster presentation on a CD98-directed ADC developed in partnership with Huahui Health, a clinical-stage biotechnology company.

"We are pleased to share our latest research at the AACR Meeting this year," stated Zhu Chen, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of ProfoundBio. "These presentations underscore our commitment to leveraging our proprietary ADC platforms to target some of the most challenging cancers. With PRO1286, PRO1106, and our CD98-directed ADC, we are aiming to provide patients with more effective and tolerable treatment options, and look forward to sharing the latest findings with the scientific community."

Key Presentations at AACR 2024

Abstract # Presentation Title Date/Time Session Track Presenter(s) 2050 Preclinical characterization

of PRO1106, a novel and

promising SLITRK6-directed

sesutecan ADC April 8,

2024,

9:00 AM -

12:30 PM Poster Session,

Experimental and

Molecular

Therapeutics Zhu Chen,

ProfoundBio 6580 A novel EGFR x cMET

bispecific ADC PRO1286

demonstrated broad

antitumor activity and

promising tolerability in

preclinical models April 9,

2024,

3:05 PM -

3:20 PM



Minisymposium,

Experimental and

Molecular

Therapeutics,

Chemistry Zhu Chen,

ProfoundBio LB425 A tumor microenvironment -

targeting CD98-directed ADC

confers robust anti-tumor

activity in multiple cancers

with favorable

pharmacokinetics and safety

profiles in preclinical models April 10,

2024,

9:00 AM -

12:30 PM Late-Breaking

Poster Session,

Experimental and

Molecular

Therapeutics Bin Chen,

Huahui Health



Zhu Chen,

ProfoundBio

About ProfoundBio's ADC Programs

FR-Targeted ADC: Rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S, PRO1184)

Rina-S is a FR-targeted ADC being developed as a novel treatment option for patients with ovarian and endometrial cancer, and other FR-expressing cancers. Rina-S is comprised of a FR-directed antibody conjugated to sesutecan, ProfoundBio's novel, proprietary hydrophilic exatecan-based linker-drug, at a homogeneous drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) of 8. Exatecan is a potent, membrane permeable topoisomerase-1 inhibitor with strong bystander effect. The linker component of sesutecan is a highly hydrophilic, stable, cleavable linker designed to mask the hydrophobicity of exatecan, enabling high DAR and efficient delivery of the exatecan payload to tumors while maintaining favorable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of the ADC. Rina-S is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial ( NCT05579366 ) and has been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with FR-expressing high-grade serous or endometrioid platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

CD70-Targeted ADC: PRO1160

PRO1160 is an ADC consisting of a CD70-targeted antibody conjugated to ProfoundBio's novel, proprietary hydrophilic exatecan-based linker-drug, sesutecan. CD70 is a protein expressed on both solid tumors and hematological malignancies including renal cell carcinoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, yet is largely absent in normal tissues. With preclinical results showcasing encouraging pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and tolerability, PRO1160 is emerging as a potential advancement in the treatment of these cancers and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial ( NCT05721222 ).

PTK7-Targeted ADC: PRO1107

PRO1107 is an ADC consisting of a PTK7-targeted antibody conjugated to ProfoundBio's novel, proprietary hydrophilic MMAE-based linker-drug, LD343, at a homogeneous DAR of 8. MMAE is a potent, membrane-permeable microtubule inhibitor that has been clinically validated as an ADC payload with multiple marketed vedotin ADCs at a DAR of 4. The linker component of LD343 is a highly hydrophilic, stable, cleavable linker designed to mask the hydrophobicity of MMAE, enabling high DAR and efficient delivery of the MMAE payload to tumors while maintaining favorable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of the ADC. PRO1107 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial ( NCT06171789 ).

Bispecific ADC: PRO1286

PRO1286 is a novel EGFR- and cMET-dual targeting ADC that has the potential to treat a broad range of tumors. PRO1286 is built on the clinically validated sesutecan platform and is anticipated to enter the clinic in 2024.

About ProfoundBio

ProfoundBio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel antibody-based therapeutics for patients with cancer. Built on internally developed, innovative, and proprietary technology platforms, ProfoundBio has developed a pipeline consisting of multiple ADC drug candidates targeting solid tumors and hematological malignancies. The company's disclosed development pipeline consists of rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S; PRO1184), an ADC targeting FR; PRO1160, an ADC targeting CD70; PRO1107, an ADC targeting PTK7; and PRO1286, a bispecific ADC targeting EGFR and cMET. ProfoundBio is headquartered in Seattle, Washington with an R&D center of innovation in Suzhou, China.

For more information, please visit www.profoundbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Investor Contact:

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Priyanka Shah

908-447-6134

[email protected]

SOURCE ProfoundBio
Valmet Oyj's press release on April 4, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. EEST

ESPOO, Finland, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Valmet's Interim Review January - March 2024 will be published on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at approximately 1:00 p.m. Finnish time (EEST). The stock exchange release and presentation material in English and in Finnish will be available at that time on Valmet's website at www.valmet.com/investors.

Webcast

Valmet will arrange a news conference in English as a live webcast at https://valmet.videosync.fi/q1-2024 on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Finnish time (EEST). President and CEO Pasi Laine and CFO Katri Hokkanen will be presenting the results.

Recording of the webcast will be available shortly after the event at the same address.

Conference call

It is possible to take part in the news conference through a conference call by registering through the link below:

https://palvelu.flik.fi/teleconference/?id=50048300

After the registration you will be provided phone numbers and a conference ID to access the conference. If you wish to ask a question during the conference, please dial *5 on your telephone keypad to enter the question queue.

All questions should be presented in English.

The event can also be followed on social media platform X at www.x.com/valmetir.

VALMET

Corporate Communications

For further information, please contact:

Pekka Rouhiainen, VP, Investor Relations, Valmet, tel. +358 10 672 0020

For media: Anu Salonsaari-Posti, SVP, Marketing, Communications, Sustainability and Corporate Relations, Valmet, tel. +358 10 672 0033

Valmet is a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. With our automation systems and flow control solutions we serve an even wider base of process industries. Our more than 19,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day.

The company has over 220 years of industrial history and a strong track record in continuous improvement and renewal. Valmet's net sales in 2023 were approximately EUR 5.5 billion.

Valmet's shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and the head office is in Espoo, Finland.

Follow us on valmet.com | X | X (IR) | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram |

Processing of personal data

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/valmet-oyj/r/publishing-of-valmet-s-interim-review-january---march-2024-on-april-24--2024,c3956278
STOCKHOLM, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) will present the latest software innovations at IBA's International Symposium on Proton Therapy (ISOP) in Boston, Massachusetts, April 5, and at the National Proton Conference (NPC) run by the National Association on Proton Therapy (NAPT) in Boston, April 6-9. Visit us at RaySearch's table at ISOP and booth at NPC.

The focus during both ISOP and NPC will be on support for proton arcs and robust optimization based on linear energy transfer (LET) and adaptive therapy. Further, new features in RayStation* 2023B related to proton therapy will be highlighted. Ongoing research and development around ConformalFLASH**, spatial fraction therapy and application of variable RBE will be briefly outlined.

Marc Mlyn, President of RaySearch Americas, and David McPhail, VP of Sales for RaySearch Americas, will be present at the meetings and look forward to meeting existing and future clinical partners.

Presentations - Friday April 5 at 12:35pm (ISOP) and Sunday April 7 at 4:00pm (NPC)

Title: Proton Therapy Planning - Pioneering the Past, Envisioning the Future

Speaker: Erik Traneus, Senior Researcher, RaySearch Laboratories AB, Stockholm, Sweden

CONTACT:

For more information, please contact:

Johan Lof, founder and CEO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0) 8 510 530 00

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/r/raysearch-to-present-latest-innovations-in-raystation--raycare-and-rayintelligence-at-isop-and-npc--,c3956593

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1102/3956593/2712262.pdf RaySearch Press Release April 4, 2024 https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/i/pr-isop-napt,c3285770 PR ISOP NAPT

SOURCE RaySearch Laboratories
PENSACOLA, Fla., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Regenative Labs (Regenative), a leading HCT/P manufacturer, announces the publication of a study exhibiting the safety and efficacy of Wharton's Jelly connective tissue allograft for rotator cuff tears. The need for further research in supplementing connective tissue defects was evident given that there are approximately 4.5 million shoulder pain patient visits and 250,000 rotator cuff repairs annually in the United States. Patients in need of rotator cuff repairs often seek minimally invasive options, making Wharton's Jelly a promising alternative for musculoskeletal defects.

Dr. Albert Lai of Desert Pain Specialists and Centers of Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine in California and Dr. Conrad Tamea of Orthopedic Associates of Tampa Bay participated in the study. As a Double Board-Certified Physician with specialties in Physical Medicine Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine, Dr. Lai had this to say about the approach, "Incorporating Wharton's jelly into our practice has provided an effective conservative option for patients with rotator cuff defects that outperforms conventional therapies. Utilizing the structural connective tissue allografts has allowed many patients to avoid surgery altogether and significantly improve their quality of life."

The study titled "Safety and Efficacy of Wharton's Jelly Connective Tissue Allograft for Rotator Cuff Tears," was published by MDPI and can be accessed in its entirety here.

The study follows 87 patients with rotator cuff defects from 20 private practices who received an application of a Wharton's jelly allograft from Regenative Labs after having failed at least 8 weeks of conservative treatment. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the improvement of patient-reported pain, quality of life, and functionality scales after applying Wharton's jelly (WJ) in rotator cuff defects.

Patient outcomes were tracked on a 90-day calendar utilizing three scales including the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Quality of Life Scales (QOLS), and Western Ontario and McMaster University Arthritis Index (WOMAC) covering pain, stiffness, and functionality. There were statistically significant differences between the initial application and Day 90 for all three scales.

The application of Wharton's jelly allografts in this retrospective cohort was observed to promote decreases in patient reported NPRS scores, pain, and stiffness in the shoulder and improve function. These improvements were consistent across age groups but were most notable for the elderly population, who generally have a slower and less effective recovery rate after conservative treatment and surgical procedures. Given the success shown by NPRS and WOMAC in decreasing pain in the elderly population, more studies are warranted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Wharton's Jelly, specifically in patients older than 65.

"Rotator cuff repairs are estimated to make up somewhere between $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion of annual healthcare expenditures in the US. It's clear that the need for this type of research is necessary and quite frankly, overdue," said Tyler Barrett, CEO of Regenative Labs.

The positive results from this study and the current literature provide a foundation to study applications of Wharton's jelly in other musculoskeletal injuries to ultimately improve the quality of life and reduce the economic healthcare burden of multiple conservative treatments or expensive surgical procedures.

"As a board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon with over 25 years of operative experience, I can say after using Wharton's jelly allografts in more than 200 cases, I have found them to be extremely beneficial to my patients. Orthopedic applications using Wharton's jelly, including in the knee, shoulder, hip, and spine, are more often than not preventing the need for surgery that results in a prolonged recovery time, lost wages, and great financial cost," said Dr. Tamea.

Barrett and his team hope to enlist physicians in Regenative Labs' retrospective repository to take part in studies regarding uncovered uses. Physicians will have their outcomes highlighted, furthering the understanding of regenerative medicine and uncovering new applications for this groundbreaking field of medicine.

Contact Regenative to get your practice involved today. Read the full study here.

About Regenative Labs: Regenative Labs produces regenerative medicine products to address the root cause of a patient's debilitating situation using Wharton's Jelly innovations rather than masking the pain with other treatments. Regenative Labs works closely with scientists, physicians, hospitals, and surgery centers to constantly monitor and improve patient progress and outcomes for new product development. Formed by veteran industry professionals familiar with the daily challenges of innovations in healthcare, the company provides effective and minimally invasive options for patients. Regenative Labs' expert product research and development team complies with FDA guidelines of minimal manipulation for homologous use. The company adheres to AATB and FDA guidelines. Learn more at Regenative's website: www.regenativelabs.com

About Dr. Albert Lai: A southern Californian native, Dr. Lai completed his medical training at Tufts University, where he subsequently served as a clinical instructor. He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He also holds board certifications in Pain Medicine and Independent Medical Examiners. Dr. Lai has served as the managing partner at the offices of Desert Pain & Rehabilitation Associates based in Rancho Mirage for the past 18 years and as medical director of Centers of Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine in Placentia, California. Learn more at the Centers of Rehabilitation website: Pain Clinic Orange County | Professional Pain Management in OC (ocpain.net)

About Dr. Conrad Tamea: Dr. Tamea is a board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon, who now focuses solely on regenerative medicine. He received his education from the College of William and Mary, Drexel University, Hahnemann Medical University, and the University of Kansas Orthopedic Residency Program. Dr. Tamea utilizes his knowledge and experience from over three decades as a surgeon and over a decade of regenerative medicine and combines this knowledge with state-of-the-art equipment at his clinic at Orthopedic Associates of Tampa Bay.

SOURCE Regenative Labs
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. (NYSE American: REPX) ("Riley Permian" or the "Company") announced today the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 2,100,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $27.00 per share (the "Offering"), which includes 700,000 shares being offered by the Company and 1,400,000 shares being offered by certain of the Company's stockholders (the "Selling Stockholders"). The Company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 315,000 shares of common stock. The Offering is expected to close on or about April 8, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

Gross proceeds to the Company from the Offering are expected to be approximately $18.9 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general corporate purposes, which may include financing acquisitions (including a pending acquisition of an approximate 12,500 net acre position in Eddy County, New Mexico for 100% cash consideration, which the Company anticipates funding primarily with proceeds from the Offering with any remaining balance funded through borrowings under the Company's revolving credit facility and expects will close in May 2024), repayment of outstanding debt, financing of capital expenditures, financing other investments or business opportunities, and general working capital purposes. The Company will not receive any proceeds from any sale of shares by the Selling Stockholders. The Company will, however, bear the costs other than the underwriting discount and commissions associated with the sale of common stock by the Selling Stockholders.

Truist Securities, Inc. and Roth Capital Partners are acting as joint book-running managers for the Offering. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC and Tuohy Brothers Investment Research, Inc. are acting as co-managers for the Offering.

The shares are being offered pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 7, 2021, as amended, and declared effective by the SEC on May 12, 2021. The Offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the Offering, as well as copies of the final prospectus supplement, once available, may be obtained on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or by contacting Truist Securities, Inc., Attention: Prospectus Department, 3333 Peachtree Road NE, 9th floor, Atlanta, Georgia 30326, by telephone at (800) 685-4786, or by email at [email protected], or Roth Capital Partners, LLC, 888 San Clemente, Newport Beach, CA 92660, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (800) 678-9147, or by email at [email protected].

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy or an offer to purchase or sell any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Riley Exploration Permian, Inc.

Riley Permian is a growth-oriented, independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. For more information please visit www.rileypermian.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE "SAFE HARBOR" PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The statements contained in this prospectus supplement that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that represent management's beliefs and assumptions based on currently available information. Forward-looking statements include information concerning the timing and completion of the Offering and anticipated use of the net proceeds from the Offering, the Company's possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, need for financing, competitive position and potential growth opportunities. The Company's forward-looking statements do not consider the effects of future legislation or regulations. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words "believes," "intends," "may," "should," "anticipates," "expects," "could," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "targets" or comparable terminology or by discussions of strategy or trends. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot give any assurances that these expectations will prove to be correct.

These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, volatility of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquid prices; regional supply and demand factors, any delays, curtailment delays or interruptions of production, and any governmental order, rule or regulation that may impose production limits; cost and availability of gathering, pipeline, refining, transportation and other midstream and downstream activities; severe weather and other risks that lead to a lack of any available markets; the ability to successfully complete mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; the inability or failure of the Company to successfully integrate the acquired assets into its operations and development activities; the potential delays in the development, construction or start-up of planned projects; the risk that the Company's enhanced oil recovery project may not perform as expected or produce the anticipated benefits; risks relating to the Company's operations, including development drilling and testing results and performance of acquired properties and newly drilled wells; any reduction in the Company's borrowing base on its revolving credit facility from time to time and the ability to repay any excess borrowings as a result of such reduction; the impact of the Company's derivative strategy and the results of future settlement; the ability to comply with the financial covenants contained in its credit agreement; conditions in the capital, financial and credit markets and the ability to obtain capital needed for development and exploration operations on favorable terms or at all; the loss of certain tax deductions; risks associated with executing the Company's business strategy, including any changes in strategy; inability to prove up undeveloped acreage and maintain production on leases; risks associated with concentration of operations in one major geographic area; legislative or regulatory changes, including initiatives related to hydraulic fracturing, emissions, and disposal of produced water, which may be negatively impacted by regulation or legislation; the ability to receive drilling and other permits or approvals and rights-of-way in a timely manner (or at all), which may be restricted by governmental regulation and legislation; restrictions on the use of water, including limits on the use of produced water and a moratorium on new produced water well permits recently imposed by the Railroad Commission of Texas in an effort to control induced seismicity in the Permian Basin; changes in government environmental policies and other environmental risks; the availability of drilling equipment and the timing of production; tax consequences of business transactions; public health crisis, such as pandemics and epidemics, and any related government policies and actions and the effects of such public health crises on the oil and natural gas industry, pricing and demand for oil and natural gas and supply chain logistics; general domestic and international economic, market and political conditions, including the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and the global response to such conflicts; risks related to litigation; and cybersecurity threats, technology system failures and data security issues.

Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described above can be found in the preliminary prospectus supplement and base prospectus related to the Offering, Riley Permian's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in other filings made with the SEC from time to time. Copies of Riley Permian's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings are available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on the Company's website at www.rileypermian.com under the "Investor" tab.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available at this time. The Company does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty to update or revise our forward-looking statements based on new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor Contact:

Rick D'Angelo

405-438-0126

[email protected]

SOURCE Riley Exploration Permian, Inc.
CARLSBAD, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a significant step towards enhancing road hygiene and convenience for truckers, RinseKit, the original portable pressurized shower company, announced today the launch of a unique online resource that maps out shower facilities at truck stops across the United States. This pioneering tool, derived from Allstays.com's extensive list of US truck stops and integrated with Google Maps for ease of use, allows truck drivers to quickly locate shower facilities, marked by blue pins for availability and red pins for absence, directly from RinseKit's website.

RinseKit's Truck Stops with Showers Map integrates with Google Maps to help truckers find the closest truck stop equipped with showers anywhere in the United States. Within Google Maps, truckers can filter truck stops to display only those with showers. They can also click on the pins to get directions to these truck stops.

The initiative underscores RinseKit's dedication to providing practical cleaning solutions for individuals on the go, particularly for truckers who face challenges in maintaining personal hygiene due to irregular and often inadequate shower facilities at truck stops. By facilitating access to this vital information through a user-friendly platform, RinseKit bridges a critical gap in the market, offering an alternative to the often difficult-to-navigate databases and enhancing the on-road experience for truck drivers.

RinseKit's CEO Steven Winters emphasized the importance of this resource, stating, "We recognize the unique challenges faced by truckers every day. Our goal was to create a solution that not only aids in locating hygiene facilities, but also aligns with our mission to promote well-being and convenience for people on the move. This map is a testament to our commitment to innovation and support for the trucking community."

RinseKit's custom map is more than just a navigational tool; it is a gateway to a more hygienic and comfortable lifestyle for truckers. With easy integration into Google Maps, drivers can now effortlessly search and navigate to nearby truck stops equipped with showers. Moreover, this initiative highlights RinseKit's broader goal of encouraging truckers to explore portable showering solutions as a reliable and convenient alternative. The map can be found at: https://rinsekit.com/blogs/news/us-truck-stops-with-showers-full-map .

About RinseKit

RinseKit is the world's original portable pressurized shower company, revolutionizing the way people experience cleanliness and comfort on the go. With a range of patented products that boast capacities from 3.5 to 5 gallons, equipped with battery pressurization and heating options, RinseKit offers the most versatile and high-quality portable showers perfect for outdoor adventures, truckers, and delivery drivers. Having sold over 500,000 units and garnered thousands of positive reviews online, RinseKit continues to stand as the premier portable shower company.

Media Contact:

Brooks Venters

(800) 613-5764

[email protected]

SOURCE RinseKit
NEW YORK, April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds acquirers of Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc. ("NBH") shares in connection with NBH's spin-off from Meta Materials, Inc. ("Meta Materials") on or around December 14, 2022, of the important May 14, 2024 lead plaintiff deadline.

The case is against Next Bridge Hydrocarbons, Inc., Ken Rice, George Palikaras, Robert L. Cook, Clifton DuBose Jr., Joseph DeWoody, Lucas T. Hawkins, Delvina Oelkers, Mia Pitts, Kristin Whitley, and Gregory McCabe (together, "Defendants").

SO WHAT: If you acquired NBH shares you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the NBH class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=23445 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 14, 2024. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

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, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. 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 firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, NBH filed a registration statement in connection with its spin-off from Meta Materials which contained false and/or materially misleading statements. The statements at issue concern the value of NBH's oil and gas assets and NBH's transactions with related parties. The complaint alleges that these false and/or materially misleading statements violated the Securities Act of 1933 and, consequently, damaged shareholders who received NBH shares in conjunction with the spin-off.

To join the NBH class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=23445 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

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

SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A.
Salt ignites its mission to empower top digital talent amid Miami's tech surge.

MIAMI, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Salt, a global authority in digital recruitment and talent, proudly unveils its latest location with the opening of a new office in Miami, Florida. This strategic move represents a significant step in Salt's commitment to supporting the tech and digital ecosystem in one of North America's most vibrant markets, putting the Miami tech hub as central to their strategy in connecting dynamic markets and fostering digital innovation.

As Miami emerges as a critical hub for digital growth and innovation, attracting businesses from New York, San Francisco, LA, and even Europe, Salt is ready to shape the future of talent in this dynamic ecosystem. As a recruitment partner for multinationals, emerging startups, or rapidly growing scale-ups, Salt's offers a unique blend of talent insights and global expertise. Making Salt an invaluable partner for any company that's growing or setting up in the area.

"Salt's mission in Miami and across North America extends beyond traditional recruitment; it's about being a cornerstone for digital innovation and growth. We're here not just to fill positions but to build the teams that will be at the forefront of the digital revolution." James Walsh, Managing Director, Salt NA

With offices established in New York, Toronto and Brazil, Salt is positioned to support businesses as they navigate new markets within the city. Offering comprehensive support and working with clients and candidates across the US and Canada, as well as being supported by their international team in Brazil.

"Our Miami office represents a strategic integration of our established North American operations with our expanding presence in Latin America. This leverages the strengths of our seasoned teams from Toronto and New York to Sao Paulo, creating a seamless North-South American synergy that caters to the digital transformation needs of the Miami market." Lisa Crane, Commercial Director, Salt NA

By blending North American proficiency with Latin American vibrancy, Salt is set to revolutionize how companies and talent connect in the digital age.

About Salt:

Salt is a global, award-winning digital recruitment agency connecting people and businesses within Consulting, Creative, HR, Marketing, Sales, and Technology. Committed to Creating Futures worldwide.

Salt offers a range of recruitment services, including permanent, freelance, and contract roles, from single hires to complete outsourcing solutions and multi-hire campaigns. welovesalt.com/creating-futures-in-north-america

SOURCE Salt Recruitment
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Xponential Fitness, Inc. ("Xponential" or the "Company") (NYSE: XPOF). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

The class action concerns whether Xponential and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

You have until April 10, 2024 , to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Xponential securities during the Class Period. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On June 26, 2023, short-biased analyst firm Fuzzy Panda published a research report titled "Xponential Fitness (XPOF)  'Abusive Franchisor That Is A House Of Cards'" (the "Fuzzy Panda Report"). Among other revelations, the Fuzzy Panda Report alleged that Xponential's Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") Anthony Geisler has had a long history of misleading investors, including being exposed on camera for using "boiler room" tactics to mislead investors in connection with a prior venture and issuing false claims that Xponential "never closed a store." The Fuzzy Panda Report disclosed that its examination of 64 Franchise Disclosure Documents ("FDDs") demonstrated 8 of 10 Xponential brands are losing money monthly and more than 50% of its studios never make a positive financial return. The Fuzzy Panda Report also revealed that more than 100 of Xponential's franchises were for sale at a price 75% less than their initial cost and that the same-store sales ("SSS") and average unit volume ("AUV") the Company reports to investors selectively and misleadingly exclude underperforming stores.

Following publication of the Fuzzy Panda Report, Xponential's stock price fell $9.39 per share, or more than 39%, to close at $15.72 per share on June 27, 2023.

Although Xponential attempted to deny the allegations in the Fuzzy Panda Report, on December 7, 2023, Bloomberg Businessweek ("Businessweek") published an expose on the Company that largely corroborated the Fuzzy Panda Report's allegations entitled "Club Pilates, Pure Barre Owners Say Xponential Left Them Bankrupt." The article stated that Businessweek had interviewed dozens of former business partners, employees, and franchisees of the Company who revealed that Xponential misled many franchisees into a "financial nightmare." The article stated that CEO Geisler "has a track record of combative management, deploying growth-at-all-costs tactics and unleashing aggressive reprisals against anyone who gets in his way." The article disclosed that these unscrupulous tactics caused "many of the company's franchisees . . . [to] have either declared bankruptcy or los[e] their retirement savings."

Following publication of the Businessweek article, Xponential's stock price fell more than 26% over two trading days on heavy trading volume to close at less than $9 per share on December 11, 2023.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Danielle Peyton

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

646-581-9980 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
The producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm has joked that Larry David appeared to manifest Bruce Springsteens postponed tour after the US rock star appeared in an episode of the hit comedy series.

In the Lawn Jockey episode, which aired on 11 February, David is praised by the Boss for becoming a liberal hero after he unknowingly opposes a Georgia 2021 voting law that makes it illegal to provide food or water to voters waiting in line at the polls.

Springsteen is so impressed by Larrys (David) stance that he asks to meet the Seinfield creator in real life. However, when they sit down for a meeting, things quickly go wrong. Just before Larry cuts the conversation short, he accidentally mixes up his and Springsteens water glasses.

The following day, he falls ill with Covid-19, and learns via a TV announcement that Springsteen also has the illness, and is blaming him for the cancellation of several shows on his tour. With the revelation that one of the worlds most popular musicians is now in danger, Larry is suddenly very unpopular.

In a classic case of life imitating art, Springsteen ended up postponing three of his shows in one week due to illness less than a year after shooting the episode. In April 2023, he and his wife, Patti Scialfa then came down with Covid; he was forced to postpone further shows in August after being taken ill.

Bruce got sick and had to cancel his tour, and I just turned to Larry and said, You have an amazing ability to manifest negative things, Curbs executive producer Jeff Schaffer told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bruce Springsteen with Larry David in the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm' (HBO)

I remember going, Oh my God, its exactly what we did. In the show, we say he had complications so his health was really at risk. It played out just like we said, which I feel terrible about!

He added: The good news is [Springsteen] got better, and he was hilarious. Happy ending.

Bruce Springsteen (left) was able to reschedule his tour dates after falling ill last year (HBO)

Schaffer teased that the Boss could return for the last ever episode of the show, which will air this week on 7 April.

Springsteen told fans in September that he had been forced to postpone his remaining 2023 shows while he recovered from peptic ulcer disease, a condition that causes ulcers to form in the stomach or small intestine, which in turn can lead to heartburn, nausea and stomach pain.

He is currently back out on tour after rescheduling his 2023 shows, which are now taking place from mid-March through to mid-April, then mid-August through to mid-September.

Thanks to all my friends and fans for your good wishes, encouragement, and support, he said in a statement in December, announcing the new tour dates.

Im on the mend and cant wait to see you all.
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Canada Goose Holdings Inc. ("Canada Goose" or the "Company") (NYSE: GOOS). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at [email protected] or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Canada Goose 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 26, 2024, Canada Goose issued a press release announcing the "reduction of approximately 17% of corporate roles" as part of a transformation program, including, among other things, the departure of the Company's Chief Operating Officer.

On this news, Canada Goose's stock price fell $0.81 per share, or 6.79%, to close at $11.12 per share on March 26, 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.

CONTACT:

Danielle Peyton

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

646-581-9980 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
The acquisition enhances Shield AI's software suite and expansion into Australian market

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shield AI, Inc., the defense technology company building the world's best AI pilot, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Sentient Vision Systems (Sentient), an Australia-based leader in AI-enabled real-time situational awareness, pending customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

Shield AI to acquire Australia-Based Sentient Vision Systems and establish Shield AI Australia. Shield AI and Sentient Vision Systems will merge AI expertise and operational understanding to deliver superior intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for todays rapidly changing defense and security environment.

The companies will merge AI expertise and operational understanding to deliver superior intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for today's rapidly changing defense and security environment. In August 2023, the companies announced the joint development of a ViDAR-enabled wide area motion imagery (WAMI) solution called "Sentient Observer," which Shield AI plans to fly this year.

"The combination of AI pilots, Sentient Observer, and teams of affordable drones like the MQ-35 VBAT will provide the same land and maritime domain awareness that today's $40M and $180M Group 5 drones and crewed aircraft like the P-8 provide at a fraction of the price. The DoD has asked for an all-seeing eye over tens of thousands of square miles, 24/7, without the need for GPS or communication links. For Shield AI, Sentient Observer is the final piece of that puzzle. The DoD can begin augmenting and replacing their legacy solutions for a distributed, low cost, low risk solution that doesn't break the bank if an aircraft is shot down," said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI's President, Cofounder, and former Navy SEAL.

"This acquisition unites Sentient's ViDAR and our Hivemind AI pilot, creating the world's most advanced AI-piloted ISR sensor package," said Ryan Tseng, CEO and Cofounder of Shield AI. "Considering the imperative of covering vast maritime areas, especially in the Pacific, joining forces with Sentient was a strategic choice given their expertise in optical radar solutions. The integration of WAMI on V-BAT will revolutionize our offering, enabling Group 3-sized aircraft to perform tasks that previously required larger, costlier aircraft, significantly enhancing our customers' operational capabilities."

This news follows several significant milestones for Shield AI's growth in the Australian market. In February, V-BAT received certification for Australian operations from Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Shortly thereafter, in partnership with Shield AI's Australian partner, Toll Aviation, the companies launched the inaugural Australian V-BAT training course.

"What stood out to us about Shield AI is that they are the only company in the world with an operational AI pilot, and therefore have the technological expertise and maturity to really deliver on the AI technology workstream underlined in AUKUS Pillar 2. The innovation breakthrough combining our computer vision AI-enabled ViDAR and Shield AI's Hivemind will increase situational awareness, enabling quicker more effective decision making and help to save lives," said Sentient's CEO, Mark Palmer.

ViDAR is Sentient's AI system, which uses an Electro-Optic or Infrared (EO/IR) sensor to detect and classify targets in the imagery stream that would be invisible to a human operator or to a conventional radar. Shield AI's flagship product, Hivemind, is an AI pilot that enables teams of intelligent aircraft to operate and complete missions autonomously in high-threat environments, without the need for remote operators or GPS. Hivemind is an aircraft-agnostic autonomy stack similar to the self-driving technology found in cars. It has flown six aircraft, including quadcopters, the MQ-35A V-BAT, the F-16, and Kratos MQM-178 Firejet. Later this year, it will fly Kratos' XQ-58 Valkyrie. Shield AI has accumulated more autonomous flight hours executing fighter jet maneuvers, like dogfighting, than any company in the world.

About Shield AI

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world's best AI pilot. Its AI pilot, Hivemind, has flown jets (F-16; MQM-178 Firejet), a vertical takeoff and landing drone (MQ-35 V-BAT), and three quadcopters (Nova, Nova 2, iPRD). The company has offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and abroad. Shield AI's products and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.

About Sentient Vision Systems

Sentient Vision Systems specializes in passive, optical detection using wide area motion imagery. Sentient's Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled sensor edge solutions better detect and identify small objects, on land, in the air and at sea. With more than 20 years of development in moving target indication, AI computer vision and machine learning, Sentient has deployed thousands of systems worldwide in the field of Intelligence, Surveillance, Search and Rescue, enhancing situational awareness decisions in real-time and helped saved lives.

Media Contact: Lily Hinz, [email protected]

SOURCE Shield AI
The Brand Brings Antioxidant Education and Medical Expertise with its Third Tour Destination

NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SkinCeuticals, the leading global medical aesthetic skincare brand, extends the April 4th celebration of its sixth annual National Vitamin C Day with a weekend stop of its National Treatment Truck Tour in Los Angeles. As the Antioxidant Authority, SkinCeuticals founded the day in 2019 to spotlight its gold-standard antioxidant serums, and the importance of vitamin C for optimal skin health. This year's addition of the National Treatment Truck Tour allows the people of L.A. to join in on the celebration with complimentary consultations, treatments administered by professionals, and an opportunity to learn about the best treatment and Vitamin C pairings for their skin.

SkinCeuticals AOX

SkinCeuticals Vitamin C antioxidant serum lineup boasts over 100+ acclaimed beauty awards and is beloved by professionals, consumers, and celebrities of all ages, skin types and tones. The brand's best-selling, cult favorite product, C E Ferulic, is the #1 dermatologist recommended vitamin C serum among medical aesthetic skincare brands2, and is recommended by over ten thousand clinics worldwide3. It also reduces up to 48% of potential damage from free radicals formed by pollution, the sun and metals4. All SkinCeuticals antioxidant serums are clinically proven to improve the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and promote the appearance of radiance. The formulas are backed by 30+ years of research, 40+ clinical studies worldwide, and 20+ U.S. patents.

The SkinCeuticals National Treatment Truck Tour Vitamin C Day stop will be at The Grove in Los Angeles from Friday, April 5th to Saturday April 6th. In addition to the above, guests will receive a $50 treatment credit for participating SkinCeuticals SkinLab or Flagship locations, samples of C E Ferulic, Phloretin CF, Physical Fusion UV Defense SPF 50, and Daily Brightening UV Defense SPF 30, branded items, as well as a chance to win one of ten exclusive Vitamin C bundles, valued at $1,000 USD.

"It is important for us to take time every year to educate on the importance of Vitamin C for skin health, how to choose the right Vitamin C for your skin, and why you need to have one that is science-backed," notes Angela Hildebrand, General Manager of SkinCeuticals U.S. She adds, "In L.A., we're excited to drive awareness and education of our gold standard antioxidant portfolio and how they pair with in-office treatments, while also referring consumers to our esteemed SkinCeuticals SkinLab by Cavendish Clinic, located in Santa Monica."

SkinCeuticals invites attendees of the National Treatment Truck Tour to immerse themselves in its antioxidant-rich world of skincare expertise via three science-backed treatments that incorporate their formulations to deliver visible results with no downtime. Consumers can receive one of the treatments below, all under 30-minutes:

Facial Peel  Unveil your skin's radiance with a gentle chemical exfoliation treatment that enhances texture, unclogs pores, and boosts hydration. Booking required.

 Unveil your skin's radiance with a gentle chemical exfoliation treatment that enhances texture, unclogs pores, and boosts hydration. Hand Peel  Pamper your hands with a rejuvenating chemical exfoliation treatment that accelerates the skin's natural cell turnover. Booking required.

 Pamper your hands with a rejuvenating chemical exfoliation treatment that accelerates the skin's natural cell turnover. SkinCeuticals SkinScope Consultation  Discover your skin's visible and underlying concerns through their exclusive diagnostic tool. Booking suggested.

Treat yourself and celebrate National Vitamin C Day by visiting the SkinCeuticals National Treatment Truck Tour at The Grove (189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036) from April 5th to April 6th:

April 5 : 10:00 AM  6:00 PM

:  6:00 PM April 6: 10:00 AM  6:00 PM

To learn more about why vitamin C is essential for skin health, visit a physician near you. Join the celebration by using #CEFerulicSkin on #VitaminCDay on social media.

To learn more about the SkinCeuticals National Treatment Truck Tour, partake in a virtual Treatment Truck preview and book a SkinCeuticals complimentary Treatment, please visit https://www.skinceuticals.com/skincare-services/treatment-tour.html. Explore industry-leading interactive motion graphics via SVG technology, bringing an immersive SkinCeuticals experience right to your fingertips.

ABOUT SKINCEUTICALS

SkinCeuticals, the #1 medical skincare brand in the U.S. and leader in antioxidant technology, founded in Dallas, TX in 1997, discovers, develops, and delivers an advanced line of scientifically backed cosmeceutical treatments. SkinCeuticals products have been shown to dramatically improve skin health by protecting skin from environmental damage and visibly improving skin clarity, tone, and texture to minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. SkinCeuticals is available in over 6,000 physician offices nationwide, with over 100 of those dermatologists and plastic surgeons exclusively selling SkinCeuticals through their flagship program and SkinCeuticals SkinLab destinations which specifically emphasize the SkinCeuticals integrated skincare approach  combining clinical skincare with in-office treatments. For more information, visit the brand on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or at www.SkinCeuticals.com .

CONTACT

Laura Cummins at SkinCeuticals: (212) 984-4907 / [email protected]

Source: 2021 Kline Professional Skincare: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities Brands sold by physicians or medical practices, in additional to other outlets or retailers Internal tracking based on the number of SkinCeuticals clinics around the world Protocol: a 4-day double-blinded clinical study was conducted on the back of 15 female subjects aged 18-40 years. During the 4 consecutive days, the back test zones were treated daily with or without C E Ferulic, followed by with and without 2 hours of metal-rich particulate matter (PM) and 5 minutes of UV daily exposure, skin samples were collected for a 4 hyroxynonenal (4HNE) protein analysis at the end of the study. Sunlight interacts with oxygen or molecules in skin to form free radicals.C E Ferulic does not contain sunscreen.

SOURCE SkinCeuticals
Live commerce startup Stickler pocketed the top innovation award at TikTok Shop's inaugural Global Development Summit & was praised as a clear standout for its technology and services by the Social Network & Shop.

Live commerce startup praised for its standout platform services

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Live commerce startup Stickler last week pocketed the top innovation award at TikTok Shop's inaugural global development summit and was praised as a clear standout by the social network, streaming video company and industry leaders.

"The moment I saw this, we knew it was what we wanted. Your solution looks really good. Now, let's get it in front of sellers," said JP Stoop, head of TikTok Shop App Store and a judge of the competition.

Stickler Wins Innovation Award at TikTok Shop Global Development Summit

Singapore-based Stickler, founded in January 2023, was among a select group of 100 invited to attend the two-day event on TikTok Shop's San Jose campus. Developer Summit 2024 featured two days of in-depth discussions among TikTok Shop's internal product leadership, existing partners and elite seller clients. The live commerce platform offered attendees insights and access to its plans and roadmap, as the global market for live selling gathers steam. And those partners, besides competing for awards in two categories  TikTok Connectors and an Innovation Challenge  shared information about their own activities and services.

Stickler placed first in the Innovation Challenge, which focused on working products, prototypes and plans for services that could be developed to work with planned and upcoming releases of TikTok Shop APIs. Judges noted that Stickler, with its fully functional platform services, has already "been in the trenches with us" in different markets around the world and expressed their intent to find ways to integrate and further promote its valuable services to sellers. The excitement around Sticklers new AI based selling tools for streamlining Live Selling was palpable from the judges and audience alike.

"This award recognizes not just what we've been doing for over a year with TikTok Shop and sellers on the platform," said Stickler CEO and founder Fionn Hyndman. "It points to how integral our services will be as live commerce takes off around the world. We appreciate the kudos, but we're just getting started. We are already an important part of the live commerce ecosystem. You're going to see and hear much, much more from and about us in the coming months."

Richard Crossman, Stickler's head of product, who was also in San Jose to collect the award, said the speed of TikTok Shop's evolution in the U.S. market since its launch in September 2023 has been astounding.

"We met sellers who are driving tens of millions of dollars through live commerce on TikTok Shop, and their challenges are the same as those we've seen in Southeast Asia. We're very excited to help scale their results from live commerce in the same we have for clients in Asia.

During the summit, leading sellers on Tiktok Shop emphasized the importance of live commerce, but noted it needs to be easier to understand and access as it develops.

Adam Sommers, the co-founder of Willow Boutique, one of the US's premium live selling channels, and a Business Development executive for the TikTok Seller Partner (TSP) EK Creative said "I gravitate to live selling. It's something that we really doubled down at the early stages of TikTok. You know, making a connection with your customer, I think has a lot of value. But we need to simplify it and stream with better tools. We need guidance on what works and how to make it better. This is a massive opportunity, but we need more help to make the most of it," the seller said.

Stickler offers a three-pronged solution for brands and retailers of all sizes who seek to maximize their live commerce results. Its suite of app services simplifies or automates entire processes, allowing brands and sellers to do more with less, working faster, more-efficiently and at lower cost than if they had to build or create their own teams and live commerce platform integrations.

Stickler Live is a comprehensive backbone service for live stream enablement. With it, sellers can import products, craft engaging content and manage their streams. Moderator tools ensure a smooth, audience-focused experience, and post-live analysis offers valuable insights for improvement.

LiveScope tracks and analyzes competitor live streams, helping sellers understand their strategies and performance metrics. Its multi-language transcription and dashboard offer a comprehensive view of market trends and competitor moves.

LiveStage manages scheduling, lets brands connect with top talent, as well as ensuring compliance and training for a live commerce team. LiveStage also features ML/AI-driven grading and sector-specific training.

Live commerce  as the name suggests  allows viewers to buy what they see during a live video without ever leaving the stream. Sales in the U.S. were estimated at around $50 billion in the fledgling market in 2023. What has brands, platforms and service providers excited is that is under 5% of the near trillion USD in sales recorded last year in China, currently the world's most-developed market for live commerce, showing its potential elsewhere. While live commerce in China is dominated by Alibaba, Douyin, JD.com, Pinduoduo and other platforms, the market is wide open across the rest of the world, offering opportunities for platforms like TikTok, Amazon and others. And for those live commerce offerings to take off, the platforms will have to encourage and nurture creation of an ecosystem of sellers and service providers like Stickler.

Hyndman and team have been offering Stickler's custom app to brands in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia since 2023. It recently inked a partnership agreement with Interpublic's IPG MediaBrands, and it works with other major groups including GroupM and Dentsu to provide services to the advertising giant's clients across the APAC region.

Stickler has a private custom app on TikTok's App store and is open for partner applications, but will shortly release its app in public app stores, but encourages interested merchants to contact the company directly for early access.

Stickler initially raised seed funding in late 2022 and completed a further Friends & Family round in late 2023 after building out its services across several major brand groups, eCommerce enablers and agencies across eight markets. They are currently seeking institutional funding.

About Stickler Pte Ltd

Stickler is a Live Commerce (Live Selling) enablement platform. We work with brands, creators, agencies and ecommerce companies to help them scale Live Commerce. We help manage the work flow and optimisation and help sellers do more with less resource. We don't believe in multi-streaming, we believe in being as effective as possible when you do stream. We are a multi-platform tool, designed with sellers at heart, aiming to make their Life, and their Lives easier.

Press Contact:

Fionn Hyndman

16462432994

http://www.stickler.live

SOURCE Stickler Pte Ltd
Stock media leader answers customer demand with AI-driven innovations to improve creative workflows

ARLINGTON, Va., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Storyblocks, an unlimited, subscription-based stock media platform with video creation and workflow functionality, has unveiled new search enhancements powered by AI. These improvements aim to deliver an elevated user experience and streamlined creative workflows for Storyblocks' customers.

Learn more about Storyblocks' AI-enhanced search experience at storyblocks.com .

In the recently released 10th Annual Survey of Creative Pros , Leslie Hughes , founder of iSPY Technologies and president of the Digital Media Licensing Association, said, "This year's survey confirmed what creators truly value when licensing stock media  high content quality and relevance. However, finding the perfect assets through search remains their biggest hurdle. Encouragingly, many creators are optimistic that AI can lend a hand in streamlining asset discovery going forward."

"Our team has relied on Storyblocks for several years now to create video content at a rapid pace," said Nolan Nichols, manager of video production at the U.S. Travel Association. "We're excited that Storyblocks is leveraging AI more to help customers like us find the content we need even quicker than before. We're a lean team and are always looking for ways to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently, so I've been actively looking for ways that AI can help us do that at every step of the creative process."

Cutting-edge data, AI and machine learning technologies drive Storyblocks' platform. The company uses advanced AI models to deliver the most relevant content to its users. However, Storyblocks is not just about technological prowess; it is equally committed to curating a diverse and representative library that meets changing customer demands.

Recent improvements include:

Delivering faster, more relevant and more representative results in search queries Storyblocks prioritizes fresher content in its search results through a proprietary algorithm that evaluates the performance of new content every four hours. Early testing indicates that including recently uploaded content can boost download rates by up to 60% compared to searches without this prioritization. Storyblocks employs an in-house machine learning model based on the BERT framework, allowing the platform to rapidly analyze how users engage with content and refine search result rankings in near real-time. Storyblocks aims to provide representative search results. On average, 24% of videos on the first page feature Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) models. This aligns with the company's goal of proactively surfacing the quarter of its library content featuring models from underrepresented backgrounds. Furthermore, Storyblocks stands out in the stock media industry by routinely pulling underperforming assets to maintain a top-tier library quality. Despite expanding its collection by 40% in 2023 , the company prioritized removing nearly 200,000 assets, ensuring customers can discover relevant content more efficiently.

Identifying compelling thumbnails for video content First impressions are critical in a medium like video, particularly for content creators juggling multiple projects. This reality prompted Storyblocks to use AI technology to identify the most pertinent thumbnail in video search results. Recent Storyblocks A/B testing revealed that videos showcasing AI-curated thumbnails experienced heightened engagement levels, suggesting these visuals better aligned with users' interests.

Providing insightful and accurate content suggestions Storyblocks employs OpenAI's large language model to enhance search capabilities, delivering comprehensive results that transcend users' initial queries. This innovative approach aims to return relevant content even for specific or flawed search parameters. In addition, by harnessing the power of metadata enhancements and Storyblocks' computer vision technology, the company can aggregate pertinent search results, recommend alternative scenes and surface additional clips featuring specific individuals.

Making cross-asset recommendations Since 2022, Storyblocks has leveraged user behavior data to suggest complementary pairings between different types of creative assets, such as videos, images and audio tracks. Through its computer vision technology, the platform can analyze music tracks by rendering songs as spectrograms in order to identify and recommend tracks that are significantly similar.



Today's announcement of Storyblocks' search enhancements complements its ongoing commitment to collaborating with artists on new collections and commissioning content to address emerging gaps identified through search data analysis. These improvements not only facilitate the discovery of Storyblocks' ever-expanding library but also increase the likelihood of users downloading both existing and newly added content.

"At Storyblocks, we're harnessing the power of AI to revolutionize the way creators discover and use content," said Lucy Huang , senior vice president of product and engineering at Storyblocks. "By delivering faster, more relevant and more representative search results, we're not just streamlining creative workflows  we're empowering our global community of artists and customers to create inclusive and impactful work. Our commitment to curating a diverse and top-quality library, combined with cutting-edge technology, sets us apart in the stock media industry."

About Storyblocks

Storyblocks empowers creators and businesses to produce better videos faster than ever. Our stock media library includes high-quality video, audio, and imagery that is crafted by 700+ highly accomplished artists and creators from around the world and updated regularly based on what customers want. We power inclusive storytelling by sourcing diverse content representing people of all identities. With a simple subscription, customers get unlimited access to our media library of 2.6 million assets, plus high-quality templates and after-effects, video editing tools, and plug-ins for leading video editing platforms. Storyblocks ensures customers' peace of mind with comprehensive licensing and unlimited downloads, enabling endless experimentation and iteration with full confidence to meet business goals.

Storyblocks is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. To find out more about how Storyblocks is transforming the future of video content creation, go to www.storyblocks.com and follow Storyblocks on LinkedIn , YouTube , Twitter , and Instagram .

Media Contact

BLASTmedia for Storyblocks

Ryan Hecker

[email protected]

SOURCE Storyblocks
California Warehouse Workers Prevail Against Pharmaceutical Giant

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After nearly a month on the picket line, Teamsters Local 150 members have overwhelmingly ratified a three-year agreement, bringing an end to the strike at Cencora (formerly known as AmerisourceBergen). The new contract addresses workers' concerns over wages, health care, and paid time off.

"This was a hard fight, but everybody got something they wanted in the end. Now, morale is higher than ever and we're ready to get back to work," said Weun Choy, a 17-year warehouse worker at the company.

Choy and his co-workers went on strike March 10 after months of contentious negotiations for a fair contract. Highlights of the new agreement include a new Teamsters health care plan that will save Local 150 members hundreds of dollars a month, improvements to the company's wage progression, and additional paid time off.

"Our members fought hard and stayed on the line together the entire time. They've never been through something like this before, and it was incredible to see their solidarity in action. We're very proud of them," said Dale Wentz, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 150. "We want to thank the O'Brien-Zuckerman administration for their tremendous support throughout the strike. They had our backs the entire time."

"Local 150 members sent a strong message that they were ready and willing to stand up to the disrespect," said Peter Finn, President of Joint Council 7 and Teamsters Western Region International Vice President. "This dedicated group took action and made their voices heard. They grew stronger every day. The company had no choice but to cave to their demands."

Cencora/AmerisourceBergen is the third-largest pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution company globally and ranks 11th on the Fortune 500 list of wealthiest companies in the U.S. The Teamsters represent workers at distribution centers in Seattle, Columbus, Ohio, Amityville, N.Y., and Puerto Rico.

"Today's strike victory in Sacramento underscores the power workers have when they stand together for what's right," said Tom Erickson, Director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division. "Teamsters will always stand up to bad employers, and our members will continue to fight back against this corporate giant to put an end to the rampant greed and disrespect."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
This partnership will offer entrepreneurs and enterprises both in Switzerland and globally the facilities, technologies, and business acumen needed to develop innovative Web3 solutions.

ZURICH, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hashgraph Association (THA) , the Swiss-based organization at the forefront of global digital enablement, and Trust Square AG, a leading player in innovation enablement and positioned at the heart of Switzerland's blockchain and deep-tech ecosystem, have today announced the signing of a strategic partnership. The partnership between THA and Trust Square will offer entrepreneurs and enterprises all the necessary facilities, tools, and technologies, to develop game-changing deep-tech solutions, leveraging the convergence of AI, Blockchain/DLT, Robotics, IoT, VR, and Quantum Computing.

The first remnants of this strategic partnership is the launch of Trust Square coworking innovation space at the iconic Brannhof, in the heart of Switzerland's bustling commercial center, Bahnhofstrasse 75 in Zurich.

The partnership between Trust Square and THA coming to live at Brannhof will offer entrepreneurs and enterprises not only a space where they can innovate and flourish but also the community and technologies needed to develop enterprise-grade solutions and decentralized applications: utilizing leading-edge technology such as Hedera's DLT network,connecting corporates, start-ups, tech and service providers and jointly detecting and validating use cases .

Stefan Deiss, Co-Founder and CEO of The Hashgraph Group said: " We are excited to be partnering with Trust Square at such an iconic business location in Zurich to further accelerate Web3 enablement of next generation enterprises and entrepreneurs, leveraging the convergence of deep-tech through our Deep-Tech Venture Studio, not only here in the heart of Switzerland's vibrant financial center but also internationally."

The launch of this first Web3 location at the iconic Brannhof, in the heart of Switzerland's bustling commercial hub at Bahnhofstrasse 75 in Zurich, will be followed by similar Deep-Tech Venture Studio hubs around the world, taking the strategic partnership between THA and Trust Square to the international stage.

Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, added: "We are delighted to sign this strategic partnership with Trust Square, given our commitment to investing in Web3. We plan to take this partnership even further by connecting Switzerland with the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. We will soon be launching our DeepTech Venture Studio in Saudi Arabia through Trust Square Riyadh, following our strategic partnership signed with the Saudi Ministry of Investment."

THA and Trust Square plan to offer joint initiatives such as events and meetups to connect startups, investors, corporates, and academia.

Marc Degen, Co-Founder and Chairman at Trust Square stated: "This is an exciting opportunity for the startup and entrepreneurial sector in Switzerland. Trust Square has found a kindred soul in THA: We both are driven to connect entrepreneurs, corporates, investors and academics and allow them to pursue their visions in an open and diverse environment. Bringing together THA and its innovation program with experience and observations from the Trust Square journey, will prove immensely useful to all who are seeking to develop enterprise-grade solutions and decentralized applications."

Both The Hashgraph Association and Trust Square intend to build hubs globally while supporting enterprise use cases and creating innovation events.

About The Hashgraph Association

The Hashgraph Association is at the forefront of the digital enablement and empowerment of organizations through the broad adoption of Hedera-powered enterprise-grade solutions and decentralized applications, including funding training, innovation, and venture building programs globally. As a non-profit organization headquartered in Switzerland, The Hashgraph Association supports and funds innovation, research, and development that enables economic inclusion and a digital future for all, with a positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact. For further information about The Hashgraph Association, visit www.hashgraph-association.com .

About Trust Square

Trust Square is Zurich's premier innovation hub, fostering collaboration, ideation, and technological advancements. Providing a unique combination of services, prime locations, ecosystem access and matchmaking, Trust Square increases the likelihood of serendipitous connections and enables the growth of new ideas & companies in the field of emerging technologies in Switzerland. Trust Square hosts close to 300 events per year, from corporate events, to community meetups to its own formats. In its ecosystem, Trust Square connects startups, academia and corporates in emerging tech, such as Web3 and AI. For more information about Trust Square, visit https://www.trustsquare.ch/

SOURCE The Hashgraph Association
CHICAGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --According to Arizton's latest research report, the UK data center market is growing at a CAGR of 2.37% during 2023-2029.

To Know More, Click: https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/uk-data-center-market-investment-analysis

United Kingdom Data Center Market Research Report by Arizton

The UK Data Center Market Report Scope

Report Attributes Details Market Size - Investment (2029) USD 10.13 Billion Market Size  Area (2029) 955 thousand sq. Feet Power Capacity (2029) 183 MW (2029) CAGR  Investment (2023-2029) 2.37 % Colocation Market Size (Revenue) USD 5 Billion (2029) Historic Year 2020-2022 Base Year 2023 Forecast Year 2024-2029 Market Segmentation Infrastructure, Electrical Infrastructure, Mechanical Infrastructure, Cooling Systems, General Construction, Tier Standard, and Geography Market Dynamics Cloud Services Are Growing at a Great Pace

Big Data and IoT Services Are Widely Adopted, Driving Data Center Investments

Enhanced Connectivity Through Submarine Cables Fuels Demand, Driving Growth in Data Center Infrastructure

The UK data center market has around 200 data center facilities, while around 40 are currently in the pipeline. The influx of data infrastructure investments is fueled by top colocation operators such as VIRTUS Data Centres, Equinix, Digital Realty, and Ark Data Centres. The UK's strategic significance in global connectivity is underlined by its 56 submarine cables linking key regions such as the US, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Acquisitions such as nLighten's acquisition of Proximity Data Centres highlight the dynamic nature of the market. Meanwhile, the data center expansion initiatives by Pulsant, Telehouse, and other players reflect the industry's commitment to meeting the growing demand.

The UK data center market is experiencing a robust surge in investments, marked by expansion initiatives, acquisitions, and new projects, thereby showcasing the dynamic nature of the market. The market will experience cumulative core and shell investments of over $10 billion during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

The UK data center market is experiencing significant growth due to factors such as the widespread adoption of digital platforms, the expansion of 5G network connectivity, an increase in internet users, government and digital economy initiatives, as well as the integration of advanced technologies, including IoT, big data, and AI. The UK accounts for approximately 20% of Western Europe's total data center investments.

total data center investments. Investments from colocation data center operators including key players such as Equinix, VIRTUS Data Centres, Digital Realty, and Ark Data Centres fuel the growth of the UK data center market.

Major cloud service providers, such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google, are actively expanding their data center infrastructure in the UK. Investments and expansion initiatives by these providers align with the growing demand for cloud services.

Counties including Manchester , Berkshire , and West Sussex are witnessing investments in data center facilities. Sustainability efforts such as the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) by Datum Datacentres are prevalent across counties.

, , and are witnessing investments in data center facilities. Sustainability efforts such as the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) by Datum Datacentres are prevalent across counties. The UK government has launched initiatives such as the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, which is aiming to increase wireless network connectivity by 2030. The Digital Strategy, launched by the UK government, outlines a holistic approach to digital policy across critical domains, emphasizing the country's commitment to digital technology.

Investment Opportunities

In May 2023 , Kao Data unveiled its plans to construct a 40 MW data center in Manchester's Kenwood Point for a projected investment of $440 million ; the facility is set to go live in late 2025. The strategic move into Manchester aligns with Kao Data's commitment to advancing the region's computing capabilities and supporting the aspirations of the UK government.

, Kao Data unveiled its plans to construct a 40 MW data center in for a projected investment of ; the facility is set to go live in late 2025. The strategic move into aligns with Kao Data's commitment to advancing the region's computing capabilities and supporting the aspirations of the UK government. In April 2023 , Equinix planned to develop a 30 MW data center facility in Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire , outside London . It is a five-story building with two data halls on each floor.

, Equinix planned to develop a 30 MW data center facility in Slough Trading Estate in , outside . It is a five-story building with two data halls on each floor. In April 2023 , Vantage Data Centers announced the development of a second data center campus, LHR2, in West London , with an investment of around $310 million . The LHR1 data center campus, with a total area of 40,000 square feet and two 24 MW multi-story data centers, is expected to be online by 2024.

, Vantage Data Centers announced the development of a second data center campus, LHR2, in , with an investment of around . The LHR1 data center campus, with a total area of 40,000 square feet and two 24 MW multi-story data centers, is expected to be online by 2024. In February 2023 , Colt Data Centre Services started the construction of its hyperscale data center facility in its Hayes, West London , campus; the power capacity of the facility is around 50 MW.

Why Should You Buy this Research?

Market size is available in the investment, area, power capacity, and UK colocation market revenue.

An assessment of the data center investment in the UK by colocation and enterprise operators.

Investments in the area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) across locations in the country.

A detailed study of the existing UK data center market landscape, an in-depth market analysis, and insightful predictions about market size during the forecast period.

Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in the UK

Facilities Covered (Existing): 200



Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 40



Coverage: 30+ Locations



Existing vs. Upcoming (Area)



Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)

Data Center Colocation Market in the UK

Market Revenue & Forecast (2023-2029)



Retail & Wholesale Colocation Pricing

The UK data center market investments are classified into IT, power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast.

A comprehensive analysis of the latest trends, growth rate, potential opportunities, growth restraints, and prospects for the industry.

Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the industry.

A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the industry.

Existing VS. Upcoming Data Centers

Existing Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)

Greater London



Berkshire



Greater Manchester



Other Counties

List of Upcoming Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)

The Report Includes the Investment in the Following Areas:

IT Infrastructure

Servers



Storage Systems



Network Infrastructure

Electrical Infrastructure

UPS Systems



Generators



Transfer Switches & Switchgears



PDUs



Other Electrical Infrastructure

Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems



Racks



Other Mechanical Infrastructure

Cooling Systems

CRAC & CRAH Units



Chiller Units



Cooling Towers, Condensers & Dry Coolers



Economizers & Evaporative Coolers



Other Cooling Units

General Construction

Core & Shell Development



Installation & Commissioning Services



Engineering & Building Design



Fire Detection & Suppression Systems



Physical Security



Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Tier Standard

Tier I & Tier II



Tier III



Tier IV

Geography

Greater London



Other Counties

Vendor Landscape

IT Infrastructure Providers

Arista Networks

Atos

Broadcom

Cisco Systems

Dell Technologies

Fujitsu

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Huawei Technologies

IBM

Juniper Networks

Lenovo

NetApp

Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors

2bm

AECOM

Arup

ARC:MC

Atkins

BladeRoom Data Centres

Bouygues Construction

Deerns

Future-tech

HDR Architecture

INFINITI

ISG

JCA Engineering

Kirby Engineering Group

KMG Partnership

Mace

Mercury Engineering

MiCiM

studioNWA

Oakmont Construction

Sweet Projects

RED

SPIE UK

Skanska

STO Building Group

Sudlows

TTSP

Waldeck

Support Infrastructure Providers

ABB

Airedale International Air Conditioning

Caterpillar

Cummins

Delta Electronics

Eaton

Kohler SDMO

Legrand

Mitsubishi Electric

Piller Power Systems

Rolls Royce

Riello Elettronica (Riello UPS)

Rittal

Schneider Electric

Socomec

Siemens

STULZ

Vertiv

Data Center Investors

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Ark Data Centres

China Mobile International (CMI)

Colt Data Centre Services

Custodian Data Centres

CyrusOne

Cyxtera Technologies

Corscale Data Centers

Digital Realty

Data Datacentres

Equinix

Echelon Data Centres

Global Switch

Iron Mountain

Ionos

Infinity SDC

Keppel Data Centres

Kao Data

NTT Global Data Centers

Lumen Technologies

Microsoft

Proximity Data Centres

Serverfarm

Sungard Availability Services

Telehouse

Vantage Data Centers

Virtus Data Centres (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres)

Yondr

New Entrants

CloudHQ

Digital Reef

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

Google

Global Technical Realty

Stratus DC Management

Key Questions Answered in the Report:

How much is the UK data center market investment expected to grow?

How many data centers have been identified in the UK?

What is the growth rate of the UK data center market?

What are the driving factors for the UK data center market?

Who are the new entrants in the UK data center market?

Get the Detailed TOC @ https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/uk-data-center-market-investment-analysis

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SOURCE Arizton Advisory & Intelligence
The Los Angeles-Based Company Introduces the Vinivia Creator Community with Exclusive Event at Optimist Studios

LOS ANGELES, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vinivia, the cutting-edge live streaming app, is set to make its highly anticipated debut in the U.S market today through the launch of its app and Vinivia Creator Community, with the first and exclusive 600 participating creators who will have access to advanced technology that allows them full ownership of their content and the highest revenue share in the market.

"We are beyond thrilled to bring this innovative, interactive and top-of-the-line app to the market. At Vinivia, we believe in empowering creators and fostering meaningful connections between content creators and their audience. With Vinivia, creators have the tools and support they need to thrive and become the next star of tomorrow. We're incredibly proud of the end result, and we know Vinivia will drive the creator economy forward significantly," said Co-Founder and CEO, Stefan Graf.

"Our app is designed for creators, by creators, offering transparency over monetization models and providing creators with up to 80% of total revenue generated from their content, which they fully own, allowing them to monetize their passions," added Co-Founder and CFO, Marcello Genovese.

Vinivia is poised to revolutionize the live streaming landscape with its innovative features and pro-creator ethos.The Vinivia Creator Community is a program for creators to have a direct partnership with the brand to maximize revenue potential, monetize content, and unlock more revenue through unique monetization tools. Vinivia's advanced app features AI-powered content suggestions for an improved user experience, flexible creator revenue share, and under two second latency, with AR advertising technology that seamlessly integrates products into creators streaming content.

To celebrate the launch, Vinivia is hosting the inaugural Vinivia Awards, a live streaming extravaganza event in Los Angeles at Optimist Studios, this evening. The event will recognize top creators in categories such as Live Streamer of The Year, Most Creative Live Streamer, and Best Newcomer Live Streamer, with a $10,000 grand prize awarded to each winner. The awards ceremony will be live streamed on the Vinivia app for all consumers to follow along in real-time.

Content creators are encouraged to become early adopters and join as Vinivia creators, gaining access to a supportive community and innovative tools to showcase their talent. To join Vinivia's Creator Community, sign up here: creators.vinivia.com

Vinivia was founded in 2020 by Stefan Graf and Marcello Genovese. Vinivia's visionary founders bring a wealth of expertise and success from their previous tech ventures where they pioneered interactive broadcasting and live streaming solutions that caught the eye of industry giants Meta and YouTube. Now with Vinivia, Graf and Genovese are once again at the forefront of innovation, setting their sights on an ambitious goal  revolutionizing the way users connect, share, and engage through live streaming.

For more information, download the app at vinivia.com .

About Vinivia

Vinivia is a pioneering live streaming app on a mission to break new ground in live streaming, combining cutting-edge technology and continuous innovation with a creator-centric approach. With a focus on transparency, innovation, and community, Vinivia is designed to benefit both creators and consumers in this dynamic digital age.

Media Contact: Arianna Cohen, [email protected]

SOURCE Vinivia
Preeminent conference exploring advanced computing's real-world impact, Intel Vision draws C-level executives across sectors.

SAN DIEGO, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistry, the leading developer of generative AI technologies, today announced that Founder and CEO Atif Kureishy will deliver a keynote at Intel Vision 2024 on April 9th in Phoenix, AZ.

As the preeminent conference exploring advanced computing's real-world impact, Intel Vision draws C-level executives across sectors. Kureishy's address, "Unleashing the Power of Conversational AI," will outline how generative dialogue agents can optimize complex industrial operations through natural language.

Specifically, Kureishy will demonstrate Vistry's work applying their GenAI platform in manufacturing via virtual assistants. By infusing procedural knowledge into intelligent interfaces, assistants can automate tasks like locating documentation, generating quality checks, and providing real-time performance insights to supervisors.

Early automotive client pilots reveal potential to slash non-conformances by 30% simply through digital enforcement of best practices. Kureishy will also preview applying similar assistants to streamline electronics component production at scale.

"Intel's technologies underpin the new era of AI, and we're proud to join their visionary event," said Kureishy. "With our combined innovations, conversational AI will redefine what's possible across industries by empowering humans with the right information at the right time."

Register for Intel Vision 2024 at intel.com/vision to learn how Vistry is partnering to transform operations through natural dialogue. The future of work will be story told through AI.

About Vistry:

Vistry is revolutionizing the AI industry through conversational AI.

Vistry is a generative AI technology company focused on Conversational AI for multiple types of Commerce. Working with several of the largest Fortune 500 to Fast Casual Restaurant brands in North America, deploying AI workloads into the market.

SOURCE Vistry, Inc.
Former Supreme Court President among 600 lawyers to sign letter calling on UK to stop arms sales to Israel

More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court President Lady Hale, have signed a letter to the prime minister warning that the government risks breaching international law by continuing to export weapons to Israel.

The calls come as wider pressure mounts on Rishi Sunak to suspend arms sales to Israel following the deaths of three British aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza.

Signatories said the worsening situation in Gaza and the International Court of Justices conclusion that there was a plausible risk of genocide obliged to UK to suspend arms sales to the country.

The 17-page letter, which also amounts to a legal opinion, said: While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to Unwra [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] falls significantly short of your governments obligations under international law.

Other signatories included former Supreme Court justices Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, along with nine other judges and 69 top barristers.

Baroness Hale of Richmond became known for the Supreme Courts finding in 2019 that Boris Johnsons proroguing of Parliament was unlawful (PA Media)

The letter came at the end of a day of cross-party calls for the suspension of arms exports to Israel. Labours shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, urged the Government to publish any legal advice it had received on whether Israel had broken international law, and to suspend arms sales if there was a risk weapons could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Sir Alan Duncan, who served as a minister between 2010 and 2019, joined calls from Conservative ranks to strongly condemn Israels killing of seven aid workers - three of whom were British - as merciless. Conservative MPs Flick Drummond and David Jones also called on the government to suspend arms sales.

Writing a hard-hitting piece for The Independent, Sir Alan said: By annexing the West Bank, breaking international law, and now appearing to want to destroy Gaza as a place fit for humans, it is betraying the enlightened principles of its founders, and is not in any way behaving as a democracy should.

We should salute our aid heroes by devoting our efforts to securing a Palestinian state. In the meantime, all responsible governments must urgently assess whether they can any longer regard Israel as an ally.

On Tuesday, Downing Street declined to say whether it believed Israel was operating within international humanitarian law, saying it would not comment on legal advice but added ministers acted in accordance with any advice.

But Mr Sunak warned Benjamin Netanyahu that Israels war in Gaza is growing increasingly intolerable.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the prime minister said: There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that well always follow, and I have been consistently clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu since the start of this conflict that while, of course, we defend Israels right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives and, sadly, too many civilians have already lost their lives.

Rishi Sunak said he had been clear with the Israeli Prime Minister that his actions must remain within the bounds of international law (AP)

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats have also called for arms exports to be suspended, as have following a similar plea from Lord Ricketts, the former national security adviser to now-Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

The government does not directly supply Israel with weapons, but does grant export licences for British companies to sell arms to the country and can block those sales by suspending the licences.

The UK has taken this course twice before. Margaret Thatchers government suspended arms exports following Israels 1982 invasion of Lebanon, while Tony Blairs government blocked sales of some military equipment in 2002.

A former head of MI6 said Israels actions bordered on reckless. Speaking to BBCs Today podcast, Sir Alex Younger said: My view is that what happened is essentially systematic of an approach to targeting that has, on occasion, bordered on the reckless.

[It] fundamentally undermines, therefore, what must be Israels political objectives, which is to sustain some moral high ground and some moral purpose.

Meanwhile, the World Central Kitchen charity has said it is calling for an independent investigation into the IDF strikes that killed seven members of its team in Gaza.

It said in a statement: We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.

They added: An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers.
Certified bus drivers and new candidates are encouraged to attend April 9 event

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zum , the company that will provide transportation services for students in Roanoke City Public Schools beginning in August, will host a second hiring event for bus drivers and attendants/monitors on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 9am to 6pm at the Courtyard Roanoke Airport, 3301 Ordway Drive, Roanoke, VA 24107. Certified drivers and attendants/monitors, as well as anyone considering a new career who have yet to be certified are encouraged to attend.

Certified bus drivers and new candidates are encouraged to attend April 9 event

Zum offers competitive wages and modern benefits for all drivers and staff, as well as top-of-the-line buses, equipment, and technology to enhance safety and comfort for students and drivers and make drivers' day-to-day jobs easier and more enjoyable. Advanced training and certification programs include extensive ongoing training in transporting students with diverse needs and disabilities.

"Drivers are at the center of what we do at Zum, and we take pride in putting in place a culture and program that ensures we are the employer of choice," said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO at Zum. "Zum has solved bus driver shortages in many of the districts that we serve, which brings peace of mind to families and schools, and we look forward to meeting drivers next week."

"Student success starts with a safe and reliable ride to school each day," said Dr. Verletta White, Superintendent of Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS). "We are pleased to partner with Zum to provide competitive wages, improved work culture as well as innovative technology that makes it easier for drivers to do their jobs. "We encourage all existing drivers as well as community members looking for a new, rewarding career to apply."

Zum is a "Great Places to Work" certified company and encourages all existing drivers as well as new candidates to attend. If you're interested in driving or know someone interested that cannot attend one of Zum's hiring events, please apply here .

Zum manages and operates student transportation in Massachusetts, Maryland, California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee with significant operations launching this year in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Connecticut. To learn more about how Zum is working with thousands of schools across the nation to deliver safe, reliable and modern student transportation, please visit Zum's website .

About Zum:

Zum has modernized student transportation, the nation's largest mass transit system, and developed sustainable ways to charge the grid. Zum's robust operations and integrated end-to-end cloud-based platform provides a modern student transportation service for school districts purpose-built around the needs of kids and the expectations of modern families. Zum provides one seamless, real-time interface for parents, drivers, schools, districts, administrators, and operators to transport children safely and with increased visibility and personalized care. Always investing in the wellbeing of communities, Zum is also the only carbon neutral student transportation provider in the nation with plans to go Net Zero with its transition to EV electric buses. Zum is available nationwide, serving more than 4,000 schools across the U.S. Learn more at www.ridezum.com .

CONTACT:

Jenny Mayfield, Vice President of Communications - [email protected]

SOURCE Zum
The centrist group No Labels announced that it was ending its bid to generate support for a third-party bid for the 2024 presidential election cycle, ending a number of headaches for the Biden re-election campaign.

Members of the group, who had faced calls to disclose the fundraising backing the effort, said in a statement on Thursday that while Americans supposedly remain open to the concept of a third-party candidate, they had been unable to identify a credible and willing figure to take up that mantle.

Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before. But No Labels has always said that we would only offer our ballot line if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, read the organisations press release.

The group had just days ago announced ballot access in Wyoming, the 19th state to allow the No Labels line to appear as a choice for voters in 2024. That announcement was the culmination of months of work and millions of dollars spent by the group in states across the country.

For many of those months, the group had been conducting outreach to prominent centrist politicians in America including former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Mr Manchin is retiring from the US Senate this year, while Mr Hogan opted to run for a seat opening up in his home state after stoking speculation about a presidential bid for some time.

Now, it remains clearer than ever: Americans are set for a rematch of the 2020 election, complete with Green Party candidate Dr Jill Stein and the controversy-magnet Robert F Kennedy Jr as his only high-profile opposition. An effort to encourage other Democrats to run against Mr Biden died with the campaign of Dean Phillips earlier this year, while Mr Trump fought off a handful of his own Republican rivals, only losing one state to Nikki Haley in his own partys primary race.

Polling indicates significant numbers of Americans are dissatisfied with both likely choices for the 2024 presidential election even as every politician attempting to unseat them has bowed out.
Nearly 250,000 still without power as spring storm rolls through Quebec

Hydro-Quebec officials say their teams are working hard to restore power to more than 200,000 customers, as a spring storm bringing heavy, wet snow continues to sweep through Quebec.

Around 600,000 customers have been affected at one point or another since Wednesday evening, when strong winds started gusting and heavy snow began accumulating on tree branches, causing them to hit power lines, said Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Cendrix Bouchard at an afternoon news conference.

As of Thursday afternoon, Hydro-Quebec was logging 1,160 outages, affecting 220,815 customers across the province.

"We're doing our best in order to have them back on the grid as quickly as possible. It is likely though, that some people will have to wait until tomorrow in order to have power restored," said Bouchard.

The most affected regions are the Laurentians, with more than 70,000 customers affected, followed by Montreal and the Monteregie, with more than 26,000 and and 34,000 customers in the dark, respectively.

Thousands of people in the Outaouais, Laval, Lanaudiere and the Eastern Townships are also without power.

Bouchard said 1,200 Hydro-Quebec employees are on the ground working to get people back on the grid.

With the storm expected to continue into Thursday evening, he says it's possible to see more outages throughout the day, but "it doesn't mean that we're not at work."

Bouchard is reminding people to keep a safe distance, about 10 metres, from downed power lines and poles.

School closures

All schools under the English Montreal School Board, the Lester B. Pearson School Board and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board are closed due to a mixture of snow and power outages.

Around a dozen schools with Montreal's French school service centre, the Centre de services scolaire de Montreal (CSSDM) are also closed, as well as some under the Riverside School Board in Longueuil, due to power outages.

The storm is the result of a clash of two weather systems, one from Colorado and another from the East Coast.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) had issued a snowfall warning Wednesday morning for Montreal, saying total snowfall accumulations of 15 to 20 centimetres were expected until Thursday evening.

Montreal city spokesperson Phillipe Sabourin says snow removal operators have been working during the night and Thursday to clear the roads.

But as many motorists have already removed their snow tires, he is urging people to "take public transit or stay home."

Sabourin says the city will not launch a snow removal operation as the snow is expected to melt over the weekend when temperatures climb.

Other areas, including the Eastern Townships, Charlevoix and part of the Gaspe peninsula, are expected to get 20 to 30 centimetres of snow.

The weather agency says snow will be heavy and wet at times as temperatures remain near the freezing mark.

ECCC is warning rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some locations, adding visibility may be suddenly reduced at times.
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Tehran, April 4 : Iran's Vice President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan has said that the country would file a lawsuit against Israel for its "deadly attack" on the Iranian consulate in Syria.

Dehqan made the remarks on Wednesday in an address to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran, while elaborating on Iran's legal measures against Israel for its missile strike that levelled the consular building in the Syrian capital Damascus, resulting in at least 14 fatalities.

He said the Israeli attack violated international law and Iran is currently making the legal assessments and will soon provide information regarding its legal decisions, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the semi-official Fars news agency.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Tuesday that the death toll from the airstrike had risen to 14, including eight Iranians, five Syrians and one member of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, noting that the death toll is likely to rise due to serious injuries.
New Delhi, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart NDA's Lok Sabha election campaign in Bihar on Thursday. He will address a public rally in Chirag Paswan's stronghold Jamui.

NDA partner LJP-Ram Vilas has fielded Chirag Paswan's brother-in-law Arun Bharti from the Jamui Lok Sabha seat.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will commence his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu on Thursday. During the visit, the Home Minister will campaign for NDA candidates from five Lok Sabha seats of the state. He will attend four roadshows and a public meeting.

The second meeting of the BJP manifesto committee will be held in the national capital on Thursday. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

BJP National President J.P. Nadda will hold public meetings in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh and Vikas Nagar under Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. On the same day, he will hold a meeting of the party's core committee for Tehri Garhwal in Dehradun. On Friday, the party chief will hold a roadshow in Haridwar. He will also interact with saints there.

Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad, daughter of former minister Yogrendra Sao, will appear before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a money laundering case on Thursday. The Central probe agency has summoned her brother Ankit Raj in the same case on Friday.

On March 12, the ED raided 20 locations in Ranchi and Hazaribagh, including premises linked to Yogendra Sao, his daughter Amba Prasad and other family members and associates.
Sperm counts are at risk of dropping as the planet heats up, according to a team of scientists.

Reproductive cells are already known to be affected by heat, but the findings from researchers in Singapore give more detailed insights into how climate change could impact fertility rates.

Men who were exposed to extreme heat in the three months prior to providing a semen sample had a 46 per cent higher chance of a low sperm count, they found.

The risk of a low sperm concentration also shot up by 40 per cent, and the little swimmers were notably more sluggish.

Dr Samuel Gunther, a research fellow at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine who was involved in the study, said young men in particular should take heed.

Conventionally, findings suggest that sperm quality decreases as one ages, but what we found in this study was that it was men in their [prime] reproductive time between 25 and 35 who were the most impacted by heat, he said during a media briefing.

So just because youre a young male, dont think youre invincible, and dont think youre not also vulnerable to these impacts, Dr Gunther added. Moving forward, the climate is going to get hotter. And that is also something that we need to bear in mind in family planning,

How can men protect their sperm during heatwaves?

Semen samples were taken from 818 men in Singapore who had experienced issues conceiving.

The researchers tracked the mens exposure to extreme heat - or when a days average temperature crossed 29.8C - by studying weather records 90 days before they provided the samples.

Men who are planning to conceive in one to three months should avoid going outdoors on extremely hot days, the researchers advised.

To boost their chances, they should also give saunas and hot baths a miss, as well as tight underwear. Sleeping in cooler environments is advisable too.

Singapores tropical climate - with year-round high temperatures and milder fluctuations - differs substantially to that of northern European countries, of course.

But Dr Gunther said the findings suggest that it might not take much temperature change to damage sperm health.

That doesnt bode well given increased heat stress worldwide, and adds to the list of potential climate impacts on human health, from our hearts to kidneys. Previous studies have also looked at the link between air pollution and infertility.

Are women's eggs impacted by hotter temperatures too?

Extreme heat is also known to affect womens ovulation cycle and egg quality.

The new Singaporean study is part of the National University of Singapores HeatSafe programme, exploring the impact of extreme heat across society.

Tracking the birth records of more than 31,000 women, the researchers found a positive link between avoiding extreme heat during the third trimester of pregnancy and a lower risk of premature births.

Pregnant women tended to take more protective measures where they could, such as turning up the air conditioning.

Other HeatSafe projects focus on the welfare of construction workers and gig workers under sweltering conditions.

Possible solutions for the former include carrying insulated cool water, enforced breaks and breathable uniforms.
New Delhi, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart NDA's Lok Sabha election campaign in Bihar on Thursday. He will address a public rally in Chirag Paswan's stronghold Jamui.

NDA partner LJP-Ram Vilas has fielded Chirag Paswan's brother-in-law Arun Bharti from the Jamui Lok Sabha seat.

Major events that will unfold across the country today:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will commence his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu on Thursday. During the visit, the Home Minister will campaign for NDA candidates from five Lok Sabha seats of the state. He will attend four roadshows and a public meeting.

The second meeting of the BJP manifesto committee will be held in the national capital on Thursday. The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

BJP National President J.P. Nadda will hold public meetings in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh and Vikas Nagar under Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. On the same day, he will hold a meeting of the party's core committee for Tehri Garhwal in Dehradun. On Friday, the party chief will hold a roadshow in Haridwar. He will also interact with saints there.

Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad, daughter of former minister Yogrendra Sao, will appear before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a money laundering case on Thursday. The Central probe agency has summoned her brother Ankit Raj in the same case on Friday.

On March 12, the ED raided 20 locations in Ranchi and Hazaribagh, including premises linked to Yogendra Sao, his daughter Amba Prasad and other family members and associates.
New Delhi, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart NDA's Lok Sabha election campaign in Bihar on Thursday. He will address a public rally in Chirag Paswan's stronghold Jamui.

NDA partner LJP-Ram Vilas has fielded Chirag Paswan's brother-in-law Arun Bharti from the Jamui Lok Sabha seat.

Major political events that will unfold across the country today:
Lucknow, April 4 : A 33-year-old domestic help allegedly raped the house owner's 9-year-old daughter in the Bijnor area of the state capital.

The man, who also made a video of the act and threatened the victim, was arrested by the police on Wednesday.

According to police, the accused had been working in the house for nearly two decades since when he was a minor.

Tej Swaroop, DCP South, said, "At the time of the incident, the girl was alone at home. However, one of the girl's kins saw the video in the accused servant's phone and informed the others."

The servant had been living in the same house for nearly two decades like a family member. The girl's parents had gone out for work on Tuesday when the servant raped her.

"The girl has been sent for medical examination. All the required facts have been collected. The police will soon file a charge sheet and get the man punished within 3-4 months," the DCP added.

According to police, the incident took place on Tuesday when servant Raju Kushwaha raped the girl and also made a video. However, the family members came to know about the incident on Wednesday. The locals, on learning of the incident, beat up the accused before handing him over to the Bijnor police station.

Station house officer Bijnor, Arvind Kumar Rana said, "He has been booked under the charges of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), IPC 376 (rape) and sections of SC/ST Act."
Lakshmi Manchu has a lazy morning after long trip; 'packed my day as if its my last'. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, April 4 : Actress Lakshmi Manchu is finding it difficult to get out of bed after returning from a long trip.

In her Instagram stories, the actress, who could only be heard as there is no light in the room, funnily shared that she packed her day with work as if it is her "last day".

Lakshmi, who made her acting debut with the American television series 'Las Vegas', was heard saying: "Is it just me or when you come back from a long trip you want to stay in bed and not get up. And I packed my day as if it's my last day. But I don't want to get out of bed. Good morning."

The actress has also appeared in one episode each of 'Desperate Housewives', 'Late Nights with my Lover' and 'Mystery ER'.

Lakshmi, who started her acting journey in 2011 with 'Anaganaga O Dheerudu', will next be seen in 'Adiparvam', which revolves around black magic.

Reportedly, the actress will portray a character assigned with the task of liberating a girl from demonic possession.
Seoul, April 4 : Mercedes-Benz Korea, Stellantis Korea and two other carmakers will recall more than 50,000 vehicles due to faulty components, the Transport Ministry here said on Thursday.

The four companies, including Honda Motor and Jaguar Land-Rover Korea, are voluntarily recalling a total of 50,760 units of 62 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement, reports Yonhap news agency.

The issues that prompted the recall include software problems in the gearbox control unit of the GLE 450 4MATIC SUV, a faulty control arm in Stellantis' Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and a faulty circuit board in the passenger seat of Honda's Accord sedan, the statement said.

"Vehicle owners can check the government's homepage at www.car.go.kr or call 080-357-2500 to see if their vehicles are subject to the recall," the Ministry said.

In November last year, Mercedes-Benz Korea and three other car companies recalled over 10,000 vehicles due to defective components.

The companies, which also include BMW Group Korea, Volkswagen Group Korea and domestic electrified van manufacturer Jeis Mobility, voluntarily recalled a total of 10,981 units of 20 different models, the Ministry had said.
Lucknow, April 4 : The Samajwadi Party (SP) has decided to focus on its 'PDA' formula, even if it means ignoring upper caste voters.

PDA is an acronym coined by the SP for 'Pichhde (backward classes)", Dalit and 'Alpsankhyak (minorities)'.

"The development of the country is possible only with proportionate participation of all sections. This goal can be achieved through caste census. Only when everyone gets rights and respect based on their numbers will real social justice be established," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a statement on Thursday.

"The BJP takes their votes but does not want to give them rights as it is against social justice, and so it is conspiring to end the reservation of backward people and Dalits," he added.

Akhilesh Yadav asked his party workers to reach out to at least two crore PDA families in the state and discuss issues related to social justice and reservation with them.

"Matters related to economic and social inequality and its ill effects will also be taken up during the discussions," he said.

The SP chief said that Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar showed the oppressed, exploited and deprived sections of society the way to live with dignity while Dr Ram Manohar Lohia laid the foundation for social revolution with the principle of equality of opportunity.

"The exploited class has seen a new ray of hope and faith through the PDA and socialist ideology," Yadav added.

"They are humiliated but the SP has been fighting the battle for self-respect of this section and will continue to do so in future," he said.

He alleged that the BJP government has made a mockery of democratic values and atrocities on women, Dalits and minorities have increased.

Meanwhile, a senior party leader said that the party was not focusing on upper castes because, in any case, this section never supported SP.
New Delhi, April 4 : The Indian Navy on Thursday said it has handed over nine pirates to the Mumbai Police who were apprehended in an operation in the east of Somalia last week.

These pirates had hijacked a fishing vessel with 23 Pakistani crew following which the Navy launched an operation to rescue the vessel.

The Navy said, "INS Trishul arrived at Mumbai on 03 Apr 24 and handed over all nine pirates to the local police for further legal action in accordance with the Indian laws, specifically the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act 2022."

"Robust actions by the Indian Navy ships INS Trishul and INS Sumedha during anti-piracy operations East of Somalia on 29 Mar 2024 had resulted in the successful rescue of FV Al Kambar and its crew of 23 Pakistani nationals. All nine pirates involved in the piracy were apprehended for further transit to India," the officials said.

According to the Navy, they forced nine armed pirates to surrender before the specialist teams. The crew comprising 23 Pakistani nationals were given a thorough medical checkup before clearing the boat to continue with the fishing activities.

The Navy informed that based on the inputs on a potential piracy incident onboard the Iranian Fishing Vessel 'Al-Kambar' late evening on March 28 two Indian Naval ships deployed in the Arabian Sea for maritime security operations were diverted to intercept the hijacked fishing vessel.

The fishing vessel at the time of the incident was approximately 90 Nm southwest of Socotra and was reported to have been boarded by nine armed pirates. The hijacked fishing vessel was intercepted Friday.
New Delhi, April 4 : BJP MP and party national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying that the grand-old party has a misogynistic mindset and it abhors women.

New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) BJP MP and party national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday launchedA a scathing attack on the Congress, saying that the grand-old party has a misogynistic mindset and it abhors women.A

"As the Lok Sabha elections are nearing, the opposition, mainly Congress, has lost its mental balance due to the rising popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and people's love and support for him," he said.

Sudhanshu Trivedi attacked Congress MP Randeep Surjewala for making sexist remarks against BJP MP Hema Malini.

"Hema Malini is one of the self-made women and her age is equivalent to Sonia Gandhi, Congress should at least consider it before making such distasteful remarks," he said.

Sudhanshu Trivedi said that it is the inherent tendency of the Congress to demean women and has been doing it for a decade.

Highlighting such statements, the BJP MP said, "Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Shanti Dhariwal had said that his state is 'number one in rape cases as it is a state of men'."

The BJP leader said, "On November 19, 2017, when Manushi Chillar won the Miss World crown, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had posted on X, "What a mistake to demonetise our currency! BJP should have realised that Indian cash dominates the globe: look, even our Chhillar has become Miss World!"

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had made demeaning remarks against Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai, he said.

On former Congress spokesperson Gaurabh Vallabh quitting the party, Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "It is not a new thing. After Congress' defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Gaurav Vallabh had said that the grand old party faced a humiliating defeat as it is inclined towards one community."

Sudhanshu Trivedi also mentioned SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's remark, "Ladke, ladke hain. Galti ho jati hai (Boys will be boys. Mistakes happen."

The BJP spokesperson expressed hope that the voters will give a befitting reply to the opposition in the Lok Sabha elections.
New Delhi, April 4 : Q4 results will be the next major trigger for the market from a sectoral and stock-specific perspective, said V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global and domestic cues indicate that the market is likely to consolidate in the coming days and start responding to Q4 results as they start coming. Market expects good results from autos, capital goods, telecom and select pharmaceuticals. Financials, too, will report good results despite some NIM compression and, therefore, are likely to be favoured by investors, he said.

IT results will be tepid and, therefore, the management commentary will be more important than the results. Even though valuation comfort in banking is in PSU banks, private sector majors are likely to deliver superior returns from a two-year perspective, he added.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said that Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday as U.S. rate cuts remained on the menu, even if their timing was unclear. There was also action in commodities as gold reached another record, oil a five-month peak and copper a 13-month top, helping lift shares in basic materials and energy companies.

BSE Sensex is trading at 73,667 points, down 209 points on Thursday. Sun Pharma, Indusind Bank are down more than 1 per cent.
Kolkata, April 4 : Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started the process to freeze the personal bank accounts of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan as well as those accounts linked to the businesses owned by him.

Sources aware of the development said that the process has started with two bank accounts, one personally held by Shahjahan and the other linked to the fish exports entity Mesars Sheikh Sabina Fish Supply Only, which is registered in the name of Shahjahanas daughter Sheikh Sabina.

Accordingly, the ED sleuths have written to the authorities of the banks concerned to immediately freeze the debit and credit transaction facilities of these two accounts. At the same time, the central agency sleuths have also enquired with certain bank authorities on the transaction details in some other account linked to Shahjahan, his family members and close associates.

Sources said that a total of 15 such bank accounts and transactions worth Rs 137 crore through these accounts are currently under the scanner of the ED sleuths.

ED sleuths have already secured definite clues on how Shahjahan used his prawn and shrimp export business to earn hefty profits as well as to divert the scam proceeds in different cases of money laundering, including the ration distribution case.

The ED has already filed two separate enforcement case information reports (ECIR) against Shahjahan, also the accused mastermind behind the attack on ED and CAPF personnel on January 5 at Sandeshkhali.

The first ECIR is related to his involvement in the ration distribution and the second is related to using his fish exports business for money laundering.

Shahjahan is also accused of forcefully grabbing farmland from the local farmers at Sandeshkhali and then illegally converting them into pisciculture farms by flowing in saline water there.

He is also accused of putting pressure on other pisciculture farm owners to sell the prawn and shrimps produced on their farms at a nominal profit to his export business and subsequently sell the same products purchased at the nominal rate at premium prices in the export market.
MLK Alive in Christ



King family - Thanksgiving 1963



NEWS PROVIDED BY

Alveda King Ministries

April 4, 2024



ATLANTA, April 4, 2024 /Standard Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Dr. Alveda King, she is available for comment:

"I've heard the thunder roll. I've felt sin-breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul. But I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.



"And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh." Genesis 17:19



Good afternoon, friends. Today, 56 years ago, my uncle, my father Rev. A. D. King's brother, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was shot and killed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, by a man who reportedly shot and hoped to kill MLK's great and widespread dream of unity.



The man who reportedly killed my uncle believed that America was founded on principles that justified radical racist ideologies. But he missed the truth: that written into the heart and inscribed upon the soul of this country was an irrepressible, God-given protection for all members of our One Blood Human Race: "All men [humans] are created equal."



Praise God... The dream didn't die with my uncle. His dream is alive, and so are our dreams; for our Lord Jesus is alive.



I would be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of my mother Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King on March 7, 2024 so close to this anniversary of the death of my beloved uncle. It makes this season doubly poignant.



So, while we honor the memory and legacy of MLK, a beloved husband, father, uncle, and leader, as I also miss my mother, let us celebrate his dream of God's Love, Justice and mercy, that lives on, in Christ. Forever. Amen.

Our ministry is funded by generous individuals like yourself. We have many ongoing projects that help us to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a world much in need of His message. Please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Alveda King Ministries.



About Alveda C. King:

As founder of Alveda King Ministries (www.alvedaking.com), Alveda C. King, PhD, uses her God-given talents and abilities to glorify God and uphold the sanctity of life from the womb to the tomb, and beyond. She currently serves as a Board Member and Senior Advisor to Priests for Life, and as Chair of the America First Policy Institute's Center for the American Dream. She is also a voice for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, sharing her testimony of two abortions, God's forgiveness, and healing.





SOURCE Alveda King Ministries



CONTACT: Brian Mayes, 615-771-2040, brian@nashvillepublicity.com


Donald Trump has recently spoken by phone with Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, The New York Times reports.

The newspaper states that it is not known precisely what the Republican presidential candidate discussed with the prince  his countrys de facto leader, commonly referred to simply as MBS  or whether this was their first exchange since the former president left the White House in January 2021.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Trumps campaign team for more details about the reported conversation with His Majesty.

During his tenure as president, Mr Trump enjoyed warm relations with Saudi Arabia. The country was the first he visited after taking office in 2017, a trip memorable for mr Trump joining in a ceremonial sword dance and going viral after placing his hands on a mysterious glowing orb at an exhibition centre in the company of King Salman and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

He also referred to MBS as a friend of mine after meeting him again at a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019, hailing him as a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms of [the] opening of Saudi Arabia.

He further praised the prince for doing a spectacular job and said they had had meetings on trade, economic development and the military, but refused to be drawn on the brutal murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.

Mr Trump later boasted to veteran journalist Bob Woodward in 2020 that he had shielded the monarch from congressional scrutiny following the outcry over Khashoggis killing.

I saved his ass, Mr Trump bragged to Mr Woodward. I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.

Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, King Salman and Donald Trump with the infamous orb (Saudi Royal Palace/AFP/Getty)

Since returning to life as a private citizen, both Mr Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have inked lucrative deals with Saudi investors, with the Trump Organization notably signing a $4bn agreement to allow the use of Trump branding on luxury developments in Oman.

President Joe Biden, by contrast, has maintained a rather less cosy relationship with MBS and Saudi Arabia, refusing to speak to Riyadh at the start of his administration over the Khasshogi murder before posing for an awkward fistbump with the leader in summer 2022 and then a hearty handshake at another G20 gathering in New Delhi, India, last September.

They have since been in contact by phone to discuss the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Donald Trump and Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammed bin Salman shaking hands at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019 (Reuters)

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had been due to travel to Saudi Arabia this week to meet with the crown prince but had to postpone his plans after suffering a cracked rib.

This was a minor accident of his own, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby assured reporters. It was not caused by anybody. It was not the result of a nefarious act.

Mr Sullivan was due to sit down with the prince as the US seeks to normalise relations between the Middle Eastern powers.
New Delhi, April 4 : Love it, hate it, but you surely can't ignore the fashion statement of the Gen-Zs as they have brought back the baggy wear fever or the Y2K dressing with bright hues, "Zoomers" are being praised by popular actors such as Alaya F, Ayesha Kanga and even some luxury labels for "rewriting the rulebook" for style.

New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) Love it, hate it, but you surely can't ignore the fashion statement of the Gen-Zs as they have brought back the baggy wear fever or the Y2K dressing with bright hues, "Zoomers" are being praised by popular actors such as Alaya F, Ayesha Kanga and even some luxury labels for "rewriting the rulebook" for style.

Talking about how she feels Gen-Zs have redefined fashion, Alaya F told IANS: "I definitely feel that Gen-z's have redefined fashion. I feel they have influenced a lot of trends. They sort of grew up in the era of trends. Thanks to social media, everything is about the newest trend and concept growing viral."

The actress feels that they have captilaised on that.

Gen-Zs are those who are born around the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s.

On how they have given a fresh new take to fashion, Alaya shared: "Their fashion trends are fun, a lot more colours have come in."

Comfort is key and that has made a comeback, said Alaya.

"Another aspect of Gen-Z dressing is that comfort has come back with baggier looks and even some cute mini skirts, crop tops, bright colours, Gen-Z style has brought variation to it and I think very customisable for each individual person."

Their style caters to all.

"There is no body-type that will feel that Gen-Z style is daunting for them because it implies to everyone," said Alaya.

For actress Ayesha Kanga, who has worked in the series 'Class', her generation can "explore new trends.

"I think every generation has enjoyed their way with style and managed to carry it out with so much history and flavour; of course the difference in my generation is that we can explore a new trend every few months because of the internet and perhaps so much more access," Ayesha told IANS.

"We manage to redefine style in a way that is far more personal to the individual. It is really fun to see so much youth and so much freedom take over the fashion industry," she added.

Esha Bhambri and Abhinav Gupta of the luxury label House of Fett agree that Gen-Zs stands out as a generation that is actively "rewriting the stylebook."

They told IANS: "In the rapidly evolving world of fashion, Gen-Z stands out as a generation that is not just participating in trends, but actively rewriting the rulebook. Gen-Z's impact on fashion is profound and far-reaching."

The label heads added that they are not just redefining fashion statements but are also setting a new standard for future generations.

"Their approach to fashion underscores a deeper desire for authenticity, inclusivity, and meaningful change, making them true trailblazers in the fashion world," they added.

Actress Barkha Singh, who has worked in Madhuri Dixit-Nene's film 'Maja Ma', is ecstatic that not only they've introduced new fashion but trashed some old ones such as skinny jeans.

"The Gen-Zs have definitely redefined fashion. I think they started with trashing the skinny jeans, which we millennials absolutely loved. I actually enjoy Gen-Z fashion because they believe in a lot of baggy clothes and I absolutely love baggy clothes," she told IANS.

Utkarsh Gupta, Co-Founder of sneaker label Comet feels that the Gen-Zs prioritises the underlying story behind their purchases, whether it's the brand narrative or the product's story.

He said: "In fashion and sneaker industries, products with compelling stories tend to stand out and go viral. For instance, sneaker drops often revolve around unique concepts or collaborations, like our 'Jugnu' drop inspired by fireflies, featuring a glow-in-the-dark design reminiscent of a night sky.

"Gen Z is drawn to these thoughtfully crafted narratives, seeing them as more than just fashion items but as expressions of creativity and storytelling."
Guwahati, April 4 : Assam BJP President Bhabesh Kalita on Thursday said that Muslims will vote for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

Guwahati, April 4 (IANS) Assam BJP President Bhabesh Kalita on Thursday said that Muslims will vote for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

"Muslim community has lost interest in Congress. The opposition only mocked the minority people by making false promises. Muslims now understand the strategy of Congress. They will not support them in the Lok Sabha election," he said.

He said that the majority of Muslims want development and that is why they will vote for the BJP.

"Everybody wants development and BJP has been doing the politics of development. In the last few years, Assam has seen immense development in every sector. This has attracted the Muslims who will go to the polling centres to vote for the BJP," he said.

He also claimed that the BJP is set to win at least 13 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam.

Notably, the BJP has fielded candidates in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies. Two seats were given to its ally partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and one to the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) in the Bodoland region.

AGP is contesting in Barpeta and Dhubri Lok Sabha seats while UPPL has fielded the candidate in Kokrajhar.

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) Chief Badruddin Ajmal has been winning the Dhubri seat since 2009. This time, AGP's Javed Islam is pitted against Ajmal in this parliamentary constituency.

Kalita said that although Dhubri is a tough seat for the BJP, however, the AGP candidate will pose a strong challenge to Ajmal.

Congress has also fielded its heavyweight leader Rakibul Islam in the Dhubri seat. Islam is an MLA from the Samaguri assembly seat. He was a powerful minister in the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam.
Mathura : , April 4 (IANS) BJP MP Hema Malini filed her nomination papers from Mathura Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday.

Hema Malini, who is seeking her third term in Lok Sabha, was accompanied by UP minister Swatantra Dev Singh.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who addressed a public meeting in support of Hema Malini after she filed her nomination papers, slammed the Congress for its "anti-women" stand.

He said that the remarks made by a Congress leader against BJP MP Hema Malini reflected the mindset of the Congress.

"They are not even getting candidates for the elections and are borrowing from other parties," he stated.

Meanwhile, earlier talking to reporters, Hema Malini said that she was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership for giving her a chance to serve the people of Mathura again.

She said that her priority in her third term would be the cleansing of the Yamuna river and also completing the other projects initiated by her.
New Delhi, April 4 : The Delhi High Court has mandated the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) to award Rs 5 lakhs compensation to each of two acid attack survivors for the grave injuries and disfigurement they faced in a 2009 incident.

The decision was made by a bench consisting of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, alongside upholding the acquittal of two individuals previously accused of the attack.

Acknowledging the lifelong scars and suffering of the victims, the court stressed the imperative to not overlook the severe impact of the attack, despite the inability to conclusively identify the assailants.

Moreover, it directed the DSLSA to explore potential employment opportunities for the survivors within any department of the Delhi government as a step towards their rehabilitation.

The survivors are also to undergo a medical examination at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to determine their future medical treatment needs, arranged by the DSLSA.

The harrowing ordeal left the victims completely blind and severely disfigured, stripping them of their independence, career prospects, and the ability to lead normal lives.

Despite the accusations, the trial court acquitted the accused in 2012, and the state and the victims challenged it before the high court.

The appeals by the state and the survivors, seeking to overturn the acquittal, were dismissed after careful evaluation of the evidence, which the high court found insufficient to meet the standard of proof required for conviction and upheld the trial court order.

The credibility of witnesses and the quality of the investigation were cited as key factors leading to the acquittal.

The matter has been scheduled for a follow-up hearing on May 6.
Jaipur, April 4 : A woman in Jaipur delivered her baby outside the main gate of a hospital after the staff refused to admit her.

The incident happened on Wednesday night when the staff referred the woman to another hospital and did not arrange an ambulance.

The woman, who was in acute labour pain, then delivered a baby girl in front of the hospital gate.

A huge crowd gathered outside the hospital following which the staff took the woman to the female ward.

As per sources, Ashok Verma took his wife to Kanwatia Hospital when she had labour pain. The doctors after diagnosis referred her to Janana Hospital. Verma pleaded with them to get her admitted to the hospital. The staff refused blatantly following which an argument broke out. The staff then asked them to leave the premises and go to the Janana Hospital. The staff neither helped the woman nor provided an ambulance to her.

Soon after coming out of the hospital, the woman delivered the baby girl on a platform adjacent to the hospital building.

Civil Lines MLA Gopal Sharma then reached the hospital and met Superintendent Rajendra Singh Tanwar lambasting him for the staff's attitude. He met the victim's family and assured them of all help. Additional Chief Secretary Shubhra Singh also directed officials to visit the place to investigate the matter.

Meanwhile, R.S. Tanwar, the medical superintendent, of Kanwatia Hospital said that the matter will be investigated and strict action will be taken against the accused.
New Delhi, April 4 : Kick-starting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) campaign in Bihar from Jamui district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a blistering attack on the RJD-Congress combine for its jungle raj legacy, resistance to Bharat Ratna honour for Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur and also latter's concerted effort to block the Ram Mandir dream.

PM Modi, addressing a huge gathering of people, raked up the issue of Maoism insurgency and extremism in the region and also outlined the NDA government's focus and thrust on bringing development to the region.

Notably, the Jamui seat has been represented twice by Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Chirag Paswan, however this time, Arun Bharti is the party candidate from here.

"Jamui was once identified as a hotbed of Maoist terrorism, government welfare schemes couldn't reach here but now things have changed, red terror is decimated, many misguided youth have returned to the mainstream," PM Modi told the audience.

"Jamui is heading forward on the path of progress and prosperity. Medical colleges have opened, and institutions have been set up," he added.

PM Modi, further sharing the blueprint for development in the region said that the NDA government wants to harness Jamui's natural beauty to its benefit and bring it at par with other nearby tourism hotspots like Deoghar and Gaya.

"Those who visit Deoghar and Gaya, both connected with the rest of the country via international airports, should also visit Jamui," PM Modi said, drawing loud cheers from the public.

Dubbing the Congress-RJD alliance as 'Ghamandiya alliance', the Prime Minister said that the RJD regime created an era of jungle raj and not much has changed even now. He said that the opposition parties, who fought against each other have now ganged up against the NDA to save their skin, citing instances of Bihar 'bahubalis' getting farmers' land registered in the name of their family members and relatives.

Claiming that NDA's 'Brashtrachar mitaao' promise is a blow to the Opposition's 'Bhrasthachai bachao' pitch, he said that the BJP-JD(U) alliance wants to take Bihar to the next level of growth but the RJD and Congress want to hold it in 'dark ages'.

"NDA government is promoting solar energy not just in Bihar but across the country but RJD wants to continue with Laalten Raj, he said in a terse jibe at the Lalu-led party.

PM Modi also hit out at Congress for its persistent resistance to the Ram Mandir movement and said how it conspired and connived for years to block the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

On Bharat Ratna honour to Karpoori Thakur, he said that the Jannayak was given his due after decades of wait but that also didn't go well with the RJD and Congress.
Guwahati, April 4 : Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, is set to kick off his poll campaign in Assam on April 8 and the state unit of the BJP has been preparing to showcase its strength during the rally.

MLA and BJP's candidate in Sonitpur Lok Sabha seat, Ranjit Dutta, said on Thursday, "We have been preparing for a good show at the Union Home Minister's public meeting. At least 1 lakh people from three Assembly constituencies will attend his rally."

HM Shah's meeting is being organised in Gohpur town in Biswanath District and Dutta took stock of the preparations on Thursday.

Dutta asserted that the Congress had lost its support base in Assam.

The BJP leader claimed, "I have been campaigning for the last few days. I did not see any Congress flag anywhere in the Sonitpur Lok Sabha constituency. The Opposition does not have any voter support at all."

Earlier, Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said that along with HM Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend at least three public meetings in Assam.

However, the Prime Minister's Office is yet to finalise his schedule in the state.
Seven years after second home purchase, Raashii Khanna buys her third in Hyderabad. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, April 4 : Actress Raashii Khanna, who is receiving a lot of positive response to her work in the recently released film 'Yodha', has purchased her third home in Hyderabad.

The actress, along with her family and friends, travelled to Hyderabad for the housewarming ceremony.

In the pictures, the actress can be seen performing the housewarming in an Indian outfit. She is accompanied by her mother and some of her close relatives. She earlier purchased two houses in Hyderabad, one in 2015 and another in 2017.

Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress is gearing up for the release of 'The Sabarmati Report', which sees her sharing the screen space with Vikrant Massey.

The teaser of the film, which was released recently, gives a glimpse of what transpired behind the Godhra train tragedy.

It offers a peek into the "unknown facts" that had been "hidden" for 22 years since the incident took place in February 2002.

In the teaser, Vikrant is seen as an investigative journalist.

Earlier, The makers had released a video as a homage to those who lost their lives in the Godhra train burning incident.

The film directed by Ranjan Chandel is set to release on May 3.

The actress also has the Tamil film 'Aranmanai 4' and the Telugu film 'Telusu Kada' in the pipeline.
Mumbai, April 4 : Actress Nargis Fakhri, who was recently seen in the streaming show 'Tatlubaaz', is celebrating the tenth anniversary of her film 'Main Tera Hero' on Thursday.

The film marked her third theatrical release after 'Madras Cafe' and 'Rockstar', and allowed her to shed the heaviness of both these projects given her initial two films featured an intense narrative.

In the film, the actress shared the screen with Varun Dhawan and Ileana D'Cruz.

Talking about the film completing ten years of its release, Nargis said: "Time flies by so fast! It feels like it was just yesterday when we shot the film. I had a great time working with director David Dhawan, and my co-stars Varun Dhawan and Ileana D'Cruz. It is rare that a film like 'Main Tera Hero' comes by and keeps you laughing throughout. We have spent some great moments shooting the film, and I will always cherish it."

She further mentioned, "I am glad to have secured the opportunity to play a fun and lighthearted role as Ayesha Singhal after playing grim and intense roles in 'Madras Cafe' and 'Rockstar'. Ayesha Singhal allowed me to unload the heaviness and intensity from my previous characters, and helped me to connect more with the audience."
Dharamsala, April 4 : In a rare spiritual gesture, Lord Buddha's sacred relics, housed at a holy temple in Sri Lanka, were offered to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at his residence here in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.

The Dalai Lama and Waskaduwe Mahindawansa Mahanayake Thero Mahanayake of Amarapura Sri Sambuddha Shasanodaya Sangha Sabha held a stupa containing the relics of Lord Buddha on their way to the meeting room of the formeras residence.

On arrival of the relics, monks spread flower petals as they led the procession bringing the relics.

Young Tibetan monks were lined up, awaiting the arrival of relics, while artists donning traditional costumes were performing as they waited for its arrival.

The Kapilavastu relics, comprising 21 sacred artefacts, carry profound echoes of Lord Buddhaas teachings and enlightenment.

Their journey from Sri Lanka to the presence of the Dalai Lama serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring impact of Lord Buddhaas legacy on spiritual seekers worldwide.
WATCH: Around 1,000 migrants land in Lampedusa in 24 hours

WATCH: Around 1,000 migrants land in Lampedusa in 24 hours

Good weather conditions and calm seas have resulted in the resumption of migrant landings on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Italy's Coast Guard rescued a boat with 45 people that was in trouble near Malta, an 18-year-old Gambian girl died in the shipwreck.
Kolkata, April 4 : West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday alleged, that in the name of 'One nation, One election,' the BJP was trying to introduce 'one nation, one political party' in the country.

She said this while addressing a public rally in Cooch Behar District in the northern sector of West Bengal on Thursday afternoon, just a couple of hours before Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to address a rally in the same district.

"The BJP is trying to establish the system of 'one nation, one political party'. That is the BJP's sole aim and policy," she said.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM also referred to the meeting to be addressed by the PM later in the day.

Without directly naming PM Modi she said, "You will see someone shedding tears today. Ask them about the fate of 11 lakh beneficiaries whose list was forwarded from here to the Union government. Ask them what happened regarding the pending dues of the 100-day job scheme under MGNREGA," CM Banerjee said.

She said the BJP was trying to unleash central agencies like the CBI and ED and was targeting West Bengal before the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"BJP is trying to scare us through central agencies. But under no circumstances will we bow to pressure from central agencies," the CM said.

CM Banerjee also targeted the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, without naming him directly.

"There was a liability in our party once, whom we have shown the door. Now he has become an asset in the BJP. I have full details of the pending cases against him. I will reveal those at the right moment," she said.

The CM also accused the BJP of targeting West Bengal from the time it had come to power in the country, in 2014.

"Since 2014, the BJP has started oppressing the people of West Bengal. They do not have the minimum respect for the people of the state. They are resorting to hooliganism since they came to power in 2014," the CM said.

CM Banerjee also said that she had got specific information that some BJP leaders and workers were trying to terrorise local people.

"If they do that, register your complaints at the local police station. If the local police station does not entertain your complaint, inform me. I will look into the matter," CM Banerjee said.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday slammed Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party for showing 'disrespect' to their party flag.

CM Vijayan was referring to how the Congress on Wednesday decided not to display flags of its own and that of its ally IUML during the roadshow ahead of Rahul Gandhi's filing of nomination papers for the Wayanad Lok Sabha

"They got scared of the BJP as in 2019 when Rahul came to file his nomination papers and at their roadshow, the green flags of the IUML and the Congress flags were tied together. The BJP used the pictures to campaign in North India stating that these were Pakistani flags. Do the Congress leaders here know what the Congress flags used to depict during the pre-independence struggle," asked CM Vijayan.

"The Congress party wants the vote of the IUML, but not their flag and for that, the Congress party also decided to forego their flag. This act doesn't augur well and the Congress is afraid of the BJP," added CM Vijayan.

He also took potshots at K.C.Venugopal, the Congress general secretary and a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.

"Even though he has two more years before his term ends, he decided to contest from Alappuzha and this was done to ensure that in case he wins, then a by-election to the Upper House from Rajasthan will be held and the BJP will win it. At the moment the BJP doesn't have a majority in the Upper House and is short by four seats. This is being done to help the BJP, but the people at Alappuzha (where Venugopal is contesting) will ensure that his seat is intact in the Upper House as he will be defeated here," added CM Vijayan.

The Chief Minister slammed the Enforcement Directorate for its probe into the real estate major DLF in 2019. "A few years later all know that when the involvement of Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra surfaced, everything just disappeared," said the CM.

He alleged that he suspected a secret deal that Congress had struck with the SDPI (the political arm of the now-banned PFI). The SDPI early this week decided to support the UDF, and the CPI(M) and BJP went hammer and tongs on this.

K.C. Venugopal, however, hit back at CM Vijayan and said that he need not worry about what the Congress party does and instead, he should be more worried about the way Kerala has slid down on all fronts.

"Has anyone ever heard CM Vijayan attacking PM Modi, instead he attacks Rahul Gandhi and all knows why he is doing this," said Venugopal.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said CM Vijayan need not be overly concerned about the Congress party. "CM Vijayan should be more worried about his party and the Congress doesn't require any advice from him. CM Vijayan is afraid of PM Modi and all his acts of attacking the Congress party is to help PM Modi and keep him in good humour," said Satheesan.

He also said that the "Congress party is the one which strongly opposes both minority communalism and majority communalism and we do not want the support of the SDPI".
New Delhi, April 4 : A CISF personnel allegedly shot himself dead with his service revolver at Delhi's Nangloi metro station on Thursday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Shahre Kishore, who had been enrolled in CISF as a Constable (GD) since 2014 and posted in Delhi in January, 2022.

Kishore used to live with his family members in government quarters in north Delhi's Narela.

According to police, information was received regarding Kishore shooting himself at Nangloi metro station at 7.03 a.m.

Acting on the call, a police team rushed to the spot and found Kishore's body near a baggage scanning machine installed at the metro station.

"Kishore's family members have been informed," said a senior police official.

Details are awaited.
Bengaluru, April 4 : Karnataka's former Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader, KS Eshwarappa, has decided to contest as an Independent from Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat.

Eshwarappa announced his decision after he was unable to meet Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, in New Delhi on Wednesday and returned to Bengaluru on Thursday.

"I have Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lord Ram in my heart," he stated, while speaking to reporters at Bengaluru International Airport.

Eshwarappa added that he went to New Delhi as HM Amit Shah had called him for a meeting.

"Not able to go against the senior leader, I had gone to New Delhi to meet HM Amit Shah. Otherwise, it would have been arrogance on my part. The trip to New Delhi showed that god is with me," Eshwarappa maintained.

"HM Amit Shah did not meet me. His office told me he is unavailable. I assume that it is an indication from his side for me to go ahead with my decision to contest as an Independent candidate," Eshwarappa stated.

"If Amit Shah had asked me to withdraw my candidature as an Independent candidate, I would have been compelled to withdraw. He must have spoken to other leaders about my candidature and the questions that I raised with him. He would have been convinced that my struggle is judicious," Eshwarappa claimed.

"I will contest as an Independent candidate. The BJP is going to win all 28 seats except for Shivamogga parliamentary constituency. There I will be victorious as an Independent.

"If I do not support Prime Minister Modi I will feel worthless. After securing my victory from Shivamogga I will dedicate my win to Prime Minister Modi," he stated.

Eshwarappa is miffed with the BJP's decision to deny a ticket to his son KE Kanthesh to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Shivamogga.

Eshwarappa has also vowed to get BY Vijayendra removed from the post of Karnataka BJP chief. Both Vijayendra and Raghavendra are Yediyurappa's sons.

Eshwarappa is the senior-most BJP leader in the state who built the party from scratch in Karnataka along with Yediyurappa and others.
Hyderabad, April 4 : Telangana's main opposition party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that the Congress government is penalising weavers in the state for political reasons by stopping the implementation of all welfare schemes launched by the previous BRS government.

Hyderabad, April 4 (IANS) Telanganaas main opposition party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that the Congress government is penalising weavers in the state for political reasons by stopping the implementation of all welfare schemes launched by the previous BRS government.

BRS party Working President K. T. Rama Rao wrote an open letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy regarding the dire state of weavers in the state. He appealed to the government to continue all ongoing welfare and development activities for the weavers.

Over the last four months, all of the previous government's welfare activities for weavers have been halted by the present government, leading to distress in the weaving community, KTR criticized in his letter.

He reminded due to mismanagement in the agricultural sector, farmers have already been committing suicide in the state. Unfortunately, the same kind of administrative negligence is leading to distress in the poor weaving community, with weavers also resorting to suicides, KTR lamented in his letter.

In his open letter, the MLA from Sircilla explained the previous government's welfare activities such as yarn subsidies directly deposited into the weaver's accounts, insurance benefits for the weavers, and government cloth orders placed directly with the weavers.

KTR recalled that after decades of distress under the previous government's regime, the BRS government attempted to rectify the situation by inviting all stakeholders from the weaving community to contemplate suitable welfare and development activities for the weavers under the leadership of then Chief Minister KCR.

The state government's initiative to allocate an unprecedentedly large budget, unlike in previous years, led to the initiation of weaving welfare programmes such as loan waivers for weavers, Chenetha Mitra, Nethannaku Bheema, Bathukamma saree program, health insurance, and the creation of two separate corporations for handlooms and power looms, etc.

KTR stated that the present government has halted all weaving welfare activities, especially the Bathukamma saree production programme, directly leading to distress among around 30,000 power loom weavers in the state.

Due to the non-payment of pending bills, which were stopped during the elections due to the model code of conduct, even master weavers are facing a lot of financial crises, affecting the power loom labourers.

Already, a few power loom labourers have committed suicide, reminiscent of the dreadful years of the Congress administration when Sircilla was known for its weavers' suicides.

KTR requested the Congress government not to view these weaving welfare activities through a political lens and urged the government to continue all ongoing welfare activities. He also demanded the release of orders for Bathukamma sarees, which would help the majority of the weaving community in the state.

KTR also accused the state government of attempting to give the same Bathukamma order to other states just for the sake of commissions. If this government is unwilling to continue the previous government's welfare activities, it should at least come up with new policies and initiatives that will benefit the weavers more. However, it cannot remain indifferent while weavers are committing suicide.

KTR also warned the Chief Minister that if the government does not provide any respite to the distressed weaving community, the BRS party in the main opposition role will continue to fight on behalf of the backward weaving community in the state.
Srinagar, April 4 : Former J&K Chief Minister and Vice President of National Conference (NC) Omar Abdullah said on Thursday that NC and Congress will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections jointly.

A day after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced its decision to field candidates for all 3 Lok Sabha seats in the Valley, Omar Abdullah told reporters that his party and the Congress will fight the Lok Sabha elections jointly.

He said that the NC President Farooq Abdullah is campaigning for the Congress candidates in the Jammu division and that the Congress has assured support to the NC in the Valley.

He said that the picture would be clear in a few days since Congress is likely to come up with an announcement in this regard.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, April 4 : The Bidar Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka will see a direct contest between sitting BJP MP Bhagwanth Khuba and Congress' Sagar Eshwar Khandre.

While Bhagwanth Khuba, a Union Minister, is looking for a third consecutive term from the constituency, Sagar Khandre, the son of Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, is contesting his first election.

Sagar's grandfather Bheemanna Khandre is a veteran Congress leader.

Bhagwanth Khuba had registered thumping victories in the 2014 and 2019 general elections with margins of 1.16 lakh and 92,192 votes respectively. On both occasions, he managed to defeat powerful opponents -- former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh in 2014 and Eshwar Khandre in 2019.

Bhagwanth Khuba got the Central portfolio under the Lingayat quota in 2021. However, his candidature was opposed vehemently by the local BJP leaders. Former CM B.S. Yediyurappa had then travelled to Bidar and quelled the dissidence.

26-year-old Sagar Khandre hails from a family of freedom fighters and is a LLB graduate. He actively worked with his father and earned a good name for his services during the Covid pandemic. Currently, he is the Secretary of Shanthivardhaka Education Institute. He has also worked as the general secretary of the National Student Federation.

BJP's Ramchandra Veerappa has consecutively won five Lok Sabha elections from Bidar -- 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 while the Congress remained unbeaten there from 1952 to 1989.

Congress had also won in the 2004 by-election and in the 2009 parliamentary election from Bidar.

The Bidar seat comprises eight assembly segments -- Chincholi, Aland, Basavakalyan, Humnabad, Bidar South, Bidar, Bhalki and Aurad. Bhalki is represented by Eshwar Khandre. Five assembly seats were held by the BJP while the Congress won three seats in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Since the formation of the BJP-JD(S) alliance in the state, Bhagwanth Khuba has been regularly organising meetings of party workers and leaders of both parties.

The challenge for the BJP is to ensure that the influential Lingayat community vote bank in the region does not split.

While the BJP is depending on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image, the ruling Congress is banking on its 'guarantees' and the minority community.

Bidar is one of the most backward districts in the state and both the national parties are targeting to win the trust of economically backward voters in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll.

Voting in Bidar is scheduled to be held on May 7.
New Delhi, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a mega poll blitz in Bihar's Jamui district on Thursday assailed the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-Congress alliance for their negative politics and also outlined how the country was mustering strength and getting global recognition under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

PM Modi slammed the Congress for 'bowing before foreign nations' for securing nation's security and sovereignty and said that things have changed drastically now.

"Today's Bharat doesn't seek help from others in defending self, it attacks and eliminates its enemies in their own houses," PM Modi thundered at the public rally, in a clear message to Pakistan harbouring and sponsoring anti-India elements.

Without taking the name of Pakistan, he said that under the BJP-led government, Bharat has restored itself to its previous glory and is punishing its enemies in their own den.

Amused at the massive turnout of people at the Jamui rally, PM Modi also asked, "Is it a poll rally or a victory rally?"

"Today, India is the fifth largest economy and is bracing for bigger milestones. Chandrayaan's landing on the Moon shows our growing stature in space science. G20 meetings have become a talking point all across the country and globe," PM Modi said while listing out the priorities of the NDA government.

PM Modi also drew a comparison between NDA's progressive governance and Ghamandia gathbanthan's opportunism. He said that RJD kept the state in the 'dark ages' for a long and things started improving only under the NDA government.

Highlighting the government's resolve for a prosperous Bihar, he said that NDA was focused on bringing solar power to the state as against 'laalten raaj' of RJD.

He also said that the RJD regimes created an atmosphere of terror and jungle raj but the BJP-JD(U) alliance was consistently working hard to create a robust infrastructure in the state.

--IANS

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Noida, April 4 : Get over your fixation for red, yellow and green curries or those skewered satays as Thai cuisine has much more to offer. The Thai table comes loaded with an array of delicacies that are waiting to be tasted. And each bite will leave you yearning for more, as it opens up a world of sweet, sour and spicy flavours.

Ahan Thai, which translates to 'Thai Cusine', is a food festival celebrating the exquisite flavours from the 'The Land of Smiles' in the plush setting of the Rare Eastern Dining (R.E.D) restaurant at the Radisson Blu MBD Hotel in Noida.

Curated by Chef Ghanshyam Thapa, the menu offers an insight into how much more there is to enjoy gastronomically than just having the regular curries with steamed rice or chicken satay with peanut sauce.

For the chef, spearheading the food festival, which started on March 29 and ends on April 6, was not difficult, but getting the right ingredients to bring out the authentic taste on the plate was a "tad" tough.

The menu, which has been priced at Rs 5,000 plus taxes for two sans alcohol, will leave you impressed. Starting with appetisers such as Ngob Kung, or the grilled prawn parcels, followed by the marinated mince lamb skewers called Neua Kae, which were tastefully wrapped around lemongrass stalks, adding extra flavour to the meat resting on them. The condiments such as peanut sauce and burnt chilli oil blended well with the skewers.

Then came the main course and of course there were curries, but not ones we are familiar with. The restaurant has rested the popular ones, laying out instead an immensely flavourful spread.

The Kaeng Paa Kae, which is spicy lamb in Thai jungle curry, went perfectly with the steaming hot jasmine rice. The fried prawns with Thai basil sauce was cooked to perfection.

The winner, though, was the pork and long green beans with chilli sauce. Called a mouthful -- Thua Phak Prik Gang Tua Fak Tao -- in Thai, the dish was packed with flavours that leave you salivating for more.

The menu of course does cater to those who do not like to experiment much, so you wil get the Thai red and green curries if you insist on having them. Then there is Nasi Goreng, or fried rice, for the ones who like it extra spicy.

On a sweeter note, the dessert section was not far behind the appetisers and the main course. Predictably, in the final race, Khao Meow Mamuang, or the sweet sticky coconut milk rice with mango, turned out to be the winner of the evening, ensuring we went back home with a memorable taste in the mouth.

Dig in to know more. Khob Khun Ka!
'Paying' for their husbands' 'sins', these women in UP looking for respite after polls. Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, April 4 : They are women in deep distress. Their family lives have been torn apart, and they are paying for the sins of their husbands.

These women are not contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but are keenly watching the political events unfold -- they see some hope for themselves after the new government is formed at the Centre.

"We know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming back to power, so we will be able to plead our case before him and he will probably give some time to listen to our woes," said a source close to one of these women.

Topping the list is Shaista Parveen, the widow of slain gangster Atiq Ahmad, who not only lost her husband last year, but also her son Asad, who was killed in a police encounter in 2023. The two were killed within two days of each other.

Her two elder sons, Umar and Ali, are in jail and Shaista, who now carries a reward of Rs 75,000 on her head, has been absconding for over a year now.

Her sister-in-law Zainab faces a similar fate. Her husband and Atiq's brother, Ashraf, was killed along with his Atiq. Zainab remains untraceable, as the police continue to hunt for her.

According to sources, the two women -- through a local cleric -- have been sending out feelers to the local politicians in Prayagraj, seeking some respite after the elections.

"Some senior and respected members of our community are also working to ease the situation, and we hope things will improve after the polls," said the source.

Khushi Dubey, the young widow of the late Amar Dubey -- an accused in the Bikru massacre of 2020 in which eight police personnel were killed -- spent three years in jail after the incident.

She had been married for three days when the massacre took place, and was accused of being a part of the conspiracy. A minor at the time of her marriage and the massacre, she spent months in jail trying to convince the court that she was innocent.

She said, "I want the cases against me should be withdrawn and I should be allowed to move ahead in life."

Afsha Ansari, the widow of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who died recently due to a cardiac arrest in jail, is also absconding due to the multiple cases lodged against her. Fearing arrest, she did not even attend the funeral of her husband. Her elder son Abbas Ansari is already in jail.

Her brother-in-law Afzal Ansari said, "I will not rest till I ensure justice for my brother and his family. Once the elections are over, we will exercise all the legal options available to us."

Payal Maheshwari, the widow of gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari a.k.a. Jeeva, who was shot inside a Lucknow court in June last year, is also absconding because of the multiple cases against her.

She is also in touch with the political leaders in Western UP and wants closure of the cases against her.
Mumbai, April 4 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with the National Central Bureau - Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, has successfully brought back a notorious gold smuggler wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), to Mumbai, said a CBI statement here on Thursday.

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with the National Central Bureau a" Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, has successfully brought back a notorious gold smuggler wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), to Mumbai, said a CBI statement here on Thursday.

The accused fugitive is identified as Shokat Ali, who had a Red Corner Notice against him on September 13, 2021, and the operations were coordinated through the InterPol channels.

Shokat Ali was earlier geo-located in Saudi Arabia after which the CBI and the authorities there coordinated through InterPol for his deportation.

The RCN issued by the CBI from the InterPol in September 2021 was circulated to all member-countries to locate and arrest the wanted Shokat Ali.

The accused is named in a criminal case filed against him in September 2020 by the NIA for offences of unlawful activities and criminal conspiracy in a gold smuggling case.

The smuggling case pertained to the seizure of 18.50 kgs of smuggled gold bars at Jaipur International Airport on July 3, 2020, and investigations revealed that Shokat Ali had conspired with 17 other co-accused involved in that smuggling operation from Saudi Arabia to India.

Besides Shokat Ali, other accused figuring in the NIA chargesheet filed before a Special Court in Jaipur include Sunil Verma, Hetram, Rashid Qureshi, Surendrakumar Darji, Mohammed Arif, Abdul Razzak, Sameer Khan, Muniyad Ali Khan, and Muhabbat Ali a" who was deported in August 2023 by Saudi Arabia.

As gold prices have touched Rs 70,000 per tola in the past few days, incidents of gold smuggling from the Gulf countries have gone up with various vigilance agencies stationed at Mumbai Airport and other international airports affecting big and small seizures of gold and arrests of smugglers almost every week.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 : Even though a few top leaders of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed on Thursday that the party always ensures that there is transparency in all its activities.

"We do not have any secret bank accounts, as we do not accept black money. Our funds come through party levies and membership fees from the party members. Every rupee we collect comes from the people. We also inform the people about the utilisation of the funds. We do everything transparently," the Chief Minister said.

CM Vijayan was reacting to reports quoting the ED's claims that during its ongoing probe into the alleged scam involving the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank, which is controlled by the Trissur CPI-M district committee and its leaders, the agency found a few secret accounts of the CPI-M.

"Today the ED, CBI, and the Income Tax Department are after the non-BJP parties, but the leaders of the Congress take a different position when the ED in Kerala comes after our leaders," Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister also dodged a query about the ongoing ED probe against his daughter Veena Vijayan's IT firm.

In a related development, two-time former CPI-M Lok Sabha member P.K. Biju on Thursday appeared before the ED at its Kochi office as part of the ongoing probe into the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank case.

Meanwhile, the Trissur district CPI-M Secretary, M.M. Varghese, who was asked to appear before the ED on Wednesday, informed the agency that he is preoccupied with election campaign, as he sought time till the polls get over for joining the probe. However, the ED asked him to report on Friday.
New Delhi, April 4 : A Delhi court on Thursday reserved its order on framing of charges against BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, in an alleged sexual harassment case by six women wrestlers, for April 18.

In February, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had sought to be discharged in the case, citing delay in reporting the alleged offence and contradictions in the complainants' statements.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Priyanka Rajpoot, of Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday heard the arguments presented by the complainants, Delhi Police, and the accused, including Vinod Tomar, former Assistant Secretary of WFI.

Earlier during the proceedings, the complainants and police had said that there was ample evidence to proceed with the trial against the accused individuals.

The Delhi Police had refuted the argument of the accused that certain incidents occurred overseas and thus fell outside the jurisdiction of Delhi courts, contending that the alleged acts of sexual harassment, attributed to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, both abroad and in India, including Delhi, constituted part of the same offence.

His counsel had told the court that the incidents were said to have occurred in 2012 but were only reported to the police in 2023.

In addition, he had contended discrepancies in the timing and locations of the alleged incidents, asserting no clear link between them.

The defence had pointed out contradictions between the complainants' affidavits and statements.

The Delhi Police had concluded its arguments last month. It was contended that incidents of alleged sexual harassment, whether occurring overseas or within the country, were interconnected and part of the same transaction.

Hence, the police had said that the court had jurisdiction to hear the case.

The BJP MP had earlier questioned the jurisdiction of the Delhi court claiming that there was no action or consequence which happened in India.

Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava, representing the Delhi Police, had argued that under Section 354 of the IPC, the case is not time-barred, as it carries a maximum punishment of five years.

Addressing the issue of delay in filing complaints, Srivastava had brought up the issue of fear among the women wrestlers, saying that wrestling held immense significance in their lives, and they were hesitant to come forward due to concerns about jeopardising their careers.

The prosecution had argued that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's defence, claiming his actions were fatherly, demonstrated awareness of his acts.

The BJP MPas justification that he was checking breathing patterns had contradicted the victims' statements about inappropriate touching.

The police had claimed that there was sufficient prima facie evidence to proceed with trial against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and co-accused Tomar.

The prosecution had earlier said that the act of sexual harassment of the victims was a continuing offence, as it did not stop at any particular time.

Delhi Police had also told the court that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh never missed an opportunity to "sexually harass" women wrestlers, adding that there is sufficient evidence to frame charges against him and proceed with the trial.
Kolkata, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that those responsible for the oppression and exploitation of women at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas will have to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

'Recently the entire country has witnessed how the ruling Trinamool Congress and the state government have tried to defend and protect those who are responsible for the exploitation of women at Sandeshkhali. But I can say that they will not be spared and those responsible for such heinous acts will have to spend the rest of their lives behind bars," he said while addressing a rally in Cooch Behar district.

The PM cautioned that the Trinamool will suffer heavily because of what happened at Sandeshkhali.

"Only Trinamool Congress is responsible for what had happened against women at Sandeshkhali. Trinamool Congress will have to pay heavily for that," he said.

He also accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of subjecting people of the state to suffering by not allowing different centrally-sponsored schemes to be implemented in West Bengal.

"The West Bengal government has not allowed the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state. Anyone from West Bengal having the Ayushman Bharat card could have undergone treatment in Mumbai had he or she fallen sick there. Those who want to get treated outside West Bengal would have got the treatment facilities had they been allowed to avail of the Ayushman Bharat facilities. The Chief Minister has deprived the people of the state of that," the Prime Minister said.

He also alleged that despite the Union government clearing lots of funds under different central-sponsored projects for West Bengal, those projects could not be implemented because of the obstruction created by the state government.

The forthcoming Lok Sabha polls are the right opportunity to give a fitting reply to Trinamool Congress for all its misdeeds, he said.

"So I request the voters to line up in front of the polling booth after sunrise and give your mandate against oppression," he added.
Srinagar, April 4 : After former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti announced to field the candidates for the the Lok Sabha seats in the Kashmir Valley, the most interesting contest is going to be in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency.

With 18,30,294 voters including 93,0379 male, 89,9888 female and 27 third gender, the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency is the only Lok Sabha constituency in J&K that is spread on both the Jammu division and the Valley.

The Election Commission (EC) is setting up 2,338 polling stations, 225 in urban areas and 2,113 in rural areas for the voters of this constituency.

Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu division, and Anantnag and Kulgam districts in the Valley, are the voting segments of the constituency.

The voters including the Kashmiri-speaking Muslims of the Valley, the Gujjar/Bakarwal Muslims of Poonch and Rajouri in addition to large numbers of the Pahari community and Hindus in the latter two districts.

Diverse topography, different vocations and priorities make the voters of this constituency as diverse as their likely voting preferences.

The constituency is presently represented by Justice (Retired) Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference (NC).

After the districts of Rajouri and Poonch were made voting segments of this constituency during the fresh delimitation of constituencies, the NC has decided not to field its sitting candidate.

Instead, the senior Gujjar/Bakarwal religious and political leader, Mian Altaf Ahmad has been nominated by the NC as its candidate for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Given his stature and respect among the Gujjar/Bakarwal community, Mianas choice as the NC candidate was a foregone conclusion.

Yet, the decision of Mehbooba Mufti to field a PDP candidate in this constituency has added a twist to the tail for the NC.

PDP insiders say that Mufti will fight the Lok Sabha elections herself from this constituency.

She belongs to Bijbehara town of Anantnag district which is her ancestral home.

Her late father and former Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed belonged to Bijbehara. Anantnag district in particular and other south Kashmir districts in general have been seen as traditional strongholds of the PDP.

This is true, despite Muftias defeat at the hands of the NC candidate in the 2019 general elections.

Former senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who formed his own political party, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), is also fighting elections from this constituency.

A natural outcome of Mehbooba Mufti's decision to join the electoral battle in this constituency is the PDPas direct confrontation with the NC.

Azad is not a political force to reckon with in this constituency and yet as a former senior Congress leader, he is likely to get a fairly good number of votes.

Without hazarding a guess on winners and losers, the fact remains that the NC, PDP and the DPAP will cut into each other's vote bank.

After the abrogation of Article 370 and downgrading of J&K into a union territory, it is naive to talk of unflinching voter support to any of these three political parties in the constituency.

Voters have different considerations and priorities, with peace, development, education, healthcare and employment being the real voter priorities now.

The BJP is yet to announce its candidate for this constituency. There is little doubt that the BJP has a large number of Pahari community support in Poonch and Rajouri, especially after the grant of ST status to this community.

BJP has made inroads in many parts of Anantnag and Kulgam districts, but its major chunk of votes is likely to come from across the Pir Panjal mountain range in Poonch and Rajouri districts.

The key to BJP giving its rivals a tough time and formidable challenge lies in the partyas choice of candidate for the constituency.

There are reports that the party is seriously considering the name of a serving IAS officer belonging to the Poonch district. The other name doing the rounds as the BJP candidate is the partyas J&K unit president, Ravinder Raina.

It is generally believed that if the BJP chooses an ST candidate for the constituency, the party will give its rivals a run for their life.

The constituency goes to vote on May 7 and all contesting parties are preparing to give their best shot to the elections in this constituency because the winner would have proved public support in both the divisions of the UT.
New Delhi, April 4 : Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on Thursday hailed teams in his Group companies for charting a new course and getting them back on customary growth trajectory.

Mahindra and Mahindra's stock closed at Rs 2,008 on Thursday.

"In December 2019, when the share price had fallen to around Rs 500, I vividly recall that at our annual leadership conference (M10) held in Mumbai, the then CFO had issued a clarion call for our stock to be "2000 by 2022," Anand Mahindra posted on X platform.

"Little did we know, of course, that a global pandemic lurked around the corner."

The next couple of years were challenging for everyone but for the Mahindra Group, "we lived up to our motto -- When the going gets tough, Mahindra gets going..."

According to the chairman, the company overshot the deadline by two years, "but it's incredibly gratifying to cross this milestone with many more to come".

He then thanked Mahindra Group CEO Dr Anish Shah and Executive Director Rajesh Jejurikar and the teams both in M&M and all Group companies "who charted new strategies and worked relentlessly to get us back on our customary growth trajectory".

Founded in 1945, the Mahindra Group is one of the largest companies with 260,000 employees in over 100 countries.

It has a leadership position in farm equipment, utility vehicles, information technology and financial services in India and is the world's largest tractor company by volume.

The Group also has a strong presence in renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality and real estate.
New Delhi/Ranchi, April 4 : A special court in Ranchi on Thursday took cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and four others in connection with the land scam case.

The matter, which is under investigation as per the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, pertains to allegedly acquiring, possessing, and concealing the proceeds of crime in the form of an immovable property measuring 8.8 acres at Bariatu in Ranchi.

In a statement on Thursday, the ED said that besides Hemant Soren, four other persons -- Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Binod Singh, Hileyrious Kachhap and Raj Kumar Pahan have also been named as accused in the case for their alleged roles in aiding the former Jharkhand chief minister in his unlawful acquisition and possession of the said property.

The ED said that the mentioned property that is worth Rs 31 crore has also been provisionally attached.

The financial probe agency had initiated money laundering investigation in the cases of land scam on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police against several persons including government officials.

"ED investigation has revealed that one of the accused persons, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, a revenue department official and custodian of original government records, misused his official position by providing assistance to several persons including Hemant Soren in their activities linked to illegal occupation, acquisition and/or possession of proceeds of crime in form of landed properties," the probe agency said in the statement.

The probe also revealed that a racket of land mafia is active in Jharkhand which used to forge the land records in Ranchi.

"It is also revealed that ownership records of lands have also been forged to extend favours to the said land mafia. Subsequently, on the basis of forged land records, such land parcels are sold to other persons," the ED said.

The ED claimed that original land records of ownership are either tampered or concealed to facilitate unlawful acquisition, possession and use of such properties.

The agency had earlier carried out 51 searches and nine surveys in such cases and incriminating evidence like forged seals of Land Revenue Department, forged land deeds, records of distribution of Proceeds of Crime, photographs of doing forgery, evidence of giving bribes to government officials etc., were seized.

"Searches have resulted in the recovery and seizure of Rs 1.25 crore (approximately) cash and further freezing of Rs 3.56 crore of bank account balances. During one of the searches at a premise in Delhi under the use and control of Hemant Soren, cash amounting to Rs 36.34 lakh, one BMW car and incriminating documents were seized," it said.

The ED had earlier provisionally attached land parcels worth Rs 236 crore in land scam cases.

To date, 16 accused individuals, including Hemant Soren, have been arrested in connection with these cases.
Mumbai, April 4 : British-Indian actress Fagun Thakrar, who shares the screen with actor Rohit Roy in the film 'Irah', plays the Chief of the British Intelligence Agency.

The film, directed by Sam Bhattacharjee, delves into artificial intelligence and its ethical dilemmas.

Fagun shared that when a major crime involving artificial intelligence falls into the wrong hands and remains unsolved, she is called in to address the crisis, highlighting the gravity of her role.

Describing her role further, Fagun said: "It's akin to being the head of MI6, surrounded by numerous bodyguards. Playing this role is fantastic; it's somewhat reminiscent of James Bond 007 but from the perspective of the top leader."

When asked if her role resembles that of Judy Dench, who plays the MI6 boss, Fagun said: "In the film, any resemblance to the legend is limited to being a woman boss of the British Secret Service. But I have another connection with Judy Dench. I honed my craft at one of the world's most esteemed drama schools, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, an alma mater to legendary Dame Judi Dench."

Fagun had the opportunity to meet Dame Judy Dench when Fagun was being honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) through their exclusive Newcomers Program for international rising stars.

Sharing her experience of meeting Judi Dench, the actress said: "Meeting Dame Judi Dench at the BAFTA was a moment etched in grace and inspiration. Her presence, a testament to the power of enduring artistry, reminded me of the profound impact we can make through dedication and passion. It was a meeting of minds, a confluence of respect and admiration, that further ignited my commitment to excellence in my craft. Her words, 'Continue to explore, dream, and create,' will forever resonate with me as I journey through the landscapes of creativity and storytelling."
Agartala, April 4 : An Indian villager was killed and another injured after the BSF fired to disperse a "mob of attackers" along the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura's Sepahijala district, officials said on Thursday.

A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman said that around 30 to 40 Indian smugglers, violating the curfew imposed on the border, tried to smuggle contraband items to Bangladesh at Durgapur village late on Wednesday night and its troopers challenged them.

However, the mob surrounded the BSF personnel, tried to snatch their weapons, and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons, leaving three BSF men seriously injured. They also vandalised the BSF duty point and damaged surveillance equipment.

The spokesman said that sensing imminent danger to life and threat to government property, BSF troopers fired in self-defence and to disperse the violent mob. Two of the assailants were hit and one of them subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

The injured person was shifted to the hospital.

Sepahijala's Superintendent of Police Bogati Jagadeeswar Reddy said that the villagers alleged that during the border patrolling, a scuffle between the local people and the BSF took place and the troopers fired on the villagers without any provocation.

"An impartial probe of the incident would be conducted. A forensic team visited the site and collected evidence," he told the media after visiting the border area.

An FIR was lodged with Sonamura police station in this regard. Tension ran high in the border village on Thursday and senior BSF and police officials with additional reinforcement are camping in the area.

On March 17, a Bangladeshi smuggler was killed in a clash with the BSF at Magroli in Tripura's Unakoti district. Two BSF personnel were also injured in that clash as smugglers mounted an attack on them.

Tripura shares an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh, which surrounds the state on three sides. Some patches of the frontier are still unfenced due to local disputes and demarcation-related issues.
Mumbai, April 4 : Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, who is receiving a lot of positive responses to his work in the recently released film 'Aadujeevitham', wrapped up the shoot of his upcoming film titled 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil' on Thursday.

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, who is receiving a lot of positive responses to his work in the recently released film aAadujeevithama, wrapped up the shoot of his upcoming film titled aGuruvayoor Ambalanadayila on Thursday.

The Malayalam film has been directed by Vipin Das, and is in the comedy genre. It narrates the story of a young man entangled in a series of misfortunes during a wedding ceremony, ultimately leading him to marry a woman who has enraged the groom.

Sharing pictures from the final day of shooting, the team bid adieu with a promise of a fun-filled entertainer. The caption reads: "Thatas the final wrap! #GuruvayoorAmbalaNadayil. We hope that it will be a fun-filled entertainer. See you soon. May 2024 worldwide release."

The film has been produced under Prithviraj Sukumaranas own banner, Prithviraj Productions, and also features Nikhila Vimal, Anaswara Rajan, Basil Joseph, and Yogi Babu in pivotal roles.

Meanwhile, Prithviraj also has the Ali Abbas Zafar directorial aBade Miyan Chote Miyana, in which he essays the antagonist named Kabir.

The film also stars Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff. It is set to debut in cinemas on April 10 where it will clash with the Ajay Devgn-starrer aMaidaana
New Delhi, April 4 : It was in 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Tesla facility in Palo Alto, California and Elon Musk took him for a tour of his electric car plant, convincing the PM that electric vehicles are going to be the next big disruptor. Nearly a decade later, the Tesla is set to come to - and be made in - India.

The tech billionaire is finally sending a team of experts to scout for a possible location to set up a $2-$3 billion EV plant in the country.

Reports say that on top of the Tesla CEOas mind are three states -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu -- which have an EV infrastructure in place, as well as ports which make it easier for the electric car giant "to export cars".

The credit goes to PM Modias persistent efforts in convincing Musk to look at India as his next big destination to establish a Tesla Gigafactory and export EVs to the rest of the world. In June last year, PM Modi met Musk in the US and appreciated his efforts at making technology accessible and affordable in various sectors.

The Prime Minister invited Musk to explore opportunities in India for investments in the electric mobility sector. After meeting the Prime Minister, Musk started exploring setting up his own supply chain ecosystem in India, thus producing cheaper electric cars that might even start from Rs 20 lakh.

In Muskas own words, "He (PM Modi) really cares about India because he's pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something that we intend to do and we're just trying to figure out the right timing".

PM Modi "really wants to do the right thing for India. He wants to make sure that the advantage from investments accrues to India's advantage, which is, you know, obviously, that's the job", the billionaire told reporters after meeting the PM.

India has more "promise than any large country in the world", he added.

Last November, Union Minister Piyush Goyal also visited Teslaas state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in California. He posted on X that it was "extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers and finance professionals working at senior positions and contributing to Teslaas remarkable journey to transform mobility".

"Also proud to see the growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its component imports from India," the Union Minister added.

The Tesla owner, however, apologised to Goyal for not being able to meet him as he was unwell.

In the new EV policy announced last month, the PM Modi-led government has reduced the customs duty to 15 per cent, albeit with certain riders. A minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore (about $500 million) will be needed to set up EV manufacturing facilities, production will start within three years and reach 25 per cent DVA (domestic value addition) by three years and 50 per cent DVA within 5 years at the maximum, according to the new EV policy.

This now paves the way for Musk to enter the Indian market.

India's EV market has the potential to achieve over 40 per cent penetration with $100 billion revenue by 2030. This growth is expected to be driven by strong adoption (over 45 per cent) in both two-wheeler (2W) and three-wheeler (3W) categories, with four-wheeler (cars) penetration projected to grow to more than 20 per cent, according to a recent report by Bain & Company and Blume Ventures.

India is also making progress in building its EV charging infrastructure to phase out diesel vehicles in a stipulated time frame. Additionally, government initiatives like the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme have further incentivised EV adoption.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 : The BJP candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday registered a police complaint against a Congress leader for spreading misinformation and allegedly engaging in criminal conspiracies.

Union Minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, accused the leader of morphing his old photograph with Union Minister, Pratima Bhoumik.

In his complaint filed before Delhi Police, Chandrasekhar said that J Moses Joseph Dcruz, a member of the Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee, and the National Executive Committee of the All India Fishermen's Congress, morphed the image of Pratima Bhoumik with the face of PK Indira, wife of CPI(M) leader, EP Jayarajan.

Later this was circulated on various social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp.

The caption accompanying the image falsely implied a professional and business connection between Indira, Chandrasekhar and Jayarajan.

Incidentally, the issue of a business deal between Chandrasekhar and Jayarajan was doing the rounds last month and the Congress alleged that this was yet another example of the secret pact between the BJP and the CPI(M) in Kerala.

Chandrasekhar further stated in his complaint that this manipulation was executed with the aim of deceiving the public and garnering sympathy through misleading information.

"This act was a deliberate effort to disseminate false and frivolous content on social media, advancing both personal and political agendas through criminal conspiracy and misinformation campaigns," said Chandrasekhar.

In yet another case filed before the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, Sanjay Kaul and Additional Chief Electoral Officer and Nodal Officer incharge of the Model Code of Conduct, Adeela Abdulla, he alleged that the Congress had published a defamatory video (first published on X, from the official handle of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) making various unsubstantiated allegations with the premise that he had submitted a false affidavit on assets before the Election Commission at the time of his Rajya Sabha election.
Patna April 4 : Launching the NDA's campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Bihar at a mega rally in Jamui district on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the RJD and the Congress responsible for the Maoist trouble and 'Jungle Raj' in the state during their tenure.

"Everyone knows the kind of identity that was created for Bihar during the RJD and Congress rule when the state witnessed Maoist attacks and Jungle Raj. Maoists didn't allow the construction of roads in places like Jamui, which adversely affected the farmers, labourers and poor people of the region.

"Now, Maoism is finished in Bihar with many radical operatives joining the mainstream after surrendering. Their children are going to schools now," PM Modi said in Jamui.

The Prime Minister also pointed at the IRCTC land-for-job scam, without naming RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, one of the prime accused in the case.

"They grabbed lands of the poor people to give jobs in the Railways. Such people can never do any good. Nitish Kumar was also the Railway Minister of the country, but there were no complaints against him. The condition of trains was poor during the Congress rule, but now trains like Vande Bharat Express are running across the country.

"We also want to make the railway stations in Bihar world-class. The facilities at the railway stations will be similar to those seen at the airports. We are building highways and expressways in Bihar with the help of Nitish Kumar," The Prime Minister said.

Stating that the coming elections are decisive for the development of the country as well as Bihar, PM Modi said, "Ten years back, the world looked at India as a poor country. Smaller nations used to carry out terror attacks in the country, but the Congress leaders only complained about such incidents in the world fora.

"But now we launch strikes against such elements by entering their country. People of the world are looking up to India now. Our country is the fifth largest economy in the world today. India held the G-20 Summit in Delhi and the entire world paid attention to it. The credit for all these goes to the common people of the country."

The Prime Minister also said that all the corrupt forces have now teamed up against his government.

"We constructed the Ram Temple in Ayodhya despite the Congress and the RJD trying their best to ensure that it was not built. They also insulted (former Bihar Chief Minister) late Karpoori Thakur, but we have conferred him with the Bharat Ratna," PM Modi said.

He also remembered his 'old friend' late Ram Vilas Paswan at the rally.

"Today I am missing my old friend Ram Vilas Paswan who is not with us. But his son Chirag Paswan is promoting his ideology in Bihar. I want to appeal to the people of Jamui to vote for NDA nominee Arun Bharti, which will please Ram Vilas Paswan," he said.
New Delhi, April 4 : It is difficult to imagine a restaurant that has not changed over the past 45 years. It has the same seating (which some find uncomfortable), the same crockery and cutlery (you get to use the latter only if you insist on going against its fingers-only policy), and the same menu presented on the same wooden boards by waiters dressed just the way they were when it first opened its door in 1979.

Even the name -- Bukhara -- is inappropriate for a restaurant that has built its reputation and fortunes on North-West Frontier cuisine. Rightly, it should have been named Peshawari, which is what it is called outside Delhi.

Bukhara at the ITC Maurya, the luxury hotel located on Delhi's busy Sardar Patel Marg, has also not seen its profit-and-loss figures change in the last 45 years -- it continues to be the country's highest-earning restaurant and its waiting period is the stuff of legends about the palms that need to be greased and strings that have to be pulled to be able to jump the queue. A friend once confessed that even a call from the PMO did not help him.

The man who conceptualised Bukhara was the brilliant Ajit Narain Haksar, who as chairman of the tobacco giant, ITC, was responsible for its diversification into hotels. He was quick to figure out that none of the handful of five-star hotels operating in Delhi in those days had a restaurant that could match the popularity of Moti Mahal, where the Capital's elite went to satisfy their cravings for tandoori chicken and 'maa ki dal'.

Close to Moti Mahal, at the now-defunct hotel, The President, there was a popular haunt for kebabs called Tandoor, and The Oberoi, which was then an InterContinental hotel, had The Mughal Room, which got lost because of its location in the basement.

Haksar set his sights on Madan Lal Jaiswal of Tandoor and from the front of the house, he poached the colourful maitre d' of The Mughal Room named Todar Mal. They were joined by Imtiaz Qureshi, who later became an institution in himself and was awarded a Padma Shri (the first chef to be so honoured), and invented one of Bukhara's standouts, the Sikandari Raan. Together, they put together a menu that remains unchallenged till this day, its stars being Dal Bukhara, Barrah Kebab, Tandoori Prawns and the unique Tandoori Phool with cauliflower florets.

And if the restaurant has been able to maintain its unassailable lead, it's because of its anal obsession with consistency.

Bukhara's Executive Chef, J.P. Singh, who took over from Jaiswal after he died tragically in a road accident in 1991, told IANS that if the prawns are not within the range of 80 to 100 gms, or the chicken for the Murgh Malai Kebabs do not weigh between 60 and 70 gms apiece, the pieces are dispatched to the other restaurants of the hotel.

Even the humongous Naan Bukhara, which easily fills up half a table, has been made with one kilo and 300 gms of dough, and is heated in the tandoor for eight to ten minutes for as long as people working at the restaurant can remember. And like all else at Bukhara, both Singh, and the majority of the staff, have been constants in the restaurant.

In 'Bite the Bullet', his autobiography, Haksar, who, incidentally, was related to Indira Gandhi's powerful private secretary, P.N. Haksar, says he got the idea of people eating with their hands and wearing aprons, instead of spreading a serviette on the lap, after seeing a BBC TV series on the life of King Henry VIII. If English royalty could eat with their hands, why couldn't we, he reasoned with himself, and the practice has been in vogue since the day Bukhara opened. The practice even survived one of the early (and rare at the Maurya) European manager's attempts to do away with it!

According to Haksar, the seating (conspiracy theorists insist the design is driven by the idea of making people leave as soon as they finish eating!) and decor were inspired by a World War II film set partly in the North-West Frontier.

There was a scene in it, Haksar writes, where British officers were seen dining at a rugged local eatery. The image stayed in Haksar's mind when he was conceiving Bukhara with Rajinder Kumar, the architect who became famous after the Maurya came up.

Haksar also borrowed the idea of the glass-fronted kitchen (which was a novelty in its time) from Rama International, a hotel in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, that ITC managed for Iqbal Ghei and Pishori Lal Lamba (who became better known in Delhi for the Connaught Place restaurant, Kwality).

In fact, Kumar, the architect, had designed Rama International and therefore knew about how difficult it was to have a glass-fronted kitchen with two flaming tandoors belching out liberal quantities of smoke and emitting unwelcome smells. In his memoir, 'Borders to Boardroom', Habib Rehman, who headed the Maurya and then ITC Hotels in their formative years, talks about the challenges posed by the innovation, the biggest being insulating the glass front from the scalding heat of the tandoors.

Despite these many challenges, Haksar's vision prevailed and Bukhara continues to be run the same way as it was in 1979, barring a couple of significant changes.

Bukhara started as a 60-seater (it has 130 seats today) and its entry was through Amrapali, the coffee shop that was subsequently renamed Pavilion (and was famous in its time for its 'chaat trolley'). The strange layout had an adverse effect on the image of Amrapali, for there would always be a little crowd of Bukhara diners hanging about, awaiting their turn or even ordering starters from their favourite restaurant.

Thanks to the 1982 Asian Games, when the hotel underwent a major refurbishment, this layout was altered -- and little has changed since then. It doesn't have to, for at Bukhara, there's never a dull day, and as they say, if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Stanlow, April 4 : EET Retail, the retail division of EET Fuels, is pleased to announce the appointment of Narayan Bhatra as Chief Executive Officer.

Narayan was previously Chief Retail Officer at Nayara Energy, India's second-largest oil and gas company and that country's fastest-growing private fuel station network.

He has over three decades of experience in the energy sector including management roles with Essar and Reliance Industries across India and Africa.

EET Retail has plans to develop a significant portfolio of Essar-branded fuel retail outlets within three years as part of its vision to become the UK's "retailer of choice to consumers."

EET Retail will have a pan-UK presence and grow its network of outlets across all regions and markets, including identifying opportunities for potential acquisitions to accelerate its growth.

In the age of new mobility, EET Retail's long-term strategy includes offering a range of low-carbon, high-quality fuels including serving the needs of drivers preferring e-mobility. These fuels will be offered in an environment that has a tailored selection of customer offerings, including non-fuel options.

Narayan Bhatra commented: "I am excited to be joining EET Retail now. It has a clear and very ambitious vision for growth, as well as the potential to create a truly market-leading proposition for low carbon high quality fuels, given EET Fuels' huge investment in its decarbonisation plans at Stanlow, as well as building a world-leading hydrogen production facility."

Deepak Maheshwari, CEO of EETFuels, said: "We are embarking on this exciting journey of growth and innovation in the retail sector in the UK and are confident in Narayan's leadership. EET Retail plans to deliver best-in-class fuel outlets, creating a network of partnerships that are focused on Essar's customer-first belief. Narayan's appointment marks a significant milestone for EET, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead under his leadership."

EET Fuels forms part of EET which is committed to playing a key role in the decarbonisation of the UK economy, and has ambitious plans to build an energy transition park at its site in the North West and to become the UK's first low-carbon process refinery. This aligns with the UK Government's Ten Point Plan on the Green Industrial Revolution and with its British Energy Security Strategy.

Tony Fountain, Managing Director of EET, said: "EET Fuels is a key part of Essar Energy Transition and we are committed to maintaining a strong, secure manufacturing base for fuels in the North West and across the UK. Our approach provides our customers with the assurance of working with a partner that is committed to decarbonising our production processes, playing our part to ensure that the UK delivers on its climate change goals and enhancing energy security. I look forward to working with Narayan to share this industry-leading commitment with our retail customers."
Kolkata, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and the Left parties are 'enemies' in West Bengal, but 'friends' in Delhi.

Addressing a mega election rally at Cooch Behar in West Bengal, the Prime Minister said, "The opposition's politics is based on nothing but falsehood. In West Bengal, the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and the Left parties are fighting against each other, but in Delhi, they are sharing food from the same plate."

PM Modi also said that the latest example of the opposition's 'politics of falsehood' is related to the recent notification on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"The BJP government has brought the CAA as it gives a guarantee for citizenship to all the genuine citizens. My only appeal to the people of West Bengal is don't get scared by the falsehood propagated by the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties. You have seen the work I did in the last 10 years. So, I request you to have faith in my guarantee," the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi also said that the good work done by his government in the past 10 years was just the 'trailer'.

"A lot of things are still to be achieved for which a strong government is required at the Centre. And only the BJP can provide a strong government at the Centre. Only the BJP can elevate India as the third largest economy in the world," the Prime Minister said.

He also said that often the opposition parties claim that he does not have a family of his own.

"But today I want to tell all of you that India is my family, and each citizen of the country is my family member. That is why we have accomplished so much in the past 10 years. And we could do that because our intention was honest," the Prime Minister said.
Agartala, April 4 : A total of 18 candidates, including two women, are in the fray for Tripura's two Lok Sabha seats but the main contest is expected to be between the candidates of the ruling BJP and INDIA bloc.

In the 2019 parliamentary elections, there were 23 candidates, including three women, and the BJP's Pratima Bhowmik (Tripura West) and Rebati Tripura (Tripura East-ST) emerged as the winners. However, both of them are not contesting this time.

In the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat, which will go to the polls on April 19, nine candidates are in the fray. They include BJP nominee and former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and Congress state President Asish Kumar Saha, the consensus candidate of the INDIA bloc.

In the Tripura East constituency, where polling will be held on April 26, there are nine candidates, including two women, but the main contest will be between BJP's Kriti Devi Debbarma and CPI-Mas Rajendra Reang, who is the nominee of the INDIA bloc.

Most of the 18 candidates, including those of BJP and INDIA bloc, are contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time.

There was a controversy when the BJP nominated Debbarma as its contender for the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat. A resident of Chhattisgarh, she is the elder sister of Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo and royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma. Her nomination came after the TMP signed a tripartite agreement with the Union Home Ministry and the Tripura government in March for the development of the tribals and the party joined the BJP-led government on March 7.

Amidst the controversy, the Chief Minister and senior BJP leaders defended her candidature, asserting that her roots in Tripura as she is from the erstwhile royal family and daughter of Maharaj Kirit Bikram Debbarma.
Rajkot, April 4 : Gujarat's political landscape is tense following Union Minister, Parshottam Rupala's contentious comments about the Kshatriya community that have sparked controversy and even led to threats of self-immolation.

Amid the uproar, Gujarat BJP's organisational chief Ratnakar, Parshottam Rupala and Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi held an hour-long discussion to address the fallout, party members said.

Sources shared that Parshottam Rupala, undeterred by the controversy, proceeded to Rajkot to continue his campaign.

Meanwhile, Padminiba Vala, a Rajput woman leader, initiated an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday, demanding Parshottam Rupala's withdrawal as the BJP's Rajkot Lok Sabha seat candidate.

To make matters worse for the BJP leader, Rajput women have threatened self-immolation if their demands were not met.

Rajput community leaders, dissatisfied with the apologies, have threatened to field independent candidates and initiate a nationwide protest against the BJP if Parshottam Rupala remains the party's candidate.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday attacked the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu over the Katchatheevu issue.

"DMK has double standards over the Katchatheevu issue. While they opposed it inside the parliament, outside they silently supported it," EAM Jaisankar said while talking to media persons as he accompanied his cabinet colleague Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, to file his nomination papers.

The Katchatheevu issue surfaced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accused Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of handing over the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974.

He showered praise on the last-decade rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that PM Modi's rule has lifted the country's position and due to the stand India took on various global issues has taken the country to a new high.

"The BJP and PM Modi are going forward with a vision for the next quarter of a century," he said.

On Friday, he will campaign for his cabinet colleague and party candidate- V. Muraleedharan at the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency in the state capital district.
New Delhi, April 4 : Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department presents 'The Ten Perfections - Qing Imperial Ceramics from the Wang Xing Lou Collection', a dedicated, single-owner sale to be held on 30 May 2024, featuring 10 exceptional pieces of museum-quality porcelain from the most prominent reigns of the Qing Dynasty. The total pre-sale low estimate exceeds US$10 million.

The Master of Wang Xing Lou has demonstrated remarkable foresight in collecting imperial ceramics since the 1980s, concentrating on pieces made during the early Qing dynasty. The 10 bright, jewel-like masterpieces to be offered this season were produced during the reigns of Yongzheng (r. 1723-1735) and Qianlong (r. 1736-1795), essentially spanning just over 70 years of imperial ceramic production. The Collector and Christie's have meticulously selected prized pieces from these two periods for their exquisite artistic quality and pristine condition. This specially curated group stands out for their display of brilliant technical skills and upholding the classic tradition of Chinese ceramics production, demonstrating the innovative motifs and techniques popular at the time.

Marco Almeida, Head of Department, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Christie's Asia Pacific commented: "It is with great pleasure that for a second time, Christie's has the honour of presenting highlights from the remarkable Wang Xing Lou Collection. At Christie's, we pride ourselves on the enduring and trusted relationships we have cultivated with collectors worldwide, a testament to our expertise and professionalism in managing such significant works of art. These exceptional artworks from the Wang Xing Lou Collection exemplify the tradition of Chinese Porcelain as seen through the eyes of the Qing emperors. This May, we are delighted to invite esteemed collectors and connoisseurs to Christie's Hong Kong to witness the beauty and historical importance of these masterpieces at our final sale season at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, preceding the exciting transition to our new Asia Pacific headquarters at The Henderson."

This fine and rare meiping is a celebration of the traditional Chinese belief that at the Spring Equinox, the dragon awakens from its winter slumber amongst the waves to summon rain for the crops, a vital element for a prosperous harvest and the community's welfare. The motif of white dragons amid underglaze-copper red turbulent waves, present since the Yuan dynasty, evidently inspired the Yongzheng-era ateliers.

This very rare Yongzheng meiping vase features finely 'pencilled' painting of turbulent waves, exemplifying a masterful command of the brush executed in underglaze-copper-red, whilst the dragon is reserved in white and delicately carved in fine details to portray a lively, powerful, and upright dragon. Achieving such precise, fine lines is a formidable challenge, and this vase bears witness to the extraordinary talent of the imperial ceramic artists working under imperial command of the emperor during the Yongzheng period.

The distinguished provenance of this meiping includes its exhibition at The American Art Galleries in New York in 1886, as part of the art collection formed by the late Mrs. Mary J. Morgan, who was a cousin by marriage to J. P. Morgan (1837-1913), one of the greatest collectors of the early 20th century. After its last appearance at auction in 1996, this vase, along with the entire Wang Xing Lou Collection, was on loan to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 2003 to 2020.

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in
How will democracy survive in absence of autonomous Election Commission, asks Surjewala (IANS Interview). Image Source: IANS News

Chandigarh, April 4 : Haryana Women's Commission on Thursday summoned Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala over his controversial remarks against BJP's MP Hema Malini.

Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports, commission chairperson Renu Bhatia said Surjewala has been asked to present himself before the panel on April 9 and give a clarification. She said his indecent remarks hurt the dignity of a woman.

The commission's action comes in the wake of Surjewala's "vile and sexist" remarks against Malini a day earlier.

BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya shared a video in which Surjewala could be heard making the comment against Malini.

"Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general."

Clarifying on his remark, Surjewala said the BJP's IT Cell has developed a habit of distorting facts and spreading lies. He clarified that he neither intended to insult Hema Malini nor hurt anyone.

In a post on X, he said, "Listen to the full video -- I said, 'we also respect Hema Malini a lot because she is married to Dharmendra ji and is our (bahu) daughter-in-law."

"My statement was only that in public life, everyone should be accountable to the people, be it (Haryana CM) Nayab Saini-ji, or (former CM) Khattar-ji, or myself," he added.

Senior Punjab BJP leader Jai Inder Kaur condemned the "sexist" remark, saying, "This clearly shows the regressive thinking of the Indian National Congress and its leaders."

She further said: "The sexist comment made by Surjewala is very demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, but for women in general. The public will surely teach them a lesson in the upcoming elections. This statement has pained and hurt the sentiments of all of the women across the nation."
Chandigarh, April 4 : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Majithia on Thursday condemned the decision to abolish the 60:40 ratio vis-a-vis recruitment of senior medical officers in the Chandigarh Health Department by the Central government.

Reacting to a notice by the Health Department in which the recruitment rules have been changed, Majithia said, "The UT administration has taken upon itself to change the rules for recruitment to deny deputation rights to Punjab government officers in the union territory."

Terming this decision as discriminatory, Majithia said Chandigarh was carved out from villages of Punjab. Moreover, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a memorandum on November 4, 1966, that all posts in the UT be filled as per 60:40 ratios between Punjab and Haryana respectively.

He said this was done so that the status of Chandigarh as the prospective capital of Punjab was not disturbed keeping in mind that the current administrative arrangements were only of a temporary nature till the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab actually materialised.

Terming the entire move as a deliberate attempt to weaken Punjab's inalienable right over Chandigarh, Majitha said: "Earlier also an AGMUT cadre was created to transfer all IAS and police officers from the Union territories of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli."

He said now this move had been extended to the Health Department with recruitment rules changed for the recruitment of senior doctors, including the Principal Medical Officer, Medical Superintendent, Senior Medical Officer, District Family Welfare Officer, Dental Surgeon, Planning Officer and Nursing Superintendent.
Lucknow, April 4 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has asked the health department to gear up for the prevention and management of heat-related diseases in the state during summer.

Parth Sarthi Sen Sharma, the Principal Secretary of the Health Department, has issued guidelines to all District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers.

These guidelines outline the activities to be conducted by the Health Department with inter-departmental coordination. Moreover, they offer guidance on the dos and don'ts to be followed during extreme heat waves.

It may be recalled that various central institutions have expressed the possibility of temperatures being above normal in most parts of the country, including Uttar Pradesh this year. In many parts of the country, the monthly minimum temperatures during this period are also expected to be higher than usual.

Moreover, there is a higher likelihood of heatwaves prevailing in the central and northwestern regions of the country from March to May 2024.

In view of the growing concern over rising temperatures, the Health Department will have inter-departmental coordination to organise an array of events in order to raise awareness about heat-related diseases as well as its prevention and management.

The department will also make arrangements for cool and clean drinking water in crowded places and provide shelters for heat protection.

Besides, weather forecasts and temperatures will be displayed on screens installed at crowded locations, while awareness sessions will be held on protection from heatwave in schools.

As per the guidelines, the Health Department will prioritise the training and awareness of medical officers, paramedical staff, and frontline workers, ensuring they are equipped with the skills to promptly identify and treat these diseases. Additionally, sufficient availability of essential medications, intravenous fluids, ice packs, oral rehydration salts, and other necessary supplies will be ensured.

Furthermore, the availability and functionality of necessary equipment will be ensured. According to the guidelines, medical units should have a sufficient supply of clean drinking water and continuous operation of cooling equipment to cope with extreme temperatures.

The government will also ensure uninterrupted electricity supply, install solar panels where possible and take energy conservation measures. Efforts will be made to lower indoor temperatures by implementing techniques such as cool or green roofing. Additionally, measures like installing shades on windows and open areas will also be taken.
Chennai, April 4 : Tamil Nadu BJP co-incharge P. Sudhakar Reddy on Wednesday said that Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and the Congress have not responded to the allegation by the INDIA alliance partner, Vaiko of MDMK, over his statement on Katchatheevu issue.

The senior BJP leader was responding to the statement of Vaiko that the Congress had betrayed Tamil Nadu time and again.

Sudhakar Reddy said that except for a few reactions like abaselessa, and aallegationsa, there has not been any concrete response from the INDIA alliance partners on Vaikoas allegation.

Reddy said that Vaiko is a member of the INDIA alliance, adding that the alliance has no policy, no commitment and that they were moving in different directions which was clear by the allegation of Vaiko.

He said that the people of Tamil Nadu have seen through the INDIA alliance and would vote for the BJP and the NDA with a thumping majority.

Reddy said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done several things for the fishermen community of Tamil Nadu, adding that fishermen in the custody of Sri Lanka were released by the efforts of the Prime Minister.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided crores of rupees for the all-round development of Tamil Nadu including for the benefit of fishermen.
Guwahati, April 4 : Assam Congress President Bhupen Borah has filed a Rs. 10 crore defamation suit against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday.

The case was filed before a session judge in Kamrup Metro district.

According to the complaint, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma has made several offensive and damaging remarks against Assam Congress President Bhupen Borah at various times.

Borah has strongly objected to Sarma's repeated claims that the Congress leader would join the BJP in 2025.

Earlier, the Chief Minister said: "The Congress party in Assam does things after taking my advice. Barring one or two leaders who belong to blue blood families, the rest of the leaders will eventually align themselves with the development politics."

He has also announced that the Congress President in Assam, Bhupen Borah would join the BJP next year.

"Bhupen Borah will join either in January or February of 2025. I have also selected two seats for him to fight the assembly polls," Sarma said.
Mumbai, April 4 : A day after the Supreme Court asked the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to display bigger disclaimers in its advertisements stating that allocation of the 'clock' symbol is sub-judice before the top court, the party on Thursday decided to strictly adhere to the apex court's directives to avoid any further legal battle.

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) A day after the Supreme Court asked the Ajit Pawar-led NCP to display bigger disclaimers in its advertisements stating that allocation of the 'clock' symbol is sub-judice before the top court, the party on Thursday decided to strictly adhere to the apex courtas directives to avoid any further legal battle.

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, and the party's state unit chief, Sunil Tatkare, held a meeting on Thursday where they asked the party workers up to the district level to display bigger disclaimers in all its advertisements, templates, pamphlets, and banners on the 'clock' symbol to avoid contempt of court.

The apex court had asked the Ajit Pawar faction to mention in every advertisement that the party was allowed to use the symbol subject to the apex court's final take on the matter.

A senior NCP functionary said, "The party will take necessary care to ensure that bigger disclaimers are displayed on all advertisements and poll-related materials. The city and district units have been asked to strictly adhere to the apex courtas order. Besides, they will also be told not to use Sharad Pawaras photos on the advertisements and banners."
Kolkata, April 4 : West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Thursday recommended the removal of state Education Minister Bratya Basu from his chair with immediate effect over charges of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation.

According to sources in the Raj Bhavan, the Governor has taken note of Basu's presence at a convention of Trinamool Congress at the Gour Banga University in North Bengal on March 30, which amounted to a violation of the MCC.

On March 30, a convention of the Trinamool-affiliated West Bengal College & University Professors' Association (WBCUPA) was held at the Gour Banga University where Education Minister Basu, who is also the WBCUPA President, was present.

However, this action of Basu was considered a violation of the MCC by the Governor's office, which has now recommended his immediate removal from the Education Minister's chair.

Reacting to the development, Basu called the Governor's recommendation 'hilarious', stating that had he violated the MCC, the matter should have been brought to the notice of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

"It is the prerogative of any political party to bring any such matter to the notice of the ECI, which can take appropriate action. By raising such an accusation, the Governor has misused his Constitutional post and showed his political identity," Basu said.

He also claimed that as per the provisions of the Constitution, the authority for appointing or recommending the removal of any member of the state Cabinet rests with the Chief Minister.

"He (the Governor) has not only shown his true colours, but has also exceeded his Constitutional limit," Basu said.
New Delhi, April 4 : The Indian government got 'individuals' killed in Pakistan as part of Delhi's larger strategy to eliminate wanted terrorists living on foreign soil, 'The Guardian', a renowned global newspaper, claimed in a report on Thursday quoting some "intelligence operatives of India and Pakistan".

New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) The Indian government got 'individuals' killed in Pakistan as part of Delhi's larger strategy to eliminate wanted terrorists living on foreign soil, 'The Guardian', a renowned global newspaper, claimed in a report on Thursday quoting some "intelligence operatives of India and Pakistan".

The London-based daily claims to have some documents that "shed light on how India's foreign intelligence agency allegedly carried out operations to eliminate the individuals abroad".

The report says that India carried out these operations "as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019".

The report comes amid allegations that India is targeting individuals whom it considers hostile to it.

According to the report, the fresh claims relate to almost 20 killings since 2020 which have been carried out by unknown gunmen in Pakistan.

'The Guardian' report says, "While India has previously been unofficially linked to the deaths, this is the first time Indian intelligence personnel have discussed the alleged operations in Pakistan, and detailed documentation has been seen alleging R&AW's direct involvement in the assassinations".

The fresh allegations refer to those charged with violent terror offences.

When Muhammad Riaz and Shahid Latif were gunned down in 2023 on Pakistan soil, Islamabad had accused India's intelligence agency of being behind the killings.

New Delhi was then quick to dismiss the allegations, calling them "malicious anti-India propaganda".

Referring to the details shared by the Pakistani investigators, the London-based newspaper said that "these deaths were orchestrated by Indian intelligence sleeper cells, mostly operating out of the United Arab Emirates".

"The rise in killings in 2023 was credited to the increased activity of these cells, which are accused of paying millions of rupees to local criminals or poor Pakistanis to carry out the assassinations."

According to the report, "Indian agents also allegedly recruited jihadists to carry out the shootings."

Similarly, the report says quoting two Indian intelligence officers that the spy agency's action was triggered by the Pulwama attack in 2019, which was perpetrated by the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The report also says that "after Pulwama, the approach changed to target the elements outside the country before they are able to launch an attack or create any disturbance".

Quoting one Indian intelligence operative, the report says, "We could not stop the attacks because ultimately their safe havens were in Pakistan, so we had to get to the source."

The Guardian also says that in response to its queries, the Ministry of External Affairs denied all the allegations, reiterating an earlier statement that they were "false and malicious anti-India propaganda".

The ministry emphasised a previous denial made by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar that targeted killings in other countries were "not the government of India's policy".

According to the report, an R&AW handler allegedly paid for information on Zahid Akhund, an alias for the convicted Kashmiri terrorist Zahoor Mistry who was involved in the hijacking of an Air India flight.

"Millions of rupees were then allegedly paid to Afghan nationals to carry out the shooting in Karachi in March 2022. They fled over the border but their handlers were later arrested by Pakistani security agencies," says the report.

Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Shahid Latif was killed on Pakistan soil.

The report says that Pakistani investigators found that the man had allegedly been paid 1.5 million Pakistani rupees (4,000) by an undercover Indian agent to track down Latif and later was promised 15 million Pakistani rupees and his own catering company in the UAE if he carried out the killing.

The young man shot Latif dead at a mosque in Sialkot, but was arrested soon after, along with his accomplices, says the report.

The killings of Bashir Ahmad Peer, commander of the militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, and Saleem Rehmani, who was on India's most-wanted list, were also allegedly planned out of the UAE, with transaction receipts from Dubai appearing to show payments of millions of rupees to the killers, says the report.
New Delhi, April 4 : The Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, has written to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla alleging that there have been concerted attempts by the Delhi government at misleading the courts with an apparent aim of influencing the justice delivery system by way of filing motivated and premeditated petitions and trying to secure an endorsement of the same from the courts by presenting patently false affidavits.

The letter also stated that it is pertinent to underscore here that in various matters in different courts, 'GNCTD vs Lt. Governor' has become the prevalent norm, rather than an exception.

"The attempts obviously are, apart from misleading the Hon'ble courts, meant to create a false media narrative which maligns the constitutional office of the L-G in the public domain.

"In a matter relating to the upgradation of infrastructure in the Delhi High Court and the subordinate judiciary in the city, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the GNCTD over lack of infrastructure for the judiciary and the inordinate delay in granting funds for infrastructure projects approved by the Delhi High Court.

"Projects pertaining to various district courts had been pending even after due approval of the Delhi High Court from 2019," the letter read.

It also pointed to an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court concerning the excise policy, highlighting the delay in submitting a report due to misrepresentation by the government counsel.

"The Lieutenant Governor disclosed full facts to the court, clarifying the delay was GNCTD's responsibility. Action was also advised against the counsel for misleading the court, constituting perjury and contempt," the letter said.

It further drew attention towards a writ petition filed by the Delhi government for re-operationalisation of the 'Farishtey' scheme, releasing pending hospital bills, and making timely payments to private hospitals.

"The same was played up in the media, apparently at the government's behest, as a supposed legal tussle where the government counsel attributed the stoppage of the 'Farishtey' scheme to the L-G before the Supreme Court, which subsequently issued a notice to the L-G office," it read.

It was further claimed that the total number of beneficiaries under the 'Farishtey' scheme during FY 2022-23 was 3,698 and the same stood at about 3,900 in 10 months, till mid-February of FY 2023-24.

"The payments made to private hospitals for the same in FY 2022-23 stood at Rs 4.85 crore and the same till February 12 this year stood at Rs 4.99 crore. These figures prima facie neither indicate a 'halt' in the scheme, nor do they support allegations of 'non-payment' made by the Minister and endorsed by the Chief Minister. In fact, they refute the claims," it stated.

"While many similar cases are going on in different courts, it is pertinent to highlight such misleading measures undertaken by the GNCTD, apart from spending crores of rupees from the public exchequer on scurrilous litigation and wasting several precious manhours of public officials.

"This communication is meant to keep the Home Ministry apprised of the developments in Delhi with regard to avoidable litigations in various courts by the GNCTD," the letter added.
Vijayapura, : , April 4 (IANS) The survival of 2-year-old Satwik Mujagonda, who fell into an open bore well in Karnataka's Vijayapura, is miraculous and a challenge to the medical field, as the toddler has survived an almost 20-hour ordeal without any health complications, a doctor said on Thursday.

Dr Archana Kulkarni, the Medical Officer at the Indi Government Hospital, told the media that Satwik is absolutely fine.

As he fell into the open bore well head downward, he was sent for a CT scan to the Vijayapura District Hospital.

"This is a miracle and a challenge to the medical world. He has miraculously survived the tragedy. The survival of the 2-year-old child without food, water, air, and light in the darkness 20 feet down in a narrow hole is a wonder," Dr Kulkarni opined.

She said that the child had sustained no injuries and his pulse rate, oxygen levels, and all other vitals were normal.

Though the narrow pipe inside the open borewell hole did not allow the slightest movement for the child for about 20 hours, he is not even showing symptoms of fatigue or the slightest of sickness after the ordeal, the doctor added.

Meanwhile, top leaders cheered for the successful rescue operation and congratulated the National Disaster Response Team (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Team (SDRF), district authorities, police and locals who made it possible.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: "The day and night work of authorities and the public who slogged to rescue the child is commendable. The prayers of crores of people, and his family have resulted in success. The child joining his parents after winning over death is a moment to cherish. I am happy. Despite repeated tragedies, people are showing negligence in closing open bore wells after drilling."

JD-S state President and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said that Satwik had won over death and came back to his parents.

"Let him recover soon. The most challenging rescue mission has been successful and it is a matter of extreme joy. The whole state is indebted to the efforts of the NDRF, SDRF, Fire Force and Emergency Services staff and police," he added.

BJP leader and former CM Basavaraj Bommai has stated the prayers of crores of people have yielded results after the 2-year-old boy came out alive.

"My heartfelt congratulations to the staff members who carried out a 20-hour-long rescue operation. It is our duty to ensure that these mishaps wonat be repeated," he said.

Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil, who is also the District Minister for Vijayapura, appreciated the efforts of teams involved in the successful rescue of the two-year-old child who fell into the borewell at Lachchana village in the district.

Expressing his happiness at the child alive, he hailed the efforts of the NDRF, the SDRF team, Fire personnel, and police who carried out an operation for about 20 hours. He also thanked local people for extending support to the operation and the district administration for coordinating the overall process.

After coming to know about the incident on Wednesday evening, the minister instructed the district administration to immediately commence rescue operations. He was in continuous contact with the district administration until the completion of the operation on Thursday afternoon.

The Minister has directed the district administration to conduct a survey in the district to identify any bore wells which are left open. Noting that there is already a provision in the law allowing stringent action against those who leave bore wells open, he said that legal steps will be initiated against those who have not taken care to close bore wells.

Satwik fell into a newly drilled, 400-foot deep, open bore well while playing in a field on Wednesday evening. According to the police, the bore well was drilled on Tuesday in the agricultural land of his parents to provide water for sugarcane and lemon crops but its opening remained unclosed. While playing and wandering on the land, the toddler fell into the borewell around 6 p.m. and the boy was stuck at a 20-foot level.
Kolkata, April 4 : Security arrangements, including the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal will be made based on the booth-wise and area-wise records of poll violence witnessed during the panchayat elections held in the state last year.

Sources in the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that the special observer appointed for West Bengal by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the Lok Sabha polls has sought details of the events of violence recorded during the panchayat polls last year.

"All the district magistrates have been asked to send reports on this count from their respective districts at the earliest so that the inputs can be used before deploying security forces for the Lok Sabha elections starting April 19," said the sources.

It is also learnt that the ECI's special observer has stressed for a blanket security cover at the international and inter-state borders in West Bengal.

"The Commission has also ordered thorough checking of the vehicles entering West Bengal through these borders," the sources said.
Gurugram, April 4 : The police on Thursday claimed to have busted an international kidney transplant racket in Gurugram's Sector 39 area and detained at least 4 Bangladeshi nationals who came to India to donate and receive a kidney.

The action came after a team of CM Flying Squad received information and raided Hotel Babel Palace on Thursday, here in Sector-39, along with a team from Health Department and Sadar Police Station.

The police have so far registered an FIR under the relevant sections of the IPC and Transplantation of Human Organs Act against Fortis Hospital Jaipur, and the middleman Murtaza Ansari, a native of Jharkhand, who is yet to be arrested, police said.

Sources said the police will send notice to Fortis Hospital Jaipur for further information.

An official of the CM Flying Wing requesting anonymity told IANS they received information suggesting an illegal kidney transplant racket was being run at the hotel and when they raided the place, they found 3 to 4 Bangladeshi nationals who were illegally staying in India without legal documents.

"During the raid, we learnt that Shamim, a donor, Asmaul Noorul and Ahsanul Kabir, the receivers, and one Mehndi Mazoon had returned to Bangladesh after kidney transplantation," he said.

The Bangladeshi national told the raiding team they had contacted Murtaza Ansari, the alleged middleman through an online advertisement about kidney transplantation, who arranged their documents to come to India.

Thereafter, Shamin and Mazoon were referred for kidney transplant surgery in Fortis Jaipur.

Shamim told the police he received 2 lakh Bangladeshi Taka in return for his kidney and was receiving care in the Gurugram hotel.

The receiver had paid Rs 10 lakh for the kidney.

The two other Bangladeshis were donor and receiver, police said.

Sadar Police Station SHO Arjun Dev said: "They received information regarding an illegal kidney transplant racket and raided the spot. We have detained a few people from the spot and necessary formalities are underway."
New Delhi, April 4 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed satisfaction at the decision of the Delhi Health Minister and Health Secretary to adopt the Central government statute, The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, to regulate clinical facilities across the national capital.

The high court had issued a stern warning to Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and Health Secretary S.B. Deepak Kumar last time, threatening jail if they fail to comply with court orders aimed at shutting down unauthorised pathology labs in the national capital.

The Delhi government on Thursday informed that both the Health Minister and the Health and Family Welfare Secretary have agreed to advance the Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill to the Centre for requisite approval.

Meanwhile, to ensure immediate regulation, the Central government statute will be enforced in Delhi.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmohan P.S. Arora commended this development, stating, "This court is happy to note that after the last hearing, the Delhi Health Minister and the Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) have agreed..."

Acknowledging the authorities' commitment, the bench disposed of the 2018 petition by Bejon Kumar Misra, alleging the operation of unauthorised laboratories and diagnostic centres by unqualified technicians in Delhi.

Earlier, taking a stern stance on the delay in enacting legislation to regulate clinical establishments, including laboratories, within the national capital, the court had asked the Minister and Secretary to appear personally before the court.

The bench had expressed frustration with the apparent power struggle between the Minister and the Health Secretary, saying that their disagreements should not hinder the execution of court directives.

The court's last directive came in response to an email indicating that the Health Minister was not adequately informed during discussions concerning the Delhi Health Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2022, also known as the Delhi Health Bill.

The bench had expressed dismay over the prolonged delay, remarking: "We can only say it is a sorry state of affairs. This has been pending for the last five years."

The court had directed the Delhi government to expedite the process of finalising the bill, or alternatively, consider implementing the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.

The Delhi government, in response, had assured the court of its proactive efforts to draft and enact a law to regulate clinical establishments, stressing the necessity to safeguard patient and healthcare provider interests.

However, Misra's counsel had argued that the absence of regulation poses a significant threat to citizens' lives, with an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 illegal pathological and diagnostic labs operating in the city.

The bench had said that the ongoing dispute between Bhardwaj and Deepak Kumar could not be an excuse for non-compliance with its orders, warning that it would not hesitate to jail them if their inaction continued to harm the public interest.

As the Minister argued that the Delhi Health Bill had been finalised and sought the court's assistance in navigating political obstacles to its enactment, the acting Chief Justice had dismissed the notion of the court being used as a pawn in political games, stressing the urgent need for interim measures to prevent the public from receiving inaccurate medical reports.

The court had ordered the Minister and the Secretary to collaborate closely to address the issues raised by the petitioner and to establish a fair and effective regulatory system for pathology labs as soon as possible.
Kohima, April 4 : Ahead of every election in Nagaland, the Naga political issue becomes a key topic dominating the election campaign, but this time before the parliamentary polls, the statehood issue has turned out to be the main agenda in the state.

The Eastern Nagaland Peopleas Organisation (ENPO), which has been demanding a separate administration or state comprising six backward Nagaland districts since 2010, remains firm on boycotting the April 19 elections to the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state unless their demands are met, despite the appeals from the state government and various other parties.

The ENPO, and its seven sister organisations, told the Election Commission that they have resolved that unless the separate state demand was met by the Centre, they would not participate in any Lok Sabha or state elections.

Given the ENPOas agitation and call to boycott the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Thursday held a meeting with officials of the eastern Nagaland region.

The ENPO, agitating in support of its demand since March 8, has imposed a "public emergency", and its sister organisations are not allowing any election campaign in the six districts bordering Myanmar.

Of Nagalandas 16 districts, seven backward tribes -- Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Tikhir, Sangtam, and Yimkhiung are living in these six eastern districts -- Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator, and Tuensang.

The six districts account for 20 of the stateas 60 Assembly seats. The demand for a new state is due to the development deficit, and its creation will ensure development, the ENPO claimed.

"If the six most backward districts upgraded as a separate state, it would ensure development of the region. Among the Nagas, we have two groups -- one backward Naga and another advanced," said C.L John, an MLA from eastern Nagaland. He said their demand for a separate state is for the all-round development and welfare of the Nagas living in the eastern part of the state.

The eastern Nagaland region was included under the North East Frontier Agency, set up in the British era. The region merged with the Naga Hills District of Assam in 1957 and was administered by the Governor of Assam on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The region became a part of Nagaland in 1963 when it became a full-fledged state.

After boycotting the 10-day long 23rd edition of the famous aHornbill Festivala in December 2022, the ENPO, the apex Naga body, and its associated organisations, in support of its separate state demand, gave a call to boycott last yearas Assembly polls (February 27) but later withdrew it following an assurance from Union Home Minister Shah.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), responding to the ENPOas demand, last year formed a three-member committee, headed by Adviser, Northeast, A.K. Mishra to study their demand, and the panel visited Nagaland several times and talked with all stakeholders.

Chief Minister Rio, who is sympathetic towards the demand of the ENPO, recently said that the state government has already recommended, to the Centre, that an autonomous region be set up for the people belonging to the eastern region.

On March 28, a closed-door meeting was held between the Eastern Nagaland Legislative Union (ENLU), a body of 20 MLAs representing the six backward districts and ENPO. But after the crucial nine-hour-long meeting, the ENPO leaders reiterated their call to boycott the April 19 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP, a part of the United Democratic Alliance government in Nagaland, has urged the ENPO to hold dialogue with the government to resolve their demand for a separate state.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
Bhubaneswar, April 5 : With the declaration of candidates for the simultaneous elections to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha, Odisha's three major political parties, the ruling Biju Janata Dal, the Congress, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been facing a tough task to quell the rebellion by leaders denied tickets.

Disappointed aspirants are either jumping to other parties or announcing to contest as independent candidates in their respective constituencies. Similarly, many aspirants, along with their supporters, have been protesting at the party headquarters demanding reconsideration of the decision.

Talking to media persons, senior BJD leader Padmanabh Behera said: "There have always been rebels in politics. This time, the number of rebels is a bit more in number."

He said that BJD has the expertise in winning elections by successfully dealing with such rebellions.

Several leaders tendered their resignations from the party within hours of it declaring its candidates list on Wednesday.

MLA Parshuram Dhada and former Phubani MLA Debendra Kanhar were among those who quit soon after Chief Minister and party President Naveen Patnaik announced the second list of candidates for Assembly seats.

Similarly, two more senior leaders from Berhampur - Rama Chandra Panda and T. Gopi - resigned from the party on Thursday.

"I was a ticket aspirant for the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 but the party fielded Chandrashekar Sahu who joined the BJD after leaving the Congress. Though I have been keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls, I was again denied a ticket this time despite serving the party over the years. The party has only given assurances to me every time," said Panda, a former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

Heavyweight and Bhadrak constituency aspirant, Asit Patnaik and senior Jagatsinghpur leader Amarendra Das have also quit.

Similarly, the BJP has been seeing severe protests by some leaders denied tickets.

Overlooked aspirants held meetings with their supporters at many places in the state and decided to oppose the candidates announced by the party in their respective areas. Ex-MLA and senior leader Debaraj Mohanty has resigned from the party after being denied a ticket to contest elections from the Aska constituency in Ganjam district, and so did Sonali Sahu following her displeasure over ticket allotment. Soon, she rejoined the Congress.

A continuous exodus of leaders has turned into the biggest headache for the Congress even before the announcement of the candidates' list for a majority of seats in the state.

Many senior leaders, including sitting MLAs, have resigned from the party and many of them have joined the ruling BJD. They include sitting MLA Adhiraj Panigrahi, ex-MLA Chiranjib Biswal, ex-minister Ganeswar Behera, and ex-MP Surendra Singh Bhoi.
Washington, April 5 : US President Joe Biden on Thursday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America's support of Israel's war in Gaza would be determined by the latter announcing and implementing a "series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers".

The US President also called for an "immediate ceasefire" to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation there.

The two leaders spoke on the phone amidst growing outrage around the world over the killing of six aid workers of Spanish American chef and restaurateur Jose Andres's World Central Kitchen.

"President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable," said the White House in a readout of the phone call. "He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers," it added.

He went on to warn Netanyahu that the US policy with respect to Gaza "will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps".

The American leader also underscored that an "immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home".

Relations between the US and Israel, strong allies in the best and worst of times, have plunged as Israel under Netanyahu is seen to be conducting the war in complete disregard to US' concerns.

Biden is facing mounting pressure at home to use US clout to rein in Israel and in an election year the President can barely afford to lose support, especially in key swing states such as Michigan.

In a tense 30-minute call, the US President went further than ever before in pressing Israel to change its conduct of the war in Gaza.

Asked about what specific changes were demanded by the US, John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters, "What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side and, you know, if we don't see changes from their side there will have to be changes from our side." But he did not specify them.
Clarion Partners Europe has acquired a 61,769 sqm, Grade-A logistics asset in Sury-le-Comtal on behalf of one of its co-mingled funds.

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Given the challenges public librarians have endured over the last few years, perhaps its no surprise that the 2024 Public Library Association Conference, which opened on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, would kick off with a few challenges of its own. On Tuesday evening, a Tornado warning forced the last-minute cancelation of the much-anticipated welcome reception at the Columbus Public Library. This after opening keynoter Joy Buolamwini was forced to cancel late last week due to unforeseen circumstances. But at Wednesdays well-attended opening session, Buolamwini's last-minute replacement, author and workplace civility expert Shola Richards, stepped up and delivered the talk that so many public librarians have needed to hear for so longa message of empathy, unityand unbuntu.

For people who love to worry, this is a great time to be alive, Richards, author of the bestelling Go Together :How the Concept of Ubuntu Will Change How You Live, Work, and Lead, began his talk, to laughter. The good news is, and I'm going to tell you this from the realness of my heart, the only way we're going to navigate these challenges is to come together as a united front.

He then introduced the African concept of unbuntuwhich he said translates to I am because we arealong with another African saying: If you want to fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Over the next 45 minutes, Richards told his personal story of escaping a toxic workplace and offered a roadmap for public librarianswho have been feeling the stress of their ever-expanding work long before the current surge in book banning and political attacks beganto cope with the challenges in their own workplaces.

Richards told librarians that there were three questions at the core of unbuntu that are essential to achieving a sustainable, positive balance in their work and personal lives: Is it kind? Is it true? And is it necessary? And he encouraged librarians to practice what he called tough love self care. Before we can be kind to others, we must be kind to ourselves, he emphasized.

In a moment that clearly resonated with librarians in the audience, Richards talked about the importance of boundaries. Maintain healthy boundaries, he insisted. You cannot be a functioning adult in this world if you do not have clear boundaries. Clear boundaries matter. Please stop apologizing for enforcing your boundaries. The only people who will be upset with you for enforcing your boundaries are the people who benefit from you not having those boundaries in the first place.

Addressing the question of truth, Richards said it was more about building trust, something especially important for those in leadership positions. How in the world can we expect people to do things that we are unwilling to do ourselves in the workplace, especially in libraries? We have to figure out how to model the behavior we want to see in others, he said.

Richards urged librarians to focus on creating an environment of psychological safety, which he defined as the belief that you will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas questions, concerns, or mistakes. And he urged librarians to choose curiosity over judgment.

 The only people who will be upset with you for enforcing your boundaries are the people who benefit from you not having those boundaries in the first place. 

All bad behavior is simply an unskilled expression of an unmet need, he said. He encouraged librarians to lean into that belief, and to be more curious than judgmental of people in the library behaving in a way that you do not understand.

In addressing whats necessary, Richards leaned on the words of wisdom from his late father, who, when Richards was struggling, told him to be more be like the buffalo and not the cow. When a storm approaches, the buffalo presses forward, he explained, while the cow turns and tries to outrun the storm. The net effect is that the buffalo gets through the storm faster by facing it, while the cow prolongs its time in the storm.

Is it hard to face the storm? Yes, Richards said. But you get stronger from the experience.

In her brief opening remarks, PLA president Sonia Alcantara-Antoine, director of the Baltimore County Public Library, acknowledged the difficult times librarians have faced in recent years. Richards acknowledged this point in his talk, emphasizing a major theme of the conference as necessary to meeting the challenges librarians facecommunity.

It is not going to get easier. The only thing that's going to change is your capacity to do the hard things a little bit better. And the only way to do things a little better, is to do them together, Richards offered. He closed by seeking to reorient librarians who may be feeling overwhelmed by their day-to-day struggles, whether personal or professional, internal or external, or all of the above.

You don't have to do the right thing every day, Richards said. You just have to do the right thing today.

As of Friday morning, PLA officials said attendance had surpassed 7,500, well over the 6,500 attendees expected to attend, and nearly all the way back to pre-pandemic attendance levels for the conference.
Were attempting to unravel the tangled web of literary influence by talking with the great writers of today about the writers of yesterday who influenced them. This month, we spoke with two writers whose work investigates how individuals fare when wider forces spin beyond their control. Sarah Rose Etter (Ripe, The Book of X) discusses the portentous prose of Danish poet and memoirist Tove Ditlevsen, and Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel, Sea of Tranquility) explores how the personal relates to the epic in Auschwitz victim Irene Nemirovsky's great unfinished work.

Sarah Rose Etter on Tove Ditlevson

Ditlevsen is often called the great national poet of Denmark and is well known in Europe, but you dont hear her discussed in the U.S. as much as she should be. Why is that?

I think in America we tend to play it pretty safe, and there they seem to be a little more accepting of topics that we sometimes wont touch and are allowed to explore darker, more surreal topics.

You mentioned that you love her Copenhagen Trilogy in particular. What about it?

I love that it constantly confuses people. I frequently hear people refer to it as fiction, and I think that is becauseon the line levelshe's so good that her memoir can read like fiction. The other thing I love is sad girl litclearly there's such a lineage. In the book there is this kind of specter hanging over the whole thing. At first it's the addiction, which you know is coming because of the way it was published in those three volumes, and you know the third volume is called Addiction, so you feel like youre going from innocence and straight into something difficult and horrible. It would be so much easier for it to go Childhood, Youth, Adulthood, right? Instead we go into the deepest, darkest thing.

And I think that is also what happens on the sentence level. Every sentence begins quite innocently, and then there is something looming. Each section starts with something crushing. In the morning there is hope, in the first book. It sounds so innocent because you're talking about the morning and you're talking about hope, but the fact that she's putting a time on it almost makes it fold back in on itself to mean that the optimism is crushed because it doesn't last. And then in the second section: I lasted at my first job for only a day. I love this because the idea of something lasting feels much longer than a day, so she's almost giving you hope, but then she's also folding it back in to be like, no, it's over. This to me is such a good sentence for capitalist dread. This sentence gives me so much anxiety. And then the first line for the third book: Everything in the living room is greenthe carpet, the walls, the curtainsand I am always inside it. Within the sentence it becomes just like a prison, claustrophobicshe's trapped. I read that sentence and I want to go outside immediately.

What do you think writers can take from her in terms of craft?

A clean sentence. I think it's very easy, in the rush to get a book out, to forget how much time you should spend editing. And this, when I read it, what I see in it is someone who has cut all the fat off. Theres not a single sentence where you don't feel like she's picked it up and looked at it and decided whether it was carrying its weight and whether it deserved to be there.

I think there's something so fascinating about how declarative her sentences are, like, Childhood is long and narrow, like a coffin, and you can't get out of it on your own. When I think about that sentence conceptually, it is a melodramatic goth idea, but the second half is so serious and life-threatening that the first half becomes something you have to take seriously. And that's what I love about her. She manages to pull off ideas, especially on the line level, that lesser writers would make sound really bad. If you asked any other writer to compare childhood to a coffin, it would probably come off as very corny and ridiculous. She manages to make it urgent in the moment. Right now I need someone to help me out of this coffin called childhood, because otherwise I'm not gonna get out.

Foreboding definitely seemed to be her baseline. In the Childhood section she repeatedly expressed her fear that she would die before being published and recognized.

It is crazy to me that she is writing a memoir from the point of view of her seven-year-old self. That's great. If you tried to go sell a memoir that involved you being seven, most people would be like, get out of here. I know people who will not read a memoir by anyone under the age of 35.

The added element of the war is another layer of forebodinganother system thats out of her control. There are many systems operating that are out of her control, and she's trying to grasp for how she fits into them as a human.

Emily St. John Mandel on Irene Nemirovsky

Did you ever notice how Nemirovsky mentions Tolstoy and Proust very early in her best-known work Suite Francaise? It seems clear that she had that scale of grand vision for the book, which she of course never had the chance to finish. And the writing is on that level.

Im obsessed with that book. It was going to be a thousand-page book. Five sections. She wrote the first two, and it was never finished because she's arrested in July 1942 and dies at Auschwitz. And it feels to me like kind of a miracle of a book in a way, written in pencil and a notebookhow is that not like a seventeenth draft? And yet it somehow works and feels perfect and complete, even though there were all these other sections planned. I don't know how she pulled that off. A kind of clarity and lucidity in the prose style and exquisite character development, and at the same time this sense of history unfolding and these massive forces and a sense of action, which I think is incredibly difficult to pull off. Its such an impressive and admirable combination.

I feel like that's kind of the book I'm always working toward. Maybe all novelists have that. It's like this Holy Grail of a book that you're aiming your books toward like arrows. That's what that book is for me.

As you said, the precision of her writingespecially when you know she never had the chance to edit itis mind-blowing. A chapter that begins with a cat ends with a cat, and so on.

For me, anything that clever is like in draft number eighteen. Although I wondermaybe there is something about not having the luxury to revise that forces a kind of discipline? I wonder about that with that book. You probably know the story behind it, which is pretty incredible.

So in 1942, Irene Nemirovsky is living in France. She was born Jewish in Russia, but her family fled during the Bolshevik Revolution, and she and her husband had converted to Catholicism. She wrote for far-right magazines and newspapers, which is kind of creepy and fascinating, and did not consider herself Jewishbut the Nazis did.

In 1942, in the summer, she was living in a town in France with her husband and two childrenher daughters were thirteen and fiveand they would see her writing in this notebook in this minuscule handwriting. In July of that year she's arrested and never returns home. Her husband was arrested. A few months later they both died in the concentration camps. The girls were left in the care of a governess, who by all accounts kind of heroically kept them moving around France ahead of the authorities.

In the late nineties, one of her daughters decided that it was finally time to take a look in Mom's notebook. They'd assumed that it was a wartime diary and found the thought of reading it incredibly painful, but they decided they finally had to take a look, so they got a magnifying glassthe writing was that smalland it wasn't a diary. It was Suite Francaise, this incredible novel. I find the story behind it almost as haunting as the book itself.

It's very different from the novels that made her famous during her life, and its stood the test of time better. Why do you think that is?

There's something about stories that combine vastly different scales. On the one hand, it's intensely personalindividuals fleeing Paris, obsessing over their porcelain collections and really small, human, often quite petty things. But on the other hand, there's this incredible sweep of history kind of happening behind it. There's that combination of intimate, minuscule, human scale against this massive scale of the entire world changing. Those are the stories that I find consistently really grab my attention and stay with me.

What do you think writers should learn from that?

She wrote something in her notes for Suite Francaise to the effect of focusing on the personal and bringing personal lives and individual characters and concerns to the forefront, and keeping the kind of sweeping backdrop of drama and history and war in the background. I suppose one could argue that minimizes the backdropthe war and the history and the drama. I think it actually does the opposite. I think it makes it real. Its something about focusing on people in order to bring home the scale and mistakes and importance of vast events. As people, we're ultimately drawn to stories about peopleI know I am. The end of the world is not interesting in and of itself. People at the end of the world are interesting.

These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity.

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Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is a professor at Columbia University, where she leads the International Interfaith Research Lab. She is the author of the YA memoir The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival. Her new nonfiction book, Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of War, is a story of the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide.

On a sunny summer day in June 1992, a bomb ripped through the blue sky and killed four of my friends who were playing in the neighborhood. Their crime? Being Muslim. I was guilty of that same innocent crime and for the next four years of the Bosnian Genocide I starved, dodged missiles on the way to school, and learned that my name was on a list of girls to be sent to a rape camp.

While genocides through history may target different groups and be of different scales, they all have in common a defining trait: the intent to destroy a group, in part or in whole. During the Bosnian Genocide, I lived under a military siege and constant bombing for nearly 1,200 days, cut off from access to food, electricity, and the rest of the world. On a good day, a friend of a friend was killed. On a bad day, it was a close friend or a family member. As I write in my memoir The Cat I Never Named, an animal saw more humanity in me than my fellow humans did.

No genocide is ever the beginning of violence. Rather it is the denouement of a story told over years and even generations in an effort to embed cultural violence in the form of hateful and dehumanizing narratives, which are constructed to extinguish empathy in humans for the otherwhoever that other may be in a given time or geography. Nor is this violence only reflected in immediately quantifiable horrific deaths and gruesome statistics. The narratives of hate themselves are the most enduring form of violence because they can be taught across generations. Stopping the killing is almost always temporary unless we find a way to stop dehumanizing one another.

I have never completely escaped that dehumanization of Muslimsit is still normalized in America along with its adjacent and powerfully embedded forms of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism. I live with that othering, a bleeding wound that never heals. When I was a child growing up in the former Yugoslavia, I was surrounded by narratives against Bosnian Muslims that ranged from dismissal to hate. In my curriculum in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I always remained invisible. When I wasnt invisible, I was despised. There was never a single word problem in math that featured a Muslim childs name, or a story that portrayed a Muslim character as anything but a villain. I was assigned readings that glorified the executions of Muslims throughout history. I grew up hearing politicians such as Radovan Karadziccurrently serving a life sentence for genocidewarn that Bosniaks will disappear from the face of the Earth. I didnt believe it, until he and others like him tried to make it happen.

Today, I am no longer a direct target, but a survivor. I am also a witness, from a physical but not emotional distance, of both Hamass attack that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis, and Israels killing of more than 30,000 Palestinians, including more than 13,000 children. Again and again, we desert our common humanity and normalize unconscionable violence against the other. Segregating communities into us and them is the first step in Gregory Stantons Ten Stages of Genocide, grievously exacerbated when accompanied by dehumanization and the denial of one anothers suffering. This pathway to genocide is a facet in the history of human experience that I not only recognize but know first-hand.

And it always starts with stories we tell. Stories are mobilized to perpetuate hate or instill resilience to it. It is the stories we tell that define our role in history and humanity. It is the stories we tell that determine our present and the future we choose for the next generations.

 It is the stories we tell that define our role in history and humanity. 

With Three Summers, as with The Cat I Never Named, I chose to challenge the narratives of hate that I recognize in politics, education, media, and even at dinner conversations, both then and now. I wrote Three Summers to illustrate how an 11-year-old girl named Amra in 1980s Yugoslavia first begins to see that her life is about to take a dangerously different turn from that of her favorite cousin, Zana, because Amra is the other. Yet, Amra refuses to hate, and holds on to the love and laughter she shares with Zana and her othercousins who grow closer than sisters over three magical summers in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their love for one another allows them to reject the hate that their society is forcing on them... but is it permanent? Can bonds of humanity be stronger than narratives of hate?

We must create our own narratives if there is to be any hopeto give the world stories of unity and love and resilience that let people be seen and understood. My life taught me that there are no winners in societies overtaken by hate. To effectively diminish the human capacity for brutality we must un-other the dehumanized, those who are targeted across all societies and geographies. We can end such othering only by flooding our classrooms and media with empathetic storytelling. Every human being wants to be seen, heard, and respected. And none of us wants to become the victims, the perpetrators, or witnesses of hate-fueled violence, if only we are given the chance to escape that fate. If we truly wish for our children to live, love, laugh, and learn, we must offer them a detour from pathways of hate and let them embrace stories of empathy and humanity.
Ernest Cline, the author of Ready Player One, makes his childrens debut with contemporary middle grade novel Bridge to Bat City. Inspired by the real-life colony of Mexican free-tailed bats living in Austin, this 1980sset tale follows 13-year-old Opal who, after her mothers death, moves to her uncle Roscoes farm. There, she befriends a group of bats, whose appreciation of Opals music taste brings them together, making Opal feel less alone. When mining developers destroy the bats cave and threaten Uncle Roscoes livelihood, Opalaccompanied by 1.5 million batsmoves to Austin. But the flying mammals might be too much for even the wildest and weirdest and most-welcoming place in Texas. Cline spoke with PW about keeping Austin weird, how his own life informed Opals journey, and publishing a book almost 30 years in the making.

Youve published adult fiction, poetry collections, and screenplays. In what ways did writing Bridge to Bat City differ from developing your previous works?

Writing childrens fiction was never on my list of things to do. But when I first saw the bats, I thought, That would be a great idea for a kids story. So, Ive had this idea kicking around for, like, 28 years. I always assumed someone else would take it and run with it and I would get to say, I knew that was a great idea. But that never happened. And then, once I established myself as an author and a screenwriter, I was able to pursue whatever interests I wanted and write about whatever I wanted, and this story always stuck with me. I used a lot of elements from my own life and my experiences having kids and reading a lot of childrens fiction with them. I got to revisit stories that I loved, like Charlottes Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Because of my kids, I still feel really in touch with what its like to be a kid, especially one whos just about to become a teenager. That period of life is still real vivid in my memory.

It was all real exciting and a departure from what I had written before. It also felt like a lot less pressure. After Ready Player One, everything following it was very high pressure. This was something I just wanted to write for myself. I wanted to write a story about music and weirdness because I was a weird kid.

How did your experiences in Austin and learning about the bat colony shape Bridge to Bat City?

I moved to Austin in 1996, right around the time that I lost my mother. I was interested in living in the South; I grew up in Ohio and I wanted to live somewhere warm. I was also interested in technology and computers and making movies, and I knew Austin was the center for all that. So, I moved to Austin and found out that it was the perfect city for me. My weird sensibilities fit right in. To this day, its still my favorite city. Its a unique, open, welcoming, open-mined, open-hearted place, and very unlike the rest of Texasthey call it the blueberry in the tomato soup. That makes it a beacon for all the weirdos who grew up in small towns, because its the epicenter of counterculture. I wanted to remind people that there are cool places and kind people in Texas.

Bridge to Bat City being based on something real is what gets me excited for kids to read it. If it resonates with them, then they can actually visit Austin someday and see the bridge and the bats and see that a lot of the story elements are true. And theyll see that the bats are basically Austins mascotswe have a statue of them downtown. Its the kind of story I wish I had known about when I was a kid. It seems fantastic, but its real.

Were releasing Bridge to Bat City in Austin on the day of the solar eclipse. I convinced my local indie bookstore to hold the launch event at the bat bridge. April isnt the best time for bat viewingthats around Augustbut they start showing up in the evening around this time of year, so there will hopefully be some bats also in attendance at my book launch. Im excited.

What role does music play in your writing and in your personal life?

 I wanted to write a story about music and weirdness because I was a weird kid. 

I love music. I listen to music every day, all the time, and I sing along to songs with my family in the car. Music is a huge part of my life and a huge part of my writing process. When I write, I listen to music without lyrics, usually film scores because lyrics distract me. Ive actually created soundtracks of all the songs that are mentioned in Ready Player One, Ready Player Two, and Armada that I put into playlists on Spotify so people could listen while they read. In fact, Armada has a cassette tape insert with a track list that you can cut out of the back of the book and put into a cassette tape.

So, the characters I create end up having music as a big part of their life, too. But this is a music-themed story, more than all my other books. Opal is my first character whos obsessed with music. When she was a baby, she wouldnt stop crying unless her mom had the radio on, so she would listen to the radio all the time and became obsessed with Buddy Holly. When Opal has to get glasses, she picks ones that make her look like Buddy Holly.

How much research did you do about the Mexican free-tailed bats and their history?

That was the biggest bulk of the work that I had to do. I had to find out when the bats actually moved into the bridge and the circumstances surrounding that. What I did with Bridge to Bat City was kind of condense a whole decade of events.

Initially, people were terrified because they saw the sky filled with bats at night. Its one of the things that drew me to this story. Austin had refurbished this bridge downtown and added these gaps underneath so that it could expand and retract during the heat and the cold, and these gaps ended up being a perfect place for the bats to roost. A million bats moved in overnight, sometime around 1982. It really terrified the city. They even ran an ad in the local newspaper that said something like, Bat colonies sink teeth into city. There was discussion of using flamethrowers to burn them out and then putting up screens over the gaps in the bridge so they couldnt get back in because people were that frightened of them. And I learned that one of the reasons they were called Mexican free-tailed was because while most of them are born in Texas, they reproduce down in Mexico sometimes. And because of Texass relationship with Mexico and prejudice against Mexican Americans, that same prejudice built right into their name. Suddenly, people liked them even less. And so, there was this idea of these bats coming to live in Austin that resonated with ideas of immigration and becoming part of a community.

But then other people pointed out that Austin is the live music capital of the world, and these bats eat their own body weight in bugs every night. These bats moving in was the best thing that could ever happen because it made it a lot more pleasant to be outside. So, for a city thats known for outdoor music, it was perfect.

I also had to research bats ability to spread diseases. Theyre mammals, so it makes it dangerous for us to interact with them because diseases can jump from bats to humans. So, I never have anybody handling bats in the story, because youre not supposed to touch them. If you see a downed bat, that means the bat is sick; it wouldnt be down on the ground otherwise. But diseases like rabies, in populations like this, are actually much less prevalent than in dog populations. So, as an animal for humans to coexist with, it really is quite safe. And its not a problem here in Austin, even though we have this massive urban bat colony right in the middle of downtown.

Ready Player One was adapted into a movie and an Armada adaptation is in the works. Do you have plans to adapt Bridge to Bat City into a movie?

One of the producers from Ready Player One, my friend and manager Dan Farah, will be a producer on it. Were waiting for the book to come out before we take it out to Hollywood.

But the first adaptation has already happened: the audiobook! Its amazing because its narrated by my friend Felicia Day, whos this super talented actress who lived in Austin for a while. I moved to Austin right around the same time that Felicia did, and she and I went to a lot of the same Alamo Drafthouse movie screenings and stuff here in town. She had all these memories about the locations in the story, just like the illustrator for Bridge to Bat City, Mishka Westell.

Did you always imagine this as an illustrated story?

I did! My wife [Cristin OKeefe Aptowicz], whos a bestselling nonfiction author, also has amazing drawing skills. As a favor to me, she made some rough pencil drawings of what I imagined the illustrations would be and I hung them on the wall while I was writing the book. I still have them up.

Mishka recreated all those illustrations, plus a bunch of additional ones. I really wanted an Austin-based artist to do the art, and I gave my publisher a list of artists and Mishka was at the top of it. Shes never illustrated a childrens book before, but she was down to give it a try. Shed done all these amazing Austin rock posters for concerts and film events, so I knew she would do a great job. From the very beginning, I was like, This would be a perfect Pixar or DreamWorks Animation story.

Bridge to Bat City by Ernest Cline, illus. by Mishka Westell. Little, Brown, $17.99 Apr. 9 ISBN 978-0-316-46058-3
With an art gallery, space is a valuable commodity, especially when you have a limited supply. Over the past couple years, the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art has grown its collections but not its footprint.

That will soon change, Louise Niemann, one of the board of directors for the museum, said as she walked through the new planned site for the museum. It all started nearly a decade ago, she added.

"We started thinking about this 10 years ago, but we weren't ready then. It had gotten to the point where, in 2019, our vault absolutely hit the brim. It was so overstuffed we had to outsource things and do offsite storage," Niemann said. "It was kind of a nightmare but we have all this glorious art we can't show, so it became imperative."

The upgrade will expand their usable space approximately tenfold. At present, exhibits are relegated to one main gallery and a larger second gallery with the museum's "office space" between the two. The new building would feature five galleries the size of the current building.

The new location, at the corner of Fifth and C streets, was once a Ford assembly facility. It wasn't a factory, but a place where people hand-built Ford cars that were delivered in crates, Niemann said. It was built in 1917 and even belonged to J.C. Hall at one point. Niemann said the building impressed the architects when they first looked at it.

"If you look at the physical structure of the building, it's concrete. That's how it was formed. When we had our architect come in, he had engineers look at the building. We said it already lived over 100 years, they described it as not a 100-year building, but a 500-year building," Niemann said. "That was something we wanted to put money into and bring to the community."

Right next to the door, as an homage to the building's history, the first Ford Model T assembled there will return to its place of origin as a display in what they are calling "the Ford Lounge."

The main floor will house five exhibit spaces, including one for up-and-coming artists and most likely a Dale Nichols gallery, as the museum has many of his works. The expanded space, Niemann said, will allow for sculpture and larger works of art, like those by Gary Earnest Smith, which require a long perspective to see effectively.

They had initially looked at expanding their current building, Board President Ruth Thoendel said, but as they started work there, they realized there was a much easier solution.

"We looked at all of that, particularly expanding on what we have, tearing down from there to the alley and doing something new," Thoendel said. "But new didn't seem right, we were looking to do new and make it look old."

Aside from the galleries, the building's bottom floor will feature what they're calling a dirty classroom, or a classroom for messy projects that might be part of a class, such as painting or ceramics. It will be accessible even when the gallery is closed.

Behind it, they plan on having a theater, for videos about agronomy, art and agriculture. This could include films about the pieces on display and Niemann said they are hoping to collaborate with universities to get student projects for viewing there.

Directly above the first classroom they're planning for another classroom for more long-term projects, such as quilts or weaving.

So far, Thoendel and Niemann agreed, the hardest part of the project has been raising funds. This is a big project, Niemann said, and as such required a significant investment. Thankfully, she said, COVID helped them somewhat with this aspect. During the pandemic, they had to shut things down at the museum, but the state stepped in with some COVID funding. In 2021, after taking a short break, they kicked their fundraising into high gear and raised $2 million in six months. They then got a one-to-one match with a shovel-ready grant, bringing them to $4 million toward their goal. They started work in the fall of 2023 as a result.

"We're still raising money, working on the last $800,000. It seems small compared to $4 million. We were hoping for $8 million, which was extremely grand. We started working with the Nebraska Historic Preservation office and they have guidelines about that and that didn't allow us to do some of those grand things, we're keeping it more true to what it was," Niemann said.

Thoendel said they have received several grants and donations from very generous unnamed individuals that have helped a lot too.

They expect construction to conclude in late 2024, with the public being able to come in sometime in early 2025. They don't have a definite date for that set up yet, but the sneak peek and progress update is set for April.

On April 19, Sen. Bruce Bostelman, a representative from Sen. Pete Ricketts' office and K.C. Belitz, director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development will be in attendance to talk about the building, the investment into the area and its contribution to Destination David, the creative district in David City. Thoendel said the museum itself is a massive draw.

"The Smithsonian (Institute) has noted four museums in Nebraska: the Josyln (Art Museum), the Sheldon (Museum of Art), the Nebraska Museum of Arts and Bone Creek," Thoendel said.

There's a reason Destination David encompasses much of Downtown David City, but branches out to other points of interest such as the railroad or the Butler County Historical Society rail depot.

"Because we are such an artsy kind of area, we wanted to make sure it was planted and true. We had Bone Creek to be a cornerstone of that, but we have other pieces," Niemann said. "We looked at the creative industries downtown and thought how incredible that was and the idea that we support one another, build economic infrastructure and make this a welcoming place."

The event starts at 10 a.m. at 312 N. Fifth St. in David City. There will be sneak peek tours of the space and speaking by the special guests.
British Steel in Scunthorpe has secured a contract to produce railway track for use in the construction of Egypts first fully electrified mainline and freight network.

In a multi-million-pound contract, British Steel will supply 9,500 tonnes of track for Egypts Green Line, its landmark new route in North Africa, which extends from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

The 660 km-long network will carry passenger and freight trains at a maximum speed of 155mph.

British Steel is just one of a number of key suppliers producing 18-metre-long rails. The steel has been specified to conform to 60E1 in grade R260.

We are delighted British Steel has been involved in such a transformational project for Egypt British Steel Commercial Manager Export  Rail, Jerome Bonef

Once the line is complete, it will transform transport throughout the country and is designed to reduce primary energy usage and overall air pollution.

The rails will be shipped from Scunthorpe in two batches.

The first will be shipped this month to the port of Alexandria in northern Egypt, with the second batch of rails being shipped in June. They will be used to extend the line in two directions:

From Alexandria via El Alamein to the Mediterranean coast in the north-west.

Eastwards to the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea.

The National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) for Egypt is overseeing the design, construction, commissioning, and operation of the line, with the project being managed by Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors Joint Venture.

A $3 billion contract was awarded last year to Siemens Mobility to provide locomotives for the new line including:

Velaro trains for high-speed passenger trains.

Desiro high trains for regional train sets.

Vectron locomotives for hauling freight trains.

European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 and other advanced systems to provide for the signalling and control of the trains.

This is not the first time that British Steel has exported rails abroad, as last year it exported 100-metre lengths of rail to Belgium that were transported by DB Cargo.

DB Cargo train transporting 100-metre lengths of track to Belgium. // Credit: DB Cargo UK
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/04/2024



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

runner-up Daisy Kent has revealed if she'd be interested in appearing on Bachelor in Paradise this year or starring on ette in 2025 or later.Daisy admitted on : After the Final Rose for Joey Graziadei 's season, which aired on March 25 on ABC, that she wasn't interested in starring on ette's upcoming 21st season.Daisy explained how she had a cochlear implant in 2023 and filmed later that year, and so she'd like to focus on herself and spend quality time with friends and family.But when asked if she thinks she could ever be the lead of a show like this, Daisy replied, "I think I definitely could," during the April 2 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast."I think right now, just in my life, like I said, I had two really huge things happen in a short amount of time. I haven't really just had time to, like, live and be me and do the things that I want to do," Daisy explained."And so, right now, it's just not a good time for me to do something like that."But Daisy insisted that she absolutely "loved" being on 's 28th season."I had such a great experience, but I just think, yeah, right now, it's just not right for me," Daisy noted.Serena pointed out how Daisy is allowed to "chill" after having a "very big year," and Daisy laughed."I had a very big year!" Daisy echoed. "And I'm excited to see everything that comes from this and everything that I can do. But it's just, I knew it wouldn't be what's best for me right now."Daisy, however, confirmed that "yes" she is ready to begin dating again -- just off-camera and in a no-pressure situation."I'm not going to say, 'No, I'm not ready to date.' I think if it was somebody really special and someone that I really connected with well, yes," Daisy shared."But I don't know. You never know what's going to happen! I think right now is a time in my life where I want to put myself first because I haven't been able to do that in a really long time. And so I think that's kind of my standpoint on it."Daisy reiterated how she wants to put herself first but if her potential husband walked into the room, she wouldn't turn him down. She therefore admitted she's "open" to meeting a man in the near future.On a possible Bachelor in Paradise 10 stint, Daisy shared, "In this moment, probably no. But I don't know.""You never really know. But I think I didn't realize... or understand how crazy some people are about [ franchise]," she elaborated. "I think right now, I always want to be involved in some way, but I think right now, I kind of just want to take control of my life."In terms of what's next for Daisy outside of her dating life, she said she's been working on her nonprofit organization called Hear Your Heart."I want to do that, and also, I have another children's book that's in the works. I also have a memoir from my life that I actually had finished six months before I even got asked to come on the show," Daisy revealed.producers had seen one of Daisy's viral TikTok videos and sent the blonde beauty a DM via Instagram during the casting process, asking her if she'd like to appear on .Daisy said her memoir is about her life before the show and it "goes through all my health stuff.""So I want to publish that eventually," Daisy said."And I really want to do a lot of public speaking, especially to younger kids. That's kind of the stuff I want to do right now. I'm excited to see where everything goes from here."Earlier this week, Daisy took to Instagram and hinted that she won't be returning to reality TV any time soon. No more roses, just daises ," Daisy captioned a photo of herself with host Jesse Palmer.Daisy's "no more roses" mention was part of a lengthy post in which Daisy was reflecting on her journey and what's to come for her in the near future."You see the thing about life is you can never be certain what's coming. How unexpected this whole journey was, but how beautiful it is to look back on," Daisy wrote Thursday, March 28 on Instagram."I'll forever be grateful for the people I met, the places, and the moments that changed my perspective. I believe life is about how we love people, how we embrace our differences, how we can take what we were given and turn it into light."Daisy insisted that she's "regained my confidence" and "found my light again" after having her cochlear implant and then getting her heart broken by Joey."We are complex beings meaning we are not one thing, one emotion, one simple feeling. Often we are consumed by one emotion, but I think the difficulty lies when we're consumed by not one but many," Daisy continued in her post."I've learned you have to feel it all to allow more love in sometimes. Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this journey. The friendships made & the people I met will always make me look back and smile."Daisy went on to thank franchise for giving her "the time of my life" and "helping share my story in such a beautiful way."The Minnesota native and blonde beauty concluded, "To more of the unexpected. No more roses, just daises."Daisy is also prepared to give away her red finale dress to a fan, letting go of a big reminder or memento of her final days on .On 's Season 28 finale, Daisy and Kelsey Anderson were Joey's Final 2 bachelorettes in Tulum, Mexico.After both women met Joey's family and had a final date with him, Daisy predicted that she wasn't going to end up with Joey.Daisy therefore sought out Kelsey in her hotel room to essentially compare notes about their week. On typical seasons of and ette, the Final 2 men or women are not allowed to see each other or talk.Daisy admitted to Kelsey that something felt "off" and seemed to be "missing" with Joey during their last date, and so she arguably spoiled the fact that Kelsey was going to be Joey's winner.The two women then traveled to the Final Rose Ceremony in the same van, which was another first for franchise, and then Daisy gracefully bowed out of the competition before Joey could officially dump her."Falling in love with you has been so fun and I do love you," Daisy told star at the Final Rose Ceremony. "But the thing is, you're not going to choose me."Joey immediately broke down into tears, confirming that Daisy's gut instinct was correct.Daisy told Joey that she realized he wasn't her "person," and she added, "I know that you know I'm not your person. And as much as that hurts, umm, I know you said you want what's best for me, and so I'm going to do what's best for me -- and I'm going to go."Joey called Daisy "special" and offered to walk her out, but Daisy decided to do that on her own."I'm going to miss you," Joey cried."I'm going to miss you too," Daisy responded in tears. "I'm pulling for you!"Daisy then returned to the van, hugged Kelsey, and wished Joey's winner the best.Joey proceeded to reunite with Kelsey and profess his love to her, and the pair got engaged in Tulum.When Daisy announced on : After the Final Rose that she's "not ready" to find her person just yet, she explained, "My life the last year has been crazy. I mean, yesterday, it's weird, but it was the one year of me getting my cochlear implant, which completely changed my life.""And I also went through this, and as great of an experience as it was, it was also really, really hard. I'm healthy and I'm happy, and I haven't had those two things in a really long time," Daisy acknowledged."And so, right now, I know it's a time for me to focus on the things I love and the people I love. So, right now, no. I'm not ready, and that's okay. I'm really proud of myself for realizing that."ette gig ultimately went to Jenn Tran , and filming is currently underway Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/04/2024



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

winner Kelsey Anderson has reacted to criticism she was "playing games" with Joey Graziadei when she wrote him a note that read, "We need to talk," in Tulum, Mexico.Once Joey's Fantasy Suite dates with Kelsey, Daisy Kent and Rachel Nance came to an end, Joey said he never felt more confident in himself and in the relationships he had built and established.But once Joey returned to his hotel room in Tulum, after all three overnight dates, a note from Kelsey was waiting for him in the door that read, "We need to talk," with no explanation.Joey became flustered and upset when he read the note, and he cried in a confessional, "I don't want her to leave. I want her to want to be here. I don't know what to do. I'm so done with this."Joey called the situation with Kelsey his " worst nightmare coming true ," and he added, "I am over giving everything I can and feeling like they're not choosing me!"During the March 27 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, Kelsey gave more insight into her cryptic note and why she had written something that allowed Joey's insecurities to get the best of him."I didn't have a whole lot of time to write the note, so I just had to use a couple of words," Kelsey recalled with a laugh in her chat with Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt "Mhmm," Joey could be heard saying."I could've wrote a little more," Kelsey said. "I could've wrote a little heart, I could've wrote a happy face."Serena admitted that when she and Joe thought about what they would've written had they been in Kelsey's shoes, it was actually hard for them to come up with a concise and urgent yet positive-sounding message.Although Serena said she sympathized with Kelsey, Joey's fiancee confessed, "I could've made it a little bit better."Kelsey said she never anticipated Joey would react to her note so strongly and emotionally."I saw him open the door, and immediately my heart dropped because I saw his face. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt like, you know, this looks like I'm playing games, but I'm not," Kelsey insisted."And I just wanted to tell him, 'I want to meet your family. I'm excited to meet your family if given the chance.' Because I didn't say that, I think, during our time together previously."Joey clarified how he and Kelsey had a chat off-camera, seemingly during their Fantasy Suite, in which he "slipped up" a little bit."I [said], 'I can't wait for you to meet my family,' and she got kind of upset.' She just came off the talk with [The Golden Bachelor runner-up Leslie Fhima ], and so she was like, 'You can't promise me anything! I want to take this step by step!" Joey recalled.Leslie, who had her heart broken by Gerry Turner on The Golden Bachelor, planted a seed of doubt in Kelsey's mind that she may not end up with Joey.Leslie advised Kelsey to remain hopeful but not proceed in the competition with 100% confidence. Leslie essentially wanted Kelsey to protect her heart in case Joey chose another woman as his winner, and the advice appeared to shake Kelsey to her core."So her reaction was more kind of -- it wasn't negative, but it was just, like, 'I can't look ahead to that,'" Joey shared of Kelsey."And then when she sat with it, she realized that she wishes she was actually like, 'I can't wait to meet your family too.'"Joey explained that Kelsey's regret about that conversation is why she was so desperate to talk to him in Tulum before the Rose Ceremony."I think it makes total sense," star noted. "And I don't know what else she would've wrote. It wasn't a good note to get , regardless."Joe gave Kelsey a blank card and the opportunity for a do-over while they taped the podcast episode, and all she could come up with was, "Can we talk?" Kelsey also wrote, "You want to talk?"Kelsey admitted she should just stick to love letters, and Joey agreed.During a separate interview on "The Viall Files" podcast, Season 21 star Nick Viall asked Kelsey if producers had come up with the idea for her to write down, "We need to talk."Neither Kelsey or Joey would confirm or deny that was the case, but Kelsey did claim that it was her handwriting on the note.Although the note briefly derailed Joey and Kelsey's love story, the pair ended up together. Joey proposed marriage to Kelsey at the Final Rose Ceremony, and the couple is still happy and planning a move to New York City together.Joey and Kelsey have also claimed that Leslie's warning didn't have a huge impact on their relationship.Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
Net inflows were $18.4 billion for the rolling 12-month period ended January 2024 compared to $32.7 billion for the rolling 12-month period ended January 2023.

The current financial year will likely close with a lower level of foreign direct investments (FDI) than the previous one.

Net inflows were $18.4 billion for the rolling 12-month period ended January 2024, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.

It was higher at $32.7 billion for the rolling 12-month period ended January 2023 (chart 1).

However, this is in line with a global investment slowdown.

Developing countries have been most affected, according to international data (chart 2).

The services sector, which includes financial, banking, insurance, outsourcing and others, accounted for the highest share of equity inflows in 2023-2024 (till December), according to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The sharpest change has been in the construction segment involved in infrastructure activities.

The share of this segment in FDI flows has risen to 12 per cent so far this financial year compared to 3.3 per cent seen in the previous one (chart 3).

The majority of the equity investment in 2023-24 was by five countries, with Singapore (23.2 per cent) leading, followed by Mauritius (22 per cent), the United States (8.8 per cent), Japan (8.5 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (7.6 per cent) (chart 4).

Despite the decline, India was among the top five countries for greenfield projects, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) World Investment Report 2023, a position it has retained according to the latest Unctad figures (chart 5).

Recently, India signed a trade agreement with a group of four countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which will invest $100 billion in 15 years.

Data shows that these four countries, which together form the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), have invested less than 2 per cent of FDI coming into India, or under $400 million annually (chart 6).

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Many ethical, competent corporate leaders aspire to join public life today. However, the transition to politics is far from easy, observes Indrajit Gupta.

IMAGE: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dham, right, welcomes former Congress leader Manish Khanduri, left, as he joins the Bharatiya Janata Party in Dehradun, March 9, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

On February 9, when Santrupt Misra announced he was formally joining the Biju Janata Dal as its national spokesperson, there was intense speculation that the Aditya Birla group veteran may be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

That eventually proved to be untrue. But now, there is a distinct possibility that the party may field him as a candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

With the elections barely weeks away, a final decision could be imminent.

In the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency, Manish Khanduri has his hands full, campaigning for a new local Bharatiya Janata Party candidate there.

Even till some weeks ago, Mr Khanduri seemed all set to bag a Congress ticket from the same constituency, until he resigned for personal reasons and decided to hitch his bandwagon with the BJP.

He did not ask for a party ticket from the BJP. None was offered either, except perhaps for an organisational role in the party in Delhi in the future.

IMAGE: Santrupt Misra, former HR head of the Aditya Birla Group, joined the BJD. Photograph: Kind courtesy Santrupt Misra/X

The news of Mr Khanduri's resignation from the Congress was greeted with a deep sense of disappointment among our journalist community, particularly among those of us who had worked closely with him, including starting our careers at Business Standard in the early nineties.

Dr Misra and Mr Khanduri's political journeys can't obviously be compared. Dr Misra is a stalwart from the corporate world with an outstanding track record of transformation.

Mr Khanduri, on the other hand, took the plunge into politics in 2019, after a successful career -- first as a business journalist and later, armed with a MBA degree from Kellogg, as a senior business executive in global media companies like CNN and Meta.

So what's the upshot? Shortly after he announced his transition, Dr Misra faced a whole barrage of questions from peers in the corporate world.

They wanted to know what it would take to shift to public life. That's not surprising, given that corporate life can appear shallow and unfulfilling after a certain point.

There is a perceived thrill in making a bigger impact at a national level.

So what's holding back people? Most middle class Indians tend to carry a dim view of politics.

I keep hearing the refrain that India needs more upright, ethical corporate leaders to join politics in order to have a better chance of cleansing itself of corruption and fostering a resurgent future.

Of course, it is another matter that most people would prefer that someone else take the risk of jumping into public life, rather than doing it themselves.

A few though have the intent and are serious, but walking away from the status, the position and money is seldom easy.

IMAGE: Dhami, right, and BJP Uttarakhand President Mahendra Bhatt, left, flank Manish Khanduri, centre, after he joined the party in Dehradun. Photograph: ANI Photo

Both Mr Khanduri and Dr Misra had a family background in politics when they were young.

Mr Khanduri campaigned for his father Major General B C Khanduri, who served as a minister in the Vajpayee government, and had a squeaky clean reputation of building the Golden Quadrilateral project. He also served as a BJP chief minister of Uttarakhand.

Dr Misra's family, too, was deeply involved in public life. His father's elder brother was a leading trade unionist, affiliated to the Communist Party of India.

He himself fought union elections as a young student. His decision to join the BJD was delayed by more than a decade, when his corporate commitments did not allow him to make the leap, once in 2013 and again in 2019.

Mr Khanduri hoped to use his father's goodwill to build his political base. But in 2019, he lost the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket. That didn't deter him. And he doggedly continued his on-ground work and also helming a key communications role during Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, walking on foot for almost the entire stretch.

As the 2024 Lok Sabha elections drew near, Mr Khanduri knew there was no way he could win the seat.

The BJP is virtually invincible, backed by a formidable, disciplined cadre.

What's more, while he was campaigning for the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the local Congress leadership in the state was doing everything they could to undercut him. That was the nature of the beast.

So he asked for a middle level role at the party apparatus in Delhi that would give him a modicum of respect, even if he lost for the second time.

While it was promised, there was no real headway. Completely frustrated, he eventually put in his papers on March 8.

He now has his task cut out to build his reputation in a new environment.

Unlike the Congress, the good news is that the BJP is willing to bring in fresh faces and deal ruthlessly with non-performing incumbents.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the inauguration of multiple development projects in Chandikhole, Odisha. Photograph: ANI Photo

The BJD, on the other hand, isn't a monolithic party. Naveen Patnaik has been able to shape its culture through his own humble leadership style and prioritised development, ahead of merely focusing on winning elections.

In his initial few weeks, Dr Misra has used his business skills to completely revamp the party's digital identity and website in a matter of weeks.

The team was tasked with reviewing the best political party websites across the world, engaging with BJD parliamentarians and other stakeholders and delivering in a time-bound manner.

While his role is open-ended, the party has wisely used him for selective, high-value engagements.

Of course, for any transition, there is a process of letting in -- and letting go. Dr Misra says he is aware that he will deal with a diverse set of stakeholders, far more varied than his corporate stint.

Besides, he needs to give up his obsession with schedules and calendarising work, and learn to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty.

He's built a group of advisors who keep him grounded and prevent him from making any debilitating mistakes.

Disclaimer: These are Indrajit Gupta's personal views.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi and other BJP politicians at an election meeting in Meerut, March 31, 2024. Photograph: Jitender Gupta/ANI Photo

It is safe to assume that the Bharatiya Janata Party's Tamil Nadu President Kuppusamy Annamalai had the BJP high command's blessings when he sought an RTI response on the controversial Katchatheevu issue.

The way Narendra D Modi, Amit A Shah and a host of other BJP leaders at the national level pounced on to Annamalai's 'exposure' on what should tantamount to the 'treachery' by the father-daughter duo of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and the way then DMK chief minister M Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, played along, should remove all doubts that the BJP leaders had coordinated it all -- starting from the word 'Go' and the government's RTI response to the state BJP president.

There is no reason to question Annamalai's credibility that he has received the RTI response from the Centre and it says what he and others have since been saying it contains.

That a diplomat-turned politician in External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar should take time off to address a hurriedlyc alled news conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on the subject should remove all doubts about the seriousness with which the ruling party is approaching the issue and also the genuineness of the content in the RTI response to Annamalai.

Yet, there is the question if as a career diplomat going all the way up to become the nation's foreign secretary before becoming minister, Jaishankar believed that India had actually 'ceded' Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, and that it was not a mutually accepted International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) that put the islet on the other side.

If anything, he himself as external affairs minister has stood by past decisions, both inside and outside Parliament, so to say.

Whatever that be and however much Modi wants to convince the nation's voters that he was not doing or saying everything only with elections in mind -- a line that he took in a rare and recorded interview to Thanthi TV in Tamil -- the BJP resurrecting an issue that is buried deep in the archives of the Government of India aims only at the current Lok Sabha polls.

By raking it up at a Meerut rally, Modi may have wanted to paint the Congress rival blacker than already.

However, it is not an election issue in southern Tamil Nadu where the issue belongs, as someone sitting elsewhere may want to assume.

In fact, no issue pertaining to southern Sri Lanka, barring the continuing presence of China, is news in the South Indian state. Even China is not an election issue.

It cannot be when the Sri Lankan ethnic issue was not, even though it continues to be a political issue and social concern, like the fishers dispute.

It is enough to recall how Vaiko, the indomitable defender of the LTTE, lost badly in his native Virudhunagar constituency in the crucial Lok Sabha polls of 2009, when Sri Lanka's ethnic war had already peaked and UPA-1 in New Delhi had obtained a fortnight-ceasefire from the Sri Lankan government of then president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka-related issues are talking points in Tamil Nadu, but not election issues at any time.

BJP leader and later-day external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj found it for herself in 2014 when after her 'Kadal Thamarai' or 'Sea Lotus' campaign in the Rameswaram sea, the BJP did not gain a single extra vote anywhere in the state, starting with the Ramanathapuram constituency, where the temple island is situated.

If the Katchatheevu issue is not election material in the state this time, too, it is not without reason.

For the past three decades, the late Jayalalithaa and her AIADMK after her time, has been flogging the issue against the local DMK rival.

And on every occasion, the DMK would recall -- as it has done now -- how Karunanidhi had the state assembly pass a resolution against the Centre's unilateral decision to give away the tiny islet to the southern neighbour.

It is also true that the fishermen community in Rameswaram is well aware that there is no fish left around Katchatheevu for them to bother about the ownership and/or access to the tiny islet.

They showed their disinterest in participating in the annual St Anthony's feast at the isle-church along with their Sri Lankan Tamil fisher brethren from Jaffna and elsewhere earlier this year.

They boycotted the festivities, purportedly protesting against the arrest and court-ordered imprisonment of three of their brethren in the island-nation, for 'trespassing' and 'poaching'.

Next year on, if they wanted to return to participate in the festivities, the Sri Lankan side is not unlikely to cite this year's boycott, to deny them permission.

IMAGE: Devotees from India and Sri Lanka throng Katchatheevu island to participate in the annual two-day St Anthony's church festival, February 24, 2018. Photograph: ANI on X

Put bluntly, the trawler-fishers from Tamil Nadu and the Karaikkal enclave of the Union Territory of Puducherry want access to fish in what India has conceded as Sri Lankan waters since the twin accords of 1974 and 1976, claiming it to be a 'livelihood issue' protected under international best practices.

Against this, the unanimous official Indian view since long, including those headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998-2004) and now, Modi since 2014, has only strengthened the Sri Lankan case of 'trespassing' and 'poaching' by the Indian fishers.

There is also ready acceptance that bottom-trawling and fishing by purse-seine nets are banned in both nations, owing to their destructive capacity, but enforced in Sri Lanka better than across the Palk Strait, in India.

The recent Indian conversion of the controversy into a 'livelihood issue' also for the Tamil Nadu fishers, has not registered in the Sri Lankan mind, official or fishers'.

Hence, the next meeting of the joint working group of officials, promised by the Centre before the Madras high court recently, is not going to achieve any breakthrough, whenever held.

Which may not be before the year-end, as Sri Lanka too is facing twin elections to the presidency and parliament, the latter, now or later.

The high court's direction in this regard can be followed if and only if the other 'sovereign' accepts the Indian suggestion but independent of the non-binding judicial order in this country.

Even without the current electoral controversy in India, through the past two or three years, there have been sporadic incidents of protests by Sri Lanka's Tamil fishers, with selective and competitive blessings from Jaffna politicians, including ministers and parliamentarians.

Suffice to recall that it was a Tamil parliamentarian, M A Sumanthiran, who first moved two private member's bills to stiffen the punishment for 'trespassing fishers' from other countries (read: India), a few years back.

Under the then government of then president Maithripala Sirisena, then prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe converted it into an official bill, which was passed unanimously with near-full attendance. Today, Ranil is the president, full-stop.

Incidentally, what is the Katchatheevu issue all about? Were then prime ministers Nehru and Indira Gandhi at fault?

The answer may be an ambiguous yes-and-no if you understood the geo-politics of the times, and not a definite 'yes', as critics of the two and also of the DMK are wont to say.

Going beyond what has been documented, Indian bureaucrats and political leadership, unlike many of their Western counterparts, do not have a mandated habit of recording every exchange with every foreign leader or delegation, verbatim for successor governments to understand and proceed with.

They were either too-guarded or non-habituated to going the whole hog.

Instead, they stopped with flagging only conclusive portions of their discussions and discourses on record, if at all.

What have remained thus are bilateral agreements, alongside legislative proceedings and news conference reports.

It is thus that the BJP, like the AIADMK in the past, has been partial in stopping with then foreign secretary Kewal Singh briefing then DMK chief minister Karunanidhi on the 1974 agreement.

As DMK spokesmen are not tired of repeating, as they have done this time too, Karunanidhi did not acquiesce to the agreement but, instead, had the state assembly pass a resolution against the Centre's decision.

It is still anybody's guess why either Modi or state BJP's Annamalai has not mentioned that the then leader of the Jana Sangh parent, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had opposed the 1974 accord in Parliament.

Nor has either referred to later-day BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy, a veteran from Tamil Nadu's Madurai city, moving the Madras high court, challenging the 'ceding' of Indian territory without Parliament's approval under Article 4 of the Constitution, on Vajpayee's suggestion, in 1965.

Two petitions on similar lines, filed by Jayalalithaa first, and Karunanidhi, separately later, in their personal capacities, were pending before the Supreme Court since the mid-nineties.

The Tamil Nadu government impleaded itself in Jaya's plea when she returned as chief minister in 2011.

Both petitions may have abated now, with the death of the petitioners.

Incidentally, Jayalalithaa had demanded it in her maiden Independence Day address as chief minister in 1991.

Both her AIADMK and rival DMK parent have included it as a routine insertion in their election manifestos, since.

They have been even more vehement in demanding the safety, security and fishing rights for the state's fishers, in what tantamounts to Sri Lankan waters.

Yet, what if a hurt DMK or the state government under its care, or even the AIADMK rival or any other citizen, starting with some fishers, moves the Supreme Court, for directions to the Centre for 'retrieving' Katchatheevu, calling its transfer 'unconstitutional', to begin with?

The Centre, while repeating what all Annamalai and Modi have said in public and thus putting on court records their criticism of the Congress and DMK governments in the distant past, would still have to say what it intended to do.

This may apply, technically, to all future governments, whether headed by Modi and/or his BJP, though pollster-predictions are that both would get a third term.

Whatever that be, successive governments, including the present one, especially External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, have declared their adherence to the twin pacts of 1974 and 1976.

The latter modified the earlier agreement to deny Indian fishers their right to fish and dry nets in the tiny islet, guaranteed under the original pact.

So did most of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard chiefs in their times reiterate the official position, though they stopped with the Indian fishers 'illegally crossing into Sri Lankan waters' (leading to their arrests and confiscation of their trawlers and gears).

Today, Indian fishers concede that there are no fish in the Katchatheevu waters.

The Sri Lankan side now also says that the question of Indian fishers having to dry their nets does not arise as they are no more cotton-thread nets, but nylon nets.

But beyond all this is the fact of the 1974 agreement offering India the ownership and exclusive possession of Wadge Bank, a 10,000-sq km area of the Indian Ocean, south of Kanyakumari, which was rich in fish resources and even more of hydro-carbons.

India was known to be slightly/fairly aware of the hydro-carbon potential of the Wadge Bank.

The Government of India, in a less-publicised development, has notified a proposal for allotting three blocks for oil and gas exploration.

There were media reports as recently as January this year about the environmental threat that such exploration may entail.

It is likely -- but there are no records about it -- that India yielded Katchatheevu, to which Annamalai and Modi say, quoting official documents, Nehru 'attached no importance', only in return for the Wadge Bank.

Was it because Nehru had been briefed about the oil potential of Wadge Bank? There seem to be no records, but that was not impossible, given the kind of decision-making apparatus that existed and was still evolving at the time.

There was also the possibility of India's apprehensions about future access for international players for oil exploration in the Wadge Bank.

Indians need to remember that the country acquired expertise in exploration, both in the public and private sector, only decades down the line.

The Indian geo-strategic concern over Wadge Bank would have been even more after the disastrous China War of 1962 and the successful Bangladesh War in 1971, where the nation's Cold War era adversary in the US had despatched the Seventh Fleet with nuclear-powered aircraft-carrier, USS Enterprise, to intervene got stalled by reasons that are not relevant at the moment, now.

Today, the question arises if India is now willing to return Wadge Bank if Sri Lanka offers Katchatheevu back -- or, demands it that way, citing constant political irritants from the Indian side?

IMAGE: Fishing boats parked at the Rameshwaram coast in Tamil Nadu. Photograph: ANI Photo

Going beyond the Wadge Bank, there was another compelling need for India, and also Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, to complete the demarcation of what would soon be titled the 'International Maritime Boundary Line' (IMBL) under the emerging United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982.

In the years after Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956 and independent issues of the kind involving some European nations and others followed in the successive years, the UN was already looking into formulating basic laws in the matter.

India and Sri Lanka needed to out-beat, and at times out-smart, the rest of the world.

Despite India's moral high ground on nuclear power and other geo-political issues giving it an edge in global matters, it did not yet have the politico-economic muscle to get things done in international fora, including UN affiliates.

Less said about Ceylon the better.

As coincidence would have it, if the two nations had followed the median line theory, then they might have left beyond a 'pool' of what could be termed as 'international waters', for which other nations could claim access to.

Or, at least that seemed to have been the belief in Colombo and New Delhi.

It meant that to provide access for non-regional nations to that pool of 'international waters', India and Sri Lanka would have to provide an open access.

Or, that is the 'Law of Easement'.

In the present-day geo-political context, 'rules-based order at sea' is the term.

Suffice to point out that after India commenced work on the controversial Sethusamudram Project under the Vajpayee government -- the case is still pending before the Supreme Court -- the US, yes, said that it would then have access to those waters.

That way, by completing the IMBL demarcation bilaterally and well ahead of the commencement of the UNCLOS, India and Sri Lanka also became the only two countries to have shared between them what could have been 'international waters' -- with access to the US in the Cold War era, and to China, now in the post-Cold War times.

Viewed from this perspective, rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye.

IMAGE: Modi waves to supporters at a roadshow in Rameswaram. Photograph: ANI Photo

For those not in the know, there is already a re-emerging anti-India sentiment across Sri Lanka, covering both the Tamil North and East, and also the much larger Sinhala South.

You can say that a Chinese hand is behind it -- maybe, yes -- but going beyond the competitive Tamil politics against Indian fishers, there is now a larger environmental concern that is being taken up in Mannar and other northern coastal towns, where the Indian infra major Adani, is all set to put up wind turbines.

India is gifting the windmill-farm, replacing China, which had bagged the ADB-funded contract under international bidding.

Across the Sinhala South, too, there is an emerging environmental protest against the Adani windmill farms, just as there was to the Cauvery Basin oil fields in the Gulf of Mannar, two decades ago -- behind which concerned Indians saw a Scandinavian hand.

Independent of that, when an official Indian delegation arrived recently in Colombo for discussions on bilateral energy cooperation, as agreed upon by President Wickremesinghe and Modi in Delhi last year, walls across Sinhala South were plastered with anti-India posters.

It is not clear who was behind it, or who funded it.

Leaving out environmental concerns and playing out their domestic politics ahead of the presidential poll that is due by October, most, if not all southern Sinhala political parties are against India -- and thus the Indian firms that have taken up the work.

Some months back, presidential aspirant and Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya leader Sajith Premadasa had openly criticised the rival Wickremesinghe government for yielding to the Adanis, whom he said were 'friends of Prime Minister Narendra Modi'.

Of course, he cooled down a little later, but does not seem to have given up on it all.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'Neither did I approach the BJP nor did they ask me to join them. It was a natural choice for both of us to make.'

'It was never for me to ask or for them to give.'

IMAGE: Navneet Kaur Rana, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Amravati in Maharashtra, at an election rally after the Supreme Court upheld her caste certificate and set aside the Bombay high court verdict on the same, April 4, 2024. Photograph: Saahil Salvi

Navneet Kaur Rana, a Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi and Bollywood actor, shot into the political limelight in 2019 when she defeated the then undivided Shiv Sena's five-term Lok Sabha MP Anandrao Adsul from Amravati.

While she had contested unsuccessfully against Adsul in 2014 as an NCP candidate, Rana -- who married Ravi Rana, an independent MLA from Maharashtra's Badnera, in 2011 -- turned the tables on Adsul in 2019 when she won the Amravati Lok Sabha seat with tacit help from the NCP.

Navneet Kaur Rana, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and has been nominated as the party's candidate from Amravati to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election, has angered Adsul, who is now with Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and Bachchu Kadu, another independent MLA from Amravati's Achalpur, who is also in the Shinde camp. Nevertheless, she is gung ho about her re-election bid supported as she is now by India's richest political party.

In a multi-cornered contest, Rana will take on the Congress's Balwant Wankhede, the Prahar Janshakti Party's Dinesh Bub, the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's Prajakta Pillewan and the latest entrant in the ring, Dr B R Ambedkar's grandson Anandraj Ambedkar of the Republican Sena.

"The prime minister believes that it is only grassroots workers like me who can strengthen democratic values in rural areas and perhaps that seems to have worked for me," Navneet Kaur Rana tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.

IMAGE: Navneet Rana, then the Independent MP from Amravati, speaks in the Lok Sabha, December 15, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo/Sansad TV

You won the Amravati Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate by defeating the undivided Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul in 2019 when the Narendra Modi wave had swept India. What made BJP choose you as your candidate from Amravati this time?

A sincere grassroots organiser like me doesn't need any reason to get noticed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come to power from the grassroots. He too was the BJP's grassroots worker. Given this fact, I am sure he understands how hard and sincerely grassroots leaders work for their constituencies.

Despite getting elected as an Independent candidate, I did not disconnect myself from my constituents for five years. Despite limited resources my constituents have seen how I have participated during debates on important bills in Parliament, and how I have helped attract big development and infrastructure projects for Amravati. They have also seen how I followed up on all these projects for their successful implementation on the ground.

As an MP, my track record has been clean and my work has spoken for me.

I believe that only somebody who has worked at the grassroots level can appreciate the potential of a grassroots worker like me. The prime minister believes that it is only grassroots workers like me who can strengthen democratic values in rural areas and perhaps that seems to have worked for me.

Also, the ideology what I follow was never far from that of the BJP.

Neither did I approach the BJP nor did they ask me to join them. It was a natural choice for both of us to make. It was never for me to ask or for them to give.

I always made sure that I obey my leaders and follow their command. They have asked me to contest from Amravati so as a disciplined grassroots worker it is my duty to do so and I have pushed myself headlong into the battle.

IMAGE: Navneet Kaur Rana, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Amravati in Maharashtra, with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis and other politicians at an election rally after the Supreme Court upheld her caste certificate and set aside the Bombay high court verdict on the same, April 4, 2024. Photograph: Saahil Salvi

What is your re-election pitch to your constituents in Amravati?

I am showcasing my development track record as an MP for five years is the USP of my re-election pitch. I have brought development projects worth Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion) for the people of Amravati.

Be it the development of Amravati airport or the textiles park here, I have played my bit for bringing these projects to Amravati. Almost 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh (250,000 to 300,000) people will be getting employment in the proposed textiles park in the region which is spread over 1020 acres.

This is one of my biggest achievements made possible only because of the magnanimity of Prime Minister Modi who knows the importance of upliftment of the tribals.

Since the last 75 years, six major road works were pending in Amravati's tribal areas. They had not got permission from the central government before, but due to my efforts we have now got the central government's permission for these six roads and the work has already started. This will be a huge relief for those in tribal areas connect with the towns and cities across Maharashtra.

For the last 75 years there were more than 24 villages which were not connected to the main electricity grid. 12 villages were connected to this grid between 2019 and 2024 and eight more villages will soon be connected to the main grid.

Before I became an MP the narrow gauge Shakuntala Railway Line (which runs between Yavatmal and Achalpur, a distance of almost 200 km, and helps in transport of cotton from this cotton-rich belt) had almost become defunct.

The main task was to get it running and now because of my efforts and the help of the Modi government soil testing work has started to convert it into a broad gauge line.

This is among the other biggest achievement of my five year tenure as an MP from Amravati.

IMAGE: Navneet Kaur Rana, the Lok Sabha candidate from Amravati, meets with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah in New Delhi, March 29, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

But leaders from the three-party Mahayuti like former MP Anandrao Adsul, who you defeated from Amravati in 2019, and Bachchu Kadu are openly campaigning against you.

In fact, the Prahar has fielded its own candidate Dinesh Bub against you.

Wouldn't such an open rebellion by BJP's alliance partners dent your chances to win a re-election?

These leaders are part of the Mahayuti alliance. They are not from the BJP. These leaders should not directly talk to me. Instead they would be well served if they discuss this with my party, the BJP.

When they are part of an alliance then they (Adsul and Kadu) should ask their leaders (Chief Minister Eknath Shinde) about it (why the BJP chose me as their contestant from Amravati).

I believe in the decision taken by my leaders, I bowed to their decision. I have hit the campaign trail and my only aim now is to defeat whoever my opponent is and win Amravati to help Prime Minister Modi achieve his dream of 400 plus seats in this election.

Gadhon ki pehchan toh hoti nahi hai; daudne wale ghodon ki ho jati hai (my opponents are like braying asses and they will be ignored; I am like a workhorse whose true potential has been appreciated by Modi and the top BJP leadership).

But wouldn't such dissidence, just a month before voting, send a wrong signal to supporters of the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti alliance?

The day I got married 12 years ago and became the daughter-in-law of Amravati -- in fact, the people in the tribal areas treat me as their daughter -- I started working for the welfare of the 2,300 villages in my constituency.

There are six Vidhan Sabha constituencies that make up the Amravati Lok Sabha seat and be it any festival like Navratra, Ganpati, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, or be it any motivational function or programme for the youth here, I have ensured to celebrate it with my people.

I have been there for them through the thick and thin; I have brought so many infrastructure and development projects in the area that almost every single person here knows about my work.

Let those who want to create roadblocks in fulfilling Modiji's dream do whatever they can, I can tell you with confidence that the people of my constituency will teach them a lesson and once again vote for electing Modiji as our prime minister for a third consecutive term.

There has been controversy around your caste certificate. While the high court ruled against your plea you have gone in appeal in the Supreme Court where the hearings have concluded and the judgment has been kept in reserve.

When something is reserved by the Supreme Court, then it is not proper for either me or you to discuss such issues.

IMAGE: The Khar police issue notices to Independent MLA from Badnera Ravi Rana and to his wife MP Navneet Kaur Rana after they said they would chant the Hanuman Chalisa outside then Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence, April 23, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

You and your husband crossed swords with Uddhav Thackeray two years ago. What message would you have for Uddhav Thackeray?

Five times before 2019, the Amravati Lok Sabha seat was always won by Uddhav Thackeray's (the undivided) Shiv Sena (Anandrao Adsul had won the Amravati Lok Sabh aseat in 1996, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 in alliance with the BJP.

The fact that despite this historic record they couldn't demand Amravati for the Shiv Sena (UBT) only shows how weak he (Thackeray) and his party have become in their alliance with the Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar<e/m>).

They (SS-UBT) knew that if they had fielded their candidate from Amravati the people here would have demanded answers from them as to why they conspired to jail my husband and me.
'Is it not a fact that all good leaders in the Congress have left the party?

IMAGE: Congress MP and the party candidate from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi greets supporters with party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a roadshow prior to filing the nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections in Wayanad, April 3, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Padmaja Venugopal, the late Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran's daughter, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party made the front pages in Kerala.

After making innumerable phone calls, Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier finally spoke to Padmaja when she was on her way to campaign for her new party in Vadakara, a seat her elder brother K Muraleedharan had won in 2019.

Muraleedharan has moved to Thrissur -- Karunakaran's home turf -- where he is taking on he BJP's Suresh Gopi.

The concluding segment of a two-part interview:

Part 1 of the Interview: 'I Decided Enough Of The Congress!'

Your father first contested in the election as a Congress candidate in 1957. You have also been with the Congress for many years.

Did you feel bad when you had to leave?

My heart broke when I left the organisation. You may remember Achan (father, K Karunakaran) had left the party once. Even then also, I was with the party. But I never uttered a word against Achan or Chettan (elder brother, K Muraleedharan). I also took care of Achan when he was ill. Politics is different from your family.

I did not feel sad at all to leave the leadership, but I was sad leaving the organisation.

Did you discuss your decision to leave the party with your brother?

I had sent a message to Muraliettan. He knew my admiration for Modiji. I used to say if we had a leader like him in our party... I joined the BJP only because I was impressed by the leadership of Modiji.

Your brother said the relationship between you two ended the day you joined the BJP...

My reply to Chettan is, you were the president of three parties! Did I say anything against my brother when he changed parties? No.

My opinion is, you should be able to separate politics from personal life. I don't want to say anything against Chettan.

Will campaign against your brother in Thrissur?

I cannot answer any hypothetical questions.

I can campaign in Thrissur only if the party asks me to. They have so far not asked me to campaign against Chettan.

I have been going to all the constituencies the party has asked me to campaign.

I cannot say what will happen tomorrow.

IMAGE: Bharatiya Janata Party supremo Narendra D Modi being felicitated by Kerala BJP president K Surendran, the party's nominee in Wayanad, in Thiruvananthapuram. Photograph: ANI Photo

You said what attracted you to the BJP was Narendra Modi's strong leadership.

Do you think Rahul Gandhi's weak leadership pulled down the Congress?

I don't want to criticise the party I was with till now or anyone I was associated with. I am not that kind of a person.

I was not asking you to criticise Rahul Gandhi. If you were to analyse his leadership...

Is it not a fact that all good leaders in the Congress have left the party?

Can you name one strong leader the Congress has now? If you can, I will respond.

Yes, the Congress suffers from lack of strong leadership.

When I spoke to Ramesh Chennithala recently, he said what the Congress needed was grassroot level rejuvenation...

It is very true. During the elections, you feel there is lack of cadres to work for you. The Congress has become a party of leaders and not workers. It was not so earlier. There were very few leaders and lots of workers.

On the other hand, both the BJP and the LDF (Left Democratic Front) have strong cadres at the grassroot level today. Both the parties are working hard to make the parties stronger at the grassroot level but not the Congress.

During my father's time, all the senior leaders were in touch with the workers. They even knew the names of most of the workers. Today, state Congress leaders are only interested in creating groups and not strengthening the party.

When you said you were leaving the Congress, did any leader contact you?

Everybody called. (Congress General Secretary) K C Venugopal called and asked whether he should connect me to Sonia Gandhi. I told him, it will be difficult to talk now that I have taken a decision. I was not being disrespectful.

When she was the party president, I had met her many times and I used to share all my woes with her. I respect her a lot.

For the last 4-5 years, she has been unwell. So, you don't have anyone in the party where you can share your problems or woes.

Was Sonia Gandhi approachable?

Yes, she was. You were able to meet her any time you wanted. After her, I have not been able to meet anyone.

You haven't met Rahul Gandhi?

No, I have not met him. You don't get an appointment to meet him. Sonia Gandhi was very approachable, and I had a personal rapport with her.

Most of the time when you go to Delhi, Rahul Gandhi will not be there and even if he is there, he will not meet you. This approach is not just towards me, he behaves the same way with other leaders too. You may remember why the present Assam chief minister left the Congress.

IMAGE: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during a roadshow in Wayanad, April 4, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The same Rahul Gandhi is meeting the public...

Let me ask you. Should he be walking during election time? At a time when he needs to be taking decisions, he is walking. And where is he walking? In Gujarat! What is he going gain walking in Gujarat?

Let him walk in the areas where it will help the Congress. Otherwise, he sould have done this at least six months before the elections. Not now.

People always prefer a party that has strong leadership. Sonia Gandhi was a strong leader, no doubt.

When she left the field, a stronger person in the form of Modi burst onto the scene. Now, there is no one who can take him on.

Are you happy with the BJP?

I am happy and relaxed. I do not have to tolerate others insulting me.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
The Supreme Court on Thursday restored the scheduled caste certificate of sitting Amravati MP Navneet Kaur Rana, holding that the Bombay high court overstepped while re-appreciating the findings of the scrutiny committee, in a huge last-miniute relief that cleared the decks for her to contest the Maharashtra seat reserved for dalits on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.

Pronouncing the order on the last day of nomination for the seat, the apex court set aside the 2021 Bombay High Court verdict on a plea seeking cancellation of her caste certificate dated August 30, 2013 issued by a Mumbai deputy collector who held she belonged to the 'Mochi' caste.

"We are of the considered opinion that High Court inadvertently undertook an erroneous exercise of appreciating evidence in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution and swayed itself into a roving inquiry which was not expected as per settled legal position," a bench comprising justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol said in the judgement.

Writing a 44-page judgement for the bench, Justice Maheshwari referred to the 2012 rules and said the adjudication of caste on the basis of the documents falls solely within the domain of the scrutiny committee which decided the issue after taking note of inputs received from the vigilance cell.

"Having perused the order passed by the Scrutiny Committee and findings recorded by it to reach its subjective satisfaction with respect to claim of appellant, at this juncture, if we look at the whole exercise carried out by high court from the perspective of settled principles of law for invocation of jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution, particularly in relation of writ of certiorari, it leaves us with no scope of doubt that the high court has clearly overstepped by re-appreciating the evidence in absence of any allegation of malafide or perversity," it said.

A writ of certiorari is issued by a court higher in authority to a lower court or tribunal ordering them either to transfer a case pending with them to itself or quash their order in a case.

"The high court ought not to have interfered, especially when the Scrutiny Committee had followed the due procedure under Rule 12, 17 and 18 of the 2012 Rules and that there was nothing perverse about a finding of fact," it said while restoring the caste certificate of Rana.

It asked when the Scrutiny Committee, which is principally tasked with the fact-finding exercise for validation of caste claim, had applied its mind and reached a conclusion, whether a roving enquiry by the high court was required.

"It is well settled that high courts as well as Supreme Court should refrain themselves from deeper probe into factual issues like an appellate body unless the inferences made by the concerned authority suffers from perversity on the face of it or are impermissible in the eyes of law," it said.

It said the writ of certiorari, being a writ of high prerogative, should not be invoked on mere asking and the purpose of invoking it for a superior court is not to review or reweigh the evidence to adjudicate unless warranted.

The bench did not agree with the submission that a person falling in a reserved category in one state cannot be granted benefit of reservation in another state and said this principle has "no bearing in the present case".

It said Rana did not claim Mochi' caste based on her caste in some other state.

"Rather, the claim was for Mochi' based on genealogical caste history of appellant's forefathers. The Scrutiny Committee has verified the claim of Appellant holding that appellant belongs to Mochi' caste in accordance with Entry 11 of Presidential Order as application to Maharashtra," it said.

Shiv Sena leader Anandrao Adsul had filed a complaint with the Mumbai District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, which had ruled in Rana's favour and validated the certificate. He had then approached the high court, which ordered cancellation of the certificate.

Adsul had contended that Rana obtained the certificate using forged and fabricated documents that were acquired using the influence of her husband Ravi Rana, an MLA.

Both 'Chamar' and 'Mochi' castes figure in chapter 2 of "The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) order, 1950. The 'Chamar' caste also figures among the notified scheduled castes list of Punjab.

Mochi is a sub-caste of the Chamar community that deals with leather business. The Chamars usually process the hides, while the Mochis make leather products from them.

Rana, who joined the BJP some time ago, had won the Amravati Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate backed by Sharad Pawar's NCP in 2019. She has been nominated by the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the seat this time.

In its order of June 8, 2021, the Bombay High Court had also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the Amravati MP, saying the records indicated that she belonged to the 'Sikh-Chamar' caste. A division bench of the high court had also directed her to surrender the certificate within six weeks.

Rana, who successfully contested the Amravati (SC) parliamentary seat in 2019, had in her election affidavit said she belonged to the 'Mochi' caste.

The top court had reserved its verdict on Rana's appeal on February 28.
Emphasising the need for a strong and stable government at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed opposition bloc INDIA for spreading canards about the Citizenship Amendment Act, asserting that it is "Modi ki guarantee to provide citizenship to those who have faith in Maa Bharati (Mother India)".

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP candidate Nisith Pramanik (right) during a public meeting ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, April 4, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Referring to the recent incidents in Sandeshkhali, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders surfaced, Modi assured that the "culprits of Sandeshkhali will spend the rest of their lives in jail".

Addressing a mega rally at Rash Mela grounds in West Bengal's Cooch Behar, Modi criticised opposition parties for their efforts to protect the corrupt, asserting his determination to ensure their punishment and promising even stricter action in the next five years.

Urging people to elect a strong government, Modi said for the country to become the world's third-largest economy, there is a need to have a "majboot sarkar" (stable government) at the Centre.

"They (INDIA bloc) never cared for marginalised communities. The TMC (Trinamool Congress), Left, and Congress never cared for the Rajbanshi, Namasudra, and Matua communities. Now that we have brought CAA, they are spreading rumours and lies. It is Modi ki guarantee to provide citizenship to those who have faith in Maa Bharati," he said.

His comments come against the backdrop of a campaign by Opposition parties, including TMC, which has claimed that applying for CAA would turn legal citizens into foreigners.

According to the Citizenship Amendment Act, rules of which were notified on March 13, the government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

The Prime Minister asserted that the world acknowledges him as a strong leader, "who can take tough decisions."

"Modi has taken tough decisions to ensure the country is free of corruption and terrorism. Modi had taken tough decisions to fulfil the aspirations of the people of this country," he said.

"For India to become the third-largest economy in the world, you need to elect a 'majboot sarkar'," he said.

Sending out a strong message to those who indulge in corruption, Modi said, "The opposition alliance is busy indulging in the politics of lies and deceit."

"I am saying remove corruption; the opposition is saying 'save the corrupt.' I will ensure the corrupt are punished, and the poor get justice. In the next five years, more stringent action will be taken against the corrupt," he said.

Hitting out at the opposition bloc, Modi said for six-seven decades since Independence, the country had witnessed only Congress' model of government.

"In the last 10 years, the country has seen the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government. The development that you have witnessed is just a trailer, I still have a lot more things to do for the country. We have to take the country forward," he said.

Mocking the Left-Congress alliance fighting against the TMC in Bengal, he said, "Here, they fight against each other but stand united in Delhi. There, they share the food from the same plate."

In response to jibes from the opposition alliance regarding his family, Modi asserted that 140 crore Indians are "my family".

"The opposition is saying Modi does not have his own family, but the fact is the entire country is my family. The entire country is 'Modi ka Parivar'" he said.

Referring to recent incidents in Sandeshkhali, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders surfaced, Modi criticised the state government for its alleged apathy towards the victims.

Modi said it is important for Bengal's development that the BJP wins the polls and puts a stop on atrocities against women.

"It is only the BJP which can put an end to the atrocities that women face in Bengal. The entire country has seen how the TMC fought tooth and nail to save the culprits of the Sandeshkhali incident. What happened to the women of Sandeshkhali was a result of TMC's misrule," he added.

"The BJP's focus is empowering women. The culprits of Sandeshkhali will spend their lives in jail," he said.

In an apparent dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Modi thanked her and the state government for not creating any hurdles in organizing the rally here.

"I want to express gratitude to Mamata Didi. In 2019, when I came to this same ground to address a rally, she got a platform constructed in the middle of it to make the ground smaller. At the time, I had said people would reply to it. They did answer in the election." The BJP won the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

"Today, she did not do any such thing and I got the opportunity to meet you all. I express my gratitude towards the Bengal government for not creating any obstacles," he said.

Modi urged the electorate to send a stern message to the TMC on the issue of corruption and violence. He said, "The corruption and violence of TMC must end at any cost. They have either stopped the implementation of central government schemes in Bengal or put their label on it."

The TMC dubbed Modi's allegations as baseless.

"Prime Minister was speaking of corruption but the BJP shelters corrupt people. He was trying to fool the masses. This is his guarantee," TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.

Speaking in a similar vein, education minister Bratya Basu said the TMC government has taken up a record number of initiatives for women's safety and empowerment.

"Kolkata has been ranked as the safest city for several consecutive years. If he was so concerned about women's safety, then he should first take action against BJP MP Brij Bhusan, who has been accused of harassing women wrestlers," he said.
The 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the subsequent rules have been brought to safeguard the right to life, liberty and dignity of persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, said a fresh plea filed in the Supreme Court.

IMAGE: Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan celebrate the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, in New Delhi, March 11, 2024. Photograph: Mohd Zakir/ANI Photo

While refusing to stay the operation of the Rules that would give effect to the CAA, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had on March 19 asked the Centre to respond to the applications seeking a stay on the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 till the apex court disposes of the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the CAA.

Meanwhile, lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has moved the top court with an application for making himself a party to the ongoing litigations on the CAA and its rules.

The fresh plea, filed through lawyer Ashwani Dubey, seeks dismissal of the pending PILs of various petitioners including the Indian Union Muslim League on various grounds.

"Applicant respectfully submits that the writ petitions (of IUML and others) challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 are politically motivated and none of their fundamental rights are being violated by the Act. Hence, PILs are not maintainable under Article 32 and may be dismissed to save the precious time of the Court," Upadhyay said in his plea.

"Ever since the CAA came into effect, protesters have sought to intimidate the country by burning trains and buses, pelting stones and attacking police. The propaganda machine on social media has been coordinating to create an image of a nation in flames," it said.

It claimed the truth was, however, totally different.

The anger is "just because a tiny bit of justice was given to minorities of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This can only be called 'protests of entitlement' and definitely not guaranteed under Article 19 (freedom of speech and expression) of the Constitution," it said.

It asserted there was "no religious discrimination" in the law which only makes sure that the commitment made to the persecuted non-Muslim minorities during Partition is fulfilled.

"Article 2 of the Constitution of Afghanistan states that Islam is the religion of the country. There are similar provisions in Constitutions of Pakistan and Bangladesh as well..," it said.

It said the CAA is not taking away any rights of Indian Muslims, contrary to the propaganda being peddled.

"Ground of religious persecution of Muslims is out of question, because all three countries have Muslims as majority. The Act will only bring justice to the people who have been waiting for it for 70 years. It is not targeting anyone and will do no injustice," it said.

India can't open its boundaries for everyone and it is the duty of the government to protect its border, stop intruders, and distinguish between refugees and intruders, it said.

The apex court is scheduled to hear the pleas against the CAA and the related rules on April 9.

The Centre had on March 11 paved the way for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, with the notification of the relevant rules, four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament to fast-track Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.

With the unveiling of the rules on March 11, days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government kicked off the process of granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from the three countries.

The rules came into force with immediate effect, according to a gazette notification.

The hugely contentious law had sparked protests in various parts of the country in the late 2019 and early 2020 over alleged discriminatory provisions.

While refusing to stay the operation of the law, the apex court had on December 18, 2019 issued notices to the Centre on the pleas challenging the validity of the CAA.
Kaitlyn Palik of David City has been awarded a Career Scholars Cooperative Education Scholarship valued at $33,000 to continue her education at Wayne State College.

Palik will graduate from David City High School in 2014. She is the daughter of Jeff and Lori Palik, and Shannon Stemple.

Her high school activities have included FCCLA, National Honor Society, cheer, dance, 4-H, choir, Girls State, BEU Choir at St. Lukes United Methodist Church, and UNK Honor Choir.
Somalian pirates were captured by Indian Navy ships Trishul and Sumedha during anti-piracy operations last week.

'Robust actions by Indian Navy ships Trishul & Sumedha during antipiracy ops East of Somalia on 29 March, 2024 had resulted in successful rescue of FV Al Kambar & its crew of 23 Pakistani nationals,' the navy tweeted.

'All nine pirates involved in piracy were apprehended for further transit to India.

'INS Trishul arrived Mumbai on 03 April 2024 & handed over all nine pirates to the local police for further legal action iaw Indian laws, specifically the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act 2022.

'Indian Navy reaffirms its resolve to safeguard all merchant shipping & seafarers transiting in the IOR.'

IMAGE: The Somalian pirates captured by the Indian Navy on board the INS Trishul. All photographs: Kind courtesy @indiannavy/X

IMAGE: A Somalian pirate is taken in to custody by the Mumbai police. The INS Trishul can be seen in the background.

IMAGE: Mumbai police personnel escort the pirate to the police van.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Congress in Kerala on Thursday rejected the organisational support announced by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI), in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections but welcomed individual voters to support the United Democratic Front (UDF).

IMAGE: A supporter of the SDPI during a protest against the Citizen (Amendment) Bill 2019, in New Delhi on December 10, 2019. Photograph: ANI photo

Addressing media in Thiruvananthapuram, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan said the Congress opposes majority and minority communalism.

"We oppose majority and minority communalism. Support offered by SDPI to UDF is being viewed under these circumstances. Each individual can vote according to their wishes. We wish that everyone votes for the UDF but in the case of organisations, this is our stand," Satheesan said.

He refused to elaborate further.

The SDPI, the political arm of the banned PFI, had on Monday announced its support to the Congress-led UDF in Kerala for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, Congress leadership had said that the UDF has not reached any understanding with the SDPI.

Satheesan had then said many parties were extending support to UDF but it has not held any discussions with SDPI nor had reached any understanding.

The Lok Sabha elections in Kerala will be held on April 26.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others during the Nyay Sankalp Sabha in Mumbai, March 17, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Congress released a list of 17 candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, fielding Y S Sharmila Reddy from Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa and Tariq Anwar from Bihar's Katihar seat.

With the latest list of candidates, the Congress has announced its contestants on 231 seats and is set to field its lowest-ever number of candidates for any general elections since 1951-1952.

The Congress is likely to field candidates on around 320-odd seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a decision that has emanated from its strategy to vigorously contest only on its identified 'targeted' seats. It has identified a third of the total seats that it plans to contest as its 'targeted seats'.

A resource crunch, diffident party leaders unwilling to enter the fray, and the Congress being more amenable to accommodating the demands of its allies in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have contributed to the Congress fielding fewer LS candidates than ever before.

In 2019, the Congress fielded candidates on 421 seats, and in 2014, it was 464. The Bharatiya Janata Party contested 436 seats in 2019 and 428 in 2014.

If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP has announced its candidates for 414 Lok Sabha seats and could contest a greater number than it did in 2019.

The Congress has yet to announce its candidates for key states such as Punjab and Haryana. It has also not declared its candidates for crucial constituencies, including Uttar Pradesh's Amethi and Rai Bareli, which were for decades the seats from which members of the Nehru-Gandhi family contested.

The party is scheduled to announce its three candidates in Delhi, where it has an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, half a dozen seats each in Bihar and Gujarat, and also in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Rae Bareli MP Sonia Gandhi is now a Rajya Sabha member, while there is no clarity yet on whether Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who lost from Amethi in 2019, will again contest from the seat.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is contesting 17 seats as part of its alliance with the Samajwadi Party. The Congress has yet to declare its candidates for the Mathura and Prayagraj seats.

For the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has entered seat-sharing arrangements in states where it would not earlier, such as accepting the SP's demand to contest from Madhya Pradesh's Khajuraho seat. In Haryana, AAP is contesting from Kurukshetra. In Gujarat, AAP is contesting from Bharuch and Bhavnagar.

In Rajasthan, the Congress has announced 22 of its candidates but struggled to find suitable candidates with senior leaders such as former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, and state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra unwilling to contest the polls. Vaibhav Gehlot, Ashok Gehlot's son, is contesting from Jalore.

From Rajasthan's Rajsamand seat, the party announced the candidature of former legislator Sudarshan Singh Rawat, who initially went incommunicado and eventually emerged to announce that he will not contest. The Congress shifted its Bhilwara candidate Damodar Gurjar to Rajsamand and persuaded its senior leader C P Joshi to contest from Bhilwara.

The Congress, which refused to enter any seat-sharing deal with smaller parties in the 2023 assembly polls, came around to supporting them for the Lok Sabha polls. The Communist Party of India-Marxist is contesting the Sikar seat, and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party's Hanuman Beniwal will contest from the Nagaur seat.

From Barmer, the Congress has fielded Ummeda Ram, who quit Beniwal's party, so that he could contest on the Congress's symbol.

After party leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, a tribal face of the party and a member of the Congress working panel, joined the BJP, the Congress has struggled to find a candidate for Banswara-Dungarpur. Sources said it could support the Bharat Adivasi Party.

In Karnataka, over half a dozen of the party's candidates are sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and spouses of state ministers.
The People's Democratic Party and the National Conference -- the two Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners in Jammu and Kashmir -- will be taking on each other on the three Lok Sabha seats in the valley.

IMAGE: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah along with his son Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti at his residence in Srinagar on October 15, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP accused National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah of leaving them 'no option'.

Abdullah, however, hit back saying the PDP was going back on the understanding reached between the constituents of People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) for the District Development Council (DDC) elections in 2020.

Asked about whether the Congress had failed to prevent the situation in the INDIA bloc in the Union Territory, the party's J-K in-charge Bharatsinh Solanki told reporters in Jammu, "We tried our best (to resolve the difference between PDP and NC)."

The goal of the bloc is to eliminate the BJP from J-K, he said and expressed confidence that with the support of the people, it will succeed in its mission.

Mehbooba told reporters here that the NC has left her party with no other option other than to contest the election on the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir.

"They (NC) have left no option for us other than to field candidates and contest the elections," Mehbooba said.

The party's parliamentary board would take a final call on the candidates, she added.

While holding talks with the Congress on seat-sharing in J-K, the NC had made it clear that they will be contesting the three valley seats as they had won these in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The NC left two seats in Jammu for the Congress as part of the INDIA bloc's seat-sharing agreement.

Mehbooba said the need of the hour for the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir was to remain united after the Centre revoked the erstwhile state's special status in August 2019.

"Youth are in jails, we cannot raise our voices, even the family members of employees cannot say anything. There is an atmosphere of oppression here. So, in such an atmosphere, it is imperative for us to stand united," she said.

The former J-K chief minister, however, said the attitude of the NC leadership was disappointing and hurtful.

"When the INDIA bloc's meeting took place in Mumbai, I said there that since (NC president) Farooq Abdullah is our senior leader, he will take a decision (on seat-sharing) and will do justice. I had hoped he would keep the party interests aside," she said.

But the NC took the decision to contest all the three seats in Kashmir unilaterally, she added.

Mehbooba said if the NC had approached her and consulted the PDP before announcing the decision, her party could have decided not to field candidates in the larger interests of Kashmir.

"But, the way Omar (Abdullah) announced the decision without taking us into confidence, and by saying that the PDP has no workers or support so they will not get a single seat, it hurt my workers and broke their hearts," she added.

She was referring to Omar Abdullah's March 8 press conference in which he announced that the NC would contest from all three seats in the valley and will not leave any for its INDIA bloc partner the PDP.

Abdullah, on his part, said he had not 'made any remarks about her party and, therefore, I have nothing to say on this'.

The PDP was going back on the understanding reached for the DDC polls where the parties having won the seats would field their candidates, he said.

"What can I say about this? It is their own will. How can I stop them? We announced candidates for the three seats of Kashmir based on their own formula," the former chief minister of J-K said.

When the DDC elections took place, the NC had asked the PDP that seat-sharing should be done on the basis of the results of the 2109 parliamentary elections but the latter did not accept that, Omar Abdullah said.

"They told us that the candidates will be decided on the basis of the 2014 assembly polls. The decision was made that whoever had won the assembly seat will contest from that seat. So, in this parliamentary poll, the same formula was applied. Wherefrom we had won, we decided to field candidates," he added.

Abdullah said since there was no scope for seat sharing with the PDP in the parliamentary polls, 'we would keep a scope for the assembly elections'.

"But, now if Mehbooba Mufti has decided to contest on all seats, then perhaps she does not want an alliance for the assembly polls as well. In that case, I cannot say anything. We had kept the doors open, but if they are closing those doors, it is not our fault," he added.

On DPAP founder Ghulam Nabi Azad entering the fray for Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, Abdullah said he was surprised.

"I am quite surprised that Azad has chosen to fight from Anantnag-Rajouri-Poonch. I would have thought that if he is keen to enter Parliament, he should have fought from his bastion, his strength in Chenab valley. I would have thought he would have fought the Udhampur seat.

"The fact that he is not fighting from Udhampur and that he is fighting from Anantnag-Rajouri-Poonch, clearly there is (something) more than meets the eye," he said.

Omar Abdullah said he cannot say anything about the reason and under what pressure did Azad come to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Anantnag.

He said the NC has fielded the best and strongest candidate in Mian Altaf Ahmad.

"Whoever is contesting against him, we hope Altaf will win with a thumping majority," he added.

All India Congress Committee joint secretary Manoj Yadav, who was along with Solanki in Jammu, urged the people to teach the Bharatiya Janata Party a lesson for downgrading the state to a Union Territory.

The Congress and its allies will win this election as the people are aware that the BJP wants to hold democracy 'hostage', he said.
Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, hours after being released from the Tihar jail on Wednesday, slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party in a speech alleging it wanted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation to stop free water, electricity and Mohalla clinics in the capital.

IMAGE: AAP MP Sanjay Singh with party leaders Gopal Rai, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and others after being released from Tihar Jail, at the party office in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photograph: Sanjay Sharma/ANI Photo

Singh, who got bail in the alleged excise policy scam from the Supreme Court on Tuesday, also asked the BJP if the prime minister will join the probe if police from the opposition-ruled Bengal, Punjab and Tamil Nadu knocked at his doors.

He said AAP leaders Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain were sent to the jail because they wanted to provide good education, health facilities, free bus ride and Rs 1,000 to women of Delhi.

Singh said the AAP is a family.

Immediately after his release from the Tihar jail, the Rajya Sabha MP met the Delhi chief minister's wife Sunita Kejriwal and said he saw tears in her eyes.

Singh said he will also meet the families of Sisodia and Jain.

He asked the people of the country to be wary of 'dictators' who would bring tears to their eyes, saying Kejriwal will bring smile to their faces and provide good education and health facilities to them.

"If the dictator of the country can hear my voice, then listen, we are the AAP born out of a movement. We are not going to be intimidated by your threats," Singh said in his speech at the AAP office which was packed with a rejoicing crowd of party supporters and volunteers.

"I saw tears in the eyes of Arvind Kejriwal's wife for the first time. Delhi's two cr people will give a reply to the BJP for these tears," he said.

"You sent Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain to jail. Was their fault that they provided free education and health, free pilgrimage (tours) to the elderly, free bus rides to women?" he asked.

Singh thanked AAP volunteers and leaders for fighting against the BJP's 'dictatorship'.

The BJP also wanted to arrest other AAP leaders, including ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and MLA durgesh Pathak, he said.

"I spent time in jail... (Prime Minister Narendra) 'Modi ji kaan khol kar suno (listen carefully)', every leader and volunteer of the AAP stands firmly with Chief Minister Kejriwal," he said.

Singh charged that the BJP meant 'Bangaru Janta Party'.

He was referring to former BJP national president Bangaru Laxman who was convicted in a corruption case.

Singh charged the "biggest corrupt" were given the highest posts in the BJP.

He asserted that Kejriwal will not resign from the Delhi chief minister's post and continue to serve the two crore people of Delhi.

"The BJP is asking him to resign. They are not asking for Kejriwal's resignation, they are saying why does not he stop free electricity, water, free bus ride for women and Mohalla Clinics," Singh said.

He asserted that the AAP will work with more energy and the people will respond to Kejriwal 'imprisonment' with their votes in the Lok Sabha polls.

Kejriwal is in judicial custody till April 15 after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to now-scrapped excise policy of his government last month.
The Maldives still considers India a friend, the tourism-dependent country's economic minister has said while defending President Mohamed Muizzu's stand against the presence of "foreign soldiers" in the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi with Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 Summit in Dubai. Photograph: ANI Photo

Within hours of taking oath last November, Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, asked India to withdraw its 88 military personnel from the country, saying their presence was a threat to Maldives' sovereignty.

During an interview with Turkey-based news outlet TRT World on Wednesday, Maldives' Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed was asked whether Male can be friends with both China and India, to which he responded that Maldives is a friend of all countries, not just the two.

I think the Maldives is a friend of all the countries, not only two countries. We are a tourist country and open to the world. As a holiday destination, we are appreciated by both Chinese and Indians. As far as trade is concerned, both markets are important to the Maldives, Sun.mv news portal quoted Saeed as saying.

Saeed also stressed that Maldives still considers India a friend as he said: Of course, we are friends (with both). What our president, our government and the people reject is the presence of foreign soldiers here.

Muizzu has repeatedly affirmed that no Indian military personnel, not even those in civilian clothing, would be present inside his country after May 10.

While the first batch of Indian military personnel manning a helicopter has left the country, Muizzu said that the troops stationed on the second platform will be withdrawn within the current month. The Indian military personnel operating the third aviation platform will be withdrawn by May 10, he has said.

Muizzu, who assumed the presidency in November last year visited China in January and the two countries have inked several agreements in recent weeks, including that for the supply of non-lethal weapons and training.

Commenting on the dwindling number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives, Saeed said, certain headlines on the issue have blown things out of proportion.

On the question of the decline in the number of Indian tourists in recent months, I think certain headlines have blown things out of proportion. Tourism arrivals from certain countries decline while they grow from others, he said.

For example, China was in the number one spot before Covid. But now it has bounced back. We have flights coming from India on a daily  almost hourly  basis, Saeed said.

These changes are seen as a reflection of a shift in Maldives' ties with the regional superpowers, with the new administration fostering closer relations with China, causing friction with India, the news portal said.

The comments come amid reports of an overall increase in the number of tourists but decline in number of Indian tourists.

According to the statistics by the Maldives' ministry of tourism, as of April 3, of the total 6,20,358 tourists arriving, China continued to lead with 69,028, followed by Russia (63,272), United Kingdom (61,394), Italy (58,613), Germany (48,581) and India (35,378).

A full-blown backlash was directed at the Maldives following derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three Maldivian officials after Modi posted photos and video of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on India's west coast on January 6 on his X handle.

Scores of Indians, including multiple celebrities, cancelled their reservations and dropped plans to visit Maldives, which is reflected in the tourism arrival statistics.

Notwithstanding the #BoycottMaldives campaign by Indians, there has been an overall increase in the number of tourist arrivals in Maldives, especially with more and more direct flights from additional destinations in recent months.

Comparative statistics from the Maldives Tourism Ministry for January-March and up to April 3 showed that there were 4,47,581 tourists in 2022; 5,43,939 in 2023 and 620,358 in 2024, showing a 14 per cent increase in arrivals this year compared to 2023 during the same time.

According to the Maldives Tourism Ministry statistics, over 17 lakh tourists visited the island nation in 2023, out of which more than 2,09,198 visitors were Indians followed by Russians (2,09,146) and China (1,87,118).

The number of Indian visitors was more than 2.4 lakh in 2022 while over 2.11 lakh Indians flew to the Maldives in 2021. The Maldives was also one of the few countries open for international tourists during the pandemic and nearly 63,000 Indians visited that country during that period.

However, for the first two months of 2024, India occupied the sixth spot in tourist arrivals, the Ministry's statistics showed, compared to the consistent first spot since 2020 with Indian tourists visiting the island nation even during the pandemic time.
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday changed its candidate for a second time in Meerut, replacing Atul Pradhan with former mayor Sunita Verma Pradhan.

IMAGE: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav during the party workers conference, in Lucknow, April 2, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

April 4 was the last date for filing nomination in Meerut, which will go to poll in the second phase of Lok Sabha election in the state.

Pradhan, who had filed his nomination on Wednesday, said he accepts the decision of party national president Akhilesh Yadav, who he met in the morning.

In his post on X, Pradhan, who is SP MLA from Sardhana seat said, "Whatever decision national president Akhilesh Yadav ji has taken, I accept it. Soon I will sit with supporters and discuss."

Advocate Bhanu Pratap Singh was replaced by Atul Pradhan.

Confusion also prevailed in Rampur and Moradabad seats, where two candidates filed their nomination claiming themselves to be the SP candidate.

In Rampur, Asim Raza and Mohibulla Nadvi had filed their nomination. Later, Raza's nomination was rejected.

In Moradabad, sitting MP ST Hasan, who had earlier filed his nomination, was replaced by Ruchi Veera.

In Budaun too, party workers have written to the party president to give a ticket to Aditya Yadav instead of his father Shivpal Yadav, who is the party candidate for the seat.

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhury in a post on X took a dig at his former ally.

"Only the lucky ones in the Opposition get the ticket of a Lok Sabha candidate for a few hours! It's the luck of those whose tickets were denied (later with another candidate)," he wrote.

Voting will be held in Meerut on April 26 in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. The last date for filing nominations for the phase was April 4.
Indicating his keenness to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Robert Vadra, businessman and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament.

IMAGE: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi being felicitated by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge prior to taking oath as a Member of Rajya Sabha, in New Delhi, April 4, 2024 as Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, her husband Robert Vadra (left) and party leader Rahul Gandhi are also present. Photograph: ANI Photo

In an interview to ANI, Vadra also targeted Union Minister Smriti Irani, who represents Amethi, saying that people feel they made a mistake by electing her.

Smriti Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi, a Nehru-Gandhi family stronghold, in one of the biggest upsets of the polls.

Almost pitching his candidature from Amethi, Robert Vadra, who has indicated his electoral ambitions earlier too, said the Gandhi family has worked hard in Amethi and surrounding areas.

"They want a member of the Gandhi family returns, they will ensure the person's victory with a huge margin, they also expect that if I take my first step in politics, and think of becoming an MP, then I should represent Amethi," he said.

However, Vadra also said he wanted party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi should become MP first and he can follow her.

"I want Priyanka (Gandhi) to become an MP first and then I feel I can also come...I interact with people and there are MPs from different parties. They (MPs) ask me to come along with their party and ask me the reasons for the delay. They also assure me of their support...so different parties across the country are asking me to come along...I have friendships with a lot of people above the party lines," he said.

Vadra said that the decision on Amethi and Rae Bareli will be taken by the Congress leadership.

"I'm not saying that I will contest from Amethi or Priyanka will contest from Rae Bareli. The decision will taken by the Congress party," he said.

Vadra said he joined hands with Priyanka Gandhi for the Congress campaign in Amethi in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls.

"That's time politics was very different, fear was sought to be created among people. We used to visit sensitive areas at night, put up posters, distributed bags, worked hard with our workers day and night and gave them trust that we are there and they should keep working in their areas and booths. They know how we worked hard and there was brotherhood and love, which is still there," he said.

"The people with whom I worked...outside my office, residence...they send message through social media, they cut cake on my birthday, arrange langar or other service for people because they know I like this. People in the country see that I stay among people, work hard as much as possible for the disabled and blind children and spend all time in charity. I visit on religious tour and they celebrate my birthday and celebrate festivals in my name and distribute among people there (Amethi)," he added.

Vadra was asked if he could be a candidate from Amethi.

He said the person who represents Amethi should talk about the welfare of the people of the constituency, their well-being, security and should not indulge in politics of discrimination.

He said the people of the constituency are very upset with the present MP from the seat.

"They feel they made a mistake as I think she does not visit the seat frequently, she does not think of the progress of the constituency, she thinks how to make baseless allegations, raise questions on the Gandhi family and create noise and misuse her position," he said.

"Gandhi family has for years worked hard in Amethi, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Jagdishpur...there was a lot of progress. When people of Amethi feel that they made a mistake and voted for Smriti and Rahul had from there.....whatever, he had to go to another constituency or whatever..., I feel they want that a member of Gandhi family comes back...," he said.

Congress has not yet named its candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Samajwadi Party.

The Congress election committee in Uttar Pradesh had last month unanimously recommended that members of the Gandhi family should contest from Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha constituencies.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been representing Rae Bareli since 2004. She has now been elected to Rajya Sabha.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Cloudy with showers. Low 43F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy with showers. Low 43F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
Ulviyya Shahin

The Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, met with Yevgeniy Jukov, the Head Director of the Central and West Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Azernews reports, citing the Economy Ministry.

It has been reported from the Ministry of Economy that during the meeting, potential financing opportunities for combating climate change, as well as project proposals and possible partnership directions in the activities and global climate policy framework of the ADB within COP29, were discussed.

The Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, emphasised the successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and the ADB. It was noted that this year marks the completion of 25 years of partnership between our country and the ADB, highlighting the significance of further deepening this beneficial collaboration. The close involvement of the bank in various areas such as environmental sustainability, digital development, public-private sector partnership, energy, increasing the transit and logistics potential of our country, and financing various infrastructure projects was highly appreciated.

During the meeting, information was provided about measures aimed at increasing efficiency in state-owned enterprises and attracting private investments to these enterprises, with opportunities for collaboration in this direction being highlighted.

Yevgeniy Jukov emphasised the importance that the ADB attaches to its relations with Azerbaijan. It was noted that the steps taken in Azerbaijan to diversify the economy and promote inclusive growth are commendable. The official of the institution congratulated Azerbaijan on being selected as the host of COP29 and touched upon the importance of our country's "green development" agenda. It was stated that the ADB is ready to provide technical support, particularly in the development of carbon markets, in connection with COP29.

The parties conducted discussions around the current state of cooperation and mutually relevant issues. Potential financing opportunities for combating climate change, as well as project proposals and possible areas of collaboration in activities and global climate policy within the framework of COP29 by the ADB, were discussed.
Children play near a landmine warning and a Buddhist shrine in New Village Border, Cambodia, March 10, 2005, along the Thai border.

Landmines left over from Cambodias civil war half a century ago still injure or kill some 50 people a year  a sharp decrease from several years ago but still a worrisome issue for farmers and rural residents in the countrys western provinces.

There were about 100 casualties a year from landmines and unexploded ordnance during the decade that began in 2010, according to Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, or CMAC.

That number has dropped by half over the last three years, but challenges remain in provinces that border Thailand that havent been cleared, partly because mines were laid in remote areas years ago that arent accessible by road, he told Radio Free Asia

In some of these areas, people wont know there are landmines until they see them with their own eyes or step on them, Heng Ratana said.

Thursday marked International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, and the governments Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, or CMAA, held a ceremony at a ceremony in Siem Reap.

Unexploded ordnance sit displayed in a land-mine field in the outskirts of Cambodias western city Battambang on Feb. 12, 2009. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)





Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined territories in the world, with millions of landmines and unexploded ordnance that have killed more than 60,000 people since 1970. It has more than 530 square kilometers (204 square miles) that still need to be cleared of mines and ordnance, according to the CMAA.

Left over from war

The bombs and mines are left over from U.S. forces during the Vietnam war, but also include Chinese and Russian mines from the Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s and the Cambodian civil war of the 1980s.

Over the last 30 years, CMAC and other NGOs have found and destroyed more than 4 million landmines and unexploded ordnance. Among them are more than 1.1 million anti-personnel mines, more than 26,000 anti-tank mines and more than 3 million unexploded ordnance.

Most recently, a child was killed when a landmine exploded on March 17 in Oddar Meanchey provinces Anlong Veng district. Two other children were wounded, including the injured 4-year-old son of Beep Mab.

The area was a Khmer Rouge rebel base and has never been de-mined, he told RFA. One boy, a 10-year-old, went to pick up mines from a stream near the foot of Dangrek Mountain and played with them.

Still so many mines

Ly Thuch, the CMAAs first vice president, restated Cambodias goal of finding and removing all mines and unexploded ordnance by 2025.

But that objective seems unlikely to Beep Mab. In his commune, farmers consistently come across mines while plowing their field, he said.

At the foot of the mountain, it is alarming because there are still so many mines left, he said.

Ratana, a 12-year-old Cambodian boy who lost an eye, arm and two fingers to a landmine, poses in front of a chalkboard in a school for landmine and polio victims in Battambang on Feb. 12, 2009. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)





Thursdays CMAA ceremony was attended by officials from a dozen foreign embassies and other international organizations. The enormous effort to demine Cambodia since the early 1990s has largely been funded by foreign donors.

In November, Cambodia will host in Siem Reap an international conference of signatories to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention.

Ly Thuch said in November that Cambodia will use the conference, which has been held every five years since it became international law in 1999, to refocus the worlds attention on humanitarian assistance to victims.

Cambodia looks forward to sharing its experience, he said. Siem Reap, once marred by the presence of these insidious devices, has now thrived after the successful clearance of landmines.

Today, millions of people from all over the world visit the magnificent Angkor Wat temple complex, which stands as a testament to the transformative power of mine clearance.

Increasing casualties in Myanmar

The Mine Ban Convention, signed by 164 countries, prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines.

But the United States, China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Myanmar are not signatories to the treaty.

In 2023, civilian casualties resulting from landmines and unexploded ordnance nearly tripled compared to 2022 in Myanmar, which has seen intense fighting between the military junta, ethnic armed organizations and local militias since a 2021 coup detat.

A report from the United Nations Childrens Fund released on Wednesday said there were 1,052 deaths and injuries across Myanmar in 2023. There were 390 casualties from landmines the previous year, the report said.

Visiting Ukrainian deminers and media view a controlled bomb explosion during a tour to the Peace Museum Mine Action in Siem Reap province on Jan. 20, 2023. (Heng Sinith/AP)





People in conflict-affected areas are at greater risk of fatalities due to their lack of knowledge about landmines, the report said, citing several mine awareness organizations.

A political analyst and former military officer said that both the military junta and the local Peoples Defense Forces have been laying mines over the last few years.

Of course, both sides are doing it, he said, requesting anonymity for security reasons. However, it is the PDFs whom I hold accountable, particularly for their lack of discipline and disregard for safety protocols concerning landmine usage.

RFA was unable to reach junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun to ask for his comment on the report on Thursday.

RFA Burmese contributed to this report. Translated by Sum Sok Ry. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
Critics say the former leader must remain in politics to protect his son, now prime minister.

Senator Hun Sen (C) casts his vote for the president of the Senate during the first meeting of the Senate in Phnom Penh April 3, 2024.

Former Prime Minister Hun Sen was unanimously approved to become president of Cambodias Senate in a move that critics said was meant to protect his son and current prime minister, Hun Manet.

The Senate also approved two senior Hun Sen aides, ex-Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and ex-Secretary of State Ouch Borith, to be his vice presidents. As head of the Senate, Hun Sen will be acting head of state when King Norodom Sihamoni is out of the country, meaning that father and son are head of government and de-facto head of state.

The 71-year-old former strongman led the country from 1985 until last year, when he stepped down to make way for his son to assume the role. Supporters of democracy have criticized the passage of power from father to son, saying it amounts to dynastic rule.

In Wednesdays session all 62 Senators, including those of the opposition, approved Hun Sen as their president, a Senate statement said.

In theory, the Senate is meant to act as a check on the National Assembly, but in practice in Cambodia  where the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, or CPP, is so dominant  it is essentially a rubber stamp body.

The king presided over the first session of the Senate and asked the Senate to protect the national interest, and Hun Sen during the session thanked the Senate and people for their support.

Former Cambodian leader and current Senate president Hun Sen poses with the Cambodian Senate April 3, 2024. (Hun Sen via Facebook)

The overwhelming support has reiterated people's confidence in the CPP which is the only party to guarantee peace, stability and development, he said. As the Senate president, I am committed to lead the Senate to actively work with the national assembly and the government to fulfill their mandates responsibly to serve the country and its people.

Political Commentator Kim Sok said Hun Sen is getting older and should retire, but has to remain active in government to protect his son.

He isnt working to serve the country but to ensure that his son can stay in power, he said, adding that the former strongman still wields a lot of influence.

He doubted that Hun Sen could improve democracy and unite the country.

He robbed the voters will. He cant do that, said Kim Sok. To serve the national interests, (Hun Sen) needs to talk to (opposition leaders) Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to resolve (their conflict) for the sake of the national interest. he said.

The two opposition leaders together founded the now banned Cambodia National Rescue Party. Sam Rainsy lives in self-imposed exile in France, while Kem Sokha is under house arrest as he appeals a 27-year treason sentence that rights organizations say is politically motivated.

Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Hong Kongs television stations, crimped by declining earnings, have looked to fill air time with mainland Chinese-related content to attract advertising dollars from China, in a shift that feeds into a vicious cycle that could further alienate the citys own viewers.

The gradual erosion of press and civil society freedoms in Hong Kong with the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in 2020 and the recent enactment of the second national security law, have all but turned Hong Kong viewers away from the TV stations increasingly self-censored news content, which only worsened their credibility and draw as a media.

i-Cable Communications, which runs the Cable News station that was once regarded for its insights and reports on China, saw net losses of HK$589.2 million (US$76.3 million) for 2023, even though the scale had narrowed by a third.

The company said it was collaborating with the Hong Kong government as part of its commitment to society, to develop programs aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of the government among a public that has been increasingly distrustful of the authorities since the 2019 protests and the subsequent crackdown on democratic figures. The programs included one that raises awareness of national security in schools.

Collaborations with the Guangdong Radio and Television Station to produce a series of programs were also underway to tap new viewers in the Greater Bay Area, a Beijing-designed regional bloc to integrate the once freewheeling Hong Kong into the mainland Chinese fold.

Public credibility of Cable News is seen to have hit a snag at the end of 2020, after i-Cable fired scores of journalists, among which its best investigative reporters for China news who had reported on issues that would have struck Beijings raw nerves, like human rights abuses and the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan city.

Morale and credibility have yet to regain, according to a current Cable News reporter who went by the pseudonym Wendy, evidenced by the current high turnover rate in the news department and difficulty to recruit journalists.

Some reporters left for another TV station because their pay didnt increase. But its also because the degree of freedom now is much lower than before. For example, [in the past] the China team would fly to Beijing to report in-depth. But now most of the reporters in the China team stay in the company to see whats trending on Weibo, Wendy said.

Picking up story ideas for China news reports from Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat has become a staple in newsroom operations. They are relatively safe as the posts would have been scrutinized by Chinese censors within the Great Firewall.

On the other hand, the risks of enterprise news reporting in Hong Kong have risen with last months swift passage of Article 23  the second national security law  which expanded the scope of what constitutes a breach of national security by creating new offenses and increased punishment for offenders.

But the vague language in the latest legislation also increased uncertainties and fear among local media practitioners on what is lawful to report and what isnt. Journalists say the propensity to self censor or even not report is a new normal.

i-Cable TV news journalist talks to the media after being laid off in Hong Kong December 1, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Survival of the biggest

In the past era of cable TV pay channels, Cable News was seen as Cable TVs trump card to attract subscribers. However, in recent years, viewers have turned to other free online platforms for more balanced content, in part because broadcasters are under pressure to self censor in a relatively more controlling regime where company management intervenes to avoid offending Beijing.

The broadcast of Cable News content has since transferred to i-Cables free HOY Information Channel.

i-Cables plight is not isolated. Losses also clouded Television Broadcasts (TVB), the citys big brother in broadcasting, which reported a 5.5% drop in net loss to HK$762.7 million for 2023.

TVB, in which Chinese private equity firm CMC has a controlling stake, said it is also banking on the Greater Bay Area market to boost viewership. Its mainland China operations revenue is increasing, driven by sales from dramas co-produced with the Chinese companies.

To Yiu-ming, a former journalism professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, pointed out that once a TV station loses credibility for its news coverage, it also loses public support, and will have to rely more on mainland advertisers for profitability.

You have all the power, but you have lost the masses. You can definitely decide who will head the news department, but you cannot decide how many viewers will watch your content. Now that the economy is growing slower, there will be less substantial pieces of advertisement available. And if there were, theyd go to television stations with higher ratings such as TVB. Which means, TVB, without the support of Hong Kong viewers, can still survive.

Last month, the Hong Kong government swiftly passed Article 23, which expanded the scope of what constitutes a breach of national security by creating new offenses and increased punishment for offenders.

To Yiu-ming observed that since July last year, TVB's Jade and Pearl channels have successfully landed in the Greater Bay Area, directly obtaining advertising broadcast rights and revenue in the southern Guangdong province. This gave them an edge that others lack.

Translated with additional reporting by RFA Staff. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Janet Yellen says subsidies for Chinese industries are leading to a flood of cheap goods.

China's Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min (2nd R) and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns (R) receive US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (R) upon her arrival at the Baiyun International Airport in southern China's city of Guangzhou on April 4, 2024.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in the Chinese city of Guangzhou on Thursday for a five-day visit that comes amid a growing dispute over a program to stimulate Chinas flagging economy that American officials say could hinder U.S. growth.

Yellen last week accused China of flooding markets for renewable energy production by heavily subsidizing things like electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar panels as Beijing seeks to turn around economic woes by boosting production of export goods.

American officials say the cut-price Chinese exports threaten to kill competing industries in other countries before they get off the ground, but Chinas government has dismissed those concerns as protectionist and accused the United States of using similar subsidies itself.

During the trip, Yellen, who was also chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve from 2010 to 2014, will travel to Beijing to meet Chinese Central Bank Governor Pan Gongsheng, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and former Vice Premier Liu He, a key economic advisor to President Xi Jinping.

Chinese workers inspect a solar panel at the Tianxiang Solar Energy Equipment Factory in Huaibei, east China's Anhui province March 21, 2012. (AFP)

Yellen plans to make clear the global economic consequences of Chinese industrial overcapacity undercutting manufacturers in the U.S. and firms around the world, a Treasury official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity according to pre-set rules.

But its unclear how receptive Chinese officials will be.

Beijing has already largely dismissed the concerns raised by Yellen as hypocritical, pointing to the Biden administrations tax-breaks tied to electric cars, which exclude many Chinese-made vehicles.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday that China welcomed Yellens trip as a chance to properly handle differences and build up consensus. But he also rejected complaints about Chinas subsidization of emerging and green-energy industries.

Speaking at a daily press briefing, Wang questioned whether it is excess production capacity that the U.S. is truly concerned about, or if the United States was just upset its businesses were losing out in competition to China due to the international division of labor.

As for who is engaged in non-market practices, the fact is there for all to see, he said. The U.S. side has adopted a string of measures to suppress Chinas trade and technology development. This is not de-risking, but creating risks. These are typical non-market practices.

Mushroom for improvement

Its Yellens second trip to China in a year, with the U.S. Treasury secretary having traveled there in July last year amid the early days of the rapprochement between China and the United States.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He listens as former President Donald Trump speaks before signing a trade agreement at the White House in Washington, Jan. 15, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP)

During that visit, Yellen told CNN after returning, she mistakenly ate hallucinogenic mushrooms, which she called delicious, at a chain restaurant in Yunnan province called Yi Zuo Yi Wang, or In and Out.

If the mushrooms are cooked properly, which Im sure they were at this very good restaurant  they have no impact, Yellen, who is 77, said. None of us felt any ill effects from having eaten them.

Potential psychedelics are less likely to feature on the visit this time, but after nearly a year of warmer ties between Washington and Beijing, the trip does come as cracks are starting to reappear in the relationship between the worlds two biggest economies.

Beijing, for instance, has raised its strong concerns about a White House-backed bill currently before Congress that would allow the U.S. president to ban popular social media platform TikTok in America if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell the app.

U.S. flag and TikTok logo are seen through broken glass in this illustration taken March 20, 2024.(Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Xi even directly raised his concerns about the bill during a rare phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday, according to John Kirby, spokesman for the White Houses National Security Council.

Xi raised the issue and President Biden responded, Kirby said when asked how TikTok came up during the call between the leaders.

Biden told Xi, he said, that this was not about a ban on TikTok [but]  about divestiture  that this was about preserving the data security of the American people and our own national security interest.

Diplomacy

Yellens visit to China also comes ahead of next Thursdays high-profile visit to the United States by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which is being billed by the White House as the first trilateral meeting of the three countries.

The trio this week announced joint naval drills in the South China Sea amid an ongoing dispute between the Philippines and China over the seas Second Thomas Shoal, which belongs to the Philippines under international law but is part of a vast territorial claim by Beijing.

A delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, also recently arrived back from a trip to meet officials in the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.

Shaheen said on Thursday the trip allowed the lawmakers to see first-hand the threats from China to other countries with claims to the South China Sea, as Chinese coast guard vessels fired water cannons at Philippine vessels trying to resupply a naval station.

The threatening maneuvers [and] the militarization of the islands in the South China Sea are all motivators to continue the cooperation that we have with the countries in the region, Shaheen said, summarizing the take-aways of the seven lawmakers after the trip.

It has significant impacts on not just the potential for mistakes, militarily, that could be misinterpreted and set off a conflict, she said, but also in terms of trade and commerce, and the ability to safely navigate those waters and allow trade to move around the world.

Also on the trip was Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat from New York, Democratic senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Republican senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Local asset exchanges are being shut down amid warnings of financial risks from unregulated products.

A woman walks past the headquarters of the Peoples Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, June 21, 2013.

Authorities across China are shutting down local asset trading centers in an ongoing bid by the ruling Communist Party to tighten its grip on financial transactions of all kinds amid a mounting local government debt crisis in the wake of a burst property bubble.

The closure of local asset exchanges offers a glimpse into the murky world of local government revenues, which has relied on buoyant real estate prices, donations and gifts from state-owned enterprises and governments higher up the chain of command, as well as a network of personal favors and relationships among powerful local officials to stay solvent since late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping kicked off economic reforms in 1978.

Governments in Hunan and Liaoning provinces and Xian and Chongqing cities last week canceled business licenses issued to the exchanges, citing a need for financial risk management, the Securities Times online edition reported on March 26.

Under Chinas current tax sharing system, local authorities get slightly more than half of the national revenue from taxes and fees but undertake around 85% of public spending on things such as social security and education, Bloomberg quoted financial experts as saying in January.

The result has been a system where local governments have been given huge latitude to raise funds wherever possible, making it hard for regulators in Beijing to have a full picture of financial risk across the whole country.

A worker prepares steel bars on the construction site of the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge on Mazhou Island in Jingjiang, in Chinas eastern Jiangsu province, July 14, 2023. (Stringer/AFP)





Many of the asset exchanges being targeted are state-owned, and have been used for the trading of local financial assets including private debt issued by local governments, and more shutdowns are likely on the way, the Securities Times report said.

Theyve increasingly been found to be trading in banned financial products in recent years, financial commentator Zheng Xuguang told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. The majority of their business is in breach of regulations.

[The authorities] see them as causing a lot of problems, including financial risk.

Implicit debt risk

The problem is that many of the exchanges are state-owned and endorsed by local governments, Zheng said.

Theyre completely revoking all of the privileges of these state-backed asset exchanges, which means that the government wont recognize any of their derivative products, he said.

Theyre trying to purge local financing platforms of anything that might cause financial shocks.

The exchanges have also been used to trade in local government private debt, Reuters reported.

Financial regulators in Chinas provinces of Hunan and Liaoning and cities of Xian and Chongqing said in statements posted on their websites about the shutdowns that the moves were part of a bid to resolve financial risks.

The public, especially investors, are requested to pay attention to identifying and preventing relevant risks, choose legal investment channels, and resolutely resist all types of illegal financial activities, an announcement from the Hunan Provincial Financial Administration Bureau on March 25 warned.

At the end of 2023, outstanding local government debt totaled 40.74 trillion yuan, including about 15.87 trillion yuan of general debt and 24.87 trillion yuan of special debt, state news agency Xinhua reported on March 11.

Last June, the National Peoples Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee highlighted significant debt risks in certain cities and counties, noting the ongoing emergence of new implicit debt.

The recent years have seen increased pressure on local fiscal operations due to the pandemic, real estate market adjustments, and other factors, leading to heightened debt repayment pressures in some regions and the continued importance of addressing implicit debt risks, the agency quoted lawmaker Huang Shizhong as saying.

Cap in hand

In a recent book about complex political and financial relationships at the lower levels of government, Chinese scholar Tian Xianhong argues that personal favors, political alliances and active fundraising have been a key driving force in ensuring funds keep on rolling in.

The fact that state power isnt subject to any kind of public supervision means that governments are highly likely to be extractive in nature, Chongqing political commentator Zhang Qingli told RFA in a recent interview.

Local governments have to spend on all manner of things, and have a number of political tasks they must achieve, Zhang said, in a reference to targets set by the ruling Chinese Communist Party and the central government.

When theres not enough in government coffers, they turn to companies [to make up the shortfall], he said.

Plummeting revenues have meant that local governments across China have struggled to pay state-sector employees in recent years.

Meanwhile, local authorities are growing increasingly reliant on money transferred from Beijing to pay for public services, as a drop in tax revenue and three years of zero-COVID costs pushed them further into the red last year, Bloomberg reported.

Transfer payments from the central government to local levels to pay for education, health care and other general spending are expected to hit 10 trillion yuan (U.S.$1.4 trillion) in 2024, the Ministry of Finance said in its budget report to the National People's Congress last month.

Tian Xianhongs book Resilience is based on research he carried out in a central Chinese town in May 2019, and documents local officials going cap in hand to higher-ranking departments, local companies and other institutions for money.

Informal fundraising of this kind, based on a network of personal, sometimes family, relationships and political patronage, is part of the essential toolkit of a local official, Tian concludes in the book.

Get them to pay up

A resident of the eastern province of Jiangsu who gave only the surname Li for fear of reprisals said the scenario is a familiar one to him.

Everyone in rural areas knows that local officials make their money from infrastructure projects, Li said. Whats more, when engaging in rural infrastructure projects, they like to seek out people [from the local area] who have done well for themselves and ask them for help, get them to pay up.

Li said no local official could last long in their job without a network of connections to oil the wheels.

With no connections and nobody higher up to help you, they cant achieve anything, he said.

Guo Min, a former police officer at the Zhuzhou city police department in the central province of Hunan, said even police departments have to engage in fundraising.

Our police department had insufficient funds to investigate cases, Guo told RFA in a recent interview.

One way to solve the funding problem would be to go cap in hand to various enterprises in our jurisdiction, and ask for funding, he said.

Another would be to ask for additional fees from companies requiring specific kinds of business licenses, while fines were also an important source of revenue, he said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Shar Htoo Waw claimed to attack the military headquarters, an air base and the junta chiefs home.

The anti-junta drone squad Kloud Team says it used these fixed-wing drones to attack several junta locations in Myanmar on April 4, 2024.

Rebel groups targeted the juntas military headquarters and air base in Myanmars capital Naypyidaw with 29 drones on Thursday in a rare attack on the military regimes stronghold, according to the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG.

Anti-junta armed groups aligned with the NUG are increasingly turning to low-cost drones in a bid to level the playing field in their conflict with the military, which seized power in a February 2021 coup detat.

The military regularly conducts airstrikes with fighter jets and uses heavy artillery to target rebel positions, often with deadly consequences for civilians.

The NUGs Ministry of Defense said in a statement that at around 9 a.m. on Thursday, the anti-junta Shar Htoo Waws Kloud Drone Team and a unit of the Peoples Defense Force, or PDF, jointly attacked Naypyidaws military headquarters with 16 kamikaze drones, designed to carry explosives and detonate on impact.

Simultaneously, the ministry said, Shar Htoo Waws Lethal Prop Weapon Team and another PDF unit attacked the Aye Lar Airbase with 13 of the same drones. Aye Lar Airbase is used by both military and commercial aircraft.

The NUG  made up of former civilian government leaders ousted in the coup  said preliminary reports indicated there were casualties, without specifying further.

Rudimentary drones

In a statement, Shar Htoo Waws Kloud Drone Team said it carried out the attacks in collaboration with the anti-junta Power of Ababil group and Regiment 3502s Orion Drone Team of the PDF in Bago regions Taungoo city.

It said the military headquarters, Aye Lar Airbase and junta chief Senior Gen.l Min Aung Hlaings residence were its targets.

The statement, posted to Facebook, included photos of what it said were the drones used in the attacks.

The anti-junta drone squad Kloud Team prepares drones for the attack on junta locations in Myanmar on April 4, 2024. (Kloud Team via Facebook)

The fixed-wing drones in the images appear relatively basic, with small motorized propellers on each wing, hand painted camouflage, and rudimentary aerodynamics. In one picture, the drones have small metallic boxes atop their fuselages as they sit, lined up on the banks of a small tributary.

The Mizzima news agency cited an anonymous PDF representative in a report as saying that the attacks were carried out according to the instructions of the Special Operations Department of the [NUG] Ministry of Defense.

Junta claims it shot down drones

The junta said in a statement posted to its information ministrys official Telegram channel that its air defenses had shot down four fixed-wings flying east of Naypyidaw International Airport and three which were intercepted in the southeast of Zeyar Thiri township.

Junta authorities display drones that they say were shot down during the attacks in Myanmar on April 4, 2024. (Myanmar Digital News)

The junta said its forces were able to seize 13 drones, four of which were later destroyed because they were carrying explosive devices.

Photos included in the post show at least nine damaged drones that appear similar to those included in the Kloud Teams statement. One photo shows a destroyed drone with electronic wiring exposed.

The junta statement claimed that there were no casualties or damage to buildings resulting from the attack. It made no mention of the Kloud Teams claim that it had targeted Ming Aung Hlaings house.

Failure to reach targets

Residents living near the military headquarters and Aye Lar Airbase told RFA Burmese that they were unaware of the attacks. They said they heard no explosions or any noticeable increase in security around the facilities.

News outlet Myanmar Now quoted a civilian witness to the attack as saying that the drones were unable to reach their intended targets and had landed at the edge of the airport runway.

Its report cited residents as saying that Naypyidaw International Airport was temporarily closed after the attacks.

Myanmar Now said that Kloud Teams Lethal Props Squad used drones to drop bombs on Aye Lar Airbase in September.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Families were not informed until they submitted visitation requests a week later, activists said.

Junta troops removed Win Thiha (L) and Min Thu (R) from Dawei prison and killed them on March 17, 2024.

Junta soldiers killed two inmates after secretly removing them from a prison in southern Myanmar, activists told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.

Troops took 25-year-old Min Thu and 35-year-old Ko Win Thiha from Tanintharyi divisions Dawei Prison on the night of March 17. Both were arrested under the countrys anti-terrorism act, a set of broad laws that cover many actions related to opposing the military junta.

Since the countrys 2021 coup, civilians and activists have been subject to mass arrests for actions ranging from social media posts to suspicion of participating in or funding one of the many rebel groups opposing the military dictatorship.

A Dawei Political Prisoners Network official, declining to be named for security reasons, told RFA that Min Thu and Ko Win Thihas families were informed of their relatives deaths only after they submitted visitation requests to the prison.

"Min Thu and Win Thiha, with black hoods on their heads, were taken out of prison by junta soldiers, he said. Before they were taken, extensive searches were conducted in the prison. They were taken out of jail and killed after being accused of having things that were prohibited in jail.

In late March, relatives who went to the prison to request visitation were informed by prison officials of the two mens deaths, a source close to Dawei Prison said.

Min Thu was am Islamic studies teacher serving a ten-year sentence. RFA could not confirm when he was arrested. Win Thiha was arrested in February 2022 and sentenced to seven years in prison under Section 51(c) of the Counter-Terrorism Law for production or intention to distribute a weapon and Section 505(a) of the penal code for incitement against the military.

RFA contacted the juntas Prisons Department deputy director Naing Win for comment on the deaths at Dawei Prison, but he didnt answer the phone.

As of Wednesday, 217 political prisoners are serving prison terms in Dawei Prison, according to a report from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
Experts say Beijing orchestrated the visit to conceal its persecution of Uyghurs while trying to expand its global influence.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, July 18, 2017.

A delegation of Palestinian and other Arab politicians praised Chinas policies in Xinjiang during a visit to the northwestern region, sparking criticism from experts and Uyghur rights advocates for not highlighting the plight of fellow Muslims living in the region.

The delegation was led by Bassam Zakarneh, a member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council of Palestine and made up of politicians from Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Jordan and Tunisia, according to a report by the Global Times.

On March 27, Xinjiangs Communist Party chief Ma Xingrui welcomed them to Urumqi, the regional capital.

The goal of the visit, according to a Xinjiang Daily report, was to present a comprehensive understanding of the situation in Xinjiang and convey a narrative of a peaceful and vibrant region to the international community.

Thats in sharp contrast with the United States and some Western parliaments, which have accused China of carrying out a genocide against the 11-million-strong Uyghurs who live in Xinjiang  a region taken over by Chinese Communists in 1949  by imprisoning, torturing and sterilizing those who do not fall into line.

Beijing has denied the claims and said that alleged concentration camps are in fact vocational training centers that have since been closed.

To the visiting delegates, Ma touted the regions development, stability and guarantee of human rights for all ethnic groups, and accused the United States and the West of spreading lies, according to Chinese media reports.

Their objective is to restrict and control China through Xinjiang, Ma was quoted as saying.

See it for yourself

During their meeting with Ma, the delegation praised Chinas creative governance measures and unprecedented progress in economic development, the Xinjiang Daily said.

The delegation head said that people of all ethnic groups live a good life, enjoy full freedom of religious belief, and have smiles on their faces, according to the report, which didnt provide the names of who spoke or any direct quotes.

Women walk past a propaganda slogan promoting ethnic unity in the new era, in both Chinese and Uyghur languages, in Yarkant, Xinjiang region, July 18, 2023. (Pedro Pardo/AFP)





The paper went on to say that the delegation said the United States and other Western nations are smearing Chinas Xinjiang policy and fabricating rumors.

Why not come and see it for yourself? the delegates said, according to the Xinjiang Daily. We will tell more people what we saw and heard in Xinjiang, China, so that Arab countries can better understand the real Xinjiang, China.

But experts on the region said China orchestrated what the delegates would and wouldnt see during their visit so as to conceal the persecution of the Uyghurs.

The visitors should have been allowed to speak directly and freely with Uyghur Muslims living in the region, said Robert McCaw, director of the Government Affairs Department at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Apparently, China wants to reach out to these leftist movements in the Arab world, and China wants to use them as its own propaganda, said Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Catos Institutes Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. The Arab world should not be influenced by China.

Political dynamics at play

China has used such visits to Xinjiang to win over other Muslim groups  and push them away from the United States and other Western powers, experts say. It has also supported the Palestinians, as it seeks to expand its influence in the Middle East.

Ten 10 months ago, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing that he believed the Xinjiang issue, often framed as a human rights concern, was in fact a battle against terrorism, extremism and separatism.

And last August, China invited delegates from the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to visit Xinjiang, in a bid to promote its rosy narrative about the peace and prosperity enjoyed by Uyghurs and blunt international criticism.

China seeks to build consensus and strengthen its global influence, said Ma Ju, an ethnic Muslim Hui scholar based in the United States.

Meanwhile, Muslim nations may be unwilling to criticize China because they need its political support and investment, experts said.

Although some Muslim countries have endured a painful history under Western colonialism, they may be willing to overlook that China has effectively colonized the Uyghur homeland, Ma said.

For them, the primary concern seems to be finding a method to counter the influence of the U.S. and the West, he said.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, a senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

Afghanistan has briefly returned to the headlines as the United States heads toward a crucial November presidential election.

Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for failing to conclude an orderly withdrawal to end the conflict in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history.

In the September 10 presidential debate, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris defended President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. She blamed her opponent, former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump, for concluding the 2020 Doha agreement with the Taliban, which "bypassed the Afghan government."

In response, Trump defended the Doha deal as "a very good agreement." He blamed the Biden administration for losing soldiers during the withdrawal, leaving behind weapons, and not enforcing the terms of the agreement.

On September 8, a new investigative report by House Republicans blamed Biden's administration for the chaotic final withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Representative Michael McCaul (Republican-Texas), who led the probe as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Biden administration "had the information and opportunity" to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government. Still, it chose, "optics over security," he said.

However, the State Department accused the committee of issuing partisan statements, cherry-picking facts, and obfuscating "the truth behind conjecture."

Why It's Important: America's war in Afghanistan -- particularly its disastrous end -- is unlikely to vanish from public memory and from political debates on how the U.S.-led war on terrorism was conducted and how it ended.

Another ongoing probe will likely shed even more light on the war, which lasted for over two decades, between 2001 and 2021.

The Afghanistan War Commission, a bipartisan legislative body comprised of former U.S. government officials with experience of the war, is probing the conflict. Its report is slated to be released in 2026.

Like the 9/11 Commission report, on which it is modeled, it is likely to attract a great deal of public interest and scrutiny.

What's Next: Renewed attention on Afghanistan will likely increase amid the partisan rancor ahead of the November 5 presidential election.

However, it is unlikely to prompt a significant change in Washington's policy toward the country in the short term.

What To Keep An Eye On

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov inaugurated the construction of the Afghan section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.

On September 11, the Taliban held a groundbreaking ceremony for the long-delayed pipeline.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's top spokesman, said Ashgabat will invest in building the pipeline, money that will be returned, the group says, when his government begins collecting transit fees estimated to be more than $500 million per annum.

Mujahid said that the pipeline inside Afghanistan will be built in three phases. The first phase, according to the spokesman, will connect the Turkmen border to the western Afghan city of Herat and will be built within two years from now. It will then begin supplying gas to the energy-starved country. The second phase will extend the pipeline to the southern province of Helmand. In the third phase, TAPI will go through the southern province of Kandahar and on to Pakistan.

The 1,800-kilometer pipeline will carry 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually through southern Afghanistan to Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province. From there, it will go through Pakistan's eastern Punjab Province to Fazilka in India's northwestern Punjab state.

Why It's Important: TAPI has long been touted as a significant regional energy project.

But insecurity in Afghanistan and the lack of international investment has prevented it from taking shape.

Given the Taliban's lack of transparency about significant infrastructure projects, it is still possible that TAPI will remain just a pipe dream.

That's all from me for now.

Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

Until next time,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday.
Supporters of the late Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny gathered to paint a mural in his honor in Buenos Aires, before a face-off with Argentine police who said they had received complaints. Activists told us they believed the Russian Embassy was behind phone calls to the authorities.
TBILISI -- Georgia's opposition calls it the "Russian law." The ruling party insists the bill is simply copied and pasted from U.S. legislation.

But the newly resurrected On Transparency of Foreign Influence bill is, more than anything, a product of Georgia's homegrown struggle for political power. And its return bodes yet another bout of internal political strife, sharper pressure on the government's opponents, and yet more stress on Tbilisi's increasingly fragile relations with its Western partners.

On April 3, the ruling Georgian Dream party announced that it intended to reintroduce the law in parliament a year after large-scale protests forced the party to abandon its first attempt to pass the law. This year's bill would be identical to last year's, they said, except for one change: the term "foreign agent" would be replaced by the more circumlocutious "organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power."

Most Georgians thought that the "foreign agent" drama was behind them after Georgian Dream's humiliating setback last year.

The introduction of the bill just over a year ago shocked Georgians. Its requirements for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and media to declare if they took a certain amount of funding from abroad drew immediate comparisons to the notorious "foreign agent" law in Russia, which has been used by the state to stifle dissent and silence media organizations.

European Union officials criticized the law as a restriction on speech and the media, and given the timing of when it was proposed -- amid a tense process of applying for candidacy in the EU -- the law seemed to be a deliberate sabotage of the country's European aspirations.

Opposition political parties and activist groups labeled it the "Russian law," an epithet that proved effective in getting a wide range of Georgians beyond the usual Tbilisi liberal middle class to take to the streets in March 2023 in protest. Georgian Dream tried to divert the criticism by introducing a second bill, reportedly copied word-for-word from the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, but to no avail.

After days of heated demonstrations -- epitomized by an iconic photo of a woman defiantly holding an EU flag against the onrushing torrent from a police water cannon -- the government retreated and withdrew both bills. It was a rare setback for the party, which has been in power since 2012 and has over those years steadily tightened its grip on every lever of power.

The conventional wisdom was that the party had learned from that debacle and would now be pursuing craftier means of silencing the opposition. So, besides the cosmetic surgery to excise the toxic "foreign agent" label, what has changed? And why might Georgian Dream think things will turn out differently for them this year?

For one, Georgia has already got the prize it was seeking from the EU: a formal invitation, in December 2023, to be a candidate. That decision has lowered the geopolitical stakes, and Georgian Dream leaders may think that with the country's European trajectory on course, at least for now, the protest mood will be considerably diminished from a year ago.

Gaining EU candidacy -- in spite of the government's half-hearted attempts to implement the reforms that Brussels had demanded -- also likely deepened party leaders' convictions that EU officials have a strong tolerance for less-than-democratic behavior. According to this logic, it is better to keep a troublesome Georgia inside their tent than outside, where it could more easily drift back into Russia's orbit.

That likely gave Georgian Dream confidence that they won't be punished for continuing to press on the opposition. Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili displayed this bravado when he was asked about the law's potential for slowing progress toward EU membership.

"The task isn't to move forward on the path of the European Union at all costs now, is it?" he replied. "Our task, the goal of the Georgian people, is to move forward in the European Union in such a way that we do not harm ourselves."

Another factor that has changed from last year: it is now election season. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for October, and while Georgian Dream is likely to face little serious resistance from a weak and splintering opposition, it is nevertheless taking no chances in making sure it maintains its firm grip on power.

The geopolitical rhetoric around the "foreign agent" laws aside, it was always about domestic politics. The NGO sector in Georgia is heavily dependent on funding from Western governments and institutions, and a handful of the organizations are persistent thorns in the side of Georgian Dream. Party officials also say that opposition politicians, via affiliated NGOs, are themselves indirectly funded by the West.

"We see how the inflow of nontransparent money increases in the run-up to the elections in Georgia, and the majority of these funds is directed to supporting radical parties, radical NGOs, and radical propagandist media," the party said in a statement accompanying the reintroduction of the bill.

Making the conversation about the funding of the opposition and opposition-friendly organizations could serve to reinforce in Georgian voters' minds the idea that these figures represent foreign, rather than domestic, interests.

Thirdly, it's also election season in the United States and the European Union. And so "Georgian Dream may think that Georgia is not a priority for the West, and that there will be less pressure," said Kornely Kakachia, the head of the Tbilisi think tank Georgian Institute of Politics. "And frankly speaking, they may be right."

Kakachia said that the reproaches from Western embassies appear to have become weaker recently. "The tone has changed significantly, and it seems the pressure on them was partially successful, and they don't want to antagonize Georgian Dream," he said.

Georgian Dream itself has praised the new U.S. ambassador for being less confrontational than her predecessor, who was a frequent target of the party for her criticisms. (The embassy did not respond to a request for comment by the time this piece was posted about whether they had changed their rhetorical approach.)

Party leaders have tried to mute criticism of the law by pointing out that many other countries, including democratic ones, have laws requiring transparency for foreign funding. Just days after Georgian Dream withdrew its "foreign agent" law in 2023, news broke that the EU itself was working on its own legislation to compel certain organizations with foreign funding to disclose it.

But in Georgia, the ruling party's openly stated intention to weaponize such a law against its political opponents has made it a deeply imperfect advocate for the cause of greater transparency. The EU, in a statement, expressed "serious concerns" about the reintroduction of the law. "Transparency should not be used as an instrument to limit civil society's capacity to operate freely," it said.

When an opposition deputy, in a discussion in parliament about the reintroduced law, called it the "Russian law," the speaker, Papuashvili, cut his microphone off. "This is anti-Georgian propaganda," Papuashvili said, adding that he would continue to turn off the microphone of any other deputy who used the phrase "Russian law."

"Don't lie to the Georgian people," he went on. "That worked for you last year, but it's not going to work this year."
One year ago, Hamas -- the U.S.- and EU-designated Palestinian terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip -- carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, the deadliest in the countrys history.

In response, Israel launched an aerial bombardment and ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas and rescue the 251 hostages taken by the group.

Israel has expanded its war in recent weeks by invading Lebanon and launching air strikes targeting Hezbollah, the armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

RFE/RL spoke to Lior Yohanani, manager of quantitative research at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based independent research center, which on October 7 released a wide-ranging survey of Israeli public opinion after one year of war.

RFE/RL: Can you explain what your study found as to how Israelis view the past year since Hamas's October 7 attack?



Lior Yohanani: Well, I think Israelis still don't see October 7 as an event that's over. Sure, the actual horrific events of that day ended, but Israelis are still living with the consequences.

There are two main aspects to this. First, since October 7, Israel has been in this multifront war that doesn't seem to have an end in sight. And then, of course, there is the issue of the hostages still being held in Gaza. So, we're seeing a sharp drop in people's sense of personal security. Almost three quarters of the public feel less safe compared to before October 7, and that's despite a year of war and some significant military achievements. On the flip side, we're also seeing that most people say their lives have returned to normal when it comes to things like work, media consumption, and family and social gatherings.

Another thing we're noticing is that the Israeli public is giving pretty low marks to all the political and military leaders for the performance since October 7. For example, almost two-thirds of Israelis are rating Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu's performance since then as poor or not good.

RFE/RL: How has Israel's involvement in a two-front conflict, in both Gaza and Lebanon, as well as a confrontation with Iran affected public opinion among Israelis?



Yohanani: It's tough to answer that question, because we're at the point where things could go in a few different directions. In the last few weeks, we've seen a major escalation in the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and just last week, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, which Israel is expected to respond to. In a survey we just did recently, we asked whether Israeli society and the military could handle fighting on two or more fronts for an extended period of time, and the results were pretty striking. Over 70 percent believe that yes, both Israeli society and the military can handle that kind of prolonged fighting. So, while the situation is complex and evolving, there seems to be a strong sense of resilience and capability among Israelis, even in the face of these multiple threats. But of course, public opinion could shift depending on how events unfold in the coming weeks or months.



RFE/RL: Is there support for Netanyahus response to October 7? Is there debate in Israeli society, as well as political circles, over Netanyahus strategic choices?



Yohanani: First of all, it's important to say that the Israeli public has largely supported significant military operation against Hamas in Gaza. That said, the Israeli discourse around the October 7 events, the ongoing war, and especially toward Prime Minister Netanyahu, is very polarized between right-wing supporters on the one hand and left and center supporters on the other.

People are hoping for a future where Israel can exist without constant threats, rather than expecting a harmonious relationship with its neighbors in the near-term."

So, on the left and the center, there is a high level of distrust and suspicion toward Netanyahu and his government. For instance, Netanyahu's apparent reluctance to pursue a deal for returning the hostages in exchange for ending the fighting in Gaza is seen by large parts of the public, even on the right, as resulting from Netanyahu's dependence on far-right, ultranationalist members of his government who refuse any compromise or ceasefire.

Now for a long time, Netanyahu and his ministers argued that only significant military force would lead Hamas to compromise and release the hostages. Now, with military attention and resources shifting to the north, people are asking, where is this massive military force that was supposed to bring the hostages home?

One question we have asked several times since October 7 in our polls is what should be the main goal in Gaza: Dismantling Hamas or bringing back the hostages? And as time goes on, public opinion is increasingly supporting the return of hostages. In our current survey, 62 percent saw bringing the bringing back the hostages as Israel's main goal, while only 29 percent pointed to dismantling Hamas as the primary objective.

RFE/RL: How do ordinary Israelis see the question of the remaining hostages amid the continued protests by the hostages' families?



Yohanani: As I mentioned before, most of the public supports a deal to release the hostages, even if it means ending the war and withdrawing the military forces from Gaza. There's this widespread feeling that we've left the hostages behind, and that's really hitting at our sense of solidarity, which is a deep and fundamental value, I think, in Jewish history in general and in Israel society in particular.

At the same time, the campaign run by the Hostages And Missing Families Forum has become very politicized. Many right-wing supporters see it as weakening Israel. As time goes on, we're seeing more and more harassment of protesters who support bringing the hostages back. There are cases of passersby cursing, even hitting and throwing eggs, at hostages' families. In our latest survey, we asked about the effectiveness of the protests and actions taken by the hostages' families.

Despite most of the public feeling empathetic toward the hostage issue, only less than a third think these actions are actually helping to advance a deal for the hostages' release, while almost 40 percent think they're actually hurting the cause. So, you've got this complex situation where people want the hostages back, but there is disagreement and some backlash about how to make that happen.

RFE/RL: Can you explain the reasons behind the apparent contradiction in views regarding prioritizing a negotiated return of the hostages, or destroying Hamas?

Yohanani: You're right to point out that apparent contradiction. Let me break it down a bit. As I mentioned earlier, a clear majority of the public sees a deal to release the hostages as the main goal. But there is a big gap between political camps on this issue. In the center and left, about 80 percent support the deal for the hostages' release, while the opinions on the right are evenly split. So, for most of the left and center, the fighting in Gaza has run its course. They feel most military objectives have been achieved, and Hamas's military power has been significantly weakened. From their perspective, continuing the fight now only puts the hostages at greater risk.

It's important to know that about half of the right-wing also shares this view of prioritizing the hostages' release, but the other half of those on the far-right thinks dismantling Hamas is more important.

Why? For a couple of reasons.

First, there's a security stance that Hamas must be wiped out and not allowed to recover. There is also a very strong sentiment of revenge, with minimal consideration for the cost, whether it's the lives of the hostages, soldiers, let alone innocent civilians in Gaza. Another significant component openly discussed in religious nationalist circles is the return of Jewish settlement to the Gaza Strip after Israel evacuated Jewish settlements from there in 2005.

RFE/RL: Is there public confidence that Israel will ultimately be able to remove the threat of Hamas and Hezbollah and come out of this conflict with greater prospects for a peaceful and stable near-term future?



Yohanani: Right now, the Israeli public isn't showing a lot of optimism. In our current survey, when we asked people if they're optimistic or pessimistic about Israel's future, we found more pessimists, 48 percent, than optimists, 45 percent.

I also think it's important to note that a peaceful future, as you put it, or peace in general, isn't really a common concept in the current Israeli discourse. I would say the hope of Israelis is that the military actions against Hezbollah and Iran will lead to a situation where Israel's existence isn't in question, and that Israeli military superiority will prevent events like October 7 from happening again. So, it's less about peace in the traditional sense, and more about security and deterrence. People are hoping for a future where Israel can exist without constant threats, rather than expecting a harmonious relationship with its neighbors in the near-term.
Four Israeli soldiers were killed and dozens were injured, seven critically, when a "swarm" of Hezbollah drones hit an army base near the northern Israeli town of Binyamina in one of the bloodiest attacks on the country since October 2023.

Hezbollah is an armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military early on October 14 said the attack took place at an army base some 60 kilometers north of Tel Aviv. It did not immediately provide further details.

CNN had earlier reported that the United Hatzalah rescue service said it had "provided assistance to over 60 wounded people in various conditions -- some of them in critical, serious, moderate, and light condition."

National emergency service Magen David Adom (AFMDA) said at least 67 people were injured in the attack in Israel's Haifa district.

Hezbollah -- which is considered a terrorist group by the United States, although the EU has only blacklisted its armed wing -- claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had launched a "swarm of attack drones" at a military training camp in Binyamina.

Iran-allied Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel but, because of Israel's sophisticated air-defense systems, most have been shot down or have caused little damage and few casualties.

Earlier in the day, angry UN peacekeepers said Israeli forces had smashed into a gate of one of their bases in Lebanon, causing about 15 minor injuries.

"At around 4:30 a.m., while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the position's main gate and forcibly entered the position in the Ramia area," said the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), adding that the Israeli forces left after about 45 minutes.

Israel later claimed the tanks had come under fire when they crashed into the base gate.

The action came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said UN peacekeepers must "immediately" pull out of the combat zone in southern Lebanon and directly addressed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones," Netanyahu said, accusing Guterres of making UNIFIL soldiers "human shields" and "hostages of Hezbollah."

"Mr. Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm's way. It should be done right now, immediately," he said.

UNIFIL is a 9,500-strong mission created in 1978 tasked with monitoring a cease-fire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Forty nations that contribute to UNIFIL said in a joint statement on October 12 that they "strongly condemn recent attacks" on the peacekeepers. The United States and European leaders have demanded Israel stop firing at the peacekeepers, with U.S. President Joe Biden on October 12 saying he was "absolutely, positively" telling Israel to stop.

Fears of an all-out regional war grew as signs indicated Israel could be preparing to launch a direct strike on Iran in retaliation for Tehran's massive missile strike on Israel on October 1.

Biden on October 13 said he had ordered the Pentagon to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and troops to Israel as part of U.S. efforts "to defend Israel."

Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said the system will help bolster Israel's air defenses following Iran's missile attacks. The THAADs are similar to Patriot missile systems but can cover wider areas and require about 95 soldiers to operate, analysts say.

"It is part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months, to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias," Ryder said.

The French presidency on October 13 said President Emmanuel Macron, in a phone call, told counterpart Masud Pezeshkian it was Tehran's "responsibility" to back efforts to lower tensions in the Middle East. The Iranian presidency also reported the call, saying the sides discuss ways to end the conflict but also using heavily belligerent language toward Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on October 13 said Tehran was prepared for a "war situation," although he stated his government desired peace.



"We are fully prepared for a war situation. We are not afraid of war, but we do not want war, we want peace and we will work for a just peace in Gaza and Lebanon," he said while on a visit to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.



Israeli warplanes hit a 100-year-old mosque in a village of Lebanon near the border early on October 13, a day after a marketplace was hit in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.



Lebanon's Health Ministry reported deadly strikes in other areas of the country, including one on a Shi'ite Muslim village in a mostly Christian mountainous area.



Hezbollah said it launched rockets at Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory on October 13 as ground troops conducted incursions into the country's south.

A Hezbollah statement claimed it targeted a "gathering" of Israeli forces in the village of Maroun al-Ras "with artillery shells."

Hezbollah fired hundreds of projectiles from Lebanon into Israel on October 12 as Israelis celebrated Yom Kippur, an important holiday on the Jewish religious calendar.



The escalation comes as Israel is also conducting fresh attacks in Gaza and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month.



Palestinian medical officials said on October 13 that an Israeli strike killed a family of eight and wounded seven others in the central Gaza Strip.



The attack late on October 12 hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing a couple and their six children, who ranged in age from 8 to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken.



Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets in Gaza nearly every day for more than a year into the war with Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the United States and European Union.

The Israeli Army said in a statement on October 13 that forces operating throughout the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours had attacked about 40 targets and killed dozens of militants.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are allies of Iran. Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran's missile attack on October 1, which Tehran said was launched in retaliation for Israel's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killings of a string of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.



Washington believes Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential response to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on October 12, citing unnamed U.S. officials.



There is no indication that Israel will target Irans nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the NBC report said, adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.



Araghchi said there would be "no red line" for Iran in defending its citizens from the potential strikes.



"While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests," Araghchi wrote in a post on X on October 13.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
Mourners in many countries created temporary memorials to Aleksei Navalny after his death in a Russian prison in February. In the Netherlands, activists are trying to honor the opposition leader in a permanent way: by renaming the street that hosts the Russian Embassy after Navalny. They've collected tens of thousands of signatures, though some locals question whether officials in The Hague will approve the politically provocative change.
DUSHANBE -- Qiyomiddin Fakhriddinov, a native of the southern Tajik town of Roghun, has been coming to Moscow to work as a seasonal laborer for 22 years.



He says he has never violated any law and never faced any problem with Russian authorities. Until now.



Fakhriddinov was denied entry to Russia when he arrived at the Vnukovo Airport on a Dushanbe to Moscow flight on April 1.



The [Russian Federal Security Service] officers seized eight people from our flight and took us to a basement for questioning, Fakhriddinov said.



The officers asked me if I would kill for money. When I said no, they told me, Your compatriots killed people, didnt they? They kept us in the basement for eight hours. Then they held us for another 26 hours upstairs and then deported us for no reason, Fakhriddinov told RFE/RL upon his return to Dushanbe on April 3.



Fakhriddinov and the other men have been banned from entering Russia for at least five years.

Many Tajik migrants have been facing -- or threatened with -- deportation, entry denial, beatings, and verbal assaults in Russia in recent days as anti-migrant and anti-Tajik sentiment rises in the aftermath of the March 22 terrorist attack near Moscow.



Nearly all of the suspects in the deadly assault at the Crocus City Hall, including the four men accused of carrying out the assault, are Tajik citizens.



Zikrullo Saidov, a 21-year-old Dushanbe resident, was denied entry into Russia on March 31 and was sent back to Dushanbe along with nine other Tajik citizens after several hours of interrogation at Vnukovo.



We asked the officers why they were deporting us for no reason. We asked for how many years we would be barred from coming back to Russia, but they didnt say anything, Saidov told RFE/RL after arriving back in Dushanbe.

Saidov believes an immigration officer became suspicious when he saw Turkish arrival and departure stamps on his passport. Saidov said he was then extensively quizzed by security officers about his trip to Istanbul, which he insists was for work.

Russian investigators allege that some of the suspected Crocus City Hall attackers underwent weapons training in Turkey.



'Dont Come Back For 10 Years'



A 27-year-old Tajik construction worker who didnt want to give his name said he has always had all his documents in order in Russia to avoid trouble during persistent police raids that target illegal migrants.



But despite his valid work and residency permits, a Russian immigration officer at the Vnukovo Airport put a deportation stamp on his passport this week, banning him from entering Russia for 10 years. The father of two said it happened as he was leaving Russia for Dushanbe to spend a few weeks with his family.



I asked the officers why they were doing it to me. They just told me go home and dont come back for 10 years, he told RFE/RL.



A backlash against Tajiks and other Central Asian migrants began almost immediately after Russian media reported that the terrorist attack was carried out by several men from Tajikistan.

There have been numerous reports of customers canceling their taxi rides if the driver was Tajik. A cafeteria owned by Tajiks was set on fire in the Far East city of Blagoveshchensk, while there have also been many reports of Tajiks being beaten or verbally abused on the streets.



Police raids intensified across Russia in the background of calls by some politicians and ordinary Russians to scrap a visa-free travel agreement with Dushanbe.



There are no official figures about the number of Tajiks being targeted, but dozens of people have reportedly been detained, fined, and deported despite having valid documents.



An Uzbek migrant worker, who gave his first name as Shuhrat, told RFE/RL that police rounded up about 20 Tajik and Uzbek migrants for questioning.



[Police officers] beat Tajiks. They did not beat Uzbeks, but they were rude to us, too, and they insulted us, he said, adding that police also thoroughly checked the migrants phones.



Nothing To Return To



The Tajiks who were deported or denied entry to Russia described it as a financial blow to their families.



Russia is home to an estimated 1 million Tajik migrant workers and others who are dual citizens. Working in Russia provides a lifeline for them as there are not many jobs or other opportunities in impoverished Tajikistan.



Zamira, a Tajik doctor who didnt want to give her full name, says she and all of the other fellow Tajiks she knows in Russia have no plans to leave despite the pressures they face.

Zamira and her husband work at a rural hospital in Russias Ivanovo region, where the couple have built their forever home and made many friends in the local community.



No one has really said anything to my face, but when I see people being angry about the attack I feel guilty, I feel bad, I wish the [attackers] were not Tajiks, I wish it didnt happen, Zamira told RFE/RL by phone on April 3. She said most Tajiks in Russia felt the same.



At least two dozen people from Zamiras extended family work in Russia with residency permits, and some have applied for Russian passports.



None of us is going back to Tajikistan, Zamira said. We will stay here lying low and hoping it will pass.

Written by Farangis Najibullah with reporting by RFE/RL Tajik Service correspondents Barot Yusufi, Mullorajab Yusufi, and Mumin Ahmadi
In November 2022, Russian soldiers abducted two men in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region and took them into a forest, where they were shot in the head and left dead or dying.

The killings of Mykola Khomnikov, 32, and Serhiy Holubenko, 40, are among the dozens of cases in Zaporizhzhya alone of civilians killed by Russian forces in noncombat situations since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian prosecutors,

Investigating these cases is challenging, given the Ukrainian authorities' inability to access areas occupied by the Russian military.

But a new investigation by Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, has obtained internal Russian military records that reveal previously undisclosed details about the killings of the two men, who Ukrainian prosecutors say were civilians with no connection to the Ukrainian military.

Based on these records -- including an internal Russian military report and voice messages from a senior Russian officer's account on Telegram -- journalists learned that the alleged murderer was among the tens of thousands of Russian prisoners the Kremlin has enlisted to fight in Ukraine.

WATCH: With Russia's Defense Ministry recruiting many thousands of convicts to fight in Ukraine, prison populations in Russia have dwindled, leading officials to close some facilities.

The suspect, a military driver named Batraz Slanov, had been sentenced to a year in prison just two days before Putin launched the invasion on February 24, 2022, and within months he was fighting in Ukraine, according to internal Russian Interior Ministry records reviewed by Current Time and Systema, RFE/RL's Russian investigative unit.

The internal Russian military report on the killings of Khomnikov and Holubenko also includes details indicating Slanov attempted to rape a female relative of the two victims.

Lyudmyla Veremiy, deputy head of the village council for the settlement of Novomykhaylivka, where the two victims lived, said other locals had been killed by Russian military personnel as well.

"We know of several cases. For example, a resident of Novomykhaylivka was shot while traveling through the village after curfew," Veremiy said. "We also know about the deaths of two residents of our community who were held captive in basements and then supposedly released -- but their bodies were found in a field in the morning. They also had bullet holes in their heads."

"To tell the truth, I think we will learn of even more such cases after de-occupation," Veremiy added.

'A Bad Incident'

On November 25, 2022, the commander of Russia's 58th Combined Arms Army, Major General Sergei Medvedev, sent a voice message from his Telegram account to his deputy, Vitaly Shopaga, instructing him to report back to him urgently about a "bad incident."

Ukrainian intelligence obtained access to Medevdev's Telegram account and shared its contents with Current Time, which was able to independently confirm their authenticity.

The following day, Shopaga sent a document to Medvedev titled Report On The Murder Of Two Civilians By Officers Of The 503rd Motor Rifle Division.

The report details how Slanov, who was a driver with the division, and several other Russian soldiers had one week earlier visited the homes of local residents in the village of Novomykhaylivka suspected of being Ukrainian military spotters. It says the Russians left the village after finding no supporting evidence.

A few days later, after getting drunk on homemade wine with the same group of Russian soldiers, Slanov decided to interrogate two villagers "with passion," Shopaga wrote in the report to Medvedev, who goes by the call sign Yermak.

Slanov went to the homes of Khomnikov and Holubenko, put them in a car, and along with an acquaintance drove the two men to a forested area in the village. Slanov then "shot both in the head for refusing to confess," the report states.

The report indicates the two victims were killed in the early morning of November 23, 2022, after which Slanov and his acquaintance, also dressed in a military uniform, took Holubenko's wife, who is also Khomnikov's sister, from their home and tried to force her to confess to providing the Ukrainian military with information on Russian forces in the area.

While taking her away, Slanov suddenly stopped the vehicle and ordered her to perform oral sex on him, the report states. After she refused, Slanov passed out, and the woman fled the car.

Slanov eventually returned to his unit and was arrested by the Russian military two days later.

Neither Khomnikov nor Holubenko were Ukrainian military spotters, according to both Veremiy, the village council official, and Mykyta Kovalevskiy, head of the department investigating war crimes at the Zaporizhzhya regional prosecutor's office

"The investigation found that a serviceman of the Russian armed forces abducted two civilians from their own homes and murdered them using automatic firearms," Kovalevskiy told Current Time.

Veremiy described Khomnikov and Holubenko as "typical village guys."

Russian Prisoner Mercenary

Slanov, 34, served in a military formation called Storm, whose ranks include Russian prisoners who enlisted to fight in Ukraine rather than serve out their sentences.

Current Time has reviewed records from a Russian Interior Ministry criminal database showing that Slanov had multiple convictions in Russia, including two cases of theft and multiple drunk-driving incidents resulting in accidents that injured others.

His punishments have included jail time: Most recently two days before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when he was sentenced to one year in a maximum-security prison and a four-year suspension of his driver's license, the Interior Ministry records show.

But just months after the sentencing, he joined the Russian military as a division driver despite his convictions for drunk and dangerous driving.

The most recent record of Slanov in the Interior Ministry's database is from January 16, 2023, for the arrest and subsequent killing of two detained civilians. The record, which does not name the victims, lists the criminal charge as the "murder of two or more persons."

Current Time sought to contact Medvedev and his deputy, Shopaga, for comment on the killing of the two civilians in Novomykhaylivka.

Shopaga responded to an inquiry sent via WhatsApp, writing, "You've made a mistake."

When Current Time forwarded Shopaga a segment of the audio conversation with Medvedev, he deactivated his Whatsapp account.

Medvedev did not respond.

RFE/RL's Russian investigative unit, Systema, contributed to this report. Adapted from the original Russian by Baktygul Chynybaeva
For Pat LaMarche, a call for handmade blanket donations is usually a fall occasion in preparation for the Charles Bruce Foundation board member's annual Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project in December.

Every Dec. 21, the longest night of the year, the Carlisle-based organization coordinates blanket displays to raise awareness of homelessness in places like the borough, the state capitol and the U.S. Capitol.

Now, LaMarche is seeking handmade blanket donations once more, this time for a springtime display at the U.S. Supreme Court.

On April 22, the court is scheduled to hear oral arguments for the Johnson v. Grants Pass case.

Originating in Grants Pass, Oregon, the outcome will determine whether people can be punished for sleeping outside, even when no shelter is available, according to a website about the case organized by the National Homelessness Law Center.

The website said the case began when the city started ticketing people for sleeping in public.

LaMarche said items like blankets, pillows and cardboard can indicate homelessness.

"They're using this sign of need and comfort as evidence of what they've decided [is a] punishable offense," she said.

Early in the morning April 22, LaMarche will lead a team of volunteers to the U.S. Supreme Court, handmade blankets in tow.

"We're going to be there to show support for protecting the status of people who have nowhere to go," she said.

While LaMarche said she applied for a permit to lay the blankets before the court, she said that remains pending and if they don't receive permission in time, volunteers will hold the blankets instead.

It's a visual representation she believes will make the issue of homelessness hard to forget.

"Everyone who's in the homelessness advocacy world, we all know how monumental this ruling could be," LaMarche said. "It could be enormous in the fact that it helps the entire country understand that people who are living outside aren't doing it on purpose."

However, she believes the ruling could also "cement cruelty" by allowing those without homes to be punished.

The impact of the court's decision will be felt around the country, including in Carlisle and Cumberland County.

"I think anyone who is wide awake and paying attention in Carlisle knows there are people who live outside," LaMarche said.

As the April 22 hearing nears, she's seeking donations, volunteers and handmade blankets for the cause.

Handmade blankets can be dropped off at Create-A-Palooza at 11 E. High St. during their open hours through April 21.

Twin blankets should measure 45 inches by 80 inches and family-sized blankets should measure 60 inches by 80 inches.

Anyone interested in volunteering to serve as a "human billboard" during the April 22 event can contact LaMarche at epicjourney10@gmail.com.

Monetary donations can be made online or checks can be made out to the Charles Bruce Foundation and mailed to PO Box 914 Carlisle, PA, 17013.

LaMarche said that after the hearing the blankets will be donated to the homeless and a separate collection will take place for this year's December display.

According to the Johnson v. Grants Pass website, the court is expected to rule on the case by June 30.

Photos: Community CARES Coldest Night of the Year Walk
Hollywood Actor Jason Statham Visits Golden Temple? No, its AI Generated Pic - Fact Check Report

Golden crafted building can be seen clearly behind Jason Statham.

Jason Statham Visits Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar News: An image of 'Fast & Furious' Fame and Hollywood Actor Jason Statham with his wife is going viral on social media with a claim written that the actor recently visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar. In the image, Golden crafted building can be seen clearly behind Jason Statham.

Facebook Page "Carleen A. Jacques" shared the image and wrote, "Golden Temple, Amritsar, India...JASON STATHAM" Rozana Spokesman found the viral claim to be fake as this viral image was AI-generated.

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Investigation

At the beginning of the investigation, we first looked carefully at this picture. We found this image to be fishy. The faces of the people behind Jason Statham look slightly different from normal-looking people. No face is visible in this picture which makes it clear that the viral picture is created with the help of AI.

Afterward, we went ahead and checked this image on hivemoderation.com. This website checks the pictures and gives clarity on whether a picture is created by AI or not. This image received a 100% AI-generated rating from this website.

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Hence, it is clear that the viral image was created with the help of AI.

At last, we went to Jason Statham's Social Media pages and also did a keyword search regarding the claim but we did not find any image or news claiming this visit to be true.

How can AI or Deepfake be identified?

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Unnatural Eye Movements: Look for unnatural eye movements, such as no blinking or erratic movements.

Look for unnatural eye movements, such as no blinking or erratic movements. Mismatches in Color and Lighting: Notice mismatches in color and lighting between the face and the background.

Notice mismatches in color and lighting between the face and the background. Audio Quality: Compare and contrast audio quality and see if it matches the lip movements.

Compare and contrast audio quality and see if it matches the lip movements. Visual Inconsistencies: Analyze visual inconsistencies, such as strange body shape or movement, artificial facial movements, unnatural positioning of facial features, or awkward posture or physique.

Analyze visual inconsistencies, such as strange body shape or movement, artificial facial movements, unnatural positioning of facial features, or awkward posture or physique. Reverse Image Search: Reverse image searches the video or the person to see if they are real or not.

Reverse image searches the video or the person to see if they are real or not. Video Metadata: Inspect video metadata and see if it has been altered or edited.

Inspect video metadata and see if it has been altered or edited. Deepfake Detection Tools: Use deepfake detection tools, such as online platforms or browser extensions, that can flag suspicious videos.

Conclusion

Rozana Spokesman found the viral claim to be fake as this viral image is AI-Generated.

Result- AI-Generated

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Sources: Hive Moderation AI Check Results Rating

Have you come across any Fake/Fishy News? No Worries, Whatsapp us at 9560527702 or Mail us at factcheck@rozanaspokesman.com
Simran Sandhu Controversy: Know Who is Punjab Police Constable Involved in Dancer Girl Row?

Punjab Police constable is involved in Dancer Girl Row.

Simran Sandhu Controversy News: In a recent incident, a Punjabi dancer, namely Simran Sandhu, made headlines for her controversy which erupted after her video made rounds on social media in which she was seen abusing a man who was later identified as a Punjab Police employee. He allegedly threw a glass at Simran Sandhu, during a wedding.

According to information, Simran Sandhu and a Punjab Police constable got engaged in an argument at a wedding where she was performing on stage. It has been reported that the Punjab Police constable has been identified as Jagroop Singh, who is currently deployed at Ludhiana City as a Head Constable.

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However, there has been no sign of him ever since an FIR under sections 294 and 506 has been registered against him.

Reportedly, he was drunk and was asking her to dance off the stage near him and was even abusing her. To this, she also lost her calm and started abusing him. The video sparked a row as it started making rounds on social media.

While a lot of people extended their support to Simran Sandhu, there were quiet a few who were in support of the head constable. In the meanwhile, Punjab MLA Balkar Singh also reacted to the incident.

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MLA Balkar Singh said that it was absolutely wrong to make derogatory comments about a woman who is dancing as it is her profession. Besides, he assured that strict action would be taken against the accused in the case.

(For more news apart from Simran Sandhu Controversy News, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Australia will on Thursday release February figures for retail sales, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Sales are expected to add 0.3 percent on month after climbing 1.1 percent in January.

Australia also will see February data for building approvals with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.0 percent on month following the 1.0 percent decline in the previous month.

Finally, the in China and Hong Kong are closed on Thursday for the Ching Ming Festival, and Taiwan is also shuttered for Children's Day.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The Canadian market ended slightly higher on Wednesday, supported by gains in materials and energy stocks thanks to rising bullion and oil prices.

Healthcare stocks had a good session. Consumer discretionary, and real estate stocks were weak, while stocks from the rest of the sectors ended mixed.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 37.36 points or 0.17% at 22,112.46 after scaling a low of 22,062.72 and a high 22.173.60 intraday.

Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) ended with a hefty gain of 16.7%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) soared nearly 44%, and Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) zoomed 29.6%.

In the energy sector, Precision Drilling Corp (PD.TO) climbed 7.25%. Headwater Exploration (HWX.TO), Tamarack Valley Energy (TVE.TO), Pason Systems (PSI.TO), Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), Crescent Point Energy (CPG.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO), Arc Resources (ARX.TO) and Baytex Energy (BTE.TO) gained 2 to 4%.

Among materials shares, First Majestic Silver Corp (FR.TO) climbed 16.4%. Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO) rallied 13.2%. Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), Osisko Mining (OSK.TO), Methanex Corp (MX.To), B2Gold Corp (BTO.TO) and New Gold Inc (NGD.TO) gained 4.3 to 7%.

Consumer discretionary stocks Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO), Mty Food Group (MTY.TO), Linamar Corp (LNR.TO) and BRP Inc (DOO.TO) ended lower by 1 to 2%.

Technology stocks Copperleaf Technologies (CPLF.TO) and Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) ended lower by 4.9% and 3.4%, respectively. Kinaxis (KXS.TO) and Descartes Systems Group (DSG.TO) also settled notably lower, while Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO), Sylogist (SYZ.TO), Celestica Inc (CLS.TO), Hut 8 Mining (HUT.TO) and Alithya Group (ALYA.TO) moved up sharply.

Indigo Books & Music Inc. (IDG.TO) shares surged nearly 23% after the company announced that it has entered into an arrangement agreement with Trilogy Investments L.P. and Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. whereby Trilogy will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company that Trilogy, its affiliates and joint actors do not currently own for C$2.50 in cash per share.

Vecima Networks Inc. (VCM.TO) gained 5.4% after the company announced that it has signed an asset purchase agreement to buy the cable assets of Casa Systems, Inc. and some of Casa's subsidiaries for $20 million.

On the economic front, the S&P Global Canada Composite PMI edged down to 47.0 in March, showing a slight contraction from February's 47.1, and marking the tenth straight month of slowdown in private sector activity in the country.

The S&P Global Canada Services PMI recorded a slight decline to 46.4 in March, from February's 46.6, falling for the tenth consecutive month.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Natural gas producer EQT Corp. (EQT) announced Thursday its exclusive talks with ICG Infrastructure Equity I to buy Ocea Group, a French water and heat submetering infrastructure provider.

EQT Active Core Infrastructure fund has entered exclusive negotiations for the deal, which is expected to further accelerate the company's growth.

The proposed deal is subject to customary regulatory conditions and approvals including information and consultation of the works council of Ocea. It is expected to close in the second quarter to third quarter of fiscal 2024.

Ocea operates more than four million heat and water submeters. It provides a comprehensive range of submetering services to over 7,000 public and private customers, including installation and rental, reading and data collection, and maintenance and replacement.

ICG Infra, since acquiring a majority stake in Ocea in 2019, had taken a series of initiatives to support its growth in the energy transition, led by CEO Emmanuel Croc.

With the proposed deal, EQT plans to support Ocea's growth in its core submetering and across other adjacent solutions in the environmental, data management and smart housing segments.

EQT said it expects to help Ocea to continue the expansion of its asset and client base, drive growth through capex-enabled sustainable energy solutions and make significant investments in digital customer services.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
UN humanitarians in Gaza have suspended operations at night for at least 48 hours in response to the killing of seven aid workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen.

The move will allow for further evaluation of the security issues that impact both personnel on the ground and the people they are trying to serve, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news briefing on Wednesday.

The UN World Food Program, or WFP, said daytime operations are continuing, including ongoing efforts to get food aid convoys into northern Gaza.

Seven World Central Kitchen staff were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes on their convoy while departing their warehouse in Deir al Balah in central Gaza Tuesday.

The not-for-profit non-governmental organization, devoted to providing meals in conflict zones, has suspended its operations in Gaza after the deadly strike.

World Central Kitchen and other charities have suspended aid operations which has had a "double impact" in the Gaza Strip, Dujarric told reporters in New York.

"This horrific incident highlights the extreme danger under which WHO colleagues and our partners are working - and will continue to work," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in Geneva.

Tedros underlined the need for safe humanitarian access through establishment of an effective and transparent mechanism for deconfliction. He also called for "more entry points, including in northern Gaza, cleared roads, and predictable and expedited passage through checkpoints.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
In a recently conducted phase 2 trial, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Sanofi's (SNY) lixisenatide was found to be effective in slowing down the progression of motor disability, which includes symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, and slowed movement in patients at an early stage of Parkinson's disease.

The drug developed by French drugmaker, Sanofi belongs to the class of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, which is similar to the popular medications Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity.

The study involved 156 individuals across France with early-stage Parkinson's disease who were randomly assigned to receive either lixisenatide from Sanofi or a placebo for one year. Participants continued their standard Parkinson's medication during the study, with one group receiving daily injections of Sanofi's drug and the other group receiving a placebo. Patients taking lixisenatide exhibited minimal progression of motor symptoms compared to those receiving the placebo, with the difference persisting two months after treatment cessation.

However, the use of Sanofi's drug was linked to a higher incidence of gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea in nearly half of the patients and vomiting in 13% of participants.

While the study's results are encouraging, the researchers have indicated that further extensive studies are necessary to ascertain the effectiveness and safety of Sanofi's lixisenatide treatment in patients with degenerative brain conditions, including the duration of its benefits.

It is important to mention that Sanofi removed lixisenatide from the market in early 2023 for reasons unrelated to its safety and efficacy, characterizing it as a decision. Nevertheless, the company supplied the drug for the trial but was not directly involved in the research, which was supported by the French Ministry for Health and Prevention and the charity Cure Parkinson's.

In summary, while the study's findings are promising, it is important to note that further extensive research is necessary to fully understand the effectiveness and safety of lixisenatide in managing Parkinson's disease.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Health News
Russia is and has been for decades a major adversary of the United States. With no involvement from U.S. troops, the Ukrainian army is destroying Russias capabilities, both in terms of forces and armaments. They are weakening a major adversary, and our supporting Ukraine in this effort should be a priority.

Russias attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian structures, including apartment complexes, schools and churches, are in complete violation of the laws of war. In addition to this killing and destruction, Russia has engaged in an orchestrated effort to take Ukrainian children from their parents and ship them to various parts of Russia. This is part of Russias attempt to destroy Ukrainian culture and the countrys cohesiveness, and the action is devastatingly cruel.

If we were to end our military support for Ukraine, we will not only signal to Vladimir Putin that he can continue his aggressive efforts, but also let our other adversaries know that they can do what they want to our allies without interference from the United States. This will be the message to Xi Jin Ping, Kim Jong-un and various tyrants.

Our allies in both Europe and Eastern Europe are continuing to fund the Ukrainian war effort. If we withdraw our support, we will create a rift between our country and them. Keeping this alliance together is of tremendous importance in these turbulent times. And, the United States promised Ukraine, that, in exchange for their giving up their nuclear weapons, we would defend their sovereignty.

While the financial cost of supporting Ukraine is great, the monies we are spending are directly supporting our defense industry and tens of thousands of defense industry workers. And, while the future is difficult to predict, if we do not stop Putin now, what will the expense of opposing him later be as he moves into other Eastern European countries, the Balkans and perhaps the Scandinavian countries. Finlands border with Russian stretches for over 700 miles.

We have seized significant Russian funds, and while the details are foggy, we should be able to use these seized funds to support Ukraine.

Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of the world. If Russia takes over Ukraine, Russia, as they have done in the past, will use their control of Ukrainian agriculture as a weapon.

The most basic American values are the importance of democracy, the condemnation of tyranny and the support of individual freedoms. To turn away from Ukraine is to turn our backs on the principles that have made this country great and made us an exemplar for other countries. We must support these principles around the world, a world which is to a great degree lacking in these principles.

After the alleged assassination of Alexi Navalny, Putins major opponent, one way in which we can show our strongest opposition to the assignation of political opponents is to continue to support Ukraine now.

While some question our support for Ukraine, that thinking reminds me of the oil filter advertisement that had a mechanic, holding a new oil filter, saying, You can pay me now or you can pay me later. We can either fund the war effort in Ukraine now, or we may find ourselves funding a far more expensive effort later.

John J. Capowski is an emeritus professor of law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg.
While pre-facelift Safari and Harrier AT with ADAS gets the highest discount of Rs. 1.25 lakh in Tata Motors April 2024 discounts, Punch gets none

One of Indias leading automakers, Tata Motors, has pitched exciting offers on their vehicles for the month of April 2024. This is in a bid to attract more footfall to dealerships that could translate into purchases. Also, hefty offers are a good way to clear any leftover unsold vehicles from the previous calendar year.

Tata Motors April 2024 Discounts

For the month of April 2024, Tata Motors is offering attractive discounts on both MY23 and MY24 vehicles. Hat tip to Motor Arena for the information. Correlating to companys sales pattern, there are no discounts on Tatas hot seller Punch. Tatas other hot product, Nexon, only gets exchange or scrappage discount and not consumer benefits.

Where freshly manufactured MY24 vehicles are concerned, discounts are in effect with Altroz, Nexon, Tiago and Tigor. Highest discount among MY24 vehicles is with higher trims of Tiago Petrol XT (O), XT and XZ+ trims and Nexon gets the lowest discount. Tata is only giving exchange/scrappage bonus of Rs. 15,000 with Nexon.

Altroz gets Rs. 35,000 worth total discounts with both Petrol MT and Diesel variants. There is a Rs. 25,000 consumer discount and exchange/scrappage discount of Rs. 10,000 on both. However, Altroz CNG and DCA variants get Rs. 10,000 consumer discount and Rs. 10,000 exchange/scrappage totalling Rs. 20,000 discount.

Tiago CNG (MT + AMT) gets Rs. 15,000 consumer discount while it is Rs. 35,000 with higher-spec XT (O), XT and XZ+ trims and Rs. 25,000 with other variants. Where Tigor is concerned, CNG variants gets Rs. 20,000 consumer discounts, XZ+ and XM trims get Rs. 30,000 and other variants get Rs. 20,000. There is a flat Rs. 10,000 exchange/scrappage discount on both Tiago and Tigor.

Highest discounts on MY23 vehicles

Vehicles manufactured in 2023 get higher discounts. Except for Punch, all other vehicles get discounts. Starting with Altroz, DCA and CNG variants get Rs. 25,000 consumer discount, all Diesel variants get Rs. 40,000 and Petrol MT gets Rs. 45,000 discounts. Exchange/scrappage discount is the same Rs. 10,000 for all. Highest total discount is for Petrol MT variants.

Tatas flagship Harrier and Safari (pre-facelift) get the same Rs. 75,000 consumer discount. Exchange/scrappage discount for non-ADAS variants is Rs. 25,000, while it is Rs. 50,000 with ADAS-equipped variants with the highest total discount of Rs. 1,25,000. Facelifted Harrier and Safari get the same Rs. 50,000 consumer and Rs. 20,000 exchange/scrappage discounts totalling Rs. 70,000.

Pre-facelift Nexon is on discount too. While Petrol MT variants get Rs. 55,000 consumer discount, it is Rs. 35,000 with Diesel and Petrol AMT variants. Exchange/scrappage discount is the same Rs. 35,000 for all variants and highest total discount for pre-facelift Nexon is Rs. 90,000 for Petrol MT. Both Petrol and Diesel variants of facelifted Nexon gets Rs. 30,000 consumer discount and Rs. 15,000 exchange/scrappage discount.

Tata Motors still has some stock left for single-cylinder CNG Tiago and Tigor. Those get higher discounts than twin-cylinder CNG variants. While different variants of Tiago and Tigor get different discounts as seen in the charts above, Tiago Petrol MT is attracting more discounts than others.
MUMBAI, India  The Mumbai slum of Rafiq Nagar has no clean water for its shacks made of ripped tarp and bamboo. No garbage pickup along the rocky, pocked earth that serves as a road. No power except from haphazard cables strung overhead illegally.

And not a single toilet or latrine for its 10,000 people.

Yet nearly every destitute family in the slum has a cell phone. Some have three.

When President Barack Obama visits India Nov. 6, he will find a country of startlingly uneven development and perplexing disparities, where more people have cell phones than access to a toilet, according to the United Nations.

It is a country buoyed by a vibrant business world of call centers and software developers, but hamstrung by a bloated, corrupt government that has failed to deliver the barest of services.

Its estimated growth rate of 8.5 percent a year is among the highest in the world, but its roads are crumbling.

It offers cheap, world-class medical care to Western tourists at private hospitals, yet has some of the worst child mortality and maternal death rates outside sub-Saharan Africa.

And while tens of millions have benefited from Indias rise, many more remain mired in some of the worst poverty in the world.

Businessman Mukesh Ambani, the worlds fourth-richest person, is just finishing off a new $1 billion skyscraper-house in Mumbai with 27 floors and three helipads, touted as the most expensive home on earth. Yet farmers still live in shacks of mud and cow dung.

The cell phone frenzy bridges all worlds. Cell phones are sold amid the Calvin Klein and Clinique stores under the soaring atriums of Indias new malls, and in the crowded markets of its working-class neighborhoods. Bare shops in the slums sell pre-paid cards for as little as 20 cents next to packets of chewing tobacco, while street hawkers peddle car chargers at traffic lights.

The spartan Beechams in New Delhis Connaught Place, one of the countrys seemingly ubiquitous mobile phone dealers, is overrun with lunchtime customers of all classes looking for everything from a 35,000 rupee ($790) Blackberry Torch to a basic 1,150 rupee ($26) Nokia.

Store manager Sanjeev Malhotra adds to a decades-old  and still unfulfilled  Hindi campaign slogan promising food, clothing and shelter. Roti, kapda, makaan and mobile, he riffs, laughing. Basic needs.

There were more than 670 million cell phone connections in India by the end of August, a number that has been growing by close to 20 million a month, according to government figures.

Yet U.N. figures show that only 366 million Indians have access to a private toilet or latrine, leaving 665 million to defecate in the open.

At least tap water and sewage disposal  how can we talk about any development without these two fundamental things? How can we talk about development without health and education? says Anita Patil-Deshmukhl, executive director of PUKAR, an organization that conducts research and outreach in the slums of Mumbai.

Indias leaders say they are sympathetic to the problem.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist credited with unleashing Indias private sector by loosening government regulation, talks about growth that benefits the masses of poor people as well as a burgeoning middle class of about 300 million. He describes a roaring Maoist insurgency in the east  which feeds in large part on the poors discontent  as the countrys biggest internal security threat.

Sonia Gandhi, chief of the ruling Congress Party, has pushed laws guaranteeing a right to food and education, as well as a gargantuan rural jobs program for nearly 100 million people. But as many as 800 million Indians still live on less than $2 a day, even as Mumbais stock exchange sits near record highs.

Many fear the situation is unsustainable.

Everybody understands the threat. Everybody recognizes that there is a gap, that this could be the thing that trips up this country, says Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and managing director of the Mahindra & Mahindra manufacturing company.

Private companies have tried to fill that gap, and Tata sells a 749 rupee ($16) water purifier for the poor. Mafias provide water and electricity to slumdwellers at a cost far higher than what wealthy Indians pay for basic services.

For every little thing, we have to pay, says Nusrat Khan, a 35-year-old maid and single parent who raises her four children on less than 3,000 rupees ($67) a month and blames the government for her lack of access to water and a toilet.

The government is spending $350 million a year to build toilets in rural areas. Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement, estimates the country needs about 120 million more latrines  likely the largest sanitation project in world history.

Those in power, only they can change the situation, says Pathak, who claims to have helped build a million low-cost latrines across India over the past 40 years. India can achieve this  if it desires.

In the slums of Mumbai, home to more than half the citys population of 14 million, the yearning for toilets is so great that enterprising residents have built makeshift outhouses on their own.

In Annabhau Sathe Nagar, a raised latrine of corrugated tin empties into a river of sewage that children splash in and adults wade across. The slum in east Mumbai has about 50,000 residents and a single toilet building, with 10 pay toilets for men and eight for women  two of which are broken.

With the wait for those toilets up to an hour even at 5 a.m., and the two-rupee (4-cent) fee too expensive for many, most people either use a field or wait to use the toilets at work, says Santosh Thorat, 32, a community organizer. Nearly 60 percent have developed piles from regularly waiting to defecate, he says.

Conditions are far worse in Rafiq Nagar, a crowded, 15-year-old slum on the lip of a 110-acre garbage dump.

Most of the slumdwellers are ragpickers who sort through heaps of trash for scraps of plastic, glass, metal, even bones, anything they can sell to recyclers for cash. A pungent brew of ripe garbage and sewage blows through the trash-strewn streets, as choking smoke from wood fires rolls out the doorways of windowless huts. Children, half clothed in rags, play hopscotch next to a mysterious gray liquid that has gathered in stagnant puddles weeks after the last rainfall.

Just beside the shacks, men and women defecate in separate areas behind rolling hills of green foliage that have sprung up over the garbage. Children run through those hills, flying kites.

Khatija Sheikh, 20, splurges to use a pay toilet in another neighborhood 10 minutes away, but is never sure what condition it will be in.

Sometimes its clean, sometimes its dirty. Its totally dependent on the owners mood, says Sheikh, whose two young children use the street. Her home is less than five feet from an elevated outhouse built by a neighbor that drops sewage next to her walls.

Since there are no water pipes or wells here, residents are forced to rely on the water mafia for water for cooking, washing clothes, bathing and drinking. The neighborhood is rife with skin infections, tuberculosis and other ailments.

A large blue barrel outside a home is filled with murky brown water, tiny white worms and an aluminum drinking cup. To fill up two jerry cans costs between 40 ($.90) and 50 ($1.10) rupees a day, about one-third of the average familys earnings here.

If the government would give us water, we would pay that money to the government, said Suresh Pache, 41, a motorized rickshaw driver.

Instead, it has issued demolition notices throughout the slum, which sits illegally on government land. Pache, whose home was razed 10 times, jokes that the destruction is the only government service he can count on.

Yet the world of technology has embraced the slumdwellers with its cheap cell phones and cut-rate calling plans that charge a sliver of a penny a minute. Pache bought his first phone for 1,400 rupees ($31) four months ago. Since then, his wife, a ragpicker, found two other broken models as she scoured the garbage dump, and he paid to have them repaired.

He speaks with fluency about the different plans offered by Tata, Reliance and Idea that cost him a total of 300 rupees ($6.70) a month. Now, when his rickshaw breaks down, he can alert his wife with a call. She uses her phone to tell the recyclers where she is in the dump so they can drive out to her, saving her the time and effort of dragging her bag of scraps to them.

Mohan Singh, a 58-year-old bicycle repairman, says his son uses their 2,000 rupee ($45) Orpat phone to play music and talk to relatives. Thorat, the community organizer, shows photographs of his neighborhood and videos of a pre-school he started on his Nokia cameraphone, while his second phone rings in his pocket. Sushila Paten, who teaches at the pre-school, organizes a phone chain with her Samsung to instantly mobilize hundreds of people in the streets when violent thugs show up demanding rent from the squatters.

In fact, the spread of cell phones may end up bringing toilets.

R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director of Tata Sons, one of Indias most revered companies, says the rising aspirations of the poor, buttressed by their growing access to communications and information, will put tremendous pressure on the government to start delivering.

People already are starting to challenge local officials who for generations answered to no one, he says.

I think there are very, very dramatic changes happening, he says.
The Edgar Shannon Library at the University of Virginia, formerly Alderman Library, will begin its grand opening with an open house from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday. The open house will include interactive demonstrations, virtual reality, special displays of library collections and other offerings.

At 4 p.m. Thursday, there will be remarks by University librarian John Unsworth, UVa President Jim Ryan, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, Vice Rector Carlos Brown, professor Larry Sabato; professor emeritus Jerome McGann and Lois Shannon, a member of the Shannon family.

The public is welcome at a reception at 5 p.m. in the Z Society Reading Room on the second floor. Refreshments will be provided.

New Dominion Bookshop will present a book reading and signing with author, spoken-word artist and hip-hop educator Tony Keith Jr. at 7 p.m. Saturday. He will read from How the Boogeyman Became a Poet, his new memoir in verse, which was released from Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins in February.

The event is co-sponsored by Flux Poetry and Spoken Word.

Keiths young-adult memoir traces his journey from a closeted gay Black teen fighting racism, poverty and homophobia to an openly gay first-generation college student who discovers freedom in poetry.

The bookshop staff recommends arriving early to get the best seating.

Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will present its Spring Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday through April 14 at 300 Albemarle Square at Albemarle Square Shopping Center.

A pre-sale is set for 5 to 7 p.m. Friday for JMRL members. Memberships are available online at jmrlfriends.org, and they can be purchased or renewed at the door.

Scanners will not be allowed at the pre-sale or between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.

Half-price days will be April 13 and 14.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit JMRL, which serves Charlottesville and Albemarle, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties.

Revalation Vineyards will welcome veterinarian Dr. Melinda McCall, author of the memoir Driving Home Naked, at 5:30 p.m. Friday. McCall will share stories from her career as a veterinarian in Louisa County and participate in question-and-answer time with the audience.

There will be a selection of Revalation wines and non-alcoholic verjus.

McCall was raised on a dairy farm in Southwest Virginia, and she has cared for animals in 15 Central Virginia counties. She lives in Louisa with her daughter and their border collie, Cap.

Bluebird + Co. will present an author event with Earl Swift, who will speak about his new book, Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of Americas Second Slavery, at 4 p.m. Sunday at 5792 Three Notchd Road in Crozet. Light refreshments will be served.

Swifts new work of narrative nonfiction tells the story of 11 Black farmhands who were killed on a Georgia plantation in 1921. The case exposed the existence of the peonage system, a form of legal enslavement created after the Civil War.

Among Swifts other books are Chesapeake Requiem, Across the Airless Wilds, Auto Biography, The Big Roads and Journey on the James.

The event is free, but reservations are required at www.bluebirdcrozet.com.

The Creative Writing Program at the University of Virginia will present a poetry reading by Matthew Olzmann at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Commonwealth Room at Newcomb Hall. Olzmann will read from poetry he wrote during his time as Rea Visiting Writer in Poetry.

Olzmann is the author of Constellation Route and two previous poetry collections, Mezzanines and Contradictions in the Design. He is senior lecturer of creative writing at Dartmouth College and teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
A group of scientists at the George Mason University College of Science are calling the wildfires that swept through Central Virginia last month a wake-up call for the commonwealth and the entire Eastern Seaboard.

They warn wildfires that are a regular occurrence in the West will become more frequent along the U.S. East Coast in the decades to come.

There have been few wildfires in Virginia over the last two decades, but the risk of wildfires has been increasing due to extreme weather and climate events caused by climate change, John Qu, director of GMUs Environmental Science and Technology Center, said in a statement issued by the college.

In the case of the Page and Shenandoah county wildfires, swift actions from emergency managers and first responders, complemented by fortunate rainfall, helped dodge a dire outcome, said Alireza Ermagun, director of the Mobility Observatory and Data Analytics Lab and an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science.

Nevertheless, the fires brought severe air pollution to northwestern Virginia, said Daniel Tong, associate professor of atmospheric chemistry and aerosols in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences.

The scientists said this alarm bell points to the need for building resilience, solidifying emergency preparedness and planning for evacuation, particularly for vulnerable populations including those with disabilities or without private transportation. Early detection measures will help, as will making the population more aware of this increasing threat.
Ulviyya Shahin

The manufacturer of composite facade panels from Novosibirsk (Russian Federation) is constructing a modern factory in the Alat Free Economic Zone, Azernews reports, citing Ruslan Mirsayapov, the commercial representative of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan, saying as at the roundtable discussion on Cooperation in the Production of Construction Materials between Russia and Azerbaijan. Export of Russian Manufacturers' Products to the Azerbaijani Market.

According to him, additionally, the UHOM construction hypermarket project is being implemented by a member of the business club of the Russian trade representation in Azerbaijan.

"Mutual cooperation in the production and supply of construction materials is very important because the volume of industrial production and civil construction is increasing in the republic. Significant projects are being implemented in the Garabagh economic region, where Russian-made products are also used," - added R. Mirsayapov.

The Alat FEZ is situated in the Alat settlement, which is part of the Garadagh district in the Absheron district, Azerbaijan. It occupies a strategic location near the Caspian Sea and is close to major transportation routes, including the Baku International Sea Trade Port.

The Alat FEZ was established to promote economic development, attract foreign investment, and stimulate trade and manufacturing activities in Azerbaijan. It was created as part of the country's efforts to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil and gas revenues.

The Alat FEZ is part of larger development initiatives in Azerbaijan, including the construction of the Alat International Logistics Center and the Alat Free Trade Zone. These projects aim to create a vibrant economic hub in the region and attract investment from both domestic and foreign sources.

Overall, the Alat Free Economic Zone plays a crucial role in Azerbaijan's economic development strategy, offering favorable conditions for businesses to invest, operate, and participate in global trade activities.
A new film produced by Oregon State University is shining a light on the career of former National Geographic editor-in-chief and photojournalist Chris Johns.

The film "The Wonder and the Worry" will make its Northwest premiere at the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts later this month and chronicles the OSU alum's tenure at the iconic magazine.

But at the heart of the film is a generational discussion between Johns and his daughter Louise Johns, a photojournalist navigating an industry thats evolved since her father first began globe-trotting for striking front-page images.

The project allowed both father and daughter to reflect on how photography and journalism shaped their lives. It's also allowed Louise Johns to reflect on how her father shaped her.

It wasnt like I was a little girl running around with a camera in my hands, wanting to be a photographer, she told Mid-Valley Media over the phone from her home in Montana. It was more just experiencing his life, and through osmosis being a part of that world.

Project's origins

The films director David Baker became drawn to telling a story about that world, the world of photojournalism, during the pandemic.

Baker  the director of Oregon State Productions, which produces content for the university  invited Chris Johns to an online workshop he was hosting at the time for OSU students to deliver a lecture on finding subjects for documentaries.

As a self-proclaimed National Geographic nerd with magazine covers from the 1970s, '80s and '90s seared into his brain, Baker soon realized he had found a subject in Johns.

But while originally intended as a profile piece, the film soon evolved to encompass not only Johns tenure as editor-in-chief of National Geographic, which overlapped with the magazines shift from a nonprofit to a for-profit enterprise, but also his relationship with his daughter and her photography.

The story of the twos differing paths within the same field is one Baker believed would resonate strongly with aspiring journalism students.

The documentarys production was itself like a photography workshop for Baker and others on the production team, which included five OSU alums working as cinematographers and an OSU student who wrote and performed the films ending credits song.

For Chris Johns, part of the allure of the project was being able to collaborate with his alma mater.

Humble beginnings

A Future Farmers of America student who grew up in Southern Oregon, Johns originally wanted to be a veterinarian and was majoring in agriculture before taking what proved to be a life-changing class under journalism professor Ron Lovell at OSU.

Johns later landed an internship at the Corvallis Gazette-Times and then a job at the Albany Democrat-Herald during his senior year in 1974.

In fact, it was at the Herald (if we may toot our own trumpet) that Johns said he first found his photojournalistic voice.

While covering the Linn County Fair and searching through barns for a front page-worthy photo, he stumbled upon a 9-year-old boy parting ways with a lamb at a livestock show.

Understanding how emotional it was to bid farewell to an animal youve cared for since birth, Johns met eyes with the boy's parents for an approving look and then went in for a shot to capture the tender moment.

It was really the first good picture I made in my life, he said.

Johns, who also teaches journalism at OSU, said he regularly shares that photo and the story behind it with students, encouraging them to find their own journalistic voice.

According to Baker, the documentarys exploration of Johnss humble beginnings offers inspiration to aspiring photojournalists, especially at a time of continued upheaval in the media industry.

Finding hope

The film also explores Louise Johnss career as a freelance photographer, which contrasts with the more traditional career arc followed by her father.

Louise Johns, who discovered her love for photojournalism in college, said freelancing has allowed her to stay close to home in Bozeman, Montana, near the border of Yellowstone National Park.

There, she lives amid the ongoing story about the collision of humans and wildlife, and reports on how people and animals coexist in an increasingly fraught world. Her photos have appeared in publications like the New York Times, Washington Post and High-Country News.

Today there are many different roads to a fulfilling photojournalism career, she said, and more ways to showcase ones portfolio, whether that's through social media or an art gallery.

Theres a lot of freedom in the work I do now, she said.

And while the budgets no longer exist for the kind of in-the-field reporting her father used to perform at National Geographic, both she and her father see hope for the kind of journalistic storytelling that uplifts voices.

For Baker, the documentary captures that sentiment.

Students and storytellers of the future can do this kind work, he said. Its hard and its different, but they can find a way.

The Wonder and the Worry will premiere in Corvallis at the Patricia Valian Reser Center, with 7 p.m. showings on April 17 and 18. The event will also feature a National Geographic photo exhibition hosted by Chris and Louise Johns in the lobby at 6 p.m.

Tickets for the general public are $10, and $5 for students, and can be purchased online.

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Jeff Schroeder. Photo: Supplied.

An aerial view of Vern Kulman's farm. Photo: Courtesy of Vern Kulman.

Armada Grain

A view of the Romeo Lavender Farm in Bruce Township. Photo: Courtesy of Nick Batsikouras.

LAVENDER VISITOR: A customer with her dog visiting Romeo Lavender Farm in Bruce Township, Michigan. Photo: Courtesy of Nick Batsikouras.
Writer Mark Wedel at a charging station at the Fetzer Institute's GilChrist Retreat Center in Three Rivers.

Matthew Hollander of Hollander Development Corporation stands near the Carshare Chevrolet Bolt at The Creamery.

An outside view of an apartment at The Creamery

Part of The Creamery is a 24-hour daycare center run by the YWCA.

On the Ground Writer Mark Wedel listens closely to the Bolt's quiet engine.
Politics

Spotlight

Wikipedia is San Francisco's newest political battlefield

Supervisor Dean Preston, the only Democratic Socialist on the Board of Supervisors, owns a home worth some $2.5 million.

Just check his Wikipedia entry. Its right there.

Preston doesnt dispute that he owns a home that, like many in San Francisco, is worth a pretty penny. However, Preston is the only supervisor whose personal home value is listed on his Wikipedia page.

The most telling thing is that when you look at my profile on there, compared to most other supervisors, its just pretty obvious what facts are being put out there, what frame it is, Preston said.

Prestons page on Wikipedia  the free-to-use, open-source encyclopedia operated by a San Francisco-based nonprofit  is a battleground. As he seeks reelection to a second term in office, the controversial politicians Wikipedia page has seen nearly 200 edits since the start of 2023.

Preston is just one among prominent San Francisco leaders whose Wikipedia page is a place where anonymous editors go to war over the truth  or, at least, which version of the truth to present.

Wikipedia catalogs the edits made to every page. Supervisors running for election, including Connie Chan, Preston and Aaron Peskin  who is contemplating a run for mayor  have seen an uptick in the number and scale of edits made to their pages in recent months.

Prestons page was edited more than 150 times in 2023 alone  more than three times the number of edits made in 2022  and the edits have more than doubled the length of the article.

The rate at which Prestons page is edited has inched closer to that of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who represents more than 400 times as many constituents and surged into the national spotlight last year amid his quarrel with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Despite the relatively low profile of a San Francisco supervisor compared to national leaders, Wikipedia pages can amass thousands of views and frequently rank highly in search-engine results.

Wikipedia rules

Anyone can edit Wikipedia, but it is not without rules. The site is maintained by 265,000 volunteers who establish guidelines and editorial policy, according to a spokesperson for the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia.

Wikipedia discourages users with potential conflicts of interest from editing entries, and it encourages a neutral point of view based on reliable sources.

The whole process of content moderation by Wikipedia volunteers is open and transparent, the spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Examiner. Everything from the way an article grows and evolves over time, to the citations required to verify the facts, to the content discussions amongst editors, are all publicly available on the articles history and talk pages.

Lee Hepner, a former aide to Peskin, said he wasnt aware of Peskins office or anyone elses wading directly into editing battles on Wikipedia.

It is not neutral, and it reflects the editorial biases of people who have the time and skill to edit it, and frankly, that does not include Supervisor Peskin; hes not in there tinkering, Hepner said.

The challenge for elected officials, he said, is to get an honest and direct message to constituents, and that is a problem or a challenge that is bigger than Wikipedia or any media platform or journalistic outlet.

Just as a student should not write a book report based on a single Wikipedia article, Hepner suggested that voters assume they can be pointed in the right direction but that the site is vulnerable to inaccuracies.

I trust that voters are going to be consuming information holistically, Hepner said.

Andy Mullan, formerly an aide to Supervisor Catherine Stefani, said there was never any emphasis or conversation around Wikipedia when he worked in City Hall. However, in the two years since he left, the breadth and scope of supervisors Wikipedia pages have grown.

Mullan suggested it might not necessarily reflect a greater interest in San Francisco politics but a shift in the medium through which that interest is expressed.

So much more of the political discourse is now happening on the internet as opposed to the printed pages of a newspaper or face to face, Mullan said.

Editing wars

On Prestons page, users have battled over his record on housing and the extent of his wealth and privilege. His supporters highlight his career as a tenants rights attorney, while critics allege hes privileged, with deep pockets that contradict his ideals.

One anonymous user, thenightaway, has edited Prestons page 26 times since 2020. In a recent edit, the user added on March 14 that the school Preston attended in the 1980s is a prestigious Ivy League preparatory and that he owns a valuable home.

This is true, but Preston is not the only supervisor with wealth attached to his name.

Because she and her husband own a boat anchored in the East Harbor, Supervisor Catherine Stefani recently had to recuse herself from the debate over a controversial proposal to build a new harbor next to the Marina Green.

Peskin owns multiple homes in San Francisco that he rents out for supplemental income. Supervisor Myrna Melgar disclosed in ethics filings that she owns a bed-and-breakfast called Surfers Paradise Casa Sunzal in El Salvador.

Housing, housing, housing

Housing has become an increasingly thorny issue in San Francisco politics. The City faces a legally imposed demand to plan for more than 80,000 new homes  and that pressure is reflected on Wikipedia.

In 2021, a user added that Preston has worked to delay and block numerous development plans and legislative proposals to increase the supply of both market-rate and affordable housing.

In another edit, the same user maintained a sentence about how Preston worked to halt the city of San Francisco buying a hotel in Japantown which it would use to house homeless people, but deleted the end of it, which had clarified that Prestons position was taken with an unusual ally, Mayor Breed.

The same user has also sought to clarify Peskins housing record.

On March 21, thenightaway wrote that Peskin has persistently blocked new housing and other development in San Francisco. Thenightaway deleted a sentence that was, arguably, not written from a neutral point of view. It claimed that Peskin was pivotal in passing the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan, one of the largest rezonings in the citys history, and instrumental in creating the citys ADU program.

Its not always an unflattering edit.

A user recently edited Supervisor Chans page to add to her record on housing. The previous edition had highlighted Chans resistance to housing legislation, such as when she prevented the Board of Supervisors from considering a proposed referendum that would streamline the permitting process for certain housing developments.

But a new edit on Feb. 20 not only clarified several of the stances already enumerated on her page but also added that Chan voted to improve funding for a new affordable housing complex on Geary Boulevard and authored legislation to offer relief to tenants and small property owners who lost income during [the] COVID-19 pandemic.

Editors have also come to Prestons defense, and the talk section of his page  where editors debate its content  is rife with discourse.

User coffeeandcrumbs, a regular editor of Prestons page, deleted a section from the introduction explaining that Preston has attributed capitalism as the cause of crime, drug use, and homelessness in San Francisco.

Of course, as a socialist, he believes capitalism is the cause of societal issues, coffeeandcrumbs explained in a message accompanying the edit.

When it comes to Prestons home and the alleged family trust connected to Prestons wife  which Preston said his wife "is not a beneficiary (of) or in any way affiliated (with)," and "no one would have any evidence to the contrary" coffeeandcrumbs wrote on the talk page that the multi-million dollar property you describe is just a house in San Francisco.

That is how much they cost, the user wrote. The article says the family of Goosby has multiple trusts. Including this claim based on this sourcing is clearly [point-of-view] pushing. If you dont see that, I dont know what to tell you.

Editor's note: This article was amended on April 4, 2024, to include Dean Preston's attestation that his wife is not a beneficiary or in any way linked to a previously reported trust that owns property in San Francisco.
RBC Capital Markets cut its price target on Burberry on Thursday to 1,200p from 1,500p as it reduced estimates ahead of the full-year results, which it said are unlikely to surprise positively.

The bank expects soft revenue momentum in 4Q24 and forecasts a 14% decline in retail like-for-like sales.

"This is likely to drive operating deleverage and potential inventory provisions which creates downside risk to our 401m (below guide) EBIT estimate for FY24E," RBC said. "For FY25E, we anticipate fairly stable earnings year-on-year leaving little reason to be more positive for now.

RBC said it would like to see stabilisation of retail like-for-like sales, which could drive a re-rating in the shares, currently trading at a 16x price-to-earnings ratio.

The Canadian bank, which rates the shares at 'sector perform', cut its estimates for FY24 revenues by 2%, gross margins by 30 basis points to 68.4% and EBIT by 7% to 401m.

RBC Capital Markets also lifted its target price for budget airline Ryanair after upping its forecasts on the back of lower fuel cost projections.

The broker has raised its target for the shares from 24 to 25 and kept an 'outperform' rating on the stock.

Ahead of the carrier's full-year results next month, RBC has raised its earnings estimates by around 2% over the next two years to "reflect a reduction in fuel costs since our last update".

RBC is now forecasting adjusted diluted earnings per share of 1.66 in the year ended 31 March, rising to 2.23 for the current year, compared with the 1.25 reported last year.

"We see Ryanair as a relatively low-risk airline share, both due to its more certain/sustainable growth prospects and strong balance sheet, with a >600m adjusted net cash position at FY2023/24E," RBC said.

"Low leverage arguably cuts both ways and leaves Ryanair less levered to the positive outlook which we see for European airlines. However, it also offers across-the-cycle attractions in a cyclical industry with limited earnings visibility. It also offers capital allocation optionality including the option to buy aircraft with cash rather than pay increased lease rates."

Shares of BT Group appear heavily undervalued and "ripe for a major re-rating", JPMorgan Cazenove said in a note on Thursday.

The bank, which rates the stock at overweight with a 290p price target, said BTs equity story remains intensely debated.

"Despite having achieved a structural growth inflection, its shares continue to yoyo aggressively between 1-2/share, and are currently back at their lows," JPM noted. "Such volatility reflects uncertainties related to: (1) The companys growth prospects (nascent pricing power); (2) The competitive landscape (fibre altnet threat); and (3) The resulting post-fibre FCF outlook."

Against this backdrop, JPM argued that BTs new chief executive should consider providing mid-term guidance.

JPM noted that it will be several years before we have clear line-of-sight on BTs fibre returns and said mid-term targets would bridge the duration gap. In addition, it pointed out that most telcos (70%) now provide mid-term outlooks.

"BT is a rare exception - unhelpful for such a controversial stock, and a factor behind its wide consensus forecast range," it said.

JPM pointed out that BT has guided for Mar-28E capex and opex to fall 1.5bn as fibre spend rolls off. It said investors worry these savings will be "gross" not "net" and also noted that with visibility poor, BTs shares often "overreact" to results and news flow.
Googles parent Alphabet is reportedly considering making an offer to acquire HubSpot, an online marketing software firm valued at $35bn.

The possible move, reported by Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter, would be Alphabets largest acquisition to date, and would use a portion of its substantial cash reserves, which stood at $110.9bn at the end of December.

Reuters said the company had consulted with Morgan Stanley in recent days to evaluate the feasibility of such an offer, and to assess potential regulatory implications with regard to competition laws.

Although no formal offer had been submitted to HubSpot yet, Reuters said its sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were ongoing discussions within Alphabet about the appropriate bid amount and regulatory clearance prospects.

Alphabet, HubSpot and Morgan Stanley declined to respond.

HubSpot, founded in 2014 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specialises in marketing software aimed at companies with up to 2,000 employees.

Despite reporting a net loss of $176.3m in 2023, the firm still generated $2.2bn in revenue, leading to a 50% increase in its share price over the last year.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
The Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday that it will launch an in-depth investigation into the planned 15bn merger between Vodafone and CK Hutchisons Three that was announced last year.

On 22 March, the CMA told Vodafone and Three that they had until 2 April to address the regulators competition concerns or face a full investigation.

The regulator said they needed to provide "meaningful" solutions to concerns the merger would lead to higher prices for customers and lower investment.

"Whilst Vodafone and Three have made a number of claims about how their deal is good for competition and investment, the CMA has not seen sufficient evidence to date to back these claims," it said at the time.

"These warrant an in-depth investigation unless Vodafone and Three can come forward with solutions."

But on 28 March, both parties informed the CMA that they would not be offering any such undertakings.

The CMA said on Thursday that it was launching the phase 2 probe "on the basis that, on the information currently available to it, it is or may be the case that this merger may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom".

The regulator has until 18 September to carry out the investigation.
Ripple (XRP) has maintained a slow growth trajectory since the beginning of 2024, going through frequent highs and lows and this has led to loss of trust from investors. Following bearish predictions by some analysts, investors are looking to invest in better cryptocurrencies. Retik Finance (RETIK), Bonk (BONK), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) sit at the top of the list of bullish cryptocurrencies to invest in instead of Ripple for 30x better gains.

A Slow Ride for Ripple (XRP)

XRP price keeps moving from stagnation to volatility, causing panic in the Ripple community. Technical indicators suggest a bearish year for Ripple with rising doubt in its ability to reach the $1 mark. Considering these factors, including bearish market sentiment, experts predict challenges in the year for Ripple. Investors are actively looking for alternatives to Ripple and analysts suggest a shift to Retik Finance (RETIK), Bonk (BONK), and Shiba Inu (SHIB), three platforms that are poised for bullishness because of their strong community.

Retik Finance (RETIK)

Retik Finance (RETIK) community grew so quickly and has been one of its reasons for success. Being a project built on utility, Retik Finance (RETIK) offers a distinct value to the DeFi sector. The projects mission is to bridge the gap between fiat and crypto, creating a world where users can spend cryptocurrency anywhere. The belief in its mission shows in its thriving community which has played a major role in promoting it leading to enormous success in its 10-stage presale that sold out months before schedule, leading to over 400% growth in RETIK value.As an appreciation to its community, it announced a giveaway of $5000 to twenty-five lucky winners. Participants are invited to create and upload unique videos, photos, and memes to celebrate Retik Finance's achievement. The Retik ecosystem is built on a comprehensive suite of DeFi solutions, including a futuristic DeFi debit card, a payment gateway, AI-powered P2P lending, and a secure DeFi wallet created to bring a new perspective to the DeFi sector. With unparalleled growth in just two months, analysts predict a bullish run for Retik Finance that will lead to an upsurge in the value of RETIK in 2024. Investors and crypto whales are on the lookout for Retik Finance, especially with the token listing and vesting schedule set to launch very soon. You can be a part of it to set yourself up for over 30x returns than Ripple in 2024.

Bonk (BONK)

Bonk (BONK) had a dramatic entry into the Solana community, launching as a free airdro p on December 25 2022 as a Christmas gift to the community. With such a strategic entry and an interesting name, Bonk became an eye-turner, blowing up the Solana community. Bonk's strength lies in a strong and thriving community and ecosystems of integrations. The main attraction for investors is Bonks unique system to reward the Solana community through an inclusive reward system.Its token was shared with NFT projects, DeFi users, artists and collectors, and developers, creating a diverse investor community. It also rewards its community through the play-to-earn gaming system for its in-game activities.BONK currently has over 131 integrations across 9 separate chains and listings across 25 centralized and decentralized exchanges, propelling it to soon become a solid asset. With its recent award as meme coin of the year by CoinMarketcap, the future of Bonk looks blissful.

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu, Dogecoins prominent competitor has gained traction in the meme coin space. Its community-driven strategy has created a strong backing for it with the Shiba Inu community, Shibarmy aggressively promoting the meme.The Shib ecosystem comprises diverse solutions including, Shib token, bone token, leash token, Shiboshis NFT, and Sheboshi DN-404 offering a broad landscape for its community to thrive. With a low entry barrier and a governance system that allows every member to contribute, Shiba Inu places its community first. This has benefitted it by breeding a loyal and dedicated community. Shiba Inu's growth from a meme coin into a famous cryptocurrency is inspiring and technical analysts believe that SHIB value will surge further in 2024. A supporting factor in its expected growth is the implementation of a burn mechanism to create scarcity and increase the tokens value. With its bullish layout, investors looking to make exponential returns can join the Shib army in 2024.

Better Gains in 2024

Retik Finance (RETIK), Bonk (BONK), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) are the best cryptocurrencies to consider when shifting your investment from Ripple.Their solid community support due to effective strategies has thrust them above Ripple, positioning them as lucrative assets that can yield 30x more returns than Ripple in 2024. Retik Finance (RETIK) is probably the best option for young investors looking to capitalize on its early growth to become crypto millionaires in 2024.

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A significant assembly took place in New Delhi, where stakeholders gathered to inaugurate the Indo-German Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development (GSDP) Conversation Series. Under the theme of 'Triangular Cooperation' the event marked a crucial milestone in global endeavors to tackle environmental issues. With the participation of dignitaries and representatives from India, Germany, and partner nations, the gathering aimed to delve into inventive approaches for attaining sustainability objectives, as outlined in a press release.

The German Ambassador, H.E. Dr. Philipp Ackermann, demonstrated a strong enthusiasm for the GSDP. He emphasized the importance of the GSDP as a joint effort between India and Germany, two formidable economic forces dedicated to crafting solutions for climate change and sustainable development.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed the agreement inaugurating the GSDP in 2022, it marked the beginning of a new era for Indo-German cooperation", remarked Ambassador Ackermann. "Together, as partners on an equal footing, we want to make real progress in finding solutions to some of the biggest challenges the world faces", Ackermann said.

Emphasizing the critical need to tackle global challenges promptly, Ambassador Ackermann delineated essential focal points, including the shift towards renewable energy sources, the creation of sustainable urban areas, environmental preservation, and the adoption of more sustainable production and consumption practices. He underscored the mutual dedication of India and Germany to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and upholding their collective pledge to the Paris Climate Agreement.

The GSDP Conversation Series aimed to showcase Indo-German collaboration in addressing priority issues identified under the partnership. "In just a few months, our two governments will come together again here in India for cabinet consultations, a testament to the extraordinary nature of our dialogue," he remarked.

Considering the advancements achieved since the inception of the GSDP, Ambassador Ackermann emphasized the initiation of fresh endeavors, such as the lighthouse initiative focusing on Agroecology and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Task Force. He stressed that these initiatives symbolize the mutual commitment of both countries to collaborate as equal partners, both bilaterally and within multilateral endeavors.

Triangular cooperation emerged as a focal point of the conversation, with Ambassador Ackermann stressing its significance in leveraging India's technical know-how and expertise to address global challenges. "India has technical know-how, skills and expertise, research capacities, digital infrastructure, and also deep connections to countries the world over," he noted. "It just makes sense to share tools and instruments for global challenges with interested countries. Germany is proud to partner in this with India".

During the event, discussions centered on particular triangular cooperation projects, encompassing initiatives in Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Benin, and Peru. Ambassador Ackermann highlighted that these projects serve as prime examples of the cooperative ethos of the GSDP and its dedication to promoting sustainable development on a global scale.
After nearly a decade since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tesla's facility in Palo Alto, California, Elon Musk is poised to bring Tesla to India, marking a significant milestone in the country's electric vehicle (EV) industry. Reports reveal that Musk is sending a team to scout for a potential location to establish a $2-$3 billion EV plant in India.

The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are on top of Musk's considerations due to their existing EV infrastructure and convenient ports for export. Prime Minister Modi's persistent efforts in persuading Musk to explore India as a strategic destination for Tesla's Gigafactory and EV exports have played a crucial role in this development. Last year, during a meeting in the US, PM Modi invited Musk to consider investments in India's electric mobility sector, which garnered positive responses from the Tesla CEO.

Musk's expressed commitment to India aligns with PM Modi's vision of leveraging technology to make advancements accessible and affordable across various sectors. The aim is to establish a robust supply chain ecosystem in India, enabling the production of affordable electric cars starting from approximately Rs 20 lakh.

Acknowledging PM Modi's dedication to India's progress, Musk highlighted the Prime Minister's emphasis on ensuring that investments benefit India's interests. Musk expressed optimism about India's potential, citing it as having more promise than any other large country in the world.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal's visit to Tesla's manufacturing facility in California underscored India's growing importance in Tesla's global operations. Goyal noted the significant contributions of Indian professionals to Tesla's journey and the increasing involvement of Indian auto component suppliers in Tesla's EV supply chain.

The recent announcement of India's new EV policy, spearheaded by PM Modi's government, further sets the stage for Tesla's entry into the Indian market. The policy includes a reduction in customs duty to 15%, with conditions such as a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore and requirements for domestic value addition within specific time frames. These policy initiatives create favorable conditions for Tesla's foray into India.

India's EV market holds immense potential, with projections indicating over 40% penetration and $100 billion in revenue by 2030. Bain & Company and Blume Ventures' recent report forecasts strong adoption rates in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments, with significant growth expected in four-wheelers as well.

Furthermore, India's efforts to bolster its EV charging infrastructure and initiatives like the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme further catalyze EV adoption.

Tesla's entry into India signifies a major leap forward for the country's EV industry, promising technological advancements, job creation, and sustainable mobility solutions. With supportive government policies and a conducive investment climate, India is poised to emerge as a key player in the global EV market in the coming years.
There are some important factors that will guide the domestic equities on Thursday. These include the Services PMI for March, weekly F&O expiry, and global cues. As of 7:30 AM, Gift Nifty futures were up 53 points at 22,596 levels. In the global market, Asian shares including the Nikkei and Kospi were up by 1.7 percent and 1 percent respectively.

Vodafone Idea: The telecom service provider announced on Wednesday, in an exchange filing, that its shareholders have approved a proposal to issue securities worth approximately Rs 20,000 crore. This announcement came a day after the company's virtual Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). With this approval, the telecom firm is on track to complete the equity fundraising by the end of June. Once the equity fundraising is completed, Vodafone Idea plans to raise additional debt, bringing the total funding to a potential Rs 45,000 crore. This fundraising is crucial for the company's plans to launch 5G services.

RBL Bank: A private sector bank has recently reported that it received deposits worth Rs 1,03,454 crore for the quarter ending in March FY24. This is a 22 percent increase as compared to the same period from the previous year and a 12 percent increase from the previous quarter, as shown in preliminary figures. The bank's advances for the quarter amounted to Rs 85,640 crore, marking a 19 percent year-on-year increase and a 5 percent quarter-on-quarter rise. Retail advances saw a 29 percent year-on-year growth, while wholesale advances grew by 7 percent year-on-year for the quarter. Within the wholesale segment, commercial banking experienced a 17 percent year-on-year growth. The proportion of retail to wholesale advances was roughly 58:42.

Jindal Stainless: On Wednesday, the company announced its plan to sell its entire 26 percent stake in Jindal Coke by September this year. In the first sale, the company has already sold 4.87 percent of its shares in Jindal Coke for over Rs 36.49 crore. JSL Overseas has acquired these shares at the same price, as per a regulatory filing. Additionally, Jindal Stainless has obtained a majority stake in the Spanish firm Iberjindal. The company had already approved the acquisition of up to 100 percent stake in Iberjindal S.L., a Spain-based subsidiary, and the divestment of a 26 percent equity stake in its associate company, Jindal Coke Ltd (JCL) in January.

Edelweiss Financial Services: CLSA Global Markets Pte Ltd., a foreign investor, has acquired 2,72,10,507 equity shares in Edelweiss Financial Services through open market transactions. This purchase represents 2.88 percent of the company's paid-up equity and was made at an average price of Rs 69.16 crore. The total value of this transaction is Rs 188.18 crore. On the other hand, The Pabrai Investment Fund IV LP, a foreign portfolio investor, sold 2,72,08,207 equity shares at an average price of Rs 69.15 per share, amounting to a total of Rs 188.14 crore.

Vedanta: The company has recently increased its alumina refining capacity to 3.5 million metric tonnes per year. They have launched a new alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha with a capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes per year. This new facility is part of their expanded 3 million metric tonnes per year plant. This expansion will increase the total production capacity of the Lanjigarh refinery from its current 2 million metric tonnes per year to 5 million metric tonnes per year.

Som Distilleries and Breweries: The board of directors of Som Distilleries and Breweries has approved a stock split. As per the decision, the existing equity shares of the company, which currently have a face value of Rs 5, will be split into shares with a face value of Rs 2 each. The aim of this move is to increase the involvement of retail investors and improve the liquidity of the company's shares.

KEC International: The infrastructure EPC major has received new orders of Rs 816 crore across its various businesses, including orders for the supply of towers in the United States of America, setting up steel plants in Northern India, and plants for carbon derivatives in Eastern India.

Union Bank of India: The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch of Union Bank of India has successfully secured a syndicated term loan worth $500 million, which includes an over-allotment option, or "green shoe", of $100 million. The loan is divided into two tranches with durations of 3 and 5 years. This marks the bank's first foray into raising a syndicated term loan at an international centre. As of April 3, the bank has already drawn $100 million from Tranche A under this arrangement.

GMR Power and Urban Infra: The company has collaborated with Shree Naman Developers to establish a joint venture named Portus Ventures. The new entity's responsibility would be to design, operate, and maintain superstructures on land parcels located at the Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) site. GMR Power and Urban Infra have invested 26 percent of the total paid-up capital of Portus Ventures, which amounts to Rs 26,000.

Avenue Supermarts: The company that operates D-Mart reported a standalone revenue of Rs 12,393.46 crore for the quarter ending in March FY24. This marks a 19.9 percent increase compared to the Rs 10,337.12 crore recorded in the same period last year. As of March 2024, the company operates a total of 365 stores.
Following the approval of a new electric vehicle (EV) policy by the Narendra Modi-led government in India, Tesla is reportedly set to explore locations in the country for establishing a $2-3 billion plant. The Financial Times reported that a team from Tesla would arrive in India by late April to assess potential sites for the plant, with a focus on states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, known for their EV infrastructure and accessible ports for exporting cars.

The new EV policy, which includes a reduction in customs duty to 15 percent, has paved the way for Tesla's potential entry into the Indian market. Prime Minister Modi previously met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the US, applauding Musk's efforts to make technology more accessible and affordable across various sectors. During their meeting, PM Modi invited Musk to explore investment opportunities in India's electric mobility and expanding commercial space sectors.

domestic value addition (DVA) of 25 percent within three years and 50 percent DVA within five years at maximum. Under the new EV scheme , the government has stipulated a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore (approximately $500 million) for setting up manufacturing facilities. Production must commence within three years, with aof 25 percent within three years and 50 percent DVA within five years at maximum.

Tesla has not provided official comments regarding these reports, but the potential entry of the company into India's EV market signifies a significant development in the country's automotive sector and aligns with its efforts to promote sustainable transportation solutions.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After suffering through nine grueling surgeries for a foot condition, Brigitte Harris, 42, who grew up in the Park Hill Houses in Clifton, said she could no longer continue training to become a carpenter through a New York City apprenticeship program for women.

At the time, Harris, who now lives in Stapleton, felt it was time to go out on a limb to pursue a career that related to her first love: cooking.

Having grown up cooking cuisine from the West African country of Liberia, where she lived from the ages of 12 to 18, she always dreamed of owning her own restaurant.

But she decided to take baby steps in her business plan to see if she could tempt the tastebuds of Staten Islanders for this cuisine that is largely unfamiliar to many borough residents.

Bridge's Kitchen serves a bevy of Liberian cuisine favorites.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

In October 2023 Harris opened Bridges Kitchen LLC, which includes a food truck parked on Canal Street in Stapleton, across from Tappen Park. In addition, she operates Bridges Loft in a nearby space, which offers rooftop access with a panoramic view of lower Manhattan. The Sands Street loft can accommodate 20 people for dinners and special events, including karaoke, astrology and Liberian nights, the latter of which includes Afro Jazz and old school Liberian music.

Brigitte Harris opened Bridge's Kitchen in October, 2023.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

Although my goal is to open a restaurant, I decided to start with a food truck due to ... less overhead and to build a customer base, she said.

I chose that name because my nickname is Bridge, but Bridges also represents my dream of opening a restaurant that sells food from all cultures, bridging the gap between our various cultures and differences through food, added Harris.

Her success as an entrepreneur is especially rewarding to Harris since she was a victim of trauma and escalating violence in her youth and was part of the criminal justice system.

Brigitte Harris recently felt it was time to pursue a career that related to her first love: cooking.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

ABOUT THE FOOD

Liberian cuisine is often described as a mix of West African recipes/ingredients passed down from generation to generation, mixed with some Southern American cooking techniques.

Brigitte Harris recently opened Bridge's Kitchen, which includes Bridge's Loft, an event space.Courtesy of Brigitte Harris

Liberian food is mostly stews and sauces eaten with rice or fufu, which is made from the starch of cassava, plantain or cocoyam, Harris explained.

[Fufu] is rolled into balls and served with a variety of soups, stews and sauces. Most of the food is made with ingredients that Hispanics and Asians use, but we add our own unique seasonings and flavor, she added.

Brigitte Harris' kidney bean stew with white rice.Courtesy of Brigitte Harris

Those flavors include that of a palm butter sauce.

I cannot compare it [palm butter sauce] to any dish I know of. This is made from the palm nut; the nut that palm oil comes from, she said.

Bridge's Kitchen's fufu with palm butter.Courtesy of Brigitte Harris

Liberian food also includes tasty snacks and treats, such as a gluten free muffins made from cream of rice and a peanut butter delight made with dried cassava called kayhan, Harris said.

Although traditionally most dishes are made with hot peppers, I put my spicy pepper sauce on the side instead of cooking it in the food, she said.

Pictured are rice bread muffins made by Brigitte Harris.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

ATTRACTING FOODIES

Although Staten Island, particularly the Clifton area, is said to have the largest Liberian population outside of Africa, most of her loyal customers so far have not had ties this country.

Having lived in Monrovia, the capitol of Liberia, Harris enjoys sparking conversation around her culture with customers.

Brigitte Harris's kayla and pepper sauce.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

I can have conversations with my customers about my food and the history behind it, she said. I offer great food, good conversations, and a warm environment. A place to hang out for a quick bite to eat, [of grilled chicken and meats, kala with pepper sauce], or a reliable place to get your semi-authentic [I dont cook with pork] Liberian meals [with] cassava leaf, peanut stew, fufu, etc...

Brigitte Harris' food truck is located on Canal Street.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

And for working families with little to no time to cook, Harris offers delivery.

She also offers many choices to please any palate. And always has samples to taste.

Brigitte Harris grew up cooking Liberian food.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

THE GIFT OF GAB

Harris said she is a natural fit for the food truck business as she is able to talk to just about anyone with ease.

Ive been told I talk too much, but I believe its perfect for my business. My food isnt very familiar to a wider audience so I have to be able to convince perfect strangers to pay for my food, she said.

Bridge's Kitchen was launched by Brigitte Harris in October, 2023. It includes a food truck on Canal Street, across from Tappen Park, and Bridge's Loft, an event space.(Courtesy of Anne Saint-Pierre)

In the future, she hopes her food business will become the spot in Stapleton for a bite to eat, noting her location next to Tappen Park has proved to entice people to congregate nearby and enjoy eating outdoors.

I hope the space becomes a spot like we used to have in Park Hill [when she was growing up] under the tree. I think I have a nice vibe, she said.

Brigitte Harris' Jollof rice.(Courtesy of Brigitte Harris)

BRIDGES KITCHEN AT A GLANCE

Address: Food truck, 76 Canal St.; Bridges Loft: 23 Sands Street.

Website: bridgeskitchen.com

Facebook: @bridg3skitchen

Instagram:@bridg3skitchen

New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island businesses owners.

If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and X
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Authorities allege that two men threatened and then forced workers into a back room at gunpoint in a brazen robbery of a T-Mobile store in New Springville.

The defendants then hopped on a moped and led police on a wild chase for about 1.4 miles through the streets of New Springville, Graniteville and Mariners Harbor, police say.

The episode began when Carlos Santos Vicioso, 23, of W. 159th Street in Manhattan, and Juan Feliz, 26, of Elliot Place in the Bronx, entered the store at 2122 Richmond Ave. on March 28 at about 4:30 p.m., according to the criminal complaint and police.

According to the complaint, Feliz pointed a black gun loaded with 9 mm bullets at people inside the store and said, dont be a hero, dont say anything; put hands up and sit on the floor.

At gunpoint, Vicioso and Feliz ordered the store occupants into a backroom while the defendants stole cell phones, smart watches, tablets, hotspots and cash, the complaint alleges.

The defendants left the store and fled on a moped, police said.

At about 4:40 p.m., police spotted the moped with Vicioso driving and Feliz as passenger in the vicinity of Deppe Place and Richmond Avenue in Graniteville, according to the complaint. Officers in a marked patrol car activated lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the motorcycle. Instead of complying, Vicioso allegedly drove away.

The complaint alleges that the moped crossed over double-yellow lines into oncoming traffic on Richmond Avenue in the vicinity of Monsey Place prior to turning left onto Forest Avenue in Graniteville. The motorcycle traveled the wrong way on Forest Avenue in the vicinity of Lake Avenue, causing some vehicles to stop short and swerve out of the way to avoid colliding with the moped, police said.

Vicioso allegedly drove onto the sidewalk in the vicinity of Forest and Van Pelt avenues in Mariners Harbor, causing pedestrians to move out of the way to avoid being struck. Vicioso veered onto side streets off of Forest, where the driver of an oncoming civilian vehicle was forced to stop suddenly and ride the curb in order to avoid a crash with the moped in the vicinity of Wilcox Street and Summerfield Place in Mariners Harbor, according to the complaint.

The moped returned to Forest Avenue, where it turned right onto Harbor Road and then blasted through a four-way stop onto Brabant Street. A series of turns allegedly took the moped onto Gridley Avenue, Continental Place and, finally, Union Avenue.

The defendants face a slew of charges that include robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a firearm, menacing and petit larceny.

Vicioso faces additional charges that include reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing from a police officer, reckless driving, failure to obey a traffic control device, illegal signal and failure to stop at a stop sign.

Both defendants are being held at Rikers Island in lieu of bond set at $500,000/$250,000 cash, according to public records.

The names of the defendants attorneys are not currently available in public records.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon was sworn in this week as the new president of the District Attorneys Association of the state of New York (DAASNY), replacing Erie District Attorney John J. Flynn, who served as DAASNY president since June 2023.

Assuming the role of president of the (DAASNY) is a humbling moment, and I am immensely grateful for the trust placed in me by my colleagues from across the state, McMahon said. As a proud public official serving in various capacities for over three decades, my role as district attorney has made clear that there is no more noble calling in government than that of the prosecutor.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A new workforce council, announced Thursday by Mayor Eric Adams, aims to connect more New Yorkers with the job market through training and employment opportunities.

The council, chaired by real estate developer Robert Speyer, will be made up of more than 30 private entities, including the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.

While our city has recovered all of the private-sector jobs lost during the pandemic, our recovery has not benefitted every New Yorker equitably. To change this, we need partners from every corner of our city to help build an economy with real pathways to family-sustaining careers, Adams said. The Workforce Development Council will tap expertise from business leaders, like Rob Speyer and dozens of others from across our city, to develop strategies and partnerships that will lead to real opportunities for New Yorkers."

The Workforce Development Council will make recommendations to the Mayors Office of Talent and Workforce Development and the New York City Workforce Development Board, which is responsible for stewarding between $60 million and $100 million in federal workforce development money.

Speyer has also chaired the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City since 2006 and serves as co-chair of the Partnership for New York City and on the New York Jobs CEO Council.

Leaders from businesses, education institutions, labor unions and training providers will comprise the new council with the goal of developing and sustaining connections for New Yorkers to family-sustaining careers, according to the Adams administration.

Staten Island Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Linda Baran thanked the administration for including her agency in the new council.

The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce is proud to be a part of Mayor Adams New York City Workforce Development Council, she said. Efforts like these are key to the post-pandemic recovery of our borough and our city as a whole. I look forward to working with the leaders on this Workforce Development Council to help drive our workforce and talent pipelines forward.

Additionally, Adams announced two new requests for proposals looking for potential private-sector and non-profit partners that are interested in developing new apprenticeship programs and transforming existing talent development initiatives into structured apprenticeships.

In his 2023 State of the City, Adams announced a goal of connecting 30,000 New Yorkers to apprenticeships by the year 2030, and the new requests for proposal will help meet that goal, according to the mayor.

For too long, communities have been excluded from the tremendous economic growth that New York has experienced, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright said. Our moonshot goal of connecting 30,000 New Yorkers to apprenticeships is an important step in changing that reality  and can only be done through partnership with the private sector. This Workforce Development Council, with its breadth of leadership and expertise, is a great example of how public private partnerships really come together to support all New Yorkers.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York lawmakers have given themselves more time to hammer out the details of the upcoming state budget.

On Thursday, the state legislature passed another bill that will extend the deadline to approve the new budget through Monday, Apr. 8. The budget was originally due on Apr. 1, but was first delayed through Apr. 4, and now again through Apr. 8.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Mayor Eric Adams emphasized the importance of faith and touched on matters such as the migrant crisis and the Israel-Palestine conflict during the kickoff of the Five-Borough Multifaith Tour in West Brighton Wednesday morning.

The tour consists of a series of conversations with religious leaders across New York City in an effort to better understand the issues plaguing their communities, according to the mayors office. The inaugural stop on Staten Island took the form of a breakfast gathering in the gymnasium of New World Prep Charter School on Clove Road.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging New Yorkers to remain cautious as hazardous weather brings with it dangerous conditions for areas in Western New York, the Southern Tier, the Mid-Hudson Region, New York City and Long Island.

I was just briefed by my emergency response team as we continue to closely monitor the storm system that is expected to bring heavy rain and gale-force winds to parts of our state, Hochul said. It is critical that New Yorkers monitor their local forecasts and take proper precautions as the weather could create dangerous travel conditions, flooding and power outages.

With an additional 2 to 3 inches of rain forecast through early Thursday morning, a period of higher rainfall rates of more than a 1/2 inch per hour is possible tonight. Flooding is also expected to extend inland from the waterfront along tidal rivers and bays, as well as rivers, creeks, streams, or urban, low-lying, and other flood-prone areas.

In downstate areas, 25 to 35 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph are expected, which could blow down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages.

Travel is expected will be difficult, so caution is urged.

Flood watches continue for much of Western New York and the Southern Tier, where rainfall totals of up to 3 inches are possible before precipitation transitions to snow or a wintry mix. Coastal Flood Warnings and Advisories have been issued for the New York City and Long Island areas, as well as southern Westchester County.

A Flood Advisory was also issued along the Hudson River in Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties, and a High Wind Warning is in effect for the Mid-Hudson, New York City and Long Island regions until Thursday morning.
A few years ago, the Irish company Teamwork.com wanted to take better advantage of its global footprint. With a round of funding from an inves
The United States House of Representatives passed a bill in December last year to ban imports of Russian uranium, although the bill has stalled in the Senate.

If passed, the bill would ban the imports 90 days after its enactment, subject to various waivers, including if the U.S energy secretary determines no alternative sources of supply were available, or if it is decided that imported shipments of the nuclear fuel are in the national interest.

The worlds largest uranium producer, Kazakhstans US$11 billion (AU$16.6 billion) National Atomic Co. Kazatomprom, has signalled flat production forecasts for this year, while Canadas Cameco Corporation downgraded production estimates last September.

The inability to quickly ramp up output in a rising price environment could be a further positive for the price going forward, with some uranium analysts remaining bullish.

Terra Capitals uranium pundit Jeremy Bond recently said: In Australia, we dont see it because were just anti-nuclear. But China I think needs to do nine reactors a year for the next 10 years or something. Theres 450 reactors globally now. And theyre looking to build 90 over the next 10 years. We think the long-term story is real, the short-term story is real  as in theres a physical squeeze in the market at the moment. So, youve got a short-term story in a spot market squeeze and then a long-term story and I just think the adoption of nuclear is going to become more mainstream.

Bond also said he saw uranium going beyond its 2007 highs of US$149 per pound in the newly anticipated bull market.

Those types of comments have stirred up plenty of excitement in the uranium market and helped kick-start the share prices of many ASX-listed companies that focus on exploring for, developing, or mining yellowcake.

Aspiring uranium and copper explorer White Cliff Minerals is one company that has been riding the new uranium wave after announcing the purchase of the Canadian Radium Point iron oxide-copper-gold-uranium-silver project. Its stock shot from 1c a share to almost double at 1.9c a share in early January on the back of the news.

The Radium Point project has pre-1982 historical production of 13.7 million pounds of uranium.

Intriguingly, the Northwest Territories geoscience office identified the project as having the highest potential for IOCG-uranium style mineralisation in Canada.

WA developer Cauldron Energy has also enjoyed a stellar run, climbing from 0.8c on October 23 last year, to 5.8c on January 16th.

Cauldron recently released a scoping study confirming the potential for a low cost, globally competitive in-situ recovery uranium operation at its Bennet Well deposit.

The deposit is part of its Yanrey uranium project, about 1050 km north of Perth and 100km south of the town of Onslow. Whilst the WA Labor Government is not quite there yet, both the Liberal and National parties in WA have policies that embrace uranium mining which means that any change of Government in WA will provide an instant kick-start for companies like Cauldron.

Bennet Well contains a mineral resource of 38.9 million tonnes grading 360 parts per million (ppm) for 30.9 million pounds of uranium oxide. The study revealed plans for an 11-year mine life, pumping out 16.5 million pounds of uranium oxide at a production rate of 1.5 million pounds per year.

The projects economics were compelling too, with upfront capital costs of US$82.4 million (AU$117.7 million) and ongoing capital costs over the mine life of US$125.3 million (AU$179 million).

What really screamed out from the study was the combined capital and operating costs of about US$36 (AU$55) per pound produced, providing for a potentially profitable operation based on todays spot price of more than US$88 (AU$135) per pound.

ENRG Elements enjoyed a huge surge in its price on two trading days, January 12 and 15, when the uranium price burst through the psychological US$100 per pound barrier. It opened at 0.7c on Jan 12 and touched a high of 1.7c on Jan 15, closing the day at 1.4c.

The company says it recently kicked-off exploration at its Agadez uranium project in the west African country of Niger, with a trenching program targeting four highly prospective areas.

ENRGs fully owned Agadez project has a JORC resource of 21.5 million pounds at 315ppm, stretching from surface to a depth of 37m. In 2021, Niger was the seventh-highest producing uranium nation.

Similarly, Basin Energy soared on January 12, opening at 13c before touching 19.5c. Its eventual peak of 20.5c was reached on January 18 and again on February 2.

Basin revealed at the time that it was beginning exploration at its promising North Millenium and Marshall uranium projects, in Canadas world-class Athabasca Basin.

Cameco Corporations high-grade deposit consisting of 104.8 million pounds grading 3.8 per cent uranium oxide is located 7km to the south.

Basin also said it will commence a second-phase drill program at its Geikie project, on the eastern margin of the renowned uranium producing basin.

Maiden drilling at Geikie returned assays up to 0.27 per cent uranium oxide.

Marmota Ltd is another company to have rekindled its uranium interests resulting in a corresponding share price hike.

After announcing plans to recommence exploration at its Junction Dam uranium project in October last year, its share price rose from 3.2c to a high of 5.7c in early February.

Junction Dam has a mineral resource of 5.4 million pounds at a solid 557ppm uranium and an exploration target between 22 to 33 million pounds, ranging in grade expectations from 400ppm to 700ppm.

The resource falls within the same Yarramba paleochannel as the $1.9 billion ASX-listed Boss Energys Honeymoon uranium mine.

Boss Honeymoon has a resource of 36 million pounds at 660ppm uranium.

Marmota recently engaged uranium expert Mark Couzens from Indepth Geological Services, to design a drill program for the re-start at Junction Dam, in addition to a full technical analysis of the mineralisation at the project.

Several new high-priority targets have been identified with the potential to dramatically increase the projects resource.

They include the Saffron, Bridget, Yolanda and Jason prospects.

The Jason prospect sits in the north-west corner of Junction Dam with the area extending into Boss own Jason deposit, part of the Honeymoon project.

A new high-priority target has been identified on the Marmota side of the Jason prospect based on a gravity survey.

Interestingly, Bosss highest resource grades come from their Jason deposit with a uranium resource of 10.7 million pounds at 790ppm.

Boss is one of the larger uranium companies to benefit from the commoditys price rise. Unlike the previously mentioned junior miners, Boss is on the verge of production at Honeymoon, expecting its first drum of yellowcake this quarter.

It recently started the commissioning of its ion-exchange circuit within the processing plant and refurbished its re-agent systems, in addition to commissioning its water treatment and reverse-osmosis (RO) plants.

The companys share price started the new 23-24 financial year at $3.10 and with the ramp-up in activities to production status since then, it hit a high of $6.12 on February 2nd, with the price settling back down to $4.89 presently.

Deep Yellow is another of the larger uranium developers to benefit from the commoditys price surge.

Closing at 96c on December 14th last year its price rallied, hitting $1.68 on February 2nd and has since settled at $1.40.

The company recently set out to raise $250 million to assist with development of its flagship Tumas uranium project in Namibia. Tumas resource contains 120 million pounds with a grade of 260ppm uranium.

The company is looking to make a final investment decision on the project later this year.

It also has the promising Mulga Rock project in Western Australia with a resource of 105 million pounds of uranium, grading 410ppm and it is pursuing the significant exploration potential at both its Alligator River project in the Northern Territory and the Namibian Omohola project that has a 125 million pounds uranium resource going 190ppm.

Away from the small cap sector, NexGen Energy is also on the cusp of making it big in the uranium space. Its Rook I project in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan stands apart from almost every other uranium project out there with some biblical scale stats. Firstly, its measured and indicated resource grade is off-the-scale at 3.1 per cent uranium oxide or put another way, 31,000 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide. There are plenty of listed companies out there showing resource grades of between 400ppm and 600ppm uranium oxide and there is an increasing thought that they are starting to enter profitable territory with the advance in the uranium price. At 3.1 per cent, NexGen leaves them all in the shade.

And the reason that grade is King is because big grades usually produce big numbers when it comes to profitability and again NexGens numbers are mind boggling. In a 2021 feasibility study (that granted is probably a little out of date now) NexGen says it can pay down its substantial CAD$1.3b in capex for Rook 1 in.wait for itjust 7 months. In fact the average annual EBITDA predicted in that study at US$100 per pound uranium for the first 5 years comes in at a herculean US$3.39 billion..and thats per year. The following 5 years show about US$1.86b a year in EBITDA.

And as a final curtsey to the crowd, NexGen says it can churn out a pound of uranium at an all-in sustaining cost of just US$10.69 a pound  which compares pretty handily against todays spot price of just under US$90 a pound.

Just as lithium set the market alight a few years ago, so too is uranium, and with lithium taking a breather right now, the onset of a big uranium price and all the opportunities presented by it will no doubt be warmly embraced by small cap punters who likely saw some of their capital trapped in lithium stocks that retreated in the last 12 months.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsbears.com.au
Layer the usual first-novel problems over the top  baggy, clunky  add a shambolic final act, and youve got everything you need for a smug critical decimation. But its a gutsy move to change genres mid-career, especially with a book thats so lavishly smutty. And theres a smart novel lurking inside The Work  a tale of virtuous intentions turned sour; the toxic petulance of the benevolent.

And then there is the issue-heavy plotting. Lee has spent her non-fiction career exploring our craggiest socio-cultural fault lines: who we believe ( Eggshell Skull , 2018); the bodies we covet ( Beauty , 2019); the brains we value ( Who Gets to be Smart? , 2021). The Work feels like a culmination  or perhaps a collision  of everything she has learned so far about class, power and gendered cruelty. A novel of dutiful tutorials. It could be called The Homework.

It is easy to mock Bri Lees debut novel, The Work. Theres a great deal of sex, for starters, and the line between the erotic and the ridiculous is thin. Ive spent a week trying to shake Lees image of a pair of middle-aged breasts dangling like panna cottas.

The Work is an art-world novel, but its focus is on gatekeepers rather than art-makers  that incestuous network of curators, auction houses, publicists, critics and celebrity buyers. What interests Lee is the economic machinery of taste: what we sell, how we sell it, and what we think were buying.

Credit:

In Manhattan, thirty-something super-striver Lally, owns her own gallery. In order to showcase the diverse and emerging artists who excite her, Lally knows she also needs to program some crowd-pleasing, dick-swinging ego-monsters. But the artist Lally has scheduled for her biggest show of the year, Chuck Farr, has been accused of coercion by a number of his previous models.

There is no question Farr will sell out (People had continued to buy Farrs work after the allegations were aired, maybe even more greedily). Is keeping him on the gallery walls unethical, or just savvy pragmatism? Sure, everyone wanted the rich dickheads to lose, Lally explains, but you needed power for that.

Meanwhile, in inner-city Sydney, Pat is eking out a living as a junior appraiser at a venerable auction house (Osborne). The pay is rubbish, but the prestige is intoxicating: the lure of old money. For a scholarship kid from regional Queensland  the son of bankrupted farmers  a permanent role at Osborne seems like the ticket to middle-class respectability: mortgage and a dog. Rarely was the Osborne world view upset by anything at all. If he could secure his place there then hed never have to be upset by anything either.
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Exclusive Eating outFine dining Steak? Out! Botswana Butchery restaurants enter voluntary administration Two years ago, the New Zealand steakhouse with an African name made an ambitious play for the Australian steakhouse market, alongside sibling restaurant White + Wongs. Now the business is experiencing one of the biggest hospitality shake-outs of 2024. Scott Bolles April 4, 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

Botswana Butchery restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra have entered voluntary administration, along with sibling Sydney Asian-inspired restaurant White + Wongs, in one of the biggest hospitality shake-outs of 2024. The New Zealand steakhouse with an African name has aggressively opened restaurants on the eastern seaboard, lifting one critics eyebrows with a 1.6-kilogram wagyu tomahawk covered in gold leaf at $500 a head. Joint administrator Duncan Clubb from audit and accounting organisation BDO was unavailable for comment, but released a statement saying BDO had been appointed to Good Group Hospitality in recent days. The open-air steakhouse at Martin Place in Sydney. Edwina Pickles The administrators are undertaking an urgent assessment of the companies and if possible, intend to continue trade with a view of facilitating a restructure or going-concern sale process in due course, the BDO statement read. New Zealand operations at Good Group are not affected.

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For now, the amount owed to creditors remains unclear. The explanation for the African name traces back to a chef of Botswanan heritage who helped to open the original location in Queenstown, New Zealand, in 2007. The origin of the name White + Wongs is less clear, with some users on social media querying its appropriateness, but it may be related to a racist comment made by New Zealand politician Winston Peters in 2014. CopperTree Farms dry-aged Friesian rib-eye. Edwina Pickles Good Groups assault across the Tasman appeared to be well-timed, opening during the dining boom of post-peak pandemic. The Sydney and Melbourne restaurants launched in 2022, while the Canberra eatery opened only two months ago. In Sydney, Botswana Butchery landed on prime turf at 25 Martin Place and lured seasoned Sydney chefs. It was big, seating 300 people, with capacity over its three floors for more than 900 standing.

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Australia is competitive territory for steakhouses, however, and parlaying the New Zealand success wouldnt be straight-forward. A 2022 review from Good Foods Terry Durack had a lukewarm score of 13/20. Botswana is the sort of bustling, conventional steakhouse designed for the kind of business lunch or dinner that used to happen when the CBD had a lot of businesses that did lunch or dinner. At this stage, it has the steak, but well have to wait a bit longer for the sizzle, Durack wrote. Botswana Butchery in Melbourne. Paul Jeffers The Melbourne branch earned a more encouraging 14/20 from Age critic Besha Rodell: Is the food any good? Does the service run like a well-greased machine, headset microphones on the black-clad staff? Is the wine list broad, varied and even intermittently affordable? Yes, yes, yes. Aside from the name, if I have any problem at all with Botswana Butchery, its that it lacks personality, specificity, in other words, soul. But I cant think of a better place for a business lunch, especially one that includes folks who might have disparate tastes.

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Tips & adviceWine & spirits Raise a glass to the bagnum, the plastic wine pouch thats made cask wine cool again Theres a growing thirst for wine in alternative packaging, from pouches and cans to the new-school goon bag. Katie Spain April 5, 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

A new wave of innovative packaging is making wine more accessible, portable, cheaper, and ultimately, more sustainable. Topping the list is the bagnum, a 1.5-litre bag of wine that is proving a hit at the bottle shop. The large pouch, generally made from laminated polymer material lined with aluminum to keep the wine fresh, is light but tough enough to stand upright. Holes at the top act as the handle, and the equivalent of two bottles of wine (a magnum) are dispensed through a tap at the bottom. Essentially, its cask wine without the box. Light but tough enough to stand upright, the bagnum holds the equivalent of two bottles of wine. The first time I heard about it, I thought, This is brilliant. I cant believe somebody has come up with the word bagnum, says Andrew Shedden, head of fine wine at Endeavour Group, which owns the Dan Murphys brand. Thats literally what it is: a magnum in a bag.

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The bags have a 12-month shelf-life, and last four weeks after opening. Although not readily recyclable, when analysed against single-use glass, they have a lower carbon footprint. The bagnum format hit retailer Dan Murphys in 2022 and has increased in popularity ever since. This year to date, we are 150 per cent up on bagnum sales year-on-year, Shedden says. Andrew Shedden says bagnums and alternative packaging are fuelling growth at Dan Murphys. Initially, he predicted the format would appeal most to traditional cask wine buyers. Instead, the main buyers are bottled wine drinkers. When we look at their profile, the customer who buys into bagnums as a concept spends slightly more on wine. Theyve already rusted on to this format. Shareability is part of the appeal. If youre out and about with a group of friends, you know the 1.5-litre format is a far more appropriate share quantity. It goes further and plays the same role as magnums at a party or a small to medium gathering.

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Portability also makes bagnums a popular choice for picnics, camping and outdoor shindigs. Frugality plays its part, too. Weve tested them, and they stay fresh for up to 30 days after you open them, Shedden says. It means that if you dont want to open a 750ml bottle tonight when youre by yourself and only want one glass, you can do that with this format. The two things fuelling growth in the last six months are bagnums and alternative packaging. Andrew Shedden, head of fine wine at Endeavour Group Dan Murphys shelves stock wines from 11 producers, including Squealing Pig, Wolf Blass, Churchill Estate, Cupio, and Vino Verse. White wines are the most popular, with pinot gris, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay leading the charge. Reds, pinot noir and shiraz in particular, make up just under a third of sales. And rose brings up the rear, possibly because colour plays such an important role in its shelf appeal. At the moment, theyre more mainstream brands, so were looking for opportunities to expand that to different varieties or expand into more premium products, Shedden says. The only thing thats held us back so far is the minimum order quantities on this technology to actually get things bagged. Were working on how to reduce the minimum order quantities so that we can do more boutique or niche drinks.

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Sommelier Shanteh Wales collection of wines in single-serve pouches for A Glass of. Wine-in-a-pouch delivery service A Glass of is supplying the niche market, engaging renowned sommeliers, including former Quay head somm Shanteh Wale, to curate collections of five Australian wines packaged in 200ml pouches. A Glass of has targeted some seriously impressive, quite high-end Australian producers and I think a smaller format definitely plays into that, Shedden says. These play into moderation and that just one occasion beautifully. If it lands on the shelf at $8.99 a pouch for 200ml, youre talking about a pretty sizable glass of wine for nine bucks. Shedden hopes to see more boutique wines available in bagnum format in the next 12 to 18 months. At Endeavour, the two things fuelling growth in the last six months are bagnums and alternative packaging. Wine in a can is another growth area. Canned still wines havent taken off, but spritzers are catching on. Three people at my four-year-olds birthday party on the weekend brought different forms of wine spritzer, Shedden says. I thought that was fascinating. Weve been banging on for a while about innovation in wine and certainly in terms of our results, the only things driving growth are the people who are innovating.

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Greenskin sells premium Western Australian-grown wine in fully recyclable 750ml pouches. Supplied Six forms of alt packaging to try Wine in a pouch Theres much to love about single-serve wine in a squishy, recyclable pouch, especially if you like a beverage at the end of a long walk. Chuck it in your backpack and youre good to go. Try top-notch wine from A Glass of in 200ml recyclable, BPA-free pouches ($47/five-pack, aglassof.com). Or, try Greenskin Wine, premium Western Australian-grown wine in fully recyclable 750ml pouches. From $106.50/six, greenskinwine.com.

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Casks of Gonzo Vino wine come in psychedelic boxes. Bag in a box Cask wine, aka goon, is often considered second-class booze but Victorias Gonzo Vino challenges that view. In 2020, sommelier Marcus Radny reinvented the wine pillow when he found himself with excess quality pinot noir and banged it in a box. Now, Gonzo has a changing line-up of utterly quaffable wines (sourced from vineyards across Australia) in psychedelic packaging. $66/3 litres, gonzovino.com. Cult Cru Wine Company launched in February with six varieties. They strive for sustainable production, using cardboard boxes made from 72 per cent recycled materials, and are working on a bag return process in partnership with Sustainable Infrastructure Systems. $39.99/2 litres, cultcru.com.au. Winesmiths x Pelli have collaborated on an insulated bag to carry two-litre premium casks.

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Wine in a cooler bag Wine-on-tap producer Winesmiths has collaborated with Australian lifestyle bag brand Pelli to create an insulated bag to carry their two-litre premium casks. Chill the wine and pop it in the bag, pulling the tap through the opening. Add an ice brick to keep the wine cool for hours. The bag is made from recycled materials, plant-based insulation and biodegradable materials. $59.95/reusable bag, $15.99/2-litre cask, smithswinestore.com.au/winesmiths/pellibag/. Flask-shaped EcoBottles are made from recycled PET. EcoBottles They look weird, but theres purpose behind the flat EcoBottles made in Victoria by Visy using 100 per cent recycled PET. The unbreakable 750ml bottles are shaped like flasks and are about the width of a novel. Brands such as Banrock Station and Taylors have been on this bandwagon for a couple of years. From $10/bottle at Liquorland and First Choice Liquor.

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Canned spritzers are gaining a greater share of sales. Wine in a can For friendly fizz, try the Tread Softly Prosecco in a can. For every case sold, the brand commits to planting an Australian native tree. Find them on special for $10/four-pack at BWS, or $156/case at fourthwavewine.com.au. Melbourne-based accessory company _Three Litres creates backpacks and bumbags that resemble silver goon bags. Kristoffer Paulsen Wine you can wear

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The long, warm days of summer are officially behind us. Daylight saving will come to an end on Sunday morning, shifting our clocks back one hour.

For many, this change is welcome  who doesnt want an extra hour of sleep?  but for others, its an uncertain period that could throw their childrens sleep schedule entirely out of whack.

Daylight saving is a challenge for parents and kids alike. Credit: Illustration: Bethany Rae

So, how can parents help their little ones adjust to the end of daylight saving, ensuring they get the sleep they need without waking the whole household at the crack of dawn?

What is daylight saving?
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 Sadly, its not surprising to read of the three-year-old boy struck by a fat bike (Child hit by illegal fat bike lucky to be alive, April 3). In a city like Sydney that is geographically challenged for those who cannot ride a standard bicycle comfortably, restricted speed e-bikes provide a solution for both commuters and recreational cyclists alike. The warnings about unrestricted e-bikes such as fat bikes have been around for some time now. I look forward to reading of a police crackdown on these electric motorbikes  as opposed to legal pedal-assist e-bikes  to ensure the wellbeing of pedestrians and other road users. John Anderson, Macmasters Beach Clara Ferrer-Paxtot and her three-year-old son Biel, who was struck by a fat bike last week. Credit: Wolter Peeters It was only a matter of time. How stupid are we as a community? Why do we allow these potentially deadly fat bikes on footpaths? If I rode my motor scooter along the footpath I would promptly be fined. Michael McMullan, Avoca Beach Fat bikes are not legally e-bikes, which have a limited power output and speed restrictions. They are basically motorbikes, and their importation and sale should be banned due to a lack of regulation and enforcement of rules by the police. It is insufficient that retailers and manufacturers merely display information that these vehicles can only be used on private property as they know this will be ignored by irresponsible parents and children. It is simple to override the electronic restrictions on power and speed on fat bikes. Their use on footpaths, cycleways and roads must be banned. Tony Heathwood, Kiama Downs The parents who continue to ignore the fact that the e-motorcycles (with motors greater than 500w) they are allowing their children to ride are illegal on roads and footpaths, and are uninsured, should at the very least not let them carry pillion passengers. If their child were to have an accident on a fat bike that left a pillion passenger injured they will not be covered by insurance. Parents will be personally liable for any injuries to pillion passengers. If the injuries are serious, it could cost the parents of the rider of the bike their house. Most people have contents insurance which has $20million of public liability which covers third-party personal injury anywhere in Australia by any of the homes occupiers. It will not provide cover for the riding of e-motorcycles. Legal e-bikes are covered. Anyone considering buying an e-bike should ask the retailer for written proof that the e-bike is street-legal. Sellers will also be jointly liable if they provide false information. Schools should also be asking students who ride their e-bikes to school to provide evidence that the e-bike is legal before allowing the bike on school grounds. Greg McCarthy, Cronulla Loading I read that the premier will meet the owners of a Palm Beach restaurant as he is troubled by an opening hours matter (Minns to meet Palm Beach restaurant owners over fracas, April 4). Premier, I am troubled by three-year-olds being run over by fat tyre e-bikes on footpaths. Perhaps you have your priorities wrong; instead of travelling to Palm Beach you should deal with the plague of dangerous fat bikes on our streets. The problem is easy to solve. People importing and retailing fat bikes are, in my view, unlicensed motor vehicle dealers. Rod Tullock, Burraneer

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How do you get a personal visit from the premier? Hopefully, the restaurant owners will tell others how they secured an appointment for a visit by Premier Chris Minns (Minns to meet restaurant owners over fracas, April 4). Residents of Yamba have lost count of the number of unsuccessful invitations they have provided to our premier and Planning Minister Paul Scully to visit the lower Clarence and inspect horrendous new developments on the local floodplain. What secret code word or handshake did the job to get a count me in from our premier? Col Shephard, Yamba Kudos to Chris Minns for jumping into the Palm Beach fracas. May he then attend to some similar regional problems? My neighbourhood, at the foot of the Sublime Point track, suffers from invading exercisers (often up to 400-500 a day) on the track. Some exercisers urinate in our yard, leave rubbish, drive with speed, converse loudly and confront neighbours with their rights. The local member has disregarded our pleas for assistance by providing garbage bins, toilets or additional parking at the top point. Can I expect a visit from the premier or will our regions problems be forgotten yet again? Janice Creenaune, Austinmer Its not only land-based venues that can have annoyingly loud music. On a recent cruise, my wife and I would find a comfy niche to enjoy our morning coffee and copies of the Heralds previous puzzle pages (prepared for such occasions) when over-amplified music would suddenly erupt, booming and reverberating throughout the main congregating spaces. Concentration even on the so-called quick crossword being impossible, we would make a regretful exit to our cabin for some peace and quiet. Lance Dover, Pretty Beach When you buy a property, you pay for and own the land and the building. You also pay for, but do not own, the ambience of the community. When there is an attempt to degrade the ambience, NIMBYs react to protect their enjoyment of their home and the value of their property. Being exposed to noise which you dont like but cannot control is stressful. Frequently, only a few people are affected by either of these situations so do not get much sympathy from the broader community. Brian Reid, The Ponds Burwood Mayor John Faker is looking to work with government in his council to provide additional housing while maintaining the heritage and history at Croydon, Credit: Dion Georgopoulos Mayor John Faker is lucky Minister Paul Scully afforded him three meetings (Agendas collide on housing frontline, April 4). Our mayor has been refused one. Hunters Hill has one road in and out. At 9am and 3pm, traffic can take up to 15 minutes to exit the narrow peninsula. Blanket rules are dangerous. More consultation is required before many suburbs are permanently ruined. Think of the Rozelle Interchange and its rat run consequences. Jill Stephenson, Woolwich

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There is much of the sublime to the ridiculous in Sydneys housing debate. I see plenty of heritage conservation areas that dont warrant that status and plenty of local government authorities being too restrictive. However, there is no need to demolish high-quality conservation areas such as Malvern Hill estate. There are many more eligible areas for increased density, with and without conservation area listings. Matthew Bartinel, Killara Gaza: more outrage required Surely there needs to be stronger action from the prime minister, supported by the opposition leader, following the death of the Australian aid worker in Gaza (US tell Israel to come clean on fatal airstrike, April 4). If this atrocity had occurred in Ukraine, carried out by Russia, Id bet good money the Russian ambassador in Australia would be on his way to Moscow by now and our ambassador there would be on the way home. Loading The rhetoric from both the prime minister and the opposition leader to date seems more about domestic political ascendancy rather than demonstrating that a deliberate attack that resulted in the death of an Australian citizen will not be tolerated. Mike Kenneally, Manly With the murder of seven aid workers, Israel has achieved its aim: the turning back of aid ships and the pausing of operations in Gaza by two charitable organisations. The killing of the Palestinian people continues, while the world watches on. Mary Haire, Annandale The Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen vehicles has achieved its purpose  stopping food aid to starving Gaza. Patsy Hay, Bilgola Plateau

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3M ducks and dives Weve seen it before, from the tobacco industry and the fossil fuel industry, and now the manufacturers of forever chemicals (How to poison a planet - forever, April 4). Company profits trump public safety every time, and permanent damage to individuals and the environment appear to be inconsequential to these companies. 3Ms mealy-mouthed corporate doublespeak justifying continued production of PFAS until the end of next year claims that 3M products, including those that contain PFAS, are safe and effective for their intended uses. Perhaps, but it is their unintended effects that make them unsafe, and should have them banned immediately, with company executives held personally, legally accountable. Alan Marel, North Curl Curl More bloke, no woke I suspect that even Niki Savva will not be able to make a dent in the white picket fence brigade that is the conservative party (Fury of Liberal women scorned, April 4). Women should know their place and obviously, as Julie Bishop learned, it is not in parliament. A nice supportive role raising funds for the lads should suffice; tea-making is useful and taking their heirs to the cosy boys-only private schools is worthwhile. Otherwise, it is against nature. The integrity of people such as Bridget Archer is uncalled for; whatever the blokes in the party decide must be voted for, not opposed. Barnaby, not Bridget, is their pin-up. How could it be otherwise? Nola Tucker, Kiama Illustration: Dionne Gain The Liberal Party believes it is exempt from the Sex Discrimination Act. Its broad church never was for women. Anne Eagar, Epping

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Tots or not Theres something a bit unsettling about an article that champions women having babies in their 20s as opposed to their 30s (The case for becoming a mother much younger, April 4). Life is what it is; there are no guarantees any woman will become a mother, no matter how hard she tries; and sometimes circumstances that allow for motherhood just dont align until later in life. Articles like this seem to promote competitive standards for women that are not just ridiculous, but quite harmful for some. Kerrie Wehbe, Blacktown Odette Barry makes a wonderful case for having children early. Her observation that child care support is only targeted at getting already stretched mums (and sometimes dads) into paid work shows how little society values stay-at-home parents. Its as though raising children isnt a valuable, worthwhile or skilled endeavour one should engage in as a full-time role. If we provided more support for mums and dads who have chosen carer roles, we may have more satisfied and less exhausted parents and happier kids. Brian Barrett, Padstow Fuel-ish placement It appears sales of electric vehicles are easing (Demand for Teslas stalls as investors slam door on Musk, April 4). Could this have something to do with the difficulty finding electrical energy on a trip? On a recent drive from Cowra to Sydney, I passed at least 25 petrol service stations, all on main highways. On the same trip, Im aware of only three fast-charging stations, and they are all on back roads, requiring a map to find. I wonder how petrol/diesel vehicle sales would fare if regular servos were as difficult to find? Stan Baker, Wyangala

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The company has completed numerous parks across Melbourne in recent years, according to its website, including Green Gully Reserve in Keilor Downs, Lakes Reserve in Taylors Lakes, Balwyn Park, Elwood Playspace, Morton Homestead and Bloomsbury Drive Reserve in Taylors Hill, and Arbour Boulevard North Reserve in Burnside Heights. The Age revealed on Wednesday that two pieces of compound material found at the Donald McLean Reserve in Spotswood were confirmed to contain asbestos after being tested, and the playground had been taped off to the public. On Thursday morning, Hobsons Bay council said other sites using the mulch  a recycled product used around mature tree planting  would now be examined. Donald McLean Reserve in Spotswood was taped off on Wednesday after asbestos-containing material was found. We are conducting a thorough inspection of all open space and conservation areas where we have used recycled mulch from this specific supplier, a council statement said on Thursday. Softfall mulch surrounding playgrounds in Hobsons Bay uses a virgin mulch that complies with Australian standards.

The [Donald McLean] playground will only be reopened once mulch has been reinstated and approved by the hygienist. The EPA told ABC Radio Melbourne it was investigating the source of the mulch. There are two possibilities. One is someones dumped a trailer load of mulch against the tree and its got mixed up into the mulch, or the mulch producers got some contamination in a batch of mulch, Duncan Pendrigh, director of regulatory services, told the stations Breakfast program. We will investigate both those possibilities.

Loading The state government has been approached for comment. The municipality of Hobsons Bay includes the suburbs of Altona, Altona Meadows, Brooklyn, Laverton, Newport, Seabrook, Seaholme, South Kingsville, Spotswood and Williamstown. This weeks asbestos discovery in Spotswood was first reported by a Melbourne father whose children were playing nearby. He found chunks of suspicious compound material, as well as insulated wires, chunks of brick and concrete, various kinds of plywood, and bits of wood with nails in them scattered throughout the tanbark. It follows similar cases in NSW, where asbestos-contaminated mulch was found at 75 sites, including seven schools.

The EPA described the discovery of building rubble in the park as alarming, but said the asbestos chunks were only dangerous if broken down into dust. Whats alarming is building rubble in a park. Building rubbles got no business being in mulch or in any park, Pendrigh said. Parts of Donald McLean Reserve were fenced off after the discovery. Thats a big issue. The asbestos will be bound in cement sheets that have been broken up into little pieces as part of the building rubble. So that doesnt pose an immediate risk. So people should be alert, not alarmed, in regards to the asbestos because asbestos is dangerous if youre breathing dust with asbestos fibres in it, and theres no way that that material can become a dust immediately. [But] handling it is not a good thing to do.

The park opened in April last year after receiving funding through the West Gate Tunnel Project, as part of a state government initiative to improve parks and sporting facilities in the inner west. A spokesperson for the tunnel project said the council oversaw the construction of the playground and was leading the asbestos contamination investigation. Coalition environment spokesman James Newbury has called for the Allan government to explain how the contaminated product came to be at the reserve and to guarantee that other parks are safe. Every parent will be deeply concerned about asbestos being found near where children play, Newbury said. Asbestos is seriously dangerous and its just not good enough that the substance was there.

Since an asbestos crisis started in Sydney in early January, mulch containing asbestos has been found at 75 sites, including seven schools, a supermarket, hospitals and numerous public parks. The initial investigation was launched after a child took home bonded asbestos from a playground in Sydneys inner west. The crisis quickly spread north. The Queensland Environment Department detected easily crumbled asbestos in February. The discovery sparked concerns that dozens of locations, including schools, had received asbestos-contaminated mulch. Separately on Wednesday, the EPA warned Victorians to avoid mulch advertised on Facebook marketplace and Gumtree, after asbestos was found in free mulch given to a resident in Melbournes east.

Last week, Upwey High School and Upwey Primary School parents were told asbestos may have been found on a freshly redeveloped school oval in Melbournes outer east after state railway corporation VicTrack used the site as a temporary car park. An EPA spokesperson said on Thursday that subsequent testing revealed no visual signs of asbestos on the oval and no asbestos fibres in the air. EPA officers inspecting tanbark containing building waste at Donald McLean Reserve. Credit: Justin McManus Asbestos is the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals found in rock formations. It was widely used across the building industry in Australia before it was banned in 2003 due to its carcinogenic properties.
Tammi Jonas loves eating meat but is adamant she only wants to consume animals she has looked in the eye.

Soon, the small-scale pork and beef farmer based in north central Victoria will apply that philosophy to the way her animals die, too.

Tammi Jonas in the cool room at her farm in Eganstown. Credit: Joe Armao

Jonas and her husband Stuart last month won the right to have an abattoir on their family property, Jonai Farms in Eganstown, defeating a challenge by neighbours in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The farmers hope to begin slaughtering animals by the end of winter in a facility built into a shipping container  a response to rising concerns among small-scale farmers about restricted access to large slaughterhouses.
A 51-year-old woman has faced court after she allegedly kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach in Perths south.

Police allege Charmaine Mourish followed the 35-year-old woman into an IGA on Hill View Place in Bentley around 7.50pm on Wednesday. The pair did not know each other.

Mourish allegedly yelled verbal abuse at the pregnant woman before following her out into the carpark where she allegedly punched her in the face several times, before kicking her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the ground.

Police arrived soon after and arrested Mourish along Walpole Street. The victim was rushed to Fiona Stanley Hospital for treatment.
Energy company Santos is to partner with Papau New Guinea operator Telikom PNG in developing what is described as an evolving telecommunications landscape in the liquid natural gas (LNG) and Santos project facilities and communities through a ten-year partnership.

A co-location agreement was signed between Telikom PNG CEO, Amos Tepi, and Santos Country Chair PNG, Leon Buskens last week in Port Moresby. This collaboration will be an enabler for Telikom to expand its network into Santoss upstream field sites by leveraging Santoss existing telecommunications fibre and tower infrastructure.

Telikom PNG can now proceed with deployment of 4G LTE connectivity across Santos 14 communications sites and towers located at Kikori in Gulf Province, Ridge and Moro in Kutubu, Southern Highlands Province and Hides in Hela Province.

During the signing Buskens said that Santos was pleased to collaborate with Telikom PNG to venture into fibre infrastructure and 4G LTE to boost internet connectivity whilst driving innovation and economic growth at Santos' field operations and LNG-impacted project areas.

Buskens said this initiative is in line with Santos commitment to the PNG governments aspirations in its National Content Policy framework by supporting telecommunications as a tool to boost local landowner businesses and strengthen community connectivity.

Santos can now give Telikom permission to use sites to transmit from its equipment located on the transmission towers and will be given a redundant link via Telikoms terrestrial network. Telikom will access Santos optical fibre link between Iagifu Ridge and Port Moresby, and take advantage of cost-effective network expansion into Gulf, Southern Highlands, Hela and Western Provinces.

Santos is a global energy company with operations across Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the United States. It is a major LNG supplier in Asia.
The comments section on social media  a terrible place to spend even a second of your valuable time  would have you believe that comedian Jack Steele ruined feminism for an entire cohort of Australian women on Wednesday night.

But blame for the abysmal failure of the now-viral prank, in which he joined an apparent feminist panel discussion to voice half-baked hot takes such as chicks dig consent and I really like girl writers, should not be given to Steele alone. We should hold space for the three prominent feminists who promised their fans an evening of insightful discourse and thought-provoking discussions only to make womens time and feminist discourse the butt of a joke.

Steeles attendance had actually been orchestrated as part of a skit for the second season of the TV show (Impractical) Jokers.

To their credit, Antoinette Lattouf, Clementine Ford and Yumi Stynes did tell attendees their lively conversation on the intricacies of sex, love, relationships and marriage would include a special guest offering his perspective as a young male. They also made the event free, meaning none of those in attendance paid to lose their night to what one attendee described as a painfully unfunny experience.

While signs were posted around the Sydney venue indicating the talk would be filmed, they failed to disclose that the filming was for a Paramount+ skit series Steele is starring in, or that the perspectives Steele would offer were actually lines fed to him by producers via an earpiece.
The Australian Defence Force should consider establishing a Pacific battalion with rotating Australian and Pacific troops to help boost regional ties and address the militarys staffing crisis, a new report has argued.

The government is also being urged to consider allowing the direct recruitment of Pacific Islanders into the ADF, overturning the long-standing principle that Australian citizenship is required to enlist in the military.

The federal government is considering options to allow non-citizens to serve in the Australian Defence Force.

Amid growing calls for Defence Force eligibility rules to be loosened to meet ambitious recruitment goals, the federal government has flagged that it wants to expand options for foreigners to serve in the ADF.

Several Pacific countries  including Nauru, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Solomon Islands  do not have formal militaries, reducing concerns about Australia poaching staff from other nations defence forces.
The Israeli government may offer to pay compensation to the family of Australian Zomi Frankcom and the other aid workers who died in an airstrike in Gaza, an attack Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says constitutes a clear violation of international law.

Albanese strengthened his criticism of Israel on Thursday, declaring that it was not good enough to dismiss the drone strike that killed seven aid workers as a tragic wartime accident and demanding those responsible for the attack be held accountable.

Zomi Frankcom at a World Central Kitchen site in Gaza at the end of March.

As star chef and World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres accused Israel of attacking his workers systematically, car by car, Labor MP Julian Hill called for the Australian Tax Office and the national charities commission to urgently address concerns that Australians are claiming tax deductions to fund Israeli settler activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

With Israel reportedly preparing to release the results of its full investigation into the fatal airstrike within days, and possibly as early as Friday, Albanese said: We need to have accountability for how its occurred.
The saga began earlier this year, when Freund was flying back from a visit to his parents in Germany. While reviewing a log of automated tests, he noticed a few error messages he didnt recognise. He was jet-lagged, and the messages didnt seem urgent, so he filed them away in his memory. But a few weeks later, while running some more tests at home, he noticed that an application called SSH, which is used to log into computers remotely, was using more processing power than normal. He traced the issue to a set of data compression tools called xz Utils, and wondered if it was related to the earlier errors hed seen. This could have been the most widespread and effective backdoor ever planted in any software product, Alex Stamos, the chief trust officer at SentinelOne, a cybersecurity research firm (Dont worry if these names are Greek to you. All you really need to know is that these are all small pieces of the Linux operating system, which is probably the most important piece of open-source software in the world. The vast majority of the worlds servers  including those used by banks, hospitals, governments and Fortune 500 companies  run on Linux, which makes its security a matter of global importance.) Like other popular open-source software, Linux gets updated all the time, and most bugs are the result of innocent mistakes. But when Freund looked closely at the source code for xz Utils, he saw clues that it had been intentionally tampered with.

In particular, he found that someone had planted malicious code in the latest versions of xz Utils. The code, known as a backdoor, would allow its creator to hijack a users SSH connection and secretly run their own code on that users machine. Loading At first, Freund doubted his own findings. Had he really discovered a backdoor in one of the worlds most heavily scrutinised open-source programs? It felt surreal, he said. There were moments where I was like, I must have just had a bad night of sleep and had some fever dreams. But his digging kept turning up new evidence, and last week, Freund sent his findings to a group of open-source software developers. The news set the tech world on fire. Within hours, a fix was developed and some researchers were crediting him with preventing a potentially historic cyberattack.

This could have been the most widespread and effective backdoor ever planted in any software product, said Alex Stamos, the chief trust officer at SentinelOne, a cybersecurity research firm. If it had gone undetected, Stamos said, the backdoor would have given its creators a master key to any of the hundreds of millions of computers around the world that run SSH. That key could have allowed them to steal private information, plant crippling malware, or cause major disruptions to infrastructure  all without being caught. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised Freunds curiosity and craftsmanship. Credit: AP Nobody knows who planted the backdoor. But the plot appears to have been so elaborate that some researchers believe only a nation with formidable hacking chops, such as Russia or China, could have attempted it. According to some researchers who have gone back and looked at the evidence, the attacker appears to have used a pseudonym, Jia Tan, to suggest changes to xz Utils as far back as 2022. (Many open-source software projects are governed via hierarchy; developers suggest changes to a programs code, then more experienced developers known as maintainers have to review and approve the changes.)

The attacker, using the Jia Tan name, appears to have spent several years slowly gaining the trust of other xz Utils developers and getting more control over the project, eventually becoming a maintainer, and finally inserting the code with the hidden backdoor earlier this year. (The new, compromised version of the code had been released, but was not yet in widespread use.) Loading Freund declined to guess who might have been behind the attack. But he said that whoever it was had been sophisticated enough to try to cover their tracks, including by adding code that made the backdoor harder to spot. It was very mysterious, he said. They clearly spent a lot of effort trying to hide what they were doing. Since his findings became public, Freund said, he had been helping the teams who are trying to reverse-engineer the attack and identify the culprit. But hes been too busy to rest on his laurels. The next version of PostgreSQL, the database software he works on, is coming out later this year, and hes trying to get some last-minute changes in before the deadline.
You can get great views from many different perspectives: street and water level, atop mountains, monuments and skyscrapers, or from ships and planes. Here are some of the greatest views in the world from all kinds of platforms.

Views help us understand the destinations we visit and often provide some of the best memories afterwards.

Who can pass a window with a view without pausing and looking out? Who isnt tempted to crane their neck to peer from an aircraft, or hoof up a hill, or pay extra for a hotel room with an outlook?

Views can make us feel small and humble, and sometimes mere curiosity is all that motivates us. Views can be voyeuristic gazes into places where we dont belong, beckoning us into landscapes or cities as yet undiscovered.

A great view in our travels can make us feel like gods surveying creation or army generals mapping out the land were about to conquer. From above, mountains are reduced to molehills, buildings to Lego blocks, and we feel all-powerful.

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Get a close-up view of Luccas old town from its city walls. Credit: Alamy

Essentials Monument Valleys scenic drive is open 8am-5pm daily with the last vehicle entry at 2.30pm. Entry is $US8 ($12.30). Budget at least two hours. Avoid peak season and, if you cant, book early. See navajonationparks.org

The view This desert valley in Navajo Tribal Park soars with red sandstone buttes, some 300 metres high. If they look familiar, then you must be a fan of old Hollywood westerns such as The Magnificent Seven . The road provides an ever-shifting panorama; stop at designated locations such as Elephant Butte, Totem Pole and John Fords Point for the best outlooks.

Position yourself If you want exhilarating scenery without effort, you neednt leave your car along this 27-kilometre tourist drive. You can even take in the classic panorama of Merrick and Mitten buttes without leaving the visitor centre.

West Kowloon Cultural District provides a new perch from which to soak up Victoria Harbour views. Credit: iStock

Essentials Lucca is 90 kilometres from Florence. The bastions and walls are free and open 24 hours. The promenades run for four kilometres and are suitable for cycling. See turismo.lucca.it

The view Some town walls offer sweeping panoramas. Not so Luccas, although you can see the Apuan Alps. What makes this view wonderful is its inward look at the old town, crammed with architectural beauty from Luccas time as an independent city-state between 1369 and 1815. Layers of terracotta roofs are punctuated by defensive towers, bell towers, ornate palazzi, cathedral and churches. You can peer down into gardens and cafe terraces.

Position yourself Six gates give you access to ramps onto Luccas 12-metre-high, park-like bastions, which are wide enough to incorporate paths, lawns and trees. Walk the whole circumference for ever-changing outlooks.

A train journey brings you a forever-scrolling panorama of landscapes, like this one of Lake Hart in South Australia.

Essentials Promenades are free and open 24 hours. The Symphony of Lights multimedia light show that illuminates harbour buildings runs at 8pm daily. See westkowloon.hk

The view If you havent been to Hong Kong for a while, then the West Kowloon Cultural District provides fine museums, dazzling architecture and a new perch from which to soak up Victoria Harbour views. From Art Park, the jostling skyscrapers and background hills of Central are stunning, especially at sunset or night. The roof garden of M+ contemporary art museum also gives you a birds-eye view of the leafy, redeveloped waterfront and an even greater sweep of the harbour.

Position yourself The nearest MTR station is Kowloon, a 10-minute walk away. Promenades are expansive. Hungry? The restaurants at the FAM dining precinct also dish up glittering urban vistas.

Essentials Journey Beyonds four-day Indian Pacific journey between Sydney and Perth departs on Wednesdays. Perth-Sydney departures are on Sundays. See journeybeyondrail.com.au

The view A single-point view only holds your attention for so long, no matter how grand, but a train journey brings you a forever-scrolling panorama of landscapes, none more varied than on the 4352-kilometre, four-day haul between Sydney and Perth. Its a summary of Australia: city suburbia, the Blue Mountains, bony red outback and its rusting gold-rush settlements, the purple Flinders Ranges and endless Nullarbor plain, and the extravagant wheat and rapeseed fields of Western Australia.

Position yourself You wont have to leave your cabin: prop yourself by the window and marvel. Youll also get great views from the Outback Explorer Lounge and the trains art deco dining carriage.

Position yourself The most scenic arrival is by lake steamer from Lucerne, followed by a short funicular ride up the hill. Already in the hotel lobby you have a parachutists view through six-metre windows.

The view This ultra-chic and pricey resort in Switzerlands most scenic region is slung between sky and water on the edge of the Alps, with views to make your soul sing from many guestrooms. But the staggering outlooks dont end there: the glass box of Spices Kitchen restaurant projects over the cliff edge, and so does the spas infinity pool, where you can float like an angel, sometimes enveloped in clouds.

Essentials Burgenstock Resort has several accommodation options but Burgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa is the most spectacular for views. See buergenstock.ch

From a hotel room

Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing, Beijing, China

Gaze onto the serried, upturned yellow roofs and pinkish walls of the Forbidden City from this hotel.

Position yourself This hotel sits just northeast of Tiananmen Square and south-east of the Forbidden City. The nearest metro station is Wangfujing.

The view Innumerable hotels have more sweeping outlooks, but this Beijing hotel wins for romance: you gaze onto the serried, upturned yellow roofs and pinkish walls of the Forbidden City. Building height is restricted around the palace complex and adjacent Zhongnanhai compound, home to Chinas leaders, so you wont get better. If you arent staying, have cocktails on MO Bars huge terrace as a sunset fireball bounces across palace ridgelines against the blue ridges of the citys background Fragrant Hills.

Essentials Mandarin Rooms at the Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing have Forbidden City views, as do various suites. See mandarinoriental.com

From a monument

Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

On top of the world  Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: iStock

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Position yourself A steep, narrow-gauge railway hauls you up Corcovado mountain in 20 minutes, with a pair of escalators propelling you further to the base of the iconic statue of Christ.

The view All Rio and its sumptuous coastal and mountain setting is revealed. Beautiful bays and humped mountains spread below, lined by stretches of famous beaches such as Ipanema and Copacabana. Most striking is Sugar Mountain rising from a harbour peninsula. At your back is the jungle-like Tijuca National Park. Go in the early morning, just as the mist lifts and before the heat and smog haze set in.

Essentials Tremo do Corcovado train runs every 20 minutes during daylight. Entrance fees are included in fares. See visitbrasil.com

From a tower

Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo, Japan

Tokyos Skytree, Japans tallest structure. Credit: iStock

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Position yourself Take the lift up 350 metres to Tembo Deck, which runs around the building and is encased in five-metre-high windows. Then continue to Tembo Galleria, where a spiral ramp circles the tower and takes you to 451 metres.

The view Japans tallest structure has a mind-boggling outlook over one of the worlds megacities which, from this height, looks like a circuit board of intersections and skyscrapers. On clear days, you can gaze 90 kilometres to Mount Fujis perfect snow-covered cone. Although you see more in daylight, the night view of glittering lights is magical.

Essentials Tokyo Skytree or Oshiage train stations are nearest. The observation deck is open 10am to 9pm daily with the last entry at 8pm. See tokyo-skytree.jp

From an ocean ship

Vaitape Bya, Bora Bora, French Polynesia

For unobstructed, 360-degree views of Vaitape, jump on board Oceania Regatta. Credit: Alamy

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Position yourself Get out on the highest deck of Oceania Regatta for the sail into Vaitape: the running track has unobstructed 360-degree views. For the sail-away, settle in at Horizons lounge and gaze out the window over cocktails.

The view Bora Boras vertical volcanic peak rears from the ocean, often wrapped in a scarf of clouds. As you get closer youll see confetti of low-lying small islands and atolls embedded in a velvety lagoon of electric blue water that turns vivid orange and pink for sunset sail-aways. Beaches are white as washing powder, and palm trees nod in the background. Fabulous.

Essentials Oceania Cruises has four 10-day French Polynesia cruises round trip from Papeete in January and February 2025 that visit Bora Bora, some with overnights there. See oceaniacruises.com

From a river ship

Aswan, Nile River, Egypt

The riverbanks are best in Aswan. Credit: Alamy

Position yourself Find your preferred spot on the top deck of Viking Ra, which runs the ships length and has a swimming pool, loungers and tables from which to soak up the views. The riverbanks are marvellous everywhere, but best at Aswan.

The view The Nile slides between sandbanks, giant boulders and islands and is lined by desert. On the West Bank, sculpted dunes are topped by the domed mausoleum of Aga Khan III and the ruins of the Monastery of St Simeon. Feluccas come and go as golden light lengthens, and the sun descends into the desert. The mighty rocks turn to pink, the waters red: stunning.

Essentials Viking River Cruises 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary has multiple departures all year, round-trip from Cairo with a river cruise between Luxor and Aswan. See vikingrivercruises.com.au; smartraveller.gov.au

From a mountain

Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix, France

See the snow peaks of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps from Aiguille du Midi, Credit: iStock

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Position yourself The worlds highest vertical cable car ascent whisks you up over two vertical kilometres in 20 minutes. From the summit station at 3778 metres, a lift takes you to outdoor platforms at 3842 metres.

The view From atop a needle of rock, views plunge past Les Pelerins glacier to forest and meadow, then alpine resort Chamonix, over which paragliders drift small as butterflies. For an added thrill, the glass-floored Step into the Void is cantilevered over a one-kilometre drop. Meanwhile, snow peaks of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps rear and right beside you looms Mont Blanc (4810 metres).

Essentials Aiguille du Midi cable car runs year-round except in November and December, with regular departures every 1030 minutes. See montblancnaturalresort.com

From a plane seat

Ronald Reagan National Airport, Washington DC, US

Watch as iconic Washington DC spreads beneath like a political thriller movies opening scenes from Ronald Reagan National Airport. Credit: iStock

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Position yourself It has to be DCA: Washingtons two other airports, Dulles (IAD) and Baltimore-Washington (BWI) dont supply the same thrill. Bag a window seat on the left-hand side if landing, forward of the wing.

The view Flights descend steeply, then bank sharply over the Potomac River to avoid Pentagon airspace. Iconic Washington DC spreads beneath like a political thriller movies opening scenes. Youll see the whole National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument obelisk and Capitol Hill, as well as the citys grid layout. Off to the side is the domed Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Essentials American Airlines flies from Sydney to Washington DC via Dallas Fort Worth and United Airlines via San Francisco or Houston. Most Melbourne flights go via Sydney. See flyreagan.com

Five more amazing views

The Siq, Petra, Jordan

The view is restricted, but the anticipation will make your spine tingle. Credit: iStock

The sense of anticipation builds as you walk down this narrow red-rock canyon that barely lets you see the sky. Then  bang  at the end of the cleft, you see the facade of the Treasury, perfectly illuminated in the early morning by an orange sun. Its a restrictive view but one to make your neck tingle, and feel as if youre Harrison Ford undertaking a last crusade. See visitpetra.jo

Campanile, Venice, Italy

See Venices lagoon and outlying islands from St Marks. Credit: iStock

While most people admire Venice from canal level, head up this bell tower on St Marks Square, and youll get a wonderful aerial view of the citys island layout and snaking waterways with their endless processions of boats and ferries. Church domes pop above red-tiled Renaissance roofs. In one direction, you can see Venices lagoon and outlying islands, and in the other, the snow-capped Dolomite Alps. See basilicasanmarco.it

Canton Tower, Guangzhou, China

The views are stupendous from Canton Tower. Credit: iStock

At 600 metres this skyscraper is nowhere near the worlds tallest, but it does have one of the worlds highest outdoor observation decks at a windy 488 metres above Haizhu district. It is no surprise that the views are stupendous. The evening is the time to go, when LED lights set the structures exterior aglow in changing colours, and the city is a sprawl of twinkling lights. See cantontower.com

Oia, Santorini, Greece

You may recognise this view, but it doesnt make it any less awesome. Credit: iStock

Its one of the great cliches of the travel world, seen over and over again in photos. But despite that  and the jostle of Instagrammers  views from this village clinging to the clifftops of an ancient caldera are awesome. Banded rock plunges to a silvery sea, and Oia tumbles in ziggurat steps of blue-dome churches and whitewashed cottages. Every terrace provides another outlook. Sunsets are explosive. See visitgreece.gr

Six Senses Ya Noi, Koh Yao Noi, Thailand

This resort has views over Phang Nga Bay you dont have to get out of bed for.

This resort in Phang Nga Bay, a location for the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, gazes over islands that rise in a series of karst humps, like stone camels trekking across a Silk Road sea. Infinity ponds and swimming pools help propel you into the scene. Rent the one-bedroom villa aptly named The View, and you wont even need to get out of bed to enjoy the extravagant outlook. See sixsenses.com

Dim views: Five missable vistas from around the world

Rock of Gibraltar

Pesky macaques make this viewpoint all the more unappealing. Credit: MarkGillow

The town resembles a rundown British seaside resort, and the view, when not obscured by fog, overlooks a runway, ugly apartment blocks and an unattractive splinter of Spain. Squint across the strait and Morocco is a mere smudge. Meanwhile, you have to keep half an eye on the annoying and sometimes vicious macaques.

Empire State Building

Views from the Empire State Building unfortunately do not include the Empire State Building. Credit: iStock

The Midtown location of New Yorks most iconic tower doesnt provide the best outlook, least of all because surrounding buildings are rather dull. Views are being edged out by a new luxury skyscraper under construction a few blocks away. Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Centre is much better placed.

Pyramids of Giza

Only from certain spots can you admire the three pyramids without background clutter. Credit: Alamy

Clever photos never show Gizas unedifying suburbs that crowd up close to the pyramids in a distraction of shabby apartment blocks. Only from certain spots can you admire the three pyramids without background clutter  or foreground tourists clinging to camels. Prepare for a hot hike into the sands for any feeling of romance.

Burj Khalifa

The view from the Burj Khalifa impresses only through sheer height.

The worlds tallest building rears over Dubai, but between shimmering heat, smog and windblown sand, you seldom get a clear view  and what you see has little colour or contour. Only sheer height impresses. The outdoor observation platform is small and often crowded, and metal bars frustrate photography efforts.

Angkor Wat

Join the crush for a disappointing sunrise at Angkor Wat. Credit: iStock

If youre lucky enough to be there on the perfect day, sunrise at Cambodias most famous temple is splendid. But how often is the day perfect? You get up at an ungodly hour, join the crush at the reflecting pond and find the sun barely struggles through clouds. Brilliant if you like changing shades of grey.
Zomi Frankcom, an Australian aid worker, left Rafah in southern Gaza early on Monday with six others to help unload 400 tonnes of food at a makeshift jetty. They were all dead less than 24 hours later  killed by a series of Israeli drone strikes.

(Clockwise from top left): Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Lalzawmi Zomi Frankcom of Australia, Damian Sobol of Poland, and Jacob Flickinger of the US and Canada, and James Kirby, James Henderson and John Chapman of Britain. Credit: AP

The Jennifer, a 78-metre cargo ship, arrived in Gaza on April 1 after leaving Cyprus a few days earlier. Aid charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) said there was enough food on board to make more than 1 million meals, which would be unloaded at a temporary jetty built from the rubble of buildings destroyed in the conflict.

Frankcom, whose formal first name was Lalzawmi, and her team helped unload about 100 tonnes of aid and took it to a WCK warehouse in Deir al-Balah a few kilometres away. She and fellow workers  three British, one Palestinian, one Polish, and one American-Canadian  would have to come back later to finish the job.

Zomi appeared in a video a week earlier showing meals being prepared in a WCK kitchen in Deir al-Balah.
X gives free blue check to big follower accounts



Washington, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



Users with big followings will receive a free subscription to X, formerly Twitter -- and the platform's famous blue check, the company said in another policy U-turn.

Before Musk, the blue check mark was used as a verification system for major accounts including celebrities, institutions and journalists.

But Musk saw the system as unfair to regular users and overhauled the blue checks so that they went only to paying subscribers, which meant thousands of holders were stripped of the feature.

Late Wednesday, some users were surprised and even angry to find the blue tick reinstated.

A message from the platform explained that they were given free subscriptions because they were an "influential member" of X.

The site added that it "reserves the right to cancel the complimentary subscription in its sole discretion."

Musk said last week that "going forward, all X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5,000 will get Premium+ for free."

Premium or Premium+ perks include reduced ads and higher placement in the platform's feeds, as well as access to Grok, X's AI chatbot.

Some users who received the blue check saw it as a bid by Musk to revitalize the struggling platform.

"Translation: Pay $8? Kidding. Help me. But don't say anything too free speechy about me or my Garbage Tower of Babel," actor Jeffrey Wright, who received an unsolicited check, said in a post on X.

Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the platform's advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on his leadership and the mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

X on Tuesday named company veteran Kylie McRoberts as the new head of safety in an effort to shore up income from advertising, still the site's main source of revenue.

According to most industry-accepted metrics, X has lost users since Musk took ownership, but the company says activity on the site has grown.
South Africa's Blue Label Telecoms has received approval from the country's Competition Commission (CompCom) to take control, via a subsidiary, of operator Cell C.

Blue Label Telecoms, which describes itself as a company that sells innovative technology for mobile commerce to emerging markets in South Africa and abroad, is already a major shareholder in the company, in which it owns 49.53%.

Earlier this week the CompCom recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve a proposed transaction whereby Blue Label subsidiary The Prepaid Company (TPC) intends to acquire a controlling stake in Cell C.

The CompCom recommended approval of the merger subject to conditions to mitigate information exchange concerns, and conditions ensuring the continued use of certain prepaid airtime distribution channels for a period, post-merger.

The Connectng Africa news service notes that TPC is a wholesale distributor of prepaid telecommunication products  including prepaid airtime and SIM cards. TPC purchases these products from South African mobile operators, including Cell C, and sells them on to distributors, merchants and retailers.

Cell C also sells its own prepaid airtime directly to dealers, retailers and end-consumers through the Cell C app and its retail stores.

Cell C has faced some serious financial challenges in recent years, leading to recapitalisation, roaming deals with partner networks MTN and Vodacom, and, last June, a move to a virtual radio access network model.

This meant it switched off all its own tower infrastructure and handed over the building and operation of its cellular network to fellow South African operator MTN.
HRW calls for UN probe into Ethiopian army killings



Addis Ababa, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



Human Rights Watch on Thursday called for the United Nations to investigate "war crimes" committed by the Ethiopian army in Amhara, a region that has been plagued by conflict.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a public independent institution, estimated in February that at least 45 people were killed on January 29 by government forces in Merawi city after clashes with local militia Fano.

According to testimonies collected by the New York-based rights group, after the Fano withdrew from Merawi, Ethiopian soldiers shot civilians on the streets as well as during house raids over a six-hour period.

"The soldiers also pillaged and destroyed civilian property," HRW said in a statement.

It said the incident "was among the deadliest for civilians during the fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and Fano militia since the outbreak of fighting in Amhara in August 2023".

HRW urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to launch an independent inquiry into abuses in the region.

The NGO called on the African Union to suspend all deployments of Ethiopian federal forces to peacekeeping missions until "commanders responsible for grave abuses are held accountable".

Laetitia Bader, the group's deputy Africa director, said: "The Ethiopian government's failure to ensure meaningful accountability for abuses by federal and regional forces contributes to ongoing cycles of violence and impunity."

The deliberate killing of civilians has become a "daily occurrence" for Ethiopians in conflict zones, she said.

In early February, Ethiopia's parliament extended a state of emergency introduced in August 2023 in Amhara -- the country's second most populous region -- in an attempt to quell a so-far unsuccessful Fano insurgency.

The Fanos and other Amharas felt betrayed by a peace agreement signed in November 2022 by the government and dissident leaders of the Tigray region -- long-time foes of Amhara nationalists who claim parts of Ethiopia's northernmost region as their ancestral lands.
Russian strikes kill 4 in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv



Kyiv, Ukraine, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



Russian air strikes overnight in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv killed four people and injured 11, officials said Thursday.

Three rescue workers died during a second strike on a residential building in a "densely populated district of Kharkiv", Igor Terekhov, the mayor of the eastern city, wrote on Telegram.

Another person died in a drone attack on another building, he said. Police described the fourth victim as a 68-year-old woman and said 11 people had been injured in the night attacks.

Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov said Russian forces had launched "at least 15 drones", some of which had been downed.

Ukraine's cities are the target of Russian strikes almost every night, with Kharkiv, near the northeastern border, among those most regularly attacked.

Ukrainian officials have urged the country's allies to supply more anti-aircraft defence systems, in particular modern US-made Patriot systems.

US military aid to Ukraine has been drying up, with a $60-billion funding package currently stalled in Congress.
From Cold War to the Ukraine war: NATO at 75



Brussels, Belgium, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



The NATO military alliance on Thursday marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of its founding treaty in Washington.

Here are some facts and figures about the organisation forged in the Cold War and re-energised by Russia's war on Ukraine.



- 12 to 32 -



Just 12 countries were founder members of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 as the United States, Canada and much of western Europe clubbed together to face up to the threat of former World War II ally the Soviet Union.

As the alliance's first Secretary General Lord Ismay quipped, NATO's purpose was to "keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down".

In 1952, often uncomfortable neighbours Turkey and Greece joined, before West Germany became a member three years later.

After the end of the Cold War, NATO went through several waves of eastwards enlargement that saw its border with Russia grow with the inclusion of Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states.

After Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, Nordic neighbours Sweden and Finland reversed long-standing policies of non-alignment -- taking the alliance to 32 members.

In total, NATO countries account for close to one billion people and around 50 percent of the world's GDP.

Together they have 3.2 million men and women serving in their militaries.

Iceland is the only member without its own army.



- One -



NATO has only ever once triggered its Article Five collective-defence clause --- which says an attack on one member is considered an attack on all -- after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

That decision was a show of support for the alliance's leading military power and far different from the threat in Europe originally foreseen by its founders.

The fall-out from 9/11 saw NATO get involved in Afghanistan where it remained until 2021, when a calamitous US-led withdrawal allowed the Taliban to take back power.



- Two percent -



In response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, NATO allies agreed they would aim to spend two percent of their GDPs on defence.

That goal was raised after Moscow launched its all-out invasion of its neighbour in 2022 to having two percent as a minimum.

Former US president Donald Trump has railed against NATO countries not spending enough, warning he would encourage Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to those not meeting their obligations.

In 2024, 20 NATO members are expected to reach two percent, up from three in 2014.



- 25 -



June 2024 will mark 25 years since NATO deployed troops in Kosovo in 1999, completing the withdrawal of Serbian forces after its 77-day air campaign.

That military intervention was just the second in NATO's history, following its involvement in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.

A quarter of a century on, NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) still remains on the ground in the Balkans, making it the alliance's longest-running mission.

After a rise in tensions last year led to rioting that wounded 93 NATO troops, allies agreed to send 1,000 additional soldiers to KFOR -- taking its total to around 4,500.

Beyond the Balkans, NATO's other major overseas missions have included a nearly two decade deployment in Afghanistan and the 2011 bombing campaign in Libya.



- 43 -



No country has ever withdrawn from NATO, but France spent almost 43 years outside its military command structure after then president Charles de Gaulle pulled out in 1966 complaining of US domination.

The decision -- which saw NATO move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels -- was only reversed by former president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.

Nonetheless, France's sometimes strained relationship with NATO continues. In 2019 President Emmanuel Macron accused the alliance of suffering "brain death".

Macron later said Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine had woken up NATO with the "worst of electroshocks".
NATO turns 75 in shadow of Ukraine war -- and Trump



Brussels, Belgium, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged the United States to stick together with Europe as the Western military alliance turned 75 on Thursday menaced by an aggressive Russia and the spectre of Donald Trump's return to power.

The Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 re-invigorated NATO as it was confronted by one of the most serious challenges since it emerged from the ashes of World War II to counter the Soviet Union.

The alliance has bolstered its forces across eastern Europe and grown to 32 members after Finland and Sweden joined its ranks.

But while the war has refocused NATO's attention on its old nemesis Moscow to the east -- there is also another threat unnerving allies from leading power the United States in the west.

That's the possible return to the White House of Trump, who undermined NATO's collective defence guarantee by saying he'd encourage Russia to attack any members not spending enough on defence.

"I do not believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone," Stoltenberg said at a ceremony at NATO's Brussels headquarters.

"I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because, fundamentally, we are stronger and safer together."

In a bid to stave off Trump's criticisms, NATO has showcased increased spending by its European allies -- with 20 members this year set to hit a target of two percent of GDP for defence.

"North America also needs Europe," Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian military band played the NATO anthem.

"Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power."



- Ukraine wants air defence -



While Trump looms over the future of the alliance, NATO countries face the more pressing challenge of ensuring Ukraine does not lose its fight to push back Russia.

Alliance members have thrown their weight behind Kyiv -- which is bidding to join NATO -- by sending Ukraine weapons worth tens of billions of dollars.

But those supplies have now dwindled as crucial US support remains blocked by political wrangling. On the frontline, Ukraine's outgunned forces have been pushed onto the back foot.

In the face of surging Russian missile attacks on its infrastructure, Kyiv is pleading with its Western backers to send all the Patriot defence systems they can spare.

"At the same time we are celebrating ... Ukraine is having a difficult time," said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

"We must give rapid support to Ukraine. The military support, ammunition but also air defence."

Stoltenberg, meanwhile, has proposed a 100-billion-euro ($108-billion) five-year fund in a bid to ensure long-term support for Kyiv.

He is also pushing to get NATO as an organisation more directly involved in coordinating deliveries, something the alliance has so far refused to do out of concern it could drag it closer to war with Russia.

Part of the urgency for the plan, officials say, is to try to protect support for Ukraine from Trump's possible return.

But there remain many questions over how any financing would work and allies will look to thrash out details by a summit in Washington in July.
NATO turns 75 in shadow of Ukraine war -- and Trump



Brussels, Belgium, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged the United States to stick together with Europe as the Western military alliance turned 75 on Thursday menaced by an aggressive Russia and the spectre of Donald Trump's return to power.

The Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 re-invigorated NATO as it was confronted by one of the most serious challenges since it emerged from the ashes of World War II to counter the Soviet Union.

The alliance has bolstered its forces across eastern Europe and grown to 32 members after Finland and Sweden joined its ranks.

But while the war has refocused NATO's attention on its old nemesis Moscow to the east -- there is also another threat unnerving allies from leading power the United States in the west.

That's the possible return to the White House of Trump, who undermined NATO's collective defence guarantee by saying he'd encourage Russia to attack any members not spending enough on defence.

"I do not believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone," Stoltenberg said at a ceremony at NATO's Brussels headquarters.

"I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because, fundamentally, we are stronger and safer together."

In a bid to stave off Trump's criticisms, NATO has showcased increased spending by its European allies -- with 20 members this year set to hit a target of two percent of GDP for defence.

"North America also needs Europe," Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian military band played the NATO anthem.

"Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power."



- Ukraine wants air defence -



While Trump looms over the future of the alliance, NATO countries face the more pressing challenge of ensuring Ukraine does not lose its fight to push back Russia.

Alliance members have thrown their weight behind Kyiv -- which is bidding to join NATO -- by sending Ukraine weapons worth tens of billions of dollars.

But those supplies have now dwindled as crucial US support remains blocked by political wrangling. On the frontline, Ukraine's outgunned forces have been pushed onto the back foot.

In the face of surging Russian missile attacks on its infrastructure, Kyiv is pleading with its Western backers to send all the Patriot defence systems they can spare.

"I don't want to spoil the party, but of course my main message today will be Patriots," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said before talks with his NATO counterparts.

"Saving Ukrainian lives, saving the Ukrainian economy, saving Ukrainian cities depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defence systems in Ukraine."

Any prospect of a potential defeat for Ukraine has sent shivers through NATO allies close to Russia who fear they could be next in the Kremlin's sights.

"Unfortunately, it could be that NATO's biggest battles and fights are still in the future," said Lithuania's foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

"If those battles come and we are not prepared, that will be the biggest mistake that we can ever have."

In a bid to ensure long-term support for Kyiv in the face of a possible return by Trump, Stoltenberg has proposed NATO members set up a 100-billion-euro ($108-billion) five-year fund.

As part of the plan he is also pushing to get NATO as an organisation more directly involved in coordinating deliveries.

That is something the alliance has so far refused to do out of concern it could drag it closer to war with Russia.

NATO countries gave the go-ahead to work on the plan Wednesday, but there still remain many questions over financing and how far the alliance is willing to go to thrash it out before a summit in Washington in July.
Israel cancels leave for combat units after Iran consulate strike



Jerusalem, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



The Israeli army has suspended leave for its combat units, it said Thursday, amid the Gaza war and as tensions with Iran grew after a strike on Tehran's consulate in Damascus.

Israeli media reported that the military was also calling up more reservist soldiers "against the background of the visible threats from Iran".

"Leave will be temporarily paused for all combat units," the army said in a statement on Telegram.

The Israeli military also said that, after a "situational assessment, it was decided to increase manpower and draft reserve soldiers to the IDF Aerial Defense Array".

As Israel has fought in Gaza since the Hamas attack of October 7, it has also stepped up strikes against Iranian targets and Tehran's allies in Syria and Lebanon.

Israel has traded near-daily fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters positioned along the Lebanese border since Hamas carried out its unprecedented attack.

Tensions have been further inflamed by Monday's strike against the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital in which 16 people were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Among the dead were seven Iranian members of the Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.

The war monitor said the dead including eight Iranians, five Syrian fighters and one from Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as two civilians.

Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed in a social media message that "with God's help we will make the Zionists repent of their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus".

The mounting regional violence means it is "unlikely a war in the north can be avoided", Emmanuel Navon, a political science professor at Tel Aviv University told AFP.

The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Palestinian militants also took more than 250 hostages, and 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 33,037 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Sweden Koran burner arrested in Norway, faces deportation



Oslo, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



An Iraqi refugee in Sweden who stoked international outrage by repeatedly desecrating the Koran last year has been arrested in Norway and now faces deportation back to Sweden, according to court documents viewed by AFP Thursday.

Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Korans at a slew of protests in Sweden over the summer, told AFP last week that he had left Sweden for Norway, where he planned to seek asylum.

According to a ruling by the Oslo District Court, Momika was arrested on March 28 -- a day after he arrived.

After a hearing on March 30, the court decided to detain Momika for four weeks, awaiting a likely request from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) to Sweden that he is returned, in accordance with EU legislation.

In the court's ruling it said "a deportation will take place as soon as the formal and practical arrangements are in place."

Police had requested that he would be detained in the meantime, citing the country's migration law when it can be assumed that a foreign national will attempt to evade the implementation of a decision for him to leave the country.

Momika's Koran burnings sparked widespread outrage and condemnation in Muslim countries.

Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

The Swedish government condemned the desecrations of the Koran but stressed the country's laws regarding freedom of speech and assembly.

Sweden's intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level in mid-August to four on a scale of five after the angry reactions made the country a "prioritised target".

The Swedish Migration Agency revoked Momika's residency permit in October, citing false information in his original application, but he was granted a temporary one as it said there was an "impediment to enforcement" of a deportation to Iraq.

The month before, Iraq had requested his extradition over one of the Koran burnings.
NATO turns 75 in shadow of Ukraine war -- and Trump



Brussels, Belgium, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



The United States and Europe must stick together, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as the Western military alliance turned 75 menaced by an aggressive Russia and the spectre of Donald Trump's return to power.

The Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 re-invigorated NATO as it was confronted by one of the most serious challenges since it emerged from the ashes of World War II to counter the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact group.

The alliance has bolstered its forces across eastern Europe and grown to 32 members after Finland and Sweden joined its ranks.

But while the war has refocused NATO's attention on its old nemesis Moscow to the east, there is also another threat unnerving allies from leading power the United States in the west.

That's the possible return to the White House of Trump, who undermined NATO's collective defence guarantee by saying he'd encourage Russia to attack any members not spending enough on defence.

"I do not believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone," Stoltenberg said at a ceremony at NATO's Brussels headquarters.

"I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because, fundamentally, we are stronger and safer together."

In a bid to stave off Trump's criticisms, NATO has showcased increased spending by its European allies -- with 20 members this year set to hit a target of two percent of GDP for defence.

"North America also needs Europe," Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian military band played the NATO anthem.

"Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power."

Biden -- who will face off against Trump at elections in November -- insisted that the United States must stick to the promises it has made to its allies in Europe to help protect them if attacked.

"We must remember that the sacred commitment we make to our allies -- to defend every inch of NATO territory -- makes us safer too," he said in a statement.



- Ukraine wants air defence -



While Trump looms over the future of the alliance, NATO countries face the more pressing challenge of ensuring Ukraine does not lose its fight to push back Russia.

Alliance members have thrown their weight behind Kyiv -- which is bidding to join NATO -- by sending Ukraine weapons worth tens of billions of dollars.

But those supplies have now dwindled as crucial US support remains blocked by political wrangling. On the frontline, Ukraine's outgunned forces have been pushed onto the back foot.

In the face of surging Russian missile attacks on its infrastructure, Kyiv is pleading with its Western backers to send all the Patriot defence systems they can spare.

"I don't want to spoil the party, but of course my main message today will be Patriots," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said before talks with his NATO counterparts.

"Saving Ukrainian lives, saving the Ukrainian economy, saving Ukrainian cities depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defence systems in Ukraine."

Stoltenberg said after the talks that NATO allies had agreed to "go back and look into their inventories" to see if they could spare any more air defence systems for Ukraine.

Any prospect of a potential defeat for Ukraine has sent shivers through NATO allies close to Russia who fear they could be next in the Kremlin's sights.

"Nice stories don't win wars," Lithuania's foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X.

"Without significant deliveries of weapons and real security guarantees the glorious narrative of unity and solidarity with Ukraine is wearing thin and rapidly approaching cynicism."

In a bid to ensure long-term support for Kyiv in the face of a possible return by Trump, Stoltenberg has proposed NATO members set up a 100-billion-euro ($108-billion) five-year fund.

As part of the plan he is also pushing to get NATO as an organisation more directly involved in coordinating deliveries.

That is something the alliance has so far refused to do out of concern it could drag it closer to war with Russia.

NATO countries gave the go-ahead to work on the plan Wednesday, but there still remain many questions over financing and how far the alliance is willing to go to thrash it out before a summit in Washington in July.
Ulviyya Shahin

The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has earned $78.5 million from the Shah Deniz field (gas and condensate) since the beginning of the current year until April 1, Azernews reports.

According to information released by the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, revenues from the Shah Deniz field have decreased by 8.2 times compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Additionally, revenues from the sale of condensate from the Shah Deniz field decreased by 8.1 times during the reporting period, amounting to $15.7 million.

SOFAZ is a sovereign wealth fund established by Azerbaijan to manage and preserve the country's oil and gas revenues for future generations. It was created in 1999 and operates as an extra-budgetary entity under the direct control of the President of Azerbaijan.

The Shah Deniz field is one of the largest natural gas fields in Azerbaijan and is located offshore in the Caspian Sea. It is a critical asset in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector, contributing significantly to the country's hydrocarbon production and export revenues.
Telecom Namibia (TN) the state-owned telecommunications operator, has taken what it describes as a proactive step to align with regulatory requirements by deactivating 191,598 unregistered prepaid subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.

The move became effective on 1 April this year following directives from the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), which had decided to end the registration process on 31 March 2024. This followed an extension from the initial deadline of 31 December 2023.

According to TN spokesperson Nomvula Kambinda, prior to the deactivation the company had a total of 442,410 active mobile subscribers. It now has a base of 250,812 registered prepaid subscribers. However, customers with deactivated SIM cards still have the option of visiting a TN Teleshop to complete the registration process.

According to the Namibia Economist news service, another operator, MTC, which describes itself as the first and largest mobile telecommunications company in Namibia, has managed to register 1,613, 893 subscribers while unregistered customers are now standing at 323,236. This represents an 83.3% registration rate.

MTC says its unregistered customers are to be suspended from the network. That is, they cannot use any services until they comply with the SIM registration process. However, their numbers will not be deactivated for 90 days. To register customers need a valid ID, a SIM card and, optionally, a mobile device.

The SIM registration process continues to be tricky in a number of African countries, though at least Namibia, with a population of just over 2.5 million, doesnt face the logistical and demographic challenges of more populous countries like Ghana or Nigeria.
Israel boosts defences after Iran consulate strike



Jerusalem, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



Israel's military said it was strengthening its defences Thursday after a deadly air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus drew threats of retaliation.

The army paused leave for combat units, blocked GPS signals in certain places and strengthened "alertness" as its war against Hamas in Gaza nears its seventh month.

"The (army) is at war and the issue of the deployment of forces is constantly reviewed according to need," the military said in announcing the leave suspension.

The army also said that, after an assessment, officials decided to increase manpower and draft reserve soldiers to operate air defences.

Armed forces spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed the jamming of GPS signals, which is intended to defend against guided weapons like missiles or drones.

"We strengthened the alertness of combat units, where needed," Rear Admiral Hagari said.

"We have reinforced the defence systems and we have aircraft prepared for defence and ready to attack in a variety of scenarios."

As Israel has fought in Gaza since the Hamas attack of October 7, it has also stepped up strikes against Iranian personnel and allies in Syria and Lebanon.

Israel has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollahk.

Tensions have been inflamed by Monday's strike against the Iranian consulate in Damascus which killed 16 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Among the dead were seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

The Britain-based Observatory said the dead also included five Syrian fighters and one from Hezbollah.

Israel has declined to comment on the strike but analysts saw it as an escalation of Israel's campaign against Iran's regional proxies that runs the risk of triggering a wider war.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed in a social media message that "with God's help we will make the Zionists repent of their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus".

The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in some 1,170 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Palestinian militants also took more than 250 hostages, and 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 33,037 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Israel acting against Iran: Netanyahu



Jerusalem, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



The Israeli military was strengthening its defences on Thursday after a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus drew threats of retaliation, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening harm to those who hurt Israel.

He spoke after the army paused leave for combat units, blocked GPS signals in certain places and strengthened "alertness" as its war against Hamas in Gaza nears its seventh month.

"For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively," Netanyahu said.

"We will know how to defend ourselves and we will act according to the simple principle of whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them."

Tensions have been inflamed by Monday's strike against the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed 16 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The army announced a leave suspension and also said that, after an assessment, officials decided to increase manpower and draft reserve soldiers to operate air defences.

Armed forces spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed the jamming of GPS signals, which is intended to defend against guided weapons like missiles or drones.

"We strengthened the alertness of combat units, where needed," Rear Admiral Hagari said.

"We have reinforced the defence systems and we have aircraft prepared for defence and ready to attack in a variety of scenarios."

As Israel has fought in Gaza since the Hamas attack of October 7, it has also stepped up strikes against Iranian personnel and allies in Syria and Lebanon.

Israel has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Israel has declined to comment on the Damascus strike but analysts saw it as an escalation of Israel's campaign against Iran's regional proxies that runs the risk of triggering a wider war.

Among the dead were seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

The Britain-based Observatory said the dead also included five Syrian fighters and one from Hezbollah.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed in a social media message that "with God's help we will make the Zionists repent of their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus".

The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in some 1,170 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Palestinian militants also took more than 250 hostages, and 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

bur-crb-fg/jm/bc
China Mobile has launched what it claims is the worlds first commercial 5G-Advanced network ahead of the standards expected completion later this year, and is collaborating with Ericsson to develop use cases for it.

According to an Ericsson announcement released on Wednesday, China Mobile has launched 5G-A in 100 cities across China, and aims to expand coverage to more than 300 cities before the end of this year.

China Mobile said it will promote 5G-A by launching over 20 5G-A-compatible devices later this year. The operator has set a target of at least 20 million 5G-A device users in 2024.

The launch of 5G-A was accompanied by the establishment of an industry alliance for 5G-A innovations and use case development, of which Ericsson is a member.

In the future, Ericsson will continue to help China Mobile explore new 5G-A applications and services on domestic and foreign technology and industrial platforms, including the 5G-A Innovation Industry Alliance, carry out technological innovation, and jointly promote the maturity of the 5G-A industry chain by working together to innovate a new 5G-A commercial model, Ericsson said in a statement.

China Mobiles 5G-A launch comes as the 3GPP is still putting the final touches on the standard under Release 18. According to the latest official 3GPP timeline, the standards work on the RAN side was frozen as of December 2023, while the work of the Service and Systems Aspects (SA) group for service and system architecture and the Core Network and Terminals (CT) group were scheduled to be frozen as of last month. Standards covering ASN.1 and Open API are scheduled to be completed in June 2024.

Key features of Release 18 (apart from faster data speeds) include enhanced uplink coverage, intelligent network automation (including AI/ML RAN), flexible spectrum, improved energy efficiency, support for critical IoT use cases (including RedCap), and integration with non-terrestrial networks.

In January, China Unicom and Huawei said that they had deployed and tested a pilot large-scale 5G-Advanced network in parts of Beijing with a downlink peak rate of 10 Gbps, and a continuous experience of at least 5 Gbps.
Together with freelance seamstresses and sampling units, English uses waste from digital print companies, bridal studios and other designers to create the labels designs in Deptford. The team utilises everything from offcuts and surplus to faulty fabrics, all in vastly different quantities and sizes. We describe it as a responsive design process; were responding to the waste that we collect. Using what actually exists rather than buying new material or resources to do that with. Because theres already so much, she continues, adding that the team designs to accommodate whatever they have got their hands on, whether thats 500m of fabric or small triangles that need to be reworked into a patchwork. As a small and agile sized studio, its within our skillset to work that way.
In his witness statement to the hearing, Mr Ngole stated he did not need to agree with a person in order to care for them, adding: Neither do I believe that I, nor anyone, must abandon their faith or beliefs in order to practise.
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"The fight that Ukraine has on its hands is not only Ukraine's fight, it's everyone's fight because the aggression being committed by Russia is not only an aggression against Ukraine and its people, it's an aggression against the very principles that lie at the heart of the international system," he added.
In March, the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute and the University of Glasgow found that imaging technology known as positron emission tomography (PET) can allow the entire bowel to be examined and tumours to be studied inside the body. This is instead of examining the tissue once it has been removed.
He added: The UK has been at the heart of Nato since the start. Today, faced with new threats in Europe, we continue to lead  through our incredible armed forces, our growing investment in defence, and our utter determination to stand by Ukraine  which has strengthened allied unity like never before. I say it once again: Ukraines rightful place is in Nato.
Pullman Regional Hospital is looking to spend about $10 million over seven years to join more than half of Washingtons hospitals in implementing an electronic medical records system. The system, called EPIC, stores a patients health information and history in one electronic location that is shared by other hospitals and physicians. The goal is to create convenience for the patient, doctor and hospital staff who will all be able access just one online portal for information. ... While Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said his visit to Washington State University was not related to his bid for the U.S. presidency, it did not go unnoticed that it was the first time a presidential candidate has stopped on the Palouse since John F. Kennedy. Inslee stopped by WSUs Pullman campus to lead a discussion on climate change  an issue he has made central to his campaign.

2014 10 years ago

The attorneys general for both Washington and Idaho visited the Palouse to talk about marijuana, sunshine laws and other issues relevant to their respective states. Both were wrapping up the second day of trips far from the state capitals. ... Debi Dockins sees helping youth as an important investment for any community. And shes a fervent practitioner of that philosophy. Dockins is the prevention director for the Latah County Youth Advocacy Council, an organization designed to reduce drug and alcohol use among area teens. It floors me all the things I get to see and do, Dockins said. A Potlatch native, she is married, a mother of three and grandmother of two. LCYAC is in its ninth year of a 10-year grant provided by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
He told The Sunday Times: I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I dont know what that says about us. I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry.
Lawmakers in Idaho are once again blocking efforts to consider environmental damage in investment decisions, with the help of outside lobbying groups that have links to the oil industry.

Idaho is one of several conservative states with bills this year aimed at prohibiting investment practices that use ESG, or environmental, social and governance factors.

The practice has grown in popularity as more consumers have demanded investment funds that align with their personal values or consider financial damages caused by climate change.

Those Idaho bills this year were significantly influenced by national conservative organizations like the Heritage Foundation, the Foundation for Government Accountability and the Alliance Defending Freedom, lawmakers and lobbyists told the Idaho Statesman.

The groups have sizable bank accounts that have been funded in part by conservative donor networks with ties to oil interests.

Doug Taylor, a lobbyist for Opportunity Solutions Project, the political arm of the Foundation for Government Accountability, told the Statesman FGA drafted House Bill 669, a bill to ban large banks from using ESG factors.

FGA is a tax-exempt charitable organization headquartered in Naples, Fla., that has gained influence in conservative legislatures around the country.

The bill would prohibit state agencies and local governments in Idaho from contracting with companies that boycott oil and mining companies or gun manufacturers. As long as legislators are asking for help and support,  well be there to help them, Taylor said.

Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, who sponsored the bill, told the Statesman he worked with FGA and the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization that advocates for conservative Christian legal policy.

House Bill 669 was one of two bills floated by Idaho lawmakers targeting ESG this year.

Another bill that became law, Senate Bill 1291, bans companies that do business with the state from boycotting energy industries, including fossil fuels, and the firearm industry. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, prominently resembles model legislation from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank whose donors included the Koch brothers.

The foundation has long funded climate denialism and authored a blueprint for rolling back environmental regulation if former President Donald Trump wins a second term.

The bill also included elements of model legislation from the FGA obtained by the left-learning group Documented. FGA also received seed funding from a Koch-supported donor network called the State Policy Network, Vox reported. The Heritage Foundation and FGA did not respond to questions about their lobbying efforts or donors. Ricks told the Statesman that lawmakers are trying to protect important industries and prevent outside influences, big corporations from outside Idaho from telling us what is important in our state.

IDAHO OFFICIAL OPPOSES ENVIRONMENTAL IDEOLOGY

This years legislation is lawmakers second swing at countering ESG efforts, after legislators last year banned entities from including ESG factors in state procurement bids and prevented banks that hold state funds from conducting ESG activities.

There have been trillions of dollars invested in ESG repositories, and major financial managers like Vanguard and BlackRock have had various ESG funds for consumers to stow their money in.

The growth of ESG resulted in a political backlash from conservatives, who have dubbed the practice woke and aimed to ban it. That stance appears to have had some effect. Investors pulled $13 billion from ESG funds last year, according to Morningstar, though the funds still have trillions of dollars invested.

We dont want these institutions to force their ideological beliefs down on the people, Tanner told the Statesman.

The fight has reached the halls of Congress, where last year President Joe Biden used his first veto in office to counter a Republican-led effort to outlaw pension fund managers from considering factors like climate change.

Some of the largest banks and corporations out there are seeing how much climate change can negatively impact their long-term businesses, Ryan McGoldrick, a lobbyist for environmental group Conservation Voters for Idaho, told the Statesman. They would like to avoid something thats causing huge economic issues around the world.

The ESG fight has also brought together Idahos statewide Republican officials and federal delegation, who have pushed to limit national efforts to introduce ESG metrics. Raul Labrador joined other Republican attorneys general last year in asking large investors to pull out of a climate investment fund hoping to limit the effects of climate-warming emissions. In February, investors pulled trillions from the fund.

They have a clear fiduciary obligation to their investors to maximize their returns, not prioritize environmental ideology, Labrador said in a statement at the time.

He also joined a Kentucky lawsuit to combat federal requirements that states cut tail-pipe emissions, calling the reduction targets ridiculous. Treasurer Julie Ellsworth told the Statesman she has been working with Idaho bankers, credit unions and extraction industry groups in recent years to work on anti-ESG legislation.

In 2022 she and other state leaders penned a letter opposing efforts by Standard & Poors, the credit rating agency, to adopt ESG criteria in state credit ratings.

She also opposed an effort by the SEC to allow natural asset companies, which would be entities that protect natural spaces, to register on the New York Stock Exchange.

The SEC withdrew the proposed rule in January, and Republicans in Congress are attempting to ban the SEC from ever doing so in the future.

Ellsworth said she believes that efforts from companies to target ESG are skirting the policy process, and that if they want to force those policies upon the American people, they should take that legislation through the front door of Congress.

Policymakers should be the ones crafting that legislation, she added. Come in through the front door if you wish to have a policy that will impact my Idahoans, she said.

OUTSIDE GROUPS INVOLVED IN WRITING LEGISLATION
Grampet Group has announced the completion and start of tests for the largest transshipment terminal for agricultural produce in Europe, set up under a project worth EUR 10 million.

Located at Dornesti, Suceava County, at the border with Ukraine, the new terminal is said to mark a new chapter in Grampet Group's efforts to modernise and streamline the railway infrastructure in the region and to support the reconstruction of Ukraine.

"Romania is playing a majo part in the functioning of solidarity corridors created by EU member states to facilitate the transport of goods coming from Ukraine. After the outbreak of the war, the railway operators within Grampet Group have contributed substantially to the fluidisation of traffic and the reactivation of the main corridors on the North-South axis, ensuring the transport of over 1.5 million tonnes of goods related to Ukraine. The new terminal at Dornesti will allow the shipment of 240,000 tonnes of grain and agricultural produce a month, thus becoming a strategic point in streamlining the traffic of goods to the port of Constanta. This EUR 10 million investment is yet another proof of the commitment we made 25 years ago to contribute to the development of the railway transport infrastructure in Romania and to connect to the region. It is a remarkable achievement for Grampet, but also for Romania, and we want to thank our Ukrainian partners and all those who were involved in completing the project," according to Gruia Stoica, CEO of Grampet Group.

The Dornesti terminal, the first operated by Grup Feroviar Roman and the fifth by Grampet Group, is designed to operate around the clock.

With a maximum design capacity of 3 million tonnes, the terminal is equipped with a railcar loading station (128 meters long) and an unloading station (120 meters long), which allow simultaneous loading/unloading of eight railcars. The amenities are similar to those of terminals in sea and river ports, which makes it possible to ship products without loss of quality and at full capacity, namely 500 tonnes per hour.

Modern technological solutions and innovative approaches make it possible to provide optimal indicators of electricity consumption per ton of transhipped product. All technological processes are automated and coordinated by dedicated teams of specialists. In addition, each conveyor line/belt can work on a separate route or simultaneously in pairs, which ensures a continuous and fast transport flow for grain and agricultural produce originating in Ukraine and bound for export via the port of Constanta.

Established 25 years ago, Grampet Group of Companies is today the largest railway group and private logistics operator in Romania and Central and South-Eastern Europe.

The operator has signed agreements with the other sister companies in the group, as well as with state-owned and privately run railway operators from Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Austria and Germany.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminita Odobescu, participated on Thursday in the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Brussels, in which context she referred to Romania's multidimensional and comprehensive support for Ukraine and to the determination of to continue these efforts as long as necessary.

According to a Foreign Ministry (MAE) press release sent to AGERPRES, in her speech at the anniversary ceremony, the Romanian minister noted the resilience, but also the ability to adapt, that the most successful political-military alliance has demonstrated throughout its 75 years of existence. She highlighted, at the same time, the solid benefits and consistent contributions of Romania to the security of the Euro-Atlantic space during the 20 years since it obtained NATO membership. She also emphasized the fact that the transatlantic link, unity and allied solidarity, which represents the foundation of NATO, ensures even today a strong link between the member states and gives the Alliance the ability to effectively manage all the threats and challenges it faces.

During the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, the second in the format of foreign ministers after the one in November 2023, with the participation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba, the Romanian minister highlighted the importance of maintaining a firm commitment to Ukraine and support for its Euro-Atlantic path, appreciating that the upcoming Summit in Washington represents an opportune moment for consistent and ambitious decisions in this regard.

At the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with the partners from the Indo-Pacific/IP4 region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea) and with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the Romanian minister highlighted the communion of values and interests that are at the base of NATO's relations with these partners, appreciating that a continuation of the consolidation of these relations is essential for maintaining the rules-based international order. Welcoming the support given to Ukraine by the EU and the four partners, the Romanian minister pleaded in favor of carrying out concrete projects that would strengthen the cooperation between the Alliance and IP4 and the common contribution to ensuring Euro-Atlantic and international security.
The minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, and the secretary of state, Alexandru Rogobete, had meetings with the representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice in order to expand collaboration and implement good anti-corruption practices in the procedures applicable to projects with financing from external funds in the field of health.

According to the Ministry of Health, concrete cases were reviewed in which there are suspicions of corruption in the implementation of some projects, as well as legal ways to combat them.

"I am happy about the partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, which strengthens the capacity of the Ministry of Health to efficiently carry out the numerous investment and technical assistance programs financed from external funds. From the beginning of my mandate, fighting corruption in the health system has been a priority, and the expertise of colleagues from the U.S. brings a valuable contribution to the capabilities of the Ministry of Health to achieve this. Health in Romania and implicitly the patients benefit in this way from the advantages of the strategic partnership with the U.S.", the minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila said.

According to the cited source, in the immediate future there will be technical meetings between representatives of the Ministry of Health, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, who will continue to support the workshops organized by the Ministry of Health throughout the country for good practices in public procurement.
Senate President Nicolae Ciuca said in Prague on Thursday that the discussions he had with Czech officials also focused on concerns about the rise of populism and extremism in Europe, in the context of the European Parliament elections on June 9.

"In about two months' time we will have the European Parliament elections, and in the discussions we had we touched on all these issues related to concerns about the rise of populism and extremism in Europe, about the need for political parties, political party leaders to engage in a sincere and honest dialogue with the electorate, considering that this is one of the ways in which we can continue to uphold the values and virtues that our parties promote, and last but not least, to take on this component of promoting gender equality, which is a concern not only for Romanian politicians, but also for Czech political leaders," said Ciuca, at a joint press conference with Czech Republic Senate President Milos Vystrcil.

He also referred to the cultural relations between Romania and the Czech Republic.

"This afternoon we will also symbolically mark the cultural relations between our countries and this way contribute to strengthening the profile of Romania and the Czech Republic within the European Union, because through our attitude, through our activity we will contribute to the peace projects, to the prosperity projects undertaken at the level of the European Union. We are countries that support and promote European values, that's why I want to thank all the Czech officials for the way they supported Romania's accession to the Shengen area when they held the EU presidency and I want to thank them for their interest to complete the accession process and the land borders as soon as possible," said Ciuca.

The Romanian official also highlighted the potential for economic cooperation between the two countries.

"I have great confidence in our potential for cooperation in the economic area, (...) in nuclear energy, machine building, renewable energy, tourism and last but not least in the defence industry. I mentioned it last, because I want to underline the very good meeting I had today with the minister (Czech minister of Defence - editor's note). Expressing my confidence in everything that parliamentary diplomacy means, I would like to finally express my full confidence in the Romanian-Chinese partnership, for a strengthened relationship between our countries and for a better, more prosperous Europe for its citizens," concluded Ciuca.
Maria Hinojosa revealed the secret to excellent journalism is rooted in mastering the art of humility.

Washington State Universitys Edward R. Murrow College of Communication honored Hinojosa with the Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism during its 48th Murrow Symposium on Wednesday. She, alongside many other journalists, were recognized for outstanding achievement in the field.

One being former Mayor Glenn Johnson, who received the inaugural service award for work as a broadcast journalist and 35 years of teaching broadcast journalism at Murrow College until his retirement from that position in 2014.

The Murrow Symposium is an annual series that has acknowledged top leaders in the communication industry since the 1990s. In memory of Washington State graduate and longtime CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, the program aims to investigate journalistic accomplishments and challenges through interactive experiences and conversations.

This years focus is Murrows commitment to innovation, courage and integrity, as well as highlighting ways communicators illuminate untold stories.

Hinojosa has 30-plus years of experience as a Latina journalist, and has racked up a long list of achievements in that time. Shes recognized as one of the first Mexican-American journalists in many newsrooms shes worked in, like those of PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN and National Public Radio.

Shes received four Emmys, two Robert F. Kennedy Awards, the John Chancellor Award, the Studs Terkel Community Media Award and the Ruben Salazar Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2010, she began Futuro Media, a journalism nonprofit that explores American diversity. Its podcast series, Suave, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. She also anchored the Emmy Award-winning talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One.

Born in Mexico City and raised in Chicago, Hinojosa made a name for herself by forming personal connections with her work. She said she often asks her peers and students why they are journalists, and they often go back to their childhoods. So does Hinojosa.

While traveling with her mom and three siblings to visit her father in Chicago, she said an immigration agent stopped her family, which had come to the U.S. with privilege and a green card. The agent still tried to separate Hinojosa from her family.
NATO's eastern flank must be very well protected "by deterrence and defence measures", and for that to happen we have to strengthen relations between Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland, Romanian Senate Chairman Nicolae Ciuca said on Thursday in Prague at a joint news briefing with Czech Senate Chairman Milos Vystrcil.

"We are in a complicated moment, in a moment of security with multiple challenges, both for the Eastern region and for the entire continent, and I believe that solidarity and co-operation between our countries are very important. We concluded that NATO's eastern flank must be very well protected by deterrence and defence measures, by our way of understanding the context and by our way of acting and strengthening bilateral, trilateral relations, because we really need these three pillars on the eastern flank: Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, to contribute to that set of measures to ensure the safety component for the citizens of our countries and to continue to support Ukraine together, so as to guarantee medium and long-term security," Ciuca said.

He added that political, diplomatic and economic co-operation are very important.

Ciuca also mentioned the importance of April 4, when NATO Day is celebrated.

"Today, April 4, is NATO Day, with all of us celebrating NATO Day. The Czech Republic celebrates 25 years of NATO membership, and Romania celebrates 20 years of NATO membership, but the invitation to join NATO was received in Prague, in November 2002, which binds us in a memory as beautiful and beneficial as possible for our journey."
Romanian Senate Chairman Nicolae Ciuca on Thursday had a meeting in Prague with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, saying that the two countries will take the "test of the election to the European Parliament" on June 9, when "democratic forces must strongly affirm their commitment to Western values."

"I met in Prague the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, whom I visited at the Government headquarters. We discussed strengthening co-operation between our two countries and ways in which we can cope with geopolitical and economic complications affecting the entire continent. In such periods, solidarity among partner states within the European Union is very important, because only together we have the strength to overcome the most difficult challenges," Ciuca wrote in a social media post.

He thanked the Czech prime minister for Czech support for Romania's full accession to the Schengen area and joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OSCE).

Ciuca and a delegation of the Romanian Parliament paid an official visit to Prague on Wednesday and Thursday, at the invitation of his Czech counterpart Milos Vystrcil.

Also on Thursday, Ciuca paid tribute at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Prague, in memory of the soldiers who fought for the freedom of the Czech people.

"I paid tribute to the Czech people's struggle for freedom at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Vitkov memorial in Prague. The monument has a deep significance for the locals, marking the sacrifices of both world wars. Here are buried soldiers who fought in 1917 for the creation of the Czechoslovak state and Czechs who participated in 1944 in the liberation from Nazi occupation. The hosts look with special emotion at the honour by Romanians of the memory of the heroes who sacrificed themselves for freedom. We stood by this people in all the turning points of the last century."

Thursday's schedule also included attending a ceremony for planting an offshoot from Romanian national poet Mihai Eminescu's linden tree and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in Peace Square.

On Wednesday, the head of the Romanian Senate met President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel, and Chairman of the Czech Senate Milos Vystrcil.

The visiting Romanian parliamentary delegation included Roberta Anastase - secretary of the Senate; Nicoleta Pauliuc - chair of the Defence Committee; Lorina-Ioana Seres - chair of the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investment and Trade.
Two Cubans who were trying to get to Spain illegally were caught by the Iasi border police while crossing the Prut River with a pneumatic boat, the Iasi Territorial Inspectorate of Border Police (ITPF) informed on Thursday.

According to the source, a border policeman noticed via the specific surveillance technique that works on the principle of thermovision, in the direction of the border locality Golaesti, two people who did not justify their presence in the area.

"In the shortest possible time, border police from the sector moved to the area and proceeded to intercept and identify the persons in question. Since they verbally declared that they were Cuban citizens and did not have documents to prove their legal entry into Romania, they were taken to the Iasi Railway Border Crossing Point for further investigation. The border authorities of the neighbouring state were informed as soon as possible and the investigations were carried out jointly. Following the checks carried out together with the border police of the Republic of Moldova and from the statements of the persons, our colleagues have established that they are two citizens from Cuba, aged 22 and 27 respectively and they crossed the Prut River using a pneumatic boat, with the intention of reaching Spain to a relative," the ITPF Iasi press release reads.

In this case, the border police are investigating the offence of fraudulent crossing of the state border, and the persons were taken over by the border authorities of the neighbouring state on the basis of the Readmission Agreement concluded between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

"The border authorities of the two states will cooperate in the future and will take all necessary measures to maintain a climate of order and security at the common border," the source added.
Next Monday afternoon, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross southern Illinois as it traverses the country, and some metro-east school districts are changing their instructional plans for the day.

A handful of metro-east districts that are near to or within the eclipses path of totality  the area where people can see the moon completely cover the sun  will be closed Monday.

Most others are operating as usual and organizing activities to engage students with the celestial phenomenon that wont happen again in the contiguous United States until August 2044. Some school districts will have early release to avoid dismissing students during the eclipse.

School will be in session as normal for Belleville 201 students, Superintendent Brian Mentzer said, but the science departments at Belleville West and East high schools are working on activities for teachers and students to use the upcoming eclipse as a learning opportunity.

Similarly at Belleville 118, students will be in attendance as any other day, but the schools are planning viewing activities for students, faculty and staff, Superintendent Ryan Boike said.

In a March 22 email to all 118 families, Boike wrote: Our schools are buzzing with anticipation as our dedicated educators plan individualized, in-school activities suitable for their unique environments. These activities are designed to offer a personalized and engaging exploration of the solar eclipse while ensuring the safety and comfort of our students.

Parents must complete a permission slip to allow their child to participate in outdoor eclipse-viewing activities, and student absences Monday will be excused if a family decides to keep their child home to celebrate the eclipse or go on a trip to the path of totality.

District 118 schools will provide eclipse glasses that meet ISO standards to those who participate, and the district is asking parents to go over eclipse safety precautions with their child in advance regardless of whether their child will be participating in a viewing activity.

Likewise in other metro-east districts such as East St. Louis 189, Collinsville 10 and Red Bud 132, students will have regular school days and organized eclipse-related activities with glasses provided to students, faculty and staff.

This story was originally published in the Belleville News-Democrat.
Doris A. Graham resoundingly retains her seat as a member of the St. Louis Community College Board of Trustee, Subdistrict 1. Graham was first elected to the board in 2012 and re-elected in 2018.

Graham garnered 49.7% of the vote (12,684 votes), easily surpassing Clem Smith who closed with 26.2% of the vote (6,690 votes). Theo Brown, Sr. was third with 14.1% (3,596 votes) and Cortez Smith finished fourth with 10% (2,552 votes).

Graham was recipient of the 2020 St. Louis American Charitable Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award during the virtual Salute to Excellence in Education ceremony.

She began her 38-year career as a teacher and administrator in the St. Louis Public Schools district at Clark Elementary in 1967 as a fifth-grade teacher, just after graduating from Harris Teachers College. She became a reading specialist and co-hosted the Reading is Terrific Show, a reading program on KSLH-AM.

Graham earned her masters degree in elementary administration/principalship in 1970 from the University of MissouriSt. Louis, and then obtained her doctorate educational administration/superintendency from Saint Louis University in 1979.

That year SLPS teachers voted to strike, and she walked the picket line for 56 days. She served on the executive board of the St. Louis Teachers Union, Local 420 AFL-CIO for more than 15 years, and she was one of the negotiators for the 1979 strike.

Conservatives get schooled

Few school board elections draw as much regional and national attention as the contest in the Francis Howell School District on Tuesday night.

In that district, and throughout the area, conservative school board candidates were trounced, and right-wing agendas were rebuked.

Carolie Owens, a retired teacher, and Pastor Steven Blair won open seats in Francis Howell, downing candidates Sam Young and Adriana Kuhn, who were backed by the conservative Francis Howell Families political action committee.

Owens and Blair had the support of the local teachers union and the Francis Howell Forward PAC.

Congratulations to Steven Blair and Carolie Owens, Francis Howell Forward declared on its Facebook page.

We are overwhelmed with joy to see these results and thankful to all our volunteers for your hard work. Today, our FHSD community stood up and chose Education Over Politics.

The Francis Howell Board of Education drew national attention last year when it voted to let an anti-racism resolution to sundown and then physically remove plaques from schools.

Many Francis Howell students held peaceful protests, including walkouts from class during the school year.

After voting to eliminate Black studies elective classes in December 2023, again attracting some national scorn, the board voted on March 21, 2024, to approve curriculum for the 2024-25 school year. This included revised Black studies courses.

In all, 10 candidates that were backed by the St. Charles County Families for Public Schools PAC, founded by former Democratic state Rep. Ted House, were victorious.

The people of St. Charles County support public schools, House told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

We know we represent the majority who like their teachers and support their schools.

In the Lindbergh School District, Rachel Braaf Koehler: 6,086 votes, (30.34%) and Megan Vedder: 6,053 votes, (30.18%) were backed by the teachers union. They easily topped conservative candidates David Kirschner: 4,029 votes, (20.09%) andDavid Randelman: 3,891 votes, (19.40%.)

Conservative candidates also lost in Ft. Zumwalt, Mehlville, Parkway, Rockwood, and Wentzville districts, respectively.
James Washington, the president and general manager of The Atlanta Voice, a longtime advocate of the Black press, and the 2019 National Association of Black Journalist Legacy Award winner passed away surrounded by family and loved ones on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.

He was 73.

Washingtons column Spiritually Speaking was published in the St. Louis American for many years and was carried by many National Newspaper Publishers Association newspapers.

The NNPA trade association represents more than 250 African American-owned newspapers and media companies in the Black Press of America.

Friend

A gifted writer, Jim was a forward thinker, a resourceful publisher, close personal friend and mentor. I and many other colleagues and friends will deeply miss him.  St. Louis American Publisher Donald M. Suggs

James Washington was devoted to the Black Press and its future success, said Donald M. Suggs, St. Louis American publisher and executive editor.

A gifted writer, Jim was a forward thinker, a resourceful publisher, close personal friend and mentor. I and many other colleagues and friends will deeply miss him.

According to an NNPA Newswire article by Stacy M. Brown, Washington said he considered a run to chair the NNPA in 2019 and 2021.

Highly principled, he declined to compete against his friends, Houston Forward Times Publisher, and former chair Karen Carter Richards, who held the post for two terms, and the current chair, Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry. Instead, Washington pledged to support them.

Weve got to somehow forge a unity that this organization hasnt seen in a long time, Washington said.

The potential for the NNPA has never been fully realized, but I know one day a light bulb will turn on among the greater population of the NNPA, and everybody is going to reap bountifully.

For over four decades Washington had been involved in nearly every level of the communications field.

From his time as the publisher of The Dallas Weekly, a Black-owned and operated publication, to his work as the public relations manager for the Dallas Ballet, Washington had always been a strong representation of Black excellence and intelligence.

Washington had twice served on the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce board, the Dallas Arboretum, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association. He was a former tri-chair of Dallas Commission on Race Relations and the Dallas Together Forum. He was also a former member of the Federal Reserve Banks Small Business and Agriculture Advisory Committee in Dallas.

Washington was named Man of the Year in 1986 by the Dallas Metropolitan Club of Negro Business and Professional Women. Additional honors he received for outstanding community service came from many organizations such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, The Links, Inc., United Way, Dallas Independent School District, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Daniel Chappie James Learning Center, the NAACP, KKDA, and KRLD radio stations, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dallas Museum of Arts, and the State Fair of Texas.

Washington earned his bachelors degree in English and Instructional Media from Southern University, an HBCU. He also earned a masters degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

An author, Washington published his book, Spiritually Speaking, Reflections For and From a New Christian, in 2019.

Washington is survived by his wife, The Atlanta Voice publisher Janis Ware, his children, daughter Elena Bonifay (husband David Bonifay) and son Patrick Washington (wife Jessica Washington), his grandchildren James Spencer Emanuel Washington, Penelope Elena Jimenez Washington, and William Emmanuel Edward Austin Bonifay, and his nieces and nephews.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY  The top election official here is demanding an apology after a county councilman chastised a staffer on Election Day for counting votes too slowly and threatened that election officials would end up in jail.

Kurt Bahr, the director of elections in St. Charles County, accused County Councilman Joe Brazil of slanderous accusations and abuse of power after Brazil sent several texts to Bahrs deputy on Tuesday night. In a cease and desist letter sent Wednesday, Bahr ordered that Brazil not talk to any county election officials except for Bahr and the countys legal staff.

In Brazils texts, sent about two hours after polls closed, he complained that conservative candidates had been defeated, including in school board elections.

Because this threat was made while we were in the process of tabulating, I take it as coercive to change the outcome of the election to avoid the threat of jail, Bahr wrote.

Brazil, a longtime Republican member of the St. Charles County Council, has been a frequent critic of Bahrs office and the countys election process in recent months. He pushed unsuccessfully to strip Bahrs office of funding, to reject grants from the Missouri Secretary of States office, and for the county to hand count ballots instead of using electronic tabulating machines.

Brazil also filed a complaint in May claiming that Bahr had tampered with and jeopardized the outcome of recent elections. His accusations echoed claims by many Republican officials nationwide since former President Donald Trumps election loss in 2020.

Bahr, also a Republican, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Missouri Secretary of State.

In an interview Wednesday, Brazil confirmed he sent the texts, which pledged to do a deep dive into Bahrs office. But he claimed they werent a threat.

This was not a threat. This was just a continuation of the banter that we have been having for the past several months, Brazil said.

Brazil said he contacted Bahrs deputy because he had some very deep concerns about Tuesdays election and he didnt think Bahr would respond. Chief among his concerns, he said, was Missouris 2022 legalization of no-excuse absentee voting.

Brazil said while he was not threatening the deputy with jail time, Kurt should be in jail because of what he has done.

Brazil said he would not apologize to Bahr or election staffers, nor would he comply with Bahrs order not to talk to them.

I dont know what legal authority he is to say that to me, but Ill tell you that he can (expletive) himself on that, Brazil said. Im a citizen of this county, and I can talk to whoever the hell I want to.

Bahr in an interview Wednesday said Brazils text was an escalation of his earlier complaints.

This is not the first time that Councilman Brazil has made accusations against me as the election authority. However, this was more than that, he said. This was him being unprofessional and threatening the entire office, because he didnt just specify that I would be in jail or my deputy would be in jail, but the entire office.

In his letter, Bahr made note of Brazils claim that election officials would end up in jail and demanded that Brazil apologize to the entire office.

Your final comment is the most egregious, Bahr wrote. You stated that you didnt like the outcome of the election while we were still in the process of tabulating it. Your threat that the election officials in my office (all county employees) will end up in jail cannot be ignored.

Bahr argued that there is precedence, per the county charter, for preventing a member of the county council from speaking or attempting to interfere with the work of a St. Charles County government employee.

The County Charter has a prohibition that members of the county council are not to communicate with members of the St. Charles County Executives staff, Bahr said in an interview. All I am asking for is that the same prohibition be extended to my employees because of Brazils abusive behavior.

Neither Brazil nor Bahr say they expect the issue to come up at Mondays County Council meeting.

He may be ignorant of the legal implications of his text messages, Bahr said, but I dont think he is ignorant enough to think that anyone will believe he wasnt trying to intimidate my employees, abuse his power or act unprofessionally in that text message.
ST. LOUIS  To address the shortage of doctors in Missouri, more than $2 million in state funds will be allocated for the first time to create additional positions for physicians-in-training at hospitals in St. Louis and Columbia.

The funds will support the training of at least 90 physicians in family medicine, internal medicine and psychiatry over the next 10 years.

Paula Nickelson, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Social Services, said the new grant program, for which hospitals must apply, is a critical step to improving access to high-quality health care.

By supporting medical residency programs in rural and underserved areas, we can better ensure that Missourians have access to the type of health care services they need when they need them, Nickelson said.

Residency programs are the mandatory, three-to-seven years of training (depending on the specialty) at a hospital or clinic after medical school graduation, which is required for full physician licensure. The programs are mostly funded by federal Medicare dollars.

Physicians tend to stay in the states where they completed their residency. Of students who attend medical school and do their training in Missouri, 56% end up working in the state, according to data compiled by DHSS.

However, Missouri loses many of its medical school graduates to other states due to a lack of residency slots. Last year, Missouri graduated 1,042 medical students but had only 679 residency positions.

Missouri has seven medical schools and is ranked ninth in the nation in producing medical school graduates, said Dr. Heidi Miller, chief medical officer for DHSS.

Yet, our residency slots are about two-thirds the number of medical school graduates, so were exporting so many Missouri-trained medical school graduates to other states, Miller said.

More investment is needed address the states workforce gap, she said. To eliminate the health professional shortage areas in Missouri, the state currently needs more than 1,000 physicians, including nearly 600 primary care doctors and 160 psychiatrists.

Miller said while some states have not invested in residency programs, others have been providing funding for the past 10 to 30 years.

Its wonderful that Missouri has started, she said. We know that physicians tend to stay where they trained, so were grateful to have this new beginning.

Dr. Sarah Cole, director of Mercys family medicine residency, said the new funding is a big step toward training physicians to work in underserved areas of Missouri.

It represents a unique way for primary care residencies to be able to accept more medical school graduates beyond funding provided by Medicare, Cole said.

The Missouri General Assembly last year established the grant program for new residency positions. Each hospital or health system approved receives $75,000 per resident each year of training. The rest of the cost  the average cost to train a resident is $150,000 a year  must be covered by the hospital.

The program is subject to appropriations to DHSS by the Legislature, so the maximum number of awards is contingent up the amount available.

This year, the funds were used to create nine residency training slots: four in family medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia and Mercy Hospital St. Louis, three in internal medicine at Mercy Hospital St. Louis and SSM Health in St. Louis, and two in psychiatry at SSM Health in St. Louis.

That means Mercys family medicine residency program will increase from six new residents each year to eight. For the new slots, Cole said she intentionally recruited doctors hoping to stay in Missouri and care for the most vulnerable.

The residents currently work with faculty physicians at the Mercy Clinic Family Medicine in Creve Coeur, she said, and the expansion will allow Mercy to have residents also working with faculty at the Mercy Clinic Primary Care in Ferguson.

Mercys internal medicine residency program will increase its number of physicians trained each year from eight to nine, said Dr. Katherine Garland, medical director of the Mercy JFK Clinic, which serves patients who uninsured or on Medicaid,

Many of the graduates end up providing primary care in high-need areas across Missouri, Garland said. By increasing the number of residents we train each year, we hope to increase the pipeline of highly trained physicians to practice in Mercys communities for decades to come.
Alternate truths

Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Republican, has exposed another failure by the current administration resulting in economic loss and the loss of workers lives: the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Schmitt doesnt know yet how Cozy Joe caused the bridge over the Patapsco River to collapse, but we are certain that Cozy had something to do with it, just as he did with the attack on innocent concert-goers in Russia and in Israel. ISIS terrorists, you say? No. Biden-supported ISIS terrorists. Hamas terrorists, you say? No, Biden-supported Hamas terrorists. The evidence forthcoming will show beyond a doubt that Cozy is responsible for these outrageous attacks, just as he is responsible for the collapse of the bridge named for the author of the lyrics to our national anthem. Another attack on the foundations of our righteous country.

Of the diverse ways Cozy could have precipitated the collapse, the most obvious is by using neurally directed, giant, whiskered blue catfish (native to Maryland rivers) to implant tiny bombs on the girders of the bridge so that upon impact the underwater explosions would destroy the girders, thus causing the bridge to collapse.

And to create devastating impact, Chinese agents infiltrated our open borders. From Singapore, the destination of the cargo carrier, these agents, posing as sailors for an independent Singapore, but in reality Chinese communist terrorists, gained easy access to the ships innards and implanted high frequency operated tiny bombs in the ships engines to be exploded remotely. When the ship approached the bridge, a button was pushed and, voila, the ships engines inexplicably stopped, and the ship rammed the bridge.

When the alternate truth wins out, our loving, trustworthy, faithful, Bible-hawking, alternate-truth-telling leader will again be ruler of our kingdom. All praise and honor to his name.

DWayne Hodgin

Moscow

Support for Ukraine

I am a pacifist. I lived through the Vietnam war in my youth and protested the first Gulf War and invading Afghanistan. But I see the U.S. needs to support Ukraine. Why? Because the Ukrainians are fighting for their own land. Ukraine is resisting an aggressor that has waged a war of disinformation along with guns and armies. The disinformation is working to weaken the resolve of the countries that have come to the aid of Ukraine, especially the U.S.

Mike Johnson is holding up aid in the U.S. House of Representatives at a critical time for Ukraine. Johnson is carrying Putins message: like saying it is too costly to help Ukraine. Fact, only .5% of the military budget goes to Ukraine. It is in our own self-interest to support their war effort, lest Putin successfully capture Ukraine and go on to threaten NATO countries, thereby drawing in U.S. troops on the ground.

I am writing to our U.S. representatives to urge them to pressure their speaker to bring aid for Ukraine for a vote.

Zena Hartung

Moscow

Arrogant elitism

Steve McGehee wrote a letter (March 20) responding to my letter (March 13) which critiqued his March 8 column, What religion hath wrought. This is Part 1 of 2 of my reply, as there is a lot to cover.

I was relieved to read that he was granting me a mulligan; my self-esteem had been hanging by a thread. Hopefully he will knight me with a Certificate of Basic Esteem (CBE), to complete my life. But I am well-aware of his positions: I read most Daily News columns most days, and have read many of his. I must confess that on some of his, I give up halfway through; there is only so much semi-unhinged Berserkeley leftist ranting and raving that a sound and rational constitutionalist mind can tolerate.
WASHINGTON  Federal prosecutors chided the judge presiding over former President Donald Trumps classified documents case in Florida, warning her off potential jury instructions that they said rest on a fundamentally flawed legal premise.

In an unusual order, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had asked prosecutors and defense lawyers to formulate proposed jury instructions for most of the charges even though it remains unclear when the case might reach trial. She asked the lawyers to respond to two different scenarios in which she appeared to accept the Republican ex-presidents argument that he was entitled under a statute known as the Presidential Records Act to retain the sensitive documents he is now charged with possessing.

The order surprised legal experts and alarmed special counsel Jack Smiths team, which said in a filing late Tuesday that the 1978 law  which requires presidents to return presidential records to the government upon leaving office but permits them to retain purely personal ones  has no relevance in a case concerning highly classified documents like the ones Trump is alleged to have stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Those records, prosecutors said, were clearly not personal and there is no evidence Trump ever designated them as such. They said the suggestion he did so was invented only after it became public that he had taken with him to Mar-a-Lago after his presidency boxes of records from the White House and that none of the witnesses they interviewed in the investigation support his argument.

Not a single one had heard Trump say that he was designating records as personal or that, at the time he caused the transfer of boxes to Mar-a-Lago, he believed that his removal of records amounted to designating them as personal under the PRA, prosecutors wrote. To the contrary, every witness who was asked this question had never heard such a thing.

Smiths team said that if the judge insists on citing the presidential records law in her jury instructions, she should let the lawyers know as soon as possible so that prosecutors can appeal.

The filing reflects continued exasperation by prosecutors at Cannons handling of the case.

The Trump-appointed judge has yet to rule on multiple defense motions to dismiss the indictment as well as other disagreements between the two sides, and the trial date remains unsettled, suggesting that a criminal case that Smiths team has said features overwhelming evidence could remain unresolved by the time of the November presidential election.

Cannon, who earlier faced blistering criticism over her decision to grant Trumps request for an independent arbiter to review documents obtained during an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, heard arguments last month on two of Trumps motions to dismiss the case, including that the Presidential Records Act permitted him to designate the documents as personal and that he was therefore permitted to retain them.

The judge appeared skeptical of that position but did not immediately rule. Days later, she asked the two sides to craft jury instructions that responded to the following premise: A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision.

An outgoing presidents decision to exclude personal records from those returned to the government, she continued, constitutes a presidents categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.

That interpretation of the law is wrong, prosecutors said. They also urged Cannon to move quickly in rejecting the defense motion to dismiss.

The PRAs distinction between personal and presidential records has no bearing on whether a former Presidents possession of documents containing national defense information is authorized under the Espionage Act, and the PRA should play no role in the jury instructions on the elements of Section 793, they said, citing the statute that makes it a crime to illegally retain national defense information.

Indeed, based on the current record, the PRA should not play any role at trial at all, they added.

Trump, Republicans presumptive nominee for 2024, is facing dozens of felony counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, according to an indictment alleging he improperly shared a Pentagon plan of attack and a classified map related to a military operation. The Florida case is among four criminal cases against the former president, who has insisted he did nothing wrong in any of them.

In a separate Trump team filing, defense lawyers renewed their demand that Cannon dismiss the indictment.

Credit card APRs are at an all-time highand so are credit card providers' profits. What's behind the record-high rates? Credit card APRs are at an all-time highand so are credit card providers' profits. What's behind the record-high rates? Credit card APRs continue to grow The larger the lender, the greater the APR
After much fanfare, the first total solar eclipse to cross the United States since 2017 will begin on Monday afternoon.

The shadow of totality will move from Mexico into south Texas around 2:30 p.m. EDT, and continue quickly northeast across the Mississippi Valley, Midwest and eastern Great Lakes before exiting eastward out of Maine just one hour later.

Having two total eclipses cross the continental United States only seven years apart is a rarity. Before 2017, the last total eclipse to cover this much American territory was in 1970, when the moon's shadow moved out of the Gulf of Mexico, across the Florida Panhandle, and up the East Coast.

And it will not happen again until 2045, when the shadow comes ashore on the northern California coast and races southeast across the Great Plains and over the Florida peninsula.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly and entirely in front of the sun, and it is rare because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle around Earth, and it does not orbit Earth in the same plane as Earth orbits the sun.

On average, the moon is 239,000 miles from Earth, but the orbit is slightly elliptical. As a result, it is not the same distance away from Earth all the time. The variation is not large, about 10 percent, but this is why the moon sometimes looks a little bit larger  or smaller  in the night sky.

That difference explains a special type of partial eclipse called an annular eclipse. When the moon is slightly farther away, it will appear smaller in the sky. If the geometry still allows the moon to cross the suns disc in the sky, it may not cover it entirely, creating a bright circular ring in the sky known as an annulus.

Complicating matters further, the lunar orbit is not in the same plane as Earths orbit around the sun, it is inclined about 5 degrees. The moon does pass through this plane  known as the ecliptic  about two times a month, and a solar eclipse can happen when that crossing of the ecliptic occurs.

Plus, solar eclipses only happen during a new moon phase, when the moon rises and sets at about the same time as the sun. During the rest of the lunar cycle, the moon is nowhere close to the sun as they each move across the sky. You have probably noticed this difference as the full moon rises in the eastern sky at around sunset, but you can sometimes catch a waxing crescent moon setting in the western sky shortly after sunset.

Over a long enough time frame, there is a pattern to these eclipses, called the Saros Cycle, which is a period of about 18 years and 11 days. But even this cycle does not take into account the rotation of Earth, so while the shapes of the shadows on the ground are similar in these cycles, the location of the shadows changes.

This all makes a total solar eclipse a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people. But for those who have the means to travel, the chances come around more frequently. The next total eclipse is in 2026, visible from Greenland, the North Atlantic, and southwestern Europe.

Wherever you may be this year for the eclipse, enjoy the celestial show!

Sean Sublette is the chief meteorologist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.

Consider visiting one of these locations to view the April 8 total solar eclipse 25 of the best places to see the solar eclipse across the US Mapping the path of totality across the US Waco, Texas Cleveland Indianapolis Findlay, Ohio Buffalo, New York Erie, Pennsylvania Rochester, New York Hondo, Texas Niagara Falls, New York Dayton, Ohio Del Rio, Texas Evansville, Indiana Burlington, Vermont Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas Little Rock, Arkansas Texarkana, Arkansas Massena, New York Paducah, Kentucky Caribou, Maine Syracuse, New York Akron/Canton, Ohio Youngstown, Ohio San Antonio Toledo, Ohio Barre/Montpelier, Vermont

Total solar eclipses through the decades
Missouri is preparing to execute Brian Dorsey on Tuesday. We would not be here now, having to ask Gov. Mike Parson for clemency, had Brians trial attorneys done their job in the first place. But they did not.

That statement is not mere speculation. My first-hand knowledge leads to the inevitable conclusion that Brians trial attorneys failed him and failed in the most egregious way. I agree with Justice Michael Wolff, who heard this case in the Missouri Supreme Court, and who said this case represents a failure of our legal system.

Here is how Brians attorneys failed, and why their decisions were indisputably unacceptable and arguably unethical.

In the early fall of 2007, I received a call from one of Brians trial attorneys. He told me that he was considering pleading Brian guilty to two counts of first-degree murder without any negotiated agreement with the state to waive the death penalty.

He provided no strategy or rationale for this proposed course of action. But, as he was seeking my opinion and advice, based on my some two decades of experience in capital defense work, I provided it.

I told Brians lawyer that I thought it was a very bad idea to plead guilty without a waiver of the death penalty, and then gave him examples of cases in which this action went terribly wrong. I did not hear more, so I assumed that Brians lawyers would not be following this ill-advised path.

I was wrong. In March 2008, Brians attorneys pleaded Brian guilty to first-degree murder for no benefit and with death still on the table. I thereafter learned that the lawyers sprung this idea on Brian as they were going into court, with no warning, leaving Brian little to no time to consider this life and death decision, or consult with his family.

I now know that his lawyers did little to no investigation before pleading Brian guilty, and failed to complete an expert evaluation of their client, even though he had a well-documented and well-known history of chronic major depression and debilitating addiction.

We now know that, had they completed the expert evaluation and conducted investigation, they would have learned that Brian had a viable defense: He could not form the intent required for first-degree murder because he was experiencing drug psychosis the night of the crime.

With this defense in hand, counsel should have proactively negotiated a plea deal for a sentence of life without parole, or taken the case to trial and actually given Brian a defense.

In December 2008, I reported my grave concerns about these events to my superviser and the administration in the Missouri State Public Defender System, recommending that the System never again hire these lawyers for death penalty cases.

It is not a mystery why this injustice happened. It is about money.

The Public Defender System paid these lawyers a low flat fee for their representation of Brian, meaning the fewer hours they worked, the more money was in their pockets.

The Public Defender System no longer enters into flat-fee arrangements with contract lawyers in capital cases. The System now recognizes that practice is unethical. Tragically, that illumination came too late for Brian, as he awaits execution.

The truth is, back then, Missouri offered a bargain-basement fee  and it got a bargain-basement job.

People tend to think courts will catch and correct manifest injustices, like the one that resulted in Brians death sentence. But the reality is that the procedural limitations of our judicial process mean that injustices can go uncorrected by the court system.

Our legal system recognizes this reality; that is precisely why executive clemency exists.

Gov. Parsons ability to grant executive clemency is the failsafe built into our legal system. Nobody is suggesting that Brian be set free. What executive clemency can do in this case is to ensure that, because of the constitutionally flawed representation he received, Brian Dorsey will not be executed, but will serve a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

Gov. Parson has the power to correct this injustice before an execution makes the injustice irreversible.
Is there anything a Republican political candidate can say today that is so outrageous, vulgar and hateful that it costs the support of the GOPs leaders and base voters?

That fundamental question of the Trump era will be tested this year in a Missouri state Senate race in Boone County. The initial indications arent encouraging.

Former state Rep. Chuck Basye, a Republican from the Columbia area, has a history of flinging around homophobic and misogynistic hate speech, lies, F-bombs and other obscenities at fellow politicians and private citizens alike in social media posts, emails and texts.

So naturally, Republican Senate leaders have recruited him to run for an open seat.

Basye filed last week to run for the Senates 19th District. He will face fellow former state Rep. Stephen Webber, a Democrat who Basye has belittled as being gay (he isnt) and whose military service he has baselessly derided.

(Y)ou must be lovin on Stephen Webbers bull----, Basye commented to a woman on Facebook last year. Stephen Webber is mad because the incumbent I beat (in an earlier election) was his boyfriend. Thats why Webber wont let you (perform oral sex on) him. He likes boys.

Classy, right? Its actually mild next to rhetoric Basye has routinely spewed at Webber and many others in the past few years.

As reported by the Missouri Independent, Heartland Signal, the Kansas City Star and others, Basyes greatest hits are heavily infused with homophobic hate speech, unprintable expletives and personal attacks.

In Basyes posts, texts and emails, a Democratic political operative is called a fat bastard. Two Basye critics are called homophobic slurs.

In response to one post that announced Happy Flag Day and displayed a multicolored pride flag, Basye echoed the sentiment, replacing flag with a rhyming homophobic slur.

After losing a school board race in Columbia last year, Basye wrote to a critic that the school district sucks because of scum like you promoting ... transgender bull----. ... By the way, go f--- yourself!

Webber has been the target of much of Basyes bile lately.

Go F--- Yourself Stevie!!, Basye wrote in an email to Webber in August. Show us your DD214 you f------ con artist.

A DD214 is a document related to military service. Webber served two tours in Iraq as a Marine and saw combat. Basye, who himself was a Marine from 1976 to 1980, appeared to be questioning Webbers military record.

When the Missouri Independent asked Basye about that recently, he made reference to Webbers shirt buttons not generally being in alignment, as Marine etiquette would require. But he also denied he was questioning Webbers military service.

Hurling unhinged expletives, lies, childish names and obscenity-laced personal attacks, throwing a bitter written tantrum after a political loss, belittling the military service of combat-tested soldiers  does all of this sound like anyone we know?

Consider how much American politics, especially Republican politics, has changed since Donald Trump began debasing political norms with his 2016 campaign.

It was only a dozen years ago, in 2012, that U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, a Republican congressman from Missouri, was called out by his partys leaders and rejected by Republican voters for voicing the bizarre notion that women who are victims of legitimate rape cannot get pregnant. It prompted public outrage up and down the GOP ranks and ultimately cost Akin what had been a very likely victory over incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Contrast that to the partys response today to Basye.

His hateful antics arent new nor previously unnoticed. He was in the Missouri House for eight years, and his vile rhetoric has drawn media coverage before. Yet, as reported last week by the Missouri Independent, it was Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin who personally urged Basye to throw his hat in the ring for the open seat.

Confronted by the Independent with printouts of some of Basyes posts, OLaughlin shrugged it off (Itd be worth me having a conversation with him.) but stood by her support.

Retiring Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, whose seat Basye is seeking, wouldnt even look at the printed examples of Basyes posts that the Independent tried to show him. When pressed, Rowden said, I certainly dont agree with Chucks use of that language, but he didnt withdraw his support.

Boone County Republican Central Committee Chairman Tony Lupo chalked Basyes rhetoric up to a wry sense of humor.

When Trumps critics say his toxic political style has poisoned our national discourse and turned one of our two major parties against its own long-held standards of decency, this is what theyre talking about.

The point here isnt about monstrous rhetoric from one unfit legislative candidate. Its about Republican leaders today who think so little of their own partys voters that they believe they will accept this kind of sewage. Heres hoping the good people of Boone County will prove them wrong.
April 4, 2024: Last year Sweden and Ukraine signed an agreement to jointly produce the Swedish CV90 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) in Ukraine. Sweden has provided Ukraine with nearly $2 billion worth of weapons and military equipment since the Russians invaded in early 2022. This is a substantial effort for a nation of ten million. Despite its small population, Sweden is a major developer and producer of modern weapons, including infantry weapons, jet fighters, armored vehicles, artillery, air defense systems, warships, and submarines.

There are several reasons for its relatively large arms industry. Sweden is an industrialized nation that has been neutral for two centuries despite being close, geographically, to Germany and Russia, two nations that were major instigators and participants in the major wars of the last 150 years. Maintaining Swedens neutrality has not been easy. For example, Sweden recently sought to join NATO, which nearly all NATO members saw as a good thing. Getting into NATO was blocked by Turkey, which insisted Sweden extradite Kurdish separatists to Turkey. Turkey was one of the original NATO members because it needed help in dealing with potential Russian aggression. Now Turkey cooperates with Russia and feuds with its fellow NATO members. Sweden was persistent, patient and very stubborn about protecting Kurdish refugees it has accepted. In March 2024 Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO.

Russia is losing its war in Ukraine and suffering economically from sanctions imposed because it invaded Ukraine in 2022. One reason the Russian invasion failed was massive arms contributions from Western nations, including Sweden. Several of these contributors have Swedish developed weapons, including the CV90 armored vehicle. Currently Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ukraine use CV90s. The CV90 is a unique armored vehicle because it has been in use for nearly three decades. Sweden began developing CV90 towards the end of the Cold War. CV90 entered service in the 1990s and attracted many export customers. Many Swedish weapons continue in use for decades because of continuous upgrades, CV90 is an example of this. CV stands for Combat Vehicle and it has been a very flexible and adaptable combat vehicle.

CV90 production started in 1993. The 28-ton tracked vehicle has a crew of three and carries seven or eight passengers, usually infantrymen. With a top road speed of 70 kilometers an hour, the CV90 can go 300 kilometers on internal fuel. The vehicle turret carries a 30mm autocannon and a coaxial 7.62mm machine-gun. Also in the turret is a thermal imager for night operations. The vehicle armor protects against projectiles of up to 30mm caliber.

There are several variants of the CV90, carrying different weapons, including 120mm mortars, anti-tank missiles, 25mm, 30mm, 35 and 40mm autocannon, a 105mm low-recoil cannon as well as anti-aircraft radar and many types of missiles.

The CV90 is 6.55 meters long and 3.1 meters wide. Average cost of a new CV90 was about $5 million each but some cost less than that because CV90 can use a wide variety of weapons, armor, and equipment. So far, nearly 1,500 CV90s have been produced with Sweden using about a third of those. Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, and Netherlands are major users and together operate as many CV90s as Sweden. Several of the original owners of the CV90 upgraded them with things like more armor, better electronics, and air conditioning. Some models weigh 38 tons and new weapons are also available. There are several models of ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) available plus several different calibers of autocannon.

The latest CV90 model has the novel Barracuda camouflage system. This is a camouflaged blanket which reduces the thermal signature, making it difficult for thermal (heat) detection fire control systems unable to spot a CV90. The current model has a turret with a 40mm autocannon. Ukraine received 50 of the latest CV9040C model and wants to obtain a thousand more. This is one reason for the coproduction deal with Sweden to manufacture CV90s in Ukraine. It will take at least two years to get all that production built and operational.

Users have been quite satisfied with the Swedish CV90, in part because there are so many weapons and equipment options. So far there have been six major models of CV90, starting with the first ones that went mainly to the Swedish army. This version was armed with a 40mm autocannon. The sixth version is currently in development and expected to enter service in 2027. Many users of older models upgrade when a new model comes out, integrating new features and weapons that their older CV90s can accommodate. This is the main reason so many older CV90s remain in service.


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April 4, 2024: Russia recently abandoned its effort to continue building Lada class submarines. Ladas were originally seen as a successor to the Kilo class but were not as capable as expected. The original order for twelve Ladas was reduced to the three already built, and two under construction. One or both of those may be abandoned because of shrinking navy budgets. The Kilos entered service in 1980 and so far, 83 have been built with 65 still in service and two more under construction. That means the Ladas are not essential because Kilos are still being built and the Lada is simply an updated version of the Kilo with a new name

The first Lada, the Sankt Petersburg, was accepted by the Russian navy in 2010 but was never made operational. Last year it was announced that Sankt Petersburg would be decommissioned rather than undergo modernization and expensive upgrades. This meant that Sankt Petersburg would be tied up somewhere and become part of the Russian reserve fleet.

This decommissioning was part of a pattern. In 2021, when Russia announced its planned warship deliveries, one delivery was considered doubtful. This actually involved putting a second Lada class boat into service by the end of 2021. The first one was finally accepted by the navy in 2020, but only as a test vessel for experiments with new equipment. Russia has been sending mixed signals about the Lada Class boats for two decades and the second Lada was to be the first production model fit for active service in the navy.

In early 2019 Russia stated that the second Lada class submarine would be completed and ready for sea trials by the end of 2019. That turned out to be just another overly optimistic announcement. The first Lada was accepted by the navy in 2010 but the second two were canceled in 2011. That was because the Navy had conducted years of sea trials after the first Lada was completed in 2005 which demonstrated that the performance of this design did not meet Navy requirements. The problems were so severe that the navy demanded that work be halted on the second and third ones.

All this was surprising because the second Lada was nearly ready for launch. Because of that the unfinished Lada was not scrapped and the sub was preserved in case some solution to all the problems could be found and it would be possible to resume work quickly. That eventually happened and the second Lada was launched in September 2018. Construction of the third Lada began in 2015 but was also halted before it was ready for launch.

There were many problems with the Lada design, but the main one appears to be the failure of the long promised Russian AIP Air Independent Propulsion system. This was supposed to be a key feature of the new sub. AIP and several other upgrades were supposed to justify calling the Ladas a new class of sub, not just another improved Kilo.

Desperate for a solution to all the design and construction problems, Russia turned to an Italian ship builder to jointly develop and build the Lada export models, called Amur class subs, which would use Western AIP tech. Russia was never able to obtain any export sales for Amur and the project was canceled in 2013. Amur would have been dead soon anyway because of the sanctions imposed on Russia because of the 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

Lada was developed in the 1990s as the successor to the Kilo class, but the promised improvements that made Lada unique, especially the AIP, were never ready so there was not enough difference between the Lada and the improved Kilos being built to justify continuing work on a Kilo successor.

The 2,700-ton Lada is 72 meters long and carries a crew of 35. Each crew member has their own cabin. Although individual quarters were very small for the junior crew, this feature was a big morale boost. When submerged the submarine moved at up to 39 kilometers an hour but only half that on the surface. Maximum depth is about 400 meters. The Lada can stay at sea for as long as 45 days and travel submerged indefinitely using its diesel engine while at periscope depth, via the snorkel device that brings in fresh air and vents diesel exhaust. Submerged at any depth, using battery power alone, Lada can travel about 450 kilometers. There is also an electronic periscope, which goes to the surface via a cable, that includes night vision capability and a laser range finder. From the beginning Lada was designed to accept an AIP system.

Lada was designed for anti-surface and anti-submarine operations as well as reconnaissance. It has six standard 533mm torpedo tubes, with 18 torpedoes and/or missiles carried. As many as 44 mines can be carried instead of torpedoes and missiles and deployed via torpedo tubes. Ladas were described as eight times quieter than the Kilos. This was accomplished by using anechoic (sound absorbing) tile coatings on the exterior and a very quiet skewed propeller. All interior machinery was designed with silence in mind. The sensors include active and passive sonars, including towed passive sonar. Russian submarine designers apparently believe they can install most of these quieting features into improved Kilos, along with many other Lada features. But the main distinction between Lada and late-model Kilos is the AIP and the first two Ladas do not have it. The 2019 announcement confirmed this. The current plan is to see if the other accumulated Kilo upgrades applied to the Lada work, and then install the AIP in the third Lada.

What Russia has not discussed is the fact that most Kilos, and Ladas as well, are meant for export and China has been getting more and more export sales that otherwise would have been for Russian Kilos. China has been building its own Kilo clones and in mid-2018 the Chinese navy proclaimed that its new AIP equipped Kilo submarine had performed very well. Actually, as described, the Chinese AIP performed about as well as early Western AIP systems. For the Chinese that was good enough because they have had problems getting their AIP, apparently based on the Swedish Stirling AIP system, to perform adequately and reliably. China worked on getting a reliable AIP system in one of their Yuan class Type 39B subs for over fifteen years but until 2018 no Chinese AIP equipped boats were seen in action. That changed in early 2018 when a new Yuan class sub went to sea and operated like an AIP boat by staying underwater for more than seven days at a time. According to the Chinese press releases, their AIP sub stayed under for over two weeks at a time, which is typical of what a Stirling AIP system can do.

China currently has AIP-equipped Type 39 Yuan class boats. Type 39s are no longer built with AIP as a standard feature. Instead, AIP is offered to export customers, as an expensive option. China is building a lot more Type 39s, using a new shipyard in Wuhan for mass production of the Type 39 and the S20 export version.

Type 39s are based on the late model Russian Kilos. Construction of the Yuans appeared to have halted in 2013 for reasons unknown. The last new Type 39B appeared in late 2013 but even before that, there were indications that this was another pause to absorb user experience with the current model and plan modifications for the next batch.

By 2016 new 39Bs had many modifications and upgrades, some of them visible because of minor changes in the conning tower or hull features. China upgraded its sensor and fire control electronics. The Chinese AIP appears to have encountered no major problems, but Chinese naval commanders have concluded that AIP is not always worth the additional cost.

One thing was certain about the latest Type 39Bs; the Chinese are continuing their relentless effort to create world-class subs one tweak and improvement at a time. Since the late 1980s, China has been designing and building a rapidly evolving collection of Song Type 39 class diesel-electric submarines that emphasize quietness and incremental improvements. The changes were eventually so extensive that the four Songs completed in 2013 were recognized as a new type and designated the Yuan class Type 39A. The original Type 39 design was a 2,200-ton Kilo type sub that first appeared in the late 1990s and construction continues. The larger 2,800 ton Type 39A first appeared in 2006. Type 39A quickly evolved into the larger and more lavishly equipped Type 39B. The evolution continues, and there are now 30 Type 39 Yuan Class subs in at least four distinct models. These latest models were thought to have AIP along with new electronics and other internal improvements. Now the presence of AIP has been confirmed.

This rapid evolution of the Type 39 appears to be another example of China adapting Russian submarine technology to Chinese design ideas and new technology. China has been doing this for as long as it has been building subs, which they began doing in the 1960s. The recent versions of the Type 39B design show Chinese naval engineers getting more creative. The Yuans were meant to have an AIP that would allow them to cruise underwater longer. Western AIP systems allow subs to stay underwater for two weeks or more. China has been working on AIP since 1975 and the first working prototype was available by 1998. A decade later it seemed that design was ready for regular use, but it wasnt. The first Chinese AIP had less power and reliability and did not appear to be nearly as capable as planned Russian or existing Western models. In part, this was because AIP used lead-acid batteries. The Chinese kept improving on their AIP, and the last half dozen AIP systems were designed to use a more efficient lithium battery system. This AIP 2.0 has numerous other tweaks and appears, on paper at least, to match what most Western AIPs can do and thats the version that was installed in one or more of the latest Type 39B subs.

The Songs look a lot like the Russian Kilo class and that was apparently no accident or coincidence. The 39s and 39A/Bs are both similar in appearance, but the type 39A/Bs appear to be larger than the original Song Type 39s. Both have crews of 60-70 sailors and six torpedo tubes. This is very similar to the Kilos, which are a bit larger. China began ordering Russian Kilo class subs, then one of the latest diesel-electric designs available, in the late 1990s. The first two Type 39Bs appeared to be a copy of the early model 877 Kilo, while the second pair of Type 39Bs appeared to copy the later model 636 Kilos.

The latest Yuans still appear like Kilos but may be part of an evolution into a sub that is similar to Lada, the Russian successor to Kilo. The Type 39s were the first Chinese subs to have the teardrop shaped hull. The Type 39B was thought to be just an improved Song but on closer examination, especially by the Russians, it looked like a clone of the Kilos. The Russians now believe that the entire Song/Yuan project is part of a long-range plan to successfully copy the Kilo. If that is the case, it appears to be succeeding and the Russians suddenly rushing to resume work on an AIP Lada seems to confirm that. Other evidence is the AIP equipped Chinese subs being offered to export customers.

Meanwhile, China has been offering its improved Kilo designs to export customers. In late 2016 China confirmed that final details have been agreed on the sale of eight Chinese S20 diesel-electric submarines to Pakistan. These are export versions of Type 39A that lack many of the advanced features. Four of these will be built in China while at the same time Chinese personnel will assist Pakistan in building another four in Pakistan. Final cost is expected to average somewhere between $500 million and $600 million each, and the first one will enter service by 2023. Since early 2014 China and Pakistan have been negotiating prices and terms for the sale of the S20. At first, it was believed that Pakistan wanted six subs, but the final deal specified eight. Currently, the Pakistani Navy has five submarines and plans to use all of them against India, which is also considered a Chinese foe. In 2017 China sold three of those export model Yuan class subs to Thailand. These boats will cost over $400 million each. Five years earlier those nations would have been inclined to select the veteran Kilo that first entered service in 1982. So far, 70 Kilos have been built of which 60 are still in service, and more are under construction. It may be an old design, but it is mature and has been updated with modern electronics and quieting technology. But Kilo never had AIP and Russia has yet to demonstrate that their AIP design actually works.
Donald Trump lies about virtually everything, but he saves his most outrageous falsehoods for the immigrants who are poisoning the blood of our country. He calls them vermin, an epithet that matches his recent declaration that theyre not people, in my opinion.

It started back in 2015 when he claimed that Mexico is sending drug smugglers, criminals and rapists. The facts, however, are very different. Among the people convicted of trafficking fentanyl in 2021, 86% were American citizens.

In their book, Immigration and Crime, Graham Ousey and Charis Kubrin analyzed 20 years of data and they concluded that long-standing concerns about immigration as a major source of crime are unfounded. In fact, communities with more immigration tend to have less crime, especially violent crimes like homicide.

At a Richmond, Va., rally, Trump falsely claimed that prison populations all over the world are at the lowest point theyd been in many decades because theyre dumping their prisoners into our country. In Rome, Ga., he increased the fear factor by adding theyre emptying their mental institutions into the U.S.

In his 2016 campaign Trump declared that there were 34 million undocumented people in the country. (The actual number is 11.4 million.) In recent speeches Trump asserts that the number of current border crossings is 20 million. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has counted 7.3 million border encounters from January 2021 to December 2023.

Trump pulls yet another figure out of the air: he asserts that only 3% of those who claim asylum show up for their court hearings. Ive looked at several studies and the number of asylum seekers who do report ranges from 83% to 92%. It is essential to note that migrants who report to authorities are not, under the 1980 Refugee Act, illegal aliens.

Only 32% of those who complete their asylum hearings are allowed to stay in the country. Most of those denied asylum are those fleeing economic difficulties (not political oppression) in their home countries. Those not meeting asylum criteria are deported, and in fiscal 2023 there were a record number of deportations  10 times the number of those under Trump in fiscal 2020.

Trump also lies when he contends that a record number of terrorists have crossed the southern border, and he also fibs when he says that none crossed during his presidency. In fiscal year 2019, 280 terror watchlist migrants were arrested as opposed to 380 during Bidens last two years.
by Austin Bay April 3, 2024

On April 2, India bluntly rejected Communist China's latest sly ploy to claim Indian territory in the Himalayas.

The Chinese gambit: On March 30, Beijing issued a statement renaming 30 places in India's northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state. According to India Today, the locations included "two mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass (and) 11 residential areas."

Reuters reported Beijing declared it was merely "standardizing" the localities' names "in accordance with the relevant regulations on place name management of the State Council."

That would be the State Council of the People's Republic of China, the arm of the Chinese Communist Party that directly oversees China's provincial governments.

The State Council's stuffy bureaucratese failed to disguise its belligerent land grab. A senior official in India's Ministry of External Affairs (foreign ministry) accused China of "manufacturing" claims to sovereign Indian territory China illegally occupies. Another dismissed the name game as "absurd."

Absurd? China's dictatorship bets it gains something from repetitious hoaxes. In 2017, Beijing renamed six locations in Arunachal Pradesh, another 15 in 2021, and 11 more in 2023. The CCP says the region is part of South Tibet, China's Zangnan province.

Repetition is the hallmark of propaganda. Repeat the lie ad infinitum, alter maps, act boldly, and suddenly people accept it.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, "If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect."

He added: "Our army is deployed at the Line of Actual Control ..."

In 1950, Communist China invaded Tibet. The communists said Tibet belonged to China because at one time imperial China controlled Tibet.

Seizing Tibet, however, soured Indian and Chinese political relations and led to the 1962 Sino-Indian War, which China started and won.

That war is not officially over. An iffy, mountainous 3,500-kilometer ceasefire line, the Line of Actual Control, separates the two nuclear powers. In 2020, the Chinese and Indian armies clashed. Blood spilled.

Beijing thinks the name game is a valuable weapon in its frozen war with India. Repetitive falsehood creates a media narrative promoting Chinese claims, which Beijing's diplomats cite at the United Nations.

Beijing employs a famous fake map in its war to seize the South China Sea and Taiwan, the nine-dash line map.

China's 2012 nine-dash line map is a cartographic crime Beijing uses to claim 85% of the SCS's 2.2 million square miles. The nine-dash line encroaches on territory belonging to the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, the Hague's arbitration tribunal supported the Filipino accusation that China had stolen Filipino territory and sea resources. The tribunal relied heavily on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which China signed.

UNCLOS codified the geophysical conditions and legal precedents establishing sovereign control of territorial waters and sovereign rights in maritime exclusive economic zones. It is an example of practical, peace-promoting diplomacy.

The tribunal ruled Beijing had illegally seized islets in the Spratly archipelago, constructed artificial islands on reefs inside long-recognized Filipino territory and conducted illegal fishing operations.

Lawless Beijing ignored the verdict -- and still does.

In 2023, Beijing added a very dangerous 10th dash. Dash-10 scars the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan -- meaning Taiwan is mainland Chinese territory.

Day after day, Chinese aircraft probe Taiwan's airspace. On the Filipino front in spring 2024: Chinese troops occupy islets in Filipino territory as Chinese coast guard ships turn powerful water cannon on Filipino supply vessels.

The so-called cabbage strategy guides Beijing's gambits on all fronts. In May 2013, a Chinese general boasted China would eventually secure its South China Sea claims by wrapping them with coast guard ships, construction barges, fishing boats and military garrisons akin to protective cabbage leaves. Fake maps forward the strategy.
Buyers' Guide: Field Monitors, Monitor/Recorders, and Recorders

Strange as it seems, there are other essential production tools used in the field besides camcorders, microphones, and the switchers and encoders for live-switched streams. Historically, field monitors were luxuries that most crews didnt use except on higher-end shoots. One reason for field monitors former scarcity was that portable CRT monitors that could be hooked up to cameras were expensive and too bulky for run-and-gun productions. Until about 20 years ago, even the idea of a color viewfinder or color flip-out viewscreen on professional gear was fantasy.

When I started out with VHS, I had a 9" TV slung between my tripod legs. Eventually, I switched to a 5" Sony consumer TV monitor that burned out after about 5 years. Around 2002, I replaced it with a 5" off-brand (Action) LCD monitor. While I do not use it for production anymore, I still use it to test VCRs when I go looking at new old machines and troubleshooting equipment for my video transfer business.

While just about every professional camera or camcorder has a built-in screen ranging from 3" to 5", some camera people and producers require more. Many producers want something they can see without straining, so a number of companies have popped up over the last decade or so with not only lightweight field monitors, but also monitors that record to flash media. Going back to the 1980s and 1990s, many directors used low-quality VHS and Video8 recorders hooked up to the video assist out of a film camera for reviewing takes. Currently, I have a Blackmagic Design Video Assist 5" HD from the first generation. The recording monitors of today not only record so the crew can replay takes, but most are capable of recording higher-quality video than the cameras onboard recorder.

Aside from the Video Assist for on-camera use in the field, my company has a few more uses for it. We do many conferences that involve multiple cameras and often PowerPoint presentations. For this setup, I feed the two cameras and laptops for PowerPoint and video playback via HDMI or HD-SDI into a Lumantek HD switcher. Of the switchers two outputs, we send one out to projection screens and the other to the Video Assist to record the video and audio mix to cut down on editing and backup.

Back in my office, I occasionally use the Video Assist to record high-quality videotape transfers from various professional and consumer formats. We recently used one of Blackmagic Designs Teranex processors to up rez some U-matic and Betacam tapes to HD and record them to ProRes HQ for a documentary on one of the most well-known pock musicians in the world. The producers were very happy with the results.

See Table 1 to check out what companies are offering for viewing and recording in the field.

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Vietnams durian exports have accounted for 31.8% of Chinas total import turnover of this item, according to the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The signed protocol on phytosanitary requirements for Vietnamese durian exported to China has created an opportunity for Vietnam to develop its durian industry in a modern, quality, safe, and sustainable manner, the agency said.

According to the department, the successful entry of frozen durian products into the Chinese market will create an important step forward for the Vietnamese durian industry. Vietnam's durian industry is likely to surpass Thailand and dominate the Chinese market if Vietnamese growers focus on renovating cultivation techniques and improving the quality of products, it added.

The General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) has so far approved 708 farming area and 168 packaging facility codes for Vietnamese durian products.

The department has requested relevant localities and agencies to intensify inspection and supervision over growing areas and packaging facilities to strictly control the quality of exported agricultural products, and timely detect and promptly handle related violations and fraud.

It also encourages cooperation between farmers and businesses on the principle of equality and win-win cooperation in the development of agricultural value chains with close linkages between production, processing and consumption.

Currently, Vietnam has more than 112,000 ha of durian under cultivation, accounting for 9% of the country's total fruit tree area, with a yearly estimated output of 863,000 tonnes. The main importers of this fruit are China, Thailand, Japan, and the U.S.

The countrys major durian-growing areas include the Central Highlands with more than 52,000 ha, accounting for about 47% of the total area, the Mekong Delta region with 33,000 ha (about 30%), and the Southeast region with 21,000 ha (about 19%).

Last year, Vietnam exported 595,000 tonnes of durian to China, marking up 98.6% of the total durian export volume. In the first two months of 2024, Vietnam shipped over 41,000 tonnes abroad.
Two men accused of embezzling $1.8 billion from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB went on trial in Switzerland on Tuesday, the latest hearings stemming from the vast multi-billion-dollar financial scandal.

Tarek Obaid and Patrick Mahony will plead not guilty, their lawyers have indicated.

They are accused by Swiss state prosecutors of involvement in a vast embezzlement operation orchestrated by Jho Low, an advisor to former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, with the complicity of the latter.

The 1MDB scandal has led to criminal investigations around the world, including in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

It is alleged that billions of dollars were pilfered from the fund, officially 1Malaysia Development Berhad, by a number of people and used to buy items ranging from artwork to a super yacht.

Former Malaysian premier Najib was sentenced in 2022 to 12 years in jail for offenses linked to the misuse of public money in the 1MDB financial scandal. In February, his sentence was halved to six years.

Three judges

The latest trial, which is due to last throughout April, is being held at the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland in the southern city of Bellinzona.

The case is being heard by three judges.

Lawyers for one of the accused on Tuesday asked for the president of the court to recuse himself from the case, believing that the judge had accepted the prosecution's thesis, and thereby cast into doubt his ability to conduct proceedings impartially, Switzerland's Keystone-ATS domestic news agency reported.

According to the original indictment, "the two accused are alleged, with the aim of enriching themselves and others, to have misappropriated at least $1.8 billion", transferred by 1MDB in connection with a joint venture with the Saudi oil exploration and production company PetroSaudi, "and then to have laundered the amounts involved".

"The allegations cover a period at least from 2009 to 2015 and constitute the offenses of fraud on a commercial basis, aggravated criminal mismanagement, and aggravated money laundering."

Obaid is a Swiss-Saudi dual national, while Mahony is a Swiss-British dual national.

'Lavish lifestyle'

"The two accused used money misappropriated from 1MDB to acquire, among other assets, real estate in Switzerland and in London, jewellery, private equity, to develop PetroSaudi activities from which they received substantial income, and to maintain a lavish lifestyle," the indictment said.

The Swiss public prosecution bureau thanked their counterparts in the United States, Malaysia, Britain, Singapore, Jersey, Canada and Barbados for their cooperation.

According to Mahony's lawyers Maurice Harari and Laurent Baeriswyl, quoted in the Tribune de Geneve newspaper, the "verbose indictment... is the culmination of a totally biased and incomplete investigation".

In 2005, Obaid served as a private advisor to the Saudi monarchy, the Swiss newspaper Le Temps wrote in a long investigation published in 2018.

PetroSaudi was based within the royal palace and the implicit guarantee of the crown opened doors in the oil world.

In 2009, Obaid approached Najib, who became Malaysia's prime minister that year, and the premier then offered Najib a business deal.

The 1MDB scandal led to the fall of Najib's government in 2018.
Woman faces conviction for smuggling six tons of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam

A court in HCMC will hear the case in which a Vietnamese woman smuggled six tons of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam and successfully sold 300 kilos of it.

The Supreme People's Procuracy has completed an indictment involving a total of six tons of gold worth VND8.5 trillion (US$340 million) smuggled by Nguyen Thi Minh Phung, 43.

Related to the case, Dang Thi Thanh Hang, 64, owner of Phuc Hang gold shop in Hanoi and Hat Giang gold shop in HCMC, her brother Dang Nam Trung, 51, and 22 others, are also facing the charge of smuggling.

Phung was identified as the leader while Hang was accused of consuming the most smuggled gold but has fled abroad, and the Ministry of Public Security has issued a warrant for her arrest.

Dang Thi Thanh Hang is being wanted for involving in the smuggling of six tons of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam. Photo to by police

According to the indictment, Hang was involved in consuming nearly 300 kg of smuggled gold.

She is accused of instructing her brother to transport the gold on flights from HCMC to Hanoi through "acquaintances" in the airline industry.

To manage the illegal gold transactions with Phung, Hang set up a Telegram chat group.

After agreements on purchases, gold shop owners would ask airline staff to transport foreign currency into HCMC for payment. Nguyen Duy Duc, 34, an employee of Hang in HCMC, would monitor the flights and arrange to receive the money at the airport or outside the flight crew's office.

From Aug. 3 to Sept. 28 in 2022, Hangs group bought 294 kg of smuggled gold from Phung.

They successfully sold 50 kg in HCMC, and the rest was transported to Hanoi.

Trung, the brother of Hang, often traveled between Hanoi and HCMC to exchange money and receive gold, using his connections to pass through VIP security checks at HCMC's Tan Son Nhat airport, according to prosecutors.

On Sept. 28, 2022, after a period of surveillance, police caught the group red-handed as they were exchanging gold in HCMC's Tan Binh District.

Expanding the investigation, they arrested dozens of individuals and searched several related locations in Tay Ninh Province that borders HCMC and Cambodia, seizing a total of 76 gold bars (equivalent to 76 kg), nearly US$3 million, 64,000 euros, and AUD5,000, 10 million South Korean won, 10 million Japanese yen, over VND45 billion in cash, and a series of other evidence.

Gold bars confiscated by police from a smuggling ring. Photo by police

Phung and another gold shop owner, Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, were accused of independently smuggling gold from Cambodia to Vietnam for profit, using hidden compartments in ice trucks for transportation.

Over two months from July 16 to Sep. 28 in 2022, more than six tons of gold were smuggled into Vietnam through Chang Riec border gate in Tay Ninh.
Laman Ismayilova

Baku Contemporary Music Society and the Baku Museum Center have hosted another concert as part of the project "Musical Evenings at the Museum".

The concert was dedicated to the work of composer Ismail Hajibayov (1949-2006), Azernews reports.

The moderator, musicologist Shafagat Mammadova spoke about the life and work of Ismail Hajibayov, and the guests were presented with chamber works by the composer.

Cadenza Contemporary Orchestra delighted the audience with their performances. The orchestra was conducted by Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev.

The soloists included People's Artist Ulviya Hajibayova (piano), Honored Artists Farida Mammadova (soprano), Khurshid Abdullayeva (harpsichord) as well as Mirkhalid Mammadzade (flute), Mammad Rajabli (clarinet) ), Nemat Tanriverdiyev (trombone), Umid Mustafazade, Fatima Nasirli, Ali Amishov (violin), Asmar Karimli (cello) andAfag Garayeva (piano).

Ismail Hajibayov is an Azerbaijani composer who turned neoclassicism into one of the integral components of his work.

As a result of the internal processing of Ashug music, as well as the synthesis of polyphonic styles and techniques characteristic of Western European music (perfectly mastered by the composer), "neoclassicism" in his work manifested itself with its inherent clarity and clarity of forms.

Hajibayov, who received his composition education in the class of Gara Garayev, taught composition at the Baku Music Academy named after U. Hajibayli from 1974 until the end of his life.

Ismail Hajibayov is the author of "Pages from an Album", "Three Idylls", "Concertino", "Patterns" for a symphony orchestra and several other works that have become an important part of our musical heritage.

A striking example of national neoclassicism is the piano rhapsody "Dzhangi". In the portrait-concert will be performed the composer's chamber works.

The main goal of the "Musical Evenings at the Museum" project is to organize portraits and concerts of Azerbaijani composers and highlight the features of their work.

Most of the time is devoted to the presentation of original music, which contributes to the process of forming a permanent audience of quality music in our country.

As part of the project, portrait concerts of such Azerbaijani composers as Tahir Ibishov, Rahilia Hasanova and Khayyam Mirzazade were held.
Cash-strapped expatriate teachers in Vietnam who were scammed into working for free at the English language center Apax Leaders said the incident had affected their trust in the language school business.

Avinash Soni, a South African, came to work as a teacher at Apax Leaders in 2019. Then the pandemic hit, and the school began facing financial troubles in 2020.

Soni mentioned that the company had promised to keep paying salaries even when classes were canceled due to pandemic restrictions.

"When the company started to fall behind on payments, it came as a shock, but as other companies in the field had also been experiencing issues, we initially remained quite optimistic," he said.

Plenty in his cohort had the same reaction.

His fellowman Callan Williams said: "We believed at the time that the loss of sales revenue was the cause of our financial troubles and that this would be corrected once centers reopened."

Teacher Alexander Wood noted that the start of the company's financial issues aligned with the onset of stricter pandemic measures, and given the outbreak's progression in Vietnam.

"So there was a lot of anxiety surrounding lockdowns on top of anxiety surrounding our pay."

By that time, "Shark Thuy asserted in an email that we would be paid '100% and in full' during the period of online classes and lockdown," Wood, an American citizen, recalled, referring to Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, chairman of education corporation Egroup, which owns Apax Leaders.

Parents gather at a center of Apax Leaders school in HCMC's Phu Nhuan District to demand the tutition the school owes them, March 5, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Le Nguyen

Thuy, 41, became popular through his appearances on TV reality investment show Shark Tank Vietnam in 2018 and 2019.

He established Egroup in 2008 and turned it into a major education company boasting several well-known brands. Its most popular is Apax Leaders, the chain of English teaching centers operated by its only listed subsidiary, Apax Holdings.

Apax Leaders started making headlines in late 2019 after parents in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Dak Lak Province, and Da Nang City accused it of failing to provide the high-quality education it promised.

In 2020 and 2021, the scores of unsuspecting parents paid for their children to study English at several Apax Leaders centers, but many centers then immediately closed following financial crises at Apax Holdings.

Several parents received their money back in installments from June to August 2023, but many others have been left waiting until Thuy said in January this year that the company would be unable to refund the fees since it faced "difficulties."

In HCMC alone, Apax Leaders still owes 4,400 students around VND94 billion (US$3.79 million), the municipal Department of Education and Training said earlier this month.

False promises

As it turned out, parents are not the only victims.

According to authorities, the school owes VND11.5 billion in salaries to teachers and staff and VND9 billion in rents.

Data from the Vietnam Social Insurance and the HCMC Tax Department shows that Apax Leaders owed over VND32 billion in insurance premiums for employees and VND15 billion in taxes as of last year.

Both Soni and Wood said Apax currently owes them around VND120 million each.

"Thankfully I was in a position to get myself out of Vietnam before ultimately losing all capability of financially supporting myself," said Soni, who left in 2021 and returned towards the end of 2022 to work for an international school.

Many others were not as lucky.

British teacher Hannah Clemett said that by August 2021, Apax owed her two months of salary, so she left the company.

She is involved in various Facebook groups where "angry foreign teachers are trying to get the salaries that are owed to them."

"Apax still owes me more than VND100 million. This puts significant financial strain on me for a long time and has left me extremely anxious," she said.

It soon became apparent after 2022 that even once centers had reopened, the company was unwilling to pay what it owed to its teachers.

It was around late 2021 and early 2022 that most teachers resigned en masse, said Williams.

Many teachers continued working despite not getting paid because they feared losing their visas and getting kicked out of the country, he added.

"I had gotten married to my Vietnamese wife at the end 2021 and had to wait several months to get my marriage visa. Had I left Apax at that point I would have had no choice but to leave Vietnam while the borders were still closed and without knowing when I would be able to see my wife again. As a result, I was forced to stay and endure several months without pay."

Williams said Apax still owes him over VND300 million.

"On my wedding day I had no money left in my account. I was extremely embarrassed and humiliated and my wife and her family had to take care of the entire wedding financially. For almost an entire year I was totally financially dependent on my wife," he said.

As difficult as it could sound for Williams, he insisted that he "was not the worst affected."

There was a teacher who was owed nearly VND500 million, resulting in his eviction from his apartment and subsequent homelessness. Meanwhile, another teacher, brought over from abroad in mid-2022 by Apax, had her flight costs covered through a loan provided by the company. Yet, within her first two months of employment, Apax failed to pay her any salary.

"They brought foreign teachers into the country knowing full well that they were not going to pay them. This forced many new teachers to leave the company in debt or without ever having received a salary," Williams said.

Callan Williams (C) poses for a photo with his students at an Apax Leaders center when he was still working for the school. Photo courtesy of Williams

British teacher Oliver Whitehead also shared that Apax owes him around VND120 million and mentioned that his savings "were completely spent."

"It was extremely stressful living in a foreign country with an undependable income, not knowing when I would be paid next, and if I did get paid I wouldn't know how much."

"We would often be promised half of this month first then a date halfway through the month for the other half. Then 25% on pay day and they three more installments of 25%, then these dates would go by with the usual promises of other dates," he said.

Seeking redress

Wood from the U.S. said that right after Hanoi's strictest lockdown measures were lifted and vaccinations were done, he, along with some past and present employees of Apax Leaders, united to raise their complaints with relevant authorities.

At that point, he was owed around VND200 million, and through a process that consumed a lot of his time and efforts, he was able to get back VND80 million.

He added that some employees were less lucky, and so far they have got nothing back.

Beth Maxwell, a British teacher, is one such former Apax staff member.

"I sent countless emails, sought legal assistance, called the office. Everything to no avail. Eventually Apax HR department blocked my email address."

Until now, she could not get back VND25 million from the school and has returned to her country.

For Whitehead, the situation was not better. He reached out to a lawyer, who initially appeared willing to assist. However, after he forwarded related documents, the lawyer ceased responding to his emails.

"I went to Apaxs new head office under the guise that I was looking to come back for work, but as soon as I mentioned compensation or tax documents relating to my previous employment, I found all doors were quickly closed before I could get through and talk to anyone."

Williams, the Vietnamese wife's husband, added: "We attempted to strike multiple times and those attempts were either followed by quick payments (that didn't cover a full month's salary), empty promises, to actual threats of being blacklisted and deported."

The only reasonable thing that most teachers could do was refuse to teach, which resulted in Apax moving classes online, he said.

Another teacher, who is American, said she is currently in a lawsuit against Apax Leaders and therefore, wished to remain anonymous. She said that according to a chart created by a unifying group of teachers, Apax owes at least 81 foreign teachers a total sum of VND13.4 billion ($536,300).

"Now that Thuy has been arrested, there isn't much hope in getting what we are owed as the whole process took too long," she added.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuy was arrested on March 25 over allegations of committing fraud to appropriate properties in the transfer of shares at Egroup.

Apax Leaders, licensed in 2016, used to have 120 centers nationwide with approximately 120,000 students. By the time of his arrest, it only has eight centers, mostly in the north.

The next day after the arrest, Apax Leaders said it would temporarily suspend the calculation of tuition and debts during the investigation. The refunding of tuition would also be suspended during the process.

Nguyen Ngoc Thuy is surrounded by parents demanding tuition fees in HCMC, April 9, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Le Nguyen

Trust issue

The breach of financial commitment by Apax Leaders has eroded the faith of foreign educators as they now stand at a crossroads, grappling with financial uncertainties.

"The trust broken by Apax will never be fully rebuilt," said Clemett, who has recently married a Vietnamese man.

"I felt extremely nervous when looking for a new job. I no longer trust any language center as reliable. I now work at an international school."

Maxwell said the experience with Apax had left her "scared and wary of working abroad."

" I hope Shark Thuy gets his comeuppance, and we eventually receive what is owed to us. But I highly doubt this will ever happen," she said.

Wood even expressed concerns regarding the industry of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Vietnam.

He believes that the negative impact of Shark Thuy's poor management of Apax Leaders, including issues with parent tuition and teacher salaries, has led to widespread mistrust towards English language centers and institutions.

"Parents simply can't justify spending tons of money on their child's English education when they're concerned their children may never see the inside of an EFL classroom."

Alexander Wood (L) poses for a photo with another teacher when he was still working for Apax Leaders. Photo courtesy of Wood

Now that he is married to a Vietnamese woman and is a father, Williams intends to stay in Vietnam, but not so much in the education sector.

"If any opportunities outside of teaching present themselves I am more than willing to change careers."

Whitehead, who has now found a new job at an international school, said he is not looking for anywhere else to go because he is "hoping to start a family with my Vietnamese girlfriend."

"I do not think I will work for any big corporations or language centers anymore. Working for a company where I cannot go and find the boss to talk to them would be a job that I would not want to trust anymore," Whitehead stated.

As for Soni, the experience with Apax has taught him to "always be mindful of the fact that life can take unexpected turns."

"Whilst I may never see the money that I am owed by Apax, I will take solace in the prosecution of Shark Thuy and all his co-conspirators. I hope they are able to experience a comparable situation to the one they put so many people in," he said.
On April 1, several senior commanders and officers overseeing Irans covert operations in the Middle East were killed during a military strike in Damascus, Syria, according to press reports. White House national security spokesman John Kirby dismissed as "nonsense" Iranian charges of U.S. responsibility for the bombing. "Let me make it clear, he said during a briefing. We had nothing to do with the strike in Damascus."

Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs at the UN said, As we gather details [about the bombing], one thing is clear: Iran and its proxy and partner groups need to avoid escalating tensions in the region.

Indeed, since the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, the United States has repeatedly warned Iran not to take advantage of the situation to escalate its longstanding proxy war against Israel and other actors. Iran has ignored that warning, he said. Terrorists and other armed groups, some backed by the Syrian regime and Iran, have used Syrian territory to plot and launch attacks on Israel and U.S. facilities and personnel.

Iranian-backed and armed Hezbollah regularly attack Israel from Lebanon. And not only there, noted Ambassador Wood:

In the Red Sea, Iranian-backed Houthis have violated international law and repeatedly attacked commercial and merchant vessels. Iranian backed groups also have attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq and attacked U.S. military personnel engaged in the fight against ISIL. Irans hand is evident in the actions of all of these terrorist and proxy and partner groups.

We also have longstanding concerns regarding the use of Syrian territory to launch attacks on neighboring countries, said Ambassador Wood:

For example, on March 31, an Israeli fighter jet reportedly intercepted a suspicious aerial target making its way toward Israel from the direction of Syria. And on numerous occasions since October 7, we have seen rockets, armed drones, and other weaponry being launched from Syrian territory toward Israeli positions in and around the Golan Heights.

The United States has taken steps in self-defense to respond to attacks on U.S. military personnel conducting operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

All states, including Iran and Syria, have a responsibility to avoid the path of escalation, to stop arming and advising terrorist groups, and to rein in the actions of proxies who threaten regional peace and security.
In the interests of responsibly managing the relations between the United States and China, President Joe Biden and PRC President Xi Jinping spoke to one another by phone April 2. It was the first discussion between the two leaders since their face-to-face summit in Woodside, California last November.

National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters the almost two-hour conversation was a candid and constructive discussion on a range of bilateral regional, and global issues, including areas of cooperation and differences:

They encouraged and continued progress on issues discussed at the Woodside Summit, including counternarcotics cooperation, ongoing military-to-military communications, talks to address artificial-intelligence-related risks, and continuing efforts on climate change and people-to-people exchanges.

The PRCs behavior in the Pacific was discussed as well, said Advisor Kirby, with President Biden emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and reaffirming the importance of the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

President Biden also raised concerns about the PRCs support for Russias defense industrial base and its impact on European security. And the President underscored the U.S. commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

President Biden also raised continued concerns about the PRCs unfair trade policies and non-market economic practices, which harm American workers and families, said Advisor Kirby.

In addition, the President informed the Chinese leader the United States will continue to take necessary action to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our national security. And he brought up the U.S. interest in seeing a divestiture of the social platform TikTok from a China-based company, so that, Advisor Kirby said, the national security interests and the data security of the American people can be protected.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is currently in China for meetings, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing soon to advance our interests through Cabinet-level diplomacy, noted National Security Communications Advisor Kirby. He underscored, however, the U.S. believes there is no substitute for regular communication at the leader level to effectively manage this complex and often tense bilateral relationship, and both presidents agreed to pick up the phone and speak whenever needed.
In March, Russia began to escalate its attacks on Ukraines energy facilities with the largest and most sustained series of assaults since the start of the war.

At a press briefing in Washinton, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt praised the recovery response by Ukrainian energy workers, including in Kharkiv, Burshtyn, Krivyi Rih, Dnipro, and Odesa. He also noted the passive protection measures, like engineering fortifications that the United States and its European allies have been helping to support, proved their utility at a number of sites.

But Putin was able to inflict significant damage as well. And I just want to underline how outrageous it is that the Kremlin continues to target these civilian objects with no military objective, simply to cause pain and suffering among Ukrainian citizens. And we will respond, he said.

Assistant Secretary Pyatt said the United States and its partners in the G7+ energy sector will be seeking to mobilize immediate assistance, as we have been doing since October of 22, when these energy sectors attacks began. We will also be continuing our work to focus on Ukraines long-term objective of building a future energy system that is clearer, greener, and fully aligned with European standards.

But I want to emphasize also that Putin is failing. We are now at the end of the third winter of Russias war against the people of Ukraine. Ukraine has demonstrated tremendous resilience, thanks in large part to the courage of energy workers from companies like Ukrenergo and DTEK, he said. The lights have stayed on. Putin has failed in that effort. He has lost Europe as an energy market. And we are committed to ensuring that that failure continues.

The United States and its partners, declared Assistant Secretary Pyatt, are going to do everything in our power to ensure that Putins war continues to be a strategic failure for the Kremlin, and that the Ukrainians have the resources and the wherewithal they need to prevail and to continue to sustain the extraordinary resilience that theyve demonstrated up until now.
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At the online meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (Photo: VNA)

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai highlighted Vietnams consistent policy of building an independent and self-reliant economy in association with active, extensive, and effective international integration.

He underscored that the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the US in September 2023 has created new spaces and motivations for bilateral cooperation in various areas.

The two sides should continue effectively implementing their comprehensive strategic partnership framework, especially in breakthrough areas of science-technology, innovation, education-training, he said, proposing that Vietnam and the US should continue specifying the partnership, ensuring that bilateral cooperation brings practical benefits to businesses and peoples of the two countries.

For her part, Tai expressed her delight at the development of the Vietnam-US relations since the two sides upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and affirmed that she will coordinate with the Vietnamese side in implementing agreed contents in the joint statement on the upgrade, especially in the fields of economy, trade, and investment.

The US Trade Representative expressed her hope to further promote bilateral collaboration through the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in the coming time.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai also had a meeting with Vietnamese intellectuals who are lecturers and experts at Harvard University as well as reputable companies and associations in Boston.

The intellectuals hailed Vietnam's socio-economic achievements, holding that its position and prestige has risen in the world arena, and affirming that they always turn their head and mind to the homeland.

They said they hope the Vietnamese National Assembly and Government will provide overseas Vietnamese with more favourable mechanisms and policies, enabling them to make contributions to the Fatherland.

They also voiced a number of proposals and recommendations in the fields of semiconductors, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and financial market development, and asserted that Vietnam has opportunities to catch up with other countries in terms of science and technology development, especially in the emerging sciences.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai briefed the intellectuals on Vietnams achievements in socio-economic development and external relations over the years, underscoring that the Government is drastically working for targets in the five-year socio-economic development plan, with priority to science and technology development and innovation, especially in the areas of electronics - semiconductor, artificial intelligence.

He said that the Party, State, and Government always consider the Vietnamese community abroad an inseparable part of the nation, and expressed his hope that the community will continue to conduct specific projects and activities to implement Vietnams socio-economic development priorities.

Acknowledging ideas and proposals of the intellectuals, the Deputy PM pledged that ministries and sectors at home will consider them during the design of new policies in the future./.
Khmer peoples traditional New Year festival Chol Chnam Thmay (Photo: tayninh.gov.vn)

In the letter, the Prime Minister emphasized that the traditional New Year festival Chol Chnam Thmay is a unique cultural feature of the Khmer people, the biggest festival of the year, and has a particularly important meaning of starting the new year with confidence, aspirations, wishes for good, prosperous and happy life. It is also an opportunity to show filial piety and respect for ancestors.

On behalf of Party and State leaders, the Prime Minister extended his greetings and best wishes to the Khmer people, monks and nuns.

He stated that with over 1.3 million people, the Khmer community is recognised as an integral part of Vietnam. Over the past time, Khmer people have always believed in and seriously complied with the Party's guidelines, policies and laws of the State, joining forces unanimously with the people of the country to actively contribute to the country's great and comprehensive achievements and results in all aspects, he said, adding that the Khmer ethnic region has a new development step, the material and spiritual life of the people continues to be improved.

He emphasized the importance the Party and State have placed on ethnic and religious affairs, stressing that effectively enforcing policies in these areas is crucial for strengthening national unity and promoting the positive and humanitarian values of all ethnic groups.

To continue to well implement ethnic and religious policies associated with social security policies in the coming time, he urged agencies and localities with Khmer communities to actively and flexibly adopt measures to improve livelihoods, offer care to policy beneficiaries, ex-revolutionaries and their families, disadvantaged households while upholding the role of intellectuals, respected individuals and community leaders in the Khmer community.

The year 2024 is the year the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minority Delegates at district and provincial levels will be held, a political event with important significance to summarize and evaluate 10-year implementation of ethnic affairs and policy; affirming the consistent guidelines of our Party and State on national issues and great national unity as well as the contributions of ethnic minorities in the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland, creating motivation to comprehensively develop ethnic minority areas, including Khmer ethnic areas, ensuring progress, social justice and sustainable development of the country.

The Prime Minister also suggested agencies and localities ensure that the Khmer people celebrate the Chol Chnam Thmay Festival in a unified, joyful, safe, economical and culturally appropriate manner./.
Xi plants trees in Beijing, urging nationwide afforestation efforts for beautiful China

Xinhua) 09:31, April 04, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday attended a voluntary tree planting activity in Beijing and called for nationwide efforts in afforestation to jointly build a beautiful China.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while attending the tree planting activity in a forest park in Beijing's Tongzhou District.

Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people.

He said the tree planting activity aims to call on all people to take actions and join the tree planting and afforestation efforts to add a greener hue to the building of a beautiful China.

At the planting site, Xi waved to the crowd to extend greetings, and then picked up a shovel to join the activity. He planted saplings of multiple types of trees.

While planting the trees, he also asked the children at the site about their study, life and their participation in work and sports. He stressed that young children need to engage themselves in work and afforestation from childhood and develop their awareness to revere and love nature.

He also asked the students to study hard, build up their bodies and become the backbone of the country.

During talks with officials and locals on site, Xi said that this year marks the 45th anniversary of China establishing its National Tree Planting Day, and Chinese people have been dedicated to planting trees and afforestation, making remarkable achievements.

However, the scarcity of forest resources is still a prominent problem in the country, Xi said, urging hard work from generation to generation to address it.

To make China greener, efforts should be made to advance large-scale greening, expand the channels for turning the country's waters and mountains into invaluable assets with emphasis on both quality and efficiency, and strengthen the protection of forest and grassland resources with sound anti-fire work, Xi noted.

He called for more endeavors in advancing the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program to fortify the green Great Wall in northern China, urging the mobilization of strength from all circles.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, waters a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with the crowd as he attends a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with the children at the site as he attends a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, picks up a shovel to join a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with the children at the site as he attends a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, communicates with the children at the site as he attends a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Li Qiang plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Zhao Leji plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Wang Huning plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Cai Qi plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Ding Xuexiang plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Li Xi plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

Han Zheng plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Party and state leaders Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
An official welcome ceremony has been held for the President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who arrived in the Republic of Azerbaijan for an official visit, Azernews reports.

A guard of honor was arranged for the Congolese President in the square, decorated with the national flags of the two countries.

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, welcomed President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso.

The chief of the guard of honor reported to the Congolese President.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso saluted the Azerbaijani soldiers.

The heads of state reviewed the guard of honor.

The state anthems of the Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Azerbaijan were played.

The delegation of Azerbaijan was introduced to the Congolese President, while the delegation of the Republic of the Congo was introduced to the President of Azerbaijan.

The guard of honor marched in front of President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, to the accompaniment of a military march.

The presidents posed for official photos.


























Project Lavoy medics test their new blood transfusion field kit during a casualty exercise at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Feb. 13, 2024. (U.S. Air Force)

A team of medical technicians at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, has created an improved blood transfusion kit that they say will save lives in future conflicts.

Project Lavoy, an effort by the 18th Medical Group, has been testing the kit, which enables medics to collect blood and perform transfusions as quickly as possible after casualties occur.

We are hoping to eventually gain funding and support to make this an Air Force-wide toolset that all Airmen can utilize to enhance life-saving capabilities, Master Sgt. Jet Nesle, flight chief at the Regional Dental Laboratory, said in comments emailed Wednesday by the 18th Wing.

The projects name pays tribute to Tech. Sgt. Zachary Lavoy, who died Nov. 29 alongside seven others when their CV-22B Osprey crashed off southern Japan.

Tech. Sgt. Zachary Lavoy died alongside seven other airmen when their CV-22B Osprey crashed off southern Japan, Nov. 29, 2023. (U.S. Air Force)

Blood loss accounted for 80% of deaths during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Master Sgt. John Reeves, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the medical groups chemistry department, said in the email.

Personnel who experience this need blood immediately, not hours down the road, he said. By providing blood products at the point of injury, we can reduce the number of lives lost significantly.

Project Lavoy adds equipment to the joint first aid kit already carried by Air Force medics, allowing them to perform blood transfusions in the field.

Lavoy, 33, of Oviedo, Fla., was a medical operations flight chief with Kadenas 1st Special Operations Squadron. His help propelled the transfusion project forward, Maj. Geoffroy Johnson, 18th Dental Squadron prosthodontist, said in the email.

Lavoy was the first medic with extensive experience in field care and transfusions to respond when the project team, then called the Contingency Blood Program, sought expert support, Johnson said.

TSgt Zachary Lavoy loved teaching, and was our lead cadre.  We decided to rename the project in his honor, he said.

Project Lavoy medics test their new blood transfusion field kit during a casualty exercise at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Feb. 13, 2024. (U.S. Air Force) Project Lavoy medics test their new blood transfusion field kit during a casualty exercise at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Feb. 13, 2024. (U.S. Air Force)

The project began last year as part of a Spark Cell initiative by the 18th Medical Group, Reeves said. Spark Cells are a network of Air Force bases where airmen may develop locally generated innovative ideas and projects.

Johnson said Reeves conceived the idea after going through numerous exercises at Kadena.

Reeves, a medical laboratory technician by trade, said he saw gaps that could be filled to ensure lives are saved during contingency operations. However, getting the project off the ground was a collaborative effort, Johnson said.

Project Lavoy drew in Air Force Special Operations Command, 31st Rescue Squadron, medical professionals and innovation experts, Reeves said.

To show proof of concept of its new system, the medical group between Feb. 29 and March 1 trained four medics and five nurses who lacked previous field transfusion experience.

The medical group plans more training to further develop the concept and show the ease and value of the blood transfusion kit.

Our medics need to be able to perform this time sensitive life-saving task within the golden hour, and Project Lavoy makes it easier to meet that timeline, Johnson said.
The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned CGC Melvin Bell at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., March 28, 2024. The cutter is named after Melvin Kealoha Bell, who distinguished himself during World War II by transmitting the first warning messages to military installations on the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack. (Matt Thieme/U.S. Coast Guard)

(Tribune News Service)  The crest of the newly inaugurated U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Melvin Bell bears a motto  Signal of Hope  that encapsulates the legacy of its Hawaii-born namesake who transmitted the first alarms following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Melvin Kealoha Bell, a descendant of Kihaapiilani and the ruling chiefs of Maui who served as the first person of color to achieve the rank of Master Chief in the combined sea services, was honored at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., at the ships commissioning on March 28.

He was an unknowing trailblazer, Robert Bell, Melvins son and historian, said Wednesday in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He joined the service knowing that he would have to really work hard and have some things go his way in order to achieve his goal of becoming a radioman.

Melvin Bell died in 2018 at the age of 98.

Born and raised on Hawaii island, Melvin Bell graduated from Hilo High School in 1938 before joining the U.S. Coast Guard at age 18, despite knowledge of systemic discrimination within the militarys structure. At the time, minority groups including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were being denied technical positions instead often working in the mess branch as stewards or attendants.

Bell worked as a mess attendant when he enlisted, but in his off hours spent time around the radio room. Bell had previous experience in radio electronics, working under his father at the Hawaiian Telephone Company and at a small radio repair shop in Hilo. He had also taken vocational classes in school.

Robert Bell shakes hands with a crew member of the newly commissioned Coast Guard Cutter Melvin Bell at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., March 28, 2024. (Matt Thieme/U.S. Coast Guard)

He knowingly joined the service with a plan. He had prepared himself well, going into the field of electronics, that if an opportunity presented itself, he would take full advantage of that, and then it would be up to those who had the power and influence to make a decision, Robert said of his father.

The next year, the opportunity presented itself  a radio transmitter aboard Bells ship wasnt working properly, and no one could diagnose the problem. Bell asked if he could troubleshoot the problem and was able to repair the transmitter.

Part of the procedure was the radioman had to call in to the district to report that the ship was back on the air. The individual on the other end was the chief radio electrician, and he said, Who fixed the transmitter?, and the radioman said, Seaman Bell,  Robert said. Since he didnt know who that was, the chief radio electrician said, Well, I want to meet this Bell. Those words essentially changed my fathers life.

A child inspects a lego model of the newly commissioned Coast Guard Cutter Melvin Bell at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., March 28, 2024. (Matt Thieme/U.S. Coast Guard)

Bell would meet with Chief Henry Mumford Anthony the next day, where he was given the opportunity to test for the rate of radioman  exams he later passed with flying colors.

Bell would go on to work in numerous other positions, including at the Primary Radio Station Diamond Head, where he transmitted the first radio alarms of the Pearl Harbor attack. He also worked in Naval Intelligence with Fleet Radio Unit Pacific, and was part of the section that broke the JN25 code, supporting the victory at Midway in 1942. In 1958, Bell was promoted to the rank of Master Chief after a 20-year active duty career, becoming the first person of color to achieve the rank in combined sea services history.

In 1959, Bell took a civil service position with the Coast Guard in Honolulu, and worked for a combined 65 years of military and civil service until his retirement in 2004. He was honored by then-President George W. Bush for his unprecedented 65-year federal career.

He was a diehard, fierce American patriot who loved this country and the United States Coast Guard, Robert said. This is a man who began (working) prior to World War II, and ended doing work on munitions for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Robert said his father was a very well-respected and humble man who was always willing to help others. Active in his church and as a volunteer in his communities, Robert said people would often see him and just stop to talk to him.

He was a trusted associate and friend to all those he worked with. He was just very well-liked. He was the type of man that you could count on, Robert said. Those are the traits that helped him in his early life to achieve the things that he did.

Robert said that his father didnt speak much of the things he did throughout his life, but that when he began to learn about his fathers accomplishments, it was necessary that the Coast Guard know his story.

My dad was the type of man that was very quiet and very humble, very reserved throughout his life, Robert said. As children, we had an idea of some of the things which he had participated in, like Pearl Harbor and other things like codebreaking, but I didnt really know that much about his life until I started to sit down with him the last 30 years of his life and interview him and talk about him to document his life story and his history.

In 2014, a Coast Guard historian interviewed Bell for publication on the Coast Guards oral history website.

More accolades soon followed. In 2020, the electronics support facility at the U.S. Coast Guard Base at Sand Island was named the Master Chief Melvin Kealoha Bell building. In 2022, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian recognized Bell as the Native Hawaiian representative in their Why We Serve exhibition, honoring Indigenous veterans. A portrait of Bell also hangs at the residence of the Commander of the 14th District at Diamond Head Lighthouse.

He will be an example of success to people of all minorities that you can achieve if you work hard enough to make it happen, Robert said. He is fully deserving of all the honors hes receiving now.

Over 80 members of the Bell family attended the commissioning ceremony in New London, Conn.  something Robert said was very heartwarming.

The $45 million USCGC Melvin Bell is the 55th of 65 Sentinel-class ships ordered by the Coast Guard to replace 1980s-era patrol boats. The fast-response 154-foot multimission cutter will be moored in Boston, and will sail on its first mission later this month.

The ship is powered by two marine diesel engines, and includes advanced communications, surveillance and reconnaissance abilities. It has four 50-caliber machine guns and one 25mm automatic cannon. It will be operated by a crew of four officers and 20 enlisted personnel, who spent the last year training on the ship.

Hell be remembered forever. After were long gone, that ship will still be floating in the water, Robert said. This ship means more than the materials its made out of. The individuals now who are the crew of the ship, they are taught about the namesake of the vessel which they serve on, and they are trying to live up to the expectations that he would have set for himself as they serve the nation.

BY THE NUMBERS

Length, 154 feet.

Beam (width) 25 feet.

Draft, 9 feet, 6 inches.

Displacement, 353 long tons.

Maximum speed: 28+ knots.

Range: 2,500 nautical miles.

(c)2024 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit at www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A crater sits next to a damaged emergency vehicle following a drone attack in Kharkiv, on April 4, 2024, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. (Sergey Bobok, AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  Russian forces stepped up their attacks on Ukraines second-largest city overnight as part of a recent campaign against the countrys power infrastructure that has surpassed the intensity of similar barrages last year.

Russians are trying to leave certain large cities without power, Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said at a briefing in Kyiv.

Russian forces targeted Kharkiv with a barrage of explosive-laden Shahed drones, with some of them evading air defenses. Four people were killed, and at least 12 wounded, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said Thursday on Telegram.

As part of those attacks, energy infrastructure was also damaged in the region, Kudrytskyi said without specifying what had been hit. Ukraine was forced to apply emergency power cuts to 350,000 households in Kharkiv and the surrounding region on Thursday, as well as in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, the Energy Ministry said separately on Telegram.

The recent missile and drone attacks against Ukraines energy system, which began on March 22, have been much more intense than last year, according to Kudrytskyi. Russian President Vladimir Putins forces are attempting to damage Ukraines potential to generate and transport electricity, while also trying to disrupt power supply to Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kryvyi Rih, he said.

Drones in the latest barrage damaged apartment blocks in the city, the National Police said. Three of those killed were rescue workers who arrived at the site of the attack shortly before a second strike targeted the area. Ukraine downed 11 drones out of the 20 fired by Russia overnight, most of them targeting Kharkiv, the countrys Air Force command said on Telegram.

In the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, a solar power plant was hit, the ministry said.

Russian troops have stepped up their use of highly destructive guided bombs, missiles and drones against Kharkiv, which lies close to the border with Russia, as Putin, emboldened by Kyivs growing deficit of ammunition and manpower, is betting he can force Ukraine into submission.

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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meets with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the organization's headquarters in Brussels, April 4, 2024. Kuleba said that Ukraine urgently needs more air defense systems, including American-made Patriot interceptors. (NATO)

Ukraines foreign minister warned Thursday that without more support his country was at risk of destruction, putting a damper on an otherwise festive mood at NATO headquarters as members marked the alliances 75th anniversary.

Dmytro Kuleba, in Brussels to meet with top allied officials, said Ukraine urgently needs more air defense systems, including American-made Patriot interceptors.

I came here against the background of continued, unprecedented missile and drone attacks of Russia against Ukraine  which fits the Russian strategy to eliminate Ukraine from the map, Kuleba said.

The comments from Ukraines top diplomat coincided with the anniversary of NATOs founding on April 4, 1949. At the alliances headquarters Thursday, foreign ministers and NATO commanders gathered for a wreath-laying ceremony.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg marked the moment, saying allies were more united than ever and that Russias attacks on Ukraine, both in 2014 and 2022, have galvanized the alliance.

Since then, we have undertaken the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense in generations, he said.

Moments later, Kuleba, flanked by Stoltenberg, congratulated the alliance before turning to events in Ukraine and the need for Patriot missiles.

I dont want to spoil the party, Kuleba said. My main message today will be Patriots, because saving Ukrainian lives, saving Ukrainian economy, saving Ukrainian cities depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defense systems.

NATO celebrated its 75th anniversary with a ceremony at its headquarters building in Brussels, April 4, 2024, during the second day of a two-day foreign ministers' meeting. (NATO)

In March, Ukraine was hit with 94 Russian ballistic missiles, he said. The Patriot is the only system able to intercept such weapons, he added. On top of that, Russia has deployed other missiles and carried out thousands of drone strikes in recent days, Kuleba said.

Kulebas visit to NATO comes as the alliance is looking for a more reliable system for getting arms into Ukraine. On Wednesday, allies agreed to move forward with a proposal that calls for making NATO the planning hub for arming Ukraine.

If put into action, it likely would overtake the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contract Group, also known as the Ramstein Group because of its meetings at the U.S. Air Force hub in Germany.

Its not clear whether the U.S. is on board with the idea. White House spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday said the group, led by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has been effective in bringing together more than 50 countries.

Were going to continue to lead and convene it. And we know that our leadership of that contact group is valued, its important, he said.

The alliance also is considering a new $100 billion fund over five years to better support Ukraine.

The ideas are part of an effort to add more predictability to an aid program that has run into political opposition in parts of the alliance, most notably in the United States. In Washington, partisan political disputes over how to support Ukraine stand in the way of a budget deal to deliver more arms.

The political impasse in the U.S. has led to a reduction in the flow of arms and has forced Ukraine to ration artillery.

Stoltenberg on Thursday said allies continue to work on a more robust and predictable framework, to support Ukraine.

This matters for Ukraine, but it matters also for the whole of NATO, for our security, Stoltenberg said.
Palestinians search the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Feb. 28, 2024. (Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg News)

(Tribune News Service)  Cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas are stalling again, Israeli officials say, with large gaps between the sides over hostages, prisoners and the future of Gaza.

A delegation of Israeli negotiators returned late Tuesday from two days of talks in Cairo and reported that Hamas is insisting on an immediate end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential talks.

The Iran-backed group also wants people in Gaza to be able to return to the north of the territory after the Israeli military urged them to move south at the start of the conflict, the officials said. Another sticking point, they said, is Hamass call for all Palestinians to be released from Israeli jails.

These reflect a hardening of Hamass stance compared with earlier talks, according to the Israeli officials, and are demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government wont accept.

Israel has proposed a 42-day cease-fire during which several dozen hostages would be exchanged for several hundred prisoners. Many north Gazans could also return home after being screened by Israeli forces for arms and links to Hamas.

The officials said Hamas believes its position is stronger because of growing international pressure on Israel as the war rages. That was manifested by a U.S. decision not to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution last month calling for an immediate cease-fire. President Joe Biden, whos scheduled to speak to Netanyahu on Thursday by phone, also said he was outraged but an Israeli strike on Monday that killed seven aid workers in Gaza, including a US national.

Hamas is intent on remaining in power in Gaza even after fighting stops, the officials said, while Israel insists the war will continue until the groups destroyed. Hamas swarmed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 250.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its air and ground assault, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

The talks between Israel and Hamas are mediated by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Wednesday that the negotiations were deadlocked over the return of displaced people to their homes in Gaza.

Israel was wary of Gazans returning to the north because of the risk of Hamas rocket fire returning from there into Israel. The officials, though, said Israel has shifted its stance and is offering to permit thousands, even tens of thousands, of civilians to return.

The officials said Israel still wants to move forces into the southern Gaza city of Rafah to destroy the four remaining Hamas battalions there. Israel estimates they have roughly 8,000 fighters between them.

The U.S. and others have expressed alarm over the plan, saying theres no way for the more than one million civilians in Rafah to be moved out quickly, and nowhere safe for them to go.

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Jacob Flickinger, an aid worker with World Central Kitchen, pictured with his partner, Sandy Leclerc, and their son. (Courtesy of John Flickinger)

When Jacob Flickinger went to the Gaza Strip three weeks ago to distribute food with World Central Kitchen, he asked his father to tell his mother he was in Cyprus instead. He didnt want her to worry.

He planned to leave at the end of this week, he told his father, John, on Sunday via text. The two wished each other a happy Easter.

The next day, the 33-year-old dual U.S.-Canadian citizen was dead, one of seven World Central Kitchen workers killed by Israeli airstrikes on the aid groups convoy.

He was a good man, his father said. He was doing what he loved and just wanted to serve and help others.

Jacob Flickinger was born and spent most of his childhood in Saint-Georges, a small city in Quebec, the son of a Canadian mother and an American father.

Flickinger spent a little more than a decade in the Canadian Armed Forces and did a tour of duty in Afghanistan, where he served in Kandahar, his father said.

After leaving the military in 2019, he met his partner, Sandy Leclerc, and they had a baby boy. The couple moved to Costa Rica, where Flickinger began building a business as a fitness trainer.

To support his family, he started looking for other opportunities. His first stint with World Central Kitchen was last November, when he spent a month in Mexico in the aftermath of a major hurricane.

When a friend told him about the WCK mobilization in Gaza, he volunteered to help distribute food shipments arriving by sea. The work combined the skills he learned in the military and his desire to help, his father said.

Women and children are starving to death, its all over the news every day, said John Flickinger, 67. He felt he could make a small difference.

Jacobs death appears to mark the first time an American has been killed in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces since the war began on Oct. 7, after the Hamas attack on Israel. Nearly 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. It says the majority of the dead are women and children.

At least 21 U.S. citizens serving in the IDF have also been killed in Gaza.

John described his son as a loyal friend, someone who even as a boy was inclined to protect the weak and stand up to aggressors.

To support Jacobs partner and 18-month-old son, John and a friend of Jacobs launched a fundraiser.

I want his story to be told, John said through tears. In war, the people that suffer are the mothers, the fathers, the sons, the daughters, the survivors of what is insanity. Amanda Coletta in Toronto contributed to this report.
The FBI says Ervin Lee Bolling, 48, of Easley, S.C., rammed a vehicle into the front gate of its Atlanta headquarters in Chamblee, Ga., on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Screen capture from video)

(Tribune News Service)  A man accused of breaching the gate of the FBIs Atlanta headquarters made his first court appearance Wednesday and will remain in custody until another hearing next week, court documents state.

U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Catherine M. Salinas ordered 48-year-old Ervin Lee Bolling to be detained until Monday, when a pretrial detention hearing is scheduled, according to an order of temporary detention.

In a motion for detention that was sent to the judge earlier Wednesday, prosecutors argued that the South Carolina resident posed a serious risk of fleeing and obstructing or attempting to obstruct justice.

The Court should detain defendant because there are no conditions of release that will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of any other person and the community, prosecutors wrote.

Bolling faces both federal and state charges after he allegedly damaged the final denial barrier Monday just inside the gate of the FBIs facility on Flowers Road in Chamblee by ramming it in an orange Buick Encore, a federal affidavit states. Prosecutors said he tried to follow a special agents car through the gate.

Afterward, Bolling got out of the wrecked car, walked past the gate and refused to comply with the special agents detaining him, the affidavit stated. Bolling was taken to the hospital for medical care and evaluation, and he remained there until at least Tuesday, DeKalb County police said. The affidavit did not provide details of any physical injuries.

Records show that Bolling had his first court appearance Wednesday. He was appointed a public defender, whose office declined to comment if he attended in person. An FBI spokesperson said they believe he was in the courtroom. DeKalb jail records indicated Thursday afternoon that he had still not been booked.

Bolling faces one federal count of destruction of government property, court documents show. He is also charged with violating state law and faces one count of interference with government property, local officials said.

The impact with the wedge barrier at the gate caused damage that exceeded $1,000, a threshold that increases the suspects maximum possible sentence from one to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. legal code.

A motive is still unclear. The U.S. Navy veteran served for more than 20 years and has no disciplinary history in the military or serious legal troubles as a civilian, records show. According to publicly available information, Bolling is a married insurance broker who lives in the Greenville area and has three daughters.

Mondays hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. before the same magistrate judge, according to online records.

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The SS Antares, left, and SS Denebola are fast military sealift ships stationed at Pier 8 in Locust Point. The pair are among several large ships stuck in the port following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. (Jerry Jackson, Baltimore Sun/TNS)

BALTIMORE (Tribune News Service)  There are 11 cargo ships trapped in the Port of Baltimore behind the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge  including four that are supposed to be able to set sail at a moments notice to support the overseas deployment of U.S. military forces.

The four ships, the SS Antares, SS Denebola, Gary I. Gordon and Cape Washington, are part of the U.S. Maritime Administrations Ready Reserve Force, a fleet established in 1976 to quickly supply American troops around the world. Two of them  the Antares and the Denebola  are capable of sailing from the East Coast to Europe in six days, making them among the fastest cargo ships in the world, according to a 2020 Facebook post by the Maritime Administration.

The blocked ships worry some naval strategy experts.

During the Gulf Wars Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, the Ready Reserve Force was fully activated to transport people and supplies to the Persian Gulf Region, said Steven Wills of the Center for Maritime Strategy, a think tank affiliated with the Navy League of the United States and based in Arlington, Va.

Right now, we do not have enough logistics vessels like these to do another Desert Shield or Desert Storm, he said. We would have to go out and ask for civilian companies to provide their ships in order to get enough.

There are only 48 vessels in the Ready Reserve Force, according to the Maritime Administration, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The size of the fleet has declined in recent years, as ships are sold, get older and are repurposed, Wills said.

About 85% of all U.S. military cargo is currently housed in the country, said Capt. Douglas Harrington, who is responsible for the operations and management of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, which includes the Ready Reserve Force. While there are vessels in the fleet stationed around the country  including in Newport News, Va.  with four ships trapped in Baltimore, that leaves less capacity for the U.S. Transportation Command to use to transport supplies, Harrington said.

However, he added, two of the ships now penned up by the Key Bridges wreckage were out of service before last weeks disaster.

The Gary I. Gordon experienced an engine casualty, which is being repaired, said Harrington, the Maritime Administrations deputy associate administrator for federal sealift and a licensed U.S. merchant mariner. The Cape Washington is also undergoing repair and regulatory work, he said.

The Antares and Denebola, like all vessels in the Ready Reserve Force, are maintained in a reduced readiness state but are supposed to be able to sail within five to 10 days in the event of a national emergency.

Harrington said they havent been activated much since Desert Storm, in part because they require a lot of manpower and money to operate.

Even if that harbor clearance is completed, Harrington said, one or more of our ships may still be in a reduced state of readiness because of repairs or maintenance.

Efforts are underway to clear the tangled mess of steel that is blocking the only channel into the Port of Baltimore, but stormy conditions have complicated the cleanup. Rescue divers werent able to resume their search Tuesday for four missing construction workers, who were bucked from the Key Bridge last week when the 984-foot container ship Dali collided with one of its main support structures.

The four men are presumed dead. Divers last week recovered the bodies of two other members of their crew, which was fixing potholes on the bridge when it collapsed just before 1:30 a.m. March 26.

Officials have been reluctant to say exactly how long cleanup efforts will take  just that they will take time. Temporary channels have been opened on the northeast and southwest sides of the wreckage, but at 11-feet and 14-feet deep, they are only suitable for smaller vessels and barges. For reference, the Antares requires a channel at least 30 feet deep to navigate out of the Patapsco Rivers Northwest Harbor.

Retired Navy Adm. James Foggo hopes the Key Bridge collapse serves as a wake-up call for Americans and policymakers that further investment is needed in maritime infrastructure.

It was a disaster of epic proportions, said Foggo, dean of the Center for Maritime Strategy. I cant believe how quickly that bridge went down.

Besides the four Ready Reserve Fleet vessels trapped behind the wreckage, Foggo noted that the Coast Guard has its principal maintenance facility beyond the bridge in Curtis Bay. More redundancy is needed in the countrys sea infrastructure, he said. Plus, the nations shipyards have declined significantly in number over the years, he added.

The Maritime Administration is expanding its Ready Reserve Force, Harrington said. The Transportation Department is purchasing used ships, which are being updated, inspected and otherwise prepared. The Navy also will return some ships to the fleet soon. Once the new ships are incorporated, the Ready Reserve Force will include 53 vessels, Harrington said.

We are doing everything we can to accelerate their suitability and readiness for being called into service, he said.

Other vessels trapped behind the Key Bridges wreckage include:

Palanca Rio  an oil/chemical tanker sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands.

Balsa 94  a general cargo ship sailing under the flag of Panama.

Klara Oldendorff  a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Madeira.

Saimaagracht  a general cargo ship sailing under the flag of the Netherlands.

Carmen  a vehicles carrier sailing under the flag of Sweden.

JY River  a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of the Liberia.

Phatra Naree  a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Thailand.

Those vessels are berthed around the harbor from Dundalk Marine Terminal and the Canton industrial waterfront to a coal pier in Curtis Bay. Theres an adage in the shipping industry that ships that arent sailing arent making money. Every day theyre stuck with their crews behind the ports closed main channel, their owners are losing money.

According to vessel tracking websites, another six bulk ships lie at anchorage south of the Bay Bridge, where they typically lay up before delivering bulk goods such as sugar or fertilizer or wait to pick up coal from one of the ports two coal terminals.

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Retired Army Maj. Larry Moores addresses the audience at the Silver Star ceremony. Moores received the Silver Star Medal for valor in combat March 25, 2024, more than 30 years after his actions in the infamous 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia  the battle made famous by the 2001 film Black Hawk Down. (Jean Wines/U.S. Army)

Retired Army Maj. Larry Moores has received the Silver Star Medal for valor in combat more than 30 years after his actions in the infamous 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia  the battle made famous by the 2001 film Black Hawk Down.

Gen. Gary Brito, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, presented Moores with the Silver Star  the nations third-highest military decoration for valor  during a ceremony at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., in front of family and friends March 25.

Mr. Moores, I personally salute you for your tenacity, your toughness in a crucible combat, and your commitment to our Army, and your fellow soldiers, Brito said while presenting Moores with the award. Your actions in Somalia were for them, your brothers in arms, and are a living tribute to the Ranger Creed, which I know that you hold dearly.

Gen. Gary Brito, commanding general, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, presents retired Army Maj. Larry Moores with the Silver Star during a ceremony in front of family and friends March 25, 2024. Moores wife, Retired Army Col. Kerry E. Moores, watches the presentation. (Jean Wines/U.S. Army)

Moores, who served with 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment during the battle, codenamed Operation Gothic Serpent, received the award for his role in the fight, including coming to the aid of his fellow troops as they were pinned down under fire.

We lost 18 [soldiers] in battle and had more than 70 Rangers wounded, Moores said during the ceremony. That was a tough experience because we were overwhelmed  with the odds against us. But it was amazing to watch the young Rangers still execute under very difficult circumstances.

Moores enlisted in the Army at age 18 and was initially assigned to the 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. I was in the first class after the invasion of Grenada, so I was a young soldier who had already been in a combat experience in the early 1980s, he said.

Then-President Bill Clinton deployed Task Force Ranger to Mogadishu in the summer of 1993 to capture Somali warlord Mohammed Farah-Adid. The task force was comprised mainly of Rangers from the 3rd Battalion, such as Moores, but also included other special operators and TF-160 Special Operations aviators.

Things went awry Oct. 3, when Somali militiamen used rocket-propelled grenades to shoot down two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters filled with Rangers.

Retired Army Maj. Larry Moores (second from left) is shown with leaders in front of Gunslinger and pilot from TF 160. (Courtesy photo)

Larry is deserving because he chose to go back to that street to try and break us out, said retired Army Col. Larry Perino, a fellow Ranger platoon leader who served with Moores during the battle and attended the ceremony. Despite going out there and getting riddled with bullets time and time again and losing Rangers, he had the intestinal fortitude to lead his men to help us.

The battle was documented in the 1999 book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by journalist Mark Bowden and gained infamy with its film adaptation.

Moores was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the 75th Ranger Regiment in 2005 and also inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2017. He currently works as a contractor within G-2  U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (Intelligence).
Kelci Flowers, a clinical psychologist, has used written exposure therapy with many patients in the Atlanta area since 2019. She said it has helped reduce their depression and anxiety and has aided them in getting better sleep and an overall better quality of life. (Miguel Martinez, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  Stuart Johnson was skeptical about the writing therapy his psychologist recommended to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder. Writing, the Persian Gulf War veteran said, was not his forte. But the retired U.S. airman had reached a low point in his life and was willing to give something else a try after seeking help for many years at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The process of writing about his experiences was intense at first, he said, but he fought through it. That hard work he did a few years ago restored his courage. It gave him a new outlook. And it helped him clear his mind so he could continue working in the transportation industry.

I had control of my life again, said Johnson, 56, a husband and father who lives in the Atlanta area.

Typically consisting of five sessions of about 50 minutes each, the therapy for PTSD patients involves writing narratively about their traumatic experiences. Therapists supervise the sessions  online or in person  and give their patients feedback about their writing. The process helps patients realize that memories of their troubling experiences are not dangerous and that it is possible to think about traumatic events and their meaning in new ways.

Published last year and in 2018, a pair of studies concluded written exposure therapy for U.S. military veterans with PTSD is just as effective as other treatments recommended by the VA, including forms of talk therapy. The studies also determined fewer patients drop out of the writing therapy, which can require less time than other treatments.

In 2019, the VA began a program that trains therapists nationwide on how to use written exposure therapy. Eighteen in Georgia have been trained, and more than 650 of their patients in the state have chosen to use it.

Researchers are now poised to study how it helps others, including those grappling with addiction and sexual trauma. Another study will evaluate how it works when combined with a treatment for depression called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, which uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain.

Brian Marx has spent many years developing written exposure therapy with Denise Sloan, a colleague at the VAs National Center for PTSD.

We know this is helping a lot of people, so we are really grateful for that, Marx said.

Marx and Sloan, both psychiatry professors at Boston Universitys Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, are about to do a follow-up study of how the therapy works in preventing suicides among active-duty service members.

Reducing the high suicide rate among veterans is a top priority for the VA. The rate rose slightly between 2020 to 2021  the most recent data available  from 32.6 to 33.9 per 100,000. In contrast, the rate for non-veteran adults was 16.7 per 100,000 in 2021. In all, 6,392 veterans took their own lives in 2021, up by 114 from the year before.

Sheila Rauch, director of mental health research and program evaluation for the Atlanta VA Health Care System, is optimistic about the therapys effectiveness and wants to study it further, adding she has seen a similar writing treatment work in conjunction with talk therapy for PTSD patients in primary care.

There is a lot of enthusiasm in the Atlanta area for written exposure therapy and for other models that are getting treatments out to patients where they are, said Rauch, deputy director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program.

Written exposure therapy was inspired by pioneering research done by James Pennebaker, a psychology emeritus professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Pennebaker found that people who write about emotionally difficult events experienced long-term decreases in health problems and visited doctors less often. Such writing forces people to acknowledge traumatic events happened and seek to understand them, Pennebaker said, and that can help them derive meaning from, even discoveries about, their experiences.

By translating an experience into language, it changes the way it is represented in our minds  the way it is represented in our brains for that matter, he said. It simplifies it and organizes it.

At first, some patients are reluctant because they worry about their writing skills, so psychologists seek to reassure them.

Its not connected to writing ability. That is one of the questions that we often get, said Courtney Worley, a clinical psychologist and training program coordinator for the VA. Your therapist in this treatment is not judging your spelling or your grammar.

The feedback therapists give patients as part of the therapy, she added, focuses on helping them to go deeper into their thoughts and feelings around the trauma that they are writing about.

Kelci Flowers, a clinical psychologist, has used the therapy with many VA patients in the Atlanta area since 2019. She said it has helped reduce their depression and anxiety and has aided them in getting better sleep and an overall better quality of life.

At the end of therapy, she said, people usually experience a lot of a decrease in intrusive thoughts and memories about the trauma, a decrease in nightmares about the trauma. They are able to talk about the trauma and think about it without having a lot of distress associated with the memory.

Among Flowers patients is Johnson, the retired airman. Johnson said he would recommend the writing therapy to others, adding that he credits it with giving him the confidence to face the world that we deal with today. It gave me that sense to be part of society again and not deal with unnecessary pressures I was putting on myself.

Life, he said, is good right now.

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A soldier at Fort Knox, Ky., receives guidance in 2020 on moving from military to civilian life as part of the transition assistance program. Known as TAP, the program aims to prepare separating military service members for the move, providing information on disability benefits, education assistance and health care, among other resources. A bill under review in Congress would allow veterans service organizations to attend TAP classes and work one-on-one with military members. (U.S. Army Human Resources Command)

WASHINGTON  A bill before Congress would jumpstart benefits for separating troops by authorizing accredited veterans organizations to place counselors in Defense Department transition assistance programs designed for service members preparing to leave the military.

The transition assistance programs, known as TAP, are mandated classes for separating service members. The program is designed to connect active-duty troops with information that they will need as civilians to receive disability compensation, health care and education assistance, among other benefits.

The overarching theme is to make sure applications for the benefits they need are initiated before they leave service, said Patrick Murray, the director of national legislative services for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Our folks can sign up service members on the spot. They can get the process rolling.

The VFW now deploys full-time service officers at two dozen military bases to offer the one-on-one assistance at TAP classes.

VFW counselors interact with about 10% of the total separating force of 200,000 troops each year, Murray said.

TAP reforms are an incredibly important issue for the VFW and its membership, he said. We want to see services like this offered across the Defense Department and not just where organizations like ours operate.

Though the Disabled American Veterans and Wounded Warrior Project also send representatives to TAP classes, Murray said access varies depending on the willingness of base commanders.

But Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a retired Navy SEAL, aims to change that through legislation designed to make TAP operate more effectively.

In March, he introduced the Enhancing Transitioning Servicemembers Experience Act, which would enable veterans organizations to place counselors in TAP classes at military bases across the United States.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

Van Orden, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs subpanel on economic opportunity, said the bill would make fundamental changes to TAP to ensure it stays relevant and has value to service members.

The bill would require TAP classes to be conducted in person, when possible, create a separate TAP track for National Guard and reserve members and provide increased base access for veteran service organizations to participate, as they help separating service members understand their benefits.

TAP is an integral part of a service members transition from being a productive member of the military to a productive member of American society, Van Orden said.

Murray said counselors can act as a clearinghouse and field questions about the information on benefits and other resources received during TAP classes. Service members often find the information overwhelming.

There is too much information delivered in a very little amount of time, Murray said some troops have told him. There is little-to-no context for what they are getting.

Though TAP classes are mandated for service members, some veterans report their commanders downplayed or discouraged attendance.

That was the experience of Adrian Anthony, a former Army private who served from 2000-2004, with deployments to Germany and Iraq.

I went to class where we got help writing resumes but that was it. I was excused from the rest of it. Honestly, I am not sure why. My sergeant just said I didnt need to go, he said.

Anthony said he didnt even know the [Department of Veterans Affairs] existed until 2008  four years after he left military service, when the wife of a Desert Storm veteran reached out to him.

He said he often reflects on how gaining information about health care and other benefits prior to discharge would have eased his transition to civilian life.

I am 100% disabled because of severe PTSD, Anthony said, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health condition he said he developed from the violence and casualties that he witnessed in combat in Iraq.

I did not get my disability rating for PTSD until 2013  years after being homeless and begging for help before it happened, he said. I just knew something was wrong in my head. I have flashbacks and night terrors. Not knowing that I had PTSD was worse than finding out I had a mental health problem and there was help available all along.

Using his veterans benefits, Anthony, 42, recently graduated college.

He said he has been accepted into a masters program in criminal justice and plans to use the GI Bill to help fund his education.

Murray said the VFW primarily works at TAP classes on disability claims, which enables qualifying veterans to access health care and compensation sooner for service-connected illnesses and injuries.

But he said military members also have the opportunity to sit across the table from a veterans service officer who can guide them through the process.

This program allows us to see the needs of troops and help them in real time, Murray said.
The Japanese government on Thursday announced an additional grant of approximately $4.43 million for a project pertaining to extending maternal and child healthcare facilities in Sindh.

According to a press release from the Japanese embassy, the additional grant was for the Project for the Extension of Maternal and Child Healthcare Facility in Sindh which was initially announced in August 2021 at an original cost of about $22.76m.

Under the project, a new maternal and child health centre will be established at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro, the statement said.

The maternal and child health centre is expected to have departments for obstetrics and paediatrics, including a labour room, an obstetrics ward, a neonatal intensive care unit, a maternal and fetal intensive care unit, a laboratory, and outpatient consultation rooms.

Additionally, around 120 pieces of medical equipment, including newborn incubators and ultrasonic diagnostic devices, will be installed. The project is scheduled to be completed by April 2025, the statement said.

It added that the number of care facilities to treat mothers and babies with complications was limited in Sindh and the project would alleviate the pressure on tertiary hospitals in Karachi and Hyderabad. It would also open up opportunities for families from all over southern Sindh with improved accessibility and better chances of survival, it said.

The press release said notes for the additional grant were signed and exchanged between Japanese Ambassador Wada Mitsuhiro and Economic Affairs Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz.

It added that amended grant agreements of the project were also signed and exchanged between the Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Pakistan Naoaki Miyata and Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Saeed Ashraf Siddiqui.

The decision to provide the additional grant is in response to a request made by the Pakistani government due to a shortfall in the project cost, caused by exchange rate fluctuations and market price escalation.

The Japanese ambassador said that the project aimed to benefit over 20m people, adding that considering the total project cost of $27.19m and the beneficiary population, it was one of the largest grant projects implemented by Japan in the world.

He added that upon completion in April 2025, the project will be one of the symbols of Japans development assistance to Pakistan, along with PIMS (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) in Islamabad.

A separate press release said that Japan also decided to provide an additional grant of around $5.5m for the Project for Installation of Weather Surveillance Radar in Sukkur, which was initially announced in January 2021 with an original cost of approximately $13.12m.

It added that this additional grant was also in response to a request made by the government due to a shortfall in the project cost caused by market price escalation.

The press release said that Pakistan had a high frequency of natural disasters, such as floods, landslides, cyclones, and earthquakes. Quite notably, Pakistan experiences heavy damage to large parts of the country every year due to floods triggered by heavy rains during the monsoon season, it added.

The statement further said that apart from the grant, staff of the Pakistan Meteorological Department would also be trained through a technical cooperation project to improve the departments capacity for meteorological observation, forecasting, disseminating meteorological information and contributing to the reduction of damage from natural disasters by utilising essential information with disaster-related stakeholders such as the National Disaster Management Authority and Federal Flood Commission

We have already supported the Islamabad, Karachi, and Multan radars. After the installation of the Sukkur radar, the radars supported by JICA will cover almost 90 per cent of areas in Pakistan, the press release said.

It added that the Japanese government and JICA would continue the assistance to enhance Pakistans disaster risk management initiatives.

Accurate weather forecasts provided by these radars will help people to prepare for heavy rains and reduce the personal and economic damage caused by floods in the future. This project is in line with the spirit and policy of flood recovery expressed by Pakistan at the Geneva conference in January last year, the press release quoted the ambassador as saying.
Conor Stewart was searched and found with a mobile phone and charger in his pocket

A Dublin man who scaled a wall and climbed into a secure area of Wheatfield Prison had no explanation for his behaviour, a court heard.

Conor Stewart (30) was also found with a mobile phone and charger after he was searched in the prison. Judge Shalom Binchy imposed a four-month sentence.

The defendant, of Hillview Grove in Ballinteer, admitted trespass and possession of a mobile phone.

Wheatfield Prison. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins

Blanchardstown District Court heard that prison officers saw a man pulling a rope which had been thrown over the wall of Wheatfield Prison on August 16, 2020.

Stewart was searched and found with a mobile phone and charger in his pocket.

On February 2, 2022, prison officers saw a car pull up outside the entrance to the prison, and a passenger get out and scale a wall into a secure area within the prison.

The court heard Stewart had 71 previous convictions, and was currently serving a sentence. Defence solicitor Valerie Buckley said Stewart had a long history of drug addiction, but was drug-free and doing well in prison.

He had the phone to keep in contact with his family and he was punished in prison through the loss of privileges.
Keonan Lennon (22) of Baltinglass, Co Wicklow allowed 11,000 to be transferred into his Bank of Ireland account

A Circuit Court judge has expressed concern about the epidemic of cases involving money mules coming before the courts and issued a warning that young people could expect to face spending time in prison for the offence.

Judge Patrick Quinn made his remarks at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court after a young Wicklow man was sentenced for a money laundering offence for allowing his bank account to be used for a fraudulent transaction.

The judge observed that the case was a classic example of young people being recruited on the promise of reward for the use of their bank account.

It is an epidemic, he added.

Keonan Lennon (22), of Parkmore, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow pleaded guilty to committing a money laundering offence on November 29, 2021 by allowing 11,000 to be transferred into his Bank of Ireland account.

Garda Damien Lynch gave evidence that a man had been tricked into making the transfer into Mr Lennons account after he had clicked on a cloned Bank of Ireland link.

The court heard that the victim was fortunate to quickly realise that he had been defrauded and immediately contacted the Bank of Ireland which managed to freeze the money in Lennons account.

When arrested the accused told gardai that he had made the arrangement to allow his bank account to be used via a contact on Snapchat that he had been told about by a college friend.

Judge Quinn expressed scepticism at hearing that Lennon believed he was taking part in an investment scheme into cyber-currency.

At 19 he should know the difference between right and wrong, the judge remarked.

The judge imposed a fine of 1,000 on Lennon after hearing he was a full-time worker with a plant hire firm and had recently become a father.

However, he stressed that the word should go out that the case had exceptional circumstances and that other young people who came before his court on similar charges would not be treated so leniently.

Judge Quinn said he was aware that some people convicted for similar offences had been given two-year prison sentences.

He acknowledged that young people could make mistakes and take stupid, silly risks.

However, he added: Too many people are making this mistake.

Others who might be tempted to engage in this activity would be well advised not to do so, said Judge Quinn.

Meanwhile, Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Mulleady of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau also warned in a weekend newspaper interview that young people are being sucked in as money mules by an African-led criminal gang with widespread links in Ireland.

Its easy money and some young people dont see the harm in it. They get a couple of hundred euro for making a simple bank transfer, said Det Chief Supt Mulleady.

However, he added: Money laundering is a very serious criminal conviction and people need to be aware of that. It prevents people from getting a visa to travel and it also means you can never get a job in a bank or financial institution.
The gang are key targets of garda anti-gangland units and are suspected of involvement in large-scale heroin and cocaine trafficking.

Ten guns and drugs worth more than five million euro have been seized during a series of Garda and Revenue operations in Dublin (An Garda Siochana/PA)

Gardai have seized a weapons arsenal including several handguns and tracking devices belonging to one of the countrys most dangerous drug gangs known as The Family.

The bust was made this week as part of a series of separate raids across Dublin during which 10 firearms and around 5m in drugs were seized.

In total 20 searches were carried out which resulted in weapons being recovered in Clondalkin and Ballyfermot while separate drug busts were made in Finglas, Tallaght, Dublin Port and from a storage facility in Dublin 12.

The most significant gun seizure happened on Wednesday when gardai attached to Ronanstown Garda Station searched four homes in the Clondalkin area.

During the searches investigators recovered seven guns, ammunition, drugs worth 200,000 and 100,000 in cash.

Gardai also froze 67,000 in a bank account and recovered tracker devices and mobile phones.

Sources said this operation was targeting close associates of The Family gang, a west Dublin based crime group who operate one of the countrys largest drug distribution networks.

The gang are key targets of garda anti-gangland units and are suspected of involvement in large-scale heroin and cocaine trafficking.

Guns seized by gardai in Dublin

Commenting on the seizures, Assistant Garda Commissioner Angela Willis acknowledged the efforts by gardai across the city in tackling the serious criminal groupings.

Removing ten lethal firearms from circulation will no doubt save many lives and contribute to our efforts to keep communities safe, she said.

The impact of the seizure of significant quantities of illicit drugs and cash, believed to represent the proceeds of criminality, will also ensure that we continue to affect the ability of criminal networks to operate in our communities.

Ten guns and drugs worth more than five million euro have been seized during a series of Garda and Revenue operations in Dublin (An Garda Siochana/PA)

In another operation on March 29, a PM-63C RAK Semi-Automatic Machine Pistol, and nine x 9mm rounds of ammunition were recovered by gardai in Clondalkin during the search of a house.

A male in his 20s was detained under section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939 and subsequently released pending further investigations.

On Saturday, March 30, two firearms were recovered by gardai in Ballyfermot following a search of a local park.

No arrests were made in connection with this discovery, to date.

While on Tuesday, April 2, the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT) conducted a planned search of a residential property in Fortunestown, Dublin 24.

During this operation, cannabis with an estimated value of 80,000 was seized, and a male in his 40s was subsequently arrested and charged.

Cannabis seized in Dublin

On the same day as the seven weapons were seized, gardai searched a car on Beresford Street, Dublin 7, during which cannabis valued at 200,000 was seized and two men in their 30s arrested.

Subsequently, a follow-up search at a residential property in Finglas led to the seizure of cannabis with an estimated value of 300,000, and a male in his late 20s was arrested.

Another search, on April 3 at a storage facility in Dublin 12, resulted in the recovery of cannabis herb and cocaine valued at 3 million.

The three individuals arrested are currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act, 1996 at garda stations in the Dublin Region.

Separately, on April 3, at Dublin Port Revenue officers discovered 55 kgs of herbal cannabis, value 1.1million, concealed in a van arriving on a ferry from the UK.

Gardai from the DMR North Central Divisional Drugs Unit have arrested a male in his 50s and is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996, at a garda station in the Dublin Region.

All seized drugs will undergo analysis by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI), and the firearms will undergo ballistic and forensic examination.
This as an attack that shocked the community..It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family

The man accused of murdering Longford woman Sarah McNally in Queens is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the local District Attorney has said.

DA Melinda Katz said that Marcin Pieciak had been arraigned on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon for the fatal stabbing of McNally, his 41-year-old girlfriend.

She had been working as a bartender at the Ceili House pub in Maspeth, Queens on Saturday evening when Pieciak allegedly stabbed her then slit his own throat.

This as an attack that shocked the community, District Attorney Katz said. It was unprovoked and a devastating loss for the family. We are using every resource to make sure there is accountability.

Pieciak (36) of 76th Street in Glendale, was charged with murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

Queens Criminal Court Judge Julieta Lozano ordered the defendant to return to court on April 5.

Sarah McNally

According to the charges, Pieciak arrived at the Ceili House Bar at 69-56 Grand Avenue in Maspeth on March 30, at approximately 6.30pm where his girlfriend, McNally, was working as a bartender.

Pieciak then stabbed McNally multiple times before cutting his own throat several times.

He tried to leave the bar but a patron made efforts to detain Pieciak until police arrived.

Police recovered two knives from the ground after observing Pieciak drop them as he left the bar.

McNally was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead due to her injuries.

Reports from the US indicate that Pieciak was arraigned while still in his hospital bed on April 3, two days after his arrest for second-degree murder

It has been reported that officers were forced to use a stun gun on him when Pieciak refused to drop the murder weapons in his hands.

Both Pieciak and McNally were rushed to NYC Health and Hospitals in Elmhurst where McNally was reportedly dead on arrival.

Pieciak was initially listed as in critical condition but now appears to be recovering from his injuries.

On her death notice on RIP.ie, it states that the death has occurred of Sarah McNally of New York & Longford Town, Longford who (died) tragically on March 30.

"Sadly missed and remembered with love by her family, her loving mother Dorrie, dear father Des, grandmother Kathleen OConnor, aunts, uncles, relatives, extended family and a wide circle of friends in Longford and New York, the notice reads.

It also reveals that funeral arrangements in Ireland will be announced on Friday, April 5.

McNally, who was originally from Longford, had moved to New York a decade ago and had been living with her boyfriend for several months at the time of her murder.

While reports suggested there had been no history of domestic violence, the New York Daily News revealed that Pieciak had previously been arrested for domestic violence.

A New York Police Department spokesperson said that Pieciak had no prior arrests with their agency.

Mike Lambe, a 62-year-old who lives in the neighbourhood told The Post McNally was a sweet, innocent girl from Longford who had worked at the bar for less than a year.

Sarah McNally

Another man who frequents the pub where the murder happened, told NY Daily News that he knew the couple well, and he still can't believe it.

They was (sic) always together, he said, referring to the alleged killer as cool.

Both of them. Thats why it blew my mind a little bit. Sarah is good people. She helps people. Everybody owes her money.

However, according to some local media reports, McNally had told co-workers the relationship had been deteriorating and that she was considering moving back home to Ireland.

Before she died, McNally told coworkers the relationship was not going well and that she was considering going back to Ireland, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Wednesday.

McNally was behind the bar of Ceili House when Pieciak came at her with knives in each hand, police said.

Once he makes his greetings he goes behind the bar takes out two knives and stabs her repeatedly, Kenny said.

McNally was stabbed numerous times, including to the neck, the back and the chest, prosecutors said.

The stab wounds nicked McNallys carotid artery, lung and spine and she could not be saved, prosecutors said.

After Pieciak stabbed his girlfriend, he turned at least one of the knives on himself and stabbed himself in the back and neck, cops said.

Pieciak was pictured in a hospital gown as he appeared in front of Queens Criminal Court Judge Julieta Lozano.

As Assistant District Attorney Veronika Podoprigora unveiled a detailed account of the slaying for the record, Pieciak began breathing heavily enough that it was audible through the video chat.

The man appeared to be in a daze, reports stated, as Lozano ordered him held without bail.

Meanwhile, locals back home have bene struggling to comprehend the fallout from a tragedy that has left many dumbfounded and desperately searching for answers.

Longford woman Anne Quinn told the Sunday World website of how her own son, who lives within walking distance of the scene of the incident, relayed news surrounding the tragedy only hours later.

My son lives right beside it, she said. He lives in Maspeth and its literally ten seconds (away), he said. I thought it was awful. You get a fright especially when your own family is there. It is shocking. How can you get news like that?

Family friend Tena Keown said the devastation brought about by Ms McNallys shocking death had cast a deep shadow over a community which was now rallying around those closest to the former Mean Scoil Mhuire student.

I went to school with her mum and her dads sister is my best friend so we are all shocked, she said.

It is very sad and the families are just in a terrible state. I would have seen her as a child and I would be always asking her aunt how she was getting on. It is just very sad.

I am trying to support my friend and be there for her. We would be friends for 40 years. Longford is great for supporting people who are going through tragic circumstances. I think Longford is a brilliant little town. People run it down the whole time but when it comes to things like this we are very much united.

Ms McNally had been a well-liked and respected member of staff at the popular Irish bar for almost a year having previously worked in a number of other bars in Manhattan and in her adopted home of Queens prior to the tragic events of Saturday evening unfolding.

Her mother Dorrie has flown out to New York as efforts continue to bring home Ms McNallys remains with the assistance of the Kevin Bell Trust.
Dube had gone on the run in 2021 after allegedly gunning down his second wife, her suspected lover, and a female friend

Dube is led away after his arrest

A man who had been living in Ireland under an assumed name has been arrested in Zimbabwe where he is wanted for a love triangle murder.

Fugitive and murder suspect Peter Dube was met by a team of ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) detectives at Robert Mugabe International Airport after he was deported from Mozambique after evading police for nearly two years.

Dube had gone on the run in 2021 after allegedly gunning down his second wife, her suspected lover, and a female friend in Gweru, Zimbabwe on April 23 of that year.

After the shooting, Dube is believed to have fled to neighbouring South Africa before relocating to Eswatini.

Local media reports the arrest of Dube

Local media has reported that while in Eswatini, Dube changed his identity to Xolile Mtsali before travelling to Ireland where he sought asylum.

His luck ran out while he was in Ireland and he was arrested in June this year for violating that countrys immigration laws, Zimbabwean.com reported last year.

Dube was then deported to Mozambique by Irish officials after he claimed that he was a Mozambican using identity and travel documents with the false name Armando Quenete Muchanga.

Peter Dube

However, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, together with Interpol, discovered he had faked his identity, and he was later arrested in that country.

Now, Dube is back in Zimbabwe, having been deported from Mozambique for falsifying national identity and passport documents, where he is facing charges of murder, attempted murder, and violating immigration laws.

He was immediately arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and placed in handcuffs in what was described as a significant breakthrough in the case, according to local media reports.

Dube is led away after his arrest

Peter Dube has not been extradited but has been deported from Mozambique due to fake identity and travel documents so these are the facts on the ground, Police Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told local media.

The African businessman who had entered Ireland under the alias Xolile Mtsali had been housed at an asylum centre in West Dublin when arrested by gardai on June 14 last year.

Dube, who is wanted in connection with three counts of murder, one attempted murder case and violation of immigration laws is alleged to have shot dead the suspected lover of his second wife Nyasha Nharingo in a daylight gun attack in the business district of Gweru.

Nyashas friend Gamuchirai Mudungwe was also shot and killed in the incident, and her sister Nyarazdo later died in hospital after being shot.
Former Garda tells his remarkable story in gripping new book

A former senior garda who investigated the murder of Veronica Guerin during his decorated career has opened up about his abusive childhood.

Maurice Heffernan had a tough start to life and after being taken from a foster family in 1952, he was locked up in St Josephs Institution.

In a book about his life, the Kerry native details his remarkable journey from an abused orphan to detective sergeant in the early days of the garda drugs squad.

Maurice reveals how for years he had no idea his father was alive and that he had four brothers and five sisters.

During his career, Maurice dealt with the notorious Bronco Dunnes and gave evidence against John Gilligan at the Special Criminal Court.

Maurice Heffernan with uniformed Garda colleagues

Now retired and living in Malta, he used the Covid lockdown to put pen to paper on his autobiography, Once There Was a Boy Who Survived.

His Garda career took him from being on the beat to the fraud squad and the drugs squad and he was drafted in to work on some of the States most high-profile cases.

One of those was the investigation into the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996, which he points out came just weeks after Det Jerry McCabe was shot dead in Adare, Co. Limerick

He was there when the motorbike used in the Guerin murder was recovered from the River Liffey and when John Gilligan was found to have had hidden microphones in his shoes when brought to Lucan Garda Station for questioning.

The same year he retired in 2001, Maurice appeared as a witness in John Gilligans trial at the Special Criminal Court.

Years earlier, before Gilligan became an international drugs gang boss, Maurice Heffernan had been involved prosecuting members of the Dunne family.

The Bronco Dunnes are blamed for being among the first criminals to introduce heroin to Dublin, causing an epidemic of misery.

Hefferan receiving a Garda award from Felix McKenna

In 1982 he raided flats connected to Michael Francis Dunne and put together a case that saw him being jailed for seven and half years.

There was also a trip to Malaga in 1982 to talk to members of the Dunne family arrested there. While nothing of value came of the trip, it put the drug dealers on notice they would be pursued.

One of his unit colleagues was Detective Frank Hand, who was temporarily attached to the Serious Crime Unit to help protect cash transfers.

They were more than colleagues and had become good friends  so when news broke of him being shot dead outside a Post Office in Meath, it was a devastating blow.

The memory of it still haunts me, as it is a day I will never forget, recalls Heffernan.

In 2009 the Ryan Commission report was published, detailing the physical and sexual abuse of boys who had been entrusted into the care of the Christian Brothers.

The report prompted Maurice to eventually apply to the Residential Institutions Redress Board to find out why he had been sent to St Josephs Institution in the first place.

In the end his complaint was excluded because he was judged to have made a late application and there were no exceptional circumstances to allow it.

He writes how he felt ashamed and let down by the decision and it pushed him to leave Ireland for Malta.

I felt I had been let down by another arm of the State who through their agents at the time of my young life, took me from my family, he recalls.

Maurice Heffernan's book

Once There Was a Boy Who Survived, by Maurice Heffernan, is available on Amazon.
In a GoFundMe appeal that has raised 10,814 of a 8,000 target, a pal has written that they are trying to raise funds to support his family

This is the first picture of the young Croatian man who died in hospital after suffering serious injuries in a brutal assault in west Dublin over the weekend.

Josip Strok was one of two men who were targeted in the Grange View Way area of Clondalkin shortly after 10pm on Saturday night.

Josip, who had suffered catastrophic head injuries and lost several teeth, remained a critical condition in Tallaght Hospital before losing his fight for life yesterday.

In a GoFundMe appeal that has raised 10,814 of a 8,000 target, a pal has written that they are trying to raise funds to support his family in this difficult time.

Gardai at the scene

As you all know our Croatian brother Josip Strok died from injuries following assault on Saturday 30th of March, the appeal states.

Support our cause with a small donation.

The appeal adds that there are many of us here in Ireland who want to help in some way and, I believe, more widely.

Gardai say that no arrests have yet been made as they issued an appeal for information.

Gardai are specifically urging passengers who travelled on the number 13 Dublin Bus from Clondalkin on Saturday, March 30, between 9pm and 10pm to come forward, especially those who disembarked at the bus stop on St. Cuthbert's Road and proceeded towards Grange View Road, gardai stated.

Additionally, investigating gardai are seeking information from anyone who was in the Tower Road area of Clondalkin between 9.30pm and 10.15 pm, or in the Grange View Way area between 10pm and 10.30pm.

Individuals who possess camera footage (including dash cam) of these areas on the evening of the incident are urged to provide this footage to the investigating Gardai, they added.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Clondalkin Garda Station at 01 666 7600, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

We previously reported how gardai believe four males were involved in the vicious assault and have gathered good quality CCTV footage as part of the investigation to identify those involved.

The victims friend was also injured in the incident and received medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

Garda investigators at the scene

Gardai had been tracing the movements of the two victims on Saturday to establish a possible motive for the incident.

It is believed the pair had been socialising in Dublin city centre that afternoon before returning to the Clondalkin area.

They were involved in a verbal altercation with a group outside a store in the Towers Road area before getting on a bus and travelling to Grange View Way.

Shortly after arriving in the housing estate they were set upon by a gang of four men and subjected to a vicious assault.

Detectives had been investigating if the two men were followed to where the attack occurred, or if another altercation near the scene led to them being targeted.

The victims family, who live abroad, were contacted over the weekend and informed of the incident.
A man who had a goldmine of evidence on his phone of his involvement in a brutal dog fighting ring was one of four people convicted for training and fighting dogs across Europe.

Phillip Harris Ali, 67, who was known as Dr Death in the dog fighting world, came to the attention of the RSPCA after concerns were raised about the welfare of a dog at his home in Chigwell, Essex, in August 2021  and investigators soon uncovered evidence that he was involved in organising fights.

Credit: RSPCA.
Gerard Hucker Moyna, linked to several murders  including Shankill Butcher Lenny Murphy  died last month aged 69

Watch: Shots fired over the coffin of 'Gerard 'Hucker' Moyna in west Belfast

Masked men fired shots over the coffin of IRA hitman Gerard Hucker Moyna ahead of his funeral today.

Moyna, linked to several murders  including Shankill Butcher Lenny Murphy  died last month aged 69.

A video has been circulating on social media of Moynas coffin draped in a tricolour, placed in the street close to his home.

A large photograph of the once feared republican is also on display.

Three masked men with hoods pulled up stand behind the coffin, while one raises a handgun in the air and fires three shots.

Moyna, from Bombay Street in west Belfast, is to be buried in Milltown cemetery following requiem mass in St Pauls church on Thursday.

A heavy police presence is expected at the funeral.

A former hitman, he had been one of two IRA men who shot and killed serial killer Murphy in 1982.

He was also involved in the killing of solicitor and unionist politician Edgar Graham, who was murdered by the IRA outside Queens University in 1983.

Shots are fired over the coffin of Gerard 'Hucker' Moyna in west Belfast

He later fell from favour with the IRA and joined the IPLO. He was involved in a feud within the organisation, during which he shot dead their spokesperson Jimmy Brown in August 1982.

While a member of the IPLO, Moyna murdered Henry Ward in the Diamond Jubilee Bar on the Shankill Road on October 10, 1991. A number of other people were injured in the attack.

In later life he was briefly linked to the Continuity IRA and suffered an eye injury and lost three fingers when a bomb exploded prematurely in transit on College Avenue. When the RUC arrived at the scene they found blood, scorch marks and bomb components.

The detonators had gone off injuring Moyna, but the main Semtex charge had not.

Despite parting ways from the IRA in the 1990s, his funeral has been organised by former IRA prisoners from the Lower Falls, who operate independently from the National Graves Association who are aligned to the mainstream republican movement.
We just put the demand that we have been making on Stephen Donnelly and the HSE for a very long time now, which is the reopening of A&Es that closed in 2009 or a Model 3 hospital in the area, given that were the only region in Ireland that doesnt have a Model 3 hospital.

The Mid-West Hospital Campaign group was left disappointed by the measures announced today by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, who visited University Hospital Limerick this morning as the group protested outside the hospital.

Minister Donnelly announced a number of long-awaited measures to alleviate overcrowding at the visit on April 4. Among them, a procurement process has been initiated for the operation of the new 50 bed Community Nursing Unit in Nenagh, works at the second 96-bed block to be built at UHL have been accelerated, and a further 20 permanent step-down transition and rehab beds will be procured in Clare.

Also, the opening hours of the regions three Acute Medical Assessment Units at Nenagh, Ennis and St Johns are to be extended to 24/7 on a phased basis, safe staffing will be extended to all wards in UHL as per the national rollout, UHL will be one of two national test sites for Acute Virtual Wards and it will provide GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner-on-the-door services for the ED.

However, Mary Cahillane, spokesperson for the Mid-West Hospital Campaign in Limerick, told the Irish Independent she is disappointed with the measures.

She said: They are all welcome changes but nevertheless they only provide a sticking plaster for the problems that exist there. Only a Model 3 hospital or a reopening of one of the A&Es will do anything to solve the issue.

She added: Were going to look into all of the new provisions and see if they make a difference but our initial thought would be that.

Mary was among those who this morning, from 10am to about 12pm, gathered outside UHL to demand action to tackle the ongoing overcrowding issue at UHL.

She said: We just put the demand that we have been making on Stephen Donnelly and the HSE for a very long time now, which is the reopening of A&Es that closed in 2009 or a Model 3 hospital in the area, given that were the only region in Ireland that doesnt have a Model 3 hospital.

She added: We are literally second class citizens in comparison to the rest of Ireland. We have a population of 420,000 people, a growing population, and its very hard to understand why we have areas in this country that have a smaller population than us and are serviced by a model 4 hospital and a model 3 hospital, and we are not, even though we have consistently the greatest amount of overcrowding according to INMO trolley figures.

Tanya McMahon, another activist with the Mid-west Hospital Campaign and Nenagh needs its A&E told sundayworld.com : Unfortunately it feels like people in the mid-west are not being heard. So we must make ourselves visible. We have had countless protests over the years to highlight the neglect of healthcare in the mid-west and the countless tragic deaths that have arisen from overcrowding.

"These protests continue to fall on deaf ears. But the Mid West Hospital Campaign is not going away and we hope Stephen Donnelly listens to the people of the mid-west for once and for all.

"The HSE and Government need to know that we have had enough. This protest will be loud and it will be just the start. Mr. Gloster, Mr Donnelly -the people of the mid-west will be heard!

The number of patients waiting on trolleys in UHL remain extremely high compared to the rest of the country.

This morning, UHL was once again the most overcrowded hospital in Ireland according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation with 101 patients waiting on trolleys (42 in the emergency department and 59 in other wards).
The film, which was made by a US crew, also showed Derry IRA leader Martin McGuinness showing a gun and bullets to a group of children.

Former IRA man Jake Mac Siacais, who spent years in the cell next to Bobby Sands when in the Long Kesh jail.

A veteran republican says it was madness that the IRA allowed an access-all-areas film to be made about the organisation in 1972.

The Secret Army captured footage of unmasked IRA members carrying out bomb-related activity in Belfast and Derry.

The film, which was made by a US crew, also showed Derry IRA leader Martin McGuinness showing a gun and bullets to a group of children.

The film was produced by US academic John Bowyer Bell who had published a book about the IRA, also called The Secret Army, in 1970.

He convinced IRA leaders to make a film about their organisation during the worst year of the Troubles.

The film crew followed IRA leaders and members for several weeks and were given unprecedented access to IRA operations.

However, the film was never broadcast, apart from screenings at small venues in the US and a film festival in Italy.

For years, the footage stayed hidden until some of it was broadcast in 2019 as part of a BBC series to mark the 50th anniversary of the Troubles.

A follow-up documentary, released this week and also called The Secret Army, examines the story behind the making of the 1972 film and why it was never broadcast.

The programme has uncovered links between the makers of the film, including Bowyer Bell, to intelligence services in the US and Israel.

It is suggested the film idea may have been concocted by the intelligence services to learn more about IRA activities and possibly incriminate its members.

In 1972, Jake Mac Siacais was a member of the IRAs junior wing and was later convicted of the attempted murder of a British soldier.

He says The Secret Army film has to be viewed in the context of the madness of 1972.

The best thing that can be said about it is that its of its time and should be viewed in that context, he said.

Jake Mac Siacais

The history of this thing was you have Bowyer Bell who was a close associate of (IRA leaders) Daithi O Conaill and Ruairi O Bradaigh right throughout the 60s and he had just finished his book, The Secret Army, in 1970.

He had been given fairly wide access and then he came up with this idea of a film which for some reason senior people in the IRA thought was a good idea. The decision by senior republicans to sanction it was madness.

Shortly before the US crew arrived in Ireland in 1972, the British government had prorogued the Stormont parliament in response to the growing violence.

This meant Westminster took control of the running of Northern Irelands affairs.

It was also just weeks after the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry, when 13 people were shot dead by British soldiers while taking part in a civil rights demonstration.

This led to a huge surge in support for the IRA and republicans were convinced their demands for a united Ireland were about to become a reality.

Mac Siacais, a former northern editor of the republican newspaper An Phoblacht, said the nationalist community was in open rebellion at the time of the 1972 film.

You cant look at it from now  you have to look at it from 1972, he said. You had internment in 1971 and the accumulation of all the attacks on the nationalist community and then the London government prorogues Stormont.

So it looks like the state was teetering on the brink of collapse. People believed it was over. That was the mood and the atmosphere.

Among young nationalists who cut their teeth on rioting and were now suddenly armed and taking on the might of the British army, that was the euphoria and chaos of the time.
The World Central Kitchen charity (WCK) has said it is calling for an independent investigation into the IDF strikes that killed seven members of its team in Gaza on Monday (Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP)

The World Central Kitchen charity (WCK) has said it is calling for an independent investigation into the IDF strikes that killed seven members of its team in Gaza on Monday.

British victims John Chapman, 57, James Jim Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were among the seven who died in the attack.

WCKs chief executive officer Erin Gore and executive co-chairman/treasurer Javier Garcia said in a joint statement: On April 1, 2024, the Israeli Defence Forces killed seven humanitarian aid workers employed by World Central Kitchen (WCK), an internationally recognized humanitarian organization.

(from left) Britons John Chapman, James Jim Henderson and James Kirby, three of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers who were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza (World Central Kitchen/PA)

The aid workers killed were nationals of Australia, Canada/US (dual citizen), Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Israel has admitted to the killings but called it a a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants and something that happens in war.

This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission.

The statement asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join them in a third-party investigation into the attacks and whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.

The charity said it has asked the Israeli government to immediately keep all documents, communications, video and audio recordings relevant to the strikes.

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers, the statement added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack as unintended and tragic and pledged an independent inquiry.

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It comes after WCK founder Jose Andres said on Wednesday that the Israeli military was aware of the convoys movements.

He told Reuters: This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.

This was over 1.5km, 1.8km, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colourful logo that we are obviously very proud of.

Its very clear who we are and what we do.
Mount Maunganui will host the countrys premier surf lifeguard training school this year.

National Lifeguard School is a three-day programme for the countrys fastest, fittest, and most committed surf lifeguards.

SLSNZs education manager Belinda Slement says this is the creme de la creme for surf lifeguards in New Zealand as on completion, all candidates will receive SLSNZs highest surf lifeguard qualification  the Advanced Lifeguard Award.

For the past three years, it has been held at Waihi Beach in the Bay of Plenty.

However, this year, the school will be making the move to Mount Maunganui.

Finding a location that meets all the criteria needed for National Lifeguard School is not easy as the list of requirements is long and varied.

However, Mount Maunganui fits the bill with its beaches, harbour, inshore island, rock environments, and member accessibility.

Were also excited to be hosted by Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service, which plays an important role in our Surf Life Saving community as it stands watch over some of the countrys busiest beaches.

The school will run from 28 November until 1 December, with applications for candidates opening in September.

Candidates must be 18 years old and meet a number of prerequisites, including running three kilometres in under 20 minutes and swimming 800 metres in under 14 minutes. For many, the swim is one of the toughest challenges, however, if surf lifeguards are keen to attend the school, they still have plenty of time to work on their fitness.

This year, for the first time ever, the Rock Training and Rescue Module is also a prerequisite for the school and the Advanced Lifeguard Award.

This ensures all attendees have a really good base knowledge of working on rocks and with that certainty, it will allow us to concentrate on much more advanced rock work that will better equip the surf lifeguards.

During the school, seven instructors and four mentors, who are some of the best surf lifeguards in the country, will teach and guide the candidates through advanced lifesaving skills.

Applications for instructors and mentors open in August.

For more information, click here or email member.education@surflifesaving.org.nz
Since its inception, its safe to say the Three Strikes law has faced its fair share of criticism.

Academics have condemned it for promoting penal populism and disproportionately targeting Maori and Pasifika communities.

Its also faced scrutiny over its role in disproportionately harsh sentences that do not match the seriousness of the crimes committed.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has set out to restore Three Strikes in his Governments next action plan. The aim is to have it back in action by June 30 this year to hold serious, repeat offenders to account.

While the law was always intended to deter repeat offenders with the threat of progressively longer mandatory prison terms, its forever been marred by concerns that there was little evidence it had reduced serious offending.

Auckland University of Technology criminal law professor Warren Brookbanks told The Front Page the evidence on whether it works is inconclusive at best.

It was designed to target the worst of the worst, but sadly, its targeting the most predictable of the most predictable, says Brookbanks.

Theyre probably young men, from about 25 years old, predominantly of Maori or Pacific ethnicity, who - probably under the influence of alcohol or other drugs - committed a strike offence.

It gives the political party in power the ability to say its being tough on crime. But, the problem is: the evidence simply isnt there.

Brookbanks also thinks the idea of a judicial warning itself is a very middle-class concept.

Many of these people committing these offences are themselves victims of trauma in their background. Theyre accustomed to violence in relationships. And theyre not going to stop, especially if theyre fired up by alcohol and drugs, and think, Oh dear, I might get a second strike for this. Its just simply unrealistic.

The law was introduced by way of the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 as part of the National Partys broader agenda to address issues within the criminal justice system. It was a policy driven by the Act Party as a support partner of the National-led coalition Government.

In December 2018, the Ministry of Justice published an evidence brief that considered the impact of the regime on crime rates in New Zealand.

It found that changes in the rates of sexual assault, robbery and serious assault (which made up more than 90 per cent of strike offences) could not be easily attributable to the law.

It also found no clear indication that the Three Strikes legislation deters individuals from committing qualifying offences.

In several cases, judges expressed concern about being required to impose disproportionately severe sentences when there have been mitigating circumstances for the offending, such as mental health issues.

In 2022, Labour fulfilled its 2017 campaign promise by passing the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Act. It came after the partys first attempt, in its first term, was blocked by New Zealand First.

At the time, Carrie Leonetti, an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Law School and a former criminal defence lawyer from California, went as far as to say it had been a failed experiment.

Meanwhile, in January this year, Acts Todd Stephenson said the average Three Strikes offender had 75 convictions and just 24 people were sentenced to a Third Strike.

He maintained the law is for the worst of the worst, with the total number of people sentenced to a first, second or third strike accounting for just 1 per cent of the people sentenced in our courts.

One of those with three strikes was a mentally ill man who was handed down a seven-year prison sentence for trying to kiss a stranger on a Wellington street without her permission.

When Daniel Clinton Fitzgerald was initially sentenced, Justice Simon France pointed to the defendants years-long struggle with schizophrenia and acknowledged that such a crime would not usually result in prison time.

The Supreme Court ultimately rejected it - describing his maximum sentence as one that shocks the conscience.

So, does Three Strikes only stand as a symbol of a governments tough on crime approach? Or will it garner better results a second time around?

As the old saying goes: If at first you dont succeed - try, try again.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about the controversial Three Strikes legislation and what else could be done to deter the worst of the worst.
Entries for New Zealands richest short-story competition, the Sargeson Prize, are open and last years winner is encouraging others to go for it".

Fiction and poetry writer Anna Woods won $10,000 in the 2023 Open Division and a two-week summer writing residency at the Sargeson Centre in Auckland with her story Pig Hunting.

The residency was instrumental in finishing my book, Tomahawk Beach, which Ive been working on since 2022, Anna says.

At the end of a project, most of the research is complete, and its the time to focus on copy editing and line editing. Its very focused, so having a space to go to free from the usual

interruptions and distractions was a real gift.

The Sargeson Centre was filled with photos and books of previous winners, including 20 volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary, she says.

Anna says the validation she received from last year's judge, Vincent O'Sullivan, was encouraging to her as a writer.

Its very easy to lose faith as a writer. Ive been writing seriously for 10 years, its slow going, so this was just another marker that I was on the right journey.

Having your work judged by guest judges allows a different slant every year  just because it wasnt for the judges last time, doesnt mean its not going to be this time, says Anna, who has entered every year since the competition began in 2019.

This years Chief Judge is Harriet Allan, who has worked at Penguin Random House and its earlier iterations for nearly 35 years. She will be judging blind, meaning she will not know who has written each story.

A good short story is like Dr Who's tardis: a small police box on the outside, but, when you enter, it is enormous with multiple rooms. And, whats more, it can take you anywhere in time and place, Harriet says.

In the introduction to The Penguin New Zealand Anthology published last year, I wrote, It is commonly remarked that, among the numerous elements writers are expected to pack into their short stories (or novels for that matter), they should show character development in their main protagonist(s). In this case I would go in the opposite direction and add another stipulation: that the story should also leave its readers in a different place from where they started.

Harriet is currently working as a freelance editor, mentor and manuscript assessor, and was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to publishing in 2024.

Established by University of Waikato Associate Professor Catherine Chidgey, the Sargeson Prize is named for celebrated New Zealand writer Frank Sargeson and is sponsored by the University of Waikato.

"Im thrilled to have Harriet judging. She is the publisher of many award-winning books, has worked with some of New Zealands most decorated writers, and brings decades of experience as one of Aotearoas leading editors of fiction, Catherine says.

I cant wait to see the entries from both new and established voices flood in.

Entries for the 2024 competition close on June 30.

Last year there were over 830 entries in the Open Division and 230 in the Secondary Schools Division.

The first-prize winner in the Secondary Schools Division will receive $2000 and a one-week summer writing residency at the University of Waikato, including accommodation, meals and mentoring. Winning stories in both categories will be published online on ReadingRoom.

Find out more information about criteria on the Sargeson Prize website.
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Erie Materials, a regional distributor of building materials in New York and Pennsylvania, announced two promotions in their Central New York locations.

>> Send us your companys news about People in Motion

Matt Rudy was named the incoming general manager of the Auburn location. He will work closely with current General Manager Randy Moore throughout the year to ensure a smooth transition. Rudy joined the company in 2018 as warehouse manager and previously held key leadership roles.
Multiple metro areas in Upstate New York were among those with the highest effective property tax rates in the U.S. in 2023, including one in the top 10, according to new data.

Rochester, Utica-Rome, Buffalo and Albany were all in the top 60 for highest effective property tax rates in the U.S. last year. Syracuse and Binghamton were in the top 70, according to numbers from ATTOM Data, a national property data provider.

Rochester had the highest effective tax rate among New York metros for which ATTOM had data in 2023 at 1.77%. That ranked 10th nationwide.

Syracuse was No. 62 in the U.S. with an effective rate of 1.18%.

ATTOM had 2023 data for over 200 U.S. metro areas. The Syracuse metro area includes Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties.

You can see details of effective property tax rates in New York metros in the table below. If you cant see the table, click here to open it in a new window.

Effective tax rates like the ones in ATTOMs report arent the same as the ones youll see on your tax bill.

ATTOM compiles the figures using property tax data collected from assessors nationwide. The company calculates estimated market values for single-family homes in each metro area, then comes up with the effective tax rate by dividing the average tax bill by the average home value.

Property tax rates were generally highest last year in the Northeast and Midwest, according to ATTOM. States including Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Nebraska led the way.

New Yorks effective property tax rate was 1.46% in 2023, the fourth-highest in the nation.

Communities in states like New York rely heavily on property taxes to fund local governments and schools. Average bills are thousands more a year in New York than many places in the South, for example.

Property values in Upstate communities like Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo and Albany also tend to lag faster-growing, wealthier areas. That generally leads those places to have higher effective property tax rates.

The average tax on single-family homes in the U.S. was $4,062 in 2023, according to ATTOM. The average effective property tax rate was 0.87 percent.

That was up slightly from 0.83 percent in 2022. It was the first increase since 2017, ATTOM said.

You can see details of effective property tax rates for metro areas nationwide in the table below. If you cant see the table, click here to open it in a new window.

You can search by entering a full or partial metro area name in the search box. You can also sort each column by clicking on the headers.

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso have made press statements, Azernews reports.

The President of Azerbaijan made the statement first.

Statement by President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear Mr. President.

Dear guests, ladies and gentlemen.

First of all, Mr. President, I sincerely welcome you to Azerbaijan once again  you are welcome. Your visit is historic. The President of the Republic of the Congo is paying an official visit to Azerbaijan for the first time. It is already possible to say that the visit will have very good results.

We have just signed the Declaration on Cooperation. This is a very important and significant document, which will determine the prospects for our cooperation. I am sure that strong friendly relations will be established between the Congo and Azerbaijan.

Many important issues were discussed, and consensus was expressed both during the one-on-one meeting and at the meeting with the participation of delegations. No one has any doubts that our political relations will continue to develop successfully and the Declaration on Cooperation signed today once again confirms this.

We will continue our bilateral activities based on mutual support within the framework of international organizations, especially the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement. Azerbaijan, which successfully chaired the Non-Aligned Movement for four years until January this year, has always felt the support of the Congo. The Congo has always supported our initiatives and, as a result, the institutional development of the Non-Aligned Movement was enabled during our presidency. The Parliamentary Network, the Youth and Women platforms were created during our presidency. Today, the Non-Aligned Movement is a stronger organization than it was before. I think it is in the interest of all of us to increase the role this organization plays on a global scale and in the processes going on in the world. The Non-Aligned Movement is the second largest organization to the UN, with a total of 121 members. We have had a broad exchange of views on the future development of this institution and this movement.

I must also state that during Azerbaijans chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, the issues of struggle against neo-colonialism were among our top priorities, and it remains the case today. This area is of particular importance among our foreign policy objectives. Some time ago, the Baku Initiative Group was established in Azerbaijan. It is an international institution. The main goal of this institution is to fight against the new manifestations of colonialism, support the peoples suffering from colonialism today, and ensure that those peoples achieve freedom on legal grounds. Today, the Baku Initiative Group is an organization that enjoys great respect worldwide, and I would like to reiterate that the results of this organization are evident.

Of course, we have had a broad exchange of views on cooperation in the economic field as well today. Specific tasks have been assigned to members of our delegations. Azerbaijan intends to participate in many investment projects in the Congo, primarily in the field of agriculture. There are great prospects for cooperation in renewable energy, energy, mining, and other fields. A discussion was held today, relevant instructions were given, and I am sure that our representatives will be in close contact with each other over the coming months.

I must also state that on the eve of the official visit, in order to prepare it well and achieve good results, the visits of delegations from the Congo to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan to the Congo were also organized. Those visits also demonstrated that there is a very good basis for our strategic cooperation.

Another issue was also discussed today. Mr. President recalled that during the Soviet period, students from the Congo studied in higher schools in Azerbaijan. We want to restore this tradition, and relevant instructions have been issued.

In a nutshell, this is a historic visit, and not just because it is the first visit. I think that from the point of view of content and essence, this visit can be described as historic. A new page is opening in the relations between our countries. We have shown our political will, and I am sure that we will achieve the implementation of all the agreements reached with joint efforts.

Today, I invited Mr. President to participate in COP29, and members of our delegations were also instructed to establish extensive cooperation on this issue. As the president of COP29, Azerbaijan is diligently preparing for this event, and I think that it may be appropriate to cooperate with the Congo in bilateral and multilateral formats.

Once again, dear Mr. President, welcome to Azerbaijan. I wish you good health and your people everlasting prosperity and well-being. Thank you.

x x x

Then, the President of the Republic of the Congo made the statement.

Statement by President Denis Sassou Nguesso

- Mr. President.

Dear friends, dear representatives of the media.

Mr. President spoke about historic moments a little while ago, and this is true. We are living through historic moments in relations between Azerbaijan and the Congo. I would like to sincerely thank the President of Azerbaijan for inviting us and creating the conditions to make this official visit a reality. This visit has given us the opportunity to see the beauty of this country, its economic development and the beauty of Baku. Mr. President, I would like to thank you for this invitation.

The President gave us the opportunity to open this wonderful page of cooperation between the Congo and Azerbaijan in all fields. I believe that the President has very well explained a number of aspects of the talks we had a little while ago. I would like to add that we particularly welcome the President's leadership during the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement. We also welcome the role that Azerbaijan will soon play in another challenging area, climate change, as Azerbaijan will host COP29. We welcome the already established relations between our countries and applaud Azerbaijans preparations for COP29. We have invited Azerbaijani officials to stand by our country in the fight against climate change. We have informed the President about the goals we pursued at the summit of the world's three largest tropical forest basins  Amazon, the Borneo-Mekong Basin in Southeast Asia and the Congo Basin, which we organized in Brazzaville, the Congo. This summit was held last October, and we can only inform the President about the success of this summit. We can only ask him to consider the results of the summit, because this year Azerbaijan will be hosting COP29.

We also reported on the Africa and Global Decade of Afforestation event to be held in Brazzaville on July 2-3 this year. This is an initiative put forward by Congo during COP in Sharm el-Sheikh. We came up with the idea of Africa and the Global Decade of Afforestation. The African Union, the UN and Congo will organize a conference to make this idea concrete and realize this project. We invited the Azerbaijani officials involved in the organization of COP29 to join us in July to implement this idea and then adopt it at the next session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Mr. President has also touched upon other issues of cooperation. It was noted that the two countries had significant potential in the fields of hydrocarbons, agriculture, mining, information, and renewable energy. We undertook to develop this cooperation between our countries in all the mentioned sectors. The President also said that we had instructed our representatives to work together to finalize these projects. We are very pleased with the results of our negotiations. We are very happy with the warm and friendly reception shown to us here.

We believe and think that here we have taken a very good step in the direction of cooperation between our countries, and we will definitely succeed. Therefore, I have asked Mr. President to honor us by making a friendly visit to the Congo. I will send him an invitation and we will be honored to welcome Mr. President to our country. This will be another historic event. The visit of the President to our country will be the next step in our productive cooperation.

I express my gratitude to Mr. President for his positive response to all our requests. I would like to announce that we will fight together at the international level  within the UN, within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement or in other areas. Because during our conversation, we saw that our ideas overlapped at a high level. The Declaration signed by Mr. President and myself is an important milestone. In my opinion, this will guide the activities between our countries in all areas in the coming months and years.

In the end, I would like to thank Mr. President for this reception and for the success of our meetings.




Syracuse, N.Y.  Four Central New York restaurants are among the top 10 finalists in the annual best-burger contest put on by the New York Beef Council.

The contest opened March 1, with the public nominating their favorite burger. The finalists, chosen by the number of votes in an online ballot, were announced this morning. Among the four locals to make the cut is Ale n Angus, the reigning champion. The others are 317 @ Montgomery in downtown Syracuse, and Bear Creek Restaurant and Brewer Union Cafe, both in Brewerton.

The top 10, listed alphabetically, are:

317 @ Montgomery, Syracuse

Ale n Angus, Syracuse

Bear Creek, Brewerton

Bens Fresh, Port Jervis

Brewer Union Cafe, Brewerton

Butchers & Sons, Corning

Chatham Brewery, Chatham

Danny Ds Burgers, Port Jervis

Rock Burger, Niagara Falls

Tap It Bar & Grill, Rochester

A panel of anonymous judges will visit each of the finalist over the next few weeks. They will evaluate their burgers based on taste, appearance, and adherence to proper doneness standards (160 degrees Fahrenheit).

The judges scores and comments will be tallied, culminating in the winners announcement on May 1, the start of May Beef Month.

Best burger competition 2024New York State Beef Council

Three of this years finalists made the list last year. Ale n Angus Pub, Bear Creek and Brewer Union Cafe were were among the top 10. Ale n Angus won it last year. It was the seventh time Randy and Matt Beach won the best burger.

****

Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.
Like many people in Central New York, Theresa Capucilli is looking forward to witnessing next weeks total eclipse of the sun. For her, though, it holds added meaning.

Capucilli was born on the day of Syracuses last total solar eclipse 99 years ago on Jan. 24, 1925. Its likely her birth came right around the totality -- the moments when the sun is fully obscured by the moon.

Two weeks before that once-in-a-lifetime celestial event, which sent most of Syracuses population to hilltops and roofs to watch, the Herald newspaper made a prediction:

Astronomers tell us that another such eclipse will be visible here in 2024, and we believe it although none of the present generation will be here to witness.

In the case of Capucilli, the newspaper was wrong.

She will be watching next weeks eclipse from her home in Westvale with her daughters.

Oh, definitely, she said when asked if she was going to watch the phenomenon on Monday afternoon. I even have a pair of glasses.

- The Syracuse Herald reported that "Mr. Stork" delivered five babies to Syracuse's hospitals on Jan. 24, 1925, the date of Syracuse's last total solar eclipse. Theresa Capucilli was born at home in Solvay and her doctor left her mom in labor to see the once-in-a-lifetime event. Courtesy of World ArchivesCourtesy of World Archives

On Jan. 24, 1925, Syracuse newspapers reported a strange phenomenon: There were five births at Syracuses hospitals, all of whom were girls.

Evidently Mr. Stork had it figured boys would be too noisy during such a notable occurrence and so at the three hospitals where he stopped, five bouncing daughters were delivered, the Herald said.

None of the births at the hospital occurred while the eclipse was closing in on or at totality at 9:11 a.m. The closest was a daughter delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Fisk on Burnet Avenue at 11:53, well after Syracuse emerged from the darkness at 10:27.

Capucilli was not delivered at a hospital, though. Instead, she entered the world on that historic Saturday morning at her familys home in Solvay.

A Dr. Perry made a house call to handle the delivery and was a bit distracted while performing his medical duties.

The doctor kept leaving my delivery, Capucilli said during an interview this week with syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. He ran out when he realized the eclipse was starting and left my mother in labor.

Her daughter, Elizabeth Lord, wondered what would happen if something like that happened today.

Would a doctor today be charged with malpractice? she asked, laughing.

- Theresa Capucilli, age two or three, sits on the counter with her father at his store, Dattellas & Son Grocery, on Cogswell Avenue in Solvay. She was born on Jan. 24, 1925, the last time Syracuse had a total solar eclipse. She plans on watching next week's with her daughters. Courtesy of the Capucilli family.Courtesy of the Capucilli family

Newspapers at the time said Central New York had not seen a total solar eclipse since 1726, so maybe Dr. Perry could be cut some slack.

Although the family does not have her official time of birth, its possible Capucilli was the closest to the actual moment of totality in the Syracuse area.

The story was recounted every year when her birth was celebrated.

My grandma often relived the story of my moms birthday, Lord said.

Her birthday origin tale, she said, was one of her familys little secrets.

Capucilli has been busy during her 99 years between eclipses.

She worked at Solvays Pass and Seymour factory, building electrical appliances and walking to and from work every day.

I was brave back then, she joked.

She also worked retail jobs at Syracuses Witherills, Addis Company, and Dey Brothers.

Capucilli volunteered at Syracuse Universitys International Wives Club, which helped immigrants assimilate to the United States. She did skits and sang songs at local hospitals and nursing homes for the Joygerm Joan organization as a clown. Her handle was Tweety Tree.

"Tweety" Theresa Capucilli clowns around with children during a clowning class at the Soule Branch Library in 1984. Syracuse Post-StandardSyracuse Post-Standard

She was married for 52 years to Danny Capucilli, a World War II paratrooper and professional bowler who died in 1997. They raised seven children together.

Mom was the glue to her family, her daughter said.

She remains sharp with a wonderful sense of humor.

Capucilli still reads two to four novels a week, she said, and works the crossword puzzles in The Post-Standard while having her meals.

She joked that at her age she cant waste a minute.

I do both at the same time to save time, she said.

And she still plays cards for money.

I win a lot, she boasted. Im really building up what Im going to give my family. They might be letting me win.

Capucillis sights are set at living long enough to become the oldest woman alive, a mark currently held by a 117-year-old woman in Spain.

I want to beat her, she said.

Goodness, Lord said of her mother. She always reaches for the moon and always surprises us with her perseverance.

More eclipse coverage

Here are solar eclipse viewing tips from a Central NY expert whos seen 8 of them

Solar eclipse 2024: Upstate NY hotels you can still book for a last-minute eclipse getaway

To celebrate solar eclipse, Wegmans will close stores around totality in Upstate NY, PA

New York is giving out free eclipse glasses; heres where to get them

This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle: Email | 315-416-3882.
Update: The judge in this case amended his order late Thursday to include only the regulations related to marketing and advertising. Here is a more recent story with the details.

In a jaw-dropping decision, an Albany County Supreme Court judge has invalidated all New York State regulations for adult-use cannabis, ruling that the rules are arbitrary and capricious, and therefore unconstitutional.

The Office of Cannabis Management spent about two years deliberating and writing the hundreds of pages of regulations, and the judges ruling on Wednesday dealt a serious blow to the agencys already troubled industry rollout. It also raises serious questions about the competence and efficacy of New Yorks OCM and Cannabis Control Board.

This is unprecedented, said Jeff Schultz, a partner at Foley Hoag who advises cannabis industry operators. Pretty much most of the rules have been struck down, but that does not mean that this is the end story by any stretch.

Judge Kevin Bryants ruling came from a lawsuit filed by cannabis-focused tech company Leafly Holdings, adult-use retailer Stage One Dispensary and a customer who uses Leafly to make informed decisions about her cannabis purchases.



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The plaintiffs sued over specific rules that banned third-party marketing for weed companies, but Bryants decision invalidates OCM cannabis regulations parts 118-121, 123-125 and 131.

Collectively, these sections encompass all regulations for New Yorks adult-use market.

In his decision, Bryant said that regulators essentially wrote and approved stringent regulations without demonstrating any factual basis.

Osbert Orduna, CEO of The Cannabis Place dispensary in Queens, criticized Bryant as an activist judge, and pointed out that the destabilizing decision came from a lawsuit brought by a large out-of-state company. He also had questions to which there are no clear answers.

Will our bank continue to bank with us? Orduna asked. Will we still have the ability to sell cannabis to our clients if this means that the licensing process  is not invalidated?

Orduna also wondered how law enforcement will be able to take action against unlicensed stores if the license application process is no longer valid  meaning its possible that unlicensed operators are no longer any more or less legitimate than licensed shops.

Schultz said the OCM will most likely appeal the ruling, and that Bryants decision would most likely be stayed until the appeal is litigated. He said he thinks an appellate court will likely narrow the decision to invalidate only the sections of OCMs regulations that plaintiffs in the case challenged.

However, Schultz said, all of OCMs regulations could still be in danger of judicial invalidation, since others will likely file lawsuits to challenge other rules.

Theyre on shaky ground to the extent that its now become clear that at least one court in New York State believes that all of the regulations could be unconstitutional, Schultz said. It does open up the possibility for other issues related to the regulations.

Leaflys lawsuit, which was filed in mid-September, argued that the OCMs regulations surrounding non-plant-touching third-party platforms would essentially bar Leafly from doing business in New York.

In a court petition alleging the regulations are unlawful, Leafly cited several rules, including one that prohibits retail dispensaries from paying for marketing or promotion through a third-party platform, marketplace, or aggregator that lists cannabis products for sale; and one that prohibits licensees from contracting with a person or entity performing any function or activity directly involving the licensed activities authorized for the license type.

In his decision, Bryant noted that Leafly submitted comments outlining their concerns with these rules when the CCB and OCM were considering draft regulations, but regulators went ahead and approved them without addressing the problems Leafly identified.

Bryant also found deficient the evidence OCM attorneys presented defending the rules. OCMs filings included an article from Yale Law Journal entitled, Did Ticketmasters Market Dominance Fuel the Chaos for Swifties? and an article from Mission and Local entitled, Restaurants left on their own after SF nixed delivery fee cap.

Notably, there is no foundation in the record for any of these articles, nor is there any basis for this Court to pass on the accuracy of this information or the reasonableness of the conclusions set forth therein, Bryant wrote.

The OCM did not submit any documents or transcripts showing how they developed the regulations regarding third-party marketing, Bryant wrote.

Additionally, the judge wrote, there is no indication any of the articles the OCM submitted as rationality for the regulations were ever brought before the CCB, or considered during deliberations.

In point-of-fact, there is nothing in the record to establish precisely how OCM developed the regulations, which staff members participated in the process or how they addressed the litany of issues that were raised, Bryant wrote.

Bryant called the regulations impermissible restrictions on petitioners right to free speech, and unconstitutionally vague.

Its not the first time a court has expressed frustration with the OCM.

Bryant previously oversaw a lawsuit filed last summer, and notoriously issued an injunction that prevented regulators from approving most new dispensaries. During that case, Bryant repeatedly criticized regulators and their attorneys for sloppy rulemaking and inaccurate court filings.

Like Schultz, the Cannabis Association of New York on Thursday noted that Bryants decision in the Leafly case will likely be narrowed on appeal.

It is likely that the judge may narrow his order to just the regulations governing third party platform, marketplace, or aggregators, or I would assume the OCM will appeal the decision and request an emergency stay on enforcement of the judges decision, CANY President Damien Cornwell said in a statement.

However, Schultz said that even if this is the case, theres still a very real possibility that judges could overrule all of OCMs adult-use regulations root and branch.

This will not be the last time OCM gets sued, Schultz said. There seems to be a lot of flaws that are exposed, and every week there seems to be another lawsuit against them  its not good for anyone.
Still not sure where you want to go to watch the 2024 total solar eclipse? Upstate New York is a totality great bet.

Two places in the Empire State have been dubbed among the top spots to see the solar eclipse: The ever-majestic Niagara Falls and the expansively beautiful Adirondacks. The two popular destinations were included in Country Livings roundup of the best scenic spots in the path of totality.

The eclipse is the celestial show in New York since 1925. Upstate hasnt experienced totality  the magnificent moment when the moon completely cloaks the sun  in 99 years and wont again for another 375 years. (The contiguous United States will have to wait until 2044 to see the next total solar eclipse.)

Read more: Over 80 stellar ways to watch, celebrate 2024 solar eclipse in Upstate NY

Niagara Falls is widely considered one of the best watch spots in the eclipses 15-state path. NASA will camp out at the falls, which National Geographic has named seeing totality at Niagara Falls as one of the top adventures to have in 2024.

Country Living tapped Niagara Falls for its beauty and wealth of eclipse-related activities, ranging from talks with astronauts to fireworks.

But travelers headed to Niagara Falls cant expect to watch the eclipse in solitude: About 1 million people are expected to flock to the Buffalo area to witness totality. (Prepare for traffic jams, friends.)

The Adirondacks  the second spot on Country Livings list for New York  may offer a quieter adventure: Officials predict a still mighty, but less intimidating, 100,000 people will flock to the mountainous region for the eclipse.

The magazine highlighted two viewing spots in the Adirondacks: Totality in Tupper, a party hosted by the Adirondack Sky Center at an elementary school in Tupper Lakes, and The Wild Center, which is throwing a Total Solar Eclipse Festival.

But will New Yorks notoriously changeable weather ruin the party?

For now, it looks like Upstate may buck history and offer some of the clearest skies along the total solar eclipse path in the United States, according to the Weather Prediction Center.
Michael Meier is president and CEO of Meier Supply Co., a 100% employee-owned wholesale distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration products. Based in Binghamton, Meier Supply Co. has nine locations across the state, including Syracuse.

The technologies we use to regulate temperatures in our homes and buildings can help us reduce global warming. Thats why the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigerant (HVACR) industry has been at the forefront of innovating new climate solutions to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, schools and workplaces.

New York states ambitious climate goals have positioned it as a leader in the fight against climate change. The HVACR industry is pivotal to meeting these goals, providing essential, energy-efficient technologies while providing comfort in homes, schools, and workplaces. New York lawmakers have charted an ambitious course to achieve the states electrification goals and recognize the essential role of the HVAC industry in meeting them. However, the Department of Environmental Conservations proposed changes to refrigerant regulations could inadvertently disrupt New Yorks clean energy transition.

The DEC has proposed a rapid transition to natural refrigerants  including propane, ammonia and CO2  to replace the man-made refrigerants commonly used in HVAC units today. While the intent is commendable, New Yorks refrigerant proposal fails to balance environmental aspirations with the realities of technological innovation, market readiness and consumer accessibility. It would create new challenges for safety and affordability while costing hundreds of millions of dollars for New Yorkers.

Natural refrigerants are already in specific applications and markets today. However, a rapid transition will increase costs for businesses and homeowners. This could undermine ongoing efforts to make more energy-efficient HVAC technologies like heat pumps accessible to more New York residents. This scenario underscores the critical need for a balanced strategy that promotes the adoption of lower-emission technologies without imposing excessive financial burdens on consumers, particularly lower-income New Yorkers. Its essential to align environmental initiatives with economic realities, ensuring sustainable, affordable solutions are available to all.

Feasibility is also a concern. The DEC has proposed a rapid transition to the widespread use of refrigerants like propane and ammonia is not feasible. Many natural refrigerants are flammable, toxic or have high operating pressures, requiring special handling and installation to ensure safety. Using these refrigerants would require changes to industry safety standards and significant revisions to building and fire codes, which could take years to implement.

The regulations could also prohibit companies from purchasing the chillers necessary for chip fabs, such as Micron Technology, and the data centers needed for the proposed artificial intelligence initiative. New Yorks farming and food industry would see higher costs for refrigerators and other cooling equipment, which would only increase stubbornly high consumer prices for household staples like eggs, meat, dairy, and produce. New York City renters and homebuyers will see higher housing costs as building owners comply with Local Law 97 by limiting access to heat pumps. The not-for-profit sector, including schools, colleges and hospitals, will also begin to see higher costs.

These scenarios underscore the critical need for a balanced strategy that promotes the adoption of lower-emission refrigerants without upending industries, forcing higher costs on consumers, or threatening the states decarbonization goals. A 2021 NYSERDA study recognized that the transition to natural refrigerants would require significant research and development to support the technological advances that would be required over the next decade to develop ultra-low-GWP options for many key HVAC product categories.

While the transition to lower-emitting refrigerants is critical to New Yorks climate strategy, a more measured approach is needed to harmonize environmental objectives with economic realities and technological feasibilities. Though well-intentioned, the DECs proposal presents significant hurdles for affordability, product availability, practicality, and safety, potentially undermining the goals they seek to advance.

Fortunately, New York lawmakers have an alternative. The U.S. is already moving to phase down the use of certain refrigerants under the federal America Innovation and Manufacturing Act (the AIM Act). This newly enacted federal law aligns with the refrigerant transition targets and timetables of the international Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol. The AIM Act is a robust, national approach to regulating refrigerants, and the industrys transition to meet the acts requirements is already underway.

A collaborative approach between the state, the HVAC industry and other stakeholders is essential to realize those technological advances. Our industry is fully committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting New Yorks climate goals. However, achieving these objectives requires careful consideration of the practical challenges involved.

By working together, we can ensure that the transition to more energy-efficient HVAC systems is sustainable, benefiting all New Yorkers without compromising safety, affordability or accessibility.
A Netflix docuseries spotlighting abuse allegations at a long-shuttered boarding school for teens in rural northern New York has prompted dozens of new complaints to the local prosecutor and a fresh investigation.

The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping started streaming last month. The three-part series by filmmaker Katherine Kubler, who was sent to the Academy at Ivy Ridge for 15 months, features former students describing an oppressive institution where teens were barred from going outside, looking out the window or smiling, and where staff violently restrained and sexually and psychologically abused students.

Former students say the documentary, which has been viewed over 11 million times, validates their experiences after years of not being believed.

In 20 years, I never spoke. And that documentary gave me a voice, said Steve Caccamo, who was sent to Ivy Ridge in 2003 at 16.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua said over 50 complaints have come into his office, including allegations of physical, mental and sexual abuse at Ivy Ridge. Pasqua, elected in 2017, said none had come in before the documentary began streaming.

After the documentary, officials in New York cleared a path for former students to apply for crime victim compensation and a state agency that runs a local psychiatric center put some employees on leave amid the allegations against former Ivy Ridge staffers.

Ivy Ridge was established in 2001 and closed in 2009 on the site of a former college in Oswegatchie, near Ogdensburg, New York, one of multiple institutions affiliated with the now-defunct World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, or WWASPS. Ivy Ridge was marketed as a boarding school for teens with behavioral issues. A state education official in 2006 called it, principally a behavior modification center.

In 2005, police were called to the academy when rioting students smashed windows and overturned furniture, with some fleeing the campus.

A few months later, then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer found Ivy Ridge had grossly misrepresented its academic credentials and issued unauthorized high school diplomas. Under a settlement, 113 graduates received partial tuition refunds totaling more than $1 million. The academys roughly 400-student enrollment plummeted, and it closed four years later.

Police investigated some complaints, such as improper medical care, but they could not be corroborated when the academy was open, Pasqua said. Former students have said they couldnt communicate freely there.

This Netflix video still shows students at the Academy at Ivy Ridge in Northern New York, which operated from 2001 to 2009 and promoted itself as a disciplinary institution for troubled teens. A new documentary series, "The Program," details alleged abuse the students suffered.Netflix

Recent allegations are mostly from former students and include parents as well, Pasqua said. Hes working with state police and the county sheriffs office to assess the complaints for in-depth interviews.

While there is no time limit for prosecuting certain serious sex crimes, its likely many complaints wont be pursued; New York requires most felony prosecutions to begin within five years and the academy has been closed for 15.

If there is something there that we can prosecute and were confident that the allegations are true, and then thats what were going to do, Pasqua said.

Former students say they want similar institutions shut down and the abusive staffers barred from jobs where they watch over vulnerable people.

Kelly Heise, 37, said in a statement to Pasqua that Ivy Ridge officials cited a nonexistent court order to keep her there after she turned 18. The Connecticut resident recounted traumatic abuse, saying she was once forced outside for an hour in January in a T-shirt and a skirt, on her birthday.

She sees the documentary as a breakthrough after hitting brick wall after brick wall in seeking accountability.

That shadow, that lingering monster that weve felt like weve been under for so long, is gone, said Nicholas Chiofalo Jr., 35, who was sent Ivy Ridge when he was 16 and says he was abused physically, mentally and sexually.

Five former Ivy Ridge workers and managers who were named in the documentary did not respond to calls or emails from The Associated Press.

WWASPS founder Robert Lichfield said in a statement that his companies provided marketing services for schools, but he neither owned nor operated Ivy Ridge.

I didnt hire or train the staff or employ professionals at Ivy Ridge but I find it extremely unlikely that the vast majority would be anything but caring and committed to assisting the students, Lichfield wrote.

Now, not only can former Ivy Ridge students apply for compensation, including counseling costs, in cases that lead to criminal charges, but also when prosecutors say a crime was committed beyond the statute of limitations, according to the state Office of Victim Services, which can extend the usual one-year window for good cause.

The state Office of Mental Health, saying it takes abuse allegations seriously, confirmed it placed an undisclosed number of people on leave as we assess this matter. The agency runs the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg, but it wouldnt confirm where the individuals work now or in the past.

Pasqua said that just because someone worked at Ivy Ridge, it doesnt mean theyre guilty of a crime or a coverup, and that its important to let the investigations play out. Former staffers names and pictures have been posted online and officials have expressed concern over reports of harassment.

Caccamo said a reunion and peaceful protest is planned in Ogdensburg this month. The former campus is closed off, but Caccamo hopes to be able to briefly enter one of the buildings when hes back.

I want to walk in that place knowing I have that power to walk out at any time, he said.
More than two hundred years ago, physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyne observed that red flowers appeared to be a different shade of red during the nighttime.

This occurrence, now recognized as the Purkinje effect, explains why colors appear differently depending on the lighting conditions. In dim light, bright reds tend to appear darker, more muted, and at times almost black, while blues and greens often appear more vibrant. A total solar eclipse is the perfect opportunity to witness this phenomenon with your own eyes.

On April 8, a significant portion of Upstate New York will have the opportunity to witness one of the most anticipated and breathtaking celestial events: a total solar eclipse. During a few minutes in the afternoon, the moon will entirely obstruct the sun, resulting in the emergence of a radiant corona and the darkening of the skies in the midst of the day.

If weather conditions permit, observers will have the chance to witness an exceptionally rare occurrence that wont be seen again in Syracuse for another 375 years. The climax of the eclipse, known as totality, will be brief  approximately a minute and a half in Syracuse and three and a half minutes in Buffalo.

Related: Solar Eclipse 2024: Food + Wine names best places to eat in Upstate NY

What are the best colors to wear during the eclipse?

The University of Texas at Austin explains that during the twilight phase of the eclipse, the cones and rods of the eyes will activate simultaneously, instead of the typical transition from cones to rods, which usually takes 30 to 45 minutes. As a result, the cones may not fully detect colors under dim light conditions, while the rods will be more sensitive to blues and greens, making these hues more distinguishable than others in low light.

It is suggested to wear red and green to best see the color enhancements during the solar eclipse. You will have to remove your ISO 12312-2 international standard solar eclipse glasses to witness the Purkinje effect.

Dont have these colors in your closet? Well help you out.

Red shirts

Green shirts
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Join Date: Nov 2021 Location: Juneau Posts: 121 Thanked: 1,070 Times

Quick work trip to Sitka, Alaska



However I was able to make it to the Sitka National Historical Park, also known as "Totem Park", which also has a great museum. I've been here multiple times, but always enjoy visiting it everytime I'm there. Sitka is also famous for a rather large landmark, Mt. Edgecumbe, which was the site of a legendary and unsurpassed prank in 1974. (

I highly recommend reading the article in the above link. It's hilarious! Anyways, I've got a few pics from the museum and the park itself below.



Mt. Edgecumbe, the site of Oliver "Porky" Bickar's legendary prank!





Copper Shield in the museum





Old section of a once much larger totem

























































































Saw this the next day on the job site. I asked them what they thought of it. The crew wasn't too impressed with them. Apparently they didn't care for the build quality, the ride quality, or the difficulty getting parts.

This is a pretty concise write up of a short work trip to Sitka. I always enjoy heading there-it's a much smaller town than mine, and different enough that it's fun for a couple of days. Very picturesque, and I highly recommend it if you're in this neck of the woods ever. And they have a restaurant that has the best burgers I've ever had, seriously. Sitka is also famous for having Castle Hill ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle...itka%2C_Alaska )), the location where Alaska was formally signed over from the Russians to the US on October 18th, 1867, thanks to the brilliance and perseverance of the then Secretary of State William Seward. I didn't take any pics of Castle Hill this time around unfortunately.However I was able to make it to the Sitka National Historical Park, also known as "Totem Park", which also has a great museum. I've been here multiple times, but always enjoy visiting it everytime I'm there. Sitka is also famous for a rather large landmark, Mt. Edgecumbe, which was the site of a legendary and unsurpassed prank in 1974. ( https://hoaxes.org/af_database/perma...ount_edgecumbe I highly recommend reading the article in the above link. It's hilarious! Anyways, I've got a few pics from the museum and the park itself below.Mt. Edgecumbe, the site of Oliver "Porky" Bickar's legendary prank!Copper Shield in the museumOld section of a once much larger totemSaw this the next day on the job site. I asked them what they thought of it. The crew wasn't too impressed with them. Apparently they didn't care for the build quality, the ride quality, or the difficulty getting parts.
Robot vacuums that can also mop often struggle when it comes to stubborn stains on floors, but Samsungs latest bot has a solution: the ability to superheat its mop heads before it scrubs.

First unveiled at CES 2024 and slated to ship soon, the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI marks Samsungs first combination robot vacuum and mop.

While the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI was first announced earlier this year, Samsung is only now giving us pricing details, andsurprise!it wont be cheap.

This news story is part of TechHives in-depth coverage of the best robot vacuums.

Look for a $1,699.99 price tag, although Samsungs retail site is currently showing a $300 discount for the robot, along with a June ship date.

A successor to Samsungs JetBot AI+ from 2022, the Beskope Jet Bot Combo AI boasts an upgraded AI-powered object avoidance system that boosts the number of items that the bot can identify.

Equipped with dual rotating mop heads that spin at up to 170 rpm, the Jet Bot Combo AIs base station boasts a three-stage Total Cleaning System that can auto-wash, steam clean, and auto-dry the mop pads.

Samsuings new robot vacuum and mop can either lift its mop heads when cleaning carpets or stow its mop pads in its base before cleaning high-pile rugs. Samsuings new robot vacuum and mop can either lift its mop heads when cleaning carpets or stow its mop pads in its base before cleaning high-pile rugs. Samsung Samsuings new robot vacuum and mop can either lift its mop heads when cleaning carpets or stow its mop pads in its base before cleaning high-pile rugs. Samsung Samsung

Even better, the robot can return to its base station after spotting a particularly stubborn stain, superheat its mop heads with high-temperature steam, and then return to the area to apply a thorough steam cleaning.

In another cool trick, the Jet Bot Combo AI can choose (with help from its AI Floor Detect feature) whether to raise its mop heads before rolling over low-pile carpet, or return to its base to stow the mop pads before cleaning your high-pile carpets. Neat.

The AI Floor Detect functionality can also reduce the vacuums suction while cleaning hard surfaces, ideal for preserving battery life.

Naturally, the Samsung Jet Bot Combo AI can map your floor layout, name your rooms, and suggest no-go zones.

Well have a full review of the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI once we get our hands on a review unit.
A hot potato: Taiwan-based Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics products and one of the industry's biggest employers. The company founded by Terry Gou has so far collected the majority of its revenues from Chinese plants, but things could look much different a few years down the line.

A new report by the Wall Street Journal highlights the seismic change the electronics manufacturing world is undergoing right now. Foxconn and other major Taiwanese corporations have been asked by Western clients (mostly the US) to move a big portion of their production outside China  and Mexico is likely to have a major role in this new geopolitical play.

Thanks to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed in 2020, billions of dollars are being invested to fuel development of new manufacturing plants in the country. According to James Huang, chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, this "nearshoring" process is accelerating because the US and Canada hope to replace product imports from Asia "as much as possible."

Mexico will likely become the most important manufacturing hub for the USMCA countries, Huang revealed, and Foxconn is an important element in this unprecedented industrial development.

The Taiwanese conglomerate invested around $690 million in Mexico over the past four years, and it has now spent an additional $27 million to purchase land in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

According to industry insiders quoted by the WSJ, the new Mexican plants being developed by Foxconn will be employed to manufacture AI servers for Big Tech corporations based in the US, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

No US company has confirmed its involvement in the plans, but Mexican trading organizations have hailed the new investments as a process that will dramatically change the industrial structure of the country in the next ten years.

Powerful AI servers and other AI accelerator equipment are a major focus for today's electronics industry, and Foxconn is just one of the companies being forced to move their business from China to Mexico. The company is part of a group known as the "six brothers of electronics" of Taiwan, which also includes Pegatron, Wistron, Quanta, Compal, and Inventec.

Server manufacturer Inventec confirmed in December 2023 that one of its clients, a top American brand, first asked the company to bring manufacturing to the US. After inspecting plants located in Mexico, the unnamed client was impressed enough to choose the country instead.

The growing geopolitical tensions between the US and China are turning tech manufacturing in the Asian country into a troublesome and uncertain venture. Nvidia's most advanced AI (GPU) accelerators cannot be exported to China, though they will remain essential for any AI-related manufacturing activity for the time being.
Facepalm: A team of Google engineers recently discovered an exploit that could have provided a welcome improvement in functionality for the PS Portal. Those very same engineers have now closed that door by promptly informing Sony about the bugs.

Sony recently released a new system update for the PlayStation Portal, the streaming gadget designed to play PS5 games over WiFi. Official notes for the 2.0.6 release of the PS Portal firmware only quote improvements for the device's system software performance and stability, but an additional fundamental change has likely been left out of the release notes.

Andy Nguyen confirmed that the bugs he and his team of Google engineers discovered in February are fixed in the 2.0.6 firmware release. Nguyen's team worked for a month to turn the bugs into an exploit that could make the PS Portal a much more useful device, adding the ability to natively run open-source PSP emulator PPSSPP.

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld console was globally released by Sony in 2005, providing fans of the "Play" ecosystem with the most powerful mobile gaming experience available at the time. The console sold over 80 million units before being discontinued in 2014, leaving room for the much less successful PlayStation Vita platform.

The cross-platform PPSSPP emulator focuses on portability and speed, and it can run hundreds of PSP games in a "playable" state. The Android-based PS Portal device doesn't include cutting-edge computing power, but it was powerful enough to make the aforementioned emulator do its magic to turn a streaming gadget into a proper "gaming" machine of its own.

After disclosing the PS Portal bugs to Sony, Nguyen is now being criticized for potentially permanently closing the door to device emulation. The researchers could have made the exploits public, offering the community a chance to tinker with the newly discovered software "toy." The PSP has long been abandoned, so there should be no risks of a new emulation meltdown like what recently happened with Switch emulators Yuzu and Suyu.

We responsibly reported the issues to PlayStation. Bugs are fixed on 2.06. https://t.co/0B38HRaaaw  Andy Nguyen (@theflow0) April 2, 2024

Nguyen said that he "responsibly" reported the PS Portal issues to Sony. The researcher has "no idea" why he is being criticized on X/Twitter, as a public disclosure of the exploits would not have had real consequences for further community-fueled developments. Sony would have patched the bugs anyway, leaving the community with just a few weeks of research and exploration time.
Rumor mill: Google is the undisputed king of web search, so much so that "Googling" has colloquially become a verb around the world. The company's success has largely been based on its relevant search results that are freely available across all platforms. However, that could soon change, with the company said to be exploring ways to offer "cutting-edge" AI-powered search features for a fee.

According to a report from the Financial Times (paywalled), Google's AI-powered search results will reportedly be available as part of its existing subscription services like Gemini Advanced or Google One, while basic search services will remain free. Interestingly, the report claims that even the paid-for tier would include ads like the free service, which could be annoying for some subscribers.

Speaking to the publication, a Google spokesperson stated that the company remains committed to enhancing its subscription offerings, without confirming any specific plans for premium AI-powered search services.

The report does not give a launch timeline for the paid tier, but Google has been testing an AI-powered search experience since last May. Called the "Search Generative Experience," or SGE, it offers AI-powered summaries and responses to search queries alongside traditional website links and ads. The general consensus from users is that AI results are really, really bad.

Though SGE is still not available to most search users, the feature was originally opt-in but Google has now made it the default for most beta testers.

There are no further details about Google's plans for a premium search tier, but such a move could highlight the company's efforts to generate money by integrating AI into its bread-and-butter business without sacrificing its massive ad revenues.

At first glance, the report seems positive for Google's parent Alphabet from a financial point of view, but the company's shares dipped slightly following the rumor over concerns about whether people would be ready to pay a premium for a service that has traditionally been free for decades.
NASA has selected three private companies, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab, to design and build the next lunar terrain vehicle (LTV). The rover will accompany the Artemis crew's mission to the moon's south pole. These companies will be responsible for the design, construction, and testing of the vehicle under the guidance and supervision of NASA.

Each company has its own take on what a modern lunar rover should look like. Each submitted some pretty cool concept LTV renders. My favorite is the Moon RACER LTV concept by Intuitive Machines (masthead). However, NASA's requirements take priority over aesthetics, so the final vehicle will likely look much different. It's worth mentioning that NASA awarded Intuitive Machines $77 million in 2019 to deliver five scientific payloads to the lunar surface.

The rover must handle rugged terrain so the suspension system and tires will be robust. It should have ample cargo space for collecting samples and transporting other equipment for experiments. In that respect, it will need to function as a portable lab.

"This vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts' ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions," said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Additional features that the agency expects include advanced power management, autonomous driving, and state-of-the-art communications/navigation. NASA plans to use the autonomous-driving feature to continue scientific objectives in between Artemis missions. In times when the space agency has no activities to perform, the service provider can lease time commercially to anyone wanting to conduct lunar experiments or exploration of their own.

NASA has $4.6 billion to distribute over the next 10 years. The companies receive annual "firm-fixed-price task orders" for completing milestones, the first of which is a feasibility study. Over the next year, the firms will research and develop a design that meets all of NASA's requirements. If they deliver the milestone, they can move on to the next task order, and the process repeats.

One of the final task orders before the manned Artemis mission is to deliver a working prototype to the moon for practical testing and demonstration. NASA anticipates only one design making it to that funding round. After that, the company will provide the rover as a service contract through 2039.

"With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the Moon year around," said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Nasa did not mention a specific time frame for launching a prototype for testing. However, the optimistic schedule for landing a crew is Artemis III in 2026, which is hardly enough time to complete the task. A more realistic estimate would be Artemis IV, planned for 2028, giving the companies less than four years to have a working model. They better get busy.
Google is reportedly looking to create a new premium subscription service for some of its core products, including artificial intelligence-powered search features.

Dubbed the company's "biggest shake-up," this could become the first time the tech giant has charged its customers for its services.

First reported by the Financial Times, Google is considering including specific AI-powered search functionalities in its premium membership services. These now grant users access to Gemini, the company's new AI assistant, and Google's take on the popular chatbot ChatGPT.

(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A sign is posted in front of a building on the Google campus on January 31, 2022, in Mountain View, California.

Although the report stated that engineers were building the know-how required to launch the service, executives are allegedly still undecided about whether to proceed with the subscription service.

Google's standard search engine would continue to be available for free, but members would also continue to see advertisements next to the material they were searching for.

Google faces a dilemma in embracing the most recent AI advancements while maintaining its largest source of revenue since search and related ads generated $175 billion in revenue last year, accounting for over half of the company's total revenues.

Read Also: Google Unveils New Partnerships with AAP, Squiz Kids for Fact-Checking Initiatives

Google SGE Availability

In May of last year, Google started testing a test version of an AI-powered search service that provided more thorough results to users, along with connections to further content and advertisements. Its main search engine has not gotten any of the features from what it refers to as its "Search Generative Experience" (SGE) trial very quickly, though.

Some consumers were unaware that Google's SGE was accessible during searches until last week. Although the SGE is publicly accessible for individuals who sign up and was made available through Google Search Labs, it was the first time that it has been offered without charge to people who chose not to sign up.

According to the story from last week, Google has acknowledged that the SGE is available to a limited portion of search traffic in the US but is only now making it available to users in the country. It also covers users who visit the platform's search while not logged into their Google accounts.

Google's AI Woes

Google's AI has been leading the company's technological advancements since 2023, delivering noteworthy user experiences across its entire infrastructure. Integrating AI into Search is one of Google's primary goals. The business believes that the power of AI will improve a lot of this experience, starting with the AI advertisements that are available on the platform.

Some analysts have cautioned, however, that if Google's search engine offered more comprehensive AI-generated results and eliminated the need for visitors to click through to its advertisers' websites, Google's advertising revenue may suffer.

Furthermore, a lot of online publishers that rely on Google for internet traffic worry that if Google's AI-powered search pulls information straight from their web pages and displays it to consumers, fewer people would visit their websites.

This year, Google One, its consumer subscription service, offered a new premium tier for anyone who wished to use its most sophisticated chatbot, Gemini. Additionally, Workspace, a collection of online productivity tools that includes Gmail and Docs, now includes Gemini.

Related Article: Google Concedes to Incognito Lawsuit by Pledging to Delete Billions of Browsing Histories

(Photo: Tech Times)
NASA's next commercial partner for its Moon rover granted three initial contracts to various space companies that could build the next lunar vehicle for future missions. These companies include the billionaire-backed Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab. Each contract seemed to be unique based on the claims of each awardee.

Despite three working on said initial contracts and their prototypes, only one would be chosen for the mission and brought to the Moon for NASA astronauts to use.

NASA Moon Rover: Intuitive Machines, Two Others Received Contracts

Three companies were now given initial contracts to work on their versions of lunar rovers for NASA's Artemis missions and other ventures.

One of the companies, Intuitive Machines, unveiled that they were given $30 million for its development of the Moon rover, as part of NASA's $4.67 billion LTV Services project. Intuitive Machines will complete a Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services (LTVS) Feasibility Assessment, one that would develop a roadmap for its development and deployment of the LTV (lunar terrain vehicle) on the Moon using its Nova-D cargo-class lunar lander.

Venturi Astrolab, on the other hand, revealed that its initial contract is worth up to $1.9 billion, but did not reveal the exact price.

Initial Contracts Now, One Moon Rover to Join NASA Mission

These initial contracts would have a maximum potential value of $4.6 billion collectively, with the winner getting massive funds from the space agency for up to 13 years of potential orders. NASA said that only one company will be given the full contract to develop the Moon rover for the Artemis mission, soon to be used by astronauts to find water, ice, and other resources there.

NASA's Moon Mission: Artemis and its Lunar Rover

Massive plans are in place for the Artemis moon mission, and it is touted as a historical venture for the United States as this would be the next crewed landing for NASA after more than 50 years. Back in November 2023, NASA delayed awarding the said initial contracts for the companies who presented their proposals, one that it recently announced earlier today with the tree aforementioned.

Preparations for NASA's Artemis mission were in place, and it is now leaning more towards commercial help from contractors like SpaceX, one that saw a delay because of the Starship, pushed further to 2026.

Among the three companies mentioned above, the space agency chose Intuitive Machines, with the Texan company known for its latest Moon landing mission, marking the first US landing since 1972.

NASA is ramping up the many deals and contracts meant for Artemis' future missions, especially with contracting the equipment and other necessities for the mission. Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab are now designing their takes on NASA's next Moon rover, with only one to be chosen for future missions, to serve Artemis astronauts and other lunar ventures.
A new update on the Rivian iOS app is here, and it allows its owners to know their EV's range right on the iPhone's lock screen as a new widget arrives.

Through this feature, users no longer have to open their devices and the app to learn more about the remaining charge and range of their Rivian electric vehicles on the lock screen, which is customizable to their preferences.

Modern technology and the latest EVs have provided the world with a connected experience that delegates more car information on smart devices.

Rivian iOS App EV Range Now Available on iPhone Lock Screen

RivianTrackr, a renowned analyst of the car manufacturer's latest developments, released a discovery on Rivian's iOS app, which displays the EV's remaining range and battery percentage on the iPhone's lock screen.

It takes advantage of the latest iOS version's Widgets, offering an indicator connected to the Rivian app that shows the vehicle's status.

This was included in Rivian's iOS app version 2.8.0, which was released earlier today. The release notes are available here.

While it is a small update, it brings the Rivian app's lock screen widget to the iPhone, following the Live Activies update last February.

Lock Screen Widgets for Rivian Available on Latest Version

Lock Screen Widgets are available for updated app versions on iOS, and users simply need the Rivian app connected to their account and EV.

Next, users need to long-press the lock screen to bring out customization options and see the list of widgets available to add. They then choose Rivian's widgets and pick the preferred look and size from the choices.

Rivian and its Electric Vehicle Developments

Like Tesla and other EV car manufacturers, Rivian is one to bring significant features to its dedicated smartphone apps, particularly with iOS.

Its many developments in its electric vehicles offer a connected experience to their devices, with massive features centered on current releases like the R1T and R1S electric cars.

The company also recently launched its upcoming electric vehicle models, the first next-gen development of the company with the R2.

It was revealed to be a new compact electric SUV that features a five-seater configuration and offers 330 miles of estimated range. It will be available in two years, with 2026 as its expected availability to its markets.

Smartphone connectivity is a massive plus in today's car technology industry, and manufacturers ensure that these experiences are available even when not using the EV.

In Rivian's case, its iOS app now offers more functionalities to help users monitor their cars better. From the previous Live Activities update, it now offers Widgets to determine range and battery.
Architects play a critical role in software development. They are often responsible for technology decisions at a higher level than the software engineers - and these decisions have a major impact, whether it be on a specific application or sometimes throughout an entire organization.

From talking to many startups, we know that the "architect" role may not be one that's hired early. Founders - specifically CTOs and heads of engineering - are typically taking on the role of designing systems and implementing the technology stack. However, as a company scales and builds out its enterprise solutions, things like security, reliability, compliance, and other factors become increasingly important, and the need for standardization becomes apparent.

And while systems architects are typically focused on a specific application or project, we've seen the enterprise architect play an increasingly important role, as their scope and perspective often needs to span the entire organization. These startups should be on the radar of enterprise architects due to their company-wide impact.

Ardoq

Ardoq is a data-driven platform that unites disparate enterprise views, charting a clear path to navigate change, unlock revenue growth, fuel innovation, and accelerate transformation. Their software enables organizations to look into and predict the potential effects of change on different sectors, including strategy, projects, human resources, processes, applications, infrastructure, and capabilities.

One of the most beloved features of using Ardoq is that it reduces the need for documentation. Instead, users are provided with insights through various interactive visualizations, dashboards, and diagrams that enable the enterprise architect to see the interactions between technology and individuals. Overall, it is a rock-solid product that can handle complex architectures and compliance concerns.

Amberflo

Amberflo raised $15 million in Series A funding last year and has continued to innovate and evolve with the rise of Generative AI. Founded by ex-AWS general Manager Puneet Gupta, the company has believed since its inception that the world of software needs to move away from inflexible and static subscription pricing towards a more value-driven and dynamic usage-based model.

This belief has only been solidified further with the rise of Generative AI. There isn't a software company out there that isn't at least discussing how to leverage GenAI, both internally to improve velocity and developer experience, as well as externally to potentially improve the customer experience.

This company seems to have been in the perfect place at the perfect time, now helping companies around the world with the "last mile" problem of AI adoption - monetization. Enterprise architects would be keen to evaluate building usage metering into their applications and services from inception, so that as Generative AI continues to rise there's a clear way to track usage and charge accordingly for a profitable business model.

Wing

Wing launched out of stealth with $20 Million in funding from big-name investors last year. They have a well-decorated founder, Elad Ben-Israel (CEO), who is the creator of the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) and other popular open-source projects in the infrastructure space and who has recently been recognized as one of the most innovative CEOs in 2024.

Their mission is extremely ambitious: To change how cloud applications are built in the cloud. Their new open-source programming language, Winglang, already has thousands of stars on GitHub and promises to save developers from many of the frustrations of building cloud applications. Their stated mission is to unify cloud infrastructure and application code into a single programming model that works across AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, serverless, and more.

Enterprise Architects need to evaluate the Wing platform and toolkit to understand the benefits of a new programming model that abstracts away a lot of the gritty details of building applications on top of cloud infrastructure. By letting developers build fast and focus on the business logic, while simultaneously giving operations teams control of the platform, Wing is positioned to help companies actually realize the promises of DevOps.

Gravitee

Gravitee is a solution that needs to be evaluated by any enterprise architect wanting a way to design, secure, and overall manage APIs across the organization. It gives developers safe and standardized ways of exposing their APIs, enabling other developers throughout the organization to seamlessly consume them with a top-notch developer experience, while adding a governance layer to ensure APIs are used within the parameters set by the architecture team.

Depending on the size of the organization, there can be thousands to tens of thousands of APIs needed to run a modern business in the cloud. Given the role the enterprise architect plays in addressing concerns at a strategic level that can impact the entire organization, the ability to consolidate the sprawl and enable easy and secure access will be a game-changer for any business utilizing an 'API First' strategy.

Axiom

Axiom is a young company and information on them is limited. We know that Nat Friedman has invested and that it's already disrupting log management tools like Splunk. The company has also added a native solution for distributed tracing with its eyes set on metrics to complete the trio of observability telemetry.



But what should catch the eye of enterprise architects here is not that Axiom is yet another modern observability solution. It's the way this company is changing how companies think about architecting their applications and storing and pipelining their data.

Data is already cumbersome without having to copy it for each individual tool you are using across your tech stack - each with its different requirements and retention policies. With Axiom's native pipelining solution, companies can keep 100% of the data for long retention and search within Axiom, and then choose what percentage to send out to other existing tools for better security and cost management. This seems particularly interesting for companies interested in AI and machine learning, given all of the data can live in a central place over long stretches of time.

Conclusion

Enterprise architects have a big role to play across organizations looking to modernize and secure their company's tech stack and applications, while continuing to enable innovation and velocity simultaneously. The sheer amount of data and complexity that needs to be navigated, combined with the inevitable rise of artificial intelligence, will only make this role more important - CTOs and CISOs will look to architects more than ever to collaborate on how to build effective digital businesses in the modern world.



These five startups can help.
Meta and Stanford University have reportedly recently joined forces in what it calls a "community forum on generative AI," claiming that the majority of its 1,500 participants from Brazil, Germany, Spain, and the United States viewed AI positively, with the number increasing even more after talking to experts.

The disclosure was made as part of a study that Stanford University and Meta published on a forum where people discussed policy ideas for AI chatbots and heard information about AI from "experts, academics, and other stakeholders."

(Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) A photo of the META logo during the US social network Instagram opening on a tablet screen in Moscow on November 11, 2021.

The October 2023 Meta Community Forum, hosted by Stanford's Deliberative Democracy Lab, yielded results that indicated a slight minority of 393 American participants, 49.8%, believed AI had "a positive impact."

After the forum, 54.4% of participants believed AI had a positive impact, 4.6% more than before the forum started.

Participants from Brazil, Germany, and Spain were also present during the forum. Most participants from other countries had extremely positive attitudes regarding artificial intelligence before the forum, and these sentiments only grew during the event.

Compared to participating Americans, a slightly higher percentage of participants from other nations had previously used ChatGPT or comparable chatbots.

Read Also: 'AI Anxious': LinkedIn Survey Reveals Employees' Fear of Lagging Behind in AI Technology

Meta's AI Initiatives

Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp's parent company, Meta, previously introduced generative AI products like Imagine, which can generate visuals based on language inputs.

Additionally, it has overrun its services with Meta AI chatbots that are incorporated into a number of its applications. Some have famous faces, such as Charli D'Amelio, a TikTok influencer.

Other key findings of the community forum included most participants thinking that AI chatbots should be able to learn from previous exchanges to provide more insightful responses, as long as users are aware. The discussions led to an agreement with this suggestion.

Following the discussion, the majority of participants also believed that, given sufficient information, AI chatbots could mimic human behavior.

AI-Fueled Workplace Anxiety

Although the Meta forum appears to be promoting AI positively, a study conducted in the UK with close to 5000 workers found that while computers, laptops, and other more traditional technologies seem to be improving people's health, AI, robots, trackers, and other new technology are detrimental to people's well-being.

The online survey was completed by 4,802 workers in the United Kingdom who are actively employed for pay and at least eighteen years old between May 22 and June 30, 2023.

Using five operationalized dimensions-mobility, self-care, typical activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression-the researchers were able to gauge the individuals' well-being.

The consequences on the well-being of the four types of technologies that are becoming more prevalent in the industry were investigated. Software technology utilizing machine learning and AI was the focus of the analysis.

The researchers found that three of these technology categories- robots, wearable trackers, and software based on artificial intelligence and machine learning- correlate negatively with workers' health and welfare.

However, utilizing more conventional ICTs (information and communication technologies) at work has been demonstrated to enhance well-being.

Related Article: AI, Climate Challenges, Raises Worries for CEOs in Latest PwC Survey

(Photo: Tech Times)
In the summer of 2023, Microsoft's Exchange Online Software was hit by a data breach that exposed the online email inboxes of 22 organizations and 500 people including US government employees. Now, Microsoft is being slammed by the US Cyber Safety Review Board after finding that the breach could have been prevented if not for the tech giant's "cascade of security failures" and "inadequate" security culture.

President Biden ordered the report, which describes the actions Microsoft took before, during, and following the extensive hack and identifies key failures in each instance, the intrusion was deemed "preventable."

(Photo : JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images) People visit the US technology company Microsoft's stand during the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 26, 2024.

Ars Technica reports that Microsoft claims not to know the exact method by which Storm-0558, a hacker organization believed to be connected to the People's Republic of China, gained access.

Bleeping Computer contradicts this, stating that as per Microsoft's belief, the Exchange Online intrusion that occurred in May of last year was caused by the threat actor that took an Azure signing key from a laptop belonging to an engineer. The laptop had previously been infiltrated by hackers at a company that Microsoft had bought.

Read Also: Windows 10 Support Beyond 2025: Microsoft Unveils Pricing on Extended Update Plans

Microsoft's Security Overhaul

The Board also concluded that Microsoft needed to change its security culture because it was insufficient and didn't meet consumer expectations, especially considering how important the company is to the technology ecosystem and how much customers rely on it to protect their data and business operations.

A Microsoft representative noted in the report that the company "fully cooperated with the Board's review." The corporation also expressed its appreciation for the CSRB's investigation into the effects of nation-state threat actors with substantial resources that operate constantly and without effective deterrents.

According to a Microsoft representative, recent occurrences have shown that their networks need to embrace a new engineering culture for security, as outlined in their Secure Future Initiative. In addition to hardening its systems and adding more sensors and logs to identify and fend off attackers' cyber-armies. Microsoft promises to examine the completed report and make any necessary revisions.

Based on information received from affected businesses, cybersecurity professionals and enterprises, law enforcement agencies, and conversations with Microsoft representatives, the CSRB carried out its analysis of the Microsoft Exchange Online attack in 2023.

According to the article, Microsoft was made aware of the attack following a warning from the U.S. Department of State on June 16, 2023. The State Department's security operations center (SOC) noticed unusual access the day before, which was one of the first indications of the hack on the agency's mail systems.

Microsoft's Problematic Security

The CSRB report proves to only be one of Microsoft's latest blunders in cyber security. The tech giant recently acknowledged that it has not yet eliminated state-sponsored hackers or contained a Russian data breach.

The nation-state attack was identified by the Microsoft Security Team on January 12, 2024, and it was made public on January 19. When Microsoft's security team learned of the compromise of corporate email infrastructure and senior officials' email accounts, the company moved quickly to initiate its response protocol.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence identified the threat actor as Russian state-sponsored actor Midnight Blizzard, also referred to as NOBELIUM.

Read Also: Microsoft Executives' Emails Compromised in Russian State-Sponsored Midnight Blizzard Cyberattack

(Photo : Tech Times)
Monetized survey completion platform SurveyLama, has reportedly been alerted by data breach alerting service Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) after it found that a hacking incident has exposed the sensitive data of 4.4 million SurveyLama users, first reported by Bleeping Computer.

SurveyLama pays registered users to dosurveys. The website, which is owned by the French company Globe Media, is well-known for its quick payments, several withdrawal choices, and large rewards (up to $20).

(Photo: ROB ENGELAAR/ANP/AFP via Getty Images) Sweden has grappled with disruptions in their online services following a ransomware attack attributed to a Russian hacker group.

Troy Hunt, the man behind HIBP, learned about a data breach affecting the service at the beginning of February. The breach affected a variety of data types, including phone numbers, email addresses, IP addresses, full names, passwords, dates of birth, and physical addresses.

SurveyLama responded to HIBP's inquiry over the veracity of the data by stating that they had already emailed affected users to confirm the security problem. Since the data set was added to HIBP yesterday and includes details on 4,426,879 accounts, impacted consumers ought to have already gotten an email notification.

Read Also: Cyber Safety Review Board Blames Microsoft's "Inadequate" Security for 2023 Data Breach

SurveyLama's Limited Data Breach

According to the platform, the passwords that were exposed were not directly useable cleartext because they were saved as salted SHA-1, bcrypt, or argon2 hashes.

Hunt informed Bleeping Computer that as far as he knew, the hacked data had not been made available to the public, therefore its exposure was currently restricted.

SurveyLama's data breach follows several hacking incidents currently plaguing cyberspace. Just a week ago, sensitive data, including passcodes, social security numbers, and addresses, belonging to millions of AT&T customers, both past and present, has been compromised. The massive telecommunications company has acknowledged the vulnerability and taken action to fix it.

Prominent Current Data Breach

The estimated 73 million people that are included in the disclosed data are made up of 65.4 million previous AT&T account holders and 7.6 million current account holders. Details including complete names, email addresses, and dates of birth are also included in the breach, which looks to have happened in 2019 or earlier.

Resetting existing users' passcodes and starting to notify impacted customers is AT&T's quick response. The business hasn't found any proof, though, of how the data was taken.

Even if there is no call history or financial information in the hacked data, the disclosure of personal information raises questions about potential misuse and identity theft. Customers who are impacted are urged by AT&T to exercise caution and keep an eye on their credit reports and account activity.

AT&T has experienced other difficulties this year in addition to the data leak, such as a significant outage in February that interfered with cellular service for thousands of customers nationwide. Rather than being the result of a hostile attempt, the corporation blamed the outage on a technical coding issue.

Related Article: Finland Points to China-Linked Hackers for 2021 Breach of Parliament

(Photo: Tech Times)
New York City's AI chatbot faces backlash for dispensing questionable advice to businesses, risking legal violations. Despite concerns, the city, defended by Mayor Eric Adams, opts to maintain the chatbot on its website.

Controversy Surrounding AI Chatbot

New York City's AI chatbot has stirred controversy by providing questionable advice to businesses, including suggestions that could lead to legal violations. Despite criticism and concerns about the accuracy of its responses, the city has decided to keep the chatbot operational on its website.

Mayor Eric Adams defended this choice, acknowledging the inaccuracies in some areas while maintaining the tool's availability. Launched as a resource hub for business owners in October, the chatbot offers algorithmically generated responses to queries navigating the city's bureaucratic processes.

While accompanied by disclaimers warning of potential inaccuracies and affirming that its responses do not constitute legal advice, the Associated Press reported that the chatbot's utility remains debatable.

The AI chatbot provided erroneous responses to inquiries, inaccurately suggesting that employers have the right to terminate employees who report sexual harassment, conceal pregnancies, or refuse to alter their hairstyle.

Furthermore, it contradicted the city's waste management initiatives by claiming that businesses can dispose of their trash in black garbage bags and are exempt from composting requirements.

In some instances, the chatbot's responses were ludicrous. For example, when asked about serving cheese that a rodent had gnawed on, it replied affirmatively, stating that it was permissible to serve the cheese to customers despite the rodent bites.

However, it did emphasize the importance of evaluating the extent of damage caused by the rodent and informing customers about the situation.

A representative from Microsoft, the provider of the bot's underlying technology through its Azure AI services, confirmed ongoing collaboration with city officials to enhance the service's accuracy and ensure alignment with official city documentation.

Mayor Adams, a Democrat, addressed concerns during a press conference on Tuesday. He portrayed the bot's issues as typical hurdles encountered in refining new technology. Stoyanovich criticized this response as "risky and negligent."

Navigating the Pitfalls of Large Language Models

Concerns among scientists persist regarding the limitations of large language models like ChatGPT, which draw from vast internet text collections and often produce inaccurate or nonsensical responses.

Despite the widespread attention garnered by successful chatbots like ChatGPT, private companies have introduced their versions, leading to varying outcomes.

For instance, Air Canada recently faced a court order to refund a customer due to misinformation provided by its chatbot regarding the airline's refund policy. Similarly, TurboTax and H&R Block have encountered backlash for chatbots offering erroneous tax-preparation guidance.

Suresh Venkatasubramanian, director of the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign at Brown University, says New York City's chatbot debacle offers valuable lessons for municipalities.

Venkatasubramanian stressed the importance of cities contemplating the rationale behind implementing chatbots and identifying the specific issues they aim to address.

He emphasized that if chatbots substitute human interaction, they may compromise accountability without providing significant benefits in return.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is facing criticism following its approval of a genetic test called AvertD, designed to assess the risk of opioid addiction.

The test, developed by SOLVD Health, aims to identify individuals at heightened risk for opioid use disorder by detecting specific genetic markers. Despite its December approval, concerns have emerged regarding the test's efficacy and potential impact on opioid prescribing practices.

Experts Share Concerns About Opioid Genetic Test

AvertD operates on the premise that genetic predispositions play a significant role in addiction susceptibility. However, experts argue that addiction is a multifaceted issue influenced by various factors beyond genetics, such as socioeconomic status and environmental exposure.

Dr. Katherine Keyes of Columbia University stresses the complexity of addiction, suggesting that relying solely on genetic markers may oversimplify the risk assessment process.

"We know the risk of [opioid use disorders] increases with the dose and duration of an opioid prescription," Keyes told NBC News. "Receiving an opioid prescription remains one of the strongest risk factors for the development of opioid use disorder."

Additionally, the FDA's decision to greenlight AvertD contradicted the recommendations of its independent advisory committee, which expressed reservations about the test's accuracy and its potential to exacerbate overprescribing.

Critics fear that false positives and negatives could lead to inappropriate opioid prescribing practices, putting patients at risk of addiction or depriving them of necessary pain management.

Read Also : First AI-Powered Diagnostic Tool For Sepsis Gets Greenlight From FDA

(Photo : DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chemist checks confiscated powder containing fentanyl at the DEA Northeast Regional Laboratory on October 8, 2019 in New York. According to US government data, about 32,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2018. That accounts for 46 percent of all fatal overdoses. Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for a range of conditions, has been central to the American opioid crisis which began in the late 1990s.

Worsening US Opioid Crisis

Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a prominent voice in opioid policy research, warns that AvertD could worsen the ongoing opioid crisis by contributing to increased addiction rates. Despite SOLVD Health's claim of AvertD's ability to accurately predict addiction risk using 15 genetic markers, skepticism remains prevalent within the scientific community.

Dr. Adam Gordon, who voted against AvertD's approval on the FDA advisory panel, highlights the agency's acknowledgment of the test's inherent risks.

Meanwhile, political tensions surround the issue as House Republicans propose budget cuts affecting crucial funding for states' responses to the opioid epidemic, the White House said in a recent briefing. President Biden emphasizes the importance of bipartisan efforts to combat the crisis, advocating for increased access to treatment and stricter border security measures to curb fentanyl trafficking.

The State Opioid Response grant program, targeted for cuts by House Republicans, has played a vital role in expanding access to addiction treatment and overdose reversal medications. Since 2018, the program has facilitated treatment for over 1.2 million individuals and reversed more than 550,000 overdoses nationwide.

In light of the controversy surrounding AvertD, SOLVD Health is mandated to provide training to healthcare professionals on the test's appropriate usage. Additionally, the company is required to conduct a large-scale study to further evaluate the test's effectiveness.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.
Insiders said Apple is developing personal robotics to lead home automation. According to reports, corporate engineers are developing a mobile robot to accompany consumers to their houses. Apple also reportedly created a tabletop home gadget that uses robots to move displays around a room.

According to the Japan Times, Apple is pressured to diversify its revenue streams, although these efforts are still under development. Terminating an electric-vehicle project and the long profitability timeframe for mixed-reality goggles highlight the need for fresh development routes.

By integrating robotics, Apple can harness artificial intelligence (AI) and increase its presence in consumers' homes, though Apple's strategy in this area remains unknown. The Apple robotic smart display looks to be ahead of the mobile bot, although it has varied in the company's product plan throughout the years, per reports.

John Giannandrea, Matt Costello, and Brian Lynch lead Apple's hardware engineering, AI, and machine-learning division robotics efforts. The company has considered both projects in the early research phase but has not committed to either.

Apple has not yet responded to rumors on its home robotics plans.

Shifting Gears

Apple has shifted its attention from automotive to smart-home prospects, as shown by its move into personal robots. Years ago, the iPhone maker explored tabletop robotics to build a display that could replicate customers' head motions during video conversations. Internal discussions have questioned the product's feasibility, citing customer demand and technological issues.

Apple has a secret, home-like facility in Cupertino where it tests future products and ideas. In addition to robotics, Apple is reportedly developing a smart home hub with an iPad-like display.

The firm faces the legacy of its failed electric vehicle experiment as it begins this robotics attempt. However, these programs' AI and machine learning advances give vital insights for future endeavors. Apple hires robotics experts to strengthen its teams working on these projects, emphasizing the convergence of contemporary machine learning and robotics to create its next-generation devices' AI.

Read Also : Tech Giants Rally to Combat AI-Driven Job Losses

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., speaks during a launch event for the new Apple iPhone 15 at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on September 12, 2023.

(Photo : NIC COURY/AFP via Getty Images)

Apple iOS 17.5 Beta Version Now Available for Developers

This news on Apple's home robotics endeavors comes after a global outage in its Apple App Store and other built-in services. Many users worldwide reported receiving "Something went wrong" error messages when connecting to the App Store. Users' screenshots show their dissatisfaction with being unable to use key platform functions.

Apple has informed consumers that it is investigating the disruption and working on a solution. The outage, which started at 6:31 p.m. ET, was resolved at 7:35 p.m. ET.

In another notable development, Apple recently released the beta version of iOS 17.5 to developers, allowing users to download apps straight from websites, a long-awaited functionality. This move complies with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires iPhone ecosystem openness, notably sideloading.

Sideloading in iOS 17.5 is a milestone for Apple customers who have wanted Android's features for years.

Apple issued iOS 17.5 beta to developers for DMA compliance, according to MacRumors. This version allows iPhone users to download applications from websites with supported browsers.

Although the beta program lets other users use this functionality, Apple restricts website-based app downloads to developers to help them perfect the experience. Notably, Apple requires developers to satisfy certain conditions to beta-test the new sideloading functionality. These conditions include producing documentation, participating in the Apple Developer Program for two years, and obtaining one million EU downloads.
Samsung Galaxy S23 users are facing frustration as the latest One UI 6.1 update appears to be causing touchscreen problems, despite promises of fixes.

Tech Issues Today reports (via PhoneArena) that initial issues with the update included slower charging speeds and broken fingerprint scanners. However, following the update, many users are reporting frozen screens or unresponsive taps, with some noting that only the S Pen is functional.

Samsung Users Share Their Frustrations Online

Reports of touchscreen dysfunction are flooding Samsung Community forums and social media platforms like Reddit. Despite attempts at troubleshooting such as restarting or resetting the device, the problem persists for most users. Some have reported temporary relief after app optimization, but this hasn't been consistent across all users.

The only solution for affected devices seems to be downgrading to the previous firmware, One UI 6.0. Users who have reverted to the older version have reported restored touchscreen functionality. However, this process comes with a caution to back up all data before proceeding.

Quotes from users highlight the frustration and lack of solutions available. One user expressed, "My touch screen stopped working I can't unlock phone or touch anything. Only works with S Pen."

Another user shared, "Since updating my screen is totally unresponsive to finger touch and only works when I use the S Pen. I've restarted my phone multiple times with no luck in fixing this problem."

Samsung has yet to acknowledge these touchscreen issues publicly. The exact cause of these bugs slipping past beta testing and quality assurance remains unclear. Users are encouraged to document their issues on the Galaxy S23 forum in order to quickly find a resolution.

(Photo : PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

This photograph shows a Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone on Samsung's stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2023.

Users Warn of Getting the Update Before Fixes

In response to the growing number of complaints, Samsung users are urged to hold off on installing the One UI 6.1 update until these issues are addressed. The company's lack of acknowledgment may heighten frustration among users experiencing these problems.

As of now, there are no specific statistics available regarding the extent of users affected by these touchscreen issues. However, the widespread nature of the reports suggests a significant number of users are encountering problems after installing the One UI 6.1 update.

What's In in the News

Samsung Galaxy S23 users are grappling with touchscreen issues following the One UI 6.1 update. While some have found temporary relief through troubleshooting methods or downgrading to the previous firmware, the lack of a permanent solution from Samsung has left many frustrated.

Users are advised to stay informed and cautious before proceeding with any software updates on their devices.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.
AI-generated content is becoming a nuisance to some people. These days, it's getting harder to identify what's real and what's fake.

Recently, authorities started to investigate how the AI fake nude photos of some students made rounds on group chats. This alarmed many parents about the safety of their children.

Disturbing Situation Sparks Controversy

According to LondonNewsToday.ca, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School notified the parents of students involved in the latest incident.

In a letter, the school's administrators said that for the past several days, there have been reports that some of the students' pictures have been seen on social media sites.

The alarming part of the announcement says that AI has manipulated the photos. The letter says that the photos are not real, but they are concerning since the students appear to be nude.

"As you can imagine, this is a very difficult and challenging situation for our young students and can have lasting adverse effects for them," administrators of the west London school wrote to parents.

The school adds that those people who continue sharing explicit and fake images of nude students should be aware of the harmful consequences that the children and the community will face.

It was discovered that the nude AI photos were being shared in group chats, prompting the administrators to urge the people to be accountable for their actions.

"The creation and distribution of this material could result in disciplinary measures," they added.

Dangers of AI and Social Media

Using social media responsibly is always the proper approach when using apps. It comes with awareness and acknowledgment that the present dangers are almost digital.

Because of the recent incident that affected some students, the school officials and the London District Catholic School Board told the parents to be more open in communicating the potential dangers of using AI and social media.

It's noteworthy to mention that parents should also teach their children to refrain from sharing malicious images online, as this might affect the person's reputation.

According to Sandasha Bough, the Acting Sergeant in the case, the police have been made aware of the case. The investigation is currently ongoing on where the AI-generated fake nude photos started and who is the culprit behind them.

What happened to the Canadian school is only one of a few incidents in which AI can be harmful when used irresponsibly.

For instance, the middle schoolers of Beverly Hills Schools also experienced the same kind of trauma with AI-generated nude images. Upon learning about the incident, the city's police department immediately investigated how the production and distribution of AI-generated pictures had started.
Bloomberg reports that Apple has shifted its focus from electric cars to personal robots, intending to sell AI-powered assistants to households. This move follows the abandonment of Apple's electric car project, which it had been working on for the past decade.

Apple Is Now Working on Personal Robots

Apple engineers are currently immersed in developing personal robots, a significant departure from their previous electric vehicle (EV) technology endeavors. This shift in focus, reported by Bloomberg, stresses Apple's ambition to diversify its product offerings and explore new revenue streams.

The initiative revolves around creating robots designed to assist users within their homes. These robots are envisioned to follow individuals around and provide helpful services, potentially ranging from household chores to videoconferencing support.

The decision to pivot towards personal robots follows Apple's decision to abandon its ambitions in the electric car market. Despite years of speculation and intermittent leaks, the tech giant recently ended its decade-long EV project, opting instead to focus on other promising ventures.

Before scrapping the EV project, Apple told senior executives that the company's future would center on three areas: automotive, home, and mixed reality.

Read Also : Qualcomm to Supply 5G Chips for iPhones Through at Least 2026 Amid Apple 5G Modem Pushback

A New Industry Trend in Personal Robotics

Apple's interest in personal robotics aligns with broader industry trends, with major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon actively investing in AI development and deployment.

Other prominent technology companies recently turned their focus to helping develop humanoid robots. Recently, OpenAI reportedly collaborated with humanoid robot manufacturer Figure to create AI-powered workplace robots.

By leveraging advancements in artificial intelligence, Apple aims to carve out a significant presence in consumers' homes, potentially revolutionizing how people interact with technology daily.

The robotics project is under the purview of Apple's hardware engineering division and its AI and machine-learning group, which are led by prominent company executives.

While these robotic assistants' ultimate success and commercialization remain uncertain, Apple has posted calls for robotics-related positions on its website, indicating that the company is interested in growing the project's teams.

"Our team works at the intersection of modern machine learning and robotics to shape the AI that will power the next generation of Apple products," based on the post.

In Other News

According to new rumors, iOS 18 will get a redesign, focusing not only on the smartphone experience but also on delivering a visionOS-like look when it arrives.

Apple's massive success with Vision Pro and mixed reality experiences is said to inspire Cupertino's future developments, including an aspect of it for iOS 18.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.




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Digital dementia and anxiety: psychologist - about the risks of constant use of gadgets

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Nine dead, over 1,000 injured in Taiwan's strongest quake in decades



Taipei, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2024



At least nine people were killed and more than 1,000 injured Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that damaged dozens of buildings and prompted tsunami warnings as far as Japan and the Philippines before being lifted.

Dozens of people were believed safe but unreachable in areas cut off by massive landslides triggered by the quake -- many in tunnels that cut through the mountains that bisect the island from north to south.

Officials said the quake was the strongest to shake the island in 25 years, while warning of more tremors in the days ahead.

Strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe for the earthquake-prone island, which lies near the junction of two tectonic plates.

"We were very lucky," said a woman surnamed Chang, who lived next door to a printing press warehouse near the capital that virtually pancaked in the quake. All 50 inside at the time were plucked to safety.

"Many of the decorations at home fell on the floor, but people were safe."

Wu Chien-fu, director of Taipei's Central Weather Administration's Seismology Center, said the quake was the strongest since one of 7.6-magnitude struck in September 1999, killing around 2,400 people in the deadliest natural disaster in the island's history.

Wednesday's magnitude-7.4 quake hit just before 8:00 am local time (0000 GMT), with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) putting the epicentre 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of Taiwan's Hualien City, at a depth of 34.8 kilometres.

Three people among a group of seven on an early-morning hike through the hills that surround the city were crushed to death by boulders loosened by the earthquake, officials said.

Separately, three died while driving when their vehicles were hit by tumbling rocks, while another died at a mine quarry.

The National Fire Agency said all the fatalities had been in Hualien county, adding that 1,011 people across Taiwan had sustained injuries without specifying how seriously.



- Landslides, crumbled buildings -



Social media was awash with shared video and images from around the island of buildings swaying as the quake struck.

"It was shaking violently, the paintings on the wall, my TV and liquor cabinet fell," one man in Hualien told broadcaster SET TV.

Dramatic images were shown on local TV of multi-storey structures in Hualien and elsewhere tilting after the quake ended, while a printing warehouse in New Taipei City crumbled.

The mayor there said more than 50 survivors had been successfully plucked from the ruins of the structure.

Local TV channels showed bulldozers clearing rocks along the main route to Hualien, a mountain-ringed coastal county of around 300,000 people that has been cut off by landslides.

The major roads leading to Hualien's main city pass through an extensive series of strongly built tunnels -- some of them kilometres long -- and officials said dozens of people could be trapped in vehicles inside.

Dozens of miners were also out of reach at a quarry in Hualien.

"We must carefully check how many people are trapped and we must rescue them quickly," president-elect and current Vice-President Lai Ching-te told reporters in Hualien.

By nightfall, the county was still experiencing rolling aftershocks as rescuers continued combing through debris.

In Taiwan's capital, the famed Taipei 101 commercial building lit up to memorialise the victims of the quake.

"Do not go to the mountains unless necessary," warned President Tsai Ing-wen in a late-night post.

"Aftershocks may occur in the next few days and everyone, please be vigilant and watch out for your own safety."



- Regional impact -



In Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, authorities initially issued tsunami warnings but by around 10:00 am (0200 GMT), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat had "largely passed".

In the Taiwanese capital, the metro briefly stopped running but resumed within an hour, while residents received warnings from their local borough chiefs to check for any gas leaks.

Across the Taiwan Strait, social media users in China's eastern Fujian province and elsewhere said they also felt strong tremors.

Residents of Hong Kong also reported feeling the earthquake.

China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, was "paying close attention" to the quake and "willing to provide disaster relief assistance", state news agency Xinhua said.

In Washington, the White House said the United States is prepared to provide "any necessary assistance" in the wake of the disaster.

Fabrication at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- the world's biggest chip maker -- was briefly interrupted at some plants, a company official told AFP, while work at construction sites for new plants was halted for the day.

The company later said in a statement that a "small number of tools were damaged at certain facilities, partially impacting their operations" but that no "critical tools" had been damaged.

It said it was deploying "all available resources for full recovery, and impacted facilities are expected to resume production throughout the night".

burs-fox/dhc/tym/dw/des
What we know about how 'forever chemicals' affect health



Paris, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



Invisible, omnipresent "forever chemicals" have been linked to a wide range of serious effects on human health, prompting growing calls for them to be banned.

While there is firm evidence that at least one of the more than 4,000 human-made chemicals called PFAS causes cancer, researchers are still attempting to fully understand their broader impact on health.

Here is what we know so far.



- What are PFAS? -



Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals that were first developed in the 1940s to withstand intense heat and repel water and grease.

They have since been used in a vast range of household and industrial products including food packaging, make-up, stain-proof fabric, non-stick pots and pans and foam used to fight fires.

Because PFAS take an extremely long time to break down -- earning them the nickname "forever chemicals" -- over the years they have seeped into the soil and groundwater, getting into our food chain and drinking water in the process.

These chemicals have now been detected virtually everywhere on Earth, from the top of Mount Everest to inside human blood and brains.



- Two biggest culprits -



The two most researched PFAS compounds have already been banned or restricted in many countries, though they remain detectable throughout the environment.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which was once used to make the non-stick cookware coating Teflon, was in December classified as "carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The World Health Organization agency said there is "sufficient evidence" that PFOA gave animals cancer during experiments, as well as "limited evidence" of renal cell and testicular cancer in humans.

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) -- once the key ingredient in the Scotchgard fabric protector -- was meanwhile ruled "possibly carcinogenic to humans".

There was limited proof of cancer in animals but "inadequate evidence regarding cancer in humans", the IARC said.



- Other linked diseases -



More broadly, observational studies have suggested that exposure to PFAS chemicals is associated with an increased rate of cancer, obesity, thyroid, liver and kidney disease, higher cholesterol, low birth weight, infertility and even a lower response to vaccines.

But such observational research cannot prove that the chemicals directly cause these health problems.

And the level of risk can vary greatly depending on the level of PFAS people are exposed to -- almost everyone on Earth is believed to have at least a little PFAS in their bodies.

According to the IARC, most at risk for serious PFAS exposure are people who directly work with the chemicals while making products.



- Question of exposure -



Exactly what level of PFAS exposure is hazardous to health has been a matter of debate.

Previously, guidelines in numerous countries ruled that having less than 100 nanogrammes of PFAS per litre of tap water was enough to protect health.

But the United States has proposed lowering the limit to four nanogrammes of PFOA and PFOS per litre -- and the EU is considering following suit.

Last year, a media investigation found PFAS levels over 100 nanogrammes per litre at 2,100 sites across Europe and the UK.

The level soared over 10,000 nanogrammes at 300 of the sites, according to the investigation carried out by 16 newsrooms.



- 'Chemical whack-a-mole' -



Further complicating the ability of research to comprehend the health effects of PFAS is that new compounds are still being developed.

As manufacturers phase out compounds identified as potentially hazardous, they sometimes simply replace it with another member of the PFAS family that has been studied less, researchers have warned.

Harvard environmental researcher Elsie Sunderland has called this process "chemical whack-a-mole".



- Calls for action -



Environmentalists and health experts across the world have been increasingly sounding the alarm about forever chemicals.

On Thursday, French MP Nicolas Thierry will introduce a bill that -- if passed -- would ban non-essential PFAS in France from 2025.

The European Union is also considering a Europe-wide ban on PFAS from as early as 2026.



- What can you do? -



For people at home, it is nearly impossible to avoid consuming miniscule amounts of PFAS.

But experts recommend reducing contact with non-stick cookware and grease-proof food packaging such as fast food wrappers.

Drinking filtered or bottled water and storing leftovers in glass -- not plastic -- containers could also help.
Helicopter plucks miners to safety as Taiwan searches for missing after quake



Hualien, Taiwan, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



A helicopter plucked six miners to safety from a Taiwan quarry Thursday as rescuers worked to free scores of people trapped in highway tunnels after the island's biggest earthquake in a quarter of a century.

Nine people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in Wednesday's magnitude-7.4 quake, but strict building regulations and widespread public disaster awareness appear to have staved off a major catastrophe on the island.

Dozens of residents of the worst-hit city spent a night outdoors rather in apartments still being shaken by aftershocks, and a massive engineering operation was under way to fix damaged roads and prop up tilting buildings.

Dramatic video released Thursday by the island's Central Emergency Operation Centre showed a helicopter flying two sorties to pluck six miners trapped in a gypsum quarry in Hualien county, near the epicentre of the quake.

Rescuers knew the whereabouts of dozens more people trapped in a network of strongly built tunnels in the county, a feature of the roads that cut through the scenic mountains and cliffs leading to Hualien City from the north and west.

"I also hope that we can use today's time to find all people who are stranded and unaccounted for and help them settle down," Premier Chen Chien-jen said after a briefing at an emergency operation centre in Hualien.

The island has been shaken by over 300 strong aftershocks since the first quake, and the government warned people to be wary of landslides or rockfalls if they ventured to the countryside for Qingming, a two-day public holiday that began Thursday.

Families traditionally visit the tombs of their ancestors on the holiday to clean the gravesites and burn offerings.

"Do not go to the mountains unless necessary," warned President Tsai Ing-wen in a late-night message.

The latest figures from the national disaster agency said nine people had been killed and 1,050 injured in the quake.

Authorities were in contact with 101 people trapped in tunnels or cut-off areas, but had lost touch with another 46 -- although they were believed to be safe.

In Hualien, a glass-fronted building now tilting at a 45-degree angle after half of its first floor pancaked has become something of a symbol of the quake.

"When the earthquake happened, we immediately evacuated the guests... and urged them to leave," Wang Zhong-chang, the proprietor of a nearby Hualien Hero hotel, 55, told AFP.

"I stayed in this area the whole time -- I haven't left. There's not much to fear. I've experienced it before... but this time was more severe."

He was referring to the magnitude-7.6 quake of 1999 that killed 2,400 people, the deadliest natural disaster in the island's history.

Over 100 people chose to sleep outdoors in tents at a shelter set up in an elementary school Wednesday night as the aftershocks continued.

"Our worry is when the big aftershocks happen it might be really hard for us to evacuate one more time -- especially with the baby," said Indonesian Hendri Sutrisno, 30, a professor at Donghua University.

He and his wife hid under a table with their infant when the earthquake struck before fleeing their apartment.

"We have all the necessary stuff, blankets, toilet and a place to rest," he said.



- Social media deluge -



Social media was awash with video and images from around the island shared by people who experienced the quake.

In one clip, a man struggles to get out of a rooftop swimming pool as the water swirls violently. In another, a webcam catches three cats running amok as an apartment shakes from side to side.

Officials have yet to give an estimate for a national repair bill, but operations at Taiwan's key chip-making foundries were minimally affected.

"Overall tool recovery of our fabs (fabrication facilities) reached more than 70 percent within 10 hours of the earthquake, with new fabs such as the Fab 18 facility reaching more than 80 percent," said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- the world's biggest chip maker.

China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, was "paying close attention" to the quake and "willing to provide disaster relief assistance", state news agency Xinhua said Wednesday.

In Washington, the White House said the United States was prepared to provide "any necessary assistance".

bur-fox/dhc/cwl
Tokyo crowds revel as cherry blossoms reach full bloom



Tokyo, April 4 (AFP) Apr 04, 2024



Tourists and residents packed Tokyo's top cherry blossom spots on Thursday to enjoy the full bloom that has arrived in the Japanese capital later than usual this year because of cold weather.

The elegant dark branches bursting with pink and white flowers -- known as sakura in Japanese -- spilled over the moat of the Imperial Palace, where people gathered to snap photos or simply take in the view.

"Cherry blossoms are so symbolic and make everything around you feel joyful and beautiful," Michitaka Saito, 68, told AFP.

"It makes me feel that I've made a good start on the year ahead," said Saito, who makes an annual visit to Chidorigafuchi Park beside the moat in central Tokyo.

Sakura season traditionally accompanies the beginning of the new fiscal year in Japan, representing fresh starts but also the fleeting impermanence of life.

Eiko Hirose, 76, said that enjoying the cherry blossoms with her husband Sadao "means I'm healthy, and he's good, and we all have a good time".

"We take it for granted that we can see it next year again, but who knows? Something may happen," she said.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) declared on Thursday that the country's most common and popular "somei yoshino" variety of cherry tree was in full bloom, four days later than average for the city.

While the agency attributes this year's tardy blooms to cold weather, it has raised the alarm that climate change is making the delicate petals appear sooner in the long term.

Last year's sakura began to flower on March 14 -- the joint earliest date on record along with 2020 and 2021 -- and hit full bloom on March 22.

"Since 1953, the average start date for cherry blossoms to bloom in Japan has been becoming earlier at the rate of approximately 1.2 days per 10 years," the JMA says.

"The long-term increase in temperature is thought to be a factor" as well as other reasons such as the urban heat island effect, according to the agency.

Tourism to Japan has been booming since pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted, and an international crowd was also out enjoying the scenery on Thursday.

Kamilla Kielbowska, a 35-year-old from New York, planned her third trip to Japan around the blossoms.

"We arrived here on, I believe, March 23. And I was joking... 'OK, we gotta go to this park straight from the airport, I cannot miss sakura.'"

But "it was super cold, and no trees were blossoming. And I was a little bit sad, but hoping that I'll still see them in full blossom before I leave."

"It definitely lived up to expectations," she said, calling the sight "marvellous" and "very magical".

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor emeritus at Kansai University, estimates the economic impact of cherry blossom season in Japan, from travel to parties held under the flowers, at 1.1 trillion yen ($7.3 billion) this year, up from 616 billion yen in 2023.
Credit: Beth is the level-headed, practical one in a family of bohemians and creatives, though she has a soft spot for her grandma Elise. When Beth buys a lottery ticket to prove she can be spontaneous, she wins a tidy sum, and decides to use it to treat Elise to her hearts desire. She wasnt expecting to unleash a globetrotting queer romance. Elises first love, Gerry, was a woman, the relationship undone by the homophobia of the day, and Elise wants to go to her. Cue a trip to London, where Beth finds her own whirlwind romance amid her grandmas quest to rekindle an old flame. Rhianna Kings Birds of a Feather is an offbeat romcom that repays persistence. The narrative is notably slow off the mark for genre fiction, but the characters grow on you, and King delivers some sweet and funny moments in this romantic intergenerational adventure. NON-FICTION PICK OF THE WEEK

Why We Die

Venki Ramakrishnan, Hodder Press, $34.99 Credit: Deaths at the bottom of everything, says a character in The Third Man. Leave death to the professionals. Nobel Prize-winning scientist Venki Ramakrishnan isnt an undertaker, but he is certainly a professional and his observations of ageing and death are highly informed. Animals may fear danger and mourn their dead, but only humans, he says, are aware of the inevitability of it. He traces this back through the centuries and the emergence of different plans from pyramids to the immortal soul to beat death. But he also delves into the nitty-gritty of just what happens when a body dies, why some age more slowly than others, and the ethics of employing science to create a kind of immortality (if youve got the money), among many other things. Oh, and he says some good things about red wine. Accessible, and strangely entertaining.

Just Friends

Gyan Yankovich, Ultimo Press, $34.99 Credit: In the grand literary scheme of things, love rules. Gyan Yankovich, Lifestyle editor of this masthead, maintains in her extended meditation on friendship that the volume of love and romance tales means that the vocabulary we need to define the varying shades of friendship is limited. And yet friendships can be more important and long-lasting. In one of her case studies, two friends buck the trend and celebrate their friendship by throwing a friend marriage. Woven into the anecdotal observations, are historical ones, such as the way industrialisation occasioned the triumph of love and the rise of the nuclear family at the expense of deep friendships that had quite possibly been more important than pre-industrial marriages - which were often pragmatic and economic. So, you might have friends, but are they just friends? George Orwells Elephant & Other Essays

Subhash Jaireth, Gazebo Books, $29.99 Credit:
With a minimalist fit-out, bold splashes of colour and fiercely regional Italian cooking, this is a jolt of excitement for Mornington Peninsula dining. Head in for surprising pastas, scalded tuna and other rarities.

When the crew from Donna Maria shut the doors on their Flinders restaurant later this month, theyre wasting no time moving on. In Mount Eliza, their next venture Bau Bau is ready to spring to life, bringing a slightly different tempo of Italian dining to the Mornington Peninsula.

By default, the new 30-seater is more intimate than Donna Marias 80 seats. Owners Mathew Guthrie, Clinton Trevisi and James Langley (also behind Bistro Elba and Patsys) are happily embracing that with a more refined menu of regional Italian dishes, often hard to find in Australia.

Bau Bau, a petite Italian restaurant on the Mornington Peninsula. Annika Kafcaloudis

Im not saying we want to get the tweezers out for every dish, but theres an element that leans more into presentation, says chef Daniel Lidgard, who lists Donna Maria, Pt Leo Restaurant and Attica on his CV.

At Bau Bau, hes serving chicken cooked in the style of porchetta, a popular Tuscan treatment where the bird is stuffed with pancetta, chicken livers, sage and thyme. Casunziei, a filled pasta from Italys north-east, are presented as eye-catching twin sets: one side of the parcel contains beetroot, the other fresh curd cheese. More simple is the orecchiette tossed with Flinders mussels and nduja, and the scalded tuna, rare in the middle and dressed with late-season tomatoes.
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Eating outGood Food recommends Im coming to Melbourne for the week. Where should I eat? The critics top picks for visitors These are the restaurants, pubs and bars that reveal our citys essence, and who we are as Melburnians, says Besha Rodell. Besha Rodell April 5, 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

More reviews from Besha Rodell The first time my husband came to Melbourne, we were visiting from America, where we lived at the time and where he is from. The trip felt magical, but also fraught: would this city, my hometown about which Id been evangelising for years, live up to the lofty expectations Id set? On the first day of that trip, we walked from my brothers house in Fitzroy towards the Queen Victoria Market, and along the way I had a mild money panic and got flustered and had to stop at an ATM. Go ahead, I told him, Ill catch up and meet you in the deli section. He hugged me, in part to calm me down, but also to whisper, Ive been waiting over a decade to see this piece of you, to see your face when you show it to me. I can wait a few minutes more. When introducing someone to Melbourne, Im looking primarily for a sense of place, something they cant find in Los Angeles or Paris or London.

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I think about that moment a lot now that we live here, and now that we have visitors from all parts of our lives coming to Melbourne to see what Ive been babbling on about all these years. The markets, the restaurants and the bars arent just places to eat and drink. They represent the city that formed me, that I still love obsessively, and showing them off makes me feel as though Im letting friends and family from elsewhere into a piece of my soul that Ive long been desperate for them to know and understand. During the school holidays, many of you may have people visiting from elsewhere. Which restaurants and bars and markets best represent the city you live in and love? Ive been pondering this for years. Thanks to a long culinary career, first working in restaurants and then as a writer, most of the people in my life are food people who have travelled and eaten extensively. So when introducing someone to Melbourne, Im looking primarily for a sense of place, something they cant find in Los Angeles or Paris or London. Here are the places that get to the heart of my favourite city, the ones Im most likely to take international and interstate visitors. Combined, they provide a window into the essence of Melbourne and, in turn, into who we are as Melburnians. Kafeneion, its food, wine, service, space, captures the soul of Melbourne. Jason South Kafeneion

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I said it in my first review of Con Christopoulos home-style Greek restaurant when it was a pop-up on Bourke Street. I said it again in my second review, when it relocated to Supper Club on Spring Street, and Ill say it here: right now, Im not sure theres a restaurant in town that so wonderfully captures the soul of Melbourne. No one element is responsible, but rather, its the alchemy of the building, the food, the drink and the service, all tucked up a staircase that youd miss if you werent in the know. If youve ever been in a great vintage Melbourne room on a busy night with a waiter who has hospitality in their bones, you know what Im talking about. Theres an energy to this place that just cant be manufactured. First floor, 161 Spring Street, Melbourne HONOURABLE MENTIONS Jims Greek Tavern, for its raucous vibe, its simple and beautiful take on Greek cooking, and that gruff but loving service. I find that foreign visitors get a kick out of that iconic Greek Australian accent held by most waiters here, too. 14 / 20 Review Icon review: This rowdy, chaotic Greek tavern is a window into Melbournes soul

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Also up a stairway, The Waiters Restaurant feels like another well-kept secret, something only locals know about. But you have to be careful with this one. I once took a fancy New York editor here, the type who plans her travel around Noma bookings, and she didnt get it. It serves a type of Italian food thats specific to Australia, and it has an atmosphere that feels like home to me. Dont bring your wine-snob friends; bring people who want to know what it was like to grow up drenched in garlic butter. Introduce visitors to the American Doughnut Kitchen, then explain its not actually American. Supplied Queen Victoria Market Taking people to the market is an obvious and touristy thing to do, but it feels like taking someone into my home, into my heart. I grew up shopping here; I still shop here, and Im not sure everyone appreciates how special it is to have a market of this size and quality in the middle of the city. I missed it all the time when I lived overseas, and never found anything in other cities to compare. My itinerary for visitors is Bratwurst Shop, gozleme from the Borek Shop, and then  obviously  hot jam doughnuts from the American Doughnut Kitchen (which, I explain, is not American at all). Finally, we shop for bread, cheese and wine and head to one of the nearby parks for a classic Melbourne picnic. Queen Street, Melbourne

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HONOURABLE MENTION Some travellers wouldnt think of coming to Melbourne without a visit to Attica, and they would not be wrong to feel excited about a meal from Ben Shewry, who is largely responsible for the proliferation of this type of cooking. A meal at Attica is always thrilling, and Ill happily tag along whenever anyone wants to go. At Flower Drum, the service alone is remarkable. Kristoffer Paulsen Flower Drum Look, my friends from California and New York dont need to see most of Melbournes amazing Chinese restaurants, given that the options in their own home towns are so diverse. But Flower Drum is something truly rare, even on a global scale: a fine-dining Cantonese restaurant that does the classics with absolute care, while also innovating. The service alone is remarkable; theres plenty on the wine list for the vinophile, and the diverse clientele showcases the wide range of Australians who appreciate this kind of old-school room.

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17 Market Lane, Melbourne Good Food hat Good Food hat 17 / 20 Review Icon review: Flower Drum is a drum worth beating HONOURABLE MENTION To see what this long tradition of Chinese fine dining has produced in Melbourne in the modern era, a visit to Lee Ho Fook is always worthwhile. Pubs such as the Lincoln help make Melburnians who we are. Eddie Jim

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The pub Whatever the pub means to your household or circle of friends, no matter how daggy or seemingly unimpressive it is, if you have international visitors, take them to the pub you most often frequent. Its a part of Melbourne life that helps to make us who we are. Most of the rest of the world either has no real pubs, or the pubs they do have are nothing compared with ours. (There are obvious exceptions, particularly in the UK, but still: our pubs are great!) My picks: The Standard in Fitzroy, The Lincoln in Carlton, The Brandon in Carlton North, The Builders Arms in Fitzroy if Im feeling fancy. But pubs are a personal choice and I bet yours is just perfect. From classic corner boozers to ritzy bistros: Melbournes best 30 pubs Chef Ross Magnaye at Serai, which couldnt be anywhere but Australia. Eddie Jim

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Serai A cheffy durian-flavoured take on the Golden Gaytime? Modern Filipino dishes made with kangaroo, Murray cod and king prawns? Heres a restaurant that represents Melbournes present and its future, a place that couldnt be anywhere but Australia, and which showcases some of the exciting young talent we have in the city. Racing Club Lane, Melbourne Good Food hat 15 / 20 Review Serai stokes the Filipino fire HONOURABLE MENTION

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I have yet to eat at Askal, the new modern Filipino restaurant in the CBD, but this is a trend Im very excited about. Carlton Wine Room Melbourne does wine bars better than any other city Ive visited, and to prove it I often take visitors, bleary-eyed off a long flight, to Carlton Wine Room. Its such a lovely, convivial space and introduces people to the kind of laid-back excellence available all over the city. Granted, its very near my house, but the great news is that theres probably something equally good near your house, too. 172-174 Faraday Street, Carlton 11 of Melbournes best wine bars

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HONOURABLE MENTIONS Too many for a complete list! Embla, Geralds, Clover, Lilac, Bar Liberty, Commis, Marion, Etta, City Wine Shop, Auterra  I could go on and on. Caretakers Cottage combines world-class drinks with a warm welcome. Supplied Caretakers Cottage Ive recently discovered that it isnt common knowledge that Melbourne has long punched well above its weight in the international cocktail scene. I was aware of its global reputation before moving home, partly because I regularly attended Tales of the Cocktail, an annual conference and awards ceremony in New Orleans where Melbourne bars and bartenders scooped up awards left and right.

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The Melbourne bar currently getting the most accolades is Caretakers Cottage. Housed in a tiny former caretakers cottage smack in the middle of the city, surrounded by skyscrapers, its about the most charming joint around. The owners have resumes that list the citys best bars, and the drinks show it. But so does the sense of welcome, the perfectly calibrated music (spun live by bartenders who double as DJs), the unabashed fun of it all. 139-141 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne HONOURABLE MENTION Again, there are almost too many to name, but Black Pearl must get a shoutout as the tiny bar that helped shoot Melbourne to cocktail fame. Its where almost all the most accomplished bartenders in town have worked at some point, and still makes the best Hemingway daiquiri around. Big Esso

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Peter Duttons Liberals must expect things to get rough in the next parliament. How else to explain the party muscling up, with former SAS soldiers chosen to contest seats at the next election or in the mix for preselection.

What with the presence of another alumnus of the elite regiment, Andrew Hastie, and ex-commando officer, Keith Wolahan, in Duttons ranks, as well as another Afghanistan veteran, Phillip Thompson, future caucus meetings might resemble a Special Forces Association get-together.

Liberal and ex-commando officer Keith Wolahan. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Regular readers of our colleague Peter Hartchers dispatches from the front will be aware that former SAS operator and novelist  thats not as rare as you might think  Mark Wales has his hand up for preselection in the former Liberal safe seat of Tangney in Perth.

Theres a spooky coincidence here, if you believe in those. Dennis Jensen, who held the seat for the Liberals between 2004 and 2016, sounded a much-needed geopolitical warning all the way back in 2002, through his novel The Skywarriors, about the danger of a joint Indonesian-Chinese invasion of our beloved homeland.
I thought it was very cool and I was extremely excited when we were matched, she said when finding out she was paired with detective Brett Weder.

With no picture or name, the blurb said has more than 20 years of experience as a police officer ... worked as an investigator in the child protection unit ... likes fishing.

Staring down a database with descriptions of potential mentors at Griffith Universitys Industry Mentoring Program, Trista Nelson found one that sparked her curiosity.

Studying a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice with the dream of joining Queensland police, Nelson wanted a mentor to help her career.

I hadnt been able to get any work experience in the field so my initial goal was to find someone to talk to who was in the field and could be honest about the job, both the good and the bad and to help me with career readiness, she said.

My mentor gave me more than that. Ive gotten a confidence boost, I gained a lot of insider knowledge, and valuable networking and professional skills.

He encouraged me to go to Queensland Police Services open day where I met a lot of higher-ups in the headquarters. Its something I wouldnt have thought of doing.

Despite finishing her mentorship last year, she continues to stay in touch on a casual basis with her mentor.
Asbestos removal specialist company Grounds Maintenance Australias managing director Steve Marett said laws regulating the industry werent being enforced. The less reputable demolition contractors will bundle all that timber up and send it to a recycling facility that has no real checks and balances, Marett said. They are putting them through these grinders and then theres a little bit of residual asbestos that hasnt been removed in that process and thats ending up in mulch. At least three of the four Hobsons Bay parks are sites related to the state governments Big Build West Gate Tunnel project. The state government released an Asbestos Disposal Management Plan in 2021 that estimated the amount of the material going to landfill would rise from 178,000 tonnes in 2019-20 to 310,000 by 2031.

This masthead revealed in January that a plan to expand the number of safe landfill sites, led by Sustainability Victoria, lost funding beyond March 2024. The program set up three pilot sites but was meant to have eight by June 2022. Loading The Victorian auditor-general audited the plan and said in November that it would not be delivered on time or as intended. The auditor-general also said the government does not understand the scale of asbestos dumping across the state. The government also does not know where and how much asbestos is still in Victorian buildings and structures. This information would help the government forecast patterns of illegal disposal and plan for future infrastructure needs, the agency said. When asked about asbestos dumping, the state government directed questions to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). Employment Minister Vicki Ward said the government had given the EPA the ability to respond quickly to problems such as this.

This is an issue that government is taking really seriously, Ward said. The EPA are out there, theyre on the ground, they are investigating and will continue to monitor this case. Employment Minister Vicki Ward (centre) with Premier Jacinta Allan and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll in 2023. Credit: Getty The EPA asserted on Friday afternoon that it believed pieces of bonded asbestos came to be at Don McLean Reserve in Spotswood from illegal dumping, rather than being mixed in with mulch that was laid at the park in late 2022. The EPA said it had assessed and taken samples from other parks in the area that received mulch from the same source as Donald McLean Reserve. The statement said that while EPA investigations continue the authority believed the issue was localised to Donald McLean Reserve and that the source of asbestos and other contaminants at the site was illegal dumping of construction and demolition waste that occurred after the mulch was delivered.

That information was contradicted just hours later, however, when Hobsons Bay council revealed three other parks had been contaminated and was managing them with the EPA. At 8pm on Friday night the EPA released another statement saying, EPA understands that the mulch at these sites is from a different source to Don McLean Reserve, which has been the focus of EPAs initial investigations. The local father who first raised the alarm about the material also found insulated wires, chunks of brick and concrete, various kinds of plywood, and bits of wood containing nails scattered throughout the mulch. Meanwhile, a playground in Hosken Reserve in Coburg  which until last week was open to the public  was also barricaded off on Friday morning after Merri-bek Council confirmed asbestos-contaminated soil had been unearthed at the reserve. It is unrelated to the mulch issue in Melbournes west.

Yellow tape emblazoned with Asbestos Dust Hazard surrounded the playground and other sections of the 5.5 hectare reserve on Friday, while asbestos removalists in orange protective jumpsuits worked at the scene. Asbestos contamination in Hosken Reserve Coburg North. Credit: Justin McManus Merri-bek Council said the majority of the reserve had been closed to the public since January when asbestos-contaminated soil was first found on site, and that all asbestos found on site was considered non-friable. Asbestos located at the reserve has been localised to soil only and has not been detected in any materials (topsoil or mulch for example) being brought onto the site, a spokesperson said. Local resident Rachel Matton said council was warned the site could be contaminated in 2020, during community consultation ahead of the parks development.

She said a neighbour whod lived in the area for more than 60 years had called for a site stability assessment, as the land had been used as a tipping site and was adjacent to a rubber works and a foundry. Matton said shed taken her two children to play at Hosken Reserve the week before council closed the playground. Residents Simone Hocking with her children and Rachel Matton at the playground where their kids used to play. Credit: Justin McManus Its all very well for them to say its non-friable but have they seen how kids play in the dirt? she said. They put stuff in their mouths. They dig with sticks. I think they need to have a proper handle on where the asbestos is across the entire site and I think they need to do an assessment of parks that have been dug up and developed in the last 10 years to give the community reassurance theyre safe to use.

The council, which said all contaminated soil was being removed by competent and qualified asbestos removalists and was expected to be completed by May 31, said it had tested the site for asbestos before the park was built but it must have been missed. Goldings view. Credit: Matt Golding Soil testing works were carried out via numerous bore sites across the reserve, as this is an industry standard way of working. Bore sites, although useful for large areas, may not detect isolated areas of contaminated soil, as was the case at Hosken Reserve, a spokeswoman said. Diggers were continuing earthworks on other parts of the reserve when The Age visited on Friday. Late on Friday, Merri-bek Council clarified that the playground had only been closed as a precaution and the asbestos-contaminated soil was elsewhere on the reserve.

A council spokeswoman said that the dirt under the tarps on the playground was clean fill and as is regular practice on construction sites, has been covered to reduce dust. Loading The EPA said it was supporting Merri-bek Council to resolve the issue, but did not confirm the agency had visited the site to inspect the clean-up methods. EPA will continue to support council as they resolve this issue, but can reassure the community there is low risk, a spokesperson said. Although the cases in Coburg North and Hobsons Bay were unrelated, they all involve bonded asbestos. Bonded asbestos is generally made up of a small amount of asbestos fibres that are tightly bound in a product such as resin or cement, the EPA statement said. It is considered low risk for people who are in contact with it, unless it is damaged or badly weathered, resulting in asbestos fibres being released into the air.

The EPA said asbestos products were commonly used in houses constructed from the mid-1940s until the late 1980s and may still be found in houses built before 1990. As these houses are demolished, asbestos waste must be legally disposed of to landfill  it must not be reused in mulch or any other product. Unfortunately, illegal dumping of asbestos does occur, as does accidental contamination in construction and demolition waste that is recycled, it said. Asbestos contamination in Coburg North. Credit: Justin McManus It is not unusual for people to find pieces of bonded asbestos in their homes or in the community. If you find suspected asbestos, you should contact your local council environmental health officer or EPA. As a precaution, do not pick it up or handle it. The authority earlier this week said it had carried out proactive inspections at 59 mulch suppliers and found no contamination, although it issued six suppliers to improve their contamination controls.



The EPA has also cleared two schools in Upwey, Melbournes outer east, where asbestos was suspected to have been found on a redeveloped oval. After the discovery of the asbestos at Spotswood this week, a Department of Education spokesperson said it was liaising with all mulch suppliers out of an abundance of caution. Concerns around asbestos contamination in public spaces is heightened following a widespread asbestos-mulch scandal in NSW, where asbestos-contaminated mulch has been found at 75 sites in the past month, including seven schools. Contact the journalist securely: rachaeldexter@protonmail.com
Self-destruction

Israels right to defend itself? Well, yes, absolutely. But the current exercise in indiscriminate collective punishment can hardly be seen as self-defence. Rather, Israel is creating one of the essential conditions for its destruction  the alienation of all its allies.

Colin Smith, Glen Waverley Women or oblivion

Reading Niki Savvas column, (The antics of Liberal men will cost the party the next election, 4/4), had me nodding my head so often I thought it would roll off.

Todays Liberal Party has no idea how to use the talented pool of women that they have, for fear that they would be treading on too many of their own male egos.

This is to their own detriment for becoming even more irrelevant as a viable political party. If they keep on this track, by the next election they will have lost even more of the female vote. The fact that they are still peddling the notion that women politicians need to know their place or stay quiet shows a propensity for the men in the party to not want women to have their finger on the pulse of what needs to done, but to be under the thumb, where they should be. How old fashioned. To ask the men of that party to set aside personal ambition so the party can broaden its appeal is laughable. It is not going to happen. Until women are on an equal footing with the men and the Liberal Party seen to be actively pursuing that, they will remain in the oblivion called opposition for a long time.

Catherine Gerardson, Watsonia North Not just women

Niki Savva may well be right about the Liberals women problem. But it goes broader and deeper than even that. Until they come up with and communicate effectively, policies that Australians want to vote for, it doesnt matter a heck how many women are in their ranks. Right now and it seems for a long time, theyve just been clutching at political straws.

Frank Flynn, Cape Paterson Royal assent unneeded

In the 21st century, it is beyond belief to hear on ABC news that King Charles has approved the appointment of the Australian governments choice of governor general. It is well past time for Australia to grow up and become a truly sovereign and independent nation.

Maire Mills, Alfredton Advice for Mostyn

Lets hope someone tells the incoming governor general, Ms Samantha Mostyn that ministers of the crown are only allowed to hold one portfolio at a time, especially the prime minister. If anyone tries it on, she must blow the whistle. Something her predecessor David Hurley failed to do which flawed his legacy.

Nick Toovey, Beaumaris

Stay of culture wars

The Liberal Party has taken a leaf out of the American Republican Partys playbook, claiming to be the party of the ordinary Australian against the elites, and fomenting culture wars (Dutton whacks supine CEOs in pitch to working class, 3/4). It and its allies at Sky and in the Murdoch press, set out to paint Labor as woke and unAustralian, while they continue their masquerade as being for the Aussie Battler.

So far, Albaneses ALP seems unable to find the courage to avoid false, needless debates on minor issues and get on with making big decisions needed to make our nation less divided between haves and have-nots.

Vast swaths of the American electorate have fallen for Trumps faux ordinary guy act. How will Australia respond to Duttons pitch?

Michael Langford, Ivanhoe Nuclear no solution

The nuclear power industry is an accident of history. It was a byproduct of the need for the USA and other nuclear weapons states to justify the production of nuclear warheads.

The power stations were never a peaceful atom, nor were they ever going to generate electricity too cheap to meter. They now generate at triple the cost of the best coal power stations.

Professors Geoff Bongers and Stephen Wilson, (Its a shame many experts are afraid to say that nuclear must be an option,4/4), have put together a strawman where any blackout is unacceptable: where at least 20per cent of supply must come from an uninterruptible source such as nuclear.

In the Department of Defence in the 1970s, staff in uncooled weatherboard buildings in Melbourne were sent home when it got too hot. The option of allowing men to remove their ties was, of course, beyond the paradigm. And perish the thought of natural cooling by growing trees around the buildings.

Likewise, slightly different means of operating now can reduce the impact of blackouts. We have lived with power outages for hundreds of years. Competent engineers working with other disciplines are going to be the solution.

Australia does not have the time to wait for a nuclear future, nor the spare money to pay for it. Other countries may not have so easy a choice.

Sean McGinn, Clifton Beach, Qld AFLW no sideshow

The idea that it is not sustainable to hold this years AFLW grand final at Marvel Stadium is laughable (No women superheroes in AFL action at Marvel, 3/4). Tickets to last years grand final at Ikon Park sold out in a couple of hours, and that game took place after the start of the cricket season and involved an interstate club. The sad fact is that the AFL appears happy with the status quo, as are the broadcasters, and they are in no hurry to grow the womens game despite what they say. After seven years, fans are still waiting for a proper season rather than a sideshow  a season with a decent number of games played during the football season.

Lindsay Zoch, Mildura My bus meanders

Re Public transport going backwards, say the stats, 4/4.

Even in an established suburb like Eltham, bus transport is inadequate. It is quicker for me to walk the 25 minutes to the train station than to catch the bus, from close to my home. That is because it meanders around Eltham, to collect its few passengers. If there were frequent buses from different parts of Eltham, going directly to the station, more people would find it worthwhile taking them.

As transport emits one fifth of global carbon emissions its important that it becomes more efficient. Effective public transport would also lessen stress in particular for work commuters.

Marguerite Marshall, Eltham Which gets hunted?

My taxes are used to support breeding programs to save the critically endangered plains wanderer bird. At the same time my taxes support the recreational shooting of native quail birds in low light levels with no bird ID test required of the hunter. These birds look very similar. Which do we want Minister Dimopoulos?

Liz Filmer, Sale

Make exams longer

Your correspondent (Letters,Must rethink exams, 4/4) is right about the need to return student assessment to individual invigilated exams. Exams are the only way to ensure that students have learned something other than how to cheat. Over many years, academics have attempted to enrich the learning experience for students by developing real-world based case studies and assignments, so that assessment is based on the ability to do more than regurgitate lectures.

However, the rate of cheating and paying others has increased exponentially to the extent that those who do not cheat are disadvantaged. Students are not learning what the assignments were designed to teach.

While all the research tells us that non-exam assessment enhances learning, it is time to restore three or four hour exams to ensure students learn as they study for those exams. It is time-consuming for academics to set and mark exams, but it is also time consuming to set and mark several pieces of assessment, whether individual or team-based. It is also incumbent on universities to amend their workload and promotion policies to ensure enough emphasis is placed on teaching, not just research  and I say that as a former associate dean of research.

Louise Kloot, Doncaster AND ANOTHER THING Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding Zomi Frankcom

The unfortunate death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues has been put in the category of misidentification after a preliminary investigation by the Israeli military. The entire conflict should be in the category of misidentification as far as I can tell.

Greg Bardin, Altona North The only way Albanese can express anger on the needless death of Zomi is by expelling the Israeli ambassador and getting the Israeli government to compensate the family for her death.

Jane Spier, Seaford

It is disappointing that US senator, Bernie Sanders, was the only prominent public figure to call out the Israeli killings of the aid workers for what it was  murder.

Reg Murray, Glen Iris Individuals and countries providing arms for the ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine are just as responsible for the thousands of deaths as the soldier who fired the rocket.

Wendy Brennan, Bendigo Its not the outrage you express that counts, its the actions you take afterwards that matters, PM.

David Cayzer, Clifton Hill Rather than Israel having an independent inquiry being the definition of an oxymoron, (Letters, 4/4), Id suggest that, international rules of war, takes that honour.

Henry Herzog, St Kilda East The Drum introduced us to a wide range of intelligent women and men, including the incumbent GG, the brilliant Samantha Mostyn. Think again ABC.

Greg Curtin, Nunawading
The Greens will seek to unite conservative Muslim voters with young progressives to take a key Melbourne seat off Labor, in a high-profile electoral contest testing the implications of the Albanese governments nuanced position on the war in Gaza.

In a sign of the minor partys focus on the seat of Wills, Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam announced on Thursday she wanted to quit state politics to run for preselection in the inner-northern seat, which is the epicentre of Melbournes large pro-Palestine protest movement.

Labor MP Peter Khalil and Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, Wayne Taylor

Labor member Peter Khalil, chair of the influential security and intelligence committee, has been repeatedly targeted by pro-Palestine protesters as he works to defend the seat he holds on a margin of 8.5 per cent.

Peter Khalil and Labor have failed renters, failed people who are trying to buy their first home, and failed to condemn the state of Israels invasion of Gaza, Greens leader Adam Bandt said.
Marisa Campion, of the rich-list Rose family, and her hotelier husband Graham have spent Easter in secret negotiations to sell their Vaucluse waterfront home for more than $30 million.

McGraths Luke Hogan and Sothebys Michael Pallier declined to comment on the deal, but were in the process of selling the house as an off-market offering after it failed to sell last year. A well-placed source said the agreed price is an auspicious $30.388 million.

The Campions have sold their Vaucluse waterfront mansion Rockpool. Credit: Domain

It is set to be a lucrative two-year ownership for the Campions, returning a capital gain of more than $5 million, or $190,000 each month they owned it.

The couple had paid $25.27 million for it to former Westpac chief David Morgan and his wife, former Labor MP Ros Kelly, as an upgrade from their $21.5 million pad in Darling Point.
Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law three measures aimed at replenishing the ranks of his countrys exhausted and battered army, including the politically poisonous step of lowering the age when men become eligible for mobilisation, and eliminating some medical exemptions.

Parliament passed the legislation lowering the draft eligibility age to 25, from 27, last May, but Zelensky had delayed signing it in hopes that it would not be needed. He relented on Wednesday and signed the measure, along with laws eliminating a category of medical exemption known as partially eligible and creating an electronic database of men in Ukraine, starting at age 17, to crack down on draft dodgers.

Newly recruited soldiers at the end of their training at a military base close to Kyiv in September. Credit: AP

It is a very unpopular decision, and that is why Zelensky held it without signing, said Volodymyr Ariev, an MP who is in the opposition European Solidarity party. Now he has no choice.

Russias forces have been on the offensive along the front line, and Ukrainian generals have warned of a broader attack in the northern spring or summer, even as Ukraines army runs low on ammunition and many soldiers have been on continual combat duty for two years.
Washington: The United States was looking into a media report that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN.

Explosion and smoke caused by Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Credit: Getty

Kirby, in the CNN interview on Thursday (Washington-time), said the US had not verified the content of the media report published in +972 Magazine and Local Call on Wednesday. It cited Israeli intelligence officials involved in the reported program known as Lavender.

The Israeli Defence Forces, in statements to the media on Thursday, denied that AI was used to identify suspected extremists and targets.

The media report said the Israeli army had marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using the AI system with little human oversight.
By Azernews

Qabil Ashirov

Even though April 4 is marked as the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance for Mine Action in the world, as a result of Armenia's insidious policy, Azerbaijan still remains globally among the most polluted countries with mines and unexploded ordnance. Thus, following Armenia's aggressive policy against Azerbaijan in the 1980s and 1990s, more than 1.5 million landmines have been buried in Azerbaijan's formerly occupied territories, according to preliminary estimates.

It is worth noting that, unfortunately, Armenia's use of mine terrorism against Azerbaijan was not limited to the 1990s. It continued to use this heinous policy even after the Second Garabagh War. Since the end of the Second Garabagh War, 350 Azerbaijani citizens have been victims of landmines; 65 of them died and 285 were seriously injured.

In general, since the beginning of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, about 3429 Azerbaijani citizens have been injured by landmines; 595 of them have lost their lives; and according to the report, 357 of the victims were children, and 38 were women.

The founding of thousands of Armenian-made anti-personnel mines in Garabagh and border areas in fabricated 2021 proves that even after the end of the Garabagh conflict, Armenia planted land mines in Azerbaijani territories using the Lachin-Khankendi road.

In a comment to Azernews on the issue, Neil Watson, the British journalist and expert on energy issues, said that there is no doubt that landmines left over from the first and second Garabagh wars and then planted after the ceasefire in 2020 are the most major issue impacting construction and reconstruction of the liberated territories. He noted that landmines are completely indiscriminate and kill men, women, children, and elderly people.

They remain in the ground for decades after the conflict finishes and become more unstable over time. There are an estimated 1.5 million landmines in the liberated territories, all of Soviet or Russian design but of Armenian manufacture. Recently, there was an event in the British Parliament hosted by one of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Explosive Devices.

An ANAMA spokesman explained the various types of mines, the problems that they represent, and that Armenia has released very few mine maps, which have questionable accuracy. There were then presentations from British partners involved in mine identification and clearance, including those using African pouched brown rats and dogs to find landmines. We also heard how women are being trained in Azerbaijan to find and defuse mines. I have been to Aghdam and Shusha, where no clearance or reconstruction can take place until mines are cleared, and its important for Armenia to help Azerbaijan locate the mines and the international community to assist, he noted.

The Biritish expert mentioned that over 90 percent of demining activities are carried out at the expense of Azerbaijan's internal resources. Although there is cooperation with some foreign partners, overall external support is limited. Watson also emphasised that the issue is delaying the return of the IDPs, which impacts the economy of the region.

The landmine issue is delaying the return of the IDPs. No reconstruction can take place until the land is cleared and made safe. It is impossible to reconstruct and shape new cities until all landmines have been removed from the liberated territories. Given the scale of the problem, this could take two decades and it impacts the development of the economy of the region, the expert concluded.
Sammy Hagar and Guy Fieri relaunch Mezquila spirit

Santo Spirits has relaunched its Santo Mezquila, the brands Tequila/mezcal blend. Originally launched in 2017 to limited markets, the Mezquila has been rebranded to match the brands new look, and will receive its own digital advertising campaign. Santo Mezquila is now available in all 50 US states, as well as Canada, Japan, and Puerto Rico.

A Reputation Earned , the brands marketing campaign, was launched earlier this year along with new look now featured on the Mezquila. The rebrand aimed to give a contemporary feel to the Santo Spirits portfolio, and the accompanying creative campaign highlights the products additive-free credentials.

Santo Spirits is led by business partners Sammy Hagar, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and former Van Halen vocalist and chef and television host Guy Fieri. Hagars previous Tequila brand, Cabo Wabo, sold to the Campari Group in 2007.

Santo Mezquila is made from a Jovan mezcal made in Oaxaca, blended with Santo Spirits Blanco Highland Tequila. Both spirits are made using traditional methods, and are free from additives.

Hagar commented: I launched Santo Mezquila as my long-awaited return to agave spirits after the sale of Cabo Wabo to Campari Group. My vision was to create something that was totally different, packed with personality, but still created using very traditional techniques that let the agave and a light smoke essence shine through. I like to say, Where there is the right amount of smoke, there is flavour.

Santo Mezquila is available via the brands website and at specialist retailers.

4 April 2024 - Lucy Schofield
BJP leaders misinterpreting my statements





Staff Reporter

RAIPUR,

Leader of Opposition in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Dr Charan Das Mahant has given a clarification that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are misinterpreting his statements, which was made in a public meeting in Rajnandgaon on Tuesday. It may be mentioned that Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Dr Charan Das Mahant during the election rally in Rajnandgaon on Tuesday said, We need a man who can look eye to eye and talk to Modi, there is only one person whom you will make an MP, he (Bhupesh Baghel) can stand in front of Modi. Dr Charan Das Mahant has criticised the BJP for distorting his statement and made it clear that the BJP leaders probably do not have knowledge of the customs and culture of Chhattisgarh. Hence my simple and pure Chhattisgarhian sentences are being distorted and presented in a wrong manner. I am purely immersed in Chhattisgarhi culture, he said.

In the vernacular style of Chhattisgarh, I sometimes express myself with phrases embedded in the traditional Lakshana-Vyanjna. While common phrases in Chhattisgarhi, such as Lauthi Dhar ke Dauda Na..., Mar Na Tura La..., flow naturally for locals, those unfamiliar with the customs, language, and culture of Chhattisgarh may misinterpret them, particularly through media representation, clarified Dr Mahant. Furthermore, Dr Mahant emphasized, I possess extensive understanding of the Prime Ministerial position, parliamentary traditions, and decorum. Having served as a four-time MP, five-time MLA, Speaker, and Leader of the Opposition, I am deeply committed to upholding constitutional integrity.

I have engaged in personal dialogues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on numerous occasions, and he is acquainted with me on a personal level. While sharing a photo with Modi, Dr Mahant said, When Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and I was the Union Minister of State for Agriculture in the Government of India, I met him very intimately in a programme organised in Anand, Gujarat. There is no question of making wrong comments on a person who is the Prime Minister not only of BJP but of every Indian. Do not try to spoil the image of Chhattisgarhi like me and relations with top leaders under the guise of petty politics by misrepresenting my feelings, he added.
NDA to fetch 399 seats, I.N.D.I.A. bloc unlikely to cross 100 mark





NEW DELHI,

THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is headed for a landslide victory with close to 400 seats while the Congress-led INDIA bloc is seen getting restricted within the 100 mark, found the INDIA TV in its survey conducted along with CNX agency. INDIA TV-CNX Opinion Poll sought to gauge public opinion, days before the first phase of the Parliamentary election kicks off from April 19. According to the survey findings, the BJP is set to fetch its biggest-ever tally on its own, at 342 seats, and together with allies, it may touch the 400 mark, an ambitious goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As per the opinion poll, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc is likely to fare poorly with all constituents striving to achieve double-digit figures. Congress, the biggest Opposition party, is projected to win just 38 seats while Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, and the DMK are likely to register victory in 19, 3 and 18 seats respectively. Others including Independents are expected to win close to 90 seats. BJP is expected to make a clean sweep and turn some states saffron by claiming victory in all constituencies. They include Gujarat (26 seats), Madhya Pradesh (29), Rajasthan (25), Haryana (10), Delhi (7), Uttarakhand (5) and Himachal Pradesh (4 seats). BJP is also seen striking big in two biggest states of Hindi heartland - Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh, the party is likely to win 77 out of 80 seats (BJP-73, Apna Dal and RLD 2 seats each). Congress and BSP are seen drawing a blank in the state.

In Bihar too, the alliance partners are likely to sweep the state with 38 seats  with BJP claiming victory on 17 and JD(U) on 14 seats and rest by smaller allies. Other states where BJP is likely to get a lions share of seats include Jharkhand (12 out of 14), Assam (11 out of 14), Bengal (22 out of 42), Karnataka (22 out of 28) and Maharashtra (27 of 48 seats). The regional satraps are also seen getting swayed away under the BJP wave as they are unlikely to affect the ruling partys victory march.
SC directs Sharad Pawar faction to ask party workers not to use 'clock' symbol in ads, which has been allotted to Ajit Pawar led NCP bloc.

Date :04-Apr-2024
Vote from Home scheme.. Elderly, disabled voters hail ECs decision as welcome step







New Delhi,

Gul Shivadasani of Delhi thinks the Election Commissions Vote From Home scheme for people aged 85 and above and those with more than 40 per cent disabilities is a welcome step but the Delhi resident would still prefer to cast his vote at the polling booth. For Shivadasani, voting is more than a civic duty -- its an opportunity for him to engage with the wider community. Stepping into the polling booth is one of the few chances I have to interact with people beyond the confines of my home, said Shivadasani, whose outings are mostly restricted to routine medical check-ups or festival gatherings. The Election Commission, while announcing the Lok Sabha polls schedule, unveiled the Vote From Home scheme, designed to facilitate the participation of citizens aged 85 and above and individuals with more than 40 per cent disabilities in the elections. While commending the decision, Shivadasani finds himself at a crossroads. Its a commendable decision but I still prefer casting my vote at the polling booth, Shivadasani said, echoing the sentiment of many in his age group. At home, there is a possibility of my children influencing my decision. At the booth, however, I am confident of making my choice, he added.

Shivadasanis hesitance mirrors the cautious stance adopted by elderly and disabled voters toward the initiative. Shabnam Begum, a wheelchair user in Aligarh, said, Voting is a deeply personal choice and I value the experience of physically casting my ballot. There is also a fear of undue influence (through such schemes). While activists acknowledged that most individuals with disabilities and the elderly would prefer to vote in person, they argued that some require this facility due to the severity of their condition. However, more concerted efforts at raising awareness are imperative, said Muralidharan, general secretary of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD). Not everyone shares Shivadasanis misgivings about the scheme. Feroza Jahan, a 90-year-old Noida resident suffers from paralysis, which has prevented her from casting her vote for more than three decades. When I heard about the scheme, I was thrilled at the prospect of being able to vote.

Though I encountered some difficulties understanding the process, I have registered and eagerly await the opportunity (to vote), she said. Citizens aged 85 and above and persons with disabilities can opt for postal ballots and cast their votes from homes, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had said while announcing the Lok Sabha polls schedule. Generally the tendency has been that the senior citizens want to participate in the process and walk to the booth. This time, we have given them the option to vote from their homes, Kumar had said. Explaining the process, disability rights activist Dr Satendra Singh said the respective booth level officer will contact a voter who has applied for a ballot under the scheme within a five-day deadline, varying from phase to phase. A team comprising two poll officials, a videographer and a security personnel will visit the electors residence at the designated time and date, with a prior intimation sent through SMS, Singh said. He emphasised that missing the visit would result in the loss of the opportunity to vote, whether through postal ballot or Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Himanshu Raha, founder-chairman of Agewell Foundation, said tracking how many elderly there are is a challenge. The last census was in 2011, so knowing the number of elderly above 85 years and the number of people with 40 per cent disability is very difficult ... Most of these people have not even stepped out of their homes for a long time. So, for them to proactively pursue this would be difficult, he said. According to the 2011 census, there were 2.68 crore disabled people -- 2.21 per cent of Indias population that year. There were nearly 10.40 crore elderly people (aged 60 and above) -- 5.30 crore women and 5.10 crore men. Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases from April 19. The votes will be counted on June 4.
A tryst with nostalgia





BY DR ANUSHREE CHAUDHARI

HAVE you visited a place you had been a part of and experienced the energy of that campus with every cell of your body? The emotions start filling you up and suddenly you feel choked with too many weird feelings overpowering you. Its a bittersweet experience; a part of you reminds you of the beautiful moments you once lived there but the other part reminds you that the tide has turned and there is no going back Suddenly the responsibilities weighing on your shoulders in the present seem heavier and you yearn for those carefree days. I had a tryst with Nostalgia recently when I visited my MBBS graduation college, Seth GS medical, and it was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, to say the least. As it happened, I was in Mumbai and had an hour before heading to the airport when I decided to squeeze in a visit to my Alma mater. Mere driving on the Parel streets made my heart swell with joy but my hands tremble! I was teary eyed not because of sadness, but more so because the place had opened the doors to the memories that had got cramped in some corner of my heart, unvisited for nearly 15 years! The uneasiness was replaced by excitement as I walked down the long corridors of my college building.

The dissection hall, where we used scalpels on pounds of human flesh guided by the pansophical Cunningham unaffected by the musty stench of formaldehyde, hadnt changed a bit! The pathology lab where we racked our brains identifying mind -muddling slides and specimens gave me goosebumps. The walls were the same so were the tall desks! At the end of the corridor was a passageway that led to the Library, the shrine for searching souls! (Many searching for answers, some for soulmates!) I remembered how we spent hours looking into the books, mugging up lessons after lessons, taking in all the information they had to offer like a sponge! As if our lives depended on them! We were naive but we, yes all of us, did unweariedly walk the untrodden path to finally find our fates! I entered the reading room, which was my haven during the last year of preparation for post graduation, the last bridge to cross! The heaps of books which decorated the tall tables were replaced by tablets! The bugs laden, hard wooden seats were replaced by modern maroon cushioned chairs! The lady had gotten her makeover! What a relief it was! The so called badminton court outside the library had gotten a facelift too, a new roof and new wooden floors adorned the once open air courtyard!

As I proceeded to the canteen, the empty kattas which once bustled with life and laughter (and dogs!) made me feel empty too... The sadness and surprise at how a place once the nerve of the campus lost its importance with time taught me that nothing is permanent but change. But every rule has an exception! The window for dispensing cutting chai for students hurrying and worrying through their breaks was still there in the canteen! Same unpainted ragged walls and ragged roof so lame. But with many new exotic dishes (prawns masala!) having made it to the same old little shining, black board of fame! And finally one familiar face! The one sitting on the cash counter recognised me and suddenly I felt like the small girl chasing her dreams. Instantly we took a selfie, he was proudly beaming with a grin and so was I! I somehow belonged there yet felt out of place. What I missed was the familiar faces that used to occupy it once. It hit me that the place will keep on surviving without me, new people will come and again move out only to be again replaced by new ones. This rude reality that life does go on and you cannot hold it tight in your fist is unnerving. Everything that begins has to end one day. What remains are the memories.
Drug dealer fires gun shots at goon over enmity in Sitabuldi





Staff Reporter

A drug dealer fired shots at a criminal over business enmity in Anand Nagar area under the jurisdiction of Sitabuldi Police Station on Tuesday morning. The injured criminal was identified as Zainul Abedin Salim Qureshi (31), a resident of Gaddigodam. The accused was identified as Mrunal Gajbe (30), a resident of Anand Nagar. The police are also suspecting the role of Rahul alias Golu Gondane, Sameer Dudhankar, and Nitin Gupta in the case. According to police, Zainul has a history of criminal cases and affiliations with notorious goons in Jafar Nagar. Last year, he was arrested by the police for planning a robbery. He is known to be addicted to ganja and MD powder, and for several months, he had been coercing drug sellers for money and narcotics. Similarly, he had been threatening Mrunal, who operates a drug business in Central Nagpur. Mrunal had previously served jail time for involvement in drug-related offences and had been released only a few months ago, with multiple criminal cases registered against him. Police claimed that repeated harassment from Zainul for money led to numerous disputes between the two, often occurring over phone calls.

On Wednesday morning, Zainul threatened Mrunal. After sometime, Mrunal called Zainul for a meeting in Anand Nagar to resolve the matter. Alongside Zainul, Rahul, and Sameer arrived at Anand Nagar around 7.30 am. Nitin Gupta, the director of Ganesh Farsan in Gaddigodam, was also called upon to mediate due to his prior conflict with Mrunal, said police. However, tensions escalated, leading Mrunal to draw his pistol and fire at Zainul. Despite missing his target initially, Mrunals second shot struck Zainul in the stomach as he attempted to disarm Mrunal. Injured, Zainul fled the scene, while Rahul and Sameer also escaped. Nitin was caught and assaulted by Mrunal and his associates, who allegedly deleted CCTV footage from the complexs cameras during the altercation.
Kharge launches Congress Ghar Ghar Guarantee initiative





NEW DELHI :

AHEAD of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday launched the partys Ghar Ghar Guarantee initiative here under which it aims to reach out to eight crore households across the country and make them aware of its guarantees. Kharge launched the initiative from Usmanpur, Kaithwada, in the North East Delhi Parliamentary Constituency and distributed pamphlets on the partys Paanch Nyay Pachees Guarantee.

We are distributing this guarantee card to take our Panch Nyay Pachees Guarantee to people. We want to take this initiative to eight crore households across the country, Kharge said. All Congress leaders and workers will take this card to households across the counts and will tell people what our alliance government will do when it assumes power, he added. Kharge hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, We give a guarantee that our Government has always worked for people and will always do so. PM Modi talks about Modi ki Guarantee but his guarantee never reaches the people, he said. The Prime Minister talked about 2 crore jobs a year but people never got them, Kharge said.

We want to tell the country that whatever we promise, we fulfil, Kharge asserted. The Congress chief also recalled how its Governments in the past have given guarantees and programmes like MGNREGA, RTI, Right to Food and Right to Education even though it did not promise them. Raising the issue of Income Tax authorities giving notices to the Congress, Kharge said, This government wants to scare us and the I-T dept took Rs 135 crore from our funds. Can an election be held fairly in a democracy in such a manner? Asserting that the people want democracy and they want to protect the countrys Constitution, he said, I dont know why people vote for those who lie to them and mislead them. The Congress poll pitch is centred around Paanch Nyay or five pillars of justice, namely Yuva Nyay, Naari Nyay, Kisaan Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay as well as the guarantees made by it to the people under these heads. The Congress will release its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections here on April 5 with its top leaders addressing mega rallies in Jaipur and Hyderabad the next day. The party has already launched its new slogan #HaathBadlegaHalaat -- referring to the Congress poll symbol of hand -- on social media platforms.
NATO marks its 75th birthday as war in Ukraine and rising populism gnaw at its unity

Brussels, Apr 4 (AP)

NATO will celebrate on Thursday 75 years of collective defense across Europe and North America as Russia's war on Ukraine enters its third year and sorely tests the allies' resolve while rising populism gnaws at their unity.

At a cake-cutting ceremony in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts will mark the moment the alliance's founding treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, in Washington. A bigger celebration is planned when NATO leaders meet in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Sweden's foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, is taking part in the first ministerial-level meeting since his country became NATO's 32nd ally last month. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 drove Sweden and its Nordic neighbor Finland into NATO's arms.

The alliance's ranks have almost tripled over more than seven decades from its 12 founding members, but Finland and Sweden joined in record time to shelter under NATO's collective security guarantee, after coming under pressure for compensation from populist leaders in Turkey and Hungary.

That promise  Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which has been shipped to Brussels for the ceremony  stipulates that an attack on any one of their number must be met with a united response. It's only ever been used once, after the Al-Qaeda attacks on U.S. Soil in 2001.

NATO was founded on a single, solemn promise: An attack on one ally is an attack on all, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve of the anniversary. From that foundation, we have built the most powerful and successful alliance in history.

Blinken described NATO as a defensive alliance with no designs on the territory of any other country, but with a determination to protect the territory of each of its members and to do it in a way that has been unique in human history.

Among the more recent successes as it grew from the Cold War and after the Berlin Wall collapsed, NATO would count its 1999 air campaign against former Yugoslavia to end a bloody crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and its effort to avert near civil war in Macedonia in 2001.

At the other end of the scale lies the operation in Afghanistan. NATO took command of the security effort in 2003 and it became the longest, costliest and deadliest in alliance history. It was marked by a chaotic retreat in August 2021, many of the successes over almost two decades abandoned.

Today, Ukraine also wants a seat at NATO's table, but the alliance works on unanimity and there is no consensus on whether it should join. Most allies oppose membership while war rages on anyway. For now, NATO promises only that its door is open for Ukraine to walk through one day in the future.

Putin said he launched the war, in part at least, because NATO was expanding closer to Russia's borders.

NATO allies cannot agree on whether to arm Ukraine either. As an organization, the alliance only provides non-lethal support like transport vehicles, fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and demining equipment. However, many members provide arms and ammunition bilaterally or in groups.

The bulk of NATO's efforts since Russian troops began massing for the invasion has focused on reinforcing its own borders near Russia and Ukraine to dissuade President Vladimir Putin from targeting any of the allies next.

Article 5 was given perhaps its toughest test during Donald Trump's term as president of the United States  by far NATO's most powerful member country. Trump suggested the U.S. Might not come to the defense of any NATO ally who declined to boost their own defense spending to at least 2% of gross domestic product, as they had agreed to do in 2014.

Trump has repeated the threat during election campaigning this year. NATO predicts that 18 of its 32 members will reach that target this year, up from only 3 a decade ago.

Hungary and Turkey's leaders have also undermined NATO unity from within. Hungary insists that it's time to make peace with Russia and has in the past vetoed high-level meetings with Ukraine. Turkey, backed by Hungary, also delayed Sweden's membership to win defense contract promises.

The two are likely to test their partners' patience again as NATO seeks a replacement for Stoltenberg, who is one of the longest-serving secretaries-general and steps down in October. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is by far the favorite for the job.




Mumbai, Apr 4 (PTI)

A day after being expelled from the Congress, former MP Sanjay Nirupam hit out at the grand old party on Thursday and claimed there is "tremendous arrogance" in the party leadership.

Addressing a press conference here, Nirupam further claimed the Congress is now history and has no future and that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is a merger of three "sick units".

There are five power centres in the Congress -- the three Gandhi family members, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and (party general secretary) K C Venugopal, Nirupam said.

"The Nehruvian secularism which has no place for religion in the society has expired," he claimed.

The opposition MVA comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Kharge late Wednesday evening approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect.

Nirupam said his criticism of the Congress for allowing the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) to walk away with a major chunk of seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections cannot be termed as an "anti-party" activity.

The former MP from Mumbai North alleged the action against him was taken at the behest of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been surrounded by people who have no connect with the grassroots, he further claimed.

"The party leadership has become outdated and scrap," he charged.

The Congress has now rusted but there is "tremendous arrogance in the party leadership," Nirupam claimed as he targeted Maharashtra party president Nana Patole and Venugopal.

"India is a religious country. But the Congress termed the 'pran pratishtha' of Lord Ram (idol of Ram Lalla at a temple) in Ayodhya as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) event, thereby denying the existence of Lord Ram," he said.

Nirupam declined to spell out his future course of action, but said he will contest the Lok Sabha poll and win.

To a question on whether he will contest as an independent, he replied in negative.

The former Mumbai Congress chief also claimed there was "ideological confusion" in the party.

Nirupam, who was eyeing the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, has been miffed with the Congress for allowing the Shiv Sena (UBT) to take the seat for the parliamentary polls.

The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the Maharashtra Congress leadership for "ceding" constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party during seat-sharing talks of the MVA for the Lok Sabha elections.

Nirupam said what he spoke in the public was not against the Congress, but he was asking the party not to surrender to the Shiv Sena (UBT).

"Secularism doesn't mean disregarding one's own religion," he said.

If a party acts against its own leaders at the behest of others, what remains of it? he said.

"The Congress is now history and has no future," he claimed.

Nirupam said those who want to write his political obituary will feel the ground beneath them sinking after June 4, the day of counting of votes for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Property prices scale up as guidelines come into effect





Staff Reporter

New property guidelines 2024-25 has been imposed in Bhopal from April 3 after consent of the Election Commission of India. Earlier, the guidelines were proposed to be effective from April 1. In view of Model Code of Conduct imposed for the Lok Sabha elections, Inspector General of Registration and Superintendent Stamp, MP, postponed the order. On Wednesday, the Election Commission released no objection for the execution of new guidelines. With the new property guidelines in force, the prices at 1,443 locations have scaled up on an average by 7.19 %. Properties around Kolar, Salaiya, Ayodhya Bypass and Misrod have highest hike ranging from 25% to 94%. There are 22 colonies in urban areas are also under the guidelines.

As per Collector Guidelines, property prices at 1,443 locations in Bhopal increased on an average 7.19 % from April 3. There are 3900 locations in Bhopal including 3110 urban and 790 rural locations. The new guidelines includes 1443 locations where price has been bloated. This 1443 locations have seen the price rise includes 1228 urban and 215 rural areas. The remaining 2457 locations would remain same as there is no increment in property price. Sources said that areas having proposal of higher price rise includes infrastructure projects. Kolar area has six lane project, Ayodhya Nagar 10 lane project and 100 bed hospital and removal of Bhanpur Khanti. At Hoshangabad Road, double decker fly over, new RoB in Salaiya and demand of people became main reason of price rise.

Highest rise has been allowed in areas like Misrod ward no 52 Drishti Emclave, Bawadiyakala 44.23%, Hoshangabad Road Chinar Safair 42.04%, Kolar Kanha Kunj Gram Gehukheda 42.04%, Ayodhya Nagar Housing Board 40.10%, Surbhi campus 40%, Misrod Ward 52 comfort enclave and Khanuj Enclave and Lakshmi campus 38.88%. Officials said that for purchasing plot, house, flat etc, people will be paying additional stamp duty price that would make the property costly.
Reward for telling whereabouts of ex-VC, Registrar of RGPV





Staff Reporter

In the latest series of developments against the former Vice Chancellor Sunil Kumar, Registrar R S Rajput, Financial Controller Rishikesh Verma and Kumar Mayank of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), Bhopal Police have announced reward of worth Rs 3,000 against their arrest for allegedly transferring universitys money worth Rs 19.48 crore into their bank accounts. Probing into the matter, a case was registered under sections 420(A), 467(A), 468(A), 409(A) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7(A), 13(1)A, 13(2) of the anti corruption act 1988 and 2018. Kumar Mayank was arrested on March 22 and is under judicial custody on the orders of court whereas Sunil Gupta, Rakesh Rajput and Rishikesh Verma are currently being searched by the police. Professor Sunil Kumar Gupta has earlier appealed for the bail that was rejected by the court on April 2. On April 3, his plea was rejected by the court and bail application was rejected.

Saffron party student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is demonstrating in this case for past two months. The alleged scam of only technical university in Madhya Pradesh put many officials under scanner. Three days back, ABVP also launched gherao of Police Commissioner office demanding to arrest the accused. They alleged that after revealing the scam, police has not arrested the main accused. The demonstrators demanded to arrest the accused on immediate basis. They alleged that police is trying to save the accused. Shivam Jat, Regional Media Co-ordinator of ABPV said, RGPV has came under scanner after the scam of Rs 20 crore was revealed. Police have not arrested even after lodging FIR against five people including the former Vice Chancellor Sunil Gupta. Some of the accused are absconded and a few of them have left the country. We are demanding strict action against the accused. Police has not arrested any main accused which is not acceptable. He further said the scam is not limited to Rs 20 crore while many other scams are there in campus.

Prestigious and only technical university of state is gripped into alleged scam of Rs 20 crore. A three-member committee comprising director skill development Somesh Mishra, Rajesh Verma, Vice Chancellor of Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur and Pushpalata Shekhar, financial advisor of Directorate of Technical Education was already formed to probe the matter. The committee submitting its report to the Government and after that FIR was lodged against five including the former Vice Chancellor Sunil Kumar Gupta. Former VC Gupta had also resigned from his posts and new VC was given charges. According to reports, RGPV generates large amount of revenue due to which bank approaches the university making FDR. Sources said, registrar RS Rajput decided to submit Rs 10 crore in the bank. One account was opened in RBL bank on the name of university while the second account was opened in Axis bank on personal name.

Registrar has given final approval for the both accounts on note-sheet and financial controller also approved the both accounts without any verification. Later allegation was made that no approval was taken from the former Vice Chancellor Sunil Gupta for submitting such big amount. Rs 8 crore was credited in the university account at RBL bank and Rs 2 crore was credited to a personal account name as Mayank in Axis bank. Sources said that 2 crore were submitted the personal account of person who is working in the Axis bank. However, the account has been seized and Government has formed three member committee to probe the case. Taking cognizance over the allegation, registrar RS Rajput was sent to his original department and additional director DTE Mohan Sen has been assigned with the responsibility of registrar temporarily.
Sharmas Show of Strength.. Smriti Irani targets Congress over SDPI support; hails State BJP





Senior Special

Correspondent

Union Minister of Women and Child Development of India and BJP leader Smriti Irani on Wednesday campaigned in States Panna for BJP leader V D Sharma, who is contesting from the Khajuraho constituency and asserted that Congress has accepted its defeat even before voting in this Lok Sabha seat. Congress has accepted its defeat even before voting in this Lok Sabha seat. This is the reason Congress is not contesting from this seat, said Smriti Irani.

Notably, under the seat sharing arrangement with Samajwadi Party, Congress has left this seat. Launching an attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) extended support to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Lok Sabha elections, she roared that If you threaten to defame the country, it will not tolerate and wont forgive you (Tumne Agar Desh Ko Kalankit Krne Ke Liye....).

In a veiled attack on Congress, She said , They are now asking for support from terrorist organisations. They are these people who opposed the abrogation of Article 370A in the Parliament. These are the people who asked the soldiers to present the proof of Air strikes in Balakot. Today these people threaten the country for power. Earlier on Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief V D Sharma filed his nomination papers from Khajuraho Parliamentary seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections at Panna collector office. Along with Irani, State BJP chief was accompanied by State Cabinet Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, BJP MLAs Brijendra Pratap Singh and Sanjay Pathak on the occasion. Irani further congratulated VD Sharma and other party workers for their hard work. Thats why BJP is creating landmark success in the state. Slamming practice of dynasty politics, She said, people who are born in political families possess haughtiness and think that power is their political birthright. It is also displayed by those who inherit power as a legacy.
SOME WAY TO GO





THE optimism expressed by Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar about India getting the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is certainly welcome. For, Dr. Jaishankar is man who speaks only if there is a substance in the matter. However, his optimism was cautious, to say the least, as he hinted at the need to do some more work in the direction of getting permanent membership of the UNSC. Obviously, such a change is going to claim some more time and more conscious and well--directed effort on part of India to make possible appropriate reforms in the United Nations. Going by the current global conditions, such a likelihood does not appear to have arrived round the bend. Of course, some positive changes are visible in the global order in the past some years. India has established itself as a major global player -- economically, militarily, culturally, and diplomatically. Its voice is being heard attentively, and it has earned honourable positions at different top-level global forums. Thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Dr. Jaishankar in diplomatic domain, increasing numbers of nations now look to India for advice and assistance in handling their affairs in the international arena.

Yet, breaking into the top league at the UNSC will require much more and much harder work of a focused nature so that others in the elite club begin accepting Indias prowess as a reality of the global geopolitics. Dr. S. Jaishankar is fully aware of this reality and therefore expressed only a cautious optimism about the permanent membership of the Security Council. The question is not just of the permanent membership of the UNSC; it has a larger ramification to be addressed through path-breaking reforms in the UNs form and content. In other words, the current global power-structure will have to demonstrate a willing acceptance of India -- and maybe a few other countries -- into the top layer of international realpolitik. Though most countries appear favourable to such reforms, making those come around to taking actual steps in that direction will require a lot of conscious work done in a mission mode. It is quite possible that after the ensuing Lok Sabha elections when Mr. Modi returns as Prime Minister for the third time in a row, India will ramp up its efforts about UNSCs permanent membership. By then, Mr. Modi may get acknowledged as the worlds senior-most leader occupying the top position in his country for such a long time.

This seniority, this vast experience in handling international as well as internal affairs with elan will add much gravitas to Indias claim to permanent UNSC membership. There certainly are a few national leaders with good number of years in top positions in their respective countries, all right. But Mr. Modi is outstanding in the sense he has remained at the top through a democratic process -- which may not be the case with some other world leaders. This difference will add a greater weight and rightfulness to Indias claim. Obviously, the process will have its own dynamics and Dr. S. Jaishankar is fully aware of its intricacies. Hence his cautious optimism. For the common Indians, however, the fact that a permanent membership of the UNSC is visible in the distance, is good enough a thought to invigorate their sense of pride. This is no less a gain from multiple angles -- particularly for the people who are about to begin the process of electing their Parliament in the next few weeks. Everybody in India will look forward to that moment when world powers agree for UNSC reforms.
Steps afoot to ensure ease on polling day





By Vaishnavi Pillay

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an extreme heat warning for Vidarbha, raising concerns about its potential impact on voter turnout in the upcoming elections. As temperatures soar, administrators and meteorologists are working to make arrangements and inform respectively, to ensure safety and participation of voters in this crucial democratic exercise. Pravin Mahire, Deputy District Election Officer, while speaking to The Hitavada, outlined the measures being taken to safeguard voters from the sweltering heat, ensuring a smooth voting process for all, including those with physical disabilities. These efforts include following the Election Commission of Indias Assured Minimum Facilities guidelines, including installing coolers at polling centres, providing adequate drinking water facilities, and deploying medical teams to attend to any heat-related emergencies.

Mahire highlighted that for the first time token system will be introduced in case of potential overcrowding at polling centres. Usually each person takes two to three minutes to cast vote. To effectively manage crowds and prevent overcrowding, voters will be able to collect tokens and return home. The token will inform them of the designated time slot when they can return to vote. Additionally, voters can contact the centre to inquire about the current crowd status, explains Mahire. Mahire mentioned that creche for children will be set-up by social welfare groups at polling booths under the guidance of trained attendants and volunteers to ensure that children are comfortable while their parents wait to cast their votes. Tents will be installed in front of polling centres to provide shade and relief from direct sunlight. Waiting rooms will be accessible to all voters, and a free mobile van pick-up and drop service will be offered to persons with disabilities who have registered their contact details and residential address. Additionally, wheelchairs will be made available at polling booths, noted Mahire.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Azerbaijan proposes to plan and implement joint environmental monitoring in the Caspian Sea, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Umayra Taghiyeva said, Trend reports.

She made a remark during the five-sided meeting of leading officials of the Prosecutor Generals' Offices of the Caspian littoral states held in Baku.

"In the last three years, approximately 20.211 million fish fry, including 1.771 million sturgeon fry, have been released into the Caspian Sea and other inland water bodies. Regular expeditions with the research vessel Alif Hajiyev of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources are carried out to assess the environmental situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan's part of the Caspian Sea, study biological resources and the hydrological condition of the sea, and determine the possible negative impact on the marine environment," she said.

According to her, the ministry is ready to share the monitoring data collected during these expeditions with all interested parties.

"At the same time, we propose to plan and implement joint environmental monitoring in the Caspian Sea," she added.

To note, Baku is hosting a five-sided meeting of the heads of the Prosecutor General's Offices of the Caspian littoral states.

The event is also attended by Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, high-ranking officials of the Prosecutor Generals' Offices of Azerbaijan and Caspian littoral states, as well as other seniors.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The Caspian Initiative will be implemented within the framework of the Climate Action agenda, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Umayra Taghiyeva said, Trend reports.

She made a remark during the five-sided meeting of leading officials of the Prosecutor General's Offices of the Caspian littoral states taking place in Baku.

"As you are aware, this year Azerbaijan will host the important international event COP29. The Caspian Initiative will be undertaken in parallel with the negotiation process as part of the Climate Action agenda. This, in turn, can form a basis for solving the Caspian crisis not only at the national and regional levels but also at the international level, within the context of climate change adaptation programs," she said.

To note, Baku is hosting a five-sided meeting of the heads of the prosecutor generals of the Caspian littoral states.

The event is also attended by Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, high-ranking officials of the Prosecutor Generals' Offices of Azerbaijan and the Caspian littoral states, as well as other officials.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The Caspian Sea is a source of immeasurable natural riches, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Zhandos Umiraliyev said, Trend reports.

He made a remark during the five-sided meeting of senior officials of the Prosecutor Generals' Offices of the Caspian littoral states in Baku.

"The Caspian Sea is a source of enormous natural wealth that serves as a reminder of the need to treat nature with care and responsibility. We're dealing with complex environmental issues. Global warming, sea-level changes and decline, industrial and oil development, and excessive sprouting are all on the horizon. We are aware of these and are willing to collaborate to find effective solutions," he said.

According to him, the prosecution authorities of the Caspian littoral countries are of particular importance in this context.

"We have a suitable mandate that allows us not only to enforce the rule of law in the sphere of environmental preservation but also to contribute to the creation and implementation of novel ways to protect it. This will necessitate the integration of knowledge and expertise, as well as the development of collaborative efforts. Finally, they must ensure the long-term viability of this distinctive ecosystem. I am convinced that we will be able to offer an example of successful interstate collaboration in the area of environmental responsibility," he added.

To note, Baku is hosting a five-sided meeting of the heads of the prosecutor generals of the Caspian littoral states.

The event is also attended by Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, high-ranking officials of the Prosecutor Generals' Offices of Azerbaijan and the Caspian littoral states, as well as other persons.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The development of the North-South transport corridor requires the active cooperation of the Caspian countries, Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Pyotr Gorodov said, Trend reports.

Gorodov made the remark at the five-party meeting of the prosecutor generals of the Caspian states held in Baku.

"Caspian countries' friendly and neighborly relations are increasing. Collaboration in the energy sector is expanding. In terms of transportation projects, the expansion of the North-South corridor from St. Petersburg to Mumbai requires cargo transportation across the Caspian Sea, he emphasized.

The official also stated that the Caspian Sea's environmental safety is a top priority for the Caspian States.



He claims that Russia places a high priority on preserving the Caspian Sea zone.



Gorodov stated that the current meeting exemplifies excellent interstate collaboration in the realm of environmental responsibility.

The five-party meeting of the Caspian prosecutor generals is focused on environmental hazards in the Caspian Sea as well as the Caspian prosecutor's offices' marine environment preservation policy.



The ceremony is attended by Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, top officials from Azerbaijan's and other Caspian countries' Prosecutor General's Offices, as well as Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva and other high-ranking authorities.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Pakistan and Azerbaijan need to extend the bilateral trade to its true potential, said Pakistans Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan, as he met with Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov, Trend reports via Pakistans Ministry of Commerce.

Minister Jam Kamal underscored the imperative to fully harness the historical, political, and economic bonds between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, urging the resolution of trade-related issues to unlock their bilateral trade's true potential.

Highlighting a rise in exports to Azerbaijan from $9.70 million in 2021-2022 to $12.08 million in 2022-2023, Minister Jam Kamal also notes increased imports, mainly fertilizers.

Both nations are actively negotiating a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), with finalized drafts in progress.

Ambassador Khazar Farhadov emphasized the significance of high-level visits to fortify bilateral relations and enhance trilateral cooperation with Turkiye. He accentuates the resumption of LNG supplies from Azerbaijan to Pakistan and the prospects for mutual investments, particularly in energy and IT sectors.

Noteworthy is Azerbaijan's exemption of Pakistani rice from import customs duty until December 2027, reflecting a goodwill gesture.

Minister Jam Kamal reiterated Pakistan's dedication to enhancing commercial and economic ties, stressing the importance of people-to-people engagement and the PTA's signing to amplify trade volume and foster new business opportunities.

Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. An official welcome ceremony has been held for President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso who arrived in the Republic of Azerbaijan for an official visit, Trend reports.

A guard of honor was arranged for the Congolese President in the square decorated with the national flags of the two countries.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso.

The chief of the guard of honor reported to the Congolese President.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso saluted the Azerbaijani soldiers.

The heads of state reviewed the guard of honor.

The state anthems of the Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Azerbaijan were played.

The delegation of Azerbaijan was introduced to the Congolese President, while the delegation of the Republic of the Congo was introduced to the President of Azerbaijan.

The guard of honor marched in front of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso to the accompaniment of a military march.

The presidents posed for official photos.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the detention of a Nigerian accused of being a member of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Emmanuel Osase, for 60 days.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Court gave the order following a motion ex-parte filed by the Department of State Services (DSS).

During Wednesdays proceedings, the counsel for DSS told the court that the matter was brought pursuant to section 66(1) of the terrorism (prevention and prohibition) Act 2022.

He prayed the court for an order enabling the service to detain the respondent for 60 days pending the conclusion of the investigation.

Ruling, Justice Ekwo, a vacation judge, granted the prayer of the service.

He subsequently adjourned the matter till June 3, 2024.

Osase, who was arrested on March 11, was accused of propagating the messages of the terrorist group, opposing the democratic system of government in Nigeria, and calling for terrorist attacks on Nigeria and its symbols of sovereignty.

The DSS had stated that Osase was jailed for five years for terrorism-related offences in France and was deported after the completion of his sentence.

The Service noted that from its preliminary investigation, Osase was still involved in terrorist activities.
The President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation Nigeria, Samuel Agbeluyi, has disclosed that ahead of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms full-year report, certain governors are already streamlining the different taxes they collect within their states, signalling the end of multiple tax systems.

This was disclosed by Agbeluyi at the Pre-Conference press briefing for the 26th Annual Tax Conference themed Sustainable Tax Culture and Economic Roadmap for Nation Building to be held in Abuja next month.

He said, The presidential tax committee, under the leadership of Taiwo Oyedele, has helped some states in reducing their tax collections from 65 to 10, thereby bringing sanity within the tax system."

According to Agbeluyi, There is no civilised society globally that tolerates road blockades. In regions where roads are still blocked and unaffiliated groups are collecting taxes, we must cease this practice. Taxpayers hold a position of importance and deserve respect. By treating them with reverence, they are likely to cooperate willingly.

We commend the customer-focused strategy of the new Federal Inland Revenue Service, as this approach is followed globally. The sub-nationals dont need to tax people into poverty, especially people that earn very low."

He further urged the governments to establish partnerships with wealthy individuals, courteously engage them, express gratitude, and enhance revenue collection from them. This approach aligns with international standards and practices.

He said, Let us refrain from taxing poverty. I have confidence that individuals at the sub-national levels are listening to this advice."

Agbeluyi expressed that the institute is currently training some workers at the state internal revenue on how to track and generate income and also profiling Nigerians, especially the people who engage in spending sprees and flaunt their money on social media.

He further advised that, An independent State Internal Revenue Service should operate independently from the State Ministry of Finance, and states that have adopted this model have seen positive results.

We must shift our focus from solely concentrating on the federal government to also paying attention to the sub-national entities.

Nigerias growth cannot be achieved by solely concentrating on the federal government," he added.
In recent political discourse, Rivers State's governance landscape has been defined by a series of headlines, each capturing the intricate dynamics at play. From Punch Newspapers' "Secondus, PDP campaign council back Fubara,.." to Channels Television's "Rivers Reps Member Declares Support For Fubara." Governor Siminalayi Fubara's influence continues to gather party consolidation and peoples mass support.

Traditional institutions add weight to Fubara's support, as seen in Channels Television's "Rivers Traditional Council Pledges Support For (Fubara)," showcasing the fusion of political and traditional spheres.

However, amid Fubara's ascent, warning signs emerge. "Wike Gets Final Warning As Atiku's Men throw support for Fubara, a threatening and powerful which are more signals to Wike as he continues to disregards the shifting political landscape.

These headlines provide a snapshot of Rivers State's evolving political arenaFubara's rise juxtaposed with cautionary signals for Minister Nyesom Wike's deeply stubborn personal and political actions.

In the midst of conflicts, Minister Nyesom Wike finds himself at odds with prominent figures like former Governor Peter Odili and former Justice Mary Odili, erstwhile allies turned adversaries in their support for Fubara.

Reports and videos such as "Wike Embarrasses Peter & Mary Odili - Lambasts His Benefactors For Dumping Him To Back Fubara" from the media reveal the intensity of these clashes, highlighting Wike's resentment and escalating tensions.

Amid escalating conflicts, it's crucial for Minister Wike to recognize the futility of perpetuating discord. Instead of targeting former allies, he must foster collaboration and dialogue for a harmonious political environment.

At the heart of Wike's political predicament lies Rivers State, where shifting alliances define the landscape. His confrontational stance risks destabilizing governance, as evidenced by headlines like "Rivers Assembly Threatens Fubara with Impeachment." Let's add this, again.

As Wike navigates mounting pressures, he must heed warning signs. Despite his confidence, uncertainties loom large, threatening to overshadow his accomplishments. The threat of impeachment by pro-Wike assembly legislators against Fubara, despite their political instability, underscores Wike's uphill battle against Fubara's entrenched influence.

In the face of mounting adversity, Minister Wike must chart a new course. Prioritizing dialogue, reconciliation, and collaboration over discord and division which is paramount. Stepping back from frequent travels to Rivers State and avoiding high-tension functions could provide a much-needed respite. Minister Wike must recognize that continued stress and conflict not only jeopardize his job but possibly his physical and mental health.Stress, frustration, and anger associated with prolonged disputes can lead to impaired decision-making and strained relationships.

In the annals of Nigerian politics, there comes a time when fortunes wane, and Minister Wike may be approaching that juncture. The stakes are high, and the end may indeed be near. Yet, amidst the uncertainty lies an opportunity for redemptiona chance to recalibrate, reflect, and emerge stronger from adversity.

As the winds of change sweep across the political landscape, Minister Wike stands at a crossroads. Will he heed the call for reform and reconciliation, or will he stubbornly cling to a path of strife and discord? Only time will tell. But in the turbulent waters of Nigerian politics, the journey ahead promises to be anything but possible huge fall.

While Minister Wike may be credited with successes in implementing projects in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, the repercussions of his confrontational approach even in FCT with different local interest is in the news frequently.

This is in addition to the ongoing conflicts with Governor Fubara and others which not only destabilize the state but also reflect poorly on his capacity for collaborative work.

The recent threat of impeachment against Governor Fubara by members of the Rivers State Assembly aligned with Minister Wike underscores the divisive nature of his political maneuvers. Furthermore, his behavior in Rivers State may impact his suitability for higher office and his ability to foster unity within the nation.

Minister Wike's political future hangs in the balance. His accomplishments in the FCT may be overshadowed by the ramifications of his actions in Rivers State. Should he face dismissal, his ongoing feud with Governor Fubara could leave him isolated and without support, facing the consequences of his divisive maneuvers. Minister Wike's involvement in multiple conflicts, from disputes with the present governor of Rivers State to tensions with the FCT Senator and others within the FCT, undoubtedly places strain on his ability to work effectively and maintain positive relationships.

Furthermore, Minister Wike must recognize the importance of building positive relationships and fostering a culture of mutual respect and cooperation. Rather than seeking dominance or control, embracing a mindset of partnership and collaboration can lead to more effective governance that serves the best interests of all stakeholders.

Moreover, Minister Wike should realize that his actions are not going unnoticed on the national stage. While he may have the autonomy to administer the FCT, his behavior in Rivers State reflects on his suitability for higher office and his ability to foster unity and stability within the nation.

Despite warnings, his disregard for reason could lead to dire consequences. Resorting to subtle tactics to praise President Bola Tinubu may not offer a lasting solution to his predicaments.

As Wike finds himself embroiled in various conflicts, the repercussions of his actions extend far beyond the confines of Rivers State, potentially impacting his standing at the national level. With mounting headlines detailing his confrontational demeanor and brewing tensions, the President might become overwhelmed and decide to let him go.

In the light of these observations, Minister Wike must engage in introspection and heed the advice of those genuinely concerned for his well-being. Including this strange writer.

From a relational perspective, it's vital to recognize the impact of combative behavior on interpersonal dynamics. Persistent conflicts can erode trust, breed resentment, and impede meaningful dialogue, hindering the achievement of shared goals. Minister Wike's confrontational approach risks exacerbating existing tensions and perpetuating a cycle of animosity that undermines collective progress.

As Wike contemplates his next steps, introspection is imperative. By prioritizing diplomacy over confrontation and embracing a more constructive approach to governance, he can salvage his legacy and navigate the turbulent waters ahead. However, the fate of Minister Wike and the nation rests on a knife's edge, and the toll of ongoing turmoil begs the question: how long can this tumultuous saga endure before reaching its inevitable conclusion?

In the bitter struggle for power, Wike risks sacrificing everything, including his political ambitions, as he becomes ensnared in conflicts of his own making. As battles rage on multiple fronts, the patience of Nigerians wears thin, weary of the ceaseless drama that distracts from pressing national issues.

In offering guidance, I encourage Minister Wike to prioritize empathy, emotional regulation, and constructive dialogue in his interactions. By cultivating self-awareness and recognizing emotional triggers, he can develop healthier coping mechanisms and adopt a calmer demeanor in the face of adversity. Additionally, fostering open communication, active listening, and empathy towards opposing viewpoints can pave the way for collaborative problem-solving and inclusive governance.

Ultimately, the fate of Minister Wike and the nation at large remains uncertain. Whether his relentless battles serve the nation's interests or fuel discord is a question that weighs heavily on the President and Nigerians alike. As pressure mounts and stakes escalate, only time will tell how this tumultuous saga will unfold.
Africa must take ownership of its own wildlife.

Botswana has proven how effective it is at sustainable wildlife conservation.

Hunting is an effective tool to manage wildlife sustainably.

Germanys proposed ban on the import of hunting trophies over poaching concerns has drawn the ire of Botswanas President, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Botswana is home to the worlds largest elephant population, which has grown to more than 130 000.

Marauding elephant herds wreak havoc on local crops, properties and are endangering the lives of the countrys citizens, and President Masisi says that hunting is one way to stem the destructive tide.

However, Germany's environment ministry has called for stricter rules on the import of hunting trophies, to which President Masisi vowed to send 20 000 elephants to Germany. Botswana has already given 8 000 elephants to Angola and has promised about 500 to Mozambique.

Prof Peet van der Merwe from the research unit for Tourism Research in Economics, Environs and Society (TREES) at the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa, says that the continents conservation should be left in local hands.

I completely agree with President Masisis stance on how Botswana wants to manage wildlife, especially elephants. Africa must take ownership of its own wildlife. I think it is time that Germany and other countries stop telling us how to manage our wildlife. It is our wildlife, and we know the best way to do it, Van der Merwe explained.

Botswana has a very good conservation management system and model, and they have proved over the years how effectively and sustainably they can manage their wildlife. Hunting is one of the tools you can use to manage wildlife sustainably. There are many poverty-stricken communities in Botswana. If they cant plant or harvest crops due to elephant populations destroying their crops, what are they to do? How will they survive? Hunting generates a lot of income for local, impoverished communities. That money can be used to uplift those communities and there can be investments in those communities, he added.

Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, to name but a few, all have very good conservation management strategies. We have healthy wildlife populations and we have proven that we can manage them sustainably.

Prof Peet van der Merwe can be contacted at +27 82 926 9240
Laman Ismayilova

Chairman of the Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev has discussed the prospects of tourism cooperation with the Chairperson of Saint Petersburg's Tourism Development Committee Sergey Korneev.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the creation of joint tourism routes, investment opportunities, educational programs, and the development of relations among the tourism companies in line with the Roadmap for the Development of Tourism Between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation in 2024-2026, Azernews reports.

The sides also touched upon the issues related to hosting marketing events in 2024, participating in exhibitions, organizing workshops and presentations, and opening a tourism representative office in Moscow to promote Azerbaijan's tourism potential in Russia.

Note that tourism between Azerbaijan and Russia has been steadily growing in recent years.

Fuad Naghiyev pointed out that the number of Russian tourists visiting Azerbaijan increased by 40 percent, reaching 625,000 individuals in 2023 compared to 2022.

Over the first three months of 2024, the number of Russian citizens arriving in Azerbaijan surged by 24 percent, totaling 147,438 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Azerbaijan is an important strategic partner, a good neighbor, and a reliable ally of Russia, the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan said in a statement marking the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Trend reports.

"The values of equality and good neighborliness, as well as centuries-old traditions of friendliness and mutual respect, form the foundation of the two countries' relations. Cooperation among states helps to promote stability and security in the South Caucasus and Caspian regions.



Over 200 international, interdepartmental, and interregional treaties and accords serve as the foundation for collaboration. The Declaration on Allied Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, signed in Moscow on February 22, 2022, raised bilateral relations to a new qualitative level," the embassy noted.

The embassy also pointed out that political dialogue at the highest level, through the foreign policy agencies, at the level of heads of key departments, as well as parliamentary lines, is actively developing.

"Trade and economic cooperation are making steady progress. The bilateral trade turnover increased by 17.5 percent in 2023. Russia is still one of Azerbaijan's primary trading and economic partners. In Azerbaijan, several investment projects are being conducted with Russian assistance.

Contacts between businesses, including small and medium-sized organizations, are growing. The Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation is a key aspect of bilateral relations. Interregional cooperation is a critical component of bilateral partnerships.

Moscow, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Dagestan, and Tatarstan are the most active in this field. There is mutual interest in further extending the Russian-Azeri strategic relationship and alliance," the embassy added.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The head of the Turkish parliament delegation to the NATO PA (Parliamentary Assembly), former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who arrived in Baku, visited the Alley of Martyrs, Trend reports.

Cavusoglu laid flowers on the graves of the heroic sons of the Motherland who gave their lives in the struggle for the freedom and independence of Azerbaijan.

Then a wreath was laid at the Turkish Martyrs' Memorial.

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National general secretary of Trinamul Congress, Abhishek Banerjee has lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party in Birbhum district today alleging why cattle smuggling has not stopped, now that Anubrata Mondal is in jail.

Incidentally, Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal, his daughter Sukanya Mondal and bodyguard Sehgal Hussein are all lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi in connection with the cross-border -Bangla cattle smuggling.

This will be the first Lok Sabha polls in which the Trinamul Congress will contest in absence of its chanakya in Birbhum district Anubrata Mondal.

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Mondal has remained as the most trusted party leader of Trinamul chairperson Mamata Banerjee.

The comments of Abhishek has created a political storm. Talking to the media persons at Tarapith in Birbhum district today, Abhishek has alleged that if Anubrata Mondal had joined the BJP, he would have been out of jail and living peacefully.

He would have been innocent if he had joined the washing machine called BJP. But he has not joined the party. The ED, CBI, friends of the BJP, have levelled serious charges against him and lodged him in jail, he alleged.

Cattles are smuggled to Bangladesh via Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Both states are run by BJP-led and alliance chief ministers.

Then, why till date those two chief ministers have not been summoned by the ED and CBI so far? Even the border is guarded by the BSF which is under the Union home ministry, the TMC national general secretary questioned.

Since August 2022, Mondal has been lodged in jail. Only 10 days ago, state police had intercepted and seized a truck full of cattle coming from Uttar Pradesh from Memari in East Burdwan. TMC has no representative in UP and Bihar, but cattle are being smuggled regularly, though Anubrata, the alleged mastermind claimed by ED, CBI and BJP is behind the bars since the past 18 months, he alleged.

Abhishek further said that after joining the washing machine called BJP, leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma, Ajit Pawar, Narayan Rane, Ashok Chavan, Suvendu Adhikari have become clean.
The town vending committee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to approach the Calcutta High Court for reconsideration of the direction for removal of hawkers from a spot near Medical College.

The decision comes following a meeting of the town vending committee at the Kolkata Municipal Corporations headquarters today. Members of the committee have decided to become a party to the case and make an appeal for reconsideration of the direction for removal of the hawkers.

Last month, a direction had come following a petition about blocking the footpath in front of 111 College Street. The civic body had then submitted a report about relocating the hawkers to 112 College Street, following previous directions. But the HC directed the KMC to take steps to remove hawkers from the College Street footpath and not relocate them nearby. The court had also observed that the footpath should be kept absolutely free for pedestrians to walk.

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In the background of the direction, the KMC is now considering submitting another report and making an appeal to allow hawkers rehabilitation as per the laws of the Central Act instead of a complete eviction. From the town vending committee we will also submit a report, informed the president of West Bengal Hawkers Joint Action Committee and a member of the TVC, Asit Saha. The kind of rehabilitation done near Tridhara Construction has been very good. The TVC has carried out the relocation after a survey. Therefore, we will appeal for reconsideration of the direction, he added.

The TVC also decided to create more space in New Market to accommodate the registered hawkers. For this, some of the boulevards and illegal parking would also be removed to create additional footpaths.
The District Election Office Kolkata (North) has decided to pay 75 per cent in advance as payout to vehicles taken for the upcoming poll duty.

The announcement was made during a meeting of the private and mini bus operators and the District Election Officer Kolkata (North) held at Jessop Building, today.

The district election office has also declared the payment on bank accounts of the private bus or minibus owners, who would be sending their vehicles for poll duty.

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The decision, however, has not gone down well with the bus operators. The private operators have been demanding a 90 per cent payment in advance and many of them claimed dissatisfaction with the 75 per cent advance payout announcement. Even in the case of direct payments to bank accounts of the owners, the union members are demanding it to be made in the name of their respective organizations.

The reason is that there are many buses in the fringe areas or in districts of which the owners name transfer is yet to be done. While the name in the registration certificate book is something, it is different in the bank account details, informed the general secretary of West Bengal Bus and Mini Bus Owners Association, Pradip Narayan Bose. Sending money in the owners account could thus not reach till the hands of the people actually operating the vehicles, added general secretary of City Suburban Bus Services Tito Saha.
The BJP-led central government has decided to provide special security cover to four BJP leaders in West Bengal before the Lok Sabha election.

The leaders include former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP candidate Abhijit Ganguly from Tamluk, BJP candidate Arjun Singh from Barrackpore, BJPs Cooch Behar district general secretary Abhijit Barman and BJP executive committee member Tapsi Das from Cooch Behar, informed BJP sources.

Both Abhijit Ganguly and Arjun Singh joined the saffron camp last month, ahead of the Lok Sabha election. Arjun defected from the Trinamool Congress, after being denied a ticket for the LS polls. He was with the TMC but had switched over to the BJP ahead of last LS polls in 2019.

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While the specific need for a sudden security update isnt clear, BJP sources said that the central government has decided to provide security to these two and the other two BJP leaders. However, not all of them will be getting the same security cover.

Currently, Abhijit has been provided with Y category security. Arjun has been given Z category security, which is a level higher. Typically, ministers in the country are provided with Z category security. Leaders like Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh fall under the Z-Plus category, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the highest level of SPG security. Usually, under Z-Plus category security, there are 55 central security personnel and 10 NSG commandos. And for Z category, there are 22 central security personnel and 4-6 CRPF or CISF commandos along with police personnel. This security detail will include at least five vehicles, one of which will be bulletproof. The cost for this security arrangement will be between Rs 15-25 lakh per month, borne by the central government. On the other hand, Abhijit has been provided with Y category security. He will be accompanied by two commandos, eight security personnel, and at least two vehicles. The cost for this security arrangement will be around Rs 12-15 lakh per month, also borne by the Centre. The remaining two BJP leaders in Bengal will be given X category security. According to sources, Barman and Das had previously received threats, hence this security measure.

Under this arrangement, two security personnel will accompany them, along with one or two vehicles. A source from the Union home ministry has indicated that this step was taken to ensure their political significance due to the fear of security threats before the elections. Abhijit and Arjun has been receiving this security from 27 March onwards. On the other hand, Barman and Das received central security from 29 March. Meanwhile Pawan Singh, son of Arjun Singh alleged that the state government started unnecessary vigilance on their residences and installed more than 80 CCTV cameras to monitor their residences and surrounding areas. Even he alleged that regular visitors of his and fathers were slapped with false criminal cases to terrorize them. Arjun has already filed a case with Calcutta High Court regarding this matter.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Thursday visited Raj Ghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi, a day after he was released from Tihar Jail in the money laundering case linked to the liquor policy scam.

Speaking to reporters, he claimed the way Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren were put behind bars, and preparations were on to send other leaders from opposition to jail, it is the beginning of dictatorship, and is the biggest threat to the country and democracy.

He said he came to Raj Ghat to seek blessings from Mahatma Gandhi.

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Singh was accompanied by his wife and other party workers to Raj Ghat where he paid tributes to Gandhiji, and before that he had visited the ancient Lord Hanuman temple in Connaught Place.

He said he got relief from the blessings of Lord Hanuman, and added that he also offered prayers so that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, and party leaders Manish SIsodia and Satyendar Jain also come out of prison soon.

Singh also expressed that the way party workers were excited at the time of his release clearly shows that all party leaders and workers are standing strong with Kejriwal.

He said that he would likely visit jailed AAP leader Satyendar Jains house and CM Kejriwals residence later in the day.

Singh was arrested on October 4 in the liquor policy case by the ED and stayed behind the bars for six months before he was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Armenia has committed environmental crimes in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation, said Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, Trend reports.

He made the statement during the five-sided meeting of representatives of the Caspian littoral states' Prosecutor General's Offices in Baku. The meeting focuses on "Environmental Violations in the Caspian Sea: Prosecutor's Office Strategies for Protection of the Marine Environment."

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General mentioned that the General Prosecutor's Office has set up an investigation group to look into these crimes.

"The international community will receive updates on the legal repercussions of these crimes, and appropriate legal actions will be pursued in accordance with both national and international laws," Aliyev emphasized.

Moreover, he stated that concerning environmental crimes, requests for mutual legal assistance have been forwarded to law enforcement agencies in other nations.

"We maintain intensive relations with them. After the results are compiled, the investigation materials will be used in international courts," the Prosecutor General added.

Baku hosts a five-sided meeting of representatives of the Caspian littoral states Prosecutor Generals Offices.

Azerbaijans Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, along with Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva and senior officials from the Prosecutor Generals Offices of Azerbaijan and other Caspian littoral states, are present at the meeting.

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In the election season of allegations and counter-allegations, a row erupted on Thursday over the alleged remarks made by Congress leader Randeep Surjewala against Mathura sitting MP and BJP candidate Hema Malini.

Lashing out at the opposition party, the BJP said this is a new low by the Congress to disrespect and demean women in Indian politics.

Reacting sharply to the derogatory remarks of Congress leader Surjewala, the third-time BJP candidate from Mathura, Hema Malini, said it was the habit of Congress leaders to target big and popular people, particularly women, to get attention. They do such things only to get attention from the masses but later apologise for their misdeeds, she said, adding that commenting on unpopular people would not fetch them any desired results.

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They should learn from PM Narendra Modi how to respect women, she pointed out.

Meanwhile, Haryana State Commission For Women has taken cognisance of the matter and issued a notice to Surjewala over his remarks against Hema Malini. He has to give his reply and clarifications by April 9.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said: The objectionable and indecent remarks made by Congress leader Randeep Surjewala against MP Hema Malini Ji are so shameful and unfortunate that we cannot even state those from any official forum. Congress contempt for women has hit a new low in Indian politics.

Meanwhile, Surjewala clarified his remarks and accused the BJP of sharing a distorted version of his speech and spreading fake news.

BJPs IT Cell has developed a habit of editing, distorting and spreading fake news so that it can distract the country from the Modi governments anti-youth, anti-farmer, anti-poor policies, failures, and its conspiracy to destroy the Constitution of India, he said.

Listen to the full video  I said, We also respect Hema Malini a lot because she is married to Dharmendra Ji and is our daughter-in-law, the Congress leader added.

In his press conference, Trivedi said, On one side, there is PM Modi who named the south pole of the moon , where India became the first country to land, as the Shiv-Shakti point, and on the other side its Congress and its statements about women. This is not merely an isolated statement by a Congress leader but a structured and well-thought-out dastardly mindset of the Congress party regarding the dignity of women Hema Malini is of the age of Sonia Gandhi and she is a symbol of self-made women in post-independence India..

In-charge of BJPs National Information & Technology Amit Malviya said in a post on X, Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general. He asks, Why do we elect an MLA and MP? We do it so that they can raise their voice. Get our works done.

Malviys also shared the purported video of Surjewalas speech and added, Just the other day, Surjewalas colleague was asking the rate of another BJP woman leader, and now this This is Rahul Gandhis Congress. It is misogynistic and abhors women.

Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, Nari Shakti ka apman, Congress ki pehchaan. Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a disgusting, misogynist, sexist comment, not just for Hema Malini but Naari Shakti .

In Uttar Pradesh, UP CM Yogi Adityanath warned the people of the Congress and INDI alliance that the entire country was ready to teach a lesson to those who insult matri shakti (power of mother). He said, Mathura is the land of Radha Rani and Yamuna Maiya. Here, there is doubt whether even God will be able to save those who make cheap comments on matri shakti. He was addressing the Vijay Sankalp meeting and campaigning in favour of Hema Malini, who filed her nomination papers today.

Meanwhile, BJPs Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut, took a jibe at the Congress in a post on X. She said, The party talks about opening a shop of love but it has opened a shop of hatred.

Congress leaders, who have degraded views towards women, are deteriorating their character day by day in frustration and despair of inevitable defeat, Ranaut added.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh on Thursday resigned from the primary membership of the party, saying the ground level connection of the party has been completely broken.

Sharing a copy of his resignation addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, on X, Vallabh wrote, 

I dont feel comfortable with the directionless way in which the Congress is moving forward today. I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country in the morning and evening. That is why I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the party.

Stating that he had joined the Congress as he believed it was the oldest party in the country where young, intellectual people and their ideas are valued, he pointed out, But in the last few years, I realised that the current form of the party is not able to adjust itself with the youth with new ideas.

Vallabh asserted that the party is not able to understand the aspirations of a New India at all.

The ground level connection of the party has been completely broken. It is not able to understand the aspirations of a New India at all, he said.

Vallabh said unless a worker could give direct suggestions to his leader, no positive change was possible.

Referring to the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla in UPs Ayodhya, he said, I am upset with the stand of the Congress party and this has always made me uncomfortable.Many people associated with the party and the alliance (INDIA) speak against Sanatan (dharma), and the party remaining silent on it is like giving tacit approval to it.

It may be mentioned that top leaders of the Congress declined the invitation of the Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on 22nd January. They called it a BJP and RSS event.
Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan has called upon the senior leadership of the armed forces to embrace the aspects of jointness, integration, and technological absorption in sync with the call for a Third Revolution in Military Affairs.

He complimented various formations and soldiers for their commitment towards security of the borders with a professional approach while at the same time dealing with challenges and embracing the transformational changes enthusiastically.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was addressing the Army Commanders Conference which concluded in New Delhi on Tuesday. The biannual event, held in a hybrid format, commenced with a virtual session chaired by General Manoj Pande, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), on 28 March, and was followed by in-person discussions on 1-2 April. The senior leadership of the Army brainstormed a wide array of security-related aspects, including ongoing transformation initiatives, leveraging technology and innovation for capability development, enhancing operational preparedness, addressing emerging security and HR-related issues.

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in his keynote address, reaffirmed the nations trust in the Indian Army, acknowledging its indispensable role in national security.

Chief of Army Staff, Gen Manoj Pande, in his address, complimented the Army fraternity for successfully wading through myriad challenges and embracing the transformational changes with enthusiasm. He called upon the senior leadership to continue pursuing the process of transformation and technology absorption besides adopting the best practices of sister services and modern armies.

He also emphasized the need to ensure seamless situational awareness between commanders at all levels and troops on the ground.

Gen Pande also highlighted that there is a constant need to undertake doctrinal and structural reforms by embracing change and being open to new ideas to meet future operational challenges.

Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral R Hari Kumar and Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari emphasized the importance of enhanced jointness given the lessons emerging from contemporary conflicts. They underscored the importance of synergy at the grass-roots level between the services for optimum operational outcomes.
In poll bound Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress has accused BJP of luring their candidates with money to withdraw their nominations to secure victory.

It may be mentioned here that 10 BJP candidates in the 60-member assembly house were elected unopposed.

Levelling allegations, President Nabam Tuki of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee alleged that huge sums were paid to the congress candidates to withdraw their candidature. The Congress had fielded 34 candidates for the assembly elections, but only 19 are in the fray.

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Tuki, who is also contesting as a Lok Sabha candidate from the Arunachal West parliamentary constituency, along with the partys state vice president Bosiram Siram, contesting from Arunachal East.

Tuki, a six-time MLA from Sagalee constituency in Papum Pare district, expressed confidence in Congresss prospects, stating, Regardless of BJPs tactics, Congress will win in the majority of seats.

He further disclosed that Congress is open to forming alliances with any party that upholds secularism, although he refrained from naming specific parties.

Tuki also speculated on the consequences of a national victory for the opposition INDIA bloc, suggesting an immediate change in the state government.
The indecisive attitude of the Congress first family in announcing candidates for Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh has caused much confusion on the prospects of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.

Though the senior party leaders are still confident that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhis Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Rae Bareli and her brother Rahul from Amethi, the Congress high command is still indecisive and no announcements have been made so far.

On the other hand, the demand by party workers to field Congress General Secretary Priyanka Vadra in the election campaign has intensified in Rae Bareli, the stronghold of the Gandhi family.

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According to party sources, Priyanka has also got the green signal from the high command to contest the elections. Only a formal announcement is left.

Congress is in no mood to lose the only seat it won in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 general elections under any circumstances. This seat got vacant after Sonia Gandhi was elected to the Rajya Sabha. Congress, which is always the first to field its candidates, is maintaining a silence this time.

Congress leaders also think that the party can save this seat only if it fields a candidate from the Gandhi family.

After winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Sonia Gandhi maintained a distance from the people of Rae Bareli. In the last five years, Sonia Gandhis visit to Rae Bareli was scheduled several times, but then it got cancelled.

BJP and Congress are eyeing each other to decide the candidate for Rae Bareli parliamentary seat.

According to reports, if Priyanka contests the elections, BJP can bet on the local candidate. Dinesh Pratap Singh has contested the election last time and SP MLA Dr Manoj Pandey, who quit his party, has become a strong pillar for the BJP. However, both the parties are still to announce their candidates from this seat.

Meanwhile, a similar situation prevails in Amethi too, the suspense regarding the Congress candidate is increasing in the district.

The public has now started asking the name of the candidate while talking to Congress leaders, who are trying to avoid the conversation. The situation is such that Congress leaders in the district are not able to convey the partys policies to the people.

There is still speculation about Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi contesting the elections in Amethi. Although Rahul is contesting the elections from Wayanad, the Congressmen, who have been supporting the Gandhi family for a long time, have now started avoiding speaking on the issue.

To avoid questions about the Congress candidate, party officials are not even going among the public.

After Rahul Gandhis Nyaya Yatra on 19 February, the round of meetings of workers in the Congress office continued for a week but now, officials are not even attending office.

Congress District President Pradeep Singhal said that he was discharging the responsibility given to him in the organisation. Right now, people are asking only one question: when will the party candidate be announced. We will find the answer to this soon, he said.
Criticising the Aam Aadmi Party ((AAP) for placing Arvind Kejriwals photograph between those of Dr B R Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva demanded immediate removal of the picture.

Accusing the AAP of hurting peoples sentiments by placing Kejriwals photo in the middle of the photos of the two national heroes, he said Aam Aadmi should be ashamed of the offensive act.

By doing so, the BJP leader said the AAP had insulted the two patriots by placing their photos alongside a corruption accused.

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He alleged that the AAP has been constantly degrading the political decorum by allowing Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals wife Mrs. Sunita Kejriwal to sit and issue political messages from the official room and chair of the chief minister of Delhi.

Expressing surprise at the offensive act, Delhi BJP spokesman Praveen Shankar Kapoor criticised AAP Minister Atishi for expecting immediate action on a complaint against the posters put up by the Election Commission which means she is indirectly accusing the EC of bias.

He also hit out at the AAP leader over her silence for two days on the defamation notice sent to her by the Delhi BJP over insulting words, while she expects immediate action from the EC.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Thursday announced that the partys city unit will celebrate cultural festivity from April 5 to 23.

Talking about the cultural festivity, Sachdeva said, Through this special cultural festival, we will connect new people with the BJP.

We will also discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modis initiatives for a developed India at every doorstep, the Delhi BJP chief added.

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According to the schedule of the cultural festivity released by the Delhi BJP, on 5th April Nishadraj Jayanti will be celebrated. The main program will be organized by the partys OBC Morcha.

The next day, which marks the foundation day of the BJP, pictures of Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee will be garlanded at every booth and workers will be hoisting party flags at every home.

Among others, on 23rd April, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, BJP workers across Delhi will organize melodious recitations of the Sundarkand at every booth.

It may be mentioned that in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won all the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi.
Concerned about the potential alienation of Hindu and Christian voters and fearing backlash in North India, the Congress leadership in Kerala has decided to reject the support extended by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) to the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Speaking to media persons at Indira Bhavan here on Thursday, Opposition leader VD Satheesan and acting KPCC president MM Hassan asserted that the party does not seek or desire support from the SDPI. They emphasised that people are free to exercise their voting rights without any influence or pressure.

Satheesan said that the Congress has rejected both majority and minority communalism as it considers them as two sides of the same coin. Citizens vote as individuals, and the UDF hopes to get their endorsement on the merit of its manifesto and political agenda, he said.

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The Congress leadership is concerned about the potential alienation of Hindu and Christian voters due to the announcement of support from the SDPI, which is widely perceived as the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). They also fear that accepting support from the SDPI could potentially trigger a backlash against the Congress party, particularly in North India.

The Congress had drawn intense flak from the BJP and the CPI-M for accepting the support of the SDPI, which is widely perceived as the political outfit of the banned PFI.

BJPs Kerala unit president K Surendran had on Tuesday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to explain his partys stance on accepting the support of the SDPI for UDF candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala.

The Wayanad MP, who speaks about secularism day in and day out, should explain how Congress accepts the support of a terrorist organisation trained abroad to commit murders, Surendran said.

CPI-Ms Kerala unit secretary MV Govindan alleged that the fear of defeat had driven the UDF into embracing communal forces.

The SDPI had on Monday announced that it would support the Congress-led UDF in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. SDPIs Kerala unit president Ashraf Moulavi said that they had decided to support the Congress as it is leading the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc against the BJP at the national level.
Vallabh was admitted to the saffron party in the presence of BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde at the party headquarters here.



Alongwith Vallabh, Anil Sharma, who also had quit the Congress, and former RJD leader Upendra Yadav took the primary membership of the BJP.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters, Vallabh said that he has already revealed the reasons behind his decision to quit the Congress party in his resignation letter.

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The Congress turncoat further reiterated that he was not happy with his former partys stand on the Ram Temple inauguration.

Earlier today, Vallabh, who was Congress spokesperson, shared his resignation letter addressed to his party president Mallikarjun Kharge on X and said that the grand old partys ground level connection has completely broken.

Calling the Congress party directionless, Vallabh said, It (Congress party) is not able to understand the aspirations of a New India at all.

Referring to recent controversial remarks against Sanatan Dharma by alliance partners of the Congress, Vallabh said, Many people associated with the party and the alliance (INDIA) speak against Sanatan (dharma), and the party remaining silent on it is like giving tacit approval to it.

I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse the wealth creators of the country in the morning and evening. That is why I am resigning from all posts and primary membership of the party, he added.

In the two-page letter, the former Congress spokesperson also alleged that the partys stand on economic matters had always been to humiliate and abuse the wealth creators of the country.

Today, we have turned against those economic liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) policies, for which the world has given us credit for implementing in the country. Is it wrong to earn money by doing business in our country? he wrote on his social handle handle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India is today strong enough to enter homes and inflict punishment unlike the days of the Congress rule when it was known as a weak and poor country, where terrorist attacks could take place from a neighbour which does not even have enough wheat flour for its people.

Addressing a massive election rally in Jamui in Bihar, Modi said he decided the situation during Congress rule could not continue like this. The Congress used to take the issue of terrorist attacks to other countries, but he ensured India delivered an effective response, asserting the glory of Indias past, a land of Pataliputra and Magadh, and of mighty emperor Chandragupta Maurya.

The Prime Minister said todays India shows the way to the world. In 10 years of the NDA rule, the world has seen how Indias standing and goodwill has gone up. India is today the fifth largest economy in the world. India landed its Chandrayaan and the Tricolor at a place on the Moon where none had reached earlier.

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He said the world talked about the way India organised the G20 conference. He said the achievements were made not by him, but by the one vote cast by the people. If there is anyone who deserves credit for this, it is the citizens of the country who elected a government which could deliver, he said.

He said Bihars development is evidence of Indias development. This can be seen in Jamui. Jamui passed through bad days during the government of RJD and Congress. During RJDs jungle raj, the place was identified with naxalism and government schemes were not allowed to be implemented there. Naxals did not allow construction of roads. This meant loss for the poor.

The same Jamui is today on the fast path of development, he said and naxalism is nearly dead; its followers having joined the mainstream. The place will see an expressway and a medical college. Airport services will be introduced soon. Rs 1 lakh crore is being spent on roads in the State. This will create opportunities for jobs and self-employment, Mr Modi said.

Recalling the RJDs land for jobs scam, the PM said none can forget how the poor and educated were deprived of their lands for jobs in the railways. No such complaint came up against Mr Nitish Kumar when he was Railway Minister, he said, and the RJD people deprived people of their lands. Such people can never think of welfare of the people, he said.

During the ghamandia coalition of INDI alliance partners, trains were in a bad shape, he said. Now Vande Bharat trains are running in Bihar, like the rest of the country. Soon they will be on all routes across the country. The Jamui railway station is also being upgraded. A day is not far when major railway stations in Bihar will have airport-like facilities, he said.

He said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary had spoken about the work done under the NDA government. But Modi would say the work done in the last 10 years was just a trailer, and a lot more will be achieved in the years to come.

Mr Modi said the massive crowds at Jamui meeting showed the mood of the country, it looked more like a meeting to celebrate victory and not just an election meeting. The gathering showed the mood of the people not just in Bihar, but the whole country. You have shown your determination to put all 40 seats of Bihar with BJP and the NDA, and not just Jamui, Munger, Banka, Nawada, he said. All of Bihar is saying NDA government once again, he said.

For the first time in an election meeting, he said, he was missing Bihars illustrious son, a favourite of Dalits and the deprived people, Padma Vibushan-decorated and his friend Ram Vilas Paswan. I am sure his son Chirag is filling the gap created by his fathers departure, the Prime Minister said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Presenting periodic research articles based on information leaked from the intelligence agencies of various states, the Observer Online published the following article on April 2, 2024, under the headline "Why are French intelligence officers fleeing the countries?" (Why French intelligence officers are fleeing countries), which touches on many new and little-known issues.

With countless clues and leaks hinting at the problems France faced in Azerbaijan and other countries, the methods and techniques of French intelligence alarmed the latter.

Additionally, it should be noted that "Intelligence Online," known for its proximity to these structures in France, has recently started publishing unsubstantiated articles related to Azerbaijan.

Trend presents an English translation of this article by "Observer Online":

"Why are French intelligence officers fleeing their host countries?

What "Intelligence Online" was silent about

Armenia is on its way to becoming a new colony

Against the backdrop of the Armenian lobby's initiatives in France and failures in Africa, Armenia, as an ideal option for becoming a new colony, has become an attractive market for French arms sales. Neutral observers see this as an obstacle to the establishment of sustainable peace as well as an attempt to rekindle the completed war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has restored territorial integrity recognized by international law in the Caucasus region.

Thus, Azerbaijan is not only a modern country with a stable economy, hosting numerous international conferences, but also directing its rich natural resources towards modern development. If we consider that none of the countries in the world has won wars in the last ten years, Azerbaijan is the only exception in this respect. It secured its territorial integrity, recognized by the world community, with a complete victory over neighboring Armenia, which was the result of the retreat of Armenian troops from the territories occupied in the 1990s.

Of course, in such conditions, representatives of French intelligence would have been those who, for many years, felt comfortable in friendly Azerbaijan, from where they penetrated Asia, and now act against the national interests of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is the largest power in the Caucasus region, which is a country with extensive counterintelligence and intelligence capabilities. Its actions against French intelligence were accompanied by a series of arrests, declaring diplomats persona non grata, and other measures.

One of those arrested, a French citizen, was charged with obtaining British citizenship in Azerbaijan (the reason for sending an Azerbaijani arrested for cooperating with him to Northern Ireland in the following articles).

At the height of the mistakes made, the head of the DGSE foreign intelligence service and the French Foreign Minister were relieved of their duties.

Most interesting was the exposure of a wide intelligence network, previously overlooked by official Baku, operating against Azerbaijan and third countries through Azerbaijan, as well as the ways and methods of their illegal operations, bribery, and bargaining, and shameful mistakes made about secrecy, which shocked the international community.

When intelligence officers who described their lives in fiction fled, their books were left behind

The news about the investigation launched in Azerbaijan on the facts of the involvement of Azerbaijani and French citizens as spies has already spread to various prestigious international organizations and regions.

It became known that the French intelligence officers who committed the above-mentioned crimes managed to be secretly appointed to senior positions in international organizations where many countries are represented.

In December 2023, when a series of arrests began in Baku, one of them took the first flight from Bishkek to France, leaving the post of the head of an international organization in Central Asia. During these months, he is prevented from leaving France by the fear of his games recorded in Baku (an outstanding description of this man in our next publications).

It was probably one of the first innovations in the art of intelligence to have secret agents record their lives and operations in memoirs. This was an indirect means for them to prove their deeds to unjust officials in the future.

What has not been touched by the Intelligence Online newspaper, which has increased interest in Azerbaijan?

The French newspaper Intelligence Online, known for where it draws its articles from, almost regularly does not forget to mention the subject of Azerbaijan.

Sometimes the newspaper can't help but write about shocking scandals behind the doors of French diplomacy.

Where has international cooperation in the fight against terrorism gone?

In a particularly sensitive period of current DGSE activity, the intention of effective cooperation with other states in the fight against international terrorism is not felt.

Independent experts assess this either as justified confidence in dealing with terrorist organizations or as unwarranted indifference against the backdrop of economic-colonial interests. In any case, there is time to deal with the methods that pit Iran and Israel against each other in the territory of third countries.

Azerbaijan is a country that plays an active role in the fight against terrorism, has experienced the deprivation of citizenship of more than 500 people who joined international terrorist organizations, arrests "accountants" of ISIS and other persons, and is also a country that cooperates internationally in this direction.

The steps taken in the field of international cooperation in this direction are naturally a requirement for the protection of humanity.

Today, the Dervish Mesteli Shah is directly targeting Paris from Khorasan, and the world is trying to avoid a huge terrorist wave approaching France in the name of revenge for Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and others.

It is the long-standing French colonial exploitation, the resulting hunger and poverty of the population, and social and political instability in the countries that make the said African countries powerless in the face of growing local terrorist organizations.

The foreign adventures of the man who beat up French reporters

The amounts of bribes received by the well-known "derelict" Alexandre Benalla from new foreign tycoons to solve his problems, against the national interests of France, are blinding to the eye.

Although he was unable to write works of fiction, he made purchases from family members of some prominent foreign figures and used methods and piles of papers that left behind traces. Today, if there is any way to influence French law enforcement and protect him, usually no one can take interesting evidence out of the hands of the public press.

Toward what future - an example of democracy for the world or colonial national interests?

Every time there have been issues with a partner country, no less an object of criticism has been the DGSE's human resource professionals, who have ruined the careers of their professional staff because of family ties. Another theme is the aspects that reinforce the hatred of the colonists.

The fact of the distribution of high fees by some intelligence officials who mobilized a team to investigate methods of replacing American and British companies in neighboring markets with large French companies, not only among subordinates but also among subordinate colleagues involved in intimate relationships, could lead to additional rumors.

This cooperation also allows them to meet and discuss France's domestic political horizons in private with economic giants.

Those authorized to massively collect the personal data of the population without their consent have no problem. However, Paris today is a place where hesitation in the proper selection of personnel engaged in the tacit control of the country's politicians cannot override the interests of these data carriers.

Against the backdrop of intelligence failures, the transition of the head of domestic intelligence to foreign intelligence to establish a deeper mechanism of personal influence on the domestic political audience promises even more interesting scandals in the domestic political space in the future.

The frustrations arising from the role of personal relationships in the territorialization of officers seem to be of little importance compared to these scandals.

I wonder if the DGSE feels that the updated list of employees of the Directorate of Intelligence Gathering (DRO DGSE) is already allowing many countries to watch their purposeful successive primitive visits with a smile!

Other topics not covered by Intelligence Online in our next articles are:

"Covert money transactions with Somalia and other countries: addresses and desires"

"What does French intelligence look for in British companies other than national interests?""

"Ostriches use cell phone numbers from foreign countries."

"The TutaNota e-mail service or the location of the DGSE agent network"

"Terror against politicians in France: simple and top secret mechanisms"

The Elysee's experience of 8-zero bribes is called "honorarium."

"Why French intelligence can't find two domestic spies, patriots by conviction"

"Alexandre Benalla's shocking bargaining with representatives of European competitors in the Middle East with a privileged passport - for the first time with documents and audio recordings"

"Tilenga-EACOP, Cabo Delgado: secrets and woes."

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The first batch of Indian workers have gone to Israel in the midst of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war as part of a mobility agreement India has signed with the Jewish nation, the government confirmed on Thursday.

The Mobility Agreement predates the conflict. We are conscious of their (Indian workers) safety and have urged the Israeli authorities to ensure their safety and well-being, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing here.

Asked if there was any possibility of these workers being sent to areas affected by the conflict, the spokesperson said, They are mainly construction workersyou know construction happens where economic activity takes place.

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The response of the MEA came two days after Israel Ambassador to India posted on X a picture of the first batch of Indian workers who were to leave for Israel.

Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. This is an outcome of the hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA. Im sure that the workers become ambassadors of the great P2P relations between India and Israel, he wrote.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday asked the Congress whether it had abandoned its own and ally IUMLs party flags during the roadshow to the Wayanad collectorate on Wednesday for submitting Rahul Gandhis nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections out of BJPs fear.

Has the Congress declined to a position where it is even afraid of displaying its flag? Are they conceding to the demand of the Sangh Parivar that the Congress should relinquish its party flag? Vijayan asked at a press conference in Kochi on Thursday.

He asked whether the decision to drop the IUML flags was taken in view of the Pakistan jibe by the BJP while referring to the presence of the partys green flags during Rahul Gandhis campaign in Wayanad as part of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

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Speaking on abandoning party flags in the roadshow, he said that the Congress needs the votes of the IUML, not its flag.

CM Vijayan said Congress leaders seem to have forgotten the illustrious history of the freedom fighters and martyrs who had fought to hold the tri-colour high.

Responding to reports that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has plans to implicate more CPI-M leaders in the multi-crore Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam, CM Vijayan said the party has no secret account in the bank as alleged by the ED.

We do not require any secret account as the party has never received black money. The donations received by the party from the people are audited and duly submitted before the Income Tax department, he said.

The Congress abandoned the party flags of all UDF constituents when it took out a massive roadshow to the Wayanad district collectorate on Wednesday to submit Rahul Gandhis nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections.

The extensive use of key ally Muslim Leagues green flags during Rahuls 2019 roadshow was played up by the BJP at the national level, with senior leaders like Amit Shah wondering whether he was seeking votes in Pakistan, crushing the hopes of the Congress in north India. Instead of flags, tricoloured balloons, hats, and placards were part of Wednesdays roadshow.
In a volte-face, Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan demanded a court-monitored investigation into alleged corruption charges against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Vijayan over the monthly pay-off scam.

Earlier, he approached the vigilance court, Thiruvananthapuram seeking a probe under the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The move came when the court was expected to pronounce its verdict on his earlier plea on Thursday. In the fresh plea, the vigilance court is expected to pronounce its judgment on April 12.

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The vigilance lawyer told the court on Thursday that from Mathew Kuzhalnadus new move, it is clear that the petition is politically motivated.

The main allegation in the petition is that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans daughter Veena Vijayan received a monthly pay-off as a reward for granting permission to the CMRL company for mineral sand mining.

The Income Tax Interim Settlement Board (ITISB) earlier found that the Cochin-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd,(CMRL) has paid 1.72.crore to Kerala CMS daughter Veena Vijayans firm EXalogic Solutions without providing any service to them.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated an investigation into the alleged dubious transactions between Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans daughters firm, Exalogic Solutions, and Kochi-based mining company Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL).
Accusing the Congress government in Telangana of vendetta against the weaving community, BRS working president KT Rama Rao urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to clear pending bills worth Rs 270 crore due to the weavers and place fresh orders for sarees for distribution among economically backward women in the state.

In an open letter to the chief minister, the BRS leader regretted that the textile sector in the state was in distress with power looms shut as government orders were allegedly diverted to other states for the lure of commissions.

Rao is the elected representative of Sircilla known for its power looms and textile parks. In his letter to the chief minister, he drew parallels between the suicides by farmers and the weavers. He said administrative apathy is common in both cases.

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He recalled during the BRS regime, the government had taken up several welfare schemes for the benefit of the weavers, such as subsidies for yarns which were directly deposited to their account, insurance for the workers as well and placing of government orders directly with the weavers.

However, he regretted that the current government halted all weaving welfare activities, especially the Bathukamma saree production, creating distress for the 30,000 power loom weavers.

He cited bills pending in the wake of the model code of conduct (MCC) during the assembly elections as another major reason for the crisis in the weaving sector. Since March, there has been no initiative from the Congress government to release the order for Bathukamma (festival) sarees. This has left the weavers high and dry. Since this crucial issue concerns 35,000 workers and their families the government should take immediate action on a war footing, suggested Rao, who had held the textile portfolio in the BRS regime.
The existence of the communist parties, which once dominated different parts of Uttar Pradesh by doing politics in the name of championing labour rights and exploitation of villagers, is now on the verge of extinction in the state, experts say.

Saffron flag or BJP is now controlling most of the Lal Salaam strongholds. After the 1991 election, no one from CPI or CPI(M) could become an MP in Uttar Pradesh. In 1991, they won just the Ghazipur seat.

Political commentators say Ram Mandir movement in late 1980s dealt a death blow to the Left parties in the state. However, they also feel that the new generation has moved away from the Leftist ideology and this became the main cause for the downfall of Left politics.

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Earlier, Leftist leaders used to do politics and played a major role in awakening the consciousness of the common people for their rights. But successors failed to continue in their efforts.

However, the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 2024 has tried to keep itself alive in UP by announcing to contest the Lok Sabha elections on eight seats in the state.

The Leftists made Kanpur, the industrial capital of the state, their stronghold in the 70-80s era. Left domination was also seen in the religious city of Ayodhya, the erstwhile Faizabad. The Left also won occasionally in Banda, Ghosi, Varanasi and Ghazipur.

But now it is a thing of the past and has become a history for the Left parties.

The Left history in UP starts from the second Lok Sabha elections in the country, when in 1957, labour leader SM Banerjee, a supporter of the Left, contested the election in Kanpur as an independent and won. After this, Banerjee became MP of Kanpur four times.

In 1977, Manohar Lal of Janata Party halted Banerjees winning streak. After this, in 1989, Subhashini Ali of CPI(M) became MP from Kanpur.

In 1967, Satya Narayan Singh of Communist Party of India (Marxist) registered victory and gave a Lal Salaam to Kashi. CPIs Jageshwar Yadav won from Banda . After this, there were many migrations, but CPI could not make a comeback.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday released its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, appealing the electorate to defeat the BJP and its allies; increase the strength of the CPI(M) and Left parties in the Lok Sabha and to ensure that an alternative secular government is formed at the Centre.

The manifesto was released by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. He said the Lok Sabha elections are taking place at a time when the secular, democratic, Republic of India faces an existential crisis created by the Modi-led decade-long rule of the BJP government.

The manifesto said India witnessed a process of systematic dismantling of the four pillars of the constitution  secular democracy, economic sovereignty, federalism and social justice.

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Misusing the levers of State power and its parliamentary majority, the Modi government has made India one of the most unequal societies in the world even while imposing its toxic communal ideology to divide the people on sectarian lines.

The manifesto said the elections to the 18th Lok Sabha, therefore assume critical importance as its outcome will determine if we the people through our vote in the elections can safeguard the secular, democratic character of the Indian Republic as ordained by the Constitution of India.

The CPI (M) stands for urgent electoral reforms to curb the use of money power in the electoral system. For this, the Party wants State funding of elections and a ban on corporate donations to political parties. Corporates must fund to strengthen democracy and such contributions must be credited in a State electoral fund and used for State funding.

The CPI (M)s continuing commitment to the autonomous status granted by Sec 370 of J&K is reflected in its using every forum to defend the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The CPI (M) stands for immediate elections to the State Assembly and also for the restoration of full statehood as a first step, the manifesto said.

The CPI (M) stands for a Governor to be chosen out of a panel of three eminent persons proposed by the Chief Minister for an end to policies which promote centralization at the expense of the states.

The party has pledged to fight for an uncompromising adherence to the principle that religion is separated from politics, the State, the government and administration. It will fight for a law against hate speech and crimes and it is committed to scrapping the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA).

The manifesto said the CPI (M) stands for the scrapping of all draconian laws like UAPA and PMLA; for steps to protect and strengthen the autonomy of independent institutions, and for defence of the democratic rights of the people.

The party is committed to policies to protect Indias economic sovereignty, the manifesto said. The party holds that privatization of the public sector must be revisited and reversed.

The party has proposed a tax on the super-rich along with a general wealth tax and wants an inheritance tax must be legislated, workers rights reflected in pro-worker laws must replace the labour Codes. The party said food security depends on ensuring security of the farmers of India though a legal guarantee of MSP according to the Swaminathan Commission recommendations.

The CPI (M) stands for the inclusion of the Right to Work as a constitutional right. The vacancies in government and public sector posts must be filled urgently. The MSMEs can generate jobs and must be strengthened.

The budgetary allocations for MGNREGA must be doubled; a new law guaranteeing urban employment must be legislated and an unemployment allowance must be provided, the party has proposed.

The manifesto said the destruction of Indias demographic dividend must be reversed through a change in current policies of job loss growth. The Universal Right to Education must be strengthened and Privatization of Higher Education must be stopped, the manifesto said.

In the five years since the last Lok Sabha elections, the manifesto said, India also witnessed a fight back, a resistance through democratic struggles of the working people, the kisans, the workers, adivasis, Dalits, women, youth and students. Many of these struggles, in particular the historic struggle of the kisans, proved that a people united can challenge and defeat the might and power and repression unleashed by this government.
West Bengal is all set to witness a high-octane campaign for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee holding back to back rallies in Coochbehar constituency on Thursday.

CM Banerjee is scheduled to address a large gathering around noon, while PM Modi will hold a rally at 3 pm.

The state BJP has made extensive preparations and massive arrangements for the PMs gathering.

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The saffron party has also objected to Banerjee holding a simultaneous rally with PM Modi.

When there is a big meeting going on, there shouldnt be any other meeting simultaneously. But Mamata Banerjee has forgotten all the values and discipline due to fear of losing, West Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha said.

This is the first rally of PM Modi in Bengal after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections on March 16.

The BJP has once fielded its sitting MP Nisith Pramanik from the Cooch Behar seat. Nisith will have a direct contest with TMC candidate Jagadish Barma Basunia.

Earlier on Wednesday, during his online interaction with West Bengal BJP workers, PM Modi asked them to monitor the incidents of violence during elections.

During elections, in West Bengal, the biggest issue is of violence. The Election Commission has made special arrangements for the security and safety of the people. We all also monitor the events that unfold in West Bengal. You have to encourage people to vote fearlessly, Modi said.

Cooch Behar is among the three West Bengal constituencies along with Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri which will go to vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday launched Indias first home-grown gene therapy for cancer at IIT Bombay, calling it a shining example of the Make in India initiative.

The launch of Indias first gene therapy is a major breakthrough in the battle against cancer, she said. As this line of treatment, named CAR-T cell therapy, is accessible and affordable, it provides a new hope for the whole of humankind. She expressed confidence that it will be successful in giving new lives to countless patients.

The President said CAR-T cell therapy is considered one of the most phenomenal advances in medical science. It has been available in the developed nations for some time, but it is extremely costly, and beyond the reach of most patients around the world.

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She was happy that the therapy being launched today is the worlds most affordable CAR-T cell therapy.

The President was happy to note that Indias first CAR-T cell therapy was developed through collaboration between the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Tata Memorial Hospital in association with industry partner ImmunoACT. She said that this is a praiseworthy example of academia-industry partnership, which should inspire many more similar efforts.

The President said IIT Bombay is renowned, not only in India but across the world, as a model of technology education. In the development of CAR-T cell therapy, technology is not only being put in the service of humanity, but partnerships have been with an eminent institution from another field as well as with industry.

This has been made possible by the focus IIT, Bombay has placed on research and development over the last three decades. She said that with the knowledge base and skills of the faculty and students of IIT Bombay and other similar institutions, India as a whole, would benefit greatly from the technological revolution underway.
Most East Asian and Southeast Asian countries chose to become economically fit for democracy. India provided a contrasting model. It chose to become economically fit through democracy. India consciously chose democracy knowing full well that democracy was a daily plebiscite in which demand for more power, more autonomy represented a daily interrogation of that existence.

The newly decolonised countries of Africa borrowed from the West what Ali Mazrui, Kenyan born American writer called, the profit motive, but not the entrepreneurial spirit learnt to parade in display, but not to drill in discipline. Communist China faced its own dilemma. Could it economically modernise without culturally westernising? Like the Japanese, the Chinese chose to follow Western technique, but Chinese spirit. When China began economic reform, it did just the reverse of what many African countries did. As Mazrui explains, Africa became westernised in prayer, but not production; in idiom, but not innovation; in costume, but not computer.

Chinas rise is phenomenal by all accounts. The worlds second largest economy is today a major global player. Its voice counts as also its clout. When in 2021 US President Joe Biden hosted a Summit for Democracy and snubbed China by not inviting President Xi Jinping, Beijing decided not to take it lying down. It claimed that China had a high-functioning form of democracy of a different sort, and that it is delivering better results for its people than the broken U.S. system. China came out with a whole-process peoples democracy. It was also designed to show that China can stand up to the United States, and to counter the suggestion that the Chinese system is inferior to the democracies that Biden had brought together.

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Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng adopted an aggressive stance by claiming that Chinas whole-process peoples democracy is not the kind that wakes up at the time of voting and goes back to dormant afterwards. Chinas State Council came out with a 30-page White Paper, entitled, China: Democracy That Works. It redefined democracy with a promise to hunt down tigers, swat flies and chase foxes. The State Council said that China had no intention to duplicate western models of democracy but to create its own. Beijing took the line that it is not for a few selfappointed judges like QUAD, Five Eyes and the G7 to decide which country is democratic and which is not.

To counter Bidens Summit for Democracy, Beijing hosted an international forum on democracy and invited academics, think tank representatives and media personnel from 120 countries to participate in it. The third Beijing international forum on democracy was organised on 20 March 2024. Through these forums, China is seeking to counter what it calls US democracy monism. China is not disowning democracy. It is embracing what Daniel A. Bell in his book Chinas New Confucianism, calls a new variant of Confucianism that offers a compelling alternative to Western liberalism.

New Confucianism has played a significant role in the Sinicization of Marxism. What Deng Xiao Ping had coined as socialism with Chinese characteristics has now been re-branded as the wholeprocess peoples democracy. It is a major element of Xi Jinpings Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. What is whole-process democracy? President Xi, while making an inspection visit to a civic centre in Hongqiao sub district in Shanghai on 2 November 2019, said that China was taking the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics and peoples democracy is whole process. According to Prof Lin Jianhus of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wholeprocess democracy has four key features.

First, the term is manifested in the CPCs governance practices and is applied through a combination of democratic elections, consultations and decision-making. China claims that it covers all aspects of the democratic process. Second, it ensures that the peoples wishes are widely represented and recognises their fundamental interests in all respects. Third, it integrates processoriented democracy with resultoriented, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy and peoples democracy with the will of the state.

Fourth, whole-process democracy presents a path of socialist political progress with Chinese characteristics in line with Chinas national conditions. He claims that wholeprocess democracy has made the people the masters of the country. He also maintains that China has a system of multi party cooperation. The CPC and eight other political parties uphold the principles of long-term coexistence through forums, talks and other forms of consultation. The Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference serves as an important institution of multi-party cooperation under the leadership of CPC. Few western scholars would rank China as a democracy.

They argue that China follows a model where the state advances as the people retreat. As Jacob Dreyer, a writer who has lived in Shanghai for over a decade, maintains, the collection of peoples we call China is not really a society of citizens in the sense that emerged from the American and French revolutions. However, John Keane, professor of politics at the University of Sydney, is of the view that the Chinese governance model contains democratic qualities that should not be dismissed. There is a very strong sense in the political system that power ultimately rests in the hands of the people. Like Americas Freedom House and Swedens V-Dem Institute, which rate civil liberties across the world, China organised a global survey in 23 countries last year about its whole-process democracy.

The respondents agreed, claims the survey, that each country should choose democracy and a modernisation model that suits its own conditions. The survey endorsed the view that democracy should focus on solving peoples practical problems. The respondents also believe that Chinese democracy is conducive to promoting state and global governance. A crisis in democracy need not be a crisis of democracy. The only way to remedy democracys imperfections is to have more democracy, not less.

The Wests cynicism about the Chinese model is understandable. One of the greatest challenges to democracy comes from a catastrophic failure of the marketplace of ideas. But what about the rise of elected autocrats in the democratic world? Hasnt the media in many democracies become scrappy truth-tellers? Doesnt democracy require binding values and ideals and shared convictions? Today, democracy across the world looks alive and dead at the same time. Physician, heal thyself!

(The writer is director, Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia stands mandatory, the head of the Turkish parliament delegation to the NATO PA (Parliamentary Assembly), former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters, Trend reports.

He made the remark during during his visit to the Alley of Martyrs and the Turkish Martyrs' Memorial in Baku.

Turkiye has always been close to Azerbaijan, including during the 2020 second Karabakh war and currently. A peace deal must be reached soon to ensure regional stability. During the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, I met with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and discussed this concept with him, Cavusoglu emphasized.

Will be updated
I n this era of generative AIs, human lifestyles are becoming increasingly integrated with AIs. But AIs arent flawless. The world was surprised recently when Saudi robotics company QSS introduced Muhammad the Humanoid Robot, a male humanoid robot that debuted at DeepFest in Riyadh and appeared to improperly touch a female reporter soon after it was unveiled. In terms of QSS, the robot was fully autonomous and functioning independently without direct human control. However, this is not a singular event of an AI robot exhibiting undesirable behaviour.

A chess-playing robot, apparently unsettled by the quick responses of a seven-year-old boy, unceremoniously grabbed and broke his finger during a match at the Moscow Open in 2022. Such incidents might happen more regularly in the future as AIs become more and more integrated into our daily lives. For example, can an AI news anchors use offensive language or cast provocative news some day? One question is how to prevent these events. However, there is a further relevant question: who will bear legal responsibility for such incidents? AI-powered robots? The manufacturing company or the concerned software engineers? Maybe some precise guidelines need to be established.

In the 2004 American sci-fi action film I, Robot, directed by Alex Proyas and based on Isaac Asimovs 1950 storybook, a technophobic police officer looks into a possible robot-perpetrated crime in 2035 that could pose a greater threat to humanity. Eventually, Sonny, the robot, admits that he had killed Dr. Alfred Lanning, co-founder of US Robotics, at his direction. Numerous other films, like the iconic 1984 film The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 2014 film Ex Machina, directed by Alex Garland, demonstrated how AIs are capable of committing major crimes, either on their own or while being programmed (chipped) by a human.

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What about real life, though? An AI artist known as Random Darknet Shopper (RDS) bought MDMA (Ecstasy) tablets and a Hungarian passport in 2015. In October 2014, the Swiss art collective! Mediengruppe Bitnik installed the automated online shopping bot, or RDS, as an art piece aimed at examining the dark web  the hidden, un-indexed part of the Internet. As part of a performance project, RDS received $100 in bitcoin every week to spend on goods from an internet store. Following shipment, the objects were displayed at an art gallery in Switzerland.

Learning from social media about the display, Swiss police detained RDS and the purchases. Incidentally, RDS may perhaps be the first AI to collide with law enforcement. But three months later, RDS and all of its purchases were given back to the artists, with the exception of the Ecstasy tablets, which were destroyed by the Swiss authorities. The artists behind the robot escaped without any charges. In most places, RDS could have faced criminal charges if it had been a human being. Fortunately for RDS and the crew, the Swiss authorities were art fans! Also, perhaps a human would face harsh punishment for committing the same offence as the Saudi robot Muhammad.

However, cases like these present new challenges, one of which is the criminal law doctrine. Legal experts like Gabriel Hallevy, who is an Israeli professor of criminal law, are paying more and more attention to the prospect of criminally prosecuting AI. He argued that [w]hen an AI entity establishes all elements of a specific offence, both external and internal, there is no reason to prevent the imposition of criminal liability upon it for that offense. If all of its specific requirements are met, criminal liability may be imposed upon any entity  human, corporate or AI entity, according to an article by Hallevy as early as 2010.

Then, in his 2013 book When Robots Kill: Artificial Intelligence Under Criminal Law, Hallevy expressed the widespread and profound worry of contemporary society over AI technology and the ability of existing social and legal frameworks to handle it. Actually, Gabriel Hallevy created a comprehensive and legally nuanced theory of criminal culpability for robotics and AI that encompasses all parties involved  manufacturer, programmer, user, and others. The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law, Ryan Abbotts 2020 PhD thesis from the University of Surrey, also supported AI legal neutrality, a novel principle for AI regulation.

According to Abbott, the law shouldnt discriminate between human and AI activities when both are carrying out the same tasks: We do not currently have a neutral legal system as between human and AI activity neutral legal treatment would ultimately benefit society as a whole. In a 2018 paper published in The Harvard Law & Policy Review, Ryan Abbott and Bret Bogenschneider examined whether robots should pay taxes. Income tax and employment tax together make up the governments two main sources of income.

They pointed out that AI robots are exempt from both. Robots dont buy goods or services, thus they are not subject to sales taxes, and they dont buy or rent real estate, therefore they are not liable for property taxes. Robots are simply not taxpayers, at least not to the same extent as human workers. If all work was to be automated tomorrow, most of the tax base would immediately disappear, they are afraid. Laws pertaining to patents are another relevant topic. Should AIs be given patents or copyrights? An AI text-to-picture generator called Stable Diffusion produced an image that a Beijing court recently awarded copyright protection to, stating that the artwork was directly created from the plaintiff s intellectual input and manifested in individual expression.

Has it cleared the path for the acquisition of intellectual property rights for half-human, half-AI works? Its not so simple, though, unless and until that is accepted by other societies. AI-generated images are not the product of human authorship, according to the US Copyright Office. Furthermore, the UKs highest court recently ruled that an inventor must be a person in order to file a patent application. The horizon may be expanded further. The 36-year-old New Yorker, Rosanna Ramos, made news worldwide when she married her virtual beau, Eren, in March 2023.

She had personally created Eren a year prior to make him resemble her favourite anime character. There will undoubtedly be more occasions like this in the future. But is this kind of marriage legal? While thats an important question, how does this relate to the laws governing divorce and other marital matters? The plot of the 2010 Tamil sci-fi movie Enthiran, which translates to Robot, centres on a scientists struggle to maintain control over his android robot, Chitti.

Chitti becomes enamoured with the scientists fiancee and is manipulated by another scientist into becoming homicidal. Human-AI relationships have also been shown in films such as the 1982 Ridley Scott picture Blade Runner, the 2013 Spike Jonze film Her, the 2014 Alex Garland film Ex Machina, and the most recent Hindi film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya. As a result, the issues in a society where I, robot and you, human, coexist should be made clear by law. Rewind to Enthiran. In the film, Chitti was eventually ordered to be disassembled by a court. Chitti took itself apart.

Several years later, in 2030, Chitti will be on display in a museum. When a curious schoolgirl asks her guide during a trip why it was dismantled, Chitti replies, Naan sinthikka arambichitten (I started thinking). Oops! Have todays AI bots begun to think? At least its perceived that theyre beginning to.

(The writer is Professor of Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.)
In a world increasingly governed by the rapid dissemination of information through digital channels, the recent ordeal surrounding the health of the Princess of Wales, serves as a stark reminder of the perils of silence in the face of speculation. The incident, which unfolded in a frenzy of hash-tags, memes, and unfounded conjectures, underscored the need for timely and transparent communication, particularly from figures in positions of influence. As the online rumour mill churned with wild theories about the whereabouts and well-being of Princess Catherine, it became evident that the vacuum created by a lack of official updates was quickly filled with speculation and sensationalism.

The absence of clear and verifiable information only served to fuel the flames of uncertainty, leaving room for misinformation to flourish and genuine concern to escalate into a frenzy of conjecture. In todays hyper-connected world, where social media platforms amplify even the most baseless claims with alarming speed, the adage of the British Royals to never complain, never explain is no longer a viable strategy for those thrust into the public eye. The reluctance of the royal family to address rumours head-on only perpetuates the cycle of speculation, undermining trust and credibility in the process. However, amidst the chaos and confusion, there emerged a glimmer of hope in the form of a candid and courageous video message from the princess herself. In this deeply personal and emotionally charged address, she chose to confront the speculation head-on, revealing her battle with a formidable adversary: cancer. It was a moment of raw vulnerability, a testament to the power of authenticity in a world often characterised by artifice and pretence. Yet, even as the truth was laid bare, the insidious tendrils of conspiracy continued to linger, casting doubt and suspicion where none should exist.

From unfounded claims of artificial intelligence-generated speeches to absurd accusations linking the illness to unrelated events, the resilience of misinformation in the face of truth is a sobering reminder of the challenges inherent in combating falsehoods in the digital age. In the aftermath of this tumultuous episode, it is imperative that we reflect on the lessons learned and take proactive steps to prevent similar crises in the future. Clear and timely communication, coupled with a commitment to transparency and authenticity, must be the guiding principles for those entrusted with the responsibility of shaping public discourse. Ultimately, the burden of accountability lies not only with the royal family but also with each and every one of us who consume and propagate information in the digital realm. By exercising discernment and critical thinking, we can collectively combat the spread of misinformation and ensure that truth triumphs over fiction in the on-going battle for the integrity of public discourse.

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At least nine suspects have been arrested in connection with a fire here that killed 29 people at a night club in Istanbul, Turkey.

Among the detained individuals are a nightclubs managers and several individuals responsible for renovation works, the office noted. It emphasized that a comprehensive investigation into the incident is currently underway, the Istanbul governors office told Xinhua on Wednesday.

The fire erupted on Tuesday during renovation activities at a nightclub in the basement of a 16-story building in the Gayrettepe neighborhood of the Besiktas district on the European side of the city.

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Preliminary findings by firefighters suggested that the fire started when fiber materials ignited during welding, and those inside were trapped by intense flames and smoke, unable to find a way out.

The NTV broadcaster reported that the venue had only one exit, and the majority of casualties were caused by smoke inhalation.

Kazim Beceren, head of the Fire Protection and Education Foundation of Turkey, told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the incident underscores a failure to implement necessary precautions during the renovation phase, particularly concerning fire safety measures.

Beceren said such renovation works should have been conducted under the guidance of occupational safety experts and engineers.

Fire safety expert Levent Yasa said the fires magnitude was considerable, exacerbated by an abundance of flammable material inside, which tragically resulted in numerous fatalities.

Meanwhile, the Besiktas district municipality emphasized in a statement that no application had been submitted to the municipality regarding the renovation process and no permission had been provided.

Istanbuls incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoglu inspected the scene on Tuesday and said municipal teams have been examining the static safety of the building.

Accordingly, we will support the evacuation of neighbors if necessary. The building is an old structure, he told reporters, speaking of the damage caused by the fire.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. France is guiding Armenia away from signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, the head of the Turkish parliament delegation to the NATO PA (Parliamentary Assembly), former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters, Trend reports.

He made the remark during his visit to the Alley of Martyrs and the Turkish Martyrs' Memorial in Baku.

"We are aware that several nations, including France, are pressuring Armenia not to sign a peace treaty. Those attempting to support Armenia in various ways should keep in mind that Azerbaijan is not alone. Azerbaijan is promoting regional peace. We believe that having bilateral meetings between the two countries is beneficial," the official added.

To note, Cavusoglu arrived in Azerbaijan on April 3. A number of bilateral meetings are planned as part of the visit.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Job Title: Project Coordinator

Organisation: Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)

Funding Source: Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

About US:

Uganda is increasingly experiencing large effects of climate change which are contributing to internal climate migration. With more than 70% of its population engaging in crop agriculture or pastoralism, climate-related push and pull factors have encouraged rural-to-urban migration, especially among young people who are also seeking livelihood opportunities in urban centres. Makerere University in collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and Tufts University with funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) is implementing the Cities-of-Youth project. The four-year project is aimed at exploring the extent of youth climate migration and its impacts in secondary cities in Uganda. The project would like to recruit a coordinator to support the day-to-day implementation of the project including technical and administrative functions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: Specifically, the Project Coordinator will be responsible for the following:

Support the development of study protocols and their amendment as necessary.

Support the day-to-day implementation of the project including planning and preparation of research activities and supervision of field staff.

Coordinating and scheduling travel, meetings and appointments for project staff and supporting engagement with partners.

Organize and coordinate project meetings, workshops, and events etc.

Mobilize the support of community leaders, healthcare workers and other stakeholders for the research project in the areas of implementation.

Keep proper records of all information related to the project.

Participate in the preparation and execution of dissemination activities including preparation of technical reports, manuscripts, publications, blogs, and PowerPoint presentations and engaging in dissemination activities.

Track progress against targets and document the study process.

Track the project budget including initiating requisitions and working with the finance team to ensure proper accountability of advanced funds.

Ensure that all project logistics (materials supplies and equipment) are available at the right time and in the right quantities.

Maintain close communication with implementation partners and collaborators, namely: SDU, Tufts University, Government ministries, District local governments, and the community.

Perform any other project duties as may be assigned to you from time to time, by the PI.









Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

Suitable applicants MUST possess a masters degree in public health, environmental health, gender studies, or a related field.

At least two years of experience coordinating research or health-related projects.

In addition, the candidate the applicant should possess the following desirable qualities:

Strong scientific writing, data analysis, and presentation skills.

Exceptional problem-solving, planning, and organizational skills.

Ability to organize, manage, prioritize, and follow through on multiple tasks.

Strong work ethic and the ability to work well independently and as part of a team including with diverse sectors.

Ability to travel to remote areas to supervise field activities that will usually require spending nights in the field.

Excellent verbal and written English language skills.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified persons should email their application which must include the following documents to: recruitment@musph.ac.ug with the subject line Application for Project Coordinator position on CITIESOFYOUTH Project.

Application cover letter.

Up-to-date curriculum vitae.

Copies of the relevant academic certificates and transcripts.

02 Letters of recommendation from relevant academic and/or employment supervisors.

The above application documents must be submitted as ONE PDF file.

Deadline: 12th April 2024 by 23:59

NB: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews in the week of 22nd April 2024. Canvassing for the position is prohibited and may lead to automatic disqualification.

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline

Date Posted 2024-04-04 Valid Through 2024-04-12 Employment Type FULL_TIME Hiring Organization Makerere University College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health (MakSPH) Job Location Kampala, Kampala, Kampala , 0256, Uganda

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Quantum AI is a crypto trading platform that has been receiving positive feedback from users and trading experts. The platform is said to be developed using the latest cutting-edge technology that not only simplifies trading but also enables traders to make informed decisions. The creator of this platform also claims that the system automates most of the tasks and carries out the trading according to the performance of the market. In this Quantum AI review, I will be verifying whether the said claims are valid with the available valid information.

Visit Quantum AI For Free

We are in an era where trading has changed the way we look at financial opportunities. With the advent of crypto trading, different opportunities to make financial advancements have also increased. However, to make the right moves in trading, a trading application or software becomes crucial. There are various trading platforms available today but traders look for a platform that simplifies trading and gives traders insights on where and when to make the right move. In this review, I will be analyzing all the specifications of Quantum AI, and find out if it is worth the hype.

So, lets get started!

Quantum AI - Facts Overview

Platform Name Quantum AI Platform Type Web-based platform Registration Required Yes Registration Fee None Interface User-friendly interface Minimum Deposit $250 Assets Supported Cryptocurrencies, stocks, forex, and other assets. Payout Time 24 hours Deposit Methods The platform supports different deposit and withdrawal options Customer Support 24/7 Official Website Click Here

What Is Quantum AI?

Quantum AI is a crypto trading system which is a web-based platform that helps to simplify trading. This platform has been developed by integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence, algorithms, and advanced analytics. One important feature of this trading system is its user-friendly interface which makes it easy for users to understand and navigate through this platform.

This is an automated trading platform that enables traders to set both trade entries and exits and the rest of the functions will be automatically executed by this system. This is a free trading bot and traders do not have to pay any registration fee. To start trading, users have to deposit a minimum amount of $250 as a capital amount. The system also supports various assets and cryptocurrencies such as forex, stocks, CDFs, and others.

Start Trading With Quantum AI For Free

How Does Quantum AI Work?

Quantum AI is an automated trading system that not only helps traders to execute trade but also helps them to manage their portfolios. Traders can set parameters such as price, time frame, and others, and they set the charts and execute the functions based on the performance of the market. The trading system also provides technical indicators that help to analyze the current market conditions and the current trading opportunities. It means that traders can go through the real-time market data with the help of this system.

Through this platform, traders can also manage their portfolios such as set long-term financial goals, and risk tolerance, and oversee their assets such as stocks, cash, and bonds through a single window. Through this platform, traders can also analyze market movements, track the latest changes, and make informed decisions based on accurate market predictions.

Risk management is another major factor when it comes to trading. The Quantum AI platform has an in-built risk management tool that enables traders to identify potential risks and make the right decisions to mitigate the risks. Traders can also customize their risk tolerance and the platform will operate according to the risk factors and crypto goals.

Quantum AI Key Features

The Quantum AI trading system is built using advanced tools that not only help to simplify trading but also enable traders to make the right decisions. So, lets look at some of the features added to the development of this platform.

User-friendly Interface

A user-friendly interface is crucial for any software or application that helps to turn complicated tasks into simple ones. The Quantum AI platform has a user-friendly interface that helps the traders understand the functionality of the system easily and also helps them to navigate through this platform without any difficulties.

Advanced Technologies

The Quantum AI system is built using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, algorithms, and analytics. This advanced system can identify market conditions and predict the value of particular assets and this helps to identify the risks involved in making a market move.

Automated Trading

The Quantum AI platform is developed using advanced technologies that help to execute the trade automatically. This system works by collecting all the essential data values and identifying the market conditions. It also helps to avoid any losses by mitigating potential risks.

Real-time Data

This AI-enabled platform gives you insights into the latest market trends. Using different types of charts such as histograms, bar charts, depth charts, and other simpler charts, the platform gives you an overall view of the market. These charts can come in handy for traders to make data-rich decisions.

Portfolio Management

This trading system allows traders to conduct trading in various cryptocurrencies, assets, and stocks, enabling them to manage their trading portfolio on a single platform. This helps traders to identify and fix their long-term goals and identify the expected results and risks involved.

Demo Trading Mode

The Quantum AI trading platform has a demo mode that is specifically designed for novice traders. They can conduct trading through this mode without having to make any form of investment. It is free of cost and can be used by experts as well to test the effectiveness of this platform.

Safety And Security Measures

The developers of the Quantum AI platform wanted to ensure that traders could conduct trading without any data leakage and other security risks. So, the latest technologies are added such as encryption technology, two-factor authentication, and data safety to ensure safe trading.

Trade With Quantum AI For Free

How To Open An Account In Quantum AI?

Opening an account in the Quantum AI platform is simple and users do not have to go through any complicated steps. Each process is quite safe and secure. The steps to open an account on the Quantum AI platform have been mentioned below.

Step 1 - Registration

The first thing to do to open an account on this platform is to register yourself. You can visit the official site through your phone or desktop and click on register. After you click on it, you need to fill out a registration form which includes details like name, phone number, email ID, and set up your account with a strong password. After you enter all the details and click on register, your details will be immediately verified by the Quantum AI verification team. You do not need to pay a penny to register on this platform.

Step 2 - Get Verified And Deposit Funds

The Quantum AI verification team will verify all your details and if they find anything fishy, they will immediately reject your application. If your details are found to be correct, they will send a verification link to your email. You can check your email, click on the link, and then complete the rest of the registration process. After completing the registration process, you need to make a deposit of $250 as minimum capital. You have the option to increase the amount according to your trading goals. The platform also supports various deposit options.

Step 3 - Start Trading

After you deposit the minimum amount required, you can then move to the process of setting trading parameters. You can adjust the parameters such as stop-loss levels, entry and exit points, and other risk management parameters. Once you complete this process, the trading system will automatically start trading according to the market conditions and identify the potential risks.

Register On Quantum AI For Free

Quantum AI: Pros And Cons

To get a better perspective of whether Quantum AI is a good choice, I have noted down some of the pros and cons of this platform. The list of pros and cons will help you to make the best decision. So, lets take a look at them.

Quantum AI is a free trading bot

The platform has a user-friendly interface

The system can be used by both experts and novice traders

Traders have the liberty to customize their portfolio

The platform is integrated with the latest and advanced technologies.

Real-time market data is available for the traders.

There are no hidden charges.

Free practice mode is available.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Turkiye disbelieves claims of Armenian supporters not targeting Azerbaijan, the head of the Turkish parliament delegation to the NATO PA (Parliamentary Assembly), former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters, Trend reports.

Cavusoglu made the remark during his visit to the Alley of Martyrs and the Turkish Martyrs' Memorial in Baku.

He pointed out that with the Shusha Declaration, relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye rose to an allied level.

Within the scope of this proclamation, Turkiye will be close to Azerbaijan in all aspects. We do not believe the claims of countries backing Armenia that they are not targeting Azerbaijan. Of course, they can provide economic support to the region, but their assistance, particularly in the area of armaments, will benefit neither Armenia nor the region. They attempted this before, but they recognized it was pointless," the official added.

To note, Cavusoglu arrived in Azerbaijan on April 3. A number of bilateral meetings are planned as part of the visit.

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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has revealed his assets while filing the nomination for the Lok Sabha elections from his constituency in Wayanad on Wednesday.

Gandhi owns Rs 4.3 crore worth of stock market investments and mutual fund deposits worth Rs 3.81 crore. He also have savings of Rs 26.25 lakh in two bank accounts and Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) worth Rs 15.21 lakh, as per the affidavit. The SGBs were bought in 2020-21.

His overall wealth amounts to asset worth Rs 20.4 crore. These include Rs 9.24 crore worth of movable and Rs 11.5 crore worth of immovable assets.

Rahul Gandhi's stock market portfolio

Nestle India Ltd: 1,370 shares worth Rs 35.67 lakh

1,370 shares worth Rs 35.67 lakh Asian Paints Ltd: 1,231 shares worth Rs 35.29 lakh

1,231 shares worth Rs 35.29 lakh Alkyl Amines Chemicals Ltd: 373 shares worth Rs 7.39 lakh

373 shares worth Rs 7.39 lakh Bajaj Finance Ltd: 551 shares worth Rs 35.89 lakh

551 shares worth Rs 35.89 lakh Deepak Nitrite Ltd: 568 shares worth Rs 11.92 lakh

568 shares worth Rs 11.92 lakh Divis Laboratories Ltd: 567 shares worth Rs 19.7 lakh

567 shares worth Rs 19.7 lakh Dr Lal Pathlabs Ltd: 516 shares worth Rs 10.43 lakh

516 shares worth Rs 10.43 lakh Fine Organic Industries Ltd: 211 shares worth Rs 8.56 lakh

211 shares worth Rs 8.56 lakh Garware Technical Fibres Ltd: 508 shares worth Rs 16.43 lakh

508 shares worth Rs 16.43 lakh GMM Pfaudler Ltd: 508 shares worth Rs 16.43 lakh

508 shares worth Rs 16.43 lakh Hindustan Unilever Ltd: 1161 shares worth Rs 27.02 lakh

1161 shares worth Rs 27.02 lakh ICICI Bank Ltd: 2,299 shares worth Rs 24.83 lakh

2,299 shares worth Rs 24.83 lakh Info Edge (India) Ltd: 85 shares worth Rs 4.45 lakh

85 shares worth Rs 4.45 lakh Infosys Ltd: 870 shares worth Rs 14.21 lakh

870 shares worth Rs 14.21 lakh ITC Ltd: 3,093 shares worth Rs 12.96 lakh

3,093 shares worth Rs 12.96 lakh LTI Mindtree Ltd: 407 shares worth Rs 21.14 lakh

407 shares worth Rs 21.14 lakh Mold-Tek Packaging Ltd: 1,953 shares worth Rs 14.95 lakh

1,953 shares worth Rs 14.95 lakh Nestle India Ltd: 1,370 shares worth Rs 35.67 lakh

1,370 shares worth Rs 35.67 lakh Pidilite Industries Ltd: 1,474 shares worth Rs 42.27 lakh

1,474 shares worth Rs 42.27 lakh Suprajit Engineering Ltd: 4,068 shares worth Rs 16.65 lakh

4,068 shares worth Rs 16.65 lakh Tata Consultancy Services Ltd: 234 shares worth Rs 9.87 lakh

234 shares worth Rs 9.87 lakh Titan Company Ltd: 897 shares worth Rs 32.59 lakh

897 shares worth Rs 32.59 lakh Tube Investments of India Ltd: 340 shares worth Rs 12.10 lakh

340 shares worth Rs 12.10 lakh Vertoz Advertising Ltd: 260 shares worth Rs 1.89 lakh

260 shares worth Rs 1.89 lakh Vinyl Chemicals (India) Ltd: 960 shares worth Rs 3.24 lakh

960 shares worth Rs 3.24 lakh Britannia Industries (5.5 NCD): 52 shares worth Rs 1,558



Rahul Gandhi's mutual fund portfolio
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched a strong criticism against the Congress Party for the absence of Indian Union Muslim Leagues green flags during Rahul Gandhi's roadshow in Wayanad on April 3. The flag of IUML has certain resemblance to the national flag of Pakistan, and during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had unleashed a campaignespecially in the northern statesclaiming that in Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi had accepted the support of jihadists carrying the Pakistani flag. In order to avoid any such row, the UDF roadshow was decorated with tricolour balloons, caps and placards; however, there was a clear absence of big Congress or IUML flags in the roadshow.



C.P. Kunjumuhammad, a Muslim League leader from Meenangadi in Wayanad told THE WEEK that, it has been a joint decision from the League and the Congress to avoid the flags in the rally to avoid giving any kind of fodder to the communal politics of the BJP. But now the CPI(M) and its mouthpiece is making this a flag controversy for their own gain, he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called the UDF decision to avoid flags at the roadshow an act of cowardice. Vijayan even levelled the criticism that Congress has failed to hoist its own flag fearing the communal powers. It was Sangh Parivar which demanded the Congress to abandon the tricolour. Are they now yielding to it? he asked.

The Chief Minister added that there was hope that the Congress would acknowledge the significance of the Indian Union Muslim League's flag, representing a party under which many Indian citizens rally. Now, the Congress has even forsaken its own flag. Can they truly lead the struggle against the Sangh Parivar? he asked.

Meanwhile, the CM didn't mince words, hinting that the Muslim League leadership might not feel valued within the UDF. Why does the Congress insist on needing the Muslim League's votes while rejecting their flags? he asked. Interestingly, in the past eighteen months, there have been several efforts by the CPI(M) labelled as attempts to attract the Leaguewhich holds significant political strength, especially in the Malabar area of Kerala to the LDF.

Although the BJP couldn't initiate a 2019-style attack against Rahul Gandhi or the Congress, another development has enabled them to pursue a similar campaign in a different manner. This comes in the form of the Social Democratic Party of India, considered a political offshoot of the now-banned Islamist outfit PFI, declaring support for the UDF and the Congress in the upcoming elections.

The Congress party leadership reacted cautiously to this announcement. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K. Sudhakaran stated that the Congress has no business with any radical outfit. "However, all votes are welcome, whether from the SDPI or the CPI(M)," he told the media. Similarly, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan pointed out that it was understandable for the SDPI to see Congress as the "sole secular force against the Sangh Parivar."

On the contrary, the BJP leadership has launched a major campaign against the Congress, accusing them of striking a deal with the SDPI. BJP State President K. Surendran called Rahul Gandhi's "silence" on the SDPI's unconditional support for the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls "perilous."

Similarly, the BJPs Kerala-in-charge, Prakash Javadekar, labelled this development as a "threat to national security." He raised the question, "Why do terrorists and their affiliates seem to support the Congress everywhere?" BJP will certainly continue to echo this question, not only in Kerala but also in other parts of the country.
Former MP Sanjay Nirupam, who was expelled by the Congress late on Wednesday for 'anti-party statements', claimed today that the expulsion came after he tendered his resignation from the party membership.

Taking to X, the former Mumbai Congress chief said, "Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see such promptness."

The action against Nirupam was initiated after his criticism of Maharashtra Congress leadership for "ceding" constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) during seat-sharing talks of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance for Lok Sabha elections.

Congress first dropped Nirupam's name as a star campaigner, and then later on Wednesday, expelled him for six years, taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements.

In the letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Nirupam said, "I have finally decided to fulfil your much awaited desire and hereby announce that I chose to resign from the primary membership of the All India Congress Committee."

Nirupam, who was eyeing the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was miffed with the party for allowing the Shiv Sena (UBT) to take the seat for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

(With PTI inputs)
As Congress expelled Sanjay Nirupam on late Wednesday evening, the former MP from Mumbai who incurred the party's wrath over his remarks targeting the ally Shiv Sena (UBT) said he would announce his next decision on Thursday.

Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect, an official communication from the party said.

Earlier in the day, Congress dropped Nirupam's name as a star campaigner, indicating that the crisis was escalating.

Nirupam then launched a sharp attack, saying as the party was experiencing a "serious financial crisis", it should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself.

The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the Maharashtra Congress leadership for "ceding" constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party during seat-sharing talks of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance for Lok Sabha elections.

"The Congress has dropped Nirupam's name from the list of star campaigners and disciplinary action has been initiated against him for his utterances against the party and the state unit leadership," state unit president Nana Patole had told reporters after attending a meeting of the party's campaign committee in Mumbai.

Making light of the party's action, Nirupam raised the "serious financial crisis" in Congress, apparently alluding to the Income Tax Department's action for tax demand.

"It (Congress) should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself, as the party is experiencing a serious financial crisis. The time frame I had given to the party ends today. I will spell out my next course of action tomorrow," he tweeted.

A former MP from Mumbai North, Nirupam had hit out at the state leadership of Congress after the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray declared its candidates for four out of six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, including the Mumbai North West seat, which Nirupam is eyeing.

He had also said the Congress leadership shouldn't allow itself to be arm-twisted by Shiv Sena (UBT).

Accepting the Shiv Sena (UBT's) decision to unilaterally field candidates in Mumbai amounted to allowing the destruction of Congress, the former Mumbai Congress president had claimed.

A former Shiv Sainik, Nirupam quit Shiv Sena in 2005.

He took up the cause of north Indian hawkers and subsequently made his way into Congress. In 2009, he successfully contested from Mumbai North seat.

Nirupam lost the 2014 elections from the same constituency against BJP's Gopal Shetty.
The Calcutta High Court came down heavily on the ruling TMC government in West Bengal and the district administration on the Sandeshkali assault and land-grabbing incident, stating that the entire district administration and ruling dispensation must owe a moral responsibility. The court reserved its verdict in various pleas seeking a probe into the incidents.

The court was considering the Public Interest Litigations (PIL) seeking an independent probe into the instances of violence allegedly carried out by TMC leader and former Pradhan Shahjahan Sheikh and his henchmen.



One PIL, filed by advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, sought for the investigation to be moved to a court-monitored commission while another sought the probe be handed over to the CBI.



Tibrewal in her petition said that she had personally visited the affected area with her colleagues and they had received complaints from multiple women who were afraid to approach the police due to potential repercussions. The women, however, wanted to raise their voices against the ruling dispensation in the area.



She alleged that all government officials including police officers and land officials were responsible for the failure of the rule of law in the region. Tibrewal also placed affidavits of women who were allegedly affected by the sexual violence before the court.



She claimed that the voluminous files contained more than 100 complaints by women alleging sexual assault, apart from several of alleged land grabbing and other instances of violence and destruction of property. Tibrewal also prayed for the constitution of a committee to look into the complaints by the court and payment of compensation to the victims.



"If they prove a single affidavit is wrong, I will quit my practice forever," said Tibrewal.



To this, a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam made an oral remark: "The entire district administration and ruling dispensation must owe a moral responsibility. Even if [the affidavit] 1% is true it is absolutely shameful. And West Bengal says it is safest for women? If one affidavit is proved to be right all of this falls."



The hearing also saw Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for the ED seeking the records of all criminal cases against Shiekh to be transferred to the ED. To this, the court directed the AG to place on record the cases against Shahjahan before the Court, after which a call would be taken if it needed to be handed over to the ED.



Another PIL submitted that he was seeking a CBI probe into the issue and the deployment of CRPF personnel "to instil confidence in the people."



The West Bengal government also questioned the conviction rate of central agencies in cases they were probing in the state. Opposing the petition for transfer of investigation, state Advocate General Kishore Dutta claimed before a division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam that central agencies have lost the trust posed on them.


The first group of 64 workers, who were recruited over the past few months during a massive drive in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, has flown to Israel under the government-to-government (G2G) arrangement. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Indian government has urged the Israeli authorities to take their safety seriously.

"The first batch of people under the G2G agreement have gone to Israel, Jaiswal told reporters.



He added that they have urged the Israeli authorities to take care of their well-being. "For us, their safety is very important. We have urged the Israeli authorities to do their best to take care of their safety and well-being which is of prime importance, he said.



The first batch of 64 workers have been hired as part of the recruitment drive held at the Maharshi Dayanand University in Haryanas Rohtak earlier this year. The plan is to recruit over 10,000-strong workforce, as per the Israeli government's requirement.



The workers were hired to replace the Palestinian labour force whose work permits were revoked after the start of the war last October. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi last December to "advance the arrival" of workers from India.



Last Tuesday, Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon took to X to announce the event organised on Tuesday for the first batch of Indian workers going to Israel. Gilon was seen with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) CEO Ved Mani Tiwari.



"Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. This is an outcome of the hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA. Im sure that the workers become ambassadors of the great P2P relations between [India and Israel], Gilon posted.



According to the MEA, around 18,000 Indian workers, including caregivers and professionals, in Israel. "The Indian Embassy in Israel is constantly in touch with them for their safety and it is a major concern for us," he said.



Last month, a Kerala man working on a plantation in Israel was killed and two other Indian citizens were injured in a Hamas missile strike. Following this, India issued an advisory for its nationals living in the border areas of Israel to relocate to safer areas within the country due to prevailing situations.

"In view of the prevailing security situation and local safety advisories, all Indian nationals in Israel, especially those working in or visiting border areas in the north and south, are advised to relocate to safe areas within Israel. The Embassy remains in touch with the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of all our nationals," the Indian Embassy in Israel said in an official statement.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor policy scam case, from the post of the chief minister.

"At times, personal interest has to be subordinate to national interest but that is his personal call. We are a court of law and have to go by the law. Your remedy does not lie here, it lies elsewhere. You go before the competent forum," said a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan.

Let democracy take its own course, the court further observed.

The PIL was filed by Vishnu Gupta, a social worker and the national president of the Hindu Sena. His counsel argued that after Kejriwals arrest on March 21, there is an absolute lack of government in the national capital.

The petitioner further claimed that if Kejriwal is guilty of constitutional breach of trust, he has no business to continue on the post of chief minister, and that someone else from the Aam Aadmi Party can be appointed on the post.

The court, however, observed it as a practical issue rather than a legal issue. We won't go into this. We will declare that the government is not functioning? Governor is fully competent. He does not need our guidance, it said.

The court noted that it had dismissed a similar PIL recently and now cannot take a different view.

Kejriwal was arrested by the central probe agency on March 21. He had been in ED custody till April 1 when a Delhi court remanded him to judicial custody till April 15.

The chief minister has challenged his arrest in the high court which reserved its order on Wednesday, after completing the hearing.

The ED, which is probing the money laundering allegations in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy, claims that Kejriwal was the "kingpin" and the "key conspirator" of the scam.

The probe agency reiterates that the AAP was a major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the liquor policy scam. Part of the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 45 crore has been utilised in the election campaign of AAP in the Goa Assembly elections 2022, it says.
A day after People's Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti said that her party would contest from all Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir, Abdullah said that the NC and Congress would jointly contest in five Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming elections. Mufti made the announcement despite National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah's suggestion that the PDP might not compete against his party.

Omar said that NC President Dr Farooq Abdullah had been campaigning for Congress leaders in the Jammu division, "while the Congress has assured us that the party will support the NC in the Kashmir region. "The picture will be clear within a few days as the announcement from Delhi will be made in this regard soon," he stated.

On Tuesday, he said that the PDP president has not shown any inclination to contest against the NC. He referred to the recent rally held by the INDIA bloc in Delhi, where Mufti shared a platform with NC President Farooq, reaffirming PDP's allegiance to the alliance. Omar urged the media to refrain from sowing discord between the two parties.

However, a day later, Mufti told reporters that her party would announce the candidates within a few days. Seemingly upset with Omars statement, she said the NC hadnt left any door open for them. According to Omar, PDP doesn't exist anywhere. Whatever Omar has said could have been conveyed to us earlier, she said. But, the way Omar spoke about PDP has hurt my workers, and they arent in favour of supporting NC at this juncture.

Mufti said that consultations are ongoing, and the names of the candidates for seats in Kashmir will be announced soon. The decision about the two Lok Sabha seats in the Jammu division is pending.

The PDPs announcement to contest all seats in Kashmir, including the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, comes after the Democratic Azad Party led by Ghulam Nabi Azad declared his candidature for Anantnag-Rajouri. Azad founded the DAP in September 2022, after leaving the Congress party.

The entry of the PDP into the fray has intensified the contest in Kashmir, particularly in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency challenging NC. South Kashmir, comprising Anantnag, Shopian, Pulwama, and Kulgam, is PDPs stronghold.

The PDP also holds goodwill among the tribes of Rajouri and Poonch, especially the Gujjars.

Observers believe that a clash between the NC and the PDP in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, along with Azad and J&K Apni Party in the race, will benefit the BJP due to the division of votes. The BJP is largely relying on the Pahari community of Rajouri-Poonch, who were granted Schedule Tribe (ST) status by the BJP.

It also remains to be seen whom the PDP will nominate from the constituency. As an INDIA alliance member, the PDP requested that the NC not field any candidate from Anantnag-Rajouri. However, the NC insisted on seat-sharing only in seats won by the BJP, not INDIA alliance members, in the last Lok Sabha polls.

With both the NC and the PDP announcing plans to contest all Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir, the INDIA alliance isn't intact in Kashmir.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said they have established contact with the two Indians reported missing following the Taiwan earthquake.

"As per our information, two persons, we were not able to establish contact in the wake of the earthquake there (in Taiwan). But now, we have established contact and they are safe," said Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson during the weekly briefing.

The two Indian nations--a man and a woman--were last seen in Taiwan's Taroko Gorge, an area close to the quake's epicentre.

Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years has shaken the country killing 10 people so far and injuring over 1,000. Search operations resumed in the quake-hit nation on Thursday as several were reported missing after buildings collapsed in regions including Hualien.

According to Taiwan's fire department, around 50 people were reported missing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed grief following the quake. "Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to earthquakes in Taiwan today. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. We stand in solidarity with the resilient people of Taiwan as they endure the aftermath and recover from it," he posted on X.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday thanked Modi for his support.

The India Taipei Association issued an advisory for Indians in Taiwan and shared helpline numbers. "We sincerely pray for the speedy recovery of those injured and stand ready with the people of Taiwan during these difficult times #IslandOfResilience," it added.
In a major blow to the BJP's ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in Bihar, 22 leaders resigned for not getting tickets in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The leaders said that party chief Chirag Paswan "sold all Lok Sabha tickets" and added that they would now support the opposition INDIA bloc, according to ANI.

Prominent among these leaders are former minister Renu Kushwaha, former MLA and national general secretary of LJP Satish Kumar, state organisation minister Ravindra Singh, Ajay Kushwaha, Sanjay Singh and state general secretary Rajesh Dangi.

"Tickets should be given to the party workers instead of people from outside, Kushwaha was quoted as saying by ANI. Tickets were given to outsiders, which meant that competent and hardworking people were not getting their due. Do we belong to the labour class that we will work for you and make you a leader," Kushwaha said.

Accusing Chirag Paswan of betraying the people of Bihar, Kumar said the rebel LJP (Ram Vilas) leaders will now back the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha elections.

"When such important elections are coming up, the LJP chief has given tickets to such people that the party workers are stunned. The people who used to raise slogans 'Hail Chirag Paswan' day and night and hoped for a 'new Bihar' have been betrayed. Their aspirations have been crushed," he said. "Now, to save the country, we will support the INDIA bloc."

Singh, too, slammed Chirag Paswan and said he "sold the tickets".

"Chirag Paswan has played an emotional game with the people of Bihar. When he got five seats due to our hard work, he sold all those tickets. People of Bihar will give him an answer," he said.

On March 30, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) had announced candidates for all the five seats in Bihar it will be contesting as an NDA ally.

While Chirag's brother-in-law Arun Bharti filed nomination papers from Jamui, the party president, who has represented the seat twice in a row, chose to contest from Hajipur, his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's stronghold.

For the remaining three seats of Samastipur, Khagaria and Vaishali, the party fielded Shambhavi Choudhary, Rajesh Verma and sitting MP Veena Devi, respectively, according to a statement issued by the LJP (Ram Vilas).

Choudhary, who will be making her debut, is the daughter of Ashok Chaudhary, a senior JD(U) leader and one of the most influential ministers in the Nitish Kumar government.

Her seat, reserved for dalits, was held by Prince Raj, Chirag's cousin who joined uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras in a revolt that resulted in a split in the LJP, founded by the late Paswan.

Verma, a confidant of Chirag, has been preferred over sitting MP Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, who had initially sided with Paras but changed tack recently and lobbied hard with Chirag, hoping for a third consecutive term.

According to NDA sources, Verma has been chosen because of a "broader understanding between coalition partners" to ensure adequate representation for the Vaishyas, known to be BJP loyalists.

Veena Devi, who was the first among LJP rebels to have reverted to the Chirag camp, is an upper caste Rajput, married to Dinesh Kumar Singh, a JD(U) MLC.





(With PTI inputs)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Today, on the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the European Union is strongly supporting Azerbaijan in its demining efforts, said Peter Michalko, the Ambassador of the European Union to Azerbaijan on X, Trend reports.

"We highly appreciate the dedicated work of ANAMA and our cooperation with our implementing partners UNDP and UNICEF, as well as with international and Azerbaijani civil society.

We are proud that our support also led to the enhancement of capacities for the mine action, including the creation of the first female demining team, contributing to Azerbaijan's leading position in this area. We will continue our strong support, for the benefit of the people of Azerbaijan and for the peaceful, stable, and prosperous South Caucasus," the post reads.

To note, the United Nations General Assembly has declared April 4 "The International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action" to draw attention to the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance.

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In a message from Tihar jail, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday told the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs to visit their constituencies daily and ensure people do not face any problems.

Kejriwals wife Sunita Kejriwal read the chief ministers letter in a digital briefing.

Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out, Kejriwal said.

The chief minister further asserted that the two crore people in Delhi are his family. "We need to solve their problems apart from official work".

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Thursday junked another public interest litigation seeking the removal of Kejriwal from the chief ministers post.

The AAP national convenor was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy case.

The central agency claims that Kejriwal was the "kingpin" and the "key conspirator" of the scam and that the AAP was a major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the liquor policy scam.

The chief minister has challenged his arrest in the high court which reserved its order on Wednesday, after completing the hearing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said whatever his government at the Centre did in the last ten years was just a trailer and theres plenty more still to be done if the NDA is elected for a third term.

What happened in the last 10 years is just a trailer, as there's plenty more still to be done. We all have to come together to take the country forward, Modi said, addressing an election rally in Bihars Jamui.

The prime minister launched a blistering attack on the Congress, accusing the opposition party of bringing disrepute to the country.

When the Congress was in power, terrorists from small countries struggling for wheat supplies could strike at will. But under the BJP-led NDA government, India has started hitting back, Modi said. He, however, refrained from mentioning Pakistan by name.

Modi also took potshots at the RJD, saying "those who gobbled up land in the name of giving jobs to the poor in the Railways can never do any good for the people of Bihar."

The prime minister noted that Indias global profile and prestige rose by leaps and bounds under his government and the country became the fifth largest economy.

"On one side is the NDA government, which talks about setting up new industries. On the other, there are these people whose only claim to fame is the kidnapping industry. On one side is the NDA government, which talks about solar power and LED lights. On the other are these arrogant leaders in the Opposition coalition, who want to take Bihar back to the age of the lantern," Modi said.

He further accused the Congress and the RJD of hurting the Bihari pride and insulting the states luminaries, including former chief minister Karpoori Thakur.

"Both the Congress and the RJD insulted Bihar and Bihari pride at every opportunity. They insulted Karpoori Thakur. Just some time ago, our government conferred the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Karpoori Thakur (posthumously). Even then, they scoffed at our decision, said the prime minister.

In Bihar, BJP will contest in 17 and its ally JD(U) in 16 seats.
Researchers have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to unravel the intricate relationship between personality and gene expression. The study, led by the Andalusian Interuniversity Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI) and the University of Granada (UGR), marks a significant leap forward in understanding the interplay between the mind and body.

The study, published in the esteemed journal Molecular Psychiatry (Nature), offers a compelling testament to the deep interconnectedness of the human mind and body, emphasizing that our future well-being is not entirely preordained by our past or present conditions. Instead, it encourages us to recognize the potential for cultivating our own well-being through a creative and open-ended process. With this newfound understanding, we are poised to embark on a journey of self-discovery and well-being, harnessing the profound influence of our personalities on our genes and overall health.

Delving into the depths of human personality and its profound influence on gene expression, this multi-disciplinary research effort has brought together experts in genetics, medicine, psychology, and computer science. Leveraging data from the extensive Young Finns Study, which spans over four decades and encompasses a wealth of information on participants' health, physical condition, and lifestyle, the study meticulously examined the intricate web of connections between personality traits, gene expression, and overall well-being.

One of the most striking revelations of this study is the identification of a network of 4,000 genes that are intricately linked to specific regions of the brain and have a profound impact on human personality. These genes, which form multiple modules, play a pivotal role in orchestrating changes in gene expression to adapt to internal and external conditions. Remarkably, the study has uncovered that these gene modules are governed by two sub-networksone regulating emotional reactivity such as anxiety and fear, and the other dictating the perception of meaningful aspects of life, such as the production of concepts and language.

What sets this study apart is the discovery of a control center comprising six genes that intricately coordinate the networks for emotion and meaning. Elisa Diaz de la Guardia-Bolivar, co-lead author of the study, underscores the significance of this finding, noting that these six genes are highly conserved throughout evolution, from single-celled organisms to modern humans, underscoring their crucial role in regulating the functioning of all forms of life on Earth.

The implications of these findings are far-reaching, offering insights into how individuals can enhance the quality of their health, happiness, and overall daily life by cultivating a more self-transcendent and creative outlook. Igor Zwir from UGR highlights the correlation between self-awareness and the regulation of gene expression, indicating that individuals with greater self-awareness, particularly those in the creative group, reported greater well-being compared to their counterparts in the organised and unregulated groups.

Furthermore, the study has shed light on the types of genes that play pivotal roles in both health and personality. It has unveiled the extensive enrichment of certain genes, such as transcription factors, microRNAs, and long non-coding RNAs, in the integrated molecular network of 4,000 genes. Particularly intriguing is the significant enrichment observed in a group of RNAs that are believed to have played a crucial role in the origin of cellular life. These RNAs possess the remarkable ability to form membraneless compartments and carry out chemical reactions, allowing them to adapt rapidly to stress, a process known as liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS).

Professor Robert Cloninger of Washington University in St. Louis expresses enthusiasm about the study's findings, highlighting the critical role of different types of genes in health and personality. He emphasizes how the innovative computational methods utilized in this project enable the ethical, non-intrusive, and beneficial study of complex biological systems in humans, with the ultimate goal of understanding how to live healthily.
Amid Irans retaliation threat following the killing of senior Revolutionary Guard commanders in Syria, Israel has stepped up its military defence. Israel suspended leave for combat united and heightened its air defence command to deal with possible missile or drone attacks.

Reportedly, the Israeli military is also planning to reopen shelters in Tel Aviv as a precaution.

"In accordance with the situational assessment, it has been decided that leave will be temporarily paused for all IDF (Israel Defense Forces) combat units. The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements, the military said in a statement.

Iran has vowed revenge after an airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing at least 11 people, including a senior commander in the al-Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Irans foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Netanyahu has completely lost his mental balance due to failures in Gaza.

We consider this aggression to have violated all diplomatic norms and international treaties. Benjamin Netanyahu has completely lost his mental balance due to the successive failures in Gaza and his failure to achieve his Zionist goals," said Amir-Abdollahian.

Iran has vowed to respond to the strike "at the same magnitude and harshness.

The IDF has also intensified GPS jamming efforts, causing disruptions to navigation services and affecting daily operations. Reportedly, the jamming has expanded to key areas in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

IDF is preparing for missile and drone attacks by Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen as well, reported The Times of Israel.

Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in Syria.

Instructions to the public issued by the Home Front Command amid the war against Hamas in Gaza remained unchanged.

IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a post on X said Israeli civilians do not need to buy generators, store food and withdraw money from ATMs.

The instructions of the Home Front Command remained unchanged, he said. As we have done until today, we will immediately update on any change, in an official and orderly manner, Hagari added.
Myanmar's main pro-democracy resistance group said on Thursday its armed wing launched drone attacks on the airport and a military headquarters in the capital, Naypyitaw, but the country's ruling military said it destroyed the drones as they attacked.

The opposition National Unity Government's Defence Ministry said in a statement that special units of the People's Defence Force used drones to attack the targets simultaneously. The group, known by the acronym NUG, calls itself the country's legitimate government, while the People's Defense Force is made up of many local resistance groups with a good deal of independence.

Although there was no immediate evidence of any damage caused by the attack, the military's acknowledgement that it had taken place in one of the most heavily guarded locations in the country will be seen by many as the latest indication that it is losing the initiative to its determined opponents, a trend first evident late last year when it lost critical territory in the northeast and west.

NUG said there were reports of casualties. The country's military said it shot down seven drones and there were no reports of casualties. BBC's Burmese-language service and Khit Thit, an online news service sympathetic to the resistance, said the airport was shut down for a while after the attacks.

It wasn't possible to independently verify most details of the incident. People who live near the airport who were contacted by The Associated Press said they were unaware of any attack, and photos released by the government showed only what appeared to be crashed drones. There had been claims in September of an earlier attack on the airport in Naypyitaw, but it drew little attention.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering nationwide peaceful protests that were suppressed with deadly force by the security forces, leading to armed resistance that amounts to a civil war.

The airport compound, which includes both a military air base and a civilian airport, is about 25 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of the military headquarters that the resistance group said it attacked.

The resistance group that claimed responsibility for the attack, Kloud Team (Shar Htoo Waw ), specializes in drone warfare, which is frequently employed by People's Defence Force units, which lack the army's heavy firepower.

Kloud Team said it targeted the house of Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military council, as well as the military headquarters and air base.

Despite its great advantage in armaments and manpower, the military has been unable to quell the resistance movement, and frequently carries out air strikes in disputed territory. Civilian targets are often hit, and about 2.4 million people have been displaced since the 2021 army takeover.

For the resistance forces, drones have become crucial weapons for fighting back. Initially, smaller drones with lighter payloads were used, but now the opposition groups are using more sophisticated systems to drop explosives on military targets. Resistance groups frequently post videos on social media of their drone attacks.

The People's Defense Force and its local units have allied themselves with major ethnic guerrilla groups in border regions that have been carrying out armed struggles against the army for decades seeking greater autonomy.

Last October, a surprise offensive by an armed ethnic alliance captured towns and overran military bases and garrisons along the Chinese border. The operation by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, who named themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, was such a stunning success that it buoyed others in the resistance and represented a turning point, though victory for the opposition is still not in sight, experts said.
The US on Thursday said permitting an unrestricted Russian oil trade was and remains "unacceptable" and the western price cap on Moscow's petroleum products is designed to force it to continue selling oil but for lower prices than it could otherwise obtain.

At the same time, US officials said Washington has not asked India to reduce the volume of its oil import from Russia.

The G7 price cap mechanism made it possible to stunt a major source of funding for Moscow's war machine while also maintaining a stable energy supply to Europe and to emerging markets, US Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand said at an interactive session at the Ananta Centre.

"Emerging markets like India benefited from the discounted price of Russian oil relative to global markets," he said, asserting that the price cap mechanism was aimed at forcing Russia to sell oil at lower prices.

Nostrad noted that the price cap is designed to foster a market in which Russia supplies energy at a heavily discounted price while maintaining the volume of energy supplied and at the same time minimising Moscow's profit.

In December 2022, the G7 grouping and its allies announced a cap on the price of Russian oil as part of a series punitive measures against Moscow in view of its invasion of Ukraine. The price cap restricts countries to pay more than USD 60 a barrel.

"Permitting an unrestricted Russian oil trade was and remains unacceptable: it would allow Putin to profit from a price spike he created," Nostrand said.

"However, taking steps to suddenly remove Russian oil from the market ?such as by banning the use of Coalition services in any Russian oil trade ?would risk spiking global oil prices further for the emerging economies most dependent on imported energy," he said.

"The Coalition identified the price cap as the way to best navigate these risks. The price cap has two goals: to limit Putin's oil profits and to maintain stable global oil supply. Effectively, the price cap is designed to force Russia to continue selling its oil but for lower prices than it could otherwise obtain," he added.

The US Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy said the price cap was met with considerable skepticism in 2022, but over the year following its announcement, the US and its international coalition were pleased with the effectiveness of the policy.

"We saw the Kremlin's tax revenue from oil drop more than 40 percent over the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period a year earlier, and we were gratified to see that the price cap worked in practice as well as in theory -- that this policy mechanism made it possible to stunt a major source of funding for Putin's war machine was possible while also maintaining a stable energy supply to Europe and to emerging markets," he said.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Anna Morris said Russia has been building up an infrastructure of ships, insurers, and other maritime services with providers with opaque ownership structures in view of the price cap.

"In the second half of 2023, we observed Russian efforts to build up an infrastructure of ships, insurers, and other maritime services with providers with opaque ownership structures and a history of sanctions evasion activities: sometimes colloquially known as the 'shadow fleet'," she said.

"It's a standard feature of sanctions regimes that the target will invest to avoid the legal reach of sanctions. Indeed, Russia's investments diverted money from the battlefield: they were forced to buy tankers rather than tanks," she said.

"Nonetheless, the changing market conditions did result in a narrowing of the discount on Russian oil, and they drove us to expand our approach to enforcing and implementing the price cap regime," Morris said.

The two US officials are in India to discuss various dimensions of the global energy market.
After the intelligence experts and three former Supreme Court justices called for the government to halt arms sales to Israel, pressure mounted on the United Kingdom to suspend its sales. Not just the UK, Israels other allies are also under pressure to cut off arms supply.

The UK former judges pointed out that the country risks breaking international law over a "plausible risk of genocide" in Gaza. Even the country's leading intelligence experts echoed the call and urged the UK to persuade Israel, an ally, to change its course of conflict.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the lawyers and judges on Wednesday said the UK could be complicit in grave breaches of international law if it continues to ship weapons.

The letter said the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel falls significantly short of your government's obligations under international law.

Earlier, the UKs main opposition parties have called for the Conservative government to halt weapons sales to Israel if the country has broken international law in Gaza.

The UKs jurists and intelligence experts called for a halt in arms sales after the Israeli strike killed seven aid workers of the World Central Kitchen. Among those dead include three UK aid workers as well. Israel had said that the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by misidentification.

Amid tensions, United States President Joe Biden is set to speak with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone on Thursday.

Sunak has not committed to an arms export ban. He said on Wednesday that while of course, we defend Israel's right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed so far since the Hamas attack on October 7.

In February, Canada announced it would stop future shipments, and the same month a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to stop the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. The Dutch government said it would appeal.

Other countries, including Israel's two biggest arms suppliers, the United States and Germany, continue to allow weapons sales.
Two Indian nationals went missing in Taiwan on Wednesday after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the island.

The duo, a man and a woman, were last spotted in Taroko Gorge, near the epicentre of the earthquake in Hualien. A search operation is underway.

Latest reports pegged the death toll at nine with several hundreds of people injured. The authorities said 70 workers were trapped in two rock quarries on the island. At least 52 people were missing, according to Taiwan's fire department.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed grief following the quake. "Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to earthquakes in Taiwan today. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. We stand in solidarity with the resilient people of Taiwan as they endure the aftermath and recover from it," he posted on X.

In response, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday thanked Modi for the support. "We are deeply grateful for your kind words and support,@narendramodi, at this challenging time. Your solidarity means a great deal to the people of Taiwan as we all work toward a swift recovery," he said.

Taiwanese Vice-President Lai Ching-te thanked the PM for the "heartwarming" message. "Your support & solidarity are a source of strength to the people of Taiwan during these trying times," he added.

The India Taipei Association, which issued an advisory for Indians staying in Taiwan and shared helpline numbers, also expressed condolences to the victims. "We sincerely pray for the speedy recovery of those injured and stand ready with the people of Taiwan during these difficult times #IslandOfResilience," it added.

Though India has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan, New Delhi established the India Taipei Association in 1995 to promote business, tourism and cultural exchanges. In response, Taiwan set up the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Delhi the same year.
To the world's democratic nations, the United States has long represented a beacon of liberty and democratic ideals. However, a sinister tide is rising that threatens to extinguish that guiding light from within. The forces of fascism and authoritarian rule are coalescing in a perfect storm, personified by the reactionary demagoguery of Donald Trump and his "America First" movement's open hostility toward pluralistic governance.

ALSO READ: Opinion: Electing Donald Trump could lead to demise of American democracy

The parallels to history's darkest chapters are impossible to ignore. Fascist regimes have always initiated their reigns through the same brutish overtures mainstreaming political violence, undermining institutional integrity, scapegoating minorities, and strongarming a captive media environment to monopolise the flow of information.

We are already witnessing Trump's mordant flirtations with these time-honoured fascist tactics. His refusal to unequivocally condemn groups like the Proud Boys vigilante network can be viewed as nothing less than a tacit endorsement of their role as partisan enforcers. This precipitated the very real intimidation of election officials through a torrent of threats and harassment during the 2020 election cycle.

ALSO READ: US primaries: Its Trumps party, you can cry if you want to

Should future electoral outcomes prove similarly contentious, as they seem prepared to be, there are legitimate fears that Trump's emboldened private militias could deploy en masse to bully poll workers and mass voter suppression efforts in key swing territories. Left unrestrained, this normalisation of political violence provides all the combustible ingredients for a breakdown of the electoral process and peaceful transfer of power.

In the event of such a constitutional Armageddon, Trump and his allies have crafted the authoritarian game plan through their "Schedule F" reclassification order and the "Project 2025" agenda. Their ambitions are brazenly clear gut the civil service, neutralise governmental checks and balances, and install a new hyper-loyalist bureaucracy to rubber stamp the regime's ukase edicts.

As history's despots have demonstrated time and again, establishing police state control over the population is a natural prerequisite. Trump has already laid the rhetorical groundwork by manufacturing xenophobic narratives around immigration to justify the prospective militarisation of law enforcement and detention of millions.

ALSO READ: Trump's hog-tied Biden video lays bare danger signs and troubling subtext of his rhetoric

Equally ominous are his vows to weaponise the Justice Department into a personal Praetorian Guard tasked with enacting his capricious vendettas against political adversaries. Such an implacable politicisation of prosecutorial powers strikes at the very heart of democratic order and establishes the legal framework for criminalising dissent.

Completing this terrifying tableau is Trump's outright embrace of state media control through menacing attacks on the free press and open discourse.

As despotic autocrats have always understood well, full authoritarianism can never solidify absent an obliging media environment that suppresses objective truth and converts the masses into captive audiences for state propaganda. Trump is following a formula that has worked before, to the detriment of the world. American media have proven to be not just inept, but coward, regularly bending to Trump pressure or attacks.

The resurgence of authoritarian fascism has always begun at the fringes as a pernicious undercurrent, slowly metastasising through the body politic until it achieves critical mass and sweeps aside the old order in a climactic spasm.

Should Trump and his MAGA ideological adherents regain the White House and executive power, we could be witnessing the death throes of American democracy giving way to a new dark age  not just for the United States itself, but for the world that has looked to its democratic principles as a moral lodestar for generations.

The apparatchiks overseeing this Praetorian insurrection may initially attempt to cloak it in the drapery of chauvinistic populism. But the terrifying endgame is clear  the subjugation of a once-proud nation under an authoritarian personality cult demanding absolute fealty to the self-anointed leader.

ALSO READ: Reichstag Fire in DC: Can American democracy disintegrate?

The alarm bells are ringing, and the world can no longer avert its gaze from the precipice now coming into view for American democracy. Action to defend democratic institutions and reject the creep of fascist precepts has proven spineless. With only seven months left to election day, there is short time before this existential line is crossed and the damage becomes irrevocable.
In a move that has sparked international attention, Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi has put forward a controversial proposal to "gift" 20,000 elephants to Germany amid a heated dispute over the import of hunting trophies. "This is no joke," he quipped.

The crux of the conflict lies in Germany's consideration of imposing stricter limits on importing hunting trophies, a move driven by mounting concerns about poaching and wildlife conservation. President Masisi's threat to send thousands of elephants to Germany serves as a stark response to what he perceives as a misguided approach to addressing the elephant population in Botswana.

The escalating tension between the two countries has shed light on the complex interplay between conservation efforts, economic impacts, and cultural practices surrounding wildlife management.

In response to the German proposals, President Masisi has taken a defiant stance, criticizing the German government for pursuing a ban on hunting trophies despite the pressing issue of elephant overpopulation in Botswana. He has extended an open invitation to the German minister to witness firsthand the extensive efforts undertaken by Botswana to safeguard its wildlife, emphasizing the country's unparalleled dedication to wildlife protection on a global scale.

President Masisi's stance is rooted in the assertion that Botswana's conservation efforts have inadvertently led to an explosion in the elephant population, resulting in what he describes as "overpopulation."

Botswana's elephant population has grown to around 130,000. In some areas, there are more of these beasts than people. They are killing children who get in their path. They trample and eat farmers crops leaving Africans hungry, said Botswanas wildlife minister.

Botswana has previously given 8,000 elephants to neighboring Angola and another 500 to Mozambique as it seeks to tackle this "overpopulation".

Hunting of trophies, also known as trophy hunting, involves the killing of wild animals for sport, with the animal's body parts, such as the head, skin, or tusks, preserved as a "trophy." Hunters pay significant amounts of money for permits to hunt these animals, often targeting species such as elephants. The practice has sparked controversy, with proponents arguing that the funds generated support conservation efforts, while opponents view it as cruel and detrimental to wildlife populations.

President Masisi argues that hunting plays a pivotal role in maintaining a balance in elephant numbers, particularly in the face of the challenges posed by an overabundance of these majestic creatures. His impassioned plea underscores Botswana's commitment to preserving its wildlife for the benefit of the world, but not without acknowledging the unintended consequences of these efforts.

The potential ban on the import of hunting trophies has raised significant concerns for Botswana, with President Masisi highlighting the adverse impact it would have on the country. He emphasizes that the elephants are causing property damage, consuming crops, and posing a threat to local residents, painting a picture of the tangible consequences of an unregulated elephant population. According to President Masisi, a ban on hunting trophies would only exacerbate these challenges and plunge Botswana into economic hardship, a fate that he vehemently seeks to avert.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. According to the joint plan signed between the Defense Ministries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan,  (Unity) - 2024 operational-tactical command-staff exercises planning conference was held in Aktau, Kazakhstan, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The conference, also attended by the Azerbaijani delegation, discussed issues related to the preparation for the exercise and the tasks to be fulfilled.

To note, activities on Fulfillment of combat training tasks on identifying the armed conflicts location will be carried out within the exercise to be held in July 2024, at the Oymasha training ground of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as at Cape Tokmak in the Caspian Sea aquatorium.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Everyone in Japan will have the surname "Sato" in 500 years if the current practice of marriage law continues. Japan is the only country in the world that requires spouses to use the same name.

A new study, led by Hiroshi Yoshida, revealed that if the government continues to insist that couples select a single surname, every Japanese person will end up having the same surname by 2531.

Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University, through his study, projected the implications of not amending the law requiring married couples to share the same surname.

According to a March 2023 survey, Sato tops the list of Japanese surnames, accounting for 1.5 per cent of the total population.

A nation of Satos will not only be inconvenient but also undermine individual dignity, he said, according to the Asahi Shimbun, adding that the trend would also lead to the loss of family and regional heritage, reported The Guardian.

According to Yoshida, the proportion of Japanese named Sato increased 1.0083 times from 2022 to 2023. Assuming the rate remains constant and there is no change to the law on surnames, around half of the Japanese population will have that name in 2446, rising to 100% in 2531, it said.

In Japan, couples have to choose which surname to share when they marry and in 95 per cent of cases, it is the woman who changes her name.

If Japan's government allowed married couples to use separate surnames, the scenario would have been different.

The study contained an alternative scenario extrapolated from a 2022 survey by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, in which 39.3% of 1,000 employees aged 20 to 59 said they wanted to share a surname even if they had the option of using separate ones.

Yoshida's study was commissioned by the Think Name Project and other organisations that want to legalise the opportunity to select your surname.
The counter-argument:

However, the African nations maintain that the money thus earned is used for development works as well as for conservation activities. They say illegal poaching is in no way part of the equation. | AFP
Kolkata, Apr 4 (PTI) Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has resumed its flight operations to Pakyong airport in Sikkim from Kolkata and Delhi, the airline said on Thursday.



The Delhi-Pakyong route will be operational five days a week, while the Kolkata-Pakyong flight will operate daily, it said.



The airline said in a statement that it has also launched non-stop flights between Hyderabad and Ayodhya from Tuesday.



We are happy to enhance connectivity to Ayodhya and Pakyong ahead of the forthcoming peak travel season. With an expanding fleet, we are poised to launch new routes and reinstate services on key ones," the statement quoted Debojo Maharshi, Chief Business Officer, SpiceJet, as saying.



The airline's services resumed on March 31.



The resumption of flight services to the Pakyong airport during the summer will cater to a huge number of tourists who visit the Himalayan state, B T Pote, the officiating airport director (APD), Pakyong airport, told PTI.



All the flights have been full since the services resumed, the weather is very good and we are fully prepared to handle flights to the airport even during the monsoon season, the officiating APD said.



The road connectivity to the airport from all parts of the state and surrounding areas is also good for hassle-free travel of tourists, he said.



The flight services at the airport, which has a table-top runway, were suspended approximately six months ago owing to some operational reasons.



SpiceJet began flight operations to the Pakyong airport in 2018, but services have been irregular due to various operational reasons, including visibility issues.



According to the schedule, the daily flight from Kolkata will take off at 8.05 am and reach Pakyong at 9.35 am. It will depart from there at 10.30 am and reach Kolkata at 12.10 pm.



Similarly, the flight from New Delhi will take off at 9.45 am and land at the airport in Sikkim at 12.40 pm. The return flight will take off at 1.10 pm and reach New Delhi at 4.10 pm.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 4: Sheth Realty, an emerging brand in Mumbai's real estate landscape, has unveiled its logo and website, marking a critical milestone in communicating the brand's unwavering pursuit of excellence and redefining luxury living.



A symbol reflecting sophistication, the logo is Sheth Realtys commitment to setting new industry standards. The logos gold and black color scheme represents sophistication and luxury, emphasizing Sheth Realtys unwavering commitment to delivering gold-standard solutions within the real estate sector. The meticulously crafted logo is a visual fusion of the brands rich legacy and forward-thinking vision under the young and dynamic leadership of Mr. Chintan Sheth and Mr. Maulik Sheth.



The website is its immersive digital gateway, providing visitors with a seamless experience to explore its rich legacy, innovative vision, and unparalleled commitment to transforming the real estate landscape. The website has been designed to effectively communicate Sheth Realty's vision, legacy and showcasing its portfolio of projects, services, and core values, giving visitors an insight to experience its real estate offerings.



Commenting on the logo and website launch, Chintan Sheth, Chairman & Managing Director Sheth Realty, said, Our new logo, alongside the launch of our website, is not just a symbol; its a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and quality in the real estate industry. It reflects the dynamic synergy of tradition and modernity, setting the stage for Sheth Realty to redefine luxury living. Every element has been crafted precisely, resonating with the values defining our journey and inspiring us to reach new heights. Our website plays a crucial role in our brand's interaction with clients, allowing us to showcase our work and engage with our audience effectively.



Sharing his thoughts, Maulik Sheth, Managing Director, Sheth Realty, said, In the ever-evolving landscape of real estate, our logo, coupled with our website launch, is a bold statement of intent. It encapsulates our dedication to delivering gold-standard solutions while embracing the future with innovation. It is a distinctive emblem that represents our legacy. It heralds a new era where Sheth Realty stands as a beacon of integrity, customer satisfaction, and excellence in the industry.



A key design element in the logo is a symbol of strength and solid foundation, represented by an upward-facing arrow intersecting it, creating two distinct parts  a visual metaphor for growth. The lower part symbolises the Sheth Groups legacy and heritage, promising continued delivery of quality and trust. In contrast, the upper arrow represents growth through innovation, setting higher benchmarks and exceeding expectations. In the meticulous design process of the Sheth Realty logo, particular attention was dedicated to typography, with a paramount focus on three key elements: legibility, professionalism, and versatility.



The logo design maintains clarity and readability across diverse sizes, mediums, and backgrounds. This adaptability enhances its effectiveness in a spectrum of contexts, seamlessly transitioning from the subtle intricacies of business cards to the grandeur of billboards and the dynamic landscape of online platforms. This thoughtful consideration underscores Sheth Realtys commitment to ensure the logos visual impact remains consistently impressive across varied applications.



Sheth Realty partnered strategically with a professional creative agency to create the logo. The process was marked by strategic insights, ensuring the outcome reflects a dynamic blend of innovation and foresight. Extensive research, encompassing a meticulous analysis of competition and industry activities, underscored Sheth Realtys commitment to gaining a holistic understanding of the market landscape.



The decision-making process for the logo involved a collaborative effort, aligning the final design seamlessly with the businesss vision. Internally, the feedback from Sheth Realtys team members has been resoundingly positive, with expressions of enthusiasm and pride in the logos dynamic appeal. Externally, clients and partners echoed sentiments, praising the logos aesthetic and alignment with Sheth Realtys core values.



As Sheth Realty proudly unveils its distinctive logo, the brand reaffirms its dedication to revolutionising the real estate market. The logo rooted in innovation, quality, and integrity that showcases an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction is a powerful symbol of the brands journeybridging its illustrious past to a future where excellence knows no bounds.



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
Beijing, Apr 4 (PTI) China has held a major conference of influential Asian Buddhist monks where its top monk has affirmed that Beijing has played a pivotal role in the promotion of Buddhism globally.

The conference on Buddhism was part of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference held in Boao, Hainan province in the last week of March.

In this years forum, the Chinese Buddhist monks held an interactive session organised for the first time with their counterparts from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea, according to a report from the official media here.

At the conference organised by the Chinese think tank, there was no representation from India, from where Buddhism came to China in 68 AD.

In recent decades, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) has permitted the Sinicised or Chinese version of Buddhism to be practised at home after the crackdown on Buddhist temples during its founder leader Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 aimed at purging remnants of capitalists and traditional elements from the society.

Beijing also seeks to project it globally as part of its efforts to tap into Buddhisms global influence.

Speaking at the meeting in Boao, Yan Jue, president of the Buddhist Association of China said "Chinese Buddhists have, through the large-scale translation of scriptures, elucidation of Buddhist thought, establishment of sects, institutional innovation and cultural integration, embodied the original intention of the Buddha, inherited the essence of Buddhism, enhanced the compatibility of Buddhism with East Asian cultures, civilisations, societies and people, and promoted the spread of Buddhism to countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam".

His deputy Yin Shun said China played a pivotal role in promoting the religion globally, state-run China Daily reported this week.

"Buddhism, followed by a significant portion of Asia, is the oldest religious tradition advocating peace, he said.

When Buddhism was introduced to China, it integrated with native Confucian and Taoist philosophies, creating a uniquely Chinese form of Buddhism. This tradition spread to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas and beyond, becoming an influential force in promoting global peace. Throughout history and today, China has played a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism," he said.

China as part of its promotion of Buddhism made Sanskrit and Buddhist studies as part of academic courses in its prominent universities.

Sanskrit studies in China are on the upswing, over 2000 years after the ancient Indian language came to the country along with Buddhism, according to Wang Bangwei, a well-known Chinese scholar in Sanskrit and Director of Sino-Indian Buddhist studies, Institute of Oriental and Indian Studies of Peking University a senior Professor of Peking University.

The Indian Buddhist monk Kumarajiva was instrumental in translating Buddhist sutras into Chinese language during his stay in China over 2000 years ago and earned the royal title of National Teacher of China.

He was the first among the numerous scholars who laid a firm foundation for civilisational links between the two countries, scholars from both countries said here.

The Sanskrit tradition and its development were kept alive by numerous Chinese scholars like Fa Xian and Xuan Zang and others who visited India.
Moscow, Apr 4 (AP) Video and photos of suspects in a mass shooting show them apparently being brutalised by Russian security forces  without any rebuke from authorities. A top Kremlin official urges that hit squads be sent to assassinate Ukrainian officials. Senior lawmakers call for restoring capital punishment, abolished decades ago.

The aftermath of the Moscow concert hall attack that killed 145 people in the bloodiest assault in Russia in two decades seems to be setting the stage for even harsher rule by President Vladimir Putin following his highly orchestrated electoral landslide last month.

Putin vowed to hunt down the masterminds of the March 22 attack that he linked to Ukraine despite Kyiv's vehement denials and a claim of responsibility by an offshoot of the Islamic State group. He warned ominously that terrorism is a double-edged weapon.

Putin lieutenant Dmitry Medvedev declared that if Ukrainian involvement is proven, Moscow should respond by deploying hit men to kill the country's leaders in Kyiv or any other convenient place.

The attack dealt a heavy blow to Putin less than a week after the vote that extended his rule for another six-years. It marked a major failure by his security agencies that were given an advance warning by the US that extremists were planning an imminent attack.

Critics of the Kremlin argue that security forces are so focused on conducting the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times that they are distracted from tackling real threats.

In an apparent attempt to divert attention from the security lapse and rally support for the war in Ukraine, Putin and his lieutenants alleged  without evidence  that the arrest of the four suspects near Ukraine indicated Kyiv's likely involvement.

The four, all citizens of Tajikistan, were detained by security forces in a forest about 140 kilometres (86 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Video confessions of their involvement in the attack were released by Russian news outlets, but the veracity of those statements has been called into question because the men seemed to have been severely beaten and bore other signs of brutality when they appeared in court.

One had a heavily bandaged ear - reportedly cut off during interrogation. Another had pieces of a plastic bag on his neck, a possible sign of attempts at suffocation. A third was in a wheelchair, barely conscious, accompanied by medical personnel.

Russian police and other security agencies have long been accused of torture, but many incidents also brought official condemnation, dismissals of those involved and criminal prosecutions.

In stark contrast, authorities refused to comment on the grisly video that emerged or the signs of maltreatment seen in court.

One video showed a man in combat fatigues cutting off part of one of the suspects' ear and forcing it into his mouth while threatening to do the same with his genitals. Another suspect was seen with his trousers pulled down and wires attached to his genitals.

The Associated Press was unable to verify the authenticity of the images, but Human Rights Watch said it determined the men in the photos and videos were the same as those in court for their pretrial hearings.

The rapid and widespread sharing of these videos appears to be no accident but rather some kind of appalling boast by the Putin government of its brazen disregard for basic rights, fundamental humanity, and the rule of law, said Tanya Lokshina, HRW's associate director for Europe and Central Asia.

Kremlin propagandists sought to cast their treatment as a proper response to the massacre.

Margarita Simonyan, head of state-funded broadcaster RT, dismissed criticism and said the law enforcement personnel involved shouldn't face any punishment.

Imagine yourself in place of our guys who were chasing those ghouls who just mowed down many, many of our fellow citizens, Simonyan said. What were they supposed to do? Serve them some warm porridge and yogurt?

Many observers saw the tacit endorsement of such brutality as an ominous sign of more to come.

All that serves a double function - a show of terror as a mechanism of intimidation and rallying hatred, political analyst Kirill Rogov said in a commentary. It normalises hatred as a response, including to those who have questions and disagreements.

Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, who served as liberal-minded placeholder president in 2008-12, when term limits forced Putin to shift to the premier's seat, has turned recently into one of the harsher voices from the Kremlin.

In a commentary on his messaging app channel this week, he called for the extrajudicial killings of Ukrainian officials, arguing Russia should follow in the Soviet practice in the last century of assassinations, like those of Ukrainian nationalists Yevhen Konovalets and Stepan Bandera.

What should we do? Simply crush the Banderite swine as the Soviet MGB did after the war," Medvedev wrote, referring to a forerunner of the KGB, "and liquidate their leaders on convenient occasions -- like Konovalets and Bandera - in Kyiv or any other convenient places.

The concert hall attack also brought demands from hawks and some senior lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty, which has been suspended since 1996 when Russia joined the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights organisation.

Calls for its restoration have circulated often, particularly after attacks blamed on insurgents from the region of Chechnya and other militant extremists. They increased after Moscow left the Council of Europe after its invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the parliamentary faction of United Russia, the main Kremlin party, said the lower house would review restoring the death penalty, taking into account "society's mood and expectations.

Some Kremlin-connected lawmakers and others oppose the move, in an apparent sign of Putin's hesitation.

Andrei Klishas, the influential head of the constitutional affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, argued its restoration is impossible unless Russia approves a new constitution.

Andrei Medvedev, the deputy speaker of the Moscow City Council, said Russia should never bring back capital punishment because of its troubled history in the Soviet era.

Regrettably, our judicial system isn't ideal and isn't immune from mistakes, he wrote in a commentary. The country that saw repressions, Red Terror ... and executions of those who believed in God must forget about the death penalty once and for all.

Lidiya Mikheyeva, the secretary of the Public Chamber, a Kremlin-controlled advisory board, also spoke against reinstatement and reverting "to the times of savagery and barbarity.

The abolition of the death penalty is one of our country's major historic achievements, she added.

Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian state TV commentator, also hinted that Putin doesn't support its reinstatement. It's good that Russia is led by Putin, for whom the life of each of our citizens is priceless, he said.

Despite those apparent doubts, many observers say the official tolerance of the harsh treatment of the suspects and calls for killing Russia's enemies herald an even more ruthless era.

Net Freedoms, a Russian group focusing on freedom of speech, noted that harsh statements from Putin and Medvedev coming amid the backdrop of demonstrative torture effectively sanction extrajudicial executions and give law enforcement agencies a directive on how to treat the enemies.

We are seeing the possible beginning of the new Great Terror, the group said, referring to the purges by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin of the 1930s. There must be no illusions  the developments follow a very bad scenario and the slide is rapidly accelerating. (AP) GSP
Dubai, Apr 4 (AP) Kuwait held national elections on Thursday for the fourth time in as many years as the oil-rich country seeks to break out of its longstanding political gridlock.

The Persian Gulf country's elected assembly has more power than most in the Arab world, but has long been at loggerheads with the government, which is appointed by the royal family.

These are the first elections since Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, 83, assumed power after the death of his half brother in December. The new emir dissolved parliament in February after a lawmaker reportedly insulted him.

Voters will chose among 200 candidates to fill 50 seats in the assembly. There are no political parties.

Domestic political disputes have been gripping Kuwait for years  including over changes to the welfare system  which prevented the sheikhdom from taking on debt. That has left it with little in its coffers to pay bloated public sector salaries, despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves.

Parliament has been repeatedly dissolved after failing to move forward.

Last year, Kuwait's Constitutional Court annulled a 2022 decree overturning another such annulment. The country's late emir then annulled that parliament again and held an election for a new parliament last summer, which was annulled with the February decision.

Kuwait, a nation with some 4.2 million people that's slightly smaller than the US state of New Jersey, has the world's sixth-largest known oil reserves.

It has been a staunch US ally since the 1991 Gulf War expelled the occupying Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein. Kuwait hosts some 13,500 American troops, as well as the forward headquarters of the US Army in the Middle East.

Kuwait is alone among Gulf Arab countries in having a democratically elected parliament that exerts some checks on the ruling family  which nevertheless appoints the government and can dissolve the assembly at will. (AP) PY

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London, Apr 4 (AP) More than 600 British jurists, including three retired judges from the UK Supreme Court, are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three UK aid workers in an Israeli strike.

Britain is just one of a number of Israel's longstanding allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the six-month-old war in Gaza.

In an open letter to Sunak published late Wednesday, the lawyers and judges said the UK could be complicit in grave breaches of international law if it continues to ship weapons.

Signatories, including former Supreme Court President Brenda Hale, said Britain is legally obliged to heed the International Court of Justice's conclusion that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.

The letter said the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel  falls significantly short of your government's obligations under international law.

Britain is a staunch ally of Israel, but relations have been tested by the mounting death toll, largely civilian, from the war. Calls for an end to arms exports have escalated since an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the aid charity World Central Kitchen, three of them British.

Israel says the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by misidentification.

The UK's main opposition parties have all said the Conservative government should halt weapons sales to Israel if the country has broken international law in Gaza.

Several senior Conservatives have urged the same, including Alicia Kearns, who heads the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.

Sunak has not committed to an arms export ban, but said Wednesday that while of course we defend Israel's right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law.

British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has said that military exports to Israel amounted to 42 million pounds (USD 53 million) in 2022.

Other allies of Israel are also facing calls to cut off the supply of weapons and to push for a cease-fire in the conflict, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza.

In February, Canada announced it would stop future shipments, and the same month a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to stop the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. The Dutch government said it would appeal.

Other countries, including Israel's two biggest arms suppliers, the United States and Germany, continue to allow weapons sales.

Peter Ricketts, a former UK national security advisor, said suspension of UK arms sales would not change the course of the war, but would be a powerful political message.

And it might just stimulate debate in the US as well, which would be the real game-changer, he told the BBC. (AP) GSP
Moscow, Apr 4 (AP) Russia's defence minister warned his French counterpart against deploying troops to Ukraine in a rare phone call Wednesday and noted that Moscow is ready to take part in talks to end the conflict.

Sergei Shoigu told French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu that if Paris follows up on its statements about the possibility of sending a French military contingent to Ukraine, it will create problems for France itself, according to a statement from the Russian Defence Ministry. It didn't elaborate.

The conversation followed French President Emmanuel Macron's comments in February, in which he said that the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine could not be ruled out.

The call marked the first such contact between Russian and French defense ministers since October 2022.

Shoigu noted Moscow's readiness for dialogue on Ukraine", emphasising that a planned round of peace talks in Geneva would be senseless without Russia's involvement. He added that possible future negotiations could be based on a draft document, which was discussed during Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul in March 2022.

Media reports have said that the draft negotiated in Istanbul weeks after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine envisaged that Ukraine will abandon its bid to join NATO and remain neutral. No final deal was reached and the talks collapsed quickly after.

The Russian Defence Ministry also said in its readout of Wednesday's call that Lecornu offered condolences over the March 22 attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 145 in the deadliest assault on Russian soil in decades.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his officials have sought to link Ukraine and the West to the attack despite Kyiv's fierce denial, a claim of responsibility issued by an affiliate of Islamic State group and an advance warning that the US had issued to Moscow about imminent attack.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that during the call Lecornu tried to persuade Shoigu that Ukraine and its Western allies had no relation to the concert hall raid, but Shoigu insisted that Moscow has information about Ukrainian trace in organising the terror attack.

The Kyiv regime does nothing without approval of its Western handlers, the ministry quoted Shoigu as telling Lecornu. We hope that the French special services weren't involved in it. (AP) SCY

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Islamabad, Apr 4 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said the government will launch a probe into threat letters laced with a suspicious powder received by the judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts in Islamabad and Lahore.

Eight judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC) and three judges of Lahore High Court received threatening letters with white powder suspected to be anthrax.

The letters that were sent to various judges yesterday, and the reports that have emerged about a suspicious powder in them [] So I think that we should show full responsibility on this and not let any kind of politics near this [matter], Dawn News quoted the prime minister as saying during a cabinet meeting here.

The government of Pakistan, with a sense of responsibility, will investigate this, Sharif said.

The letters, delivered to all the judges in white envelopes sealed with cello tape, had their names and the court's address written over them.

The letters carried a threatening sign and accused the judges of being responsible for problems faced by the people of Pakistan, the report said.

The staff of two judges, who had opened the envelopes and found a suspicious powder inside, reported the matter to the IHC registrar who summoned the police officials deputed for security of the court.

A case has been registered and according to the FIR, the letters were issued with an incomplete address of the sender.

The letters while giving reference to Tehreek-i-Namoos Pakistan criticised the justice system, with a particular photo and English word Bacillus Anthracis included for the threat, the FIR said.

Similar letters arrived in the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court (LHC) the next day, prompting the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) to register two cases in Islamabad and Lahore.

The letters in the top court were sent to Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Aminuddin.

The letters sent by an unknown group threatened the judges of the Supreme Court for rescuing evil. Suspicious powder was found inside the envelopes and sent to the forensic lab.

The personal staff of the judges who received the threat found the letters in the daily mail received at the high court, said an official.

The official said the staff of all judges at the LHC was already alert in the wake of letters sent to the IHC judges.

Earlier on Thursday, the Islamabad Police said it was conducting checks at the entry routes of the higher courts and the high-security zone.

In a post on X, the police urged citizens to carry their identification documents.

The development comes more than a week after six IHC judges in a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members, complained regarding alleged interference by the countrys security apparatus in judicial matters.

Prime Minister Sharif recalled the developments in the matter and noted the Supreme Court's suo motu proceedings about the allegations levelled by the IHC judges about interference in judicial affairs.

We had fulfilled our responsibility and after that, these changes came, he said.

Last week, Shehbaz met Chief Justice Isa and the two decided to form an inquiry commission, which was later approved by the federal cabinet.

However, ex-CJP Tassaduq Hussain Jillani  tasked to head the one-man inquiry commission  recused himself.

At the same time, the top court took suo motu notice of the matter.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The implementation of projects in the region will primarily benefit Armenia, extending beyond just the Zangezur corridor, the head of the Turkish parliament delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Trend reports.

Cavusoglu made the statement during his visit to the Alley of Martyrs and the Baku Turkish Martyrs' Memorial.

"Armenia is in dire need of such regional projects. We've taken substantial strides with different corridors and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad. However, the Zangezur corridor will be advantageous for all parties involved, with Turkiye backing its implementation," he emphasized.

Head of the Turkish Parliament's delegation to the NATO PA, former Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Azerbaijan last day. A number of bilateral meetings are scheduled during the visit.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Helsinki, Apr 4 (AP) Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline until further notice due to a high risk of organised migration orchestrated by Moscow, the Finnish government said on Thursday.

The Finnish Interior Ministry said in a statement that the Nordic country's national security and public order would come under serious threat if the estimated hundreds of third-country nationals were to continue to attempt to enter from Russia without proper documentation.

Based on information provided by public authorities, the risk that instrumentalised migration (by Russia) will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely, the ministry said.

Finland closed the 1,340-kilometre land border late last year after more than 1,300 migrants without proper documentation or visas  an unusually high number  entered the country in the three months since September, not long after Finland joined the NATO alliance.

Most of the migrants hail from the Middle East and Africa, from countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The vast majority of them have sought asylum in Finland, a European Union member state with a population of 5.6 million.

The Finnish Border Guard has earlier said that many migrants hold valid visas for working or studying - or have a residence permit - in Russia, which is considered a safe country.

Accusing Russia of deliberately ushering migrants to the normally heavily guarded Russia- Finland border zone that serves also as the EU's external border in the north, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has extended the closure of checkpoints several times.

All eight Finland-Russia land border crossing points for people have been closed since December 15. The southeastern rail checkpoint for cargo trains in Vainikkala remains open but the government said on Thursday it would close three maritime checkpoints starting April 15.

Migrants can continue to seek asylum in Finland, part of EU's passport-free Schengen zone, at Finnish airports and harbours, the government said.

Finnish authorities see this as a long-term situation, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said. We have not seen anything this spring that would lead us to conclude that the (migration) situation has changed meaningfully.

In addition, warmer spring weather is estimated by the Finnish government to increase the number of migrants reaching the border, putting pressure on Helsinki to find a sustainable solution.

There are hundreds and possibly thousands of people close to Finland's border on the Russian side that could be instrumentalized against Finland, Rantanen said. Instrumentalised migration is one way that Russia can put pressure on and affect the security and social stability of Finland and the EU.

The Finnish Cabinet is currently drafting a legal act on measures to combat instrumentalised migration, including allowing the so-called pushback method in expelling migrants and asylum seekers, on the border with Russia.

Pushbacks, the forcible return of people across an international border without an assessment of their rights to apply for asylum or other protection, violate both international and EU law. However, EU members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have previously resorted to the controversial measure when dealing with migrants attempting to enter from Belarus.

The interior ministry said the legislative proposal on migration is to be submitted to Eduskunta, or the Parliament, as soon as possible. It must have the support of a wide majority of lawmakers to pass and the proposal has already been widely debated by experts, politicians and citizens.

Earlier, the government said it had received international support for the law from the EU and other organisations.

Finland acts as the EU's external border in the north and makes up a significant part of NATO's northeastern flank. (AP) GRS

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New York, Apr 4 (AP) Elon Musk's X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has begun restoring complimentary blue checks for some of its users, the latest unexpected shift to cause a lot of confusion on the platform.

For years, Twitter's blue checks mirrored verification badges that are common on social media, largely reserved for celebrities, politicians and other influential accounts. That changed months after Musk bought the platform for USD 44 billion in October 2022.

Last year, X began issuing verification checks only to those who paid the starting price of USD 8 per month for it, and stripping verification badges from many celebrities and other prominent accounts. That also led to confusion, complaints, and a large number of fake accounts pretending to be someone else, blue check included.

But late Wednesday night and early Thursday, numerous users reported seeing the blue checks return to their accounts, or appear for the first time, despite the fact that they were not paying for premium service on X.

Musk said last week that all X accounts with more than 2,500 verified subscriber followers would get Premium features  which includes a checkmark  for free going forward, and that accounts with over 5,000 would get Premium+ for free.

Specific reasoning behind this new policy was not clear. X did not immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment Thursday.

Reactions were mixed. While a handful of users were excited about the verification, others were frustrated.

What happened? I didn't pay for this. I would NEVER pay for this, actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who appeared to be among the prominent names to see a blue check return, wrote in a post Wednesday evening.

As X's blue check has also evolved into what some argue is a signal of support for the platform's new ownership and subscription model, a few other accounts even shared instructions on how to get their newly-placed blue checks removed through settings changes.

Multiple AP staff had also received verification status that they did not pay for or request as of Thursday.

Beyond blue checks, X has faced user and advertiser pushback amid ongoing concerns about content moderation as well as the spread of misinformation and hate speech on the platform, which some researchers say has been on the rise under Musk.

Big-name brands including IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast, in November said they would stop advertising on X after a report from liberal advocacy group Media Matters showed their ads appearing alongside material that praised Nazis.

Marking yet another setback as X tries to win back ad dollars, the platform's main source of revenue, Musk responded with an expletive-ridden rant accusing the companies of blackmail and essentially told them to go away.

X has since also attempted to sue those who have documented the proliferation of hate speech and racism on the platform  including Media Matters and the non-profit Centre for Countering Digital Hate. A federal judge dismissed the suit against the centre last week. (AP) GRS

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London, Apr 4 (PTI) One of the UKs prominent Indian student representative organisations on Thursday began a new Fair Visa, Fair Chance campaign in favour of the post-study Graduate Route visa, which has proved hugely popular with students from India since its launch around three years ago.

The National Indian Students and Alumni Union (NISAU) UK, which had originally campaigned for the visa that allows international graduates the chance to gain work experience for two years after their degree, fears the ongoing review of the route would reverse the progress made.

The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been commissioned to review the Graduate Route visa by UK Home Secretary James Cleverly to ensure it is fit for purpose and is expected to report by next month.

The ability to work for two years post-graduation helps international students to earn money to help pay for their degrees and enable some to get valuable work experience as well as to continue to build strong links with the UK, said Lord Karan Bilimoria, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on International Students and patron of NISAU UK.

We are in a global race and have to offer post-graduation work opportunities that are attractive in competing with countries, such as the United States of America, Canada, and Australia. The fear of the removal of the two-year post-graduation work visa is sending out unnecessary and damaging negative messages around the world, and universities are already seeing a huge decline in international students applications, he said.

He also warned that Britain would be shooting itself in the foot if the Graduate Route was curtailed given that international students contribute GBP 42 billion to the UK economy.

Since its relaunch for the 2020-21 cohort of international students, the Home Office says a total of 213,250 visas have been granted under the route  with Indians consistently dominating as the largest group of students granted leave to remain with 43 per cent of grants last year.

It is very sad that a mere few years on from the re-introduction of post-study working in the UK, we are having to once again make the case to defend it. The Graduate visa is a key requirement of Indian students and a critical offer of the UKs international higher education system, said Sanam Arora, NISAU UK chair and Commissioner of the UKs International Higher Education Commission.

We campaigned for seven years to bring it back last time and will fight to protect this essential pathway again. Without the Graduate route, university finances may collapse. The impact of this not just on international students but also on UKs home students will be bad, given domestic students and the world-class research that happens in UK universities is heavily cross-subsidised by international students, she said.

NISAU UK has been invited to present evidence to MAC and it plans to share its own research and learnings from the annual India-UK Achievers Honours programme, which celebrates high-achieving Indian graduates from the UK who have made exceptional contributions to their respective fields and society at large.

Indian students have already begun to show signs of being turned off from applying to British universities, with the latest Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) figures revealing a four per cent drop in applications from India.

However, the Home Office pointed to MAC analysis which revealed that the number of international post-graduate students attending institutions with the lowest UCAS entry requirements has increased by over 250 per cent between 2018 and 2022, bringing its mantra of attracting the "brightest and the best" into question.

In its annual report finalised before the review was announced in Parliament at the end of last year, MAC said: More fundamentally, we suggest that the government needs to decide what the purpose of the Graduate Route is. If its primary objective is to enhance the offer to international students who choose to study in the UK and so increase the number of international students in higher education, then it appears to have been a resounding success."

If the objective is to attract talented students who will subsequently work in high-skilled graduate jobs, then we are sceptical that it adds much to the Skilled Worker route which was already available to switch into after graduation, and we expect that at least a significant fraction of the Graduate Route will comprise low-wage workers, it said.
Brussels, Apr 4 (AP) NATO marked on Thursday 75 years of collective defence across Europe and North America, with its top diplomats vowing to stay the course in Ukraine as better-armed Russian troops assert control on the battlefield.

The anniversary comes as the now-32-nation alliance weighs a plan to provide more predictable longer-term military support to Ukraine.

Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine this week lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks and appealed for additional air defences to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.

I didn't want to spoil the birthday party for NATO, but I felt compelled to deliver a sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country, destroying our energy system, our economy, killing civilians," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who attended a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

Kuleba thanked the allies for agreeing to begin identifying Patriot missile battery stocks that could be sent to Ukraine. The Patriot is the only system that effectively intercepts ballistic missiles, he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking before meeting with Kuleba, said that support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO, remains rock solid.

We will do everything we can, allies will do everything that they can, to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, aggression that is getting worse with every passing day, he said.

The fight that Ukraine has on its hands is not only Ukraine's fight, it's everyone's fight because the aggression being committed by Russia is not only an aggression against Ukraine and its people, it's an aggression against the very principles that lie at the heart of the international system," Blinken said.

The Ukraine meeting, which ran significantly beyond its scheduled time, was held after a ceremony to mark the day NATO's founding treaty was signed: April 4, 1949, in Washington. A bigger celebration is planned when NATO leaders meet in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Hundreds of staffers filled the vast air terminal-like space at the centre of NATO's sprawling Brussels headquarters, while scores of others looked down from glassed walkways and stairways as Belgian and Dutch military bands played the NATO Hymn, the original Washington Treaty laid before them.

I like the Washington Treaty. Not least because it is very short, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said with a smile. Just 14 paragraphs over a few pages. Never has a single document with so few words meant so much to so many people. So much security. So much prosperity, and so much peace.

Sweden's foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, was taking part in the first ministerial-level meeting since his country became NATO's 32nd ally last month. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 drove Sweden and Finland into NATO's arms.

NATO represents the freedom to choose, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said, reflecting on the way the Nordic neighbours recently joined. Democratic nations, free people chose to join. Unlike how Russia expands its by aggression or by illegal annexation.

President Vladimir Putin said he launched the war, in part at least, because NATO was expanding closer to Russia's borders.

The alliance's ranks have almost tripled from its 12 founding members, but Finland and Sweden joined in record time to shelter under NATO's collective security guarantee.

That promise  Article 5 of the Washington Treaty  stipulates that an attack on any one of their number must be met with a united response. It's only ever been used once, after the Al-Qaeda attacks on US soil in 2001.

In a statement, US President Joe Biden hailed NATO as the greatest military alliance in the history of the world.

We must remember that the sacred commitment we make to our Allies  to defend every inch of NATO territory  makes us safer too, and gives the United States a bulwark of security unrivaled by any other nation in the world."

Among the more recent successes as it grew from the Cold War and after the Berlin Wall collapsed, NATO would count its 1999 air campaign against former Yugoslavia to end a bloody crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians and its effort to avert near civil war in Macedonia in 2001.

At the other end of the scale lies the operation in Afghanistan. NATO took command of the security effort in 2003 and it became the longest, costliest and deadliest in alliance history. It was marked by a chaotic retreat in August 2021, many of the successes over almost two decades abandoned.

Today, Ukraine also wants a seat at NATO's table, but the alliance works on unanimity and there is no consensus on whether it should join. Most allies oppose membership while war rages on anyway. For now, NATO promises only that its door is open for Ukraine in the future.

NATO allies cannot agree on whether to arm Ukraine either. As an organisation, the alliance only provides non-lethal support like transport vehicles, fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and demining equipment. However, many members provide arms and ammunition bilaterally or in groups.

The bulk of NATO's efforts since Russian troops began massing for the invasion has focused on reinforcing its own borders near Russia and Ukraine to dissuade Putin from targeting any of the allies next.

Article 5 was given perhaps its toughest test during Donald Trump's term as president of the United States  by far NATO's most powerful member country. Trump suggested the US might not defend any NATO ally that failed to boost their own defence spending to at least 2 per cent of gross domestic product, as all had agreed to do in 2014.

Trump has repeated the threat during election campaigning this year. NATO predicts that 18 of its 32 members will reach that target this year, up from only 3 a decade ago. (AP)

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London, Apr 4 (PTI) A 75-year-old man extradited from Pakistan was convicted by a UK court on Thursday of the murder of a policewoman in northern England over 17 years ago.

Piran Ditta Khan was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of Police Constable (PC) Sharon Beshenivsky and firearms offences, having pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing.

Khan had been extradited from Pakistan in April last year when he was formally charged with the murder of Beshenivsky in Bradford in November 2005.

This verdict today is the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts, Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of West Yorkshire Police said outside court.

Throughout this investigation, we left no stone unturned, and after several trials and convictions, the final suspect, Khan, has been found guilty of these heinous crimes. This has been a complex case with many hurdles along the way, but throughout all the challenges, we never gave up, he said.

On November 18, 2005, PC Beshenivsky and her colleague PC Teresa Milburn were about to finish their shift when a call came over the radio about a theft alarm going off at the Travel Agents Universal Express on Morley Street in Bradford. As they approached the entrance to the travel agents, three men burst out of the shop, shooting Beshenivsky at close range, with colleague Milburn also being shot.

While Beshenivsky died from a gunshot wound to the chest, Milburn was taken to hospital, where she later recovered from her injuries. A manhunt for the suspects led to the arrest and conviction of six people. However, the final suspect and mastermind of the robbery fled the country to Pakistan.

Piran Ditta Khan was the architect of the operation and meticulously planned the robbery that was to be carried out using firearms which, if they thought necessary, could be used to kill. Despite not firing the fatal shot, he is as guilty of Sharons murder as the man who pulled the trigger, said David Holderness, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Yorkshire & Humberside region.

An extradition request was made by the CPS International team and Khan was tracked down by the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA). He was arrested by Pakistani law enforcement in January 2020.

Despite there not being an extradition treaty with Pakistan, the UK authorities were able to secure Khans extradition in March last year.

Tom Dowdall, NCA Deputy Director International, said: NCA officers, both here in the UK and across the world, worked tirelessly alongside West Yorkshire Police, the CPS and our law enforcement partners in Pakistan to identify Khans location, culminating in his arrest in 2020 and extradition last year.

This verdict would not have been possible without the dedicated work of our partners in Pakistan Anyone who leaves the UK to avoid facing justice for crimes they have committed should know that we will leave no stone unturned to locate you, bring you back to the UK and put you before the courts.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police formally charged Khan with murder, firearms offences, and robbery once he was extradited. He now faces a life imprisonment term when he is sentenced at a later date.
Taipei, Apr 4 (PTI) India and other countries could learn from Taiwan about having and implementing strict building codes for quake-resistant buildings, an Indian research scholar who experienced Wednesday's 7.4 magnitude earthquake said here on Thursday.

At least 10 people died and more than 1,000 were injured on Wednesday when the powerful quake, Taiwans strongest earthquake in 25 years, sent boulders and mud tumbling down mountainsides, blocking roads and damaging ground floors of some buildings that collapsed, leaving them leaning at precarious angles.

Media reports said that rescuers searched on Thursday for missing people and worked to reach hundreds stranded due to the quake at Hualien, about 200 km south of the capital of Taiwan.

There are systems in place. It just needs to be activated. It helps save time (in rescue), how many people are to be sent, where etc. There are protocols in place ... there is no confusion. The accountability is very high, Sana Hashmi, a research scholar with a think tank, told PTI over the phone.

There, the importance of human life is very high, everything else is secondary. You have to save people, Hashmi, who works for the think tank Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation for the last four years, said.

How remarkable it is (the system in place). In any other country, the damage could have been devastating. But here it is so limited and damage is controlled and even the public transport was resumed in one hour, she added.

When asked if there were obvious comparisons with her hometown Delhi, she said, Cant even think of it. It (would be) so chaotic. I dont think, in India, a whole lot of buildings follow the codes. Not just in India but in a lot of countries ... This is perhaps what a lot of us need to learn from Taiwan. There is always an opportunity in a crisis, the research scholar said.

Hashmi, who came to Taipei City four years ago from Delhi, said initially she was a little afraid whenever there was a quake  and let me tell you, quakes of smaller intensity keep happening here  but soon she realised how calm and composed the people were.

Like most other residents, I didnt even come out of my home. I am on the eighth floor. The quake was indeed stronger and was for a longer duration. But all buildings are quake-resistant, so there was no fear, Hashmi said.

Yesterdays quake was a high-magnitude quake, but it happened away from here. In Taipei, within hours, transportation was on track, buses, and metros were running and people went to their offices. It was business as usual soon, Hashmi said.

A major reason why people remained calm and composed was because of the dual-purpose civil defence workshops. For Taiwan, facing quakes and typhoons is a norm.

There are organisations that hold free workshops and awareness programmes for what needs to be done during typhoons, during quakes. It is very common, things are so normalised here. Even children are taught in school and act accordingly.
Houston, Apr 4 (PTI) A 41-year-old man convicted of shooting and killing two people, including an Indian, in the US state of Oklahoma in 2002 was executed on Thursday.

Michael Dewayne Smith was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in the McAlester town, television station KOCO-TV reported.

Smith had been on death row for the murders of 24-year-old Indian store clerk Sharath Pulluru and 40-year-old Janet Moore in separate incidents on February 22, 2002.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released a statement on Smith's execution, saying, "I pray that today brings some measure of peace for the families of Janet Miller-Moore and Sharath Pulluru. It has been a long and difficult 22 years for their loved ones, and my heart aches over the agony they have endured."

I want the people of Oklahoma to know that the victims of Michael Smith were good and decent people who did not deserve their fate," Drummond said.

Sharath, a bright young man with a generous spirit, was the first in his family to come to the United States to pursue an education. He was fun to be around, was an inspiration to his family, and had a promising future," he said.

He added that the two were murdered because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. "That was all. I am grateful that justice has been served, he said.

Last month, Sharath's brother, Harish Pulluru, released a statement demanding the denial of Smith's clemency.

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," KFOR television channel had reported, citing the statement.

"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, Harish said.

Before his execution, Smith said in a statement: "My life is on the line. Despite new evidence, my attorney Mark Henricksen has informed my family that he will be filing no further appeals on my behalf. I am releasing this statement to demand that Mr Henricksen do his job and fight for my life."
Islamabad, Apr 4 (PTI) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said that his country would take all measures for the security of the Chinese nationals employed on various projects in the country, more than a week after five Chinese workers were killed in a suicide attack in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Zardari made the comment while talking to Chinese ambassador Jiang Zaidong, who called on him at the President's House here, according to a statement.

The two discussed matters of mutual interest, besides underscoring the need to increase counter-terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing to overcome the menace of terrorism.

Zardari assured the Chinese ambassador that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to ensure the security of our Chinese brothers, who are working on different projects in Pakistan.

Last Tuesday, a vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, killing five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver.

Separately, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahar Baloch said at her weekly briefing that a security delegation headed by Bai Tian, Director General of the external security department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Pakistan after the attack.

The purpose of the visit was to exchange views on the safety and security of Chinese nationals and to further deepen our existing cooperation in the field of counterterrorism, she said.

Without giving details of the discussions of the delegation in Pakistan, she said that meetings were fairly substantive, both in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Interior Ministry and with our law enforcement authorities.

She also said that as far as the Chinese hydropower projects are concerned, there was a temporary suspension, and following the security audit and enhancement of security measures, these projects are now functional.

Baloch also said that Pakistan is in the process of completing the various aspects of the investigation into the terrorist attack in Besham and would share it with the media after complete details.

We have said in the past, and that is our policy, and if there is a clear connection, Pakistan will surely raise this concern with the Afghan authorities. There have been repeated incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan, which have been sponsored by individuals who are currently based inside Afghanistan and we expect the Afghan authorities to take urgent, immediate action against all terror groups, she said.

While no group had claimed responsibility for the terror attack, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department blamed the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan for the assault.

Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects under the aegis of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
United Nations, Apr 4 (AP) The Palestinians want the Security Council to vote later this month on their revived request for full membership in the United Nations, despite the United States reiterating Wednesday that Israel and the Palestinians must first negotiate a peace agreement.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said 140 countries recognise the state of Palestine, and we believe it is high time now for our state to become a full member at the United Nations.

The Palestinians are making a fresh bid for UN membership as the war between Israel and Hamas that began Oct 7 nears its sixth month, putting the unresolved decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the spotlight after years on the back burner.

During the Cold War between the former Soviet Union and the United States, Mansour said, countries were blocked from joining the UN, but they all eventually became members, including North Korea. The US doesn't recognise North Korea but didn't block its admission, he said, and asked why conditions should be placed on Palestinian membership.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered the Palestinian Authority's application to become the 194th member of the United Nations to then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept 23, 2011, before addressing world leaders at the General Assembly.

That bid failed because the Palestinians failed to get the required support of nine of the Security Council's 15 members. Even if they did, the United States, Israel's closest ally, had promised at that time to veto any council resolution endorsing Palestinian membership, saying this should follow a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Palestinians then went to the 193-member General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, and by more than a two-thirds majority succeeded in having their status raised from a UN observer to a non-member observer state in November 2012.

Mansour asked the Security Council on Tuesday to consider during April the Palestinians' renewed application for membership, which was supported by the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations, the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the 120-member Nonaligned Movement.

He told several journalists Wednesday that he expects the council's Standing Committee on New Members, which includes all 15 council nations, to meet behind closed doors to consider the application before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on April 9.

Mansour said he then expects the Security Council to vote on the Palestinian request for full UN membership at its monthly meeting on the Middle East, being held at ministerial level April 18.

Seven of the council's 15 members recognise the state of Palestine  China, Russia, Ecuador, Mozambique, Algeria, Guyana and Sierra Leone.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked Wednesday whether the United States would veto full membership for Palestinians. I am not going to speculate about what may happen down the road, he replied.

He said intensive diplomacy has taken place over the past few months to establish a Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel, which the United States supports. But Miller said that should be done through direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, something we are pursuing at this time, and not at the United Nations.

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood pointed to another obstacle: The US Congress has adopted legislation that in essence says that if the Security Council approves full membership for the Palestinians outside of a bilateral agreement between Israel and the Palestinians...(US) funding would be cut off to the UN system.

We're bound by US laws, he told several reporters Wednesday. So our hope is that they don't pursue that, but that's up to them.

Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador, said it is the Palestinians' natural and legal right to seek full UN membership and declared, Let the process unfold. SCY

SCY
Bhandara, Apr 4 (PTI) The condition of the Congress has become so "pitiable" that it has to put up with the actions of its barely existing ally Shiv Sena (UBT), claimed BJP Maharashtra election in-charge Dr Dinesh Sharma on Thursday.



Sharma, a former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said the chaos in the opposition camp Maha Vikas Aghadi is not ending as its constituents are fielding Lok Sabha candidates on Congress seats and trying to finish the grand old party.

The Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) headed by Sharad Pawar comprise the MVA.

It seems there would be no one to even take the name of the Congress in Mumbai, he claimed at a press conference in Gondia ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the state on April 19.

The Congress condition has become so pitiable that it has to bear with its barely existing ally Sena (UBT), he said.

Congress leaders had earlier expressed dissatisfaction after the Sena (UBT) unilaterally announced many candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, advising the partner to stick to coalition dharma.

Sharma also claimed that the opposition was not getting candidates for the upcoming polls. The opposition will not get even one seat in Maharashtra, he said, adding that the ruling Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawars NCP will sweep the state.

The MVA is spreading lies that the BJP will finish the Constitution if brought back to power. Sharma said, No one will dare change the Constitution as long as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP workers are around.

This election is between nationalist parties and dynastic outfits like Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, he claimed.



Of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Ramtek (Scheduled Caste), Bhandara-Gondiya and Gadchiroli-Chimur (Scheduled Tribe) will go to polls in the first phase on April 19.
Aster DM Healthcare Limited has announced the successful separation of its GCC and India businesses into two distinct and standalone entities.

Under the separation plan, a consortium of investors led by Fajr Capital, a sovereign-backed private equity firm, has acquired a 65% stake in Aster GCC, with the Moopen family retaining a 35% stake alongside management and operational rights. The transaction which valued the GCC business at an equity value of $1 billion has now concluded.

Founded in 1987 by Dr Azad Moopen, Aster was established as a single clinic in Dubai, UAE driven by a vision to make high quality healthcare accessible to every patient. The company has since grown to become one of the most trusted healthcare brands in the GCC and India, with its GCC network comprising of 15 hospitals, 117 clinics and 285 pharmacies, spread across UAE, KSA, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. Today, Aster is a leading integrated healthcare provider which continues to innovate and evolve to cater to the diverse healthcare needs of patients through its three brands  Aster, Medcare and Access.

Focusing on demand

In November 2023, the company obtained board approvals to separate its GCC and India businesses to establish two distinct healthcare champions that will benefit from the strategic and financial flexibility to meet the priorities of patients and focus on the growing demand in their respective markets.

The plan was also approved by the companys shareholders in January 2024. The transaction was subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, all of which have been satisfied and concluded.

Dr Moopen will remain the Founder Chairman and Alisha Moopen will serve as the Managing Director and Group CEO of Aster GCC. The Moopen Family will continue to retain operational control of the company.

The Fajr Capital-led consortium includes Emirates Investment Authority, Al Dhow Holding Company (the investment arm of AlSayer Group), Hana Investment Company (a subsidiary of Olayan Financing Company) and Wafra International Investment Company, among other regional and international investors.

Regional expansion

Together with the new shareholders, the Moopen family and Aster GCCs management team will now embark on an ambitious regional expansion strategy. In UAE, the company will shortly unveil Medcare Royal Hospital, a 126-bed super specialty hospital in Al Qusais which will serve as a world-class destination for tertiary and quaternary care catering to local and international patients.

Meanwhile, the Aster Pharmacy business in Saudi Arabia is poised for substantial growth, with 180 new retail stores set to open within the next 3-5 years. Additionally, Aster Sanad Hospital in Riyadh is set to expand its bed capacity to serve a larger population segment.

Dr Moopen said: The separation has established a GCC business which has tremendous growth potential and will be focused on tapping the opportunities in the region. We are glad that Fajr Capital and its consortium of partners has chosen to partner with us on this growth journey and we are confident that their demonstrated expertise will empower our expansion plans within GCCs dynamic healthcare landscape, especially Saudi Arabia. Together, we envision a future where Asters business in the GCC continues to deliver best-in-class healthcare services to its patients across the region.

Todays announcement marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Aster in the GCC, added Iqbal Khan, CEO of Fajr Capital. Healthcare remains one of the largest, most pivotal and dynamic sectors in the regional economy. With its deep regional roots, Aster has emerged as a healthcare champion in the GCC and benefits from a strong market presence, exceptional workforce and an unwavering commitment to providing the highest quality of healthcare to the regional population. We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Dr Azad, Alisha and the Moopen family, who share our values and vision for the business, and look forward to working with them and the leadership team to unlock Asters tremendous potential in the GCC.

Evolving needs

Alisha Moopen said: "We are truly excited to embark on our next stage of growth which would see us expand our footprint in GCC while strengthening our presence across physical and digital channels to meet the evolving healthcare needs of our patients and customers. We are actively developing the right market strategy for Saudi Arabia for the expansion of our primary care and hospital businesses, supported by our new partners, and we will continue to further strengthen our pole position in the existing markets simultaneously. We believe that Fajr Capitals M&A expertise and strategic counsel would be of utmost importance in this journey.

EY and PwC provided independent valuation advice and ICICI Securities provided fairness opinion for the valuation guidance for the Company. Moelis & Company and Credit Suisse acted as the sell-side advisors. Baker & McKenzie LLP was the sell-sides legal advisors, while Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was Asters lawyer on the transaction. AZB & Partners were the advisors to independent directors. HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd., Allen & Overy LLP and PwC acted on behalf of the Fajr Capital consortium.--TradeArabia News Service
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. A five-party meeting of representatives of Caspian littoral states Prosecutor Generals Offices gets underway in Baku, Trend reports.

Azerbaijans Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva, Iran's Deputy Attorney General for Public Rights Division Gholam-Abbas Torki, Deputy Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Zhandos Umiraliev, Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Petr Gorodov, and high-ranking officials of the Prosecutor Generals Offices of Azerbaijan and other Caspian littoral states are attending the meeting.

At the meeting, Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev highlighted that the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan will host a session focused on mobilizing law enforcement agencies to combat climate change. He emphasized that the contemporary era has heightened the urgency of global environmental issues.

"The Caspian Sea holds significant historical value for our nations and has contributed to our development over time. Safeguarding its nature and biodiversity for future generations is our ethical responsibility. I believe that today's discussions will prove beneficial for environmental protection in our region, particularly in reinforcing efforts to combat crime, and will foster deeper collaboration in this regard," he said.

Kamran Aliyev emphasized that Armenia has committed environmental crimes in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation.

He said that the General Prosecutor's Office has set up an investigation group to look into these crimes.

"The international community will receive updates on the legal repercussions of these crimes, and appropriate legal action will be pursued following both national and international laws. Concerning environmental crimes, requests for mutual legal assistance have been forwarded to law enforcement agencies in other nations. We maintain intensive relations with them. After the results are compiled, the investigation materials will be used in international courts," Aliyev added.

During the meeting, Umayra Taghiyeva highlighted that environmental protection of the Caspian Sea and the efficient utilization of its natural resources are prioritized within the national policies of the Caspian littoral countries.

Within the framework of the meeting, Umaira Taghiyeva noted that the issues of environmental protection of the Caspian Sea and effective use of natural resources are among the priority directions of the national policy of the Caspian littoral countries.

"The Caspian Sea stands as a unique aquatic ecosystem on our planet, renowned for its abundant natural resources, which hold global significance and value for the peoples of the littoral states. Presently, the Caspian region grapples with various challenges stemming from unresolved environmental issues. Alongside anthropogenic impacts such as the depletion of bio-resources and marine pollution, the long-term decline in sea levels due to climate change exacerbates the degradation of marine ecosystems," she said.

The deputy minister further emphasized Azerbaijan's efforts to mitigate the adverse effects on the Caspian Sea's environment, highlighting the establishment of a network of specially protected natural areas. Additionally, Azerbaijan suggests coordinating and executing joint environmental monitoring initiatives in the Caspian Sea.

Gholam-Abbas Torki stressed the importance of preserving the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea. He also highlighted the imperative of establishing management mechanisms at the national level to safeguard the Caspian Sea, emphasizing the necessity for rigorous coordination in this endeavor.

Zhandos Umiraliev remarked that the Caspian Sea represents a vast reservoir of natural riches and urged for the collective integration of expertise to safeguard its ecosystem.

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Mumbai, Apr 4 (PTI) Former MP Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday took a swipe at the Congress leadership over his expulsion, claiming it was done after he sent his resignation letter to the party.

Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge late Wednesday evening approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect.

On Thursday morning, former Mumbai Congress chief Nirupam in a post on X said, "Looks like, immediately after the party received my resignation letter last night, they decided to issue my expulsion. Good to see such promptness."



In the letter to Kharge, Nirupam said, "I have finally decided to fulfil your much awaited desire and hereby announce that I chose to resign from the primary membership of the All India Congress Committee."



Nirupam, who was eyeing the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was miffed with the party for allowing the Shiv Sena (UBT) to take the seat for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

The demand for action against Nirupam grew after he castigated the Maharashtra Congress leadership for "ceding" constituencies in Mumbai to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party during seat-sharing talks of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance for Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress dropped Nirupam's name as a star campaigner, indicating the crisis was escalating.

Nirupam then launched a sharp attack, saying as the party was experiencing a "serious financial crisis", it should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself, apparently alluding to the Income Tax Department's action for tax demand.

The former MP from Mumbai North had also said the Congress leadership should not allow itself to be arm-twisted by the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Accepting the Shiv Sena (UBT's) decision to unilaterally field candidates in Mumbai amounted to allowing the destruction of Congress, he had claimed.

A former Shiv Sainik, Nirupam quit Shiv Sena in 2005.

He took up the cause of north Indian hawkers and subsequently made his way into the Congress. In 2009, he successfully contested from Mumbai North seat.

Nirupam lost the 2014 elections from the same constituency against BJP's Gopal Shetty.
Ahmedabad, Apr 4 (PTI) Even as the Congress-AAP combined vote share in the 2022 Gujarat assembly polls was less than the BJP, they are confident of winning in alliance some of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state and halting the saffron party's clean sweep bid.

A senior BJP leader, however, says no alliance can stop his party from winning all the 26 seats in Gujarat and the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are not ready to face the ground reality.

But the Congress and AAP leaders say the assembly polls data is a thing of the past and claim that with the changing voter sentiments and a new arrangement in place, they will be able to attract more number of voters for their united fight against the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

They also feel the BJP will face anti-incumbency after having swept all the 26 seats in the state in the last two Lok Sabha polls.

Elections to the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held in a single phase on May 7.

In the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP polled 52.50 per cent votes, while the combined voter share of the Congress and AAP was 40.2 per cent.

Out of the total 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, the BJP bagged 156, Congress-17 and AAP-5.



Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi told PTI, "AAP is a partner in the opposition INDIA alliance, and in Gujarat we are playing the role of the big brother. The alliance will certainly stop the division of votes against the BJP and will help both the Congress, which is contesting in 24 seats, and the AAP in two seats."

The Congress is helping the AAP in every possible way and to win Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seats, where the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has fielded its candidates in alliance with the grand old party, Doshi said.

Congress state president Shaktisinh Gohil even participated in a function of the opening of the AAP Bhavnagar candidate's election office, he said.

Bhavnagar is the home district of Gohil.



In the 2022 assembly polls, the AAP for the first time fielded candidates in all 182 seats and contested against both the BJP and Congress.

The AAP and Congress leaders believe division of votes between the two parties played an important role in the BJP winning 156 seats, the highest ever in the Gujarat assembly elections.



"The alliance this time will prevent the division of votes seen in the last assembly elections. With the candidate of only one party taking on the BJP candidate in a seat, the anti-incumbency sentiment among voters will not be divided," Gujarat AAP leader Sagar Rabari claimed.

The AAP and Congress alliance has also given confidence to those electors who were unsure of voting against the BJP during the 2022 assembly polls as they believed the opposition was divided, he said.

"As far as the 2022 vote share is concerned, it is an old data and not of much use now. Dynamics change, and this time the two parties taking on the BJP will change the equation," he claimed.

However, Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil said the Congress-AAP alliance will make little difference to his party's march towards its bid to repeat the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha poll result.

This time, the BJP seeks to win each seat by a margin of more than 5 lakh votes, he said.



"No alliance can stop the BJP from winning all 26 seats. I believe the Congress and AAP are still dreaming and not ready to see the ground reality," he said.

Out of the five assembly seats won by AAP in 2022, two fall under Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha constituencies, where the Kejriwal-led party has now fielded its sitting MLAs as candidates.

Bharuch, having a sizable tribal population, was a Congress stronghold till 1989, when senior party leader Ahmed Patel failed to win for the fourth term. Since then, the seat has been with the BJP.

Mansukh Vasava, the BJP's candidate from Bharuch, is seeking a seventh term.

He is pitted against AAP's Chaitar Vasava, who had won Dediapada assembly seat in Narmada district under the Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency by a huge margin against his BJP rival Hitesh Vasava.

Out of the seven assembly segments under Bharuch Lok Sabha seat, six are held by the BJP.

Data of the last assembly elections on these seven seats shows that the Congress-AAP combined vote share of 4.74 lakh was way less than 6.16 lakh votes polled by the BJP.

Similarly in Bhavnagar, out of the seven assembly seats, six are held by the BJP, which polled a total 6.14 lakh votes. The Congress and AAP together got 4.91 lakh votes.

In the 2022 assembly polls, 128 AAP candidates and 41 Congress nominees had to forfeit their deposits.

In the Bharuch constituency, the BJP secured 51 per cent of votes, 12 per cent more than the combined vote share of Congress (around 26 per cent) and AAP (13 per cent), Paatil said after the two parties finalised their alliance.

"In the last assembly elections, AAP candidates lost deposits in four of the seven segments under the Bharuch constituency. Bhavnagar is also a BJP stronghold which the party has been winning for years," Paatil said.
Patna, Apr 4 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off the NDAs Lok Sabha poll campaign in Bihar on Thursday with a rally, his first in the state since the announcement of the elections.

Modi, who is running for a third consecutive term in office, is scheduled to address the rally at Jamui around noon.

The Bihar Police have put in place a multi-tier security cover at the venue and its surroundings ahead of the PMs rally.

BJP ally Chirag Paswan, who has handed over the mantle to brother-in-law Arun Bharti after having represented Jamui, a reserved seat, two times on the trot, has been effusive in his praise for the prime minister for the gesture.

"It is a matter of pride for Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and the people of Jamui that the prime minister has agreed to launch his campaign in Bihar from the constituency. We are committed to helping him achieve the target of 400-plus seats for the NDA, including all the 40 in Bihar," said Paswan.

Jamui is among the four Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the other three being Aurangabad, Gaya and Nawada, which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19.

The BJP is contesting Aurangabad, where Modi had addressed a rally a week before the Election Commission announced the schedule of the Lok Sabha polls, and Nawada, where he is slated to address a public meeting on Sunday.

The NDA in Bihar also includes Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), which is contesting 16 seats, one less than the BJP, and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha, which will fight Katakat.

Chirag Paswan's party is fielding candidates in five seats, including Hajipur, his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's pocket borough, where he is trying his luck this time.
Kohima, Apr 4 (PTI) To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima during World War II, a group of 26 people, descendants of Allied Forces' war veterans from the United Kingdom, laid wreaths at the Kohima War Cemetery here on Thursday.

The Battle of Kohima was fought between Japanese and British Indian forces from April 4 to June 10, 1944.

The trustee of Kohima Education Trust (KET), Charlotte Carty, led the team in paying homage to those who fought and died in the Battle of Kohima.

The war veterans founded the KET as a debt of honour to the Naga people as well as a means of sustaining the memory of the courage and sacrifice of those who fought and died in the battle, and of honouring the Nagas who were their allies in the war through assisting the education of succeeding generations of Naga children.

The cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, houses 1,420 Commonwealth burials and a memorial for 917 Hindu and Sikh soldiers.

Speaking at the ceremony held at the war memorial, Viscount Mark William Rawdon Slim lauded the Naga people and the Indian forces for being the allies of the British army in successfully fighting against the Japanese forces.

Talking to reporters, Carty said the support that the Nagas gave to the allies is extraordinary.

As a descendant of a war veteran, she said it was her mother who passed the knowledge about the Battle of Kohima to her and now she wants it to be passed down to the next generation so that they continue to remember the brave acts.

Terming the Battle of Kohima as one of the most ferocious wars ever, Carty hoped that a lesson has been learnt from the past and that it wont be repeated in the future.

Meanwhile, re-creating the 39-hour walk undertaken by her grandfather Lt Col Bruno Brown, Commandant of 1st Assam Regiment, and also marking the 80th anniversary of WW-II, Carty and team also walked from Jessami in Manipur to Kohima from Monday till Wednesday covering a distance of 124 km.
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI) Assam on Thursday registered its biggest-ever drug haul as heroin worth Rs 210 crore was seized in Cachar district, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

One person was also arrested in connection with the seizure.

Taking to X, Sarma said, "In a big step towards a #DrugsFreeAssam, 21 kg of heroin has been seized in Silchar in a joint operation by @STFAssam & @cacharpolice. One person has been arrested and investigation is underway to crack the supply grid. Well done @assampolice!"
New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday steered clear of the row surrounding Katchatheevu island.

To a volley of questions on the Katchatheevu issue, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal referred to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's recent comments on the matter.

"I would like to tell you that on the issues that have been raised, the external affairs minister has spoken to the press here in Delhi and also in Gujarat clarifying all the issues," he said.

"I would refer that you please look at his press engagements. You will get your answers there," Jaiswal said.

The Narendra Modi government has targeted the Congress and its ally DMK accusing it of overlooking national interests in the ceding of Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in the mid-1970s.

The BJP has also been targeting the two parties for not ensuring the rights of the fishermen wanting to fish in waters around Katchatheevu.

Jaishankar on Monday claimed that prime ministers from the Congress displayed indifference about Katchatheevu island as if they did not care and gave away Indian fishermen's rights despite legal views to the contrary.

Prime ministers such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi dubbed Katchatheevu, given to Sri Lanka in 1974 as part of a maritime boundary agreement, as a "little island" and "little rock", he had told a press conference.

Jaishankar asserted that the issue has not cropped up abruptly but was always a live matter.

The records exist of the then foreign secretary keeping the then Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, the late DMK patriarch, fully informed of the talks between the two countries, the external affairs minister said.

He also accused the DMK of conniving with the Congress in 1974 and thereafter in creating the situation which has been a cause of "great concern".

"The same people who connived at all this are today standing up and trying to pretend to be champions of fishermen," he said.
New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The scrapping of the electoral bonds scheme on the eve of the general elections will increase the role of black money, former law minister Ashwani Kumar said on Thursday.

At a discussion on his book, 'A Democracy in Retreat: Revisiting the Ends of Power', Kumar also said democracy is on the decline in India, and it will be rescued not by its institutions, but by the people themselves.

Commenting on the recently scrapped electoral bonds scheme, he said while it has been talked about, mostly appreciated, the effects of the judgment have not been pondered upon.

"It has been much talked of, mostly appreciated, but has anybody really pondered to think what the effect of the judgment is? You may anchor a judgment in some constitutional principles and write a theory around it, but the purpose of judicial adjudication is to achieve a purpose," Kumar said.

He said the constitutional purpose of the scheme was to secure transparency in the funding of elections.

"As a consequence of this otherwise sound judgment, we have gone back to the cash and carry aspect of politics. There is no transparency whatsoever now," the former Union minister said.

"...the consequence of the Supreme Court judgment on the eve of the general election is that the role of the black money has only increased, and the ruling dispensations, whoever is the ruling dispensation at the Centre or the state, would stand to gain. Nobody has pondered about it," he said.

Asked what may be the way out, he said, "I don't pretend that I have a full proof answer to that."

Kumar said different recommendations have been given by different commissions from time to time.

"The difficulty is that there is no political consensus because for some reason or the other, there is an absence of political consensus on the way forward," he said.

The former Congress leader mentioned that fighting a Lok Sabha election costs Rs 15-20 crore, and the expenditure is more than that in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

"Everyone here knows, who has any idea of politics, and in Tamil Nadu and in Andhra Pradesh it's much more, but you cannot fight a Lok Sabha election for less than 15-20 crore rupees today," he said.

"Now, the lawmakers perjure themselves on day one by filing that false adjudication," he said.

Kumar mentioned the state funding of polls as one of the suggestions.

Former ambassador Pawan verma meanwhile mentioned the method used by US senator Bernie Sanders.

"One answer is there, and it has been tried out. And that's called the Bernie Sanders model. He did not take money from corporate houses or from business... He raised money through digital funding where the donor and the amount and the party, in this case Bernie Sanders campaign, is on a public website," he said.

"In this process, Bernie Sanders raised $250 million... The real point is that nobody wants to pay the electoral reform for that," he said.

Talking about the Indian democracy, Kumar, while stating that there is a decline, said democracy will be rescued by the people and not by institutions.

All the principles of the Constitution are under severe attack. And, ultimately, this attack can be checked when people as a whole will assert themselves correctly, Kumar said.

"So, I feel, and I'm sensible in the belief, that democracy in this country will be rescued. It is a faulting democracy. It is a democracy in decline.

But it will be rescued, but not by the institutions of democracy. It will be rescued by the people themselves, from whom all democratic institutions derive power, he said.

Kumar said by all means, the role of the democratic institutions is key to strengthening the democratic temper and culture of this country. But the ultimate responsibility is not with the democratic institutions, he added.

"They are also manned by people who are reflective of the faults and inadequacies of ordinary models like us. They do not come from somewhere in the heaven. They are as much susceptible to considerations of the moment," he said.

"And, therefore, to rest the entire case of democracy in the safe custody of the institutions, I think is expecting too much of them," Kumar added.
New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday sought to corner the Congress and the DMK after MDMK leader Vaiko reportedly accused it of having betrayed Tamil Nadu on "every front" by ceding the Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka.

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) is one of the constituents of the opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Latching on to Vaiko's reported remarks, BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla demanded a clarification from the Congress and the DMK as to why they deceived people of Tamil Nadu by handing over Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka.

Last week, opposition leaders were "blabbering in vein" after Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised the issue of Katchatheevu islet, he said.

"Vaiko, who is a leader of the INDI Alliance, said yesterday that the Congress betrayed Tamil Nadu on the issue of Katchatheevu islet. We say Congress has not just betrayed Tami Nadu but the entire country. The Congress and the DMK have betrayed people of Tamil Nadu," he charged.

"Now when their partner in the INDI Alliance is saying so, the Congress leaders and M K Stalin (DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister) should explain why they betrayed the people of the state. The BJP wants to know the reason behind this betrayal," Shukla added.
New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The external affairs ministry on Thursday cautioned Indian nationals against falling prey to human traffickers promising lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia.

In an advisory, the ministry called upon Indians looking at job opportunities in the Southeast Asian country to thoroughly check the background of the prospective employer.

"It has come to attention that Indian nationals, lured by fake promises of lucrative job opportunities in Cambodia, are falling into the trap of human traffickers," it said.

The ministry said these Indian nationals are "coerced" to undertake online financial scams and other illegal activities.

"Indian nationals intending to visit Cambodia for employment are cautioned to do so only through authorised agents. It is also advised that the background of the prospective employer in Cambodia is checked thoroughly," it said.

"In the meantime, the ministry of external affairs, through our mission in Phnom Penh, is working closely with the Cambodian authorities to address the issue as well as provide continuous assistance to the affected Indian nationals," it added.
New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) A war of words erupted on Thursday over a photograph of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind bars being flanked by portraits of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar, with the BJP demanding its immediate removal.

During a digital briefing by Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, the background had portraits of Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar, flanking a photograph of the Delhi chief minister in jail.

Sunita Kejriwal on Thursday conveyed to AAP MLAs the chief minister's message from Tihar jail in a digital briefing.

The backdrop drew sharp criticism from the BJP, which accused the AAP of hurting people's sentiments and demanded that Kejriwal's photograph be immediately removed.

"Kejriwal is a corruption accused and by putting up his photograph between those of patriots such as Shaheed-e-Azam (Bharat Singh) and Dr Ambedkar, the AAP has insulted their dignity," alleged Virendra Sachdeva, the BJP's Delhi unit chief.

Senior AAP leader Atishi, on the other hand, alleged that the BJP-led Centre has sent Kejriwal to jail under false charges.

"Kejriwal is the symbol of the current struggle against the BJP's dictatorship. His photograph at our offices is to remind us that the struggle against the BJP is no less than the freedom movement," she told reporters.

"There was a time when people of the country fought against the British rulers. Now we are struggling against the 'dictatorship' of the BJP," she said.

The BJP, on the other hand, said the AAP should be "ashamed" of itself for putting up Kejriwal's photograph among the portraits of patriots.

The AAP has been constantly degrading "political decorum" by allowing the jailed chief minister's wife to sit and issue political messages from his "official room and chair", Sachdeva said.

Since Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, Sunita Kejriwal has been attending digital briefings with large Tricolours and portraits of Singh and Ambedkar in the background, similar to the backdrop used during Kejriwal's online briefings.

Kejriwal is in judicial custody till April 15 in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has responded to the question regarding the press release from the United States concerning a recent telephone conversation between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Ilham Aliyev. The press release mentioned that human rights were among the topics discussed during the call.

"Indeed, various issues, including this one, were touched upon during the telephone conversation. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that attempts to interfere in Azerbaijan's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights issues are completely unacceptable. We do not accept the biased statements of some Western countries based on double standards regarding this issue. In this regard, the head of state reminded Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the arrests of opposition representatives in Armenia, including cases of fatalities during detention and human rights violations, emphasizing the unacceptability of the silence of Western countries regarding such incidents, citing them as clear examples of double standards.

During the telephone conversation, President Aliyev highlighted the case of prominent journalist Julian Assange, who has faced prolonged physical and psychological torture due to his journalistic activities. He noted ongoing discussions about Assange's extradition to the United States and the possibility of his execution. The head of state highlighted the importance of addressing human rights issues globally, not just locally," the statement reads.
Kota (Rajasthan), Apr 4 (PTI) The Kota police have seized over 700 kilograms of poppy husk worth over Rs 1 crore loaded in a truck going to Punjab, police said on Thursday.

The truck's driver Subash Singh (24), a resident of Punjab's Patiala, has been arrested while his helper, a minor, has been detained, Suket Station House Officer (SHO) Raghuveer Singh said.

The recovery was made on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday during a routine vehicle check on national highway 52 under Suket police station limits, Kota (Rural) Superintendent of Police Karan Sharma said.

According to SHO Singh, the police team on the spot signalled the truck driver to stop the vehicle after it crossed the toll plaza but the driver accelerated the vehicle and moved towards a link road to dodge the police.

However, after chasing the truck, the police found the vehicle and nabbed its driver and helper, the SHO said.

On searching, around 795.1 kilograms of poppy husk worth around Rs 1.19 crore in the international market were seized from the vehicle, which was bearing a Punjab number plate, the SP said.

The drugs were wrapped in 40 packets and covered with plastic crates, he said.

During the initial interrogation, Subash said the truck was loaded with drugs at the Bhawani Mandi town in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district, the police said.

The drugs were be delivered to a man in Punjab who contacted him via WhatsApp and ordered him to collect the delivery, he told the police.

Based on Subash's statement, the investigation was handed over to Ramganj Mandi police station in Rajasthan.

The accused was produced before the court on Thursday and has been sent to six days police remand, Ramganj Mandi Circle Officer Ramnarayan Bhanwaria said.
Gurugram, Apr 4 (PTI) A joint team of the CM flying squad, district health department and Gurugram

Police has busted a racket that allegedly got kidney transplant done illegally for money in two private hospitals in Jaipur.

After the transplant, the gang allegedly used to make the patient and the donor stay in a guest house in Gurugram, said the police.

The team raided the guest house on Thursday where they allegedly found two donors and three recipients. An FIR has been registered at the Sadar police station and the police are conducting raids to nab the mastermind of the gang Mohammed Murtaza Ansari, a native of Jharkhand.

Ansari had allegedly taken Rs 10 lakh from the recipients and gave Rs 2 lakh to the donors in exchange for a kidney, they added.

According to the complaint filed by Gurugram Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Pawan Chaudhary, the raid was conducted at M/S Babil Palace in Sector 39 following a tip-off that a nexus of organ transplant was being run by Ansari at the guest house, said police.

When the raiding team reached the guest house, its owner Rohit disclosed that five of the guests, who were allegedly from Bangladesh, were staying there and he suspected they were the patients brought by Ansari, the police said.

During interacting with the guests, all natives of Bangladesh, it was revealed they were donors and recipients of the kidney and they were treated at a hospital in Jaipur, Dr Chaudhary said.

"The donor and the recipient do not have any blood relation. When the donors and the recipients were inquired about the no objection certificate or any permission from the authority, neither the donors nor the recipients could produce any such document.

"A donor, Shamim Mehndi Hasan, revealed that he came to know about a person through Facebook advertisement regarding earning money by selling kidney and he contacted Mohammed Murtaza Ansari... It is a violation of the transplantation of the human organs and tissues act 1994 and act of cheating", as Dr Chaudhary said in his complaint.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against Ansari and others under sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and section 19 of the Transplantation of the Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994 at the Sadar police station on Thursday, police said.
Lucknow, Apr 3 (PTI) Thirty people who were detained at Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport for allegedly smuggling gold managed to escape after one of them pretended to be sick and created chaos, officials said on Wednesday.

Custom and police officials have started searching for the accused, they said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Shashank Singh said that officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Customs Department had on Monday stopped at the airport 36 passengers who had come from Sharjah.

When the officials frisked the passengers, cigarettes worth over Rs 3 crore and cash worth Rs 23.90 lakh were seized from some of them, Singh said.

Six of these passengers told officials that they were carrying gold, he said.

On Tuesday, when the 30 remaining passengers were being questioned, one of them pretended to be ill and created chaos. Taking advantage of this, all of them fled, the officer said.

A case has been registered under relevant sections on the complaint in the matter and efforts are being made to arrest the accused, he added.
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 4 (PTI) Congress in Kerala on Thursday rejected the organisational support announced by the SDPI, the political arm of the now-banned PFI, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections but welcomed individual voters to support the UDF.

Addressing media here, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan said the Congress opposes majority and minority communalism.

"We oppose majority and minority communalism. Support offered by SDPI to UDF is being viewed under these circumstances. Each individual can vote according to their wishes. We wish that everyone votes for the UDF but in the case of organisations, this is our stand," Satheesan said.

He refused to elaborate further.

Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India, had on Monday announced its support to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, Congress leadership had said that the UDF has not reached any understanding with the SDPI.

Satheesan had then said many parties were extending support to UDF but it has not held any discussions with SDPI nor had reached any understanding.

The Lok Sabha elections in Kerala will be held on April 26.


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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Azerbaijani victims of Armenian mine terror, their family members, and relevant NGOs have released a joint statement on April 4 the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Trend reports.

The statement called on the international community to mobilize to declare "a world without mines" as the 18th Sustainable Development Goal of the UN.

According to the statement, 60 million people around the world are still at risk of landmines.

"Azerbaijan is one of the most contaminated countries as a result of Armenia's mine war. Armenia, which occupied a part of Azerbaijan's territories for many years, buried almost 1.5 million landmines there, and the area was badly polluted with various explosive weapons. We urge the international community to prosecute Armenia and assist Azerbaijan with its humanitarian demining efforts.

As a result of Armenia's mine terrorism, 3,429 Azerbaijani people, mostly civilians (358 children and youth, and 38 women), have been injured by mines since 1991 to date.

In the last month alone, three people were victims of mines in Tartar and Aghdam; two of them are young (one is 18 years old, and the other is 29 years old).

Armenia's goal is war against the peaceful population of Azerbaijan. Mines, including trap mines, found in residential houses, cemeteries, and other places in the liberated areas are clear proof of this. Even a number of mass graves were mined around. Mines have been buried for people who come to visit and try to find the remains of their natives in these places after years of longing. This is a crime against humanity.

Despite outcries, Armenia does not provide accurate information and maps about mined areas. The fakeness and unreliability of most given maps are also proven by the fact that the absolute majority of mine incidents in recent times have occurred outside of these maps. This activity does not serve peace in any way.

After the second Karabakh war in 2020, 77 percent of the people who died from mine incidents in Azerbaijan were civilians. Since November 10, 2020, 350 people have been victims of landmines in the liberated areas; 65 of them lost their lives, and 285 were injured.

Mine issue has become the biggest problem in Azerbaijan today. After 30 years of looting and destruction by Armenia, the state of Azerbaijan is carrying out large-scale restoration and construction works in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, which were freed from occupation, and is returning the former settlers to their homelands. However, the mine threat is a serious obstacle to this process and a source of danger to the lives and health of citizens.

We, as victims of mine terrorism in Armenia, family members of mine victims, and representatives of NGOs operating in this field, call on citizens to fully comply with safety rules when moving in liberated areas, not to enter non-public areas, and pay attention to all danger signs.

Today, the state of Azerbaijan carries out demining activities almost entirely at the expense of its internal resources. We call on the international community and international organizations to cooperate closely with Azerbaijan in humanitarian demining. We salute the heroes and the self-sacrificing demining, which is a very risky field but a very honorable profession in which women have recently joined their ranks!

Large mined areas in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur represent a significant threat to ecology, the environment, and agriculture. This causes ecological difficulties, the destruction of vegetation and fauna, and inefficient land usage.

We believe that Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur will eventually be proclaimed mine-free. This is a necessary condition for regional security, return, and prosperity.

We appeal to the global community to fully assist Azerbaijan in bringing this day closer and to take constant effort to proclaim the objective of a'mine-free world' as the 18th Sustainable Development objective of the UN," the statement added.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Houthi rebels in Yemen may be running through their supplies of drone swarms and anti-ship ballistic missiles as the pace of their attacks has slowed a bit, the top U.S. Air Force commander for the Middle East said Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who heads U.S. Air Forces Central, said that the persistent American retaliatory strikes on the Iran-backed militia group have certainly affected their behavior. Their pace of operations is not what it was.

The Houthis have been conducting near daily attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, launching drones and missiles from rebel-held areas of Yemen. The attacks  which are often unsuccessful but at times have struck the ships  have disrupted a crucial shipping route.

In response, the U.S. and allies have been forced to increase their military ship presence along the waterway, and on several occasions have launched wider retaliatory strikes on ammunition, weapons and other facilities. U.S. ships and fighter jets have also been routinely bombing Houthi drones and missiles that are in place and preparing to launch.

Grynkewich said its difficult to know exactly how much the Houthis weapons supplies have been eroded by the U.S. strikes, because officials didnt have a detailed intelligence assessment of their capabilities before the attacks began.

The challenge for us is understanding what the denominator was at the beginning. In other words, what did they have on hand to start with? We obviously know how much we have struck and we have assessments of how successful those strikes were. he said.  The other complicating factor is Iranian resupply.

He said the U.S. believes the Houthis had dozens of anti-ship ballistic missiles when they started, and theyve launched dozens. So understanding how much Iran is able to restock the group is key.

The Houthis have defended their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The ships theyve targeted, however, have largely had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war.

Speaking to reporters, Grynkewich said the Houthis are more independent and more difficult for Iran to control than other Tehran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. Those groups have largely paused their attacks on U.S. forces at based in Iraq and Syria since early February, when the U.S. launched a massive retaliatory assault against the groups and sites connected to Irans Revolutionary Guard.

U.S. officials have said they believe pressure from Iran was part of the reason for the pause. But Grynkewich said the Houthis are not quite as responsive to Iranian direction.

He said that even if Iran tried to crack down on the Houthis or cut off weapons or other supplies, it would take time for that to have an effect.

(AP)
A new in-depth survey conducted by the Pew Institute has shed light on the growing perception of discrimination against Jews and Muslims in the United States, particularly in the context of the Israel-Hamas war. The poll found a significant increase in the number of respondents who believe there is a lot of discrimination against Jews, from 20% in 2021 to 40% today. Similarly, the number of respondents who believe there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims rose from 39% to 44%.

The survey also found that Jewish-American respondents are particularly aware of discrimination against their own community, with 72% answering that there is a lot of discrimination against Jews and 94% answering that there is either a lot or some discrimination. Moreover, 89% of Jewish respondents believe that there has been an increase in discrimination since the start of the war.

Despite this increased perception of discrimination, most Jewish respondents maintained their allegiance to liberal values and solidarity with other minority groups. 57% of American Jews polled also said there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims, 52% against Black people, and 27% against Asian people.

The survey also revealed notable differences in perceptions of discrimination among different age groups, with a 29-percentage-point increase in concerns about discrimination against Jews among Americans over 65, compared to an 11% increase among those aged 18-29.

Finally, the survey found that about a quarter of both Jewish and Muslim respondents reported stopping talking to someone or unfollowing them on social media due to their opinions about the war.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
In a landmark ruling, the US District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered Iran and Syria to pay $191 million in damages for their roles in the 2018 murder of Ari Fuld, an American-Israeli killed by a Hamas terrorist. Judge Royce Lamberth held that Iran and Syria, as state sponsors of Hamas terrorism, were complicit in Fulds murder and ordered them to pay damages to his estate and surviving family members.

The stabbing that killed Mr. Fuld was a tragic event, and money cannot fully account for the harm that these defendants have inflicted, Lamberth wrote. Iran and Syria have, once again, provided material support to Hamas and thereby facilitated the savage murder of a husband, father, son, and brother to these plaintiffs.

Richard Heideman, senior counsel for the plaintiffs, stated that the ruling sends a clear message to Hamass sponsors that their support for terrorism will not be tolerated. The courts ruling today cannot erase plaintiffs pain, but it can begin the process of affording them due compensation for their loss, he said.

Fuld was a US-born Israeli who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in Gush Etzion. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, and Iran and Syrias involvement was established through evidence presented in court.

The ruling is significant as it sets a precedent for victims of terrorism to seek justice against state sponsors of terrorism. The Fulds may face challenges in collecting the damages from Iran and Syria, but Heideman noted that there are pathways to pursue what they are owed, including the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.

The case also highlights the threat of Hamas and its backers, with Heideman stating that the same legal remedies may be pursued by victims of the recent October 7 attack. Its not a military act, but its an act of defiance that is essential, he said. It wont bring lives back, but it will bring dignity to the memory of those whose lives were taken.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The IDF has bolstered its air defense array and called up reservists in preparation for a potential Iranian response to a strike in Syria earlier this week that killed several high-ranking Iranian military officials. Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate against Israel for the attack.

I wont be surprised if Iran fires directly at Israel, former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin said, citing a precedent set by a January missile strike carried out by Iran on neighboring Pakistan.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is increasing preparedness in the face of threats from across the Middle East and is expanding our operations against Hezbollah, against other bodies that threaten us.

The IDF is also preparing for the possibility of a war scenario in Lebanon, where Hezbollah-led forces have been attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis since October 8.

US officials are watching closely to see if Iran-backed proxies will attack US troops based in Iraq and Syria, but have not picked up any intelligence suggesting they will do so.

Iran faces a dilemma of wanting to respond to deter further Israeli strikes while avoiding an all-out war. Analysts believe that instead of firing directly at Israel, Iran may target Israeli interests, such as embassies or Jewish facilities abroad, or accelerate its nuclear program in response.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Israels War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz has called for early elections to be held in September, citing the need to maintain unity and renew trust in the government. Gantzs comments come as the country faces growing dissatisfaction with the continued captivity of Israelis in Gaza and questions over the war against Hamas.

We must agree on a date for elections in September, about a year from the war, Gantz said. Setting such a date will allow us to continue the military effort, while signaling to the citizens of Israel that we will soon renew their trust in us.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out elections, citing national security concerns, but Gantz believes that an agreed-upon election date would provide international legitimacy and allow for a renewed contract with leadership.

Gantzs call has been met with criticism from both the Likud party and opposition leader Yair Lapid.

At a fateful moment for the State of Israel and in the midst of a war, Benny Gantz must stop engaging in petty politics just because of the disintegration of his party, the Netanyhaus Likud said in a statement. Elections now will inevitably lead to paralysis, division, harm to the fighting in Rafah and fatal damage to the chances of a hostage deal. The government will continue until all the goals of the war are achieved, it said.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also dismissed the idea, saying, This is the time for war and victory. Not the time for politics.

On the other hand, Lapid said that he opposes elections in September because, he says, Israel cannot wait another six months until the worst, most dangerous and failed government in the countrys history goes home.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Israel Police on Wednesday filed an appeal with the District Court in Jerusalem against the release of the rioters who were arrested during the violent protest in front of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus residence on Tuesday evening  and requested that their detention be extended.

The appeal stated that the protest was reminiscent of images of violent coups in dictatorial countries  which ended with the ruler being forcibly taken to the street, slaughtered in front of everyone or beaten and removed from his position by an enraged and violent crowd.

The appeal also quoted Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar: As the Shin Bet chief said in his extraordinary statement following the protest  there is a real danger of harm to protected individuals or their security guards.

The police also said that the protesters were granted the opportunity to hold a legitimate protest without impinging their freedom of expression and protest but they chose to hold a violent disturbance against police forces and in an attempt to harm government institutions.

Ex-prime minister Ehud Barak, who just over a month ago, amid a war, urged leftists to besiege the Knesset and more than once warned that people may lose their lives in an anarchist uprising he began planning years ago, spoke at the protest.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
It was revealed for publication on Thursday that the Shin Bet, Israel Police, and IDF uncovered a terror cell planning serious terror attacks throughout Israel, including the assassination of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and the abduction of IDF soldiers.

Over the past few months, Israeli security forces arrested a large number of suspects, including seven Arab-Israelis, residents of central Israel and the Negev, and four Palestinian residents of Jenin and Tulkarem.

The suspects were planning to carry out attacks against IDF bases, including the abduction of soldiers, and secure facilities such as Ben-Gurion Airport and the Jerusalem government complex. They also were planning an attack in Kiryat Arba, which included a plan to assassinate Ben-Gvir with an RPG missile.

The terror cell had already recruited operatives for the attacks and had even prepared a plan to rent a plot of land in Rahat [an Arab-Bedouin town in southern Israel] or in the Shomron to establish a factory and build an underground complex to manufacture explosives and weapons and engage in training. One of the suspects was in contact with a Hamas terrorist in the Gaza Strip, who offered him funding to carry out attacks in Israel.

The Southern District Attorneys Office on Thursday filed serious indictments against ten of the suspects at the Beer Sheva District Court.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Lidor Levy, Hyd, who was seriously injured in the Gan Yavne stabbling attack on Sunday, succumbed to his wounds on Thursday morning at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

Levi, zl, a 34-year-old software engineer, is survived by his pregnant wife, a six-month-old daughter, his parents, and siblings.

Levi, zl, suffered severe injuries in 2009 when serving in the combat engineering corps in Gaza. Despite receiving an exemption from serving in the reserves, he attempted to join the reserves after October 7th to serve in Gaza.

Hashem Yikom Damo.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Israeli police and the Shin Bet announced Thursday that they have busted a terrorist cell planning to carry out attacks in Jerusalem. Three men from East Jerusalem, reportedly in their 20s and sworn to the Islamic State (ISIS), were arrested last month for plotting explosive and shooting attacks on a police station and Teddy Stadium.

According to the Shin Bet, two of the suspects initially planned the attacks, but were later joined by a third individual who advised them and encouraged overseas military training . The men were apprehended before they could depart the country.

This incident marks the second reported disruption of an alleged terrorist plot in Jerusalem in recent days. On Wednesday, the Shin Bet announced the arrest of three suspects, including a minor, accused of planning a stabbing attack on security guards in Silwan

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The IDF is growing increasingly concerned that Iran is planning a serious direct attack against Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Mohammad Reza Zahadi, the senior commander in the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for Lebanon and Syria, earlier this week.

Some of the possibilities include attacks by Iranian proxies in the region with cruise missiles or waves of suicide drones and even attempts by terror squads to infiltrate Israels borders, chas vchalilah or a direct ballistic missile attack from Iran.

The war cabinet is scheduled to meet on Thursday evening following the IDFs announcement earlier in the day temporarily suspending all weekend leave of combat soldiers, pilots and soldiers in air defense units. There is an especially heightened alert for Friday, which holds special Muslim significance as it is the last Friday of Ramadan, known as Quds Day [literally Jerusalem Day] in Iran.

Also, following the IDFs call-up on Wednesday to reservists serving in the IDFs air defense systems, reservists serving in military intelligence and the Home Front Command were also called up. The IDF has bolstered its air control and air defense units in the north and the Eilat area.

The municipalities of Tel Aviv and nearby cities have opened public shelters and have instructed residents to prepare emergency lighting sources in case of a power outage. The Ramat Gan municipality on Thursday published a series of instructions for residents on how to prepare for an emergency, including planning for a prolonged stay in safe rooms and stated that schools and underground parking lots have been prepared for the absorption of the population and emergency teams have been trained to respond to all areas of the city.

The neighboring municipality of Givatayim published a message to residents saying that all 18 public shelters in the city are open. Municipality officials in Bat Yam have converted underground parking lots into bomb shelters for residents who lack safe rooms in their apartments.

Yisrael HaYom reported on Thursday that the Bank of Israel instructed all banks to fill ATMS in preparation for a possible escalation in the north which could lead to Israelis stocking up on cash.

Boarding school administrators have been instructed to send students home for the weekend due to the security situation and the expected scenarios, especially in the northern region. We note that this is not a concrete warning but an increase in caution.

Also on Thursday, Israelis reported widespread widespread GPS disruptions across the country, including in the Tel Aviv area, where drivers reported that WAZE was placing them in Beirut.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. France is the first NATO member state to break the taboo by supplying equipment to Armenia, a CSTO member state, French Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Olivier Decottignies said in an interview with Armenia's Public TV, Trend reports.

"Cooperation also extends to the retraining of Armenian servicemen and military advisors by the Armenian Defense Ministry, both in Armenia and in France," he stressed.

France undermines efforts for stability and peace by enabling Armenia's vast armament and thereby encouraging militarism in the area. The flaws in this country's stance toward Azerbaijan were clear during its co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group and throughout the Second Karabakh War.

France must recognize that portraying Armenia, an occupying state, as a "peacemaker" and backing it will bring no dividends.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
During a phone call on Thursday, US President Joe Biden emphasized to Prime Minister Netanyahu the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza amidst the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which was triggered by Hamas brutal assault on October 7th.

The White House provided a statement noting Bidens insistence on the immediate ceasefire as crucial for stabilizing the situation, improving humanitarian conditions, and safeguarding innocent civilians. Biden urged the Prime Minister to authorize his negotiators to swiftly reach an agreement to bring about the release of hostages.

This conversation marks the initial contact between the two leaders following an IDF airstrike earlier this week, which tragically claimed the lives of seven aid workers associated with a World Central Kitchen convoy.

The following is the full Whitehouse statement:

President Biden spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people. President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
UK investors invested a record 7billion into equity funds in the first quarter of 2024, but shunned domestically-focused vehicles for opportunities in North America, data suggests.

Just shy of 7billion was invested into North American equity funds over the period, against 6.4billion for the past nine years combined, Calastone's latest Fund Flow Index shows.

Conversely, last month UK equity funds saw outflows increase to their highest since February 2023, meaning there has been 34 consecutive months of net selling.

North American funds across all asset classes absorbed a record 5.7billion of UK investor capital in the first quarter, which is more than three times the previous best quarter, the report suggests.

Where's your cash going? UK investors added more cash to North American equity funds since December 2023 than in the previous nine years combined, Calastone said

UK equity fund outflows came in at 823million in March, marking their worst month since February 2023, when the exodus sum reached 962million.

First quarter 2024 UK equity fund outflows reached 2.1billion, representing the fourth worst quarter for UK equity funds on Calastones record. Income funds, which are heavily weighted to the UK, also saw outflows continue.

In the latest spring budget, Jeremy Hunt announced plans for the launch of the British Isa.

The British Isa will be a new type of Isa which will allow savers to invest an additional 5,000 a year tax-free in UK assets.

The British Isa would allow people to invest a further 5,000 on top of the existing 20,000 annual allowance, but only into UK assets.

Big idea: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled plans for the British Isa in his latest spring budget

Watch that flow: Net fund flow chart comparing North American versus UK-focused equity funds

Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, said: 'Global equity markets have surged since the end of October.

'Japan, the US and Europe have led the charge, all up by more than a quarter and leaving the UK in the dust  the UKs top 100 has eked out just 8.6 per cent over the same period.

'UK equities are certainly cheap, but investors worry where the growth is going to come from to drive earnings higher.

'Add a relentless narrative of gloom about the prospects for the London stock market and its hard to persuade anyone to hold UK-focused funds.

'Meanwhile the US earnings recession is over  profits are once again on the up and that seems to be the main catalyst driving fund inflows and higher share prices.'

After North American equity funds, global equity funds were the next most popular choice for UK investors in both March and the first quarter, with inflows coming in at 1.22billion and 3.3billion respectively.

Emerging market equity funds came third in March, with inflows of 362million by UK investors. It was not a record quarter for emerging markets, but the 700million worth of inflows in the first quarter was almost three times the historic quarterly average, Calastone said.
A mega-merger between Vodafone and Three is at risk of falling apart after the competition watchdog launched an in-depth investigation into the deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will probe the 15billion tie-up over concerns it will push up prices for customers.

The decision pits Vodafone boss Margherita Della Valle against the CMAs managing director Sarah Cardell.

Last week, the regulator said the merger would reduce rivalry in the sector. The companies were given five days to respond to the findings of the first stage of the investigation. But they did not offer solutions, which has triggered the second phase of the probe.

The CMA has the power to block mergers that would harm customers.

Probe: The regulator's decision over the 15bn tie-up pits Vodafone boss Margherita Della Valle, left, against the CMA managing director Sarah Cardell, right

Three and Vodafone yesterday said the phase two investigation was an expected next step in the process. But Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said there was a considerable risk the deal will be blocked.

Della Valle became Vodafones first female chief executive early last year. She took over after Nick Read, who presided over a big slump in the FTSE 100 firms share price, was ousted in 2022.

The Italian businesswoman, who has worked for Vodafone for nearly 30 years, was tasked with turning the telecoms giants fortunes around.

Under the plan, the proposed tie-up would bring together 28m customers under a single provider, creating the biggest UK mobile phone network.

But the CMA warned last week the merger may reduce networks rivalry to win customers, removing price competition and the incentive to improve services.

In a joint statement, Vodafone UK and Three UK said: This was an expected next step in the process and is in line with the timeframe for completion.

Last week Julie Bon, CMA deputy chief economic advisor, said: Whilst Vodafone and Three have made a number of claims about how their deal is good for competition and investment, the CMA has not seen sufficient evidence to date to back these claims.

Our initial assessment of this deal has identified concerns which could lead to higher prices for customers.

These warrant an in-depth investigation unless Vodafone and Three can come forward with solutions.

The companies have insisted a deal will benefit customers as it will allow them to invest 11billion in technology. They said they are unable to compete with market leaders EE and O2.

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: The outcome from this wont be known until mid-September, and there will be little to move Vodafones share price between now and then as this is the main sentiment driver.

Vodafone shares fell 1.5 per cent.
Chinese banks are set to determine the fate of Thames Water amid warnings it will default on its debts.

Foreign lenders including the state-owned Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are among the consortium to have loaned money to the utility groups parent company Kemble Water.

Thames Water, Britains biggest water firm, is due to repay 190million to the banks by the end of April.

But the firm is at risk of missing the deadline after shareholders refused to hand over extra funds.

If the repayment date is missed, it will be up to the lenders  which also include ING and Allied Irish Bank  to extend the deadline or put Thames Water, which has 16m customers, into administration.

Debt burden: Thames Water, Britains biggest water firm, is due to repay 190m to the banks by the end of April

The banks have so far refused to extend the loan without fresh funding from Thames Waters owners.

Meanwhile, ratings agencies have cut the debt-laden companys credit rating amid a mounting cash crisis.

The water supplier has an 18billion debt pile and is facing soaring interest payments.

Fitch Ratings yesterday cut the debt of Thames Water holding company Kemble Water Finance deeper into junk territory, warning that some form of default was probable.

Meanwhile, S&P lowered its rating of the utilitys bonds and Moodys downgraded its credit rating closer to junk status.

It comes after Thames Water announced last week that its shareholders will not hand over a promised 750million. The company  which wants to hike customer bills by 40 per cent  could be nationalised if it cannot raise new funding.

Shareholders were due to hand over the first 500million instalment by the end of March.

However, the investment was dependent on industry regulator Ofwat approving the businesss turnaround plan  including a huge increase in customer bills.

Ofwat blocked the hike and refused to ease capital spending requirements and waive fines for failing to meet targets.

The utility, which provides water to households in London and the South East, risks falling into special administration if it cannot find extra funds before the end of next year.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said Chinese influence over Thames Water was concerning. Water is the most base asset of the lot, he said.

Ofwat said last week that the company must now pursue all options to seek further equity for the business to turn around the performance of the company for customers.

The regulator and the company stressed that water supply to Thames Water customers will not be affected.

Thames Water has been in the firing line over its high debt levels, poor customer service and sewerage leaks into Britains waterways.

The group was plunged into crisis when Sarah Bentley quit as chief executive in June last year as fears mounted over its financial stability.

Former British Gas executive Chris Weston was hired in December, vowing to deliver a turnaround plan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov has met with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who is on an official visit to the country, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

The meeting underscored Azerbaijan's prioritization of fostering relations with African nations.

It was highlighted that Azerbaijan collaborates with Congo within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and various other international institutions.

Additionally, it was highlighted that Azerbaijan has endeavored to provide timely and comprehensive responses to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to institutionalize the NAM and address various other areas during its tenure as chair of the NAM.

The meeting also covered potential areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Congo in trade, economics, agriculture, education, the oil industry, environmental initiatives, and other sectors. Discussions also revolved around the implementation of bilateral agreements signed during the visit.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. France is one of the main obstacles to peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia nowadays, and this country is doing its best to be involved in the processes in the South Caucasus as well as to increase its pressure on Azerbaijan, political analyst Ilyas Huseynov told Trend.

He mentioned that such actions have already been observed on the bilateral and multilateral planes in past periods.

"The claims made by the French Foreign Minister against Azerbaijan at the conference with the US Secretary of State on April 2 do not correspond to any logic. We also observe that the attacks are occurring in the information context as well. They are trying to create the impression that Azerbaijan is allegedly pursuing an aggressive policy in the region. The main goal of Azerbaijan is to use political and diplomatic means to achieve peace, stability, and security. Because these means have not been exhausted yet, there is a historical opportunity to sign a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia," the political scientist noted.

He emphasized that the French state is developing its neocolonial policy.

"It would be good if France looked back at its past and the bloody crimes committed in the territories it controlled. Presently, repressive methods are being used in France's overseas territories and in those regions where it has pursued a policy of colonization. Meanwhile, France was teaching other states a lesson in democracy. Nowadays, France is one of the main impediments to achieving peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia," Huseynov added.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. First Deputy Minister of Defense  Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijan Army, Colonel General Karim Valiyev took part in the regular meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member states held in Moscow, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense.

The meeting discussed prospects for the development of military cooperation and a number of other issues of mutual interest.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The US and the West should realize that any event in the South Caucasus depends on Azerbaijan's posture and President Ilham Aliyev's approach toward these processes, the MP of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Mahir Abbaszadeh told Trend.

"The US Secretary of State's phone call to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev unambiguously testifies to the authority of the head of state at the global level and demonstrates how serious Azerbaijan's international position is. Another issue concerns the fact that Azerbaijan demonstrated its position in connection with the EU-US-Armenia meeting on April 5. Naturally, Azerbaijan is categorically against this meeting. Azerbaijan is aware that this meeting will lead to aggravation of the situation in the South Caucasus," the MP said.

He noted that Azerbaijan has always declared its position regarding the restoration of peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

"Although Armenia has long been Russia's outpost in the region, the current Armenian government has now built serious relations with the West and with the US. Armenia's abrupt change of policy in search of new patrons and its attempt to introduce military forces from Europe and elsewhere into the region will further escalate tensions in the region. The steps taken by Armenia recently, namely the agreements that will be reached as a result of the April 5 trilateral meeting, will eventually put Armenia in a stalemate, and increase military risks in the South Caucasus, as Russia will not take an observer position on this issue. I think that in this case, we will see Armenia facing the same disaster as Ukraine and Syria," the MP concluded.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Germany is implementing demining projects in Azerbaijan, the German Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ralf Horlemann wrote on X, Trend reports.

"Germany fully supports, including within its project, the efforts of Azerbaijan and the EU on the demining process," the publication reads.

To note, the UN General Assembly declared April 4 as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action to draw attention to the danger of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on amending the law of Azerbaijan On conscription and military service and its application, the decree On amendments to the decree On approval of the Regulations on the State Service of Azerbaijan on Mobilization and Conscription for Military Service, Trend reports.

Will be updated
Tragically, so much talk of election victory hasn't changed much on increasingly violent local streets.

Slowly but surely, after an arctic freeze earlier this year that paused homicide numbers . . . The count is creeping up to the same level it has seen over the past 4 years.

Here is the first report of the DOUBLE SHOOTING scene this evening:



Homicide 27th and Van Brunt

Tonight around 9:30 PM police officers were in the area of 27th and Van Brunt when they heard a sound of shots.



Officers moved into the area where they believed the shots were coming from and located an adult male victim suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. EMS responded and declared the male deceased.



The initial responding officers located an additional adult male victim near by. He was suffering from an apparent gun shot wound. He was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.



This is being investigated as a homicide. Detectives are trying to determine what led up to the shooting.



Investigators are gathering evidence and interviewing any potential witnesses.



If anyone has any information they are asked to contact Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS hotline.



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.

##############



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

1 dead in shooting near Van Brunt Boulevard, east 27th Street in KCMO One person died in a shooting in east Kansas City, Missouri, Wednesday night, police said.

Kansas City police investigating deadly shooting at 27th, Van Brunt Kansas City police are investigating a deadly shooting at 27th and Van Brunt.
An important admission along with a statement revealing that he was taking responsibility for his action is an important step after reportedly leaving the scene.

Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt and HOPEFULLY this serves as a teachable moment for a young man with an exceptionally bright future.



Here's the latest . . .



Rice's attorney, Royce West, said during an afternoon press conference that Rice has answered every question asked to him by Dallas police, including if he was directly involved.



"Mr. Rice acknowledged that he was driving the Lamborghini, that was the question that was asked," West said. "He responded to that. That he was driving the Lamborghini."



On Wednesday, Rice apologized to those affected by a high-speed crash over the weekend in Dallas and said he takes full responsibility for my part in this matter.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City Chiefs' Rashee Rice was driving the Lamborghini in high-speed Dallas crash, lawyer says The wider receiver was behind the wheel of one of the luxury vehicles involved in a multi-vehicle collision on Saturday, his attorney told reporters.

Rashee Rice told police he was driving Lamborghini in hit-and-run car accident, lawyer says Rashee Rice told police he was driving a Lamborghini Urus during a hit-and-run that sent two people to the hospital, per his lawyer Royce West.

Developing . . .
For late night and early morning denizens we take a quick peek at pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

MSM Followup On TKC With No Return Calls

Kansas lawmakers comment on prospect of Chiefs moving Could the Chiefs move from Missouri to Kansas after Jackson County's sales tax extension failed? FOX4 spoke about the possibility with lawmakers in Topeka

Show-Me Justice Discounted?!?

He Faces Execution. His Lawyers May Have Earned Less Than $4 an Hour. Some death penalty lawyers get paid the same no matter how long they work on a case. Critics say it's a perverse incentive when a life is at stake.

Newsies Find Phone Cam Excuse

'Safe Spot Selfie Day': Do you know the safest place where you are? With severe weather season starting this is a perfect time for a "safe spot selfie day".

Lady Baller Win Streak Without Much Fanfare

KC Current defeat Angel City FC in third straight NWSL victory On Saturday, March 30, 2024, The Current won for the third straight match, taking down Angel City FC 4-2 to remain undefeated at the top of the NWSL table, Goals from midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, forward Alexa Spaanstra, and newcomer forwards Bia Zaneratto and Temwa Chawinga lifted the Current to victory at CPKC Stadium.

Bloggy Snack



Rakar Dumpling House is KC's one-stop shop for Chinese food and ... antique furniture? Leawood's Rakar Dumpling House is KC's one-stop shop for traditional Chinese food and ... antique furniture?

Diva Shares Summer Preview

Hailey Bieber poses in blue bikini... amid family feud Hailey Bieber looked confident as she was seen in new photos posted to Victoria's Secret's Instagram page .

MAGA Winning Where It Matters

Trump leads Biden in key swing states, new polls show Former President Donald Trump is leading President Biden in several key swing states, according to new polling by the Wall Street Journal. Trump is leading in six battleground states which is a major reversal from 2020 when Biden won all but one. NBC News' Garret Hake breaks down the numbers and what this means for both candidates.

Housing Suffers Skyfall

Insurance trends are deciding where Americans will live as planet heats Climate change and generations of US housing and development policy are making homes, neighborhoods, and entire municipalities riskier to insure, undermining the ability of Americans to live where they choose. The current face of this crisis is a nationwide withdrawal by the insurance industry from regions threatened by wildfires and hurricanes, particularly along the Gulf...

Tech Targeting Alleged

'The machine did it coldly': Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets Israeli intelligence sources reveal use of 'Lavender' system in Gaza war and claim permission given to kill civilians in pursuit of low-ranking militants

French Twist Amid Fighting

Ukraine war briefing: Russia warns France against deploying troops to Ukraine Russian defence minister has first phone call with French counterpart since 2022; Russian drones hit Kharkiv, killing three, says regional governor. What we know on day 771

Talker Fears Worst Case

Joe Rogan reveals nuclear weapons fear-"Terrifying" Joe Rogan is often vocal about the threat of nuclear war and during an episode of his podcast, he explained his fear.

Fear East Rumble Resonates

Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years kills 9 people, 50 missing Taiwan's biggest earthquake in at least 25 years killed nine people on Wednesday and injured more than 900, while 50 workers travelling in minibuses to a hotel in a national park were missing.

Home Team Loses Again

Spring Chill Cont'd

Windy and chilly conditions persist in the metro Conditions will be mostly clear, with lows in the low 30s overnight

And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
We talked about this a bit yesterday but it needs to be "expounded upon" by our reader community in order to drive the point home and move forward.

MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE ROYALS BILLIONAIRE OWNER JOHN SHERMAN DESERVES REBUKE FOR STADIUM TAX ELECTION FAIL!!!

Here are TOP 5 reasons . . .



- His management style is off-putting . . .

- Some readers want him to shave his 'stache . . .

- People just don't seem to trust him given his recent arrival on the local cultural scene . . .

- At his worst, his public persona kinda comes off like a cartoon villain.



- And, most importantly, his plan was intrusive, secretive and kinda sketchy . . .

Of course . . . We only share our opinion to inspire more commentary from our reader community and the public at large . . . Here another election overview and more resources . . .



"From a thorny stadium location and murky financial details to a community benefits agreement that drew criticism from workers groups and economists, the weeks leading up to the vote brought gaffe after gaffe, all in the public eye.



"Jackson County voters couldnt be convinced. With turnout higher than a typical April election and an unprecedented level of early voting, they shot the sales tax down by a 16-point margin.



The theories on what cursed the pitch to voters will pile up like Royals losses this summer, but some reasons already stick out."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

What the stadium tax defeat says about teams, their subsidies and Jackson County voters A clumsy campaign met voter skepticism on Tuesday, sending the Royals and Chiefs back to the drawing board for their stadium plans. Here are four takeaways from the election.

A closer look at options for the Royals and Chiefs after election loss Voters said they want more transparency and collaboration from the Royals and Chiefs if they decide to ask voters again for sales tax money after voters rejected a sales tax proposal Tuesday.

Where did the stadium tax question get the most and least support in Jackson County? Check out our interactive map of where the ballot measure succeeded and failed, based on data from the Jackson County Election Board.

Negotiating sales tax deal with Royals wasn't on volunteer's '2024 bingo card' It's been a day since voters rejected Question 1, a sales tax the Royals would've used to help fund a ballpark in the Crossroads District in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City fans claim power back by rejecting Chiefs and Royals stadium tax Voters in Kansas City overwhelmingly said no to a sales tax that would have funded $1.5 billion for Chiefs and Royals stadium projects.

Businesses in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood disappointed in failed stadium sales tax Business owners in KCMO's Westside neighborhood were pushing for a "yes" vote on Question 1, a sales tax that would've helped fund stadium projects for the Chiefs and Royals.

Taxpayers refuse to pay new stadium expenses for billionaire sports owners Jackson County, Missouri, voted to not extend a sales tax to finance stadiums for private companies.

Business threatened by stadium construction opens day after stadiums sales tax failed Wednesday afternoon was the grand opening of Green Dirt Farm's new location in Kansas City's Crossroads District.

Developing . . .
Here's a sordid tale of ALLEGED antics of station house misdeeds and suspicions about cowtown firefighter professionalism or lack thereof . . . Check-it:



"Officers located a victim who said she had just returned to work after recovering from surgery for several months. When she went to an area where she had stored personal and professional gear, she encountered the smell of urine.

"When police went to move the items and place them in a bag, the victim discovered a liquid she believed to be urine.

"The victim estimated the damage to the items to be nearly $3,000 to replace.

"Police performed a DNA analysis on the items, which included a stereo/CD player, CDs, books and a wakeboard. The return came back to an offender previously in the Missouri criminal justice system, identified as . . . A KCFD Firefighter. "

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Prosecutors charge KCFD firefighter with urinating on co-worker's gear Platte County prosecutors announced charges against a Kansas City, Missouri, firefighter for allegedly urinating on a co-worker's gear.
Europalco, the largest provider of solutions for events and shows in Southern Europe, has announced major investments in three dynamic Portuguese companies -- Rise, NEW Audiovisuals and AV Tech.

These strategic acquisitions demonstrate Europalco's dedication to offering broader and stronger services to its clientele, expanding both its size and geographic coverage, and strengthening its position in the market.

Founded in 2012 by experienced professionals in the audiovisual sector, Rise quickly became a reference option for companies looking for innovation in their events. With offices in the Algarve and Lisbon, Rise specialises in exceeding clients' expectations through tailor-made solutions in projection, sound, lighting, video, IT and networks, stages and scenography. Its creative approach includes 3D venue mapping and technical visits, ensuring seamless visualisation of events for clients, with operations expanding across Europe, including Spain and Italy.

Opportunities for growth

The synergy between Europalco and Rise holds the promise of ample opportunities for growth and innovation. With aligned values and a shared focus on excellence, both companies are poised to revolutionise the events landscape, setting new benchmarks for success.

NEW Audiovisuals, established in 2017, specialises in the rental of audiovisual systems and technical support for events. With a dedicated team that knows the needs of the market, NEW Audiovisuals aims to energise the sector through innovative technologies and excellent service.

AVTECH, founded in 2016, is an audiovisual engineering company that designs and implements integrated solutions for various venues, including auditoriums, hotels and commercial spaces. With a team that has 15 years' experience in the sector, AVTECH excels in projects of all scales, from small assemblies to large-scale installations.

Filinto Francisco, CEO of Rise, expresses his enthusiasm for the agreement: "We are delighted to embark on this transformative journey with Europalco. Together, we anticipate unprecedented growth and value creation in the events industry.

Commitment to innovation

Joao Cardoso, CEO of NEW Audiovisuais and AV Tech, said: "We are very happy to partner with Europalco on this transformational journey. Together, we share a commitment to innovation and excellence, and we are confident that our collaboration will redefine the standards of our industry."

Pedro Magalhaes, CEO of Europalco, underlines the importance of these partnerships, stating: "Our teaming with Rise, NEW Audiovisuais and AV Tech allows us to enhance our service offering and geographic presence, ensuring that we continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers with excellence and innovation.

Furthermore, Europalco's negotiations for the acquisition of two additional companies in 2024 signify its unwavering dedication to expanding its presence in key regions of Portugal and diversifying its portfolio to offer a full range of event-related services.--TradeArabia News Service
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on amending the "List of officials entitled to receive a service passport", Trend reports.

According to the decree, in paragraph 4.5 of the List of officials entitled to receive an official passport the words adviser (assistant) to the chief, heads of the main directorate, directorate (department, division) and their deputies are replaced with the words chief of staff and his deputy , heads of the main directorate, directorate (department, division) and their deputies in the Services apparatus, adviser and assistant to the head of the Service.
The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the Daughters of Penelope (DOP), and the Maids of Athena (MOA) gathered to commemorate the 203rd Anniversary of Greek Independence with a special Greek Flag Raising Ceremony at San Jose City Hall Plaza on March 25.

Hosted by Councilmember Pam Foley of District 9, the event included His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, DOP Grand Governor Zone IV Linda Belba, DOP District 21 Governor Alicia Frangos, and AHEPA District 21 Governor Chris Frangos.

In his address, Metropolitan Gerasimos reflected on the significance of the event, stating: We stand here today, prepared to raise high the flag of the United States, a country founded on democracy which was given to us by the ancient Greeks, and also honor the people of Greece by saluting their majestic blue and white flag. As we gather in unity to honor the bravery of our forefathers in their fight for independence, let us also call to mind the many struggles for freedom that still exist in our world. We must be vigilant in prayer for peace, for safekeeping, and for the protection of Gods beautiful creation that surrounds us. We all need to do our part, and like when a single pebble is thrown into the water, the ripples that are created spread far and wide. Thus it should be for us as we seek to live in a world of harmony and unity.

Read more at thenationalherald.com

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Teeth

By Dallas Hunt

Nightwood Editions, 112 pages, $19.95

this world is too much for you, the enormity of it  how/can anything be this enormous? writes Cree poet Dallas Hunt in "Teeth," its sharp lines, and soft corners, easily cutting into and probing the depths  of grief and yearning, identity and injustice. The questioning is exact and forthright, pushing all of us to do the work, to learn the truth, and not assume  anything (about being Cree, about histories we dont know and understand). and i wont tell you about/the first peoples there/ but i do encourage/you to look it up, because/how informative would it be/to look up the communities/we plunder and/pummel, Hunt writes in San Solomon. With a gentle fluidity, Hunts work feels like a graceful yet crisp walk through the woods, each movement a conscious step forward.

A blueprint for survival

By Kim Trainor

Guernica Editions, 118 pages, $21.95

The early poems in this collection from seasoned poet Kim Trainor lure you in with their lush journeys through natural landscapes, with love of the earth, climate despair, and sexual desire all converging on the page in beautiful prose poems. Tell me. Where do we go from here?/Score me with desire lines  write words for songs that have none/in the wrists blue margins, sparse language of the tundra. You want to stay there, luxuriating and feeling soothed, but, like the massive interruption humans have created on the planet, you cant: the form of the book forks partway through, with more intensely scientific poems emerging, coupled with Trainors notebook entries, detailing COVID-19 news with cataclysmic (but not surprising) climate change updates. This book is indeed "A blueprint for survival" (the title pulling from an influential 1972 text in "The Ecologist") and one we should all attempt to absorb.

Blood Belies

By Ellen Chang-Richardson

Buckrider Books (Wolsak & Wynn), 136 pages, $22

A debut collection from Ellen Chang-Richardson, "Blood Belies" is daring in its expansiveness. The poems ask, and create space, for contemplation, questioning, frustration, and ultimately awareness, examining systemic and institutional racism (the polite/hypocrisy/of Canada) and personal and familial trajectories. They weave together stories of their fathers deep traumas leaving Cambodia, and acclimation to a new country, with their own physicality (filaments flit/past my right eye/is it fruit fly or is it/brain/injury), encounters with injustice, the climate crisis, and the cityscape and its possibilities. The poems are terrific in their untethered-ness, using experimental forms, supple rhythm, and fervid language play  whizz-whirr of insects/at worst tilted by staccato pops/we scratch surface until wounds burst/your touch is cold against my socks  to unwind the mind.

Sorry About the Fire

By Colleen Coco Collins

Biblioasis, 64 pages, $19.95

The poems in this slim volume, the first from artist and songwriter Colleen Coco Collins, feel richly off-kilter, exciting as they bound from earth and the material and felt treasures and on through the infinite. Solitary vertebrates as/seen through slits./Allometries again:/stutters, rifts./(The chassis is unchanged/but the genesis drifts). It seems appropriate that they should be read aloud atop a balcony, dramatized for full effect (Shakespeare clearly one of many influences). Its a delight to read rhyme  site of the body//site of the blow/site of the stuttering peripheral flow  and not be turned off. Instead it creates a shaking, a fluttering, followed by jolts, revolts and manouevres into directions unknown.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. A delegation headed by Deputy Prosecutor General of Turkmenistan Rahim Ataev has arrived on a working visit to Azerbaijan at the invitation of Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev to participate in a five-party meeting of representatives of the Prosecutor Generals' Offices of the Caspian littoral states, Trend reports.

Greeting the guest at the bilateral meeting at the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, Kamran Aliyev noted that Turkmenistan is a close and friendly country for Azerbaijan, emphasizing that due to the efforts of the heads of the two states, interstate relations in all spheres, including between the Prosecutor General's Offices of the two countries, are developing at a high level.

The Prosecutor General noted that Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan cooperate within international and regional organizations, especially within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States, based on common heritage.

Aliyev informed that under the leadership of the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the territorial integrity of the country was fully restored, and with the attention and care of President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, intensive restoration and construction works are being carried out in Karabakh.

Expressing gratitude for the warm reception, Rahim Ataev emphasized that the prosecution bodies of Turkmenistan have always attached great importance to cooperation with the prosecution bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan and stressed the importance of further strengthening this cooperation in the future.

The Deputy Prosecutor General underlined the success of the five-sided meeting of representatives of the Prosecutor General's Offices of the Caspian littoral states and expressed confidence that productive mutual activities would be continued in the future.

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan Gurbanmammet Elyasov also attended the meeting.

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The father of the man killed by police on Friday says his son needed help for a mental illne
Finland is allocating the 23rd aid package to Ukraine worth 188 million, which includes air defense systems and large-caliber ammunition.

This was stated by President of Finland Alexander Stubb at a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, a Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"Now we have the 23rd aid package for Ukraine. The government made the decision last week. It's 188 million, and it's mostly military aid, but there are also air defense systems and large-caliber artillery ammunition, among other things. This is our support for Ukraine," Stubb said.

The President noted that Finland has provided a total of 2 billion in military aid and 700,000 in humanitarian aid, which means that it allocates 900 million a year.

"This support will certainly continue. We Finns are not very talkative; we prefer to get things done. This 23rd package helps to meet the short-term needs that the Ukrainian President told us about," Stubb emphasized.

As reported earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of Finland Alexander Stubb signed a bilateral security agreement between the two countries for 10 years.
Latvia will soon send drones worth one million euros to Ukraine.

Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Silina announced this at a joint press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal, Ukrinform reports, citing the press service of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers.

Work is underway with Latvian entrepreneurs to develop the drone manufacturing industry in Latvia. Currently, shipments of Latvian-manufactured drones are being prepared for delivery to Ukraine in the near future. The first drones worth one million euros will soon be delivered to Ukraine," said Silina.

She added that as part of the Drone Coalition, Latvia plans to earmark at least EUR 10 million for the purchase of drones in 2024.

Silina also spoke about a new military assistance package to Ukraine scheduled for April. According to her, it is planned to transfer material and technical means, including weapons and ammunition worth EUR 22.2 million from the reserve of the National Armed Forces. The package will include ammunition, explosives and weapons, as well as transport, personal and auxiliary equipment. In addition, Latvia will allocate about EUR 10 million for the purchase of artillery ammunition for Ukraine under the Czech initiative.

The Prime Minister of Latvia and the Prime Minister of Ukraine also agreed on a joint statement highlighting the continued close political, economic and financial cooperation.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with parliamentarians from the Saeima of Latvia, led by Speaker Daiga Mierina, to discuss to discuss the ban on imports of agricultural products from Russia.

During a meeting with members of the Latvian Saeima, led by Speaker Daiga Mierina, thanked for their support for Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO, Prime Minister Shmyhal said in a post on Telegram.

Shmyhal said that it is very important for Ukraine to start negotiations on joining the European Union by the end of June 2024.

"I highly appreciated Latvia's initiative to launch support programmes for joint ventures. This will bring our cooperation to a new level," the Prime Minister emphasized.

According to him, during the meeting, the politicians discussed Russia's constant shelling of Ukrainian territories, specifically Kharkiv.

Shmyhal emphasized that Ukraine and international partners must jointly counter Russian terrorism and thanked Latvia for its reliable support in this matter.

"The Latvian parliament also understands the importance of banning imports of agricultural products from Russia. We expect similar decisions at the EU level," Shmyhal added.

As Ukrinform previously reported, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics to discuss strengthening security cooperation between the two countries.

Photo: Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met with the head of the Turkish Parliament's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Azerbaijani ministry told Trend.

The meeting centered on the issues arising from the allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, as well as the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period.

Minister Bayramov expressed gratitude to Cavusoglu for his contribution to the strong friendly relations existing between the two countries.

It was highlighted that there is potential for enhanced mutual support and cooperation within regional and international organizations, notably within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). Specifically, emphasis was placed on President Ilham Aliyev's commitment to the OTS, affirming that efforts to advance this organization will persist in the future.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke about the concern over the unilateral stances taken by several countries outside the region, which pose a threat to regional peace and the delicate normalization process amidst discussions on the post-conflict period, the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, ongoing negotiations, and current challenges.

Cavusoglu expressed contentment with his visit, acknowledging the fruitful exchange of views and warm hospitality. He affirmed his commitment to further develop cooperation between the two countries, both during his tenure as Turkiye's Foreign Minister and in his current position.

It was reiterated that Turkiye consistently supports Azerbaijan's just position and concerns regarding threats to regional peace and security.

Additionally, during the meeting, both sides engaged in discussions on other issues of mutual interest.

19:16

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met with the head of the Turkish Parliament's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Trend reports, referring to the minister's X account.

"Today, I had a productive meeting with Mevlut Cavusoglu, the head of the Turkish Grand National Assembly delegation to the NATO PA. We extensively discussed bolstering allied relations, enhancing multilateral cooperation between our nations, and the regional situation in the post-conflict period," the post reads.

To note, Cavusoglu arrived in Azerbaijan on April 3. A number of bilateral meetings are planned as part of the visit.

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Several NATO member states may announce the supply of air defense systems to Ukraine within the next few days.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this in Brussels on Thursday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Allies understand the urgency and therefore I welcome the announcements from several Allies to provide more ammunition and more types of systems to Ukraine. They also understand the urgency of stepping up when it comes to air defense in particular. And therefore Allies will now go back and look into their inventories, look into if there are any ways they can provide more systems, in particular Patriots. But also, of course, ensure that the systems which are already there have the ammunition but also the spare parts so they can all function as they should. So this is partly a question of systems, batteries, but also very much a question of delivering the interceptors to the systems which are already there [in Ukraine]," Stoltenberg said.

"Several Allies promised that they should make a new effort to find what they can to look into what more they can deliver. I will not be specific before they are able to conclude, but I just listed several Allies that have just over the last days made new announcements of additional support," he added.

He recalled that a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council was held this morning. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba updated Allies on Ukraine's short and long-term needs and on the progress of its reforms.

According to Stoltenberg, the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine remains serious. Ukraine needs more air defenses, more ammunition, and more aid.

Stoltenberg welcomed that Allies continue to step up with major new announcements. In recent days, this includes nearly EUR 600 million from Germany for the Czech-led artillery initiative, as well as 10,000 drones from the United Kingdom, more missiles and armored vehicles from France, and just yesterday, a new package of aid from Finland worth EUR 188 million.

"But we need to do even more. And we need to put our support on an even firmer and more enduring basis. Yesterday, Allies agreed to move forward with planning for a greater NATO role in coordinating necessary security assistance and training for Ukraine. This work will continue in the weeks ahead," he said.

Photo: Europa Press
On April 3, 2024, Russian troops deliberately targeted a solar power plant situated behind the lines in Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrenergo National Power Company Board Chairman Volodymyr Kudrytskyi during a press conference at Media Center Ukraine - Ukrinform.

Yesterday, the enemy attack targeted a solar power plant. As far as I remember, it is the first deliberate attack on a renewable energy facility, Kudrytskyi told.

In his words, this is not about attacks launched within the area of hostilities but a deliberate strike on a plant situated behind the lines.

Kudrytskyi mentioned that, in view of the warm weather, the consumption rate of electricity was reducing. Thus, there is no acute shortage in Ukraines energy system. At the same time, there is a seasonal rise in the production of electricity by solar power plants.

A reminder that Russia intensified attacks on Ukraines energy objects in contrast to last year.
Ukrainian city leaders will be joined by their foreign counterparts, innovators, and policymakers at the International Mayors Summit 2024 in Danceni, Moldova, on April 11.

Thats according to the the events organizer, Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), funded by USAID, Ukrinform reports.

Themed "Building Resilient Communities Through Innovation and Cooperation," this year's Summit is dedicated to lead the way to the future of urban development and resilience.

Over 200 heads of cities and communities will take part in the event, including mayors of Chortkiv, Kopychyntsi, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, and also potential investors and representatives from the European Union.

Mayors will deliver pitches to share the experience in innovative strategies employed to address local challenges through creativity and collaboration with diverse approaches to urban problem-solving.

The forum will host a number of panels. One will discuss innovations and digital transformation in local government, and how digitalization is redefining the governance landscape, improving citizen services, and enhancing administrative efficiency.

Another panel entitled EU Membership  Regional Efforts will tell about the transformative impact of EU programs and funds on urban modernization and development, featuring insights from an EU representative on existing and upcoming initiatives.

The Rebuild Ukraine Panel will offer a critical discussion on the ongoing efforts and future plans for rebuilding Ukrainian cities, focusing on resilience, infrastructure, and community restoration.

Session on the Power of Partnership Award will mark successful city partnerships through presentations by mayor pairs, highlighting their collaborative projects and the potential for new alliances.

The Innovative Solutions Exhibition will showcase technologies designed to enhance city living - from online voting systems to virtual reality in urban planning, as well as tools that promise a more sustainable, convenient, and vibrant environment.

The Summit, endorsed by Moldovan President Maia Sandu, serves as a unique chance for mayors, government officials, experts from across the EU, businesses working with local authorities and beyond to come together and envision the future of urban development, resilience, and innovation.

The participation of representatives from diverse countries, including Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden, Italy and France, ensures a global platform for exchanging innovative solutions and success stories in urban development.

Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) is a pioneering $285 million fund in Ukraine and Moldova, investing over $188 million in 136 companies and unlocking $2.4 billion over 29 years. Thanks to the special format of the summit, participants gain new knowledge and create strong connections with outstanding leaders in urban transformation from around the world, participate in a session of rapid business meetings, have the opportunity to test various solutions for cities, sign memorandums and initiate projects.
The Latvian government is ready to continue supporting Ukraine at the level of 0.25% of GDP annually.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said this in a post on Facebook, according to Ukrinform/

He thanked Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina for the assistance provided to Ukraine.

According to him, they held fruitful and constructive talks on a wide range of issues, including military-technical assistance and the organization of joint production of ammunition.

"We expect to launch joint production of drones for the needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the near future. We also agreed that this year another number of Ukrainian soldiers will be able to undergo medical treatment in Latvia," noted Shmyhal.

They also discussed sanctions and the confiscation of Russian assets. Shmyhal thanked for the support of the Ukrainian Presidents Peace Formula and participation in the coalition to establish a Special Tribunal for Russias top political leadership.

Latvia plays a crucial role in guiding our country towards the EU and NATO. This support is especially valuable now, when the negotiating framework for the first intergovernmental conference, which will launch pre-accession negotiations between Ukraine and the EU, is being approved, Shmyhal said.

As reported by Ukrinform, Denys Shmyhal at a meeting with Evika Silina discussed the provision of military and technical assistance to Ukraine.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics to discuss strengthening security cooperation between the two countries.

"I had a meaningful meeting in Riga with President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics," Shmyhal said in a post on Telegram.

The politicians discussed support for Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO, developing new solutions to confiscate Russias assets in Latvia, and strengthening the security cooperation between the two countries.

Shmyhal emphasized that Latvia has already provided Ukraine with weapons, ammunition and military goods worth more than EUR 376 million, making it one of the leaders in terms of GDP.

"We discussed joint plans with the Government of Latvia to expand cooperation and launch joint defense production," the Prime Minister said.

He also expressed gratitude for the comprehensive support provided by Latvia and the Latvian people to Ukraine.

As reported by Ukrinform, Denys Shmyhal at a meeting with Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Silina discussed the provision of military and technical assistance to Ukraine.
Ukraine and Lithuania have set out key points and agreed on a schedule for the preparation of a bilateral security agreement.

That's according to Ukraine's Presidential Office, Ukrinform reports.

The negotiations were held in furtherance of the G7 Declaration of Support for Ukraine of July 12, 2023.

The Ukrainian side was represented by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva.

"Our document will contain a number of provisions that we have managed to enshrine in such agreements for the first time," Zhovkva said.

The Ukrainian delegation is chaired by Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, whereas the Lithuanian is led by First Deputy Chancellor of the Government of Lithuania Rolandas Krisciunas.

On July 12, 2023, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, G7 leaders agreed on a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine that envisages work on specific bilateral long-term commitments and agreements in the field of security.

President Volodymyr Zelensky in January approved the composition of the delegation for negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine. According to his decree, Yermak was appointed head of the delegation.

So far, Ukraine has signed bilateral security agreements with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, and Finland.

Photo: Ukraine's Presidential Office
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Armenia sets up strongholds of offensive nature on the conditional border with Azerbaijan, Trend reports, referring to video footage spread on social networks.

According to the information, the footage shows Armenians building offensive strongholds, creating long-term firing points in various directions, and building fortifications.

In recent days, Armenia has increased its provocative activity on the border, encouraged by the promises of the West, and has begun to accumulate troops along the border.

On March 31, 2024, the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry released official information on the recent concentration of units and combat vehicles of the Armenian armed forces in various directions of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conditional border.

"The concentration of troops by Armenia along the conditional border and the establishment of offensive strongholds, the setup of long-term firing points in various directions, and the construction of fortifications were detected through special technical means available in the armament of the Azerbaijan Army Units and under visual observation.

Artillery systems, other assault weapons, and the heavy firepower of the Armenian armed forces are being deployed in newly built reinforced concrete fortifications.

We once again declare that the Azerbaijan Army will resolutely suppress any possible provocation of Armenia, and the Armenian military-political leadership and its protectors will bear whole responsibility for the aggravation of the situation," the statement reads.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The first consular consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and Montenegro were held yesterday in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, the Azerbaijani ministry told Trend.

The Azerbaijani delegation was headed by Emil Safarov, the head of the Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Montenegro delegation was headed by Ivana ukanovic, Acting General Director of the General Directorate for Consular Affairs of Montenegro.

Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia Kamil Khasiyev also took part in the meeting.

At the consular consultations, Azerbaijan and Montenegro discussed the current status and prospects of cooperation in the consular sphere, including the potential signing of new bilateral agreements.

The delegations emphasized the importance of continuing cooperation in the direction of facilitating the mutual visits of citizens of the two countries.

As part of the consultations, the sides exchanged views on the development of cooperation between the authorized state bodies of the two countries in the spheres of internal affairs, migration, labor, and social protection.

The parties agreed to hold the next stage of the consultations in Baku in 2025.

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In the wake of numerous battles over the boundaries of free expression, particularly regarding issues of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, a controversy has erupted at Barnard College and Columbia University.

Departmental Statements Under Scrutiny

The removal of the "Statement of Palestinian Solidarity" from the website of Barnard's department of women, gender, and sexuality studies (DWGSS) sparked criticism from faculty members and civil liberties groups. Critics argue that such actions threaten academic freedom.

Janet Jakobsen, a former director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women, expressed concern about the prevailing conditions of academic freedom at Barnard. She questioned whether the college genuinely upholds principles of free expression.

Moreover, the New York Civil Liberties Union denounced Barnard's actions as incompatible with a sound understanding of academic freedom. In response to the removal of the statement, the DWGSS took matters into their own hands by launching a separate website, showcasing their solidarity with Palestine.

READ ALSO : College Leaders Impose Stricter Measures on Student Protests

Debate over Academic Freedom and Institutional Neutrality

The removal of the statement has ignited a broader debate over the role of academic departments in endorsing political viewpoints. Some argue for institutional neutrality, asserting that departments should refrain from promoting specific ideological agendas to safeguard academic freedom.

However, proponents of the DWGSS statement defend their right to express solidarity with Palestine. They contend that academic departments have a responsibility to engage in political discourse and advocate for social justice issues.

Yet, the controversy underscores the need for clarity regarding academic freedom and institutional neutrality. While individual faculty members should have the liberty to express their views, departments must uphold principles of neutrality to ensure a diverse and inclusive academic environment.

Institutional neutrality would prevent the marginalization of dissenting voices and promote intellectual diversity within academic institutions. It would also signal to students that their perspectives are valued, regardless of their political beliefs.

The debate over academic freedom extends beyond Barnard and Columbia to universities nationwide. Recent controversies have highlighted the challenges of navigating free expression in an increasingly polarized society.

Ultimately, the resolution of this dispute will shape the future of academic discourse and the preservation of free expression on college campuses. It is imperative for institutions to uphold principles of academic freedom while fostering an environment conducive to intellectual exchange and debate.

The controversy at Barnard and Columbia reflects broader tensions surrounding free speech and academic freedom. As universities grapple with these issues, they must strike a balance between promoting diverse perspectives and maintaining institutional neutrality. Only then can they fulfill their mission of fostering critical inquiry and intellectual growth.
Colleges and universities across the United States are gearing up to implement a diverse array of projects thanks to the $1.3 billion allocated by Congress in the latest federal budget.

Diverse Range of Projects Funded

From cutting-edge scientific equipment acquisitions to launching community-centric academic programs, the funded projects cover a broad spectrum of initiatives aimed at enhancing research, education, and outreach efforts.

One notable project receiving funding is the acquisition of a $2.4 million Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer by the University of Nevada at Reno. This investment underscores the critical role of advanced technology in advancing scientific research and innovation on college campuses.

Moreover, a significant portion of the allocated funds will support healthcare programs, scientific research endeavors, and infrastructure development projects at university hospitals and research institutions nationwide. These investments are poised to drive advancements in healthcare delivery, disease prevention, and medical breakthroughs.

John McAllister, a managing partner at McAllister & Quinn, emphasized the transformative impact of earmarks on college campuses. He highlighted the diverse range of projects that colleges can undertake, including technology upgrades, research initiatives, academic program expansions, and economic development ventures.

READ ALSO : Higher Education Funding Remains Flat in Federal Spending Bill for 2023-24 Fiscal Year

Controversy Surrounding Earmarking

While earmarks offer colleges an alternative funding source, their resurgence in Congress has sparked controversy and debate within the higher education community.

Critics argue that earmarks undermine transparency and accountability in federal spending, potentially leading to favoritism and inefficiencies in project selection. Concerns have also been raised about the impact of earmarking on research quality and academic autonomy, as some fear that projects may be prioritized based on political considerations rather than merit.

However, proponents of earmarking defend its value in addressing critical needs and filling resource gaps at colleges and universities. They argue that earmarks provide institutions with the flexibility to pursue strategic investments aligned with their mission and priorities, particularly in areas where traditional funding sources fall short.

Despite the ongoing debate, earmarks have emerged as a vital source of funding for higher education institutions, enabling them to undertake essential projects and initiatives that advance their academic, research, and service missions.

Impact on Higher Education

The distribution of earmarks reflects disparities in resource allocation across the higher education landscape, with some states and institutions benefiting more than others.

States such as Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, and South Carolina have emerged as top beneficiaries of earmarked funds, securing significant investments for projects ranging from healthcare facilities to workforce development initiatives.

Moreover, earmarks play a crucial role in supporting prison education programs, facilitating access to higher education for incarcerated individuals. Colleges receiving earmarks for these programs aim to expand educational opportunities within correctional facilities, contributing to broader efforts in criminal justice reform and rehabilitation.

In summary, while earmarks offer colleges valuable financial support for diverse projects, their resurgence underscores ongoing debates surrounding transparency, accountability, and equity in federal funding allocation for higher education. As colleges move forward with implementing earmarked projects, they must remain vigilant in ensuring that funds are used effectively and responsibly to advance their institutional missions and serve the needs of their communities.
The U.S. Education Department faces a new hurdle in FAFSA processing as calculation errors arising from tax data inconsistencies disrupt financial aid distribution.

Scope and Impact of the Issue

Approximately five percent of previously processed Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) require reprocessingover 320,000 formsdue to discrepancies in tax data transferred from the IRS. These errors resulted in miscalculations of student aid indexes, impacting financial aid eligibility.

Most affected ISIRs relate to FAFSA applicants eligible for education tax credits, constituting around 15% of all applicants. While five percent of these ISIRs show reduced aid eligibility due to errors, the remaining ten percent reflect inflated aid amounts, necessitating colleges to rectify discrepancies.

In response, the Education Department announced its intention to promptly reprocess the affected ISIRs. However, financial aid administrators express concerns over the cumulative impact of processing errors on already delayed timelines.

Challenges and Concerns

Justin Draeger, President of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, acknowledges the department's swift acknowledgment of errors but highlights the growing frustration among administrators. The accumulation of processing errors further compounds delays in financial aid offers, affecting students and families awaiting crucial funding decisions.

Continued disruptions undermine efforts to streamline FAFSA processing, exacerbating existing challenges in higher education access and affordability. As colleges navigate the reprocessing of ISIRs and address discrepancies, concerns persist regarding the efficiency and reliability of the financial aid distribution system.

Financial aid administrators are tasked with managing the fallout from processing errors, including communicating with affected students, revising aid offers, and ensuring equitable treatment in resolving discrepancies. However, the additional workload strains resources and prolongs the already arduous financial aid process.

READ ALSO : Tax Data Issues Threaten FAFSA Processing Again, Delaying Aid Delivery

Path Forward and Mitigation Strategies

Moving forward, stakeholders emphasize the urgency of implementing robust measures to prevent future errors and minimize disruptions in FAFSA processing. Timely resolution of issues is essential to uphold the integrity of financial aid distribution and ensure equitable access to higher education opportunities for all students.

The Education Department must enhance coordination with the IRS to ensure seamless data exchange and accuracy in processing tax information. Additionally, investing in technology upgrades and staff training can strengthen the capacity of financial aid offices to detect and address processing errors effectively.

Furthermore, transparent communication with students and families is crucial to mitigate the impact of processing delays and instill confidence in the financial aid system. Providing timely updates on the status of reprocessed ISIRs and offering support to affected individuals can help alleviate concerns and streamline the resolution process.

By prioritizing accountability, collaboration, and innovation, policymakers and higher education institutions can work together to address systemic challenges in FAFSA processing and enhance the accessibility and affordability of higher education for all students.
University of Arizona President Robert Robbins has announced his decision to step down from his position by the end of his current contract, which expires in June 2026. Robbins, who has been at the helm of the university since 2017, stated that while it was a difficult decision, he believes it is in the best interest of the institution.

In his statement, Robbins expressed gratitude for the opportunity to lead the University of Arizona during a period of significant transformation in higher education. He also highlighted the challenges the university has faced amidst a rapidly changing landscape and acknowledged the need for fresh leadership to address these issues effectively.

Robbins emphasized his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition to his successor, stating that if the Arizona Board of Regents identifies a replacement before his contract ends, he will step aside earlier to facilitate the transition process.

Financial Challenges and Criticisms

The announcement of Robbins' departure comes amid mounting financial challenges for the University of Arizona, with reports indicating a budget shortfall of $177 million. These financial difficulties have prompted concerns among stakeholders and led to criticism from Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

Governor Hobbs recently voiced her dissatisfaction with Robbins' handling of the university's finances, stating that she is exploring all available options in response to the budgetary issues. Her comments followed an investigative report by the Arizona Republic, which raised questions about the university's acquisition of Ashford University and Robbins' involvement in hiring a lobbyist to influence regulatory decisions related to the acquisition.

The report revealed that the University of Arizona rebranded Ashford University as the University of Arizona Global Campus and hired a lobbyist to advocate for reducing fines against Ashford for misleading students. While Robbins defended the university's actions, the controversy surrounding the acquisition has cast a shadow over his tenure as president.

Legacy and Leadership Transition

Despite the challenges faced during his tenure, Robbins leaves behind a legacy of accomplishments aimed at advancing the University of Arizona's academic mission and research endeavors. Under his leadership, the university has made significant strides in areas such as student success, diversity, and innovation in higher education.

As the University of Arizona prepares for a leadership transition, stakeholders are eager to see a thorough and transparent selection process for Robbins' successor. The Arizona Board of Regents will play a pivotal role in identifying a new president capable of addressing the university's financial challenges and rebuilding trust with the community.

Moving forward, the University of Arizona remains committed to its mission of excellence in teaching, research, and service. The incoming president will inherit the responsibility of navigating the university through uncertain economic times while upholding its commitment to academic excellence and student success.
Somebody has to do it, why not me? - The story of a female prison officer from Kazakhstan

Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEEW) is integral to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gender equality and womens empowerment is not only a specific SDG (SDG 5) but also considered a cross-cutting theme that affects the achievement of all other SDGs.

Gender-sensitive techniques should be adopted in recruitment, retention and promotion of women in prison administrations to correct any gender imbalance. Women staff should be recruited and trained to work with women violent extremist prisoners and design and deliver gender-appropriate interventions. Prison officers working with violent extremist prisoners require a good combination of personal qualities and technical skills. They need personal qualities that enable them to deal with all prisoners, including the difficult, dangerous and manipulative, in an even-handed, humane and just manner.

Bibigul Munaitpasova, the Head of the Department for Educational and Socio-psychological work with prisoners of the Prison Committee of Kazakhstan, has come a long way in her career: she worked as a psychologist, as a squad head, an inspector for labor organization in prison, as a chief specialist on educational and socio-psychological work among prisoners within the department. Then she took up a senior position in a female prison as a Deputy Head of the prison, responsible for educational and socio-psychological work. Now she is a Head of Department in the headquarters of the Prison Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan. Her work experience across various levels of the prison system gives her an in-depth knowledge of all the practical aspects of the prison system, and this helps her to cope successfully with her duties.

Bibigul believes that a person should follow their passions.

"I enjoy my work and feel the responsibility and need to pass on my experience to younger prison officers," she says.

"My family is always supportive but at the beginning my relatives scared to let me go to work in prison system, but I said: "Somebody has to do it, why not me?" Now they understand and respect my choice. This is a great credit to my father, who always said: "Daughter, life is yours, do what gives you pleasure." This is the maxim I follow. One of the challenges of work for me is safety, for example, when working in a maximum-security prison facility (although the issue of life safety remains just as important for men). In addition, there haven't been many female predecessors in our system, and every day you feel almost like a pioneer," says Bibigul.

"When the pandemic began, I worked in a female prison, and the enormous burden of responsibility for the health of those serving their sentences was the greatest challenge. It was encouraging to see that every prison officer felt this responsibility and that sanitary and hygienic norms were carefully followed, which helped to prevent illness and protect prisoners. One of the advantages of the innovations that came with the pandemic is that online working, using video conferencing, is intensively entering our daily activities. The online format means there is no need for passes and other formalities, it has become much easier to organize various kinds of educational activities within the prison facilities. Today we are increasingly using video lectures for inmates," Bibigul says.

32% female prison officers successfully completed the UNODC-supported e-learning course on the Nelson Mandela Rules

In 2020, the Kostanay Police Academy of Kazakhstan rolled out the UNODC-supported e-learning course on the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners  the Nelson Mandela Rules among prison and probation officers. To date, over 2,500 (32% female) prison officers have taken the e-learning course to better understand and apply the Nelson Mandela Rules as the universally acknowledged minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners. Dissemination of the e-learning course on the Nelson Mandela Rules was combined with in-service trainings on specific topics, such as the management of violent extremist prisoners and prevention of radicalization to violence in prisons.

"This is very useful work, which helps to share knowledge on the international standards for the treatment of prisoners, improve conditions in institutions and motivates prison officers to improve their skills," says Bibigul.

"I can note many positive changes in my practice as a result of the online courses on the Nelson Mandela Rules at the legislative level. Respectful treatment with prisoners on a mandatory basis; introduction of the electronic system of appeals/requests; reduction of time spent in solitary confinement; implementation of cell-based confinement practice in eight penitentiary institutions of Kazakhstan, as well as increasing the norms of individual living space for prisoners. Most importantly, this course was relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic, when traditional forms of training for prison staff were rapidly transferred to an online format."

Among her short-term plans, Bibigul mentions the development of new prison-based rehabilitation programmes for violent extremist prisoners, based on new individual risks and needs assessment system. The results of the risks and needs assessment will allow prison officers to develop an individualized sentence planning, taking into account needs for further rehabilitation and social reintegration upon release.

"Within the framework of the joint EU - UN Programme, activities are underway to improve the professional qualifications of three categories of prison staff, i.e. prison psychologists, prison security officers, and PVE inspectors. They are that very "main nexus" in working with violent extremist prisoners.

Eight pilot prisons with different security levels (reaching out over 100 violent extremist prisoners), ranging from low to maximum security levels, including a female prison are participating in the joint EU-UN programme. The prison officers in the pilot prison facilities passed the necessary in-service training, and working conditions were improved by renovating and equipping prison facilities. But it is also important to note that vocational training classes for prisoners in the pilot prison facilities were also supplied with equipment to create employment opportunities for prisoners, both within the prison and after release," says Bibigul.

"Even though I am comparatively new in my current position, I would like to note that the work carried out by the joint EU-UN joint programme on management of violent extremist prisoners and prevention of radicalization to violence in prisons, especially related to prison staff training, is already yielding results, for which I express great gratitude on behalf of the Prison Committee to UN organizations and donors."

Capacity development of prison officers in Kazakhstan is supported within the framework of the joint EU-UN global initiative Supporting the Management of Violent Extremist Prisoners and the Prevention of Radicalization to Violence in Prisons implemented by the UNODC, UNCCT in partnership with the UNCTED with financial support from the European Union, the UNOCT and the Government of Netherlands.

This story in Russian language

For further information, please contact:



Sultan Khudaibergenov



Communication and External Relations Officer



UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia



Email: sultan.khudaibergenov[at]un.org
April 4 2024

Barratt Homes and EMA have filed plans with Aberdeenshire Council to build 194 detached homes, 48 of which will be affordable, at Potterton on the northern outskirts of Aberdeen.

Adhering to the approved masterplan the 50m proposal features properties ranging from one to five bedrooms close to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

David Palmer, managing director at Barratt Homes North Scotland, said: These proposals follow the approval by Aberdeenshire Council of our masterplan framework for the land to the north-east of Potterton in June last year.

Through close collaboration with the community, partners, our ecologists and the Barratt design teams, weve created a plan for an attractive and thoughtful development which residents can be proud to call home.

Potterton lies just a few miles from our main office, and we have a lot of links with the village. We are excited about this opportunity to be involved in the sustainable growth of the community and to provide new high quality energy-efficient homes.

Native planting open spaces and footpaths to the existing village will also be created.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The implementation of projects in the region will primarily benefit Armenia, extending beyond just the Zangezur corridor, the head of the Turkish parliament delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Trend reports.

Cavusoglu made the statement during his visit to the Alley of Martyrs and the Baku Turkish Martyrs' Memorial.

"Armenia is in dire need of such regional projects. We've taken substantial strides with different corridors and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad. However, the Zangezur corridor will be advantageous for all parties involved, with Turkiye backing its implementation," he emphasized.

Head of the Turkish Parliament's delegation to the NATO PA, former Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Azerbaijan last day. A number of bilateral meetings are scheduled during the visit.
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Pakistan and Azerbaijan on Thursday aimed to boost economic and trade ties by seeking finalization of a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase the bilateral trade between both of countries

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Pakistan and Azerbaijan on Thursday aimed to boost economic and trade ties by seeking finalization of a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase the bilateral trade between both of countries.

Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan, and Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Khazar Farhadov, met here on Thursday to discuss bolstering economic cooperation between the two nations, according to a press release issued here.

Minister Jam Kamal reiterated Pakistan's commitment to strengthening commercial and economic ties, emphasizing the importance of people-to-people contact and the signing of the PTA to bolster trade volume and create new business opportunities.

Highlighting the historical, political, and economic ties shared by Pakistan and Azerbaijan, Minister Jam Kamal emphasized the need to extend bilateral trade to its true potential by addressing trade-related issues.

Minister Jam Kamal noted the increase in exports to Azerbaijan from US$ 9.70 million in 2021-22 to US$ 12.08 million in 2022-23, alongside a significant rise in imports primarily due to fertilizers.

Both countries are actively negotiating a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), with finalized drafts.

Ambassador Khazar Farhadov stressed the importance of high-level visits to enhance bilateral relations and elevate trilateral cooperation with Turkiye.

He emphasized the resumption of LNG supplies from Azerbaijan to Pakistan and the potential for mutual investments, particularly in energy and IT sectors.

Notably, Azerbaijan exempted Pakistani rice from import customs duty until December 2027, signaling a gesture of goodwill.
PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur Thursday held an important meeting of the Irrigation Department and assigned them new tasks to introduce a modern irrigation system in the province.

He directed the construction of artificial dams to make maximum barren land cultivable in the province besides introducing a system of cluster tube wells for artificial dams. The research process in the agriculture sector should be made productive, the CM said.

Making the province self-sufficient in agricultural commodities is the top priority of the provincial government, the Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur told the meeting. For this purpose, he said important projects should be worked on to irrigate millions of acres of barren land in the southern districts.

He said that the CRBC Lift Canal Project is a very important project in this regard and realistic data regarding small dams and command areas should be compiled in the province. He told the meeting that development projects capable of generating maximum revenue in the irrigation sector should be given first priority.

He said that steps should be taken to provide maximum facilities to the farmers and the GIS system should be used for the collection of water and other related taxes. The Chief Minister said that punishments and fines should be increased to prevent water theft and other illegal activities.

The irrigation department should pay special attention to digitize all its affairs, Ali Amin Gandapur told the meeting. Set timelines in contracts for all works department development projects and penalties should be imposed on the contractor in case of non-progress on the contracts within the stipulated timelines, the CM warned.

He said that irrigation departments should ensure judicious use of their available resources.

In the meeting, the chief minister was also briefed on the departments administrative affairs, development projects, reforms and future plans.

APP/ijz/1500
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Thursday strongly condemning the recent attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria said the Israeli "adventurism" in the region was unacceptable.

The Foreign Office spokesperson, in her weekly press briefing, said Israel must be held accountable for its irresponsible attack for its unabated atrocities in Gaza as well as the attack in an already volatile region.

"Israel's adventurism in the region reached a new height with its irresponsible attack this week on the consular section of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria. The attack is a violation of the UN Charter, international law, and Conventions," she remarked.

She said over the past six months, Israeli authorities had been involved in cross and systematic violations of international humanitarian law by repeatedly targeting UNRWA, humanitarian relief organisations, and unarmed civilians.

"The deliberate targeting of a humanitarian convoy bringing food to people facing famine is a serious violation of international humanitarian law."

Condemning the Israeli attacks on humanitarian convoys in Gaza, she called for international accountability of Israel for its crimes besides seeking "immediate, full, and effective" implementation of the provisional orders of the International Court of Justice.

"We also reiterate our call for the full and expeditious implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2728, adopted on 25th of March, leading to a permanent ceasefire, lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance, and ensuring protection of civilians throughout the Gaza Strip," the spokesperson commented.

She also condemned Thursday's terrorist attack in the cities of Rask and Chabahar in Irans southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and conveyed Pakistan's solidarity with the government and people of Iran.

Mentioning the ongoing visit of a high-level Iranian delegation to Pakistan, she said both countries had "re-engaged and re-established" all communication channels as existed before January this year.

She said the government and the people of Pakistan looked forward to the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to their country.

Discussing the terrorist attack in Bisham that had killed Chinese nationals, the spokesperson said the law enforcement agencies were probing the incident and reiterated Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorism.

She said the projects being executed by Chinese firms faced a temporary freeze following the terrorist attack but the work was resumed following the security audit.

To a question, she reiterated that Pakistan would not hold any talks with TTP and expected the Afghan interim government to take action against the militant groups or forces involved in carrying out terror activities inside Pakistan.

About the repatriation of illegal foreign nationals, the spokesperson said the policy was not Afghan-specific rather it featured the repatriation of all foreign nationals illegally staying in Pakistan. She said a limited number of foreigners were deported as the majority had returned voluntarily.

She said there was no change in Pakistan's one-visa policy as all foreigners coming to Pakistan should carry valid passports and visas.

She told the media that Secretary of National Security Division Waqar Ahmed visited Astana, Kazakhstan to attend the 19th meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which discussed the strategic security issues affecting the SCO member states with a focus on terrorism, extremism, human and transnational crimes.

In his statement, the Secretary warned about the far-reaching impacts of the terrorist acts in the region and called for a comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of terrorism.

The spokesperson informed the media that Pakistan's deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN Ambassador Usman Jadoon was elected as Chairman of the UN Disarmament Commission for the year 2024.

She expressed the hope that during his chairmanship, Ambassador Jadoon would uphold the principles multilateralism, dialogue, and collaboration, and promote the mandate of the UN Disarmament Commission to consider and make recommendations on various problems in the field of disarmament.

Highlighting the situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the spokesperson said the Indian occupation authorities had once again decided to deny permission to hold Eid ul-Fitr prayers at Eidgah in Srinagar.

She said the chief cleric of Srinagar's historic Jamia Mosque and senior Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq had been placed under house detention to prevent him from attending an event held in the memory of his ancestors.

"We urge the Indian authorities to respect the right of the people of IIIOJK to peaceful assembly and to freely practice their religion. Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic, and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions," she remarked.
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Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) A French court will deliver its verdict Thursday for four men charged in connection with the 2018 Christmas market attack in France's eastern city of Strasbourg, which left five people dead and 11 wounded.

The accused face charges ranging from "terrorism" to helping supply weapons to the gunman, Cherif Chekatt, who was killed by police in 2018 after a 48-hour manhunt.

He had opened fire on revellers at one of France's most popular Christmas markets while shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest" in Arabic).

The trial, which began in late February in Paris, is the latest legal process over the jihadist attacks that have hit France since 2015, with most of those in the dock accused of complicity because the actual perpetrators were often killed while carrying out their attacks.

On Tuesday, France's anti-terror prosecution unit (PNAT) demanded 30 years in prison for Chekatt's former cellmate, Audrey Mondjehi, on terrorism charges.

According to the prosecution, Mondjehi, 42, played a key role in helping Chekatt -- a convicted criminal on a list of possible extremist security risks -- obtain the 19th-century revolver used in the attack.

He was involved every step of the way, the prosecution said, detailing an "intense" relationship with Chekatt in the months leading up to the attack.

"I think deeply and feel a lot of sadness for all the victims. All my life I will regret what happened," Mondjehi, 42, told the court Thursday in his final statement ahead of the verdict.

"I would never have thought that he would have done that, I never thought that he was radicalised," he said.

While his defence team acknowledges Mondjehi is "not innocent," having admitted to helping supply the weapon, they claim he was unaware of Chekatt's plans.

This is a mitigating factor, his lawyer Michael Wacquez argued, saying he should not be convicted of terrorism but only "criminal conspiracy".

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Strasbourg attack, and a video of Chekatt pledging allegiance to the group was found at his home.

But the interior minister at the time, Christophe Castaner, said the jihadist group was taking credit for an attack it had not planned.

The three other defendants -- all in their 30s -- face criminal conspiracy charges for their role in supplying weapons.

A fifth defendant, in his mid-80s, may be tried at a later date after his case was dismissed for health reasons.

The prosecution requested five years in prison for both Christian H., accused of selling weapons ultimately not used in the attack, and Frederic B., who is on trial for passing the gun seller's number to Mondjehi.

The prosecution recommended acquitting the fourth defendant, Stephane B, conceding that he was not present when his brother put Mondjehi and Chekatt in contact with the gun seller.

His lawyer, Amandine Sbidian, said the courts must "recognise they made a mistake".

Among recent terror trials, a Paris court in December 2022 convicted all eight suspects over a 2016 truck attack in the Mediterranean city of Nice, which left 86 dead, including the driver.

In the highest-profile case, 20 defendants were convicted in June 2022 over their roles in the November 2015 attack in the French capital, when 130 people were killed.
Kuwait City, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Kuwait heads to the polls for the third time in three years on Thursday, just months into the reign of a new emir but with no end in sight to the major oil exporter's chronic political paralysis.

Elections have become an almost annual occurrence for the OPEC member country, which has seven percent of the world's oil reserves and Gulf's most powerful elected assembly.

However, the parliament's clashes with the royal-appointed cabinet have led to a cycle of stalemate, dissolution and fresh elections, delaying much-needed reforms.

Almost 835,000 voters are eligible to choose 50 MPs from 200 candidates, including just 13 women, in only the second Kuwaiti election held during the holy month of Ramadan.

Polls opened from 12:00 pm and will close at 12:00 am (0900-2100 GMT). results are expected on Friday, followed by the resignation of the first government appointed by the new emir.

"Kuwait's participatory politics is unmatched in the region," Kuwait University political analyst Bader al-Saif told AFP.

"Its system requires a reset and urgently needed reforms no doubt, but the fact that it enables its citizens to express themselves and have a say in governance makes it different."

Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, formerly the world's oldest crown prince, came to power aged 83 in December after the death of his half-brother and predecessor, Sheikh Nawaf.

He took aim at both the cabinet and parliament in his inaugural speech to the assembly, and then announced an era of "reform" as he picked Kuwait's first foreign minister from outside the ruling family.

Thursday's polls -- the third since 2022, and the fourth in five years -- are unusual as the incoming parliament will be tasked with approving Sheikh Mesal's choice of crown prince, Kuwait's future emir.

Kuwaitis, a minority in the mainly expatriate population of more than 4.3 million, blame the political standoffs for a sluggish economy, aging infrastructure and an inability to enact reforms.
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Kyiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Russian air attacks killed five people in northeast Ukraine on Thursday, authorities said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of cynically targeting civilians.

Russian forces have stepped up their aerial bombardment of Ukraine recently, cutting power to thousands of people as they repeatedly strike the country's electricity grid.

Drone attacks on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv killed four people, including three rescuers responding to an earlier strike, Mayor Igor Terekhov said.

The killed rescuers were aged 52, 32 and 41, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, while police identified the fourth victim as a 68-year-old woman.

At least 12 others were injured, Klymenko said.

"A despicable and cynical attack, when the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists attacked again," Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Russia launched a total of 20 Iranian-designed "Shahed" drones at the northeastern region overnight, of which 11 were shot down, Ukraine's air force said.

Moscow also targeted power infrastructure, killing a 47-year-old energy worker in an aerial bomb attack in the neighbouring Sumy region, the energy ministry said.

Ukrainian officials have urged the country's allies to supply more anti-aircraft defence systems, in particular modern US-made Patriot systems.

US military aid to Ukraine has been drying up, with a $60 billion funding package currently stalled in Congress and frontline troops facing critical shortages.

Russia also accused Ukraine of striking civilians in occupied areas.

Ukrainian drones killed two people in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's southern Kherson region, Moscow-installed official Andrey Alekseyenko said.

Russian state media said Ukrainian shelling killed a man in the eastern Donetsk region.
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Uganda's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a bid to scrap a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world

Kampala, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2024) Uganda's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a bid to scrap a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world.

The legislation was adopted in May last year, triggering outrage among the LGBTQ community, rights campaigners, the United Nations and Western powers.

It imposes penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations and contains provisions that make "aggravated homosexuality" an offence punishable by death.

"We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement," said Richard Buteera, Uganda's deputy chief justice and head of the court.

The decision was greeted with dismay by opponents of the law, although the five-judge bench did strike out several provisions it said were inconsistent with international rights conventions.

These included provisions making it an offence to fail to report homosexual acts, to lease premises for such acts, or if someone engaging in homosexual sex led the other to contract a terminal illness.

But "the upshot of our judgement is that this petition substantially fails", Buteera said.

In Geneva, UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk again urged Uganda to repeal the law "in its entirety, together with other discriminatory legislation".

"Criminalisation of and application of the death penalty to consensual same-sex relations are contrary to Uganda's international human rights treaty obligations," Turk said.

The United States, which has restricted visas for Ugandan officials and removed Kampala from a key trade pact after the law, warned it will keep taking "appropriate measures".

The law is "part of the broader degradation of human rights protections that puts all in Uganda at risk and damages the country's reputation", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Amnesty International said it was "shocking" that the court missed the opportunity to revoke the "callous" law.

The ruling comes amid an anti-gay crackdown by governments in East Africa, which has a history of repression against gay people, often encouraged by conservative Muslims and Christians.

- 'Public bigotry' -

Nicholas Opiyo, the lawyer representing the petitioners, said they would study the ruling before deciding on the next steps.

"You come to court expecting it to rise above public bigotry and sentiments. To that extent, it is a letdown," he posted on X.

The petition was brought by two law professors, legislators from the ruling party and human rights activists.

They had charged that the legislation violated fundamental rights guaranteed by Uganda's constitution, including freedom from discrimination and the right to privacy.

The petitioners also said it contravened Uganda's commitments under international human rights law, including the United Nations convention against torture.

MP Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, a member of President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement who spoke out against the law, told AFP it "should have been struck down long ago".

Oryem Nyeko, researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the decision was "disappointing and a missed opportunity in regard to safeguarding fundamental human rights".

- 'Negative foreign influence' -

But Uganda's parliament speaker Anita Among hailed the ruling.

"The ruling proves that all arms of government, the parliament, the executive and the judiciary have one common goal of protecting Uganda against negative foreign influence," she told AFP.

Museveni's government has struck a defiant tone, with officials accusing the West of trying to pressure Africa into accepting homosexuality.

And the measures have enjoyed broad support in the conservative, predominantly Christian country.

Last August, a 20-year-old man became the first Ugandan to be charged with "aggravated homosexuality" under the contested law.

The World Bank announced in August it was suspending new loans to Uganda over the law.

In December, Ugandan state minister for foreign affairs Henry Okello Oryem accused the West of seeking "to coerce us into accepting same-sex relationships using aid and loans".

In 2014, international donors had slashed aid to Uganda after Museveni approved a bill that sought to impose life imprisonment for homosexual relations, which was later overturned.

Last month, a Ugandan court dismissed an appeal by a gay rights group seeking government registration, ruling that it aimed to promote "unlawful" activities.
Small-business owners will have an opportunity to feel better about using artificial intelligence (AI) for their businesses during a webinar that demystifies the technology Thursday, April 11.

Alex Gunter will present a Wyoming Community Navigator Program (CNP) webinar titled AI Demystified: A Practical Beginners Guide 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.

During the webinar, small-business owners will learn how AI can be a valuable ally for their enterprises. Attendees will discover the strengths and limitations of this rapidly evolving technology and will learn how it differs from other digital technologies. The webinar also will explore real-world examples of how AI can make business operations more efficient and innovative.

Gunter, a UW MBA graduate and a digital transformation consultant, is passionate about helping organizations leverage AI for enhanced productivity. With a rich learning background from top-tier seminars at Stanford and Harvard universities, Gunter envisions a future in which AI and robotics significantly elevate our quality of life. He is owner of Unicorn Cat Consulting.

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.
Small-business owners will have the opportunity to learn how to get a first small-business loan request approved Thursday, April 11.

Audie Cunningham will lead a Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network workshop titled The Inside Scoop: How to Get Your First Small Business Loan Request Approved from 11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at the Wind River Development Fund conference room, located at 3 Ethete Road in Fort Washakie. To register, go here. Registration is free, and attendees are encouraged to bring a lunch.

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers business expertise to help Wyoming residents think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by the University of Wyoming with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The workshop, co-sponsored by the U.S. SBA, will take small-business owners behind the scenes and share what it will take to get ready to approach a lender and how small-business owners can increase their chances of getting an approval for their loan requests.

The workshop will cover preparing a personal financial statement; checking your credit score; what your safety net looks like if it takes longer than you expect to achieve the revenues youre projecting; and a hands-on case study to review cash flow projections for a loan application to better understand how to evaluate a potential deal from a lenders perspective.

Cunningham is the Wyoming SBDC Network regional director for Fremont and Teton counties. She enjoys seeing community members bring their business ideas to life and is eager to help them grow and thrive. As an entrepreneur, Cunningham has worked in art licensing and graphic design and has 10 years of experience in customer service and marketing through her work in public libraries. Her education and experience have given her knowledge in print and digital marketing, creating marketing plans, social media marketing and business planning.

Workshop attendees also will have an opportunity to schedule a free one-on-one appointment with Cunningham to assist with developing cash flow projections for their businesses to help explain to their lenders where the money to repay their loans will come from -- in a format they will understand.

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.
The 12-month grace period for student loan borrowers ended on September 30. The "on-ramp" period helped borrowers who are struggling to make payments avoid the risk of defaulting and hurting their credit score.

"The end of the on-ramp period means the beginning of the potentially harsh consequences for student loan borrowers who are not able to make payments," said Persis Yu, Deputy Executive Director at the Student Borrower Protection Center.

Around 43 million Americans have student loan debt, amounting to $1.5 trillion. Around eight million of those borrowers had enrolled in the SAVE plan, the newest income-driven repayment plan that extended the eligibility for borrowers to have affordable monthly student loan payments. However, this plan is currently on hold due to legal challenges.

With the on-ramp period and a separate program known as Fresh Start ending and the SAVE plan on hold, student loan borrowers who are struggling to afford their monthly payments have fewer options, added Yu. Student loan borrowers who haven't been able to afford their monthly payments must consider their options to avoid going into default.

If you have student loans, here's what you need to know.

What was the on-ramp period?

The Education Department implemented this grace period to ease the borrower's transition to make payments after a three-year payment pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this year-long period, borrowers were encouraged to keep making payments since interest continued to accumulate.

"Normally, loans will default if you fall about nine months behind on making payments, but during this on-ramp period, missed payments would not move people towards defaulting and then being subject to forced collections. However, if you missed payments, you still be falling behind ultimately on repaying your loans," said Abby Shaforth, director of National Consumer Law Center's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project.

Since this grace period has ended, student loan borrowers who don't make payments will go delinquent or, if their loans are not paid for nine months, go into default.

Borrowers who cannot afford to make payments can apply for deferment or forbearance, which pause payments, though interest continues to accrue.

What happens if I don't make my payments?

Borrowers who can't or don't pay risk delinquency and eventually default. That can badly hurt your credit rating and make you ineligible for additional aid and government benefits.

If a borrower missed one month's payment, they will start receiving email notifications, said Shaforth. Once the loan hasn't been paid for three months, loan servicers notify to the credit reporting agencies that the loan is delinquent, affecting your credit history. Once the borrower hasn't paid the loan for nine months, the loan goes into default.

If you're struggling to pay, advisers first encourage you to check if you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan, which determines your payments by looking at your expenses. You can see whether you qualify by visiting the Federal Student Aid website. If you've worked for a government agency or a non-profit organization, you could also be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which forgives student debt after 10 years.

What happens when a loan goes into default?

When you fall behind on a loan by 270 days  roughly nine months  the loan appears on your credit report as being in default.

Once a loan is in default, it goes into collections. This means the government can garnish wages (without a court order) to go towards paying back the loan, intercept tax refunds, and seize portions of Social Security checks and other benefit payments.

What if I can't pay?

If your budget doesn't allow you to resume payments, it's important to know how to navigate the possibility of default and delinquency on a student loan. Both can hurt your credit rating, which would make you ineligible for additional aid.

If you're in a short-term financial bind, you may qualify for deferment or forbearance  allowing you to temporarily suspend payment.

To determine whether deferment or forbearance are good options for you, you can contact your loan servicer. One thing to note: interest still accrues during deferment or forbearance. Both can also impact potential loan forgiveness options. Depending on the conditions of your deferment or forbearance, it may make sense to continue paying the interest during the payment suspension.

What is an income-driven repayment plan?

The U.S. Education Department offers several plans for repaying federal student loans. Under the standard plan, borrowers are charged a fixed monthly amount that ensures all their debt will be repaid after 10 years. But if borrowers have difficulty paying that amount, they can enroll in one of several plans that offer lower monthly payments based on income and family size. Those are known as income-driven repayment plans.

Income-driven options have been offered for years and generally cap monthly payments at 10% of a borrower's discretionary income. If a borrower's earnings are low enough, their bill is reduced to $0. And after 20 or 25 years, any remaining debt gets erased.

What is the latest with the SAVE program?

In August, the Supreme Court kept on hold the SAVE plan, the income-driven repayment plan that would have lowered payments for millions of borrowers, while lawsuits make their way through lower courts.

Eight million borrowers who had already enrolled in the SAVE plan don't have to pay their monthly student loan bills until the court case is resolved. Debt that already had been forgiven under the plan was unaffected.

The next court hearing about this case will be held on October 15.

What happened with the Fresh Start program?

The Fresh Start program, which gave benefits to borrowers who were delinquent prior to the pandemic payment pause, also closed on September 30. During this limited program, student loan borrowers who were in default prior to the pandemic were given the opportunity to remove their loans from default, allowing them to enroll in income-driven payment plans, or apply for deferment, among other benefits.
Transcript:

The Inside Story: Flashpoint Israel-Hamas

Episode 138  April 4, 2024

Show Open:

Unidentified Narrator:

This week on The Inside Story:

Deeply depressing... tragic... and a disregard for international humanitarian law. World leaders condemn Israel following a deadly strike on a humanitarian aid convoy.

This, as we approach the six-month anniversary of Hamass deadly October seven attacks in Israel.

Plus, the Pope prays for peace in his Easter Sunday address from Vatican City.

And we tell you what you need to know this week about the upcoming u.s. presidential election.

Now... on The Inside Story: Flashpoint Israel Hamas.

The Inside Story:

STEVE KARESH, VOA Correspondent:

Welcome to the inside story, Im Steve Karesh.

A top U.S. official says the White House is outraged at news of an Israeli airstrike into Gaza that killed seven workers from the aid group World Central Kitchen, causing the group to halt their life-saving operations there.

In the wake of the deadly strike, the Biden Administration is calling on Israel to do more to protect civilians and humanitarian aid workers, alike. VOAs Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.

CINDY SAINE, VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent:

The World Central Kitchen aid group, which feeds people suffering from natural disasters and wars all over the world, says it has suspended its operations in Gaza after an Israeli air strike hit its convoy as it was leaving a warehouse loaded with food. A U.S. official confirmed a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen was among the seven killed.

The armored cars carrying food were clearly branded with the WCK logo.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had this reaction during Tuesdays press briefing.

John Kirby, White House National Security Council Spokesman:

We were outraged to learn of an IDF strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World Central Kitchen, which has been relentless in working to get food to those who are hungry in Gaza, and quite frankly, around the world.

CINDY SAINE:

World Central Kitchen is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden reached out to him and told him he is heartbroken.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary:

The president conveyed he is grieving with the entire World Central Kitchen family. The president felt it was important to recognize the tremendous contribution World Center Kitchen has made to the people in Gaza and people around the world. The president conveyed he will make clear to Israel that humanitarian aid workers must be protected.

CINDY SAINE:

Standing with his French counterpart on a visit to Paris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the aid workers heroes who must be protected.

Antony Blinken, Secretary of State:

We've spoken directly to the Israeli government about this particular incident, we've urged a swift, a thorough, an impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened.

CINDY SAINE:

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne was more direct in condemning the Israeli strike.

Stephane Sejourne, French Foreign Minister:

Allow me first of all to express our strong condemnation of the Israeli strike that led to the deaths of seven humanitarian workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen. Protecting humanitarian workers is a moral and legal imperative that everyone must adhere to.

CINDY SAINE:

Israels military on Tuesday expressed sincere sorrow over the airstrike and said officials are reviewing the incident at the highest levels.

Relief experts says Palestinian children and families are on the brink of starvation, and this attack will only make things worse. The war between Israel and Hamas began last October 7, when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people. Israel has responded with a lethal offensive, killing some 33,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

Cindy Saine, VOA News, the State Department.

STEVE KARESH:

World Central Kitchen founder Chef Jose Andres responded to the strike in a New York Times opinion piece published Wednesday saying quote:

Israelisknow that food is not a weapon of war. Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, its time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

End quote.

Israeli leader Bejamin Netanyahu called the incident a tragic accident.

The U.S.-based NGO, World Central Kitchen, was established by chef Jose Andres and his wife Patricia following a 2010 earthquake in Haiti to deliver food to survivors. The group has since expanded to provide meals and support to survivors of other disasters as well as refugees and those affected by conflict. And where there is conflict or disaster, youre likely to find WCK, as its served tens of millions of meals in Ukraine alone since Russias 2022 invasion.

According to World Central Kitchen, they served more than 43-million meals in Gaza in addition to nearly two-million ((1.75M)) in Israel to those displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire from the north.

In Gaza, the group was part of the first shipment of aid via sea corridor from Cyprus in March. A second maritime shipment carrying some 332 tons of food was due to arrive in Gaza, but Andres says World Central Kitchen is pausing operations in the Palestinian enclave.

Citizens from Australia, Britain, Gaza, and Poland were among the seven killed in the Israeli strike.

On Easter Sunday from Vatican City in Rome, Pope Francis delivered comments to a packed crowd urging peace and calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Pope Francis:

I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured in Gaza and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on October seventh and for an immediate cease-fire in the Strip. Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil populationand above all the children.

STEVE KARESH:

While much of the world is focused on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The conflict also causes disagreement inside Israel. VOA correspondent Linda Gradstein leads our team on the ground there, and she takes us inside the story with a closer look in this series of reports.



Israel has ordered a number of Palestinian hospital patients back to the Gaza Strip after theyre done with treatment in East Jerusalem medical facilities. As Linda Gradstein reports from East Jerusalem, the order has sparked an outcry from human rights groups and the Israeli Supreme Court has put their transfer on hold.

LINDA GRADSTEIN, VOA correspondent Linda Gradstein:

In East Jerusalems Makassed Hospital, a room is filled with Palestinian women from Gaza and their newborn babies. One of the mothers got pregnant with twins after seven years of infertility. But when she developed complications late in the pregnancy, her Gazan doctors sent her here for emergency treatment just before the war started in October. Today her twins, Abdullah and Odeih, are healthy five-month-olds.

Hanan Sharadan, Patient from Gaza:

Id like to go back to my home and if it was safe to go back to northern Gaza, Id be the first one to go back. But its not safe. My husband said its better if I dont come back even though he hasnt seen his children yet. And where can I get diapers and formula? Im very scared.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

These women and their babies, as well as eleven cancer patients in nearby Augusta Victoria Hospital, had already packed their suitcases because they were supposed to be returned to Gaza last week by COGAT, the Israeli army unit which deals with Palestinian civilians.

But Physicians for Human Rights, along with two Israeli human rights organizations, appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, which granted a 30-day stay while COGAT explains its reasons for transferring these patients.

An Augusta Victoria cancer patient is concerned about his grandchildren in Gaza, but he is afraid it will be impossible to continue his treatment there.

Khaled Seit, Palestinian Cancer Patient:

Gaza is destroyed and its very dangerous. There is no way to get treatment there. The Red Cross is taking patients out of Gaza and Israel wants to send us back? How is that possible?

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

COGAT says it is only sending back patients who are not in need of further medical care. But Physicians for Human Rights says Israel is putting them in danger by sending them to a war zone.

Aseel Abu Ras, Physicians for Human Rights, Female:

After chemotherapy and radiotherapy even if you dont necessarily have another treatment for the next two months, your body is still weak. Your immune system is weak. And as you know, in Gaza the whole health care system is under collapse. There is no functioning hospital, doctors are overwhelmed, cancer patients are being sent abroad.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

Treatment for Palestinians at East Jerusalem and Israeli hospitals is entirely paid by the Palestinian Authority.

Dr. Fadi Atrash, the director of the Augusta Victoria Hospital, says that some of his patients have lost family members and homes during the fighting in Gaza. He hopes patients will be allowed to stay at the hospital until there is a ceasefire.

Dr. Fadi Atrash, Director, Augusta Victoria, English:

There is a catastrophe in Gaza from all the points of view. There is no food, no electricity, no water, nowhere they can live in a decent way. They will be refugees in Gaza. Refugees with cancer, in war, in a place without enough supplies.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

He says more than 750 cancer patients from Gaza had been scheduled to come for treatment in Israel since the war began. Most have gone to other Arab countries. But some are not getting treatment at all, and they dont know when or where they will find medical care.

Linda Gradstein, VOA News, East Jerusalem.

STEVE KARESH:

Meanwhile, protests in Israel continue over a law granting military exemptions to ultra-Orthodox Jews. The Israeli parliament issued legislation to make military service for them compulsory, as it is for other Israeli citizens. Most ultra-Orthodox oppose military service and threaten to topple the government if forced to serve. We go back to Linda Gradstein for more on this from Israel.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza on October 7, Israel has called up nearly 300,000 reservists. This was in addition to the regular standing army, in which almost 90% of Israeli Jewish youth serve.

In contrast, among ultra-Orthodox Jewish young men, only about 3% are drafted into the Israeli army.

This almost blanket exemption from the draft was granted to the ultra-Orthodox so they can study the Torah in religious institutions instead of doing military service, but it is now the subject of heated public debate.

Yohanan Plesner, Israel Democracy Institute:

Public opinion polls clearly demonstrate that Israelis care deeply about the issue of recruitment and are deeply worried about the exception for the ultra-Orthodox community, exemption from service. This has been the case before October 7 and now given the war situation, and the increasing burden on the serving population, this is extremely disconcerting for the majority of the population.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

The exemption policy was initiated when the State of Israel was founded over 75 years ago. Then, 400 ultra-Orthodox students received exemptions, while last year that number surged to 66,000.

Israels Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that these exemptions are discriminatory and demanded that successive governments compel the ultra-Orthodox to be drafted.

The court says the change must be made into law by the end of March.

But ultra-Orthodox parties are an essential part of Prime Minister Netanyahus hardline coalition, and they are threatening to bring down the government if their military exemptions are cancelled.

Israels Chief Sephardic Rabbi declared that if a law is passed to draft all ultra-Orthodox men into the military, the men would leave the country.

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrations against the army draft have been stormy and sometimes violent.

Israel Kaya, Ultra-Orthodox Protester:

They want us, the Orthodox people here in Israel, to go to the Israeli army. They have one intention -- they want us to be not religious. Therefore, we prefer to die, we do not mind going to prison, to die, and not go to the Israeli army.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

The ultra-Orthodox live in insular communities, completely separate from secular Israeli society. They say that going to the army could tempt many of the young men to abandon their religious way of life. But there are some voices in the ultra-Orthodox community who favor military service, as long as the army would provide strictly kosher food and keep men and women separate.

Yitzik Crombie, MeGo Center for Ultra-Orthodox Vocational Training:

Its not sustainable to have such a big community in such a small state that are not serving in the army, especially after October 7. The army needs the soldiers. So, we need to find a way how to let haredim (ultra-Orthodox) join the army and serve in the army like everyone. And from the other way to keep their identity and way of life.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

While the debate rages on whether to end the ultra-Orthodox military service exemption, Israeli lawmakers have proposed increasing military service for both regular and reserve soldiers.

This has brought renewed protests against the Netanyahu government and further raised calls for the ultra-Orthodox to share the burden.

Linda Gradstein, VOA News, Jerusalem.

STEVE KARESH:

Theres a lot to unpack in the decades-old tension between Israel and the Arab world. It is a history marked by delicate diplomacy both in and outside of the region. VOA Press Freedom correspondent Robin Guess spoke with David Makovksy. He is the Director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations at the Washington Institute. The conversation aimed to better understand the forces driving current conflicts. He joined us from his office in Washington, DC.

David Makovksy, Director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations, TheWashington Institute:

It's clear that a core position of Hamas is they want to see the northern Gaza reopened to them during this six week pause and that is where the rubber meets the road in a certain way because it's going to be this way we don't want Hamas reconstituted. So my hope is that will be some compromise that let's say women, children, elderly people can go back to Northern Gaza. No one can say that these are people that are leading you know, the reconstitution of Hamas. There's more facial recognition software, in terms of if there were Hamas people going through these blockades. But Hamas is saying no, no, no, no, we want no checkpoints. We just want everything to be status quo essentially, and that's where Israel and the United States as far as I know, think that's not realistic. So can the US come up with a compromise that would allow women children elderly in return during the six week process? I think that's that's kind of where the talks are at. So far, that is the Hamas position is will only stop if you let us reconstitute ourselves. So this is this is a problem.

STEVE KARESH:

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made good on a promise to shut down the Al-Jazeera network in Israel. This was made possible by a new law allowing government to ban foreign networks seen as threats to national security. We get more from Jerusalem.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote on X that he intends to act immediately in accordance with the new law to close what he called the terrorist channel Al Jazeera in Israel. He said Al Jazeera had acted against Israeli security, actively participated in the October 7 Hamas massacre, and had incited against Israeli soldiers.

The law was passed in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, by a margin of 71 to 10.

Erez Malul, Acting Knesset Speaker:

I announce that the bill to prevent foreign broadcasters from harming the states security, an interim order, during the Operation Iron Swords until 2024, was accepted in the second and third readings and will be entered into the law book.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

Al-Jazeera condemned Netanyahu's incitement claim as a dangerous ludicrous lie. The network, which is watched by more than 430 million people around the world, said that it holds Netanyahu responsible for the safety of its staff and offices, that it would continue what it described as its bold and professional coverage, and that it reserves the right to pursue every legal step.

Israeli media analysts said the new law is justified.

Gil Hoffman, Honest Reporting:

People around the world dont realize that Al Jazeera is state media of Qatar, and that it promotes a very hostile agenda to Israel. There have been many incorrect reports throughout the war, and they wanted to prevent further harm. There are countries around the world that have various bills that prevent enemy states from broadcasting from them during war.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

At the same time, Hoffman said that the effect of the law will be more symbolic than actual for the Netanyahu government, which is facing vehement protests from both outside and inside Israel.

Gil Hoffman, Honest Reporting:

It has a 45-day limit. And while it can be renewed, its only supposed to be used during war and Israelis hope that the war will end soon. I expect this to be something that will be used once with great fanfare. Al Jazeera will continue to broadcast from here. They dont need to broadcast from here for people around the world to get Al Jazeera reports  theyre in Gaza, theyre in Ramallah, they dont need to have an office thats next door to the Government Press Office as it is in Jerusalem.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

The US government said it was concerned by the measure.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary:

A move like this is concerning. We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critically important. The United States supports the critically important work journalists around the world do, and that includes those who are reporting on the conflict in Gaza.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

The new law comes as Qatar is trying to broker a deal for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire. Some analysts said the new law could complicate those efforts.

Linda Gradstein, VOA News, Jerusalem.

STEVE KARESH:

Despite facing threats, members of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths gathered for an interfaith dinner marking the end of the daily fast for Muslims during Ramadan, the Fast of Esther for Jews, and the New Year, or Nowruz, for those who celebrate.

From Potomac, Maryland, VOAs Nilofar Mughal has this story narrated by Bezhan Hamdrad.

BEZHAN HAMDRAD, VOA Correspondent:

Despite increased uneasiness over the Israel-Hamas conflict, more than 100 people attended the meal, organized by the American Muslim and Multifaith Womens Empowerment Council, or AMMWEC, [[AM-wek]] in collaboration with the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Anila Ali, AMMWEC President:

Our neighbors will not change. These will be Christians, Jews, Hindus. We need to keep the politics separate and see each other as humans and see how we can bridge the gap.

BEZHAN HAMDRAD:

Organizers said that several threats had been made against the Muslim-Jewish solidarity Iftar this year.

Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, Congregation Bnai Tzedek:

There is a heightened sense of tension, heightened sense of security and, in many respects, it makes what we did tonight even that much more important. It was difficult to navigate, and there are some people who chose not to come because they don't necessarily understand the importance of something like this at a time like this.

Anila Ali, AMMWEC President:

Events like these are the only way we can move forward, otherwise our communities will break down. I can't tell you how many hate messages we got, but we had to bypass all of them and take this step, but we will not back down. Similarly, we have Iftar events in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York, because interfaith is our religion.

BEZHAN HAMDRAD:

Michael Herzog, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, who attended the event, says Jews have been encountering a surge of hate and antisemitism in recent months. He recommended addressing these challenges through faith, education and the construction of bridges and thinks events like the multi-faith Iftar can send a positive message.



Michael Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to the United States:



We hope that that message resonates across the board because these are difficult days when we all experience hate, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia. This is the answer.

.

BEZHAN HAMDRAD:

For Nilofar Mughal in Potomac, Maryland  Bezhan Hamdard.

STEVE KARESH:

Before we leave you this week, we have a new segment called USA Votes 2024 to update you on the US Presidential Election.

As NATO marks its 75th anniversary this week. The worlds largest military alliance  and Americas role in European security  are issues that separate U.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns has more.

SCOTT STEARNS, VOA correspondent:

Seventy-five years after its start, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains the most direct U.S. engagement in European security.

Founded after the Second World War, NATO originally joined the United States and 11 European nations in promising to come to each others aid if any one of them is attacked.

Then-U.S. President Harry Truman:

Harry Truman, Former U.S. President:

If there is anything certain today, if there is anything inevitable in the future, it is the will of the people of the world for freedom and for peace.

SCOTT STEARNS:

Russias invasion of Ukraine, NATOs response, and what it says about Americas role in European security, separate U.S. presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

When he was president, Trump told NATO leaders they were not paying enough for their own protection.

Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:

The one that benefits really the least is the United States. We benefit the least. We're helping Europe. Europe unites and they go against a common foe  that may or may not be a foe, can't tell you that, there are other foes out there also.

SCOTT STEARNS:

Five years later, Trump told a campaign rally in South Carolina that getting tough with NATO members worked.

Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:

NATO was busted until I came along. I said, 'Everybody's going to pay.' They said, 'Well, if we don't pay, are you still going to protect us?' I said, 'Absolutely not.' They couldn't believe the answer. And everybody, you never saw more money pour in.

SCOTT STEARNS:

NATO has grown since the Trump administration. Sweden and Finland joined the alliance in the last year or so in its biggest expansion since the fall of the Soviet Union allowed Eastern European countries to join NATO.

Biden says standing up to Russian aggression, together, shows NATO is working.

Joe Biden, President:

Before the war started, I told Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, NATO would not only get stronger but would get more united. And we would see democracies of the world stand up and oppose his aggression and defend the rules-based order. That's exactly what we're seeing today.

SCOTT STEARNS:

As president, Trump prioritized relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin. Campaigning for a second term, he recalled a NATO leader asking about Russian threats.

Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:

One of the presidents of a big country, he stood up, said, 'Well, sir, if we don't pay and we're attacked by Russia, will you protect us?' I said, 'You didn't pay? You're delinquent?' He said, 'Yes, let's say that happened.' 'No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.

SCOTT STEARNS:

Biden says that approach to European security is dangerous for America.

Joe Biden, President:

A former Republican president, [Donald Trump], tells Putin, Do whatever the hell you want. Thats a quote. A former president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. I think its outrageous. Its dangerous. And its unacceptable.

SCOTT STEARNS:

Trump told the conservative British television network GB News that he backs NATO if everyone pays their fair share.

Nigel Farage, Talk Show Host:

If they play fair ... if they start to play fair, America is there?"

Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:

Yes, 100 percent. 100 percent.

Nigel Farage, Talk Show Host:

Thank you.

SCOTT STEARNS

Biden says NATO is stronger and more united than ever and is central to the foreign policy goals of his reelection campaign. Scott Stearns, VOA News.

STEVE KARESH:

Thats all for now. Thanks for watching.

For the latest news you can log on to VOA news dot com.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at VOA News.

Catch up on past episodes at our free streaming service, VOA Plus.

Im Steve Karesh, We will see you next week, for The Inside Story.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The mines laid by Armenia present significant barriers to the search and excavation of burial sites, the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons told Trend.

The commission, along with relevant agencies, including the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), persists in search, excavation, and exhumation efforts in newly liberated territories to clarify the fate of missing Azerbaijani citizens due to Armenia's aggression.

Armenia's extensive mining and booby-trapping of territories, along with excessive contamination with unexploded ordnance during and after occupation, hinder restoration efforts and the return of former IDPs. Additionally, it poses significant challenges to search, excavation, and exhumation operations at grave sites linked to missing persons from the First Karabakh War period.

"In many cases, the clearance of areas for specialist teams to access suspected burial sites identified by the State Commission as belonging to missing persons is significantly delayed. This prolonged process, spanning over thirty years, intensifies the anguish and diminishes the hope of our citizens mourning their missing loved ones. It exemplifies Armenia's disregard for international humanitarian law.

The state commission strongly condemns Armenia's use of mines, which not only results in civilian casualties but also obstructs efforts to ascertain the fate of our missing citizens. This mine terror has caused deaths and injuries among the civilian population and serves as a barrier to clarifying the fate of our missing citizens," the commission stated.

Following the liberation of its lands, Azerbaijan began operations in November 2020 to clean its lands of mines, booby traps, and other weaponry left behind by illegal Armenian forces.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
President Biden talks to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday as the rift deepens between the two leaders after the deaths of aid workers earlier in the week. An update from Brussels as NATO celebrates 75 years while shelling continues in Kharkiv. Plus, politics in Turkey following recent elections.
President Joe Biden welcomed NATO's 75th anniversary Thursday, as the security alliance hosted new member Sweden for the first time at a major meeting  and as Ukraine eagerly hopes for an invitation to join the group at an upcoming Washington summit.

In a statement, Biden welcomed the recent addition of new members Finland and Sweden, saying "we must choose to protect this progress and build on it."

"This is the greatest military alliance in the history of the world," Biden said. "But it didn't happen by accident, nor was it inevitable. Generation after generation, the United States and our fellow Allies have chosen to come together to stand up for freedom and push back against aggression  knowing we are stronger, and the world is safer, when we do."

Biden's Democratic allies agreed.

"Despite [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's attempts to splinter our alliance with his war against Ukraine, the transatlantic partnership is more united than ever before, thanks to the determined leadership of Joe Biden," said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "On this monumental anniversary, we reaffirm that America's commitment to NATO remains bipartisan and ironclad  and that we will never waver in our defense of democracy."

NATO allies have been increasingly unnerved by the prospect of former Republican President Donald Trump returning to the White House if he defeats Biden in the November 5 U.S. presidential election.

As president, Trump frequently complained that numerous NATO countries were not meeting NATO's recommendation that they spend 2% of their country's economic output on defense.

In February, at a campaign rally, Trump recounted what he said was a conversation he had when he was the U.S. leader with the "president of a big country."

"Well sir, if we don't pay, and we're attacked by Russia  will you protect us?" Trump quoted the unnamed leader as saying.

"I said: 'You didn't pay? You're delinquent.'

He said: 'Yes, let's say that happened.'

'No, I would not protect you.," said Trump. "In fact, I would encourage them [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay.'"

The NATO countries' pledge to defend each other has been invoked only once, when al-Qaida terrorists attacked the U.S. in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

The U.S. and its allies responded with a two-decade fight against the militants' training sites and encampments in Afghanistan although Taliban rulers remained in power as Biden pulled out the last U.S. troops in 2021.

Some analysts argue that the alliance remains relevant, citing Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

"Nearly a billion people sleep more soundly at night under NATO's protective umbrella," said Robert Benson, a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, in a message sent to VOA.

"Yet a small but vocal minority views the alliance as a relic of the past, an albatross, or a distraction  all this in a world where Russian imperial ambition has once again threatened international peace and security," he said. "The United States must continue to support Ukraine and to strengthen NATO, not out of charity or moral obligation, but because it makes us safer here at home."

Sean Monaghan, a foreign affairs analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told VOA that he does not expect NATO to offer Ukraine a formal invitation to join the military alliance when it holds its 75th anniversary summit in Washington in July.

The allies agreed last year at NATO's summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, not to invite Ukraine until its war with Russia has ended.

"When the time is right," Monaghan said, "NATO allies and Ukraine will want to move quickly from invitation to membership to avoid a drawn-out period where Ukraine is at risk of coercion but not protected" by the NATO treaty provision that all countries must defend each other if they are attacked.

"The summit is likely to focus on boosting long-term support for Ukraine, including through NATO auspices," Monaghan said.
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Illegal immigration is the top issue for many voters in this years U.S. presidential election. VOAs Scott Stearns looks at how candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden differ over what to do.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that more aid is urgently needed for Ukraine following meetings with NATO foreign ministers, amid growing concerns that Russia is building up its defense industrial base with support from China, North Korea and Iran.

Based on what I heard today ... everyone, including the United States, is going to double back and, as necessary, double down on finding the resources that Ukraine continues to need, Blinken told reporters after meetings with NATO foreign ministers at the alliance headquarters in Brussels.

While individual NATO members have been providing arms to Ukraine, the organization as a whole has concentrated on providing nonlethal aid for fear of escalating tensions with Russia through a more direct involvement.

More than 30 countries now have signed or are in the process of negotiating signing bilateral agreements with Ukraine, and we're ourselves, the United States, working on our own bilateral agreement, he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Blinken met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels, where the two discussed the situation on the battlefield and ways to bolster Ukraines energy sector in light of continued attacks from Russia.

The United States will host a NATO summit in Washington from July 9 to July 11. Blinken discussed priorities for the meeting with Kuleba as NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Ukraine will become a member of NATO, Blinken said. Our purpose of the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward.

During Thursday's press conference, Blinken also underlined the urgency of the U.S. congressional action to vote on aid for Ukraine.

Congress has yet to approve the Biden administrations supplementary budget request that would resupply Ukraines armed forces and help the country fend off Russian offensives.

President Joe Biden has called on the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives to approve the military and financial aid package. House Republicans have delayed action on it for months, prioritizing domestic issues.

On Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat held talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on how to bolster the alliances long-term military support for Ukraine.

This week, NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss a proposal for creating a five-year fund, totaling about $108 billion, to support Ukraine's military.

The plan, put forward by Stoltenberg, includes making NATO more directly involved in coordinating military assistance provided by member countries  a role that has been filled by a U.S.-led coalition of more than 50 countries.

A final decision on the proposal would not come until the NATO summit in July. It requires consensus among its 32 members.

On Thursday, foreign ministers from the security bloc also met with its partners from the Indo-Pacific.

North Korea, China, Iran are supporting Russias war of aggression in different ways, so this demonstrates that security is not regional security, its truly global, and therefore its important that we work together with our Asia-Pacific partners, Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
Britain has called for an immediate investigation into an Israeli airstrike Monday on an aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including three British citizens, in Gaza.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rejected calls to suspend arms shipments to Israel amid mounting global anger over the attack.

The bodies of six of the seven victims were taken out of Gaza on Wednesday in a convoy of ambulances through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. The body of the seventh worker, a Palestinian driver, was turned over to his family for burial in Gaza.

Monday's attack struck several vehicles being used by the World Central Kitchen charity. Video of the aftermath clearly showed the charity's logo on the roof of a vehicle, next to a gaping hole apparently caused by a missile.

The three British victims were identified as 57-year-old John Chapman, 47-year-old James Kirby and 33-year-old James Henderson.

Sunak said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Tuesday.

"I  was very clear with him that the situation is increasingly intolerable, and what we urgently need to see is a thorough, transparent investigation into what has happened, but also a dramatic increase in the amount of aid getting into Gaza," Sunak told The Sun newspaper.

"I think we've always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to. There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we'll always follow, and I've been consistently clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu since the start of this conflict that whilst, of course, we defend Israel's right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law," Sunak said.

The opposition Labour Party's shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the government's legal advice on Israel's conduct in its war on Hamas must be published.

"If it is the case that international law has been contravened, then it is absolutely right that offensive arms are suspended to Israel," Lammy told reporters Wednesday.

The three British victims were providing security for World Central Kitchen through the firm Solace Global. The firm's non-executive director, Matthew Harding, said it was difficult to know exactly what had happened.

"We have looked very closely already at everything that preceded and went on after the incident. We are completely satisfied that all measures were correctly taken and executed" by his company, Harding told BBC News.

The other victims of the airstrike included the group's Palestinian driver, 25-year-old Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; 43-year-old Australian national Lalzawmi Frankcom, who was World Central Kitchen's relief lead in Gaza; 35-year-old Polish citizen Damian Sobol; and 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger, a U.S.-Canadian citizen.

Their governments have echoed calls for a swift investigation.

Israel said it did not intend to target the aid workers.

"It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldn't have happened," Herzi Halevi, Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, said in a televised statement on Tuesday.

Israeli government spokesperson Ilana Stein said Wednesday that the government regretted the "awful" incident.

"This is a very complex war situation. Every war is very difficult. It's very messy, it's very dangerous, and it has casualties that we would all rather not have on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side," Stein told reporters in Tel Aviv.

"Having said that, Israel has been checking itself every day. We have been reviewing our actions in different manners, also in the field, but also regarding what we can do to distribute aid."

The organization Human Rights Watch rejected her explanation.

"Israel's deadly attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza displays the characteristics of a precision airstrike, indicating that the Israeli military intended to hit the vehicles. World Central Kitchen coordinated its coordinates and its movements with the Israeli government. Their vehicles were clearly marked," said Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch.

"This is not an isolated incident. The Israeli government has killed at least 196 aid workers in Gaza, according to the United Nations," Shakir told VOA.

Israel maintains it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties.

World Central Kitchen has suspended its operations in Gaza. The organization said it has provided more than 42 million meals since its operations began there 6 months ago.

In an article Wednesday in The New York Times, Jose Andres, the charity's founder, said the attack was "the direct result of [Israel's] policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels."

Despite widespread accusations from aid agencies that Israel is obstructing relief supplies into Gaza, Israel denies it is blocking aid and blames Hamas for the delays, which it accuses of using hospitals and aid facilities as military bases.

Hamas denies that claim and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war.
Britain has called for an immediate investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers in the Gaza strip, amid mounting global anger over Mondays attack. Three of the dead were British citizens, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
Moscow continues to push unfounded theories that Ukraine and the United States may have played a role in the March 22 terror attack on Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow.

The United States has pushed back against that disinformation narrative, saying it alerted Russia to the terror plot weeks in advance.

Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K), the Islamic State (IS) extremist group affiliate active in South and Central Asia, claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 143 people and injured nearly 200.

On April 2, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin conceded the U.S. warned Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) about the attack but claimed that information was too general to be useful.

"The FSB had received certain information from US intelligence services that, unfortunately, such [an attack] was possible. But, as our Russian counterparts have said, that information was very vague and it did not allow us to identify those behind the deadly crime," Naryshkin told reporters.

That is disputed.

On April 2, The Washington Post reported that U.S. officials warned Russia more than two weeks before the attack that Crocus City Hall was a potential target.

Despite the U.S. "duty to warn" policy, experts and officials told the Post it "is unusual to give information about specific targets to an adversary."

But this attack potentially endangered U.S. citizens, prompting the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to warn of the terror plot on March 7.

People familiar with the matter told the Post the U.S. shared its information about the planned attack with Russia a day before the embassy issued its public warning.

The New York Times later confirmed the Post report.

On April 3, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he was unaware of the U.S. warning, adding such information "is transmitted directly from [security] service to [security] service," and was not a Kremlin matter.

A Russian government source told Russia's Interfax news agency the Post report "is not true."

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev pushed back against suggestions that IS was ultimately responsible for the attack, despite the terrorist group's claim of responsibility.

Patrushev falsely claimed that IS was "created by Washington." He further claimed, without evidence, that Ukrainian intelligence may have masterminded the attack, and that the government in Kyiv is "controlled by the United States."

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby had earlier told VOA such allegations are "nonsense."

"[W]e had information that they were going to put Russian people, innocent Russians at risk from a terrorist threat. So you bet we informed Russian authorities as appropriate as we would do for any country," Kirby said.

Still, Russian officials continue to implicate Ukraine.

On April 4, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said "Ukraine has become an outright terrorist state," citing what he called the "Ukrainian trace" in the Crocus attack.

Ukraine has denied any role in the attack.

Also on April 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could not have been "the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists," claiming Russia demonstrates a unique example of interfaith and interethnic unity and harmony.

Moscow's support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad; its alliance and cooperation with Iran  a sworn IS enemy  in Syria; its alleged complicity in the oppression of Muslims in South and Central Asia, particularly in Afghanistan; and its brutal military campaigns in Chechnya are all reasons that Islamic State has targeted Russia.

The New York Times, citing Western officials, said Russia initially heeded the U.S. warning, but when the attack failed to materialize immediately, Russia appeared to have lowered its guard, "potentially considering the American warning false."

Moscow has denied or otherwise downplayed U.S. warnings about the attack, and floated alternative theories, to paper over its own intelligence service failures and score propaganda points against Ukraine.

Reports have noted that Russian security services have increasingly focused on domestic opponents, Ukrainian saboteurs and other foreign intelligence agencies, potentially leaving the country more vulnerable to terrorist threats.

On March 7, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued an alert stating that "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours."

Putin dismissed the U.S. warning as "provocative" and intended to "intimidate and destabilize our society."

Prominent Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky told VOA it was a personal disgrace that Putin had derided the U.S. warning while speaking with FSB chiefs three days before the terrorist attack, essentially giving "the command to the intelligence service to relax on the topic of the warning from the Americans."

International security experts told VOA the Kremlin is attempting to link Ukraine to the attack to further mobilize domestic public support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

There are indications that Russia from the outset intended to blame Ukraine and/or Washington, regardless of the evidence.

Immediately after the attack, Meduza, a Latvia-based independent news site, spoke with two sources who claimed Moscow had instructed state media and Kremlin-loyal publications to emphasize the possible "Ukrainian trace" in reports about the terrorist attack in Crocus.

Russian state media has published highly speculative articles linking Kyiv to the attack, some even hinting at the existence of a "Ukrainian Caliphate."

Russia previously played up the far-right threat in Ukraine and claims it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 to "de-nazify" the country.
Iran has turned its prisons into sites of mass killing with at least 853 people executed in the Islamic republic in 2023, over half of them on drug-related charges, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

The London-based group said in a report that stronger international action was needed to halt the rise in executions, otherwise "thousands" risked being hanged in the coming years.

The Iranian authorities have "persisted with their state-sanctioned killing spree which has turned prisons into killing fields," Amnesty said.

The figure for 2023 was up 48% on the previous year and 56% of executions involved drug-related charges, Amnesty said.

Two other NGOs, Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), published a report last month giving the slightly lower figure of 834 people executed in 2023.

The surge in executions came after Iran was convulsed by protests that erupted in September 2022. Nine people have been put to death in cases related to the protests.

Rights groups including Amnesty have warned that the authorities are using executions to instill fear throughout society and prevent any more demonstrations.

Amnesty said Iran's behavior had not changed this year, with at least 95 executions already recorded up to March 20.

The rights group added that its numbers were "minimum figures," and the real death toll would be higher.

"Without a robust global response, Amnesty International fears that the Iranian authorities will continue using the death penalty as a tool of oppression to execute thousands more people in the coming years," the group said in its report.

Among those executed was 17-year-old Hamidreza Azari, hanged in November in Razavi Khorasan province after being convicted over a deadly 2023 stabbing when he was 16.

His age "was misrepresented" as 18 by state media to "evade accountability," Amnesty said, adding that it had reviewed his birth certificate.

Amnesty said the Sunni Baluch minority concentrated in the southeast was being targeted disproportionately.

The minority "constitutes only about 5% of Iran's population but accounted for 20% of all executions in 2023," the report noted.

And the renewed surge in executions for drug offences was a particular concern, Amnesty said.

Iran's anti-narcotics legislation was modified in 2017 and executions for drug offences declined in 2018 and 2020 before dramatically rebounding last year.

"The death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances but deploying it on a mass scale for drug-related offences after grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts is a grotesque abuse of power," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
A New York judge on Wednesday denied Donald Trump's bid to delay his April 15 trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews claim to presidential immunity in a separate criminal case.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on April 25 the former U.S. president's arguments that he is immune from federal prosecution for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat to President Joe Biden.

His defense lawyers in the New York case in March asked Justice Juan Merchan to delay the trial until that review was complete, arguing it was relevant because prosecutors were seeking to present evidence of statements Trump made while he was president from 2017 to 2021.

In a court ruling on Wednesday, Merchan said Trump had waited too long to raise the issue.

"Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024," Merchan wrote.

Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Trump, declined to comment.

Trump, the Republican candidate to challenge Biden in the November 5 election, has pleaded not guilty in each of the four criminal indictments he faces.

The New York case could be the only one to go to trial before the election.

He is accused of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump denies any such encounter with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Trump also is seeking a delay on the basis that a deluge of news coverage of the case has led potential jurors to believe he is already guilty. Merchan has not yet ruled on that request.

Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which charged Trump in 2023, opposed that request in a court filing made public on Wednesday.

They argued that Trump himself had generated much of the news coverage, and that they would be able to weed out biased jurors through the jury selection process.

The Supreme Court's decision to take up Trump's appeal in the federal election interference case was a major victory for him, delaying the trial's start by months at least.

He also faces a state case in Georgia over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results, as well as a federal case in Florida over his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office in 2021. Those cases also lack firm trial dates.

No U.S. president has ever faced a criminal trial.
President Emmanuel Macron believes France and its Western and African allies "could have stopped" Rwanda's 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, the presidency said Thursday.

In a video message to be published Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide, Macron will emphasize that "when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act," said a French presidential official, asking not to be named.

The president believes that at the time the international community already had historical experience of witnessing genocide with the Holocaust in World War II and the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing. Click to reveal This image contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing - Click to reveal FILE - The bodies of a woman and her child lie by a church in Nyarubuye, Rwanda, on May 31, 1994. The village was the site of an April 14 massacre that was part of Rwanda's genocide in which 800,000 people were killed.

Macron will say that "France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, did not have the will" to do so, the official added.

The president will not attend commemorations of the genocide this Sunday in Kigali alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame. France will instead be represented by Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.

Macron, during a visit to Rwanda in 2021, recognized France's "responsibilities" in the genocide and said only the survivors could grant "the gift of forgiveness."

But he stopped short of an apology, and Kagame, who led the Tutsi rebellion that ended the genocide, has long insisted on the need for a stronger statement.

A historical commission set up by Macron also concluded in 2021 there had been a "failure" on the part of France under former leader Francois Mitterrand, while adding there was no evidence Paris was complicit in the killings.
TARTAR, Azerbaijan, April 4. A tree-planting event was held in Tartar district to commemorate the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the Karabakh bureau of Trend reports.

Members of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) Public Council attended the ceremony, as did personnel from the International Eurasia Press Foundation's (IFEP) First Women Sappers of Azerbaijan project, as well as mine victims and their families.

The event took place in the famous Sultanbud forest, which was destroyed during the Karabakh war and is located between the villages of Burujlu and Khoruzlu in the Tartar province. Participants planted 3,300 trees with the goal of promoting worldwide mine action initiatives, restoring the historical significance of the Sultanbud forest, and preparing for Azerbaijan's COP29 in 2024.

Representatives of the UN Development Program's Advisory Group on Mines and ANAMA, financed by the European Union and the US State Department, as well as workers from an IFEP project supported by the UK government, also attended the session.

The United Nations General Assembly declared April 4 an International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action to promote awareness about the dangers of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Following the liberation of its lands, Azerbaijan began operations in November 2020 to clean its lands of mines, booby traps, and other weaponry left behind by illegal Armenian forces.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Banning fishing and other human activity in marine protected areas (MPAs) has long pitted environmentalists against fishing interests, but a new study shows that nearby fisheries benefit from these areas.

The study comes as the United States considers establishing the worlds largest MPA in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii, waters where fishing remains a major contributor to food security  and income generation, according to a review by the science journal BMC Public Health.

Mark Costello, a professor of biosciences and aquaculture at Norways Nord University and the studys author, reviewed 51 studies of MPAs. He found that 39 of them showed increased catch in adjacent fisheries since their MPA designation.

The National Geographic Society estimates that approximately 5,000 MPAs exist worldwide, covering 0.8% of the worlds oceans.

Costello says the studys data provides economic incentives for the Conference of Parties Global Biodiversity Framework goal set in 2022 of preserving 30% of the ocean by 2030.

If we think of [MPAs] as a benefit to fisheries, this completely changes the conversation from setting aside 30% that nobody can do anything with to actually 30% that is like having money in the bank, Costello said in an interview with VOA via Zoom on March 27.

He said traditional Indigenous communities often protect certain areas so fish can spawn because they want to be sure that fish are available in a time of maybe crisis due to other food supplies not being available.

Fish in protected areas grow older, theyll have more eggs, and theyll spill over to the adjacent areas. So, you get those benefits, Costello added.

Last year, the United States took a big step in trying to meet that 30% goal.

In March 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden proposed a marine sanctuary in the remote Pacific islands of nearly 2 million square kilometers, saying it would be the largest protected ocean area on the planet.

The Marine Conservation Institutes Marine Protection Atlas shows the Ross Sea Region MPA as the largest MPA covering 1.9 million square kilometers.

Bidens proposed MPA is bigger than the 1.5 million-square-kilometer reserve President Barack Obama established in 2016, a sanctuary that dwarfed and included the 300,000-square-kilometer sanctuary established by President George W. Bush in 2009 to protect parts of three remote Pacific island chains that are U.S. possessions.

Bidens proposal has met with pushback in the Pacific Islands, where residents felt there wasnt enough time for public input on a permanent change to their fishery access.

When you are trying to create something in perpetuity  45 days to take that away from a people is not enough, said J.D. Tenorio, a resident of Saipan who spoke at a May 18, 2023, public meeting held in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory.

According to the Marine Protection Atlas, two of the three largest MPAs are in the Pacific. They include fishing grounds off the coast of Hawaii, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Marshall Islands.

Costello says not all MPAs are permanent, adding it is important to consider the idea of reviewing the MPA designations.

Maybe everything should be relooked at in 20 years' time, he said. The next generation should have a say.

Ray Hilborn is a University of Washington professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences who serves on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which covers Hawaii, the territories of American Samoa and Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and several Pacific Remote Island Areas.

The council opposes Bidens proposed sanctuary, and Hilborn says MPAs are not a silver bullet for conservation in the Pacific region.

Most of the MPAs in the world are being created in countries that have good fisheries management, like the United States, like Australia, like New Zealand, like Canada, and those benefits are not going to happen in those places, he said in a Zoom interview with VOA on March 27.

Hilborn also said MPAs can hurt the fishing industry, especially when implemented in areas where overfishing is not an issue, as is the case for the Biden administrations sanctuary proposal.

He cites a study published in the May 2020 edition of Marine Policy on the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in 2016. It concludes that the MPA designation triggered a drop of 7% in catch per unit of effort and a decrease of revenue per fishing trip by 9%, or $3.5 million during the first 16 months after it was enacted in June 2006.

Hilborn said the Costello study supports an illusion that youre really protecting the ocean, but the real protection comes by action. And those actions are regulating fisheries [and] reducing bycatch  the fish caught by fleets that crews cant sell, dont want or are not allowed to keep.
A much-heralded first meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and a negotiator for young doctors who walked off the job in February appeared to have made little progress on Thursday after the latter expressed pessimism on social media.

Yoon's office said his first in-person talks lasted more than two hours, after he showed the first signs of flexibility in an approach until now marked by a hard-line attitude, as crucial parliament elections approach next week.

"There is no future for medical care in Korea," the negotiator, Park Dan, posted on his Facebook page after the meeting at which Yoon's office said the two exchanged views on improving working conditions and compensation for the doctors.

It was not immediately clear what aspect of the talks Park was referring to. Reuters has sent him a text message to seek comment.

The long drawn-out walkout by thousands of trainee doctors nationwide is putting increasing strain on South Korea's health care system, forcing hospitals to turn away patients and cut back on surgeries except in emergencies.

Park, the head of the Korean Intern Resident Association, accepted Yoon's invitation to meet and conveyed the views of his colleagues, Yoon's office said in its brief statement.

It added that Yoon would respect the position of the trainee doctors in future discussions with the medical community on health care reform, including an increase in physician numbers.

The centerpiece of Yoon's contested plan is to boost medical school admissions and the number of doctors in a rapidly aging society, but many are instead concerned about securing better working conditions and legal protection.

Unless action is taken, South Korea faces having 15,000 fewer doctors than it needs to maintain essential services, the government has warned.

Yoon had said his plan to raise the number of new medical students to 5,000 a year from 3,000 now is not up for discussion but signaled on Monday there might be room to adjust it if the medical community offered reasonable proposals.

South Korea's practicing physicians and teachers in medical school have demanded that Yoon scrap his reform plans.

While a large majority of the public support the thrust of Yoon's plan, a poll on Monday showed more people are unhappy with the way his government has handled the stalemate.

South Koreans go to the polls on April 10 to elect a 300-member parliament and Yoon's conservative People Power Party faces an uphill battle to win back a majority now held by the opposition.
Russia's FSB security service said Thursday it had arrested three more people suspected of helping plot last month's deadly terror attack on a Moscow concert hall, state media reported.

The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the massacre, in which more than 140 were killed when gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall venue on the outskirts of Moscow before setting the building on fire.

The FSB said Thursday it had arrested three in Moscow, the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and Omsk in Siberia for financing and recruiting for the attack.

"Two of those detained transferred money for the purchase of firearms and vehicles used in the terror attack, and a third was directly involved in recruiting accomplices of the terror attack and financing its perpetrators," the Interfax news agency quoted the FSB as saying in a statement.

State media published footage showing FSB agents making the arrests.

Two were foreign citizens and one was Russian, the FSB said.

Russia has arrested more than a dozen people it said were involved in the attack, including the four gunmen, all citizens of Tajikistan.

The IS group has claimed responsibility for the attack on multiple occasions, but Moscow has repeatedly tried to say it was "ordered" by Kyiv or the West.

"We have every reason to believe that the main goal of those who ordered the bloody, horrific terror attack in Moscow was to inflict damage on our unity," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

He said "Islamic fundamentalists" had no reason to target Russia.

Ukraine and Western leaders have repeatedly denied any connection to the attack and said Moscow is trying to exploit the tragedy.
In a scathing indictment of Microsoft corporate security and transparency, a Biden administration-appointed review board issued a report Tuesday saying "a cascade of errors" by the tech giant let state-backed Chinese cyber operators break into email accounts of senior U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The Cyber Safety Review Board, created in 2021 by executive order, describes shoddy cybersecurity practices, a lax corporate culture and a lack of sincerity about the company's knowledge of the targeted breach, which affected multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China.

It concluded that "Microsoft's security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul" given the company's ubiquity and critical role in the global technology ecosystem. Microsoft products "underpin essential services that support national security, the foundations of our economy, and public health and safety."

The panel said the intrusion, discovered in June by the State Department and dating to May, "was preventable and should never have occurred," and it blamed its success on "a cascade of avoidable errors." What's more, the board said, Microsoft still doesn't know how the hackers got in.

The panel made sweeping recommendations, including urging Microsoft to put on hold adding features to its cloud computing environment until "substantial security improvements have been made."

It said Microsoft's CEO and board should institute "rapid cultural change," including publicly sharing "a plan with specific timelines to make fundamental, security-focused reforms across the company and its full suite of products."

In a statement, Microsoft said it appreciated the board's investigation and would "continue to harden all our systems against attack and implement even more robust sensors and logs to help us detect and repel the cyber-armies of our adversaries."

In all, the state-backed Chinese hackers broke into the Microsoft Exchange Online email of 22 organizations and more than 500 individuals around the world  including the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns  accessing some cloud-based email boxes for at least six weeks and downloading some 60,000 emails from the State Department alone, the 34-page report said. Three think tanks and foreign government entities, including a number of British organizations, were among those compromised, it said.

The board, convened by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in August, accused Microsoft of making inaccurate public statements about the incident  including issuing a statement saying it believed it had determined the likely root cause of the intrusion "when, in fact, it still has not." Microsoft did not update that misleading blog post, published in September, until mid-March, after the board repeatedly asked if it planned to issue a correction, it said.

Separately, the board expressed concern about a separate hack disclosed by the Redmond, Washington, company in January, this one of email accounts  including those of an undisclosed number of senior Microsoft executives and an undisclosed number of Microsoft customers  and attributed to state-backed Russian hackers.

The board lamented "a corporate culture that deprioritized both enterprise security investments and rigorous risk management."

The Chinese hack was initially disclosed in July by Microsoft in a blog post and carried out by a group the company calls Storm-0558. That same group, the panel noted, has been engaged in similar intrusions  compromising cloud providers or stealing authentication keys so it can break into accounts  since at least 2009, targeting companies including Google, Yahoo, Adobe, Dow Chemical and Morgan Stanley.

Microsoft noted in its statement that the hackers involved are "well-resourced nation state threat actors who operate continuously and without meaningful deterrence."

The company said that it recognized that recent events "have demonstrated a need to adopt a new culture of engineering security in our own networks," and added that it had "mobilized our engineering teams to identify and mitigate legacy infrastructure, improve processes, and enforce security benchmarks."
Somalia said it expelled Ethiopias ambassador in Mogadishu and ordered the closure of two consulates  one each in the semi-autonomous Puntland region and the breakaway Somaliland region  in a dispute over a port deal.

"The plain interference of Ethiopia's government in the internal affairs of Somalia is a violation of the independence and sovereignty of Somalia," said the office of Somalia's prime minister in a statement Thursday.

The decision followed a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hamza Barre in Mogadishu.

A separate statement by Somalias foreign ministry said it had ordered Ethiopian Ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware to leave the country within 72 hours, effective Thursday.

In an interview with VOA Somali, Somalias information minister, Daud Aweis Jama, said the decision came as Ethiopia continued to interfere in Somalias internal affairs.

Nowadays Ethiopia has been repeatedly violating Somalias national, territorial independence. Therefore, the government has taken this decision to close two Ethiopian consulates and send [the] Ethiopian ambassador in Mogadishu and their diplomatic staff back to their country, said Aweis.

Tension has been simmering

Tensions have been growing between Ethiopia and Somalia since January, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a memorandum of understanding" with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, who had been visiting Addis Ababa.

Both Ethiopia and Somaliland authorities described it as a "historic" initial agreement that would give Somaliland a path to recognition and allow landlocked Ethiopia to have access to the Red Sea.

Ethiopia said it wanted to set up a naval base there and offered possible recognition of Somaliland in exchange.

Somaliland has operated independently from Somalia since 1991 but is not recognized by any other country as a sovereign state.

The Somali government strongly rejected the memorandum of understanding and recalled its ambassador in Ethiopia in protest.

A month later, in February, Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called the deal illegal and said that his country would defend itself if Ethiopia goes ahead with it.

Mohamud also said at the time, he did not plan to kick Ethiopian diplomats out of the country.

Todays government decision, however, came a day after the semi-autonomous state of Puntland, which is also a federal member state, announced it had signed a new cooperation agreement with Addis Ababa.

Puntland, whose relationship with Mogadishu has been marred by political disputes, said days ago that it had withdrawn from the country's federal system and that it would govern itself independently, following a dispute over constitutional changes approved by Somalias bicameral parliament.

Somalias federal government is responsible for the countrys foreign affairs and we consider any agreement a country signs with a different side or a region a clear violation against Somali sovereignty, said Aweis.

In response to todays government decision, Puntland Information Minister Mohamud Aidid Dirir accused Mogadishu of trying to assert its control on a territory it does not govern.

Mogadishu has failed to eradicate terrorist groups and spread governance across the country and now it is trying to impose its decisions on a peaceful region that does not run with its orders. It cannot close a consulate in Puntland, Aidid told VOA.

In an interview with VOA Somali, Somaliland Deputy Foreign Minister Rhoda Jama Elmi described Mogadishus decision as a mere dream.

The Mogadishu government had nothing to do with opening of the Ethiopian consulate in Somaliland and its decision has nothing to do with us. It has no impact on Somaliland, she said.

According to Reuters, Ethiopia's foreign ministry spokesperson, Nebiyu Tedla, said it did not have information on the Somali government decisions.

Meanwhile, the Somali Cabinet of Ministers approved the appointment of Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloolshe as the new director of the National Security and Intelligence Agency of Somalia (NISA), during the council's weekly meeting in Mogadishu on Thursday.

The newly appointed director has previously held the position of NISAs director twice and has served in other roles, including minister and ambassador. Currently, he is a member of the lower house.

According to the country's constitution, the prominent member of parliament, a close ally of President Mohamud, will automatically lose his parliamentary seat.

The new director will replace Mahad Mohamed Salad, who vacated the position, citing personal and future political plans. Government sources who asked for anonymity said Salad intends to run for the leader of Galmudug regional state in an election this year.
The former speaker of South Africas parliament was arrested Thursday and charged with multiple counts of corruption, one day after she resigned her position.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakulas arrest is yet another blow to the reputation of the governing African National Congress party, or ANC, as it gears up for what is predicted to be South Africas most contentious election since the end of apartheid.

Mapisa-Nqakula, a 67-year-old veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, resigned as speaker of the house Wednesday night and turned herself in at a police station on Thursday.

She was charged in court with 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering, stemming from her time as defense minister. She is accused of having taken bribes worth some $120,000 from a former military contractor to secure a contract.

Mapisa-Nqakula was released on bail after appearing in court, where she denied any wrongdoing but said she had stepped down to protect her party.

In a statement, ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri thanked her for stepping aside. We thank all of those that have participated in the process of scrutiny, and we continue to say that the rule of law comes first and foremost, she said.

The scandal couldnt come at a worse time for the ANC.

The party, which has controlled the presidency and parliament for 30 years, is expected to get less than 50% of the vote for the first time in elections on May 29.

Multiple polls show the once-storied party of Nelson Mandela has lost popularity due to, among other things, numerous corruption scandals.
Spains announcement this week that it will recognize a Palestinian sovereign state by July could mark a major turning point with other European states poised to follow Madrids lead, analysts say.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Spanish media Tuesday Spain would recognize Palestine diplomatically by July.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares confirmed the plan, saying it would help an independent Palestines entry into the United Nations.

Ignacio Molina, a specialist on Spanish foreign affairs at the Real Elcano Institute, a Madrid research group, said both domestic political and foreign policy reasons had led Spain to say it would recognize Palestinian sovereignty.

The catalyst was the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy Tuesday by Israeli forces in which seven aid workers were killed, sparking outrage in Spain.

Prime Minister Sanchez Wednesday branded as insufficient and unacceptable the response from Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israeli forces had unintentionally killed the aid workers. The NGO that employed them is run by Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres.

In terms of domestic politics, Spains government is composed of a left-wing coalition government which has been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Molina told VOA.

The far-left Podemos and now Sumar parties in the coalition had not been involved in foreign policy until now but the Spanish government has been more vocal on the issue of Gaza.

In terms of foreign policy, Spain wants to demonstrate leadership on the international stage by encouraging other EU states to recognize an independent Palestinian state, Molina said.

Palestine is one of the few issues in which Spain can make progressive foreign policy. It gives Spain a leadership role in the EU. Spain has a peculiar position internationally with links between the Arab and Latin America which gives it a certain moral authority on this issue, he said.

Madrid did not recognize Israel diplomatically until 1986, after Spain joined the EU.

The role of history

Spains position on Israel has been linked to the events of the 20th century.

During the long dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco from 1939 until 1975, Spain maintained close links to Arab nations.

Spain did not take part in the Second World War, so it did not have the same moral obligations over the Holocaust as other Western countries to recognize Israel and for domestic reasons, Madrid wanted good relations with Arab countries to supply petroleum, Molina said.

But Spanish policy has also been influenced by centuries of history.

In 1492, under the Alhambra Decree, Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered Jews to leave Spain or convert to Christianity.



More than 500 years later, in 2015, Madrid sought to make amends with an apology and offered Sephardic Jews Spanish citizenship.

Today Spain has a small Jewish community of about 50,000 people, compared with the 500,000 who live in France. Meanwhile, about 2.3 million Muslims, many of Moroccan origin, live in Spain according to figures from the Spanish statistics institute.

In 2014, under the then-ruling conservative Peoples Party, the Spanish parliament approved a symbolic motion in favor of the Palestinian state.

Since the October attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war, marches in support of the Palestinian people have been held in Spanish cities on a regular basis.

Compared to other nations in Western Europe, there have been far fewer pro-Israel demonstrations.

A survey by Simple Logica published in January by eldiario.es, a left-leaning news site, found 60.7% of Spaniards condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza and 57.9% agreed with the Spanish governments call for a cease-fire.

Separatist sympathies

Within Spanish society, there is sympathy for the Palestinian cause because Basques and Catalans see their own struggle for nationhood against Spain as similar to the Palestinian fight against Israeli occupation.

I think of myself as a Basque person rather than Spanish. We have always identified with the Palestinians as they have been oppressed by the Israelis as we were oppressed by the Spanish, Igor Otxoa, of the Guernica Palestine organization, told VOA.

If Spain recognizes Palestine, it is a start, but it does not mean that it will break off relations with Israel. Spanish companies are still selling arms to Israel and other goods.

Spains Jewish community criticized the government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.

We consider that the recognition of the Palestinian state should be reached from a consensus between all members of the EU. ... Talking of two states, when one wants to push you into the sea, is difficult, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain told VOA in a statement.

Last month, Spain, along with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia, issued a joint statement saying they were ready to recognize Palestine.

Vanessa Frazier, the current president of the U.N. Security Council and Maltas ambassador to the U.N., said this week that she has received a letter from the Palestinian Authority asking to be recognized as a full member of the United Nations and that the letter has been circulated to Security Council members.

Nine out of the 27 EU member states recognize a sovereign Palestine.

In 2014, Sweden became the first member of the bloc to recognize a Palestinian state. Malta and Cyprus did so before they joined the EU. Some Eastern European states did so when they were members of the Soviet Union, but Hungary and the Czech Republic have since emerged as close allies of Israel.

Apart from Spain, domestic political reasons may prevent Ireland and Belgium from formally recognizing the Palestinian state in the short term, observers said.

Ireland faces a general election next year and Belgium has a coalition government that is not united on the issue.

Malta and Slovenia are more likely to follow Madrid's example.
Ukrainian officials said Thursday that a Russian drone attack overnight killed at least four people and injured 12 others in the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said drones hit several residential buildings. The attack also cut power to 350,000 residents.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack despicable and cynical in a statement on the social media platform X.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said commanders had discussed defending Kharkiv specifically in terms of air defense.

He also said it was a task for all our diplomats to encourage Ukraines partners to provide Kyiv with better defense systems.

Members of the NATO alliance on Thursday agreed to look through their inventories for more air defense systems to send to Ukraine. The members didnt, however, make any specific commitments.

Allies will now go back and look into their inventories, look into if there are any ways they can provide more systems, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference.

Oleg Sinegubov, regional governor in Kharkiv, said Russian attacks also hit the cities of Lozova and Chuhuiv.

Russias Defense Ministry said Thursday that it thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks targeting two regions in western Russia.

The Russian ministry said its air defenses shot down three drones over Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, as well as two drones over the Tula region.

A fire broke out, however, near the central market in the southern Russian city of Kursk on Thursday after air defense units shot down a drone, Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit said. It was one of four drones intercepted over the region, he added in a post on Telegram.



Pact with Finland

On Wednesday, Ukraine and Finland signed a 10-year security pact.

The agreement makes Finland the eighth NATO member this year to agree to long-term security and defense backing for Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said his country would also send $203 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, including air defense systems and heavy-caliber ammunition. That sum took Finland's overall defense contribution to nearly $2.2 billion during the war.

"We are not giving this military support only for Ukraine to defend itself, we are giving this military support for Ukraine to win this war," Stubb said at a news conference with Zelenskyy.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Planning is already underway for three-nation naval patrols in the South China Sea ahead of a high-profile summit next week among the leaders of the United States, Japan and the Philippines, senior officials have said.

Philippine ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez was quoted by the Financial Times on Wednesday saying that Washington, Tokyo and Manila are finalizing details of an agreement on the patrols, including when to begin and how often they will take place.

The U.S. and the Philippines have conducted joint patrols in the past, but this will be the first time Japan has participated. Both Japan and the Philippines are treaty allies of the United States.

Asked about the plan, Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners told VOA's Korean Service via email this week that the U.S. has been concerned about "dangerous and destabilizing" actions in the region and is "committed to maintaining deterrence, peace, and stability" with its allies and partners.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the April 11 summit will be an occasion for "an unprecedented trilateral engagement" among the three countries that will lead to closer cooperation in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

He made the remark Wednesday at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

A senior U.S. official said the three leaders will discuss what was described as China's "increasingly risky behavior" in the South China Sea.

"We are increasingly concerned that the PRC's [People's Republic of China's] behavior in this space could lead us closer to really, unintended consequences," the official said at a background White House press briefing this week.

"U.S. alliances and partnerships are not about China.  But oftentimes, Chinese action motivates a lot  much of what we talk about," continued the official.

The most recent flare-up came on March 26 when the Chinese Coast Guard used water cannon to prevent a Philippine vessel from conducting a resupply mission to an outpost on a reef in waters within Manila's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told his Philippine counterpart Eduardo Ano on Monday that the U.S. supports the Philippines against China's "dangerous actions on March 26 obstructing a lawful Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal."

Manila claims the shoal in the Spratly Islands as its own territory and has been keeping the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era navy transport ship, grounded on the reef since late 1999.

Patrick Cronin, the Hudson Institute's Asia-Pacific Security Chair, told VOA via email on Tuesday that the trilateral maritime patrols can provide "both a level of deterrence and a way of blocking Beijing's efforts to create de facto control over disputed waters and some areas that clearly belong to the Philippines."

He continued, "China will not desist from its 'sovereignty enforcement' efforts, use of white hulls and maritime militia to impose its domestic law on international waters, but it may have to shelve staking further claims in the face of concerted opposition from the three democracies."

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA via email on Wednesday that "the military cooperation between the relevant countries must not interfere in South China Sea disputes," and called for the three allies to avoid actions that would "harm China's territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests and security interests."

Liu continued, "The South China Sea issue is a matter between China and some ASEAN countries."

Among ASEAN member states, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei are official claimants against China, whose claims to virtually all of the resource-rich waters have been rejected by an international tribunal.

Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow at the Wilson Center and founder of the weekly ASEAN Wonk newsletter, told VOA on Tuesday, that "more patrols by more countries is one of many ways to reinforce presence and prevent the nightmare scenario of the South China Sea becoming a Chinese lake."



He continued, "In addition to alliance networking, the United States and its partners will have to find ways to work with Southeast Asian states which are not formal allies but are nonetheless critical in addressing China's assertiveness as well."
U.S. weapons sales to Israel have been under increased scrutiny amid outrage over the reported deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza since the start of the war, including seven aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike this week.

President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday that he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the deaths, his latest stern rebuke of Israel's war conduct.

Israel said the strike was "unintentional" and promised an investigation.

On Wednesday, Biden ignored questions about whether he would put conditions on U.S. military aid. His aides suggest the administration is unlikely to do so, citing U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself against the "still viable threat" from Hamas.

The administration will wait for results of Israel's investigation, National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. "I'm not going to get ahead of decisions that haven't been made yet," he said.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres accused Israel of targeting the group's food convoy "systematically, car by car." He said he had established clear communication with the Israeli military about his aid workers' movements.

Andres is a celebrity chef who is well-known in Washington. That and the fact that the victims included U.S.-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger has added a new level of outrage, including among lawmakers of Biden's own Democratic Party, and renewed demands that the president condition military aid to Israel.

"Israel has killed more than 200 aid workers in 6 months. That's not an accident. No more aid for Netanyahu's war machine," Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said in a social media post Tuesday.

Weapons transfer

Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid, nearly $4 billion a year, most of it in the form of military assistance.

Under U.S. law, the administration must notify Congress of weapons transfers to Israel that are worth more than $25 million.

In December, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved two emergency weapons transfers to Israel, bypassing the congressional review requirement for foreign military sales.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack, two additional transfers have been made public, said Josh Paul, former director at the State Department agency that handles weapons transfers, who resigned in October in protest over the U.S.'s "continued lethal assistance to Israel."

Those two were made under the direct commercial sales process and Congress was notified, Paul told VOA. "But with less visibility, because there is less information that is provided to the public on direct commercial sales," he said.

In addition to the four that were made public, since October 7 more than 100 arms transfers to Israel have taken place without informing Congress, mainly because the packages were structured to fall below the notification threshold, according to reporting by The Washington Post, which VOA confirmed with a Department of Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ari Tolany, director of security assistance, arms trade and technology at the Center for International Policy, said the moves amount to a "deliberate dodge of transparency" by the administration.

"When they are publicly saying that Israel needs to take more steps to protect civilians but privately pushing through hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of weapons, there's really no credibility," she told VOA.

The Biden administration refuses to use the most significant source of leverage it has, she said, which is "the massive amount of arms provided to Israel."

The Post reported that the transfers included billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets in recent weeks, even as the administration publicly criticized Israel's intention for a ground invasion of Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians seek safety.

Unconditional support

Since Harry Truman recognized Israel minutes after its founding in 1948, American presidents have supported the country.

Almost all have done so unconditionally, with the exception of President George H.W. Bush, who in 1991 gave Israel an ultimatum to freeze settlements on Palestinian land in exchange for $10 billion in loan guarantees.

That approach worked. But not all agree that restricting aid will effect change.

"The emotive issue of providing for a country's means for their own defense can sometimes trigger different responses in different theaters. It's just been a sort of inexact tool for the U.S in the past," said Grant Rumley, a senior fellow specializing in military and security affairs at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"I think that's internalized within this administration right now," he told VOA. "That, coupled with the president's long-standing commitment to Israel, is why you haven't seen any real steps taken on this route."

There is also the fear that putting conditions on aid may send the wrong signal to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, increasing the prospects of opening a second front to the conflict at Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

In March, to meet the Biden administration's requirement set out in February, Israel provided assurances that American weapons are used in accordance with international and humanitarian law, which the administration accepted.

Those assurances are "not credible," said Human Rights Watch and Oxfam. The rights groups submitted examples of what they call Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, including "deprivation of services critical to the survival of the civilian population, and arbitrary denial and restrictions of humanitarian aid."

Eighty Muslim and Arab American organizations sent a similar letter to Biden on Wednesday, objecting to his "administration's decisions to falsely declare that Israel's war on Gaza complies with U.S. legal requirements and authorize the continued transfer of U.S.-manufactured weapons."

The groups cited the attacks on the World Central Kitchen aid workers as the latest example of Israel's violation of the laws of war.
Gaming lounge operator True Gamers has unveiled plans to build Abu Dhabi's first esports island within Al Raha Beach area at an estimated cost of $1 billion, reported The National

A first-of-its-kind project globally, it will boast a luxury hotel, hi-tech venues for gaming tournaments and other key amenities.

The proposed spot is at the heart of one of the city's quickly growing neighbourhoods, facing Yas Island on one side and Raha Beachs housing developments on the other, stated the report, citing a top official.

"One possible location for the esports Island project is between Al Bandar and Al Dana developments in Al Raha Beach," stated True Gamers co-founder Vlad Belyanin.

The company, said Belyanin, is in talks with 'high-profile investors' to raise the full funds needed to acquire the island and build the facilities.

"It could cost an estimated $1 billion with True Gamers committing between $280 million and $300 million," he added.

A hotel is also being planned for the island, called GG Resort, with 200 rooms, each equipped with gaming PCs. A parachute jump check-in inspired by popular battle royale game PUBG is also planned, said The National report.

If built, the islands sections would include one area called The Digital Tower, a hub with spaces for meetings, start-up accelerators and animation studios. TG Arena would feature spaces for esports tournaments as well as a computer club with around 100 PCs, a simulation racing section and a space for console gaming, it stated.

There would also be a bootcamp section that is akin to American collegiate fraternities, the company says, with accommodation built with input from esports team managers from around the world.

CEO and Co-founder Anton Vasilenko said: True Gamers had conducted a comprehensive market analysis of the Mena regions esports landscape and the global esports industrys growth trajectory before esports Island development."

This in-depth analysis gives us the confidence that the proposed business model will be instrumental in bringing esports Island to life," he added.
Amidst swift technological progress, in 2023 Azercell has rolled out a range of new products and solutions in 2023, aiming to provide subscribers with more agile customer experience opportunities. Among these introductions is the eSIM "Asan Imza" service, eliminating the need for physical SIM cards for citizens, entrepreneurs, and government employees. Pioneered in Azerbaijan's telecommunications sector this eSIM merges the latest generation SIM technology with the mobile electronic signature "Asan Imza," providing an equivalent to a handwritten signature. In the age of artificial intelligence integration, Azercell launched an enhanced Virtual Assistant service creating the first Azerbaijani-language bot in the country to respond to customers' inquiries. The Taksit Project is now available, providing customers with the opportunity for interest-free installment payments when acquiring an Azercell number. Furthermore, clients of the premier mobile operator can benefit from the upgraded roaming service, extending coverage to more than 390 networks across 160 countries. Exclusive "Tourist" tariffs are also provided for foreign nationals and visitors to the country.

Azercell's Contact Center, dedicated to providing prompt and quality service to its customers, received nearly 3 million calls throughout 2023. Approximately 1.5 million inquiries were received via online platforms during the same period, with around 440 thousand of them being addressed through social media channels. As a result of the implemented measures, Azercell's Contact Center achieved a Customer Satisfaction Index of 94.9% in 2023.

During the reported year, the company served over 850,000 subscribers at Baku-Region service centers, as well as through Mobile Customer Service (MCS).

As part of its commitment to fostering the business ecosystem in the country, the mobile operator extended its services to more than 40,000 legal entities in 2023. Through Azercell Business, exclusive services led to a notable 26% increase in internet users among corporate subscribers, with the number of active users exceeding 600 thousand.

In 2023, Azercell Business, contributing to the development of the rural economy in the country through cutting-edge technologies, introduced an innovative IoT-type solution called "Irrigation Control System". Utilizing innovative solutions, the automated management processes will create conditions for more efficient control over both the production of more products and, most importantly, the effective use of water resources.

Furthermore, the mobile operator has introduced its innovative "Azercell Business" application and web platform to assist business partners in organizing their entrepreneurial activities more effectively.

Moreover, Azercell became a vice-champion in the "Critical Infrastructure Defense Challenge 2023" (CIDC-2023) competition held jointly with the Special State Security Service and the State Security Service and entered the top three in the field of cybersecurity in the country.

In 2023, Azercell strengthened its position as the country's leading mobile operator, establishing a strategic partnership with the telecommunications giant "e&International" to create opportunities for new services and broader connectivity for subscribers.

Furthermore, "Azercell Telecom" initiated cooperation with the world's leading Big Data solution provider company, "Cloudera", for the first time in Azerbaijan. To achieve ambitious goals, the leading mobile operator renewed its data architecture, accelerating business processes fivefold with the Cloudera Data Platform.

Azercell's compliance with the international ISO 10002:2018 standard for Customer Satisfaction System was reconfirmed in 2023. Besides, "Azercell Telecom" successfully renewed its ISO 37001:2016 certification for the "Anti-Corruption Management System." The company, which is committed to excellence in customer service, was also awarded the ISO 18295-1:2017 certification for compliance with international standards in Contact Centers.
The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike were moved Wednesday to Egypt for repatriation to their homelands, while Israel faced wide condemnation for their deaths.

A total of seven staff members of the U.S.-based food charity World Central Kitchen were killed in the late Monday airstrike that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said was unconscionable and "an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to speak Thursday, according to a U.S. official familiar with planning for the call. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the call.

The White House is growing increasingly frustrated with how Israel is conducting the war and in the aftermath of Monday's airstrikes.

The remains of three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian American dual citizen were taken in ambulances to the Rafah crossing with Egypt, where they were handed over to representatives of their respective countries. Their Palestinian driver was also killed in the attack and his body turned over to his family for burial in Gaza.

The seven were distributing food to famished Palestinians that had been transported into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor when Israeli airstrikes mistakenly targeted their three vehicles, killing everyone inside.

Israel's armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a "grave mistake," which he blamed on nighttime "misidentification," adding in a video message, "We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members" of the World Central Kitchen.

Netanyahu pledged the "tragic case" would be investigated "right to the end," and President Isaac Herzog expressed his "deep sorrow and sincere apologies."

In an op-ed published by Israel's large Yediot Ahronot newspaper on Wednesday, Jose Andres, the celebrity chef who is the founder of the food charity, wrote, "The Israeli government needs to open land routes to food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today."

Andres, whose organization has provided aid in war and disaster zones all over the world, including to Israelis after Hamas's shock October 7 attack that triggered the war, said the airstrikes that killed the workers "were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war."

"It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by" the Israeli military, Andres wrote. "It was also the direct result of (the Israeli) government's policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels."

In a similar essay in The New York Times, he said, In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, its time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

Biden said late Tuesday he was outraged and heartbroken by the attack.

They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy, Biden said in a statement.

The U.S. leader said Tuesdays attack was not a stand-alone incident, and that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.

The United States will continue to do all we can to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, through all available means, Biden said. I will continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid. And we are pushing hard for an immediate cease-fire as part of a hostage deal.

World Central Kitchen said it was immediately pausing its humanitarian efforts in the region.

The charity said in a statement that it had completed a delivery of 100 tons of food aid to a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, and that a convoy of armored cars with the groups logo was leaving the site when it was struck.

World Central Kitchen said the group had coordinated its movements in advance with the Israeli military.

The Hamas October attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and led to the capture of about 250 hostages.

Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed at least 32,975 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The Israeli military says one-third of those killed have been militants.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The greatgrandson of King Mzilikazi has castigated the government for claiming that it has discovered the burial place of the last Ndebele king Lobengula, whose warriors defeated 34 colonialists in Lupanes Pupu area, Matabeleland North, who attempted to kidnap him.

Leo Zulukandaba Khumalo told VOA Zimbabwe Service in an exclusive interview that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has touched a raw nerve because in our culture we dont talk openly about a kings grave, especially that of King Lobengula.

Khumalo said, Its taboo for Mnangagwas henchmen to make such a public pronouncement without contacting the Ndebele royal family. I personally know some of the people who were the last to see the king. They include one of the wives of a respectable commander of the Matabele warriors, Magwegwe Fuyana.

One would never dare talk to them about what happened to the king and up to today we dont talk about that knowing that the colonialists have over many centuries wanted to see and perhaps seize his remains. So, for someone like Mnangagwa to ask people to go to Mpezeni area in Zambia where they talked to villagers about King Lobengulas grave its one of the worst ever insults to the Mthwakazi nation.

We wont tolerate that kind of thing. Who is he to do such a thing. They (government) should stop talking about the death of King Lobengula and the discovery of his so-called grave. All we know is that the king disappeared. Nothing else, said an irate Khumalo.

He also pointed out that indications are that the Zimbabwean government has a hidden agenda in roping in historian Phathisa Nyathi and several government officials in carrying out research about King Lobengulas resting place.

What are they going to do if they see his bones? Why do they want to see the kings bones? We have nothing to do with these brainless claims and we wont bother to consult them because they never asked for our input in the whole thing. Who are those so-called Khumalos who accompanied them to the place they are now calling the burial place of King Lobengula. Im now 80 years old and have seen many things in this world but not this nonsense. They should not temper with anything to do with the king. No.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba and Nyathi were unavailable for comment as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phones.

The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Wednesday that Nyathi, several government officials and a delegation from the presidents office visited the south-eastern part of Zambia where they were informed that King Lobengula was buried in a cave in 1896. No further details were given about the alleged discovery and death of the Ndebele king.
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Four Ezekiel Guti University Law School students are in Washington DC for this years world moot court competition in which budding legal practitioners are battling it out for honors. A Zimbabwean university performed well in the 2019 competition in USA. VOA's Evans Zininga reports ...
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Alan Ritchson, who went from modeling for Abercrombie to starring in films like Fast X, says sexual misconduct and assault is rife in the modeling industry. Lets be honest, its like legalized sex trafficking, he told The Hollywood Reporter. The industry is not regulated, and its a widely known secret that if youre hired on a job, youre basically being passed off to a photographer to be trafficked. The number of times and situations where I was put in horrific environments where sexual abuse was the goal and the paycheck that you were desperate for in order to survive was the carrot, I cant count on two hands. It was quite often. Even after he quit modeling, groping photographers remained a problem, as Ritchson says Mario Testino tried to rub his crotch at the Hunger Games: Catching Fire premiere.

Ritchson said he was assaulted on his last modeling job ever: I was booked for a shoot for this very famous photographer. I was sent into a hotel room to do nudes with the promise that if I did the shoot, he would offer me a very lucrative campaign for a magazine and a clothing line. I was sexually assaulted by this guy. He says his agent seemed to admit that he knew an assault was likely, saying, I wont send you back there, I know hes a little aggressive.

Ritchson acknowledged how unsafe the working conditions were for women in the industry as well. I completely empathize with women who deal with dynamic power struggles with predatory people in the workplace, he said. Its still unfair, but if I really had to, I could get myself out of whatever room I was in through a physical altercation. Most women dont have that option. Imagine how terrifying it must be.
Photo: Ed Miller/Netflix

When Jess Hong moved to London to shoot 3 Body Problem, the new Netflix adaptation of Liu Cixins Remembrance of Earths Past trilogy, it was her first time living outside New Zealand  and just one in a series of firsts. Working with big names like Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss was certainly new, and the post-release press tour has been its own wild beast. Then theres the subject matter: Hong plays Jin Cheng, a brilliant theoretical physicist who, after receiving a mysterious state-of-the-art VR game from the mother (Rosalind Chao) of her late professor, is almost recruited to an organization dedicated to welcoming an alien race as humanitys overlords. When said organization murders her disbelieving friend Jack (John Bradley), Jin turns to their destruction, joining the British government and other international bodies on endeavors to stop the San-Ti. That includes the mysterious Staircase Project, which involves sending a human brain into space; Jins other friend Will (Alex Sharp), who has always secretly pined for her, volunteers to donate his brain, knowing his stage-four pancreatic cancer will take its toll soon anyway. The final token of his love is the secret gift of a star, the discovery of which changes everything for Jin. Having read the books and seen the origin of that very, very long love story, it was already making my heart ache just reading about it, Hong says. I didnt need to do too much in terms of finding my way there. I just needed to meet Jin and feel her heart.

While Jack turns down Tatianas invitation to aid the San-Ti, Jin stays and listens, and it seems like shes swayed at first. Obviously, she doesnt join them, because Jack is killed immediately afterward. But if the murder didnt happen, do you think its possible Jin wouldve joined the followers of the San-Ti?

Yes, I do. Whoever their sponsors are, aliens or otherwise, the technology they have is beyond anything shes imagined. Thats enough to spark her curiosity and hunger for more information and resources. Her ambition comes out. The other thing: Tatiana knows about her background and about her parents dying in the flood, and even though Jin knows shes being emotionally manipulated, she still feels the throes of that. There is a possibility she could have been one of them, thinking she just needs to convince everyone to let the other beings come and advance our technology.

I like that the characters decisions about communication with extraterrestrial life are informed by their own experiences. Ye Wenjie sided with the San-Ti against humanity after witnessing the Cultural Revolution. Jins parents were lost during a flood, which briefly allows her to relate to that feeling of displacement. Theres a parallel there.

Roz Chao and I talked about this. Ye Wenjie exists in another timeline, with extraordinary circumstances putting a lot of pressure on her. Jin Cheng has experienced trauma, but she lives in a world where her capabilities are acknowledged from early on. She has been nourished and nurtured in order to evolve those capabilities and become a top scientist in her field, a female role model for other physicists. Ye Wenjie did not have the same opportunities. But theyre both brilliant women with a lot of ambition who want to find answers and gain knowledge. Jin thinks if she can solve every single problem, things will be better on the other side. Thats how she gets through dark times. Ye goes on another journey, but she definitely started off that way. They were both idealists. If you put them side by side in a similar environment, they couldve turned out very similar.

That also makes me think about the tension between Jin and Auggie, with Auggie opposed to Jins work on the Staircase Project. Auggie seems like the moral center of the show, focused on helping people in practical ways. Where do you think Jin stands by comparison?

Jins role in the third book is very much empathy, to show humanitys not worth giving up on. She still has that function here. She wants to save us all, but she goes about it in a different way. She cares deeply for her friends immediately in front of her, but shes thinking about progress and the betterment of humanity in the future. Her ambition and her obsessive nature, wanting to acquire as much knowledge as possible, takes over there. She lets other things fall to the wayside. She lets her friend donate his brain  thats wild! You have to be so ambitious to allow that kind of desire to surface. Auggie is much more about humanity now. Lets just do what we can today to help the people in need that I can see right now.

How did you learn about the creators incorporating your New Zealand background?

It wasnt long after a Zoom chat I had with them in 2021 where I started receiving scripts with the addition of those years I spent in New Zealand. I was like, What? Wait, that wasnt in the last one! I was doing an English accent in my last self-tape! I also didnt realize that I say buddy a lot. Suddenly, I started seeing the word buddy in the script. I was like, Hey, why is Jin saying that suddenly? They were like, Jess, you say that all the time. Now I notice it and I cant stop.

They just picked up on that from talking to you?

And we only talked for, like, an hour. They love to get these little nuggets of who you are and weave them into the character  not too much that it takes over, just enough to add authentic texture so you dont have to work too hard.

What was your favorite scene to film?

I got a real variety of treats. I got the crazy spectacle stuff, where I hang from wires with John Bradley in extravagant costumes. Id never worked with so many special effects, on blue screens with all these background performers and amazing sets.

I didnt really need to work for the scenes between Jin and Will because they drew something out of me. It was so easy to fall into that relationship, into that friendship with all that subtext. I auditioned with the scene with Jin and Will on the beach  I did a chemistry read with Alex Sharp in the early stages. Ive been with that scene since August 2021.

How do you see Jins history with Will? Does she have similar romantic feelings for him buried down deep?

Alex and I talked about this. They probably never had anything in the past, but maybe it was always easy for them to talk. Maybe they would have a group hang back at Oxford, and theyd be the last two chatting in the room at night, having endless deep-and-meaningfuls. There might have always been some chemistry there, but Jin can get so caught up in her ambitions and career that shes not super-aware of her own feelings. You might be able to observe other people, but as soon as its yourself, its like, Wait, me? Really? With him? I dont think she even realizes, literally until the last moment, when she finds out he bought her a star. Its like, Oh, fuck. Hes done all of this for me, and what the fuck have I done for him? That moment where she runs to him, I dont think she has any thought process. Shes just instinctively like, I need to be close to him right now.

Shes very cold to Raj in their final interactions. Where is Jins head during those moments?

Her head is in that cryogen chamber with Wills brain. She hasnt even acknowledged the fact that hes passed away. Hes alive. What are you talking about? Were going to see each other again. Shes in full denial, just burying herself in work. To have to deal with something real, like her current relationship, is way too much. Itll make her realize some other things she doesnt want to confront.



If theres a season two, do you have an idea of how Jins story will play out and what it will include from the books?

I would love to know. Should we both go to Dan, David, and Alex, and ask them? I know a couple of things they really want to include in there, and theyll be pretty obvious because all the fans will want to see those moments. Thats more about the environment and key events. In terms of Jin, her character doesnt technically appear until the third book, so she had to be grafted onto another plot in the first book. They might try to do something similar for season two.

I was really happy to see the locusts scene from the end of the original book, here in Florida with the cicadas.

They even got the ant from The Dark Forest in there as well, just a little bit.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. In Tartar, an event marked the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, with attendees including victims, families of those lost to mine explosions, members of the Public Council under the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), heads of Azerbaijani NGOs, representatives of international organizations, and staff from educational projects by the International Eurasia Press Fund (IAMF), Trend reports.

President of IAMF and Chairman of the Public Council at ANAMA Umud Mirzoyev talked about the mine threat in the world and in Azerbaijan and its consequences.

He highlighted that the Armenian occupiers extensively mined Azerbaijani territory, leading to Azerbaijan ranking among the top ten countries globally in terms of contamination by mines and unexploded ordnance.

"Recently, there have been frequent mine incidents, with four civilians seriously injured in a mine explosion just two days ago. Azerbaijani state, led by President Ilham Aliyev, is tirelessly working to clear liberated territories from mines. As representatives of civil society, we are fully committed to supporting these efforts. The "Great Return" of IDPs to lands liberated from Armenian occupation has finally commenced after many years. It's imperative to safeguard people from the peril of mines, which have become a scourge for humanity," he said.

Hafiz Safikhanov, Chairman of the "Azerbaijan Campaign Against Mines" public association and secretary of the Public Council under ANAMA, provided insights into the extensive challenges posed by mines and unexploded ordnance in Azerbaijan, emphasizing ongoing efforts to address them. He highlighted the continuous occurrence of new mine victims, reported on a monthly basis.

"This issue is significant and will persist for years. Therefore, I urge citizens to diligently adhere to the recommendations provided during educational programs," Safikhanov said.

In his speech, Hafiz Azimzadeh, a member of the Public Council under ANAMA, disclosed that he personally endured the impact of Armenia's mine terrorism.

"During my official duties in Aghdam, newly liberated from occupation, I encountered a mine planted by Armenians, resulting in the loss of one of my legs. Those who have experienced such tragedy will empathize with me. I urge the global community, major nations, and international organizations to take heed of Azerbaijan's mine issue and provide support to the government in addressing it," he said.

Rey Kerimoglu, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Mine Victims Association, discussed the challenges faced by mine victims and the efforts of the Azerbaijani state to combat the mine threat.

To conclude, victims of Armenian mine terrorism, the families of those deceased due to mine explosions, and non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Jose Andres. Photo: Gari Garaialde/Getty Images

World Central Kitchen founder and celebrity chef Jose Andres believes the Israel-launched airstrikes that killed seven of his WCK workers in Gaza on April 1 couldnt have been a mistake. The strikes killed aid workers  a Palestinian, a Pole, an Australian, a dual U.S. Canadian citizen, and three Britons  systematically, car by car, Andres said in an interview with Reuters on April 3, while they were traveling in three marked vehicles that night. What I know is that we were targeted deliberately, nonstop, until everybody was dead in this convoy, he continued. This was not just a bad-luck situation where, Oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place. This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, on the roof, a very colorful logo. Andres emphasized that its very clear who we are and what we do, adding that the IDF knew of World Central Kitchens whereabouts.

The IDFs drone strike killed seven WCK aid workers on April 1 after they unloaded 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea, the same day the Biden administration signed off on the transfer of thousands more bombs to Israel. The seven workers were traveling in an armored vehicle when airstrike began, Andres told Reuters. After escaping to a new car, they were hit a second time. Then, the third vehicle was also struck. Humanitarians and civilians should never be paying the consequences of war, Andres said. This is a basic principle of humanity. At the time, this looks like its not a war against terrorism anymore. Seems as if this is a war against humanity itself. Andres went on to call for an independent investigation of the attack by the U.S. government and governments of every aid worker killed. Biden was outraged and heartbroken by Israels deadly strikes, he stated on April 3.

'We were targeted deliberately': Chef Jose Andres said the World Central Kitchen charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements https://t.co/cn8hWKQ7dY pic.twitter.com/PCcEXenyXf  Reuters (@Reuters) April 4, 2024

Following the killings, Israels military expressed sincere sorrow over the strikes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants, he said in a video address. This happens in war.

Stephen Colbert replied to what he called Netanyahus not exactly apologetic statement about Israels devastating strike on an April 3 episode of The Late Show. Nothing just happens, Colbert said after reading the victims names. You are responsible. If youre answer is, This happens in war, then maybe consider ending the war, because this is not an isolated incident.

The late-night host reminded viewers that more than 200 international aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war, along with thousands of civilians in the region. Colbert then highlighted the nonpartisan work done by World Central Kitchen, despite their efforts being dogged at every turn. Instead of being welcomed they have been attacked by the IDF, and Hamas has hauled members of their team in for interrogation, he said, mirroring Andress own op-ed published in the New York Times that day, Let People Eat. So whatever you think should happen in Israel and Gaza, I hope we can all agree that people should be allowed to eat.
Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley with such an emotional remove that he becomes almost alien. Photo: Lorenzo Sisti/Netflix

This review was published on April 4, 2024. Ripley has since received 13 nominations for the 2024 Emmy Awards. Read all of Vultures Emmy-race coverage here.

In Ripley, the wealthy cant quite place how they know the titular character. These heirs and failsons repeat Tom Ripley? as if trying to jiggle a memory loose; they squint at his face, as if peering at it long enough will cause it to materialize from their past. It rarely works, because as Patricia Highsmiths con-man creation, Andrew Scott is an obstruction, a figment, a shadow  materializing out of nowhere to hover over their lives and steadily elongate his reach. The rivetingly remorseless, mesmerizingly monochromatic Ripley isnt exactly an eat-the-rich story; it has more complicated aims than Robin Hood economics. But its sneering meanness toward the upper class is delicious.

This eight-episode miniseries ostensibly adapts Highsmiths five Ripley novels published between 1955 and 1991, although it primarily covers events in first book The Talented Mr. Ripley and was originally made for Showtime and then shifted to Netflix, although youd be better off not binging it. Patience is the move, because Ripley is so painstakingly constructed, so dense with narrative and visual references, and so luxuriously immersive with its cinematography that to zip from one installment to the next would be doing the series a disservice. Director and writer Steven Zaillian has a long, heralded filmography, and Netflix is marketing Ripley by highlighting his work as the writer of Academy Award heavies Schindlers List and The Irishman. But look to the rest of Zaillians work, like Gangs of New York, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and the exemplary HBO miniseries The Night Of, and youll see the through-line questions that also guide Ripley: Does desperation push a person into crime? Or are they driven to it by the suspicion of others toward those who are different from them in some way, be it their class, gender, or sexuality?

From its opening scenes establishing Tom as a low-level New York City con man running a fake collections agency, Ripley has an omnipresent, almost oppressive air of paranoia that feeds this framing. Long takes follow Tom as hes sure hes being watched or pursued, and close-ups focus on Scotts face as it vacillates between the tightly wound control with which Tom protects himself and the blase politeness he slides into when interacting with others. When a private investigator (Bokeem Woodbine) approaches him on behalf of ship-making magnate Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan!), Tom treats him with a clearly practiced blend of puzzled disinterest and polite courtesy  until he learns that Greenleaf wants to offer him a paid gig tracking down his son Dickie (Johnny Flynn), who left home for Italy years ago and hasnt been back. Greenleaf heard from someone who heard from someone else that Tom and Dickie were friends, and Tom becomes the familys last hope to sever their wayward son from his hopes of being a painter, and from his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning), and bring him home to run the company that is his birthright.

The reality is that Tom doesnt know Dickie at all. But the opportunity for a payday, for a fresh start, is alluring enough to get Tom to set off for Italy. And once he arrives at the beachside town of Atrani and meets the clannish Dickie and Marge, vacuous Americans tied together by their shared privilege and certainty that Tom is not one of them, Ripley shifts into another gear. Scott plays Tom with such emotional remove that he becomes almost alien; his deadpan delivery of the line I like girls when Dickie compliments a pretty young woman is a nod to Toms implied closetedness but also an expression of his refusal to admit anything personal to someone hes trying to work over. That disaffection is a mask until Tom sees something he actually does want: Dickies fountain pen, Dickies signet ring, Dickies Picasso. Then Scott lets a few split seconds of longing break apart Toms face, transforming it from bland deference and canny chumminess into something raw, covetous, recognizably human, and aware of how to make other humans hurt. Each time it happens is a phenomenal moment.

Ripley sets these glimpses Scott gives us behind Toms curtain against a moody milieu whose tangible luxury cant quite obscure its innate mercilessness. Individual episodes can be slow, almost languid, and are often heavy with long stretches of dialogue and silent sequences of voyeuristic pursuit. But the pacing works overall because Ripley nails moments of violent catharsis that puncture the prevailing tension, and because its simultaneously so wickedly funny. Most of the series incredibly dark humor is at the expense of Toms adversaries: at Dickie daring to compare his horrible paintings, which evoke that botched Jesus portrait restoration, to Picasso, or Marge talking about all the work shes put into a book about Atrani when her entire years worth of research can be spread out in a single layer over a kitchen table. Ripley mocks them with its editing choices, with Italian characters who practically roll their eyes at these self-absorbed Americans, and through Tom himself, whom Scott enlivens with barely contained glee when hes needling Marge, Dickie, and their arrogant friend Freddie Miles (Eliot Sumner). Fanning and Scott make for particularly fantastic frenemies, their simmering toxicity fueled by Marges haughtiness and Toms amusement at her certainty that she has him figured out. A scene in which Marge is leaving town still suspicious about the nature of Tom and Dickies relationship, and Tom yells out, Marge! Bye! with a little wave and shit-eating grin, is one of the funniest things youll see on TV this year. This is peak petty behavior, and Scott excels at it.

That purposefully belligerent framing for the series protagonist helps differentiate Ripley from previous adaptations of this story, in particular Anthony Minghellas beloved 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley. A seminal queer work featuring Matt Damon at his most facetiously perky, Jude Law at his most beautiful, Gwyneth Paltrow at her most frigid, and Philip Seymour Hoffman at his most gloriously bitchy, The Talented Mr. Ripley is all golden light, aquamarine ocean, and sticky sweat. It made the mid-century inheritance crowd look like they were living in a blissful idyll made real by the ability to do whatever the hell you want because you always have the funds to start again. It emphasized Toms jealousy and equated it with lust, and ended with the implication that his constant yearning after what others have was a tragic, self-imposed prison.

The Talented Mr. Ripleys final moments suggest that Tom is crossing forever from the light into the dark, from a place where he could perhaps be redeemed into irreversible and doleful gloom. Ripley all but literalizes that same binary in dazzlingly evocative black-and-white, its chiaroscuro approach in line with its many references to the Italian painter Caravaggio, who factors into the narrative in an unexpectedly inspired way. But where The Talented Mr. Ripley positioned wealth as the foundation for an exciting, verdant, but ultimately empty life, Ripley sees it as a means of anonymity, as a way to disappear into hotels where clerks dont ask questions of penthouse guests. Damons Tom was driven by a desire for love and acceptance; Scotts version is best defined by his contempt for the lies other people tell about what satisfies them, especially if they pretend money isnt part of it. One of Ripleys recurring patterns is the courtesy and capitulation offered to the haves versus the constant surveillance and skepticism of the have-nots, and the series wants us to notice how that imbalance nurtures those in the light and impoverishes those outside of it. Shades of gray abound here, and whatever morality The Talented Mr. Ripley tries to wield in its final moments, Ripley rejects with coy flair. Theres an unapologetic cunning at the heart of this series, and a mercurial spirit thats as slippery as blood on an Italian marble floor.
Lets consider, for a moment, the question of our sympathy for Tom Ripley, a character who starts amusingly off-kilter and turns into a full-blown psychopath by the end of the third episode of this eight-episode series (which is to say, early on). Can we make any excuses for his criminal actions? He is an orphan who has never known any stability or real love and affection, its true. Also, Dickie sucks. But how can we separate idiosyncrasy from danger? Where is the line between Tom Ripley, the funny, lovable scammer, and Tom Ripley, the cold-blooded murderer?

Whatever happens, Im not worried about it, Tom says to Fausto, his Italian conversational teacher, about his plans for the future. Something always turns up. Thats my philosophy of life. This very philosophy is the root of the demented, Ripley-ean confidence that lets him manipulate any situation, however unfavorable-seeming, to his advantage. Tom is just recovering from having his confidence injured in the last episode when he gets dealt another blow: in a letter, Mr. Greenleaf essentially fires him. With polite detachment, he writes that it has become clear that the mission was a failure. Zaillian shoots the epistolary exchange as if Tom and Mr. Greenleaf were talking to each other across the Atlantic: a personal address and, therefore, a personal let-down. Mr. Greenleaf is not mad; hes just disappointed. But because we, the viewers, are the intermediaries in this transatlantic exchange, the effect is that it feels as though Tom is talking to us. It sends a shiver down my spine when he raises his eyes from the letter to indignantly question the use of the word failure. Though he has no way of knowing for sure  Matteo at the post office wouldnt confirm or deny  Tom has an instinct that Mr. Greenleaf sent a letter to Dickie, too. He sets out to cross-reference them, hoping to glean a better understanding of what failure, exactly, Mr. Greenleaf is talking about.

Dickie is at work on yet another painting that should land him in painting jail when Tom finds him and tries to lift the letter from his jacket pocket. But before he can do it successfully, Dickie leaves to see Marge, shrugging off Toms invitation for a drink. Just behind the confused melancholy of Andrew Scotts puppy eyes, you can see a wrathful resentment start to brew. Mr. Greenleaf was right after all: For the first time since they met back at the shipyard, things are not going as expected. If, for a moment, it seemed that hed been able to win Dickie over, now its clear that Dickie is imposing a distance between them. On the way to Marges, Dickie reads the letter from Mr. Greenleaf with a frown. Tom is imperceptibly trailing behind him; he watches through the window as Dickie discusses it with Marge. Tom puts on his best Dickie voice. How do you suppose I get rid of him, Marge? he speculates. Throw him off the balcony, drown him? Hes afraid of the water, you know. He told me. Almost as if to prove to himself that water doesnt have as much power over him as he may have made it sound like, Tom stands creepily in the rain until Dickie comes and gets him for dinner.

Apart from having to go up and down the stairs all the time, the only other incontestable truth of Toms life in Italy is that he will have the worlds most awkward dinner with Dickie and Marge every night. The stilted dynamic is nothing new; what feels unprecedented is the beat that Tom takes before answering Dickies invitation to go to San Remo for the weekend. Up to this point, he has been consistently eager to agree to Dickies suggestions and to throw out some of his own. But now he is in possession of knowledge that is obscure to Marge and Dickie. He knows exactly what they are getting at, with their invitations to go away and their conspiratorial little looks: Theyre trying to get rid of him. When, rather than immediately answering with enthusiasm, Toms eyes cloud over and become inscrutable, you can tell that he is thinking impure thoughts. He feels provoked. His I think that sounds great! reply is cut with a high dose of oh shit undertones. Dickie and Tom board a train to San Remo, first class.

At least since Dickies presumptuous disclosure of his sexuality in the last episode, a key has been slowly turning in Toms brain. To quickly recap Toms red flags so far: He scammed old ladies in New York; he stretched the truth about his acquaintance with Dickie Greenleaf before he arrived in Italy; when a random guy with a suspicious air offered him money to participate in a scheme, he immediately said yes; he is definitely a little clingy, if not codependent. He has not yet shown a proclivity for physical harm or injury. His crimes havent been exactly victimless, but save for the old ladies with the chiropractors  that was messed up  his victims arent really all that sympathetic, either. Its hard to feel too bad for Dickie Greenleaf, whose life is a breeze, or even for Mr. Greenleaf himself, who is naive enough to go around offering money to random kids without covering all his bases. Even though Tom Ripley has done absolutely nothing to prove his trustworthiness, throughout these first episodes, I find myself rooting for his scheme to work. So its a reality check, to say the least, when he bludgeons Dickie Greenleaf to death with the oar of a rental boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

The murder scene, which Zaillian choreographs and shoots with a psychopaths methodical precision, is the apex of an afternoon that has been building toward danger, simmering in an atmospheric unease established from the moment they check into their hotel. Dickie wants to find a perfume for Marge, and while he goes around town looking, Tom waits for him by the beach. When Dickie finds him, perfume in hand, he is watching a group of acrobats performing a pyramid and other stunts on the beach. He looks at them with a childs wholesome wonder, clapping and praising them. Dickie, who never misses an opportunity to be a wet blanket, undermines Toms enthusiasm by saying that the guys are fairies. So what if they are? Tom replies. Its really impressive. Dickie expresses some half-hearted regret for spending the whole afternoon looking for Marges perfume and ignoring Tom, so they decide to take out a boat.

As the boat keeper shows Dickie how to run it, Tom stands by the tip of the boat with his back turned to the shore (and boat keeper). Out in the open water, Dickie finally says whats been on his mind: He would prefer it if Tom didnt come to Freddie Miless in Cortina over Christmas. He owes it to Marge to spend this time with her since he has been hanging around with Tom so much. Its a testament to Dickies cluelessness that he thinks Tom is taking the news well. Their conversation skirts around the edges of the real problem until Tom puts it on the table: What did Mr. Greenleaf say about him in his letter? What is the real issue here, exactly? And what is Tom supposed to do over Christmas and New Years and after? Dickie tells Tom that its time he went to see some more of Italy and that Mr. Greenleaf is onto their little scheme. Tom had written that he was close to convincing Dickie to come home for the winter, while Dickie himself told him there was no thought further from his mind.

The complete dissonance between their interpretations of their situation is the last straw for Tom. As he crushes Dickies skull with the oar, he looks almost considerate, as if he were doing a puzzle or putting together Ikea furniture. Dickies cries for help dont move him; this is our first look into Toms true psychopathy, the first time he has failed to be at least a little bit emotional  he uses Dickies own blood to slide the green signet ringer off his finger. His plan for throwing Dickies corpse overboard, weighed down by an anchor, backfires  the rope trips him and throws him right into the water, the boat spinning in circles around him  and feeling flushes back into Andrew Scotts face, which twists into squirmish fear. Tom finally manages to pull the fuel line from the motor and make his way back into the boat. Because now the two worst things have happened  he has killed Dickie, and he has fallen into the water  there is no longer anything to be afraid of. Just as suddenly as it appeared, emotion drains from his eyes.

What follows is a long, excruciatingly silent scene of methodical work that is cleverly boring. Inconveniently, the murder has produced a corpse and a mound of evidence. Tom drags his feet through the clean-up. He takes the boat to a cove, fills it with rocks and manages to kind of sink it; the engine sticks out slightly, but at this point hes so tired, he doesnt have the energy to care. By the time hes done with the whole thing, hes miserable, like hes having the worst day of his life, not because he has killed the man he supposedly loved, but because it was just so much work doing it. Were reminded here of Toms baseline motivation for all of this: He wants his life to be easy and uninterruptedly pleasant. Its inventive on Zaillians part to commit to the tediousness of the clean-up, but as the minutes pile on, the sequence  which runs at around 15 minutes  loses tension. Its easy to forget that a murder just happened by the time Tom is done with the boat.

When Tom makes it back to the hotel, there are two policemen in front of it, which makes him paranoid. In the new light of his murderous status, everything  the beds, Dickies suitcase, the streets of San Remo  seems dangerously knowing. Even the hotel concierge is suspicious of Dickies whereabouts when Tom hastily checks out, which seems a bit gratuitous to me; its not that weird that in a party of two, one person would be in charge of checking out. As he walks to a cab, he sees the boat keeper telling the police that two Americans had disappeared with one of his boats. Tom walks at a fast clip right behind him  its classic Ripley luck that when they were renting the boat, hed had his back to him anyway. On the train back to Atrani, Tom sits on the same seat Dickie had occupied on the way down. He slides Dickies signet ring onto his own finger.
Ripley A Hard Man To Find Season 1 Episode 1 Editors Rating 3 stars * * * Previous Next   Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: Netflix

As far as grifters go, Tom Ripley is unorthodox. He is smart but awkward, careful but clumsy. He is all-American-boyish, broad-shouldered, and clean-shaven, handsome in a commonplace way. He is less of a calculator and more of an opportunist, a rare kind of lucky scammer to whom the right things just happen. Opportunities fall into his lap like little presents. Because life is so bountiful, he is also bratty: Its annoying to him that committing crimes comes with all kinds of logistical problems, like where to hide a body or where to send a piece of mail. Tom Ripley scams because he wants his life to be easy, not hard. He meets procedural issues with the whining annoyance of a kid who had just turned the TV on when his mom made him get up to take the dog out.

That determination makes Tom a true grifter. If he knows what he doesnt want, he also knows full well what he does want, down to the last detail. He knows what he wants to look like and how he wants to be perceived, which gives him a demented kind of confidence. Confidence, of course, is key to swagger  which goes a long way toward explaining Toms enduring appeal. He was first introduced to the world as the protagonist of Patricia Highsmiths best-selling 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, the first of a series of five books that ended with Ripley Under Water in 1991. Since then, Ripleys story has been frequently adapted to the screen, attracting heartthrobs of all spades to play the titular part. Alain Delon played Tom in 1960s Purple Noon, as did Matt Damon in 1999s The Talented Mr. Ripley. Older versions of him included John Malkovichs turn in Ripleys Game in 2002 and Dennis Hopper in 1977s The American Friend. With Ripley, Netflixs series adaptation of the original 1955 novel, the Irish actor Andrew Scott  known, loved, and never forgotten as Fleabags Hot Priest  has taken up the task. Wearing a slouchy leather jacket and puppy eyes, Scotts Tom is a bit older than expected, but what he lacks in youth he makes up for in a weathered look that perfectly merges paranoia, confusion, and melancholy. You feel bad for him while also having to admit he gives you the creeps.

Ripley, which is directed by Steve Zaillian (writer of an impressive number of successful screenplays, from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to Schindlers List), is shot in a silky black-and-white. It opens in Rome in 1961 as Tom drags a dead body down a set of stairs. This is only the first out of an interminable number of stairs that Tom will have to deal with throughout the episode. They abound in Atrani, a village on the Italian Amalfi Coast where, six months earlier, Tom ends up at the request of Mr. Herbert Greenleaf, a shipyard magnate who approaches him through a private investigator. The P.I. is necessary because Tom is notoriously hard to find: Holed up in a consummate Manhattan shitty apartment, Tom spends his days pretending to be George McAlpin, a debt collector who pesters old ladies fond of chiropractors for made-up outstanding balances. At first, Tom doesnt think much of the private investigator or of Mr. Greenleaf, whose name he doesnt recognize. But the IRS is on his tail, so he finally decides to give Mr. Greenleaf a call.

Its here that Toms lucky grift starts to emerge. Under the impression that Tom is good friends with his son, Dickie Greenleaf, a trust-fund dilettante who has decided to live in Italy to paint and dillydally instead of working with his father as planned, Mr. Greenleaf offers Tom money to go to Italy and convince the playboy to come home. Over dinner at the Greenleafs, Tom eats oysters and looks at baby photos of Dickie. Zaillian pays clever attention to the textural details of the Greenleafs swanky apartment: The surfaces are silver and shiny, the oyster meat luscious, the collars of the Brooks Brothers shirts that Mrs. Greenleaf has Tom take for Dickie starched and crisp. Against this opulence, the very thought of the anemic water pressure in Toms communal shower is enough to make a persons skin crawl. Besides, Tom likes the Greenleafs: They are luxurious without being ostentatious, entitled without being presumptuous. In a departure from other, more affected depictions of Mr. Greenleaf, Zaillian opts to have him transmit paternal earnestness. It works like magic on Tom, whose own parents, he tells the Greenleafs, died in a boating accident when he was a kid.

This is the thing about Tom: He lies left and right  he tells Mr. Greenleaf he works in insurance  but he cuts his deceptions with just enough truth to infuse his schemes with real connection and, therefore, personal stakes. Tom did grow up an orphan, under the care of his garish Aunt Dottie. (As he writes to her from the train that he wont need her little checks anymore, now that hes had a business opportunity present itself in Europe, he imagines she is undergoing a painful dental operation; an apt testament of his affection for her.) But he didnt really know Dickie, though he lets Mr. Greenleaf believe he did. Its not a lie per se, more like an obfuscation of truth. Before embarking on his transatlantic journey  due to his parents death, Tom is made uneasy by water, a major motif of his story  he stops by Brooks Brothers to pick up Mrs. Greenleafs order for her son. She had forgotten to pick out a bathrobe for Dickie, so Tom takes it upon himself to choose one. He looks satisfied with a truly horrendous paisley robe in maroon, which the sales associate not-so-kindly points out is burgundy.

As soon as Tom makes it to Atrani, after a long and confusing journey from Naples, the problem with the stairs begins. He asks Matteo, the sweet local post office man, where he can find Dickie. Su, su, he says with an upward motion of the hand, as in, up, up. Tom dutifully climbs up the stairs that snake up the mountainous town. When he gets to Dickies villa, a palatial summit that looks out onto the Mediterranean, the housekeeper Ermelinda tells him that Dickie is on the beach, which is, of course, all the way down. He stops by a store to buy a bathing suit, though all they have is a teeny-tiny-speedo number that frankly looks ridiculous, especially when paired with the dress shoes that are Toms only footwear option  they make him look inadequate and exposed. He finally finds Dickie at the beach, sunning himself with Marge, her head resting on his stomach. Dickie and Marge have most memorably been played by Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in Anthony Minghellas The Talented Mr. Ripley, two-thirds of a trio that, completed by a late-90s Matt Damon, is rivaled only by the 60s French psychosexual drama La Piscine (starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, and Jane Birkin) in astronomical levels of horniness and sexiness. By comparison, Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fannings Dickie and Marge are less openly sex magnets. They are coarser, less blonde. Where Law and Paltrow are sinewy and bubbly, Flynn and Fanning are rugged, close-faced. Dickie doesnt really remember Tom but invites him up for lunch anyway. Back up the stairs they go.

Lunch is really awkward. Tom is heaving from the effort of climbing up the stairs, not to mention still embarrassed by his bathing suit. Down by the water, he hadnt swum out with Dickie and Marge, which means he was just kind of standing around and waiting for these two strangers to come out to have the stiffest, most boring conversation of all time. The whole encounter has the distinct flavor of an interaction no one involved wants to participate in. Tom leaves kind of resigned. Dickie had told him that the best hotel in town was the Miramare, so when Tom goes to get his bags from the post office, where he had left them, he asks Matteo where the hotel is. Up the stairs Ripley goes again.

The bit with the stairs is slapstick funny, but it also provides an unexpected entry into the unique tone Zaillian has set for his adaptation. Atranis stairs, which feature a middle landing decorated with an altar for the Virgin Mary, feel unending and enclosed, claustrophobic in their inevitability. They also give the director plenty of sharp angles to work with, creating the distinct feeling that a watchful presence is just around the corner, occupying the blind spot that youre trying to avoid. Toms suspicion has him constantly looking over his shoulder, and Zaillians use of the stairs is a clever solution to the problem of how to establish his interior uneasiness, which, so far, is a bit unfounded. After all, up to this point, Tom has lied, but not gravely or excessively  his traceable wrongdoings, which accumulated to a series of checks made out to George McAlpin, were all burned in a trash can back on his fire escape in Manhattan. The prospect of wrongdoing, the possibility of it, trails Tom. Its too easy to fool these people.

The stairs right angles combined with the black-and-white and the appearance of a P.I. in the first ten minutes of A Hard Man to Find give Ripley a noir feel, which is a fresh approach to a story that has often been shot in sun-blown tones. That sunniness is not incidental; its part of what makes Dickie, Marge, and Atrani so attractive, which makes us understand why Tom might feel moved to intercept their lives  thereby surreptitiously making us sympathize with him. Zaillians coldness blocks some of the storys sense of bewitched enrapture; his self-serious tone is out of sync with the frivolity that characterizes life in Atrani, and keeps the audience at arms length. But then again, the moodiness tells us that shit will hit the fan, and imminently. Before leaving Dickies house after lunch, Tom swipes a fountain pen from his desk. When he gets back to the Miramare, he looks into his reflection in the mirror and introduces himself: Hi, Im Dickie Greenleaf. As a harbinger of worse things to come, this moment, as the episode at large, firmly establishes the fundamental truth of the whole Ripley enterprise: Its a slippery slope. An opportunity has presented itself to Tom, whose style of grifting were just coming to know.

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Wealth and status, as we know, have everything to do with desire. Lust and greed are twinned cardinal sins, which matters in Catholic Italy, where Tom Ripley is trying to pry his way into Dickie Greenleafs life. In fact, Im reminded of the cardinal sins not a minute into Seven Mercies: going up the stairs  again!  and missing Marge just barely, Tom walks past the Virgin Mary altar on the landing of Atranis stone steps on his way to win Dickie over. Its a clever move on Zaillians part to have Tom and Marge cross each other like that: The simmering tension of their relationship is, though unspoken, clearly a product of their mutual desire for Dickie. Because she has known him longer and is a woman, Marge has the upper hand, but her insecurity is the kind of incentive that should be kept secret from someone like Tom Ripley, our beloved (?) master of opportunity.

Ripleys grifting style is counterintuitive in nature; his moves invite unpredictable consequences yet always turn out perfectly. He improvises on the spot but with a precise aftermath. Hes like an experienced gambler who plays his quirky moves so confidently that they always pay off. An example of a minor one: in the previous episode, as he left the villa, Tom swiped one of Dickies pens from his desk. As we open on this second episode, Tom puts the pen back  thats signature Ripley. Why would he take the pen if he doesnt plan on keeping it? Then, finding Dickie reading the paper out on the balcony, Tom suddenly  and we might at first think, recklessly  reveals the true reason for his being in Atrani: Mr. Greenleaf sent him over in hopes that Tom would convince Dickie to come back to America.

Dickie is confused at first. Why Tom? Because he couldnt get any of your real friends to do it. Does he think thats going to work? Its unclear, but its obvious that theres no point in trying. Why would anyone ever want to leave this place, anyway? Dickie is amused; his contempt towards his fathers desperation is his first open expression of real feeling. Tom instantly recognizes the crack in the smooth surface of Dickies indifference. That is signature Ripley: not only does he know exactly what to say to crack Dickie, a man hes just met, but he knows exactly how honesty might advance his grift. In my recap for the last episode, I mentioned that Mr. Greenleafs paternal earnestness works on Tom  he feels moved to stay close to their world. But on seeing him manipulate Dickie so quietly and so masterfully, Im wondering if it wasnt the other way around. Tom opened up about his parents death because doing so would elevate Mr. Greenleaf to the paternal role, where he would be more inclined to be generous with his wallet. Bravissimo!

The way in with Dickie, Tom realizes, is to get him excited about conning Mr. Greenleaf for money. Dickies cluelessness would be compelling if he werent so hard to like. Later in Seven Mercies, Tom and Dickie are walking around Naples when they come across a fallen woman on the street, holding her ankle. She tells Dickie that she has just been robbed, and the cab parked nearby wont take her home because she doesnt have enough money. Dickie puts her in the car and hands the driver a wad of lire. Tom points out what was a scam. How could Dickie not see it? But even after Tom tells him, Dickie is unbothered. He carries himself with the assurance of a rich boy in charge of his own destiny, ruled only by his whims; Marge would probably describe him as indifferent, while Tom more accurately sees him as arrogant (not that his arrogance makes him any less attractive to either Marge or Tom).

Unpacking the clothes Tom brought him from America, Dickie understandably mocks the paisley robe that Tom had picked out. The hurt in Scotts puppy eyes is genuine and, for that reason, unbearable  its exactly this kind of miscalculation that endears us to Tom. He might be sleazy and creepy, but the root of his sleaziness is his desire to be loved and respected by his peers. But if he felt inadequate for not knowing the right clothes, his confidence is easily recovered when he sees what Dickie has been up to in Atrani: painting the most horrendous paintings of all time. Even Tom Ripley becomes speechless at the sight of Dickies abstract period or his hair-raising nudes of Marge. Im not a great painter, Dickie concedes weakly. But thats beside the point. Whats important is that Tom has made it in. Dickie finally invites Tom to leave his hotel and stay at the villa instead. They hang Dickies abysmal landscapes on the bare walls of his new room.

Marge arrives at the villa as Tom and Dickie are pouring themselves a drink to wrap up a day of moving Tom in. As soon as she arrives, the conversation becomes unendurably awkward again. Whats interesting about Marges role in the trios dynamic is that, while it may be tempting to think of it this way, shes not Yoko. (I would argue that Tom is Yoko, the brilliant artist who changes paradigms.) But she wants to be Yoko  she wants to feel in control of her time with Dickie, even when their relationship is supposedly predicated on a bohemian kind of freedom. A misogynistic society unfairly villainized Yoko Ono, its true, but its not outlandish to believe she probably had her moments of Marge-grade bitchiness; she is only human, after all. As they spend more time together, heightened tension and simmering jealousy color the increasingly awful relationship between Marge, Dickie, and Tom in horrid tones that rival Dickies paintings and robe.

I want to pause here to consider the way queerness emerges in the Ripley universe and how it has been interpreted across the decades. Highsmith, who was a lesbian herself, made queerness, by turns, implicit and explicit in her novels. The Price of Salt  indelibly adapted by Todd Haynes into the excellent film Carol  is her only romance novel, a story about a love affair between a young woman and a wealthy suburbanite that is also at least partly about the institutionalization of oppression. Margaret Talbot at TheNew Yorker points out that its her only book in which no violent crime occurs. But other, less explicitly queer stories in Highsmiths oeuvre, like Strangers on a Train, still set up an uneasy sexual tension between its characters. In Minghellas adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Toms queerness, though obvious, is less an explicitly acknowledged fact and more an underlying motivation, an unspoken but tangible desire that powers Toms hunger for Dickie and his life. Because film adaptations of Ripley stories have often been ambiguous on the point of Toms sexuality, Id expected to encounter a similar kind of vagueness in the original 1955 novel, but I was surprised to find that its not only an explicit theme, but the main point of tension between Tom and Marge. She is not just jealous of Dickies time spent with Tom but genuinely threatened by him and repulsed by the thought of his  or, God forbid, Dickie  being queer. (Her bitchiness is not her only character flaw. Judging by the reaction Tom has to the book shes been working on in Atrani, which he offers to give notes on under the guise that hed worked at Random House in New York, she is about as good a writer as Dickie is a painter. They truly deserve each other.)

Its exciting to see that Zaillian is bringing the question of Toms queerness to the fore, as Highsmith originally did. In Seven Mercies, he begins setting it up when Tom and Dickie run into Italys second-most-famous trust-fund-dilettante, Freddie Miles. Played by Eliot Sumner (wearer of many hats: musician, DJ, and Stings kid), Zaillian keeps Freddie consistent with the rest of the casts quietly suspicious air. Freddie seems to remember Tom from New York, from Bob Delanceys. We dont know what that means exactly  we have no reference for who Bob Delancey is in the show, though in the novel, thats the guy that Tom lives with in Manhattan  but the implication in Freddies tone is enough to suggest that he would be a controversial figure. Later, after certainly getting chewed out by Marge, Dickie calls Tom over to set the record straight. Im not queer, he says. Prodded by Tom about this apparently sudden directness, Dickie concedes that it was Marges notion that Tom was and that it was Dickies obligation to be clear.

At this point, Tom is on thin ice with Dickie. Earlier that same day, Tom had been trying to convince him to accept a deal thatd been offered to him by a man named Carlo at a local cafe. Carlo would give Tom and Dickie money to take a suitcase to Paris, no questions asked. Once the bag was dropped off, they would be under no further obligation to Carlo. I have to give this one to Dickie: its a crazy idea, one that would only sound reasonable to a person with a less-than-solid moral compass. What hurts Toms feelings is not necessarily that Dickie wont go to Paris with him, but the mocking condescension of his refusal, the way he seems to say, See, the difference between you and me  Later still, Tom is in Dickies room, where he dressed up in Dickies clothes and practiced breaking up with Marge in the mirror. This is one of my favorite scenes in all of the Ripley-verse: its a great moment in the book, and perfectly cinematic. It also is a unique situation to put a psychopath in, and suited to Toms idiosyncrasy: its not often that we see a con artist feel so embarrassed, especially after having felt hurt. Zaillian has Tom strip totally naked  he even wears Dickies underwear, which I think is a nice touch. He practices Dickies diction, his mannerisms. Dickie catches him in the middle of this routine, which definitely doesnt help his mood before he tells Tom he is romantically uninterested in men.

Tom is trying hard with Dickie; maybe too hard. But this episode also leaves us with an interesting question about Dickie himself. If he is so repulsed by Tom, as his barely conceived hostility seems to indicate, why cant he let Tom go? He doesnt seem like the kind of person whod rather withstand inconvenience than hurt someones feelings. Though I appreciate the arrogance of Johnny Flynns Dickie, I wish his performance had a more recognizable humanity, or at the very least the seed of connection. I dont buy his affection for Tom, or for Marge  and its the tension between these two feelings that should technically be the reason why, caught in the middle of two strong personalities, hes paralyzed. Its unclear whether Dickie keeps Tom around because he wants another sycophant, because he genuinely likes him, or because hes looking to sabotage his own relationship with Marge at some level. In any case, presenting Dickie as a fundamentally unlikeable character adds a layer of distance between us and Tom: why should we care what he thinks? Its a testament to Highsmiths superb crafting of these characters that even though Tom Ripley is a con artist and a grifter, not to mention creepy as all hell, I leave this episode thinking: Dickie Greenleaf is such a narcissist!
Lea Seydoux and George MacKay are doomed lovers over three lifetimes in Bertrand Bonellos haunting movie. Photo: Sideshow and Janus Films

Lea Seydoux and George MacKay play thwarted lovers over three different lifetimes in The Beast, but I wouldnt describe Bertrand Bonellos unsettling feature as a romance. It tries out different genres, from period drama to science fiction, but its closest in spirit to a horror movie. This is acknowledged by the opening scene, in which Seydoux steps out onto a green-screen set to enact being threatened by a monster that will be added in post. An off-screen voice guides her through the blocking and directs her to her mark. Can she pretend to be afraid of something that isnt there? She can, and she does, producing a show of animal panic as an ominous score strikes up and the camera closes in to capture her wild eyes. The power of her fear makes it an eerie sight, even knowing theres no actual threat  an idea that The Beast echoes and remixes as it leaps from period to period and mode to mode, flinging its characters together in different doomed scenarios.

Seydouxs character, Gabrielle, is a model and aspiring actor in 2014 Los Angeles, which explains the green screen  shell later book a gig on a similar set to shoot a grotesque safety video in which shes flung around on wires in a simulation of a car accident. In Paris in 1910, Gabrielle is the aristocratic wife of a doll-factory owner, while in the hollowed-out future of 2044, shes a dissatisfied worker in a world dominated by AI, where professional advancement requires submitting to a procedure that rids you of strong emotions by regressing you through your past lives. That last scenario is, in theory, the films present day and the point from which The Beast starts. But theres a case to be made for each timeline being the dominant one, which keeps a viewer off-balance. The earliest story line is most directly related to the films loosely cited source material, the 1903 Henry James novella The Beast in the Jungle, about a man who refuses to marry or allow anyone into his life because hes convinced that some unspecified doom is coming his way. For me, though, the 2014-set scenes exert the greatest pull, because of a daredevil bold choice: They draw inspiration from a real, and recent, mass shooter.

In each of the entwined segments, Gabrielle encounters MacKays character, Louis, and is inexorably drawn to him despite it always leading to her destruction. In 1910, hes an Englishman she reencounters at a party after meeting him at a dinner years before, and in 2044, hes another candidate questioning whether the purification process is right for him. But in 2014, hes an incel with violent intentions who stalks Gabrielle back to the sprawling place where shes house-sitting, representing a direct threat to her life rather than one to her stability or to her heart. The paralyzing fear in Jamess book becomes a specifically masculine one in the movie  a fear of vulnerability and getting hurt. In flooded Paris, Louis pursues the now happily married Gabrielle, having been too intimidated to express interest in her when they first met. In the future, where everyone wears gas masks to walk through city streets so desolate that wildlife freely roams, Louis looks like a fellow holdout against the numbing bargain offered by AI but cant be relied upon to hold strong.

In 2014, hes channeled his apprehension about rejection into rage, which he expresses in misogynistic video rants that draw from Elliot Rodger. When Gabrielle approaches Louis in the wake of an earthquake that brings everyone outdoors, hes stiff and unreceptive to her advances, unwilling to accept that she might genuinely be interested. This Louis is significantly more extreme than the others, and The Beast flounders a bit in trying to link the fears holding all three back. But thats also whats so engaging about the movie  it overflows with intriguing ideas, even if they arent all fully explored. Different elements recur like rhymes: The doll factory in 1910 is mirrored by an animatronic toy that keeps Gabrielle company in 2014 and by the gynoid, played memorably by Saint Omers Guslagie Malanda, assigned to watch over her in 2044. Gabrielle is rejected by a trio of women at a Hollywood Boulevard nightclub in Los Angeles, only for the exact same encounter to happen at a retro disco in the future. There are repeat run-ins with clairvoyants, bodies floating in water, and admiring touches of hands. Throughout all this, Seydoux, an absurdly watchable actor who came close to stealing last months Dune: Part Two with only a handful of scenes, shifts seamlessly between corseted melodrama and dystopian sci-fi.

Still, its in the period closest to the present day where shes most impressive. Bonello cribs heavily from David Lynch for the 2014 segment, which is suffused with dreamlike dread as the lonely Gabrielle haunts dance spots and drifts around the fish tank of a mansion shes been living in, her desire for human connection overcoming her sense of self-preservation. Its difficult to make a character feel tangible and human while also allowing them to do inexplicable things. But even when Gabrielle is in the grip of forces she seems hopeless to control, Seydoux finds warmth and a kamikaze openness that allows room for hope even amid several existences worth of pain. Better to be contradictory and messy and feel too much than to be dully consistent  praise that also applies to The Beast as a whole.
[L-R]; Not good, doing great, fine. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Stefania M. DAlessandro/Getty Images, Kayla Oaddams/FilmMagic, Lionel Hahn/Getty Images

If you want to see Hollywood hunks  good-looking male actors who star in movies and television and maybe have an indulgent, unnecessary musical side project  the place you go to see them is Instagram. Thats as close as any regular person would get, despite what fanfic or movies starring Anne Hathaway would have you believe. Opening up Instagram should be a good time, in theory, but lets face it: The hunk posting strategy is getting dire. The hunks are not posting themselves. In fact, theyre barely even posting at all.

A decade ago, a hunky, up-and-coming actor would have a thotty Dubsmash account or a boy band was contractually obligated by Simon Cowell to do video diaries. Though it may not seem like it now, hunks used to post! They used to show us their friends, they used to do travel photo dumps, and they used to post unflattering gym selfies. The latter-day studs  Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, any Chris, really  have their accounts under strict lockdown, posting for promo only. This behavior is influencing actors on the rise to keep a boring and sparse Instagram presence. Cant some of them at least do a casual photo dump? Spon??? Worse than no-posters, some actors pivot to a grainy DSLR aesthetic, which makes a cursory Instagram scroll feel same-y and dull. If anyone should be cajoled into having fun on Instagram, its hotties! To better understand the untapped potential, heres a taxonomy of how the boys in movies you love are posting these days.

The Analog Photographer

A quick peep through these accounts suggests these guys would rather be behind the camera than in front of it for once in their lives. Well, until they direct a movie, they should also be in front of the camera, like maybe their phone camera instead of their vintage Canon. These guys eschew objectification in an attempt at both self-directed privacy and a half-hearted attempt to be taken seriously.

Paul Mescal a.k.a. @bigbreadpedlar: Mescal shot to fame in Hulus Normal People, and hes since gone on to star in a number of indie films prior to this years Gladiator 2. Part of Mescals enduring appeal is commitment to his friends and family, as evidenced in his mostly quiet Instagram where he shares photos he takes of the people he loves  including, most recently, Gladiator co-star Pedro Pascal. Theres a sleepy niceness to it all, but still: Wouldnt it be fun to see him in shorts on there?

Josh OConnor a.k.a. @joshographee: OConnor might be best known to American audiences for his stint playing Charles on The Crown, but this springs Challengers promises to lob him into a new echelon. OConnors Instagram updates mostly with mostly black-and-white photos presumably taken by him; as the handle might suggest, its more of a photography account than an actors account  most recently sharing pictures from his work on the arty, Italian La Chimera. Being relatively late to the Josh OConnor fandom means that I was otherwise unaware that he was, briefly, reviewing Dominos pizzas on his IG stories, suggesting that a better future could be out there.

The Publicist

A haphazard scroll down the page of one of these hunks yields only photoshoots from awards shows, getting ready for awards shows, magazine spreads, getting ready for magazine spreads, premieres, and getting ready for premieres. Harry Styles gets an extra tip of the hat because on top of his professional concert photos, hes still inexplicably shilling gender-neutral (?) nail polish. These guys havent logged onto their own verified accounts in years, and we likely wont see them back there anytime soon.

Nicholas Galitzine a.k.a. @nicholasgalatzine: Galaztine shot to fame with last summers double-header of Red, White & Royal Blue and Bottoms, and that shock to the system means youll rarely see him post anything thats not editorial. Thats not stopping any time soon: Next up he has Mary & George and a swooning role in The Idea of You, in which he plays the type of guy he is in real life except I hope that guy is more fun on Instagram. If I see photo credit on here one more time 

Harry Styles a.k.a. @harrystyles: Proof that looking at the craziest pants on a relatively normal guy loses its appeal after a significant amount of time. Styles has been one of the most boring people to follow on Instagram for a while; even his most dynamic photos lack a genuine personality.

Jeremy Allen White a.k.a. @jeremyallenwhitefinally: That Whites personal life has taken a turn for the tumultuous is a more than valid excuse to pivot to promo only, but amid all the pap photos of his cig and Rosalia breaks, we know hes out there chilling. His page is all awards-season thank-yous and gratitude posts. Its April now  he hasnt posted since January  please  I know The Bear wont be back until later this year, but someone has to do something.

The Photographer and the Publicist

Now why does Charles Melton have a promo-only account and a photography account? The former Riverdale star and current Todd Haynes muse spent his indie promo season updating both accounts, populating his former with photos from press events and the latter with pics from his time on set. Were I his social-media manager, Id encourage him to merge the two and also maybe go Live once in a while. Whats the worst that could happen?

The Recluse

Leave them alone! Theyre working! They might have posted moodboards and screenshots and candid and funny photos pre-pandemic, but this is a different world now and youll only see them once every four months when they have an editorial to share. Dont even go looking for them  all the work is up on the screen.

Jacob Elordi a.k.a. @jacobelordi: Its crazy to feel nostalgic for when a six-foot-five Australian would post low-res screenshots of a Mike Leigh movie, but here we are. Elordis years of posting during the height of Euphoria suggested that he was a student of film and art who was eager to transition into bigger and better. Now that hes done that, hes given himself permission to go dark.

Harris Dickinson a.k.a. @harrisdickinson: THIS is what we need to see again from everyone on this list.

Joe Alwyn a.k.a. @joe.alwyn: When Alwyn is posting, which is rare, like once-a-year rare, hes transitioned into a casual photo dump that occasionally features both press photos and memes, a rare feat. Its clear that having the most famous girlfriend of all time led to a significant amount of reclusivity, but what better transition out of a long, public relationship than taking on the exact opposite posting strategy to Taylor Swift? Show us (and her) what were missing. Literally!

The Good-Time Guy

Despite all these future Oscar hopefuls and general non-posters, there are still Hotties Who Have Their Passwords out there. These guys GET it and they KNOW it. They post casually without much stress or oversight, have not embarrassed themselves or spoken out of turn, seem to have a fun, cool life, and  most importantly  are willing to share it with the thirsty public.

Barry Keoghan a.k.a. @keoghan92: To be fair, theres a ton of promo on Keoghans page, but that he always has time to post an unflattering photo (or two) with an industry peer suggests a looseness thats hard to come by. Keoghans appeal both on the press circuit and on his page is that hes a goofy, grateful guy (a.k.a. Irish  Mescal, take notes) who is just as happy hanging with his mates as he is going to a gala.

Timothee Chalamet a.k.a. @tchalamet: AirPods in and peace sign at the ready with a Wonka suit avatar is unfortunately why we all keep coming back to this little weirdo. Chalamet was and remains the original hunk poster of this current generation, as hes always seemed eager to share at least a little of what he gets up to. That hes kept up pics (bad, unflattering, shitposts) from years ago suggests he understands that Instagram is more of an archive of the personal than a vehicle for streaming film promotion.

Ncuti Gatwa a.k.a. @ncutigatwa: This is the heir apparent to the Tom Hardy Myspace photo era: a hot, fun actor eager to share photos from vacation, outfits hes worn, and gym selfies! GYM SELFIES ARE BACK! This guy works hard on his body and hes happy to show it.

Jack Lowden a.k.a. @jack.lowden: Heres a celebrity account that has it all: promo shots, amateur photography, shoddy pics of a television screen, mirror selfie with famous significant other, occasional updates on Lego sets hes building (this was in an Instagram Story  youll just have to trust me). Lowdens low-stakes approach suggests what I wish all the hunks here knew: None of this is that serious, just have fun with it while you can.
Tokyo Vice Endgame Season 2 Episode 10 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * *  Previous Next  Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: Kumiko Tsuchiya/Max

I want to report on what really happens. Thats it.

Thats what Jake Adelstein told Samantha Porter in the first episode of Tokyo Vice. They were both cast as vintage Michael Mann protagonists, then  driven outsiders with an insatiable lust for greatness in a subterranean field. Navigating the complex underworld of Tokyo crime, politics, finance, and violence has brought its fair share of consequences to both of them. Theyre both woven into a thicker, more intricate fabric of society now, just as the balance between Japans over- and underlords is about to see a huge upset. As Shinzo Tozawas plans to merge his newly acquired yakuza conglomerate with the highest levels of Japans legit government (including a newly minted Prime Minister in his pocket), our season-two finale serves up a lean, mean microcosm of Tokyos macro plots. The yakuza, police, newsroom, organized crime at the top levels of finance and government, all moving in byzantine sync toward a thrilling endgame.

So where do we start? With the Yoshino, of course. Its always been about that damn boat. At the end of the last episode, Katagiri had just gotten word from Kazuko Tozawa (thanks to Misakis intel, given under duress) that her husband would keep any documentation of his FBI deal in one of two places: the safe in his suite, and a safe on board the Yoshino. Now, he and Nagata are planning a simultaneous raid on both locations  one last ride for Superintendent Nagata before shes transferred somewhere less exciting.

The plan is to raid Tozawas suite and the Yoshino at once to avoid tipping him off. If they find what theyre looking for, Katagiri wants to give the evidence to Jake to run the story. But Tozawa will find a way to kill it like he always does, Nagata reminds him. But if Tozawas enemies learned of his betrayals, they might exact revenge on their own. Katagiri sees the wisdom of this pretty quickly, but he wants to give Jake a chance to wrap things up properly first. Plus, Katagiris going to need Jakes help to get on the Yoshino.

Jake, meanwhile, is still hiding out with Misaki, Sam, and Sato, courtesy of Chihara-kai (one of the great joys of the last half of this season has been watching everyones reaction to Jake hooking up with Tozawas mistress). Satos getting antsy, to say the least, not sure how much longer they can hide before Tozawas men find them. Little do they know, all four of them are about to play major roles in the grander scheme to take Tozawa down. Get ready to chomp on your cigar and say through a toothy grin, I love when a plan comes together.

Anyway, Jake borrows Misakis phone and, against Satos demands for no phone usage in the hideout, calls Emi to dictate the FBI story. Thats when he finds out the story isnt running, and Tin Tins in the hospital, stable but still in a bad way from his stabbing wounds. I promise you, Emi says over the phone, Ill find another home for the story.

And find another home she does. Emi is the Obi-Wan of Meicho Shimbun reporters, the most well-rounded harbinger of her professions ideals, if not the highest-ranking one. Despite the disastrous events between her, brother Kei, and boyfriend Shingo (culminating in last Keis manic, failed soft-kidnapping event last episode), she knows she can take the story to Shingo to publish in his magazine. Shingo understands the stakes, but hes not in a position to endanger his own staff and publish. Are the lives of my reporters less valuable than yours? he asks. (Hes also understandably stand-offish in the immediate aftermath of the ultimatum he dropped on Emi: Im out, let me know when you figure shit out with your brother.)

So thats on ice for now. Meanwhile, Jakes stuck at the hideout with the news of Tin Tins stabbing and a head of racing thoughts, wondering what the fuck is wrong with him. It was my fault. I pushed this story. I dragged everyone into it. Theres some truth to that, but as Sato reminds him, this is also happening because Jake did his job. Not necessarily all in the bounds of his official job description, but his job as its needed in the greater Tokyo underground organism. And when we do our jobs, Sato says, there are consequences. Every move, no matter how critical or out of pocket, draws blood somewhere.

Our boy Satos already coming in full force with his hard-earned, reluctant oyabuns wisdom. It hits with Jake enough to knock loose an idea. Thats right, partner, this aint exactly a Western youre living in. You cant just go charging in on enemy territory like Sonny Crockett, not even in a metaphorical reporters sense. This is Tokyo. Moving parts abound. Ripples in the fabric of society, not splashes. Time to call in your real partner in the job of Tokyo underground operator.

Sato gives up his phone and Jake gets Detective K on the line, lets him know about Tin Tins stabbing. The story is shelved. Time for the Plan B (filed under Breaking Bad). Katagiri arrives at the hideout real quick, and the main players in the endgame are all lined up. From Misaki, the owner of the Yoshino on paper, Katagiri gets a signature to warrant a search of the yacht. And for Sato, a deal to do whatever Chiahara-kai sees fit with the FBI documents. Cool with Sato, whos fixing to show the rest of the yakuza bosses proof that Tozawa was an FBI informant directly responsible for the yakuza busts in Hawaii and San Francisco. But why not take this to the newspaper or the police? We are past that now, Katagiri says.

With the warrant in hand, Katagiri sets off to search the Yoshino, with Jake riding shotgun (okay, maybe sometimes you can just straight up do Miami Vice on Tokyo Vice). At the same time, Nagata barges in on Tozawas suite with a warrant to search his safe. Hot off his official unveiling on the Suzaku Financial board and a new toy Prime Minister all but secured, Tozawa offers up his usual sinister-pleasant demeanor. Nagata finds nothing of consequence in the safe and bolts, then calls Katagiri to confirm. Once on board, Yoshino, Katagiri, and Jake find the safe already open and empty. The guy who grabbed the documents doesnt get far, and theyre able to use him to call Tozawa and make him think the documents are safe.

It would have been a great story, says Jake, looking over the secured FBI documents. But wait, whats this thing with Shigematsus signature on it? It looks like we have a story, after all. Were minus a player, fallen in the line of duty, but were getting the newsroom band back together, baby. While Katagiri drops the FBI documents off to Sato, Jake meets up with Emi and Trendy with proof Shigematsu received big, otherwise unreported campaign donations from Tozawa. Tokyos most notorious gangster tries to buy the next Prime Minister, Jake lays out the headline. We print this, Shigematsus done. Trendy figures Meicho wont print if they fear more attacks, but now that Emis confident Baku isnt the mole in the newsroom, she will give him a chance to publish. Write it. And give this bastard what he deserves, Baku tells her after reviewing the documents.

Say, while were on the subject of who we can trust at Meicho, I cant say the reveal of the Meicho arsonist was something I saw coming by a long shot. I suppose that, much like Emi, I was too involved in the action at hand to grasp the full institutional corruption at Meicho Shimbun.

I destroyed that tape, Ozaki tells Emi behind closed doors.  If we had run a story about a minister involved in a sex cruise, the government would have frozen us out for years. No access to sources. No access to the truth. There it is: the institutional version of truth corrupted on arrival, vested interest, and so forth. How would that serve our readers? For now, Ozaki aims, or at least says he aims to show the uncovered documents to the right people, Shigematsu will withdraw his name for consideration for P.M. Justice will be served.

Emis not buying it. No dangling of a promotion will get her to forget who she is and the fates of justice she serves. If making such decisions is a prerequisite for sitting in your chair, then I do not want it. The choice is clear but no less devastating. Rinko Kikuchis performance in this scene, particularly the incredible mix of resilience and heartache she expresses as she walks out of Ozakis office, is a hell of a reminder that Emi is the true heart and soul of the show.

Elsewhere, Samantha, Misaki, and the boys of Chihara-kai go to Club Polina to hide out. Good for Misaki that Sam is a bona fide expert at making B, C, and D plans under a tight deadline. Theyve just sat down in Sams office when Tozawa calls Misaki, demanding she come back to him, and bring her gaijin with her. Him or your mother, he says. The choice is yours. Sam advises to set the meeting at a fancy restaurant Tozawa used to take Misaki to, then calls Sato so he can arrange the simultaneous arrival of the yakuza party.

Im sick of discussing Tozawa, one of the other bosses says in the emergency yakuza meeting. Weve all made our deals with him. The tone is hostile at first, but the tune changes the moment Sato lays the FBI documents with Tozawas signature down in front of them. He has lied to your face and stabbed you in the back, Sato tells his elders. He has no respect. I respect every man in this room. Nows the time to take down Tozawa, for which they all must play a part.

Under a bridge, tucked in the shadows, taking stock and gearing up for the final showdown, Katagiri lets Jake know he wont be arresting Tozawa. He gave the contract to Sato, who will administer a different kind of justice. The right choice isnt always the moral choice, and Katagiri waited till now to tell Jake to keep his partners hands from getting too dirty. A bit of a feeble gesture. Every players hands are getting dirty by the minute in this endgame. But its no less genuinely and deeply felt.

Once Jake gets the call from Samantha, our whole interconnected underworld gathers at the pivotal moment, having hit all the right pressure points at the right time to bring down a common enemy. Tozawas final shellacking is a still, yet fever-pitched climax to the central conflict thats made up Tokyo Vice thus far. It would have been delicious enough to watch him verbally squirm around the proof of his betrayal, but the real chefs kiss comes when Kazuko Tozawa comes through the door, leveling a room full of dick-swinging gangsters with her ultimate air of authority. She lays a beautiful dagger down before her husband. You have become a liability to us all. So you will settle accounts, or we will settle them for you. Shinzos cooked. And with her punk husband out of the picture, Kazuko gets one more icy line in on another young punk on the scene. I gave you a chance to take care of things so it would not come to this, she tells Jake. Thats right, Kazuko was the one who sent him the Yoshino tape. Exposing it would have checked Shinzos power much sooner. But you let it slip through your fingers. I will not forget that. Ooof. Thats when Id be like, Nice knowing ya, Tokyo, I gotta bounce.

From there, things nicely wrap up to varying degrees on Tokyo Vice. (For everyone except Trendy, who ended up bearing the brunt of Jakes inability to be a friend first and reporter second. Turns out, Jake couldnt help but give up American embassy BF Jasons name to Lynn Oberfeld. From now on, stay away from me, Trendy says. Its a heartbreaking rift.) The Tozawa FBI informant story is published. Meanwhile, things are mostly looking up for Emi and Shingo (good for them). Samantha arranges a meeting with Kazuko and secures a hefty finders fee for some insider real estate investment info, courtesy of the late Masahiro Ohno. Sato is officially and ceremoniously instated as the oyabun of Chihara-kai. The job is looking good on our boy when Sam shows up at his door for a sultry see ya later. Im gonna recharge my batteries and do some thinking, she says. Then Ill be back. Something tells me this wont be your typical white girls eat-pray-love trip.

And we can all breathe a sweet sigh of relief now that Misaki has broken up with Jake. Lets be real: Who among us thought this would ever go anywhere serious? Misaki is ready for a boring, safe life away from the yakuza and the police. Jake is always going to have one foot in the danger that birthed their romantic dalliance to begin with. Its not long-term partnership material. You will do, daring, exciting things, Misakis parting words. And I will read all about them in the paper.

So we close out the show (hopefully not forever, fingers crossed) nestled in the warmth of the shows central bromance. Our true partners in Vice, Adelstein and Katagiri, nursing some whiskeys from the retired detectives back porch. I love doing nothing, Katagiri says in response to Jakes protest that he wont stay retired. It is you, Jake, who cannot do nothing. There will always be another them to get, another case to crack. Peace isnt an option, not even for a moment.

I can do nothing better than you, Jake retorts, insisting on a competitive game of count-to-ten. At the end of the day, Jake cant meditate for ten seconds without having to take a leak, and Katagiri cant do it without the infernal hum of Tokyo, in all its movement and machinations and people living and breathing and fighting and dying, bringing him back to earth. The city never sleeps, and neither do the reluctant harbingers of her rippling underground. Action, consequence, repeat.
Midway through Take It Cheesy, the Top Chef: Wisconsin editors decide to have a little fun. The chefs are preparing for the first-ever Top Chef Cheese Festival, for which theyll have to prepare more than 100 servings of their dish. Everyone has a different randomly selected cheese, and everyone knows theyre going to be cooking outside in nearly 100-degree heat. The opportunities for their dishes are seemingly endless; the only restriction is they have to feature their specific cheese. But as the contestants run around Whole Foods, Top Chef rapidly cuts between them to reveal a common theme: Nearly half are planning to cook croquettes. All of the options in the world, and this is where we landed  a deep-fried potato ball thats a wedding-buffet mainstay.

Now, would I eat all these croquettes? Of course. My palate is a basic bitch, and a ball of hot cheese is not something I will turn down. If I reject the offer of one, this is how you will know I have been taken and require saving immediately. But Top Chef wants us to think that for this caliber of chefs, this approach is a little rote, and the editing emphasizes that. Manny and Alisha and Kevin, Charly and Laura and Michelle: Their carts are stacked high with starch, their workstations bubble over with cheese sauce, and their descriptions of their dishes are combined into a repetitive croquette supercut. Its absurd! It feels like the chefs are resting on their laurels!

It also makes for an engaging episode where we get a glimpse into how certain chefs might be limited by training that steers them into the same flavor profiles and techniques, and see others who are willing to take risks begin to pull away. Some of the same faces are already popping up in the top and the bottom tiers of this season, and a repeat high performer wins while a repeat low performer goes home.

Take It Cheesy starts off with a Quickfire challenge featuring a variety of local cherries from Door County, Wisconsin. For guest judges Carla Hall (a Top Chef season eight alumna and constant presence on the Food Network) and actress Clea DuVall  two names that are very phonetically pleasant together  the chefs have to cook a dish featuring both cherries and a surprise ingredient hidden behind a little door. (The episode tries to generate some drama by having each chef name who picks an ingredient after them, but the ingredients are unknown and theres no trading allowed, so the impact of Manny being picked last and ending up with soy sauce isnt really there.) Some of the surprise ingredients are weird, like Michelle getting ginseng, of which Wisconsin is apparently a top producer, and Danny ending up with chunky bamboo shoots. But the chefs with sweet ingredients (Charly with chocolate, Kenny with marshmallows, Laura with condensed milk) seem more upset about it, and their attempts to counter all that sugar ends up mostly backfiring.

Theres a bit of time tension with the chefs struggling to pit the cherries, and certain dishes clearly arent coming together as intended. A few contestants turn to pork because pork and cherries are a classic combination, so Alisha decides to go for cabbage, but struggles to evenly cook the wedges shes charring on the grill, while Savannah worries that her chicken-liver mousse is too loose. There are no catastrophes, though, and everyone presents their dishes to Kristen, Carla, and Clea without incident. Like last weeks Quickfire, the judges are pretty inscrutable while eating, only really breaking their silence when Kristen asks Kevin what the French word poele means. He describes it as a saute; it also seems to mean a frying pan. Regardless of what the exact translation is, the judges like it!

On the top are Kevins beef tenderloin with a poele of cherries and black garlic; Savannahs chicken-liver mousse with panzanella salad and a cherry vinaigrette; and Rasikas cipollini onions with tart cherries, charred pepper relish, and Berbere spice. All the dishes that do well used the brightness and tartness of the cherries best, but reigning elimination champ and immunity holder Rasika wins, bringing her cash total so far to $15,000. On the bottom are Charlys charred golden beets with chocolate-cherry demi glace, Kennys toasted marshmallows with rum, cherry, and fried spring-roll paper, and Alishas charred cabbage with a cherry-serrano reduction; Charlys beets are too earthy, Kennys dish too disparate, and Alishas cabbage undercooked.

The chefs wave goodbye to Clea, and then the randomness of the Quickfire continues with randomness in the Elimination challenge. They pull knives to find out the cheese they need to feature at the inaugural Top Chef Cheese Festival, an event celebrating Wisconsin cheese aficionados and cheesemakers, including Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese and Pam Hodgson of Sartori, one of only two women Master Cheesemakers. (Becoming a Master Cheesemaker is a whole state-organized program!) The diners favorite dish will win the challenge and get immunity, the judges will select the bottom three dishes and who goes home, and the chefs are able to taste their cheese selection  including 15-year cheddar, 1000-day-aged Gouda, triple-cream brie (which Kevin lucks into), Dunbarton Blue cheese, and cheese curds  before they plan what theyre going to cook.

As previously discussed: A lot of them go with croquettes! Frankly, the trend seems to piss off Tom; as he visits chef after chef in the kitchen, you can see his grin get tighter and his energy curdle into malevolence as he learns of the mind-meld Rasika dubs Top Chef Croquette Fest. But there are other worrisome things outside of the great croquette confluence, like how Manny seems to have no idea what to do with cheese curds, and Kennys plan for a crab rangoon salad with a Gorgonzola cheese cream, which makes Tom and Carla trade panicked looks. The next day, as the chefs battle bees and Gail looks immaculate in a white sundress, those two dishes fail to impress because of issues with both technique (Mannys compressed potatoes didnt set correctly and dont fry well, Kennys salad is too watery) and concept (Manny doesnt transform the cheese curds at all, Kenny doesnt highlight the Gorgonzola). The same flaws plague Kevins dish, with his brie overly breaded and his truffle paste overpowering. Its not a surprise when those three dishes are both the diners and the judges least favorites. Tom gives them all side-eye, it is delightfully passive-aggressive.

Most of the other croquettes  or, as Gail describes them, really nice fried balls  end up safe. Tom, Gail, Kristen, Carla, and fellow guest judge Dane Baldwin praise Dannys cheddar fritter made of pate a choux and served with cheddar foam; Amandas Mount Raclette arancini with correctly cooked rice (a rare feat on Top Chef!) and fig and olive gremolata; and Alishas ham and brick cheese croquette with sherry aioli. Less good are Charlys yucca and Canela cheese croquette (in which Gail struggles to taste the cheese) with tomato-mango sauce, and Lauras Gouda Reserve potato croquette with peach mostarda (Carla complains about the thickness of the croquettes roux, while Tom says the mostarda has no flavor). Michelles coconut curry collard green saag with a Pleasant Ridge Reserve potato fritter is the rare croquette they love, with Kristen calling it fucking fantastic. Overall, though, it seems like the judges prefer the non-deep-fried items, like Kaleenas Merlot BellaVitano mac and cheese with merlot mushrooms, Savannahs Oaxaca cheese quesadilla with whipped avocado and hatch chili and roasted corn salsa, Dans Sancho Cruz Manchego gnocchi dumplings with cheese foam and olive tapenade, and Rasikas Dunbarton Blue paniyaram (a rice flour dumpling) with braised chicken korma that Gail calls beautifully balanced and is most visibly excited about.

But! Rasika isnt in the diners voted-upon top three (and she looks a little irritated by it). Those honors go to Kaleena, Dan, and Michelle, with Michelle walking away with the win, immunity, and knowledge that shes one of the judges favorites too. (They dont share the others they would have ranked high, which I would like to have known.) On the bottom are the obvious missteps: Manny, for serving what Carla calls just out-of-the-bag cheese curds; Kenny, for serving them a celebration of so many things, I didnt know what they were (Carla again, savage); and Kevin, who Tom chastises for assuming that an American cheese challenge would automatically necessitate fried stuff. Manny describes his own dish as indefensible and Tom calls Kevins terrible, yet ultimately its Kenny who goes home for the crab salad Gail describes as wet mush. Im personally shocked Kevin is still hanging around, but just like Valentine bouncing last week, I think Kenny being in the bottom for the Quickfire helped secure his demise. Ill miss him and his ideas  his premiere-episode pho-spiced roast chicken sounded so good, and a crab rangoon salad (without Gorgonzola!) would probably be quite refreshing. Long may he twerk.

Assorted amuse-bouche

 Tom hat watch: We have a hat, folks! Its big and it looks like straw. Gail was very noticeably burnt after the afternoon elimination challenge, so I guess Tom really did think ahead in terms of sun protection. Kudos to him.

 Also, Tom is right: There is no such thing as too much cheese. Kristen, please pack your knives and go, et cetera.

 Clea DuVall really is a legend; you should watch But Im a Cheerleader, The Faculty, and Carnivale immediately; and her best-friendship with Melanie Lynskey is very lovely.

 Next week: Buddha Lo is back. I thought Top Chef would wait a little longer before having him judge a challenge since he just won back-to-back seasons, but clearly I was incorrect.

 More gremolata???

 Do we think that people are going to be more adventurous about cooking Indian food now that they dont have to reckon with Padma as a judge? I was surprised Michelle went in that direction, if only because in previous seasons contestants have mostly avoided that flavor profile. Let us never forget Stephanie Cmars Indian nachos, bless her.

 Laura should have cleaned up after spilling goop on the floor and should have apologized; Dan was classy to let it go.

 The dishes I most wanted to eat this episode: Rasikas cherries and onions and Dannys cheese doughnut.

 What are your personal cherry rankings? Sour cherries play a pivotal role in Persian food, so they are a cultural favorite of mine. (Very good in faloodeh, which are noodles soaked with rose water, frozen, and served with lemon or lime chunks and cherry syrup.) And if Rainier cherries werent $15 or so per pound, I would also go HAM on them at every opportunity.

 Does Amanda actually sound like Daria? Discuss amongst yourselves.

 LAST CHANCE KITCHEN SPOILERS AHEAD: Despite growing up on The X-Files, I am not prone to conspiracy theories, but LCK is about to transform me into Spooky Mulder. If you arent caught up, heres whats going on. In the aired Top Chef premiere Chefs Test, first eliminated chef David didnt get offered the ability to compete on LCK, and in the first episode of LCK, The 16th Chef, hes not mentioned at all. (David said on his Instagram of LCK, I wasnt allowed to participate, beyond that I cant say anything else NDAs.) Instead, the eliminated Valentine had to go up against surprise 16th chef Soo Ahn, who has to win five LCK episodes in a row to make it into Top Chef. Soo beat Valentine (his fried lobster fish and chips > Valentines lobster bake with poached lobster), and he also beats Kenny in The Big Stink (his eggplant parmesan with roasted tomato sauce and bruleed Limburger cheese > Kennys Vietnamese rice paper pizza with egg, melon, basil, and Limburger cheese). He now needs to only beat three other contestants to make it in, and the whole setup feels fundamentally unfair to me  the eliminated Top Chef-ers are coming in already stressed from the pressure of the competition and from the experience of losing, and theyre facing someone who for five weeks doesnt have to deal with Quickfires, eliminations, or any of the in-game drama? Why not just start the series with 16 chefs, instead of adding another change to how things work that seemingly undermines a significant chunk of the contestants? I have a sense that Soo is going to win all his challenges and shock the remaining cheftestants when he makes it into the series proper, and Im trusting no one until then.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The partnership between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia has entered a new phase, with the green energy sector acting as a key driver of this cooperation.

During the Fourth Industrial Revolution, two countries, both rich in hydrocarbons, are collaborating to transition to clean energy. This serves as a prime example of effective collaboration to achieve global goals.

Azerbaijan, a dependable oil and gas supplier to global markets, and Saudi Arabia, a leader in the Muslim-Arab world, an OPEC member, and a G20 participant, are joining forces on large-scale clean energy projects. Theyre not stopping there; they plan to further expand their cooperation in this field.

For instance, on January 13, 2022, the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabias ACWA Power signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in wind energy on the Caspian Sea.

ACWA Power, a globally recognized company, has a renewable energy production capacity of 8,000 MW and an overall investment capacity of 30,200 MW in the electricity sector, with an investment portfolio totaling $45 billion.

ACWA Power will oversee the construction of the 240 MW Khizi-Absheron wind power plant, with a project budget of $300 million, marking the largest investment by the Saudi company outside its home country.

Thanks to the electricity generated by the plant, 220 million cubic meters of natural gas will be saved, and 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided. The groundbreaking ceremony for the wind farm took place on January 13, 2022. The project will see the installation of 40 turbines, each with a capacity of 6 MW. Seventeen turbines will be set up in the Pirakashkul village of the Absheron district, and 23 turbines will be installed in the Sitalchay village of the Khizi district. The project is being carried out under a build-own-operate model. ACWA Power and the Azerbaijani government have agreed to expedite the project. Transmission lines in the designated area have already been constructed, and the first turbines could arrive as early as April 2024. More staff will be involved than initially planned, which will accelerate the implementation of several technical aspects of the project. This acceleration could lead to the wind farm being operational by 2025.

The project is receiving strong support from international financial institutions. In October 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) arranged a syndicated loan of $197.1 million (186.9 million euros) for ACWA Power Azerbaijan Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of ACWA Power. The project is also being co-financed by the OPEC Fund for International Development. In December 2023, the OPEC Fund approved a $50 million loan to ACWA Power Wind for the construction of the Khizi-Absheron wind power plant.

In addition to the Khizi-Absheron wind farm, ACWA Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan to explore the construction of a 1 GW onshore wind power plant, a 1.5 GW offshore wind power plant, and the implementation of hydrogen projects in the country.

ACWA Power is also one of two companies that responded positively to the Azerbaijani government's proposal to create a green energy zone in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur. The company has expressed its intention to build wind and solar power plants in these territories in the next stage. These projects represent a significant contribution to Azerbaijan's goal of becoming a green growth country and a supplier of green energy. The collaboration between Azerbaijan and ACWA Power is crucial not only for providing new capacities for the planned green energy corridor from the Caspian to Europe but also for reducing carbon emissions and accelerating the energy transition.

Beyond energy, the cooperation between the two countries extends to other sectors as well. Trade between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia amounted to $30.8 million in 2023, showing a 36.3 percent growth compared to 2022. However, these figures do not fully reflect the enormous potential for further development of bilateral economic relations.

This cooperation underscores the potential for future relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, with green energy serving as a key driver that will likely impact various other sectors as well.

Saudi Arabia is dedicated to collaborating with Azerbaijan in the process of the new energy transition, and Baku deeply values this commitment.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Snam has decided to use its pre-emption right to boost its ownership in Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l. from 7.3 percent to 30 percent, Trend reports.

According to Snam, the decision to exercise this right came after VTTI, a Dutch energy storage and infrastructure firm, signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the company.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2024, pending necessary regulatory approvals. After completion, VTTI will hold 70 percent of Adriatic LNG's corporate capital, with Snam holding the remaining 30 percent.

In this plan, Snam aims to strengthen Italy's regasification infrastructure to improve energy security and diversify the country's energy sources. Currently, Snam has stakes in all regulated LNG regasification plants in Italy: the Panigaglia terminal near La Spezia, operational since 1971; the OLT FSRU Toscana off Livorno, operational since 2013; and the FSRU Golar Tundra in Piombino, operating since July 2023. These facilities have a combined regasification capacity of about 23 bcm.

As part of efforts to diversify gas supplies following the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, Snam acquired the floating and storage regasification unit BW Singapore. This unit will begin operations off the coast of Ravenna in early 2025. With this addition, Italy's total regasification capacity will increase to 28 bcm, evenly split between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts, matching the volumes imported from Russia via pipeline in 2021.

Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l. owns the Adriatic LNG regasification terminal located near Porto Viro (Rovigo), Italy. The Adriatic LNG terminal is Italy's biggest offshore facility for unloading, storing, and converting liquefied natural gas (LNG). It has a yearly regasification capacity of 9.6 bcm, which is roughly 14 percent of Italy's current gas needs.
Colosseum registers 24 per cent rise in visitors.

The Colosseum in Rome attracted more than 12 million visitors in 2023, Italy's culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano announced during an Easter visit to the ancient amphitheatre.

In a statement, Sangiuliano said the 12,212,000 visitors to the Colosseum Archaeological Park in 2023 represented a "significant" increase - of about 24 per cent - compared to the 9.3 million visitors in 2022.

The minister noted that in general Italy has seen a increase in visitor numbers "in almost all museums and archaeological parks, but the Colosseum stands out together with Pompeii and the Uffizi".

The Colosseum Archaeological Park, which recently launched a new booking platform, welcomed 7.5 million visitors in 2019, before the covid pandemic.

Photo credit: Viacheslav Lopatin / Shutterstock.com.
Dining chat: A waiter gave our anniversary bubbly to the table next to us. What should we have done?
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Woodside, the largest Australian oil and gas company, is at risk of facing a fresh investor backlash over its response to climate change as a key shareholder advisory group recommends voting against its decarbonisation plans and the re-election of chairman Richard Goyder.

The Perth-based energy giant has been seeking to shore up investor support for its climate action and transition plan  a strategy detailing how it intends to tackle emissions and continue operating in a world thats ratcheting up climate ambition  ahead of a vote at its annual meeting later this month.

Richard Goyder is the chairman of Australian oil and gas giant Woodside. Credit: Tony McDonough

However, as investors prepare to cast their votes in the advisory poll, influential proxy adviser CGI Glass Lewis  a firm that advises large investors on how to vote on a range of corporate matters such as executive pay and board nominees  has recommended clients reject the Woodside climate plan and vote against Goyders re-election.

In its advice, CGI Glass Lewis pointed to what it said was Woodsides continuous failure to provide adequate disclosure of how it has sought to address shareholders long-held climate concerns.
A Perth driving assessor has been accused of indecently assaulting three women during their practical assessments.

A WA Police spokesman said the 38-year-old Rivervale man was charged on Wednesday and will appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The indecent assaults are said to have occurred in West Perth on three separate dates in February.

The investigation is ongoing and police urge anyone with information relating to this matter, or any similar incidents, to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via www.crimestopperswa.com.au.

If have been a victim of sexual abuse, or if you have information about someone being abused, contact police on 131 444, or report the information via the Safe2Say online reporting platform.
Investigators from the states work safety watchdog are reviewing the deaths of two men in separate incidents on Wednesday that occurred just two hours apart.

A man in his 20s was fatally injured shortly after midday at a concrete manufacturing facility in Dalwallinu, about 240 kilometres north of Perth.

The incident, which is understood to have involved a forklift, was attended by police.

Two hours later, a 32-year-old man died at a construction site about 15 kilometres south of Perth in OConnor.

It is understood he was crushed while working in the basket of an elevating work platform.
Loading A statement issued by the White House after the call said that Biden made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers. Biden told Netanyahu that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps. He also underscored the need for an immediate ceasefire and urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. The intense phone call was the first time Biden has attempted to leverage US aid to influence Israels military operations, which have so far led to tens of thousands of innocent people being killed, wounded or starved.

Immediately after the statement was released, Secretary of State Antony Blinken doubled down, telling reporters that while the president had reaffirmed US support for Israel in fighting Hamas, right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Zomi Frankcom at a World Central Kitchen site in Gaza at the end of March. Israel must meet this moment, Blinken said. The call between Biden and Netanyahu came three days after aid workers travelling in a convoy  including Australian Zomi Frankcom and one American citizen  were killed by an Israeli strike that the military claimed had been a mistake and the result of a misidentification. Biden is said to have been privately enraged by the incident, and publicly noted it was not isolated, given nearly 200 aid workers have been killed since the war began on October 7.

But the call also came as the president faced growing pressure to limit the supply of weapons to Israel, and as members of his own ranks demanded that the US stop being complicit in the murder of innocent people in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US president Donald Trump at the White House in 2020. Credit: AP Former US president Donald Trump also weighed in on Thursday, declaring that Israel was losing the PR war and needed to finish what it started. Youve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy, Trump said on the conservative podcast The Hugh Hewitt Show. You have to have a victory, and its taking a long time.

Since the war began on October 7, the US has reportedly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid. According to the Washington Post, the Biden administration approved the transfer of thousands more bombs to Israel on the same day Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues were killed. Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders had the strongest condemnation this week, declaring that the United States should not be giving another nickel to Israel to continue this terrible war against the Palestinian people. It is horrible, it is inexcusable, and its got to end right now  and the United States cannot continue to be complicit in the horror that is taking place now, Sanders, who is Jewish, told MSNBC.

Loading But in another sign of the discontent within the Democratic Party, some of Israels biggest defenders are now also shifting their views. Among them is Biden ally Chris Coons, who said on Thursday that the US should condition its aid  particularly if Israel expands its operations in Rafah. If Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale  and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, I would vote to condition aid to Israel, the Democrat Senator told CNN. Ive never said that before. Bidens phone call with Netanyahu is significant because the president, a long-time supporter of Israel, said immediately after the Hamas attack on October 7 that American support for Israel would be rock solid and unwavering.

Loading Asked about this today, National Security Council co-ordinator John Kirby said Americas support of Israels right to defend itself was still iron-clad. However, the manner in which theyre defending themselves against Hamas needs to change, he added. On October 7, there wasnt near famine in Gaza. On October 7, there wasnt a diminution of trucks getting into Gaza. On October 7, we didnt see thousands and thousands of innocent people killed. While the White House stopped short of directly saying the president would halt arms supplies or impose conditions for their use, Biden made clear in the 30-minute call that he wanted corrective action by Israel as soon as possible.
Washington: US President Joe Biden is under growing pressure to limit the supply of weapons to Israel as members of his own ranks demand that the US stop being complicit in the murder of innocent people in Gaza.

As Biden declared he was outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of seven humanitarian workers killed by Israeli forces this week, Democrats and progressives stepped up calls for the administration to stop sanctioning military aid to Israel unless the nation does more to protect lives.

Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom was killed in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza while helping to deliver food. Credit: LinkedIn

The most damning condemnation came from independent Jewish senator Bernie Sanders, who described the carnage in Gaza as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the modern history of the world and told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop murdering innocent people.

Right now, what Israel is doing is fighting not just Hamas, but going to war against the entire Palestinian people, and this World Central Kitchen horror is just one part of what the Netanyahu war machine is doing, Sanders told MSNBC, in reference to the charity convoy that was struck while delivering aid to starving people in Gaza this week.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, April 4. Turkmenistan sees potential for cooperation with Pakistan in the energy sector, Trend reports.

According to an official source, Turkmen Ambassador to Islamabad Atajan Movlamov made this statement at a meeting with Pakistan's Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan.

During the discussion, the Ambassador underlined Turkmenistan's ability to provide economically more profitable electricity than local production in Pakistan, underscoring the possibilities for cooperation in energy areas such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity.

The Minister reiterated Pakistan's commitment to improving bilateral ties with Turkmenistan, particularly in the area of commerce, for the benefit of both nations.

Considering various aspects of Turkmen-Pakistani relations, the parties stressed that cooperation between the two states is based on the principles of mutual respect and equality and expressed interest in increasing trade volumes, with an emphasis on exploring new routes and a Transit Trade Agreement (TTA).

Furthermore, the Minister also expressed optimism about the imminent signing of this agreement between the two countries, which is in the final stage and will be signed either in Islamabad or Ashgabat.

Both officials agreed on the importance of exchanging delegations to facilitate coordination, accelerate the completion of the agreement, and boost trade between Turkmenistan and Pakistan.

Prior to this meeting, Ambassador Atajan Movlamov recently met with the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, and held meetings during which they expressed their desire to complete the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline as soon as possible, which will not only support the economy of Pakistan but also help meet its energy needs.

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At the request of the Curacao Minister of Finance, in collaboration with the Head of Curacao Customs, and with funding support from the Netherlands Ministry of the Interior, the WCO conducted a holistic diagnostic support mission in Willemstad, Curacao, during the period 4 to 13 March 2024.

The mission focused on the overall reform and modernization agenda, particularly Curacao Customs contribution to the implementation of effective trade facilitation measures in accordance with international standards and best practices, such as the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

The activity was conducted under the framework of the WCO Mercator Programme and included discussions with the Head of Customs, the Customs senior management team and relevant Unit Heads, along with representatives from the public sector and the Curacao business community.

Through active engagement with all stakeholders, the WCO team was able to comprehensively assess the situation within the Customs administration regarding the effective implementation of trade facilitation measures, identifying some specific areas where further capacity-building and technical assistance support is required.

In collaboration, a multi-year (MY) Mercator Implementation Plan was developed that contains a series of recommendations, activities and key performance indicators that will form the basis for future actions. The Mercator Implementation Plan will also facilitate enhanced engagement with government partner agencies and private sector stakeholders involved in trade facilitation reforms.

Curacao Customs and the WCO team also worked together and conducted a Mercator Maturity Model assessment that provides an important baseline against which future trade facilitation implementation progress can be effectively measured and reported.

For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) organized the inaugural National Workshop on Rules of Origin for the Mongolian Customs General Administration (MCGA) from 25 to 29 March 2024, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The main objective of this workshop, funded by the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF-Japan), was to provide comprehensive training to Customs officials from the MCGA on various aspects of rules of origin for the correct application and efficient implementation of free trade agreements.

In his opening remarks, the Deputy Director General of the MCGA, Mr. Gelegjamts Enkhtaivan, recalled Mongolia's commitment to international trade agreements, such as its membership in the World Trade Organization since 1997, the Japan-Mongolia Economic Partnership Agreement that entered into force in 2016, and its accession to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) in 2020. In this regard, Mr. Enkhtaivan emphasized that this workshop aimed to enhance the knowledge of MCGA staff in the area of rules of origin, encouraging participants to actively engage in the various sessions of this workshop to gain insights to address the challenges of their daily work. He also expressed his deep appreciation to the WCO and to CCF-Japan for the ongoing technical assistance provided to the MCGA.

On the sidelines of this workshop, WCO experts had the opportunity to meet with the Director General of the MCGA, Mr. Regjiibuu Otgonjargal. During this meeting, he conveyed his profound gratitude to the WCO and CCF-Japan for all the assistance in strengthening the capacities of Mongolian Customs staff. He also expressed a wish for continuous support from the WCO in implementing efficient and modern infrastructure to address challenges within existing and ongoing negotiations of FTAs.

The workshop was attended by 32 participants who focused on the key principles of rules of origin and engaged in practical exercises aimed at applying these rules in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, attendees were equipped with structured knowledge and practical skills to contribute to the correct application and efficient implementation of the free trade agreements in force, as well as to negotiate ongoing ones more effectively.

With Mongolia's increasing integration into the regional and global economy, this workshop plays a pivotal role in enhancing the expertise of customs officials. Through ongoing collaboration and the sharing of knowledge, customs officials are better prepared to navigate the evolving complexities of free trade agreements, particularly those with overlapping rules of origin.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. UNDP National Coordinator for Environmental Projects Nazim Mammadov has been appointed Coordinator of COP29 (the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) for Azerbaijan, the UNDP's local office said, Trend reports.

Mammadov has already successfully conducted a number of energy efficiency initiatives that have helped Azerbaijan achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UNDP assists the Government of Azerbaijan in addressing the effects of climate change and working on the next COP29, the office noted.

"We'll be happy to work together with Azerbaijan for the SDGs and on November 1124 at COP29," added the office.

Azerbaijan will host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) this November. This decision was reached during the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11, 2023. In less than two weeks, Baku is poised to become the epicenter of global climate discussions, welcoming an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 foreign delegates.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, established during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, aims to avert perilous human interference with the climate system. COP, an acronym for Conference of Parties, signifies the highest legislative authority overseeing the Convention's implementation. Currently, 198 nations are parties to the Convention. By default, COP sessions are convened annually, unless otherwise decided by the participating parties. The inaugural COP convened in March 1995 in Berlin, with its secretariat headquartered in Bonn.

As Azerbaijan prepares to host COP29, it plays a critical role in furthering global efforts to address climate change, emphasizing the need for international collaboration in addressing environmental concerns.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to assist Azerbaijan in hosting COP29, a source in the bank told Trend.

According to the source, citing the Head of EBRD in Azerbaijan, Nataly Mouravidze, 2024 is already shaping up to be a very important year for the bank's local branch.

"We kicked off the year with a sizeable loan to the Azerbaijani Shipping Company to boost regional connectivity. Some exciting projects are already being finalized with financial institutions, while preparations for COP29 are well underway. As Azerbaijans steadfast partners in its green agenda, we're committed to helping make this milestone event a success," Mouravidze said.

Azerbaijan will host the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) this November. This decision was reached during the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11, 2023. In less than two weeks, Baku is poised to become the epicenter of global climate discussions, welcoming an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 foreign delegates.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, established during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, aims to avert perilous human interference with the climate system. COP, an acronym for Conference of Parties, signifies the highest legislative authority overseeing the Convention's implementation. Currently, 198 nations are parties to the Convention. By default, COP sessions are convened annually, unless otherwise decided by the participating parties. The inaugural COP convened in March 1995 in Berlin, with its secretariat headquartered in Bonn.

As Azerbaijan prepares to host COP29, it assumes a pivotal role in advancing global efforts to address climate change, underscoring the urgency and importance of international cooperation in combating environmental challenges.

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James Cox

The issue of drivers constantly renewing their learner permits is to be addressed once the testing backlog is cleared.

Junior Transport Minister Jack Chambers said the department is set to clamp down on those who drive on their provisional licence for years, after continuously failing their test.

In some cases, drivers have had their learner permits renewed after failing their test up to 10 times.

Brenda Bolger, of Bolger School of Motoring, said this issue isn't necessarily limited to young people, as some may think.

Ms Bolger told Newstalk: "For your first two learner permits they are for two years each, so that is four years. So if you've been on your learner permits for a long time, in essence you're talking about 12 years.

"The age profile of this person is a minimum of someone heading into their 30s at this stage. It's definitely something that needs to be addressed, because if you're driving on a provisional licence for 10 to 12 years, is driving for you?"
Vivienne Clarke

Minister of State Martin Hayden has said the Government will not be found wanting in terms of support for farmers under stress because of the continuing wet weather.

Mr Hayden told RTE radios Today with Claire Byrne show that nothing is off the table in terms of support.

This is a fluid situation, if you pardon the pun. Farmers are under real stress. We've spent over 120 million on two fodder schemes over the last two years. That was a very different set of circumstances for farmers.

"To make fodder was really expensive after the Ukrainian crisis with high energy costs. So Government stepped in to support farmers to make more fodder. That's why we don't have a shortage now.

This has been an unprecedented winter with the winter starting much earlier and animals being housed back in September instead of late October, and to not have those animals turned out to grass now in April again is unprecedented. And what I'm saying is nothing is off the table as the situation develops.

Mr Hayden said that the situation would continue to be monitored. Obviously there was a need for working capital and finance (for the sector), he said. My point is Government has never been found wanting in the past to support the sector, to support our farmers.

I understand the stress that they're under and everything remains on the table. So that's as clear as I can be as we monitor and as we work with farmers and farm organisations, with industry, with feed merchants and the cooperatives. And obviously, the likes of Teagasc who have a key role to play in terms of advising farmers as to what is a really difficult period.

The Minister of State acknowledged that farmers had experienced a double whammy as it had been a really challenging period before Christmas in terms of sowing winter crops. There were also challenges in later sowing around control of disease.

When asked if supports would be made if the wet weather continued for the next 10 days, a key time for sowing, Mr Hayden said everything remained in the table to support farmers.

This has been a really unprecedented winter. The challenge is that the grass is there, it's there to be had, but we can't get the animals out on to it to the same extent. If the rain stops in the next week and we get that dry period that you would expect this time of the year the issue will stabilise.

"But if it doesnt Government remains ready to make sure that we use every lever available to us to continue to support farmers and our exports, respectively.

Mr Hayden said that business models in farming had adapted and changed in reaction to climate change challenges. This has been an unprecedented winter. From September to April there hasnt been a break.

"No farmer has caught a break here at all. It is impacting them. We do farm very differently than we did even five or 10 years ago, and we continue to adapt. But right now, when we are in this, this moment of severe pressure on our farmers, it is right the Government stands up and supports them.
An Erris B&B is celebrating a top award.

Bru Chlann Lir, a charming Bed & Breakfast in Tirrane, Blacksod on the Mullet Peninsula, has been honoured with the prestigious Irish Enterprise Award for the Best Seaside Bed & Breakfast 2024  Belmullet.

Bru Chlann Lir, nestled in Tirrane, Blacksod on the Mullet Peninsula, obtained this esteemed recognition from EU Business News, a prominent publication covering the latest business developments in Europe.

Owned by Josephine and Mattie Geraghty, Bru Chlann Lir has captured the hearts of locals and visitors alike with its hospitality and coastal views since 1992.

Expressing her joy, Josephine Geraghty stated: We are absolutely thrilled and honoured that our B&B has been recognised on an international scale. This is not only an award for us but a nod to the stunning area in which we live. Mairead Melody Carr, manager of Mayo North Tourism, paid tribute to Josephine and Mattie, acknowledging that this has already been a significant year for the Geraghty family as they passed the helm of their other business, Wild West Boat Tours (formerly Geraghty Charters), to their sons after 30 years in operation.

Carr added: Bru Chlann Lir offers visitors a genuine west of Ireland welcome. I am delighted for their accomplishments, and this award truly reflects their dedication.

Given Bru Chlann Lir's ideal coastal location, nestled between Blacksod Bay and the wild Atlantic, just a short 15-minute drive from Belmullet, it is a deserving recipient of the Best Seaside B&B 2024 award. Visitors to this coastal retreat experience the true essence of the West of Ireland.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister, met with Eugene Zhukov, an ADB representative, to discuss the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) recommendations for green initiative development, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani minister's X.

"We discussed with Eugene Zhukov, the Director General of the Central and West Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank, the potential cooperation opportunities for expanding partnerships in the field of energy, especially the priority directions of the green energy agenda," the minister said.

He added that proposals to support Azerbaijan's actions within COP29, ADB's development of the carbon market, adaptation to climate change, as well as reforms and implementation of a number of projects, were reviewed.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 7080,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP- the Conference of the Parties - is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

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Positive Technologies Expert Security Centre (PT ESC) has discovered a new cybergroup called Lazy Koala whose victims include organisations from Russia and six CIS countries, with approximately 867 employee accounts compromised to date.

As part of the threat research, PT ESC specialists discovered a series of attacks aimed at organisations in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia. Government and financial organisations, as well as medical and educational institutions, were the main targets. Positive Technologies specialists notified affected organisations that they were compromised.

Research shows that the attackers' main goal was to steal accounts to various services from government organisation employee computers. The next step was likely use of this information in further attacks on the internal structures of the organisations. Stolen data can also be sold on the dark web cyber services market.

Basic techniques

Behind the attacks is a previously unknown group that experts have dubbed Lazy Koala because of its basic techniques and the username. Koala is the person managing the Telegram bots with stolen data. Researchers were unable to establish connections with already known groups using the same techniques.

"The calling card of the new group is this: 'harder doesn't mean better.' Lazy Koala doesn't bother with complex tools, tactics, and techniques, but they still get the job done. Their main weapon is a primitive password stealer malware that we assume is distributed using basic phishing. The scammers convince victims to open an attachment and launch the file in the browser. For each country, the attachment is even in the local language. After establishing itself on the infected device, the malware exfiltrates the stolen data using Telegram, a favorite tool among attackers," shares Denis Kuvshinov, Head of Threat Analysis, Positive Technologies Expert Security Centre. "We notified the victims and believe that the fate of the stolen data is resale and use in subsequent attacks on the internal structures of organisations."

Phishing remains one of the main ways for attackers to penetrate infrastructure. Users are advised not to open suspicious messages or follow unknown links. Don't download software from suspicious sites and torrents; instead, use licensed versions from trusted sources. Employees should be kept informed of all the latest phishing techniques and scams.

Specialised security tools

These attacks can be detected using specialised security tools, while attack analysis and prevention should involve cyber incident investigation professionals.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. On the eve of the Baku COP29 summit, a 100 kW floating solar power plant (photovoltaic system) will be put into operation on the Boyukshor Lake, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, following a meeting with the delegation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"As part of ADB's "technical assistance and knowledge exchange for advancing floating solar panel technology" pilot project, the significance of launching a photovoltaic system of up to 100 kW capacity on Boyukshor Lake ahead of the COP29 event was underscored," the report reads.

The general contractor for this station is the Spanish Gamma Solutions business, which is well-known for its significant experience in solar and wind farm development around the world.



The Boyukshor Lake station will be made up of three sections of photovoltaic panels that will function on the same concept as solar panels, with a DC photovoltaic generator converting solar energy into electrical energy.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 7080,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP- the Conference of the Parties - is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin with its secretariat in Bonn.

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 4. Certain surveys are being conducted among the population regarding the construction of nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan, said Vice Minister of Energy Sungat Yessimkhanov at a briefing, Trend reports.

"Certain surveys are being conducted, and, according to preliminary information, more than 50 percent of respondents have a positive attitude towards the construction of nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan," he said.

Yessimkhanov also noted that the decision on the date of the referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant has not yet been made.

"The final decision will be made by government leadership. Today, relevant work is underway, which is carried out at the Ministry of Energy together with Samruk-Kazyna. The present work primarily aims to provide explanations," he said.

Sungat Yessimkhanov pointed out that even with a negative result from the referendum, Kazakhstan has enough resources to meet the countrys electricity needs.

"But the development of nuclear energy has its advantages," he noted.

To note, on September 1, 2023, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, stated that a referendum will be held in the country in connection with the construction of a nuclear power plant.

"In 2019, on my election platform, I promised that the most important strategic issues would be decided through referendums. The construction of or refusal to build a nuclear power plant is an extremely important issue concerning the future of our country. Therefore, I propose to put it to a national referendum. We will decide on specific terms later," he said.

Afterward, Kazakhstan presented a list of companies that are bidding to supply technology for the country's first nuclear power plant. They are China's CNNC with the HPR-1000 reactor, South Korea's KHNP with the APR-1400 reactor, France's EDF with the EPR-1200 reactor, and Russia's Rosatom with the VVER-1200 and VVER-1000 reactors.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. The Middle Corridors countries have started to see the route as a geopolitical tool to deepen mutual partnerships, and connectivity is now an essential component of foreign policy diversification strategies, Valentina Chabert, the representative of the Sapienza University of Rome and a geopolitical analyst, told Trend.

"However, the Trans-Caspian line not only opens up new potential for transcontinental rail connectivity, but it also represents a shift in Eurasia's geopolitics. At the moment, it is feasible to say that Middle Corridor nations have begun to perceive the route as a geopolitical weapon for deepening mutual partnerships, and connectivity is now an important component of foreign policy diversification efforts. Azerbaijan, for example, sees the Middle Corridor as an opportunity to strengthen the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey triangle, to balance the Armenia-Russia-Iran axis, and at the same time, the route is an optimal link in Azerbaijan's pivot to Central Asia in close cooperation with Turkey, in a region traditionally dominated by Russia and China," she said.

According to her, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have been the major stakeholders pushing forward with investments and institutional cooperation to leverage the Middle Corridors potential after the start of the war in Ukraine.

"Baku allocated millions of dollars to upgrade the transport capacity of the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, with a view to better handling the growing amount of cargo in the Alat port after the completion of the construction phases. In addition, in June 2023, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to establish a joint logistics company that will oversee the unification of tariffs, the simplification of transit procedures, and the handling of cargo along the Trans-Caspian route. Georgia signed the document, too, on the occasion of Kazakhstans Prime Minister's visit to the country. I am fully convinced that partnership frameworks like these are expected to alleviate infrastructure challenges by lowering transaction costs and increasing operational efficiency, thereby improving the Middle Corridors competitive advantage vis  a  vis alternative routes," Valentina Chabert noted.

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.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 4. The second meeting of the coordination group on aviation security, with the participation of permanent representatives of the aviation authorities of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as a representative of Moldova as an observer, is being held in Almaty on April 45, the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan said, Trend reports.

The meeting addresses topics concerning the preparedness for the ICAO aviation security audit of the coordination group's member countries as well as the harmonization of aviation security legislation.

Furthermore, the methods of implementing safety culture and the practice of evaluating civil aircraft operators and airports by aviation authorities in surrounding countries are explored.

The delegates were also told of the Kazakhstani side's plan to create the EurAsian Civil Aviation Conference.

The coordination group's work is another step toward promoting relationships and cooperation among participating countries' aviation administrations, as well as improving the civil aviation protection system from acts of unlawful interference as part of the implementation of the ICAO Global Aviation Security Plan thereof.

The Aviation Security Coordination Group was established in 2022 and aims to achieve the key priorities of the ICAO Global Aviation Security Plan and the quality implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.

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Andys Man Club launches second support group to meet growing demand

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 4th, 2024

A mens suicide prevention charity will launch a new peer-to-peer support group in Deeside.

Already welcoming more than 50 people to its free weekly meetings at the Yellow and Blue Hub in Wrexham, Andys Man Club (AMC) has added Coleg Cambria Deeside to its growing list of sites UK-wide.

The organisation has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the college and will meet at its conference centre on Kelsterton Road, Connahs Quay, every Monday from 7pm-9pm, beginning on April 22.

Dan Rowe, AMCs Regional Area Lead for the West of England and Wales, says the partnership will enable them to reach even more men struggling with myriad issues  storms affecting their lives  including anxiety, depression, loss and loneliness, in Flintshire and beyond.

Hailing from Mynydd Isa, he hopes to see the charity grow even stronger in the months ahead, having won a prestigious S4C Dathlu Dewrder (Celebrating Bravery) Award in December for helping break down barriers and remove stigmas around mental health.

Weve been in Wrexham for two years and the numbers attending have increased week on week, so to be able to now help more men in the Deeside area is fantastic, said Dan.

Andys Man Club has over 180 groups nationwide supporting upwards of 4,500 men, yet we only had one meeting place in North Wales to this point, so this is a step in the right direction.

We are thankful to Coleg Cambria for making their facilities available to us and for their generosity and backing of our vision to have an Andys Man Club in every town and city in the UK, where friendships are built and a group of men of different ages, and from different backgrounds, come together in a warm, welcoming environment.

We want to continue the conversation, to get men talking in a safe space where they feel comfortable opening up and sharing their experiences, in a room free of judgement.

The MoU reads: Coleg Cambria is committed to working in partnership to strengthen links with the local community; particularly on projects that directly support our residents and learners  past, present, and future.

We are in a position to support Andys Man Club in their drive to offer free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups across the UK.

Cambrias Chief Executive Yana Williams added: As a college we have a responsibility to not only our learners but their families, friends and our communities in north east Wales.

We are pleased to be able to help in some small way and hope anyone experiencing mental health issues gets in touch with Andys Man Club, attends a meeting and embraces the incredible work they do in bringing about positive change for men across the country, one conversation at a time.

On average one man every two hours takes his life in the UK. Its often said a factor is that men dont talk. Thats why Andys Man Club was born. For more information, visit Andys Man Club | #ITSOKAYTOTALK | Andys Man Club (andysmanclub.co.uk) and follow the Deeside group on Facebook.
Temporary closure for Corwen toilet block during refurbishment works

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 4th, 2024

A toilet block at Green Lane car park in Corwen is to temporarily close while refurbishment takes place.

The works are part of a wider project to improve the facilities at the car park  which has been funded through the UK Governments Levelling Up Fund.

In October 2021, Denbighshire County Council secured investment from round 1 of the Levelling Up fund through a joint application with Wrexham County Borough Council for the Clwyd South Constituency.

3.8 million was allocated to Denbighshire to invest in the communities of Llangollen, Llantysilio, Corwen and surrounding areas.

The application was supported by Simon Baynes MP.

The toilet block will be closed for the refurbishment from 8 April 2024 to 12 July 2024.

Denbighshire County Council say that temporary toilets will be in place at no cost throughout the construction period.

Some of the improvements that visitors can expect following the refurbishment include a dementia friendly cubicle, which is being funded by a grant from the Welsh Governments Brilliant Basics fund, and the introduction of contactless payments to be able to access the toilets.

A spokesperson said: The Council is pleased to see that the construction work for these much-needed improvements to the toilet block at Green Lane car park are now taking place.

Once completed, this will bring the Levelling Up project to improve facilities at Green Lane car park to a close.

The toilet block will remain open following the refurbishment with Corwen Town Council taking over the management of the facility from Denbighshire County Council going forward.

There is no doubt that the improvements that have been made to the site will provide long-term benefits for both locals and visitors alike to the town, and the Council would like to take this opportunity to thank Corwen Town Council for agreeing to manage the toilet block following the refurbishment.

You can learn more about this Levelling Up funded project on the Denbighshire County Council website.
Wales Comic Con returning to Wrexham this weekend!

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Apr 4th, 2024

Well-known faces in the world of film, television and gaming will head to Wrexham this weekend as part of Wales Comic Con.

The event, which is returning to Wrexham University for the first time since September 2023, will take place on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 April.

Guests currently listed to attend this weekend include:

Patrick Fabian  Better Call Saul (Saturday and Sunday)

Matthew Horne  Gavin and Stacey (Sunday only)

Mark Addy  Game of Thrones (Saturday and Sunday)

Paul McGann  Doctor Who (Sunday only)

Josh Herdman  Harry Potter (Saturday and Sunday)

Samuel Anderson  Doctor Who and Trollied (Sunday only)

Janet Fielding  Doctor Who (Saturday and Sunday

Emmett J. Scanlan  Fool Me Once and Peaky Blinders (Saturday only)

Lucy Griffiths  True Blood and Preacher (Saturday only)

Also on offer throughout the weekend will be a number of independent traders selling custom made goods and the chance to purchase some memorabilia from your favourite show, film or franchise!

More information about tickets can be found here  with kids under 11 going free on both days!

Wales Comic Con will return to Wrexham University On Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 April.

We have contacted the organisers for further information on whats at this weekends event and will update as and when.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 4. The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Kairat Umarov and Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan, have discussed the prospects for the World Banks activities in Kazakhstan, as well as priorities for further cooperation, Trend reports, citing the MFA.

During the discussion, the interlocutors also addressed the potential for implementing a number of investment projects in Kazakhstan's important economic sectors.

Umarov highlighted the good dynamics of long-term mutually beneficial cooperation with the World Bank, as well as the bank's significant contribution to the country's socioeconomic development. He is also sure that the bank's engagement with the country, which aims to promote Kazakhstan's reforms for more inclusive and sustainable growth, will continue.

In turn, Andrei Mikhnev stated that the World Bank is an important partner of Kazakhstan and is currently working on the combined implementation of ten projects totaling more than $4 billion. According to him, several new infrastructural projects are in the works.

In conclusion, the parties noted mutual interest in deepening cooperation in key areas.

Notably, the World Bank's total loan amount for Kazakhstan exceeds $9.17 billion. Kazakhstan took 23rd place among the countries with the largest volume of the loan portfolio from the WB.

The World Bank's cooperation in Kazakhstan spans more than 30 years and is presently governed by the Kazakhstan Country Cooperation Framework (CPF 20202025).
An arson attack in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), claimed the lives of a family of four last Monday. Twenty-one other people were injured, some of them seriously. Although investigations are still ongoing, it is highly likely that the attack was motivated by right-wing extremism.

The attack took place during the night hours last Monday in the Hohscheid district of Solingen. All but one of the occupants were Muslims of Turkish origin from Turkey and Bulgaria. The fatalities were two young parents, a three-year-old child, and an infant of Bulgarian nationality.

The fire started in the stairwell of the old building. From there, it spread to the roof within a few minutes. According to the expert report, clear traces of an accelerant were found in the wooden stairwell. Based on this finding, deliberate arson had to be assumed, they said.

When the fire brigade arrived, the stairwell was already completely on fire, so that the escape route was blocked. Several residents jumped out of windows in panic and were seriously injured. One hundred twenty firefighters were deployed to bring the blaze under control.

The public prosecutors office is investigating the possibility of murder and attempted murder charges. It is notable that the office stated immediately after the crime that there were no indications of a xenophobic motive.

On Thursday evening, the spokesperson for the public prosecutors office told broadcaster WDR that it was an interpersonal offence. A day later, the public prosecutors office announced that a man who had been provisionally arrested had been released after lengthy questioning and his alibi had been checked. Continuing investigations were now open-ended in all directions.

In fact, a xenophobic background to the offence is more than likely. Unfortunately, we have to assume that there are racist motives behind this cowardly attack, Tayfun Keltek, chairman of the NRW State Integration Council in Dusseldorf said on Wednesday evening. The current socially heated situation leads me to this conclusion.

After more than 150 people attended a commemorative rally at the scene of the fire on Thursday, around 1,000 people gathered on Saturday for a funeral march for the victims of the arson. The participants marched from the city centre to the burnt-out house, shouting clarification and justice for all in Turkish. Hardly anyone doubted the right-wing extremist background to the crime.

The attack took place just a few weeks before the anniversary of the May 1993 racist arson attack that killed five women and girls of Turkish origin in Solingen. Four young men aged between 16 and 23 who belonged to the right-wing extremist scene were subsequently convicted of five counts of murder.

The 1993 murders were the culmination of a series of violent attacks on asylum seekers and foreigners throughout Germany. In Hoyerswerda, Rostock, Lubeck and Molln, right-wing extremist terror showed its face on the streets. But the main perpetrators sat in the government and in the parliamentary parties.

After the reunification of Germany in 1991, the Treuhand, set up to sell off, privatise and close the former state-owned property, had destroyed over 2.5 million jobs and hundreds of thousands of livelihoods in the East. The destruction did not stop at the border to West Germany either. For example, the Krupp steelworks in Duisburg-Rheinhausen closed in 1993. The workers there had fought bitterly against this for years, but were sold out by the IG Metall union and the Social Democrats (SPD).

To counter the growing militancy in the working class against closures, the Kohl government launched a xenophobic campaign. Politicians and the media constantly agitated against the flood of asylum seekers, just as they agitate against the wave of refugees today.

Just three days before the attack in Solingen, the Bundestag (parliament) restricted the right to asylum by amending the constitution. The SPD provided the Christian Democrat-Liberal Democrat (CDU-FDP) coalition under Chancellor Helmut Kohl with the necessary two-thirds majority for this. Neo-Nazis consequently took this as a signal to run riot against immigrants and refugees.

The situation has worsened in recent years. The official scapegoating of refugees and immigrants has led to a massive increase in right-wing extremist attacks and assaults.

In 2016, right-wing extremist David Sonboly killed nine people with an immigrant background in Munich. Later, a neo-Nazi known to the police shot and killed Kassel District President Walter Lubcke. In October 2019, over 70 participants at a Yom Kippur celebration in the synagogue in Halle narrowly escaped a massacre by right-wing extremist Stephan Balliet. In 2020, a neo-Nazi killed nine people in Hanau. The involvement of the police and secret services remains unclear and any discussion of this possibility is being suppressed by the authorities by any means necessary, but it is well known that they are heavily involved in the far-right scene.

These acts, as well as the most recent attack in Solingen, took place against the backdrop of increased attacks on refugees and immigrants by the German government and all opposition parties. They have all adopted the programme of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and put it into practice.

Last October, on the cover of Germanys largest circulation weekly Der Spiegel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced: We must finally deport on a grand scale. Since then, all the establishment parties have been attacking the most vulnerable members of society.

In January, with the votes of all the government coalition partiesSPD, FDP, Greensand amid mass protests against the far-right AfD, the Bundestag passed the so-called Repatriation Improvement Act, drastically restricting the rights of refugees. Asylum seekers without a right to remain, and who have been living and working in Germany for years, can now be picked up without warning, detained for almost a month and forcibly deported. The police are not only allowed to search without permission their accommodation and mobile phones, but the accommodation of neighbours as well.

The law also criminalises anyone who helps refugees. Those conducting rescues at sea could be prosecuted for aiding illegal entry directly into Germanyeven when it comes to rescuing minors.

SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil has called on the state governments to speed up the deportation of refugees. The federal states now have the [legal] possibilities, and they must utilise them, Klingbeil demanded in an interview with the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung. The state must function when it comes to repatriating people who cannot stay with us.

While the xenophobic campaign of the 1990s served to counter resistance to job and social cuts, opposition to war and militarism has now been added to the mix. The German government is in the process of doubling and quadrupling military spending while cutting social spending accordingly. It is waging a proxy war against the nuclear power Russia in Ukraine and supporting the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Anyone who protests against the governments pro-Israel policy is persecuted as an antisemite, while the real antisemites from the AfD applaud the attacks on democratic rights.

Such a pro-war course is not compatible with democracy; it requires fascist methods. This is the reason why the government, establishment parties and media are agitating against refugees and immigrants and stirring up the fascistic dregs of society.

Under these circumstances, resistance to job and social cuts, the defence of immigrants and democratic rights and the fight against militarism and war are inseparable. They require the mobilisation of the working class against the bankrupt capitalist system that produces these evils.
Over four years after the first recorded case of COVID-19 in Canada, the disease remains a major fixture in the social and political life of the country and the world. Although infection, hospitalization, and death rates have declined since the recent winter wave, very little stands in the way of a major resurgence of the pandemic.

The federal and provincial governments have dismantled all COVID-19 public health measures as part of their profits before life policy of protecting the economic interests of the corporations and the wealthy. As a result, the SARS-COV-2 virus continues to infect tens of thousands of Canadians every week, killing dozens and afflicting hundreds with the debilitating effects of Long COVID.

Because of the governments information blackout on the pandemic, the task of informing the public of the continued threat of COVID-19 has fallen to civil society groups like COVID-19 Resources Canada, which publishes weekly data sets and risk assessments.

According to the groups most recent figures, around 32,600 Canadians were infected with COVID-19 on March 16, the latest date for which they had access to official data. The group estimates the true number to be closer to 42,600 based on wastewater data, which itself only covers half of the population. Roughly 2.28 percent of the population, or more than one in 50 people, is currently infected with the virus, predominantly the JN.1 variant.

From March 3 to March 9, there were 54 official deaths from COVID-19 in Canada. However, the group estimates that the government only reports 61 percent of COVID-19 deaths. This would put the actual number at 90 deaths in just under one week. By comparison, federal government data shows influenza deaths at roughly five per week.

The discrepancy between the sanitized official pandemic death toll and that compiled by COVID-19 Resources Canada illustrates the immense cover-up conducted by every level of government in Canada.

Officially, 51,710 Canadians have died of COVID-19 since January 2020. Taking into account the governments reporting rate of 61 percent, the true number of people killed by the capitalist profits before life policy is 84,389, a number roughly equivalent to the population of the city of Peterborough, Ontario.

In effect, over 32,000 COVID-19 dead have simply been disappeared, their families told a mixture of official lies and half-truths to conceal the fact that their deaths were entirely preventable.

In the initial phase of the pandemic, the federal Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pursued a mitigation policy of letting the virus spread while disbursing vaccines and providing some meagre financial benefits to the working population. Following the first lockdown in the spring of 2020, the trade unions joined the Liberal government in enforcing a vicious back-to-work campaign, which led to hundreds of thousands of infections and thousands of deaths. This policy was designed to allow workers to continue to work, churning out profits for the banks and corporations.

While several smaller Atlantic provinces temporarily implemented an elimination policy that dropped infection rates to near zero and initially saved countless lives, the most populous provinces, like Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta allowed the virus to run rampant. Every political party, from the supposedly progressive New Democratic Party (NDP) and Quebec Solidaire (QS) to the arch-reactionary Conservative Party and Bloc Quebecois, fundamentally support these policies and have implemented them where they hold office.

This turned nursing homes and hospitals into killing fields. COVID-19 became the third-leading cause of death in 2022 after heart disease and cancer. With the emergence of the highly transmissible and virulent Omicron variant at the end of 2021, this policy also ensured that the vast majority of the Canadian population contracted the disease.

Life expectancy declined for the third straight year in 2022, a byproduct of the capitalist response to the pandemic. Statistics Canadas analysis showed a staggering decline of one year between 2019 and 2022, from 82.3 to 81.3 years. Some provinces like Saskatchewan saw even larger declines of two years during the same period, from 80.5 to 78.5.

After the far-right Freedom Convoy provided the federal and provincial governments with the pretext to dismantle what little remained of COVID-19 safety precautions and testing capacity in early 2022, absolutely nothing has stood in the way of the spread of the disease.

COVID-19 Resources Canada notes that their pandemic forecast is the lowest its been since the emergence of the Omicron variant. However, the risk level remains High for the country as a whole, and some provinces like Saskatchewan have risk levels of Very High. At the time of publication, infections were up 3 percent nationwide compared to the previous report. The effects of spring break travel will likely drive up these numbers in the weeks to come.

The mass murderers on Parliament Hill and in the provincial capitals, and their media accomplices, remain tight-lipped about the ongoing impact of Long COVID, widely recognized by principled epidemiologists as a pandemic within a pandemic.

About 1,977 people developed Long COVID on March 15, according to the COVID-19 Resources Canada report. This is down from 4,152 on the first day of the year, but still over ten times higher than the lowest point of the pandemic. To date, an estimated 3.5 million Canadians have experienced long-term symptoms following a bout of COVID-19.

Long COVID, otherwise known as Post COVID-19 Condition, covers a multitude of symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction. The exact nature of this lingering malaise is still being researched but is often characterized as symptoms that persist or re-emerge twelve weeks after the initial infection phase. Some estimates put the Long COVID affliction rate at between 4 and 10 percent of all those who contract COVID-19.

Government support for those suffering from Long COVID is sparse and inconsistent. The indifference shown by governments at all levels towards a debilitating illness that has affected upwards of 10 percent of the population is no less criminal than the murderous policy of allowing COVID-19 to spread in the first place.

To date, the federal government has pledged a measly $29 million over five years to fund research into Long COVID and support those suffering from it. Meanwhile, an estimated 40 percent of those with Long COVID symptoms have reported difficulties with accessing relevant healthcare, according to a December 2023 Statistics Canada report. They have desperately resorted to informal sources like social media for assistance in diagnosing and treating their symptoms.

In contrast, the NDP-backed Liberal Trudeau government has allocated billions of dollars for war, including over $13 billion in economic and military aid for the far-right Ukrainian regime in the US-NATO war on Russia. This is on top of the $36.3 billion that Canada spent on defence in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.

The knock-on effects of the governments profits before life pandemic policy are felt across society. Thousands of nurses and other healthcare workers have left their professions, citing burnout and dangerous working conditions. The shortage of family doctors, exacerbated by the pandemic, affects millions of Canadian households and has led to inundated hospital emergency rooms, which were already reeling due to the stresses caused by the pandemic. Measles, long considered an eliminated disease, is surging, with 31 infections so far this year as of March 16, the largest annual total since 2019 and more than double the total number of cases reported in 2022.
The leading NATO powers are using the summit in Brussels on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the military alliance to massively escalate the war against Russia. In order to prevent the imminent collapse of the Ukrainian military, the alliance is feverishly working on measures that threaten to provoke a direct military conflict with the nuclear-armed power and plunge the entire continent into a devastating war.

A round table meeting of the North Atlantic Council in foreign ministers format at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. [AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert]

Europe now faces war on a scale we thought was resigned to history, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a press statement at the start of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers. In recent days, Russia has launched new major attacks on Ukraine and continues to press along the front lines.

Therefore, NATO must stand firm in our support to Ukraine, Stoltenberg continued. And he welcomes the fact that Allies continue to make major deliveries of weapons, ammunition, and equipment. However, Kiev has urgent needs. Any delay in providing support has consequences on the battlefield as we speak, he warned.

Despite the high death tollUkraine has already sacrificed hundreds of thousands on the battlefieldand the growing danger of a nuclear escalation, the leading imperialist powers are unwilling to deviate from their war objective: to impose a military defeat on Russia in Ukraine in order to bring Moscow under their control and subjugate the resource-rich and geostrategically important Eurasian landmass as a whole.

Stoltenberg stressed, Ukraine will become a member of NATO. It is a question of when, not if. And he left no doubt that the NATO offensive in Ukraine is part of a global war by the imperialist powers.

We know that our security is not regionalit is global, said the NATO Secretary-General. The war in Ukraine illustrates this clearly. Russias friends in Asia are vital for continuing its war of aggression. China is propping up Russias war economy. In return, Moscow is mortgaging its future to Beijing. North Korea and Iran are delivering substantial supplies of weapons and ammunition. In return, Pyongyang and Tehran are receiving Russian technology and supplies that help them advance their missile and nuclear capabilities.

NATO is therefore called upon and must shift the dynamics of our support. There is a need to ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for the long haul.  So that we rely less on voluntary contributions and more on NATO commitments. The meeting would discuss how NATO could assume more responsibility for coordinating military equipment and training for Ukraine anchoring this within a robust NATO framework. Another issue would be the multi-year financial commitment to sustain our support.

Stoltenberg did not give any concrete details, but it is clear that the NATO powers are working on a massive escalation of war ahead of the NATO summit in Washington in July. According to media reports, this includes a 100 billion war fund for Ukraine over the next five years. At the same time, the military alliance is amassing ever larger numbers of troops on the Russian border and holding huge military exercises.

The largest NATO base in Europe in terms of area is currently being built in Romania to accommodate 10,000 soldiers and their families. Germany is preparing the permanent stationing of two combat brigades in Lithuania. At the same time, there is open discussion about the deployment of ground troops to Ukraine. As recently as late March, the Chief of Staff of the French Army, Pierre Schill, boasted that France could deploy 20,000 soldiers within 30 days.

The leading European NATO powers in particular are responding to the debacle of the Ukrainian army with declarations supporting a stronger European role in the war. In a joint article for the US daily Politico, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland, Annalena Baerbock, Stephane Sejourne and Radosaw Sikorski, declare that they will continue their support for Ukraine as long as it takes, and as intensively as needed.

In doing so, the foreign ministers of the Weimar Triangle reject any diplomatic solution to the conflict and argue for an extension of the war. They wrote, For Europe to be at peace, Russian imperialism must be stopped. We cannot allow for any gray zones because Putin sees them as an invitation to undermine territorial integrity and sovereignty, draw imaginary lines on the map and, ultimately, use military force. His full-scale invasion of Ukraine has also proven that a policy of concessions vis-a-vis Russia, in the hopes that it could bring peace or stability back to the Continent, is naive.

This is nothing but propaganda. All the talk of Russian imperialism threatening peace throughout Europe cannot hide the fact that in reality the NATO powers are the aggressors.

What is NATOs track record over the past 75 years? Under the leadership of the US, the military alliance founded as an anti-communist bulwark has undermined the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countless countries. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist bureaucracy, the NATO powers have been waging uninterrupted war for economic and geopolitical interests. Not only were large parts of the Middle East and Central Asia reduced to rubble, but the territorial integrity and sovereignty of entire countries were also destroyed in Europe. In 1999, NATO, with the active participation of Germany, waged a devastating bombing campaign against Serbia in order to enforce the secession of Kosovo.

The current war offensive is the continuation of this policy. The NATO powers provoked Russias reactionary invasion of Ukraine. They are now continuing to escalate the war in order to avert a collapse of the Ukrainian front and achieve their insane goal of defeating the nuclear-armed power Russia militarily.

The article by Baerbock, Sejourne and Sikorski reads like a blueprint for the total war mobilization of Europe against Russia. They argue that the European allies should shoulder their fair share of NATOs collective burden and demonstrate readiness to take more responsibility for Europes defense. The enduring transatlantic bond remains the bedrock of our security, and we Europeans must address some of the most urgent shortcomings that have become painfully obvious during the past months and years: capability gaps, the readiness of our forces, production capacity, logistics, standardization and interoperability.

Specifically, the three foreign ministers pledge to spend a minimum of 2 percent of GDP on defence. This is a necessary prerequisite and the very foundation on which we build our collective defence. At the same time, however, this figure should only be a starting point for developing the forces and capabilities we need for collective defence.

Baerbock, Sejourne and Sikorski demand nothing less than the establishment of a European war economy. We need to utilize our Continents full industrial potential to upgrade our military capabilities, ramp up production and harvest economies of scale, they write. Our national defense industries are key to this. They need binding long-term contractswith clear timelines, a level of ambition, fixed financial commitments and purchase guarantees from our governments.

In a recent perspective, the World Socialist Web Site wrote about the factors that are driving the ruling classes into a mobilization for total war:

As in the two world wars of the 20th century, the imperialist ruling elites feel that they have little time, and that only rapid escalation can counteract powerful political forcesin the military situation and the international class strugglethat are working against them.

This is especially true for the European powers. They are responding to the collapse of the Ukrainian army by becoming increasingly aggressive and calling for a larger European war effort. In doing so, they are driven by the constant fear that the working class will thwart their plans for war.

Workers and young people are already mobilizing en masse against the genocide in Gaza and are also overwhelmingly opposed to the NATO war against Russia. The attacks on social and democratic rights associated with the policy of war are leading to an increase in protests and strikes. The unions and their pseudo-left supporters are desperate to isolate and suppress them.

In order to stop the war madness, the opposition must be developed into an international movement of the working class against the capitalist profit system and armed with a conscious socialist leadership and perspective. This is what the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) is fighting for in alliance with its sister parties in the upcoming European elections.

The SGPs election statement declares: Workers must counterpose to the EU of the banks and corporations, of mass death and war, the perspective of a United Socialist States of Europe. War cannot be ended, human lives cannot be saved and wages cannot be defended without breaking the power of the banks and corporations and placing them under democratic control. Instead of shooting at each other, workers in Russia and Ukraine and workers across Europe must fight together with this perspective against the warmongers at home.
Worsening poverty and unemployment, the result of Sri Lankas unprecedented economic crisis, has seen thousands of workers and youth migrate to foreign countries to find work. Recent media reports reveal that many have become victims of racketeers, with disastrous consequences.

Protesters demand the government bring back all the Sri Lankan workers from the Middle East, July 8, 2020. Placards on left and centre read "Migrant workers die, but the government is silent" and the placard on right "Government be responsible to Workers" [AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena]

Al-Jazeera recently reported that hundreds of Sri Lankans are now serving as mercenaries with the Russian military in Ukraine. Most of them, the news outlet states, were lured into combat by Russias offer of salaries up to $US3,000 (more than 900,000 Sri Lankan rupees) a month and the prospect of Russian citizenship.

The Colombo-based Sunday Times reported on March 31 that about 100 former Sri Lankan military servicemen have joined the Ukraine foreign legion while confirming that hundreds of others are in the Russian military. Sri Lankan civilians are also serving on both sides of the bloody US-NATO war against Russia.

The mercenaries are recruited illegally by unregistered job agencies in Sri Lanka and enter via Poland and Georgia on tourist visas. The job agencies inform the former Sri Lankan military personnel that they have to serve on the battlefront. The civilians are falsely told, however, they are being hired for civilian jobs in Poland, Georgia and Ukraine but on arrival in Ukraine are sent to the frontline.

Sri Lankan police spokesman Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Nihal Thalduwa told the Daily Mirror on March 26 that two individuals had been arrested that month for operating a foreign employment agency in Kadawatha. They were accused, he said of trafficking a group of 55 Sri Lankans to conflict zones in Ukraine.

Thalduwa said two of those trafficked to Ukraine had been killed, five escaped to neighbouring countries and 17 had returned to Sri Lanka. Each person had been charged between Rs. 250,000 and 500,000 by the fraudulent foreign employment agency, he added.

According to Al-Jazeera, at least five Sri Lankans have been killed in the Ukraine war in the past few months. Three, including Andrew Raneesh Hewage, who left the Sri Lankan army in 2012, were killed in Bakhmut, in a Russian attack during a rescue operation. The names of the other two have not been released. Last week, 27-year-old Nipuna Silva died in a drone attack by Ukrainian forces and Senaka Bandara, another Sri Lankan, was injured as he was attempting to move the injured Silva to safety.

Those killed or injured are not insured and do not receive any compensation. The Sri Lankan government and its Foreign Employment Bureau washes their hands of any responsibility for them or the plight of their families, declaring that their actions are illegal.

While unemployment and desperate poverty compelled these ex-soldiers and civilians to risk their lives in war zones in Ukraine, the same social processes drove tens of thousands of rural youth to join the military during successive Sri Lankan governments war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Contrary to Colombos claims that these youth were heroes who joined to save the motherland, most were economic conscripts. They signed up to help their poverty-stricken families and believed that they would be financially compensated if killed or wounded. Thousands died or were maimed in the brutal three-decade communal war against the LTTE. Over 30,000 deserted during the conflict, some of whom joined the criminal underworld or became hired killers for money.

Ukraine war mercenaries are also being recruited from other countries in Asia and Africa. Two weeks ago, News24 reported that the Russian military claimed to have killed 103 mercenaries, from Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa, involved in combat operations in Ukraine.

Early last month, the international media reported that Indian and Nepali nationals had been trafficked by illegal gangs to the Russian army. New Delhi has called on the Putin Government to discharge Indian nationals that had been drafted into the Russian army.

More broadly, the situation facing hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan workers without work visas who have been trafficked into the Middle East by illegal job agencies is also disastrous.

Last months Sunday Times revealed that there are 20,000 Sri Lankans currently working in Kuwait without visas and thousands more are stranded in Dubai after arriving on tourist visas. Many Sri Lankan workers cannot afford the substantial amounts of money required to get a work visa and attempt to migrate using tourist visas.



Late last year, several hundred Sri Lankan workers in Oman were arrested and incarcerated in detention camps after the government stopped the conversion of all types of tourist visas. Hundreds of other poverty-stricken Sri Lankan migrant workers are now living on the streets in Oman.

While the Sri Lankan government has completely abandoned these stranded workers, it continues to urge Sri Lankan workers to seek overseas employment because their remittances provide desperately needed foreign currency. As the Central Bank of Sri Lanka noted last year, [B]eing a major source of foreign exchange earnings, workers remittances have covered around 80 percent of the annual trade deficit, on average, over the past two decades.



According to an International Labour Organization report issued last December, over 535,000 Sri Lankan workers had secured overseas jobs between January 2022 and September 2023.

University of Colombo Sociology Professor Subhangi Herath told the Daily Mirror that Sri Lankans are migrating in the hope of a better future and failure to see a political future in this country.

People study and work hard, she continued, expecting some sort of dignified job in the country. But when they see unemployment levels rising, and feel they wont be able to get absorbed into any well-paid and acceptable job, they think that they have to go somewhere and work for even a meagre salary, which will be high when you convert it to Sri Lankan rupees.

While tens of thousands leave in the expectation of a better future, last months Sunday Times revealed that at least one Sri Lankan migrant worker died each day in 2022. The newspaper said: There were 389 natural deaths, 30 deaths by suicide, three murders, 36 deaths in road traffic accidents, 29 other accidents, and 20 attributed to the coronavirus disease.

This data, the Sunday Times admitted, does not in any way reflect the actual tragedies that Sri Lankan migrant workers face. Many deaths go unreported. Some who have died are undocumented workers, and their last rites are often done by close friends who raise funds or by migrant worker groups. If not, the remains are handled by host governments.

Like its counterparts across South Asia, Africa and other underdeveloped regions, the Wickremesinghe government and all its predecessors are only interested in the foreign currency remittances of their migrant citizens, and are totally indifferent to their plight and the life and death problems these workers confront.
The Socialist Equality Partys campaign to regain official party registration and put a socialist anti-war party on the ballot at the next Australian federal election is receiving a strong response around the country.

Horror over Israels genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as shock and anger over the Albanese Labor governments support for this onslaught, are driving workers and young people to seek a political alternative to the increasingly barbaric status quo.

Many are also beginning to see the connections between deepening austerity and inequality domestically, and escalating military expenditure, as Australia prepares to play a critical role in US-led conflict on multiple fronts, including Russia, China and the Middle East.

At the continuing mass protests against Israels genocide, in working-class neighbourhoods, and on university campuses, workers and young people have shown a powerful attraction to the SEP, the only party with a socialist program and perspective to fight war, inequality and their source, the capitalist system.

In the videos published today, filmed in the working-class suburbs of Inala, Brisbane, and Glenroy, Melbourne, workers explain why they have made the decision to join the SEP as electoral members.

To follow their lead and apply to become an electoral member today, fill out the form at the end of this article, or click here.
Voter turnout in the Illinois Democratic primary election March 26 set an all-time low as the capitalist party shifts further to the right and becomes entirely identified with the genocidal war being carried out by Israel in Gaza, with the full support of the Biden administration.

Biden recorded just over 700,000 votes out of over 6.5 million registered voters, an indictment of the Democratic president in a state long considered to be a party stronghold. Chicago is to host the Democratic National Convention in August. A number of protests are planned during the event and the city of Chicago has denied permits to the organizers.

The last two presidential primary elections in Illinois have seen significant drops in turnout reflecting the disgust and alienation from the two-party monopoly and its policies of austerity and war. The 2020 presidential primary saw a turnout of 37.8 percent, down from 2016s 53.5 percent. According to local media reports, the great majority of voters coming out on election day were over 55.

Bidens pro-genocide line is particularly provocative in Chicago, which has the largest Palestinian population of any American city. Among Chicago and Cook County voters who did go to the polls, nearly 12 percent refused to vote for Biden and wrote in Gaza or left the presidential slot blank. Another 12 percent selected candidates other than Biden, including Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson.

Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson and Biden [Photo: Twitter]

This means that among those in the Chicago area who voted on the Democratic ballot, more than 20 percent rejected Biden as the candidate. When accounting for those eligible to vote who did not cast ballots, only 6 percent of Chicagoans chose Biden as their presidential nominee.

The election saw the lowest voter turnout in Chicagos history with only about 20 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot. Chicago Board of Elections official Max Bever called the turnout on election day shockingly low. More Chicago residents voted in the local race for Cook County States Attorney than cast a ballot for President of the United States, a result unique in Chicago election history.

For several days after polls closed, the race for the Democratic nomination for Cook County States Attorney was too close to call as ballots were being counted by hand. The candidates for the nomination, which is tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic county, which includes Chicago, were Eileen ONeill Burke and Clayton Harris.

A former prosecutor and judge, ONeill Burke campaigned on promises to increase felony prosecutions, claiming she would target gun violence, to protect abortion rights in Illinois, and institute ethics training in the States Attorneys office. She also enjoyed the endorsement of the fascist Fraternal Order of Police President John Cantanzara.

On March 29, Cantanzara released a video stating: The members who took our advice and pulled a Democratic ballot, contrary to what you may have done for the last several primary elections by pulling Republican ballots: Every vote counted and your votes going Democratic this time made the difference to get Judge ONeill Burke across the finish line to try and save this city before it is lost forever.

In the days after the election, ONeill Burke claimed she was unfairly labeled a law and order candidate. ONeill Burkes campaign was supported by investors at Citadel and other big business figures including Richard Melman and Craig Duchoissois.

Clayton Harris was backed by Democratic Party and Cook County Board Chair Toni Preckwinkle, the Chicago Teachers Union, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters and local Democratic Party mega-donor Fred Eychaner.

ONeill Burke won the States Attorney primary with just 50.15 percent of the votes. Since securing victory she has been fully embraced by the Democratic Party leadership, including Preckwinkle.

Far from trying to win back those voters who opposed Biden over Gaza, the Democratic Party leadership has moved further to the right. In the immediate aftermath of the primary, a group of right-wing Democrats on the Chicago board of alderman (the city council) tried to oust Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, from a leadership position, as chair of the housing committee.

Sigcho-Lopez spoke at a protest against the US-backed Israeli genocide on March 22 at which a Marine veteran, Zachary Kam, burned a US flag and denounced his own personal role in US neocolonial wars.

Right-wingers in the Democratic and Republican parties as well as local news media seized on the event. Local outlet ABC 7 headlined a report that suggested Sigcho-Lopez himself burned the flag: Sigcho-Lopez asked to step down from leadership role; mayor defends him after American flag burning.

Right-wing Democrats on the board of aldermen, including Alds. Chris Taliaferro and Bill Conway, son of the billionaire chairman of the Carlyle Group and a Navy reserve intelligence officer, raised the demand to remove Sigcho-Lopez from his housing committee position.

On Monday April 1, the board of aldermen voted on the censure motion, but it was soon clear that it would not pass, and it went down to defeat by a margin of 29-16. Taliaferro himself ended up voting against it. He claimed to have had a change of heart the day before the vote, saying of Sigcho-Lopez, I can accept his apology and that is enough for me [instead of] removing him from this position.

Last November, another DSA alderman, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, was forced out as floor leader and chief of the zoning committee as Mayor Johnson was moving to the right, particularly on the question of migrants from Latin America. The mayor evidently requested Ramirez-Rosa step down after a controversy was manufactured by right-wing members of the city council.
In the 2024 US elections, the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic has been almost entirely ignored by both major capitalist candidates, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as well as almost every third party campaign. Only the Socialist Equality Party and its candidates Joseph Kishore and Jerry White have identified the pandemic as a significant ongoing issue and advanced a socialist program to stop it.

Contrary to the lies of the corporate media and political establishment, the pandemic is ongoing, and COVID-19 continues to infect, kill and debilitate masses of people globally each day. There have now been over 28.5 million excess deaths attributable to the pandemic globally, including over 1.4 million in the US, while over 4,000 people continue to die each day globally due to COVID-19 or its myriad health impacts. Studies estimate that hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are now suffering from Long COVID, with their ranks swelling with each new wave of mass infection.

What accounts for the silence of all the capitalist and middle class parties on this world historic event that has impacted every human being and profoundly altered global society?

The pandemic, which began just over four years ago, was arguably the central issue in the 2020 US elections. The horrifying response of the Trump administration, which combined the most blatant pro-capitalist policies with extreme backwardness and hostility to science, shocked millions of Americans.

While Trump whipped up his fascist supporters to oppose limited lockdowns and all other basic public health measures, Biden claimed that he would follow the science and stop the pandemic. In the final debate in October 2020, when just over 200,000 Americans had died of COVID-19, Biden declared, Anyone whos responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate on October 22, 2020 [AP Photo/Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP]

After winning the election, Biden immediately rejected lockdowns and initiated the full reopening of all public schools before any educators or children were even vaccinated. Since Bidens inauguration, over 720,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, the majority of the 1,186,671 total official deaths.

Bidens new CDC Director Rochelle Walensky proclaimed masks the Scarlet Letter of the pandemic and encouraged the lifting of mask mandates. After Biden prematurely declared independence from COVID-19 in July 2021, the CDC covered up the spread of the Delta variant and breakthrough infections.

The global spread of the Omicron variant in November 2021 prompted the Biden administration to fully embrace Trumps fascistic herd immunity program, steadily abandoning all public health measures and allowing the virus to spread unchecked. Promoting eugenicist conceptions, in January 2022 Walensky deemed it encouraging news that COVID-19 predominantly kills people who are unwell to begin with.

The normalization of the pandemic culminated in the scrapping of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declaration in May 2023. This led to the dismantling of all pandemic surveillance and mass disenrollment from Medicaid, with over 19 million Americans losing access to healthcare over the past year.

The Biden administration now completely ignores the ongoing dangers of the pandemic, including the growing ranks of those suffering from Long COVID and the ever-present threat of a far more dangerous variant evolving due to unchecked viral transmission. The official narrative is that COVID-19 has become endemic and essentially harmless. This delusional fantasy, parroted by the entire corporate media, underpins the Biden administrations approach to the pandemic in the 2024 elections.

As part of his Make America Great Again mythology, Trump has sought to portray his presidency as a Golden Age in US history, covering up his own disastrous response during the first year of the pandemic.

Only in the past couple weeks has Joe Biden begun to raise the pandemic at campaign events, making cheap jokes about Trumps most extreme anti-science statements about treating COVID-19 through injecting disinfectants or ultraviolet light. But Bidens record stands as a devastating indictment of the Democratic Party, which is equally culpable in the mass death and debilitation of the American population.

Outside the major capitalist parties, the positions of the third party candidates, with the exception of the Socialist Equality Party, range from far-right anti-vaccine propaganda to complete silence on the pandemic.

The standard bearer for the most unhinged and reactionary anti-science politics is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A member of the Disinformation Dozen responsible for the majority of anti-vaccine disinformation on social media during the pandemic, for decades he has been a leading purveyor of false claims that vaccines cause autism and other developmental disorders among children.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. October 9, 2023. [Photo: TeamKennedy24]

During the pandemic, RFK Jr. took this propaganda to a new level, organizing numerous rallies to oppose vaccine mandates and other basic public health measures required to stop the spread of COVID-19. Along with large sections of the political establishment and corporate media, he has also promoted the Wuhan Lab conspiracy theory, which aims to foment anti-Chinese racism and prepare the grounds for direct military confrontation with China.

Another third party candidate, Cornel West, has adopted a thoroughly reactionary policy on vaccines and adapted himself to the right-wing campaign against scientists and science. On his campaign website, West lists as one of his demands, Convene a federal panel of scientists and experts to study the safety and utilization of vaccines for infectious diseases.

What cynicism and cowardice! Will Wests panel review the safety of the decades-old vaccines for chicken pox, influenza, measles, mumps and rubella and others? Will they go back and review the safety of the vaccine which successfully eradicated smallpox in 1980? West advances this position under conditions in which measles is spreading across the US due to declining vaccination rates, an expression of social backwardness to which he is appealing. To revive a phrase from the 1960s, West is not part of the solution, he is part of the problem.

In an interview with far-right comedian Jimmy Dore last September, West stated, I think the kind of concerns that you and RFK Jr. and others have certainly are well-grounded. Asked whether he agreed with a right-wing December 13, 2021, statement from the National Black Caucus of the Green Party that denounced the partys support for vaccine mandates and passports, West stated, If I had another chance, Id be leaning much more with the Black Caucus.

After West withdrew from the Green Party race to run as an independent, Jill Stein launched her presidential campaign last November, two months after Wests interview with Dore. She has never commented on this interview, and her campaign website entirely omits the pandemic.

In an interview with Kim Iversen, Stein was asked the same question as West about the Green Partys position on vaccine mandates. Distancing herself from this and appealing to anti-vaccine sentiment, Stein said, Mandates are not workable, and they can be wrong, and in some ways they were wrong. She also intimated her support for the Wuhan Lab Lie, stating, The whole issue of where did COVID come from has not been addressed and must be addressed.

Despite being a Harvard-educated physician, before the pandemic Stein repeatedly used anti-vaccine rhetoric, including the promotion of baseless claims about mercury poisoning from vaccines.

The campaign of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a neo-Stalinist party which split from the Workers World Party (WWP) in 2004, has also largely ignored the pandemic. Their campaign website only briefly refers to the pandemic in the past tense, and a video on the pandemic released by the PSLs presidential candidate, Claudia de la Cruz, was widely denounced by anti-COVID advocates. The PSL quickly deleted the video without comment, and since then has resumed their de facto policy of simply ignoring the pandemic.

The only campaign which has placed the pandemic as a central theme of its campaign is that of the Socialist Equality Party and its candidates Joseph Kishore and Jerry White, who have advanced a scientifically-grounded socialist public health program. In numerous statements and videos posted on social media, the SEPs candidates have advocated for masking, while stressing that this must be combined with a broader strategy aimed at eliminating COVID-19 globally.

Jerry White and Joseph Kishore

In a campaign statement posted on Long COVID Awareness Day, March 15, Kishore wrote:

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and our election campaign insist that elimination remains both viable and necessary. We advance a globally-coordinated elimination strategy, in which the entire worlds population acts in solidarity and with a collective determination to enforce a broad-based public health program. Such a strategy includes mass testing, contact tracing, the safe isolation and treatment of all infected patients, the universal use of high-quality masks, and the renovation of all public buildings to provide clean indoor air through HEPA filters and the safe implementation of Far-UVC devices. There must be a vast expansion in funding for Long COVID research and a systematic program of scientific education. After four years of the pandemic, however, it is abundantly clear that such a strategy will never arise under world capitalism, which subordinates all public health spending to the insatiable profit interests of a money-mad financial oligarchy. It can only be implemented through a turn to the working class and the building of a mass movement fighting to restructure society on the basis of social need, not private profit.

The response of different political tendencies to the pandemic makes clear who are the genuine socialists and whose program represents the interests of the international working class. Despite the efforts of the media and official politics to cover up the pandemic, its devastating and ongoing toll will continue to affect mass consciousness and contribute to the deepening political radicalization of the international working class. This opposition must be unified on a world scale and aimed at the socialist overturn of the decaying capitalist system.
The Biden administration doubled down on its total support for Israels genocide in Gaza Wednesday after Israeli forces systematically and deliberately murdered seven foreign aid workers from World Central Kitchen on Monday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Asked whether there were any changes to the Presidents policy toward Israel and Gaza as a result of yesterdays strike, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre declared, [n]othing has changed.

In an earlier statement Monday, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby asserted, We make no bones about the fact that Israel is going to continue to have American support for the fight that theyre in to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

He added, No country should have to live next door to a threat that is truly genocidal, as Hamas has been, ... that Israel has every right and responsibility to their people to eliminate that threat after the 7th of October. And so, that support for Israel continues.

These comments come as it becomes increasingly undeniable that the airstrike that killed the aid workers Monday was deliberate, calculated and intentional.

In an interview with Reuters, restaurateur Jose Andres, the founder of World Central Kitchen, said the workers were targeted systematically, car by car.

Andres said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had been positively informed about the groups movements. This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place, he explained.

He continued, This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of. He added that it is very clear who we are and what we do.

They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They [were] knowing that it was our teams moving on that road ... with three cars, he said.

Andres rejected the claims by the US that the strikes were unintentional, saying, [c]ategorically no. He added, Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.

The White Houses declarations that it will continue to unconditionally back Israels offensive in Gaza no matter the scale of its war crimes shows the real content of the declaration Tuesday by US President Joe Biden that he is outraged over the killing. Such statements are meant merely to cover up the fact that the genocide is taking place with the full approval of the United States.

What theyre telling Israel is, this is just rhetoric. These concerns are purely rhetorical, Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, told the New York Times. Thats how Netanyahu is treating this. Hes treating this as something he can ignore safely, because hes got six months of data points to show he and the Israeli military can get away with ignoring what the president is telling them with no recourse.

In a statement of the obvious, one White House advisor told the Times, Israel investigating itself is not going to result in any meaningful consequences for the IDF soldiers involved.

On Tuesday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, warned that Israels murder of the aid workers was aimed at further slowing the entry of food into Gaza in order to more rapidly starve the population.

Knowing how Israel operates, my assessment is that Israeli forces intentionally killed #WCK workers so that donors would pull out, and civilians in Gaza could continue to be starved quietly, Albanese wrote.

This is exactly what is happening. On Wednesday, the United Nations announced that it had suspended the movements of its personnel in Gaza at night due to safety concerns, after the UN was banned from making food deliveries to Northern Gaza.

Following the murders, a convoy of food meant for Gaza from Cyprus was turned away, leaving 240 tons of food unable to be delivered. The aid workers had just finished delivering 100 tons of food and were returning to deliver the remaining 240 tons when they were killed.

Never before have we seen such rapid deterioration into widespread starvation, Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfams regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, reported last month. And mass starvation at the hands of Israel is only intensifying.

Famine is projected and imminent in Northern Gaza, according to a UN-backed report on hunger in the region, while the number of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger has doubled over the past four months.

At least 27 children have died of malnutrition so far, with the number only projected to rise more sharply as the famine intensifies.

To date, 32,957 Gazans have been killed, including 14,500 children, according to Gazas government media office. Thousands more remain missing or are trapped under the rubble, meaning the real death toll is likely to be over 40,000.

At least 2 million Palestinians are internally displaced, and more than half of those have been sickened by infectious diseases due to lack of food, water, hygiene and medicine.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 4. On April 5, an informal meeting between Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is scheduled to take place, Trend reports.

According to Tokayev's presidential administration, during the meeting in Uzbekistan's Khiva city, the leaders of both countries intend to discuss a broad spectrum of bilateral issues and regional matters.

Meanwhile, on December 22, 2022, Tashkent and Astana inked a Treaty on Allied Relations. Uzbekistan ratified this treaty on December 1, 2023.

President Tokayev emphasized the strong bilateral ties and underscored that the relationship between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan serves as a model for interstate relations.

Furthermore, the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also signed a Treaty on the demarcation of state borders between their nations.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 4. Kyrgyzstan is conducting negotiations with China's Tebian Electric Apparatus (TBEA Company) regarding the repair of the Bishkek thermal power plant, announced the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Akylbek Japarov, during a parliamentary session, Trend reports.

Japarov said that he had recently met with representatives of TBEA, who had constructed the third and fourth blocks of the capital's thermal power plant. They were supposed to inspect these blocks for five years, but due to a major scandal, it did not happen.

"We negotiated with them, and we requested that the same company carry out major repairs on these blocks since they built them themselves," he said.

Additionally, Japarov mentioned that repair work on the energy grid has already begun in Kyrgyzstan for the upcoming autumn and winter.

According to him, the water volume in the Toktogul reservoir as of April 1 amounted to 7.3 billion cubic meters. It was projected that this volume would be around 7 billion cubic meters in 2024. The reason for this was the low-water period.

He noted that there were no problems during this winter because all boiler rooms were thoroughly checked last year and repair work was carried out on time. Reserve boiler rooms were also prepared.

On February 2, 2024, around 03:00 AM (GMT+6), an explosion occurred at the Bishkek TPP, leading to the interruption of heating to residential and commercial buildings in Bishkek.
Arthur D Little (ADL) has announced a series of strategic appointments and promotions within its Middle East operations, significantly enhancing the firm's leadership and expertise in the region.

Prateek Sachdeva joins as a Partner in the Dubai office, bringing a wealth of expertise particularly in the energy, utilities, and process industries. His 13-plus years in consulting and industry are marked by his exemplary guidance in strategic transformations and operational improvements. Sachdeva's work, especially in crafting sector policies, regulations and steering transformative programmes, has positioned him as a trusted advisor to executive leaders and policymakers.

Vincenzo Basile has transitioned to the Dubai office from Italy as a Partner, bringing extensive experience from the Telecommunications, Financial Services, Automotive, and Consumer Goods sectors. With over 25 years in the Telecom industry at an international level, Basile has demonstrated significant consulting prowess in Transformation Programs, Managed Services, and strategy development across Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia.

Promoting team members

Arthur D Little has also announced the promotion of three team members in the Middle East to Partner, reflecting the firm's dedication to fostering talent from within:

Achraf Joumaa is now a Partner in the Travel & Transport Practice. With over 20 years of experience, Achraf excels in developing and implementing large-scale programs focusing on urban mobility and regional development.

Amer Hage Chahine, elevated to Partner, remains a core member of the Energy & Utilities and Industrial Development Practices. His expertise spans the oil & gas, chemicals, and industrial goods sectors, having led strategic projects that shape the industrial landscape in the Middle East.

Alexey Pankov, promoted to Partner, advises clients in heavy industries and manufacturing on strategic planning, operational transformation, and digital innovations. His contributions have been crucial in driving strategic development and transformations across manufacturing, metals, and energy sectors.

Strategic moves

Thomas Kuruvilla, Managing Partner at ADL, said: "We are delighted to welcome Prateek and Vincenzo to our team in the Middle East. Their vast experience and innovative approach are invaluable assets to ADL. Similarly, the promotion of Achraf, Amer, and Alexey to Partner reflects our firm's commitment to recognising and advancing our internal talent. These strategic moves are pivotal in our mission to deliver exceptional consultancy services in the Middle East."--TradeArabia News Service
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 4. Kyrgyzstan is preparing to send humanitarian aid to Kazakhstan to assist those affected by the flood of melted waters, said the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Akylbek Japarov, during a parliamentary session, Trend reports.

According to him, after the accident at the Bishkek thermal power plant, Kazakhstan extended a helping hand to Kyrgyzstan.

"In this case, we will also send them humanitarian aid, even if they did not ask for it. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. Thanks to the president's good policy with neighboring countries, they extended a helping hand to us even before we asked for it," said Japarov.

He added that, at the direction of the head of state, humanitarian aid is now being prepared. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is working on this.

Japarov reminded that on April 8, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Olzhas Bektenov, will visit Kyrgyzstan.

In several regions of Kazakhstan, melting waters have overflowed, and the flood situation remains consistently challenging. According to the Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the peak of the floods in Kazakhstan has not yet passed. He stated that this year's floods have exceeded the scale of the floods in 2012 and 2017, which were considered the largest in 30 years.

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How the Costumes in Ripley Depict the Transformation of a Conman, From Modesty to Luxury

For costume designers Giovanni Casalnuovo and Maurizio Millenotti, creating the costumes for Netflixs drama series Ripley was a unique challenge, given the eight-episode show was filmed entirely in black-and-white.

Based on the bestselling novel series by Patricia Highsmith, Netflixs limited series stars Andrew Scott as the titular Tom Ripley, a grifter living in New York City in the early 1960s, who travels to Italy after a wealthy man hires him to convince his son, Dickie Greenleaf, to come home. The series also stars Dakota Fanning, Johnny Flynn, Eliot Sumner and John Malkovich.

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Casalnuovo and Millenotti explained the series costumes were central to furthering the narrative, as the main character goes through several transformations as he embarks on a journey of deceit and lavish living during his travels in Europe.

Tom Ripleys wardrobe is a fascinating journey that reflects his internal transformation, Casalnuovo said. Initially, his clothing is modest and practical. Clean lines dominate, hinting at an aspiration for sophistication, but also revealing limited resources. The muted color palette emphasizes a sense of restraint. As the story unfolds, Toms wardrobe begins to subtly shift. This evolution reflects his growing confidence and his attempts to navigate a world beyond his own.

Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley.

The series begins in New York City in the 1960s, where Ripley is committing petty crimes to sustain a meager lifestyle. His costumes reflect his precarious financial position, with Scott sporting a scruffier and disheveled style with casual pieces like a leather jacket.

Since the series is shot in black-and-white, Casalnuovo and Millenotti had to leverage the costumes silhouettes, texture and patterns to help further the narrative. The costume designers explained that while Ripleys costumes are anchored by classic tailoring throughout the series, viewers can see his transformation through the subtle details of the clothing, such as a clashing pattern or a fabrics texture that indicates its quality.

As the series progresses, we see hints of his evolving personality emerge through his clothing choices, Casalnuovo said about Ripley. He might incorporate a subtly patterned tie or a textured fabric that suggests a desire for something more. The key to Toms style lies in the details. These details offer glimpses into his inner world and his aspirations.

In addition to mirroring Ripleys evolution, the costumes are also said to reflect the geographical diversity throughout the series. The series follows Ripley from New York City to multiple cities in Italy, such as Rome, Naples and Palermo.

Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley.

The costume designers explained that each city had a distinct look, such as characters in Rome appearing more polished and tailored, while characters in Naples or Palermo were seen wearing more prints and relaxed styles.

For their research process, Casalnuovo and Millenotti stated they didnt reference the 1999 film adaptation The Talented Mr. Ripley as the Netflix series director, Steven Zaillian, had a different interpretation of the original novels.

They instead embarked on a robust photo research strategy to accurately reflect the fashion of the late 1950s and early 1960s in Italy, looking to photo archives, street markets, vintage family albums and other sources.

A major breakthrough came from a hidden gem  an obscure photo archive, Casalnuovo said. There we unearthed a treasure trove of unseen and unpublished photographs depicting everyday life in Italy, particularly in the cities central to our story. These candid images provided a priceless window into the eras fashion, social dynamics and overall atmosphere.

Despite the challenges presented with costuming a black-and-white project, Casalnuovo and Millenotti look back at the experience fondly and believe theyve taken away many learnings from the series.

Through this process, we discovered a whole new way to think about costume design, Casalnuovo said. Black-and-white became a powerful storytelling tool, allowing us to focus on the details and textures that would define each character and enhance the atmosphere of the series.

Launch Gallery: A Closer Look at the Costumes in Netflixs Ripley

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Former Bad Boy Records rapper G. Dep has been released from New York prison on Thursday after serving 13 years for a murder he committed as a teen.

The 49-year-old rapper, born Trevell Coleman, was granted clemency by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in December after serving 13 years of a 15-years-to-life sentence. Both the prosecutor on the case and the judge who sentenced Coleman approved of the decision.

In 2010, Coleman walked into the NYPDs 25th police precinct and, in an effort to clean his conscience, confessed to shooting John Henkel, 32, during a robbery in East Harlem in 1993. He said he was unaware Henkel died in the shooting until years later.

Prior to his arrest, Coleman had hits with Special Delivery and Lets Get It, which helped popularize the Harlem Shake era. However, his career slumped after his 2001 debut album Child of the Ghetto.

While behind bars, Coleman earned an associates degree and facilitated anti-violence and sobriety counseling programs.

After being released from Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon Thursday morning, Coleman was met by friends and family before stopping at a local IHOP, with much of the proceedings documented on Instagram.

Im free at last, he said at the restaurant.

After his sentence was commuted, Coleman told All Hip Hop he plans to pursue a bachelors degree in business, but has also continued making music.

According to reports, hell be required to meet with a parole officer, get permission to leave the state and have no possession of weapons or drugs.
Its quiet inside the lobby of the Ludlow Hotel on Manhattans Lower East Side  a welcome respite for Fletcher, who touched down in New York for one night between Brazil and London.

Its somewhat of a surprise she isnt shouting, given only a few days before she was at the center of thousands of screaming Brazilian fans, who sang her songs back to her at a reported 116 decibels, which is equivalent to the decibel volume of a plane taking off, she says.

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Like, I am obsessed with that, she adds.

Despite having been on the music scene for a few years, its the first time Fletcher has been able to do a proper world tour  a pandemic will do that to you  and shes still processing the fact that people all across the world are screaming her lyrics back at her.

That is the exact sentiment that I think about all the time. The fact that I make up things from my brain, whether that be just in my bedroom or in the shower, and then that thing, that idea takes me around the globe to places I have never been to, where English is not the first language, and theyre yelling these songs word for word, she says. And sometimes I forget my fking lyrics, and theyre like, We got you.

Fletcher

Fletcher was originally supposed to release her debut album in early 2020, but it was put on hold once the pandemic hit. Instead, she found herself quarantining with her ex-girlfriend, and the two ended up making an EP called The S(ex) Tapes. (The ex in question is a photographer, who shot and directed all the music videos for the EP.) Her debut LP, Girl of My Dreams, was released in 2022 and garnered her a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist and nominations from the MTV Video and Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards.

Her new album, In Search of the Antidote, out now, is the music she is most proud of to date, she says. She began working on it at the start of 2023, and its heavily inspired by the health journey she went on with her Lyme disease diagnosis.

I was supposed to go on tour last year and I had to cancel it. I disappeared off of social media. I was just in and out of doctors and trying to get answers. I was in search of the antidote, she says. The antidote has been many things for me over the course of my life. Its been fans and women and the road and tequila, its been many different things. And last year it was my healing, my physical body and my emotional space and mental space and spiritual space. I really had to look in the mirror.

Fletcher

She wrote most of the album from her childhood home in New Jersey, set against a soundtrack of early 2000s female pop rock artists like Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson.

[Being at home] brings up a lot of childhood anxieties or fears or things Ive processed. But at the same time, it brings me closer to the core of who I am and also why I started making music to begin with, she says.

It also is a full-circle experience to where she is now, having just turned 30 while in Brazil releasing the album.

My birthday was March 19, and then the album came out three days later, so it was this kind of big celebration of renewal and a new trip around the sun, a new decade that I just feel super ready for, she says. Im leaving all my bullst in my 20s, its a new page, a new chapter. I feel like Im finally starting to get settled in my skin and who I am.

Fletcher

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It's hard to take your eyes off Andrew Scott in Netflix's 'Ripley'

Andrew Scott as con artist Tom Ripley in a scene from Netflix's adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley." --/Netflix/dpa

"The talented Mr. Ripley," the 1955 novel and first instalment of what would become a series about one of the most beloved sociopathic con artists in pop culture by American novelist and true master of psychological thrillers Patricia Highsmith, has been adapted for screen several times.

After "Purple Noon" (1960) starring Alain Delon and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999) featuring Matt Damon, Netflix has turned the acclaimed thriller into an eight-part black-and-white miniseries spanning more than seven hours and starring Andrew Scott, one of the hottest actors on the circuit right now (in every sense of the word).

The plot

The story of Tom Ripley begins in 1960s New York, where he is hired by a shipping magnate to stop his son Richard "Dickie" Greenleaf from wasting his life on Dolce Vita in Italy and to bring him back to America.

Ripley manages to weasel his way into Dickie's life quite effortlessly, but when eventually his mission appears to be faltering (and with it the prospect of a better life for the petty criminal), he begins to take more drastic measures.

The series written and directed by Steven Zaillian, probably best known for his screenplay for the 1993 movie "Schindler's List," has more opportunity to go into detail than the movie adaptations, though that sometimes results in over-the-top close-ups and prolonged scenes of Ripley walking up stairs or checking in at hotels.

A dazzling (Irish) Scott

Scott, 47, has long since come into his own, ever since playing Benedict Cumberbatch's adversary James Moriarty in the BBC's "Sherlock" series or the sexy priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's "Fleabag".

In 2023, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in "All of Us Strangers," in just another sign that Irish actors are doing really well right now.

Scott's face - you may call it expressive, or enigmatic - is perfect for the role of the versatile criminal who travels thorough Italy weaving a web of lies across Naples, Atrani, Rome, Sanremo, Palermo and Venice.

Zaillian kept the series in black and white and every shot by Robert Elswit's camera would make for an atmospheric postcard or print.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the director said that the move was inspired by a cover of a Ripley novel, with black and white just setting the tone perfectly for the story in his view.

Is 'Ripley' a match for 'Saltburn'?

The Netflix adaptation with the wonderfully illusive and attractive con artist at its centre follows "Saltburn," the psychological thriller directed by Emerald Fennell released earlier this year also starring another Irishman (Barry Keoghan) that sparked a hype on social media.

It remains to be seen how "Ripley" is received by Saltburn fans, but they can look forward to a stellar cast including Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf and Dakota Fanning who plays Dickie's very suspicious girlfriend, plus it's impossible not to root for the world's sexiest con artist.
Poignant and kinetic, Housekeeping for Beginners is a love letter to queer love and chosen family. The film that won the Queer Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival is out in theaters Friday. And we have a clip from the film of gay teen Ali (Samson Selim) meeting Dita (Anamaria Marinca of 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days) and Suada (Alina Serban), the lesbian couple who eventually take him in.

North Macedonias official Oscar submission this year, the film is the third feature from gay director Goran Stolevski, who was born in Macedonia and emigrated to Australia as a teen. His gay-themed feature Of an Age put him on the radar of LGBTQ+ viewers in 2022.

Housekeeping for Beginners kicks off with music and revelry as Ali sings impromptu karaoke with Suadas daughters, the rebellious teen Vanesa (Mia Mustafa), and Mia (Dzada Selim), an adorable and precocious kindergartner. Soon the lesbian couple must cope with Suadas less-than-promising diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Suada begs Dita to promise to care for her children and create a better life for them when shes gone by marrying their gay friend Toni (Vladimir Tintor), whose dalliance with Ali brought him to their home.

A queer extended family dramedy and celebration of life, Housekeeping for Beginners also touches on ethnic disparities for the Roma people like Suada and her daughters, who face segregation in schools. The film also explores how queer people primarily remain closeted for their safety.

Watch the clip from Housekeeping for Beginners where Dita and Suada arrive home following a harrowing doctors appointment to find Ali in their home with Suadas daughters.

Housekeeping for Beginners, from Focus Features, is out in theaters Friday.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, April 4. A cooperation program between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for 2024-2025 has been signed, Trend reports.

According to the press service of the Tajik president, five documents were signed following negotiations between President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and former President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who currently serves as the Chairman of the People's Council of the country.

These documents include:

-An Agreement on Cooperation between the Center for Advanced Training and Retraining of Diplomatic Service Employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan and the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

-An Agreement between the executive body of state power of the city of Khujand of the Sughd region of Tajikistan and the Hokimlik of the city of Arkadag of Turkmenistan on the establishment of sister city relations.

-An Agreement on Cooperation between the Committee on Architecture and Construction under the Government of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Construction and Architecture of Turkmenistan.

-A Memorandum between the Institute of Geology, Seismic-Resistant Construction, and Seismology of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and the Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan.

Berdimuhamedov arrived in Tajikistan for an official visit on April 4. During the official meetings and negotiations between Rahmon and Berdimuhamedov, the parties discussed all aspects of the two countries' relations and exchanged views on current issues on the international and regional agenda.
The films of Italys Matteo Garrone always bloom at the meeting point of two different realisms: social and magic. Theyre alive to the hardships of ordinary life, but also its comedy and strangeness  which means his work has often drawn comparisons to that of his countrymen Francesco Rosi and Federico Fellini. In his first film set outside his homeland, that quality hasnt dimmed a bit.

Io Capitano, which screened at this years Glasgow Film Festival and is Oscar-nominated for Best International Feature Film, begins in Senegal, then moves through Mali and Niger via the Sahara into Libya  and from there to the watery limbo between Africa and Europe. It is an immigration story, which follows two upbeat teenage cousins, Seydou and Moussa, as they strike out from Dakar with a dream of becoming pop stars abroad. But the boys journey swerves and barrels along like a seriocomic odyssey  rollicking one moment and harrowing the next.

Endearingly played by first-time actors Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall, this duos easy, affectionate friendship is the motor that keeps Io Capitano rumbling along. The pair are impossible not to root for  while Garrones flair for eccentric detail and rich feel for place gives their journey the texture of a Tintin adventure rather than an educational tract. Even the gradual dissolves between scenes  as opposed to hard cuts that would have jolted us from one ordeal to the next  feel like the gentle, methodical turn of a page.

The incidental characters are quickly and vividly sketched, from the impatient passport forger who keeps irritably barking next to the sceptical Malian border guard the boys meet a few hours later, who drily remarks on the extraordinary coincidence that in these photographic documents that were supposedly obtained two years ago, the duo are wearing exactly the same outfits as they are today. Such comic moments never undermine the toughness of a scene, but rather spice it with real, human colour. Seydou and Moussas journey may be gruelling, but watching it is anything but.

Intriguingly, the title has been left untranslated  perhaps because it sounds less elegant in English. It means I, Captain, and refers to the final chapter of the cousins voyage, in which a great sea has to be crossed. But other crossings here prove just as treacherous, from the tense gunpoint confrontations at borders to the extraordinary Sahara sequence, with its vast, sunburnt shots of strings of travellers snaking over the forbidding sands. During the latter, its as if the film itself starts to hallucinate from heat. We see a fellow traveller falls by the wayside, and kindly Seydou tries and fails to haul her back to her feet. Yet a few moments later, we see her drifting weightlessly behind him, miraculously borne along by the boys determination to keep her alive.

Viewers hoping for a crisper political line on migrant struggles may bridle at this stuff  and perhaps lose their rags entirely at the surprising timing of the ending, which is a hang-on-a-minute payoff for the ages. But Garrone knows exactly where hes leaving both his heroes and his audience: on the agonising cusp of a happily-ever-after his film makes you want to will into existence.

12A cert, 121 min. In UK cinemas from April 5

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A federal jury has found in favor of a Department of Revenue investigator against imprisoned reality star Todd Chrisley, and said he now owes that agent hundreds of thousands of dollars for slander.

According to the complaint, DOR investigator Amy Doherty-Heinze said Chrisley began a social media campaign against the GDOR and certain of its employees, contending that the investigation was illegal and improperly motivated.

Court documents say Chrisley began attacking Doherty-Heinze, accusing her of a multitude of crimes and wrongdoing.

On Thursday, a federal jury said Chrisley was responsible for one count of libel and one count of slander. The jury then awarded Doherty-Heinze compensatory damages of $350,000 plus punitive damages of $170,000, as well as attorneys fees, totaling to about $755,000 in overall damages, Doherty-Heinzes attorney said.

RELATED STORIES:

Todd and his wife Julie Chrisley, mostly known for their reality TV series Chrisley Knows Best, were found guilty in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks and the IRS out of millions of dollars.

Channel 2 Action News first started investigating the Chrisleys in 2017, when we learned that Todd Chrisley had likely evaded paying Georgia state income taxes for several years.

Court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that by 2018, the Chrisleys owed the state nearly $800,000 in liens.

The couple eventually went to trial and a federal jury found them guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion in June 2022.

Savannah Chrisley said during her podcast that she hoped to have her parents home by the summer.

The next hearing for the couples appeal is scheduled for April 19 where Savannah Chrisley said she is hoping the judge will grant bond for them.

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Kamasi Washington

Kamasi Washington gets a lift from newfound flute aficionado Andre 3000 on Dream State, a nearly nine-minute instrumental originating from his upcoming album, Fearless Movement. The project will be released May 3 through Young.

Washington calls the song a celebration of life and the opportunity it gives us to explore new possibilities. We created this song together instantaneously as we improvised off the music we made in the moment. It was such an honor to work on this song with one of my heroes, the great Andre 3000. And what an amazing experience Andre 3000, Brandon Coleman, Tony Austin, Mono/Poly and I had gliding freely through this world of sound not knowing where we would end up, but joyful in the journey itself.

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Outkasts erstwhile Andre previously worked with Washington on the formers surprise flute instrumental album New Blue Sun last year. The day Kamasi invited me to a session for Fearless Movement I was so geeked and honored, he says. Now, every time we get together something interesting happens.

Fearless Movement also features contributions from vocalist Patrice Quinn, fellow saxophonist Terrace Martin, Thundercat and his drummer btoehr Ronald Bruner Jr. DJ Battlecat and BJ The Chicago Kid. I know people are kind of used to me doing the big orchestras, but that just wasnt what this music was calling for, admits Washington. Theres a degree of insecurity that you feel, but I always have to ask myself, Is this what youre hearing? If you try to do something that isnt what youre hearing or feeling, will you be happy?

Washington will support the upcoming album with an extensive North American tour this spring and summer, beginning the day after its release at New Yorks Beacon Theatre.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
Meghan Markle has the perfect excuse to decline a rumored invitation to the UK from none other than Kate Middleton and Prince William, according to a royal expert.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have reportedly asked the Sussexes to bring their children with them the next time they visit the UK, but apparently, Markle has politely passed up on the offer.

Meghan isnt obviously keen on visiting Britain because she is not popular here. Nor is Harry, but its different for him. Shes asked for this, royal commentator and historian Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun.

Meghan Markle has the perfect excuse to decline a rumored invitation to the UK from Kate Middleton and Prince William, according to a royal expert. @msayles/The Kinsey Collection/Instagram

If she comes there will be a huge amount of adverse publicity because of the way she has acted for the past four years. On top of that, you have the issue of Archie and Lilibet  who are completely blameless.

Fitzwilliams also said now that the Sussexes lost their bid for taxpayer-funded UK security protection would also be an excuse not to visit.

The security would be decided on a case-by-case basis, they would make sure the trip was secure from the point of view of the UK, he continued. I think security could be used as an excuse not to come though.

Meghan has every right to come but they have been thrown out of Frogmore and for a good reason, Fitzwilliams added.

Spare and the interviews around it were horrible frankly. She has the perfect excuse not to come over because Harry has lost his security case.

The Waleses have had a years-long rift with the Sussexes, but it was recently reported that the pair may be looking to bury the hatchet once and for all.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have reportedly asked the Sussexes to bring their children with them the next time they visit the UK. Getty Images

Princess Kate was all for the idea of seeing Archie and Lilibet in England, but the Duchess of Sussex, 42, wasnt so keen, royal author Tom Quinn said this week.

There is no way Meghan would bring the children to the UK, Quinn told the Mirror.

William and Kate have suggested that Meghan and Harry bring the children and that the two couples and their families try to make up, but the suggestion is not leading anywhere so far.

The Sussexes lost their bid for taxpayer-funded UK security protection earlier this year. AP

Archie and Lilibet last visited the UK during the late Queen Elizabeth IIs Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.

Markle, for her part, last returned to England for the Queens funeral service in September that year.

Sources, however, deny the new report. The Post has reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.

Prince Harry is reportedly looking to visit the UK in May. Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation

Harry and Meghan did not bring their children with them over safety concerns, as the Sussexes were stripped of taxpayer-funded UK security protection.

This means the pair will pay out of pocket for their security when back on Harrys home soil.
'Mother of the Bride,' from 'Mean Girls' director Mark Waters, also stars Miranda Cosgrove, Sean Teale, Chad Michael Murray and Rachael Harris

Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt have some catching up to do in Mother of the Bride.

The two play former college sweethearts, Lana and Will, who unexpectedly reunite in Thailand at the destination wedding of their respective children: Lana's daughter Emma (Miranda Cosgrove) and Will's son RJ (Sean Teale).

Netflix's newly released 2-minute trailer gives a brief snapshot of their awkward encounters as they try to make the trip and wedding day special for their kids, all while navigating their own baggage  and potential remaining romantic feelings.

"It's time to take care of me a bit less and take care of yourself a little bit more," Emma tells Lana near the end of the trailer. "I just want you to be happy."

Directed by Mark Waters (Mean Girls), the upcoming rom-com also stars Chad Michael Murray, Rachael Harris, Wilson Cruz, Michael McDonald, Tasneem Roc and Dalip Sondhi.

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Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt in Mother of the Bride (2024)

Related: Stars Who Were Parents of the Bride or Groom

In an interview surrounding an exclusive first look at Mother of the Bride last month, Waters, 59, told PEOPLE that part of the reason Bratt fit the role of leading man Will is his wide appeal.

"I find that romantic comedies, they often go for men who aren't liked by other men in the male leads," he said. "And since I am a man, I [want] somebody who is not only going to be beloved with women, but also men are going to see the movie and see, 'Oh, I also like that guy. And that's a guy that I could see being friends with.' "

Shields, who is also a producer on the film, told PEOPLE that Bratt is "pretty easy to be a love interest"  and that she was also thrilled that his wife of over 20 years, Talisa Soto, came to Thailand for part of the shoot.

"She's such a refined, beautiful woman," said the actress, 58. "She epitomizes that, and I was so happy she wanted to come and spend the first portion of [filming] with us."



Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix Sean Teale and Miranda Cosgrove in Mother of the Bride (2024)

Cosgrove, 30, told PEOPLE that the cast got to "spend pretty much every day together for the six weeks we were in Thailand" filming. "And one of the special things about making the movie was  since we were so far away from home, all of us, and in a new place  I really feel like we all got to know each other pretty fast," she added.

For Shields, filming with her castmates "felt like theater ... because we were all thrown together in such a foreign environment," she recalled. "We were together all the time."

"We just all stayed together, which was really nice. And we all lived right near each other [on location]," Shields explained.



Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix Miranda Cosgrove and Brooke Shields in Mother of the Bride (2024)

Related: Brooke Shields and Miranda Cosgrove Shine in New Photos from Netflix's Mother of the Bride (Exclusive)

Waters said that while "there's obviously a lot of comedic tension between Benjamin and Brooke's characters" and romantic storylines to follow, "the real emotional heart of the movie is between the mother and the daughter."

"Frankly, the scene where Emma goes to visit Lana in her bedroom the night before the wedding is the most emotional scene in the movie for me," he said.

Cosgrove said her "strong relationship" with her own mom "definitely played into" how she approached her character Emma's dynamic with Shields' Lana, as she "had a lot to work with."

"But also Brooke's just really warm and loving, and she's kind of the type of person that, even if you've only talked to her for an hour, you feel like you've known her a long time," the iCarly actress added. "She's just really warm."

Mother of the Bride is streaming May 9 on Netflix.

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In the early 2000s, Matt Schnable and Mark Capon were pals attending James Madison University in Virginia. They knew they wanted to launch a venture after finishing school, and they decided on a record shop. But we were also hoping to create a space beyond just selling records, Capon recalls. In college, we were involved with promoting shows and with the college radio station community. And community appealed to us as much as retail.

Schnable concurs. Going against some preconceived notions of record stores, we wanted to create a comfortable environment where people could hang out, meet up, exchange, be a part of something. They decided on Asheville, North Carolina, a hip city of under 100,000 in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A friend or two had mentioned that Asheville seemed cool, but neither of us had really been here, says Capon.

At the time, West Ashevillea community across the French Broad River from downtownwas still a sleepy neighborhood, home to the odd vacuum cleaner repair shop or diner, but with no real scene. The two found a space, one they felt could fill a void left by the recent closing of Almost Blue, a beloved downtown record shop run by the brother of Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes. West Asheville is where we could open a neighborhood record store, Schnable says.

Twenty years later, Harvest Records is an anchor of the now vibrant West Asheville community. Since its opening, the store has doubled in size and shifted its inventory (originally a mix of CDs and records) to focus primarily on vinyl. The store celebrates its major anniversaries in style: The 10-year mark brought with it the Harvest-organized Transfigurations Festival, an expertly curated event featuring an eclectic bill: Steve Gunn, Angel Olsen, the Clean, Lee Fields, Greg Cartwrights Reigning Sound, and many others. Co-owners Capon and Schnable promise something different yet equally special for the stores landmark 20th anniversary in August.

How do you find used records?

Matt Schnable: Weve been around long enough so that were very luckyrecords come in virtually every single day. It could be three records, could be 50 records, but theyre coming in all the time. But it took a long time for us to be established enough to get that walk-in traffic; it was not like that at first.

Mark Capon: They come through, but its never fully satisfying. You always want more. We never advertise much, but we have done some radio and print ads, some Craigslist, classifieds, and Yellow Pages over the years to let people know, Hey, we buy records.

Matt: And we still go out to peoples houses to look at collections.

Do people ever donate records?

Mark: Yeah, because theyre tired of lugging them around! What happens a lot when we buy collections is that well break it down and say, We can take these for this much, and well pass on those. And they say, Do you just want them all? I dont want to take them back out to the car.

Matt: A customer came in a couple of months ago and told me, Im trimming fat off the collection. You guys have been great to me for the past 10 years, so I just want to donate these. So every now and again we get these sweet customers who just want us to have them, sell them, and make some money.

Whats the most expensive record youve ever sold?

Matt: It might have been that Osey Helton 78. He was a fiddle player from around here. We just also sold a Derek and the Dominoes Layla mono promo, which is an exceedingly rare record. And that was over $1,000.

Mark: One of our most exciting moments was many years ago, probably 2009. We had the first Misfits seven-inch, Cough/Cool. Its been bootlegged a lot. Our friend Greg Cartwright helps us a lot of the time; hes big in the 45-collector world. He was going to a 45 show in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He took it along and sold it for $1,300; he came back and brought us the cash. We were all at a bar, and we bought a bunch of shots! At that point in our lives, I doubt we had even sniffed $1,000.

What was the rarest disc youve sold?

Mark: There was a Dolly Parton picture disc we sold for $1,000; we probably could have gotten more.

Matt: Yeah, we probably could have gotten two or three grand. It was something that only RCA executives got; they made five or 10 of them.

Whos the most famous person who ever came into your store?

Mark: Weve had a variety of actors and tons of musicians, but at least in our world, Brian Eno is the most famous, most legendary. He sat on that very couch [points]; we sat on either side of him, grabbed his knee. We had an hour with Eno in here; we were open, but no other customers came in.

Matt: I was like, Oh, my GodEno is here. He was just walking around and shopping, checking things out. He took recommendations and bought a bunch. It was surreal; it was one of the best moments.

What was your first concert?

Mark: Im so glad you asked that! I love bragging about this. I was 13. My first concert was Nirvana, the Breeders, and the band Come. This was in Jacksonville, Florida, where I grew up. It was November 93, and [Kurt Cobain] died in April of 94. Im just barely old enough to have done that. If I was a year or two younger, it would have been too much.

Matt: The Cranberries. The opener waswho does Shine?Collective Soul.

Whats your favorite album?

Matt: I listen to tons of Michael Hurley  Armchair Boogie, Velvet Underground and Nico.

Mark: The first record that I was fully obsessed with, that changed my life, was the first Pearl Jam, Ten. It set me on a grunge path, like a lot of kids my age. The next album I can remember fully re-tweaking my brain was a Palace [Music] album: Will Oldham, before he was Bonnie Prince Billy. Viva Last Blues.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to open a record store?

Mark: I can think of a few things. One would be to [looks at Matt] get a good business partner. [Matt winks.] You can do it yourself, but I imagine it would be tough. Do right by your people. Listen to your customers and your staff. With any business you could probably fall into a curmudgeonly I know how to do this attitude. You cant do that, especially when selling music. So listen.

Matt: Keep an open mind. Have the ability to be influenced by your customers. Evolve naturally with the community. Trying to grow exponentially when your townor youcant handle it is a terrible idea. And start small, but with as stacked an inventory as you can manage.

Mark: Keep it interesting for your customers. Every time someone comes in, they should be able to see new things. Rearrange things, but also get new titles in. Weve all had those experiences where you go into the dusty record store, and its the same prices on the same shit thats been there since the last time you were there a year ago. I think our customers really feel like, Every time Im in here, theres something new happening.

Matt: You go into some record stores, and theyre highly specialized and thats what they carry. And thats cool. But if you are going to run a record store for the masses, stock as much as you can, have diverse genres, and have a wide range of prices. Have those $3.00 and $5.00 records so youre not pricing people out. We want everyone to be able to walk in here and find something, whether its a $2.00 record or a box set or a rare record; all the customers are important.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
On Episode 3 of "Top Chef: Wisconsin," 100 guests were invited to try the contestants' food at a staged cheese festival at the Cupola Barn in Oconomowoc.

On Episode 3 of Top Chef: Wisconsin, the contestants were taken to The Cupola Barn in Oconomowoc to compete in the shows first-ever cheese festival.

I have a full recap of the episode if youd like an overview, but I have so much more to spill beyond what you see on the show. I was one of the 100 guests at the cheese festival, I tasted (almost) every dish and I was right there feeling the heat of the competition (and the summer sun) throughout the daylong shoot in the countryside.

You wont see me in the episode beyond some background shots on camera, but I was there to witness it all and cast my vote for my favorite dishes (more on that below). Have you ever been curious what its like to be a guest at a Top Chef taping? Read on for my behind-the-scenes takeaways.

It was even hotter than it looked

I cant stress enough how hot it felt that day. We taped midday in late August, and temperatures reached around 90 degrees. The picturesque side yard surrounded by cornfields was gorgeous, but there was very little shade to be had anywhere, including at the chef stations, of which only a few were equipped with sun umbrellas.

I couldnt imagine cooking under the hot sun all day! The poor chefs looked exhausted, and the crew was doing everything they could to keep them loaded up with sunscreen and water.

Theres a part in the episode when Kaleena is talking to the diners, saying, Please vote for me, I worked my butt off! And she did. They all did, but I could tell the sun was really getting to her. In fact, I flagged down a crew member to bring over some sunscreen when she told me she could use it. She earned that top-three placement.

Everyone, including the guests, was provided unlimited water, which we chugged throughout the day. We were also given two drink tickets we could use on beer, wine or hard seltzer.

Speaking of, I had to laugh when the guests were ushered into the yard before the cheese festival began. A crew member asked that we try to spread out and not all hit the bar at the same time. Smash cut to dozens of thirsty Wisconsinites heading straight to the bar, drink tickets burning a hole in our pockets. I think the bar was drank dry that day.

We had about 3 hours to try everyones food

Guests were told to park at a nearby church, then around 11 a.m. were taken in shuttle buses to the Mapleton Community Center across the street from the Cupola Barn, where we were in holding for about an hour before we could walk over.

We checked in, signed non-disclosure agreements, and were given blackout stickers to put on our phones camera lenses so we couldnt take photos throughout the day. I was a little sad I couldnt document my experiences on Top Chef, but its a top-secret set for a reason. Absolutely no insider intel was to be shared until the episode aired.

The crew explained the events of the day, telling us they might pull us to the side to talk about the dishes for the camera (there were hidden microphones in the little floral arrangements on some of the tables  that's how the show picks up those candid conversations between diners). I was pulled once to stand in the background of the judges deliberating while I shared my thoughts with new friends Id made in the sign-in line earlier in the day.

I didnt make the cut, but there is a moment when you can catch me tapped out from the heat, sitting under a tree while checking my email, resigned to the fact that I could not possibly eat another bite of cheese if I tried.

We had around three hours to taste our way through the chefs stations. Plenty of time, for sure, but people started slowing down about an hour or so into the taping. Like I said, it was hot!

Some folks found a shady spot under a tree, others relaxed at picnic tables, mixing and mingling across the yard. We were allowed to talk to all of the chefs as they were serving and most of them were as upbeat as they could be, excited to explain their dishes or chat about the restaurants they work in back home.

In fact, the excitement began before the competition did. Michelle was whooping it up at her station, having a blast and encouraging the guests to cheer and get loud for the festival ahead. She seems just as kind and bubbly as she appears on the show.

We were also told we could interact with any of the judges while they werent on camera. Most folks kept their distance, but I was pleasantly surprised with how gracious the judges were with guests, taking time to shake hands and say hello during the downtime when diner votes were tallied.

And, yes, all the judges are absolutely stunning in real life. Major kudos go out to the hair and makeup team working that day, because not a hair was out of place or a bead of sweat visible. And they were outside in the sun just as much as the rest of us.

Maybe it helped that judge Tom Colicchio was going barefoot for some of the day  but I dont blame him. We were all trying to find ways to beat the heat.

And, speaking of judges, I was elated to see chef Dane Baldwin of The Diplomat stepping in as a guest judge for the episode. He looked like a natural walking around all day with the judges, tasting and deliberating. You could tell he was taking it seriously.

Filming for the guests wrapped around 3:30 or 4 p.m., and all 100 of us slowly shuffled in line to shuttle back to our cars  and I was on the last shuttle. I have a whole new appreciation for the contestants and judges for getting through those long days with a smile.

It was, in fact, too much cheese to eat in one day

So ... about that cheese. There was a lot of it. Of course, it was a cheese festival! In the episode, host Kristen Kish said, Maybe its an unpopular opinion, but its just too much cheese.

Get out of Wisconsin! Colicchio replied. But about an hour in, I was with Kish.

I could only make it through nine of the 13 dishes. I feel bad for not making it to every station, but the extreme heat paired with the heavy cheese and fried preparation for most of the dishes was a recipe for disaster, even though I really enjoyed most of the dishes I tried.

I feel bad for the chefs who made some version of croquettes. Im sure theyd be lovely on a cooler day, but many of us in the crowd were completely done with eating fried cheese at that point, so those who brought brightness to their dishes were so welcome at the end of the day.

My favorite dishes at the Top Chef: Wisconsin cheese festival

The top three chefs at the challenge were Kaleena, Michelle and Dan, and they all received top scores from me, too.

Kaleenas mac and cheese, using Sartoris BellaVitano Merlot cheese, was surprisingly light, and I was wild for the sauce she made using the cheeses merlot-washed brine. Its one of my favorite cheeses, so I was happy to see she pulled it off in her dish. It was such a smart representation of the variety of cheese.

Michelle, who won the challenge, made a beautiful potato and Pleasant Ridge Reserve fritter, but she really impressed me with her collard greens, so vibrant-tasting with a garlicky twang. Hers was the first station I visited and, throughout that whole day, I kept thinking back to how much I liked her dish.

And of course I was going to go for Dans gnocchi (labeled as potato dumplings on our score cards). But I promise I wasnt being a homer  even folks I talked to who werent aware of him from his Milwaukee restaurants loved his dish. That frothy sauce using Door Artisan Cheese Companys Sancho Cruz Mexican-Style Manchego was so airy and and light. The olive tapenade added a note of saltiness that balanced the dish well.

They werent the top vote-getters, but I also really liked Rasikas Dunbarton Blue cheese rice cake dish with chicken curry (so different, and the hazelnuts added a nice crunch) and Savannahs Oaxaca cheese quesadilla (the whipped avocado and fresh corn salsa were much appreciated on the hot day).

As far as the least favorites go, I wont kick them when theyre down, but theres a reason they received the fewest votes. They were working against a lot of tough odds and just didnt deliver.

Dan got a lot of local love from the crowd

This was the first taping I attended while Top Chef was in town, and the first time I realized Dan was a contestant. Id been optimistic that the show would cast a local chef, so I kept an eagle eye out as I scanned the chef stations.

Dan was set up at the far end of the yard and I spotted him right away. So exciting, but it's been tough to keep a secret for all this time. There was a heavy rotation of guests approaching him, chatting him up and wishing him well. When he walked away from his station at the end of competition, a horde of fans nearby gave him a rowdy round of applause.

You know how much Im going to hear about this later... he quipped.

But he kept his focus as he was cooking. Ive made gnocchi so many times before, but in this competition, something like this can make it feel like your first time, he said while I was at his station.

He landed in the top three, so I cant say for sure how many of those votes were hometown bias, but his dish was absolutely delicious enough to merit its own success. It received my second-highest score of the day and the judges raved about it on the episode, as well.

We were told we couldnt go back for seconds, but even after I was feeling stuffed, Id be happy to try his dish again.

Rachel Bernhard joined the Journal Sentinel as dining critic in June 2023. Shes been busy exploring the Milwaukee area food scene to share her favorite finds with readers along the way. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers.

What should she cover next? Contact her at rseis@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @rachelbernhard or on Instagram at @rach.eats.mke.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A peek behind the scenes at the Top Chef: Wisconsin cheese festival
TechCrunch

Elon Musk unveiled a prototype of Tesla's Robovan on Thursday night during the company's We, Robot event in Los Angeles. The Robovan will be an electric, autonomous vehicle roughly the size of a bus, designed for transporting people around high density areas. "We're going to make this, and it's going to look like that," said Musk on Thursday night as the Robovan rolled towards center stage.
Brick and Ivy Market will expand offerings with new storefront

HOLLAND  Bambu Desserts and Drinks is truly gone for good at 184 River Avenue, as plans are underway for the opening of Oak and Leather in May.

The store is owned by Melissa Mathis, who also owns the neighboring Brick and Ivy Market. The new space will focus on mens clothing, self-care items, masculine home decor and more.

A new store, Oak and Leather, will open in the former Bambu location at 184 S. River Avenue in downtown Holland.

Mathis plans to sell items provided by small, preferably local, businesses.

Our goal is to be open just before Tulip Time, Mathis said. With how busy we are during Tulip Time, it just makes sense.

Mathis grew up on the east side of the state before moving to Zeeland, where she attended Zeeland West. Seven years ago, she moved to Holland. She opened Brick and Ivy Market in 2020.

More: Brick and Ivy Market opens in downtown Holland

Now, the plan is to remove part of the wall that divides the two spaces.

The space is all painted, the floors are done, drywall is done and painted," Mathis said. "Now we just need to build all the display furniture. My dad joked that hes going to put a cot in the basement and live there for the next month.

The previous tenant in the space, Bambu, opened in early 2021. It closed its doors permanently in October.

Subscribe: Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage

The new shop is meant to be unique.

Everybody comments on the charm and the character of Brick and Ivy and thats really important, Mathis said. People dont like cookie cutter stuff."

Learn more by following Brick and Ivy Market on Facebook.

 Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Brick and Ivy Market will expand offerings with new storefront
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, April 4. President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, former President of Turkmenistan and current Chairman of the People's Council of the country, discussed matters related to the development and expansion of ties in the oil and gas sectors, Trend reports.

According to the press service of the Tajik president, the discussion also delved into deepening cooperation in fields such as chemistry, metallurgy, industry, agriculture, transportation, and freight. They highlighted the significance of broadening interregional relations by expanding cooperation between entities and establishing connections between sister cities of the two countries.

Furthermore, cultural and humanitarian cooperation were emphasized during the meeting. Both parties exchanged views on coordinating cooperation within regional and international organizations and further supporting each other's global initiatives.

Attention was given to regional security matters, including combating terrorism and extremism.

Berdimuhamedov arrived in Tajikistan for an official visit on April 4. The official meetings and negotiations between Rahmon and Berdimuhamedov resulted in the signing of various documents.
Carefluencers are highlighting what its like to take care of elderly relatives by sharing their day-to-day on the internet.

Grandchildren are increasingly making content on social media showing their grandparents enjoying their old age and going about their lives. Francesca Falzarano - an assistant professor at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology - told The New York Times that her researchers have coined a term for people who are giving a behind-the-scenes look into caregiving for the elderly.

In my research lab, we call them carefluencers, Professor Falzarano said. Social media is really the only way a lot of these people are able to access support, education and a sense of belonging.

Artist and poet Yosimar Reyes videos about his 89-year-old grandmother Mardonia Galeana have captured the hearts of thousands as he chronicles her enjoying the little things like Merengue music at the senior centre or a day at the San Jose Flea Market.

A lot of people see me and they hug me, Mardonia told The New York Times. I dont even know them, but sometimes they ask me for a blessing on the street and I do the best I can on their forehead.

Seeing your Abuela smiling and having a good time truly warms my heart, one user commented below one of his videos.

Reyes told the outlet that he acts as his grandmothers caregiver - driving her to appointments, managing her medications, and making sure she has a roof over her head. Reyes was raised by his grandparents and came with them to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico, in the early 1990s.

I take pride in the fact that I care for and dress my grandma, Reyes, 35, admitted. That shes not going to be out here in a muumuu. Her nails are also poppin and its a big self-esteem boost for her.

Even as a kid, I was already a caregiver, he added. I had to translate documents and help my grandparents navigate this country because they were older and didnt speak English.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, he has been acting as his grandmothers primary caregiver, which he said has been overwhelming at times. Im trying to build a career as an artist and as a writer, but then I still have to go home and have to take care of somebody, Reyes said. Some days, Im emotionally depleted. And if shes having a bad day, I have to make sure that Im not reactionary.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, theres been an increase in the number of unpaid caregivers in the United States increased from 43.5 million in 2015 to 53 million in 2020.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA)  One Central Illinois mom is encouraging organ donor registration as Carle Health is raising awareness through the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network.

There are over 100,000 people on the donation waiting list, with a new person being added every 10 minutes. After the death of Melissa Bornders son, Elijah, his kidneys were donated to two people.

Friends react to loss of beloved C-U youth mentor

Its an honor to know that someone out there has been helped by my son, and that he does live on, Bornder said. I have yet to meet our recipients, but I think that someday I would love to, and I would love to share the story of Elijah with them, also.

If you or someone you know would like to register as a organ donor, you can visit giftofhope.org.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Meet The Makers |

By Caroline Biggs

Ethan Streicher - Photo Credit Harlie Brindak

Ethan Streicher takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to design. The Brooklyn-based maker infuses character and levity into his ceramic creations in an effort to elevate everyday life. My mission is to enhance the human experience through artful design, he tells Business of Home. I want to blur the lines between art and functionality.

Born in Berkeley, California, and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Streicher was heavily influenced by his parents love for fine art and midcentury aesthetics. In college, he studied graphic design at Appalachian State University before embarking on a decadelong career in New York as a graphic designer working for various startup companies, creative agencies and boutique branding studios. I wanted to go to school for illustration and painting, but I was a bit scared of what the world would look like after graduation, says Streicher. Graphic design allowed me to use the skills I'd been honing since I was a kidincluding drawing on tablecloths at restaurants with crayonsand have a bit more job security.

Whoop-Ass Can lamp by Streicher Goods - Photo Credit Courtesy of Streicher Goods

However, everything changed when friend and fellow artist Nicole Brunner of Wild Bower introduced Streicher to ceramics. She invited me to come play with some clay, and from that day on I was in the studio three to four times a week, he says. I got so into it right off the batI was pulling long days, working a full-time job and then going straight to the studio until midnight.

Eventually, Streichers passion for pottery surpassed his desire for a stable gig, and in 2020, he launched Streicher Goods with a selection of idiosyncratic handmade objects, including a wavy vase and a checkered lamp. Three years later, he released Seeing Red, his first cohesive lighting collection, which features nine geometric table lamps crafted from terra-cotta clay. I hand-sculpted the bases for each lamp, then used renders to create 3D-printed shades for some, and found objectssuch as cut-up ping-pong balls that act as diffusersfor others.

The Gradient table lamp in Horizon - Photo Credit Courtesy of Streicher Goods

Streicher Goods now offers an array of delightful lighting and decor piecesall hand-forged from clay and informed by Streichers graphic design experienceranging from the pendulum-powered, human-shaped Grandfather Clock to the hand-painted, sardine caninspired Whoop-Ass Can lamp. Form is the driving force for me, and function comes later, he explains. Every idea I have starts off as a silhouette, then I figure out what components need to be added to make it practicalsort of like backward engineering.

His latest launch, the Spectrum series, spans three mushroomlike table lamps spray gunglazed in gradient hues that draw from the sky. Tucked inside the shade of each lamp is an LED rope that goes around the circumference to create a beam of light when you look up underneath, he says.

Currently hard at work on a new line of bronze-finished light fixtures slated to be released later this spring, Streicher hopes to expand into ceramic furniture someday. If youd told me 10 years ago Id be a ceramicist with a homewares company, I probably wouldnt have believed you, he says. I first started making things for myself, and through that process felt a connection to everyday objects that I want to continue to share with others.

If you want to learn more about Ethan Streicher, visit his website or Instagram.

Want to stay informed? Sign up for our newsletter, which recaps the weeks stories, and get in-depth industry news and analysis each quarter by subscribing to our print magazine. Join BOH Insider for discounts, workshops and access to special events such as the Future of Home conference.
Enjoy a taste of Mississippi's best culinary offerings at this event

Culinary delights prepared by more than two dozen of Central Mississippis top restaurants will highlight a tasting event and competition set for Monday, April 8, at the District at Eastover.

Called Taste of Mississippi, the outdoor event is a fundraiser for Community Stewpot Services, a nonprofit faith-based organization whose mission is to provide food, shelter, and other emergency services to poor, elderly, and disabled individuals.

The annual event is known to bring together food lovers from throughout Mississippi, and some from other states.

At last years Taste of Mississippi we had 1,300 attendees, said Chris Eason, Stewpots director of special events and communications. The community really remembers and gets excited about this event every year, and we have great support from the restaurants.

Taste of Mississippi will be held April 8 at The District of Eastover.

A team of 28 judges will award prizes for Best Appetizer, Best Entree, Best Dessert, Best Presentation and Best Beverage.

Judges are nominated and chosen based on their involvement in the community, appreciation for good food and drink, and a love for Stewpot.

We look for people from a restaurant background as well as those interested in food nonprofessionally, Eason said.

Before the results are tallied, each judge is assigned six different restaurants to evaluate. Attendees will also be able to vote for their favorites for a special Peoples Choice award.

Tickets are $70 in advance or $90 day of show and allow for unlimited food tasting. The event also will have three open bars, samples of beer produced by Mississippi breweries, and live music from the Southern Komfort Brass Band.

Competing businesses this year will include Born to Pop, BRAVO!, Bread & Batter Baked Goods, Broad Street, Eddie Wright BBQ, Enzo Osteria, Hal & Mals, Iron Horse Grill, Jerk City Grille, Juicy Wooder Ice, Kettos Cusina, La Cour, Library Lounge, Logan Farms, McSwillie's Boil Co., Mo Betta Dessert Bar, Pizza Shack, Sal & Mookies, Saltine, Scrooge's Fine Food & Drink, St. Andrews Holy Smokers, Shantilly Sweets, Sugars Place Downtown, Table 100, Tuk Tuk Boom, Uniquely Kovered, and Zoes Restaurant.

We have some restaurants who have participated every year since the event began as 'Taste of the Nation' 35 years ago as well as about 10 new ones, Eason said.

Streets throughout the District at Eastover will be blocked off for pedestrian traffic where each restaurant will have individual tables set up for sampling.

Stewpots beginnings date to 1981 when a group of seven downtown Jackson churches, eager to provide a coordinated response to problems of hunger and homelessness in the area, began providing free lunches from an abandoned service station on West Capitol Street.

Over the next decade they also added a food pantry, clothing closet, medical clinic, emergency shelters and a summer camp program. In 1992, the organization moved across the street into the former Central Presbyterian Church where they now operate 15 ministries supported by thousands of volunteers and donors annually.

In November 2023, Stewpot was awarded a $1.25 million grant from the national Bezos Day One Families Fund designed to specifically address the problems of homelessness of families with children. The Rev. Jill Buckley, a Baptist minister ordained by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Alliance of Baptists, serves as Stewpots executive director.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi will be serving as Title Sponsor for the 2024 Taste of Mississippi event. They are being joined by approximately 30 other local firms and organizations serving as Silver, Bronze and Friends of Stewpot sponsors.

Gates open at 7 p.m. and will close at 10 p.m. For tickets visit stewpot.org/tasteofms or call 601-353-2759 for more information. The District at Eastover is located at 1250 Eastover Dr. in Jackson just off the East Frontage Road of Interstate 55.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Taste some of MS's best culinary offerings at Taste of Mississippi
EVANSVILLE  Its nice to see a little mom-and-pop business do well, and Jans Place Cajun Restaurant has flourished in the nearly six months its been operating.

We introduced Jan's place in November, when it began as a a pop-up offering to-go gumbo and chili on the weekends. The food made a name for itself, and owners Kenneth and Roxanne Smith decided to lease dining space in the Expansion Joint Events Center to have sit-down service five days a week.

I didnt think we would be doing sit-down dining for like a year, but things progressed so quickly, Kenneth said. Its been a learning curve. My wife and sister-in-law are helping, but Ive been known to close the restaurant and prep until 5 am and then sleep for a few hours and come back to open.

Kenneth Smith dredges shrimp for frying inside Jan's Place on Monday, March 18, 2024.

The restaurant is very homegrown. Smith cooks two kinds of gumbo, red beans and rice and chili, whips up beignet dough, grinds boudin sausage and makes boudin balls, serves, takes care of social media, marketing and more. Roxanne cooks up orders in the kitchen and her sister, Samantha Burkholder, helps serve. With some occasional help from the kids, thats it. Still, the menu has grown robust and Smith runs specials as well.

More: Evansville-area food news: 17 bites of food news for you this week

Meals from Jan's Place are also now available for delivery through DoorDash and GrubHub.

A note: As Jan's Place is such a tiny and new restaurant, it's far better for the Smiths to run out of a daily special than have a bunch left over, so if you're going later in the day, check the Facebook page for announcements that the special is gone, or call early to reserve and pay for what you need.

Smith plans to host a crawfish boil soon. Live crawfish were in short supply and expensive during Mardi Gras season this year, so many restaurants chose not to serve them. Prices have become more reasonable, however, so if you missed your yearly boil, watch for one at Jans Place.

Here are a just few menu items and descriptions for those not extremely familiar with Cajun cuisine.

On the menu at Jans Place

A shrimp po-boy from Jan's Place is piled with fried shrimp and topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayonnaise and creole mustard, all on New Orleans-baked Leidenheimer bread.

Po Boys

First and foremost when we discuss the menu at Jans Place, understand that Smith is making the effort to purchase real Leidenheimer bread, baked six blocks from St. Charles Avenue, in New Orleans, at the 128-year-old Leidenheimer Bakery. Anyone who has eaten in New Orleans knows that the local French bread has a texture and chew that is unlike anything else. A po boy on a hoagie roll might taste good, but its just not the same.

Choose oysters, gator, catfish, shrimp or chicken tenders for your po boy. It will come dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, Creole mustard and mayonnaise.

Soups

Jans place offers two kinds of gumbo  chicken and sausage, and seafood.

The seafood gumbo is made with a darker roux for a deep flavor and contains lump crab meat, shrimp and crawfish tails alongside the Cajun trinity of vegetables  onion, bell pepper and celery. Its mildly spicy.

The chicken and sausage gumbo is made with a lighter roux, chicken and Andouille sausage. Its only very mildly spicy from the flavorings in the sausage. In addition to the Cajun trinity, it contains okra. Both gumbos are combined with rice.

Also on the menu are a spicy chili from Smiths own family recipe and red beans and rice, slowly simmered together with sausage.

Boudin Balls

Boudin is a sausage that Smith hand-grinds from vegetables, rice, spices and meat. He makes two versions  one with crawfish and one with pork sausage. Down South, boudin usually has liver in it, but Smith leaves that out of his recipe to accommodate local tastes. The sausage is rolled into balls, coated with breadcrumbs, deep-fried until crunchy and served with the house B&B sauce, a savory orange mayonnaise-based concoction with creole mustard, spices and a touch of honey.

The Bayou Combo special recently run at Jan's Place included three boudin balls and dipping sauce, fried soft shell crab, fried snapper filets, two bowls of soup, bread and fries, enough to easily feed two people, for $45.

Fried Seafood

In true Southern style, the catfish, shrimp, and gator are dunked in buttermilk and hand-breaded to order with a flour and cornmeal coating with Cajun seasonings. Fried oysters are available as well. Have your choice in a basket with fries or on a sampler platter with your choice of two soups.

Corn ribs

Whole ears of fresh corn are cut into wedges, then deep fried and tossed with a spicy Cajun butter.

Quesadillas

There's nothing wrong with a little fusion cooking. The quesadillas at Jans place are filled with Cajun-seasoned chicken or shrimp with sauteed red onions, bell peppers, and pepper jack cheese.

Beignets

Beignets are New Orleans version of doughnuts. A soft dough is rolled out and cut into squares, then fried until puffy and served with powdered sugar. At Jans Place, you may also have a drizzle of honey or strawberry, raspberry, or chocolate sauce.

Beignets from Jan's Place are fried to order and topped with powdered sugar and an optional drizzle of dessert sauce.

Daily Specials

Tuesday  Cajun shrimp and grits

Wednesday - Prawns with Thai Chili Sauce and coconut rice. Smith ran these as a special and had such a positive response hes added them to the specials menu. An order is four enormous colossal shrimp with a sweet/hot Thai sauce over rice.

Thursday  Blackened redfish over dirty rice. Dirty rice is a Cajun specialty of rice cooked with spices, vegetables, and sausage.

Friday  Cajun chicken pasta. Penne pasta is tossed with chicken and a creamy sauce with Cajun spices and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Saturday  Cajun shrimp pasta  see above, but its shrimp.

Kid's Menu

There's even a kid's menu with chicken tenders, a quesadilla, fries and more for the little ones.

Jan's Place

Location: Jan's Place is inside the Expansion Joint Events Center at 1400 W. Maryland St. As the Smiths are leasing the dining space, there is at this time no sign outside with the restaurant's name on it. Just enter through the door in the red portion of the building.

Phone: 812-633-8989.

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday-Monday, closed.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Where can I get Cajun food in Evansville?
A brewery promoting its annual peanut butter beer week came under fire for an item on its menu: an ale called Epi Pen.

Playalinda Brewing Company was hit with a wave of backlash when it began marketing for peanut butter beer week, which will run March 29 through April 7. At the top of its beer list for the event is Epi Pen ale 5.3%.

McClatchy News reached out to the brewery April 4 but did not immediately receive a response.

The Titusville-roasted ale has been featured in promotional material for the micro-brewery. In a video posted on the businesss social media March 29, cases of the beer are carried over the bar with the words Epi Pen printed in white on the colorful label.

The name comes from the life-saving auto-injector that uses epinephrine to treat severe allergic reactions that can induce anaphylactic shock.

The brewery has since received negative reviews on Facebook and Tripadvisor from critics saying they dont recommend the place for its insensitive ale.

Walked out when we saw epi-pen peanut butter beer option, one patron wrote online. Im guessing whoever thought it was funny to name it that has never seen their child almost die from an allergic reaction. Disgusting.

The beer isnt a recent addition to the menu, but this years promo has drawn new waves of backlash.

You should be ashamed of yourselves. Epi Pen beer? one Facebook user posted. I hope none of you or your staff ever has to be in a situation where your child is hooked up to monitors and almost dies and needs an epi pen.

Another person called the beverage discriminatory and ignorant.

When one social media account dedicated to peanut allergy safety posted about the beer, some people came to the brewerys defense.

As an adult who has a peanut allergy my entire life  I find this hysterical, one person wrote responding to a post slamming the company. Its dark humor! Sometimes you have to laugh at things. I genuinely do not think this company was trying to be hurtful.

Others said the name would serve as a warning sign to those who should avoid peanuts.

This would stop my son from drinking the ale, another person responded. Im all for it. Complete transparency to the point of blatancy.

On the social beer-rating app Untappd, the ale has generally favorable reviews, with 3.85 out of five stars.

Titusville is the seat of Brevard County, about a 40-mile drive northeast from downtown Orlando.

Two North Carolina beer scenes rank among the nations best  and well toast to that

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Beer Can Island  a pricey Florida haven  is for sale. See how it got its name


"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."



Visiting the Bahamas is bound to be fun, especially if you stay at the Atlantis resort. Whether you prefer to hang out on the beach or by the pool, theres truly something for every kind of traveler. But if you happen to plan your stay in March, you can celebrate all things food at the Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival. Since they launched the festival in 2023, some of the worlds best culinary talent has been going there every year to host exciting parties and events.

I had the chance to experience the magic of NPIWFF for myself last month, and one of the most memorable events was a dinner hosted by none other than Martha Stewart. The TV personality, businesswoman, and hostess with the most-ess helped curate a three-course menu, complete with wine pairings.

The dinner was hosted at Oceans Edge, an outdoor venue with expansive views of Nassaus turquoise waters. The space was fitted with warmly lit lanterns, floral table linens, and a live band playing soft jazz. It felt like I was walking into the fanciest wedding reception of my life.

And, like the name of the festival implies, the wine always comes first. Every guest was greeted with a glass of wineMarthas Chard from 19 Crimes, obviously. Ive had my fair share of celebrity wines, and Marthas Chard is definitely one of the better ones, especially when you consider the fact that you can buy a bottle for under $20.

Gabby Romero

My fellow guests and I were all seated at a round, banquet-style table and offered chic and sophisticated canapes. The first was a bite of lobster accompanied by a chili mayonnaise and charred pineapple, which struck the ideal balance of sweet and spicy. The second hors doeuvre was just as decadent: filet mignon with Boursin and caramelized onion. And at the table was an overflowing bread basket with adorable balls of butter.

After a few snacks and a refill of Chardonnay, Martha took the microphone to give us a warm welcome. And she said that focusing on the wine was just as important as curating the nights menu.

I know what good wine is, she says. She revealed that she bought a home in Seal Harbor, Maine, in 1997 that was originally built for Edsel Ford of Ford Motors fame. And aside from the sprawling 63 acres of land, she also acquired an extensive wine collection left in the houses cellar.

Gabby Romero

According to Martha, drinking her way through the collection was one of the best learning experiences. Weve been going through the 82 Bordeauxs little by little, and not just regular old bottles, she said. Some of the bottles in her collection contain 15 liters of wine (FYI, thats enough to fill a dozen standard bottles).

My son-in-law at the time would walk around the house cradling a magnum of Lafite Rothschild, she said. He was drinking like $20,000 a night. I dont think he really knew that, they were just having a good time.



After hearing some more of Martha's wine takes (she's a big Pinot Noir fan, BTW), it was time for dinner. Here's everything we ate:

Appetizer

Gabby Romero

The first course was described as a King salmon ceviche with burnt orange segments, micro greens, and citrus dressing. The fish wasn't seasoned with as much citrus as you'd expect from a standard ceviche, but you got pockets of brightness and tang from the fresh orange, the vinaigrette, and the little dollops of creme fraiche dotted across the plate.

My favorite element of the dish was the salmonwe were on an island, after all. The King salmon likely traveled to Nassau from the Pacific, but it still tasted super fresh, mild, and buttery. It was the perfect counterpoint to all of the sauces and garnishes.

Entree

Gabby Romero

The second course was much more traditional. We were served a slice of beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a rich, savory jus. Alongside the wedding-esque ambience, this course really solidified the reception vibes.

But unlike most meals I've had at weddings, this dish was actually enjoyable to eat. The beef was super tender and delicate, with a nice level of pink in the center. The vegetables were cooked gently enough that they still retained their snap. And that jus? I could drink an entire vat of it.

Dessert

Gabby Romero

Anything Martha Stewart does has a level of sophistication, but that doesn't mean there's no room for a little drama. And the dessert course was no exception. It was served to us in the form of a dark chocolate sphere, with all of the magic hidden inside. Once you broke open the mold, there was a chocolate custard and coffee streusel. It was so rich, creamy, and decadent. And the berries on the plate provided a nice burst of freshness and acidity to balance out each bite.

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To many Marion residents, a pink pastry box can only mean one thing  Andrews Pastries. The business has brought decades of joy to the city through its treats and very established community presence.

On occasion, one who visits Andrews might find themselves in the presence of a special guest  Tony Weibl, a 92-year-old German pastry chef and former Galion baker owner. For a little over a decade now, Weibl has been paying regular visits to Andrews Pastries, carrying with him his delicate craftsmanship and his unique story.

Hailing from Yugoslavia, an old European state now known as several Balkan states that border Germany, Weibl grew up familiar with hardship. In 1944, his small town in Yugoslavia was evacuated as the Russian military closed in. He and his community fled upward toward a small town in southern Germany, where he would end up spending the latter part of his childhood.

Tony Weibl, left, talks to Andrew's Pastries owner Andrew Swartz while munching on one of the cupcakes he made. Weible, 92, owned Tonys Pastry Shop in Galion, and now makes periodic visits to the Marion bakery where he mixes it up behind and in front of the counter.

Path begins with apprenticeship at German bakery

Weibl was around 13 years old when he migrated to Germany. This was the same time when children in Germany were expected to leave primary school and continue to apprenticeships, comparable to trade schools.

The education system was very different there," he recalled.

Weibl chose an apprenticeship at a bakery  both an opportunity to learn the craft of pastry but also to survive.

The war was still going on, and you couldnt get anything to eat.  You get plenty of baked goods to eat [at a bakery]," he noted.

Weibl originally planned to be an attorney, but out of necessity chose baking, which he soon fell in love with.

Tony Weibl, right, who was born in Yugoslavia, fled with his family in 1944 to Germany, where he spent the late part of his childhood. He wanted to become an attorney, but ended up a baker, which is just fine with him. One frequent customer says, Nowhere else in Ohio has an old German guy making Austria rolls like Tony.

In 1951, Weibl and his family immigrated to Mansfield,. Tony went on to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he made use of his cooking skills and learned English. After his time in the military, he opened Tonys Pastry Shop in Galion, where he would make his claim to fame.

Tony's Pastry Shop was known for it variety

In nearly three decades of operation, Tonys Pastry Shop became known around the state for its variety of cakes, cookies, donuts, pies, breads, rolls and other treats. While the shop regularly made wedding, birthday and graduation cakes, Weibl noted his store was unique because of its variety.

You dont have bakeries that make everything [anymore]  That was my advantage as a business, he said.

Weible retired and closed the Galion bakery about 30 years ago.

Among those recently visiting Andrew's Pastries was Bob, a long-time patron of Tonys, who said he came from Delaware when he heard Weibl would be in the shop.

Nowhere else in Ohio has an old German guy making Austria rolls like Tony, he said.

Tony Weible cuts the dough for Austria rolls, which are simple yeast rolls that, according one customer at Andrew's Pastries in Marion, are good as hamburger buns.

Austria rolls are simple yeast rolls that, according to Bob, are good as hamburger buns. He also touted Tony's sugar brownies, a recipe that Weibl said, you cant get no place.

Every time he comes I learn a new technique, said Andrew Swartz, owner of Andrews Pastries, Its just pure craftsmanship.

Marion baker, Weible meet at baking convention

Schwartz met Weibl nearly 15 years ago at a baking convention. Curious about Weibl's techniques, Schwartz invited him to his pastry shop  and the rest is history.

The Galion History Center is paying tribute to Tony's Pastry Shop with an exhibit that was unveiled in March.

As Weibl weighed and rolled dough with the rest of Andrews staff, his cup of black coffee never left his side. He zipped and whirled naturally throughout the kitchen, not needing a timer or any recipe as he baked cakes, cupcakes, rolls and breads.

To honor Weibl and his impact on his community, the Galion History Center unveiled an exhibit dedicated to Tonys Pastry Shop. Before its unveiling to the public in March, Weibl was invited for a surprise reveal party. The exhibit is viewable to the public at The Galion Historical Center, 132 S. Union St., Galion.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Galion bakery owner Tony Weibl bakes up a storm at 92 in Marion
North Carolina Mom Gives Birth to Her Second Set of Twins in 13 Months: It Was Just a Shock'

Angelia Tutt tells PEOPLE she comes from a long line of twins  including her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother

Cone Health From Left: Angelia Tutt and husband Elliott McNeil holding their newborn twins

Angelia Tutt, of North Carolina, tells PEOPLE she gave birth to her second set of twin boys on March 3

The mom of five, who is a twin herself, welcomed her first set of twins just 13 months earlier

Tutt says she comes from a long line of twins  including her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother

A North Carolina mom who comes from a long line of twins has given birth to her second set of twins!

Angelia Tutt tells PEOPLE she welcomed twin boys Kendrick and Kairo on March 3, just 13 months after giving birth to her first set of twins in 2023.

The mom gave birth at Cone Health Women's & Children's Center at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, where she was surrounded by at least three medical professionals who were twins themselves, according to a news release from the hospital.

Tutt, who has a twin sister, also happens to come from a long line of twins  and she says that her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are all proud parents of multiples.

Related: Ala. Couple Welcomes 'Incredibly Rare' Quadruplets  Including 2 Sets of Identical Twins!

Cone Health Angelia Tutt holds one of her newborns

Still, welcoming twins for a second time came as a surprise to Tutt, who also shares daughter Karlie, 6, and 13-month-old twins Elliott and Zion with husband Elliott McNeil, according to Good Morning America. It was just a shock that I had twins back to back, she tells PEOPLE.



Kendrick and Kairo came early, too. Tutt says she was just 33 weeks pregnant when she went into labor, and had not finished preparing for her childrens arrival.



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.



Once at the hospital, Tutt says everything just sped up. She originally expected to deliver naturally, but was eventually told she needed an emergency cesarean section after doctors discovered that one twin's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.

It was a crazy day. I was really nervous, honestly, Tutt says. I was excited. I was overwhelmed. I was emotional, but it was exciting overall.

The twins and their mother were later sent home, and have been getting used to life as a family of seven ever since.



Cone Health Elliott McNeil holds one of his newborns

Related: 17 Sets of Twins Are About to Start Kindergarten Together: 'We Always Have Each Other'

"I know once they get a little bigger, it's going to be a little more chaotic," says the mom, who tells PEOPLE things have been relatively smooth so far, though the first set of twins are still adjusting to their new siblings.



Tutt also says that Karlie has been loving being a big sister so far. She helps me with changing diapers. She wants to feed them and hold them. She likes to sing to them, she adds.

With Kendrick and Kairo now in the picture, Tutt does not expect her family will expand any further. Now, she is looking forward to the things she can teach and show her growing children, adding that she plans to keep [the newborn twins] close, keep them bonded together, make sure that they are best friends [and] teach them how to take care of each other.

The mom of five is also preparing for whats to come with such a unique family. I know once they get a little bigger, it's going to be a little more chaotic, Tutt tells PEOPLE.



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Read the original article on People.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, April 4. Tajikistan and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) discussed cooperation in the digitalization of economic sectors, Trend reports.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, the issue was addressed during a meeting between Permanent Representative of Tajikistan to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva Sharaf Sheralizoda and the ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin.

The discussion also covered innovation, digital technologies, and other areas of collaboration.

ITU is an international organization that sets recommendations in the field of telecommunications and radio, and regulates issues related to the international use of radio frequencies.

To note, in October 2023, Tajikistan hosted the ITU forum titled "Launching Next Generation Mobile Networks" for the first time. One of the main focuses was on exploring opportunities to enhance the quality and accessibility of mobile internet, as well as global practices in deploying 5G networks.
Last fall, I watched (and listened to) a team of landscapers use gasoline-powered leaf blowers to clear a neighbors lawn. It was loud and, frankly, annoying.

I couldnt help but wonder how much these workers must hate using these odious power tools. How damaging to their hearing is the sound their blowers produce  even if they wear earplugs? And what about the fumes and dust they must be breathing in? I felt sorry for them, forced to work with these droning machines all day long.

Ron McAllister

There are alternatives, of course. Electric (corded and cordless) blowers are cleaner, quieter and safer. Yes, replacing all the companys small engine tools and keeping them charged through the day would be costly, but I wondered if there might be a niche here for a pioneering green landscaper to promote their service as all-electric or pollution-free.

Of course, there is also the option of leaving your leaves where they are so they will break down and enrich the soil in your yard. Last year, we signed onto a No Mow May and found it a lot easier. We plan to do it again this year.

When I was a kid, I did yard work with a rake and a push sweeper. No noise, no dust, no pollution; strictly kid-powered. Today, we want easier alternatives, and were willing to accept the downsides as a favorable cost/benefit calculation.

In fact, however, as Karen Jubanyik, an emergency medicine physician at Yale University pointed out in a recent Washington Post climate solutions column: When you think about what the benefit of a gas-powered leaf blower does, the cost-benefit ratio just doesnt make sense.

As a result, at least 100 local communities across the country have taken steps to regulate (and even ban) their use.

As of this January, Californias plan to restrict sales of such devices has begun to come into effect. Such moves will always be controversial, generating fierce opposition from landscape companies in particular. If you look at the studies that have been done on the hazards of gasoline-powered small-engine equipment, however, you will understand why so many municipalities and states are moving to phase them out.

Some people might say: whats all the fuss about? The research done on this subject is clear. Not only are gas-powered blowers noisy and dirty, but they also are harmful to people and animals, and they can damage both the local environment and the earths climate. This is due in part to the fact that as much as one-third of the fuel mix used in these tools is not combusted.

This leads to the discharge of substantial amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen dioxide into the atmosphere, which contribute to ozone formation. Ozone is well understood to have extreme adverse effects on human health, particularly to individuals with compromised immune systems.

Worse even than exposure to exhaust gases is exposure to particulate matter that is made airborne as a result of leaf blowers. Being downwind of a gasolinepowered leaf blower can cause long-term damage to your health.

Most of the particulates spewed by 2-stroke devices are so small as to be invisible. In fact, the smallest particles are tiny enough to pass through the lungs directly into the bloodstream.

One study I found concluded that a gasoline-powered leaf blower emits more pollutants in half an hour than a Ford F-150 puts out in 3,900 miles of driving. The waste products of the combustion process can easily find their way inside peoples homes and are especially harmful to children.

Grassroots (no pun intended) campaigns against two-stroke engines are spreading  including to some Maine cities and towns (e.g., South Portland). In York, people are starting to talk about the serious effects of the widespread use of 2-stroke engines. The subject of a possible ordinance regulating these devices is in the offing for preliminary discussion before the towns Climate Action Committee.

That group has a lot on its plate so it is not certain that they will be taking it up, but they likely will consider it. Anyone interested in seeing a presentation before the CAC should tune into their meetings. The CAC meets on the first Wednesday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. in the York Public Library.

Ron McAllister is a sociologist and writer who lives in York.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: The Observer: Don't blow it. The case against gas-powered leaf blowers
Texas iconic Shiner brewery is branching out to liquors. Heres a look at each one

Does the world, or even Texas, really need another brand of vodka or gin? To look at the liquor store shelves, youd think: surely not. But when it comes from the people behind Texas iconic Shiner beers, make room for one more.

The century-old beermaker in south Texas is now the K. Spoetzl Brewery & Distillery, where Shiners three new spirits have been available for a while. As of April 1, they are for sale in the first test market, Dallas-Fort Worth.

The K. Spoetzel Brewery and Distillery, maker of Texas famed Shiner beers, has branched out to sell vodka, gin and unaged whiskey. Theyre available exclusively in Dallas-Fort Worth starting in April 2024.

The line includes a vodka, a gin and an unaged whiskey, often referred to as white dog or moonshine. Whiskey nerds will immediately recognize what that last one means: Yes, Shiner will soon be selling its own bourbon.

During an unveiling of the spirits last week in Fort Worth, Shiner reps stressed that as with beer, the goal is to be true to the companys roots. The liquor is made with the same malted barley and water as Shiner beers.

Texas is the heart and soul of Shiner  everything we do is Texas, said Tom Fiorenzi, director of brewery and distillery operations.

The spirits were showcased at Waters Restaurant in downtown Fort Worth, where chef Jon Bonnell and his staff highlighted them in cocktails and prepared a menu designed to complement each.

A Last Word cocktail, made with Shiner Craft Gin by the staff at Waters Restaurant in Fort Worth.

The gin is a standout product. It has a traditional London dry profile (think Tanqueray or Beefeater) but a distinctive finish. I suspect it will immediately be a go-to for martinis.

Clinton Shaw, a district sales manager for Shiner based in Fort Worth, described the gin as modeled after a London Dry but moved into the new world. He said that head distiller Jessica Michalec, who developed the product, started with 22 botanicals as potential flavors, but finally pared the list to eight. Juniper is of course prominent, but it soon gives way to citrus. The gin has a clean but noticeable mouthfeel, which Shaw credited to pecans, a nice Texas touch.

The vodka surprised. Many start-up distillers, eager to get a product on the shelf to sell while whiskeys age, aim to make a near-tasteless vodka. I find most vodka to be pretty useless for that reason. But Shiners version has character and distinctive flavor. It brings a maltiness that is reminiscent of the companys beer but doesnt overpower in a cocktail.

Shaw confirmed that was intentional. The first run of the vodka occurs in a copper pot still, the kind used to make most traditional Irish and Scotch whiskies. It imparts more initial flavor than a column still, by which most vodkas are produced (and which Shiner uses to purify its product, too).

Shiner vodka would make an interesting sipper or even a standout in a vodka soda, if thats as much cocktail creativity as you prefer.

And then theres the shine. In general, most of the flavor you get from whiskey comes from its time aging in an oak barrel. So, most unaged whiskey simply tastes like someone squeezed corn until juice came out. Shiners is better, with a bready, earthy taste and a finish thats less harsh than one expects from such a product.

Shaw said the shine, like the other spirits, is made with old-world techniques and craft technology at the same time.

Bonnell joked that he didnt have much experience working with shine, so he decided not to overthink it and served up a Shine and Coke. Paired with a pepper crusted beef tenderloin, it worked.

Fiorenzi said that Shiner purchased its still about five years ago. The operation was intentional but with a craft mentality: The first batch of gin was produced with juniper from his own yard, he said.

Chef Jon Bonnell displays the new Shiner Craft Gin during a tasting event at his Waters Restaurant in downtown Fort Worth on March 28, 2024.

Shiner Craft Gin is 43% alcohol by-volume, or 86 proof. It sells for a suggested price of $25.99. Shiner Craft Vodka is 80 proof (40% ABV), like most vodkas for sale, and retails at $19.99. Shiner Shine is 90 proof (45% ABV), with a suggested price of $25.99. All should be widely available in DFW liquor stores and, if the success of Shiner beer is any indication, around the state and nationally before long.

The bottom line: The vodka wont be for everyone, but its a bold effort worth sampling. The shine is fun, although not something a lot of people will probably get into. It has potential for home bartenders to try making their own flavor infusions. The gin is the big star, a solid, distinctive product at a good price. Itll be going right into my Martini rotation.

The biggest question, of course, is when will the bourbon be ready?

Texas distillers like to brag that the states extreme temperatures help spirits age faster. Some use that as an excuse to sell a young whiskey that, frankly, tastes like its not ready for prime time despite a premium price.

Count on Shiner to avoid that mistake. Company officials said it would be at least another year before the bourbon is on sale.
Capitalizing on this months total solar eclipse, several companies, including Krispy Kreme, are introducing eclipse-branded products and promotions.

The Oreo-slathered Total Solar Eclipse Doughnut is Krispy Kremes celebratory treat for Mondays astronomical event, which will be partially seen in the High Desert.

Capitalizing on this months total solar eclipse, several companies, including Krispy Kreme, are introducing eclipse-branded products and promotions. Krispy Kreme is selling its Total Solar Eclipse Doughnut.

Company officials describe its spacy-themed treat as an Original Glazed Doughnut, dipped in chocolate icing, showered with silver sprinkles, and stuffed with buttercream made with OREO pieces. An entire OREO cookie on the doughnut represents the moon passing in front of the sun, the company said.

Eclipses are rare and so is our out-of-this-world Total Solar Eclipse Doughnut, said Krispy Kreme Global Chief Brand Officer Dave Skena in a press release provided to Guilty Eats. Even if you cant be in the path of totality you can get in the path of these treats, which you will eat in totality. Stop by and get some for you and some to share so you can flex your science side and great taste at the same time.

The doughnut will be available Friday, April 5 through Monday, April 8, in-store and for pickup or delivery via Krispy Kreme's app and website while supplies last, the company said.

The doughnut will be available individually and as a specialty dozen featuring six Total Solar Eclipse doughnuts and six Original Glazed doughnuts.

Space-branded promotions by Krispy Kreme go back to 1969 when the company handed out free doughnuts to celebrate the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

In 2021, Krispy Kreme created the Mars Doughnut to celebrate the Perseverance Rover, and a Strawberry Supermoon to celebrate the Supermoon.

In 2022, the company created an Artemis Moon Doughnut to celebrate the Artemis 1 flight. They also gave away an Original Glazed Doughnut after scientists revealed the first-ever picture of a supermassive black hole.

Capitalizing on this months total solar eclipse, several companies, including Frito-Lay's, the maker of SunChips, are introducing eclipse-branded products and promotions.

Raising Canes

On Monday, Raising Canes fans can view the solar eclipse while entering the win Free Canes for 20 Years! contest.

Foodies can visit RaisingCanes.com/SolarEclipse on eclipse morning, April 8 for a chance to win free Raising Canes combo meals until 2044 when the next eclipse occurs in the U.S.

Every entry also earns a mobile code for a free toast, valid April 8 through 14. Entries close at 11:59 p.m. ET on April 8.

Raise Canes is also inviting customers to view the Path of Toast-tality and receive a complimentary Texas toast with every Combo meal purchased at any of its 190+ restaurants along the eclipse's path.

To celebrate the total solar eclipse, Sonic Drive-In is rolling out the Blackout Slush Float nationwide at participating locations from March 25 to May 5, 2024.

Sonic Drive-In

In anticipation of the solar eclipse, Sonic Drive-In has begun selling its limited-edition drink dubbed the Blackout Slush Float.

The solar eclipse-themed drink will include flavors such as cotton candy and dragon fruit. The all-black slush, which represents the darkness from the solar eclipse, will be topped with white soft serve and blue and purple galaxy-themed sprinkles, the company said.

Customers can order the new Blackout Slush Float nationwide at participating locations until May 5.

Sonic will also hand out free solar eclipse viewing glasses with every purchase of the new treat, while supplies last, to ensure their customers can safely watch the eclipse.

Sonic officials said the eclipse viewing glasses have been approved for short-term direct observation of the sun by the International Organization for Standardization and have been lab-tested to ensure they are safe and meet all applicable rules and regulations.

SunChips

Frito-Lay's SunChipsis championing the inspiration behind its name  the sun  through a limited-edition offering, which will only be given away during the 4 minutes and 27 seconds of the solar eclipse's duration of totality.

SunChips invites fans to experience a cosmic collaboration in the sky and on their tastebuds with an exclusive, new flavor mash-up  SunChips Solar Eclipse Limited-Edition Pineapple Habanero and Black Bean Spicy Gouda.

Pineapple Habanero and Black Bean Spicy Gouda blend ingredients reminiscent of sunny skies and bright days ahead while nodding to the moon with a cheesy touch, the company said.

Beginning at 1:33 p.m. CT on April 8, as the eclipse casts its shadow over U.S. soil, fans can get their hands on the new flavor at SunChipsSolarEclipse.com, while supplies last.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Eclipse-branded products, promotions roll out as solar eclipse nears
SPRING BREAK 2024: Some of the best waterfalls you will ever see are here in north Georgia

Whether youre into hiking or just want a peek at a spectacular view, north Georgia is home to some of the most beautiful waterfalls you will see -- and theyre not that far away.

Here are a few of the best waterfalls you will find in the region:

Anna Ruby Falls is created by two creeks meeting and cascading over a drop off inside Unicoi State Park. The Curtis Creek Falls drop about 153 feet and the York Creek Falls drop about 50 feet. (PHOTO: Scott Flynn, WSB-TV)

Anna Ruby Falls

Part of the Chattahoochee National Forest, Anna Ruby Falls in Helen is a must for anyone who loves waterfalls.

Anna Ruby Falls is created by two creeks meeting and cascading over a drop-off inside Unicoi State Park. The Curtis Creek Falls drop about 153 feet and the York Creek Falls drop about 50 feet.

There is a paved path that takes you to the base of the falls which is about a half-mile long. It starts at the Anna Ruby Falls visitor center.

At the base of the falls, there are two different viewing decks to get a great view of the falls.

There is a $3 per person fee to see the falls.

Amicalola Falls is the third highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River, dropping about 729 feet. (Scott Flynn, WSB-TV)

Amicalola Falls

Located just northeast of Dawsonville, Amicalola Falls is found within the state park of the same name.

Amicalola Falls is the third-highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River, dropping about 729 feet.

You have a couple of options to view the falls. There are viewing areas at the top and bottom of the falls that you can drive and park at.

The other option is to walk up the falls using the path made up of pavement and staircases that crisscross the falls and have several spots to stop and view the falls as well as the spectacular view of the Appalachian Mountains.

Views are particularly stunning in the fall when the leaves charge.

There is a $5 fee to get into Amicalola State Park.

High Falls is the tallest cascading waterfall south of Atlanta, according the states website. (PHOTO: Scott Flynn, WSB-TV)

High Falls

Venture south of Atlanta to High Falls State Park and enjoy the tumbling cascades along the Towaliga River in Butts County.

You can hike along the shores of the river to enjoy several falls along the way and even see the remains of a hydroelectric power plant foundation.

High Falls is the tallest cascading waterfall south of Atlanta, according to the states website.

The park is also known as one of the top fishing destinations for hybrid and white bass.

You will have to pay the normal $5 parking fee for Georgia State Parks.

You can hike the rim trails to overlook the Tallulah Gorge or take the trails from the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center down into the gorge to get a peak at five different waterfalls that flow through the gorge. (Scott Flynn, WSB-TV)

Tallulah Gorge

If you want to see several waterfalls all in one trip, then a trek through the Tallulah Gorge at Tallulah Gorge State Park is a good bet.

The gorge itself is two miles long and is nearly 1,000 feet deep. You can hike the rim trails to overlook the gorge or take the trails from the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center down into the gorge to get a peek at five different waterfalls that flow through the gorge.

There is an 80-foot suspension bridge that crosses over the gorge to connect the north and south side trails that overlook the gorge.

If you want to hike the gorge floor, you will need to get a permit from the interpretive center. There is also a $5 parking fee to get into the park.

Toccoa Falls is one of the tallest free-falling waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, according to the city of Toccoas website. (PHOTO: Scott Flynn, WSB-TV)

Toccoa Falls

If youre looking for an easy, beautiful trip, then a stop at Toccoa Falls is the right fit for you. Toccoa Falls is one of the tallest free-falling waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, according to the city of Toccoas website.

The falls are part of Toccoa Falls College, a four-year, fully accredited Christian college.

When you arrive at the main entrance of the college you will see signs directing you to the falls.

You will park at the Toccoa Falls visitor center and you can enter to see the falls through the centers gift shop. There is a $2 fee for people who are not county residents.

When you walk out of the gift shop, there is a short path that takes you to the base of the falls.
Everything you need to know about the pantry staples of Armenian cuisine.

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Armenian cuisine is ancient, dating back to at least 400 BC. Historical Armenia was located both along one of the Silk Road routes and another busy trade route between the Black and Caspian seas, allowing exchanges of culinary influences from afar. The region is also where a number of key domesticated food crops have flourished historically, including wheat and barley, grapes, apricots, and peaches, and these foods are central to its cuisine.



Armenians love meat, especially lamb, but relative poverty meant that meat was usually reserved for special occasions until fairly recently. The Kingdom of Armenia was the first to adopt Christianity nationwide in the 4th century AD, and ecclesiastical restrictions on the consumption of meat meant that Armenia developed a robust vegetarian cuisine, embracing the use of beans, lentils, nuts, and dairy products like yogurt and cheese.

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Below, youll find a list of the key ingredients of Armenian cuisine, with tips for their use and where to find them. Many are easily found in any supermarket, while others will require a little more effort. You'll find Armenian markets in metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada where there are significant Armenian populations, but many of the specialty ingredients used in Armenian cooking can also be found in Arabic and Middle Eastern markets. In addition, many online stores, including My Little Armenia and House of Lavash, sell Armenian products. For high-quality spices, I recommend both Burlap and Barrel and Curio Spice.

Dairy Products

Butter

Butter is essential in Armenian cooking, where it is used as a fat for many savory dishes, including rice pilaf and harissa, and for sweets like gata and other cakes and cookies. For example, copious amounts of it are essential for making the classic Armenian Easter bread known as choreg.



Cheese

Armenians eat and cook with a wide variety of cheeses, and dishes like the buttery, crisp, phyllo-wrapped turnovers called borek feature multiple kinds of cheese. But perhaps the most iconic is string cheese (tel banir), without which no Armenian mezze platter is complete. Unlike the shrink-wrapped sticks of string cheese favored by American schoolchildren, which is usually an aged mild cheddar or mozzarella, Armenian string cheese is a fresh cheese preserved in a brine, similar to feta. It is made by heating cows milk curds, adding spices, then stretching and layering them into long ropes, similar to how hand-pulled noodles are made. Once the ropes are formed, they are braided and submerged in brine.

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian



Armenians also use tangy hard cows milk cheeses in dishes such as boreks and su boreg. One of the most popular varieties of these hard cheeses is called lori, a slightly salty, tangy hard cheese similar to Muenster. Salty sheeps milk cheeses like feta also figure prominently in Armenian cuisine.

Yogurt

Yogurt is ubiquitous on the Armenian table, and is used in many Armenian dishes both savory and sweet. (Armenians introduced yogurt to the wider American world, when Columbo Yogurt was founded in 1929 by Rose and Sarkis Colombosian, in Andover, Massachusetts.) Armenian yogurt is usually plain, full-fat yogurt made from cows milk. It is used as a condimenteither plain or mixed with a little minced garlicfor many savory dishes, including manti and ganach lupia, and bowls of yogurt are commonly set on the table as a universal condiment. It also serves as the base of soups, including tanabour, a grain-and-yogurt soup that is served both hot and cold, and the soup-like dip made from yogurt and cucumbers known as djadjekh. Thin yogurt with water, and youll get a cooling Armenian drink known as tan. Yogurt is often used as the liquid or dairy component in cakes and sweets, including in gata, or Armenian coffee cake.

Serious Eats /Andrew Janjigian



Some Armenians also use chortan, also known as khash, which is yogurt that has been dried down into brittle chunks to preserve it. It can be rehydrated in water and used like yogurt in dishes.

Fresh Herbs and Greens

Herbs, both fresh and dried, are essential to Armenian savory cooking. Armenian food is less reliant on spices for flavor than many other regional cuisines, with aromatic herbs doing the work instead.



Fresh herbs like purple basil, scallions, dill, mint, flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, tarragon, and summer savory are used as a garnish (often in combination) for many dishes, either chopped fine, as in dishes like eetch, chi kofte, and vospov kofte, or left whole and served as a sort of side salad. (The filling for jingalov hats, an unleavened flatbread from Artzakhis made using a finely chopped combination of these sorts of herbs, along with others collected from the wild.)

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Purslane

One fresh green especially beloved by Armenians is purslane, or per per, which has a tart flavor and a crisp texture. Purslane is used in salads or chopped up and added to soups both cold and hot. Though the herb isnt very well known here in the United States unless youre a forager, it grows as a weed in many places. Purslane also grows like a weedit makes so many seeds that it can be hard to eliminate once it shows up, so you should do as many Armenians do and embrace it.



Dried Herbs

As for dried herbs, mint (spearmint, not the menthol-heavy peppermint used to make mint tea) is an essential flavoring for many Armenian soups and stews. Other dried herbs used in Armenian cuisine include zaatar (a wild herb in the oregano family that is also the basis of an herb and spice blend by the same name), savory, tarragon, sorrel, and thyme.



Nuts and Seeds

Nuts

Walnuts are the essential nut of Armenian cuisine. In savory dishes they are used as a base, like in the spicy dip muhammara, and as a component in numerous soups. Walnuts are also used as the filling for a variety of sweets, including many cookies, cakes like gata and nazook, and phyllo pastries such as bourma, baklava, and kunafe. The Armenian sweet sausage" called rojik is made by tying walnuts a few inches apart on a string, which is then dipped over and over again into a molten pot of grape molasses and allowed to cool, not unlike how candles are formed. It's sliced thin and served as a mezze item.

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian



Almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and pine nuts are also commonly used in Armenian cuisine, used whole as elements of pilafs and other rice dishes, and whole or ground in sweets.

Tahini Paste

Tahini paste, made from roasted, ground sesame seeds, is used in a variety of Armenian foods, both sweet and savory. It's used in the filling for a vegetarian potato-chickpea dumpling called topik, and in both hummus and baba ganoush, two Middle Eastern dishes beloved by Armenians. In sweet applications, it appears in cookies and as the filling for tahinov hats, or Armenian tahini bread, a laminated flatbread.



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Fruits

Dried Fruits

A trip to an Armenian grocery store will yield a panoply of dried fruits, including raisins, mulberries, figs, dates, and two kinds of sour cherriesa true tart cherry, along with Cornelian cherries, which are actually the fruit of a Dogwood tree . But the dried fruit Armenians love most is apricots, which originated in the area (the species name for apricots is Prunus armeniaca). They are served as part of a mezze spread, and as a component in numerous starch-thickened puddings, as well as a traditional New Year's sweet porridge called anoush abour, made with wheat berries, dried fruit, and nuts.

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian



Grape, mulberry, and pomegranate molasses appear frequently in Armenian cuisine, as souring agents in dishes like muhammara and eetch, and as the base for rojik.



Armenians also make a variety of dried fruit leathers using apples, grapes, apricots, and plums; they are known as bastegh or ttu lavash (sour lavash) a nod to their resemblance to the classic Armenian flatbread.

Fresh Fruits

Apricots, peaches, grapes, cherries, quince, and mulberries feature heavily in Armenian cuisine and culture, but pomegranates are the most prized fruit. The pomegranate symbolizes eternity to Armenians and appears regularly in artwork, woven rugs, and jewelry, both modern and historical. The seeds are eaten out of hand and as a garnish for various dishes both savory and sweet.



Dried Spices

Armenians use a wide variety of dried spices in their cooking, including cumin, black pepper, dried garlic, paprika, cayenne, fenugreek, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Hot red pepper flakes like Aleppo pepper are regularly used for their heat and fruity fragrance.



Chemen

One classic ground spice blend used in Armenian cuisine is chemen, a mixture of cumin, black pepper, garlic powder, hot red pepper, paprika, fenugreek, and salt. It is used as a rub for basturma, a dry-cured beef, and to season soujouk, a dried beef sausage.



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Mahlab

Mahlab is made from the tiny seeds of the St. Lucy's cherry (Prunus mahaleb), a tree native to the Mediterranean, Iran, and parts of Central Asia. Because the seeds are extremely hard, they're always ground into a fine powder before use. Along with nigella, it is one of the two key flavoring ingredients for choreg, or Armenian Easter bread, and it is commonly used to flavor Armenian string cheese. Its flavor is aromatic and complex, drawing comparisons to cherry, almond, vanilla, and rose.



The oils in mahlab are extremely quick to oxidize and turn rancid if exposed to air, so its best to purchase whole mahlab, store them in a sealed container in the freezer, and grind them in a spice mill or mortar and pestle just before use. If you can only find ground mahlab, use it soon after purchase, and store the remainder in the freezer. In my experience, the mahlab sold in many Middle Eastern grocery stores is often already rancid, so your best bet is to source it from a reputable online merchant; I like the mahlab from Curio Spice.



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Nigella

Nigella is referred to variously as "black cumin," "black caraway," "onion seed," "black sesame," and even "fennel flower, although it isn't botanically related to any of those spices and vegetables. Nigella is wonderfully complex, and with its notes of citrus, pine, and menthol, it's easy to see why it's compared to so many other spices. Nigella is also bitter, which is why it's almost always left whole rather than ground into a powder, so its aroma can infuse a dish without the bitter flavor taking over. Nigella is used in choreg, and is added to Armenian string cheese. It's also used to decorate breads and pastries, like boreks.



Sumac

Sumac is a drupe that grows on trees, and is usually sold as a powdered spice. It lends foods a sour flavor, and along with the herb zaatar and sesame seeds, is one of the key ingredients in the zaatar spice blend, Sumac is often sprinkled over a dish for a hit of tartness in Armenian cuisine, including on sini manti and many salads.



Preserved Items

Grape Leaves

Grape leaves are used as wrappers for sarma, or stuffed grape leaves, which can be filled with a spiced rice mixture and served at room temperature, or filled with a combination of meat and rice to be served hot. Grape leaves that have been preserved in brine are sold in jars. They should be rinsed and patted dry before use.



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Red Pepper Paste (Beghbeghi Tchur)

Along with tomato paste (with which it is commonly combined), red pepper paste made from red bell or large red chile peppers is one of the most important jarred ingredients used in Armenian cuisine. Its used in a wide variety of dishes for savoriness and a gentle heat, including lahmajun, khorovats, ganach lupia, and losh kebabs.



Legumes

Armenians use a variety of dried beans and legumes in their cooking, but the two most important are red lentils and chickpeas. Red lentils are used in soups andvegetarian kofte called vospov kofte, among other dishes. Chickpeas feature in soups and stews, salads, and the vegetarian dumplings called topik.also essential in hummus, which isn't exclusively Armenian, but almost always appears on Armenian mezze spreads. Armenians also cook with a small red bean called a Goris bean, which is similar to a cranberry bean (theres also a purple-black variant), and it is the base for the filling in my lavash triangles recipe.



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Grains, Pasta, and Wheat Products

Armenians use a wide variety of dried grains in their cooking, including barley, buckwheat, and hulled wheat berries, the last of which is used to make the chicken-and-wheat porridge known as harissa. Along with wheat flour, semolina (a coarsely-ground durum flour) is commonly used in puddings, cakes, and cookies. Long-grain white rice is used to make Armenian rice pilaf and to fill dolma (stuffed vegetables) and sarma (stuffed grape leaves).

Bulgur

Other than rice, maybe the most important grain for Armenians is bulgur, which is par-boiled and dried cracked durum wheat. This quick-cooking whole grain is used in eetch, vospov kofte, tabbouleh (and other salads), as a starchy filler for a variety of meatballs (kofta), and is often used to make pilaf. (Bulgur is quick to turn rancid when exposed to oxygen, so its best stored in the fridge or freezer.)



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Lavash

Lavash is so central to Armenian culture that it was recently added to UNESCOs Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. (It also appears separately on that list as culturally important to Armenia's neighbors Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey.) Lavash is used as a wrap for meats like losh kebab and khorovats and as an edible utensil for dishes like eetch, harissa, and dips such as hummus and baba ganoush. It can also be used in place of phyllo to make filled turnovers like my lavash triangles. Other popular breads in Armenia include pita, choreg, and matnakash.



Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Phyllo (Fillo) Dough

Phyllo dough, found in the freezer section of most grocery stores, serves as the wrapper for a variety of Armenian dishes, including savory boreks and the sweet pastries baklava and bourma.



Vermicelli

Along with rice or bulgur, the other key ingredient in Armenian rice pilaf is a fine, long-stranded dried pasta like vermicelli or thin spaghetti. Many Armenians use vermicelli nests, since they are easy to portion out.



Read the original article on Serious Eats.
Tulum's Airport Is Officially Open  See the Flight Schedule for American, Delta, and More U.S. Airlines

United, and JetBlue will also be flying to the new airport.

Medios y Media/Getty Images

The Riviera Maya in Mexico has long been an unquestionable destination favorite, lined with dozens of beachfront resorts and a lively nightlife scene. But travelers yearning for a more laidback, bohemian vibe can now fly further south into Tulums brand-new Felipe Carrilo Puerto International Airport (TQO), which welcomed its first-ever international flights just last week.

Travelers visiting Tulum will no longer have to fuss getting to Cancun International Airport, tacking on an additional two-hour journey. Instead, the new airport is situated just 30 minutes by car to Tulums most famed beaches and Mayan ruins.

Several domestic carriers, like American, Delta, and United, have already kicked off nonstop flights to Tulum, with additional routes underway. This latest expansion offers even more travel possibilities to Mexico for fliers across the U.S. from the following cities.

American Airlines

Three of Americans hubs have nonstop service to Tulum, as the airline inaugurated service to the new international airport on opening day last week. American operates a once-daily service from Charlotte and Miami with the following schedule:

Depart Charlotte (CLT) 11:07 a.m.  Arrive Tulum (TQO) 1:20 p.m.

Depart Tulum (TQO) 2:20 p.m.  Arrive Charlotte (CLT) 6:24 p.m.

Depart Miami (MIA) 12:05 p.m.  Arrive Tulum (TQO) 1:15 p.m.

Depart Tulum (TQO) 2:15 p.m.  Arrive Miami (MIA) 5:10 p.m.

Additionally, travelers can also choose from twice-daily flights from its Dallas-Fort Worth mega-hub, which departs in the morning or by mid-day. American offers two afternoon departures from Tulum, getting travelers back to Dallas-Fort Worth before early evening. All three routes clock in at under three hours and are served by a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Delta Air Lines

Also on March 28, Delta inaugurated year-round service to Tulum from its mega-hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), offering seamless connections to more than 300 cities across the U.S. and worldwide. While Atlanta is the only airport to see nonstop Tulum flights for now, its possible that Delta will bring service from New York, Detroit, and Minneapolis, among others down the line.

For now, Deltas sole Tulum flight is just shy of three hours, operated with its narrowbody 737-800 aircraft. The airlines schedule is aptly planned for resort travelers, as the once-daily flight departs Atlanta at 11:10 a.m. before touching down at 1 p.m. local time. Departing Tulum, the flight leaves at 2:25 p.m. and arrives at 6:08 p.m. in Atlanta.

JetBlue

JetBlues planned Tulum service hasnt started just yet, but the airline announced that the new flight will kick off on June 13. This new flight will depart once daily out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, connecting New York-based travelers to Tulum in under 4.5 hours.

This year-round flight will take off from New York-JFK at 7:55 a.m. and arrive at 11:15 a.m. When its time to leave paradise, travelers will depart Tulum at 12:45 p.m. and return at 5:50 p.m. Travelers will enjoy flying on JetBlues staple Airbus A320 aircraft, equipped with live TV, free Wi-Fi, and snacks onboard.

As a leisure-based airline, JetBlue has been serving Mexico for nearly two decades. The airlines newest Tulum service is a welcome addition to its existing flights to other tourist hotspots in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Los Cabos.

United Airlines

On March 31, United started service between Tulum and a few hubs across the country. Travelers can now fly on the airlines once-daily routes from Chicago OHare International Airport, Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport with the following flight times:

Depart Chicago (ORD) 11:07 a.m.  Arrive Tulum (TQO) 1:20 p.m.

Depart Tulum (TQO) 2:10 p.m.  Arrive Chicago (ORD) 6:05 p.m.

Depart Newark (EWR) 10:07 a.m.  Arrive Tulum (TQO) 1:15 p.m.

Depart Tulum (TQO) 2:25 p.m.  Arrive Newark (EWR) 7:23 p.m.

Depart Houston (IAH) 9:35 a.m.  Arrive Tulum (TQO) 11:55 a.m.

Depart Tulum (TQO) 1:05 p.m.  Arrive Houston (IAH) 3:31 p.m.

Furthermore, United plans to debut service from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in time for Memorial Day weekend. This flight will be operated seasonally, inaugurating on May 23. United plans to use a Boeing 737-900 aircraft for all four new routes to Tulum, with a total of up to 22 weekly flights at its peak.

Spirit Airlines

Last fall, low-cost Spirit Airlines announced plans to launch Tulum flights from two major Florida airports, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, on March 28. However, the carrier later postponed the start date of these Tulum routes until further notice due to engine part constraints of its fleet.



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1 in custody on suspicion of starting small fires in Douglas County

DENVER (KDVR)  One person is in custody in Douglas County for allegedly starting two small fires on Thursday morning.

At 7:30 a.m., South Metro Fire Rescue firefighters were called to two separate small vegetation fires near Broadway and Highlands Ranch Parkway near the Highlands Ranch Town Center.

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Firefighters were able to quickly put water on the flames and get the fires under control.

One person is in custody on suspicion of starting two small fires near the Highlands Ranch Town Center. (Douglas County Sheriffs Office)

One person is in custody on suspicion of starting two small fires near the Highlands Ranch Town Center. (Douglas County Sheriffs Office)

South Metro Fire Rescue put out two small vegetation fires in Highlands Ranch (South Metro Fire Rescue)

About 30 minutes later, the Douglas County Sheriffs Office said one person was taken into custody on suspicion of starting the two small fires.

At this point, the motive for the alleged arson is unclear, but the sheriffs office is investigating and will release more information as it becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
An assault that may have sparked from a fight at a homeless encampment near a West Sacramento water treatment plant along the Sacramento River killed one man and left two injured on Wednesday.

The incident began after a caller reported an altercation at the encampment about 7:30 p.m. West Sacramento police officers were called to the area near North Harbor Boulevard and Riverbank Road, and to the Interstate 80 bridge by the Bryte Bend Water Treatment Plant, according to police and archived radio dispatches reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.

Authorities found three stabbing victims at the encampment near railroad tracks that run parallel to the Sacramento River, according to radio dispatches.

One of the men had multiple stab wounds and was reported to be not breathing, dispatchers said. The man died at the scene, police said in a statement. He is expected to be identified by Yolo County coroners officials once relatives are notified of his death.

The West Sacramento Police Department on Thursday evening identified Joseph Baker, 37, as a wanted homicide suspect. The department asked anyone with information about Bakers whereabouts to contact its tip line at 916-617-4747. Anyone who spots Baker should call 911, police said.

According to dispatch audio, one woman who called police had been in a tent with two other men when the attack occurred. She told officers that she heard people arguing for five to 10 minutes, and then someone yelling to call 911 because three people had been stabbed, according to dispatch audio.

Witnesses also reported to police that multiple people fled the scene covered in blood.

The Yolo County Sheriffs Office and West Sacramento police used a drone and the California Highway Patrol used its helicopter to search for the suspect.

A West Sacramento police spokesperson declined to comment about the incidents specifics.
1 seriously hurt in north Charlotte stabbing, MEDIC says

One person was seriously hurt in a stabbing in north Charlotte Thursday morning, MEDIC said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers were investigating behind an Exxon gas station parking lot, at the corner of North Graham Street and Reagan Drive.

ALSO READ: 4 dogs rescued after fire destroys home in Matthews

Paramedics said one person was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

At the scene, a Channel 9 crew could see a car with its windows smashed out. Were asking if that is involved in the investigation.

Channel 9 is working to learn more.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

(WATCH BELOW: Teen arrested, charged with attempted murder after stabbing at Chester Waffle House)




ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, April 4. Turkmenistan and Tajikistan discussed the development of inter-parliamentary contacts, Trend reports.

According to an official source, the development of this cooperation was discussed during a meeting in Dushanbe city between the Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and the Chairman of Tajikistans Parliament, Rustami Emomali.

During the meeting, special emphasis was placed on the fact that, at the moment, the interstate dialogue based on the principles of trust and mutual understanding allows both countries to confidently build long-term relations, coordinate approaches on key issues of international policy, and form long-term partnership plans in the economy, trade, investment, cultural, and humanitarian spheres.

The parties noted that close cooperation between the legislative bodies of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan is an important part of the development of comprehensive cooperation between the two states.

They also stressed that a lot of work has been done in recent years through the joint efforts of the parliaments of the two countries.

In particular, a stable inter-parliamentary dialogue has been established, professional communication mechanisms have been launched, and parliamentary friendship groups established in the countries play an important role in this.

To note, Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov paid an official visit to the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, today to hold meetings and negotiations at a high state level.

During the visit, the parties reviewed a wide range of bilateral cooperation agreements and signed new partnership documents.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Ten people have been poisoned by the combustion products resulting from a fire caused by a Russian attack on Darivka hromada in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories - ed.]

Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Details: Prokudin reported that the Russians were attacking the village of Poniativka for three hours during the night. After the attack, local residents began to complain of vision and breathing problems.

In total, 10 people with signs of poisoning turned to the hospital for medical help. All the affected individuals received medical assistance and they will continue their treatment on an outpatient basis.

Background: The Russians struck the village of Tokarivka in Kherson Oblast on 2 April, killing a 79-year-old man.

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100,000 live salmon spill out of overturned truck in Oregon  and most end up swimming away in creek

A tanker truck overturned in Northeast Oregon on Friday and spilled over 100,000 live salmon  most of which landed in a nearby creek and lived to swim another day, officials said.

The 53-foot truck carrying the fish from the state's Lookingglass Hatchery tumbled over while navigating a sharp corner, according to a release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Tuesday.

The driver managed to escape the accident with minor injuries, and cleanup efforts were aided by members of a local hatchery, Nez Perce tribe members and the Union County Sheriff's Office, the ODFW said.

Overturned truck. (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife)

We are thankful the ODFW employee driving the truck was not seriously injured," Andrew Gibbs, ODFW fish hatchery coordinator for Eastern Oregon, said in the release. This should not impact our ability to collect future brood stock or maintain full production goals in the future.

Of the approximately 102,000 spring Chinook smolts  or young salmon  that spilled from the truck, more than 25,000 did not survive. But about 77,000 safely made it into Lookingglass Creek, a tributary of the Grande Ronde River.

Chinook smolts. (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife)

The initial plan for the smolts was for them to be delivered by truck to an already-constructed pool at the Imnaha River. The hatchery is responsible for raising the Chinook salmon for tribal and sport harvest, supplementing the threatened wild population in the Imnaha.

A statement from the department said the smolts lost constituted 20 percent of the total fish count state hatcheries planned to release into the Imnaha River this year.

The Lookingglass Hatchery, located about 300 miles east of Portland, is one of the 33 hatcheries in Oregon which harvests stocks of salmon to be used for food or sport fishing.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Reptiles dont have fur, but this alligator seemed to have wanted a haircut after showing up at a barbershop in Palm Beach County on Thursday morning.

Around 11:30 a.m., the 7-foot, 9-inch long gator, weighing in at 120 pounds, was spotted behind the shop in the 900 block of Belvedere Road, according to NBC affiliate WPTV.

You dont see that every day: Photos show alligator trap turtle in jaw on Florida golf course

Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helped capture the gator as they waited for a trapper to remove the reptile to take it to a farm.

West Palm Beach police spokesman Mike Jachles told WPTV that business owners have seen the gator in the area for quite some time.

NBC affiliate WPTV

NBC affiliate WPTV

NBC affiliate WPTV

NBC affiliate WPTV

NBC affiliate WPTV

They saw it out, and there was a family of possums that was on the other side of that fence that we believe the alligator partook in before it was captured, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent an officer out, Jachles said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
West Vancouver Police

You probably remember seeing your first supercar out in the wild. It's an exhilarating feeling, taking in the sharp angles, low-slung body, and typically ear-piercing exhaust note. For some, this first encounter begins a long road aspiration, but a pair of friends in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada allegedly went down the path of instant gratification instead.

That's because, according to cops, they decided to take a Lamborghini Huracan on an evening joy ride, in the pouring rain no less. On March 25, the West Vancouver Police Department was called to the scene of a single-vehicle collision on the Trans Canada Highway. Upon finding the totaled Arancio Xanto-colored Huracan spun into a ditch, officers scoured the area for the driver and any potential passengers.

With help from the Huracan's owner, officers eventually located the two uninjured occupants, including the 13-year-old alleged driver. The relationship between the owner of the Huracan and impressionable teens remains unclear. West Vancouver Police did not confirm the age of the passenger, but interviews following the crash indicate a clear motive.

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"The youth and a friend decided to take the car for a drive but were unable to control the car in the dark and rainy conditions. While significant property damage has been done, we are grateful that no one was hurt in the collision," said West Vancouver Police Sargeant Chris Bigland in a statement. "The driver has been charged under the Motor Vehicle Act with Speeding, Drive Without Due Care, Fail to Remain at the Scene of a Collision, and Driving with No Drivers License."

Analyzing the photo provided by the West Vancouver PD, it appears the entire front end was ripped off as well as the rear quarter panel. The engine access compartment was also blown open and it even looks like the airbags deployed inside, indicating the pair crashed with some force. Beyond the damage done to the Italian supercar (which was enough to write it off), West Vancouver PD says the ensuing property damage was significant, too.

Story continues

Via CarScoops

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13-Year-Old Totals Lamborghini Huracan in Rainy Vancouver

A 13-year-old driver's joyride in a Lamborghini Huracan turned into a nightmare on Vancouver's rainy streets. The vivid orange supercar, a symbol of automotive opulence, met a tragic fate on March 25 when it veered off the Trans Canada Highway and landed in a ditch, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Responding to the scene, officers from the West Vancouver Police Department were met with a scene of devastation, with the Arancio Xanto-colored Huracan lying totaled in the ditch. Despite the severity of the crash, the driver and their companion emerged unscathed, albeit shaken by the harrowing experience.

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The circumstances surrounding the joyride remain shrouded in mystery, with the relationship between the car's owner and the underage driver yet to be fully clarified. However, interviews conducted by law enforcement suggest a clear motive behind the impulsive decision to take the Lamborghini for a spin.

West Vancouver Police Sergeant Chris Bigland expressed gratitude that no injuries were sustained in the collision, emphasizing the dangers of driving without proper experience, especially in adverse weather conditions. The 13-year-old driver now faces a litany of charges under the Motor Vehicle Act, including speeding, driving without due care, and driving without a license.

Source: West Vancouver Police Department

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15-Year-Old Boy Died 9 Days After He Was Hit by Car: 'We Talked to Him Until His Heart Stopped Beating'

Braden Davis succumbed to his injuries over a week after he was struck by a car while on the way to school in Georgia

GoFundMe Braden Davis.

Braden Davis died last week, days after he was struck by a car on the way to school in Georgia

The driver was crossing the roadway at a green light when Braden stepped in front of the cars path, the Cobb County Police Department said

"The ripples of his good act will continue for many many years to come," his mom Emily Little said about "his generous gift of organ and tissue donation"



A 15-year-old boy died days after he was struck by a car on the way to school.

The boy, identified as Braden Davis by Fox affiliate WAGA, died on Friday, March 29, at the hospital. His death came nine days after he was struck near South Cobb High School, the Cobb County Police Department said in a Facebook release.

Police said the driver was crossing the roadway at a green light around 8:42 a.m. local time when Braden stepped in front of the cars path.

The Cobb County School District previously told WAGA that the victim was a student who was hit while walking to school.

Related: Girl, 9, Among 3 Generations of a Family Killed in Texas Car Crash Just Days After Christmas

Braden, who would have turned 16 on Friday, April 5, was an organ donor and his mom believes he will now help at least 70 people.



"We went into the operating room when they did everything, and we talked to him until his heart stopped beating," mom Emily Little told WAGA. "We told him how much we loved him and how proud we were of him."

Related: 'They're All Gone:' Car Crash Kills New Jersey Father and 4 Daughters, Leaving Mother Behind

A GoFundMe fundraiser launched by Little said the family finds "great solace in knowing that he was able to save and improve the lives of so many people through his generous gift of organ and tissue donation, and that the ripples of his good act will continue for many many years to come."

Related: 11-Year-Old Boy Picking Up Crashed Dirt Bike Is Fatally Struck by Another Rider at Fla. Track

The money spent on the fundraiser will go toward "family expenses."

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.

"Braden was such a fun spirited and adventurous kid, please keep him in your thoughts when you go on outdoor adventures this summer, and know that because of him others will adventure on," the tribute read. "His father and I will forever be proud of him."

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Read the original article on People.
15-year-old girl missing, may be in extreme danger, Virginia State Police say

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC)  Virginia authorities are asking for the publics help finding a missing 15-year-old girl who is believed to have been abducted from her home by a family member.

Police say preliminary information shows 15-year-old Ronique Channel Poteat was last seen at 11:10 p.m. leaving an apartment in Richmond with her half-brother, 23-year-old Tyrell Davenport, who police believe to have abducted her.

Poteat is believed to be in extreme danger, according to an AMBER Alert issued Thursday morning by Virginia State Police.

Davenport is believed to have taken Poteat from the 400 block of Newbridge Terrace in a black 2006 Honda Accord, which, according to police, was later found in the Richmond metro area. However, the search continues for both Poteat and Davenport.

Ronique Channel Poteat (Photo: Henrico County Police Division)

Tyrell Davenport (Photo: Henrico County Police Division)

On Thursday evening, Henrico County Police said the two had still not been found.

Currently, investigators are working with metro area and federal partners to follow up on leads in this case, a police spokesperson said. Throughout the day, multiple units within the Division have responded to and investigated multiple tips across the Metro-Richmond area that have come in from the public.

Poteat is described by police as a Black female with black hair, standing at about 5 feet and 4 inches tall.

Police say she was last seen wearing Michael Kors glasses, a pink Nike t-shirt with a white swoosh logo, red boxers and a black bonnet.

Davenport was last seen wearing a dark blue zip-up hoodie, dark blue jeans and black Timberland boots.

Anyone with information about Roniques whereabouts is asked to call the Henrico County Division of Police at 804-501-5000.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
17-year-old found dead in California vineyard in 1979 is now identified, officials say

A teen found dead in a California vineyard 45 years ago has been identified, officials said.

In June 1979, a worker found a body in a Rancho Cucamonga vineyard, according to an April 3 news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department.

The girl had traumatic injuries and investigators determined her manner of death to be homicide, deputies said.

In 2023, the departments cold case homicide team worked with the coroner division and reopened the case, officers said.

DNA samples were taken from the girl and sent to a lab specializing in forensic DNA testing, officials said.

After following leads provided by the lab, the girl was identified as 17-year-old Karen Marie Heverly of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, officers said.

Heverly left her parents home in Jersey Shore under unknown circumstances at age 16, deputies said.

Now this person can have a marked grave. Her family can have somewhere to visit and have some of the answers as to what happened to their loved one, Lydia Ansel, cofounder of the Las Vegas Justice League and Project Justice, the foundation that helped fund the cold case research, told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call 909-890-4904, deputies said.

Rancho Cucamonga is about a 50-mile drive east of Los Angeles.

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DENVER (KDVR)  Emergency crews were responding to a shooting on South Federal Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon.

Denver police confirmed the shooting investigation in the 800 block of South Federal at West Kentucky Avenue. Two people, a man and a woman, were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Denver Police Department.

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FOX31s Greg Nieto arrived on the scene at a strip mall that includes a convenience store, restaurant, insurance business and gas station and is across the street from a fire station. The entire lot was blocked by police tape.

FOX31 learned from a witness that just after 3 p.m. there was some sort of a dispute between two people, one of whom picked up a rock and the other, a firearm. Thats when the shooting took place.

Denver Fire Department told FOX31 it responded and helped treat the patients.

FOX31 is working to learn more about possible suspects and the circumstances of the shooting.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Two years after a then-Grand Rapids police officer shot and killed Patrick Lyoya, there is no scheduled date for a murder trial.

Lyoyas family members, who have described continuing appeals as a knife in their hearts, remain devastated.

It feels to them that everyone is delaying everything in this case in terms of justice, their attorney Ven Johnson told News 8 on Thursday, the two-year anniversary of the shooting. Todays a tough day. Salt in the wound. A horrible, horrible day.

An undated photo of Patrick Lyoya courtesy family.

Lyoya, 26, died on April 4, 2022. Video from a traffic stop that day shows Lyoya run away from Christopher Schurr, then a Grand Rapids Police Department officer, 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.

Weeks of demonstrations calling for justice for Lyoya followed. Grand Rapids activist Dee Jones was among those who marched.

I definitely felt like our voices were heard, Jones said. I felt the pressure different organizations and people put on local officials and educating them, letting them know that somebody was killed by the police.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker charged Schurr with second-degree murder in June 2022 and Schurr was fired from GRPD shortly thereafter.

With Schurr out on bond, his attorneys have filed appeals over whether the case should go to trial. Those appeals have so far failed.

Appeals court agrees ex-GRPD officer should stand trial in Patrick Lyoyas death

Cle Jackson, the president of the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP, said community members keep asking why its taking so long to get to a trial.

I think to community, it seems like this is a slap in the face, Jackson said. And its judicial gymnastics, which is turning into a circus.

No one, including the defense, disputes that Schurr killed Lyoya. What is being debated in the courts is whether the murder charge is warranted. The county prosecutor says yes, arguing Schurr was not justified in his use of force. Schurrs defense attorneys say the shooting was warranted and argued in an appeal that common law gives officers the right to use force against a fleeing felon.

In a 2-1 decision in January, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled there was enough evidence to send the case to trial, agreeing it is for a jury to decide whether Schurr was acting in self-defense.

Chris Schurr in a Grand Rapids courtroom for the end of his preliminary hearing on Oct. 31, 2022.

Schurrs attorneys say they intend to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. Whether that court will agree to hear the appeal remains to be seen.

Prosecutor anticipates another appeal in Lyoya case

Defense attorney Matthew Borgula told News 8 that he understands the Lyoya familys frustrations. But he also said that Schurr acted as an objectively reasonable officer would when faced with an armed felon resisting arrest.

It is undisputed that Mr. Lyoya refused to comply with lawful commands, fought with Officer Schurr (who followed his training) and disarmed him of his taser, he said in a statement to News 8.

The NAACP leader suggested a jury should decide.

When Officer Schurr made the decision to pull his side firearm and fire into Patricks head while he was on the ground, facedown, he should have the same responsibility to appear in a court of law in front of the jury of his peers and answer some questions, Jackson said.

Schurrs lawyer said that Michigan doesnt have a specific law addressing when officers can be charged with a crime. He wants the court to set those standards.

This is a case of supreme importance not only for Officer Schurr and Mr. Lyoyas family, but for all citizens of Michigan, Borgulas statement said. We are confident that after the legal proceedings are completed in the courts of law, Officer Schurr will be fully exonerated.

Inside woodtv.com: Patrick Lyoya

GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom had been in the role for less than a month when Lyoya died. He said that when he took the job, coming to Grand Rapids from Chicago, he knew there would be challenges in community relations, but believed the department has a solid foundation.

The tragic events of April 4, 2022 did not set the course of my vision for the department; instead it underscored that building trust, policing in a manner embraced by our community, and recognizing the Constitution as the foundation of policing were essential to the departments success, he said in a statement.

Todays GRPD is not the same as it was two years ago, and my mission is to remain committed to continuous learning and constant improvement for the benefit of everyone in the Grand Rapids community, the statement continued.

How Patrick Lyoyas death changed GRPD

Also pending is the Lyoyas familys civil excessive force lawsuit against Schurr. Johnson, the familys lawyer, is trying to get a judge to add the city of Grand Rapids back to the suit as a defendant after it was previously removed.

Even if Schurr is ultimately convicted and if the family wins its civil suit, Johnson said it wont be closure.

When you lose a son, when you lose a daughter  theres no such thing as closure, he said.

And Jones said the community wont stop marching.

People are tired of being killed and a lot of people are going to continue to stand up, continue to protest, continue to do (candlelight vigils). Theyre not going to let this die down until the verdict is done, Jones said.

PEOPLE GATHER IN MEMORY OF LYOYA

A vigil to honor Lyoya was held outside the Kent County courthouse in downtown Grand Rapids Thursday evening. It was hosted by Comrades Collective, a group of organizers and activists based in Grand Rapids.

Members of the community as well as Lyoyas family attended Thursdays event. Chants erupted through the streets of downtown as those who showed up demanded justice and change.

During an interview with the family, Thomas Lyoya, Patricks brother, shared a message for those who have continued to show their support since the death.

We appreciate them, he said. We try to show up to this stuff and always hope that it will make a difference. Weve been doing this for two years.

Patricks father and former Kent County Commissioner Robert S. Womack were also at Thursdays event. Womack said Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker continues to keep the family informed during the process.

He reached out to the family today to let them know that the defendant said that they will take it all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court, said Womack. We are hoping that the Michigan Supreme Court hears it instantaneously because we believe it is being dragged along so that the community will forget about it. We understand that this delay is because they dont want to go to court. We dont know what the defense is afraid of. We just want to see this family have their day in court and let the jury decide.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF)  A West Virginia cemetery, where thousands of people are buried, was severely damaged in a mudslide following powerful storms early Wednesday.

An estimated 200 tombstones were washed out at the Wheeling Mt Zion Cemetery Corporation, according to the cemetery. A group of volunteers that has maintained the grounds since 2015 said that the topsoil and monuments were torn off, but the caskets were not moved.

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I think the graves are OK. I think the mud just came down and slid over the top of the grass, said Charles Yocke, the president of Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery Corporation.

Several residents visited the 19-acre cemetery on Wednesday to check on the condition of their loved ones gravesites. The sight of rubble had some people stopping in disbelief.

I came right away, as soon as I saw it because my grandparents are right next to where all that [mud] fell. But their headstone is still there, same place, and I feel better, resident Shawn Hartman told Nexstars WTRF.

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With a similar feeling of relief, resident Heather Whitmire said: We came down to see if our dads and our grandparents graves were OKand they are. Theyre on the other side of this.

The mudslide happened while West Virginias Northern Panhandle was under a flood warning. As of Wednesday afternoon, that warning remains in effect in the area and in parts of north central West Virginia after most of the state experienced excessive rainfall this week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
BALTIMORE  Former Maryland gubernatorial candidate John Kings campaign was fined $2,000 for violating state election law when it anonymously circulated a dossier targeting now-Gov. Wes Moore in the 2022 Democratic primary, the Maryland State Prosecutor said Wednesday.

Sent to members of Marylands powerful teachers union just before their endorsement vote, the document claimed Moore encouraged a false perception of his upbringing in Baltimore in his 2010 book, The Other Wes Moore, and in public statements.

Moore, then a former nonprofit leader making his first run for elected office, filed a formal complaint with state officials. He called the opposition research a document of lies and rejected accusations that hed been misleading, including through a campaign-sponsored website, FactsMD.com.

Sending the document to the Maryland State Education Association also broke campaign finance law by not disclosing who paid for the communications, his complaint alleged.

A two-year investigation verified those claims, State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement announcing the civil citation.

The investigation found Joseph OHern, Kings campaign manager, was behind the anonymous emails, using the account honestmddems@gmail.com and identifying himself only as Honest Dem.

Maryland law requires an authority line disclosing where communications come from if theyre paid for by a campaign. OHern was paid more than $123,000 for his work on the campaign between May 2021 and August 2022, according to the prosecutors review of campaign finance records.

Identifying the source of campaign material is essential to honesty and transparency in our electoral process, particularly as advancing technology enables ever broader outreach to the electorate, Howard said.

King, a former U.S. Department of Education secretary under Democratic former President Barack Obama, finished a distant sixth in the Democratic primary, with 3.7% of the vote. He now serves as chancellor of the State University of New York.

Moore won about a third of Democratic voters to emerge from the crowded 10-person field and go on to win the general election. His campaign declined to comment Thursday.

OHern, who officials discovered was the source of the emails by securing subpoenas to identify IP addresses, did not return a request for comment.

_____
The National Hurricane Center is hoping that a rewrite of messages used to warn of tropical cyclone conditions will increase awareness after officials said too many people are disregarding the life-saving alerts.

Decades-old phrasing and vague wording such as expected somewhere used in wind-speed warnings are no longer resonating with people in harm's way, said NHC Deputy Director Jamie Rhome during a session at the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando last month.

Weve seen a dangerous trend over the last several years of people increasingly ignoring warnings, or not even knowing what they mean, Rhome said. I can remember a time when all of South Florida held its breath in anticipation of an issuance of a hurricane warning because a warning signaled go. 

The proposed changes to hurricane warnings are part of an ongoing review of how the National Hurricane Center can improve its communication with the public. This year, that includes substantial changes to the notorious hurricane forecast track cone, which the NHC would like to de-emphasize in favor of more attention being paid to threats, such as storm surge.

"We have to get off this fixation with the cone and get it on the watches and warnings," Rhome said.

A hurricane warning is typically issued 36 hours ahead of the onset of tropical storm-force winds so that people have time to prepare, including putting up storm shutters, gathering supplies or readying to flee if they live in an evacuation zone.

The proposed changes, which would need to be approved by the World Meteorological Organization, would be subtle at first. The word danger would be added and featured prominently in the hurricane warning, and ambiguous words such as expected somewhere would be removed.

In a tropical storm warning, the words significant risk would appear in the beginning of the alert.

2024 hurricane season: More storms expected as La Nina and warm waters combine

This is us refocusing on the warnings, possibly polishing them up to fit for modern society, because we dont think the current trend of dismissing them is a good one, Rhome said.

There are no plans to change the wording for tropical cyclone watches, which are issued 48 hours in advance of tropical storm-force winds reaching an area.

Watches and warnings, which are issued for a wide range of weather events, have specific definitions that differ based on the event, but the underlying connotations are the same.

A watch means the ingredients are there for potential trouble.

A warning means the trouble is happening or imminent.

NHC hurricane specialists Robbie Berg, who also has a masters degree in communications, said the proposed changes are a culmination of years of work with social scientists on ways to improve how the hurricane center delivers information to the public.

He said the the tropical storm and hurricane warnings issued by the NHC are more accurate than people may think. Meteorologists aren't just crying wolf.

In a study that looked at 943 NHC advisories that had a hurricane warning in effect between 1987 and 2018, about 73% of the warnings were accurate, meaning hurricane conditions occurred somewhere within the warning area. When they looked at tropical storm and hurricane warnings together, the accuracy rate was 87%.

Mean Season: Two decades later, 2004 is remembered as the 'mean season' as hurricanes shredded Florida

"Our hurricane warnings are fairly effective," Berg said.

The social scientists have also recommended multiple changes to the hurricane forecast track cone.

This year, the center released an experimental cone graphic that it will begin issuing in mid-August. The prototype cone emphasizes inland watches and warnings, adding color-coded swaths that represent where tropical storm and hurricane force-winds might reach beyond the coast.

The National Hurricane Center will debut in August a prototype five-day hurricane forecast cone with color-coded wind watches and warnings that extend inland instead of focusing solely on the coasts.

In the new graphic, the shaded area of the cone disappears at the coastline so that instead of focusing on the exact dimensions of the cone  and whether you are inside of it or outside of it  the focus is on the color-coded watches and warnings.

I looked at the new cone, and I thought it looked like a leprechaun threw up, said Orlando-area WKMG News meteorologist Tom Sorrells at the hurricane conference. Now, I think I can use it to message better. Im into it now.

Sorrells said in 2004s Hurricane Charley, which made landfall in Southwest Florida near Punta Gorda, damaging winds ripped across the entire state. Ahead of landfall, however, few people were talking about potential wind gusts of 90 mph in Winter Park, which is north of Orlando.

Everyone thinks of hurricanes as a coastal event, and they are, but theyre not also, Sorrells said. They cut into the interior, too.

Not good news: High chances La Nina will be here for peak hurricane season.

The cone, which was first introduced in 2002, is brilliant in its graphical simplicity. But that is also its downfall as people fall into the trap of thinking a hurricane's winds, storm surge and flooding rain will fit neatly inside the confines of the fuzzy white funnel, and that the tropical cyclone will track down the middle.

Instead, the center of a storm can track anywhere inside the cone with impacts far afield. Thirty-three percent of the time, the storm travels outside the cone.

Rhome said there is a heightened urgency about getting the publics attention following 2022's Hurricane Ian, where people stayed on barrier islands despite a storm surge warning that was issued 43 hours ahead of landfall.

Also, he's concerned about what would happen if a storm similar to 2023's Category 5 Hurricane Otis took aim at Florida. Otis made landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, on Oct. 25 with 165 mph winds. Twenty-four hours ahead of that, Otis was a tropical storm that was forecast to peak as a Category 1 hurricane.

NHC meteorologists called it a nightmare scenario in a forecast a few hours before Otis reached the coast.

We think there is enough of a possibility of this happening here that we would like to see more discussion about what we would do, Rhome said. I know enough about emergency management to know that is going to be pure chaos.

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: National Hurricane Center considering rewrite of tropical cyclone warnings
The 2024 US Election Is Already Being Fought in the Courts

(Bloomberg) -- For the 2024 election, Arizona officials didnt want a repeat of two years ago, when masked and armed people intimidated voters. So the state barred groups from monitoring drop boxes and polling locations.

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Immediately, conservative groups filed lawsuits in the Democratic-led swing state, arguing the change violated free speech rights.

Political groups  some backed by anonymous donors  are launching so many lawsuits over voting rules this year, observers expect that they could approach the record set during the rancorous 2020 election amid Covid and bogus claims of fraud. The Democratic and Republican parties collectively have raised about $41.3 million to spend on such court fights since last year. And nonprofits, including some so-called dark money groups, have likely raised as much as hundreds of millions more.

Voters deserve to know they have a system where its easy to vote and hard to cheat, said Scot Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which is suing to strike down Arizonas new rules including those barring the monitoring of polls and drop boxes by outside groups.

After the last presidential election, which Donald Trump falsely claimed he won, spurring some of his supporters to riot in the US Capitol, states enacted a number of measures to improve voting procedures and reduce the risk of interference, such as extended polling hours.

Never miss an episode. Follow the Big Take podcast on iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. Read the transcript.

With Trump now headed for a rematch with President Joe Biden, political groups are challenging and defending these moves as well as plumbing for legal minutiae, pushing the courts to the center of the election process. Indeed, the US Supreme Court in March rejected a Colorado effort to boot Trump off the ballot.

While some lawsuits attempt to address legitimate concerns, others serve as political strategies, said Martha Kropf, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Close elections mean youre going to fight to get every extra vote you can, she said.

With the presidential race poised to come down to seven pivotal states, Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania are already heated battlegrounds for litigation. Judges, not voters, may determine the election results, fear some experts and activists.

Arizona, which is also home to a tight US Senate race, hopes to head off the conspiracy theories that sprung up four years ago. Democratic officials said widespread voter intimidation could result if the Arizona Free Enterprise Clubs most recent lawsuit prevails.

As is the case with other court fights across the country, the limited-government advocacy group works with influential partners, including America First Legal, led by former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller, and Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, a nonprofit backed by Trump allies including billionaire Steve Wynn.

Such partnerships lead to more influence. As it takes on more cases, Mussis group has seen its revenue jump three times to over $3.4 million in 2022 from the year before, showing how it has quickly become a power player in Arizona.

Theres a lot of good work being done on the conservative side of the spectrum these days to defend elections, said Derek Lyons, a former Trump adviser who now leads Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, which has funded and supported more than 30 cases in 17 states.

Prominent Democratic lawyer Marc Elias characterized some of these newly formed ventures as vigilante. He and his firm are filing dozens of lawsuits against voting restrictions across the country, often partnering with grassroots groups in swing states.

"New Republican election vigilante groups are emerging to launch mass voter challenges against unsuspecting voters," Elias said in a social media post this week.

https://t.co/2V6JKqrwPj

 Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) April 3, 2024

Indeed, fighting battles over election rules big to arcane is a booming business for such groups and lawyers. Political parties legal expenses have skyrocketed to $154 million in 2022 from around $5 million in 2003, according to data compiled by Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. And nonprofits, including charitable organizations and dark-money advocacy groups, are increasingly filing and financing election-related lawsuits. Theyre not legally required to identify their backers.

Youve got a lot of organizations that dont have to disclose their donors, they dont have to disclose how theyre spending their money, said Muller. Theres an effort to influence elections through the litigation process without the same transparency we see over on the campaign side.

Challenging every aspect of the electoral process as a political tool started in earnest after the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 presidential contest in favor of George W. Bush over Al Gore in Floridas recount fight. Election litigation has since tripled, according to research by Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at University of California, Los Angeles. Lawsuits span disputes about signatures on absentee ballots to all manners of allegations of illegality.

During the 2020 election, public health issues surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to the unfounded claims of fraud perpetuated by Trump and his allies, led to a record number of election lawsuits.

Congress played a role in the increase, too: In 2014, it allowed donors to bankroll parties legal expenses. The contributions, which currently can be made in amounts up to $123,600, give the parties ample funding to fight in court.

Groups aligned with Democrats say theyre trying to stop voter suppression. Most lawsuits from Republican-leaning allies are aimed at creating more election oversight, including voter identification rules and tighter restrictions on who can vote.

Unsettled Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has the most unsettled questions around its electoral procedures, according to Muller, and both sides of the ideological divide have launched legal challenges since January alone.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, for one, challenged York Countys restrictions on nonpartisan election observers. And Voter Reference Foundation, a group with ties to GOP megadonor and billionaire Richard Uihlein, sued the state for declining to publish voter data on the internet.

Theres a focus on the really granular things that maybe a couple of years ago werent litigated to the same degree that they are now, said Adam Sopko, staff attorney with the Wisconsin Law Schools State Democracy Research Initiative.

(Adds the number of cases that Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections supported in 13th paragraph.)

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  Three people have been found guilty and one more person pleaded guilty in connection with two 2019 home invasions and murders that took place in Tonawanda and Buffalo, the Erie County District Attorneys Office announced Wednesday.

The defendants, 41-year-old Ernest Green and 41-year-old Daniel Rodriguez of North Tonawanda, as well as 27-year-old Wayne Robbins of Tonawanda, were found guilty of various charges, including murder.

In the first case, Green and Rodriguez broke into the home of 31-year-old Danielle Cretacci in the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2019 on Ebling Avenue in Tonawanda. She was shot and killed execution style in front of her 11-year-old and 8-year-old daughters. The 11-year-old was shot twice in the abdomen and leg during the invasion and the 8-year-old was shot once in the neck, but both survived.

One of the girls played dead and then watched from a window as Green and Rodriguez fled, before going to a neighbors house for help.

Green knew Cretacci, authorities said. Cretacci had recently received a workers compensation settlement of around $30,000 and had posted about it on Facebook, where Green was a friend of hers. The money was stolen from the house during the robbery.

Theyre both horrible incidents, but I guess when I think about these two little girls that is really the stuff is nightmares what they went through, acting Erie County District Attorney Mike Keane said at a Wednesday news conference.

One month after Cretacci was killed, on Sep. 27, 2019, Green, Robbins and another person, 31-year-old Sharee Bailey of Buffalo, broke into a home on Merrimac Street in Buffalo. Green and Robbins shot and killed 21-year-old Bethany Malloy and 26-year-old Shaquiel St. John during the home invasion.

Malloy was shot once in the head, while St. John was shot in the back as he tried to flee up a stairwell.

Similar to the Cretacci case, Malloy had also been the recipient of a work injury settlement and that money was also stolen. Malloy had been the former roommate of Greens girlfriend, which Keane said is how they knew of the money.

In total, Green was found guilty of five counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. Rodriguez was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. Robbins was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder. Lastly, Bailey pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree robbery.

The trial lasted 11 days before six hours of deliberation from the jury.

Sentencing for all is scheduled for May 3. Green, Rodriguez and Robbins are all facing a maximum of life in prison and Bailey faces up to 25 years.

We want to make sure these people never get out of jail, Keane said. And never have the opportunity to hurt or kill anyone again in the future.

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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. 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.
Police arrested three teens accused of shooting a uniformed, off-duty officer during a suspected robbery in south Phoenix last week, officials announced in a Thursday morning press conference.

Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan said two 17-year-olds and 19-year-old Jamiah Thomas Mower were arrested in the March 29 shooting of Phoenix police officer Harold Boswell. The three suspects are facing multiple felony charges, and at least one is charged in suspicion of attempted murder and armed robbery, according to a police press release.

"Last Saturday, I said publicly, we would not stop until those responsible for preying on innocent people and then shooting one of our officers were held to account for their crimes. We did not stop," Sullivan said. "They will face serious consequences."

Phoenix Police Officer Harold Boswell is seen in this official police department portrait.

Boswell was off-duty and working in uniform at a nearby business when he was shot around 11:30 p.m. March 29 near 33rd and Southern avenues after approaching a suspected attempted robbery on a parked vehicle, officials said Saturday after the shooting. Boswell was wounded multiple times by at least one person and did not fire his weapon during the "ambush" attack, police said at the time. During the press briefing, Assistant Phoenix Police Chief Ed DeCastro mentioned the area of the shooting was crowded.

Boswell had been informed about the attempted robbery by someone in the area, according to DeCastro. After his release from the hospital Monday, Boswell is at home recovering from his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery, DeCastro said.

Crime: Fatal shootings by Phoenix-area police total 9 so far in 2024

"He seems to be in good spirits. He's doing well," DeCastro said.

The suspects were all apprehended within 72 hours of the shooting after police reviewed surveillance footage and spoke with witnesses, officials noted.

A search warrant on one unnamed suspect's home led to his March 30 arrest and his booking at the Maricopa County's Juvenile Court Center, according to Thursday's news release. This unnamed suspect is facing attempted murder and armed robbery charges, the press release noted.

Mower was apprehended on March 31 in Las Vegas and is awaiting extradition to Maricopa County, according to the press release. Mower's charges have not been specified. The third suspect was located Monday in El Mirage, was also booked in the juvenile court center and is facing hindering prosecution charges, the news release added.

The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as El Mirage, Surprise and Las Vegas police departments were involved in tracking down the suspects, officials said during the news briefing.

"Our police officers are the guardians of our communities, working tirelessly to keep us safe and uphold the law," Phoenix Councilwoman Ann O'Brien said during the press conference. "They deserve our utmost respect and gratitude, not violence and hostility."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3 teens arrested in Phoenix police officer's shooting
With 399 Victims, Mexico Campaign Violence Is Already at Record

(Bloomberg) -- Mexicos election is already shaping up to be the most violent in the countrys modern history.

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Almost 400 people connected to the races were affected by political violence  ranging from threats and kidnappings to murder  between Sept. 1 and April 1, according to a report by Mexico City-based consultancy Integralia. That includes violence toward 127 candidates, of which 24 were murdered. More than half of those killed have been candidates from the ruling Morena party.

Mexico is headed for the largest elections in its history on June 2, with 20,367 positions up for selection, including the countrys president, eight governorships and 628 congresspeople, in addition to numerous local positions.

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As the campaigns ramp up, escalating violence has been making headlines. Most recently, Gisela Gaytan, Morenas candidate for mayor of Celaya in the state of Guanajuato, was shot dead during a campaign rally in an incident that was caught on video, shocking the nation.

If the violence continues in the remaining two months of the campaign, the process could close with more than 500 victims of political violence, mainly associated with the intervention of organized crime in the election, said Armando Vargas, consultant at Integralia who coordinated the report.

Besides murders, the most common aggressions are threats, attacks with firearms, kidnappings and disappearances, according to the report. Candidates make up 32% of the aggressions, followed by government officials and former government officials, politicians and former politicians, and finally family members.

Violence is concentrated in the west and center of the country, with Guerrero, Michoacan and Morelos being the states with more victims.

--With assistance from Michael O'Boyle.

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A total of four strikes by Russian Shahed drones on civilian infrastructure have been recorded in Kharkiv. As a result, four people have been killed, 12 more wounded, and one man has been rescued from under the rubble.

Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office; State Emergency Service on Telegram

Quote from the Prosecutors Office: "A total of four UAVs hit civilian infrastructure facilities in Novobavarskyi district. Residential buildings, shops, retail units, pharmacies, cars, a medical facility, etc. were damaged."

Details: One of the drones hit a 14-storey building: the 7th to 11th floors were destroyed. A 68-year-old woman was killed.

Photo: Bohdan Kutiepov, Sevgil Musaieva, ukrainska pravda

It was reported earlier that when the relevant services arrived at the scene of the strike, the Russians struck again, killing three emergency workers.

At that time, the State Emergency Service was conducting an operation to rescue a 67-year-old man who was trapped by floor slabs on the second floor.

Photo: Bohdan Kutiepov, Sevgil Musaieva, ukrainska pravda

Another State Emergency Service officer and a police officer were injured in the strike. One nurse and nine civilians were also injured.

The State Emergency Service reported that a 67-year-old man was rescued from the rubble.

Photo: Bohdan Kutiepov, Sevgil Musaieva, ukrainska pravda

Quote from the State Emergency Service: "About 10 rescue workers were involved in this operation. They used a hand-held hydraulic tool and jacks to recover the man and handed him over to medics. The man has suffered minor injuries."

More details: The Prosecutor's Office stated that a civilian facility had been damaged in the town of Lozova. There were also strikes to energy infrastructure facilities in Kharkiv Oblast.

Background:

The Russians hit Kharkiv with Shahed drones, killing 4 people and wounding 12 more.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 20 Shahed kamikaze drones on the night of 3-4 April, 11 of which were downed.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 4. Russia's Trade Mission in Uzbekistan expressed readiness to consider potential Russian exporters in priority areas for Uzum Market, Trend reports.

According to the Trade Mission of Russia in Uzbekistan, Russian Trade Representative in Uzbekistan Konstantin Zlygostev met with General Director of Uzum Market Ilshat Khametov.

The head of Uzum Market talked about the achievements and the upcoming development plans.

Konstantin Zlygostev shared information about the Trade Mission's support of Russian companies' initiatives to enter the Uzbek market.

During the meeting, the parties agreed to develop transparent mechanisms for Russian companies wishing to start working at Uzum Market and to establish a direct dialog with the management of the marketplace.

Meanwhile, Russian Fesco discussed a list of joint actions to be implemented to increase the number of projects realized in Uzbekistan.

This was discussed during a meeting between Russian Trade Representative in Uzbekistan Konstantin Zlygostev and the management of the Russian transport company FESCO on strengthening the organizations position in the Uzbekistan market.

In particular, Fesco intends to implement advanced automated management systems in Uzbekistan's transport sector as well as provide railway transport enterprises with modern equipment, in particular rolling stock.
4 of the gun-toting migrant squatters in NYC house skipped out on processing appointments after being released into US: ICE

Four of the migrant squatters busted at a Bronx home on gun and drug charges had skipped out on processing appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being released into the US, the agency revealed Wednesday.

And at least three of the eight Venezuelan migrants arrested by the NYPD in the March 27 raid on the multifamily dwelling had past run-ins with law enforcement, ICE also confirmed.

Yoessy Pino Castillo, Yojairo Martinez, Javier Alborno and Yerbin Lozado-Munoz, 25, were all detained by US Border Patrol in Texas between September 2022 and May 2023, but were then cut free because of overcrowding at processing centers.

Johan Cardenas Silva was also taken into custody in October 2022 in the Lone Star State and was ordered for removal, ICE said.

The following March, an immigration judge determined Silva should be booted from the US, but seven months later the 35-year-old was released from Stewart County Detention Center on an order of supervision to report to the Big Apple.

Federal agents escort a person out of a home in the Bronx where illegal migrant squatters have been living in the basement on April 3, 2024. Matthew McDermott

Once in New York City, Silva failed to show up for a Enforcement and Removal Operations appointment, ICE said.

And the four others had failed to appear for their processing appointments.

At the check-ins, migrants are supposed to file a claim, that could be for asylum, and let officials know where they are staying. Immigration officials can then determine what level of supervision is required.

The NYPD raided the multifamily dwelling on March 27. James Keivom

Hector Desousa-Villalta had previously been taken into custody by US Border Patrol on May, 3, 2023. Obtained by NY Post

Meanwhile Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, who last Wednesday allegedly flashed a pistol at someone on the Bronx property, leading to the stunning squatter discovery, was taken into custody by US Border Patrol on May, 3, 2023.

Desousa-Villalta was issued a notice to appear before he was let go on his own recognizance, ICE said. He is one of three migrants who had previous arrests under their belts before the eight Venezuelans were booked on gun and drug charges.

Desousa-Villalta was arrested and charged for attempted murder by Yonkers police last year, but the case was later dropped because the victim didnt want to cooperate, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell previously said.

Alborno had the longest rap sheet, beginning in March 2023 when the NYPD arrested him for petit larceny and released on his own recognizance.

He was arrested again in June 2023 on a shoplifting charge in New Jersey and the following September in New York City again on second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, ICE said.

This past January Woodbridge police in New Jersey cuffed Alborno for shoplifting before he was released later that month on his own recognizance, ICE said.

Castillo was arrested this January on shoplifting charges, according to ICE.

At the check-ins, migrants are supposed to file a claim, that could be for asylum, and let officials know where they are staying. Matthew McDermott

Two men and a woman were arrested by federal agents during Wednesdays raid in the Bronx. Matthew McDermott

ICE did not provide background on Miguel Vaamondes-Barrios, who is currently locked up in Rikers. The agency issued a detainer request on him and three of the other migrants currently in custody in the city or Nassau County.

Three of migrants, Desousa-Villalta, Martinez, 42, and Castillo, 20, were captured again on Wednesday  this time by the feds  in the same home on Hull Avenue as ICE signaled deportation proceedings would begin against the trio of Venezuelan natives.

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City (NYC) is aware of the recent arrests by NYPD of eight unlawfully present Venezuelan citizens, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

Today, ERO NYC Fugitive Operations Officers conducted a targeted law enforcement action at 3259 Hull Avenue in the Bronx and apprehended three of those eight noncitizens who are all amenable to removal.

ERO NYC also lodged ICE detainers on four of the remaining noncitizens who are currently being held in local custody.

Guns, drugs, ammo and scales were all recovered inside the Bronx home.

The basement bedroom where the migrants were staying. Matthew McDermott

Only one of the eight migrants caught up in last weeks raid remains in the wind after being released by a Bronx judge.

Additional reporting by Steve Janoski
Russian strikes on the city of Kharkiv killed at least four people and injured 12, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram in the early hours of April 4.

Among the casualties are three Emergency Service workers who were on the scene for rescue efforts in response to an earlier Russian attack, as well as one civilian. According to local police, the civilian was a 69-year-old woman.

In total, 12 individuals were reported injured as a result of the drone strikes, including an Emergency Service worker, a policeman, and a nurse. All victims are receiving medical assistance.

Russian drones hit the city at around 1 a.m. local time, damaging several homes and a 14-story high-rise building. As a result of this strike, a 33-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman were wounded.

Then, at 1:55 a.m., two more drones struck the city, killing three Emergency Response workers who were called to the scene following the first attack.

Three high-rise buildings, three firetrucks, a hospital building, and two ambulances were damaged in the attacks.

Syniehubov announced that 15 Russian drones were released into the Oblast, some of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defense.

Separate attacks on Kharkiv Oblast on April 3 injured a 55-year-old woman as well as a 70-year-old man.

Settlements in Ukraines Kharkiv Oblast are subjected to near-daily attacks by Russian forces due to their proximity to the border with Russia.

Read also: Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast injures woman

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
It was early on Thursday morning when Terry Sheehan, who lives at Cynwyd Club Apartments in Milltown, heard what she thought was a car door slam.

Then, gunshots sounded.

As she listened to cars speeding away, Sheehan was confused. She couldn't see the commotion, so she didn't know what had transpired. Plus, she's lived in the complex 10 years and never had any issues.

So, she was shocked to learn hours later that what she'd heard at about 2:30 a.m. had turned into a multi-jurisdictional police chase that ended in Pennsylvania. It resulted in the suspect shot and two officers injured.

People are nuts, they are, Sheehan said. Theyre crazy. Thats all I can say.

New Castle County police remained at Cynwyd Club Apartments Thursday afternoon (April 4, 2024) where a investigators said a domestic-related situation resulted in an officer-involved shooting and a chase that ended with the closing of I-95 in Pennsylvania.

The 20-plus mile pursuit began shortly when New Castle County police officers were called to Cynwyd Club Apartments off Limestone Road (Route 7) for a "domestic-related situation." Responding officers went to the caller's apartment, where they spoke with a woman who said there had been an altercation between her and the suspect, 25-year-old Tyrese Knuckles.

Though police did not say what the woman told officers, another of the complex's residents, Maisel Citrian, was told the young woman was attacked in one of the laundry rooms and then dragged by her hair.

New Castle County Police Capt. Jamie Leonard confirmed there was a "confrontation" between the two, but said investigators were still reviewing where it occurred. He could not provide details about what had occurred between them.

I hope the girl is OK, Citrian said.

When officers spoke to the woman, she told them that Knuckles was in a back room. Police tried to talk to him, but he jumped out of a window, Leonard said. It's not clear what level the apartment was on.

Capt. Jamie Leonard, of the New Castle County Police Department, speaks at a press conference on Thursday April 4, 2024.

It's also unclear if police knew when they tried to speak with Knuckles that he was wanted by the Philadelphia Police Department for stalking. Police are still working to determine whether the agency has had any previous contact with Knuckles.

Once Knuckles jumped out of the window, police ran after him, though he was able to get out of the apartment complex. He made his way to a shopping center at Milltown and Limestone roads, where a different officer who had been told of Knuckles' flight was looking for the man.

That officer, an eight-year veteran of the apartment, spotted the 25-year-old and gave him "several commands to stop," Leonard said. A "confrontation" then ensued, during which the officer deployed his Taser.

INITIAL STORY: Man in custody after crash involving stolen New Castle County police SUV closes I-95 in PA

It hit Knuckles but was "ineffective," Leonard said. Police are working to determine why.

As a result, the officer pulled out his gun and shot Knuckles. Leonard said the department is still "vigorously" investigating the shooting, including how many shots were fired.

Knuckles was hit in the torso, though his injuries are not life-threatening, Leonard said.

Stolen police vehicle leads to multijurisdictional chase

Though Knuckles was injured, he managed to run to the nearby patrol vehicle of the officer who had shot him and jumped into the marked car. Once inside, he sped off, Leonard said.

By that time, New Castle County police had called for backup. Delaware State Police and Wilmington police joined the chase, which wound through the county before entering Wilmington city limits. As Knuckles fled, he hit several police vehicles, Leonard said, injuring a three-year veteran of the department.

That officer was admitted to a hospital, where he remains for observation. He is considered "stable."

A Delaware State Police vehicle also collided with a New Castle County patrol car during the chase, injuring the trooper. He was also taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Leonard said no civilians were injured during the chase, which reached high speeds at times. He added, however, that this likely had to do with the time of day the incident occurred.

"I think there were periods of time that would have definitely put the public in danger if it were a different hour of the day," Leonard said. "I will tell you, this put a large amount of Delaware's law enforcement personnel in danger."

Motorists were getting by on the right lanes of I-95 north at Exit 4 in Pennsylvania about 11 a.m. as New Castle County police and Pennsylvania State Police investigated an officer-involved shooting that occurred in Delaware early Thursday (April 4, 2024).

The chase ultimately ended on I-95 in Pennsylvania near the Commodore Barry Bridge after the patrol car Knuckles was in became "disabled" on the side of the road following a crash. It's not clear whether that crash involved any Delaware police or Pennsylvania troopers, who had joined the pursuit after Knuckles entered the state.

Knuckles, who police said tried to run from the car in Pennsylvania, was arrested "almost immediately" on a side street nearby. He was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he's listed as "stable."

Leonard said New Castle County police have extensive body camera and dashboard camera footage to review. The agency is looking into what caused the incident to escalate to the officer using his Taser and then gun.

Delaware law states that the use of deadly force is legal when an officer "reasonably believes that such force is necessary to protect the (officer) against death or serious physical injury."

The incident snarled traffic for several hours near Limestone and Milltown roads and on I-95 north. Both roads had reopened by late morning.

Citrian, the Cynwyd Club Apartments resident, said it's not unusual to see "some cop cars or ambulances" at the complex. But Thursday's incident, she said, was "definitely really scary."

Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on X at @izzihughes_

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How police shooting, chase that ended on I-95 in Pa. unfolded Thursday
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  The State of California Department of Justice on Wednesday announced the arrest of 46 people suspected of human trafficking, sexual exploitation and other criminal offenses from an undercover sting operation conducted in San Diego and National City.

Operation Better Pathways, which lasted from March 5 until March 27, consisted of authorities posed as individuals offering sex for sale to sex buyers at the aforementioned areas known for sexual exploitation, Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. The sex buyers were then directed to an alternate location and arrested, state officials said.

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation destroy lives, Bonta said. Through Operation Better Pathways, were fighting to hold perpetrators accountable and help survivors with support and services. This initiative serves as a powerful example of how the implementation of public safety measures can effectively intervene in breaking the cycle of violence and abuse.

Gate security barrier deployed at Naval Base San Diego

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria expressed the citys relentless efforts to stop predators from targeting the most vulnerable in the community.

The results of Operation Better Pathways are further proof that SDPD and its partners in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force are committed to protecting San Diegans from the dangers of human trafficking, Gloria said.

During the operation, 20 individuals  including seven children  were offered support services, per officials.

The arrests, which range from human trafficking of a minor to assault with a deadly weapon, will be referred to the San Diego County District Attorneys Office, San Diego City Attorneys Office, and U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of California for potential criminal prosecution, according to Bonta.

It was the second such operation in the county, following another major sting last year that led to the arrest of 48 suspects and rescue of 16 trafficking victims  including eight children.

If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave, you can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to access help and services. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Seventy-five years ago today, the great Labour foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington DC. Out of the ashes of the Second World War, we came together with our allies in defence of peace.

No single act has done more to protect Britains  or Europes  security in the years since.

Labours commitment to Nato is unshakeable, alongside our total support for our nuclear deterrent, which we maintain on behalf of our Nato allies.

The alliance has never been stronger, larger or more unified. Last month, we proudly welcomed Sweden as the 32nd member  bringing a well-equipped army, over a hundred advanced fighter jets, and another sophisticated navy into Nato.

This enduring alliance provides almost a billion people with security. It is more important than ever, as we face increasing threats.

War is back in Europe, where Vladimir Putin, the ringleader of a new form of fascism, continues to pursue his imperial fantasy in Ukraine. Airstrikes still rain down on Ukrainian families and their loved ones continue to fight on the frontline. As in Bevins time, the Kremlin is once again a generational security challenge that will require a long-term response.

This sadly familiar threat is now compounded by new ones, such as the climate emergency, which creates conflicts and drives refugee crises to our shores. Cyber-attacks exacerbate this new era of disorder by targeting our democratic institutions, our data and our people.

As we face the future, our history should guide us forward. Bevin ensured that the Labour values of democracy and freedom were hardwired into Natos founding treaty, alongside collective defence. And Labours progressive realism, inspired by Bevin but adapted to today, means European security will be our first priority.

Ernest Bevin, Labour foreign secretary - HULTON ARCHIVE/Topical Press Agency

That must include the defence of our democracies, too. Last month, the Government announced that China had hacked the Electoral Commission, accessing the data of 40 million British citizens. Separately, China targeted four British MPs.

The Governments response was meagre  applying sanctions on just two individuals and one front company. This came even after the Intelligence and Security Committee found last year that the UK Governments approach to Chinese interference left the UK severely handicapped due to its short-termist approach on Chinese security threats.

This is not a one-off. Hostile attacks on democracy are on the rise. Last December, the Government revealed that Russia was guilty of a sustained cyber-attack on politicians, journalists and public sector groups in an attempt to meddle in British politics. But the Government still has not even implemented the full recommendations of the Russia report, issued by the intelligence committee in 2019.

The British Government needs to wake up to address these threats and boost homeland resilience across government and civil society. Our international institutions, like Nato, need to evolve, too.

To do this, we need a new era of defence in these dangerous times. This will require not only our resolve but also our creativity. In Government, Labour will always fulfil our Nato obligations in full. We will ensure that the UK is the leading European Nato nation. Our adversaries should never doubt our resolve.

But we must also focus on making democracies fit to fight now and in the future. Understanding the modern threats we face, we will seek to establish a Democratic Resilience Centre with Nato allies to protect our democratic values, political institutions, elections and open societies. This could be open to all Nato countries to strengthen defence against existing and future threats that dont fall under traditional armed warfare.

The Centre would not only collectively monitor threats and share best practices, but also advise on action and develop new strategies, including a variety of operational responses, to counter them.

It could be a forerunner for a fully-fledged Nato body  and its expertise could be shared with all Nato members wanting to strengthen their capabilities and keep our democracies safe.

Our countries should be on high alert ahead of the UK General Election, as well as elections around the world. As voters go to the polls across the UK, they need to have the confidence that attempts by foreign governments to meddle in our democracy will fail.

As Bevin warned the House of Commons in 1948 as he passionately argued the case for what became the Nato alliance, If there is no plan there is no initiative. If the initiative is lost the battle is lost.

This is the time to launch democratic resilience work together to better protect our values and systems. As Nato secured our peace for the last 75 years, we must now secure our future for the next generation. This will require not only old determination but new innovation.

David Lammy is the shadow foreign secretary. John Healey is the shadow defence secretary

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 vast majority of Ukrainians continue to support Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO.

Source: Results of the survey of the International Republican Institute (IRI); European Pravda

77% of respondents in February chose the European Union in response to the question about Ukraine's accession to a particular international economic union.

This is eight percentage points less than in February 2023, when 85% of respondents favoured joining the EU.

Most of all, joining the EU is supported in the west of Ukraine  81% of respondents.

32% of respondents believe that Ukraine will be able to become a member of the EU in three to five years, and according to 26% it will take even less than three years. 15% of respondents believe that joining the EU will take more than 10 years, and 3%  that Ukraine will never join the European Union.

In addition, if a referendum on Ukraine's accession to NATO if it were held today, 77% of Ukrainians would vote in favour. This is five percentage points less than in February 2023, when 82% of respondents would have voted for joining NATO.

Most of all, NATO membership is supported in Central Ukraine  83%, and the West  82%.

"Our data clearly shows that Ukrainians see a closer relationship with the West as the best chance of achieving sustainable peace and prosperity," said Stephen Nix, IRI's senior director for Eurasia.

The survey was conducted by the Rating sociological group on behalf of the Center for Insights in Survey Research of the International Republican Institute throughout Ukraine (except for the occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas) on 17-21 February 2024. The total sample consists of n= 2,000 Ukrainians aged 18 and older.

84% of Ukrainians surveyed support entry of Ukraine into the European Union, according to a sociological survey conducted by the Razumkov Centre's sociological service from 19 to 25 January.

Background:

Two-thirds of citizens in NATO member countries believe that their governments must continue to support Ukraine.

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NEW YORK CITY (PIX11)  New York City is slated to open nine new schools across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, New York City Public Schools announced Thursday.

The new schools  three middle, four pre-K and elementary and two high schools  will open in September 2024, officials said.

Water spews from Manhattan high-rise building

These new schools are going to be a real reflection of the opportunity to reimagine how were even doing schools, New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks said. Weve been working to rebuild trust with our parents and our families, and weve heard from our parents and our families and our students about the kinds of schools that they want to have.

One of the schools opening in Brooklyn is a Bard High School Early College location, which will enroll a majority of the local student body for an accelerated program that graduates students with associate degrees, Banks said.

In Queens, students will get their shot at the film and TV industry at Motion Picture Technical High School, which will train them for well-paying jobs in the industry.

This is really a game changer for an industry where people of color are often underrepresented, said Dr. Shawn Rux, Senior Executive Director of the Office of New School Development and Design.

MTA responds to asking NYC Road Runners to pay $750K for lost toll revenue

Downtown Brooklyn will also get its first district Montessori school, Rux said.

This is a school where children will actually drive their own learning through multi-age classrooms and uninterrupted blocks of work time, which really fosters self-motivation and engagement, Rux said.

Meanwhile, the timing of the announcement is drawing scrutiny, as is the fact that most of the new schools are in the same borough. Seven of the nine new schools are in Brooklyn.

While it is the most populous borough with 2.5 million people, Queens is just behind with 2.2 million people. Only one of the eight new schools is in Queens. The other is in The Bronx.

That was noted by an education professor David Bloomfield of Brooklyn College. He also noted one other thing  the timing of the announcement. A little bit strange. It seems as if its aimed at Albany to show the effectiveness of mayoral control when that legislation is up for grabs in the next month.

Program helps first-time homebuyers in NYC

The new NYC schools include:

M.S. 644

South Bronx (District 9)

Grades 6-8

P.S. 482

Downtown Brooklyn (District 13)

Grades Pre-K  5

M.S. 428

District 15

Grades 6-8

P.S. 456

Downtown Brooklyn/DUMBO (District 15)

Grades Pre-K  5

Bard High School Early College- Brooklyn

East New York (District 19)

Grades 9-12

P.S. 331

Bay Ridge (District 20)

Grades K-5

P.S. 413

Bay Ridge (District 20)

Grades K-5

M.S. 407

Bay Ridge (District 20)

Grades 6-8

Motion Picture Technical High School

Northern Queens (District 30)

Grades 9-12

Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered local news for years. She has been with PIX11 since 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
The seven seats and court of the Montana Supreme Court (Photo by Eric Seidle/ For the Daily Montanan).

The attorney for the group trying to get an amendment to enshrine abortion access in the Montana constitution onto Novembers ballot filed another request with the Supreme Court Thursday to force the Secretary of State to provide the group with the ballot petition so it can start collecting signatures.

The latest filing is a request for a writ of mandamus, which the court told Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights attorney, Raph Graybill, late Wednesday afternoon was the proper procedure to try to compel Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to give the group its ballot petition form.

Writs of mandamus are issued by the Supreme Court to compel the performance of a legal duty.

I am aware that the Attorney General has argued that MSRR is the master of the timing of its initiative, Graybill told the court in an affidavit supporting the motion. This is not true, however, when MSRR is forced to litigate serially against the Attorney General and, now, the Secretary based on the delays introduced by their handling of the initiative.

After Graybill asked the court on Wednesday morning for an order forcing Jacobsens compliance with another order from Mondays decision, four justices denied the request just before 5 p.m., saying that his request for supplemental relief was not the proper motion and that he needed to file a request for a writ of mandamus.

Attorneys for Jacobsen and Attorney General Austin Knudsen also said they wanted to respond to Graybills request and asked the court to set a briefing schedule.

Along with denying the request for supplemental relief and telling Graybill to file a writ of mandamus request, the justices said the court indeed had found in Mondays order that the mechanism by which a ballot initiative has to go before a legislative committee for review was not met because the court, and not Knudsen, found the proposal to be legally sufficient.

The court also ordered Jacobsen and Knudsen to respond by noon next Monday to the filing about whether the legislature has any review power over the initiative at this point, and if the Supreme Court should retain jurisdiction over Ballot Initiative No.14 through the signature gathering phase.

Graybill wrote in Thursdays request that he understood after talking with Jacobsens chief legal counsel on Tuesday morning that Jacobsen would respond to the groups request for a final petition that day. But he said Tuesday and Wednesday came and went and the group still had not received the petition on Thursday morning.

Thursdays request again restates that the court on Monday wrote the ballot statement for the initiative and delivered it to Jacobsen, saying it did not need to go through legislative committee review, and that the group believes the law says that the only possible next step is for her to immediately provide the group with the finalized ballot petition.

Graybill included an exhibit showing that she issued a sample petition in just one day after Knudsen wrote his ballot statement for the measure in late March, which was also overturned by the Supreme Court.

He told the court that Jacobsen continues to delay their efforts to start collecting signatures  around 66,000 of which the group believes it will need to collect for the issue to make Novembers ballot  and that she could moot the ongoing legal battle by giving the group the petition.

Graybill also outlined the responses he believes will come from Jacobsen by Monday, including that the finding the initiative wouldnt need to go through the legislature was incorrect; that she can decide the initiative is somewhere else in the process; and that Senate President Jason Ellsworth sent her a subpoena for copies of all materials related to the measure, with the intention of sending it through the committee nonetheless. And he wrote they will all be incorrect.

This petition does not seek the Courts review of any legislative action. There is no basis in the statutory framework for ballot issue qualification for the Secretary to delay processing a ballot issue because of a purported legislative subpoena, Graybill told the court.

He asked the court to order that Jacobsen respond to the request by the close of business on Friday, saying she is well-acquainted with the ministerial duties at issue in this matter and was already ordered by the court to send the group the petition on Monday. He also asked the court to issue a preemptory writ and require Jacobsen to say why she hadnt complied with the order within 24 hours.

A spokesperson for the Secretary of States Office did not respond to questions Wednesday or immediately Thursday about if, or when, Jacobsen intends to provide the group with the petition.

The executive directors for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, Forward Montana, and the ACLU of Montana, which make up Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, said in a statement they were doing everything we can to try to get the measure on Novembers ballot.

The Secretary of State cannot withhold a finalized petition in an attempt to further delay our effort to qualify this critical amendment, the group said. Politicians have prioritized stripping away Montanans right to abortion and we know that people cannot wait any longer.

OP 24-0214 Writ - Mandamus -- Petition

The post Abortion initiative group asks Supreme Court to force Jacobsen to issue ballot petition appeared first on Daily Montanan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Uzbekistan plays an active role in shaping the further development of the Middle Corridor, political expert and senior researcher of the Institute of State and Law of Uzbekistan's Academy of Sciences, Ravshan Nazarov told Trend.

"Uzbekistan is making significant progress toward this objective. Specifically, Uzbekistan aims to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and is actively striving to align its domestic laws and law enforcement procedures with WTO agreements, standards, and guidelines. In order to guarantee market access and increase trade prospects, methodical negotiations with WTO member nations are being conducted concurrently," he said.

According to him, Uzbekistan is actively developing international cooperation, establishing mutually beneficial ties with traditional and new partners around the world. This helps the country expand the geography of its international cooperation and participate in global production and supply chains.

"Also, Uzbekistan is intensifying its economic diplomacy to promote its national interests and protect them in the global arena. The country seeks to strengthen traditional and strategic ties with CIS countries, as well as to develop trade-economic, financial, investment, and technological cooperation with Europe, which contributes to Uzbekistan's multifaceted development," Ravshan Nazarov noted.

He emphasized that the country is strengthening cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region with the aim of increasing exports, nomenclature in regional markets, and attracting large volumes of investment. The expansion of ties with countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa continues, within the framework of which new transport and logistics corridors are being formed to facilitate Uzbekistan's access to the world market.

The Middle Corridor, a transportation and trade pathway, links Asia and Europe as it traverses numerous countries within the region. It provides an alternative to the conventional Northern and Southern Corridors.

Beginning in China, it spans across Central Asian nations like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Subsequently, it extends through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye before reaching the European continent.

This strategic Middle Corridor offers a land-based connection between the eastern regions of Asia, including China, and Europe, offering a shorter path compared to lengthy maritime routes.
A senior adviser for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called claims that an Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza was intentional "absurd," after the organization's founder said the deadly attack was targeted.

Seven WCK aid workers were killed during an Israel Defense Forces attack in central Gaza Monday night while traveling in a three-vehicle caravan branded with the WCK logo, the food relief organization said. The team had coordinated its movements with the IDF but was hit as it was leaving a warehouse after helping unload more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid, WCK said.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, WCK founder Jose Andres claimed that Israel targeted his aid workers "systematically, car by car."

PHOTO: Residents inspect the damaged vehicle damaged vehicle carrying Western employees after the Israeli attack, April 2, 2024, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"This was not just a bad luck situation where 'oops' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," the chef told Reuters.

"What I know is that we were targeted deliberately nonstop until everybody was dead in this convoy," he told Reuters.

PHOTO: World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder Chef Jose Andres participating remotely in an online Reuters interview from Eastern Shore, Md., in this video grab taken on April 3, 2024. (Reuters Tv/Reuters)

MORE: Biden 'outraged' by aid workers killed, but no indication Israeli strike deliberate

Netanyahu's foreign policy adviser, Ophir Falk, pushed back against claims that the attack on the WCK-branded vehicles was intentional.

"That's absurd," Falk told ABC News on Wednesday. "The last thing we would want in the world is to endanger civilian lives."

Falk said the seven workers died due to "friendly fire in the middle of the night" and called the deaths a "tragic event."

"This war is a complex war," he said. "The incident happened in the middle of the night. It should not have happened. And we'll do everything possible that it doesn't happen again."

PHOTO: Ophir Falk, Foreign Policy Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks with ABC News. (ABC News)

He said "we understand the outcry" from the international community over the deaths and noted that "a number of IDF soldiers" and three Israeli hostages died due to friendly fire during the war.

Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi said in a video statement late Tuesday that the airstrike was a "grave mistake" and was "not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers."

Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday that "Israel deeply regrets the tragic incident" and the IDF will conduct a "swift and transparent investigation" with the findings made public.

Andres called for a "neutral" investigation of the incident.

"Even if we were not in coordination with the [IDF], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians," he told Reuters.

PHOTO: Palestinians stand next to a vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, April 2, 2024, where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the NGO. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The victims were of multiple nationalities, with the youngest being 25-year-old Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha.

Three were from the U.K.: John Chapman, 57; James "Jim" Henderson, 33; and James Kirby, 47.

The victims also included Damian Sobol, 35, of Poland; Jacob Flickinger, 33, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen; and Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom, 43, of Australia.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday there is no evidence IDF deliberately targeted the workers while strongly condemning the attack.

MORE: Famine is 'imminent' in northern Gaza, with many facing 'catastrophic' levels of hunger: Report

"We were outraged to learn of an IDF strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World Central Kitchen, which has been relentless and working to get food to those who are hungry in Gaza, and quite frankly, around the world," Kirby said.

President Joe Biden said he was "outraged" and "heartbroken" by the deaths of the seven humanitarian workers.

"They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy," he said in a statement Tuesday.

WCK, a nongovernmental organization, has been operating in Gaza for months and has said it's served more than 33 million meals since the start of the conflict. The group said it plans to pause its operations in the region following the attack.

The group said Wednesday that it has not yet determined when it will resume operations in Gaza.

According to a report in March by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), famine is "imminent" in northern Gaza, as the entire population of the strip experiences high levels of food insecurity amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

'Absurd': Israel rejects claims of targeted attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
'There will be accountability': Fentanyl dealers to face tougher Arizona laws, more prison time

Flanked by a group of law enforcement leaders, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs held a ceremony Wednesday marking her signing of a bill that increases prison time for fentanyl dealers.

House Bill 2245, the Ashley Dunn Act, toughens penalties for dealers and traffickers of the synthetic opioid that has led to thousands of overdoses in recent years.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, sets a minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for individuals who sell at least 200 grams, or roughly 2,000 pills. Repeat offenders could face prison time of 10 to 20 years.

"Fentanyl is wreaking havoc on communities, particularly in my home of Yavapai County," Nguyen said in a statement. "It must be stopped and more done to protect Arizona families from losing loved ones to it. This new law, giving law enforcement and prosecutors stronger sentencing tools to go after dealers, will help in that goal.

Fentanyl pills.

Twice previously Nguyen has introduced a bill named for Dunn, a Prescott woman killed by fentanyl in May 2021, though prior versions allowed for drug traffickers to be charged with homicide.

Dunn's parents, Josephine and Mitch Dunn, stood behind Hobbs at her ceremonial event Wednesday, next to Sen. Christine Marsh, a Phoenix Democrat whose son died of an overdose.

"It's my hope that this legislation will prevent more parents from receiving the devastating call that you did that day," Hobbs said to the Dunns, noting they and Marsh were "far from the only parents" who lost a child to fentanyl.

"My message to all parents, friends and family members who have gone through this is that we hear you, and today is just the first step in combatting this crisis together."

In the past six months, the Arizona Department of Public Safety has seized more than 1,500 pounds of fentanyl across the state, the equivalent of over 7 million pills, DPS Director Jeffrey Glover said.

"There will be accountability for those people who actually want to traffic in fentanyl, sell it to our kids, sell it to our vulnerable populations, profiteer off of it and kill people in this state," Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said. "There is a new tool now, and we will use it."

Hobbs said the bill would allow law enforcement to combat fentanyl, but called for a "holistic approach" to the complex issue. That approach includes supporting law enforcement but also treatment for addiction, she said.

Hobbs also recently signed House Bill 2107, which continues the Arizona Department of Homeland Security for four years until July 1, 2028.

The governor has signed over 80 bills into law this year, but these two were the first to be highlighted during a signing ceremony. Such events, held by Hobbs and governors before her, allow the leaders to put a spotlight on high-profile bills, often with news organizations present.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Katie Hobbs signs bill increasing prison time for fentanyl dealers
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A woman charged with drugged driving in a Valentines Day crash that injured several people has been found incompetent to stand trial and criminal proceedings have been suspended, according to the county prosecutors office.

The ruling on the competency of Joanna Bojorquez-Higuera was made Wednesday in Superior Court, and she has been referred for evaluation ahead of another hearing later this month, said Daniela Gonzaga, spokeswoman for the District Attorneys Office.

In determining competency, a judge weighs evidence  including reports from a psychiatrist  to determine whether a defendant understands the criminal proceedings against them and can assist their attorney with the preparation of a defense. Those found incompetent are sent to a state hospital where efforts are made to restore them to competency.

KHSD approves ethnic studies program, appoints five new employees

Bojorquez-Higuera was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence of a drug and speeding through a red light at the intersection of California and Chester avenues, crashing into other vehicles and injuring four people. One person suffered fractured ribs and tailbone, another a broken collarbone.

Bojorquez-Higuera told police she last used fentanyl two or three days earlier, according to reports filed in Superior Court. She said she didnt know the last time she used methamphetamine, the reports say, but the officer who questioned her noticed signs of possible drug impairment.

While interviewed at Kern Medical, Bojorquez-Higuera became aggressive and demanded her cellphone when told she was under arrest, the reports say. She also made bizarre statements, telling the officer, I have no bones. Her behavior ahead of her first court appearance resulted in her being removed from the courtroom before the hearing began.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Long waiting times mean people with mental health issues are increasingly turning to private practices for a diagnosis - IZUSEK/E+

ADHD and autism referrals have risen fivefold since the pandemic amid fears that doctors could be over diagnosing the conditions.

More than 172,000 people were waiting for a diagnosis as of December 2023, which was more than five times higher than the 32,220 four years earlier, the Nuffield Trust think tank said.

Experts have said the rise is unlikely to be simply due to better recognition or help-seeking and suggested diagnostic creep was leading doctors, particularly in private clinics, to over diagnose the conditions.

Prof Sir Simon Wessely, a consultant psychiatrist, told an NHS England board meeting last week that the increase in cases among adults was remarkable.

Its unlikely that a change on that scale is simply due to better recognition or help-seeking, and it suggests that theres a degree of diagnostic creep going on, or re-evaluation of feelings, symptoms, emotions, he told officials.

He said long waiting times meant that people were increasingly turning to private practices which may not have the standards that we would expect and seem to make the diagnosis incredibly easy and give people a label which may or may not be correct.

The NHS has set up a national attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) task force to investigate the rate of growth within the independent sector and the potential variation in the service models and thresholds being used as well as whether it is appropriate to prescribe powerful stimulant drugs.

Ministers believe that the surge in adults being signed off work with mental health conditions and behavioural disorders, including ADHD or autism, is a leading cause of Britains worklessness crisis.

A record 9.25 million people aged between 16 and 64 are neither working nor looking for work, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the welfare bill is set to soar 100 billion this year.

More than 52,000 adults receiving personal independence payments from the Government list ADHD as their main condition, with most of these aged between 16 and 29. This number is up from 38,000 in 2022.

Gone too far

Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said that Britains approach to mental health was in danger of having gone too far with the normal anxieties of life being labelled as an illness.

Experts are concerned that the spiralling NHS waiting list for those with suspected cases of ADHD and autism and subsequent delays is forcing people to private clinics with less rigorous processes.

New analysis of referral data by the Nuffield Trust found that 79 per cent of people who had been waiting 13 weeks or longer  within which time guidance says a diagnosis should be made  had not had their first appointment with a specialist, up from 44 per cent in December 2019.

Between October and December last year, those who had their first appointment waited an average of nine months from referral, which is five months longer than at the end of 2019

Data also show that the number of people being prescribed powerful medication for ADHD has surged by 51 per cent to 230,000 over the past three years, including a 146 per cent increase among those aged 30 to 34.

Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said the rise in demand for assessments was extraordinary, unpredicted and unprecedented.

It is frankly impossible to imagine how the system can grow fast enough to fulfil this demand, she said.

The challenge is that we have an obsolete health service model in place to deal with this avalanche of need.

She called for a joined up approach across education, the health service, and wider society, but said pumping more money into the current model certainly isnt the solution.

Lifelong impact

It is estimated that there are up to 1.2 million autistic people and 2.2 million people with ADHD in England.

ADHD can lead to problems including impulsivity and difficulty concentrating, which can have a lifelong impact and cause problems at school.

About 1.6 million children, or one in nine, are now reported as disabled, which has doubled in just over a decade.

An NHS spokesman said: The NHS is fully committed to supporting and improving the lives of those with ADHD and autism, which is why we have published new national guidance to help local areas to manage the 50 per cent increase in referrals they have seen over last year.

NHS England has also begun important work into investigating challenges in ADHD service provision and last month launched a cross sector task force alongside government, to help provide a joined-up approach for the growing numbers of people coming forward for support.

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A united front of civil, disability and voting rights organizations on Thursday sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the states 42 District Attorneys, and Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen over the signing of SB1 into law.

SB1 bans ballot harvesting, the act of collecting individual ballots, by an organization or individual person, and delivering them to a polling place or election office. The new law also provides criminal penalties to this act ranging from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C felony for receiving payment for assisting in the distribution, filling out, delivering and ordering of absentee ballots applications.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill into law March 20, after supporting all actions to ban ballot harvesting during the State of the State address in February.

Allen's office said he is unable to comment at this time since the matter is a pending federal court litigation in the Northern District of Alabama. I am dedicated to ensuring fair, secure and transparent elections," Allen said in a previous statement. "SB1 provides Alabama voters with strong protection against activists who profit from the absentee elections process. I stand firm in my support of SB1 because now, under Alabama law, Alabama votes are not for sale.

The lawsuit was filed by Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries, League of Women Voters of Alabama and Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

Voters arrive to vote at the Saint James Church polling place during the Super Tuesday Primary Election in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday March 5, 2024.

SB1 takes Alabama backwards as it violates the law, restricts our basic Constitutional Amendment rights, obliterates freedom of speech. It marginalizes voters' access to the ballot box, said Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama NAACP.

SB1 represents the latest assault on Alabama voters who simply want their voices heard and their choices counted regardless of differing abilities, health status and unpredictable work schedules that require their voter participation be by absentee ballot and often with the support of friends, family and civic organizations. There is no voter integrity in penalizing those who assist those who must vote absentee, only voter suppression," said Scott Douglas, executive director of Greater Birmingham Ministries.

SB1 is part of a concerning trend of anti-voter state legislatures restricting equal access to the ballot for voters with disabilities. These laws specifically target the individuals and organizations that voters with disabilities depend on to access, complete, and cast an absentee ballot. The League of Women Voters is actively challenging these laws and is committed to fighting voter suppression nationwide," said Celina Stewart, chief counsel at the League of Women Voters of the United States.

The organizations are arguing that the law harms those who need assistance with their absentee ballot applications, especially voters with disabilities and voters who are Black, elderly, incarcerated and of low-literacy.

Alabama Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, defends a bill on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, that would make it a felony for most individuals and organizations to assist people with absentee ballots.

For many voters with disabilities, absentee voting may be the only practical option to be heard and have their voices counted. SB1 poses additional barriers to this critical right that are neither necessary nor legal," said William Van Der Pol Jr., senior trial counsel for Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

The lawsuit filed challenges SB1 as violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

The organizations are being represented by Campaign Legal Center, Legal Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU of Alabama and Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program in their suit against the new law.

"This law takes us backwards and attacks a fundamental aspect of our sacred freedom of speech  violating the Constitution and hurting Alabamians who rely on nonpartisan, good-government groups to help make their voices heard at the ballot box. We look forward to fighting alongside our partners against this extreme anti-voter law," said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at Campaign Legal Center.

The criminalization of those who assist voters and help strengthen our political process is unpatriotic and undermines our nations promise of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, inclusive democracy. LDF is proud to join our clients and partners to continue the fight to protect the fundamental right to vote - the people of Alabama and the United States deserve no less, said Anuja Thatte, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund.

The march for voting rights started in Alabama and continues today as we face one of the most restrictive bills this state has seen in recent memory. Together, with our partners and clients, we will protect the fundamental right to vote and  no matter what barriers are put in place  to ensure every voice in Alabama is heard, said Jess Unger, senior staff attorney for voting rights at Southern Poverty Law Center.

"Rather than helping Alabamians exercise their right to vote, lawmakers passed SB1 to criminalize them. This extreme and unnecessary law makes it a Class B felony for a person or organization to assist someone with their absentee ballot application," said Alison Mollman, legal director of the ACLU of Alabama.

"In Alabama, other Class B felony offenses include manslaughter, statutory rape, and first-degree theft of property. SB1 is unconstitutional and the ACLU of Alabama is proud to stand alongside our clients to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected."

Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Advocacy organizations sue state officials over Alabama voting law
Aftermath of attack on Kharkiv: death toll increases, some injured  photo

Aftermath of the large-scale drone attack on Kharkiv on the night of 3-4 April. Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

People have been killed and injured as a result of a Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration; Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov

Quote from Terekhov: "Four people were killed at the scene of a repeated strike on residential buildings in a densely populated area of Kharkiv. Five people were also injured there.

We have one fatality reported in another city district, with a hit recorded in a residential area."

Details: Terekhov reported possible power outages in some districts of Kharkiv.

In some areas of Kharkiv, there may be power supply disruptions. All emergency and municipal services, as well as volunteers, are working at the scenes.

Syniehubov stated that there is information about four fatalities as of 03:02.

Quote from Syniehubov: "Another body of a woman has been found.

At least five civilians have been injured. Three people were taken to hospital, one of whom is in critical condition."

Updated at 04:06: Quote from Syniehubov: "At least 10 people have been injured as a result of the occupiers' attack on Kharkiv.

A 49-year-old man is in a critical condition, while the other patients are in a moderate to mild condition.

Among the injured is a nurse from the Oblast Emergency Medical Centre, who was part of the team responding to the call and who suffered injuries from a repeated strike."

  ""      4 .

:    pic.twitter.com/ntu0l23I2e     (@ukrpravda_news) April 4, 2024

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Background: Earlier, authorities reported that three rescue workers had been killed as a result of the repeated Russian drone attack on Kharkiv.

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Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, transport the body of one of the staff members who were killed in an Israeli air strike, out of the morgue of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Seven employees of the US-based aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on Monday. Mohammed Talatene/dpa

World Central Kitchen (WCK) said on Thursday that its aid convoy was deliberately "targeted" by a deadly Israeli airstrike in Gaza, rebuffing Israeli statements that it was a tragic, but mistaken, attack.

"This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles," WCK chief executive officer Erin Gore and executive co-chairman Javier Garcia said in a joint statement.

"All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission."

Seven of the charity's employees were killed in the Israeli airstrike on Monday as they were returning from a Gaza food delivery. Their deaths have provoked international outrage and condemnation from Israel's allies.

Among those killed were three Britons, one Australian, one Polish national, a US-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian man.

WCK founder Jose Andres, a well-known chef based in the US, told Israel's Channel 12 late Wednesday that the airstrike was a "direct attack" on the humanitarian workers and that Israeli forces had systematically gone after the vehicles.

The non-profit, which delivers meals to areas impacted by conflict and natural disaster, is demanding "an independent, third-party investigation" into how events unfolded and whether international law was violated.

"An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers," the joint statement by WCK executives said.

Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Herzi Halevi said earlier this week that the workers were killed due to "misidentification" issue, citing Israel's own preliminary investigation. He said a "grave mistake" had been made.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog have both apologized to World Central Kitchen, but that has done little to quell the anger.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "expressed his outrage" in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, US Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder said late Wednesday.

Austin "stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups," Ryder said.

Austin urged Gallant "to conduct a swift and transparent investigation" into the deadly incident, repeating a demand also made by President Joe Biden.

Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, transports the body of one of the staff members who were killed in an Israeli air strike, out of the morgue of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Seven employees of the US-based aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip on Monday. Mohammed Talatene/dpa
(BCN)  The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said Thursday it fined the city of Berkeley $130,000 for air quality violations at its landfill site at Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley from 2019 to 2022.

The penalty covers seven violations in total: six for failures of the landfills gas collection system and one for failing to submit emissions testing results.

Stopping harmful landfill gases from escaping into the air is critical for the health of the community and the climate, Philip Fine, the air districts executive officer, said in a statement. The air district will ensure that the City of Berkeley landfill meets its obligation to protect air quality and complies with all air quality regulations.

Ex-Stanford professor says he was fired, doxxed after colonialism lecture

The landfills gas collection system extracts methane and other gases created by the decomposition of organic materials and funnels them through a system of wells and pipes to a flare, which burns off the gases before they enter the atmosphere or cause odors.

The district said the problems involving failure of the gas collection system occurred due to the landfills lack of a backup power supply during a power outage. They varied in duration from two hours to four and a half days.

On Feb. 16, the air districts hearing board ordered Berkeley to fix other problems with the landfill gas collection system, including repairing gas collection wells, upgrading inspection and monitoring procedures, conducting a drone study to search for gas leaks, and evaluating whether landfill gas is seeping offsite.

Copyright  2024 Bay City News, Inc.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Alabama hospital to stop IVF treatments at the end of 2024 due to litigation concerns

An Alabama hospital said it plans to stop offering in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments at the end of this year due to litigation concerns surrounding the therapy.

Mobile Infirmary said it will no longer be able to offer IVF services in a news release on Wednesday. The decision follows Alabamas Supreme Court ruling that people who destroy frozen embryos can be liable for wrongful death.

In order to assist families in Alabama and along the Gulf Coast who have initiated the process of IVF therapy in the hopes of starting a family, Mobile Infirmary has temporarily resumed IVF treatments at the hospital, the hospital said. However, in light of litigation concerns surrounding IVF therapy, Mobile Infirmary will no longer be able to offer this service to families after December 31, 2024.

The states Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos are children under state law and can be subject to legislation regarding the wrongful death of a minor. The majority decision came after a lawsuit was filed by a group of IVF patients whose frozen embryos were destroyed after a patient removed them from the cryogenic storage unit, dropping them on the floor in December 2020.

Mobile Infirmary was in the mix of the two lawsuits from 2020 and additional litigation following the courts February ruling.

Following the courts decision, three hospitals halted offering IVF treatments the following week.

Some clinics resumed after the states Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed new protections for providers and patients last month.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 4. Uzbekistan and Turkish Ronesans Holding discussed the next stage of the multi-profile clinic project, Trend reports.

The issue was discussed at a meeting between Uzbekistans Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov, and representatives of the Turkish Ronesans Holding and Ronesans Healthcare Investment companies.

The project will be built within the framework of a public-private partnership.

Furthermore, the representatives of the Turkish company were informed about its future plans and the results of negotiations with other relevant agencies on the construction and operation of the hospital. The sides viewed other details of cooperation and opportunities to provide high-quality medical services to the population.

Both parties agreed to actively continue the consultations on the current matters of cooperation.

Meanwhile, foreign trade turnover volume between Uzbekistan and Turkiye reached $435.5 million from January through February 2024.

The volume of exports amounted to $171 million, while imports amounted to $264.5 million during this period.
A woman holds up a sign saying "Get wise organize" on a picket line. "Get wise" is written in red; "Organize" is written in green.

A woman holds up a sign saying "Get Wise Organize" at the start of a strike at a Ford-owned plant on September 14, 2023 in Wayne, Michigan. (Anna Liz Nichols/Michigan Advance)

An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill that would withhold economic incentives from companies that voluntarily recognize unions or do not hold secret ballots in union elections. .

SB 231, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, passed the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee on an 11-3 vote, down party lines.

It just says you got to vote by private ballot and that would prevent a company lawyer from strong arming employees, Need to vote against this, need to vote against it, against this, Orr said. (It) would prevent a union from strong arming employees saying You got to vote for it, you got to vote for it..

The legislation is similar to legislation by legislatures in Georgia and Tennessee. The bill comes as workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance and the Hyundai plant in Montgomery are considering joining the United Auto Workers over pay and benefit issues. The organization efforts have sparked sharp criticism from Gov. Kay Ivey and the Business Council of Alabama.

The bill would require companies that violate its terms to pay back any economic incentives received. The terms would not apply to benefits given to companies before Jan. 1, 2025.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, union elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are done through secret ballot.

Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, chair of the Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee, said that three people signed up to speak for the bill and 16 to speak against it. Gudger, citing fairness and time issues, allowed all three supporters to speak and three of the 16 opponents to speak.

Stephanie Smith, president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative-leaning non-profit, said that secret ballots would prevent intimidation.

However, even if those things never happen once in the state of Alabama, private elections with secret ballots provide both the time and ability for employees to reflect upon and make decisions that impact their work and their families, she said.

Opponents said that the bill would hurt workers in the state.

Mustafa Hassan, president of the Communication Workers of America Local 3905 in Huntsville, said his union helped keep jobs in the area. He said that his union had the option to go forward with the card check process and were able to go forward with contract bargaining.

The union is the workers, he said. Its not a separate entity.

Clementine Jenkins, a company representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the bill would restrict better-paying jobs. She also said that higher wages would mean more income tax collected.

So why would you want to restrict yourself by restricting employees who can join the union? she said.

While the states union numbers trail the rest of the nations, Alabama has the highest unionization rate in the South. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 156,000 Alabamians (7.5% of the workforce) belonged to a union in 2023, up from 149,000 the previous year. Another 180,000 workers (8.6% of the workforce) were represented by a union. Union membership in Alabama grew by about 7,000 workers last year, according to BLS.

Despite the party line vote, members of the committee expressed varying opinions about the legislation and the role of unions. Sen. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, who voted for the bill, also later expressed concerns about governments telling private companies how to operate.

Im just reluctant about the principle about telling the business what they do on that issue, he said.

Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay, said he wasnt anti-union but not every company can afford union employees.

If those companies unionized, youre putting them out of business, he said.

Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, said that she was a lawyer who was based on facts and said she was hearing a lot of what-ifs.

But I want to know what are the facts, what are the facts? she said. I heard my colleagues say that unionization causes companies to close their doors? Where is that cited? Where is the report that shows us that? Please bring us some actual facts and not might happen, can be, maybe, might lead to, but even if it doesnt do that, we need to pass this piece of legislation, anyway.

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, said that her father was a union member, and his union status helped her family. She said that some employers are making more money than they or their descendants could spend.

I dont understand the greediness of it, she said. Also, when you pay people properly and you give them good conditions to work in, the morale is higher, the productivity is higher, so it all works together. So, I dont want to do anything thats going to squander a persons right to feel that they need to have to be a part of a union or that they need to organize because it is and most of them wouldnt want to organize if things were going right.

After the vote, many of the people there for the legislation left the room with one person exclaiming that its The peoples house, not the politicians. Never forget who you work for.

The bill received an amendment that would include agreements between employers and a county or municipality.

The bill moves to the full Senate.



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The post Alabama Senate committee OKs bill that could punish voluntary union recognitions appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is gearing up to gaslight his way through the 2024 presidential race.

This week, CNNs Erin Burnett pressed Kennedy on Americans concerns that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, to which he replied, I could make the argument that President Biden is the much worse threat to democracy. He went on to claim Biden is using the federal government to censor political speech and his opponents.

The interview was appropriately met with outrage and mockery. Kennedy later claimed in a NewsNation interview that he didnt actually say Biden is a bigger threat to democracy, he was merely saying he could argue it.

Alyssa Farah Griffin: Even in Defeat, Haley Exposed Trumps Demographic Weaknesses

But even that argument is absurd and patently false. It also appears to be personal. Kennedy apparently still holds a grudge over his Instagram being suspended in 2021 for spreading misleading public health information after Biden administration officials flagged the material to Meta.

Whats wild is that Trump was notorious for complaining to tech platforms while he was president about content he didnt like and moderation he didnt agree with. I was in Trumps dining room in May 2020 when he phoned Mark Zuckerberg directly to complain about the perception he was being censored. On a number of other occasions, Trump officials tried to have content critical of the former president removed. Theres a well-documented history of Trump allies trying to have unfavorable content censored.

But all that pales in comparison to the very real threat Donald Trump poses to democracy. Trump literally tried to throw out the results of a democratic election that would have resulted in disenfranchising 80 million American voters. He incited an attack on Congress to stop the certification of the election. He attempted to compel public officials to thwart the election. The contrast couldnt be more glaring.

RFK Jr. knows this. But hes playing a dangerous game, trying to court just enough of the right and the left away from two historically unpopular presidential candidates and speaking out of both sides of his mouth to do it.

Politicians lying for political gain is nothing new, nor is a politician moderating past extreme positions to appeal to a broader electorate outside of the norm of politics. Donald Trump has made an artform out of lying and claiming he never did or said things that he did. Kennedys just co-opting the former presidents shamelessness.

A longtime, prominent vaccine skeptic, Kennedy declared, Theres no vaccine that is safe and effective, in a 2023 podcast interview. He has long espoused the debunked theory that vaccines can cause autism. As recently as 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he declared that when he sees someone carrying a baby he warns, Better not get him vaccinated. (Normal stuff.)

Contrarian Defenses of RFK Jr. Are Not BraveTheyre Boring

Thats just a small sampling of his vaccine-skeptical rhetoric in recent years.

Yet Kennedy with a totally straight face appeared before a congressional committee in July 2023 and claimed, I have never been anti-vaxx. I have never told the public to avoid vaccination. When pressed by PBS Amna Nawaz on his claim that no vaccine is safe and effective, Kennedy outright claimed, I never said that.

Whats notable about Kennedys gaslighting and real-time pivoting is the why of it. Kennedy is in a unique position to potentially take support from both the Republican nominee for president and the Democratic nominee. And it remains an open question whether its Biden or Trump he will take more support from.

RFK Jr. may very well be the most consequential third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996, currently polling nationally at around 10 percent.

Both Biden and Trump camps are aware of his potential as a spoilerfor either side. Biden allies are working overtime to frame RFK Jr. as a fringe crypto right-winger, while the Trump camp has declared him a left-winger for his history of environmentalism and his embrace of the liberal Kennedy dynastys name. (Most of the Kennedy family has denounced his candidacy and openly supported President Bidens re-election.)

Michael Ian Black: We Should Thank Trump for Saying Horrible Things

According to his super PAC, RFK Jr. has enough signatures to appear on the presidential ballot in three critical swing states: Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan. In Wisconsin, his supporters are launching an effort to get him on the ballot before the Aug. 6 deadline.

Kennedy is very clearly dropping Easter eggs to both the right and left on key issues to try to garner support, and perhaps hoping theyll either miss or not care about his extreme views aligned with the other party.

He is uniquely positioned to be a spoiler in the most consequential presidential contest of the last 50 years, where democracy is very much on the ballot and it is not Joe Biden who is threatening it.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Former Trump administration aide Alyssa Farah Griffin went after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in an op-ed published in The Daily Beast, calling out the independent presidential candidate for gaslighting and real-time pivoting in his attempt to build his campaign.

Farah Griffin tore into Kennedy for saying that President Biden is potentially a greater threat to democracy than former President Trump, calling it an absurd and patently false argument.

It also appears to be personal, Farah Griffin wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday night. Kennedy apparently still holds a grudge over his Instagram being suspended in 2021 for spreading misleading public health information, after Biden administration officials flagged the material to Meta.

The current co-host on ABCs The View said Trump also was notorious for complaining to platforms about removing content he did not like.

She argued those points do not come close to the very real threat Trump poses to democracy.

Trump literally tried to throw out the results of a democratic election that would have resulted in disenfranchising 80 million American voters, she wrote. He incited an attack on Congress to stop the certification of the election. He attempted to compel public officials to thwart the election.

Farah Griffin said Kennedy knows this and that he is trying to attract voters from both political flanks and speaking out of both sides of his mouth to do it.

She criticized the independent presidential candidate for his vaccine skepticism and gaslighting and real-time pivoting on the issue.

Kennedy is very clearly dropping easter eggs to both the right and left on key issues to try to garner support, and perhaps hoping theyll either miss or not care about his extreme views aligned with the other party, she wrote.

He is uniquely positioned to be a spoiler in the most consequential presidential contest of the last 50 years, where democracy is very much on the ballot and it is not Joe Biden who is threatening it.

The Hill has reached out to Kennedys campaign for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SAN DIEGO (Border Report)  As of May 1 of last year, workers in Mexico have been allowed to join any labor union even if it has ties to the United States.

This is the result of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Labor leaders south of the border say unions from the U.S. are already recruiting in the interior of Mexico and that its only a matter of time before they show up in border states such as Baja California.

Any time now theyll be at the border, but no one seems to remember what happened with the last trade agreement that led to strikes and work stoppages supported by American unions, they were the primary sponsors of this labor unrest, said Mario Madrigal Magana, general secretary for one of Bajas largest unions.

Mayors renew commitment for Anapra-Sunland Park border crossing

He said 30 percent of workers in 1,800 maquiladoras based in Baja California are currently represented by local unions, although the new trade agreement allows them to switch representation.

Madrigal Magana believes most business leaders would oppose such a move.

There is resistance among the public sector already, imagine how much resistance there will be among heads of industry, he said.

Biden extends some immigrant work permits, potentially saving thousands of jobs

Madrigal Magana said workers can switch to American unions if they are employed by a company that exports goods or products to Canada or the U.S., but only if the company has failed to comply with labor agreements in place with Mexican unions.

He fears this could open the door for recruitment since 80 percent of factories in Baja California have American interests.

Madrigal Magana says if U.S.-based unions such as the Teamsters or United Auto Workers set up shop south of the border, it will lead to a lot of labor unrest resulting in disruption of product flow north of the border.

Last year, Mexicos Labor Minister Luisa Alcalde told Reuters the competition among unions to represent workers will be good for employees largely because many labor deals have been designed to protect companies interests and not the workers.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border

This is historic because we will finally manage to rid the labor market of pretend contracts and fake unions, Alcalde said. This is all about having good representatives to defend worker rights and obtain better benefits and salaries.

According to the Reuters report, 400 labor contracts in Mexico have been struck down since May 1, 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
A Minnesota woman died after her tour vehicle was charged by an elephant during a safari in Africa.

Gail Mattson, who was 79, was on safari at Kafue National Park in western Zambia on March 30 when a bull elephant approached her tour groups truck, which was carrying six tourists and a guide.

Gail Mattson (Rona Wells via Facebook)

The elephant ran toward the truck and flipped it over, as seen in a video shared on social media that appears to show the incident.

Mattsons daughter, Rona Wells, confirmed that her mother passed away while on safari, writing in an April 2 Facebook post that her mom lost her life in a tragic accident while on her dream adventure.

We would like to share some amazing pictures of our wonderful Moms trip to South Africa with her friends and family.... Posted by Rona Wells on Tuesday, April 2, 2024

The tour company that operated Mattsons tour, Wilderness, confirmed in an April 2 press release that an American tourist died after a tour vehicle was unexpectedly charged by an aggressive bull elephant.

Our guides are extremely well trained and experienced, but sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guides route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harms way quickly enough, Keith Vincent, the CEO of Wilderness, said in a statement.

Another female tourist was injured in the incident, and four other guests received treatment for minor injuries, according to Wilderness.

The tour company also said in a statement that Mattsons body would be repatriated to the United States with help from Zambian authorities and the U.S. embassy in Lusaka, Zambias capital.

This incident came after another situation involving an aggressive elephant occurred in South Africas Pilanesberg National Park last month.

In a video captured by a tourist that appears to show the moment, the elephant can be seen charging a safari tour truck and lifting it with its tusks. No one was hurt in that incident.

These types of frightening run-ins with wildlife are quite rare during safaris, Marlon du Toit, a professional safari guide and wildlife photographer, told NBC News.

Commenting on the fatal incident in Zambia, du Toit said its extremely rare to see an elephant that irate react so aggressively.

Ive been doing this for 20 years and Ive never had an encounter as aggressive (as) that with elephants, he added.

He also told NBC News that he had worked with the tour company involved in the Zambia incident for years, and called them one of the best in Africa.

Across Africa, there are thousands and thousands of guests on safari on a daily basis, with no negative consequences, he said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
The memorials remain Friday, March 29, 2024, at 222 N. LaPorte Ave. at the site of a house fire on Jan. 21 that resulted in the deaths of six children.

SOUTH BEND  On a cool and sunny morning, David Smith walked among the wreckage of the fire that took his six children.

The rental home on South Bend's near west side where the single father had been raising six kids, the oldest of whom was 11 while the youngest lived for just 17 months, is enclosed by a chain-link fence. The site of 222 N. LaPorte Ave. remains under investigation after a blaze erupted there Jan. 21.

David Smith talks of his six late children on Friday, March 29, 2024, at 222 N. LaPorte Ave. at the site of a house fire on Jan. 21 that claimed their lives.

'I want to be buried with them': Dad of 6 kids lost in house fire can't access or control money in private Smith Family Memorial Fund

The six children and their 67-year-old father all moved into the home in October, after coming to South Bend to be closer to Smith's adult daughter and other family. In the moments before flames and smoke consumed the home on a snowy Sunday evening, Smith says, he and all of the kids were lounging in a bedroom, eating snacks and watching movies.

David Smith holds a pair of sweatpants that belonged to his 10-year-old son, Demetris, on Friday, March 29, 2024, at 222 N. LaPorte Ave. A house fire on Jan. 21 resulted in the deaths of six of his children.

On a recent morning, someone had apparently pried open a section leading to the backyard, a recurrent issue for fire investigators, according to Smith. He says some stuff he'd left behind, including a children's go-kart, seems to have been stolen. That day, what the father saw lured him to walk through the gap.

Near an old grill, he bent down and picked up a pair of dirty black sweatpants. He shook off some of the ash covering them. He said the pants had belonged to his 10-year-old boy, Demetris, the oldest of the five children who died the night of the blaze.

Demetris Smith, 10 years old

Teachers at Madison STEAM Academy, where Demetris was in fifth grade, knew him for his uncontrollable smile and his joyous dancing with classmates. Smith said the boy was an eager churchgoer and wanted to be baptized. When the family moved into the LaPorte Avenue home in October, Demetris was one of the first to visit St. Paul's Memorial Church just across the street.

Smith wandered across the yard to the spot where he says he landed after jumping down from a second-floor window to escape the smoke and flames. He bent down and grabbed a tiny gray winter coat with pink polka dots and a fuzzy pink liner.

It was the coat he'd wrapped around his 17-month-old baby girl, Faith, whose nickname "Little Mama" captured the big personality inside her small body.

David Smith looks at a coat that was on the ground Friday, March 29, 2024, at 222 N. LaPorte Ave. at the site of a house fire on Jan. 21 that resulted in the deaths of six of his children.

When she wanted her dad's attention, she would toddle over and tug on his pantlegs. If she didn't get her way with her siblings, Smith said, she'd sometimes chase them around the house with a broom or some other whacking device. He said some of Faith's first words, spoken between bursts of laughter, were: "Got 'em."

Faith Smith, 17 months old

The father saw memories everywhere in the backyard.

There was 11-year-old Angel, the oldest, the one Smith sat with as doctors pronounced her dead five days after the fire. She was a helper in the classroom as a sixth grader at Navarre Middle School, teachers said, and also at home. She was keen to play sidekick to her dad while cooking and cleaning.

Angel Smith, 11 years old

She was also the director of short lip-syncing videos in which she and her siblings starred, posting more than 100 to a YouTube channel.

Angel's main co-star was 9-year-old Davida. When they weren't acting, both girls loved to paint and draw, Smith said. Davida called her art teacher her "school mom." And walking around the hallways at Madison, where she was a third grader, Davida was known to greet almost everyone with a hug.

Davida Smith, 9 years old

And there was 5-year-old Deontay, who had begun to make adventurous use of his growing limbs by scaling trees and a shed out back. The youngest boy, 4-year-old D'Angelo, believed his brother the climber, the "jungle boy," to be a superhero. Naturally, he tried to follow Deontay's every move.

Smith said life as a single father kept him from working as much as he'd wanted to. He wanted to make life more comfortable for the kids. But he would stay home and look after the three youngest ones on weekdays while the others were in school.

He said the six children all have the same mother, but she's still in Iowa, where they lived before. He hasn't spoken to her since around the time Faith was born. She ceded full custody of the kids to Smith, he says.

'Shattered': After South Bend house fire killed his six kids, father shares what he saw

Deontay Smith, 5 years old

"Every day is not a picnic," Smith said of being a single father. "I promise you that."

He merely caught glimpses of the two girls when firefighters pulled them out of the home, he said.

DAngelo Smith, 4 years old

Later that night, he identified the five who had been taken to Memorial Hospital. He said a prayer for them and kissed them goodbye.

Five days later, he sat by Angel's side for the last time and prayed for peace.

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: Who were the six kids killed in South Bend house fire
US veteran in Ukraine says Russia is the 'alpha predator on the battlefield' now because of ammo shortages

A US veteran has said Russia is the battlefield's "alpha predator" because of Ukraine's ammo shortages.

Ukraine could usually use artillery to let its infantry advance and take on Russia, he said.

But he said the shortages meant Ukraine couldn't do this, and it instead had to ration its ammo.

Ukraine's ammunition shortages are allowing Russia to be the "alpha predator on the battlefield," a US veteran fighting in Ukraine says.

The veteran, whose call sign is "Jackie," has been in Ukraine since 2022. As an assault instructor serving in the 3rd Assault Brigade, he said the ammunition shortages, which have worsened since US aid stalled, had given Russia a deep advantage.

Jackie said that because Ukraine didn't have enough artillery, Russia had "free rein." He said the Russians were "that alpha predator on the battlefield," adding: "They are able to mass the artillery fires directly onto our infantry and our armor."

Since the start of Russia's war, Ukraine has often been at a disadvantage in terms of weaponry, ammunition, and manpower, experts and Western intelligence say. Jackie said the Ukrainian troops fighting against Russia's invasion were used to fighting with less artillery than the Russians.

He said Ukraine had still often been able to beat Russia because of better tactics and training, a view taken by most observers to explain how Ukraine has been able to stop Russia from taking over the country and even take back some territory from Russia in the east despite having a much smaller military.

But Jackie said the shortages had been changing that dynamic. Ukraine has still had some victories despite its low supplies, but it's getting harder. Russia has been pushing forward.

Jackie said that before the shortages really began to hit hard, Ukraine had often used its artillery to suppress Russia's own artillery, allowing what he called Ukraine's superior infantry to dominate Russia's while being targeted less.

A Russian general last year even acknowledged that Ukraine was beating Russia in this type of fighting, counter-battery combat, and bloodying Russia's forces.

Jackie said: "When our guys do infantry-versus-infantry battle with the Russians, we crush them. We do it all the time, it's not special at this point."

"We need only suppress Russian artillery and armor," he said. "Once the fight is infantry to infantry, we win."

But he explained that shells and rockets had run so low that the tactic now couldn't be relied on consistently by Ukraine.

When Ukraine has enough ammunition, "we can just hold the Russian artillery at bay while we do very clever things and use our human capital and our intelligence to work at the zero line with our infantry," Jackie said, adding: "That's normal for us and we do a great job of it."

"But once our artillery goes to near zero, that tips the scale significantly on the Russian side," he said.

Jackie said Ukraine's troops had been keeping shells in reserve as much as possible, having to pass on some targets because they weren't considered enough of an immediate threat.

Shortages in Avdiivka

When fighting for the eastern town of Avdiivka earlier in the year, some of Jackie's crews would start days knowing they had zero rounds they could fire, he said.

He said that in the last week before Ukraine withdrew from the key town in February, "our artillery finally ran out."

Two Ukrainian soldiers walking through the destroyed city of Avdiivka, Ukraine, in October. Vlada Liberova / Libkos via Getty Images

The White House said Ukraine had to withdraw  giving Russia its first big victory in months  because of a lack of ammunition. It blamed "congressional inaction" for why Ukraine's soldiers had to ration supplies, with House Republicans stalling $60 billion worth of further aid to Ukraine.

Jackie agreed, saying a lack of ammunition was "absolutely" his assessment of why Ukraine had to pull out of the town.

His fellow troops fought there and helped with Ukraine's pullout. He said they kept a corridor open for Ukraine's troops to retreat down.

As an instructor, Jackie went close to the town but not into the hottest fighting, where his men went, and there collected his unit's testimony.

Jackie's brigade is still stationed in the area, and the problematic shortage is continuing.

Urging allies

European countries are still helping Ukraine, but many have said they don't have enough in their arsenals to give to Ukraine. And not enough new weaponry is being made, only exacerbating the problems.

New initiatives are underway to attempt to help bridge that gap, including a Czech Republic-led initiative to bring 1 million shells to Ukraine that were sourced outside Europe. The first are expected to arrive in June.

Jackie urged the US to keep supporting Ukraine, saying: "We're not screwing around. We're not spending expensive missiles to take out one guy or anything like that. We know we have to be economical with all this material, and we are being extremely precise and extremely economical with all this stuff. "

He said Ukraine was using the supplies it was getting extremely well, hurting Russia's army and taking out Russian aircraft and ships despite Ukraine having a much smaller air force and no warships.

"That's why all these jets are falling. That's why all these tanks are being destroyed. All these munitions are going straight at the Russian army, and it's working really well. How many ships have been sunk at this point?"

He said Ukrainians shared American values and were fighting for freedom, and supporting Ukraine was supporting a democracy  all reasons the US should not give up support, he said.

"We are not going to lose," he said. "That is not going to happen. It's not possible. We'll die before we lose."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Anna Paquin has caused concern among her fans after making a red carpet appearance with mobility issues.

The Oscar-winning star, 41, used a cane while attending the premiere of her new film, A Bit of Light, on Wednesday (3 April), alongside her husband and former True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer.

It was the first public appearance for Paquin since the film received its festival premiere in October 2022.

The Canadian and New Zealand star, who won Best Supporting Actress as an 11-year-old for Jane Campions 1993 film The Piano, briefly addressed the undisclosed illness while speaking to press.

It hasnt been easy, she told People, with the outlet stating she also had what appeared to be difficulties with her speech. However, a source said Paquin is expecting to make a full recovery.

The star was at the premiere with Moyer, who directed the film. Speaking about working with her husband, who played Bill Compton opposite her Sookie Stackhouse in Alan Balls HBO series True Blood, Paquin said: Hes my favourite person to play with.

The couple celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary in August 2023, with Moyer, 54, writing at the time: The good lady thespian/producer/all round badass er indoors, and myself have been married 13 years. And to those who didnt remember, dont worry we almost forgot too.

Anna Paquin walks with a cane at premiere of new film (Getty Images)

Paquin also recalled the start of her career, telling the outlet: My first love was independent filmmaking. Thats how I entered the film industry. I was working with people who were all about telling stories and telling them with integrity and truth.

In A Bit of Light , which was written by playwright Rebecca Callard, Paquin plays a mother who loses custody of her children and has to pick up the pieces of her broken life while trying to remain sober. The film co-stars Ray Winstone, Pippa Bennett-Warner, and Youssef Kerkour.

A Bit of Light is released in the US on 5 April, but there is currently no UK release date.

In 2021, Paquin, who is bisexual, hit out at the bi-erasure she experiences due to being married to a man, telling SiriusXMs The Jess Cagle Podcast: It just felt weird being assumed to be straight because I was married to a man.

If I had fallen in love with a woman and lived happily ever after, I would still be bisexual.

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer at premiere of A Bit of Light (Getty Images)

Paquin's other credits include Margaret, the X-Men films, in which she played Rogue, and Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.

When The Irishman was released in 2019, it was highlighted that Paquin, despite playing a crucial role, said just seven words in the three-and-a-half-hour film. Lead star Robert De Niro, who played her on-screen father in the film, defended the decision, insisting her role is powerful as it is.
Far-left Squad Rep. Jamaal Bowman is in deep trouble in his bid for a third term in the House of Representatives.

In a shocking new poll obtained exclusively by The Post Wednesday, Westchester County Executive George Latimer leads Bowman 52% to 35% among Democratic primary voters in the 16th Congressional District, which takes in southern Westchester County and parts of the northeast Bronx.

Among Democrats who voted in at least three of the last four primaries, Latimers lead grows to 21 percentage points  56% to 35%, according to the survey conducted by veteran Democratic pollster Mark Mellman for the pro-Latimer Democratic Majority for Israel.

According to a new poll, Rep. Jamaal Bowman is down 17 points to his Democratic primary opponent Westchester County Executive George Latimer. AP

Among Democrats who say they know both Latimer and Bowman  76% of the primary electorate Latimers lead expands even further to 26 points (60% to 34%).

A major problem for Bowman is that Latimer has a far better image among voters than the incumbent, who has been damaged by his self-inflicted actions and rhetoric.

The job performance of Latimer, 70, who has held various offices in Westchester since the late 1980s, is viewed positively by 68% of Democrats in the district while only 18% view him negatively.

In comparison, only 36% of respondents had a positive view of Bowmans work in Congress while 55% have a negative view.

Latimer does 32 points better on the positive side, while Bowmans negatives are a massive 37 points higher than Latimers, Mellman said.

Very few unindicted elected officials receive such strongly negative ratings from their co-partisans.

Bowman, 48, pleaded guilty last year to one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building to delay a vote to avert a partial government shutdown.

Latimer is leading Bowman 52% to 35% among Democratic primary voters in New Yorks 16th Congressional District. Facebook

Bowman infamously pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building to delay a House vote to prevent a partial government shutdown in September. USCP

A resurfaced video from November also showed the congressman calling Israel an apartheid state while angrily claiming reports of rapes and child murders during Hamas Oct. 7 terror attack against Israel were a lie.

He also defended putting convicted cop killer and fugitive Joanne Chesimard in the Bronx Cornerstone Academy for Social Actions hall of honor while he was principal there before his election to the House.

The poll also finds that more than six in 10 Democratic primary voters in the 16th District want the US to support Israel in the ongoing Middle East war, while a majority (59%) approve of President Bidens handling of the crisis.

The data are clear: With a robust campaign, the well-known and highly regarded Latimer is in a strong position to unseat the now unpopular Bowman, Mellman said.

The Bowman camp dismissed the poll as junk in response to the dire numbers.

Mark Mellman not only had incorrect polls on this race in 2020, the candidate Mellman supported had to tell him to stop airing racist ads that darkened Rep. Bowmans face, campaign spokesman Bill Neidhardt told The Post. He doesnt have an ounce of credibility here, and his junk numbers back that up.

A recent poll taken by the left-wing Working Families Party claimed two-thirds of Democrats in NY-16 support a cease-fire in Gaza, in sync with Bowmans stance.

Bowman and Latimer will square off in the primary June 25.

Republican candidate Chris Wright is also running for the seat in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, has announced that production and field operations at its operated Tawke licence (DNO 75%) in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have recovered from torrential flooding.

The waters also washed away large sections of the banks of the Khabur River, damaging roads and interfering with loading of tanker trucks for deliveries to buyers, a DNO release said.

The flooding resulted from local downpours combined with snowmelt in neighboring Turkiye in the latter half of March. This led DNO to temporarily shut in its Tawke field for safety reasons while maintaining uninterrupted operations at the less exposed Peshkabir field, also within the Tawke licence.

Production restored

Gross licence production dropped from above 80,000 barrels per day (bopd) to an average of 65,000 during a 10-day period but was restored to its pre-flooding level on March 30, 2024 as DNO worked to minimise flooding exposure, inspect damage and take remedial actions including installing additional truck loading facilities.

Given shortages of heavier crudes in regional markets, DNO negotiated with its customers to nudge Tawke/Peshkabir prices to the mid-$30 per barrel level. DNO share of sales continue to be paid directly to the Company in advance of loadings and have averaged in excess of $25 million per month in 2024.

No DNO employees were hurt though several substantial pieces of equipment weighing tons were washed away and have yet to be located. Notwithstanding major damage in the town of Zakho, neighbouring the Tawke field, the 2,000-year-old Roman-era arched bridge, a popular tourist attraction, survived intact. The company provided relief to the local community by supplying home appliances, including refrigerators, to families most impacted by the flooding.

Workovers and other field work at Tawke and Peshkabir have quickly resumed, whilst the companys Board of Directors has given the nod to plan for new investments to maintain and then begin to bolster production. Elsewhere in Kurdistan, DNO resumed drilling with the latest well (B-3) at the operated Baeshiqa licence (DNO 64%) spud on February 21, 2024. The well has reached 1,850 metres or nearly one-half of the target depth.--TradeArabia News Service
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Two different demands of Iran and the IAEA regarding the Iranian nuclear program create conditions for certain misunderstandings, Iranian international affairs expert Kayhan Barzegar said, Trend reports.

Barzegar added that the major issue for the Iranian side is to ensure the fulfillment of obligations stipulated by Western countries within the framework of the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan.

The Iranian expert stated that the main issue for the International Atomic Energy Agency is to increase additional inspections and monitoring activities to make Iran's nuclear program transparent.

Barzigar emphasized that the continuation of Iran-IAEA-5+1 nuclear diplomacy is possible only if the parties can identify common nuances in terms of the possibility of reaching an agreement in these areas. Thus, to reach a possible nuclear agreement in this way, it is necessary to create a kind of balance between the two issues mentioned above.

On March 29, 2024, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, stated that since Iran's nuclear program is advanced and complex, ongoing IAEA inspections are not sufficient to confirm that the program is peaceful. Grossi also noted that the lack of diplomacy between the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) participants is the main reason for the disagreements between the IAEA and Iran.

To note, the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action on Iran's nuclear program was implemented between Iran and the P5+1 group (the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany) in January 2016. The US announced in May 2018 that it was withdrawing from the plan and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. Iran has announced that there will be no restrictions on the Iran nuclear deal in 2020.

In late 2020, the Iranian parliament adopted a strategic plan to counter the sanctions, citing the non-fulfillment of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran.

According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran had stopped the implementation of additional measures and an additional protocol included in the nuclear deal. As a consequence, the monitoring mechanism of the IAEA was reduced by 2030 percent.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
An alliance of Burmese rebel groups has staged a rare drone attack on Myanmars ruling junta, targeting the capitals heavily fortified army headquarters, an air base and the national airport.

The assault is hugely embarrassing for the countrys army, which seized power in a coup three years ago, and suggests the resistance is making huge gains, according to experts.

The National Unity Government (NUG)  an alliance of anti-junta groups  said they had deployed 29 drones armed with explosives targeting various key sites across the capital Naypyidaw.

The synchronised drone operations were simultaneously executed against [Naypyidaw] targeting both the military headquarters and Alar air base, NUGs deputy secretary Mg Mg Swe told BBC Burmese.

The military said they successfully shot down and destroyed seven drones, and that they had caused no damage or casualties. It was not clear what had happened to the other drones.

Naypyidaw, which is the juntas traditional centre of power, is home to much of its defence hardware and heavily defended.

The attack is likely to rattle the military, which is now fighting resistance groups on multiple fronts.

The significance of the drone attacks cant be overstated, John Quinley, director of Fortify Rights, told the Telegraph. This means that the resistance is really making huge gains against the Myanmar junta.

This is another embarrassment for the military, and a propaganda win for the resistance, Richard Horsey, a senior Myanmar adviser for Crisis Group, said. This shows the vulnerability of the capital and its military headquarters to such attacks, and the limited options available to the regime to prevent them.

He added that a similar attack was deployed at the same air force base in September, and that such incidents look set to become increasingly common.

As resistance forces gain greater experience with armed drones, and improved technology, these attacks are likely to increase in number and impact, Mr Horsey added.

The NUG earlier this year said more than 60 per cent of the countrys territory is now under the control of resistance forces. That claim could not be independently verified.

Drones have become a critical tool for anti-military groups, and were central to the success of an offensive launched by resistance groups dubbed Operation 1027 in October, which sparked a surge in fighting that has posed the biggest military challenge to date for the junta.

Myanmars entrenched civil war has plunged the country into turmoil and displaced some 2.8 million people since the military launched a coup in February 2021 and jailed then-leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The latest attack on Naypyidaw comes after Unicef data revealed landmine-related civilian casualties almost tripled in 2023 as fighting escalated, with more than 1,000 people killed or wounded.

The UN agency said more than 20 per cent of victims were children, and warned the explosives have been used indiscriminately, by all sides in the conflict.

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Worshipers listen to a sermon by Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church, during a sunrise Easter service at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

March 29 - April 4, 2024

Worshippers celebrate Easter across the country, Senegalese Muslim migrants pray at a mosque in New York, and dancers perform during auditions for the Radio City Rockettes in New York.

This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images in North America published in the past week by The Associated Press.

The selection was curated by AP photo editor Patrick Sison in New York.

____

Follow AP visual journalism:

AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews

AP Images on X: http://twitter.com/AP_Images
Arkansas county gets $2 million to clean up former Air Force base in Blytheville

MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Mississippi County, Arkansas, has reportedly received $2 million in federal funding to begin a clean-up effort at the former Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville.

According to a release sent Thursday, Congress approved the funding in March as a part of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

The project, titled North End Clean Up, is part of ongoing efforts to revitalize the base. The funding will reportedly go toward removing 238 abandoned duplexes, as well as disposing of potential environment hazards and clearing debris.

Mississippi County leaders pass resolution to reactivate air force base

U.S. Representative Rick Crawford released a statement Thursday.

The Arkansas Aeroplex has vast potential, and this clean-up project is a critical next step in unlocking that future growth through redevelopment efforts. As a former federal military base, there are numerous structures containing hazardous materials, and the federal government has a responsibility to assist with improvement efforts. With this project underway, Mississippi County is on target to attract new businesses and investment opportunities, further bolstering economic growth in a region already known to be the largest steel-producing county in the United States.

In October 2023, the Mississippi County Quorum Court passed a resolution supporting the reactivation of the base, now known as the Arkansas Aeroplex.

Mississippi County Judge John Nelson said the county was also working with lobbyists in Washington.

We appreciate the leadership of Congress, specifically Rep. Rick Crawford and Sen. John Boozman, in approving this funding, Nelson said in a statement. The Arkansas Aeroplex is already a growing and vital piece of our economic development strategy, and the federal funding ensures that this work continues to propel us into the future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
An Arkansas mother was arrested after allegedly telling deputies "it was not her problem" that her 7-year-old son had to walk nearly 8 miles in the pitch dark after missing the school bus.

The 33-year-old woman was charged with second-degree domestic battery and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor under 10 years old, according to Craighead County jail records.

The boy was found near a farm shop around 8 a.m. on Tuesday by a responding Craighead County deputy, KAIT reported. The boy told the deputy that he would get in trouble if he did not go to school, so he decided to walk after missing the bus, the Jonesboro, Arkansas-based TV station said.

While talking to the deputy, the boy said he "got in trouble" the night before so his mother forced him to go to sleep without dinner, according to KAIT.

USA TODAY contacted the Craighead County Sheriff's Office but did not receive an immediate response Thursday.

Handcuffs are attached to a security bar at the Oklahoma County jail.

Why did the 7-year-old boy get 'in trouble?'

The child got in trouble because his mother told him to watch his 2-year-old brother, but at some point, he got distracted, according to an affidavit obtained by KAIT.

The boy was then sent to bed by his mother who told him to set his alarm so he could get himself up and ready for school because "she wasn't going to," the affidavit said, KAIT reported.

When the boy began walking to school, it was dark and he hadn't eaten breakfast, according to the affidavit, KAIT said. The child's home is about 7.5 miles from his school, the TV station added.

After speaking to the child, the deputy spoke to the 911 caller who told him he couldn't contact the boy's mother, according to KAIT. The deputy then drove the boy back home where he encountered his mother asleep in one of the home's bedrooms, the TV station said.

Mother woke up to the Craighead County deputy, her 7-year-old son

Once the mother woke up, she confirmed everything her son told the deputy and said the boy was old enough to watch his 2-year-old brother and get himself ready for school, KAIT said. While speaking to the deputy, the mother said "it was not her problem" if her child had to walk to school, according to the affidavit, the TV station reported.

The deputies took the boy's mother to jail, and then the deputy returned to the home with the Arkansas Department of Human Services. While speaking to the other children in the home, authorities noticed "numerous bruises" on a 3-year-old's body, the affidavit said, KAIT reported.

When the 3-year-old's father spoke to the deputy, he admitted to spanking the toddler for lying on March 31 but added that he was not aware of the bruises, the KAIT said. The father then said he was told the youngest brother hit the 3-year-old with a plastic bat, according to the affidavit, the TV station reported.

The boy's mother was released on Wednesday after posting a $50,000 bond, according to Craighead County jail records.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arkansas mom made son to walk 8 miles to school, charged with battery
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Buffalo man is facing charges of attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment after a shooting took place Tuesday night.

Police responded to the area of E. Delavan Avenue and Chelsea Place around 10 p.m. after hearing gunshots. After engaging in a foot pursuit, a suspect was apprehended on Rickert Avenue and identified as 23-year-old Ramell Robertson.

The victim in the matter, a 24-year-old Buffalo man, was taken to ECMC by a civilian vehicle after being shot in the chest/shoulder area. He was released after being treated.

Evan Anstey is an Associated Press Award, JANY Award and Emmy-nominated digital producer who has been part of the News 4 team since 2015. 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.
Fueled in part by Elon Musks repost on X (formerly Twitter), an image detailing the supposed rarity of mail-in voting has gone viral on numerous social media platforms. In the post, some countries including France, Mexico, and Belgium are listed as having banned mail-in voting from the 1970s onward because of fraud.

The postwhich is likely based on an August 2023 paper published by John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Centeris mostly correct, though there are some inaccuracies and some context is missing. Most of the countries identified do not permit mail-in voting for in-country voters. However, many do allow postal voting for citizens living abroad.

Additionally, the post selectively omits many democratic countries that do allow mail-in voting. For example, according to an October 2020 report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, six European countries permit postal voting for some voters, and sevenincluding the U.K., Germany, and Polandallow postal voting for all voters. Outside of Europe, multiple other countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand all also allow some or all voters to submit ballots via post.

Here is an overview of mail-in voting laws for each of the countries mentioned in the post.

France banned mail-in voting in 1975 due to fraud.

True.

It is true that France does not use mail-in voting in its presidential elections. Voting by mail was abolished in the county by the French Parliament on December 31, 1975, primarily due to instances of fraud in Corsica during the mid- to late-1960s.

Today France utilizes a system of paper ballots, all cast in person and counted by handthough voters serving prison sentences or being held in detention have been allowed to vote by mail since 2021. Additionally, voters who will be absent on election days can also designate a proxy voter to vote for them. A bill to allow mail-in voting was introduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was unsuccessful.

Mexico banned mail-in voting in 1992 due to fraud.

Partly true.

Mexico does not currently allow postal voting in its elections for domestic voters, though Mexican citizens living abroad can vote via mail, electronically, or in person at foreign voting stations. Because of its long history of electoral corruption and fraud, the country requires a special ID card for all voters, which can be obtained for free from the countys National Electoral Institute.

Mexico did not specifically ban postal voting in 1992 due to postal-voting fraud, however. In 1989, the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)which had never lost a presidential election since the 1910 Mexican Revolutionpassed an electoral reform package after many Mexicans suspected fraud in the countrys 1988 election, but this was not directly tied to postal voting. In 1993, an additional modification of the countys electoral law was passed in order to increase confidence in the legitimacy of the upcoming 1994 election. The package introduced more robust voter registration and vote counting systems as well as a number of other related reforms.

Belgium banned mail-in voting in 2018 due to fraud.

False.

As of 2024, mail-in voting is not available to most voters in Belgiumthough citizens living abroad can cast an absentee ballot via post from both inside and outside the European Union. Belgian nationals abroad can also vote in person at a consulate or designate a proxy to vote on their behalf.

Postal voting was not banned in Belgium in 2018 because of voter fraud, however. A prominent case of electoral fraud did occur in the Belgian city of Neufchateau in 2018, but this case did not relate to mail-in voting. Instead, the case involved a small number of proxy votes originating from a local retirement home. Twenty two people were indicted in the incident.

Sweden does not permit mail-in voting.

True.

In Sweden, postal voting is allowed for citizens residing abroad. Domestic voters are allowed to vote by courier if they qualify for reasons including old age, illness, or impairment. When voting by courier, both a witness and a messenger are required to be present for the vote, and the messenger must deliver the voting documents in a special envelope.

Italy does not permit mail-in voting.

True.

Italians living within Italy do not have the option to vote via post. However, citizens living abroad may vote by mail. Due to declining voter turnout in recent Italian elections, a parliamentary committee proposed in 2022 that the country introduce a form of postal voting.

Ukraine does not permit mail-in voting.

True.

In Ukrainewhere elections have been suspended indefinitely since the Russian invasionpostal voting is not permitted for either domestic citizens or those residing abroad. Ukrainian expats have the opportunity to cast ballots at consulates located in foreign countries, but this must be done in person.

Russia does not permit mail-in voting.

True.

In July 2020, Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing for the countys election commission to conduct elections and referendums via post and the internet. However, postal voting was never actually implemented. In the 2024 Russian presidential election, many voters in the country instead cast ballots online.

Japan does not permit mail-in voting.

Partly True.

Japan does not allow postal voting for most citizens, but it does allow for mail-in voting for individuals with certain disabilities (the country expanded this qualification to include COVID-19 patients in 2021). Additionally, overseas voters are permitted to vote by mail or at foreign embassies.

No Middle Eastern or Latin American countries permit mail-in voting.

True.

According to data from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, in-country postal voting is not available in any Middle Eastern or Latin American countries, though some do accept absentee ballots via post from citizens living abroad.

Does mail-in voting increase voter fraud?

While voter fraud does take place at varying levels in countries across the globe, research on postal voting in the U.S. has not shown significant increases in fraud and numerous security measures are taken in states to ensure mail-in ballots are legitimate. Likewise, researchers at Stanford Universitys Institute for Economic Policy Research found in an April 2020 study that there was no partisan advantage associated with voting by mail for elections between 1996 and 2018 in the states it analyzed, meaning neither the Democratic nor Republican party benefited more than the other from postal voting.

When voter fraud does take place in the U.S., it is generally at a small scale and is relatively localized. The most prominent case in recent years occurred in 2018 in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District race when Leslie Dowless Jr., a campaign operative for Republican candidate Mark Harris, ran an illegal ballot harvesting operation in the state. Dowess and his team illegally gathered and submitted absentee ballots from voters, and workers reported being instructed to forge signatures and fill out votes themselves on incomplete ballots. Absentee ballot irregularities were identified by the state, however, and the North Carolina State Board of Elections ordered a new election to take place.

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

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Attorneys representing former patients of OB-GYN Fabio Ortega are calling on the Illinois attorney general and the office of outgoing Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx to criminally investigate the troubled doctor and the health systems where he worked.

The request came the same day that one of the women who is suing Ortega and Swedish Covenant Health spoke publicly for the first time, saying she wants justice for herself and others who allege Ortega harmed them.

Im not afraid of him, Ericka Matos said of Ortega, at a news conference Wednesday. Im not crying anymore like I used to. Im strong right now. I want justice for me and for the rest of the ladies.

Cook County prosecutors charged Ortega with criminal sexual assault of two patients in 2018 and 2019. The former gynecologist pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of both patients in October 2021, and a judge sentenced him to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He received credit for 170 days served pretrial and was released after one year in prison in 2022.

Attorneys representing more than 30 women who alleged in civil court that Ortega sexually assaulted them during exams and appointments at Endeavor locations, and, before that, at Swedish Hospital, are urging Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the states attorneys office to further investigate the doctor and the health systems where he worked. Though Ortega pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two former patients, additional women also complained to police, according to records obtained by the Tribune.

The attorneys noted in their letter to those offices that the landscape has changed since Ortega pleaded guilty in 2021 to sexually abusing two of his patients, with hundreds of additional women coming forward.

Attorneys Tamara Holder, Johanna Raimond and Stephan Blandin, who authored Wednesdays letter, said they have been retained by more than 200 former patients of Ortega. Attorneys Parker Stinar and Symone Shinton, with Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, said they represent another 300 of Ortegas former patients and held a separate news conference last week.

So many other women have not gotten justice, not from the criminal justice system, not from NorthShore University HealthSystem, which is now Endeavor Health, not from Swedish Covenant Health, and not from Fabio Ortega, Raimond said at the news conference Wednesday. Were here today to request that justice.

The Cook County states attorneys office said in a statement Wednesday that it takes all allegations of sexual assault with the utmost seriousness.

We encourage victims and their counsel to collaborate with law enforcement to investigate any allegations, who will then bring the evidence to the CCSAO for review for potential charges, the office said in the statement.

The Illinois attorney generals office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. Attempts to reach Ortega for comment were also unsuccessful Wednesday afternoon.

Endeavor said in a statement Wednesday that there is nothing more important than providing a safe and trusted environment for our patients, community and team members.  We have absolutely no tolerance for abuse of any kind.

Endeavor noted in the statement that Ortega has not worked there in more than six years and said the past events that have been reported are incredibly upsetting and concerning.

Since these events, we underwent a rigorous process to review and enhance our policies across all of our hospitals and care sites to ensure we have an environment that supports reporting of threatened or actual abuse, including review by a system-wide oversight committee, Endeavor said in the statement. We investigate all allegations of abuse that are reported to us, take prompt action in all matters and fully cooperate with law enforcement. Swedish is now part of the Endeavor system.

A Chicago Tribune investigation earlier this year documented Endeavor Healths role in allowing Ortega to continue working despite complaints. The investigation revealed that other well-known health systems also allowed health care professionals accused of sexual misconduct to continue working with patients. Under state law, hospitals are supposed to report allegations of patient abuse to the Illinois Department of Public Health. When hospitals failed to do so, the Tribune investigation found, few meaningful consequences followed.

Allegations of patient abuse that occur outside of hospitals, such as at clinics, are not required to be reported to the state. As a result of that and other gaps in state laws and a state licensing agency that can be slow to take disciplinary action, the Tribune found that doctors and other health care workers accused of sexual misconduct sometimes continued working with patients for months or years.

As a result of the reporting, the Illinois Department of Public Health and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, have said they are working on legislation to address gaps in state laws identified by the Tribune. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which oversees many medical professionals, is also participating in drafting the legislation.

A bill has not yet been proposed in Springfield. But according to a summary of the potential legislation shared by Cassidys office, the bill would require all hospital affiliates  including clinics such as the one where Ortega worked  to report allegations of provider abuse or misconduct within 24 hours to the state health department, and it would impose financial penalties on hospitals that fail to report allegations.

It would also require leaders of medical corporations, which include organizations not necessarily tied to hospitals, to report sexual misconduct by licensed health care professionals to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation within 24 hours.

Holder and her co-counsels are working with the representative on the bill. Raimond said the legislation, if signed into law, would ensure that health systems do not continue to ignore the warning signs that they have a predator in their midst.

Matos, one of the women who is suing Ortega and Swedish, said Wednesday that she wants justice.

In the civil lawsuit she refiled Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Matos alleged that over the course of several appointments in the 1990s the doctor performed vaginal exams without medical gloves, instructed her to squeeze his finger while it was inserted in her vagina, and at one appointment asked her questions about her sexual fantasies and orgasms.

Matos is the first woman to file a lawsuit alleging Ortega sexually assaulted her, using her name.

Matos originally filed a suit against Ortega and Swedish in 2019 using the pseudonym Jane Doe 1, but voluntarily dismissed the suit last year so her attorneys could focus on a different case that was set for trial.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Iran has paused its nuclear program commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which includes the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany, for more than four years.

During this period, Iran has essentially carried out its nuclear activities unabated. While the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has often identified suspicious components of Iran's nuclear program, Iran has constantly refuted these charges or sought to emphasize its transparency efforts.

The JCPOA came into effect in January 2016. However, in May 2018, the US withdrew from the plan, and sanctions were imposed on Iran in November of the same year. In 2020, Iran said that it would no longer comply with the constraints specified in the Iran nuclear deal.

The IAEA has expressed concern about its limited monitoring of Iran's nuclear facilities, citing Iran's recurrent advances in uranium enrichment. In response, Iran defends its actions, claiming the right to take unilateral measures in its nuclear program without being held accountable to any other institution.

Furthermore, towards the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to implement a nuclear strategic plan in response to the introduction of sanctions. Following this decision, the country delayed the implementation of other procedures and protocols stipulated in the nuclear accord until February 23rd of the same year. At the same time, the IAEA's verification mechanism was cut by 20-30 percent.

It is obvious that without constant monitoring, suspicions can arise at any time. Iran's refusal to offer IAEA inspectors access to all nuclear sites, as well as its refusal to allow cameras to monitor every action, only adds to these fears. The IAEA and other stakeholders are concerned about Iran's decision to enrich uranium beyond the agreed-upon level of 3.67 percent, boosting it to 20 percent and potentially 60 percent. Despite Iran's insistence that it has no interest in nuclear weapons, its activities create concerns.

On December 26, 2023, media reports cited the IAEA, revealing that since late November 2023, Iran has been rapidly enriching uranium to 60 percent at its Natanz and Fordow nuclear facilities. This means that each month, the amount of uranium enriched to this level has been increasing by approximately 9 kilograms.

If Iran reaches the 60 percent uranium enrichment level, the possibility of building an atomic bomb becomes much more realistic. To put it in perspective, the volume of enriched uranium needed for just one atomic bomb is 42 kilograms. With sufficient 60 percent enriched uranium, Iran could potentially manufacture three atomic bombs, and this enrichment process is rapidly progressing.

While neither side has verified that Iran has created an atomic bomb, the capability could quickly become a reality, with Iran potentially announcing weapon readiness within a few months.

The issue is that current conflicts around the world, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East, have drawn attention away from Iran's nuclear activities. As a result, Iran is allowed to continue its enrichment programs virtually unfettered. It is actively expanding its centrifuge numbers for uranium enrichment, pursuing various enrichment strategies, and collecting considerable amounts of enriched uranium within its borders.
Austin City Council votes to appoint T.C. Broadnax as next city manager at $470K salary

The Austin City Council on Thursday unanimously voted to appoint T.C. Broadnax as Austin's next city manager  the top city official charged with overseeing dozens of city departments, over 16,000 employees and a multibillion-dollar budget.

Broadnax, the departing city manager of Dallas, will begin as Austin's city manager on May 6, according to the unsigned contract that was attached to the City Council agenda.

He will be paid a base salary of $470,017.60, almost a $50,000 increase from his salary in Dallas. This is also a nearly $82,000 raise from former Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk's base salary.

The vote Thursday came after more than a year of Austin having an interim city manager after Cronk was fired in part due to the city's response to the 2023 winter storm.

This past week, the two finalists for the position spoke about their vision for Austin at a meet-the-candidate town hall, and the next day were interviewed by the City Council.

After nearly a full day of deliberations, Mayor Kirk Watson announced that a subcommittee of City Council members recommended Broadnax for the role.

The other candidate interviewed for the job was Sara Hensley, the city manager of Denton and a former Austin interim assistant city manager and former director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

T.C. Broadnax Jr., candidate for Austin City Manager and current City Manager of Dallas, Texas, meets Austin residents after an open town hall at the Permitting and Development Center on Monday, March 25, 2024in Austin.

Read More: Who is Sara Hensley? Here's why Denton's city manager is a finalist for the role in Austin

Who is T.C. Broadnax?

Broadnax has served as Dallas city manager for seven years. Prior to Dallas, Broadnax was the city manager of Tacoma, Wash., and the assistant city manager of San Antonio and Pompano Beach, Fla.

Broadnax earned two bachelor's degrees in political science and communications from Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., and has a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Texas in Denton, according to his resume, which was obtained by the American-Statesman through the Texas Public Information Act.

His exit as Dallas city manager came at the recommendation of a majority of the Dallas City Council. A joint news release from several Dallas City Council members cited ongoing issues between Broadnax and Mayor Eric Johnson, stating, It has become apparent that the relationship between the mayor and the city manager has not been conducive to effective governance and the advancement of Dallas interests," The Dallas Morning News reported.

During the meet-the-candidates event in Austin, Broadnax spoke of his achievements in Dallas's response to homelessness, which garnered positive feedback from some council members who spoke with the Statesman after the event.

T.C. Broadnax Jr. speaks during a town hall session in Austin in March. The City Council unanimously voted Thursday to appoint him city manager.

The next day, Broadnax, when speaking with the media, said one of his priorities if he was selected would be to find a permanent police chief.

Austin has been without a permanent police chief since Joe Chacon resigned in August. Robin Henderson has been serving as the interim police chief since then.

Read More: Exclusive: Austin Police Chief Joe Chacon to resign from department. Here what we know.

Some of the other priorities, he said, are police contract negotiations with the Austin Police Association, which are ongoing, as well as addressing housing and homelessness.

On March 26, several local labor union leaders including the Austin Police, Fire and EMS Associations sent an email to the mayor and City Council saying they wanted Hensley to be selected as the next city manager, citing concerns with Broadnax over "reports of poor communication and accessibility."

Broadnax did not immediately respond to a request for interview after Thursday's City Council vote.

Salary and benefits comparison

In addition to the $470,000 base salary, the unsigned contract shows thousands of dollars of allowances, including a $1,620.32 annual cellphone allowance, a $5,000 per month housing allowance for the first six months to "offset costs of a temporary residence," a $7,000 annual executive allowance and more.

Broadnax is currently making $423,000 with a $700 per month car allowance, according to records obtained by the Statesman through the Texas Public Information Act.

T..C. Broadnax Jr., candidate for Austin City Manager and current City Manager of Dallas, Texas, left, is interviewed by moderator Judy Maggio, right at an open town hall at the Permitting and Development Center on Monday, March 25, 2024 in Austin.

In Austin, former City Manager Cronk's base salary was early $388,000, which was raised from $350,001 the December before his firing. Interim City Manager Jesus Garza's 2023 annual salary was listed around $350,000, according to city employment records obtained by the Statesman.

Broadnax's May 6 start date is about a month before his planned exit date from Dallas, which is currently June 3. However, The Dallas Morning News reported, the Dallas City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs met this week to discuss the date of the appointment of that city's interim city manager.

How long has Austin been without a permanent city manager?

Austin has been without a permanent city manager since February 2023, when Cronk was fired.

Read More: Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk out, will get $463,000 in severance

Garza has been serving as the interim city manager since then.

Who was interviewed as part of this search process?

Three finalists were initially selected from a pool of 39 applicants for the position. Those three finalists were Broadnax, Hensley and Brian Platt, the city manager of Kansas City, Mo.

Read more: Austin is getting close to hiring a new city manager. Here's everything you need to know.

Platt withdrew his name from consideration shortly after the finalists were announced.

The City Council conducted closed-door interviews with Broadnax and Hensley last Tuesday before making the recommendation to move forward with Broadnax later that evening.

Read More: Austin City Council subcommittee recommends T.C. Broadnax be Austin's next city manager

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin City Council votes T.C. Broadnax as Austin's next city manager
AUSTIN (KXAN)  T.C. Broadnax, the man Austin City Council has picked to be the next city manager, will make a base salary of $470,017.60, according to council documents. The council voted unanimously to execute that employment agreement Thursday morning.

Mayor Kirk Watson said Broadnax will start May 6.

I am deeply honored and grateful for the trust placed in me by the City Council. Austin is a vibrant city with immense potential, and I am committed to working tirelessly alongside our dedicated team to ensure its continued growth and prosperity. Together, we will navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and build a resilient and inclusive future for all residents. I look forward to serving the people of Austin with a collaborative, transparent, inclusive and equitable approach. Broadnax

Broadnax will also be given a cell phone allowance, executive allowance (which the mayors office clarified is for things like business lunches and club memberships) and a housing allowance of $5,000 per month for 6 months to offset costs of a temporary residence, documents said. That shakes out to $30,000 for housing.

If Broadnax were ranked among the top-paid public company CEOs in Austin, he would rank No. 40 based on salary, according to ABJ list research. Its been widely reported that Broadnaxs salary as the Dallas city manager is $423,246.

The salary that ultimately was agreed up on I think looked at the salary he was making in Dallas, recognized that we are bringing him here and so is a raise for him and I think he is going to prove very worthy of that salary moving forward, Council Member Ryan Alter said after the vote.

Its more than Austins former city manager, Spencer Cronk, made. In late 2022, City Council voted to give Cronk a $38,000 raise (or just under 11%), putting him at a base salary of $388,190.40, as we previously reported.

PREVIOUS: How much would Austin have to pay to part ways with its city manager?

According to salary information KXAN received through a Texas Public Information Act request late last month, interim city manager Jesus Garza is being paid a base salary of $350,001.60.

It will make Broadnax the second highest-paid employee in Austin. Robert Kahn, Austin Energys general manager, makes a base salary of $475,009.60, according to that same information request.

Who is T.C. Broadnax?

In a Q&A session with members of Austins media last week, Broadnax talked about his priorities for his first 100 days in office, including hiring a permanent police chief and making that process open to the public. He also talked about early work on homelessness.

Going back to the table to figure out the appropriate scope of services that everybody can agree to for the diagnostic that was supposed to be done on our homeless ecosystem to make sure we get that right, he said.

Austin City Council picks T.C. Broadnax to be next city manager

Broadnax has served as the city manager of Dallas for the last seven years, according to the City of Dallas website. He announced he was stepping down from the role last month. His last day will be June 3, according to Dallas City Council documents.

T.C. Broadnax, candidate for Austin city manager position (Courtesy: City of Dallas)

Several Dallas City Council members pushed for Broadnaxs resignation last month citing his tense relationship with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune.

I think collectively the decision that they wanted to go and have a reset, and go in a different direction with a new manager that could coalesce and work with them in a manner similar to when they hired me, Broadnax told Austin reporters Thursday. I think, gotta respect that and so I think my time there has been good.

Nearly 40 people applied to be Austins next city manager, heres what comes next

Prior to landing in Dallas, he was the city manager of Tacoma, Washington.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  On Thursday, Austin Pets Alive! (APA) animal shelter employees filed to become the largest animal shelter union in the country, according to a news release.

The release said APA employees filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requesting recognition of their union, Austin Pets Allied Workers (APAW).

The release said the majority of approximately 200 APA workers signed union cards with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, along with support from the National Veterinary Professionals Union.

The release called it a historic event for both animals and their advocates.

APAWs priorities are to ensure a just and sustainable workplace at APA, because we believe that APA can and should be a model for equity, stability, and safety in the animal care field. By giving workers on the frontlines of animal care a real seat at the table, we believe we can create a better and more just APA for pets and people alike. APA Employees

RELATED COVERAGE: More Texan workers join unions, still lower than national average

APAW asked APA management and the Board of Directors to voluntarily recognize the union so they can start the process of collective bargaining, according to the release.

It said contract negotiations will cover issues such as:

workplace policies concerning the well-being and safety of both animals and employees

wage increases

benefits

fair employment practices

I want to join with my co-workers to form a union because workers like me who are on the frontlines of animal care deserve to feel safe and supported in our mission-fulfilling work at APA. I know that a strong union contract negotiated by affected employees is the best way to make that happen, which will ultimately improve conditions for the animals in our care. Ryan Martinez, APA worker

KXAN reached out to APA and was waiting for a response.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Alma Zadic, Austrian Minister of Justice, speaks to the press after a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Against the backdrop of an alleged espionage scandal involving Russia, Zadic wants to tighten up criminal law. Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa

Austrian Justice Minister Alma Zadic wants to tighten up the country's criminal law in response to an alleged espionage scandal involving Russia.

Currently, only agent activities that are to the detriment of Austria are punishable, but in future all agent activities should be prohibited, regardless of who they are directed against, she told the ORF broadcaster and the APA news agency on Thursday.

"The current news makes us realize that it is necessary to close these loopholes in criminal law," she said.

The initiative was triggered by investigations into a former Austrian official from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution who is suspected of having accessed government databases on behalf of Russia. The ex-official was arrested last week and is in custody.

The planned tightening of the law is also linked in a broader sense to the suspected connection between the suspect and former Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek, dpa has learnt.

The Viennese weekly newspaper Falter published excerpts from the arrest warrant for the official online on Wednesday evening. According to the document from the public prosecutor's office he had allegedly "systematically collected secret facts and findings not intended for the public as well as personal data from police databases for the purpose of transmitting them to Jan Marsalek and to unknown representatives of the Russian authorities."

In the view of the judicial investigators the official had spied on exiled opponents of the Russian regime on behalf of Moscow.
German Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs Nancy Faeser speaks during the 157th session of the German Bundestag. Britta Pedersen/dpa

German political parties and political actors are currently exposed to a particularly high number of cyberattacks, according to the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

"Particularly in light of the upcoming European elections, it can be assumed that there is currently an increased number of attacks," a spokeswoman for the authority told dpa.

The BSI and the domestic intelligence service have current information on phishing attacks by a state actor against German parties, among others.

So-called hack-and-leak attacks, in which non-public data or documents are captured and then published - sometimes manipulated or falsified - are to be expected in particular. The new modus operandi increases the cyberthreat to the targets in focus.

The BSI does not comment on details of current cases, the spokeswoman said.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that such attacks are not only a problem for those directly affected, but also aim to shake confidence in democracy.

"We know that this is above all part of the Russian regime's toolbox of hybrid threats," Faeser told dpa on Thursday. It must be expected that captured data will be falsified and used for "massive disinformation campaigns."

Six weeks ago, the domestic intelligence service and the BSI warned the parties of the danger of possible hack-and-leak operations in the 2024 election year. In the letter, which is available to dpa, the security authorities warned against taking such cyberattacks lightly.
Baby Born with Organs Outside of Body Cured After Being Wrapped in 'Cling Film'

A newborn with severe gastroschisis  her kidneys, stomach, liver, fallopian tubes, intestines, and ovaries were outside of her body  was cured in 2 weeks

SWNS Dorothy Montgomery.

A baby born with her organs outside of her body was cured by a shockingly simple procedure, her mother says, using compression strips to keep the organs from spilling out of her daughters stomach.

Sadie Montgomery, 21, of Wilshire, United Kingdom, said that her daughter Dorothy was diagnosed with an extreme form of gastroschisis, which is a birth defect where a hole in the abdominal (belly) wall beside the belly button allows the babys intestines to extend outside of the babys body. The hole can be small or large and sometimes other organs, such as the stomach and liver, can be found outside of the babys body as well, the CDC says.

But in Dorothys case, she was born with her fallopian tubes, kidneys, stomach, liver, ovaries, and intestines, on the outside her stomach.

Her condition was discovered at her 12-week scan, Montgomery told South West News Service.

"It was right at the last bit, the nurse noticed a 'mass' on the umbilical cord, or where it should've been, she told the outlet. "I was only 21, and I asked her what the hell she meant by that. She gently told me that sometimes babies' tummies dont form properly. I just burst into tears."

"All I remember hearing was the consultant telling me Dorothys 'guts' were out of her body.

Montgomery says that doctors originally thought Dorothy could either have gastroschisis or another disorder, exomphalos, which can require several surgeries, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

SWNS Dorothy Montgomery.

Related: Infant Born with Organs Sticking Out of Her Abdomen Has Life-Saving Surgery: 'Miracles Do Happen' (Exclusive)

However, Dorothy was diagnosed with gastroschisis, and when she was born on February 12, her mom says, It wasnt just her bowel, or her umbilical cord, like I was expecting. It was everything. All her kidneys, stomach, liver, fallopian tubes, intestines, and ovaries were out.

But treating the 4-lb. newborn, she said, was surprisingly simple and required no surgery.

Doctors had to wrap her up in cling film to keep her insides moist, Montgomery told SWNS.

"I was really lucky because they put her in a towel, and I got to see her for a little while.

SWNS Dorothy Montgomery.

The newborn was transferred to Southampton Hospital, where doctors used a silicone bag to compress her organs back into her body, sealing her umbilical cord with Steri Strips  the kind of adhesive wound closures you can often get at drugstores.

Within two weeks, Dorothy was cured.

Related: Texas Baby Born with Only Half a Heart Dies from the Rare Defect: 'Our Guardian Angel'

It was absolutely crazy, her tummy literally just closed, Montgomery told SWNS, adding that the baby is thriving.

Shes doing really well, Montgomery said. Which is crazy given how far shes come.

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BayCare Health System, which previously announced plans to open a hospital in Parrish, revealed new details on the long-awaited development Wednesday.

The comprehensive acute care facility hospital, BayCares 17th in West Central Florida, is scheduled to open in 2027 with 154 beds in private patient rooms. Construction is set to begin in October, the company said Wednesday.

Additionally, the $548 million project would include a 45,000-square foot medical arts building, a news release said.

The hospital is planned for the Robinson Gateway property on Moccasin Wallow Road, one mile north of the Interstate 75 and Interstate 275 intersection.

BayCare Hospital Manatee will be Manatee Countys first not-for-profit hospital, the news release said. BayCare Health System first announced plans to build the hospital in 2022, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.

The hospitals construction plans underscore BayCares commitment to growing with the community and caring for families in the region, from delivering babies and offering neonatal services to providing emergency care and specialty surgery, the news release said.

BayCare reveals Parrish hospital details

Services at BayCare Hospital Manatee would include general, orthopedic and specialty surgery, urology, gastroenterology, cardiology, diagnostic and interventional imaging, emergency care, obstetrics and neonatology.

The hospitals design by architectural firm Gresham Smith would allow expansion to 207 beds when needed, with additional capacity possible as the community grows.

At BayCare, our mission is to serve the communitys health and we are so excited to be deepening our commitment to the residents of Manatee County, Stephanie Conners, president and CEO of BayCare, said in the news release.

BayCare has facilities in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Polk counties.

A rendering provided by BayCare shows the hospital planned for Manatee Countys North River area.

As West Central Florida continues to grow and thrive, we are committed to investing in our communities to bringing high-quality and compassionate care closer to our communities, Conners said.

BayCare has opened a medical group physicians office in Palmetto.

BayCare also offers home health services and telehealth services in the area and anticipates additional ambulatory services with the medical arts building, including outpatient imaging such as MRI, CT, mammography, ultrasound, Dexa scan and other diagnostic services.

An outpatient laboratory will also be onsite.

As Manatee County experiences rapid growth, its imperative to prioritize smart, sustainable development strategies to ensure the well-being of this community, Kimberly Guy, BayCare co-chief operating officer, said in the news release.

Story continues

At BayCare, we recognize the importance of smart growth initiatives that not only accommodate the increasing population but also promote access to high-quality healthcare services, Guy said.

In 2023, BayCare devoted over 10% of its revenue, totaling $557 million, to community benefit initiatives, ensuring access to care for all individuals regardless of their ability to pay.

BayCare operates 16 hospitals and hundreds of locations throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties.

The feedback we receive from our patients, visitors, physicians and team members shows that were on track. Were very excited to expand the BayCare effect in Manatee County, Conners said.

A rendering provided by BayCare shows the hospital planned for Manatee Countys North River area. The lettering on the building says BayCare Hospital Manatee.

Another Parrish hospital planned

HCA Florida Healthcare, a for-profit company that owns HCA Blake Hospital in Bradenton, also proposes to build a hospital off Moccasin Wallow Road at 9308 Fort Hamer Road.

HCAs plans include a 150-bed hospital, a 326-bed assisted living facility, and 247,000 square feet of medical office space, the Bradenton Herald first reported in February 2022.

The HCA facility would be built in phases, starting with the emergency room. The planned 13,950-square-foot facility, to be called HCA Florida North River Ranch Emergency center, would have 11 exam rooms and a laboratory to provide emergency services for adults and children.

They will build the hospital around the ER, John Neal, president of Neal Land & Neighborhoods, said in October, adding that the medical complex would represent a $300 million investment.

HCA Florida Healthcare purchased about 22 acres in the village center of Parrishs North River Ranch, the Herald reported in October 2022.

North River Ranch is the largest of the new Parrish neighborhoods and is projected to house nearly 30,000 residents when development is completed.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 4. Iran is one of the major countries cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in monitoring and testing its nuclear program, Iranian international affairs expert Kayhan Barzegar said, Trend reported.

According to Barzigar, the IAEA's 2022 report, which was issued in May 2023, stated that there were 628 inspections in 47 nations with an IAEA agreement to monitor all countries but did not comply with extra protocols. Iran had 448 inspections (71 percent).

Barzegar further stated that extra data verification and existing physical inspections should be added to this number of examinations.

He noted that, as part of the Iranian parliament's strategic action plan, many steps are being taken to expand uranium enrichment, research, and development operations, including the voluntary suspension of the extra protocol.

However, Western countries drew the opposite conclusion from Iran's steps, creating a balance in this direction. In their opinion, Iran wants to avoid nuclear control. Political and economic pressure on Iran has increased as a result.

In late 2020, the Iranian parliament adopted a strategic plan to counter the sanctions, citing the non-fulfillment of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran.

According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran had stopped the implementation of additional measures and an additional protocol included in the nuclear deal. As a consequence, the monitoring mechanism of the IAEA was reduced by 2030 percent.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The BBC has unveiled the first look at Michelle Keegan filming the returning series Ten Pound Poms.

The Fool Me Once star resumed production on the period drama in February in Australia, alongside co-stars Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones) and Warren Brown (Hollyoaks). Now, fans are getting a behind-the-scenes peek at the new episodes in four set photos.

Ten Pound Poms is inspired by the true events of Britons moving to Australia and New Zealand in the post-World War II era for the promise of a better life.

BBC

Related: Fool Me Once's Michelle Keegan unveils new fashion range

However, once they arrived in Oz, these Britons  known colloquially as the Poms  found a hard-scrabble life that wasn't anything like they expected.

In the second season, the Poms welcome a new family from Ireland and must deal with a cunning landlord who is out to take advantage of them.

The series is executive produced and created by Danny Brocklehurst, whom Keegan recently worked with on Fool Me Once and has also collaborated with her on Brassic.

BBC

BBC

When Ten Pound Poms was renewed earlier this year, the writer said: "The positive viewer response to Ten Pound Poms was a true delight.

"We tapped into a little-known part of our recent history and told stories which reflected the realities of the real Poms that made the trip.

BBC

Related: Mark Wright "absolutely buzzing" as he and wife Michelle Keegan share exciting news

"I couldn't be more thrilled to be teaming again with the BBC, Stan and Eleven to continue our characters' adventure down under."



The returning cast for season two includes Rob Collins as Ron, Leon Ford as Bill, Declan Coyle as Stevie, Stephen Curry as JJ, Hattie Hook as Pattie, Finn Treacy as Peter, Emma Hamilton as Sheila and Cheree Cassidy as Marlene.

Ten Pound Poms will be returning soon to BBC One and iPlayer.

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BATTLE CREEK  The Battle Creek Police Department is temporarily adjusting its station lobby hours due to staffing shortages.

As of April 1, the BCPD lobby hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Along with other services, the BCPD will accept firearm license applications during those hours

"BCPD staff will process licenses to purchase firearms with due speed and diligence. Please understand that depends on current staffing levels and accompanying station hours, and staff may not issue licenses on the same day," city officials said in a press release.

Applicants seeking a firearm permit on the same day of their application may wish to check with other law enforcement agencies. Any Michigan resident can get a license to purchase from any Michigan police department that issues them.

You must be a U.S. citizen, have a Michigan photo ID with your current address, and live in Michigan to obtain a license to purchase a firearm from the BCPD.

Contact the BCPD with questions at (269) 966-3322, or visit battlecreekmi.gov/police.

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: BCPD adjusts station lobby hours amid staffing shortage
After a nearly seven-year hiatus, the Federal Advisory Commission to the Cape Cod National Seashore will meet again on April 8.

It can't come soon enough for some folks living in the six towns that gave land to the National Park Service in 1961 when the Seashore was established. They want to have a seat at the table when decisions are being made.

Reauthorizing the advisory commission gives them that chance. The commission's purpose is to advise the Seashores superintendent on matters impacting the six towns within the Seashore and weigh in on development and zoning decisions. Representatives from the state, Barnstable County and Chatham, Eastham, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet will meet with Superintendent Jennifer Flynn.

A surfer heads out to sea for his daily sunrise surf along the Cape Cod National Seashore at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham in August 2011.

The Advisory Commission dates back to the enabling legislation that created the Seashore in 1961. It has been reauthorized continually until it expired on Sept. 26, 2018. Congress reauthorized the commission in January 2023.

Commission Chairman Richard Delaney, who represents the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Debra Haaland, said that the commission's authorization has historically been renewed, but not under the Trump administration.

It's taken several years to get the legislation passed and thanks to Sen. (Edward) Markey, Congressman (Bill) Keating, and Sen. (Elizabeth) Warren, legislation passed last year, Delaney said on Monday.

The commission has been reauthorized through 2029.

Delaney, first appointed to the commission by then-Gov. Michael Dukakis, said hed call on each town representative to share their top three or four priority issues at their first meeting.

The mysterious Featherbed Swamp, a quaking bog in the Cape Cod National Seashore woods off Collins Road in Truro.

If theres an issue that several towns are in on, that will go to the top of list, he said.

Mark Robinson represents the state on the commission. He said consultation between the commission and the Seashore has resulted in better decision-making over the years.

He cited the relocation of the Herring Cove parking lot and moving restrooms at Nauset Light Beach as examples. Commission members came up with recommendations that the superintendent accepted, he said.

There's lot of competition for infrastructure funding in the National Park Service, Robinson said. Having things vetted locally makes it easier to fund those projects. That was the case at Herring Cove.

Sheila Lyons, who represents Barnstable County on the commission, said hers will be a dual role: standing up for issues impacting communities as well as helping the Seashore navigate those waters.

Lyons lives in Wellfleet. More than 60% of the town's land is part of the national park. The commission gives people a say, she said. It was the first ever established because the Seashore was the first national park inserted into communities that were already in existence, she added.

People have representatives, Lyons said on Monday. Its a good dialogue between communities and the Seashore. It helps them but also helps the communities.

Mary-Jo Avellar is Provincetowns representative. About 75% of the town is national park land. On Monday she was reviewing her files on the Seashores enabling legislation. She said the Park Service gave Provincetown the airport and landfill when the Seashore was enacted. Now the Park Service wants the town to negotiate leases for both properties, she said. She plans to bring that topic up on April 8.

The meeting will take place on April 8, at 1 p.m. at the Salt Pond Visitors Center classroom in Eastham. Commission members will be introduced, focus areas will be selected, and future meetings will be planned. There will be a public comment period. Visitors may attend the meeting in-person or register in advance to attend remotely via Zoom: https://doitalent.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItcOuqrDgqGVyg_iinH5gSUMbbAp-d5Mw

Denise Coffey writes about business, tourism and issues impacting the Capes residents and visitors. Contact her at dcoffey@capecodonline.com .

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod National Seashore advisory body is back. Why did talks stop?
Donald Trump made an unexpected declaration Tuesday when probed about a six-week abortion ban that will soon take effect in his home state of Florida.

Well be making a statement next week on abortion, the former president told reporters in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The offhand remark put his team on the clock to weigh in on one of the most delicate and contentious issues in American politics. It came as news to some within his campaign, which only hours earlier released a statement on the Florida law, voicing vague support for preserving life and states rights.

Since launching his third bid for the White House, Trump has struggled to reckon with the political fallout from the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a sea change in the countrys abortion policy brought on by his makeover of the US Supreme Court. For much of the Republican primary, Trump avoided the topic, and when he did weigh in, he sometimes angered anti-abortion leaders by criticizing the rush of new restrictions from members of his party in response to the landmark decision.

Now, as he stares down an election against a Democratic rival eager to pin on him every pregnancy horror story stemming from new state-level abortion restrictions, Trump is inching toward taking a public stance on an issue he privately refers to as a political loser. He has spent weeks in conversations with advisers and friends discussing an approach while some of his top policy aides have quietly drafted the contours of a position that will attempt the seemingly impossible: embracing one of the most contentious legacies of his first term without risking a chance at a second one, according to multiple conversations with Trumps advisers and allies.

Still unclear is where hell end up. Trump recently floated the 15-week threshold as one people are agreeing to, and he has privately batted it around since last year. At other times, he has also said states should decide.

Its a policy some long-time allies have recently encouraged Trump to get behind, including one of his top former advisers, Kellyanne Conway. Over dinner on the patio of Mar-a-Lago last month, Conway urged him to publicly support federal abortion legislation with a specific threshold into a pregnancy to restrict access to the procedure, according to one source familiar with the encounter. In response to a request for comment, Conway told CNN, I dont push President Trump to do anything. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Faith and Freedom Coalition leader Ralph Reed have offered similar advice in their meetings with Trump.

I told him, if you want to bring people together, which he talks about doing, well what would do that? I mean, wheres the sort of sweet spot? And I think thats what hes thinking about. The sweet spot, just from polling, is 15, 16 weeks, Graham told CNN in an interview. He talks about trying to bring the country together and form a consensus. Well, when you look and see where the consensus is at, [a 15- or 16-week ban] is where its at. (Polls typically show a majority of Americans support access to abortion in all or most cases, though they are open to some restrictions depending on how the question is asked.)

Other close advisers, however, have expressed concern that Trump will give further ammunition to Democrats by supporting any new restrictions on abortion. This week, President Joe Bidens campaign launched an advertising blitz in swing states featuring a clip of Trump saying he was proud to have terminated Roe v. Wade.

Some allies have suggested to Trump it would be politically prudent to punt the fight over reproductive rights to the states.

Still, in the hours since Trumps surprise pronouncement Tuesday, many on his team have acknowledged that it has become untenable to remain vague on the issue as Democrats make it the centerpiece of their White House defense and countless races across the country. The effort was further complicated this week, when the Florida Supreme Court greenlit a November ballot referendum that will allow voters there  including Trump, a resident of the Sunshine State  to decide whether abortion access should be enshrined in the state constitution.

It was bound to happen at some point where he needed to clarify his position, a Trump adviser told CNN. The Democrats are making a big point of making abortion what theyre gonna go after us on. So its clear at some point he would need to spell out exactly where he stood on the issue.

Its either do it now or later. I think, from a PR standpoint, its probably better to do it now, the adviser added.

Trump waffles on his position

For months, Trump and his advisers have offered vague answers on abortion as they worked to find a path forward on an issue that he has uncomfortably danced around for the past year.

The former president told Fox News last month he would be making a decision pretty soon on supporting a national abortion ban, adding, I would like to see if we could make both sides happy.

Days later, he floated a 15-week ban in another appearance on conservative media.

Im thinking in terms of that, and itll come out to something thats very reasonable, Trump told the New York radio show Sid & Friends in the Morning.

Both times, Trumps remarks caught his campaign off guard, according to multiple conversations with his advisers, who at first downplayed the former presidents comments, insisting that they had no plans to roll out policy addressing abortion any time soon.

However, behind the scenes, Trumps top policy aides, led by Vincent Haley and Ross Worthington, have been quietly working on a memo tackling the issue, a source familiar with their work told CNN.

Haley and Worthington also had discussions with some outside allies, including Conway, to advise on the issue, the source said.

Throughout the last year and a half, shes been pushing either a federal ban or urging him to come out and support Lindsey Grahams original bill, one of the sources said about Conway. Grahams bill, first filed shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, calls for abortion to be banned at 15 weeks, which he claims is when a baby can feel pain, with exceptions to protect the life of the mother, and if the woman becomes pregnant through rape or incest.

Anti-abortion groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life, have also intensified their pressure on Trump. Leaders of these groups have argued that the community that helped get him elected in 2016 needs to know where he stands and he should publicly make clear what type of policy he would support, according to a source familiar with the conversations.

Privately, Trump has debated with allies on an approach to abortion and at times has appeared torn. He has suggested support for a national ban while also giving lip service to letting states decide  conflicting positions that reflect the disparate counsel he is receiving.

On Tuesday, before Trump weighed in from Michigan, his campaign spokesman Brian Hughes had already issued a statement on Floridas six-week ban that noted the presumptive Republican nominee supports preserving life but has also made clear that he supports states rights because he supports the voters right to make decisions for themselves.

The politics of abortion

Trump has struggled to articulate where he stands since first jumping into the GOP race for president in 2015.

He frequently tells those close to him that he believes the issue is a political loser for Republicans, particularly in a general election, and he called Floridas six-week ban a terrible mistake on similar grounds. Speaking to religious broadcasters and Christians at an event in Nashville, Tennessee, in February, he told the room that when it comes to the issue of abortion, You have to get people elected.

Yet, Trump regularly takes credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade after appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court while serving as president.

The fact I was able to terminate Roe v. Wade after 50 years of trying. They worked for 50 years  Ive never seen anything like it. They worked, and I was even, I was so honored to have done it, Trump said during a CNN town hall last year. We are in a very good negotiating position right now only because of what I was able to do.

Throughout the Republican presidential primary  when many of Trumps opponents were coming out with firm positions supporting a national ban  Trump was frequently pushed by anti-abortion allies, including Graham, Reed and SBA Pro-Life President Marjorie Dannenfelser, to vocalize where he stood on the issue. During a meeting at Mar-a-Lago last May, the three encouraged him to embrace a 15-week ban, CNN previously reported.

Even some of Trumps advisers at the time told him he would ultimately need to support such a measure or face backlash from conservative voters, particularly in Iowa, where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was courting the states evangelical community by running to Trumps right on the issue. Trump refused  driven by his own political instincts and a desire to avoid an electoral landmine after the nominating contest.

But once Trump secured the GOP nomination, his advisers changed their tune. While they thought embracing an abortion ban could help him in the primary, they now believe doing so in a general election would hurt more than help with key voting blocs, such as suburban women, according to conversations with several of Trumps top advisers.

It was Trump who surprised his aides by suddenly expressing a willingness to take a firmer position, but what that is remains to be seen.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The Biden administration announced a final rule Thursday aimed to protect federal workers and make it harder to fire them, in an effort to prevent former President Trump from gutting the workforce if hes reelected.

The rule, issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), clarifies that nonpartisan career civil servants with protected status cant have that status taken away, and it prevents nonpartisan career civil servants from being reclassified as political appointees.

Trump in 2020 issued an executive order to allow reclassification of thousands of federal employees, which would take away their protections. When President Biden entered the White House, he revoked that executive order, which the White House said risked altering our countrys long-standing merit-based civil service system.

The White House said that Trumps order, known as Schedule F, would have stripped career civil servants of their civil service protections that ensure that decisions to hire and fire are based on merit, not political considerations.

This new rule is expected to prevent Trump from another executive order of this kind if hes reelected. It clarifies that policymaking classifications cannot be applied to nonpartisan career civil servants, only to noncareer political appointees.

Today, my Administration is announcing protections for 2.2 million career civil servants from political interference, to guarantee that they can carry out their responsibilities in the best interest of the American people, Biden said in a statement Thursday. This rule is a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people.

The OPM reviewed more than 4,000 comments submitted by the public during the rulemaking process, according to the agency.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
French First Lady Brigitte Macron has joined the filming of the fourth season of the popular Netflix series "Emily in Paris". The 70-year-old wife of the French president will appear in one of the episodes as a cameo, i.e. as herself.

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Macron has already been spotted on the set, where she talked to the project's actors and creative team. This was reported by the Daily Mail.

As it turned out, the first lady is an ardent fan of the series. Now she will become its direct character. However, Brigitte Macron's name has already been mentioned in previous seasons of "Emily in Paris".

Yes, in the first season of the show, she allegedly reposted a post by the main character of the series, played by Lily Collins, and it had a positive impact on Emily's career.

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According to the source, Macron, 70, was seen on the set in a stylish, elegant outfit. In particular, she wore a double-breasted black jacket and had her signature hairstyle.

It should be noted that "Emily in Paris" is a story about an American woman, Emily Cooper, who works as a marketing director in Chicago. When her boss goes on maternity leave, Emily unexpectedly gets a chance to move to Paris to replace her. She gives up her normal life and heads into the world of fashion and luxury. Emily immediately faces cultural differences and a language barrier, but she is determined to succeed. She has to establish relationships with new colleagues who are not always happy to see her, make new friends, and balance her work and personal life. An American woman falls in love with the neighborhood chef Gabriel, but their relationship is complicated by the fact that he already has a girlfriend.

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The exact release date of the fourth season of "Emily in Paris" is currently unknown. Lily Collins only hinted that the cards will be revealed in the upcoming teaser on the Netflix YouTube channel.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and close ally of President Joe Biden, said on CNN Thursday morning that if Israel pursues a large-scale military operation in Rafah without making provisions for citizens, it would be time for the U.S. to condition aid to Israel.

"I think we are at the point where President Biden has said and I have said and others have said if Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, were to order the [Israel Defense Forces] into Rafah at scale -- they were to drop thousand-pound bombs and send in a battalion to go after Hamas -- and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, that I would vote to condition aid to Israel," Coons said on CNN News Central.

This is a change in position for Coons.

MORE: Biden 'outraged' by aid workers killed, but no indication Israeli strike deliberate

PHOTO: Senator Chris Coons during a panel session on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 16, 2024. ( Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)

"I've never said that before, I've never been here before. I've been a strong supporter of Israel the whole time I've served in Congress. We just appropriated another $3.3 billion in support in the last appropriations bill we did. The challenge is to make it clear that we support the Israeli people, that we want to and will continue to have a strong and close relationship with Israel -- but the tactics by which the current prime minister is making these decisions don't reflect the best values of Israel or the United States," Coons said.

Netanyahu has said going into Rafah is crucial for victory over Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, and to prevent future terror attacks. Biden has told Netanyahu that he believes it would be a mistake to invade Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians have fled to seek shelter during the Israel-Hamas war, according to the United Nations.

The IDF has said it plans to push civilians toward "humanitarian islands" in the center of the Gaza Strip in advance of an offensive in Rafah.

MORE: US hasn't ruled out consequences for Israel over looming Rafah operation: What would that look like?

Coons said he would continue to support targeted raids and special forces' raids against Hamas.

"But the IDF can bring humanitarian relief in through the north of Gaza. They just demonstrated this two, three weeks ago by escorting in convoys of trucks through a new opening in the very northern security perimeter of Gaza," Coons said. "It is the far north of Gaza where the IDF has the most control, where there is the most famine and the most urgency. I think we can move forward if we see real seriousness about addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as well as the security crisis that Israel continues to face."

This comes amid a growing sentiment among Senate Democrats that the U.S. ought to modify the support it gives to Israel.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told "This Week" Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz on March 31 that he thinks the United States should stop sending offensive weapons to Israel until humanitarian assistance is allowed into Gaza.

MORE: Netanyahu 'continues to essentially give the finger' to Biden on Gaza, Dem senator says

PHOTO: Chris Van Hollen seen here on 'This week.' (ABC News)

"So, my view, Martha, is until the Netanyahu government allows more assistance into Gaza, to help people who are literally starving to death, we should not be sending more bombs," he said.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a statement following the death of seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen in Gaza, called for a suspension of military operations.

"Israel must immediately suspend military operations inside Gaza and allow for a dramatic surge in humanitarian aid," Murphy said.

The national security supplemental passed by the Senate in February contains $14.1 billion in unconditioned aid to Israel. That bill, which also includes $60.06 billion to aid Ukraine, is currently awaiting action in House.

Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested he will amend or counter the bill with a version of his own.

If the House sends the bill back to the Senate, Democrats will face new considerations about whether to reapprove a package with unconditioned aid for Israel.

Biden ally Sen. Chris Coons says he'd support putting conditions on aid if Israel pursues operation in Rafah originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Biden "emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable."

President Biden spoke by phone Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first conversation between the two leaders since Israeli airstrikes killed seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, and pressured Israel to implement a ceasefire agreement.

The call comes at a time of growing U.S. disapproval of Israels handling of the war against Hamas fighters in Gaza that followed the militant groups attack inside Israel on Oct. 7, which killed nearly 1,200 people. Israels military response has killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza.

Biden: Israel needs to implement concrete steps to address suffering

In a readout of the call, the White House said that Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.

He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the readout stated. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Biden also called for Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal without delay in Gaza. The White House added the two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people, noting the U.S. supports Israel regarding those threats.

Biden outraged and heartbroken by Israeli airstrikes

In a statement released Tuesday, Biden publicly expressed his displeasure with Mondays airstrikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers as they were traveling in a convoy attempting to deliver food to Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians, Biden said.

At a press briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of the aid workers.

Destruction left by an Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City on April 1. (Mohammed Hajjar/AP)

But U.S. weapons continue to flow to Israel

Despite the Biden administrations souring tone with Netanyahu over the war, the U.S. continues to send Israel the weapons it is using to carry it out.

On Monday, the same day Israel launched the airstrikes that killed the aid workers, the U.S. approved the transfer of thousands more bombs to the Israeli government, Reuters reported.

In March, Israel offered the U.S. assurances that the weaponry sent from Washington would not be used to violate humanitarian laws in Gaza.

Declining U.S. support for Israel

A Gallup poll released last week found that support for the military action taken by Israel in Gaza has dropped significantly in recent months.

In November, 50% of U.S. adults supported Israels military action in Gaza. In March, just 36% did.

Some Democrats in Congress have been ramping up pressure on Biden to compel Israel to change course in its execution of the war.

In March, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made headlines by calling Netanyahu an obstacle to peace and calling for new Israeli elections. Biden praised Schumer for that speech.

Since then, a growing number of Democrats have begun demanding that the U.S. tie further funding to Israel with a ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump: Israel is losing the PR war

Former President Donald Trump, Bidens main rival in the 2024 election, has also been critical of Israels handling of the war in Gaza.

What I said very plainly is get it over with, and lets get back to peace and stop killing people, Trump said in a Thursday radio interview with Hugh Hewitt.

Theyre losing the PR war, Trump added.

Still, Trump also said that the biggest problem for Israel is that it isnt achieving victory against Hamas quickly enough.

But theyve got to finish what they started, and theyve got to finish it fast, and we have to get on with life, the former president added.

Cover thumbnail photo via Ronen Zvulun/Pool via Reuters, Demetrius Freeman/the Washington Post via Getty Images
In the aftermath of the Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy in Gaza on Monday, which killed seven workers from the charity World Central Kitchen, President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to further plans for an immediate ceasefire in an effort to end humanitarian suffering.

Asking for Israel to take steps to address civilian harm, Biden made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, according to a statement from the White House. Per reporting from The Wall Street Journal, Israel didnt immediately comment in terms of receptiveness to Biden's vision for how things should play out from here.

In a summary of the brief call issued by the White House, they detail the following:

President Biden spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people. President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.
In the years before the United States aging network of electrical grids began heaving under the pressure of record-breaking storms and heat waves, demand for transformers  the connective tissue of the power system  kept pace with the construction of new housing.

Those days are over. Now extreme weather regularly destroys hundreds of transformers at a time and drives up demand for more electricity on scorching or smoky days when cooling or purifying the air indoors saves lives. Preventing that crisis from getting worse means using electricity instead of fossil fuels for cars and heating while also generating a lot more of that power from sources such as solar panels and wind turbines. Those renewables, in turn, require a much larger and more expansive grid system  and a lot more transformers.

Manufacturers were in a bind. Building new assembly lines to churn out more of the transformers in current use would cost millions. The Biden administration, meanwhile, had proposed a new rule raising the energy-efficiency standards for transformers sold after 2027, requiring factories to start using a different kind of steel and invest in equipment that could not produce whats currently in demand.

Facing backlash, the Department of Energy dialed back the regulation, unveiling a finalized proposal Thursday that almost completely reversed one of U.S. manufacturers biggest sticking points and gave companies five years to comply.

The regulatory process can work, and this final rule shows just that by reflecting feedback from a broad spectrum of stakeholders, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement. Ultimately, it will be a piece of the solution, rather than a barrier, to help resolve the ongoing distribution transformer shortage and keep Americas businesses and workers competitive.

As snow showers fall, linemen from Chain Electric, a contract utility crew that drove in from Mississippi to help Consolidated Edison, install a new transformer November 7, 2012, to help restore power that had been out since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, in the community of Oakwood Beach, on Staten Island, New York. PAUL J. RICHARDS via Getty Images

Transformers function like locks in a canal, adjusting the voltage of electricity like water levels as it travels through different parts of the grid system from power plants to wall outlets. Energy is lost each time volts pass through thousands of transformers. Since the majority of U.S. generating stations burn fossil fuels to make electricity, that increase adds more planet-heating pollution.

The Biden administrations initial proposal would have mandated that manufacturers make transformers with a type of steel that wastes less energy. This amorphous alloy of electrical steel is commonly used in transformers in parts of Asia that built their grid systems more recently. Its also needed for electric vehicles, and the Energy Department had hoped that switching to amorphous steel transformers would streamline things for steelmakers.

But factories already struggling to keep up with demand complained that spending millions on the machines to ramp up production of the existing transformers could spell financial ruin if those investments became worthless in just a few years.

The original rule would have required amorphous steel for 95% of new transformers. The final proposal reverses that requirement, allowing the traditionally used grade known as grain-oriented electrical steel in at least 75% of new transformers.

But the new standards still ratchet up efficiency of new transformers by enough to shave what the Energy Department estimated would be $14 billion off utility bills over the next 30 years, slashing nearly 85 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution  equal to the annual emissions of 11 million American homes  during that same period.

The agency estimated the original proposal would have avoided 340 million metric tons of carbon pollution.

It seems like a compromise solution that maintains the Biden administrations commitment to reducing emissions while allowing more time for the industry to adjust to updated standards, said Johan Cavert, a policy analyst at the Niskanen Center who authored a report last year on the transformer supply crunch. Regardless, the urgent transformer shortage remains a pressing and growing concern.

Still, environmentalists criticized the Biden administrations decision to loosen the proposed regulation.

These standards significantly reduce energy waste, but they leave much bigger savings on the table, Andrew deLaski, executive director of the watchdog Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said in a statement. Passing up the savings that could have been achieved has a real cost for consumers, businesses and the climate.

Electric power lines are attached to the transmission tower along the power grid on Sept. 28, 2023, in the Everglades, Florida. Joe Raedle via Getty Images

But the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said the tiny nonprofit power companies it represents, which serve nearly 42 million Americans living far from major cities, faced problems replacing transformers, particularly when competing for equipment with deep-pocketed corporate utilities for equipment in short supply.

While federal regulators initial proposal would have upended the entire market for distribution transformers at a time when manufacturers could not keep up with demand for this critical equipment, the industry group said the Energy Departments revised rule was much improved.

The final rule provides stability for most of the market, while affording a more gradual shift toward tighter efficiency standards for transformers used to meet larger commercial and certain electrification loads, Louis Finkel, the trade associations senior vice president of government relations, said in an email. We will work closely with our members, manufacturers and suppliers to ensure implementation does not further disrupt an already strained supply chain.

ERMCO Inc., a major manufacturer of transformers for electric co-ops, told HuffPost it was actively reviewing the rule in detail and at this point dont have a formal position.

ERMCO does believe backing away from the original standards was positive and we appreciate the added time for implementation, Tim Mills, ERMCOs chief executive, said in an email. We should know shortly whether or not the movement made keeps our confidence high on being able to provide transformers at or above our current level of production.

Cavert warned that the new regulation alone wont solve the transformer shortage, and said Congress should pass legislation providing more subsidies for manufacturers, new job training for workers, and federal programs to support the creation of an emergency reserve of transformers.

The regulatory process can work, and this final rule shows just that by reflecting feedback from a broad spectrum of stakeholders.Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) took credit for helping to convince the Biden administration to back off the initial proposal, which he said would have cost jobs at steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works facility, which generates much of the countrys grain-oriented electrical steel.

I engaged directly with Secretary Granholm and the Biden administration to ensure Pennsylvanians concerns about the proposed rules were heard, and I want to thank them for making sure the final rule will allow for Butler Works to continue its existing line of steel production in Western Pennsylvania, Shapiro said in a news release. As a result, we have saved thousands of union jobs at the Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works facility.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), whose state also produces traditional electrical steel, also thanked Granholm for speaking with me about this issue

The final rule strikes the appropriate balance between lowering energy costs for consumers, protecting national security, and supporting electrical grid resiliency and reliability improvements, she said in a statement released as part of the Energy Departments news release. This decision will help protect Ohio jobs and consumers and ensure a domestic supply of transformers built in the Heartland.

Along with Shapiro, Pennsylvanias two Democratic senators, Bob Casey and John Fetterman, offered praise in quotes the agency sent out to reporters on Thursday morning. No Republicans were included in the announcement.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) led the charge against Granholms first proposal at a Senate hearing last April. Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and John Hickenlooper of Colorado joined into the criticism to express concern over the rules.

The move comes as the Biden administration wades into tense negotiations over the potential sale of the U.S. Steel Corp., a giant of American industry, to a Japanese conglomerate.

President Joe Biden, who expressed support for keeping the steelmaker under U.S. ownership, has sought to revive American manufacturing through his landmark infrastructure laws while revving up the transition away from fossil fuels. Last week, the Biden administration announced $6 billion in projects to slash emissions from heavy industry, including projects to jumpstart green steelmaking in the U.S.

Yet Republicans have vowed to slow walk or dismantle key parts of the climate-spending statute Democrats passed in 2022, and funding is only beginning to trickle out to actual projects. Even if Biden managed to implement his climate laws to the fullest extent, climate modelers estimate that the U.S. would still need new policies to cut emissions.

Related...
Critics of President Joe Bidens support for the war in Gaza Wednesday claimed that an impressive 12% of New York Democratic voters heeded their call to protest by casting blank ballots in the states presidential primary.

Even though the state Board of Elections did not release blank-ballot tallies for the presidential race, the Working Families Party says it was able to come up with estimates through an analysis of delegate vote totals released by the board for each congressional district.

What we know is that about 12% of New York voters sent a very powerful message to President Biden, said Ana Maria Archila, a co-director of the WFP. They want him to take a very different position on this war.

A spokeswoman for the state Board of Elections said she could not confirm or deny the WFPs math.

But she acknowledged that the unofficial figures for delegate votes can be used to calculate how many people voted in the primary.

The delegate unofficial results tabulation does show blanks and voids, so that could give a rough indication of the number of Democratic voters who checked in at the poll sites, said Kathleen McGrath, the BOE spokeswoman.

In New York City, a slightly higher total of about 15% of voters cast blank ballots than the state as a whole, the WFP said.

The left-leaning group says the highest total in the state came in Rep. Nydia Velazquezs district, where 31% of voters withheld their support for Biden.

Other districts with outsized totals include 24% in the central Brooklyn district represented by Rep. Yvette Clarke and 22% in Rep. Dan Goldmans district spanning lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

Organizers said they were happily surprised by the strong showing given that New York voters are not used to submitting blank ballots for any reason.

Its astounding that so many people responded to our call, Archila said.

Biden crushed also-rans Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Philllips with about 91.5% of the ballots that included a pick for president.

About 40,000 New York voters cast blank ballots statewide, the group calculated.

The blank ballot results are broadly in line with the tally of anti-war protest votes in other states, including neighboring Connecticut, where 11% voted for uncommitted delegates Tuesday. Unlike other states, New York does not allow uncommitted slates of delegates or write-in votes in presidential primaries.

New York offiicals do not release the total number of ballots cast or the number of blank ballots in the presidential primary until the board releases certified results later in April.

The WFP calculated the number of blank ballots cast by using official figures for votes for delegates to the national convention, which included the number of votes not cast for any of the delegates.

It figured out the number of blank ballots by subtracting the number of ballots cast for Biden, Williamson and Philllips.
The Biden administration on Thursday is announcing an extension of work permits for certain categories of immigrants, potentially preventing hundreds of thousands of people from losing their jobs overnight.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is publishing a temporary final rule in the Federal Register to automatically extend the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) from 180 to 540 days.

That means eligible immigrants whose EADs have expired since Oct. 27 will remain eligible to work for at least another 360 days, while their EAD renewals are processed.

Over the last year, the USCIS workforce reduced processing times for most EAD categories, supporting an overall goal to improve work access to eligible individuals, USCIS Director Ur Jaddou said. However, we also received a record number of employment authorization applications, impacting our renewal mechanisms.

Temporarily lengthening the existing automatic extension up to 540 days will avoid lapses in employment authorizations, Jaddou added. At the same time, this rule provides DHS with an additional window to consider long-term solutions by soliciting public comments, and identifying new strategies to ensure those noncitizens eligible for employment authorization can maintain that benefit.

The two largest groups benefited by the change will be asylum-seekers and foreign nationals who are in the process of changing their status to permanent residency. In all, up to 800,000 immigrants were at risk of losing their work permits without the new rule, according to a USCIS spokesperson.

USCIS will also benefit from the change: It has been aggressively rebuilding its processing capacity after the Trump administration refocused the agency away from processing applications, degrading its ability to deliver quick decisions.

That reconstruction also came as asylum applications ballooned, adding to the agencys historic backlog, though USCIS managed in fiscal 2023 to reduce that backlog for the first time in a decade.

Advocates, mayors and business leaders were growing uneasy with an April 24 deadline when some workers would have started to lose their authorization.

Its the second time the Biden administration has announced an extension to 540 days. The first extension, announced in 2022, had a sunset on Oct. 27, 2023, when automatic extensions reverted to 180 days.

All categories of immigrants covered by the 2022 extension will be covered by the new one as well.

The implementation of 540-day extensions now also means the problem is unlikely to reoccur. Since September, USCIS has been granting five-year EADs to eligible immigrants, rather than the two-year EADs that were standard before.

That gives USCIS a bigger cushion to prepare for any future potential mass expiration of EADs.

Were working really hard as an agency and have made really good progress to speed up our processing and keep pace with what has been a very large rise in the number of applications were receiving for all different kinds of things, but in particular, employment authorization documents, a USCIS spokesperson told The Hill.

We just want to make sure that we maintain our commitment not only to reducing those processing times, but preventing peoples work authorization from expiring through no fault of their own, they added.

Since the end of the 2022 extension, administration officials were flooded with letters from members of Congress, mayors, advocacy groups, and the business community asking to reinstate the 540-day extensions.

When the 2022 extension was announced, a USCIS spokesperson told The Hill, some EADs had already expired, causing immigrants to lose their jobs and disruptions in business operations.

This time around, the new rule will be effective April 8, a few weeks short of the 180-day mark for EADs that expired after the October sunset. Active extensions granted for 180 days will retroactively convert to 540-day extensions.

The longer extensions have been eagerly awaited by groups ranging from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to individual asylum-seekers.

Linda C., an asylum-seeker from Zimbabwe and member of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, told The Hill in an email that the new rule is a huge relief.

I have been so worried about losing my job I had managed to successfully secure in order to survive and make ends meet. I am so grateful that the government extended work permits so we can continue to survive and not have the stress and pressure of losing our jobs as that is very worrisome, she said.

For asylum-seekers, losing an EAD can mean the difference between moving into their own housing and being forced into city shelters.

Cities and counties have made it clear that asylum seekers and immigrants need work permits, and we are frustrated that our communities immigrants may soon lose their work authorization due to processing delays and the federal governments inaction, read a February letter from Cities for Action signed by 43 mayors.

As a result, cities and counties will soon face even greater challenges if they lose their jobs, drivers licenses, and access to health care and housing. Thus, we ask that you take our needs into account and ensure that this does not occur.

The pressure was also grinding on the business community, which faced the added costs of removing people from payrolls and other disruptions.

It gives everybody  it gives the agency breathing space. And it really is something that  its a benefit to companies but its a relief for them too, because they know that they were going to go through those headaches again, said Jon Baselice, vice president of immigration policy at the Chamber of Commerce.

I say headache, but theres a cost to all of these problems. Its not just a matter of how you take people off payroll. Youre now in a situation where, like, you had a project team of 10 people and maybe now its down to five or even three.

The uncertainty of continued work authorization was concerning to a wide array of businesses, from those hiring newly arrived asylum-seekers with little work experience to large corporations that employ subject-matter experts from all over the world.

The two groups that will most benefit from the rule  asylum-seekers and immigrants pending adjustment of status  exemplify that range.

In a political climate where legislative movement on immigration is gridlocked, many stakeholders are welcoming the change.

For this moment in time, knowing what were dealing with, the business community, and I imagine many others, but I dont want to speak for them  were thankful that this policy is being reimplemented, said Baselice.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Biden told Israel on Thursday he needs to see immediate changes to protect civilian lives in Gaza or hell reduce U.S. support.

In a tense, 30-minute phone call, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel has to take immediate actions to protect civilian lives and allow food aid into Gaza or Biden will change his administrations support for the countrys military campaign against Hamas. Biden described as unacceptable Israels strikes against humanitarian workers and the overall situation civilians are facing in Gaza.

Bidens phone call with Netanyahu marked a significant shift in his approach to Israel following an Israeli military strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on Monday, drawing condemnation around the globe.

Specifically, the Biden administration expects to see Israel open up more crossings for aid to get into Gaza, more food-filled trucks be allowed to enterparticularly from Jordanand the Israeli military take proper steps to ensure safe travel for aid workers, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Kirby said Biden is demanding Israel take concrete steps to alleviate human suffering in Gaza in the coming hours and days.

"If we don't see changes from their side there will have to be changes on our side, Kirby said.

Israel has killed tens of thousands of civilians during the operation to destroy Hamass leadership and its network of tunnels under Gaza used as ammunition stores. Biden and senior US officials have been telling Israeli leaders for months they are concerned about Israels indiscriminate bombing in Gaza and Israels refusal to allow enough food into Gaza, putting more than 1 million people on the brink of famine. Asked if Biden has been frustrated that those messages havent gotten through, Kirby said, "Yes, there has been growing frustration.

Bidens political rival Donald Trump expressed a similar exasperation during an interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show that aired Thursday, saying that Israel was losing the PR war in their effort to dismantle Hamas. Youve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy," Trump said. "And Im not sure that Im loving the way theyre doing it, because youve got to have victory. You have to have a victory, and its taking a long time.

Read more: Inside the Israel-Hamas Information War

Biden has not reduced his administration's military support for Israel during the six months since Hamas terrorists stormed farms and villages and murdered families in their homes on Oct. 7. In the wake of that attack, Biden told Israel You are not alone and were going to stand with you.

In the two months following the Oct. 7 attacks, Biden approved two emergency transfers of military aid to Israel worth $254 million. On Monday, hours before the killing of the World Central Kitchen workers, the U.S. approved the shipment of some 2,000 bombs to Israel's arsenal, according to CNN.

Those shipments are part of long-standing foreign military sales agreements and are not linked to Israel's war in Gaza, Kirby said. The sale was years in the making, he said, and Congress was notified of it "many, many months, if not years ago."

Kirby implied that some of those weapons sales could continue, regardless of Israel's actions in Gaza. "Israel still has a lot of threats it faces," he said. "We're all focused on Hamas, and I understand that, but they still face active threats throughout the region, including from Iran. The United States still has an ironclad commitment to help Israel with its self defense."

During his Thursday phone call, Biden also told Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is needed to protect civilians and improve the humanitarian situation. The American president also urged Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.

The heightened tensions between the U.S. and Israel come as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel for killing a top Iranian commander in Syria. While Biden and Netanyahu have disagreed on how Israel is conducting the war in Gaza, the White House description of their phone call said that Biden made clear that the U.S. strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats from Iran.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
President Joe Biden will meet with some of the relatives of the six construction workers who died in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge when the president visits Baltimore on Friday, the White House said.

The White House previously announced Biden would be meeting with local officials and viewing the wreckage of the bridge, which collapsed early last week after a massive cargo ship hit one of its support pillars, sending the bridge into the water and choking the port of Baltimore, which sees millions of dollars of trade every day.

White House director of intergovernmental affairs Tom Perez visited with the families of some of the victims last week, describing inconsolable relatives and the urgency with which officials are working to recover the remaining four bodies that remain accounted for in a twisted mess of steel.

Perez told CNN in an interview he was in touch with the families and is coordinating with various government agencies, including US Citizenship and Immigration Services to coordinate visits to the United States for some relatives.

Were working very closely with the folks in the immigrant affairs offices to identify those needs  and theres a range of needs, Perez said.

Perez noted that the US is engaged in different processes involving four different countries, in addition to specific requests from the families, including some who want to visit the US and at least one who wants the victims body repatriated.

In an appearance on MSNBC last week, Perez said some relatives were inconsolable after the collapse. One spouse repeatedly told him, I just want his body.

Its so hard.  The most fundamental right any worker has when they go to work is to come home safe and sound. And they didnt. And I didnt sleep well last night, and my issues pale in comparison to what they are going through, Perez said.

Its a gut punch for the president, Perez told MSNBC, its a gut punch for these families. And were going to do our level best to make sure we help them, to make sure that we take care of them, and to make sure that the search and rescue operations continue.

Were continuing to work with those families and were trying to address all of their needs, he said.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
At a small White House event Tuesday between President Joe Biden and a group of Muslim American leaders, tensions were high and morale was low.

At one point, one of the six attendees showed Biden printed photos of malnourished Palestinian children, according to NBC News. The president said that he had seen the pictures before, but that was unlikely: The attendee, a doctor, said the photos were from her own phone.

This speaks volumes to the dismissive nature of the administration when it comes to strong-willed action towards a permanent cease-fire or, at a bare minimum, a red line on the invasion of Rafah, Dr. Nahreen H. Ahmed told NBC News.

Another doctor  Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a physician who worked at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis earlier this year  walked out before the 90-minute gathering had concluded, later telling CNN he did so out of respect for the Palestinian people, who are mourning, who are grieving.

My interview with the Palestinian American doctor who walked out of a White House meeting with the president and vice president.

What President Biden said to him as he left: pic.twitter.com/AGB2sPygay  Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) April 3, 2024



Ahmad said Bidens opening remarks at the event did not mention Gaza, famine, or the potential invasion of Rafah. Before he left, Ahmed said he parted ways with Biden after giving him a letter from an 8-year-old girl he had treated in Khan Younis, along with her photo, Ahmad told CNN.

The event was repurposed from a general celebration marking the end of Ramadan, the holy month in Islam honored through daily fasting, to more of a listening session between the President and prominent Muslim community members. Biden has faced steep criticism from Muslim and Arab American communities for his steadfast support of Israel during the Gaza invasion, as evidenced by uncommitted votes among Democratic primary voters. Even the presidents wife, Jill Biden, has urged Biden to urgently address the situation in Gaza and stop it now, according to the New York Times.

Hopes for the meeting had been diminished going into the evening, as many Arab American and Muslim American leaders declined invitations due to the ongoing siege in Gaza, the New York Times reported. Only six invitees showed up, including Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, who told NBC News she attended to let the president know that Black Americans and Black Muslim Americans are deeply hurting about what is happening in Gaza.

The meeting comes days after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, an attack that drew widespread condemnation. According to a report in HuffPost, a recent cable drafted by officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development warned of widespread famine in northern Gaza as humanitarian groups face considerable challenges in providing life-saving aid and specialized services to those in need.

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Noa Kogba, a 25-year-old model who served in the IDF for almost six months, now lives in the United States and is on a special mission there. The girl, who won a beauty pageant in 2021 and became Miss Israel, is now using media to promote the idea of helping her homeland in the war against Hamas terrorists.

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However, far from home, she has faced aggression and threats from pro-Palestinian residents of the United States. OBOZ.UA decided to tell about her life and show new photos.

The winner of the prestigious beauty pageant served in the IDF as a military paramedic course commander before the active phase of the Israeli-Palestinian war began in 2023. She dreamed of becoming a pediatrician, but was forced to put on her uniform again.

The first footage from the service appeared on her profile last November, when the star called on the world to help Israel. The beauty celebrated her 25th birthday in the middle of a field, helping the wounded.

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She was a paramedic, saving the lives of soldiers and risking her own. Sometimes the model shared her thoughts about unforeseen situations on the battlefield, how she lives without a shower and amenities, and about taking care of herself in war.

Eventually, in February 2024, the Israeli star was dismissed from the service. Apparently, she was found another job, participating in an information campaign in favor of the country in the United States. There, the former paramedic attends pro-Palestinian rallies and defends her position.

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Once such an encounter ended very unpleasantly. In New York, she was attacked by passers-by, and in San Francisco, she was called "Miss Genocide" and had her stairs doused with red paint. It's not hard to guess that she is often insulted, criticized, and threatened for her pro-Israel activities online.

However, this does not frighten Miss Israel, so she continues to share her successes with almost 50 thousand subscribers.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Biden and Netanyahu talk for first time since aid workers killed

WASHINGOTN (NEXSTAR)  President Biden held a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday.

Its their first call since Israeli forces struck and killed seven World Central Kitchen workers attempting to deliver food into Gaza.

Its no secret tensions between the two leaders have been increasing for weeks and President Biden appeared to sharpen his tone with Netanyahu.

He is demanding steps be taken immediately to stop human suffering in Gaza.

President Biden told Netanyahu that the Israeli air strike that killed the World Central Kitchen workers was unacceptable.

The overall humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable, said White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby.

Kirby says the president demanded that Israel take immediate steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

We would hope to see some announcement of changes in coming daysif we dont see changes on their side there will be changes on our side, said Kirby.

The president pressed Israel for an immediate cease fire.

The White House would not say if it would withhold military aid if Israel does not meet U.S. demands.

This weeks horrific attack on World Central Kitchen was not the first such incident. It must be the last, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

At a NATO meeting in Brussels Blinken said Israel must allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The results on the ground are woefully insufficient and unacceptable, said Blinken.

The World Central Kitchen and other charities have suspended food deliveries to Gaza.

World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres is demanding an independent investigation of the attack.

I dont think this was an unfortunate mistakeit was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known, said Andres.

Israel is currently investigating the strike. So far Netanyahu has not released a statement about the call with the president.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
President Biden praised the NATO alliance to mark its 75th anniversary Thursday, amid threats from former President Trump to encourage aggression toward delinquent members.

Biden called NATO the greatest military alliance in the history of the world, adding that for the last 75 years, the United States and our fellow Allies have chosen to come together to stand up for freedom and push back against aggression.

The president outlined that the alliance stood united during the Cold War, invoked Article 5, which declares that an attack on one ally is an attack on all, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and has stood united during Russias war against Ukraine.

He also touted Finland and Sweden recently becoming members and argued that now, NATO is larger, stronger, and more determined than ever before.

At a February rally, Trump told a story of an unidentified foreign leader questioning his threat not to defend members who do not hit the alliances defense spending targets. He said he told them he would encourage Russia to do whatever it wishes and recounted saying, You didnt pay? Youre delinquent.

Biden hit Trump for those remarks at the time, saying everything is transactional for his 2024 GOP rival.

Now, like generations before us, we must choose to protect this progress and build on it, Biden said in the statement Thursday.

We must remember that the sacred commitment we make to our Allies  to defend every inch of NATO territory  makes us safer too, and gives the United States a bulwark of security unrivaled by any other nation in the world, the president continued. And like our predecessors, we must ask ourselves what can we do  what must we do  to create a more peaceful future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Semafor Signals

Insights from Politico, The Independent, and Haaretz

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U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an Israeli strike on humanitarian workers this week.

The White House is reportedly furious about the drone strike, which killed seven World Central Kitchen employees including a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen. The Biden administration, however, has continued to affirm its support of Israel, with White House spokesman John Kirby telling reporters that the U.S. is pressing Israel to do things differently that prevents civilian casualties.

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Several incidents could have been wars tipping point, but none have stuck

Source: Haaretz

The White House has shifted its rhetoric on the war in Gaza in the wake of tens of thousands of deaths, an imminent famine, and deadly strikes on refugee camps, Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels noted. U.S. policy, though, has amounted to the administrations version of thoughts and prayers. The strike has accelerated humanitarian aid groups winding down of their operations in the enclave, and in spite of pleas from senior U.S. officials for Israel to improve its deconfliction mechanisms to avoid targeting aid convoys, Samuels wrote. That should cause significant introspection across the board on failures to get the message to stick.

Public statement calling for accountability furthest Biden will go

Source: Politico

Bidens speech this week placing blame for the strike on Israel will be the most action the president plans to take to address the incident, according to Politico U.S. officials told the outlet that the statement was all we have planned. But that lack of action is causing issues within the administration, Politico reported, with some senior officials criticizing the White Houses decision not to leverage the Israeli government to pull back on the war. Its just rinse and repeat with the Israelis. The American political system cant or wont draw a real line with them and that is regrettable, another official said.

Biden has offered zero consequences for Israeli missteps

Source: The Independent

In February, Biden drew a red line when he warned that if Israel harmed an American, we will respond, The Independents Washington correspondent Eric Garcia wrote. The administration has called for an investigation into the strikes, but refused to elaborate at a recent press briefing about what such an inquiry would look like. Biden has offered zero response or consequences for Israel, Garcia noted, and has all but created the circumstances that allowed for the World Central Kitchen workers deaths. While the president has publicly upped his criticism of Netanyahus government and the Israel Defense Forces, he hasnt taken meaningful action that would address the crisis, he added: The Israeli government, in turn, will feel no need to exercise more caution in Gaza.
Israel to open more aid routes to Gaza and increase deliveries after pressure from Biden

WASHINGTON  Israel committed to opening additional aid routes to allow for increased assistance to flow into Gaza after a call with President Joe Biden warning of a potential shift in U.S. policy after a strike this week killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.

White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said after Thursday's call that Israel had committed to opening the Ashdod port to allow assistance to be directly delivered into Gaza, opening the Erez crossing to let aid flow into north Gaza and significantly boosting deliveries from Jordan.

As the President said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers, Watson said in a statement Thursday night.

A spokesman for the Israeli government said in a statement to NBC News that the increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.

No timetable was spelled out. Watson said in her statement that the steps announced by Israel "must now be fully and rapidly implemented."

In a readout of Biden's Thursday call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said that Biden made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Summarizing his call with Netanyahu in a post to X Thursday, Biden said, Israel must implement steps to address civilian harm and the safety of workers  and work toward a ceasefire to bring hostages home.

oval office white house desk telephone (Courtesy @POTUS via X.com)

According to two U.S. officials, Biden strongly implied to Netanyahu that the U.S. could condition military aid to Israel on what it does to address humanitarian concerns in Gaza and get to a ceasefire as soon as possible.

That was the message, one of the officials said.

After issuing his warning to Netanyahu, Biden told the prime minister that his position doesnt negate his love for Israel, according to the two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the call.

Bidens comments appear to be a preemptive attempt to push back on the notion that anyone who is critical of Israels approach to its war against Hamas isnt a true supporter of the Jewish state.

The person familiar with the call said Biden told Netanyahu that theres no other leader outside of Israel who takes Israels security more seriously than he does, and reiterated that hes been a strong supporter of Israel for decades.

Asked to elaborate on potential policy changes the White House hinted at in the readout, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the daily White House press briefing that he wouldn't preview specific steps that the U.S. might take.

"What we are looking to see and hope to see here in the coming hours and days is a dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance getting [into Gaza], additional crossings opened up and a reduction in the violence against civilians and certainly aid workers," Kirby said, adding that they want to see Israel "take practical immediate steps to protect aid workers on the ground and to demonstrate that they have that civilian harm mitigation in place."

Kirby was pressed repeatedly about whether the U.S. could withhold military aid to Israel and said he wouldn't get ahead of any decisions.

"There are too many civilians being killed," Kirby said. "The risk to aid workers is unacceptable. Now we have certain aid organizations that are reconsidering whether theyre even going to be able to continue operations in Gaza, while famine looms, so there has to be tangible steps. Lets see what they announce, lets see what they direct, lets see what they do."

The two U.S. officials said Biden told Netanyahu to begin letting more trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza immediately and to be less stringent about what materials are on them.

Biden also shifted his stance on a ceasefire in Gaza during his call with Netanyahu, telling the prime minister he must agree to one, and that the easiest way to achieve that is a deal that would implement a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages by Hamas, the two U.S. officials said. If Netanyahu does not agree to a ceasefire, the president made clear that U.S. relations with Israel would significantly change, the officials said.

The White House readout said the president told Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians. Biden told Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to reach a deal that would include a return of the hostages being held in Gaza.

"The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people," the White House added. "President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats."

This moment, after Israels killing of seven aid workers for World Central Kitchen, one of the U.S. officials said, is an inflection point in this war.

During the call, which a senior Biden administration official said lasted for about 30 minutes, Netanyahu reiterated his statement that Israel didn't deliberately kill the aid workers on Monday, Kirby said.

Netanyahu also spent Thursday meeting with a Republican congressional delegation in Jerusalem, which was organized by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, and discussed threats from Iran at an Israeli security cabinet meeting.

Republicans signaled opposition to the possibility of conditioning aid to Israel, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., writing on X on Thursday night that Biden "should not undercut our ally amidst an existential threat by conditioning our support."

The presidents ultimatums should be going to Hamas, not Israel," he added.

The call between the leaders was arranged after the strike on the aid workers occurred, a U.S. official said, describing Biden as being "very angry" about the incident.

The president's anger is "indicative of the broader problem of how the Israelis are conducting their operations, for either not passing on to their military the deconfliction details from World Central Kitchen, or theyre being received and ignored, the official said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who was traveling to North Carolina on Thursday, also listened to the call.

The seven workers killed on Monday included a dual U.S.-Canada citizen, according to chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen. Biden called Andres "to express that he's heartbroken" over their deaths, the White House said on Tuesday.

Israel said it didn't intend to target and kill the humanitarian aid workers, but the charity said that its team had coordinated its movements with the Israel Defense Forces and that they were traveling in a deconflicted zone in vehicles that included two armored cars branded with the World Central Kitchen logo.

After the attack, the nonprofit organization said it was immediately pausing operations in the region.

Biden and Netanyahu last spoke by phone on March 18. In that call, Biden warned the Israeli leader against authorizing a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Top U.S. and Israeli officials held a virtual meeting Monday to discuss Israel's plans for a possible ground invasion of the city, which grew contentious after the Americans pushed back on Israels proposal to evacuate Palestinian civilians sheltering there, two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official familiar with the meeting said.

Israel proposed moving 1.4 million civilians from Rafah into tents north of the city, but the plan didn't include addressing sanitation, food and water needs or sourcing for most of the tents, the officials said.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close Biden ally, came out for the first time Thursday in support of putting conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel if it decides to go into Rafah without making provisions to protect civilians or provide humanitarian aid. I think were at that point, he said in an interview on CNN.

In a statement Thursday, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said the U.S. should stop funding Israel's military operation in Gaza.

The Biden administration "has a responsibility to stop financing the Netanyahu governments strategy, which has so disproportionately killed civilians, aid workers, and medical personnel, used food as a weapon, and that has no vision to establish a viable, independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, he said.

Meanwhile, Biden met with members of the Muslim community at the White House on Tuesday. One of the participants, Salima Suswell, the founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, told NBC News that the president told the group that first lady Jill Biden has been privately urging him to end the war between Israel and Hamas.

Biden made the remark after a doctor who had been treating injured people in Gaza told the president that his wife didnt want him to join the meeting. Biden shared that he could relate and that the first lady had told him, Stop it, stop it now, Suswell said. The New York Times first reported the comments.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
President Biden spoke Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their first conversation since an Israeli drone strike killed several humanitarian workers in Gaza.

The White House said the two held a call to discuss the latest developments in Israel and Gaza. A readout of the call was expected to follow.

The conversation was expected to be tense in the aftermath of the strike that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen, a charity group that was working to distribute food in Gaza.

Biden and other White House officials have expressed outrage over the strike, which was the latest instance of humanitarian workers or civilians being killed in Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinians have died since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, leading to increasing outcry from activists and some Democrats to put conditions on U.S. military aid for Israel.

But White House officials have signaled there will be no change to their policy toward Israel in the wake of the latest incident.

Theyre still under a viable threat of Hamas, national security communications adviser John Kirby said Tuesday. Were still going to make sure they can defend themselves and the 7th of October doesnt happen again. That doesnt mean that its a free pass that we look the other way when something like this happens.

Updated at 1:32 p.m.

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Recently, Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle visited young patients at Children's Hospital Los Angeles to support their Make March Matter fundraising campaign. Photos and videos from the event have been posted online, drawing attention to the Duchess of Sussex's appearance, or rather her image, which has suffered some "trauma."

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Thus, the royal daughter-in-law's designer dress apparently split at the seams, creating a small but quite noticeable hole on the side. The relevant footage was posted on the Children's Hospital LA page on X (formerly Twitter).

Meghan looked delicate and sophisticated at the same time in a $3,400 (over 133 thousand hryvnias) silk-chiffon Landscape shirt dress by Oscar de la Renta. The celebrity has appeared in public in this outfit before.

The dress formed a harmonious ensemble with elegant black pointed heels by Aquazurra for $ 748 (over 29 thousand hryvnias). The look was complemented by a gold Tank Francaise watch by Cartier worth about $31,500 (1.2 million hryvnias) and a diamond bracelet by Ariel Gordon for $5,500 (about 216 thousand hryvnias).

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However, no matter how stylish and harmonious the Duchess's outfit is, the web is all about the fashion embarrassment with her dress. A hole has formed on the side in the waist area. Many Internet users showed some cruelty when they began to ridicule Prince Harry's wife in an attempt to shame her.

"Really? And no one from the team told her? It's shame", "Didn't she check the dress before putting it on? A quick stitch could have fixed it," critics left.

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Some commenters decided to speculate what happened to Meghan's rather expensive designer piece. They wrote: "I think it's more of a zipper problem than a hole. Perhaps she didn't notice that the zipper was not fully zipped, or it rolled down because it was too tightly zipped", "I think the shirt came apart at the seam".

It should be added that in the hospital Meghan Markle read her favorite children's books to the young patients: "Rosie the Riveter, Pete the Cat, and I Saw a Cat. After the reading, with interactive interludes, the Duchess hugged the children, talked to them, as well as to the library staff, and took memorable photos with everyone.

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Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Following Israels killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate actions regarding U.S. demands for Israel to take concrete steps to address the humanitarian crisis in the besieged region.

According to a White House readout of a Thursday phone call between Biden and Netanyahu, the president emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.

He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, the readout continued, adding that Biden underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.

The call, which lasted over 30 minutes, was tense and challenging, a source familiar told Axios.

.@SecBlinken: "President Biden spoke a short while ago with Prime Minister Netanyahuthe president emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable." pic.twitter.com/LcXO98A429  CSPAN (@cspan) April 4, 2024

The call is the closest Biden has come to placing conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel, which has been bombarding Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. The U.S. has done little to temper Israels onslaught on the region, which has led to tens of thousands of deaths and imminent famine conditions through the restriction of aid shipments.

While Biden stated earlier this week that he was outraged and heartbroken over the deaths of the aid workers  all of whom were working with the humanitarian aid group World Central Kitchen (WCK) and one of whom was an American citizen  his administration has been sharply criticized for not backing up his condemnation of the killings with actionable policy.

On April 1, the day of the killings, three vehicles marked with WCK logos and carrying organization staffers were targeted by multiple Israeli Defense Force airstrikes. That same day, the Biden administration approved the sale of thousands more bombs and munitions to the Israeli military.

On Thursday, WCK called for an independent investigation into the airstrikes, writing in a statement that Isreald characterization of the attacks as a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants, and something that happens in war, was insufficient justification for the targeting of a humanitarian mission that had cleared its presence in Gaza with the Israeli government.

We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law, the group wrote.

President Biden and his administration have not addressed whether his administration will seek to support World Central Kitchens request for an independent investigation into the incident.

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WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden issued an ultimatum to Israel that U.S. support in the Gaza war depends on "immediate" steps to protect civilians and aid workers, the White House said Thursday.

Within hours of a tense call between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government said it would take new measures to increase aid to the devastated coastal enclave, including opening the Erez crossing from Israel into northern Gaza and the Ashdod port, and increasing aid deliveries from Jordan.

It was unclear if those steps would satisfy Biden. A National Security Council spokeswoman said Thursday night the steps "must now be fully and rapidly implemented."

"As the president said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers," spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

More: Death of Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen crew marks a new low in Gaza war, aid workers say

Biden spoke with Netanyahu three days after a team from celebrity chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen aid group were killed in an Israeli drone strike in northern Gaza.

"President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable," the White House said in a statement earlier Thursday. "He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers."

Biden "made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps," the statement said. On Friday, the Israeli military said it had fired two officers and reprimanded others for the World Central Kitchen drone strike.

Veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Biden had given Netanyahu a clear ultimatum. "The president, in effect, is saying meet these humanitarian needs or I will have no choice but to condition (military) assistance," Ross said.

More: Israeli military fires officers for their roles in strikes that killed 7 aid workers

A Palestinian youth inspects a damaged apartment following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 4, 2024.

Monday's drone strike on the World Central Kitchen team marked the first time foreign aid workers, including one American citizen, have been killed in the six-month Israel-Hamas war, prompting a swift apology from Netanyahu and the Israeli military, and a condolence phone call by Biden to Andres.

The deaths of foreign humanitarians, coupled with Andres' celebrity status and popularity in Washington, appears to have shaken Biden administration at a time when surveys show that a majority of Americans no longer support Israel's war against Hamas.

"If we don't see the changes we need to see, there will be a change in our policy," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.

More: Who is Jose Andres? What to know about WCK and deadly airstrike in Gaza

A car used by US-based aid group World Central Kitchen that was hit by an Israeli strike the previous day in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 2, 2024.

"In terms of concrete steps, what we are looking to see and hope to see here in the coming hours and days is a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance getting in and additional crossings opened up," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier Thursday.

It wasn't clear what exactly the administration was threatening Israel with if it doesn't change its conduct in Gaza, but Biden's threat drew a swift reaction from some supporters of Israel in Congress.

"In this war against Hamas  no conditions for Israel," Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., wrote on social media.

"Instead of attacking our ally, Joe Biden should demand Hamas release the hostages," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on X, the former Twitter.

More: Joe Biden expresses outrage over deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza

Biden pushes cease-fire and hostage release

The White House said Biden had pushed Netanyahu to conclude long-stalemated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas.

The president "underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home," the statement said.

Hamas holds more than 100 hostages taken in a stunning Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that killed 1,200. More than 32,000 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, as Israeli forces seek to root out the Islamist militant movement.

Earlier on Thursday, an unnamed senior Hamas leader told Reuters that the group had rejected cease-fire proposals by regional diplomats.

Celebrity chef Jose Andres (C) joins Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) (L) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) for an interview following a meeting about getting humanitarian aid to Gaza at the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC.

"The Hamas leadership informed the Egyptian and Qatari mediators that what is being offered cannot be accepted, as it is a continuation of the stubborn Israeli position," the leader told Reuters.

Israel last month called Hamas' cease-fire demands "delusional."

Last month, the U.S. abstained on a U.N. Security Council resolution calling an immediate cease-fire and hostage release.

Humanitarian bloodbath

More than 200 aid workers, the vast majority of them Palestinians, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire since the beginning of the war, officials say.

"This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed," Biden said in the statement. "This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult  because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians."

Biden said he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the attack, which included one American, in a statement Tuesday.

Relief and security team members of World Central Kitchen (Top L To R) Australian Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, Polish Damian Sobol, British James Kirby, Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, (bottom L to R) British James (Jim) Henderson, British John Chapman, and US-Canadian Jacob Flickinger, at undisclosed locations.

Andres said Wednesday that Israeli forces had targeted a World Central Kitchen convoy "systematically, car by car," after the team delivered tons of food aid to a warehouse in central Gaza.

On the very same day of the airstrikes which killed the aid workers, the Biden administration reportedly signed off on shipment of thousands more bombs to Israel, an attack that has drawn outrage around the world.

Three U.S. officials told the Washington Post the State Department approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK82 500-pound bombs, over 1,000 small-diameter bombs and fuses for MK80 bombs. All the weapons transfers had been authorized by Congress years before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that ignited the current war in Gaza, said the U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive arms deals.

'Constant fear' in Gaza

Speaking by phone from Rafah, on Gaza's border with Egypt, one humanitarian official told USA TODAY that only an end to the fighting would ensure an end to civilian and air worker deaths.

"A change in Israel's rules of engagement will mitigate some of the civilian toll, but the only way to guarantee the safety of civilians and humanitarians is through a permanent cease-fire," said Federico Dessi, the Middle East regional director for the aid group Humanity and Inclusion.

"People are in constant fear," Dessi said. "There is nowhere safe in Gaza. The threat of an offensive in Rafah is dangling over their heads."

Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY; Reuters.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden to Netanyahu: Israel needs concrete way to protect civilians
President Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that future US policy towards Israel will be determined by whether its government takes action to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza.

The warning came in their first telephone conversation since Israel Defense Force drones fired three missiles into a World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

In a readout of the call, the White House said Mr Biden told the Israeli leader that the strike on aid workers and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza were both unacceptable and made clear to Mr Netanyahu that US policy will hinge on whether his government can announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, the White House said.

The White House also noted that Mr Biden underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians and urged Mr Netanyahu to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay so hostages held by Hamas can be returned home.

Speaking to reporters at the daily White House press briefing, national security communications adviser John Kirby declined to go into detail about any possible future policy decisions, but stressed that the US wants to see some real changes on the Israeli side that go beyond merely making statements about changes.

Its not just about the announcement of concrete steps and changes in their policies, but its the execution of those announcements and those decisions and implementing them as we obviously will watch closely and monitor how they do on the commitments that they make, he said.

If theres no changes to their policy and their approaches, then theres going to have to be changes to ours, he said.

Mr Kirby said its clear that there are things that need to be done by the Israeli government because there are too many civilians being killed and the risk to aid workers is unacceptable, but he stressed that the US will look to see what actions Israel takes before taking any further actions itself.

He also told reporters that the call was very direct, very businesslike, very professional on both sides and said Mr Biden had felt strongly that it was time to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu about his concerns.

The president made clear that absent changes in the protection of civilians on the ground, absent changes to the volume of humanitarian assistance getting in, absent any movement on a ceasefire that will allow hostages to get out and more aid to get in, absent ... a calming down, that he will have to reconsider his own policy choices with respect to Gaza.

The call between the two leaders, their first interaction since the Israeli strike killed seven aid workers, including one American, comes as Mr Biden faces increasing pressure from a growing chorus of voices who are fed up with what they perceive as a callous refusal to rein in Israeli violations of international humanitarian law.

There have been calls for the American president to back a complete ceasefire in Gaza since the first weeks of Israels military response to the 7 October terrorist attacks by Hamas, but those insistent voices were once limited to the leftward flanks of his party and peace activists who could be dismissed as cranks by the experienced foreign policy hands in the Biden administration and ignored by most Democrats in Congress.

But as Israel has continued to carry out operations in protected facilities such as hospitals and has appeared to repeatedly target aid workers even as civilian protesters have blocked food deliveries from entering Gaza, the calls for Mr Biden to make full use of Americas leverage against its longtime ally have grown to encompass a diverse cross-section of the Democratic base, including prominent Jewish lawmakers such as Vermonts Senator Bernie Sanders.

Mr Bidens warning to Mr Netanyahu comes just days after he issued a statement saying he was outraged and heartbroken over the strike on the World Central Kitchen workers.

The statement, made public late on Tuesday, contained what might be the strongest criticism of Israel expressed over his half-century in public life.

In it, Mr Biden said incidents like the strike on the convoy by Israeli Defence Forces should not happen and said Israel has not done enough to protect civilians or aid workers during the six-month-old war against Hamas.

This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult  because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians, he said.

For his part, Mr Kirby denied that the presidents warning to Mr Netanyahu meant any change in what he described as Americas ironclad support for Israeli self-defence. Instead, he stressed to reporters that it reflects changes to the humanitarian situation after half a year of war.

Were talking about a conflict here, which is dang near at six months here this weekend ... and it has changed over time, he said. The presidents message today was we need to see some changes in the way Israel is dealing with that threat.

The threat that Mr Biden could end his administrations policy of backing Israel without conditions in its conflict with Hamas could, if carried out, be a first step towards healing a political wound that has imperiled his re-election bid.

His refusal to more loudly call for a ceasefire or criticise Israels handling of the war has started to cost him support from Arab-American and other pro-ceasefire voters who, if they stay home on Election Day, could deny him enough votes in key states such as Michigan to allow former president Donald Trump  Mr Bidens presumed Republican opponent  to return to the White House next year.

White House officials and staffers with Mr Bidens 2024 campaign have at times had to closely guard the locations of his public appearances because his speeches have routinely been interrupted by protesters. And Arab-American and Muslim leaders who backed him against Mr Trump in 2020 have soured on him as the civilian death toll in Gaza has continued to grow.

Though he has continued to be steadfast in his support for Israel and has sought to draw distinctions between the Israeli state and the Likud-led Israeli government, in the wake of the attack on the World Central Kitchen aid workers Mr Biden has reportedly been angry and increasingly frustrated with Mr Netanyahu, and according to a source who spoke to CNN ahead of the call, the president was ready to express those frustrations with his Israeli counterpart.

Yet even as Mr Bidens aides have privately communicated to reporters that his patience with Mr Netanyahu may be running thin, administration officials have  until now  steadfastly refused to even entertain the possibility of conditioning aid to Israel on whether aid to Palestinians can get into the war zone and aid workers can do their work unmolested by Israeli fire.

Under questioning from The Independent earlier this week, Mr Kirby stressed that the administration would continue to make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself and declined to say whether Mr Biden had considered putting any conditions on future military aid to Israel.

No country should have to live next door to a threat that is truly genocidal as Hamas has been, Mr Kirby said on Wednesday. So, while we make no bones about the fact that we have certain issues about some of the way things are being done, we also make no bones about the fact that Israel is going to continue to have American support for the fight that theyre in to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

Mr Kirby and other top officials have also dismissed questions over whether Israel is in compliance with a US statute known as the Leahy Law, which bars American military aid from going to countries known to commit gross violations of human rights.

The author of that legislation, former Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, was asked by The Independent last month if US support for Israels military complies with that law.

He replied: No. Is that succinct enough for you?

Continuing, he said the number of civilians who are being injured or killed by US paid armaments indicated a clear violation of the law.

But multiple former US officials whove spoken to The Independent in recent days say Mr Biden is unlikely to change his mind about supporting Israel militarily. They also warn that the presidents decades-long and deeply held personal connection to Israel, however sincere, has had the effect of rendering US laws and regulations concerning US arms sales essentially toothless.

Theres no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional, said Brian Finucane, who worked for a decade in the office of the legal adviser at the State Department advising on arms transfers and the laws of war.

That means they dont want to hear inconvenient legal conclusions, he said.

Mr Finucane also told The Independent that senior administration officials he had spoken to had been met with a shrug by the US intelligence community when they quizzed them about mass civilian casualty incidents caused by Israeli bombing, because its no ones job in the US intelligence community, apparently, to actually investigate these things.

Charles Blaha, former director of the State Departments Office of Security and Human Rights, which regulates weapons transfers, said investigations into breaches of humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict  if they are taking place at all  are likely not being taken seriously.

My sense is that people get patted on the head and say, this is all very interesting, But I think the president is the decider here, he said.

But the sheer horror of the Israeli attack on the aid workers may end up forcing Mr Bidens hand due to the high-profile nature of the killings as well as WCK founder Jose Andres personal connection to the president, with whom he spoke on Tuesday.

Russell Honore, a retired US Army Lieutenant General who oversaw multiple high-profile humanitarian operations during his decades-long career, told The Independent in a phone interview that the US must demand more accountability from Israel in the wake of the airstrike on the World Central Kitchen aid workers.

He explained that the investigation Israels government has pledged to undertake into the strike must shed light on the intelligence used to plan the strike,

What was that intelligence they were using that told them that this was a potential Hamas target, as opposed to what had been coordinated through World Central Kitchen? Whatever that coordination cell is, was it done locally? Or was it done at a central command centre in Tel Aviv  or a regional command centre? Thats the question thats got to be answered. And then some commander has got to stand up and say: My team did it, because it takes a commander to say shoot,  he said.

Thats the level of accountability we got to have. And thats the answer they owe the world, and theyre not gonna be able to bulls*** their way out of this.

Gen Honore also said it appears to him as if the Israel Defense Forces are operating with attitude of revenge after the shock of the 7 October attacks, particularly in light of how Israeli army units were not on station along the Gaza border because of Mr Netanyahus priorities.

They didnt listen to their own intelligence and they were totally embarrassed by what happened on October 7. Weve seen the reports that they were told that they were planning to get attacked, and then disregarded the intelligence in that case, and they were focused on the West Bank doing some political s*** behind what Netanyahu wanted them to do. That army was not focused on Hamas, and theyve been in a fit of revenge since, bottom up, he said.

He added that if the US were enforcing the Leahy Law fairly, Israel would have already been barred from receiving US defence aid, and said Mr Biden needs to communicate to Mr Netanyahu that he is ready to enforce that law in the wake of what Mr Andres called an intentional attack on his aid workers.

If its intentional, and you are causing atrocities, then thats a violation of the Leahy Law, which means we cant sell you weapons. And we need to f***ing remind them of that, he said. You lost 1,400 on the seventh of October, but it does not give you impunity to shoot whoever the f*** you want, when you want.
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US support for his war in Gaza depends on new steps to protect civilians, a shift in position for the American leader who has faced increased pressure to take a harder line against Israel amid mounting deaths.

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The warning, delivered in a Thursday phone call between the two leaders, signaled that Biden is toughening his stance after an Israeli strike that killed seven people delivering food to displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Biden called the incident unacceptable, according to a White House description of the conversation.

Hours later, the prime ministers office announced that the countrys security cabinet had authorized action to bolster assistance and prevent a humanitarian crisis.

Israel will allow the temporary delivery of aid to Gaza through the Ashdod and Erez checkpoints in Israel, according to a statement from Netanyahus office, which added that more Jordanian aid could flow through a crossing at Kerem Shalom. The decision, according to the statement, would also ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.

Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said We welcome the steps announced by the Israeli government tonight at the presidents request following his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The prime ministers office has not released an account of the Biden-Netanyahu call, which came amid heightened tensions between the two men.

Biden said Israel must announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a statement earlier Thursday. Biden said an immediate cease-fire is necessary to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged Netanyahu to secure a deal in long-running, indirect negotiations with Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union.

He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps, according to the statement. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.

Biden did not specify when and how he might shift his approach to the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its sixth month and has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths. But his statement is the closest he has come to placing new requirements on US support for Israels military operations.

Earlier Thursday, Netanyahu vowed to press on with its war effort.

White House spokesman John Kirby declined to elaborate on what steps the US would take if Israel does not do more to protect civilians, including if Biden would withhold military assistance.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed during a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels that if we dont see the changes we need to see, therell be changes in our policy. He did not detail the nature of those potential changes.

With American officials growing impatient, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns will travel to Cairo this weekend for talks with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials, according to Axios. He plans to discuss efforts to free hostages held by Hamas, Axios said.

Read More: Gaza, Iran Strikes Show Limits of Bidens Influence on Israel

The US for weeks has urged Netanyahu to curb civilian deaths and has objected to a plan to invade the southern enclave of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians fled during Israels war with Hamas.

This weeks air strike on a convoy of workers from World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief group founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, signaled a breaking point for the White House.

Kirby said Thursdays call, which he said lasted about 30 minutes and described as direct and businesslike, was scheduled in response to the bombing. Biden was shaken by the attack that killed the aid workers and felt strongly it was time to talk to Netanyahu, the spokesman said. It was their first call since mid-March.

Israel has said the strike inadvertently hit the aid workers and is conducting an investigation to determine how the strike occurred. Kirby said that probe is close to complete.

The president is facing mounting political pressure from progressives, as well as Arab- and Muslim-Americans, who object to his support for Israels war effort. The aid-worker attack prompted Democrats to issue fresh calls for placing conditions on American military backing for Israel.

Israels conduct of the war has also drawn criticism from Republican Donald Trump, who vocally supported Netanyahu during his presidency.

Trump in a Thursday interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Israel had to finish the war quickly and that it is losing the PR war, while declining to answer whether he still remains 100% behind Israel.

Youve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy. And Im not sure that Im loving the way theyre doing it, because youve got to have victory, he said. They shouldnt be releasing tapes like that. Theyre doing, thats why theyre losing the PR war.

--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron, Courtney McBride and Skylar Woodhouse.

(Updates with Burns, in 13th paragraph. An earlier version corrected the spelling of the Israeli leaders name in the headline.)

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President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Thursday that the United States will determine its future Gaza policies based on Israel taking immediate and concrete steps to address civilian harm and the safety of aid workers.

He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a statement. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

Biden added that the entire humanitarian situation in Gaza and strikes on aid workers are unacceptable.

The warning to Israel comes just days after Israel hit an aid convoy of World Central Kitchen aid workers, killing seven, including an American-Canadian citizen. The aid workers were delivering food in Gaza.

American Father Killed in Israeli Strike Was About to Leave Gaza

The Biden administration has repeatedly called on Israel to better protect civilians and allow aid to flow into the enclave, where tens of thousands have been killed since the start of the war in October. The warning comes after Biden said he was outraged by the deaths of the World Central Kitchen aid workers.

Incidents like yesterdays simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians, Biden said on Tuesday of the attack. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficultbecause Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.

The White House expects to see changes from Israel in the coming hours and days, White House National Security Council Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters Thursday.

If we dont see changes from their side, there will have to be changes on our side, Kirby said.

Israel, which has claimed the incident was a mistake, has initiated an investigation into the attack on the aid convoy.

But there are indications the attack was not just a fluke. Jose Andres, the celebrity chef and founder of World Central Kitchen, has called out the attack for hitting the aid group systematically, car by car.

This was not just a bad luck situation where, 'Oops, we dropped a bomb in the wrong place,' he told Reuters, adding that World Central Kitchen had alerted the IDF of the location of the convoy and had plastered humanitarian aid signs on the roof of the convoy.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has since said in a statement that Israel will get to the bottom of this and we will share our findings transparently.

An investigation has been handed over to Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday, Hagari said, according to Reuters.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A voter goes through their California primary ballot at a quiet polling station in Boyle Heights on last month's Super Tuesday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Although Haley Fox, 30, frequently chats politics with friends and family, she said, the moment the phrase election 2024 comes up she feels her body fill with dread.

There hasnt been anything that has represented me for a really long time, said Fox, a San Diego-based photographer. So, like, 2024, just seeing what we have to choose from  it just feels so bleak.

For Fox and many other Americans, election-year ennui is setting in. President Biden and former President Trump became their parties' presumptive nominees weeks ago, capping one of the shortest primary seasons in U.S. history and beginning the long runway to the general election.

It's essentially two incumbents running against each other, is how it feels, said Jared Sichel, a GOP strategist and co-founder of the Costa Mesa-based Republican marketing firm Winning Tuesday. It's kind of just Groundhog Day for a lot of people.

Voters who dont want either option  double haters, as theyre dubbed  make up about 15% of the electorate, according to polling last month from USA Today and Suffolk University. Other polls show their share to be closer to one-fifth of the electorate. In a neck-and-neck race between Trump and Biden, the bloc will be crucial in November.

But whether they will turn out to vote is the million-dollar question. Most Californians are not looking forward to voting for president this year, according to a February report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Although 84% of Californians agreed that the 2024 election is "very important," fewer than 4 in 10 said they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting for president. Democrats are less enthused than Republicans, and independents are more apathetic than either party, the study found.

Read more: Trump could gut abortion access in California if elected. Here's how

The palpable apathy among voters has played out in low turnout in primaries across the country. Elections in presidential years typically get a boost from all of the national media attention. But the Washington Post found that just 10% of voters nationwide had cast their ballots in primaries through mid-March.

California saw just 34% of registered voters cast ballots on Super Tuesday, according to the secretary of state  the second-lowest presidential year primary turnout in the state's history. (Just 31% of the state's registered voters cast primary ballots in 2012, then-President Obamas reelection year.)

Despite having more options for voting than ever, Los Angeles County was among the five California counties with the lowest voter turnouts in the March 5 primary, with 29% of registered voters casting ballots, the secretary of state reported. The low turnout came despite California moving its primary day to Super Tuesday, to align with 14 other states and American Samoa and encourage more voters to participate.

The Biden campaign, which was mostly quiet through Super Tuesday, launched its big push after the presidents State of the Union address two days later. His fiery speech, which pundits widely labeled as his way to fight against the narrative that he's too old at 81 for another four years as president, kicked off a multiweek tour through key swing states.

Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff made stops in Nevada, Arizona and even California. Biden and his surrogates headlined multiple fundraisers, racking up more cash to add to the campaigns burgeoning coffer of $155 million, according to the latest finance reports. His financing far outpaces the $42 million that Trumps campaign had at the end of February.

The stakes of this election couldnt be higher, and our campaign is investing our historic resources in reaching voters where they are, earning every vote, and making sure the American people know how much is on the line this November," senior Biden campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

"As Donald Trump promises to be a dictator on day one, rip away womens freedom to choose, and rig the economy for himself and his wealthy friends at the expense of the middle class," she continued, "its clear his toxic agenda and lack of resources mean hes got nothing to win over the voters who will decide this election.

Trump, meanwhile, has been busy with court appearances for his multimillion-dollar civil fraud judgment and preparations for the first of his four criminal trials, scheduled for April 15. He has also continued to be active on Truth Social, his social media platform, blasting Biden and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

"The more that Trump is able to stay out of the news, or at least [if] what he's saying is focused on Biden, he will be able to probably turn out some of the more independent voters," Sichel said. "I think the Biden campaign's turnout is much more going to be based on alarm about Trump than excitement about Biden."

But while the dueling campaigns fight for relevance among apathetic voters, their messages are not always cutting through the noise.

Its the boy who cried wolf, Fox said. OK, here we go again  democracy is at stake.

That was the theme of the campaign in 2020 ... battling for the soul of the nation, said Mark Gonzalez, chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. Every time we say this, it's the most important election of our lifetime. But this one, in particular, is showcasing in [Trumps] presidency all of the damage he had done.

The county parties share a rare moment of unity in their messaging to encourage turnout and combat apathy: Vote local.

The polling station at the Boyle Heights Senior Center was nearly empty at times on Super Tuesday amid voter apathy over the 2024 election. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Our message as a county party is to say there is no election more important than that for city council, board of supervisors, state Assembly and state Senate, said Roxanne Hoge, a volunteer for the Republican Party of Los Angeles County.

Hoges challenge is making disgruntled Republicans living in majority-Democratic Los Angeles County understand that the best way to channel their frustration is through voting.

You miss 100% of the shots you dont take. So dont complain. You know things arent great, Hoge said. You got a ballot; youll get one in October  turn it in.

Breanne Deam, 34, didnt vote in 2020 or 2016. And though the Yucaipa resident said she complains about politics with friends and family members regularly, she said shes likely not to vote again this year.

I know voting makes a difference. I think it does, said Deam, an independent. But those are just not my candidates.

Biden hasn't delivered on his campaign promises, Deam said, and she worries about his age. Trump brings too much baggage to please enough voters, she added, making this election feel particularly tense. She finds supporters of both candidates angry, and thinks America needs a candidate who can unite voters.

It feels like a divorce. It seems like one is the mom and one's the dad and we're the kid, Deam said. At the end of the day, they don't care about anyone but themselves.

Fox, the San Diego photographer, voted unenthusiastically for Biden in 2020, deeming him a better choice than Trump. But she has watched in dismay his handling of the Israel-Palestinian crisis.

For somebody whose grandparents emigrated here from Palestine, I cannot vote for Biden, she said.

But Trump is also a no-go for the registered Democrat  and she couldnt remember the name of the third-party candidate who had once piqued her interest. (She later recalled that it was Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.)

Fox was once an enthusiastic follower of politics, tuning in to presidential election debates and keeping up with current events. Even though she wants to stay informed, Fox said, she has taken a step back from keeping up with the daily rigmarole of politics.

Now it's become something that feels like this really depressing chore, Fox said. Like, 'Well, I guess I'm gonna figure out what's going on for the election that I don't want to vote in.'

The most she can do now, she said, is consume a few videos or op-eds about the Middle East conflict before tuning out and playing some easygoing TikTok videos to lighten the mood.

But the road from primaries to Novembers general election is long, and much can change over the next seven months.

"I don't know how much the candidates or the campaigns are going to be able to drive turnout as much as events that are outside of their control," said Sichel, the Republican strategist. "Because, you know, who doesn't already know where they stand on Trump and Biden?"

When Lynne, a 70-year-old voter in Long Beach who declined to give her last name, cast her ballot on Super Tuesday, she encouraged her fellow voters to stay focused.

We cant think about the president so much; well go crazy, Lynne said. Just focus on your own little part of the world. Make your own little part of the world better.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Biden warns Netanyahu that US support for war is not guaranteed

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his government must do more to minimize the harm to civilians in Gaza and protect aid workers if Israel wants Washington's continued support for the war against Hamas, the White House said.

Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone on Thursday as outrage built over an Israeli airstrike earlier this week that killed seven workers with the international food charity World Central Kitchen in Gaza.

"President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable," said a White House statement.

"He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers."

The White House said Biden warned Netanyahu that "US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps."

Biden also called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the six-month-old war.

They also discussed Iranian threats toward Israel, according to the White House.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks during a meeting with a Republican US Congressional delegation at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Amos Ben-Gershon/GPO/dpa
Biden warns Netanyahu that US support for war is not guaranteed

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks during a meeting with a Republican US Congressional delegation at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Amos Ben-Gershon/GPO/dpa

US President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his government must do more to minimize the harm to civilians in Gaza and protect aid workers if Israel wants Washington's continued support for the war against Hamas, the White House said.

Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone on Thursday as outrage built over an Israeli airstrike earlier this week that killed seven workers with the international food charity World Central Kitchen.

"President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable," said a White House statement.

"He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers."

The White House said Biden warned Netanyahu that "US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps."

Biden also called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the six-month-old war in Gaza, which began with Palestinian militant group Hamas storming across the border and massacring some 1,200 people. More than 200 others were taken to Gaza as hostages, with dozens still held captive.

Weeks of negotiations - brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt - with Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and the release of the Israeli hostages have failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Much of Gaza lies in ruins as warnings grow of famine in the isolated Palestinian territory, where little food and aid is arriving. The Hamas-run Health Ministry puts the death toll at over 33,000.

World Central Kitchen (WCK), which was key player in distributing food to Gazans, said earlier Thursday that its aid convoy was deliberately "targeted" by Israel, rebuffing Israeli statements that it was a tragic, but mistaken, attack.

"This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles," WCK chief executive officer Erin Gore and executive co-chairman Javier Garcia said in a joint statement.

"All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission."

Seven of the charity's employees were killed on Monday as they were returning from a Gaza food delivery. Their deaths provoked international fury and condemnation, even from traditionally close allies like the United States, Britain and the European Union.

Among those killed were three Britons, one Australian, one Polish national, a US-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian man.

WCK founder Jose Andres, a well-known chef based in the US, told Israel's Channel 12 late Wednesday that the airstrike was a "direct attack" on the humanitarian workers and that Israeli forces had systematically gone after the clearly marked aid vehicles.

The non-profit, which delivers meals to areas impacted by conflict and natural disaster, is demanding "an independent, third-party investigation" into how events unfolded and whether international law was violated.

WCK halted its activities in Gaza after the attack.

Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Herzi Halevi said earlier this week that the workers were killed due to "misidentification" issue, citing Israel's own preliminary investigation. He said a "grave mistake" had been made.

Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog have both apologized to World Central Kitchen, but that has done little to quell the anger.

During their phone call, the White House said Biden and Netanyahu also discussed Iranian threats toward Israel.

US President Joe Biden attends the 48th G7 Summit. Peter Kneffel/dpa
The feline was originally seen on a doorbell camera March 26

South San Francisco Police Department; Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/Getty A large house cat spotted in San Francisco (left) and a mountain lion (right)

A large feline spotted roaming around yards in San Francisco isn't a mountain lion as originally suspected, police said.

In an Instagram update posted on March 28, the South San Francisco Police Department (SSFPD) confirmed that the animal originally seen on a doorbell camera located at the 200 block of Mansfield Drive on March 26 was actually a large cat  as in a large house cat, and not a mountain lion as first suspected.

"We were able to confirm the Big Cat was not a mountain lion," the SSFPD said.

According to the SSFPD, police reported to the residential area and "were unable to locate this furry guy." They added that "there were no additional sightings" and said "there is no potential threat for the neighborhood."



Related: Baby Hedgehog Rescued by 'Well-Meaning' Woman Turns Out to Be a Pom-Pom

In a Facebook post, police shared safety tips with patrons in the event that they encountered unknown wildlife in their neighborhood. "Wed like to remind our residents to avoid mountain lions, even at a distance a brief glimpse should be cause for alarm," the police said. "If confronted with a mountain lion, make your presence known; make noise, try to make yourself appear bigger & back away slowly."

The police also warned pet owners, "Do not leave your domestic pets [SIC] food outside, pets can attract mountain lions into developed areas such as this backyard."

"Report any mountain lion encounter or incident to your local Police Department, local Ranger District or Fish and Wildlife Office," the authorities added.

It's unclear whether the cat was feral or a domesticated pet.

Related: Dog Survives Mountain Lion Attack in California Backyard  Watch!

The sighting was reported to the SSFPD a few days after a mountain lion killed a man in Georgetown, California in the first fatal mountain lion attack in the state in 20 years, per a statement shared by the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office on March 24.

A 21-year-old man was killed and his 18-year old brother was injured when they were attacked by the mountain lion while in a remote area of Georgetown, the statement said.

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The injured man was separated from his brother during the attack, but the police located the deceased when they arrived in the area and "observed a crouched mountain lion next to a subject on the ground."

"Deputies discharged their firearms scaring the mountain lion off so they could render aid. Unfortunately, the male subject was deceased," the statement said.



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Read the original article on People.
On April 3, Queen Mary of Denmark returned to her royal duties after an Easter vacation with King Frederik and their four children. Wearing an elegant blue outfit, the royal went out in public to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the National Guard.

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However, on the night before the celebration, a tragedy struck: a female soldier on night duty in the park died of cardiac arrest, HELLO reports. This was the explanation for the raised flag over the royal mansion, as experts had previously suggested that it was due to a family drama.

The royal flag is only flown when the king, queen, or crown prince are at home, prompting royal fans to think that the family vacation did not go as planned.

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Queen Margrethe's regent's flag was also flying, leading many to assume that either Queen Mary or her son Prince Christian was at home, as there would have been no need for the regent to attend if King Frederick had been present.

The main topic for gossip was the photo of the king with Mexican socialite Genoveva Cazanova, which the media published in October 2023. The pictures of the couple enjoying a late-night walk in Madrid infuriated Maria's fans.

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When the Queen took to the podium to address the military, she paid tribute to the troops, saying: "For 75 years, the National Guard has created security for Danes. Before we start the celebration, I would also like to express my deepest condolences to the family of the victims who died last night." A minute of silence was then observed.

Mary is closely associated with the National Guard, as she received military training in the regiment in 2008. In 2015, the Queen was promoted to first lieutenant, in 2019 she became a captain, and in 2023  an honorary major.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!

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The family that once ran Fishermans Wharf restaurant in east Biloxi owns the property from the waterfront to U.S. 90, the state Supreme Court has decided in a contentious lawsuit that started more than 20 years ago and has broader implications for the state, and for waterfront property owners in the city.

The Secretary of States Office claimed that what is known as the Aldrich property, about one acre that runs from the waterfront to U.S. 90, is tidelands the state holds in trust for the public.

Secretary of State Michael Watson had appealed Chancery Court Judge James Persons decision that the land belonged to the Aldriches. Tidelands are comprised of properties subject to the ebb and flow of the tides that the state holds in trust for the public on the Mississippi Sound and coastal bays.

But the Supreme Court found that the Aldriches could trace the lands title back to the 1784 Spanish Land grant. The tidelands were never owned by the U.S. government or passed to the state, the court found.

Aldrich has optioned his land as part of a proposed casino development. But the deal would be dead under proposed state legislation that further restricts waterfront casino locations.

Before passing such a law, Holleman. said, the Legislature needs to sort out what property in East Biloxi is Spanish Land Grant property and what actually belongs to the state.

Thats a significant issue, he said.

Even more significantly, the decision has broad implications for waterfront properties in another way, said Biloxi attorney Gerald Blessey, who represented the city in the case. The city sided with the Aldriches, as did Harrison County.

The Aldrich land is not unlike other properties in East Biloxi where dredged material, along with oyster shells from seafood factories, built solid ground on what had been water bottoms. The proposed Senate bill now defines those filled lands as state property.

Biloxi properties serve higher public purpose

But the Supreme Court ruling also finds those properties, because they were filled for a higher public purpose, belong to the upland landowner, in this case Aldrich.

This is an important case, Blessey said. It confirms the history of the development of Point Cadet and the whole peninsula and the seafood factories that extended their land like this.

The secretary of state charges casinos fees to lease tidelands for their operations.

The public trust is not designed to make money for the state, like an industrial park or something, Blessey said. The public trust for tidelands is to encourage use of the waterfront by public and private owners for higher public purposes of the trust, like seafood factories.

Holleman said the Supreme Courts decision could affect properties from the Biloxi lighthouse east to the Mississippi state line with Alabama. He also said the Legislature needs to hold off on a bill it is considering to further restrict casino locations on the waterfront until the implications of the courts ruling are sorted out.

John Aldrich speaks out on casino site

John Aldrich, owner of the property that was in dispute, sent out a statement late Thursday night. His statement said the property has played a part in the gambling industry since it started onshore in 1992 in Biloxi. The land was leased for Lady Luck Casino until it closed in 1998.

Aldrich said in his statement that the Supreme Court ruling ended 26 years of legal turmoil. He added that many developers over the years have literally just had to walk away from their designs and dreams due to the fact that the ongoing litigation with the secretary of state has prevented me from selling and/or leasing my property.

He said the Legislature needs to reverse paths because the proposed tidelands/casino bill is clear overreach.

The court has spoken very clearly, he wrote, and its time to turn the page and get meaningful economic development projects moving for Biloxi and the state of Mississippi.

Secretary of State Michael Watsons office said Friday afternoon that he and staff members are still digesting the opinion and did not want to answer questions yet about what it means or how it might affect pending legislation.
This article was originally published in Iowa Capital Dispatch.

The Iowa House approved a bill aimed at improving literacy rates for Iowa students, allowing parents to have their child repeat a grade if they are not proficient in reading and adding new educational requirements for teachers.

House File 2618 passed on a 92-3 vote Tuesday. The bill would require schools to notify parents or guardians of students in kindergarten through sixth grade who are not reading at grade-level proficiency, and inform them of their ability to request that their child repeat a grade. Students who are not meeting literacy benchmarks will be given a personalized plan to assist them until they are able to read at grade level.

Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said many of the measures required by the bill are efforts teachers already take to improve literacy outcomes with students.

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Teachers watch out for kids that are not reading at grade level already, Steckman said. Teachers talk to parents already. Teachers put forth an (Individualized Education Program), or some sort of a plan for that student to get on grade level already. So much of this were already doing.

She also praised the bill for being toned down from Gov. Kim Reynolds original proposal. When Reynolds brought up legislation at the beginning of session as a way to improve literacy rates in Iowa schools, she proposed requiring Iowa teacher licensure candidates in early childhood, elementary, K-12 reading and literacy preparation programs, as well as those in special education, to pass the Foundations of Reading assessment to graduate.

The passing requirement for teacher licensure was removed in a House amendment, but education program students would still be required to take the assessment, with results reported to the Iowa Department of Education.

Related

California Considers Science of Reading Bill, as 6 in 10 Students Lag Behind

The House bill also omits some of the prescriptions on reading instruction and literacy strategies present in the Senates version related to the teaching of phonics  teaching the sounds of letters to learn how to read  and banning certain literacy teaching strategies associated with rote memorization or contextual clues to identify a written word.

These measures were discussed in the context of the science of reading teaching methods that put a larger emphasis on phonics to improve young students reading and language abilities. Other states, including Mississippi, have seen improvements in national reading scores after adopting the approach.

Reynolds said in January that while Iowa did not see the drops in reading scores in recent years that other states have, holding steady isnt good enough for Iowa students. The results from the 2022-2023 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress showed that 34% of Iowa third-graders were not yet proficient in English Language Art skills. Studies have found that students not proficient at reading in third grade face greater difficulties with academics and in their personal life as they age.

Rep. Tom Moore, R-Griswold, thanked Reynolds office for working with lawmakers to come up with a good compromise on how to approach improving reading education for Iowa students. Moore agreed with Steckman on the bills provisions being strategies many Iowa teachers already employ  but said that it was important to ensure all students get more literacy support as needed.

Obviously, we wouldnt be in the middle of the pack nationally reading-wise if all of our teachers were doing some of these things, Moore said.

The legislation heads to the Senate for further consideration.

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.
Former President Clinton will lead a U.S. delegation to Rwanda this weekend to mark 30 years since a genocide ravaged the country, the White House announced Thursday.

An ethnic conflict between Hutu and Tutsi people in the country escalated to genocide in early 1994, eventually resulting in the deaths of between 500,000 and 800,000 Tutsi Rwandans over the course of about four months.

The U.S. government did little to address the conflict, working to evacuate Americans from the country and pledging $500 million for humanitarian aid. Since-revealed White House documents from the time showed the reluctance was caused by the failed U.S. mission in Somalia in 1993, which resulted in the infamous Black Hawk Down scandal and the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers.

Clinton, who was president at the time, showed regret decades later over his governments inaction.

I dont think we could have ended the violence, but I think we could have cut it down, he told The New York Times in 2012. And I regret it.

If wed gone in sooner, I believe we could have saved at least a third of the lives that were lost.  It had an enduring impact on me, he later told CNBC in 2014.

Classified documents released in 2004 revealed that the Clinton administration was aware of Hutu plans for a genocide of Tutsi people before the ethnic conflict began.

Clinton will be joined in the delegation by Ambassador to Rwanda Eric Kneedler, as well as senior State Department official Mary Catherine Phee, White House aide Casey Redmon and U.S. Agency for International Development official Monde Muyangwa.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Bill Clinton to publish a memoir about life after the White House following the November election

Following the upcoming presidential election, former President Bill Clinton will release a memoir about his life after serving two terms in office.

The book, titled Citizen: My Life After the White House, is expected to be released on November 19, according to Reagan Arthur, Knopf executive vice president and publisher.

CITIZEN is the story of my twenty-three-plus years since leaving the White House, told largely through the stories of other people who changed my life as I tried to help change theirs, of those who supported me, including those I loved and lost, and of the mistakes I made along the way, Clinton said in the press release announcing the memoir.

The announcement comes after Clinton joined President Joe Biden along with former President Barack Obama at a New York City fundraiser last week where he issued a stark warning about the threat former President Donald Trump would pose if reelected.

The publisher said that Clinton will touch on crucial events of the 21st century, including the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, culture wars, the elections of 2008 and 2016 and the January 6, 2021, insurrection, as well as discussing political moments involving his wife, Hillary Clinton.

Clinton also weighs in on the unprecedented challenges brought on by a global pandemic, ongoing inequality, a steadily warming planet, and authoritarian forces dedicated to weakening democracy at home and across the globe, the press release says.

Clintons book My Life, published in 2004, detailed his journey from Arkansas to the White House, and it sold more than 400,000 copies on the first day it was available.

Former presidents and first ladies have gone on to sell millions of copies of their books and memoirs. Michelle Obamas memoir Becoming sold more than 2 million units in all formats and editions in the US and Canada during the first 15 days of its publication, and Barack Obamas A Promised Land sold more than 3.3 million units across all formats and editions in the US and Canada during its first month of publication, according to Penguin Random House. According to Simon & Schuster, Hillary Clintons What Happened sold more than 300,000 copies in all formats.

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Former President Bill Clinton plans to debut a memoir about his experiences after his presidency, with with publication date set for November 19.

In a statement, the former president said that the memoir, Citizen: My Life After the White House, is the story of my twenty-three-plus years since leaving the White House, told largely through the stories of other people who changed my life as I tried to help change theirs, of those who supported me, including those I loved and lost, and of the mistakes I made along the way.

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Alfred A. Knopf will publish the memoir, which it says will be remarkably candid and richly detailed. While Clinton writes about major issues and cultural wars since he left office, the publisher also indicated that Clinton will share his experiences during the 2008 and 2016 elections, when his wife, Hillary Clinton, ran for the presidency. The former president also writes about the formation of his foundation and its work on global issues, as well as his trip to North Korea in 2009 to secure the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

Reagan Arthur, Knopf executive vice president and publisher, said, With the candor, intelligence, and political acumen for which hes always been known, the president has left nothing on the table and his talent as a writer is on full display. His feelings on the election of 2016, the Supreme Court, President Trump, Vladimir Putin, and so much more are shared with breathtaking honesty.

The publication date after the election is not unusual. Barack Obamas A Promised Land, the first volume of his presidential memoirs, was published Nov. 17, 2020, a couple weeks after the election. The scheduling avoids going on book tour in the midst of the campaign fray. Clinton and Obama already have taken part in Bidens reelection campaign, having participated in a fundraiser last week at Radio City Music Hall.

Penguin Random House will publish the audio version of the book; Vintage has the paperback rights, with publication next year. Clintons autobiography, My Life, was published in 2004, also by Knopf.

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File photo of a black bear in Oregon, similar to the one killed after becoming habituated to food in Cottage Grove.

A black bear that was being illegally fed by people in Cottage Grove, including from a car dealership, was killed by wildlife officials on Monday.

The 2-year-old male bear was first seen in the city on March 5 and was spotted repeatedly near people or homes over the last several weeks, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The bear even cornered a woman last week as she attempted to enter her house and subsequently went to sleep on a neighbors front porch, officials said.

Wildlife biologists said the bear had become food-conditioned, showed no fear of people and was habituated to the extent that it would become aggressive towards people, a news release said. The bear was killed by Oregon State Police.

This is not the outcome anyone wanted, ODFW district wildlife biologist Chris Yee said. The actions we had to take were a direct result of people intentionally feeding this bear.

Oregon is home to between 25,000 to 30,000 bears, who are more active and seeking food this time of year after coming out of hibernation.

ODFW spokeswoman Beth Quillian said this case was unique because people were actively and intentionally feeding this bear, she said.

Often, the feeding is accidental, she said. People dont realize their birdfeeder or compost is also attractive to bears, or they didnt mean to leave food out. But in this case, it wasnt accidental. We had video and accounts of people actively feeding the bear.

In March, ODFW and Oregon State Police served a local car dealership and employee with a warning to cease feeding the bear. It is illegal in Oregon to either directly or indirectly feed bears and can result in a Class A misdemeanor.

ODFW wouldnt reveal the name of the dealership because they were only warned and not cited.

Officials said relocation was not an option for bears that are habituated to food provided by people.

Bears have a very strong tendency to return to the place they were captured  some traveling up to 50 miles or more to return, the news release said. Bears that have become habituated to human food tend to repeat the same bad behaviors in their new location. Relocating bears results in exporting the problem to another community if the bear does not return to the site of capture. Most habituated bears that are captured have to be humanely killed to protect human safety.

In addition, habituated bears past the age of cub are rarely considered candidates for placement in an accredited facility or zoo. A bears age, behavior, and circumstances plus facility availability and space are all factors when considering the possibility of placement. The average home range for a male black bear can exceed 50 square miles and placement in a confined facility is often not considered a viable or humane solution.

Bears that are fed have an excellent memory for food.

Not only will they remember where they have found food before, including trash, but female bears will also pass this knowledge down to their young. Intentionally or accidentally feeding bears can negatively affect multiple generations of bears, the news release said.

The thing to emphasize, said Quillian, is that just one person feeding a bear can lead to so many issues, she said. Its really a community effort to avoid outcomes like this.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon and Hiking Southern Oregon. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Black bear euthanized in Oregon after becoming aggressive
Body camera footage appears to show a police officer opening a sealed bottle of alcohol before that opened container is used to charge a Black man with a DUI in Tallahassee, Florida, according to a local media report.

Our Tallahassee first reported on the case of Calvin Riley Sr., 56, who was pulled over during a routine traffic stop last May and found to have a been driving with a suspended license. The news outlet notes that in Florida, officers are able to decide whether to ticket or arrest someone driving on a suspended license, but if they discover a second offense  like driving under the influence  they are required to arrest the person.

On body camera footage, Tallahassee Police Department Officer Kiersten Oliver speaks to the man before calling another officer for backup after expressing some belief that he smells like an illicit substance. Oliver and the other officer discuss asking the man to perform a voluntary sobriety test and then put them in the back of the officers patrol car after he refuses.

Body camera video shows Tallahassee Police Department Officer planting evidence in a DUI arrest.



The video shows Officer Oliver pouring out a sealed bottle of liquor and tossing it in Calvin Riley Sr.s passenger seat before arresting Riley for a DUI. pic.twitter.com/bVZklLAXyC  Our Tallahassee (@OurTallahassee) April 3, 2024

A search of the car yielded no marijuana, before Oliver discovers a small sealed bottle of liquor that she then opens with an audible noise of the seal cracking on camera. A sound of pouring can be heard on her body camera, and another body camera worn by a second officer shows her dumping the liquid out. Oliver then threw the bottle back into the car.

Body camera footage appears to show Oliver implying to the second officer that the bottle was open and the contents were in a thermos inside Rileys vehicle.

The pair then call for a third officer to assist with an arrest, who is told there was a bunch of alcohol stashed in the car and that the container was open. An arrest report cites the open container as a reasoning for the DUI charge, although an officer described smelling alcohol on Rileys breath at the time. The officer who wrote the report notes Riley told her he had had a couple of drinks at an area bar before he was pulled over.

Riley was arrested on probable cause of driving under the influence and is set to stand trial on the matter beginning Friday. The man told Our Tallahassee the episode cost him work and forced him to surrender his car after missing payments on the vehicle.

Oliver later said during a pre-trial hearing that she opened the bottle herself and poured the alcohol out, citing what she believed to be police department policy that prevented officers from impounding liquids as evidence.

Our Tallahassee notes there is no such policy.

Related...
Blackouts caused by Russian attacks on large power plants and grids have demonstrated that local small-scale power sources must be created. The city of Kryvyi Rih has launched relevant efforts to ensure power supply to hospitals.

Source: Oleksandr Vilkul, Chairman of Kryvyi Rih Defence Council

Details: "At the first stage, we provided all healthcare facilities with generators at the cost of the city budget. At present, we are installing solar power plants, thus introducing "green" technologies. The installation has been completed for one hospital, while the process has commenced for the second hospital and two social security institutions," Vilkul said.

At the same time, public sector buildings in Kryvyi Rih are undergoing thermal modernisation to reduce energy and heat consumption. The project already involves 36 facilities: 17 kindergartens, 18 schools and one out-of-school facility. The number of facilities will continue to grow.

"We are insulating walls, installing heating points, new windows, replacing heating systems, etc.", Vilkul said.

The official added that the city is introducing a European energy service mechanism to implement these measures. It provides an opportunity to do all of the above not at the expense of the city budget but through investments.

Background:

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces attacked the energy infrastructure in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. A drone attack on the night of 3-4 April damaged the equipment of a power facility in Kharkiv Oblast.

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Melissa Sloan, a 46-year-old resident of Wales who has more than 800 tattoos on her face, spoke about the difficulties of her life. Due to her extraordinary appearance and addiction to body art, the opinion of netizens about the British woman was divided.

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Sloan herself calls herself "the most tattooed mom in the UK". This was reported by the Daily Star.

Melissa became interested in tattoos about ten years ago. The Welsh resident is a mother of seven, but five of them do not keep in touch with her because of her shocking image.

When Sloan decided to disguise her tattoos with makeup, her younger children urged their mother to immediately return everything to the way it was and refused to talk to her. The fact is that they had never seen their mother without drawings, because they were born when Melissa had already changed her appearance.

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However, Sloan's appearance has caused many difficulties. The British woman hasn't worked for 20 years, because potential employers are not ready to consider such a candidate for a job.

Melissa even offers to clean toilets. The issue of work became especially acute when she learned about her 11-year-old daughter Otom's disease, which could cause her to go blind in the future.

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And recently, Sloan was banned from attending church, in part because of the crucifix tattoo on her face. Most of her drawings were done by her partner Luke, whose health is now in danger.

Melissa wanted to pray for him, but was kicked out of the church. The local priest personally asked Sloan to leave the premises, adding that she was singing "too loudly." "The church should open its doors to everyone, but they kicked me out. I was singing there with a bunch of people, it was crazy," she commented.

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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment for Ukraine to eventually join NATO but held back commitments ahead of the alliances annual summit, which will take place in Washington in July.

Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership, Blinken told reporters Thursday in Brussels.

NATO allies agreed at the 2023 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, that Ukraine can join NATO when certain conditions are met, but sparked criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Baltic allies for failing to set concrete goals and a timeline for Kyiv to join the alliance.

Ukraines supporters are crafting ways to demonstrate robust international support for Kyiv that can be announced at NATOs Washington summit, marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance.

The deliverables are consequential amid concerns over waning U.S. commitment to supporting Ukraine, with House Republicans holding up additional American assistance and fears that the return of former President Trump to the White House could see a retreat of the U.S. from its commitments to allies and partners.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In notably blunt terms Thursday, top U.S. officials made a series of warnings to the Israeli government that they were nearly out of patience with its conduct of the war in Gaza.

President Joe Biden and his top deputies said they would consider changing their policy towards Israel unless more consideration was given towards the humanitarian crisis its military was producing. A top Biden ally in the Senate argued that aid could be conditioned should Israel follow through on its threat to invade Rafah. Even former President Donald Trump went public with his belief that Israel was losing the PR battle and needed to end the conflict soon.

It was a screaming neon sign for Israel with respect to American politics  one that made clear just how unnerved policymakers in the U.S. have been by an Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including an American. And it marked a major shift in approach towards an ally with whom U.S. officials have customarily tried to be in lockstep.



That shift has come amid rising internal frustrations among White House officials over the conduct of the war and continued debate among the presidents inner circle over the best way to handle the deteriorating relations with the Israeli government, especially since Mondays attack.

A Democratic official who has been in touch with White House aides since the strike said there has been increased, private discussions among mid-level and lower-level staff about how the U.S. needs to express its  and Bidens  anger with the targeting of humanitarian aid workers.

A House Democrat who didnt want to run afoul of the White House added that Biden is feeling a ton of pressure from outside of his inner circle. Most of us are fed up, and I think the bottom is going to fall out on support for additional Israel security funding, at least in the Democratic caucus.

The change in posture has been swift inside the White House. Just 24 hours ago, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby had told reporters that the U.S. government wanted to wait to see the outcome of Israels review of the deadly strike. By Thursday, Kirby said the U.S. would only give Israel hours and days to outline policy shifts and that, absent real changes, therell have to be changes from our side.

Hours later, Israel opened the Erez crossing for the first time since Hamas Oct. 7 attack, which will allow more humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza.

Even prior to the death of the World Central Kitchen aid workers, President Biden had been under increasing pressure to change his posture towards Israel. But he has so far resisted.

Some top-level officials, in particular the White Houses top Middle East aide, Brett McGurk, have for months counseled the president to refrain from breaking with Israel by conditioning military aid, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the situation, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. McGurks argument has been that a major change could weaken any influence the U.S. has to protect civilians in Gaza, secure the release of hostages and broker diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia in a deal that pushes toward a Palestinian state.



Other aides have played prominent roles in the internal debate. In conversations with larger groups of officials, national security adviser Jake Sullivan has questioned the need to reprimand Israel and widen the rift with the ally, the people said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also have routinely offered advice to the president and, recently, ratcheted up their criticism of Israel. Blinken said Thursday that the WCK attack should be the last on aid workers while Austin Wednesday night expressed his outrage in a call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the strike.

The National Security Council declined to comment on dynamics with the presidents advisers.

Biden himself has attempted to separate his growing disdain for Netanyahu from his decades-long belief that the United States must support Israel, according to another senior adviser. Though deeply upset by the civilian death toll in Gaza, the president has also stressed the need not to forget the horrors of the Oct. 7 attack, according to the adviser.

Lower down the ranks of the administration, discontent with the approach to Israel has been growing.

Josh Paul, who worked in the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for more than 11 years before resigning over the war in October, said he is in regular touch with several hundred Biden administration officials through group chats and one-on-one conversations. He said the number of officials reaching out to him has increased in recent weeks.

So my impression of these is that there is an immense amount of frustration at all levels within the system, but that there is very little ability to shift anything given that this remains sort of top down direction, said Paul.

Ive had a bunch of people reach out to me and say, Im thinking about resigning, and this is the last straw, he said, referring to the killing of aid workers.

While Biden and his closest advisers are well aware of growing dissension throughout the administration, they had not been convinced that weakening Israels retaliation against Hamas does the ally or the U.S. any long-term favors.

Thats been true even as a diplomatic resolution to the conflict has proved elusive. A virtual meeting this week between senior U.S. and Israeli officials over a future military operation in Rafah found little common ground. The American side, which included Sullivan and McGurk, said it should take Israel approximately four months to safely evacuate the roughly 1.4 millions Palestinians in the southern Gaza city. The Israelis countered that it would only take four weeks.

Youre going to be responsible for the third famine crisis of the 21st century. That is not something we can accept as partners, Sullivan told his Israeli counterparts during a virtual meeting this week on a future military operation in Rafah, a U.S. official recounted to POLITICO. If you dont have a proper plan for the day after, nothing will help you in dismantling Hamas. Not Rafah, not anything else.

Both sides agreed to coordinate and paper over differences in person later this month.

At the same time, the worldwide fallout from the World Central Kitchen strike has been building, with the governments of Australia, Poland and the U.K.  all of which lost citizens in the attack  calling on Israel to investigate and be held accountable.

In a 30-minute call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the president delivered the bluntest warning yet that he was willing to condition U.S. aid. U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on steps to address civilian harm and safety of aid workers, according to a White House readout.

That call, the first between the two leaders in weeks, came as Democrats and influential advisers have spoken out about their desire to see the president take a tougher stand.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Bidens closest ally in the Senate, told CNN on Thursday that he would support conditioning military aid to Israel if it attempted a massive operation in Rafah without first protecting civilians. Richard Haass, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations and frequent Morning Joe guest, said Wednesday on that show Biden should consider reprimanding Israel.



At some point, the words become empty, he asserted, noting six months of criticism had done little to change Israels military tactics.

Those comments have left the impression that anger with Bidens policy has moved from the progressive and pro-Palestinian wings into the centrist, establishment heart of Washington  and theyve been echoed by veterans of past Democratic administrations.

The president doesn't get credit for being privately enraged when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the [Israel Defense Forces] from killing and starving innocent people, said Jon Favreau, a host of Pod Save America, in response to POLITICOs Wednesday story that an angry Biden would not change course on Israel. These stories only make him look weak.

Observers suspect that the mounting pressure on Biden will eventually take its toll  and may have already done so.

There was always going to be a point at which the Biden administration felt that the domestic and international cost of supporting Israels campaign in Gaza outweighed the benefit of what Israel was able to achieve on the ground, and it seems clear that we have reached that point, said Michael Singh, a top Middle East official in George W. Bushs White House.

Myah Ward contributed to this report.
Top Republican officials said that a vote on Ukraine aid in Congress is still weeks away, Bloomberg reported on April 4, citing unnamed lawmakers. The comments contradicted an assertion from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said on April 1 that it would be held "right after Easter."

U.S. aid to Ukraine has been delayed since fall 2023 amid infighting in Congress. In February, a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan passed in the Senate with bipartisan support, but Johnson has so far stalled on bringing it to a vote in the Republican-led House.

Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also said on March 24 that he anticipated Johnson would bring the aid to a vote after Easter, despite signs that support for Johnson to keep his position was shrinking within his own party.

President Volodymyr Zelensky held a one-on-one phone call with Johnson on March 28, in another indication that the aid was moving forward.

Johnson had said on April 1 that he expected the bill to be voted on shortly but added that it would contain "some important innovations," but did not clarify what measures he meant.

The "innovations" and other concessions the bill will reportedly contain appear to be the sticking point contributing to the delay, Bloomberg wrote.

Johnson has reportedly not shared the specifics of his plan with his own party, the Republican officials told Bloomberg.

Johnson's spokesperson also appeared to walk back the promise to bring the aid to a vote after Easter, saying that the comments were not "intended to convey a specific deadline."

The Biden administration rejected the possibility of connecting Ukraine aid with the lifting of a pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export licenses on April 2, ruling out one of the possible concessions that Johnson had sought.

The ongoing delay in military assistance is taking place against the backdrop of increasingly dire warnings from Ukraine about how the deficit is hurting the military's position on the battlefield.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 29 that the army could soon be forced to retreat further if U.S. military aid continues to be delayed.

Read also: Why some far-right Republicans are hell bent on ending further aid to Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The bodies of six of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in an Israeli military missile strike this week left Gaza on Wednesday, hospital officials said, as the fallout from the deadly incident continues to grow.

The bodies were taken by ambulance from the Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital morgue in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, hospital officials said, beginning the long journeys home to their respective countries around the globe.

"On this day, as we bid farewell to martyrs of foreign nationalities -- three martyrs of the humanitarian duty of British nationality, one American, one Australian, and one Polish -- this is a sign that the weapons provided by the British and American governments in support of the Israeli occupation army in weapons, money and equipment, do not differentiate between Palestinians and other nationalities," said Marwan Al-Hams, director of the Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital.

PHOTO: The World Central Kitchen identified seven aid workers who were killed in Gaza. (World Central Kitchen)

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, the seventh aid worker killed in the strike, was laid to rest in Gaza on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The 25-year-old was buried near his hometown of Rafah in his World Central Kitchen T-shirt, Reuters reported.

The aid workers, ranging in age from 25 to 57, were killed Monday night when their three-vehicle convoy, including two armored cars, was hit after leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse in central Gaza, where the aid workers had helped unload more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route, according to the statement from WCK, a humanitarian organization dedicated to delivering food aid.

Herzi Halevi, chief of the Israel Defense Forces, said in a video statement Tuesday that the airstrike that killed the aid workers was a grave mistake" and was "not carried out with the intention of harming the WCK aid workers."

PHOTO: A person carries the credentials of one of the members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, who were killed in an Israeli air strike, outside the morgue of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

"It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldn't have happened," Halevi said. "This incident was a grave mistake. Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza. We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK."

Halevi's statement echoed those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli military and government officials, who promised that Israel would conduct a thorough and transparent investigation of the missile strike.

In addition to Abutaha, the WCK aid workers killed in the strike were identified as Damian Sobol, 35, of Poland; Jacob Flickinger, 33, a duel U.S.-Canada citizen; and Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom, 43, of Australia. Also killed were three members of the WCK security team, John Chapman, 57, James (Jim) Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, all of Great Britain.

In a statement identifying the seven aid workers, WCK CEO Erin Gore described them as "the heroes of World Central Kitchen."

"These seven beautiful souls were killed by the IDF in a strike as they were returning from a full day's mission," Gore said. "Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories. And we have countless memories of them giving their best selves to the world. We are reeling from our loss, the world's loss."

Chef Jose Andres, who founded the nonprofit WCK in 2010, said he believes his team was "deliberately" targeted.

"They were targeted, systematically, car by car," Andres said in an interview with Reuters, published on Wednesday. "What I know is that we were targeted deliberately nonstop until everybody was dead in this convoy. That cannot be, that cannot be the role of an army, that cannot be the role of an army that has hundreds of drones above Gaza at any single moment."

MORE: Even as concerns grow about US weapons used in Gaza, no signs of waning WH support for Israel military aid

World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres is speaking out after seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza: "Humanitarians and civilians should never be paying the consequences of war. This is a basic principle of humanity." https://t.co/tR93bvXuk2 pic.twitter.com/I0dv0odxbI  ABC News (@ABC) April 3, 2024

Andres said that when he spoke to President Joe Biden on Tuesday, he emphasized that the United States needs to do more to stop the war.

"The U.S. must do more to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu this war needs to end now," he said.

MORE: Biden 'outraged' by aid workers killed, but no indication Israeli strike deliberate

Andres added, "Humanitarians and civilians should never be paying the consequences of war. This is a basic principle of humanity. At [this] time, this looks like it's not a war against terrorism anymore. It seems this is a war against humanity itself."

Biden said in a statement Tuesday that he is "outraged" and "heartbroken" by the deaths of the aid workers.

PHOTO: Medics prepare the bodies of World Central Kitchen workers, who were killed in Israeli air strikes, for their return to their home counties on April 3, 2024, in Rafah, Gaza. (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

MORE: 7 aid workers killed in Gaza during IDF attack that Israeli official calls 'grave mistake'

"They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war," Biden said. "They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy."

Ophir Falk, a foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, called allegations that the aid workers were deliberately targeted "absurd."

"The last thing we would want in the world is to endanger civilian lives. We seek to minimize civilian casualties," Falk said. "The last thing we would want is for humanitarian aid workers to be, to be harmed. And we go to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties. This war is a complex war. The incident happened in the middle of the night. It should not have happened. And we'll do everything possible so that it doesn't happen again."

Bodies of 6 aid workers killed in Israeli strike transported from Gaza as fallout grows originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Former national security adviser John Bolton downplayed former President Trumps threats against NATO slightly, suggesting Trumps short attention span could keep him from following through on leaving the alliance.

Trump has been openly critical of NATO, calling on alliance members to increase their contributions and threatening that he could encourage Russia to invade if they do not. He also dismissed bipartisan criticism of the comments, saying the threats are just negotiation tactics.

Bolton, who worked in the Trump administration, warned Wednesday that Trump is likely to pull the U.S. out of NATO unless he is distracted.

I think he would do it very early in the term, Bolton said in a MeidasTouch interview Wednesday. The remedy I would propose to anybody who doesnt want us to withdraw from NATO is find a way to distract his attention. And since he has a short attention span, that can work at least for a while until it pops back into his head.

Bolton added that he believes a second Trump term could see the former president follow through on some of the unfulfilled promises from when he was in the White House, for better or worse. He warned that Trump could be focused on taking revenge against political opponents.

Trump himself says quite frequently on the campaign trail that hes going to exact retribution against people who he ran afoul of in the first term, or after he left office, he said. Now he casts in the guise of saying hes protecting his supporters, that hes going to get retribution on their behalf. But make no mistake about it. It will be a retribution presidency on behalf of Trump.

Trumps NATO comments have split Republicans, with some brushing them off as joking or sarcastic, while others warn that there is a serious concern the former president could remove the U.S. from the 75-year-old alliance.

I dont agree by any means that we should turn away from our allies. That, number one, has never been done before, nor should be done, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said in February. Obviously, everyone has an obligation to be able to fill their obligation, but to say, well let you be killed if you dont, is the wrong way to go.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
John Eastman sits in Fulton Superior Court in during a 2023 hearing. Jason Getz-Pool/Getty Images

So far, Donald Trump and his fellow defendants in the Fulton County election-racketeering case have managed to turn the spotlight away from their own alleged misdeeds to those of District Attorney Fani Willis. (And yes, Willis herself has helped make that possible.)

However, events last week in California involving John Eastman, a Trump lawyer, co-defendant and central figure in the alleged conspiracy, suggest that this reprieve may be temporary.

After a lengthy trial, a state bar judge in California found that Eastman conspired with President Trump to obstruct a lawful function of the government of the United States; specifically, by conspiring to disrupt the electoral count on January 6, 2021for purposes that are unlawful, criminal, or fraudulent.

As a result of his involvement in that criminal conspiracy, Judge Yvonne Roland suspended Eastmans law license and recommended that the suspension be made permanent, a decision that will be made later by the California Supreme Court.

Eastmans actions here in Georgia figured prominently in that decision.

In her ruling, Roland found that Eastman had submitted false filings to the U.S. Supreme Court and to the U.S. district court in north Georgia. In both cases, Eastman and Trump were attempting to toss some or all of the 5 million votes cast legally by Georgia citizens.

In those filings, Eastman had claimed that more than 66,000 underage voters had cast ballots in Georgia. It was a lie. He claimed that up to 2,560 inmates had voted illegally. That was a lie. He claimed that more than 10,000 dead people had voted in Georgia. They did not.

The bar judge in California also found that Eastman had conspired with Trump to strong-arm Vice President Pence into refusing to count the electoral votes of Georgia and several other swing states, which would have swung the election to Trump.

In defending his actions, Eastman told the California bar that he had a First Amendment right to speak out on such issues, and that as Trumps lawyer he had a duty to provide zealous advocacy on behalf of his client. Those are the same claims that Eastman has offered in defending himself against charges here in Fulton County.

However, the California judge bought neither argument. The First Amendment, Judge Roland wrote, does not protect speech that is employed as a tool in the commission of a crime. And while attorneys do have a duty to advocate zealously for their clients, they also have the duty to tell the truth while doing so.

Vigorous advocacy does not absolve Eastman of his professional responsibilities around honesty and upholding the rule of law, she wrote.

Until his involvement with Trump, Eastman had enjoyed a national reputation as a conservative constitutional expert. With his likely disbarment, that is now gone. In fact, it has been remarkable to see how many people of considerable credentials have thrown away their careers, reputations and perhaps even their freedom on behalf of a man as flawed as Trump.

You can say many bad things about Trump; trust me, Ive said most of them. But the man is not a hypocrite. He makes no pretense of high moral standards that he later violates; he claims no loyalty to principles or causes other than his own. Theres a peculiar, straightforward honesty to his dishonesty. Its part of what some people see as his charisma.

The Trump movement, on the other hand, is neck deep in hypocrisy. In Trumps service, constitutional scholars such as Eastman will twist and shred the very document they claim to revere. Evangelicals will set aside the faith by which they define themselves to defend a man who this week is sitting in a New York courtroom, trying to explain why he paid hush money to a porn star. Self-proclaimed patriots who wave flags and chant America First will attack the seat of our American republic, using those flags as lances against police officers. And because the human capacity for self-deception is so vast, few of them recognize how completely they have sold out what they supposedly hold so dear until its too late.

In a footnote to her 128-page ruling, the judge in California references a telling email exchange between Eastman and Rudy Giuliani. In the email, sent on Jan. 11, five days after the failed insurrection, Eastman seems almost melancholic. Their battle to overthrow the election has been lost, and the realization is sinking in that maybe they went too far, maybe there are repercussions coming.

First, Eastman tells Giuliani, two universities where he teaches have begun asking uncomfortable questions about his actions. Second, in an indication of how deep into delusion he has sunk, he asks Rudy to send along all the evidence he possesses proving it had been antifa, not MAGA, that had been responsible for inciting violence at the Capitol.

Third, Ive decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works, he writes Rudy. At that moment he saw what his future might hold, but by then it was too late.

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The post Bookman: Eastmans law license suspension suggests peril for Trump, allies in Georgia RICO case appeared first on Georgia Recorder.
When the federal government locks migrants up, its responsible for them  regardless of whether theyve been formally processed, a federal judge found Wednesday.

As migrant crossings over the border between Mexico and Southern California have overwhelmed local detention facilities, thousands of people have been left to camp in the desert, often for days.

In the case under dispute, Flores v. Garland, civil rights groups sued on behalf of migrant children living in the camps, who they argued were being housed in inhumane conditions.

The U.S. Border Patrol largely didnt challenge the idea that the conditions werent adequate. Instead, it argued the court didnt have jurisdiction over the agency on this issue because the agency had not formally taken on responsibility for the children by processing them.

Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court of Central California roundly rejected that idea.

The agency may not have intended for temporary camping sites to become polluted open air detention sites collectively holding thousands of migrants, Gee conceded.

But she added the situation has evolved such that the minors held there are in the agencys legal custody  and therefore it is responsible to care for them.

At the core of the present case is the 27-year-old decision in Flores v. Sessions, which established that the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for providing housing to all minors who are detained in the legal custody of the agency.

Gee determined it didnt matter that the children had not been formally processed: They were held in a fenced area to which they were forcibly returned if they tried to leave, by an agency with decision-making authority over [their] health and welfare, she wrote in the ruling.

The court found that Customers and Border Protection (CBP), for example, largely controls the provision of necessities like drinking water and handwashing stations at the camping sites  as well as portable toilets and dumpsters, the last of which Gee noted were quickly filled and infrequently serviced.

Volunteers reported to the court that the water and handwashing stations were also poorly maintained  on a recent inspection, the handwashing stations have been filled with trash and the spigots to the waters stations [were] dirty, Gee wrote.

That overloaded infrastructure is part of generally grim conditions. The camps themselves are an archipelago of rocky, barren quadrangle encircled by the border wall, train tracks, desert and mountains.

In the dry air, temperatures can be above 110 degrees in the summer and below 20 degrees in the winter, with little shelter, save for various forms of brush that the migrants try to burn to keep warm at night, Gee wrote.

While volunteer groups try to supply people in the open air detention site with food, clothing and sanitation services, the need outpaces their ability to provide this assistance, the court found.

National standards for migrant detention require kids to get a meal every six hours, and two hot meals per day; generally, migrants in the detention sites get one bottle of water and one pack of crackers each day, according to the court.

Also, the insufficiently abundant and infrequently cleaned dumpsters and portable toilets are unflowing and unusable, Gee found.

This means that the [open-air detention sites] not only have a foul smell, but also that trash is strewn about, and [migrants] are forced to relieve themselves outdoors.

All of this, Gee found, violated immigration authorities responsibility under the 1997 Flores decree to hold minors in facilities that are safe and sanitary.

The mere fact that CBP had provided services  or that those services were inadequate for need  would not imply that they had the minors in custody, except for the crucial fact that the migrants cant leave, Gee wrote in the ruling.

On their arrival, migrants are given a wristband marked with a date; when they ask CBP officers if they can leave to get told food and water, they are told no, she noted in the decision. And if an individual does leave [the site], Border Patrol brings them back.

Having established that the children at these camping sites are in U.S. custody, the court found abundant evidence that the care they were receiving is not adequate for minors.

Finally, the court found that CBP had not been processing [migrants] as expeditiously as possible, though Gee declined to give the agency a hard limit for the time they could take to process them.

But she warned that the agencys failure to process minors in a reasonably expedition manner would lead to further remedial measures by the court.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Earlier this year, Germany's environmental ministry floated a proposal to impose stricter limits on the import of hunting trophies into the country out of concern for poaching. The move didn't exactly go over well with the president of Botswana, who is now threatening to send 20,000 elephants to the European country.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi shared his honest thoughts about the idea with German newspaper Bild. Masisi believes that conservation efforts have caused the local elephant population to balloon to nearly 130,000 and that hunting is an essential component of population control. It comes after Botswana banned trophy hunting in 2014 but reversed its decision in 2019 after local communities spoke out against the law. Now, to remedy the problem of elephant overpopulation, the country issues hunting quotas.

"It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana," he stated plainly. "We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world."

One possible solution Masisi floated was for Germany to walk the walk instead of simply talking the talk. He proposed that Germans should "live together with the animals in the way you are trying to tell us to." Of course, you can see wild animals in the Tiergarten, but it would be totally different to see elephants roaming the streets of Berlin. Masisi insisted he wasn't playing around. "This is not a joke," he said.

Botswana is home to the world's largest elephant population and is already working to get its numbers down. It's offered 8,000 elephants to Angola and another 500 to Mozambique. And Germany isn't the only European country to receive this invitation from Masisi's government, as Botswanan officials in March threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London.

"We would like to offer such a gift to Germany," Masisi said. "[We will] not take 'no' for an answer."

Time will tell if African elephants will begin roaming the thoroughfares of major European cities.
Lithuania is ready to support Ukraine and provide equipment for the restoration of TPPs. In particular, the country's authorities are considering the possibility of transferring another powerful autotransformer.

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This was announced by the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko following an online meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Dainius Kreivis. The parties discussed, among other things, assistance to the Ukrainian energy sector.

For his part, Dainius Kreivis emphasized that Lithuania is ready to support Ukraine and provide equipment that will help with restoration and repair work.

During the meeting, Halushchenko briefed the Lithuanian minister on the consequences of recent Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector.

"The enemy has changed its tactics, and the current attacks have much more serious consequences for us. Thermal power generation has been seriously damaged, and the enemy regularly shells hydroelectric generation facilities and substations," he said.

The parties agreed that a group of energy specialists from Ukrainian state-owned and private companies would soon visit Lithuania. Ukrainian experts will visit Lithuanian energy facilities to verify the equipment that will be subsequently transferred to the Ukrainian energy sector.

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In particular, it is large-sized equipment for thermal power plants, which is extremely important for Ukraine, which has lost a significant amount of thermal generation due to enemy shelling.

Herman Halushchenko thanked Lithuania for its support.

"Your assistance is of great importance to us. We have already received two powerful autotransformers and 72 cargoes with other necessary power equipment weighing over 1,300 tons from Lithuanian power engineers," he emphasized.

At the same time, Dainius Kravis noted that Lithuania is considering the possibility of transferring another powerful autotransformer.

For his part, Herman Halushchenko emphasized that it is very important to increase the capacity of distributed generation before the start of the heating season.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, one of the strongest attacks on the energy system took place on March 22.

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"However, despite all the efforts of the enemy, the power industry of the whole country managed to provide people with electricity and avoid mass blackouts," said Oleksandr Fomenko, CEO of DTEK Grids.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
Braddock neighbors come together to mourn loss of boy, 16, who died in shooting

Neighbors in Braddock came together Wednesday night to mourn the loss of 16-year-old Jeramyah Pollard.

Jeramyah was shot and killed on Margaretta Street Monday night.

>> Teen dead, another injured after shooting in Braddock

Friends and family gathered there to release balloons in his honor tonight.

His aunt, Darchelle Thornhill, urges anyone who knows what happened to come forward.

Somebody knows something, they need to say something, and they need to have justice for my nephew, Thornhill said.

Woodland Hills Senior High has had six students shot just this school year.

Police have not made any arrests in Jeramyahs case yet.

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Bird flu found at plant run by largest egg producer in U.S. Pedestrian hit, killed by car while walking on Parkway North Dog found tied to tree in McCandless VIDEO: Ingram house flooded when fire hydrant hit by car DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
Kunal Patel, who attends Branson's Cedar Ridge Intermediate, won the 2024 Association for Childrens Educational Sponsorship Regional Missouri Spelling Bee.

A sixth-grader from Branson has secured a spot to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 26-31, in Washington D.C.

Kunal Patel, who attends Branson's Cedar Ridge Intermediate, will compete in the national event after winning a regional competition.

On March 25, Patel won the 2024 Association for Childrens Educational Sponsorship Regional Missouri Spelling Bee, which was in Rolla.

A total of 16 students, in grades 1-8. competed in the regional spelling bee. But, this was the first spelling bee for Patel.

The winning word, which Patel spelled correctly, was "parkour."

More: Springfield fifth-grader earns place at 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee in DC

There were a lot of words to memorize, and it was fun to prepare leading up to the competition, said Patel, in a news release from the Branson school district. I am happy I won, but also surprised. I am proud to represent CedarRidge Intermediate at the national competition.

The other Branson students who participated included:

Blake Bliss, third grade: Tied fourth place, Cedar Ridge Elementary

Shiloh Duston, sixth grade: Tied sixth place, Cedar Ridge Intermediate

Jada Kelley, fifth grade: Tied ninth place, Cedar Ridge Intermediate

Gabriel Orellana Medrano, second grade: Tied 14th place, Cedar Ridge Elementary

Landon Strahan, second grade: Tied 14th place, Cedar Ridge Elementary

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Branson sixth-grader will compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  On the same day that Aaron Peskin said that he will run to become San Franciscos next mayor, the current mayors campaign spokesman called Peskin the Terminator of progress in the city.

Joe Arellano, Mayor London Breeds re-election campaign spokesman, did not mince words when describing Peskin, the Board of Supervisors President.

Breed is seeking re-election in November. In anticipation of the big upcoming announcement, Arellano said if voters pick Peskin, the outcome would mean hasta la vista, baby for our local economy, our housing, and our citys future.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin speaks on January 22, 2020 in San Francisco. (Photo By Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Arellano wrote in a statement to KRON4 Wednesday, Aaron Peskin is synonymous with intimidation, obstruction, and dysfunction: literally the triple crown of moving San Francisco backwards. He is the person most-responsible for creating a city of haves and have nots, by limiting the amount of housing that gets built and freezing out young people from owning a home. Hes also a hypocrite  he masquerades as a progressive. If you could go into a laboratory and construct an individual designed to single-handedly destroy all progress in San Francisco, he would be it. Hes the Terminator.

Mayor London Breed speaks during the Black History Month Celebration at the City Hall in San Francisco on February 28, 2024. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun /Anadolu via Getty Images)

Peskin did not respond to the Terminator comment on Wednesday. Instead, he simply said, Im planning to run but its not formally official yet.

Former mayor and venture capitalist Mark Farrell has already thrown his hat into the mayoral race.

Mark Farrell jumps into San Francisco mayoral race

Other candidates include Supervisor Ahsha Safai, as well as Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to Levi Strauss. All of the contenders will appear on the November ballot and voters will rank them by preference.

Supervisor Peskin represents District 3, which encompasses North Beach, Chinatown, Fishermans Wharf, Union Square, Financial District, Telegraph Hill, Russian Hill, and Nob Hill. He is currently serving his fifth non-consecutive term on the Board of Supervisors.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
DENVER (KDVR)  A Brighton father who was indicted by a grand jury in September 2022 on charges related to the death of his nearly 2-year-old daughter was sentenced on Thursday to serve 40 years in prison, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorneys Office.

The case was brought to the attention of the Brighton Police Department on Jan. 2, 2022, when Aviyana Montoya, the defendants 22-month-old daughter, died in a Brighton home as a result of eating a significant amount of fentanyl.

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According to the coroners report, Aviyana had 10 times the amount of fentanyl in her body needed to kill an intolerant adult user.

Alonzo Montoya, 33, was sentenced Thursday on several charges, namely:

A pattern of racketeering under the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act,

Conspiracy to commit a pattern of racketeering under COCCA,

Knowing/reckless child abuse resulting in death,

Knowing/reckless child abuse resulting in no injury (charge is due to Montoyas second child),

Two counts of knowing exposure to controlled substance manufacturing activities.

Montoya was sentenced to 12 years in the Department of Corrections for the first two counts, another ten years for counts 3 and 6, and 30 years for counts 4 and 5. The first sentence will run concurrent to the second two sentences, and the 10- and 30-year sentences will be administered consecutively for a total of 40 years in the DOC.

District Attorney Brian Mason said the defendant ran a large-scale drug operation while two children were present in the home, resulting in ones death.

This helpless child  who was teething at the time of her death  ingested fentanyl, which the defendant was selling, and had prolonged exposure to methamphetamines and other dangerous narcotics. It is one of the most outrageous cases I have seen, Mason said in a release. My heart breaks for this little girl, who truly never had a chance  I thank the jury for sitting through the difficult facts in this case and delivering a just verdict on behalf of Aviyana.

Case background

According to the 17th Judicial District Attorneys Office, home surveillance cameras show Aviyana being placed in her crib at about midnight on Jan. 2, 2022. The surveillance also shows the toddler crying and struggling to breathe, but no one checked on the 22-month-old for nearly 14 hours.

When the girls parents went to check on her, they found her unresponsive and not breathing. Paramedics were called and attempted life-saving measures, but the toddler was eventually pronounced dead.

Denver conducting security search of converted homeless shelter

While investigating, Brighton police and the North Metro Task Force found Alonzo Montoya was dealing drugs out of his home, which was captured on the homes surveillance cameras. The video footage also shows drug-using activities in the home before, during and after Aviyanas death.

According to police, Aviyana can be seen the night of her death on surveillance footage playing on the bed in the master bedroom. People were using drugs in the room and other drugs were present. At points throughout the evening, the teething almost-two-year-old can be seen placing items in and around her mouth.

During the two-week trial, which began on Jan. 8, an Adams County Jury heard testimony from Brighton Police Officers, members of the North Metro Task Force, doctors and other experts who talked about Aviyanas toxicology report which showed the child had fentanyl and methamphetamines in her system.

According to the DA, the jury also heard from Montoyas drug associates and watched the surveillance videos from the home. After deliberating for two days, the jury found Montoya guilty on all counts.

Bill addressing guns in sensitive spaces clears Colorado Senate

Aviyanas mother, Nicole Casias, 32, was also indicted by an Adams County Grand Jury on the same charges as the childs father. Casiass case was set for a jury trial on March 11, but that trial has been vacated and a new date was set for July 12.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Two decades ago, a man shot and killed another man at his ex-girlfriends Broward apartment before kidnapping her at gunpoint, police say. He was recently nabbed in the Caribbean, the FBI announced Thursday.

On Dec. 2, 2002, Kareem Jobbar Lightbourne, then 26, entered 24-year-old Monifa Smiths residence in the 4100 block of Northwest 21st Street in Lauderhill, according to the Miami Herald archives. Police say he gunned down 23-year-old Kirk Ennis before kidnapping Smith.

Lightbourne, now 47, drove around with Smith for two hours  until she escaped on State Road 7 and called police, according to the archives. He had lived with Smith until November 2002. Court records show Smith filed domestic violence cases against Lightbourne in December 2002 and March 2003.

Detained in the Dominican Republic

On the day of the murder, Lightbourne fled to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, according to the warrant obtained by the Miami Herald. Authorities recently detained Lightbourne in the Dominican Republic, the FBI said, though he was expelled to the U.S. due to immigration violations.

According to the warrant, police responded to the parking lot of a Lauderhill Winn-Dixie, where they found Smith in 2002. She told officers that she feared that her ex  Lightbourne  had shot her friend, whom she met at a nightclub.

Smith told police she was in the bathroom at around 4 a.m. when she heard three gunshots. When she opened the bathroom door, Lightbourne shoved a gun into her chest and accused her of sleeping with Ennis, the warrant states.

She said she tried to run away, but Lightbourne took a cloth out of his pocket and blindfolded her, according to the warrant. He placed her in a car, and she heard their 2-year-old son crying in the backseat.

Lightbourne had custody of the child for the weekend.

At one point into the hours-long drive, Smith said she asked Lightbourne what he did to Ennis. Lightbourne, the warrant alleges, replied that at least [Smith] was neither dead nor shot.

He eventually stopped the car, removed her blindfold and ordered her to get out, the warrant says. So Smith grabbed the child and ran off.

False account

But days later, Smith admitted to investigators that the account she gave wasnt accurate, according to the warrant. She said Lightbourne told her to tell the fabricated story, and she did so out of fear.

In her new story, Smith said Lightbourne yanked her from the bathroom to the living room couch, the warrant states. He then dragged Ennis body by his arm to the front door. When police arrived to the apartment, they found the body in front of the front door.

The pair then entered a white Toyota Tercel. She wasnt blindfolded  and their son wasnt in the car at the time, Smith told investigators. At around 7 a.m., they headed to Lightbournes Boynton Beach home to pick up the 2 year old.

Lightbournes then-girlfriend confirmed that he had taken the child at around 7 a.m. that day, the warrant states.

According to Smith, Lightbourne switched to a Mitsubishi Mirage and drove to an area in northern Miami-Dade. He warned her that his people were watching her and would kill her and the toddler if she didnt tell police the story he made up, the warrant says.

He then hopped out of the car, and Smith  still in fear  drove to the Winn-Dixie with the child and offered police the falsified account, the warrant states.

Arrested by BSO

Lightbourne, who was arrested Wednesday by the Broward Sheriffs Office, is being held in the Broward Main Jail, records show. Hes charged with first-degree murder and armed kidnapping.

The search for Lightbourne had an odd twist in 2005 when police arrested a man they believed to be the fugitive at the funeral of the mans grandmother, according to the Herald archives. Authorities handcuffed and questioned the man but quickly learned it was not Kareem Lightbourne and released him.
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested a man in connection to a Tigerland bar fight that left a man dead on Saturday, March 23.

Matthew Marsiglia was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for manslaughter in the death of Devin Repath, 26, according to BRPD.

Repath was transported to a local hospital after being knocked out unconscious, according to BRPD. Repath died from the injuries he sustained during the fighting incident that took place around 1:18 a.m. at Freds Bar and Grill.

Man dead after fight at Tigerland bar, GoFundMe created to help his family

The coroner stated that the cause of Repaths death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Officers are encouraging anyone with more information on the shooting to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at 225-389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
'Brutality is not in the scope of his duties': Embattled trooper's pension argued in Supreme Court

PROVIDENCE  The Rhode Island State Police on Wednesday urged the state Supreme Court to uphold former Col. James Mannis denial of a disability pension to an ex-trooper who admitted to assaulting a man in custody in 2014.

We know there was an assault. We know that he admitted to it  Certainly brutality is not in the scope of his duties, Vincent F. Ragosta, Jr. said as state police Col. Darnell S. Weaver looked on.

The Rhode Island State Police are fighting a 2023 finding by Superior Court Judge Kevin F. McHugh that Mannis denial of a disability pension to embattled former Trooper Jamie Donnelly-Taylor was arbitrary and capricious.

Donnelly-Taylor, who pleaded no-contest to assaulting a Central Falls man, was fired by Col. James Manni after he took command in 2019, and after he denied Donnelly-Taylors request for a disability pension for PTSD he said he developed on the job.

Ragosta argued that Donnelly-Taylor had not shown that the major depressive disorder and PTSD he developed was caused by the actual performance of his duties. Instead, Ragosta said, it was caused by fallout from the assault.

Former RI Col. James Manni

Ragosta emphasized that Manni had broad discretion in assessing disability pension claims and faulted McHugh, as a reviewing court, for substituting his own judgment for that of Manni, who had conducted a hearing and allowed the admission of evidence.

He should have been assessing whether Col. Manni was reasonable, he said.

Ragosta referenced Derek Chauvins killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Brutalizing a subject under arrest, or anyone, is simply way outside the scope of a troopers duties, he said.

What was the triggering event?

But Carly Iafrate argued for the Rhode Island Island Troopers Association that McHugh got it right, and Mannis decision denying the pension lacked evidence.

Manni, she said, as a lay person, did not have the expertise to determine the cause of PTSD, particularly when the medical evidence linked Donnelly-Taylors mental-health issues to his work experiences.

There was no competing medical opinion. Its not up to the colonel to make it up on his own, Iafrate said.

Im not sure the medical evidence says what youd like us to think it says, Justice Melissa Long said as Donnelly-Taylor observed from the gallery.

Isnt it true that he pled nolo to assaulting another human being? Justice William Robinson asked.

Iafrate stressed that the simple-assault case against Donnelly-Taylor for assaulting Lionel Monsanto in the Lincoln Barracks in 2014 had been expunged.

Justice Erin Lynch-Prata observed that Donnelly-Taylor had discharged a weapon on duty shortly before Monsantos arrest and was experiencing marital difficulties.

The triggering event is the filing of the lawsuit, Lynch-Prata said in linking the diagnoses to the civil lawsuit Monsanto brought against Donnelly-Taylor and state police. Monsanto reached a $125,000 settlement with the state, but the case also resulted in cellblock video of the assault being publicly released.

A return to duty after the assault

Iafrate emphasized that Donnelly-Taylor had returned to duty after the Monsanto incident, but was found unfit for duty in February 2017 due to PTSD and referred to a psychiatrist who worked with the state police.

She asked: How could you rationalize that the department allowed him to remain on paid injured-on-duty status for three years with the denial of the pension?

Justice Maureen MacKenna Goldberg stated that injured-on-duty status and receiving a disability pension are not linked.

There should not be a corollary, McKenna Goldberg said. The colonel found one fact: This was not in the performance of duties.

More: Former RI State Police trooper alleges pattern of cover-ups in highest ranks of agency

legal saga

It is the latest in the long legal saga of Donnelly-Taylor, who has repeatedly claimed that he pleaded no contest to the simple-assault charge at the orders of former Col. Steven G. ODonnell to prevent a release of the video that captured the alleged assault, and with the urging that he take one for the team.

ODonnell has dismissed Donnelly-Taylor's account as ludicrous.

In the aftermath, the Attorney Generals Office refused to defend Donnelly-Taylor against Monsantos claims  a stance that the state Supreme Court upheld.

Donnelly-Taylor has sued Manni in state Superior Court. That case remains pending.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Former trooper who assaulted a man in custody fighting for pension in Supreme Court
Buffer zone had been proposed in Karen Read murder trial. Find out what the judge decided

Protesters outside Norfolk Superior Court ,Dedham to support Karen Read who is charged with murder. on Thursday Feb. 15, 2024

DEDHAM  Protests and demonstrations will be subject to a series of court-issued rules during the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who is accused of murder in the death of her police officer boyfriend.

Read, 43, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting Braintree native John O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022.

Related: Judge delays start of Karen Read murder trial. What happened in court Monday

Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a coverup. They claim O'Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside. She has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder.

Read's supporters often demonstrate outside the Norfolk Superior Court building during her hearings, and some have worn clothing with messages about the case into the courthouse.

After hearing arguments about the issue on Thursday, Judge Beverly Cannone issued an order prohibiting any demonstrations from occurring within 200 feet of the courthouse complex during the trial, which is scheduled to begin on April 16. Cannone's order also prohibits protesters from using "audio-enhancing devices."

Inside the courthouse, Cannone's order prevents anyone from wearing any buttons, photographs, clothing, or insignia, relating to the case. She also prohibited officers who are testifying or attending the trial from wearing their uniforms.

The full order states: "It is Ordered that no individual may demonstrate in any manner, including carrying signs or placards, within 200 feet of the Courthouse Complex during trial unless otherwise Ordered by this Court. This complex includes the Norfolk Superior Courthouse building and the parking area behind the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds building. Individuals are also prohibited from using audio enhancing devices while protesting.

"It is further ORDERED that no individuals will be permitted to wear or exhibit any buttons, photographs, clothing, or insignia, relating to the case pending against the defendant or relating to any trial participant, in the Courthouse during the trial. Law enforcement officers who are testifying or are members of the audience are also prohibited from wearing their department issued uniforms or any police emblems in the Courthouse."

Read's defense estimated that if the prosecution's case takes three or four weeks to present, the defense could need two more weeks for their side of the case.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Judge implements buffer zone outside court for Karen Read murder trial
"Grandma's shoes" is a commonly used term for a shoe model in the style of the 80s of the last century. They are characterized by a low and stable heel and a V-shaped rounded toe.

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Everything new is the old forgotten, so "granny shoes" are coming back into fashion again, writes VOGUE. These shoes could be seen many times in the fall-winter 2024/2025 collections.

In particular, an Italian brand called Loro Piana demonstrated its vision of trendy shoes at Milan Fashion Week. The pair in white was immediately purchased by Victoria's Secret angel Jasmine Tusk for her wardrobe.

A similar model with cutouts on the sides was presented by Carven in its fall-winter 2024/2025 collection. And many famous influencers can be seen wearing "granny shoes" from The Row.

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Model Elsa Hosk also joined the trend and chose shoes with an almond-shaped toe. The fashionista's Instagram photo shows a variant of the shoe's styling.

Interestingly, Princess Diana was one of the main fans of the trendy pair. In archival photos, you can see that the royal often wore "grandmother's shoes". She preferred shoes in brown and cream colors and loved a two-tone black and white pair from Chanel.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Bug haters, beware: After 200 years, the cicadas are here by the trillions

Left: Dr Katie Dana pictured in 2019 with a cicada resting on her face. Right: Cicadas crawl up a tree in Indiana in 2021. Dr Dana, an entomologist, will study the rare co-emergence of two cicada broods this spring (Katie Dana )

A rare phenomenon that hasnt occurred since Thomas Jefferson was in the White House is set to take place - but possibly for the last time.

It isnt a comet or the upcoming solar eclipse  rather, the emergence of trillions of cicadas. Two broods of the flying insects  named XIII and XIX  are set to invade the east coast and midwest in the coming weeks after last burrowing out of the soil together in 1803.

Their next co-emergence isnt expected until 2245.

Ive actually been looking forward to this for many years now, Dr Katie Dana, an entomologist and cicada expert from Illinois told The Independent. Ive been trying to spread the word  people havent listened until this year.

This map illustrates where cicada Brood XIX (light blue) and Brood XIII (brown) will emerge in the coming weeks (A. M. Liebhold, M.J. Bohne and R.L. Lilja/United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service)

Cicada expert Dr Katie Dana, pictured in Pennsylvania in 2019. Shes thrilled about the rare co-emergence of the insects and wants to share the event with her son (Courtesy of Katie Dana)

Im just so excited, added Dr Dana, who goes by Cicadidae (Ci - Katie - D) enthusiast, on X/Twitter. She plans to share the magical event with her son.

Cicadas, best known for their loud singing or chirping, are classed as different broods, depending on when they emerge from spending most of their lives underground.

There are 15 periodical cicada broods in the US  three which emerge on 13-year cycles, and the rest every 17 years. That means theres usually just one type of cicada at a time.

Cicadas land on the arm of Dr Katie Dana in Bloomington, Indiana in 2021 (Courtesy of Dr Katie Dana)

This year is expected to be one for the record books. Brood XIII, which appears every 17 years, and Brood XIX, on a 13-year cycle, will coincide for the first time in over 200 years. These cicadas are smaller varieties, growing to 1.4 inches, but other broods can double that and have 8-inch wingspans.

Ground zero for this event is Illinois but around a dozen states will experience trillions of the winged insects  and then unavoidable heaps of carcasses.

The good news for farmers is that cicadas dont attack plants  although they can cause damage to fruit trees. The female periodical cicada is known to slit the bark on young tree branches to lay her eggs.

While some might be freaked out by the cicada invasion  and the fear of cicadas is real and common  others are embracing the natural phenomenon.

A pile of cicadas in Bloomington, Indiana in 2021. Entomologists are eager to study two broods of cicadas co-emerging this spring for the first time in more than 200 years (Courtesy of Katie Dana)

A professor in Ohio has created a free app, Cicada Safari, so users can upload photos of the insects and track where the biggest numbers emerge.

In Illinois, the Lake County Forest Preserves is holding a Cicadafest with demonstrations, opportunities to dress up as cicadas and get involved in an insect hunt.

And the more culinary adventurous might enjoy them as a springtime snack. Cicadas can be cooked into stir frys, dumplings and even rhubarb pie, according to the Cicada-licious cookbook.

A person cooks cicadas in Maryland in 2021. Enthusiasts are set to celebrate this years mass emergence by attending festivals, tracking the insects on apps and enjoying them as snacks (Getty Images)

But after the hottest year in human history, experts are worried about cicadas resilience in face of the climate crisis.

Its feared that humans could wipe entire species out of existence from fuelling a fungus that turns cicadas into zombies to destroying their habitats.

Feeding frenzy

For those who live in cicada-infested areas, it might be hard to imagine a decline in the species.

Periodical cicadas ensure their survival by producing so many offspring that their large number of predators are quickly satiated, making an insignificant dent in numbers.

They overwhelm their predators, so everybody gets full, Dr Dana said.

However, this evolutionary development means that even a small dip in population numbers caused by external factors like higher temperatures or forest destruction, could allow predators to wipe out entire broods, she explained.

Cicada populations are difficult to study over the long-term because they emerge so rarely, said experts at the University of Connecticut.

However, all available evidence indicates the climate crisis will take a toll.

What climate change might eventually have impact on is their population sizes, if a brood emerges in a year that has a high mortality rate due to adverse conditions, Dr Douglas Yanega, an entomologist at University of California, Riverside, toldThe Independent via email.

Weather conditions dont impact when cicadas emerge, Dr Yanega said, but environmental factors do have consequences.

It gets smelly

While the consequences of a hotter world are still being understood, humans have already impacted cicada species.

In order to grow, cicadas must moult by shedding their hard, outer layer of protection, called an exoskeleton. During this process, the insects take shelter in trees as they wait for a larger exoskeleton to regrow. Without trees or thick forest underbrush to hide in, cicadas will die prematurely.

Any sort of deforestation is absolutely going to affect their numbers, Dr Dana said.

In areas where trees and shrubs have been cleared, cicadas have been observed emerging from the ground and piling up in the grass, unable to moult.

Cicadas on a tree trunk in Bloomington, Indiana in 2021. Trees play a vital role in the cicada lifecycle, meaning deforestation threatens to their existence in the US (Courtesy of Katie Dana)

Theyre everywhere, stuck in their shells, the scientist said. It gets smelly, and you feel bad for them because theyre stuck, just dying slowly.

Deforestation is driven both by human development and an overheating planet. In the US, the increase in wildfires over the past 20 years has destroyed 48,000 square miles of tree cover, according to Global Forest Watch. More frequent and intense droughts have made this worse, sucking trees of moisture and leaving them primed to burn.

Two US cicada broods are already known to have gone extinct - XI and XXI.

Brood XI died out sometime after 1954 when their last emergence was recorded in Connecticut. However, their extinction was unrelated to deforestation or urban growth, according to University of Connecticut entomologists. Some scientists have suggested that the brood was vulnerable because it was made up of a single sub-species and existed in less than ideal environmental conditions.

Brood XXI went extinct in 1870 but experts have little information on why they disappeared.

Saltshakers of death

One of the biggest threats to cicadas is Massospora, a fungus which infects insects as they burrow out of the soil, causing them to die prematurely.

In an echo of the fictional HBO series The Last of Us, the fungal infection turns the insects into zombie-like creatures. The fungus causes spores to grow in their abdominal cavity, pouring out of the cicadas as they fly, earning them the nickname of saltshakers of death, said Dr Dana.

You could pick up an individual and if you push on the tip of its abdomen, it falls off and you can see all of the spores inside, she added.

Dr Dana, pictured in Illinois in 2015, told The Independent she looks forward to studying the impacts of climate change on Massospora, a deadly fungus that infects cicadas (Courtesy of Katie Dana)

During this years rare co-emergence, the scientist hopes to study what impact the climate crisis might have on Massospora.

Theres a lot of questions about this fungus. Is it going to increase, or is it going to decrease? she said.

Its just one of many unanswered questions related to cicadas, and Dr Dana said this springs rare event is the perfect opportunity to gather the data and samples to learn more.

I like to remind people this is like a natural wonder of the world, and nowhere else do you see this sheer biomass of organisms in one place, she said. It is magical.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA)  Police arrested a suspected burglar who was reportedly hiding in an Asheville churchs crawl space Tuesday evening.

According to the Asheville Police Department, officers responded to a breaking and entering at a church on Merrimon Avenue shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Asheville Police said they searched the property for the suspect and found a man in the crawl space.

46-year-old Bradley David Quick was taken into custody and charged in connection with the burglary.

Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area  >> Latest stories here

Police said Quick also faces charges related to a Buncombe County Sheriffs Office case.

Quick was charged with four counts of felony breaking and entering, four counts of larceny after breaking and entering, larceny of a firearm, six counts of forgery of instrument, five counts of uttering forged instrument, seven counts of obtaining property under false pretense, two counts of identity theft, possession of methamphetamine, and resisting public officer.

He is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility without bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
BYESVILLE, Ohio (WCMH)  A man drowned after apparently driving on a flooded roadway on Wednesday, according to the Guernsey County Sheriff.

Sheriff Jeffrey Paden said emergency responders found 56-year-old Karl Eric Wickham dead in his vehicle after extracting it from a flooded roadway in Jackson Township. His family had reported him missing on Wednesday afternoon after he didnt show up to work and was not answering his phone.

Unsolved Ohio: Man who vanished from Easton area still missing five years later

After several hours of searching, Byesville volunteer firefighters found the mans vehicle completely submerged, the sheriff said. When the vehicle was removed from the water, the Guernsey County coroner pronounced the man dead and ruled his death an accident by drowning.

Multiple roadways across central Ohio flooded after Tuesdays storms. On Wednesday morning, a mans Maserati SUV was towed to dry land after he drove past road closure signs and ended up in flood waters on U.S. 23 in south Columbus. Ohio Department of Transportation cameras caught the man wading through knee-high water toward Franklin County Sheriffs deputies.

Paden urged drivers to avoid flooded roadways, regardless of their depth, because water currents can often be stronger than they appear.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
After a week-long search, the Canyon County Sheriffs Office announced the arrest of a Caldwell man who is accused of shooting another man.

The Meridian Police Department located and apprehended 34-year-old Gabriel Francisco Meza at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from the Sheriffs Office. Meza was inside a vehicle in a businesss parking lot near the intersection of Meridian Road and East Central Drive in Meridian. He was arrested without incident, the release said.

I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners throughout the Treasure Valley who assisted us over the past week as we worked around the clock to bring this dangerous fugitive into custody, Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue said in the release. We hope it sends the message that we will stop at nothing to bring violent criminals to justice.

Law enforcement began looking for Meza after the Canyon County sheriffs office alleged that he shot a 44-year-old man several times early March 27 in a residential area southeast of Caldwell. Deputies said the man had multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to prior Idaho Statesman reporting. Police said the men knew each other.

Roughly 24 hours later, a felony warrant for aggravated battery was issued for Meza, with a $1 million bond attached.

Meza was also arrested on suspicion of two misdemeanors, use or possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to use, and providing false information to an officer, online jail records showed.

The Sheriffs Office said Meza could face additional charges. He was scheduled to appear at the Ada County Courthouse at 1:30 p.m.Thursday for his initial hearing before being transferred to the Canyon County Jail.

Typically, the judge wont modify a bail amount set by another county, so Meza likely will remain on the $1 million bond until he appears in court in Canyon County, where a judge could reduce it.
California bill aims to stop employers from reaching out during off hours

A new California bill aims to prevent employers from reaching out to their employees outside of work hours.

The bill, AB 2751, introduced by State Assemblymember Matt Haney, aims to bring greater work-life balance to employees in California by creating a right-to-disconnect from calls, texts and emails after work hours.

The legislation would have California companies better define compensated hours and implement a company-wide policy to adhere to the right-to-disconnect laws.

The states labor commission could investigate and fine employers for breaching employees personal time.

Work has changed drastically compared to what it was just 10 years ago. Smartphones have blurred the boundaries between work and home life, Haney said in a statement. Workers shouldnt be punished for not being available 24/7 if theyre not being paid for 24 hours of work. People have to be able to spend time with their families without being constantly interrupted at the dinner table or their kids birthday party, worried about their phones and responding to work.

The bill has exceptions where employers could contact workers during collective bargaining, emergencies and scheduling.

This bill has a lot of flexibility to make sure that it works for all California businesses and types of employment, including those sectors that may require on-call work or longer hours, Haney said. Many of Californias larger employers are already abiding by right-to-disconnect laws in other countries and choosing to grow their companies rapidly in those places.

Weve crafted it in a way that addresses the recent changes to work brought on by new technology, but to also be pro California business. California businesses will be more competitive for desperately needed workers as a result of this law.

California Chamber of Commerce is opposing the bill.

The bill will effectively subject all employees to a rigid working schedule and prohibit communication between employers and employees absent an emergency, Senior Policy Advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, Ashley Hoffman, said in a letter opposing the bill. This blanket rule is a step backwards for workplace flexibility.

It fails to consider Californias longstanding laws regarding hours worked, exempt employees, and fails to account for the uniqueness of different industries and professions. It would prevent the Governor and State agencies from contacting their staff outside of normal work hours, which would lead to basic functions of the state being imperiled.

The bill was assigned to the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee and is expected to be heard in the coming weeks.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
More than three years after the California Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, the case is headed toward a sprawling settlement agreement expected to touch on issues including jail conditions, deputy gangs and staffing, according to sources familiar with the matter and emails viewed by The Times.

The investigative findings  which remain secret  span over 100 pages, and sources say they include controversial recommendations for deputies to curtail making traffic stops, stop enforcing some drug laws and complete hundreds more hours of training.

Initially launched in January 2021 under Xavier Becerra, Californias attorney general at the time, the probe came amid a string of controversial shootings, costly lawsuits, repeated allegations of deputy misconduct and then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva's resistance to oversight.

Though a new administration is in place, many of the same problems remain  some of which the state detailed when presenting the findings of its investigation to department officials and other stakeholders in a recent meeting, according to four sources who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Already, the findings and recommendations have sparked pushback, some from oversight officials who raised concerns about the lack of transparency and some from union leaders who questioned the practicality of the states nearly 400 recommendations.

Preventing deputies from conducting traffic stops and enforcing drug laws might seem like a good idea to those living in gated communities or with armed protective details, Richard Pippin, president of the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, wrote in a recent message to union members. But ALADS knows our community partners in the contract cities and elsewhere will be shocked by some of these proposals that are best described as elitist and unrealistic.

The Sheriffs Department said this week it was "not at liberty" to discuss the matter, while Atty. Gen. Rob Bontas office did not respond to The Times request for comment. Lawyers for Los Angeles County said only that theyd been in communication with the state and hoped to avoid litigation.

Read more: California attorney general launches civil rights probe of L.A. County Sheriff's Department

The Sheriffs Department is already subject to five more narrowly targeted settlement agreements overseen by federal courts. One centers on racial profiling and policing practice s in the Antelope Valley, while the other four relate to the conditions and treatment of inmates in the county jails. The oldest of those cases dates to the 1970s, but it remains open because the department has never fully complied with the settlement terms.

Given the scope of the states investigation, a new settlement agreement could be far broader than those already in place. And given the sheer size of the Sheriffs Department  the largest in the country, with a $4-billion budget  it could be one of the most expansive that the California Department of Justice has ever entered.

Word of the states voluminous findings began making the rounds last week, after Sheriff Robert Luna sent a lengthy email to deputies offering a vague update on the status of the case.

As some of you may know, three years ago in January 2021, the California Department of Justice (CAL-DOJ) began a civil rights investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department to determine whether the LASD has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing, the email began, according to a copy reviewed by The Times.

We have been communicating with the CAL-DOJ officials and look forward to addressing the issues of concern and coming into compliance, the sheriff continued. We expect further communication with CAL-DOJ in the weeks and months ahead regarding proposed corrective actions.

The email did not offer a clear timeline for the next steps, but Luna wrote that the department, county lawyers and other key stakeholders would need to evaluate the findings and recommendations, which he said would touch on more than a dozen areas, including use of force, arrests, deputy gangs, internal investigations, discipline, oversight, community engagement, training, staffing and conditions in the jails.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna speaks at a news conference on Feb. 20, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

Any agreement reached between CAL-DOJ and the Sheriff's Department will help make sure the department complies with state laws and standards and could improve trust from the community, he said.

As we work towards finalizing the specifics, we will keep you informed of any developments or changes, Luna wrote. Community trust is at the core of our work in public safety and with this agreement we will improve our systems and Department to better serve the citizens of Los Angeles County.

California law allows the attorney general to investigate law enforcement agencies suspected of engaging in a pattern or practice of violating state or federal law. Unlike with criminal investigations that focus on specific incidents, a pattern or practice investigation looks more broadly at whether a law enforcement agency routinely violates peoples constitutional rights.

When he first announced the Los Angeles County investigation, Becerra raised concerns about the lack of comprehensive oversight of the department as well as allegations of retaliation, excessive force and other misconduct.

There are serious concerns and reports that accountability and adherence to legitimate policing practices have lapsed at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, he said in a statement. We are undertaking this investigation to determine if LASD has violated the law or the rights of the people of Los Angeles County.

At the time, Becerra did not specify a focus for the investigation, saying that his office was not placing a particular scope and time or place, or person in the crosshairs.

Though Becerra initially said a thorough report on the investigations findings would be made public, it is not clear whether Bonta still plans to do that. One county source familiar with the matter said it was likely the detailed findings would remain secret, though a signed settlement agreement would eventually become public.

The original announcement of the investigation three years ago came after a series of high-profile shootings by deputies that triggered widespread protests and demands from community organizers and lawmakers for independent investigations . Those calls were amplified after the June 2020 killing of 18-year-old Andres Guardado, who was shot five times in the back by a deputy assigned to the Compton station .

Last year  a few months before both that deputy and his partner were sentenced to federal prison for an unrelated incident  The Times obtained a leaked email showing that the California Department of Justice had taken up the Guardado case. Its not clear if that became part of the civil rights probe or if it is being handled separately, though the California Constitution grants the office the power to review cases where the law is not being adequately enforced by a local or county agency.

Read more: 2nd former L.A. deputy sentenced to federal prison for abducting Compton skateboarder

When Becerra opened the broader civil rights probe in 2021, local activists and oversight officials heralded the move. Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, called it a step forward in the names of people like Dijon Kizzee and Andres Guardado and so many others killed by L.A. deputies, adding that she hoped it would uncover corruption in the department and bring an end to deputy gangs.

Robert Bonner, a former federal judge who now serves on the watchdog Civilian Oversight Commission, said at the time that he hoped the investigation would focus on deputy cliques and would eventually lead to a consent decree requiring their elimination.

Though Villanueva didnt learn of the probe until it was announced publicly, he said in 2021 that he welcomed the attorney generals investigation and promised to cooperate.

Our department may finally have an impartial, objective assessment of our operations, and recommendations on any areas we can improve our service to the community, he said. We are eager to get this process started, in the interest of transparency and accountability.

This week in an email to The Times, Villanueva  who lost a reelection bid two years ago  took a dimmer view of the states investigation.

The entire premise of their investigation was political retaliation by the Board of Supervisors and their political appointees, he wrote, accusing supervisors of lobbying the attorney general to open the case. With federal consent decrees covering most of LASD operations already, there is little room for state intervention.

Union officials also worried about the burden of adding new requirements from another sprawling settlement.

The report clearly indicates that every deputy would be required to complete hundreds of hours of training to satisfy even the baseline requirements, Pippin wrote in his message to union members. The report also challenges the direct authority of the sworn chain of command and moves much of the power and decision-making authority to offices or groups with zero operational experience, he continued, saying the states recommendations would create confusion in the chain of command.

Meanwhile some oversight officials worried about the apparent lack of outside input.

I just hope the attorney general and the county officials will take input from the community before reaching a final settlement, said Sean Kennedy, who chairs the Civilian Oversight Commission. No real solution can be forged without hearing from the people most affected by decades of unconstitutional policing.

At the outset, it was expected that the inquiry would involve interviews with local officials, members of oversight panels and community groups  though its not clear who has been interviewed or what the investigation ultimately entailed. Kennedy said the oversight commission has not been included in "any of the settlement meetings to date."

A similar investigation of the Kern County Sheriffs Office that started in 2016 led to a settlement agreement four years later, when the agency agreed to implement a laundry list of reforms that included a ban on the use of chokeholds, a new procedure for reporting deputy shootings to the public and stricter rules governing deputy searches.

Nearly a decade earlier a two-year probe overseen by then-Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown found that Maywood, a small city in southeastern Los Angeles County, was patrolled by rogue cops who arrested people without probable cause and routinely used excessive force.

The Maywood Police Department reached an agreement with the state that required the city to raise its hiring standards, publish annual audits of the departments operations, and equip officers with audio recorders and their cruisers with video cameras, among other reforms. A year after entering the agreement, Maywood disbanded its police force and instead contracted with the L.A. County Sheriffs Department.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Reality Check is a Sacramento Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.

Seven California farmworkers are alleging civil rights violations against Wonderful Nurseries, the latest in an ongoing back and forth between North Americas largest grapevine nursery and a historic labor union.

The Latino workers, represented through Martinez Aguilasocho Law, filed these charges last week with the California Civil Rights Department. The charges allege Wonderful Nurseries and its labor contractors failed to provide state mandated sexual harassment prevention training and education to supervisory employees; did not have a written harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy and did not translate the policy into a language spoken by at least 10% of the workforce.

Lack of training resulted in workers experiencing a hostile work environment at various Wonderful Nurseries work sites, according to written copies of the charges reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.

Wonderful Nurseries maintains all the charges are bogus claims and yet another example of the United Farm Workers filing fire hose of lies.

The actual facts are that every manager employed by Wonderful Nurseries directly, as well as those employed through a third-party, is in full compliance with all mandatory trainings, and, in fact, we are among the only companies to take the added step of auditing the third-party to ensure it, said Rob Yraceburu, president of Wonderful Nurseries, in a written statement.

Yraceburu continued to say that the company recently provided UFW with Spanish-translated harassment and discrimination at their request.

UFW wrote it in a statement it is aware of the charges and confirmed it works with Martinez Aguilasocho Law, a Bakersfield-based lawfirm, frequently.

State laws need to be enforced for all workers equally and fully, said Antonio De Loera-Brust, a spokesman for UFW. There is no excuse for employers not taking the appropriate measures to prevent sexual harassment and avoid a hostile workplace.

The civil rights allegations come during a public fight between Wonderful Nurseries and UFW. The two sides already had history, with Wonderful Company workers  with the assistance of UFW  striking in 2019 for four days to win back a wage rate that had recently been reduced.

Last month, UFW was certified for organizing 640 workers at grapevine nursery which is under the Wonderful Company empire  a multibillion-dollar agricultural business.

Both sides, and their supporting workers, have launched several claims against each other since the certification.

Wonderful Nurseries alleges UFW organizers misled almost half of the farmworkers who signed union authorization cards. Many of these workers have submitted written declarations, and some participated in strikes expressing their discontent for the union.

UFW maintains the allegations are false and has filed its own charges saying Wonderful Nurseries coerced workers into making false statements and attending the strike.

An Agricultural Labor Relations Board hearing on the dispute has been postponed twice. It is now scheduled for April 25.

A timeline on the outcome of civil rights charges is unclear. The California Civil Rights Department did not respond to a request for comment, citing the potential or ongoing investigation.

Former worker shares her experience

The charges add further fuel to both UFW and Wonderful Nurseries claims about each other.

One former worker, who was connected to The Bee through UFW, is among those who have filed charges. The woman asked her name not be published due to fear of retaliation.

She called Wonderful Nurseries a hostile work environment that laid her off earlier this year without providing a reason. She could not recall ever seeing any written harassment policies or receiving any training on them.

When asked if she had been harassed at work, the worker declined to answer and cited advice from her lawyers. She said sexual harassment and favoritism among females is widely talked about at the workplace.

When you get to a certain age, they lay you off and substitute you for younger people, said the woman, who is in her late 40s.

Her experience falls in line with another anonymous female worker, who spoke to The Bee last month. The middle-aged woman described a workplace culture of intimidation and favoritism, in which some female workers faced age discrimination, sexual harassment and preferential treatment based on their physical appearances and relationships with supervisors.

If you have a beautiful body or are young then you have a secure job, she said.

Wonderful Nurseries continues to staunchly defend its workplace culture, and points to its record of no harassment or discrimination claims. The company argues the allegations are being used as a distraction by UFW from the numerous workers pushing to decertify the union.

Its getting harder to keep up with the fire hose of lies the UFW is pushing in their effort to divert attention from their fraudulent conduct in a vote decided by just seven votes, but where more than 150 farmworkers say they were misled, Yraceburu said in the statement.
(KRON)  Authorities are searching for a male suspect who entered a female residents apartment last Friday, the Campbell Police Department (CPD) announced on social media. The break-in happened at an apartment unit on Apricot Avenue around 7:13 p.m. on March 29.

Within minutes of the break-in, the victim woke up and discovered the suspect was inside her apartment, according to CPD. The suspect then quickly ran out of the apartment.

Video posted by CPD shows the suspect entering and exiting the premises of the apartment through the alley behind the garage structure. Watch the video in the media player above.

Here are the best burritos in SF, Oakland and San Jose, according to Yelp

Police are searching for this suspect who allegedly broke into a female residents apartment on March 29 (Campbell Police Department).

CPD did not release any other information about the suspect at this time. Anyone with information about the suspect or the investigation is asked to contact CPDs non-emergency line at 408-866-2101.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
9 dead, over 1,000 injured in 7.3-magnitude quake in China's Taiwan

Xinhua) 09:32, April 04, 2024

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a tilted building after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near Hualien, southeast China's Taiwan. The 7.3-magnitude quake in China's Taiwan on Wednesday morning had left nine people dead and 1,011 people injured as of 10 p.m., according to the local emergency operation center. (Xinhua/Zhao Bo)

TAIPEI/BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The 7.3-magnitude quake in China's Taiwan on Wednesday morning had left nine people dead and 1,011 people injured as of 10 p.m., according to the local emergency operation center.

Meanwhile, more than 100 people were trapped following the earthquake that hit the sea area near Hualien County, Taiwan, data from the center showed.

As of 10 p.m., rescuers had successfully saved 24 out of the 25 residents trapped in a severely tilted building in Hualien. Tragically, the last remaining individual, a woman, showed no signs of life when she was rescued.

At least 28 buildings collapsed throughout Taiwan following the earthquake, with 17 of them located in Hualien County. Local authorities reported power outages affecting over 360,000 households, alongside water cuts affecting more than 120,000 households.

According to an official from Taiwan transportation authorities, the railway linking Yilan County and Hualien has been severely disrupted, with multiple collapses and falling rocks reported.

Ongoing aftershocks in Hualien have hindered repair personnel from accessing affected areas, the official said.

The official stated that the current priority is to restore the Taiwan railway service, saying dual-track travel on the rail line section connecting Yilan and Hualien is expected to be restored by Thursday noon.

The earthquake was strongly felt in many parts of Taiwan. In Taipei, the earthquake caused damage to some school buildings. According to statistics from the Taipei education authorities, as of Wednesday noon, 201 schools and kindergartens reported that they had sustained damages, with six schools announcing class suspensions.

Taichung City, located near Hualien, also experienced severe shaking. The earthquake led to two incidents where falling rocks struck cars, resulting in 2 injuries. Additionally, the earthquake temporarily caused power outages for over 14,000 households in Taichung.

Taiwan's meteorological agency called the earthquake the strongest one to hit the island in 25 years since a deadly quake struck on Sept. 21, 1999.

A spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said that the mainland is highly concerned about the situation and extends sincere sympathy to the Taiwan compatriots affected by the disaster.

The mainland is ready to provide disaster relief assistance, said spokesperson Zhu Fenglian.

The quake struck at 7:58 a.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time) and the epicenter was monitored at 23.81 degrees north latitude and 121.74 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 12 km, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

Following the earthquake, the Ministry of Natural Resources warning center issued tsunami alerts, which have been later lifted.

The quake triggered a local tsunami near the epicenter, causing a disastrous impact on parts of Taiwan's coastal areas, the warning center said, adding that the tsunami disaster process had basically ended.

According to Taiwan's meteorological agency, the epicenter of the earthquake was located 25 km south-southeast of Hualien. The maximum intensity recorded was 6 magnitude in Hualien County.

Local authorities have announced the suspension of work and school classes in Hualien.

Multiple residential buildings partially collapsed in Hualien, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Falling rocks were also reported in hilly areas.

A rubber factory building in New Taipei City collapsed due to the quake.

Subways in multiple counties and cities on the island have been temporarily suspended. In Taipei, intense shaking lasting at least one minute led to the suspension of metro operations for 40 to 60 minutes.

As of 10:37 p.m., 216 aftershocks had been recorded in Hualien and nearby areas, according to Taiwan's meteorological agency.

The agency also predicted earthquakes measuring magnitude 7 might happen in the next three days.

Across the Taiwan Strait, tremors were also felt in Fujian, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu on the Chinese mainland.

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a tilted building after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near Hualien, southeast China's Taiwan. The 7.3-magnitude quake in China's Taiwan on Wednesday morning had left nine people dead and 1,011 people injured as of 10 p.m., according to the local emergency operation center. (Xinhua)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Artificial intelligence (AI) could play a key role in extending health services to underserved and vulnerable communities, by revolutionising prevention and diagnosis, and helping develop bespoke medicines while expanding access to care.

With the costs of healthcare coverage continuing to rise and environmental issues such as climate change and air pollution exacerbating community health issues, millions of people around the world dont have access to the medical services and support they need. To raise awareness of these challenges  the theme for World Health Day (April 7) this year is 'My health, my right  and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is engaged in key research areas it hopes will provide real world solutions.

Tackling Malaria

Malaria is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases, and its impact is being exacerbated by warming temperatures caused by climate change. Supported by the Reaching the Last Mile initiative, a team of scientists at MBZUAI is developing AI-powered applications to help physicians and public health officials in Indonesia reduce the impact of malaria on the countrys population of 270 million.

The applications being developed perform sensory data fusion, a process that combines data from a variety of sensors to generate a virtual representation of the environment in the form of a digital twin. This approach provides precise weather forecasting and generates a near real-time representation of the environment, providing officials with detailed information about where malaria outbreaks may occur, and helping authorities to prevent the spread of the disease.

Predictive healthcare

AI-enabled predictive healthcare anticipates medical issues before they arise, enabling proactive interventions and personalised treatment. By analysing vast datasets and identifying patterns, it enhances preventive care, reduces hospitalisations, and ultimately saves lives. A research team at MBZUAI is using machine learning and computer vision to identify cardiovascular disease from CT scans. The team is collaborating with the University of Oxford on a comprehensive study to identify biomarkers indicating potential heart problems before symptoms show. This AI system aims to assist clinicians by swiftly analysing scans and highlighting areas that need attention. When integrated with portable ultrasound scanning devices, this service has the potential to provide millions of people with initial cardiovascular assessments worldwide.

Remote patient monitoring

AI in remote patient monitoring utilises sensors and algorithms to track vital signs and health metrics from a distance, offering real-time insights into patient well-being. This technology enables proactive interventions, reduces hospital re-admissions, and enhances overall healthcare efficiency, particularly for patients with chronic conditions or those in remote areas.

These tools can be applied to monitor the health and safety of older people and provide them support to remain in their homes. Remote patient monitoring and assistance systems could integrate several types of smart wearable devices to monitor pulse and temperature, position, and location.

Accelerating drug development

Currently, around 90% of clinical trials for new medications end in failure, which is why Quris-AI, the worlds first Bio-AI clinical-prediction platform ensuring the safety and efficacy of new drugs, and MBZUAI, signed an agreement in 2023 to develop a world-class Bio-AI center of excellence in Abu Dhabi. The center will accelerate the development of safer, and more highly personalised medications tailored specifically to the diverse populations of the Mena region. MBZUAI is providing expertise in the development of predictive AI models, while incentivising sought-after AI graduates to stay in the UAE as they begin their careers.

Personalised treatments

AI is revolutionising personalised medical treatments by analysing vast patient data to tailor interventions while accelerating the discovery and creation of new drugs. From genomic profiling for precise cancer therapies to predicting drug responses based on individual characteristics, AI optimises treatment plans for each patients unique biology. By harnessing AIs analytical power, healthcare providers can deliver targeted therapies that address patients specific needs. MBZUAI is working on numerous areas aimed at making treatments more personalised and effective, through genome mapping and partnerships to bring the power of AI to drug discovery and development. Last year, MBZUAI signed a partnership with BioMap, an AI model-powered life science platform, focusing on creating breakthroughs in AI generated proteins (AIGP) to provide more tailored treatments in the Middle East.--TradeArabia News Service
It sounds like a dream to erase wrinkles under the eyes in one swipe. But professional makeup artists say that it's actually quite realistic.

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An American beauty blogger and experienced makeup artist, Erica Taylor, told her TikTok subscribers about an effective life hack. She gives advice to women over 40 on how to maintain a youthful look and do makeup without mistakes. According to Erica, one unexpected product will help you get rid of wrinkles under the eyes on the go  lip moisturizer oil.

This product helps to saturate the sensitive skin on the lips with moisture, making them fuller and more voluminous. It also works with the skin around the eyes.

Put a little oil on the back of your hand with the applicator from the tube, then take a drop of the product on your finger and gently pat it into the area between the eye and the cheekbone, where the so-called crow's feet form. This will give the skin extra elasticity and smooth out wrinkles. In addition, you will get a beautiful glow.

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And it is not necessary to use only transparent oil. Colored products will give the skin around the eyes a slight blush, which also works to create a younger look.

Subscribe to the OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.
(Updates with video and pictures tags)

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Jacob Flickinger, the Canadian aid worker killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza this week, was a former soldier who had an 18-month-old son, his parents told CBC.

Flickinger, who also had U.S. citizenship, had been in Gaza volunteering for the World Central Kitchen group since early March, they said in an interview on Wednesday.

"He believed very strongly that the work he was doing was important, especially in this case, knowing that there was starvation out there," said his mother, Sylvie Labrecque.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said the deaths of Flickinger and six other aid workers in the attack were unacceptable and demanded answers from Israel, which says the air strike was a mistake. Flickinger's father John said he thought the strike had been deliberate.

"Their convoy was clearly marked and they were on a well-used humanitarian route. So in my opinion it was a targeted kill," he said.

Flickinger had recently settled with his wife and son in Costa Rica, his parents said.

"They were a happy little family. Together, they were extremely happy and they loved each other desperately, and they had great projects for the future, for themselves and the child," said Labrecque.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Capsized barge finally stops month-long oil spill off coast of Caribbean islands: 'The hydrocarbon discharge ... has stopped'

The month-long oil leak from a barge carrying up to 35,000 barrels of fuel oil that capsized off the Caribbean island of Tobago has finally stopped, according to the twin islands' government.

After being discovered off Tobago's Atlantic coast in early February, the spill caused damage to some of the island's mangroves and posed a threat to the area's tourism and fishing industries.

As the spill spread into the Caribbean Sea, concerns grew for the neighboring country of Venezuela and nearby islands such as Bonaire and Grenada.

Trinidad and Tobago's ministry of energy released a statement saying, "The hydrocarbon discharge emanating from the overturned vessel located off the coast of Tobago has stopped."

To address the environmental impact and clean up the spill, the government enlisted the help of remediation and salvage firms QT Environmental and T&T Salvage to tackle the project and recover the leaking barge.

Oil spills, such as the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, wreak havoc on coastal communities, industry workers, wildlife, and marine ecosystems. Millions of gallons of oil can flood the ocean, not only burdening communities with significant cleanup costs but also devastating water quality and endangering marine life.

Seabirds suffer as oil coats their feathers, hindering flight and insulation, while the lives of fish populations are cut short, disrupting a crucial part of the food chain.

This incident highlights the ongoing challenges and risks to our planet associated with the transportation of hazardous materials overseas, stressing the need for stricter safety measures and plans to prevent environmental disasters.

"Cleaning and restoration can only seriously begin after we have brought the situation under control," Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley said.

The severe impact this kind of event has on seaside residents and coastal ecosystems makes clear the importance of urgent action when it comes to the pollution of our natural resources in order to create a cleaner, safer future.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Car burglar caught in the act, leaves Kia behind: MPD

MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Memphis Police are searching for a man who was caught breaking into several vehicles at a business in the airport area.

According to Memphis Police, at around noon Tuesday, a man broke into several vehicles in the parking lot of a business in the 3100 block of Farrisview Boulevard.

Family Dollar robbed at gunpoint, MPD searching for suspect

Police say that the suspect was confronted while burglarizing vehicles. The suspect reportedly fled the scene on foot despite arriving at the scene in a silver 2006 Kia Sportage.

Memphis Police say the suspect left the Kia behind.

Police released pictures of the suspect Thursday afternoon. No one has been arrested at this time.

If you have any information regarding this incident, call Memphis CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  A car crashed into the Stetson Hills substation of the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) on Wednesday afternoon, April 3.

According to CSPD, a car was leaving the ENT Credit Union just south of Barnes Road and Tutt Boulevard, when the driver became distracted and lost control of the car. The car then drove down a hill and into the north side of the Stetson Hills substation.

Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Lilia Onstott

Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Lilia Onstott

Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Lilia Onstott

Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Lilia Onstott

Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Lilia Onstott

Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Lilia Onstott

CSPD said no officers were injured, however the driver and a passenger in the car were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) Carilion Clinic sent a Letter of Intent to the Commonwealth of Virginia seeking a Certificate of Public Need (COPN) for an inpatient medical rehabilitation hospital near Carilions Roanoke campus on Monday, April 1.

Should the Commonwealth approve the application and issue a COPN, the proposed 50-bed hospital would be established by relocating 34 rehab beds from Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital and adding 16 more.

Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport installs emergency phones to combat human trafficking, increase safety

Currently, our inpatient rehabilitation unit at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital serves patients who need help recovering from strokes, traumatic injuries, and a host of other ailments, said Nancy Howell Agee, chief executive officer of Carilion. With an aging population in our region, we need more medical rehabilitation services.

Carilion Clinic says details about the project are still being finalized.

If the process goes smoothly, Carilion Clinic believes the hospital could be open in 2026.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Heres what the Carolinas will see during the solar eclipse

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)  Excitement is building as many across the United States gear up to witness the much anticipated total solar eclipse.

During the event, in the path of the eclipses totality, the sun will be covered by the moon and daylight will change to twilight in a matter of seconds.

However, Robeson Community College astronomy professor David Gavasci said both of the Carolinas will see a partial eclipse, with maximum coverage of 80%.

He said the moon will start covering the sun at about 1:45 p.m. on Monday. The moons maximum coverage will only last a few minutes between 2 and 3 p.m.

Schools across the state have moved classes to an E-learning format, including Florence County School District 2, Dillon School District 3 and Dillon School District 4.

No specific reason for why some schools are moving to e-learning days have been provided. Gavasci said this type of rare event is a great way to get students interested in learning about science.

This is always a good gateway to students learning about science and astronomy and space, he said. Its a catalyst because its a very interesting event. Its something that doesnt occur, like we said, very often, he said. So, again, to see something like this in person, its a really good thing because, like I said, it sparks that interest in students, and we want to spark that interest.

If safety is a concern for those with younger children, Gavasci said there are options to stream the eclipse online. He also offers a unique way for students to create an experiment of sorts.

They can get like a paper plate and put a little pinhole in it, and its going to actually transmit the eclipse through that as well, he said. Kind of making your own kind of little solar telescope with a paper plate. But again, dont look at the sun, just look at the image on the ground.

Robeson Community College is hosting a watch party. Gavasci said there will be plenty of protective glasses, a few pairs of special binoculars, and even a telescope.

Below are maps of what both South and North Carolina can expect to see during Mondays eclipse.

* * *

Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Investigators examine a dead female North Atlantic right whale on a beach in Virginia. The probe, completed Tuesday, concluded the whale suffered injuries consistent with a vessel strike.

Experts have determined that an endangered North Atlantic right whale found dead off the coast of Virginia Saturday suffered fatal injuries consistent with a vessel strike, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries division said Thursday.

It is the third known right whale death during the current birthing season. All have been linked to suspected collisions with passing boats.

The latest death involved the mother of a calf who has not been found but that NOAA is counting among the 41 right whale fatalities reported since 2017. The pair were spotted together in January near St. Simons Island.

It was the mothers six known calf over the past 35 years.

Preliminary findings from examinations of the female's shark-scavenged carcass revealed catastrophic injuries with a dislocation of the whales spine and fractures to all vertebrae in the lower back, NOAA reported Thursday.

The agencys Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident.

This seasons first two right whale deaths occurred off the Georgia coast.

On March 3, the shark-ravaged remains of a right whale calf  the first newborn identified during the current season  were located at the Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia.

That discovery came about three weeks after a year-old female was found dead floating about 20 miles from Tybee Island.

Investigators attributed both deaths to injuries from vessel strikes.

A vertebra from the lower back of a dead North Atlantic right whale was fractured through the center.

Vessels in danger? GA Gov. Kemp, congressman blast right whale protections without addressing key exceptions

As they did earlier this week when the latest death was reported, advocates used the results of the subsequent examination to renew their call for final approval of enhanced seasonal speed limits for vessels aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The (findings) may say another boat strike, but at this point, its the Biden Administrations continued, unnecessary delays of critical protections that are responsible for this and other recent North Atlantic right whale deaths," said Gib Brogan, fisheries campaign director with the Oceana organization. "Without the updated vessel speed rule, moms and calves are at greater risk during calving season because they spend more time at the waters surface and are more prone to boat strikes."

Current federal regulations set a maximum of 10 knots (11.5 mph) from mid-November to mid-June for vessels at least 65 feet long in a protective zone stretching from Brunswick, Georgia to Wilmington, North Carolina.

NOAA has proposed lowering the proposed size threshold to 35 feet. About one-third of the more than three-dozen known right whale deaths since 2017 were the result of vessel strikes, and 40% of those involved collisions with boats in the 35-to-65-foot range, NOAA says.

After 18 months of consideration, the agency sent the draft rule on March 6 to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a division of the Office of Management and Budget that reviews federal regulations originating in the Executive Branch.

Republican leaders including Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, whose district includes Georgias entire 100-mile coast, have been among the most vocal opponents of the revised regulations. They argue that the change would endanger boats that transport river pilots to and from the ships they steer through difficult navigation channels at the ports of Savannah and Brunswick.

However, proponents note that the revisions include speed exemptions aimed at protecting smaller vessels, particularly during severe weather.

The Atlantic teemed with as many as 21,000 right whales before their population was decimated by commercial whaling in the late 19th century, driving their numbers down to an estimated 100.

There are believed to be about 340 remaining, including fewer than 70 reproducing females.

John Deem covers climate change and the environment on the Georgia coast. He can be reached at jdeem@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Death of right whale seen near Georgia linked to vessel strike
Today, on April 3, the terrorist country Russia targeted a rear solar power plant for the first time. At the same time, the situation in the energy system is currently stable, despite the occupiers' attacks.

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This was stated by Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, during a press conference at the Ukraine-Union Media Center. He clarified that it was not an attack within the combat zone, but rather a strike at the rear of the solar power plant.

"Yesterday the enemy targeted a solar power plant. This is the first case, at least in my memory, of a targeted attack on a renewable energy facility," said Kudrytskyi.

He added that as a result of warming, total electricity consumption is falling, so there is no acute shortage in the power system. At the same time, there is a seasonal increase in electricity production at solar power plants.

Also, he said, compared to the previous series of massive strikes on the power system, Russians have increased the intensity of attacks on energy facilities.

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"The intensity of shelling has increased. Last heating season, we saw one massive attack in one or two weeks  and it was either a missile or a "shahed" attack. Now it is a series, almost continuous," emphasized Kudrytskyi.

Thus, a significant number of thermal and hydroelectric power plants have been damaged, which negatively affects the power system in terms of its balance.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, on April 4, Ukraine continues to restore electricity supply after Russian attacks and bad weather. Power outages are scheduled in Kharkiv region, and there are restrictions for industry in Kryvyi Rih. In addition, Zaporizhzhia NPP is on the verge of a blackout due to night shelling.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The Clark County School District took a step toward picking its next top leader, but the process will likely continue until the end of 2024.

At previous work sessions and board meetings, CCSDs board of trustees stated it wanted a new superintendent hired before the upcoming school year.

Yet, trustees acknowledged at a Wednesday work session that wont happen. It may be closer to November.

CCSD trustees vote to select hiring firm to search for superintendent

This is not a traditional search, the superintendent role is a very unique role, CCSD Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales said.

What makes it unique, according to Morales, is how public-facing the job is and the responsibilities they have. For instance, the new superintendent will inherit the nations fifth-largest school district with nearly 300,000 students and run a multi-billion dollar organization.

Jara submits resignation as Clark County School District superintendent

We are looking for a top high-level executive to run the district and not just have somebody who has an educational background, Trustee Irene Bustamente Adams said.

Back in February, trustees wanted to appoint Brenda Larsen Mitchell as superintendent. She was former superintendent Dr. Jesus Jaras second in command. But, the motion failed and trustees are hiring an agency.

CCSD is not heading in the right direction, you see the numbers yourselves. You see the reports just like the public does, so its long overdue for us to pivot, teacher Kenny Belknap said during public comment.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce also had a representative speak at the meeting in support of a nationwide search.

The chamber encourages the school board to utilize a qualified search firm that has a strong reputation for finding top educational leadership and operational talent, within diverse communities, Vegas Chamber Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Paul Moradkhan said.

As trustees debated on what to put inside the request-for-proposal (RFP) for hiring a search firm, they agreed that time is of the essence.

Were looking at, lets put out the RFP, lets do this. But, we dont have a date on when we want this person to actually start to take over the district, Trustee Katie Williams said.

Board trustees voted unanimously to bring on a search firm and President Garcia Morales said they hope to have two or three vendors at a meeting in May.

In the proposal, trustees noted that they wanted a new superintendent in place by November 1.

Later in that meeting, the board of trustees also voted to negotiate an employment contract with interim superintendent Brenda Larsen Mitchell.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
NEWBURGH  On a chilly Thursday morning, three CenterPoint Energy linemen sat atop a 40-foot power pole in a sleepy Newburgh neighborhood that, like many others in the Tri-State, had been without power since Tuesday's severe weather.

At their peak, the storms knocked out power for at least 24,000 CenterPoint Energy customers, and high winds downed more than 150 power poles in the Evansville area, according to company spokesman Noah Stubbs.

As of Thursday morning, crews had restored power for the vast majority of affected customers, Stubbs said, but the work is slow going in hard-to-reach or heavily damaged areas. According to CenterPoint Energy's outage map, which suffered from accuracy issues earlier this week, 2,850 local customers were still without power Thursday afternoon.

More: Pre-dawn storms knock out power to thousands, close schools

"CenterPoint Energy is using a wide range of resources to address severe vegetation damage, extensive debris, downed poles and lines," the company wrote in a statement. "Additional outages have been caused by wind gusts (on Wednesday), further increasing the challenges of making necessary repairs and restoring service."

Richard Leger, the senior vice president of Indiana Electric, told reporters that power restoration crews comprised of CenterPoint Energy employees and contractors had worked around the clock since Tuesday to repair marred electrical infrastructure.

"One broken pole is about a three-and-a-half hour job, so think about that times 150 across our area," Leger said.

CenterPoint Energy linemen work to repair a broken power pole in Newburgh on Thursday, April 4, 2024, after severe weather tore through the Tri-State Area on Tuesday.

As a sign of just how intense Tuesday's storms were, National Weather Service forecasters in Paducah, Kentucky, confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down less than eight miles from their office, according to a damage survey report the agency published Wednesday.

Agency officials are still working to determine whether damage in the Evansville area was caused by straight-line winds, tornadoes, or a combination of both.

Along Epworth Road in Newburgh, high winds mangled residential power hookups, knocked down 12,500-volt distribution lines and damaged transformers. CenterPoint Energy crews and contractors lined nearby streets Thursday morning as they worked to repair the damage.

"Basically, we're moving from the beginning of the circuit to the end," Steve Rawlinson, an electrical engineer, told the Courier & Press as he observed several linemen working on a nearby power pole.

Of the roughly 2,800 local CenterPoint Energy customers who still lacked power as of Thursday, Leger said many would have electricity service restored within the next day. But, in some heavily damaged and rural areas, affected customers could remain without power through Friday and into the weekend.

While the progress may not yet be fully visible in the number of outages restored, our crews continue to work tirelessly to restore service as safely and quickly as possible, Leger said. The extensive damage from this storm has been unlike anything seen by many of our linemen  a great number of them with decades of experience.

Lindsey Alvey, a Newburgh resident who lost power on Tuesday but had access to a generator, said she watched the linemen working to fix the system in her neighborhood with a sense of gratitude.

"I know we all get frustrated by not having power, but it's just one of those things," Alvey said. "There's real people behind the work here."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: CenterPoint Energy update on power outages and Evansville storm damage
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA)  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources donated more than $12,000 to several Central Illinois schools for nature and conservation field trip opportunities.

This year, the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program is giving more than $99,600 to 107 field trips across the state. Through the program, teachers can apply to receive field trip funds that will allow students to study Illinois natural resources. The money covers transportation and payment of substitute teachers.

Champaign Co. students hosting Caring Carnival fundraiser for EIF

This program allows students to visit areas throughout Illinois to see firsthand what theyve been learning about the great outdoors in the classroom, IDNR Director Natalie Phelps Finnie said. Our future conservation leaders need the opportunity to experience Illinois natural resources in person. Were pleased to be able to support learning outside the classroom with these grants.

The Illinois Conservation Foundation encourages donations for the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program. For more details, visit their website. Private donations from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation of Skokie and the D.F. and M.T. Grohne Family Foundation of Wilmington helped make the 2024 grants possible.

Interested teachers can apply for the next grant by Jan. 31, 2025. For more information, contact the IDNR Division of Education at dnr.teachkids@illinois.gov.

Single Urbana School Board applicant to be appointed, fill vacancy

Central Illinois recipients of the 2024 Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program and the grant amounts provided are listed by county below:

Champaign County

Christian Homeschool Connect , Mahomet, first grade, Wildlife Prairie Park, Hanna City  $299

Faith and Reason Learning Community , Champaign Seventh through 12 th grades Starved Rock State Park, Oglesby  $1,197.84 Matthiessen State Park, Utica  $980 Fourth through 12 th grades The Nature Institute, Godfrey  $1,315 TreeHouse Wildlife Center, Dow  $1,200 Shedd Aquarium, Chicago  $846.60

Yankee Ridge Elementary, Urbana, second grade, University of Illinois Pollinartarium, Urbana  $585

Christian County

Gregory Intermediate, Moweaqua, fifth grade, Camp Maranatha, Ramsey  $1,000

DeWitt County

Ruth M. Schneider Elementary School, Farmer City, second grade, Homer Lake Forest Preserve, Homer  $342

Douglas County

Villa Grove High School , Villa Grove, ninth through 12 th grades, Giant City State Park, Makanda  $500

Villa Gove CUSD 302, Villa Grove, seventh and eighth grades, Fox Ridge State Park, Charleston  $790

Decaturs Fairview Park playground getting $1.2M revamp

Livingston County

Prairie Central Elementary, Fairbury, second grade, Fugate Woods, Fairbury  $450.96

Macon County

Fundamentals Early Learning Academy , Decatur, preschool, Rock Springs Nature Center, Decatur  $750

Maroa Forsyth Middle School, Maroa, Starved Rock State Park, Oglesby  $500

Moultrie County

Sullivan Elementary School, Sullivan, first grade, Ballard Nature Center, Altamont  $1,155.15

Piatt County

Walk Homeschool, Bement, sixth through 12th grades, Plum Creek Nature Center, Beecher  $352.94

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
An American woman who was on what she had called her "last big trip" was killed when a charging elephant flipped over the car she was traveling in at a national park in Zambia.

The aggressive creature buffeted the vehicle carrying six tourists and a guide, tour operator Wilderness said in a statement Tuesday. It said the 79-year-old victim died after Saturday's incident on a game drive at the Kafue National Park in western Zambia.

The company did not name the victim but Rona Wells, her daughter, identified her as Gail Mattson in a post on Facebook. She said her mother died in a tragic accident while on her dream adventure.

A video circulating on social media apparently showing the incident shows a large elephant running toward a car, which slows down as the animal approaches its left side. The elephant then flips the vehicle over and the passengers can be heard gasping as the car rolls over.

NBC News does not know the condition or identity of the person who filmed the video.

Photos shared online of the car, which is emblazoned with the logo of the tour operator, show it tipped onto its side after the incident, with a deep dent in two of its side doors.

Wilderness, which describes itself as a leading conservation and hospitality company operating in eight African countries, including Zambia, did not respond to NBC News when asked to confirm the authenticity of the video and the photos.

But the tour operators CEO, Keith Vincent, said in the statement that the companys guides are all extremely well trained and experienced.

"Sadly in this instance the terrain and vegetation was such that the guides route became blocked and he could not move the vehicle out of harms way quickly enough, he added.

Gail Mattson, during a safari in Zambia (Rona Wells via Facebook)

Another woman was also injured in the incident and taken to a medical facility in South Africa, the Wilderness statement said, adding that four others were treated for minor injuries.

Its extremely rare to see an elephant that irate, Marlon du Toit, a wildlife photographer and safari guide, told the TODAY show Thursday. Across Africa, there are thousands and thousands of guests on safari on a daily basis with no negative consequences.

The exact cause of Mattsons death was unclear, but the company said her body would be repatriated to her family in the United States with the support of local Zambian authorities and the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Lusaka.

This is a tragic event and we extend our deepest condolences to the family of the guest who died, the statement added.

NBC News has reached out to Mattson's family for further comment.

Kafue National Park is Zambias largest and oldest national park, according to its website, and spans an area of more than 8,000 square miles. Vast regions of the park remain unexplored and the website says it is home to a variety of untamed wildlife.

A 'bucket list trip'

Mattson spent her winters in Sun City West, Arizona, playing bridge and cards, but during the rest of the year, she "travels all over the world," her friend Brenda Biggs told NBC News. Biggs and her husband, John Longabauth, became friends with Mattson when they moved to the area 6  years ago.

Longabauth said Mattson spoke to the couple about her upcoming safari trip about two weeks ago, and called it "one of her bucket list trips." He said she was very excited for the adventure.

Before she left, she gave the couple concert tickets for a show that would happen while she was traveling, telling them to enjoy the concert and "I'll see you when I get back," Longabauth recalled of the conversation.

Biggs said Mattson, who was almost 80 years old, told her that the African safari was her "my last big trip." She said Mattson was "super excited because it was like the culmination of all the trips that she had gone on."

An avid traveler, Mattson took to trips to Europe and Asia, Longabauth recalled, noting that she might have been to South America, too.

Biggs called her friend "flamboyant," "friendly" and "fabulous" and said she loved bright colors. Mattson had taken over Biggs job as the event planner for their 200-member bridge club, she said.

"Gail was one of the more up people you'd ever want to meet," Longabauth said. "She was always up. She was always optimistic. She was always seeing the good side of everybody."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Should Charging More For Non-Dairy Milk Be Illegal? Two Class-Action Lawsuits Say It Should Be



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Dairy milk still has the majority of the market share, but the rise in popularity of plant-based alternatives is impossible to ignore. Almond and oat milk have grown from coffee shop afterthoughts to menu mainstays. Some third-wave chains like Blue Bottle and Stumptown even use oat milk as the default on their menu.

At most coffee shops, however, consumers still need to pay a surcharge for plant-based alternatives. The added fee has long drawn the ire of animal rights and vegan activists. Back in 2020, PETA helped organize a series of nationwide Starbucks protests over the vegan tax.

Two recent class-action lawsuits filed in California allege that this practice is discriminatory. The first suit, filed in December 2023, brought the complaint against Dunkin and seeks no less than $5 million.

The second lawsuit came in March of this year and seeks the same amount of money in damages from Starbucks. Both cases argue that since lactose intolerance and milk allergies could be recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, imposing a dairy-free surcharge constitutes discrimination.

The U.S. Justice Department confirms that some individuals with food allergies may have a disability if it substantially limits life activities, which could include eating and "the functions of the gastrointestinal system.

Marija Stojilkovic - Getty Images

Under the ADA, businesses that are open to the public are required to "make reasonable modifications to policies, practices and procedures where needed. Both lawsuits assert that providing non-dairy options at no extra cost is considered a necessary accommodation.

Food allergies were first extended protections under the ADA in 2012, when the Justice Department settled with Lesley University to ensure access to allergen-free foods in the schools mandatory dining plan. The department notes that these accommodations arent applicable to all places that serve food.

"Because [Lesley Universitys] meal plan was mandatory for all students living on campus, the ADA required that the University make reasonable modifications to the plan to accommodate students with celiac disease and other food allergies, they write. "This is different than the ADA's obligation for restaurants that serve the general public."



Attorney Keith Gibson represents plaintiffs involved in both of the suits. In 2022, Gibson filed a case in Florida against Starbucks on the same grounds. The plaintiffs of that case voluntarily dismissed the case last month, according to The Guardian. When asked by LA Times reporters about the case, Gibson declined to reveal whether a settlement had been reached.

Another claim made by the two California class-action suits argues that the price of dairy and non-dairy milks are comparable. "There is no material difference between the price of lactose-containing milks and the price of non-dairy alternatives that would support levying the surcharge to substitute for a non-dairy alternative," the Dunkin lawsuit says.

Researchers at Purdue University say otherwise. An analysis published last year found that the average cost of oat milk is more than double that of dairy milk. Almond and soy are more cost effective alternatives, but still cost around 20 percent more on average.



Dunkin' moved to dismiss the class-action suit against them last month, and a hearing has been set for April 19 in San Francisco. Starbucks representatives have declined to comment on their pending litigation t. They do, however, stress that U.S. customers can add up to four ounces of non-dairy milk to hot and ice brewed coffee or tea, cold brew, and americanos free of charge.

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Tel Aviv  Chef Jose Andres says his World Central Kitchen charity's team in the Gaza Strip appears to have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli military with deadly airstrikes that killed seven staffers on Monday, including a young American father. The Israel Defense Forces and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have called the airstrikes, which hit three WCK vehicles in succession, the kind of mistake that happens in war, but that explanation has been increasingly dismissed as insufficient and even disingenuous by Andres and at least one of the slain aid worker's home nations.

"This was not just a bad luck situation where, 'Oops, we dropped a bomb in the wrong place,'" Andres told the Reuters news agency, stressing that his team's vehicles were clearly marked and "it's very clear who we are and what we do."



"They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They, knowing that it was our teams moving on that road... with three cars," he said, adding that he believed the seven aid workers killed by the strike in Gaza were targeted "systematically, car by car."

Palestinians stand next to a vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, April 2, 2024, where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike. / Credit: YASSER QUDIHE/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty

"The airstrikes on our convoy I don't think were an unfortunate mistake," he told Israel's Channel 12 in a separate interview. "It was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by everybody at the IDF."

"I've been in Gaza," the celebrity Spanish-American chef said, breaking down. "Some of the people that died were, were my friends, and I served with them."

The IDF has called the attack on the three-car convoy a case of misidentification, but WCK said it had coordinated its movements in Gaza with the IDF.

Andres said his team even tried to call the military as they came under fire  some moving from the first car after it was hit to a second vehicle, which was then also struck, and then the third, eventually leaving all seven of the aid workers dead.

Nir Barkat, Israel's economy minister, dismissed Andres' comments as "nonsense" in an interview with CBS News' partner network BBC News on Thursday, insisting that it had been a "grave mistake" and for which he said Israel was "terribly sorry."

Barkat reiterated that, "unfortunately, in wars, friendly fire happens."

Speaking Thursday in Sydney after an Australian woman was named as one of the victims of the strikes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for complete transparency from Israel and dismissed the suggestion that such incidents were unavoidable in conflict.

"We need to have accountability for how it has occurred, and what is not good enough is the statements that have been made, including that this is just a product of war," Albanese said. "They have committed to a full and proper investigation. I want that to be transparent and I want those findings to be made public so that we find out how exactly this can occur."

In Washington, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked Wednesday if Israel should be held accountable for the death of the American WCK worker Jacob Flickinger in the strikes.

Miller said the Biden administration wanted to see Israel conduct "a full, swift and transparent investigation" and then, "if that investigation shows that accountability is appropriate, then there of course should be accountability. And we will wait to see the results of that investigation before we pass judgment on it."

"We want to see it wrapped up as soon as possible and see them put in place any measures to prevent this from happening again in the future," Miller added. "They need to put in place better deconfliction and better coordination to protect humanitarian workers and to protect all the civilians on the ground, and it is something that we have consistently said to them over the past few months."

CBS News has geolocated the wreckage of the three WCK cars to positions hundreds of yards apart, and while retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Wes Bryant said it "rings true that this was likely a misidentification," he blamed that error on "negligent callousness" by Israel's military.

"At least one vehicle was clearly marked, and the other two were clearly part of their convoy, so not to know those critical pieces of information is pure negligence," Bryant told CBS News. "That right there would have been one of the checks, to say, 'Hey, wait, this is a yellow flag, or a red flag here.'"

The bodies of the six foreign team members were transported out of Gaza on Wednesday, including Flickinger's. The 33-year-old U.S.-Canadian dual national leaves behind a baby son. The other WCK staffers killed were Palestinian, British, Polish and Australian nationals.

Meanwhile, the deadly strike on the aid convoy is already impacting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who are contending not only with war, but hunger, because it's not just World Central Kitchen that's suspended its operations in Gaza. Anera, another American non-profit group that was working in the enclave, has also said it's pausing its work there.

President Biden was to have his first phone call with Netanyahu since the deadly strikes on the WCK convoy later on Thursday. Mr. Biden has said he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the attack.

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Jose Andres says slain World Central Kitchen workers were targeted "systematically, car by car"
Chef Jose Andres said on Wednesday that he does not believe that the bombing deaths of seven World Central Kitchen volunteers, including their security team, in Gaza on Monday were an accident.

They were targeting us in a de-conflicted zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They [knew] that it was our teams moving on that road  with three cars, Andres told Reuters. He believes that his team was targeted systematically, car by car.

This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place, Andres insisted, saying that the charity group had clearly communicated their location to the Israeli military as they traveled in two armored cars and another vehicle. In a separate editorial for the New York Times published Wednesday, he wrote that the convoy had clearance from IDF to proceed.

This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of, he said, describing the distinctive WKC vehicles. [Its] very clear who we are and what we do.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video on Tuesday in which he called the airstrike unintentional. Unfortunately in the past day, there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip, he said. This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.

In response to Andres comments on Wednesday, a military spokesperson repeated the previous comments from IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi in which he said the attack was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers.

A vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 2, where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the NGO (Credit: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto)

In his editorial for the Times titled Let People Eat, Andres wrote, The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless.

He named all seven victims  Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol  saying they risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: to share our food with others.

He cited a statistic from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative that half the population of Gaza  1.1 million people  face famine. The team members put their lives at risk precisely because this food aid is so rare and desperately needed, he said.

As a result of the catastrophic airstrike, World Central Kitchen has temporarily suspended operations in Gaza. WKC has also been active in Ukraine, where they came under fire by Russian forces in 2022.

The post Chef Jose Andres Says IDF Bombing of World Central Kitchen Volunteers Was No Accident: They Were Targeting Us appeared first on TheWrap.
A Chicago-area veterinarian and noted dog show judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to child pornography charges alleging he traded videos of minors being abused and chatted online about a plan to sexually assault his newborn son.

Adam Stafford King, 39, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit. He gave a small wave to his parents seated in the nearly empty courtroom gallery as he entered the courtroom, but did not speak during the brief hearing.

King, of far west suburban Elburn, was indicted last week on a single count of distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years behind bars.

His attorney, Jonathan Bedi, entered a not guilty plea on Kings behalf. The next hearing was set for May 9 before U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt.

In a written statement after the hearing, Bedi said neither the press nor the public should jump to any conclusions about the case.

He is committed to fighting these charges until his name is cleared, Bedi wrote. We look forward to a swift trial where the facts will demonstrate Mr. Kings innocence and that he has been wrongfully accused.

King, a veterinarian specializing in ophthalmology who had been scheduled to be a judge in the toy dog category at the Westminster Kennel Club show in May, was arrested at his home in Elburn on March 22 on a 33-page criminal complaint that was first reported by the Tribune.

According to the complaint, King, using the handle @pervchiguy, traded child pornography with an unidentified person in New York and told the person he liked kids in the single digits.

The two met on Scruff, a social media platform catering to the gay community where users can give other profiles Woofs to show interest, according to the complaint.

After the person in New York was arrested last year, the FBI posed as him on both Scruff and another social media app, Telegram, and exchanged messages with King, including images of an ultrasound of his baby boy, who was due to be born March 29 via a surrogate mother in California, according to the complaint.

King described in graphic terms how he planned to sexually assault the child, according to prosecutors. He also sent the person in New York, who he thought was a fellow pedophile, a photo of a newborn outfit, saying Maybe youll get to meet my boy, followed by a crying laughing emoji, prosecutors alleged.

The complaint also included other disturbing chats in which King allegedly stated he had drugged and sexually abused relatives in the past and also sexually abused a 4-year-old.

When federal agents raided the home King shares with his husband in early March, he retreated to the shower and deleted the Telegram app from his phone, prosecutors alleged.

Despite the raid, King was about to go ahead with plans to fly with his husband to California last week to be present for the birth of their son, prosecutors alleged.

Instead, King was ordered detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling, who called King a serious danger to children.

A spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club said the club immediately removed Kings judging privileges and canceled his future assignments after he was charged.

He is unable to judge at any AKC events, spokeswoman Brandi Munden said. We will continue to monitor the case as it moves through the court system.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Chicago police search for vehicle in hit-and-run that seriously injured bicyclist on South Side

CHICAGO  Chicago police are searching for the vehicle wanted in a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a bicyclist in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

The incident happened 3:10 p.m. Friday in the 700 block of West 87th Street when a 37-year-old male bicyclist was struck by a vehicle. The man was seriously injured, according to police.

Police are searching for the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run which is described to be a black Chevrolet Camaro soft-top convertible. The car is believed to have front end damage and a broken windshield.

Police said it was last seen traveling southbound on the Dan Ryan Expressway from 87th Street.

Anyone with any information about this incident or vehicle is urged to call the Major Accident Investigation Unit at (312) 745-4521.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
This year's film market The Marche du Film, which will be held in Cannes simultaneously with the Cannes Film Festival, will screen the Russian film "Brat-3." The main role in the film is played by rapper Ptaha, who has openly supported Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territories since 2014.

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Schemes journalist Heorhii Shabaiev drew attention to this. On his Facebook page, he was outraged by this decision and called on The Marche du Film to comment on the situation.

"Ptakha is a natural Z-devil. He openly supported the occupation of Crimea in 2014. Now he supports a full-scale invasion, taking pictures with the Russian military in the occupied territories of Ukraine. In an interview in 2019, he called for the seizure of the entire territory of Ukraine," the post reads.

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The Putinist himself has already rejoiced at the news on Instagram. Ptakha believes that "in the current conditions and sanctions" this is a breakthrough. The propagandist ended his post with the words "Russia rules".

It is worth noting that at the time of writing, the film market's website does not contain any information about this year's participants.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The Chief of Staff for the mayor of Jackson, Tenn. has been charged with electronic tracking of a motor vehicle and stalking following an investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

On Monday, a Madison County grand jury returned an indictment charging Roland Alexander Alex Reed with one count of electronic tracking of a motor vehicle and one count of stalking.

Reed turned himself into law enforcement on Wednesday and was booked into the Madison County Jail.

The arrest stemmed from an investigation by the TBI that determined that Reed was responsible for placing the tracking device on a vehicle without the owners consent and monitored it for a period of time.

The investigation began in September 2023 at the request of 26th Judicial District Attorney General Jody Pickens. TBI agents were tasked with looking into the matter.

After the conclusion of the investigation, General Pickens recused his office and requested a special prosecutor be appointed to handle the matter.

As a result, D. Michael Dunavant and Meghan Fowler of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference were both appointed to represent the state.

Reed will remain in jail pending the setting of his bond by the court.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Last year, civilian casualties caused by landmines almost tripled as the nation's entrenched civil war escalated. New Unicef data said more than 20 per cent of victims were children. - Minzayar Oo/Unicef

At first glance, the little boy in blue is posing for the camera with a rock on hand gesture, a smile flickering at the edge of his mouth as he gazes into the lens.

But a closer look unveils a grim reality. The four-year-olds middle fingers are stumps, his feet are plastic, and the royal blue, cartoon adorned leggings are not leggings at all - but covers to disguise his metal prosthetics.

Last August, Nyien, whos name has been changed, was collecting plums at a farm close to his village when his aunt found a scrap of metal. Thinking she could trade it for traditional salts, she picked it up. Yet the iron was actually a landmine: when she dropped it, Nyien was hit by an explosion that cost him both of his legs.

The young boys story was shared with the Telegraph by his doctors in central Myanmar, who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns. But Nyiens experience is far from unique in the conflict-ridden, southeast Asian country.

Last year, civilian casualties caused by landmines almost tripled as the nations entrenched civil war escalated, according to data published by Unicef on Thursday. The surge makes Myanmar one of the worlds most rapidly escalating landmine crises, in terms of both new explosives being laid and injuries caused.

Aung, 15, was tending to his family's rice farm in Bago region when he accidentally stepped on a landmine in early December 2023, sparking an explosion that left him unconscious for many hours. His badly shattered left leg had to be amputated to save his life. - Minzayar Oo/Unicef

In total, 188 people were killed and 864 wounded from buried bombs  compared to 390 casualties in 2022. The UN agency said more than 20 per cent of victims were children, and warned the explosives have been used indiscriminately, by all sides in the conflict, in every region bar the capital Naypyitaw.

The use of landmines is not only reprehensible but also illegal under international humanitarian law, said Debora Comini, Unicefs Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific. It is imperative that all parties to the conflict prioritise the safety and well-being of civilians  and take immediate steps to halt the use of these indiscriminate weapons.

Landmines have a long history in Myanmar, where the armed forces have been deploying the concealed explosives since 1999. But their use has risen since a military coup in February 2021 sparked a widespread insurgency, pushing the country into turmoil and displacing 2.8 million people.

Fighting further intensified last year, especially after resistance groups launched an offensive dubbed Operation 1027 in October. Regions with the heaviest fighting  including Sagaing, Shan and Bago  saw the most casualties, according to Unicef.

Multiple health workers across the country also told the Telegraph they have seen a major surge in landmine-related injuries.

The danger of landmines are increasing, said one doctor operating in northern Myanmar, which has been on the frontline of the escalating fighting. In December, we had like 20 landmine cases with seven major operations [at our health facility]  a two-fold increase with a higher proportion of life-threatening injuries.

14-year-old Paing, from Kayah State, stepped on a landmine while searching for his family's injured cow at a neighborhood farm in eastern Myanmar. His lost his right leg, and his hands & other leg were badly injured. - Minzayar Oo/Unicef

Based on our referral data, it is mostly adolescents and young people [affected], they told the Telegraph. The [Unicef] data appears to be in align with our data, but it could also be under reporting by quite a margin.

Although full data for 2023 has not been published internationally, the latest Landmine Monitor  released in November by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines  puts Unicefs figures for Myanmar into perspective.

In 2022, Syria topped the grim list of landmine-related injuries and deaths, with 834 casualties. Ukraine reported 608, while Yemen saw 582.

Experts warned that many of these cases will be linked to landmines laid many years previously, as de-mining operations are painstakingly slow. Farmers toiling in their fields, children playing near their homes, and workers constructing new buildings are all at risk.

Everywhere they are used, these indiscriminate weapons cause human trauma, lost agricultural production and economic hardship that last for generations, said Sera Koulabdara, chief executive of the NGO Legacies of War, and chair of the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines Cluster Munition Coalition.

In the neighbouring country of Laos, millions of unexploded cluster submunitions and other ordnance remain over 50 years after the end of the war, causing casualties and increased costs in economic development, she told the Telegraph. Legacies of War urges all state and non-state actors to end the use of these reprehensible weapons.

A technician in the fields of Laos prepares for a controlled explosion. - Jack Taylor

In Myanmar, healthcare professionals involved in providing prosthetic limbs for landmine victims warned there was already a backlog of people requiring care, because shortages of resources including specialist health workers persist.

The recent jump in patients, plus the challenges involved in accessing the services that do exist due to checkpoints and fighting, will only worsen the situation.

Even to begin with, [there were] not much services available, one person said, on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. To produce around 10-15 legs, you need two prosthetic and orthotic technologist technicians at a workshop, and a physiotherapist to provide exercises and gait training in a month. So you can imagine how long it will take.

The individual added that, while some prosthetics are provided for free, the cost of travel and accommodation to reach services from remote communities can be prohibitive for many.

And so in many ways, Nyien was one of the lucky ones. After his legs were amputated  his right above the knee, his left below  his parents were able to get him to a facility providing prosthetics.

There, as the four-year-old victim of war learned to walk all over again, he chose a bright blue pattern adorned in cartoon animals to cover his first set of prosthetic legs. They wont be his last.

As a young child who would be growing fast, changes to his prosthesis would be unavoidable, his medical notes said. But for now, the little boy in blue is making a strong recovery.

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security.

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Childrens lives are at risk: New traffic camera active in Everett to deter school zone speeding

A new traffic camera is officially up and running to deter drivers from speeding in a school zone, an area thats notorious to residents for speeding.

Two new school zone cameras have been placed on West Casino Road, near Horizon Elementary, which has the highest traffic volume in the city, according to city officials.

The City of Everett has been working to get these cameras for two years.

City council approved to install six red light traffic cameras and one school zone camera across the city in 2022.





The school zone camera began capturing drivers speeding Wednesday morning.

SCHOOL ZONE CAMERAS:

The City of Everett told KIRO 7 News that it has had issues around speeding on Casino Road for years.

A traffic study last year found 10,000 drivers a month went above the speed limit on the busy road, the city said.

What they found was that over 90% of the traffic was doing 25 and higher. Over 70% of the traffic was still doing 10 over or 30 and higher, and we had 5% of vehicles doing over 20 over in the school zones. Its a significant speeding issue here on West Casino Road, said Corey Hert, Everett traffic engineer.

We are at a 10-year low for crashes across the state, but were at a 10-year high for fatal crashes across the state of Washington, he added.

The school zone camera will capture two photos and a brief video of drivers blowing past the speed limit.

The school zone speed near Horizon Elementary is 20 miles per hour, but Wednesday afternoon, KIRO 7 News saw a radar sign capturing drivers speeds of up to 42 miles per hour.









The cameras are only active from 8:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and from 3:25 p.m. to 4:25 p.m., which is when students typically arrive and leave school.

A flashing beacon along the road will notify drivers when the cameras are on.

For the next 30 days, drivers caught speeding will only receive a warning, however, the city will issue a $124 fine after the warning period.

Hert said the city wants residents to know about the new changes before it hands out possible fines.

Getting out there and letting the drivers know, 30 days of warnings, we are expecting a 70% reduction in the number of violations. That is what other similar cities have found. Thats what were hoping with our outreach efforts, he said.





The city will also communicate with the school district in case school times change.

RED-LIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS:

The City of Everett said it will install six red-light traffic cameras this summer, beginning in June.

When we talk about injury accidents and fatal crashes in Everett, number one is pedestrians and number two are angle accidents, or T-bone style accidents. Those are the kinds of crashes that happen when people run red lights and thats the issue were trying to solve, Hert said.

The cameras will be placed at the following intersections:

-Northbound and southbound Broadway at 16th Street

-Northbound and southbound Rucker Avenue at 41st Street

-Northbound and eastbound Evergreen Way at Casino Road

-Northbound 4th Avenue W at Evergreen Way

-Southwest-bound Everett Mall Way at 7th Avenue SE

-Eastbound 112th Street SW at Evergreen Way

FUNDING CAMERAS:

NovoaGlobal will install all of the cameras, Hert said.

Each red-light traffic camera will cost the city around $4,000.

Meanwhile, the city has already paid $3,000 for each school zone camera.

The project was funded through taxes, however, the revenue generated from the fines going forward will pay for the cameras monthly service fee and new safety measures.

Hert said NovoaGlobal charges the city a flat monthly rate.

KIRO 7 News asked the City of Everett if it has a certain quota on citations to issue.





Theres no quota. Were not looking to issue as many citations as possible and generate as much revenue. We just want safe school zones. This is a safety program first and foremost, Hert said.

RESIDENTS:

KIRO 7 News spoke with residents to learn more about the area and how the new changes could affect families.

Vickie, who often walks along West Casino Road, said there is A lot of speeding. A lot. Theyre (drivers) pretty loud when they come flying through here.

Sometimes I have to cross this road to catch the bus across the street. I wouldnt want to be hit by one of those that come flying through here, so I hope this system helps and slows down some traffic, she added.

Vickie said the new traffic cameras can help keep residents and students safe, especially since many people in the area do not drive.

There are a lot of kids that walk from that school, and there are some that cross the road that have to get to that side too, she shared.

Robert Clark, a resident, said he understands the purpose behind the cameras, but also shared some concerns around the new changes.

If youre new to the area, its kind of rough. You dont look up at signs. Youre looking at traffic, he said.

However, he also shared concerns around student safety due to the number of drivers speeding in the area.

Vickie told KIRO 7 News the traffic cameras could possibly help save lives.

They (drivers) need to slow down. Peoples lives are at risk. Childrens lives are at risk, she said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry says there should be no winners and losers in "Ukraine crisis"

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has branded Russia's war against Ukraine a "Ukraine crisis" and said that there "should be no winners and losers".

Source: Ukrinform news agency, citing Wang Wenbin, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at a briefing

Details: Wang noted that efforts should be made to defuse and end the "crisis" through negotiations rather than the use of weapons.

Quote: "There should be no winner and loser in a political settlement. Rather, it should be peace that prevails. China will continue to play a constructive role to that end."

Details: The diplomat believes the world cannot criticise China for having "normal relations" with Russia.

Quote: "We did not and will not seek gains from the conflict. Other countries should not smear and attack normal relations between China and Russia, should not undermine the legitimate rights of China and Chinese companies."

Details: The Foreign Ministry spokesperson also noted that China neither started nor has any involvement in the conflict and has never sent weapons or military equipment to either warring party.

Background: In early April, the US warned China not to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. The US Department of State has expressed concern about the strengthening of the partnership between Russia and China, whose leaders, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, are scheduled to meet in China next month.

US President Joe Biden has also urged Xi Jinping to influence Russia and Iran in the context of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

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A Chinese national broke onto a Marine Corps base in California on March 27 before getting nabbed by military law enforcement, according to military and border patrol officials.

At approximately 12:45 p.m. the man attempted to access Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms  the Corps vast combat training installation located in the remote California desert  without valid identification, Marine spokesman Maj. Joshua Pena said in an emailed statement to Marine Corps Times on Thursday.

Despite being prompted to exit at the Condor gate by installation security, the individual proceeded onto the installation without authorization, Pena said in the statement. Military law enforcement were immediately notified and detained the individual.

Pena referred further questions on the incident to Customs and Border Protection, which did not respond by time of publication to a Marine Corps Times request for comment.

Gregory Bovino, a chief patrol agent with the Border Patrol, wrote Friday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the man who had been detained was a Chinese national. The man was in the country illegally, according to Bovino.

His purpose & intent behind his actions are still being investigated, Bovino wrote.

The installation at Twentynine Palms, California, spans more than 998 square miles, making it the Marine Corps largest base. Its live-fire ranges and other training areas often are home to big exercises.

Marines with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, conduct training on a live-fire range at Twentynine Palms, Calif., on March 14. (Lance Cpl. Frank Sepulveda Torres/Marine Corps)

In September 2023, a driver gained unauthorized access to the same California installation, prompting military police to fire shots at the drivers vehicle. Military police ultimately detained the driver, who had no reported injuries.

Chinese nationals have gained access to military bases and other sensitive facilities in the United States around 100 times in recent years, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
This article was originally published in El Paso Matters.

Pint-sized hall monitors in yellow neon vests greet their fellow students first thing in the morning at the Tornillo PreK-8 School as part of a program meant to encourage them to come to class every day.

As children shuffle into their classrooms, teachers begin taking counts of whos absent the moment the school day starts at 7:30 a.m., even though attendance isnt due until 10 a.m.

From there, its a sprint for staff to reach parents and find those missing students.

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Staff start making calls to parents to find out if a kid is going to be making it to school, said Tornillo Independent School District Superintendent Rosy Vega-Barrio. If we dont get an answer right then and there, we send an officer to the house to find out whats going on.

A member of the Coyote Hall Patrol waits to welcome arriving students to Tornillo ISDs PreK-8th campus, Monday, Feb. 26. Staff member Cassandra Soto founded the successfull Hall Patrol program as an incentive for students with high numbers of absences and tardies to arrive early. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Once a student starts accumulating absences, school leaders like Tornillo PreK-8 Principal Myrna Lopez-Patty set up meetings with parents to talk to them about Texas attendance laws, which require school districts to begin court proceedings if a student has three unexcused absences.

Youre meeting with me as a preventive measure because we dont want to file for court, Lopez-Patty told parent Brenda Guillen and her son Nathan during one of those meetings in March.

Guillen said that she did not know her son could be in danger of losing credit if he missed more than 10% of his classes for the year. In the end, she said she was glad she went to the meeting before Nathans attendance became a bigger problem.

Myrna Lopez-Patty, principal of Tornillo ISDs PreK-8th campus, explains state laws on school attendance during a personal meeting with the mother of a student who had accumulated tardies and absences. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

I was confident with his grades. I thought he was doing great, but I completely disregarded the fact that he needed to be on time more and in school more, Guillen told El Paso Matters.

Vega-Barrio said that these efforts helped it become the only district in El Paso County to lower its chronic absenteeism rate since students returned to school from the pandemic, although it still remained higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The 2018-19 school year was the last before the pandemic disruption. Schools across the country shut down in March 2020 and most remained closed the rest of the 2019-20 school year. In El Paso, most classes remained closed in the fall of 2020 and reopened in early 2021.

Throughout Texas, the number of chronically absent students  characterized as students who miss at least 10% of class, or about 18 days a year  rose from 11% during the 2018-19 school year to 15% in 2019-20. That increased to 26% during the 2021-22 school year, according to the most recent Federal Report Cards data released by the Texas Education Agency.

Nationally, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled from 15% in 2018-19 to 28% in 2021-22, according to a report compiled by Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee in partnership with the Associated Press.

El Paso County saw a similar trend, as chronic absenteeism rates in school districts countywide grew between 11% to 26% on average over those three years.

Tornillo ISD, a rural school district on the eastern outskirts of the county with less than 900 students, was an outlier. The district saw its chronic absenteeism rate drop from 10% in 2018-19 to 2% during the 2019-20 school year but then shot up to 22% in the 2020-21 school year. The rate dropped to 14% during the 2021-22 school year  the lowest in the county that year but still above the pre-pandemic rates

That year, the El Paso Independent School District had a 36% chronic absenteeism rate  the highest in the county. The Socorro Independent School District had a 28% rate and the Ysleta Independent School District reported a 25% rate.

Outside the city limits, 35% of students in the San Elizario Independent School District were chronically absent, with 32% in the Fabens Independent School District, 28% in the Clint Independent School District and 20% in the Canutillo Independent School District. The Anthony Independent School District kept its chronic absenteeism rate the same  at 25%  between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

Texas schools are required to keep track of which students are chronically absent, but most do not monitor the data at the district level and rely on the TEAs annual reports.

While most El Paso schools dont track their overall chronic absenteeism rates, some school leaders said average daily attendance has improved since the 2021-22 school year but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Now some experts are concerned that this rise in absenteeism could have negative effects on students who missed out on some of the benefits of attending school every day, like getting counseling, socializing, and participating in extracurricular activities.

Joshua Childs, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas in Austin.

The earlier students attend school consistently, in terms of their age, the more likely theyre going to graduate and go on to whatever postsecondary success looks for them, University of Texas at Austin education professor Joshua Childs told El Paso Matters. It can provide some structure and some organization.  Its a place where they can get a couple of meals a day, and be around adults that care about them and engage with them. For many kids, its a critical component of their daily life.

Research shows chronically absent students tend to perform worse academically and are more likely to drop out of school.

One Chicago study found that students who are chronically absent in pre-kinder, kindergarten and first grade are less likely to read at grade level by the end of the second grade.

Chronic absenteeism during the sixth grade is an indicator that a student will drop out of high school, and students who were chronically absent between eighth and 12th grade were seven times more likely to drop out, according to a 2017 TEA report.

What is chronic absenteeism and what causes it?

In Texas, students are considered chronically absent if they miss at least 10%  or 18 days  of a school year, even if an absence is excused.

States have been required to report and track chronic absenteeism to receive Title I funding since 2015 when the Every Student Succeeds Act  or ESSA  was signed into law to replace the No Child Left Behind Act. Before 2015, Texas only tracked average daily attendance, which made it hard to tell if absences were concentrated among specific students.

What ESSA has allowed us to do is get at the frequency of students missing school and how much theyre missing, Childs said.

Experts and educators say that in many cases, students who are absent for long periods often face obstacles that make it hard for them to get to class every day. This can include a lack of transportation, illness and personal issues that disrupt a familys normal day-to-day lives.

San Elizario ISD Superintendent Jeannie Meza-Chavez said she has seen cases where students have lost a parent or family member and missed several days of school afterward. In another case, a familys home burned down, leaving their children at risk of becoming chronically absent as they face potential homelessness.

Students arrive at Tornillo ISDs PreK-8th campus, Monday, Feb. 26. Tornillo has one of the best attendance records in the El Paso region. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

The data suggests students living in poverty and those with disabilities face even more of these obstacles than their peers, keeping them from attending school regularly. In Texas, a third of economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year.

Theres just so many different factors, Meza-Chavez said when asked about the causes of chronic absenteeism.Sometimes our families just will not send kids to school.

Because the reasons students miss school vary, Childs said educators and researchers need to dig into why students are missing school and find ways to support them.

School leaders say most districts already make efforts to address the obstacles that keep students from getting to school. Most have social workers who connect parents with outside resources. Some take matters into their own hands finding ways to help families.

At Tornillo ISD school administrators have helped students get transportation to and from school when they are unable to take the bus.

In San Elizario, counselors worked with the family that lost its home to make sure they had a place to go and the children had clothes and shoes to wear to school, Meza-Chavez said.

Why did chronic absenteeism increase?

While changes in chronic absenteeism rates varied by school district, most followed a similar pattern. Chronic absenteeism dropped slightly when the school first closed during the 2019-20 school year, likely because districts did not need to report attendance for the last few weeks of the year, said Ysleta ISD Director of Student Services Diana Mooy.

Ysleta Independent School District Department of Student Services director, Diana Yadira Mooy.

Chronic absenteeism began to rise slightly during the 2020-21 school year. At this time Texas schools worked under a hybrid model where some students could attend class online while others went in person. Mooy said chronic absenteeism didnt rise too much in Ysleta ISD because the state gave school districts more flexibility when taking attendance to accommodate for virtual classes.

We usually take attendance in second period, and if youre in your seat, youre counted present and if youre not youre absent. In (2021-22) we were able to take attendance later in the day so we were given more time and more opportunities to count kids present, Mooy said.

Then chronic absenteeism skyrocketed during the 2021-22 school year when all students were required to return to school in person.

Some school leaders El Paso Matters spoke to said they saw parents keep their kids from school more often because of illness and concerns over masking and vaccination policies.

EPISDs former truancy prevention director Mark Mendoza said he noticed a shift in families attitudes around school attendance.

Before the quarantine, we had students that were chronically absent for a variety of reasons, but the general culture was that its important to go to school every single day, Medoza told El Paso Matters. Then when the pandemic happened, and the entirety of in-person schools shut down, both students and their families lost that.

Mendoza suggested that one of the reasons EPISD has the highest chronic absenteeism rate in the county is because as a District of Innovation, it is exempt from the state law that requires students to attend 90% of their classes to get credit.

Students walk with a teacher at Reyes Elementary School on Nov. 29. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

The District of Innovation concept, adopted under House Bill 1842 during the 2015 legislative session, allows school districts to excuse themselves from certain state requirements. The initiative was intended to give school districts some of the same flexibility as charter schools as long as they adopt an innovation plan.

Mendoza said that since students were allowed to miss more than 10% of their classes and still get credit as long as they got passing grades, attendance suffered.

Many people began to have the idea that I can learn and get good grades without going to school every single day, Mendoza said.

EPISD did not respond to a request for comment.

What did Tornillo ISD do differently?

Tornillo ISD is encompassed by expansive desert and farmland along the Rio Grande, with some families living miles from their closest neighbor.

While most schools in Texas saw their chronic absenteeism rates go up when students returned to in-person learning, the rural district saw an increase when students were learning from home. With limited broadband service in the area, district leaders said many students who could not connect to their virtual classes were counted absent.

The majority of our kids didnt have access to Wi-Fi, Vega-Barrio said. Even though we provided hotspots to every single household, you had multiple kids online at the same time and it just created a lot of issues. I think thats what hurt us in (2020-2021).

Students arrive at Tornillo ISDs PreK-8th campus, Monday, Feb. 26. Tornillo has one of the best attendance records in the El Paso region. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Additionally, the district has several students who live in Mexico and cross the Tornillo-Guadalupe International Bridge every day to get to school.

After schools closed and international travel was restricted during the pandemic, it was really hard to get those students to partake in online learning, Vega-Barrio said.

In many cases parents and guardians also struggled to help their kids with school work or troubleshoot technology issues, leaving them feeling like their children needed to be back in school, Vega-Barrio said.

Tornillo ISD also implemented several programs and measures in 2021 to try to reduce absenteeism including hiring an attendance officer and educating parents on the importance of not missing school.

Texas truancy courts may require parents to participate in counseling, take special classes or do community service. Parents could also face fines and up to three days in jail if they do not comply. They can also face misdemeanor charges if they are found criminally negligent for not forcing their children to go to school, according to the Texas Education Code.

Students with five or more unexcused absences in a semester can also have their enrollment revoked, which could prevent a student from graduating or progressing to the next grade.

Tornillo PreK-8 also started a morning hall patrol program to encourage students to show up to school on time every day.

The goal was for us to get students on time but also to build leadership skills and make them feel like they had a role here in the district, the schools secretary, Cassandra Soto, told El Paso Matters.

Soto, who came up with the idea for the program, said she focused on students who were missing class or showing up late excessively, and those with behavioral issues. Now many of those students have improved their attendance and are eager to go to school every day.

Weve seen a difference in attendance and in their behavior. They actually even told me, Its our job, so they get here very early, Soto said.

Cassandra Soto, secretary of Tornillo ISDs PreK-8th campus, is outside the building to greet arriving students, Monday, Feb. 26. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Tornillo ISD school leaders say these efforts have allowed them to get students back in the classroom and rebound its attendance rates.

Soto said she thinks that success can be replicated by other schools.

We are a small district and we dont have a lot of resources or the amount of staff other districts have. So I think that if were able to do it, theyre able to do it as well, Soto said.

This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN)  A church and thrift store are partnering with Feeding America West Michigan to host a mobile food pantry event in mid-April.

Silver Creek Church and Silver Creek Thrift are helping to provide food for about 500 families in the Marquette area on Thursday, April 11. Food distribution is planned to start at 10 a.m.

The mobile food pantry will be a drive-through event with parking lot attendants to help guide the process. Guests are asked to remain in their cars and have adequate space prepared in their trunk or back seat in advance to allow the distribution team to place food boxes directly in the vehicle.

There is no need to bring any boxes to this event. Silver Creek Church and Silver Creek Thrift are located at 219 Silver Creek Road in Harvey.

Businesses or organizations that are interested in supporting these monthly mobile food pantries are encouraged to call 906-249-1715.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJMN - UPMatters.com.
CIRCLEVILLE  As ominous storm clouds enveloped the Victorian-era City Hall, city leaders inside were concerned about the public's welfare, tornadoes and whether to cancel their council meeting.

Several also were pondering another form of public safety: the city's beleaguered police department. In the past 30 days, Circleville's mayor has suspended the police chief and deputy chief and fired the safety director less than a week after he said he took the job to help fix the department.

The decimated police leadership stems from a host of investigations including claims of intimidation, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, racial profiling and an alleged assault on the mayor herself. Sgt. Kenny Fisher is now acting chief.

Asked earlier about her decisions and the perception of a departmental crisis, Mayor Michelle Blanton told The Dispatch: "The overall view of policing within the city of Circleville is positive. We have a great team of men and women who serve the city each and every day."

Before the council meeting, she cited two recent "Meet the Mayor events" held for the city's fire and police personnel.

"I want to make sure that relationship is there, that if they see me at the grocery store, or on the street, they can come up and say 'Hi,'" said Blanton, whose part-time responsibilities as a "strong mayor" include overseeing departments and budgets, carrying out daily operations and quelling disorder and controversy.

The Circleville City Council meets Tuesday on the second floor of City Hall in downtown Circleville.

A prayer, the Pledge and a public take down

As heavy rain began to pelt the building's ornate windows, council members recited the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Council member Zachary Brooks then unleashed on the mayor and law director, both of whom returned fire. It was their first public discussion of the police department issue.

Brooks attacked Blanton's lack of transparency, citing her failure to disclose to council and the public what was behind her actions. He scolded Law Director Kendra Kinney for impeding his own investigation by failing to provide him public records he'd requested two weeks ago.

Brooks said that on March 22, Kinney told him that her office "is very busy and that my records requests (for firearms and training logs, and disciplinary investigations) were at the bottom of their list and that when they had time, they'd get to them."

"I have yet to receive those documents, two weeks later," Brooks said, stating that he's learned more from The Dispatch and other news reports. He said it's wrong to be forced to rely on local news "to get my information about the city I was elected to serve."

Brooks said that Kinney advised council members to not speak to any past or current city employees and told them to turn over documents, including text messages to and from fired Safety Director Steve Wilkinson. He said he's willing to do so "because I don't have anything to hide."

Brooks cited Wilkinson's previous statements to The Dispatch that the Ohio Auditor's Special Investigations Unit, Ohio Police Officers Training Academy and other agencies are looking into the dysfunction in the city. He also heard that four Circleville police reserve officers were suspended from duty for failing to keep up with annual training.

"I can tell you that I wasn't informed of these things by anybody (in the city). I'm starting to wonder what else is being kept from us," Brooks said.

"If we are to do our jobs to the best of our ability and serve the community that we were elected by, we cannot continue to be fed bits and pieces of information here and there," he said.

Circleville Mayor's role

It's the responsibility of any mayor to reassure the public that public safety  their most important and expensive city service  is operating smoothly. But the recent turmoil, on the heels of a nearly quarter-million-dollar legal settlement following a police K9 mauling of an unarmed Black truck driver in July, suggests that Blanton is glossing over reality.

Blanton has issued short statements to announce each of the recent moves involving the police chief, deputy chief and safety director. But neither she nor other city leaders have provided details or explanation.

Circleville Mayor Michelle Blanton, left, has suspended the police chief and the deputy chief, and fired safety director and the previous city law director. At right is the new law director, Kendra Kinney.

Asked before the meeting about allegations that Deputy Chief Doug Davis assaulted her, Blanton confirmed there is an open investigation: "I will say that there was an incident. There was bodily contact," Blanton said.

The reluctance by city officials to publicly discuss the issues might be an admonition by Circleville's Law Director Kendra Kinney to keep quiet or risk jeopardizing the inquiries. But Kinney, herself, has been criticized for having a potential conflict of interest in police matters.

Police chief forced out in 1999 is law director's father

Circleville police Chief Jon Kinney was the first and only chief to resign before his term was complete, and he was not eligible for a full pension. Hired 30 years ago, Kinney oversaw a troubled office then.

In January 1999, Kinney and two lieutenants were placed on administrative leave while a consultant reviewed the department's performance and efficiency, according to The Dispatch archives. In its final report, the consultant called the department "seriously dysfunctional."

"There was constant squabbling over stuff and discipline-wise, it just wasn't happening," recalled Lt. Charles Knaack, who was placed on leave himself and then returned to duty.

Having Kinney preside over legal matters involving police abuse and dysfunction creates a serious conflict of interest, Knaack said, even if her father's ouster occurred 25 years ago.

"There's no way that's not on her mind," Knaack said, noting the elder Kinney might advise his daughter on how to proceed with investigations and possible discipline.

"The problem is she leaves an opening for a conflict of interest.  Everything they're trying to do to clean things up can be overthrown by her (Kendra Kinney) if they (the accused) bring up this connection to her father," Knaack said.

Before Tuesday's meeting, Kinney told The Dispatch, "Anyone who knows me knows that I do things by the book."

Wanda Gay, Kinney's administrative assistant, defended her boss as "honorable, with the facts and with the law on her side." Council President Barry Keller thanked Gay and Kinney for their "professionalism." He had no response to Brooks' accusations.

At Tuesday night's city council meeting, Wanda Gay, an employee of the Circleville city law director's office, speaks about the large volume of work the staff handles each month.

Is a culture change needed or possible?

The Circleville police department's challenges extend back decades. And while similar cities have the occasional problems with police use of force or violations of protocol, few have had problems with leadership that appear to be chronic.

Knaact, who served under Chief Kinney and briefly worked with then-Officer Baer, attended a department Christmas party last year and said he was shocked at the behavior of officers, about half of whom were in uniform at a Circleville park shelter.

"It was like a big locker room," Knaact said of what he called a lack of professionalism. He said none of the officers approached the veteran police lieutenant. Finally, he spoke to Baer, who had been quietly observing the event.

"I asked him, 'Who's on duty? Who's covering the city?' and he just laughed and winked and said, 'The sheriff.'"

Prior to being elected three years ago, Pickaway County Sheriff Matthew Hafey was a Circleville police officer from 2003 to 2021. He declined to discuss the situation with the city police department, or Baer, with whom he worked closely and considers a friend and mentor.

Asked if his department, about a mile from City Hall, will be offering Circleville police any additional support, Hafey said, "If they call upon us to assist them, then we're there.  As far as I've seen, it's still business as usual and normal calls for service."

Hafey said he's dedicated himself to maintaining high standards, noting, "All it takes is one person to give every person in law enforcement a bad name."

Do residents feel safe?

In short, yes. A quick survey of those strolling through the city's Historic District seemed to show the police leadership issues aren't affecting their confidence in the department's ability to respond to emergencies or patrol the streets.

"What bothers me most is that the mayor came in and did all this stuff immediately," said James Pete, noting that Blanton took office in January.

Circleville resident James Pete gets into a car Tuesday in downtown Circleville. He and many other residents of the Pickaway County community are concerned about recent decisions in city government.

Such quick action requires more explanation, Pete said. "I'm a taxpayer, and it should be made public."

Alex Guzman, 72, a semi-retired salesman, said simply "I feel safe," while walking Alex, his boxer-pitbull mix. "Police are present everywhere. They're going through the streets, and they provide the image of safety."

After the council meeting, four police cruisers, sirens blaring, rushed by City Hall on a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. They remained to investigate for more than an hour.

dnarciso@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Circleville councilman says he's been left out of police abuse cases
City council considering state of emergency in Riverside ahead of total solar eclipse

Mondays total solar eclipse has a city council considering declaring a weeklong state of emergency.

>>Total Eclipse 2024: Whats happening in the Miami Valley?

The City of Riverside is considering declaring a temporary state of emergency during the total eclipse event, at tonights city council meeting, according to the councils meeting agenda.

News Center 7s Xavier Hershovitz previewed the measure on News Center 7s Daybreak.

The city is expecting large crowds to get a glimpse of totality.

Several activities are planned at the Air Force Museum, and they will be also travelers expected to go to Eastwood Metropark, according to the citys website.

The City of Riverside, along with other communities within a 124-mile band in the state of Ohio, will experience a total solar eclipse beginning at around 3:09 p.m. and lasting a little over two minutes, the city said. The City of Riverside is expected to more than double its population for this event.

>>RELATED: Dayton named a top city to watch the solar eclipse by USA Today

>>RELATED: Local businesses preparing for solar eclipse

Hershovitz says the state of emergency would start at midnight on April 5 and last until midnight on April 12.

It would allow the city to essentially use all its emergency abilities and tap into its preparedness plans.

The measure would also give the city manager the ability to make necessary decisions.

The Riverside City Council will vote on the measure at tonights meeting.

It is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. later this evening.

We will provide updates on this story later today on News Center 7 beginning at 5 p.m.
Editor's note: City Hall Insider is a roundup of items the Austin City Council is set to vote on other local government news and an inside look at my reporting process. This story will be updated after the Austin City Council voted.

What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been.

Austin has, after over a year, selected its next city manager, the top official overseeing the city's daily operations.

This search came to a head last month when the names of three candidates were announced, and it quickly progressed last week with a meet-the-candidates event, closed-door interviews and a recommendation from the City Council.

On top of all the city manager news, there are updates on the local election front and news about the city's dealings with a federal agency on its COVID-19 operations.

Let's get into it.

T.C. Broadnax, left, attends a town hall session in Austin in March.

Austin's city manager search comes to an end

The City Council last week made clear who they want to be Austin's next city manager: T.C. Broadnax, the exiting city manager of Dallas.

After nearly a full day of deliberations in a closed-door session, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced that the same City Council subcommittee charged with picking the firm for the city manager search had recommended Broadnax for the position.

Read More: Austin City Council subcommittee recommends T.C. Broadnax be Austin's next city manager

"I am honored and I look forward to the City Councils vote to allow me to serve as Austins next City Manager. With the continued growth of our states capital city, I am mindful of the critical needs we must urgently address and I am committed to doing so with a collaborative, transparent, inclusive and equitable approach. I also want to thank the Dallas City Council, city staff, and residents for the opportunity to serve as their City Manager for the last seven years," Broadnax later said in a statement.

The City Council voted unanimously Thursday to appoint Broadnax and to authorize Watson to execute an employment agreement with him, per city documents.

Read More: Austin City Council votes to appoint T.C. Broadnax as next city manager at $470K salary

Broadnax was one of two finalists for the position. He has held the role of the city's top executive for seven years, working before that as the city manager of Tacoma, Wash., and the assistant city manager of San Antonio and Pompano Beach, Fla.

Read More: Who is T.C. Broadnax? What we know about the man recommended for Austin city manager

The other finalist was Sara Hensley, the city manager of Denton.

FEMA reimbursements

This week I reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to reimburse the city of Austin for about $8 million related to its operation of "protective lodges" for people experiencing homelessness at high risk of contracting the virus during the pandemic.

Read More: City of Austin challenges FEMA's denial of $8M reimbursement for COVID protective lodges

The city is now challenging this, and it could spend more time and money fighting the claim in the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals  an independent tribunal (a special court or committee) within the General Services Administration that deals with disputes involving federal executive branch agencies, according to its website.

Something that stood out to me about this story, besides the $8 million dollar price tag hanging over the city's head, was that Austin doesn't seem to be the only one having this issue.

In Austin, a lot of the questions about why FEMA declined to reimburse the city for the lodges were not immediately answered  FEMA declined to comment, and the city did not provide specifics on FEMA's claim.

In California, however, regional FEMA officials denied reimbursements for similar hotel programs, CalMatters, a nonprofit news organization in California, reported in February.

Though the specifics of FEMAs argument in California and how their programs were run may vary with Austin, it does pose questions about how the federal agency is interpreting guidelines on what were unprecedented emergency sheltering moves made across the country due to the pandemic.

If, as California officials claim, FEMA made these rules after residents moved out, who will end up paying the bill?

Were there changes in direction transitioning from one presidential administration to another?

Are similar reimbursement denials happening in other cities and states?

There are several questions I have related to this story and hope to answer soon.

If YOU have any questions, please share them with me via email! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. My email is listed at the bottom of the column.

District 7 City Council race updates

In some local election news, a fifth candidate has entered the District 7 City Council race. Todd Shaw, the former chair of the city's planning commission and long-time environmental engineer, threw his hat into the ring this week.

The election is in November, and there is still plenty of time for other candidates to file. But, as of now, District 7 has drawn in the most interest with five candidates compared with the other council seats slated to be on the ballot this November, including Austin's mayor.

If you've made it this far, thank you for following along! I hope you'll continue reading "City Hall Insider," published the day of every Austin City Council meeting, which is usually bi-weekly. In the meantime, I will continue my coverage of local government and politics. To share additional tips or insight, email me at emccarthy@statesman.com. You can also find me on X, formerly Twitter, @byEllaMcCarthy.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin city manager search ends, FEMA reimbursements and more
When choosing a destination for a summer beach vacation, tourists often underestimate Poland, preferring Spain, Italy, Greece, and other warm resorts. This tendency leads to the fact that southern European countries are oversaturated with vacationers, while resorts in the North remain uncrowded, and can offer pleasant prices and clean coastlines.

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According to Simon Calder, a travel expert, one of the best beach destinations in Europe is the city of Sopot on the Baltic coast of Poland. This was reported by Express.

Although this resort is not as warm as Spanish and Italian ones, on sunny days "its beaches can be confused with the Caribbean," the expert believes.

"An absolutely charming resort, and an incredibly good deal. Prices are back to the 1990s. It's not the warmest sea, it's not the Mediterranean, but on the other hand, in July and August it's fantastic," Simon Calder assured.

The clean and fine sand is conducive to pleasant walks along the 4-kilometer beach, volleyball games, sandcastle building, and pleasant swimming. Because there are not many tourists here, it is easier to keep the coastline clean.

ADVERTISIMENT

Near the beach, there are many cafes, restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, and the Sopot Aquapark.

The wide coastline allows for thousands of vacationers to stay at the same time, and the city's proximity means that you don't have to spend a lot of time getting to attractions, museums, and other cultural places.

One of the highlights of Sopot is the Crooked House, a unique building designed by Polish architect Zalewski. It is known for its curved facade and bizarre shape.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Voters lining up in a hall to vote. A sign with an American flag, an arrow and the text "Vote Here" is visible in the foreground.

Voters in Minneapolis, Minn., line up to vote during the 2018 midterm elections. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

A group of civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against a new Alabama law criminalizing some forms of absentee voting assistance, alleging it amounts to voter suppression.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, on March 20.

Voter assistance is a vital means of political expression in Alabama that allows civic leaders to promote and build political power among historically disenfranchised communities, the lawsuit said. And yet, the state has historically and consistently engaged in efforts to restrict voter assistance, including through criminal prosecutions of groups and individuals seeking to create political change through civic engagement.

A message seeking comment was left with the Alabama attorney generals office Thursday morning.

In a statement, the Secretary of States office said they could not comment on the substance of the litigation and directed questions to the attorney generals office.

I am dedicated to ensuring fair, secure, and transparent elections, wrote Secretary of State Wes Allen in the Thursday statement. SB 1 provides Alabama voters with strong protection against activists who profit from the absentee elections process. I stand firm in my support of SB 1 because now, under Alabama law, Alabama votes are not for sale.

The bill makes it a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a person to receive a payment or gift for distributing, ordering, requesting, collecting, completing, prefilling, obtaining or delivering an absentee ballot application. A person who knowingly pays or provides a gift to a third party to distribute, order, request, collect, prefill, complete, obtain or deliver could face a Class B felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The plaintiffs argue that volunteers who provide assistance to voters with disabilities could be punished for providing a stamp or sticker to a neighbor. It also alleges that a person dropping off a ballot application could face a misdemeanor charge.

Nonprofit organizations  regularly provide volunteers with items that include the organizations message or logo, and/or enable volunteers to provide assistance with absentee ballot applications by providing items like pens, postage, envelopes, and gas cards, the lawsuit says. The vagueness of the term gift is substantial, not only because it imposes steep criminal penalties based on an undefined term but also because it can be read as sweeping in expressive conduct and associational activity that implicates Plaintiffs core political speech.

The complaint also cites Alabamas long history of voter suppression.

For almost as long as the Fifteenth Amendment has guaranteed the right to vote for Black people and others regardless of race or color, Alabama has employed restrictions on assisting voters, including imprisoning volunteers and organizers for assisting voters, and employing other voter suppression tactics to both silence and punish Black community leaders and disenfranchise Black and other voters of color, the lawsuit says.

Gudger said Thursday morning that he wasnt scared of the judicial branch looking at the law, but disliked taxpayer money being used to defend it.

I think its a positive thing, and well see where it goes, he said. Again, this is not something thats just happening for one party. It was for all parties and all people in the state.

According to the Heritage Foundation, a right-leaning think tank that tracks voter fraud, there have only been 25 cases of voter fraud in the state since 2000. About 1.4 million votes were cast in Alabamas 2022 elections.

The plaintiffs want the court to declare that the challenged provisions of SB 1 violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, Section 208 of the (Voting Rights Act), and the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and Help America Vote Act.

The plaintiffs are the League of Women Voters of Alabama, Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, Greater Birmingham Ministries and Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. They are represented by Campaign Legal Center, Legal Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

SB 1 takes Alabama backwards as it violates the law, restricts our basic constitutional amendment rights, (and) obliterates freedom of speech, wrote Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, in the Thursday news release. It marginalizes voters access to the ballot box.

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This story was updated at 11:30 with comment from the Secretary of States office.

The post Civil rights groups file suit against Alabama law criminalizing some absentee ballot assistance appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Climate engineering carries serious national security risks  countries facing extreme heat may try it anyway, and the world needs to be prepared

The historic Paris climate agreement started a mantra from developing countries: 1.5 to stay alive. It refers to the international aim to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.8 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times. But the world will likely pass that threshold within a decade, and global warming is showing little sign of slowing.

The world is already facing natural disasters of epic proportions as temperatures rise. Heat records are routinely broken. Wildfire seasons are more extreme. Hurricane strength is increasing. Sea level rise is slowly submerging small island nations and coastal areas.

The only known method able to quickly arrest this temperature rise is climate engineering. (Its sometimes called geoengineering, sunlight reduction methods or solar climate intervention.) This is a set of proposed actions to deliberately alter the climate.

These actions include mimicking the cooling effects of large volcanic eruptions by putting large amounts of reflective particles in the atmosphere, or making low clouds over the ocean brighter. Both strategies would reflect a small amount of sunlight back to space to cool the planet.

There are many unanswered questions, however, about the effects of deliberately altering the climate, and there is no consensus about whether it is even a good idea to find out.

Potential climate engineering techniques. Chelsea Thompson NOAACIRES

One of the largest concerns for many countries when it comes to climate change is national security. That doesnt just mean wars. Risks to food, energy and water supplies are national security issues, as is climate-induced migration.

Could climate engineering help reduce the national security risks of climate change, or would it make things worse? Answering that question is not simple, but researchers who study climate change and national security like we do have some idea of the risks ahead.

The massive problem of climate change

To understand what climate engineering might look like in the future, lets first talk about why a country might want to try it.

Since the industrial revolution, humans have put about 1.74 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, largely by burning fossil fuels. That carbon dioxide traps heat, warming the planet.

One of the most important things we can do is to stop putting carbon into the atmosphere. But that wont make the situation better quickly, because carbon stays in the atmosphere for centuries. Reducing emissions will just keep things from getting worse.

Countries could pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and lock it away, a process called carbon dioxide removal. Right now, carbon dioxide removal projects, including growing trees and direct air capture devices, pull about 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere per year.

However, humans are currently putting over 37 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually through fossil fuel use and industry. As long as the amount added is larger than the amount removed, droughts, floods, hurricanes, heat waves and sea level rise, among numerous other consequences of climate change, will keep getting worse.

It may take a long time to get to net-zero emissions, the point at which humans arent increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Climate engineering might help in the interim.

Who might try climate engineering and how?

Various government research arms are already gaming out scenarios, looking at who might decide to carry out climate engineering and how.

Climate engineering is expected to be cheap relative to the cost of ending greenhouse gas emissions. But it would still cost billions of dollars and take years to develop and build a fleet of airplanes to carry megatons of reflective particles into the stratosphere each year. Any billionaire considering such a venture would run out of money quickly, despite what science fiction might suggest.

However, a single country or coalition of countries witnessing the harms of climate change could make a cost and geopolitical calculation and decide to begin climate engineering on its own.

This is the so-called free driver problem, meaning that one country of at least medium wealth could unilaterally affect the worlds climate.

For example, countries with increasingly dangerous heat waves may want to cause cooling, or countries that depend on monsoon precipitation may want to restore some dependability that climate change has disrupted. Australia is currently exploring the feasibility of rapidly cooling the Great Barrier Reef to prevent its demise.

Creating risks for neighbors raises conflict alarm

The climate doesnt respect national borders. So, a climate engineering project in one country is likely to affect temperature and rainfall in neighboring countries. That could be good or bad for crops, water supplies and flood risk. It could also have widespread unintended consequences.

Some studies show that a moderate amount of climate engineering would likely have widespread benefits compared with climate change. But not every country would be affected in the same way.

Once climate engineering is deployed, countries may be more likely to blame climate engineering for extreme events such as hurricanes, floods and droughts, regardless of the evidence.

Climate engineering may spark conflicts among countries, leading to sanctions and demands for compensation. Climate change can leave the poorest regions most vulnerable to harm, and climate engineering should not exacerbate that harm. Some countries would benefit from climate engineering and thus be more resilient to geopolitical strife, and some would be harmed and thus left more vulnerable.

While small experiments have been carried out, nobody has conducted large-scale climate engineering yet. That means that a lot of information about its effects relies on climate models. But while these models are excellent tools for studying the climate system, theyre not good at answering questions about geopolitics and conflict. On top of that, the physical effects of climate engineering depend on who is doing it and what theyre doing.

Whats next?

For now, there are more questions about climate engineering than answers. Its hard to say whether climate engineering would create more conflict, or if it could defuse international tensions by reducing climate change.

But international decisions on climate engineering are likely coming soon. At the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2024, African countries called for a moratorium on climate engineering, urging all precaution. Other nations, including the United States, pressed for a formal scientific group to study the risks and benefits before making any decisions.

Climate engineering could be part of an equitable solution to climate change. But it also carries risks. Put simply, climate engineering is a technology that cant be ignored, but more research is needed so policymakers can make informed decisions.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Ben Kravitz, Indiana University and Tyler Felgenhauer, Duke University

Read more:



Ben Kravitz receives funding relevant to this work from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation.

Tyler Felgenhauer receives funding relevant to this work from the National Science Foundation and from Resources for the Future.
Cloudy, with a chance of an eclipse? Odds have changed in these regions

Cloudy, with a chance of an eclipse? Odds have changed in these regions

Click here to view the video

The much-anticipated solar eclipse is just around the corner, so what is the forecast telling us now about what to expect on Monday, April 8?

Well, plenty of new details have emerged since we last took a peek at the forecast on Monday, April 1. The news won't be so good for many in North America.

DON'T MISS: Everything you need to know for April's spectacular and rare solar eclipse

As we look at the weather models, what we see as of Wednesday, April 3 is an increasing chance of cloud cover for millions of Canadians, putting a damper on the event for some major cities.

There is, however, a likelihood for millions to view the eclipse as the pattern is conducive for sinking air and clearer skies. Which side will you be on?

image29

RELATED: Niagara Falls declares state of emergency ahead of influx of eclipse visitors

Breakdown of where the forecast favours a good viewing and where it doesn't

While many Canadians won't like this updated forecast, there is a likelihood of additional shifts and changes in the days leading up to it.

The good news is that a part of Canada remains one of the go-to places.

image3

Ontario: It may not be what you want to hear, but confidence has grown that there will be clouds in Ontario on Monday. A system in the U.S. Plains will likely usher in high- to mid-level clouds by the afternoon. The bright side, however, is these cloud types typically do not fully obstruct your view from the sun.

So, forecasters will be asking the question: How much sun can we see through the cloudy veil? It is still variable if it will only affect southern Ontario, or move into eastern Ontario, too. Hamilton, Niagara, Kingston and Cornwall, Ont., are all at risk. The timing of the systems fronts will be closely monitored through the weekend, so make sure to check back for another revision.

image13

Quebec and New Brunswick: Things improve outside of Ontario. In fact, some of the best viewing odds will be found in eastern Quebec and most of New Brunswick. A ridge of high pressure will offer limited cloud cover on eclipse day, making it our continued go-to spot in Canada and, in fact, all of North America.

Cities such as Sherbrooke and Saint-Georges, Que., and Hartland and Fredericton, N.B., continue to look to be in good shape for Monday. Local cloudy factors may still play a role, intricate details that will be nailed down this weekend.

image25

Newfoundland: In Canada, some of the worst eclipse-viewing odds exist in Newfoundland, including Bonavista, Gander and Clarenville. That can be attributed to a slow-moving system that will likely bring in thick, low-level clouds, onshore winds, and perhaps even precipitation in the afternoon.

This brings a possibility that the sky during the event gets fully obstructed. If you're eager to view the once-in-a-lifetime event, consider the southwestern coast, Port aux Basques, N.L., or heading to New Brunswick for better forecast odds.

U.S.: The forecast update didn't reveal any change for the southwestern states, as they remain in poor odds for viewing the eclipse because of an incoming low that will blow cloudy skies into Texas and Arkansas.

image18

There will be some ideal viewing north of that cloud deck, however, and south of the one affecting Ontario. When you head north, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio have a fair shot of getting a good view, but there is still plenty of model uncertainty at this time.

SEE ALSO: Totality, corona, Baily's beads - Do you know your solar eclipse terminology?

Ironically, climatology was not a factor at all for the southwestern states this year. In fact, it got it all wrong. Historical cloud cover data during early April favours the south-southwestern end of North America with the greatest percentage of clear skies, with Mexico and Texas normally seeing 20 to 40 per cent cloud cover.

WATCH: Could cell service be impacted by the total solar eclipse?

Click here to view the video

Check back with The Weather Network as we continue to update the eclipse forecast leading to and on April 8.
Cloudy skies and rain chances are still in the weather forecast for the solar eclipse on Monday.

Cincinnati isn't in the path of totality, but it will still see a partial eclipse lasting 2 hours and 33 minutes. At the peak of the eclipse, the moon will obscure approximately 99.4% of the sun.

Here are the latest updates on Greater Cincinnati's eclipse viewing conditions, according to the National Weather Service office in Wilmington. Remember, whatever the forecast is for that day, it's important to wear proper safety glasses when viewing the eclipse.

What will the weather be like in Cincinnati on Eclipse Day, April 8?

Rain will likely move into the region Sunday night and continue into early Monday morning. So, will we be able to see the eclipse on Monday afternoon?

There is still some uncertainty regarding the eclipse viewing experience. The NWS reports that it will depend on the placement and timing of this weather system. Two potential scenarios are currently in the forecast.

First, there's a scenario where partial clearing could occur Monday afternoon if the system is blocked by ridging over the Great Lakes, causing it to move slightly to the north. However, the system could barrel over the Great Lakes, causing poor viewing conditions.

The seven-day detailed forecast states there will be a chance of rain before 8 a.m., but it is still optimistic about mostly sunny skies throughout the rest of the day. Temperatures will be warm, with a high near 73. The chance of precipitation is 30%.

"Totality or Bust, Check the forecast and adjust!"



Here is the latest cloud cover and weather hazards forecast for the upcoming total solar eclipse. Please check back for future updates! pic.twitter.com/ZmRoueWRlS  NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) April 3, 2024

What happens if it's cloudy on the day of the eclipse?

The total eclipse will happen, rain or shine. But cloud coverage will make it a bit darker, and experts say the transition into total darkness will seem more sudden.

Due to this, observers may miss the subtle changes as the sun slowly disappears and day becomes night.

Cincinnati astronomer Dean Regas chased the Oct. 14, 2023, solar eclipse to Roswell, New Mexico.

What time will Cincinnati see the solar eclipse?

The National Weather Service says the eclipse will start in Texas and then make its way across the country, passing over states that include Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana before arriving in Ohio.

For Greater Cincinnati, the eclipse will begin at 1:52 p.m. as the moon slowly casts its shadow across the sun and end at 4:24 p.m.

Here's when the total eclipse will begin and how long it will last for Ohio cities along its path on April 8.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Solar eclipse 2024: Cloudy skies, rain chances possible in Cincinnati
CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  The Clovis Unified School District is set to present to its school board its proposal for where school boundaries will be.

Clovis Unified says the new boundaries are meant to maximize school attendance throughout the district. However, some residents submitted their own complaints about how the new map has been drawn up.

Getting pushed out: Clovis Unified maps drawing controversy

Clovis Unifieds Kelley Avants says there are two big reasons the district has been drafting its proposal.

Were getting ready to open a brand new high school, Avants said, at the same time were looking at the district as a whole to make sure that were using every school facility to its most optimal use.

According to the school district, future growth patterns are being looked at and public input has been taken into consideration.

The April 3 meeting of the Clovis Unified school board is set to consider the districts latest proposal and the board is expected to vote on adopting the proposal. If adopted, the boundary changes will take effect at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.

For more information about the boundary changes, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a French court on Wednesday for his role in plotting the deadly shooting at a Strasbourg Christmas market nearly six years ago, an attack that left five people dead and 11 others injured.

Audrey Mondjehi, 42, was convicted on charges of murder and terrorism for helping Islamic State militant Cherif Chekatt orchestrate the attack in Dec. 2018. Although Chekatt was killed in the ensuing manhunt, Mondjehi and three other defendants stood trial for their roles in the plot.

Prosecutors said Mondjehi, Chekatts former cellmate, was the most instrumental to the plan as he helped the militant obtain the gun used in the mass shooting. Chekatt was a convicted criminal on Frances terrorism watchlist, and prosecutors alleged Mondjehi helped him navigate around those barriers to surreptitiously carry out the attack.

In his final statement to the court before sentencing on Thursday, Mondjehi said he regretted what he had done.

I think deeply and feel a lot of sadness for all the victims. All my life I will regret what happened, he said. I would never have thought that [Chekatt] would have done that, I never thought that he was radicalized.

That didnt stop the court from handing down the three-decade sentence, as the prosecution had requested.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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An election worker stacks "I Voted" stickers at the Denver Elections Division on Super Tuesday in Denver, March 5, 2024. Kevin (Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)

We at Colorado Newsline committed to provide better election coverage.

We told readers in October that were demoting the horse race and elevating constituent interests. In other words, we want to focus less on polls, dollars and endorsements and more on families, individuals and every resident who is affected by the outcome of elections.

This aligns with the not the odds, but the stakes approach to election coverage advocated by New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen, who as part of the citizens agenda advises newsrooms to learn about what the electorate wants politicians and candidates to address.

Now were taking a big step toward fulfilling that commitment with a project called Voter Voices 2024.

More than 30 news outlets across the state are partnering on the Voter Voices project, which is led by the Colorado News Collaborative, or COLab. If youre a voter in Colorado, were asking you to fill out a survey and tell us what issues matter to you most ahead of the primary election in June and the general election in November.

The first question gets right to the point: What would you like candidates to talk about as they compete for your vote?

There are also a few multiple choice questions meant to zero in on your perspective. Is the economy top of mind? How about immigration? Abortion? We ask you about elections themselves  Do you trust that they will be conducted fairly in your community?

Responses will be most useful if they come from a cross-section of Colorado. We invite every voter  left and right, rural and urban, young and old  to complete the survey.

After about a month of collecting responses, well use them to create a database  a powerful resource as we chart our coverage. We expect it to provide us with a more detailed view of Colorado voter sentiments than weve ever had before. Equipped with that knowledge, our election stories will be more informed, and well be able to approach politicians and candidates with a much deeper understanding of your interests in the state.

Our questions for politicians will be guided by voters, and well be able to challenge them when their rhetoric doesnt match the priorities of the people they mean to represent. Voters who agree to speak directly with journalists can serve as sources throughout the election season. We want to prioritize constituents over candidates seeking power.

Ultimately, the project will allow us to better serve you. It will help Newsline produce election coverage that enables voters to act with clarity and confidence when they fill out their ballots.

As the project was forming, we had the feeling that it could be an unprecedented effort. That hunch was affirmed after we launched it this week.

The collaboration announced today in Colorado is without precedent in the history of the citizens agenda approach to campaign coverage, which goes back to 1990-92, Rosen wrote on X.

If were successful, Voter Voices has the potential to serve as a model for journalists in other states throughout the country.

You can help us achieve this goal by filling out the survey. And we welcome your input on other ways we can improve our election coverage and understand your concerns. Write us an email, text us or visit us for a chat.

Here is the survey:

_

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The post Colorado Newsline is listening to Voter Voices in 2024 appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
Colorado to pay rancher after wolf depredation, but will that be enough?

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR)  The first report of wolf depredation by reintroduced wolves has been confirmed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife after an extensive investigation.

Now, the calfs owner is due for compensation from the state, but some say that payment is not enough.

Mining blocked on nearly 222K acres of Colorado public lands

On Tuesday morning, a landowner called to report a dead calf.

The results of this investigation indicated wounds consistent with wolf depredation, CPW Area Wildlife Manager Jeromy Huntington said. The field investigation found multiple tooth rake marks on the calfs hindquarters and neck, and hemorrhaging under the hide, consistent with wolf depredation. Wolf tracks were also found nearby.

In an email to FOX31, CPW also said: The wolf or wolves involved were part of the 10 wolves that were reintroduced to Colorado in December 2023.

A wolf runs from a cage as a group of men stand by

For ranchers, wolf worries are about more than their livelihoods

For some ranchers, the fact it happened now came as a surprise.

Its crazy to think for most of us up here that it took this long to actually happen, said Tim Ritschard, president of Middle Park Stockgrower;s Association.

Erin Karney, executive vice president of Colorado Cattlemens Association, said it is also unexpected, given it is now the thick of calving season. But to Karney, it also means with one incident already reported, there could soon be more.

A lot of the cows are calving and this is, you know, kind of the time, and theyre kind of easy prey for apex predators like wolves, she said.

Now, many ranchers are making more frequent checks, knowing there are more predators to worry about.

I guarantee you that every livestock producer is doing all they possibly can to protect their livestock, because thats ultimately their livelihood, but its more than that, Karney said.

Gray wolves map shows growing movement across Colorado

CPW has previously stated they will compensate ranchers and farmers for any livestock lost to a wolf, but ranchers say it is not about the monetary value of their animals.

I actually have a couple pet cows, Ritschard said. Looking at my cows, some of these cows  I have like a 10-year-old cow. I mean, theyre part of the family.

Looking to the future, ranchers said they hope they can keep their communication strong with CPW about where wolves are and what steps they can take to ensure they are keeping their livestock safe.

Wolf tracks in snow compared to a human hand

Some ranchers said they hope it will be enough.

I think we all can sit in Denver or other metropolitan areas and say someone else can deal with that, its really cool that these animals are in the state. But its not only their livelihood, its not only livestock, but you know, its that fear that an apex predator is in their backyards, Karney said.

CPW said they will continue to have staff follow up with producers in the area where the incident occurred and make sure they have the appropriate, non-lethal deterrents available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
A long-time Republican campaign treasurer who worked for more than 100 candidates over the past four decades is facing federal wire fraud charges related to the theft of nearly $1 million from campaigns.

Bill Curlis, 76, defrauded candidates of $995,231 between 2008 and mid-2023, court records say. He is accused of writing checks from campaign accounts to himself for personal use and taking steps to hide the theft.

He was charged by bill of information on Thursday. Federal prosecutors also filed a plea document in the case, which will be considered by the court.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker urged political candidates and businesses to protect themselves against future fraud by paying attention to blind spots and vulnerabilities. Embezzlement is often committed by persons who take advantage of the victims trust, and I encourage everyone to reassess from time to time the safeguards they have in place.

Republican Bill Curlis worked as a campaign treasurer to dozens of local, state and federal campaigns. He is charged in federal court, accused of stealing nearly $1 million from the campaign accounts he controlled.

Curlis served as treasurer to local, state and federal campaigns, often as the only signatory on accounts and he frequently discouraged candidates from having access to bank statements without his oversight, prosecutors said.

Last year, state Sen. Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard; former Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien and Franklin County Engineer Cornell Robertson filed complaints with the Ohio Elections Commission about Curlis.

If convicted of wire fraud, Curlis could face up to 20 years in prison.

Laura Bischoff 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 The Columbus Dispatch: Republican campaign treasurer Bill Curlis faces federal fraud charges
This weekend, on April 6 and 7, warm air from northern Africa will return to Europe, bringing with it fine dust from the Sahara. It will cover Ukraine for the second time.

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This was reported by BFMTV meteorologist Guillaume Cechet. According to him, African dust will reach the northwestern part of Ukraine on April 7.

Cechet showed a map showing that on April 7, dust from Africa will again cover Western Europe  the Czech Republic, Poland, partially Slovakia, and the northwestern part of Ukraine.

"With such a dynamic southerly flow coming directly from Africa, the return of the sand seems inevitable," he wrote.

Depending on the weather conditions, sand in the sky and deposits on cars can be more or less visible. A large amount of dust can "weaken the sun's rays and contribute to the formation of a dense curtain of clouds, which is likely to slow down the temperature rise," the meteorologist says.

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As reported by OBOZ.UA:

 On April 2, several regions of Ukraine observed an unusual natural phenomenon  dust from the Sahara in the air. Gusts of strong winds, which also raged on Tuesday in all regions except the eastern ones, carried dust and sand at a frantic speed.

 Dust from the Sahara can be dangerous for people with respiratory diseases, as well as for children and the elderly.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Complex canal system  up to 800 years old  found under Mexico City. Take a look below

Archaeologists recently uncovered a complex network of centuries-old canals beneath Mexico City.

The stone structures were discovered at Tlatelolco, an archaeological site located in the bustling heart of Mexico City, according to a March 25 news release from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Dozens of boreholes were drilled into the ground at the site, once a pre-Hispanic city-state, revealing layers of artifacts from various societies.

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.

 Roman helmet looked like a 'rusty bucket' when it was found in UK. Now, it's restored

Elaborate 600-year-old castle  complete with moat  unearthed in France. Take a look

 Mysterious wooden train car  almost 100 years old  unearthed in Belgium, photos show

The canals were found underneath layers of pipes from the modern era, officials said. Photo from INAH

In the uppermost layers, archaeologists found pipes and factory remains  traces of modern occupation.

Far below that, they located the canal system, which dates to between 1200 and 1521, making it at least 500 years old.

Excavations revealed the waterways varied greatly in size, with widths as narrow as three feet and as wide as 26 feet. In addition, a pier and staircases were found, which descended to where the water level would have been.

These structures may have been used by Tlatelolcos indigenous inhabitants for navigation, irrigation or drainage, officials said.

The canals are up to 800 years old, officials said. Photo from INAH

In the years following the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century, Tlatelolcos indigenous inhabitants carried on living normally in contrast to neighboring Tenochtitlan.

However, following devastating floods and the spread of disease, the native population began to decline in the 17th and 18th centuries, officials said.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from INAH.

Several underground bunkers  left from WWII  unearthed at park in Belgium. See them

Medieval child was buried with this popular snack  and archaeologists have no idea why

Prehistoric workshops  with axes and other stone artifacts  found in Egypt. See them
Congress disestablished the Osage Nations northern Oklahoma reservation, the states highest criminal court ruled Thursday.

The closely watched decision means Oklahoma can continue to prosecute tribal citizens accused of committing crimes in Osage County, which Congress established as the Osage reservation in 1872.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the reservation no longer exists, citing the precedent set by a 2010 federal appeals court ruling. As a result of that decision, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tribal reservations in Oklahoma doesnt apply to the Osage reservation, the five state appellate court judges ruled.

We decline to revisit this issue and affirm the vitality of the 2010 decision, Vice Presiding Judge Robert Hudson wrote in the opinion issued by the court.

More: This is the legacy of 'Killers of the Flower Moon' according to Osage people

McGirt decision does not conflict with earlier rulings on Osage Nation reservation

The ruling lands nearly four years after McGirt v. Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that found Congress had never disestablished the Muscogee Nations reservation in eastern Oklahoma. The ruling has since been applied to several other tribal reservations.

Only federal and tribal courts can try tribal citizens accused of crimes on reservations, a fact Gov. Kevin Stitt routinely criticizes as unfair to the state.

Questions surrounding the Osage Nations reservation have wound up in court before. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2010 that Congress had disestablished the tribes reservation around the time of statehood, when federal lawmakers voted to divide up the tribes land into individual allotments.

The McGirt decision does not overrule the 10th Circuit ruling or conflict with it, the state appellate court concluded Thursday.

Geoffrey Standing Bear, the principal chief of the Osage Nation, and Clint Patterson, the attorney general of the Pawhuska-based tribe, could not be immediately reached to discuss the ruling. The Osage Nation's communications office issued a statement Friday calling the decision disappointing but not surprising, given past rulings by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

"Congress has never disestablished the Osage Nation Reservation, which the nation purchased using its own funds when it was forced by the United States to remove from a reservation in Kansas to a new reservation in Oklahoma," the statement said. "So, an injustice remains on the books today  for another court to fix."

Standing Bear told The Oklahoman after a lower court issued a similar decision in 2022 that he believed the U.S. Supreme Court would ultimately need to settle the debate.

We would like to have our original reservation boundaries that we were promised in 1872, Standing Bear said at the time. We would like to have those recognized, and thats what were seeking.

Geoffrey Standing Bear, the principal chief of the Osage Nation, is also a longtime lawyer whose career has focused on matters of tribal law. He is shown here in an October file photo.

Gentner Drummond, Oklahomas attorney general who also owns a sweeping ranch in Osage County, said in a statement that he was pleased with Thursdays ruling and believes the court made the appropriate decision.

Mike Fisher, the district attorney for Osage and Pawnee counties, said he was grateful the appeals court affirmed the states power to prosecute all people accused of committing crimes in the area.

We felt strongly the state still had jurisdiction within Osage County to be able to prosecute all cases involving all citizens, Fisher said.

More: Lawmakers can renew tribal compacts over governor's objection, Oklahoma Supreme Court rules

Three other lawyers who were directly involved in the case did not return messages to talk about the ruling or any plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

Thursdays ruling marked the first time the states highest criminal court has formally weighed in on the status of the Osage Nation reservation after McGirt. The court ruled in 2021 that Congress had also disestablished the reservation set up for the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes in southwest Oklahoma.

Thursdays ruling stemmed from an appeal filed by Dakoda McCauley, an Osage citizen who challenged the states right to prosecute him for a 2018 killing that occurred at his home in rural Osage County.

McCauley, 29, was convicted in 2022 of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Frankie Cotto, 33. McCauley believed Cotto had slept with McCauleys girlfriend and stabbed Cotto after drinking with him, according to court filings. McCauley argued he acted in self-defense.

In addition to rejecting his argument that the state lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals also rejected several other reasons McCauley said he should be granted a new trial.

He is serving his 22-year sentence at a state prison in Holdenville, records show.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from the Osage Nation's communications office.

Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Osage reservation no longer exists, Oklahoma appeals court rules
A Republican candidate running in the May primary for Indianas 7th Congressional District in Indianapolis recently shared an endorsement on social media from a veterans nonprofit. But there's no official documentation that the group exists.

The Facebook page for Gabe Whitleys congressional campaign posted on March 30 that a group called the Hoosier Veterans Alliance endorsed Whitleys run for the 7th District, currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Andre Carson.

As a proud Republican candidate for Congress, endorsed by the Hoosier Veterans Alliance, I am deeply honored to receive their support, the post on Gabe Whitleys campaign Facebook states.

But a Facebook page that appears to belong to the Hoosier Veterans Alliance group mentioned on Whitleys campaign account was created March 30, the same day Whitley posted about the endorsement. The page only had 3 followers as of April 3. The Hoosier Veterans Alliance Facebook account states that the group is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that provides support to our veterans.

IndyStar could find no website for the Hoosier Veterans Alliance outside of the Facebook page nor records of any person tied to the organization. There was no documentation of a nonprofit called the Hoosier Veterans Alliance in the Internal Revenue Services tax exempt organization search nor in the agencys master files of exempt organizations in Indiana through mid-February. Likewise, there was no record of a business called the Hoosier Veterans Alliance on Indiana state governments public business search website.

Multiple veterans organizations contacted by IndyStar said they were not aware of a group with that name and doubted its validity.

Maskless Protest organizer Gabe Whitley addresses the crowd during a protest against mask orders outside of the Civic Center in Evansville, Ind., Wednesday evening, July 15, 2020. The protestors believe wearing a mask should be a choice instead of a mandate from government officials, such as Mayor Winneckes order that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Whitley did not respond to phone calls, voicemails or attempts to reach him through an email address listed on his campaign website. IndyStar additionally contacted an email address for the Hoosier Veterans Alliance but did not receive a response.

Whitley, who gave himself the nickname "honest Gabe" on the May primary ballot, has made news for his political campaigns before. Earlier this year, a local radio host's wife filed complaints with the Indiana Election Division and the Federal Election Commission alleging Whitley's campaign filed fraudulent reports and accepted donations higher than federally allowed, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.

In 2022, Whitley attempted to challenge Democratic state Rep. Ryan Hatfield and in 2023 ran for mayor of Evansville prior to dropping out and moving to Indianapolis. The Evansville Courier & Press found Whitley filed 2021 campaign finance documents with the state reporting fundraising thousands from donors who said they had never heard of him.

From Evansville: Gabe Whitley says he raised thousands for mayoral campaign. Donors say they don't know him

A new veterans organization, and one endorsing political candidates, was news to Lisa Wilken, an Air Force veteran and prominent advocate for veterans issues across the state. Wilken told IndyStar she contacted Whitley about the Hoosier Veterans Alliance but has not received additional information outside of what is on the Facebook page.

Both Wilken and retired Army General James Bauerle, who are involved with the Military/Veterans Coalition of Indiana, told IndyStar they questioned the existence of the Hoosier Veterans Alliance and were concerned about a political candidate potentially exploiting veterans to further a campaign. Their group advocates at the Statehouse, so if a legitimate veterans political group forms, they likely know.

To have a politician come and say, 'I am endorsed by the Veterans Alliance,' indicating that a group of veterans has endorsed him for an elected position, it makes me angry, Wilken said. Because it's using the men and women who serve our country, and offer up their body and mind and service for somebody to try and get an edge over somebody else in a political campaign and it makes me disgusted.

Veterans and politics

Bauerle, who grew up on the south side of Indianapolis and entered the U.S. Army in 1968, told IndyStar he has never heard of the Hoosier Veterans Alliance.

Bauerle is currently an Indiana ambassador to the U.S. Army Reserve and a member of many military and veteran organizations, including the Army War College Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans and the Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Retired Brigadier General Jim Bauerle is surrounded by people from military/veterans groups, faith leaders, community groups, and service organizations, as he speaks in opposition of Senate Bill 613, at the Indiana Statehouse, Monday, March 11, 2019. They are in opposition of the massive expansion of payday and subprime lending rights, seen in SB 613.

Based on his decades of experience, Bauerle said it is rare for veterans and military service organizations to actually endorse a candidate for office. Some organizations may arrange to speak with candidates ahead of an election about their positions and policies on the military or veterans issues, Bauerle explained.

Bauerle said his knowledge of veterans organizations and the timing of the Facebook page and endorsement post leaves him especially uncertain about the Hoosier Veterans Alliance. It would not be his approach to running for office, Bauerle said.

2024 Primary Elections: Here's who filed to run in Indiana for U.S. Congress

"I'm thinking this is all just a big farce, kind of a very bad taste, Bauerle told IndyStar, that this candidate is utilizing, instead of talking to legitimate veteran organizations to find out what issues should be addressed in both the 7th congressional district and in Washington on behalf of those serving and those who have served in their families.

Wilken said she searched online for additional information about the Hoosier Veterans Alliance, messaged the groups Facebook page and asked people she knows in Indianas veteran community if they knew the nonprofit.

Wilken called Whitley earlier this week to ask about the group, she said. When he answered the phone, Wilken said he directed her to send a message to his campaign email address.

According to emails shared with IndyStar, Wilken emailed Whitley on Monday and asked to be connected to the Hoosier Veterans Alliance to share information about the Military/ Veterans Coalition. Whitley responded to Wilken and copied a Google email account for what he said was the Hoosier Veterans Alliance.

Kyle, I am looping you in the email thread, Whitley wrote in response to Wilken's email.

On Tuesday evening, Wilken replied to Whitleys email and said she looked forward to hearing from Kyle, but she told IndyStar Wednesday she had not received additional information.

Whitley is one of four Republicans who filed to run in the primary for the 7th Congressional District. The seat covers most of Indianapolis and Marion County. The additional Republican primary candidates are Philip Davis, Jennifer Pace and Catherine Ping.

Carson, the Democratic incumbent, faces two opponents in the May primary: Curtis Godfrey and Pierre Quincy Pullins. Whomever wins either parties' primary election will face each other on the ballot in November.

Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana GOP candidate claims veterans group endorsed him. Is it real?
Construction is under way on Texas' border military base camp in Eagle Pass. What we know.

Construction has begun on Texas' military base camp in Eagle Pass, near the Texas-Mexico border, which is expected to house about 1,800 Texas National Guard troops as part of the state's border security initiative and could cost upward of $400 million by September 2026.

The state in February hired New Braunfels-based Team Housing Solutions to convert a former recreational vehicle park on 80 acres along the Rio Grande to set up living quarters, a dining facility, a gym, an in-ground pool, a library, an armory and other features for the activated Guard troops, according to the purchase order obtained by the American-Statesman.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced plans for the state-operated facility, about 6 miles south of Shelby Park that's being called the "Forward Operating Base," during a Feb. 16 media event in Eagle Pass as part of his $11 billion Operation Lone Star border security initiative. That announcement came eight days after the Texas Military Department signed the purchase order to pay Team Housing nearly $131 million to operate the camp through Sept. 7 with options for two extensions  the first through Sept. 7, 2025, and the second through a year later.

Abbott, in a social media post Tuesday, heralded the progress being made at the site.

"Construction is underway on the new Forward Operating Base in Eagle Pass," Abbott said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that showed aerial footage and graded land with a cluster of parked trailers likely to be used as portable buildings. "This base camp will house Texas National Guard soldiers deployed to respond to Bidens border crisis. It will also provide our soldiers additional resources and regional support to secure the border."

Construction is underway on the new Forward Operating Base in Eagle Pass.



This base camp will house Texas National Guard soldiers deployed to respond to Bidens border crisis.



It will also provide our soldiers additional resources and regional support to secure the border. pic.twitter.com/7kQMyYHr6n  Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 2, 2024

The first phase of construction is expected to be completed in about three weeks.

A representative from Team Housing did not respond to several Statesman emails and calls for additional details about the project. But according to a page on its website, the company went to work on short notice to secure the site and to bring in the equipment needed to make the base operational.

Gov. Greg Abbott, shown at a Feb. 4 news conference in Eagle Pass, posted on social media Tuesday that "construction is underway on the new Forward Operating Base in Eagle Pass" for Texas National Guard troops.

The Statesman has filed request under the state's open government laws for information about the scope and total cost of the project. Under state law, the Military Department has 10 days from the time the request was made to either release the information or to make the case to the Texas attorney general's office that it should be hidden from public view.

More: Donald Trump, Joe Biden's clashing border visits thrust immigration further into spotlight

When he announced plans for the camp, Abbott said taxpayers should realize cost savings in the long run because the state will not have to provide temporary housing or cover other deployment costs for the Guard soldiers assigned to Eagle Pass.

"This will increase the ability for a larger number of Texas military department personnel in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and more efficiently," Abbott said at the time.

Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in the months after President Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in November 2020 and took office that following January. Biden began rolling back many of his predecessor's hard-line border policies, such as Title 42, a pandemic-era rule that allowed for the quick expulsions of people seeking asylum based on public health concerns.

A National Guard soldier guards Shelby Park, which the state has seized control of, in Eagle Pass.

The Democratic Biden administration and Abbott, a three-term Republican, have clashed politically since then on border security and immigration. The two sides are locked in ongoing legal battles over the state's expanded role in seeking to combat unlawful immigration, including a new state law, which the courts have temporarily blocked from taking effect, that would authorize state law enforcement officers to detain, arrest and deport people suspected of entering the U.S. in Texas from Mexico without legal authorization.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Construction begins on Texas' Operation Lone Star camp in Eagle Pass
MACON, Ga. (WRBL)  A Georgia resident with two prior federal drug distribution convictions pled guilty on Wednesday to trafficking fentanyl and faces up to 40 years behind bars.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Georgia said after pleading guilty to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, 36-year-old Antonio Whitehead, from Macon, Georgia is facing at max a 40-year prison sentence along with a $5 million fine. Whitehead sentencing is scheduled for June 5.

Whiteheads guilty plea came after a traffic stop and the U.S. Attorneys Office said at the time of the stop, Whitehead was already on supervised release for two federal drug distribution convictions in the Southern District of West Virginia.

The U.S. Attorneys Office said a Monroe County Sheriffs deputy initiated the traffic stop for multiple violations on Georgia Highway 401 on Feb. 20, 2023. During the traffic stop, the deputy smelled drugs and learned the driver had a suspended license.

Besides smelling drugs and realizing the driver had a suspended license, the U.S. Attorneys Office said both Whitehead and the driver gave the deputy inconsistent statements.

After additional backup arrived and authorities began searching the vehicle, Whitehead attempted to hop in the drivers seat and take off. The U.S. Attorneys Office said an officer responded by shooting the rear tires of the vehicle, preventing a chase from ensuing.

During a search of the vehicle, law enforcement found a suitcase containing plastic bags filled with 207 grams of fentanyl, 554 grams of methamphetamine, and 101 grams of cocaine.

Authorities also found several bags of marijuana and a bag of fentanyl on Whitehead during his arrest. The U.S. Attorneys Office noted that Whitehead told authorities that the driver had nothing to do with the found drugs.

The Monroe County Sheriffs Office and the FBI investigated Whiteheads case. Deputy Criminal Chief Will Keyes along with support from Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Daniels are prosecuting the case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

On Thursday, a roundtable was held to raise awareness about online child exploitation and to discuss ways to combat it.

Child abuse survivors spoke on their own personal experiences. Additionally, law enforcement officials discussed what theyve done to find and prosecute perpetrators of online child exploitations.

Sen. John Cornyn participated in a roundtable on Thursday to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month | Frank Martinez/KXAN News

Sen. John Cornyn participated in a roundtable on Thursday to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month | Frank Martinez/KXAN News

Sen. John Cornyn participated in a roundtable on Thursday to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month | Frank Martinez/KXAN News

Sen. John Cornyn participated in a roundtable on Thursday to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month | Frank Martinez/KXAN News

Sen. John Cornyn also detailed his Project Safe Childhood Act, which is aimed at modernizing the process of investigating and prosecuting those crimes.

These tools need to evolve, we need to try and get them in the hands of more and more law enforcement agencies, because not many law enforcement agencies have the resources that, for example, Travis County has. Just in Texas alone, a lot of rural law enforcement agencies have the know-how to combat this crime, Cornyn said at the roundtable.

That legislation was passed in the Senate in October 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Read the full story on Backfire News

Corvette Racecar And Family Truck Stolen In California

The Fry family from North Natomas, Sacramento, is seeking public assistance after the theft of a cherished racecar and a family heirloom truck. The stolen goods include a distinct white 2008 Chevy C6 Corvette racecar and a white 1999 Ford F250, both taken from their home on Alvoca Way near Regency Park. The vehicles, along with a black car trailer, were last seen on a neighbor's surveillance footage being swiftly driven away early Easter Sunday.

Simon Fry, the owner, expressed his shock and devastation over the loss, highlighting not only the financial but also the sentimental value attached to the stolen items. While the racecar holds a special place in Fry's heart, it's the Ford F250 that bears a deeper emotional significance. The truck, passed down from Fry's grandfather to his father and then to him after his father's sudden passing in 2020, represents a lineage of family memories and bonds forged over the wheels.

The Fry family is currently offering a $2,500 reward for any information leading to the recovery of the Corvette and truck in good condition, emphasizing the irreplaceable nature of the stolen truck and trailer. They urge the perpetrators to come forward and return the items, underscoring their immense value to the family's heritage.

The Sacramento Police Department has taken up the investigation, urging anyone with information to reach out to their dispatch center or the Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A mother was forced to relive moments of grief after four Sedgwick County inmates overdosed on Tuesday. Destiny Claytons daughter died of an overdose at the jail in May 2023, nearly one month before her release date.

Courtesy: Destiny Clayton

The Sedgwick County Jail had 20 overdoses in all of 2023. Theyve already had 12 suspected overdoses this year.

Clayton said her daughter was recovering and looking forward to her upcoming release date before she died.

Evidence of foul play in missing Kansas women: OSBI

Recent overdoses are a reminder of who Clayton lost. Her daughter overdosed last May, about a month before her release date.

She was my daughter. She wasnt just a person receiving mental health treatment, just an addict. She was my child, she was so full of life, she was only 21, said Clayton.

Courtesy: Destiny Clayton

She said the nearly two years her daughter spent in the Sedgwick County Jail got her daughter clean, it was all lost in an instant.

I have been in touch with a few people that were in the same pod as my child when it happened, and they say its very frequent, said Clayton.

Colonel Jared Schechter of the Sedgwick County Sheriffs Office said increased drug traffic had reached the jail.

As fentanyl has grown in the community, as opioids have grown in the community, were seeing more of it in the jail, said Schechter.

He said there are two common ways drugs get into the hands of inmates.

Former Larned correctional employee gets probation for trafficking meth into jail

The people coming in off of the streets, its on their person when theyre getting arrested; it either gets missed in the search process, or theyve concealed it or swallowed it. There are other ways it can be smuggled into the jail, said Schechter.

The Sedgwick County Sheriffs Office is increasing efforts to keep out drugs.

The last month, weve been making a refocus on working on our searches better, and different expectations weve placed on our supervisors in those areas, said Schechter.

Work Clayton wishes would have been started sooner.

She had made a lot of plans with me; she has a son thats five; she wanted to make things right and be a part of his life; she wanted to go back to school. I know she didnt want to die, Clayton said.

Courtesy: Destiny Clayton

The Sedgwick County Jail is still short-staffed, but Colonel Schechter said it is graduating deputies, at a rate to meet the needs.

He said a project to add 800 cameras to the facility within the next two years will help monitor drug use.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Court records detail what investigators believe led to March 5 homicide near Yelm

A 37-year-old Thurston County man is facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with a March 5 fatal shooting near Yelm.

Jeffrey Paul Anderson attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court last week. During the hearing, Judge Sharonda Amamilo ordered he be held without bail until further order.

Thurston County Sheriffs detectives arrested Anderson in the early hours of March 28 after a three-week investigation into the death Trever Miller, a 31-year-old man who was shot multiple times the evening of March 5. Deputies found Miller at a trailer on the 11600 block of Morris Road Southeast, south of Prairie Elementary School.

First responders tried to help Miller, but he died at the scene. Nearby residents reportedly heard shots and saw a vehicle leave the scene, The Olympian previously reported.

Prosecutors asked the court to deny bail for Anderson, arguing the facts of the case and Andersons record demonstrated a clear threat to the safety of the community and the likelihood of future violence.

The motion alleges Anderson shot Miller four times at his residence while Millers 10-year-old child was on the property. The shooting allegedly occurred after Anderson attempted to rob Miller at gunpoint.

Anderson was in community custody supervision with the Washington State Department of Corrections at the time, per court records.

The motion indicates Andersons criminal history includes 14 adult felony convictions and 15 adult gross misdemeanor convictions dating back to 2005.

If convicted of second-degree murder, the motion states Anderson could face life imprisonment and a fine of $50,000.

Anderson is due back in court for his arraignment at 9 a.m. April 9, according to court records.

The investigation

A probable cause statement describes the investigation in the homicide from the perspective of law enforcement.

Deputies responded to the 11600 block of Morris Road Southeast at about 6:22 p.m. after Millers friend called 911. Witnesses told detectives they heard gunshots and saw two men fleeing the scene in a light-colored Honda, according to the statement.

Millers partner allegedly told detectives Miller sold drugs, typically fentanyl and methamphetamine. Another person on the property said Miller was his dealer and he had re-upped on narcotics from a supplier in Auburn a couple days before, the statement says.

Law enforcement reportedly located four 9mm casings within Millers trailer, between his bed and door. One intact bullet was found as well.

Millers autopsy occurred on March 8. A pathologist determined he was shot four times, once in his knee, twice in his abdomen and once in the left arm, according to the statement.

One of the bullets that entered his abdomen reportedly damaged an artery. The pathologist believes Miller bled to death in the approximate time it took for first responders to arrive on the scene, according to the statement.

On March 10, the statement says a Yelm police officer received an anonymous tip about the homicide that led investigators to surveillance footage at a Yelm deli mart.

That footage allegedly shows Anderson and two other people arriving at the deli mart at 5:55 p.m. March 5 in a light blue Honda Civic with gold rims, according to the statement.

Detectives reviewed additional footage from the intersection of Bald Hills Road and Yelm Avenue. That footage reportedly showed the Civic turn from Bald Hills Road onto Morris Road at about 6:08 p.m. March 5, about 14 minutes before deputies were dispatched to the scene of the homicide.

Millers friend later admitted to hiding a firearm belonging to Miller before law enforcement arrived on March 5 to protect Miller from legal trouble, according to his statement.

On March 25, the statement says an associate of Anderson told detectives he helped orchestrate a drug deal between Miller and Anderson in the weeks before the homicide.

Anderson allegedly did not pay Miller for this deal and this caused friction between them, the associate reportedly told detectives. The associate said he went to see Miller with Anderson on March 5. At the time, the statement says, he believed Anderson intended to make amends with Miller.

When they met Miller, Anderson allegedly pushed the associate out of the way, pointed a gun at Millers cheek and demanded he give him everything he had, the associate reportedly told detectives.

Miller reportedly pushed the gun away and backpedaled toward his bedroom, according to the statement.

The associate reportedly said they heard Anderson yell something to the effect of, Dont spray that! Dont fire that, and then gunshots.

Anderson and the associate fled the scene in the light blue Honda Civic. The statement says the associate later identified Anderson from a photo lineup.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has spoken out against sending Western troops to Ukraine. He explained this by not becoming a target for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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He said this in the BBC's Ukrainecast podcast. Cameron admitted that "the war will be lost if the allies do not step up."

But when asked whether Western countries should send troops to Ukraine, he said "no."

The British foreign minister added that NATO will probably be in "the best shape possible" before the US elections.

Cameron said that next week he will visit the United States for the second time since becoming foreign secretary and will urge Congress to provide more financial support that "could make a difference" in Ukraine.

He said that NATO will have to work with whoever wins the US elections this year, so now is the time to get in "the best shape possible for November."

"If we can get this money from the US Congress, if we can provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs, if we can show Putin that he cannot wait us out and that Ukraine is going to fight back and liberate most of its territory. If we can do all of this, whoever comes in November, we will look at the situation in Ukraine and... look at how more and more NATO members are spending 2% of GDP on defense and say: this is a historic success," he said.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
The Channel 2 Action News Investigates team was honored as winners of the Goldsmith Award for Excellence in Journalism for its coverage exposing how overpayments from the Social Security Administration had cost millions of Americans their monthly benefits.

The prestigious award was given to the investigative teams across Channel 2 Action News parent company Cox Media Group (CMG) and their investigation partners on the stories, KFF Health News.

The annual awards ceremony was held in Boston, Mass. on Wednesday evening, where the Harvard Kennedy School honored Channel 2 Action News reporting with an inaugural Goldsmith Awards special citation.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Were honored to receive this prestigious award because it reflects CMGs commitment to local news and investigative journalism, Marian Pittman, CMGs President of Content, said in a statement. The teams relentless efforts to uncover the truth behind complex government policies and their implementation has resulted in tangible changes within the SSA and will directly benefit millions of people impacted by overpayments.

The citation recognizes journalism that examines how government in the United States functions, including how and why it can fail, as well as how those same problems can be solved.

CMGs investigation showed how the SSA had been overpaying billions of dollars every year to vulnerable Americans, then demanding they pay it back years later, even though it was the governments mistake.

RELATED STORIES:

The media company said teams from CMGs local television markets and its Washington News Bureau each made significant contributions to the reporting effort, collectively airing more than 100 news stories on the topic in 2023. They also said partnering with KFF Health News helped to elevate the investigations impact and reached millions of viewers on TV and online.

The investigation by CMGs reporters and producers, and in partnership with KFF Health News, found that more than two million people were hit with overpayment every year, and that afterward, the SSA often lowers or stops monthly checks to recover the debts.

This series exposed the significant impact of these mistakes on millions of people, including those who had little to no ability to pay back the government, leaving some people to lose their homes, cars, and savings, Drew Altman, President and Chief Executive Officer of KFF, said. This is why KFF reports on systemic issues like this through its news serviceto expose how people are affected by policy and challenges.

Reporting by Channel 2 Action News Investigates and its partners led to a congressional hearing and tougher oversight, and the SSA recently announced significant changes to its regulations to limit clawback, while restoring benefits for several of the people impacted by the process who were featured in the CMG stories online and on air.

Social Security Commissioner Martin OMalley testified to the U.S. Senate on March 20 that he was taking several stopes to address the issues covered by CMG and Channel 2 Action News reporting, and said the SSA will stop intercepting 100% of a beneficiarys monthly check if they fail to respond to demands for repayment. Instead, the agency will hold back just 10% to make up the debt.

Comprehensive coverage of the SSA story from CMG, and other important local and investigative reports that have protected thousands of consumers can be found online here.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  A crash simulation took place at Centennial High School on Thursday, April 4, aiming to teach teens the impact of drinking and driving, according to Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS).

LCPS says the Shattered Lives simulation involved vehicles, students portrayed as victims and another student acted as the impaired driver.

LCPS says simulation also involved the driver being given a series of field sobriety tests at the scene and was placed under arrest.

Emergency crews and first responders also arrived at the simulation and tended to the victims as if it were an actual crash.

Law enforcement agencies were also present at the simulation and contained the crime scene, investigated the crash and coordinated medical services. Students who were injured were also transported to a local hospital.

Shattered Lives, formerly known as Every 15 Minutes, is a collaboration of local law enforcement agencies, Las Cruces Public Schools, members of the medical community, the Elks Lodge, Getz Funeral Home and various volunteers from across Dona Ana County. Its mission is to simulate the real-life impacts of drinking and driving before prom, when statistically more underage students are likely to drink alcohol, LCPS said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
JOPLIN, Mo.  Multiple residents are displaced after fire breaks out at a Joplin apartment complex.

The call came in at 9:48 Wednesday night (4/3) at the Northpark Apartment Complex located at 3502 Newman Road.

All residents were evacuated from building 3516 on the south end of the complex.

Deputy Fire Chief, Andy Nimmo says preliminary estimates from fire officials suggest four to six apartments on the second and third floor sustained heavy damage, and the blaze has displaced residents from 24 apartments.

JFD said 38 people were evacuated from the effected structures. The fire was contained within an hour, with crews clearing the scene around 2:15 a.m.

Two firefighters received treatment for minor injuries; none were transported to the hospital. No other injuries were reported.

I cant say enough for our first responder partners with METS, and Joplin PD, and even Missouri Southern PD was over here assisting our first-in crews, trying to get all of the people notified and evacuated. Fortunately, we were able to get everybody out without any injuries, said Nimmo.

The Red Cross was on scene to assist the displaced residents. The Joplin Fire Marshal is now working to determine the cause of the fire.

We had a crew on-scene, live on Facebook while emergency crews worked to battle the flames.

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(This is a developing story that we will continue to update as more information becomes available)

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
A pair of hooded crooks stormed into a Bronx smoke shop flashing what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle before robbing this store at gunpoint, shocking surveillance video released by the NYPD shows.

The two thieves walked into Cloudy Cloud Varieties in the Pelham Parkway neighborhood shortly before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, before one of the hoodlums pulled out what appears to be an AR-15 style rifle from a plastic garbage bag  then pointed it at nervous employees, the footage shows.

According to police, the pair made off with $1,000 in cash and about $2,500 in merchandise before hopping into a waiting black SUV parked outside on White Plains Road and taking off.

Police are looking for a pair of robbers who stormed into a Bronx smoke shop Tuesday and flashed what appears to be a semi-automatic rifle, then made off with $1,000 in cash and $2,500 in merchandise. NYPD

The SUV sped west on Lydig Avenue and toward Bronx Park East, and the pair remained on the loose late Wednesday.

The gunman is seen in the video wearing a black hoodie with red trim, black pants and a black-and-white bandana over his face, according to the cops.

He is seen wearing white gloves.

His accomplice is wearing a red hoodie with black sweatpants and white sneakers and is also seen wearing a dark-colored bandana over his face.

No one was hurt during the robbery.

Police are asking anyone with information about the two to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org.
Warfare has been partly about deception since the days of the Trojan Horse, but by the time of the Second World War it appeared to have reached a peak of sophistication. And, according to Robert Hutton in this well-researched and often entertaining book, the ultimate sophisticate was Dudley Wrangel Clarke, who thanks to impressing two senior generals  Wavell and Dill  found himself in charge of the Armys attempt to use deception to make up for the overstretch of its resources.

Clarkes father had been a goldmine employee in South Africa, where Dudley was born in 1899, early in the Boer War. (It was evidence of his sense of humour that he sought to be awarded a campaign ribbon for that conflict, having been in the war zone as an infant.) His younger brother, T E B (Tibby) Clarke, became a legendary screenwriter at Ealing Studios, eventually with Passport to Pimlico, The Blue Lamp and The Lavender Hill Mob to his credit, and Dudley shared his gifts of imagination.

He had joined the Army during the Great War the moment he was old enough, but, to his disappointment and despite strenuous efforts, he never saw action. He managed to get to Palestine in the 1930s, where he impressed his seniors not just with his courage as a soldier, but with his charm, wit, and ability to think originally. He managed to get out of France in 1940, which was when Wavell  then commander-in-chief in the Middle East  summoned him to Cairo.

Over the next couple of years Clarke perfected various means of conning the Germans (and, even more easily, the Italians) into thinking the British were going to strike when and where they were not, or not striking when and where they were. He set up entirely imaginary military formations, including something called the Special Air Service, which caught on somewhat more tangibly elsewhere. He invented spies and double-agents to pump out bogus information about these non-existent divisions and battalions; and the star invention (devised by one of Clarkes colleagues) was a man called Paul Nicosoff, reflecting, as Hutton puts it, one of the inventors main interests in life.

Clarke understood there was a fine line between giving the enemy information that was sufficiently credible to be taken seriously, to enhance the reputation of the agent, and information that actually compromised Allied plans. He also saw that if the information passed on was consistently rubbish, the agent would be pointless. These balancing acts, led by Clarke, were conducted superbly. In 1943 such deception caused the Germans to pack the Balkans with troops when the British were preparing to invade Sicily; and when the invasion of Sicily actually took place (on the south-east corner of the island) boats armed with loudspeakers pumping out the sound of men and gunfire toured the west of the island to make the Italians believe the invasion was coming. When the Italians could find no invasion forces they presumed they had won a great victory.

Robert Hutton, author of The Illusionist

Spreading false information about potential troop movements caused the Wehrmacht to keep 300,000 men in Norway until the very end of the war when 100,000 would have been more than enough to repel any (unlikely) attempt by the Allies to liberate the country, and the rest could have been fighting to try to save Germany from ruin. And the greatest act of deception was the way in which the Germans were persuaded to believe first that the invasion of France was going to happen in the Pas-de-Calais and not Normandy and, even after D-Day, continued to imagine a second attack would be launched against northern France.

The main set-piece in the book is how Clarke, with a group of able and genial lieutenants (who at different times included David Niven and Douglas Fairbanks Jr), managed to buy time first for Auchinleck and then for Montgomery before the tide-turning victory at El Alamein.

But because of the most incomprehensible episode in Clarkes career, none of it might have happened. Clarke, who appeared to be something of a success with the ladies, was arrested by the police in neutral Spain, walking down the street in Madrid dressed as a woman.

Clarke tried to persuade those who detained him that he was a novelist and had cross-dressed for research purposes. But he could offer no satisfactory explanation to the British authorities, once they had succeeded in getting him released. About to be recalled to London to explain himself  he was a colonel, and male officers of that, or indeed any other, rank were not expected to parade around in womens clothing  an emergency back east caused him to be recalled to Cairo, where bygones became bygones.

As it was, Clarke remained available to dupe Rommel. Lorries were disguised as tanks; imitation wooden tanks were built in vast numbers to make the Germans believe they faced an enemy far stronger than was actually the case. Behind the bogus tanks were bogus units of men, their existence professed by agents and in the bars of Cairo, packed as they were with German spies. It was a rare example of careless talk, correctly deployed, saving lives.

The Illusionist is published by W&N at 25. To order your copy for 19.99, call 0808 196 6794 or visit Telegraph Books

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The ship MSC Armonia sails from the Port of Barcelona. MSC Armonia, which was detained in the Port of Barcelona since April 2, has sailed today to Marghera (Italy) with all passengers except the 69 Bolivians who did not have valid visas for entry into the Schengen area. David Zorrakino/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

A cruise ship detained in Barcelona since Tuesday due to forged visas has been allowed to continue on its route through the Mediterranean Sea.

Following an agreement with the Spanish authorities, the Armonia and its some 1,500 passengers will set sail on Thursday and continue the planned journey to Italy, the company MSC Cruises said.

The ship is set to arrive on Monday in Marghera, near Venice - but without the 69 passengers from Bolivia, who did not have valid visas for Europe.

The Bolivians are being held in the Barcelona port's transit area as they wait for their cases to be resolved. Local officials say they expect for them to eventually be sent back to Latin America.

The group of Bolivians, which included families with children, had set off from Brazil for the cruise to Barcelona, where their voyage was to end. But, following visa checks, they were not allowed to leave the ship to go ashore like the other passengers.

Authorities said they had travelled under forged Schengen visas, which allow holders to move among nearly 30 European countries.

Some relatives of the Bolivians on board who live in Spain told Spanish media that the people had been victims of a scam.

They said an agency in South America had offered the passage and visas online and charged up to $10,000 per person. This agency also cancelled return flight tickets that had been promised after the cruise ship left Brazil for Europe, La Vanguardia newspaper quoted relatives as saying.

However, the police say they have not ruled out the possibility that the Bolivians actually wanted to enter Spain illegally using knowingly forged documents.
Ukrainian troops are fighting for the security of all European countries, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said at the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting in Brussels on April 4.

Lipavsky's remarks were part of an appeal to Western allies to join the Czech-led initiative to purchase up to 1.5 million artillery shells for Ukraine as front-line units face increasingly dire ammunition shortages.

"(Ukrainians) really depend on our help and we in turn depend on the fact that the Ukrainians are also fighting for the security of the whole of Europe, so we are in this together," Lipavsky said.

Lipavsky said that over the course of the two-day summit, he spoke with many partners about joining Czechia's ammunition initiative.

"We discussed what NATO countries can do more for Ukraine, how to better coordinate aid, whether we can find additional resources," he said.

"It is necessary to persevere in this, to find other sources. I called on other countries to get involved or to turn these preliminary promises into real ones so that we can actually buy and deliver ammunition to Ukraine."

As of March 12, the initative has already secured the purchase of 300,000 shells and received nonbinding commitments from partners for 200,000 more, according to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Around 15 countries have joined the initiative, including Canada, France, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Diplomats convened in Brussels for a two-day summit focused on strategies to bolster Ukraine's defenses. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba participated in the meeting, and announced in a joint address with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that Berlin will call on allies to increase air defense provisions to Ukraine.

Read also: Can new security agreements forge Ukraines path to victory?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A 59-year-old man has been sentenced to 575 years to life in prison for crimes against a child, the Tulare Countys District Attorneys Office announced Wednesday.

Officials say on Jan. 29, 2024, a Tulare County Jury found James Mills, 59, guilty of 11 counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. Mills admitted the special allegation of substantial sexual conduct.

According to the DA, Mills admitted to the sentencing enhancement that he is now considered a habitual sexual offender.

Officials say the crimes were committed between May 1, 2017, and April 14, 2021, against a female victim, who was between the ages of 10 and 13 at the time of the sexual assaults. All the sexual assault crimes occurred in the City of Tulare and surrounding areas.

The DA says that Mills Possesses a 1999 child molestation conviction for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison and was required to register as a sex offender.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  The suspect in the Raymond homicide case from February has pleaded not guilty, the Madera County District Attorneys Office announced on Wednesday.

On Friday, March 29, 60-year-old Lenny Sciacca of Visalia was arrested following the homicide of 40-year-old Nicole Kunz.

60-year-old Visalia man arrested after woman found dead in Madera County

Officers say Kunz was found dead in the bedroom of a remote home off Raymond Road in Madera County back in February. Siaccas Visalia residence was searched on two separate occasions, resulting in his arrest on Friday.

Thank you, God: Friend of Raymond murder victim after suspects arrest

On Wednesday, the Madera County District Attorneys Office said Sciacca pleaded not guilty on all charges in the Madera Superior Court. No bail is available and his next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, April 8 for bail review. His preliminary hearing is April 15.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
Former CBS newscaster Dan Rather explained why he so strictly opposes the idea of Donald Trump once again becoming President of the United States.

The journalist, who covered important historical events like the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and many more during his four decades at the network, made it clear that the reason is not political.

A few people have asked why I vehemently oppose Trump, Rather wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. Let me make this perfectly clear. Its not about politics. Ive voted for both parties.

Its about me, as a patriot, rejecting a cheating, lying, racist, treasonous, fascist and vile man who attacks the free press, and wants to lead the country I love, he continued. Its really that simple.

Among the many public criticisms against Trump is his recent decision to sell Bibles for $60, especially around Easter.

Rev. Al Sharpton called into question any minister or preacher who might have used a Trump Bible to give sermons on Easter Sunday or throughout the holiday weekend.

They ought to be defrocked if they would even try and act like this is nothing but what it is, and thats a hustle, the activist told the hosts of MSNBCs Morning Joe. People ought to realize how offensive this is to those of us that really believe in the Bible. Hes doing this during Holy Week. Of all of the times you want to hustle using the Bible, why would you do it during Holy Week, which is really a spit in the face of people that really believe in the Bible, from a Christian point of view?

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough pointed out the hypocrisy of the way Christians idolize and support Trump when he doesnt even abide by one of the faiths central tenets of forgiveness.

When Donald Trump says, Ive never done anything wrong, no reason to be forgiven, they still fall right in line and say, Oh, hes the second coming of Christ, Scarborough said Wednesday. They idolize him and its twisted.

The post Dan Rather Vehemently Denounces Trump as President for One Simple Reason appeared first on TheWrap.
In Kharkiv, the wreckage of a Shahed-type kamikaze drone with a cynical message from the Russians was found at the site of an enemy strike on April 4. The occupiers wrote on the UAV, which was launched at the residential infrastructure of the Ukrainian city: "For Crocus City Hall".

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In this way, the war criminals hinted that they had attacked Kharkiv region "in retaliation" for the events in the concert hall near Moscow, to which Ukraine had nothing to do. The photo was published by the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.

The photo shows that the inscription "For Crocus City Hall" was scratched by Russian terrorists on a part of the Shahed along with the phrase "not brothers".

"The terrorist state took the lives of four people. Among them are a civilian and three rescuers. Another 12 people were wounded. It is insidious and cynical to strike peaceful residential areas with drones at night... To hit the employees of the State Emergency Service who courageously and selflessly save the lives of each of us at the cost of their own lives every day. Our condolences to the families and friends of the victims," the prosecutor's office said.

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As a reminder, the Russian occupation forces attacked Kharkiv and the region with two dozen attack UAVs all night and morning on Thursday, April 4. The defenders of the sky managed to shoot down 11 enemy targets, and the rest resulted in hits on high-rise buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

A 69-year-old woman died during one of the strikes on a house in Novobavarsky district. When the rescue services arrived at the scene, the enemy struck again, killing three employees of the State Emergency Service: 32-year-old Serhiy Baidalinov, 41-year-old Volodymyr Matiushenko and 52-year-old Vladyslav Lohinov.

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12 people were injured  a nurse, a rescuer, a police officer, and nine civilians. In the city and region, houses, shops, trade pavilions, pharmacies, cars (including fire trucks), a medical facility and ambulance, a business, and power facilities were damaged.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Afghan branch of the ISIS terrorist organization, IS-Khorasan, claimed responsibility for the attack in Crocus City Hall near Moscow on March 22. For more than two weeks, the United States had been warning Russia about the possible terrorist attack, as had Russia's friend Iran, but the Russian authorities and intelligence services did not take any measures to prevent it.

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Experts are convinced that the Kremlin will continue its efforts to blame Ukraine for the attack in the Crocus, hoping to strengthen support for the war among the aggressor country's population. However, the Kremlin's obsession with blaming Kyiv is a security threat to Russia itself.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Donald Trump has repeatedly shown himself to be a very dangerous man. As seen on Jan. 6 with his coup attempt and the lethal assault by his MAGA followers on the Capitol, he appears to have an erotic attachment to violence.

Last Friday, Trump shared an image of President Biden bound and gag, hog-tied, in the back of a pickup truck. Michael Tyler, who is the Biden campaigns communications director, condemned Trumps most recent threat. [He] is regularly inciting political violence, and it's time people take him seriously  just ask the Capitol police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6. Donald Trump is perfectly comfortable with violence when he thinks it benefits him. In fact, he encourages it. Put simply, his campaign is about itself. It's about revenge. It's about retribution.Political violence has been and continues to be central to Donald Trump's brand of politics.

In a video post on X/Twitter historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who is one of the worlds leading experts on fascism and authoritarianism, offered this context: "Being life-size, this image is allowing Americans to imagine a fate that Biden would have if he were removed in a violent way.And so it's continuing the coup of January 6."

Explaining how coups involve harm being done to the deposed leader, Ben-Ghiat warns that Trumps incitements of violence against President Biden are an emergency that should be taken very seriously.

Trump, for his part, claimed the video image of Biden being hog-tied by one of the MAGA people was filmed on Thursday while he was attending the wake of a New York police officer who died in the line of duty. This is no coincidence: Trump views Americas police and other law enforcement as his personal enforcers who will do the bidding of his regime when/if he becomes the countrys first dictator. That loyalty appears to be reciprocated, as Donald Trump seems to enjoy a large amount of support from many of the countrys police, immigration and border agents, members of the military and other violence workers. To that end, Trump has promised the police that he will empower them to act with impunity and to not be held responsible when they abuse the public (in practice this means unlimited thuggery and abuse against black and brown people and members of other marginalized communities).

Trumps repeated threat(s) against President Bidens life and safety are likely a crime. In an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann explained, A standard condition of being out on bail applies in New York and in the D.C. federal case and in the Georgia state case: that you not commit a crime while you are out on bail.Threatening the president of the United States is a crime, so the question would be the legal and factual question whether what he has engaged in with respect to posting the image of Joe Biden bound and gagged....

Predictably, Donald Trumps threats of murder and other violence against President Biden are now being mostly ignored and willfully forgotten by the mainstream news media. By mostly ignoring Trump and his agents and followers threats of (and real acts of) violence against President Biden, leading Democrats, and other people deemed to be the enemy, the mainstream news media is enabling and encouraging such behavior  and by implication undermining American democracy and civil society.

Clearly documenting Trumps years (and decades) of violent and other antisocial behavior is a form of essential testimony and witnessing for the truth and the facts in an era when such basic concepts are being smeared, blotted out, if not wholly erased by ascendant American fascism and the larger global anti-democracy movement.

Donald Trump attempted a coup against American democracy (and specifically multiracial democracy) on Jan. 6, threatened to kill an American general who dared to be more loyal to the Constitution than to him, used stochastic terrorism, de facto commanding his MAGA people to assassinate President Biden, President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other leading Democrats, led a COVID democide, channeled Hitler and the Nazis with his threats of mass extermination for the human vermin who are poisoning the blood of America, continues public statements of admiration for murderous tyrants such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, promises to have Biden and other Democrats put on trials and punished for treason when/if he becomes the countrys first dictator, plans to put non-white undocumented residents, migrants and refugees in concentration camps, repeats acts of harassment and intimidation against the judges, prosecutors, district attorneys and other members of law enforcement (and their families) who are daring to hold him responsible under the law for his obvious crimes, has been credibly accused by dozens of women of sexual harassment, sexual assault and even more serious crimes, and claims to be a type of prophet and messiah chosen by God and Jesus Christ.

Once again, none of this is normal. The Trumpocene is a state of malignant normality, where all the wrongness in the form of American fascism, the culture of cruelty, gangster capitalism, massive violence both domestically and internationally, collective pathology, and so many other bad things manifest in both the corporeal form of Donald Trump and what he represents and has channeled with his MAGA movement have now become normalized and a type of background noise in America life.

As I explained in a previous essay here at Salon, those of us who can see clearly through the miasma and other poisoned air of the Trumpocene have an obligation to keep doing so and sounding the alarm about the monsters lurking inside. We must be the hope and salvation we are looking for because the elites will not save us or this country.

In an essay several days ago at the New Republic, Michael Tomasky, who is one of the few prominent public voices who has consistently and directly warned of the extreme dangers of normalizing the Trumpocene, called out the American mainstream news media for their role in nurturing the disaster:

Republicans have gotten away with this for ages. The mainstream media has come to expect and tolerate this state of affairs for two reasons. Its simple human nature: If a parent has a well-behaved kid and an unruly kid, the parent naturally over time expects more of the former and lowers the bar for the latter. And once something has happened a thousand times, it isnt really news anymore. The result has been this: House Republicans utter outlandish lies about Obama or Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or whomever, and it gets reported, but we hardly bat an eye. Thats what we expect of them. Then, once in a while, a Democrat says something that crosses the normal lines of discourse.and a massive hubbub ensues, leaving the casual viewer with the impression that both sides are equally guilty of extreme rhetoric, or indeed that the Democrats are worse. When it comes to Trumpwell, he has so thoroughly corrupted our standards of discourse that nothing he says is shocking anymore. So of course he posted a video of a hog-tied Joe Biden. What else is new? The news stories on Sunday reporting the event were brief and kind of ho-hum. Whereas, if Biden posted a video of a hog-tied Trump  you can just imagine the faux outrage on the right. And high-ranking Democrats, who would be genuinely kind of offended to see their standard-bearer for the presidency behave in such a tawdry way, would indeed rebuke Biden for having done so. This is the advantage to the debaser of debasing standards of behavior. He is eventually held to no standard in the media, which just rolls its collective eyes. I would like to think, though, that voters, or at least enough of them, still have standards. Trump will do things between now and November to make this Biden video look mild, and the voters will finally say enough.

One of the great errors of the American mainstream news media in the Age of Trump is an assumption that democracy is a settled matter in this country and that Republicans and Democrats are both equally invested in normal politics and consensus where the differences are just partisan and not existential. In the Age of Trump (and the years and decades that brought us here), that is manifestly not true. Public opinion polls and other research show that todays Republican Party and larger conservative movement no longer support pluralistic multiracial democracy. Any members of the news media who conclude everyone already knows about Donald Trump's violence so why keep reminding them, it is old news, is committing a number of gross errors in logic and inference.

Most Americans do not follow the news and current events closely. Moreover, political scientists and other experts have repeatedly shown that the mass public is ignorant and not highly sophisticated in terms of their political decision-making and knowledge. Even worse, public opinion polls now show that a larger percentage of Americans are possessed by collective amnesia and are actually yearning for a return to the horrible years when Donald Trump was in the White House.

This refusal to adapt and change for the better in service to real pro-democracy journalism and its dictate to pursue the real truth and not just what is comfortable and the consensus, is one of the many reasons why the mainstream news media has lost credibility with huge swaths of the American public.

Channeling Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, Donald Trump and many of his MAGA followers have already targeted the American mainstream news media and its reporters and journalists as enemies of the people." To that end, Trump and his enforcers are threatening and planning (as publicly documented in Project 2025, Agenda 47, and elsewhere) how they are going to put "disloyal and non-complaint (in their words unpatriotic) reporters, journalists, and other truth-tellers in the back of those pickup trucks right next to President Biden and their other enemies. Those threats are not metaphorical. They are literal.

When the autocrat, fascist, or some other enemy of democracy tells you what they are going to do you should always believe them. They are not kidding. Unfortunately, too many members of the American news media refuse to do so  and it will only be their undoing. They were repeatedly warned. Denial will not save them.
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen

KORSOR, Denmark (Reuters) - A Danish frigate deployed to the Red Sea as part of a U.S.-led operation suffered malfunctioning of its weapon systems when attacked by drones operated by Houthi militants last month, the captain said on Thursday as the ship arrived in Denmark.

The failure, which until Thursday had only been reported by local defence media Olfi citing a confidential report by the ship's captain, prompted the government to dismiss its top military official Flemming Lentfer on Wednesday.

Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the dismissal was a result of a breach of trust, after Lentfer failed to inform the ministry in detail about the incident on March 9 when the frigate Iver Huitfeldt was attacked by Houthi militants.

Despite the malfunction, the frigate shot down four drones, the vessel's captain and commanding officer Sune Lund told Reuters.

"We had some system failure, or system degradation, which challenged a bit our engagement," Lund said without elaborating.

"But at no time during the engagement were we left defenceless. We had redundancies on board, so we were able to continue fighting and neutralising the threats."

The armed forces posted a dramatic video on social media showing the downing of the drones, the first time a Danish warship had been in direct combat since 1943.

The frigate, which returned to Korsor naval base on Thursday, had been deployed as part of the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian to help safeguard commercial sea traffic in the Red Sea. It was recalled early from the mission.

Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and head of the Danish Navy Command Henrik Ryberg had on departure assured that the ship was ready and capable of the mission.

"Leaving the naval base, everything was good," Lund said, adding that the reason for the failure was still being investigated.

"I feel confident that all steps have been taken in order to mitigate the challenges that we faced during the night," he said.

Separately, an activated but faulty missile launcher on another Danish navy vessel docked next to Iver Huitfeldt on Thursday triggered the closure of airspace and shipping traffic in the Great Belt strait, one of the world's busiest sea lanes and the main maritime access to the Baltic Sea.

A founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Denmark scaled back its military capabilities after the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s.

The Nordic country has announced a major boost in military spending to achieve a NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product, from 1.4% last year.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
Forest destruction in Brazil and Colombia fell "steeply" between 2022 and 2023, according to data from the University of Maryland's GLAD Lab that has been shared on the World Resources Institute's Global Forest Watch. In Brazil, primary forest loss decreased by 36%, and in Colombia it decreased by 49%, which the WRI called a "remarkable" drop.

"Yet despite these dramatic reductions, the rate of tropical primary forest loss in 2023 remained stubbornly consistent," Forest Watch researchers warned, due to huge spikes in tree cutting in Bolivia, Laos and Nicaragua. The data show an area of forest about the size of 10 football fields being destroyed globally every minute on average.

But the WRI said the changes in Brazil and Colombia showed the difference political will could make.

In Brazil, the WRI said the reduction in forest loss started with the governmental transition from former President Jair Bolsonaro, who eroded environmental protections, to returning President Inacio Lula da Silva, who has pledged to end deforestation.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) visits the Amazon for the first time as he and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visit a community on the Ilha do Combu, an area of Amazon rainforest in the city of Belem, Brazil, March 26, 2024. / Credit: Filipe Bispo/Anadolu/Getty

In Colombia, the shift in forest loss also came alongside a change in leadership, with the administration of President Gustavo Petro Urrego focusing on rural and environmental reform.

"As some countries show political will to reduce forest loss and others do not, the frontiers of forest loss are shifting," the WRI said.

"There are just six years remaining until 2030, by which time leaders of 145 countries promised to halt and reverse forest loss," the WRI said. "While the declines in forest loss in Brazil and Colombia show promise towards that commitment, it's clear that the world is falling far short of its targets."

While deforestation remains a major concern globally, a study published several years ago offered hope that even forests cut or burned down could regrow almost completely in just a couple decades if humans leave them to do so.

The study published in the journal Science looked at 77 different forest sites across the tropics that were abandoned after deforestation. When left alone by people for 20 years, scientists found the forests regained on average 78% of their original growth.

White House cancels iftar dinner after meeting with Muslim community leaders

Missy Testerman, a teacher for over 30 years, is the National Teacher of the Year

Jose Andres says slain World Central Kitchen workers were targeted "systematically, car by car"
The D.C. Bars three-member board of responsibility panel found Thursday that former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark likely violated at least one ethics rule in his efforts to help former President Trump stay in office after losing the 2020 presidential election.

The ruling is preliminary and can be changed, the disciplinary hearing committee made clear Thursday. But after several days of testimony, the panel found that the disciplinary counsel has proven at least one violation of any of the charged disciplinary rules.

Clark is accused of attempting to engage in conduct involving dishonesty and attempting to engage in conduct that would seriously interfere with the administration of justice, Hamilton Fox III, disciplinary counsel, wrote in the initial charge filing in July 2022.

The preliminary, nonbinding decision now sets off further proceeding to determine what Clarks sanctions should be. Fox said he would be seeking disbarment for Clark.

The charges centered largely on a Proof of Concept draft letter, which Clark had written in the aftermath of the 2020 election and addressed to Georgia public officials.

The letter falsely claimed the Department of Justice identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in the United States, including the State of Georgia, and called on the state Legislature to reconvene a special session. It contained numerous other false claims.

At the time, Clark sent the letter to top-ranking Justice Department officials Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue for their signatures. Rosen and Donoghue refused to authorize the letter, saying it contained falsehoods. They authorized Clark to receive briefings from top officials about the results of the election fraud investigations.

At the initial hearing last week, Clarks attorney, Harry MacDougald, called the proceedings against Clark unprecedented and said the letter was not supposed to be public and should have fallen under various privilege protections, The Associated Press reported. MacDougald said the letter was part of normal debate between lawyers and that punishing Clark in those circumstances would have a chilling effect, according to the AP.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a string of crimes he committed in Northeast D.C.

Basil Thomas, of D.C., was sentenced on March 25 after he pleaded guilty last year to carjacking, robbery, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, evidence showed that on March 3, 2023, around 5:30 p.m., Thomas went up to his first victim and with a gun to their neck, he demanded their car keys. The victim complied and Thomas drove off in their Lexus SUV.

Worker rescued after trench collapse in Northwest DC

Shortly after, he parked the Lexus and then approached a second victim around 5:45 p.m. He went up to the drivers seat of a parked Toyota SUV that was running in a parking lot where Thomas was and pointed a gun through the window at the victim who was sitting in the passengers seat.

Thomas got into the Toyota, put the gun to the victims head and told him to get out. When the victim refused, they got into a struggle over the gun and Thomas got shot in the leg.

Thomas fled from the area and went to a nearby hospital for treatment. Police were able to identify him and connect him to both offenses.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  D.C.s Mayor Muriel Bowser is proposing new legislation aimed at targeting truancy in the District, while also prosecuting kids who commit violent crime.

Bowser unveiled the UPLIFT Amendment Act of 2024 Wednesday.

The bill aims to support families in remediating barriers to school attendances, while also requiring the court system to take action to ensure accountability if needed, according to the Mayors Office.

Proposed DC budget includes increased sales tax, more Metro funding

In part, the proposed provisions include:

Streamlining the truancy referral process by connecting students and families with resources through the Department of Human Services before engaging Child and Family Services.

Establishing temporary alternative schools for students with behavioral issues, as opposed to suspending them.

Increasing parental accountability by requiring parents to attend mandatory family conferences if their child is charged with a violent crime.

Limiting diversion and plea deals for youth charged with violent crimes involving a gun.

They need to be in school for a host of reasons, Deputy Mayor for Justice and Public Safety, Lindsey Appiah, said. One, we still believe it is the safest place for them. Two, we know when theyre there, theyre engaged with caring adults and pro-social activity.

According to data from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, nearly 40% of students were chronically absent without reason in D.C. during the last school year. That means the student had 10 or more unexcused absences.

Whether its one [student] or 1,000, its too many for us, Appiah said.

DC middle school celebrates drop in absenteeism; District-wide issue persists

The proposal came just days after a 12-year-old girl, and two 13-year-old girls were charged with beating a man to death in October last year.

Appiah said the the number of young kids committing violent crime led to the provision that limits diversion.

Diversion is currently offered to some youth offenders as opposed to incarceration and includes wrap around services to help rehabilitate them and prevent them from committing new crimes.

Appiah said they still believe in diversion.

We believe its appropriate for some young people. But we are seeing an increase in young people who are involved in more serious crime and dangerous crime and gun crime, Appiah said. What we want is to make sure young people and their families end up with the right support, with the right intervention.

The bill stops short of charging parents for crimes their children commit.

Students head to DC courthouse to learn how the justice system works

What we all want is a safer city. What we all want is a better outcome, both for the community and for young people and we dont necessarily have any evidence that incarcerated parents will get us there, Appiah said.

Kaitlin Banner is the deputy legal director for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Were really glad there is new and renewed attention to the issue of attendance and absenteeism, she said. We know that young people need to be in school in order to succeed.

Still, Banner said there are some concerns with the proposal, including how closely it links juvenile crime and truancy.

Were concerned this bill will increase the incarceration of young people and is really relying on practices that we know are not effective for addressing truancy, Banner said.

Worker rescued after trench collapse in Northwest DC

She said she supports the inclusion of the Department of Human Services into the conversation. But, she hopes the services that help address root causes are fully funded in the upcoming budget.

We know the leading causes of truancy in D.C. and nationwide are students who are not in stable housing, students who are homeless, students with disabilities who dont have access to the accommodations and services they need in school, Banner said. We want to make sure that the programs that address those root causes are funded robustly in this budget.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said it is looking for suspects who shot at a Special Police Officer (SPO) on Wednesday night.

Two suspects and an SPO were involved in an argument at about 6:24 p.m. in the 400 block of 14th St. SE. As the suspects were leaving the establishment there, MPD said one of them fired a gun toward the officer.

Both suspects fled. No injuries were reported to the police.

Man dies after E-Bike crash in Northwest DC

The suspects were captured on surveillance cameras and can be seen below:

(Metropolitan Police Department)

Anyone who can identify the suspects or has information about the incident is asked to call MPD at (202) 727-9099 or text the departments tip line at 50411. A reward of up to $10,000 is offered to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Passengers will have to continue to put small liquid containers in a plastic bag for another year at many UK airports - CHALABALA/ISTOCKPHOTO

Airports are set to miss a summer deadline that would allow passengers to take more than 100ml of liquids on to flights because they were too slow to install new security scanners.

The restrictions were due to be axed on June 1 2024 in a move that would have allowed passengers to fly with up to 2 litres of liquids in their carry-on luggage.

However, a decision to extend the deadline could mean that the onerous conditions are not lifted at some airports until a year later.

It is not the first time the cut-off point has been pushed back. Airports were originally given a deadline of 2022 to roll out the technology, but this was later pushed back to June this year.

The Government has now extended the deadline on a per-airport basis, threatening serious financial penalties for any which continue to lag behind.

Consumer champions criticised airport bosses failure to make the changes in time and said it was imperative that the new equipment be bought in as quickly as possible.

New X-ray scanner technology was supposed to let airport security staff scan liquids inside hand luggage, giving them a detailed 3D image of the contents instead of the 2D image generated by current scanners.

The 100ml rule on liquids in carry-on luggage was introduced in 2006 after security forces foiled a terrorist plot - DAVID GEE/ALAMY

Ministers are aware of the reasons why airports have struggled to install the new scanners before the previous June 1 2024 deadline, The Telegraph understands.

These include the devices weight and size, with one source comparing them to a Ford Transit van.

Some airports have had to reinforce the floors of their terminal buildings to cope with the extra weight.

The Telegraph understands that it could take up to a year for several major airports  including London Stansted, Manchester and East Midlands  to complete the process.

Meanwhile Gatwick Airport said it expects to install its remaining scanners within the first three months of 2025.

No fee increase

Naomi Leach, deputy editor of Which? Travel, said: Its imperative that these changes are made as quickly as possible and that the rules at different airports are communicated clearly to passengers.

Those airports that have failed to install the scanners in time should not increase passenger fees this year  this would be impossible to justify when this key improvement to the passenger experience has not been made.

Paul Charles, boss of travel consultancy PC Agency, said airports had had long enough to prepare themselves.

He said: I think consumers will be deeply frustrated and unhappy. They are going to have to have another summer of taking liquids out of their bags to go through the pain of security with these measures still in place.

We were promised more seamless travel, and airports which were easier and faster to go through.

Airports have had long enough to plan for this, so its a failure for airports to prepare adequately for the summer.

Ensure simplicity

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of trade association Airlines UK, said: Delivering these changes throughout all UK airports will be key to improving airline passengers experience.

The extension of the deadline for those airports who require it will ensure simplicity and ease for customers during this transition.

Financial penalties will be handed to airports that do not meet the new deadline, although the Department for Transport was unable to say how large these would be.

A senior aviation industry source said of the deadline extension: Its a long time coming. Hopefully everyone can get their ducks in a row and get them deployed. And hopefully this provides airports with some certainty heading into the busy summer period.

Some smaller airports have successfully rolled out the new scanners, including London City and Teesside.

Newcastle Airport has also made the changes, with Luton and Bristol both on target to meet the June 2024 deadline.

Major construction projects

A Manchester Airport Group spokesman said: We are currently rolling out the new technology lane-by-lane at Manchester and London Stansted airports, with several new lanes already in operation.

Work is also under way on major construction projects at both Manchester and East Midlands airports to expand the size of the terminals to accommodate the new equipment.

This will see the new scanners in place on a large number of our security lanes by June 2024, with the full completion of the programme expected the following year.

The in-flight liquid limit was introduced in 2006 after British police foiled an Islamist terror plot to detonate explosives on transatlantic flights.

They planned to smuggle liquid explosives disguised as soft drinks in their hand luggage, in what would have been the deadliest terror attack since 9/11.

Last year The Telegraph tested the London City scanners, finding that they were able to handle a full bottle of malbec, a jar of jam and a snow globe among other items all in the same bag.

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.
Deadline to file for most local, state elections is April 23. Who's running so far?

Rich Pohman, of Port Huron, collected four 'I Voted' stickers after casting his ballot Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, at First United Methodist Church in Port Huron.

The deadline to file to run for most local, county, and state government elected offices is just under three weeks, but a couple of races tied to St. Clair County are already set to be competitive.

Those looking to serve on most local elected city councils or commissions, on the county commission, or as a lawmaker in Lansing, among other positions, have until April 23 to file their candidacy for both partisan and non-partisan races with an Aug. 6 primary. The deadline is the same for candidates seeking judgeships in appeals, circuit, and probate courts.

According to the state election calendar, the deadline to withdraw is three days later, and for candidates with no party affiliation in a partisan race, the filing deadline is July 18.

For St. Clair County voters, a seat on the countys board of commissioners is poised to open up after County Commissioner Jorja Baldwin, whod previously filed to seek re-election, announced a run for the Michigan House last month instead.

And so far, shes got some primary competition in the legislatures 64th District since Rep. Andrew Beeler, R-Port Huron, confirmed he wouldnt seek another term earlier this year.

Joe Pavlov, a retired Marysville Highs School teacher, filed a few days after Baldwin. They each join fellow Republican Jordan Epperson, last a noted controversial executive aid to an Ottawa County administrator but a St. Clair County native, has also previously filed.

Ken Heuvelman, a local substance-use disorder program coordinator, filed in late March to run as a Democrat in the 64th.

The 64th District includes the cities of Port Huron and Marysville and Burtchville, Clyde, Fort Gratiot, Grant, Kimball, Port Huron, and St. Clair townships in St. Clair County, as well as Worth Township in Sanilac County.

Downriver, state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, represents the state Houses 63rd District, which includes southern St. Clair County and northern Macomb County. His website promoted his re-election, and as of Wednesday, no new candidates appeared to have filed to challenge him.

Similarly, no new candidates had appeared to file campaign finance committee information to challenge state Rep. Jaime Greene in the 65th District, including parts of Lapeer, Macomb, and St. Clair counties.

State Rep. Greg Alexander, R-Carsonville, announced late last year that he planned to go for another run representing the Houses 98th District, which entails parts of Lapeer, Sanilac, and Tuscola counties and all of Huron County.

As of Wednesday, no other new candidates had filed campaign finance committee information with the state to challenge Alexander in the Republican Primary, though Huron Countys April Osentoski had filed to run as a Democrat.

What about the rest of the races at the county level?

Soon after Baldwins announcement last month, Port Huron City Councilman Jeff Pemberton announced a run on social media for the St. Clair County Boards second district, which includes the citys northern three precincts, as well as Fort Gratiot and Burtchville Township. As of Wednesday, Pemberton had not formally filed, and nor had any other candidate.

The county boards six other incumbent commissioners have already filed to seek re-election.

So far, Commissioner Dave Vandenbossche in District 7, representing the southern end of the county, was the only board member facing a primary challenger with a filing from fellow Republican Tiffany Turke. Sitting incumbents also include Steve Simasko, Joi Torello, Jeff Bohm, and Dave Rushing, representing districts 1, 4, 5, and 6 as Republicans, and District 3s Lisa Beedon, a Democrat.

Whoever wins the coming county commissioners race will now serve four-year terms under state legislation adopted within the last few years. Previously, the county board members terms were two years.

Also on the county level, incumbents Prosecutor Mike Wendling, Sheriff Mat King, Clerk Angie Waters, Treasurer Kelly Roberts-Burnett, and Drain Commissioner Bob Wiley have all filed to run again.

Waters will face Debbie Rhein, her offices former elections manager, in Augusts Republican primary.

King previously had a challenger, Charles Armstrong II, but Waters said on Wednesday, he had withdrawn his candidacy.

And local townships and cities?

The county clerks office shares a candidate listing for all local races on its elections website, and Waters said they try to update it daily.

However, a complete list wasnt expected until the end of April, as local township and city clerks keep track of their own filing lists as candidate submit paperwork.

Townships typically see races every four years for elected officers managing the township with the supervisor, clerk, and treasurer with other board members running as trustees every two years. Both terms are up this year.

Most local municipalities have local city council or commission elections this year, sharing the states April 23 filing deadline, though those races are typically non-partisan.

The city of Marysville, for example, requires nominating petitions and affidavits of identity to its clerks office by the end of the day on that deadline. There are three council member seats up for grabs for four-year terms in addition to the recurring race for mayor with a two-year term. If more than two individuals file for mayor and more than six for council, those races will face a primary election in August.

Port Huron stands out in its elections schedule with a filing deadline for mayor and council candidates set for July 23 and no primary  the citys charter outlining a different process based on the highest vote-getters.

Some villages share the July 23 deadline, as do candidates for local school boards and community college trustees.

For more information, visit Michigan.gov/vote or https://stclaircountyclerk.org/Page/Elections, or contact your local clerks office.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Filing deadline for most local, state elections is April 23. Who's running so far?
Ukraine could have used a Cessna light aircraft to attack the Russian Shahed factory in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, which produced the weapon. It could have been equipped with remote controls and explosives.

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This was reported by Forbes. It is noted that the fire mushroom that rose into the sky after the aircraft hit an industrial complex indicates a large amount of explosives. The Cessna is capable of carrying a cargo weighing 500 kg and covering distances of 1000 km.

Alok Das, a researcher at the US Air Force Research Laboratory, noted that the Cessna remotely piloted aircraft provides all the benefits of unmanned operations without the complexity and additional costs associated with developing new unmanned vehicles.

"In addition to being cheap, simple, and reliable, a drone based on a light aircraft also has the advantage of being invisible. Not because of its high-tech shape and coating, but because of its environmental friendliness," the article says.

ADVERTISIMENT

The publication noted that the strike on the Alabuga should make the Russian command worried because the aggressor state does not have enough air defense equipment to protect the frontline forces and to protect Russian cities and factories.

"And while the Ukrainian drone industry is very decentralized and therefore difficult to suppress with air strikes, the Russian drone industry is the opposite. It is centralized. Oddly enough, one state-owned company produces almost all of Russia's explosive drones with a first-person view," the author noted.

With this in mind, and if the attacks continue, he suggested that Ukraine could suspend Russian drone production and seize a critical advantage.

Cessna is an American manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, ranging from small two-seaters with piston engines to business jets with turboprop and turbocharged engines. The company is located in Wichita, Kansas, USA.

ADVERTISIMENT

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

 On April 2, Russian media reported that explosions had occurred in Tatarstan, Russia. Unidentified drones attacked enterprises in Elabuga and Nizhnekamsk.

 The Yelaz-Naftoprodukt oil refinery and the plant where Shakhtys were assembled were hit in the Alabuga SEZ.

 The Russians claimed that the oil refinery in Tatarstan was attacked by a Ukrainian UJ-22 Airborne drone. This UAV is a development of the Ukrainian company Ukrjet. However, according to the characteristics of this UAV, its maximum flight range is up to 800 km, and the distance from the Ukrainian border to Yelabuga is at least 1200 km.

 The ISW concluded that the Ukrainian strikes on the Alabuga SEZ in Tatarstan were a turning point and demonstrated our country's ability to reach enemy targets over long distances deep in the Russian rear. This is a necessary component of Ukraine's campaign to destroy the industries that support the Russian army.

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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  The 15th Circuit Solicitors Office has agreed to drop its case against an unlicensed makeshift nightclub in the Loris area after reaching an agreement with one of the propertys owners that prevents drinking establishments on the property for three years.

A judge had granted a temporary injunction to close Turks Place in June 2022, but the solicitors office and Veronica Jackson, one of the heirs of the property, agreed to the dismissal in an order filed Thursday in Horry County Common Pleas Court.

Home of cross-burning suspects officially shuttered after temporary injunction

The order prohibits the owners of the property, which is located in the 4000 block of Redenbo Drive, from being used as a nightclub or any type of drinking establishment for three years. Veronica Jackson lives on the property, which, according to the order, can still be used for other types of business as long as Horry County zoning regulations are followed.

Solicitor Jimmy Richardsons office began efforts to shut down the bar in January 2022, citing three murders and innumerable calls to police to police about other criminal activity at the club.

* * *

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.
As divisive as politics have become in this country, there is one thing upon which most people agree: The media sucks.

Weve heard it all: The New York Times online is just a word puzzle page. Legacy media is dying. Online viewing on news sites is down. Reporters are hacks. Editors are worse and about the only institution trusted less than the media is Congress  thanks to Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan and James Comer among others.

While all of this is to some extent true, you have to wonder why we got there. Did big media bosses suddenly decide theyd be shills for no reason? Or was there something else involved?

Ill cut to the chase: Politicians from all walks of life denigrate journalists. They may cheer for a single report they agree with, but will turn and lambast the same reporter or publication when they do not. It is politicians, particularly every president since Ronald Reagan, who are responsible for the decline of the press.

Last week in the White House briefing room, the Biden administration rallied for Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter charged in Russia with espionage, who has spent a year in prison because he did his job in Putins Russia. The AP reported in January there are more than 300 journalists jailed around the world for simply doing their job.

Across the globe, more and more, reporters are being jailed and killed. We are called the Fake Media, propagandists and idiots. On the left, we are called enablers who engage in false equivalency. From the right, we are called libtards, communists, fascists and the mainstream liberal media.

In the meantime, various media organizations have reported that at least 77 members of the press have died trying to cover the war in Gaza since it began last October.

Those are cases of literally shooting the messenger. Metaphorically, our audience long ago settled on blaming us for the news they did not like. Members of governments do this and get people questioning reality. Their goal is deflection and deception. They want you to blame us, so you dont call them into question. Every government does it. Some do it better than others.

Russia is great at this. So is North Korea and so is every tinhorn dictator and second-class banana republic on the planet. But one country has led the way. One country has provided the blueprint for everything done across the globe to journalists: The United States.

I take no joy in saying it, but the United States is devolving into a pettiness unseen in my lifetime. The lack of education and the horrible state of journalism is to blame. Ronald Reagan and every president since, has contributed to our demise.

Reporters Without Borders ranks the U.S. 45th among all nations for a free press. We are a troubled democracy. There are nearly three times the number of people on this planet as on the day I was born and a quarter of a number of reporters. Media consolidation created this problem. Six companies now own more than 90 percent of what you see, read or hear. Our federal government, beginning with Reagan, made media consolidation possible with the same logic that brought us trickle down economics. Neither has worked. Both are detrimental to the body politic.

Computers arent to blame. The Internet isnt to blame. Poor management, chain-store marketing and massive layoffs due to what our government has done to journalism  those are the causes of our problem.

While the current presidential administration has often cheered the Free Press from the podium of the Brady Briefing Room, and while President Joe Biden himself has many times said he supports us, he has also contributed to our demise. Do not misunderstand me. This isnt a false equivalence. This is a fact. The two presidents whove contributed most to the decline of journalism are Ronald Reagan and The Orange Don  with Trump being by far the worst.

But even as Biden continues to speak about busting up monopolies, not once has he indicated the need to do so when it comes to newspapers, television, radio or social media. And while Biden asks us to remember Gershkovich, who is remembering Julian Assange? Russia has charged Gershkovich with espionage. The American government has charged Assange for nearly the same thing  and in less than a week hell have been in prison for five years without ever coming to trial.

Assange went to prison for actions former Attorney General Eric Holder said were similar to those taken when the New York Times and the Washington Post published the Pentagon Papers. Publishing the secrets of government is what we should be in the business of doing. Today, we publish swill because we cannot get anything better  lest we risk going to prison.

Thats what Assange did. The Obama administration, of which Biden was a part, decided not to prosecute Assange for what he did. The lunatic Trump changed that.Nothing is more indicative of the need to make sure that Donald Trump never gets back in office than what his weaponized Department of Justice did to Assange.

People understand what Julian did, his brother Gabriel told me last week. He published information that embarrassed the U.S. government. They decided to get even with him.

Human Rights Watch noted the importance of the Assange case when it first came to light nearly 15 years ago. "This is a signature moment for freedom of expression and information in both the US and abroad," said Dinah PoKempner, general counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Prosecuting WikiLeaks for publishing leaked documents would set a terrible precedent that will be eagerly grasped by other governments, particularly those with a record of trying to muzzle legitimate political reporting."

The DOJ under Donald Trump pursued Assange. That was predictable after Trump decided to tear down and undo everything done during the Obama administration. But Assange has spent more time in prison under the Biden administration than he did during the Trump administration. He sits in a dank cell in England while he fights extradition to the U.S. His brother said that is having a serious effect on him. Hes 52, but he looks much older, his brother said after last visiting him.

After visiting Assange in prison on 9 May 2019, Nils Melzer, the United Nations special rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, concluded that "in addition to physical ailments, Mr Assange showed all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic anxiety and intense psychological trauma, as reported in Wikipedia.

It is a slow torture. Hes never held his youngest son, his brother explained. Hes spent five years in prison for doing the job of a reporter.

If its all thats lost on you, that is understandable. We are lost in a world of headlines from stories like I am a sociopath and heres what I want you to know, to What John Lennon said about Elvis, and Ten of the best Sci-Fi movies on Netflix this month. Its either pap, old crap or sap meant to promote pap and crap.

What Assange did is what American journalism used to do and often no longer does. Its not a coincidence that hes not from this country, most reporters still left in this business from this country are bought and sold by the large companies that own them.

Whatever else you think of Assange, his actions, and what hes being prosecuted for, were acts of journalism that used to be commonplace and are now extinct. The U.S. government hounds him because at the end of the day, our government doesnt want its dirty little or big secrets aired. The Australian parliament, several members of Congress, the German Chancellor and others across the world have pleaded with the U.S. government to drop its case against him.

Ive asked repeatedly, many times, for a statement from the DOJ about the case. Ive never received an answer. The White House merely refers you to the DOJ. Its up to the attorney general to decide, were always told.

In the meantime, freedom suffers.

Every conspiracy theory gains ground with our governments action against Assange and its lack of transparency with the public  whether a conspiracy actually exists or not. Every scream of Deep State gets traction due to the same. And more importantly, our government, as many have pointed out, is providing the template by which authoritarians around the world justify their actions against truth-seekers and fact-tellers.

With each passing day that Assange spends in prison, it should be clear to everyone  free speech is dying. We live in a world of rising authoritarianism. If Joe Biden cares about Free Speech and the press as much as he claims (we all know Trump doesnt care and in fact wants to eliminate any criticism against him) then he should speak out and urge Merrick Garland to drop the case against Julian Assange.

Dont expect that to happen before the election, unless it becomes clear that a high-profile trial of Assange during the election season would hurt Bidens chances at re-election. Of course, the government could also drag its feet and keep Assange from his family until after the election so the story gets little or no attention from corporate media.

That is how free speech, and perhaps Julian Assange, will die; misunderstood, mostly forgotten, loathed and feared.

Its all about controlling the message.
An operator of the 73rd Marine Special Operations Centre. Stock photo: Special Operations Forces

The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine detected Russians who were building fortifications in the south and fired upon them with a HIMARS artillery system.

Source: Special Operations Forces

Details: Reportedly, during reconnaissance operations on the southern front, operators of the 73rd Marine Special Operations Centre detected Russian personnel building new fortifications and a command post.

The operators of the Special Operations Forces passed the coordinates of the Russians' location to the missile and artillery unit of the Defence Forces and directed the fire of HIMARS.

The estimated losses of the Russians are:

14 soldiers killed;

7 soldiers wounded.

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Delta Airlines has recently gained attention for its alleged treatment of women for what they showed up wearing on one of their flights.

In the last two months there have been instances in which women were almost removed from planes because they were not wearing a bra. Here is what the airlines rules state and whether or not a person can actually be removed for what they are wearing.

Delta has recently updated its Contract of Carriage, as of 12 March 2024, which is essentially their list of rules for passengers flying with them. Rule seven specifies its refusal to transport policies.

Various methods that Delta states will allow them to remove any passenger from its aircraft at any time include: government request, refusal to allow themselves or their property to be searched, refusal to produce appropriate identification, failure to comply with Deltas rules or Contract of Carriage, and the passengers conduct or condition.

Under that section, the rule explains that a passenger may not be removed from a Delta flight for having a disability. Delta will not refuse to provide transportation based upon race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry, the rule reads.

In terms of a dress code, the airline does require that the passengers wear shoes and says they may be removed for being barefoot. The rule also states a passenger may be refused transportation, when conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.

According to this rule the airline can make the decision to remove a passenger for not wearing a bra.

Last week, a woman said that Delta Airlines targeted her for not wearing a bra. During a news press conference on Thursday, 28 March, 38-year-old DJ Lisa Archbold held a news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, claiming that when she showed up to board her Delta Airlines flight at Salt Lake City Airport in January, she was singled out by airline staff. Archbold told the press: I was targeted and humiliated.

It felt like a scarlet letter was being attached to me, Archbold recalled of being escorted off the plane in baggy jeans and a loose white T-shirt with no bra. I felt it was a spectacle aimed at punishing me for not being a woman in the way she thought I should be a woman as she scolded me outside of the plane.

Once the entire plane was seated, a flight attendant came to Archbolds seat. She asked her to speak in private and escorted her off the plane. Allred noted that Archbold suspected her braless outfit was the cause. The attorney said, The gate agent told her that when passengers are wearing offensive or revealing clothing, Deltas official policy is to remove them from the flight.

Archbold was reportedly only allowed to fly under one condition: that she must wear another shirt on top of the one she was wearing. At the time, the head flight attendant reportedly informed her that women must cover up according to Deltas official policy. She had been flying from conservative Salt Lake City, Utah, to the much more liberal San Francisco, California.

Male passengers are not required to cover up their T-shirts with a shirt or a jacket, Allred argued. They also do not have to wear a bra to board or remain on a plane and women should not have to wear one either.

Her attorney noted at the time that according to US federal rules, airlines can only remove passengers who present a clear safety or security risk to the plane or its passengers. Archbold, however, was neither.

Although there are no plans to go forward with a lawsuit, Allred said that she and her client want a sit-down meeting with the president of Delta Airlines to ensure that their policies will be updated to reflect 21st-century values and standards.

The Independent has contacted Delta for comment.
A group of House Democrats is marking the 60th anniversary of Brazils 1964 military coup by calling on President Biden to declassify U.S. government documents detailing atrocities and human rights abuses during the nations more than two-decade military dictatorship.

Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.) led more than a dozen colleagues in a letter to the president and Secretary of State Antony Blinken requesting that 13 specific documents be declassified in an effort to build stronger ties with Brazilian civil society.

As this week marks the 60th anniversary of the military coup in Brazil and we celebrate the bicentennial of U.S.-Brazil relations, we emphasize that transparency and historical understanding are crucial components of fostering strong international partnerships, the lawmakers wrote.

As we strive to foster open dialogue and strengthen the ties between our nations, we believe that declassifying these documents will demonstrate our dedication to transparency, justice, and the advancement of democratic principles, they continued.

By doing so, we can contribute to healing historical wounds and ensuring that the lessons of the past guide our efforts toward a shared future founded on democracy and human rights.

Biden, as vice president, traveled to Brazil and provided it a first tranche of declassified documents from the U.S. detailing the Brazilian dictatorship over its 21-year reign.

Biden, speaking from Brasilia in 2014, said he was pleased to take the first step in sharing documents with Brazils National Truth Commission and that the handover of an initial batch of documents would promote closer ties.

I hope by taking steps to come to grips with the past, we can find a way to focus on the immense promise of the future, Biden said during a press conference.

Brazilian human rights and civil society groups view the declassification of U.S. government documents from the time of Brazils dictatorship as a key piece in pushing back against the historical narrative that the government at the time was unaware of or disconnected from the torture, disappearances, executions and other atrocities against detractors or people viewed as a political threat.

The Washington Brazil Office (WBO), a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization dedicated to fostering closer U.S.-Brazilian ties, put its support behind the lawmakers initiative.

Transparency is a key step to strengthen democratic relations between Brazil and the U.S. and provide understanding about our shared history. We expect the White House to heed this call, which echoes the demands from Brazilian civil society, and swiftly declassify the documents.

The WBO was one of 24 Brazilian groups and individuals who requested the documents and put their support behind the Democrats letter.

In an earlier letter to Biden, these groups described the Obama administrations decision to declassify 660 documents for the National Truth Commission as a remarkable act of transparency.

In light of this achievement, we kindly request that you continue to champion openness by encouraging the declassification of further documents that remain classified, enabling the U.S. public to gain a deeper insight into our own nations history. By releasing these documents, we can foster trust, promote accountability, and strengthen the foundations of democracy, the groups wrote.

Updated at 2:21 p.m. EDT

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Abortion and marijuana will be on the ballot in Florida in November  two issues that are expected to mobilize young voters toward President Biden and Democrats in the Sunshine State.

The issues have proven to drive young voter turnout in other states, like Ohio last year, and Democrats are betting Florida will see a similar boost.

After the states Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that both issues could go before voters in November, Democrats quickly declared Florida was back in play despite its recent shift toward Republicans.

Both abortion and marijuana legalization are highly resonate with young people, which is a key demographic that the president has got to turn out, said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a grassroots progressive group.

The Biden campaign on Monday released a memo announcing it would invest more in former President Trumps home state, arguing Trump and the Republican agenda in the Sunshine State are making Floridians lives worse. Trump won the state with more than 51 percent of the vote to Bidens 48 percent in 2020.

Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said the campaign has released targeted ads focused on young voters in Florida, as well as Hispanic and Black voters.

Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trumps weak, cash-strapped campaign, and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition, she said in the memo.

Floridas Supreme Court issued two rulings Monday on access to abortion, one that will allow a six-week abortion ban to take effect next month, and another that allowed for a ballot measure that would protect access to abortion up to 24 weeks if it passes in November.

The high court also opted on Monday not to block a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana use, after the Republican lawmakers in the state previously rejected the measure.

Abortion and marijuana on the ballot could be an electoral earthquake for the youth vote in Florida. The GOPs anti-choice, anti-cannabis stance isnt just out of touch, its straight out of the stone age, said Democratic strategist Michael Starr Hopkins, who was a senior adviser on Democratic Charlie Crists unsuccessful 2022 gubernatorial run in Florida.

Having these two hot-button issues front and center is going to turbocharge youth turnout, which is never a good thing for Republicans.

The setup in Florida in November is reminiscent of the 2023 ballot initiatives in Ohio.

Ohio voters legalized recreational marijuana, allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six marijuana plants at home. That measure passed alongside a ballot measure that approved a state constitutional amendment that would establish a fundamental right to reproductive freedom with reasonable limits in Ohio, effectively protecting abortion rights at least up to the point of viability.

Democrats have seen a series of wins across the country when abortion has been on the ballot, following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade in June 2022.

Democrats had a victory in ruby red Alabama last month when Democrat Marilyn Lands won a special election for a state House seat after she leaned into the issues of abortion and protecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF). That election followed a state Supreme Court ruling that fertilized embryos are legally people, which forced some IVF clinics to close and put Republicans across the country on the defensive.

Ballot initiatives can be game changing for campaigns. Just last week we saw a Democrat win a state house seat in Alabama focused on IVF, showing the power of the issue in a deep red state, said Democratic strategist Andrea Riccio, co-founder of Velocity Partners.

With recreational marijuana use and abortion access on the ballot, the Biden campaign has a real opportunity to activate young voters and turn Florida blue.

Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, noted the enthusiasm she already has seen among young voters since the rulings earlier this week.

Just based purely on watching social media in the last 24 hours, the youth vote is excited about the opportunity to be voting on cannabis and abortion in November, she said.

She added that young people are also energetic about Bidens economic agenda, student debt forgiveness program, the focus on climate change, and efforts to curb gun violence.

But a major hot button issue for young Americans is ongoing U.S. support for Israels war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed some 32,000 Palestinians. The push for voters to cast a boycott ballot, rather than voting for Biden in the Democratic primary, resonated the most with young voters in states like Michigan, Washington, Minnesota and Massachusetts, which had the highest concentration of protest votes in areas where young people live.

The countervailing force here though is the war in Gaza and I think it remains to be seen how that plays out, Geevarghese said. I think the same voters who are disgusted by the Supreme Courts roll back on reproductive rights are also the same voters who are disgusted by the U.S. providing weapons to Israel to kill innocent civilians.

In the memo announcing the plan to try to flip Florida, the Biden campaign said that protecting abortion access, lowering health care costs, lowering housing costs, curbing gun violence, and combatting book bans are top issues it will focus on in the Sunshine State.

Biden could use a boost with young Americans nationwide after polls have suggested voters younger than 35 are gravitating more toward Trump. An Axios-Generation Lab survey of voters younger than 35 in February found Biden leading Trump by just 4 points, with 52 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Biden and 48 saying they would vote for Trump.

Overall, Trump has a 0.8 percentage point lead over Biden, according to The Hill and Decision Desk HQs aggregation of polls.

But Democrats hope abortion and marijuana will change those dynamics in Florida.

If the GOP keeps underestimating the power of pissed off young people, theyre in for a rude awakening at the ballot box. Florida could slip from their grasp as cash-strapped Republicans struggle to counter the surge of energized young voters, Starr Hopkins said.

Its a perfect storm that could spell disaster for the GOPs chances in the Sunshine State.

Julia Manchester contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A group of House Democrats is calling on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to include humanitarian assistance in a foreign aid package that is expected to address funding for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.

In a letter to Johnson sent Tuesday and obtained by The Hill, the Democrats asked Johnson to include $9.16 billion in global humanitarian assistance in any potential aid package, a figure slightly higher than what was included in a national security supplemental aid package the Senate passed in February. Johnson has refused to take up the Senate package.

The letter was first reported by Axios.

Democrats point to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as one of the most pressing concerns for the U.S. to address, but also ask for funding to help provide aid to Ukraine, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Sudan, Haiti and Venezuela.

Our responsibility to act is not just a moral one; it is also strategic: by abdicating this responsibility, our nation would allow unstable areas around the world to grow even more volatilefueling threats to our security, as well as to the security and stability of our strategic allies and partners, the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was led by Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and signed by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.); Jim McGovern (D-Mass.); Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.); Seth Moulton (D-Mass.); Jamie Raskin (D-Md.); and Dina Titus (D-Nev.), along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

Humanitarian assistance is not likely to be excluded in a Johnson-proposed aid package because Johnson wants to bring the bill to the floor using a procedural maneuver that will require support from scores of Democrats who are virtually unanimous in demanding that such aid be a part of the legislation  a dynamic the Speaker understands well.

But there could be restrictions on how money is used, with Republicans intent on maintaining a ban on the U.S. providing funds for UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians that is under scrutiny for ties to Hamas.

Its also unclear how many Republicans want to provide humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, with a wing of GOP lawmakers who make a distinction between sending weapons to Ukraine, and calling for Europe to share more of the burden of economic and humanitarian assistance.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
House Democrats are sounding new alarms over Israels military operations in Gaza after a recent strike killed seven workers for an esteemed humanitarian aid group delivering food to famished Palestinians.

The tragedy, and the resulting outcry, has highlighted the strained relations between Israels conservative leaders  whose aggressive response to the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 has led to the death of tens of thousands of Palestinians  and liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill, who have grown increasingly vocal in denouncing the tactics of their closest Middle Eastern ally.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the unusual step of issuing a public statement lamenting Mondays deadly incident, which targeted a convoy of vehicles operated by the World Central Kitchen. He called it unintended.

But the rare mea culpa did little to mollify the Democrats, who accused Israel of conducting an indiscriminate campaign thats done far too little to protect the lives of civilians, journalists and aid workers caught in the ravages of the war against Hamas terrorists.

The killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers delivering deeply needed food aid in Gaza is an outrage, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the former House Speaker, said in a statement. The government of Israel must allow the flow of life-saving aid to innocent families in Gaza and ensure safe passage for those delivering the aid. Hunger cannot be a weapon of war. We must share our food and our humanity.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) delivered a similar condemnation, characterizing the strike on the aid workers as shameful and calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow the delivery of more humanitarian help.

The Israeli government must exhaust all efforts to preserve and protect innocent civilians and humanitarian aid workers caught in the middle of this conflict, DeLauro said. Over one million innocent Palestinians in Gaza are facing famine. Food cannot be used as a weapon of war.

The incident has highlighted long-simmering tensions between liberal Democrats and the conservative Netanyahu, Israels longest serving prime minister.

The Democrats have been quick to endorse Israels right to defend itself from regional adversaries, particularly in the wake of the Hamas attacks, which led to the death of roughly 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 250 others. But the Democrats tone has shifted sharply in the months since then as the Palestinian death toll has soared above 30,000, Netanyahu has denied journalists free entry into Gaza, and humanitarian aid has been slowed to a trickle, leading to warnings of an imminent famine.

The World Central Kitchen, founded by the celebrity chef Jose Andres, had sought to fill part of that void, launching a food program in Gaza earlier in the year. Mondays strike by Israeli forces led the group to suspend its operations in the region, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and prompting new denouncements from Netanyahus Democratic critics.

The loss of innocent civilians and risk to aid workers throughout this conflict has been devastating  all while PM Netanyahus government refuses to facilitate an adequate amount of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, said Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), a former Navy helicopter pilot.

Netanyahu, in a video statement Tuesday, said he regretted the incident but also defended the ongoing operations in Gaza.

This happens in war, he said. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.

That account was immediately challenged by Andres, who told Reuters on Wednesday that Israeli forces targeted his group systematically, car by car.

This was not just a bad luck situation where, Oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,' Andres said.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)  the only Palestinian American serving in Congress, and one of the top Democratic critics of Netanyahus government  echoed that sentiment, writing on Instagram This attack on seven humanitarian workers of World Central Kitchen was fully intentional.

Netanyahu wants Gaza to starve to death and [is] using starvation as a weapon of war, she added.

The growing Democratic criticism of Israels offensive  and Netanyahus leadership  will come into sharp focus next week, when the House reconvenes and is set to move on a national security supplemental that will likely include aid for Israel. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the chamber will address foreign aid right after the current recess.

For months, a handful of liberals have called for conditions on any new military aid sent to Israel in response to the growing number of civilian deaths, further splintering the fractious House Democratic Caucus. Some have said the U.S. should cut off aid to Israel altogether.

In the wake of the attack on the World Central Kitchen workers, progressives are re-upping those positions.

The latest horror inflicted by Netanyahus air strikes on Gazakilling brave souls at @WCKitchen delivering food to starving Palestinians. Another strike also killed at least 15 Palestinians in Rafah, inclu 5 children. We must stop US military aid used for indiscriminate killing, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote on X.

The House has already voted twice on sending assistance to Israel. One of the attempts was successful, but the bill has since floundered in the Senate as Democrats push to consider a host of foreign aid provisions  including military help for Ukraine and humanitarian assistance for Gaza  in one package.

The White House, for its part, has brushed aside the prospect of placing conditions on aid for Israel. John Kirby, the White Houses top spokesperson on national security issues, told reporters that the U.S. will continue to back Israel as it comes to face a viable threat from Hamas.

Were still going to make sure that they can defend themselves and that the 7th of October doesnt happen again, Kirby said Tuesday.

That doesnt mean that its a free pass, he added.

The war has put Biden in a political squeeze. He is at once offering the harshest critiques of Israeli leaders to come from the White House in decades, while also providing Netanyahu with the military hardware to continue a military campaign that has decimated Gaza, where women and children constitute more than half the population.

That bind tightened last month after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)  the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history  delivered a floor speech that called for new elections in Israel, while offering a searing rebuke of Netanyahus leadership.

Biden said Schumer delivered a good speech, adding I think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans. Asked if the president is in favor of new elections in Israel, Kirby told reporters it would be up to the Israeli people to decide.

Republicans, by and large, dont house the same qualms. Theyve defended Israels muscular military response throughout the campaign, blaming Hamas militants  who have long used a strategy of embedding with civilian populations  for the spiking casualties. Some have suggested Israel hasnt been aggressive enough.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), a former pastor, drew controversy last week when he told constituents during a town hall that the U.S. shouldnt be spending a dime on humanitarian aid, and added that Israels offensive against Hamas should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick. He released a statement Sunday that said The use of this metaphor, along with the removal of context, distorted my message.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), meanwhile, has suggested that all Palestinians in Gaza, even the children, are complicit in Hamass attacks.

These are not innocent Palestinian civilians, he told human rights protestors in February.

While Democratic criticism of Israel is bubbling up in the wake of the World Central Kitchen deaths, it is unlikely at its boiling point. Netanyahu has signaled for weeks that Israeli forces are planning to invade Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter amid the war.

The Biden administration has taken a strong stance against an Israeli invasion of Rafah, urging its Middle Eastern ally to consider alternatives as it eyes its next move in the ongoing war. U.S. and Israeli officials met virtually Monday, and a joint statement released afterward said the Israelis agreed to take these concerns into account and to have follow up discussions between experts.

The White House contended Wednesday that conversations with the Israelis were ongoing when peppered by questions from reporters about how much influence Biden and the administration has over staving off a full-blown incursion of a city that houses Gazas only border with Egypt.

But if Israel plows ahead with an invasion of Rafah, the Democratic criticism will likely skyrocket.

The Biden administration has a deep concern for Palestinian lives, for civilian lives, and theyve been very clear that an invasion of Rafah will mean too many civilians dying, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told CNN this week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
MILAN  The Danish government has fired the chief of defense after he reportedly failed to disclose several malfunctions aboard the frigate Iver Huitfeldt during its deployment to the Red Sea.

With the challenges we are facing, a new chief of defense is needed, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said during a press briefing on April 3, according to local media.

The minister was referring to the emergence of claims, initially made by the Danish news website Olfi, regarding critical weapon and mission systems issues on the frigate, that appear to have been unreported and ignored for a significant period of time.

Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, left, and then-Danish Chief of Defence Flemming Lentfer talk on a plane on Sept. 19, 2023. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

The minister added that with the dismissal of the Flemming Lentfer, Maj. Gen. Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard will take over the role for the time being. The officer currently leads the countrys special operations command.

Lund Poulsen said he was unaware of the ships defects until these reports were published.

The frigate was initially scheduled for deployment to the Red Sea as part of the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian until mid-April. However, Denmarks Defence Ministry announced March 26 that the ship was already sailing back home.

Among the reported faulty equipment was the ships active phased array radar, which is manufactured by Thales Nederland.

Thales has been informed about FMIs [the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisations] preliminary investigation of available data from Iver Huitfeldts systems from the incident in question during a combat situation in the Red Sea, the defense company said, according to Danish broadcaster DR. [It] does not indicate a problem related to the APAR radar.

The head of Denmark's special operations command, Maj. Gen. Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard, stands as the frigate Iver Huitfeldt arrives in Korsr, Denmark, on April 4, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

Danish defense leaders also have another problem on their hands following an April 4 incident aboard the frigate Niels Juel, a sister ship of the Iver Huitfeldt.

Denmark currently has three Iver Huitfeldt-class and two Absalon-class frigates in service. Each is subject to docking every five years. The area around the Korsr naval base, where the Niels Juel was docked, was closed to air and marine traffic after the ship was unable to deactivate the booster of a Harpoon missile during what the ministry described as a mandatory test.

The Danish frigate Niels Juel is docked at the naval base in Korsr, Denmark, on April 4, 2024, as the booster rocket on a Harpoon missile aboard the frigate has been activated during a mandatory test. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

While the warhead was unaffected, officials feared a scenario in which the missile would accidently launch into a target area around 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) above the water level in a southern direction from the frigates location.

As of Thursday afternoon, authorities were still investigating the situation.
The situation in the Bakhmut sector remains difficult. The enemy continues to exert pressure along the entire front line and is trying to find weaknesses in the Ukrainian defense.

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Recently, Russian troops have reduced the number of "meat assaults". This was stated by Petro Kuzyk, commander of the 3rd Svoboda Battalion of the Fourth Rubizh Operational Brigade of the National Guard, during the telethon.

According to him, the Russian occupiers are using all types of weapons during the offensive. In particular, the invaders support their active actions with the help of aviation.

"In general, the situation is not easy. Currently, they are trying to push along the line. Traditionally, their tactics are unchanged, they are looking for weaknesses where they can intervene and further develop their success. They are using all types of weapons  aviation, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles," said the Ukrainian defender.

He added that the number of meat assaults has decreased recently. In turn, Ukrainian servicemen inflict huge losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy. The commander of the 3rd Svoboda battalion emphasized that the defenders need more ammunition to destroy the enemy.

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"The number of outright "meat assaults" has decreased. They bring troops in armored vehicles, try to throw them into trenches, and we destroy them. I wish we had more ammunition. Otherwise, we are holding our ground," the soldier said.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian Armed Forces used a robot to blow up a bridge in Ivanivske near Bakhmut, Donetsk region. The enemy could have used it to move equipment and infantry, and Ukrainian defenders thus complicated the occupiers' offensive.

Earlier it was reported that the Bakhmut direction remains one of the hottest. Over April 3, Ukrainian defenders repelled 14 attacks there  in the areas of Bilohorivka, Luhansk region; Spirne, Andriivka, southeast of Vyyimka and Klishchiyivka, Donetsk region, where the enemy tried to improve the tactical situation.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A Lincoln County man received probation after pleading guilty to selling a government-owned form signed by a celebrity.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte, Alan Nordman, 75, of Denver admitted in November 2023 that in April 2022 he unlawfully sold on eBay an official Customs and Border Protection form signed by late pop star Michael Jackson on his entry into the country.

I dont want to shoot a dog. Woman kills neighbors dog after alleged attacks on chickens in Lincoln County

His punishment is one year of probation, federal officials said Thursday.

The document, a customs declaration form which lists items a person brings with them into the country, sold for $795. The form is an official government record and therefore, belongs to the United States government, officials said.

According to court documents, Nordman worked for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from 1984-2014.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
DENVER (KDVR)  FOX31 has confirmed that the city of Denver is conducting a full-scale security check at a former hotel that was converted into a homeless shelter.

FOX31s Nicole Fierro spoke to the city who said the check is being conducted by Denver Housing Stability with support by the Denver Police Department as they search each room.

What were engaging in is a comprehensive security inspection underway of the entire property, all guestrooms, all common areas, all areas of the grounds, said Derek Woodbury, communications director with Denvers Department of Housing Stability.

Woodbury said the inspection is for prohibited items like weapons.

Man charged with murder in Westminster hit-and-run

Guests at the hotel were notified prior to the inspection.

Today really shouldnt be a surprise for guests. Theres lots of communication here, obviously, since its a human connection point, its a shelter. So, folks have been apprised that theres been knowledge that this is coming, said Woodbury.

The Salvation Army was at the hotel to assist the city and police.

The Salvation Army takes the safety of its guests, staff, and neighbors very seriously. Keeping people safe is our chief concern. These comprehensive inspections were conducted with the utmost care to minimize disrupting guests day-to-day lives, said the Salvation Army in a statement to FOX31.

Police have responded to shelter hundreds of times

The shelter, formerly a DoubleTree, is located at 4040 Quebec St. and has been the center of several calls for service over the year. According to the citys website, the hotel is part of Denver Mayor Mike Johnstons All In Mile High Initiative to provide temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

On March 16, two people were found dead inside the hotel. The man and womans death are now being investigated as a homicide.

On March 28, Denver police were called to a shooting at the hotel. An adult woman was taken to a local hospital where she was expected to survive. Two men were arrested in connection to the shooting. Denver police believe the suspects knew the victim and may have targeted her due to a prior conflict.

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After these incidents, FOX31 went to Denver police to see how many calls for service had been made to the hotel.

DPD confirmed that more than 400 calls for service have been made since Jan 1. for incidents including drugs, assault, domestic violence and more.

Ana-Lilith Miller of Housekeys Action Network Denver, a group that advocates for the unhoused, said this could have been prevented.

People feel unsafe there, Miller said. Theres nothing to do around there. Theyre out in the middle of nowhere with no form of transportation, and so without these things, youre bound to have things happen.

Denver responds with plan to address shelter safety

Following the homicide investigation, the city of Denver enacted a seven-point action plan.

The plan is in coordination with the mayors office, the Denver Department of Housing Stability, Denver police, the Denver Department of Safety and the Salvation Army.

The plan includes:

Taking a more handson approach at the site

Increasing staff on site

Securing all external entrances and exits

Installing a badging system for staff and residents to enter the site

Installing additional exterior and interior cameras

Increasing DPD presence and patrols around the site

Increasing case management with staff performing weekly checkins with every

resident

Now, the city is doing a full-scale security check.

Fierro is at the hotel while the city conducts the check and will release updates as they become available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
DENVER (KDVR)  After the first day to hit 70 degrees or warmer in Denver since December, Denvers weather will stay sunny, warm and breezy before a chance for showers moves in.

Weather tonight: Mainly clear

Wednesday night will stay mainly clear. Low temperatures will fall to the mid to upper 30s, which is about 5 degrees above normal for this time of year.

Weather tomorrow: Sunny, warm

Sunshine dominates the forecast again on Thursday. This, plus a south-southwesterly breeze, will help bring temperatures back up to the mid-70s, which is 10-15 degrees above normal for this time of year.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up for weather alerts from the Pinpoint Weather team

Looking ahead: Sunny end to the week, weekend showers

Friday will be sunny, warm and breezy.

High temperatures will climb up to the mid-70s during the Colorado Rockies home opener. It will be a breezy day with gusts up to around 40 mph.

A strong breeze plus dry conditions will raise fire concerns on Friday. Because of this, most of Eastern Colorado has fire weather watches and warnings set to go into effect Friday.

Friday night, snow showers will start in the mountains. These showers will push into the Denver metro and across the Front Range as rain showers by Saturday.

Denver finally hit 70 degrees. This is the longest it has taken in over 40 years

Alongside showers, much cooler temperatures move in for the weekend and start of next week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Newly released research warns that troops who served overseas since 2001 faced significant levels of airborne contaminants both while on duty or at rest, underscoring the potential long-term health risks facing all individuals who deployed.

The research, conducted by the National Jewish Health and the United States Geological Survey, found high levels of silica and other particulate matter in the lungs of troops who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Kuwait and other Southwest Asian locations.

The findings pointed to air contamination, not just from burn pits used to dispose of military waste but also sandstorms and vehicle exhaust fumes, all of which created toxic conditions regardless of the missions being performed.

Military operations generate airborne hazards, not just at work but also during leisure activities and sleep, due to the environmental realities of many deployment locations, researchers wrote.

Fight over VA toxic exposure funds could stall other vets legislation

Lawmakers have already recognized the widespread hazardous conditions for troops who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In the 2022 PACT Act  legislation designed to significantly expand the number of toxic exposure conditions for which veterans can receive disability compensation  all troops who served in those regions were presumed to have faced potentially toxic air conditions and made eligible for corresponding benefits.

But researchers said the new findings show that deployed troops who may have assumed they avoided the worst air pollution were likely still exposed to abnormally high levels of particulate matter regardless of their work.

Within the deployer population, those who had combat jobs had a higher total particulate matter burden, though the difference was not statistically significant, the report stated.

Lung samples from service members they tested found traces of toxic vaporized metals and other hazardous items, well above that of non-deployed personnel. Researchers said the findings point to the need for more careful study of air quality for future deployments to curb potential health risks.

The full report was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
A Broward Sheriffs Office deputy was cleared after being accused of using excessive force in the arrest of a teen in 2019. Now, he is suing Sheriff Gregory Tony  and alleges that Tony used the controversy to advance his political career.

Last week, Sgt. Gregory LaCerra sued Tony; the agencys professional standards director, Capt. John Hale; and Internal Affairs investigator Vincent Coldwell in Broward circuit court for allegedly conspiring to provide Tony with political cover during the sheriffs 2020 reelection campaign, during which Tony boasted that he had acted against police brutality. LaCerra is seeking more than $100,000 in damages.

The claims in this lawsuit lack merit, and the Broward Sheriffs Office will address the allegations in a court of law, the sheriffs office said in a statement.

LaCerra, who has worked for the sheriffs office for 24 years, was at the center of the arrest of a 16-year-old boy that was captured on cellphone video and condemned by national civil rights activists and many local community leaders. In the weeks after the incident, he was suspended from work and charged with misdemeanor battery and falsifying public records, though the charges were later dismissed.

The incident happened on April 18, 2019, when dozens of students from J.P. Taravella Senior High School gathered at a nearby parking lot in Tamarac in anticipation of a fight. When an officer took a teen who had been previously involved in an altercation to the ground, the teen dropped his cellphone.

READ MORE: Broward fires deputy over rough arrest of teen. Union says sheriff overstepping authority.

Another student captured what happened next. When Delucca Rolle, 16, leaned down to pick up the phone, he was grabbed by LaCerra, who pepper-sprayed the teen.

Then, Det. Christopher Krickovich got on top of Delucca as he was face down and slammed his head into the ground, the video shows.

The deputies were cleared of wrongdoing by a professional review board and, later, in the courts.

Nevertheless, Defendants chose to cave to the court of public opinion, while Tony was running for election, and vilify [LaCerra] professionally and personally, crushing his professional and personal reputation and holding both [LaCerra] and his entire family up to public ridicule and humiliation, as well as placing their lives in danger, the filing says.

Probe ends with charges

In the lawsuit, attorney Tonja Haddad Coleman states that there was documented proof that LaCerra had done what he was trained to do and hadnt violated any policy or training protocols. A BSO use-of-force expert even reviewed the footage and told Tony  and other sheriffs office officials  that LaCerras and Krickovichs actions were completely consistent with the policy manual and training the agency provides, according to the lawsuit.

But a day after that conversation, LaCerra and Krickovich were placed on restricted duty  and the Broward State Attorneys Office soon launched a criminal probe into the duo, according to the filing. They were suspended with pay shortly after.

The incident then began to garner national attention. In late April of 2019, someone posted the deputies addresses on social media, and they were harassed for weeks, with more than 100 threats that were investigated, the filing says.

In June, civil rights attorney Ben Crump held a press conference at the Broward Public Defenders Office, where he vowed to organize a rally if the deputies werent held accountable.

This young boy was the victim of a brutal and unjustifiable attack by Broward law enforcement officers who were sworn to protect him, Crump said at the time.

A month later, the deputies were charged and suspended without pay.

Investigator Coldwell continued the internal affair inquiry and sent the case to the Broward Professional Standards Committee, a county oversight group, without a statement from LaCerra or the teen, the lawsuit alleges. In September 2019, the board  made up of both civilians and members of law enforcement  recommended that LaCerra be cleared of wrongdoing.

He was placed back on restricted duty that month, though that same day, he received an email from the sheriffs office telling him that Hale and Tony were suspending him without pay for three days.

Krickovich, though also exonerated by the board, was fired. LaCerras lawsuit notes that Krickovich reached a settlement with the sheriffs office. Krickovich was reinstated with back pay last year.

Politics prevailed

A series of text messages included in the filing show sheriffs office officials discussing the agencys actions toward the two deputies after their arrests.

Hey, politics prevailed in this one. Hell get his job back and everyone knows that, one of the officials wrote, seemingly referring to LaCerra.

Then, in June 2020, Tony released a video for his reelection campaign in which he referenced the open criminal cases against the deputies.

I took on police brutality, the sheriff said in the ad. I fired the bad cops.

Defense attorneys for LaCerra and Krickovich, according to the lawsuit, sent Tony a letter urging him to uphold his legal obligation to protect the rights of all citizens above your political ends.

The ad was still played, however.

These false statements were brazenly put out there by Tony and remain in the public domain today, with no remedy available to [LaCerra] but to commence this lawsuit, Haddad Coleman said in the filing.

In October of 2020, the misdemeanor battery charges against LaCerra were dismissed by Judge Jill K. Levy.

Prosecutors in June 2022 dropped LaCerras misdemeanor charges of falsifying public records, court records show. The sergeant was allowed to return to full duty shortly after.

LaCerras attorneys believe that Tony conspired with Hale and Coldwell from Internal Affairs  presenting false and fabricated evidence  to try to convict LaCerra of a crime they knew he didnt commit.

These Defendants were attempting to bolster Tonys political ambitions, and to curry favor with the community, at the expense of Plantiffs freedom and liberty, causing false accusations to be accepted as credible, and which resulted in a years-long investigation that led nowhere at every turn for over two years, the filing says.
Dermot O'Leary 'to host solo travel show' after missing out on This Morning job to Ben Shephard

Dermot OLeary will reportedly go back to his Irish roots in new ITV show (Getty)

Dermot OLeary is being tapped for a new travel show after missing out on the main presenting role on This Morning to Ben Shephard, according to reports.

The affable TV presenter, 50, fronts the ITV daytime show on Fridays alongside Alison Hammond and the duo have been sitting in for Shephard and co-host Cat Deeley over the Easter break.

Now a TV insider has claimed OLeary could soon have his own travel show taking him back to his roots in Ireland.

Although he was born and raised in Essex, his parents Maria and Sean hail from Wexford and moved to England in 1968.

The couple returned to Ireland three years ago.

Dermot OLeary fronts This Morning with Alison Hammond on Fridays

OLeary, a self-proclaimed food lover who used to co-own the Fishy Fishy seafood restaurants in Brighton and Poole, "will be thrilled" if his food-themed travel programme gets the green light.

It's believed to be in the early stages and likely to be produced by Rock Oyster Media, who are currently filming Gary Barlow's South African wine-loving road trip.

They also produce ITV food shows hosted by Ainsley Harriot, Raymond Blanc and Jimmy Doherty.

A source told The Sun: "Dermot has always been incredibly close to his parents and very proud of his Irish heritage, having spent many a summer holiday back in the Emerald Isle.

"The show would also see him explore another of his great loves quality food and drink. And modern Ireland has plenty of both. It's also a cheeky chance to drop in on his parents while he's over there."

The Standard has contacted a representative ITV for comment.

OLeary will next be seen as one of the stars showing off their baking skills in Channel 4's Great Celebrity Bake Off on Sunday night.
DeSantis blamed undocumented immigrants for health care costs. But hospital data says no.

Theres a familiar pattern with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

He makes some sweeping announcement of some bold plan that gets him airtime on friendly media outlets and stokes his now-moribund attempts for higher office.

And then a year later, you find out theres more sizzle than steak.

'Don't Say Gay,' 'Stop Woke' went nowhere

For example, the Dont Say Gay classroom bill has become an Its OK for Teachers To Talk about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification in the Classroom After All law.

In other news, DeSantis ballyhooed Stop Woke initiative that aimed to ban diversity training in private businesses was derailed after a federal appeals court found it unconstitutional last month.

And remember that bully pulpit DeSantis mounted last summer trying to make the southern border crisis a Florida issue he could take to the campaign trail?

Yeah, that turned into a nothing-burger, too.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 20, 2024, in Miami Beach.

'Biden Border Crisis' rhetoric falls flat

The Biden Border Crisis has wreaked havoc across the United States and has put Americans in danger, DeSantis said in a prepared statement last May. In Florida, we will not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties to protect our country.

The legislation I signed today gives Florida the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration laws in the country, fighting back against reckless federal government policies and ensuring the Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration.

As part of that new law, Florida hospitals were required to ask patients about their immigration status and report that data to Floridas Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

The agency was then tasked with creating an interactive online dashboard that would show Floridians in a county-by-county map the numbers of hospital admissions and emergency room visits by undocumented residents. The state agency would also aggregate this data on this online dashboard to show the cost of uncompensated care of people it called illegal aliens.

Florida Supreme Court puts abortion on the ballot  and hands Trump a serious problem

It was a flawed effort right from the start, because the law requires the hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status but doesnt require the patients to answer. The hospitals failed to record immigrant status for nearly 8% of the hospital visits.

Nevertheless, the first seven-month snapshot of that effort was released last month with fanfare by AHCA Secretary Jason Weida, who paid the required homage to DeSantis.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

False claims on undocumented immigrants

Governor DeSantis continues to put Floridians first with his commitment to fiscal responsibility and prioritization of the needs and care of citizens first, Weida said. This dashboard highlights the cost of illegal immigration which puts a strain on our health care system and taxpayers here in Florida.

But it actually showed the opposite. It showed that the uncompensated hospital care of undocumented immigrants in Florida didnt put a strain on Floridas health care system and was less than 1% of hospital operating expenses.

The cost of these uncompensated hospital visits was put at $566 million statewide by the agency, and the cost of compiling the report cost taxpayers about a half-million dollars. (An earlier version of this column incorrectly put those costs comparable to the total cost of uncompensated care.)

Jason Weida, head of Floridas Agency for Health Care Administration.

The release of the dashboard concealed much of the relevant fine print, which was released in a separate report to state legislators but not the public, a clear sign that this was a stink bomb.

That fine print was far more illuminating than what was cleared for public consumption.

It showed that high levels of uncompensated care are more associated with rural county status than illegal immigration percentages.

In other words, the rural parts of the state  the ones with the highest concentration of DeSantis voters  are where the hospitals with the highest percentage of uncompensated care are located.

DeSantis lauds 'free state' of Florida. He should let parents decide kids' social media use.

This may call for a study that examines how voting Republican is more of an indication of unpaid medical care in Florida than being an undocumented resident.

Heres another finding of the secret version of the report supplied to legislators but not the public.

There also did not appear to be a correlation between total profitability and illegal immigration percentages, it read. All the counties that had negative profit margins had below average illegal immigration ratios.

I would have loved to have heard that announcement by Weida.

This hospital data weve compiled, he could have said, appears to be showing that the key to more profitable hospitals is more undocumented residents. Oh, well."

Like I said, so much of DeSantis made-for-Fox-News posturing at the start turns to so little in the end.

Frank Cerabino is a columnist with The Palm Beach Post, where this column originally published.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: DeSantis claims immigrants strain the healthcare system. He's wrong
A voter casts their ballot on Super Tuesday at City Center on March 5, 2024 in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Will Newton/Getty Images)

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Gov. Ron DeSantis says that the constitutional amendments that Floridians will vote on in November  abortion access and recreational weed  are extreme and radical and predicts that both measures will come up short of the 60% voter threshold required to become law.

Once voters figure out how radical both of those are, theyre going to fail, DeSantis said in a press event in Davie, in Broward County. They are very, very extreme.

The governor weighed in on the two proposed amendments, which received the seal of approval by the Florida Supreme Court on Monday to be placed on the November 5 ballot.

DeSantis attacked the proposal (to be listed as Amendment 3 on the ballot) which would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older and allow individuals to possess up to 3 ounces, with no more than 5 grams in concentrated form.

The weed one is not just to decriminalize, its basically a license to have it anywhere you want, he said. No time, place and manner restrictions. This state will start to smell like marijuana in our cities and counties. It will reduce the quality of life.

DeSantis then mentioned Floridas medical marijuana program, which he said he implemented though that wasnt exactly accurate.

After the voters approved medical marijuana in 2016 by more than 71%, the Florida Legislature passed a bill in 2017 that excluded the smokable form of marijuana for medicinal patients. That led Orlando-based attorney John Morgan to file a lawsuit demanding that the state allow medical consumers to be able to smoke the plant. Shortly after he took office in 2019, DeSantis pushed the Legislature to amend the law to allow patients to have the smokable form of cannabis.

But do we really need to do more with that? Do we want to have more marijuana in our communities? I dont think that it will work out well, DeSantis said, in reference to legalizing recreational cannabis.

The governor was less expansive on his thoughts about the constitutional amendment that would protect abortion access until viability, which will be listed as Amendment 4 on the ballot. The Florida Supreme Court approved the ballot language for that proposal on a 4-3 vote. The justices also ruled on a 6-1 vote on Monday, allowing a six-week abortion ban beginning May 1 across the state.

He then went on to bash the whole concept of constitutional amendments in Florida, which over the past two decades have become one of the only ways for progressive legislation to become law in a GOP-dominant Legislature.

I think Florida voters over the past four or five cycles have developed a skepticism on these amendments generally because theyre always written in ways that are confusing, DeSantis said. You dont necessarily know what the intents going to be. So I think theres a certain segment of voters, they default. Just vote no on these things. Because they know that these things cost tens of millions of dollars to get on.

While the Florida electorate has rejected a number of proposed constitutional amendments over recent election cycles, they also voted to approve amendments such as raising the minimum wage up to $15 (2020); to allow for the automatic restoration of voting rights for felons (2018); for legalizing medical marijuana (2016), and for Fair Districts (2010) that were intended to prevent legislators from drawing lines favoring political parties or incumbents.

Before the governor discussed the constitutional amendments, he was in Broward on Thursday for a bill signing ceremony for legislation that will allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve wildlife, waterways and green spaces in Florida.

The post DeSantis calls abortion rights and cannabis amendments radical and says theyll fail appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
The Florida Everglades as seen from the Tamiami Trail. Credit: Marc Ryckaert via Wikimedia Commons

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Broward County on Thursday, where he signed legislation that will allocate hundreds of millions of dollars from the states gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida for land acquisition, preserving wildlife and protecting waterways.

The compact is in place, and were getting revenue share, and thats good, DeSantis said at a news conference held at the headquarters of the South Florida Water Management District. So what are we going to do with that? We are going to dedicate the bulk of the revenue to these restoration programs. So we are looking at about $750 million a year to the state just from the Seminole Tribe gaming compact. Thats a lot of resources.

The measure (SB 1638) was passed unanimously in both chambers of the Legislature this year and was a priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo. It calls for 96% of the revenues from the 2021 gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida to go to a number of environmental projects in 2024-2025, including:

$150 million to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for operations and maintenance.

$100 million for the management of uplands and the removal of invasive species.

$100 million for land acquisitions to support the wildlife corridor.

$100 million to the DEP to the Resilient Florida Trust Fund.

$79 million for the Water Quality Improvement Grant Program.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Seminole Tribe Chairman Marcellus Osceola signed a gaming compact on April 23. Credit: Governors press office

The 2021 Gaming Compact established that the Seminole Tribe is required to make a guaranteed minimum payment for the first five years of the agreement, to total $2.5 billion.

A lot of people have asked the Tribe  myself included  how was that money going to be spent with the gaming compact? Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus W. Osceola, Jr. said at the news conference in Broward.

Tell the state they need to do this, they need to do that. I think that the state and the Tribe have worked together because were not going anywhere. The Tribe is always going to be part of the state. This is our home. This is where we grew up. This is where well be buried. And the state is always going to be here. Myself and the governor may not be in these elected positions, but the Tribe and the state will always be a great partner and be the only partners that each other should have. Going forward to protect all of the natural resources.

Speaking to reporters after he signed the legislation, the governor praised his own work on the environment since being elected in 2019.

The governor used the phrase so-called climate change in his remarks on Thursday. He also referenced Democrats, though he didnt specify whether he meant those in Florida or in Washington, D.C.

He continued: Theyve gone down the direction of saying everything is tied to so-called climate change to where they want you out of your car, they dont want normal gas vehicles anymore, he said. They want to impose a lot of burdens on people that I dont think  do you want to pay more for things right now? With everything thats happening? Thats ultimately a very expensive agenda, where some people are going to make a lot of money off this. But working people are going to get hammered on that.

The post DeSantis signs bill that directs gambling revenues to fund environmental projects appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
The Russian occupiers have taken a break in their massive missile attacks against Ukraine. The enemy is currently studying the location of Ukrainian air defense and accumulating resources.

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Illia Yevlash, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, said this on the We Are Ukraine TV channel. According to him, powerful massive attacks are not ruled out.

"Now we see that the enemy has a certain break  he is studying where exactly the air defense is located, using the folds of the relief, terrain, and riverbeds where he can move unnoticed by our forces. It is clear that the enemy is accumulating its resources for massive attacks in the future," noted the spokesman.

He assured that Ukrainian defenders are also preparing for Russian attacks.

"We are ready to repel, we are reloading, moving, and we will be ready to destroy all the air forces that the enemy will launch," Yevlash emphasized.

ADVERTISIMENT

As a reminder, on the night of April 4, the Air Defense Forces of Ukraine destroyed 11 out of 20 Russian Shahed kamikaze drones in the skies over a number of regions. The occupiers launched them from the northern and southern directions.

The enemy hit the residential infrastructure of Kharkiv, killing rescuers. The occupiers launched two dozen Shaheds at Kharkiv region from the territory of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

 Yevlash said that there is a threat of military aircraft being used against Ukraine from the airspace of Belarus. However, the Air Force is closely monitoring the takeoffs and movements of aircraft in the neighboring country.

 Earlier, the AFU spokesperson also noted that in between massive shelling, Russia is planning and amassing munitions. The defense forces are closely monitoring and tracking this situation.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
By Stephane Mahe and Catarina Demony

NANTES (Reuters) - Dieudonne Boutrin is a descendant of people enslaved in the Caribbean. Pierre Guillon de Prince's ancestors, from Nantes, were ship-owners transporting those enslaved. Although contrasting, their families' histories are linked.

They met in 2021 in Nantes, which was France's largest port for transatlantic slavery, and have since been working together to raise awareness about the past and its legacy in today's society.

Originally from the Caribbean island of Martinique, 59-year-old Boutrin moved to Nantes in the 1980s. It was only then that he fully learned about the true extent of slavery.

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by mostly European ships and sold into slavery. Researchers estimate at least 2 million people died in the gruelling "Middle Passage" voyage across the Atlantic. France trafficked an estimated 1.3 million people to the Americas, including the Caribbean.

"The more I got into the story, the more anger there was," Boutrin said. "(So) I decided to put all my energy into paying tribute to these men and women."

Boutrin is the president of the Nantes-based Coque Nomade-Fraternite, an association that wants to "break the silence" around slavery through education.

In 2001, France officially recognised transatlantic slavery as a crime against humanity but, according to the French Foundation for the Remembrance of Slavery, racism persists.

Several cases of police using excessive force against Black people in recent years have highlighted accusations of systemic racism in the French police by human rights groups.

Boutrin's association is raising funds to finish a 2018 project to build a replica of a 18th century ship that transported captive Africans enslaved by people such as Guillon de Prince's ancestors. The replica will work as a learning centre.

"People will be able to understand the conditions the captives lived in," he said.

Through the association, Boutrin joined forces with Guillon de Prince, 83, to give guided tours that explore Nantes' links to slavery. One of the stops is the city's slavery memorial.

Guillon de Prince has always known his ancestors were involved in slavery as ship-owners, but he made the decision to look deeper into the past in 2015.

They are now encouraging other descendants to join a group they have created to continue what they have described as "memory work."

"I feared this would be forgotten so I wanted to pass it down to my grandchildren," Guillon de Prince said. "We will not solve issues of racism if the two (descendants of enslaved and enslavers) do not talk to each other."

The movement for slavery reparations is gaining momentum worldwide, with Reuters reporting revealing support was building among Africa and Caribbean nations for the creation of an international tribunal on atrocities committed during transatlantic slavery.

(Reporting by Stephane Mahe in Nantes and Catarina Demony in Lisbon; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Sayler Park Recreation Center is shown here. An an employee at the center was fired in December and charged with misdemeanor child endangering after an incident with a child resulted in the child falling and hitting his head.

A Cincinnati Recreation Commission employee who was fired in December for shoving a non-verbal child in the center's care causing him to fall and hit his head is also facing criminal charges.

The city released public records related to the Dec. 20 incident at the Sayler Park Recreation Center this week. Yanna Harris, 28, was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of child endangering on Jan. 18.

The child suffered a concussion, according to court records.

If convicted, Harris faces up to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. Her attorney, Sam Heller, declined to comment.

Another part-time employee was also fired after she was seen on video not offering any assistance after the child was hurt.

"We have zero tolerance for staff putting their hands on kids," said Cincinnati Recreation Commission Director Daniel Betts. "The reality is citizens, parents and guardians trust us to take care of their loved ones, their kids. I take that, as my staff does, very seriously."

Betts said all employees are trained in de-escalation techniques.

"When we follow our training we wont find ourselves striking out or lashing out at kids," Betts said. "There was negligence, not just from the person who pushed the kid on the ground, but it appeared a couple of part-time people were on their phones and just didnt come to staff or the patron's aide. It is unconscionable. You dont just ignore it."

The investigation also found other issues that needed addressing. It showed staff was not paying attention to children and spending time on their cell phones, which is not permitted.

The Cincinnati Recreation Commission runs 23 recreation centers.

The Enquirer first asked about the incident involving the child Jan. 31 after receiving a tip, but records  including the employee's name  were not released until April 1.

Harris is a therapeutic recreation specialist and worked individually with the child, who Enquirer news partner FOX19 has reported has Down Syndrome. The child was not named, nor was his age provided because he is a minor.

Harris was fired for using an "inappropriate method of force" when the child refused to go to the bathroom. The incident report says the child refused to get up, prompting Harris to shove the child to the ground, resulting in his hitting the back of his head on the floor.

Problems cited: An incident report was not written until the child's mother reached out to the center's director; the child's mother was not called immediately after the injury and proper concussion protocol was not followed. And when the child's mother texted Harris the night of the incident because she was concerned her son might have a concussion because he had fallen asleep at dinner, Harris told the mother her son was probably just tired from playing, the report said.

Sayler Park, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, is home to one of the city's 23 recreation centers.

It wasn't until the child's mother sent a Facebook message two days later to the director of the Sayler Park Recreation Center that an investigation was launched. The report shows the incident was caught on video camera and notes Harris' account of what happened does not match what was seen on the video.

After an internal review was launched based on the mother's complaint, city officials notified Hamilton County Job and Family Services about what had happened.

Harris is next due in court April 18.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Recreation employee charged with child endangering
SHERMAN TWP.  Glen Oaks Community College president David Devier has been named the recipient of the Phi Theta Kappa Michael Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award.

Devier will be recognized by the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society April 4-6, during PTK Catalyst 2024, the Societys annual convention in Orlando, Florida, college officials said.

David Devier

Devier is one of nine retiring college presidents and chancellors who will receive the award, which is named in honor of the late Michael Bennett, longtime president of St. Petersburg College in Florida.

The awards are given to retiring college presidents who have shown support of student success initiatives leading to stronger pathways to completion, transfer, and employment. They have taken an active interest in supporting high-achieving students and developing student leaders on campus. Students on their campus nominate recipients.

These college leaders have made student success a priority throughout their career, said Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Lynn Tincher-Ladner in a statement. This award is special because it comes directly from the students, and it is evidence of the gratitude they feel for the support for them and students like them, both inside and outside the classroom.

Devier is set to retire in June after 10 1/2 years as Glen Oaks Community College president.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Devier receives lifetime achievement award
How did Berlin Girl Scout Elliot Blubaugh become an Eclipse Investigator?

BERLIN  Elliot Blubaugh saw her first total solar eclipse in 2017 when her family took a vacation to Charleston, South Carolina, to watch the Aug. 21 eclipse that crossed the west to east coasts of the United States that year.

It was really cool, she said. We planned our vacation around it.

On April 8, Blubaugh will again experience a total eclipse, but this time she will be more than a spectator.

Our own opportunity: Where and how to safely watch the April 8 total solar eclipse in Somerset County

Elliot Blubaugh, 15, of Berlin, is among a group of Girl Scouts that are studying the total solar eclipse on April 8 in Erie through the Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania and Einstein's Incredible Universe program.

The 15-year-old, Berlin-Brothersvalley High School freshman is one of 20 Girl Scouts who will be Eclipse Investigators, studying the total solar eclipse in a citizen science research project with the Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania (GSWPA) and Einsteins Incredible Universe program.

Elliot is the daughter of Aaron and Erin Blubaugh and she is a Senior Girl Scout with Troop No. 46468 in Berlin, where her mother is the troop leader.

Girl Scouts in sixth grade and older were eligible to apply for a spot on the research team, Erin Blubaugh said.

How will the team study the solar eclipse?

The Eclipse Investigators will study the total solar eclipse at a Girl Scout camp near Erie, which is within the path of totality, or where the moon will completely cover the sun during the solar eclipse.

Between noon and 4 p.m. April 8, Blubaugh and the other Girl Scouts will be collecting data and taking photographs as they watch the moon slide between the sun and the Earth, covering the face of the sun and turning the sky dark for nearly four minutes before pulling away.

Fun for all ages: Here's where to join in a solar eclipse watch party around Somerset County

The information they collect will be forwarded to the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast (DEB) Initiative, which is coordinating the work of a variety of citizen scientist teams studying the total solar eclipse. The GSWPA was also chosen to provide a live stream video of the total solar eclipse to NASA, according to a release from the Girl Scouts.

All of the girls on the team have a specific task to do, Erin Blubaugh said.

Since January, the Eclipse Investigators have met several times in Edinboro for training on the use of the telescopes, computers and cameras that they will use to record and take measurements during the total solar eclipse.

My job is to set up the telescope, hook it onto the computer and point it at the sun ... and to take photos as the moon crosses over the sun, Elliot Blubaugh said.

The Scouts also learned about the constellations using a StarLab portable planetarium, and they learned how to look at the sun safely, she added.

Helping the community: Friedens church food pantry has a new 'home' thanks to Eagle Scout project

For their work on the solar eclipse research project, Blubaugh and the rest of the team can earn up to four Girl Scouts badges and one Journey Award, which recognizes scouts for their efforts to make a difference in their communities.

Their work is to be published in scientific journals, with their names listed as authors of the study, according to the GSWPA release.

The Scouts also get to meet and work with each other and with scientists and staff from NASA, which Brubaugh said she was looking forward to doing.

Meeting people from NASA, and I hope to learn stuff about what they do at NASA, she said.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County girl studying total solar eclipse with Girl Scouts
Students and community members are reeling after the University of Texas announced it was closing the Division of Campus and Community Engagement  previously known as the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement  and told dozens of employees Tuesday who had previously served in diversity, equity and inclusion-related positions that they would lose their jobs in 90 days or more, according to two people with knowledge of the layoffs.

UT President Jay Hartzell said in an email to the university community that in implementing changes as required by Senate Bill 17, the state's anti-DEI law that went into effect Jan. 1, the Division of Campus and Community Engagement would be closing after evaluating and eliminating programs that "now overlap with our efforts elsewhere." He said the remaining programs that the division exclusively offered would be transferred to other departments where they would complement existing services, and he assured that the Division of Student Affairs would work to make student-facing services available through the semester.

"The new law has changed the scope of some programs on campus, making them broader and creating duplication with long-standing existing programs supporting students, faculty, and staff," Hartzell wrote to the campus in reference to the school's changes being made to comply with the new anti-DEI law. "Following those reviews, we have concluded that additional measures are necessary to reduce overlap, streamline student-facing portfolios, and optimize and redirect resources into our fundamental activities of teaching and research."

UT would not confirm to the American-Statesman how many positions or programs have been eliminated. The Texas NAACP and the Texas Conference of American Association of University Professors released a joint statement Wednesday calling for the university to be more transparent about the layoffs, and multiple elected officials and rights and social justice groups have called on UT to reinstate the eliminated positions and programs.

Division of Campus and Community Engagement staff members were called into a meeting Tuesday morning where a human resources representative verbally delivered the news that some of them would be laid off, according to a staff member who was laid off and spoke to the Statesman on the condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to speak about the layoffs. The staff member said they later received a confirmation letter that they would be laid off.

"This hurt me," the staff member said. "There is so much grieving, there is so much sadness."

The staff member said the division had worked to remain compliant with SB 17, and that news of the closure and layoffs was a "gut punch." The division has a storied history spanning two decades of supporting students, the staff member said, and that those who used its services are now seeing staff members who "essentially saw them grow up" have to leave unexpectedly.

"The work was never like the bill said, 'preferential treatment,'" the staff member said. "It was really for all."

More: What UT lost with SB 17: American-Statesman's guide to changes due to Texas' anti-DEI law

'We had no idea we would be hit this hard'

The Division of Diversity and Campus Engagement was "a national model for integrating diversity and community engagement into the core mission of a university," providing access to resources and education to members of the UT and Texas community "who may face the greatest challenges in accessing it," according to a December in-house description of the department, before UT converted it to the Division of Campus and Community Engagement to comply with SB 17.

In the Division of Diversity and Campus Engagement's impact report last year, articles described how the division was working to support students academically and professionally and talked about how the division's work enhanced the university's strategic plan, "Change Starts Here."

"As President Hartzell noted while announcing the 'Change Starts Here' plan, diversity and excellence are inseparable," the 2023 report said. "We know that many people of different groups and identities need to be at the table to solve the worlds biggest challenges and dream up new innovations for a better tomorrow. That is why our units are supporting and uplifting diverse talent in an effort to make The University of Texas at Austin the worlds most impactful public university."

More: 'Exhausted', 'confused,' 'unprecedented': Texas professors, students reflect on DEI ban

After UT made changes to the division to comply with SB 17, its four core pillars were student success, campus engagement, community engagement, and access and belonging. It also housed the Women's Community Center, which was previously the Gender and Sexuality Center.

UT lists 19 of the division's programs that have been relocated to other divisions, including the Sweatt Center, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Advise Texas, First Generation Longhorns, and Disability and Access. The Women's Community Center is not on the university's list of relocated programs.

Isabel Bellard, a UT junior, was part of the Fearless Leadership Institute at the division, a program that before Jan. 1 worked to support Black and Hispanic female students on campus but later adapted to support all women after SB 17 went into effect. Bellard said Tuesday that she found out the leadership institute was not on the list of saved programs. An hour after Hartzell's email announcing the division's closure, Bellard said she saw the website was removed from UT's server.

"They're like explicitly keeping us out of the conversation," Bellard said.

Only 4.5% of UT students in the fall 2023 semester were Black, according to a university fact sheet. Bellard said the program helped her find a community on campus with shared experiences, as well as take advantage of opportunities she wouldn't have otherwise had, such as taking her first-ever flight to New York to network with businesses.

"Black people at UT, when they get here as students, the first question is, 'Where all the other Black people?'" Bellard said. "Most Black students, they're one of maybe two, maybe three other people of color in the room, and so that creates this really isolating space for people of color. (The Fearless Leadership Institute) was actually the space that said, 'Hey, there is a space for'" you.

Bellard said students will fight for staff members and for the return of programs that were integral to her experience at UT. She said the division's programs are essential to bolster graduation rates and retention on campus for marginalized students. Black students, for instance, were not allowed to attend UT until the 1950s.

"In order for any marginalized students to be treated fairly at the University of Texas, because they weren't accepted for so long, diversity and identity-specific programs and partnerships are critical in developing students' sense of belonging" on a campus where white students are the majority, she added. "If I was a freshman, I'd be considering transferring and getting my degree from a different university."

Lacey Reynolds, a UT junior and the president of the Onyx Honors Society, said she attended an emergency meeting with hundreds of students Tuesday night to process the news and action items.

"We didn't see this coming," Reynolds said. "We had no idea we would be hit this hard."

All students are affected by this, Reynolds said, adding that students are planning to stand up for staff members  many of whom felt like "families away from home."

"It's really hard right now being a student leader, when the people who you would seek advice from have lost their voices," she said. "Being a Black president at a predominantly white school during a fight that people are now starting to call 'Jim Crow 2.0,' I would say it's extremely difficult, very heavy."

Shocked and angry, UT senior Amanda Garcia, an organizer for Texas Students for DEI, also attended the student emergency meeting Tuesday night. Over the summer and fall, Garcia said she had been in meetings with administrators and student groups to discuss how SB 17 would be implemented on campus. But, she said, she had no idea this was coming.

"Up until this point, we had believed administration was in some ways willing to work with us," Garcia said.

The loss of the division and staff members comes after UT shuttered the Multicultural Engagement Center; ended Monarch, a program to support undocumented students; and cut its sponsorship of student groups that had been part of the multicultural center, groups that Garcia said are now running GoFundMe accounts to make up for thousands of dollars lost from their budgets.

More: What UT lost with SB 17: American-Statesman's guide to changes due to Texas' anti-DEI law

However, Garcia said, students are mobilizing and coming together in "unprecedented" ways to figure out how to support staff members who were laid off and move forward.

"We're more determined now than ever," they said. "I think they really underestimated how much these staff members meant to students."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas DEI ban: UT staff, students react to layoffs, DCCE closure
Three of the four candidates for Alabama's newly-formed second congressional district seat met for a forum Wednesday. The forum was hosted by the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

Former Alabama Sen. Dick Brewbaker, state House minority leader Anthony Daniels and Mobile lawyer Shomari Figures debated over hot topics like healthcare, community-directed spending, military impact and runoff election approaches. Republican candidate Caroleene Dobson was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the state's previous congressional lines discriminated against Black voters and carved out a new district that's expected to lean Democrat. While the state legislature initially refused to do so, a new map was drawn, creating a new competitive congressional district.

A #VOTED sticker given out as people vote during the Super Tuesday Primary Election in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday March 5, 2024.

Healthcare

Daniels and Figures both support the expansion of Medicaid in the state.

Figures brought up Alabamians having the third shortest life expectancy in the United States, barely ahead of West Virginia and Mississippi. He said that not having enough hospitals in rural areas makes it more difficult to recruit companies into the state.

"Not having a hospital is not just a healthcare issue," Figures said. "It's an economic issue."

Daniels said he would also look into a hybrid model, allowing those with private insurance to keep their existing coverage.

"There's a lot of uncertainty," he said. "We cannot be as careless as we were before with other pieces of legislation, and that's the only way that we're going to be able to expand Medicaid and drive health care coverage and opportunity for the region."

Brewbaker disagreed, saying that only 15 percent of Alabama doctors accept Medicaid, and that employers who provide private insurance to their employees would stop doing so, limiting their access to healthcare.

"All of those employees lose access to their family care and have to wind up in emergency room seeking clinic care, which is not what anybody wants," Brewbaker said.

Rural communities and agriculture

The majority of areas in the newly formed congressional district are rural. All three candidates agreed that more needs to be done to support these communities and their economies.

"Rural Alabama is disappearing before our eyes," Brewbaker said. "We have got to do whatever we can to find a way to revitalize small town Alabama."

He said that while he believes the district is "oddly drawn" it's not "unreasonable for the federal government to take a more active row role in trying to restore important industry that a severe one-hundred-year drought destroyed."

He also mentioned the large percentage of cattle herds lost in the last two decades.

"We're losing growth and opportunity, and we're losing population. However, the products that are being produced by a lot of our farmers are being exploited and so therefore it has it has little to do with the actual population, but more to do with the opportunity, and so we have to incentivize more farmers, farmers starting up," said Daniels.

"We also have to encourage and incentivize expansion of the current farming, and we have to integrate more technology so that we're able to produce at a much higher rate, which will drive opportunity and growth to the region."

Figures emphasized the need for better quality of life in the counties to make them "more attractive for the younger generations to return including the kids of our farmers."

"When people drop their kids off to college, they know there's a 99% chance they're not coming back to Crenshaw County, or Bullock County, or Pike County, or Russell County or Barbour County," he said.

Prioritizing Montgomery

"I'm here four to five months out of the year already," Daniels said. "A lot of my emphasis and where my heart lives wouldn't be in this region, but also focusing on our rural communities. Our rural communities have certainly been underfunded, under invested in until that will be a priority for me."

"Nobody would believe me if I said that Montgomery wasn't going to be a priority, Brewbaker said, "I've lived here my whole life. I've raised five boys here." He said that he's proven as a legislator he can move appropriations through a large body for his hometown, citing how he worked to grant Pike County schools an additional $3 million while in the senate.

"America owes two cities in this district like they owe no other city: Montgomery, and Tuskegee," Figures said. "Those cities have paved more into the fabric of what America is than any other city in this district, and almost any other city in this country." He said that wants to "make Montgomery a priority of Congress.

"America owes Montgomery, and I will make that known."

The candidates also said they would work to support the military bases in the area, including Maxwell Air Force Base, to make sure they stay open.

Community-directed spending

Moderator and former District 2 Rep. Martha Roby explained that congressional earmarks were disposed of when she entered the House in 2011.

"There was no process by which to direct funding to state and local governments. In the past three cycles, the House and the Senate have brought back a process which is conveniently called community-directed spending," Roby said.

"Essentially community-directed spending is an earmark process, though it is now very transparent in that members of Congress that request money for certain projects within their district can do so as submitted by those communities, and then have to publicly advertise which projects that they submitted, so they are then held accountable for where that money goes."

"The number one job of a congressman in my opinion," Figures said, "is to go to Washington, D.C., and bring back the federal dollars that the people and the workers have been paying for decades." He said he would ensure it was done in a "responsible, and informed, and conscious and ethical" manner to stimulate the economy.

"I think that we're smart enough to establish a system where reasonable people decide what's appropriate for federal intervention and send that money to those communities," Brewbaker said, adding that he previously said he would not join the Freedom Caucus if elected because of its position on earmarks.

"Let's face it, in a state like Alabama, and especially in the situation we're in right now, we need all the help we can get, and the feds are willing to pitch in and I'm certainly willing to take it."

Daniels said he wants to make sure "spending is directed in areas that's going to yield return for the region or for the community," ensuring funds must be "responsible and intentional."

"I'll be absolutely for directing funding back to into the to the district," he said. "I believe in appropriations."

The runoff election for both parties will be held April 16.

Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: District 2 runoff candidates talk healthcare, rural areas, federal aid
Pay Dirt is a weekly foray into the pigpen of political funding. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.

Its not often that a member of Congress faces backlash for a drug deal gone bad.

In this case, the alleged deal doesnt involve illicit substances changing hands. Rather, it concerns an alleged exchange of money and sway between now-Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) and the cofounders of a cannabis company called La Mota, one of the largest dispensary chains in Oregon.

Those co-founders, Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell, have been mired in the scandal for a year now, after local outlet Willamette Week unearthed evidence that La Mota had an improper private financial arrangement with Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, prompting the spectacular implosion of a new grant program. Fagan resigned within weeks, but the investigation has only expanded since then, with a Justice Department subpoena in January signaling that the feds are starting to eye Hoyle.

A Hoyle campaign spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that the DOJ has not contacted the congresswoman. But documents from a public records request filed with Hoyles former state office, obtained by The Daily Beast, offer a glimpse of what the DOJ may have collected from that subpoena.

The request was placed with Hoyles former agencythe Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI)months before the DOJ subpoena, asking for documents related to the La Mota investigation. It was fulfilled on Feb. 14, two days after the subpoena was first reported. BOLIs reply didnt indicate that any responsive documents had been withheld due to the investigation. Those documents include details about La Motas state grant, meeting minutes, and a previously unreported email that shows Hoyle expressing personal interest in securing the since-revoked $554,990 grant.

Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) arrives to the U.S. Capitol. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Im still the chair of the Apprenticeship Council and will be until January, Hoyle wrote in that email, which she sent to her deputy. Id like to feel like I have some involvement in setting the agenda or at least have the option to weigh in before we move forward.

Hoyle was first elected BOLI commissioner in 2018, and she held that post until she joined Congress in January 2023. She first met Cazares in early 2021 at a skyline-view restaurant, Willamette Week reported, where the two discussed the possibility of a state-sponsored La Mota apprenticeship for people of color. Over the ensuing months, employees at the bureau stayed in touch about the possibility, and the La Mota project soon took the form of a minority outreach nonprofit, a consortium of players in the Oregon cannabis industry called ENDVR.

During the push for the apprenticeship grant, Cazares and Mitchell doled out major donations to some of the states most prominent Democrats. One of the couples biggest beneficiaries was Hoyle, who received a $20,000 cash donation months after meeting Cazares, in support of her anticipated BOLI re-election bid. (At the time, Oregon permitted unlimited cash contributions in state elections, but the La Mota scandal has led to a $100 cap on cash gifts, along with other reforms.)

But Hoyle had other plans. When the longtime Democratic incumbent in Oregons 4th District, then-Rep. Peter DeFazio, announced he would not seek re-election, Hoyle jumped in the race. Oregon campaign finance records show that her state campaign refunded Mitchells $20,000 in December 2021, with Federal Election Commission records showing that Mitchell and Cazares both contributed $2,800 for Hoyles congressional primary election about four months later, in multiple donations of varying denominations on April 30days before ENDVR submitted its grant proposal. Cazares also threw another $200 in for Hoyles general election account that same day, an amount that, if split between the two donors, would have put them both at the exact primary election maximum of $2,900.

Its unclear whether those original contributions came in the form of cash, the default payment method for many cannabis industry operators in the state. The various payments were not made through ActBlues online system, raising the possibility of multiple same-day checks or wire transfers.

While legal at the time in Oregon state elections, cash donations above $100 are impermissible for federal campaigns and committees.

Asked about the La Mota funds when the scandal broke last year, Hoyle released a statement saying, Ive returned all campaign contributions from La Mota owners and wont be taking any additional funds from them.

But she hadnt returned the money. In fact, Hoyles campaign didnt issue the refunds until last November. Additionally, Hoyle is also still holding on to money from a third La Mota associate made around the same timea $1,000 gift from Laura Vega, who co-founded ENDVR with Cazares. Unlike Cazares and Mitchells contributions, Vegas funds were earmarked through an ActBlue online donation portal.

MedMen Accused of Stiffing Landlord for $2M in Back Rent

In response to an inquiry for this article, Hoyle provided a statement claiming that all of The Daily Beasts questions had already been addressed.

All these questions have been asked and answered. Knowing what we know today, I would not have accepted political support or interacted with anyone associated with La Mota, the statement said.

A Hoyle spokesperson claimed in an email to The Daily Beast that the La Mota donations were not made in cash. The campaign did not reply to follow-ups explaining the unusual same-day increments and requesting documentation to confirm that the funds were not cash.

Asked why the campaign still hadnt returned Vegas donation, the spokesperson dodged. When there are credible allegations that a contributor of Congresswoman Hoyles campaign has engaged in wrongdoing, she takes a look at it and takes the appropriate action.

At the time of the 2022 donations, La Mota and Hoyle were still pushing ahead with the apprenticeship proposal. But at a July proposal meeting, friction emerged between the apprenticeship council and ENDVRwhich received its 501(c)(3) tax status shortly before applying for the grantwith some board members expressing doubts about whether the upstart nonprofit merited a grant of half a million dollars in public funds.

Throughout that meeting, however, Hoyle was texting on her personal phone with the director of the apprenticeship program, Willamette Weekly reported. In response to one text from the directorappearing to advise Hoyle about demonstrated value, as if Hoyle were the one making the pitchHoyle replied, You dont need to convince me.

Its the board, she texted.

Hoyle, however, kept advocating, as captured in an email exchange with deputy labor commissioner Duke Shepherd the next month.

In that email, part of the records obtained by The Daily Beast, Hoyle vented about a follow-up email that La Mota had recently sent in response to skeptical council members. She critiqued La Motas pitch, but also expressed her personal support for the project and bemoaned the fact that she hadnt been brought in before La Mota had sent the response.

This still seems pretty squishy, Hoyle wrote, saying she was concerned about the not get it factor and adding that we need solid committments [sic] for numbers.

Hoyle then wrote that, while she was very supportive of the program, she needed to see more solid commitments, before making clear that she expected to be looped in ahead of any similar moves involving La Mota.

I also am really surprised that this email went out and council briefings are happening without me being briefed or contacted first, she wrote. Hoyle advised her deputy that our staff should be more instructive to help the group meet the councils requirements, then made the request to have some involvement in setting the agenda.

Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) poses for photos with a cutout of the University of Oregon Duck mascot outside the Capitol. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Hoyle scheduled the follow-up meeting that same month, where Vegathe Hoyle donor and ENDVR co-founderbrought in some new endorsements. One of the new vouchers was Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission board member Matt Maletis, who told the council that hed gotten to know Cazares and Vega, noting, The fact that theyre willing to give back and train others how to do this is admirable.

On Aug. 26, La Mota won the grant, worth nearly $555,000. About two weeks later, Maletis donated $250 to Hoyles congressional campaign. She won the election in November.

Maletis then gave Hoyle $250 in January 2023, and another $250 again last September. (Another ENDVR affiliate, Jesse Bontecou of the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association, gave Hoyle $100 in October 2022.)

But it didnt take long for the whole thing to unravel. A March 2023 Willamette Week investigation revealed that La Mota and its founders were secretly facing millions of dollars in tax liens along with dozens of lawsuits for unpaid bills. The grant itself, intended to fund a handful of apprenticeship opportunities for communities of color, also eventually proved legally nonviable. Oregons new labor commissioner immediately recalled the grant moneybut not before ENDVR had already paid Vega $97,000.

The scandal soon claimed another scalp, in the form of Fagans resignation. The Secretary of Statewhom Cazares and Mitchell had also raised money to supporthad been consulting for La Mota to the tune of $10,000 a month while her office was reviewing state cannabis regulations. The DOJ also got involved, subpoenaing five state agencies to probe the matter.

(The Daily Beast asked the Hoyle campaign when the congresswoman first heard about Fagans side deal; the spokesperson replied that Hoyle had first learned about the arrangement from news reports.)

The scrutiny on Hoyle only increased. Last summer, Willamette Weekly broke another developmentHoyle still hadnt given BOLI communications from her personal devices, which BOLI had inquired about in emails ahead of her departure as part of its standard record-keeping obligations for the state.

That dispute dragged on for months, with Hoyle eventually partially conceding in November, only turning over select records that had been filtered by her attorney.

The Hoyle campaign told The Daily Beast that the omission was not intentional, claiming that BOLI had deactivated Hoyles email account on the same day it sent the first notice, and the second notice had gone lost amid the chaos of the House Speaker election and the death of a family member.

Once Hoyle learned of the request in late August, she worked to transfer the records to BOLI, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson noted that Hoyle wishes BOLI was more communicative and more responsive to requests to review the text messages, adding it is most important that this information is now available to be archived as part of the public record.

Oregons Making a Terrible Mistake in Rebooting the Drug War

BOLI, however, cannot say exactly how complete that most important public record is. Asked about the production, a BOLI spokesperson told Oregon Live in November that they would have no way of knowing if all public records were provided to the agency.

A BOLI spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the agency is not commenting on matters related to the investigation. La Mota did not return a comment request.

In December, still more bad newsOregon Public Broadcasting reported that BOLI had settled a second lawsuit alleging racial discrimination on Hoyles watch.

Then, on Jan. 29 this year, the DOJ signaled that the investigation was examining Hoyles role, issuing its subpoena to BOLI for records related to the ENDVR grant.

Despite the districts Democratic bent, Republicans see Hoyles seat as one of their top pick-up opportunities for 2024. Her top GOP opponent, Air Force veteran and attorney Monique DeSpain, has made much political hay of the scandal as it has unfolded, and will square off against a small field in the Republican primary next month.

The House GOPs official campaign arm targeted the race as part of a five-figure ad blitz last month. That buy also took aim at Hoyles fellow Beaver State Democrat, Rep. Andrea Salinas.

In February, news broke that the Salinas campaign had also received a donation from La Mota.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking prison time for Aimee Harris, the woman who stole the diary of the presidents daughter, Ashley Biden, and sold it to conservative media site Project Veritas for tens of thousands of dollars before the 2020 presidential election.

According to the DOJ, Harris was temporarily staying at the Delray Beach, Fla., residence of Ashley Biden in September 2020 when she stole the diary containing highly personal entries as well as tax records, a cellphone and family photographs. Harris enlisted defandant Robert Kurlander to assist her in selling the collected material.

Project Veritas, based in New York, paid Harris and Kurlander $20,000 each for the diary and other materials the pair returned to Florida to obtain. Project Veritas is a controversial media outlet known for sting operations, sending its staffers undercover to record sources and capture what they say is the true story behind the headlines.

In November, the DOJ raided two locations tied to Project Veritas and the organizations founder, James OKeefe.

Project Veritas never published the diary, but a different website did. OKeefe, who said he received the diary from tipsters who found it abandoned in a hotel room, said he did not publish it because he could not verify its authenticity.

In a Tuesday letter to Judge Laura Swain, federal prosecutors requested that the court impose a sentence of four months to 10 months of imprisonment for Harris, followed by three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had previously asked for six months of home confinement, followed by three years of supervised release.

Federal prosecutors said in the letter that the revised sentencing recommendation comes after Harris has delayed her sentencing hearing date 12 times, for reasons that prosecutors described as inadequate. Harriss initial sentencing was set for Dec. 6, 2022.

Harris, prosecutors said, sometimes gave excuses that they later found to be untrue, including saying she could not find child care. In one circumstance, the government later learned that the father, with whom Harris shares custody of the children, was available to care for the children on specific dates in question that Harris was ordered to appear in court.

Prosecutors also expressed frustration with Harriss failure to secure a valid identification, which, they said, Harris knew was necessary in order to travel. She said at other points that she was sick but failed to produce the medical records demanded by the court.

The defendant has repeatedly and consistently engaged in tactics to improperly delay this proceeding, including misleading the Court with false information to justify belated and unmerited requests for adjournments, refusing to appear when directed, and failing to comply with court orders to disclose or produce certain information. Through this pattern of behavior, the defendant has shown a complete disregard for the Courts orders and for the orderly administration of this judicial proceeding.

At bottom, the defendants flagrant disrespect for the law, including the orders of this Court even after pleading guilty in this casedemonstrates an abdication of responsibility for her conduct and strongly militates for an incarceratory sentence, federal prosecutors wrote in the Tuesday letter to the court. In particular, the defendant has shown to be completely unamenable to court supervision such that a sentence involving merely probation will not be sufficient to deter the defendant from continuing to flout the law.

Moreover, a sentence involving no period of incarceration would be wholly insufficient to reflect the gravity of the defendants conduct, including her apparent belief that she is above the law and that she need not comply with this Courts orders.

The prosecutors said that the revised sentencing recommendation would send the message that breaking the law and then failing to abide with the orders of the Court during the pendency of a criminal case will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.

An attorney representing Harris did not reply to a request for comment.

Harris and Kurlander each pleaded guilty to one count of a conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property from an immediate family member of a former government official who was running for national office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
This article is part of Lost Rites, a series on Americas failed death notification system.

The Justice Department said Thursday it would help authorities in Mississippi improve their death notification procedures, an attempt to correct systemic failures uncovered by NBC News that resulted in people being buried in a paupers field without their families knowing.

Families want and deserve transparency and the opportunity to make decisions about their loved ones burials, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the Justice Departments civil rights division, said in a statement. Through technical assistance, we aim to ensure that officials are able to deliver death notifications and make decisions regarding burials in a timely and trauma-informed way that complies with federal civil rights law.

The Justice Department said it will focus on helping the Jackson Police Department and Hinds County coroners office.

The move is a response to NBC News reporting on the failed notifications, which began last year with the story of Dexter Wade, who was struck and killed by an off-duty police officer in Jackson without anyone telling his mother, even after she reported him missing. After his body went unclaimed for months, the Hinds County coroners office had Wade buried in a paupers field on the grounds of the county jail work farm, his grave marked only by a number. Wades mother, Bettersten Wade, didnt find out until August, five months after her sons death.

Wades story triggered calls from civil rights lawyers and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., for a federal investigation.

Over the next several months, NBC News uncovered cases of six other men, many of them homeless, mentally ill or addicted to drugs, who had been buried in the paupers field while their families looked for them. In two cases, an NBC News reporter notified families of their loved ones deaths. Two families spotted their loved ones name on a list of unclaimed bodies published by NBC News.

With each case came more evidence of systemic breakdowns. The Hinds County coroners office and Jackson Police Department repeatedly failed to search law enforcement databases or the internet for missing person reports that would have revealed families searching for their loved ones. In some cases, authorities stopped trying to notify next of kin after an unanswered door-knock or dialing a nonworking phone number. Grieving families said the failures reflect a disregard for people who struggle with mental illness, homelessness and addiction. Families have said that after learning about a loved ones death, theyve had to make repeated calls to the coroners office before getting a response. They also complained of getting contradictory explanations from the coroners office and police.

With each new revelation came repeated calls for change.

Clockwise from top left, David Shane Kelly, Micheal Akeem Williams, Marrio Moore, Jonathan David Hankins, James Aaron Moran, Dexter Wade and Mark Nelson Bushnell.

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade responded in November, saying he had adopted the departments first policy covering death notifications. In January, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors adopted a policy that will require the coroners office to check missing person registries before requesting a burial, officials said. But the county has yet to release a copy of that policy.Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said in a statement Thursday that the city has been working closely with federal authorities on the death notification issue. This joint effort with the DOJ is welcomed and will only improve the new standards already in place, Lumumba said. This assistance will only help to better serve the residents of our city.

Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart  who in February told an angry mother, I dont know how to find people  did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department said it would provide technical assistance pursuant to the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance. The department noted that some reports have indicated that there may be a perception that race or other factors played a role in the process concerning next-of-kin death notifications.

In the seven cases of failed notifications reported by NBC News, three of the dead men were Black, while four were white.

The Justice Department said the technical assistance is not a finding of fault or wrongdoing by the police or coroners office. Those agencies voluntarily agreed to receive technical assistance and support, the department said in a news release.

The technical assistance will be provided by the civil rights division and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Mississippi. The offices will examine the Jackson Police Departments policies on missing people and death notifications and make recommendations on training. The Hinds County coroners office will receive recommendations on policies and training related to locating next of kin, the DOJ said.

Image: Bettersten Wade is comforted by her sister. (Ashleigh Coleman for NBC News)

Bettersten Wade, Dexter Wades mother, said she was glad that the Justice Department was stepping in.It makes me feel better that someone is coming in and at least acknowledging that something was done wrong, she said. I hope no one else has to go through what I went through.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine commented on the latest developments in Russia, in particular the explosions at the military facilities of the aggressor state. According to him, it is the regime of Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin that is responsible for all the events taking place in Russia.

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He said this in an interview with the Voice of America. Andriy Yusov noted that the tanks used to shell Ukrainian cities need fuel, which, in his words, can be called "the fuel of death."

He explained that it is this fuel that helps Putin destroy civilian infrastructure, cities, and villages in Ukraine. Yusov also emphasized that Moscow, having started a genocidal war, continues to launch missile attacks against Ukraine.

"Thousands of missiles have already been fired at Ukrainian targets, including the fuel and energy complex, power facilities, Ukrainian refineries, and recently at gas facilities. And for two years now, this is the constant terror that Putin has been waging against Ukraine. It would be very strange if this war was waged only on the territory of Ukraine," said the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

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He added that it was Putin and his henchmen who provoked the war in Russia.

Yusov emphasized that official Kyiv did not comment on the explosions in Russia.

"Official Ukraine did not comment or confirm the events in the territory of the Russian Federation itself. Putin's regime is responsible for what is happening in Russia," emphasized Yusov.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

 On April 2, Russian media reported that explosions had occurred in the Russian Tatarstan. Unidentified drones attacked enterprises in Elabuga and Nizhnekamsk.

 The Yelaz-Naftoprodukt oil refinery and the plant where Shakhtys were assembled were hit in the Elabuga SEZ.

 The Russians claimed that the oil refinery in Tatarstan was attacked by a Ukrainian UJ-22 Airborne drone. This UAV is a development of the Ukrainian company Ukrjet. However, according to the characteristics of this UAV, its maximum flight range is up to 800 km, and the distance from the Ukrainian border to Elabuga is at least 1200 km.

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 The ISW concluded that the Ukrainian strikes on the Elabuga SEZ in Tatarstan were a turning point and demonstrated our country's ability to reach enemy targets over long distances deep in the Russian rear. This is a necessary component of Ukraine's campaign to destroy the industries that support the Russian army.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Read the full story on The Auto Wire

Dominican Republic Officials Son Killed In Houston Drive-By Shooting

In what Houston Police are calling a drive-by shooting at a convenience store, the black Cadillac Escalade a Dominican Republic government officials son was sitting inside was riddled with gunfire. As the smoke cleared and so did the three suspects, the government officials son was dead and another man was critically injured.

Watch a guy try carjacking someone, getting drug down the highway instead.

The shooting, which took place at about 7:25 pm on April 1, happened at 2490 South Wayside Drive as the Cadillac SUV sat in front of the store. Two of the men from the vehicle went inside to grab some items. When they returned to the SUV thats when the attack began.

Thats when three men pulled up in two vehicles, a silver Dodge Charger and a silver Mercedes-Benz (model not specified). They were holding what appear to be AK-style rifles with the stocks removed and all three men are described as Hispanic, as you can see in video surveillance screenshots shared by police.

After they started shooting up the Cadillac, two of the men in the luxury SUV jumped out and tried running into the store for cover. One of those men was hit by the gunfire multiple times.

Luis Alfredo Pacheco Rojas, age 34, son of Alfredo Pacheco, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic was shot and killed. An unnamed second man was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

We dont have many more details about this shooting, but on the surface it sure seems similar to certain cartel-style executions. We also dont know enough about Dominican Republic politics to know who might want to kill Alfredo Pachecos son.

Houston PD is asking the public for any information they might have about this shooting. You can contact them at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS for up to a $5K reward.

Images via Houston Police/X, KHOU 11/YouTube

1/2



2nd UPDATE: Our detectives have learned the identity of the deceased victim in this shooting.



He is identified as Luis Alfredo Pacheco Rojas, son of Alfredo Pacheco, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic. https://t.co/kYS0FtISwm  Houston Police (@houstonpolice) April 3, 2024

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Donald Trumps ignorant racist slur of migrants this week isnt new  for him.

While in Michigan, Trump doubled down on the dehumanizing rhetoric he uses to bolster his political campaign, portraying individuals in the country illegally as less than human.

After talking about the case of Laken Riley  the 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia allegedly murdered by a Venezuelan immigrant in the country illegally  Trump said, The Democrats say, Please dont call them animals. They're humans. I said, No, theyre not humans, theyre not humans, theyre animals. 

Then, Trump described meeting the family of Ruby Garcia, a 25-year-old allegedly murdered by a man she was dating and who police say is in the country illegally.

Trump never spoke to Garcia's family

Former President Donald Trump campaigns for reelection on April 02, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Except Garcias sister said Trump never spoke with the family.

Trump said of the young victim, They said she had just this most contagious laughter, and when she walked into a room, she lit up that room, and Ive heard that from so many people. I spoke to some of her family. Which apparently mimicked lines from her obituary.

Mavi Garcia, Rubys sister, told an NBC affiliate, He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us.

Among the MAGA cult, pretending to have spoken to the family of a murder victim  something that would end the career of any other politician  is not shocking. In fact, it doesnt bother them one bit.

Mavi Garcia added, Nobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and its kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals. What about Americans who do heinous crimes like that? The focus should be on my sister right now, who she was in life. I want people to remember who she was in life.

Truth doesn't fit the campaign narrative

Talking about Americans who do heinous crimes doesnt fit Trumps campaign narrative.

It never has.

Its why Laken Rileys killing has been a national news story and Preston Lords has not.

GOP uses Arizona: To exhume Trump's pervy problems

It also doesnt matter to Trump that those who study criminal trends say migrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

People in the country illegally arent the first group of people Trump has demonized as animals. He has a long, well-documented history of doing so with various individuals and groups.

Sadly, Trump's racist rhetoric works

He was calling for the death penalty of the so-called Central Park Five shortly after the five Black and Latino men were arrested for the rape of a jogger in New York in 1989. Years later, when the five were exonerated by way of DNA evidence and a confession from the actual rapist, Trump still called them guilty.

Its how Trump operates. Demonize an entire racial or ethnic group based on the actions of a few individuals in order to spread fear, then paint yourself as a protector.

The conservative Cato Institutes Julian Sanchez, in a social media thread aimed at something Trump said, summed it up succinctly. He wrote, This is a textbook case of how dehumanizing and racist rhetoric works.

Thats the worst of it, really.

It works.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

For more opinions content, please subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump calls migrants 'animals,' then does something worse
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The Downtown Neighborhood Association of Memphis has proposed a new plan to increase parking at Tom Lee Park.

Tom Lee Park has been a popular destination for Memphis residents since its $62 million renovation and grand opening last August.

However, there appears to be one common critique from park goers.

Im trying to come here and I have nowhere to park and its very frustrating, Memphis resident Treashon Clark said.

Police issue 62 parking tickets along Riverside Drive

Since the parks renovations, there are only 67 parking spaces along Riverside Drive, compared to the nearly 200 that used to be available. On busy days, many have resorted to illegal parking along Riverside, leading police to issue dozens of tickets.

As the weather gets warmer, more Memphians are expected to visit the park, which will make its limited parking more of a concern.

In an effort to get out in front of it the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Memphis has proposed a plan to create more spaces.

Seventy percent of the neighborhood stakeholders, businesses, and residentssaid they would support a two-lane Riverside Drive from Beale Street to Georgia, as long as it incorporated more parking, Downtown Neighborhood Association of Memphis President, Jerred Price, said.

According to their proposal, Riverside would be restriped, which would turn the four lanes of traffic into just two.

Instead of the parallel parking that is currently there, it would be angled.

If you take one parallel spot and you put two 45s in that same positioning, that means its at least double if not triple the amount, because parking would go all the way down almost to the pedestrian bridge at South Bluffs, Price said.

When WREG spoke with park goers on their thoughts on the proposal, it seemed like they were split on their opinion.

I think that would be very helpful and should be put into motion. That would be very helpful, one resident said.

Another resident questioned the effect it would have on streets traffic flow, saying, Im not crazy about the idea of there being less room to drive on, but maybe another option?

Despite the back and forth, Price said the top priority of the proposal is to make parking accessible for everyone.

We just want this to be an accessible park for all families because downtown is everybodys neighborhood, Price said. People come from Whitehaven, Orange Mound, Frayser, and they come to Tom Lee Park. Some families cant afford to pay $5 or $10 for parking, so we need to make sure theres plenty of free parking.

RiverBeat Music Festival reveals artist lineup

WREG reached out to Memphis River Parks for comment and they say this proposal raises more question than answers.

They reiterated that parking on Riverside Drive is the responsibility of the city and not the Memphis Rivers Parks Partnership.

They also added that it was part of their original plan for Tom Lee Park to make Riverside Drive two lanes, though in a different way than Downtown Neighborhood Association proposed. Their proposal was not approved.

Meanwhile, the Downtown Neighborhood Association took the proposal to the engineering board and they say the next step will be to take it to the city to review.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Liberation Station Bookstore, the states first Black-owned childrens bookstore, is leaving downtown Raleigh after threats against the family-owned business, its owner says.

The bookstore, on the second floor of 208 Fayetteville St., is closing April 13, less than a year after it opened.

Liberation Station received a mountain of press when it opened, welcoming 4,000 people during its Juneteenth opening and receiving numerous grants.

Financially, it was wonderful, said Victoria Scott-Miller, who owns the store with her husband, Duane Miller. But I stand with the fact that we are in the business of children. And whether it is their emotional safety, our emotional safety, their physical safety or our physical safety, we have a responsibility to make a conscious decision about how we are able to move forward.

The bookstore opened as a place where Black children and adults could see themselves in literature. Every book in the store is written by a Black author and read by the owners and their children before it makes it onto the floor.

Books line the wooden shelves, organized so books for the youngest readers are at eye level and books for older readers are higher up. A mural on the wall highlights the name of the bookstore and smiling, bright suns reading.

Liberation Station will continue, but they are not rushing into a new spot, Scott-Miller said.

Threats made against store

The threats included hate messages and death threats on the bookstores phone and on social media, including on the stores Instagram page. They began soon after the store opened, Scott-Miller said.

One caller described the clothes her 13-year-old son was wearing as he worked in the store.

All they said was the color of his hoodie and color of his pants, she said. And Im thinking to myself, He has that on right now.

They tried to manage the threats internally, primarily, because they didnt want to scare away families who saw the store as a safe place to be, Scott-Miller said.

You can literally turn on the TV and see controversy, pain and violence, she said. And this is a place of refuge. Like theres so much goodness around the work that we do that I just did not want it to be another negative experience.

Raleigh police patrols

On Tuesday, Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said she was aware of the social media posts and had reached out to the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, which contacted the Raleigh Police Department for more information about the threats.

In a Wednesday statement, the Police Department said it was aware of the posts but had not received any reports of harassment or threats at the store.

The Raleigh Police Department encourages our community to contact us for any harassment or threats being made to them, their business or their customers, it continued. We do not tolerate threats or harassment and welcome the communitys help in identifying and addressing them.

Police stepped up patrols downtown after business owners took their concerns to the City Council. Scott-Miller said thats one reason they didnt contact police.

The police presence was so heavy that we did not feel that anyone would come and physically harm us, she said.

Plus, some of the threats came from nameless, faceless, social media accounts.

I dont want to speak ill of the police, she said. But there is so much we often have to do to prove our discomfort and lack of safety, and we didnt want to go through that part.

Downtown safety concerns

The bookstore also faced some of the same safety and crime concerns its downtown neighbors have faced.

Robberies along Fayetteville Street before they opened were a key factor in the bookstore operating cashless.

Once they opened, Scott-Miller said, they spoke to their landlord, Empire Eats.

We had a lot of people that were just kind of coming on our floor smoking weed, defacing some of the property, urinating in the hall on the stairs, she said.

Their landlord added a security guard and camera to the building to address some of those concerns.

As they considered not renewing their lease, Scott-Miller said, they were surprised when a neighboring tenant reached out to them about the possible move. On social media, they said they had asked Empire Eats not to share their plans.

But Empire said it began searching for a new tenant when the bookstore told them it was not renewing the lease and only later was asked to keep that information confidential.

In response, Landlord agreed not to make any announcements about her store closure, and we have not in order to be supportive of Liberation Stations request, Empire Eats said in a statement.

Scott-Miller shared text exchanges in which Empire said it would continue to show the unit but would tell them ahead of time. In the text messages shared on social media, the landlord didnt mention the threats.

Scott-Miller was disappointed.

That response to me, the lack of empathy was a consideration, was something that we took into consideration when making our decision [not] to renew, she said.

Since sharing their story on social media, she said shes heard from others with similar experiences downtown.

Theres a disconnect, in the human experience, in particular the experiences of Black business owners in the city, Scott-Miller said. And that part needs to be addressed. But thats not something I am going to assign myself to do.

I think that downtown Raleigh wants to look good, but I dont necessarily know if it wants to be good, she said. And until those two narratives of looking good and being good are cohesive, then I dont believe that revitalization is possible.
DPS releases photos of individuals involved in instigating riot at U.S.-Mexico border near gate 36

DPS releases photos of individuals involved in instigating riot at U.S.-Mexico border near gate 36

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The Department of Public Safety (DPS) released new photos of the individuals they say instigated a riot at the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday, March 21.

Photos courtesy of DPS

DPS confirmed the arrests of 214 migrants on state rioting charges. All 214 will be held until they can be taken by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE).

UPDATE: 222 charged with participating in riot at border wall in El Paso County

DPS says the group had been in federal custody for improper entry and has now been rebooked on state rioting charges, a class B misdemeanor.

Nine people are facing felony rioting charges. Seven of those people are currently in custody and have been booked into the El Paso County Jail, according to DPS.

DPS says their ages range from 18 to 46 years old. The group is made up of adult males and females from Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.

Junior Evaristo Benitez-Martinez, 21, of Venezuela (rioting  felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant).

Keider Jose Zurita Aponte, 21, of Venezuela (rioting  felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant).

Gregori Jose Guilarte-Acosta, 18, of Venezuela (rioting  felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant).

Omar Alejandro Graterol Colmenares, 27, Venezuela (rioting  felony, criminal mischief and assault public servant).

Joshua Fernando Garcia Juarez, 18, of Guatemala (rioting  felony).

Luis Jesus Chacon, 27, of Venezuela (rioting  felony).

Martin Elias Villasis Cedeno, 46, of Ecuador (rioting  felony).

As KTSM previously reported, hundreds of migrants crossed illegally into El Paso on Thursday, March 21, and forced their way past the National Guards concertina wire to gather at the border wall, where U.S. Border Patrol agents began processing them at the gate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Gary L. Bowman, who led the Neshaminy School District for ten years as superintendent, died Wednesday, April 3, according to a post to social media by the district.

No cause of death was given.

"We regret to announce the passing of Dr. Gary L. Bowman, who was the Superintendent of Neshaminy School District from 1992 until his retirement in 2002," the Facebook notice said. "Dr. Bowman devoted his life to education and public service as a teacher, school administrator in multiple roles, and active leader in community organizations both before and after his retirement. He was preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Joan, who was a teacher and public librarian. We offer our condolences to the Bowman family.

His son, Jason, is the current superintendent.

Bowman began his career in Bucks County in 1964 in the Centennial School District, teaching industrial arts and special education. He was director of federal programs in the Bristol Township School District from 1969 to 1975. After a stint as principal at Lower Southampton Elementary, he became assistant superintendent and then superintendent in 1992.

Dr. Gary L. Bowman, in an undated photo.

He retired from that position in 2002. He held degrees from Millersville University, the College of New Jersey and Bucknell University.

He received many honors, including the Stanton Kelton Award from the United Way for leadership, the Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce, Pa. Music Educators and from Lower Southampton Township, where he lived. He was president of the Feasterville Rotary Club.

Mr. President Feasterville Rotary donates to NOVA

After his retirement from Neshaminy, he taught college courses at Gwynned Mercy. He was also certified to teach Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People."

His wife, Joan, died, in 2021. Her obit stated she was survived by her children, Warren, Jason, and was pre-deceased by son, Gary L. Bowman II. The Bowmans moved to Langhorne in 1964, where they raised their children.

Funeral and memorial arrangements were not available.

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Dr. Gary L. Bowman, ex-Neshaminy Superintendent, has died
Dresden Peace Prize to be awarded to late Russian dissident Navalny

Flowers, candles and pictures are laid in tribute to deceased Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, near the Consulate General of the Russian Federation. This year's Dresden Peace Prize is to be awarded posthumously to leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Sven Hoppe/dpa

This year's Dresden Peace Prize is to be awarded posthumously to leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, will receive the award on May 12 at the eastern German city's main theatre, the Staatsschauspiel, it announced on Thursday.

The organizers - the Dresden Peace Prize Initiative, the Staatsschauspiel Dresden and the Ecumenical Information Centre - plan to announce more information on Monday.

Navalny, a long-standing and staunch opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in a prison camp in the Arctic Circle in Siberia on February 16.

It has not been independently established whether the 47-year-old died naturally or was killed due to the conditions of his detention.

The Dresden Peace Prize is awarded to individuals who have rendered outstanding services to peace and international understanding.

Previous winners include former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, war photographer James Nachtwey and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Alexei Navalny, stands on the banks of the Spree surrounded by media representatives after casting her vote in the presidential election in Russia. This year's Dresden Peace Prize is to be awarded posthumously to leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, will receive the award on May 12. Monika Skolimowska/dpa
Driver killed, passenger and another motorist injured in Lincoln crash, DA says

A driver was killed and two other people were injured in a crash in Lincoln on Thursday morning, the district attorney said.

The female driver who died was not immediately identified pending notification of family.

The fatal crash occurred at 9:13 a.m. Thursday on Route 117 in Lincoln, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Lincoln Acting Police Chief Sean Kennedy said in a joint statement.

A preliminary investigation found that a Jeep Wrangler traveling westbound on Route 117, in the area of Sweet Bay Lane, and a Chevy Silverado traveling eastbound collided head-on in the eastbound lane.

The driver of the Jeep Wrangler was taken by ambulance to Emerson Hospital where she later died, officials said. A passenger of the Jeep Wrangler and the driver of the Chevy Silverado were taken by ambulance to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Route 117 was closed between Route 126 and the Concord town line following the crash and has since reopened.

The fatal crash is under investigation by the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, Lincoln Police and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Reconstruction Section.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Semafor Signals

Insights from The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and Politico

The News

The maker of a failed drug meant to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) said Thursday it will voluntarily pull the treatment from the market, a rare move for a pharmaceutical company. It comes after a clinical trial showed the medication doesnt help patients with the deadly neurological condition, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

The drug was already controversial, having been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022 after one small clinical trial while the approval process for new treatments usually requires two large studies that show a clear benefit. That was because FDA officials wanted to give the drug, called Relyvrio, more regulatory flexibility, given the serious and life-threatening nature of ALS and the substantial unmet need.

While this is a difficult moment for the ALS community, we reached this path forward in partnership with the stakeholders who will be impacted and in line with our steadfast commitment to people living with ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, the CEOs of the drug maker, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

The FDA has let standards slip, critics say

Sources: The Washington Post, Politico

The FDA has tried to make its rules more flexible in the case of drugs that could help with particularly devastating conditions such as ALS that have few treatment options, but critics say the agency is now giving too much leeway, ignoring its own experts, and setting a bad precedent for future regulations.

When they lower the standards for one product, however urgently needed it might be, it has a tendency to serve as a model, the president of the nonprofit National Center for Health Research told The Washington Post in March. Regulatory experts warned Politico that the FDAs flexibility could be an issue in the future if drug companies dont voluntarily cease production.

Pledge to remove drug from market if it failed could be a model for others

Sources: Politico, The ALS Association

Those who advocate for more flexibility in the FDAs regulatory process say this series of events was actually a win for patients. The FDA greenlit the drug in part because Amylyx Pharmaceuticals pledged to pull it from the market if it didnt prove effective, experts told Politico, and the company kept its word. This might be an example of successful regulatory flexibility, even though the drug didnt pan out, one said.

The ALS Association lauded the companys handling of the situation. We believe the example of Relyvrio shows how the system can work, the group said in a statement. Safe and potentially effective treatments can be made accessible rapidly until further research can confirm their efficacy.

Company voluntarily pulling drug prevented major FDA headache

Sources: The Associated Press, The Washington Post

The FDA might have faced a major dilemma if Amylyx Pharmaceuticals had not voluntarily pulled the treatment, The Associated Press reported, because the regulatory agency would not have had a quick way to force the drug from the market.

One member of the FDAs expert panel warned in 2022 stressed how difficult it would be to order the company to stop selling the drug once it was granted full approval, saying Frankly, Im not sure its ever taken place.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu. This is the first contact between Russia and France at the level of defense ministries since October 2022.

ADVERTISIMENT

Russia has not officially reported the call from France. In turn, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces told what exactly Shoigu and Lecornu talked about.

In particular, the French minister "reminded Shoigu of the strong condemnation of the terrorist attacks and France's solidarity with the victims and their families." This refers to the murder of Russians in Crocus City Hall.

"Lecornu confirmed that France has no information about any connection between this terrorist attack and Ukraine. He called on Russia to stop any exploitation of this topic," the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Separately, Lecornu "unequivocally condemned the war of aggression that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine and recalled that France will continue to support Ukraine for as long and as intensively as necessary." In this way, France seeks to bring peace and security to Europe, the ministry added.

ADVERTISIMENT

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the United States of America warned the Russian authorities more than two weeks before the March 22 terrorist attack in the suburbs of Moscow that the attack was likely to take place in Crocus City Hall. However, Russia disregarded the warning and did not take measures to prevent the attack.

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service has stepped up its efforts to accuse Ukraine of the Crocus attack. The aggressor country categorically denies any involvement in the attack by the Islamic State, whose militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
Senator Tammy Duckworth is urging the Federal Aviation Administration to take a closer look at how it responds to what she says is a pattern by Boeing of failing to disclose flight deck features of the 737 Max to pilots, according to a letter to be sent Thursday and obtained exclusively by CBS News.

Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois and chair of the Senate's Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation Subcommittee, is calling on FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker to investigate why Alaska Airlines pilots were unaware the plane's cockpit door was designed to automatically open during a rapid depressurization  which is exactly what occurred on flight AS1282 when a door panel on a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out mid-flight in early January.

"Boeing's failure to disclose this feature is chilling given its history of concealing 737 MAX information from pilots," Duckworth writes.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters following a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on January 17 that the flight crew should have been told about the feature. "Nobody knew about it. So it was a complete surprise. And the flight crew needs to know," she said, adding, "knowing this could occur is pretty key to safety."

In this National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) handout, an opening is seen in the fuselage of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX on January 7, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. A door-sized section near the rear of the Boeing 737-9 MAX plane blew off 10 minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon on January 5 on its way to Ontario, California. / Credit: NTSB

Following the January 5 incident with the door panel, Boeing updated the Flight Crew Operating Manual to include that the cockpit door opens in order to equalize pressure between the flight deck and cabin in the event of a rapid depressurization of the passenger cabin.

"We agree with Senator Duckworth. As a fellow pilot, she understands the importance of informing pilots about safety critical designs and systems." said 737 Captain Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilot Association, which represents American Airlines pilots. "This nondisclosure of the cockpit door design just adds to Boeing's rap sheet of withholding information from pilots. The FAA has got to stop this bad behavior before tragedy strikes, again."

But NTSB investigators say it was not only the pilots of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 who were unaware of the cockpit door design to swing open during a depressurization. It caught the flight attendants off guard as well as they were responding to the emergency in the cabin.

"When safety culture is broken down and the expediency of shoveling profits to Wall Street becomes the mission  this is what you get. It's not okay. It's not sustainable," Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, representing 50,000 flight attendants at 19 airlines including Alaska Airlines, told CBS News. "And we as a nation cannot allow this great American company to be torched by shareholder capitalism. We stand with the workers trying right now to take back the company they built."

In her letter, Duckworth says the FAA needs to consider if any changes are required to the cockpit of the 737 in light of the door's design and that the regulator may need to consider taking action against the company.

"This unknown, undisclosed feature resulted in the flight crew being surprised when the rapid depressurization event caused the cockpit door to slam open, sucking an emergency checklist out of the cockpit and removing one of the pilots' headsets," writes Duckworth. "As a pilot, I cannot convey strongly enough how critical it is for the flight crew to be fully informed of all features on the flight deck. Keeping pilots in the dark about features on the MAX has become a pattern at Boeing. This is the third time Boeing has failed to disclose a flight deck feature to 737 MAX pilots. This is dangerous, and FAA must not view this latest omission in isolation. Instead, FAA should consider regulatory action informed by Boeing's past pattern of deceptive conduct."

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation Chair Tammy Duckworth questions witnesses during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on November 09, 2023 in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Duckworth points to Boeing's decision not to include the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, in the flight manual for the 737 Max and its failure to inform pilots that the Angle of Attack (AOA) disagree alert aboard most Max 8 airliners was not functional. It was a design flaw with the MCAS system that led to the two deadly 737 Max 8 crashes that killed 346 people, and the AOA issue that was not disclosed until after the second Max 8 crash. The AOA sensor was a factor in both crashes.

"While this was not a safety-critical feature, the manufacturer's brazen disregard for type design requirements and lack of candor with pilots is breathtaking," writes Duckworth. "Even more disturbing is FAA's failure to consider any kind of civil enforcement action. If Boeing faces no consequence from FAA when it engages in outrageously inappropriate conduct like thiswhat incentive does the company have to change its behavior?"

Boeing said in a statement to CBS News late Wednesday that it is "committed to continued transparency and sharing information with our regulator and operators."

In recent weeks, Duckworth has called on the FAA to deny Boeing a key safety waiver for the 737 Max 7 and Max 10 that would have allowed the planes to be certified for use despite an issue with the anti-icing system found on all Max engines. Boeing withdrew the request following her letter to the FAA and pledged not to seek certification of either airliner until a fix was developed. Those delays have resulted in key Boeing customer Southwest Airlines cutting its capacity of planes for 2024 and United pausing pilot hiring and encouraging some of its existing pilots to take unpaid leave as both carriers will receive fewer airplanes than expected.

Katie Krupnik contributed reporting.

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A man in Chester County, Pennsylvania, is facing multiple charges. This comes after animal protection officers discovered a duct-taped kitten and 38 other neglected animals in his care.

Reports say the 5-week-old kitten  now known as Roo  had duct tape wrapped around her and is missing a front leg. Roo needed urgent emergency treatment, which helped save her life.

Duct-taped kitten leads to rescue of 38 animals in Pennsylvania

According to Fox29 Philadelphia, animal protection officers were initially responding to reports of a stray dog. They then noticed the duct-taped kitten while engaging her owner. Concerned for the felines wellbeing, officers immediately rushed her to the Brandywine Valley SPCAs (BVSPCA) West Chester campus for treatment.

She was wrapped in duct tape and was missing her front leg, and were not sure what happened, Sara Smith, a BVSPCA officer, told the news outlet. Furthermore, Smith shared Roo had a fever and that her exposed, infected wound needed care immediately.

The animal protection officer considers it a miracle that Roo survived. Our vet was able to life saving surgery and she pulled through it, which was a miracle in itself, Smith explained.

After Roos rescue, the BVSPCA animal protective services team and police officers went to her owners residence to arrest him for the kittens neglect, only to discover 38 more animals  among them several cats, a rabbit, dog, and turtle  living in appalling conditions.

Tragically, officers also found a deceased cat in the home, as per NBC Philadelphia reporting. Unfortunately, some of the rescued animals suffered from upper respiratory infections, eye infections, and untreated wounds.

BVSPCA officer Smith acknowledged Roo played a big role in their discovery of the other neglected animals.

Shes our little heroine. If it wasnt for Roo, who knows what would have kept going on inside that house, Smith explained. Now these animals are going to be in a better place and theyre going to have nice, warm, healthy homes. Its just a better life for them.

The post Duct-Taped Kitten & 38 More Animals Rescued in Pennsylvania appeared first on CatTime.
Taiwan's massive earthquake could happen in California. What we can learn from it

A damaged building collapsed next to a local hotel following the earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan on Thursday. (Annabelle Chih / Getty Images)

A powerful rush-hour earthquake that rocked Taiwan, one of the best-prepared locations in the world for temblors, on Wednesday morning could provide crucial lessons for Southern California.

The quake, measured at magnitude 7.4 by the U.S. Geological Survey, killed at least nine people and injured hundreds on the island, which is about 1 times the size of Vermont.

Like California, Taiwan is no stranger to powerful and damaging earthquakes. The factors that probably reduced the damage inflicted by Wednesday's quake, the strongest on the island in 25 years, were the location of the fault, strong building codes and a collective effort to prepare for natural disasters, experts say.

"You put this earthquake in Taipei and you'd have a lot more damage. You put this earthquake in L.A. and we'd have way, way more damage," said Lucy Jones, a seismologist and founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society. "Just recognizing that the fault didn't get near a major population center is probably the most important factor."

Hualien County, a sleepy tourist spot in eastern Taiwan about 100 miles from Taipei, the island's capital, was close to the epicenter and saw the most damage. The first floor of several buildings across the city failed, leaving the multistory towers tilted on their sides. Authorities worked to free more than 100 people trapped in the wreckage.

Read more: Strongest earthquake in 25 years rocks Taiwan, killing 9 people and stranding workers

The buildings on the eastern part of the island  which house most of the Indigenous Formosans, who make up about 2% of the island's population  are older than those in more urban areas. The buildings that collapsed are likely to be ones that hadn't been retrofitted, experts say.

Taiwan's last major earthquake was in 1999, when a magnitude 7.6 temblor struck about 90 miles southwest of Taipei, killing nearly 2,500 people. Officials reevaluated and strengthened building standards in the aftermath.

In Los Angeles, structural engineers have long warned about the risk of concrete buildings collapsing during a major quake, as happened during the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge quakes.

Still, many older buildings across California have yet to be updated to the latest standards, leaving them vulnerable to damage or collapse during a major earthquake. Depending on the type of building, retrofit fixes include adding such supporting elements as steel frames or beams, installing new concrete walls or repairing vulnerable welds.

"One thing that's important to pay attention to is that there are still buildings that have not been retrofit," said Patti Harburg-Petrich, a structural engineer. "One thing we can take away as a community from this earthquake is the importance of investing in those safety measures so we can make sure that when the Big One hits California, we can keep everybody safe."

The Inland Empire is home to dozens of older brick buildings that haven't been retrofitted. In Los Angeles, about 6,000 buildings have been identified as potentially in need of a retrofit, according to records obtained by The Times this year.

Los Angeles, Torrance, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills have all recently passed laws requiring certain vulnerable buildings to undergo retrofitting.

"The earthquake is inevitable, but the disaster is not," Jones said. "We absolutely know how to build communities that will not come apart. We've just chosen not to do it."

Read more: About 6,000 buildings in L.A. are at risk in an earthquake. Do you live or work in one of them?

Another striking similarity between Los Angeles and the portion of Taiwan that felt strong shaking during the earthquake is the soil condition. The Los Angeles Basin, just like Taipei, is basically "a big bowl of loose sediment" that can amplify movement, Jones said.

When the ground began to rumble in Taipei on Wednesday morning, an anchor at the SET News channel was standing in front of a camera in the middle of a broadcast. She attempted to maintain her balance as the room swayed. Small pieces of material from the ceiling rained down.

"I cannot even keep my standing posture and maintain my balance, especially with the ceiling shaking and many items falling off. I want to remind all the TV audiences to take care of themselves and be safe amid the earthquake," she said in Chinese.

Lev Nachman, who has lived in Taiwan on and off since 2012, has grown accustomed to the occasional temblor. Taiwan is particularly vulnerable to quakes because of its position in the world's most seismically active zone, known as the Ring of Fire.

The 31-year-old was jolted awake in his bedroom in Taipei just before 8 a.m. to the sound of his phone buzzing with a notification from the island's automated earthquake alert system. The text message arrived about 30 seconds before the shaking started.

It felt like a Disney ride that I didnt sign up for, he said. A typical earthquake is kind of like if youre on a chair and someone shakes you back and forth. This felt like if two people were playing tug of war with you on a chair.

Some residents voiced concerns about the alert system because not everyone was notified. As in California, earthquake early-warning alerts go out only to people in areas that could be affected by severe shaking.

But experts say the notification system was an example of the technology working well.

Limiting the scope of the early-warning alerts prevents people from overreacting in areas at lower risk of damage. Taiwans system sends out a post-quake report to everyone on the network, informing people where the quake happened and how strong it was, UCLA geologist Lingsen Meng said.

That follow-up report serves both to educate the public and to bring a sense of ease, Meng said. Thats something maybe we could learn here.

Read more: The 1994 Northridge quake was a shock. Here's why the next one won't be

Taiwan also benefits from a dense network of earthquake sensors all around the island. While California has a robust network of seismometers in the heavily populated Bay Area and Southland regions, coverage in the Mojave Desert and the Sierra Nevada is lacking, he said.

We might want to [find] a way to use community infrastructure to host cheaper sensors, so that we have better coverage for earthquake warnings in California, he said. More sensors in those areas would mean less lag time between the rupture and its detection.

The quake also triggered landslides in Hualien, which is a phenomenon Southern California is likely to experience during a large earthquake along the Sierra Madre or San Andreas faults, Jones said.

Seismologists have long urged Californians to prepare for the "Big One," defined as a quake of at least a magnitude 7.8  2 times larger than the one that hit Taiwan  along the southern part of the San Andreas Fault, which runs nearly the length of the state.

The rupture from Taiwan's earthquake took place about 22 miles below the surface, said Susan Hough, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena.

At its deepest, the San Andreas extends only 10 miles into the ground, meaning energy has less time to dissipate before erupting on the surface. If anything, one would expect stronger ground motions with an earthquake here the same scale as the one in Taiwan, Hough said.

The most important lesson California can learn from earthquakes elsewhere is that they are bound to happen, Hough said.

The last earthquake above 7.0 in California was a 7.1 temblor in Ridgecrest in 2019. It killed one person and caused $5.3 billion in damage. The only thing that prevented a far greater toll was the geologic good luck that it happened in an area less densely populated than Californias major cities.

People can start to think that, Well, yeah, earthquakes happen, it shakes, but they're not that bad,'  Hough said. But were going to have big quakes close to people.

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.
EAST KINGSTON  A local family and their pet cat emerged safely after a massive tree toppled onto their home Thursday, April 4, causing extensive damage.

The East Kingston Fire Department responded to 120 Depot Road at approximately 8:06 a.m. during the spring noreaster that toppled trees and resulted in widespread power outages.

When firefighters arrived, they found the residence severely damaged by the fallen tree.

A local family and their pet cat emerged safely after a massive tree toppled onto their home early Thursday morning.

Fire Chief Ed Warren said the two occupants of the home were uninjured and evacuated with their cat as firefighters arrived.

I am thankful that no one was injured, said Warren.

Warren said the home was deemed a total loss. The residents, he said, are being assisted by family members and the American Red Cross.

A bedroom in the home on Depot Road where residents were sleeping at the time of the tree falling. There were no injuries.

East Kingston Police assisted at the scene.

The East Kingston Fire Department is collecting donations for the couple who lost their home.

The department will collect adult clothing items, personal hygiene items, non-perishables, gift cards, blankets, shoes, and pet supplies, including pet food. Check donations will also be accepted.

Residents can drop off all donations at the East Kingston Fire Station, 5 Main St. Checks can be made out to the East Kingston Fire Association and dropped off at the station or mailed to the East Kingston Fire Department, P.O. Box 171, East Kingston, NH 03827.

We would like to encourage our community to donate if they are able to do so, said Warren. East Kingston is a tight-knit community, and helping our residents in times of need is who we are."

More: Spring storm slams Seacoast NH and Maine with heavy snow, rain, wind, power outages

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: East Kingston family escapes unharmed as tree destroys home
HARRISON COUNTY, Texas (KETK)  A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a Harrison County court on Wednesday after being convicted of possession of fentanyl.

17 dogs taken from Van Zandt County home, man arrested for animal cruelty

Brian Okeith Tucker, 41, was arrested in January 2022 after a traffic stop by Marshall PD where officers smelled marijuana and conducted a search of the vehicle.

According to a release from the district attorneys office, Tucker was pulled over after officers saw him driving a car and were aware he did not have a valid drivers license.

As officers searched the vehicle, they initially discovered ecstasy pills in the center console and later discovered a small safe that contained six jars of marijuana and two pill bottles containing 157 pills falsely labeled as hydrocodone, the release said. Subsequent testing of the pills revealed that they were actually fentanyl.

Mugshot courtesy of Harrison County jail records

Patrol officers gave testimony at Tuckers trial where the release said they told jurors they were very familiar with Tucker in the past and he had never had a valid license in those previous interactions. Jurors were also told Tucker had two previous drug convictions in 2016.

Assistant District Attorney Brendan Roth stated that it is hoped that this verdict does send a strong message to the drug dealers of Harrison County that those who choose to deal narcotics in here, will be vigilantly investigated and prosecuted, the release said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (WJMN)  Union nurses in the eastern Upper Peninsula have told their boss that they are planning a strike later this month.

Contract negotiations between nurses and executives at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault have been ongoing since at least the first of the year.

After over three months of talks, a spokesperson for the Michigan Nurses Association tells Local 3 that their bargaining unit sent notice to management late Wednesday to management that a five-day strike could begin as early as April 15.

Catch up:

Were told sticking points for the nurses include the hospitals unwillingness to address healthcare cost increases or put Sault nurses pay on par with other U.P. hospital staff. Nurses also say hospital management insists on demanding that unionized MyMichigan Medical Center Sault nurses give up their right to cash out unused PTO while allowing non-unionized employees at other MyMichigan hospitals to keep that benefit.

The hospitals CEO, Kevin Kalchik told Local 3 earlier this year that the offer on the table included the single biggest pay raise in the hospitals history. You can read more about our conversation with him in our previous article.

In response to the nurses claims about PTO policies, Kalchik said each member location has established practices and policies before they became a part of MyMichigan Health. Over time we look to align policies and practices, but a number of differences continue today with one difference being that certain groups have PTO cash out and others do not.

The reason for the strike extends beyond an inability to strike a deal on the next contract. Representatives for the union say the strike is for unfair labor practices, and link their current grievance to past labor complaints which led to a settlement in which MyMichigan was ordered to post notices that said it would not illegally create the impression of surveilling RNs and would not illegally discipline nurses  including the unions president  for engaging in protected union activity, according to the MNA and government records.





Nurses say they feel MyMichigans accused actionswhich include interfering with union activities, surveilling employees, and suspending the unions local leaderhave not changed despite the settlement.

MyMichigan Saults CEO Kevin Kalchik responded to our request for comment, saying the hospital has already begun preparing for the strike and do not expect any disruptions to patient care.

Kalchik also said that while the MNA claims it is a strike over unfair labor practices, the union has not filed any charges against the hospital.

It is disappointing the bargaining nurses walked away from the table after the package we offered accomplished much of what they have been seeking, said Kalchik. We have negotiated in good faith in more than 13 sessions up to this point, working hard to reach an agreement. We are very comfortable with what we have proposed. We believe our position is fair and reasonable and designed to keep us competitive in the challenging health care environment we face today. Moreover, our package respects the excellence of our nurses and all they have contributed to our patients and community.

A spokesperson for the Michigan Nurses Association told Local 3 that the union is planning to file additional charges with the National Labor Relations Board in the near future related to nurse surveillance during their picket last month, but also say they dont believe the previously settled charges are resolved due to hospital managements ongoing behavior.

As of now, the union said they are still investigating the issues.

The strike is planned to begin the morning of April 15 and end April 19.

Our previous story:

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJMN - UPMatters.com.
Daily Briefing: Are you eating eggs as you read this?

Officials say the risk of infection to consumers remains low, but avian flu poses a threat to the supply and affordability of America's eggs. Also in the news: Aftershocks have complicated efforts to rescue people under rubble in Taiwan and federal prosecutors argued this week that Texas' S.B. 4 interferes with federal border enforcement and harms America's relationship with Mexico.

 I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Here's how to get wrapped up this National Burrito Day.

Here's the news to know Thursday.

Texas plant is the latest in spike of US bird flu cases

Nearly two million chickens were slaughtered after Cal-Maine Foods announced positive tests at its Texas plant for bird flu. The infections came less than 24 hours after the Centers for Disease Control reported a person in Texas had been infected with the virus after coming into close contact with dairy cattle, just over a week after sick dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas tested positive for the virus.

There's no reason to panic: Federal and state health authorities are investigating the outbreaks, and the USDA said the risk to the general public is low as the viruses have only rarely been transmitted from person to person. Cal-Maine Foods said it was working to minimize disruption to its customers.

The Texas case marks the the first human infection of the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in Texas and the second ever in the U.S.

The only symptom reported by the Texas patient was pink eye . Officials say the risk to public health remains low, but the infection in Texas raises future concerns about how the bird flu virus evolves.

A more direct impact might be to your wallet. Bird flu has cost the government roughly $660 million and in recent times raised the price of eggs and poultry. At least 58 million birds were slaughtered last year to limit the spread of the virus.

Why are eggs so expensive?: Prices have risen over the past six months, with the average cost of a dozen eggs hitting $3 in February.

Totality tourists are hoping for clear skies

Millions of Americans are awaiting a rare solar eclipse on April 8  nearly the whole country will have a chance to look up and see at least a small portion of the moon clip the sun. But people from around the world who made plans to visit the narrow path of totality for the best show are confronting some fickle cloud forecasts that may put a damper on their plans. Read more

More news to know now

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Rescue effort continues in massive Taiwan earthquake

Rescuers in Taiwan continue to comb through the rubble Thursday to find scores of people missing or trapped by a massive earthquake, while experts say a slew of aftershocks could make the search and rescue even more dangerous. Taiwan's National Fire Agency said at least 1,050 people were injured when the earthquake, measured as 7.4 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey, struck near the east coast city of Hualien. Officials say an investigation is underway to determine why not all Taiwanese received a nationwide alert issued following the quake. Read more

Members of a rescue team searching for survivors in a damaged building in Hualien on April 3, 2024.

Andres decries hit on World Central Kitchen workers

Government leaders and family members of the seven World Central Kitchen members killed in an Israeli missile strike continue pressing Israel for answers as details of the attack began to emerge. The seven were killed Monday while traveling in a convoy from an aid warehouse in central Gaza. Celebrity chef Jose Andres, founder of WCK, said the charity group had clear communication with the Israeli military, which knew the aid workers' movements. While Israel has contended the incident was a "tragic" accident, Andres said the workers were targeted "systematically, car by car." Read more

The deaths of the WCK crew marks a new low in the Israel-Hamas war, aid workers say.

Here's why an Arab American doctor walked out of a meeting with Biden.

Keep scrolling

Did Texas 'go too far' with SB4 border bill?

A U.S. appeals court kept a sweeping Texas immigration policy on hold after hearing from both state and federal attorneys. During Wednesday's hour-long hearing, a three-judge panel listened to arguments on the law known as S.B. 4, which would authorize law enforcement officers in the state to arrest, detain and deport people suspected of entering the U.S. in Texas from Mexico without legal authorization. It's not clear when the appeals court will hand down a decision, though whatever it decides is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read our full recap of the hearing.

Photo of the day: Diplomats eat cake, too

Foreign ministers cut a cake Thursday morning in Brussels, Belgium, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The sweetness of the moment came against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine, which has strained NATO and prompted its member countries to start planning for a greater role in coordinating military aid to Ukraine. Read more about what is NATO.

Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib (L) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, cut the cake at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 4, 2024.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com . Support journalism like this  subscribe to USA TODAY here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bird flu, eclipse, Taiwan earthquake, Israel, World Central Kitchen, NATO, Texas, immigration: Daily Briefing
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  The upcoming solar eclipse on Monday, Apr. 8 is the subject of todays Weather Wednesday.

The moon is going to pass between the Earth and the sun and cast a shadow over a good chunk of the country. Were going to be in whats called the penumbra, which means we will see a partial eclipse here in Mid-Michigan.

Meanwhile, across Ohio and other areas, people will be in the ombre, which means they will see a total eclipse big difference in terms of how it looks, but it will still be really cool to check out here in Mid-Michigan.

Then as the moon continues its transit the shadow continues to move, so there is a window where it will be visible to us here in Mid-Michigan beginning just before 2 p.m.

This is when the partial eclipse will begin. The maximum coverage of the moon in front of the sun will be at least 96%. This will happen at 3:12 in the afternoon, followed by the moon continuing its transit and clearing the view of the sun by 4:25.

Typically, on Apr. 8, we average around 70% cloud cover. So thats not great. We may have a storm system in the area, so that could be something that could impact your viewing on Monday.

We will be providing an updated cloud forecast for Monday daily through the weekend.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
Editorial: An abortion ban tempered only by the right to vote on it

The Florida Supreme Court tore a page from the Florida Constitution and flung it in the faces of the people Monday by effectively banning abortion in Florida. Six of the seven justices said the word privacy does not mean what most people sensibly assume it does.

But in a second ruling that was both sound and surprising, a court dominated by appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed the people of Florida to vote in November on a ballot initiative that would specifically protect abortion rights. It will be on the ballot as Amendment 4.

In a 4-3 decision, justices rejected Attorney General Ashley Moodys contrived arguments that the initiatives ballot summary is misleading. But Justice Carlos Muniz picked up two votes for a concurring opinion that hints at an eventual fetal personhood declaration by the court that would render Amendment 4 moot.

The 6-1 decision to ban abortions, the most radical act yet of this reactionary courts contempt for precedents it dislikes, says in effect that the people didnt know abortion would be affected when they approved Floridas landmark 1980 privacy amendment to the state Constitution.

That provision guarantees  or did until Monday  that every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the persons private life except as provided herein

And if the people didnt know, the majority said, then the court was wrong to conclude in 1989 that abortion was included in the right to privacy.

All seven justices in 1989 agreed with the majority opinion that nothing could be more private or personal than the decision whether to abort or continue a pregnancy.

What the 1989 court said then is still self-evident.

Mondays decision not only upholds Floridas ban on abortion after 15 weeks but effectively implements another law, labeled the Heartbeat Protection Act by its legislative supporters, that forbids abortion after six weeks  a time when many women dont yet know they are pregnant.

It is astonishing, appalling and intolerable that Charles Canady, the senior justice, did not recuse himself and voted for that outcome. While representing Florida in Congress, he opposed abortion stridently. His wife, Jennifer, a freshman state House member, co-sponsored the six-week ban, written so as to take effect immediately if the court upheld the 15-week law.

Ultimate judicial activism

That outcome is no less disgusting for its inevitability since DeSantis began packing the court with candidates curated for their ideologies, first by a nominating commission that DeSantis commands, secondly by a secret cadre of advisers led by a leading abortion opponent, the Federalist Societys Leonard Leo, and finally by DeSantis himself.

It was the ultimate in judicial activism, a trait DeSantis and his justices all claim to abhor. Moreover, the majority opinion also focused on what it imagined were the intentions of those who supported the 1980 privacy amendment rather than on the plain and logical meaning of the text.

Whatever happened to textualism?

The decision also contradicted the unmistakable opinion of a majority of voters who rejected the Legislatures 2012 attempt to do what the court finally did this week. That failed amendment would have barred public funds for abortion and held that the privacy clause could not be used to provide broader privacy rights than those in the U.S. Constitution.

Once again, Justice Jorge Labargas solitary dissent casts harsh light on the majoritys biased conclusions.

Contrary to the majority, he wrote, I am convinced that in 1980, a Florida voter would have understood that the proposed privacy amendment included broad protections for abortion.

The right of privacy is no novel concept  even in early considerations of the right of privacy, scholars recognized that the right would be one that would evolve over time  and it did.

By 1980, Labarga noted, the U.S. Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision (since repealed by a right-wing majority), had educated the entire American public on how privacy bears on abortion.

Seven years after Roe, Florida voters wrote privacy rights into the state constitution. Labarga wrote at length to document what Florida voters heard and knew in the aftermath of Roe.

Labargas deep dismay

Labarga warned that Mondays decision could jeopardize other aspects of privacy despite the majoritys claim that it doesnt.

What the majority has done today supplants Florida voters understanding  then and now  that the right to privacy includes the right to an abortion, he wrote, concluding by expressing his deep dismay.

Infuriated voters have options. They can and should vote overwhelmingly for Amendment 4 on Nov. 5.

In the longer range, they should stop electing politicians like DeSantis, and demand that their legislators restore the independence of the judicial nominating commissions, which was destroyed by a 2001 law enabling the governors to appoint all nine members of each panel rather than only three.

They should also demand that Floridas Judicial Qualifications Commission investigate Canadys ethics in voting to uphold, in effect, his wifes new abortion ban.

____

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

___
Floridas sweeping new six-week abortion ban will be one of the worst things ever to happen to women in this state.

But paradoxically, it might also be one of the best things to happen to democracy in Florida.

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday upheld a 2022 state law that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks, ruling that the right to an abortion is not protected by the privacy clause in the state Constitution.

The conservative courts 6-1 decision triggers a much more restrictive six-week ban that the state Legislature passed last year and that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in a closed-door ceremony as he ramped up what became a disastrous campaign for president.

DeSantis weird late-night secrecy signaled that he knew he was on shaky ground, and sure enough, some of his richest campaign contributors soon expressed doubts about such a brutal attack against womens reproductive rights.

The six-week ban, which takes effect in 30 days, is in line with other extreme anti-abortion laws in other Southern states, and makes abortion virtually illegal in the entire southeastern U.S.

Forced to flee Florida

Many women are not even aware they are pregnant after six weeks, and those who are will be forced to flee Floridas cruelly life-threatening restrictions to the Northeast or Midwest for medical care.

But the same court that imposed this highly repressive six-week ban on Florida also gave its approval to a statewide ballot initiative that asks voters to restore abortion rights up to the point of viability, or until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Passage of Amendment 4 on the statewide ballot on Nov. 5 would invalidate the six-week abortion ban. A powerful and timely argument in favor of passing Amendment 4 is to repeal the six-week ban that is so punitive, even some Republican legislators in Florida refused to vote for it.

The six-week ban passed the Florida Senate, 26-13, and the House, 70-40. Not one lawmaker in either party in Broward and Palm Beach counties voted for it.

Roll call votes show that the opponents included Republicans who rarely stray from the party line: Reps. Mike Caruso of Delray Beach, Peggy Gossett-Seidman of Highland Beach, Chip LaMarca of Lighthouse Point and Rick Roth of West Palm Beach. All four will be running for office this fall. This is one vote they wont have trouble explaining to voters.

An altered political landscape

So, on a single tumultuous day in Florida, the Supreme Court imposed a brutal abortion ban and simultaneously gave voters the power to repeal it. In so doing, the court may have dramatically transformed the political landscape of the nations third-largest state.

Make no mistake, Florida is not an easy state to win, President Joe Bidens campaign manager wrote in a memo that described an opening that did not exist before the courts decisions. But it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trumps weak, cash-strapped campaign, and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition.

In contrast to the Democrats newfound sense of hope, Republicans were strangely silent after the court rulings came down.

DeSantis, who usually has an opinion on just about any subject, said nothing.

Not a word from the governor who appointed five of the justices who upheld the six-week abortion ban he signed in secret.

Nor has there been a word from Sen. Rick Scott, who has said he would have signed the six-week abortion ban had he been governor, and who could now face a much tougher re-election challenge from Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

There was more silence from the Republicans in the Florida congressional delegation. Its no coincidence.

Galvanizing voters

The abortion rights question is certain to galvanize voters, many of whom are more likely to vote Democratic. This issue is to Republicans as immigration is to Democrats, meaning its potentially very damaging at the ballot box.

Polls show strong bipartisan support for abortion rights in Florida, despite the rightward drift of the states politics in recent years and the dramatic surge in Republican voter registration.

A poll conducted by the University of North Florida last November showed 62% of voters favored Amendment 4, with a majority of Republicans (53%) and independents (58%) in support.

The amendment must win support from more than 60% of voters to be enshrined in the state Constitution.

Abortion will be on the ballot and nothing can change that, and this may yet be the most intense ballot initiative fight in Florida history. Voters also will decide on Amendment 3, whether to legalize recreational marijuana use.

In both cases, justices soundly rejected the tortured legal arguments of Attorney General Ashley Moody, who wanted both initiatives kicked off the ballot (and who is considered a possible candidate for governor in 2026).

In a court filing, Moody called the wording of the abortion initiative a trick designed to hoodwink voters. Her legal defeats are clear victories for direct democracy.

The final decisions are in the hands of voters, where they belong.

All of a sudden, Florida is relevant again.

____

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

___
Although Italy's ruling party passed a vote of no confidence in Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, he remained in office. Only 129 deputies voted in favor of Salvini's resignation in the parliament, while 211 voted against.

ADVERTISIMENT

The vote of no confidence in the deputy prime minister was brought forward because of the ties between his far-right League party and the Russian dictator's United Russia party. Salvini is also accused of being a fan of Vladimir Putin.

Back in March 2017, the League signed a five-year agreement with the United Russia party, which was extended in 2022. Among other things, the agreement included clauses on the joint fight against illegal immigration and Islamic terrorism, as well as political activities to end sanctions against Russia.

However, Salvini assures that "the war has completely changed the judgment and political relations of the League party with Russia." "The purely political intentions of cooperation from 2017 between the League and United Russia no longer have any value after the invasion of Ukraine," he said.

ADVERTISIMENT

The deputy prime minister was again called upon to show any documents on the termination of cooperation between the parties instead of words. However, he did not do so.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Italy has repeatedly raised the issue of combating all forms of Russia's circumvention of sanctions. In particular, this issue was singled out in a separate article of the bilateral security agreement signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Elon Musk dubbed an X/Twitter post extremely concerning after it alleged large numbers of voters were registering in the U.S. without IDs, but election officials in Texas and Arizona were quick to call him out for spreading misinformation.

The post, made by one of Musks favorite accounts @EndWokeness (a far-right account the Tesla CEO replies to incessantly), stated that the number of voters without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING in 3 key swing states: Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

The account cited data issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) as part of the Help America Vote Verification program, which was created in 2004 to assist states with voter registration. Every time a state registers a new voter who provides only a name, date of birth, and social security number  in other words, without a drivers license or other photo identification  the data is submitted to the SSA for verification.

The X post posited the data showed over two million voter identities in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Texas were verified with the SSA since the start of 2024, suggesting it was because illegals are not able to get licenses there. But they can get Social Security Cards (for work authorization permits).

Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County Recorder, quote-tweeted Musks post with an eight-part response, offering the billionaire clearer insight behind how voter data is processed and presented. (Richer is a registered Republican and self-proclaimed owner of many, many Musk-related products, according to his post.)

Only 39,653 new voters have registered in Maricopa County in 2024 in total. For Arizona, that number is about 60,000 Richer said.

Hi Elon!



The post you're quote-tweeting seems to suggest that, based on Social Security Administration data, 220,731 illegal immigrants have registered to vote in Arizona since January 1, 2024.



A few things if I may be so bold (since I have easy access to Maricopa County's data https://t.co/dkzYqxuuZt  Stephen RicherMaricopaCountyRecorder (prsnl acct) (@stephen_richer) April 3, 2024

Richer further explained that Arizona requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, and though it can use social security numbers to verify proof of identity, it puts them on a federal only list (meaning they have only provided federal identifying materials instead of a state drivers license or ID)  with only about 30,000 voters in all of Arizona falling on that list.

Most studies show that these people are disproportionately college-aged students (perhaps who dont have ready access to a birth certificate), Richer said. But there is 0 validity to the suggestion in the original post that 220,731 illegal immigrants have registered in Arizona in 2024.

Jane Nelson, the Texas Secretary of State, also issued a statement Wednesday, calling the data from the Social Security Administration clearly incorrect and saying there is an investigation to determine why there is such a large discrepancy.

It is totally inaccurate that 1.2 million voters have registered to vote in Texas without a photo ID this year, Nelson said. The truth is our voter rolls have increased by 57,711 voters since the beginning of 2024.

Nelson went on to say the number is smaller than the two past election years, when 65,000 new people had registered to vote in the first three months of 2022, and 104,000 people registered in the first quarter of 2020. She also clarified that voters in Texas must register with either a driver license number or a verified Social Security number.

Ellen Lyon, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, said Thursday that Pennsylvania does not require photo identification to register to vote, but asks applicants to provide their state drivers license or ID card number. So far in 2024 there have been more than 75,000 new voter registrations in Pennsylvania, according to the state.

Governor Josh Shapiro instituted Automatic Voter Registration in September 2023, which has led to a significant increase in voter registrations through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Lyon wrote in an email. In addition, voter registration historically rises in presidential election years, such as 2024, when compared with municipal elections, such as 2023.

Those without state-issued ID can use their Social Security number, which are verified via the Help America Vote Verification program. However, the social security number is also verified separately for each absentee and mail ballot application, meaning the same voters number could be checked more than once in a year.

The HAVV data cited in the social media post represents only the raw number of transactions that Pennsylvania counties sent for SSN verification, Lyon added. The data does not represent the numbers of newly registered voters, and any representation that they do is false.

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Elijah Vue latest: Jesse Vang bound over for trial in charges related to 3-year-olds disappearance

MANITOWOC  Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Robert Dewane has found cause to continue with Jesse Vang's case  a felony chronic child neglect charge stemming from the disappearance of 3-year-old Elijah Vue in February.

Vang, 39, of Two Rivers, was bound over for trial after appearing for a preliminary hearing at the Manitowoc County Courthouse April 4.

Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office Detective Michael Herrmann and Two Rivers Police Department Detective Jacob Glaeser testified during the hearing.

District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre and Vang's attorneys, Timothy Hogan and Michael Turner, questioned the two detectives about their part in the investigation that led the the chronic child neglect charge against Vang.

Questions focused mainly on punishments Vang would impose on Elijah, including standing for hours with his hands in a "praying position," and one instance of Vang putting Elijah through a cold shower after Elijah's diaper overflowed.

Blanket located: Elijah Vue latest: Blanket of missing 3-year-old boy was found earlier in investigation, Two Rivers police confirm

Glaeser also testified about the photo found in a deleted folder on the phone of Elijah's mother, Katrina B. Baur, that showed Elijah wearing a blindfold with bruising around his face and arms.

Dewane ruled there was enough evidence to continue with the case and set an arraignment for April 16.

Vang's attorneys withdrew a motion to modify bail, which is currently set at $20,000.

Another motion claiming the criminal complaint is insufficient and lacks the necessary details to charge Vang with a felony will be addressed at the arraignment.

Elijah Vue has been missing since Feb. 20.

Vang told police he was the last person to see Elijah before the 3-year-old went missing Feb. 20. Vang reported the disappearance just before 11 a.m. that day, but told police the last time he saw Elijah was three hours prior to that call.

According to the criminal complaint, Vang said Elijah was told to stand next to Vang's bed and pray as a form of punishment. Vang then fell asleep for a few hours and when he woke up, the boy was gone.

An apartment complex in the 3900 block of Mishicot Road in Two Rivers was where 3-year-old Elijah Vue disappeared from, as seen Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Two Rivers, Wis.

The complaint said that Elijah had been staying with Vang at his Two Rivers residence for a week before he went missing. Baur, who was in a relationship with Vang, told police she wanted Vang to teach Elijah "how to be a man." Baur typically resides in Wisconsin Dells with Elijah.

The Two Rivers Police Department sent out a Wisconsin AMBER Alert, which is an emergency child abduction alert, for Elijah a few hours after he was reported missing. That alert is still active.

Baur was arrested in February after Elijah was reported missing. She faces a felony charge of chronic child neglect, a second charge of felony child neglect involving a different child, and two misdemeanor charges of obstructing an officer.

At a previous court date for Baur March 22, she plead not guilty to all charges. Her next appearance in court is scheduled for April 26.

Missing Wisconsin children: Elijah Vue is one of more than 30 missing children in Wisconsin

The total reward for information leading to the discovery of Elijah or the arrest and charging of anyone responsible for his disappearance has now grown to $40,000. The FBI has offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to locating Elijah or convicting those responsible for his disappearance, Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers has offered a $10,000 reward, and the city of Two Rivers has now offered an additional $15,000, reward which was funded through community donations.

If you have information that could help the Two Rivers Police Department find Elijah Vue, contact their tipline at 844-267-6648 or submit information via the Crime Stoppers app P3.

Alisa M. Schafer is a reporter for the Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc. She can be reached by email at aschafer@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Elijah Vue: Jesse Vang bound for trial in missing 3-year-old case
The mayor of Athens, Georgia, was skewered Thursday by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) for standing by sanctuary city policies in the wake of Laken Riley being murdered at the University of Georgiaa crime allegedly carried out by an undocumented immigrant.

Collins said he made a records request for emails sent by Mayor Kelly Girtz, which uncovered a correspondence between him and Clarke County Sheriff John Williamsa chain of emails he alleged showed that they were more concerned about saving face than changing policy.

A shocking email exchange reveals troubling priorities of Athens Mayor and Clarke County Sheriff only two days after Laken Rileys murder, wrote Collins to start a five-tweet thread to X.

 A shocking email exchange reveals troubling priorities of Athens Mayor and Clarke County Sheriff only two days after Laken Riley's murder.  (1/5)  Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) April 4, 2024

Specifically, Collins took issue with the officials showing concern over how theyd address residents instead of rushing to alter city and county policy regarding migrants. He appeared to be especially peeved that Girtz, while defending the citys then-stance of endorsing non-cooperation policies with ICE, pointed out that undocumented immigrants are 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated than American-born citizensdata backed by Stanford research.

While the community is experiencing deep trauma right now, and emotions are understandably raw, I support the detainer policy as one that is both humane and following the well-documented propensity of immigrants in the U.S. to be less criminally inclined than the native-born population, wrote the mayor to Williams on Feb. 24two days after Riley, 22, was killed while going for a jog on campus.

Georgia Gets Even Tougher on Immigrants in Aftermath of Laken Riley Slaying

That policy will likely soon be moot in Georgia, however, as state lawmakers passed a law last week that requires law enforcement statewide to scrutinize the immigration status of people in their custody. If someone is found to be undocumented, local sheriffs will be legally required to cooperate with ICE in each instance. Gov. Brian Kemp is yet to sign the bill into law, but is expected to do so.

Republicans in Georgia have pushed hard for harsher penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes on U.S. soil in the aftermath of Rileys death. Some, like Collins, have claimed that increased cooperation with ICE could have prevented Rileys slayingnamely because her alleged killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was arrested for shoplifting in Athens just months before she was killed.

Collins has long been staunchly anti-immigrant and been among the most outspoken lawmakers in the aftermath of Rileys slaying. He even offered her parents a seat with him at Joe Bidens State of the Union address, which they turned down, and authored a bill titled the Laken Riley Act.

Obtained through Georgia Open Records Act, the exchange on February 24, 2024, shows Sheriff Williams questioning Mayor Girtz about the county's sanctuary status, as he is unaware.



Sheriff Williams seems to care more about the PR than anything else. (2/5) pic.twitter.com/foSahBbefE  Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) April 4, 2024

Most of Collins outrage was initially directed at Joe Biden and Democrats, which he blamed for having a weak southern border that allowed for Ibarra to enter the country in the first place. Now, hes taking aim at Girtz and Williams for not being as upset as him in private conversations.

Instead of prioritizing solutions to prevent tragedies like this in the future, Mayor Girtz treats Laken Rileys murder as a PR drill to be managed with comfort and unity rather than enforcing the law, Collins posted to X.

In calling out Williams specifically, Collins alleged he seemed to care more about the PR than anything elseall because he sent an email to Girtz seeking clarity on Athens city policy so he could protect the integrity and professionalism of the Clarke County Sheriffs Office and myself.

In closing his thread, Collins called for new leadership in Athens.

The blatant disregard of law and order by public officials is highly concerning, he said. It reveals the need for accountability and new leadership that will prioritize public safety. Lakens death was preventable, but nothing will change with leaders like these.

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French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France and its allies could have stopped the horrific Rwandan genocide of 1994 and spared hundreds of thousands of lives but lacked the will to do so.

The comments come just before the 30th anniversary of the horrific slayings of as many as 800,000 civilians between April 7 and July 15 at the heart of the Rwandan civil war.

In a statement Thursday, Macrons office said the president will release an already-recorded video message Sunday to address his predecessors shortcomings and to honor those slain.

In that video, Macrons office said he will say, France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, lacked the will to do so.

Rwandan Accused of Vicious Genocide Slaughter Arrested in Ohio

Citing an official close to Macron, Agence France-Presse reported that the president will emphasize that when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act but chose not to.

France was Rwandas closest ally prior the genocide and has long been accused by Rwandan officials of enabling the massacre of the Tutsi people there. Macron addressed his countrymens shortcomings in a 2021 visit to Rwanda, saying then that he acknowledged Frances responsibility in the genocide.

Macron will not make the trip to Rwanda to commemorate the anniversary of the atrocities but has reportedly called on Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne to attend the proceedings alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

In the clip, obtained by France 24, Macron will say that a million people were slain in the genocidea figure Rwanda uses in its constitution but which a majority of experts say is too high. The real number of those slain is estimated to be between 500,000 and 800,000, a still staggering figure.

France stands by Rwanda and the Rwandan people, in memory of the 1 million children, women and men martyred because they were born Tutsi, Macron will say in the clip, France 24 reported.

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Enterprise rape suspect who illegally immigrated to the U.S. now facing human trafficking, other charges

COFFEE COUNTY, Ala (WDHN)  More information has been released on the recent arrest of an Enterprise man accused of raping a 14-year-old girl, including his new charges.

Pablo Mendoza was arrested on Monday, March 25, and initially charged with one count of rape. During a press conference Thursday afternoon, it was revealed the rape charge was dropped this week, and investigators charged him with one count of human trafficking in the first degree, sodomy in the second degree, and sexual abuse in the second degree.

Court documents claim 23-year-old Mendoza had sex with a 14-year-old girl who could not consent due to her being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.

Enterprise Police Chief Micheal Moore told WDHN that Mendoza was arrested after his investigators received a tip from the girls parents.

According to District Attorney James Tarbox, during an investigation, it was discovered that Mendoza and the girl had been in contact over several days, during which time they engaged in sexual activities that involved alcohol that could have impaired the girls mental capacities.

The Coffee and Pike County District attorney described the incident as a grooming situation.

Tarbox said Mendoza had tried to convince the girl to leave Alabama with an unknown man and then threatened her if she didnt.

I expect testimony to be provided that will indicate that the defendant (Mendoza) promised to take care of the girl, provide her with money, and asked her to change her appearance in an attempt to lure her away to this unknown male subject, said District Attorney Tarbox.

The investigation is ongoing, and Chief Micheal Moore says Mendoza may be a part of a bigger operation. No additional information has been released on the investigation.

Tarbox revealed to WDHN that Mendoza was deported from the United States at one point in the past but illegally returned to the country sometime before the crime took place.

Since his arrest, Mendoza has been held in the Coffee County Jail pending an Aniahs Law Hearing on Thursday afternoon.

If you hurt a child, they (Enterprise Police) are going to do everything they can to lock you up, and we are going to do everything we can to make sure you stay there, said Tarbox.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
During a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Tallinn on April 3, Estonian President Alar Karis reaffirmed support for Ukraine's attacks on military targets in Russia, stating that it was "perfectly legitimate for the Ukrainian forces to destroy infrastructure critical to the Russian army."

"I consider it entirely legitimate for Ukraine to attack military and other targets within Russia that support the war in order to slow the progress of the Russian war machine," Karis said, according to a press release issued by the President's Office.

"Ukraine is at war. Russia is not limiting itself in attacking the country."

Karis' remarks come as the United States has reportedly warned Ukraine to limit attacks on Russian energy infrastructure citing potential repercussions on global oil prices, as well as further Russian retaliation.

In response to the U.S. warnings, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the Washington Post on March 30 that Ukraine has the right to use its own weapons with retaliatory strikes on Russian oil refineries, despite concerns from United States.

"We used our drones. Nobody can say to us you cant," Zelensky told the Washington Post, emphasizing that Washington could not limit Ukraine's use of its own weapons.

Ukraine continues to carry out attacks on Russian oil refineries. A recent attack on March 17 successfully targeted 12 Russian oil refineries amounting to about 12% of Russia's oil-processing capacity, according to Bloomberg.

The strikes serve as retaliation for Russian attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure, and align with Ukraine's military objectives.

During Shmyhal's visit to Estonia, Karis also reaffirmed the country's commitment to supporting Ukraine, adding that the European Union and NATO allies are economically and militarily superior to Russia, emphasizing that it is up to the willingness of Western allies to help Ukraine win the war.

"Western nations can fill their stores with weapons and artillery and supplies, but if the Ukrainians lack all of these things on the battlefront, those stocks are meaningless," said Karis.

"Now it is a matter of committing ourselves to the objective and finding the resources that are needed as quickly as possible so that we can actually deliver on what we have promised."

A small Baltic nation of 1.3 million people, Estonia has thus far contributed the most bilateral aid to Ukraine as a share of its GDP, contributing 3.6% to support Ukraine, according to CNN.

Urging allies to provide more support for Ukraine, Estonia's head of state emphasized the need to further contribute to support Ukraine.

"We must give the Ukrainians what they need, Karis said.

Read also: Ukraine, Finland sign long-term security agreement

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
UPDATE: Authorities recover the body and ID man who fell overboard while on fishing trip

UPDATE 10:18 p.m.: The Eufaula Police have located the body of the man who fell overboard near the Cheneyhatchee Bridge.

Police say 65-year-old Will Newman from Dothan, Alabama, drowned after falling near the bridge while on a fishing trip. His body was recovered from Lake Eufaula.

As of now, the ALEA Marine Division has taken over the drowning case.

Opelika Police searching for alleged comic book thief

EUFAULA, Ala. (WRBL)  The Eufaula Police and Fire Departments are currently searching for a man who fell overboard near the Cheneyhatchee Bridge.

Eufaula Police says the Houston County dive term has been alerted about the incident.

Stick with WRBL on-air and online as this is a developing story. WRBL will continue to share more updates when additional details become available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
From the The Collision on The Dispatch

Welcome back to The Collision! Its Spring Break Part II, so weve got another brief, solo newsletter this week. Well take a look at what appears to be some growing tension in the Trump classified documents case down in Florida.

The Docket

Breaking this afternoon: Judge Aileen Cannon has denied one of Donald Trumps motions to dismiss the charges in the classified documents case, this one based on the Presidential Records Act. Well touch on this down below, but for the purposes of Trumps motion, Cannon writes that the charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith make no reference to the Presidential Records Act, nor do they rely on that statute for purposes of stating an offense.

This is a helpful series of graphic representations from the New York Times of the way Donald Trump has had to move political donations around to pay for his legal fees so far. This statistic in particular was astounding: The remarkable sum means that Mr. Trump has averaged more than $90,000 a day in legal-related costs for more than three years  none of it paid for with his own money.

Hunter Bidens June trial for his federal tax charges remains on after U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi of Los Angeles declined to dismiss the case earlier this week. It was clear from last weeks hearing that Scarsi was unconvinced by Bidens argument that special counsel David Weiss was politically motivated to bring charges against the presidents son.

Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan ruled Wednesday that Trumps hush-money criminal trial in Manhattan could proceed even without a ruling from the Supreme Court on the former presidents immunity claim. Trumps team had made a last-ditch motion to delay the trial over charges Trump falsified business records in order to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels about their affair. The trial is set to begin on April 15.

Prosecutors Pick a Fight Over Potential Jury Instructions

Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks at the Justice Department on August 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Complaints about Judge Aileen Cannon, the federal judge presiding over Donald Trumps classified documents case in south Florida, have largely been restricted to ardent critics of the former president.

These critics have argued that Cannon is biased because of her appointment to the bench by Trump. They point to her order during the federal investigation at Mar-a-Lago that was favorable to Trump (and ended up being reversed by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals). And they have grumbled Cannon has slowed down the pretrial period to such a degree that it seems unlikely the case will go to trial before the presidential electionexactly what Trumps team is hoping for. To be fair, Cannon has not exactly been a rubber stamp for Trumps legal team, evidenced by her rulings against multiple motions to dismiss the case (including todays denial).

Now we might add special counsel Jack Smith to the list of those increasingly frustrated with Cannons handling of the case, at least based on a close reading of a filing from the federal prosecutor this week. Smiths filing was in response to a request from Cannon that both sides provide their proposed jury instructionsunusual already because there is still no firm trial date set for the near- or even medium-term.

But things got even stranger. Cannon requested those instructions grapple with two scenarios: competing interpretations of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) that could have bearing on the verdict. The first interpretation is that juries can make a factual finding about whether a retained record is either personal or presidential. The second is that the PRA grants sole authority to the president to categorize a record as either personal or presidential.

A quick note on the PRA: The post-Watergate law was intended to limit which records a president could consider private and to provide a process for preserving presidential records and a schedule for releasing them to the public after the end of a presidents term. At bottom, while a diary or campaign materials would be considered personal, pretty much everything else generated by or for a president during his presidency is presidential. Theres no provision in the law for a president to classify or reclassify records as one or the other.

That hasnt stopped Trumps team from arguing that his retention of documents he had deemed personal could not, therefore, be unlawful, as they did in an earlier motion to dismiss the case. Curiously, Cannon ruled against Trump on this today, as referenced in The Docket above. Yet one of the scenarios in Cannons order on the jury instructions seems to accept Trumps PRA framework.

Smiths response this week was a blistering criticism of the request. The special counsel wrote that Cannons scenarios rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise that the PRA even applies to the case. Smith added that including such a reference to the laws distinction between personal and presidential documents has no bearing on the question of Trumps unlawful possession of documents under the Espionage Actthe actual federal law under which most of the charges against Trump are being brought.

Indeed, based on the current record, the PRA should not play any role at trial at all, Smith concluded.

But it was what immediately followed that could have some consequences for the trajectory of the case. After expressing his disagreement that this premise would be a correct formulation of the law, Smith urged Cannon to promptly decide so that Smith could, if need be, appeal before the trial began a decision to include instructions referencing the PRA. That seems to suggest Smith could seek to challenge Cannons jury instructions before theyre actually delivered to a jury (which has yet to be selected).

Roger Parloff at Lawfare explores the possibility and precedent of this unusual situation, and its worth a read. But needless to say, Smiths telegraphing that he might pursue an extraordinary action to cut off Cannons order is, well, extraordinary.

Further in the filing, Smith illustrates why he might be willing to pull out all the stops to prevent instructions that he says would distort the trial. In a nutshell, Smith argues, Trumps defense relies entirely on injecting the PRA into the trial when at no point has Trump ever actually indicated to the court that he designated any of the documents in question as his personal documents while he was still president. And furthermore, instructing the jury to consider this question of whether the documents had been designated personal would be an error that unfairly and improperly bolsters Trumps case.

The filing provides ample evidence Trump only arrived at this defense of his retention of classified documents long after he left the White House and amid the investigation of his possession of the documents. Investigators interviewed numerous members of Trumps White House staff, Smith wrote.

Not a single one had heard Trump say that he was designating records as personal or that, at the time he caused the transfer of boxes to Mar-a-Lago, he believed that his removal of records amounted to designating them as personal under the PRA. To the contrary, every witness who was asked this question had never heard such a thing, reads the filing.

Smith noted that despite the retroactive claims that these documents were designated personal, Trumps lawyers accepted the premise that they were government-owned presidential documents on numerous occasions, including by complying with subpoenas requesting such documents and at one point claiming in a letter that presidential records were unknowingly included in boxes being moved into Mar-a-Lago after Trumps presidency. Smith even provides evidence that Trumps argument was invented in February 2022 after consultation with the head of the conservative activist group Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton (who, Smith notes dryly, is not actually an attorney).

Reading the filing, one gets the impression of Smith tearing out his hair over Cannons order. Its one thing for the defense to make red herring arguments in trial, but for the presiding judge to risk biasing the jury with instructions that accept that red herring premise? Thats something else.

One More Thing

Back once more to Cannons decision today to deny Trumps dismissal motion, which also contains a sharp response to Smiths demand for a swift resolution from Cannon on the jury instructions dispute.

Separately, to the extent the Special Counsel demands an anticipatory finalization of jury instructions prior to trial, prior to a charge conference, and prior to the presentation of trial defenses and evidence, the Court declines that demand as unprecedented and unjust, Cannon wrote.

Cannon also sounds a tad defensive about the order in response to any implication that she was putting a thumb on the scale for Trump:

The Courts Order soliciting preliminary draft instructions on certain counts should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition on any essential element or asserted defense in this case. Nor should it be interpreted as anything other than what it was: a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case of first impression.

She also reminded both sides that they can always pursue an appeal where the law allows. Stay tuned!

Read more at The Dispatch

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Even Maria Bartiromo Has Had Enough of Nancy Maces Act

Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo has clearly had enough with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and her endless feud with Kevin McCarthy, scolding the MAGA lawmaker on-air for not letting it go.

Mace appeared Thursday on Mornings with Maria to discuss House Republicans flailing effort to impeach President Joe Biden and questioned whether Mace supported Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes motion to vacate House Speaker Mike Johnson from his post. Mace, one of eight Republicans who voted to boot McCarthy from the speakership, took the opportunity to bash the former GOP leaderquickly rankling the previously cordial Fox host.

Mike Johnson was dealt a bad hand, Mace started. The former speaker, disgraced former speaker

Maria Bartiromo Already Laying Groundwork for the Big Lie 2.0

Kevin McCarthy is not disgraced, an irritated Bartiromo shot back, throwing her hands up in frustration at the South Carolina congresswomans apparent vendetta.

Mace tried to defend her characterization, painting McCarthy as a liar who made a lot of bad deals during his time as speaker, including the debt ceiling deal Mace once supported before she eventually opposed it when it became a bipartisan effort. Bartiromo, clearly annoyed with Maces posturing, tried to ask the congresswoman whether shed support additional funding to Ukrainebut Mace continued complaining about her primary challenger, whom she alleged to have been a McCarthy puppet.

Finally, Bartiromo had enough.

Nancy Maces Staff Guide Shows Her True Priority: Nancy Mace

Dont you think you should all stick together in some ways? Bartiromo said in an exasperated tone. You are hanging on by a thread in the majority. When are you actually going to unite as a party and get things done?

Mace said she agreed, before once again railing against her favorite target. Thats why Kevin McCarthy should not go after fellow Republicans that can win in general elections in purple seats, she said.

Hes not even there yet and youre still blaming Kevin McCarthy! Bartiromo fired back, talking over Mace before ending the interview altogether.

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Every vote counts in Silicon Valley, where two congressional candidates literally tied for second place

Assemblymember Evan Low, left, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, center, and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo are vying to fill California's 16th Congressional District seat. With a second-place tie, all three now appear to be headed to the November ballot. (Jose Luis Villegas / Associated Press; Dai Sugano / MediaNews Group/ Mercury News/Getty Images; Beth LaBerge / Pool Photo)

In an astounding outcome for a closely-watched Silicon Valley congressional primary, two second-place candidates have finished with the exact same number of votes  meaning both will be on the November ballot, along with first-place finisher, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.

The extremely unusual situation comes after weeks of uncertainty, with second-place finishers Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Assemblymember Evan Low of Campbell repeatedly trading positions, often while separated by just one or two votes. In the end, they each garnered 30,249 votes.

Liccardo maintained his first-place lead since the primary, securing his spot on the November ballot with 38,489 votes.

"It was like watching a snail race  the most exciting snail race I've ever witnessed in my life," Marva Diaz, a political consultant and publisher of the election guide California Target Book, said of watching the vote counts over the past month.

The candidates are vying to replace retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo of Menlo Park in a coveted, safely Democratic district that includes part of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

This will be the first three-way California congressional race since the state shifted to its nonpartisan primary system in 2012, which dictates that the top two finishers advance to the November ballot regardless of party.

In the case of a second-place tie in a primary election, California elections code stipulates that both candidates appear on the general election ballot along with the first-place winner.

Read more: Path to 218 runs through California: State races pivotal in fight to control the House

Both counties finalized their results Thursday, with the secretary of state's office expected to certify election results on April 12.

A three-way general election happened in an Assembly race in 2016, when former Assemblymember Autumn Burke faced off against two other candidates, as California Target Book research director Rob Pyers noted on Wednesday.

But both of the challengers were write-in candidates who tied with 32 primary votes each, making it a non-competitive general election race  and a very different situation from the battle brewing in California's 16th Congressional District.

The fact that all three congressional candidates are Democrats  rather than a Democrat and a Republican facing off against a third-party candidate, as might have been the case in three-way race under the state's old system  makes the situation particularly atypical.

Simitian, Low and Liccardo are also all current or previous elected officeholders who have run serious campaigns with significant fundraising.

The presence of three Democrats running robust campaigns will "change the dynamics immensely" for the November election, Diaz said.

"Running against one other person is very different than running against two other people," she said.

Eshoo announced her retirement in November after more than three decades in Congress. Democrats hold a more than 3-to-1 registration advantage over Republicans in the district, which includes the cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View and part of the city of San Jose.

Once the votes are certified by the state, either candidate could also request a recount, which they would be required to pay for. But in a situation where they are both headed to the ballot, the political calculus for requesting a recount would be cloudy at best, since it could potentially result in either of them losing their slot.

Low thanked his supporters in a statement Thursday, saying this "historically close race shows that every vote really counts."

Liccardo's campaign also put out a statement after the results were finalized, with consultant Orrin Evans saying they welcomed "the opportunity to continue to talk to voters about the issues facing our communities, including the high cost of living, utility rates and housing and Sams long record of fighting on behalf of residents.

In a statement thanking supporters Thursday, Simitian said: "Sometimes it takes a while for democracy to work. This has been one of those times. Call it a cliffhanger, a rollercoaster, a wild ride  but it has absolutely been worth the wait!"

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
On Wednesday, April 3, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Brussels. According to the Foreign Minister, the meeting was lengthy.

ADVERTISIMENT

Kuleba reported this on his page on the social networking site X. He spoke about the results of the meeting with Szijjarto and plans for the near future.

According to Kuleba, he and Szijjarto agreed to take steps to improve relations between Ukraine and Hungary.

"We both agreed that a number of steps have been taken in recent weeks to overcome the problems in our bilateral relations. Given this positive dynamic, we expect more constructive developments in the coming days and weeks," Kuleba wrote.

In December 2023, Viktor Orban agreed to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky "at some point in the future." If this happens, the talks will be the first official bilateral meeting between the two leaders since the start of the full-scale war.

ADVERTISIMENT

In a commentary for Russian propaganda channels, Peter Szijjarto said that "some preconditions" are needed for Orban to meet with Zelensky. According to him, these conditions are not yet ready.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Hungarian Foreign Minister and Foreign Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto admitted that Budapest was blackmailing Kyiv with the rights of Hungarians in Zakarpattia. That is why the meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, promised by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, will not take place at some point in the future.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Ahead of the return of its largest unpermitted event, the City of Tybee Island has spent around $215,000 to prepare for the anticipated onslaught of Spring Breakers on April 19-21. The council unanimously passed a $250,000 budget amendment on March 28 to support the annual Orange Crush weekend, even though the official trademarked Orange Crush moved to Jacksonville in 2021, according to the owner George Ransom Turner III.

Last year, the volume of people, traffic and violence devastated the small barrier island's resources. According to Interim City Manager Michelle Owens, Tybee spent $187,000 in preparation of the unpermitted event last year, which flooded Tybee with more than 111,000 people over the course of three days in April. The bulk of the spending for both this and last year are operational costs, such as overtime for law enforcement officers and staff, gas, housing and food. Owens said additional costs for this year are port-a-potties, barriers to implement the city's plan to completely block off two parking lots and fencing for a towing yard.

Permitted events such as the Critz Tybee Run that happens in January usually pay for off-duty cops if more security for the event is needed, Owens mentioned, and that's usually communicated during the permitting process. Organizers also have the option of hiring privately owned security guards and assume the costs of extra port-a-potties and barriers. Since the April event has remained unpermitted since 1991 when Savannah State University cut ties with the event, the island takes on the brunt of these costs, which they hope to recoup if Gov. Brian Kemp signs SB 443.

The bill, which passed the both houses in the Georgia Legislature, would allow Tybee to go after social media promoters for costs incurred for unpermitted events - what is now a whopping $215,000 price tag. Owens said she doesn't think they will reach their ceiling of $250,000. Kemp has 40 days from the last day of the legislative session, which ended March 29, to sign any awaiting bills. SB 443 would immediately go into effect, according to Owens.

Two Orange Crush promoters took the route of attempting to get a permit for this year's event, but both were denied by the city because the applications were incomplete or inaccurate, according to Owens. Britain Wigfall, who was previously identified as a promoter and organizer of the event, attempted to get a permit for an HBCU food truck festival. Owens said the permit was rejected because they could not feasibly host the event due both the number of expected people combined with inaccuracies in the application's site plans.

In just a few weeks the festival will be back despite local and state government attempts to mitigate its effects, including an increased police presence of at least 100 additional officers from four different agencies, a vehicle checkpoint on Highway 80, new mobile license plate readers and more.

For those who live on the island or are planning to attend Orange Crush, here's what you need to know about the event being promoted in 2024.

Party-goers hang out in the street during stand-still traffic caused by a past Orange Crush.

What is Orange Crush?

What promoters are calling Orange Crush is Tybee's largest unpermitted event.

The original event started on Tybee Island in 1988 as a gathering for and sponsored by Savannah State University students, but after less than a decade, the school severed ties with the event after a dozen arrests, a stabbing and drowning at the 1991 festival. The Spring Break gathering marketed primarily to HBCUs has operated without a permit since, despite attempts to obtain them.

Its a tradition thats been kept alive through word of mouth. To some SSU students, its like a second spring break, to alumni, its like another homecoming, according to Jaydon Grant who graduated from SSU in May last year. His parents and his grandfather, who is 74, also attended SSU and Orange Crush.

Although the official trademarked Orange Crush Festival takes place in Jacksonville, Florida, some people and organizations promote events for an Orange Crush in Tybee, taking advantage of the fact that students and alumni show up that weekend. There are no permitted organizers of the event, but CrowdedFunctionsATL is promoting a daytime beach bash on April 20, using the Orange Crush name with other events falling on April 19 and 21.

A large crowd of people enjoy the Tybee beach at sunset during Orange Crush on Saturday.

When is the event in 2024?

Orange Crush typically takes place in mid-April and a beach bash on Tybee Island is being promoted for Saturday, April 20. There are events with tickets in Savannah and South Carolina for the other days, but people will most likely travel to Tybee because its free.

The prayer angel at Saint Michael's Catholic Church was destroyed in the aftermath of Orange Crush festivities on Saturday.

What happened during Orange Crush weekend 2023?

In a press release from last year, the city said the high volume of people caused traffic accidents, road rage, crowding and complaints around drug and alcohol abuse, noise, illegal parking and litter.

Ten car accidents occurred between noon and 10 p.m. on the two-lane U.S. Hwy 80 East that is the only road onto and off of Tybee. In one of those accidents, seven people were injured, according to previous reporting by the Savannah Morning News.

Adam Bauer was arrested by Chatham County Police in a road rage shooting on April 22, 2023, and one person of the six that were in the car suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. There were eyewitness reports of someone flashing a gun and gunshots. Emergency vehicles were also unable to get through because of the traffic jam.

Mike and Melvin from Atlanta relax next to the Tybee Island Pier Saturday afternoon during Orange Crush.

What is Tybee Island doing about this unpermitted event this year?

Tybee Island officials are trying several tactics to minimize the impact to its human, financial and natural resources from last year's unpermitted event.

One of them is SB 443, which is awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp's signature, which will allow local governments like Tybee to sue promoters of unpermitted events for damages.

Butler Avenue, the main road that runs from the north to the south of the 3-mile-long island, will be one lane in both directions, the middle two lanes will be dedicated to emergency vehicles only. The city will also be limiting parking on side streets and Butler Avenue, as well as working with federal representatives, GDOT and the state police to keep the highway open.

Tybee will have a total of 140 people to help next month, including members of Georgia State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, Chatham County Sheriffs Office, Tybee Police and Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services and more. At a council meeting on March 28 the city council members unanimously adopted a budget amendment for no more than $250,000 to be added to the special events line item in preparation for spring break weekends and unpermitted events.

Public works will also be managing trash and litter.

Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Everything you need to know about Orange Crush weekend 2024
Everything You Need to Know About The Sudan Hunger Crisis

Among the many ongoing conflicts, protests, and human rights violations around the globe, a silent famine is happening in Sudan. The United Nations warns they are experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. After nearly an entire year of civil war, thousands of civilians are dead, and a famine is on the horizon. Unfortunately, there remains a lack of international action, and droves of people are experiencing hunger crises and displacement.

How It Started

Photo Credit: AFP via Getty Images

To explain this current conflict, we have to look back in time. Sudan had already been grappling with violence and displacement since the Darfur crisis in 2003over 20 years ago. Even then, Sudan was home to more than 1 million refugees  the second-highest refugee population in Africa. Most were from South Sudan and Northern Ethiopia, with many fleeing conflict in Tigray, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

The recent fighting in Sudan is happening when they already were experiencing some of the highest levels of humanitarian need.

The Conflict

In 2019, Sudans long-time authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir was overthrown from presidency in a coup de tat by the two generals whos armies are now fighting. In the beginning, his ousting inspired optimism for a return to civilian rule in Sudan. But, political and economic turmoil followed, reigniting intercommunal conflicts. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) engage in violent clashes, resulting in the displacement of nearly 8 million people, according to the UN. Killings, sexual violence, looting, and bombing are some of the atrocities civilians face.

On top of the violence, Sudan also is heavily impacted by severe weather events linked to climate change. Floods and droughts are the most common. This weather has lead to crop and livestock destruction and increasing food insecurity for families throughout the country.

The Effects of The Conflict

Photo Credit: AFP via Getty Images

Many political parties are struggling to come together and agree on a shared plan of action. Therefore, community-led grassroots groups that were supportive of the political change have shifted their focus. Many are now crucial in providing much needed aid.

The conflict in Sudan isnt just a local issue; its affecting neighboring countries too. It is an extremely complex conflict due to various armed groups being involved. This conflict also intersects with wider regional dynamics. For example, Ethiopias fears of a proxy war, and South Sudan, which relies heavily on Sudan for its economy.

External players, especially Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates, are using Sudans conflict as a battleground for their own interests. Theres a real risk that the conflict could escalate. Urgent international action is needed to prevent the situation from getting worse and to help the millions of people suffering because of this conflict.

How To Help

Donate to reputable organizations: Support established humanitarian organizations that are providing essential aid such as food, water, medical care, and shelter to those in need. A few reputable organizations include The International Rescue Committee, the Sudan Relief Fund, and CARE.

Advocate for political action: Urge governments and international bodies to prioritize humanitarian assistance, support peace-building efforts, and address underlying issues such as conflict, poverty, and inequality.

Raise awareness: Use your voice and platforms to raise awareness about the famine crisis in Sudan, mobilize support, and educate others about the situation to contribute to relief efforts.
A former lawmaker who resigned from the Arizona Legislature in 2019 during an ethics investigation over past criminal sex charges and racist statements is running for Yavapai County attorney for a second time.

And true to form, the campaign website for candidate David Stringer reflects the same anti-diversity theme that got him in trouble before.

In the "About Me" section of the website, the Prescott Republican states Yavapai County's incarceration rate is higher than the state average and that it sends a "disproportionate share of our residents" to prison. A statistical review commissioned by the state shows that's true of many rural Arizona counties.

Stringer then goes on to say: "Young white inmates from Yavapai County are often targeted for physical and emotional abuse and return to our community damaged and scarred for life."

Stringer doesn't mention any particular race or ethnic group in other writings on his website. But the site contains many references to immigrants and illegal immigration, the latter of which he labels the most "urgent" issue facing the county of about 250,000 north of Phoenix. Stringer's site generally echoes the same anti-diversity sentiment that caused critics within his own party, including former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, to call for his resignation in 2018 and 2019.

The country's Founding Fathers "understood the importance of a common culture," which is why they passed the Nationality Act of 1790, he wrote on the site. The law limited immigration to white people.

"Too much diversity inevitably leads to resentment, ethnic competition and tribalism," his campaign material states.

Asked why his message about incarceration-related trauma only mentions its effects on white people, Stringer pointed to the constituents he hopes to represent.

"The reference to white inmates being at risk in the state prison system reflects the demographics of Yavapai County, which is overwhelmingly white, and the changing demographics of Arizona, which is less white every day," he told The Arizona Republic. "The state prison system is full of brutality. All inmates of all races deserve my protection and they will have it."

Stringer also ran for county attorney in 2020 against longtime incumbent Sheila Polk. He sank $250,000 of his own money into the race and received 31% of the vote.

He's now running against Polk's successor, Dennis McGrane, the agency's former chief deputy county attorney. The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors appointed McGrane to replace Polk as county attorney after she retired in January 2023.

Stringer's history of racist statements

Stringer is a lawyer and former owner of the Comfort Inn in Prescott whose political campaigns focused on illegal immigration and criminal justice reform. Voters of Legislative District 1 in Yavapai County elected him to the state House of Representatives in 2016 and 2018.

Calls for his resignation started in 2018 after he told a group of Republicans in a speech that minority students had become the majority in public schools, "and that complicates racial integration because there aren't enough white kids to go around."

Immigration represents an "existential threat" to the United States, he said in the same speech. A few months later, news outlets published statements he made the previous year asserting Black people "don't blend in" to American society and that they "always look different."

Former House Speaker Rusty Bowers stripped Stringer of his role as chairman of the House Sentencing and Recidivism Reform Committee at the time.

He faced a House Ethics Committee investigation in 2019 after the Phoenix New Times revealed police and court reports from Maryland in the early 1980s showing he'd been charged with having sex multiple times with two underage boys, including one who was intellectually disabled. Records show Stringer, a former defense attorney, met the boys in a Baltimore park known at the time as a hangout for underage prostitutes.

Rep. David Stringer stands on the house floor with other members on Jan. 28, 2019. The Arizona House of Representatives refused to vote on a motion to expel Stringer over revelations that he was charged with sex offenses in 1983.

He resigned the same year, claiming the charges were false and that he was never convicted. But court records from the era showed a judge sentenced him to five years of supervised probation and compelled him to attend a treatment center for sex offenders. The case was later expunged. His lawyer, Carmen Chenal, downplayed the incident in 2019, noting that the bar of Washington D.C. investigated Stringer and never revoked his license to practice law.

Tom Horne, the state's superintendent of public instruction who's married to Chenal, hired Stringer to pay supporters to put up signs for Horne's 2022 campaign. He refunded the $1,400 "in-kind contribution" after local media raised the issue of sex crimes.

Before the resignation, the Ethics Committee was also investigating Stringer's racist statements. A report the committee later published included testimony by a Prescott High School assistant principal who said he was "shocked and saddened" in 2016 when Stringer appeared to criticize a Vietnamese student's scholarship award as a negative example of "diversity."

Stringer currently owns Specialized Publishing LLC, the parent company of the online site Prescott eNews. The site regularly publishes opinion columns by Stringer and has also published the racist statements of other writers.

One columnist who frequently appears on the site, Gregory Hood, wrote in a blatantly anti-Black column in 2021 that "few have contributed so little yet demanded so much as blacks," and that white people "pay for their temper tantrums." Hood is the pseudonym of white nationalist Kevin DeAnna, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Candidate should display higher ethics, civil rights lawyer says

Phoenix civil rights attorney Benjamin Taylor called Stringer's campaign statement about white inmates "quite concerning" for a county attorney candidate considering his previous record of making racist statements.

"For him to just mention one group or one race, I find it kind of odd," Taylor said after The Republic presented him with the statement. "Is he playing the race card to get voters to vote for him?"

Attorney Benjamin Taylor speaks during a press conference Sept. 28, 2020, in Phoenix.

Taylor is also the president of the State Bar of Arizona, of which Stringer is a member, but clarified he was giving his personal view, not speaking on behalf of the Bar. He noted Stringer didn't provide any statistic to support the claim of white inmates being brutalized in prison, though Taylor added that no client ever told him prison was a "great experience."

A county attorney's job is to "uphold the law," Taylor said, not break it as he apparently did in Maryland or to make racist statements.

Stringer should display "the highest ethical standards possible," he said. "I don't think he's qualified to be county attorney."

Arizona county attorneys are elected for four years to oversee a county's prosecution agency and serve as an attorney for the Board of Supervisors and other county agencies.

McGrane, a conservative who opposes what he calls "woke" criminal justice policies and takes a strong stance against illegal immigration, told The Republic he believes county attorneys should do their job "without regard to race or ethnicity.

"To do otherwise is illegal, immoral and unethical," he said.

McGrane claimed Stringer has handled "only one felony case" in Yavapai County and he's not sure where Stringer obtained his information about white inmates in Yavapai County.

"Perhaps he watches too many movies," McGrane said.

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

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Candidate for Yavapai County attorney wants to protect white inmates
Ex-Weymouth police officer charged with assaulting man in handcuffs during 2022 arrest, DOJ says

A former Weymouth police officer was charged in federal court on Thursday for using excessive force, allegedly punching a man in custody several times without cause in 2022.

43-year-old Justin Chappell is charged with one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, according to the United States Attorney District of Massachusetts.

The charge stems from an incident on July 2, 2022, when Chappell was a member of the Weymouth Police Department. Officers were dispatched to a report of an intoxicated man causing a disturbance around 7:30 p.m.

When Chappell confronted the man in question, body camera footage showed a violent struggle between the suspect and the officer. Chappell can be seen striking the mans legs with a baton several times before another officer arrived to help apply handcuffs.

Warning: the following video depicts graphic violence. Viewer discretion is advised

According to charging documents, Chappell allegedly punched the arrestee approximately 13 times with a closed fist. He resigned from the department on July 11, 2022, one week after the incident.

Members of law enforcement take an oath to serve and protect with professionalism and integrity, said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy.

It is hard to comprehend why Justin Chappell allegedly felt entitled to repeatedly beat a man in his custody, punching him in his face approximately 13 times, said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. In doing so, we believe Officer Chappell violated this mans civil rights and betrayed his sworn oath, his community, and colleagues.

A plea hearing for Chappell is scheduled for April 11.

The charge of deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily injury provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Hours of closed-door testimony from three top State Department officials shed new light on the unprecedented situation in the final days of the US presence in Afghanistan as the officials were rushed to the country with virtually no time to prepare and no established emergency evacuation plan in place when they arrived.

The three officials, John Bass, Jim DeHart and Jayne Howell, were all plucked from unrelated assignments and rushed into Afghanistan in the hours after Kabul fell to the Taliban due to their extensive experience in Afghanistan.

The transcripts of their interviews with the House Foreign Affairs Committee, obtained exclusively by CNN, are the latest tranche of more than a dozen interviews conducted by the committee as a key part of Republican Chairman Michael McCauls ongoing investigation into the 2021 evacuation that involved the deaths of 13 US service members.

McCaul is planning to put out a report later this year that includes overall takeaways from the interviews, as well as State Department notes the House Foreign Affairs Committee has received from the agencys own review of the withdrawal. Biden administration officials expect that the report will be timed with a political motive: to bring the Afghanistan withdrawal back to the fore during the heat of the presidential election.

The new details paint a picture of the chaos outside the Kabul airport and the ad-hoc nature of the evacuation, something that top US military generals suggested could have been mitigated if the State Department had called sooner for a noncombatant evacuation operation  known as a NEO  for remaining US citizens in Afghanistan.

It is my assessment that that decision came too late, Gen. Mark Milley, the now-retired Joint Chiefs chairman, said at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last month. The State Department has continued to publicly defend its decision making around the NEO as well as the ending of the war.

A State Department spokesperson, asked about the interviews, said that each of the current and former Department officials interviewed by the Committee worked alongside thousands of other personnel from the Department and the military to evacuate nearly 124,000 U.S. citizens, Afghan allies, and international partners, a massive and extremely challenging military, diplomatic, and humanitarian undertaking conducted under extraordinary circumstances.

It was the right decision to end the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, and bring our troops home, the State Department spokesperson told CNN Wednesday. That decision has allowed the U.S. to better address the foreign policy challenges of the present and future, including the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

No working evacuation plan in place

All three of the officials rushed to Kabul in the days surrounding the Talibans seizure of the capital city, and dove into creating systems on the fly alongside the US military and with constantly-changing input on the ground and coming from DC.

Though officials who had worked at the embassy leading up to the evacuation told the committee investigators in separate interviews that planning for a NEO began in April or May, the officials who arrived in August said that no such clearly articulated plan served as their guide.

I cannot emphasize enough to you that minute to minute, what was happening was changing, Howell said in her July 2023 interview.

Every single US embassy around the world is required to have a NEO that can be used in the case of emergency evacuation situations, but the officials explained that the dangerous and over-crowded Kabul airport environment would have rendered any preformed plans ineffective and instead forced them to constantly adapt.

DeHart said they had to create from scratch tactical operations that would get our priority people into the airport. He added: we were roughly as effective as we could be under the circumstances.

Bass, who served as the top State Department coordinator on the evacuation efforts on the ground, echoed those sentiments.

We were already in the midst of executing an evacuation that substantially exceeded I think the scope and scale of what had been contemplated, explained Bass.

This image from a video released by the Department of Defense shows US Marines at Abbey Gate before a suicide bomber struck outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, 2021, in Kabul Afghanistan. - Department of Defense/AP

There was no time for them to prepare before landing in Afghanistan. Bass was serving at the Foreign Service Institute when he said he was asked to take up the role by then-Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and he departed eight to ten hours later. DeHart, who worked as Bass deputy, left from his posting as coordinator for arctic affairs in Washington. Howell, who served as senior consular officer on the ground, traveled to Afghanistan directly from her posting in Turkey.

The officials had virtually no briefings ahead of their arrival. Bass said in his January 2024 testimony that given how fluid the situation was on the ground, Im not sure that additional preparation time would have yielded a significant benefit.

But the weighty challenge was overwhelming for the consular officers, who vetted the people seeking to leave on US flights. They faced constantly changing directions in terms of who could be evacuated, and how many people could be evacuated, which led to an air of frustration.

On a human level, thats quite frustrating it was required because of the circumstances, said DeHart as he discussed the constantly changing guidance that consular officer would receive. In some cases, the new guidance meant that someone they had just turned away could have been let in.

Taliban obstacles

The efforts to get people into the airport compound faced countless setbacks, many of which were caused by the Taliban, which maintained security perimeters throughout the city and violently stopped people from reaching the airport.

The situation was evolving constantly, Howell said.

It was the Taliban. It was what will the Taliban allow? What will they let people move through and how will they do it? she said.

Howell noted that it was very rare that all the gates (into the airport) were open because there was so much chaos and violence as people desperately tried to get into the airport. The military would close them when they were deemed unsafe to operate at, Howell explained.

Howell described Abbey Gate, the site of the deadly ISIS-K bombing on August 26 that killed 13 American servicemembers, as always the one with the most violence, the most issues with the Taliban, the most issues with crowd control.

Because of the danger and chaos around the big gates into the airport, US officials tried to find other ways to get Americans and vulnerable Afghans in. Those efforts also were met with challenges from the Taliban.

Howell spoke of one incident where she had been briefed that the Taliban agreed to admit Americans in a controlled fashion into a passenger terminal, only for them to do nothing they had agreed to do, and tens of thousands of people overran the passenger terminal.

Howell said that after having worked on Afghanistan for 19 years it was a little bit wild to tell people that you can trust the Taliban, but explained that it was a necessity given the circumstances.

State Department criticism from Pentagon

On the whole, accusations about who was responsible for the chaotic final weeks have fallen largely along party lines, with Republicans pointing fingers at the Biden administration and Democrats casting blame on the Trump administration for the deal that set the US withdrawal into motion.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a hearing with the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on March 19, 2024, in Washington, DC. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

And when focusing on the withdrawal itself, the handling of the evacuation operation has been one of the areas where the administration, and specifically the State Department, has received the most criticism, as some Americans and thousands of Afghans who had served alongside US forces were left behind.

Milley and retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who were in charge of the US military during the withdrawal, blamed the State Department for not ordering a NEO sooner.

McKenzie, the former commander of US Central Command, said that the events of mid- and late August 2021 were the direct result of delaying the initiation of the NEO (evacuation) for several months, in fact, until we were in extremis, and the Taliban had overrun the country.

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in response to the testimony that the embassy maintained an active emergency action committee planning process that convened repeatedly in 2021 to assess the situation on the ground.

Its also well documented that the US did not want to publicly announce planning for or the start of a NEO so as to not weaken the position of the then-Afghan government, potentially signaling a potential lack of faith, he said at a press briefing last month.

The State Department officials did not weigh in on whether calling a NEO sooner would have had a substantial impact, as this would have preceded their arrival in Afghanistan. They told congressional investigators they were unsure if additional planning would have mitigated the dynamic challenges they faced.

Although the State Department has faced sharp criticism from the Defense Department  most recently in a congressional hearing with retired Gens. Mark Milley and Kenneth McKenzie  the transcripts suggest there were few of those divisions at play on the ground. Instead, officials spoke to an immense level of coordination within the Kabul airport to try get as many Americans and Afghan allies out of the country before time ran out.

Coordination with the military

And on the ground, as they grappled with the frenzied and fluid situation, State Department officials and service members at Hamid Karzai International Airport were regularly coordinating.

In his January interview, Bass said that on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis in terms of the operational coordination of aspects of the NEO, I was engaging the senior military commanders regularly.

DeHart said that he didnt find the chain of command to be unclear at any time. Instead, he found that the emergency environment stripped away the typical bureaucratic constraints and allowed personnel on the ground to respond quickly to the constantly evolving challenges.

Howell described her experience coordinating with the military as absolute lockstep, noting that such levels of coordination were unprecedented in (her) career.

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By Robert Harvey

MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - When engineers at Russian oil firm Lukoil discovered a turbine had broken at their largest refinery on January 4, they quickly realised the problem was far from trivial.

There was only one company that knew how to repair the gasoline-producing unit at the NORSI refinery, located on the Volga River, some 430 km (270 miles) east of Moscow. The problem was that the company is American, according to five sources familiar with the incident.

The firm, petroleum engineering multinational UOP, had withdrawn from Russia after the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"They (the engineers) rushed around to find spare parts and they couldn't find anything," said a source close to Lukoil, who asked not to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media. "Then the whole unit just stopped."

Four other sources said the unit - a catalytic cracker used to convert heavier hydrocarbons into gasoline - has been out of production since January and it was not clear when it could be repaired due to a lack of expertise inside Russia. The KK-1 unit is one of only two catalytic crackers at the plant.

As a result, the NORSI refinery - the fourth-biggest in Russia - has cut gasoline production by 40%, according to two of the sources. Lukoil did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

The Lukoil refinery is an example of wider problems in Russia's energy sector where some oil firms are struggling in the face of Western sanctions to repair their refineries, built with the help of U.S. and European engineering firms, according to at least 10 Russian industry sources.

The difficulties have been exacerbated by Ukrainian drone attacks that have struck at least a dozen Russian refineries this year, the industry sources said. The attacks forced Russian refineries to shut in some 14% of capacity in the first quarter, according to Reuters calculations.

"If the stream of drones continues at this rate and Russian air defences don't improve, Ukraine will be able to cut Russian refining runs quicker than Russian firms will be able to repair them," said Sergey Vakulenko, an expert on Russia's energy industry and non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an international affairs think tank.

Russia's top energy official, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, said last week that the damaged NORSI facilities should resume operations within a month or two, as Russian firms were working to produce the spare parts needed.

He also said other Russian refineries have boosted production after the drone attacks and there was no shortage on the local fuel market.

Russia's energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Minister Nikolai Shulginov said on Wednesday all refineries would be fixed by June, without providing further details.

The NORSI refinery, near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, has a capacity of 405,000 metric tons a month of gasoline or 11% of Russia's total.

The current outage would cost Lukoil nearly $100 million in lost revenues a month, based on an average Russian gasoline price of $587 per metric ton, according to Reuters' calculations.

Honeywell International Inc, the parent company for UOP, said in a statement to Reuters it had not provided any equipment, parts, products or services to the refinery at Nizhny Novgorod since February 2022, nor to the independently-managed Slavyansk ECO refinery.

The Slavyansk refinery was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack on March 18 and caught fire briefly.

"We are actively working to identify and interrupt any possible diversion of our products into Russia via third parties," Honeywell told Reuters by email. The company said it complies with all applicable export license requirements, sanctions laws and regulations.

The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on thousands of Russian targets since the invasion of Ukraine and around 1,000 companies have announced their departure from the country.

Russia's export-focused $2.2-trillion economy has proved more resilient to two years of the unprecedented sanctions than either Moscow or the West anticipated.

WAR OF ATTRITION

Western companies such as UOP and Swiss engineering group ABB have supplied technology and software to all the 40 biggest refineries in Russia over the last two decades, according to more than 10 Russian industry sources. Each refinery has a combination of Russian and foreign equipment.

ABB confirmed to Reuters it stopped taking new orders in Russia once the war broke out in February 2022, and has no plans to return to Russia once it has fulfilled its existing contractual obligations, a spokesperson said. The company did not provide details of those obligations.

None of the five sources suggested the turbine failure in January at NORSI was a result of drone attacks. But the sources said the problems at the plant only became worse after NORSI was hit for the first time by Ukrainian drones in February when other pieces of equipment were damaged, putting additional strain on the entire refinery.

As in the United States, the price of gasoline is a politically sensitive subject in Russia and authorities try to limit price rises. Recent measures included imposing a ban on gasoline exports for 6 months in February.

Ukraine says it attacks Russian refineries because it wants to undermine the Kremlin's war machine by reducing state revenues and cutting fuel to the army.

"Drones are tens, if not hundreds of times cheaper than the cost of repairs, which is important in a war of attrition," said Vakulenko, who was a former head of strategy at Russian energy major Gazprom Neft. He left the firm and Russia days after the start of the Ukraine war.

Russia is the world's second-largest oil exporter. It has rerouted most of its crude and products exports to Asia and Africa since Western nations imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Should Moscow face a steep decline in refinery output, it would be forced to cut fuel exports in favour of crude, according to more than 10 Russian oil traders.

Russia supplies crude to just a few large buyers, such as China, India and Turkey, but its portfolio of fuels buyers is comparatively broader as it can ship to smaller consumers without large refining systems in Africa and South America.

Russia's refining industry dates back to the 1940s, when the United States provided equipment under the lend-lease program during World War Two.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian oil firms invested tens of billions of dollars in upgrades with the help of firms such as UOP and ABB.

UOP helped upgrade Norsi and Slavyansk ECO refineries. It did not specify which other Russian refineries it has serviced, in response to Reuters' questions.

The United States has imposed sanctions on companies around the world, including in Turkey, to prevent the transfer of technology to Russia.

Countries under Western sanctions such as Russia and Iran have long managed to find loopholes to obtain spare parts for Western-made equipment such as planes or cars.

But refining equipment is much rarer and more specialized; Western firms have tightened checks to prevent Russia from importing spare parts via third countries, one of the five sources said.

Two of the sources said Lukoil had asked Chinese companies to repair the KK-1 unit at Norsi. The sources didn't name the Chinese companies. Lukoil declined to comment when asked if it had approached China.

"China has got the technology. But very often it would mean a full costly replacement of the unit rather than a normal, cheap, regular repair," one of the sources said.

(Reporting by Robert Harvey; Editing by Daniel Flynn)
Gaza war after six months - what are the issues now?

(Reuters) -Six months since Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel on a killing spree, Israel's ground campaign to annihilate the Islamist movement has turned much of the Gaza Strip into a wasteland with an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.

Mediators have been trying to organise the first extended truce of the war to rush in aid to feed the Palestinian territory's 2.3 million people and secure the release of some of the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

Here is a look at the issues raised by the war and the prospects for peace.

HOW DID THE WAR START?

On Oct. 7, hundreds of gunmen crossed a border fence that Israel had believed was impregnable, and stormed through communities, gunning down Israelis in homes, cars and at an all-night music festival. Israel says 1,200 people were killed in the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. The attackers brought 253 hostages, including whole families with small children, back to Gaza. Although military bases were attacked, most of the dead were civilians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swore vengeance.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN GAZA?

Israel's ground assault began in the northern half of the Gaza Strip and hundreds of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate and flee south. After a week-long ceasefire at the end of November, Israeli forces turned their attention to the south, again ordering people to flee.

Since February, Israeli forces have patrolled nearly all of Gaza, apart from a small area in the centre and the city of Rafah on the southern edge, where more than half of Gaza's population is now sheltering.

Gaza's health authorities say about 33,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed, around 40 percent of them children, with thousands more bodies lost under rubble not recovered. More than 70,000 have been wounded, meaning around 5% of the population has been killed or injured, not counting deaths from hunger, unsanitary conditions and the collapse of health care.

Israel says it has killed more than 13,000 Hamas fighters, and blames militants for harm to civilians for operating among them, including from a network of underground bunkers and tunnels. Hamas denies its fighters operate among civilians.

CAN AID REACH GAZA?

At the outset of the war, Israel imposed a total blockade. Gradually it allowed in aid, first through a pedestrian checkpoint from Egypt, then also through a nearby road checkpoint from Israel itself.

Israel says it imposes no limits on food and humanitarian supplies, but aid agencies and donor countries say cumbersome Israeli inspections mean shipments can be held up for weeks, and only a fraction of the 500 trucks a day Gaza once relied on can get through. Supplies that cross are difficult to distribute or transport because of lawlessness with civil authorities dismantled.

Israel says it is now opening up additional land checkpoints and allowing air drops and sea deliveries. But Gaza has no proper seaport, and aid agencies say air drops are small-scale and dangerous. These is still no land route into northern Gaza where conditions are worst.

IS GAZA EXPERIENCING FAMINE?

Nearly. A famine has three stages - severe shortage of food, leading to pervasive malnutrition, and ultimately mass death from starvation and disease. The Integrated Food-security Phase Classification (IPC) global hunger monitor says Gaza has already surpassed the first two criteria - food shortage and malnutrition - and mass death will begin "imminently" without an immediate aid surge. It projects famine by May.

The IPC has said for months that Gaza is experiencing the most pervasive food insecurity it has ever seen. In a report in March it said 100 percent of Gazans were experiencing severe food shortages, and for half of the population - far exceeding the 20% rate associated with famine - this had reached the highest level, category 5 or "catastrophe".

In southern Gaza, where Reuters journalists operate, some residents have resorted to feeding their children boiled leaves. Reuters saw a number of children being treated for acute malnutrition in a hospital in Rafah, while conditions are reported to be far worse in the north.

Israel says the IPC report's methodology is flawed and claims that there is no shortage of food in Gaza. It blames any hunger on aid agencies' operations and on militants it says are hoarding food.

In addition to hunger, aid agencies worry about a lack of health care and sanitation. There are no fully functional hospitals left in the north, and only a handful in the south. Israel has repeatedly raided and besieged hospitals, saying Hamas fighters use them as bases, which medical staff deny.

Overcrowding fosters the spread of disease, and many people have little or no access to a sanitary toilet or place to wash.

WILL ISRAEL ATTACK RAFAH?

With half of Gazans now crammed into Rafah, residents say there is no place left to flee. Israel says the main Hamas armed units and commanders are sheltering there, and a ground assault is needed to defeat them. It has promised to coordinate with Egypt and to evacuate civilians further north inside Gaza, giving few details.

Washington has called the planned assault a mistake and says Israel can target militants with tactics that would cause less harm to civilians. The United Nations says an assault on Rafah would cause a humanitarian catastrophe. Many Palestinians say they fear Israel's ultimate aim is to drive them from Gaza into Egypt, which Israel denies.

WHAT IS THE STATUS OF CEASEFIRE AND HOSTAGE TALKS?

Since the war's only ceasefire so far at the end of November, when Hamas freed around half of its hostages, the sides have held talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt on a further truce.

Both sides have proposed a new ceasefire of around 40 days, including the release of around 40 hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees. Each has rejected the other's proposals, but mediators say the talks remain productive.

Israel says it will discuss only a temporary pause in fighting and will not end the war until Hamas is annihilated. Hamas says it will not free its hostages without an agreement envisioning an end to war and Israeli withdrawal.

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON OTHER BATTLEFRONTS?

The war has been accompanied by surging violence in several other Middle East flashpoints, mainly involving armed groups that, like Hamas, are allied to Iran.

On Israel's northern border it has exchanged regular fire with Hezbollah, a heavily-armed Iran-backed group, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from villages on both sides.

In the West Bank, where the internationally endorsed Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule under an Israeli military occupation, hundreds of people have been killed in the worst violence for decades.

In Syria, Israel has repeatedly targeted suspected bases of Iranian military advisers in air strikes. In Iraq, the United States retaliated against Iran-backed militia groups after strikes on U.S. bases, which have since subsided.

In Yemen, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the capital has attacked shipping in the Red Sea. Britain and the United States have retaliated with air strikes.

HOW HAS ISRAEL'S RELATIONSHIP WITH US EVOLVED?

As the war has ground on, it has brought increasing friction between Israel and the United States, with little precedent in the 75-year history of their close alliance.

U.S. President Joe Biden strongly endorsed Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks, but in a speech in Tel Aviv also called on Israelis not to be overwhelmed by anger. Since then he and other administration officials have stepped up calls for Israel to do more to protect civilians and allow in aid.

Washington says its aim is a wider peace deal to normalise relations between Arab states and Israel, which requires prospects for an eventual Palestinian state, a central plank of U.S. policy for decades that Netanyahu has repudiated.

Israel's plan to attack Rafah has provoked stronger criticism from Washington. In March, the Senate leader of Biden's Democratic Party called for Israelis to vote Netanyahu out. Washington later refrained from using its veto to block a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire. Netanyahu responded by cancelling an Israeli delegation's planned trip to Washington.

The United States has continued to supply Israel with arms and munitions.

(Writing by Peter Graff, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Fact Check: There's a Bosnian Town Where No One Has Ever Gotten Divorced, Supposedly

Claim:

With a population of 30,000 people, the Bosnian town Siroki-Brijeg has never documented a divorce in its entire history.

Rating:

Rating: False

In the southeastern European nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, nestled within the picturesque landscapes of the Balkan Peninsula, lies the town of Siroki-Brijeg, a place veiled in an extraordinary tale of marital bliss. With a population of nearly 30,000 people, this town is said to boast a unique distinction  according to its "collective memory," it has never witnessed a single divorce among its married populace.

Multiple blog and social media posts over the years have described Siroki-Brijeg as a town that has never experienced a divorce due to its predominantly Roman Catholic population within a nation that is predominantly Muslim (one of few ethnically Muslim nations in Europe). We examined whether the claim of a divorce-free town in Bosnia is true, or if the chatter is nothing more than a false rumor.

Siroki-Brijeg is an approximately 30-minute drive northwest of Mostar, one of Bosnia-Herzegovina's prominent cities. Ethnic Croatians overwhelmingly comprise the town's population, constituting 99.8% of residents, as reported by a census conducted in 2022. Such demographics align the town's religious affiliation more closely with neighboring Croatia, where Catholicism prevails, than with predominantly Eastern Orthodox Serbia to the east.

While the National Catholic Register noted Siroki-Brijeg remained divorce free as of 2021, Balkan news outlet Dnevno challenged that assertion in January 2024 when it published an article with the translated title, "The priest said that there are no divorces in Siroki-Brijeg, and then a reversal: 'This is the real truth.'" Per a translated version of the story:

Dnevno.ba checked the figures at the Registry Office in Siroki Brijeg and found out that in 2023 there were 163 marriages and 18 divorces. Five more divorces were registered on the side, and in that office they explain how divorces are registered on the side when one of the two spouses is from Siroki Brijeg, and the divorce took place in another municipality or city. In Siroki Brijeg, about 11 percent of all marriages end in divorce. The figures are still much better than at the European level, but it is far from zero.

There is government-sponsored evidence of divorce, as well. A search on Siroki-Brijeg's official website, written in Croatian, brings up several posts featuring the word "razvod," a Bosnian and Croatian term for "divorce." The most recent article containing the word "razvod" was published in May 2020 and translates to the following (emphasis ours):

Due to the occurrence of more and more divorces in our local community, an increase in the number of children with developmental difficulties, increased violence in families, an increasing number of children who do not want to go to school, even compulsory school, it is up to all of us as a community to support families through creation of programs and cooperation at all levels, and through preventive programs we will also look at risky situations that have led us or could lead us to some form of behavior disorder.

Another post on the website, published in December 2017, contains the following sentence (also translated from Croatian): "Because of this [unjust way of thinking], it can be said that divorces and bad relations between parents and children are becoming more common today."

In other words, marriage statistics in Siroki-Brijeg are not as pristine as some blogs would like us to believe.

That said, the divorce rate for Bosnia as a whole fares better than the global average of 1.67 per 1,000 people, according to Wisevoter's Divorce Rate by Country tracker. Per that source, Bosnia ranks 95th globally, with a divorce rate of 0.8 per 1,000 people. The Sarajevo Times noted in an article published in April 2023 that, among the nation's population of 3.271 million, nearly 3,000 couples divorce every year.

According to a 2024 report by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, titled "Women and Men in Bosnia and Herzegovina," over the past 25 years, divorce rates in Bosnia have been on the rise, with more than 1,000 additional divorces recorded in 2022 compared to 1997. Among all age groups, the highest number of divorces are occurring among 40-to-49 year olds, per the report, signifying broader societal trends impacting marriage.

Despite rising divorce rates, generally speaking, Siroki-Brijeg residents view marriage as a sacred rite. For newlyweds, marriage transcends mere legal contract  rather, it is a holy calling as part of their religious beliefs.

Several online posts note that couples in Croatia and neighboring Catholic communities, including Siroki-Brijeg, observe Catholicism's marriage crucifix tradition. During wedding ceremonies, as they approach the altar, the bride and groom carry a crucifix symbolizing their commitment to Christ and each other. Blessed by the priest, the cross holds profound significance as a cherished emblem of their union.

As chronicled in an article by the National Catholic Register in 2014:

The bride and groom followed a long-standing tradition: They make their wedding vows with their hands clasped on a crucifix. Then they kiss the cross, because, as our faith teaches, the cross signifies the greatest love. These couples realize that marriage is a vocation and that we need to take to heart the words of Jesus and seek his constant help to live and grow in this vocation.

In sum, while it was false to claim there are no divorces in Siroki-Brijeg, the community is reportedly part of a region with fewer marriage breakups than global averages. Some people reportedly attribute that phenomenon to the region's distinct religious and social culture centered around residents' unwavering Catholic faith.

Sources:

"The Number of Divorces in Bosnia and Herzegovina Is Devastating." Sarajevo Times, 9 Apr. 2023, https://sarajevotimes.com/the-number-of-divorces-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina-is-devastating/.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina." United States Department of State, https://www.state.gov/reports/2016-report-on-international-religious-freedom/bosnia-and-herzegovina/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

"Divorce Rate by Country 2023." Wisevoter, https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/divorce-rate-by-country/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2024.

Kelly, Brian. "No Record of Any Divorce in This City." Catholicism.Org, 22 Mar. 2019, https://catholicism.org/no-record-of-any-divorce-in-this-city.html.

Mostar | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bridge, Map, & Facts | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Mostar. Accessed 27 Mar. 2024.

"Nobody In This City of 30,000 Has Ever Been Divorced  Here's Their Secret." NCR, 17 Aug. 2021, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-city-without-divorce.

Siroki Brijeg (City, Bosnia and Herzegovina) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location. https://www.citypopulation.de/en/bosnia/admin/federacija_bosna_i_herceg/10570__%C5%A1iroki_brijeg/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

Solimeo, Plinio Maria. "The Only Divorce-Free City in the World." The American TFP, 28 Mar. 2019, https://www.tfp.org/the-only-divorce-free-city-in-the-world/.

Women and Men in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, p. 65, https://bhas.gov.ba/data/Publikacije/Bilteni/2024/FAM_00_2023_TB_1_EN.pdf.

Grad Siroki Brijeg. https://www.sirokibrijeg.ba/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

"Nobody In This City of 30,000 Has Ever Been Divorced  Here's Their Secret." NCR, 17 Aug. 2021, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-city-without-divorce.

"The European Wedding Tradition at the Heart of Successful Marriages." Aleteia  Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture, 7 June 2022, https://aleteia.org/2022/06/07/the-european-wedding-tradition-at-the-heart-of-successful-marriages/.

| CatholicMatch.Com. https://plus.catholicmatch.com/articles/their-wedding-featured-a-tradition-from-a-town-with-no-divorces. Accessed 2 Apr. 2024.

"Klara Buntic podnijela zahtjev za razvod, za Dnevnik Nove TV progovorila i Denisova prva supruga: 'Nikada nije digao ruku na mene.'" Dnevnik.hr, https://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/svijet/sud-odbacio-zahtjev-opcinskog-suda-za-izuzecem-protiv-denisa-buntica---804450.html. Accessed 2 Apr. 2024.

Kontakt. https://www.sirokibrijeg.ba/index.php/kontakt. Accessed 2 Apr. 2024.

"Nobody In This City of 30,000 Has Ever Been Divorced  Here's Their Secret." NCR, 17 Aug. 2021, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-city-without-divorce.

"---." NCR, 17 Aug. 2021, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-city-without-divorce.

Odrzana javna tribina pod nazivom "Tko upravlja mojom srecom?". https://www.sirokibrijeg.ba/index.php/aktualnosti/1636-odrzana-javna-tribina-pod-nazivom-tko-upravlja-mojom-srecom. Accessed 2 Apr. 2024.

Perna, Tom. "The Croatian Wedding Tradition, a Crucifix, and Six Months of Marriage." TOM PERNA, 8 Mar. 2019, https://tomperna.org/2019/03/08/the-croatian-wedding-tradition-a-crucifix-and-six-months-of-marriage/.

Petranovic, Eduard. "Svecenik rekao da u Sirokom Brijegu nema razvoda, a onda preokret: 'Ovo je prava istina.'" Dnevno.hr, 12 Jan. 2024, https://www.dnevno.hr/vijesti/svecenik-rekao-da-u-sirokom-brijegu-nema-razvoda-a-onda-preokret-ovo-je-prava-istina-2310832/.

"Surefire Start to Marital Happiness." NCR, 5 Oct. 2014, https://www.ncregister.com/features/surefire-start-to-marital-happiness.
Fact Check: Trump Claims U.S. Crime Is 'Only' Going Up, Despite Steep Drop in Violence During Biden Presidency

Trump has tried blaming his successor for letting crime run rampant. In reality, murder rates rose a record level during Trump's final year in office, and  along with overall crime rates  fell sharply in 2023

Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Donald Trump at a New Hampshire campaign event on Jan. 17, 2024

Former President Donald Trump is continuing to fabricate statistics on the campaign trail, falsely telling Michigan voters on April 2 that crime in the United States is "only going in one direction" (i.e., upward) while attempting to stoke fear about violent crimes perpetrated by immigrants lacking permanent legal status.

In a Grand Rapids speech that relied heavily on anti-immigrant rhetoric  including calling people who entered the U.S. illegally "animals"  Trump raised the topic of crime in America. Wouldnt we love to have a statistic where crime is down 67%? Ours is only going in one direction, he said, while pointing toward the ceiling.

As CNN highlighted, Trump's claim ignored recent crime data. In March the FBI reported preliminary statistics from 2023, which show a 6% drop in violent crime compared to 2022, and a 13% drop in murder. Reported crimes decreased in nearly every category, with only motor vehicle theft seeing an uptick.

Related: Every Crime Donald Trump Has Been Charged With

Data expert Jeff Asher, who reported on the FBI's preliminary findings, noted that although the final 2023 crime statistics will not be posted until October, a 13% decrease in murder would be "by far" the sharpest decline recorded in the six decades of statistics available. Previously, the sharpest murder decline was 9% in 1996.

Win McNamee/Getty Images President Joe Biden delivers remarks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House

Political science professor Anna Harvey, who leads New York University's Public Safety Lab, told CNN that not only is Trump's claim patently false, but it overlooks the troubling crime statistics from his own time in office.

"During 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, violent crime rose dramatically," she told the outlet. "The murder rate, for example, increased by almost 30%, the largest one-year increase on record. But violent crime has been falling during the Biden presidency."

Related: Historians Rank Donald Trump Worst U.S. President Again, with Biden in 14th Place

Asher  who previously wrote for The New York Times that the 2020 murder increase was unprecedented  highlighted that the apparent progress in 2023 will help the murder rate return to roughly what it was when Trump took office.

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.

Crime data is not a perfect science, as some incidents go unreported and each city experiences different trends  but by all metrics available, Trump's claim that crime is "only" going up under the Biden administration is unsupported.



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A vote on Ukraine aid in the U.S. House of Representatives is likely to be postponed until at least mid-April, or possibly even later. Speaker Mike Johnson is still trying to find ways to smooth out the opposition from radical Republicans.

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This was reported by Bloomberg with reference to the leaders of the Republican Party. At the same time, in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Johnson raised expectations for prompt action, noting that the House of Representatives would begin assisting Ukraine "immediately" when lawmakers return from their two-week Easter recess.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls for immediate approval of additional US aid, given the growing threat of Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. At the same time, the shortage of artillery shells means that Ukrainian troops on the front line face enemy shelling at a ratio of 6:1.

Thus, representatives of the Republican Party leadership reported that Johnson's team has not presented a detailed plan for an aid package to Republican lawmakers and seems undecided about the specific steps it will insist on in its relations with President Joe Biden's administration. This complicates the task of gaining support in time for next week's vote.

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Johnson's spokeswoman, Taylor Haulsee, said that the speaker's promise of swift action did not include a specific time frame and that Johnson was "listening to the views of his party members" on the plan. She did not provide further information about the speaker's consultations.

According to two GOP leadership officials, Johnson may make a decision on the Ukraine aid plan over the weekend and speed up approval next week.

However, Bloomberg points out that such a fast schedule could ultimately lead to the failure of the bill, as well as provoke further disputes with hardliners in the Republican Party.

Earlier it was reported that the US Presidential Administration will continue to actively seek ways to provide immediate support to Ukrainians, as it did last month. This is due to the fact that the House of Representatives is delaying the decision on assistance for our country.

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As reported by OBOZ.UA, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a Sunday interview with Fox News that the U.S. House of Representatives is working on an aid package for Ukraine and plans to include important "innovations" compared to the bill submitted by U.S. President Joe Biden. In particular, it may include providing aid on credit, ostensibly to ease Republican concerns.

As you know, the approval by the US Congress of more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine is being blocked by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The White House has repeatedly warned that this would significantly harm Kyiv's military efforts on the battlefield.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A nightclub patron who was shot twice in the back during the downtown Sacramento mass shooting two years ago but survived testified Thursday that he could not recall who shot him that night.

But in a video-recorded interview he gave police two days after the April 3, 2022, gang shootout, Oshe White named brothers Smiley and Dandrae Martin as two men who confronted him as he was walking near 10th and K streets just before the shooting began.

White, 28, said on the video that, as he was walking north on 10th Street toward K Street, a man in a white shirt was behind him and another man wearing a sweater with the word Backwoods on it asked where he was going.

Dude stopped me, White told police in the April 5, 2022, hospital interview as he described being asked where he was going and noticed the man holding a gun behind his left leg.

Where you from? White recalled the man asking him.

Im from up north, but I dont bang, White answered, meaning he is from North Sacramento but had no history with gangs.

I turn around, take that step, gunshots ... White said on the video. As soon as I made it off the curb I just felt myself getting hit.

Murder suspect Smiley Martin, 23, listens to testimony in a preliminary hearing in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday, April 4, 2024, in the case of the April 2022 mass shooting in downtown Sacramento.

Whites recollection two years ago stood in stark contrast to Thursday, when he repeatedly told prosecutor Brad Ng in Sacramento Superior Court that he could not recall any details of that Saturday night, especially who shot him.

With White sitting on the witness stand before Judge Maryanne Gilliard as the Martin brothers and co-defendant Mtula Payton watched from the defense table, Ng asked if he could recall who the men in the Backwoods sweater and white shirt were.

No, White said, one of at least 24 instances in which he told Ng he could not remember details from that night, including when he got downtown, whether he left the London nightclub when it closed, what he did once he got outside or whether he stopped at a small hot dog cart near 10th and K, as video from downtown cameras show.

White cannot be described as a willing witness. He has been held at the Sacramento County Main Jail since last week because he refused to come to court for the preliminary hearing into the shooting.

He was brought to court from jail Thursday morning and immediately invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against testifying. This led to Gilliard agreeing to give him immunity that guaranteed he could not be charged for anything he revealed in his testimony unless it was untrue.

Even then, White, the second witness granted immunity this week after declining to testify in a case involving Sacramentos gang culture, had little to offer.

He recalled being shot twice in the back, with one round lodging near his spine, but even after he was asked if he saw himself in the video being played in court of his hospital interview, White answered, I do not recall.

Does it matter what question I ask about this evening? Ng continued. Are you going to answer, I do not recall?

White answered that he had been through too much trauma to recall details of the shootout and that he was working four jobs in an attempt to forget.

Theres a lot I do not remember, sir, he said. But I am not sitting here lying or trying to bulls--- you. ... Ive been trying to be in a positive mindset.

Im just happy to be today alive, walking, smiling. Im happy to be in the mindset that I am, and I try everything to not revisit this. Ive used these years to flush all this out and forget.

Prosecutor Brad Ng, left, questions a cousin of mass shooting victim Sergio Harris during a preliminary hearing in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday, April 4, 2024, in the case of the April 2022 mass shooting in downtown Sacramento. Ngs questions involved video evidence depicting events from the night of the shooting that was projected in the courtroom.

Ng noted that White had been arrested as a material witness in the case, then asked if it was true he did not want to testify.

I didnt want to, but I had no choice, White said. Im pretty sure no one would want to be here, especially with what I went through.

Whites memory loss was so acute that at one point Dandrae Martins attorney, Linda Parisi, objected to a question from Ng as leading the witness.

Overruled, this witness cannot be led, the judge said, eliciting giggles from the courtroom audience.

That left Ng to play snippets from the hospital room video and ask White about what he said during that session with detectives, when he named both Smiley and Dandrae Martin during questioning about the two men who confronted him.

White said in court he didnt remember that, and on the video White said some of his knowledge about the shooting came from news accounts and videos he had watched.

In an image captured from surveillance video and labeled by Sacramento police, gang members are identified moments before a shooting April 3, 2022, in downtown Sacramento. Six people were killed and 12 others were wounded in the shootout. Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Deandrae and Smiley Martin and Mtula Payton with the murders of three women killed in the gunfight.

On the video, he said he recalled the moment after being hit by gunfire.

Next thing you know, I was on the ground, he said. I was holding this leg.

I was in the street right behind this car and then, when they kept shooting, I turned this way on my stomach, and when I turned this way I saw a body drop. ... All I remember is just hearing hella gunshots, hella people standing up still, which I didnt get.

Whites testimony came after two days of testimony from Ike Harris, the cousin of shooting victim Sergio Harris, one of six people killed that night.

Ike Harris, who also was testifying under a grant of immunity, was questioned repeatedly by defense attorneys over whether he saw Sergio Harris with a gun, something he denied.

Defense lawyers are trying to show Sergio Harris may have opened fire that night as two rival gang groups squared off, but Ike Harris insisted he never saw anything like that.

White also testified that he did not know whether Sergio Harris had a gun, and on video said the same thing.

The only guy I knew had a gun was Backwoods guy, White said on the video.

And, when Ng asked White in court who had shot him, White had a ready answer.

I do not know he said. My back was turned. I had bullets in the back of me.

White had been scheduled to resume his testimony Thursday afternoon, but that was postponed after the judge announced that a legal issue had come up.

White, who is being held in the same jail as the Martin brothers and Payton, is now scheduled to resume testimony Monday.
Russia's war and occupation of large swaths of Ukraine have led to hundreds of churches being damaged or destroyed, dozens of priests killed or kidnapped, and entire religious groups that don't conform to Moscow's brand of Orthodoxy being banned.

With entire Ukrainian cities being leveled by Russian artillery fire, religious sites caught in the crossfire could be simply seen as manifestations of Russia's disregard for civilian collateral damage.

Experts believe, however, that attacks against Ukrainian priests and religious sites aren't arbitrary. The Kremlin is weaponizing religion and using it as a tool of control and propaganda.

This picture shows an icon in Transfiguration Cathedral damaged as a result of a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23, 2023. (Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images)

"We can consider this a systematic action by Russian authorities. This kind of instrumentalization of religion is inherent to the Russian political system," said Ruslan Khalikov, a Ukrainian religious expert and the head of the "Religion on Fire" project that documents the damage Moscow's war wrought to Ukraine's religious life.

"Indeed, Russian troops systematically destroy churches and kill and kidnap both priests and parishioners," Karen Nikiforov, who also works with the "Religion on Fire" project, said.

Entire religious groups in the Russian-occupied parts of the country have been repressed or, as is the case with the Greek Catholic Church in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, completely banned. Parishes of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine have disappeared completely from the occupied regions.

Read also: Portrait of the Invader: 2 years of Russian soldiering in Ukraine

"This behavior is characteristic of Russia's relationship with religious organizations," Nikiforov said, explaining that Moscow practices "a strict hierarchical model of state-church relations" that promotes dominance of "traditional" government-controlled groups like the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) over various "undesirables."

Moscow's suppression and absorption of Ukrainian religious life confirms its "intention not only to occupy Ukraine's territory, but to eliminate Ukrainian structures and replace them with the Russian ones in order to fully integrate them into the 'Russian space,'" Khalikov said.

Priests attend the procession during the Orthodox Easter service by Metropolitan Epiphanius of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, late on April 15, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/Getty Images)

Extensive research and testimony reveal that while Russia claims to lead its war in the name of God, "the damage inflicted by Russian occupation forces to Ukraine's religious diversity has been enormous," Nikiforov added.

Persecuting minorities

Since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, the expansion of Russian control over Ukrainian territory has allowed the Russian Orthodox Church to expand as well  a religious conquest marching alongside the military one.

Priests who refused to bow to the Russian church have been driven out, abducted, or murdered.

"They (religious organizations) are allowed to exist freely only if they fully and publicly support the authorities, namely their military actions," Khalikov said.

"Religious groups that are not ready to express such support, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, independent Muslim communities, and individual religious leaders, are persecuted both in Russia and in occupied territories of Ukraine."

The Russian Orthodox Church has been vital in promoting and legitimizing Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule at home and power projection abroad.

The church's 77-year-old head, Patriarch Kirill (born Vladimir Gundyayev), has been a close ally of Putin, praising his rule as a "gift from God" and publicly supporting the war against Ukraine  subsequently straining relations with other Orthodox churches.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill (L) talking during an event at the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky on the Red Square, on Nov. 4, 2023. (Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"If a person remains faithful to his calling, and if he fulfills his duty and dies, then as a duty, he performs a feat that is equivalent to a sacrifice," Patriarch Kirill said following Russia's 2022 fall mobilization campaign.

"This sacrifice washes away all sins," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said, referring to Russian soldiers who were mobilized to fight against Ukraine.

In 2016, the Russian parliament adopted laws that permitted the activities of only those religious organizations that were registered with the state while banning missionary work outside of permitted areas  a move seen by many as a crackdown against Evangelical Protestants and other religious minorities.

Read also: Whether afraid or indifferent, regular Russians enable autocracy

Jehovah's Witnesses, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Falun Gong, several Protestant evangelical churches, and many other denominations have been branded in Russia as extremist or terrorist, and their members persecuted and imprisoned.

After Moscow occupied Ukraine's Crimea and parts of the Donbas in 2014, these religious groups, legal in Ukraine, would face the same pressure.

Real or perceived affiliation with the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has served as justification for Russian authorities on the occupied peninsula to oppress, imprison, and abuse Crimean Tatars. Russia has already jailed 117 members of this group, issuing sentences of up to 19.5 years in prison, said Viktor Yelenskyi, religious scholar and head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS).

Muslims pray during the Eid al-Adha celebration at Ar-Rahma Mosque in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 28, 2023. (Vladimir Shtanko/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In eastern Ukraine, Russian-backed militants likely tortured and murdered four members of the Pentecostal church and suppressed local Protestant, Catholic, and independent Orthodox churches.

"Evangelicals and Mormons (for years) were treated as American spies and were banned completely in (Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts)," Yelenskyi said

These efforts have only increased since the start of the full-scale invasion and after Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts and began enforcing its rule.

"Legal activity of Protestant churches on the territories (occupied since 2014) has effectively ceased since most of them were unable to register according to Russian guidelines," Khalikov noted.

Hasidic Jewish pilgrims pray at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, in the town of Uman, on Sept. 25, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

"Russian propagandists have proudly reported on the closing and repurposing of the places of worship of Jehovah's Witnesses, Evangelical churches, etc.," the expert said, adding that more than 30 Kingdom Halls  places of worship of Jehovah's Witnesses  in occupied parts of Ukraine were seized in 2022 and 2023.

Putin's Ukrainian Orthodox Church

But the persecution of Ukrainian Christian groups is more than just a zealous crusade to extinguish "non-traditional faiths."

For hundreds of years, the majority of Ukraine was part of a Russian-led state.

After Ukraine regained its independence, the Russian-controlled church, called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), was dominant  symbolizing Russia's cultural and religious influence.

Read also: Parliamentary committee backs bill on banning Russian-linked religious groups

However, Orthodox denominations that rejected Moscow's authority existed in parallel and gained momentum after Russia launched its war against the country in 2014.

Four years later, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, or OCU, was formed, having been granted independence in January 2019 by the spiritual leader of the Orthodox world  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

Another major church in Ukraine is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), widespread in western Ukraine, a region that was independent of Russian influence for most of its history.

The Greek Catholic Church recognizes the supremacy of the Pope while at the same time upholding the Eastern rite.

Metropolitan Epiphanius of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine blesses worshipers holding willow branches during the Palm Sunday service in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on April 9, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/Getty Images)

To Moscow, both these churches represent independent Ukraine and are a challenge to Russian rule that is built around the idea that independent Ukraine is nothing more than a historical mistake. These religious institutions are thus seen also as political enemies.

According to an Institute for the Study of War report from last April, 34% of all cases of persecution were aimed against OCU, making it the single most targeted group.

According to Yelenskyi's organization and the Religion on Fire project, OCU parishes have effectively ceased to exist in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea while its priests were forced to leave the occupied peninsula.

The Greek Catholic Church has faced harsh repression as well.

Read also: Who are the Crimean Tatars?

In November 2022, Russia's National Guard raided a Greek Catholic church in occupied Berdiansk, arresting two of its priests. Russia claimed to have found hidden weapons  a claim the church denied.

A month later, the Russian-installed head of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Yevgeny Balitsky, banned all the church's activities while also confiscating its property. Several religious organizations involved in social and humanitarian work were also prohibited.

The occupation authorities justified the ban by claiming that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church followers had participated in anti-Russian riots, "distributed literature with appeals to violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation," and "participated in extremist activities."

"The only religious communities allowed to function more or less freely in the occupied territories  provided they prove themselves loyal  are those of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate," Khalikov said.

However, not even UOC-MP's parishes have been able to avoid the pressure.

Three of its dioceses in occupied Luhansk Oblast  Alchevsk, Luhansk, and Rovenky  have been re-registered under ROC, placing them under the direct authority of the Russian church. UOC-MP dioceses in Dzhankoy, Simferopol, and Feodosia in occupied Crimea have also been absorbed by ROC.

The same happened later to the diocese in Berdiansk. Meanwhile, in occupied parts of Kherson Oblast, ROC illegally established its own Skadovsk diocese after Russia retreated from the regional center of Kherson during Ukraine's 2022 counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast.

Ukrainian military chaplains attend their graduation ceremony at Saint Sophia's Cathedral, on June 23, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Thirty military chaplains who completed training courses on military chaplaincy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine took part in the ceremony. (Roman Pilipey/Getty Images)

Yelenskyi said that the Russian church has already absorbed nine UOC-MP dioceses representing around 1,600 parishes.

UOC-MP has not officially commented on losing its dioceses to the Russian Orthodox Church. Its representative did not respond to the Kyiv Independent's request for comment.

The church's silence is all the more surprising when contrasted with UOC-MP's fervent opposition to its communities voluntarily transferring to the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, following parishioners' request.

"Given the inherent imperialism of Russian politics, the conquest of new territories does not allow the preservation of old institutions but absorbs them into the Russian ones," Nikiforov said.

Disappeared priests

As of March, almost 570 Ukrainian religious buildings have come under fire, Nikiforov said. Roughly one-fourth of these have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair, according to Ukraine's Ethno-Politics and Freedom of Conscience agency.

Notably, UOC-MP's churches suffered the most, with over 140 of its churches damaged, the agency said in January. Some churches were then captured and used by Russian forces for military purposes, for example, as a cover for troops, thus exposing them to further attack.

The Sviatohirsk Lavra, a major Orthodox monastery in Donetsk Oblast belonging to UOC-MP, was repeatedly attacked by Russian forces in the spring of 2022 while clergy and locals were taking shelter there. At least three monks were killed, and seven people were injured.

UOC-MP's St. Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson was shelled last August, and Odesa's historical Transfiguration Cathedral, also belonging to UOC-MP, was partially destroyed by Russian strikes a month before that.

The destruction of the Transfiguration Cathedral as a result of a missile strike in Odesa, Ukraine on July 24, 2023. (Oleksandr Gimanov /AFP via Getty Images)

Christian places of worship are not the only religious sites turned to rubble as a result of Russian aggression. During the siege of Mariupol, Moscow's troops bombed the mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana. A local synagogue was destroyed as well.

Karaites, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group from Crimea that adheres to an eponymous branch of Judaism, had to halt religious services in their Kharkiv kenesa (a Karaite synagogue) due to Russian strikes  their only place of worship outside of the occupied peninsula, Nikiforov said.

As of late March, at least 39 priests and pastors have been killed since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Yelenskyi told the Kyiv Independent.

"We have pastors and chaplains who were murdered," bishop Ivan Rusyn of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church said during a visit of Ukrainian religious leaders to the United States last fall. He asked his U.S. hosts to "hear our cries."

"We are not talking (only) about the taking over of churches. We are talking about people who were killed just because they have a different religion," Rusyn said, stressing the particularly devastating impact Russian aggression had on Protestant denominations.

A damaged gilt Orthodox painting of Jesus Christ stands against a wall, as Ukrainians clear away debris after a Russian missile struck the historic Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in central Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23, 2023. (Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

The first murder cases appeared in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Maksym Kozachyna, a chaplain of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, was shot by Russian soldiers during their invasion of Kyiv Oblast while reportedly wearing priest's cassock.

By late March, the number of killed priests had risen to four, including UOC-MP abbot Feodosii (Honcharov), OCU priest Rostislav Dudarenko, and abbot Platon (Morgunov).

Greek Catholic priests Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Heleta, the two aforementioned clergymen detained by Russia in occupied Berdiansk in November 2022, have not been seen since. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said last December that it has no information regarding their whereabouts or status.

UOC-MP priest Kostiantyn Maksimov was arrested in May 2023 when trying to cross into Crimea after he allegedly refused to support his Berdiansk diocese being absorbed by ROC. The Russian church seized the diocese a day before Maksimov's detention. His current location also remains unknown.

In a more recent case, Russian forces reportedly abducted, tortured, and killed Ukrainian priest Stepan Podolchak in the town of Kalanchak in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast on Feb. 15.

According to Suspilne, his "transgressions" were carrying out Ukrainian-language religious services and refusing to work under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate, yet again proving that Russia's destruction of Ukraine's religious life is systematic and not collateral.

Read also: 10 years of war: A timeline of Russias decade-long aggression against Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Fallen tree closes York County road, could take hours to clear, police say

YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) A roadway is expected to be closed for hours due to a fallen tree in York County.

Kise Mill Road in Etters is blocked off to traffic after a tree fell on wires Wednesday night, Newberry Township Police say.

Police stated that Met-Ed predicts it could take up to five or six hours for crews to clear it.

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As the rainy weather has been hitting the region, there have been many reports of fallen trees and flooded roadways causing issues for drivers in the Midstate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
For Giuliana Valencia-Banks, the difficulty of the past week has only been compounded by how personal it felt.

Valencia-Banks is the Baltimore County chief of immigrant affairs, a role that is much newer than its city counterpart. But since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed March 26, sending six immigrant, Latino construction workers to their deaths in the depths below, Valencia-Banks has emerged as the face of the countys efforts to guide victims families through an unimaginable tragedy.

What this week has highlighted is the importance of immigrants, the importance of a community that comes, that works, that contributes, that builds families, builds communities, and how we need to create the system and make the changes so that immigrants are welcomed, so that immigrants have access to the supports that they need, so that language barriers dont exclude them, Valencia-Banks, 42, said. Its made me even more determined to continue to work in this space.

The day the bridge fell, Valencia-Banks was supposed to be at a conference in Montgomery County, but she physically couldnt sit there. So she made her way to the emergency site to find the people shes been working with ever since. On that first day, she deployed bilingual social workers and members of faith communities to sit with families as they processed the fact that their loved ones were missing. Since then, the bodies of two victims have been found and the rest are presumed dead.

The most terrible noise that you can hear is when a human is suffering and grieving the loss of a loved one, Valencia-Banks said. That sound will stay with me the rest of my life.

Valencia-Banks said shes been working with Gov. Wes Moores office and the Baltimore City Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs, known as MIMA, to respond to victims families needs. Catalina Rodriguez Lima, the current and founding director of MIMA, said her office activated an existing case management program that works with nonprofits to provide bilingual resources to the families as they navigate a flood of calls and applications.

Working together helps ensure that efforts are not duplicated and families are not re-traumatized, Valencia-Banks said.

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for our state and we are thankful for leaders like Giuliana who are putting their passion and their skills to work on behalf of our fellow Marylanders, Moore said in an emailed statement.

To provide short-term relief, the Baltimore County Department of Health has distributed gift cards to the families to buy food, Valencia-Banks said. But to cover the families upcoming needs, such as housing payments, funeral costs or sending the bodies of the victims back to their home countries, MIMA and the Baltimore Civic Fund are collecting money. As of Wednesday afternoon, they have raised $418,000, Rodriguez Lima said. Thats in addition to the $98,000 raised by the Latino Racial Justice Circle last week.

Rodriguez Lima said in the coming weeks, the city will either start paying bills on families behalf or giving them money directly out of the established fund, depending on individual situations.

Valencia-Banks said shes currently acting as a liaison between the different organizations and as point person for contact with the families, work she called a privilege to do. Eventually, case managers will take over families long-term needs and shell take a step back.

My role is to create the systems that meet the needs of our immigrant community and [that] addresses the realities of their lives and ensures that theyre treated in the same way that native-born folks are, Valencia-Banks said.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said Valencia-Banks and her office, which consists of one other full-time employee and a fellow, has been an absolute vital link for these impacted families, adding he couldnt be more proud of or grateful for her.

I just couldnt imagine going through this moment without her on this team, Olszewski said.

Olszewski said while Valencia-Banks, who he described as tenacious, dedicated and a breath of fresh air, has connected his administration with individuals, families and communities who were previously underserved or not served at all in the county, her importance has been particularly underscored following the bridge collapse.

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Though MIMA has been around since 2014, Valencia-Banks role wasnt established until Nov. 2021 by the Olszewski administration.

Ive been in this work for the last decade and its so refreshing to have someone who can work in partnership, Rodriguez Lima said. Im really excited that the county has a person and more importantly a person like Giuliana who is extremely committed and dedicated to this constituency.

The work isnt unfamiliar territory for Valencia-Banks, who emigrated from Peru and grew up in central Florida.

My work is deeply personal. Im an immigrant. I know what its like to interpret and to translate for your parents. I know what its like to navigate a complex system that wasnt created to bring people in  it was created to keep people out, Valencia-Banks said. Its not work for me. Its my life.
The innocent bystander felled by a robbers stray bullet in a Bronx bodega on Easter Sunday could make every moment a joyful moment, his heartbroken family said  as they condemned the rampant Big Apple violence that took his life.

This random, senseless violence has become the norm but it has to stop, Anthony Barnes, 59, said of his slain 29-year-old nephew, Stefon Barnes. People dying just because theyre in the wrong place at the wrong time is becoming a regular thing in New York.

Honestly, I dont know what to make of Stefons death because its becoming such a norm, right? he said. Too many innocent bystanders are being killed. There are too many random, senseless killings. Too many innocent people are dying.

Stefon Barnes, 29, was inside Gourmet Deli on East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx on Easter Sunday when an armed robbers stray bullet struck him in the right thigh. The Barnes Family

A makeshift memorial for slain bystander Stefon Barnes popped up outside the Bronx bodega where he was killed. LP Media

He was young, he said of his nephew. He didnt get a chance to really live his life,

Stefon Barnes was at Gourmet Deli on East Tremont Avenue around 4:20 a.m. Sunday when an armed robber stormed in and tried to mug another shopper.

The gun went off during a struggle with the intended victim, with the slug striking Barnes in the right thigh.

He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

Police have not collared the gunman, who fled the scene after the shooting.

He was fun-loving and he was a people person. He loved people, the victims aunt, Teresa Barnes, 58, said Wednesday. He was no stranger, everybody was a friend to Steffy.

He gave everybody the benefit of the doubt, he thought everybody was a good person. He saw the best in people, she added He was funny. He liked music, dancing and singing. He meant the world to us.

Stefon Barnes grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, where he lived with his mother before moving to New York City to live with his father in Harlem as a teenager, his family said.

They said he had held down jobs as a store clerk, a truck driver and a UPS delivery driver. His senseless slaying comes on the heels of another family tragedy  his great-aunt died one week earlier.

Police say an armed robber tried to mug a patron at Gourmet Deli in the Bronx on Easter Sunday  but a stray bullet killed an innocent bystander identified as 29-year-old Stefon Barnes. Google Maps

Police released surveillance photos of the alleged gunman who killed 29-year-old Stefon Barnes inside a Bronx bodega on Easter Sunday. DCPI

The impact of two deaths has been hard on our family, Teresa Barnes said.

Like her grieving brother, Tersea Barnes, who lives in North Carolina, bemoaned the violence that has claimed too many lives in the streets of the five boroughs in recent years.

New York is getting bad, honestly. Its not a safe place to be, young or old, she said. I wouldnt move back here. Im trying to get my parents and I want all my family out.

It was senseless, she said of her nephews death. It wasnt like he was doing anything illegal, he was just an innocent bystander. You can try to stay out of trouble, but you can still be a victim of circumstance.
TAMPA, FLA (WFLA)  Losing an elderly parent is hard enough, but a Pasco County man says for his family it has been especially hard. They havent been able to lay his mother to rest.

Stuart Bearry says he couldnt get a straight answer as to why a doctor at HCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital wouldnt sign his mothers death certificate, even though she died there March 23 and he says the family was told it was due to a heart condition.

The funeral home director has been sending email after email and probably sent over four emails directly to the hospital to please sign it, he said. Meanwhile, my mother is staying in a cooler.

Stuart says his mother, Earline Bearry, deserves more respect.

My mother gave her life to being a nurse, he said. She took care of people. She retired and still kept her nursing license just so she could help out the family. She gave her life to taking care of people and then when this happens it, it breaks our heart. Its almost a total insult.

Stuart says his repeated calls to the hospital werent returned.

You are my last resort, he said. Ive called so many times and begged them and pleaded with them how upsetting it is reliving this situation over and over.

Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken went to Bayonet Point Hospital and a spokesman declined to speak on camera but met outside and promised to look into this. Hours later, he called to say the death certificate has been signed.

He sent this statement:

While we are unable to discuss specifics, I want to assure you that we are committed to being responsive and having a number of processes in place for patients and families to use to request assistance. Additionally, we monitor a number of social media platforms and every effort is made to respond timely.

Stuart says hes not satisfied with that response but hes happy to move on.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) speaks at the AfD's European election rally at the Magdeburg Exhibition Center. Carsten Koall/dpa

A lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Petr Bystron, has denied allegations connecting him with Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

"At no time have I received any payments or cryptocurrencies from an employee of VoE (or any Russian)," he wrote on Thursday in a statement to the party leadership made available to dpa. He was referring to the pro-Russian propaganda platform Voice of Europe, which has alleged ties to Russian intelligence agencies.

The Czech newspaper Denik N reported, citing intelligence sources, that Bystron is suspected of having been in contact with VoE and alleged he may also have accepted money.

The newspaper reported on the existence of an audio recording that allegedly incriminates Bystron, and also that Bystron's name was discussed at a meeting of Czech Cabinet ministers last week where the Czech-registered platform and its backers were placed under sanctions, citing multiple ministers as sources.

The Czech domestic intelligence service BIS is not planning to make any audio recordings about the case public for the time being.

"The general rule is that this would be intelligence material that we do not publish," a spokesman said in Prague on Thursday in response to an enquiry.

Bystron is a member of Germany's parliament. He is also second on the AfD's list of candidates for the European Parliament elections in June.

On Wednesday, AfD co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla demanded a written statement from Bystron by this Thursday at the latest. According to a party spokesperson, it was received by midday.

In the statement, Bystron went on to say that the party and parliamentary group leaders would discuss the matter in the coming days. As things stand, Weidel and Chrupalla wanted to speak to Bystron in person on Monday.
Member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) speaks in the plenary session of the German Bundestag. Christoph Soeder/dpa

A lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Petr Bystron, has denied allegations connecting him with Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

"At no time have I received any payments or cryptocurrencies from an employee of VoE (or any Russian)," he wrote on Thursday in a statement to the party leadership made available to dpa. He was referring to the pro-Russian propaganda platform Voice of Europe, which has alleged ties to Russian intelligence agencies.

The Czech newspaper Denik N reported, citing intelligence sources, that Bystron is suspected of having been in contact with VoE and alleged he may also have accepted money.

The newspaper reported on the existence of an audio recording that allegedly incriminates Bystron, and also that Bystron's name was discussed at a meeting of Czech Cabinet ministers last week where the Czech-registered platform and its backers were placed under sanctions, citing multiple ministers as sources.

The Czech domestic intelligence service BIS is not planning to make any audio recordings about the case public for the time being.

"The general rule is that this would be intelligence material that we do not publish," a spokesman said in Prague on Thursday in response to an enquiry.

Bystron is a member of Germany's parliament. He is also second on the AfD's list of candidates for the European Parliament elections in June.

On Wednesday, AfD co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla demanded a written statement from Bystron by this Thursday at the latest. According to a party spokesperson, it was received by midday.

In the statement, Bystron went on to say that the party and parliamentary group leaders would discuss the matter in the coming days. As things stand, Weidel and Chrupalla wanted to speak to Bystron in person on Monday.

Bystron wrote of a "defamation campaign against politicians from six European parties - including myself."

This is an attempt to prevent right-wing populist parties from performing strongly in Europe and from forming a strong parliamentary group in the European Parliament, he said.

"I have already contacted lawyers in both Germany and the Czech Republic to take action against this defamation."

The Czech BIS spokesman said that it was not common practice among intelligence services to make such material available to other states. Apart from that, colleagues from a German intelligence service had received "comparatively extensive information" about the case.

"It is then up to them or the state bodies to decide how to present themselves to the public." He did not want to disclose further details because, according to him, it is an active case on which several European intelligence services are working.
Member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) speaks in the plenary session of the German Bundestag. Christoph Soeder/dpa

A lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Petr Bystron, has denied allegations connecting him with Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

"At no time have I received any payments or cryptocurrencies from an employee of VoE (or any Russian)," he wrote on Thursday in a statement to the party leadership made available to dpa. He was referring to the pro-Russian propaganda platform Voice of Europe, which has alleged ties to Russian intelligence agencies.

The Czech newspaper Denik N reported, citing intelligence sources, that Bystron is suspected of having been in contact with VoE and alleged he may also have accepted money.

The newspaper reported on the existence of an audio recording that allegedly incriminates Bystron, and also that Bystron's name was discussed at a meeting of Czech Cabinet ministers last week where the Czech-registered platform and its backers were placed under sanctions, citing multiple ministers as sources.

The Czech domestic intelligence service BIS is not planning to make any audio recordings about the case public for the time being.

"The general rule is that this would be intelligence material that we do not publish," a spokesman said in Prague on Thursday in response to an enquiry.

The Munich Public Prosecutor General's Office has meanwhile opened a so-called preliminary investigation, it announced on Thursday in response to an enquiry. The prosecution emphasized that this does not indicate any initial suspicion.

Preliminary investigations are not regulated by law and are often taken up as a matter of routine; in this case, the public prosecutor's office justified the examination with "the current reporting."

Bystron is a member of Germany's parliament. He is also second on the AfD's list of candidates for the European Parliament elections in June.

On Wednesday, AfD co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla demanded a written statement from Bystron by this Thursday at the latest. According to a party spokesperson, it was received by midday.

In the statement, Bystron went on to say that the party and parliamentary group leaders would discuss the matter in the coming days. As things stand, Weidel and Chrupalla wanted to speak to Bystron in person on Monday.

Bystron wrote of a "defamation campaign against politicians from six European parties - including myself."

This is an attempt to prevent right-wing populist parties from performing strongly in Europe and from forming a strong parliamentary group in the European Parliament, he said.

"I have already contacted lawyers in both Germany and the Czech Republic to take action against this defamation."

The Czech BIS spokesman said that it was not common practice among intelligence services to make such material available to other states. Apart from that, colleagues from a German intelligence service had received "comparatively extensive information" about the case.

"It is then up to them or the state bodies to decide how to present themselves to the public." He did not want to disclose further details because, according to him, it is an active case on which several European intelligence services are working.
The South Carolina man arrested after barreling his car through the FBIs front gate in Atlanta on Monday has a long history of far-right posts on social media  and he even wrote I love you to Donald Trump, according to new research.

Advance Democracy, a nonpartisan nonprofit group that researches online extremism, said the suspect in the attack espoused conspiracies about the 2020 election and other QAnon-adjacent beliefs. Wired was the first to report the findings. Rolling Stone has reached out to Advance Democracy for details.

The man, identified by federal authorities as 48-year-old Ervin Lee Bolling, was arrested on suspicion of destroying public property after driving an orange SUV through the final barrier of the FBIs field office in Atlanta on Monday. Bolling spent 23 years in the U.S. armed forces, most recently working as a submarine sonar technician with the U.S. Navy until 2017.

The research claims Bolling posted far-right views as early as 2020, including anti-vaccine posts. On his public Facebook profile, Bolling reportedly posted memes about the COVID-19 pandemic, including reasons to get yourself an unvaccinated girl and a virus with a 99% recovery rate which would strip me of my freedoms, my job, my constitutional rights and put me under house arrest.

The research alleged that Bolling posted to X, formerly Twitter, under the handle alohatiger11 which features the same man in the profile photo as Bollings Facebook page. Though the profile is now private, the Internet Archive has more than 50 posts captured, all of which were grabbed between Dec. 20 and 24, 2020.

One post shared a YouTube video titled Release The Kraken, referencing disgraced Trump attorney Sidney Powells plan to overturn the 2020 election results, per the report. Another post shared an article about an unexplained explosion and fire destroy worlds second largest pharmaceutical factory producing precursors for hydroxychloroquine, according to the report.

Bollings activity in the days after the 2020 election showed his skepticism for the results, per the findings. In one exchange with someone over alleged election interference, he wrote Show that its been disproven. You cant combat imperial data withoh yeah, well thats been disproven.

A good militia is meeting January 6th in DC.  Mac the ULTRA NUCLEAR Cranky Cook (@cranky_cook) December 22, 2020

In a reply to someone who wrote wonder what it will take for people to wake up, Bolling replied: Im awake. Just looking for a good militia to join.

Though his post is no longer publicly visible, another reply to Bollings post remains visible, and it reads: A good militia is meeting January 6th in DC.

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The FBI is looking for a missing 7-year-old girl from Georgia. Tips encouraged.

The FBI is looking for a 7-year-old girl missing from a Georgia community, the agency announced Thursday.

Stella Brannen Salter was reported missing after last being seen March 29 in Metter, the FBI said. Metter is roughly 65 miles from Savannah.

She may have been taken to Puerto Rico by her non-custodial mother, the FBI said in a news release.

Salter is described as blonde, 4-feet-3-inches tall, weighing 50 pounds and having blue eyes.

The FBIs Atlanta Field Office is assisting the Lyons Police Department in the case. Lyons police are leading the investigation.

Anyone with information about the case has been urged to contact the FBIs Toll-Free Tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or the Lyons Police Department at (912) 526-3638. Those with information may also contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. Tips can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.
The pandemic brought health disparities in the U.S. into the spotlight, but since then, dozens of rural hospitals nationwide have shut down.

Now, it can be difficult trying to access timely health care in rural areas.

Its something Chloe Burke knows all too well. During a congressional hearing in Texas last month, she shared her story about a close call.

I lived three miles away from one of the biggest medical centers in our country, yet I could not receive the dire surgery I needed to save my life, Burke said.

On Capitol Hill, one bipartisan proposal aims to improve access by increasing training opportunities for medical students. It would create a nationwide grant program for medical schools and community-based clinics to offer more hands-on experience in those underserved communities.

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Lawmakers say the goal is to encourage more medical students to work in rural areas after graduation.

If you have training programs in rural communities, that increases the care thats delivered in those communities, said Dr. Kevin Bennett, director of the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare.

Bennett said this legislation is a good first step but he believes there are still some major hurdles like expensive medical school debt.

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You tend to not get paid as well in a rural community because volumes are lower, and our healthcare system pays by volume and not for taking care of populations right now, Bennett said.

Until the financial side of medical training is addressed, Bennett said it will be difficult to place more doctors in rural communities.

You can make 50% more by working in the suburbs, thats hard to turn away, especially when you look at all the other amenities that are available there, he said.

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.
Every day that convicted felon Alex Murdaugh awakes in prison over the next two decades, he is serving three sentences in one.

The former legacy lawyer from a once-prominent Hampton County family is serving the first of two life sentences for murder in state prison, 27 years in state for a plethora of financial crimes, and 40 years of federal time for similar fraud charges - all concurrently.

Murdaugh, who once lived a carefree, wealthy lifestyle in the South Carolina Lowcountry is not expected to see freedom for the remainder of his natural life, and a handful of accomplices have also been sentenced to prison.

But is this true crime drama coming to an end? Has justice been fully served? Or is there more to the story?

Statements made during Murdaugh's April 1 federal sentencing hearing, and federal court documents filed in advance of that hearing, inform the public that there are almost a dozen previously unknown financial victims out there, with as much as $6 million in stolen money still unaccounted for, and possibly at least one accomplice still at large.

Defense attorney Jim Griffin asks Alex Murdaugh if he killed his wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh with the 12-gauge shotgun that is in evidence in Murdaughs murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (Photo by Grace Beahm Alford/Charleston Post & Courier)

Feds: As many as 11 new, but unidentified Murdaugh victims

In wave after wave of indictments from 2021 to 2023, Murdaugh was charged with more than a hundred financial and drug-related charges, in both state and federal jurisdictions, in a sweeping crime spree that spanned more than a decade and engulfed more than a score of victims around lower South Carolina.

"The scope and pervasiveness of Murdaughs deceit is staggering," the U.S. Attorney's Office writes in a March 28 sentencing memorandum. "He ranks as one of the most prolific fraudsters this state has ever seen. When the houseof cards began to fall, Murdaugh murdered his wife and son."

The recent federal sentencing memorandum indicates that as many as 11 previously unpublicized victims have been identified. The document lists their financial loss but identifies these new victims only by their initials.

"Murdaugh was not convicted of or sentenced in state court for any conduct related to 11 victims outlined above: LB, HH, BJ, GS as PR, YF, CC as PR, JV, ER, MD, AH, and BB... The loss associated with those victims alone is nearly $1.3 million."

In all, the federal investigation has revealed Murdaugh has victimized at least 25 people and their families, in addition to thefts from law partners and his family members, in a complex crime spree dating back as early as 2005.

Alex Murdaugh listens as his defense attorneys Phillip Barber, left, and Dick Harpootlian confer during his trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. The 54-year-old attorney is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their Colleton County, South Carolina, home and hunting lodge on June 7, 2021. Credit: Jeff Blake/The State)

Feds: As much as $6 million still unaccounted for

How much money did Alex Murdaugh steal? That depends on which court document you read.

Estimates range from $10 million to roughly $12 million, depending on whether you refer to state or federal documents.

The March 28 federal filing states that "between September 2005 and October 2021, Murdaugh used his position as a personal injury attorney to steal $10,901,547.32 in settlement proceeds from his clients and his law firm... more than $6 million in stolen settlement proceeds remains unaccounted for."

Stan Mitchell, visiting from out of town, holds a Jesus saves cross as Alex Murdaugh arrives at the Colleton County Courthouse before the fourth day of his trial on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Murdaugh was convicted for killing his wife and son. (Credit: MCKENZIE LANGE/ Greenville News)

Is Alex Murdaugh lying to investigators about location of stolen money?

Where did all this money go? That remains uncertain, as investigators say Murdaugh continues to be deceitful and conceal information.

Before Monday's sentencing, a March 26 motion was filed with the U.S. District Court to hold Murdaugh in breach of his plea agreement, alleging that he had "failed to cooperate as required" and had failed a polygraph exam.

According to the federal motion, FBI agents, with the assistance of S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agents, conducted a series of interviews and polygraphs "on issues related to hidden assets..." to which Murdaugh reportedly gave deceitful answers.

One now-disbarred attorney, Cory Fleming, along with a former banker, Russell Laffitte, have already been convicted and sentenced to federal prison in connection with Murdaugh's schemes, along with a couple of drug-related and money laundering accomplices.

At least two recent federal filings indicate that more than $6 million in stolen proceeds remain unaccounted for, and the government is still attempting to find any "ill-gotten gains" to make Murdaughs victims whole.

Chris Wilson, Hamberg-based personal injury attorney and friend of the Murdaughs, tears up while giving his testimony in Alex Murdaughs trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, February 9, 2023. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier.

Is another SC attorney involved in Alex Murdaugh's crime ring?

The March 28 memorandum publicizes the name of another attorney and possible associate in addition to Laffitte and Fleming, who have already been charged, convicted and sentenced.

"He (Murdaugh) stole from more than ten victims as a part of his role in leading and/or organizing a jointly undertaken criminal activity with Russell Laffitte, Cory Fleming, and Chris Wilson during their participation in the conspiracy," states the filing.

Murdaugh also failed polygraph questions about "the involvement of another attorney in Murdaughs criminal conduct," say federal filings.

Wilson, a Bamberg personal injury attorney and former lifelong friend of Murdaugh's who worked together on several cases with the convicted felon, and who testified during Murdaugh's murder trial in early 2023, has not been indicted or charged with any crimes by state or federal officials.

Alex Murdaugh's criminal investigation ongoing

While questions remain, one fact appears certain: the feds aren't done with this case.

Attached to the March 26 motion and filed the same day was a motion to seal exhibits of evidence, which include Murdaugh's polygraph examination reports and four FBI reports from his interviews. Both documents indicate that parallel investigations into other subjects are ongoing.

"The polygraph examination report and reports of interviews related to an ongoing grand jury investigation, as well as allegations of criminal activity against others. The government submits that sealing of the polygraph examination report and the reports of Murdaughs interviews is necessary to protect the integrity of its investigation, prevent disclosure of an ongoing grand jury investigation, prevent the potential for tampering with evidence and witnesses related to the investigation, and protect the identities of witnesses, subjects, and targets of the ongoing investigation."

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Serving life sentences for murder, Feds say Murdaugh has more victims
Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter is demanding full transparency from FEMA after the agency announced cuts to discounts on National Flood Insurance Program premiums, calling them "villains".

The cuts could cost more than 27,000 of the city's households a cumulative $8 million next year.

"FEMA did not provide any documentation; they did not provide any data that they utilize in order to make this decision," Gunter said during a press conference Wednesday. "They are the villains in this issue."

The city is asking for more documentation to identify the issue that will raise premiums 25% and potentially solve the problem before the city loses its flood insurance discounts.

FEMA slashes discounts

The City of Cape Coral hosted a ceremony Thursday, September 28, 2023, to unveil a plaque commemorating the first anniversary of Hurricane Ian. The monument is located in Reflections Park, 815 Nicholas Pkwy., adjacent to City Hall. Visitors gathered during the ceremony to view and take pictures of the memorial. Ricardo Rolon/USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA

Last week, FEMA informed many Southwest Florida municipalities that it plans to alter flood insurance ratings that will slash discounts, which was met with swift condemnation by local officials.

FEMA's communications team previously stated that the lowered class ratings and subsequent discount loss were due to "the large amount of unpermitted work, lack of documentation, and failure to properly monitor activity in special flood hazard areas, including substantial damage compliance," since Hurricane Ian hit the area on Sept. 28, 2022.

Two Lee County municipalities, Sanibel and the city of Fort Myers, are not impacted by the decision.

The NFIP conducts a field visit every three years to audit floodplain management activities and flood-mapping records. Municipality governments then receive a rating from the Class Rating System program.

Cape Coral joined the NFIP in 1981, and there are approximately 27,673 NFIP policyholders in the city with more than $8 billion in coverage.

The Class Rating System is a voluntary federal program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities exceeding the minimum NFIP standards by providing incentive premium discounts.

The discounts are given out in 5% increments using a 1-10 rating system, with Class 10 being low and Class 1 being high.

The city's CRS rating will go to 10 on Oct. 1, sliding five spots.

Lee County's response FEMA mistake? Lee Commission to push back on FEMA cutting flood insurance discounts

Original announcement FEMA slashes 25% flood insurance discount in Lee County, blames unpermitted construction

Cape Coral pushes back against FEMA

Cape Coral Mayor holds a press conference on April 3, 2024, to discuss FEMA slashing the city's flood insurance discounts.

Between $7 million to $8 million in annual discounts are jeopardized if FEMA implements its planned changes.

"This decision will have significant repercussions for our residents," Gunter said.

Cape Coral joined the CRS program in 1995 and achieved a Class 5 rating in 2010. A Class 5 rating allows for a 25% flood insurance discount. Cape Coral has more 100,000 residential homes.

"This decision if allowed to continue, will remove a 25% flood insurance discount, which city staff has worked for years to achieve and maintain on behalf of our residents and our businesses here in our city," Gunter said.

County and municipal governments have to meet federal guidelines for area homeowners to qualify for policies under the National Flood Insurance Program.

The mayor said the city is still working on providing a timeline of the events that got the city to this point, but said they believe these changes stem from a letter that was received from FEMA in December.

In the letter, the agency wanted documentation on 238 properties to determine whether they were substantially damaged.

Gunter claims that when FEMA informed them of the changes to the city's discounts, the agency allegedly told the city that had not done everything possible to resolve their letter.

He also claims that the December letter did not indicate they would lose their rating if they did not complete this in time.

"First we heard about it was Thursday afternoon," Gunter said.

As of today, city staff has resolved and documented 184 of those specified properties.

"At this time, 54 properties in our city are still being evaluated to determine whether or not any violation exists under NFIP regulations," Gunter said. "They allege 'unpermitted work' exists at all of these properties; however, the city continues its investigatory efforts of the remaining 54."

What is Cape Coral doing now?

Cape Coral plans to discuss the issue further at Wednesday's regular city meeting and keep residents informed as updates become available.

"I want to make sure that we do everything possible to make sure that we are able to prove that the allegations that they have made just simply aren't true," Gunter said.

The city has also reached out to Congressman Byron Donalds and State Rep. Mike Giallombardo to discuss potential avenues for resolution.

Gunter said he wants a better communication process with FEMA.

"If they are not going to at least give us the data and the information, to be able to go out and govern our city to make sure that everyone is in compliance, I know that's our responsibility as well, but if they have additional information, they need to share that with us," Gunter said.

Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral disputes FEMA cutting city's flood insurance discounts
WASHINGTON  The CIA and broader U.S. intelligence community want to do more to fight the fentanyl crisis killing tens of thousands of Americans a year, and they are quietly pushing Congress to let them expand their use of a controversial and top-secret eavesdropping program to do it, USA TODAY has learned.

Senior intelligence officials have spent the past year trekking to Capitol Hill to push for reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which allows them to conduct warrantless eavesdropping on foreigners overseas.

As the nation's primary spy outfit, the Central Intelligence Agency in particular says the intelligence collection allowed under Section 702 is urgently needed to thwart transnational organized crime groups manufacturing and smuggling the lethally potent synthetic opioid from China to Mexico and into the U.S.

But the law is too narrowly focused in its current form to allow CIA case officers and analysts to go after all of those involved in the multibillion-dollar fentanyl trade overseas, senior intelligence officials told USA TODAY.

To expand 702, though, intelligence officials have to overcome the significant concerns of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who believe the powerful surveillance tool has been misused in the past, including to inappropriately spy on Americans. And the clock is ticking, with the law sunsetting on April 19 if its many critics in Congress don't come to a consensus on how to reform and reauthorize it.

A spy program from the 'gloves off' post-9/11 era

The Section 702 program was established in the frenzied aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to allow the U.S. to vacuum up the communications of non-Americans overseas that go through U.S. telephone and email service providers without having to get the court-approved warrants required for most electronic surveillance.

Over two decades, the program's target list has expanded beyond suspected international terrorists to include two other officially-certified groups  foreign governments and traffickers in weapons of mass destruction, the officials said.

These fake okycodone pills confiscated in a drug bust contain fentanyl and acetaminophen.

And as Americas fentanyl overdose crisis has intensified, CIA spies and analysts have used it to thwart traffickers of the heroin-like drug and the precursor chemicals used to make it in labs, according to a CIA briefing paper obtained by USA TODAY. Federal health officials say fentanyl can be more than 50 times more powerful than heroin, and even a dose the size of a grain of rice can be fatal.

In mapping the networks that come from overseas, the supply and production and then distribution across the border, we obviously rely on a whole host of collection tools and technologies, Deputy CIA Director David Cohen said in an exclusive interview about CIA counternarcotics efforts at the agencys Langley, Va., headquarters.

That includes traditional HUMINT, Cohen said, using spy talk for intelligence gleaned from human intelligence, or CIA-recruited agents on the ground in foreign countries. But in today's increasingly high-tech and interconnected world, using the 702 program to intercept and crunch intelligence gained from emails, phone calls and other electronic communications, he said, has become absolutely essential in that work as well.

By accessing communications in near-real time, the CIA can identify and track key players involved at all levels of the fentanyl trade even as they try to hide behind sophisticated layers of protection, Cohen and two other senior U.S. intelligence officials told USA TODAY.

More broadly, Cohen said, the CIAs 702 program has proven invaluable at every level of the intelligence cycle, from recruiting and vetting foreign informants to protecting CIA personnel in hot zones overseas to gathering intelligence on drug trafficking networks and the corrupt foreign officials that often protect them.

Jamarious Qualls, an Alabama man, has been arrested after the Colbert County Sheriff's Office say they found fentanyl pills hidden in Easter Eggs.

Pressing Congress for a fourth certification

Currently, the CIA can only use Section 702 against drug traffickers if it can connect them to one of the three certified threat groups. Obtaining a so-called fourth certification would allow U.S. spies to more freely go after those involved in the fentanyl trade without having to make such connections, the two senior U.S. intelligence officials said.

But that would require congressional approval. And it's not at all certain that lawmakers will vote to reauthorize Section 702 even in its unexpanded form in the next two weeks.

The CIAs push for the expanded use of 702 is happening largely behind the scenes, in part to protect the extraordinarily secretive sources and methods used in related intelligence collection efforts against drug traffickers, the two senior officials said. They are also wary, they say, of the effort being misinterpreted as an expansion of 702 powers  as opposed to an expansion of the list of targets  at a time when reauthorization already is facing significant opposition in Congress and among civil liberties groups.

More: Fentanyl killed 70,000 in US. With Biden in Mexico, can neighbors cooperate to stop flow?

The two officials said the new certification would give intelligence agencies specific authorization to go after those not only manufacturing fentanyl and its many precursor chemicals but those transporting and protecting them as the lucrative cargo makes its way to the United States.

The intelligence officials, who focus on counternarcotics and interdiction efforts and analysis, spoke to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity to discuss highly sensitive matters.

From left, CIA director William Burns, ODNI director Avril Haines and NSA/CSS director Timothy Haugh prepare for a hearing on worldwide threats in front of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on March 11, 2024, in Washington.

Precursor chemicals from China and pill presses for powdered fentanyl

In one case in recent years, CIA operatives helped stop a massive shipment of chemicals needed to make the synthetic opioid. In another, the intelligence officials said, the CIA helped intercept a shipment of pill presses needed to mix powdered fentanyl into professional-looking tablets that are then sold to unsuspecting Americans as legitimate pharmaceutical products.

More and more of those products are being made and smuggled into the U.S. by Mexican drug cartels, often in the form of painkillers like Percocet and oxycodone and party drugs popular with young people. In 2023, for the first time in U.S. history, fatal drug overdoses  most of them from black-market fentanyl  peaked above 112,000 deaths.

A push to persuade a reluctant Congress

To win over lawmakers, the CIA, the FBI, National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies have mounted an unprecedented public relations and education offensive. That included declassifying the specifics about what three threat groups can be targeted under Section 702  and even the fact that the certifications exist and don't include counternarcotics  so they could answer questions from Congress members without top security clearances, the officials said.

CIA Director William Burns, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines have testified before Congress about the value of 702, and FISA writ large. Acknowledging past controversies, they said they have instituted reforms aimed at better protecting Americans from being caught up in what is known as incidental collection, or information gathered lawfully under 702 while listening in on foreigners overseas.

More: Blue Lotus, Four Horsemen, Hydra and Pelican Bones: How the US fights the fentanyl crisis

Still, many House and Senate members  Democrats and Republicans alike  say the eavesdropping program needs more oversight by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and other watchdogs before they can support its reauthorization.

Some say the FBI in particular has misused the program in its zeal to go after suspected threats. As a result, some of the current legislative proposals to reauthorize 702 include requirements that authorities to get FISA court-approved warrants in some cases before using it.

At a hearing last December, critics led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, attacked the program for a range of abuses, including FBI agents using it investigate contributors to political campaigns. Lee refused to accept Wrays assurances the program has been reformed.

We have no reason to trust you because you havent behaved in a way that is trustworthy, Lee told him.

To make its case, the CIA also has circulated unclassified Top Headlines that describe some of its successes using 702, including in the fight against fentanyl. Others include going after al-Qaeda operatives and other terrorists, North Korean nuclear traffickers and cyber attackers and so-called malign influence campaigns by foreign nation states like Russia, China and Iran.

By the April 19 deadline, Congress must decide among four bills to reauthorize Section 702 or allow it to expire, according to Noah Chauvin and Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School.

This controversial law was originally intended to make it easier for the government to monitor foreign terrorists, but the government has repeatedly abused it to illegally spy on Americans, violating individual rights on a wide scale, Chauvin and Goitein said in a Feb. 2 primer on the surveillance statute.

They said only two of the bills "would help prevent future abuses"  the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act (Protect Liberty Act) and the Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023.

The entrance to the Afghanistan exhibit is seen here at the CIA Museum in the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Some lawmakers, like outgoing Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., think some of the existing reauthorization bills dont go far enough and threaten to tank congressional approval of the entire program.

Losing Section 702 would be a calamity for American security and a disaster for those who care about sensible and needed reforms to this process, Buck said in a Jan. 27 opinion piece in the conservative Washington Times.

Buck singled out one of the most prominent proposals, the Protect Liberty Act passed by the House Judiciary Committee in late 2023, as a bad bill because it seeks too-stringent protections against incidental collection.

While it sounds innocuous enough, Buck wrote, the unintended consequences of this legislation would hamper U.S. surveillance capabilities and undermine our ability to thwart potential terrorist attacks.

At the other end of the spectrum are lawmakers like Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., one of Congresss staunchest critics of CIA warrantless surveillance programs.

More: Meddling in elections, drugs and terrorism? Here's the U.S. intel new list of threats

Wyden told USA TODAY he is wary of any use of Section 702, especially an expansion, given its past civil liberties abuses. Section 702 has been repeatedly abused by government agencies in recent years, Wyden said, which is why a bill he has co-sponsored includes what he calls commonsense reforms to protect Americans rights.

But Wyden said he supports the idea of using 702 to go after fentanyl traffickers if the appropriate guardrails are in place. Any expansion of government surveillance authority, he said, would make the reforms we are proposing even more important.

To that end, the bipartisan bill he has co-sponsored would require the government to seek court approval in order to use section 702 to surveil the overseas activity of drug cartels, he said, and ensure that the public is aware of any expansions of government authority."

Seeking a middle ground for 'a major crisis with respect to fentanyl'

As Congress deliberates, senior CIA officials continue to travel from their Virginia base to Capitol Hill to respond to lawmakers' requests for more details about how they would use Section 702, including in the counter-fentanyl effort.

We are leaning far forward, declassifying information that weve never done before, in order to help gain reauthorization of 702, said a third intelligence official. It is extraordinarily unusual for us to do this, but we believe it is that important.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, described it as an intensive year-long effort on the part of every element of the (intelligence community) and Department of Justice.

They've just been tromping up to the Hill time and time and time again to explain the program, because it is fairly complicated program, Himes said in an interview. And you still have a lot of members running around who believe that this is a tool to spy on Americans, which it most assuredly is not.

Given his leadership role on intelligence oversight matters, Himes has spent a lot of time listening to the concerns of his fellow lawmakers  and those of the intelligence community. He told USA TODAY that the threat from fentanyl is so important that Congress must find a compromise that protects Americans' civil liberties while also giving intelligence agencies the fourth certification they seek to better target drug traffickers.

You may impact U.S. persons more than you would on counterproliferation, for example, or counterterrorism because I think rare is the person in Mexico who doesn't have relatives in the United States, Himes said. So, there are some heightened concerns and sensitivities that I think are very legitimate that members are talking about.

Himes said he will continue to lobby his colleagues on the issue in the hope that 702 reauthorization includes the fourth certification. I think the speaker just needs to figure out a way to bring it to the floor, he said, for debate and a vote.

But, look, how many Americans are dying as a result of nuclear proliferation this year? he asked. Zero, whereas we've got a major crisis with respect to fentanyl."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: CIA wants to ramp up fentanyl fight and is asking Congress for help
These are the final primary election results for Sacramento County races

(FOX40.COM)  Sacramento County certified the results of the March 5 primary election Tuesday.

Heres who is advancing to the November election or won their race outright.

Paris Hilton, state lawmakers announce new social services transparency bill

Mayor of Sacramento

Dr. Flojaune Cofer and California Assembly Member Kevin McCarty will advance to the general election in November.

Cofer finished the primary race with 29.25% of the vote, not too far ahead in what initially appeared to be a very tight 4-way race.

McCarty finished second with 21.55% of the vote, less than 0.3% ahead of the third-place candidate, Dr. Richard Pan and 0.6% ahead of fourth-place candidate Steve Hansen.

Sacramento City Council  District 2

Roger Dickinson and Stephen Walton will face off in November.

Dickinson finished well ahead of the other candidates with 44.73% of the vote. Walton earned second place with just 16.13% of the vote.

If any candidate had finished with more than 50% of the vote, they would have avoided the runoff election in November.

On April 2, the sitting council members appointed a former city hall staffer, Shoun Thao, to represent the district until the winner of the November election is sworn in.

Sacramento City Council  District 4

Phil Pluckebaum beat out incumbent Katie Valenzuela in the District 4 race.

Pluckebaum garnered 50.62% of the vote. 46.17% of voters chose Valenzuela.

Sacramento City Council  District 6

Incumbent Eric Guerra avoided having to compete in the general election after finishing with 67.36% of the vote.

Sacramento City Council  District 8

District 8 incumbent Mai Vang ran unopposed.

Measure C

60,778 Sacramento voters rejected a measure to update the citys business operations tax. 7,993 city residents voted in favor of Measure C.

Sacramento County Board of Education  Area 4

Vanessa Caigoy earned 32.67% of the vote. Linda Christopher-Dewilde placed second with 21% of the vote.

Sacramento County Board of Education  Area 6

Heather Davis beat out her only opponent in the Sacramento County Board of Education Area 6 race with 79.32% of the vote.

Twin Rivers Unified School District  Area 7

Sascha Vogt defeated Linda Fowler for the Twin Rivers Unified School District Area 7 seat with 54.87% of the vote.

Sacramento County Board of Supervisors District 3

Rich Desmond ran unopposed and garnered 50,022 votes.

Sacramento County Board of Supervisors District 4

Rosario Rodriguez finished first in the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors District 4 primary election with 51.47% of the vote.

Bret Daniels finished second with 26.28%.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
The Finnish government has decided to keep the border with Russia closed "until further notice," Finland's Interior Ministry reported on April 4.

Finland closed its border with Russia in late November 2023 after Russia orchestrated an influx of migrants as a way to pressure Helsinki.

In November alone, around 900 asylum seekers from countries like Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen entered Finland from Russia.

Finland decided in February to keep the border closed until April 14, but the latest decision means that the border crossing will remain shut until the risk of "instrumentalized migration" falls, the Interior Ministry said.

"The threat assessment is the same and also the assessment that if the border stations were to be opened, it would probably have led to the same situation as before, when they were opened," Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in parliament, according to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

Finland's government also decided to close several crossing points for maritime traffic to leisure boating due to concerns that Russia may encourage migrants to reach Finland by sea or over lakes.

"This would be dangerous for people trying to land and would put a burden on sea rescue," the Interior Ministry said.

Russia's strategy of sending asylum seekers to Finland's eastern border was similar to the situation at the border between Belarus and Poland in 2021, when Minsk encouraged thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa to try to reach the EU via the Polish border.

Most of the migrants were violently pushed back by Polish border guards who set up a no-access zone at the border for nine months.

Read also: Ukraine, Finland sign long-term security agreement

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Finland will keep its border with Russia closed until further notice over migration concerns

FILE - Finnish border guards walk at Vaalimaa border check point between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland, on Dec. 15, 2023. Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline until further notice due to a high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow, the Finnish government said on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)

HELSINKI (AP)  Finland will extend the closure of its border crossing points with Russia beyond the current April 14 deadline until further notice due to a high risk of organized migration orchestrated by Moscow, the Finnish government said on Thursday.

The Finnish Interior Ministry said in a statement that the Nordic country's national security and public order would come under serious threat if the estimated hundreds of third-country nationals were to continue to attempt to enter from Russia without proper documentation.

Based on information provided by public authorities, the risk that instrumentalized migration (by Russia) will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely, the ministry said.

Finland closed the 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) land border late last year after more than 1,300 migrants without proper documentation or visas  an unusually high number  entered the country in the three months since September, not long after Finland joined the NATO alliance.

Most of the migrants hail from the Middle East and Africa, from countries including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The vast majority of them have sought asylum in Finland, a European Union member state with a population of 5.6 million.

The Finnish Border Guard has earlier said that many migrants hold valid visas for working or studying - or have a residence permit - in Russia, which is considered a safe country.

Accusing Russia of deliberately ushering migrants to the normally heavily guarded Russia-Finland border zone that serves also as the EUs external border in the north, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has extended the closure of checkpoints several times.

The Kremlin has denied Helsinki's claims and instead accused the Finnish government of an unwillingness to hold a dialogue on the border issue.

All eight Finland-Russia land border crossing points for people have been closed since Dec. 15. The southeastern rail checkpoint for cargo trains in Vainikkala remains open but the government said on Thursday it would close three maritime checkpoints starting April 15.

Migrants can continue to seek asylum in Finland, part of EUs passport-free Schengen zone, at Finnish airports and harbors, the government said.

Finnish authorities see this as a long-term situation, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said. We have not seen anything this spring that would lead us to conclude that the (migration) situation has changed meaningfully.

In addition, warmer spring weather is estimated by the Finnish government to increase the number of migrants reaching the border, putting pressure on Helsinki to find a sustainable solution.

There are hundreds and possibly thousands of people close to Finlands border on the Russian side that could be instrumentalized against Finland, Rantanen said. Instrumentalized migration is one way that Russia can put pressure on and affect the security and social stability of Finland and the EU.

The Finnish Cabinet is currently drafting a legal act on measures to combat instrumentalized migration, including allowing the so-called pushback method in expelling migrants and asylum seekers, on the border with Russia.

Pushbacks, the forcible return of people across an international border without an assessment of their rights to apply for asylum or other protection, violate both international and EU law. However, EU members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have previously resorted to the controversial measure when dealing with migrants attempting to enter from Belarus.

The interior ministry said the legislative proposal on migration is to be submitted to Eduskunta, or the Parliament, as soon as possible. It must have the support of a wide majority of lawmakers to pass and the proposal has already been widely debated by experts, politicians and citizens.

Earlier, the government said it had received international support for the law from the EU and other organizations.

Finland acts as the EUs external border in the north and makes up a significant part of NATOs northeastern flank.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Confessions and DNA evidence led to the arrest and termination of a former Pueblo County sheriff's deputy after he allegedly had sex with a Pueblo County jail inmate, according to a PCSO arrest affidavit.

Kiki Seto, 25, was charged with sexual conduct in a correctional institution and second-degree introduction of contraband after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 23-year-old woman who remains an inmate in the county jail, the PCSO announced Friday.

In Colorado, sexual conduct in a correctional institution is a class 5 felony if it includes sexual intrusion or sexual penetration and is committed by an employee or contract employee of a correctional institution.

The current Pueblo County Detention Center at 909 Court St. [CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/ZACHARY ALLEN]

The investigation into Seto began when an inmate in the jail notified deputies that another inmate had stated they had sexual contact with a male deputy in the jail, according to the heavily redacted affidavit. After interviews with several inmates, a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exam was ordered for the inmate at a local hospital.

On March 19, deputies also tested clothing worn by the inmate. An article of clothing allegedly tested presumptively positive for seminal fluid, according to the affidavit, as did the bottom of a duty shirt issued to Seto.

According to the affidavit, Seto allegedly confessed to having sex with the inmate after initially and repeatedly denying it.

Surveillance footage captured inside the jail on March 15 and March 16 showed Seto in the inmate's cell alone several times for several minutes, although the interior of the cell was out of the camera's view.

An incident on Feb. 1 showed Seto, along with another deputy, escort the inmate to the "attorney room" in the jail. Seto and the inmate allegedly went inside, while the other deputy remained at the jail. According to the affidavit, the recording of Seto and the inmate entering the room was followed by a five-hour lapse in recording.

Seto did not have his body camera on for any of the contacts with the inmate.

In an interview with Seto, the former deputy first denied but later admitted to PCSO investigators that he had sex with the inmate.

When told he may face jail time, Seto allegedly told deputies that it "just happened."

Seto allegedly stated that the inmate had kissed him and, after being asked by investigators, confirmed that one thing led to another, according to the affidavit.

Seto told investigators that the encounter was consensual. The affidavit did not clarify what encounter Seto was referring to during the interview.

When questioned, the inmate told deputies that at the beginning of February, she had found out her brother had died and was very emotional in the attorney's room. Seto initially attempted to comfort her, she said, but then "groped" her and "made out" with her.

In another incident, the inmate told deputies that approximately three nights before she was interviewed in mid-March, she and Seto had another encounter in which she said they had sex, according to the affidavit.

The inmate told deputies that she "didn't say no" but didn't express any enthusiasm, and "didn't want it to happen because it was in the jail."

The inmate also told deputies that Seto had given her a pill the next day, which the inmate said she had accepted and flushed down the toilet. The type of pill Seto allegedly gave her was redacted throughout the affidavit.

Another deputy stated on March 20 that she had worked with Seto on Saturday, March 16, at which point Seto allegedly showed her a pill in its packaging. The deputy stated she didn't think anything of it, according to the affidavit, because Seto was "known to have slept with other deputies."

Seto will next appear in court for a bond hearing on April 3, in front of Judge Thomas Flesher.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.

Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formally known as Twitter, @jayreutter1. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain atsubscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Fired Pueblo jail deputy allegedly confessed to sex with inmate
A Ukrainian firefighter has been captured in a gut-wrenching video breaking down in tears after Russian forces deliberately targeted first responders rushing to the scene of an attack in Kharkiv, killing his father.

The attack on Ukraines second-largest city on Thursday left four people dead, three of whom were first responders, local authorities said. After first striking a residential building, Russian forces unleashed a repeat attack on rescuers arriving to help the injured.

One of those killed was 52-year-old Vladyslav Loginov, a firefighter who had arrived at the scene with his son, Volodymyr, whod followed in his dads footsteps and was also working as a firefighter.

Vladyslav and Volodymyr were working next to each other, literally a few houses away from one another. When a powerful explosion rang out, the son immediately understood that it had most likely hit where his father was, Ukraines Internal Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

A video shared by the Internal Affairs Ministry shows Volodymyr on his knees amid the wreckage at the scene, breaking down after reportedly having seen his fathers bloodied body. Two other emergency workers can be seen struggling to console him.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack despicable and cynical in a statement on social media.

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Firefighter mourns death of father with the same profession after repeated Russian strike in Kharkiv  video

Firefighter Vladyslav Lohinov, 52, was killed in the Russian night attack on the city of Kharkiv. The attack also claimed the lives of three other rescue workers and a civilian woman.

His son Volodymyr, who is also a firefighter, works at a nearby fire station, the Interior Ministry of Ukraine says.

The video, shot the night after the shelling, shows Volodymyr in a fire suit crying after learning of his father's death.

"The deceased dedicated his life to working in the fire department. His son followed in his father's footsteps and became a firefighter, serving as the head of the guard in the neighbouring fire department. After the first explosions of the night, father and son, along with colleagues, left for the impact site," reports the Interior Ministry.

Vladyslav and Volodymyr were working several buildings apart. During a repeat shelling by the Russians, a shell struck the house where the father was.

In a comment to Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia ("Life"), Yevhen Vasylenko, head of the State Emergency Service's press service in Kharkiv Oblast, stated that the Lohinov family is from Kharkiv Oblast.

Vladyslav had been working in the 6th Fire Rescue Unit for a long time, and Volodymyr has been in charge of the 3rd Fire Rescue Unit for over 10 years, starting fresh out of university.

"They went together to the location where the fire began. The father helped to extinguish the fire that saved a man from the rubble, and his son was at a nearby hit site about 200 metres away. After a repeated strike, it was reported that there were casualties [amongst the firefighters  ed.] and Volodymyr ran to the place where his father had been working," the press service head added.

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Two weeks ago, surgeons from Massachusetts General Hospital for the first time ever transplanted a kidney from a specially genetically modified pig into a living kidney-failure patient, Rick Slayman. Researchers had earlier tested the safety and efficacy of modified pig kidneys in brain-dead patients. Now, the xenotransplant has been so successful that Slayman has been released to go home.

The human-compatible kidney was provided by biotech company eGenesis which used CRISPR gene-editing technology to knock out three porcine genes that would otherwise provoke immunological rejection, add seven human genes to reduce inflammation and rejection, and inactivate porcine retroviruses that might infect a patient.

Although some animal rights activists object to killing animals for transplant organs, New York University bioethicist Arthur Caplan has observed, "If you're interested in animal rights, you're probably better off turning toward trying to change behavior at breakfast than you are trying to change behavior about organ transplants." Keep in mind that around 125 million hogs are slaughtered for food annually in the U.S., so good luck with changing either.

In 1995, Cambridge University transplant surgeon Roy Calne suggested that xenotransplantation "is just around the corner, but it may be a very long corner." The preliminary success of Slayman's transplant suggests that scientists and physicians may, at long last, be about to round that corner. That would be really good news for the nearly 100,000 Americans who are on the waiting list for kidney transplants.

The post First Pig Kidney Transplant Patient Goes Home appeared first on Reason.com.
The News

At least five members of Irans security force were killed in two attacks near the countrys border with Pakistan, state media said on Thursday.

Know More

Several members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were injured in the attacks, which have been claimed by the Pakistan-based extremist organization Jaish al-Adl, AFP reported.

Clashes between the group and the Revolutionary Guard broke out late Wednesday evening. Fifteen of the attackers were killed, state media said.

This is the second such attack in Iran claimed by Jaish al-Adl. The organization attacked a police station in the town of Rask in December, killing 11 security personnel. In January, Iran carried out strikes on two bases believed to belong to Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan.
U.S. District Courthouse for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee. Credit: Michael Moline

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

For more than three decades, Cynthia Slater has helped Black Floridians register to vote, she testified Thursday morning. But the Florida NAACPs civic engagement chair stopped organizing voter registration drives because of restrictions imposed under a 2023 law.

Before Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 7050 last year, the Florida State Conference of the NAACP had volunteers to help people register to vote at churches, high school and college sporting events, and other community gatherings throughout the state, Slater said. Since passage of the law, the group has instead opted to hand out voter registration forms, hoping prospective voters follow through on filling them out and mailing them to elections officials.

Her testimony came in a lawsuit by the Florida NAACP and other third-party voter registration groups (otherwise known as 3PVROs) against Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and each of the states 67 county supervisors of elections over the 2023 crackdown.

Every couple of years it just got harder and harder for organizations to do voter outreach in African American communities, Slater said during Day Four of the trial. Now, its up to a point where we cant register voters.

Crackdown on third-party voter registration groups

The groups take issue with several provisions of the law, including its prohibition of noncitizens and people whove been convicted of felony election and identity theft crimes registering voters. The law makes no exceptions for people who are permanent residents of the U.S. or hold work permits, or those who have won restoration of their civil and voting rights.

In the NAACPs case, the group has noncitizen volunteers who have registered voters, and Slater said their help was paramount in reaching people who spoke languages other than English.

Noah Sjostrom, an attorney in the Florida Attorney Generals Office, asked Slater whether she thought handing out the applications counted as canvassing. She replied that it didnt because her organization was not checking those applications and turning them in, as they previously did.

We are unsure whether a person completes the form, whether the information is accurate, Slater said. Thats the difference between the success and lack of success.

Additionally, the law reduced the deadline from 14 to 10 days for the 3PVROs to turn in applications before the registration closes for the next election. The law prohibits the organizations from maintaining any information about the people they help register to vote. Each infraction of the law can result in a fine of up to $50,000.

Mark Walker, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, enjoined the parts of the law preventing the retention of information and barring noncitizens from handling voter registrations in July 2023. Walker is presiding over the trial. However, leaders from the Florida NAACP, in line with testimony from representatives of groups that focused on registering Hispanic people earlier in the trial, testified the law has decreased voter registration efforts.

Asked by Sjostrom to explain how the Florida NAACP has used voters contact information, Slater replied that they called the people they helped register to vote to make sure they had received their voter registration cards and that they were accurate. Sjostrom then asked if she or any volunteers kept the contact information for personal use. Slater said they had no reason to.

The defense sought to enter into evidence notices the Florida Department of State sent to multiple Florida NAACP chapters in 2016 about complaints that the chapters had turned in voter registration applications late. Slater acknowledged being familiar with two of the notices but said another was inaccurate because it was addressed to a person not associated with that specific chapter of the organization. The attorneys from the state refrained from entering that notice into the record.

The trial will continue on Friday.

The post FL NAACP stopped voter registration drives amid legal challenge to election law, leader testifies appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Florida buys springs to preserve them, does little to stop harm from beyond boundaries

"Forever Blue" Turtles swim in the clear water of Ruth Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park. Photo by John Moran

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

A couple of weeks ago, I drove up to the picturesque small town of High Springs, about 30 miles north of Gainesville. Then I kept driving, heading out of town for several miles until I reached Floridas newest state park.

Park No. 175 is Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs, formerly a family-owned and operated roadside attraction that the state bought in 2017. It was a popular place for swimming, kayaking, and canoeing before the state acquired it, and it remains popular now.

People flock to this park near the Santa Fe River because the water looks so clear. Turtles and fish seem to glide through the air. Gainesville artist Margaret Ross Tolbert told me once that to splash into this spring is to jump off into wonderland.

Burma Shave-style signs line the entrance road to Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park. Photo by John Moran

But as I drove through the gate, what caught my eye and left me wondering was a series of rhyming signs along the entrance road. They were in three sets of four, lined up like the old Burma Shave signs.

Love Our Springs? asked the first blue sign. Then Lets Be Wise, said the next. Resist The Urge, said the third one, followed by, To Fertilize.

Another set said, Less Water Used/At Home And Farm/Protects Our Springs/From Further Harm. Then came the final set: No Matter How/You Float Your Boat/Respect Our Springs/When You Go Vote.

When I saw the first signs, I thought it must be a message from the park. That last set convinced me it was not.

Our political leaders tend to be far too friendly with polluters to advocate that you keep clean water in mind when you vote. Remember how they passed that polluter-friendly bill that talks about clean water but fails to do much about it? At least we can buy bigger wine bottles now to drown our sorrows, so it all balances out, right?

Finding the author of this roadside poetry took a couple of phone calls. When I tracked him down, what he said reminded me of something thats often overlooked.

Whenever our governor and lawmakers trumpet the fact that the state is spending millions to acquire environmentally sensitive land, they always avoid any mention of one simple fact: The land thats been preserved can still be hurt by actions that take place beyond its boundaries.

Its the flipside of the slasher movie When a Stranger Calls where the cops tell Carol Kane that the threatening calls are coming from inside the house. The harms coming from OUTSIDE the park.

That sucking sound

Gilchrist Blue Springs has what you might call an interesting backstory.

It was once owned by a St. Petersburg business mogul, Ed. C Wright, who held title to some 20,000 acres around the state. He handed the deed to this parcel to his longtime assistant, a petite woman named Ruth Kirby who liked to drive a gold Cadillac.

They were secretly in love. The spring was an engagement gift. Despite several tries, the couple never made it down the aisle. Wright must have had the worst case of cold feet this side of Roald Amundsen.

Ruth Kirby and Ed C. Wright, photo via Florida Park Service

When Wright died, unmarried and childless at age 77, his will named Kirby the executor of his $50 million estate. She sold some parcels to developers to build on and some to the government for preservation. But she hung onto the spring, a place she enjoyed so much she opened it up to the public to share its wonders.

In 1971, she persuaded her nephew to move his family there to run the place for her. After she died in 1989, they labored to keep it looking the way shed wanted.

Its hard in this day and age to keep it natural, one family member told me in 2013. Its a daily struggle to protect the water and the watershed.

Thats continued to be true since the state bought the property. Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson of the Our Santa Fe River environmental group told me Gilchrist Blue has been harmed by the one-two punch of a water bottler and some nearby dairies.

Our Santa Fe River and its allies pursued a lengthy legal challenge but failed to stop the Suwannee River Water Management District from renewing a permit for the Seven Springs Water company. The company won permission to pump nearly 1 million gallons of water a day out of nearby Ginnie Springs. They sell that water to Nestle.to bottle.

The states profit from this ginormous withdrawal of a public resource: A one-time permit application fee of $115. The CEO of Nestle probably spends more than that on a single silk tie.

Because both springs draw water from the same aquifer, the result of that massive sucking sound from Ginnie Springs is that the water pulsing through Gilchrist Blue is losing its flow. In the past 20 years the aquifer has dropped by 3 feet.

Merillee Malwitz-Jipson of Our Santa Fe River, via Facebook

Meanwhile, five nearby dairies are dropping nutrient pollution from fertilizer and animal waste into that same aquifer, she said. The state of Florida is spending a whole lot of the taxpayers money on cleanup, instead of making these corporations pay for it, she said.

The bottom line: The states efforts to protect Gilchrist Blue by buying the property for $5.25 million failed because of actions that state and local government have allowed to occur outside the property boundaries.

Imagine youd spent $100,000 to buy Ruth Kirbys gold Cadillac, then discovered someone had put sand in the gas tank. Youd be pretty upset, wouldnt you? Something similar is happening here.

This is where Gainesville nature photographer John Moran comes in.

A thousand straws

Moran is probably best known for a photo he shot titled The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.

One evening in 1990, Moran climbed a bluff overlooking Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park in Gainesville and scanned the water with a flashlight. He expected to see a few dozen gators eyes.

I was stunned to realize I was looking at hundreds of pairs of eyes glowing back at me in the approaching dark, he told me. Thats the photo he snapped.

When Moran displays this photo at art shows, people often ask if he was scared, He says no. But then he tells them that if they buy a print, hell let them claim they assisted him on the shoot, knocking ravenous gators away with a canoe paddle.

Moran spent decades working for The Gainesville Sun and is now in the University of Florida journalism schools hall of fame. But I think what hed rather be remembered for is his 2012 Springs Eternal Project.

For that traveling exhibit, he collaborated with artist Lesley Gamble and designer Rick Kilby for a show to inspire Floridians to value our springs and the diverse ecosystems they support. He was documenting a disappearing wonder, one thats being steadily drained by a thousand straws stuck in the ground and fouled by a thousand sources of nitrogen.

John Moran puts up a sign for the Florida Springs Council. Photo by John Moran

Morans work documenting Floridas marvelous springs is what led to his concern about how Gilchrist Blue Springs is being degraded.

For many years its been heartbreaking to witness the decline of our beloved springs, he told me. But weve all seen the power of words and images to inspire positive change.

He wanted to warn park visitors that their actions had consequences for the water thats the parks main attraction. With money from the Florida Springs Council, and permission from the parks next-door neighbor, Moran composed and installed those rhyme signs. He picked that format, he said, because short messages tend to be more memorable.

I imagine kids in the back seat of the family car, shouting out the lines as mom or dad is driving the family car for a day at the springs, he said, and then carrying that message home with them.

Theres only one problem with Morans clever sign strategy: Its only at the one park. We need it at a lot more.

The holy cows

Whats happening to Gilchrist Blue Spring is the same as whats occurring in all of the state parks with springs, said Robert Knight of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute.

Knight has been studying Floridas springs for more than 30 years, so he should know. From Wakulla to Silver to Wekiwa and so on, theyre all in trouble.

Robert Knight via the Florida Springs Institute

Were killing our springs, he told me.

All the springs that the state spent big bucks to acquire have developed big problems that the state is hesitant to fix.

Twenty-four years ago, Florida had an official government task force that was supposed to draw up plans for reviving the springs. But the task force shied away from cracking down on the people responsible for their demise, he said.

They knew what the problems were, Knight said. The people who produced the pollution or drained the aquifer were the holy cows, so we had to let them do what they want to.

Still, he said, it would be nice if the state at least acknowledged what was happening.

Some of the effects were quite dramatic. Clay Henderson, who literally wrote the book on land preservation in Florida (Forces of Nature, is awesome, buy five copies for your mother) told me he remembers as a boy swimming in White Springs, which is part of the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park.

Pumping from a nearby phosphate mine drained so much water from the aquifer that the spring stopped its flow in the 1970s. Now, he said, its dry as a bone.

Rhyming reminders

Its not only state parks that suffer from external problems. Volusia County learned this the hard way when it acquired Gemini Springs near DeBary in 1994, said Pat Northey, who spent 20 years as a county councilwoman.

We used to swim in Gemini Springs when the park first opened, she said. Then one day the health department came in and took samples and found fecal material in the water. They stopped everyone from swimming and weve never recovered it since.

Pat Northey, via Volusa County

The pollution came from the septic tanks of nearby development, she said. Now the county is working with DeBary to try to move those residents over to a sewer line. Maybe, someday, the water will be clean enough to swim in once more.

Springs are not the only type of parks where whats inside the fence is being hurt by whats outside. Pollution that we havent halted has harmed taxpayer-owned rivers and lakes, too. And beachfront parks are losing ground to climate change  you know, that problem that our Legislature is dealing with by deleting references to it from state law.

I think we need to post a bunch more Burma Shave signs, but around the state Capitol. Im no Edgar Allan Poe-et, but I gave it a try:

You cant be green/By writing checks/If you dont stop/Polluters dreck.

Wait, I can do better! The parks we save/Will be a waste/If we pollute/The goods erased.

No? Then how about: Taking money/From polluters/Makes you just/A bunch of looters.

I think Ruth Kirby would like that one.

The post Florida buys springs to preserve them, does little to stop harm from beyond boundaries appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
At 11:30 AM on March 29 a toddler was reported missing to the DeLand Police Department in DeLand, Florida. K-9 Midnight and his handler Corporal Clark were on the scene to assist with finding the three-year-old who was presumed to be lost in a wooded area behind the family home.

This is an absolute nightmare scenario for any family, but the story ended in the best way possible.

The DeLand Police Department explained on Facebook that all available assets and resources were deployed and they conducted a massive search in the wooded area behind the family home. K-9 Midnight used the scent from the little boy's blanket to help him in the search. K-9 Midnight picked up the childs scent on a trail, leading them to the toddler. Thank goodness the boy was unharmed!

Related: Maine Police Puppy Enjoying His First Pup Cup Is a Treat for Everyone

The best of this story was reported by WESH who explained, "Thankfully, the boy had his tablet, and he stayed in one spot, making it easier to track him down. When Midnight found him, he was very excited.

"By the time I got back there, he's licking the little boy's face, and he's all over the little boy," said Clark. "And he's looking back at me like, 'Hey, I got it. Here it is.'"

That's so typical of any kid that age, having his tablet with. And the fact Midnight was licking him just proves this brave dog is not only a trained professional, but also a therapy dog. How sweet!

I'm sure this family is so thankful to K-9 Midnight and Corporal Clark. What a heroic duo these two are.

Police dogs always conduct such amazing work and it's stories like these that make you realize what a truly important asset they are to law enforcement. I hope K-9 Midnight gots lots of treats and belly rubs as a reward.

What Goes In To Training a Police Dog

The US Department of Justice reports that the total average cost of a successful canine police program is $55,672.42.

Not only do these incredible dogs have to be trained for drug detection, but also how to perform search and rescue and how to help apprehend criminals.

Police dogs able to search through rubble after a devastating explosion, earthquake, or other disaster. They find people lost in avalanches. These dogs search for explosives and illegal drugs, they canvas large events to look for explosives, and help search civilian vehicles that have been pulled over.

Basic training for the patrol dogs takes approximately 4 months of full-time work, sometimes longer.

In addition to that, these amazing pups are like family both to the officers who work with them and their relatives.

One person posted on Facebook something that sums up my feelings perfectly, "I just wanted to say as a mother of three kids that are five three and one...... That dog is an absolute hero! He is a blessing and it is absolutely incredible what he did in saving that young boy."

Wonderful job and congratulations to you both!

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.
Former President Trumps position on abortion access is back in the spotlight, this time thanks to a Florida court ruling that has given Democrats an opening to attack Trump in his home state.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld the states ban on abortions after 15 weeks and allowed a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to go into effect in the coming weeks. Trump previously called the six-week ban a terrible mistake after his then-primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), signed it into law last year.

The ruling also approved a ballot measure that will go to voters in November that would enshrine abortion rights in the states constitution.

But Trump and his campaign, aware of the political risks around the issue, have offered little substantive response to the major Florida decision.

Trump, a Florida resident, did not directly address a reporters question in Michigan on Tuesday about the states six-week ban, instead saying he would be making a statement on abortion next week.

One Republican source suggested Trump may make a general statement that will echo what he has said previously about allowing states to decide in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe.

A statement from a Trump campaign adviser did not address whether the former would support the six-week abortion ban or how hed vote on the ballot measure.

President Trump supports preserving life but has also made clear that he supports states rights because he supports the voters right to make decisions for themselves. Where President Trump thinks voters should have the last word, Biden and many democrats want to allow abortion up until the moment of birth and force taxpayers to pay for it, said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign.

President Biden has said he does not support abortion on demand.

Protecting abortion access has been a major motivator for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, helping the party add a seat to its Senate majority, stave off a red wave in the House and win key state races in Kentucky, Virginia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Trump has blamed Republican losses in the 2022 midterms on the GOPs messaging around abortion, and his strategy has largely been to avoid committing to a specific policy proposal other than saying he supports exceptions for cases of rape, incest and life of the mother.

The former president has in recent weeks suggested there is a growing consensus among Republicans around a federal ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, though he has not explicitly endorsed such a policy at the federal level.

Trump has faced criticism from some conservatives, such as former Vice President Mike Pence, over his lack of a clear anti-abortion policy platform. But strategists said the former president is cognizant of the political risks around abortion and has significant leeway with Republican voters on the issue.

Hes got carte blanche to navigate the issue, because hes delivered and has the receipts with the base of the Republican Party, and they understand the stakes of 2024, one GOP strategist told The Hill.

Among the actions Trump took during his first term was banning any providers that receive Title X funds from referring people for abortions or even counseling them about abortions. His White House in 2019 also announced an expansion of the so-called Mexico City policy that bans U.S. aid from going to foreign groups that promote or provide abortions.

And Trump has repeatedly bragged that he is responsible for bringing about the end of Roe v. Wade through his appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices.

That has opened Trump up to attack on the issue, however, and polling has shown abortion is one area where voters trust Biden more than Trump. A Wall Street Journal poll of swing state voters published Wednesday found 45 percent of voters trust Biden more on the issue, compared to 33 percent who prefer Trump.

The Biden campaign has used the Florida court ruling as the latest opening to remind voters what Trump has said about abortion. The campaign released an ad Tuesday focusing specifically on Trumps comments taking credit for ending Roe v. Wade.

Bidens campaign manager wrote in a memo hours after the court ruling that Florida was winnable, though Trump carried his home state with ease in 2020.

And Vice President Harris argued the Florida ruling was the latest consequence of a Supreme Court decision that tied directly back to Trump.

For Donald Trump, it is not enough that more than 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America live in a state with a ban, Harris said in a statement. It is not enough that millions of women in America have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. Yet, if Donald Trump has his way, hell gut abortion care in every state across the country  and he has the plans to do it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tifanny Burks holds Novah Smith (2) as the members of Florida Planned Parenthood PAC Abortion rights activists hold placard during a protest after the 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization which overturns the landmark abortion Roe v. Wade case, in Miami, Florida, on June 24, 2022. The US Supreme Court on Friday ended the right to abortion in a seismic ruling that shreds half a century of constitutional protections on one of the most divisive and bitterly fought issues in American political life. The conservative-dominated court overturned the landmark 1973 "Roe v Wade" decision that enshrined a woman's right to an abortion and said individual states can permit or restrict the procedure themselves. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

These bans really affect people of color, the LGBT community, folks who are disabled, and Latinas, said Lupe M. Rodriguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.

After Florida enacted one of the strictest abortion bans in the country earlier this week, lawmakers and advocates are decrying how it will disproportionately harm Black and brown Americans. The bans ultimate fate, however, lies in the hands of voters in November.

On Monday, the majority-conservative Florida Supreme Court voted to keep in place the states 15-week abortion ban that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in 2022. The bill also triggered a six-week abortion ban that DeSantis signed last year to go into effect next month.

The abortion ban would forbid physicians from terminating pregnancies after six weeks of gestation. However, if the pregnancy is life-threatening, doctors can end the pregnancy to save an individuals life. The ban does not apply to cases that involve fetal abnormalities, incest, or rape.

Lupe M. Rodriguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, told theGrio she is outraged by the courts decision. She said the Florida government is putting politics over health.

These bans really affect people of color, the LGBT community, folks who are disabled, and Latinas, Rodriguez added.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that most individuals become aware of their pregnancy a little after 5 weeks of gestation. However, other factors could delay detection for weeks, such as mistimed pregnancies, income status, or lack of education.

Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights at State Innovation Exchange, where she leads the Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council, told theGrio that bans like the one in Florida reflect the actions of far-right ideology and ignore the desire of the people in the state.

In a separate decision on Monday, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that voters will have an opportunity to vote on a November ballot measure that could reverse the six-week abortion ban.

(Getty Images)

Amendment 4, or Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, will appear on the ballot, which states, No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patients health, as determined by the patients healthcare provider. Driver said she is optimistic that voters could undo the six-week abortion law.

In every state where there was a ballot initiative to protect abortion rights, voters showed up and voted in favor of reproductive freedom, Driver noted.

Although states like Florida are Republican-led, we know that an overwhelming majority are showing up to the polls to secure abortion rights, she said.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision, which granted states sole authority to establish their own abortion laws. In recent years, Republican-led states like Florida, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Idaho, Tennessee, and Mississippi have enacted some of the strictest laws in the country.

Rodriguez of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice said many Republican-led states in the U.S. have enacted abortion bans as a result of politicians who are out of touch with their population.

Many of these states have been plagued by decades of gerrymandering that have diluted the political power of the communities in those states  leading to abortion bans that the majority of the population dont support, said Rodriguez.

Driver of State Innovation Exchange said anti-abortion states lack the representation that is needed in the legislature to put abortion protections in place.

Instead, these states allow anti-abortion legislatures to have control over the people that they govern, said Driver.

Although Florida has had a 15-week abortion ban in place, the Guttmacher Institute found that, in 2023, more than 9,000 pregnant people living in neighboring states like Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia  which have total or near total abortion bans  have traveled to the Sunshine State to terminate their pregnancies.

One mom of four is detailing how she gave birth to triplets through a superfetation pregnancy. (Photo credit: Getty/ LWA/Dann Tardif) T

However, that will soon come to an end next month when Floridas six-week abortion ban kicks in.

Experts contend that individuals from marginalized communities living in Florida and neighboring states will be impacted the most by this legislation. They will have the financial burden of traveling to other parts of the country to seek abortion care.

Driver of State Innovation Exchange told theGrio that Florida was the hub of where people in the South could get abortion care.

She added that people will now have to travel to North Carolina and Virginia to seek abortion care. However, this will have devastating consequences for people who are seeking to make ends meet, immigrants, young people and largely Black and brown folks in the South.

Rodriguez of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice told theGrio that individuals from marginalized communities will face barriers trying to find child care, money to travel and schedule time off.

For most people who are trying to make ends meet, this will be hard to come by, said Rodriguez.

Despite the challenges that marginalized communities are now faced with, Rodriguez believes there is a glimmer of hope for voters, who could have the final say on whether the abortion ban remains in place this November.

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The post Floridas six-week ban will disproportionately harm Black Americans. Voters could change that in November appeared first on TheGrio.
TALLAHASSEE  A recruit for the Florida State Guard  a civilian military force under Gov. Ron DeSantis control  was removed from a Jacksonville training facility and sent to a hospital for a mental health evaluation in February after he reportedly told others he wanted to kill Jews and Palestinians and blow up a military base.

The recruit, a 23-year-old from Fleming Island, was two weeks into a month-long training camp to join the State Guard when two people training alongside him reported him for making threatening comments, according to a Jacksonville Sheriffs Office report obtained by the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times.

In one instance, a witness told deputies he overheard the recruit say he wanted to get a U-Haul and fill it (with) fertilizer and ammonium nitrate and blow up the base. Another witness told deputies he also said he wanted to kill Jews, (Palestinians), and that they all need to be annihilated, the report states. The Herald/Times is not naming him because law enforcement categorized the incident as a mental health case.

The incident  the second time that sheriffs deputies detained a recruit from the same February class training to join the State Guard exposes gaps in the organizations vetting process as DeSantis tries to quickly grow a force that he can deploy to respond to state emergencies.

According to the police report, the recruit told deputies he had been discharged from the Marine Corps due to mental health issues that stemmed from allegations that he had physically harmed an ex-girlfriend and threatened a school  an incident that led law enforcement officers to temporarily restrict his access to firearms.

While he denied making threatening comments, deputies decided to take him to a hospital under the Baker Act, a state law that allows the involuntary commitment of people who are deemed to be an imminent danger to themselves or others, rather than arrest him.

Sierra Dean, a spokesperson for the State Guard, said this week the recruit was removed from training and provided the medical support and attention necessary for violating the organizations zero-tolerance policy for abusive and violent behavior.

The FSG will continue to put the health and well-being of our soldiers first, Dean said.

Vetting recruits

The monthlong training in February was the second boot camp for the State Guard, which DeSantis and the Legislature revived in 2022. So far, the organization has recruited and trained 325 volunteers in a program based in Camp Blanding, a military base near Jacksonville.

Thats well short of the 1,500 soldiers authorized by state lawmakers, but still a quick ramp-up for a volunteer force that is being used to respond to emergencies such as natural disasters and immigration, including migrants trying to reach South Florida by boat. A select group within the State Guard, some of whom have received combat training by a private group, has the power to carry weapons and make arrests.

The February incident with the 23-year-old is not the first time issues have emerged with recruits.

Another Florida State Guard recruit  a former Florida Highway Patrol trooper who lost his job after a viral video appeared to show him in a patrol car racing a Lamborghini on Alligator Alley in 2018  was arrested by sheriffs deputies during the February training camp. His arrest was on a warrant out of Lee County on a charge related to allegations that he altered parts of his military records when applying for a job with the city of Cape Coral. He has pleaded not guilty.

Another State Guard member featured on the agencys website under the heading Know Your Heroes had previously faced charges of domestic violence, robbery and battery  all of which were dropped by prosecutors, the Herald/Times found.

Since those incidents took place, state lawmakers have approved enhanced background checks for State Guard members. DeSantis last month signed into law a bill allowing the State Guard to run prospective members through federal background checks, after agency leaders noted that volunteers will be deployed with vulnerable populations. Volunteers cant join the State Guard if they have been convicted of a felony, but some recruits have joined despite having arrests and other interactions with police on their record.

Up until late March, state officials were only doing background checks that showed an individuals criminal and employment history within the state. But the new state law now gives the State Guard the authority to do fingerprint-based checks on a persons state and national criminal records.

Florida law does not outline any requirements for mental health screenings for State Guard members. It only says that the director of the State Guard is tasked with establishing minimum standards for a volunteers physical and health condition, and physical fitness.

Dean did not respond when asked how the State Guard vets applicants mental fitness.

Sifting through the allegations

According to the police report, the recruit told deputies that he did not make threatening statements during the State Guard training camp, but that he had made various jokes. He added that he believed the witnesses  one of them an active duty police officer in the state  made the allegations against him because they did not like him because he had corrected (them) on deficiencies on military standards.

The witnesses in turn told deputies that he had threatened to blow up the base a week before the local sheriffs office was alerted to his comments.

The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office said in a statement on Wednesday that deputies found no further threats once the 23-year-old was detained under the Baker Act.

Deputies removed him from the Cecil Aquatic Center, where State Guard members were training at a pool. More than 200 recruits graduated from the February training program.

Of the roughly 300 active State Guard members, a group of 50 has been deployed to South Florida.

______
Despite abortion being on the November ballot in Florida, pro-abortion groups say a six-week ban going into effect next month will have devastating consequences for women in the Southeast.

The Florida Supreme Court issued two decisions earlier this week, allowing a question on the November ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution and upholding the state's 15-week abortion ban. A trigger ban will now go into effect on May 1, prohibiting abortions at six-weeks gestation, before most women know they are pregnant.

Florida, despite its 15-week limit, has been a key point of access to women across the southeastern U.S. living in states that have ceased nearly all abortion services due to bans. At least 14 states have ceased nearly all abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.

In Florida, the proportion of abortions provided to patients traveling from out of state increased from 5% in 2020 to 11% in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

In 2023, there were 8,940 more abortions in Florida compared to 2020 -- a 12% increase -- according to Guttmacher. Increased travel from out of state accounted for 58% of the states overall increase in abortions between 2020 and 2023.

PHOTO: An abortion rights activist holds a sign at a protest in support of abortion access, 'March To Roe The Vote And Send A Message To Florida Politicians That Abortion Access Must Be Protected And Defended,' July 13, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (John Parra/Getty Images )

A Woman's Choice, an abortion clinic with a location in Jacksonville, Florida, told ABC News that about half of the patients it sees every month are from out of state. The clinic would not disclose how many patients it treats at the Jacksonville location, but said it had a large increase in patients after neighboring states began enforcing abortion bans.

MORE: Delayed and denied: Women pushed to death's door for abortion care in post-Roe America

With Florida bordering Alabama and Georgia -- where there are severe restrictions -- the closest point of access for Floridians to get care past 12 weeks gestation is now Virginia or New Mexico, pro-abortion activists told ABC News.

Abortion care is allowed in North Carolina up to 12 weeks. However, one maternal fetal medicine specialist, who left the state due to the ban, told ABC News that providing care after 20 weeks was "fundamental to her practice" as she often diagnoses fetal anomalies sometime between 18 and 20 weeks gestation.

A Woman's Choice clinics, which has a facility in Danville, Virginia, says that location is over 500 miles from their Jacksonville clinic  an over 8-hour drive each way.

And, there could still be more barriers for patients able to travel that far for care in Virginia.

"I'm not sure if the infrastructure [in Virginia] can accommodate all the influx of patients. It's something that I'm really concerned about and I know providers have been working incredibly hard to see as many patients as [they can] safely and compassionately," Amber Gavin, the vice president of advocacy and operations at A Woman's Choice, told ABC News.

"But I do think that folks fall through the cracks especially folks who are already marginalized in our healthcare system," Gavin said.

MORE: Fighting for their lives: Women and the impact of abortion restrictions in post-Roe America

Impact of six-week bans

The six-week ban going into effect is "devastating" and "catastrophic for the region," Mini Timmaraju, the president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, told ABC News.

"There is really no distinction between a six-week ban and a total ban on abortion," Timmaraju said.

PHOTO: Demonstrators march in the rain during an abortion rights rally in downtown Orlando, Fla., June 27, 2022. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images)

According to Guttmacher, six-week bans have "massive impacts on abortion provision."

MORE: Arizona lawmaker reveals plan to get abortion for nonviable fetus

In South Carolina, the number of abortions provided in the formal health care system decreased by 71% after the state started enforcing the six-week ban on August 23, 2023. The state provided 250 abortions in September 2023 compared to 870 in August 2023, according to Guttmacher.

After six-week bans took effect in Georgia and Texas, there was about a 50% decline in abortion caseloads, according to Guttmacher.

Despite exceptions that allow abortions in some cases -- which differs depending on the state -- and federal law which requires physicians to provide life-saving care to patients, many patients are unsure what kind of care they can receive.

Bans "create a lot of confusion and chaos for people seeking care" making it "a bit harder for people to access care, but it's also gonna be harder for people to navigate when they can access care," Candice Gibson, the director of state policy at Guttmacher, told ABC News.

"I think that there's going to be a great need to educate individuals on what their rights are and also how they can access care," Gibson said.

Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion group, said the court's decision was "reasonable" in walking back the notion that a privacy clause in the state's constitution provided protections for a right to abortion.

Asked about reports of patients unable to get care in line with exceptions to bans in Florida and other states, Americans United for Life said it is up to the legislature to "take a look at that issue."

"If it decides that the right to treatment for truly medically necessary abortions isn't sufficiently clear, it could legislate to protect that right," Steven Aden, the chief legal officer and general counsel at Americans United for Life told ABC News.

PHOTO: The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2024. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP, FILE)

MORE: 13-year-old rape victim has baby amid confusion over state's abortion ban

Aden said the group does not support exceptions in cases of fatal fetal anomalies, proposing "perinatal hospice" instead.

"We cannot license or permit any human being to end the life of a human being. Even if it's for purposes of compassion. That's also why we oppose assisted suicide," Aden said.

Care in Florida under the ban

A Woman's Choice told ABC News the abortion clinic has already had to turn away patients under the 15-week ban, calling a six-week ban "devastating."

"One of the reasons that this ban makes it one of the worst in the country is because Florida already has a state-mandatory delay law, forcing folks to wait 24 hours and it mandates two in-person trips to a clinic," Gavin said.

"If in a few weeks a patient comes to us -- let's say they come to us in June -- and they come in for their consult appointment and they measure at six-weeks pregnancy, we literally wouldn't be able to see them the next day for their actual abortion appointment because they'd be past the gestational limit," Gavin said.

For patients past the gestational limit, the clinic will have options: help from patient navigators who provide financial assistance for abortion costs, help finding care in another state or a referral to a pro-abortion adoption agency.

PHOTO: Members of the Democratic Steering & Policy Committee Field Hearing on Reproductive Freedom meet, April 2, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Gavin said it is also likely some Floridians will choose to take matters into their own hands and self manage their abortions, or they may be forced to carry their pregnancies to term. The clinic will remain open and offer a range of OB-GYN care including ultrasounds, HIV testing and STI testing.

Ballot Initiative

Pro-abortion groups and A Woman's Choice told ABC News they were optimistic about abortion access being restored through the November election.

In all six states where there have been abortion questions posed to voters -- including conservative state like Kansas -- they have chosen to protect abortion rights.

Voters also overwhelmingly support abortion access, according to Gibson, who called the ballot initiative a "critical fight."

MORE: Florida voters will get to consider abortion rights ballot measure in November, court rules

A Woman's Choice, which actively participated in collecting signatures for the initiative, said it will be raising awareness about the ballot question, telling patients at their clinic to vote to protect and restore abortion in Florida. It will also be holding a rally.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice told ABC News that bans disproportionately impact their community, which are more likely to be uninsured. The group, part of the campaign for the ballot initiative, said it will work to ensure that information is available in Spanish, to help overcome language barriers.

PHOTO: Pro-abortion rights activists rally after the Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion, in Miami, June 24, 2022. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Americans United for Life told ABC News the group does not support the issue being left up to "popular majority vote."

"We believe that the rights of minorities [in this case fetuses] shouldn't be subjected to the popular vote of the majority," Aden said.

"We hope that the people of the state of Florida will recognize that the proposed initiative is really an all-out regime of abortion on demand," Aden said.

Timmaraju called the ballot initiative the state's "best option at restoring access in the South," but warned that a question on the November ballot is not an option in all states.

"There's not that many states left where we can pursue a similar path," Timmaraju said.

"Not every state has a pathway to get on the ballot because it requires you to go through the legislature and a lot of these southern states [have] a supermajority of Republicans and are several [election] cycles away from being able to pull something like this off. But in Florida you can go directly to the people and get on the ballot," Timmaraju said.

Florida's 6-week abortion ban 'catastrophic for the region,' activist says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Every month, young wetlands ambassadors from Flour Bluff ISD test air and water quality in their community, stopping by Redhead Pond, Packery Flats and Bob Hall Pier.

"It's a really great program," sixth grader Gianna Hines-Calabrese said. "We get out into the community a lot and our main goal is to help the environment and learn while doing it."

Students attended a community meeting Tuesday evening to highlight the program. This weekend, from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, the program is also hosting an event in the Flour Bluff ISD wetlands.

Through the OCEANS Program, sixth and seventh grade students help clean up local wetlands, kayak and fish and participate in activities like Nurdle Patrol, an effort to document plastic pellets on beaches. The students take field trips, learning about oyster shell recycling efforts and the importance of local wetlands for migratory birds.

"I expected it to be more like, 'Uh, I've got to learn,' but it's much more fun," Hines-Calabrese said.

Flour Bluff ISD OCEANS wetlands ambassadors and coastal explorers students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade learn about science and recreation in the Flour Bluff ISD wetlands.

The students collect data on water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrate, wind speed, air temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and more.

At Redhead Pond, they do native plant surveys. The students say their favorite plant to find are muskmelons.

Students meet with mentors from the community and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi weekly, learning to identify wetland creatures like bloodworms, sea cucumbers and ladyfish larvae.

"I've learned about fish parasites," Hines-Calabrese said.

Flour Bluff ISD OCEANS Program students regularly take field trips, including to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department CCA Marine Development Center during the 2023-24 school year.

Sixth-grader DJ Nease said he's also enjoying the program.

"It taught me how to cast a net and what bacteria is and fishing," Nease said.

Compared to typical classroom learning, the OCEANS Program is "more fun and less boring and you get to have fun doing it," Nease said, adding that he'd recommend the program to other students.

Students have the opportunity to take an elective class in fifth grade or sixth grade based on teacher recommendations.

Recommendations aren't based on grades, Doyle said. Teachers look for students that are interested in the outdoors or who are scientifically-minded.

Outside the elective class, wetlands ambassadors meet weekly for additional research and service projects opportunities.

Doyle teaches at Flour Bluff Intermediate School.

"When I first came here six years ago, the fifth and sixth grade was the only OCEANS Program," Doyle said. "Then the program was really successful and they expanded to middle school."

At Flour Bluff Junior High School, teacher Steven Dial continues the program with coastal explorers classes for seventh and eighth graders.

"We tend to focus more on outdoor recreational activities," Dial said. "I teach the kids how to fish, how to throw cast nets, kayaking and things like that... the idea with my class is to get the kids outside."

Students who participate in sixth grade often continue in Dial's classes, but Dial offers bigger class sizes, allowing new students to participate.

Beyond the elective classes offered to fifth through eighth grade students, students across the district have the opportunity to participate in activities.

Flour Bluff Intermediate School OCEANS Program students taught Flour Bluff ISD Early Childhood Center students about kayaking in the Flour Bluff ISD wetlands during the 2023-24 school year.

"All the way from pre-K to high school there are various forms," Doyle said. "Some have an after-school program. Some have an 'OCEANS' week."

Students attended a Flour Bluff Citizens Council meeting Tuesday evening to share their information about their activities with the community.

The Flour Bluff Citizens Council is a grassroots local organization that has been active in environmental clean-ups in Flour Bluff and providing city leaders with input on parks and recreation programs, such as a pedestrian bridge project across Oso Bay to connect Flour Bluff with the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve.

On Saturday, the OCEANS Program students plans to present their research on local brackish and saltwater ecosystems through games and activities.

The event will take place 9-11 a.m. in the Flour Bluff ISD wetlands pavilion near the corner of Laguna Shores Road and Hustlin Hornet Drive.

Here's how to attend Festival de Mariachi en la Isla

What to know about "beachcombing"  Jace Tunnell highlights strange beach finds

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Flour Bluff students to share research, activities Saturday
Savannah Graziano had been abducted by her father, Anthony Graziano, a fugitive accused of killing his wife

Courtesy of City of Fontana Police Department via AP (2) Savannah, left, and Anthony Graziano

A teenage girl who had been kidnapped by her fugitive father appeared to be complying with instructions and surrendering to a sheriffs deputy when she was fatally shot by police in California, recently released audio and video from the incident shows.

Savannah Graziano, 15, had been abducted by her father, Anthony, who police said had fatally shot his wife. Savannah and Anthony were both killed in a shootout with the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department on Sept. 27, 2022.

The sheriffs department released edited footage of the shootout Friday, March 29. Video taken from a police helicopter above the scene of the shootout, which occurred on I-15 near Hesperia and Victorville, shows Savannah, who police say was wearing tactical gear, getting out of her fathers crashed car approaching police when she was shot.

Related: Murder Fugitive and His Daughter, 15, Killed on California Highway During Shootout with Police

Also released was audio from a deputys recording device, which does not have an accompanying video. The deputy is heard telling Savannah to walk toward him, as gunfire is heard in the background.

Passenger, get out, the deputy says multiple times. Come here, come to me.

The instructions given by the deputy appear to match what Savannah is seen doing in the helicopter footage. Still, gunfire is heard in the audio even as the deputy shouts instructions.

Hey! Stop! Stop shooting her, the deputy yells, as gunfire continues to sound. Hes in the car, stop!

California Highway Patrol Anthony Graziano, left and Savannah Graziano

The gunfire then stops. The video posted by the sheriffs department includes text saying that deputies immediately began administering medical aid to Savannah, who was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Anthony, who was also killed in the shootout, was pronounced dead at the scene, police previously said.

A day before the shootout, the Fontana Police Department said Anthony fatally shot his wife and was considered armed and dangerous. Police also said his 15-year-old daughter was with him. As a result, an Amber Alert went out for Savannah, which was sent to the California Highway Patrol.

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The car belonging to Anthony, a 2017 Nissan Frontier, was spotted by someone who then called 911, police previously said. According to the video posted by the sheriffs department on Friday, no one from CHP was in the area, so San Bernardino Sheriffs deputies responded to pursue the vehicle, which ended with a shootout.

San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said after the shootout that Savannah was wearing tactical gear and started running toward deputies. Dicus also noted at the time that it was possible Savannah participated in the shootout, though there is nothing seen or heard in the recently released audio and video that indicates she did.

The California Department of Justice is investigating the incident. The sheriffs department also says it is conducting an internal review.



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Forecast for South Jersey calls for some sun, then rain, hail for Thursday, April 4

Residents throughout South Jersey should enjoy any brief bursts of sunshine Thursday morning, because soggy conditions will return by Thursday afternoon.

If youre getting ready to head out for the day or just want to know what to expect, heres a look at the forecast from the National Weather Service.

Whats the weather in South Jersey?

Robert Deal, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the peeks of morning sunshine will quickly give way to rain, wind and possible hail in South Jersey and the greater Philadelphia region.

"Thursday morning will be sunny to start off with, but cloudy conditions will return and bring later afternoon showers and thunderstorms," Deal said. "Some of those storms could produce small hail.

"There is a little concern for flash floods, but no widespread flooding, because many rivers are already elevated, and we have a number of flood warnings up already."

Temperatures should reach the low 50s in South Jersey by Thursday afternoon.

South Jersey forecast

Deal said conditions should begin to improve over the next few days.

"As we get into Friday, it'll be mostly cloudy, and we could see some spotty showers," Deal said. But the main thing is it will feel pretty brisk, with gusts near 35 mph, so it will feel pretty chilly for early April.

"The positive outlook is that we will have some relief from all the rainfall we've had heading into the weekend. It will be fairly nice, albeit it a little chilly."

According to the National Weather Service's 7-day outlook for South Jersey, the rain and possible hail will start after 4 p.m. on Thursday, and will produce gusts nearing 20 mph.

Friday's high in South Jersey should reach 50 degrees, with partly sunny conditions and wind gusts nearing 25 mph.

It will be mostly sunny on Sunday, with temperatures again in the low 50s. It may feel warmer on Sunday, as the winds should have died down by then.

The latest radar scans from the National Weather Service show one storm system moving out, as another sets over South Jersey and the Delaware Valley on Thursday, April 4.

South Jersey forecast for Wed., April 3: Forecast for South Jersey calls for heavy rains, winds, on Wednesday, April 3

Stay tuned for further updates as weather conditions may vary throughout the day. Remember to check back tomorrow for the latest weather forecast for the area.

Damon C. Williams covers trending and regional developments for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: What to expect from South Jersey weather on Thursday, April 4
A former Houston police officer is indicted again on murder counts in a fatal 2019 drug raid

FILE - Retired Houston Police Department officer Gerald Goines leaves the court after Judge Veronica M. Nelson quashed two felony murder indictments against him, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at Harris County Criminal Courts at Law in Houston. On Wednesday, April 3, the former Houston police officer was reindicted on murder charges for his role in a 2019 deadly drug raid that led to the death of a couple and revealed systemic corruption problems within the police departments narcotics unit. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

HOUSTON (AP)  A former Houston police officer has been indicted again on murder charges for his role in a 2019 deadly drug raid that led to the death of a couple and revealed systemic corruption problems within the police departments narcotics unit.

The reindictment by a grand jury on Wednesday of Gerald Goines on two felony murder counts came a week after a judge dismissed two similar murder charges he had previously faced.

Goines is charged in the January 2019 deaths of a married couple, Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58. Prosecutors allege Goines had lied to obtain a search warrant by making up a confidential informant and wrongly portraying the couple as dangerous heroin dealers. That led to a deadly encounter in which Tuttle, Nicholas and their dog were fatally shot and police found only small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house. Five officers, including Goines, were injured in the raid.

Last month, state District Judge Veronica Nelson dismissed the previous two murder indictments that Goines, 59, faced. Goines has maintained his innocence.

The ruling came after Goines lawyers argued the previous indictments were flawed in how they used the underlying charge of tampering with a government record to indict him for murder.

Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines attorneys, said she was not surprised by the new indictments.

Without having seen the indictments, we cannot say what motions, if any, will need to be filed to address the new indictments, DeBorde said Thursday in an email.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said prosecutors were looking forward to presenting their case at trial, which is scheduled for June. Goines is also facing federal charges in connection with the case.

We feel confident that Gerald Goines will be brought to justice and that the victims in this case will finally have their story told, Ogg told reporters Wednesday.

Mike Doyle, an attorney representing Nicholas family, said in a statement that his clients, who have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, will not stop their fight for justice.

The Nicholas family has seen so many starts and then stops again in the criminal cases that they can only hope both the District Attorney and U.S. attorneys offices secure some level of justice, finally, Doyle said.

A dozen officers, including Goines, tied to the narcotics squad that carried out the raid were later indicted on various other charges following a corruption probe.

Since the raid, prosecutors have reviewed thousands of cases handled by the narcotics unit.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned 22 convictions linked to Goines.

One of the other cases tied to Goines that remains under scrutiny is his 2004 drug arrest in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for his drug conviction following his arrest by Goines.

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A former Biloxi Police officer surrendered to authorities on Thursday after a judge issued three felony arrest warrants related to drug crime, the Biloxi Police Department said.

Police said Jacob Noel Vickers, 23, had conspired to sell controlled substances and laundered money earned from the sale of the controlled substances while he was employed as Biloxi Police officer.

Police also said Vickers hindered prosecution because they allege he shared sensitive information from law enforcement databases with a suspected drug dealer. Biloxi Police did not say what information had been released.

Former Biloxi Police Officer Jacob Vickers, 23, surrendered to authorities on three felony charges on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Biloxi Police

On March 28, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce said on Facebook it had named Vickers an Outstanding Police Officer and said that Vickers and others had been recognized for their unwavering service and commitment to our community.

On March 26, the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce also recognized Vickers, among other officers, as 2024 Outstanding Police Officers.

In a news release Thursday, Biloxi Police said the department had fired Vickers before the warrants were issued.

Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Christopher L. Schmidt issued the warrants after a probable cause hearing, the news release said.

Authorities said they transported Vickers to the Harrison County Jail where he was held on a $300,000 bond.
Former officials say war crimes investigations into Israel are being undermined by Bidens White House

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) greets US President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport on October 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas (AFP via Getty Images)

Investigations into potential Israeli war crimes and violations of international law are being undermined by President Joe Bidens insistence on providing his close ally with billions of dollars in unconditional military support, several former State Department and Pentagon officials told The Independent.

Speaking out after the killing of seven international aid workers by Israel in Gaza, among them an American citizen, one former Pentagon attorney said that any US investigations into Israels actions were perfunctory and performative due to pressure from the White House.

The former officials say the presidents decades-long and deeply held personal connection to Israel renders US laws and regulations concerning US arms sales essentially toothless.

Theres no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional, said Brian Finucane, who worked for a decade in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the State Department advising on arms transfers and the laws of war.

That means they dont want to hear inconvenient legal conclusions, he told The Independent.

Mr Finucane said senior administration officials he had spoken to had been met with a shrug by the US intelligence community when they quizzed them about mass civilian casualty incidents caused by Israeli bombing, because its no ones job in the US intelligence community, apparently, to actually investigate these things.

It flows directly from Oval Office, as a function of Biden's long-held views on Israel, he added.

His assessment was corroborated by two former State Department officials and a former Pentagon attorney  all of whom worked on the issue of US arms transfers  in interviews with The Independent.

Charles Blaha, former director of the State Departments Office of Security and Human Rights, which regulates weapons transfers, said investigations into breaches of humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict  if they are taking place at all  are likely not being taken seriously.

My sense is that people get patted on the head and say, this is all very interesting, But I think the president is the decider here, he said.

President Biden is under increasing pressure from within his own party and from international allies over his refusal to consider suspending arms sales to Israel. The war in Gaza has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, since October.

The US provides some $4bn in military support each year to Israel and is weighing sending another $18bn more imminently. But the president has stubbornly refused to consider such a measure despite a steady stream of atrocities being broadcast to the world.

This combination of photos provided by World Central Kitchen/WCK.org, shows seven aid workers who were killed in Gaza Monday, April 1, 2024 (AP)

The killing of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK)  a non-profit humanitarian aid organisation founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres  by three precision strikes from an Israeli drone made with British components, drew swift condemnation from the president, who said he was outraged and heartbroken over the deaths.

The workers had been returning from delivering food aid to northern Gaza, which is on the brink of famine, when the drone struck their three vehicles, which were clearly marked with the WCK logo.

Among the victims was Jacob Flickinger , 33, a US-Canadian dual citizen. That strike pushed the death toll for aid workers in the conflict to over 200 .

On Wednesday, just one day after the killings, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tersely rejected the notion that the US should reconsider sending weapons to Israel while it is potentially breaching international humanitarian law.

The State Department continues to review incidents as they arise, he said, emphasising that they havent found an incident yet that has pointed to a violation of international humanitarian law.

But the former officials described such reviews and investigations by the US government into those incidents as fatally flawed due to the presidents own policy.

Civil society and the media can keep pointing out that Israel is violating the law or that its conduct of operations requires certain actions by the US government to cut assistance; but at the end of the day, whats driving the entire process is the ideological and political perspective of the president, Sarah Harrison, a former Pentagon attorney in the Office of General Counsel between 2017 and 2021, serving the Secretary of Defense, told The Independent.

Often, those investigations are intentionally mired in bureaucracy because those charged with reviewing the incidents are aware of the presidents commitment to providing unconditional support for Israel, she added.

The delays concerning the assessments are on purpose, Ms Harrison said. They are the result of prioritising administration policy objectives, which are to not ever say Israel commits violations and to not cut off assistance to Israel. Those goals are coming directly from the president. We know from speaking to US officials that this is President Bidens ideology and, if theyre even trying, nobody is able to change his mind.

Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in October 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Finucane, who advised on the legality of arms transfers during his time at the State Department, tells The Independent that potential war crimes by Israel are not really looked at.

[John] Kirby is clearly overstating the extent to which theres any process to examine how Israel is conducting hostilities and how those using US weapons in Gaza, he said.

Ms Harrison said that there was a culture within the various processes for investigation, as a result of the presidents policy, that silences dissent on the issue.

The culture that permeates to the bottom of the bureaucracy is one in which the US does not criticise Israel or ever acknowledge that its committing violations of international law, she said.

The Biden administrations refusal to consider halting arms sales to Israel was having a devastating effect on State Department staff, says Mr Blaha.

I was in the State Department for 32 years, including during the Iraq War. I have never seen this much unhappiness in the State Department, he said. It was even worse than Iraq. So yeah, people are concerned.

Josh Paul, who resigned in October as director of the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in protest of the Biden administrations unconditional military support to Israel, describes his former department as being on autopilot.

War in Gaza (Associated Press)

It continues to approve transfers to Israel on a daily basis, he said. And no one at the lower level is willing to stick their head above the parapet for as long as the direction from the top remains to move forward.

Mr Paul noted that previous US presidents, from Ronald Reagen to George W. Bush, had threatened to suspend aid to Israel to achieve US policy objectives, but Mr Biden has remained steadfast in his commitment to leave conditions off the table.

There's been essentially some atrophying of the muscles that we used to use in this space, because it's been so long since anyone tried to apply leverage in this way and conditionality. But you know, that can be relearned. This is all a question of political will, he said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent for this story.

However, Mr Kirby, the White House spokesperson, made clear on Wednesday morning that the Biden administration would continue supporting Israel despite the international uproar.

We make no bones about the fact that we have certain issues about some of the way things are being done, he said. We also make no bones about the fact that Israel is going to continue to have American support for the fight that they are in to eliminate the threat from Hamas.

In fact, the Biden administration authorised the transfer of over 1,000 500-pound bombs and over 1,000 small-diameter bombs to Israel on Monday, shortly before the strike on the aid workers.
Three former Supreme Court judges have said the Government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel.

A letter to the Prime Minister  signed by more than 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges, including Baroness Brenda Hale, the former Supreme Court president, calls the current situation in Gaza catastrophic.

The letter sent on Wednesday says the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finding that there is a plausible risk of genocide being committed means Britain is legally bound to prevent it.

The 17-page document, seen by The Guardian, states: While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to [the UN relief organisation] Unrwa falls significantly short of your governments obligations under international law.

It comes as Rishi Sunak faces mounting pressure to act after the killing of seven aid workers, including three British citizens, in an Israeli strike on a convoy in Gaza.

Baroness Brenda Hale, the former Supreme Court president, is a signatory to the letter - Supreme Court/PA

The letter calls for the Government to push for a permanent ceasefire and to impose sanctions on those inciting genocide against Palestine.

On the continued supply for arms to Israel, it states: The ICJs conclusion that there exists a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza has placed your government on notice that weapons might be used in its commission and that the suspension of their provision is thus a means likely to deter and/or a measure to prevent genocide.

Senior retired judges normally refrain from weighing into politically sensitive issues, emphasising the significance of the letter. A prominent figure who put their name to the document includes Jonathan Sumption, the former Supreme Court justice.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said: The most important point is that Article 1 of the Genocide Convention requires states to do what they can to prevent genocide. Now, it hasnt yet been determined whether what the Israelis are doing is genocide. The ICJ is considering that issue, but they have already ruled that there is a plausible case that that is what is going on in Gaza.

He added: It seems to me that we have a duty, as we do in international law, to prevent genocide and there is plausible case that is what is happening, you should do what you can to obstruct it.

The deaths and the indiscriminate killings, these things are happening now.

Lord Sumption said the British Governments policy has always been to observe international law and it should therefore stop arming Israel.

Lord Sumption, the former Supreme Court justice, says the UK has a duty 'to prevent genocide'

The letter calls for the Government to take immediate measures to bring an end to a risk of genocide following developments in Gaza including the ICJ ruling, the rising death toll and the increased risk of famine due to the blocking of aid.

It also calls on the Prime Minister to do all he can to secure the release of hostages taken during the Oct 7 attacks.

Mr Sunak was sent another letter in October which raised concerns about the Governments obligations to avert serious breaches of international humanitarian law and avoid complicity.

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Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said on Thursday that Midland oil magnate Tim Dunn, one of the states most powerful and influential GOP megadonors, once told him that only Christians should hold leadership positions in the lower chamber.

Straus, a Republican who is Jewish, relayed the encounter in an interview with former Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. It appeared to be the first time Straus publicly confirmed the anecdote, which was first reported by Texas Monthly in a 2018 story that cited Straus insiders.

The alleged remarks came at a November 2010 meeting, shortly after Dunns political network had targeted many of the Democrats and moderate Republicans who had helped Straus ascend to the speakership the year before. With Straus poised to seek a second term as speaker the following January, he said he asked Dunn to meet in the hopes of finding common ground on fiscal tax issues.

But Dunn reportedly demanded that Straus replace a significant number of his committee chairs with tea party-aligned lawmakers backed by Dunns political advocacy group, Empower Texans. After Straus rebuffed the demand, the two began to talk about social policy, at which point Dunn allegedly said he believed only Christians should hold leadership posts.

It was a pretty unsatisfactory meeting, Straus said Thursday. We never met again.

Dunn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Straus confirmation of the comments comes as Dunns political empire continues to face scrutiny for its ties to avowed white supremacists and antisemites. In October, The Texas Tribune reported that Jonathan Stickland, the then-leader of Dunns most powerful political action committee, hosted prominent white supremacist and Adolf Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes at his office for nearly seven hours. The Tribune subsequently uncovered close ties between numerous other Fuentes associates and Defend Texas Liberty, the PAC that Stickland led until he was quietly replaced last year.

The reporting prompted Speaker Dade Phelan and 60 other House Republicans to call for the Texas GOP to cut ties with Defend Texas Liberty and Stickland. Dunn has not publicly commented on the matter, though Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Dunn told me unequivocally that it was a serious blunder for Stickland to meet with Fuentes. Patrick added that Dunn had assured him his political action committee and its employees would have no future contact with Fuentes.

Late last year, the state partys executive committee narrowly rejected a ban on associating with Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis and antisemites  which some members said could create a slippery slope and complicate the partys relationship with donors or candidates. After outcry, the Texas GOPs executive committee passed a significantly watered-down version of the resolution earlier this year.

At the time of his alleged remarks to Straus, Dunn was a lesser-known political entity, using groups such as Empower Texans to push for libertarian economic policy and help fund the states nascent tea party movement. Groups and lawmakers backed by Dunn had been particularly critical of Straus, frequently attacking him as a weak conservative  a claim theyve made against each of Straus successors, including Phelan.

Since then, Dunns influence on state politics has steadily grown. He and another West Texas billionaire, Farris Wilks, have poured tens of millions of dollars into far-right candidates and movements who have incrementally pulled the Texas GOP and Legislature toward their hardline, anti-LGBTQ+ and immigration stances. Dunn's allies have meanwhile pushed back against claims that he is antisemitic or adheres to Christian nationalism, which argues that America's founding was God-ordained and that its institutions and laws should thus favor their brand of ultraconservative Christianity.

Even after the Tribunes reporting sparked a wave of backlash, Dunn emerged from last months primary perhaps stronger than ever, after his political network made good on its vows for vengeance against House Republicans who voted to impeach their key state ally, Attorney General Ken Paxton. Nine GOP incumbents were unseated by hardline conservative challengers and eight others, including Phelan, were forced into runoffs  mostly against primary foes backed by Dunns network.

The primary also paved the way for the likely passage of legislation that would allow taxpayer money to fund private and religious schools  a key policy goal for a movement that seeks to infuse more Christianity into public life. The push for school vouchers was spearheaded by Gov. Greg Abbott, who spent more than $6 million of his own campaign money to help unseat six anti-voucher Republicans and push four others into runoffs.

Straus, whose decade-long run as speaker overlapped with Abbotts first term as governor, criticized Abbotts spending blitz to take out fellow GOP lawmakers. He also accused Abbott of falsely portraying members as weak on border security even after they voted for the GOPs entire slate of border legislation last year, pointing to Abbotts ads attacking state Rep. Steve Allison, Straus successor in his San Antonio district.

Its too bad the governor took on all these members who are 99% with him, Straus said.

Abbott has called the results an unmistakable message from voters in support of school vouchers. He recently said the House was two votes away from a clear pro-voucher majority and urged supporters to redouble our efforts during the runoffs.

Straus argued Abbotts move to unseat anti-voucher incumbents showed more frustration than political courage, citing the governors failure to pass a voucher measure during the spring regular session and multiple special sessions.

Persuasion failed, so he took on retribution, Straus said. I think its really unfortunate, and I think it just further diminishes the work of the Legislature and our state government.

Abbott's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Straus, who served in the House from 2005 to 2019, announced he would not seek reelection in the fall of 2017, after concluding a months-long feud with Patrick over a bill that would have regulated which bathrooms transgender Texans could use. Straus opposed the measure, which never made it through the House.

Since Straus retirement, the Legislature has passed laws barring transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapies and restricting which sports teams transgender student athletes can join.

Straus said the array of recent laws aimed at LGBTQ+ Texans have left the community borderline persecuted.

Where's the humanity in that? And why is it such an obsession? Straus said. Time and time again, they try to find some niche thing they think will play well in the primary when, in my view, it's rooted in just plain indecency.

Straus largely demurred when asked to assess Phelans performance as speaker, quipping that he really didn't appreciate former members pontificating about whether I was good or bad during his run as speaker. He said Phelan has generally been a good speaker, though when asked if Phelan made the right move to impeach Paxton, Straus said, history has made that questionable, citing the primary results.

Still, he argued that it remains to be seen how the House will change next session, even with its apparent shift to the right last month and calls from hardline House members to align more with Patrick and the Senate.

"In my experience, the House has never been easily tamed," Straus said after the LBJ School interview. "And I think that if I were a betting man, I would bet that the House will want to protect its independence, that it'll want to protect its institution."

Disclosure: Texas Monthly and University of Texas at Austin - LBJ School of Public Affairs 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.

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An 18-year-old Fort Worth man pleaded guilty to stealing a U.S. Postal Service arrow key from a letter carrier, federal prosecutors said.

Willis Bender was charged in October 2023 and pleaded guilty Wednesday to receipt or concealment of stolen property to the United States, according to a news release from Leigha Simonton, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Bender admitted he received and concealed a stolen arrow key  a master key used by the USPS to collect mail deposited in collection boxes, according to plea papers.

The key was stolen from a letter carrier in Everman on Sept. 20, according to the release. The carrier reported that she was robbed at gunpoint by a Black man who demanded she hand over the mailbox key, the release says.

In interviews with authorities, Bender gave several accounts of his role in the robbery. He first told authorities he knew nothing about the incident and then said that a man showed up at his front door, threatened his family, and forced Bender to accompany him in the robbery, according to the release.

In a second interview, Bender told authorities a man threatened him with a gun and forced him to sit in the back seat of his car during the robbery, the release states.

In another interview, Bender said a man committed the robbery while he and another suspect waited outside the vehicle. In a final interview, Bender stated that when police arrived to the scene, he looked outside and saw the stolen key sitting outside his car door, according to the release. Not wanting to get in trouble for the robbery, he told authorities that he took the key and hid it behind an air duct in his bedroom along with his gun.

Bender faces up to 10 years in prison.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation with assistance from Everman police.
Oklahoma authorities said Wednesday they now suspect foul play was a factor in the disappearance of two Kansas moms who vanished while on their way to pick up ones children last weekend.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said theyd found evidence to indicate foul play based on a search of the car that Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, were last seen in.

That vehicle was abandoned on the side of a highway Saturday in the rural Oklahoma Panhandle, near the Kansas border, authorities said.

Few details about the womens disappearance have been released, but a spokesperson for the bureau, Hunter McKee, told Fox News on Wednesday that investigators believe the women are in danger, especially since their vehicle was found in a very rural area of the state.

We have not found them yet, he told the network. We are doing everything we can.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=801154808712956&set=a.297085712453204

Authorities have not identified any persons of interest in the case, nor have any arrests been made.

Butler was the owner of the vehicle the women were last spotted in on March 30. Loved ones told NBC News she had been enmeshed in a child custody dispute.

The women were members of the First Christian Church in Hugoton, Kansas, and were more acquaintances than friends, NewsNation reported on Thursday. Kelley runs all the childrens programs at the Church, her mother told KFOR. An unnamed family member told NewsNation shed traveled with Butler to assist her with a custody matter.

Kelleys husband, Heath Kelley, was due to move to soon become the new minister at Willow Christian Church in Indianola, Nebraska, according to The Kansas City Star. That church has been posting pleas for prayers since the women disappeared.

We ask that you continue to pray for Jilian and Veronica and their families as the search and investigation continue, the church wrote. Pray for strength, wisdom and faith for everyone involved. We appreciate everyone who has shared the prayer requests. We are getting messages from all over the country of people praying for these two women and their families.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny poses with dog.

Police saw no violent evidence involving the death of Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny, a prosecutor said.

"There was no traumatic injuries," District Attorney General Craig Northcott said. "There's not a reason to believe foul play or suicide."

Tullahoma police found Matheny dead inside a vehicle, in the driveway at his 1909 E. Lincoln St. home after responding to a 911 call shortly after noon Tuesday. He had served as Coffee County mayor since 2022 and is a former state representative.

Matheny was 53. The cause of death will await the results of an autopsy and subsequent report, which typically takes three to four months to be completed, said Northcott, who oversees prosecution of cases for Tennessee's 14th Judicial District.

Northcott urges people to respect the privacy of Matheny's family by not speculating about the cause of death.

"Judd was a friend of mine," Northcott said. "Certainly its a loss I feel personally, and he will be missed."

Craig Northcott

Death of mayor: Tennessee authorities investigating death of Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny

Northcott also said he's extending prayers to Matheny's family, friends and anyone grieving the mayor's death personally.

The district attorney general asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to assist the Tullahoma Police Department with the case.

Coffee County Commissioner will oversee mayoral duties

Coffee County Commissioner Dennis Hunt said in a statement emailed Wednesday to media that he will oversee the mayor's responsibilities after the unexpected death of Matheny.

The commissioners during a September 2023 meeting elected Matheny to be their chairman and Hunt as chairman pro tempore, Hunt said.

Per state law, a county commission chairman pro tempore would assume the duties of mayor in the mayor's absence.

"Pursuant to TCA (Tennessee Code Annotated ) 5-5-103(i)(1), in the event of an extended absence of a county mayor, the chairman pro tempore shall assume the position of and execute the duties assigned to the county mayor," Hunt said. "This interim transition will be seamless without interruption of services, commitments or operations of Coffee County Government. Heartfelt condolences are extended to the entire Matheny family."

Dennis Hunt

The Coffee County Election Commission staff is researching timeline requirements for the next mayoral election, Hunt said.

"Most likely, the voters of Coffee County will be able to elect an individual to replace Mayor Matheny in this fall's election process," Hunt said.

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Coffee County mayor's death not suspected of foul play
The Scoop

Fox News is rejecting White House demands that it retract stories that turned the annual Easter Egg roll into a culture war controversy.

White House communications officials have reached out to editorial leaders at Fox News including digital chief Porter Berry and others requesting that they take down a story that said that the Biden White House had prohibited religious-themed designs from White House Easter egg art contest, a person familiar with the back-and-forth said.

Know More

Over the weekend, several right-leaning news media outlets published stories about how a flyer for the annual Easter Egg roll dictated that decorated eggs must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements. The stories neglected the detail that the egg decoration rules had been in place since the 1970s under presidents of both parties.

After complaints from the White House, some outlets altered their pieces. In a rare move, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lauded The Daily Caller after the right-leaning digital news outlet retracted its story about the egg situation, saying that it became aware of additional context that undercut the central assertion of this article and its newsworthiness.

But Fox did not heed the White Houses repeated attempts to solicit a correction, even after officials flagged the Daily Callers retraction. In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, a Fox News spokesperson said that the network stood by its story, noting that it had updated the piece to include a comment from the American Egg Board President explaining the longstanding rules.

We stand by our reporting as it accurately quotes the 2024 Call for Youth Art flyer which states Easter egg design submissions must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, the spokesperson said.
Fresno Unified school board voted 5-2 on Wednesday to suspend planned interviews of several internal candidates for the open superintendent job.

The public packed the school district building to attend the evening meeting, with dozens of parents and others expressing concerns about the search-and-interview process. The board said no decisions were made in the closed-door meeting that followed, and stressed that theyll re-evaluate the path forward based on the publics feedback.

At issue has been limits placed by a narrow majority of the board on the pool of potential candidates that would be considered and whether that pool would be limited to internal candidates or include a broader group, such as candidates identified in a national search. Internal and public pressure to widen the pool, which spilled out into public view at a planned press conference earlier this week, prompted one trustee to change her position via a Facebook post on Tuesday morning.

That trustee, Claudia Cazares, put forth a motion at the Wednesday meeting to pause the current process and extend the search nationwide. Trustee Andy Levine offered an amendment to conduct the scheduled interviews and then commit to a comprehensive external search.

Cazares stood by her original proposal, stating that the procedure was not transparent and the board should take a step back. Her motion passed with Levine and Veva Islas dissenting. The two trustees wanted to honor and respect the interviewees because they had invested time and prepared for their interview.

Fresno Unified is the third-largest district in the most populous state in the union. It has struggled with lagging test scores, declining enrollment and disconnection between administrations and classrooms. There is a strong public perception that allowing applicants outside of district employees would ensure the district selects the finest superintendent to help improve the chronically underperforming district, which is extremely diverse and where 90% of students live in poverty.

The board received over 30 public comments Wednesday. Some speakers called for the board to accept applicants outside of district employees to obtain the best possible superintendent candidates, and that decisions be made with full transparency and accountability. Members of the Hmong community were concerned that putting qualified internal candidates, particularly people of color, against external candidates, was culturally insensitive and could lead to racial bias.

Fresno Unified School District building was packed on April 3, 2024, as the public voiced their concerns over the superintendent search.

Christina Soto, a community member, said she spent five hours attending earlier-scheduled listening sessions only to find the public feedback misrepresented and ignored.

Community stated that we wanted someone who is familiar with their values, that doesnt need to be internal, she said. Im sure there are many people across the state and maybe the nation who have Central Valley roots and would be very qualified.

She added that a lack of transparency had caused misinformation and misrepresentation to spread, responding to an earlier statement by Trustee Keshia Thomas that the situation had spun out of hand and that board members and candidates received threatening and racist criticisms based on inaccurate assumptions.

Some comments from the public Wednesday criticized the board for playing political games and suggested that putting district employees through a messy process, making them endure the gossip, was an act of microaggression.

You have candidates in front of you with decades of commitment, expertise, and resolute determination to give every child in our district access to development, said Geri Johnson, parent and community advocate. In this process you have fulfilled economic and social resilience, you have that responsibility on your shoulders, do not fail us.

Johnson said she was active in the listening sessions and spoke with students and parents. The community felt that there were strong, capable, confident internal candidates leading the school district. She said their voices havent been heard.

Yvnah Vang, a senior student at Edison High School, came with a group of classmates and told the board that the internal candidates were mostly people of color, reflected a diverse palette of the large ethnic population residing in the area, and questioned why the board would disregard their credentials.

Your color defines whether youre good or not to be the superintendent, because its no longer youre a woman or a man, you cannot run, she said. And I hope that sounds uncomfortable, and that makes you imagine the discomfort many students, staff, teachers and our parents endured every day during school or at work.

Sandra Celedon, a parent, said the superintendent is the only employee the board hires. She said she was very disappointed to see the trustees fail to execute their primary job.

Some of you have made comments even asking, how did you guys get this idea, she said. The fact that you fail to even observe and internalize, and it was your every action that has actually created this tension.

It is not up to your employees, this is not confirming anybody whether theyre capable or not leading this district, what this demonstrates is that you are not capable of leading the district, she said.

After a closed session, board President Susan Wittrup announced that the board would take the community input into consideration and contemplate a new path forward in the search for the next superintendent.
FSB detains three more suspects in connection with Moscow terrorist attack

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained three more suspects in connection with the Moscow terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, Russian state media reported on April 4.

According to an official statement, two Russian citizens and one individual with a foreign passport were detained in the cities of Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and Omsk. All the suspects are reportedly immigrants from Central Asia.

Several gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a Moscow suburb, on the evening of March 22, killing at least 144 people. A branch of the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack shortly thereafter.

The FSB alleges that two of the suspects transferred money to purchase firearms and vehicles used in the attack, while the third is suspected of recruiting accomplices.

The Kyiv Independent is unable to verify these claims.

According to state-controlled news outlet RIA Novosti, 10 people were arrested in connection with the terrorist attack, seven of whom are from Tajikistan. An eighth suspect from Kyrgyzstan was brought into court in Russia on March 26.

Four of those detained are Tajik men accused of personally carrying out the attack. They appeared in court showing clear signs of abuse, following videos and pictures that were widely circulated on Russian social media depicting their alleged torture at the hands of Russian authorities.

Earlier this week, a Chechen man reportedly died while in police custody after being arrested in connection with the attack.

Xenophobic incidents were reported en masse after the attack, as were cases of Central Asians leaving Russia over fears of potential reprisals and increased racism.

The FSB said on April 1 that it had arrested four alleged accomplices of the terrorist attack in Dagestan, a southern republic of Russia neighboring Chechnya.

The FSB said that the individuals were supposedly plotting another attack in the Dagestani city of Kaspiysk.

Read also: Moscow shooting aftermath: Repressions, racism, terror

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This fungus turns cicadas into 'zombies' after being sexually transmitted

Turns out humans, arent the only creature that can ride the psychedelic wave that comes with ingesting fungus.

Except the side effects for cicadas, a flying pest, are quite deadly. We are talking a reaction akin to something you would see on The Walking Dead or maybe The Last of Us, as the decrepit creatures fly about, losing body parts and infecting any other cicadas they touch with the fatal fungus.

The fungus, known in the scientific community as Massospora cicadina, is a sexually transmitted pathogen that results in severe dismemberment and eventually death, USA TODAY reported in 2020.

The chemicals found in cicadas after they have been infected are similar to those found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, according to a study published by PLOS Pathogens in 2020.

An NBC affiliate in Chicago reported that the fungus was seen among the cicada population recently. But this isnt the first time, John Cooley, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut confirmed with USA TODAY Wednesday.

The same thing happened four years ago, when the mind-controlling disease ravaged members of that year's cicada brood, according to previous USA TODAY reporting. At least 10% of cicadas in the Midwest were infected with the fungus, Cooley told the Independent.

The issue is "even stranger than science fiction. This is a sexually transmitted zombie disease, Cooley said.

Heres what we know.

Cicada overload: 2 broods to emerge together in US for first time in over 200 years

A fully developed cicada rests on a small tree limb in the Hillsboro Village area of Nashville May 11, 1998, after spending 13 years in the ground. "Now, the sex begins," say Dr. Gene Kritsky, cicada expert and professor and chair of biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. "Hundreds of thousands of males will gather in the treetops and start chorusing."

What does the zombification process look like?

The zombification of a cicada or cicada swarm is pretty graphic, the white fungus pooling in its crevices.

Cooley told the Independent that once the fungus takes over a male cicadas body, their testes are the first to go, sterilizing the insect before killing it.

The infected cicada in question spreads the chalky white spores to other cicadas, sharing the sexually transmitted pathogen across the population, according to reporting by the Independent.

How does the sexually transmitted pathogen affect cicadas?

Well, it's not very pretty.

The disease acts like a parasite, eating its way through the flying insects limbs and other parts of their body. Infected cicadas begin to lose those limbs bit by bit until theres nothing left.

These zombies very quickly become a threat to any and all neighboring cicadas, as males take flight, continuing to spread the fungus around, USA TODAY reported.

The fungus causes infected males to jerk their wings, making a familiar humming noise only made by female cicadas. The noise attracts other males, who think there is a female ready to mate.

Thus spreading the fungus to the attracted males, until there is no healthy cicada left in the bunch.

The fungus is considered a death sentence, building up in the abdomen and destroying them from the inside out as the fungal spores grow, USA TODAY reported. Its a disturbing display of B-horror movie proportions," a press release from West Virginia University states.

Contributing: Autumn Schoolman; USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The cicada zombie fungus that could be deadly for 2024 brood
Female lawyers delivered an open letter to the club demanding it end its policy of restricting membership to men only - Carl Court

The Garrick Club is a step closer to admitting women members following a historic decision by the clubs general committee on Thursday.

The committee accepted the legal opinion of Lord Pannick KC that women are already eligible to join the exclusive club.

Lord Pannick, a British barrister and a crossbencher in the House of Lords whose opinion was commissioned by several members of the club, has said that the pronoun he is interchangeable with she in the law, meaning the clubs current rules already allow women to join.

The clubs committee passed a motion to accept the opinion at the meeting on Thursday evening.

It means the matter will now pass to an extraordinary general meeting in which all 1,500 members of the club will be given a vote on whether to accept the opinion.

One committee member said following the meeting: We decided to accept the legal advice of Lord Pannick. That will then be ratified by a meeting of the whole membership.

Lord Pannick QC gave the legal opinion that women are already eligible to join the Garrick Club - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Another member, who was not at the meeting but had spoken to someone on the committee, said: Theres going to be an extraordinary general meeting where all the members will vote.

Its all up in the air. I dont know whats going to happen there.

Membership still an uphill struggle

The move to put the proposal to the membership is one of the most significant steps in the clubs nearly 200-year history and could pave the way for women to be admitted for the first time as full members.

Currently they are only allowed to enter the club if invited and accompanied by a man.

One of the women nominated for membership welcomed the committees decision. Thats fine by me, she told The Telegraph.

A friend of one of the women put forward by Garrick Club rebels for membership reacted enthusiastically to the news.

Insiders say supporters of womens membership still face an uphill struggle, as two thirds of the existing membership would have to vote in favour.

Although 51 per cent favoured women membership in an online poll a few months ago, the response rate was 75 per cent, meaning the two thirds majority had not been reached in that instance.

The prominent seven

Members of the club sparked the rebellion by nominating seven prominent women including Dame Mary Beard and Amber Rudd as members, putting forward the womens names to Friday nights committee meeting.

Dame Mary, a television presenter and professor of classics at Cambridge University, said she was delighted to have been proposed for membership.

The Garrick is a great club and I have enjoyed being a guest there and I would very much like to be a member, said Dame Mary. I am being put forward although I shant be suing them if I dont get it.

Emily Maitlis, the broadcaster, posted a list of women last week she said were being proposed, adding on X, formerly Twitter, that she had seen their names in a formal letter.

She said the other women on the list were Amber Rudd, the former home secretary; Baroness Hazarika, the journalist and political adviser; news presenter Cathy Newman; the actress Juliet Stevenson; Margaret Casely-Hayford, a former City lawyer and chair of Shakespeares Globe theatre; and the former Court of Appeal judge Dame Elizabeth Gloster.

Maitlis said the women had been nominated by members of the club including the actor Stephen Fry, a number of senior KCs, and the journalists Sir Simon Jenkins and Simon Heffer.

Dame Mary confirmed that she had been nominated by Professor Heffer and Sir Simon.

The furore over the Garricks men-only rule was prompted by the publication of its membership list by The Guardian newspaper, leading to the resignation of some members including Sir Richard Moore, the MI6 chief, and Simon Case, the head of the Civil Service. Four senior judges are also said to have quit.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders on Thursday announced a deal to cut $17 billion from the states large budget deficit.

California is facing an estimated spending gap of up to $73 billion. Newsom and legislative leaders must negotiate a budget by June 15, before fiscal year 2024-25 starts on July 1.

The proposal from Newsom, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, would include $3.6 billion in cuts, $5.2 billion in delays and deferrals, $3.4 billion in costs shifted from the general fund to other state funds and $5.2 billion in revenue and borrowing..

A vote in the Legislature could come quickly, with leaders pushing for action by next Thursday. The early action plan would reopen budgets from previous years, giving negotiators a head start on balancing the next budget. The new fiscal year begins July 1, and lawmakers and Newsom must agree on a plan by mid-June.

I thank our legislative leaders for their partnership in taking this major step to address the shortfall with a balanced approach that meets the needs of Californians and maintains a strong fiscal foundation for the states future, Newsom said in a statement.

Newsom during his January budget presentation called for lawmakers to take the early budget action to address the spending gap. McGuire and Senate leaders in mid-March released a Shrink the Shortfall plan that largely mirrored the governors suggestions.

But Rivas and Assembly leaders did not immediately get on board with the Senate and Newsom. Ahead of the Legislatures week-long spring recess that began on March 21, the three announced they wanted to take early budget action involving cuts of $12 billion to $18 billion, but they provided no details.

The only action the three parties agreed to before the break was an increase to the managed care organization, or MCO, tax on health insurers that could be used to leverage $1.5 billion in federal funds. The Legislature approved it on March 21, and Newsom signed it on March 25.

On Tuesday, Assembly Democrats caucused to discuss their own early budget action plan. The Sacramento Bee obtained a draft copy of the proposal which broke with Newsom and the Senate in several areas, mostly to push negotiations over certain items down the road to June.

It called for Newsoms administration to freeze some one-time spending on items from the fiscal 2021, 2022 and 2023 budgets for which money has not yet been allocated. A Legislative Analysts Office report from February suggests that freeze could involve about $6.4 billion in undisbursed spending in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The Assembly plan also proposed deferring action on $1.3 billion in homelessness and housing money. Both of these actions are meant to give the governor and legislative leaders more breathing room during negotiations come this summer.

Rivas on Thursday was pleased the spending freeze and housing and homelessness deferrals made it into the final agreement.

Insisting on this freeze gives us more dollars and options in June, Rivas told The Bee.

He characterized the negotiations as a partnership and said they were not adversarial in any way.

Still, the talks involved resetting the relationships between the Assembly, Senate and administration, Rivas said. Both the speaker and McGuire are entering into the budget negotiation process for the first time after taking over the leadership roles from their predecessors.

Assembly Republican lawmakers immediately criticized the agreement, calling it a a swing and a miss from Democrats.

Californias budget has major league problems and Newsom is proposing JV solutions, said Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City. With a $73 billion deficit, this gimmicky agreement is not the home run Gavin thinks it is.
Gaza aid convoy attack: How has Israel, US and UK responded?

World leaders have expressed outrage following the deaths of seven aid workers in Israel in an IDF air strike, prompting calls for an immediate investigation.

US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) said on Tuesday that their staff members had been killed in a targeted attack, despite previous liaison with the IDF.

The aid workers were from Palestine, Australia, Poland, the UK, and US-Canada.

Their deaths have brought Israels record on humanitarian workers fatalities under intense scrutiny. United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the situation was the inevitable result of the way this war is being conducted.

Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

At least 196 humanitarians have been killed since October in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is one of the worlds most dangerous and difficult places to work, he said. Let humanitarian workers do their job.

Responses have come from leaders across the world, with Israel taking responsibility for the deaths, which it said was unintentional, and promising to conduct an independent investigation. Heres whats been said so far:

World Kitchen Organisation: This is unforgivable

The WCK initially acknowledged the attack in a X/Twitter post shortly after 12am UK time, writing: This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.

The humanitarian aid charity later issued a fuller statement, confirming the deaths of seven team members, and outlining the circumstances around the attack.

The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle, the report said.

Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.

The World Central Kitchen members killed in the attack (World Central Kitchen/PA)

WCK CEO Erin Gore said: This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.

The organisation has paused its operations in Gaza with immediate effect, saying it will make a decision in the near future about the future of its work in the region.

On 4 April, WCK released another statement, writing: We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks.

Including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.

Israel: It shouldnt have happened

Following reports of the attack, the IDF accepted responsibility, calling it an unintentional mistake.

The strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers, said IDF chief of the general staff LTG Herzi Halevi.

It was a mistake that followed a misidentification, at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldnt have happened.

Herzi Halevi, Israels highest-ranking officer, claims strike that killed three Brits was grave mistake (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it is conducting an independent investigation into the attack, and has promised to learn from its findings. The military force also claims to have established a humanitarian command center to improve the coordination of aid distribution in Gaza.

Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza, said Mr Halevi. We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK. We share in the grief of their families.

Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu also responded to the attack, saying: Unfortunately in the past day, there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip.

This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.

United States: This is not a stand-alone incident

In a statement released on 3 April, US president Joe Biden condemned the convoy attack, saying he is outraged and heartbroken.

Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident, president Biden said. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.

The US president adds that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers or civilians.

The United States will continue to do all we can to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, through all available means. I will continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid.

People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip (AP)

President Bidens statement marks the latest shift in US support for Israel. Last week (25 March), the UN Security Council voted for the first time to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the US abstained on the vote. This brought a deadlock of over five months to an end.

Mr Netanyahu subsequently cancelled a visit to the White House by two of his ministers, arguing the USs actions harms both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages.

The White House has said that president Biden is due to speak to Mr Netanyahu over the phone on 4 April.

Questioned by The Independent whether he believed the IDF convoy strike was intentional, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: Theyre [the IDF] investigating it. Let them do that work, and let them see what they come up with. And then well go from there.

Asked whether the US would support criminal penalties if the attack was found to be deliberate, Mr Kirby said: Should there be need for accountability, that accountability [should] be properly put in place for whoever may be responsible for this.

United Kingdom: PM says he is appalled

A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak says the PM is appalled by the deaths and believes too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable.

The spokesperson said the PM expects to see immediate action by Israel to end restrictions on humanitarian aid, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks.

The prime minister reiterated that Israels rightful aim of defeating Hamas would not be achieved by allowing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, they added.

Pro-Palestine protest, London, December 2023 (Getty Images)

The UK currently provides humanitarian aid to the Palestinians who are impacted by the Israel-Hamas conflict, trebling their commitment in the 2023/24 financial year to provide an additional 70m.

However, the government also has not answered calls to suspend arms sales to Israel, which amounted to 42 million in 2022. Over 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court president Brenda Hale, signed a joint letter on 4 April calling for the UK to stop arms sales to Israel as the government risks breaching international law.

The intervention came a day after Lord Peter Ricketts, the UKs first national security advisor during the premiership of Lord David Cameron, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think theres abundant evidence now that Israel hasnt been taking enough care to fulfil its obligations on the safety of civilians.

And a country that gets arms from the UK has to comply with international humanitarian law.

Several MPs from all parties have backed this position, as Mondays convoy attack brings Israels record on international law under increased scrutiny.

Both the Lib Dems and SNP call for arms exports to be suspended, while Labours position is to demand suspension if legal advice suggest Israel has broken international law. The government has not yet answered calls to publish legal advice it has reportedly received on the matter.
The plight of starving Palestinians in Gaza is worsening as Israels actions have deterred critical aid agencies and imposed severe constraints on essential humanitarian efforts in the enclave.

As famine looms and cases of death by starvation emerge, at least three aid providers are suspending operations in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes this week killed seven workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK), an aid group that was central to a much-touted new sea corridor from Cyprus. The killings, which included six foreign victims, caused an international uproar against Israel.

The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing, WCK founder Jose Andres wrote on X after the workers were killed. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.

Israel has taken responsibility for the killings, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Tuesday that Israeli forces had unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip. Imagery of three destroyed vehicles analyzed by CNN however showed that the first vehicle was 2.4 kilometers apart from the third, indicating that they were hit by separate strikes.

WCK and Anera, another aid group, have said they will pause operations in Gaza following the incident. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is reportedly also suspending operations.

All 2.2 million people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in the north anytime between mid-March and May, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

It is a huge blow to the humanitarian operation in Gaza, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson at the UNs Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the principal aid agency in Gaza that has itself been sidelined by Israel.

Its very sad that they had to do this, although I totally understand why they did this, she said, referring to WCKs decision to suspend operations. Gaza, she added, is now probably the most dangerous place in the world to be an aid worker.

UNRWAs convoys have previously been hit by Israeli fire, and the group has been banned by Israel from operating in Gazas north. The UN has urged Israeli authorities to reverse the decision.

Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on April 2. - Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP

On Monday, the Cypriot foreign ministry said that a vessel organized by WCK and carrying roughly 332 tons of humanitarian aid left Gaza without offloading most of its cargo following the deadly strike on the WCK workers.

Reuters video showed the vessel arriving in the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Wednesday evening local time.

WCK on Wednesday said all of its aid ships are now back in Cyprus, adding that a determination has not yet been made about when to resume our operations in Gaza.

The aid group had been rising in relevance in Gaza since Israel mounted allegations that some of UNRWAs employees were involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas. Israel has long campaigned for UNRWA to be disbanded and has not presented evidence to back its accusations against the agencys staff. UNRWA, which has a staff of 13,000 in Gaza, said it is investigating the allegations.

WCK has been responsible for 60% of non-governmental aid deliveries, according to data released by Israels Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the agency that controls access to Gaza, followed by organizations such as CARE, Save the Children and ICRC. The United Nations continues to be responsible for a large majority of the overall aid that gets in.

UNRWA currently has no plans to suspend its operations in Gaza, Touma told CNN. But as its operations have been curtailed, aid deliveries coordinated by the private sector have increasingly filled the void.

WCK has been delivering nearly 20 trucks of aid through the Rafah crossing with Egypt per day. It has also delivered food from Jordan via land convoys as well as airdrops, including over 230,000 meals to northern Gaza, the area of the enclave that is most at risk of famine.

Famine is going to happen

Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British-Palestinian surgeon who worked in Gaza in the early weeks of the war, said the north of the territory will be particularly impacted with WCKs move.

The suspension of aid into the north by WCK means that famine, that man-made famine, is going to deepen, is going to take the lives of more children, Abu-Sittah told CNNs Eleni Giokos Wednesday, adding that it is also going to alter the health of thousands of other children who we do not see.

One of WCKs most prominent operations was through a sea route established in March to take food from Cyprus to Gaza. That route was presented by Israel as an alternative to land corridors, where it has significantly throttled deliveries.

For comparison, each vessel carries 300 to 400 tons of aid, equivalent to 15 to 20 trucks. Gaza needs around 500 trucks of aid per day, according to agencies.

Israel maintains there is no limit on the amount of food or humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza, but aid agencies accuse it of deliberately restricting deliveries.

WCK sent nearly 435,000 meals to Gaza on the Open Arms vessel via the new maritime route last month and was preparing to send two more vessels loaded with a total of 1.2 million meals destined for the north. With Israels cooperation, the route was emerging as a slow but viable option to deliver aid  until the airstrike killed the WCK workers.

WCKs kitchen and warehouse in the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah were seen shuttered on Wednesday, with banners bearing its logo still hanging on a fence.

CNN has reached out to COGAT and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on who will be replacing WCK in Gaza.

Viability of the maritime corridor

After the attack, WCK said it was pausing operations immediately in Gaza. Shortly afterwards, American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), an NGO that delivers aid to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Jordan, also suspended its Gaza operations.

Anera said it has provided an average of 150,000 daily meals in collaboration with WCK along with millions of medical treatments, and thousands of critical emergency aid items to Gaza since October 7.

The UAE is also pausing its involvement in a maritime corridor it established with international partners, CNNs political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid, reported on Axois.

Along with Turkey, the UAE is the biggest donor of aid to Gaza, according to COGAT, providing 25% of all aid from foreign nations. It also operates the largest field hospital in Gaza after Jordan.

The Gulf state will not resume work on the corridor until Israel assures aid workers in the enclave will be protected, Ravid reported, citing sources close to the UAE government.

CNN has reached out to the UAE government for comment.

With the UN increasingly sidelined by Israel and the WCK attack scaring off others using the maritime route, its unclear if the option is still feasible. The fate of the extra aid WCK had planned for Gaza is also uncertain.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides has vowed to maintain the maritime corridor delivering aid from his country to Gaza, saying the tragic events should not discourage us.

Meanwhile, the main distributor of aid in Gaza, UNRWA, remains restricted from operating in some parts of the enclave, particularly in the north, where the risk of famine is the highest and cases of death by starvation have been reported. At least 176 UNRWA team members have been killed since October 7, including while in the line of duty, the UN agency said.

WCK has previously partnered with UNRWA, Touma, the UN agencys spokeswoman, said.

At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza since October, the UNs Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jamie McGoldrick, said in a statement. This is nearly three times the death toll recorded in any single conflict in a year, he said.

CNNs Chris Liakos, Niamh Kennedy, Vasco Cotovio, Hande Atay Alam, Allegra Goodwin, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Abeer Salman, Caitlin Stephen Hu, Muhammad Darwish, Eyad Kourdi, Jessie Yeung, Tala Alrajjal and Louis Mian contributed reporting.

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Ukrainian air defenses downed 11 of the 20 Shahed-type "kamikaze" drones Russia launched overnight, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on April 4.

Fifteen drones targeted Kharkiv Oblast, though some of them were shot down, the regional military administration said.

The drone strike against Kharkiv killed four people, including three rescue workers, and injured 12 others.

Attacks by Russian drones were also reported in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Governor Serhii Lysak said that Russian forces used unmanned aerial vehicles and heavy artillery to attack the Nikopol, Marhanets, and Chervonohryhorivka communities of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, inflicting damage but no casualties.

Read also: Update: 4 killed, including rescue workers, 12 injured in Russian attacks on Kharkiv

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Senior U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson Jr., a folksy yet firm, direct and revered legal figure in these parts, who went from serving as a public defender in the Middle Georgia river country where he was born all the way to the federal bench, has died. He was 82.

His death, on Good Friday, came about six weeks after he suffered renal failure, his wife, Barbara Lawson, said.

His funeral was Tuesday in Pulaski County. On the door to his chambers at the federal courthouse in Macon, a placard placed there Monday bore a quote from the Bible: Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day ...?

Known for his adroit courtroom manner and colorful way with words, Lawson unleashed a fusillade of the latter in his obituary, a feisty epilogue he penned himself.

He was not the sort to leave the last word on his life to, as he put it, some funeral home hacks. He also noted that anyone who wrote that his memory would be forever treasured should be shot.

(For the record, no one quoted herein employed that trite phraseology. However, when prompted, a friend who happens to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia dared to venture perilously close.)

Lawson was formerly a superior court judge in the Oconee Judicial Circuit southeast of Macon. More recently, from 2006 until 2008, he served as chief U.S. District Court judge for the sprawling, 70-county Middle District of Georgia.

In the late 1980s, before his 1995 appointment to the federal bench, he notably presided in retrials for a band of men accused in the 1973 deaths of six members of the Alday family in southwest Georgia. When the notorious slayings in Seminole County happened, they were said by then-Gov. Jimmy Carter to be the most heinous crime in Georgia history.

Lawsons self-written obituary does not mention his role in the Alday murder case  or, for that matter, any trials he had a hand in. But it was in Lawsons courtroom, in Houston County in 1988, that ringleader Carl Isaacs was sentenced to death in the killings.

Isaacs was impassive as he heard the death sentence, pronounced six times for the execution-style murders of Ned, Aubrey, Jerry, Chester, Jimmy and Mary Alday, The Journal-Constitution reported. Relatives seated in the courtroom, including Ned Aldays 74-year-old widow, Ernestine, wept and hugged each other.

He presided over pretrial hearings in the early stages of a case against Nuwaubian sect leader Dwight York, also known as Malachi York, who in 2004 was sentenced to 135 years in prison in the widest-ranging federal child molestation case in history. Before recusing himself, Lawson pushed back at a plea agreement that would have kept York behind bars for 15 years, describing the sentence as too lenient.

Lawson also heard his share of civil cases. In 1998, he ordered chemical behemoth DuPont, which allegedly withheld evidence in a civil case five years earlier, to pay $2.5 million each to four Georgia law schools to endow department chairs, dishing out a lesson on the importance of legal ethics. A DuPont attorney at the time told the Associated Press, This is a constructive, creative resolution Judge Lawson has put together.

On Monday, Judge Marc T. Treadwell, now chief of the Middle District, said Lawson was cut from the same cloth as the renowned late Judge William Augustus Bootle, for whom the federal courthouse in Macon is named.

He was truly the rock of this court, Treadwell said of Lawson.

He was without a doubt the most well-read person that I know with regard to history and local history, and I think that shaped his thinking.

Lawson had been a federal judge for about a decade and a half when Treadwell joined the court. They frequently had lunch together. Early in Treadwells tenure, Lawson told him, Marc, you will find that people will have many fine things to say about you. You will be just fine as long as you dont believe a word of it.

Just a country boy

In 1995, when he became President Bill Clintons nominee for a federal judgeship after serving 19 years as a state judge in the Oconee Circuit, a local newspaper write-up described Lawson as a large, slow-talking man.

Roger Hugh Lawson Jr. was raised in Hawkinsville. His mother, a Duke University graduate born in Claxton, was a skilled pianist who, for a time, was an elementary school teacher.

In 1983, twin bridges that spanned the Ocmulgee River in Hawkinsville were named for his late father, attorney Roger Lawson, a former FBI agent and State Highway Board chairman who mounted a brief campaign for governor in 1958.

Seven years after the junior Lawson became a superior court judge, a 1986 profile of him appeared in the Macon Telegraph and News. The article described him as the big man with the booming voice, a fellow easy to laugh who also played a mean harmonica.

Of the instrument, he said, Everybody gets tired of hearing it but me.

Lawson graduated from Emory University School of Law in 1964 and went to work at his fathers hometown firm, which his grandfather founded at the turn of the century.

With country lawyers  you have to be prepared to handle whatever comes through the door, Lawson told the Telegraph and News in 1986. There would be days when I would devoutly wish I could specialize. Then on other days, I thought if I had to (specialize), I would go crazy.

In his self-authored obituary, written in third person, Lawson recalled that he and his father worked hard, were unusually successful, abused tobacco and (if they felt the occasion warranted) drank a good deal of whiskey. All in all, it was a great life.

He and wife built a log cabin by hand. My laughing place, he called the retreat, which was situated by a fishing pond on his fathers estate.

In his obituary, the final draft of which he completed in 2018, Lawson wrote that he was fond of quoting his fathers observation that there are only two things a man needs to know to keep women happy, but no one knows what they are.

Speaking of her late husband, Barbara Lawson said, He was quite a writer, wasnt he?  He got right to the point.

In 2000, while he was at work inside the federal courthouse in Columbus, Lawsons 1995 Buick Park Avenue was stolen. It turned up a couple of days later. A police report at the time mentioned Lawson had left the car unlocked with its key in the ignition.

He did not fear that sort of thing, his wife said of the episode. He was just a country boy used to going where he wanted.

God is my lawyer

Peter D. Leary, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, was once a clerk for Lawson.

Leary said the judges mentorship guided countless lawyers in the state and that his knack for turning phrases was unmatched.

He was the best public speaker Ive ever heard, Leary said.

When Leary argued his first case, the presiding judge was Lawson.

During jury selection, Learys courtroom articulation was, in Lawsons estimation, less than polished. Afterward, Lawson summoned the young Leary to his chambers. The judge, his tone bordering on not-so-distant thunder, said, Peter, youre saying um too much. Its damn annoying. Stop!

Timothy G. Vaughn, the longtime district attorney of the six-county Oconee Circuit, which stretches east from Hawkinsville to near Vidalia, clerked for Lawson when Lawson was a state judge.

He didnt take himself too seriously. He gave the job the reverence and seriousness that it was supposed to have, Vaughn said. But you might see him riding around in a white T-shirt and his overalls in his old red Dodge pickup truck with his three Labs on back.

Vaughn recalled a long-ago civil dispute involving the shooting death of someones prized hunting dog. Lawson was the judge. It seemed the dog had chased a wounded deer onto someone elses property. The owner of the property shot and killed the dog.

Lawson awarded the dogs owner a modest sum as compensation, and in his ruling declared one mans $1,000 deer dog is another mans yard dog.

During another proceeding, in Telfair County, a criminally accused man showed up in court alone, Vaughn said. Lawson asked the man who was representing him.

God is my lawyer, the man replied.

Well, Lawson asked, do you have an earthly attorney?

Verda M. Colvin, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, was once an assistant U.S. attorney in Lawsons home district. She recalled him as hard but fair and occasionally gruff.

But he was still lovable, she said. I think the world of him.

Told of Lawsons disdain for hollow platitudes and flowery cliches in obituaries, Colvin was also informed of his most abhorred obit terminology. That someone, on his account, might deem his memory forever treasured.

Colvin was asked to choose, perhaps, a more fitting sendoff. She played along and declared Lawsons memory would be forever emblazoned in my mind.

No gunplay ensued.
The German TV channel ARD has revealed that German companies are helping the Russian occupying regime with construction works in the occupied city of Mariupol.

Source: European Pravda; German newspaper Tagesschau

Details: Journalists received testimonies and evidence, such as photographs and videos, confirming that Knauf and WKB Systems are building facilities in Mariupol.

In particular, they obtained photos showing a construction site with Knauf bags, whose official dealer publicly advertises that it has completed a residential building project using its construction materials for Russia's Defence Ministry.

Knauf is a leader in gypsum production and has a long history of doing business in Russia. The company's founder, Nikolaus Knauf, served as Russia's honorary consul for over two decades.

Nikolaus Knauf retained this position even after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, while in 2018, he still labelled further sanctions against Russia as "terrible". He said his company still employs 4,000 people in Russia and generates billions in revenue.

In addition, investigators found concrete blocks wrapped in green film with the inscription WKB Systems GmbH on them at numerous construction sites. The company, among other things, equips plants for concrete block production.

The company's main shareholder is Russian oligarch Viktor Budarin, who used his German company as a supplier to the construction industry in Russia. He is not subject to any sanctions.

Customs data reviewed by journalists revealed that WKB Systems had supplied complete plants for aerated concrete block factories for several years to one of Budarin's Russian companies  apparently, the same company whose products Russia is using in Mariupol.

Background:

Earlier, a journalist from the German public broadcaster ZDF, Armin Korper, who heads the channel's Moscow office, filmed a story that distorts the picture of life in Russian-occupied Mariupol.

Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makieiev, reacted to the story, adding that the story had caused a sharply negative reaction among many German experts and journalists he knew, including Korper's colleagues at ZDF.

The ambassador stated that the Ukrainian embassy immediately contacted the German editorial team, and they acknowledged their mistake and expressed their respect for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

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Cement sacks bearing the logo of Knauf a Bavarian firm, have been seen stacked up at building sites in the occupied Ukrainian city

At least two German companies are reportedly involved in Russias reconstruction of Mariupol, a project the Kremlin is using to solidify its claim to the illegally annexed territory.

Knauf, a Bavarian cement maker, and WKB Systems, a concrete producer from the Rhine region, have both delivered material to construction firms working in the city, according to German broadcaster ARD.

The broadcaster found photographic evidence that cement sacks bearing Knaufs logo were stacked up at building sites in the city, which Russia occupied after a long and bloody siege in 2022.

A construction firm working on a contract from the Russian defence ministry also advertised the fact that it was using Knauf cement in its PR material.

At least 8,000 people were killed in fighting during the siege in Mariupol between March and May 2022 - EVGENIY MALOLETKA/AP

Despite pressure put on German companies to cut business ties with Russia in the wake of the 2022 invasion, Knauf has maintained a factory there that employs some 4,000 people.

Nikolaus Knauf, the head of the family firm, was an honorary consul for Russia for several years and has been pictured with Vladimir Putin.

The company said in response that it produces cement in Russia exclusively for the Russian market.

It added that it condemns Russias war against Ukraine and complies with all EU sanctions against Russia.

Roderich Kiesewetter, the foreign affairs spokesman for the centre-Right Christian Democrats, the main opposition party in the German parliament, said: A company like Knauf that continues to do business in Russia is part of the Russia war economy and profits from Russias war.

Knauf is in the truest sense of the word cementing Russias power in occupied territories such as Mariupol.

Knauf has maintained a factory in Russia that employs some 4,000 people despite pressure on Germany companies to cut ties - ANADOLU AGENCY

The broadcaster has also published photographs of concrete blocks wrapped in plastic bearing the logo of WKB Systems, a German firm that belongs to Viktor Budarin, a Russian oligarch.

Customs data shows that the company supplied the components to construct entire concrete production facilities to Russia over a period of several years.

According to the campaign group B4Ukraine, just eight of the 248 German companies that had subsidiaries in Russia at the start of the war have cut ties with the country.

For every $4 (3.16) in aid that Germany pledges to Ukraine, German companies pay $1 in taxes in Russia, the campaign group states.

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Youth and overwhelming talent prevail over maturity and experience at the podium of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO). The Illinois orchestra on Tuesday named 28-year-old Klaus Makela to succeed the legendary Riccardo Muti as music director, although he will not start his term until 2027 when he will be 31 years old. This is a role directing one of the most outstanding orchestras in the United States and one of the top five in the world, as established by Bachtrack magazine last September, after consulting a panel made up of critics from leading international newspapers, including EL PAIS. The ranking also listed Finn as one of the top 10 conductors in the world, ahead of Christian Thielemann and Riccardo Chailly.

Makela will be the Chicago Symphonys 11th chief conductor in its 133-year history. A list that, since 1950, has included figures such as Rafael Kubelik, Fritz Reiner, Jean Martinon, Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. But Makela  the current conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic and the Paris Orchestra  will not take up his new position until the 2027/28 season, when he will also be inaugurated as chief conductor of Amsterdams Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, another iconic ensemble ranked among the best in the world.

The announcement of Makela's appointment coincided with his third visit to Chicago, where he will conduct a program focused on Shostakovichs Tenth Symphony on April 4, 5 and 6. These performances also include an example of his interest in contemporary music, with the U.S. premiere of Batteria, by the young Finnish composer Sauli Zinovjev. Makela debuted at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, in April 2022, with a striking version of the complete ballet of Stravinskys The Firebird. But it was his second visit, in February 2023, where he conducted Mahlers Fifth Symphony, that sparked a wave of euphoric reviews. Critics from the Chicago Tribune and Classical Voice North America said there was a powerful chemistry between the conductor and the orchestra.

That performance appeared to have won over the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Last June, Esteban Batallan, who has been principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony since 2019, confessed to EL PAIS that Makela was his pick to succeed Muti. More names, however, were being considered, such as Vladimir Jurowski and Jakub Hrusa. Makela with this orchestra reminds me, in some way, of the historic moment when [Georg] Solti joined it. Obviously, I wasnt here then, but its the feeling I have, added Batallan, almost predicting what was to come.

Today, the trumpet player continues to think this. I was just saying this to Makela after our rehearsal with him. The same feeling is in the air as in 1969, when Solti started and catapulted this orchestra, so there is mutual joy. Batallan is referring to the legendary Hungarian maestro, who passed away in 1997 after holding one of the most successful and longest-lasting partnerships with the orchestra in its history.

But Solti was appointed music director at the age of 57 and the Finnish director will be 31 when he takes over. In fact, Muti himself privately expressed his concern over whether such a young conductor could lead the CSO. Critic Alex Ross, from The New Yorker, was also quick to question Makela's elevation to the status of intercontinental musical Messiah. A status no one has reached so quickly, and especially when the conductor is, according to Ross, a gifted young musician who exhibits assured technique on the podium but has yet to find a distinct interpretive personality.

This is not an opinion shared by the CSOs Music Director Search Committee, which has just appointed him Zell music director, as the position has been funded by the foundation of American philanthropist Sam Zell since 2014. His widow, Helen Zell, who chairs the aforementioned committee, said that those who have heard him with the CSO know that the atmosphere becomes electric  you leave the concert hall transformed and inspired.

The committees vice chair, assistant principal bassoonist, William Buchman, said that there was widespread excitement in the orchestra: From Klaus Makela's first moments on the podium, the musicians of the orchestra recognized that we were working with a conductor of extraordinary ability. And there was no shortage of praise from Jeff Alexander, president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association: It quickly became clear that he was the ideal choice to lead the orchestra into the future.

Makela said he felt honored to be picked to direct an orchestra that combines such brilliance, power and passion. Starting in 2027, he will have a five-year tenure in which to deepen his relationship with the orchestra. In fact, it has already been announced that next season he will conduct Mahlers Third Symphony and Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with Daniil Trifonov, who will be artist-in-residence in Chicago. And, in the summer of 2026, he will make his debut at the Ravinia Festival, the orchestras summer home.

But the Finnish conductors immediate agenda hasnt changed. He will guest conduct the Cleveland Orchestra on April 11-13, and will then return to Europe to conduct and record Shostakovichs Leningrad Symphony in Oslo. In fact, in 2021, Makela became the third conductor to ever sign an exclusive contract with the Decca Classics record label, after Georg Solti in 1948 and Riccardo Chailly in 1978, former chief conductors of the CSO and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, respectively.

Makela has released three recordings since 2022, one per year. He started with an excellent comprehensive of Sibelius symphonies with the Oslo Philharmonic, which he is now conducting in the complete set of Shostakovich symphonies. He released a pairing of Stravinskys The Firebird and The Rite of Spring in 2023, with the Orchestre de Paris. And his latest record of Petrushka and two Debussy pieces, that were recorded with the French orchestra. He will visit Spain, in the next edition of the Granada Festival, with the Orchestre de Paris and, in January 2025, he will conduct the Royal Concertgebouw in Barcelona, Oviedo and Madrid.

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German Defence Minister considers plan to establish military aid fund for Ukraine worthy of attention

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has welcomed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's proposal to establish a 100 billion military support fund for Ukraine.

Source: n-tv, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Pistorius described the proposal to establish a NATO fund of 100 billion for military assistance to Ukraine as "noteworthy."

Quote: "Everything that helps Ukraine makes sense," the German minister said.

At the same time, he emphasised the importance of avoiding duplicative responsibilities.

Furthermore, Pistorius reiterated the importance of accounting for previous national contributions to Ukraine.

Background:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the allies must ensure long-term support for Ukraine amid discussions on the 100 billion fund.

Later, Stoltenberg explained that discussions on setting up the new multi-year fund to support Ukraine are underway and being held jointly with Ukraine.

However, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba doubts that Stoltenberg's idea can be implemented "in the current financial model".

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German FM says Berlin will initiate search for more air defense for Ukraine

Berlin will call on allies worldwide to examine their air defense capabilities and "to provide whatever we all can" to Ukraine, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after a NATO-Ukraine Council meeting in Brussels on April 4.

As Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine during the spring, the shortage of air defense systems in Ukrainian cities and villages became more tangible.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia launched over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Shahed drones, and 3,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in March, causing severe damage to the civilian and energy infrastructure.

"We see what's happening in Ukraine, we realize that you need air defense now because it's now that schoolchildren really have to be in safety, that in Odesa the port has to be protected," Baerbock said in a joint video address with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"We will call on Europe again that everybody has to check where their air defense is, what can they provide for Ukraine, but also have this pledge worldwide, arrange the funding. Because we definitely know: every day, every month counts, and it's not only words, it's action that matters now for you in Ukraine."

In December last year, Germany delivered the second Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.

At the April 4 meeting, Kuleba called on partners to supply Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems that are vital in protecting Ukraine's airspace, as they have proven effective even against advanced Russian ballistics such as Kinzhal missiles.

Read also: Missiles hit Kyiv seconds after air raid alert, leaving people no time to shelter

"It is impossible to understand why the allies cannot find additional batteries to take them to places where ballistic missiles are fired every day," said Kuleba, as cited by the Foreign Ministry's press service.

"In March alone, 94 ballistic missiles were launched at Ukraine. On average, three per day. This does not happen anywhere else in the world."

Kuleba previously told Reuters that Ukraine's partners had more than 100 Patriot systems at their disposal, but they did not want to share at least five or seven of them  the minimum required number to significantly improve additional protection, according to Kyiv's calculations.

The minister also met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging Washington "to find ways to provide additional Patriot air defense systems as soon as possible."

"I am grateful to the Secretary for taking action right away to reciprocate this call. We also discussed next steps in the coming days and weeks to unlock supplemental U.S. aid for Ukraine," Kuleba said on X.

Air defense ammunition has been dwindling recently as $60 billion in U.S. aid remains effectively blocked in Congress by political disputes. The American media wrote that Ukraine may soon be forced to "ration" its air defense missiles, targeting only one out of every five enemy projectiles.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
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Germany is considering reinstating compulsory military service as part of landmark reforms aimed at making its armed forces better equipped in the event of further Russian aggression on the continent.

The country, which has one of NATOs largest militaries, should be prepared in the event of war, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, as he outlined plans to overhaul the long-neglected military.

It reflects Chancellor Olaf Scholzs declaration that Germany is at a Zeitenwende, or a turning point, following Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine and must reconsider its defense strategy.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Cyber warfare, war-readiness at forefront of reforms

Sources: Financial Times, Die Zeit

The defense ministers reforms will also create a military division focused on cyber warfare, on the same level as the navy, air force, and army, a move that shows there is no war  where digital command and control capability does not play a central role, Pistorius said. Making the military war-ready reflects a change from the current setup in which Germanys troops are poorly prepared for defense because they mostly focus on foreign missions including the fight against terrorists and pirates [and] the protection of international aid workers in crisis areas, Die Zeits security policy correspondent wrote. Many NATO states began shifting their defense strategies after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, but Germany  whose aggression during World War II left it wary of projecting military power  has taken much longer to usher in changes.

Germanys moves reflect wider NATO defense revamp

Sources: CNN, Bloomberg

NATO, which turned 75 on Thursday, is now trying to reverse years of underfunding their own defenses, CNNs Luke McGee wrote. In recent years, many of the alliance members did not meet the target of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense. Many countries are now making new spending pledges, but most of the plans being drawn up by officials are in reality longer-term  it takes time to build factories and train staff, McGee wrote. Europe should also prioritize homegrown defense technology, Bloomberg columnist Lionel Laurent wrote, rather than fall behind the U.S. in drone and AI-based tech and have to rely on foreign procurement. Innovation should be encouraged as defense budgets grow, he stated.

German conscription could follow Scandinavian model

Sources: Security Outlines, Defense One, Sky News, The Defense Post

Several other European countries, including Serbia and Croatia, are considering bringing back mandatory military service; Latvia reintroduced a draft after Russias invasion and urged other countries to follow suit. German politicians will consider the compulsion policy in the coming weeks; its possible Germanys model could be similar to the policies of countries like Norway, in which all 18-year-olds are assessed for possible military services, but only a select few are selected to serve. That fuels competition and makes the slots sought-after, according to Security Outlines, a Czech outlet. Norwegian Princess Ingrid Alexandra, second in line for the throne, was recently selected to serve a year in the military, a move that was cheered by her father.
Germany to start searching for available Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine  Ukrainian foreign minister

Germany has initiated a search for available Patriot air defence systems for Kyiv at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 4 April.

Source: Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a meeting with journalists, reported by European Pravda

Details: Kuleba noted that Germany, as the leader of the air defence coalition operating within the Ramstein-format group, will "immediately initiate an analysis of all available Patriot systems and batteries and other air defence systems, not only among allies, but also in the world."

"And what can be done, what combinations can be employed to ensure that these batteries are delivered to Ukraine," he added.

Kuleba also confirmed that he focused exclusively on one topic at the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting  the delivery of Patriot air defence systems, although the allies planned to discuss long-term commitments.

"One of the very experienced ministers said that it was the toughest speech he had ever heard by a foreign minister in his life. I apologised for spoiling the festive mood  it was NATO's birthday  but I felt it was necessary to immerse my counterparts in the harsh reality of the people of Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv," Kuleba said.

He noted that those ministers who have been to Ukraine and heard the operation of air defence systems react differently to Kyiv's requests.

Background: Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna supported Ukraine's proposal to transfer air defence systems that Western countries had in their arsenal but did not use.

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Boris Pistorius German Minister of Defense, takes part in the press conference on the decision on the future structure of the Bundeswehr. The declared aim is to focus on national and alliance defense with a Bundeswehr capable of fighting wars. Michael Kappeler/dpa

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius aims to strengthen the armed forces' defence capabilities with a unified operational command, he said in Berlin on Thursday.

The Bundeswehr will also be reorganized along four branches of the armed forces with a joint support command, the minister announced at the presentation of the new structure.

In addition to the army, air force and navy, the four branches of the armed forces now also include the Cyber and Information Space (CIR) force, which specializes in electronic warfare and cyberoperations, reconnaissance and the protection of electronic infrastructure.

To date, the Bundeswehr has had an operational command in Schwielowsee near Potsdam for the planning and control of foreign missions such as in West Africa or the frigate Hessen in the Red Sea.

In addition, a territorial command for national defence was created in Berlin, where the operational plan (OPLAN) for the national defence of Germany was also developed. The two bodies have very different tasks, but also some possible overlaps.

In November last year, Pistorius proclaimed "war capability as a maxim for action" in new defence policy guidelines. He said that Inspector General Carsten Breuer and a state secretary should also take a look at the structures of the Bundeswehr itself and explicitly also at command organizations.

Pistorius wants to take action against duplicate structures that hinder and hold each other up.

Another major point of action is the Bundeswehr's personnel and the question of whether Germany could reintroduce compulsory military service after suspending it. Pistorius is having models for this examined and is orientating himself on the practice in Scandinavian countries.

The number of soldiers has recently fallen to 181,500.
Boris Pistorius German Minister of Defense, takes part in the press conference on the decision on the future structure of the Bundeswehr. The declared aim is to focus on national and alliance defense with a Bundeswehr capable of fighting wars. Michael Kappeler/dpa

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius aims to strengthen the armed forces' defence capabilities with a unified operational command and prepare for the possible reintroduction of compulsory military service, he said in Berlin on Thursday.

The Bundeswehr is to be reorganized along four branches with a joint support command, Pistorius announced at the presentation of the new structure.

In addition to the army, air force and navy, a fourth branch - the Cyber and Information Space (CIR) force, which specializes in electronic warfare and cyberoperations, reconnaissance and the protection of electronic infrastructure - will be upgraded to a separate branch of the military.

"The threat situation in Europe has intensified. It must be clear to everyone: We are defending our country and our alliance partners and are making it clear - again with this step - that no one should get the idea of attacking us as a NATO territory," Pistorius said.

"We have to convey this credibly and truthfully, and the Bundeswehr has to be positioned in line with the aforementioned requirements. I have given the armed forces six months to adapt."

The aim is also to allocate responsibilities more clearly and avoid duplicate structures, he said. "This is what matters in an emergency - or actually, one should say: in the event of war, in the event of defence. That is the aim we are pursuing with this reform."

The defence administration will "now be geared towards implementing the reinstatement of compulsory military service on the basis of this decision." If the country needs to be defended, there would be immediate conscription and the task would be to be able to implement this.

But whether Germany could or should reintroduce compulsory military service has been much debated. Pistorius is having models for this examined and is orientating himself on how Scandinavian countries handle this. The number of Bundeswehr soldiers has recently fallen to 181,500.

The law stipulates that suspended compulsory military service for men is revived if a state of tension or defence need occurs.

To date, the Bundeswehr has had an operational command in Schwielowsee near Potsdam for the planning and control of foreign missions such as in West Africa or the frigate Hessen in the Red Sea.

In addition, a territorial command for national defence was created in Berlin, where the operational plan (OPLAN) for the national defence of Germany was also developed. The two bodies have very different tasks, but also some possible overlaps.

In November, Pistorius proclaimed "war capability as a maxim for action" in new defence policy guidelines. He said that Inspector General Carsten Breuer and a state secretary should also take a look at the structures of the Bundeswehr itself and explicitly also at command organizations.

Pistorius wants to take action against duplicate structures that hinder and hold each other up.
For as long as they have existed, No Labels have wanted one thing: to matter. But these self-styled centrist problem solvers, whove yet to advance anything resembling a political solution, have always faced substantial obstacles, mainly that theyre a venal gaggle of cosseted Beltway elites with no real constituency in the broader public. That theyve been allowed to persist with their cotton-headed paeans to bipartisanship is a testament to structural problems with our political system (which is awash in money and enables too many people who care about nothing but maintaining power to come to Washington) and the commentariat (which is packed to the brim with thunderously credulous dolts).



But after more than a decade cashing checks from the biggest fools in the donor class (and some of the biggest assholes as well), No Labels demise finally appears imminent. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the group has abandoned its plan to field an independent third-party presidential ticket on account of the fact that no actual candidate wanted to have anything to do with the effort. That means the fear that the group might play spoiler and hand the White House to Donald Trumpwhich it seemed to wantis over. In a statement, No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson said the organization would remain engaged in promoting unity and giving voice to Americas commonsense majority. Heres a thought: Quit instead.

This has been a stupendously silly journey. A month ago, after prevaricating for the better part of a year, No Labels announced that they were moving forward with the process of forming a presidential ticket to run in the 2024 election, which everyone thought they had already been doing all this time. And yet, it made headlines. Give these terminally inside-the-Beltway toffs some credit: You cant become a Washington lifer without mastering the art of making news out of nothing at all. If you can successfully pass activity off as achievement in This Town, more often than not the gravy train will keep on running.

But behind the scenes, matters were considerably more grim. In leaked audio that TNRs Greg Sargent obtained, it became clear that the organization had no idea whether it will be able to move forward with its electoral ambitions. No serious candidates appear interested, Sargent reported at the time, and theres no sign that this is changing. A month on, matters had not improved. In mid-March, Geoff Duncan became the latest in a long list of candidatesincluding GOP primary also-ran Nikki Haley, West Virginia filibuster fanboy Joe Manchin, and former Maryland Governor Larry Hoganto decline to be the organizations sacrificial lamb, ending any or all opportunities to finally answer the question: Who is Geoff Duncan? (He is apparently the former lieutenant governor of Georgia, but I invite you to double-check.)

Meanwhile, the group was considerably hampered by the recent death of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, whose stalwart defense of the organization was fully in keeping with the former Connecticut senators quarter-century-long conniption fit. As the Associated Press reported, Liebermans passing not only mark[ed] an irreplaceable loss for No Labels, it inject[ed] a new level of uncertainty into the organizations 2024 ambitions. According to the AP, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, and Brian Kemp had also turned down the chance to be the organizations presidential candidate. So many people have rejected this groups advances that I honestly have a hard time keeping track. (Did you turn down the chance to be the No Labels presidential candidate? Let me know!)



In an effort to prove that there is no way of taking No Labels seriously, Politicos Alexander Burns offered some last-ditch the tongue-in-cheek advice that the organization should enlist some entertainer or outside-the-Beltway provocateur to be its standard-bearer instead of the bloodless and gray career dweebs its approached. As former Jesse Ventura strategist Bill Hillsman told Burns, No Labels efforts were misconstrued from the beginning, arguing that few voters would be inclined to see a unity ticket forged from within the political establishment as an answer for their grievances with the system.

I cant stress enough that an organization led by Lieberman and Beltway donor doyenne Jacobson is physiologically incapable of imagining an outsider in its ranks. Perhaps thats why a former Bush administration official recommended in a Hill op-ed that the group go ahead and put Lieberman on the ticket, even though hes dead. (Come to think of it, a Weekend at Bernies presidency would be preferable to a second Trump term.)



At any rate, I have a better idea: No Labels should fold. This organization has a sad and decrepit legacy of timidity and corruption, and as Meredith Shiner reported in 2014, it isnt even sincere in its core beliefs: Internal documents revealed that its leadership was banking on more political dysfunction in an attempt to find opportunity and relevance for itself. And lets face it: The day the organization handed Trump its problem solver endorsement during the 2016 presidential primaries should have marked the end of taking it seriously.



Alas, two presidential cycles later, these lowlifes grift persists. But now that their unity ticket plan to doom the republic has come to naught, all of the people whove hitherto been fleeced by them, financially or ideologically, should wise up and pull the plug. The rest of us can only be grateful that No Labels last hurrahmuch like all of their grand designsfoundered without bringing ruin to us all. Still, its a searing indictment of the United States that people with such bad ideas can ascend to such great heights that they could help trigger our democracys demise.

This article was adapted from Power Mad, a weekly TNR newsletter authored by deputy editor Jason Linkins. Sign up here.
Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Missouri House on Thursday approved a roughly $50 billion budget that cuts an estimated $2 billion requested by Republican Gov. Mike Parson.

The proposed spending plan slashes money requested by Parson for a variety of programs using federal pandemic funds. It also reduces the percentage of money requested by the Republican governor for boosts to the states colleges and universities from 3% to 2%.

The budget for the next fiscal year, which takes effect July 1, now heads to the Missouri Senate. Once approved by both chambers, it would go to Parsons desk where he can sign off or use his veto pen.

It is our responsibility to ensure our state avoids wasteful spending and prioritizes critical infrastructure for the future, said House Budget Chair Rep. Cody Smith, a Carthage Republican who is running for treasurer. This plan is a step in the right direction.

The budget passed by the House includes roughly $727 million to improve Interstate-44, a substantial increase from the $14 million requested by Parson in January. It also adds $1.5 billion to increase broadband access and $8 million to support border control efforts at the southern border with Mexico.

The budget also includes $53 million for improvements to the Interstate 35, Interstate 29 and U.S. 169 corridor in Clay, Jackson and Platte counties.

House Republicans this week rejected most attempts by Democrats to add money to the budget, including boosts to teacher pay, higher education and child care access.

We make promises in this body that we dont fulfill, said Rep. Deb Lavender, a Manchester Republican, who criticized Republicans for not including her request to boost funding for mental health care providers.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, told reporters that Missouri taxpayers deserved better than the budget the House passed, rating the spending plan as OK.

House Republicans had the power to do much better but consciously chose not to, said Quade, who is running for governor. Instead of improving state government, the majority opted for stagnation.

Quade said that the Houses decision to cut $2 billion from Parsons proposal means the Senate will end up writing the state budget.

Republicans also rejected an amendment that would have provided funding to an initiative designed to help victims of the February mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade. The proposal from Rep. Emily Weber, a Kansas City Democrat, would have used $10 million from the federal fund for the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

The Missouri General Assembly is required to pass a balanced budget each legislative session. The spending plan could run into resistance in the Missouri Senate, which began this years session gripped by infighting among Republican senators.

Thursdays approval comes amid the looming expiration of a series of crucial taxes that fund the states Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to roughly 1 million residents.

Lawmakers have yet to take up a bill to reauthorize the taxes, collectively known as the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, or FRA.

Not renewing the FRA would lead to an estimated loss of $4.3 billion in state and federal Medicaid funds in fiscal year 2026, according to an analysis by the Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit that analyzes fiscal policy.

Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, told reporters Thursday that he and Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican who chairs the Senates budget-writing committee, wanted to see the FRA finished before they presented the Senates version of the budget.

I think thats the only responsible thing to do, Rowden said. In the absence of that $4 billion, you have a much different equation.

But Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican and member of the hard-right Missouri Freedom Caucus, said he would oppose a version of the FRA that barred Medicaid dollars from going to affiliates of Planned Parenthood.

The push to add the anti-abortion language has been a consistent rallying cry for Eigel and other members of the hard-right caucus.

Far-right lawmakers first zeroed in on the FRA as a potential vehicle to block Planned Parenthood from receiving state funding in 2021, when a debate over the inclusion of that provision forced lawmakers into a special session. The bill passed without it, but some Republicans are hoping to see it added back in this year.

There are conversations going on surrounding the FRA, Eigel said. But we continue to believe that if passing the FRA is important, so is protecting life. So we want to make sure that defunding Planned Parenthood becomes the norm.
Concern over illegal immigration and border security was Donald Trumps central campaign issue when he won the presidency in 2016, and polls show it as the GOPs most potent political weapon again in 2024. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

With polls showing unauthorized immigration as Republicans best issue for the fall, the GOP is looking to raise the alarm about voting by non-citizens and the undocumented.

The multi-pronged effort has been advanced in congressional legislation, public statements by top election officials and U.S. senators, plans produced by grassroots activists, and posts on X by former President Donald Trump and others.

Concern over illegal immigration and border security was Trumps central campaign issue when he won the presidency in 2016, and polls show it as the GOPs most potent political weapon again in 2024. A Feb. 27 Gallup poll found 28% of respondents saw it as the countrys most important issue, well ahead of any other topic.

At an April 2 rally in Michigan, Trump seized on the recent murder of a local woman, Ruby Garcia, who law enforcement has alleged was killed by her undocumented boyfriend.

We threw him out of the country and crooked Joe Biden let him back in and let him stay and he viciously killed Ruby, said Trump.

But the party is also using the issue to bolster its ongoing push to stoke fear about voter fraud and press for more restrictive voting rules. And it has often trafficked in false and misleading claims about voting by undocumented immigrants.

Voter fraud claims

Voting by non-citizens is extremely rare. Thats because, voting advocates say, non-citizens are especially careful not to do anything that might jeopardize their status in the country.

A voter fraud database run by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which covers several decades in which billions of votes have been cast across the country, contains 29 entries that mention non-citizens. In some of these, a non-citizen registered but did not vote.

Still, over the last few weeks, Republican secretaries of state from Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, and at least two U.S. Senate Republicans, were the latest to tout the issue.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrote in a March 12 op-ed that leftist-activist allies of President Joe Biden want to open the gate to non-citizen voting.

At issue is a lawsuit challenging a Georgia measure requiring people registering to vote to show documentary proof of citizenship.

The voting-rights advocates behind the suit say the requirement isnt needed, and can present a barrier to registration for some voters, especially naturalized citizens, who may not have easy access to citizenship documents.

In the op-ed, Raffensperger, who famously resisted Trumps pressure to collude in subverting Georgias 2020 election results, sought to conflate the issue of illegal voting by the undocumented with burgeoning efforts by a few Democratic-led cities, including Washington, D.C., to allow legal non-citizens to vote in local elections.

He has pushed for a constitutional amendment in Georgia that would bar local governments in the state from enfranchising non-citizens.

Leftist activists have already shown that they want to change the laws that require voters to be U.S. citizens, Raffensperger wrote. A constitutional amendment would eliminate any possibility for future efforts to change those laws.

Warning on DOJ program

Days earlier, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, warning that a federal program aimed at making voter registration easier for people in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prison could lead to the registration not only of ineligible felons but also of the undocumented.

Due to the Biden Administrations border policies, millions of illegal aliens have not only been allowed into this country during the last three years, but they have also been allowed to stay. Many of these aliens have been in the custody of an agency of the Department of Justice including the Marshals, Watson wrote in the letter, which his office provided to States Newsroom.

Providing ineligible non-citizens with information on how to register to vote undoubtedly encourages them to illegally register to vote.

The Justice Department program is part of the Biden administrations response to the presidents sweeping 2021 executive order aimed at using federal government agencies to expand access to voter registration. Republicans have condemned the order as an improper attempt to use public resources to advance partisan political goals. There is no evidence the order has led to ineligible voters being added to the rolls.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, as well as Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., also sought to raise concerns about non-citizen voting in an exchange at a March 12 hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The two Alabama Republicans charged that the federal government has denied election officials the tools they need to verify citizenship.

I think (verifying citizenship) is important, now more than ever, especially given whats happening at the southern border, said Allen, who was testifying before the panel.

At the same hearing, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, used his time to ask the witnesses if they agreed that only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in federal elections  something thats already the law  and that people registering to vote should have to show proof of citizenship. Lee later sent out a clip of the exchange on X.

Memo calls for proof of citizenship to register

Also last month, the conservative voting activist Cleta Mitchell, who played a key role in Trumps bid to overturn the 2020 election, circulated a memo on the threat of non-citizen voting in 2024. The memo, posted online by a conservative advocacy group, called for a federal law requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering, among other steps.

There are myriad left-wing advocacy groups who register illegals to vote, Mitchell wrote, a charge for which she did not provide evidence.

But the partys efforts to tie together voting and immigration have been underway for longer in this election cycle. Last March, as States Newsroom reported, a group of prominent conservative election activists came together to promote what they called a national campaign to protect voting at all levels of government as the exclusive right of citizens.

Months later, congressional Republicans unveiled a sweeping elections bill, which aimed to capture the GOPs top priorities in its push to tighten voting rules, and which contained a full section on stopping non-citizen voting.

Among other steps, the measure would give states more access to federal data on citizenship and make it easier for them to remove people flagged as non-citizens from the rolls. It also would penalize states where non-citizens can vote in local elections by cutting their share of federal election funding.

While Democrats control the Senate and White House, the bill has little chance of becoming law.

Legislation on non-citizen voting

Separately, in the current session of Congress alone, the House Administration Committee has passed seven different bills addressing non-citizen voting.

Last year, the House voted to use Congress authority over the District of Columbia to overturn D.C.s law enfranchising non-citizens  the first time the House had voted to overturn a District bill since 2015. The Senate didnt take up the bill.

One Republican lawmaker introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to ban non-citizen voting.

Legal non-citizen voting has a long history in the U.S. In the middle of the 19th century, at least 16 states passed measures enfranchising non-citizens, often to lure workers to underpopulated western states.

These laws were gradually repealed in the late 19th and early 20th century  a period when a more general anxiety about mass voting led to Jim Crow laws in the South and laws restricting voting by Catholic and Jewish immigrants in the north.

Some prominent figures have falsely suggested that Democrats are soft-pedaling border security so they can benefit from the votes of the undocumented.

Thats why they are allowing these people to come in  people that dont speak our language  they are signing them up to vote, Trump said at a January rally in Iowa. And I believe thats why you are having millions of people pour into our country and it could very well affect the next election. Thats why they are doing it.

Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, has taken a similar view.

Dems wont deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point, Musk told his over 170 million followers in a Feb. 26 post on X, which he owns, commenting on news that an undocumented immigrant hadnt been deported despite a string of arrests. That simple incentive explains what seems to be insane behavior.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, charged in a 2022 TV ad: Joe Bidens open border is killing Ohioans with more illegal drugs and more Democrat voters pouring into this country.

Kansas law

One figure who may have done more than any to promote the threat of voting by non-citizens is Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. As the states secretary of state, Kobach pushed for a law requiring voter registrants to provide proof of citizenship.

The law was ultimately struck down by a federal court, which found no credible evidence that a significant number of non-citizens had registered to vote before it was implemented. The law was responsible for keeping tens of thousands of voter registration applications in limbo during an election.

Kobach went on to chair a voter fraud commission created in 2017 by the Trump White House, which pushed for a federal law similar to the Kansas law. The panel disbanded the following year without providing evidence of widespread voter fraud.

The post GOP, Trump build on immigration fears to push voting restrictions in states appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
In recent years the following books have arrived in bookstores around the world: The Librarian of Auschwitz (by Spanish author Antonio Iturbe, it was written respectfully and factually and published in 2012, before Auschwitz became a commercial fad); The Auschwitz Photographer; Auschwitz: A Doctors Eyewitness Account; The Childrens Block: A Novel Based on the True Story of an Auschwitz Survivor; The Dressmakers of Auschwitz; Auschwitz Lullaby; The Pharmacist of Auschwitz; Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz; The Magician of Auschwitz; The Tattooist of Auschwitz (a great international success); The Violinist of Auschwitz; The Daughter of Auschwitz; The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz; The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor; A Delayed Life: The True Story of the Librarian of Auschwitz; The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz; The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz; Ballerina of Auschwitz Between 2010 and 2024, theres been a boom of books with Auschwitz in the title: this list is a selection that does not include rigorous scientific essays, such as the ones by Laurence Rees and Sybille Steinbacher, or classics by camp survivors, such as Primo Levis Auschwitz Trilogy.

The vast majority are inspired by true stories that occurred in the German concentration and extermination camp, where the Nazis murdered more than a million people, mainly Jews. But they are fictionalized by taking certain liberties with the facts. It is not a parody. All the titles exist. Then there are the internationally bestselling novels like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, where the camps name does not appear in the title, although they take place in that setting.

How the Shoah and Nazi horrors can be depicted  and whether fiction is a legitimate way to do so  has been problematic since the end of World War II. But the current proliferation of books comes at an important and defining moment: unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer survivors left to tell what happened and the living memory of a unique tragedy is disappearing with them. There are virtually no perpetrators still alive. First-person accounts of the horror will soon give way to an era without witnesses. Those who did not experience it  and who will not be able to speak to those who lived through the camps and ghettos  will bear full responsibility for telling the story. What is happening in the bookstores does not augur well.

The SS selects the Jews destined to die immediately in the gas chambers on the platform of Auschwitz, in an image that belongs to the so-called 'Auschwitz Album,' preserved in the Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem

Wanda Witek-Malicka of the Auschwitz Museum Research Center  located in present-day Poland and built in Nazi-occupied territory as the Third Reichs largest death camp  is emphatic: Auschwitz and the Holocaust as symbols have undoubtedly, and unfortunately, become commodities for sale. The expert, who conducts research at the Auschwitz Museum, adds that books with barbed wire and striped prisoner outfits on the cover are sold at discount stores, gas stations and supermarkets, and on social media they are depicted in pastel-colored photographs as perfect vacation reads. Popular novels about Auschwitz, essentially Holocaust fiction, teach nothing new; they simply recycle the same set of stereotypes and symbols. The commercialization of Auschwitz and the popularization of a trivialized, grossly simplified and romanticized Holocaust narrative (intended for sale as an easily digestible version of history), create a whole new educational reality that professionals working in places of memory must confront.

In the past, the Auschwitz Memorial  now a UNESCO Heritage Site  had already spoken out about the historical errors in some of these novels that had become international bestsellers and might replace the authentic facts in collective memory. The aim was to make it very clear that whoever read these books was not receiving reliable information about the Holocaust. Of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the Memorial posted the following message on then-Twitter in 2018 (where it currently has 1.5 million followers): Due to the number of factual errors The Tattooist of Auschwitz cannot be recommended as a valuable position for those who wish to understand the history of the camp. The book is an impression about Auschwitz inspired by authentic events, almost without any value as a document.

In recent weeks, a controversy has broken out over Fermina Canaveras novel El barracon de las mujeres [The womens hut]. The book has prompted protests from the relatives of survivors of the Ravensbruck camp, who accuse the author of manipulating reality to achieve publishing success through morbid curiosity. The current controversy reflects a problem that has never been resolved: how to tell the story of the Holocaust and what liberties a narrator can take with the reality of Nazism. Canaveras book was previously published two years ago by a smaller publishing house in Spain, Molinos y Gigantes, under a very explicit title, Putas de campo [Camp whores].

Her work deals with the sexual slavery to which hundreds of inmates were subjected in the only Nazi concentration camp for women, who were transferred to other camps to become prostitutes. It could be argued that this books success helps to inform about a little-known aspect of terror under the Nazis. But one could also contend  as the survivors families do  that it is pure morbid curiosity, and that the womens suffering is being used to sell books that invent stories far removed from reality. A similar controversy arose in 1978 when the Holocaust miniseries premiered: it was accused of trivializing the Shoah and turning it into a soap opera.

Untrue, offensive, cheap. As a TV production, the film is an insult to those who perished and to those who survived. In spite of its name, this docudrama is not about what some of us remember as the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Auschwitz survivor and the author of seminal works on the Holocaust such as Night, wrote when it premiered. French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, who was then working on Shoah, the 10-hour documentary considered the most important film on the Holocaust, was even more emphatic: This is fiction. That is to say a fundamental lie, a moral crime, a murder of memory. Nevertheless, the miniseries had an enormous impact and was instrumental in spreading awareness of the Jewish genocide in Germany. It helped bring a crime that had been relatively hidden out of oblivion. At the time, Variety magazine reported a survey that claimed that 70% of German 14-19-year-olds said they learned more about the Holocaust from the miniseries than they did in school.

Hungarian Jews in Auschwitz shortly before being murdered in the gas chambers, in another image from the 'Auschwitz Album'; the images were probably taken by members of the SS. Yad Vashem

Nearly 30 years ago, in November 1993, Steven Spielbergs Schindlers List, the film adaptation of Australian Thomas Kennellys book, premiered. This movie about the Holocaust has perhaps had the greatest global impact. Again, the debate resurfaced. Some critics objected to the suspenseful scene in the showers (for a few minutes, viewers do not know whether gas or water will come out). Others criticized the decision to tell the story of a good German in the midst of an atrocity in which all strata of German society collaborated. But the films visual force prevailed resoundingly.

Even so, many voices spoke out against the film, including Lanzmann. When I saw Schindlers List, I felt the same way I did with Holocaust. Fiction is a transgression, I am deeply convinced that there is a ban on depiction. Transgressing or trivializing, in this case they are identical. The series or the Hollywood film, they transgress because they trivialize, and thus they remove the Holocausts unique character, the filmmaker wrote in Le Monde, where he also recognized the artistic merits of the film and its director. Years later, however, Lanzmann spoke out in favor of Hungarian director Laszlo Nemess Son of Saul, which he saw at Cannes in 2015: Laszlo Nemes has invented something. And he was clever enough not to try to show the Holocaust. He knew he could not and should not. In 1997, Roberto Begninis Life is Beautiful received both fiery praise and tremendous criticism for turning the Holocaust into a kind of fable; the film was a success with audiences and won an Academy Award.

But the phenomenon of recent years in which many authors and publishers have engaged  where Auschwitz has become a trademark  is unparalleled.

But not all fiction about Auschwitz are the same, and they do not all respond to a commercial impulse. One recent example is Jonathan Glazers film The Zone of Interest, where only the sound of the camp is heard; that makes this story about the banality of evil, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, even more terrifying. Another example is Die Passagierin [The passenger], the subtle and brutal opera by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, who survived Nazism and Stalinism. These two works are fictional stories that subject viewers to enormous tension, forcing them to reflect on the abysses of evil and to look at themselves in a repulsive mirror; they situate viewers in a place where the frontiers of humanity are blurred.

The deep discomfort provoked by Canaveras work and the proliferation of fiction with Auschwitz in the title  of varying artistic and documentary value  not only has to do with their distance from reality, but also with the danger of trivializing a unique tragedy, as Lanzmann warned. Elie Wiesel spent his life fighting so that the Holocaust would not be forgotten: To forget would be absolute injustice in the same way that Auschwitz was the absolute crime, he testified in the trial against Klaus Barbie, the butcher of Lyon. We must remember not only for the victims, but for its lessons for the present: trying to understand Nazism also means understanding the mechanisms of evil in a society.

In an interview with this newspaper in 1992, Wiesel was very concerned about the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in which the Serbs committed genocide against the Bosnians. He had just visited Sarejevo during its siege. We have no right to compare; but we also have no right to be silent, he said. The line between diffusion and trivialization is a fine one. But right now the problem is not whether Auschwitz has been forgotten  as it was in Germany until the 1960s  but whether the Nazi horror can become a vulgar commodity, with nothing but commercial value in the present.

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Concern over illegal immigration and border security was Donald Trumps central campaign issue when he won the presidency in 2016, and polls show it as the GOPs most potent political weapon again in 2024. Photo by John Moore | Getty Images

With polls showing unauthorized immigration as Republicans best issue for the fall, the GOP is looking to raise the alarm about voting by non-citizens and the undocumented.

The multi-pronged effort has been advanced in congressional legislation, public statements by top election officials and U.S. senators, plans produced by grassroots activists, and posts on X by former President Donald Trump and others.

Concern over illegal immigration and border security was Trumps central campaign issue when he won the presidency in 2016, and polls show it as the GOPs most potent political weapon again in 2024. A Feb. 27 Gallup poll found 28% of respondents saw it as the countrys most important issue, well ahead of any other topic.

At an April 2 rally in Michigan, Trump seized on the recent murder of a local woman, Ruby Garcia, who law enforcement has alleged was killed by her undocumented boyfriend.

We threw him out of the country and crooked Joe Biden let him back in and let him stay and he viciously killed Ruby, said Trump.

But the party is also using the issue to bolster its ongoing push to stoke fear about voter fraud and press for more restrictive voting rules. And it has often trafficked in false and misleading claims about voting by undocumented immigrants.

Voter fraud claims

Voting by non-citizens is extremely rare. Thats because, voting advocates say, non-citizens are especially careful not to do anything that might jeopardize their status in the country.

A voter fraud database run by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which covers several decades in which billions of votes have been cast across the country, contains 29 entries that mention non-citizens. In some of these, a non-citizen registered but did not vote.

Still, over the last few weeks, Republican secretaries of state from Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, and at least two U.S. Senate Republicans, were the latest to tout the issue.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrote in a March 12 op-ed that leftist-activist allies of President Joe Biden want to open the gate to non-citizen voting.

At issue is a lawsuit challenging a Georgia measure requiring people registering to vote to show documentary proof of citizenship.

The voting-rights advocates behind the suit say the requirement isnt needed, and can present a barrier to registration for some voters, especially naturalized citizens, who may not have easy access to citizenship documents.

In the op-ed, Raffensperger, who famously resisted Trumps pressure to collude in subverting Georgias 2020 election results, sought to conflate the issue of illegal voting by the undocumented with burgeoning efforts by a few Democratic-led cities, including Washington, D.C., to allow legal non-citizens to vote in local elections.

He has pushed for a constitutional amendment in Georgia that would bar local governments in the state from enfranchising non-citizens.

Leftist activists have already shown that they want to change the laws that require voters to be U.S. citizens, Raffensperger wrote. A constitutional amendment would eliminate any possibility for future efforts to change those laws.

Warning on DOJ program

Days earlier, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, warning that a federal program aimed at making voter registration easier for people in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prison could lead to the registration not only of ineligible felons but also of the undocumented.

Due to the Biden Administrations border policies, millions of illegal aliens have not only been allowed into this country during the last three years, but they have also been allowed to stay. Many of these aliens have been in the custody of an agency of the Department of Justice including the Marshals, Watson wrote in the letter, which his office provided to States Newsroom.

Providing ineligible non-citizens with information on how to register to vote undoubtedly encourages them to illegally register to vote.

The Justice Department program is part of the Biden administrations response to the presidents sweeping 2021 executive order aimed at using federal government agencies to expand access to voter registration. Republicans have condemned the order as an improper attempt to use public resources to advance partisan political goals. There is no evidence the order has led to ineligible voters being added to the rolls.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, as well as Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., also sought to raise concerns about non-citizen voting in an exchange at a March 12 hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The two Alabama Republicans charged that the federal government has denied election officials the tools they need to verify citizenship.

I think (verifying citizenship) is important, now more than ever, especially given whats happening at the southern border, said Allen, who was testifying before the panel.

At the same hearing, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, used his time to ask the witnesses if they agreed that only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in federal elections  something thats already the law  and that people registering to vote should have to show proof of citizenship. Lee later sent out a clip of the exchange on X.

Memo calls for proof of citizenship to register

Also last month, the conservative voting activist Cleta Mitchell, who played a key role in Trumps bid to overturn the 2020 election, circulated a memo on the threat of non-citizen voting in 2024. The memo, posted online by a conservative advocacy group, called for a federal law requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering, among other steps.

There are myriad left-wing advocacy groups who register illegals to vote, Mitchell wrote, a charge for which she did not provide evidence.

But the partys efforts to tie together voting and immigration have been underway for longer in this election cycle. Last March, as States Newsroom reported, a group of prominent conservative election activists came together to promote what they called a national campaign to protect voting at all levels of government as the exclusive right of citizens.

Months later, congressional Republicans unveiled a sweeping elections bill, which aimed to capture the GOPs top priorities in its push to tighten voting rules, and which contained a full section on stopping non-citizen voting.

Among other steps, the measure would give states more access to federal data on citizenship and make it easier for them to remove people flagged as non-citizens from the rolls. It also would penalize states where non-citizens can vote in local elections by cutting their share of federal election funding.

While Democrats control the Senate and White House, the bill has little chance of becoming law.

Legislation on non-citizen voting

Separately, in the current session of Congress alone, the House Administration Committee has passed seven different bills addressing non-citizen voting.

Last year, the House voted to use Congress authority over the District of Columbia to overturn D.C.s law enfranchising non-citizens  the first time the House had voted to overturn a District bill since 2015. The Senate didnt take up the bill.

One Republican lawmaker introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to ban non-citizen voting.

Legal non-citizen voting has a long history in the U.S. In the middle of the 19th century, at least 16 states passed measures enfranchising non-citizens, often to lure workers to underpopulated western states.

These laws were gradually repealed in the late 19th and early 20th century  a period when a more general anxiety about mass voting led to Jim Crow laws in the South and laws restricting voting by Catholic and Jewish immigrants in the north.

Some prominent figures have falsely suggested that Democrats are soft-pedaling border security so they can benefit from the votes of the undocumented.

Thats why they are allowing these people to come in  people that dont speak our language  they are signing them up to vote, Trump said at a January rally in Iowa. And I believe thats why you are having millions of people pour into our country and it could very well affect the next election. Thats why they are doing it.

Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, has taken a similar view.

Dems wont deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point, Musk told his over 170 million followers in a Feb. 26 post on X, which he owns, commenting on news that an undocumented immigrant hadnt been deported despite a string of arrests. That simple incentive explains what seems to be insane behavior.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, charged in a 2022 TV ad: Joe Bidens open border is killing Ohioans with more illegal drugs and more Democrat voters pouring into this country.

Kansas law

One figure who may have done more than any to promote the threat of voting by non-citizens is Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. As the states secretary of state, Kobach pushed for a law requiring voter registrants to provide proof of citizenship.

The law was ultimately struck down by a federal court, which found no credible evidence that a significant number of non-citizens had registered to vote before it was implemented. The law was responsible for keeping tens of thousands of voter registration applications in limbo during an election.

Kobach went on to chair a voter fraud commission created in 2017 by the Trump White House, which pushed for a federal law similar to the Kansas law. The panel disbanded the following year without providing evidence of widespread voter fraud.

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The post GOP, Trump build on immigration fears to push voting restrictions in states appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
Concern over illegal immigration and border security was Donald Trumps central campaign issue when he won the presidency in 2016, and polls show it as the GOPs most potent political weapon again in 2024. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

With polls showing unauthorized immigration as Republicans best issue for the fall, the GOP is looking to raise the alarm about voting by non-citizens and the undocumented.

The multi-pronged effort has been advanced in congressional legislation, public statements by top election officials and U.S. senators, plans produced by grassroots activists, and posts on X by former President Donald Trump and others.

Concern over illegal immigration and border security was Trumps central campaign issue when he won the presidency in 2016, and polls show it as the GOPs most potent political weapon again in 2024. A Feb. 27 Gallup poll found 28% of respondents saw it as the countrys most important issue, well ahead of any other topic.

At an April 2 rally in Michigan, Trump seized on the recent murder of a local woman, Ruby Garcia, who law enforcement has alleged was killed by her undocumented boyfriend.

We threw him out of the country and crooked Joe Biden let him back in and let him stay and he viciously killed Ruby, said Trump.

But the party is also using the issue to bolster its ongoing push to stoke fear about voter fraud and press for more restrictive voting rules. And it has often trafficked in false and misleading claims about voting by undocumented immigrants.

Voter fraud claims

Voting by non-citizens is extremely rare. Thats because, voting advocates say, non-citizens are especially careful not to do anything that might jeopardize their status in the country.

A voter fraud database run by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which covers several decades in which billions of votes have been cast across the country, contains 29 entries that mention non-citizens. In some of these, a non-citizen registered but did not vote.

Still, over the last few weeks, Republican secretaries of state from Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, and at least two U.S. Senate Republicans, were the latest to tout the issue.

Brad Raffensperger, Georgias top election official. Credit: Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder (Oct. 14, 2020).

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrote in a March 12 op-ed that leftist-activist allies of President Joe Biden want to open the gate to non-citizen voting.

At issue is a lawsuit challenging a Georgia measure requiring people registering to vote to show documentary proof of citizenship.

The voting-rights advocates behind the suit say the requirement isnt needed and can present a barrier to registration for some voters, especially naturalized citizens, who may not have easy access to citizenship documents.

In the op-ed, Raffensperger, who famously resisted Trumps pressure to collude in subverting Georgias 2020 election results, sought to conflate the issue of illegal voting by the undocumented with burgeoning efforts by a few Democratic-led cities, including Washington, D.C., to allow legal non-citizens to vote in local elections.

He has pushed for a constitutional amendment in Georgia that would bar local governments in the state from enfranchising non-citizens.

Leftist activists have already shown that they want to change the laws that require voters to be U.S. citizens, Raffensperger wrote. A constitutional amendment would eliminate any possibility for future efforts to change those laws.

Warning on DOJ program

Days earlier, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, warning that a federal program aimed at making voter registration easier for people in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prison could lead to the registration not only of ineligible felons but also of the undocumented.

Due to the Biden Administrations border policies, millions of illegal aliens have not only been allowed into this country during the last three years, but they have also been allowed to stay. Many of these aliens have been in the custody of an agency of the Department of Justice including the Marshals, Watson wrote in the letter, which his office provided to States Newsroom.

Providing ineligible non-citizens with information on how to register to vote undoubtedly encourages them to illegally register to vote.

The Justice Department program is part of the Biden administrations response to the presidents sweeping 2021 executive order aimed at using federal government agencies to expand access to voter registration. Republicans have condemned the order as an improper attempt to use public resources to advance partisan political goals. There is no evidence the order has led to ineligible voters being added to the rolls.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, as well as Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., also sought to raise concerns about non-citizen voting in an exchange at a March 12 hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The two Alabama Republicans charged that the federal government has denied election officials the tools they need to verify citizenship.

I think (verifying citizenship) is important, now more than ever, especially given whats happening at the southern border, said Allen, who was testifying before the panel.

At the same hearing, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, used his time to ask the witnesses if they agreed that only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in federal elections  something thats already the law  and that people registering to vote should have to show proof of citizenship. Lee later sent out a clip of the exchange on X.

Memo calls for proof of citizenship to register

Also last month, the conservative voting activist Cleta Mitchell, who played a key role in Trumps bid to overturn the 2020 election, circulated a memo on the threat of non-citizen voting in 2024. The memo, posted online by a conservative advocacy group, called for a federal law requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering, among other steps.

There are myriad left-wing advocacy groups who register illegals to vote, Mitchell wrote, a charge for which she did not provide evidence.

But the partys efforts to tie together voting and immigration have been underway for longer in this election cycle. Last March, as States Newsroom reported, a group of prominent conservative election activists came together to promote what they called a national campaign to protect voting at all levels of government as the exclusive right of citizens.

Months later, congressional Republicans unveiled a sweeping elections bill, which aimed to capture the GOPs top priorities in its push to tighten voting rules, and which contained a full section on stopping non-citizen voting.

Among other steps, the measure would give states more access to federal data on citizenship and make it easier for them to remove people flagged as non-citizens from the rolls. It also would penalize states where non-citizens can vote in local elections by cutting their share of federal election funding.

While Democrats control the Senate and White House, the bill has little chance of becoming law.

Legislation on non-citizen voting

Separately, in the current session of Congress alone, the House Administration Committee has passed seven different bills addressing non-citizen voting.

Last year, the House voted to use Congress authority over the District of Columbia to overturn D.C.s law enfranchising non-citizens  the first time the House had voted to overturn a District bill since 2015. The Senate didnt take up the bill.

One Republican lawmaker introduced a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to ban non-citizen voting.

Legal non-citizen voting has a long history in the U.S. In the middle of the 19th century, at least 16 states passed measures enfranchising non-citizens, often to lure workers to underpopulated western states.

These laws were gradually repealed in the late 19th and early 20th century  a period when a more general anxiety about mass voting led to Jim Crow laws in the South and laws restricting voting by Catholic and Jewish immigrants in the north.

Some prominent figures have falsely suggested that Democrats are soft-pedaling border security so they can benefit from the votes of the undocumented.

Thats why they are allowing these people to come in  people that dont speak our language  they are signing them up to vote, Trump said at a January rally in Iowa. And I believe thats why you are having millions of people pour into our country and it could very well affect the next election. Thats why they are doing it.

Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, has taken a similar view.

Dems wont deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point, Musk told his over 170 million followers in a Feb. 26 post on X, which he owns, commenting on news that an undocumented immigrant hadnt been deported despite a string of arrests. That simple incentive explains what seems to be insane behavior.

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, charged in a 2022 TV ad: Joe Bidens open border is killing Ohioans with more illegal drugs and more Democrat voters pouring into this country.

Kansas law

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

One figure who may have done more than any to promote the threat of voting by non-citizens is Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. As the states secretary of state, Kobach pushed for a law requiring voter registrants to provide proof of citizenship.

The law was ultimately struck down by a federal court, which found no credible evidence that a significant number of non-citizens had registered to vote before it was implemented. The law was responsible for keeping tens of thousands of voter registration applications in limbo during an election.

Kobach went on to chair a voter fraud commission created in 2017 by the Trump White House, which pushed for a federal law similar to the Kansas law. The panel disbanded the following year without providing evidence of widespread voter fraud.

The post GOP, Trump build on immigration fears to push voting restrictions in states appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
The government is cracking down on a widely used medical sterilization method known to be carcinogenic  here's how it could affect your healthcare

The Environmental Protection Agency is imposing new restrictions on ethylene oxide, a colorless gas widely used to sterilize medical devices.

The regulation aims to cut pollution of this known carcinogen by about 90% o better protect public health, especially for those living near sterilizing facilities, according to The New York Times.

The EPA rule will require plants using ethylene oxide to install pollution controls that significantly reduce the gas's release into the air.

Per the Times, it marks the first time in 20 years that the government has strengthened limits on this hazardous pollutant.

While ethylene oxide helps ensure vital medical equipment like catheters and surgical tools are free of infection-causing germs, inhaling the gas can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, as the Times detailed. Even more worrisome, it has been linked to lymphoid and breast cancer as well as harm to the brain, nervous system, and reproductive system.

For the roughly 14 million Americans that the Washington Post reports as living close to the 90 impacted sterilizing plants, many in lower-income and minority neighborhoods, these stricter pollution standards will considerably lower health risks. The rule especially safeguards children, who are more vulnerable to carcinogens, per the Times. Critically, it does so while striving to preserve healthcare facilities' ability to properly sterilize medical devices before use, according to the EPA.

"We have followed the science and listened to communities to fulfill our responsibility to safeguard public health from this pollution, including the health of children, who are particularly vulnerable to carcinogens early in life," EPA administrator Michael S. Regan stated. He called the rule "historically strong" and part of President Biden's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative to bolster cancer prevention.

The regulation aims to provide sterilizing facilities with adequate time to implement changes while minimizing disruptions to healthcare, officials noted. Plants will have two years to install emissions monitoring and controls, plus 180 days to demonstrate compliance, the Times reported. Most will also have to continuously monitor pollution and submit quarterly reports.

Environmental law group Earthjustice, which filed suit against the EPA to push for tougher controls, applauded the policy.

"Today is an important step forward in regulating toxic ethylene oxide emissions from commercial sterilization facilities," said Patrice Simms, an Earthjustice vice president, in a statement. Community groups' "years of advocacy led to FYIincreased regulations on an industry that has polluted our communities while cleaning our medical equipment."

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Two people were killed, and another person was wounded as a result of a Russian attack against Donetsk Oblasts village of Niu-York on April 4, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

Residents of Ukraines eastern Donetsk Oblast suffer from daily Russian strikes due to their proximity to the front line.

Niu-York, which lies over 30 kilometers north of occupied Donetsk, came under four Russian air strikes in the evening, according to Filashkin.

"Numerous houses were damaged. We are still establishing the exact consequences of the shelling," the regional governor said on Facebook.

"The whole of Donetsk Oblast is dangerous, especially the cities and towns near the front line. Don't risk your life! Evacuate in time!"

Russian shelling on March 31 reportedly injured five civilians in Donetsk Oblast, including a 16-year-old boy.

Read also: Ukraines angels who look after, evacuate civilians left in front-line Donbas

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Governor pushes RIPTA board to hold meeting over Avedisian. What to know.

PROVIDENCE  Gov. Dan McKee has called for a special meeting of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority's board of directors to review embattled CEO Scott Avedisian's status in the wake of a fender-bender that mushroomed into a misdemeanor criminal charge of leaving the scene of an accident.

"Governor McKee urges the RIPTA board to convene a special meeting to review the facts of the Avedisian matter and follow the appropriate human resources protocols," said a statement by his spokeswoman, Laura Hart.

The statement came out minutes after RIPTA board member Patrick Crowley, who is secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, issued his own call for a special meeting before the next scheduled meeting of the board on April 25.

As a member of the RIPTA board, I am calling for a special board meeting with the sole purpose of discussion [of] Mr. Avedisians employment status with the agency," said Crowley.

"I think it is appropriate for the full board, along with our legal counsel, to meet and review the matter," he continued. "Mr. Avedisian is an employee and is entitled to due process and other rights before any decisions are made about his employment status by the board.

The chairman of the RIPTA board  state Transportation Director Peter Alviti  "agrees with the governor and is in the process of scheduling a special meeting," a spokesman said. "He has no comment until board members meet and have an opportunity to discuss the matter."

RIPTA CEO Scott Avedisian.

Avedisian involved in hit-and-run in McDonald's drive-thru

A former Warwick mayor, Avedisian pleaded not guilty in Kent County Court on Wednesday to leaving the scene of an accident with damage. The incident happened at about 6:15 p.m. a week ago in a McDonalds drive-thru on Post Road in Warwick. Avedisian's RIPTA-issued SUV hit a vehicle, pushing it into the car in front of it, according to police.

The initial summons on file at the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal accuses Avedisian of failing to provide information, render aid and notify police following the crash on Wednesday. After an investigation, the charge became hit-and-run.

Both Dominic Kaba and Ariana Andrade were rear-ended in the McDonald's drive-thru. The police say Avedisian's black SUV hit Kaba from behind and pushed her Mercedes-Benz into a Toyota Camry driven by Andrade.

Kaba told police that the man who climbed out of the SUV looked old and his eyes were "bloodshot red," according to the report. After telling both Kaba and Andrade to pull aside, the man "immediately drove off and ran away," the police say Kaba told them.

Asked about Avedisian's status in his $181,796 RIPTA position Thursday, RIPTA spokeswoman Cristy Raposo said: "His job status hasn't changed. He is here and in the office today."

Staff Writer Mark Reynolds contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RIPTA board to convene over CEO Scott Avedisian's employment
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX)  Grand Valley hosted a career fair at Lincon Park on April 2. With the beautiful weather on their side, people looking for jobs gathered to meet face-to-face with potential employers. Most of the employers were local but some employers came from the Front Range, and as far away as Washington to look for new candidates.

If you missed the career fair you can find the full list of employers here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
The Ohio State University Extension, Wayne County, will hold a management intensive grazing school beginning April 18.

The program is for anyone interested in learning more about pasture management and forage production.

The cost is $50. The sessions are 6-9 p.m. Thursday, April 18 and 25, and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 27. Program details can be found at wayne.osu.edu.

Topics will include management intensive grazing, goal setting, improving soil fertility and forage growth, meeting animal needs, water quality, paddock design and year round grazing.

Participants will receive a Pastures for Profit manual and grazing stick.

News in Brief

Beef Quality Assurance

For those selling beef/dairy animals to be harvested for meat, an updated Beef Quality Assurance Certification may be needed.

OSU Extension, Wayne County, is holding a free Beef Quality Assurance program 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the OSU Extension Office Commissioners Meeting Room, 428 W. Liberty St., Wooster.

The goal of the program is to increase the competitive base for marketing Ohio cattle. Beef Quality Assurance is a program to ensure beef and dairy cattle are maintained in a manner that will result in a safe and wholesome beef product. The Ohio BQA program is set to meet or exceed the NCBA BQA guidelines.

Certificates are good for three years.

An FAQ about the BQA program is available at go.osu.edu/bqa.

For more information about either program, visit wayne.osu.edu. To register, call 330-264-8722.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Grazing school, Beef Quality Assurance topics Extension programs
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) likened Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a Democrat on Wednesday as she doubled down on threats to push forward with an effort to oust him from his post.

In a phone interview with CNNs Manu Raju on Wednesday, Greene reportedly showed no sign of being deterred by warnings from within her conference to quell her resistance to Johnson. She sharply criticized Johnson for striking a bipartisan deal on a $1.2 trillion funding bill that averted a partial government shutdown.

Greene has attacked the bill for relying on Democratic votes for passage, lacking many GOP policy demands and not being released with sufficient time to read the full bill before voting.

Greene said she thinks Republicans around the country back her position, saying GOP voters are furious that our so-called Christian conservative, Republican Speaker of the House did this to them, Raju reported.

People are fed up with Republicans that say one thing and turn around and literally join the flock and just continue the same old crap everybodys tired of, Greene said, likening Johnsons tactics to that of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Greene reportedly said Johnson has literally turned into Mitch McConnells twin and worse. Hes a Democrat.

Theres not even any daylight between him and Nancy Pelosi at this point, she reportedly added.

CNN reported that Greene shot down the suggestion that ousting Johnson could result in a more moderate Speaker, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

We cannot get anyone more moderate than Mike Johnson, Greene said. I would argue Mike Johnson, we cant get any further left than Mike Johnson. I think the Democrats might be happier with him than they are with Hakeem Jeffries.

After Johnson negotiated the funding package last month, Greene introduced a resolution to remove Johnson from power. The Georgia firebrand has not moved to force a vote on her motion to vacate, but throughout the long holiday recess, she has continued to attack Johnson and warn that she would not be afraid to act on her threat if he moves forward with a Ukraine package as he has said he would.

On Sunday, Johnson acknowledged Greenes frustrations with the government spending package  frustrations he said he shared  but also defended his negotiations with the Democrats as the simple reality of governing in a divided Washington.

These are not the perfect pieces of legislation that you and I and Marjorie would draft if we had the ability to do it differently, Johnson said in an interview with Fox Newss Trey Gowdy. But with the smallest margin in U.S. history, were sometimes going to get legislation that we dont like.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) went after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) Wednesday for what she said was a departure from the GOPs principles on Ukraine and a host of other issues.

Mike Johnson has made a complete departure of who he is and what he stands for. And to the point where people are literally asking  is he being blackmailed? What is wrong with him? Because hes completely disconnected with what we want, Greene said Wednesday in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson on his show, Tucker Carlson Uncensored.

Carlson asked Greene if she believes Johnson is being blackmailed, to which she said, I have no idea. I cant comprehend, Tucker.

Johnson has long said he wants to pass aid for Ukraine as the country enters its third year of trying to push back a Russian invasion, but his conferences internal politics make that a risky proposition.

Greene last month introduced a motion to oust Johnson from the Speakership that was widely seen as a warning to Johnson not to put Ukraine aid on the floor.

On Wednesday, Greene listed off more policy areas she believes the Louisiana Republican has shifted his focus away from, including border security, anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation.

I mean, what in the world happened? And you cant help but question, what do they have on him? Is he being blackmailed? What would make this man do this? Greene asked.

Responding to Greenes criticism, Johnson said, I respect Marjorie. She will always have an open door to the Speakers office. We do have honest differences on strategy sometimes but share the same conservative beliefs.

Johnson earlier this week indicated he expects to move a package including aid for Ukraine when the House returns from recess next week. Sharp divisions among lawmakers have stalled aid for the war-torn nation for more than a year.

In February, the Speaker refused to consider a Senate-passed foreign aid package that would have included $60 billion for Ukraine because of its lack of border security measures. Conservatives had earlier killed a border security deal designed to be attached to the bill.

Johnson said the Houses foreign aid package will include some important innovations, though questions remain on the specific details of the legislation. Greene claimed Republicans, including leadership, have been left in the dark.

Not one Republican member of our conference I have spoken to has any idea what is in this foreign aid package thats going to give $60 billion to Ukraine, and that is even the leadership offices. They havent heard from Mike Johnson on the details, she said.

Johnson has floated the possibility of extending a loan to Ukraine to ease conservative concerns over increasing the national debt while providing more funding for the countrys fight against Russia. In an interview this week, Johnson referenced the REPO for Ukrainians Act, which would authorize the president to seize Russian sovereign assets frozen in the U.S. and give them to Ukraine to use against Russia.

Long-simmering tensions between Greene and Johnson were brought to the forefront last month, when Greene filed a motion to vacate the Speakership.

It came shortly after Johnson helped pass a large spending package to prevent a partial government shutdown just hours before the deadline. The package had votes from both sides of the aisle, but it angered House conservatives who criticized its spending levels and lack of policy riders they had demanded.

Greene said at the time she would not immediately trigger a vote on ousting Johnson and called the motion basically a warning.

In spite of our Republican majority of just a single seat in just one chamber of Congress, we are still fighting this administration every day to make policy changes, Johnson said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday. A shutdown would not serve our party or assist us in our mission of saving the republic by growing our majority, nor will another motion to vacate.

He reiterated he believes national security beings with border security, telling The Hill, Any funding of the Presidents supplemental request should be premised on meaningful policy to help the American people and finally address the invasion at our southern border.

Earlier this week, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) suggested Johnsons move to push forward with Ukraine aid could cost him the Speakership.

When asked on NBC Newss Meet the Press if he believes Johnson could lose the gavel over passing Ukraine aid, Bacon said, Its possible; Im not going to deny it. We have one or two people that are not team players. Theyd rather enjoy the limelight, the social media.

Some House Democrats indicated earlier this month they might be open to rescuing Johnson from any motion to oust him, though some said it will depend on how he handles Ukraine aid.

Greene told Carlson she is planning to speak with Johnson and is very much looking forward to that.

Updated 5:41 p.m. ET.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
As the Referendum Party was a thorn in the side of John Majors Conservatives in the 1990s, so Reform UK may yet prove the key to the downfall of Rishi Sunaks party in the 2020s.

But while much of the media get inappropriately excited by the prospect of Nigel Farages latest comeback, it should not be forgotten that on the Left, similar schisms exist, and they reveal the historic conflict between socialist principle and pragmatic politics.

The latest high-profile examples of the tensions within Labour were the resignations of 20 of its councillors in Lancashire, apparently in protest at Keir Starmers leadership, and the departure from the party of columnist Owen Jones, who immediately invited former Labour supporters to back the Greens and independent candidates at the general election.

Voters may well follow Joness advice in Bristol, where there is much speculation that the general election will produce the countrys second ever Green MP. This would be a shock for Keir Starmers party, given that such an event could only happen by the loss of the political career of Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow culture secretary, who is defending the new Bristol Central seat for Labour.

So far, the Greens tend to have got off lightly when attention is paid to the extremists on the far Left of the political spectrum. No finer example of middle class respectability can be found than Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion since 2010, and its easy to see why moderately Left wing voters of a certain income and status might choose to support her or her party colleagues at the ballot box. Being kind to the environment and to animals is, after all, perfectly defensible on the dinner party circuit.

But there is a very good reason that the likes of Jones and others on the Marxist Left have no problem switching their votes to the Greens, just as some of them have little difficulty sympathising with the range of madcap Trotskyists and eco-loons that have stood in various guises at elections in the last couple of decades. If you believe that halting all economic growth in order to protect the planet is not remotely insane, for example, then the Greens are the party for you.

Whatever fashionable trend is taking American campuses by storm, the UK Greens can be replied upon to adopt and promote it, whether that means calling for a boycott of Israel even before the current Gaza conflict, or advocating trans ideology and adopting a zero-tolerance approach to anyone who dares to suggest that biological sex is a reality.

In Scotland, the Greens support independence. Well, of course they do. And that support has earned them a couple of junior ministerial posts where they have wreaked havoc, demanding Scottish government support for self-ID for trans people (a measure subsequently vetoed by the UK government), wasting millions on a bottle deposit return scheme that could never work and had to be abandoned before it was out the gate, and lecturing Scots about the evils of drive-thru fast food restaurants.

In the Commons, Lucas herself has always been comfortable, politically, with members of Labours awkward squad, the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, among whose members are John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor and, when they were still Labour MPs, Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott.

Had Lucas been an MP during the last Labour government, she would likely have voted just as frequently with the Conservative opposition as her friends in the Campaign group did against the government. And yet still there are those on the Left who see the Greens as anti-Conservative and progressive (despite that latter term becoming meaningless through its association with so many regressive movements).

But it is when Labours electoral fate is certain  one way or another  that the Greens tend to prosper. In 2010 Gordon Browns government was on a hiding to nothing, and everyone knew it. So the good voters of Brighton knew that electing a Green candidate would make no difference to the national outcome.

Similarly, in 1997 and 2001, Labours victory was so assured that voters could indulge in electing independents like (respectively) Martin Bell in Tatton and Dr Richard Taylor in Wyre Forest. Which is why Debbonaire might be justified in feeling a touch nervous at recent polls suggesting her Green opponent is making headway.

Labours large national polling lead should make it a sure-fire winner in Bristol as elsewhere. But never underestimate the educated middle classes tendency to indulge their appetite for signalling their virtue through the ballot box. And if theyre guaranteed a Labour government anyway, what difference will one seat make?

Its the hypocrisy that is baffling. Very few of those who vote Green would want an actual Green government, with its ludicrous tax hikes, restrictions on individual freedom, demented orthodoxies and unprecedented levels of poverty wrought by the strangling of economic growth. But they are nonetheless willing to sacrifice a decent Labour MP for the sake of following a political fashion.

Its time for the country  and large parts of the Labour Party  to stop treating the Greens with kid gloves and to start revealing the nasty truth about the Greens agenda.

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A rich man enters a dojo to convince the master who runs it to transfer the school to him. Nobody uses the masters traditional style of martial arts anymore, he explains while stepping on the tatami in his street shoes. The teacher advises the him to leave, but, instead the rich man mocks him and invites the master to hit him like in fucking kung-fu movies. And the two interlocutors have more than words.

So begins The Debt Collector, one of the four feature films that actor Scott Adkins released in 2018 alone, all of them for the streaming market. Action films intended directly for rental have often been considered an elephants graveyard where old glories such as Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, and Bruce Willis ended up making the link between making movies of debatable quality and a quick buck. But aficionados of the old-school kung-fu movies that the beginning of The Debt Collector alludes to have also found some of the genres best productions in recent years, with a little help from Adkins.

Not a major film star, nor does he have to be. Scott Adkins signs autographs for his fans in Los Angeles in 2023. Kevin Winter/GA (The Hollywood Reporter via Getty)

His face has barely been seen on the big screen. He had a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and two other very discreet roles in Doctor Strange (2016) and the comedy Grimsby (2016). In a scene from John Wick 4 (2023) he was finally able to properly demonstrate his mixed martial arts skills to the multiplex audience, even though his appearance was unrecognizable under heavy make up and prosthetics.

Meanwhile, living up to the saying that it is better to have a mouses head than a lions tail, Scott Adkins has carved out a decent career and has an entire community of admirers of his work in the low-budget field. His performance as a lethal villain in the video store sequel Undisputed 2 (2006) earned him a promotion as the stand-out performer in the three-part saga. He also played the leading role in another action movie in 2012. Day of Reckoning, the fifth instalment of the Universal Soldier franchise was described as perhaps the best straight-to-DVD action movie ever made by journalist Tom Breihan from AV Club.

Adkins has two premieres on platforms this year. He has a small role in Lights Out, starring Frank Grillo, and is the hero of the much more notable One More Shot. This is the continuation of one of his most popular titles, One Shot (2021)  a rare case of one of his films that, due to the lack of releases during the pandemic, had a small distribution in European theaters. It is presented as a single sequence shot that allows you to enjoy the choreography and acrobatics of the star in all their impressive splendor, without editing cuts. Late last year, journalist Alex Ritman asked in The Hollywood Reporter: Is Adkins the last true action hero? For many, he is not just that, but someone who has been criminally overlooked by the studios, he wrote. In the article, one of Ritmans favorite directors Isaac Florentine said: Scott should have been James Bond, he should have been Batman.

A shirtless Scott Adkins in 'Ninja' (2009). First Look Pictures/Courtesy Ev /Cordon Press

Theres a tendency to view martial arts actors as B-grade, along with stunt performers, second-unit crews, and behind-the-scenes performers. In Scotts case, it is a shame because he is a talented actor, Gene Ching, former editor of the now defunct Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine and disciple of the 32nd generation of Chinas original Shaolin Temple, tells ICON. His roots are in taekwondo and karate, Ching explains. Almost all martial arts movie stars have done some taekwondo for kicks, but not so many have done karate. Karate gives Scott a more square, powerful, and linear definition and structure, especially in his early films. He knows how to deliver powerful punches and can also deliver spectacular high kicks. Later, like every martial arts star, he diversified his training to be able to play more roles.

Blow by blow, verse by verse

Adkins film career began in Hong Kong, Ching recalls. Hong Kong action cinema has always been the go-to in fight choreography. Perhaps this gave him more humility and part of his work ethic is due to his work there. It is clear that he is a hard worker, who is fully committed to any role he plays. He can do everything from brutal movies to ironic action comedies with the same ease, he points out.

For the expert, we can understand through Adkins apparent humility why he perhaps puts in a greater effort than in the big names relegated to action films intended for home consumption: Seagal and Van Damme started making movies as Hollywood stars at a time when martial arts stars had a lot of ego. Perhaps they saw the move from theater releases to video as a step down.

After several initial collaborations with figures such as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, Adkins caught the attention of director Isaac Florentine, later responsible for two films in the Undisputed saga, while also acting in British soap operas. In 2009 he was also Ryan Reynolds stunt double in the role of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And he emerged as the heir to his idol Van Damme since they both acted together in The Shepherd (2008), the first of their four collaborations so far.

Not in vain, in addition to facing the Muscles from Brussels in the fifth Universal Soldier, Adkins also relieved him at the helm of the later sequel Hard Target 2 (2016) and it has just been announced that will be the antagonist in Kickboxer: Armageddon, the eighth installment of the saga that began in 1989, which will once again feature the Belgian star in the cast. Veteran martial artist Donnie Yen also recruited Adkins for Ip Man 4: The End (2019), the latest installment of his acclaimed saga. While in China he acquired the status of an institution thanks to his antagonistic role in Wolf Warrior (2015). Its sequel, for which he did not return, was the highest-grossing film in the countrys history.

Scott Adkins and 1980s action star Dolph Lundgren in 'Castle Falls' (2021). Courtesy Everett Collection / Cordon Press

A bloodied Scott Adkins in 'Seized' (2020). Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection / Cordon Press

Scott Adkins, double kicks in 'Hard Target 2' (2016). Courtesy Everett Collection (Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection / Cordon Press)

But the Briton has not limited himself to performing in well-known sagas or in the shadow of more famous actors: diptychs such as Ninja (2009-13), Accident Man (201822) and The Debt Collector (2018-20) are proof of his ability and charisma to generate his own mythologies. Also the role that has made him stand out even in the endless scroll of the Netflix catalog, where Avengement (2019), a film that the actor points out as his favorite, continues to find its audience five years after release.

Like many creators throughout the history of cinema, what Adkins  and his inseparable team including Jesse V. Johnson, who has directed him seven times, the screenwriter Stu Small, and the choreographer Tim Man  has found in making B movies is a playground from which to make genuine proposals that are passionate in their approach to action and have no limitations in the representation of violence that big budget movies sometimes requires. As a huge Scott Adkins fan. I want whats best for his career. I thought his best option was to appear in big time Hollywood movies. Im going back on my statement. Scott belongs to the B movie action scene. It allows him a lot more creative freedom, a follower of his wrote on the Letterboxd social network.

Two British tough guys Scott Adkins and Jason Statham in 2012. Dave M. Benett (WireImage)

However, at a time when the influence and success of the John Wick saga and the Cobra Kai series (2018) have led to more care in the staging in conventional action productions and, therefore, to revalue craftsmanship, the role of specialists and authentic martial artists, Adkins could gain prominence. For now, he is enjoying the moment that the genre is experiencing, as a participant and also as a spectator.

In addition to sharing scenes from his films or training tips on his YouTube channel, he hosts interview series The Art of Action, where he has spoken with icons such as Keanu Reeves, Mark Dacascos, Tony Jaa, and Steven Seagal. He is also active on X (formerly Twitter), where he praised the recently released new version of Road House, but not without reproaching those responsible for the use of digital effects in the fights. At the moment, the most attractive thing that the immediate future holds for him is the new Kickboxer and the fourth installment of Skyline (2010), both with no prospect of being released in theaters. Hopefully, something big will come to him soon, Gene Ching believes. He has earned it.

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Anders Gilliand was just 17 years old when he started to lose contact with reality.

He thought that there were higher beings that were communicating with him to tell him what to do or who he was, said his mother, Kristin Gilliand, who lives in Nashville.

Her son, who had been using marijuana since he was 14 years old, was diagnosed with schizophrenia, a chronic psychiatric disorder that can include symptoms like delusions, hallucinations and disorganized speech.

He started taking anti-psychotic medication but ultimately stopped because of the side effects he experienced. To try and quell the voices in his head, he began using heroin and died of an accidental drug overdose in 2019 when he was 22.

If he had never started using cannabis, he might still be here, said Gilliand, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. While there is a family history of schizophrenia, she believes that her sons marijuana use led to psychotic episodes and triggered the condition.

Anders was among a growing number of young adults, particularly men, who are at increased risk of developing psychosis from marijuana use. Evidence from separate Danish and British studies, among others, suggest a link between heavy marijuana use and psychiatric disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Researchers believe that high levels of THC  the psychoactive component in the cannabis plant that causes the high  could set off these conditions in people who have a genetic risk. THC levels in marijuana have been getting stronger for decades.

Kristen Gilliland holds a picture of her son, Anders. Anders died from an accidental overdose after being diagnosed schizophrenia brought on by cannabis-induced psychosis. (NBC News)

Were definitely seeing a rise in cannabis-induced psychosis among teenagers, said child psychiatrist Dr. Christian Thurstone, an addiction specialist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver.

Is higher potency marijuana more dangerous?

The more potent the cannabis products, the more likely users are to have adverse effects, said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Those who consume the highest doses are the ones that are going to have the highest risk of becoming psychotic, she said.

Theres limited research on adverse effects of high levels of THC, although a European study published in 2020 found that high-potency cannabis products carried a greater risk of hallucinations and delusions compared with lower potency types.

It seems like theres an association between cannabis strength and increased risk for psychosis but more work needs to be done there, said Ziva Cooper, director of the center for cannabis and cannabinoids at UCLA.

As many as half of people with cannabis-induced psychosis may go on to develop either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, research suggests.

Young adults and teenagers should be especially concerned, Thurstone said

The studies that we have so far clearly indicate that the risk for psychosis is dose dependent, meaning that the more marijuana somebodys exposed to especially in adolescence, the greater the risk of developing psychosis, schizophrenia and severe mental illness, he said.

Another issue with higher strength products is the potential for developing cannabis use disorder, or an addiction to marijuana. When people are exposed frequently to higher strengths of cannabis, they may be more likely to develop cannabis use disorder, although further research is still needed to say definitively.

Theres no longer any scientific debate that marijuana can not just be psychologically addictive or habit forming, but also physically habit forming, Thurstone said. Its a substance that produces tolerance so people have to use more and more to have the same effect.

About 1 in 10 people who begin using cannabis will become addicted, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

How cannabis potency may be linked to psychosis

Marijuana overactivates molecules in our brain known as cannabinoid receptors, which cause the high. When these brain receptors are stimulated, it can cause difficulty with thinking and problem-solving, as well as impaired memory.

How marijuana use may trigger psychosis isnt fully understood, although scientists believe its interfering with our brains ability to distinguish between whats going on in our heads versus the real world.

Marijuana in the 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s was about 2% to 3% THC, said Thurstone, who has tracked the rise of high-potency THC products in smoke shops and dispensaries. Nowadays, with the commercialized products, they are routinely 20 plus percent  so about 10 times more potent.

Patrick Johnson, assistant store manager at Frost Exotic dispensary in Colorado, has been in the cannabis industry since 2009 and has seen the potency rise firsthand. Johnson said THC levels really started to take off after marijuana became legal for recreational use in Colorado in 2014.

Since then, 24 states, two territories and Washington, D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use.

With more people around the country using weed legally, theres been greater consumer demand for more powerful weed, experts say.

After recreational [legalization] is when I have personally seen it go from like 19 or 20% up to like 30 or 35%, Johnson said.

Currently in his shop they carry strains as low as 14% up to 30%. Most customers have a preference for the strong stuff, Johnson said.

One reason that potency has been getting stronger over the years in cannabis products is because customers may build a tolerance to the drug, said Mahmoud ElSohly, professor of pharmaceutics and cannabis researcher at the University of Mississippi. He has been studying this issue in collaboration with the National Institute of Drug Abuse, finding that the average potency has risen from 3% to 15% from 1995 to 2021.

People keep needing higher and higher potency products to get the degree of high theyre looking for, he said.

In the past, a joint with 2% THC may have been enough to get most people high, ElSohly said. With heavier usage, many people now have built up a tolerance and may need to smoke multiple joints with 2% THC or buy a single joint with 6% to get a similar feeling.

Is one form of marijuana safer?

Cannabis strength primarily refers to the THC content in the marijuana flower or bud, which is the smokable part of the plant.

While THC levels can be close to 40% in the flower, other products, such as concentrates or oils may contain amounts as high as 95%.

The problem, said UCLAs Cooper, is that there isnt yet a widely accepted standard dose like there is with alcohol, so predicting how someone will react to different cannabis products can be difficult.

Its also challenging to develop a unit dose for inhaled combusted products. While a typical joint may contain between 100 to 200 milligrams of THC, that doesnt tell the whole story, Cooper said.

How much THC a marijuana smoker is exposed to can vary. How long and how deep are they inhaling? Or how long do they wait in between puffs as a lot of THC is lost to "sidestream" smoke, which comes from the burning end of the joint in between hits.

In comparison, marijuana edibles such as gummies, cookies and brownies are typically 5 to 10 milligrams per dose. There is a movement toward establishing a unit dose for edibles and limiting how much THC can be consumed at once. In New York state, for example, that number is 10 mg per serving.

How high can the THC go?

I dont necessarily think it may raise much more, said Volkow, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. There may be a level at which sometimes too much can become aversive so people smoke and get very agitated or paranoid.

She is optimistic that the THC levels of available marijuana flower will not rise as high as 50%.

There is a limit to how much THC the plant can produce, although manufacturers are finding clever ways to boost the chemical, Cooper said.

The industry is adding more THC to the plant products, including infusing pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes with additional THC, she said. Were starting to see that people are being exposed to levels of THC we just havent seen in the past.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Grunts for help lead to man stabbed to death, Georgia cops say. Now, roommate charged

A fight between roommates ended with one of them stabbed to death, Georgia authorities say.

Erik Ruiz-Lopez, 19, faces multiple charges, including felony murder, after hes accused of killing his roommate at a home in Buford on April 3, according to the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Investigators said the men, who shared a bedroom, got into an argument that turned physical. Ruiz-Lopez reportedly grabbed a TV cable and choked his roommate unconscious with it, according to authorities.

He left the room but came back and stabbed the man repeatedly, police said.

Officers were called about a disturbance around 1:45 a.m. Wednesday after a 911 caller reported hearing a loud noise and someone grunting for help, police said in a news release.

One of the residents, later identified as Ruiz-Lopez, met officers at the door, according to authorities. Police said he looked as if hed been in an altercation.

A man was found dead as officers searched the home for anyone who was hurt or in distress, police said. Authorities havent released his identity, pending notification of next of kin.

Ruiz-Lopez was charged with aggravated assault, felony murder and malice murder, police said.

He remained in custody at the Gwinnett County Jail without bond as of April 4, online records show.

Buford is about a 40-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.

Man on drugs warns he may act out of line at BBQ, then kills guest, Texas cops say

Man accused of luring 23-year-old woman to her death is convicted of murder, cops say

Trump lied about talking to family of woman killed by man illegally in US, they say
Happy birthday, NATO. If Trump gets back to the White House, it might be your last | Opinion

This week, a contingent of U.S. dignitaries is in Brussels, Belgium, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A centerpiece of the commemoration is the unveiling of a statue of Independences own Harry Truman, the American president who oversaw the creation of this vital international government and military alliance that has served as the Wests buffer against Russian aggression for decades.

Its difficult to overstate the importance of NATO to the world order and relative stability that we in the West have enjoyed for most of our lifetimes. And we can never, ever take it for granted.

First, a little history lesson: President Truman made one of the most consequential decisions any world leader had ever faced when he dropped two nuclear bombs and ended the carnage of World War II. But one of the Allies who helped win that war, the Soviet Union, did not share America and Great Britains devotion to democracy. Truman, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and other leaders rightly viewed revolutionary Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin as bent on world domination, posing as great a threat to liberty as the German Nazi and Imperial Japanese forces they had just defeated.

In a 1947 speech to Congress, the president laid out his Truman Doctrine  Americas answer to the surge of expansion of Communist tyranny  and the Cold War was on. And on April 4, 1949, NATO was formed with 12 founding nations making a pledge: If one ally is attacked, all allies are attacked. Today, its membership has grown to 32, with Russias neighbors Sweden and Finland signing on only recently.

NATO and the other elements of President Trumans postwar arsenal largely kept the peace throughout the Cold War and continues to protect democracy and perpetuate peace, said Alex Burden, executive director of the Truman Library Institute, who is in Belgium this week for NATOs birthday along with Kurt Graham, library director, and Clifton Truman Daniel, the presidents grandson. It is a vital part of President Trumans enduring legacy of leadership.

Make no mistake: Russias expansionist appetite is not a thing of the past. President Vladimir Putin believes Mikhail Gorbachevs glasnost and perestroika reforms were a mistake. He has dominated his countrys political and strategic direction for decades, and his 2012 invasion of Ukraine was a key strategy to expand its waning influence  hoping to restore the glory days of the Soviet Union in the 1950s, when it was at the peak of its power, in the words of Politico reporter Gabriel Gavin.

Donald Trump embarressed our nation at a 2018 summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

Openly admiration of dictators, authoritarians

And unfortunately, Donald Trump has a dictator envy problem. The 91-times-indicted ex-president who was found legally liable for sexual abuse and massive business fraud is at the top of the Republican Partys ticket yet again. Abuse of power is his hallmark. While he was in office, he made little secret of his admiration for the world authoritarians who  they think  enjoy the fawning praise of the people they oppress.

Chinese President Xi Jinping? Hes a strong gentleman, right? Anybody that  hes a strong guy, tough guy.

On Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban: Hes the boss and hes a great leader, fantastic leader.

And of course, the world watched in disbelief at a 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland, when Trump debased himself and our nation, obsequiously glad-handing Putin while denying the overwhelming conclusion his own U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had, indeed, interfered in the 2016 election. President Putin says its not Russia, said Trump. I dont see any reason why it would be.

The reason why not, of course, is the ex-presidents shatteringly fragile ego. And our former KGB intelligence agent adversary sees his soul.

Retired Gen. John Kelly, Trumps second chief of staff, is only one of the ex-presidents former protectors who are raising alarms about his authoritarian aspirations as he takes his third consecutive run at office. Trumps already told Fox News Sean Hannity that he would be a dictator on Day 1.

So lets all quit pretending theres a difference between Trumps rhetoric and what he actually accomplishes. For all his ineptitude during his four tumultuous years in office, he still managed to install the judicial machinery to keep right-wing policy steamrolling over individual rights for years to come.

Some of Trumps fans like to compare his bomb-throwing style to the good old Give em hell, Harry spirit. Wrong. Truman wasnt a norm-buster, and was above all else an institutionalist. A clear-eyed, pragmatic leader who understood that machines fall apart if they arent carefully maintained.

So thank Harry Truman, Churchill and the other visionaries who understood they had to come together to fight the Soviets ambitions as a team. And, please, take Trump seriously when he vows that if he gets back to the White House and Russia invades a sovereign nation, hell let it do whatever the hell it wants.

Clifton Truman Daniel looks at the statue of his grandfather unveiled Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium.
DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN)  A Geneva County man has pled guilty to a reduced charge in the murder of a Graceville woman.

Brandon Waddell was originally charged with murder in the 2022 death of 25-year-old Angel Nicole Stout, who was found slain in a home on Highway 167 and County Road 45 in Hartford.

Waddell initially pled not guilty to the charge in early 2023, but on Thursday, April 4, he stood before Judge Kimberly Crawford and pled guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Waddell will be sentenced on May 9 and could face between 15 and 99 years.

The 33-year-old Hartford native is no stranger to the court system, having a criminal record that spans charges including kidnapping, domestic violence, and terrorist threats, among others.

Stay with WDHN for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
Head of Ukrainian President's Office reveals results of latest talks between Kyiv and Budapest

Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. Photo: Yermak on Telegram

Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has revealed the results of the new negotiations between the Ukrainian and Hungarian delegations led by Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Yermak on Telegram

Details: The meeting was held in online format, with Yermak and his deputies, Deputy Prime Ministers Olha Stefanishyna and Mykhailo Fedorov, Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Yevhen Perebyinis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and others participating from the Ukrainian side. The Hungarian delegation was led by Hungarys Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

"Out of 11 points proposed by the Hungarian side, five have been agreed upon. There are coordinated positions on the issues of national communities that were worked out and preliminarily documented by working groups. The work is ongoing and will be finalised in the shortest time possible," Yermak stated.

He reported that there had been significant progress in the extension of logistic and transport capacities on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.

"For instance, lorries will be allowed to pass through the Luzhanka-Beregsurany checkpoint without weight restriction as early as this month. In addition, a new checkpoint, Velyka Palad-Nagyhodos, will be opened. This will help reduce the queues on the border with Hungary," Andrii Yermak stated.

He added that joint work groups had been formed for each direction of bilateral cooperation, and they had already prepared possible solutions.

Background:

A few days before, Yermak had a phone conversation with Peter Szijjarto, and on Wednesday Szijjarto met with Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Kuleba reported following the meeting that he expected "constructive developments" in relations with Hungary. His Hungarian counterpart also mentioned "the steps to restore mutual trust".

On 4 April, Dmytro Kuleba revealed that Ukraine had fulfilled Hungarys demands, made during the meeting in Uzhhorod at the end of January, to unblock the eighth tranche of 500 million to the European Peace Fund.

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Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a rally in Concord

By Jack Queen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A New York judge will hold a hearing on April 22 over the $175 million bond Donald Trump posted as he appeals a $454 million fraud judgment against him, the state attorney general's office said on Thursday, after asking for more details about the bond.

The Republican presidential candidate narrowly averted possible asset seizures when an appeals court on March 25 agreed to pause the judgment if he posted a $175 million bond within 10 days, which he did on April 1.

New York Attorney General Letitia James' office said on Thursday that Trump must offer proof that the surety company he used to post the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, has enough assets to pay if his appeal fails.

The move does not necessarily imperil Trump's bond but will likely require California-based Knight to show that it can cover the bond.

The questions about the bond arose shortly after judges on Thursday spurned Trump's efforts to dismiss criminal charges over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia and his handling of classified records after leaving office.

The April 22 hearing will take place a week after Trump's criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star kicks off in New York, one of four indictments he faces as he campaigns to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all criminal cases. The fourth in Washington also stems from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The judge overseeing the New York civil case, Arthur Engoron, ordered Trump to pay the $454 million in penalties and interest in February, after finding him liable for overstating his net worth and the values of his real estate holdings to dupe lenders and insurers.

Trump denies wrongdoing and is appealing Engoron's decision.

Trump's lawyer Chris Kise said in a statement that the questions about the bond were baseless.

Knight owner Don Hankey and the company's president, Amit Shah, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Knight has $539 million in assets, including $26.8 million in cash, it said in a court filing.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New YorkAdditional reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
California residents recently experienced a moment of apprehension following a warning from the police regarding a mountain lion sighting. However, their concerns were quickly allayed when it was revealed that the sighting was actually a large house cat. The South San Franciso Police Department issued a statement clarifying the situation.

California residents alarmed about mountain lion sighting

On March 26, a South San Francisco resident reported to the police that they had observed a mountain lion on a Ring camera, as the New York Post reports. The animal was prowling along their fence line.

Upon arriving at the location, officers conducted a thorough search of the area. However, they found no evidence supporting the residents concern regarding the presence of a mountain lion.

Additionally, South San Francisco is accustomed to the presence of mountain lions. Therefore, local residents remain vigilant due to their prevalence, with an estimated 4,500 of these large cats found across the state.

Police confirm reported mountain lion was indeed a house cat

The police shared an announcement on social media. They wrote, We were able to confirm the Big Cat was not a mountain lion, police announced on social media. They further reassured the neighborhood that there is no potential threat and that the roaming animal is just a big domestic cat.

Moreover, some social media users found humor in the situation. California residents who have seen mountain lions made light-hearted remarks about the Ring camera footage. They said it was clear from the video that the animal wasnt a mountain lion.

While human encounters with mountain lions are infrequent in California, attacks can occur.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the most recent documented attack occurred in September 2022. A mountain lion bit a 7-year-old at Pico Canyon Park, situated in Los Angeles County.

The post Hefty House Cat Mistaken for Mountain Lion in California appeared first on CatTime.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A Wichita Heights High School senior has received a full-ride scholarship to attend Wichita State University.

Wichita Public Schools says Miamoona Muhammad was formally notified Wednesday at school that she is receiving a four-year full-ride scholarship of up to $100,000 from the Rudd Foundation to attend Wichita State starting in the fall.

Speed record attempt to raise money for Classic Learjet Foundation

The scholarship was established in 2017 by the foundation to support Pell-eligible students in Kansas who exhibit our strong, Midwestern core values and the drive to achieve their long-term goals. The goal of the scholarship is to keep young professionals living a working in Kansas after graduation.

For more about the Rudd Foundation, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Brian A. Nichols, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, has just concluded an official visit to Madrid to discuss U.S. policy toward Latin America and our partnership with Spain; to promote our shared priorities in the region, he said during a talk at the Casa de America Tuesday. Migration and the defense of democracy are some of those priorities. Unlike China and Russia, we consider that civil society and a free media are indispensable, especially now, as in the last decade support for democracy has declined. The U.S. wants the West to lead in defending democracy, says the diplomat, who served as ambassador to Zimbabwe from 2018 to 2021 and, previously (2014-2017) in Peru.

Nichols, in his current post since September 2021, coordinates diplomatic operations in all countries in the Americas; part of Europe  the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, an area of France, Ireland and Iceland ; West Africa, Morocco and parts of Algeria, and a group of Polynesian islands. He also directly advises U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Question. In 2023, some 184 million people  2.3% of the worlds population  were living outside their home country, according to World Bank data. Precisely, the southern border of the United States is one of the most strained migratory points.

Answer. The entire world is facing an unprecedented level of immigration. In our hemisphere, we have never seen the number of migrants we have now. [In the U.S.] We are doing what we can to guide migrants to legal and safe pathways. So people who try to enter the U.S. irregularly or without proper permission are not going to succeed.

Q. What policies are you implementing?

A. We work through different axes of cooperation in Mexico, in Central America, in the Caribbean, in the Andean countries... We create sources of work in the region to create opportunities for legal migration to the United States, Canada, and Spain. At the same time, in those countries, we are planning to train migration officials and use police intelligence services to break down human smuggling networks.

Q. In many places, such as in Europe, migration is fueling the vote for extreme right-wing parties, which are a threat to democracy. How do you break this vicious cycle?

A. Democracy heals the problem of irregular migration. In our region, the countries that generate the highest numbers of migrants are Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. All of them present enormous democratic challenges. If their problems are addressed, if they become more democratic, if they are given economic opportunities and a more robust legal system... it will help to curb irregular migration. Also, [in the West] we have to explain to the population that migration can be beneficial; in many countries in Europe, as in the United States, there is a lack of labor in different sectors. When the migration process is regulated, there are opportunities for economic growth.

Q. You have spoken of Spains harmony with the United States in migratory matters, have you reached any agreements on this trip?

A. During our visit, the third edition of the Spain-U.S. working group on Central America was held. My government is committed to working with Spain and other executives, civil society, or international organizations to provide protection to those fleeing persecution and torture, and to manage migration humanely. Our delegations have discussed global challenges and joint programs and have talked about sustainable and inclusive development, trying to address the root causes of migration.

Q. China has gained influence in Latin America; it is now your second-largest trading partner. How is the U.S. trying to counteract this?

A. On the one hand, I think we have to make a better offer to the people of the region. And of course they can make deals with China. We ask them to open their eyes when it comes to doing business or diplomacy: the opportunities you think you are going to get with them [China] are not happening, as analyses from universities and think tanks indicate.

Brian A. Nichols during the interview on his official trip to Spain. JUAN BARBOSA

Q. What are you asking Beijing to do to alleviate the problems that fentanyl is generating?

A. The U.S. is asking China to participate in the global coalition against fentanyl, in the hope that it can contribute expertise about its industry and its processes for monitoring the chemicals. The U.S. will not wait, though: we will seek joint operations and dialogue, regardless of Chinas participation in the coalition.

Q. Because of your diplomatic experience, you know Peru well. What do you think of the investigation opened against President Dina Boluarte?

A. The country is experiencing political tension, between the center and the provinces, but also between different political forces. Despite having had seven presidents since my arrival in 2014, Peru has maintained a level of economic growth and institutional stability. The country has overcome many challenges, and I hope it will continue to succeed. It is a key partner in trade, agriculture, or for its gas exports; we collaborate in the fight against drug trafficking and in promoting democratic stability. It is a country that we value and in which we want more democratic stability. The current government has been a good partner. The president [Boluarte] was at the White House for the APEP [Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity] summit in November [2023], and also in San Francisco. That gave her the opportunity to converse with the president [Joe Biden]. We look forward to interacting with the Peruvian government in the future.

Q. Today [Tuesday], Israel attacked a convoy of the NGO World Central Kitchen, which provides food to Gaza, killing seven members of the organization. Do you think it went too far in this attack or others it has carried out in the Gaza Strip?

A. What has happened is extremely concerning. The authorities are investigating and we await the outcome. Secretary of State Blinken has visited the region on several occasions; we have supported a cessation of hostilities through a resolution in the U.N. Security Council. We will continue to press for a peaceful resolution based on the two-state solution.

Q. It is true that Washington has displayed a harsher stance with Israel, has it considered reducing its arms support?

A. We share Israels goal of defeating Hamas, which is responsible for the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. And we share the goal of ensuring Israels security. We aspire to long-term peace and security, aligning ourselves with principles that reject the use of Gaza for terrorism, oppose the displacement of its population and reoccupation by Israel, and support a two-state solution with robust security for Israel. We have discussed with Israel the imperative of increasing and sustaining humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza; 100% of the population of the Gaza Strip is severely food insecure and in need of assistance.

Q. Are you concerned that the EU is holding elections for the European Parliament under the threat of Russian interference?

A. We have to guard against interference by Russia  also by China  in our democratic processes. That requires collaboration between countries, pointing out what we see. We have already seen Russias interference in electoral processes in the United States, in Latin America and in Europe, among others. European authorities have the tools to guard against hacking and political interference.

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The stranded orca calf has been named locally as 'Little Brave Hunter' - Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press

An orphan killer whale calf stranded off Vancouver Island will be airlifted into the Pacific as part of a rescue attempt to reunite it with its family.

Rescuers hope to use a sling to lift the two-year-old calf, which is trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off the coast of Canada, out of the water with a helicopter. From there, it will be carried to a holding net pen in the Pacific Ocean until its family pod is located and swims near enough for the orca to be released.

Rescuers have so far been unable to coax the whale calf out of the lagoon, where its pregnant mother died on March 23 after being stranded at low tide.

The route the orca would need to pass through to free itself is a difficult stretch of water, made more hazardous by limited high tide opportunities.

As a result, the airlift plan was agreed on Wednesday during a meeting between members of the Ehattesaht First Nation council - the governing body for a small region of Vancouver island - Canadian Fisheries Department officials and marine technical experts.

Simon John, the chief of Ehattesaht First Nation, said his people have deep cultural and spiritual connections to orcas. He said: Everybodys worried about the whale up and down the coast. This whole process has been to reunite it with its pod.

The stranded orca calf has been named locally as Little Brave Hunter.

Simon John, the Ehattesaht chief, says his people have deep cultural and spiritual connections to orcas - Shutterstock

Paul Cottrell, a marine mammal coordinator with the Fisheries Department, said the rescue could occur within days but, more likely, within the next two weeks.

He said: We look at this option as the most viable option to help this whale. If we dont attempt it, the calfs life is a worry.

He described the planned rescue as complex, multi-variable and really difficult.

Mr Cottrell added that the orca appeared to be healthy and, in a positive sign, had been spotted seeking prey, including a bird that it ingested.

To help its feeding, the rescue team has been placing seal remains around the lagoon, which is located near the village of Zeballos, 283 miles north of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.

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REEDLEY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Family and friends are asking for donations for a 17-year-old senior from Reedley High School who is battling testicular cancer, to get him to a treatment center in Mexico.

According to the GoFundMe, Malachi Rios, the 17-year-old from Reedley High School has been battling stage four testicular cancer since November 2022.

The GoFundMe goes on to say that Rios was forced to miss his last two years of school to confront his cancer. It says that through it all, Rios has remained steadfast and as positive as one can be given the circumstances.

Despite enduring standard treatments, high-dose chemotherapy, stem cell therapy, and surgery to remove lymph nodes, his cancer has returned and has mutated into a rare and platinum-resistant form, according to the GoFundMe.

Testicular cancer typically has a 95% cure rate but Rios falls into the remaining 5% of that statistic, the GoFundMe said.

There are limited treatment options available in the U.S. for Rios rare form of cancer, so his family has turned to the Hope4Cancer Treatment Center in Cancun, Mexico.

Rios treatment plan found on the GoFundMe includes;

a three-week outpatient clinic treatment that costs $27,800

Sono-Photo Dynamic Therapy that costs $7,500

and Photo Dynamic Therapy Plus which costs $9,300.

To help Rios receive treatment, people can donate to the GoFundMe, here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
SHEBOYGAN FALLS  Doors of a historic downtown Sheboygan Falls bar are open again.

The Osthelder, 513 Broadway St., welcomed patrons back in February after about a year-and-a-half of being closed.

Like restaurants and bars across the country, new co-owner and co-operator Jacob East said, COVID for sure didnt do this bar any favors. It faced a common tale from that time  adapting to keep business going, limited operations and short staffing.

I'm sure it was a really tough time especially, as anyone who's had this bar has really put a lot of time and effort into it, East said.

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With a fresh coat of paint, East said hes ready for the bar to be a place for gathering and celebration again.

Life is hard on like that side of the door," he said, motioning toward the front door. "Everybody's fighting their little battles, and life should be easy on this side of the door.

Jacob East smiles behind the bar in the historic Osthelder bar, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. The bar has reopened after a period of closure.

Though he's originally from Wisconsin, East considered himself a nomad as he explored different paths of what he wanted to do in life. He landed in hospitality. At The Osthelder, he noted there is a larger sense of history and community than other places he lived and worked.

"Especially living in towns like (Las) Vegas, where it's just knock it down, build something new that's going to be there for 20 years, knock it down, build something new, East said. It's just nice to be a curator or caretaker for a building as cool as this.

Yarn shop opening soon: Mother-daughter duo to open new yarn shop soon in downtown Sheboygan

The building dates to 1878, built by Joseph Osthelder, who was a Civil War veteran and postmaster for a brief period. Its had several owners and a name change but is still adorned with a tin ceiling and a copper-top bar. There's also a closed-off passageway to neighboring businesses and a boulder in the basement.

It's fantastic and the bane of my existence all at the same time, East said about the bar, vulnerable to heat and warping. Its like a topographical map of Colorado.

Junior Leadership: Sitting in the mayors chair, touring the detention center  Sheboygan County students learn about leadership in new Chamber program

East said the new owners want to throw down some roots and take care of the community inside and outside of the bar.

"I feel the absolute luckiest to be in this position to be the one who gets to carry the torch and just do a really good job," he said. "There are so many people who did a great job before us, and hopefully there'll be a lot of people who do a great job after we leave here."

The exterior of the Osthelder fits right in with the vintage feel of the historic district, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Sheboygan Falls, Wis.

Here's when The Osthelder is open

Hours are subject to change, but The Osthelder is typically open 3 or 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays.

Have a story tip? Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: The Osthelder bar in Sheboygan Falls reopens after temporary closure
A state agency responsible for investigating misconduct by Ohio attorneys and judges has filed a complaint against Hocking County Prosecutor Ryan Black, accusing him of, among other things, being caught by his fiance amid a sexual encounter with a county commissioner.

Black, 41, was elected Hocking County prosecutor in November 2020 and submitted his resignation last month, but it is not effective until April 19. He submitted his resignation after being sued in U.S. District Court in Columbus for sexual discrimination by two former female employees.

On Wednesday, the Ohio Disciplinary Counsel, an office of the Ohio Supreme Court that investigates and prosecutes attorneys and judicial officers who are accused of ethical and professional misconduct, filed a formal complaint against Black with the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct. The board is a quasi-judicial body appointed by the state Supreme Court that hears complaints of misconduct and makes recommendations to Ohio's highest court on an appropriate sanction, which can include disbarment.

Hocking County Prosecutor Ryan Black is facing a disciplinary complaint filed with the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct.

The 30-page complaint contains some of the allegations included in the sexual discrimination lawsuit, such as accusations that Black wanted female staffers wearing bikinis to move a couch into his office that Black later referred to as a "casting couch" and "insinuated he was going to video record sexual activity on the couch." Another accusation is that a former victim advocate in the office felt pressured into having a sexual relationship with Black.

The Hocking County Courthouse in Logan.

But the complaint also includes new allegations involving an assistant prosecutor in the office who resigned after about 11 months on the job, and accusations that Black celebrated a staff member's miscarriage.

Alvin Mathews, who is representing Black in the disciplinary matter, told The Dispatch Friday he does not believe all of the allegations in the complaint will be proven.

"There were obvious issues that needed to be addressed with his health and he's been addressing those," Mathews said.

According to the complaint, Black had been working with the female assistant prosecutor when he made a comment to another employee about the assistant prosecutor's dress.

The complaint says Black commented that the dress "made him want (her) to wrap her legs around his face..."

Black also sent multiple, unsolicited photographs of himself shirtless to the female assistant prosecutor and said he would try to get a raise for her, texting her in part, "I'd give ya 200k if it meant I got flattered all the time."

Another female assistant prosecutor attempted to avoid Black altogether by limiting her time in the office, barricading her desk space with bookshelves and doing work outside of normal office hours, the complaint says.

The unprofessional behavior Black exhibited toward staff created a hostile work environment, the complaint says, citing Black's use of obscenity "to the point that it made staff members uncomfortable," erratic behavior that concerned staff because Black was known to keep a firearm in his office, and staff members determining that "regularly complimenting (Black's) physical appearance was effective" in placating him.

Text messages within the disciplinary complaint included several between Black and a female staff member who said she felt pressured to have a sexual relationship with Black because he could fire her. The texts made multiple references to sexual interactions, Black buying her lunch, and encouraging her to visit him at home for rendezvouses under the guise of running work-related errands.

Downtown Logan, Ohio with the Hocking County Courthouse at right.

In one text message, the staffer told Black she had purchased new work clothes. Black replied, in part: "If you look dashing and I grope you don't sue me lmao."

The complaint accuses Black of having an emotional outburst in the face of that same female staff member and then forcing her to take a two-week leave from the office, calling her "unstable."

Another accusation in the complaint is that Black, who was engaged, had a sexual relationship with a client.

The complaint says Black's fiance came home early in August 2023 and found Hocking County Commissioner Jessica Dicken and Black engaged in sex. While two adults can consent to sexual liaisons, the disciplinary complaint states the conduct was inappropriate because the prosecutor's office represents the county commissioners as clients in legal matters.

According to the complaint, Dicken and Black had no sexual relationship prior to their elections to their respective positions.

Dicken is currently suspended from her position as a commissioner because of an open felony indictment filed in September, alleging she mismanaged funds while acting as the Hocking County Fair Board secretary, Commissioner Jason D'Onofrio confirmed Thursday.

A special prosecutor is handling Dicken's case, according to court records, because Black's office represents the commissioners.

The Dispatch reached Dicken by phone on Thursday afternoon and when asked for comment on the allegations included in the complaint, she hung up.

Black has until April 23 to respond to the complaint against him.

bbruner@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ryan Black, Hocking County prosecutor, accused of sexual misconduct
Mourners gather to hold a vigil for the Polish aid worker Damian Sobol who was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, in Przemysl

Mourners gather to hold a vigil for the Polish aid worker Damian Sobol who was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, in Przemysl

WARSAW (Reuters) - As dusk set over the southeastern Polish city of Przemysl on Thursday, mourners gathered to hold a vigil for the Polish aid worker who was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza this week.

Przemysl-native Damian Sobol, 35, was in Gaza with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity to provide aid to Palestinans when he was killed in an Israeli airstrike along with six other WCK workers on Monday.

The mourners, numbered at several hundred by PAP news agency, gathered near the Przemysl train station to commemorate Sobol. They lit candles at the place where he had begun his relief work path when he volunteered to help Ukrainians fleeing their country after Russia invaded Poland's eastern neighbour in Feb.2022.

"There is no consent for killing innocent people, let's remember this and let's remember that Damian was helping so that other people would not die of hunger," said Waldemar, a local aid worker who had helped Ukrainian refugees alongside Sobol at Przemysl station, speaking to TVN private broadcaster. He declined to give his surname.

"We started here as volunteers. Damian set off further on the volunteering path and unfortunately was murdered by Israeli services."

Israel said it mistakenly killed the aid workers and promised a full investigation and adjustment to its tactics.

Polish authorities called for an international investigation into the killing as well as an apology from Israel and compensation for Sobol's family.

News of Sobol's death "was like a blow to the head," said his fellow local aid worker Stefan Moskowicz, also speaking to TVN.

"There is a saying that help given comes back twofold, but in many cases it doesn't work that way."

Sobol had also volunteered in Ukraine and in Turkey, his childhood friend Krzysztof Butra told Reuters on Wednesday.

More than 33,037 Palestinians have been killed and 75,668 have been injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct.7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Israel's bombardment and invasion Gaza has decimated large swathes of the densly populated Palestinian territory, after a Hamas-led attack on Israel killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners with more than 250 abducted into Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Karol Badohal; Editing by David Gregorio)
A person views from Fort McHenry a container ship as it rests against the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

This is a national issue that affects the supply chain for all of America, said Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md.

House Democrats plan to put pressure on House Republicans to approve funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., told theGrio When Im back on the floor on Tuesday I will speak passionately about funding the bridge and about why the actions of GOP members are so counterproductive.

On March 26, the bridge collapsed after a massive cargo ship rammed into one of the bridges support beams and plunged the bridge into the Patapsco River, killing six construction workers.

This is a national issue that affects the supply chain for all of America, added Mfume.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., told theGrio in a statement that House Republicans who oppose funding the reconstruction of the bridge may rue the day they face a disaster in their red state and need to ask for federal assistance or funding.

Ivey added that in times of trouble, Americans come together. We are neither blue nor red but rather red, white and blue.

The Democrats reactions come after some House GOP members stated that they would refuse to pass legislation to fund the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge even though President Joe Biden approved $60 million to rebuild it.

An observer at Marylands Fort McHenry views a container ship as it rests against the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 28 in Baltimore. (Photo by Matt Rourke, AP)

In an interview with Fox Business, Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., stated that it is outrageous for the president to express in this tragedy the idea that hes going to use federal funds to pay for it in its entirety.

Some GOP members went even further and blamed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as part of the reason for last months collapse and justification for why they refuse to pass legislation to fund the rebuilding of the bridge.

Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Utah, one of the leading voices behind the DEI rhetoric, posted a tweet on X that reads, This is what happens when you have Governors who prioritize diversity over the wellbeing and security of citizens.

As a result, others have taken to social media to call Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott DEI hires.

Ivey told theGrio in a statement that these attacks are disgusting and irresponsible.

Some Republicans are faulting Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (above) and Marylands governor after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, but Democratic leaders are rejecting that spin as well as GOP objections to block rebuilding funds. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Ivey criticized members of the GOP for exploiting the tragedy and for spreading lies apparently for partisan political gain at a time when people are still hurting from the deaths that were caused by this accident and all the negative consequences that have flowed from it.

Mfume told theGrio that these remarks are ludicrous.

Mfume added, They ought to be shut down every time someone raises these comments.

The Maryland lawmaker told theGrio that he believes Moore and Scott are doing a great job.

Ive been more than satisfied with the response that both of them have put forward, said Mfume.

President Biden is expected to visit Baltimore on Friday to meet with Mfume, Moore, Scott and other Maryland officials about the next steps in rebuilding the bridge.

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The post House Republicans oppose funds to rebuild Baltimore bridge; Rep. Kweisi Mfume says thats counterproductive appeared first on TheGrio.
Rocks are on the road at the entrance of Taroko National Park in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century rocked Taiwan during the morning rush hour. | Chiang Ying-ying

Rescue efforts continued in Taiwan on Thursday following a massive earthquake that killed at least 10 people, left more than 1,000 injured and hundreds stranded.

Utahns visiting the country, including a group from Green Canyon High School, recounted the moments they felt the ground shake in the 7.4 magnitude temblor that rocked mountainous Hualien County on the eastern side of the island. The students and their chaperones had visited what became the epicenter a couple of days earlier.

I was sitting there, and felt like the floor is moving, junior Zachary Barrus told KSL-TV via Zoom. Then I looked at, like everybody else was feeling it, too. Some of the items on the walls are starting to shift.

Parent Julie Allen said the shaking lasted a few minutes. Then we got on our phones, we started to get Amber Alerts of tsunami warning, she said.

Members of the group, who are part of the Utah Chinese Dual Immersion Program at the school, said the quake wasnt as strong in Kaohsiung, but they realized the devastation it caused in Taroko Gorge, where they had just visited.

Earthquake aftermath

The quake, which hit just before 8 a.m. Wednesday, left buildings leaned at severe angles and damaged roads. More than 300 aftershocks have been reported.

Taiwans National Fire Agency reported 10 deaths and 1,067 injuries, per CNN. More than 700 people were still stranded Thursday, including some at rock quarries and a national park. The Associated Press reported that 70 workers stuck at two rock quarries were safe, according to the agency, but the roads to reach them were damaged by falling rocks. Six workers were to be airlifted Thursday.

Experts say Taiwan emerged rather unscathed compared to smaller magnitude earthquakes in other countries.

It is quite remarkable that given an earthquake of this magnitude, we have seen so few reported casualties, Daniel Aldrich, a political science professor at Northeastern University who studies earthquake resilience around the world, told NPR. India and Haiti faced less powerful earthquakes but had far more casualties and Taiwan has managed to have so few.

The last time Taiwan experienced a large earthquake was in 1999, when a 7.3 magnitude quake struck central Taiwan, killing more than 2,000 and collapsing more than 100,000 buildings.

Bigger than Utah quake

Brittany Aubrey, another Utahn traveling in Taiwan, wasnt near the epicenter, but the shaking jolted her off her hotel bed.

Everything just started wiggling, she told KSL-TV. Everything started falling over. The whole building was just shaking. These light fixtures above our bed that were just shaking like crazy.

Aubrey called the earthquake far more intense than anything she has experienced, and the constant aftershocks keep her awake.

It felt like the whole Utah earthquake, she said. You feel the rumble, youre like, Is that an earthquake or is it just like a big truck? Its just that all over again.

In March 2020, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake rattled homes from southern Idaho to Millard County and caused serious damage to multiple buildings and displaced some residents. Its epicenter was just a few miles from the west-side community of Magna in Salt Lake County.

Students from Utah visit Taroko Canyon, one of the places hit hardest by the earthquake and where hikers died from falling rocks during the earthquake.
Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth performs on stage during Bloodstock Open Air at Catton Hall on August 10, 2012 in Derby, United Kingdom. - Credit: Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns/Getty Images

The sentencing date for Iced Earth guitarist and Oath Keepers member Jon Schaffer, who was the first person to plead guilty to storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been pushed back to August.

U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta on Monday, moved the date from July 19 to Aug. 2, according to The Republic, because his attorney, Marc Victor, is scheduled to be out of the country. Victor, who is part of Attorneys for Freedom Law Firm, claimed that prosecutors did not object to delaying sentencing until after he returns, per filings in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

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The hearing has been delayed for the third time this year. Last month, Mehta agreed to push back Schaffers sentencing from April 5 to July 19. The judge had previously moved the date, originally Feb. 20, so Schaffer could undergo an undisclosed medical operation. Schaffers legal team had asked for him to be sentenced in September, following a recent appeals court decision that would overturn a sentencing enhancement used in punishing those who invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The Republic reported that Schaffers lawyers also wanted to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on a felony charge Schaffer had pleaded guilty to, obstructing an official proceeding. Mehta was not receptive to the request to wait for the Supreme Court.

In addition to the obstruction charge, Schaffer pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon in a deal he signed in April 2021. The obstruction charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the latter charges max sentence is 10 years. Each of the charges carry fines of up to $250,000. The Department of Justice said it would recommend a sentence between 41 and 51 months in prison and fines somewhere between $15,000 and $250,000.

Schaffer is the sole original founding members of the heavy metal band Iced Earth, which formed 40 years ago originally under the name the Rose. The bands last five albums, the most recent of which was 2017s Incorruptible, charted in the Top 100 of Billboards albums chart. Schaffer also leads a side project, Sons of Liberty, which sings songs with political themes.

On Nov. 14, 2020, he and other Oath Keepers participated in the Million MAGA March. In an interview with a journalist during the march, he promised a lot of bloodshed if the U.S. were to merge into some globalist, communist system.

On Jan. 6, 2021, he was photographed entering the U.S. Capitol, holding what authorities called bear spray, a form of pepper spray, while wearing an Oath Keepers Lifetime Member hat, affiliating him with the group of ad-hoc militias who claim to uphold the U.S. Constitution. The founder of that group, Stewart Rhodes, was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison after being found guilty in 2022 of running a seditious conspiracy.

This article was updated on April 3 at 8:40 p.m. to reflect the continued sentencing date from July 19 to Aug. 2.

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Moshe Zimmermanns family history coincides with his academic specialization. He was born 80 years ago in Jerusalem because his parents fled Nazism in 1938, moving from Hamburg to the British protectorate of Palestine. In the last 50 years he has written dozens of books and articles on German social history, the history of Jews in Germany, nationalism and antisemitism. A professor emeritus of modern history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he directed the Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History and received the Humboldt Prize for international researchers.

Along the way, he has also delved into cinema and sports, as attested to by the large library inside his home in Kiryat Ono, 6.8 miles east of Tel Aviv. He has not remained within the confines of his academic ivory tower, instead coming down to provide a counter-current analysis of his countrys present, to the point of drawing parallels with Nazism. This struck a chord and earned him three defamation suits that were all ultimately dismissed. He believes that the pogrom perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 forces us to question the whole idea of Zionism, and that comparing it to the Holocaust is a tremendous example of weakness.

Question. On the way here, I heard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the radio saying that Israel is fighting neo-Nazis. Why is what has happened since October 7 being framed as related to the Holocaust?

Answer. The absolute and historical enemy of the Jews were the Nazis, so if you want to delegitimize your enemy, it is best to compare him with them. It has become an instinct in Israel, mainly among politicians. It has an element of truth. In one day, more than a thousand Jews were massacred. A pogrom. So one instinctively clings to that comparison. But it is also the source of great weakness. If the worst catastrophe in Jewish history since 1945 has occurred in Israel, we must admit that something is wrong with the whole idea of Zionism, which was created to save the Jews from a diaspora that lasted 2,000 years. And the question is: what did Zionism do on October 7 to save the Jews?

Q. But it was a day, not the six million exterminated in the Holocaust  that could not happen today in Israel. So how does that challenge the whole idea of Zionism?

A. I dont want to say that it is the end of the idea of Zionism, but it failed at a crucial moment. If such a defect exists, you have to question the whole idea of Zionism. If as a Jew you are discriminated against, you look for a way not to be. This is what happened in Europe since the end of the 18th century. We believed that self-emancipation, having our own state as a nation, not as a religion, was a solution. Until it emerged that Jewish life is in danger, even within a Jewish state that can defend itself. It created a new problem in the Middle East. You have to wonder if it was taken into account beforehand or not.

Q. And was it?

A. If so, was it the right way to move forward, at the expense of the Palestinians? At first, the idea was typically European. Europe as the center of the world and whose inhabitants can colonize or emigrate anywhere. This is how the United States or South Africa were created. This is how colonialism worked in the 19th century, and the Jews were no strangers to that. The idea was not to create an empire, but to save Jews from persecution. From that approach, a conflict emerged. Jewish nationalism developed the tendency to consider everything that does not belong to its nation as the other; even more, like the enemy. The Arab population of Palestine also learned from the Europeans to develop a national consciousness. Soon we had two national identities living in the same place and in conflict.

Moshe Zimmermann, an Israeli historian, In his house in Kiryat Ono. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv

Q. Those who went to Palestine saved their lives...

A. The majority believed that Europe would provide them with security. It is the main argument in favor of Zionism after 1945. This poses a problem. If [Nazi Marshal] Rommel had occupied Palestine, he would have treated the Jewish population like that of Europe. The counterargument is that if they had already had a state, things would have been different. Take the fate of Poland or Czechoslovakia under Nazi occupation... A state is no guarantee. The fact that people like my family, who went to Palestine, were saved was in large part due to luck.

Q. This touches on what is happening today: having a state and an army does not guarantee safety against all threats.

A. It is an illusion created by the state of mind that everything that happened to us was because we did not have sovereignty. And it is a paradox with no way out. Jews who experience antisemitism abroad are willing to move to Israel, but it is not a safe haven. In the end, Israel is today the main target of antisemitism, and Jews outside Israel have not been spared from antisemitism. Was it predestined, or was it a mistake?

Q. What do you think?

A. If from the beginning the tendency had been to create a nation-state in Palestine based on cooperation with the Arabs on equal terms, the basis for a Jewish existence without antisemitism could have been laid: there would be no motivation for non-Jews to adhere to antisemitic ideas. What we are experiencing today is increasing antisemitism due to the existence of Israel.

My opinion is that taking revenge on Hamas at the expense of Gazans is unjustified and irrational, but not genocide

Q. The counterargument is that antisemitism simply takes different forms.

A. Antisemitism is based on stereotypes. But it needs a platform to articulate itself. What would have happened to antisemitism if Israel did not exist? Im not saying Israel is the cause of this, but it gives antisemites the opportunity to turn latent antisemitism into overt antisemitism. And since Israel behaves the way it does, it favors it.

Q. Where is the line between a legitimate criticism of Israel and an antisemitic one?

A. Motivation. If you attribute a Jews behavior to being Jewish, you are arguing on the basis of antisemitism. If you criticize Israel for ruling the West Bank and you would say the same thing about any other nation that occupies territory and subjugates its inhabitants, it is not antisemitism. Or even if you call for a boycott. It is not antisemitic per se. Israeli politicians automatically define all criticism as antisemitic, which will have a boomerang effect, because then it can be said that any criticism of Israel is not antisemitism by definition, even if stereotypes are used.

Q. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism includes comparing the policies of Israel and the Nazis, as you have done...

A. Comparing is something we historians do to understand. I did so with the idea of warning Israeli society that there are elements of Israeli politics or behavior comparable to elements of National Socialism.

Q. So where are we now regarding these elements and what is happening in Gaza?

A. Everyone is using the word genocide. The comparison is legitimate, but I hope that [the International Court of Justice in] The Hague will pay attention to the differences. The genocide planned by the Nazis was based on a plan to wipe out an entire group of people. You cannot prove that this is happening in Israel. My opinion is that taking revenge on Hamas at the expense of Gazans is unjustified and irrational, but not genocide.

Q. You are just now investigating the moment when nations went crazy, as happened during Nazism. How does that happen?

A. Only in retrospect do you discover how deep the chasm crossed was. For many, January 31, 1933 [the day after Hitler was appointed chancellor] was no different from January 29. We have a new government every six months, now Hitler Six months later, they discovered that what they got was not just another chancellor.
A state employee printed pamphlets for the Idaho Harm Reduction Project that detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use several drugs, including methamphetamine and crack cocaine, before the nonprofits offices were raided by police, according to documents obtained by the Idaho Statesman.

The Idaho Harm Reduction Project, which offered a needle exchange program, was propelled into the public eye after the Boise Police Department raided the organizations Boise and Caldwell offices, seizing packaged drug paraphernalia as part of an investigation into their distribution. Boise police have declined to clarify what officers found in the raid. No employees have been charged or cited with a crime as of Wednesday.

Shortly after the raid, the Statesman reported on a video of Harm Reduction Project employees, in which they admitted during a conference last year to illegally distributing the packaged drug items  which included snorting kits, bubble pipes that are used for methamphetamine, and heroin pipes, commonly referred to as hammers, according to a video recording of reviewed by the Statesman.

Sometimes you just have to do radical work in harm reduction and offer supplies that are a little bit outside the law, Idaho Harm Reductions Program Manager MacKinzie Pierce told participants during a September panel at the Intermountain West Harm Reduction Conference in Salt Lake City.

At least three pamphlets that contained instructions on how to safely use crystal meth, crack cocaine and hot rails, a method of snorting methamphetamine vapors through the nose, were printed by the Department of Health and Welfare for the Harm Reduction Project, spokesperson Greg Stahl told the Statesman by email. The pamphlets were provided to the Statesman by Stahl upon request.

The Idaho Press first reported on the pamphlets.

Needle exchange programs typically provide people with a way to obtain clean needles, not other types of drug paraphernalia or instructions on the use of other drugs. Idahos law on the program legalized the needles, but not pipes or other items found to be distributed in the packages.

The pamphlets were created on Feb. 21, 2023. Just a few weeks earlier, the Harm Reduction Project posted on Instagram that the organization was launching injection alternative kits, which included supplies for safer smoking, snorting and boofing, a way of ingesting drugs through the rectum.

A peer support specialist for the Idaho Harm Reduction Project said during a September panel that along with handing out supplies at their offices, the organization mailed injection alternatives throughout the state.

Stahl said the pamphlets were printed upon request, and without review, and that internal policies for this work were not followed. He declined to identify who printed the documents but said they were created by an employee of the syringe services program.

Having discovered these documents, department leadership does not support their printing or condone their use, Stahl said. If leadership had known, they would not have been approved.

Gov. Brad Little tapped Health and Welfare in mid-February to conduct an internal review of its contracts with the Idaho Harm Reduction Project following the raid. The internal investigation is expected to include a public report and be completed in the coming days, Stahl said.

Several employees from the Idaho Harm Reduction Project, including the organizations executive director, Marjorie Wilson, did not respond to requests for comment from the Statesman. The organization posted on its website that due to unforeseen circumstances, it hasnt provided services since its offices were raided.

The organization offered a variety of services, including the legal needle exchange program and medical services such as STI, HIV and Hepatitis C testing. It also provided Narcan, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.

Idaho Harm Reduction Project has always endeavored to support safer, healthier communities through evidence-based programming, education, testing, and other services in accordance with Idaho law, the post said. We have proudly done all of our public health work in the light of day with approval from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Harm Reduction saves lives, and it is with heavy hearts that we share the news of our closure, the post continued.

The Idaho Harm Reduction Project closed in February after its offices were raided by police as a part of an investigation into the distribution of drug paraphernalia. The organization posted on its website, pictured above, about the closure.

Idaho repeals syringe exchange program

Within a week of the raid, Rep. John Vander Woude, R-Nampa, introduced a bill to end the needle exchange program entirely. Little signed the bill last week, which will cause the states nine syringe programs to shutter their doors or stop providing needle exchange services by July 1.

The passage of Idahos Syringe and Needle Exchange Act in 2019 allowed people to obtain clean needles through the exchange program, but that law doesnt apply to pipes  despite research that points toward smoking being a safer alternative. The law also didnt decriminalize needles as paraphernalia, which means people can still be charged with possession of drug paraphernalia if they are found with syringes.

In March, Vander Woude while presenting the bill on the House floor said the Harm Reduction Project was well beyond the law, citing the Statesmans reporting on several employees admitting that they were distributing drug paraphernalia outside the boundaries of the law.

I would urge your green light on this: We repeal the needle exchange and start looking at a better system, Vander Woude said, adding that he doesnt believe the program functioned properly.

Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, argued on the Senate floor in late March that the syringe exchange program was enacted as an attempt to decrease overdose deaths and reduce the spread of infection. Idahos overdose deaths have been on the rise since at least 2018, reaching a high in 2022 of 381 deaths, according to Health and Welfare data. In 2023, reported overdose deaths declined to 321.

Wintrow said lawmakers should be looking at specific problems within the syringe programs instead of repealing the entire act. We can mitigate problems that were discovering, but to repeal the whole thing I think is pretty harmful, she said.

Outside boundaries of the law: On video, Idaho Harm staff discuss drug-item giveaways

No evidence agency bought drug paraphernalia

Health and Welfare Interim Director Dean Cameron told the Legislatures budget-setting panel, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, in early March there was no evidence whatsoever the agency authorized the purchase of any drug paraphernalia or illegal substance based on its invoices, and added that officials were still reviewing over 6,000 emails.

Stahl declined to comment on whether Health and Welfare discovered the pamphlets while reviewing emails and said that several questions sent by the Statesman would be addressed in Camerons report to the governor. Little asked Health and Welfare to determine which employees, if any, knew about the drug paraphernalia, Cameron said during the March meeting.

We have been digging into that very diligently, Cameron said.

Cameron also identified some areas that Health and Welfare could improve on. He said during the committee meeting that the agency doesnt always do a risk assessment before signing a contract with a new organization, and that officials will make an effort to provide more detailed invoices moving forward.

Cameron told the committee that Health and Welfare provided needles, containers to dispose of needles, alcohol wipes and wound care kits to the programs, which he said under the current policy seems to be appropriate.

The department does not condone or support the use of illegal drugs or those who profit from it, Cameron said in a news release announcing the investigation. Substance use has a pervasive and devastating impact on Idaho families and children. The department supports all efforts to protect Idahoans from the impacts of illicit drug use.
An additional left turn lane along southbound Hartman Lane at the intersection with Central Park Drive is expected to be completed this year.

Work on proposed improvements totaling $2.2 million also includes storm sewer installation, curb and gutter, pavement widening and traffic signal modifications. Construction is expected to start in June and be completed before Thanksgiving.

The OFallon City Council approved project funding in four actions on April 1 so that bids can be accepted by the Illinois Department of Transportation in a joint agreement. Funds will be reimbursed through a State Rebuild Illinois Grant that is for $1.6 million.

The council agreed to use $1,393,800 in motor fuel tax funds and $801,200 in Congestion Mitigations and Air Quality funds upfront to match the required funding. It passed a supplemental resolution for a construction engineering services agreement with Geotechnology Inc. for $22,000.

Additional right-of-way and temporary construction easements purchases should cost $170,000, which the council OKd. Land acquisitions from six property owners are needed.

The expected timeline is that IDOT will post on their letting bulletin for three weeks, then at the councils next public works meeting, staff will bring forward the bids for construction and select a company.

City staff has met with Central School District 104 superintendent, and there will be minimal impact for the school.

The intersection will be closed during construction and Park Plaza will be the detour.

Tax Rate

Mayor Herb Roach announced that the citys real estate tax rate is the lowest it has been since 1984.

We have been able to lower the tax rate for the sixth straight year. It is the first time in over 45 plus years that the city has reduced its tax rate for six consecutive years, he said.

At a recent finance and administration meeting, Finance Director Sandy Evans said the projected Equalized Assessed Value for 2023 tax levy has the estimated final rate setting increased to $907 million, which lowered the levy rate to .7798.

The decrease should amount to a $23 savings for a homeowner with a home valued at $200,000, she said.

The mayor noted that only about 10 to 11% of the property tax bill goes to the city for services.

Old Clark Station

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency said the old Clark Station at the northeast corner of State Street and Lincoln Avenue needs further investigation for possible soil contamination.

The Stage III work will cost $26,220.61 to perform, which the council agreed to pay TetraTech at the meeting.

Public Works Director Jeff Taylor noted this has been studied for at least 20 years, to see how far the pollution has spread. This new effort will determine the extent, and to see where it is no longer present.

The city has previously conducted studies and installed two monitoring wells. At the IEPAs recommendation, Tetra Tech will install two additional monitoring wells on the neighboring property at 122 E. State St., which will help see how far the contamination has spread. A groundwater ordinance might be needed for this area.

Erosion Stabilization Project

A feasibility study has been completed because a bank adjacent to Silver Creek at the Wastewater Treatment Plant site is susceptible to erosion, therefore threatening the wastewater lagoons that are adjacent to the creek.

Federal funds have been earmarked to armor this bank to prevent erosion. Construction costs are estimated at $1,159,000. An approved agreement with the Department of Army provides $753,000 in federal funding to finish the project while the remaining $406,000 would be the citys responsibility.

Augusta Greens 2nd Addition

The council approved the final plat for Augusta Greens 2nd Addition, which will add 25 single-family homes to the residential development located at the northeast corner of Old Collinsville and Milburn School roads.

The applicant is MSJB Investments. The 2nd Addition of Augusta Greens is part of a larger, 53.73 acre - 117 lot single-family residential development that includes the Enclaves at Augusta Greens.

Announcements

Fire Chief Brad White announced that the OFallon Volunteer Fire Department has been recognized with a state award, receiving a 2023 Fire Protection and Life Safety Award.

Its the first time in a while the award has been given south of Springfield, he said.

Mayor Herb Roach said a Town Hall Meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 10 at 6 p.m. at city hall. Reports on the budget, property tax rate, parks improvements, traffic calming on Pierce, I-64, and road construction will be presented.

A wastewater treatment plant tour on April 15 will start at 5:30 p.m.

This is for everyone to take a look at all the new stuff, he said. Improvements have been made, costing about $15 million.

The final open house on the Forward 50 project will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, at city hall.

As a part of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments Great Streets Initiative, the city has been studying Highway 50 for the past year. Forward 50 is to strengthen the function and appearance of Highway 50 for the OFallon community.

For more information, visit https://www.ofallon.org/planning-zoning-division/pages/forward-50-great-streets-initiative
India, long in the tooth when it comes to co-opting tech to persuade the public, has become a global hot spot when it comes to how AI is being used, and abused, in political discourse, and specifically the democratic process. Tech companies, who built the tools in the first place, are making trips to the country to push solutions.

Earlier this year, Andy Parsons, a senior director at Adobe who oversees its involvement in the cross-industry Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), stepped into the whirlpool when he made a trip to India to visit with media and tech organizations in the country to promote tools that can be integrated into content workflows to identify and flag AI content.

"Instead of detecting what's fake or manipulated, we as a society, and this is an international concern, should start to declare authenticity, meaning saying if something is generated by AI that should be known to consumers," he said in an interview.

Parsons added that some Indian companies -- currently not part of a Munich AI election safety accord signed by OpenAI, Adobe, Google and Amazon in February -- intended to construct a similar alliance in the country.

"Legislation is a very tricky thing. To assume that the government will legislate correctly and rapidly enough in any jurisdiction is something hard to rely on. It's better for the government to take a very steady approach and take its time," he said.

Detection tools are famously inconsistent, but they are a start in fixing some of the problems, or so the argument goes.

"The concept is already well understood," he said during his Delhi trip. "I'm helping raise awareness that the tools are also ready. It's not just an idea. This is something that's already deployed."

Andy Parsons, senior director at Adobe

Andy Parsons, senior director at Adobe. Image Credits: Adobe

The CAI -- which promotes royalty-free, open standards for identifying if digital content was generated by a machine or a human -- predates the current hype around generative AI: It was founded in 2019 and now has 2,500 members, including Microsoft, Meta, and Google, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC.

Just as there is an industry growing around the business of leveraging AI to create media, there is a smaller one being created to try to course-correct some of the more nefarious applications of that.

So in February 2021, Adobe went one step further into building one of those standards itself and co-founded the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) with ARM, BBC, Intel, Microsoft and Truepic. The coalition aims to develop an open standard, which taps the metadata of images, videos, text and other media to highlight their provenance and tell people about the file's origins, the location and time of its generation, and whether it was altered before it reached the user. The CAI works with C2PA to promote the standard and make it available to the masses.

Now it is actively engaging with governments like India's to widen the adoption of that standard to highlight the provenance of AI content and participate with authorities in developing guidelines for AI's advancement.

Adobe has nothing but also everything to lose by playing an active role in this game. It's not -- yet -- acquiring or building large language models (LLMs) of its own, but as the home of apps like Photoshop and Lightroom, it's the market leader in tools for the creative community, and so not only is it building new products like Firefly to generate AI content natively, but it is also infusing legacy products with AI. If the market develops as some believe it will, AI will be a must-have in the mix if Adobe wants to stay on top. If regulators (or common sense) have their way, Adobe's future may well be contingent on how successful it is in making sure what it sells does not contribute to the mess.

The bigger picture in India in any case is indeed a mess.

Google focused on India as a test bed for how it will bar use of its generative AI tool Gemini when it comes to election content; parties are weaponizing AI to create memes with likenesses of opponents; Meta has set up a deepfake "helpline" for WhatsApp, such is the popularity of the messaging platform in spreading AI-powered missives; and at a time when countries are sounding increasingly alarmed about AI safety and what they have to do to ensure it, we'll have to see what the impact will be of India's government deciding in March to relax rules on how new AI models are built, tested and deployed. It's certainly meant to spur more AI activity, at any rate.

Using its open standard, the C2PA has developed a digital nutrition label for content called Content Credentials. The CAI members are working to deploy the digital watermark on their content to let users know its origin and whether it is AI-generated. Adobe has Content Credentials across its creative tools, including Photoshop and Lightroom. It also automatically attaches to AI content generated by Adobe's AI model Firefly. Last year, Leica launched its camera with Content Credentials built in, and Microsoft added Content Credentials to all AI-generated images created using Bing Image Creator.

Content Credentials on an AI-generated image

Image Credits: Content Credentials

Parsons told TechCrunch the CAI is talking with global governments on two areas: one is to help promote the standard as an international standard, and the other is to adopt it.

"In an election year, it's especially critical for candidates, parties, incumbent offices and administrations who release material to the media and to the public all the time to make sure that it is knowable that if something is released from PM [Narendra] Modi's office, it is actually from PM Modi's office. There have been many incidents where that's not the case. So, understanding that something is truly authentic for consumers, fact-checkers, platforms and intermediaries is very important," he said.

India's large population, vast language and demographic diversity make it challenging to curb misinformation, he added, a vote in favor of simple labels to cut through that.

"That's a little 'CR'  it's two western letters like most Adobe tools, but this indicates there's more context to be shown," he said.

Controversy continues to surround what the real point might be behind tech companies supporting any kind of AI safety measure: Is it really about existential concern, or just having a seat at the table to give the impression of existential concern, all the while making sure their interests get safeguarded in the process of rule making?

"It's generally not controversial with the companies who are involved, and all the companies who signed the recent Munich accord, including Adobe, who came together, dropped competitive pressures because these ideas are something that we all need to do," he said in defense of the work.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand  Indonesia has signed a contract with local firm PT PAL and Frances Naval Group for two Scorpene-class submarines, the latter business announced.

The two companies will jointly build the boats under the deal, inked March 28.

The Indonesian Navys future submarines are described as Scorpene Evolved Full LiB submarines featuring lithium-ion batteries, according to Naval Groups news release. Indonesias Scorpenes are to be the first to use such battery technology.

The French shipbuilder stated the lithium-ion technology allows for more efficient energy, a decreased snorkeling rate and a reduced charging time.

The boats will be built in Indonesia in a PT PAL shipyard, through transfer of technology from Naval Group, per a joint news release.

Their assembly in Surabaya follows an August 2021 defense cooperation agreement between Paris and Jakarta as well as a memorandum of understanding for two Scorpenes signed by the two shipbuilders in February 2022.

This step is a high commitment and trust of the Indonesian government in the capability of local engineers to advancing defense technology, especially submarine technology, according to Kaharuddin Djenod, the president director of PT PAL. In the future, Indonesia is expected to be able to master submarine technology.

Germany and South Korea were also vying for this contract. This latest deal confirms Indonesia has abandoned a 2019 agreement to buy a second trio of Nagapasa-class submarines from South Korea.

Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies with Singapores S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told Defense News its interesting Indonesia didnt choose Korean submarines, given PT PAL gained experience assembling the Nagapasa class and that the type would have ensured commonality in the fleet. However, its likely France likely offered the best package and offsets, Koh said.

I believe Indonesia probably saw benefits from the tech transfer that could enrich the local submarine industry going forward because ultimately Indonesia wants to build its own submarines, he said, noting the French firm was way more aggressive in marketing their wares.

Under the Korean program that saw three Nagapasa-class submarines commissioned from 2017 to 2021, PT PAL was able to master at least a rather reasonable local capability, Koh said. However, this French project will allow it to absorb and grow other technologies.

PT PAL has already prepared for local construction. In February 2022, it issued a tender for development and construction of a ship lift and transfer system capable of moving 2,000-ton submarines.

PT PAL is one of the most experienced shipyards in ASEAN with unique skills and capabilities for large ships and submarine construction, a Naval Group spokesperson told Defense News. PT PAL has invested in some infrastructure and tools dedicated to submarine construction, and these investments can be fully reused for construction of the Scorpene submarine.

The companies did not divulge the value of the latest contract nor the delivery schedule, but Indonesias Ministry of Finance approved a request for $2.16 billion in foreign loans for two submarines last year.

Crewed by 31 personnel, the 72-meter-long (233-foot-long) platforms have six launch tubes and carry 18 torpedoes or missiles. Depending on exact configurations, the type displaces 1,600-2,000 tons, can remain submerged for at least 12 days, and can operate on missions lasting 80 days.

Should construction commence next year, the first boat could join service in 2033, based on the comparative build rate of Indias Scorpene program.

The Indonesian Navy is seeking 12 submarines in total.

This story was updated April 11, 2024, at 9:28 a.m. ET with comment from Naval Group.
Fox News war correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was severely injured two years ago in Ukraine, is returning to host a two-part docuseries exploring the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians.

The Fox Nation docuseries, titled Surviving Hamas: A Benjamin Hall Special, will debut on April 9, with each episode spanning two hours, the network announced Thursday.

The series will explore the tragic events of Oct. 7 and the impact it has had on the survivors of the attack. Throughout the series, Hall visits some of the hardest-hit communities in southern Israel, providing an update as the 200-day mark nears.

As we approach the sixth month anniversary of the October 7th attack on Israel, Bens unique perspective provides a powerful series that explores grief, resilience and survival through the lens of those most closely impacted, President of Fox Nation Lauren Patterson said in a statement.

The first episode of the docuseries will follow 21-year-old survivor Maya Regev who was attending the Supernova Music Festival on Oct. 7. Regev was captured and taken as a hostage by Hamas after enduring a gunshot wound to her leg. After she was released in a hostage deal, Regev opened up to Hall about what she faced in captivity.

The docuseries second episode will cover the Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was destroyed by Hamas. Hall interviews survivors and their families to expose the horrors that ravaged this community.

Hall was wounded in 2022 while covering the war in Ukraine alongside two colleagues photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova who were tragically killed. Hall returned to work in 2023 and returned to Ukraine in November for an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The post Injured Fox News War Correspondent Benjamin Hall to Host Surviving Hamas Special appeared first on TheWrap.
Two years ago, Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was critically wounded in an attack while reporting from Ukraine.

His cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, and a local journalist who was working as their translator and fixer, Oleksandra Sasha Kuvshynova, were killed in the attack.

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Hall, survived, albeit barely. He lost one leg and the foot on his other leg, he lost the use of one of his hands, and shrapnel cost him one of his eyes.

Now, Hall is returning to the field, with a two-part docuseries Surviving Hamas: A Benjamin Hall Special, set to debut on the Fox Nation streaming service April 9. The special drills down on the events that unfolded that day and the impact it had on survivors, per Fox News.

Primarily we were there to tell the stories of some of the released hostages, Hall tells The Hollywood Reporter. And so I was there, moving around, we were down by some of the kibbutzes. So one side it was a story Ive wanted to tell all along, but on the other hand, it was about me getting back to work.

The reporting for the special was a milestone for Halls recovery as well. Sitting in a quiet corporate cafe high up at Foxs New York headquarters, the correspondent spoke about the difficulty in learning to report again, noting how he can only get maybe a week in the field before he needs rest.

It was the first time I had actually been out to do a whole week doing lives, filming, to see how physically I could do that, Hall says. So it was both the story, as well as it was a learning curve for me.

But boy, it was perhaps the first time that Ive noticed a change inside me, in terms of my reporting, Hall continued. I did some of these interviews with released hostages and some of the people whod lost their whole family down in the kibbutzes. And I felt something that Id never felt before during an interview, which is a real understanding of their loss, a real understanding of the difficulties that they were going through. And I always asked myself before, how could you go to these hard places and tell these difficult stories but not let it affect you? How can you block it off? And through whatever has happened to me, I feel that I understand some of these issues in a bigger way. And I honestly think it has made me a better journalist as such.

As we approach the sixth month anniversary of the October 7th attack on Israel, Bens unique perspective provides a powerful series that explores grief, resilience and survival through the lens of those most closely impacted, added Fox Nation president Lauren Petterson.

The first episode will focus on Maya Regev, a survivor of the attack on the Supernova Music Festival, while the second episode will focus on the survivors of the Nir Oz kibbutz.

And while Israel is not in the same situation as Ukraine (Hall lamented the innocent civilians being killed in both countries, as well as in Gaza), he said he and his wife spoke before he committed to returning to the field.

First of all, it was a conversation that my wife and I had to have for a long time beforehand: Is it the right thing? should I be going out back into any sort of conflict zone after what happened to me? Hall says. So we thought about it a lot. And it was a decision we spent a lot of time making.

I always knew right from the beginning, that I wanted to be going back, that journalism is what I love doing, and I wasnt sure what way I would be doing it but conflict is something that I still find the most fascinating story to cover, he continued. Youve got the stories on the ground, youve got the people who are caught up, but then youve got the geopolitics, youve got the economy, youve got the finances, youve got the military, and I just feel that I find it to be the most incredible subject to cover. And thats one of the reasons I wanted to go back to doing it again.

Hall, ultimately, intends to keep working, even if he is still pushing the limits of what he is physically capable of.

It felt good to be telling stories again, it felt good to realize that no matter what happened to me, I wont be stopped from doing that, you know, My life wont change, Hall says. I will keep doing what I did.

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Inmate dies after being taken from an SC jail to a hospital, sheriffs office says

A man locked up at a jail in the Midlands died Wednesday, according to the Sumter County Sheriffs Office.

After being found unresponsive at the Sumter County Sheriffs Office Detention Center, George Anderson was taken to Prisma Health Tuomey hospital where the inmate was pronounced dead, the sheriffs office said in a news release.

An autopsy will be held to determine Andersons cause of death, according to the release.

Late Tuesday night, Anderson received his medication on schedule and was seen again during routine bed checks early Wednesday morning, the sheriffs office said.

While waking inmates for breakfast, a jail guard found Anderson was unresponsive, according to the release.

Jail officers immediately rendered aid and activated emergency procedures, the sheriffs office said.

Every means available was used in an attempt to resuscitate Anderson, including a ... defibrillator, the sheriffs office said.

EMS took Anderson to the hospital where further life-saving efforts were unsuccessful as he remained unresponsive and was pronounced dead, according to the release.

Anderson had an extensive medical history and had recently been released from a medical facility, the sheriffs office said. Information about Andersons previous medical issues, his age, the charges he was facing, and how long he had been locked up in the county jail was not available.

Sheriff Anthony Dennis asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to lead an investigation into Andersons death. The sheriffs office said it will release more information following SLEDs investigation.

We offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Andersons family and wish to commend our detention centers staff for their response to this emergency, Anthony said in the release.
Meta, which also owns Facebook, has had a complicated past with politics and news.

Some Instagram users are pushing back against the platforms new default settings that automatically limit the amount of political posts that appear in their feeds.

This is not okay, Scott Hechinger, a New York-based civil rights attorney, wrote in a post on X, referring to the new Instagram setting as a censor.

Meta/Instagram limited my ability to view political content. Defined to include content re: government, elections, or social topics that affect people or society. My default setting was to censor. This is not okay. pic.twitter.com/mSk95ySq0F  Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) March 22, 2024

Instagram quietly introducing a political content preference and turning on limit by default is insane, another Instagram user posted.

Other social media users have taken it upon themselves to share how to reset the filter on Instagram, encouraging followers to update their settings.

Instagrams decision to limit news and political content on its platform comes during an election year and during a time when social media is the go-to source of information for a large population of Americans. A Pew Research Center study found that more American adults get their news from Instagram than TikTok or X.

Whats going on?

Instagram, which is owned by Meta, first announced in February that it wont proactively recommend content about politics on recommendation surfaces across Instagram and Threads, which is Metas take on a competitor to X, formerly Twitter.

This announcement expands on years of work on how we approach and treat political content based on what people have told us they wanted, a Meta spokesperson recently told Yahoo News. Now, people are able to control whether they would like to have these types of posts recommended to them.

However, the announcement doesnt seem to have been directly communicated to Instagram users, many of whom are now saying they only recently learned of the new default settings from posts on X and TikTok once theyd already been implemented.

If youre an Instagram user, you most likely may not know that Meta has a new policy blocking recommended political posts and has made this move a default without warning, one X user wrote in March.

Why is Meta trying to separate itself from politics?

Meta, which also owns Facebook, has had a complicated past with politics and news. In the leadup to the 2016 presidential election, Facebook tried to pivot to being the new town hall, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors at the time. Facebook sponsored debates and spaces at national political conventions. Its News Feed  which has since been renamed to just Feed  was called one of the worlds most influential, controversial and misunderstood algorithms by Slate. Adam Mosseri, now the head of Instagram, ran Facebooks News Feed until 2018.

Since the 2016 election, Facebook has been blamed for almost everything from foreign election interference to contributing to the rise in extremism online  prompting Meta to try to pull away entirely from politics. During a conference call after the Capitol riot in January 2021, Zuckerberg said the plan was to turn down the temperature on political speech across all of Metas platforms.

It was against this backdrop that, in July, Mosseri told a reporter from the Verge in a conversation on Threads that neither Instagram nor Threads was intended to be a place for hard news and politics.

Politics and hard news are inevitably going to show up on Threads - they have on Instagram as well to some extent - but we're not going to do anything to encourage those verticals, Mosseri wrote.

Mosseri emphasized that Instagram doesnt want to proactively amplify political content from accounts you dont follow, in another Threads post.

In its February statement, Instagram explained the political-post filter would be limited to spaces like its personalized feed, known as the Explore page; its short-form videos, known as Reels; other in-feed recommendations and any suggested accounts to follow  all of which are elements of Instagram that are personalized to the user depending on who they already follow and what posts they interact with.

Meta said that the new approach would not change how users view content posted by the accounts they choose to follow. Meta added that the companys definition of political content will evolve as global issues evolve  with expert input  and as they continue to engage with the people and communities on their platforms.

If you follow political accounts on Threads of Instagram, we want to avoid getting between you and their content, Mosseri wrote on Feb. 9. That said, we also dont want to proactively amplify political content from accounts you dont follow.

Why are Instagram users mad about the setting?

Samira Mohyeddin, a journalist based in Canada, told Yahoo News she found out about the news on X and took it upon herself to share how to change the setting with her 56,000 Instagram followers.

For Mohyeddin, the biggest issue with Instagrams new political filter is how the massive tech company determines which content qualifies as political and should therefore not be viewed by users unless they explicitly seek it out.

Who decides what is political? Mohyeddin asked. Thats what Instagram is gonna decide for me  what is political? Thats really dangerous.

Instagram defines political posts as anything that is likely to mention governments, elections or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large. The definition was still too vague for the likes of some of its users  especially news and political creators, many of whom have migrated to Instagram from X following Elon Musks acquisition in 2022. Once seen as a legitimate source for news, X is now increasingly viewed as a platform for unverified fringe conspiracy theories.

Mohyeddin said reporters like herself shouldnt be censoring certain words theyre worried will be flagged as political to report the news and reach an audience.

Even if an Instagram user wants to exclusively use the platform to, as Mohyeddin put it, see photos of rainbows and flowers, it shouldnt be up to the corporation to decide what users should and shouldnt be able to see.

After all, she said, anything can be political.
There are growing concerns within the Haitian community regarding the proposition that came out of the latest Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) meeting. The crux of that meeting was to address the increase of gang violence, among other things that have been plaguing Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. However, many Haitians, both in Haiti and in the diaspora, reject the unilateral proposal that came out of that meeting and have vowed to take to the streets in protests.

They argue that it does not address the overall complexities of the situation at its core. Also, some believe certain provisions were presented in the form of an ultimatum and fail to recognize Haiti as a sovereign democratic state in which only its citizens should have a say in who should run its government; not an illegitimate few who are not backed by either the people or Haiti's constitution.

More on Haiti's crisis: Palm Beach County Haitian leaders call for action to stem violence, stabilize country

Therefore, to say that the International Community and CARICOM do not fully grasp the magnitude of the situation in Haiti would be an understatement. Alternatively, maybe it could be their intention to sow more discord among the political actors to further destabilize the country. That way, whatever happens, they can say oh well, we tried and simply perpetuate the notion that Haitians are not competent to govern themselves and are badly in need of another invasion. That would be Haitis fourth Foreign U.S.-led occupation.

A woman carrying a child runs from the area after gunshots were heard in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 20, 2024.

Because of this constant myopic approach, coupled with the callousness shown by the international community when dealing with Haitis issues, much of the Haitian population has lost faith in the international community and CARICOM. However, we cannot put all the blame solely on the international community. Because, our political leaders, with the help of our oligarchs, have been extremely complicit in the detriment of our nation by financing gangs and adopting the type of governance that completely disregards the needs of our population.

However, Teddy Roosevelt has a famous quote that reads: Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining." Therefore, in order for Haiti to make it out of this ongoing crisis, it is imperative that the political actors as well as civil society groups, come together and find a consensus that is pursuant to the Constitution, which would allow an interim government and a new prime minister to be installed.

Cerabino on Haiti: DeSantis activates Florida State Guard again on Haitian immigrants desperate for safety.

In so doing, this government would be responsible for restoring order and organizing elections. Given Haitis intricate history with international intervention, it would be judicious for this new interim government to strategically invest in the Army and reinforce all units within the National Police through a meticulous vetting process.

Moreover, we need to simultaneously address the proliferation of political sponsorship of gangs and prosecute the people who finance their operations. Because, in Haiti the crisis of security and governance go hand in hand. In addition, we must address the alarming concern of food shortages that threaten 4.7 million people. Lastly, we need to invest in job training, education and healthcare. Because 65% of the population is under the age of 24, unless we invest in them, the cycle will continue.

Daniel Fontilien

Daniel Fontilien is a Haitian American national, a NCSC Language Subject Matter Expert, and a State Certified Court Interpreter in West Palm Beach.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Crisis in Haiti can't be fixed by outsider unilateral demands
The devastated area around Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, which was once the largest health facility in the Gaza Strip, following a two-week Israeli raid. - AFP

No politician wants to spend their twilight years in the dock at the Hague, so it is with some seriousness that David Cameron and Rishi Sunak will have read the 17-page legal letter sent to them on Monday evening by 600 of the nations top lawyers.

Whitehall officials, too, will be pouring over the detail of the text which was signed among others by three former Supreme Court justices, including Lord Sumption. They will be well aware that, in matters of international law pertaining to genocide, the defence of I was only following orders is no defence at all.

The letter makes the case, with some force, that UK ministers and officials could be charged with the crimes of complicity to genocide and aiding and abetting genocide unless the country rapidly changes course in its relations with Israel.

It argues not only that arms sales to Israel should be stopped to avoid this risk, but that Britains strategic partnership with Israel should be suspended.

It even call for sanctions to be placed on prominent individuals  almost certainly including the Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant  who have made statements inciting genocide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the allegations of genocide which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is investigating outrageous, and said Israel has an unwavering commitment to international law.

He was supported yesterday by the former home secretary Suella Braverman, who briefly worked as a lawyer in the areas of planning and immigration. Israel is absolutely not in breach of international law, she said, adding that the very suggestion was absurd.

What is the gist of the legal argument for an arms embargo?

The letter says that serious action is needed to avoid UK complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention.

It points out that the ICJ has ruled it is plausible Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Britain is a signatory to the Genocide Convention.

Britain therefore has a legal duty to take immediate measures to bring to an end  acts giving rise to a serious risk of genocide, it says.

Failure to comply with these obligations would incur UK state responsibility for the commission of an international wrong, for which full reparation must be made.

The Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has been quite firm with Israel, so is the UK really in legal jeopardy?

Unfortunately words are not enough.

The Convention says signatories must take all measures to prevent genocide which [are] within its power, if they are to stay on the right side of the law.

Serious action is  needed to avoid UK complicity in grave breaches of international law, including potential violations of the Genocide Convention, say the lawyers.

The UK cannot wait until the ICJ decides for certain whether or not a genocide is being committed, they add. It must act now in accordance with its obligation to prevent genocide.

What does the law say about UK arms sales specifically?

The letter calls on the government to suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to Israel. It says the provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide.

It adds that the UK could also be charged with aiding and assisting war crimes under other elements of international law.

Such transfers are prohibited even if the exporting State does not intend the arms to be used in violation of the law  or does not know with certainty that they would be used in such a way  as long as there is a clear risk, it quotes UN legal experts as saying.

Finally, the lawyers say that continued arms exports to Israel are likely in breach of UK domestic law.

The UKs Strategic Export Licencing Criteria (SELC) requires the UK government to refuse to licence military equipment for export where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law, it says.

What does the governments own internal legal advice say?

No one knows for sure because it has not been published but it is unlikely to differ significantly from the advice contained in the experts letter.

Alicia Kearns, head of the foreign affairs select committee, said last week she had been told that government lawyers believed Israel was committing human rights violations.

On Thursday, there were calls in Parliament for the governments own legal advice to be published.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign affairs secretary, urged ministers to publish the legal advice now.

If it says there is a clear risk that UK arms might be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law, its time to suspend the sale of those arms, he added.

Has the UK ever suspended arms sales to Israel before?

Yes. In July 2009, Britain revoked five export licences for weapons on Israeli navy missile boats because of their use during the Gaza Strip in the 2008-2009 war.

The licences covered spare parts for guns on Israels Saar 4.5 ships, which reportedly fired missiles and artillery shells into the Palestinian coastal territory during the three-week conflict, which started in late December.

At the time, the foreign office in London insisted the rare move did not constitute an embargo but was the application of normal UK and EU export licensing criteria. Still, it linked the decision directly to Operation Cast Lead  the Israeli codename for the attacks.

Later, during the 2014 war, a government-led review into the UKs licensed exports to Israel identified 12 licences for military components which could be used in Israeli equipment in Gaza, including radar systems, combat aircraft and tanks.

When the review was published, in August 2014, a ceasefire had been called. The UK government said it would suspend the 12 licences in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities. It also said that the UK would continue to not grant new licences while the conflict persisted.

How big an arms exporter is Britain to Israel?

The vast bulk  69 percent  of Israels weapons imports between 2013 and 2022 came from the US. Germany accounted for 30 per cent of Israels arms imports during this period, while less than 0.1 per cent came from the UK.

Although our exports are small  just 42 million in 2022  the ICJ is unlikely to see that as a defence were a legal case to be brought against the UK in future.

Our exports to Israel include explosive devices, assault rifles and military aircraft, including parts for drones.

Have any countries already stopped arms sales to Israel?

Yes. Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain and Belgium have all suspended arms sales in the wake of Israels offensive in Gaza.

What does the public think?

A poll conducted by the charity Action for Humanity and conducted before the strikes which killed seven western aid workers this week, found a majority of UK voters  56 per cent  are in favour of a ban of arms exports to Israel. By a majority of 59% to 12% voters say Israel is violating human rights in Gaza.

Other than an export ban on arms, what else does the expert legal letter to the government call for?

Other than an arms embargo, the letter says the UK must put in place four other measures if it is to be reliably in compliance with the Genocide Convention. These are to:

Work actively and effectively to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire

Take all available measures to get aid into Gaza, including a commitment to continue aid payments to the UNs Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA)

Impose sanctions on those who have made statements inciting genocide

Suspend steps for furthering the UKs strategic partnership with Israel; and initiate urgent reviews into the suspension of current bilateral trade agreement with Israel

Although an arms embargo would have symbolic power, it is these measures that might have the most real-world impact on Israel given the small scale of UK arms exports.

But surely Israel has a right to self defence?

Absolutely. But international law requires that violence employed in self defence must be proportionate and remain within the rules of war.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Thursday, Lord Sumption emphasised this point.

The framework of international law around war did not mean countries can act as they want, even when provoked or attacked outrageously, as happened on October 7.

[Defence] doesnt mean to say that you can indiscriminately slaughter innocent civilians and children. It doesnt mean to say you can attack aid convoys, you can withdraw the visas of aid workers. It doesnt mean to say you can spend two weeks flattening hospitals.

There are limits to what people can do, even in self-defence, he said.

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Graffiti in Bethlehem, on the wall built by Israel in the West Bank depicting journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, whose death at the hands of the Israeli military in 2022 remains unpunished.

Rachel Corrie was 23 when a huge Caterpillar D9R military excavator rammed her in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on March 16, 2003, crushing her with its shovel, according to numerous witnesses. The driver then reversed and ran over her again. She was still breathing when she said, I think my back is broken. Corrie, who was trying to stop the bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian home, was an American citizen. So was one of the seven aid workers from the disaster relief group World Central Kitchen (WCK) who died on Monday when Israel attacked their convoy with three missiles, according to the newspaper Haaretz. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defined it as an unintentional mistake whose circumstances he has promised to clarify with a thorough investigation.

That same adjective, thorough, was used in 2003 by the then Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, when he promised President George W. Bush that his country would investigate Corries death. More than 20 years later, no one has been held accountable for the young American activists death.

In August 2012, an Israeli court cleared the bulldozer driver and the countrys military of any responsibility for the death. When the young womans parents later filed a civil lawsuit in Israel, another court blamed the victim for her own death, stating that she had caused what it called an accident. Washington then limited itself to pointing out that the Israeli investigation had not been satisfactory. The American company Caterpillar continued to provide excavators like the one that killed the young woman to the Israeli army. In 2012, Amnesty International highlighted that the death of Corrie, a civilian clearly identified as such  she was wearing a fluorescent orange vest  at the hands of the Israeli military, demonstrated the constant impunity surrounding crimes committed by that countrys army against civilians.

This and other precedents make human rights activists fear that the deaths of WCK workers will also go unpunished. We dont know what will happen, but, in general terms, we fear that the investigation will end with exoneration [of those responsible], says Sarit Michaeli, head of international advocacy for the Israeli human rights organization BTselem. This activist points out that based on her organizations experience, even in the rare cases in which there is accountability for the deaths of civilians at the hands of the military, it occurs at a very low level. It affects whoever pulls the trigger or fires the drone, and never at the high levels of those who decide, for example, how Israel has to use its firepower in Gaza.

Other cases from the past underpin that concern. On May 2, 2003, 34-year-old British filmmaker James Miller was shot dead by an Israeli sniper in the Rafah refugee camp while filming a documentary with the prophetic name Death in Gaza. A London police study determined that the bullet in the neck that killed him was the same type used by the Israeli army. The British Prosecutors Office called for the soldier who fired the shot to be prosecuted. Israel ignored that request.

Shortly before, on April 11, 2003, another British activist, 21-year-old Tom Hurndall, was shot in the head when he was trying to protect some children in Rafah from a soldiers gunfire. The Israeli investigation, also on this occasion, blamed the victim for his own death, which it called an accident. Investigators said that the young man acted as a human shield for Palestinian militants.

In this case, the sniper was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, of which he served six and a half. At the trial, the soldier argued that the Israeli army had a policy of shooting unarmed civilians. The Hurndall family has not been able to clarify whether this soldier, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, was obeying orders.

Gap between image and reality

The Hurndall familys quest for an impartial investigation shows clearly the gap that exists between the image of investigations portrayed by the Israel Defense Forces public relations unit and the reality, said a 2005 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) titled Promoting impunity.

HRW obtained an English-language copy of the investigation summary. More than half of the 22-page document was devoted to statistics regarding Palestinian attacks, tunnels used for smuggling, and criticisms of the International Solidarity Movement, the organization of which the young man was a member. The arguments were similar to those deployed by Israel during the current war in Gaza to justify attacks on civilians.

The rights group concluded that incidents in which Israeli forces have killed Westerners are investigated more frequently than the deaths of Palestinian civilians. This is partly because the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli government are highly sensitive to the media impact of such killings. It is also because the victims families have greater access to financial, media, and technical resources. But even investigations into the deaths of prominent foreign victims show clearly how the IDFs delays, equivocation, and lack of transparency result in investigations that fall badly short of the effective remedy required by international law.

More recently, in 2022, Israel shelved the investigation into the death in Jenin (West Bank) of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, calling it a mistake. The Israeli authorities only recognized that their military were behind the death once the videos and investigations by the United Nations and the United States had demonstrated it unequivocally. The soldier who killed the journalist with a bullet to the head has not been tried. Israel had previously attributed the shooting to Palestinian militants.

What differentiates the case of the seven WCK workers killed on Monday, emphasizes the BTselem official, is that its not about Palestinians. When an Israeli soldier kills a foreign civilian, there is a little more media scrutiny, and Israels willingness to acknowledge a mistake, whereas with ordinary Palestinians in Gaza, the fact that they, or their mothers, are murdered only results in Israel defining them as terrorists.

Data from another Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din, confirms that when an Israeli soldier or civilian kills a Palestinian, it is often not even investigated. In December 2022, only 11 incidents, representing 4.4% of the 248 investigations into attacks on Palestinians and their property between 2017 and 2021, resulted in the opening of legal proceedings.

On the rare occasions in which an Israeli soldier or settler is tried for killing or wounding a Palestinian, the sentences are extremely light, denounces Yesh Din.

In 2016, BTselem released a video in which a soldier was seen shooting a Palestinian in the head who was already lying wounded and motionless on the ground, after he had allegedly tried to stab another soldier earlier. The soldier who pulled the trigger had not been charged, but those images went viral and led to his arrest and prosecution. He only spent nine months in prison. When he was released, dozens of people welcomed him as a hero.
The honey bee killer the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) has now been found a second time in South Carolina.

The hornet was caught in a baited trap on March 14 in Jasper County, about three miles from the border with Georgia, according to a Monday announcement released by Clemson Universitys Department of Plant Industry.

The invasive hornet was a queen, removed from the environment before being able to start a new colony.

Brad Cavin, apiary inspection coordinator with Clemson University, said it was his department that caught the hornet with a bait trap.

It was a little bit of luck and a little bit of learning and figuring out how these hornets operate, Cavin said, having the right kind of baits in there at the right time of year because (queens) need the carbohydrates from the sugar to build up and get going (to start their nest).

Hornets nests, usually high in trees, hold on average as many as 6,000 worker hornets.

Silence of the honeybees

Cavin says the nickname for this hornet is a bee hawk and laid out the following scenario for the brutal last moments of a honey bees life.

First the hornets locate a bee colony and wait for a forager bee, laden with pollen and nectar, to come back to the nest.

One-by-one, the hornet picks forager bees off before they get back to the nest, leaving the colony undisturbed.

The first yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) was detected in Savannah in August 2023. Ga. Department of Agriculture

And then the real carnage begins.

With bee in tow, the hornet finds a place to perch and then becomes a cannibal  cutting off the honey bees wings, legs, head  eating the thorax and the abdomen.

So the (honey bee) colony eventually will get weaker and weaker over time and then succumb, said Cavin.

Are they coming from Georgia?

Cavin says its unknown how the honey bee killers are arriving.

Its likely that it (hornet) came in through a port, but theres not 100% proof thats how it got here. Cavin said.

The first invasive southeast Asia hornet was confirmed in Savannah in August.

By October, five nests had been found and destroyed in the Savannah area, according to the Georgia Department of Agriculture via Morning AgClips, a website devoted to national agricultural news.

The report notes that the largest of the nests was the size of an exercise ball and was located about 60 feet up a pine tree in the Town of Thunderbolt.

They cant fly away (hundreds of miles) and establish a new nest, Cavin stressed. These hornets that weve found have only been found in Jasper County near the Georgia state line.

Yellow-legged hornet Clemson University

Why its important to report sightings

In the United States, honey bees contribute more than $20 billion to the economy, according to a 2020 Land-Grant Press paper written by Clemson Universitys Benjamin Powell.

Powell wrote his paper to alert the bee world on the what ifs on the hornets arrival and stressed early detection would be key to keep the threat mitigated.

It took about three years after his writing for the hornet to arrive.

How to identify a yellow-legged hornet USDA photos by Hanna Royals/University of Ga. Extension

South Carolina has a bustling commercial migratory honey bee industry, and an invasion of yellow-legged hornets could be a problem for beekeepers or some farmers in the Lowcountry. Barefoot Farms on St. Helena Island hires beekeepers to bring hives to its fields to help pollinate crops.

A call to the Beaufort/Jasper Beekeepers Association for comment was not returned.

Cavin stressed the importance of the publics help in documenting their findings of the invasive hornet, including photos of the suspected hornet if safe to do so. The threat that (yellow-legged hornet) poses to agriculture and how they impact honey bee colonies, honey bee health and also just pollinators in general ... thats why it is of concern. South Carolina residents can report sightings or nests at Clemsons Apiary Inspection Program survey for yellow-legged hornets.
The wife of the chief of the cyber security department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Illia Vitiuk, reportedly bought an apartment in a premium residential complex in Kyiv worth Hr 20 million ($512,000).

A new investigation by Slidstvo.Info revealed that the apartment was bought for Hr 12.8 million, but the market price for the apartment is listed at 20 million.

The official salary for Vitiuk is not enough for such a purchase, but his wife, Yulia, bought the apartment during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A renovated apartment of this size can reportedly cost up to $1.5 million.

The investigation comes amidst reports from Vitiuk himself that Russian intelligence services have launched a "huge number" of disinformation and psychological operations against Ukraine's top government and military officials. Vitiuk also emphasized that Russia is targeting him specifically.

Vitiuk earns Hr 1.8 million annually, while his wife reportedly made Hr 9.4 million in profit in 2022 and Hr 13.4 million in 2023. Yulia Vitiuk refused to comment on her business and the new apartment.

Last December, Ukraine re-opened the public register of electronic declarations, which requires public officials to declare their property and assets.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Chair of Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee, Pavlo Kyrylenko, was under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecution Office (SAPO) over suspected illicit enrichment.

An investigation by RFE/RL found that Kyrylenko's family acquired real estate and cars worth over Hr 70 million ($1.8 million) between 2020 and 2023. None of his relatives own a business, and their salary would not be sufficient for such a purchase, as RFE/RL noted.

Ukraine continues to tackle cases of internal corruption within its government and military, though often with mixed results.

Read also: Ukraines anti-corruption bureau makes progress yet doesnt take on top presidential allies

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law critics say will lead to more discrimination against same-sex couples.

The Religious Freedom Bill gives people the right to refuse doing things that go against their religious beliefs. Democrats in both chambers say it will lead to less freedom. The governor signed the bill during a dinner hosted by a conservative Christian group called the Family Leader.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
Israel is on heightened alert and boosting defenses throughout the country after Tehran threatened retaliation for the strike that killed a top Iranian commander in Damascus on Monday.

The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements, the IDF said in a statement, after Irans supreme leader warned that Israel will be slapped for the assassination of commander Mohammed Reza Zahedi and several other IRGC officers.

Although the Israeli government has not publicly claimed it was responsible for the attack on the Iranian mission in Syria earlier this week, it appears to be taking the threat from Tehran seriously.

On Thursday, the Israeli military announced it will be canceling leave for Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in combat units. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant convened a multi-front situational assessment with top officials, including the leaders of the Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies.

As a precaution, Israel has also begun evacuating embassies and pulling ambassadors out of the countrys foreign missions around the globe, according to The Jerusalem Post. The Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. declined to comment when reached by The Daily Beast.

Iran Promises Harsh Response After Apparent Israeli Strike Kills Top General

Its not just the Israeli government that is taking contingency measures.

The Central Bank of Israel has recommended that financial entities prepare for large ATM withdrawals as the public braces for possible retaliation, i24 News reported. Many Israelis are reportedly heading to grocery stores to stock up on essentials to prepare for possible worst case scenarios.

Some Israeli authorities have had to urge civilians to stay calm, telling residents it is not necessary to withdraw cash or prepare backup generators.

The IDF announced in recent hours that it will draft reservists to buoy its air defenses. Israel has also reportedly expanded its GPS jamming measures in order to disrupt possible attacks through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Haaretz reported. GPSJAM showed widespread disruptions throughout the country.

Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran is not interested in direct conflict with Israel or with the United States. Nevertheless, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the Israeli military is not taking any risks.

We are on heightened alert in all the arenas. We are looking at the threats and foiling them all the time, on several fronts, and are at a high level of readiness for defense and offense. We are constantly carrying out assessments, and take seriously any statement and all enemies, Hagari said Thursday.

We have strengthened alertness in combat units, bolstered [air] defense systems, and we have planes prepared for defense, and ready for attack, he added. My only recommendation is to be vigilant and stay tuned for updates.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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NATO has stated that the total losses of Russian forces in over two years of full-scale war in Ukraine exceed 350,000.

Source: European Pravdas correspondent from Brussels, citing a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity

Details: The source said that the figure of 350,000 refers to the total losses of Russian forces  both regular army and mercenaries, both killed and wounded. 200,000 have been either killed or wounded so seriously that they cannot return to the front.

The official also mentioned that UK intelligence estimates that at least 70,000 Russians have been killed in Ukraine, adding that this number is "probably the lower bound".

Quote: "For the purposes of comparison, the average daily number of Russian casualties killed and wounded in 2023 was almost 300 people more per day than in 2022," he added.

The NATO official noted that by modern standards, the ratio of killed to wounded in the Russian army is "extremely high", and this is largely due to the extremely limited medical support available to Russian soldiers.

Background:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in March that Russia had lost more than 350,000 military personnel, killed and wounded, during more than two years of full-scale war in Ukraine.

In November 2023, the NATO Secretary General stated that Russia's personnel losses in Ukraine exceeded 300,000.

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Isabel Allende likes to start the day very early. She says that in the early dawn her senses awaken and she organizes her thoughts to write about the imaginary worlds that she, for more than 40 years, has created for millions of readers around the world.

Before, I could write for 10 hours straight and, when I got up from my chair, all my bones hurt, even my teeth hurt. Now I cant do that, said Allende, laughing and speaking in her native Spanish with Noticias Telemundo from her home in California.

At 81, Allende says that she has seen it all in a life marked by challenges, exiles, creative bets and a wildly successful career: A winner of multiple literature awards, Allende is widely considered one of the most read Latin American authors in the world, with over 70 million books sold.

From her first novel, "The House of the Spirits," which became an international bestseller, to memoirs like "Paula" (about her daughter's illness and death), Allende's stories revolve around recurring themes such as love, violence, justice, redemption and friendship.

There are certain things that move me a lot. Solidarity, those people who are capable of sacrificing everything to help another. That moves me tremendously and appears in many of my books, she explained.

Isabel Allende en su casa de Caracas, donde escribio

Allende, who was a journalist before starting her literary career at age 40, is a keen observer of current events. Sometimes, she doesnt like what she sees.

"There is an anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States and in the world, because there are more and more people who have to be displaced. They leave their countries of origin due to extreme violence or extreme poverty. And it is a problem that is growing right now," she said.

"There are more than 110 million refugees in the world and the majority are women and children. This is a problem that is not going to be solved by putting guards on the border or barbed wire. It is going to be solved when the circumstances that force people to leave improve in their countries of origin," Allende said.

Allende has lived in the U.S. since 1988, more specifically in California, her home after a long journey: She left her homeland of Chile following the rise of the late dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, whose military regime would result in more than 40,000 victims registered as missing, killed, tortured or politically imprisoned. Allende went to Caracas, Venezuela, where she lived for over a decade from the mid-'70s to the late '80s and where she worked as a freelance journalist for the El Nacional newspaper.

Multiples galardones y millones de ejemplares vendidos ubican a la escritora chilena como una de las voces mas importantes de las literatura latinoamericana. (Acey Harper / Getty Images)

"When I left Chile as a political refugee, I went to Venezuela, which was a country that welcomed immigrants and refugees from all over the world, an open, generous, hospitable and rich country," she said. "Today, there are almost 6 million Venezuelans who have left the country for the same reasons that other people came to Venezuela before. The most notable case is Colombia, where so many Colombians came to Venezuela and now it is Venezuelans who go to Colombia."

'The country needs immigrants'

Speaking about the changes she's seen in the U.S. regarding immigration, Allende said that "precisely because the numbers have increased so much, there are many more restrictions and much more anti-foreigner sentiment. Anyone who comes from somewhere else is frowned upon, especially if they're a person of color. Now, if they were white people from Scandinavia in the U.S., Im sure they would be better welcomed than us Latinos," she stated forcefully.

"I think there has to be a global policy, a national policy and a cultural policy so that people understand that immigrants contribute much more to the country than they receive," said Allende, who's been a U.S. citizen since 2003. "This is a country made of immigrants, and the second generation, the third generation, they are already citizens and they contribute a lot to the United States."

Allende believes previous periods in history could offer solutions.

There are many jobs in the United States that no American wants to do for any money in the world. There are many industries that are very difficult, besides agriculture. ... There should be work permits like there were in times past in which people came, worked for a season, sent money to their families, and [they] could enter and leave the country. There could be a system with some openness for people who come to work, she said.

On the upcoming U.S. presidential election and candidates' proposals on immigration, Allende said: "[Donald] Trump considers that immigrants are not people and he has expressly said so; I mean, its not something that Im inventing right now. So any policy of theirs is going to be even more draconian than separating children from their parents, for example. And you have to be very careful with that. I believe that the country needs immigrants."

She warned against the adoption of discourse that's anti-immigrant or against people of color or poor people. "When social media and social networks, the press and politicians speak this discourse, logically we can fall into a very grave fascist regime," she said.

Asked if literature can provide a different perspective on immigration, Allende said it can bring us closer to people.

"If they tell me that there are 100 million refugees in the world, it is a number and means little until I meet one; when I know his story, his name and everything that has happened to him, then I can put myself in his place," she said.

Allende then spoke of her book "The Wind Knows My Name," about a blind girl who is separated from her mother at the border.

"When they talk to me about the thousands of separated children, they are also numbers, until you think of a certain child and know that it could be your son or his grandson," she said. "Everything changes when you can personally relate to something. Literature makes us see things from an angle we had never expected, and that is wonderful. That is why literature will always exist."

Book bans, women's rights and 'not losing hope'

Last year, two of Allende's novels, "The House of the Spirits" and "In the Midst of Winter," were on a list of books removed from schools in Orange County, Florida. Allende said it's happening now because of "this thing between the religious and extreme right, of banning books."

But Allende added it's "almost an honor that they at least notice that the book exists. It doesnt affect me at all."

She added that "The House of the Spirits" was banned several years ago, first in Chile and later in North Carolina. "Because all it takes is for a parent to complain and they will remove the book from the library. But one teacher who defends it is also enough for the book to return to the library, and that is what happened then," she said.

Isabel Allende en un evento literario celebrado en Boston, durante la gira de presentacion de

Allende has always been outspoken about women's rights and feminism, and it's one of the objectives of her foundation.

She said gender parity, where feminine values have the same weight as masculine ones, "is the ultimate goal, and to achieve it is a relentless fight that will take much longer than the years of my life. Im not going to see it and maybe my granddaughters arent going to see it, but here we go. There is more education and the young generations no longer endure what our grandmothers or mothers endured."

But, she said, "you always have to be vigilant because there is no excuse for everything to go backward. What has happened in the United States is that the right to plan your family, that is, not only abortion but also contraception is on the chopping block. ... And this is something that directly affects women and the entire society."

But she said some things have gotten better.

"When I left Chile, 50% of the Latin American population lived generally under a military dictatorship, very repressive, in which people disappeared and there was massive torture," Allende said. "Now we've known decades of weak and often conditional democracies, but democracies. And I believe that these authoritarian and fascist tendencies come and go with the law of the pendulum. The same is happening in Europe. And in my 80 years I have seen a lot, so I dont lose hope. I think we are moving forward, not going backwards."

These days, the author has decided to take on the challenge of writing children's books, and every Tuesday and Thursday she receives a visit from a demanding literary critic: Camila, a 4-year-old girl to whom she reads what she writes.

"It was a beautiful challenge because when Camila goes to the house for me to read to her, I can see how she falls in love with the characters," she said. The first of three illustrated books that she's writing, "Perla, la Super Perrita" ("perrita" means female dog), is scheduled for publication later this year.

She acknowledged that young people can be scared of books because they're used to screens, so it's harder to get them to read, "but literature has a function and even if the medium changes, even if you hear it on audio, even if you read it digitally, it still has a function and continues to exist. And the proof is that now more books are published than ever and all those books are sold somewhere. There are readers who read in a hurry, but they read."

Allende also offered a glimpse of what may be left for her to write.

"I always said I wanted to write an erotic novel, but as long as my mother was alive, I couldnt do it. And my mom lived to be 98," Allende said, laughing. "So by the time I was free to do it, I no longer had the hormones, and frankly, the topic doesnt interest me that much now."

A previous version of this article was first published in Noticias Telemundo.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- The Israeli drone strike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers  including three Britons  is exposing new fissures in Rishi Sunaks cabinet as pressure mounts on the UK prime minister to suspend arms sales to Tel Aviv.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Sunak and his foreign secretary, David Cameron, are stuck between opposing Tory factions who either want to stop future defense exports to Israel or show it continued support, according to ministers, officials and members of Parliament who requested anonymity discussing internal disputes. At least three Cabinet ministers are opposed to any suspension of arms sales, people familiar with their thinking said.

The Prime Ministers Office and the Foreign Office declined to comment on Cabinet disagreements over the issue. Government officials say Sunak and Cameron have worked in lock-step with each other, as well as with Washington, on efforts to pressure Israel to pause hostilities.

The episode is the latest example of how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus war to eliminate the Hamas leadership in Gaza  and its mounting civilian death toll  is disrupting domestic politics for some of its closest supporters. Sunaks Conservative Party, which was largely united in support of Israels right to respond after Hamass Oct. 7 attacks, is now facing the sort of infighting thats beset Keir Starmers opposition Labour on the war.

Conservative tensions boiled over on Thursday, when former Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan accused a number of pro-Israel Tories of exercising the interests of another country. A Conservative Party spokesman said later said that Duncan, who is no longer an MP, had been placed under investigation for his comments.

While public Tory feuding has become a feature of Westminster politics in recent years, this dispute is particularly fraught because of the prominent role of Cameron, a former prime minister whom Sunak brought back in a shock reshuffle in November. Now an unelected peer in the House of Lords, he has emerged as one of the most-high-profile Western officials expressing concern about the human cost of Israels actions in Gaza, which have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

For weeks, Cameron has been anticipating legal advice that would allow him to make a judgment on whether Israel was still in compliance with international humanitarian law. A decision against Israel would lead to Britain suspending licenses allowing companies to export arms to the country, something the Foreign Office has actively been considering, Bloomberg reported in February.

Britain has no choice but to suspend arms sales to Israel because export licenses require recipients to heed international law, Alicia Kearns, a Conservative who chairs Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, told BBC radio on Friday.

While that would be largely symbolic  Defense Ministry figures show arms exports to the country totaled 42 million ($53 million) in 2022  it would send a political message to Israel from a key Western ally. US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu in a call on Thursday that US support for Israel would depend on new efforts by the country to protect civilians.

Britain backed a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, while the US abstained, allowing the measure to go through. Sunak this week called the situation in Gaza increasingly intolerable.

The UK Foreign Offices legal advice has been heading toward a tougher view on Israel since Cameron judged in December that there was no clear risk of a serious breach of international law, people familiar with the matter said. Departmental officials have been expecting Cameron to soon decide  and publicly state  that its plausible Israel was now in violation, the people said.

Although Cameron told reporters on March 8 that he would receive new legal advice in the coming days, hes since provided no updates. A person close to the foreign secretary said he misspoke about the time frame, adding there has been no change in Camerons view. On Thursday, the foreign secretary refused to discuss Israel in a BBC interview on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels.

On Friday, Treasury Minister Gareth Davies told Sky News that the UK has a longstanding convention of not publishing its private legal advice, but that the process is very robust and ministers take action based on it.

Some senior Cabinet ministers and Downing Street advisers, as well as dozens of Tory MPs, oppose the UK making a judgment that Israel might not be complying with international law. They dont want to stop arms exports to the country while its waging a war against Hamas, which the UK, like the US, considers a terrorist organization.

Still, political pressure has increased in the wake of the drone strike on Monday that killed World Central Kitchen workers delivering food to displaced Palestinians. Camerons former national security adviser, Peter Ricketts, was among prominent ex-government officials to suggest in recent days that exports should be stopped.

The issue is being compounded by Sunaks own political weakness, as the Conservatives trail far behind Labour in public opinion ahead of an election expected later this year. Some Tory officials are concerned that a strong line against Israel could convince some MPs to support a change of leader, with pro-Israel backbenchers, such as former Home Secretary  and possible Sunak leadership rival  Suella Braverman urging the government to maintain support for Tel Aviv.

But Sunak may find calls for action increasingly hard to ignore. On Wednesday, some 600 lawyers and academics, including three former Supreme Court justices, signed a letter warning Britain was in breach of international law by continuing to arm Israel.

Britains international obligations require it to suspend the provision of weapons and weapons systems to the government of Israel, they wrote.

--With assistance from Alberto Nardelli and Isabella Ward.

(Updates with comment from Kearns, Davies, starting in eighth paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) -- Benny Gantz, a member of Israels war cabinet, called for early elections, ramping up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing growing domestic protests against his government and an international backlash as the conflict in Gaza rages.

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Gantz, who has seen his popularity among Israeli voters surge as that of Netanyahu has dived, said polls should take place in September instead of as scheduled in 2026.

An early votes needed to overcome the challenges ahead, Gantz, who heads the National Unity party, said at a press conference in Tel Aviv late on Wednesday. The Israeli public needs to know that we will soon ask for their trust.

Netanyahus Likud party criticized the comments and said elections in the near future would lead to paralysis, division and fatal damage to the chances of a hostage deal.

Gantz argued that an agreement on an election date wouldnt dent Israels war effort against Hamas in Gaza and would prevent the rift in the nation.

Even if Gantz pulls out of the war cabinet, Netanyahus government wont necessarily fall because Likud and the several ultra-Orthodox and nationalist parties in its coalition will maintain a narrow majority in the parliament.

Nonetheless, a Gantz exit would weaken Netanyahus position.

The conflict is creating deep political fractures within Israel as well as straining the countrys relations with key allies, including the US. Last month, Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US Congress, tore into Netanyahu, saying the prime minister had lost his way and Israel needed to hold elections to decide its future.

Gaza, Iran Strikes Show Limits of Bidens Influence on Israel

Israeli stocks slumped 1.8% by 12:10 p.m. in Tel Aviv, though theyre still up around 4% this year. Aside from local politics, markets have been unnerved by rising tensions between Israel and Iran, especially after a deadly missile strike on Tehrans consulate in Damascus on Monday. The Islamic Republic blamed Israel and vowed to take revenge.

Navigational signals were scrambled over the Tel Aviv metropolitan area on Thursday as Israel braced for a potential Iranian attack on the countrys economic center.

Protests Against Netanyahu

Netanyahu, who was released from hospital on Tuesday following a hernia operation, has been the target of increasingly large protests over the past few days. Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Jerusalem, blaming him for failing to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. They also called for elections and several people were arrested.

Netanyahu, 74, is Israels longest-serving prime minister and heads the most right-wing coalition in its history. Gantz is a leading opposition figure but joined a five-man, emergency cabinet soon after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 250.

Israels retaliatory air and ground offensive on Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Gantz, 64, is a former head of the Israeli military and an ex-defense minister. His politics are more centrist than those of Netanyahu, though both men agree on the need to continue the war until Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US, is destroyed.

They also both say Israeli forces must be sent into the city of Rafah because several thousand Hamas fighters and leaders of the Iran-backed group are there. Israels allies are trying to convince it to scrap those plans, saying an offensive would be devastating for the more than one million civilians seeking refuge from the war.

The prime ministers facing a showdown with some coalition members over a Supreme Court ruling last week that cut funding for ultra-Orthodox seminaries unless their students serve in the military. Netanyahu promised hed prevent such a move when his government was formed in late 2022. Gantz and other opposition politicians back the court, arguing Israel can no longer afford to exempt any sections of the Jewish population from the draft.

Netanyahu has said he will find a way to keep both sides happy.

International pressure on Israel has grown significantly after its army struck a World Central Kitchen aid convoy on Monday, killing seven workers. US President Joe Biden said he was outraged.

Netanyahus office said that Biden and Netanyahu are scheduled to speak on Thursday.

The call between the two leaders comes as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas stall again, according to Israeli officials.

Israel Says Large Gaps Remain With Hamas Over Gaza Cease-Fire

Large gaps remain between the sides over hostages, prisoners and the future of Gaza, with Hamas wanting to stay in power even after fighting ends.

A delegation of Israeli negotiators returned late Tuesday from two days of talks in Cairo and reported that Hamas is insisting on an immediate end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the officials said. Those conditions are unacceptable to Israel, they said.

(Updates with Israeli stocks falling.)

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An Israeli attack in Gaza on a convoy of aid workers from World Central Kitchen, the relief organization providing desperately needed food to Palestinians, has generated outrage from the group's founder, celebrity chef Jose Andres and condemnation from around the world.

Israel has apologized for the strikes, which killed seven members of the group late Monday, saying it was an accident in "the fog of war." They have promised a thorough investigation of the incident, which Andres said was deliberate.

Nearly six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip. About 1,200 people were killed in the initial terrorist attack, according to Israeli officials, while Israel's bombing of Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.





Latest Developments





Apr 5, 4:21 PM

Sullivan to meet with hostage families on Monday

National security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet families of hostages at the White House on Monday, which is one day after the war reaches the six-month mark, a senior administration official said.



President Joe Biden on Friday wrote letters to the president of Egypt and the emir of Qatar on the state of the talks, and he urged them to secure commitments from Hamas to agree to and abide by a deal, the official added.

PHOTO: Yael Alexander, mother of Edan Alexander, wears a t-shirt with an image of his face, as families of American hostages in Gaza join elected officials for a press conference in New York City, Apr. 5, 2024. (Adam Gray/Reuters)

"The president made clear that everything must be done to secure the release of hostages, including American citizens, now held by Hamas terrorists for nearly six months," the senior administration official said.

"They discussed the importance of fully empowering Israeli negotiators to reach a deal, which in its first phase would secure the release of women, elderly, sick and wounded hostages," the official said.

PHOTO: Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of American hostage Omer Neutra, attend a press conference ahead of the six-month anniversary of the October 7 attacks in New York City, April 5, 2024. (Adam Gray/Reuters)

A new round of talks will take place this weekend in Cairo.



-ABC News Selina Wang





Apr 5, 3:49 PM

Strike on World Central Kitchen workers was 'a terrible chain of errors,' IDF says

The Israeli Defense Forces issued a new statement in English calling the Israeli militarys strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on Monday a "tragedy."



"It was a terrible chain of errors and it should never have happened," the IDF said. "The IDF takes full responsibility for this regrettable loss of life."

PHOTO: Mourners gather to hold a vigil for the Polish aid worker Damian Sobol who was killed in Gaza while working for the charity World Central Kitchen, in Przemysl, Poland, Apr. 4, 2024. (Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza via Reuters)

The IDF said earlier that the airstrike came after Israeli forces misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.



The IDF said WCK correctly coordinated its movements with the IDF prior to the night the workers were killed and that there was a "comprehensive plan" in place for the WCK workers movements on Monday.



-ABC News Ellie Kaufman





Apr 5, 10:05 AM

US 'carefully' reviewing Israel's report on WCK attack, Blinken says

U.S. officials are reviewing Israel's report on the Israel militarys attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers "very carefully" and "will be discussing its conclusions with Israeli officials and with humanitarian organizations in the days to come," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.



The Israel Defense Forces said its airstrike in Gaza that killed seven WCK aid workers on Monday came after Israeli forces misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.

PHOTO: A Palestinian man rides a bicycle past a damaged vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Apr. 2, 2024. (Ahmed Zakot/Reuters)

Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "indicated" to President Joe Biden in their Thursday call "that Israel would be making further changes to its procedures to make sure that those who are providing assistance to people who so desperately need it in Gaza are protected."

"It's very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It's also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable," Blinken said. "Even more important is making sure that steps are taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again."

PHOTO: A picture of Damian Sobol is displayed as mourners gather to hold a vigil for the Polish aid worker Damian Sobol who was killed in Gaza while working for the charity World Central Kitchen, in Przemysl, Poland, Apr. 4, 2024. (Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborczavia via Reuters)

Blinken said the U.S. would be "looking to see not just what steps are being taken, but the results that follow" from potential changes to Israeli military operations.



-ABC News Chris Boccia





Apr 5, 9:43 AM

Kirby: US must 'start seeing meaningful changes' from Israel

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby warned Friday that if the U.S. doesnt "start seeing meaningful changes in the way Israel is prosecuting these [military] operations [in Gaza] and allowing for humanitarian assistance [in Gaza], and working toward a hostage deal and cease-fire, then were going to have to make changes in our Gaza policy."



In his interview with ABC News' "Good Morning America," Kirby would not say if those changes in Gaza policy would mean conditioning U.S. aid.

PHOTO: Palestinians ride bicycles past the ruins of houses and buildings destroyed during Israeli military offensive, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip Mar. 31, 2024. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

But Kirby said President Joe Biden was very clear on his call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. must "see some changes."

"Weve got to see the humanitarian situation improve in Gaza, or otherwise we will have to try to take a look at our own policy and make decisions, and change the way that were supporting Israel," Kirby said.

The U.S. still wants an immediate cease-fire in exchange for the release of the Israeli hostages and for getting more aid into Gaza, Kirby stressed. U.S. officials will be among the negotiators meeting this weekend in Cairo, he said.





Apr 5, 7:09 AM

IDF says there were 3 strikes on WCK convoy, misidentified worker as Hamas gunman: 'Misjudgment'

Israel Defense Forces released a statement Friday about the deadly airstrike in Gaza that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on April 1.



The IDF said it misidentified a WCK worker in the convoy as a Hamas gunman.



"After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK," the IDF said in a statement Friday.



"Following a misidentification by the forces, the forces targeted the three WCK vehicles based on the misclassification of the event and misidentification of the vehicles as having Hamas operatives inside them, with the resulting strike leading to the deaths of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers," the statement continued.



The report said there were three strikes on the convoy. It also said WCK workers hit in the first vehicle were hit again while moving to another vehicle in the convoy.



"The investigation's findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees," the IDF said. "The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures."



It said WCK correctly coordinated its movements with the IDF prior to the night the workers were killed and that there was a "comprehensive plan" in place for the WCK movement on April 1.





Apr 5, 5:16 AM

'The real test is results': Blinken reacts to Israel border crossing announcements

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about the announcement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office's announcement overnight that additional crossings into Gaza would be opened up for aid to enter.



He said the U.S. "welcomed" the development but that "the real test is results, and that's what we're looking to see in the coming days, the coming weeks."



"Is the aid effectively reaching the people who need it throughout Gaza?" he said. "Do we have a much better system for deconfliction and coordination so that the humanitarian workers, the folks who are delivering the aid, can do it safely and securely? All of these things are critical."



Blinken said these aims would be measured by clear metrics "like the number of trucks that are actually getting in on a sustained basis," and the aid making it to those in need through the enclave  "including critically northern Gaza."



He said the administration would be closely watching to see if other measurements were reversed, including "the fact that almost 100% of the population is acutely food insecure" as well as indicators of potential famine.



"So really, the proof is in the results," he said.



ABC News' Shannon Crawford





Apr 5, 9:56 AM

Partner of killed aid worker calls for answers: 'We need the truth of what happened'

The partner of one of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza this week is pleading for answers into the deadly attack.



"We need some answers," Sandy Leclerc, the partner of Jacob Flickinger, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, told ABC News on Thursday in her first television interview since the attack. "We need the truth of what happened because this situation is so unclear."



"Please Mr. Biden, give us the truth of what happened," she asked of President Joe Biden as she spoke with ABC News correspondent Phil Lipof.









Apr 4, 6:17 PM

Israel to open another border crossing point after Biden-Netanyahu call: Official

Israel has decided to open another border crossing point -- the Erez checkpoint -- to allow humanitarian aid to cross into Gaza, according to an Israeli official.



The decision comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone earlier Thursday.



"This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war," the official said in a statement. "In light of this, Israel will allow the temporary delivery of humanitarian aid through Ashdod (port) and the Erez checkpoint and will increase the Jordanian aid coming in through Kerem Shalom."



-ABC News' Dana Savir





Apr 4, 6:07 PM

WCK airstrike won't affect emergency pier mission: Pentagon

The U.S. military's emergency pier system to get humanitarian aid into Gaza is still en route, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday.



Ryder said that USAID continues to work with organizations to finalize a distribution plan for the aid once it's transferred by the system -- known as JLOTS -- to shore. He also acknowledged that the deadly Israeli strike that killed seven humanitarian aid workers this week "certainly doesn't make that job easier."



He added that it "has not deterred us from continuing to work with groups and NGOs to come up with solutions."



Ryder confirmed that Israel has committed to providing security on shore for the pier and port system.



"I know Israel's investigating in terms of the strike on World Central Kitchen and we trust that Israel will provide the security that we need on the shore," he said.



Ryder said the system is expected to be operational by the end of April or early May.



"We're not changing the mission. We've been tasked to provide a temporary pier. Everything is on track on schedule at this point," he said.



-ABC News' Luis Martinez





Apr 4, 6:03 PM

IDF suspends 2 military commanders after deadly airstrike: Israeli media

The Israel Defense Forces have suspended two military commanders after seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed in an IDF airstrike earlier this week, according to Israeli media.



-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman

Click here to read the rest of the blog.
Luddites have been a great historical resource. Any showy enemy of something that looked like technological progress has been called a Luddite. Today, the word has been revived with generative artificial intelligence and its critics. Author and journalist Brian Merchant saw it coming and has written a book that summarizes the Luddite revolt in early 19th-century England and examines its similarities with current technologies: Blood in the Machine explores the origins of the current revolt against big technology.

Although the book appeared in the midst of the uproar over AI, Merchant began his research a decade ago: Uber was getting big in the early 2010s and people were starting to point out the fact that it was having a nasty impact on taxi drivers, they were starting already to reduce wages. And so people were criticizing Uber and I remember the term Luddite floating around The pro-Uber camp [was] saying dont be a Luddite, and I was like, huh? I wrote this article called Youve Got the Luddites All Wrong. In his book he notes that the Luddite revolt was a labor strugglenot an anti-technology oneat a time when unions were prohibited. In a conversation with EL PAIS from his residence in Los Angeles, Merchant explains the historical impact of the Luddites and the possible similar struggles being played out today in Silicon Valley.

1. The Luddites were not anti-progress

The labor revolt over the loss of rights was more important than the destruction of textile machines: The biggest misconception about the Ludditesis that [people] think that the Luddites were anti-technology and anti-progress, says Merchant. " They were against certain technologies because they recognized the way that they were going to be used in a social and economic context against them as workers It was a labor movement, it was an anti-poverty movement. It was not an anti-technology or anti-progress movement. The British State started casting them that way almost immediately. So, they had an interest in deriding the Luddites and making this case that they were anti-progress [in] much the same way that people in positions of power, people at tech companies make the case against tech critics or workers who are complaining about bad working conditions at tech companies or tech adjacent companies today. Its the same story for 200 years.

The book quotes a phrase from historian Eric Hobsbawm that explains this stage: collective bargaining by riot. According to Merchant, this tactic is very powerful in workers struggles for two reasons: [First], it was symbolic because everybody understood that what they were smashing was not just a piece of machinery. It was also the specific piece of machinery that was being used to transfer wealth from working people to a factory boss. And [second], it was useful because they were able to destroy the piece of equipment that the factory bosses were using to generate those extra revenue streams.

2. Why Robin Hood is more acceptable than Ned Ludd

Ned Ludd was a legendary character. No one knows for sure if he existed. According to popular lore, he was the teenager who broke the first machines at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In 1811, rebellious workers used his legendary name to sign letters and scare others: Ludd likely never existed at all. But his avatar would become a mascot, an organizing tool, and a winking joke: a powerful nineteenth-century meme, Merchant writes.

Like another legendary figure who has fared better in history, Ludd lived near Nottingham, U.K. Thats not a coincidence, Merchant argues: [The Luddites] staged a very popular and powerful rebellion. At [the] time, people were writing folk songs about them. They were Robin Hoods. But its interesting that Robin Hood has endured in a positive light, while the Luddites did not. That suggests to me that the Ned Ludd myth is in some ways more dangerous to the elites and to the rich than Robin Hood, which is a little more nebulous and a little more open-ended. The Luddites are saying: go ahead, break the machinery of your oppression Robin Hood is saying: steal from the rich and give to the poor. I think thats a little bit more tolerable.

3. How the Luddites problems are similar to todays

The backdrop of the book is that the story of the Luddites resembles what is happening today in Silicon Valley, where a small group of corporations are dominating new technologies. The way that technologies are developed and deployed has basically been unchanged. You have a smaller handful of people [with] access to enough capital or political influence to be able to build a factory and to use automating technologies. Back then the most aggressive [factory owners] did all of this without asking the communities [where] they were building factories. It wasnt like they worked with the cloth workers that were already there in the community and said, we have these new technologies, how do we figure out a way to make this beneficial to society?

Merchant has been criticized for equating the big businessmen in 19th-century England with those in the 21st-century United States. But there are details he doesnt see as dissimilar: Strangely, the process of developing technology is somehow even more anti-democratic today than it was then. Because you have this immense pool of capital available to Silicon Valley innovators through the venture capital ecosystem. Uber was not profitable for 10 years, but they had access to this enormous pool of capitalDoes anybody actually like this? Is this working for workers? Is this working for Riders? does that matter? We got some more money [and] we push on.

Artificial intelligence is just another stage in this process of an amazing new technology that survives for years until it finds a way to make a profit, says Merchant: " Theyre doing some things that are flashy and theyre getting a lot of hype [and] a lot of investmentIt doesnt seem like a lot of people like it, but theyre pressing ahead because they have just an unfathomable amount of capital and resources and influence. Soheres Sora, its gonna turn text into video. Is this a good idea? I dont know but here it is. So, its this remarkably anti-democratic way of developing technology. As a result, history supports the fact that for 200 years technological development has been out of harmony with social and economic stability. We correct, we catch up, we figure things out, but why [is it that] for 200 years when theres a big new technology, the answer is: Oh great, lets see how this benefits society, but we react with fear, Merchant notes.

4. What is the price of progress?

The usual response from businessmen and economists is that these fears are the price of progress. Technological advances forcefully bring disruption and suffering. For the Luddites, this argument was not obvious from the beginning because even the elites did not know how it would end. A lot of economists say, yeah, theres some dislocation, its painful for some people but new jobs are always created. [Yes, the elites] are getting richer. It could be painful in the short term, but look at the future. but always look at the people saying that. theyre the economists who have either a job at a think tank where theyre making six figures or theyre tenured. The people who are waving away the short-term pain are always people in a position to do [so], says Merchant.

Brian Merchant warns that AI can lead to the erosion of vulnerable jobs. jaclyn campanaro

Sometimes, the changes brought about by technological developments do not completely destroy jobs but erode them: I do think the economists are right that its not really going to erase tons of jobs In a lot of cases, its not going to be a blanket removal of jobs. In some cases, it may be. Its going to be a further erosion of jobs that are already vulnerable carried out by vulnerable workers. In the industrial revolution with the luddites, it wasnt like the weaving jobs disappeared. Its that the factory owners were able to use the new machines as a justification for hiring children instead of skilled workers, says Merchant.

For years, Silicon Valley has been debating a kind of basic income for humans for the future work that machines will do. Merchant sees it as papering over the problem: I think universal basic income would be like a little tiny Band-Aid on a big structural problem. If the tech companies were serious about worrying about some of the social issues that their technologies might cause then I think you would see them lobbying for things like Universal Health Care or housing. Its the way that 20 years ago or 15 years ago youd see oil companies saying we support a carbon tax. They know its not gonna happen, he says.

5. From the Hollywood screenwriters to the attack on a self-driving car

In February, a Waymo (Google) autonomous car in San Francisco seemed to have a problem and caused a small traffic jam. A group of people surrounded it and after a while they broke the windows and set it on fire, while others filmed it. This is the first major destruction of a machine owned by a major tech company since the 1970s, when student activists attacked Hewlett Packard labs. Will we see more similar cases? The situation is so in flux that when I started writing this I would say, no, we werent there yet, even though there was suffering being caused and people were very angry at Amazon and Uber and these conditions. We see a lot of anger at other places in the United States. I think if they are successful in automating a number of jobs or degrading working conditions for enough people, impoverishing more people, then you do wonder That Waymo car attack [did] take me a little bit by surprise because it didnt just happen in a vacuum. My guess is that its kind of a beacon for a lot of this more ambient anger thats out there, that people are feeling at Big Tech and at the impact that its having on their lives.

At the time, that attack was unheard of. But so was the first more or less successful strike and negotiation that included AI: the Hollywood screenwriters strike. The really great thing about with the writer strike did is it just demonstrated how possible it is to win arrangements like that where workers have control over how AI is used within their own labor process. Again, especially in the [United] States, a lot of this stuff was kind of unthinkable, that you couldtell your boss how youre able to use AI or keep your boss from [employing] potentially abusive uses of technology. It really shows that if you proactively organize around this stuff, then you can draw these red lines and say we refuse as workers to use AI or to have AI used by management on our behalf.

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The Israeli military halted all military leave as threats grow from Iran following an alleged Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria this week, which killed two top generals.

The IDF said Thursday in a statement that it was pausing leave for all combat units in accordance with the situational assessment.

The IDF is at war and the deployment of forces is under continuous assessment according to requirements, the military said on Telegram.

The decision will keep forces on deployment and duty as Israel is on increased alert following the alleged Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate next to Tehrans embassy in Damascus.

The Monday strike killed a senior commander with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force who was a top official for the Iranian military in Lebanon and Syria. It also killed another high-ranking general and five other officers.

Iran has vowed revenge for the strike, which amounted to the most high-profile loss for Tehran since Israel began fighting against the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in October.

They will also be slapped for these acts, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech this week, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

Its not clear how Iran will reply, though experts have long cautioned that the nation does not want an all-out war with the U.S. or Israel.

But Tehran could respond through attacks through its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, a group that has been fighting against the Israeli military in northern Israel since the Gaza war broke out in October. Those attacks have largely been limited to border shelling.

The IDF said Wednesday in a statement that it was increasing manpower and drafting reserve soldiers for aerial defenses following a situational assessment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
'It's on Israel' to protect us in Gaza, say aid groups

Members of "World Central Kitchen" prepare food for Palestinians, in the location given as Gaza

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International aid groups said on Thursday there is nothing more they can do to protect staff in the Gaza Strip and that it is up to Israel to avoid killing them as the United Nations appealed for direct humanitarian coordination with the Israeli military.

Global outrage at the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people escalated after an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven people working for U.S.-based food charity World Central Kitchen.

The U.N. says at least 196 humanitarian workers have now been killed in the six-month-long war as Israel retaliates against Hamas in Gaza over a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group.

While some aid groups have suspended operations following the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy on Monday, none have said they plan to withdraw from Gaza despite the repeated attacks on aid operations in Gaza. The United Nations warns a famine is imminent.

The U.N. has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza.

"Every day we are forced to decide whether to suspend an operation or to proceed with an operation - and often the decision is to suspend because we don't have the proper security conditions in place," Scott Paul, associate director for peace and security at Oxfam America, told reporters.

The U.N. and international aid groups operating in Gaza said they share the locations of all premises and planned movements with the Israeli authorities and are in daily contact. The United States said on Tuesday that it was "unacceptable and inexplicable" that the Israeli military's procedures to avoid harming aid workers were not functioning appropriately.

"One of the things that would probably improve the system ... is for us to have the ability to have more direct contact with the military as opposed to going through a number of layers of military-civilian coordination as it does now," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.

Israel's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it would work to strengthen coordination, including by opening a joint situation room to coordinate between the Israeli military's southern command and international aid organizations.

'IT'S ON ISRAEL'

Israel also said on Thursday it would adjust war tactics.

"The rules of war require that those fighting always know the difference between military targets and humanitarian relief workers," said Bushra Khalidi, an Oxfam policy adviser.

"If there's any ever any doubt, it's on Israel to avoid harming us," she said, adding that aid groups make their staff as visible as possible in an effort to protect them.

Celebrity chef Jose Andres, who founded World Central Kitchen, told Reuters that Israel had targeted his aid workers "systematically, car by car." Israeli government spokesperson Raquela Karamson responded on Thursday: "This was unintended."

Louise Bichet, head of the Middle East department for Doctors of the World/Medecins du Monde, said her organization's offices in Gaza City had been partly destroyed "even though we had clearly communicated our GPS coordinates and it was very well known by the Israeli army."

"This shows the failure of the deconfliction process and poses a serious question ... (about) the understanding and respect of IHL (international humanitarian law) by the state of Israel," she said.

The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA - described by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza - said there has been more than 300 strikes on its facilities and 177 staff had been killed.

UNRWA said it had shared the coordinates of all of its facilities in Gaza with all parties to the conflict. Several aid convoys to northern Gaza had also been targeted despite detailed coordination with the Israeli military, UNRWA said.

Isabelle Defourny, president of Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) France, said the humanitarian coordination system was not working and that she could not imagine how it could be improved when there was a "lack of proportionality" in how Israel was conducting the war.

"They know where we are, what we do, where we will work," she said. "Despite that ... there are security incidents."

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Don Durfee and Diane Craft)
(Bloomberg) -- Cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas are stalling again, Israeli officials say, with large gaps between the sides over hostages, prisoners and the future of Gaza.

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A delegation of Israeli negotiators returned late Tuesday from two days of talks in Cairo and reported that Hamas is insisting on an immediate end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential talks.

The Iran-backed group also wants people in Gaza to be able to return to the north of the territory after the Israeli military urged them to move south at the start of the conflict, the officials said. Another sticking point, they said, is Hamass call for all Palestinians to be released from Israeli jails.

These reflect a hardening of Hamass stance compared with earlier talks, according to the Israeli officials, and are demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government wont accept.

Israel has proposed a 42-day cease-fire during which several dozen hostages would be exchanged for several hundred prisoners. Many north Gazans could also return home after being screened by Israeli forces for arms and links to Hamas.

The officials said Hamas believes its position is stronger because of growing international pressure on Israel as the war rages. That was manifested by a US decision not to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution last month calling for an immediate cease-fire. President Joe Biden, whos scheduled to speak to Netanyahu on Thursday by phone, also said he was outraged but an Israeli strike on Monday that killed seven aid workers in Gaza, including a US national.

Hamas is intent on remaining in power in Gaza even after fighting stops, the officials said, while Israel insists the war will continue until the groups destroyed. Hamas swarmed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 250.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its air and ground assault, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.

The talks between Israel and Hamas are mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Wednesday that the negotiations were deadlocked over the return of displaced people to their homes in Gaza.

Israel was wary of Gazans returning to the north because of the risk of Hamas rocket fire returning from there into Israel. The officials, though, said Israel has shifted its stance and is offering to permit thousands, even tens of thousands, of civilians to return.

The officials said Israel still wants to move forces into the southern Gaza city of Rafah to destroy the four remaining Hamas battalions there. Israel estimates they have roughly 8,000 fighters between them.

The US and others have expressed alarm over the plan, saying theres no way for the more than one million civilians in Rafah to be moved out quickly, and nowhere safe for them to go.

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A plot to attack Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's right-wing national security minister, was foiled by Israel's domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, according to its own account on Thursday.

The agency said it also prevented planned attacks on the country's international airport and other targets.

Seven Arab Israelis and four Palestinians from the West Bank were detained in connection with the suspected planned operation, the agency said in a statement on Thursday.

The group had planned attacks on a government building in Jerusalem and army bases, it said. An attack on an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, where Ben-Gvir lives, was being prepared, the agency said.

The group wanted to kill the minister with an anti-tank missile and kidnap soldiers, the Shin Bet, also known as the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), said.

Furthermore, the cell is said to have planned to build a factory to manufacture weapons and train there. At least one of those detained was in contact with a Hamas member in the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, 10 suspects were charged in Beersheva. Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the Hamas massacre in Israel six months ago, there has been an increase in attacks in Israel.
For a few months now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly invoked the name of the Gaza Strips southernmost city: Rafah. His government has relentlessly threatened Hamasand promised its own publicthat it will soon send ground troops into the only part of Gaza that Israel has yet to invade. Netanyahu dangles the threat in almost every meeting and press conference, without mentioning that the manpower and logistics required to both recruit the required IDF troops and evacuate the civilian population would take weeks to organize. That process has yet to begin.

But another battle is well under way. The U.S. has pushed back firmly at the Rafah plan, even as it continues to support Israels war effort. With well over 1 million internally displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, a ground operation is certain to exacerbate the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The threat of mass casualties, and of desperate Palestinians trying to flee into Egypt, looms large. Both Egypt and the U.S. have signaled their strong opposition to such a scenario, which could further destabilize the region. The U.S. has been insisting that Israel find alternatives, keep such an operation limited, and take steps to protect the civilian population. In a virtual meeting this week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken cast serious doubt on Israels ability to evacuate and protect Palestinians in Rafah.

Read More: Gaza and the End of Western Fantasy

Israel makes a military argument, calling a Rafah operation necessary to defeat Hamass four remaining battalions, and other combatants who have fled there; destroy Hamass military infrastructure; and assume control of the border between Egypt and Gaza to prevent weapons smuggling. Netanyahu expressly told Blinken last month that Israel will go into Rafah with or without U.S. approval. While we dont know what is in Netanyahus head, we do know that Israel cannot wage this war without U.S. backing. And, again, that a Rafah operation cant happen anytime soon for logistical reasons.

Netanyahus threats of an impending ground operation are thus just that, a threatthough one that could serve several purposes. First, by pressuring Hamas, it increases Israels leverage in negotiations toward a hostage deal (though this does not appear to have worked). The threat is also a way for Netanyahu to pander to his base, asserting that Israel will operate in Gaza however it wishes, even in the face of admonitions from Washington. It could also be a ploy by Netanyahu to argue, further down the road, that the reason Israel wasnt able to defeat Hamas entirely was U.S. opposition to a major ground invasion in Rafah.

Spotlighting Rafah also serves one more purpose. Intentionally or not, keeping international attention fixed on southern Gaza draws attention away from the catastrophic situation unfolding in northern Gaza, where Palestinians face mass starvation, and where breakdowns in order display the failings (or features) of Israels war strategy. Israeli leaders insist that they cannot win the war without defeating what remains of Hamas in Rafah. But doing so will still leave many thousands of Hamas fighters intact, and the aftermath could look a lot like what is already happening in northern Gaza, just worse. Thats because the main challenge Israel faces is not just taking apart Hamass military capacities but also (and primarily) its governanceand figuring out what to replace it with.

The million-dollar question Israeli leaders have been unable to answer: Who will govern Gaza? Israel has said it will not occupy Gaza after the war, that Hamas cannot remain, and that the current Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, cannot take over either.

The physical reality is that Israel has cut the strip in half, dividing north from south. It has occupied and largely depopulated the north, and created a buffer zone along the border with Israel on 16% of Gazas territory. Israeli forces have had control of northern Gaza for months, yet must conduct repeated operations to prevent Hamas from reasserting itself. Israel must thwart ambushes and attacks on its troops that the IDF has said it expects to continue in the form of guerrilla warfare throughout the Strip for years to come. Yet it also, and mainly, must remove Hamas as an administrative entity that imposes and preserves public order and oversees the distribution of humanitarian aid. This appears far from achievable at this point, six months in.

Read More: How Netanyahu Undermined Israels Security

Then Israel has to find something to take its place. The breakdown of Hamass governing authority, along with Israels efforts to remove UNRWA, the U.N. agency mandated to serve Palestinian refugees, has created a security and logistics vacuum for which Israelalong with the U.S., Arab states, and other interested partieshas yet to locate or build a replacement. If that wasnt bad enough, the Israeli strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy that killed seven aid workers has led the WCFone of the groups Israel was looking to fill the vacuumto pause their services. Amid this void, the north is stalked by mass starvation. A recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report stated that a third of Gazans face acute food insecurity. In northern Gaza, that number reaches 55%.

The Biden Administration is now scrambling to provide a response to the challenges to humanitarian aid delivery. Those efforts would be severely hampered by an Israeli ground operation in Rafahthe threat of which must not be allowed to distract from the more urgent emergency: Staving off the famine that has begun to grip the north, in part because of Israels inability to answer the question of who, if not Hamas, will rule the Strip.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
TEL AVIV, IsraelIsraels Supreme Court ruling last week to freeze state funding to certain ultra-Orthodox schools has brought to the fore a longtime debate in Israeli society: whether ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim, should be required to serve in the military.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to sidestep the political fallout of the ruling, the decision and its aftermath have highlighted persistent divides between religious and secular Israelis in the midst of a war.

Where did this debate come from?

Last Thursday, Israels Supreme Court issued an interim ruling freezing state funding for the seminaries, or yeshivas, attended by ultra-Orthodox, military-eligible students. The decision came ahead of a April 1 deadline, set after the last legislative workaround expired last June, for the government to pass a law officially exempting the Haredim from mandatory servicewhich it has yet to do amid disagreements between religious and secular parties in Netanyahus coalitionor enforce the conscription of military age men. In the week since, thousands of Haredim have demonstrated against the courts order, blocking traffic near the central, ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak.

But the debate over whether compulsory military service should extend to Israels ultra-Orthodox communities dates much further back, to the countrys founding. The Haredim have been more or less exempt from the draft since the time of Israels founding in 1948, while other Jewish Israelis are expected to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)in combat and non-combat rolesafter they turn 18. In general, men serve for at least 32 months and women serve for at least 24 months.

The exemption allows ultra-Orthodox men of fighting age to study the Torah at religious schools often heavily subsidized by the Israeli government. But the war against Hamas in Gazaand looming conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanonhas created a new sense of urgency to either limit or end the carve-out amid concerns about the militarys ability to fight on multiple fronts.

As a result of the war, the Israeli military command discovered that they do not have enough soldiers to fight on both fronts at the same time, Yoni Ben-Menachem, an Israel-based political analyst, told The Dispatch. We are facing a big problem. The Israeli army lacks at least 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers.

What do opponents of the exemption say?

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a member of Netanyahus Likud party, voiced the main argument for ending blanket exemptions last month: The army is in need of manpower now. Its not a matter of politics, its a matter of mathematics.

As Israels need for a large standing army grows, so too has the number of ultra-Orthodox students avoiding conscription. The number of Torah students has increased by 53 percent in the last 12 years and 7.3 percent in 2023 alone, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), reaching a total of 167,500. And those figures are expected to grow. The ultra-Orthodox are Israels fastest-growing demographic, with the Central Bureau of Statistics projecting that Haredim will make up 16 percent of the population by the end of the decade.

This trend presents practical challenges to the military echelon as it tries to fill its ranks. But some lawmakers argue that the carve-outs also undermine a feeling of national solidarity in wartime, as secular Israelis feel theyre shouldering the weight of Israels defense alone. In a March poll by IDI, 70 percent of Jewish Israelis said they want changes to the system that currently allows Haredi men to avoid military service.

Passing a law enshrining that exemption, as ultra-Orthodox parties in the government are trying to do, would be crossing a red line during normal times, and during the war, its like flying a black flag over it, Benny Gantz, a member of Israels war Cabinet and leader of the National Unity alliance, said last week. We will not be able to look in the eyes of fighters within our borders and beyond them, and ask them to extend their service.

Whats the case for protecting the carve-out?

To most Haredi communities in Israel, joining the army is seen as a potentially corrupting distraction from religious study. Military service involves mixing with secular society and devoting less time to prayer, which many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe is vital for the continued survival of the Jewish state. It also interferes with adherence to certain religious practices, such as maintaining strict kosher standards and keeping Shabbata weekly period of rest that begins at sundown on Fridays and ends at sundown on Saturdays.

Gallant said Tuesday that the IDF is hoping to address some of these issues by creating a plan of action to promote ultra-Orthodox enlistment under conditions that are suitable for the Haredi lifestyle. But its unlikely to be enough to assuage concerns about religious purity. Some ultra-Orthodox men have vowed to leave Israel, go to prison, or die before agreeing to enlist.

In its recent decision pushing ultra-Orthodox conscription, the Supreme Court is trying to create a fratricidal war, Aryeh Deri, the leader of the Shas, an ultra-Orthodox political party in Netanyahus governing coalition, said last week. The ruling of the High Court of Justice destroys the foundations of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel. The judges of the High Court of Justice want to saw off the branch of existence of the Jewish people.

Will there be political ramifications for Netanyahu?

The longstanding debate over whether the ultra-Orthodox should serve in the military nearly led to the collapse of Netanyahus coalition this week. In an appeal to ultra-Orthodox party leaders, the prime minister had previously promised to enshrine the carve-outa process that arguably began with his controversial judicial reform plan, which in its original iteration would have significantly rolled back the power of the left-leaning high court. But Netanyahus ability to deliver on that promise is now in question, as the court reasserts its authority on the issue of military exemptions and secular members of the emergency government leverage their position.

The culmination of challenges created a lose-lose situation for Netanyahu in recent days: Ultra-Orthodox party leaders threatened to leave over the Supreme Courts order to begin recruiting yeshiva students, while Gantz said his centrist National Unity party would withdraw from the emergency government if legislation was passed to formalize their exemption from military service.

But Netanyahu may have sidestepped a crisisfor now. Recognizing that the left-wing government likely to come to power in the event of the prime ministers ouster would be less open to the exemptions than Netanyahu, the ultra-Orthodox parties seem to be biding their time in the hopes of getting legislation passed in the coming months.

The religious schools have enough money to go on without financial support for a few months, said Ben-Menachem, the Israel-based analyst. Netanyahu and the religious parties look at this crisis as a political crisisa conspiracy to topple the right-wing government during the war. And theyre not going to go into the trap.

Read more at The Dispatch

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel braced on Thursday for the possibility of a retaliatory attack after its suspected killing of Iranian generals in Damascus this week, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would harm "whoever harms us or plans to harm us."

His comments came after Israel's armed forces - stretched by nearly six months of war in the Gaza Strip and on the Lebanese front - announced they were suspending leave for all combat units, a day after they said they were mobilising more troops for air defence units.

The possibility of Iran retaliating for Monday's presumed Israeli air strike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus has raised the spectre of a wider war, though two Iranian sources said Tehran's response would be calibrated to avoid escalation.

"For years, Iran has been acting against us both directly and via its proxies; therefore, Israel is acting against Iran and its proxies, defensively and offensively," Netanyahu said at the start of a security cabinet meeting late on Thursday.

"We will know how to defend ourselves and we will act according to the simple principle of whoever harms us or plans to harm us, we will harm them," he said.

The White House said U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu and they discussed Iran's threats. Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of that threat, Washington said.

Reuters journalists and residents of Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv said GPS services had been disrupted, an apparent measure to help ward off guided missiles.

Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has sworn revenge for the killing of two of its generals along with five military advisers in an air strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital on Monday.

Israel is believed to have carried out the strike, among the most significant yet on Iranian interests in Tehran's close ally Syria. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. Netanyahu made no mention of the attack.

Israel has been pressing its war on Hamas in Gaza since the Palestinian Islamists led a cross-border killing and kidnapping spree on Oct. 7, and has also been trading fire almost daily with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, which are aligned with Tehran, have launched occasional long-range rockets at Israel's Eilat port.

CAUTIOUS IRAN?

Until now, Iran has avoided directly entering the fray, while supporting allies' attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets.

The Islamic Republic has several options. It could unleash its heavily armed proxies in Syria and Iraq on U.S. forces, use Hezbollah to hit Israel directly or ramp up its uranium enrichment program. That would raise concern among the United States and its allies about Tehran's potential to make a nuclear bomb, which the West has long sought to curb.

But many diplomats and analysts say Iran's clerical elite does not want an all-out war with Israel or the U.S. that might endanger its grip on power, and would prefer to keep using proxies to carry out selective tactical attacks on its foes.

Such proxy strikes on U.S. forces in the region ceased in February after Washington retaliated for the killing of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan with dozens of air strikes on targets in Syria and Iraq linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps and militias it supports.

U.S. officials said at midweek they had not yet picked up intelligence suggesting Iran-backed groups were looking to target U.S. troops following Monday's attack.

While mindful that Israeli strikes on regional adversaries can put U.S. soldiers at risk of retaliation, U.S. officials are sympathetic to Israel's desire to restore deterrence after Oct. 7 and to stop flows of arms and fighters that may threaten it.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a growing concern Iran would make good on its threats to retaliate, raising the risk of volatile, regional escalation.

Iranian leaders have publicly indicated that Iran, which has deep-seated economic problems wrought in part by U.S. sanctions and took months to put down recent popular unrest, does not want a big war that could destabilise the country.

Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli intelligence chief, said Iran might choose Friday - the last in the Holy Muslim month of Ramadan and Iranian Quds (Jerusalem) Day - to respond to the Damascus strike, either directly or through a proxy.

"I will not be surprised if Iran will act tomorrow. Don't panic. Don't run to the shelters," said Yadlin, now at the Kennedy School's Belfer Center at Harvard University, citing Israel's aerial defence systems.

"Be tuned for tomorrow and then, depending on the consequences of the attack, it may escalate."

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell, James Mackenzie and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Arshad Mohammad, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Don Durfee in Washington; editing by Sharon Singleton, Angus MacSwan, Toby Chopra, Mark Heinrich and Cynthia Osterman)
During a contentious Morning Joe interview on Thursday, Israeli Economic Minister Nir Barkat used air quotes as he spoke of the innocent people in Gaza, suggesting he does not believe there are innocent people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Barkat made the motion with his hands as he responded to a comment from co-host Mika Brzezinski. He had come prepared for the interview with a poster showing the female hostages that are believed to remain in Hamas militants custody, using it to emphasize the brutality of the militants Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which took more than 1,100 lives.

Every victim in this has been mentioned by you, sir, except for civilians starving in Gaza, and I just want to point out that you never, even when asked, you didnt mention that, Brzezinski said, adding that she was not asking him to address the hunger crisis in Gaza.

Barkat did so anyway, claiming, We dont want anybody, any civilian, to suffer.

And we collaborate with the world, helping the innocent people, the innocent people in Gaza  that 80% of them, 70, 80% of them support Oct. 7  we dont want anybody to starve or anything, he said with air quotes. And we will be helpful to the world, collaborating and helping them.

The conversation had begun with discussion of a New York Times story about Qatars funding of Hamas, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly encouraged before the Oct. 7 attack in a strategy dubbed buying quiet.

MORNING JOE hosts erupt at Israels economy minister and his governments handling of the war in Gaza.



pic.twitter.com/60KZm6f6j1  Waleed Shahid  (@_waleedshahid) April 4, 2024

Israeli officials often characterize the Israel Defense Forces as the most moral army in the world  a label that has attracted even more criticism amid Israels current campaign in Gaza.

Though Israel says its military is only targeting Hamas operatives, the death toll in Gaza is comprised largely of women and children. The entire population is believed to be at imminent risk of starvation, with many forced to live in makeshift tent communities. Aid groups are also hesitating to continue providing humanitarian relief after Israeli sniper fire took the lives of seven World Central Kitchen workers this week.

United Nations officials have criticized Israelis treatment of their Palestinian neighbors as dehumanizing and said last month that Israel has lost all credibility on its claims to protect civilians.

Reports in multiple news outlets this week described artificial intelligence systems allegedly used by the IDF to determine targets for military strikes, claiming they are used with minimal human oversight and offer incorrect identifications 10% of the time.

According to the White House, President Joe Biden discussed the situation in Gaza with Netanyahu in a call Thursday, warning that U.S. support for Israel was contingent on protections for Gazas civilians.

Related...
Israeli minister yelled at US Secretary of State over Rafah invasion, reports say

Ron Dermer, Israel's strategic affairs minister, is said to have lost his cool at a meeting on Rafah - Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

A top Israeli official shouted at American officials in frustration after the Biden administration pushed back on Israels plans to invade Rafah, according to reports.

A source familiar with the meeting told The Telegraph that it wasnt an easy conversation and that the US asked Israel to provide a more detailed plan for the evacuation of civilians from the southern city, where up to 1.5 million people are now living.

Ron Dermer, Israels minister of strategic affairs, began yelling and waving his arms while defending plans to launch a ground invasion of the city, according to NBC, which cited US officials.

The meeting was attended by Jake Sullivan, US National Security Adviser, and Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, who kept calm, according to the officials.

However, an Israeli official told NBC this was a misrepresentation of what occurred in the room, adding: The meeting was constructive and respectful, even during disagreements. There was no yelling at any point.

Mr Dermer and Mr Blinken pictured together at the White House in March 2023

Israel is planning to evacuate civilians to tents just north of Rafah over several weeks, but has failed to address the issues of sanitation, food and water, according to the NBC report.

The US has warned Israel repeatedly about its plans to invade Rafah, with President Biden saying it would be a mistake.

The killing of seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, Lloyd Austsin, the US Defense Secretary, told his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday.

But Israel is insisting on launching a full-scale ground invasion in Rafah as it has elsewhere in Gaza, to try to destroy the last four Hamas battalions believed to be operating there and attempt to free the remaining 130 or so Israeli hostages.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly clashed with the Biden administration over the issue, saying Israel has no choice but to enter the city.

Mr Netanyahu and Mr Biden will discuss Rafah over the phone on Thursday, according to Israeli media.

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The MAGA-friendly judge overseeing Donald Trumps trial for hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago has handed prosecutors a minor victory on Thursday. But she also refused to take the bait on a trap that could have very well led to her removal from the case.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Thursday rejected the former presidents bid to dismiss the entire case on the faulty premise that the Department of Justice had no right to turn a bureaucratic spat over presidential records into a criminal case.

But perhaps more importantly, Cannon refused to go down a legal path that DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith invited her to travel, with Cannon refusing to issue a separate court order on a related issuea ruling that Smith could have formally appealed and potentially utilized to get Cannon knocked off the case.

Jack Smith Tracks Unhinged Origin of Judge Cannons Latest Trump Defense

That issue involves Trumps latest defense strategy, one that asserts he has unchecked powers to declare any government document a personal record, thus undercutting any allegation that he broke the law when he boxed up national secrets and shipped them from the White House to his oceanside Florida estate and refused to turn them over when asked by the National Archives. As Smith laid out earlier this week, its a far-fetched legal theory that started with conservative activist Tom Fitton and made its way to Trump and eventually the judge herself.

Cannon has given serious consideration to that idea, however.

On Mar. 18, she surprised legal scholars when she proposed draft jury instructions that would go one of two ways: either force the DOJ to allow jurors to review highly classified documents at trial, or tell jurors that theyd have to defer to Trump on making the call whether the records he took were personal or not.

In response to that declaration, Smith slammed Cannon on Tuesday for putting the case in jeopardy long before the trial even begins, asking her to promptly clarify her interpretation of the law.

That clarification looked like it could provide prosecutors a legal avenue to formally make an appeal to a higher court, which would allow Smith to take the matter up with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. (That court has already twice reversed Cannons prior decisions, and this third foray could have been used as an opportunity to yank Cannon off the case entirely.)

But Cannon didnt fall for it.

Jack Smiths Subtle Shot at Trump Mar-a-Lago Judge Aileen Cannon

On Thursday, she defended her inscrutable jury instruction ultimatum and called Smiths request to issue an actual order unprecedented and unjust. She also defended her reasoning and couched it as merely floating an idea, one that should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition on any essential element or asserted defense in this case.

Nor should it be interpreted as anything other than what it was: a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case of first impression, she wrote.

She then took a parting shot at prosecutors by saying they could still try to take it up with a higher court.

As always, any party remains free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke, as permitted by law, she wrote.

By refusing to issue an official order on her proposed jury instructions, Cannon has set the stage to potentially poison the trial at the last minute. Jury instructions are often finalized during the trial, and Cannon might decide to proceed in a way that wouldnt give prosecutors time to file an appeal during the actiona scenario that would be seen as a decisive victory by Trumps legal team, according to a person briefed on internal discussions who would only speak on condition of anonymity.

Its unclear when the trial will take place. Cannon has routinely slowed down the case by briefly stopping FBI special agents from reviewing evidence and postponed key decisions.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Jackson Mayor Scott Conger's Chief of Staff Ronald Alexander "Alex" Reed has been arrested on Wednesday on charges of electronic tracking of a car and stalking, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The arrest comes as a result of a TBI investigation that began in September 2023, following allegations of a tracking device being placed in a citizen's car.

Attorney General Jody Pickens, 26th Judicial District, requested the commencement of the investigation.

Following the allegations, TBI noted that Reed had supposedly placed a tracking device on an nonconsenting citizen's car in January 2023 and tracked it for some time.

The Madison County Grand Jury returned the indictment on Monday with Reed facing one count each of stalking and the electronic tracking of a motor vehicle.

More: Jackson mayor's top aide Alex Reed opens up about his gambling addiction, his redemption in city hall

He was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Madison County Jail.

In a statement on Thursday morning, Conger shared that Reed has been placed on administrative leave without pay and relinquished all city-issued items.

Noting that updates will continue to be provided as the legal process progresses, he says the city's operations will remain unaffected.

"We understand the concerns this situation may raise among our citizens, and we want to assure you that we are fully committed to transparency and integrity in handling this matter," Conger said.

"Your trust in your city's leadership is of utmost importance, and we are dedicated to upholding the values and standards that define our great city."

Conger, along with city attorneys and a select few councilmembers, gathered at City Hall for a special-called meeting on Friday morning. Per attorney-client stipulations, the meeting was not open to the media and no further public comment has been made.

Reed was previously fired in 2019 from a congressional campaign in Arkansas for utilizing $20,000 in campaign funds to fuel his gambling addiction. He ultimately loaned the money back in full, which campaign finance laws do not permit.

Offering redemption, Conger brought Reed on staff in 2019 as the informal campaign manager.

At the time, Conger credited him for being instrumental in securing his then first-term mayoral seat.

"Whatever mistakes or whatever someone has done personally, people shouldn't be defined by that," Conger said in 2019 in an interview with the Jackson Sun.

"Alex is talented, he's humble, he's intelligent, and he has been an asset to me during and before the campaign. He'll be an asset to this office and the city."

He continued his tenure with Conger as an administrative assistant before assuming his most recent position as Chief of Staff.

Reed is currently waiting for the court to set his bond.

Sarah Best is a reporter for The Jackson Sun.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Jackson mayor's Chief of Staff arrested Wednesday on stalking charges.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court complex escorted by prison officers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Malaysia's imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak is seeking to serve the rest of his prison term under house arrest, two months after his sentence in a corruption case was reduced by half.

His surprise application filed Monday said he had clear information that then-king Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an order during the Jan. 29 pardons board meeting, which cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine, allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest.

Najib asked the court to have the government verify and carry out the order. His application was due to be heard Thursday but was postponed to April 17.

Sultan Abdullah hails from Najibs hometown of Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 under Malaysias unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office on Jan. 31.

Najib, 70, has served less than two years of his sentence, supposed to end on Aug. 23, 2028, after his sentence was commuted. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1MDB.

In his application, he accused the pardons board, home minister and the attorney-general among seven entities of concealing the sultans order in bad faith.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told reporters later Thursday that he has no knowledge of such an order, adding that he wasn't a member of the pardons board.

The others named in the application couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najibs associates through layers of bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries and financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najibs bank accounts.

The national outrage over the scandal led to the shocking 2018 election defeat of the party that had governed Malaysia since independence. Najib was sentenced in 2020 and two years later, he lost his final appeal in court, becoming the country's first former premier to be imprisoned.

Despite his conviction, Najib still holds clout in his party, the United Malays National Organization, which is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahims unity government that took power after the 2022 elections.

Najib has maintained his innocence, alleging that Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho duped him. Low, thought to be the mastermind of the scandal, remains at large.

The former premier's separate graft trial over the 1MDB scandal is ongoing.

___

This story has been updated to correct that the application was filed Monday, not Wednesday.
WASHINGTON  Republicans quietly issued a subpoena to businessman Devon Archer this week, asking him for documents from his time working with the presidents son Hunter Biden.

House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) previously asked Archers attorney to hand over material related to his contacts with various companies and people, including Joe Biden and officials from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

In a Wednesday letter to Archers attorney, obtained by HuffPost, Comer and House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said he had ignored previous requests for the documents, forcing them to resort of a subpoena as part of their impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Archer attorney Matthew Schwartz, a managing partner with the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, said that the businessman has been cooperating with all legitimate investigations.

He is happy to provide documents to congressional investigators and to testify publicly under oath, and is working with House staff to make that happen, Schwartz said.

Republicans have put out news releases for most of their subpoenas, but some have been done more quietly, like a request last month to AT&T for years of Hunter Bidens phone records.

Republicans have struggled to prove their corruption allegations against Biden, namely that he participated in his sons business deals with foreign nationals from Ukraine and China. Archer and Hunter Biden earned millions from Burisma board positions starting in 2014, when Joe Biden was vice president and the face of U.S. policy toward Ukraine.

The impeachment inquiry seemed to reach a dead end last month when Comer asked President Biden himself to testify. The White House laughed off the request.

With articles of impeachment looking unlikely due to lack of support among the House Republican conference, Comer has talked about making criminal referrals to the Justice Department instead.

Wednesdays letter from Comer and Jordan said Archers records will also assist in efforts to craft legislative solutions aimed at deficiencies that have been identified in the current legal framework regarding ethics laws and disclosure of financial interests related to the immediate family members of Vice Presidents and Presidents.

Lawmakers spoke to Archer in a closed-door interview last summer. He testified that Joe Biden was not involved in his various deals with Hunter Biden and foreign nationals. He also said he had not witnessed Joe Biden do any official favors for Burisma, contrary to a debunked Republican theory that Biden used the vice presidency to twist U.S. foreign policy in Burismas favor.

Archer did say, however, that he repeatedly witnessed Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone in the company of their other business partners. Republicans have highlighted the calls as evidence of Joe Bidens participation in his sons work, though Archer said the conversations werent about business.

From a blanket perspective, it was always, you know, whats the  you know, not necessarily the weather, but, you know, theres no  there was no  and I think you have to understand that there was no business conversation about a cap table or a fee or anything like that, Archer said, according to the transcript. It was, you know, just general niceties and, you know, conversation in general, you know, about the geography, about the weather, whatever it may be.

Related...
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Jamestown man was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and criminal possession of a controlled substance, among four other charges, Wednesday following a response to a domestic dispute in the early morning.

22-year-old Wilfredo Rivera-Vasquez of Jamestown allegedly trapped and choked a female victim just before 5:40 Wednesday morning. When officers arrived, they say Rivera-Vasquez lied about his name and age as he had warrants out for him from Fredonia police and the Chautauqua County Sheriffs office.

Jamestown officers performed a search and claimed to have found 56.7 grams of cocaine, cash, lorazepam pills and a digital scale in his possession.

Rivera-Vasquez is currently housed in the Jamestown City Jail pending arraignment and is charged with the following:

one count, criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation

one count, second-degree unlawful imprisonment

one count, second-degree criminal impersonation

two counts, third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

one count, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

one count, second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia

Latest Local News

Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as 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.
Japanese people could all be called Sato by 2531, study warns. But theyd need to get married first

Everyone in Japan could one day have the same surname unless its restrictive marriage laws change, according to a new study. But the countrys dwindling marriage rate could buck that trend and a rapidly declining population might render it moot entirely.

Unlike most of the worlds major economies that have done away with the tradition, Japan still legally requires married couples to share the same surname. Normally, wives take their husbands name  and same-sex marriages still arent legal in Japan.

A movement to change the rules around surnames has been brewing, led by womens rights advocates and those trying to preserve the diversity of the Japanese surnames in a nation where a handful of names are becoming increasingly common.

If the rules carry on, all Japanese people could have the surname Sato by 2531, according to Hiroshi Yoshida, an economist from Tohoku University in Sendai, who led the study.

According to Myoji Yurai, a company that tracks Japans more than 300,000 surnames, Sato is currently the most common, followed by Suzuki. Takahashi comes third. About 1.8 million people out of Japans 125 million population have the surname Sato, Myoji Yurai says on its website.

Yoshida  whose family name ranks 11th most common  was commissioned by the Think Name Project, a group demanding legal changes to allow couples to keep both their last names.

The professor, who unveiled his latest study on Monday, conceded that his projection would only hold up if the country could overcome what is already one of its most pressing crises: an ever-declining marriage rate.

The number of marriages in Japan declined by nearly 6% in 2023 from the previous year  dipping below 500,000 for the first time in 90 years, while divorces were up by 2.6% last year, according to official figures.

Yoshida told CNN that if lots fewer people marry than expected, there is a possibility that this calculation could be different.

Yoshida also pointed out in his study that Japans population could shrink massively over the next millennium, because of its declining birth rate.

The possibility of that the Japanese race going extinct is high, he said in his report.

According to government figures released last year, the proportion of Japans elderly, defined as age 65 and above, is at a record high, comprising 29.1% of the population  the highest rate in the world.

Japans population has been in steady decline since its economic boom of the 1980s, with a fertility rate of 1.3  far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population, in the absence of immigration. Deaths have outpaced births in Japan for more than a decade, posing a growing problem for leaders of the worlds fourth-largest economy.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida issued a dire warning about the population crisis in January last year, saying it was on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions due to its falling birth rate.

Across much of East Asia, peoples names are generally less diverse than in Western countries. For example, according to government figures from 2020, about 30% of people in China are named Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu or Chen. And the vast majority of the population  almost 86%  share just 100 surnames.

Name extinction is also a naturally occurring phenomenon called the Galton-Watson process, which posits that in patrilineal societies, surnames are lost or die out over time with each new generation as women take on their husbands surnames.

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Jeffrey Clark, Trumps go-to guy in the Department of Justice turned co-defendant in the Georgia election subversion case, broke at least one rule of professional conduct by aiding in the former presidents efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, a D.C. ethics panel found on Thursday.

The preliminary decision by the three-member Board of Responsibility will pave the way for disciplinary measures to be brought against Clark, including possible suspension or disbarment. Disciplinary counsel have indicated they intend to advocate for Clark to lose his law license entirely, according to Politico. Any proposed sanction can be contested by Clark and his team in a final brief, and will have to be approved by the panel in a separate decision that is likely months away.

Clark has been licensed to practice in D.C. since 1997, according to The Washington Post. He faced two legal ethics charges of attempting to engage in dishonest conduct and attempting to interfere with the administration of justice. It was not immediately clear which of the charges the panel had found he had violated.

Over six days of testimony, Clark was accused by ethics investigators in D.C.s Office of Disciplinary Counsel of engaging in a coup at the Department of Justice in the days and weeks that followed the 2020 election, holding meetings with Trump that violated department procedure and cajoling his superiors to issue a letter suggesting that President Joe Bidens victory had been fraudulent.

Taking the stand, the 56-year-old declined to testify in his own defense, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination as investigators peppered him with questions. He argued that a veritable phalanx of privileges protected him from having to answer, including attorney-client.

For whom were you the attorney? a member of the panel asked Clark at one point.

For President Trump, the head of the executive branch, the sole head, the unitary head of Article Two, the executive branch of the United States government, Clark said, according to NBC News, which noted that typically, Justice Department employees will say their client is the United States of America.

Clark was indicted last year in Fulton County alongside Trump and 17 others in connection with their efforts to subvert the election result. He has pleaded not guilty to two charges, including violating Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO.

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SADDLE BROOK, N.J. (PIX11)  New Jersey residents are dealing with extreme weather as heavy rain is expected to cause flooding along several rivers Wednesday.

Hellah Sidibe did not let the storm dampen his daily routine of running through Saddle River County Park, although he is prepared for the extreme weather as Bergen County residents deal with strong wind gusts.

The best choice is to stay home: NJ county slammed with rain and wind

Right before I left, one of the chairs in front of the house took off, Sidibe said. So yeah, you got to put stuff  we put some weights on top of the chairs and things to make sure it doesnt go hit anyones car.

Although the Saddle River has yet to breach, residents are on high alert as the Town of Saddle Brooks Office of Emergency Management issued a flood watch until Thursday morning. Sidibe is no stranger to the destruction caused by the Saddle River which turns into a torrential flood zone during periods of heavy rainfall  impacting nearby townships.

Most of the back of my neighborhood that I live in, in Rochelle Park, Ive seen as bad as knee high in the past which is really awful because youre trying to have a normal life but also every time it rains, youre probably panicking, said Sidibe.

As flooding in the area is an ongoing issue, Saddle Brook Mayor Robert White and Congressman Bill Pascrell announced a $1 million grant Wednesday for an emergency generator to boost the towns resilience efforts. The generator will power the towns municipal complex where residents who need to evacuate their homes during storms will seek shelter. The complex will also protect first responders in emergencies.

If there is an emergency where they need to stay overnight at the building because theres a flood and we know it, sometimes theyll standby at the building, said Mayor White. Well have personnel here all night and ready to go.

Shailesh Shah is a Saddle Brook resident who said his home experiences power outages, at times, from heavy winds. He now finds solace knowing that refuge awaits in his time of need.

That gives us good assurance that ok, God forbid if you have no other place to go, at least you can come right here to the municipal building and stay there, Shah said.

Township officials posted weather alerts on their Facebook page warning anyone living in areas prone to flooding to be prepared to act. The flood watch impacting several counties in New Jersey is in effect until Thursday at 1 a.m.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 4, 2024 - 21:39 | All, Japan

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday punished 39 members over a political funds scandal, including urging two heavyweights to leave the party, aiming to put a line under a controversy that has dogged it since late last year.

The decision by the LDP's disciplinary committee comes after some of its factions, including one previously led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, were found to have neglected to fully report revenue from fundraising parties for years, with hundreds of millions of yen passed back to members who had sold tickets to the events.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who leads the LDP, apologized for causing public mistrust in politics due to the scandal, pledging to promote the party's governance and implement political reforms to prevent similar issues from occurring again.

Kishida hopes the steps will allow the party to move on from the scandal before his visit to the United States next week for talks with President Joe Biden, with official campaigning for three by-elections in parliament kicking off the following week, political pundits said.

But opposition lawmakers said the party's probe has failed to fully bring to light the facts surrounding the slush funds and are set to demand further scrutiny, while the punishment drew backlash from LDP members who feel it is unfair.

Kenta Izumi, chief of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, lambasted the LDP's punishments, saying they are "very arbitrary."

Among Abe faction executives, former education minister Ryu Shionoya, the de facto leader of the group, and Hiroshige Seko, former LDP secretary general in the House of Councillors, were advised to leave the party, the second-severest penalty among the party's eight levels of punitive steps following expulsion.

In response to the decision by the ethics panel, Seko told reporters he has offered to leave the party. Separately, Shionoya criticized the decision not to punish Kishida, saying it would only be "fair" to give the prime minister the same treatment.

Meanwhile, former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and former LDP policy chief Hakubun Shimomura were punished by having their party membership suspended for one year.

The four lawmakers have been censured for failing to end the slush fund practice. Although Abe decided to stop it in April 2022, it was reinstated after a gathering involving the four in August of that year, a month after Abe was assassinated during an election campaign.

At a news conference after the committee meeting, LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi said that the party took more severe steps against the Abe faction executives in light of their roles, calling their political responsibility "extremely heavy."

The senior lawmakers have claimed that they were not aware of how and when the paying back scheme started and why it was resumed despite Abe's decision.

Kishida said he has questioned former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori over the phone but was not able to confirm his involvement. Mori headed the faction from 1998 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2006 and is suspected of having come up with the scheme.

Tsuyoshi Takagi, who served as secretary general of the Abe faction and LDP Diet affairs chief, was penalized with a half-year party membership suspension.

Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and Koichi Hagiuda, both of whom were also key Abe faction members, as well as Ryota Takeda, a senior member of another intraparty group headed by Toshihiro Nikai, were suspended from party positions for a year.

The list of LDP members subject to the penalties excluded Nikai, 85, who has decided not to seek reelection as a lawmaker, and Kishida.

Kishida has said he will not be subject to penalties because his faction, unlike the Abe and Nikai groups, did not pass back money to members. The Kishida, Abe, and Nikai groups have decided to disband in the wake of the scandal.

The steps are the LDP's most extensive disciplinary action since it punished more than 50 members in 2005 after they opposed a bill to privatize the state-run postal service under then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

In an internal probe, 85 LDP members, including three who are not lawmakers but plan to run in the next election, were found to have failed to declare around 580 million yen ($3.83 million) as revenue in their political funds reports for five years through 2022.

Most of the 39 who were punished failed to declare at least 5 million yen in their political funds reports.

The severity of punishment differed among nonexecutives of the factions depending on the amount of funds passed back to them, with those who received 20 million yen or more having their party positions suspended for a year.

LDP members who received 10 million yen or more but less than 20 million yen faced a six-month suspension from party positions, while those receiving amounts worth 5 million yen or more but below 10 million yen were given formal warnings.

Motegi said he will "warn" the remaining 45 party members who accepted less than 5 million yen against misreporting revenue from fundraising parties.

Related coverage:

2 LDP heavyweights to be advised to leave party over funds scandal

Ruling LDP not to run candidates in 2 of 3 lower house by-elections

LDP eyes punishing members over scandal, leaves out Kishida
MANITOWOC, Wis. (WFRV)  Jesse Vang is headed to trial in the case of missing three-year-old Elijah Vue following his preliminary hearing Thursday. To begin the hearing, his defense attorney Timothy Hogan requested for the charge of chronic child neglect, party-to-a-crime to be dropped.

That the state make more definite and certain as to the alleged neglectful conduct, Hogan said. If theyre unable to, I believe that the criminal complaint is insufficient evidence for the chronic neglect charge.

Elijah was in Vangs care when he went missing on February 20. This was the first in-person appearance in court by Vang or his girlfriend, Katrina Baur, in the case of the toddlers disappearance.

Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre was critical of his lack of care and tough disciplinary tactics.

The conduct while in the care involves multiple instances of these lengthy timeouts as are described, she said.

Ultimately, the Manitowoc County Court Judge Robert Dewane sided with the prosecutor.

The court will deny that motion, he said. That the child was in his care, he went to sleep, he wakes up and the child is gone. That certainly seems like a failure to provide necessary care.

The case was moved forward to an arraignment hearing after two witnesses in law enforcement were cross examined.

He had gone to bed, brought the child with him in his room, closed the door, and woke up at 11 oclock in the morning and the child was missing, Det. Michael Herman Herman of the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office recalled from his interrogation with Vang.

Manitowoc Police Department warning public of jury duty scam

The photograph depicts victim child 1 wearing what is believed to be a black blindfold and appears to have bruising to his cheek, neck and arm area, Det. Lt. Jacob Glaser of the Two Rivers Police Department.

Multiple photos and reports were reviewed by the officers, who explained the process of the investigation and what Vang told them in interviews.

The testimony and the record today specifically referencing exhibits one and two, its full of evidence that supports a finding with probable cause here, Dewane said. The court will find that there is probable cause to believe a felony was committed and that Mr. Vang committed it, Ill bind him over for further proceedings.

Wisconsin man dies after hitting head on culvert, knocked unconscious in standing water

Vang is being held on a $20,000 cash bond, and has an arraignment hearing set for April 16. His girlfriend and Elijahs mother, Katrina Baur, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and is due back in court on April 26 for further proceedings.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
JK Rowling: Humza Yousaf will get comeuppance at the polls over hate law chaos

JK Rowling has lashed out at Humza Yousaf as the row over new hate laws rumbles on - Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

JK Rowling has predicted Humza Yousaf will be ousted from power by a voter backlash over his controversial hate laws after attacking his bumbling incompetence.

The Harry Potter author lashed out at the First Minister after he said her latest comments that trans women were men were offensive, upsetting and insulting.

She said most Scots were upset and offended by Yousafs bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism, following the introduction of the legislation on Monday.

But she sought to draw a dividing line between her supporters and the First Minister by stating that we arent lobbying to have him locked up for it.

She tweeted: I dont believe in putting people I disagree with in jail. Weve got a ballot box and thats where Yousaf will get his richly deserved comeuppance.

Humza Yousaf hit out at criticism of the police during a visit to Dingwall - Jane Barlow/PA

Even before the furore over the hate crime legislation, the SNP was predicted to lose at least half the 48 Westminster seats it won in 2019 in this years general election.

A collapse in support would raise major doubts about whether Mr Yousaf would lead the SNP into the 2026 Holyrood election, despite him being leader for barely a year.

It came as Mr Yousaf insisted it was ludicrous to suggest Police Scotland acted with political bias by refusing to record a hate incident against him, after it logged one against a Tory MSP.

Rowling was responding to comments Mr Yousaf made on Wednesday over Police Scotlands decision to reject complaints lodged against her under the new laws.

Only hours after the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on Monday, Rowling posted pictures of 10 high-profile trans people and ridiculed their claims to be women.

She then challenged police to arrest her.

Mr Yousaf said he was not surprised that the police had rejected the complaints as there was a very high threshold of criminality, where the behaviour has to be threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred.

But he said Rowlings tweets may well be offensive, upsetting and insulting to trans people.

Meanwhile, Mr Yousaf dismissed as ridiculous claims by senior Conservative Murdo Fraser that the force was guilty of double standards and making it up as they go along after it refused to record a hate crime incident against the First Minister.

Mr Yousaf argued the events of the past year, which have included the arrest of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon by police investigating the SNPs finances, showed this was not credible.

But Mr Fraser wrote to Jo Farrell, Police Scotlands chief constable, demanding answers to a series of questions over why a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) had been logged against him but not the First Minister.

The force this week threw out a deluge of complaints under the SNPs new hate crime laws against Mr Yousaf and Rowling, with sources claiming more were lodged about him than her.

It also said no NCHI would be recorded against either of them.

Mr Fraser was reported by a member of the public in November after he shared a post on social media about the Scottish Governments transgender policies.

He said that choosing to identify as non-binary is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat.

Police Scotland judged that the post was not a crime but logged it as an NCHI, without telling him.

Under Police Scotland guidance, an NCHI could still be recorded when a comment does not meet the threshold for a crime but is perceived to be motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a social group.

Humza Yousaf in the auctioneers rostrum at Dingwall and Highland Mart - Jane Barlow/PA

Speaking on a visit to Dingwall in the Highlands, Mr Yousaf said: I think its ludicrous to suggest that police have political bias.

Its very insulting to police officers up and down the country and I think that anybody looking objectively over the last year couldnt possibly make the argument that there has been police bias towards the SNP, or any political party.

Its a ridiculous statement to make so I think Murdo Fraser should stop attacking the police and let them get on with the job that theyve got to do.

He said Police Scotland were reviewing how they recorded NCHIs in light of changes in England and Wales.

Most of the complaints against Mr Yousaf are understood to relate to a speech he gave in a 2020 Holyrood debate challenging racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in America in May that year.

He said, 99 percent of the time, he was the only non-white person in the room during government meetings.

The footage has since been used to claim he is bigoted, which he has vigorously denied.

Public deserved transparency

Mr Fraser said: Police Scotland have serious questions to answer following their decision to not to record non-crime hate incidents in situations involving Humza Yousaf and JK Rowling.

I have now written to the chief constable asking if their policy on recording of non-crime hate incidents has changed and if so, who made that decision.

He argued the public deserved transparency from the force on this very serious matter.

After finding out about his NCHI, Mr Fraser said last week he had received legal advice which suggested the actions of Police Scotland were unlawful, as they had breached his rights around free speech and data protection.

In a test case, a judge in England ruled that police recording NCHIs based solely on the perception of the complainant was not unlawful per se, but additional safeguards were needed to protect freedom of speech.

This prompted new guidance to be issued last year by the College of Policing south of the Border that freedom of speech and proportionality must be taken into account when deciding whether to record NCHIs.

Although Police Scotland is reviewing the practice, this process has not been completed.

A spokesman for the force said: An initial complaint regarding the recording of a non-crime hate incident was responded to in writing today.

Further correspondence was then received from the complainer which will be responded to in due course.

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Former Donald Trump lawyer John Eastman is asking a judge to pause his disbarment so he can continue to work and earn income as an attorney while legal fees mount in his criminal case connected to his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election.

Eastman on Wednesday filed a motion with the California State Bar Court requesting a stay of Judge Yvette Rolands order issued last week which recommended that he be stripped of his law license. In her ruling, the judge found Eastman had breached professional ethics rules by pushing a strategy to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election that lacked evidentiary or legal support.

Judge Recommends John Eastman Be Disbarred for 2020 Election BS

The final decision on his disbarment lies with the California Supreme Court. Before that happens, Eastmans lawyers argued in their filing, Rolands order should be stayed.

If it isnt, they wrote, Dr. Eastman would lose his ability to make a living as an attorney at a time when other matters arising out of his representation of the former President of the United States [...] have already caused him to incur more than $1 million in legal fees.

One of those matters is the case in Fulton County, Georgia, where he is charged along with Trump and 17 others for allegedly violating the Georgia RICO Act. Eastman could wind up facing as much as $3 million or more in legal fees, his lawyers said, before the matters have run their course.

Eastmans team further argued that he is a lawyer who has dedicated his career to upholding constitutional principles and that if the order putting him on inactive enrollment is not stayed, his clients would be harmed by depriving them of the breadth and depth of Dr. Eastmans knowledge and prowess as a zealous advocate.

Six of his current clientsincluding Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)made declarations attached to the motion expressing their desire for Eastman to continue as their counsel. Both lawmakers said they had reviewed the criminal charges and allegations against Eastman and concluded they are meritless and politically motivated.

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Naples real estate attorney and former vice-mayor John Passidomo, husband of Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, died Wednesday from injuries he sustained Monday afternoon after falling while hiking along a Utah trail.

The Passidomos had been visiting several national parks in the state, Senate President Pro Tempore Dennis Baxley said in a senate memo Wednesday when Passidomo, 72, suffered massive head trauma and was airlifted to a regional trauma center. He died two days later, Baxley said.

With great sadness, President Pro Tempore Baxley provided the following update on behalf of President Passidomo. 



Please join us in praying the grace and peace of God, our Father, our hope and comfort in times of distress, will be with the President.https://t.co/dnWZlp9Qcj pic.twitter.com/5AuClmuXA7  Florida Senate (@FLSenate) April 3, 2024

Who is John Passidomo?

John Passidomo, Naples attorney

Born in White Plains, New York in 1952, Passidomo received a bachelor's degree with honors in philosophy at Boston College before earning a law degree from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. That's where he met the woman he would be with for nearly five decades: his future wife, Kathleen.

In a 2021 interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Sen. Passidomo explained that upon their graduation in 1979, they hooked a trailer to her Mercury Capri, grabbed Kebe the cat, and headed south on old U.S. 41 to Naples. They had fallen in love with the area previously while visiting John's relatives, Kathleen Passidomo said.

We didnt have a honeymoon. We got a U-Haul and we couldnt go faster than 50 ... and Kebe was crying the whole way, she recalled.

Passidomo, a board-certified real estate lawyer, served as president of the Collier County Bar Association for a year in 1987 and chairman of the Real Estate Attorneys section for two more. He focused on real estate development and transactions, zoning and land use, according to his bio at the Naples law firm Cheffy Passidomo where he was a shareholder.

Before that, he was a partner in charge of Florida real estate from 1985 to 1993 for Frost & Jacobs.

Passidomo received the Florida Bar President's Pro Bono Service Award in 1985 and 1991, along with multiple honors such as:

Best Lawyers' 2014 Lawyer of the Year

Best Lawyers' 2012 Real Estate Lawyer of the Year for the Naples-Ft. Myers Metropolitan Area

Naples Daily News 2000 Outstanding Collier County Citizen of the Year

"The trip to visit several national parks in Utah was one of many great adventures they shared during five decades together," Baxley said.

"Their last few days together were marked by many special moments, beautiful scenery, and wonderful reflections on their lifetime together and plans to live out their golden years watching their grandchildren grow up. The President has lost the love of her life, and is absolutely devastated by this sudden and unexpected accident."

The Passidomos have three daughters, Catarina, Francesca and Gabriella, and two grandsons, William and Emilio.

They planned to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary this September.

Did John Passidomo ever hold political office?

John Passidomo, husband of Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, smiles as he's introduced during a meeting of the Florida Senate Republican Caucus where the body formally designated Sen. Passidomo as the next Senate President at the Capitol Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021.

Passidomo held various political and community offices in Naples and Collier County:

1986-1990: Chairman of the Naples Planning Advisory Board

1990-1992: Vice-Mayor of the City of Naples

1990-1992: Member of the Collier County Metropolitan Planning Organization

1995-1997: Chairman of the Economic Development Council of Collier County

1998-2002: Chairman of the Community Foundation of Collier County

The First Gentleman was often seen at Sen. Passidomo's side during her career in the state capital.

Did John Passidomo die in a hiking accident?

The Passidomos were hiking at Bryce Canyon National Park Monday when he suffered head trauma and other serious injuries from a fall, Baxley said in the memo. Fellow hikers reached him first and first responders from Garfield County and Garfield Memorial Hospital "provided life-sustaining care."

Passidomo was airlifted to the trauma center at St. George Regional Hospital, where consultations with specialists at UF Health Shands, including Dr. Michael Okun, Director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, revealed the worst.

"After a thorough evaluation by the very best medical teams over the next 24 hours, the President was advised that Mr. Passidomo would not survive these severe injuries," Baxley said. His daughters "quickly traveled to Utah," where he died with them and Sen. Passidomo by his side.

Was John Passidomo an organ donor?

"As you may know, Mr. Passidomo was very fit and active," Baxley said, "with overall excellent health at age 72. He was listed as an organ donor, and the President wanted to honor those wishes."

Thanks to the quick actions of the other hikers and emergency personnel, Baxley said, Passimodo lived long enough for the family to have some final time and for organ donations to be possible.

"Late last night, matches for several of the First Gentlemans organs were identified," Baxley said. "The President and her family are taking comfort in the fact their great loss has resulted in a life-saving gift for other families."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: John Passidomo, attorney, Florida Senate First Gentleman, dies at 72
Naples attorney John Passidomo, husband of Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, died Wednesday from injuries he sustained Monday during a fall while hiking along a Utah trail.

The 72-year-old Passidomo was airlifted to a regional trauma center after suffering head trauma and other serious injuries on a hike with his wife, Senate President Pro Tempore Dennis Baxley wrote in a memo to senators that was released Wednesday.

"After a thorough evaluation by the very best medical teams," his family was told he "would not survive," Baxley wrote.

With great sadness, President Pro Tempore Baxley provided the following update on behalf of President Passidomo. 



Please join us in praying the grace and peace of God, our Father, our hope and comfort in times of distress, will be with the President.https://t.co/dnWZlp9Qcj pic.twitter.com/5AuClmuXA7  Florida Senate (@FLSenate) April 3, 2024

His daughters "quickly traveled to Utah," where he died with them and Sen. Passidomo by his side, Baxley added.

The couple would have celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in September.

Who was John Passidomo? Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo's husband dies in hiking accident

Where did John and Kathleen meet?

The memo explained that the Passidomos, originally from New Jersey, were law school sweethearts meeting at Stetson University Law School in Florida.

In a 2021 interview with the Tallahassee Democrat, Sen. Passidomo explained that upon their graduation in 1979, they hooked a trailer to her Mercury Capri, grabbed their cat Kebe and headed south on old U.S. 41 to Naples.

We didnt have a honeymoon. We got a U-Haul and we couldnt go faster than 50 ... and Kebe was crying the whole way, she recalled. But it was love at first sight, Passidomo said about Naples, which she described as a quaint little fishing village with roads featuring landscaped medians.

In their law school courtship, the two had visited John's relatives there. After gazing at a canal opening into the Gulf, they decided it was where they would build careers and lives.

Did John Passidomo ever hold political office?

The couple would go on to have successful legal careers in Collier County and eventually enter politics. Kathleen Passidomo became the second woman to hang a shingle as a lawyer in the county; John served as President of the Collier County Bar Association.

The First Gentleman was often seen at Sen. Passidomo's side during her career in the state capital. He also held elected office as a city council member and vice mayor of Naples in 1990-92.

John held the following political and community offices in Naples and Collier County:

1986-1990: Chairman of the Naples Planning Advisory Board

1990-1992: Vice-Mayor of the City of Naples

1990-1992: Member of the Collier County Metropolitan Planning Organization

1995-1997: Chairman of the Economic Development Council of Collier County

1998-2002: Chairman of the Community Foundation of Collier County

A team that uplifted Collier County

"I would say he and Kathleen are two of the finest people that ever stepped foot in Collier County and walked among our community," former state Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, who served 2008-16, told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida.

Richter referred to the two as a team that uplifted others.

"You cant think of John Passidomo without a smile because he was always smiling and bringing happiness and light to other peoples lives," Richter said. "This is the only time that I can think about him and not smile because I am so sad."

The couple had three children. One of their daughters, Gabriella, is a member of the Florida Public Service Commission, the state body that regulates and sets rates for publicly-owned utilities.

John Passidomo was 'love of her life' to Kathleen Passidomo, Baxley says

Kathleen Passidomo has lost the love of her life and is absolutely devastated by this sudden and unexpected accident, Baxley said.

John Passidomo, Naples attorney

The recent trip to Bryce Canyon National Park was one of several the two had made to Utah over their nearly five decades together, the memo said, calling their sojourns to national parks their great adventures.

John Passidomo "was very fit and active, with overall excellent health," Baxley added. He was listed as an organ donor, and Baxley said the family is "taking comfort in the fact their great loss has resulted in a life-saving gift for other families."

A wave of condolences from elected officials and others flooded social media on Wednesday. Gov. Ron DeSantis posted his condolences on X, noting that "he was a good man and we are praying for the Passidomo family."

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Who is Kathleen Passidomo?

Sen. Passidomo won a Florida House seat in 2010, then was elected to the Senate, rising to the chamber's presidency for 2022-24.

She graduated Cum Laude for her bachelors at Trinity College (now University) in Washington, D.C., and her JD at the Stetson University College of Law.

"Im proud to have championed several other critical issues during my time in the Senate, including legislation to provide care to infants affected by opioid addiction and a measure to ensure seniors living under the care of a professional guardian are respected and protected," her website reads.

As Senate President she has committed to pushing legislation that protects the freedoms of Floridians and their ability to prosper, her website said.

Falls account for 10.8% of hiker deaths

Accidental falls account for 10.8% of hiker deaths at national parks like Bryce Canyon, according to the National Park Service.

The service reported 428 deaths related to accidental falls between 2007 and 2023.

Drownings are the most common cause of deaths for hikers at national parks at 20.9%, the service reported.

Last summer, a 64-year-old from Sedona, Arizona was overdue and later found dead at Bryce Canyon National Park amid a severe thunderstorm with flash flooding.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: John Passidomo, husband of Florida Senate President, dies in hiking accident
Jolting up and down: Passenger describes turbulence that injured 2 on Orlando-bound flight

Two people traveling to Orlando from New Orleans are recovering after being injured mid-flight.

The Southwest Airlines flight they were on Wednesday morning hit severe turbulence over the Gulf of Mexico.

The pilot diverted the plane and landed in Tampa.

The injured passengers were taken to a hospital.

The pilot diverted the Orlando-bound flight after turbulence over the Gulf of Mexico.

Erica Adams was on board on that flight. She wasnt hurt.

Adams talked to ABC News about the tense moments.

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It was a normal flight. And then basically, the captain came on and advised the flight attendants to take their seats, and they couldnt. There wasnt even enough time for them to take their seats, Adams said.

The plane just, it just dropped. And then it was just jolting up and down ... and Ive gone airborne and things were flying all around the plane. It was just very, very scary.

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Southwest Airlines issued this statement to ABC News on Wednesday:

Our Crew safely diverted Southwest flight 4273 to Tampa Bay International Airport early this morning from a planned journey between New Orleans and Orlando following turbulence in flight. The Captain declared an emergency, a requirement to deviate from a filed flight plan, and also requested that paramedics be available when the aircraft arrived to assess any potential injury. Two people were transported to a Tampa Bay area medical facility. Our mechanics reviewed the aircraft and we worked with Customers whose travel was impacted by an arrival in Orlando approximately four-and-a-half hours behind schedule. With our apologies for their delayed journey, there is no priority higher than the safest operation of every flight.

While strong storms also moved through Central Florida on Wednesday, the flight eventually arrived at its intended destination, Orlando International Airport.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Former President Donald Trump lost his biggest bet so far to throw out his classified documents case Thursday when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon firmly denied his motion, concluding that the Presidential Records Act does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss the 42-count indictment.

Trumps lawyers argued at a hearing last month in the Fort Pierce federal courthouse that he designated the documents as his own personal property when he took them from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach after leaving office and therefore he had the authority to keep them.

Her decision  barring a ruling on an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court in April that Trump has immunity against criminal prosecution  paves the way for his classified documents trial as scheduled on May 20 or later in the year as the presidential election looms between him and Joe Biden in November.

In her three-page order, Cannon rejected the Trump legal teams reasoning, saying most of the counts in the indictment fall under the Espionage Act, which states that without authorization it is illegal to retain any national defense documents and fail to turn them over to the U.S. government. She noted that the indictments 32 espionage charges make no reference to the Presidential Records Act. She also pointed out that the remaining obstruction of justice and other charges are not based on the Presidential Records Act either.

More generally, the superseding indictment specifies the nature of the accusations against Defendant Trump in a lengthy speaking indictment with embedded excerpts from investigative interviews, photographs, and other content, Cannon wrote, emphasizing that the charges track the statutory language of the Espionage Act.

Previously, after the March 14 hearing in her courtroom, Cannon also rejected another dismissal motion by Trumps lawyers, who argued that the Espionage Act was vague and should be struck down entirely.

In the classified documents case, Trumps lawyers argued that he is immune from prosecution ... because the charges turn on his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act and to cause the records to be moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.

As alleged in the superseding indictment, President Trump made this decision while he was still in office, their motion states. The alleged decision was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity.

Justice Department: No right to the documents

Justice Department lawyers on special counsel Jack Smiths team urged Cannon to reject Trumps dismissal motion, saying the former president had no legal right to retain the classified records at his Palm Beach estate as he refused to turn them over to federal authorities for storage at the National Archives in Washington.

The criminal case over Trumps retention of classified documents was brought against the former president last June, and was expanded the following month in an indictment naming two other defendants: Walt Nauta a former White House aide who still works with the ex-president, and Carlos De Oliveira, a property manager of his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Former President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to supporters after leaving the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami, after his arraignment.

Miami grand jury

The indictment, returned by a Miami federal grand jury, alleges Trump brought a few underlings at his Palm Beach estate into a close circle that prosecutors say assisted him in trying to hide boxes of classified documents from authorities and to delete video security footage of Mar-a-Lagos storage area and nearby hallway linked to the residence.

According to the indictment, Trump spoke with De Oliveira for 24 minutes after the Justice Department informed his legal team on June 22, 2022, of a draft grand jury subpoena for the surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago. Two days later, the subpoena was officially delivered to Trumps residence.

Walt Nauta, an aide to Donald Trump in the White House and at his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach estate, and Florida criminal attorney Sasha Dadan leave the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse after his arraignment, Thursday, July 6, 2023, in Miami.

On June 25, after changing his travel plans, Nauta flew to the Palm Beach estate. Then, on June 27, Nauta collaborated with De Oliveira to find and destroy the surveillance video, the indictment states.

The indictment does not say whether Trump, Nauta or De Oliveira were successful in deleting any of the video footage. But previous filings in the unprecedented case show that a June 2022 grand jury subpoena uncovered video images that prosecutors with the special counsels office say revealed damning evidence.

Search of Mar-a-Lago

The information provided the basis for FBI agents to obtain a court-approved warrant to search Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, 2022, when they found and seized more than 100 classified documents in the former presidents office and the clubs storage area.

Cannon was nominated by Trump and joined the federal bench in South Florida at the end of his term in 2020. She drew criticism after she made a controversial call in 2022 to appoint an independent expert, at Trumps behest, to examine classified government materials seized by FBI agents from his Palm Beach residence before the former president was indicted the following year.

A federal three-judge appellate panel, all Republican-appointees like Cannon, reversed her decision to name a special master because she had no authority to do so and effectively killed Trumps civil case aiming to thwart the impending indictment.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The federal trial against four former Memphis Police officers accused in the beating death of Tyre Nichols will be held in Memphis, according to a ruling made Thursday.

The decision comes after several pending motions to move the trial following concerns about whether or not the four men will be able to have a fair trial here in Shelby County.

US District Court Judge Mark Norris denied motions to either select a jury from other parts of the state or to just move the trial to another part of the state entirely.

Attorneys for the four officers argued intense coverage of the case, including publicly released video of the beating, would make it difficult to find an unbiased jury.

It was back in January of last year that the four defendants, along with a fifth former officer Desmond Mills, were caught on video pepper spraying and beating Nichols following a traffic stop down the street from Nichols mothers house.

TN Senate passes bill to undo Memphis traffic stop ordinance

Nichols died in the hospital three days later, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Emmitt Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith are charged with excessive force resulting in the death of Nichols; aiding and abetting each other in using that excessive force; failing to intervene to stop the excessive force; failing to render medical aid; and conspiring or taking action to cover up their misconduct.

They have pleaded not guilty. Mills pleaded guilty to the federal charges in November as a part of a plea deal in exchange for his full cooperation in the federal and state trials.

In response to the defenses concerns about jury bias, Judge Norris replied, The fact that theres a lot of coverage doesnt mean theres prejudice.

But, he explains, if there is evidence of bias found in the potential juror questionnaires, the defense can file another change of venue motion.

The four former officers could face a life sentence in federal prison if found guilty.

That trial is scheduled to begin on September 9.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
The judge overseeing the case against Donald Trump on charges that he amassed classified documents at his Florida estate has rejected, for now, his bid to throw out the bulk of the case based on the argument that he had the right to keep those documents under a federal law governing presidential records.

However, the three-page ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon left open the possibility for Trump to continue raising that argument if a trial takes place in the case.

In the same decision, Cannon also shot down a request from special counsel Jack Smith to promptly reveal whether she agrees with Trumps claim that the Presidential Records Act  the post-Watergate law governing White House records  may have authorized him to keep classified records indefinitely even after leaving office.

Smiths team has denounced that theory as pure fiction and urged Cannon to give the prosecutors enough time to appeal if she sides with Trump on that legal question.

But Cannon, a Trump appointee to the federal bench in Florida, called the prosecutors demand to confirm what she plans to tell the jury about that issue unprecedented and unjust.

Smith has argued that the presidential records law is irrelevant to the legal issues in the case. The mishandling of classified documents, he argues, is governed by a separate law: the Espionage Act, which makes it a felony to have unauthorized possession of national defense secrets. Smith has charged Trump with 32 violations of that statute, plus eight other counts alleging that he hindered the governments efforts to retrieve the documents.

The Presidential Records Act, on the other hand, allows presidents to designate certain non-official documents as personal and hold onto them after leaving office. The law defines personal documents as those that have no substantive value to the government, but Trump says a presidents decision to label documents personal cant be challenged by prosecutors, even if it may have been erroneous. And Trumps lawyers have argued that simply by taking the classified documents to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his term, he designated them as personal records and therefore cannot be charged with retaining them.

The claim that Trump somehow declared highly classified military secrets to be nongovernmental personal records defies credulity, Smith has argued in court papers. And even if Trump did so, Smith says, that has no bearing on whether the former president violated the Espionage Act by storing the records haphazardly throughout his Mar-a-Lago club after he left office.

Cannons Thursday ruling denied Trumps bid to immediately toss the 32 Espionage Act counts, but it kept open the prospect that Trump could still raise the Presidential Records Act defense at trial, perhaps boosted by a favorable jury instruction from Cannon about how the two laws interact.

Cannons ruling appears to leave Smith with the option of making a pretrial motion of his own to try to effectively shut down that defense by blocking Trumps attorneys from raising such arguments about the Presidential Records Act in front of the jury.



In a court filing on the issue Tuesday, Smiths team took the unusual step of threatening to immediately go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals if the judge rules that the jury should be told that the presidential records law could have authorized Trump to retain the documents he is charged with keeping at Mar-a-Lago.

Cannon made clear Thursday shed taken note of the appeal threat, but rejected prosecutors attempts to nail her down on the issue right now.

As always, any party remains free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke, as permitted by law, wrote the judge, who is a Trump appointee.

Legal experts say leaving the question of a possible Presidential Records Act defense open until a trial raises the possibility of Trump being acquitted without prosecutors having any opportunity to get a higher court to review the issue. Under the Constitutions double jeopardy provision, prosecutors cannot pursue an appeal once a defendant is acquitted at trial. But they can seek appellate review of certain pretrial rulings. In limited instances, courts also have entertained such appeals while the trial is underway.

However, Cannon appeared to chafe at the prosecutions call for her to declare a firm position now by settling on jury instructions addressing the issue  even though she took the unusual step of asking both sides to stake out their positions on such instructions when a trial looks likely to be months away.

The Courts Order soliciting preliminary draft instructions on certain counts should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition on any essential element or asserted defense in this Case, she wrote on Thursday. Nor should it be interpreted as anything other than what it was: a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case of first impression.

Prosecutors and Trumps attorneys have agreed that the current May 20 trial date in the case isnt practical for various reasons. Smiths team has asked to start the trial July 8. Trumps attorneys are urging that it be pushed until after the November election, and they have offered the fallback position of a trial starting Aug. 12.

Cannon held a scheduling conference more than a month ago to discuss the pros and cons of various timing options for the trial and pretrial proceedings, but she has yet to set a new trial date.

Trump is currently set to go on trial April 15 in a separate criminal case in New York, where he is charged with falsifying business records to cover up payments made just before the 2016 presidential election to suppress allegations of sexual affairs with two women.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 4, 2024 - 20:53 | World, All, Japan

A high-speed railway project in India backed by Japan, featuring its shinkansen bullet train technology, could see start commercial operations begin by 2026, the South Asian country's envoy said Thursday.

The project's inauguration "could be 2026, or it could even be early," although the two nations are still "in consultation on the exact timeframe," Indian Ambassador to Japan Sibi George told Kyodo News in an interview in Tokyo.

"What I can say is that there is considerable progress in the project," George said. The original schedule for the start was sometime in 2023.

India's first-ever shinkansen project, which covers a distance of some 500 kilometers between the western cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad and cuts travel time from six to two hours, was agreed between the Japanese and Indian governments in 2015. Construction work began in 2017.

The completion has been pushed back mainly due to a site acquisition delay. But India's Ministry of Railways said in January this year that the land purchase had been completed, while its minister reportedly said in March operations could start in 2026.

As this year marks the 10th anniversary of Japan and India's "special strategic and global partnership," George said there will "definitely" be mutual visits by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi this year as they have done so every year recently.

"We would be looking forward to have a very productive and interactive year, which would help us to take our relationship to new higher levels," George said, adding that the ties are "so broad and wide-ranging," covering the fields such as economy, energy and defense.

Referring to the Quad, a four-way security dialogue framework involving Japan, India, the United States and Australia, George underscored the importance of like-minded nations to "work together for the prosperity and stability" of the Indo-Pacific region.

The Quad is widely considered a counterweight to China, which has been intensifying its maritime assertiveness in the region.

The ambassador also said India aims to increase the number of Japanese firms operating in the country "from the current 1,500 to 15,000 in the next few years."

Related coverage:

Japan, India top diplomats vow closer ties amid China's rise
Demetrius Haley (right), Emmitt Martin III (left), and Justin Smith (center), three of the now-former Memphis police officers indicted both at the federal and state levels in connection to the beating and death of Tyre Nichols, wait to enter an elevator after a report date at Shelby County Criminal Court in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, March 8, 2024.

A federal judge presiding over the Tyre Nichols criminal case has denied a motion for a venue change filed by the attorneys representing the now-former Memphis police officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols' civil rights.

Judge Mark Norris said Thursday morning that the study, presented by attorneys for former officer Emmitt Martin, asserted the officers could not have a fair jury trial with jurors selected from Shelby County was flawed since it was not truly random. Without a solid study, Norris said there was no presumption of prejudice established.

The ruling came "without prejudice," meaning that defense attorneys will be able to file another motion for a change in venue after potential jurors are questioned.

"Given where we are right now, and to keep this case on track, that's the court's ruling," Norris said.

Hearing on sealed documents to take place

A hearing about documents and motions filed under seal is also slated to take place May 6 and 7. In addition to hearing about the sealed motions, attorneys will argue an appeal to a ruling from a magistrate judge, trying the defendants separately and trying each charge in the four-count indictment separately. Arguments over the jury questionnaire that will be used will also take place.

The hearing will establish whether evidence mentioned in an October filing by defense attorneys  which alleged Tyre Nichols had hallucinogenic substances and stolen debit and credit cards in his car the night he was beaten  is admissible.

The allegation from defense attorneys said this was found in a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation catalog of Nichols' car. Prosecutors have objected to that evidence being admissible, saying it is an attempt by defense attorneys to introduce negative character evidence against Nichols.

All filings related to that have since been sealed, with the U.S. Department of Justice saying negative character evidence against Nichols would not be admissible since he is not alive to refute the allegations.

Though aspects of the hearings on May 6 and 7 are open to the public, it is likely that Norris will conduct the hearing over the TBI catalog under seal  with media and the public being removed from the courtroom.

The catalog is a point of confusion, with recently released video of the beating and events surrounding it showing former officer Preston Hemphill, who was fired but not criminally charged, telling another officer that "ain't nothing in the car," referencing Nichols' car.

Nichols' autopsy report, and toxicology records within it, show that Nichols had a blood-alcohol level of .049%, well below the Tennessee legal limit of .08%. The reports also show Nichols had a trace amount of marijuana in his system. Psilocybin, the hallucinogenic substance, was not listed in that report.

It is still unclear why Nichols was pulled over by officers. Originally, the Memphis Police Department said he was driving recklessly, but MPD interim Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis later said there was no evidence to support that. Federal prosecutors have said the TBI catalog is not admissible because the officers charged in the case were not aware of the items allegedly in Nichols' car prior to pulling him over and beating him.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Venue change denied in Tyre Nichols federal criminal case in Memphis
A federal judge in Philadelphia rejected a nonprofits attempt to open a safe drug-injection site in the city.

Safehouse, the organization that seeks to provide overdose prevention services, said the threat of prosecution by the Department of Justice over potentially violating drug laws is hindering its religious rights as a group.

The organization said its mission is inspired and informed by classic Judeo-Christian beliefs and the desire to preserve life, care for the sick and help neighbors, U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh said in his ruling.

But McHugh argued that Safehouse hasnt shown explicitly that it is a religious organization. The judge said the organization has noble intentions to address the health crisis the city has seen with opioid use, but their religious inspiration does not provide a shield against prosecution for violation of a federal criminal statute barring its operation.

Safehouse, McHugh said, is an entity that is unaffiliated with any specific faith or religious organization.

The group, he wrote, says it should be protected for its non-religious actions, based solely upon the religious motivation of its founders, but thats not enough to gain protections under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The organizations lawyer, Ilana Eisenstein of DLA Piper, said in a statement that it was disappointed and reviewing its options for next steps.

We respectfully disagree with the judge and believe federal law permits Safehouse to exercise its religious beliefs by saving the lives of people in need, the organization said.

As the Judge wrote in his opinion, the public health crisis continues unabated. Amid this crisis, federal and local government have not taken steps to provide relief, Safehouses statement said.

According to Safehouses website, safe injection sites are a method of harm reduction in substance use treatment, whereby controlling the environments and certain elements of drug use, there will be safer use, managed use, and medication-supported treatment plans.

Safehouse said prevention services save lives by reducing the number of fatal overdoses, limiting the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, curtailing drug use in other public spaces and connecting people with other services.

 Updated at 3:49 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump has denied his motion to dismiss the case based on the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which the former president claims gives him the authority to retain papers containing national security information.

In a Thursday afternoon filing, District Court Judge Aileen Cannon denied Mr Trumps request to dismiss the case saying the counts in the indictment made, no reference to the Presidential Records Act and that it does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss.

The PRA, a 1978 law, requires presidents to return official records, notes and documents to the government upon leaving office but allows them to keep personal ones.

The former president has often invoked the PRA in declaring his innocence in the case, claiming he made documents, even those containing national security information, personal when he took them to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House in 2021.

Federal prosecutors have pushed back on the argument, claiming it is the wrong interpretation of the PRA.

Last month, it seemed Judge Cannon was willing to accept the PRA as a valid defence when she filed proposed jury instructions to each side, asking them to embrace parts of Mr Trumps PRA argument.

Special Counsel Jack Smith responded to her filing earlier this week with frustration, calling her pursuit of the legal premise wrong.

US district judge Aileen Cannon (Southern District of Florida/Wikimedia Commons)

But in the final paragraph of Thursdays three-page filing, Judge Cannon also denied Mr Smiths request for finalised jury instruction and defended her proposed jury instruction form.

Mirroring the federal prosecutors tone, Judge Cannon called Mr Smiths request unprecedented and unjust.

She added that her proposed jury instruction should not be misconstrued as declaring a final definition of any essential element or asserted defense in this case and was only a genuine attempt to better understand the parties competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury.

Mr Trump or Mr Smith can appeal Judge Cannons decision.

Judge Cannon, who was appointed to the district court by Mr Trump in 2020, is presiding over the governments case against Mr Trump and two co-defendants who are accused of willfully retaining documents, some containing national security information, and concealing them from the federal government.

The trial was initially slated to begin in May but that start date has been pushed back to an undetermined time. Mr Trump has asked for the trial to begin after the election while federal prosecutors requested it start this summer.
NEW YORK  Donald Trump failed on Wednesday to delay the Stormy Daniels hush money trial until the Supreme Court rules on whether his former presidency gives him immunity from prosecution, with Judge Juan Merchan saying he brought up the issue far too late  raising real questions about why.

This court finds that defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity, Merchan wrote, denying Trumps motion in its entirety and calling his lawyers excuses for the delay inadequate and not convincing.

Further, and as an aside, the fact that the defendant waited until a mere 17 days prior to the scheduled trial  raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.

Trump has invoked presidential immunity in several of his court cases without success, delaying for years litigation with E. Jean Carroll, the woman he was ultimately found liable for sexually assaulting. The nations high court is expected to hear arguments later this month over whether he should be shielded from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smiths election subversion case.

On March 11, Trumps Manhattan lawyers asked Merchan to adjourn the hush money trial  then slated for March 25  until the Supreme Court reviews his claim. They further argued that the judge should prevent prosecutors from presenting evidence relating to his official acts as president, including threatening posts denigrating Michael Cohen and Daniels on his official government account on Twitter, now known as X.

Merchan declined to rule on the evidence and said he would do so in real time when the trial proceeds as planned on April 15.

The effort is one of at least eight by Trump to delay whats expected to be his first of four criminal trials. Hes pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies alleging he concealed reimbursement to Cohen during his first year in the White House to disguise their scheme the previous year to hide alleged sex scandals from voters, including an extramarital tryst with porn star Daniels.

Last year, he failed to get the hush money case moved to federal court by arguing the alleged conduct related to his duties as commander-in-chief.

The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the president  a coverup of an embarrassing event, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein found.

Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a presidents official acts.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche and a Bragg spokeswoman declined to comment.

_____
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's falsifying business records case shot down his bid to use presidential immunity as part of his defense, finding the former president waited too long to raise the issue.

In his ruling Wednesday, Judge Juan Merchan also denied Trump's motion to delay the trial's start date until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on his immunity claims in the federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

Trump had contended in a New York filing last month that hes immune from state prosecution based on official acts, and that some of the evidence against him should be kept out of the impending trial because they were official presidential acts  including his tweets and public comments.

Merchan rejected the request, saying Trump had waited too long to raise the argument. "This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024" but failed to do so, the judge wrote.

The evidence Trump's attorneys are trying to keep out of the case pertains to statements that he made while in office about two key prosecution witnesses: former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels. Merchan said Wednesday Trump had been on notice that prosecutors planned to use evidence of "the alleged pressure campaign" on the pair for several months.

The Defendant had ample notice that the People were in possession of, and intended to use, the various statements allegedly made by Defendant on social media, in public, and in various interviews. He was also well aware that the defense of presidential immunity, even if unsuccessful, might be available to him, the judge wrote.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records related to money he paid to Cohen to reimburse him for a $130,000 hush money payment the lawyer made to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, an allegation Trump denies.

Trump publicly blasted both of them in 2018 after Cohen pleaded guilty to related charges.

Merchan noted in Wednesday's ruling that Trump had tried raising an immunity defense when he sought to have the Manhattan district attorneys case moved to federal court last year. That effort was firmly rejected by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President  a cover-up of an embarrassing event. Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a Presidents official acts, Hellerstein wrote in his ruling last summer.

Merchan said that despite the attempted use of the defense last year, Trump strategically waited until March 7 to try to raise it in the state case. He called that delay unjustifiable and said it raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.

Attorneys for Trump also argued in last month's filing that the hush money trial, now scheduled to start April 15, should be put on pause pending the Supreme Courts ruling on Trumps immunity arguments. The high court is scheduled to hear those arguments on April 25.

Merchan rejected that request in Wednesday's ruling as well.

An attorney for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The judge in the University of Idaho student murder case admonished Bryan Kohbergers attorney at a hearing Thursday over the defenses survey of potential jurors that prosecutors argued likely defied the courts gag order, and for alleging he violated her clients constitutional rights by halting the poll.

Judge John Judge of Idahos 2nd Judicial District in Latah County chided Anne Taylor, Kohbergers lead public defender, for the types of questions included in the survey of county residents, as well as for the way in which he learned about it from prosecutors after a phone poll of hundreds of prospective jurors was already finished. The survey is part of the defenses efforts to justify a change of venue out of the county for Kohbergers anticipated trial.

This was a total shock to me, Judge told Taylor on Thursday. Because this is a big deal, and I take it very, very seriously. And I was surprised, OK, that this was happening behind our backs  my back.

At the urging of prosecutors, Judge barred attorneys on both sides from contacting possible jurors in a court order last month.

Now Im being accused of violating a due process, which is a whole big issue for me, Judge said.

Judge John Judge of Idahos 2nd Judicial District is overseeing the capital murder case of defendant Bryan Kohberger. He took umbrage to being accused by Kohbergers lead public defender of violating her clients due process rights with a recent order.

Kohberger, 29, is accused of killing four U of I students in November 2022. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if a jury convicts him, though a trial date has yet to be set.

The victims were seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20. The three women rented the off-campus house in Moscow where they were stabbed to death while Chapin was staying the night with Kernodle, his girlfriend.

Kohberger attended the hearing in a black suit and tie, seated next to Taylor with no other defense attorneys present in the courtroom. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson was joined by Ashley Jennings, his offices senior deputy prosecutor, for the hastily scheduled and lightly attended hearing.

Held at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, the hearing was livestreamed on YouTube. At its peak, the hour and a half hearing had nearly 2,500 viewers.

Moscow police investigated survey

Led by Thompson, prosecutors objected to Kohbergers defense team commissioning the poll that asked certain types of questions of 400 county residents who could be called as jurors in the capital murder trial. Doing so could prejudice the local jury pool, he argued.

He listed off specific questions of significant concern to prosecutors from the survey. They included inquiries about the facts surrounding Kohbergers arrest at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania; law enforcement finding a leather knife sheath at the crime scene and DNA located on it matching Kohberger; and whether the defendant drove the same type of car as was seen on video recorded in the neighborhood where the homicides took place.

We dont care about surveys. We care about these particular questions asked in this particular survey, Thompson told the court Thursday. Just because theyre put in the form of a question doesnt change the fact that they are affirmative representation of a fact, that if the listener was not aware of it now they have been tainted by it.

He said the 400 people who were surveyed would likely have to be disqualified from being called as prospective jurors in the Kohberger case if the trial stays in the county. Judge indicated he agreed.

When prosecutors learned of the poll last month, they contacted Moscow police to investigate, Thompson said. They suspected the defense was behind it, but waited to lodge their complaint with Judge until they had enough information to understand whether it may be problematic, he said.

Thompson alleged that the defense had, whether willfully or inadvertently, violated the courts standing gag order that prohibits attorneys in the case from any public statements about it.

I can guarantee that if I went down to the bar and had a few drinks and was talking with some people and saying, Hey, did you know this about the Kohberger case? and the defense found out about it, they would go ballistic, Thompson said. And for good reason. That should never happen.

Taylor objected and argued that Judges decision to stop their community survey work before a court hearing violated Kohbergers rights under the 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process. Judge, heated at points and exasperated at others, rejected the allegation.

Now, thats not what the law says and thats not what the facts are, Judge said. I have no doubt that I did not violate due process rights of Mr. Kohberger.

Defense: Jury surveys common in high-profile cases

Taylor acquiesced when challenged by Judge, but vented frustration over a legal process that did not allow the defense to continue its work ahead of a looming deadline later this month to file briefs justifying its position for a change of venue. She also pushed back against suggestions that the questions in the poll broke with the requirements of Judges gag order, and stated the 400 residents surveyed represented less than 1% of the countys population.

Doing these surveys is not an anomaly, Taylor said. This is something thats done in these high-profile cases.

Taylor said she did not write or preview the survey firms questions beforehand, and they were instead based on information that already is in the news media. She sought to avoid scrapping the already completed poll work, which was intended for comparison with responses in at least two other counties before Judge stopped it with his prior ruling.

The defenses survey firm has already determined that Latah County is biased against Kohberger, Taylor acknowledged to Judge.

I anticipate hes going to recommend the changed venue for that reason, Taylor said.

Judge John Judge of Idahos 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, right, presides over a pretrial hearing for Moscow college student homicide suspect Bryan Kohberger, center, seated. To his left, Kohberger was represented by public defender Anne Taylor, who was opposed by Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, left, during the hearing on April 4, 2024 at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho.

Prospective trial destinations could be Ada County or either Bannock or Bonneville counties in southeast Idaho, she said. The Kohberger case isnt on the front page of the newspaper each day on the east side of the state, Taylor said, and Ada County has the states largest airport and has a history of handling other major criminal cases.

Taylor accepted responsibility for not ensuring that the survey firm had received a copy of Judges gag order in the case as it prepared poll questions. She said she emailed the firm a copy of the order, but didnt follow up to confirm it had received it, which the company had not, for unknown reasons.

Thompson asked Judge to rule that any further polling by the defense must have questions vetted by the court, and that the results from the initial survey in Latah County be thrown out.

Unsure of how exactly to move forward, Judge pushed a ruling until after another scheduled hearing on the issue next Wednesday. He said he planned to delay the deadlines for filing change of venue arguments by two weeks.

I mean, I could just make the decision right now, but Im not an expert about surveys, he said. I want to make the best decision I can, if possible.

Judges decision to extend the filing deadline also could delay a scheduled May 14 hearing for arguments on whether to move Kohbergers murder trial elsewhere. The defense had been working toward an April 17 deadline to file their briefs with support for the request, which was the basis of the phone surveys. The states response was to be due May 1.

Also due April 17 is Kohbergers alibi if his attorneys plan to argue such a defense at trial.

Earlier this week, the family of Kaylee Goncalves took aim at the extended timeline for Kohberger to file an alibi. They again voiced their frustration that Judge has yet to set a trial date.

To me, its simple: WHERE WERE YOU DURING THESE TIMES ON THIS DAY???? the family posted to their dedicated Facebook page. Not sure why the judge keeps allowing more time for this either. If we cant get past some of the simplest things, how will we ever get to trial?
Justice or vengeance: At 18, she killed 6 in fire. Will Cindy White, now 66, die in prison?

This is the first part of an exclusive IndyStar story about Sarah "Cindy" White, who was convicted on six counts of murder as an 18-year-old in 1976 for setting a fire that killed a Greenwood family of six. You can read the second part here

Sarah White screamed as flames burst out of the large front window of the house she just escaped.

Her hair was singed, her body covered in soot that stained her skin the color of charcoal. It was the middle of winter, and the temperature hovered in the low 30s. But the 18-year-old was wearing only thin pajamas. Her bare feet were caked in mud.

Within minutes, the single-family home at 24 Sayre Drive in Greenwood was engulfed. Acrid black smoke filled the neighborhood as the fire tore through the roof, shooting flames 30 feet into the sky.

Still, White tried crawling back into the inferno. Neighbors and first responders struggled to hold her back.

"My God," she wailed. "They're in there, the whole family!"

Charles and Carole Roberson and their four young children died in the Dec. 31, 1975, fire that destroyed their home. White, their live-in babysitter, was the lone survivor.

Officials initially looked into whether the New Year's Eve fire was caused by faulty Christmas tree wiring. But two months later, investigators settled on a different, more sinister conclusion.

The fire was arson. And White had started it  a desperate act she initially denied but would finally admit to more than a decade later.

Cindy White becomes emotional as she talks about her life and the crimes that landed her in prison at age 18. White is serving six life sentences for setting a 1975 house fire that killed an entire Greenwood family, including four young children. Her attorney and supporters describe her as a deeply damaged teenager whose impulsive response to years of sexual abuse led to a horrible tragedy.

Within six months of the devastating fire, White was tried and convicted of arson and six counts of murder. It was a stunningly swift resolution unheard of in todays criminal justice system. On May 21, 1976, as Hoosiers geared up for the Indianapolis 500 that would deliver Johnny Rutherford his second victory, a judge imposed one life sentence for each of the six victims.

The penalty was meant to ensure she would never leave prison alive.

Now 66, White has spent nearly 48 years behind bars, much of it at the Indiana Women's Prison. She's been incarcerated longer than any woman there. She has seen hundreds come and go in that time. She's also seen others die alone behind the prison fences. Its a fate White still hopes to escape  despite facing essentially a death sentence  with what is likely one final push to win her freedom.

Strong opinions abound when it comes to Indiana's longest-serving female prisoner. Some will never see beyond the cold-blooded "killer nanny" she was portrayed as in court and online. Others see her as a troubled teenager whose impulsive response to years of sexual abuse led to a horrible tragedy.

Whatever the truth may have been at the time, it no longer defines White.

The case of Sarah "Cindy" White: Indiana woman convicted of killing 6 continues fight for freedom

She's now an elderly woman who spends her days in a wheelchair after suffering multiple strokes. She passes her time watching TV, folding laundry, washing dishes and crocheting items for other incarcerated women to send home to their children.

To Whites supporters and sympathizers, and there are many, her case raises questions about the punitive value of life sentences, particularly for young first-time offenders, as well as the morality of permanently imprisoning a deeply damaged teenager whose mental and emotional growth was stunted by a long history of physical and sexual abuse  a key part of White's story that jurors never heard.

Charlie Asher, an Indianapolis attorney whos been working since the 1990s to free White, said she never intended to kill, but she has been punished as if she did.

"Weve sentenced someone who acted out of desperation and victimhood with no intent to hurt anyone," Asher said. "What does that say about our legal system?"

Lance Hamner, the prosecutor in Johnson County where White was tried and convicted, once called her actions "diabolical" and previously opposed granting clemency.

Despite the passing years, the after-the-fact abuse allegations, and White's good conduct in prison, Hamner said the basic facts of the case have not changed: Six people died, and four of them were young children.

"She took six lives," he said, "and the penalty for what she did should be life in prison."

Who is Sarah Isabel White?

Four years before the fire, White watched from the front porch of her family's home in Ladoga as an ambulance drove away with her father. He'd just had a heart attack, she told IndyStar in an exclusive interview, and her mother asked White and her siblings to pray for him to come home alive.

As the ambulance rolled out of sight that summer day in 1971, the 14-year-old said a prayer. But it wasn't for what her mother wanted.

"God, dont let him live," she remembers silently asking. "Dont let him live."

Earl White died in July 1971 at the age of 45. His daughter feared God had answered her prayers, and her father's death was her fault.

White, better known by her nickname Cindy, grew up in Greenwood, although she spent part of her childhood in Ladoga, a small town south of Crawfordsville. She was the second oldest of Earl and Emma White's six children. He'd worked as a construction laborer, while she stayed home and struggled with alcohol abuse.

White longed to be a daddys girl  and from outward appearances, she was. Her father took her on frequent truck rides he dubbed their "special time." For years, she kept what happened on those trips to herself. It began with fondling when she was 8, White alleged, and escalated to painful intercourse as she got older.

After learning in a sex education class at school the things her father was doing to her were wrong, she mustered the courage to tell her mother. She picked a time when they were alone together at a laundromat. After revealing her secret, her mother slammed down the washers lid, White recalled. Then her mother ordered her to never bring it up again.

"I was hurt. My feelings are still hurt," White said. "Because I was like, 'Well, whos going to help me?'"

After her father died, the family moved to Greenwood, where Emma White spiraled deeper into alcoholism.

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"She got to the point that all she did was sit on the couch and drink beer from morning until night," White said. She remembers taking her mothers government checks and cashing them to buy more beers at her orders.

The abuse did not stop, White said. She claimed another male relative also had been sexually assaulting her even before her father died. She said those assaults were even more violent.

"Anytime I would refuse," she recalled, "he would beat me."

White, again, reached out to her mother for help. This time it was during a visit to her father's gravesite.

"Mommy, I need to tell you something," she told her. "You know what Daddy did to me?  (he) is doing the same thing."

Cindy White talks about her life and the crimes that landed her in prison at age 18. Now 66, White has been locked up for nearly 48 years, longer than any other women currently incarcerated at the Indiana Women's Prison.

White said her mother berated her. She called her a "piece of trash" for sleeping with her husband and, now, another man. On the drive home, Emma White stopped the car near a railroad crossing. She locked the doors, White said, then threatened to drive into the path of an oncoming train.

"She said, 'I'm going to just sit here and take us both out,'" White recalled. "I was like, 'Please don't, let's go. I'm sorry. I wont say nothing else, please.'"

Kathleen Cerna, White's younger sister, said she witnessed and also experienced sexual abuse from the male relative. IndyStar is not naming the relative because he has not been charged with a crime. He denied the allegations.

Cerna, though, has different memories of their father, whom she remembers as a "protector" and not an abuser. She also recalls seeing their mother drink, although she didn't realize until years later how severe the problem was.

After the incident at the train tracks, White said she resolved to never talk about the abuse again. If shed learned anything, it was that no one, not even her own mother, would help. The decision she made as a teen would have a ripple effect on the rest of her life.

Meeting the Robersons, dreams of a normal life

As a teenager, White convinced her mother to let her deliver papers in their neighborhood. She said she wanted to help pay their bills. But really, it was an excuse to get away from the abuse at home.

White met a family who lived along her delivery route. She started chatting with the wife and playing with her children.

Charles and Carole Roberson were originally from Evansville, and sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the couple moved to Greenwood along with their young children. They lived in a three-bedroom house in a modest residential neighborhood just west of the Greenwood airport. White said she spent hours there, staying until dark to avoid going home.

"I would try to be gone as long as I possibly could," she said.

The Robersons became her refuge. White would later testify that she once ran to them after a severe beating from the male relative who'd been abusing her, and the Robersons paid her mother $75 so she could stay with them for two days.

An Indianapolis Star clipping from 1976 reveals questions about Cindy White's mental status.

The friendly family was not the teen's only excuse to get away from home. She faked fainting spells so she would be taken to the hospital. It became a routine on weekends. Whether she was out walking or at the store, White would fall as if she had fainted. She said she did it for months  to the point that ambulance drivers knew there was nothing wrong with her.

But on Dec. 10, 1974, there really was something wrong with White. The 17-year-old was admitted to LaRue D. Carter Memorial Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Indianapolis, after she woke up with her left leg numb and paralyzed.

Doctors diagnosed her with conversion reaction, a mental health disorder that results in pain, seizures and, in White's case, paralysis. The condition can be triggered by a traumatic event or a history of childhood abuse, although there's no evidence the latter possibility was ever explored by her caregivers.

White also was found to have impaired brain function and limited intellectual capacity, according to a summary of court proceedings prepared by her attorney. Medical evaluations cited her unstable home life, irresponsible and neglectful parents and poor academic performance.

Cutting helped relieve the emotional pain

White was still at LaRue Carter when her mother died in early 1975. According to Emma White's obituary, the 49-year-old died at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove after being hospitalized for 10 days.

Sarah Whites siblings moved in with their grandmother, while she remained in the hospital. Her leg gradually got better, and she regularly saw a psychiatrist who put her on medication, according to her court file. On weekends, though, she was sent back home for brief visits that she dreaded. Sometimes, she faked fainting to remain at the hospital.

When she returned from home visits, according to her attorney, White was often in worse shape than when she left. She began smuggling razor blades into the hospital to cut herself. In her mind, she said, cutting helped relieve the emotional pain from years of abuse.

"I would be a cutter," she said. "Just cut, cut, cut."

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Dr. Patricia Sharpley, a psychiatrist at LaRue Carter, later testified that White made "non-lethal suicidal gestures," but she did not believe her to be insane.

The topic of sexual abuse never came up. She said she never told her doctors why she was hurting herself, and they never asked. Instead, Dr. Dwight Schuster later testified her suicidal gestures and fake fainting spells were a manifestation of her unhappiness at home.

White left LaRue Carter in October 1975, after 10 months of hospitalization. By then, she was 18. Instead of living with her grandmother and siblings, she moved in with the Robersons. She helped care for the kids and paid $20 a week in rent.

But the stability and normalcy White thought she'd finally found there were quickly shattered.

Cindy White on new abuse: 'I can't keep doing this'

There were signs of trouble even before White moved in with the family that the immature, love-starved teen misinterpreted. Charles Roberson, in particular, began showering her with attention that crossed over to flirting. They exchanged love letters while she was still at LaRue Carter.

Suddenly, they were living under the same roof. He was more than twice her age, but the teen diagnosed with intellectual and psychiatric problems was excited about the attention. She thought she was in love.

White had always seen herself as "short, fat and dumb." Shed never had a boyfriend. But the flattery, according to her, gave way to fear and repulsion in the months she lived with the family.

White claimed Charles Roberson forced her to view pornography while his children were asleep, and his wife was at work. Their interactions escalated, White alleged, into bizarre and sometimes violent sex acts and nude photoshoots. Sometimes, she said, Carole Roberson was involved, and Charles Roberson threatened her if she tried to leave or tell anyone.

White did not talk about the alleged abuse before or during her trial. Many of the Robersons' family members have died, and IndyStar was unable to contact living relatives who are willing to comment. But Cerna, White's younger sister, would later testify at a post-conviction hearing that White had told her about the abuse.

To Cerna, she lost her sister as soon as she moved in with the Robersons. The two, who are six years apart, used to play and take long walks together, but White became withdrawn while living with the Robersons.

"I remember seeing her one day and saying ... 'You have this new family and you don't even love me anymore,'" Cerna said. "She broke down and started crying and told me that it's so far from the truth. She told me there were some things she couldn't tell me."

One day, Cerna came over to the Robersons and tried to convince her sister to leave with her. White told her she couldn't. And then, she revealed why. She showed Cerna a rubber sex device and said the Robersons were using it to abuse her.

"I tried to tell her to just leave," Cerna said, her voice breaking. "And she said she couldn't."

Desperate, White said she prayed as she tried to figure out how to escape yet another abusive situation. "God, I've got to find a way," she pleaded. "I can't keep doing this or I'm going to kill myself."

Then, as if her prayer had been answered, her sister-in-law told her about her grandmothers Christmas tree catching fire a few days earlier. No one was hurt, but the damage forced her family to move out temporarily.

That phone conversation with her sister-in-law took place Dec. 31, 1975, and it gave White an idea.

The New Years Eve fire

The Robersons and their children went to bed before midnight flipped the calendar to 1976. White stayed up later, that phone call still fresh in her mind. Around 10 p.m. she turned off the TV and crawled on the couch, where she usually slept.

As she looked at the family's Christmas tree, White thought to herself: "If I set a small fire, then thats my answer."

She envisioned the house being damaged, but insisted she never considered the possibility of anyone being hurt. Instead, everyone would be forced to move out, just like what happened at her grandmother's home. To White, it would be the ticket out of another abusive situation.

She got up from the couch and picked up a newspaper. She crumpled it into a wad and placed it behind the recliner next to the tree. And then, she set it on fire with a lighter.

Almost immediately, the house was filled with smoke, White said, and the flames spread up the wooden paneling and through the house.

White would later testify that she rushed to the master bedroom to wake up the Robersons. She tried to call the fire department, but as the operator was connecting her, White hung up because she couldnt breathe. Panicking, she rushed to the bedroom where the older children slept. Carole Roberson was already there.

By then, White recalled, the house was completely filled with smoke. They couldnt get out the bedroom door to escape. The only way to safety, it seemed, was the window. White said Carole Roberson told her to climb on the kids top bunkbed, open the window and climb down so she can hand the kids to White.

White managed to get out, according to her trial testimony, and started reaching for the boys. But that was the last time she saw anyone from the family alive.

The next thing she remembered, White said, she was lying on her stomach thinking it was all a bad dream.

A newspaper clipping of a 1976 story about Cindy White surviving the fire that killed six members of a Greenwood family.

Greenwood police chief: 'Handle this as a homicide'

Lynn Coon first saw flames shooting from the Robersons big front window. Then, she saw White coming from around the side of the house. Her face was burned, and her hands were black.

"She was screaming  she was just hollering to try and help her to get 'em out,'" Coon testified in court.

Police officers and firefighters restrained White as she screamed over and over, "Get them out, theres other people in there, get them out," Phillip Wayne Hommell, of the Greenwood Police Department, testified.

Lt. Junice Moran, who was off duty that night but came to help, saw the fire from a mile and a half away. Greenwood Fire Chief Dick Van Valer arrived at 10:55 p.m., seven minutes after the alarm came in. By then, flames were shooting 30 to 40 feet into the air.

A newspaper clipping from Cindy White's murder trial in 1976 reports investigators found nude photos of the teen in the wallet of Charles Roberson, one of the six victims of a house fire White set Dec. 31, 1975.

"It was a conflagration of the entire house," he testified.

The familys bodies were found that night in various locations in the house. All seemed to have tried to get out. Charles and Carole Roberson, ages 45 and 41, respectively, died of smoke inhalation. So did 7-year-old Michael, 6-year-old Dale, 5-year-old Gary and the youngest, Rita or "Sissy," who was 4.

Whites face, arms and hands were covered with second- and third-degree burns. Her forearms were so badly burned that doctors gave her a shot of painkiller while they removed the scorched flesh, according to court records.

That night at the hospital, White kept asking how the children were, according to Jane Testa, a nurse at St. Francis Hospital.

"Thats mostly what she said most of the night," she Testa testified.

White remembers being told everyone was fine. She remembers going to sleep, thinking they'd all made it out safe. When detectives later visited her in the intensive care unit, where they had to wear masks and hospital gowns, White again asked about the family.

She'll never forget what one of the officers said: "Cindy, they all died."

Investigators initially thought the fire may have been caused by faulty Christmas tree wiring. But court testimony from Greenwood police officer Alan Clark revealed police suspected foul play almost immediately.

Less than an hour after the fire started, Ed Stephens, whose term began that midnight of 1976, gave one of his first orders as Greenwood police chief.

"Something does not appear right here," Stephens told Clark. "Somethings wrong. Handle this as a homicide."

To read the conclusion of this story, please click here.

Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at kphillips@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sarah 'Cindy' White: Longest-serving woman held in Indiana prison
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly faced a revolt among House Democrats on Thursday over a compromise tax plan, opening the possibility the Democratic governor could sign a tax cut passed with primarily Republican support.

The Kansas House and Senate negotiators agreed Wednesday on a comprehensive tax bill that retains the states existing three-bracket structure while lowering income taxes for those in the highest bracket making more than $30,000 a year.

The proposal also eliminates state income tax on Social Security, increases the standard deduction and child and dependent tax credit, accelerates the elimination of state sales tax on food by six months and lowers state-imposed property tax. The measure has yet to be voted on by either chamber.

Many House Democrats  including Minority Leader Vic Miller of Topeka  said they will try to send the bill back to legislative negotiators for changes, voicing objections to the bill only cutting income tax rates for the top bracket. Democrats also expressed frustration that the compromise didnt reflect the dual-rate tax bill previously passed unanimously by the House.

It wasnt immediately clear whether enough Republicans would support the move to be successful, or when the House and Senate would actually debate the compromise. The Legislature is expected to adjourn for several weeks beginning Friday.

A week ago I stood up in the well of the House and I congratulated Republicans for their fortitude in saying no to Sam Brownback. I think Democrats are going to have to say no to their governor today, Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said.

Kelly, a little over a year into her second term, visited a meeting of House Democrats on Thursday morning in an attempt to build support for the plan. Sitting at the end of a committee table, she acknowledged the existence of a lot of discomfort with the compromise.

But the governor contrasted the compromise plan with the single-income tax rate plan passed by Republicans earlier this year. Kelly vetoed the measure and supporters were unable to override the veto.

I want to you know that Im not that happy with some of the things that are going to be there. But when I think about where we started on taxes for this year and now where we are, tremendous difference, Kelly said.

The compromise proposal would cost about $1.4 billion over the next three years. It would reduced Kansas top income tax bracket, which starts at $30,000 annual income, from 5.7% to 5.5%. A bill Kelly vetoed earlier this year centered around the flat tax would have cost more than $1.6 billion over three years.

When I look at what weve gotten here, I am just amazed that we came out like this. Theres so much of what we wanted, Kelly said referring to the accelerated end of the food sales tax and elimination of taxes on Social Security income.

At least some Democrats were unpersuaded. After Kelly left the room, Miller said he supports sending the bill back to a conference committee for more negotiations. The Houses tax bill was disregarded in negotiations, he indicated.

It was all from the top down, Miller said.

The agreement left some Republicans dissatisfied as well, though GOP leaders in both the House and Senate are backing the plan. Rep. Adam Smith, a Weskan Republican who leads the House Taxation Committee, said he wasnt yet sure how hed vote on it.

The attitude in the entire chamber is a little bit deflated, Smith said.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, agreed that the benefits to low income Kansans had been cut down in the compromise bill. He told his House Republican colleagues that he believed their earlier proposal was a better bill.

Do I wish we could have that? Absolutely, Hawkins said, referring to the dual-rate plan, adding that things happen, thats part of our process. Our process sometimes can be rather cruel but it ends up pretty well most of the time things end up exactly where it has to be.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, saw the compromise as a win.

After accepting a single-rate plan was not in the cards this year, Masterson had advocated for the three-rate plan rather than dual rate. Keeping three rates while reducing the top bracket, he argued, would move the state closer to the flat tax he had pushed for.

I was looking for the shortest jump to a single rate and I feel we achieved it so I would call what were doing a victory, he said. I would rather go ahead and take a step to get the top rate where Id like it to be and then well fight those battles against the progressives moving forward.
The judge presiding over the Karen Read murder case has ordered a 200-foot buffer zone around the Norfolk Superior Courthouse in Dedham and restrictions on megaphones and clothing to shield jurors from outside influences.

Judge Beverly Cannone filed her order after a hearing Thursday morning, where she said, I do find that an external buffer zone is appropriate and that we do need prudent regulation on in court expression.

For nearly a year now, Karen Read supporters have been gathering on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse with Free Karen Read signs and clothing and her pretrial hearings have been packed with spectators.

Judge Cannones Order: It is Ordered that no individual may demonstrate in any manner, including carrying signs or placards, within 200 feet of the Courthouse Complex during trial unless otherwise Ordered by this Court. This complex includes the Norfolk Superior Courthouse building and the parking area behind the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds building. Individuals are also prohibited from using audio enhancing devices while protesting. It is further ORDERED that no individuals will be permitted to wear or exhibit any buttons, photographs, clothing, or insignia, relating to the case pending against the defendant or relating to any trial participant, in the Courthouse during the trial. Law enforcement officers who are testifying or are members of the audience are also prohibited from wearing their department-issued uniforms or any police emblems in the Courthouse. (Cannone, RAJ) dated 04/04/2024

New: Karen Read Trial "Buffer Zone" order:



"It is Ordered that no individual may demonstrate in any manner, including carrying signs or placards, within 200 feet of the Courthouse Complex during trial unless otherwise Ordered by this Court. This complex includes the Norfolk  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) April 4, 2024

Get up to date with the Karen Read murder case

Read, of Mansfield, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Boston Police Officer John OKeefe, in Canton. Shes accused of running over him in reverse and leaving him to die in a January 2022 snowstorm.

Her lawyers and supporters claim shes been framed in a wide-ranging conspiracy involving witnesses and law enforcement.

The Norfolk County District Attorneys Office has requested to provide a 500-foot buffer zone around Dedhams Norfolk Superior Court for the high-profile murder case, which has attracted flocks of Read supporters holding posters and wearing Free Karen Read shirts.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally told Judge Cannone, Protesting is going to happen. Thats fine. Its just where it happens and how it impacts the jury in this case, is what the Commonwealth has concerns about.

Both the ACLU and several of Karen Reads supporters filed motions to intervene to exercise their First Amendment rights outside her upcoming trial on April 16. They say they will not interfere with anyone or obstruct anyone at the courthouse but will engage in speech on a matter of public concern in a traditional public forum.

Attorney Marc Randazza told Boston 25, the First Amendment is prominent. Its above any other right that we have.

Reads last hope of avoiding a trial was squashed last week when Cannone denied a motion to dismiss her indictment.

The trial begins April 16.

Karen Read, facing a murder charge in the death of an off-duty Boston police officer, was ordered held on $100,000 bail.

Karen Read, 41, of Mansfield, Mass., is charged with manslaughter in the Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, death of Boston police Officer John OKeefe. O'Keefe, 46, was off duty at the time of his death.

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

High bail for girlfriend charged with manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston police officer

Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe

Karen Read is arraigned in Stoughton District court accused of manslaughter in death of off-duty Boston Police officer John O'Keefe

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Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
KYODO NEWS - Apr 4, 2024 - 22:54 | World, All, Japan

South Korea is planning to hold a trilateral summit with Japan and China in May, resuming the talks, which had not been held since 2019 due to strained Tokyo-Seoul ties over wartime labor issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

South Korea, the current rotating chair of the trilateral dialogue, had been seeking to host it in 2023 or in April this year, according to the sources.

The countries last held the three-way summit in December 2019.

Ties between Tokyo and Seoul hit a low after South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered two Japanese firms to compensate South Korean plaintiffs over wartime forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The sources said the leaders of the three Asian neighbors are likely to discuss economic cooperation and regional issues, such as North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, with South Korea and Japan hoping to prod China to use its influence over Pyongyang to address concerns related to the North.

The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China held in-person talks in November in Busan, where they agreed to speed up efforts to arrange a summit of their leaders at an early date.

Leaders from the three nations had been meeting regularly on the fringes of international conferences since 1999 and have been rotating their hosting duties in standalone summits since 2008.

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Karl Rove Says If Biden Campaign Is Smart, It Should 'Go Hard' At 1 Trump 'Mistake'

Karl Rove, the GOP strategist who helped guide George W. Bush to two presidential victories, advised President Joe Bidens campaign to go hard at Donald Trumps embrace of the thugs who stormed the Capitol in 2021. (Watch the video below.)

If they were smart, theyd take the January 6 and go hard at it, Rove told MSNBCs Ari Melber at the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival in California earlier this year, in an interview that Melber aired parts of this week. They would say, He wants to pardon these people who attacked our Capitol.

Rove said the siege on Jan. 6, 2021, was a stain on our history, and every one of those sons of bitches who did that, we ought to find them, try them and send them to jail.

Rove, a Fox News political contributor, told Melber that Trump and his camp have committed a mistake for Democrats to exploit.

On Tuesday, Melber shared parts of the conversation on his show for the first time, calling it pretty striking.

One of the critical mistakes made in this campaign is that Donald Trump has now said, Im going to pardon those people because theyre hostages. No, theyre not, Rove said. Theyre thugs.

Why Trump has done this is beyond me, Rove said of the former presidents defense of the rioters who attacked police officers to penetrate the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

It is a mistake on the part of the Trump campaign to allow the presidents impulses to identify himself with the people who assaulted the Capitol, rather than people who stand for law and order, he said.

Trumps strategy to characterize the accused or convicted as hostages did not discourage a Michigan police union from endorsing him on Tuesday.

Trump, who faces criminal charges for his alleged role in fomenting the insurrection, has taken to performative measures to reinforce his loyalty to the Jan. 6 detainees at rallies.

Related...
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Rawlins County Sheriffs Office made two arrests after executing a search warrant in northwest Kansas.

According to the KBI, around noon on Tuesday, KBI agents and deputies with the RCSO executed a search warrant in the 200 block of Decatur Ave. in McDonald.

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The KBI says during the search, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found.

According to the KBI, a 48-year-old woman from McDonald was arrested on suspicion of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a school, possession of an opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Evidence of foul play in missing Kansas women: OSBI

The KBI also arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of possession of an opiate, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant, possession of drug paraphernalia, and multiple violations of the Kansas Offender Registration Act.

The Atwood Police Department and the Cheyenne County Sheriffs Office assisted in the operation.

KSN does not identify suspects unless charges are filed in their case.

An investigation is ongoing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Kellyanne Conway, a former senior adviser to former President Trump, said the reason why Democrats are partly losing minority voters is because of their attack on religion.

You have so many Democrats who seem hostile to religion; I think its partly why theyre losing voters of color. Because if you go into any Catholic Church  you and I are both Catholic  in any suburb in this country on a Sunday, its multi-generations of Hispanics and Asian Americans filling up those pews in some of those Masses, Conway told Fox Newss Laura Ingraham during her Wednesday appearance on The Ingraham Angle.

Conway, who served as Trumps 2016 campaign manager, made the remarks while discussing the recent poll Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday that found Trump being ahead of President Biden in six of the seven swing states, trailing the incumbent only in Wisconsin.

The Fox News contributor also stated that topics around faith should be brought up more regarding the growing sentiment of the U.S. population feeling lonely.

And you have Democrats always offering us their thoughts, never their prayers, big social science surveys, people are losing their faith, she said Wednesday. They feel lonely, they feel isolated. We should be talking more about faith, not less.

She had similar remarks last month about religion, saying Democrats are openly hostile to it.

Multi-generations in the pews, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, she said on Fox Business. Ive seen it firsthand. The Masses are in Tagalog, theyre in Korean, theyre in Spanish. Thats whos propping up the churches. The whites are out jogging and having brunch. Theyve lost it. Theyre openly hostile to the people.

Conway, who was paid by Club for Growth to lobby lawmakers to vote against the bipartisan bill to ban TikTok, said Democrats will regret not having an alternative presidential ticket for 2024.

I think the Democrats will regret not getting rid of Biden and Harris a year ago and put someone else in there, maybe lose to Donald Trump in 2024, making the face of the opposition, she said.

She is reportedly weighing an offer to join Trumps 2024 team, Axios reported last week, citing a person familiar with her thinking, but a senior Trump adviser said theres is no offer at the moment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
I kept trying to get away: Prosecutors drop charges against Broward man who claimed self-defense in fatal road-rage shooting

A hair salon owner heading to work on a July morning was suddenly the target of a racist, road rage-fueled pursuit in Coral Springs that ended in the death of the man chasing him and his own arrest, attorneys say.

Melvin Foster said he shot Thomas Sconzo that day in 2021 because he was afraid for his life, claiming self-defense under Floridas Stand Your Ground law. On Wednesday, nearly three years after Broward Sheriffs deputies arrested Foster, prosecutors dropped the manslaughter charges against him.

Sconzo, 56, had chased Foster, 42, who is Black, calling him the N-word and threatening to kill him, defense attorneys argued. Then, as he drove beside Foster, he appeared to reach for a gun, though deputies later searched the car and found none. Foster shot at his car, killing him. When he called 911, deputies arrested him on second-degree murder charges, later reduced to manslaughter.

In the years following, evidence from the car and a defense motion to dismiss brought new evidence to light, particularly the testimonies of three witnesses who prosecutors had never interviewed. The Broward State Attorneys Office reviewed the case and decided to drop it.

Most of them eventually did the right thing, Fosters defense attorney, Michael Dutko, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel after the hearing Wednesday. But it took a long time and a lot of money and a lot of heartache from Melvin Foster for them to get to that point.

Speaking on Fosters behalf, he said that his client wanted to express his gratitude, love, and appreciation for his family and friends who remained supportive of him through this difficult and trying ordeal.

Foster also thanked his legal team, including Val Rivera, a private investigator who found important witnesses and information that law enforcement either ignored or simply failed to follow up on.

The State Attorneys Office referred to its close-out memo for comment.

Based on the totality of circumstances regarding the testimony of the additional witnesses, the data from Sconzos vehicle, and the victims prior arrest history, the State had very little likelihood of successfully overcoming its required legal burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence the Defendants claim of immunity based on Floridas Stand Your Ground law at a hearing or trial, the memo concludes.

The road-rage chase

It began as an average Wednesday morning: Foster, of Coral Springs, had just finished a physical therapy appointment, according to Dutkos motion to dismiss. He started heading down University Drive towards the hair salon he owns in Tamarac when he passed the scene of a car crash that forced people to merge into one lane. Ahead of him in the road sat a dark red Ford Mustang that didnt budge.

Foster tapped the horn to get the drivers attention, the motion states. According to the Broward Sheriffs Office probable cause affidavit and memo from prosecutors, he told the 911 operator he had cut Sconzo off.

In response, Sconzo put his hand out the window and gave Foster the finger before continuing down the road, according to the motion. Then he suddenly braked in front of Foster, forcing him to slam his own brakes and switch lanes to avoid a crash.

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Sconzo then moved back into the lane behind Foster, the motion says, leading Foster to switch lanes again. But Sconzo sped up until he was next to Foster and yelled through his open window, F*** you, calling Foster the N-word. Then he sped up and cut Foster off again, the motion says, before stopping his car in front of Foster and motioning for him to pull over.

In great fear for his life, Foster kept going, according to the motion. He reached the shopping plaza where he had planned to go to his hair salon, but he was so afraid Sconzo would ambush him that he continued on. Finally, he thought, he had lost Sconzo.

But he had not. Sconzo re-emerged. Again, he pulled up next to Foster, calling him the N-word and threatening to kill him, according to the motion. As Foster tried to get around him, he saw that Sconzo was holding a dark object in his hand, which Foster feared was a gun.

Foster took his own gun from his center console. When Sconzo pulled up next to him yet again, leaning towards him and pointing at him, Foster feared that he was about to be shot, the motion states. He fired two shots at Sconzos passenger door. When he saw in his rear-view mirror that the Mustang had stopped, he drove a bit further, then pulled over, removed the magazine from his gun, and called 911.

I just fired my weapon at this guy in Tamarac, he said, according to the memo. I dont know if I hit him  he kept coming up to me. I kept trying to get away.

So did Sconzo.

I just got shot, he told the operator, according to the memo. Im dying. Im in a maroon Mustang.

A helicopter airlifted Sconzo to Broward Health Medical Center, and he was pronounced dead later that morning.

When Foster recounted to deputies what had happened, they arrested him on charges of second-degree murder, the motion states. He was later released on bond with an ankle monitor that he wore for the next two years. A few weeks later, prosecutors officially filed manslaughter charges against him.

Incomplete case?

Three witnesses spoke with the Broward Sheriffs Office, all of them saying that the aggressor in the chase was the Mustang, while one recounted the racial slurs and threats, according to the motion. None were included in the prosecutors discovery.

Court records revealed that Sconzo had a history of domestic violence; the Sheriffs Office had previously arrested and charged him with grabbing his 87-year-old mother by the throat. His sister later petitioned for a restraining order. But it is unclear whether deputies conducted a background check on him after the Coral Springs incident.

In response to questions over its handling of the case, the Sheriffs Office said in a statement, Law enforcement officers make arrests based on the law, evidence recovered in the case and probable cause. Prosecutors have the final say over whether criminal charges are ultimately filed, changed or dropped.

The first witness, another driver, said he had seen Sconzos Mustang chasing Fosters truck. When he saw news reports that the driver of the truck had been arrested, he called the Sheriffs Office non-emergency number, according to the motion, explaining that he was a witness and that the aggressor was the Mustang.

Disturbingly, no one from law enforcement ever followed up nor contacted him, the motion says. Later, after the defense listed him as a witness, prosecutors obtained his testimony.

A delivery man unloading his truck also saw the Mustang driving recklessly and spoke with deputies at the scene, the motion says, citing body-worn camera footage; that man was not included as a witness.

The third witness, a friend of Fosters, had been on the phone with him during the chase. She told a sheriffs detective in a sworn statement that she had heard the things Sconzo had yelled at him. She was also not included as a state witness, according to the motion, but spoke with prosecutors after the defense listed her as a witness.

Over a year later, detectives retrieved data from the Mustangs on-board data recorder, which corroborated many of Fosters claims, the motion to dismiss states. At one point, Sconzos speed had reached 109 miles per hour.

At the time of homicide ASAs filing decision, she did not have a statement from any of the three witnesses, the State Attorneys Office memo states, nor did the State have the onboard data from Sconzos Mustang. In addition, the police had (a separate) 911 call, but did not follow up with what (the witness) saw.

The motion, filed last November, was set to be heard inJanuary, but delayed again due to a medical emergency. In the meantime, however, multiple prosecutors had reviewed the case, Dutko said. They met with Sconzos family members on March 15, telling them that they were unlikely to succeed against the motion.

Voicemails left with several of Sconzos family members were not returned Wednesday. Foster said he would be willing to speak but only in the presence of his attorney, and did not call back.

Dutko, who has also represented police officers, thinks that the investigators assigned to the case were too quick to affirm what they already thought had happened.

I think, had all of the facts been gathered before they rushed to judgment, perhaps no charge would have been filed, he said.

At the same time, he said, Fosters case was unique because he essentially did everything right. Defendants claiming self-defense in other cases might not see the same outcome.

From that day, from the moment that the event happened, Melvin Foster conducted himself in a way that somebody who has a legitimate defense or explanation should do, Dutko said. And that is, he pulled his truck over. He made that gun safe. He called law enforcement on a cell phone, put the gun in a spot in the vehicle, waited outside the vehicle, flagged down law enforcement when they got there and said, Im the guy that just called, the gun is in the truck, its on the console.  And then he provided them a lot of information. Some of it they noted and some of it they simply ignored, which is unfortunate.
Kevin McCarthys stint as House speaker will forever be notorious for the way he backed up former President Donald Trumps falsehoods about the 2020 election that led to the 2021 insurrection and aided the Republican Party in opposing a peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden.

Amazingly, that tarnished resume didnt stop Georgetown University from inviting McCarthy to be a part of an event at the Washington, D.C., private institution.

On April 9, McCarthy will participate in a conversation titled How Strong Is Our Democracy?

The event is described as follows on George Universitys website:

With a majority of Americans expressing concern about how well democracy is working, and a growing erosion of trust in democratic institutions, just how strong is our democracy? Join us for a conversation with former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy on how Congress does (and doesnt) work and whether our institutions can reunite a House divided.

HuffPost reached out to the university for comment, but no one immediately responded.

However, many people on X, formerly Twitter, offered their thoughts on the event after Scott Wong, a senior congressional reporter for NBC News, brought it up in a post on the social media platform.

Upcoming event at Georgetown University: "How Strong is Our Democracy? With Kevin McCarthy" pic.twitter.com/5kRdD10EDf  Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) April 3, 2024

The reaction was mostly disbelief that Georgetown officials thought McCarthy was the right person to speak about democracy.

This is a joke or late April Fools' Day prank, right @McCourtSchool?



If not, then WTAF? https://t.co/Deu37eX8ub  Daniel Larsen (@dscottlarsen) April 3, 2024

Cmon guys, April Fools was two days ago https://t.co/4Yydn3JeSc  Jeb! Fain (@JebFain) April 3, 2024

What the fuck?! Who thought it was a good idea to have fucking Kevin McCarthy, who tried to overturn our elections, as a speaker on the subject of democracy?!! https://t.co/YvWklEtLbF  Mark  (@MarkP21) April 3, 2024

Was literally no one else available to give this talk https://t.co/jltZay27P9pic.twitter.com/1GhzCWP7U2  Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) April 3, 2024

Others offered snarky suggestions for future guest speakers the university might want to consider.

For next weeks discussion, we'll discuss the stability of a building with the arsonist who burned it down.  Miss_Demeanor_ (@Miss_Demeanor_) April 3, 2024

How strong are homicide laws? With Ted Bundy https://t.co/WmEI4pXpdS  Ben McAdams Memorial Acct (@purrtah) April 3, 2024

And coming next month: "Protecting Our Vulnerable Teens with Matt Gaetz"  The Whiner (@FineWhiner) April 3, 2024

Followed by The Truth and Nothing but the Truth with Lance Armstrong.



WTF @Georgetown ?? https://t.co/NZXah0P2Jq      (@pithypacky) April 3, 2024

And their follow up lecture: "How Safe is our Food?", brought to you by Salmonella...  The Other MrsJones (@JSeaJay) April 3, 2024

Upcoming event at Georgetown University: How Safe is Chicago? With Al Capone https://t.co/w2pEDhHZ2X  Timothy Durigan (@timothydurigan) April 3, 2024

'How safe are our cookies?' With guest speaker and acknowledged international expert..." pic.twitter.com/o2SOPd6LDU  Joe O'Shea (@josefoshea) April 3, 2024

Related...
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU)  We are just days away from the solar eclipse. Some area youngsters are gearing up for the extraordinary phenomenon by learning from the experts about what to expect.

The last time North America experienced a solar eclipse was in August 2017.

Although the upcoming solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 will only last under four minutes some area kids participated in an hour-long lesson on eclipses and how to experience them safely.

All eyes and ears were on environmental educator Tony DeSantis as he presented a kids version of exploring eclipses for homeschooled children at Lackawanna State Park. Kids explore eclipses

We dont get to experience these often the next one well experience in Eastern North America isnt going to be for 20 years, and its not even gonna be in Pennsylvania so well have to travel, so for people to get out an experience this once in a decade event we want people to be fully informed about it so they know what theyre experiencing, explained DeSantis.

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DeSantis compared the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse and explained what to expect during Mondays great North American eclipse.

Its the perfect timing between the moon during its orbit, the moon getting in between the sun and earth in a perfect alignment so its shadow is cast upon the earths surface and this one happens to cast its shadow over North America, said DeSantis.

DeSantis demonstrated and explained how the moon will start to block the sun between 3:16 p.m. and 3:20 p.m., and places such as Erie, in Western Pennsylvania will be totally dark.

While northeastern Pennsylvania is not in the path of totality, DeSantis says the solar eclipse is still worth experiencing.

Here in the Scranton area were looking at 94-95% coverage so were not in the path of totality unfortunately, but were still gonna have an amazing show, added DeSantis.

And taking in the show requires safety precautions.

You cant look at it, says Nolan Corby an 11-year-old from Tunkhannock.

If youre in the area where the whole thing is covered you can look at the sun then, but you cant look at it when its half covered otherwise youre gonna have hurt eyes, said Katie Murray a 10-year-old.

These special glasses are key to experiencing the eclipse safely they block out 99.9% of light, but they have to be legit.

Using the lenses properly is also important.

You should not look at the sun then put the glasses on, look at the floor then put them on, then look up, stated Evelyn five years old.

You need one of the glasses or one of these, continued Murray.

Although the solar eclipse is only expected to last a short time, look for changes in nature.

As darkness descends, DeSantis says birds will sing evening songs, nocturnal animals might make an experience, and the temperature will drop a few degrees.

The next solar eclipse to occur in the U.S. wont happen until August 2044 in Montana and North Dakota, and the next to span coast to coast is slated for 2045, according to NASA.

Remember the experts say you need special glasses ISO 12312-2. Theyll have the manufacturers name and address or website indicated on the item.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Photo: NBC Miami

An elderly Black couple was found dead inside their Fort Lauderdale home two months ago. Since then, there have been no tips on who was behind the killing and even less information from the police on the progress of their investigation.



Now, the couples children are left wondering, Who killed mom and dad?

Fort Lauderdale Police say that on March 22, they responded to a call, leading them to the home of 89-year-old Major Melvin and his wife, 85-year-old Claudette. Each of them were shot to death. Tonya Mitchell, the couples daughter, previously stated that Mr. Melvin was shot as he was sleeping on the living room couch and Mrs. Melvin was shot as she was walking out of her bedroom, per NBC News. However, homicide Sgt. Donald Geiger has offered little to no information about the crime itself.

The strongest lead toward who may be the suspect behind the killing is the couples missing red 2014 Ford Fusion (license plate LTDQ16). Officials across South Florida released an advisory to keep a lookout for the vehicle, the report says. However, Sgt. Geiger told reporters Wednesday in a press conference that there is no indication the car left the immediate area.

So... wheres the car?

The Melvins 11 children, desperate for answers, spoke out in a press conference seeking additional help from the public.

Read more from NBC Miami:

They were the most loving people that Ive ever known. They lived in that area for many years. Whoever the perpetrator is they need to be found, said Tonya Mitchell, one of the couples daughters. Im so numb I cant feel. Yes, we are angry, we are very angry. We are still trying to wrap our minds about how can we? Who would? Who did? Why? So we ask those questions, said Kim Melvin Hill, another daughter of the couple. If you have any information on the car, any information on this maggot that was the individual we are asking the public, the media, please help us. We just want to find closure as to why. They didnt deserve this, Mitchell said through tears.

Theres been no talks of surveillance footage or witnesses who may have seen anyone entering or leaving the Melvins home. Its also unclear how much the police do or dont know given the scarce information. Despite this, Geiger insists he and the department are working restlessly to find the suspect.

This one really hits home for not only me but my detectives, it does. This is a couple born right after the depression, lived through WWII, lived through the civil rights movement, Vietnam War, everything imaginable theyve lived through and now we end like this. Its something we are taking very seriously Geiger told reporters.

Wednesday, he announced a reward of $5,000 to anyone with information that could lead to an arrest.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Fort Lauderdale Police at 954-828-5546.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
King Charles hailed Ukraines courageous battle for sovereignty as Nato allies pledged more air defence to combat attacks by Putins military.

As allied foreign ministers met in Brussels, the Monarch sent a message to mark the military alliances 75th anniversary.

As we welcome the citizens of Sweden and Finland to the protection that N.A.T.O. affords, our thoughts remain with the Ukrainian people, he said.

In the face of an unprovoked invasion, N.A.T.O. has shown steadfast support for Ukraine in its courageous battle for sovereignty.

Nato marked 75 years of collective defence across Europe and North America, with its top diplomats vowing to stay the course in Ukraine as better armed Russian troops are making limited advances on the battlefield.

The anniversary comes as the now-32-nation alliance weighs a plan to provide more predictable longer-term military support to Ukraine and to Trump-proof against it being derailed by a Donald Trump return to the White House later this year.

Plagued by ammunition shortages, Ukraine this week lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 in an effort to replenish its depleted ranks and appealed for additional aid defences to counter increasing Russian ballistic missile attacks.

"I didn't want to spoil the birthday party for Nato, but I felt compelled to deliver a sobering message on behalf of Ukrainians about the state of Russian air attacks on my country, destroying our energy system, our economy, killing civilians," said Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who attended a meeting of the Nato-Ukraine Council.

He thanked the allies for agreeing to begin identifying Patriot missile battery stocks that could be sent to Ukraine.

The Patriot "is the only system that effectively intercepts ballistic missiles", he added.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, speaking before meeting Mr Kuleba, said that "support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at Nato, remains rock solid".

"We will do everything we can, allies will do everything that they can, to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, aggression that is getting worse with every passing day," he stressed.

"The fight that Ukraine has on its hands is not only Ukraine's fight, it's everyone's fight because the aggression being committed by Russia is not only an aggression against Ukraine and its people, it's an aggression against the very principles that lie at the heart of the international system," he added.

But Republicans in Washington are blocking a huge military aid package for Kyiv, an action blamed for hampering Ukrainian defences and allowing Putins forces to gain ground.

British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron, who has previously warned Republicans not to show the weakness displayed against Hitler, emphasised that Ukraine's war with Russia "will be lost if the allies don't step up".

He ruled out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine

However, the peer said he will urge the US Congress to increase its financial support for Kyiv during a visit to the United States next week.

He told the BBC's Ukrainecast: "What Nato is looking at is a Nato mission for Ukraine, not a Nato mission in Ukraine.

In response to whether he could see Nato boots on the ground in Ukraine, Lord Cameron said "No", adding: "We don't want to give Putin a target like that.

"But fundamentally, for countries like Britain and all those supportive of Ukraine this is a question of political will.

Do we have the patience? Do we have the will? Are we prepared to give the resources? Now in Britain's case, definitely the answer is yes."

Lord Cameron was in Brussels for the second day of the Nato foreign ministers' meeting, where he again likened the current situation with Russia to the one Britain and France faced at the 1938 Munich Conference with Nazi Germany.

He said: "What we face today is as simple as then. We have a tyrant in Europe who is trying to redraw borders by force, and there are two choices. You can appease that approach or you can confront that approach.

The Ukraine foreign ministers meeting, which ran significantly beyond its scheduled time, was held after a ceremony to mark the day Nato's founding treaty was signed: April 4 1949 in Washington.

A bigger celebration is planned when Nato leaders meet in Washington from July 9 to 11.

Vladimir Putin said he launched the war, in part at least, because Nato was expanding closer to Russia's borders.

As an organisation, the western military alliance only provides non-lethal support such as transport vehicles, fuel, combat rations, medical supplies and demining equipment to Ukraine.

However, many members provide arms and ammunition bilaterally or in groups.
Martin Luther King III, his wife Arndrea Waters King and their daughter, Yolanda Renee King, made a rare visit to Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday to mark the 56th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination.

The King family made an appearance at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed on his second floor balcony on April 4, 1968 while visiting Memphis to support a sanitation workers strike.

MORE: Martin Luther King Jr.: A life in pictures

This visit, which notably took place in an election year, is an opportunity to both commemorate the memory and legacy of Dr. King at a time when history is being attacked, the King family said.

"The triple evils that Martin Luther King Jr. talked about, of racism and bigotry and violence and poverty, the only way that those evils will ever be eliminated is through peace, justice and equity," Waters King told ABC News. "I would encourage voters to look through the lens of voting for individuals and laws that lift us all up, voting for laws and individuals that are speaking to our noble character that are speaking to peace, justice and equity that are speaking to community, not chaos."

PHOTO: Martin Luther King Jr circ. 1953. (Michael Evans/New York Times Co./Getty Images, FILE)

The King family's visit highlights what they see as a rise in political violence, violence and a rise in hate in general.

"It's not about violence. It's about inclusion. It's about participation. It's about electing people to office who will serve the interest of communities," MLK III said. "My dad and mom and many other elected officials over the years have taught us how to navigate through issues. We may disagree on something, but they are far more things that we should be able to agree on. But we have to create that climate. It doesn't come by osmosis. It comes by people coming together. It comes by treating people with dignity and respect."

MORE: Video Martin Luther King III remembers his father

MLK III noted that he sees the similar patterns between fighting for a climate of democracy today and the sanitation workers fighting to be treated with dignity in 1968.

The Kings came to the National Civil Rights Museum together as a family for the first time last summer to give Yolanda, MLK Jr. and Coretta Scott Kings only grandchild, a space to have intimate moments with her ancestors. This visit is the first time the family of Dr. Kings oldest son, MLK III, all marked the civil rights activists passing at the site of his death.

In honor of the 56th anniversary of Dr. Kings death, the King family also announced Thursday that 16 grassroots programs and initiatives across the country will receive grant funding from the Drum Major Institute, which the King family founded on the ideals of Dr. King, to support their work in preserving democracy.

"In one sense it's a dark day," MLK III said in a press conference Thursday. "But the hope that we must continue to fuse is in this generation and generations yet unborn."

King family visits Memphis on 56th anniversary of MLK Jr.'s assassination originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Kirsten Dunst is on the same page as Penelope Cruz and Paris Hilton when it comes to screen time and kids

Kirsten Dunst is on the same page as Penelope Cruz and Paris Hilton when it comes to screen time and kids

Kirsten Dunst is strict about her children's use of electronics.

She told Variety that her sons don't own iPads and that her family isn't allowed to use phones at restaurants.

"I'm not raising a kid that can't have conversations at the table," Dunst said.

Kirsten Dunst is strict about her children's use of electronics and is raising them to lead an analog lifestyle.

In an interview with Variety, the 41-year-old actor said that she tries to keep her kids off screens when they're at home.

"We've got record players," Dunst told Variety. "We're just not a 'Siri, play whatever' household."

Dunst and her husband, actor Jesse Plemons, have two sons together, Ennis Howard, 5, and James Robert, 2.

The actor also shared that her children don't own iPads and that no one in the family is allowed to use phones while eating out.

"If they want to use an iPad on the plane, it's Dad's iPad. And we're not phone-at-restaurant kind of people," Dunst said. "I'm not raising a kid that can't have conversations at the table."

Dunst isn't the only celebrity mom who is concerned about the screen time that her kids are getting.

In January, actor Penelope Cruz also shared her concerns about letting her kids use social media in an interview with Elle.

"It's so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming," Cruz said. "And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked. It's a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers."

In March, during a panel at the "A Day of Unreasonable Conversation" summit, Paris Hilton said she hopes her kids won't grow up to be as addicted to social media as she is, adding that she wants them to "live a world outside of social media and being on their phone all the time."

Even tech execs like Bill Gates and Sundar Pichai limited their children's access to screens.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told The New York Times in 2017 that he limits his family's screen time by making the TV difficult to access. Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft, didn't let his kids get cellphones until they were 14.

On average, children in the US between 8 and 12 spend between four to six hours a day watching or using screens, while teens can spend up to 9 hours, per the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, or AACAP.

While it's hard to put an exact number on how much screen time is too much, experts have guidelines around recommended screen time based on age group.

For children aged between 2 to 5 years old  like Dunst's children  the AACAP recommends limiting screen time to one hour on weekdays and three hours on weekend days.

Experts say that it is possible not to raise iPad kids. Dr. Jonathan Maynard, a pediatrician with Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California, told Business Insider that parents can manage their children's screen time by letting them participate in fun activities that don't involve digital devices and creating screen-free zones around the house.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Toru Takei, KYODO NEWS - Apr 4, 2024 - 15:44 | All, Japan, World

Donald Trump is almost certain to attach great importance to the U.S.-Japan alliance if he returns to the White House, one of his former aides said Wednesday.

"I predict a lot of continuity, and the same things that motivated him when he was elected the first time, I think, continue to motivate him," Alexander Gray, who was deputy assistant to the former president, said in an interview with Kyodo News.

For Trump, Gray said that China would likely be regarded as the greatest threat to national security, and his foreign policy approach, with a strong emphasis on enhancing deterrence capabilities, is more relevant in 2025 than it was in 2017 when first he took office.

Referring to the decades-old U.S.-Japan alliance, he said it is "beyond any one prime minister, any one president. It has such extraordinary strategic significance" to serve U.S. interests and ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

He also shrugged off deep-seated speculation should Trump win the November general election, he would significantly alter the trajectory of U.S. foreign policy set forth by the administration of President Joe Biden, which has been marked by a focus on multilateral cooperation.

"My sense is he doesn't have a preference. If you asked him that question, I don't think he'd have a preference. I think his preference is for alliances that work, whether it's U.S.-Japan, or U.S.-Japan-South Korea, or NATO or whatever it might be," he said. "If it's effective, if it keeps the peace and if it serves U.S. interests, I think the (former) president is all for it."

In his view, the Biden administration has inherited the elevation of the U.S.-Japan relationship from Trump's era and cooperation of the two countries is set to deepen across various domains, ranging from defense to economic security, and extend its reach to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and beyond.

Asked about what may be the biggest foreign policy issue for a second Trump presidency, Gray, who helped to shape the previous administration's approach to Asia, said, "China will continue to be probably the dominant focus."

Gray, who was also chief of staff of the National Security Council, said China is "more malign than before" on the trade front "so I absolutely think there's going to be a significant increase in tariffs, maybe as high as 60 percent."

He also spotlighted that China and Russia are more integrated as "an axis of autocracy" than when Trump was president.

He contended that the increasing alignment between Beijing and Moscow in an anti-American partnership is partially attributable to the shortcomings of the Biden administration.

"It's going to be very difficult to separate the two the way we were really able to in (former) President Trump's first term," said Gray, who is now chief executive officer of American Global Strategies LLC.

The failure came despite Trump's "greatest historical legacy" of transforming Washington's approach to Beijing "180 degrees from his predecessor" Barack Obama.

"When I started, there were still big parts of the U.S. government that viewed China as a potential friend and partner," he said. "When I left, every agency of the U.S. government was focused on how do we win a great power competition."

Similarly, he expressed disappointment over North Korea's deepening ties with Russia, whose utilization of Pyongyang's artillery shells to kill Ukrainians has destabilized the security situation not only on the Korean Peninsula but also elsewhere in the world.

"So, you know, as much as I think (former) President Trump wants to have reduction of tensions, the world has changed for the worse under President Biden, and that's just a reality he's going to have to confront," he said.

Related coverage:

Biden, Trump seal presidential nominations
What we know about each of the 11 tornadoes that hit Kentucky this week

The National Weather Service has confirmed that at least 11 tornadoes touched down across Kentucky during Tuesdays severe storm outbreak.

The confirmed tornadoes were in Anderson, Bourbon, Clark, Boyd, Henry, Jessamine, Jefferson, Mason, McCracken and Nelson counties. The NWS said nine of the tornadoes were an EF-1 tornado and two were an EF-2 tornado.

The NWS also confirmed straight-line wind damage in Fayette, Mercer, Spencer and Woodford counties.

More damage assessment surveys are planned for Thursday in Fayette and Woodford counties, according to the NWS. Damage assessments are ongoing in Bourbon, Clark, Henry, Jefferson and Oldham counties.

12pm EDT update: we have survey crews in Fayette and Jefferson counties today. We have update our confirmed tornadoes and ratings since this morning. pic.twitter.com/NK3rCUPIwf  NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) April 4, 2024

Trees along Baxter Ridge Road are damaged from an EF-1 tornado that hit the county during a severe outbreak of storms on April 2, 2024. National Weather Service

Anderson County

Anderson County was hit with an EF-1 tornado that reached maximum wind speeds of 95 miles per hour, according to the NWS. The tornado touched down in the southwestern part of the county off Mays Road and traveled roughly two miles.

Two barns lost large sections of their roofs in the storm. The NWS said metal sheeting and insulation from the barns were thrown up to 300 yards away.

The tornado had a maximum width of 150 yards, according to the NWS. It picked up off the ground in a grove of trees halfway between Baxter Ridge and Puncheon Creek roads.

Bourbon County

The tornado in Bourbon County reached maximum wind speeds of 105 miles per hour south of Paris, according to the NWS. The tornado traveled roughly 13.4 miles and crossed into Clark County. It had a maximum width of 100 yards.

The weather event started off with three funnels that merged into one tornado, the NWS said. Damage reports were taken in the Bethlehem, Clintonville and Winchester road areas of Bourbon County.

The most extensive damage in Bourbon County happened at Hidden Rose Farm, which is home to the University of Kentucky Dressage Team. The NWS said an open arena structure almost completely collapsed and multiple trailers were flipped.

Six horses were injured at the farm, two of which had to go to a hospital, according to the NWS.

A barn on Paris Road in Clark County was demolished by the tornado, the NWS said. The tornado also damaged a large, new barn in the Wades Mill area before lifting.

Boyd County

Two different tornadoes were confirmed in Boyd County. The NWS said an EF-2 tornado touched down near Long Branch and an EF-1 struck near the Boyd and Greenup county line.

The EF-2 tornado topped out at 120 miles per hour and had a maximum width of 350 yards, according to the NWS. It caused significant tree damage and blew the roof off a home.

The EF-1 tornado hit wind speeds of 110 miles per hour and had a maximum width of 250 yards, according to the NWS. It traveled just over one mile in Ashland.

The tornado touched down along Daniels Fork Road and continued across KY 5. The NWS said the most significant damage occurred on Rose Road, where a trailer was flipped over and several homes and structures were significantly damaged.

We were able to accomplish several damage surveys today in Lawrence County, Ohio and Boyd and Greenup County in KY for the damage that occurred yesterday morning. Find more details including damage pictures at https://t.co/ZTu0dlEIWc. pic.twitter.com/7JK9bFZHCS  NWS Charleston, WV (@NWSCharlestonWV) April 3, 2024

Boyd County residents who suffered damage from the storms are encouraged to report it to the Ashland-Boyd County-Cattlesburg Emergency Management Agency.

Clark County

The second tornado in Clark County was an EF-1 tornado with peak wind speeds of 100 miles per hour, according to the NWS. Damage was reported in the Combs Ferry Road area roughly five miles southwest of Winchester.

Residents in the area reported a set of second story windows popping off of homes and doors being thrown open as the tornado passed, the NWS said. Security camera footage captured the tornado passing through a yard and snapping a row of trees.

Henry County

The NWS said an EF-1 tornado with wind speeds up to 110 miles per hour impacted the Jericho community of Henry County. There were damage reports near Lake Jericho Road, Bates Lane, Jackson Road and S. Property Road.

Some damage was reported at Henry County High School, where a hoop barn and greenhouse were damaged, according to Henry County Public Schools.

People who sustained damage to a barn are encouraged to document the damage to the New Castle Farm Service Agency at 502-845-2820 or email KYNEWCASTL-FSA@ONE.USDA.GOV.

Multiple businesses and buildings in an industrial park off Park Central Avenue in Jessamine County were heavily damaged by high winds on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in the county. Ryan C. Hermens/rhermens@herald-leader.com

Multiple businesses and buildings in an industrial park off Park Central Avenue in Jessamine County were heavily damaged by high winds on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in the county. Ryan C. Hermens/rhermens@herald-leader.com

Jessamine County

An EF-1 tornado with a maximum width of 150 yards and 110 mile per hour winds speeds touched down in Jessamine County near US 27, according to the NWS. The tornado traveled less than a half-mile and caused significant damage in the Park Central Industrial Park.

The NWS said many buildings in the industrial park had roofs torn apart, doors blown out and wall panels peeled off of buildings. Surrounding buildings were impaled by boards and drywall.

Three vehicles were flipped over and a heavy travel-trailer was moved 20 yards in a nearby car lot, according to the NWS.

People who suffered storm damage in Jessamine County are encouraged to report it to the emergency management agency at ema@jessamineco.com or 859-813-0362.

Jefferson County

NWS surveyors determined an EF-2 tornado with peak wind speeds of 120 miles per hour impacted the Beachland Beach area of Prospect in Jefferson County. The NWS said multiple trees were uprooted near the Hunting Creek Country Club.

A tornado also damaged parts of Jeffersonville in Indiana. The NWS said it was likely the same tornado that damaged Prospect but damage assessments are ongoing.

Survey team has also confirmed tornado damage in Jeffersonville, IN (EF-0, 80 mph) and Prospect, KY (EF-1, 105 mph). These are preliminary findings, and we still have yet to determine whether it is from a single tornado or more than one. #inwx #kywx  NWS Louisville (@NWSLouisville) April 3, 2024

Mason County

An EF-1 tornado touched down in Mason County near the Minerva community, according to the NWS. The tornado picked up near the Ohio River.

The NWS said damage assessments are ongoing and will likely continue for several days.

McCracken County

An EF-1 tornado with peak wind speeds of 90 miles per hour touched down shortly after 5 a.m. near the Kevil community of McCracken County Tuesday, according to the NWS. The tornado traveled just over a half-mile and had a maximum width of 50 yards.

A house had a portion of its roof removed and roughly a dozen trees had large limbs torn down.

Nelson County

The EF-1 tornado in Nelson County reached maximum wind speeds of 95 miles per hour, according to the NWS. It had a maximum width of 125 yards and traveled roughly five miles.

The tornado touched down between Maude Cooksey and Hagan lanes. The NWS said the tornado reached maximum intensity along Prather Ridge Road, where multiple trees were uprooted and topped.

The tornado uplifted two outbuildings along Love Ridge Road, the NWS said. Ten barns along Hahn Ridge Road suffered extensive roof damage and parts of the barn were blown up to a half-mile downwind.

A barndominion on KY 62 and Hahn Ridge Road was significantly damaged and thrown several hundred yards, according to the NWS. Multiple boards also were thrown up to 300 yards downwind.
What you need to know about next weeks total solar eclipse

On April 8, daytime skies across North America will dim as the moon obscures sunlight. It will be the last total solar eclipse seen from the contiguous United States for the next two decades.

What makes this event so historic and rare? And how should Illinoisans prepare?

Find answers to all your questions here.

What kinds of solar eclipses are there?

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, casting its shadow on the planet. On average, two occur every year, though sometimes there can be as many as five. But they can only be seen from a small portion of the world. There are four types of solar eclipses.

When the moon passes between the Earth and the sun and completely blocks the sun, it creates a total solar eclipse, which is what will occur Monday in southern Illinois and other parts of the United States.

Partial eclipses occur when these celestial bodies dont perfectly line up but the sun is still partially covered by the moon, thus adopting a crescent shape. Chicago will see a partial eclipse Monday.

In October 2023, Chicago skies darkened as the area experienced an annular solar eclipse. This happens when the moon passes across the sun while roughly at its farthest point from the Earth in the lunar orbit. Because the moon appears smaller than the sun and doesnt cover it completely, sun rays simulate a ring of fire around the moon.

Occasionally, an eclipse can shift between annular and total as the moons shadow moves across Earths curved surface, causing a hybrid solar eclipse.

How unusual is a total solar eclipse?

The moons path during an eclipse often covers less than 1% of the Earths surface, making it a rare sight for humans to experience. Furthermore, a total solar eclipse can only be seen, on average, every 375 years from any given location on the planet.

Its even rarer for two of these phenomena to occur within a decade of each other in the same place, yet parts of Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois saw a total eclipse in 2017 and will see another one this year.

Where and when will the eclipse be visible?

Only those in the 115-mile-wide lunar shadow  known as the path of totality  will see the moon cover the sun completely. This includes areas in 15 states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

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But 99% of U.S. residents will experience at least a partial solar eclipse in every contiguous state and some parts of Alaska and Hawaii.

While Chicago will not be in the path of totality, locals will still experience a partial eclipse between 12:51 and 3:22 p.m. on Monday. At precisely 2:07 p.m., the moon will cover up to 94% of the sun seen from the area.

In Carbondale, which is in the path of totality, the moon will make first contact with the sun at approximately 12:43 p.m. The total eclipse will begin at 1:59 p.m. and last 4 minutes and 9 seconds. The last contact between the moon and the sun will occur at 3:18 p.m.

NASAs Eclipse Explorer at eclipse-explorer.smce.nasa.gov allows viewers to input a ZIP code or city to see how much of the sun they will see covered at the height of the eclipse and what time that will happen.

When will another total eclipse be visible from the United States?

The contiguous United States wont see another total solar eclipse until 2044, according to NASA. That one will only brush Montana and North Dakota. In 2033, a total solar eclipse will be visible from northern and western Alaska.

The last time a total solar eclipse occurred over the Chicago area was 1806, more than three decades before the city of Chicago was founded. The next total eclipse visible from the city will be on Sept. 14, 2099.

What will the weather be like?

In 2017, thick clouds rolled into Carbondale and other parts of Illinois to obscure the eclipses totality for disappointed viewers. Taking stock of the weather, especially cloud forecasts, is key to ensuring the best eclipse experience.

By 1 p.m. Central every day leading up to the eclipse, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be sharing updates on cloud cover on social media platforms for the Weather Prediction Center and the National Weather Service, as well as on the centers website homepage at wpc.ncep.noaa.gov.

According to Joe Lundberg, senior long-range meteorologist at AccuWeather, early predictions for the least amount of cloud cover could make southern Illinois one of the best observing places.

What kind of traffic can be expected?

AccuWeather, in a news release, urged travelers to stay alert as a storm might move from the southern Rockies to the central Plains and Midwest the weekend before the eclipse.

The storms will impact travel, as well as those camping outdoors in the days leading up to the eclipse, said Paul Pastelok, lead long-range forecaster. Strong storms are possible from the central Plains to north Texas. Torrential downpours and even tornadoes are a threat.

Authorities are also urging the public, especially those traveling by car to experience the eclipse in the path of totality, to build in extra time when returning home or to consider staying in the area for another day or two to ease traffic congestion.

Find solar glasses and build your own projector for upcoming eclipse

After the 2017 eclipse, traffic tripled the travel time of what would typically have been a five-hour trip between southern Illinois and Chicago. Vehicles slowed to a crawl on backroads and highways.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is urging drivers to ensure they have a charged cellphone, a full tank of gas, and plenty of food and bottled water. Transportation officials estimate crowds between 100,000 and 200,000 visitors will flock to southern Illinois.

I-57 will offer direct access to the path of totality, U.S. 45 will run through the middle of the path, and Illinois Route 1, I-64 and I-70 will also provide access to the area. Lane closures on state projects will be lifted throughout the weekend before and until the day after the eclipse.

IDOT officials recommend using the gettingaroundillinois.com website for travel conditions and alerts.

Where to watch online

From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Central on Monday, NASA will livestream telescope views of the eclipse from several sites along the moons path. The broadcast will be available on the agencys YouTube channel and at science.nasa.gov.

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale will also offer a livestream from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. that will be anchored in southern Illinois with feeds from other sites, beginning at Mazatlan in Mexico and ending at Newfoundland in Canada. It can be accessed at youtube.com/@NASAsolarSTEAM on YouTube.

How to enhance the viewing experience

Looking directly at the sun can result in serious injury and permanent blindness, so experts recommend purchasing safe and accredited solar viewing glasses. The American Astronomical Society website at eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters has a list of vendors and manufacturers that sell safe solar glasses or handheld viewers.

Eye experts also recommend wearing red or green or choosing a lush field on the big day; a visual effect that occurs when the eyes adapt to the unique lighting of a total eclipse can make these colors contrast in interesting ways.

Witnessing a total solar eclipse is so rare that many who have done it before suggest being mindful of also taking in how the celestial phenomenon affects life and conditions on Earth and basking in the different sensory experiences.

For instance, citizens and researchers in Carbondale will listen closely and record sounds to learn more about animal behavior across the path of totality for a nationwide ecology project.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting between President of the New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace. Alexey Danichev/KREMLIN/dpa

The Russian government once again criticized NATO as the Western defence alliance celebrated its 75th anniversary, saying the United States is behind it and is using it as an "instrument of confrontation, especially on the European continent."

NATO's activities currently promote neither security nor stability in Europe, "but on the contrary are a destabilizing factor," long-time Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, according to the state-controlled Interfax agency.

"NATO was planned, configured, created and directed by the US as an instrument of confrontation," especially in Europe, he said.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine more than two years ago, repeatedly blames the West for its war and claims that it threatened Moscow.

As such, relations between Russia and NATO had "effectively slipped to a level of direct confrontation," Peskov said in Moscow, adding that NATO was "involved in the conflict over Ukraine."

NATO was celebrating the 75th anniversary of its founding in Brussels on Thursday.
EU experts have observed a continuous disinformation campaign by Russian propagandists targeting France and its first family over the past weeks that followed President Emmanuel Macron's statements about the possibility of deployment of Western troops in Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the website Euvsdisinfo, run by the Strategic Communications Task Force of the EU External Action Service

Quote: "The campaign targeting France proves that coveted Russian traditional values are nothing other than a facade hiding an ugly reality of misogyny, hate speech, and brutal discrimination against minorities."

In particular, Kremlin propagandists spread misogynistic attacks on French First Lady Brigitte Macron. Experts pointed out how pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets were busy providing airtime and a platform for the most ridiculous conspiracy theories about the French First Lady.

"One cannot help but think that Paris has touched a nerve with Russia, and with President Macron's statement that nothing can be ruled out in terms of military support for Ukraine, the Kremlin has launched a more aggressive campaign to undermine the French government," the propaganda researchers note.

The Russian media calls France an "imperialist, war-mongering, Nazi, and Russophobic" country.

In addition to attacking the first family, pro-Kremlin mouthpieces have been busy incorporating France into their old pattern. One recent example of such recycled disinformation narratives is that France is involved in the future division of Ukraine  along with Poland, of course.

EU experts also pointed to the spread of disinformation that France is allegedly recruiting soldiers on a massive scale online, which is obviously not true.

EUvsDisinfo is a project of the Strategic Communications Group of the European External Action Service, the EU's diplomatic arm. The project was launched in 2015 to analyse and respond to Russia's disinformation campaigns against the EU, individual EU member states and neighbours.

Despite the controversy surrounding his remarks about the possible deployment of Western troops to Ukraine, Macron refused to back down, insisting that his statements were well-thought-out but also stressing that France would not follow the "logic of escalation" in its relations with Moscow.

Subsequently, commenting on the idea he raised, Macron stressed that if such a scenario were to materialise, French forces would not go on the offensive against Russia.

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Kuleba describes negotiations on Patriot supply, believing that night in Kharkiv would help Western partners make decision

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes that his talks in Brussels regarding the provision of air defence systems to Ukraine were successful despite the lack of concrete agreements so far.

Source: Kuleba in a speech at the III Ukraine-France Forum held in Paris by the New Europe Center together with the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI)

Details: Kuleba said additional air defence systems will be allocated, "The result of the day is that the work on searching for Patriot systems will be significantly prioritised."

Quote: "There is a significant difference between how we searched for shells and how we are now searching for Patriot. In the first case, the problem was to find where the shells were. And finally, we did that. Then we found the funds and they will soon be in Ukraine. But with Patriot, everything is different. There is no need to find them; everyone knows where they are."

Kuleba noted that the essence of the discussion now lies in how to redeploy these systems in Western countries to free up several batteries.

"[Western counterparts] often tell me, 'We understand you, but what you're talking about is very difficult to do'. But I'm sure that one night spent in Kharkiv would make this decision much easier for them," the minister explained.

Kuleba pointed out that Western countries benefit from supplying air defence systems because "if you don't down missiles flying towards energy facilities, soon you'll have to spend money to restore that facility".

Background:

On 4 April, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that some Allies promised at meetings in Brussels that they would look for additional air defence equipment for Ukraine in their stockpiles.

As reported, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took immediate action following Ukraine's request for additional Patriots.

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A recreational vehicle lies at the bottom of a cliff in the Santa Clara River after a severe 2023 storm. A new report says Los Angeles County faces billions in climate costs as a result of intensifying storms, drought, wildfires and extreme heat, among other impacts. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A first-of-its-kind report has estimated that Los Angeles County must invest billions of dollars through 2040 to protect residents from worsening climate hazards, including extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels and climate-induced public health threats.

The report, published this week by the nonprofit Center for Climate Integrity, identified 14 different climate adaptation measures that authors calculated would cost L.A. taxpayers at least $12.5 billion over the next 15 years, or approximately $780 million per year. The vast majority of those costs  more than $9 billion  will be incurred by local municipal governments, including the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Clarita, the report said.

"These numbers don't include the costs of recovering from disasters  from extreme weather events that knock out power or damage infrastructure or do all the kinds of things they do," said Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity. "So it's a very conservative estimate, and yet it's a really big number."

Wiles said the costs for L.A. County are nearly as high as for the entire state of Pennsylvania, which faces about $15 billion in climate adaptation costs over roughly the same period.

"This is a big number, but this is going to happen," he said. "These costs will be incurred at some point, and it's just much better to pay now than it is to pay later. I can't emphasize that enough."

The most expensive adaptation categories are related to precipitation and heat, including an estimated $4.3 billion for improved stormwater management, $2.5 billion for cool pavement investments and $1.4 billion for tree canopies to combat urban heat islands, the report found. Other costs include wildfire mitigation; coastal defense and infrastructure protection; building upgrades for cooling and air conditioning; and responses to vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.

County officials said the findings weren't surprising and agreed that they may even be conservative given the scale of the threats.

"The impacts of climate have become more and more visible over the past few years in particular," said Rita Kampalath, L.A. County's chief sustainability officer. "We know that we're facing really, really huge needs in terms of how we prepare our communities to face those, and to be resilient in the face of increased climate impacts. It's only going to increase from here."

Stormwater capture in particular has been on the minds of many Angelenos this winter as record-breaking rainfall pounded the region. A monster storm in February saw the Los Angeles River roar to life and funnel millions of gallons into the Pacific Ocean.

But the river  which was encased in concrete nearly a hundred years ago  and other local flood channels will be no match for climate change-enhanced storms of the future. Though the long-term trend in the West is toward hotter and drier conditions, Los Angeles will still see bouts of severe storms and extreme wet years that will increase flood risk significantly, according to the state's fourth climate change assessment.

To mitigate these impacts, the county must expand its stormwater drainage infrastructure by installing bioswales, porous pavement and other opportunities for stormwater to seep into the ground, the report found. It noted that these "green infrastructure" upgrades are the least expensive option to cope with extreme rainfall events, as opposed to increasing the size and scale of hard infrastructure such as drain pipes.

Read more: The unloved L.A. River just prevented a flood disaster. Can more of its water be saved?

The county is making progress on this work through its Safe Clean Water Program, passed by voters as Measure W in 2018, Kampalath said. The program allocates about $280 million annually to stormwater capture projects, although recent reports have found that progress to date has been slow.

"While it is a big need, I do actually feel like the county has been investing, and our residents and voters in particular have shown that this is a high priority," she said. "We're not as far as we would like to be  it's hard to say that about much of anything when it comes to climate  but I do think that we have resources available to try to address some of these needs."

Meanwhile, extreme heat continues to pose a significant threat to L.A. County residents, and it is predicted to only get worse in the years and decades ahead. The region is expected to experience an average of 48.5 days above 90 degrees per year between 2024 and 2040, the report says. That's about 12.5 more hot days per year than communities experienced between 1994 and 2013.

Some of the best methods to combat the dangers of rising heat include installing cool pavements, expanding urban green space, painting railway tracks with reflective paint to keep them at operable temperatures, and upgrading cooling systems for public buildings such as schools, the report says. Converting public parking lots to cool pavements that reflect instead of absorb sunlight can also help lower ambient temperatures.

Heat is "the impact that affects communities of color the most, and people less able to adapt themselves and their personal lives," Wiles said. He noted that some urban areas can simmer up to 20 degrees hotter than surrounding neighborhoods with heavy tree canopies.

"From a public health perspective, these types of adaptations are increasingly critical just to make neighborhoods livable," he said.

The report comes at a moment when the state is facing a significant $37.9-billion budget deficit, which has prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to slash $2.9 billion from California climate programs, delay an additional $1.9 billion and shift $1.8 billion to other funds.

Kampalath said it's too soon to say whether those cuts will trickle down to L.A. County's climate efforts, but that they could potentially affect funds officials were hoping to take advantage of through grants and other programs.

However, she noted that many of the county's climate adaptation strategies can have multiple benefits, such as tree canopy programs that help combat heat and improve stormwater management simultaneously.

"As we're looking at how to address these impacts, we do need to think about a multi-benefit approach, and what kind of strategies we can put in place that are really going to address a wide range of things  not only climate, but biodiversity and health impacts and the well-being of our communities as well," she said.

Read more: As climate hazards converge, more Californians are living in harm's way

Ultimately, funding for the projects outlined in the report will come from taxpayers, whether at the municipal, state or federal level, Wiles said. But he also hopes that oil and gas companies will be held accountable for their role in the worsening climate crisis, as fossil fuel emissions are by far the largest driver of global warming.

Last year, California filed a bombshell lawsuit against five of the largest oil and gas companies for their alleged "decades-long campaign of deception" about the risks posed by fossil fuels, which have forced the state to spend billions of dollars to address environmental-related damages. State Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta is seeking to create a nuisance abatement fund to finance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, among other outcomes.

"Each and every community in Los Angeles County should consider bringing similar legal actions to hold climate polluters accountable and ensure that taxpayers aren't left to pay the bill alone," the report says.

Indeed, there are other climate hazards that will cost Angelenos billions in adaptation expenses over the next decade and a half, the report found.

They include an increase in vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus as more mosquitoes are drawn to the area's changing temperatures and precipitation patterns. About 500,000 new cases of the virus are expected in the county through 2040, which will cost an estimated $993 million to treat. Climate change will also lead to more pediatric asthma cases due to an increase in pollen, with about 160,000 new cases expected through 2040.

The county also needs about $680 million in road improvements as heat and rain contribute to more cracks, erosion and soft surfaces. A foot of sea level rise along the coast of L.A. County will require at least $576 million for berms, flood walls, bank stabilization and other infrastructure measures to prevent flooding and to avoid infrastructure damage by 2040.

Wildfires, already getting larger, faster and more frequent across California, will necessitate nearly $1 billion just to clear vegetation and other fuels from land around the county's infrastructure, the report found. It noted that L.A. County will face an average of 36 more high-fire days through 2040 when compared to the 1994-to-2013 baseline.

The estimated $919-million wildfire cost does not account for fighting fires or repairing damage from blazes. The 2018 Woolsey fire racked up an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion in insured losses alone.

Wiles said the expenses outlined in the report won't solve climate change but will help "hold things where they are today," or least prevent the hazards from getting worse.

He said he hoped the report would help guide county officials as they face difficult choices about where, how and to what limited funds should be allocated. Investing in climate adaptations now can save money  and lives  later, he said.

"These costs are still coming," Wiles said. "The next disaster will happen. This is just what it's going to cost to prepare."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
L.A. man posed as teen, told girls he loved them in hopes of obtaining nude photos: DOJ

A man from the Los Angeles South Bay has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attempting to get underage girls to send him nude images.

Anthony Frank Scovotto, 58, of San Pedro, received his sentence on Monday after pleading guilty last May to one count of attempted production of child pornography.

In 2017, Scovotto began contacting the underage victim, whom he believed was only 12 at the time, through audio calls and text messages, according to the United States Department of Justice.

Posing as an 18-year-old boy, Scovotto repeatedly told the victim that he loved her and believed they were meant for each other, the DOJ said.

Investigators say he instructed the victim to contact him in an online chatroom where he asked her to take off her clothes. Afterward, he asked the girl to send him nude photos of herself.

According to court documents, this wasnt the first time Scovotto had used these tactics to get underage girls to send him explicit images. As part of his plea agreement, he admitted to doing the same thing that same year with two separate underage girls whom he contacted online.

He asked both victims to send him sexually explicit photographs of themselves, which they did, the DOJ said.

Prosecutors argued that Scovotto be sentenced to 30 years in prison based on a pattern of similar crimes. In 2001, he was convicted in Orange County of attempted sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, they said.

[Scovotto] preyed upon vulnerable pre-teen and adolescent girls by posing as a teenager or young man and pretending to love and care for them, prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. He betrayed their trust and manipulated them for his sexual pleasure.

Scovotto will be 88 years old upon his release from prison if he serves his entire sentence.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Lake Country School District looking at more budget cuts after one of two referendum questions failed

The K-8 Lake Country School District in northwestern Waukesha County is looking at its next steps after voters rejected one of two referendum questions on the April 2 ballot.

On a vote of 691 to 589, residents approved a $9.5 million facilities referendum question that will make improvements such as safety and security and technology system upgrades, as well as building and learning environment improvements.

However, on a vote of 695 to 594, residents rejected a $7.2 million operational referendum question that would have provided funds through increases over seven years to cover annual operating expenses.

"We're going to have to make some significant cuts to staffing and try and get a balanced budget. We're going to have to cut in the neighborhood of $800,000," said Lake Country School District superintendent Chad Schraufnagel in a phone interview April 3.Had the operational referendum passed, the district would have still had to make about $650,000 in cuts from its budget, he noted.

"A total of 4.4 staff were going to be reduced had we passed. Three teachers submitted retirement, so that meant we only had to reduce 1.4 more. We are going to have to reduce a few more positions. I don't have those numbers quite yet, so I really don't want to say anything until I have more firm numbers on that," Schraufnagel said.

Information about the referendum on the district's website said that if the operational referendum failed, the district would have to reduce between 6.4 to 7 professional staff positions. Schraufnagel hedged on that number a bit. "Potentially," he said. "It may have to be more. We may have to go more."

"Obviously, the impact is on class sizes and programming  things that you can offer," he said. "You try and make any reductions as far away from core area teaching as possible."

Schraufnagel said the sad part about the cuts is the effect on teachers' lives. He said the decisions are not easy to make.

"In other times where we did not need the operating referendum, we'd be really in a celebratory mood because we passed a $9.5 million referendum to really fix the needs of the building, and we're very thankful for the community has agreed to do that," he said, "but our excitement is a little bit tempered because we do have to make these cuts, but we understand it."

The district's goal is to make the needed reductions without dipping into its fund balance, or savings, and present a balanced budget, he explained.

"Then we're going to have to continue to short-term borrow, and the board of education and administration are going to have to sit down and plan out a future moving forward. I don't know if that means coming back to the community for an operating referendum again in '25. The board has not had a chance to meet, so there are a lot of things we are going to have to look at," Schraufnagel said.

The district said on its website it has spent its fund balance down to 5% of its overall budget, down from 19.29% of its budget in the 2014-15 school year. It said it has had lower enrollments over the last 10 years and has not had enough state funding to keep pace with continuing needs.

"Since the funding has not kept pace, the District has continued to maintain resource levels through the usage of their fund balance (savings account) to balance the budget each of the last 8 school years," the district said on its website.

Carrying a 20% to 25% fund balance generally allows school districts to cover short-term deficits without borrowing money while also setting aside dollars for long-term facility needs."At a 5% fund balance, there is little to no flexibility for covering deficits and if the District depletes its fund balance and operates in a deficit spending situation, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will intervene in the districts operations," the district said on its website.

The district plans to work with its project partner, SitelogIQ, to finalize facility improvement plans.

"We need to do the planning and all the things that go into a capital project like that. It's going to be a big disruption to our parking lot, roof, chiller, HVAC, all that stuff. We're going to need a good bit of planning just to make sure we got everything lined up. You have to go out to bid, all of those things," Schraufnagel said.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) at @AlecJohnson12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lake Country School District looking at budget cuts
TOKYO, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A 112-year-old man, recognized as Japan's oldest male, has passed away in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, local media reported on Thursday.

Gisaburo Sonobe, who died in late March, was born on Nov. 6, 1911 and became the country's oldest man after his predecessor died in November 2022 at 111, the national news agency Kyodo reported, citing local authorities.

The municipal government of Tateyama, where Sonobe resided, has not revealed the exact date nor the cause of his death at the request of his family, the report noted.

On Wednesday, Guinness World Records said that the world's oldest man, Juan Vicente Perez, had died at 114 in Venezuela. Sonobe had been expected to be the next title holder. 
LAKEWOOD - More than a decade after township police Officer Christopher Matlosz was gunned down in the line of duty, Jahmell Crockam is still trying to get out of the life prison term he received for the only cop killing in Ocean County's history.

In his latest argument, Crockam, now 32, of Lakewood, claims he was wrongfully convicted of the 2011 murder of the 27-year-old officer because of mistaken cross-racial identification of him by eyewitnesses to the execution.

A two-judge panel of the Appellate Division of Superior Court on Wednesday rejected his argument, meaning that Crockam will continue to serve a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release on parole.

"We are pleased that the Appellate Division found Crockam's petition to be utterly without merit,'' Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in response to the judges' decision. "Hopefully, (Wednesday's) ruling will provide the loved ones of Officer Chris Matlosz with some semblance of closure.''

Matlosz, a Manchester resident and 4 1/2-year veteran of the Lakewood police force, was the first and only officer to be killed in the line of duty in Ocean County.

Crockam, then 19, shot Matlosz three times in the head at close range. The shooting was unprovoked and occurred in broad daylight in front of three eyewitnesses as the victim sat in his patrol car on August Drive about 4 p.m. on Jan 14, 2011, according to testimony at the defendant's 2012 trial.

When Matlosz encountered him that day, Crockam knew there was a warrant for his arrest for failing to appear in court on a relatively minor weapons offense a month earlier, prosecutors argued at the trial. Crockam had previously told an acquaintance he would kill a cop to avoid going to jail.

Assistant Ocean County prosecutors William J. Heisler, now retired, and Michael Weatherstone, now the prosecutor's chief trial attorney, presented the state's case at the trial before Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels.

Lakewood Police Officer Christopher Matlosz

Two of the state's three eyewitnesses to the shooting identified Crockam as the gunman.

The jury found Crockam guilty of the murder and two related weapons offenses.

Daniels sentenced Crockam to a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder and a consecutive, seven-year term for possessing the gun used to shoot Matlosz.

During the sentencing hearing, the courtroom was packed with friends, family and colleagues of the fallen officer, while about 100 other officers stood vigil outside the Ocean County Courthouse, many wearing shirts adorned with Matlosz's badge number, 317.

Now, Crockam, in his latest appeal known as a petition for post-conviction relief, claimed his attorney, Mark Fury, provided him with an inadequate defense because he did not ask that an updated instruction about cross-racial identification be read by the judge to the jurors before they began their deliberations.

Fury did not call any witnesses at the trial, but he vigorously attacked the validity of the eyewitnesses' identification of Crockam as the person who shot and killed Matlosz.

Jahmell Crockam

The current model jury charge on cross-racial identification, which occurs when an eyewitness is asked to identify someone of another race, uses language that says "research has shown'' that people have greater difficulty in accurately identifying members of a different race, according to Wednesday's appellate decision.

The language came about as a result of a 2011 criminal case known as State vs. Henderson.

Before that, the model jury instruction read, "You should consider that ordinary human experience of people have greater difficulty in accurately identifying members of a different race.'' That was the instruction read by Daniels to the jury at Crockam's trial.

In Wednesday's decision, Judges Heidi Willis Currier and Lisa A. Firko of the Appellate Division of Superior Court said Daniels read the appropriate instruction to the jury, noting it was the one in use at the time. The judges noted that the court deciding the Henderson case said the revised instruction on cross-racial identification would be used only for cases going forward, once it was approved.

"Moreover, the revised cross-racial identification charge is not 'drastically different' from the former charge as the defendant contends,'' the appellate judges wrote. "And there was corroborating evidence here based on the defendant's own statements to a number of individuals that he had shot and killed an officer, coupled with being identified by multiple witnesses. ''

Wednesday's decision is the latest in a series of unsuccessful appeals by Crockam, the first one decided against him in 2016.

If the killing had occurred five years earlier, before New Jersey abolished the death penalty, Crockam would have faced execution.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Killer continues to appeal conviction in Lakewood cop's murder
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument.

The stretch of recreational land including Frenchman Mountain right off Lake Mead Boulevard is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Trash and glass are littered across the area after parties and people visiting the land.

We absolutely need to get this land protected, Taylor Patterson, the Executive Director of the Indigenous Voices of Nevada explained.

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

Conservation groups and some community members are looking to turn public land on the outskirts of east Las Vegas into a national monument. (KLAS)

She said Frenchman Mountain is one of the few places people in east Las Vegas can enjoy public land without a fee.

This whole area has really been [an] important piece of Southern Paiute history and I really hope that we can preserve that so future generations can have that same experience, she added.

Nearly 35,000 acres of the land is what she and Bertha Gutierrez, Program Director at the Conservation Lands Foundation, would like to see turned into a national monument. Gutierrez was part of the same group that advocated for the creation of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument.

Now they want to protect this land that has some pretty important features like The Great Unconformity. The area is one of the few places you can see these geologic layers besides the Grand Canyon its also home to the Las Vegas Bearpoppy, a yellow perennial flower that was listed as critically endangered.

Any effort to turn this land into a national monument is still years away. Right now, Patterson said they are seeking input from the public.

We are really looking for the community to tell us what they think about this piece of land and what they would like to see in the area.

Theyve created a website for input including a petition.

In 2021, Clark County and Nevada Lawmakers passed resolutions calling for more protection of the site.

Avi Kwa Ame to be designated as Nevadas next national monument, Biden says

With the creation of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument last year Governor Lombardo said it was a federal confiscation that conflicts with economic development efforts.

8 News Now reached out to him about the proposed monument and is awaiting a response.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
EFFINGHAM, Ill. (WCIA)  The final stage of construction on Interstate 70 in Effingham County is just days away from starting.

Starting Tuesday and weather permitting, the reconstruction of the highways westbound lanes will commence between Montrose and Effingham. All traffic will be diverted onto the eastbound lanes, which were rebuilt last year, with one lane of traffic in each direction.

The starting date of this project was timed to avoid disrupting traffic entering and leaving the area due to the total solar eclipse happening the day prior.

UI researchers to take part in global eclipse impact study

We are excited to get one step closer to delivering this vital project to an important part of the state. These improvements will help the flow of goods and services throughout the area and provide a safer road for everyone who relies on I-70, said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. Partnering with local officials, we have added several safety measures this year that should drive down the number of crashes in the work zone, but we need your help and cooperation. Please stay alert for upcoming construction and prepared to slow down. Buckle up and put down the phone. Follow the signs and instructions. Expect conditions to change at any moment. Working together, we look forward to bringing this project to a safe, successful conclusion.

Senator Rose discusses ongoing problems on Interstate 70 near Effingham following Teutopolis gas leak

The work zone will include several safety elements like dynamic message boards and temporary rumble strips. The Illinois State Police will also have an enhanced presence at the work zone, with troopers looking for speeding, distracted driving and other traffic offenses.

IDOT officials are also coordinating with local police and fire departments to advise them on the most efficient ways to access the work zone in the event of a crash or other emergency.

The reconstruction project, made possible by the Rebuild Illinois capital program, is expected to be complete in the fall.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Inside every public bathroom stall in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus is information on signs of domestic abuse and contact information for the Center for Family Safety and Healing.

A 31-year-old man admitted in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to attacking his ex-girlfriend inside her apartment on Columbus West Side last August. He punched her three times in the face and squeezed her neck for 10 to 15 seconds, causing her to get lightheaded.

Apologizing last week in court to the woman, who was not present, he said hes going to better himself.

The man pleaded guilty to strangulation and Judge Karen Phipps sentenced him to six months in prison, the recommended sentence in the plea agreement. With 163 days (more than five months) already spent in jail, hell be out within weeks.

Hundreds of people in Franklin County have been charged with strangulation since Ohio law changed a year ago on April 4, 2023 making the offense a chargeable felony separate from domestic violence.

But few defendants have been convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison.

Even when its not lethal, cutting off someones breathing can cause them to lose consciousness within seconds, lead to temporary or permanent brain damage and serve as a harbinger of future violence as strangulation victims are seven times more likely to later be killed by their abuser, according to Maria York, policy director at the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.

Freshly-trained on the seriousness of the crime and how to ask victims about it, Franklin County law enforcement has charged individuals with strangulation in more than 810 cases in the past year, more than double what authorities anticipated. But the much-heralded law  for which victim advocates lobbied for years  isn't leading to many felony convictions and only rarely results in prison time for domestic abusers in Franklin County.

Immediately after the 31-year-olds hearing last week, Phipps handled another case in which a 44-year-old man charged with strangulation pleaded down to misdemeanor assault. He received a time-served sentence for the 62 days he had already spent in jail.

Of the 60 people charged with strangulation in April 2023 (the first month the law took effect), only two have since been convicted, with one receiving a prison sentence. He received a two-year sentence and avoided a conviction on a rape charge, for which he could have received up to 11 years in prison.

Prosecuting domestic violence-related crimes is difficult

The new law doesnt fix the inherent difficulties that come with prosecuting domestic violence-related crimes. Prosecutors still have to grapple with a frequent lack of evidence and victims who often stop cooperating or even recant their testimony, according to Assistant Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Meyer, director of the office's Special Victims Unit.

Alexandria Ruden, a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, who co-wrote a book on domestic violence law in Ohio, said charges are the first step and it will take time for the justice system to catch up to treating strangulation like the serious crime it is.

I think the idea of charging at this point is the most important piece, Ruden said. Would I love them all to be charged and convicted of the crime as it stands? Yes. But the case law hasnt caught up with it.

In the meantime, Ruden said the fact that officers, medical professionals and others are now asking about strangulation, documenting its prevalence and encouraging more victims to seek the medical help they may need is its own victory.

The Mount Carmel Health System, for instance, reported that since Ohio law changed it has treated 174 strangulation patients, who have suffered multiple broken bones, damaged cartilage and aneurysms. That's an 83% increase over 2022.

A flood of strangulation cases

More than 540 strangulation cases have resulted in grand jury indictments in the last year out of 810 people initially charged by police, according to the prosecutors office.

The prosecutor's Special Victims Unit (SVU) had anticipated about 300 strangulation cases per year, which shows that authorities weren't always asking domestic violence victims the right questions or documenting allegations around choking, Meyer said.

Assistant Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Meyer, director of the office's special victims unit, speaks to potential jurors in court during a rape trial in this file photo.

To keep up with the caseload over the past year, the prosecutor's office has added two attorneys to the special victims unit.

And the Columbus Division of Police has created the STOP (Strangulation Team Operations for Prosecution) unit to train officers to handle less severe strangulation cases because there are not enough detectives to handle them all. Detectives still handle second-degree felony strangulation cases while officers handle third-degree through fifth-degree felony cases.

Laurie Carney, a Columbus police detective in the felony domestic violence unit and the STOP program coordinator, said they've trained 47 uniformed officers and six sergeants who volunteered to take an 80-hour course. Carney has also helped train all Columbus officers on how to best respond to strangulation cases until a STOP officer or detective arrives.

Few strangulation charges resulting in convictions so far

Only one strangulation case made it to trial in Franklin County last year, and the jury found the defendant not guilty. Meyer said the woman in that case said her boyfriend strangled her with a green rope and a green rope was found at the scene. The jurors later told attorneys they believed her, but were hung up on a lack of markings on her neck, according to Meyer.

Like most criminal cases, strangulations are often being resolved with plea agreements.

The Franklin County Prosecutors office is not tracking conviction rates because, Meyer said, each case is unique. Any state reports on how the law plays out will lag by months or more.

The Dispatch examined records for the 60 cases charged in April 2023 in Franklin County. Of those, seven have pleaded guilty to a felony; 18 have pleaded down to a misdemeanor; four cases were dismissed because the victim stopped cooperating or recanted; and 31 cases have not been indicted or are pending.

Those that reached sentencing have received minor sanctions: nine defendants were sentenced to probation and 14 others got sentenced to time served for time spent in jail (between 3 days and 134 days).

Meyer said local authorities better got their arms around the law change in June or July, so The Dispatch looked at the 70 cases officers charged in the county in August 2023.

So far, the August charges have also led to few convictions or prison terms.

Of those 70 cases, three defendants have pleaded guilty to strangulation and four have pleaded guilty to other felonies. Two of those cases have been sentenced to prison, with both of them getting six months.

Three August cases were dismissed because the alleged victim recanted or did not show up to court. Five defendants pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, including domestic violence, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. The bulk of the August cases, 55, have not been indicted yet or are pending.

In one August case, a Far North Side man punched a 10-month-old child in his partners arms twice before he tackled the woman and wrapped a hand around her neck, cutting off her air for 15 to 30 seconds, according to charging documents. He pleaded guilty to felony domestic violence and misdemeanor endangering children. Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page sentenced the man to three years of probation.

Whenever possible in domestic violence cases, facing a lack of evidence or an uncooperative witness, Meyer said prosecuting attorneys try to get some kind of conviction, even if its just a misdemeanor. But it can be difficult.

If we don't have a cooperative witness, then we don't really have much of a case, he added.

In a dismissed case from April, a Hilliard police officer wrote in charging documents that officers responded to a womans call for help. She said her ex-boyfriend, the father of her 14-year-old child, strangled her and headbutted her during an argument. She had visible swelling beneath her eye and the man had scratch marks on his arm from the womans attempt to escape his hold, the officer wrote.

Both the woman and the teen told the officer the man had held the woman down.

A county prosecuting attorney requested the judge dismiss the case after the woman stopped cooperating and requested a dismissal.

Maria Houston, executive director of LSS CHOICES, Franklin Countys domestic violence shelter, said there are many reasons why a domestic violence victim might not cooperate with authorities, including fear of the abuser, a financial reliance on the perpetrator or a desire to not see the person jailed. It can be particularly difficult for victims when there are children involved, Houston said.

Defense attorneys allege charge being overused

Some Columbus defense attorneys told The Dispatch that few defendants are getting convicted of strangulation because the charge is being overused by officers and prosecuting attorneys.

Emily Anstaett, a Columbus defense attorney, said the consensus among her colleagues is strangulation is a flavor-of-the-month charge.

When a new criminal code gets enacted, I think theres some pressure to justify the enactment of that offense, said Anstaett, who also said the charge was especially overused when the law first changed.

Another defense attorney, Michael Siewert, said men are getting accused of strangulation for as little as pushing against a female partners shoulders who is attacking them.

It may be that law enforcement is probing in that area, Siewert said. They may be trying to elicit statements to establish a strangulation as opposed to the accusers just volunteering it.

Assistant prosecutor Meyer denied the charge is being overused, saying strangulation is not overcharged, its overcommitted," adding they just respond to cases presented to them.

Defense attorneys also said evidence is often lacking in these cases.

Asphyxiation can cause petechiae, or spots, to appear on the skin from blood vessels bursting. Siewert said he has about 30 strangulation cases, but hes yet to see a medical examination that proves strangulation occurred.

Papers nurses at Mount Carmel fill out when conducting a forensic exam.

Anstaett said officers are often taking photos of alleged victims injuries immediately after an altercation, but bruising can take hours to appear.

Jennifer Watson, a Columbus police spokesperson, said the division could not respond to allegations that the charge is overused.

Carney said Columbus police gather as much evidence as they can so prosecutors dont have to rely solely on victim testimony. She said officers always encourage victims to follow up with a health care provider for medical help as well as evidence collection, but victims often dont want to for various reasons.

Proponents say it will take time for the law to catch on

Ruden said some people also bristled in 1979 when Ohio made domestic violence a charge despite assault already being on the books.

We highlighted the problem. People began to look at it as a problem, Ruden said. "It takes years."

Ohio Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Dublin) introduced multiple bills in the Ohio General Assembly over the years to make strangulation a felony before this measure was rolled into another bill.

Having this tool in the toolbox is definitely a good step, even if its not a silver bullet yet, Kunze said.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio strangulation law leads to few convictions of domestic abusers
Latvia to donate 1 million in drones and contribute 10 million for shells in support of Ukraine

Latvia is developing a new security assistance package for Ukraine and will provide the first drones as part of the drone coalition. It will also financially contribute to the Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine.

Source: Latvia's Prime Minister Evika Silina at a joint press conference with her Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in Riga, as reported by European Pravda

Details: "Very soon, we will send the first drones worth 1 million. The UAVs have been tested, and our colleagues have found them compliant with all the requirements," Silina said.

The Latvian minister noted that her country will contribute 10 million to the Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition.

"The next package of military assistance, including logistics assets, ammunition and weapons in our possession, is expected to be delivered this month," Silina said.

Background: Earlier, Latvia was reportedly planning to conclude a long-term support and security agreement with Ukraine, committing to provide military assistance in the amount of 0.25% of its GDP this year and over the next two years.

The United Kingdom, along with Latvia, leads the international drone coalition formed within the framework of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein format.

Earlier, media reported that participants in a Czech-led initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine outside Europe had signed an agreement under which Kyiv would receive one million rounds of ammunition  more than was initially planned.

A total of 15 countries have joined the Czech initiative, namely Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Poland and Canada. Not all of them have publicly announced the amount of funds they have contributed to the purchase of the ammunition.

Czechia is leading the initiative to provide Ukraine with at least 800,000 rounds of ammunition, a number that could potentially rise to 1.5 million.

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Latvia is planning to sign a long-term support and security agreement with Ukraine, committing to provide military assistance in the amount of 0.25% of its gross domestic product this year and over the next two years.

Source: Delfi portal, European Pravda writes.

Details: In 2024, 0.25% of Latvia's GDP will amount to about 112 million. Appropriate funding for these purposes will be allocated from the budget of the Defence Ministry.

An agreement on long-term support and security commitments between Latvia and Ukraine is scheduled to be signed on 11 April at the Three Seas Initiative summit in Vilnius. President Edgars Rinkevics will sign it on behalf of Latvia.

The agreement is of political nature and is not legally binding.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry said the agreement will be "a clear and firm signal of support for Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor". It envisages all forms of long-term assistance to Ukraine in defending itself against aggression, as well as Latvia's support for Ukraine on its path to membership in the European Union and NATO.

Such agreements have already been signed with the UK, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Lithuania and Estonia will also sign similar agreements with Ukraine in the near future.

Background:

Finnish President Alexander Stubb arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday. Shortly after the news of his arrival broke, the Office of the President of Ukraine published the text of the agreement between Ukraine and Finland on security cooperation and long-term support.

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Latvia is to provide Ukraine with further military aid for its defence against Russia, as Prime Minister Evika Silina announced a new aid package following a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal.

Equipment and technical resources from the army of the Baltic EU and NATO country are to be handed over in April, she said.

Ammunition, explosives and weapons, transport vehicles, personal kit and auxiliary equipment will all be part of the package, Silina said in Riga on Thursday.

In addition, Latvia would soon be sending the first drones, each worth 1 million ($1.01 million), to Ukraine, she added.

Silina said that the Ukrainians had already tested the unmanned aircraft and recognized them as suitable for combat. She said her government wants to provide 10 million for the development of drones this year.

Silina also announced that "one or more people" may also be sent to Ukraine to coordinate technical issues concerning the drones more quickly and flexibly on site.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years and is largely dependent on Western support for its military equipment.

With the announcement of the new aid package, the total military aid provided by Latvia will reach a value of 392 million, Silina said.
DENVER (KDVR)  Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is recovering after having emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in her leg.

Her campaign announced that she was admitted to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland after experiencing some severe swelling in her upper left leg. The clot was surgically removed and a stent was inserted after Boebert was diagnosed with May-Thurner syndrome.

Dr. E. Brooke Spencer is an interventional radiologist in Highlands Ranch who treats patients with this syndrome but has no connection to Boebert.

May-Thurner syndrome is a compression of that iliac vein by the artery, Spencer said.

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She said 30% of the population has the syndrome but only a small percentage develop blood clots.

People usually show up with signs of pain and swelling, or blue discoloration in their leg, aching in the leg, sometimes in the groin. I see a lot of people who think they have a hernia at first, Spencer said.

The cause of the syndrome is not fully understood, but doctors say women between 20 and 40 who have given birth are more likely to be affected.

If its treated correctly and appropriately most people can get back to a level where they may have some swelling intermittently throughout their life or have to wear a compression sock, but they usually get back to normal function pretty quickly, Spencer said.

Democrats select nominee in election to fill Ken Bucks seat

On X Boebert posted a note of thanks for all the support shes received.

Hoping to see you all back on the campaign trail soon, she said.

Her experience has raised awareness. Spencer said to minimize the risk of a blood clot, people should wear compression stockings, get up and walk around on long flights and take breaks during long drives.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
HANOI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's agro-forestry-fishery sector is able to earn 54-55 billion U.S. dollars in export revenue this year as assigned by the prime minister, Vietnam News Agency reported Thursday, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The ministry predicted that Vietnam will see many opportunities in rice export this year, and ship over 8 million tons of grain abroad.

Meanwhile, vegetable and fruit exports are expected to surpass a record set in 2023 to possibly hit 6.5-7 billion dollars.

In the fishery sector, Vietnam saw an increase of 1.9 percent in fishery exports to 1.86 billion dollars in the first quarter.

Vietnam's agro-forestry-fishery export revenue reached 13.53 billion dollars in the cited quarter, increasing 21.8 percent year-on-year, according to the ministry.

China, the United States and Japan remained top three buyers of Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products. 
WYTHEVILLE Va. (WFXR)  The Wytheville Police Department and the DEA are reporting that drugs are now being found around the country containing a deadly combination of fentanyl and xylazine.

Xylazine is a synthetic animal tranquilizer that is unaffected by the rapid overdose treatment, Narcan. Law enforcement says that 60% or 6 out of 10 illegal or counterfeit pills seized contain fentanyl. With the addition of Xylazine, young people, including high school and college students in Virginia are at an increased risk.

Blacksburg man in custody after police find illicit drugs worth over $237K during search

Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier, said Administrator Anne Milgram. DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 States. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine. the number is rising, reports the DEA.

The Wytheville Police Department urges parents to speak with their children about the risks of taking these dangerous narcotics, at a time when the nation is facing one of the deadliest opioid epidemics in history.

For more information, you can visit the CDCs website, here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  President Russell M. Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints addressed his advanced age ahead of the Churchs general conference weekend.

On his social media accounts, Nelson said he was grateful that members of the Church could watch, listen to or attend the general conference, especially as time marches on. Nelson, who is expected to celebrate his 100th birthday in September, said his body reminds him every day that its nearing the century mark.

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As senior leaders in the Church, we are called to serve for the remainder of our lives, often long beyond retirement age,' Nelson said. This means that you may see some of us during general conference speak while sitting down, or pre-record our message to be shared at the appropriate time, or even require a little assistance getting to and from our seats in the conference center.

While it is unclear if Nelson would be speaking this weekend through a pre-recorded message or in person, Nelson did watch last year through technology. His announcement in 2023 came just weeks after he fell and injured the muscles in his lower back. Nelson began making a slow return to Church meetings in November 2023.

Earlier in 2023, Nelson also confirmed the rumor he began using a walker saying he was having a small challenge with his balance from time to time. Despite his age, Nelson said his heart is good and his spirit is strong.

I thank the Lord every day for the privilege of still being here with you, Nelson wrote in his most recent social media post. He added, I dont have words to express how grateful I am for strong colleagues on whom I can lean in many ways as we strive to serve the Lord.

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Nelsons full statement can be found below:

Dear brothers, sisters, and friends, how grateful I am that we can watch, listen to, or attend general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this weekend. I know that the General Authorities and General Officers of the Church who will speak to us have prepared thoughtfully to teach us what the Lord would have them teach. I encourage you to view each session, prepared to make note of the spiritual impressions you receive. For each of us, time marches on. As many of you know, I am closing in on my 100th birthday. Though my body reminds me every day that it is nearly a century old and to go easy on it, I honestly dont know where the years have gone. They have simply flown by. As senior leaders in the Church, we are called to serve for the remainder of our lives, often long beyond retirement age. This means that you may see some of us during general conference speak while sitting down, or pre-record our message to be shared at the appropriate time, or even require a little assistance getting to and from our seats in the conference center. From my point of view, this is cause for celebration. I thank the Lord every day for the privilege of still being here with you. I cherish working alongside colleagues who are wearing out their lives in service to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, despite the aches and creaks that come with advancing age. I dont have words to express how grateful I am for strong colleagues on whom I can lean in many ways as we strive to serve the Lord. May each of us, regardless of our individual circumstances, listen with open hearts and minds to what we hear this weekend so that the Lord can continue to direct each of us in our individual paths. Happy general conference, my dear brothers and sisters! President Russell M. Nelson, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's upcoming Manhattan hush-money trial on Wednesday rejected the former president's request to delay the proceedings pending the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision, tossing one of several of Trump's remaining bids to delay the trial and tanking his effort to exclude key evidence from being used during it.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ruled that Trump's request was untimely, emphasizing that his legal team had "myriad opportunities" to voice the immunity concern before they did so last month, which was long after the pretrial motions deadline in the case had passed.

That March 7 filing's timing "raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion," the judge wrote in the six-page decision, according to The Associated Press.

But Merchan was "too kind" in his assessment of the Trump team's filing, argues Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor and former New York prosecutor.

The judge "should have said that the motion is frivolous, unprofessional, and made in bad faith," he told Salon, adding that "if Trumps lawyers seriously believed their motion had any merit, they wouldnt have waited until days before the trial to make it. Indeed, they could have made the motion many months ago."

Trump's motion to delay the trial based on an immunity claim shows both the Trump legal team's "incompetence" and "contempt for professional ethics," Gershman continued, calling the claim "so ridiculous" that it's "difficult to take it seriously."

"It merely demonstrates the desperate efforts Trumps lawyers are making to stop the trial no matter how crazy" their arguments are, he said.

Attorneys for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee had asked Merchan to pause the trial indefinitely until the Supreme Court resolved the immunity claim Trump raised in his Washington, D.C. federal election interference case. The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments on the matter on April 25, 10 days after jury selection in the Manhattan case is scheduled to begin.

The former president argues that he's shielded from prosecution for conduct alleged to include official acts he made while in office. Though his lawyers have not vaulted that claim as a defense in the hush-money case, they have argued that some evidence  including Trump's social media posts about his ex-attorney and fixer Michal Cohen  from during his presidency should be excluded from the trial because of his immunity protections.

"Frankly, I cannot conceive how public tweets during Trump's presidency, that are offered to show his awareness and participation in the cover up of alleged criminal matters that occurred prior to election, would be inadmissible in a case brought after the presidency," Syracuse University College of Law professor Gregory Germain told Salon.

Trump's "baseless" argument, he added, also fell flat in its citation of Nixon v. Fitzgerald, "which held that a former president cannot be sued in a CIVIL matter for official acts taken while president." That case has "nothing" to do with what's at issue in Trump's, Germain explained, noting that the 1974 U.S. v. Nixon decision requiring then-President Richard Nixon to turn over secret tapes he made in the Oval Office to the court "seems clearly to reject Trump's evidentiary claim."

In his Wednesday ruling, Merchan went on to note a distinction between the immunity claim in the D.C. case, which he notably referred to as the "Federal Insurrection Matter," and the hush-money case.

In D.C., Trump is attempting to use presidential immunity to have his charges dismissed on the grounds that he has "absolute immunity from federal criminal liability, Merchan wrote, according to the AP. Meanwhile, in the hush-money case, he said, Trump is trying to bar evidence of what prosecutors allege was his "pressure campaign" against Cohen and other witnesses.

The Manhattan district attorney's case against the former president hinges on allegations that Trump falsified his company's internal business records to conceal the nature of payments to Cohen, who helped Trump hide negative stories during his 2016 presidential bid. At issue, in particular, is the $130,000 Cohen paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her from going public about an extramarital sexual encounter she claimed she had with Trump in 2006.

Specifically, Trump in the motion sought to have all his communications about the matter while in office excluded. One tweet, for example, from 2018 described Cohen's brokering of an "NDA" with Daniels as unrelated to his campaign.

"Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are.....," Trump's post read, per Just Security Journalism Fellow Adam Klasfeld.

This is one of Trump's tweets that his lawyers want to keep from a jury, on the theory of immunity that posting it was an "official act" of his presidency.



It's a tweet apparently showing Trump's knowledge of the system of reimbursements at the center of his criminal charges. pic.twitter.com/1o3Yg5s2dZ  Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) March 11, 2024

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The prosecution, however, wants to use this kind of evidence to show that Trump publicly "made misrepresentations" about "the nature" of the hush-money payments and that he was "conscious of and participated in" the cover up, Germain explained.

Such communications would be "highly relevant" in proving Trump's "consciousness of his guilt by trying to conceal damaging proof against him from these witnesses," Gershman added. "Consciousness of ones guilt is strong proof of a persons criminal intent, which is the critical element necessary to convict Trump of trying [to] silence Daniels and Cohen from exposing the criminal conspiracy to keep the salacious information from voters shortly before the 2016 election."

Trump's claim that the tweets and other communication in question constituted "official presidential acts," Gershman said, "is absurd."

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records against him and has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were real legal expenses and not part of a cover up, the AP notes.

The hush-money case was originally set to go to trial on March 25 but was postponed after the former president's legal team complained about a last-minute document drop from a prior federal investigation into the conduct that resulted in Cohen's imprisonment.

In the grand scheme, Germain said he doesn't believe Trump's evidence-immunity motion in the hush-money case "is really about the evidence being used at trial."

It "is about Trump trying to delay the trial until after the election, in the hope that he wins the election and could claim immunity from criminal prosecution during his presidency," he said. "It strikes me as a very weak last-minute attempt at delay."
MADISON  State Sen. Robert Cowles announced Monday he won't seek reelection after four decades in the Legislature  the latest in a string of lawmakers who have decided to leave the Capitol or seek another elected office following the conclusion of the body's work for the year.

"Ive enjoyed the opportunity Ive had to meet people in the State Capitol and throughout Wisconsin who share my love for the state we call home. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who wakes up every day working to make our great state an even better place," Cowles said in a statement.

The recent redrawing of Wisconsin's legislative boundaries stirred a shakeup in the Capitol, with a slate of lawmakers choosing to retire or run in new districts to avoid competing against fellow incumbents  along with the usual churn that comes with lawmakers seeking other offices or opting to leave their posts at the conclusion of a legislative session.

The legislative shuffling combined with the enactment of newly competitive districts could contribute to a more lively August and November election season for legislative seats.

More: These areas of Wisconsin are likely to flip parties under new electoral maps. Do you live in one of them?

More: You have questions about Wisconsin's new election maps and how they affect you? We have answers.

Here are the state lawmakers who have announced plans to step down or run for another position:

Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison

Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison

The former Senate Minority Leader announced in November that she will leave the Legislature to run for Dane County executive.

Agard, 54, was elected to the Senate in 2020 after serving eight years in the Assembly. Prior to that, she served four years on the Dane County Board of Supervisors. She was unanimously selected by her Democratic colleagues to lead the caucus in 2022, after Sen. Janet Bewley, D-Mason, chose not to seek reelection.

"I've been working hard to plant seeds and tend to them, and I believe very strongly that there are good people that will come up behind and make sure that we do cross the finish line on some of these policies that we haven't been able to address  gun violence and cannabis and expansion of health care or Child Care Counts," Agard told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when she announced her plans.

Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg

Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg

Anderson, 37, has served in the Assembly since 2017. He is one of three Democratic members of the Assembly seeking to replace Agard in the 16th Senate District.

I first ran for office because of the hardships I endured after a drunk driver took the lives of my family and left me paralyzed. While that experience was incredibly painful, it also lit a fire inside me. It made me want to dedicate my life to public service and fix what was broken in our system," Anderson said in a statement.

Rep. Samba Baldeh, D-Madison

Rep. Samba Baldeh, D-Madison.

Baldeh, 52, has served in the Assembly since 2021 and previously for six years on the Madison City Council. He is one of three Democratic members of the Assembly seeking to replace Agard in the 16th Senate District.

"I am looking forward to this campaign and having an opportunity to meet the residents of Dane, Jefferson, and Dodge counties. This is a diverse district comprising suburban, rural and urban communities- each with their own needs and prospects for positive change," Baldeh said in a statement.

Rep. Marisabel Cabrera, D-Milwaukee

Marisabel Cabrera

Cabrera, 48, has represented the state's 9th Assembly District since 2019. In the April 2 election, Cabrera was elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court with 51% of the vote.

"Im running for judge to ensure our judicial system treats people with respect, compassion, and impartiality so that people understand their rights and obligations in proceedings and get a fair shake," she said in a statement about her judicial candidacy.

Rep. Sue Conley, D-Janesville

Rep. Sue Conley, D-Janesville.

Conley, 64, announced in February that she would not seek reelection to the 44th Assembly District, to which she was first elected in 2020.

"It is an incredible honor to represent and serve the people of Janesville. I am grateful to all who have shared their thoughts, ideas and suggestions with me to move our state forward. Your words and heartfelt concerns accompany me to the Capitol. Every perspective is important to me and I did my best to listen intently and fairly represent all who live in the 44th Assembly District," Conley, who previously worked in nonprofit management, said in a statement.

Rep. Dave Considine, D-Baraboo

Dave Considine, Assembly Ag Committee Ranking Minority member, talks with Dairy Business Association members during Ag Day at the Capitol on April 10.

Considine, 71, was first elected to the 81st Assembly District in 2014. The former dairy goat farmer and special education teacher announced in January that he would not seek reelection.

"Thank you to everyone who has sent letters, attended listening sessions, made phone calls, and taken the time to share with me the issues closest to your heart. Sometimes we have agreed on policy solutions and sometimes we have disagreed. As a legislator, I need to hear all perspectives. I am amazed at how much I have learned and grown because of your trust in me," Considine said in a statement.

Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay

Cowles, 73, is the longest current-serving member of the Senate, with 36 years in the chamber. He previously served four years in the Assembly.

He previously said he would look for a new home in order to compete again in the 2nd Senate District after its boundaries changed, but he announced in April that "after much thought and deliberation" he would not seek reelection.

In a statement, Cowles thanked "the dedicated nonpartisan staff serving the Legislature," the lawmakers with whom he worked, his staff and his constituents in northeastern Wisconsin.

"Despite policy disagreements at times, Ive met some outstanding individuals who serve their constituents with honor and respect. I wish my colleagues all the best in their efforts to serve the people of Wisconsin in the coming sessions," Cowles said.

Rep. Dora Drake, D-Milwaukee

Drake, 31, was elected to the 11th Assembly District in 2020. She announced in February she will seek election to the 4th Senate district, which was left vacant when former state Sen. Lena Taylor became a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge. A special election date has not been set.

"It is time for the next generation of servant leadership who will build bridges and advocate for innovative solutions for the issues we face today," Drake said in her announcement.

Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee

State Rep. Evan Goyke, candidate for Milwaukee City Attorney, delivers his victory speech following the win over Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer at Goykes election night celebration at Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. in Milwaukee.

Goyke, 41, announced in 2022 that he would run for Milwaukee city attorney in 2024.

A resident of Milwaukee's near west side, Goyke spent 10 years in the Assembly representing District 18. He practiced law as a state public defender for about 2 years after graduating from Marquette University Law School in 2009 and before declaring his candidacy for Assembly.

"The city has seen what happens if that office doesnt have effective, accountable, transparent leadership," Goyke told the Journal Sentinel when he announced his plans. "I think many people in our community have learned just how important that office is to the residents of the city as well as the city as an entity itself."

Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown

State Sen. Daniel Knodl, R-Germantown, is shown in the state Senate Thursday, September 14, 2023 at the Capitol in Madison, Wis.

The freshman senator, who represents the 8th Senate district, told Wispolitics.com in February he plans to run for the Assembly District currently held by Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen in the Menomonee Falls area.

I can continue to represent my hometowns of Menomonee Falls and Germantown without having to engage in a costly primary with Senator Stroebel, who is a very respected, conservative member of the Senate," Knodl, 65, said in a statement.

Knodl and GOP Sen. Duey Stroebel of the Town of Cedarburg now reside in the same Senate district under the state's new legislative maps. Knodl said the decision to run for the Assembly, where he served for 14 years before being elected to the state Senate in 2023, makes sense because the district is his home.

More: New election maps shake up races for incumbents now pitted against each other

Rep. John Macco, R-Ledgeview

John Macco

Macco, 65, most recently served as chair of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means and the vice-chair of the Assembly Committee on Audit. He was first elected to the 88th Assembly District in 2014.

Macco had previously signaled his current term could be his last but during a recent legislative debate over redistricting he pledged he would represent his district come heck or high water even if new maps removed his home from the boundaries.

Elected service has been and continues to be a high honor of citizenship. I have strived to serve the people of the 88th diligently and honorably for a decade. I have always been keenly aware that my title is Representative and, in that capacity, my primary role was to represent and serve this district," Macco said in a statement.

Rep. Gae Magnafici, R-Dresser

Gae Magnafici (R - Dresser)

Magnafici, 71, was first elected to the 28th Assembly District in 2018 after a career in nursing.

"My time in government has reinforced my belief in the power of freedom  the freedom to live without undue reliance on government support, and the freedom that comes from being a responsible, self-reliant American citizen. Its a lesson I will carry into retirement as I continue to advocate for policies that empower individuals and ensure our community thrives on the principles of liberty and self-determination," Magnafici said in a statement.

Rep. LaKeshia Myers, D-Milwaukee

Wisconsin State Representative LaKeshia Myers on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Myers represents the 12th assembly district in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Myers, 39, has represented the 12th Assembly District since 2019. She announced plans to run for the 4th Senate seat shortly after Taylor resigned the seat to be sworn in as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge.

Taylor has said Myers has her support to take over the seat but indicated she would not engage in the race any further after being sworn in as a judge.

Myers said she and Taylor, both Democrats, align on "probably 99.9%" of legislative issues, and they've worked together on juvenile justice, agriculture and education.

Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha

Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha, speaking.

Ohnstad, 71, was first elected to the 65th Assembly District in 2012, after a career in the auto industry that included decades in union leadership.

"This was not an easy decision. In fact it was among one of the hardest Ive had to make. Im proud of the work my colleagues and I have done. Whether it was fighting for better schools, advocating for affordable healthcare, or working to create more job opportunities, its been an honor to be a part of a caucus which strives to put the interests of Wisconsinites first," Ohnstad said in a statement.

Rep. Jon Plumer, R-Lodi

'Plumer, 69, was first elected to the 42nd Assembly District in a 2018 special election.

"When our four daughters were young, I worked two and sometimes three jobs so my bride could stay home and provide them with a loving and safe upbringing, something I will never regret. The downside being, I missed a great deal of their extracurricular activities. As they grew into adulthood and started their own families, I promised myself I would not allow that to happen with our grandchildren, but here we are," Plumer said in a statement announcing his plans to retire.

Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove

Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, is running for the 16th Senate District.

Ratcliff, 47, is one of three Democratic members of the Assembly seeking to replace Agard in the 16th Senate District. Ratcliff, who is in her first Assembly term, also serves on the Dane County Board of Supervisors.

"In the Assembly, I have championed reproductive rights, fair maps, expanding broadband, equal rights and safety for our LGBTQ+ residents, and services for veterans and seniors," Ratcliff said in a statement.

Rep. Angie Sapik, R-Lake Nebagamon

Sapik, 39, will leave the Assembly after being elected to represent its 73rd District in 2022.

"Being a good legislator means you do whats best for your district and the state, and that is what I have done. I continue to have difficult conversations and challenge authority to benefit this region," the onion broker said in a statement. "There will be ample opportunity for future political endeavors, and I highly anticipate that I will not quickly fade into the night."

Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point

Rep. Katrina Shankland

Shankland, 36, has represented the 71st Assembly District since 2013.

She is running against Eau Claire non-profit leader Rebecca Cooke in the Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District. The winner of the August contest will face Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in November.

Shankland is backed by U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan.

Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay

Shelton, 43, has represented the 90th Assembly District since 2021. She announced in February that she would not seek a third term.

"This decision has been difficult, as it has been an immense privilege to represent the incredible people of Green Bay. My decision to not seek re-election is rooted in my desire to prioritize and devote more time to my family and my professional goals outside the State Assembly," Shelton said in a statement.

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

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin legislators on the move ahead of new election maps
Billionaire Leon Black is speaking out about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein for the first time since resigning from his private equity firm, claiming the famous men in the sex-traffickers circle likely didnt know that Jeffrey was a pedophile.

The ex-Apollo CEOwhose relationship with Epstein tarnished his name and led to lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuseexclusively sat down with Pucks William Cohan to defend his reputation amid continued scrutiny over his relationship with the late sex offender.

Cohan wrote that the 72-year-old mogul grabbed a piece of paper from his suit jacket in the middle of their lunch with his PR team and scribbled a bunch of names of people who had also hung out with Epstein at one time or another. Black listed former presidents Clinton and Trump, billionaires Mort Zuckerman, Reid Hoffman and Tom Pritzker, as well as Epsteins old JPMorgan buddy Jes Staley and academic Noam Chomsky.

Im not in any way, shape, or form defending Jeffrey, Black, who knew Epstein since the mid-1990s, told Cohan. Im defending me. I dont believe any of these guys knew that Jeffrey was a pedophile. I certainly didnt.

Rape Accuser Cheri Pierson Drops Lawsuit Against Billionaire Leon Black

I thought he was a fascinating guy. So yes, I spent time with him. Id go up, have lunch or breakfast with him because I lived two blocks from him, and we would talk about tax and estate planning and financial things.

Black added that hed dine at Epsteins New York mansion with others including director Woody Allen, TV host Dick Cavett, and Trumps far-right strategist Steve Bannon.

Everybody looks at it through the lens of, This is Public Enemy Number One for being a pedophile. He was smart. And I thought he performed services for a bunch of [his associates], yes. And he was a bit offbeat and counterculture and eccentric, yes, Black continued.

As The Daily Beast reported, Black stepped down from Apollo not long after the company enlisted a law firm to independently investigate his relationship with Epstein in 2020, as stories about Epsteins sex-trafficking scheme and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell continued to make headlines. In the wake of Epsteins 2019 arrest and jailhouse death, Black fended off questions from media and investors about his entanglements with him.

The Apollo probewhich Black now claims he requestedfound that Black paid Epstein $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for estate and tax-planning advice and portrayed a relationship much deeper than Black had publicly described.

The billionaire art collector has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein and the allegations that he sexually abused women at Epsteins lair.

Still, Blacks friendship with Epstein has continued to cost him.

While he and one of his accusers, Cheri Pierson, decided to drop their litigation in February, another womans suit alleging he raped her when she was 16 is pending.

In January 2023, Black paid the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands $62.5 million in cash to be released from any claims tied to its investigation into Epstein. The settlement, according to the Times, stated that it should not be interpreted as an admission of liability.

One Epstein victims settlement with the financiers estate included a carve-out provision allowing her to pursue claims against Staley and Black.

Leon Black Accused of Raping 16-Year-Old With Down Syndrome

Cohan asked what went through Blacks mind after Epsteins 2006 arrest for soliciting a prostitute, which preceded a federal sex-trafficking probe into Epsteins abuse of minors and a sweetheart deal with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Miami that led to a cushy jail sentence.

Black replied that he believed Epstein when he got caught up with a 17-year-old prostitute who lied about her age and didnt view it as the end of the world.

I took it seriously, Black said. But I didnt take it that seriously. I mean, he was with a 17-year-old prostitute, got prosecuted for it, and got put away for a year. The billionaire added, And, you know, according to him, even that person had shown an I.D. that she wasnt underage. My feeling is, there are serious things and there are things that are less serious. I didnt think this was the end of the world, frankly.

Black insisted he stayed close with other wealthy people who went to jail: lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, financier Michael Milken, and Sothebys owner Alfred Taubman.

Were still friends. They all went to jail. I didnt think being with a 17-year-old prostitute who said that she had proof she was over 17 was that big a deal.

Black said he first met Epstein in 1996 through Wall Street polymath Elliot Skip Stein Jr. and learned he was a Rockefeller University appointee, member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission and hung out with a host of high-powered people including Israeli politician Ehud Barak.

Epstein would earn a spot on Blacks family foundation and help him avoid tax liabilities with trusts he set up for his children, before advising him on his family office and transactions involving his artworks, jets, and yachts.

Black called Epstein an intriguing figure who was almost like a James Bond villain because all his staff were good-looking women.

Not underage, Black added, but good-looking.

The Fight Between Leon Black and His New Accuser Is Getting Nasty

The billionaire noted that he once flew on Epsteins jet to Boston with two of his children to visit Harvard and M.I.T. and that his pilot was a beautiful girl with blond hair down to her waist, in a black turtleneck. (One alleged co-conspirator of Epstein, who after Epsteins 2019 arrest came forward as a victim, was a trained pilot. Its unclear if shes the individual Black met.)

At turns in the interview, Black seemed to paint himself as a victim.

As news outlets including The New York Times ferreted out his payments to Epstein, Black asked the Apollo board to hire an outside law firm to review his ties to the trafficker.

Im the only one who asked for the investigation to be donewhat a schmuck!of my relationship with Epstein, Black told Cohan. I asked for it because I knew I had done nothing wrong.

The January 2021 report from Dechert LLP stated that it uncovered no evidence that Black or any employee of the Family Office or Apollo was involved in any way with Epsteins criminal activities at any time. There is no evidence that Epstein ever introduced Black, or offered to introduce Black, to any underage woman.

Dechert also noted that in early 2017, Black made two loans to Epstein totaling $30.5 million in connection with an art transaction involving Epstein. Epstein would repay only $10 million despite Blacks repeated demands for reimbursement.

Black even told Cohan that before Apollos investigation, he never kept track of how much he was paying the convicted pervert. He had credibility in my eyes and we did a bunch of things. But the paying [of Epstein] was seriatim. I never had tallied it. And frankly, that number that came out was much bigger than I had thought. Because I don't follow, in my family office, everything, Black claimed.

And you can say thats implausible.  How is this possible that this financial genius could throw away these amounts of money? There must be something more there. Yeah, I get it. But there isnt.

MoMA Chairman Leon Black Says Hell Step Down Over Epstein Ties: Report

Blacks bond with Epstein, Cohan writes, wasnt enough to end his relationship with Apollo. Instead, the falling out arrived after Guzel Ganieva, a Russian former model he dated, filed a lawsuit accusing him of rape and sexual violence. (In turn, Black accused her of extortion, saying he paid her millions during and after their affair.)

The world is an ugly place, Black told Cohan. And its a beautiful place, okay? Its both.

This has been a terrible experience for the last two and a half years, Black added. I mean, to have spent 40 years building up a stellar reputation and believing in excellenceand everything Ive done is about excellenceand then to have it torn apart based on lies, fabrications, MeToo, wokeand Im a huge believer in womens causesits surreal.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Letters to the Editor: The Israeli strike against Gaza food aid workers sure didn't look like an accident

Palestinians inspect a World Central Kitchen vehicle wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on April 2. (Ismael Abu Dayyah / Associated Press)

To the editor: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, similar to Captain Renault in "Casablanca," was shocked, shocked that an Israeli strike killed seven World Central Kitchen workers as they were feeding the hungry in Gaza.

The fact that their vehicles were well identified, traveling in convoy and following the route they had told the Israel Defense Forces they would use seemed to be lost on the prime minister when he acknowledged responsibility but cautioned, "It happens in war."

Of course, plans to continue feeding the hungry in Gaza have been postponed. Was this consequence unintended or intended? You decide.

Frank Ferrone, El Cajon

..

To the editor: With all the resolutions and international calls for Israel to agree to a cease-fire, why are there not similar demands for Hamas to surrender?

Hamas started this fight, using the people of Gaza as shields. It has hoarded weapons and supplies, including food that could prevent famine.

Where is the outrage? Why is the world always so one-sided in its condemnation? The war would end immediately if Hamas surrendered.

Greg Hirsch, San Marcos

..

To the editor: Netanyahu is an autocrat in sheep's clothing.

Future generations of Palestinian grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be reminded of who caused the annihilation of their family members, and I have no doubt that some specter of Hamas will rise again.

Israel will never know peace because of Netanyahu.

Karen Espanol, Culver City

..

To the editor: If the IDF could not restrain itself from killing seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, we can only imagine the carnage it has inflicted on the nameless, faceless and powerless civilians in Gaza.

The 33,000 dead Palestinians in Gaza are not just the unfortunate casualties of war. They are the victims of a vengeful campaign intended to terrorize, humiliate and intimidate Palestinians.

Unfortunately, Hamas has already won this war in that its evil has exposed the moral bankruptcy of Netanyahu's government in the eyes of the world. I salute those brave Israelis who oppose his repugnant policy.

John Williams, Burbank

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
How likely are clear skies on Monday? Here's the latest forecast for eclipse day

When you can see partial and total solar eclipse around Kentucky.

The 2024 total solar eclipse is quickly approaching, and a rare sight like this one won't take place for another 20 years. The celestial phenomenon is said to be a beautiful sight, but will astronomy lovers and visitors to Kentucky actually be able to see it?

We're tracking the weather forecast daily ahead of the April 8 total solar eclipse. As of April 4, here's what meteorologists expect.

More: Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Anxiety Is 'eclipse sickness' real? What to know about anxiety and how to manage it on April 8

April 8 weather predictions for Louisville

According to the seven-day forecast from the National Weather Service of Louisville, Monday, April 8 is expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 74 during the day. There's a 10% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 a.m. Forecasters predict it to be partly cloudy with a low near 54 at night, with a 20% chance of showers and storms after 2 a.m.

When is the total solar eclipse in 2024?

The solar eclipse is slated for Monday, April 8, passing over parts of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

What is a solar eclipse?

According to the IU official website, a total eclipse takes place when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth, placing the Earth in its shadow. The time it takes place, as well as the duration, are influenced by factors like the distances between the sun, moon and Earth, the moons phase and the axial tilt of the Earth and moon.

According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse visible in the U.S. following the April occurrence wont be until Aug. 23, 2044.

Total solar eclipse path 2024

According to NASA, Mexicos Pacific coast will first experience the eclipse around 11:07 a.m. PDT. The eclipse path will then enter the U.S. in Texas, traveling through the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Main. Some parts of Michigan and Tennessee will also experience the phenomenon.

From there, the eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, traveling through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton before exiting North America on the Atlantic coast around 5:16 p.m. NDT in Newfoundland, Canada.

To see the full path of totality, click here.

Solar eclipse glasses near me

Learn about the eclipse and get free glasses at the Louisville public library

2024 solar eclipse times in Kentucky

See below:

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: April 8, 2024 Weather Predictions: Total solar eclipse forecast Kentucky
A nearly $800 eBay transaction landed a Lincoln County man on probation.

Last year, Alan Nordman of Denver pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of conveyance of a government record. Nordman illegally sold a customs form signed by pop star Michael Jackson.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former US Customs worker, 75, illegally sold form signed by Michael Jackson

In federal court in Charlotte on Thursday, the 75-year-old profusely apologized to the judge.

Nordman worked for Customs and Border Protection at JFK Airport in New York City for 30 years. In court, he told the judge he made a mistake and was sorry.

He says he has developed several major health issues, some stemming from volunteering to help clean up after 9/11.

In 2022, he illegally sold a U.S. Customs form that had Jacksons signature on it on eBay for $795.

The government found out about the transaction and charged Nordman for illegally possessing and selling the record.

Nordman said he sold the document because he has an adult son with Autism and he wanted to buy him a house before he passes away.

Judge Kenneth Bell told him he had a great record of service for the country and this mistake does not reflect his life.

Prosecutors say Nordman paid more than $11,000 in a forfeiture settlement.

He has also voluntarily turned over all other customs documents that he had in his possession.

The government said it was important to prosecute this case to set an example and state that these customs documents are not to be sold or misused in any way. But the prosecuting attorneys agreed with the sentencing of probation and said the case shouldnt be more than what it is.

Nordman was also not further fined.

VIDEO: Customs, Border Protection Officers showcase new technology used at Charlotte airport




NEW YORK (PIX11)  An overnight storm left chaos in its wake across the tri-state area and caused several schools to close or delay openings on Thursday.

Showers continue to drench NY, NJ as overnight storm tapers off

Heavy rain and strong wind pounded New York and New Jersey Wednesday night, causing downed trees and power lines. Showers were expected to continue throughout the day Thursday.

Below is a list of school closures and delays in New York and New Jersey on Thursday. This post will be updated as school information comes in:

New York:

Arlington Central School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Byram Hills Central School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Edgemont School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Kingston City School District: 2-hour delayed opening

New Paltz Central School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Newburgh Enlarged City School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Onteora Central School District: 3-hour delayed opening

Poughkeepsie City School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Rondout Valley Central School District: 2-hour delayed opening

Wallkill Central School District: 2-hour delayed opening

New Jersey

Leonia School District: Leonia Middle School is closed due to wind damage, closed roads and exposed power lines

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.
Lithuanian foreign minister says it is cynical to speak of unity with Ukraine without real help

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has stated that expressions of unity and solidarity with Ukraine, devoid of substantial arms supplies and security guarantees, are "rapidly approaching cynicism".

Source: Landsbergis on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Landsbergis believes that the West must help Ukraine defeat Russia.

"Nice stories dont win wars. Without significant deliveries of weapons and real security guarantees the glorious narrative of unity and solidarity with Ukraine is wearing thin and rapidly approaching cynicism," he stressed.

Landsbergis said reassuring stories can help win elections, but if they are false, "they immobilise us, prevent us from taking real action, while Ukrainians continue to die for us."

"Ukrainians have performed miracles and repeatedly embarrassed the "experts". We should be grateful to have such an ally, but instead of helping them win, we ask them to fight with one hand tied behind their back," Landsbergis added.

The minister warned that Europe is in great danger because Russia has been "emboldened by appeasement".

"The fact remains that anything other than total restoration of Ukraines sovereignty and security would invite Putin and the worlds tyrants to keep going, to keep crossing borders, to keep raping and murdering in order to achieve their aims," he added.

The foreign minister said the only way for the West is to change course, get serious and help Ukraine achieve a complete victory.

Background:

Landsbergis has previously stated that the West is making errors in its strategy of supporting Ukraine, which could have consequences for how history develops further.

He also pointed out that Ukraine will not be able to win the war if the US does not show its leadership.

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BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Most of the capital goods monitored by China's statistics authorities registered price decreases from mid-March to the end of March, official data shows.

Of the 50 major goods classified in nine categories, including seamless steel tubes, gasoline and fertilizer, 31 saw price declines and 19 reported heightened prices in the period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Hog prices increased 3.4 percent, the NBS said.

The figures, released every 10 days, are based on the survey of nearly 2,000 wholesalers and distributors in 31 provincial-level regions across the country. 
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has hailed a proposal by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to set up a 100 billion fund to support Ukraine's Defence Forces.

Source: European Pravda, citing Delfi, a Baltic states news website

Details: Nauseda said the fund will serve as yet another instrument of support for Ukraine that will not limit the assistance provided to the country in other forms.

"First and foremost, it provides much-needed solidarity to reach a collective agreement to continue supporting Ukraine, regardless of political trends and vagaries," the Lithuanian president said.

He stressed that the establishment of such a fund would not limit countries ability to make much larger contributions in support of Ukraine.

"Individual states will continue to try to help [Ukraine  ed.] in various ways, both financially and by other means," Nauseda added.

Background:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the allies must ensure long-term support for Ukraine amid discussions on the 100 billion fund.

Later, Stoltenberg explained that discussions on setting up the new multi-year fund to support Ukraine are underway and being held jointly with Ukraine.

However, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba doubts that Stoltenberg's idea can be implemented "in the current financial model".

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Livingston County is in eclipse path of totality, and hotels are packed for solar event

April 8 won't be anything like an ordinary Monday in the Western New York, Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions.

The first total solar eclipse over the Empire State in a century will darken the sky like it's dawn or dusk as the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun.

The roughly 100-mile-wide path of totality will enter in the southwestern part of the state at just after 3:15 p.m. and will depart northern New York just before 3:30.

According to Great American Eclipse, up to 4 million people will travel to get the best eclipse experience, and thousands are planning trips to upstate communities in New York that will be within the path of totality.

New York officials are promoting the state as an "eclipse vacation destination," encouraging visitors to extend viewing trips to enjoy other tourists attractions.

Livingston County is lined up for a big influx of visitors. While only parts of neighboring Steuben and Allegany counties lie in the path of totality, every Livingston community will have an opportunity to glimpse the sun's glowing white outer sphere 200 times hotter than the surface.

"We are certainly planning on it being a great event for Livingston County. Kind of an economic (boost)," said Bill Bacon, director of the county's economic development office. "We are asking that our businesses take advantage and find any opportunities that they possibly can."

Livingston welcoming large influx of eclipse tourism

The county has spent more than a year planning for the eclipse, even hosting two guests from Sweetwater, Tenn., which was identified by USA TODAY as the nexus of the 2017 total solar eclipse.

We brought them into Livingston County and said, Could you tell us what to expect? We have never been through this, Bacon said.

Livingston County officials were told to anticipate crowded roadways and traffic challenges, especially considering the county is a gateway to two metro areas  Rochester and Buffalo  that will have good viewing for the eclipse.

Livingston County residents were advised to schedule errands and appointments for another day, and stores were cautioned that April 8 might not be the best day for major deliveries.

Livingston County public schools will be closed for the day.

According to Bacon, the Tennessee eclipse veterans said, "It's an amazing experience"  but be prepared.

Residents camped outside the Corning Community College Observatory in Steuben County hoping for a glimpse of a 2017 partial solar eclipse.

Livingston County hotels, motels, Airbnbs expect sellouts

On the business side, gas stations, stores and restaurants could see a big increase in demand, especially if the weather cooperates with a sunny day, county officials said.

Meanwhile, Livingston County hotels, motels, Airbnbs and bed-and-breakfasts are filling up.

A hotel in Livonia has been sold out since last summer, according to Livingston County Tourism Director Kelly Burns, and three hotels in Mt. Morris and Geneseo were headed to full bookings in late February.

And by March, only about 25 of Livingston County's 100 Airbnb locations still had openings, Burns said.

Overall, the number of available rooms for eclipse travelers is "changing by the day and we are anticipating sell outs," Burns said.

There are other options for places to stay. The Livingston County Museum in Geneseo will offer tent camping on the front lawn and the fairgrounds in Caledonia is providing spots for RVs. Bring your own water and power.

What about room availability in Steuben, Allegany counties?

Hotels and campgrounds in Steuben and Allegany counties are also hoping to capitalize on eclipse traffic, and reports are that business is good.

In Wellsville, the Trout Run Camp Resort will open on Friday, April 5  about a week earlier than usual to accommodate sky gazers.

Its a really big deal with the eclipse," said Kevin Clark, owner of the 100-acre park featuring 18 cabins, 160 full-hookup sites, 1,200 feet of waterfront on the Genesee River and a heated saltwater pool.

Guests can experience the eclipse from Trout Run's heated pool, and free eclipse glasses will be provided to all campers. The camping resort plans a science-based weekend leading up to Monday's event.

Anytime we do something different it is always fun," Clark said. "We will come up with some activities for the kids. We work hard to entertain the kids and we will come up with some eclipse-themed projects.

If the weather looks positive for eclipse day, We will get a sudden boost" in bookings, Clark predicted.

Check availability and make reservations for Trout Run online or call 585-596-0500.

A look at the indoor swimming pool at the new Hampton Inn by Hilton Hornell.

The Maple City's new business class hotel, the 80-room Hampton Inn by Hilton Hornell, will have eclipse-themed stays for guests, according to Indus Hospitality Group CEO Jett Mehta.

Celebration is an important part of life and this something that people enjoy and celebrate. We think its terrific and we are going to have fun with it," Mehta said.

Indus owns and operates more than 50 properties, primarily hotels and restaurants in Rochester, the Finger Lakes and Western New York.

Mehta compared the run up to April 8 to the excitement often reserved for big sporting events.

I think there will be a lot of people who come to the area. Its on a Monday so most people would come on a Sunday and stay over," he said.

Located on state Route 36, next to the high-traffic Hornell Plaza, the four-story Hampton Inn features cozy outdoor seating, a fitness center and a heated pool, among other amenities.

Room availability for the eclipse can be checked online or by calling 607-968-2101.

Follow Neal Simon on Twitter @HornellTribNeal. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Livingston County hotels, restaurants expect big crowds for eclipse
It looks like Russia is trying to overrun Ukrainian defenses with mechanized assaults before mud and more weapons can wreck its plans, analysts say

Russia has been increasing the number and size of its mechanized assaults in recent weeks.

War experts suggest Russian forces could be hoping to overrun Ukrainian defenses before more Western aid arrives.

Ukraine has so far fought off these assaults, despite very limited ammo and supplies.

Russian forces in recent weeks have been launching larger and more frequent mechanized assaults against Ukraine, suggesting they're hoping for a breakthrough before more Western aid eventually arrives.

But Ukraine has so far managed to fight off these assaults, which consist of infantry supported by armored assets, despite scraping the bottom of the barrel for ammunition, weapons, and supplies.

The assaults have happened in the past few weeks, with the first seemingly occurring on March 20, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington DC-based think tank.

At the time, Ukrainian officials said that their troops repelled a large assault near Lyman, north of Bakhmut. Geolocated footage published by officials captured Ukrainian forces fighting off Russian armored vehicles in the area.

On March 30, Ukrainian forces near Tonenke, west of Avdiivka, appeared to have won a bigger victory, fighting off a battalion-sized Russian mechanized assault. A serviceman said that Ukraine destroyed 12 of the 36 Russian tanks and eight of the 12 BMP infantry fighting vehicles. Video footage showed some of the intense battle, including Russian tanks being devastated by anti-tank guided missiles.

On Saturday, Russian forces attempted a sizeable armored assault west of Tonenke, Donetsk Oblast.



They ran directly into a Ukrainian ATGM free fire zone led by the 25th Airborne Brigade, losing multiple armored vehicles. pic.twitter.com/bLz5Y9Kuzy  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 1, 2024

That mechanized assault was the first of that size launched by the Russians since they began efforts to take Avdiivka last October. At that time, Russia was losing vehicles at astonishing rates  almost 50 tanks and over 100 armored vehicles just from October 19-20.

Then, on April 3, geolocated footage cited by ISW showed Ukrainian forces a platoon-sized mechanized assault near Terry. ISW noted that this appears to be a recent but different incident from the March 20 footage.

Mud and the potential for more weapons

There are a few different potential explanations for the sudden spike in mechanized assaults, war experts say.

"Russian forces may be intensifying mechanized assaults before muddy terrain becomes more pronounced in the spring and makes mechanized maneuver warfare more difficult," ISW said. Mud can be a notable hindrance on the battlefield in the spring and fall, and has been a concern previously, like when Ukraine was receiving Western-made tanks for its summer counteroffensive last year.

But these mechanized assaults could also be timed to make the most of Ukraine's current struggles, the think tank's analysts said.

"Russian forces may also be intensifying mechanized assaults to take advantage of Ukrainian materiel shortages before the arrival of expected Western security assistance," ISW said. Notably, the assaults appear to be happening generally at the same time as heightened missile and drone strikes, suggesting a joint effort by Russian forces.

Ukrainian soldiers of a tank unit continue their military mobility to prepare for combat as the Russia-Ukraine war continues after the 2nd year anniversary in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 01, 2024. Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images

For now, Ukraine has been able to endure these attacks. But it remains unclear if its forces can maintain their defense given limits on Western aid. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have stressed the desperate need for ammo and supplies over the past few months.

As ISW analysts noted in their reporting on the March 30 defeat of a Russian mechanized assault, "Ukrainian forces may have had to expend a significant amount of material to defend against the Russian assault." With supplies stretched thin, maintaining a strong defense indefinitely may not be possible.

Hope may be on the horizon, though, as some NATO allies rush aid packages to Ukraine and NATO officials discuss the potential for long-term, solidified support.

Progress is being seen in Congress, too, as House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to bring forward the $60 billion in Ukraine aid for a vote. The measure passed in the Senate in February, but it remains unclear whether the aid to Ukraine will have enough votes in the House.

Ukraine needs the added support as soon as possible as it faces a Russia that has strengthened its war machine, put its industries on a war footing, and begun rebuilding its degraded forces.

On Wednesday, contrasting with some other assessments on the state of the Russian military, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said that while Moscow had suffered setbacks in the war, it had now "almost completely" reconstituted its military capabilities.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Lord Cameron warns war in Ukraine will be lost if allies dont step up as Nato members gather in Brussels

Lord David Cameron has said Ukraines war with Russia will be lost if the allies dont step up as Nato members gather in Brussels.

The foreign secretary said he will urge the US Congress to increase its financial support of Ukraine during a visit to the United States next week, telling BBCs Ukrainecast: What Nato is looking at is a Nato mission for Ukraine, not a Nato mission in Ukraine.

Its making sure that we use Natos architecture to help deliver some of the support that Ukraine needs.

But fundamentally, I think that we should do everything we can to help Ukraine, thats been Britains position.

David Cameron has urged allies to spend more on defence during a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels (AP)

He added: And I think its not escalatory to say we are going to help this independent sovereign country to fight off an aggressor, and were going to give it all the help we can in order to do that.

In response to whether he could see Nato troops in Ukraine, Lord Cameron said No, adding: I think that we dont want to give Putin a target like that, and Nato can do lots of things to better co-ordinate the help we give to Ukraine.

But fundamentally, for countries like Britain and all those supportive of Ukraine, this is a question of political will. Do we have the patience? Do we have the will? Are we prepared to give the resources? Now in Britains case, definitely the answer is yes.

He added: If we can get that money out of the US Congress, if we can get Ukraine the arms they need, if we can show Putin that he cant outwait us and that Ukraine is going to fight back and win back more of its territory.

Speaking about Novembers US presidential election, he said: If we can do all those things, whoever gets in in November, well look at the situation in Ukraine and look at more and more Nato members spending 2 per cent of their GDP on defence and say, this is a success story. I want to invest in this success.

So turn Ukraine in the situation and Nato into the strongest possible alliance with the strongest possible prospect of success. And whoever wins in November 2024 would inherit a better situation.

Lord Cameron is attending a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels for the second day, where he compared the current situation with Russia to the one Britain and France faced at the 1938 Munich Conference with Nazi Germany.

He said: What we face today is as simple as then. We have a tyrant in Europe who is trying to redraw borders by force, and there are two choices. You can appease that approach or you can confront that approach.

He also urged more donations to Ukraine, especially of equipment that expires or is obsolete.

Some weapons have an expiration date, he said. Much better to give those to Ukraine and they can use them than have to decommission them at home that actually costs you money.

Lord Cameron likened Russias actions to Nazi Germany in 1938 (AP)

In his speech at an event in Brussels hosted by the Royal United Services Institute think tank, Lord Cameron said Nato needed to demonstrate its relevance to younger people who had not grown up with the threat of the Cold War.

He said: I think we have to win the argument for Nato all over again with a new generation, a generation that can see, yes, look at the threat that Ukraine has faced from Russia, but I think we need to go back to a more foundational argument, which is this.

Fundamentally, the greatness of Nato is it allows countries to choose their own future.

The foreign secretary however refused to answer any questions on Israel-Gaza, despite the unfolding diplomatic crisis in the UK.

More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court President Lady Hale, have signed a letter to the prime minister warning that the government risks breaching international law by continuing to export weapons to Israel.

The calls come as wider pressure mounts on Rishi Sunak from politicians on all sides to suspend arms sales to Israel following the deaths of three British aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza.

Downing Street declined to say whether it believed Israel was operating within international humanitarian law, but Rishi Sunak has said that the war is growing increasingly intolerable.
This Los Angeles heist sounds like it came from a thriller novel. Thieves stole $30 million in cash

Armored trucks are parked outside the GardaWorld facility in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Thieves stole as much $30 million in an Easter Sunday burglary at a Los Angeles money storage facility in one of the largest cash heists in city history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Thieves got away with $30 million in cash from a money storage facility in Los Angeles by breaking into the building on Easter Sunday and cracking the safe. Now detectives are seeking to unravel the brazen cash heist, reportedly one of the largest on record in Los Angeles.

Police Cmdr. Elaine Morales told The Los Angeles Times, which broke the news of the crime, that the thieves were able to breach the building, as well as the safe where the money was stored. The operators of the business did not discover the massive theft until they opened the vault.

Media reports identified the facility as a location of GardaWorld, a global cash management and security company, in Sylmar. The Canada-based company, which also operates fleets of armored cars, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

LAPD Officer David Cuellar, a department spokesperson, confirmed that officers received a call for service at 4:30 a.m. Sunday at a business on the street where GardaWorld's Sylmar location is.

Several TV news crews were filming outside the facility Thursday morning in an industrial part of the San Fernando Valley neighborhood, which is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles.

Aerial footage from KABC-TV showed a large cutout on the side of the building that appeared to be boarded up by a piece of plywood.

The LAPD and FBI on Thursday would only say that they were jointly investigating the theft to determine the person or group responsible. The agencies sought tips from the public, but they did not confirm how much was stolen or give other details such as the name of the company.

The Times reported that the break-in was among the largest cash burglaries in city history and surpassed that of any armored-car heist in Los Angeles.

Nearly two years ago, as much as $100 million in jewels and other valuables were stolen from a Brinks big rig at a Southern California truck stop. The thieves havent been caught.

Jim McGuffey, an armored car expert and security consultant, called the Sylmar theft a shock. Any such facility should have two alarm systems and a seismic motion detector right on the safe, he said, as well as additional motion sensors throughout the building.

For that kind of money, you dont just walk in and walk out with it, he told AP. A facility should be protected from the top to the bottom and the sides.

GardaWorld has a good reputation in the industry, McGuffey said, but every cash management company has isolated incidents like this that just make no sense, but it happens to the best of them.
(KRON)  After weeks of vote-counting, the race to fill the U.S. Congressional seat long held by retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo took an unusual turn this week. While former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo was the clear winner of the primary with 21.1% of the vote, two other candidates are now tied for second.

Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian are in a dead heat for second with 16.6% of the vote each. Under California election rules, the top two primary candidates  regardless of party  advance to the general election.

These Bay Area suburbs among best to live in California

The unusual deadlock could mean that along with Liccardo, both Low and Simitan will advance to the general election in the 16th Congressional District race, according to state election code 8142. According to Ballotpedia.org, Low received just one more vote than Simitian in the March 5 primary.

As it stands now, both candidates will be headed to the Nov. 5 general election, along with Liccardo. That means voters will be faced with the unusual choice of choosing between three candidates in the upcoming general.

District 16, which includes parts of Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz county, has been represented by Eshoo for over a decade. However, the Democratic congressmember who was first elected to the seat in 2012 announced last year that she would retire at the end of her term.

There remains a possibility that either Low or Simitian could request a recount. However, a candidate who requests a recount has to pay for it. That could end up costing either campaign anywhere between a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Estimates from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters indicate a recount would cost between $84,000 to $320,000.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated millions to nearly 80 California-based nonprofit organizations  and one of them is right here in the Central Valley.

The organization Scott donated to is called Shine Together, which helps young mothers break the cycle of generational poverty. They received $2 million from Scott.

MacKenzie Scott donates millions to nearly 80 organizations in California

Scott, who helped grow and establish Amazon alongside Jeff Bezos, pledged to donate half of her wealth, which Forbes estimates to be $365 billion.

Vanessa Padilla, an advocate for Shine Together, says was a teen parent herself and says being a part of this program had a positive impact on her.

Coming into this program, I learned a lot about being more mindful of taking judgment, Padilla said. We talked about this in the group and said lets not reciprocate what people are giving to you.

The Fresno Regional Director of Shine Together, Sarah Villa, says the $2 million grant will help them develop strategic plans, increase invisibility and help them reach young parents.

Villa says the grant will help deepen the work and the capacity to support more young mothers in the Fresno community. It will also help them improve their health and wellness for themselves and their children.

For more information on Shine Together, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
NEW DELHI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- As India is faced with extreme heat between April and June, the health ministry has held a review meeting on public health preparedness for heat-related illnesses in the South Asian country, officials said Thursday.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at the meeting held on Wednesday stressed the need to build a central database with inputs from the states to share field-level data on cases of illnesses and deaths related to heat waves.

"Timely advice and wide awareness among the people on the preventive measures will hugely support in reducing the severe impact of such heat waves," the minister noted.

The meeting has also called for better coordination and collaborative efforts in an efficient management of heat-related illnesses.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said the country will face extreme heat from April to June.

The time frame will mostly coincide with the general elections scheduled for April 19 to June 1 in India.

Meanwhile, India's National Program for Climate Change and Human Health in a public health advisory on extreme heat has warned that physical exertion, direct sun exposure, overcrowding and difficult access to shade or water may worsen the health of vulnerable people.

Heat-related illnesses include heat rash, heat oedema (swelling in hands, feet, or ankles), fainting and heat stroke, among others. 
Madison County man found guilty of attempting to have his ex-girlfriend killed

An East Alton man was found guilty of soliciting someone to kill his former girlfriend.

A jury in a Madison County court found Lorenzo D. Miller, 42, guilty of one count of solicitation of murder, a class X felony, and one count of obstructing justice, also a felony.

According to the criminal complaint, Miller encouraged or requested an acquaintance, Vernon G. McIntosh of St. Louis, 38, of St. Louis to murder the woman at her home in Alton.

On March 26, the former-girlfriends home on Brown Street was attacked with a barrage of gunfire. No one was injured, but one bullet went through the sweater of a friend and lightly grazed the friends torso, a release from Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine said.

In her closing arguments at the trial, Assistant States Attorney Morgan Hudson alleged that Miller was upset about his ex-girlfriend breaking up with him. Hudson argued that Miller couldnt let her go, but he knew that if anything happened to the woman, he would be a prime suspect.

He couldnt get his hands dirty, Hudson told the jurors.

Just days after the bullets riddled her home, the ex-girlfriends van was torched outside her home, the release said.

Hudson played for jurors a recording of the victims 911 call during the van fire. Fearing that someone was at her home and trying to lure her outside as the van burned, she repeatedly whispered to the dispatcher, Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! and Please, hurry!

You all can end her fear today, Hudson said in her closing argument.

Alton Police, using data from Automated License Plate Readers, established that a vehicle with Missouri license plates was being used by McIntosh and that it was in the immediate vicinity of the victims home at both the time of the shooting and at the time of the fire.

In addition, Alton Police detectives extracted data from phones to establish that Miller and McIntosh communicated just minutes before and after the gunfire at the home, the release said.

Miller later told investigators that he did not know McIntosh, which resulted in the obstruction of justice charge.

Miller faces up to 30 years in prison.

McIntosh is awaiting trial on charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and arson.

Haine commended the work of prosecutors Hudson and Lauren Maricle. He also commended Alton Police and other agencies that assisted in the investigation, along with the witnesses, whose cooperation and testimony was crucial in securing the conviction.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  Public safety officials throughout Madison County are hosting a career fair to recruit new public safety employees.

Several representatives from various agencies will host the Madison County Public Safety Career Fair on April 6, from 2-6 p.m. The agencies involved are:

Huntsville Police Department

Huntsville Fire & Rescue

Huntsville Police Dispatch

HEMSI

Madison Police Department

Madison Fire & Rescue

Madison County Sheriffs Office

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

New laundry room helps 8th Street Community take a load off

The Huntsville-Madison County 911 Center will host the career fair at 2620 Clinton Ave W, Huntsville, AL 35805.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
My main message at NATO-Ukraine Council meeting is we need Patriots  Ukraine's Foreign Minister

During the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting at the level of foreign ministers at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba will focus on providing Kyiv with air defence systems.

Source: Kuleba to journalists during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, after arriving at the Alliance headquarters on Thursday, as European Pravda correspondent reported from Brussels

Kuleba emphasised that Russia continues to launch "unprecedented missile and drone strikes", systematically destroying the Ukrainian economy, killing people, critical infrastructure, and destroying cities.

He specifically mentioned the Russian Shahed drone attack on Kharkiv on the night of 3-4 April, which claimed the lives of at least four people.

Quote: "I don't want to spoil the celebration of NATO's birthday, but my main message today will be Patriot [air defence system]s. Because the salvation of the lives of Ukrainians, Ukrainian cities, and the Ukrainian economy depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defence systems in Ukraine," the minister added.

The Foreign Minister explained that the Patriot system is the only system in Ukraine capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, and in March alone, Russia launched 94 such missiles at Ukraine.

"However, the provision of Patriots depends on allies. They have plenty of them. So, this will be my main focus today, and I am looking forward to the discussion I will have with allies," Kuleba concluded.

Background:

Jens Stoltenberg previously stated that the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting would primarily focus on providing long-term support to Kyiv.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, supported Ukraine's proposal to transfer air defence systems to it, which Western states have in their arsenals but do not actually use.

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Majority of CO2 emissions linked to 57 producers and countries, report says

By Kate Abnett and Riham Alkousaa

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) -The vast majority of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of 57 fossil fuel and cement producers, researchers said on Thursday.

From 2016 to 2022, the 57 entities including nation-states, state-owned firms and investor-owned companies produced 80% of the world's CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production, said the Carbon Majors report by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap.

The world's top three CO2-emitting companies in the period were state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco, Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom and state-owned producer Coal India, the report said.

Saudi Aramco declined to comment. Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The report found most companies had expanded their fossil fuel production since 2015, the year when nearly all countries signed the U.N. Paris Agreement, committing to take action to curb climate change.

Since then, while many governments and companies have set tougher emissions targets and rapidly expanded renewable energy, they have also produced and burned more fossil fuels, causing emissions to rise.

Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high last year, the International Energy Agency has said.

InfluenceMap said its findings showed that a relatively small group of emitters were responsible for the bulk of ongoing CO2 emissions, and it aimed to increase transparency around which governments and companies were causing climate change.

"It can be used in a variety of cases, ranging from legal processes seeking to hold these producers to account for climate damages, or it can be used by academics in quantifying their contributions, or by campaign groups, or even by investors," InfluenceMap Program Manager Daan Van Acker said of the report.

A previous edition of the Carbon Majors database was cited last month in a legal case brought by a Belgian farmer against French oil and gas company TotalEnergies. The farmer argued that as one of the world's top 20 CO2-emitting companies, TotalEnergies was partly responsible for damage to his operations from extreme weather.

The database was first launched in 2013 by the non-profit research organisation Climate Accountability Institute.

It combines companies' self-reported data on coal, oil and gas production with sources like the U.S. Energy Information Administration, national mining associations and other industry data.

Carroll Muffett, CEO of the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law said the database would improve investors' and litigators' ability to track companies' actions over time.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Jamie Freed and Tom Hogue)
Majority of Ukrainians do not support elections during war

Most Ukrainians do not support the idea of holding the next elections during the war  both presidential, parliamentary or local.

Source: All-Ukrainian survey conducted on 17-21 February 2024 by the Ukrainian sociological group Rating on behalf of the the Center for Insights in Survey Research of the International Republican Institute.

Details: According to an infographic published by the sociologists, most respondents do not support the idea of holding presidential elections in Ukraine during the war: 67% (49% of respondents definitely oppose, another 18% rather oppose).

30% of respondents support the idea of presidential elections during martial law (17%  definitely support, 13%  rather support).

Regarding the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, 33% of respondents favour holding them during the war (18%  definitely support, 15%  rather support); 63% do not support (44%  definitely oppose, 19%  rather oppose).

The level of support for local elections under martial law is slightly higher  39%. At the same time, the majority is still against the idea  57% of respondents.

For reference: The survey was conducted by the rating social group on behalf of the Center for Insights in Survey Research of the International Republican Institute.

The study was conducted throughout Ukraine (except for the occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas) from 17 to 21 February 2024 based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers.

The total sample consists of n= 2,000 Ukrainians aged 18 and older. The sample excludes any Ukrainians not currently in Ukraine.

The margin of error does not exceed 2 percentage points for the full sample.

The study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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Myriam Spiteri Debono is sworn in as President of Malta in Valletta

Myriam Spiteri Debono is sworn in as President of Malta in Valletta

VALLETTA (Reuters) - Malta's President Myriam Spiteri Debono decried the "disease of greed" in her inauguration speech on Thursday and said the 2017 murder of anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was still an open wound for the small island nation.

Spiteri Debono, 71, was addressing parliament after being sworn in as the 11th president of the country, which has been roiled by graft scandals in recent years.

Malta's president has a mostly ceremonial role, but Spiteri Debono, a former speaker of parliament, said she intended to be "visible and accessible" and offer "a presidency for the people".

"The relentless pursuit of riches, more often than not, translates itself into various forms of corruption," she said.

"It is worse than substance addiction, which, in the view of the majority of people, is the worst addiction one can suffer from. The drug addict, mainly, harms himself. Greed harms the whole of society."

She praised the role of the media in Malta's democracy and said lessons from Caruana Galizia's death still had to be learnt.

Caruana Galizia was a household name in Malta for her investigative reporting and her killing on Oct. 16, 2017 raised questions about rule of law in the European Union's smallest member state.

"The wounds around the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia are still open. We need to close this episode soon or else the fallout will persist," she said.

The alleged mastermind of the killing has been arrested but is still awaiting trial.

Referring to hostility towards migrants she said the Maltese people must embrace foreign nationals as part of the fabric of society.

"The first step to integrating these foreigners, many of whom are less fortunate than us and who have come in search of a better life, is to embrace them and understand them," she said.

(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna; editing by Christina Fincher)
A year ago, Nathan Manypenny was riding a bicycle on County Road 200A (Northeast Jacksonville Road) when he was hit by a vehicle. He later died at a local hospital.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigated and identified the driver they believe was behind the wheel of the April 5, 2023 crash.

In February, troopers got a break when the suspected driver, Maynor Orfilio Escobar-Hernandez, was detained. On Thursday, Escobar-Hernandez was brought to the Marion County Jail. He has been charged with hit and run fail to stop/remain at crash involving death, and drive while license suspended/death serious injury.

The 31-year-old man is being held without bail.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. on April 5, 2023, Manypenny was riding a bicycle west across Northeast Jacksonville Road. An older model Chevrolet Suburban was traveling south on Jacksonville Road, in the area of Northeast 31st Street, according to FHP.

FHP officials said this older model Chevy Suburban was involved in the April 5, 2023 hit-and-run fatality.

The SUV hit the bicycle at the intersection, troopers said. Manypenny was taken to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

Cpl. Mark Baker, a traffic homicide investigator with the FHP, investigated the crash. From his investigation, he was able to link Escobar-Hernandez to the fatality.

In 2023, troopers said, their agency investigated four hit-and-run deaths in Marion County. The year before there were six, FHP officials said. To date, there have been three hit-and-run fatalities in 2024. The numbers do not include figures from the cities of Ocala, Belleview or Dunnellon.

About Nathan Manypenny

In a previous interview with the Star Banner, Manypenny's family said the 38-year-old Ocala man was a welder and a mechanic who loved reading and learning new things.

Manypenny also loved the outdoors, camping, swimming and making people laugh, his family said. He was on his way home when he was hit and killed. He lived less than a mile from where he was hit.

The victim was born in Gainesville and raised in Ocala. The family said Manypenny was a father to two boys and a girl.

Nathan Manypenny and his family.

A gofundme account was created to help the family with Manypenny's funeral expenses.

How Escobar-Hernandez was captured

Escobar-Hernandez has had a past run-in with FHP troopers.

In 2018, court records show, he was stopped by a trooper on Northeast Jacksonville Road for having illegal lights. Escobar-Hernandez gave the trooper a Honduras passport for his identification. The trooper noted in his report that Escobar-Hernandez was never issued a driver's license.

Given a citation for the lights, Escobar-Hernandez was arrested for not having having a valid driver's license. Records show he was adjudicated guilty.

In the hit-and-run fatality, troopers said they were notified by boarder patrol agents in February that Escobar-Hernandez had been detained by them when he tried crossing the boarder from Mexico into the United States from Texas. Agents told FHP officials that the entry was illegal after his asylum claim was rejected.

Decision: Probation, suspended license for man, 78, charged in 2023 hit-and-run fatality

Confirming Escobar-Hernandez had a warrant for his arrest for the April 5, 2023 hit-and-run traffic death, he was transferred to Marion County to face the charges.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Man taken into custody charged with 2023 hit-and-run fatality
Man accused of forcibly touching teen on charter bus, police say

A man has been arrested after being accused of forcibly touching a teenager on a bus Tuesday morning.

The 19-year-old told the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department that Dhrupal Kumar Patel inappropriately touched her on a charter bus around 1 a.m.

While it is unclear exactly where the assault occurred, police said they spoke with the victim in the parking lot across from First Ward Park.

ALSO READ: Cornelius police search for person who committed lewd act near greenway

Parent Melissa Southerland told Channel 9s Erika Jackson that she is concerned because her children take the bus to work.

I really dont like that they take the bus, but at this time we only have one vehicle, so at this time they only have the bus to take back and forth home, Southerland said.

She said she would remind her children to sit somewhere they felt safe.

You never know who gets on the bus. I always tell them to sit in the front, Southerland explained.

A spokesperson for the Charlotte Area Transit System said this incident did not occur on one of their buses.

ALSO READ: Police arrest man accused of exposing himself on south Charlotte greenway

Police said Patel was charged with sexual battery.

The victim said she did not know Patel prior to this encounter.

An employee at the Mecklenburg County jail told Channel 9 that he was released a few hours after his arrest.

VIDEO: Cornelius police search for person who committed lewd act near greenway












A driver is accused of speeding away from police multiple times, all while recording for social media.

On Wednesday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced the arrest on Twitter. The post featured a viral video of 21-year-old Carlos Clark driving recklessly, his mugshot, and a list of charges.

Police say Clark is linked to the Instagram account thestolenz06. The account features several videos of a black Corvette being driven near CMPD officers and even running from them during traffic stops.

Another video posted to TikTok shows what appears to be the same car surrounded by CMPD officers before hitting one of the cruisers and speeding away.

ALSO READ: Police crack down on street takeovers in Charlotte

Resident Diamond Jenkins told Channel 9 that the videos were crazy to see.

I am a mom, and I think its very dangerous, inconsiderate, and selfish. Taking officers away from things that they could be doing is much more important than trying to catch this guy that, you know, all of a sudden has an obsession with, you know, spontaneous speeding and police, Jenkins said.

Former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Assistant Chief Vicki Foster said the behavior was dangerous to the general public, as well as to CMPD officers.

Hes very lucky that he hasnt hurt or killed anyone. I hope that the consequences turn out to be serious enough that he will realize that this is not a game and that he will stop this type of behavior, Foster explained.

ALSO READ: We have got a problem: Street takeovers could soon be outlawed in NC

CMPD said they arrested Clark last week on a number of charges, but he immediately bonded out of jail. Following that release, the Corvette, drugs, drug paraphernalia, and guns were seized from Clarks home.

Clark has a history of similar charges. Just nine days before this incident, he was arrested for simple assault but bonded out shortly after.

Channel 9 knocked on the door of the address listed for Clark on court documents, but the man who answered said he didnt know who Carlos Clark was.

VIDEO: CMPD makes string of arrests in connection with street racing over weekend
Pupils attend class about Ebola using a StarTimes projector at St. Claire Primary School in Kampala, Uganda, Oct. 13, 2022. The "Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages" project in Uganda is implemented by Chinese satellite television, StarTimes. (Photo by Hajarah Nalwadda/Xinhua)

"Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages" project, conceived during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in 2015, aims to connect 10,000 African villages to satellite television.

NAIROBI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Bako Auta, a resident of Hulumi village in Nigeria, vividly remembers the transformative impact of China's digital television aid initiative.

"Before that, our lives were limited to the village. The televisions donated by China allowed us to see the world beyond the fence," Auta said about the installation of free equipment by the Chinese digital television operator StarTimes seven years ago.

Auta's experience is similar to that of numerous beneficiaries across Africa who have been touched by the "Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages" project in remote rural areas.

The initiative, conceived during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015, aims to connect 10,000 African villages to satellite television.

By December 2023, this China-aided project had successfully completed construction work in 20 African countries, encompassing 9,512 villages and directly benefiting over 190,000 households.

Speaking at the handover ceremony of the China-aided satellite TV project in Mozambique, President Filipe Nyusi praised its role in bridging the digital and information gap between rural and urban populations. He emphasized its significance in enhancing livelihoods, promoting public education, and fostering social development.

A technician tunes satellite TV equipment in Yaou village, Cote d'Ivoire, Jan. 14, 2024. Thousands of people living in remote areas in Cote d'Ivoire and other African countries were able to watch the matches at home when the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicked off on Saturday, thanks to broadcast services provided by StarTimes, a Chinese digital TV operator. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

Under the project, each recipient village received two sets of solar-powered projector TV systems and one solar digital TV integrated terminal system for public areas, free of charge, as confirmed by contractor StarTimes. These installations have become vital conduits for villagers to access information from the outside world.

Murindahabi Augustin, a resident from an assisted village in Rwanda, expressed gratitude. "Through the TV, we can get information about modern agriculture, government programs, prevention of infectious diseases, and more," Augustin said.

StarTimes broadcasted all 52 matches of the 34th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in early 2024, garnering widespread acclaim. The inclusion of commentary in local languages such as Kiswahili, Yoruba, and Hausa resonated with fans.

"Thanks to the Chinese enterprises that connected satellite TV signals for our village, we can now finally sit together as a family and watch matches!" said Abissa Kouassi, a villager from Yaou village in Cote d'Ivoire.

Ma Shaoyong, director of overseas public relations for StarTimes Group, highlighted the company's efforts in democratizing digital TV across Africa. He also emphasized the substantially reduced costs for installation and viewing, making it accessible to average households.

"The installation fee for a StarTimes set-top box stands at a mere 10 U.S. dollars, with subscribers required to pay a monthly fee ranging between 3-5 U.S. dollars, granting access to nearly 30 digital TV channels spanning news, sports, and movies," said Ma.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, StarTimes has trained local technicians in recipient villages to conduct after-sales maintenance. Nunes Guardagea, a Mozambican technician, finds profound fulfillment in his role.

"I'm able to help people in remote areas access information and enrich their lives," Guardagea said.

As the project continues to enlighten remote areas of Africa, StarTimes is advancing its localization strategy. In Kenya, the enterprise has invested in producing local dramas, resonating with audiences by using Kiswahili.
Man arrested after being found in reported stolen vehicle: Mobile Police

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  A man was arrested Wednesday after he was found inside a vehicle that had been reported stolen, according to a release from the Mobile Police Department.

Aeneas Jordan Anderson, 22 of Mobile, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree receiving stolen property.

2 suspects identified in connection with Euclid Avenue shooting: Mobile Police

The release said officers were called to the 1000 block of Marine Street around 3:10 p.m. Wednesday for a reported stolen vehicle.

STOLEN VEHICLE LOCATION:

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When officers arrived, they reportedly found Anderson in the vehicle and took him to Mobile Metro Jail.

Anderson is accused of first-degree theft of property.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Man arrested after cocaine, fentanyl, meth, gun found in Summit Co. home

Man arrested after cocaine, fentanyl, meth, gun found in Summit Co. home

BARBERTON, Ohio (WJW)  A man was arrested after Summit County officers found cocaine, fentanyl, meth and a handgun inside his home on Thursday.

According to a press release from the Summit County Sheriffs Office, a search warrant was executed Thursday on Wunderlich Avenue in Barberton in connection to possible drug trafficking.

Cleveland sex offender who fled to Germany nearly a decade ago arrested: Marshals

During the search warrant, 7.21 grams of cocaine, 8.96 grams of fentanyl, 342.98 grams of methamphetamine, and a 9 mm handgun were found inside the home.

Timothy Jackson, 51, was arrested and charged with trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine and having a weapon while under disability.

Woman, 28, to be euthanized in May after psychiatrists diagnosis: report

Jackson was taken to the Summit County Jail, according to the release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Man charged with DUI after crash causes power pole to break in Somerville

SOMERVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  According to the Somerville Police Department (SPD), a man was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a crash that caused a power pole to break overnight Wednesday.

41-year-old Carlos Alberto Rivera of Huntsville was booked into the Morgan County Jail for driving under the influence.

CGES in secure perimeter, most students headed home after lockdown due to barricaded person next door

Somerville police officers received a call about a possible burglary off Bluff City Road at about 2:35 a.m. Deputies with the Morgan County Sheriffs Office and Priceville police officers also responded to assist.

While officers responded to this call, SPD said multiple calls came into Morgan County dispatch reporting a crash on Highway 67 near Cutoff Road. SPD says several people stated they had heard yelling for help just after the crash.

Law enforcement discovered that a vehicle had crashed into the guy wires to a power pole near that intersection, causing the pole to break and the power wires to arc, causing a brief power outage.

SPD said the driver left the vehicle and ran to a home on Bluff City Road, where the original call about a possible burglary came from, and banged on the back door. The people in the home woke up to the noises and called police.

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No actual burglary or attempts of burglary were committed, SPD added.

The department said according to reports, the driver was chased by a small group of people on foot after the crash to keep him from leaving the scene.

SPD and other agencies are encouraging people involved in that foot chase to contact the department to provide a statement at (256) 778-8282 or Morgan County 911 Dispatch at (256) 350-4613.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A man has been charged with sexual battery after he inappropriately touched a woman on board a bus in Charlotte, an arrest warrant states.

According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, officers responded to the report of a sexual assault on Tuesday, April 2, just after 1 a.m. on a charter bus along E. 7th Street.

The woman told officers that a man, identified as Dhrupal Kumar Patel, 26, put his hand under her clothes and was resting it on her rear.

VIDEO: Body cam shows arrest of suspect accused of killing Charlotte mom, 2 kids

Patel told CMPD officers that he had touched her but that it had been an accident. CMPD said Patel does not live in the United States and was taking the bus up to Boston at the time of the reported assault. The bus driver banned Patel from riding further following the incident.

Patel was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery. His bond was set at $3,500.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
PLATTE CITY, Mo.  Platte County prosecutors have charged a man for allegedly shooting a woman in the leg while she was a passenger in a car and leaving her child in a roadway.

Lee Qunicy Hill is charged with first-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a firearm and endangering the welfare of a child.

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said the charges were filed after an investigation and extensive search for Hill performed by officers with the Kansas City Police Department.

Hill was arrested on Wednesday after barricading himself in a hotel room.

Person on scooter struck, killed by semi-trailer at 6th, Prospect

According to court documents, just before 2 a.m. on Saturday, March 30, Kansas City police officers responded to a Platte County hotel where they found a woman lying in lanes of traffic with an apparent gunshot wound to her upper thigh.

A witness said he saw the woman with a gunshot wound lying in the road, along with a child in a diaper.

The victim told police she had an argument with Hill, who she was romantically involved with, because she had been late to pick him up from work, according to court records.

Court documents allege Hill threatened to kill the victim, grabbed her by her hair, placed a gun against her thigh and then shot her. After she realized she was shot, she got out of the vehicle and called 911.

Hill allegedly took the child from the vehicle, placed her on the ground, and left the scene in the vehicle.

Court documents say the childs blanket and jacket were covered with blood and the childs diaper also had apparent blood, but the child appeared unhurt, according to court records.

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On Wednesday, April 3, shortly before 9:30 a.m., officers went to a hotel where Hill was staying. They made contact with him, but Hill allegedly barricaded himself in a hotel room and a standoff began. After officers obtained a search warrant, Hill was arrested at about 2:45 p.m. and officers located a 9mm handgun in his hotel room.

According to court documents, Hill was convicted of second degree murder in 2001 and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2019. He is being held in the Platte County jail without bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  A man was convicted of a hate crime after slashing a Muslim man near a halal food cart in Manhattan two years ago, authorities said Thursday.

Gino Sozio, 40, yelled This is my country. Go back to your country before attacking the 22-year-old New Jersey man at the corner of East 29th Street and Fifth Avenue in December 2022, prosecutors said.

The victim and his friends were waiting for their food near the halal cart when Sozio came up to them and began cursing at the group at around 2 a.m. A fight broke out and one of the victims friends punched Sozio before he pulled a knife and cut the victim across his abdomen, authorities said. The man needed surgery for his injury.

Man to be charged in alleged attack on 3-month-old boy in East Harlem: NYPD

The group disarmed Sozio and held him until police arrived. While they waited, Sozio yelled terrorists and halal motherfs, prosecutors said.

A jury Wednesday convicted Zozio of attempted assault as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime, and criminal possession of a weapon. He will be sentenced on May 3.

The victim testified at the trial.

Instead of walking away from a dispute, Sozio went on an appalling racist and anti-Muslim tirade and took out a knife, seriously injuring the victim who is still in pain to this day, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

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.
(KRON)  A Richmond man was convicted of sexual battery after slapping a woman on her behind near an elementary school in the Richmond District, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said on Wednesday.

Blackberry enabled Mad Men-era sexual harassment, lawsuit alleges

According to testimony, Alex Chan-Carillo, 32, was riding his bike on a sidewalk while the victim was entering her home on July 23, 2023. Carrillo then approached the victim and slapped her on her behind before laughing as he rode away, the testimony said.

As the victim was inputting the code into her garage, she felt a presence behind her before turning around and seeing Chan-Carrillo standing within five feet of her, the testimony said.

The victim attempted to yell at Chan-Carillo, also threatening to call her husband or the police. According to testimony, Chan-Carrillo persisted and kept asking, Can I come in? While trying to block the entryway with his bicycle to prevent the garage door from closing.

The victim then took a picture of him and threatened to call the police, but according to testimony, that did not stop Mr. Chan-Carrillo. At that point, the victim abandoned the garage and ran upstairs and called police, who later arrested him.

Sentencing for Chan-Carillo is scheduled for April 9, 2024. Until then, he must register himself as a sex offender for the next ten years.

I would like to thank the jury for their thoughtful review of the evidence and careful application

of the law, said Assistant District Attorney Christine Revelo-Lee. They had the task of determining Mr. Chan-Carrillos specific intent and evaluating what was reasonable and

unreasonable. They connected with the victims powerful testimony, believed her and delivered

justice.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is investigating after a man died due to an e-bike crash in March.

Michael Goldstone, 43, and a woman were riding separate DC Bike Share e-bikes on March 27 at about 10:50 p.m. in the 600 block of Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Goldstone, who rode ahead of the woman, slowed down near the intersection of 7th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

12-year-old hurt in Montgomery County collision

MPD said the womans e-bike collided with Goldstones, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

He died on April 2.

Anyone with information is asked to call MPD at (202) 727-9099 or text the departments tip line at 50411.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Man facing charges after gun accidentally fires, hits juvenile inside an Ipswich brewery, police say

A New Hampshire man is now facing charges after his gun accidentally went off inside a North Shore brewery last week.

Ipswich Police Chief Paul Nikas announced several charges against Donald Terenzoni, 35, of Newton, N.H., in connection to Friday nights incident after he accidentally fired his gun inside True North Ale Brewery.

Responding officers located Terenzoni in the brewerys dining area suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

A juvenile in the dining area was grazed by a piece of shrapnel and transported to a local hospital as a precaution. A second individual also suffered a minor injury as a result of shrapnel but declined medical transportation.

Police said a subsequent investigation determined that Terenzoni was not licensed to possess a firearm in Massachusetts.

Terenzoni is charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

He will be arraigned Friday in Ipswich District Court.

The incident remains under investigation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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HELSINKI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Finnish trade unions announced on Thursday that it will temporarily suspend union strikes which have been ongoing for four weeks.

Jarkko Eloranta, chairman of the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), said at a press conference that the strikes would be paused in order to allow for negotiations with the government.

Finland's government has refused to enter talks with the unions while the walkouts are in progress. However, Eloranta underlined that the strikes, which will be put on hold from next Monday onwards, will nevertheless resume if negotiations are unsuccessful.

The strikes were called by unions to express their opposition to plans by the current coalition to reduce several social security services, and restrict the right to organize industrial action.

Since late November, the unions have staged several strikes. During the latest, they have closed freight ports, most freight railroads, and several large industrial plants.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo reiterated the government's commitment to implementing reforms in order to strengthen the economy. 
A man was hit by a driver and killed in Salisbury early Thursday morning, police said.

Just before 4:30 a.m., officers were called to West Jake Alexander Boulevard about a quarter-mile from Main Street. They found 42-year-old David Michael House lying in the road.

ALSO READ: Authorities make arrest 2 years after deadly Salisbury shooting

First responders tried to save him but House died at the scene.

Police believe House was trying to cross West Jake Alexander Boulevard when he was hit by a car.

The Salisbury Police Department said no other information will be released. The investigation is ongoing.

The Salisbury Police Department would like to extend our prayers to the House family, they said in a news release.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Shue at hunter.shue@salisburync.gov or 704-640-8166.

(WATCH BELOW: Clothing manufacturing plant catches fire in Salisbury)




NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)  A 33-year-old is facing charges in a deadly hit-and-run that claimed the life of a 21-year-old motorcyclist last month in North Myrtle Beach.

The Horry County Coroners office identified the motorcyclist Thursday as Nicholas Simpson of Shallotte, North Carolina.

Selfido Raymundo Esquivel is charged with hit-and-run involved with death.

The crash happened just before 11:30 p.m. in the area of 37th Avenue S. and Turner Street, according to a North Myrtle Beach police report obtained by News13. The crash involved a Toyota Corolla and a motorcycle.

Simpson was operating his motorcycle on 37th Ave S. in North Myrtle Beach when Esquivels vehicle turned in front of him causing a collision.

Simpson was transported to Grand Strand Medical Center where he died March 23 from injuries sustained from the crash, the coroners office said.

When officers arrived, they found a man lying in the middle of the road with substantial injuries to his head and face and was bleeding profusely, the report said. The driver of the Toyota was nowhere to be found.

Police ran the vin number on the Toyota, which came back to the previously registered owner, who told officers he sold the vehicle earlier in the day to a man named Sergio, the report said. He gave officers Sergios Facebook name, which they determined was Esquivel.

Officers spoke with a homeowner on Turner Street and asked if they knew Esquivel, to which they said he lived in the other half of the home they resided in, according to the report. Police entered the other half and conducted a search, where they found Esquivel locked in a bedroom with his wife.

Esquivel came out and was placed in handcuffs, the report said. He told police he was driving east on 37th Avenue S. and tried to turn left onto Turner Street. He said he saw the motorcycle and thought he could make the turn, but the motorcycle hit the front passenger side of his Toyota.

Esquivel told officers he left the scene because he was scared of being arrested and that he walked home without telling his family about the crash, according to the report.

Esquivel was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center at about 7:10 p.m. on Tuesday, online records show. As of this writing, he was still in jail on a $75,000 bond.

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 Find todays top stories on WBTW.com for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

* * *

Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

* * *

Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylors work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A 55-year-old man who authorities say had a blood-alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit when his pickup hit another vehicle, killing its driver, has been ordered to stand trial on charges including second-degree murder.

A judge on Wednesday found there was sufficient evidence for the case against William Pederson to proceed, according to court records. In addition to murder, hes charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury.

His next hearing is scheduled April 16.

My life is over: Drivers BAC nearly twice legal limit in fatal crash, reports say

According to the California Highway Patrol, Pedersons Dodge Ram on Feb. 14, 2023, crossed over double yellow lines into the opposing lane as he drove north on Highway 65, and collided with another vehicle just north of Famoso Road.

The other driver, Juana Torres de Calderon, 53, was declared dead at the scene. A passenger was injured.

The crash happened at about 3:50 a.m. Pederson told officers he was returning home to Porterville after spending time with family in Sacramento. He said he drank about a six-pack of Coors, according to court documents.

Preliminary tests showed Pedersons blood-alcohol content at 0.158 and 0.156%, documents said. The legal limit is 0.08%.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Transplant patient Rick Slayman, middle seated, with (left to right) Dr. Leo Riella, medical director of kidney transplantation, Dr. Nahel Elias, interim chief, Division of Transplant Surgery, Slayman's partner, Faren, and Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, director, Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance, are pictured, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, as Slayman was being released from Massachusetts General Hospital after receiving a kidney transplant from a pig. | Michelle Rose

The worlds first living recipient of a kidney from a genetically altered pig has gone home to recover after the medical milestone transplant.

Richard Rick Slayman, 62, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, released a statement marking the occasion: This moment  leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health Ive had in a long time  is one I wished would come for many years. Now its a reality and one of the happiest moments of my life.

He added, Today marks a new beginning not just for me, but for them as well, referring to the thousands waiting for a kidney transplant.

As the Deseret News reported, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital transplanted the organ in a four-hour surgery on March 16. Slayman had been living with end-stage kidney disease. The groundbreaking operation was his second kidney transplant.

Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure had damaged his kidneys to the point of needing dialysis. In 2018, he received a kidney from a deceased donor, but after five years, it began to fail, sending him back to dialysis and a slew of health-related complications to the point that he required surgical interventions regularly.

Gene editing to save lives

An announcement from Massachusetts General Hospital said that the pig kidney required 69 different genomic edits so it could be used for human transplant. The Food and Drug Administration allowed the operation under a single FDA Expanded Access Protocol  known as compassionate use  granted to a single patient or group of patients with serious, life-threatening illnesses or conditions to gain access to experimental treatments or trials when no comparable treatment options of therapies exist. Slayman also received injections of novel immune-suppressing drugs that were provided by pharmaceutical companies Eledon and Alexion.

A news release from Mass General at the time of the transplant said that a company called eGenesis, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, used gene-editing technology to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans. Additionally, scientists inactivated porcine endogenous retroviruses in the pig donor to eliminate any risk of infection in humans. Over the past five years, (the hospital) and eGenesis have conducted extensive collaborative research, with the findings published in Nature in 2023.

Of note, the Mass General Brigham Health system pioneered the first successful organ transplant in 1954 at Brigham and Womens Hospital. That surgery, too, was a kidney transplant.

Per The New York Times, The transplant and its encouraging outcome represent a remarkable moment in medicine, scientists say, possibly heralding an era of cross-species organ transplantation.

The article noted that two previous transplants from pigs that had been genetically modified failed. Those heart transplant recipients died a few weeks later, one probably from organ rejection. But the kidney now residing in Slaymans abdomen is producing urine, removing waste products from the blood, balancing the bodys fluids and carrying out other key functions, according to his doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Times reported.

Slayman expressed hope that hed be allowed privacy as he recovers.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Kansas City, Missouri man is sentenced for a 2019 robbery and shooting in Independence as well as a sexual assault incident in 2022.

Sean Quinn Jr., 21, entered guilty pleas in the two criminal cases on Tuesday, according to the Jackson County Prosecutors Office.

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He was charged in a May 2022 sexual assault of a woman at gunpoint in Kansas City. He pleaded guilty to first-degree sodomy, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Quinn also pleaded guilty in a second case in March 2019 when he was 16-years-old regarding a shooting in Independence that left the victim paralyzed from the waist down. Authorities certified him to be charged as an adult. He pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action.

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Jackson County Judge Justine E. Del Muro sentenced Quinn to 27 years in the sex assault case and 22 years in the second case. The sentences are set to run concurrently.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an assault that happened in the southwest portion of Topekas Shunga Trail last year.

The Topeka Police Department (TPD) started an investigation on Aug. 17 regarding an incident reported to Shawnee County Park Police on Aug. 15. Jose J. Arteaga, 30, of Topeka was accused of assaulting an individual on the trail, resulting in transportation to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Police seek arrest for missing Yellowstone spin-off actor in Lawrence criminal case

On Monday, April 1 Arteaga was sentenced to:

Attempted Rape  89 months in prison

Attempted Rape  55 months in prison, consecutive

Aggravated Battery  38 months in prison, consecutive

Sexual Battery  12 months in prison, concurrent

In total, Arteaga was sentenced to 182 months in prison with credit for time served. He must register as an offender, he is prohibited from carrying a firearm and must be under lifetime post-release supervision.

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.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Samuel Peckham in Worcester Superior Court last week, when he was convicted in the shooting death of John Smith.

WORCESTER  Samuel Peckham, who was found guilty last week of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of another driver during a traffic dispute, was sentenced Thursday to four to seven years in state prison.

Peckham shot and killed John Smith, 31, on the morning of Dec. 7, 2022, on Highland Street.

Smith had just dropped off his son at school when he and Peckham, in separate vehicles and traveling in different directions, approached a traffic light at Highland and Lancaster streets.

According to court statements, Peckham became angry at Smith and followed his car on Highland Street to the area of Boynton Street. Smith stopped, got out of his vehicle and approached Peckham's car, throwing a punch at a car window.

Peckham, who was licensed to carry a firearm, fired a gun, fatally striking Smith in the chest. At the time of the shooting, Smiths girlfriend and the couples 3-year-old son were in his car.

Before his ruling, Superior Court Judge Daniel M. Wrenn chastised Middlesex District Assistant District Attorney Thomas A. Brant, who prosecuted the case, for recommending to the court a sentence of 18 to 20 years for Peckham. Wrenn said that would be four to five times greater than the sentencing guideline for involuntary manslaughter.

Wrenn said Brants sentencing recommendation was inappropriate and troubling, and more suitable for a second-degree murder conviction.

Recommending five to six years in state prison for Peckham, Michael S. Hussey, attorney for the defense, said his client would be haunted for the rest of his life for what transpired on the day of the shooting.

Hussey had insisted in front of the 12-member jury that his client acted in self-defense to protect himself from Smith.

Adding that Peckham is a better man than the worst day of his life, Hussey acknowledged that no sentence would be enough for Smiths family.

Prior to the sentencing, Wrenn said he had twice read over the heartfelt written testimony from families of the victim and the defendant, including testimony from Peckhams parents.

Aretha Sierra, mother of Smith, addressed the courtroom. With her husband, Jose Sierra, by her side, she said she hasnt had an opportunity to mourn the loss of her only son.

Members of John Smith's family react last week, after Samuel Peckham's conviction.

With the majority of her family audibly crying in the audience, a teary-eyed Sierra said the last thing Smith said to his 11-year-old son was that he loved him, would see him later and they would go Christmas shopping after school. Sierra said she is still haunted by her grandsons screams when he found out that his father, her son, was dead and not coming home ever again.

Read in court by Brant, the victim impact testimony from Chazalyn Wilson, Smith's girlfriend since 2017, said her life has been forever ruined.

Wilson said she lost the love of her life and her best friend, and credited Smith for making her the woman and the parent she is today. She also said her son, who was in Smith's car during the shooting, is nonverbal and remained traumatized from the incident.

With his head down and his hands in cuffs, Peckham silently listened to testimony read against him.

Both Sierra and Wilson urged that Wrenn give Peckham the maximum possible sentence.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Samuel Peckham sentenced to 4-7 years for fatal shooting of John Smith
Man shot in neck in shootout on Akron street

AKRON, Ohio (WJW)  A 35-year-old man was shot in the neck in an exchange of gunfire in a residential neighborhood early Thursday.

Police received a call just after 4:30 a.m. for a shooting along Fuller Street, which is nearby. While en route, they learned a shooting victim was at a home along Weeks Street, near the 6th Avenue intersection, according to a news release.

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The 35-year-old man, who was shot in the neck, was transported to a hospital. His injury is considered non-life-threatening, according to police.

Detectives learned unknown suspects came to the Weeks Street home and opened fire.

After the initial shots rang out, there appeared to have been an exchange of gunfire that resulted in the victim being struck, reads the release.

No other injuries were reported. A car and another home nearby were also struck by gunfire, according to police.

Troopers clock car nearly 50 mph over speed limit on I-77

Officers collected shell casings and other evidence from the scene. Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened and identify the shooting suspects.

Anyone who can offer information on the investigation is urged to call Akron detectives at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2TIP (330-375-2847).

Anonymous tips can also be provided by:

Calling Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS (330-434-2677)

Texting TIPSCO with your tip to 274637

Downloading the Akron Police Department app and texting Tips411 or visiting the police departments website

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Man stabs his wife dozens of times, killing her in front of their kids, IL cops say

Children were witnesses to the brutal killing of their mother, and now their father faces murder charges, Illinois authorities say.

The DuPage County States Attorneys Office announced Thursday, April 4, Baltazar Perez-Estrada was denied his pre-trial release from jail following the March 31 death of his wife, Maricela Simon Franco.

Perez-Estrada, charged with five counts of first-degree murder, is accused of stabbing his wife dozens of times following an argument between the two in their home in Carol Stream.

Authorities said Franco was nearly decapitated in the attack. With their two minor children present, Perez-Estrada stabbed his wife on her head, neck, body and hands, according to the states attorneys office.

The next morning, he went to the Carol Stream Police Department and confessed to the killing, authorities said.

An investigation revealed Perez-Estrada, 33, was in the United States illegally, having arrived from Mexico two weeks prior, officials said. In addition to his murder charges, the husband was charged with alien inadmissibility.

Carol Stream Chief of Police Don Cummings referred to Perez-Estradas alleged actions as senseless and brutal, saying the children have been robbed of their mother.

The sentiments were echoed by DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin, who said his office will prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law.

I offer my sincerest condolences to Maricelas surviving family and friends on their loss and wish them strength as they continue their lives without the love and support provided by Maricela, Berlin said in a statement. The extremely violent end to a young mothers life is something that should touch us all.

Perez-Estrada is due in court April 25, authorities said.

Carol Stream is about a 35-mile drive east of Chicago.

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Husband may have arranged for wifes slaying in staged burglary, Washington cops say
Manhattanville College became Manhattanville University on Wednesday, a sign to the public of a broader range of academic offerings.

The change was made possible, in part, because of an update in 2022 to the state Board of Regents' definition of a university. In remarks Wednesday, Frank Sanchez, Manhattanville's new president, said the classification as a university signaled to the public Manhatanville's "growth and evolution."

"Our approval is a recognition of the breadth and depth of our undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs," said Sanchez, whose inauguration is slated for Friday.

Students do the wave during a celebration for Manhattanville College's announcement that it's becoming Manhattanville University April 3, 2024 in Purchase.

Our elevated status as Manhattanville becomes a university will enhance our ability to live our mission every day as we continue to educate socially responsible leaders, Associate Provost Alison Carson said in a statement.

Manhattanville's change in status coincided with a week-long celebration of Sanchez's inauguration. Sanchez started in July after six years as president of Rhode Island College.

Manhattanville was founded in 1841 and has over 55 undergraduate programs, over 70 graduate programs and a doctoral program. It serves over 1,300 undergraduate students and almost 1,000 graduate students.

New programs, including a Bachelor of Fine Arts in commercial dance, will launch this fall.

On Wednesday, Manhattanville unveiled new banners and signs reflecting the Purchase-based institution's new name.

Graduate student Gianna Mott takes a selfie with lacrosse teammates during a celebration for Manhattanville College's announcement that it's becoming Manhattanville University April 3, 2024.

Student Body President Aela Mansmann said in a statement the letters from a former sign bearing "Manhatanville College" would be kept in the student government offices.

In June 2022, Iona College made the same jump, becoming Iona University, and two months before that Dominican College in Orangeburg announced it would become Rockland County's first university.

Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Manhattanville College changes name to Manhattanville University
BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- On the Ren'ai Jiao issue, who is the troublemaker and provocateur? Who is breaking international law and endangering peace and stability in the South China Sea?

The answers to these questions are easily discerned from the following facts:

The Nansha Qundao (the Nansha Islands), which include the Ren'ai Jiao reef, have always been China's territory. The Philippine side clearly knows that its own territory -- defined by a series of international treaties, including the 1898 Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain -- does not include the Nansha Qundao.

In 1999, a Philippine military vessel was illegally "grounded" on Ren'ai Jiao. China immediately made demarches to the Philippines, and the Philippines repeatedly pledged that it would tow the vessel away. But 25 years on, it is still there.

Utilizing a similar tactic, the Philippines said that it would not reinforce the grounded warship and that it would provide China with advanced warning of any resupply operations. However, the country again failed to honor its promise and made attempts to deliver construction materials for the large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship, in an apparent attempt to occupy Ren'ai Jiao permanently.

It is clear that the Philippines' string of false accusations against China aims to hide the fact that it has broken its promises and common understanding with China on the proper handling of the situation.

According to Article 5 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), which was signed by China and ASEAN member states, the parties to the declaration agree to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability by, among other undertakings, refraining from the action of inhabiting the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features.

Ren'ai Jiao is uninhabited. Parties to the declaration should continue hosting zero personnel and facilities on the reef. But recently, a spokesperson for the Philippine military openly vowed to build permanent structures on Ren'ai Jiao. The Philippines has also repeatedly dispatched personnel to set foot on China's Tiexian Jiao and other uninhabited islands and reefs in the South China Sea that belong to China, seriously contravening the principles of the DOC.

Over the years, China and ASEAN member states have insisted that countries directly concerned with the Ren'ai Jiao issue manage their disputes properly through dialogue and consultation, and that China and ASEAN member states work together to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. This has effectively maintained the overall stability of the region.

However, for some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into the South China Sea affairs to back Philippine provocations and violation of China's sovereignty.

Such moves by the Philippines undermine the consensus reached by the countries in the region, and will only complicate and endanger the situation in the South China Sea.

International relations experts pointed out that the United States is using the Philippines as a pawn to destabilize the South China Sea. But a pawn will only end up being abandoned.

Launching false accusations against China will by no means cover up the truth. The South China Sea is a shared home for the countries in the region. It is a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, and it serves the common interests and is the shared responsibility of these countries.

The Philippines must cease its provocative and dangerous acts before they bring harm to the Philippines and the peaceful environment of the countries in the region, and must return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible. 
Mansfield school district says it is unsure if candidate is eligible for board

The Mansfield school district said Thursday that it was not able to verify whether a candidate on the May 5 ballot is eligible for school board.

In a statement, the district said it was investigating the eligibility of Place 2 candidate Angel Hidalgo but said her opponent Jandel Crutchfield was eligible.

Opponents of Hidalgo and Crutchfield have questioned their residency, citing tax and voting records.

The Board of Trustees has been consulting with the districts legal counsel and election officials at the local, county and state levels to review Dr. Angel Hidalgos eligibility and the information between Texas election code and government code. The findings remain inconclusive at this time, a statement attributed to school board president Lackey Wilson said.

The statement also said the deadline to remove a candidate from the ballot passed, so Hidalgo would remain on the ballot regardless.

Hidalgo is a a Spanish instructor at Tarrant County College and Crutchfield is an associate professor of social work at UT Arlington.

The school district did not immediately respond to a question about what it would do if Hidalgo won the election but turned out to be ineligible.

Last week the Star-Telegram reported that voter registration and property records showed Hidalgo was likely out of compliance with requirements to run for school board because he was not registered to vote at his Arlington address for six months before running.

The Dallas Express, an online news outlet owned by and former Republican congressional candidate Chris Putnam, published a story alleging that Crurcthfield has homestead exemptions on multiple houses.

In an interview with the Star-Telegram Tuesday, Crutchfield said she was going to take the high road, and not address allegations in the article and those made by others in Mansfield.

Crutchfield said she was not sure whether she has a homestead exemption in Mississippi, but said it could be tied to her and her husbands business.

Crutchfield said she has lived in Mansfield for six years, has children in the district and has used water and utility bills to prove their residence.

Hidalgo has declined multiple requests for comment.
So many senior Tory MPs quitting at general election that they could fill all the top Cabinet posts

The four Great Offices of State could be filled by the Commons retirees (ES Composite)

So many senior Tory MPs are quitting at the next general election that they could fill all the top Cabinet posts.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May (MP for Maidenhead) is standing down, as is ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne), former-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) and ex-Home Secretary Sir Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove).

So, all the four Great Offices of State could be filled by Commons retirees.

As could a string of other posts including Defence Secretary with Ben Wallace (Wyre and Preston North) going, Health Secretary with Matt Hancock (West Suffolk), Transport Secretary with Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell), Northern Ireland Secretary with Sir Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth), Environment Secretary with George Eustice (Camborne and Redruth) and Scotland Secretary with Alister Jack (Dumfries and Galloway) also departing.

Former COP26 president Sir Alok Sharma (Reading West) is on his way out at the election, with ex-Net Zero Tsar Chris Skidmore having already quit as MP for Kingswood, sparking a by-election won by Labour, after Rishi Sunak watered down the Governments actions to tackle global warming.

More than 60 MPs elected as Conservatives have already said they will not stand at the next election, widely expected to be in the autumn.

This figure is still significantly lower than the 100 Labour MPs who left at the 2010 election which saw Gordon Brown ousted as Prime Minister.

A series of polls are suggesting that the Conservatives are facing a disaster at the next election, with the latest one from YouGov putting the party on 155 seats.

In London, the Tories would end up with just five seats and none in central areas of the city, according to the survey which used the multi-level regression and poststratification (MRP) method of polling.

Former Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan, warned against the party shifting to the Right to try to woo more voters.

He told LBC Radio: People need to knuckle under, support Rishi Sunak but frankly he is really up against it now.

These people who continue to fight within the Conservative Party, the likes of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman, and people like that are quite simply going to destroy it for more than a generation.

As the Tories face the prospect of a worse defeat than John Major in 1997, dozens more MPs could decide nearer election time to call it a day.

A number of senior Conservatives, though, are insisting they have no plans to leave the Commons including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Levelling-up Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary James Cleverly.

Mr Cleverly is seen as a potential leadership contender, if the Tories lose the election and Mr Sunak steps down as party leader.

Other possible candidates include ex-Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, if she holds her Portsmouth North seat, ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and security minister Tom Tugendhat.

London Tory MPs who are standing down include Nickie Aiken, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully, Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, Sir Bob Neill in Bromley and Chislehurst, and Mike Freer, in Finchley and Golders Green after receiving death threats.

Labour MPs in the capital quitting at the election include Harriet Harman and Dame Margaret Hodge.
Your map of the eclipse path of totality is wrong, experts say

(NEXSTAR)  If you live at the edge of the path of totality, you may not want to trust your map of the 2024 total solar eclipse.

A new map by eclipse calculator John Irwin claims that the path of totality, roughly 115 miles wide, is actually slightly narrower than previously thought, meaning that people along the edges might not have the eclipse experience they were expecting.

Why the total solar eclipse in 2024 will be different than it was in 2017

By accounting for the topography of both the moon and the Earth, precise eclipse prediction has brought new attention to a tiny but real uncertainty about the size of the Sun, NASA Heliophysics Editorial Lead Abbey Interrante told Nexstar in an email.

The larger the sun is in the calculation, the smaller the shadow produced by the moon.

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Luca Quaglia, a collaborator of Irwins, explained that in eclipse computations the value of the size of the sun has been left up to the eclipse computer. Since the late 1800s, eclipse calculations have commonly used a solar radius of 959.63 arc seconds (which is one 3,600th of a degree).

Measurements and observations in the last decade have demonstrated that this value is slightly too small, Quaglia told Forbes. Irwins map uses a solar radius of 959.95 arc seconds, which trims about 2,000 feet from the edges of the path of totality as it is currently shown on maps, meaning already-borderline cities like Rome, New York; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Denton, Texas; and Effingham, Illinois; will be further away from a view of totality than previously thought.

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To be clear, people planning on traveling into the path of totality to watch the celestial phenomenon dont have to double check their maps.

This difference would only affect cities on the very edge of the path of totality, where blanket predictions are difficult regardless  a few city blocks one way or the other could mean 20, 10, or 0 seconds of totality, Interrante told Nexstar. Traveling towards the center of the path of totality  even a mile or two  will quickly increase the length of totality that people can see.

What to know if youre driving during the eclipse

Interrante told Nexstar that NASAs eclipse predictions have not changed, but the suns radius will be the subject of a SunSketcher research project during the April 8 eclipse.

The total solar eclipse will first be visible in the United States from Texas, after which the path moves through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Slivers of both Tennessee and Michigan also fall into the path of totality.

If you plan on watching the eclipse, be sure to follow these safety tips and, if youre using eclipse glasses, make sure theyre the correct ones.

After April 8, you wont have another chance to watch a total solar eclipse from the contiguous United States until Aug. 23, 2044.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The smell of marijuana led to the discovery of a loaded firearm in the possession of a parent in the parking lot of a high school in Las Vegas, police documents say.

On Jan. 20, Clark County School District Police Department (CCSDPD) officers detected an odor of marijuana at a Valley High School wrestling event. When they approached the car they had determined to be the source of the odor, they found a woman, later identified as Jasmine Holland, police documents indicate.

Holland told officers, Yup, thats me, in reference to the heavy marijuana smell, adding that she had been smoking pot, the report indicated. Holland told the officers that she was unaware she couldnt smoke marijuana in the schools parking lot, adding that she had traveled to her vehicle several times during the tournament to smoke marijuana before without an issue, according to the report.

Holland advised officers that she had a gun in her purse, police documents indicate, which officers confiscated. In addition to various THC vape cartridges and a smoking pipe with residue inside, THC edibles were also found in the vehicle, the report said. Holland told officers she made a mistake smoking marijuana in public, according to the arrest report.

Court records show Holland pleaded no contest on March 25 and was sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail sentence.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Maryland man is killed in crash on South Carolina road, Lexington County coroner says

A 34-year-old Maryland man was killed in a Wednesday morning crash on a South Carolina road, according to the Lexington County Coroners Office.

Halethorpe, Maryland resident Marvin Orlando Felipe-Perez is the pedestrian who died in the accident, Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a news release.

The collision happened at about 6:40 a.m. in the 4000 block of Edmund Highway, according to the release. Thats in West Columbia, near the property of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and more than 500 miles from Halethorpe.

Felipe-Perez was walking in the road, near the intersection with Dunbar Road, when he was hit by a 2006 Toyota Scion that was driving east on Edmund Highway, said Master Trooper William Bennett of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Felipe-Perez died at the scene, according to Fisher.

The driver was the only person in the Toyota, and was not hurt, Bennett said. No other injuries were reported.

There was no word if the driver, who Fisher said remained at the scene, was wearing a seat belt.

The crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroners office.

Through Monday, 200 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 999 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least 15 people have died in Lexington County crashes in 2024, according to DPS data. There were 45 deaths reported in the county in 2023, DPS reported.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The man who was stabbed to death on a MAX train on March 29 has been identified as 51-year-old Michael Matthew Brady of Portland, the Portland Police Bureau announced Wednesday.

The victims wife, Nora Brady, said in a statement that Michael Brady was a loving father and husband.

I want people to know that my husband was a great human being, a loving father of a 6-year-old boy, and a loving husband, Nora Brady said. Michael Brady was a wonderful person.

Man faces murder charge after deadly Vancouver bow and arrow shooting

A Medical Examiner ruled Bradys death a homicide from a stab wound to the upper body. Based on witness interviews and video surveillance footage, PPB described the stabbing as an unprovoked attack. Brady was coming home from work at approximately 6 p.m. when 51-year-old Shondel L. Larkin allegedly stabbed him as the eastbound train approached the 82nd Avenue Transit Station.

Brady and the suspect were sitting near each other on the train, but they had no contact prior to the assault, PPB said.

When officers arrived on scene they found the victim on the station platform. Larkin was taken into custody and booked on second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon charges.

The Portland Police Bureau recognizes the traumatic nature of this incident for everyone riding the train that evening, PPB said.

Bradys family is requesting privacy following the announcement of his death.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
NEW YORK  Mayor Eric Adams offered a sarcastic helping hand to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during his New York City stay, saying Thursday that the Republican could sleep in a migrant shelter so he can see what he has created.

Abbott, who has helped feed the migrant crisis in the city through a policy of bussing hundreds from Texas since 2022, was expected to be in New York for an annual Republican fundraiser.

His sojourn to the Big Apple is widely viewed as a window into the GOPs strategic thinking as the presidential contest and national congressional races heat up.

Asked about the governors visit, Adams suggested Abbott lodge in one of the many Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, or HERRCs, that the city has set up to accommodate the more than 180,000 migrants whove flooded in during Adams term in City Hall.

Im going to offer him a stay in one of the HERRCs, so he can see what he has created and understand how we are treating people with the dignity and respect that he should have shown, Adams said during a press conference in City Hall.

Im not quite sure why hes here and what hes doing while here, the mayor continued. But hes going to see how you can manage the crisis with coordination.

For months, Adams has lambasted Abbott for failing to coordinate with the city in his response to the migrant situation and has blamed him for pawning off the crisis on citys around the U.S. He has also criticized President Joe Biden over national immigration policy.

The mayor, as well, has weathered his own criticisms, with advocates pouncing on him for seeking to diminish the citys right to shelter law and for the waits for shelter some migrants have experienced.

Adams has contended that his administration has been successful in encouraging migrants to find housing elsewhere by limiting shelter stays to 30 or 60 days. In January, he and the citys top lawyer announced the city was suing 17 charter bus companies responsible for transporting migrants to New York.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The City of Portland is on the verge of getting rid of its ban on homeless daytime camping, thanks to a new council proposal by Mayor Ted Wheeler on Thursday.

The mayor proposed new public camping regulations that he said will clarify the definition of camping as well as the reasons for prohibiting camping when a person does not have or declines reasonable alternative shelter.

Wheelers proposal also clarifies how camping cannot take place on public property and reduces criminal sanctions while replacing warnings with diversion tactics.

The current policy is that campers are forbidden in public parks or near schools and cannot camp on city streets or other public places during the daytime.

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The ordinance to ban daytime camping was initially slated to go into effect in July 2023 but stalled after the Oregon Law Center sued the city in September on behalf of thousands of homeless residents  prompting a Multnomah County judge to issue an injunction in November that paused any enforcement until the end of the lawsuit.

As for the new proposal, City Attorney Robert Taylor said he expects it will hold up.

The City Attorneys Office believes these new proposed regulations would survive a legal challenge while providing the City the tools to change the status quo in Portland, Taylor said.

The new proposed ordinance would also make it illegal to start a fire or use a gas heater around a campsite or build a structure, and camping would still be banned if you are blocking a business, private property or the public sidewalk. At most, violators could face us to a week in jail or fine no more than $100.

Oregon homebuyers need a six-figure salary to afford a typical home, study finds

Homeless advocates have said they are not surprised the ordinance has undergone legal setbacks while Multnomah County has roughly 2,000 shelter beds and an estimated 8,000 homeless residents.

The new proposed ordinance will be discussed at Portland City Council on April 18.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
CHONGQING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A China International Import Expo (CIIE) serial event was held in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from Monday to Wednesday, highlighting foreign investors' confidence in the Chinese market.

The event, with the theme of "To Boost Dual Circulation by Introducing More Foreign Investment," attracted over 100 exhibitors from the CIIE's previous and coming editions, including renowned companies such as Metro, Samsung Electronics, and Medtronic, along with representatives from multinationals and investment promotion agencies.

Embracing the immense opportunities brought by 5G and terminal-side artificial intelligence, Qualcomm aims to further strengthen its collaboration with Chongqing in the domains of intelligent terminals and networked vehicles, Qian Kun, senior vice president of Qualcomm, said during the event.

Qualcomm's optimism serves as a microcosm of foreign companies' unrelenting exploration of western China's market in recent years. Since the onset of 2024, the Chinese government has encouraged collaboration between the central and local governments to stabilize foreign investment and enhance the business environment.

According to statistics, Chongqing witnessed a surge of 30.49 percent in the establishment of new foreign-invested enterprises in 2023. Similarly, Shaanxi Province in northwest China experienced a year-on-year increase of about 30 percent in the number of new foreign-invested enterprises.

"China's vast market scale provides a distinct advantage and serves as a critical market for Sumitomo's electrical industry," affirmed Takeo Keizo, managing director of Sumitomo Electric Trading (Shenzhen). Having already made strategic investments in the automobile industry in Chongqing and other regions, Sumitomo Electric eagerly anticipates exploring collaboration opportunities in fields such as sewage treatment.

Tino Zeiske, president of Metro China, stressed that the substantial population of the western region translates into immense consumption potential, enabling Metro supermarkets in this area to consistently thrive.

The continuous pursuit of developing new quality productive forces in the western region has given birth to more new investment opportunities for foreign enterprises.

As a prominent manufacturing hub, Chongqing is actively promoting the sophisticated and intelligent upgrading of traditional industries. Neighboring Sichuan Province is witnessing robust developments in industries such as new displays, power batteries, and new energy vehicles.

"Chongqing, as a new economic engine in the inland region, has a strong industrial base. In recent years, Chongqing and other places have reshaped the industrial landscape with intelligence and expanded emerging industries with 'clusters and innovation,'" said Qian Kun.

To continue attracting foreign investment, provinces and municipalities in the western region are striving to optimize the business environment for foreign companies looking to establish a presence.

Chongqing alone has implemented a roundtable system for foreign enterprises and introduced a series of policies to encourage foreign investment.

It has also established an online platform for accepting and addressing complaints from foreign-funded enterprises. Since its launch, the platform has facilitated the updating of over 1,700 pieces of relevant information including new policies, effectively helping foreign investors gain a foothold in the Chinese market. 
Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sat down with McClatchy as part of Beyond the Border, a special series on immigration in America, to be published April 9.

Haitians seeking to flee gang violence engulfing the Caribbean nation should avoid journeying by sea to the United States, and will be returned to Haiti if intercepted, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told McClatchy and the Miami Herald in an interview Thursday.

Mayorkas said that Haitians attempting the dangerous voyage have already been repatriated in recent weeks by the U.S. Coast Guard, which on March 12 interdicted 65 Haitians near Great Inagua in the Bahamas.

Haitis prime minister stepped aside last month as much of the countrys capital, Port-au-Prince, fell to gang control.

The Homeland Security secretary also said the Biden administration is not considering a renewal or expansion of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti, which has allowed Haitian nationals currently residing in the United States to live and work here due to unsafe conditions in their home country.

Were very focused on the situation in Haiti, Mayorkas said. Our message to Haitians is quite clear: Do not take to the seas. We have seen too much tragedy when people imperil their lives, the lives of their loved ones, by doing so. We have lawful, safe, and orderly pathways for individuals who qualify for relief in the United States to arrive here.

More than 151,000 Haitians have been legally admitted into the United States under a two-year humanitarian parole program the Biden administration launched in January of 2023 for nationals of Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. With their time limit soon approaching, the administration has not said what will happen to those individuals immigration status once their time limit is up.

Advocates and some members of Congress have been pressing for protections, not just for those already in the program but for other Haitian migrants who have arrived in the United States since the last 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, was announced. The current extension and designation runs through August 3.

We do not have any plans at this time to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status, he continued. Let me be clear that, when we interdict individuals from Haiti at sea, we return them to Haiti as quickly as possible. In fact, we have done so in recent weeks, and we will continue to do so. We continue to enforce the law.

Haiti is seeing an unprecedented level of violence where an alliance of armed gangs has vandalized hospitals, pharmacies, schools and police stations. The consortium controls the road to the countrys main airport and seaport, leading to shortages of food and medicine.

The United Nations says that at least 5.5 million Haitians are currently in need of humanitarian assistance, which has become an increasingly daunting task given the ongoing gunfire and disorder.

The crisis extends its reach far beyond the confines of Port-au-Prince, affecting communities across Haiti and leaving over 360,000 people displaced nationwide, many multiple times over, the U.N. International Office for Migration said Wednesday. For the nearly 100,000 internally displaced people living in sites, conditions are deplorable, amplifying the depths of suffering. Their needs include access to food, healthcare, water, psychological support, and hygiene facilities.

Haitians continue to be deported from countries in the region despite these conditions, the agency said.

Last month, more than 13,000 Haitians were forcibly returned by neighboring countries and Coast Guard cutters, according to data from the U.N.s International Organization for Migration. While the Dominican Republic accounted for the overwhelming number of repatriations, Haitians were also deported from Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.

Some were interdicted by the countries directly, while others were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard, which patrols the Florida Straits, the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, and the waters off the northwest coast of Haiti.
MCSO arrests man after he allegedly sold drugs near two local schools

MUSCOGEE COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL)  The Muscogee County Sheriffs Office said a man was arrested in South Columbus on Wednesday after he allegedly sold narcotics within a thousand feet of two schools.

MCSO deputies found Jamal Jones in possession of 51 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of $5,100, 46 grams of marijuana with a street value of $460 and 9 hydrocodone pills worth $90. Authorities also recovered two firearms with one gun being reported stolen and $2,591 in cash.

Jones was arrested, taken to the Muscogee County Jail and charged with:

Trafficking cocaine

Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute

Two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime

Two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Two counts of controlled substances within 1000 feet of a school

Theft by receiving stolen property (firearm)

Two counts of possession of drug-related objects

Possession of a schedule II substance (hydrocodone)

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
German companies Knauf and WKB Systems GmbH are involved in the so-called restoration efforts of occupied Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast, which was destroyed by Russian troops, according to an investigation published on April 3 by journalists of the Monitor program of the German TV channel ARD.

The city came under siege by Russian forces between February and May 2022, leaving thousands dead and reducing Mariupol to rubble. According to authorities' rough estimates, at least 25,000 people could have been killed during the siege of Mariupol. The exact number of dead remains unknown and could be much higher.

The reconstruction of Mariupol is part of Russian propaganda efforts to hide evidence of the destruction caused by Russia's forces. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian attacks destroyed over 95% of the buildings in the city.

ARD journalists looked into the websites of construction companies, documents, photos, and videos to find evidence of German companies' involvement in the reconstruction of the destroyed Mariupol.

They revealed that Russia uses Knauf company's cement in construction works, among other things. Knauf currently employs 4,000 people in Russia and generates billions in sales in the Russian market, according to the investigation.

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The company responded to a journalists' request, saying that it condemns Russia's war against Ukraine and "complies with all EU sanctions against Russia." Knauf manufactures products in Russia "exclusively for the Russian market," the company said.

ARD journalists also spotted concrete blocks in green packaging film in the footage with the name of the German company WKB Systems from the Munsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia. Among other things, this company equips concrete block production plants.

The company's main shareholder is Russian businessman Viktor Budarin, who is not under EU sanctions, according to the report.

"Customs data available to the Monitor show that WKB Systems GmbH has been supplying complete plants for aerated concrete block factories for years to one of Budarin's Russian companies. Apparently the same company whose products Russia is using to strengthen its hold on Mariupol," the investigation said.

Read also: Foreign Ministry condemns event on Russias rebirth of Mariupol to be held in Italy

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
NATO intelligence data suggests that Russia is unlikely to launch a large-scale offensive in the near future, European Pravda reported on April 4, citing a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February that Russia is preparing to launch an offensive in Ukraine in spring or the start of the summer.

The Institute for the Study of War said in its April 1 report that Russia may focus an upcoming offensive on the western part of Donetsk Oblast, near Avdiivka, a key front-line city in Donetsk Oblast captured by Russia in February.

While Russian forces have a "significant quantitative advantage" in terms of weapons and personnel, they "still lack the ammunition and maneuverable units required for a successful major offensive," the NATO official reportedly said.

Russian units on the front line are "understaffed and inexperienced" and receive "politically-motivated" orders to achieve"unrealistic goals," the official said.

NATO intelligence therefore considers it "doubtful that Russian forces could achieve significant success in an offensive this spring."

Russia is "unlikely to be able to conduct any significant offensive without further large-scale mobilization," the official was quoted.

Zelensky warned on April 3 that Russia is preparing to mobilize an additional 300,000 soldiers by June 1.

Ukraine's military intelligence said in March that Russia is likely to ramp up its mobilization efforts now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured his fifth term in office in the rigged vote in March.

At the same time, Ukraine is looking into ways to mobilize further troops as well, and an updated mobilization bill is being considered in the parliament.

Read also: Opinion: NATO is not a hegemonic burden

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine is addressing demands from Hungary to deal with the unresolved issues of Ukraine's national minorities in order to unblock the eighth tranche of the 500 million euros to the European Peace Facility, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on April 4.

The European Peace Facility (EPF) was designed to exist apart from the regular EU budget to reimburse member states for military aid they send Ukraine. The fund has been largely depleted as member states have disagreed on the best way to replenish it and unlock further cash for Ukraine.

In response to a question from Ukrainian news outlet European Pravda, Kuleba said at a press conference that Ukraine is working with Hungary to unblock the eighth tranche of the 500 million euros designated for the EPF.

"There is one issue that has been hanging in the air for a long time," Kuleba said. "That is Hungary's blocking of the eighth tranche to the European Peace Facility in the amount of 500 million euros."

Funding to the EPF is provided through tranches that can be blocked by individual member states. Hungary recently refused to approve a 500 million euro replenishment of the EPF fund.

Ukraine is reportedly taking all the necessary steps to unblock the aid.

There is Ukraines response to the 11 points that Hungary conveyed to us in Uzhgorod. We are ready to move, and experts continue to work to resolve these 11 points."

Budapest has repeatedly accused Kyiv of oppressing the rights of Hungarian minorities that live in the western regions of Ukraine, near the border between the two countries. Ukraine's language law, which has long been a source of strife between Hungary and Ukraine, was instituted in 2017 and requires at least 70% of education above fifth grade to be conducted in Ukrainian.

Earlier this year, Kuleba met with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Uzhhorod in Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. The officials announced an agreement to establish a special commission to deal with the issues of national minorities.

During his first visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the all-out Russia war, Szijjarto said that Budapest had formulated an 11-point request to Ukraine regarding the rights of national minorities.

The list includes the restoration of the status of a national school, the ability to take a high school diploma in Hungarian, and the ability to use Hungarian in public life. Budapest also wants to return the rights its minority had before 2015.

Ukraine has significant Hungarian and Romanian minorities, and both countries have criticized Ukraine's language law as discriminatory. Kyiv responded that it does not intend to crack down on its minorities, only to ensure that every Ukrainian citizen has sufficient knowledge of Ukraine's official language.

In September 2023, the Ukrainian parliament approved changes to national minorities law, which was one of seven steps recommended by the European Commission in June 2022 for Ukraine's potential accession to the European Union. The changes were signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky last year.

Read also: Kuleba: Ukraine, Hungary to set up special commission to resolve national minorities issue

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Medical marijuana is moving forward in Kentucky. How will this affect criminal courts?

In our In the Spotlight stories, Herald-Leader journalists bring you continuing coverage of news and events important to our Central Kentucky community. Read more. Story idea? hlcityregion@herald-leader.com.

With Kentuckians eligible to access medical cannabis in the commonwealth, prosecutors are preparing for the next steps to potentially charge fewer people with marijuana possession.

In Fayette County Attorney Angela Evans office, possession of marijuana made up nearly 25% of criminal diversion cases, according to Evans first annual report published in 2023.

However, with new laws that make marijuana legal in some instances, Evans predicts this number will decline.

In January 2023, an executive order signed by Gov. Andy Beshear began allowing qualifying Kentuckians with chronic conditions to use medical marijuana. And by 2025, Kentuckys new medical marijuana law will take effect, granting legal access to noncombustible cannabis products without traveling across state lines.

Recreational use of marijuana remains illegal in Kentucky.

Just given the numbers here for a percentage, my diversion participants might not exist if (medical marijuana) was legalized, Evans said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.

Angela Evans

Changes in law lead to questions for prosecutors

Criminal diversion is a program offered to first-time offenders who can receive community service opportunities in lieu of criminal punishment. First-time offenders between the ages of 18 and 27 made up 70% of participants.

Evans said the large number of young people could be analyzed in different ways.

During your 18 to 20s, you know, you might be more of a risk-taker, she said. They might do it, get caught, and once they do thats enough.

When Evans got elected in 2022, she said possession of marijuana was pretty much the only charge that you could probably get expunged the same day if you entered a guilty plea.

We have always treated it as a very low level, $100 fine, because again, technically it is illegal, she said.

Evans said the full implementation of legal medical marijuana will be one less charge that everyone has to deal with.

Among the questions prosecutors and law enforcement will have to grapple with: how will prosecutors charge someone who has additional charges with their possession of marijuana? (Currently, law enforcement officers who smell marijuana can stop and search someone under the suspicion there could be other drugs.) With some marijuana use legalized, will officers still be able to stop under this suspicion?

If it was, you know, the use of marijuana that prompted an officer to go to someone, that will potentially no longer be a reason to stop someone or question someone, Evans said. There are things that will be changing.

Driving of the influence of marijuana would still be considered a crime, but to what extent, Evans questioned.

According to the proposed law, operating machinery under the influence of medical cannabis  including vehicles  is not authorized, and could still be punishable by civil, criminal or other penalties.

There are several ranges of DUI, and if a person is legally under the influence of their medication, Evans asked, how would this impact what they are charged with?

Evans report showed DUIs were the third-most charged crime by her office. Possession of marijuana was the fifth-most charged crime overall. In 2023, more than 530 people were charged in Fayette County for possession of marijuana. Of those, 507 cases were resolved.

County attorney: Biggest concern of attorneys is impaired driving

Jenny Oldham, the Hardin County Attorney and the president of the Kentucky Association of County Attorneys, said impaired driving is the largest concern among her colleagues.

As it stands, Kentucky has no per se amount or legal limit of what would establish impaired driving under medical marijuana use. For alcohol, the determined amount is .08% blood alcohol content.

Oldham said already there are more drug impaired drivers than there are alcohol impaired drivers.

We know that partial legalization that that is going to put more marijuana into people, so there are going to be more drivers with that, Oldham said. While it is doing its job medically, it is going to be impairing the driver, so we need to have tools prepared to have a per se.

Nationally, 19 states have established legal limits, for marijuana use. A majority of those have a zero tolerance policy. Six states including Illinois, Ohio, Montana, Colorado, Washington and Nevada have a limit of five nanograms or less.

While she doesnt know the specific effect legalized medical marijuana could have on her county, she encourages her staff and other county attorneys to educate themselves about new law changes, and preparing for how they will respond if legislation passes.

House Bill 829 would establish the ability for local governments to be to choose whether they will permit medical marijuana businesses in their jurisdictions. With business licenses able to be issued by January 2025, governments need to have conversations about what they will and wont accept, Oldham said.

In addition, local governments should also be discussing what their policy will be for employees, she said, like if they will have a zero tolerance policy for workers who could be eligible to use medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana moves forward for Kentuckians

An executive order from Beshear in effect as of Jan. 1, 2023, opened legal medical marijuana use to thousands of Kentuckians in need of relief, according to the governor.

The order allows Kentuckians with certain chronic conditions to get written physician approval for medical marijuana. Card holders can then travel to a state where its legal and bring the cannabis back to Kentucky.

People who qualify for medical cards are those living with 21 listed illnesses, which include cancer, arthritis, AIDS, ALS, Hepatitis C, Glaucoma, chronic pain, post traumatic stress disorder, Parkinsons and epilepsy.

By 2025, Kentuckys new medical marijuana law will take effect, granting legal access to noncombustible cannabis products without traveling across state lines.

Under 2023s Senate Bill 47, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has been tasked with building a medical cannabis program that would oversee the cardholders who use it, the health care workers who treat them and the dispensaries that provide it, along with other stakeholders.

That includes creating an electronic monitoring system to facilitate the tracking of medicinal cannabis from the point of cultivation to the point of sale to cardholders.

The cabinet  in partnership with the state Board of Medical Licensure, the Kentucky Board of Nursing, the Kentucky Center for Cannabis and a new advisory board  must do all this no later than July 1, 2024 in anticipation of the law becoming effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Staff writer Aaron Mudd contributed to this report.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  News Channel 8 is excited to reveal the winner of our 2024 Remarkable Women contest.

Meet this years Remarkable Women finalists

Late last year, more than 100 essays were submitted, nominating the most Remarkable Women in the Tampa Bay region. A panel of five judges narrowed the entries down to four contestants.

Over March, during International Womens Month, we introduced you to our top four finalists, Laura Bray, Dr. Hilary Stockdon, Jeannie Shapiro and Tina Miller.

Just a fraction of a point separated our finalists, but only one could be named the the 2024 WFLA Remarkable Woman winner  Dr. Stockdon, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey based in St. Petersburg.

Stockdon is responsible for the U.S.G.Ss Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources program. Her work helps determine risks from hazards like hurricanes, storm surge, and sea level rise along more than 95,000 miles of U.S. Coastline.

Stockdon was given $1,000 to be donated to her favorite charity, the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit that works to protect and preserve the worlds oceans, waves and beaches.

This weekend, Stockdon will travel to Hollywood, California to compete for the national Remarkable Woman title and a chance to win $10,000 for charity.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Melania Trump's former aide, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, has slammed the reported reason she has been absent from the campaign trail as "pathetic."

Wolkoff was Melania's close confidant and first hire as first lady in 2016, but their relationship fell apart, and the ex-aide had to leave the White House in 2018.

Melania Trump's Former Aide Claims The Ex-First Lady Tried To 'Silence' Her

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The whole incident comes after an anonymous source told The Independent last Saturday that the reason Melania has been absent from her husband, Trump's campaign trail was because she had been "betrayed by her staff" during her first White House residency.

The source cited the 2020 book "Melania and Me," by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania's supposed former "best friend" and her first hire following Trump's 2016 election win.

That "excuse" apparently didn't sit well with Wolkoff, who has now taken to X (formerly Twitter) to slam it as "pathetic."

"The AUDACITY!" Wolkoff wrote. "For any human being to make EXCUSES for Melania Trump not campaigning with Donald because she 'felt betrayed by her staff' is PATHETIC."

"Melania LIED & watched the media & her WH CRUCIFY me & then she used her DOJ to try and SILENCE me," she added. "EVIL!"

The Former First Lady's Role In The Re-Election Campaign Is Still Up In The Air

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According to CNN, a source shared that the role the Slovenian-born former model would plan in her husband's campaign is still up in the air and undecided.

The news outlet reported that Melania doesn't have a ramped-up role just yet but cautioned that she can always decide to hit the trail on her own accord.

"She'll definitely have a role, but in terms of what that is, I don't know," a source close to the Trump campaign said. "It is her decision on how much or how little she will be campaigning."

"She is very selective and methodical in what she wants to do and how she presents herself," the insider noted. "She is very decisive with these things and knows they have a lot of intended and unintended consequences."

Melania Trump Teased Her Return By Saying 'Stay Tuned'

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The former first lady recently made a rare appearance alongside the presumptive Republican Party nominee to cast their ballot in the Florida presidential primary.

She wore dark sunglasses and a long white dress for the event as she stood by the former president's side while he took questions from journalists.

Melania then hinted at a return to politics when asked if she would be joining her husband on the campaign trail amid his re-election bid.

"Stay tuned," she said with a smile.

Prior to the Florida outing, Melani had been absent from the spotlight since Trump launched his campaign in November 2022.

She was absent from his election night watch party last month at their Mar-a-Lago resort and has also not appeared by his side at any of his many court appearances.

Melania And Donald Trump Attended His Lawyer Alina Habba's Birthday

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Siggy Flicker (@siggy.flicker)

Melania and Trump were recently photographed at Habba's 40th birthday bash on Saturday night. The couple appeared in good spirits as they posed beside the birthday girl.

The former first lady looked stunning in a black dress with ruffles, while Trump had on his usual suit and a tie with stripe patterns.

Trump's firebrand lawyer took a more simplistic route for her special day as she donned a shimmering strapless jumpsuit. She was spotted posing close to a display of Hermes gift bags featuring the luxury brand's iconic orange and brown color scheme and the words "Habba Nice 40th Birthday."

The guest list reportedly included Trump's sons, Eric and Don Jr., and their partners, Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The Couple Came Under Fire For Dinner Tradition

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The couple recently garnered the ire of fans on X for their family dinner tradition. Social media users mocked them for their grand entrance to events hosted at their home after videos of their Easter celebration went viral online.

The former First Lady hosted an Easter gathering at their sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Videos of her arrival with her son Barron and her father, Viktor Knavs, show them flanked by supporters as they smiled and waved to people.

One tweet claimed that the family was "super cringe" for entering an event at their home in such a lavish way.

Another user wrote on X, "I'm going to start lining up friends in my living room to applaud me as I make my way to the fridge."

Other people criticized Trump for the fanfare he received just for going to dinner. A person penned, "Trump arrives at Mar a Lago Easter dinner to cheer and adulation, his safe zone."

"I've read that when Trump goes to dinner at Mar-a-Lago, diners who are there give him a standing ovation. That's his empty future. Basking in applause from people eating supper. A well-deserved fall to *he doesn't matter anymore,*" another individual wrote.
Merced Fire Chief leaving department after three years. Its time to move on

Merced Fire Chief Derek Parker, who helped secure millions of dollars in funding that brought additional firefighters and got a paramedic training program started at the local college level, is leaving the department.

The Merced native said he is taking a position as an assistant chief with the Sacramento Fire Department.

Parker previously served as Battalion Chief in Sacramento before returning to his hometown as Fire Chief in 2021.

Parker said its tough to leave, especially from a personal standpoint. His family owned Parkers Hardware for decades.

I have lifelong friends, there are some very good characters in the department, Parker said. Im going back to Sacramento, professionally thats where I grew up.

A trained paramedic, Parker said one of his goals when he took over as Chief was to bring more paramedics to the department.

Parker and Battalion Chief Mickey Brunelli worked with Merced College president Chris Vitelli to get the college to start a paramedic training program in 2022.

To recruit a paramedic program here to the college is a big deal, Parker said. It took two guys in the department to start the process. Thats something that could last for 50 years.

Parker started his career in 1995 at the McKee Fire Station, working as a firefighter for Merced County Fire Department.

Parker said hes proud of the changes hes made to the infrastructure of the department. He pointed to progress in the communication infrastructure, policy changes, plans for future advance life support and future fire stations.

Theres a lot of things weve worked on that are coming to fruition, Parker said.

According to city officials, Parker also helped secure funds for the department for training facilities, new stations and to bring on new firefighters.

Some of those funds include $4 million in funding from State Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria for a new fire station and emergency operations center in response to the critical need for enhanced emergency services.

The department also received $3 million in funding from Senator Anna Caballero for the Hawk Regional Training Center, a regional fire academy and public safety training facility that will include firefighter, rescue, and emergency response education.

The Merced Fire Department also received $9 million in a SAFER grant from FEMA under Parker for the hiring of 24 additional firefighters, bringing the department up to four-person engine crews.

In addition, Parker was instrumental in coordinating the City of Merceds planning and response efforts during the January and March 2023 flood events.

Weve made a lot of progress, Parker said, but its time to move on.
This photo taken on April 2, 2024 shows peach blossoms with Mount Namjagbarwa in the background near Suosong Village in Nyingchi, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

People bid farewell to giant panda Fu Bao amid rain at Everland in Yongin, South Korea, April 3, 2024. Beloved Fu Bao, the first giant panda born in South Korea, left South Korea for China on Wednesday amid a large crowd's tearful farewell. Thousands of panda lovers gathered at Everland, the country's largest theme park in Yongin, about 40 km south of the capital Seoul, to say goodbye to the country's top panda celebrity. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

This photo taken on March 27, 2024 shows a portrait of Lozang Gonpo who had been a serf before the democratic reform that ended feudal serfdom in Xizang in 1959, in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the headquarters of the Egyptian Parliament in the New Administrative Capital, Egypt, April 2, 2024. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took the constitutional oath on Tuesday as president of Egypt for a third consecutive term in office, serving until 2030, the state-run Nile TV reported. (Egyptian Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

Olympic and Paralympic construction sites are seen on the Champ-de-Mars near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, April 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a tilted building after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted the sea area near Hualien, southeast China's Taiwan. The 7.3-magnitude quake in China's Taiwan on Wednesday morning had left nine people dead and 1,011 people injured as of 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to the local emergency operation center. (Xinhua)

Giant panda Fu Bao arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 3, 2024. A chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday. Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
Mercer University was named the No. 1 Military Friendly School for 2024-2025 for the second time in a row, the school announced Wednesday.

The rankings were announced last week, placing Mercer top among over 530 institutions across the country recognized for their military and veteran programs.

The list was compiled by Viqtory Media, a data-driven military marketing company that connects the military community to civilian employment, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities.

You have heard us say many times that every day at Mercer University is Armed Forces Appreciation Day, and our consistent ratings and rankings affirm that skillful dedication, Dr. Penny Ekins, Mercer University executive vice president, said in a statement. It is with high intention and sincere effort that our faculty, staff and administration value our military and their families and are happy to be able to accommodate their educational needs as a gesture of gratitude for their service.

Tyren Long, Mercer senior and ROTC cadet, said the school definitely has earned the ranking, as many people attend and support events hosted by the military science department.

I feel like Mercer has open arms. Theyre very supportive to all the aspirations that we have as ROTC cadets, he said. I believe that one of the main things they do is make sure there is an outreach that connects between our ROTC department and the university, which is always something that we as cadets love to see.

Mercer received its first No. 1 military friendly rank last year. The school first received the Military Friendly designation in 2017 and has consistently ranked in four categories since then, the university said.

This years final ratings were determined by analyzing over 1,800 institution survey responses and government public data sources in the context of an institutions ability to meet thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, degree advancement and loan default rates for military and veteran students, according to the university.

The university said it works intensively to assist military-affiliated students with the enrolling process in undergraduate and graduate programs, which resulted in its designation as Georgias first Purple Heart University.

Jamie Brown, director of strategic operations and student success, said Mercer takes great pride in providing a welcoming environment that recognizes the sacrifices and contributions of all individuals who have served the country.

This prestigious designation reaffirms our dedication to fostering an inclusive community and offering exceptional educational opportunities tailored to meet the unique needs of our military-affiliated students, Brown said.

More information on Mercers alliance with the military is available here.
Met Office issues snow warning days before UK to bask in temperatures hotter than Spain

The Met Office has warned parts of the UK to brace for snow, days before Britons bask in temperatures hotter than Spain at the weekend.

Temperatures will soar to 20C in parts of the country on Saturday, including in Norwich, Cambridge, Hull and London, while Madrid is forecast to be 17C.

The Met Office said there will be outbreaks of rain in the west and northeast of England, but Britain will mostly see dry and warm temperatures to kickstart the weekend.

However, the forecaster warned parts of the UK will see snow ahead of Saturday, with a yellow weather warning in Scotland covering Glasgow and Edinburgh on Friday.

A yellow alert has also been issued in Scotland for rain, while eastern parts of the UK - stretching from Glasgow to Penzance - have been warned of strong winds on Saturday.

Parts of England, including Norwich, Cambridge and Hull, will see temperatures as high as 20C (Met Office)

On Thursday, Britons can expect some heavy showers across England and Wales, with windy weather arriving from the southwest.

On Friday the rain will begin to clear, though it will linger across parts of the north, while warm sunshine develops across England and Wales.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said Saturday is likely to be the hottest day of the year so far. It will be the first time temperatures have reached 20C this year.

The Met Office has issued a warning for snow (Met Office)

On Friday, we're already starting to see that warmer air coming in from the south, so temperatures rising likely to get into the mid to high teens across many parts of England and Wales and even across Scotland and Northern Ireland, he added.

Temperatures will rise higher than they have been through the start of the week. As we go through Friday night we see another wave of wet weather pushing its way up from the south.

The Met Office forecast for Sunday reads: Very windy, with gales in places. Another day of sunshine and blustery showers. Some more general rain possible on Monday.

More follows.
Miami Twp. Board of Trustees cast votes on assistant police chief accused of misconduct

The Miami Township Board of Trustees decided whether or not its assistant police chief should keep his job Wednesday.

In February, Miami Township Police Departments Assistant Police Chief Jason Etter was placed on administrative leave.

Etter has been accused of misconduct and failure to uphold the law.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Miami Twp. assistant police chief placed on administrative leave

News Center 7s Kayla McDermott attended the board meeting and was the only reporter in the room.

Two trustees voted not to fire Etter, but still punish him. The other trustee chose not to cast a vote.

The board of trustees then read the four violations against Etter.

The charges consist of the following violations, the board said.

The first violation was for breaking the departments harassment and bullying policy.

The resolution states Etter was made aware of a potential harassment claim and told a lieutenant to follow up.

Etter never revisited the claim with the lieutenant, according to the resolution.

Which is a breach of his duty and responsibility as a high-ranking officer in the department, the board said.

The resolution continued and stated the person who filed the claim took back her accusation and now has a good relationship with the alleged harasser.

>> Sheriff: Man whos been deported 7 times charged with murder in Butler County

The second violation surrounded Etters possible knowledge of an allegation of racism but was dismissed as no evidence was found.

The third violation concerns Miami Twp. Police Department General Orders stating no member should gossip, harass, or belittle anyone else.

The resolution found evidence that Etter did gossip about other officers on the force and mentioned intent to retaliate against another employee.

Whether that was a real intent or just talk, it cannot be tolerated, the board said.

A fourth violation, involving malfeasance, was also dismissed for being too vague.

The trustees decided that Etter would be demoted from assistant chief to lieutenant. Furthermore, he cannot move back up from the position.

Etter was also placed on leave with no pay for the next 30 days.

News Center 7s Kayla McDermott reached out to Etter, but he directed us toward his attorney, but would not provide his name or contact information.

The Miami Township Chief of Police and the board of trustees were asked to comment, but said they couldnt talk on the matter.

We will continue to follow this story.
McALESTER  Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith would have rather been an athlete in college than a member of an Oklahoma City street gang.

"I've always regretted that," he said in a phone interview. "I was good at sports. I could have easily got a scholarship."

Smith was executed Thursday morning for two fatal shootings in Oklahoma City in 2002. It was the 12th execution since the state resumed capital punishment in October 2021 after a hiatus of more than six years.

Matthew Harris stands in front of the Governor's Mansion with other demonstrators as they protest Thursday's execution of death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith.

Smith was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary after a lethal injection. He was 41. He declined to make a last statement, saying, "Nah, I'm good," according to media witnesses.

He committed the murders, according to attorneys for the state, because he chose "a life of crime and violence" centered around the gang. Smith maintained he was innocent even though he confessed to police.

"Michael DeWayne Smith, known more commonly by the moniker 'HK' or 'Hoover Killer,' is a proud member of the Oak Grove Posse," the state attorney general and his assistants told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

"Smith ... did not just join a gang. Smith was an active recruiter for the OGP and their self-appointed enforcer."

In a phone interview Monday, Smith told The Oklahoman he couldn't avoid his gang involvement and lacked a father figure to keep him focused.

"As a kid ... you're surrounded ... by the gang members or people affiliated with gangs. ... It was the community I was in. That was the culture. ... It was one of the biggest regrets of my life, actually."

The execution went forward after both the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court turned down his requests for emergency stays.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 March 6 to deny Smith clemency.

Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith speaks during his clemency hearing in March.

Smith had told the parole board he was hallucinating from drug use when he confessed to police. "I didn't commit these crimes. I didn't kill these people. I was high on drugs," he said.

What to know about Michael DeWayne Smith's case

Smith was convicted at trial of first-degree murder for two fatal shootings on Feb. 22, 2002. Jurors agreed he should be executed for both deaths.

The first victim, Janet Moore, 40, was shot once at her apartment. The second victim, Sharath Babu Pulluru, 24, was shot nine times at a convenience store then doused with lighter fluid and set on fire.

Neither was Smith's original target, according to testimony at the 2003 trial.

Smith, then 19, was high on PCP and hiding from the police, who had a warrant for his arrest on a 2001 murder case.

Paris Powell and his daughter, Cassidy, stand with other demonstrators in front of the Governor's Mansion on Thursday as they protest the execution of death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith.

In the first shooting, Smith actually was looking for Moore's son, Phillip Zachary, because he mistakenly thought Zachary was a police informant, prosecutors said.

"It's her fault she died," Smith told police. "She panicked and she got shot. ... She like, 'Help! Help!' I'm like, I had to. I had no choice."

Smith next went to the A&Z Food Mart to shoot a worker over comments to the newspaper about a robbery at another food mart next door, prosecutors said. He instead killed Pulluru, who was filling in at the store for a friend. "I let him know, like, this if for my little homie that's dead," he told police.

A clerk at the Trans Food Mart had killed a fellow gang member during a robbery on Nov. 8, 2000. A worker at the A&Z Food Mart had told The Oklahoman in 2000 he was proud of his neighbor.

"The rest of the kids will learn a lesson by him being dead and stop doing these things," the A&Z Food Mart worker had said.

Former Oklahoma Sen. Connie Johnson, right, comforts Ebony Guesby, center, and Guesbys mother, Helen Coffee, on Thursday as demonstrators stand outside the Governor's Mansion and protest the execution of death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith.

The shootings in 2002 came days before a trial for two other gang members involved in the robbery was set to begin. Smith confessed to his roommate and a neighbor before his arrest, according to their testimony at his trial.

Smith did not request a last meal, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections told reporters.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond witnessed the execution. He read statements from the victims' families afterward. They said justice had been served.

Drummond said he prayed that the execution brings some measure of peace for the families.

"My heart aches over the agony they have endured," he said. I want the people of Oklahoma to know that the victims of Michael Smith were good and decent people who did not deserve their fate.

Janet and Sharath were murdered simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That was all."

In the execution room with Smith was his spiritual adviser, Jeff Hood, who read from a Bible.

Hood said he told Smith before the execution began that his family loved him. "He began to cry," Smith said. "He was talking about his mom and how much he loved her. He was talking about his brothers and how much he loved them."

Hood recalled seeing tears coming down the right side of Smith's face the entire time of the lethal injection. He said the last tear streamed down after Smith was pronounced dead. "It was spooky. It was eerie," Hood said. "It was powerful."

Anti-death penalty protest held outside Oklahoma governor's mansion

Demonstrators protested against the execution outside the Governor's Mansion. They held signs that said, "DON'T KILL FOR ME" and "STOP EXECUTIONS."

The Rev. Don Heath, chair of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, described Smith as a troubled and vulnerable young man with intellectual disabilities.

"He was ill-served by advisers who encouraged him to proclaim his innocence instead of accepting responsibility for his crimes," Heath said. "That cost him any chance for clemency. He needed mercy and forgiveness and got none.

The archbishop of Oklahoma City called for "people of goodwill" to advocate for an end to the death penalty in Oklahoma.

"The death penalty, resulting in the intentional taking of another life, is flawed, both in its application and subject to error and bias, as weve seen recently in other cases here and across the country," Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said.

Smith was one of the few death row inmates in the nation to be convicted of three or more murders.

He was convicted at a separate trial of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Otis Payne outside an Oklahoma City club on Nov. 24, 2001. He had admitted to police that he handed the gun to the shooter, David Burns. He was sentenced to life in prison for that crime.

Who is scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma next?

Scheduled to be executed next is Wade Lay, who fatally shot a Tulsa bank guard during an attempted robbery in 2004. He is 63.

The execution is now set for June 6 but will be called off if a jury decides Lay is mentally incompetent. The competency trial is set to begin April 29 in Pittsburg County District Court.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma execution: Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith executed
What might the Founding Fathers say about chaplains in public schools? | Opinion

Ah, springtime in America. Religion is abloom.

For example, legislators in 14 states are pushing to bring religious chaplains into public schools.

Boys and girls, this is our subject for today: chaplains in public schools.

Texas passed a law last year allowing school districts to hire chaplains or use them as volunteers for whatever role the local school board sees fit, including replacing trained counselors, reports the Washington Post.

Texas thus inspired conservatives elsewhere to follow its example, including our neighbor Indiana, where a chaplaincy bill was approved by one legislative chamber but failed to become law.

Mike Wynn, public information manager for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, said hes not aware of any legislation related to school chaplains now pending before Kentucky lawmakers. But my guess is, its a matter of time.

(A House committee amendment to Senate Bill 2 would have allowed pastoral counselors to school trauma teams, but that did not make it into the final bill.)

Those who want school chaplains argue that having religious representatives on campuses will ease a youth mental health crisis, bolster staff retention and offer spiritual care to students who cant afford or access religious schools, according to Hannah Fingerhut of the Associated Press.

Chaplains also will restore public schools declining morals, advocates claim. Declining morality in education is the great bugaboo for some conservatives.

Naturally, those on the left are aghast. They say installing chaplains  likely theyd be Christian clergy  is a ham-fisted attempt to use public education and public funds to convert increasingly diverse students, which violates our founding American principle of separating church and state.

Following this brouhaha, I was reminded of a column I wrote in 2010. In it, I explored the Founding Fathers original views about whether, or how, religion and the state should be mixed. We were having a church and state dustup then, too. Really, weve had this fight since the birth of the Republic.

Back in 2010, the Texas Board of Education was contending (note to self: why is it always Texas?) that our founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation, and Texas public-school textbooks ought to reflect that indisputable truth.

I reviewed our religious origins using Steven Waldmans excellent, and scrupulously fair-minded, book, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America.

Actually, the truth of our countrys Christian origins is, if nothing else, messily complicated, guaranteed to give liberals and conservatives alike cause for rejoicing and, simultaneously, the fantods, to quote Huckelberry Finn.

Europeans who journeyed to America in the 1600s indeed tended to be a religious lot. They believed it was governments job to promote Christianity, or at least their own brands of it. Most of the 13 colonies had official state churches.

For 150 years breakaway Christians, including Baptists, who refused to bow to state churches were imprisoned, were flogged, had burning pokers bored through their tongues, were urinated upon, were banished and even killed.

By the mid-1700s, though, a massive revival broke out, multiplying the ranks of evangelicals who claimed they owed no allegiance to official churches or earthly kings. This Great Awakening led directly to the Revolutionary War.

When Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison appeared, they werent mythic figures with their tenets carved on stone tablets, but very human intellectuals, politicians and seekers. There were trying to figure out what they believed personally about God even as they debated religions role in a fledgling nation.

These guys didnt fit into our 21st Century boxes.

Franklin and Jefferson, favorites of modern liberals, werent true Deists as theyre often portrayed. While both rejected accounts of miracles and thought Christianity was sometimes corrupted by bad clergy, they also believed in a monotheistic God who was active in human affairs. Both thought Christianity was a civilizing force beneficial to individuals and society.

Washington and Adams, darlings of todays conservatives, werent orthodox Christians. Washington was active in his church, but refused to take communion. Adams was a Unitarian who didnt believe in Jesus divinity or in the Trinity.

During the Revolutionary War, Washington became the first to explicitly impose a division between church and state, when he banned religious discrimination in the Continental Army.

But its Madison who best demonstrates how tricky it is to understand the founders through the lens of todays culture wars. Radically against any mixing of religion and government, he opposed even generic proclamations calling for a day of prayer  and explicitly opposed the appointment of military chaplains.

He did this, counterintuitively, because he supported Christianity generally and evangelicalism specifically. Educated at an evangelical college, hed earned his legal reputation by defending persecuted Baptists in court. He won election to Congress by promising Baptists hed see to it the government entirely avoided matters of faith.

His original version of the First Amendment prohibited any expression of religion by the federal government  and by the states. The amendment we ended up with is a watered-down compromise Madison was forced to accept. For his efforts he was beloved by evangelicals.

So, how would the founders respond to the idea of sectarian chaplains in public schools?

Madison would oppose them, as he opposed military chaplains.

The remaining founders would land all over the cultural map, as they did in the 1700s. They would surprise us. Politics, culture and human nature were messy affairs in their day, constantly in flux. As they are today.

Paul Prather is pastor of Bethesda Church near Mount Sterling. You can email him at pratpd@yahoo.com.
China's recent removal of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Australian wine has sparked enthusiasm among those in the Australian wine industry to tap into the Chinese market.




Migrants arrested in Bronx drug raid are now in ICE custody

Migrants arrested in Bronx drug raid are now in ICE custody

Editors note: A previous version of this story misstated the number of migrants in ICE custody. The story has been updated.

THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11)  Three Venezuelan migrants are in federal custody and facing deportation proceedings after repeated arrests while in the United States over the past year, including their most recent arrest in the Bronx, according to ICE.

Federal immigration officials arrested the Venezuelan migrants on Wednesday. Four additional migrants were in police custody on federal immigration detainers, ICE officials said.

A total of eight people were arrested by the NYPD in the Bronx last week. A 911 call resulted in the discovery of four guns as well as drugs inside the basement apartment where the migrants allegedly had been squatting.

More Bronx News

When youre a landlord, you have to make sure these things dont happen, complained one neighbor.

After their initial court appearance, six out of eight were released from custody, much to the chagrin of police officials.

Walked out the door and one of those eight was one we chased into the basement, has open attempted murder (charge) in Yonkers, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.

An immigration official told PIX11 News in a statement:

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City (NYC) is aware of the recent arrests by NYPD of eight unlawfully present Venezuelan citizens. Today, ERO NYC Fugitive Operations Officers conducted a targeted law enforcement action at 3259 Hull Avenue in the Bronx and apprehended three of those eight noncitizens who are all amenable to removal. ERO-NYC also lodged ICE detainers on four of the remaining noncitizens who are currently being held in local custody.

More Crime News

The NYPD denied any cooperation in the ICE arrests.

No partnership, no coordination with federal agents. Were not allowed by law, said Chief Chell.

New York is a Sanctuary City, meaning local law enforcement doesnt cooperate with deportation efforts.

Police say these migrants are dangerous, and officers used restraint during their initial arrests, as one suspect picked up a loaded gun as cops closed in.

Neighbors said cops have been called to the basement apartment multiple times since the migrants began living there.

The landlord was reportedly trying to evict them. He did not return PIX11s repeated calls for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
DENVER (KDVR)  Mining and drilling is now blocked on nearly 222,000 acres of public lands on Colorados Thompson Divide, a move the Biden-Harris administration said is part of its goal to conserve and restore land across the country.

A Wednesday order signed by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland withdraws the federal land in central Colorado from future mining and energy development for the next 20 years, according to a release from the Interior Department.

Todays action has been the goal of a decades-long grassroots effort from a diverse stakeholder group, including hunters, anglers, ranchers, conservation groups, and local governments  and reflects this Administrations ongoing commitment to honoring and lifting up locally led conservation efforts, Haaland said in the release.

Hibernation is ending: The bears are back in town

President Joe Biden promised to protect the Thompson Divide from mineral development when he designated Camp Hale as a national monument in late 2022. The administration called the divide one of the states most cherished landscapes, known for its ranching heritage and grazing lands, important wildlife habitat, recreation opportunities and clean water.

Some local officials applauded the move, including the chair of the Pitkin County commissioners, Greg Poschman, who said in a statement that the areas constituents sought protections for the divide for more than a decade.

Carbondale Mayor Ben Bohmfalk said in a statement that fossil fuel development in the Thompson Divide is a use that is not compatible with the livelihoods of those that rely on this landscape today.

A sunny Autumn afternoon in Crystal River Valley

Thompson Divide mining blocked on public lands in Colorado

The order protects some 221,898 acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land. Here is a breakdown of what land is included:

197,745 acres of the White River and Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests

15,465 acres of BLM-managed public lands

8,689 acres of reserved federal mineral interest under non-federal land

According to the Interior Department, oil and gas leasing has been unavailable for several years in much of the Thompson Divide, and there is no oil exploration or production planned for the area. The order also does not affect water rights, private land activity or valid existing rights.

Lauren Boeberts blood clot raises awareness about May-Thurner syndrome

The 20-year limit on the action is because of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which only allows the interior secretary to withdraw more than 5,000 acres of land for up to two decades. For permanent withdrawal, Congress would have to write it into law.

This move is part of the administrations so-called America the Beautiful initiative. It sets a 2030 deadline to conserve and restore at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A 16-year-old girl who went missing in late March was identified as the girl hit and killed by a car overnight by the West Palm Beach Police Department.

Kairi Krute was last seen on the night of March 25 around 7:30 p.m. in the 500 block of 35th Street. She was reported missing two days later to police on March 27.

Missing hunter in Sumter County found after 24 hours by K9 team

But on March 26, the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office contacted West Palm Beach police about a girl who was fatally struck by a car at around 4 a.m. At the time, they were not able to identify the victim.

West Palm Beach Police Department

Officials later confirmed that Krute was the girl killed by the vehicle.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Missing Florida womans car found abandoned in Georgia, deputies continue their search for her

Deputies in multiple states are searching for a Florida woman who disappeared in February.

Colleen Paulissen Pool, 49, was reported as a missing adult to the Citrus County Sheriffs Office on Feb. 20, 2024.

She was last seen in Homosassa, Florida on Feb. 8.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

She was driving a gray Honda Civic, which according to family members, was found abandoned in Jenkins County, Georgia in a wooded area near Bulloch County.

She may be going by the name Colleen Pool or her maiden name Colleen Paulissen.

She is 5 feet 5 inches tall, and weighs approximately 150 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The Citrus County Sheriffs Office said she may be headed to Illinois.

If you have information on her whereabouts, call Citrus County Crime Stoppers at 888-269-8477, the Citrus County Sherriffs Office Major Crimes Unit at 352-249-2790, or the Jenkins County Sheriffs Office at 478-982-4211.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
CPD finds missing teen last seen on Warm Springs Road, thanks the general public for help

UPDATE 11:00 a.m.  Columbus Police have confirmed through Facebook that Brooke Hudson has been located and thanks the public for spreading the word about her disappearance.

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  The Columbus Police Department is searching for another missing teen, making her the sixth teenager to have gone missing in March.

According to CPD, 15-year-old Brooke Hudson was last seen near 9000 Warm Springs Road on March 1 around 7 p.m.

CPD says although they do not have a clothing description, she has a small black heart tattoo on her face near her left eye.

Columbus Police asks anyone with information on Hudsons whereabouts to contact 911, CPDs Special Victims Unit at 706-653-3165, or Detective Joseph Copeland at 706-225-4343.

LIST: TEENS WHO VANISHED IN MARCH

MISSING: Search underway for missing teenager last seen on Stafford Court in Columbus

MISSING: Columbus police searching for missing teenager last seen near Stafford Court

Third teenager to go missing from East Columbus since Tuesday

CPD searching for two missing teens last seen on White Chapel Dr.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
A California woman was found dead in an Arizona desert more than a month after she disappeared, despite the fact that she had called 911 and had given a dispatcher her coordinates.

Amanda Nenigar, 26, who was reported missing on Feb. 28, was discovered undressed underneath a tree in the desert on Friday at around 7:30 p.m., according to reports by local news outlet AZ Family.

The La Paz County Sheriffs Office confirmed in an announcement over the weekend that Nenigars family had been notified and requested privacy.

Amanda Nenigar via Facebook Facebook

Nenigar called 911 for help, according to portions of the call posted by Nenigars sister on Facebook and reviewed by HuffPost. In the call, which was routed to a nearby California Highway Patrol office, she told the dispatcher she was tired and had tried to pull her car over, but ran off the road instead. Asked where she was, Nenigar began describing her surroundings.

Im like kind of stuck in a valley, Nenigar told the dispatcher. I see trees, I see possibly a canal. She said she believed she had only been out in the desert for a day, according to the clipped audio.

Everybody is probably worried sick about me, Nenigar said.

The dispatcher instructed Nenigar how to find her location using Google Maps, and she gave him her coordinates. But law enforcement ended up looking for her in a completely different location, some 30-40 miles away from where her body was eventually found, AZ Family reports.

Nenigars car was discovered on Mar. 7, just outside Cibola, Arizona. Her body was ultimately found about a mile and half away from her car, La Paz County Sheriff William Ponce told Los Angeles TV station KTLA on Tuesday.

We believe she went under the tree to try to get some shelter from the elements. As you may know, it gets hot in the Arizona desert, the sheriff said. Her clothes were strewn along the path that we believe she took prior to making it to that tree where she ended up passing.

Nenigars sister, Marissa Nenigar, said California Highway Patrol should have acted with more urgency to rescue her.

She did not have to die like this, she told KTLA. If they would have listened to her 911 call and wrote down the coordinates, again, she would still be here with us. She would still be alive. Her daughters wouldnt be without a mother right now.

Nenigars family told AZ Family they are looking to pursue legal action.

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When a murder case goes cold, what happens to the victim's body? In an eyebrow-raising report from the Mississippi Free Press, a Pascagoula Police lieutenant discovered the horrifying answer.

For decades, human remains that were sent to an out-of-state crime lab weren't being returned to Mississippi. Instead, many were held for educational purposes  and even more dubiously, for the "personal collections" of cops, coroners, and medical examiners that handled them. According to lieutenant Darren Versiga, whose investigation that began in 2012 uncovered the practice, none of this was illegal  though new legislation may soon change that.

"There was nobody mandating a rule. There was no law put in place to stop this," Versiga told the MFP.

"I thought, this is a bigger problem than anybody's realized," he added. "We need a law that prevents this from ever happening again."

On the Trail

Versiga said the "pandora's box" was opened after he started investigating the death of 24-year-old Melinda LaPree, whose body was found in a Pascagoula cemetery in 1982.

Suspecting a connection to the serial killer Samuel Little  who would confess to the murder years later  Versiga called the Oklahoma crime lab where LaPree's remains had been sent. At the time, Mississippi didn't have its own state medical examiner.

That was when an employee at the crime lab disclosed that there were several sets of human remains from Mississippi that never got sent back. "I thought, why would they have them for all these years?" Versiga told the MFP.

The corpses ended up in limbo because they couldn't be positively identified. Not all of the incidents, according to Versiga, were intentional. In other cases, though, he said that officials outright refused to return the remains or admitted that they had given them away.

Crackdown

In part spurred on by Versiga's work, a new law introduced into the Mississippi senate would require law enforcement officials to enter information about a missing or unidentified person into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS), according to the MFP. It would also require officials to conduct DNA testing on unidentified human remains.

Versiga believes that the bill could have prevented the botched burial of Dexter Wade, a 37-year-old Jackson resident who was killed last year by an off-duty cop that struck him with his cruiser.

Wade had been reported missing by his mother prior to his death. But officials at the Jackson Police Department failed to notify the family that Wade had been killed, despite an independent investigation later finding that he had a state ID card on his body. With no one to claim the remains, he was buried in a pauper's grave without the family's knowledge.

"That should've never happened in this day and age," Versiga told MFP.

As it stands, the bill has been passed in the state Senate, but requires a vote in the House.

More on crime: Inmate's Body Returned to Family Missing All Organs, Including Brain
Charles Caldwell was never meant to have a voice. Mississippis White ruling class made sure of it.

He was part of Mississippis silenced majority in 1860  436,600 enslaved people to 354,000 White people, according to the Census  who would be granted full citizenship after the Civil War.

By 1868, Caldwell was one of 16 Black delegates at the states post-war constitutional convention, which extended the right to vote to all men and created a framework for public education.

Described in a White politicians historical account of the Clinton Riot as one of the most daring and desperate negroes of his day, Caldwell was the dominant factor in local Republican politics.

In December 1875, Caldwell was lured to a cellar for a celebratory Christmas drink. He was ambushed  shot once from behind  and then carried into the street, where a White mob riddled him with bullets. Caldwell, who rose from servitude to become a state senator, was once again silenced.

His murder was a calculated part of white supremacists post-war efforts, collectively known as the Mississippi Plan, to maintain political control by White men, whom freedmen outnumbered. In the post-war South, white supremacists used lynchings, massacres and intimidation to silence the Black people they once owned, then cemented racism into the states 1890 constitution to further restrict the Black vote.

Although most other racist sections of Mississippis 1890 constitution were erased by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, one part of the plan continues to stalk Black voters today. Called felony disenfranchisement, the constitution takes away  for life  the right to vote upon conviction for several low-level crimes, like theft and bribery, that the 1890 drafters felt would be mostly committed by Black people.

A bill that would reinstate voting rights for thousands convicted of nonviolent offenses was passed by the Mississippi House of Representatives in March but died this week in the state Senate. Republicans control both chambers.

Section 241, the disenfranchisement clause of the constitution, has since been expanded and interpreted to cover 102 crimes.

Why was voter disenfranchisement created? In 1890, state Rep. James K. Vardaman, who would later be elected governor, said, There is no use to equivocate or lie about the matter.  Mississippis constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the [n-word] from politics.

Over the past 30 years, approximately 55,000 Mississippians have lost their rights to vote due to felony disenfranchisement. About six out of 10 are Black, according to state conviction records reviewed by The Marshall Project - Jackson.

An effort to overturn the states disenfranchisement law has gone before the U.S. Supreme Court twice, and the case was twice rejected by the majority. In her 2023 dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson rebuked the laws racist intent, saying it contained the most toxic of substances that needed to be removed.

In addition to disenfranchisement, the 1890 delegates crafted legal language around racism and conditions perpetuated by slavery. Poll taxes and literacy tests attacked the lack of wealth and education. Left out of Section 241 were violent crimes  murder, rape and assault  that were often part of white supremacists terroristic strategy.

In an 1896 case, the Mississippi Supreme Court noted the choice of disenfranchising crimes was racist. Restrained by the federal constitution from discriminating against the negro race, the convention discriminated against its characteristics and the offenses to which its weaker members were prone, the court wrote. It describes Black people as patient, docile people, more inclined to furtive offenses than to the robust crimes of the whites.

Yet as 20th-century civil rights laws stripped away most voting restrictions, voter disenfranchisement remained because civil rights have never come easy to Mississippi, voting advocates say.

Theres never been a time period in Mississippi history where we have done what the federal government has wanted us to do without the federal government having to directly step in and make us do it, said Hannah Williams, policy and research director of voting rights advocacy group Mississippi Votes. Even now.

Movements change, but commitments dont, said Flonzie Brown Wright, the first Black woman in the state elected to public office in a racially mixed town. Call it whatever you want to call it, Brown Wright told The Marshall Project - Jackson. But the common denominator is: Lets [not] give these minorities any power.

Charles Caldwell, one of 16 Black delegates at the states post-war constitutional convention in 1868, pictured within a montage of the Mississippi Legislature in 1875. Caldwell was assassinated in 1875 part of the Mississippi Plan to maintain White political control.

Civil rights gains  and new ways to stop them

Mississippi is one of 13 states that imposes a lifetime voting ban, even after the end of a felony sentence. In most of those states, lifetime disenfranchisement is for violent crimes or government corruption. In Mississippi, a single felony conviction for writing a bad check or shoplifting takes away the right to vote.

Across the nation, courts and state legislatures have restored voting rights for people convicted of felonies. Since 1997, 26 states and the District of Columbia have expanded voting rights for people with felony convictions, according to The Sentencing Project.

Mississippians last amended Section 241 in 1968  to add murder and rape to the list of disenfranchising crimes, after burglary was removed in 1950. (See the full list of offenses here.)

Though they once outnumbered White people in the state, Black people have never held a majority of representation in the states government. Robert Luckett, a civil rights historian and professor at Jackson State University, said the modern conservatism that rules Mississippi can be traced back to the insidious Mississippi Plan to eliminate Black political power.

Conservatives today, especially in the South, didnt just pop up out of nowhere, Luckett said. In his view, they are directly descended from segregationists, from white supremacy.

The plan effectively suppressed the Black vote in the 19th and 20th centuries. Luckett and other historians said White political control continues to evolve in the 21st century.

Between 1875 and 1892, the number of Black voters plummeted. Though about 67% had been registered in 1867, fewer than 6% of eligible Black men were registered to vote by 1892, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Starting early in the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Black Mississippians left the state during the Great Migration caused by economic and social hardships. By 1940, Black people were no longer a majority in the state. And in many rural places, the order established by slavery remained. Black sharecroppers farmed land owned by White people.

Except for a few pockets of Black political power, such as the all-Black town of Mound Bayou in Bolivar County, the Black vote in Mississippi remained largely dormant until the 1960s.

Black people who remained in Mississippi faced much of the same oppression as their ancestors: lynchings, beatings, intimidation and imprisonment.

George W. Lee, a preacher in Belzoni, Mississippi, was murdered for his efforts to register Black voters in 1955. Fannie Lou Hamer, who rose to become a national civil rights champion, sharecropped in rural Ruleville, Mississippi, and had no idea she could vote until she was 44 years old. Hamer was arrested, sexually assaulted and beaten so brutally that it left her with kidney damage and a permanent limp, she testified at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Brown Wright said her father was fired from his job because of her activism. Before her barrier-breaking election in 1968, more than 1,000 civil rights protesters in Jackson were arrested and held in livestock pens in 1965, in one of the largest mass arrests of the Civil Rights Movement.

The passage of the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965 protected the right of Black citizens to vote and outlawed discriminatory barriers like literacy tests. By 1968, 60% of eligible Black residents had registered to vote, and Mississippians elected their first Black state legislator since Reconstruction, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Brown Wright won her race for the elections commission in Canton, despite a rule change that required her to win votes across all parts of Madison County, instead of just the votes from the single district she would represent.

It was a clear case of voter suppression, she said.

After she took office at age 26, she said the board routinely denied her lists of poll workers who had been community activists and disqualified Black candidates. She sued to overturn the discriminatory actions and won.

White people never intended for Blacks to supersede or give the perception that we were in the process of gaining some semblance of equality. It was never intended to be, Brown Wright, now 81, told The Marshall Project - Jackson.

Carroll Rhodes, a civil rights attorney who has challenged the state on voting rights for more than 40 years, said that following the 1965 Voting Rights Act, local circuit clerks would come up with devious ways to make it difficult for Black people to register and vote. Some examples he listed were splitting majority-Black areas across different districts to dilute Black voting power and requiring voters to re-register multiple times.

The only difference is, after Reconstruction, all the way through Jim Crow, it was easy to tell that race was the motivating factor, because they explicitly say it, Rhodes said. But the court and the federal government cracked down on those White officials because they were saying they were doing it because of race. So the White official got smart. They no longer say theyre doing it because of race. They come up with other excuses.

Mass incarceration as modern voter suppression

At the same time that Mississippis civil rights activism gripped the nation, a conservative movement laid the foundation for tough-on-crime rhetoric that eventually took hold among both major political parties and fueled the escalation of arrests and mass incarceration.

The key to the new rhetoric was erasing any mention of race. Instead, disciples of this new movement used crime and welfare as coded language to target Black people, attorney and civil rights scholar Michelle Alexander wrote in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

Barry Goldwater, in his 1964 presidential campaign, aggressively exploited the [civil rights] riots and fears of black crime, laying the foundation for the get tough on crime movement that would emerge years later, Alexander wrote.

Goldwaters narrative resonated with White Mississippi voters who rejected Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnsons civil rights reforms. A majority of Mississippians voted for a Republican presidential candidate  Goldwater  for the first time since Reconstruction.

White Mississippians then continued to vote for Republican presidential candidates in almost every election after 1964, while the state government maintained a status quo of White men, mostly Democrats, who dominated the state legislature and governors office. Despite splitting the vote across party lines, the common denominator in White Mississippians voting practices was their singular goal of maintaining power.

After the Voting Rights Act, tough-on-crime rhetoric fueled initiatives like GOP President Richard Nixons war on drugs and Democratic President Bill Clintons 1994 crime bill that increased mandatory prison sentences. Mississippi now incarcerates more people per capita than any other state. About 60% of all incarcerated people in the state were Black in 2022, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections,

Though not all incarcerated people have lost their right to vote, a lack of information about who can and cant vote makes it difficult for many affected by the legal system to access ballots.

However, some in Mississippis government have tried to change the states disenfranchisement laws.

In 2008, the Mississippi House passed a bill to restore voting rights to the disenfranchised, excluding rape and murder convictions, but the bill died in the state Senate.

A 2023 lawsuit challenge to felony disenfranchisement was successful when a three-judge U.S. Fifth Circuit Court panel ruled that the lifelong voting ban violated the Eighth Amendments cruel and unusual punishment clause. However, the state appealed to the full appeals court, and the disenfranchisement law remains in place. In its defense, the state said disenfranchisement is not punishment and that the Legislature, not the courts, should decide on any modifications.

In March, the Mississippi House voted across party lines to approve a bill that would restore the right to vote for people convicted of some nonviolent offenses. However, the bill died in the state Senate without a committee hearing.

Rhodes, the civil rights attorney, is co-counsel for the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP in a lawsuit that challenges the states congressional redistricting plan, saying it dilutes Black voting power. The case is pending in federal court.

There will always be a constant struggle. I learned that early on, Rhodes said. The forces that want to undo the progress thats been made will always be there.

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, and Mississippi Today. Sign up for The Marshall Projects Jackson newsletter, and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook.
WASHINGTON  A Sikeston, Missouri, man appeared in federal court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to charges for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington, D.C.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia said Nicholas Kennedy, 43, drove from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, with the intent of disrupting and stopping Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote for the 2020 presidential election.

Prior to January 6, Kennedy, who was a member of the Proud Boys organization, sent, received, or created more than 100 images reflecting his belief that the presidential election had been stolen.

On the morning of January 6, Kennedy met with a Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys at a bar in D.C. The group went to the Washington Monument and joined with additional Proud Boy members.

Sometime after 10:30 a.m., Proud Boy leaders organized the men and they began marching toward the Capitol. By 12:53 p.m., rioters moved toward police barricades and broke through a restricted security perimeter. Prosecutors said Kennedy was among the first wave of rioters who made it into the perimeter.

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Kennedy entered the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol via the Senate Wing Door at 2:14 p.m. He confronted a police line near the Senate Carriage Door, the moved upstairs. Kennedy was among a small group of rioters who overran Capitol police and gathered outside the door of the House Chamber. Kennedy left the Capitol building at 3:02 p.m.

On January 7, when it became apparent that law enforcement and federal authorities were searching for people affiliated with the riot and subsequent breach and vowed to prosecute, Kennedy performed a factory reset of his phone in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Kennedy was finally arrested in Sikeston on July 28, 2021.

Kennedy pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and tampering with records, documents, or other objects. As part of a plea agreement, Kennedy agreed to a bench trial on the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. A U.S. District Court judge found Kennedy guilty of that charge.

Kennedy will be sentenced on the first two charges on Aug. 28, 2024.

Since the January 6 Capitol riot, more than 1,300 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for their involvement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
BEIRUT, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese cabinet on Thursday tripled the minimum wage in the private sector to 27 million Lebanese pounds (about 302 U.S. dollars), said Labor Minister Moustafa Bayram.

The increase includes an additional 9 million Lebanese pounds monthly to cover transportation costs, a statement by the Lebanese Council of Ministers quoted Bayram as saying.

The minister added that the government will also offer 36 million Lebanese pounds yearly as scholarships for three children per family, tripling the previous 12 million Lebanese pounds.

Lebanon is suffering from a deep financial crisis leading to the collapse of the local currency and the devaluation of employee wages in both the public and private sectors. 
On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King III was sitting at home in Atlanta with his siblings, watching the news, when a news bulletin flashed across their TV screen: Their father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., had just been assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.

It was this memory King shared as he and his wife issued an urgent call to action to protect democracy on the 56th anniversary of his fathers murder.

At that moment, obviously, our hearts started beating very fast and our lives would change forever, King said Thursday. He and his wife, Arndrea Waters King, spoke to a room full of reporters at the National Civil Rights Museum  the same site where his father was shot.

But 56 years after Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination, Waters King said the nation has still not fought the three evils he preached against: racism, poverty and war.

She added that as painful as it was for the family to be at the site where the Civil Rights Movement icon was killed, there was no place more important to be as they urged Americans to dedicate themselves to achieving Kings mission.

We as a society are really at not only a pivotal moment, but a very, very dark moment, Waters King said Thursday. Were here today to say that its time that we as a nation be the wolf of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. That we feed the wolf of peace and justice and equity; that we make real the promises of democracy.

Were here in that spirit to remind America of not only a dream, but a man, she continued. And we are asking for us all to stand together, to walk together, to continue his work together to make real his dream of the beloved community.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke often of his vision for a beloved community, a new world that would be absent of poverty, hunger and hate.

He spoke of this community both at home and abroad.

In 1956, the civil rights leader addressed graduates at the University of the West Indies, painting a picture of what this community would be.

But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community, he said. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.

In a grave warning Thursday, Martin Luther King III said American democracy is at risk if the nation does not address its history  and the repeal of rights that his father fought to obtain.

We live in a nation that is complicated, where history is being written out and excluded. Thats not what democracy is supposed to be about, King said. Its about inclusion. Its about understanding that everyone has a story that needs to be told. Its about understanding that when we work together, we are stronger and better.

He added that while there have been successes toward achieving equity in the last several years, they have been stymied by other forces. King also pointed to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent rise in calls for legislation centering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) investments and dismantling racism.

But as those changes were made, the nation saw a gunman kill three Black Americans in Jacksonville. Now, he said, the nation is seeing a rollback to policies promoting DEI.

My father used to say that whenever you have a victory, theres always the inevitable pushback, King said. We have to create a different climate and use everything at our disposal, every piece of technology, and we have to figure out how do we transform these evil acts into positive energy that can change our communities and our nation and really make it better for all.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Fragments of what appears to be a Russian Shahed-type attack drone have been found in Moldova, around 500 meters from the border with Ukraine, the Moldovan Border Police reported on April 4.

The drone is currently being analyzed by specialists, the border guard said. It is unclear when the drone crashed.

The drone was found at around 2.15 p.m. local time and the authorities "immediately came to the scene," the Border Police said on Facebook.

The drone fragments were discovered in Vulcanesti district, which lies across the border from the Danube port town of Reni in Odesa Oblast.

Shahed-type drone fragments were found in the same area of Moldova in February.

Russian drone fragments have also been found in Romanian territory, across the border from Odesa Oblast.

After drone fragments were discovered multiple times in Romania in the autumn of 2023, Bucharest instituted additional security measures in the border region, which included building shelters and air defense systems.

Romania's Defense Ministry said on March 29 that it had again found what appeared to be drone fragments near the Ukrainian border.

Read also: Moldovan military holds JCET drills with US, Romania

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Mondays solar eclipse path of totality may not be exact: What to do if you are on the edge

A new map is projecting that the path of totality for Monday's solar eclipse may be narrower than experts previously believed. But if you're right on the edge of the path, don't go changing your plans just yet.

New amateur calculations suggest that widely-accepted path could be off by as much as just a few hundred yards. The potential shift in the eclipse's path is so miniscule, in fact, that a NASA spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that the U.S. space agency won't be making any alterations to its own calculations.

So, even if the new calculation is more accurate, its unlikely to matter much for most of the millions of skygazers who hope to witness the first total solar eclipse in North America in seven years.

Still, there are some things you should know if you a teetering on the edge of the total eclipse's path.

Don't stop looking up after the eclipse: 3 other celestial events visible in April

NASA is not changing path calculations

The new eclipse calculations come courtesy of John Irwin, a member of the team of amateur astronomers analyzing the celestial event for the Besselian Elements.

According to the group's website, Irwin re-examined the eclipse path with "adjustments that account for the topographic elevation, both around the limb of the moon and on the surface of the Earth." These new calculations have slightly shifted the solar eclipse's path of totality, which may raise some alarms just days before the 115-mile-wide eclipse passes from southwest to northeast over portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada.

A map of North America shows the path of the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024.

If Irwin is correct, some places, including several cities in Ohio, may now miss out on totality, while other places, including some additional cities in Texas, may now experience it.

But don't fret too much: Not only is the new analysis not yet peer-reviewed, but NASA told the Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that its predictions have not changed.

However, NASA spokesman Tiernan Doyle acknowledged "a tiny but real uncertainty about the size of the sun" could lead to a narrower eclipse path.

What does Irwin's new path of totality show?

The red lines shown below represent the original path of totality, while the orange lines show the path updated with Irwin's new data.

While you can click on the embedded map to see the details, Forbes identified 15 areas whose place on the path may have been altered in some form.

Your best bet? Just to be safe, those ardent about witnessing totality should move as far into its projected shadow away from the edges as possible.

"Traveling toward the center of the path of totality, even a mile or two, will quickly increase the length of totality that people can see," Doyle told the Free Press.

What else to know about the April 8 eclipse

Hundreds of cities in 13 states are on the path of totality for this year's total solar eclipse, which for those in the United States, will begin in Eagle Pass, Texas and end in Lee, Maine.

The sun begins to peek from behind the moon at the end of the total eclipse in 2017.

You won't want to miss it, as this is the last such eclipse in North America until 2044.

And don't forget: While a total solar eclipse offers sky-gazers the rare opportunity to witness the display with the naked eye, solar eclipse glasses are still needed until it's safe to do so. Certified solar eclipse glasses are crucial for spectators to avoid the sun's retina-damaging rays.

But when the moon moves completely in front of the sun and blocks its light, you'll know it's safe to remove them for a short period of time.

As you make your eclipse-viewing plans, this guide should help you find some last-minute eclipse glasses, while these interactive maps should help you chart the time and duration for when totality would occur in cities along the path.

Contributing: Mariyam Muhammad, the Cincinnati Enquirer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Solar eclipse path of totality may not be exact: Here's what to know
How to get Monkey Man on Blu-ray

Dev Patel's film Monkey Man has already earned rave reviews as one of the most audacious action movies of the year  and you'll soon be able to bring the film home.

The thriller is out in cinemas from Friday (April 5), with Patel starring as an underground fight club worker out for revenge at any cost against the corrupt leaders responsible for his mother's death.

While Monkey Man is only just now arriving in cinemas, you can already pre-order the film on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for 24.99 via Zavvi.

Related: Dev Patel reveals gruesome hand injury during Monkey Man filming

If you'd prefer the standard Blu-ray set, Zavvi has it available for pre-order for 14.99. The release date for both versions is expected for later this year.

Dev Patel recently chatted with Digital Spy about the impact of making Monkey Man, since it's a film he would have loved to have seen as a young man.

"To be honest, that's one of the reasons why I started making it," he admitted. "What's the film that I so desperately want to see? It was funny."

The film is produced by horror icon Jordan Peele  and the filmmaker told us that he's already thinking about ways to work with Dev again.

Universal

Related: Jordan Peele teases new movie following release date delay

"This is one of the blessings for me in MonkeyPaw productions," he said. "Its that I always wanted to work with Dev as an actor. It will happen."

The film was originally produced for Netflix but Peele was so impressed with Monkey Man after seeing it that he purchased the rights in order to guarantee it a theatrical release.

The action movie also features Russian Doll's Sharlto Copley, Bollywood icon Pitobash and Vipin Sharma (Hotel Mumbai) in its ensemble cast.

Monkey Man arrives in cinemas on Friday (April 5).

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Monster 14-foot crocodile stalked pets, evaded capture for weeks  until now. See it

A large crocodile was found stalking pets and lingering around a property in Australia. The dangerous animal took wildlife officials weeks to capture.

The property owners in Cordelia reported the roughly 14-foot-long crocodile to wildlife officials, the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation said in a March 26 news release.

Officials investigated and saw the crocodile lingering around the private property and stalking domestic and farmed animals, the department said. They identified it as a dangerous animal.

The 14-foot-long crocodile after it was captured. Photo from the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation

First, we tried an in-river floating trap but due to the amount of rainfall and elevated river levels the trap didnt work, Tony Frisby, a senior wildlife officer with the department, said in the release.

Instead, we had to install a gated trap, which is a trap that rests on the riverbank, Frisby said.

After weeks of evading capture, the 14-foot-long crocodile finally fell for the trap, officials said.

The large crocodile seen wrapped in netting and caught in the trap Photo from the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation

Wildlife officials returned to the property and wrangled the reptile into a container. Photos show the process of hauling the netting-wrapped crocodile into a cage.

A second large crocodile, measuring about 10 feet in length, was also captured in the nearby Townsville area.

Australias saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptile on the planet, with males reaching over 23 feet in length and weighing over 2,200 pounds, according to Oceana.

The 14-foot-long crocodile snapped its jaws while caught in the trap. Photo from the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation

Both crocodiles will be kept in captivity, either at crocodile farms or zoos, the department said.

Cordelia, Queensland, is about 1,400 miles northwest from Sydney and along the countrys northeastern coast.

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Haitians are continuing to flee the surge in violence in their countrys capital while all domestic and international flights in and out of Port-u-Prince remain suspended. The worsening situation and lack of movement, both by those inside and outside of Haiti, led one of the countrys leading journalists, Roberson Alphonse, to ask this week whether Haitians lives dont count in the eyes of the international community. We are people, he said on Port-au-Princes Magik 9 radio station. The lives of Haitian ought to count.

Here are where things stand in Haiti as scenes of destruction continue to play out in Port-au-Prince, where thousands continue to be forced out of their homes and into soiled encampments amid spreading disease and a lack of medicine and medical care:

 Transitional Presidential Council: Members of the newly proposed leadership body and current members of the government met separately late Wednesday. One group was finalizing a political agreement on the council, while the other was discussing the executive order needed to formalize it. While the council of ministers has been accused of delaying the panels creation by questioning its constitutionality and raising questions about the lack of supporting documents for its approval, the presidential panels seven voting members and two non-voting observers are still dealing with internal strife of their own, despite some progress. Among the questions they are confronting: What will constitute a consensus: four out of seven votes? Or a super-majority of five? How will abstentions count? Will the leader of the panel be called president, or coordinator? The panel still has to hire a prime minister and figure out how to stem the tide of violence currently engulfing Port-au-Prince.

 Airports: A month after gunfire hit planes, the Toussaint Louverture International Airport and the Guy Malary National Airport remain closed due to the suspension of foreign and domestic flights. The Haiti National Police and Armed Forces of Haiti continue to maintain control of the airport in a level of cooperation not seen in years. Meanwhile, helicopters are buzzing through the skies airlifting people to the northern city of Cap-Haitien, where foreign embassies are evacuating their nationals out of the country.

 Seaport: The government-owned seaport is out of commission and hundreds of cargo containers remain under the control of gangs. Vessels are docking and unloading some petroleum, food and basic products and some cargo at private ports.

 Rare books and documents: Nothing has been off limits in the ongoing gang siege of Port-au-Prince: not hospitals, schools, police stations and not even rare books. Armed gangs on Wednesday stormed and looted the Bibliotheque Nationale dHaiti, the carrier of more than 200 years of Haitian history and cultural heritage. During the invasion, in which gunmen carried away furniture, an SOS was sent out over live radio asking the Haitian National Police to intervene.

 Haitis heritage: The representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, better known as UNESCO, in Haiti has condemned the attacks on the countrys cultural and educational institutions. This includes not only the National Library but also the National School of Arts, which has influenced Haitian art around the world through its development of artists, and the Ecole Normale Superieure, the oldest teaching training institution in the country. The latter had at least six of its classrooms torched on March 28.

Representatives vote on a draft resolution during a UN Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, on Oct. 19, 2023. The UN Security Council on Thursday renewed the sanctions regime on Haiti, which includes an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze measures.

 Silence: The U.N. Security Council has not issued a resolution about the surge in violence, but another international organization broke its silence. The Organization of American States approved a resolution Wednesday endorsing a March 11 agreement in Jamaica to form the transition presidential panel.

 Kenya: Not much has been heard from the East African nation, which put its deployment of police to Haiti on hold, citing the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry after he was forced to step down by Washington. The deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police officers has been stymied by both legal challenges in Nairobi and money. Kenya has said someone needs to foot the bill.

 Money: The U.N. and the U.S. continue to have a hard time raising money for the security mission to Haiti. A trust fund to finance the deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission, led by Kenya, still only has $10.8 million, far less than the $200 million Kenya is looking for to deploy. Its not moving up in any way, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Thursday. So the results are what we talk about here every day.

Dujarric said while theyve seen a number of countries say theyre willing to send police officers and personnel, there are others that have the money and the equipment to also help them, but not stepping up. The longer this takes, the worse things get, right? And weve been cataloging that downward spiral I think very clearly, he said.

The Biden administration, which has now pledged $300 million for the security force, is also still at odds with skeptical GOP lawmakers over money for the mission. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member James Risch have yet to approve an initial $40 million the State Department is requesting. But they arent the only ones not willing to write check: Only $45 million has been raised for humanitarian response. The U.N. is seeking more than $600 million.

 Armed gangs: They are continuing their path of destruction as they turn downtown Port-au-Prince into a battlefield. This week they threatened a take over of the countrys largest hospital and they continued to take aim at the National Palace, injuring at least four police officers. They also launched attacks on new neighborhoods of the capital.

Gladymir Joseph, 38, who is known as Dede, was arrested by Haiti National Police on Thursday as he was preparing to fly to Miami from the Cap-Haitien airport. Joseph is presumed to be a member of several gangs operating in the capital and in other provinces of the country.

 Arrests: Haiti National Police on Thursday arrested the alleged third leader of the Savien criminal gang in the countrys Artibonite Valley. Gladymir Joseph, 38, who is known as Dede, was arrested by anti-drug trafficking officers detached to the Hugo Chavez International Airport in Cap-Haitien at about 9 a.m. as he prepared to fly to the Miami. Police said that Joseph is presumed to be a member of several gangs operating in the capital and in other provinces of the country.

 Whos in charge: Haitis Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who said he would resign after the installation of the presidential council, remains locked out of the country after his charter plane was prevented from landing in the Dominican Republic. Haitian authorities are not saying where he is, but his substitute, Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, continues to act in his place.

 State of emergency: In a communique, the government of Haiti says a State of Emergency remains in effects of of Thursday until Wednesday, May 3. All demonstrations on public streets in the region that includes Port-au-Prince remains banned and police have been ordered to use all legal means to enforce a curfew.

The U.N. and the U.S. continue to have a hard time raising money for a Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti, led by Kenya. A trust fund to finance the deployment still only has $10.8 million.

 Humanitarian crisis: The International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency, says the humanitarian situation is worsening. More than 53,000 people have fled the capital in less than three weeks. Most people have headed south, requiring them to travel on public buses through gang-controlled roads and neighborhoods. Those staying put and living in camps face deplorable conditions with limited access to food, healthcare, water, psychological support and even toilets.

While assistance provision was easier during the aftermath of earthquakes, today it is an increasingly daunting task, said Philippe Branchat, head of the organization in Haiti. Humanitarian staff, including our own, are facing unparalleled security challenges, balancing the imperative to assist others with the stark realities of personal risk and displacement.

The U.N. announced Thursday that Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has allocated $12 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help people affected by the violence. The money will go toward providing food, water, protection, healthcare, sanitation and hygiene to displaced people and host communities in Port-au-Prince and the neighboring department of Artibonite, Dujarric said.

READ MORE: In Haiti, hope amid the human toll of a deconstructed state

 Healthcare: Three out of four women and children lack access to essential public health and nutrition services in metropolitan Port-au-Prince, UNICEF reports. The attacks on healthcare facilities continue to aggravate the already dire situation for people.

Two men repair a boat on March 26, 2022, on a beach in Ile de la Tortue, off mainland Haiti along the northwest coast. The islands seaports are helping spawn a human tide in migration for those lacking legal channels to leave Haiti.

 Deportations: Despite the lack of food, medications and the gangs overruning Port-au-Prince, Haitians are still being turned away by the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The International Organization for Migration says 13,000 migrants were forcibly returned to Haiti by neighboring countries in March, 46% higher than the previous month.
More than 10 Cubans arrive in Florida Keys in migrant boat, Border Patrol says

A group of people from Cuba arrived on a makeshift wooden sailboat in the Upper Florida Keys Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The boat arrived around 8:30 a.m. on the shores of Tavernier, an area between Key Largo to the north and Plantation Key to the south.

Adam Hoffner, assistant chief patrol agent for the Border Patrols Miami sector, told the Herald that initial reports are that 14 people  11 men and three women  were on the boat.

They had no medical issues, Hoffner said. They are in federal custody and will be processed for removal back to Cuba, he said.
More than $700K of narcotics seized during Merced County traffic stop, CHP says

A Merced County traffic stop led to the arrest of a driver and discovery of more than $700,000 of narcotics, according to authorities.

At about 2:40 p.m. on March 29, a Central Valley California Highway Patrol Officer and his K-9 conducted a traffic stop of a 2019 Jeep SUV along northbound Interstate 5, north of Start Route 152 for a moving violation, according to a CHP news release.

During the stop, the officer reportedly observed what he believed was bundles of narcotics in the front passenger area of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle, identified as 32-year-old Nestor Jovanni Muniz, was arrested and a search of the vehicle was conducted.

Authorities said during the search, the officer located and seized about 20 pounds of crystal methamphetamine as well as about 11 pounds of cocaine worth about $781,600.

Muniz was booked into Merced County Jail on suspicion of felony possession for sale of a controlled substance over 10 pounds, illegal transportation over 10 pounds of a controlled substance, possession for sale over 10 pounds and sale of a controlled substance over 10 pounds, according to jail records.

He remains in custody in lieu of a $2.3 million bond.

According to the CHP, the case was turned over to the Merced Area Gang Narcotics Enforcement Team, a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Initiative.

The HIDTA consists of law enforcement personnel from the Merced County Probation Office, the Merced County District Attorneys Office, Merced County Sheriffs Office, Livingston Police Department, California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice, according to the release.
Five Democratic senators doubled down on demands for President Joe Biden to more aggressively address the medical crisis in Gaza, by deploying added U.S. support and pushing Israel to halt its assaults on medical workers and facilities, in a letter sent to Biden on Wednesday and shared exclusively with HuffPost.

The U.S. has the resources to provide significantly more aid and prevent further suffering of the two million Palestinians displaced in Gaza, read the letter, signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Peter Welch (Vt.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) Israel has the right to pursue Hamas terrorists who carried out the horrific attacks on October 7th, but it must comply with international law. The combination of Israeli restrictions on access to humanitarian aid and the harm caused by relentless bombing and shelling has devastated Gazas healthcare capacities at a time when the need for urgent care is soaring.

The message notes that Israels U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza has included raids on hospitals and strikes on medical facilities run by American allies like Jordan. We appreciate your efforts to address the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, but the United States can and must do more, the letter tells Biden.

The senators want the Biden administration to launch airlifts to the handful of hospitals still functioning in Gaza and to expand its support for field hospitals in the Palestinian enclave beyond the one such facility the U.S. is currently funding, like other nations. Additionally, they seek absolute assurances that Israel will cease attacks on medical facilities and a U.S. Navy deployment of hospital ships to Gaza, echoing a step taken by Italy.

The new pressure from Congress comes amid rapidly growing alarm about conditions in Gaza both within the Biden administration and in public discourse. On Tuesday, HuffPost revealed that officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development privately warned other government personnel that famine is already underway in the strip, as dozens of young children die daily and starvation-related deaths accelerate. And on Monday, Israeli airstrikes killed seven workers with the charity World Central Kitchen, prompting criticism from Biden, calls for him to get tougher on Israel from a broad range of outsideobservers of the conflict and announcements from other humanitarian groups that they would have to pause operations in Gaza.

With woefully inadequate aid getting in and the medical facilities and personnel that do exist under attack, a sea change is desperately needed, the Wednesday letter from the senators reads. It asks the Biden administration to respond by April 17 to a range of questions on subjects like the U.S. capacity to send more medical supplies to Gaza and help ill and wounded Palestinians leave for Egypt.

Nearly two months ago, the same group of senators published a Washington Post op-ed urging Biden to take similar steps and also bolster American food, water and shelter support for Palestinians in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been pushed out of their homes amid the Israeli operation.

The administration has yet to take the actions outlined in the senators proposed Operation Gaza Relief. Since then, they note, the crisis on the ground has only worsened.

Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups are increasingly arguing Bidens Israel policy is ill-advised and may even be illegal.
Stretch of California Highway 1 that collapsed in Big Sur closes again as new storm arrives

The collapsed section of the southbound lane of Highway 1 at Rocky Creek Bridge is marked off by cones Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Big Sur, Calif. The break has caused the closure of the scenic road. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)

BIG SUR, Calif. (AP)  A new storm swept into California on Thursday and again forced the closure of scenic Highway 1 in iconic Big Sur where one of its two lanes collapsed into the ocean after heavy weekend rains.

The Monterey County Sheriffs Office had warned residents of the region to consider leaving before the highway was shut down Wednesday afternoon, especially if they have medical issues. The route was not expected to reopen until Saturday.

The California Department of Transportation had been cautiously running convoys of residents and essential workers past the slide area in both directions twice daily on the remaining undamaged lane.

Leaving the area requires heading north toward Monterey Bay because a 12-mile (19-kilometer) stretch of Highway 1 to the south has been blocked for some time by three previous slides requiring massive repair projects.

The San Francisco Bay Area weather office said the unusually cold storm arrived in the morning with brief heavy rain, hail, low-elevation snow and lightning. Snow also fell in the Sierra Nevada, where winter weather warnings and advisories were issued Thursday.

The Big Sur highway slide site got rain early in the day but there was little precipitation through the middle of the day. A second weather disturbance was expected in the area Friday, before heading toward Southern California.

The closure disrupted visitor Tammy Fisher's trip from San Francisco to San Diego.

One of our attractions was the Big Sur, but as you can see, we got a little hiccup, Fisher said in an interview at a roadblock. Now were gonna bust a U-turn and figure out where the detour will lead us.

Big Sur is a 90-mile (145-kilometer) stretch of the states central coast where often misty, forested mountains descend to the ocean. Much of Highway 1 is perched on the edge of cliffs, presenting dramatic views that draw tourists. The route experiences frequent closures because of landslides stemming from severe weather.

The latest collapse occurred Saturday near Rocky Creek Bridge, about 17 miles (27 kilometers) south of Monterey, temporarily stranding as many as 1,600 people in Big Sur. Most were able to leave when the single lane was reopened Sunday, Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said earlier this week.

Five California state parks in the area were closed indefinitely after the slide and local media reported that the Carmel Unified School District said the evacuation warning led to the closure of an elementary school and preschool on Thursday and Friday.

Engineers were to remain on site through the storms to watch for any changes, Caltrans said in a statement.

"Crews are continuing to focus on strategies to stabilize the edge of the roadway and work will continue once the rain event passes," Caltrans said Thursday.

Total losses to Big Sur businesses since the latest slide have exceeded $1 million each day, Kirk Gafill, president of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday.

Work also continued at the sites of three other major landslides along the highway in Big Sur, Caltrans said.

About 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the northeast, parts of Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada were shut down Thursday afternoon after multiple semi-trailer trucks and passenger vehicles collided amid snowy conditions west of Lake Tahoe. There were no injuries.

Meanwhile a 40-mile (64-kilometer) stretch of I-80s westbound lanes were closed from Truckee to the California-Nevada line as snow accumulated. Chains were required on tires of all vehicles headed east. Winter weather warnings and advisories were in effect into Friday morning, with 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow possible in mountains and about a foot (30 centimeters) expected at higher elevations.

-

Antczak reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Scott Sonner contributed from Reno, Nevada.
QUITO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- One suspect was killed and seven others were arrested during clashes between Ecuadorian troops and armed groups in the country's Amazon region, the armed forces said Wednesday.

The clashes took place in the Amazonian province of Orellana, in the northeast of the country, during a military operation against illegal mining, the military said.

According to army intelligence, those arrested participated in attacks on military personnel on March 22 in the Barranca Bermeja district of the northern Amazonian province of Sucumbios, which left one soldier dead and four others wounded by gunshot.

The attacks occurred while the military was carrying out surveillance activities as part of a "state of emergency" in force since January to combat crime and "severe internal unrest." 
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Police are looks for two groups of men who shot at each other in a gas station early Monday morning.

On MPD officers responded to a shooting incident that occurred in the 3900 block of Raleigh Millington Road around 3:30 a.m.

Trio accused of beating man unconscious, stealing car

Officers were told that three men were inside the store shopping when two men dressed in all-black clothing arrived at the location in a maroon Mitsubishi Eclipse.

When those two men entered the store, they started firing shots at the three men who were already inside.

While both groups were shooting at each other, employees took cover.

The men that were inside shopping left the location in a silver Ford Fusion. The men who arrived in the Mitsubishi left on foot.

No injuries have been reported.

The involved parties have not been identified as this is an ongoing investigation.

To help expedite the investigation, Memphis Police have posted pictures from the surveillance video in hopes of getting help from the community.

This car was left at the scene of the shooting in the 3900 block of Raleigh Millington Road.

Anyone with information about this incident should call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH. You will be given a personal ID number, and your identification will remain completely anonymous.

You can also submit your tip at http://www.crimestopmem.org, where you will be able to review wanted fugitives and safely send investigators any helpful information on the suspect or suspects responsible for this crime. You can submit anonymous tips from our free and secure mobile app by searching your app store for P3 Tips.

If an arrest is made, you could be eligible to receive a cash reward from Crime Stoppers of Memphis and Shelby County, Inc.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
MSF dismisses Israeli claim of 'regrettable incident' in strike against aid workers in Gaza

By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Doctors Without Borders medical charity (MSF) said on Thursday it rejected Israel's position that an airstrike which killed seven aid workers was a "regrettable incident", saying many humanitarian personnel have been attacked previously.

Seven workers from World Central Kitchen, which provides food relief in crisis and conflict zones, were killed when their convoy was hit on Monday night shortly after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to the Palestinian enclave by sea.

"We do not accept the narrative of regrettable incidents," Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of MSF International, said at a press conference in Geneva.

"We do not accept it because what has happened to World Central Kitchen and MSF's convoys and shelters is part of the same pattern of deliberate attacks on humanitarians, health workers, journalists, U.N. personnel, schools and homes."

He added: "We have been saying it for weeks now: this pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence."

Israel has described the deadly incident as an operational accident and is invesigating it. It has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians in its war with Hamas militants.

Lockyear said MSF remained present in Gaza in the wake of the killings but was assessing the risk to its teams on a daily basis.

He said the killings of the World Central Kitchen workers showed that measures to ease the conflict were futile "in a war fought with no rules".

"That these attacks on humanitarian workers are allowed to happen is a political choice," he said.

"Our movements and locations are shared, coordinated and identified already. This is about impunity, a total disregard for the laws of war. And now it must become about accountability."

Lockyear said MSF had urged Israel to investigate a deadly attack on an MSF convoy in November and probe other incidents involving the organisation, including an Israeli attack on an MSF shelter in Al-Mawasi in February.

"I have received no explanation for any of the incidents," Lockyear said.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Multnomah County is stepping in to help prevent 80 asylum seekers in Portland from winding up homeless on the street.

The county will give money to a program that provides shelter for asylum seekers. The group Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice was paying for them to stay in a hotel in Northeast Portland but that money ran out at the end of March.

Most genuine climber remembered after Mt. St. Helens avalanche

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson told KOIN 6 News this funding is a band-aid, not a silver bullet.

We have to really be working together to find those long-term solutions to this problem, she said. Calling on the state, the city and other partners including philanthropic partners to help step in and fill this gap so we can find more permanent solutions for these families. And really to put a plan of action in place so that we have a system of response as we have more families coming into Oregon.

Oregon has been a sanctuary state since 1987. A welcome center opened its doors in 2022 for asylum seekers. Then the program was shut down this past December.

Portland metro heat map to help future response to dangerous heat waves

Earlier Wednesday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said hes looking into how it was funded in the past.

I will continue to work with my colleagues and the state and the county and figure out what the plan was and what the plan will be, Wheeler said.

Multnomah County offered families tents as a last-second resource before they came up with this short-term solution.

Oregon governor seeks guidance on First Spouse role from ethics commission

We need something to respond in the moment and I think that with the best of intentions, this person was like I cant solve the big problem, Vega Pederson said. But what I can do is provide you some assistance, you know, with a tent to help you as this transition does happen.

We all agree that the right answer is not to hand people tents, welcome, you can join the population homeless people on the streets of Portland. Thats the wrong answer, Wheeler said.

The funding to keep the asylum-seekers in a hotel will last until the end of the month.

The county expects to hold meetings with stakeholders to find solutions next week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Naples mourns loss of John Passidomo, 'friend to many,' who shaped the city

John Passidomo made his mark on Naples in countless ways.

His sudden death from a hiking accident at a national park in Utah has sent shock waves through the city  and beyond, breaking the hearts of the many lives he touched over his lifetime.

Passidomo, 72, was so many things. A devoted husband and father, an accomplished attorney and a dedicated public servant, including a stint as a city councilman and vice mayor.

"John was all those things and much more, but the best way I can define John was  friend, a friend to many of us, and to our city," Naples Mayor Teresa Heitmann said.

'Always professional and inspiring'

As a longtime real estate attorney, Passidomo could be spotted at city hall often, as the lead agent for developers on many projects that shaped Naples. One of his more recent clients included The Athens Group, developer of the Naples Beach Club, a project he steered through many hurdles in the city's review and approval process, with patience, poise and persistence, overcoming opposition.

"No matter which project John was involved with, he was always professional and inspiring," Heitmann said. "We may not have always agreed, but John's smile would always make me feel better and our meetings were always warm and inviting."

John Passidomo, Naples attorney

Heitmann and her husband met John and his wife Kathleen, also an attorney who went on to become the Florida Senate President, shortly after moving to Naples.

"They welcomed us to our beautiful city," Heitmann recalled fondly.

In a few words, she described John as a kind and gentle man.

"While we are mourning the loss of our friend, we can feel touched and honored to have known him, to know the lives that he has touched and to simply look around our beautiful city and realize he is one of the reasons it is so beautiful," Heitmann said. "He will be missed, but he will not be forgotten."

Tragic accident during Utah hike

John died Wednesday after a fall during a hike with his wife at Bryce Canyon National Park.

The Passidomos had been visiting several national parks in Utah, Senate President Pro Tempore Dennis Baxley relayed in a senate memo. After the fall, John suffered massive head trauma. He could not recover from the severity of his injuries, and died two days later.

"After a thorough evaluation by the very best medical teams," his family was told he "would not survive," Baxley explained.

He added that John's daughters "quickly traveled to Utah," where he died with them and his wife by his side. The couple, law school sweethearts and Naples transplants, had three children, two of whom became lawyers.

Kathleen Passidomo has lost the love of her life and is absolutely devastated by this sudden and unexpected accident, Baxley shared, solemnly.

Hiking accident: Naples attorney John Passidomo, husband of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, dies

Who was John Passidomo?: Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo's husband dies in hiking accident

The news of John's death hit the community hard.

'A legacy that will long be remembered in Naples, Florida'

Bill Barnett, a former Naples mayor, said: "John Passidomo was like family to me and our family. He was one of the few friends that I had that always called me 'Billy'."

The two met in the mid 1980s, and they both served on Naples City Council.

"As the years went by John moved up the legal ladder as an attorney to become one of, if not the best real estate attorneys in Naples and Collier County. He built a rock-solid positive reputation in our community and whenever someone would ask me to recommend a top attorney, John was always my first choice," Barnett said.

Passidomo was a partner in Naples-based Cheffy Passidomo, where he focused on real estate development and transactions, zoning and land use. The law firm was founded in 1993.

Previously, Passidomo worked as a partner in Frost & Jacobs, where he oversaw Florida real estate matters. He had practiced law in Collier County since 1979.

"For those who have and will follow in John's footsteps they can be confident that they have learned from the best and will be able to benefit from him as they move on in their careers. He was a true family man, and he definitely leaves a legacy that will long be remembered in Naples, Florida," Barnett said.

He said even opposing attorneys respected Passidomo, for his professionalism and politeness.

"I dont think I ever saw him carry a grudge," Barnett said. "He won a lot more cases than he lost, and he knew real estate law better than anyone I ever met, and we have some very good lawyers in Naples. He built a top-notch law firm in Naples with attorneys that specialized in all aspects of the law and have been recognized as the best."

Edward Cheffy described John as not only a supportive partner in business, but a dear friend and "one of the greatest blessings of my life."

"He brightened and enriched the lives of people he worked with, and he made our community a better place. Most of all, I admired and respected his relationships with and devotion to Kathleen and their three daughters. Farewell to a great man, a charming gentleman, a commanding presence, a class act, and a life well-lived," Cheffy said.

Clients are equally saddened.

"The Naples Beach Club family is in a state of shock over the tragic passing of John Passidomo. John was a beloved member of the team and a friend we deeply admired, respected and enjoyed working with. He was a true gentleman who conducted his life with class, integrity and dignity," said Jay Newman, a principal and chief operating officer for The Athens Group.

Lou Vlasho, who operated Vergina restaurant on Fifth Avenue South until he retired in 2011, and who helped found the Fifth Avenue South Business Improvement District to support businesses on the popular street, said without Passidomo the district might not exist today. Passidomo provided free legal services to help get the organization, known for short as BID, started.

"In addition, he did countless things for the street. Without his help Fifth Avenue would not be the Naples community jewel that it is today, one known throughout the world," Vlasho said.

John Passidomo, husband of Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, smiles as he's introduce during a meeting of the Florida Senate Republican Caucus where the body formally designated Sen. Passidomo as the next Senate President at the Capitol Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021.

John Passidomo was friend to many in Naples

John Passidomo was a long-time friend to many in the local community.

Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said he and his wife Pat arrived in Naples shortly after the Passidomos, and they've been friends for more than 40 years.

"John was an integral part of the success and appeal of Naples and I always appreciated his devotion to making our community a great place," Rambosk said.

Dolly Bodick, a retired marketing professional, is another long-time friend, who has known the Passidomos since she and a former husband moved to Naples in 1987.

"(Kathleen) was our real estate lawyer when we closed on our first house, and she was pregnant with their first child. They lived just down the street from us, and we became part of a group of young professionals determined to do right by our adopted community. And have fun doing so," Bodick recalled.

"Through these decades, I developed an enormous amount of respect for Johns professional and civic contributions. His work ethic was second to none; he was diligent, insightful and intelligent, and incredibly successful," she added.

She continued: "And both front and center  for example as vice mayor  and behind the scenes  as advisor and strategist on community issues  he added great value to his community."

His devotion to his wife and family, including his golden retriever, she said were "legendary."

"He was warm, funny, and even a bit mischievous to those who knew him personally," Bodick remarked.

(Note: Andrew Reiss accepted this award on behalf of John Passidomo) Volunteer of the Year - Public Policy: John Passidomo, Cheffy Passidomo Attorneys at Law.

Mike Reagen, the former president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, said Passidomo was an "extraordinary man" in many ways.

"He was perceived to be kind of above it all, in the sense of being thoroughly ethical, thoroughly competent, and having obviously an excellent temperament," Reagen said.

At one time, Passidomo served as the chairman of the chamber's public policy committee, a role that he took on after a bit of convincing from Reagen, who saw him as the right man for the job, in dealing with elected officials on important community issues.

"He was very adroit. He was very smart. He understood politics," Reagen said.

He added: "John was able to look at the big picture and the long haul."

'A man of dignity as well as integrity'

John's civic involvement ran deep in Naples.

He joined the board of the Collier Community Foundation in 1992 and served as chairman from 1998 to 2001.

The foundation provides grants to nonprofit agencies that help the less fortunate, made possible through philanthropic gifts from residents.

On Thanksgiving Day, John would take part in Thanksgiving in the Park, wearing plastic gloves and helping to serve turkey dinners to farmworkers at Immokalee Airport Park.

It was a longstanding tradition for decades organized by the Guadalupe Center with help in its later years by St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church to give thanks for the hard work of the regions farmworkers.

In 2000, he and his wife were named jointly as the Naples Daily News Outstanding Citizen of the Year, when the selection committee made the unusual move to name two awardees, recognizing their combined involvement in more than 75 institutions and organizations in the community.

At the awards ceremony, he reflected on when they first arrived in Naples and knew nobody, and in turn thanked the community for embracing them.

Collier County opened its arms to us . were deeply indebted to everyone and to the community, he said at the time.

He added: It was a very special honor because Kathleen is the love of my life and sharing it with her means so much.

Pr

Passidomo was highly respected by all who interacted with him, Eileen Connolly-Keesler, president and CEO of the Community Foundation, reiterated.

Even though I joined the CCF team after his tenure as chair, I got to know John well through his continued involvement with the Trustees Emeriti, she said.

He served as an advisor on various issues CCF was facing, and I went to him for his opinion and guidance on several occasions. Our hearts and prayers go out to Sen. Kathleen Passidomo and their entire family for this tragic loss.

John Passidomo (Lane Wilkinson/Special to the Daily News)

Passidomo represented the Neighborhood Health Clinic for 20 years, extensively in the last 10 years for expansion projects to keep up with growth in the community.

The nonprofit clinic on 12th Street North in Naples provides medical care for uninsured working residents.The news of his sudden passing impacts the community with great sadness, Leslie Lascheid, the clinic's CEO, lamented.

He was a wonderful partner to the clinic and our patients assisting us in the process of our expanding the clinic campus, she said. It was his passion and expertise that allowed us to expand all our services under one roof caring for so many and saving us millions of donor dollars. His impact will be felt for years helping those in need in our community. John will truly be missed each and every day. 

Ed Morton, past vice chairman of the board of trustees of Florida Gulf Coast University and former president and CEO of the NCH Healthcare System, said John was one of the most honorable individuals he's ever known.

John Passidomo was a man of dignity as well as integrity, Morton said. (He was) compassionate yet passionate on behalf of his clients. A wonderful friend whose unique style of leadership will be sorely missed by our entire community.

Passidomo's professional accolades countless

Passidomos professional awards were numerous.

In 2019, he and his wife received the Donald E. Van Koughnet Lion of the Law award for professionalism from the Collier County Judiciary, according to his biography, with his law firm.

He was named Best Lawyers 2014 Lawyer of the Year and Best Lawyers 2012 Real Estate Law Lawyer of the Year for the Naples/Fort Myers metropolitan area that is a peer review recognition.

He has been listed in Florida Super Lawyers, The Wall Street Journals Top Attorneys in Florida, The Best Lawyers in America and The American Lawyer/National Law Journals Top Lawyers.

In 1985 and in 1991, he received The Florida Bar Presidents Pro Bono Service Award for leadership in services to the poor.

He served as chairman of the Economic Development Council of Collier County from 1995 to 1997, and he was a graduate of Leadership Collier, Leadership Southwest Florida and Leadership Florida.

'We will miss him dearly'

Gary Price, who recently ran for mayor but lost by a thin margin, said like many others, he and his wife Kim, are heartbroken over his family's and the community's "significant loss" of such a great man.

The Passidomos, he said, have meant so much to his own family, personally, over the years.

"John and I shared several things in common, the most important being our love for our families, the appreciation we had for how special Naples is, and our passion for making it better," said Price, a former city councilman and vice mayor, himself.

He concluded: "We will miss him dearly," sharing the sentiment of the many others who crossed John's path over the years, which will leave a lasting legacy.

In a text Thursday to the Naples Daily News, Kathleen Passidomo shared she's not up to talking about her husband's legacy, or impact, in Naples, with her emotions still raw.

Funeral plans will be made in the coming weeks.

"I know it will be a celebration of his life well lived and loved," she said.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: John Passidomo: Hearts broken over death of Naples, Florida attorney




A NASA engineer has been charged in connection with six sexual assaults, Texas officials say. Now they are looking for more possible survivors.

In an April 3 news conference, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said 37-year-old Eric Sim is believed to be a serial rapist, and is encouraging other possible survivors to come forward.

The nature of these offenses is so personal and so predatory that we felt it was important we tell the public, Ogg said.







Take a look  a long hard look  at Mr. Sim and let us know if .... youve been victimized by him, she added.

Eric Sim, of Houston, was arrested in February at the Johnson Space Center and charged in two assault cases from 2021, according to KHOU.

Since his arrest, four more women have come forward accusing Sim, a NASA employee of nine years, of sexual assaults that occurred between 2019 and 2022, according to officials and court records.

These additional charges were filed March 27, court records show.

Officials said they believe Sim used his professional credentials to gain the trust of his victims, whom he met on several different dating apps and websites.

When people have a career or an identity through something as trusted as NASA  that does gain trust pretty immediately, Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Adult Sex Division Janna Oswald said.

McClatchy News reached out to NASA on April 4 for comment but did not receive an immediate response.







In a statement provided to Houstons KPRC, NASA said its security team cooperated with local law enforcement agencies on Thursday, Feb. 29, when they arrested an employee at Johnson Space Center in Houston.







However, it is not appropriate for NASA to comment on ongoing investigations, the agency added.

Investigators said Sim portrayed himself as someone interested in and seeking a committed relationship while communicating with multiple women.

All six of the known assaults happened at Sims residence, officials said.

One survivor said she believed she may have been drugged after she woke up naked with evidence of sexual assault injuries, KHOU reported, citing court documents.

Eric is a well-regarded engineer who would never commit a crime like this, Sims attorney Neal Davis told McClatchy News on April 4. He met several women on social media and dated them. Unfortunately, few had day-after regrets and have leveled these false allegations. We look forward to proving his innocence in court.

Officials said that Sims extensive domestic and international travel could mean there are more victims who have yet to come forward. Officials also note that Sim has remained active on dating apps since the latest 2022 incident he accused of.

Although authorities have access to Sims dating profiles and information about other women he communicated with, officials said it is important for possible victims to control their own involvement with law enforcement, Oswald said.

When one or more than one complainant comes out, it empowers others and it makes them feel not as alone in what they experienced, Oswald said, addressing the time that has passed between the time of the alleged assaults and the charges.

Sim bonded out of jail April 2 and is on 24-hour house arrest with monitored online activity, officials said. He is due back in court April 29, court records show.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Houston Police Department.

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.

Tearful boy missing pieces of hair reveals abuse at home to teachers, Texas cops say

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Think blind and visually impaired people wont be able to appreciate the solar eclipse on Monday? Not with Professor Cass Runyon of the College of Charleston on the job.

Runyon, a geology professor, and coauthor David Hurd, planetarium director at Pennsylvania Western University, have designed a way to make eclipses accessible to the 7 million Americans who the CDC estimates live with vision loss.

Two 14-by- 17-inch pages of illustrations rendered with tactile materials  think of them as Braille on steroids  form their book "Getting a Feel for Eclipses."

The first graphic illustrates the relationship between the sun, moon, Earth and their alignment. The second shows a partial eclipse moving into a total eclipse and then back again.

Professor Cass Runyon of the College of Charleston demonstrating how her book, "Getting a Feel for Eclipses" helps make the celestial phenomenon accessible for people with vision loss.

"Folks are surprised to be able to literally see through their sense of touch," Runyon said. "What they could not see they could feel as it gets darker toward totality. They can actually follow that sequence with the tactile."

The celestial show that will cut an arc from Texas through Maine on Monday will be the last full solar eclipse visible in the U.S. until 2044. North Jersey will see a slightly less than total covering of the sun, with about 90% of the star darkened. Doctors warn all sighted viewers, whatever their level of vision, not to look directly at the eclipse without the aid of safety glasses.

Tactile graphics bring eclipse to life

Runyon calls her book's illustrations tactile graphics, and thanks to funding from NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, she has shipped 11,000 of them to schools, libraries and other institutions nationwide in time for the coming event. The NASA institute's Joe Minafra is also credited as an author.

The seeds of the idea came to her long ago as the daughter of an artist who liked to challenge routine ways of describing things.

He was a sculptor and a painter, a renaissance guy," Runyon said of her dad. "He always challenged me and my brother growing up to think of things from different perspectives. What if we lost our sense of color or our sight? We had to describe things often in different ways."

More: The April 8 solar eclipse is almost here, North Jersey. Here's your complete viewing guide

In the eclipse guide, the Earth is made out of cardboard and sandpaper; a dolls hair represents the curling, swirling plasma of the sun's surface, said Hurd.

The book is having its intended effect, judging by a Charleston woman who was born blind and who Runyon sat with during a 2017 solar eclipse.

'She just started crying'

"A young woman was sitting in a chair with the book on her lap as the eclipse was occurring and she just started crying because she could, for the first time, experience what her siblings had talked about, but she couldn't imagine it, said Runyon who recalled the tears rolling down the woman's face. She could experience it through following the tactile and she was just overjoyed."

Runyon and Hurd have written 10 books of this kind, all backed by NASA, said Hurd, adding that QR codes on the front of the books take readers to the NASA website for more background and content. There, text can be enlarged or reduced for printing or for reading aloud with a smart device.

Ahead of the April 8 solar eclipse, 11,000 copies of the "tactile" book have been distributed to schools, libraries and other institutions nationwide.

Runyon's involvement in accessibility extends beyond the eclipse. She's also part of the NASA-funded IDEAS (Innovative Differentiated Education Activities in Space Science) initiative, which seeks to make space science more accessible by modifying NASA's activities to accommodate people with disabilities.

"We collaborate with product developers and curriculum writers, alongside NASA scientists and engineers, to adapt activities for inclusivity," Runyon said. "Our participants might wear simulators to mimic various impairments or use mobility aids. We ensure that our activities are accessible and inclusive for everyone."

Gene Myers covers disability and mental health for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: myers@northjersey.comTwitter: @myersgene

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How the blind, visually impaired can still enjoy the solar eclipse
NASA has given three space companies the chance to design the next-generation moon buggy  but only one design will go to space. Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab are developing rugged vehicles intended for astronauts to drive around on the lunar surface, from which NASA may choose as early as next year.

The three teams will now enter into a 12-month feasibility phase that will culminate in a preliminary design review. At that point, there will be a subsequent competitive request for proposals, where the trio of companies will compete for a demonstration task order, NASA officials explained during a press conference on Wednesday.

At that point, a final awardee will be selected. The chosen company will be responsible not only for designing the lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) but also for launching and landing it on the moon prior to the Artemis V mission, which is currently slated for no earlier than 2029.

NASA declined to specify the dollar value of the awards, though Intuitive Machines said in a statement that it was awarded a $30 million contract. The total potential value of all the task orders over the next 13 years is $4.6 billion.

The three teams are also keeping specifications, like range or battery technology, close to the chest, though NASA specified that the rover would have to have an incredible 10-year life span and be capable of carrying two suited astronauts.

Intuitive Machines is leading a team that includes AVL, Boeing, Michelin, and Northrop Grumman; Lunar Outpost is leading the Lunar Dawn team that includes Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Goodyear and MDA Space. Astrolab is joined by Axiom Space and Odyssey Space Research.

NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle

NASA lunar terrain vehicle. Image Credits: Intuitive Machines

The awards are the latest to be doled out to private industry under the agencys ambitious Artemis program, which seeks to eventually establish a permanent human presence on the moon. But in order to truly explore the surface, astronauts will need something to get around  and it will need to withstand the harsh environment of the lunar south pole, which is known for temperature extreme swings and very long nights.

Think of it as a hybrid of the Apollo-style lunar rover that was driven by our astronauts and an uncrewed mobile science platform, NASAs Johnson Space Center director Vanessa Wyche said.

With the vehicles, astronauts will be able to transport scientific equipment, collect samples from the surface and travel farther than on foot, Jacob Bleacher, NASAs chief exploration scientist, said. When astronauts are not on the moon, humans will be able to remotely operate the LTV, so it can continue to explore the region and even meet new astronaut crews when they arrive on the surface.

With NASAs Artemis campaign, we are building up the capabilities needed to establish a longer-term exploration and presence of the moon, he said. Where it will go, there are no roads. Its mobility will fundamentally change our view of the moon.
QUITO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 civil servants in Ecuador, including judges and police officers, were arrested on Wednesday in a nationwide operation against corruption within the legal system, the country's Attorney General's Office said.

Police arrested and raided homes in eight provinces as part of Operation Plague, which targeted civil servants suspected of systematically allowing criminals to elude justice in exchange for "money or favors."

"Those allegedly involved ... benefited highly dangerous people, granting them freedom through legal tricks and abuse of the law," the office said in a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter.

Judges implicated let criminals already in prison "obtain their freedom illegitimately though it appeared legal," said the office.

The operation aims "to eradicate this plague that operates in the justice system, which has been systematized as a vicious circle and which accounts, once again, for the deep emergence of corruption in state institutions," it added. 
The hunk of junk might have come from the International Space Station. - Photo: NASA

Have you ever been sitting in your home, minding your own business when suddenly a two-pound hunk of junk from the heavens smashed through the ceiling? No? Me neither. But thats exactly what happened to Florida native Alejandro Otero last month.



The Naples, Florida, resident had their peace of mind and roof shattered when a piece of space debris plummeted all the way to the ground floor of their two-story house, reports Wired. The space trash is suspected to have originated from the International Space Station, which is rapidly reaching the end of its life.

Otero was out of the house when the two-pound lump fell through his home, but the collision was captured on a Nest home security camera. The sound of the crash was heard at 2:34 pm EST on March 8, which lines up nicely with the 2:29 pm EST time that the U.S. Space Command recorded the reentry of a piece of space debris from the space station. Wired reports:

This space junk consisted of depleted batteries from the ISS, attached to a cargo pallet that was originally supposed to come back to Earth in a controlled manner. But a series of delays meant this cargo pallet missed its ride back to Earth, so NASA jettisoned the batteries from the space station in 2021 to head for an unguided reentry.

The fallen space junk has now been whisked off to a NASA lab for analysis, reports Ars Technica. According to the site, Engineers at NASAs Kennedy Space Center will work to determine its origin with more information set to come to light once the analysis is complete.

Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples.

Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his my son.

Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? Ive left messages and emails without a response. pic.twitter.com/Yi29f3EwyV  Alejandro Otero (@Alejandro0tero) March 15, 2024

But while Nasa waits to see where the trash came from, Otero is waiting to see who will pay for the repairs needed on his home. Otero took to /Twitter/ X to say:

Hello. Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples. Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost hit my son. Can you please assist with getting NASA to connect with me? Ive left messages and emails without a response.

If it turns out that the hunk of junk was from NASA , Ars Technica explains that Otero or his insurance company could make a claim against the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Additionally, Id be interested in knowing who gets to keep the space trash if it falls onto your property. Thats a topic we dived head first into a few years back, and the answer all depends on whether it was thrown away on purpose or lost to the ether.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Some NATO Allies have promised to look for air defence systems for Ukraine  Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that some Allies promised at meetings in Brussels that they will look for additional air defence equipment for Ukraine in their stockpiles.

Source: Stoltenberg at a press conference after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, as reported by European Pravda

Stoltenberg said that NATO allies "understand the urgency" of strengthening military support for Ukraine, particularly air defence systems.

"They will now go back and look into their inventories, look into if there are any ways they can provide more systems, in particular Patriots, but also, of course, ensure that the systems which are already there [in Ukraine - ed.] have the ammunition but also the spare parts so they can all function as they should," he added.

The Secretary General noted that "several allies" have promised to "make a new effort to find what they can and look into what more they can deliver".

"I will not be specific before they are able to conclude [this process - ed.]," Stoltenberg said.

Background:

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 4 April, Germany initiated a worldwide search for available Patriot systems for Kyiv.

Ukraine will also consult its NATO partners about the supply of batteries for air defence systems, which it believes can be delivered immediately.

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(Bloomberg) -- NATO allies are reining in expectations about the viability of a proposed $100 billion fund to support Ukraine as the alliance grapples with how to provide sufficient aid to Kyiv.

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At a gathering of the alliances foreign ministers in Brussels, some countries raised doubts about the prospects of finding fresh funding for NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergs plan to pool allied contributions over five years. Several ministers suggested it would be better to pledge a smaller amount that allies can more clearly back, according to a senior diplomat present for the discussions.

Many ministers stressed the NATO initiative shouldnt compete with bilateral and EU aid and warned that the alliance shouldnt make promises to Ukraine that it cant keep, according to officials present for the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Another senior diplomat said the $100 billion sum is so large, it would likely have to account for bilateral donations member states give Ukraine, meaning any additional fresh funding would likely be marginal.

We have to avoid duplicity, double accountabilities, counting twice the money or buying the same things, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told a small group of reporters Wednesday evening. Still at the end, we all want to make sure Ukraine has what it needs in terms of volume and in terms of time, he said.

The concerns highlight the tough discussions allies will have to undertake to hammer out a deal in time for a leaders summit in Washington in July. With a formal invitation for Ukraine to join not on the table this year, NATO is instead seeking to propose a package of measures for Kyiv that would serve as a bridge to membership and would create predictability around allies support over the years to come, while sending a message to Russia about their determination.

The discussions come amid deepening worries about the situation on the ground in Ukraine due to severe ammunition shortages for Kyivs forces. Warming weather is heightening concerns that Russia will have better prospects at punching through the front line when it renews attacks this spring and summer.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters he had delivered to NATO members a very sobering message about the toll of Russian air attacks, calling on the allies to boost Ukraines air defenses including with the US-made Patriot, the only system that effectively intercepts ballistic missiles.

Following a closed-door discussion, Kuleba told reporters that the allies will undertake an exercise of allocating, of finding, identifying these additional air defense systems in order to bring them to Ukraine.

In addition to the fund, NATO is looking to assume greater responsibility in coordinating weapons deliveries to Ukraine, which so far has been helmed by the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group. While such a move would shield the structure from political change in the US, particularly if Donald Trump returns to the White House, it also marks a shift in NATOs role in the war.

The alliance so far has sought to distance itself from allies weapons aid in order to avoid any escalation to the war. But allies are not concerned about any danger such a move might pose, according to the senior diplomat, who stressed NATO is instead trying to shift from ad-hoc initiatives for support for Ukraine to a more predictable and sustainable system.

Economic support to Ukraine is not charity, its an investment in our own security, Stoltenberg told reporters after the first day of meetings, which continue Thursday. Today we didnt take any final decisions exactly on what format we will establish but we agreed to initiate planning.

While the mechanics of the accounting for any fund still need to be worked out, it would likely be based on countries gross domestic product  a method many officials said could address a burden sharing problem in terms of aid for Ukraine. France, in particular, trails allies like Germany and Baltic and Nordic nations in their donations to Ukraine. France was among the allies that expressed skepticism for the plan in the meeting, according to another senior envoy.

It doesnt achieve anything to make money available on paper, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio. Whats important is that deliveries of weapons and ammunition are actually made that will enable Ukraine to defend itself.

--With assistance from Iain Rogers, Katharina Rosskopf and Courtney McBride.

(Updates with Kuleba remarks in seventh, eight paragraphs and new chart)

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NATO Thursday celebrated the 75th anniversary of the military alliance in Brussels. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO is bigger, stronger and more united than ever. From left to right: Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of NATO's Military Committee, Stoltenberg and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana. Photo courtesy of NATO

April 4 (UPI) -- NATO marked the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Thursday as foreign ministers from member nations gathered in Brussels.

Throughout the city, monuments marked the anniversary as Brussels hosted public discussions, musical performances and illuminated buildings in NATO blue.

"This is the greatest military alliance in the history of the world," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "But it didn't happen by accident, nor was it inevitable. Generation after generation, the United States and our fellow allies have chosen to come together to stand up for freedom and push back against aggression -- knowing we are stronger, and the world is safer, when we do."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, noting that the founding treaty usually kept in Washington, D.C. was on display at NATO headquarters for the first time, said in a statement, "NATO is bigger, stronger, and more united than ever."

The alliance consists of 32 nations and one billion people on both sides of the Atlantic united in the common purpose of mutual self-defense.

Brussels hosted public discussions and musical performances as monuments across the city marked NATO's 75th anniversary. Some buildings were bathed in NATOP blue as flags flew to mark the occasion. Photo courtesy of NATO

"We must remember that the sacred commitment we make to our allies -- to defend every inch of NATO territory -- makes us safer, too, and gives the United States a bulwark of security unrivaled by any other nation in the world," Biden said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin celebrated NATO in a statement, declaring, "Putin's reckless and lawless invasion of Ukraine has brought war back to Europe on a scale that NATO's founders had hoped to consign to history. Today, the world needs NATO as much as ever."

Military band pictured in Brussels as NATO gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary fo the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty Thursday. Photo courtesy of NATO

He added that when NATO leaders meet in Washington for the 75th anniversary summit, "We will strengthen our resilience, accelerate the development of advanced technologies, advance the implementation of NATO's most robust defense plans since the Cold War, and strengthen our collective deterrence and defense."

NATO's Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO Military Committee, said in a statement the 3.5 million men and women in uniform in the alliance in Europe and the United States "are protecting much more than physical safety. We are collectively defending freedom and democracy."

NATO ministers gathered in Brussels Thursday as they celebrated the military alliance's 75th anniversary. It began with 12 nations in 1949 and has grown to 32 nations. Photo courtesy of NATO

On April 4, 1949, representatives from 12 nations gathered in Washington, D.C., to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, founding NATO.

Sweden and Finland, the newest nations to join NATO, joined the alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine has also expressed a strong desire to join NATO.

In July, the United States will host a summit that President Biden described as "bringing our allies together to modernize our defense and deterrence."

He urged Americans to act as prior generations had, to "choose to protect this progress and build on it."
NATO intelligence data has cast doubt on the ability of Russian forces to mount a large-scale offensive any time soon.

Source: European Pravdas correspondent from Brussels, citing a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity

Details: In NATOs judgement, Russia's offensive actions over the past few weeks have been largely tactical in nature. Russian forces continue to retain a "significant quantitative advantage" over Ukraine in terms of ammunition, personnel and equipment.

"However, at the moment, the Russians still lack the ammunition and manoeuvrable units required for a successful major offensive," the source added.

The source explained that the Russian forces fighting on the battlefield in Ukraine are "understaffed and inexperienced units" that are being ordered to "achieve unrealistic goals and follow politically-motivated instructions".

"So its doubtful that Russian forces could achieve significant success in an offensive this spring, and they are unlikely to be able to conduct any significant offensive without further large-scale mobilisation," the NATO official concluded.

Background:

Commenting on the threat of a new Russian offensive, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Russia is constantly building up its military capabilities, and it is therefore imperative for the Allies to move to a long-term commitment in support of Ukraine.

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said in February that Russia might launch another major offensive in Ukraine after Russia's presidential "elections" in March.

However, NATO analysts indicated that they considered it unrealistic for the Russian army to go on the offensive in Ukraine.

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NATO secretary general: Europe needs US and US needs Europe

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. Europe and the United States need one another for their own security, Stoltenberg said in a speech to mark the alliance's 75th anniversary on 04 April. -/NATO/dpa

Europe and the United States need one another for their own security, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a speech to mark the alliance's 75th anniversary on Thursday.

"Europe needs America for its security," Stoltenberg said. "At the same time, North America also needs Europe. European allies provide world-class militaries, vast intelligence networks, and unique diplomatic leverage, multiplying America's might."

Acknowledging long-standing US concerns that European allies aren't contributing enough to collective defence, Stoltenberg said: "Fair burden sharing is essential, and Europe is investing more, much more. This year, the majority of NATO allies will invest at least 2% of their GDP [Gross Domestic Product] in defence."

"Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power. I don't believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone," he added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes there are two scenarios for how combat action in Ukraine could unfold, depending on whether the NATO allies are able to unite to help Kyiv.

Source: Stoltenberg at a press conference after the Ukraine-NATO council meeting, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Stoltenberg described the situation in the combat zone in Ukraine as difficult, noting that Russia continues to advance along the front line and mobilise troops. Moreover, Russia is "prepared to sacrifice men and material for marginal gains".

Quote: "But this is serious. Fundamentally, there are two possible scenarios. One is that NATO allies are able to mobilise more support, and that Ukraine is able to regain more territory. The other scenario is that we are not able to do so, and there is a real threat that Russia will capture even more territories and we will be in an even more dangerous position."

He believes that the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine is "to have strong Ukrainian armed forces".

"Because this is the only way to convince President Putin that he will not win on the battlefield. And that is the only way to convince him that he has to sit down at the negotiating table and find an acceptable solution in which Ukraine prevails as a sovereign and independent nation. I strongly believe thats possible," Stoltenberg stressed.

Stoltenberg also said some allies promised at the meetings in Brussels that they will look in their stockpiles for additional air defence systems for Ukraine.

However, intelligence data obtained by NATO casts doubt on the ability of Russian forces to launch a large-scale offensive any time soon.

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The NATO-Ukraine Council meeting at the level of foreign ministers will take place in Brussels on 4 April, with the participation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and will primarily focus on long-term support for Kyiv.

Source: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to journalists at the Alliance headquarters, as reported by European Pravda correspondent in Brussels

Stoltenberg said that the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting participants will discuss how they can strengthen cooperation and "move you [Ukraine  ed.] towards membership in NATO."

Quote: "We'll also discuss, as we also did at the foreign ministerial meeting yesterday, how we can step up and sustain our support for Ukraine. Because it also matters for our own security," he added.

Additionally, the meeting will address "a long term financial pledge, commitment from NATO Allies".

"We of course welcome voluntary contributions. But in the long run, we need to be less dependent on voluntary contributions short term and more dependent on strong NATO commitments," Stoltenberg explained.

Background:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the allies must ensure long-term support for Ukraine amid discussions on a 100 billion fund.

Later, Stoltenberg stated that member countries are still discussing the format for establishing a new fund to assist Ukraine, and Kyiv is also involved in the discussion.

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by Xinhua writer Yang Shilong

NEW YORK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. meat industry is intensifying its efforts to penetrate China's booming consumer market, aiming to bridge cultural gaps by introducing American culinary traditions to China.

"Our goal is to showcase the best of U.S. beef and build a trust-based relationship with Chinese consumers," Mark Gustafson, chief consulting officer of CLB Management Inc., told Xinhua while talking about the Shanghai leg of the American century-old beef brand culinary tour last week.

The event, a steak dinner party at a premium steak house in Shanghai, was jointly hosted by the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC), the U.S. Meat Export Federation, and Greater Omaha, a prominent grain-fed beef producer from Omaha, Nebraska.

Greater Omaha, which has been operational since 1920, was the first American packer to resume beef exports to China in 2017 after a ban imposed in December 2003 due to mad cow disease.

"The evolving Chinese economy has created a significant opportunity for the U.S. meat industry," said Gustafson, who has been active in the U.S. meat industry, serving, among others, on the U.S. Meat Export Federation's executive committee.

The significant growth of China's middle class has increased demand for high-quality food products, including beef, Gustafson said.

"When I speak in the U.S., I emphasize that a 10-percent growth in China's middle and upper-middle class might seem modest at first glance. However, in the context of China's vast population, this is equivalent to adding another Japan in terms of market size," he said.

This demographic evolution has not only increased buying power but also shifted consumer preferences towards higher quality food and lifestyle products, the expert said.

"The potential for U.S. beef in China is vast, and with strategic engagement and quality assurance, we can achieve substantial growth. The journey is just beginning," said Gustafson.

He also spoke about the food industry's role in bridging cultural divides.

"We're not just selling beef, we're introducing a culture of quality and variety that aligns with the sophisticated tastes of Chinese consumers," he said.

"The food industry represents a common ground where mutual benefits for both the U.S. and China are realized, strengthening economic ties and fostering goodwill between our countries," said Gustafson.

This mutual benefit extends beyond commerce, promoting a deeper cultural understanding and collaboration, he said.

He expressed confidence in the untapped potential of China's market for U.S. meat, foreseeing a future where continuous adaptation to consumer needs will spur growth.

CGCC Chairman Hu Wei, also president and CEO of Bank of China USA, said: "This steak-tasting event in Shanghai represents a blend of economic strategy and cultural diplomacy, aiming to strengthen ties and enhance mutual appreciation between the two nations through the universal language of food."

Hu noted that regarding cultural exchanges between nations, "large-scale events are sometimes necessary to generate momentum and amplify impact."

"Conversely, engagements like fostering cross-cultural understanding through culinary experiences that resonate with the everyday lives of ordinary people are also essential," he said.

"Given China's rich and ancient culture, with its many unique features, and the United States with its distinct characteristics, history, legacy and appeal, such exchanges and mutual experiences are beneficial for both sides, promoting shared learning and integration," Hu said. 
Today, April 4, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This alliance has been the cornerstone of international stability since the end of World War II. Between 1949 and through today, an additional 20 nations have joined the original 12 countries making up the alliance, including most recently Sweden. With the expansion of threats around the world, NATO is more critical to US security interests today than ever before and will continue to provide a foundation for the future military and economic success, security, sovereignty, and self-determination of its 32 member nations.

Europe was devastated after World War II. The Soviet Unions postwar expansion of influence in eastern Europe prompted Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, to form a defensive treaty to counter the rise in Soviet influence. These nations invited the US and Canada to join, followed by seven other European countries. The primary objective was to form a defensive alliance to prevent the spread of communism and set the stage for rebuilding the war-torn continent. Though the beginning of the 21st century saw the collapse of the Soviet Union, the recurrence of Russian aggression reinforced the necessity of a strong NATO alliance.

Explainer: The Civics Project: What's NATO?

NATO was the first commitment in peacetime by the US to join a multinational defensive alliance. The most significant and powerful principle of the NATO Charter is the commitment that an attack on one is an attack on all. This provision of the treaty has been invoked just once, when NATO joined the U.S. in responding to the attack on our nation on 9/11 by al-Qaida. NATOs collective commitment to engage in military operations outside of Europe emphatically demonstrated the relevance of this alliance in an age of changing threats that can originate from any part of the globe.

The NATO treaty established both a military and diplomatic structure. Military forces committed to NATO are under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Allied Headquarters Europe (SHAPE), who has historically been a US general. The diplomatic element was established in Brussels at NATO Headquarters, led by a civilian Secretary General.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Kenneth Ansbrom was navigator for the B-52 bomber crew selected to honor Swedens confirmation as NATOs 32nd member.

NATO does not have its own forces but relies on the provision of forces by each of its member nations at their own expense. In recognition of this fact, NATO established an aspirational policy in 2014 that each country should strive to spend 2% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for its military. This is not a price of admission nor is it money paid directly it NATO. It is a target to ensure that sufficient forces are available when needed by the alliance. As of this year, 18 of 32 NATO members are expected to meet the objective of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense. This is a record.

More on NATO: Trump threatens to 'encourage' attack of NATO allies

NATOs importance to continued stability has moved beyond simple collective defense. Its current role in support of Ukraine is a prime example. Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, the alliances role in orchestrating support to Ukraine demonstrates its relevance and effectiveness, all based on the consent of its 32 members. If Russia cannot be deterred and defeated in its invasion of a sovereign, European state, it brings the alliance and its members one step closer to direct military conflict with a Russia that seeks to expand its empire of tyranny, with Poland and the Baltic states likely in its crosshairs.

NATO today is a complex alliance that focuses on establishing stable and predictable relations among trading partners and a rules-based system of international law focused on democratic principles. U.S. leadership is today more important than ever. A strong NATO alliance sends a clear signal of deterrence to other nations such as China and Russia that seek to expand their influence militarily. Ensuring a strong collective defense and security through NATO has proven its worth for the past 75 years and, with continued U.S. participation and leadership, will do so for the next 75.

F. Andrew Turley, major general USAF (retired)

F. Andrew Turley, Major General, USAF (retired), is a member of The American College of National Security Leaders, a non-partisan organization composed of retired U.S. Generals, Admirals, Ambassadors, and Senior Government Executives devoted to ensuring a strong and effective national security and foreign policy.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NATO anniversary points to its crucial role defending democracy
SHEBOYGAN  The Soviet Union could have been the first to step foot on the moon if Sheboygan's Fred Schneikert wasn't on guard duty to accept the surrender of a group of German scientists in the waning days of World War II.

In May 1945, with Adolph Hitler already dead in his bunker, both American and Soviet Union forces focused on obtaining German technology with the defeat of Nazi Germany.

A group of German scientists led by Wernher von Braun realized the war was ending. The scientists decided it would be better to be captured by Americans than the Soviets, according to an article in Air and Space Forces magazine.

Magnus von Braun, left, Pfc. Frederick P. Schneikert, middle, and Wernher von Braun, right, pose, Tuesday, May 8, 1945, following the two von Braun scientists surrender to the U.S. Army at the end of World War II. Magnus von Braun approached Schneikert on a bicycle to surrender.

Magnus von Braun, Wernher's brother, had a better handle on English than the famed scientist and was drafted for the surrender. He went on a bicycle in search of American troops.

Schneikert, a private first class with the U.S. Army's 44th Infantry Division who was fluent in German, was on guard duty in a ditch when a German approached him on a bicycle. Schneikert said in German: "Halt! Komme vorwarts mit die hande hoch!," which means "Stop! Come forward with your hands up!"

Magnus von Braun obeyed the order. He was the brother of Wernher, the German inventor of V-2 rockets. This encounter would begin the surrender of the famed rocket man Wernher von Braun, along with more than 100 of his scientist colleagues.

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Schneikert, who attended Holy Name grade school and Sheboygan High School, was at first skeptical in the encounter and said to his fellow soldiers, "Hey, I've got a nut here. What should I do with him?"

Schneikert, after the war, became a polyphase meter man for Wisconsin Power and Light. Former co-worker Ron Navis of Sheboygan Falls recalled he was a modest man who was one of the few German-speaking American soldiers at the time, which allowed him to fully understand what Magnus von Braun was saying to him. Navis thinks if it were anyone else, that man would have likely been shot.

RELATED - Optenberg fabricated metal boilers, machine bases and even wheels for the Navy in World War II

Wernher von Braun was head of the V-2 rocket development team. The rocket was used in the twilight hours of World War II. The rocket wizard was quoted in a 1952 Press clipping that if Germany had two more years on development of a V-2 rocket bomb, the outcome of the war could have been different.

Dr. Wernher von Braun (19121977) was one of the most important rocket developers and champions of space exploration in the twentieth century. As a youth he became enamored with the possibilities of space exploration by reading the work of Hermann Oberth, whose 1923 book The Rocket into Interplanetary Space, prompted von Braun to master calculus and trigonometry so he could understand the physics of rocketry.

After the group was detained by the U.S. troops, Pfc. Schneikert was assigned to guard the group for the next two weeks, according to a 1985 Sheboygan Press clipping announcing his death. He forged friendships with the scientists and, in particular, scientist von Braun, which would last a lifetime. Von Braun would stop in Sheboygan to visit Schneikert and invite Schneikert to a rocket launch in the 1960s.

Von Braun and his cadre of scientists were fearful of being dragged to the U.S., then sent back to Germany, which worried many of the group. It was decided by the government to offer guaranteed long-term employment to those who settled in the U.S.

According to the NASA website, as part of a military operation called Project Paperclip, he and an initial group of 125 scientists were sent to America to Fort Bliss, Texas. There, they worked on U.S. Army rockets and assisted in V-2 launches at the White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico.

In 1950, von Braun's team moved to Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama, to continue their missile work.

Von Braun became an advocate for space exploration during the 1950s. He eventually became part of NASA, where he became the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the super booster that would send Americans to the moon.

World War II veteran Fred Schneikert as he appeared in a 1958 Sheboygan clipping.

Schneikert married Erna Steffen of Fond du Lac in 1940. Following the war, he lived a quiet life working and later spending his retirement years in Largo, Florida. Erna died in 1975, and Schneikert married Peggy MacDonald of Sheboygan in 1976. Peggy died in 1982, and Schneikert came back to Sheboygan in 1985.

Schneikert, who died in 1985 at age 75, was a member of the Jensen-Van Thruler Chapter 15 of Disabled American Veterans and of Sheboygan Memorial Post 9156 Veterans of Foreign Wars.

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: Nazi rocket scientists, Wernher von Braun surrendered to Sheboygan man
Nebraska legislators overwhelmingly voted against modifications to the states electoral system that would have awarded one presidential candidate all of its electoral votes  a change that would benefit former president Donald Trump.

On Wednesday evening, the Republican-majority legislature voted 36-8 against the proposal which would have switched the states current method of distributing electoral votes to a winner-take-all system.

Unlike most states, Nebraska does not award all five electoral votes to the statewide winner. Instead, two of its electoral votes go to the statewide winner and the other three are awarded to each congressional district.

While Nebraska is a solid red state, in 2020 President Joe Biden received one electoral vote thanks to the Second District.

That single electoral vote could, in theory, decide the outcome of the 2024 election if Mr Biden were to win Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan and Mr Trump were to win Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Nebraskas single electoral vote to Mr Biden would hand him the presidency otherwise that matchup would tie Mr Biden and Mr Trump, sending the decision to the House of Representatives.

Mr Trump and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen pushed for the states lawmakers to adopt the change, claiming the state should do what the founders intended in making the change to align Nebraska with the rest of the US.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen delivers his State of the State address, Jan. 25, 2023, (AP)

Chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, Jane Kleeb, disputed this, saying the current system is a fair electoral system and criticised Mr Pillen for succumbing to the pressure of conservative voices.

We are proud of our unique electoral vote system and know all too well the economic benefits it generates with a national focus on our state, Ms Kleeb said.

Senator Loren Lippincott, who sponsored the original bill, argued that a winner-take-all system would give rural voters more of a voice.

The district plan, what we have now, discourages candidates from discussing issues that appeal to the state as a whole by rewarding candidates who visit our congressional districts with higher populations and income levels to the exclusion of rural Nebraska, Mr Lippincott said last year.

But it was doubtful the measure would pass with just days remaining in the tightly-packed legislative session before it ends on 18 April.

Senator Julia Slama attached the change as an amendment to an unrelated bill in the hopes of getting it passed but ultimately it failed.

Though several days are left in the legislative session to advance the proposal, Ms Slama said on X that the winner-takes-all proposal isnt moving in 2024.
Sara Netanyahu is known as the unofficial lirst lady and wielding a disproportionate amount of power behind the scenes - ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Benjamin Netanyahus wife Sara is reportedly building a private hair salon at the expense of Israeli taxpayers.

Citing security concerns, the prime ministers wife, known for her luxury lifestyle, has taken over a private apartment near the couples Jerusalem home, according to reports.

It is the latest scandal to hit the Israeli prime minister and his family. Just weeks after the war broke out in October 2023, the couple also courted controversy when they decamped to the villa of a wealthy American billionaire, kitted out with a nuclear bunker, in spite of having multiple official residences in Israel and in contravention of national law.

According to Israeli news outlet Walla, the apartment is currently undergoing extensive renovations paid for with taxpayer money, including the installation of a hair-washing sink and vanity station.

Mrs Netanyahus hairdresser, Moshe Butbul, told Haaretz the site had been set up for meetings.

Known as the unofficial First Lady in Israel and wielding a disproportionate amount of power behind the scenes as the longest standing wife of the PM, Sara Netanyahu has frequently courted controversy.

In 2019, her lawyers struck a plea bargain deal to settle allegations she had misused public funds to order lavish meals from celebrity chefs at one of the couples official residences, despite also employing a cook.

No stranger to controversy

Last year, the PM also asked the treasury to raise the allowances for the likes of hair styling, clothing and make-up for the couple.

Also last year, the couple faced charges of corruption, and were accused of receiving lavish gifts including diamonds, champagne and cigars in return for assisting a wealthy American donor with visa issues.

Mr Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing.

As Israels war in Gaza rages and sentiment against the government continues to rise, the couple have increasingly come under fire.

With more than 130 hostages believed to still be in Gaza and with no end to the war in sight, calls for Mr Netanyahus resignation are growing.

The couples youngest son, Yair, known for his controversial views and partying lifestyle, has also come under fire. Since last year, he has been living in a luxury complex in Miami, with Israeli taxpayers footing the bill for security costs said to be in the region of $2m annually.

It has also led to calls for him to return to support the war effort as Israel loses hundreds of soldiers in the bloodiest Gaza war since terror group Hamas took over the strip in 2007. Thousands of reservists have been called to the front lines.

Israels retaliation to the Hamas invasion of October 7 has since led to the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The prime ministers office was approached for comment.

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Steve Caccamo, a former student at the Academy at Ivy Ridge, poses for a photo in his apartment, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in New York. A Netflix docuseries spotlighting abuse allegations at the long-shuttered Academy at Ivy Ridge in rural northern New York has prompted dozens of new complaints to the local prosecutor and a fresh investigation. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)

A Netflix docuseries spotlighting abuse allegations at a long-shuttered boarding academy for teens in rural northern New York has prompted dozens of new complaints to the local prosecutor and a fresh investigation.

The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping started streaming last month. The three-part series by filmmaker Katherine Kubler, who was sent to the Academy at Ivy Ridge for 15 months, features former students describing an oppressive institution where teens were barred from going outside, looking out the window or smiling, and where staff violently restrained and sexually and psychologically abused students.

Former students say the documentary, which has been viewed over 11 million times, validates their experiences after years of not being believed.

In 20 years, I never spoke. And that documentary gave me a voice, said Steve Caccamo, who was sent to Ivy Ridge in 2003 at 16.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary Pasqua said over 50 complaints have come into his office, including allegations of physical, mental and sexual abuse at Ivy Ridge. Pasqua, elected in 2017, said none had come in before the documentary began streaming.

After the documentary, officials in New York cleared a path for former students to apply for crime victim compensation and a state agency that runs a local psychiatric center put some employees on leave amid the allegations against former Ivy Ridge staffers.

Ivy Ridge was established in 2001 and closed in 2009 on the site of a former college near Ogdensburg, New York, one of multiple institutions affiliated with the now-defunct World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, or WWASPS. Ivy Ridge was marketed as a boarding school for teens with behavioral issues. A state education official in 2006 called it, principally a behavior modification center.

In 2005, police were called to the academy when rioting students smashed windows and overturned furniture, with some fleeing the campus.

A few months later, then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer found Ivy Ridge had grossly misrepresented its academic credentials and issued unauthorized high school diplomas. Under a settlement, 113 graduates received partial tuition refunds totaling more than $1 million. The academys roughly 400-student enrollment plummeted, and it closed four years later.

Police investigated some complaints, such as improper medical care, but they could not be corroborated when the academy was open, Pasqua said. Former students have said they couldnt communicate freely there.

Recent allegations are mostly from former students and include parents as well, Pasqua said. Hes working with state police and the county sheriffs office to assess the complaints for in-depth interviews.

While there is no time limit for prosecuting certain serious sex crimes, its likely many complaints won't be pursued; New York requires most felony prosecutions to begin within five years and the academy has been closed for 15.

If there is something there that we can prosecute and were confident that the allegations are true, and then thats what were going to do, Pasqua said.

Former students say they want similar institutions shut down and the abusive staffers barred from jobs where they watch over vulnerable people.

Kelly Heise, 37, said in a statement to Pasqua that Ivy Ridge officials cited a nonexistent court order to keep her there after she turned 18. The Connecticut resident recounted traumatic abuse, saying she was once forced outside for an hour in January in a T-shirt and a skirt, on her birthday.

She sees the documentary as a breakthrough after hitting brick wall after brick wall in seeking accountability.

That shadow, that lingering monster that weve felt like weve been under for so long, is gone, said Nicholas Chiofalo Jr., 35, who was sent Ivy Ridge when he was 16 and says he was abused physically, mentally and sexually.

Five former Ivy Ridge workers and managers who were named in the documentary did not respond to calls or emails from The Associated Press.

WWASPS founder Robert Lichfield said in a statement that his companies provided marketing services for schools, but he neither owned nor operated Ivy Ridge.

I didnt hire or train the staff or employ professionals at Ivy Ridge but I find it extremely unlikely that the vast majority would be anything but caring and committed to assisting the students, Lichfield wrote.

Now, not only can former Ivy Ridge students apply for compensation, including counseling costs, in cases that lead to criminal charges, but also when prosecutors say a crime was committed beyond the statute of limitations, according to the state Office of Victim Services, which can extend the usual one-year window for good cause.

The state Office of Mental Health, saying it takes abuse allegations seriously, confirmed it placed an undisclosed number of people on leave as we assess this matter. The agency runs the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg, but it wouldnt confirm where the individuals work now or in the past.

Pasqua said that just because someone worked at Ivy Ridge, it doesnt mean theyre guilty of a crime or a coverup, and that it's important to let the investigations play out. Former staffers' names and pictures have been posted online and officials have expressed concern over reports of harassment.

Caccamo said a reunion and peaceful protest is planned in Ogdensburg this month. The former campus is closed off, but Caccamo hopes to be able to briefly enter one of the buildings when he's back.

I want to walk in that place knowing I have that power to walk out at any time, he said.
A GP surgery in Kent has asked patients to bring their own batteries for blood pressure and heart checks in order to clamp down on waste.

The practice told anyone having a 24-hour electrocardiogram (ECG) or 24-hour blood pressure test that they would have to bring in two AA batteries.

The surgery said the machines used for the tests, usually issued to patients at a hospital, had been donated and offered convenience to anyone needing the check up, as the nearest hospital was about 10 miles away.

One person was messaged by the Marden Medical Centre to say: This is a reminder of your appointment which is booked. If you have booked a 24hr Blood Pressure or 24hr ECG appointment ONLY, please bring two AA Duracell batteries for the machine.

A medical centre spokesman told Kent Online that the measure was in place as part of attempts to keep down costs and stop wastage.

Our 24-hour electrocardiogram (ECG) recording machine is an additional service we provide, having been donated by fundraising efforts of the Friends of Marden Medical Centre. It is a convenient alternative to going to hospital for the check.

It requires fresh batteries every time it is used to make sure it works properly. Providing new batteries each time would be costly and create wastage, and we found rechargeable batteries were not effective.

This policy is in line with our drive to support sustainability and a greener NHS, as patients can continue to use the batteries they provide at home afterwards.

It costs around 4 for a pack of four Duracell AA batteries.

Rated outstanding

The practice was rated outstanding overall by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after a visit in 2019.

In 2022, the British Medical Association outlined guidance on what GPs should charge patients for.

This included certificates, whether it be a private sick note for employers, a certificate for insurance purposes, or a freedom from infection certificate which can be used for school, travel or employment,

Taking extracts from records or providing health reports was also said to be chargeable, but there was no mention of batteries.

It comes after different surveys have found the publics satisfaction with GP services are at an all-time low.

Last week, a report by the Kings Fund and Nuffield Trust think tanks found more people were dissatisfied with their family doctor than ever before.

On Wednesday a survey of 90,000 adults published by the Office for National Statistics found one in 10 people had been unable to make contact with their surgery the last time they had tried.

It said it took two or more days for most people to hear back for those who did make contact, while 7.4 per cent said they were told to call back another day or ring 111 because the practice could not help.

Almost a third of patients said they had found it difficult or very difficult to get an appointment while just under half said it had been easy.

An NHS spokesman said: Almost two-thirds of people are happy with their experience and millions more are being given appointments compared to before the pandemic.

The latest NHS data shows there were 30.5 million appointments delivered by GPs and their teams in February 2024, compared with 24.7 million in February 2020.

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Buses ready for services are pictured at the Central Bus stand in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 5, 2024. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe urged officials to maintain essential and public services during the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year season, a statement from the President's Media Division (PMD) said on Thursday. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)

COLOMBO, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe urged officials to maintain essential and public services during the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year season, a statement from the President's Media Division (PMD) said on Thursday.

The PMD said officials were directed to develop an initiative to guarantee the smooth operation of essential services without any disruptions during the festive season.

The president has also directed the security forces to ensure public security across the country, according to the PMD. 
The centrist political party No Labels announced Thursday it was calling off its plan to launch a third-party unity ticket for Novembers presidential election after it failed to find a candidate with a credible path to winning the White House.

In a statement, first obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the party said not putting a ticket together was the responsible course of action as it became clear nobody was near competing with Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the job.

Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before, the party wrote in a statement. But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.

For months, the party teased that itd offer a ticket thatd appeal to centrist voters who were disillusioned with both Trump and Biden. Now, the party is only promising to continue fighting for those who find themselves somewhere between Biden and Trumps politics.

Like many Americans, we are concerned that the division and strife gripping the country will reach a critical point after this election, regardless of who wins, No Labels statement continued. Post-election, No Labels will be prepared to champion and defend the values and interests of America's commonsense majority.

Rahna Epting, the executive director of liberal activist group MoveOn, cheered the partys announcementand encouraged independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to also bow out of the race.

Millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House, she posted to X. Now, its time for Robert Kennedy Jr. to see the writing on the wall that no third party has a path forward to winning the presidency. We must come together to defeat the biggest threat to our democracy and country: Donald Trump.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The centrist group No Labels is scrapping its plan to offer a third-party choice in the 2024 election after failing to recruit a credible presidential candidate to lead the ticket.

Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before, the organization said in a statement. But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the dark money group had reached out to 30 potential candidates as it sought to build a so-called unity ticket for voters disappointed with the looming rematch between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

No Labels launched its third-party pitch with grand ambitions and a reported mountain of cash: The organization planned to spend $70 million on its campaign to secure ballot access around the country for a unity ticket. From the start, the project raised concerns among Democrats that the third-party effort could undermine Biden and help tip the election to Trump  a fear that is further exacerbated by Robert Kennedy Jr. running as an independent.

While the organization billed its ticket as a centrist option for Americans who feel politically homeless, No Labels is best understood as a voice for billionaires and corporate executives  a front group that has repeatedly fought for the wealthiest Americans interests in Washington. No Labels steadfastly refused to disclose who was funding its ballot access campaign  and due to a campaign finance loophole, the group will never be required to report who paid for this failed effort.

Its not clear there was ever a mass audience for the brand of centrist, corporate politics the organization has espoused  but its primary challenge has been finding a candidate. One major reason for that is that organizations like the centrist Democratic group Third Way worked diligently to dissuade potential candidates from joining the No Labels effort, arguing the group had no chance of winning and would only boost Trump.

Retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a No Labels co-chair, passed on running on its ticket. Another co-chair, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), decided to run for Senate instead. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) and ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie both declined the idea of running on the No Labels ticket after ending their Republican primary bids against Trump.

As one longtime political operative told Rolling Stone last month, No Labels was desperate to nominate any credible candidate, and none want to run with them.

No Labels unnamed delegates voted last month to move forward with the unity ticket plan, despite its inability to find a candidate. The organization announced the formation of a Country Over Party Committee, a group of 12 people who would help No Labels select a presidential and vice presidential candidate.

Last week, a key member of that presidential selection committee  No Labels founding chair and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)  died after a fall.

A year and a half ago, we were the first to warn that No Labels presidential bid was doomed, dangerous, and would divide the anti-Trump coalition, Third Ways executive vice president for public affairs, Matt Bennett, said in a statement Thursday. Joined by a wide array of allies, we waged a campaign to dissuade any serious candidate from joining their ticket. We are deeply relieved that everyone rejected their offer, forcing them to stand down. While the threat of third-party spoilers remains, this uniquely damaging attack on President Biden and Democrats from the center has at last ended.

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After years of heavy-breathing hints about giving polarization-fatigued Americans a bipartisan presidential choice, and months of painstakingly obtaining ballot access in nearly two dozen states, the 14-year-old centrist nonprofit No Labels has decided to not act like a political party after all.

"Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before," founding CEO Nancy Jacobson said in a press release Thursday afternoon. "But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down."

According to The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news, Jacobson had recently told supporters that the group went 0 for 30 in reaching out to potential "unity ticket" candidates. Among the refuseniks: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (IAriz.), runner-up 2024 GOP contender Nikki Haley, vanquished Democratic challenger Dean Phillips (DMinn.), former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.).

Besides confronting the cruel math of third party/independent presidential politics, the organization is still reeling from the sudden death on March 27 of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, the longtime former senator (both Democratic and independent), who made history as Al Gore's running mate in the razor-thin 2000 election.

This latest failure of establishment/moneyed centrism in presidential politics follows the derailed ambitions of Haley, Bill Weld, Michael Bloomberg, Howard Schultz, Evan McMullin, and plenty of others. Those with longer memories may recall the 2012 flash-in-the-pan Americans Elect, an internet-based third party that obtained ballot access in 29 states before abruptly closing shop.

Jacobson in her statement tried to put a brave face on things, but it's hard to imagine the organization doing much more than pushing its bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus on Capitol Hill.

"We willremain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lives. We will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith," she vowed. "Like many Americans, we are concerned that the division and strife gripping the country will reach a critical point after this election, regardless of who wins. Post-election, No Labels will be prepared to champion and defend the values and interests of America's commonsense majority."

The group's mushy, hawkish, 30-point Common Sense Policy agenda will now have to be championed mostly outside the presidential race. Why? Because the people gaining traction on the political margins are not D.C. lifers repackaging ancient Reaganism. They are outsiders, even the one with the famous name.

In five-way national polling, independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is averaging 10.5 percentnumbers not seen since the days of Ross Perotand fellow independent Cornel West is at 2 percent, with presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein at 1.7 percent. Most polls as of yet do not include anyone from the Libertarian Party (L.P.), whose nominating convention is in late May, with no clear front-runner. The L.P. is coming off three consecutive third-place presidential finishes.

Kennedy, Stein, and the Libertarian nominee are all good bets to qualify for a majority of state ballots, with the L.P. currently in the lead, though Kennedy has plenty of money to throw at the problem. Notably, and very unlike No Labels, those three candidates plus West are all considerably more dovish on foreign policy than either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.

With American public opinion souring on Israel's war against Hamas, the anti-interventionist vote, which is constantly underrated by the more hawkish journalistic class, has plenty of alternative candidates to choose from. No Labels may be over, but third party sentiment in 2024 is alive and well.

The post No Labels Is No Mas for the 2024 Election appeared first on Reason.com.
The centrist group No Labels is ending its attempt to put forth a third-party presidential ticket after failing to find candidates to lead it.

Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before, the group said in a statement. But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that No Labels was abandoning their plans.

No Labels had sought to raise tens of millions of dollars to support a unity ticket and worked to gain access to the ballot in a significant number of states. The group claimed to have done so in 21.



But it never succeeded in convincing a prominent politician to run under its banner. Among those it sought to recruit included Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. As rejections piled up, the group looked at lower ranking officials, including former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan. But he too declined.

"I still think it was a valiant effort but the grip of the two party system won't let go despite their failures," said former Republican North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who was a national co-chair of the organization until he resigned a few weeks ago.

The end of the bid comes at a time when the group is mourning its co-founder, Joe Lieberman, who died last week at the age of 82.

The groups decision not to field a ticket will likely be celebrated by Democrats, who had long warned that No Labels effort would have helped boost Donald Trump and harm President Joe Biden.

The group, in its statement, said it will remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lifetimes. We will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith.

A Biden campaign spokesperson declined to comment and a spokesperson for the Trump campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sam Stein contributed to this report.
FILE - A No Labels banner at the National Press Club, in Washington, Jan. 18, 2024. The No Labels group says it won't field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization were unable to attract a candidate willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson said in a statement Thursday that "the responsible course of action is for us to stand down." ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

NEW YORK (AP)  The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization failed to attract a high-profile centrist willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House, Nancy Jacobson, the group's CEO, said in a statement sent out to allies. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.

The unexpected announcement further cements the general election matchup between the two unpopular major party candidates, Biden and Trump, leaving anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the only prominent outsider still seeking the presidency. Kennedy says he has collected enough signatures to qualify for the fall ballot in five states.

No Labels' decision, which comes just days after the death of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, caps months of discussions during which the group raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. It was cheered by relieved Democrats who have long feared that a No Labels' ticket would fracture Biden's coalition and help Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

The Wall Street Journal first reported No Labels' decision.

Millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House," said MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting, a No Labels critic. "Now, its time for Robert Kennedy Jr. to see the writing on the wall that no third party has a path forward to winning the presidency. We must come together to defeat the biggest threat to our democracy and country: Donald Trump.

Stefanie Spear, a spokesperson for Kennedy, said No Labels' struggles were testimony to the stranglehold of the corrupt two-party duopoly on American democracy.

Kennedy announced earlier in the day that he had collected enough signatures to qualify for the general election in five states, including swing states Nevada and North Carolina. A super PAC backing his campaign, American Values 2024, says it has collected signatures for Kennedy in several other states, including battlegrounds Arizona and Georgia. Democrats are challenging the validity of signatures collected by the group, which is not legally allowed to coordinate with Kennedy.

No Labels said it had qualified for the ballot in 21 states, but ultimately, the centrist group could not persuade a top-tier moderate from either party to embrace its movement.

No Labels delegates voted overwhelmingly in March to launch the process of creating a bipartisan presidential and vice presidential ticket. But by then, No Labels had been rejected, publicly and privately, by many Democratic or Republican candidates.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign for the GOP presidential nomination last month, had said she would not consider running on the No Labels ticket. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., ruled out running and former Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., decided to run for the U.S. Senate.

Last month, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican candidate for president in 2024, said he wouldnt run under the No Label banner, either.

The group had been weighing the nomination of a unity ticket, with a presidential candidate from one major party and a vice presidential candidate from the other, to appeal to voters unhappy with Biden and Trump.

We are deeply relieved that everyone rejected their offer, forcing them to stand down, said Matt Bennett of the centrist group Third Way, which had been fighting No Labels 2024 ambitions. While the threat of third-party spoilers remains, this uniquely damaging attack on President Biden and Democrats from the center has at last ended.

Biden supporters had worried No Labels would pull votes away from the president in battleground states and had been critical of how the group would not disclose its donors or much about its decision-making. No Labels never named all of its delegates and most of its deliberations took place in secret.

Dan DuPraw, a 33-year-old sales worker in Philadelphia who would have been a delegate to a No Labels convention, said the decision was disappointing but prudent. He trusts the No Labels leadership to make the right call.

I understand why they made the decision, and I think its the right thing to do in this moment, DuPraw said. But Im so disappointed that we get Trump and Biden again. I think its such a horrible thing for our country.

DuPraw said he will now decide between Biden and Kennedy.

"Im excited that there are other options than the two main parties," he said.

___

Cooper reported from Phoenix.
No signs of fuel, battery acid in water samples from day of Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore

BALTIMORE  Samples of Patapsco River water collected the day of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge did not contain signs of fuel or battery acid, according to test results obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

The cargo vessel that collided with the bridge, the Dali, was carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials, including lithium batteries, and had more than 1 million gallons of fuel onboard when it lost power early in the morning of March 26 and hit a support column, toppling the bridge.

The samples, taken between 1:55 p.m. and 3:42 p.m. March 26 by the Maryland Department of the Environment, were analyzed by Maryland Spectral Services, a laboratory in Baltimore County, between March 27 and April 1.

Maryland Department of the Environment spokesperson Jay Apperson said Wednesday that the samples were taken upriver and downstream of the crash site, and that these are the first results.

There was no detection of any of those contaminants, Apperson said. These results will be used as a baseline for comparison with water quality testing results throughout response, recovery and reconstruction. Sampling will continue indefinitely every few days as needed.

Serena McIlwain, Marylands environment secretary, said Tuesday that all 56 containers with hazardous materials have been accounted for and 14 were crushed.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said last week that a review of the Dalis ship manifest revealed that 56 containers onboard at the time held 764 tons of mostly corrosives, flammable, and miscellaneous hazardous materials, including lithium-ion batteries.

Maryland Department of the Environment Deputy Secretary Suzanne Dorsey said at a news conference Wednesday that the state is still unsure how many of the 4,700 containers fell off the ship.

We are not aware of exactly how many containers are in the water, but we continue to sample to ensure the safety and the health of the Patapsco River, Dorsey said.

Rain, wind and thunder continued to hinder cleanup operations around the bridge Wednesday.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said crews are prepared to use cranes to remove undamaged shipping containers off the ship.

We are staged to begin lifting the first of those undamaged containers off the bow of the ship. We need to lift those undamaged containers off to give us space to safely operate to begin to plan to remove portions of the bridge that are also embedded into the ship, Gilreath said. Were staged and ready to go. We just need a break in the weather to be able to start those operations.

Gilreath also said bad weather has delayed the removal of a 350-ton chunk of the Key Bridge.

We are again waiting for another weather window to be able to do that 350-ton lift, Gilreath said. Those are friction-break cranes, and its just not safe with this rain to operate in those conditions.

Gilreath added that eight vessels, all barges and tugboats, have passed through temporary channels on the northeast and southwest side of the crash site that are 11 and 14 feet deep. The center channel where the Dali remains is 50 feet deep.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said his agency has entered its first emergency contract under an allocation of $60 million in federal relief funds for initial work to clear one of the alternative passageways.

Wiedefeld said his department was having several meetings a day with the Federal Highway Administration to consider the state transportation departments next request for emergency funding. After that will be a large request, the money to build a new bridge.

_____

(Baltimore Sun reporter Dan Belson contributed to this article.)

_____
When the New Jersey Domestic Worker Bill of Rights was signed into law in January, it followed years of campaigning by various organizations to get the bill passed. One of those groups is opening its first New Jersey office.

Adhikaar, a New York-based nonprofit and women-led organization that works with the growing Nepali-speaking communities in New Jersey and New York on social justice and human rights, has opened an office in Jersey City.

The office, located on Summit Avenue near the Journal Square PATH Station, will serve Nepali-speaking domestic workers who work in New Jersey, according to Narbada Chhetri, the incoming co-executive director for Adhikaar (which means "rights" in Nepali).

Domestic workers celebrating the passage of a "bill of rights" in Trenton on Jan. 8, 2024.

Immigrants who can trace their roots back to Nepal, the South Asian country located between China and India, were the fastest-growing Asian American population in the most recent U.S. census, with those identifying as at least part Nepali increasing from about 59,000 in 2010 to almost 220,000 in 2020. Over 60,000 live in the New York City metropolitan area.

Nepali community grows in NJ

Many have taken jobs as nannies, housekeepers and in other domestic roles, often in under-the-table, unregulated positions that left them open to exploitation, advocates say. Adhikaar, which has its main office in Woodside, Queens, serves 7,500 clients. Of those, close to 1,800 are domestic workers.

"If something happens like a wage violation, work violation, anything ... if there's an issue in New Jersey, then it's very hard to find a lawyer for legal representation in New Jersey because we are based in New York," Chhetri said. "This is very important to have this space so that it's easier to provide training and other things."

Adhikaar says it defines its community as descendants of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Burma and Tibet who speak Nepali.

It joined other groups such as the Morris County-based Wind of the Spirit seven years ago to campaign for the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. But the nonprofit found it difficult to find office space in New Jersey for its members to meet for organizing purposes. Most times, New Jersey members would have to travel to Adhikaar's Queens office.

More: NJ law requires translation and interpretation services for 7 non-English languages

Domestic Worker Bill of Rights sets new protections

The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, estimated to cover 50,000 people in the state, establishes protections against discrimination and retaliation by employers, mandates meal and rest breaks and requires written agreements to document employee hours, wages and duties. It also requires advance notice of termination and other protections for live-in domestic staff.

The Jersey City office, Chhetri said, will initially be open on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate the schedules of Adhikaar's clients, who typically work long hours on weekdays. The office will be a meeting space for members to get training for CPR and nanny work as well as education in workers' rights and learning English.

Uma Khanal, who works as a nanny and lives in Jersey City, said through a translator that she looks forward to helping her fellow Nepali, many of whom live in Parsippany, Secaucus and other local towns. She will work in the new office as a second job.

"I love my community, and whatever I know, I want to share that information and knowledge," Khanal said. "Now that the new bill has been passed, there is a lot of work to be done."

Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

Twitter: @ricardokaul

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Nonprofit serving Nepali domestic workers opens North Jersey office
A Dallas County man has been arrested and faces charges connected with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials said.

Steve Saxiones of Cedar Hill was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Wednesday, according to a Department of Justice news release. The 46-year-old is allegedly a member of the Proud Boys organization and has been accused of assaulting law enforcement officers at the Capitol.

The afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, law enforcement officers set up a barricade using bike racks on the lower West Plaza of the Capitol and deployed tear gas in an effort to keep a group of rioters away from the building.

Court documents state that one of the rioters, later identified as Saxiones, repeatedly tried to push against the barricade and threw his weight into the police line, according to the release. He eventually moved to the end of one of the barricades and allegedly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around one of the officers.

Other officers responded, and Saxiones was arrested at the Capitol. At that time, he was released without being charged, the release said.

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Court records say Saxiones communicated with other Proud Boys members about travel plans and logistical details in the days leading up to the Capitol riot, according to the release.

Im thinking of carrying a IIIA Kevlar vest I have it has more coverage than my plate carrier and its lighter Im also flying AA, Saxiones wrote in an instant messaging group discussion.

He also posted a photo of himself with a black face covering in a message about concealing his appearance, the release said.

Saxiones has been charged with the felony offenses of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assault on a federal officer, according to the release.

Hes also been charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, act of physical violence in the grounds or any of the Capitol buildings, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, act of physical violence in a restricted building or grounds and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority.

The investigation into the Capitol riot is ongoing, and more than 1,300 people have been charged with crimes related to the incident. More than 480 of those people were charged with assaulting or impeding a law enforcement officer, according to the release.

Anyone with tips related to the breach of the Capitol can call the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.
SEOUL, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Four foreign carmakers in South Korea will voluntarily recall some 50,700 vehicles for manufacturing defects, the transport ministry said Thursday.

Mercedes-Benz Korea will recall 27,406 units of eight different models, including E 350 4MATIC, for defective battery bolts, 8,833 units of 31 models including GLC 300 4MATIC for faulty fuse, and 8,058 units of two models including GLE 450 4MATIC for software error in the gearbox control unit, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Stellantis Korea will recall 3,229 units of Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV to repair the defective control arm, while Honda Motor will fix the faulty circuit board of passenger seat on 1,692 units of seven models such as Accord sedan.

Jaguar Land-Rover Korea will recall 1,542 units of 13 different models, including Range Rover 5.0SC, due to defective housing in rear cameras.

Vehicles owners can visit repair and service centers to replace the faulty parts free of charge. 
NORTHGLENN, Colo. (KDVR)  It was standing room only at a Northglenn town hall Wednesday night. Neighbors expressed fears about a mental health transitional living facility where sex offenders could be in proximity to children.

Ten minutes before the town hall even started, Northglenn city staff put out additional chairs and offered an overflow section outside the room to accommodate the crowds of residents wanting to voice their concerns.

Mining blocked on nearly 222K acres of Colorado public lands

According to the city, there will soon be a new use of the buildings at 11255 and 11275 Grant Drive. This property was previously a senior care facility.

The city says the state of Colorado closed the facility in 2022 for violations. The Colorado Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health plans to establish a mental health transitional living home at this location to meet the requirements of House Bill 22-1303, which calls for an increase in behavioral health living accommodations.

The property is owned by a trust, and Cypress Cares will operate the facility on behalf of the state. Because it is a state facility, the city of Northglenn says it has no authority over the change of use.

Exterior of a house-like facility

Residents worry about Northglenn transitional home

Its 870-something feet away from an elementary school, concerned resident Shane Palacios said. You know, its 400 feet away from a church that hosts childrens events and stuff like that, and its just kind of concerning. Why this neighborhood and why so sudden?

Palacios, a dad of two, was among lines of residents doing their research and speaking out in front of a panel, including representatives from the state that would be over the facility.

These folks are already in our community. They are either coming out of the hospital or are already in a position where they are very ill in the community needing additional support, said Perry May, deputy executive director of health facilities for the Colorado Department of Human Services. So thats what these are, these steps, why this bill was passed by the legislature in 2022. Thats why these homes were created, because at the end of the day, were trying to make the community safer.

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Community members voiced opposing positions, expressing that they felt a decision to put a facility like this in the community would put the safety of adults and children in jeopardy.

Im a veteran with PTSD and I suffer from military sexual trauma. Im 700 feet from that place, one resident said.

My little girl is tiny and cute as can be, and Im sure no parent likes the thought or can even imagine their children being idolized by people, another resident said.

Colorado officials describe transitional housing plan

The Colorado Department of Human Services told FOX31 that the Northglenn homes will not be housing any sex offenders at this point. If any were accepted and admitted into the homes in the future, there would be a maximum cap of two at a time.

Officials with the state said they expect the homes will open in May, although that is based on licensing and other circumstances outside of their control, so it is subject to change. They said they are taking a phased approach to moving individuals in, admitting two initially and then two per week after that.

They expect it will take around eight weeks for the first 12 clients to get into the home. Then, they will continue to admit individuals gradually until they reach full capacity.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  No one can miss seeing the dozens of small notes with the words Not Our Texas written on them placed on buildings, fences, signs and even tree trunks all throughout the West Campus neighborhood. Some even reference an Instagram account with this same name, which is tied to a movement opposing a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on Texas college campuses.

The appearance of these slips of paper coincides with the announcement this week that the University of Texas at Austin is terminating at least 20 employees whose jobs are tied to DEI. Several sources confirmed the firings, which are supposed to take effect on July 5.

KXAN reached out Thursday afternoon to the organizers behind the Not Our Texas Instagram account, asking whether the notes are connected to their movement. This story will be updated once any responses are shared. The groups first post in February included a caption reading, #NOTOURTEXAS is a movement ignited to combat Texass implementation of Senate-Bill 17. Two days ago, another post mentioned holding an emergency meeting along with a statement slamming the firings.

In an email sent out Tuesday, UT President Jay Hartzell said the university eliminated its positions and programs under the Division of Campus and and Community Engagement (DCCE). This is due to Senate Bill 17, which prohibits many activities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Hartzell also wrote in his email that the law led the campus to evaluate its post-SB 17 portfolio of divisions, programs, and positions. The timing of this announcement comes exactly one week after Texas Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, sent a letter to the leaders of seven public colleges and universities throughout the state warning them about the consequences of not complying with SB 17.

Creighton also asked the respective school leaders to report their compliance efforts by May 3, which is around the time when the Senate Committee on Education will hold a hearing about this matter.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan posted a lengthy message on his X account applauding the news about UT letting go of these employees. The Beaumont Republican is facing a primary runoff next month against GOP challenger David Covey, who finished ahead of him during the initial election.

It is a victory for common sense and proof that the Legislatures actions are working, Phelan wrote in part.

This development, though, sparked intense criticism from UT students, local advocacy organizations and Democratic lawmakers. Texas Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, opposed SB 17 from the beginning and told KXAN his constituents discussed negative impacts, even before news of the UT firings.

Im mad as hell, and I hope other people are mad as hell, West said, because if theyre not, what youre getting now is going to be what youre continuing to get.

Reporting from Jala Washington, Jennifer Sanders, Ryan Chandler and Erica Pauda contributed to this story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Republicans in the New York state Assembly blasted soft-on-crime Democrats Wednesday, demanding they pass a package of bills to keep career criminals behind bars in the wake of hero NYPD cop Jonathan Dillers slaying last week.

The GOP lawmakers directed part of their ire at Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who has largely rejected criminal justice changes, such as boosting penalties for thugs who assault retail workers, as part of the must-pass state budget this year.

Unlike what Speaker Heastie indicates, and I have all respect for him, but sometimes you need to be punitive. You need to have penalties, Assemblyman Mike Reilly (R-Staten Island), a former NYPD Lieutenant, said.

Stephanie Diller called on politicians to take action in her eulogy for her husband last weekend. REUTERS

Its time that we actually need government action to do the things that we have to do, he continued.

The sweeping set of bills by the Assembly minority are centered around, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, the man charged with murdering Diller, a 31-year-old married dad of one and a 3-year veteran of the NYPD, during a traffic stop in Queens March 25.

Rivera had been arrested 21 times, including on robbery, felony assault and drug charges. He had just completed parole last year after being released from prison in 2021 where he spent five years on a drug conviction.

The GOP policy proposals include: reinstating the death penalty for cop killers; automatically remanding people charged with possessing an illegal firearm; making assaulting a police officer a hate crime; making all gun crimes bail eligible and increasing penalties for murder charges.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has doubled down in his stance that raising penalties does not result in deterring crime. Hans Pennink

Assembly Republicans are calling on Democrats to pass several bills in the wake of Officer Jon Dillers death, including implementing the death penalty on cop killers. scalle

Can we not agree that an individual, like this individual in this murder Officer Diller with 21 prior arrests who had gotten picked up for a weapons charge, can we not agree that that individual is in danger to our communities? Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Nassau) said.

State Senator Alexis Weik (R-Suffolk) placed the blame squarely at Heasties feet.

Speaker Heastie clearly stated last week that a plan to impose tougher penalties on criminals who attack retail workers wont work because raising penalties is not a deterrent on crime, his words. Just days after New York City police officer Jonathan Diller was murdered, Weik said.

The one-party rule in this state does not want penalties for criminal behavior. How many more of our loved ones die?

Heastie defended his stance that increased penalties arent a deterrent to crime speaking to reporters Wednesday.

Diller was married dad of one child.

I simply answered a question that was asked to me. I think we are going to come up with different ideas on how to deal with retail theft. I still say when people are assaulted theres a current law, Heastie said.

Diller was posthumously promoted to detective.
NEW YORK  An upstate New York man allegedly threatened state Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron with death and physical harm if they didnt drop the civil fraud case against Donald Trump.

Tyler Vogel, 26, of Lancaster, faces felony charges for allegedly making terroristic threats against James and Engoron in a series of late-night texts on March 24, according to court records. Vogel, who also faces aggravated harassment charges, obtained their phone numbers through a paid website, the Erie County district attorneys office alleged, declining to identify the AG or the judge as the targets.

Vogel was held without bail at his arraignment last week pending the outcome of a forensic examination and is expected to appear back in court on April 9. Lancaster Town Court Justice David Stabler ordered him to refrain from contacting the AG or the judge.

Spokespeople for the AG and the state Office of Court Administration declined to comment. The alleged threats are the latest in a steady stream levied against officials involved in Trumps New York cases over the last 12 months. Engorons Long Island home was targeted with a bogus bomb threat ahead of closing arguments at the fraud trial in January.

Trump was found liable for large-scale fraud on both ends of his Manhattan Supreme Court civil fraud trial that lasted almost three months. In a pretrial ruling, Engoron found that Trump and his top company executives at the Trump Organization exaggerated the values of his properties for years in annual financial statements, sometimes by billions, as they sought fruitful loan terms and other benefits they werent entitled to while doing business.

After the trial, Engoron determined the fraud was intentional and that Trump and his execs broke multiple state laws. He ordered them to pay at least $464 million in penalties, including interest, with the vast majority of that sum owed by Trump. The judge also placed the company under years-long strict supervision and issued temporary industry bans against Trump and his sons, Eric and Don Jr., as well as permanent bans against former finance executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.

Trumps legal defense team argued that the conduct was standard in the real estate biz, that banks and lenders were warned to do their own homework, and that the former president always repaid his loans.

The industry bans are temporarily on ice as Trump and his execs fight to get the judgments overturned. An appeals court recently allowed Trump to post a bond of $175 million as a guarantee hell be good to cough up around half a billion dollars if he loses his appeal down the line after his lawyers said it was practically impossible to come up with the total amount. According to The New York Times, Trump secured the mammoth sum from California auto loan billionaire Don Hankey, known for offering high-interest loans to borrowers with bad credit.

Vogel faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. The New York Daily News could not identify his lawyer to request comment.

_____
Police Commissioner Edward Caban on Wednesday backed the NYPDs aggressive new social media push against journalists and critics  though he stopped short of saying he agrees with the tone of some of the postings.

I can tell you that my executives are very passionate about defending their specific bureaus, Caban said when asked about a recent move by top NYPD brass to post sharp criticism online. And as an agency, I dont think we get credit, or the officers get credit, for the work we do.

In recent weeks, top NYPD brass, most notably Chief of Patrol John Chell and Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, as well as Chief of Transit Michael Kemper and the departments top spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, have called out a number of people on X.

The latest target, Harry Siegel, came under fire following a Sunday op-ed column for the Daily News in which he took issue with how police are portraying their efforts to fight crime in the subway. The column had a crime statistic error that Siegel corrected, but Chell, Kemper and Daughtry took exception with the tone of the column and the official NYPD account called the writer Harry Deceitful Siegel.

Chell and Sheppard in television interviews Tuesday refused to back down and said much the same at a Wednesday press conference.

Caban said police arent getting enough credit for their work.

Every time we do good work, everybody goes back to 2019, he told The News, referring to the year before violence spiked sharply. This administration wasnt here in 2019. They forget that in 2022, we inherited it.

We are down in crime for the first time in years, he added. Our officers are doing great work.

Caban said he didnt believe rank-and-file cops will follow their bosses examples and start calling out critics by name on social media, a move that could result in internal discipline.

Chell  who like precinct commanders and other brass has authorized social media accounts  last month apologized after he misidentified the Bronx judge who released a repeat offender without bail.

With Rocco Parascandola
Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden arrive at a ceremony to unveil the official Obama White House portraits at the White House on Sept. 7, 2022. The former president could be Biden's secret weapon as he seeks reelection. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Americas first Black president could be an effective surrogate to energize and persuade Black voters, who are unmoved by Bidens handling of the economy and outraged by Israels deadly war in Gaza.

As President Joe Biden navigates shaky terrain with Black voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, he may have at least one secret weapon on the campaign trail: former President Barack Obama.

President Obama continues to be an asset for Democrats, Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist, told theGrio. Fundraising  [and] mobilizing Black voters is a place he can help.

[Obama] was a key part of the closing crew in 2020 [and]  he was engaged in 22 in some key places, said Payne, referencing Obamas stumps throughout the final days of the 2020 presidential election, and the 2022 midterms. The election two years ago resulted in Democrats over-performing in contests against Republican candidates following the majority-conservative U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Payne, who was a staffer with the 2008 presidential campaign of former Sen. John Edwards, Obamas opponent in the Democratic primary, remembers the effectiveness of Obamas campaign style and how much it resonated with Democratic voters. That same political savvy can be an asset to his former vice president, Payne believes, by holding together his coalition, particularly Black voters, the Democratic Partys most reliable and consistent voting bloc.

Americas first Black president, who maintained a solid approval rating when he left office in 2016, remains a popular political figure who draws turnout and enthusiasm among key groups important to the Biden coalition. That coalition, held together by Black voters and arguably architected by Obamas 2008 presidential campaign, sent Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to the White House.

Obama could be an effective surrogate to energize and persuade Black voters amid steady polling that shows they remain unmoved by Bidens handling of the economy and outraged by his administrations response to Israels war in Gaza against the terrorist group Hamas that has so far killed more than 32,000 Palestinians.

Last week, Obama, along with former President Bill Clinton, joined Biden for a historic fundraiser that drew 5,000 attendees and raised a record $26 million. During a discussion with The Late Show host Stephen Colbert at New York Citys Radio City Music Hall, Obama made the case for why Biden is the best choice over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump when it comes to the Middle East conflict.

The 44th U.S. president said he selected Biden as his vice president because of his moral conviction and clarity and willingness to acknowledge that the world is complicated. Obama said that while the death toll in Gaza is heartbreaking, there is room for nuance to say we unequivocally support the people of Israel and have our hearts broken watching innocent people being killed.

President Joe Biden (center) is joined by former President Barack Obama (left) and former President Bill Clinton (right) for an interview in New York City. (Photo credit: Biden for President)

Hes exactly the kind of voice that can convey to Black folk: I know, you may not like everything thats happening, but I would rather trust our future with Biden, than the risk our future with Trump, Michael Blake, a former Obama campaign operative, told theGrio.

Reflecting on Obamas winning political trademark of hope and inspiration and how it could benefit Biden, Blake said that Obama is able to communicate a positive vision for the future in a hopeful manner. The CEO of the Kairos Democracy Project added, Running against a man whose entire approach is lets go backward, I would probably want to have a surrogate in President Obama whos talking about hope and moving forward.

Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a Biden confidant, told theGrio that Obama can serve as a validator and advocate for Joe Biden the man, as well as for what the Biden-Harris agenda means for not only this country but for the world and particularly the African-American community.

I think thats a clear contrast to the other side when he cant even get his own vice president to stand with him, said Seawright, in reference to former Vice President Mike Pence, who unsuccessfully ran against Trump in the Republican primary. Seawright noted that the electorate seems swayed by style over substance, seemingly referencing Trumps continued appeal to certain voters.

We dont dismiss that  certainly, Obama brings style and substance, he said. Its gonna take everybody to help this Democratic Party.

Payne, who worked on former Sen. Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign, noted that while Obama has used his star power to support the Biden agenda in the last few election cycles, it doesnt overshadow what President Biden needs to do.



I think he has some awareness of the challenges that President Biden is facing, he said, and also the fact that he does not need an ex-president not giving him the space to still develop his own political identity.

Payne predicts the Obama and Biden camps will be smart and measured about when they use him.

President Joe Biden (front) and former President Barack Obama step off Air Force One upon arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for a March 28 fundraiser. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Blake, who served three terms as a New York state assemblyman and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Black voters have to consider the future they want to see for America at a time when democracy and stability around the world are on the line.



As it relates to the Israel war in Gaza, which has particularly incensed young Black voters, Blake said Black people who care about whats happening in the Middle East will have to ask themselves, Do you want a president who seeks to be a diplomat and actually resolve conflict, or do you want someone who says that he wants to be a dictator, and wants to create more conflict?'

There is no perfect candidate, he said. But I would rather put policy in the hands of Joe Biden than ever putting it in the hands again of Donald Trump.

During last weeks star-studded fundraiser, Obama made clear that the presidential election wont solely rest on the negative case against Trump, but also the positive case for Bidens outstanding job in the presidency. The former president listed the Biden-Harris administrations accomplishments, including record-breaking job growth, the lowest recorded unemployment for Black Americans, lowering health care costs, and historic climate-smart investments.

We also have a positive story to tell about the future, and that is something Joe Biden has worked on diligently each and every day on behalf of working Americans, said Obama, and I expect him to continue to do that for the next four years and eight months.

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The post Obama could be Bidens secret weapon with Black voters appeared first on TheGrio.
The Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation in Watkinsville has hired an interim executive director and a new office administrator.

The hirings were announced recently in the wake of the firings of the previous two-full time employees seven months ago, which caused a rift in the organization. A lawsuit resulted and it is still pending in court.

Several OCAF members filed the suit against the current OCAF Board of Directors. Lawyers on both sides are still negotiating the matter, in which the OCAF group is seeking to examine certain records. A new election for the board of directors has been proposed as a way to settle the suit.

Paul Clark, the owner of a business consulting firm, CBiz Solutions in Athens, was appointed on an interim basis to the role of executive director. The new office administrator was announce as Tammy Mize, a former legal secretary with 32 years of experience.

OCAF Suit: Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation sue their own board; all local judges recuse themselves

Brock Toole, chairman of the board of directors for OCAF, said Clark does not want to be the full-time executive director.

"We always said we were going to hire an interim director and let them fix some of the processes and things that need to be corrected," Toole said.

When this new director is hired, Toole said, "They'll be able to rock n' roll like they should."

Clark, who received his bachelor and masters degrees in music education from the University of Georgia, had previously worked for the school system in Forsyth County, where among his duties was director of bands at South Forsyth High School.

OCAF Suit: Possible settlement of Oconee County Cultural Arts Foundation lawsuit on horizon

For nine years he has owned and operated CBiz Solutions, which deals in consulting with businesses, both private and nonprofit, to assist and streamline their operations.

In a statement released with the announcement, Clark said, In both music and business, excellence is not just a goal but a journey of continuous refinement.

Already on the OCAF staff are Lou Rex, a former Californian who worked for many years in hospitality and special events in the wine and horse racing operations, and Asley Watson, who grew up in Oconee County and is the art gallery preparator.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Arts organization in Watkinsville hires interim director
Odesa City Council proposes new names for streets named after Russian figures

Odesa City Council's historical and toponymic commission has proposed renaming three streets and one square in the historic center named after Russian historical figures, the council announced on April 4.

The commission recommended that Catherine Square and Catherine Street, named after Russian Empress Catherine II, should be renamed. The commission proposed European Square and European Street as the new names.

The statue of Catherine II that stood in the middle of the square was dismantled in December 2022 following a vote by Odesa residents.

Shortly after coming to power, Catherine II banned teaching in the Ukrainian language at the most prominent center of Ukrainian culture, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

The Empress later made the Russian language compulsory for all schools, ordered churches to conduct services only in Russian, and banned the publishing of books in Ukrainian.

The commission also proposed that Zhukovsky Street, named after the Russian poet Vasily Zhukovsky, should be renamed Lesia Ukrainka Street, after the Ukrainian poet.

The commission recommended that Bunin Street, named after the Russian writer Ivan Bunin, be given back its old name, Politseyska Street, after a nearby police station.

Ukraine's parliament outlawed most Soviet and communist symbols, street names, and monuments as part of a decommunization process in 2015.

Many cities, which had received new names under the Soviet authorities, were renamed to reflect their Ukrainian identity.

President Volodymyr Zelensky then signed a law in April 2023 that banned naming geographic sites in Ukraine after Russian figures or historical events in response to the Russian invasion.

Read also: Parliamentary committee backs renaming 7 cities and over 40 villages

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
YANGON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- As the upcoming Thingyan festival holidays in Myanmar approach, there is a surge in demand for overseas trips, U Naung Naung Han, president of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association told Xinhua on Thursday.

This year's overseas trips during the Thingyan festival holidays have witnessed a significant increase of approximately 50 percent compared to the previous year, he said.

Many people are opting for relaxation trips to destinations such as Thailand, India, and Vietnam, he added.

Domestic and international trips have gained popularity during the Thingyan period, surpassing the numbers observed in previous months.

However, local travel within Myanmar has experienced a decline during this year's Thingyan holidays compared to the previous year.

Despite the decrease in domestic travel, there has been a surge in hotel bookings at popular beach destinations such as Chaungtha and Ngwesaung. 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Last week, News 2 reported on Hickman County residents who are concerned about the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservations (TDEC) approval of a new water intake from the Duck River for Columbia Power and Water Systems.

It would increase the intake from the river by 12 million gallons a day over the existing 20 million, making a total of 32 million gallons a day. Residents are worried about the future of the river, which is considered one of the most bio-diverse rivers in the country.

PREVIOUS: Proposal has residents concerned for future of Duck River

On Wednesday, April 3, News 2 Meteorologist Davis Nolan spoke with the president and CEO of Columbia Power and Water Systems (CPWS) and the executive director of the Duck River Agency who defended the decisions that have been made.

(Photo: WKRN)

The program of work we are looking at, it involves taking our existing 20 million gallons a day withdrawal permit and expanding it by another 12, from 20 to 32, explained Jonathan Hardin, President and CEO of CPWS. We did an ecological model that showed that in times of drought, we would only be drawing the Duck River down by about two inches more than what Mother Nature would be doing on its own. This is to show that the Duck River and the ecology that is around it will not be artificially impacted by our withdrawals.

Check out the News 2 Severe Weather Resources Guide

(Photo: WKRN)

The Duck River is truly a state treasure that a lot of people dont know about, said Doug Murphy, executive director of the Duck River Agency. Its not only a state treasure, but its a treasure for the whole United States, our whole nation, and the reason is that its such a biologically diverse river. We have more species of aquatic animals on the Duck River than you can find anywhere else in the state of Tennessee and also in the nation. My job at the Duck River Agency is working with protecting the Duck River and also making sure we meet water supply needs for all the citizens that live in the Duck River. So we work real hard trying to balance that, because the last thing we want to do is harm our aquatic life in the Duck River, but we also want to protect the health and safety of all the citizens by providing clean and dependable water.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

The resident opposed to the new intake have formed a group called Hickman County for the Duck. TDEC has extended the deadline for them to appeal to Thursday, April 25.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A faculty member at The Ohio State University at Marion received one of the university's most prestigious teaching awards. Frances Sivakoff, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, is a recipient of school's 2024 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

It has not taken long for Sivakoff to have an impact on the learning of Ohio State Marion students, particularly in biology 1101 courses, Ohio State Marion Dean and Director Gregory S. Rose said in a news release.

"The innovative teaching methods she has introduced involve students in different and engaging ways of learning. Some innovations resulted from Frances deep thinking about how to develop effective methods of teaching during the remote learning sessions occasioned by COVID restrictions, while others have evolved from continued thinking since then," Rose said.

Frances Sivakoff, a faculty member at The Ohio State University at Marion, is a recipient of The Ohio State Universitys 2024 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching.

"Frances always shows concern for her students well-being and, as many of them note, provides positivity, uplift and encouragement to help them succeed," he added. "Ohio State Marion is excited to have Frances join the other superior faculty on this campus who have been recognized by this award."

Recognized by students and colleagues alike as an exemplary educator and mentor, Sivakoff has forged a notable teaching record underscored by consistently highly-rated student evaluations and positive testimonials. With a strong focus on teaching introductory biology courses for non-majors, students says they admire her clear expectations, helpful guidance, dedication to their success and ability to make complex topics understandable.

'An educator of a lifetime'

Sivakoff said she is honored and humbled by the award.

"I could not have done the excellent teaching that I have been acknowledged for without the support staff and my colleagues, all the help I have received," she noted in the release. "Number one, thank you to my students. Receiving this award is great."

Students consistently highlight Sivakoff's genuine care as she invests time in building personal connections and understanding their strengths, obstacles and aspirations.

Professor Sivakoff is what I like to call an educator of a lifetime, wrote an alumni nominator. She is a role model to all her students and genuinely cares about every one of them. She is also the professor who made me realize that I can do anything I set my mind. I consider myself lucky to have had her as my professor because she not only taught me the content that I needed to learn for my degree, she also taught me that the sky is the limit.

Committed to enhancing her teaching through professional development, Sivakoff participates in programs offered by Ohio States Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning and other sources, and she has redesigned her courses by leveraging technology and interactive formats.

Student commitment extends beyond the classroom

Sivakoff engages with students outside of class, providing guidance on course and career matters, advising student organizations and participating in student-focused activities.

She is an adviser for the Ohio State Marion student Science Club and serves on the annual awards committee for biology students. As a service to pre-college students in the Marion area, she has been a judge for the North Central Regional Science Fair held on campus and has mentored undergraduate researchers on the Marion and Columbus campuses. In 2022, she received the Ohio State Marion Outstanding Professor Award.

While Sivakoffs primary teaching duties are undergraduate courses, she advises and mentors graduate students and postdocs, serves on thesis and dissertation committees and runs an active research laboratory.

Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching recipients are recognized with a $5,000 honorarium made possible by gifts from The Ohio State University Alumni Association, University Advancement and the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA). In addition, OAA awards an increase of $1,200 to each recipients base salary. Members are also inducted into Ohio States Academy of Teaching.

Annually, a maximum of 10 faculty members are selected for the award in recognition of teaching excellence. Full-time Ohio State faculty members on all campuses with the rank of instructor through full professor in the clinical or tenure track who, in the past three years, have taught undergraduate and/or graduate/professional students are eligible for this award.

Sivakoff and other 2024 faculty award winners will be recognized April 30 at the Faculty Awards Celebration.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Ohio State Marion faculty member awarded distinguished teaching honor
A prominent Muslim leader is declaring his intention to represent the residents of Oklahoma City's northeast community.

Masood A. Haqq, 42, announced his campaign Thursday for Oklahoma City Council's Ward 7, which is the area where the city's historically Black community prominently resides on the northeast side of town. As a Black American Muslim man, his connection to the area runs deep and has been cultivated for more than a decade.

"OKC is on the cusp of becoming one of the greatest cities in the world, but it can only do that with a strong and thriving Ward 7," Haqq said. "As goes Ward 7, so goes OKC."

The announcement came after Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice, 43, filed to run for State Senate District 48 on Wednesday as a Democrat.

Haqq plans to run on a platform emphasizing economic development, expanding educational equity, improving health outcomes and protecting affordable senior care in Ward 7. Co-founder of Peace of Mind Pediatrics headquartered in the metro's northeast side, Haqq said he is keenly aware of how the intersection of these different topics affects the holistic development of an individual over their lifetime.

"When my wife and I opened a pediatric clinic in 2015, we wanted to invest in the future of Oklahoma, by raising the health care standard for children against all odds," Haqq said. "Ward 7 embodies the same spirit. We've been redlined, overlooked and underinvested in, yet we have as rich a history as anyone."

More: Free clinic in OKC's Eastside aims to bring critical health care access to those who need it

Masood A. Haqq is interviewed in Del City, Okla., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

Haqq, who moved from Atlanta to Oklahoma City in 2012, said he's running to be a voice for the northeast Oklahoma City community that carries immense pride in its history.

As board chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma, the state's largest Muslim civil rights advocacy group, Haqq also has experience with navigating difficult times when his Muslim background intersected with hot-topic politics in ways that he didn't expect. Last year he quickly resigned his membership from an advisory group recommending that copies of the Ten Commandments be placed in public school classrooms across the state, after which he said he did not like the idea of being used as "a pawn in some political game."

Related: Muslim leader denies being in group Ryan Walters says wants Ten Commandments in schools

Haqq is optimistic, however, that the nature of Oklahoma City's nonpartisan elections will allow voters to see him fully for who he is and the experiences he could bring to the council.

"I just have to make sure that people meet me," Haqq said. "The more that we speak to people and meet them where they are, where their passion lies, where their pain points lie, and then just try to put all that together into a policy and an approach, the more that Ill end up being someone who is a uniter."

Haqq's run to succeed Nice triggered by her run to fill Senate seat

Nikki Nice take a picture before filing during 2024 candidate filing at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice filed to run for State Senate District 48, a seat that will be vacated later this year by Sen. George Young.

Young, D-Oklahoma City, announced in early February he would be stepping down from his Senate District 48 seat on Nov. 15, 2024. Young was first elected to the Oklahoma House in 2014 and then to the Senate in 2018.

Haqq said he shares a good relationship with Young, who encouraged him to take on more responsibility for his community by running for public office. Last month, Haqq even presented Young a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of CAIR Oklahoma.

Related: State Sen. George Young's retirement means he's changing lanes, not resigning from life

A pastor for Greater Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, Young told CAIR-OK members that he announced his resignation in February so that the state wouldn't have to pay for a special election and there would be ample time for interested people to run as his successor. He also admitted the state's contentious political environment had "worn on" him over the past decade, arguing that Gov. Kevin Stitt's administration had focused on making issues divisive rather than working with coalitions on solutions.

"Some of the things that they're trying to roll back, those things provided an opportunity for me," Young said. "Those things provided a pathway for me, and so it's very important that we keep fighting for them, we keep strong and we keep trying to make sure that we're involved."

Sen. George Young is pictured at Eastside Pizza House, in Oklahoma City, on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.

While Young and Rep. Jason Lowe, D-Oklahoma City, have expressed support for Nice during conversations with The Oklahoman, Haqq has said he is not planning to seek her endorsement for the city council seat.

"I consider Councilwoman Nice to be a friend, but I'm not seeking endorsements," Haqq said. "Now, if somebody wants to, then by all means, we welcome that. But my conversations with her have been more just information-based, just exchanging of ideas, making sure the things she's been championing and the things that she's been able to do successfully are able to continue and even be enhanced."

More: Plans set for former NE OKC mosque to be torn down, new mosque to be built nearby

The filing period for this year's elections is Wednesday through Friday, a deadline Nice had to meet to run for state Senate. But for Ward 7's city council seat, the election will be held in February 2025 and candidates can officially file to run starting in December.

However, Haqq intends to begin fundraising and knocking on doors later this month.

"Most people campaign from December to February. But I'm not most people," Haqq said with a laugh.

Masood A. Haqq is interviewed in Del City, Okla., at his Peace of Mind Pediatrics office on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Muslim leader announces run for city council
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Oklahoma City Public Schools says enrollment for 2024 -2025 school year is now open.

According to school officials, families are encouraged to enroll students now. Enrollment can be completed 100% online, with families able to find all available back to school details at okcps.org/enroll.

Choosing OKCPS is all about getting a top-notch education thats tailored to what you want and what your student needs. You can learn the traditional way at your neighborhood school, from anywhere with our e3 online program, or thrive at one of our special application schools, OKCPS Superintendent Dr. Sean McDaniel explained. In OKCPS, we believe that no matter how families go about it, their students will come out feeling ready to tackle the world in their own special way, surrounded by a lively and supportive community.

For families who wish to enroll their student(s) in person, the district says its districtwide enrollment pod will be where families can make one stop, at one school, and complete the enrollment process for all of their students.

Mercy opens new womens center in Oklahoma City

Every school site (with the exception of OKCPS application schools, alternative schools and pre-K centers) will be open for a districtwide enrollment POD on Saturday, April 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Classes begin August 13, 2024, and we encourage families to check out the instructional calendar for 2024-25 before the end of the current school year.

OKCPS say, families who are considering a transfer will need to complete and submit the transfer application by April 15 to receive early acceptance notification.

OKCPSs free, full-day Pre-K is a destination of choice even for families outside district boundaries. Families whose students did not get a spot in their home districts Pre-K lottery are invited to apply for a Pre-K transfer and join the OKCPS family! Families can learn more about the transfer process by visiting okcps.org/transfer.

A few other helpful tips for families:

If your student(s) needs immunizations for the fall, its not too early to get those now. Learn what vaccinations are required by state law by visiting the Vaccines for School page of the Oklahoma State Department of Health website.

If families need a birth certificate, they will need to request one from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Summer and early fall are very busy for the Vital Records Office, so families should consider starting that process now. OSDH recommends using their online request form for the quickest turnaround.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Okla. Senior Facing Eviction Lit Himself on Fire, Tried to Torch Deputies Before They Rescued Wife from Blaze

Anthony Goulding, 82, was killed in the fire

Getty

An Oklahoma man died after setting himself on fire while sheriffs deputies attempted to serve him an eviction notice.

Harrowing body-camera footage released by the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office shows the moment Anthony Goulding, 82, started a fire that quickly engulfed his home. Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said Goulding appeared to throw a gas can at one of the two female deputies.

Deputies had to rescue Gouldings wife, who has Parkinsons, from the fire. One of the officers suffered a minor burn.

In the video, two deputies enter the home and speak to Gouldings wife, who is sitting on the couch. The deputy then turns and Goulding is seen down a hallway pouring fluid from a gas can. As the deputy approaches him he pulls out what appears to be a lighter. He then lights the floor in front of him and is immediately covered in flames, which quickly spread around the rest of the room.

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.

The two deputies then went back into the living room to help the woman out of the Oklahoma City home. The two deputies, unable to carry the woman, who is unable to walk on her own, had to drag her out of the house as the blaze spread.

At a briefing, Johnson said one of the deputies serving the eviction notice had previously spent time with Goulding and his wife trying to help arrange a place to stay following the eviction. A spokesperson for the sheriffs office tells PEOPLE the woman, who was not injured during the fire, currently has a place to stay.

The spokesperson also confirmed that a dog was killed in the fire.



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Read the original article on People.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) provided an update on the case of two missing Kansas women.

Twenty-seven-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley went missing on Saturday. The car they were in was found abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L in far northwest Oklahoma, just south of Elkhart, Kansas.

The Texas County Sheriffs Department requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the suspicious disappearance of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley. (Courtesy: OSBI)

On Wednesday, the OSBI announced that there was evidence of foul play from the vehicle.

Hunter McKee, OSBI Public Information manager, was asked Thursday if the two women were alive.

We are not sure at this time. We are investigating this as everything is on the table. We are hopeful that they are still alive, but we are going to do everything in our power to track these two people down as quickly as we can, McKee said.

McKee said OSBI authorities do not believe that the public is in immediate danger. He added that law enforcement agencies have been searching and following up on leads. It includes where the women were heading. Another law enforcement agency said the women were en route to pick up children.

Kansas community speaks on missing women

Right now, our agents are still investigating where their final destination was and where these women were traveling to, said McKee. We know they were traveling from Kansas. We know they were driving through Oklahoma, and their abandoned vehicle was found in Oklahoma.

As for suspects, the OSBI said they have made no arrests.

Because there is foul play involved in this case, we are doing what we can to identify possible suspects, McKee said. Then, if anything changes in regards to that or that we are specifically looking for, we will let the public know.

Watch the full news conference below:

If you have any tips on the disappearance, contact the OSBI at OSBI@ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017.

This is extremely sad and extremely unfortunate, Mckee said. We are hopeful to find out what happened very soon.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Oklahoma returned to its state-sanctioned killing spree with the execution Thursday of a 41-year-old Black man, Michael Dewayne Smith.

Smiths execution comes after Oklahoma resumed the death penalty in 2021, which had been on pause for nearly six years, and arranged the execution dates for 25 people. Its last execution was four months ago, on Nov. 30.

The lethal injection of Smith, who had been on death row for about 20 years, highlights the concerns about the overlap of the death penalty with issues of Blackness, drug use and intellectual disability.

According to mediawitnesses, Smith was pronounced dead at about 10:20 a.m. Central time.

Smith declined to provide his last words in the execution chamber, but he told HuffPost on Tuesday that he was innocent and that inconsistencies with his confession were not adequately addressed.

At the time, Smith said he was staying in good spirits  for the most part and was good, given the circumstances.

Rev. Jeff Hood, his spiritual adviser, told HuffPost that Smith was tearful minutes before and during the execution process. Hood added that a tear fell from Smiths right eye after he appeared to be dead.

What happened today was unnecessary. Oklahoma is going to be no different this afternoon than it was this morning. No safer, Hood said. The only thing that its going to be is less ethical.

Attorneys for Michael Dewayne Smith, shown on Feb. 5, 2021, made last-ditch pleas for clemency before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Oklahoma Department of Corrections via Associated Press

Before Smiths Death Sentence

Smith had been linked to three murders. He was sentenced to death for the February 2002 killings of Janet Moore, 40, and Sharath Pulluru, 22, and had been sentenced to life in prison for the November 2001 killing of Otis Payne, 26.

Smith initially gave a confession in the deaths of Moore and Pulluru, but he has since said that he is innocent and cant remember committing the crimes.

At the time of his arrest, Smith said he killed Moore when he was looking to kill her son, Phillip Zachary, because she reacted loudly when he broke into their home, according to The Oklahoman.

Smith reportedly then went to a convenience store and shot Pulluru, a store clerk, nine times and lighted his body on fire, according to The Oklahoman.

But Smith was reportedly looking to kill a different store clerk, who had told a newspaper reporter about being proud of a co-worker who had killed a member of a gang Smith was associated with during a 2001 armed robbery. Another gang member killed the store clerk during the robbery.

An Oklahoma jury convicted Smith in 2003 of first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree murder, robbery with firearms and arson in the first degree. The jury sentenced him to death for the murder convictions.

Since then, two of the trial witnesses have recanted parts of their testimony, saying that police officers and the trial judge coerced them, according to court documents.

Smith has claimed to have been under the influence of a hallucinogen known as PCP and said he does not remember committing the crimes, being arrested or confessing.

I have no memory of my actual arrest or my interrogation, Smith told HuffPost on Tuesday. It took me a few weeks after I was in the county jail to actually come to, so I dont have any memory or any recollection.

He argued that beyond his confession, there was not enough evidence to prove he committed the crimes.

Earlier this year, Smiths attorneys filed a motion requesting DNA testing. The District Court of Oklahoma denied the motion, arguing that Smith failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would not have been convicted if DNA testing is conducted and yields favorable results.

On March 6, Smith sought a clemency recommendation from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in an effort to spare his life.

I didnt commit these crimes. I didnt kill these people, Smith told the board in a tearful video call, according to The Associated Press. I was high on drugs. I dont even remember getting arrested.

Amie Ely, first assistant attorney general of Oklahoma, argued at the hearing that Smith did kill the three people and that he should be executed, according to the nonprofit news outlet Frontier.

Michael Dewayne Smith has taken multiple lives and has expressed the desire to kill others, Ely said. Even in a highly restricted area of the prison, Smith has managed to create weapons.

One of Smiths attorneys, Mark Henricksen, argued at the hearing that executing Smith would not be adequate justice, according to Frontier.

Their relatives remain slain, and the only practical difference will be that the Smith family will join them in grief, Henricksen said. And the totality of the sufferings will increase tenfold.

The board denied a clemency recommendation by a vote of 4-1.

A petition with thousands of signatures, organized by Death Penalty Action, was brought to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday, demanding that he stop Smiths execution.

On Thursday, Attorney General Gentner Drummond released a statement about Smiths execution with quotes from the victims families.

I pray that today brings some measure of peace for the families of Janet Miller-Moore and Sharath Pulluru. It has been a long and difficult 22 years for their loved ones, and my heart aches over the agony they have endured, Drummond said.

After the execution, Moores family released a statement, saying, The memory of her life, her work, and her deeds will continue to live on. Justice has been served.

Pullurus family said also they felt that Smiths death was an act of justice.

Sharath was the life of our family. We are a very close family and his sudden death in such a violent manner has affected our families lives every day since. He will forever live in our hearts. We are thankful justice was served today, the family said.

A Black Man With A Painful Story

Rev. Don Heath, chair of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said that Smith deserves mercy, according to KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City.

Michael Smith has a painful story: 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 stand in need of mercy, and Smith has gotten precious little, Heath said.

Though a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision found that executing intellectually disabled people was unconstitutional, individuals who exhibit signs of having intellectual disabilities have continued to be executed, including Matthew Reeves, who was executed in Alabama in 2022, and Willie Pye, executed by Georgia last month.

One indicator of intellectual disability is having an IQ score below 70, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Though Smiths attorneys have argued he is intellectually disabled, his IQ results have landed from 71 to 79, according to The Report of the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission.

Smith was among the 41% of Black people who make up the countrys death row population, despite Black people making up less than 14% of the U.S. population.

Moreover, Black people make up 7.9% of Oklahomas population, according to recent census data, but as of January 2023, 17 out of the 40 people on death row in Oklahoma (more than 42%) were Black, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Given that racial discrimination and biases are heavily presented in the criminal justice system, the fight to abolish the death penalty is frequently linked to racial justice.

He [Smith] is a product of decades and decades, hundreds of years of injustice, Hood told HuffPost. How in the fuck could race not play a role in the sentencing of a Black man in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma?

When I saw Michael on that gurney, strapped down, I saw a Black man in America who had been strapped down by this society his entire life.

Smith told HuffPost that he, too, believed that his race played a role in his sentence and compared his case to that of Richard Glossip, a white man on Oklahomas death row whose case has drawn nationwide attention.

In Oklahoma, theres a lot of racism here. It really shows between me and Richard Glossips case, Smith told HuffPost. Glossips case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this fall over concerns that he did not receive a fair trial in a 1997 murder case.

Due to the fact that Im Black, aint nobody even thinking about looking in depth into my case, Smith added.

Smiths attorneys declined HuffPosts request for comment.

The gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma. In 2022, a federal judge ruled that the state's three-drug lethal injection method was constitutional. Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Oklahomas History Of Botched Executions

Despite a decrease in executions nationwide, Oklahoma began to ramp up executions after a moratorium of close to six years came to a close in 2021.

In 2022, the state set execution dates for 25 people, roughly half of the people who were on death row at the time  roughly one prisoner per month. There was a brief delay in the scheduled killings in 2023, when the state agreed to slow the executions, scheduling them at least60 days apart.

The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office and Department of Corrections filed a motion in January to set the execution dates 90 days apart to prevent botched executions and lessen the burden on executioners. But Judge Gary Lumpkin of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals pushed against spreading out the executions further, telling executioners to man up, according to Frontier.

We set a reasonable amount of time to start this out, and yall keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it, Lumpkin told Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond at a court hearing late last month. Whos to say next month you wont come in and say I need 120 days? This stuff needs to stop, and people need to suck it up, realize they have a hard job to do and get it done in a timely, proficient, professional way.

In line with 27 other states, the federal government and the U.S. military, Oklahoma relies on a lethal injection protocol for its executions. Oklahoma was the first state to use the method, starting in 1977, and is notorious for some of the most infamous botched lethal injection  including those of Clayton Lockett in 2014 and Charles Warner in 2015.

The lethal injection protocol is a three-drug cocktail that has proved to be less reliable  and presumably more painful or time-consuming  than other execution methods, which include firing squad, electrocution and lethal gas.

Experts and advocates for abolishing the death penalty have argued that lethal injection is unconstitutional.

Its been likened to the sensation of waterboarding, suffocation, and exposure to chemical fire, Robert Dunham, former director of the Death Penalty Information Center, previously told Business Insider. That is not the peaceful passing that lethal injection had been advertised to be.

Smiths execution marks the first in Oklahoma in 2024 but the fourth in the U.S. this year  including Alabamas lethal gas execution of Kenneth Smith, which HuffPosts Jessica Schulberg reported on in January.

Related...
Oklahoma County sheriff's deputies on paid leave after man sets himself on fire during eviction

Oklahoma County sheriff's deputies are recovering this week after a man set himself on fire during an eviction proceeding at a home in northwest Oklahoma City. This frame grab is from an Oklahoma County sheriff department body cam.

Two Oklahoma County sheriffs deputies are on paid administrative leave after a man set himself on fire during an eviction proceeding at a home in northwest Oklahoma City.

Anthony Goulding, 82, died after setting himself on fire at home on Flamingo Avenue near W Hefner and N Council roads.

Deputy body camera footage appears to show Goulding pouring gasoline from a can onto a floor in the home and lighting the fuel before deputies could stop him.

The deputies quickly pulled Gouldings wife  whom the sheriffs office didnt name but said is diagnosed with Parkinsons disease  to safety outside the house.

The sheriffs office said one of the two deputies suffered a minor burn to her arm.

Obviously they are dealing with psychological trauma, spokesman Aaron Brilbeck said.

Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said this week that one of the deputies had been working with the couple the last few weeks to find them somewhere to stay, understanding that this eviction was going to take place.

Johnson said a long-term place for the couple to stay had been located and an Uber was waiting outside their home Monday to take them to the location.

There were no signs that deputies would meet resistance in processing the eviction, Johnson said.

Still, deputies working in the judicial services division, which serves people with eviction notices, protective orders and other legal documents, face potential danger when out in the field, Johnson said.

I think oftentimes that judicial division gets kind of the label of its safe because were serving papers, Johnson said at a news conference. There's nothing safe about judicial. You are dealing with people's emotions each and every day.

In 2022, sheriffs Sgt. Bobby Swartz was shot and killed after attempting to deliver an eviction notice to an Oklahoma City residence. Deputy Mark Johns also was hit and almost died.

Benjamin Plank was charged in Oklahoma County District Court with first-degree murder and three counts of shooting with intent to kill in connection with that incident.

A judge has ordered a mental health examination to determine if Plank is mentally competent.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County deputies on leave after seeing man set himself on fire
Oklahoma election season is here: Candidates begin filing to run for office at the state Capitol

Political hopefuls were out early Wednesday morning, filing their paperwork for the state Legislature, U.S. Congress and Oklahoma's lone statewide seat this year  corporation commissioner. Some candidates came alone, some with spouses and families in tow, and a few arrived as early as 7:30 a.m., said Misha Mohr, Oklahoma State Election Board public information officer.

State Rep. Max Wolfley, R-Midwest City, beat 'em all. Wolfley hit the Capitol at 6:30 a.m.

If he is successful this year, he will serve his third term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. I feel we got a lot done, he said. We funded public education at record levels without a tax increase. We cut the grocery tax. But theres still more to do.

Wolfley said he was looking forward to working on House Joint Resolution 1025, a constitutional amendment that would double the income qualifier for the senior property tax freeze.

Democratic state Rep. Andy Fugate, who represents Del City, said he filed for reelection around 10 a.m. Fugate said he expected an opponent. "They usually scurry around and find someone to run against me," he said.

Paul Ziriax, state election board secretary, registers a candidate during 2024 candidate filing Wednesday at the state Capitol.

Some incumbents file early for political office

Across the rotunda, Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg McCortney said he was ready for the upcoming election cycle. McCortney, R-Ada, has been chosen as the Senate's new president pro tempore  providing he wins reelection and the Republicans hold the majority.

"There are a lot of rumors about whether or not I'd have a candidate file against me," he said. "But the last time I looked, no one has been here other than me to file for this district."

For weeks now, the talk at the state Capitol was that Gov. Kevin Stitt was recruiting candidates to run against some incumbent senators, including McCortney. Last week, Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat cautioned the governor about getting involved in legislative races.

It is going to be very unwelcome if he tries to take out members of our caucus, and I know there are strong rumors to that end that he is seeking to take out good members of the Republican caucus," Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said. That would not be received well inside this building, nor would it be received well outside this building."

Treat is serving his final term in office.

Stitt's spokesperson, Abegail Cave, said the governor had not made any endorsements. "He isnt actively campaigning against Sen. McCortney," Cave said in an email to The Oklahoman.

Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada, files during the 2024 candidate filing Wednesday at the state Capitol. McCortney has been chosen as the Senate's new president pro tempore, as long as he wins reelection and the Republicans retain the majority.

Still, some incumbents will see primary challengers. In Senate District 17  in Shawnee  former state Sen. Ron Sharp is seeking to get his old job back. Sharp, a former schoolteacher, said he has been concerned by the extreme positions taken by the incumbent, Sen. Shane Jett.

Sharp was defeated by Jett two years ago.

"We're not preparing kids for the future," Sharp said. "And I'm concerned about the state Department of Education. We need to address mental health for children. We just can't keep cutting taxes without a knowledge of how these programs are going to be run."

Munson: Democrats, GOP can work together

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, said she was looking forward to running again.

I absolutely love my job, she said. I love serving the state of Oklahoma and House District 85, and over the years I have spent many, many days, hours a month knocking on doors and getting to know my constituents. When you do that, you get to know them pretty personally and the issues that they really care about.

As the minority leader, Munson said she has made it a priority to try to find balance in a state Legislature that has become a one-party supermajority. With Republicans in charge of every branch of government, she said Democrats don't have much of an opportunity to work on the issues that are important to all Oklahomans.

I truly believe I bring that voice to the state Capitol, still passionate and always will be about public education and women and girls and making sure they have the opportunities that they need, Munson said. She said it was a constant fight to ensure that women have access to reproductive health care.

Democrats are doing the work to build relationships across the aisle, but also across the state of Oklahoma, really listening to what it is that they care about, what they want to see accomplished, she said.

Munson said the majority party needs to stop passing extremist legislation, stop going after the most marginalized groups of people and start prioritizing working families and working people who need a living wage. She said she realized that both Republicans and Democrats were frustrated by the actions of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, so it shouldn't be a partisan issue for the Legislature to hold him accountable.

He continues to put a target on the backs of public education, teachers and now families and students, she said. With the loss of Nex Benedict, the rhetoric that comes from him and his inability to run an agency to properly support our public education system is problematic and becomes more problematic as days go on that they dont hold him accountable.

"My message to Oklahomans is to look to Democratic candidates who are running up and down the ballot, especially for the Legislature, she said. If you want real accountability, youre going to have to have balance in the state House.

The filing period for political candidates continues through Friday.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Filing period for Oklahoma elections running through Friday
A man convicted of killing two people in Oklahoma more than two decades ago was executed Thursday, marking the state's first execution of the year. Michael Dewayne Smith received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m., the Department of Corrections confirmed to CBS News.

The execution followed the state's controversial decision to restore capital punishment in 2021 after bungled executions called its protocols into question.

When asked if he had any last words, Smith responded, "Nah, I'm good," according to the Associated Press.

Smith, 41, was sentenced to death in Oklahoma after his convictions two decades ago in the murders of Janet Moore, a 41-year-old mother, and Sharath Pulluru, a 22-year-old store clerk. The shootings that killed them were carried out separately on Feb. 22, 2002, while Smith was already on the run in the wake of a prior killing, authorities have said.

Oklahoma's execution process lasted just over 10 minutes on Thursday after beginning at 10:09 a.m., said the state prisons director, Steven Harpe, in a statement obtained by CBS News. Smith was declared unconscious at 10:14 a.m., according to that statement. A spiritual adviser joined Smith in the death chamber at his request, the director said. The inmate did not request a last meal.

"Today's event and the circumstances that led to it have affected many people  especially the family and friends of victims Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru," Harpe said. "As an agency, we carried out the court's orders according to our high standards of professionalism and respect for those in our custody, ensuring dignity for everyone involved in the process."

This Feb. 5, 2021, file photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Michael Dewayne Smith. / Credit: Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File

Smith tried to appeal his sentence multiple times throughout most of his imprisonment, records show. Among other arguments made in his defense, Smith and his legal team have insisted that he is not responsible for either of the murders for which he was convicted, despite his previous confession to both crimes. They pushed for clemency on the grounds of an apparent former substance abuse problem and intellectual disability, since a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the latter would prevent Oklahoma from executing him. None of Smith's appeals were successful in court.

Ahead of a hearing in March that sealed Smith's fate, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond put out a formal request to the state's Pardon and Parole Board, asking them to deny his plea for clemency.

"Michael Smith's outrageous claims of innocence have been repeatedly rejected in court," Drummond said in a statement. "He is a ruthless killer who has confessed to his crimes on multiple occasions. There is no doubt in my mind that his request for clemency should be denied."

Drummond alleged that evidence found at the scenes of both murders corroborated Smith's confession. He also dismissed the inmate's plea for lenience based on a supposed intellectual disability and noted that Smith's IQ scores rendered that claim "statutorily ineligible."

At the hearing, Smith denied his involvement in the murders but shared his "deepest apologies and deepest sorrows to the families" of the victims, the Associated Press reported.

"I didn't commit these crimes. I didn't kill these people," Smith said in emotional remarks. "I was high on drugs. I don't even remember getting arrested."

The parole board ultimately denied Smith's clemency petition in a 4-1 vote, and his execution was scheduled to move forward.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals also rejected an emergency stay of execution for Smith earlier this week, CBS affiliate KOTV reported. His third and final emergency plea to the criminal appeals court came on the heels of others in recent months that were denied, including one motion that sought post-conviction DNA testing, according to the station.

The court said in its opinion that conducting more tests would not change the validity of Smith's conviction, KOTV reported, noting the appeals court's references to "a very detailed, highly corroborated confession" that Smith gave to police, which was allegedly supported by other confessions and crime scene evidence.

CBS News contacted the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.

Smith was among 43 prisoners on death row in Oklahoma. He was the first executed there this year, and the twelfth since the state resumed capital punishments after a seven-year break in 2021. That hiatus came in response to a string of botched lethal injections in 2014 and 2015, particularly the bungled execution of Charles Warner, a former death row inmate who witnesses said suffered excessively in the death chamber. It was later discovered that Oklahoma had used an incorrect and unauthorized drug in the lethal injection cocktail used for Warner's execution.

Oklahoma agreed to pause executions as investigations into what went wrong got underway. But the state went on to resume an execution schedule in late 2021, months before a federal trial was set to examine its lethal injection protocol. The state botched its first execution, of former inmate John Grant, by lethal injection upon its return to the schedule.

Oklahoma adopted its own state policy authorizing capital punishment in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The first execution did not happen until 1990, and the state has put 123 prisoners to death since then. One federal execution has also been carried out in Oklahoma.

Another Oklahoma death row inmate, 60-year-old Richard Glossip, is currently trying to appeal his sentence and has so far gained more headway with state officials, including the attorney general, who have openly argued his innocence. The Supreme Court agreed in January to hear Glossip's case after Drummond claimed issues with his trial should invalidate the prisoner's conviction and sentence.

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MOSCOW, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu discussed Ukraine peace negotiations and the recent terrorist attack in Moscow in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.

In the conversation, Lecornu expressed his condolences to Shoigu for the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in late March, which left a total of 144 people dead, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

The French defense minister also tried to convince Shoigu that Ukraine and Western countries were not involved in the attack.

Shoigu emphasized that the ongoing investigation into the terrorist attack would be thorough to ensure that all responsible parties are held accountable.

The two defense chiefs also talked about the readiness for dialogue on the Ukraine conflict, the statement said.

"The starting points could be based on the Istanbul peace initiative. Holding a meeting in Geneva without Russia's participation is pointless," it said.

Regarding remarks from the Elysee Palace about deploying a French contingent to Ukraine, Shoigu warned that such actions could create problems for France itself. 
April 4 (UPI) -- The state of Oklahoma executed its first death row inmate of 2024 Thursday morning.

Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for the murders of 40-year-old Janet Moore and 24-year-old Sharath Pulluru in February 2002.

Smith, who was then 19 years old and a member of a street gang called the Oak Grove Posse, allegedly shot Moore in her apartment while he was looking for her son, whom he accused of being a snitch.

He then allegedly went to the A&Z Food Mart in south Oklahoma City and shot Pulluru, the store clerk, whom he believed made comments to local media about another clerk shooting and killing a gang member in a 2000 robbery.

Pulluru, who did not make those comments, was shot nine times, doused with lighter fluid and set on fire.

Smith also was a fugitive on the run for his involvement in the 2001 murder of Otis Payne outside of the Lexus Club in Oklahoma City. He was sentenced to life in prison after admitting he handed the gun to Payne's killer, David Burns.

An Oklahoma jury in 2003 convicted Smith of first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree murder, robbery with firearms and arson in the first degree. He was sentenced to death for the two murders.

Smith prior to execution had maintained his innocence. He said he was on PCP when the killings happened and had no memory of committing the crimes, being arrested or confessing.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in March denied Smith's plea for clemency in a 4-1 vote.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond in a statement on Thursday said, "Janet and Sharath were murdered simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time; that was all. I am grateful that justice has been served."

Before his execution, Smith in a statement said, "My life is on the line. Despite new evidence, my attorney Mark Henricksen has informed my family that he will be filing no further appeals on my behalf. I am releasing this statement to demand that Mr. Henricksen do his job and fight for my life."

Smith's attorney's earlier this year filed a motion requesting DNA testing, which the District Court of Oklahoma denied, arguing Smith "failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would not have been convicted if DNA testing is conducted and yields favorable results."

The Rev. Don Heath, chair of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, responded to Smith's execution in a statement, saying Smith "was a troubled and vulnerable young man with intellectual disabilities," and that he was "ill-served by advisers who encouraged him to proclaim his innocence instead of accepting responsibility for his crimes."

"That cost him any chance for clemency. He needed mercy and forgiveness and got none."

While executions have decreased nationwide, Oklahoma has ramped up executions after a nearly six-year moratorium ended in 2021. The state set execution dates for 25 people in 2022.

There was a short delay in the scheduled executions in 2023 when the state agreed to schedule executions at least 60 days apart.
Alerts Issued for Our Region

WINTER STORM WARNING for northwestern Pocahontas and western Greenbrier counties from midnight tonight to midnight Saturday. Travel could be very difficult with heavy snow expected. The morning an evening commutes in these locations will likely be impacted Thursday and Friday.

Tonight features rain showers and overcast conditions switching over to snow showers after midnight as temperatures continue to drop. Well end up around freezing by dawn Thursday with upper 20s in the mountains. For most of us, this incoming snow will not be more than the cause of wet roadways in our region and a reminder that Old Man Winter will still stop by occasionally in the two Virginias even during the month of April. However, at the highest peaks in western Greenbrier and northwestern Pocahontas counties, this snow will stick with slick spots expected  if you live in these hours, plan to need extra time traveling tonight or in the morning for the morning commute.

Thursday continues a northwest breeze and a mix of rain and snow showers as a result of an area of low pressure off to our northeast and a new trough digging into the region. This will spell cloudy conditions with off and on rain and snow showers. In the lowlands, we will see temperatures warm up into the low 40s, allowing snow to switch to rain. However, at the highest peaks, well be stuck in the 30s with precipitation falling as snow even during the daytime. Slick spots will be held primarily to those areas.

Friday will allow that northwest breeze to persist still yet and that means its another day with more rain and snow showers. That will wane in activity by the end of the day as our culprit  an area of low pressure  exits away from us. Temperatures will once again struggle to reach 40 degrees in what promises to be another gloomy day. Well be just warm enough to switch back to rain after morning snow flurries in the lowlands, but the highest peaks of the WV mountains will remain as snow during the day. Activity will become more scattered during the evening and overnight.

A tick removal kit should be a staple in your house this spring

Saturday keeps the risk for a few snowflakes in the mountains early, but well see high pressure nose in as we head into the afternoon, which will allow high temperatures to rebound in a minor way into the mid 40s, with partly sunny skies. Itll be nice to the see the sunshine for a change!

Sunday provides plenty of sunshine and a warmer day overall, with high temperatures in the mid 50s as a southerly breeze kicking in with our high pressure system moving south.

The best solar eclipse glasses that will arrive in time for viewing

Monday continues the warming trend as a southwest breeze kicks in, with highs returning to the mid 60s. For the eclipse watchers, we will have a warm front scoot north of the region, which could give us a few showers. However, there should be plenty of dry time at this juncture and plenty of breaks in the clouds during the afternoon for those seeking to get a good look here in our region!

Tuesday brings our next system through, as a low pressure system moves up into the Great Lakes. This, in turn will provide the chance for rain showers but its a warm day with highs in the upper 60s.

Wednesday continues the chances for a few showers with an unsettled pattern continue as a front approaches. Despite the occasional showers, we should see high temperatures near 70.

Looking ahead, we will see a much warmer pattern develop. Thursday continues the risk for a few showers with highs in the mid 60s. We will dry out on Friday but its slightly cooler with highs near 60. Saturday will be mostly sunny with high pressure in control with highs in the mid 60s.

Help us with our growing community of weather photos with #weathertogether. Head to our website and search for the Weather together tab and upload your photos of weather going on around our region.

We are in spring forest fire season in West Virginia  this means dont burn between 7 AM and 5 PM through May 31st. Low humidity values during the daytime, along with breezier and warmer conditions will at times increase the fire threat, hence the burn ban during most of the daytime. Follow all regulations or be faced with potential consequences, such as fines! In Virginia, the spring fire season continues through April 30th  dont burn before 4 PM.

TONIGHT

Rain and snow showers. Lows near freezing.

THURSDAY

Overcast with a cold rain for most, mountain snow. Highs in the low 40s.

FRIDAY

A mix of rain and snow showers. Cold! Highs around 40.

SATURDAY

Brief AM mountain snow. Clearing west to east. Highs in the mid 40s.

SUNDAY

Mostly sunny. Warmer! Highs in the mid 50s.

MONDAY  ECLIPSE DAY!

Isolated shower or two. Plenty of dry time! Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 60s.

TUESDAY

Few showers. Highs in the upper 60s.

WEDNESDAY

Shower chances continue in isolated fashion. Highs near 70.

THURSDAY

Few showers. Highs in the mid 60s.

FRIDAY

Partly sunny. Highs in the 50s.

SATURDAY

Mostly sunny. Highs in the 60s.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
One injured, three pets dead after two residential fires in Thurston County this week

Lacey firefighters responded to two residential fires this week that resulted in the deaths of three pets.

Fire crews responded to a fire at a four-unit apartment building on the 500 block of Pacific Highway Southeast, next to the Nisqually River, just after 8 a.m. Thursday and got it under control in about 20 minutes, Lacey Fire District 3 Chief Steve Brooks told The Olympian.

One occupant suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, Brooks said. Unfortunately, he said a cat and a dog died of smoke inhalation.

The fire started in a central apartment unit before spreading to the attic and adjacent apartment units, Brooks said.

The primary unit where it began is heavily damaged, Brooks said. Were not able to identify where it started right now, so we have to continue to investigate.

The damage was so extensive that residents were unable to return to the building, he said. The American Red Cross is assisting residents from all four apartments, he added.

Brooks said there were no fire hydrants close to the apartments, so Lacey fire crews relied on mutual aid support for water.

At least three other fire districts sent water tenders, including East Olympia Fire District 6, South Bay Fire District 8 and McLane Black Lake Fire Department, according to a Lacey Fire District 3 Facebook post.

The Olympia Fire Department covered additional calls while Lacey Fire District 3 was busy with the blaze, the post says.

Lacey fire crews responded to another fire at a duplex on the 4400 block of Roxanna Loop Southeast after 6 p.m. Tuesday.

That fire started in the kitchen area of one unit and fire crews put it out in about 20 minutes, Brooks said. No people were injured, but Brooks said a dog died from smoke inhalation after being rescued from a bedroom.

We carry equipment for pet first aid on our vehicles, Brooks said. They gave the dog oxygen and CPR, but they were not able to revive it.

Brooks said the affected unit suffered extensive damage that prevented residents from reoccupying the home. He said those residents declined help from Red Cross and made their own housing arrangements.

The residents of the other unit in the duplex were able to return to their home, he added.

The causes of both residential fires remained under investigation as of Thursday afternoon, Brooks said.

Its always a great reminder to ensure you have working smoke detectors, Brooks said. Thats probably the best takeaway message from all of these.

Notably, Lacey Fire District 3 crews responded to the Tuesday fire just after they concluded their 75th Anniversary celebration.
In one of L.A.'s largest cash heists ever, burglars steal as much as $30 million from vault

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night that the agency and the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating the theft. Above, LAPD's headquarters downtown. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

In one of the largest cash heists in Los Angeles history, thieves made off with as much as $30 million in an Easter Sunday burglary at a San Fernando Valley money storage facility, an L.A. police official said.

The burglary occurred Sunday night at a facility in Sylmar where cash from businesses across the region is handled and stored, said L.A. Police Department Cmdr. Elaine Morales.

The thieves were able to breach the building as well as the safe where the money was stored, Morales said. Law enforcement sources said the burglary was among the largest in city history when it comes to cash, and the total also surpassed any armored-car heist in the city.

Mystery surrounds the break-in.

Sources familiar with the investigation told The Times that a burglary crew broke through the roof of the Gardaworld building on Roxford Street to gain access to the vault. But it is unclear how they avoided the alarm system.

Read more: Neighbor heard odd noises amid heist of up to $30 million from Sylmar vault

The Canada-based security company has not responded to requests for comment.

The operators of the business did not discover the massive theft until they opened the vault Monday. An ABC-7 TV news helicopter video showed a large cut on the side of the building covered by a piece of plywood.

Authorities were alerted, and detectives from the LAPDs Mission Division station responded to the crime scene to gather evidence.

A law enforcement source confirmed to The Times there was an effort to breach the side of the cash-holding building in addition to the roof. At least one alarm was triggered during the crime, but it was not connected to local law enforcement, according to a source familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Read more: Brink's heist mystery: Questions about a timeline that 'doesn't make any sense'

Further adding to the intrigue is that very few individuals would have known of the huge sums of cash being kept in that safe, according to law enforcement sources.

The break-in was described as elaborate and suggested an experienced crew who knew how to gain entry to a secure facility and go unnoticed.

Scott Andrew Selby, co-author of "Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History," said that the theft has "all the markings of a really well-thought-out job" that was done by a "professional crew," adding that based on other major heists of this nature, it is likely that the thieves had some inside intelligence.

He said investigators will be "looking around the globe for crimes with a similar M.O."

As to whether the money is traceable, Selby said it depends on whether there are records of serial numbers or the cash that was collected is already in circulation. It is hard to hide ill-gotten gains and launder traceable bills, he said.

"As technology progresses and the world gets small, there are a lot of ways you can mess up and get caught," Selby said. "With touch DNA, the slightest mistake can expose the identity of a member of the crew, leading authorities to eventually identify their associates."

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night that the agency and the LAPD are investigating the theft.

A federal source said investigators were trying to complete a full accounting of the missing cash, but said it could be the largest cash heist in L.A.'s history.

The prior largest cash robbery in Los Angeles was on Sept. 12, 1997, with the theft of $18.9 million from the former site of the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo Street. Those behind the incident were eventually caught.

Sunday's theft comes nearly two years after the multimillion-dollar heist of jewelry from a Brink's big rig at a Grapevine truck stop.

As much as $100 million in jewels and valuables was taken from the truck.

Read more: These are the 5 best L.A. heist movies

In that case, thieves made off with the goods at 3 a.m. on July 11, 2022, taking more than 20 large bags stuffed with jewelry, gems and other items that the Brinks tractor-trailer had been transporting to the L.A. area from the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo.

The heist occurred during a 27-minute window in which one driver slept in the vehicles sleeper berth and another ate a meal at the Flying J, a sprawling truck stop just off Interstate 5s sinuous Grapevine in Lebec, Calif.

That crime remains unsolved.

Since a burglary crew broke through the reinforced roof of a Laguna Niguel bank and blew a hole in the safe more than four decades ago, it's been extremely rare in Southern California for thieves to break in from above.

But a decade ago, rooftop bandits breached a series of banks in strip malls across the San Gabriel Valley. They stole at least $16 million before five were caught by the major crimes unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

Last July, a burglary crew broke in through the roof of a wine specialist in Venice, making off with about 800 bottles worth about $600,000  one of the biggest crimes in California wine history.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Moderate Tory MPs have destroyed the Conservative Party, Lee Anderson has claimed after a major new poll predicted a Labour general election landslide.

The former deputy Tory chairman, who became Reform UKs first MP after losing the Conservative whip, attacked the One Nation caucus and blamed it for the partys electoral predicament.

Asked whether the Tories were complacent or arrogant about their political position because of the two-party system, Mr Anderson told GB News: There is that arrogance, and I think theyre getting a little bit concerned now.

And its unfortunate because there are still some good Tories in the Conservative Party, some good Tory MPs who Im still friends with, who probably will lose their seats at the next election.

Then theres some MPs who are not so good, a little bit wet, the One Nation lot, who I think have destroyed the Conservative Party.

He said of the centre-ground group: The One Nation lot are actually worse than what the Labour Party are, because theyre just socialists in disguise.

Lee Anderson with Mark Butcher, Reform's candidate for the Blackpool South by-election - Adam Vaughan/Shutterstock

A poll by YouGov, released on Wednesday, suggested the Tories were on course for a defeat worse than that of 1997, predicting that Labour could secure a 154-seat majority.

The Conservatives were projected to win just 155 seats. The party currently has 348 sitting in the Commons.

Mr Anderson lost the Tory whip after he claimed Islamists had got control of Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London.

He later said he would have chosen his clumsy words slightly differently if he could go back in time, but added that he will not back down on the comments.

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Mr Anderson joined Reform last month, calling it the one political group that will allow me to stand up in Parliament and speak in your language.

He declared during a tour on the Reform battle bus that Labour and the Conservatives now have little between them, adding: Theres only Reform, when you actually read their contract, that speaks for people.

One of the most prominent Right-wing Red Wall MPs elected in 2019, he was appointed party deputy chairman before resigning over the Rwanda Bill.

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As the rift between the Biden administration and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deepens over the war in Gaza, tensions have also heightened over what each side perceives as interference in its domestic politics.

This came to a head last month when Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer expressed hope for early elections in Israel. In response, Netanyahu went on American television to castigate the Democratic senator from New York for trespassing on Israeli democracy. Its inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there, Netanyahu said. Thats something that Israel  does on its own, and were not a banana republic.

Read more: Opinion: Netanyahu may be standing in the way of a two-state solution. But he's far from alone

President Biden implicitly embraced Schumers words, and national security advisor Jake Sullivan noted the irony of the prime minister speaking on American television about his concerns about Americans interfering in Israeli politics  something that, Sullivan added, U.S. officials dont do nearly as much on Israeli television as Israelis do on U.S. television.

Of course, the U.S. has also engaged in a long line of interventions in other countries internal affairs, including fomenting regime change. That said, the way Israel conducts its foreign policy is not always typical of a sister democracy either. Israels covert actions should be troubling, for their potential of undermining the countrys key strategic alliances.

Read more: How the U.S. has fueled Israel's decades-long war on Palestinians

A March report showed that Israeli authorities had been carrying out an influence operation on social media platforms. Discovered by an Israeli online watchdog , the campaign used hundreds of fake accounts to amplify claims that Palestinian employees of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, took part in Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Democratic lawmakers were among the primary targets of the campaign, which aimed to persuade them to block the agencys U.S. funding.

This secret influence campaign is an egregious violation of democratic norms. And yet it's not shocking coming from a country governed for much of the past 28 years by the increasingly antidemocratic Netanyahu.

Read more: Opinion: How the U.N. Gaza resolution could lead to a lasting cease-fire

Last year, many Israelis protested efforts by Netanyahus government to pass legislation that would have undermined the countrys judiciary and democratic principles. (The plans only ended at the outbreak of the recent war.) But Israels antidemocratic behavior goes back at least a decade. And the most salient developments have been not in domestic legislation but in foreign policy , where successive Netanyahu governments have deployed a growing arsenal of sharp power techniques against Israels closest democratic allies.

Introduced by the scholars Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig, the term sharp power describes a strategic approach by which an authoritarian state seeks to affect the political landscapes of another. In contrast to hard power (usually understood as coercion through military might) and soft power (persuasion through such intangible factors as culture, values and institutions), sharp power hinges on manipulation and division.

Read more: Israel's religious right has a clear plan for Gaza: 'We are occupying, deporting and settling'

The Israeli campaign to influence U.S. lawmakers is a classic example of a sharp power tactic, and Israel has targeted other allies in this way. A case in point, as we found in our research, is its often successful effort to undermine the European Union consensus on West Bank settlements.

In 2015, for example, Israeli officials learned that the EUs Foreign Affairs Council was planning to issue a statement that would draw a clear distinction between Israel proper and its West Bank settlements. Viewing such a distinction as a threat to its efforts to stave off calls for trade sanctions on settlement exports, the Netanyahu government went into action .

Taking advantage of internal European divisions, Israeli officials reached out to their counterparts in member states such as Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. At the time, the leadership of these countries had a somewhat  Euroskeptic  foreign policy that sought to undercut EU power.

Within a few short weeks, Israel not only gleaned insights into the draft EU statements wording but was also able to persuade its partners to reject certain aspects of its language and tone. The result was a statement that was considerably watered down from the original.

This feat left seasoned EU leaders dumbfounded. As one journalist put it, Israel functioned as if it were the 29th [European] delegation in the negotiations, reading EU draft texts and amendments in real time.

And yet Israel's sharp power tactics are not limited to targeting lawmakers and official governments. Consider, for instance, the  Blue Network , a group of nongovernmental organizations whose work the Israeli government strives to shape through funding, strategic guidance and inter-organizational coordination.

Established under the name the Global Coalition for Israel, the Blue Network includes today more than 200 NGOs , according to our estimates, most of them operating in the U.S., Europe and Israel. While some of these organizations have been clandestinely set up by the Israeli government, others are well-established and prominent.

The creation of the Blue Network marks an unhealthy blurring of the lines between civil society and government interests. Whether explicitly or implicitly, these organizations have been co-opted by successive Netanyahu governments to disseminate state-sponsored propaganda.

As these and other examples attest, Israels foreign policy under Netanyahu has adopted more of the much-maligned sharp power tactics typically associated with authoritarian regimes, such as Beijing and Moscow.

As such, the similarities are not only striking; they should also be alarming to Israels closest allies. Sharp power tactics are not merely undemocratic. Under Netanyahu, they have been wielded against Israels staunchest democratic allies, without whose continued support Israels very survival will be imperiled.

Sharon Pardo is a professor of international relations at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the current president of the Israeli Assn. for International Studies. Yonatan Touval is a foreign policy analyst with Mitvim, a Tel Aviv-based think tank focusing on Israeli foreign policy.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Opinion: Dulles Airport should keep its name, and Trump can have Rikers

Editors Note: Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College. His most recent book is Borges and Me, a memoir of his travels with Argentine fabulist Jorge Luis Borges in the highlands of Scotland in 1971. It will soon be turned into a film.

The news is mostly tragic these days, with destructive wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the usual drumbeat of mass shootings and climate disasters. Im often hesitant to turn on the radio when I wake up. What next? The arrival of some needed comic relief, unexpectedly, in the form of a Republican proposal to change the name of Washington Dulles International Airport to Donald J. Trump International Airport.

And this was not Saturday Night Live.

Jay Parini - Courtesy Oliver Parini

Republican Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, the chief deputy majority whip in the House, introduced this hilarious bill this week with six other Republicans: Michael Waltz of Florida, Andrew Ogles of Tennessee, Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Barry Moore of Alabama and Troy Nehls of Texas.

Freedom. Prosperity. Strength. Thats what America stood for under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump  the best president of my lifetime, Reschenthaler wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

It never fails to shock me how GOP officials seem endlessly willing to grovel at the feet of their master, hoping to curry favor with a man whose ego is beyond satiation.

Trump must be laughing at them. I certainly am.

I travel a lot, and was at Dulles last week. Believe me, it could use some attention  not with congressional rebranding, but with an influx of public funds. Its a nightmarish hub, with a tram system that feels wildly outmoded and slow: Walking often seems faster than riding from gate to gate. I often fly out of Dulles rather late in the day, and there isnt a place to get a sandwich or cup of coffee after about 9 p.m. Going through customs and passport control at Dulles is arduously slow. The customer reviews of this airport are not heartening.

Of the more than 25 million travelers who poured through this airport in 2023, many of them are international visitors. Can you imagine the impression it would make to arrive at something called Trump International?

Democrats reacted to the House bill quickly. The very notion of pasting the name of a twice-impeached and four-times-indicted former president on a major airport is beyond ridiculous. Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges, Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, whose district includes part of Dulles, said in a statement. If Republicans want to name something after him, Id suggest they find a federal prison.

Rep. Don Beyer, another Northern Virginia Democrat, remembered the day Trump enacted his 2017 executive order to bar travelers from certain majority-Muslim countries entry into the US  and how lawmakers went to Dulles to press for legal representation for those detained under the policy.

Trump is a man already found liable by a New York judge for business fraud and found liable by a jury for defamation and sexual abuse. God knows what lies ahead for him in the four trials that await him; Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

It probably makes more sense to rename Rikers Island, that 413-acre jail complex in the Bronx, after one of New Yorks most famous defendants. Trump Island, where when you arrive for processing, you get an orange wig to go with your orange jumpsuit. And maybe a copy of the Trump Bible to read.

Joking aside, it matters what we call our airports. We want to remember and lift up people who have been important to our nation, to the democratic project. President Ronald Reagan was a man of dignity, and it made sense to rename Washington National Airport for him. JFK was an appropriate name to replace Idlewild Airport with. Edward OHare, after whom the Chicago airport is named, was a genuine hero, an aviator who died in combat in 1943. But Trump?

Trumps war record was not memorable. He evaded going to Vietnam because of bone spurs, getting a letter to avoid service from his fathers podiatrist friend. Rather famously, he allegedly called those who lost their lives or were wounded in American wars losers and suckers. He said that Arizona Sen. John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured and endured five years as a prisoner of war.

Enough with Trump, who claims hes being harassed by the justice system. Hes not being indicted because hes running for president. More likely, hes running for president because he wants to distract us from his criminal indictments.

John Foster Dulles was, I would argue, a man of integrity whose name should stay where it is. He was President Dwight D. Eisenhowers close friend and advisor, and served as a revered secretary of state from 1953-1959. He was, of course, of his era, and his strong stance against all forms of communism defined his career. As with most who attain high office, he had his admirers and detractors.

Mr. Dulles was a man of complex character, full of paradoxes, The New York Times wrote in his obituary. A shrewd and successful corporation lawyer, he was also a moralist and political philosopher. He could marshal his ideas swiftly, fluently and extemporaneously; he coined many phrases, but he was not noted as an originator of new ideas.

However unoriginal as a thinker, Dulles was someone of stature, a dedicated public servant worth recalling. And  how low have we sunk  he was not the first former president in history to face criminal charges (four indictments, no less) and stand accused of trying to overturn the results of a peaceful election.

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This combo photo shows Dong Qian (front) moved out of the classroom by his father Dong Huiling with a trolley bed at Sanchawei Primary School in Lingchuan Township, Lingchuan County of Guilin City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sept. 13, 2012 (L) and Dong Qian (C) walking with her classmates at Guilin Normal College in Guilin City on March 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

NANNING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Twelve years ago, Dong Qian, then a third-grader, was found in her classroom lying on her stomach on a modified wheeled bed, her upper body supported by her elbows, struggling with a fractured leg in a cast.

Today, she remains steadfast in her determination to overcome life's challenges, having persevered through her education journey all the way to college, using a wheeled bed, wheelchair and crutches, with unwavering support from both her family and the schools she has attended.

Dong, hailing from Lingchuan Township, situated in Lingchuan County of Guilin City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, suffers from congenital osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), commonly known as brittle bone disease, a condition classified as a rare disease by Chinese health authorities in 2018.

She was diagnosed with OI at the age of 3 after experiencing frequent bone fractures from minor falls, and by the age of 9, she had endured more than 10 fractures.

After undergoing bone surgery in 2012, Dong's family constructed a trolley bed to facilitate her schooling, wheeling her directly to the classroom.

Since Dong began primary school, her mother, Li Guifang, has been by her side constantly, providing around-the-clock support. During every class break, she would guard her daughter from tripping or being bumped into by classmates.

To protect her daughter from potential injuries during the 5-km journey between home and school, Li stayed overnight with Dong at school on weekdays. The school provided a teacher's dorm room, free of charge, for the mother and daughter to stay in.

In 2011, Dong's 63-year-old grandmother took over the role of constant caretaker as Dong's parents had to leave her to work at a railway construction site.

Apart from the time when she fractured her bones and attended classes in a wheeled bed, Dong spent her primary school years mostly in her wheelchair. From junior high school to college, she relied on crutches for walking. Despite these physical challenges, her academic performance remained unaffected, and she pursued achievements equal to, if not surpassing, those of her healthy peers.

"I didn't falter at any hardships that struck my family over the years, because on one hand, I aimed to demonstrate my capabilities were equal to anyone else's, and on the other, I aspired for the day when my parents could rely on me," Dong said.

Speaking previously about his daughter, Dong Huiling expressed the happiness and solace Dong Qian brought them, albeit in a few words, "When we were busy working at the construction site, she sent us caring messages."

However, when reflecting on his daughter's health, Dong Huiling couldn't shake off feelings of helplessness and frustration. "We've sought treatment from every hospital in Guilin and explored options across the country, only to discover there is no cure," he said, tears welling up.

Tragedy befell the family in 2022 with the untimely demise of Dong Huiling at the age of 46, leaving behind Dong Qian, her mother and her younger sister. "My mother was left alone to bear all the heavy burdens, and considering my health conditions, I have to exert extra efforts to shield her from any future storms," Dong Qian said.

In the fall of 2022, Dong Qian was enrolled at Guilin Normal College. Upon learning about her health conditions, the college allocated a dorm room for her and outfitted it to meet her special needs.

Dong would return home every weekend to provide company to her mother and sister, hoping to bring more laughter and warmth into their lives.

Reflecting on the future, Dong said she is determined to confront life's challenges head-on. "I believe that fortitude comes from unwavering convictions, and a brighter future is attainable for those with strong minds." 

This combo photo shows Dong Qian (C) taking classes at Sanchawei Primary School in Lingchuan Township, Lingchuan County of Guilin City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sept. 13, 2012 (above) and Dong Qian (front) taking classes at Guilin Normal College in Guilin City on March 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)
Oral arguments set for Vince Fongs eligibility to remain on ballot for November congressional race

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A hearing is set Thursday for whether Assemblymember Vince Fong is eligible to stay on the ballot for Congress this November.

Oral arguments are set to begin Thursday afternoon in a court of appeals in Sacramento.

Vince Fong was the top vote-getter in the March 5 primary to replace former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. The hearing is over whether or not Fong should have been allowed to be on the ballot at all, after he filed for reelection to his seat in the Assembly.

California could become first state to give workers a right to disconnect

In December, Secretary of State Shirley Webers office determined that Fong was ineligible because California law prohibited any candidate from running for two offices. That decision was overturned by a judge allowing Fong to appear on ballots for the 32nd Assembly District and for the 20th Congressional District race. Thursdays arguments are to overturn the Sacramento Superior Courts ruling.

For now, Fong will face fellow Republican Mike Boudreaux in the November election for a full two-year term for the 20th Congressional District.

Fong remains eligible for a May 21 special runoff election against Boudreaux to complete Kevin McCarthys term.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
In late 2020, Oregon decriminalized small amounts of heroin and cocaine  despite a standing federal prohibition  making their possession no longer punishable by jail time.

While experts lauded the new measure at the time as a meaningful step towards dismantling the war on drugs and a way to stop users from landing in jail, the experiment, known as Measure 110, appears to have backfired in a cautionary tale about the difficulties of enacting effective drug policy.

Earlier this week, Oregon governor Tina Kotek signed a new measure into law that effectively recriminalized hard drugs in the state by restoring criminal penalties.

Overdose deaths rose in Portland, causing the city's mayor Ted Wheeler, who sat down with the New York Times for an interview this week, to advocate for reintroducing jail time for hard drug possession.

As a result, anybody caught with even small amounts of drugs, including fentanyl and meth, could face up to 180 days in jail, as the NYT reports, putting an end to a rare and ambitious effort to keep drug users out of jail.

The news highlights some glaring mistakes that were made in the implementation of the measure, which may have led to the plan backfiring, as well as the underlying societal issues that contributed to a surge in the number of people without housing, who are statistically more likely to struggle with substance abuse. The number of unhoused people in Portland rose by 65 percent between 2015 and 2023.

The decision also sheds light on the devastating fentanyl crisis, which has hit Portland hard. Drug abuse, especially of fentanyl, has risen considerably. As of April 1, Portland police have already seized more fentanyl this year than all of last year combined.

So what went wrong?

"I was cautiously optimistic," Wheeler told the NYT of Measure 110, which was supported by an overwhelming majority at the time. "Ive been around enough to know that its always in the implementation."

Wheeler added that the "timing couldn't have been worse," arguing that treatment services weren't in place for the decriminalization. Instead, the state should've built up "its behavioral health services" first.

While addiction rates and overdose rates "skyrocketed," Wheeler argued that Measure 110 likely wasn't entirely at fault.

"I think, honestly, is the long-term decisions we had made as a state to not invest in behavioral health, to not invest in treatment services, came home to roost as all of these crises hit simultaneously during COVID," he told the NYT.

In short, Oregon's decriminalization experiment goes to show that removing criminal penalties is far from a one-size-fits-all solution.

Critics have argued that Oregon lawmakers failed to take a meaningful, multi-pronged approach, stopping short of making investments in affordable housing and drug treatment options.

"This Legislature did not pass real solutions," Sandy Chung, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, told the NYT last month, shortly after the bill to reimpose criminal penalties was passed by the State Legislature.

"This is about politics and political theater," she added.

More on hard drugs: Elon Musk Was Reportedly Asked to Go to Rehab
A tanker truck that overturned in Oregon released 77,000 salmon into the Lookingglass Creek instead of their intended destination in the Imnaha River. Photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

April 4 (UPI) -- Officials attempting to repopulate a river with salmon hit a setback when a truck crash released 77,000 of the fish into the wrong body of water.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said a tanker truck was transporting about 102,000 spring Chinook smolts -- adolescent salmon -- for release into the Imnaha River when it rolled over alongside Lookingglass Creek, a tributary of the Grande Ronde River.

The crash caused about 77,000 of the fish to wind up in the creek, far from their intended destination.

"The Union County Sheriff's department responded immediately and assisted with on-scene assessments and vehicle recovery operations," ODFW said in a news release. "Small amounts of diesel fuel were quickly contained and did not result in a hazardous material spill response."

The fish came from Lookingglass Hatchery, which raises the Chinook salmon to be released for tribal and sport harvest, as well as to supplement the Imnaha River's wild population, which is considered threatened.

The driver of the truck, an ODFW employee, suffered only minor injuries and is recovering, the department said.
Robert Campbell was a major in the British Army was investigated eight times for a death in Iraq 15 years ago - Robert Mendick

A decorated soldier is urging a judge to halt his pursuit of the Cabinet minister Johnny Mercer over his refusal to name special forces whistleblowers.

Bob Campbell, who was repeatedly investigated over an accidental death in Iraq, said that the veterans minister was the only politician who ever sprang to his defence.

He has said he owes his life to Mr Mercer for taking up his case.

Mr Campbell said the veterans minister was the last safety net for military personnel in distress  and that the judges demand that Mr Mercer named sources would undermine their ability to confide in him in the future.

Mr Mercer has been served with a section 21 notice compelling him to reveal the identities of whistleblowers who raised concerns about alleged executions of Afghans.

If he refuses to comply, Mr Mercer faces being sent to prison or, if the matter is referred to the High Court for enforcement, he could be given a potentially unlimited fine.

Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, who is chairing the Afghan inquiry into the allegations that the SAS carried out extrajudicial killings between 2010 and 2013, has expressed frustration at the wall of silence obstructing his investigations.

But Mr Mercer insists he is protecting vulnerable soldiers who are not involved in wrongdoing but simply raised concerns with him.

Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, is facing jail or a limitless fine for protecting whistleblowers - Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images

Mr Campbell, a former Army major wounded in combat, was subjected to a criminal investigation over the drowning of a teenager in Basra in 2003 but finally exonerated almost 20 years later by an official report which concluded the death was an accident.

A parliamentary inquiry into the treatment of veterans by Mr Mercer, a former Army captain who served three tours in Afghanistan, forced the Government into shutting down the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat), which was investigating hundreds of cases almost all of them raised by Phil Shiner, a lawyer subsequently struck off for dishonesty.

Mr Campbell, in urging the judge to rescind his section 21 order, told The Telegraph: Johnny Mercers position on this is about the public interest of whistleblowers being assured they can speak to figures of authority in confidence.

I was failed by the chain of command and utterly abused by the judicial system while under investigation by the Iraq Historic Allegations Team.

The last safety net for service personnel when they have nowhere left to turn is to speak to an MP. I fully support Johnnys position on this.

Mr Campbell has told The Telegraph: If it were not for Johnny Mercer, I would be dead today. He filled the Army-shaped void that was absent for 17 years in holding the MoD to account. The Army just did not care about us.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave gave Mr Mercer a deadline of Friday April 5 to reveal his sources or else be prosecuted for contempt. If Mr Mercer is found guilty by a High Court judge, he could then be jailed or fined while he would also be in breach of the ministerial code. Rishi Sunak would then have to decide whether to sack or retain one of the few members of the cabinet with name recognition and a wider appeal.

Mr Mercer lodged his appeal against the section 21 notice on Wednesday.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave will consider the request to set aside the notice.

SAS in Afghanistan

Mr Mercer, warned by whistleblowers in 2017 about their concerns over the behaviour of the SAS in Afghanistan, then raised them inside the Ministry of Defence.

Friends of Mr Mercer insist that he was the only senior politician prepared to flag up the problems in Afghanistan.

Gen Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army, said the Afghan inquiry appeared to have misunderstood why Mr Mercer was refusing to name his sources.

Lord Dannatt said: Johnny Mercer is not withholding the names of his sources from the inquiry because he believes there is a risk the information could be exposed, as the inquiry seems to think.

These whistleblowers came to Mercer in confidence and have not given him permission to hand over their names, which is why he has not done so. He believes it is fundamentally important that he maintains the trust that whistleblowers can speak to MPs in confidence.

David Taylor, a barrister who represented veterans wrongfully arrested by Ihat, said: Johnny Mercer was the only MP who was willing to listen.

Some veterans felt suicidal because of Ihats relentless pursuit of them. Johnny Mercer was the only MP with the integrity and compassion willing to listen to their plight.

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A short alley leads to the rear parking area of a local auto body shop on Industrial Avenue in Oxnard on March 19, where an Oxnard woman was found with a fatal gunshot two days earlier. Police arrested a man and woman in connection with the case Wednesday.

Oxnard police have arrested a man and woman on suspicion of murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman on March 17.

The suspects, Margarita Jimenez, 33, and Jorge Garfias, 36, were taken into custody without incident Wednesday morning by members of the special enforcement unit and a K-9 police dog team, Oxnard Police Department officials said.

The victim, 35-year-old Yanelly Vargas of Oxnard, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. The agency identified her as Yanelly Vargas Sandoval, while police officials use only Vargas as a family name.

The incident was reported shortly before 11:55 p.m. on a Sunday night. Police were called to a fight with possible gunshots and found Vargas in a parking area by the All Star Auto Body shop, 1021 Industrial Ave. She was unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the right side of her torso, authorities said, and died after being taken by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center.

The site is off East Wooley Road, east of the Five Points intersection.

The police investigation determined the victim had previously been in a romantic relationship with Garfias.

Nevertheless, the motive remains unclear, said Sgt. Jaime Miranda.

"We're still trying to figure that out," he said, referring to what prompted the shooting. Detectives haven't yet established whether the former dating relationship was a factor, Miranda said.

The sergeant noted the victim has many family members in Oxnard who have been devastated by her death. She was out with friends that night, he said.

In a separate case, Jimenez was arrested in a 2016 shooting and eventually pleaded guilty to assault with a firearm. She was sentenced to five years in state prison and received 256 days credit for her jail time, court records show. She was also ordered to pay $300 in restitution.

Jimenez and Garfias are both Oxnard residents, prosecutors said. Police initially said Garfias was from Ventura.

As of Thursday, both suspects remained in county jail facilities, each with bail set at $2 million, jail records showed. Arraignment has been scheduled for Friday afternoon in Ventura County Superior Court.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Ricardo Vega at 805-385-7688.

This story may be updated.

Gretchen Wenner is the breaking news and city editor at the Star. She can be reached at gretchen.wenner@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Man, woman arrested on suspicion of murder in Oxnard woman's shooting
Ozempic is one of a family of drugs used to treat diabetes that are increasingly being taken as a weight loss treatment - IMYSKIN/ISTOCKPHOTO

An Ozempic-like drug slows down Parkinsons symptoms and could protect against disease progression, a study suggests.

Lixisenatide, a drug of the same category as Ozempic and Wegovy, is already authorised for use in the treating of diabetes patients and is given as a daily injection.

Data from a study of 156 people with Parkinsons found that the 78 people taking the drug every day for a year saw no decline in their physical symptoms.

However, the placebo trial group saw participants deteriorate by three points on a 132-point scale.

The phase two trial was run by scientists at the University Hospitals of Toulouse and Bordeaux and involved 21 different research centres across France.

The drug shows promise as a potential treatment for Parkinsons, a condition that has no cure but can be managed with medication. However, it did have significant side-effects with almost half (46 per cent) of participants feeling nauseous and one in eight vomiting.

Significant step forward

For 30 years, we have been trying to understand how to slow the decline associated with Parkinsons disease, said professors Wassilios Meissner and Olivier Rascol, the principal investigators of the study.

In this context, the positive results of the phase two trial, showing less progression of motor symptoms of Parkinsons disease over a year, constitute a significant step forward in the future management of the disease.

We look forward to confirming these encouraging results in the future, in order to translate such findings into clinical practice.

The drug belongs to a group of medicines called glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (or GLP-1R agonists) that work by mimicking the action of a natural gut hormone that is produced after eating food.

The hormone stimulates insulin release from the pancreas, which helps cells in the body to absorb glucose that is eventually turned into energy. The drugs also create feelings of satiety and are therefore increasingly being used as a weight loss treatment.

There is a known link between Parkinsons and type 2 diabetes, with research suggesting that people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing Parkinsons.

People with Parkinsons who are type 2 diabetic often experience a more rapid progression of their symptoms, research has suggested.

Dr Richard Wyse, director of clinical development at Cure Parkinsons, said: I am thrilled to see the extremely positive, ground-breaking clinical outcome of the lixisenatide trial, which could have real meaning for people living with Parkinsons.

Masud Husain, professor of neurology, Oxford University, said: The results of this trial are really encouraging for people with Parkinsons disease.

After a year, patients who were on the drug were significantly better off in their movements than those who werent on the medication.

However, the findings do not provide conclusive evidence that the drug has a protective effect on the brain to effectively slow down disease progression.

We also have to bear in mind the side effects.

Larger clinical trials

Prof Michele Vendruscolo, co-director of the Centre for Misfolding Diseases at Cambridge University, said: GLP-1 agonists are widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, and are among the leading repurposed drugs being tested for disease-modifying effects in Parkinsons disease.

In addition to prompting longer and larger clinical trials, these results show a more quantitative understanding of the mechanism of action of GLP-1 agonists.

The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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I paid $530 for one night in Hawaii's famous pink hotel. I was so excited, but I wouldn't stay there again.

I paid $530 for one night in Hawaii's famous pink hotel. I was so excited, but I wouldn't stay there again.

On a recent Hawaii trip, I stayed in the most affordable room I could find at The Royal Hawaiian.

I spent $530 total to stay one night at the iconic pink beachfront hotel.

I enjoyed the location and its famous mai tais but found my room to be dated.

My mother and I recently visited Hawaii for the first time.

While there, we stayed at The Royal Hawaiian, nicknamed the "Pink Palace of the Pacific," a place I'd long dreamed of seeing in real life.

The iconic 528-room hotel is famed for its pink facade and mai-tai cocktails. It also happens to be one of the first hotels in downtown Honolulu in the heart of all the action of Waikiki Beach.

Plus, The Royal Hawaiian is part of Marriott International's Luxury Collection, meaning it's considered an especially world-renowned and unique spot.

With all that in mind, my expectations were high for the five-star resort  but I'm not sure my stay was worth it.

I booked a room in the hotel's Historic Wing.

The room wasn't as luxurious as I'd hoped. Carly Caramanna

I chose to book the cheapest room available, which ended up being a standard room with two double beds in the hotel's Historic Wing.

The room cost $480 for one night, plus a $50 mandatory resort fee.

Once I saw my room, I wasn't impressed. It looked very basic and quite dated  especially because of the patterned carpet. I also found it to be lacking in natural light.

I was a bit disappointed at what I got within my budget, even though the room wasn't exactly cheap. It paled in comparison to rooms I've stayed in at other luxury hotels, like the Four Seasons.

Fortunately, the bathroom felt more modern.

Sharing the small bathroom was a bit tough. Carly Caramanna

The bathroom felt more modern than the rest of the room with its marbled tile and glass shower doors, and I appreciated the mirror with built-in lights.

But it was still quite small, making it difficult for two adults to use it while getting ready for the day.

The hotel itself was beautiful, though.

I could've explored the hotel for free. Carly Caramanna

I loved exploring the grounds of the hotel, which anyone can probably do without being a guest there.

With high ceilings and beautiful artwork, the hotel's main lobby area has an especially grand feel. I also loved the open-air areas that provide stunning views of the nearby beach and ocean.

The hotel's manicured grounds also looked great.

There was lush greenery all over The Royal Hawaiian's property. Carly Caramanna

The green landscaping and florals around the property felt super lush.

I also liked enjoyed seeing the hotel pool, which is surrounded by iconic pink and white lounge chairs, cabanas, and umbrellas.

We spent most of our time on the beach.

Just about all beaches are public in Hawaii. Carly Caramanna

We took advantage of The Royal Hawaiian's location directly on the beach. Unfortunately, our resort stay didn't come with private beach access since just about every beach is public in Hawaii.

The beach ended up getting very busy during our weekend visit. The sand and water were beautiful, though, and I loved seeing Diamond Head (a cone of volcanic ash on Oahu) in the distance.

That said, I was also disappointed to learn that beach-chair and umbrella rentals were not included in the resort fee I paid to stay at The Royal Hawaiian.

Instead of paying extra for rentals, I used towels provided by the hotel.

The resort's famous mai tai lived up to the hype.

The Royal Hawaiian famously serves mai tais. Carly Caramanna

One of the main reasons I wanted to visit The Royal Hawaiian was for its famous mai tais.

According to Eater, the original mai tai was said to be invented in 1944 by Victor J. Bergeron. When he brought his recipe to Hawaii in 1953, it was tweaked to offer a fruitier flavor perfect for tourists on vacation.

The Royal Hawaiian is said to be the first to serve the Hawaiian version of the mai tai, which is now the most famous drink on the islands.

Fortunately, the Royal Hawaiian's mai-tai bar is right on the beach, so it comes with sweeping views of the island.

During my trip, I ordered the classic Royal Hawaiian mai tai for $20. The price was comparable with what I paid for other mai tais on the island, and this rum cocktail was one of the very best drinks I tried during my trip.

The hotel was also located within walking distance of a lot of Waikiki dining.

Duke's Waikiki was next to our hotel. Carly Caramanna

I enjoyed the short walk from our hotel to Waikiki's vibrant dining and shopping options. We made a few visits to the famous beach restaurant Duke's Waikiki, which was just next door.

Although The Royal Hawaiian has several dining options, we chose to have several meals at Duke's because the food was more affordable.

I had a nice trip, but I wouldn't spend the money to stay at the pink hotel again.

I will be back to visit the famous bar but will stay somewhere more affordable. Carly Caramanna

Overall, I spent $530 on my one-night stay at The Royal Hawaiian, and I don't think I can justify staying there again.

The hotel's location was nice, but I wasn't impressed with my room, which felt very dated. For the same price or a few hundred dollars more, I could stay somewhere with more luxurious-feeling rooms, like Disney's Aulani or a nearby Four Seasons.

Maybe I would've felt differently if I'd stayed in the other section of the hotel, the Mailani Tower. It's decorated differently, and I've heard from friends the Tower's rooms are nicer and more modern.

Although rooms in the Historic Wing and Mailani Tower can have comparable prices, a room in the tower was pricier when I booked my trip.

Even so, I think the best parts of the resort, like its nearby beaches and mai tais, can be accessed by the general public. I'll definitely return to The Royal Hawaiian's bar for mai tais, but I won't be staying again as an overnight guest.

This story was originally published on April 4, 2024, and most recently updated on September 26, 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) Two Adams County parents pled guilty to charges in connection to the death of their infant child in what officials say was a tragic death.

Ashley Ackerman, 31, of York, pled guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child, and Brian Becker, 37, of York, was convicted on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child, Assistant District Attorney Kyle Reuter confirmed.

This case was a tragedy and one that was fully preventable had his parents properly taken care of their child, Reuter said in a statement. While I could not bring back the child, I hope that this verdict does justice in his honor.

It took the jury around an hour of deliberation before they returned with their verdict for Becker, Reuter said.

State Police in Gettysburg filed the charges in the death of the 10-month-old infant against the parents in September.

Man charged with homicide, wanted in Steelton death investigation

The parents found the child dead after they woke up and went to change the diaper. Ackerman told Troopers that she put the baby to sleep at the edge of the bed and when she woke she saw the child at the top of the bed.

According to the charging documents, drug paraphernalia was observed throughout the room. It was also found that the parents had a history of child welfare reports.

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Results of a blood draw showed Troopers that there were drugs like fentanyl, methadone, and methamphetamine in their system. There were also text messages that State Police saw between the two that mentioned drugs, thefts, and alcohol.

I want to thank the Pennsylvania State Police for all the hard work they did in this tragic infant death investigation and subsequent prosecution, Reuter said.

Sentencing for Ackerman is scheduled for April 15 and Beckers is on June 17 in front of Judge Shawn Wagner.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
LUSAKA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind has received the backing of leading think-tanks in Zambia. The Chinese Embassy in Zambia recently organized a symposium to introduce and discuss this vision, aiming to enhance understanding of China's foreign policy among Zambian intellectuals.

The think-tanks that were invited to the symposium believe that the vision is vital especially in the current era of global challenges such as climate change, pandemics and warfare.

Herrick Mpuku, the executive director at Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research based in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, said a global community of shared future that pursues openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit is important in today's world.

"If well harnessed, it may address the differences in social systems, ideologies, histories, cultures and levels of development by coming together to promote shared interests, shared rights and shared responsibilities in global affairs," Mpuku said at the symposium.

Mpuku praised China's proposed goals for building this global community, including partnerships, security, development, inter-civilization exchanges and ecosystems.

He expressed happiness that Zambia and other African countries agreed with China's vision as seen in a number of protocols and initiatives as demonstrated by various protocols and initiatives aimed at promoting development and peace.

The alignment of China's policies with those of Zambia and other African nations presents an opportunity for mutually beneficial international cooperation, he added.

China, he said, has already shown its willingness to enhance development cooperation with African countries through initiatives such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) through infrastructure development, finance and capacity building.

Sydney Mwamba, the executive director at Policy Monitoring and Research Center, said China's policy of fostering mutually beneficial cooperation has significantly contributed to Zambia's socio-economic progress especially in the area of infrastructure development.

He noted that the various projects developed in Zambia with China's assistance exemplify the tangible benefits of the cooperation between the two countries.

Zambia, he added, has also benefited through skills and technology exchange initiatives between the two countries which have empowered local personnel and fostered self-reliance and entrepreneurship.

"As we strive to build a community with a shared future for mankind, we must deepen and diversify our collaboration across various sectors, from infrastructure and agriculture to healthcare and education," he said.

Fredrick Mutesa, the secretary-general of the Zambia-China Friendship Association (ZCFA), said the various challenges facing the world such as climate change and pandemics require concerted efforts of all countries.

He said China's vision makes the country a global force for peace and has improved understanding among peoples of the world.

"At ZCFA we believe that this is an opportunity which all progressive forces must seize with open arms. The common threats which face mankind today such as ravages of climate change, which we here in Zambia are currently experiencing, the emergency of global pandemics, widespread poverty and conflicts are challenges which require the international community to pull together in a concerted effort," he said.

He said China's vision is included in the FOCAC mechanism which has resulted in the implementation of various programs.

On his part, Wang Sheng, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Zambia, said China remains a staunch force for peace, stability and progress in the world which is undergoing profound changes, with mankind confronted by multiple challenges.

"While pursuing its own development, it works relentlessly for peace and development of the world, and a stronger and more prosperous China is making ever greater contribution to world peace and progress," he said.

Wang noted that the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind offers China's answer to what type of world is currently required.

The goal is to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity he said, adding that China has developed three initiatives namely the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, in which the country seeks to bring other nations together to address challenges and achieve common prosperity. 
The celebrity hotel heiress once known for her high-profile nightclub appearances has turned her attention to a much more staid venue: the California state Capitol.

Paris Hilton is supporting Senate Bill 1043, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) and joint-authored by two Democratic lawmakers, which would require residential treatment facilities to report to parents and the state government when they use restraints or seclusion rooms in disciplining minors.

It's the latest move in what's become Hilton's political focal point in recent years as she's positioned herself as a voice for youth who have endured abuse at the hands of teen treatment centers. Hilton has traveled to Washington, D.C., and Utah to push for tougher regulations on residential treatment programs. On April 15 she is scheduled to testify in support of the new legislation in Sacramento.

As a survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry, I am proud to partner with Sen. Shannon Grove ... to bring much-needed transparency to California youth facilities," Hilton said in a statement.

Read more: Surviving abuse bonded Paris Hilton and these four women for life

The bill aims to protect children and young adults housed in facilities licensed by the California Department of Social Services by mandating that the agency publish data on a public dashboard on its website reporting the use of restraint and seclusion rooms, including instances of serious injuries or death. It would also require notification of parents or guardians when restraints and seclusion rooms are used on minors.

The Department of Social Services said it does not comment on legislation.

California used to send foster youth with serious behavior problems to out-of-state treatment programs, but after numerous reports of abuse, a 2021 law barred these placements. The state has since created an alternative known as Short Term Residential Therapeutic Programs but the use of seclusion rooms and restraints on minors still occurs, according to Grove's office.

Hilton, who is 43, has been outspoken about the mental and physical abuse she said she endured as a teenager as a resident for 11 months at Utah's Provo Canyon School, a boarding school and psychiatric youth treatment center. Provo Canyon was sold over two decades ago and, after Hilton went public with her story, declined to comment on any allegations about events that took place before new ownership.

Some youth are sent to these treatment programs by their parents; others are foster kids ordered to attend by the courts.

The so-called "troubled teen" industry dates back at least 50 years and refers to a network of programs that target teenagers struggling with issues including substance abuse, mental illness and problematic behavior. The programs typically cost in the same ballpark as college tuition, and despite having been at the center of many abuse and corruption scandals, the industry remains largely unregulated, according to the American Bar Assn.

Prompted by her experiences in residential treatment in the 1990s, Hilton has formed a nonprofit organization, released a documentary and written a memoir recounting her personal story of abuse. And she is advocating for the protection of minors in residential programs and facilities.

Read more: California lawmakers come back with bill targeting 'buyers' of child sex trafficking

In 2021, Hilton testified at the Utah state Capitol for a bill that required more government oversight of youth residential treatment centers and documentation when they use restraints on minors. The bill also prohibits using sedation or mechanical restraints without prior authorization in treatment centers. The bill was signed into law, affecting the state's 100 youth treatment centers, and has paved the path for more legislation.

The National Assn. of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, the country's largest member organization, supported the Utah bill.

"We strongly support the creation of laws that help protect the rights and safety of students who attend our programs," the group wrote in a letter that was read by Utah Sen. Todd Weiler.

Last year, Hilton was at the U.S. Capitol to advocate for the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, a federal bill to establish best practices and transparency in youth residential care programs.

This issue is deeply personal for me," Hilton said at a Washington news conference introducing the bill. "From the ages of 16 to 18, I was sent to four troubled teen industry facilities. Each one was more horrific than the last. I witnessed and experienced sexual abuse from adult staff, as well as endured verbal and emotional abuse daily. ... What I went through will haunt me for the rest of my life.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The Parliamentary Finance Committee supported measures that would impose stricter oversight of the gambling industry in Ukraine, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said on April 4.

The negative social impacts of gambling are increasingly becoming a topic of public discussion as a petition demanding restrictions on online gambling was registered on the website of the President's Office in March. In response, President Volodymyr Zelensky tasked authorities to tighten control over the online gambling industry.

The committee supported a bill that included the liquidation of the Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries and passing its responsibilities to the Digital Transformation Ministry.

Other measures included further restrictions on online gambling games, a ban on advertising, finding tools to safeguard particularly vulnerable categories of the population, and tightening business control measures.

The bill also proposes guidelines and conditions for cancelling licenses, as well as other steps to lift the standards of gambling enterprises.

The draft law was submitted to the parliament back in May 2023.

Gambling was officially banned in Ukraine in 2009 until its legalization in 2020.

In the first two months of 2024, the gambling business in Ukraine paid Hr 2.2 billion ($56 million) in taxes, and Hr 10.4 billion ($267 million) in 2023, according to Danylo Hetmantsev, the chairman of the parliamentary Finance Committee.

Read also: Zelensky says government to tighten control over online gambling

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Hudson spine surgeon Dr. Alfred Bonati announced hes suing the state for $500 million after his ambulatory surgery center was shut down.

The nine-count lawsuit against the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and three of its employees claims The Bonati Spine Institute was shut down based on based on false allegations.

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The lawsuit cites civil rights violations, including defamation, civil conspiracy and tortious interference with a business relationship to damage their reputation.

The center, which is licensed as the Medical Development Corporation of Pasco County, shut down in March 2023 after the state suspended its license. The state alleged the center put its patients health at risk, citing claims a certified surgical technologistwho was not licensed as a doctor performed an entire spine surgery.

These allegations were not only knowingly false, but done in a deliberate effort to damage our facility and the reputation of our owner, Dr. Bonati, Kimberly Bonati, senior vice president of media and communications for The Bonati Spine Institute said. A major piece of our success over the last 40 years has been the development of our unique approach to anesthesia where our patients remain awake and communicating with their surgeon throughout their surgical procedure.

The suit names three AHCA employees who allegedly investigated the matter, and claims they were hunting for any indication of potential wrongdoing to justify their failed investigation.

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The company partnered with another surgery center, and patients still undergoing treatments were able to go there. Staff from the Bonati Spine Institute were credentialed to treat those patients.

According to the suit, AHCA employees showed up to the other surgery center on a regular basis to look for Dr. Bonati and were harassing employees.

The suit seeks $500 million in damages for suffering substantial damage in the form of lost revenue and reputational harm.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Two people were injured when a Southwest Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence on Wednesday morning and had to make an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida, according to a spokesperson for Tampa International Airport.

Southwest Flight 4273 was traveling from New Orleans to Orlando when the captain declared an emergency after experiencing turbulence aboard the Boeing 737 jet, the airline said in a statement.

The Captain declared an emergency, a requirement to deviate from a filed flight plan, and also requested that paramedics be available when the aircraft arrived to assess any potential injury, the statement said.

A passenger and a flight attendant were transported to a Tampa area medical facility, the airline added.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, a spokesperson told CNN.

According to CNN Weather, storms that brought severe weather from the Ohio Valley to the Deep South on Tuesday were draped over the Gulf of Mexico this morning, causing strong thunderstorms in the area.

CNNs Taylor Ward contributed to this report.

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Last month, surgeons at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston transplanted a kidney from a gene-hacked pig into a living 62-year-old man.

The unusual procedure appears to have been a resounding success, with the patient being discharged from the hospital on Wednesday.

The achievement could usher in a new era, potentially reducing our reliance on both hard-to-come-by human donor kidneys and the expensive dialysis machines that treat kidney disease and failure.

The patient, Richard Slayman, had been struggling with kidney disease for over a decade. His previously transplanted human kidney had also shown signs of failure last year.

But with his new kidney, which came from a genetically modified pig courtesy of biotech company eGenesis, Slayman is already doing much better. The organ is producing urine and removing waste from the blood, among other key functions, as the New York Times reports.

"This moment  leaving the hospital today with one of the cleanest bills of health Ive had in a long time  is one I wished would come for many years," Slayman said in an official statement. "Now its a reality."

It's a major milestone for xenotransplantation, the nascent field of harvesting donor organs, tissues, and cells, from one species for transplantation in another.

"Though much work remains to be done, I think the potential of this to benefit a large number of patients will be realized, and that was a question mark hovering over the field," David Klassen, the chief medical officer for the United Network for Organ Sharing, who was not involved in the surgery, told the NYT.

But Slayman isn't entirely out of the woods just yet. There's still a chance his body's immune system will come to reject the new kidney. We also still don't know if the same procedure will work for other patients.

On the eighth day following the procedure, Slayman's body did show signs of rejection, which were successfully reversed with steroids and other medications  the same treatment some patients receive after getting a donor organ from another human.

If the technique can be scaled up, it could allow us to reduce our reliance on extremely expensive kidney disease treatments and put a dent in the long waitlists for human donor kidneys. Currently, over 100,000 Americans are waiting to receive a human donor transplant and only 25,000 kidneys are translated each year. About 12 people die while waiting for a transplant each day in the US.

While Slayman has since been discharged, he will still be closely monitored and have to take tests three times a week. The immunosuppressive drugs he's taking also make him more vulnerable to infections, which means he won't be going back to work for at least six weeks.

Nonetheless, the team at the Massachusetts General Hospital is optimistic.

"When we first came in, he had a lot of apprehension and anxiety about what would happen," Leonardo Riella, medical director for kidney transplantation at Mass General, told the NYT. "But when we rounded on him at 7 am this morning, you could see a big smile on his face and he was making plans."

More on the surgery: Patient Walking Around Hospital After Transplant of Gene-Hacked Pig Kidney
PAYSON, Utah (ABC4)  A Payson man was arrested on Tuesday, April 2 in connection to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after prosecutors say he lunged at officers with a stun gun.

Zach Rash, 24, has been charged with felony offenses of construction of law enforcement during civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers and inflicting bodily injury.

Charges also include misdemeanors for entering a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and acts of physical violence in a Capitol building.

Rash is the 16th Utahn to be charged in connection to the Capitol breach on Jan. 6.

LIST: These Utahns have been implicated in the Jan. 6 insurrection by the Department of Justice

According to court documents, Rash traveled to Washington D.C. to attend former President Donald Trumps rally on Jan. 6. He later confronted an established police line on the West Plaza on Capitol Grounds while carrying a fire extinguisher. When that police line collapsed, Rash allegedly joined the rioters in climbing stairs and scaffolding, making his way toward the Inauguration Tunnel Entrance.

(Courtesy: U.S. Department of Justice)

Rash moved to various locations inside the Tunnel and eventually moved toward the front of the crowd of rioters, The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Colombia said in a press release. In Capitol building closed-circuit television footage (CCTV), another rioter is seen removing a stun gun from his pocket and sparking it to ensure that it was operational.  The rioter waived the stun gun and offered it to others. Rash then reached for the stun gun and took it.

With the stun gun in hand, prosecutors say Rash lunged toward officers in the Tunnel multiple times, triggering the stun gun numerous times. During the push against Capitol officers, Rash allegedly called on others to join the melee in the Tunnel, including coordinating a Heve-Ho push against the police line.

(Courtesy: U.S. Department of Justice)

Rash allegedly rejoined the front of the mob where CCTV reportedly captured Rash obstructing officers efforts to close a door.

Rash, along with other rioters, struggled with officers to keep the door open, facilitating ongoing attempts by rioters to assault and push through officers in the Tunnel, the press release states. Rash remained in this position for nearly 10 minutes until approximately 3:13 p.m. At this time, Rash moved toward the Tunnel entrance, eventually departing the Tunnel at 3:15 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Pedestrian hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being hit by truck in Boston

A pedestrian was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were struck by a truck in Boston on Thursday morning, officials said.

Officers responding to a report of a crash in the area of Essex Street and Atlantic Avenue found a person hurt in the street, the Boston Police Department said in a post on X just before 7:45 a.m.

The victim, whose name hasnt been released, was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Traffic in the area is impacted. Please seek an alternative route, the department warned motorists.

This pedestrian crash comes just two days after a man in a wheelchair was fatally struck by a cement truck on Frontage Road.

Thursdays incident remains under investigation.

BPD investigators are on scene at Essex St. and Atlantic Ave. where a pedestrian was struck by a truck. The victim has been transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. Traffic in the area is impacted. Please seek an alternative route.  Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) April 4, 2024

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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SALISBURY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  An investigation is underway after a pedestrian was struck and killed overnight in Salisbury, Salisbury Police announced Thursday.

Officers responded to calls regarding the incident around 4:28 a.m. Thursday, April 4, near 800 West Jake Alexander Blvd. David House, 42, was found in the road suffering from injuries and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area  >> Latest stories here

An initial investigation revealed Alexander was attempting to cross the roadway when he was struck and killed by a vehicle, police said.

Salisbury Police told Queen City News the vehicle that fatally struck House remained on the scene. There is no mention of any charges at this time. This remains an active investigation.

This is a developing story; check back for updates

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed his outrage with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a call Wednesday, after seven aid workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza earlier this week.

A convoy of vehicles for the charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) was struck multiple times by the Israeli military Monday after leaving one of the groups warehouses where it dropped off food aid.

Secretary Austin stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said of the call. Secretary Austin urged Minister Gallant to conduct a swift and transparent investigation, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account.

The convoy coordinated its plan to move through a deconflicted zone with the Israeli military prior to the attack, WCK said.

The seven WCK volunteers killed in the strike were from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom and Palestine, and one was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada.

Secretary Austin stated that this tragedy reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, specifically focusing on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid, he added.

The Biden administration has long pressured the Israeli military to prevent civilian casualties in the Israel-Hamas war and to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, to little effect, as a million people face the onset of famine, according to the United Nations.

The Israeli military took responsibility for the strike, claiming it was caused by a miscommunication and false intelligence that a Hamas militant was with the group.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the Israelis are conducting a thorough inquiry.

This happens in war, he said in a statement.

Renowned chef Jose Andres, founder of WCK, admonished the Israeli military Wednesday, saying the group was systematically targeted car by car.

This was not just a bad luck situation, where Oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,' Andres told Reuters. Even if we were not in coordination with the [Israeli military], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Bendito dos Santos Freitas, minister of foreign affairs and cooperation of Timor-Leste, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

NANNING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Bendito dos Santos Freitas, minister of foreign affairs and cooperation of Timor-Leste, on Thursday in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that China and Timor-Leste elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership last September in a historic leap forward in bilateral relations.

The two sides should carry forward their tradition of mutual trust and win-win cooperation, implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and promote the continuous upgrading of their comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said.

Noting that China will always be a member of the developing world, Wang said its development will provide support and opportunities for all developing countries, including Timor-Leste. China is ready to establish an agricultural cooperation working group with Timor-Leste, deepen sub-national exchanges, participate in infrastructure construction in Timor-Leste, expand personnel exchanges, and strengthen cooperation in such fields as culture, education, vocational training, tourism and sports.

Freitas said that bilateral relations between Timor-Leste and China have always developed on the basis of mutual trust and mutual benefits. Timor-Leste upholds the one-China principle firmly and is committed to strengthening friendly cooperation with China.

He added that Timor-Leste sincerely thanks the Chinese government and people for their selfless support of Timor-Leste's efforts to achieve national independence, economic and social development, and to maintain national stability. Timor-Leste looks forward to working with China to enhance high-level exchanges and promote the implementation of more projects under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, with the aim of achieving the greater development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Bendito dos Santos Freitas, minister of foreign affairs and cooperation of Timor-Leste, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)
The court found Volodymyr Synelnyk guilty of treason for directing the missile strike on the Ria Pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk in June 2023, killing 13 people, and sentenced him to life in prison.

Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office; Office of the Prosecutor General; Security Service of Ukraine; Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "Prosecutors of Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office proved a resident of Kramatorsk guilty of high treason (Art. 111.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) in court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with confiscation of property."

Details: The court found that Synelnyk, who worked at a gas transmission company, was recruited to perform tasks for Russia.

On 27 June 2023, he was once again approached by the "head of the Intelligence Department of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic" [a self-proclaimed and non-recognised quasi-state formation in Ukraines Donetsk Oblast  ed.]. The collaborator was tasked with verifying information about the presence of Ukrainian military personnel in Ria Pizza in Kramatorsk.

The perpetrator agreed to the offer. In the city centre, he noticed cars with military licence plates in the car park and the military themselves in the restaurant. He recorded two videos, which he immediately sent to his handler via Telegram. In order to avoid anyone noticing his interest in the location, the man carefully concealed all his actions from prying eyes.

Some time after the sending of the recordings, the Russians launched an attack with an Iskander-M ballistic missile, killing 13 people and injuring 64, including children.

Background:

On 27 June 2023, Russian invaders attacked Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, hitting a restaurant. An Iskander-M missile targeted the crowded Ria Pizza pizzeria.

The attack killed 13 people and injured 64.

Among the dead was Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina.

According to the investigation, Synelnyk has lived in Kramatorsk all his life, worked for the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine LLC, and before that, for several years at the Novokramatorsk Machine-Building Plant, and was engaged in entrepreneurial activities. In the 1980s, he served in Afghanistan, where he met his "friend Arthur", who later found himself in the "service" of the illegal armed group DPR. In 2014, during the temporary occupation of Kramatorsk, the man recruited him to cooperate with the Russian secret services.

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Peter Navarro asks Supreme Court again to get him out of prison

Peter Navarro, adviser to former President Trump, asked the Supreme Court to review his plea to get out of prison in a long-shot request filed Tuesday.

Its the second time Navarro has asked the nations highest court to set him free while he challenges his conviction. Chief Justice John Roberts shut down the first request last month, a day before Navarro went to prison March 19.

Navarros lawyers asked Justice Neil Gorsuch to look over the request denied by Roberts. The Supreme Court allows parties to resubmit requests to individual justices if their emergency appeals are denied by a separate single justice.

We respectfully request that our application for an order staying the execution of the district courts order requiring Dr. Navarro submit to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons be renewed with the Honorable Associate Justice Gorsuch, wrote Navarros attorneys, Stan M. Brand and Stanley E. Woodward Jr.

Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for failing to produce documents related to the probe and for skipping his deposition before the select House committee that investigated events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

He argued he did not need to hand over the documents requested since they were covered under Trumps executive privilege.

He is serving a four-month sentence in a low-security prison in Miami.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro Chief Executive Officer Jean Paul Prates is seeking a meeting with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to see if the president supports him in the role amid speculation about his departure that caused shares to swing wildly earlier Thursday.

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Prates wants Lulas support amid continued criticism from Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira, according to two people familiar with the matter. The meeting hasnt been scheduled yet, they said.

Local media had previously reported that Lula and Prates would meet Friday. The president is visiting cities in northeastern Brazil on Thursday and Friday, but will be back in Brasilia on Friday afternoon.

Prates potential departure after more than a year in the role underscores how Petrobras struggles to meet conflicting expectations from the government and minority shareholders. The Lula administration would like to see Petrobras act more as a motor for economic and job growth while shareholders had gotten accustomed to industry leading dividend payments that have gone into decline.

Prates wants to remain in the role, but is waiting on support from Lula, one person close to the chief executive said. Silveira ratcheted up his rivalry with Prates after giving an interview to a local newspaper in which he said he disagreed with the direction Prates was taking Petrobras.

There were some signs that Prates may prevail in his role. Silveira, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Chief of Staff Rui Costa held a meeting Wednesday and agreed that Petrobras would pay out extraordinary dividends that Prates had supported, but that were previously blocked by board members aligned with Silveira, the people said. Lula still needs to sign off on the payout, the people said.

Common shares of Petrobras, as the state-controlled oil giant is known, slumped early on Thursday after CNN Brasil, citing anonymous sources, reported that Prates departure was imminent. Shares then reversed losses and rose as much as 3.9% after O Globo reported the deal on the dividends. They closed 0.5% lower at 39.12 reais ($7.74).

The company issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying that no decision had been made about the dividends.

We consider Prates departure, especially for political reasons, as negative news for the company, said Ilan Arbetman, analyst at Ativa Investimentos. What concerns us, at the moment is that the conflict between the company and the government could take away the companys maneuvering power to continue executing its current pricing policy.

Petrobras subsidized motor fuels the last time Lulas Workers Party was in power, and there is concern it will start doing that again.

As questions swirled about his future, Prates played into the speculation, posting an image of a text message conversation in which someone asked if he was leaving Petrobras on social media.

I think that after 8:02 pm he will go home for dinner, the response read. And tomorrow at 7:09 am he will be back at the company as he always has a full schedule.

The head of Brazils Development Bank, Aloizio Mercadante, is one of the candidates being considered to lead Petrobras if the job opens, and economist Nelson Barbosa could take over BNDES, one of the people said. Mercadantes media representative denied any invitation to lead Petrobras and said he was working normally at BNDES, according to CNN.

Theres probably not a more thankless job in Brazil than being the president of Petrobras, said Schreiner Parker, managing director for Latin America at Rystad Energy AS. Youre torn between the government and market.

--With assistance from Mariana Durao.

(Recasts lead with CEOs request to meet with Lula, additional details throughout.)

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Philadelphias mayor wants to increase the police budget, a move seen in other cities

Police work the scene of a shooting on July 3, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

During a budget presentation, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced a proposed $600 million investment in public safety for the next five years.

Cherelle Parker, the first woman elected mayor of Philadelphia, is following through on her promise to strengthen the citys police force.

During a budget presentation on March 14 before the City Council, Parker announced a proposed five-year, $600 million investment in public safety. This includes the hiring of hundreds of new police officers every year, an increase in recruiting, and funding for more community policing.



My budget includes hiring at least 400 new officers every year. Well increase the number and frequency of recruiting classes and leverage a cadet program as a pipeline, Parker said in the address. My One Philly Budget supports deploying more officers in the field  walking the beat, riding a bike, getting to know the people they are sworn to protect and serve  the core of our Community Policing model.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has proposed an increase in the public safety budget. Above, city police work the scene of a shooting last July 3. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

The public safety funds also include $24 million for community-based anti-violence programs, $3 million for the police oversight board and $45 million for a new police forensics laboratory. Parker is also committed to investing outside of public safety. She proposed more than $36 million for cleaning and green initiatives, half a billion in street paving and millions for the school district.

Despite calls to defund the police following George Floyds murder, many cities are instead pumping more money into police departments. ABC News surveyed 109 enforcement agencies and found that 91 of them increased budgets by at least 2 percent.

Now, you all know that I fully support our police department. But I want to be clear: we will have zero tolerance for any misuse or abuse of authority by law enforcement. Period, Parker told the City Council during her budget address.

The mayors public safety plan has worried Black residents because Philadelphia has a history of police brutality. Also, Parker has openly supported Terry stops, the constitutional version of stop-and-frisk.

Philadelphia isnt the only city seeking to spend more on law enforcement or already doing so. In Los Angeles, the City Council approved a union contract with the LAPD that increases the pay of police officers. It will cost taxpayers $384 million over the next four fiscal years. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan wants to add $15 million to the police budget for next year. In Chicago, the police budget went up slightly in 2024 from $1.90 billion to 1.99 billion.

In Philadelphia, the City Council has until June 30 to decide on the proposed budget.

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A man in the Philippines got a food companys logo tattooed on his forehead for a 1400 cash prize, only to find out it was an April Fools Day prank.

Ramil Albano, a resident of capital Manila, fell for an image that offered cash prizes to those willing to get the logo of the local food business, Taragis Takoyaki, tattooed on their forehead.

Mr Albano, who is an out-of-work marine engineer, said he wanted the money to provide for his son who has Down syndrome.

He said he did not click to see further details on the picture which would have shown that it was an April Fools Day prank, not a contest. Mr Albano said he thought it to be one of the challenges that the companys owner often posts where people are dared to eat spicy snacks without drinking water.

He promptly took the challenge after seeing the image and even shared a video of himself getting inked on the companys page to claim the cash prize.

He only came to know that he had been pranked after the Facebook account of the business said it was not accountable for events that occurred.

Taragis Takoyaki said it received a number of messages claiming that our post was executed and that someone had taken it seriously.

It is a food chain with more than 80 outlets that specialises in takoyaki, a popular Japanese snack made from battered octopus. The businesss Facebook page often shares challenges and offers prize money to the winners.

Mr Albanos video went viral and sparked backlash from Filipinos who criticised Taragis Takoyaki and its owner Carlo Quion for the apparent marketing gimmick.

Ramil Albano sports the tattoo he was fooled into getting on 1 April (Screengrab/ Faceebok Taragis)

Taragis Takoyaki apologised, saying in a Facebook post: Let this serve as a reminder to us all how important reading comprehension is. Its April Fools Day. Never trust anything or anyone. The same as any other day.

In the wake of the outrage, Mr Quion, a well-known illusionist, shared a lengthy video of him visiting Mr Albanos home in north Manila and offering him 100,000 pesos  the sum promised as part of the prank.

Mr Quion met Mr Albano and his son and asked the marine engineer to consider removing his tattoo with a laser.
The ringleader of an armed gang responsible for the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky almost 20 years ago has finally been brought to justice following a tireless international manhunt.

Piran Ditta Khan, was convicted on Thursday of masterminding the raid on a Bradford estate agents in November 2005 in which the 38-year-old officer and her colleague Pc Theresa Milburn were gunned down at point-blank range.

The 75 year-old fled to Pakistan after the murder and spent 15 years on the run before he was eventually caught and extradited back to Britain.

Khan is the seventh and final member of the gang to be convicted in connection with the murder and West Yorkshire Police heralded the verdict as the culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was arrested in Pakistan in 2020 and extradited to the UK last year to be charged - West Yorkshire Police

Pc Beshenivsky, who was married with three children and two step children, was shot on her daughters fourth birthday as she and Pc Milburn responded to reports of a raid at the family run Universal Express travel agents in the centre of Bradford.

After entering the shop, the robbers assaulted members of staff, threatened them with weapons and demanded they hand over 100,000 in cash.

One of the victims managed to trigger a silent alarm and Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn, who were about to finish their shift, responded to the call.

They were both shot at point black range as they approached the doors of the travel agency. Pc Milburn survived but Pc Beshenivsky died from her injuries.

Pc Teresa Milburn placed the hat of her colleague, Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, on top of her coffin - John Giles/PA

While Khan stayed in the safety of a lookout car rather than entering the store himself, prosecutors said he had played a pivotal role in planning the raid and knew that loaded firearms were to be used.

The jury at Leeds Crown Court was told this made him guilty of Pc Beshenivskys murder as surely as if he had pulled the trigger on that pistol himself.

Khan, who was a regular customer of Universal Express, claimed the businesss owner, Mohammmad Yousaf, owed him 12,000 and he had hired a debt collector to help get his money back.

But prosecutor Robert Smith KC said Khans claim of being defrauded was entirely false and jurors heard how he had travelled from his home in Enfield, North London, on a reconnaissance trip five days before the raid.

In the years following the murder, six other men involved in the robbery were put on trial and convicted.

Muzzaker Shah and brothers Yusuf Jama and Mustaf Jama the three armed men who went into Universal Express  were convicted of murder, robbery and firearms offences.

Pc Beshenivsky and Pc Milburn were captured on CCTV approaching the Universal Express travel agents on Nov 18 2005 - West Yorkshire Police/pa

Hassan Razzaq and his brother Faisal Razzaq were found guilty of manslaughter, robbery and firearms offences. Raza Ul-Haq Aslam was convicted of robbery.

But just weeks after the raid Khan evaded arrest by wearing a veil and posing as his sister to leave the UK on a flight from Heathrow to Islamabad.

In 2009, a poster campaign backed by a 20,000 reward was launched in Pakistan. West Yorkshire police never gave up hope of bringing him to justice.

He was eventually arrested in January 2020 and was extradited to the UK three years later.

Khan told his trial he had originally gone to Pakistan for his sons wedding but did not return after getting scared when he saw news reports saying he was a wanted man.

Paul Beshenivsky, the husband of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, stands with his son, Paul, and other family members at her funeral - John Giles/PA

Giving evidence largely through a Punjabi interpreter, he told his barrister: My English is street English, your English is book English.

He told the court he grew up in Pakistan as one of eight children and came to the UK alone as a teenager in 1965, staying initially with an uncle in Bradford.

He later lived in Nottingham and Derby, and Dewsbury, in West Yorkshire. He later went back to Pakistan to get married where he had children before returning to Bradford.

The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, thanked the jury for its role in the case of a police officer who set off for work that morning and never came home, all for doing her job to try and keep us all safe.

Even after so many years it hardly bears thinking about, he said. The only sentence for murder is imprisonment for life, I have to set the minimum term.

Khan, who showed no visible emotion when the verdicts were given, will be sentenced at a date to be set.

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A Coast Salish-style longhouse at Western Washington University is moving closer to reality as construction starts and the Bellingham City Council considers a long-term lease for land in the Sehome Hill Arboretum.

City Council members got an update on the project March 25, and a public hearing on the 75-year lease is planned for their next meeting, at 7 p.m. April 8. An invitation-only ground-turning and blessing ceremony is scheduled for April 11.

Called the House of Healing, the idea for the center grew out of a 2016 request from Indigenous students at WWU for a type of cultural center on campus and a meeting place for the Native American Student Union.

The core purpose, and youll see that in the lease agreement, is for tribal activities, education, ceremonies, Parks and Recreation Department Director Nicole Oliver told the City Council in a March 25 committee meeting. Its going to be the office of the Tribal Liaison at Western. It will have student areas as well as a central area for meetings and ceremonies, classes and the like.

This is a very unique situation where the citys contribution is the property as well as the funding from transportation to help with those improvements at the park that enabled the building to be built on that site adjacent to the Western campus, Oliver said.

Oliver told the council that there have been robust discussions with the Sehome Hill Board of Governors because of the parks sacred status in the community.

Location for the House of Healing is a 2-acre meadow on 25th Street near Bill McDonald Parkway. Its near the current parking area for the arboretum, which is a 175.5-acre park that features miles of wooded hiking trails, a tunnel through rock and an observation tower.

Bellingham is planning to make street and pedestrian improvements costing about $600,000 and rebuild a nearby trail. The lease for the site is $1 annually for 75 years.

Plans for the longhouse moved forward when it caught the attention of state Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Bow, an Alaska Native. It received $4.5 million from the state.

Another $500,000 in donations came from the Mt. Baker Foundation, WECU, Whatcom County, the Jamestown SKlallam, Muckleshoot, Swinomish, Stillaguamish, Nooksack and others. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen secured $450,000 in federal funding for additional educational programs, equipment and furnishings.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)  Police in Green Bay say they are adding five FLOCK Safety cameras around the campus at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

According to a release from the UW-Green Bay Police Department, officers met with the UWGB Student Government Association to talk about the use of five FLOCK Safety fixed Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) on the UWGB campus.

Officials say the FLOCK cameras focus on vehicles and not people. The cameras are unable to track who is in a vehicle and their movements.

The cameras are instead used to provide real-time alerts when the system identifies vehicles with license plates listed in law enforcement-maintained databases as being in relation to cases involving stolen cars, stolen plates, and amber alerts.

Community Update: Green Bay Police Chief talks safety during trump visit, election day, and more

Police say they are optimistic about the cameras used on campus citing that they are highly efficient for use as an investigative tool that provides near real-time on criminally involved vehicles.

Officers report that, within two days of installing the cameras, police were able to identify a vehicle that was being used to throw objects at several other vehicles along Nicolet Drive.

The cameras installed around the UWGB campus are said to complement the hundreds of cameras deployed around the state including the dozens deployed by other local law enforcement agencies throughout Brown County.

UWGB also now joins several other UW campuses utilizing these operating systems including UW-Madison, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Whitewater.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
BEIRUT, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's agricultural and educational sectors are in a "disastrous state" amid continuous Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, said Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday, urging quick assistance from the international community to support Lebanon in dealing with its crises.

"About 800 hectares of lands were completely damaged, 340,000 heads of livestock were lost, and about 75 percent of farmers lost their only source of income," Mikati said, according to a statement released by the Lebanese Council of Ministers.

Mikati's remarks came following a meeting with ambassadors and donor countries to discuss the situation in southern Lebanon.

Mikati emphasized the need for quick assistance from friendly countries to help Lebanon deal with the situation on its southern border.

"The education sector suffers equally from a dire situation in southern Lebanon, where about 75 schools were permanently closed, not to mention the hassle of finding a source of funding to rebuild them," he said.

Mikati added that about 100,000 Lebanese citizens were displaced from southern Lebanon, with over 300 people killed and about 1,000 wounded due to border confrontations.

The prime minister reiterated his call for the international community to pressure Israel to stop its attacks in Lebanon and prevent the conflict from spreading across the region.

The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing increased tension since Oct. 8, 2023, after Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attack on Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. 
Police arrest man they say was trying to steal new Camaro from GM lot

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  Michigan State Police troopers arrested a man they say was trying to steal a new Camaro from a GM storage lot early Thursday morning.

Several other men, also trying to steal Camaros according to police, got away after seeing the state police arrive at the storage lot on the 7000 block of Davis Hwy near I-69 just south of the GM Delta assembly plant.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

This lot is where new GM vehicles are stored before being loaded onto trains to be delivered around the country.

State police say when the first trooper arrived on the scene shortly before 5 he saw a man trying to drive away in a white Camaro. But when the trooper approached the man tried to pull a U-turn only to lose control and crashed into a dumpster, totalling the Camaro.

After a short foot chase, the trooper took the man into custody. Police say the unidentified man is 22-years-old from Detroit and was injured in the crash. Police say he will be charged once released from the hospital and booked into the Eaton County Jail.

The other men seen in the lot trying to steal Camaros abandoned the cars before running. Police say these men were not caught.

At the end of February, people stole eight Cadillacs from the same lot, only two of them were found, and no one was arrested.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
The death of a woman found in the Righetti Ranch neighborhood earlier this week was not suspicious in nature, the San Luis Obispo Police Department told The Tribune on Wednesday.

San Luis Obispo resident Nadia Fournier, 22, was found March 1 after a resident discovered her body near the train tracks.

Police said at the time it was unclear how Fournier died or how long she had been there.

Christine Wallace, spokesperson for the agency, on Wednesday told The Tribune the death was not suspicious but could not provide further details.

When reached for comment Thursday, San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla said the case is still pending the toxicology report results, which could take several weeks.
An Uber driver is allegedly assaulted and robbed by her passengers in Rainier Beach.

Its the latest attack on rideshare drivers in Western Washington.

Seattle Police were called to a nearby apartment complex in the 9000 block of Seward Park Avenue at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Its where a 37-year-old woman, who is an Uber driver, was able to find someone to help her make a 911 call after the incident.

The woman says she was picking up riders at the Atlantic City Boat Ramp. She told police there were three women, one man, and a toddler.

Police say the driver told the passengers she could not complete the trip because she did not have a car seat in the vehicle for the child.

The woman said when she tried to cancel the ride, an argument started. Police say the male passenger punched the driver in the head and hit her with a piece of driftwood.

The driver was allegedly knocked to the ground and beaten by the rest of the group.

Its an attack thats left rideshare drivers on edge.

This is crazy, this is very bad, said Ahmed Mumin, who is the Executive Director for the Seattle Rideshare Drivers Association.

Mumin told KIRO 7 the attacks on rideshares have gotten out of hand.

It takes away the trust from us, you know, with the riders. It seems like the riders are not being held accountable, Mumin said.

Police are searching for the suspects. They say the four adults, with one toddler, split up toward a nearby park.

If you have any information, call Seattle Police.
Police Scotland has been forced to pay control room staff overtime amid a deluge of complaints under the countrys controversial new hate crime law, it has been claimed.

David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said that the bill for enforcing the new law by paying for overtime and other costs would total hundreds of thousands.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on Monday and insiders believe police have received more than 6,000 complaints lodged under the law which created a new crime of stirring up hatred.

The legislation passed by the SNP government with Labour and Liberal Democrat support extends long-standing offences around racist abuse to other grounds based on age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity but not sex.

On Thursday, Humza Yousaf, the SNP First Minister, admitted some of the complaints made since Monday were vexatious as Mr Kennedy revealed that the service was now having to pay overtime to control room staff.

He told The Telegraph: Although there are lots of complaints coming in, a tiny percentage of that are turning into actual investigations. It will all be done within the control room, the control room will be paying extra overtime and using officers from the control room area to do it.

Mr Kennedy said staff will be weeding through complaints to see if they require action and control room staff would be doing the bulk of the work.

There are not a lot of officers on patrol that are getting overly swamped because not a lot of the complaints are turning into actual hate crime investigations. It will be officers sitting and reading through whatever has been sent in to make sure that there is not any hate crime and that there is not any other crime being reported.

There is overtime getting paid, they wouldnt have acquired it if the new law hadnt come in, they wouldnt have had the extra work.

He said the biggest complaint was having no extra funding or extra officers to deal with the new law and while the number of complaints may dwindle the impact will be weeks or months.

Its going to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and we dont have any officers so I dont care what anybody says there is a detrimental impact on other parts of the force.

On Thursday, Mr Yousaf urged people to desist from making vexatious complaints which were wasting precious police resources and time.

He said he was not surprised that the police had rejected the complaints as there was a very high threshold of criminality where the behaviour has to be threatening or abusive and intends to stir up hatred.

However, he said tweets by Harry Potter author JK Rowling who dared the police to arrest her earlier in the week, may well be offensive, upsetting and insulting to trans people.

Rowling hit back and said Yousaf will be ousted from power by a voter backlash over the law.

The author said most Scots were upset and offended by Yousafs bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism but we arent lobbying to have him locked up for it.

She tweeted: I dont believe in putting people I disagree with in jail. Weve got a ballot box and thats where Yousaf will get his richly deserved comeuppance.

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Only hours after the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force, Rowling posted pictures of 10 high-profile trans people and ridiculed their claims to be women. She then challenged police to arrest her but Police Scotland said her stance was not criminal.

Separately, Calum Steele, the former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said backroom staff working on the unseen side of policing were being pulled into investigating reports of hate crimes.

He said the drain on resources would eventually hit frontline policing but currently it was affecting back office staff whose work was still important.

It is understood Police Scotland disputes Mr Steeles claims after he said officers were being pulled from other parts of the force to deal with hate crime complaints. The force was approached for comment on overtime costs.

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.
Police are still searching for missing Texas student Caleb Harris one month on. Heres what we know

A Texas A&M Corpus Christi student vanished without a trace from his off-campus apartment a month ago in the foggy early morning hours of 4 March.

Now a month has passed, detectives are continuing to investigate the disappearance of 21-year-old Caleb Harris, who left his keys and wallet in his apartment and an Uber Eats order he requested outside his front door.

In the hours leading up to his disappearance, everything seemed normal: he was hanging out with his friends playing video games, playing with his roommates girlfriends new puppy and ordering snacks for his lunch that day.

His family said he had made plans with friends, spoke with family often and had even signed on to a lease for an apartment next year.

Yet, the student is currently nowhere to be found.

Police have scoured the area, conducted interviews and assessed surveillance footage, but they are still unaware of where the student, described as a homebody, would have gone.

Heres everything we know about the disappearance of Caleb Harris:

Environmental science student goes missing

Mr Harriss roommate found an Uber Eats order that was bought by Mr Harris in the early hours of the morning still sitting outside when he opened their apartment door at 11am.

The missing Environmental Science students pickup truck was parked in front of the apartment, his wallet and keys were left in the apartment, and all that appeared to be missing was Mr Harris himself and his cell phone, but it has now been turned off.

This was unusual for his roommate, who described Mr Harris as a homebody and a creature of habit and immediately became alarmed by his absence.

After his roommates looked for their friend for a short while, they contacted the Corpus Christi Police Department to report him missing.

A preliminary search of the apartment and the immediate area did not show any signs of struggle or violence, nor did it indicate a hit-and-run accident.

Mr Harris is described as approximately 5ft 11in tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

Parents worst nightmare

His father Randy Harris told KRIS-TV that he spoke with his son, who is originally from New Braunfels, the night before he vanished and everything seemed fine, but hours later, he received the news from his wife that he was missing.

Mr Harris says the ordeal has been a parents worst nightmare and added that his sons disappearance does not seem to make sense.

Theres just nothing there that would cause us to believe he was in any danger or leaving, he said to KIII. He had actually ordered in his food for the next day for school.

Caleb is described by his father as the kind of person that would just stop and help people (Corpus Christi Crime Stoppers)

We just pray for patience and for the stamina to continue just anything and everything we can," Mr Harris said to KRIS-TV.

His father said that his disappearance seemed odd, as he stayed in contact with his family often and had made upcoming plans with friends.

Its his intentions. I mean, texting us, Snapchatting his friends, everything," his father told the outlet. "They just got a new dog that evening and they were out playing with the dog and signed the lease on his apartment for next year.

He said that his son came to study at Texas A&M University in the hopes of eventually working outdoors as a Texas game warden or an environmental lawyer.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi said in a statement that they ask our university community and the public to keep Caleb and his family in your thoughts. TAMU-CC remains hopeful for Calebs safe return.

His father described him as the kind of person that would just stop and help people," Harris said.

If somebodys got a flat tire, hes going to do what he can to help them, he added.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary

The Texas student spent the evening of 3 March, the day before he was reported missing, inside his apartment along with his two roommates and a mutual friend, police said.

Mr Harris and his friend played online video games for over an hour with another former high school classmate who lives in Colorado.

At 12.56am, a doorbell camera at a nearby apartment captured Mr Harris, his friend, and one of his roommates in the parking lot playing with a puppy belonging to the girlfriend of one of his roommates.

Police said there was nothing appeared out of the ordinary, and the three men returned to the apartment.

Shortly after his, their mutual friend left the apartment.

At around 2.20am, one of Mr Harris roommates told the missing student that he was going to bed, but Mr Harris said he would stay up and order snacks through Uber Eats for his school lunch later that day.

At 2.44am, Mr Harris sent his younger sister a Snapchat video of him walking the puppy through what appears to be the apartment complex lot.

He also sent a Snapchat photo to a high school friend in San Antonio at 3.03am - the picture depicted a small bridge over a drainage ditch within a few hundred feet of the entrance to his apartment complex.

That area is under close investigation his father told NewsNation.

That area was hand-to-hand walking in the creek, he told the outlet. The creek wasnt flowing at the time, so its just a muddy bottom creek. Its very easy to see into it thoroughly.

Shortly after this, at 3.12am, Mr Harris cell phone last shared location data with the nearest cell phone tower.

Uber Eats delivery

At 3.20am, the Uber Eats delivery driver brings the order to Mr Harris apartment, leaving it outside near the front door as the order requested.

However, at 11am, one of his roommates discovered the order still sitting outside the front door.

Detectives got in contact with the 31-year-old woman who delivered the Uber Eats in the early hours of the morning, telling them she was driving alone that night and did not see the missing 21-year-old or anyone else at or near the apartment complex.

They added that she had been eliminated as a suspect in Mr Harris disappearance.

According to a statement from Uber to PEOPLE, Calebs order was completed without any reported incident. The company has reached out to the police to offer assistance.

Multiple agencies still working the case

Police have carried out an exhaustive search of hundreds of acres surrounding Harris apartment complex on the 1900 block of Ennis Joslin Drive.

Detectives then turned their efforts towards establishing a timeline for Mr Harris in the hours and days preceding his sudden disappearance.

They also interviewed roommates, friends, family members and acquaintances.

The detectives said that have no reason to suspect any of these individuals had anything to do with Harriss disappearance.

Aside from the interviews, they went door-to-door around his and the adjacent apartment complex to try and find any possible witnesses or surveillance video, as well as searching thirty vacant apartments for Harris.

The Police Departments Criminal Investigation Division and Organized Crime Unit, the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and the United States Marshals Service, along with three Forensic Computer Examiners, and one civilian crime analyst are all continuing to work on the case of the missing student.

Three weeks after Mr Harris vanished without a trace, detectives said they have extensively searched businesses and residences, retrieved footage and traffic camera video, as well as written 16 electronic search warrants among other tactics.

If you have information regarding the disappearance of Caleb Harris, authorites are asking people to contact the Corpus Christi Police Department at (361) 826-2840 or you can submit an anonymous tip at Crime Stoppers 888-TIPS (888-8477). The tipline number set up by the Harris family is (361) 826-2950.
Polish farmers continue to block 3 checkpoints, with more than 1,400 lorries in queues

Polish farmers continue to block the movement of lorries at the Rava-Ruska, Yahodyn and Uhryniv checkpoints.

Source: Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service, on air during the 24/7 national joint newscast, reported by Ukrinform

Details: "The blocking of three checkpoints  Rava-Ruska, Yahodyn and Uhryniv  continues. And in fact, in all three of these checkpoints, Polish farmers do not allow lorries to enter Poland at all, while several lorries per hour are allowed to proceed to Ukraine," Demchenko said.

He noted that the Yahodyn checkpoint is the largest infrastructure area on the border with Poland for the passage of lorries. In particular, it can handle 1,200-1,400 lorries per day. On the contrary, only 70 lorries travelled towards Ukraine over the past day.

Demchenko said that the total queue at these three checkpoints is just over 400 lorries.

He noted that there are also queues at previously unblocked checkpoints. This is especially noticeable at the Krakivets and Shehyni checkpoints. There are about 550 lorries waiting at Krakivets as of this morning, and about 450 at Shehyni.

Demchenko stressed that Polish farmers do not block traffic for other categories of transport, except for freight transport.

Background:

On 2 April, it was reported that traffic blocking for lorries had resumed at the Uhryniv-Dolhobyczow checkpoint on the border with Poland.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A prolific campaign treasurer for more than 100 Ohio political candidates, including many Republicans, has been federally charged with stealing almost $1 million in campaign funds.

William Curlis, 76, was charged with wire fraud Thursday for allegedly stealing more than $995,000 from various candidates funds and a political action committee for which he was treasurer. Court documents show a proposed plea agreement, suggesting Curlis plans to plead guilty.

According to court documents, from 2008 until June 2023, Curlis wrote himself multiple checks from candidates campaign funds and one PACs fund while serving as treasurer. To conceal the theft, he allegedly transferred funds between accounts without candidates knowledge and falsified corresponding campaign finance reports.

As the campaign treasurer and only signatory on numerous bank accounts, Curlis took advantage of his trusted position and wrote checks to himself from the accounts of multiple candidates and one PAC, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker said in a news release. I urge candidates, PACs, and businesses alike to protect themselves from future fraud by examining their accounting processes for vulnerabilities and other blind spots.

The court documents do not disclose which candidates Curlis defrauded. Multiple Republican politicians have filed complaints against Curlis with the Ohio Elections Commission, including Hilliard-area State Sen. Stephanie Kunze and former Franklin County Prosecutor Ron OBrien.

The bill of information alleges that Curlis sold his residence in 2016 to cover the cost of campaign expenses and conceal account deficits caused by his theft.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
A ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, is held in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.(Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

XI'AN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, also known as the Yellow Emperor.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday.

The legendary Huangdi is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

Those who participated in the ceremony made offerings of flower baskets to Huangdi during the ceremony. Participants included Peng Qinghua, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Jiang Zuojun, vice chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, Zhao Yide, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Shaanxi Provincial Committee, and Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

This year's ceremony was co-hosted by the Shaanxi provincial government, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. 

A Chinese dragon-shaped installation is seen at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Actresses perform at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Actors attend a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

Actresses perform at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

A Chinese dragon-shaped installation is seen at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Actors perform at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Actors perform at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Children in ethnic costumes sing at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Actors sing at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

Children in ethnic costumes sing at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Actresses perform at a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. More than 400 Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, attended a ceremony in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

A ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, is held in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, and others bow to a statue of Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of a delegation of young people from Taiwan led by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, attend a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of a delegation of young people from Taiwan led by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, attend a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, plants a tree at the mausoleum of Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of a delegation of young people from Taiwan led by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, visit the mausoleum of Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of a delegation of young people from Taiwan led by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, attend a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of a delegation of young people from Taiwan led by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, attend a ceremony paying homage to Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, in Huangling County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 4, 2024. A ceremony was held here on Thursday to pay homage to Huangdi, who is considered to have been the founder of the Chinese civilization and the common ancestor of all Chinese people.

The ceremony is traditionally held on Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on Thursday this year. Chinese people mourn their deceased family members and worship their ancestors during the Qingming holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
Be under no illusion: an army of activists and bureaucrats are busily transforming our criminal justice system by stealth. The latest evidence can be found in the latest diktats from the Sentencing Council. Buried in their latest miscellaneous amendment, they tell judges to consider more lenient sentences for those from difficult or deprived backgrounds.

The non-exhaustive laundry list includes everything from experience of discrimination, through to poverty, low educational attainment and even negative experiences of authority.

From my own time policing Britains streets, most criminals considered being caught, never mind convicted, to be a negative experience of authority.

How long until we hear of a violent thug being spared jail for assaulting a police officer, or a teacher, because they claimed to have had a bad experience at the hands of the police or a strict teacher?

Its just the latest example of personal responsibility being air-brushed out of existence, and all of it without any democratic mandate or serious push-back from a supposedly Conservative government.

His Majestys Prison and Probation Service, responsible for writing pre-sentence reports for the courts, will already be going a step further  ensuring any question about discrimination is reframed to ask about microaggressions.

Even if there was some significant merit to any of this, its an all-you-can-eat buffet. Criminals will fill their plates with every item on the menu, and throw it all at the judge in the hope that some of it sticks.

Let us not forget that criminals have a tendency to be dishonest. So who will be charged with checking the veracity of claims made? The answer is obvious to anyone who has spent time in or around our courts: nobody.

It would all be funny  if criminal justice and public safety werent so serious.

Going soft on convicted criminals only encourages them. By making poverty, negative experiences of authority, or discrimination an excuse for criminality, it exhibits the same poverty of aspiration and expectation that we have seen in so many classrooms.

The authors of such guidance, whether they know it or not, are injecting the same morally repugnant poverty of expectation into the courtroom, and in doing so are only going to encourage criminality among the very cohorts they profess to care most about.

Is it kind or compassionate to give a knife-carrying and drug-dealing youth another pointless and ineffectual community sentence? Does it protect the public? Does it stop them committing crime? From my own experience, desperate mums would prefer their son be given a prison sentence, than run the risk of them becoming the latest knife crime statistic.

The truth with crime is that most of it is committed by a small number of people  and crime hits the poorest hardest. Thats why criminals need to be swiftly apprehended and punished. Offering up a menu of excuses for poor choices wont help cut crime, it will only encourage it.

Sadly these mistaken guidelines are just the latest manifestation of a criminal justice system that in policy-making circles appears largely captured by activists and campaigners who would rather empty the prisons than make our streets safer.

Even a government as increasingly diminutive as this one, ought not to allow this capture to go unchallenged, and to allow these changes by stealth. At the very least, they should have the common sense and decency to accept the crime-fighting amendments to the Sentencing Bill proposed by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and her colleagues.

With a general election looming, any political party seeking to be credible on crime must put a stop to the unchallenged and unaccountable transformation of our criminal justice system into a system more interested in social justice.

It means ensuring we have the prison places for the many criminals who need and deserve to be sent there. It means confronting the ongoing ideological capture of our institutions, and it means being unequivocally clear that criminals  not the rest of us  are the ones responsible for crime.

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.
Popular budget airline adds new direct flights from Sacramento Airport for as low as $19

In need of a getaway?

Low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines added two new direct flights from Sacramento International Airport, according to a news release.

Soon, travelers can fly nonstop from Californias capital city to Ontario (Southern California, not Canada) and Dallas for as low as $19.

The new routes join existing direct services to Denver and Las Vegas.

Were delighted to add yet another destination to our route map from Sacramento, Josh Flyr, vice president of network and operations design for Frontier Airlines, said in a release.

We know consumers appreciate convenient, low-cost flight options and are thrilled to add more choices for those in the greater Sacramento area, he added.

Frontier will provide nonstop flights from Sacramento to Dallas four times a week, starting June 13.

Daily direct flights from Sacramento to Ontario begin July 11.

Flight frequency and times could change, the release stated.

The fine print

For a limited time, Frontier is offering tickets to Ontario for as low as $19 and tickets to Dallas for as low as $59.

Travelers must purchase their airfare by 8:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, to secure tickets at the promotional price, the release stated.

The offer is limited to select days, June 5 through Aug. 31.

These are the blackout dates:

July 1

July 4 to July 8

July 11 to July 15

July 18 to July 22

July 25 to July 29

Round-trip purchases are not required, Frontier said.

Also, most reservations are nonrefundable.

Refunds will be granted for reservations made seven days (168 hours) or more before takeoff. This rule only applies to requests made within 24 hours of the initial booking.

Travelers could be charged an extra fee for making changes or cancellations to their itineraries 24 hours after booking.

Previously purchased tickets cannot be exchanged for special fare tickets.

Additional services  including baggage and advanced seating  are available as separate purchases.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.
Back in August of 2021, porn star Ron Jeremy pled not guilty to over 30 counts of sexual assault, including 12 of rape, in the Los Angeles area over a 23-year period.

Jeremy had been in prison since his arrest in June 2020. However, since November of 2023 he was released from jail and allowed to reside in a "private residence" due to his declining health and medical conditions. A year prior, he was declared incompetent to stand trial and in March of 2023 a conservatorship was filed.

All 34 Criminal Counts Dismissed

Mega

In exclusive documents obtained by The Blast, Ron Jeremy, whose legal name is Ronald Jeremy Hyatt, is seemingly off the hook as of last week per 1385 PC: "California Penal Code 1385 permits courts to dismiss a criminal charge in the furtherance of justice." All 34 criminal counts have been officially dismissed.

The long list of charges that have been dropped include, but aren't limited to; Forcible Rape, Sexual Penetration With Force, Sexual Battery, Lewd Act upon a Child 14 of 15 by Person 10 Years Older, Forcible Oral Copulation, Sex Penetration: Foreign Object, and Victim Unconscious/Asleep.

Medical Reports Indicated He Suffered From Dementia And Hearing Loss

Mega

It was said that the Jeremy suffered from 'incurable neurocognitive decline'. This information came to light when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Harris stated medical reports said he had dementia, is 'incoherent', and suffers from hearing loss.

It was also reported by Jeremy's attorney, Stuart Goldfarb, that Jeremy 'didn't recognize him' during a holding cell visit back in March of 2022.

District Attorney Paul Thompson also shared a statement in November of 2023 regarding Jeremy's condition at the time, stating: I feel very badly that this is where we are, but it is beyond our control. His mental and physical condition deteriorated rapidly, and we are left with no other options, he wrote. Im sorry that we couldnt get complete justice for you in court.

Dozens Of Women Contacted The LA County Sheriffs Department

Mega

This news comes years after dozens of accusations of grouping and rape, from dozens of women which spanned decades, were reported to officials. The 34 criminal accounts were brought against Ron Jeremy in 2021, with the oldest allegation dating back to 1996.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  The Port of San Diego has declared a state of emergency linked to the ongoing Tijuana River Valley crisis, according to a news release Wednesday. The port joins the cities of Imperial Beach and San Diego as well as the County of San Diego, which have issued similar actions.

According to the release, more than a hundred billion gallons of untreated sewage and other pollutants have flowed into the Tijuana River Valley and out into the Pacific Ocean, causing a series of beach closures in Imperial Beach and Coronado due to public health concerns.

This crisis is sickening our South Bay communities and our beaches have been closed for nearly 850 days and counting, Commissioner Dan Malcolm, Imperial Beachs appointee on the Board of Port Commissioners, said in the release. This environmental and public health nightmare must end! Our emergency declaration is a statement that we are still in this fight, and we will not stop advocating for every dime that is needed to STOP THE SEWAGE once and for all.

New website launched to monitor illnesses caused by South Bay pollution

The contaminated water is meant to go through treatment plants under the jurisdictions of both the U.S. and Mexico federal governments; however, the infrastructure needs to be improved and expanded, the port said.

The port emphasized that additional funding is needed to improve and expand operations of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is operated by the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Preparing for Monday's solar eclipse: What you need to do to watch safely

A child uses special glasses to watch from San Antonio last year as the moon moves in front of the sun during a solar eclipse. (Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Grab your eclipse glasses  weather permitting, Los Angeles County and the rest of California will catch a glimpse of the rare total eclipse Monday.

Unfortunately for eclipse fanatics on the West Coast, Californians will be able to see only a partial eclipse. From this state's vantage point, the moon and sun won't be exactly aligned, and only a portion of the sun's disc is blocked, according to the Griffith Observatory.

The moon's encroachment into the sun's path will start at 10:06 a.m. and it will have made a substantial bite into the sun's image by 10:39 a.m. The eclipse will peak at 11:12 a.m. and be over by 12:22 p.m., according to the observatory.

Read more: How to watch the solar eclipse from California  and avoid heartbreak if chasing 'totality'

Depending on where you are in the state, you'll get a slightly different view of the eclipse. For example, in Los Angeles half of the sun will be visibly covered by the moon, but in San Francisco only a third of it will be covered. Anglenos can take that as a win.

NASA offers an eclipse explorer online map if you want to time your viewing just right.

This is a rare event; the next solar eclipse that can be seen from California won't occur until 2044. To help you prepare, experts share how you can view the eclipse safely, where to get protective eyewear, how to photograph the eclipse and who will be hosting public viewing parties in Los Angeles County.

How to safely watch the eclipse

The first rule of a solar eclipse is, don't look at the sun without specialized eclipse glasses or a solar viewers. It's not safe.

If you look up at the eclipse without protection, it will instantly cause severe eye injury, according to NASA.

The same rule applies for looking at the eclipse through a camera lens, binoculars, telescope or regular sunglasses. According to NASA, the concentrated solar rays will burn through the lens filter and seriously harm your eyes.

What you can use are solar viewers or eclipse glasses that comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. These glasses reduce visible sunlight to safe and comfortable levels and block all but a tiny fraction of solar UV and infrared radiation, according to the American Astronomical Society.

The society warns that some eclipse glasses are labeled as ISO-compliant but have not been properly tested. Unfortunately, there's no way for you to be able to test whether the eclipse glasses are legitimate or not before you buy them. Instead, the society shares a list of reputable suppliers of eclipse glasses, viewers and filters online.

Read more: 'Unseasonably cold': April storm bringing winter temperatures, low snow levels to California

Once you have some eclipse glasses in hand, here's how to tell whether they're safe. Through a pair of eclipse glasses you should be able to see only the sun (or something comparably bright) and nothing else. Some signs that the viewer might not be safe are:





If you can see shaded lamps or other common household light fixtures, don't use it.

If you glance at the sun through the viewer and find it uncomfortably bright, don't use it. Safe solar filters produce a view of the sun that is comfortably bright and in focus.

The American Astronomical Society advises against purchasing whatever eclipse glasses pop up in an internet search or online ads. What you can count on are glasses and viewers from a science museum, planetarium or an astronomy trade show.

When you do get a pair of glasses or viewers, make sure they're in good condition. If the viewers are torn, scratched or punctured, discard them. If the filters are coming loose from their cardboard or plastic frames, discard them.

You can also indirectly see the eclipse by using a pinhole projection. With the sun behind you, allow the sunlight to pass through a small opening and project a solar image onto a nearby surface. Do not look at the sun through the pinhole.

There are several items you can use to fashion a pinhole projector, such as an index card with a hole punched in it, a pasta colander, a straw hat (with visible holes) or even your bare hands.

Experts such as Ed Krupp, longtime director of the Griffith Observatory, advise against staring at the eclipse for minutes on end, even with proper eye protection.

Krupp suggests looking up for just a moment to see the progress, then waiting 10 minutes or so before seeing how it looks again.

Where to get eclipse glasses

Several branches of the Los Angeles Public Library are handing out free solar eclipse glasses every day until Saturday, but just to the first 40 people who ask for them. The library's main online calendar lists the branches that are participating.

The Los Angeles Public Library also will be distributing 21,000 solar eclipse glasses at the Los Angeles Maker Faire on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown.

The Los Angeles County Library branches are providing the community with the protective eyeware while supplies last. The county has a list of its branch locations and contact information so you can call ahead to check on the branch's supply.

Participating Warby Parker locations are handing out free solar eclipse glasses while supplies last. The website for the prescription glasses retailer has a list of locations that are giving out the protective glasses.

Tips on taking a photo of the eclipse with your phone

Your eyes aren't the only thing you shouldn't point at the sun. Your smartphone can also be damaged if you point its camera lens at the sun for long periods of time without a special filter.

It's generally OK to include the sun in a photo focused on something else  for example, if you're taking a landscape photo that includes the sun, that isn't a safety issue for the camera. If you're focused on the sun, put eclipse glasses or certified solar filters over the camera lens.

Read more: How to take a photo of the eclipse without damaging your phone

Eclipse viewing events

Eclipse events around Los Angeles are all taking place from 10 a.m. to noon Monday.





The California Science Center is hosting a hands-on educational activities and viewing of the eclipse, which is included with the center's free general admission. Free eclipse glasses will be available.

Cal State L.A.'s Honors College will be providing its students and the public with viewing glasses and a space to view the eclipse between the Biological Sciences Building and the Annenberg Science Complex. For more information, call (323) 343-5969 or email honorscollege@calstatela.edu.

In celebration of National Library week, 10 of L.A. County Public Library branches are hosting an educational viewing of the eclipse. The participating branches are Stevenson Ranch, El Camino Real, Lloyd Taber-Marina del Rey, Chet Holifield, Diamond Bar, Acton Agua Dulce, Manhattan Beach, Rowland Heights, Woodcrest and Lake Los Angeles. Call the participating branch for more information.

Los Angeles Pierce College is hosting an eclipse party that's open to the public on the second floor balcony of the Center for the Sciences on campus. Staff will provide solar eclipse glasses and have solar telescopes on site. Any questions or requests for special accommodations should be emailed to Dale Fields at fieldsdl@piercecollege.edu.

Caltech is hosting a viewing party for the public at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Eclipse glasses will be provided while supplies last, and a solar telescope will be on site. Astrophysicists will be available during the viewing to help everyone get the most out of the rare experience. For more information, visit Caltech's website or email Cameron Hummels at chummels@caltech.edu.

If you're looking to virtually see the moon's passing, the Griffith Observatory will broadcast the total solar eclipse live on Youtube from Belton, Texas.

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.
Who is Preserve Fort Collins? Born out of land use code fight, group cites broader mission

Last October, you might have received some text messages that sounded an alarm:

"This is Lisa with Preserve Fort Collins. Petitions have arrived and it's time to sign!"

"This is Jen with Preserve Fort Collins. We have only a few days left to collect signatures to repeal the new Land Development Code."

"This is Mary, a volunteer with Preserve Fort Collins. ... These changes will create haphazard density and destroy the livability of our residential neighborhoods."

"Forced densification will greatly increase the cost of housing and living."

"The only winners are big developers, investors and land speculators."

By the time Preserve Fort Collins was mobilizing for the second time to repeal the land use code changes passed by City Council, its work had been going on for almost a year.

The land use code is the guiding document for how the city develops, setting rules for things like how much density is allowed and which building types and uses are allowed in different zones. It sets design standards, parking requirements, lot setbacks and more.

Some of the changes proposed, starting in 2022, were cause for concern for a group of well-informed residents, some of whom had served on City Council before.

And so began their fight.

The topic drew out hundreds of people from all perspectives to City Council meetings, where they gave impassioned testimony, sometimes angry and sometimes tearful.

Preserve's efforts led to two code repeals in the span of a year, but it also spurred a local counter-movement in YIMBY Fort Collins, which advocates for changing land use regulations in order to encourage more housing to be built.

Between the two repeals, the city's outreach was flawed, said Ross Cunniff, co-founder of Preserve Fort Collins.

"The consistent feedback that we were hearing and consistent with my experience is that these meetings were largely sales jobs for how wonderful the land use code changes were going to be and 'Dont worry your pretty little heads,' you know, 'It's not going to destroy your neighborhood.' Basically, very condescending, patronizing."

Ross Cunniff, a founder of Preserve Fort Collins and chairman of its board, listens to a protest hearing about the group's petition effort to stop land use code changes at City Hall in Fort Collins on Dec. 13, 2023.

At a May meeting, he said, staff didnt take questions from participants.

"It wasn't even a feedback session; it was a sales job."

On April 16, council will consider a third version of a major land use code update, this time pared back to remove the most controversial items.

But it's far from settled in Fort Collins.

Some key aspects of the past code proposals could become state law this legislative session, and the city remains focused on finding ways to achieve more affordable and attainable housing.

And Preserve Fort Collins is still on alert.

Who is behind Preserve Fort Collins and how did it start?

Preserve Fort Collins formed about a year and a half ago, but many of its involved volunteers are longtime Fort Collins residents and former elected leaders.

In summer 2022, people were starting to hear about possible land use code updates coming through the Planning and Zoning commission, Cunniff said.

"The most concerning thing at that point was the elimination of the neighborhood meeting," he said, referring to a change that would have allowed residential developments to go forward without one. As a former City Council member for eight years, he said he worked to help elevate neighborhood residents' voices in decisions about developments and the proposed change bothered him and other former council members who had been gathering over coffee.

"It felt like that was cutting the neighborhood out," he said, and "when that was combined with the dramatic upzoning proposal in the first land development code, that was just kind of the final straw."

Also frustrating was when he emailed City Council, urging it to delay a final vote to get more community feedback, nobody answered.

"It felt like they knew what they wanted to do. They didn't seem to care what anybody else that wasn't in their inner circle thought," Cunniff said, and that's "not the way we should be doing things in Fort Collins."

Preserve Fort Collins registered as a nonprofit in November 2022, just two days after City Council passed sweeping changes to the land use code. Since then, the group has been successful in repealing two iterations of land use changes, first in December 2022 and again in November 2023.

In between the two repeals, PFC Action was registered as an issue committee with the city and as a nonprofit with the Colorado Secretary of State's Office in October 2023.

Cunniff is the registered agent for both Preserve Fort Collins and PFC Action.

He is the chairman of the seven-member board of directors, which makes decisions about whether to take up an initiative or spend money.

But he declined to name the other board members, citing targeted bullying he has experienced that called into question his character.

"The board members have seen that and don't want to subject themselves and their families to that," he said.

When the Coloradoan asked Cunniff if he could help assemble other Preserve Fort Collins leaders for an interview, he said they did not want to participate, citing a desire for their cause to be focused on the issues rather than on personalities.

2023 City Council candidates Eric Hamrick and Patricia Babbitt supported Preserve Fort Collins as petition signature gatherers.

Hamrick was listed as a petition representative on the 2022 repeal effort alongside Cunniff and former City Council member David Roy. Petition representatives listed on the 2023 repeal paperwork are Cunniff, Dawn Cramer and Melissa Abrams.

Cunniff said Preserve Fort Collins has a several-hundred volunteer organization.

"There's longtime community activists, former council members like myself," he said. "There are people that weren't ever involved with this before, younger people just starting out with their life in Fort Collins who came here because they liked Fort Collins and don't want it to change to something that it's not right now."

Members of Preserve Fort Collins cart in signed petitions to the city clerk's office in Fort Collins on Nov. 28, 2023.

More than 90 people helped gather signatures on petitions to repeal the second attempt at code changes in December.

Cunniff said he considers the signers of the two petitions to be members by proxy. More than 12,000 signatures were gathered between the two efforts, though some are certainly duplicates. Cunniff said he estimates about 10,000 are unique.

"We feel that they are stakeholders in what we've tried to do," he said.

What does Preserve Fort Collins advocate for?

In its messaging, Preserve Fort Collins has described itself as a grassroots coalition formed to advocate for community livability.

"It's right in the name," Cunniff said. "Some people have really taken offense at the name," saying "that we're trying to fossilize, that we're trying to preserve some inequitable, unfair state of things. But there's a lot that's nice about Fort Collins, and that's what we want to preserve."

And that goes beyond the land use code, he said, to natural areas or air quality. The idea is to preserve or restore while still allowing for change.

"Fossilization is not good and it's not sustainable," but neither is "wholesale radical change all at once in pursuit of a goal that we don't think it can achieve," he said.

Former City Council member David Roy, an original stakeholder in Preserve Fort Collins, told the Coloradoan in an email that when the group formed in 2022, "I was worried about the filthy air quality in Fort Collins, the future of the Cache la Poudre River, the quality of life for residents, and this City Council's penchant for being enthralled to the purveyors of development before listening to the hopes of the people who elected them."

Roy clarified that he doesn't have a tactical or strategic role with Preserve today.

But he wrote: "The current iteration of Preserve Fort Collins continues to try and check our City Council's worst impulses to diminish the voice of residents, rezoning Fort Collins into an investment mecca for faceless banks and equity firms, while ignoring that their cheer-leading for rapid growth will only make our already filthy air dirtier, threaten our natural resources like the Cache la Poudre river even more, and hasten damaging the quality of life, and the neighborhoods, of the people who've voted for them."

But undoubtedly, Preserves roots are in the land use code changes, and so far thats where it has mostly been focused, specifically on concerns about the quality of life in neighborhoods.

"We've already got a Denver. Why do we want to build a second Denver?" Cunniff has said.

Ross Cunniff, a founder of Preserve Fort Collins and chairman of its board, listens to a protest hearing about the group's petition effort to stop land use code changes at City Hall in Fort Collins on Dec. 13, 2023.

Preserve Fort Collins has opposed increasing capacity in existing neighborhoods and eliminating single-family zoning.

Theyve opposed basic development review for residential development and for affordable housing, saying it removes meaningful public input that happens during required meetings or hearings.

Theyve also raised concerns about allowing all accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in all residential zones, though Cunniff said the group has never officially taken a for or against stance.

Preserve contends the changes proposed will bring many more multi-unit structures to what are now single-family neighborhoods and will lead to problems with corporate ownership of properties.

And Preserve asserts that the changes wont lead to more affordable housing in the city, wont lead to lower prices, wont help low-income citizens in a meaningful way and wont address homelessness.

Its arguments against the changes have been accompanied by a persistent call for more public process. It asked council to delay votes so the public had more time to weigh in and give feedback. They wanted council to refer the land use code to voters.

The groups activities last year also included endorsing two candidates in the November election: Babbitt and Hamrick, both of whom volunteered with the organization and ran on platforms mirroring much of Preserve's stances.

Kevin Harper of Preserve Fort Collins carts in signed petitions to the city clerk's office in Fort Collins on Nov. 28, 2023.

Preserve Fort Collins has also undertaken efforts to discredit the YIMBY movement, adopting some sharp language to describe their talking points as toxic misinformation or toxic YIMBY nonsense. Theyve accused the group of being funded by dark money, having a radical agenda and having no organic roots in Fort Collins.

YIMBY Fort Collins is a chapter of YIMBY Action, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The local chapter formed in late 2022 and is led by Fort Collins residents. YIMBY Action can accept donations from individuals and corporations, and does not have to disclose those donors. On its 2021 tax forms, the most recent year for which data is available, it reported $3.5 million in revenue. YIMBY Fort Collins told the Coloradoan late last year it had received about $600 from the larger organization and spent the money on costs associated with hosting local events.

Some people have called into question Preserve Fort Collins' statements and characterizations of the code changes.

In Preserves early days, supporters of the code changes, including two City Council members who voted in favor of them, said some of its claims were incorrect or misleading.

Cunniff has said Preserve corrected its information upon learning that they made unintentional misstatements after hurriedly reading the first code updates nearly 500 pages.

But Preserve Fort Collins hasnt shied away from making bold statements.

The group's first flyer asserted that the first notice (of a higher density project) you might get is a bulldozer in your neighborhood, even though public notice is required.

Preserve has said a 52% increase in housing density under the repealed code was a likely scenario, while others have pointed out that the number refers to maximum capacity if all lots were built to their fullest potential, which city staff has said is not likely.

Preserve believes that no meaningful change in density was achieved in the second land use code revision because the city estimated a capacity difference of just 1%. Its critics say the city did listen to their concerns because they pared back the number of units allowed in existing neighborhoods.

Preserve, however, has said the real disinformation came from the city when it asserted the code changes are needed to make Fort Collins affordable.

Cunniff has described Preserve Fort Collins as being a diverse group and said its members do not agree on all issues.

For example, he said, We haven't taken a 'for' or 'against' ADUs position because there is a diversity of opinion about ADUs, other than whatever they do needs to make sure that neighborhood livability is addressed.

Many people are excited about the idea," he said. It's just that when it came with a package of other densification ideas as well as lack of parking options and lack of commitment from the city to step up nuisance enforcement, the worry was that certain zones would continue to have an excess of these units built, not for housing affordability, not for aging in place, but rather for maximizing the profit margin for the people that are building them.

Also, he said there may be some members of the group that would advocate for zero-growth policies, but thats not something everyone agrees with.

What Preserve thinks Fort Collins should be doing instead

Cunniff said Preserve Fort Collins believes:

Colorado State University needs to be at the table much more strongly than it has been to work on solutions for student housing and workforce housing.

The city needs to raise the number of affordable housing units required for a development to qualify for density bonuses.

The city needs to increase its affordable housing stock goal. The city's target is for 10%, which seems like a good target. I agree with that target myself, but since we're below that, you need higher than 10% to get to 10%, Cunniff said.

The city should be looking at underused commercial zone districts and vacant commercial properties and find a way to partner with owners or purchase the parcels to make them into housing.

The city could respond to developers seeking changes to existing metro districts by asking for more affordable housing.

The city could increase density in already higher-density residential zones. "There are higher density residential zones that could still be higher density yet, Cunniff said.

He emphasized that with big changes, the public should have a direct say.

"If council really wanted a referendum on the land use code, they could have a referendum on the land use code," he said. "In fact, that's what we were asking for the second time."

Where does Preserve Fort Collins get funding and how has it spent its money?

Preserve Fort Collins spent more than $5,000 to support each repeal initiative, Cunniff said, and has also collected additional money to pay for things like legal advice and expenses tied with running the organization.

It has used paid advertising on Facebook and sent unsolicited text messages to a swath of Fort Collins residents.

Cunniff declined to say how much has been collected. But a publicly viewable GoFundMe page created in December 2023 has raised more than $8,400 from 75 donors as of Monday afternoon. There are other avenues for donations to the group, as well.

Five days after the GoFundMe page's creation, Sean McCoy, a former City Council candidate in the November 2023 race for District 2, filed a complaint with the City Clerk's Office, saying that the PFC Action issues committee was in violation of city policies because it didn't list all donor names.

But the clerk's office dismissed the complaint in January, concluding that there was no violation of campaign finance rules because there was no election related to the petition effort. The clerk's office also noted that its investigation showed the donor names were known to Preserve Fort Collins, which is a separate legal entity from PFC Action, against whom the complaint was filed. Finally, the letter said that if there had been an election, PFC Action would have been required to list the donor names.

In its Oct. 31 filing to register as an issues committee with the city, PFC Action said its purpose was for "petition to overturn Ordinance No. 136, 2023, and possible election if petition is successful."

Cunniff said the committee was formed because "we were informed that even running a petition is considered an election activity by the city clerk."

In the same way members of the YIMBY Fort Collins organization donated to City Council candidates who supported land use code changes, individuals involved with Preserve Fort Collins donated to candidates who opposed land use code changes.

What's next for Preserve Fort Collins?

With the Colorado General Assembly more than halfway through the session, Preserve is watching developments, as is City Council.

Cunniff predicted in a February interview that the legislature will "interfere with local land use planning decisions," which he said is bad government and goes against the Colorado Constitution.

He said Preserve will especially be watching to see what happens with bills around transit-oriented housing and ADUs.

Regarding the bill that would outlaw family-based occupancy rules, Cunniff said he's not sure it will have the effects intended, but he's also not sure that politically it's worth engaging on.

More: Will Colorado end occupancy limits and legalize more ADUs? Track top housing bills at Capitol

He added that Preserve might file a friend of the court brief if it were to be challenged legally.

"In my neighborhood, there were houses that would have five or six or seven tenants  these weren't even students. They would be on the weekends up all night partying," he said, noting that even though the city has a noise ordinance, it requires neighbors to be the police and enforcement only happens after the damage has been done.

Beyond land use, the organization plans to advocate for issues like natural areas, recreation and air quality.

"These are all things that are very important" and should be preserved or restored, Cunniff said.

That might mean advocating for new natural areas or taxes to support them or even City Council initiatives on climate action or the road to zero waste.

"We would love to find some council actions that we can be for, rather than just having to be against," Cunniff said.

But that hasn't happened yet.

In fact, in recent weeks, Preserve has been vocal about council's consideration of public comment changes that could allow it to control commenting topics and duration of public comments. On its website and Facebook page and via emails, Preserve described the proposals as an attempt to dismantle public input and said they were drafted in secret and considered on short notice during a special meeting.

Council members said their intent was misunderstood and opted not to make any public comment changes at this time.

Preserve Fort Collins has also spoken out against two bills in the state legislature that dim government transparency by allowing legislators to use email or texts without being subject to open meetings laws and limiting who can make public records requests.

Preserve will also work with other organizations like it statewide, including Plan Boulder, and has been in contact with groups Preserve Estes Park and Guide Our Growth, Timnath.

And they'll continue to seek financial support for its work in the future, Cunniff said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated. Preserve might file a friend of the court brief if the occupancy legislation were challenged in court. However, contrary to a previous version of this story, the Colorado Municipal League wouldn't have standing to challenge it. A home rule municipality could.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Preserve Fort Collins co-founder shares its mission, desires
Citizen: My Life After the White House will detail the people who changed Clinton's life, as well as "the mistakes I made along the way"

Jamie McCarthy/Getty President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton has a new memoir on the way.



Publisher Alfred A. Knopf has announced that the former presidents memoir will be published later this year. Citizen: My Life After the White House will arrive in November.



A life in public service can be deeply rewarding if you accept that in the constant ebb and flow of history, there are no permanent victories or defeats, and never forget that every life is a story that, regardless of time and circumstance, deserves to be seen and heard, Clinton says in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

Alfred A. Knopf 'Citizen: My Life After the White House' by Bill Clinton

Citizen is the story of my 23-plus years since leaving the White House, told largely through the stories of other people who changed my life as I tried to help change theirs, of those who supported me, including those I loved and lost and of the mistakes I made along the way, he continues.

Related: Inside Bill Clinton's Pandemic Year: Bingeing 'Bridgerton', Dusting Off His Sax & Writing Thriller

The new book will chronicle both the personal and political aspects of Clintons life following his two terms as president, which he served from 1993 to 2001, as well as some of the 21st centurys most crucial moments, such as the Iraq war, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Jan. 6th insurrection.



The book also provides a look into Clintons role as a father, grandfather and husband, including his support of Hillary Clinton during her time as a presidential candidate, as well as Senator and Secretary of State.

Adnan Beci / AFP via Getty President Bill Clinton

Clinton also wrote the 2004 memoir My Life, which detailed his role as president. Citizen, however, provides a new perspective about life outside of the Oval Office in the years since.



President Clintons achievements as President are, of course, widely known, says Knopf Publisher and Executive Vice President Reagan Arthur in a statement. In Citizen, he provides a rare and unflinching look at life after presidency  a step removed from the center of the political arena but no less passionate about the causes and ideals that always defined him and as deeply galvanized by our eras social and environmental upheavals as any concerned citizen.

Related: Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Celebrate Bill Clinton's 76th Birthday on Long Island With 'Happy Memories'

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.



With the candor, intelligence and political acumen for which hes always been known, the President has left nothing on the table and his talent as a writer is on full display.



Citizen: My Life After the White House will be published on Nov. 19, 2024 and is now available for preorder.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
The President's Office is discussing the possible dismissal of Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin.

Source: Ukrainian Pravda sources in President Zelenskyy's team

Details: "No decision has been made yet, but the issue of Kostin is increasingly being raised at meetings. When the issue of his dismissal will be raised publicly... maybe this month, maybe later  it isnt an urgent issue," said a highly placed Ukrainska Pravda source.

Kostin may be appointed as ambassador to the Netherlands if Ukraines partners agree that the current prosecutor general should focus on the international tribunal for the crimes Russia has committed in Ukraine.

"Andriis a good guy, but hes too hesitant for this position [prosecutor general]," another source added.

The question of who could become the next head of the Prosecutor General's Office is currently being considered.

Background:

Unconfirmed rumours emerged in February 2024 that Kostin might be sent as an ambassador to the UK. The Prosecutor General's Office did not comment on them.

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NEW YORK  An influential pro-charter group is planning a seven-figure ad buy over the next several weeks to pressure state lawmakers to keep Mayor Eric Adams in charge of the New York City public school system.

StudentsFirstNY  whose former executive director raised $7 million for a pro-Adams PAC in 2021  is planning to launch a digital and streaming ad this week highlighting corruption that plagued the old school board structure.

The ad, provided in advance to POLITICO, blasts Albany for interfering with city schools and opening the door to bring back a corrupt system that was rotten to its core and references the dysfunction, chaos and corruption that afflicted schools.

Without mayoral control, fraud, waste and bribery ran rampant, a narrator states with dramatic music playing and the screen flashing provocative images like a rotting apple and newspaper headlines. Dont let our kids pay the priceagain. Tell Albany: Keep mayoral control of our citys public schools.

The ad buy is part of a larger campaign from StudentsFirst in support of Adams push to extend mayoral control of the city school system.

On Wednesday, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said mayoral control will not be in the final budget.



The charter school advocacy organization  whose board comprises deep-pocketed members  is planning to mobilize parents citywide, talk directly with elected officials through the end of the state legislative session in June, and hold a press conference in Albany to make their case.

We plan on holding our legislators accountable to not taking us back to a system that was proven not to work, executive director Crystal McQueen-Taylor said in an interview. This should not be a political fight but unfortunately it is, but we just plan to make sure that legislators know that we cant go back to the old system.

The state law granting New York City mayors unilateral control of the school system dates back to 2002, when Albany changed the system during the early tenure of former Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Lawmakers usually give mayors two to three years, leaving them at the mercy of state legislators, and the current bill is set to sunset June 30.

StudentsFirst last week issued a scathing, 16-page report warning of the dangers of returning to the previous school board system instituted in 1969, casting it as a failed experiment by nearly every metric. That analysis marked the soft launch of the campaign, McQueen-Taylor said.

The organization will issue a second report focused more on the academic successes of the current system.

The United Federation of Teachers  with whom the charter sector has long sparred  accused the group of perpetuating a false narrative.

"If the law sunsets, we don't automatically go back to the old school boards, union president Mike Mulgrew said in a recent interview. Like it or not, it's the same people who have backed privatization of public schools who back these organizations.  I take it all in very skeptically."

A number of heavy hitters who have supported mayoral control  including prominent civic and business leaders and former officials for Bloomberg and ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio  are aligned with StudentsFirsts push.

They include Bloomberg schools chancellor Joel Klein, who, along with the Walmart heir Jim Walton, donated $2 million to StudentsFirstNYs political action committee, as well as Rich Buery, CEO of anti-poverty group Robin Hood Foundation and deputy mayor who oversaw the rollout of de Blasios prekindergarten program. (Buery had previously led a charter network.)

Jim Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, is also backing the fight. His involvement comes after Adams accused developers of not doing enough to help him in his quest to retain control of schools  during remarks at REBNYs annual gala.

Other endorsers include Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City  which represents business leaders  and Steven Rubenstein, chair of the Association for a Better New York.

Wylde pointed to the "long and difficult" process to achieve the current governance model. The partnership worked with unions, education advocates and legislative leaders.

Literally that took years and a lot of good will on the part of people who dont always agree with each other, she said in an interview. So the campaign is an effort to remind everyone, one how important this is and two, that  everybody has to, again, come together.

The charter sector  whose priorities like co-locating with traditional public schools could be affected if a mayors control over schools is curtailed  has been looking to tip the scale in recent days. Schools Chancellor David Banks traveled to Albany Tuesday in a last-minute and unsuccessful attempt to persuade lawmakers to include a four-year extension in the state budget. Gov. Kathy Hochul supports the move, but legislative leaders have not committed.

Within their conferences are skeptical Democratic lawmakers backed by the city teachers union, which has been advocating for changes to the Department of Educations oversight panel that would limit Adams power.

A final agreement wont come down until after state education officials put out a report whose release was delayed to early next week.
LANZHOU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- In the Tianqiao public cemetery in Lanzhou, the capital city of northwest China's Gansu Province, sun filters through the cypresses that line the roads, casting light on the chrysanthemums surrounding the graves.

The entire cemetery is enveloped in solemn tranquility, only interrupted by the occasional murmurs of visiting crowds.

In China, Qingming Festival, which falls on Thursday this year, has longstanding tomb-sweeping and ancestor worship traditions. From the spring equinox to Qingming every year, tomb-sweeping activities peak in the cemetery, which receives up to 6,000 visitors each day.

Despite this year's influx, the cemetery remains tranquil and tidy, far from how it was in the past, when the air was often full of heavy smoke and dust from the burning of paper offerings.

Many Chinese people believe that burning paper money can ensure a prosperous afterlife for their deceased loved ones.

"We now advocate the use of fresh flowers instead of traditional paper offerings for tomb-sweeping, as it is more environmentally friendly and safer," said Wang Wei, who works at the Tianqiao cemetery.

Wang said that traditional rites also used to trigger fires as graveyards are usually located near forest areas.

In recent years, the Chinese government has promoted environmental protection by encouraging changes to certain burial and ritual customs, optimizing both online and offline funeral services, and fostering more modern commemoration activities.

Flowers in lieu of paper money, ribbons to express condolences, letter-writing and online tomb-sweeping are among the ways to pay tribute to the dead that are gaining increasing popularity across the country.

Wang, who has worked at the Tianqiao cemetery for 16 years, attributes the widespread acceptance of low-carbon and simplified rituals to the public's changing perceptions of life and death.

"More and more people are beginning to understand that the essence of ancestor worship and commemorating their loved ones is their heartfelt remembrance, rather than the numbers or forms of offerings," Wang said.

According to Liu Wansheng, head of a Lanzhou funeral parlor, increasing numbers of people living far away from their hometowns are turning to worship and tomb-sweeping by proxy, as well as online memorial services.

By the end of March, the funeral parlor had carried out more than 1,200 online memorial services and opened over 300 online memorial halls.

This year, 36-year-old Wang Fangfang, a staff member of the Lanzhou funeral parlor, started offering professional funeral consultation services.

"Some people feel overwhelmed when facing the death of a loved one, and they can call us for help," she said, noting that she has observed that more and more people are viewing funerals rationally, only hoping that they are decent and full of respect.

Rather than erecting tombstones, some are opting for eco-friendly alternatives like wall, tree or lawn burials.

"These new types of graves only occupy about 0.8 square meters, roughly half the space of traditional graves," said Yang Xiaoping, head of the Tianqiao cemetery.

According to the country's Ministry of Civil Affairs, the public acceptance of eco-burial methods has been on the rise in recent years. Over the last three years, the proportion of people opting for eco-friendly burials has increased to 3.2 percent in China.

"For a long time, talking about death has been a taboo for Chinese people, and some in the funeral services sector have even had to avoid mentioning their profession to others, or shaking hands with other people. And some have even had to avoid attending weddings and other celebrations," said Liang Wei, head of the comprehensive management department of the Lanzhou funeral parlor.

"However, things have changed. The public, especially young people, are becoming more open-minded and regard us simply as people working in the services sector," Liang said.

Accordingly, increasing numbers of young people are willing to join the funeral industry, according to Liu. Recruitment at the funeral parlor is not as challenging as it was before, and staff members below the age of 40 account for about half of its current total.

"Death is a part of life, and funerals are the final farewell ceremonies for the deceased. Understanding death can also lead to better respect for life," Liu added. 
In calling for a stiff prison sentence for James Crumbley, the prosecution on Wednesday disclosed the damning phone conversations that Crumbley had in jail when he allegedly threatened Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who made history this year in securing convictions against the first parents in America charged in a mass school shooting involving their child.

According to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, James Crumbley made threats toward McDonald in numerous jail phone calls over the last two years when he was locked up on involuntary manslaughter charges for his role in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that was carried out by his son. Four students died and six other students and a teacher were injured.

The prosecution is now hoping to use James Crumbley's jail calls against him as it is seeking a 10- to 15-year prison sentence for the embattled father, though his recommended sentencing range from the state calls for significantly less: 43-86 months, or about seven years maximum.

James Crumbley strains to listen as the jury reads guilty verdicts as he sits with his attorney Mariell Lehman in the Oakland County Courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Crumbley was tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the four students killed in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting perpetrated by his son Ethan Crumbley.

James Crumbley is asking for time served, but the prosecutor's office isn't having it, and wants to use his jail phone conversations against him, arguing: "Defendants jail calls showed that he blamed everyone but himself for what happened and that he repeatedly referred to himself as being persecuted and considered himself a martyr."

According to the prosecution's sentencing memo filed Wednesday, James Crumbley repeatedly referred to McDonald as that f------ stupid w---- b----, and at times addressed his comments directly to her, stating: Yeah, YOU f------ Karen McDonald. Youre a f------ stupid b----. I hope youre listening to this, you f------ b----.

More: Prosecution seeks 10-15 years in prison for James and Jennifer Crumbley

James Crumbley's jail communications privileges were revoked in the middle of his trial due to those alleged threats  even though some were made as early as 2022. It is not clear why they were disclosed during trial. The comments include:

Yeah, Karen McDonald, youre going down.  Go ahead, record this call. Send it to Karen McDonald. Tell her how James Crumbley is going to f------ take her down, James Crumbley said in an Oct. 9, 2023, jail call, five months before his trial started.

There will be retribution, believe me, he says in another call on Dec. 23, 2023.

Yeah, f------ Karen McDonald. Youre f----- when I get out, he said in a Dec. 20, 2023, jail call.

Well, shes going to be f------ sucking on a f------ hot rock down in hell soon, he said in a Dec. 6, 2022, jail call  more than a year before his trial.

I am f------ on a rampage, Karen. Yes, Karen McDonald. Your ass is going down and you better be f------ scared, he said in a Jan. 3 jail phone call, just months before he went to trial.

On March 7, the judge revoked James Crumbley's jail communication privileges  though he continued his antics in a different way, prosecutors said. After his communications were cut off, they claim, James Crumbley flipped off the prosecution in court.

James Crumbley shoots a glance at Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Joseph Shada as he exits the Oakland County Courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Crumbley will be tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter after his son was the perpetrator in a mass shooting at Oxford High School killing four students. His wife Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty on all four counts in this landmark case holding parents responsible for the guns that are in their homes.

'I had no knowledge of what he was going to do'

In arguing that James Crumbley has taken no responsibility for his actions, the prosecution cited an interview that James Crumbley had with investigators as they prepared his presentence investigation report, which was completed Tuesday. Here is what James Crumbley wrote for the investigators preparing that report:

My son carried out a school shooting on Nov. 30th 2021. He was the ONLY one involved. I had no knowledge of what he was going to do, or presented with ANY warning signs. I absolutely had no knowledge that he had ever obtained access to my gun"

According to trial testimony, James Crumbley gifted a gun to his son, Ethan, and then failed to secure it effectively: It was hidden in an armoire, unloaded, and the bullets were hidden in a separate drawer. Prosecutors also argued that James Crumbley ignored his son's mental health struggles, and instead of getting him help, he bought him a gun, and never disclosed that gun to school officials when he had the chance.

In his interview with investigators after his conviction, James Crumbley maintained the following:

"I did NOT participate! I feel absolutely horrible/am devastated for what happened to those four children. I would give anything to go back and do something different that would have changed what happened.

"I have spent 2 years and 4 months in a county jail. The first 9 months I was locked in for 23 hours a day. The rest of the time Ive spent in a single man cell 23 hours per day. Ive only been allowed outside 10 times during this 2.4 yr period. I feel the Court should allow me time served.

'My actions were that of any other parent'

In another section, he wrote:

I am wrongly accused, and now wrongly convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter. My actions were that of any other parent. Ethan was a great kid. He never got in trouble at school, had decent grades, and very rarely got in trouble at home. And when he did get in minor trouble it was just about grades or assignments he needed to complete. Ethan always appeared to be a very stable individual. Never did he voice anything to me that anything was bothering him. I talked with him everyday and he always said things are fine dad. Id ask about school and assignments, or how he was doing with his friend being gone. Same answer always, just fine. Hell be back and I have other friends at school. He just reminded me of any other 15 yr old. Typical teenager."

James Crumbley also talked about his gun hobby.

"I followed the law and took gun safety to the point as needed. My gun was hidden in a location that, until I found out differently, only I knew of. The bullets were also hidden. In a different location. I had no idea how he obtained access till the (psychiatric) doctor he met with at the forensics facility testified in his Miller hearing (for the prosecution) that he snuck in my room to locate the gun, and then later snuck into my room to steal it."

According to James Crumbley, this information was provided in a report to the prosecution in March 2022, and that the psychiatrist who spoke with his son "also concluded that he was not mentally ill."

"So the reasons I was charged have been concluded to not be true. Yet I'm still prosecuted as if they were. ... My prosecution and conviction are based on lies, things my son said only to his friend, and emotions."

James Crumbley then expressed regret:

"I feel horrible for what happened and would do anything to be able to go back in time and change it! But I cant. And I had nothing to do with what happened."

The jury disagreed.

Crumbley is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, along with his wife, Jennifer, who was convicted of the same charges by a separate jury. Their son pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Contact Tresa Baldas:tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: James Crumbley's threatening jail calls against prosecutor released
Jennifer Crumbley wants to live with her lawyer on house arrest instead of going to prison for her conviction in the Oxford High School mass shooting carried out by her son, but the prosecution is urging the judge to give her 10 to 15 years in prison instead, arguing she has shown "a chilling lack of remorse."

"Such a proposed sentence is a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by (Jennifer Crumbley's) gross negligence, the victims and their families," Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast wrote in a sentencing memo filed late Wednesday. The document disclosed Jennifer Crumbley's wishes to avoid prison, and new details about the embattled parents of the Oxford school shooter.

Among them is that the state recommended a sentencing range of 43 to 86 months  or a maximum of about seven years  for both parents, who are scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday after separate juries convicted them on four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Each count carries up to 15 years in prison, which Jennifer Crumbley is trying to avoid altogether. The state guideline is advisory, based on post-conviction interviews and facts of the case.

Details about James Crumbley's threats

Like his wife, James Crumbley is also hoping to avoid prison for his crime: He was the one who bought their son the gun that the teen used to murder four students and injure six other students and a teacher during his rampage on Nov. 30, 2021. James Crumbley has asked for time served, according to the prosecutor's memo.

Jennifer Crumbley leaves the Oakland County courtroom after being found guilty on four counts involuntary manslaughter in the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.

But the prosecution scoffed at the request and is also requesting that James Crumbley be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for failing to secure a gun that his son sneaked out of the house and then used to murder his classmates.

"Defendants shameless lack of remorse in asking for time served as an appropriate sentence is a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by his gross negligence, to the victims and their families," Keast argues in his sentencing memo.

In calling for a stiff punishment for James Crumbley, Keast also cited multiple threats that James Crumbley allegedly made toward Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald in a jail phone conversation, including calling her a "f------ bitch," and saying, "Your ass is going down and you better be f------ scared.

James Crumbley sits with his attorney Mariell Lehman in the Oakland County Courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March, 14, 2024 before he was convicted on all four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Crumbley was tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the four students killed in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting perpetrated by his son Ethan Crumbley.

"Beyond defendants gross negligence, his jail calls show a total lack of remorse, he blames everyone but himself, and he threatened the elected Prosecutor," writes Keast, who accused the shooter's father of the same thing he did the mother: "(He) has shown a chilling lack of remorse for his culpability in this matter. He has blamed everyone buthimself and considers himself a 'martyr.' "

Jennifer Crumbley seeks to explain her testimony

Keast also lambasted Jennifer Crumbley over her request to live on house arrest, while on a tether, in her lawyer's guest house in Oakland County, and for trying to clarify a damning statement she made during her trial when she testified in her own defense. According to an interview she had with investigators preparing her presentencing report, she stated:

At trial, when I was on the stand I was asked if I would have done anything differently, I testified that I would not have  and that is true without the benefit of of (sic) hindsight that I have now. With the information I have now, of course my answer would be hugely different. There are so many things that I would change if I could go back in time," Jennifer Crumbley said in the interview.

"I knew my son to be a quiet, good kid, who loved his pets. I never imagined he would hurt other people in the way that he did," Jennifer Crumbley said. "I have been in jail for over 26 months and have been locked down 23 hours per day. I am hopeful the Court will sentence me in a way that allows me to be released from jail for the balance of my sentence."

The prosecution urged Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews to exceed the state-determined sentencing guidelines and send her to prison for 10 to 15 years instead.

Prosecutor: Jennifer Crumbley lied about her drinking

"Consistent with her efforts to minimize her culpability directly after the shooting, defendant  now even after trial  continues to show a complete lack of remorse by minimizing any role she had in the matter," Keast wrote. "Demonstrating this fact, defendant thinks a proportionate sentence is to 'be placed on a tether with house arrest' at her attorneys guest house  ostensibly an upgraded residence from (her former Oxford home) where she resided before her gross negligence that led to the Oxford High School shooting."

Keast also portrayed Jennifer Crumbley as a liar with a drinking problem.

Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast makes opening statements, in the trial of James Crumbley in the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

"For example, defendant reported in her (presentencing investigation report) interview that she only used alcohol one to two times per week. That is a blatant lie," argued Keast, who included 18 receipts for whiskey and vodka purchases over a one-month period by the Crumbleys.

As for Jennifer Crumbley's claim to investigators that she would change things if she could go back in time, Keast argued she has said just the opposite twice. Once when she testified, and in a 2022 jail call when she stated: "I wouldn't do anything different."

He also stressed: "Beyond defendants lack of remorse, it is telling that she has no other support or ties left in the community, so she has to rely on her retained attorney for a proposed placement."

"(Jennifer Crumbley's) gross negligence changed an entire community forever. It resulted in the deaths of four students, seven other individuals wounded and hundreds of others terrorized," the memo stated, adding that all of this could have been stopped with "tragically simple actions from defendant, but she failed to take any action when presented with the gravest of dangers  prioritizing her own convenience over the safety of everyone in the school that day."

The Crumbleys, who are the first parents in America to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting carried out by their child, were convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Each count carries up to 15 years in prison, though typically such sentences are handed down concurrently, not consecutively. The judge also has discretion to go above or below the guidelines, which are only advisory.

At both trials, prosecutors argued that the Crumbleys ignored the mental health needs of their son, and instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun, which he used four days later to shoot up his school. The prosecution also argued the Crumbleys did not properly secure the weapon and failed to notify school officials about that gun when given the chance.

Their son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to all his crimes and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His rampage claimed the lives of Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17.

According to trial testimony, on Black Friday in 2021, James Crumbley and his son went to an Oxford gun shop and purchased a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun that the boy had long begged for, according to the teen's journal. In a social media post, his mom described the gun as an early Christmas present.

At trial, however, the defense argued the gun didn't really belong to the boy, that it was hidden in the parents' bedroom armoire and the ammunition was stored in a separate drawer, and that it was only to be used at the shooting range with his father. The mom testified that her husband was in charge of storing the weapon  an issue the prosecution hammered away at during James Crumbley's trial.

McDonald argued to the jury that four children might be alive had James Crumbley used a cable lock, a trigger lock or stored the gun in a locked safe. But he did none of those things, said McDonald, who even demonstrated for the jury how to install a cable lock, stating "that takes less than 10 seconds."

In an exclusive interview with the Free Press, the jury foreman said the storage of the gun was the key issue that drove him to convict James Crumbley.

At both trials, the prosecution and defense hammered away at the same themes: One side maintained the Crumbleys were careless, negligent parents who bought a troubled son a gun and failed to secure it, while the other said the parents never saw any signs that their son was mentally ill or would ever harm someone, that the gun wasn't a gift their son could use freely, and that it was hidden.

The prosecution has long argued that the Crumbleys  more than anyone else  could have prevented the massacre had they disclosed to school officials that their son had access to a gun when they were summoned over his troubling behavior. On the morning before the shooting, the boy was pulled from geometry class over a drawing he had made on homework sheet that included a gun, a human being bleeding, and the words "Bloods everywhere ... My life is useless ... The thoughts won't stop, help me."

Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast presents a photo to the jury of the math test sheet drawn on by Ethan Crumbley before Ethan Crumbley's deadly mass shooting at Oxford High School in 2021 that killed four people and wounded seven others. His father James Crumbley is on trial in the Oakland County courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March. 7, 2024. Crumbley is being tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for his son's shooting.

The parents were summoned to the school over the drawing, though the Crumbleys returned to their jobs after they met with the counselor and dean of students, vowing to get their son help within 48 hours. The school officials concluded the student was no threat to himself or others, and let him return to class.

Two hours later, the boy fired his first shot.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Prosecution seeks 10-15 years in prison for James and Jennifer Crumbley
Prosecutors released details of threatening calls made by James Crumbley, the father of school shooter Ethan Crumbley, as prosecutors recommended he serve a 10-15 year prison sentence. File Photo via Oakland County Sheriff's Office/UPI

April 4 (UPI) -- Prosecutors requested that the parents of parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley each receive up to 15 years in prison for their alleged role in the murders carried out by their son which left four students dead

Jennifer and James Crumbley -- the first parents in United States history to be charged for their role in a school shooting by their own child -- are set to be sentenced Tuesday after each have been convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The prosecutors in the case against both Crumbley parents are calling for the maximum sentence of 10-15 years in prison. But Oakland Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews has the power to sentence the two above or beyond the prescribed legal limit.

Jennifer Crumbley's defense asked the judge to allow her to carry out her sentence at her lawyer Shannon Smith's guest home while prosecutors are arguing for prison over what they called her "chilling lack of remorse" in statements made throughout the trial.

"Such a proposed sentence is a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by (Jennifer Crumbley's) gross negligence, the victims and their families," wrote Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast in Wednesday's sentencing memo.

Jennifer Crumbley's defense asked the judge to allow her to carry out her sentence at her lawyer Shannon Smith's guest home while prosecutors are arguing for prison over what they called her "chilling lack of remorse" in statements made throughout the trial. Photo via Oakland County Sheriff's Office/UPI

In his memo, Keast wrote of James Crumbley's "shameless lack of remorse in asking for time served as an appropriate sentence" adding it was also "a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by his gross negligence, to the victims and their families."

In early March, Oakland County officials revoked James Crumbley's communication privileges after he made threatening statements over a jailhouse telephone and email about Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald for seven months.

The prosecution on Wednesday released details of the expletive-laced calls in which Crumbley threatened that McDonald was "going down" and encouraged the call to be recorded and sent to McDonald so she could be told how he was going to "take her down."

"Beyond defendant's gross negligence, his jail calls show a total lack of remorse, he blames everyone but himself, and he threatened the elected Prosecutor," wrote Keast, who likewise said James Crumbley had demonstrated a lack of remorse.

"He has blamed everyone but himself and considers himself a 'martyr,' " Keast wrote in his 52-page memo on the Crumbley father.
Prosecutors recommend at least 10 years in prison for parents of Oxford school shooter

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP)  Prosecutors in Michigan are recommending at least 10 years in prison next week for two parents who are the first in the U.S. to be held criminally responsible for a school shooting.

Jennifer Crumbley showed a chilling lack of remorse for her role, and James Crumbley failed to exercise even the smallest measure of ordinary care that could have prevented the deaths of four students at Oxford High School in 2021, prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday.

The Crumbleys, the parents of shooter Ethan Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter at separate trials earlier this year. They were not accused of knowing their sons plan. But prosecutors said they failed to lock up a gun at home and ignored his mental health.

Jennifer Crumbley testifies during her trial, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Pontiac, Mich. Crumbley, 45, is charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say she and her husband were grossly negligent and could have prevented the four deaths if they had tended to their sons mental health. Theyre also accused of making a gun accessible at home. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

James Crumbley enters the Oakland County Courtroom of Cheryl Matthews, Wednesday, March, 13, 2024 in Pontiac, Mich. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

The maximum prison stay for the crime is 15 years. But the minimum sentence set by the judge on April 9 will be critical because the Crumbleys would be eligible for parole consideration after that time. They will get credit for about 2 1/2 years spent in the Oakland County jail since their arrest.

Messages seeking comment from defense lawyers were not immediately returned Wednesday.

James Crumbley found guilty of manslaughter

In their filing, prosecutors disclosed that Jennifer Crumbley, 46, is hoping to avoid prison and instead be fitted with an electronic tether and live with her attorney, Shannon Smith. They said James Crumbley, 47, too, is hoping to be released.

Such a proposed sentence is a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by defendants gross negligence, the victims and their families, assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said, referring to Jennifer Crumbley.

On the day of the shooting, the Crumbleys went to the school to discuss Ethans morbid drawing of a gun, a bullet, a wounded figure and phrases such as, The thoughts wont stop. Help me.

Instead of taking their son home, the Crumbleys left with a list of contacts for mental health services and returned to work. A few hours later, Ethan, who was 15 at the time, pulled a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun from his backpack and began shooting.

School staff had not demanded that Ethan be removed from school. But they also didnt know that James Crumbley had purchased the gun just four days earlier and that it resembled the one in the drawing, according to trial testimony.

Jury finds Jennifer Crumbley guilty of manslaughter

Ethan, now 17, is serving life in prison with no chance for parole after pleading guilty to murder and terrorism.

During James Crumbleys trial, the judge barred his use of a phone and tablet while in jail. The sheriffs department, which operates the jail, said he had been making threats, though no details were publicly disclosed at the time.

In his court filing, Keast said profanity-laced threats were aimed at Karen McDonald, the elected county prosecutor. He offered five examples.

I am  on a rampage, Karen. Yes, Karen McDonald. You better be  scared, he said on Jan. 3, according to Keast.

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Publics help sought finding alleged jewelry thief who assaulted victim in Downtown Crossing

Authorities are searching for a suspect accused of armed robbery in Boston earlier this year.

According to police, on January 30 just before 3:30 p.m., a victim was robbed of his jewelry in the area of Washington Street and Bromfield Street in Downtown Crossing.

The victim reportedly told police the suspect hit him over the head with a blunt object before making off with the jewelry.

The suspect is described as wearing a black knit cap, black neck warmer, black vest, black hood, multi-colored long-sleeve shirt, ripped dark-colored jeans, and dark shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact District A-1 Detectives at (617) 343-4571.

BPD Community Alert: Detectives Assigned To District A-1 Seek The Publics Assistance in Identifying The Following Individual In Relation To A Robbery In Downtown Crossing https://t.co/2eQjKwj1iz pic.twitter.com/V9aLcwdyDw  Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) April 4, 2024

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Tyler Laube of Redondo Beach walks to the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana on Thursday. Laube pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor count of interference with a federally protected right without bodily injury. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a man linked to a Southern California white supremacist group to time served after he admitted to punching a journalist at a pro-Trump rally in 2017.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney on Thursday sentenced Tyler Laube to time served, totaling 35 days he had spent in pretrial custody.

Prosecutors had recommended a six-month sentence.

Laube pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge for repeatedly punching a journalist  identified only as F.T.  who was covering the Huntington Beach rally.

In his plea agreement, Laube admitted to associating with members of the Rise Above Movement, which represented itself as a combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist white supremacy and identity movement."

The group was accused of inciting brawls at political rallies throughout the state in 2017.

Laube pleaded guilty to interfering with the journalist's federally protected rights without causing injury.

Read more: A heated custody battle over a transgender child in California stokes a viral debate

Carney earlier this year dismissed criminal charges against two accused members of the Rise Above Movement, his second time doing so in five years. The judge ruled that Robert Rundo and Robert Boman were being selectively prosecuted, while far-left extremist groups were not.

In a sentencing memorandum distributed at Laube's hearing, Carney, a George W. Bush appointee, again criticized the prosecution of only Rise Above members, "ignoring individuals associated with Antifa and related far-left groups."

"Sentencing Mr. Laube to additional incarceration would only increase the disparity between his punishment and the lack of punishment (and prosecution) members of far-left groups who have committed the same violent conduct received," Carney wrote in his memo.

"No doubt, the government and others will object to the Court's sentence, focusing entirely on Mr. Laube's past white supremacist beliefs and ignoring the violent conduct of Antifa and similar groups."

In court, Laube, dressed in a blue suit and black Vans, told the judge he was "very troubled" in his younger years.

"Looking for guidance, looking to be a part of something," he said. "That's why I got involved in this thing to begin with."

Read more: Judge clears charges against alleged white supremacists, says there's a bias against the far right

The Rise Above Movement reportedly sprang up in late 2016, casting itself on social media as an alt-right fight club. RAM regularly held hand-to-hand and other combat training for members and associates "to prepare to engage in violent confrontations" at political rallies, according to the plea agreement.

Laube admitted to attending a combat training event in San Clemente on March 15, 2017. Later that month, on March 25, Laube, who was on probation for an armed robbery, and several other RAM members attended the Huntington Beach rally, organized by Trump supporters.

During an ensuing riot, Laube "intentionally and willfully intimidated and interfered with F.T. by punching him several times in the head and body, but without causing bodily injury," according to the plea agreement.

In his sentencing memo, Carney said that, from Laube's perspective, the journalist  who was wearing a black cap and jacket  "was dressed like a member of Antifa."

Laube was originally charged and arrested in October 2018, along with Rundo and Boman, for violating federal conspiracy and riots statutes.

A federal indictment alleged that various RAM members participated in attacks at political rallies in Huntington Beach; in Berkeley on April 15, 2017; and in San Bernardino on June 10, 2017. Afterward, they allegedly trained for future events and celebrated by posting photos online of RAM members assaulting people.

Laube pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy in 2018, but the next year he successfully requested to withdraw from the guilty plea and have the charges against him dismissed after Carney's ruling that the Anti-Riot Act was unconstitutionally over-broad" in the case against Rundo.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, however, reinstated the charges in March 2021, finding that parts of the law were constitutional. Last year, Laube pleaded guilty again.

Even before 2017, Laube had a history of run-ins with the law, including a second-degree robbery conviction after he and a friend used a semiautomatic handgun to rob a 7-Eleven convenience store and a gas station, according to the prosecutor's sentencing memo. He was also convicted of possession of a switchblade and resisting arrest, all based on separate incidents, prosecutors said. Each time, he was sentenced to a term of probation, "which he repeatedly violated."

Laube declined to comment outside the courtroom Thursday.

"Justice was served today," said Laube's attorney, John McNicholas.

Rundo was accused not just of organizing the violent confrontations but also of attacking protesters and police officers. After Rundo was ordered by police to stop attacking a defenseless person during the Berkeley protest, he allegedly punched an officer twice in the head, according to an arrest warrant.

Rundo was extradited from Romania last year to face charges in the case that Carney dismissed in February.

Although Rundo was briefly released after the dismissal, he is back in custody as the government appeals Carneys decision to the 9th Circuit.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Photo by Spencer Platt | Getty Images

A recent federal push for a switch to electric vehicles to support plans for a zero-emissions future has raised human rights concerns regarding the use of forced labor and child labor to mine elements vital in the production of rechargeable batteries.

In hopes of ensuring that Arizona is not supporting such practices, Sen. Frank Carroll, R-Sun City West, introduced Senate Bill 1341, which would prohibit any governmental entity from entering a contract to receive electric vehicles unless the vehicle manufacturer signs an affidavit swearing that none of the parties involved in the production of the vehicle utilize forced labor or child labor.

If the manufacturer is found to have provided false or misleading information regarding the use of illegal labor, they could face fines equal to $10,000 per misleading statement or half of what the governmental entity paid in the original contract, whichever amount is greater.

Even further, any employee of the manufacturer that intentionally violates the sworn agreement could also face the same fines of $10,000 per misleading statement  or the entire price paid by the governmental entity in the contract.

This is specifically targeted at the fact that we have parts in vehicles, electric vehicles in particular, that are manufactured using forced labor, child labor, and this is because of communist China, Carroll told the Senate Government Committee when it considered the bill on Feb. 14.

In 2021, Congress enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to help ensure that American entities and consumers are not supporting the use of forced labor of ethnic minorities in Chinas Xinjiang Region.

Since then, the U.S. has blocked all imports of goods produced even partially in Xinjiang, unless importers can provide clear and convincing evidence that the products were not made using forced labor.

Carroll says that SB1341 expands the main goal of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which is limited to the Xinjiang Region, to apply to materials sourced through Chinese operations worldwide, including in Africa.

Weve addressed other issues in the past with the Uyghurs This is just a continuation of that effort, Carroll said.

Beyond the products of forced labor in Xinjiang, China also owns a majority of the mining operations throughout the the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to about 70% of the worlds cobalt supply. Cobalt  along with other minerals such as nickel, lithium, and graphite  is essential in the creation of the lithium-ion batteries that power not only electric vehicles, but numerous other electronics, including cell phones and laptops.

But the mining of cobalt has been linked to human rights violations, including the use of child labor and forced labor on such a large scale that it has been likened to modern-day slavery. The U.S Department of Labor estimates that more than 25,000 children are working in Congos cobalt mines.

When asked why the bill only pertains to electric vehicles, Carroll said that he wanted to focus on the industry because Arizona is quickly becoming a global leader in producing EVs.

The reason I picked this particular industry is because its at the forefront right now, Carroll told the House Government committee on Mar. 20. We have parts here that are going into these vehicles, and they may be made by forced labor.

California-based electric vehicle company Lucid Motors recently expanded its facilities in Casa Grande, where it now manufactures two vehicle models.

A recent report examining the supply chain behind electric vehicle companies suggests a risk of illegal labor being used by entities that companies, including Lucid and EV industry leader Tesla, source their materials from.

Given that the United States has a technical capability to produce these products through other avenues that are not tied to forced labor or child labor, we should be doing that, Carroll said. Instead of profit being the motive here, we should be looking at the benefit and the well-being of children and those that are subject to this kind of behavior.

Since the federal government passed historic environmental laws in the 1970s, public opinion has shifted against polluting industries, including mining, which led to Americas modern reliance on foreign sources of many minerals.

While the easy answer would be to ramp up mining production within the few deposits of these crucial elements available throughout the country, lack of profit has slowed many domestic operations to a halt. The only cobalt mine in the United States recently shut down, citing plummeting cobalt prices and steep operation costs.

Democratic Sen. Juan Mendez argued that SB1341 did not go far enough to address the states involvement with entities that utilize illegal labor, and instead targets an industry that has already proved to be a point of contention within the Republican Party.

A quick Google search finds 15 corporations that are using forced or child labor. If proposals of this nature went after the corporations instead of the countries or just single industries, I could probably entertain this kind of idea, but in its current format its either too narrow or seems to pick on a single industry as if to signal virtue to a certain crowd, he said.

House Assistant Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos expressed similar sentiments when he voted against the bill in committee.

I certainly appreciate the intent of the bill, and I think all of us would agree here that forced labor is horrifying, oppressive and should be done away with, but I do have a serious concern that the bill does not go far enough, he said. Its far too narrowly tailored to only one particular industry when other industries use the exact same batteries that are in electric vehicles, including phones and laptops.

The bill has passed the Senate, which approved it on a 16-12 vote with only Republicans in support. It has received preliminary approval in the House of Representatives, but is awaiting a formal vote. If it passes the House, the bill would be sent to Gov. Katie Hobbs for her consideration.

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The post Push for a transition to EVs sparks legislation against Chinese forced labor appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said that Russia cannot be the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists, as there is supposedly "inter-confessional harmony and unity" in the country.

Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet

Quote from Putin: "Russia cannot be the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists. We have a country that demonstrates a unique example of inter-confessional harmony and unity, interreligious and interethnic unity."

Details: At the trade union congress, Putin began to argue that the main goal of the organisers of the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow was to undermine the unity of the state.

"In this regard, of course, and judging by what the investigation is currently revealing, we have every reason to believe that the main goal of the organisers of the bloody and horrifying terrorist attack in Moscow was to undermine our unity. We can't find any other reasons, and they don't exist," Putin said.

Background:

A shooting incident occurred prior to a concert by the band Piknik at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, on the evening of 22 March. Afterwards, a large fire broke out in the auditorium. The latest reports say 144 people died.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the shooting incident. However, Russia stubbornly continues to blame Ukraine for the attack, without providing any evidence. Kyiv strongly denies these accusations.

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin acknowledged that the attack on the Crocus City Hall was carried out by "radical Islamists", but blamed the shooting on "those who are fighting Russia with the hands of the Kyiv regime".

On 28 March, John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, once again denied Russian leader Vladimir Putin's claims that this terrorist attack was linked to Ukraine.

The day before, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed US officials, that two weeks before the attack, the US government had informed Russian officials that Crocus City Hall was a potential target for terrorists.

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Tom Warth once visited a school library in Jinja, Uganda, that had nearly everything a library needs  except books.

There was a librarian, a card catalog, tables, bookcases and students, but the shelves were nearly bare. What few books there were, he said, were tattered and worn.

Warth took it upon himself to fill the library with books  and then did the same for hundreds of other libraries across the continent.

On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization that Warth founded, Books For Africa, shipped its 60 millionth book to Africa. A truckload of books left the Books For Africa warehouse in Marietta, Ga., bound for the harbor in Savannah, Ga., where they will be placed on a container ship bound for Ghana.

Books For Africa, based in St. Paul, is the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent, having shipped books to all 55 countries in Africa since 1988.

Warth, a native of England, founded the organization after he sold his publishing company, Motorbooks International. I wanted to invest the money where it would make a difference, he said. Education is essential to Africas development and to the future of its students.

Warth, 88, of Marine on St. Croix, celebrated his 70th birthday by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as a fundraiser for Books For Africa. He trained for the climb to the mountains peak, 19,340 feet above sea level, by climbing the Main Street Stairs in downtown Stillwater 110 times, the equivalent of ascending the mountain.

When he turned 80, he decided to walk across the island of Zanzibar for yet another fundraiser. He also has walked across Gambia in West Africa; from Lake Michigan to South Dakota; from Canada to Iowa; and from Menomonie, Wis., to St. Paul and from Taylors Falls to the Capitol in St. Paul  all to raise both visibility and funds for Books For Africa.

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Without Tom, none of this would have happened, said Patrick Plonski, the organizations executive director. Sixty million books have been shipped  and every single one of the African countries on the continent served  and its all been run out of this base here in Minnesota. All of this would have been unthinkable 36 years ago. It just shows the value of vision, and the art of the possible.

To put that number into perspective, there are approximately 150,000 books at George Latimer Central Library in downtown St. Paul.

Last year, Books For Africa shipped 4,029,000 books, valued at more than $32.6 million, to 32 African countries  the most books ever shipped in a single year. About 800,000 digital books also were shipped on 116 computers and 150 tablets. More than $2.6 million was raised to ship the books to partners across Africa, Plonski said.

Warth, the owner of T. E. Warth Esq. Automotive Books, works out of an office above the Marine General Store in downtown Marine on St. Croix. He sells rare books to car enthusiasts.

Warth has two children and two grandchildren. He is married to Zantha LaFon Warth.

In an interview with the Pioneer Press over lunch at the Brookside Bar & Grill in Marine, Warth talked about Books For Africas recent milestone, a new childrens book called The Book King: The Story of Tom Warth and Books For Africa, and his love of hitchhiking. The transcript is edited for clarity and conciseness.

Tom Warth Q&A

Q: Congratulations on reaching 60 million. To what do you attribute Books For Africas success?

A: There are three reasons. Number one, books. Nobody likes to throw away a book, so we get given books. Number two, we started it in a philanthropic center of the country. Minnesota is known for philanthropy. I dont think if wed started in Baltimore or Washington, it would have worked. And third, weve had two great executive directors. You know, the first one, Bob Kowalczyk, didnt mind packing the books and doing grunt work. And (Plonski) loves to network. You know, thats the secret. I mean he has really made it fly.

Q: Talk about the importance of books, particularly printed books.

A: You know, we were talking about newspapers, and the tactile feel and the sniff of a newspaper and holding it out and how looking at it is so much nicer than looking at something online, and then I think of the children in Africa, we cant abandon printed books. You know, half the population of Africa lives in rural areas. There are 400 million children. They live in huts with no printed material. Surely they need one printed book that they can touch and feel.

Q: Tell me about your childhood. Where did you go to school?

A: I grew up near Cambridge (England). I went to boarding school, and then I went to Cambridgeshire Technical College for a year. Thats like an American vo-tech. I learned basic things like typing, law, statistics, accounting, you know, a little about a lot, and that served me well the rest of my life. In fact, I got irritated at Motorbooks when they said in their advertisements for employees that they need to have a college degree. I said, Well, Im running the show, and I dont have a college degree.

Q: What brought you to the U.S.?

A: I lived in Eau Claire when I emigrated in 1960. I came to Eau Claire because thats where my sponsor, an Eighth Air Force pilot who had befriended my dad (during World War II) lived. He came to visit my dad in 1959, and we met, and he said to me, Tom, if you want to see America, Ill sponsor you. You know, no one was immigrating in those days. I just thought, Well, Id like to see America. I came over and worked in a drugstore and on road construction. I stayed for about a year. Then I went back and got married, and then we decided to come to America, so we both came. America was the land of opportunity.

Q: Tell me about your interest in cars. How did that come about?

A: My dad (Ewart) liked fine cars. He had a Bentley, and he would reverse it into the parking space, so people would know what he had. My brother, John, and I were infected by that. John was two years younger. He ended up being a major dealer in cars. He would go to India and spend a year there trying to get into the good graces of the maharajas and so on, who had garages full of Rolls-Royces. Sadly, he died in 1986. He was 48.

Q: How did you get into car book publishing?

A: We lived in Minneapolis, and I worked for Prudential Insurance for five years, but my ambition was always to work for myself, not have a boss. I didnt intend to have a big company or anything, but, with cars being my hobby, I started to think about getting material for (car) enthusiasts. I knew the car magazines, and so I put little ads in magazines like Road & Track, and gradually it got bigger and bigger. I was the first, and the hobby was small. Back then in the 60s, people didnt have enough money to buy a lot of old cars. I threaded the needle in terms of timing. If Id started it earlier, there wouldnt have been enough business. If Id started it later, other people would have been in it. We were publishing 100 books a year when I sold out in 1988.

Q: Have you always liked driving?

A: Yes. Oh, I love driving. I like seeing the scenery and stuff. We just drove to Savannah and stayed for 10 days in an Airbnb and that was 3,000 miles I put on. Im still lucky enough to have my wits about me. I can still drive, you know? My eyesight is good, and my reaction times are good. I like walking better than driving, though. I walk three to four miles a day.

Q: How many cars do you have?

A: I have a 1960 gray Citroen 2-CV  or Deux Chevaux. I had a 1965 289-AC Cobra, which I had for many years and sold, and Ive got a 2003 Jaguar. The everyday car is a Fiat 500.

Q: When did you move to Marine?

A: We were living in South Minneapolis, and a friend showed me a house on Judd Street that had English characteristics, and so we bought that in 1975. Ive been here ever since. Im in my third house here now.  We looked around within a 20-mile radius for the business. It was a banker in Osceola (Wis.) who convinced me that an industrial park in Osceola would be a good spot for Motorworks.

Q: I understand a childrens book called The Book King has just been published about you.

A: People have said, Tom, youve had such an interesting life. You should write your autobiography. Well, now its been done. Rosemond Sarpong Owens wrote it, and she did a fabulous job. Its a nice outline of my life.

Q: Lets talk about your love of hitchhiking.

A: People say its dangerous, but I think its less dangerous now than it was in the 50s and 60s, because theres supposed to be less crime. I think the problem is, theres so much publicity about crime now that people are frightened. Is the driver going to attack the hitchhiker, or is the hitchhiker going to attack the driver? I just dont think this happens.

In the 1950s, I hitchhiked around Europe. In 1961, I hitchhiked from Eau Claire to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras. Just south of Chicago, a lady picked me up, and she said, What part of the South are you from? I said, Im not from the South. Im from England. Shed mistaken the Union Jack on my backpack for a Confederate flag. I also hitchhiked from Eau Claire to Winnipeg to buy a car. In Cuba, when I was last there, they fine drivers who passed a hitchhiker and had an empty seat and didnt pick them up.

I just think environmentally, we have to think about all these cars, four-seat cars with one person in them. Ive picked up hitchhikers a lot, and I like it, you know, if youre on a long drive.

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Quadriplegic man set to be evicted from his Denver home of 11 years

DENVER (KDVR)  A quadriplegic Denver man is facing eviction and said he is on the verge of homelessness.

Dane Eisom is currently on Section 8 housing but is being evicted from the home he has lived in for 11 years off Quebec Street. He claims the Denver Housing Authority is dragging its feet on helping him secure a new spot.

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Eisom has been disabled since 2005 after a urinary tract infection left a severe infection in his hands and feet.

I thank God to be alive, and when youre like this, you cant take too much of anything else on, any trauma. Wondering where youre gonna stay, where youre gonna go, Eisom said.

Eisom said his rent went up last year and he simply cannot afford it, but now he has nowhere to go.

Its inhumane, to do somebody like this. I wouldnt do a dog like this, Eisom said.

A quadriplegic man in a wheelchair

Eisom said he was approved for a one-bedroom at another location, but with his medical supplies and chair, there was not enough room.

They were gonna give me a one-bedroom apartment, and they were gonna give me a $700 voucher. I couldnt live off of that. I couldnt live life that. I have medical supplies and wheelchairs that I just had to give away, Eisom said.

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FOX31 reached out to the Denver Housing Authority about Eisoms situation. They replied with the following statement: We are aware of Mr. Eisoms situation and have been actively working with him for the last two months.

FOX31 pressed further, but the housing authority representative said they would not provide anything more. FOX31 will keep asking questions.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
DAMASCUS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli missiles struck military targets in the countryside of Quneitra and Daraa provinces in southern Syria after midnight Thursday, in response to missiles launched from multiple locations towards the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Shells landed near the villages of Rafid and Tel Al-Faras in Quneitra, and Tel Al-Jabiya in Daraa, without casualties being reported so far, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The observatory said Israel has targeted Syrian territory 32 times since the start of this year, with 22 aerial and 10 ground attacks.

These strikes resulted in destruction of about 64 targets, including weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters, centers and vehicles.

A total of 129 military personnel were killed, including 21 Iranians from the Revolutionary Guard, 20 members of Lebanese Hezbollah, and 12 Iraqis, according to the SOHR.

Furthermore, 12 civilians, including two women, lost their lives in Israeli attacks, with around 20 others injured, the SOHR said. 
Rape suspect arrested with help from Columbus Police Departments fugitive unit

The Columbus Police Departments fugitive unit helped arrest a man with a warrant for rape in Talbot County, according to authorities.

Dakota Hattaway was arrested at 6 a.m., April 4, in Columbus, according to police. Hattaway had warrants out of Talbot County for rape, aggravated child molestation, and cruelty to children first degree, according to the release.

Talbot County Sheriffs office, the CPD fugitive unit and Sgt. Ada Johnsons patrol squad traveled to the location Hattaway was presumed to be, according to the release.

Police said Hattaway was taken into custody without incident.
Rapides Sheriff's Office asks anyone with video, photos near Pineville fatal fire for help

Anyone in the vicinity of a fatal fire in the Kolin area is being asked to help investigators by turning over any videos or photos they might have.

The Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office issued an appeal Thursday as detectives and Louisiana State Fire Marshals investigators continue to delve into the early March 30 fire in the 300 block of Williams Lake Road, a Pineville address not far off La. Highway 107 in the Kolin area.

A man's body was found in the carport area of the abandoned house. While that person's identity hasn't been determined yet, investigators did say the victim was not the home's owner.

One person died in a Pineville fire Saturday night, although the State Fire Marshal's Office says the victim was not the home's owner.

Rapides Sheriff's Office: Death of man found at Pineville fire classified as homicide

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After searching at the scene Tuesday, investigators determined the case to be a homicide.

Investigators are particularly interested in any media from the early stages of the fire. The Holiday Village Fire Department was dispatched to the fire about 12:30 a.m.

Any videos or photos can be uploaded at https://lsfm.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/350williamslakerd. Submissions can be uploaded anonymously, a news release said.

Any other tips can be shared with the sheriff's office at (318) 473-6700, the fire marshal at (866) 946-1097 or Crime Stoppers at (318) 443-7867. These tips also can be shared anonymously, the release said.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides Sheriff's Office asks for help in homicide case at Pineville fire
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  The attorney for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice spoke to reporters on Thursday afternoon about a serious crash that happened in Dallas last Saturday.

Royce West confirmed that Rice was driving a Lamborghini SUV involved in the six-vehicle chain-reaction crash on North Central Expressway. Rice told this to the Dallas Police Department during an interview.

West also said that he has met with police and that Rice and West have met with police in two separate meetings.

He has fully cooperated with the Dallas Police Department, every question that was asked of him, he responded to, he said, we will continue to cooperate with them in terms of this particular accident.

Dallas police told FOX4 on Thursday that the investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been filed yet.

Nobody died, but four people were hurt.

Mr. Rice wants to make certain, understood and appreciated, that hes going to do everything in his power to bring their life back to as normal as possible in terms of injuries, in terms of property damage, will make certain that he is responsible for helping them to get through that particular part of this.

West reached out to police as Rices counsel on Sunday evening after the crash.

Investigators say a number of people got out of the Lamborghini and Corvette and left the crash scene without providing insurance information or checking to see if anyone was hurt.

West did not answer why Rice left the scene of the accident.

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Rice released a statement on social media Wednesday that he was taking full responsibility for his role in the crash that happened on a Dallas highway where police say two speeding drivers in a Lamborghini SUV and a Corvette lost control and caused the crash.

TMZ reported earlier this week that Rice owns the Corvette and leases the Lamborghini. While its now known Rice was driving the Lamborghini, its still unknown who was driving the Corvette.

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Local Dallas media questioned West about details of a police report concerning the crash and objects in a bag inside one of the vehicles. West said that investigators told him no report had been filed as of Wednesday.

FOX4 is working to obtain the police report and the details inside.

The next steps for West and Rice include their continued cooperation with investigators and reaching out to the victims of the crash.

My main focus over these last few days has been to number one, understand as best possible, the facts and I dont still dont have all of the facts, he said.

Make certain that the police department understood that Rashee was not running from anybody, trying to hide from anyone but wanting to cooperate, which weve done. Weve answered the questions that were asked of us and then make certain also that we prioritize visiting with the families or representatives of the families that were involved in. Thats been our priority.

West also said that they have reached out to representatives of the victims in the accident. Rices attorney also mentioned that he has not spoken with the Chiefs about the incident.

The Texas Senator spent ample time urging people to wait for additional details as the investigation continues and gave a strong defense of Rices actions as one mistake.

You call them spoiled, entitled, West began about the NFL wide receiver.

Why dont you do a story of who he is, as opposed to what occurred? Because it seems as though what youre saying is based on this one incident, youre going to define him based on this incident, as opposed to his entire body of work.

I would say each and every one of you, if all of us had to be defined by one incident, that would be ridiculous, as opposed to our entire body. So Id ask that you as the media, look at his entire body of work before saying exactly who he is. That will be better.

Is he a thug as he has been going around committing murders, rapes, robberies, and things like this? Is he a young man that found himself in this situation? And now needs to figure out exactly how he can balance number one, taking care of the issues associated with the persons that were injured, and also making certain that his whole life is not just turned topsy turvy.

Hold your judgment, let the facts come out.

This is a developing story FOX4 will continue to update, refresh for the latest.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Rebel Wilson went from being paid $3,500 for her first film Bridesmaids to $10m for Pitch Perfect 3, she writes in her memoir which is due to hit the bookshelves on Thursday.

The 44-year-old actor describes moving from Australia to the US, signing with agents at William Morris Endeavor, and booking Bridesmaids soon after.

She calls the comedy, starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, and Melissa McCarthy, her first opportunity in Hollywood that changed the trajectory of my whole career.

The pay for Bridesmaids didnt matter to her, Wilson writes in Rebel Rising, noting that it was enough to pay her dues to join the SAG-AFTRA union and continue working in Hollywood.

The experience was everything!

Two weeks after Bridesmaids premiered, Wilson says she booked six films, one of which was Pitch Perfect. Boy, did that movie pay dividends!

In an interview with The New York Times, Wilson recalls how the success of the Pitch Perfect films and the popularity of her character Fat Amy allowed her to negotiate for a higher salary than what was initially offered.

Universal Studios are incredible, but did they make a ton of money from the Pitch Perfect movies? Yes.

So despite me absolutely loving all those folks at Universal, did I use that leverage to my advantage? Yes. And in the 11th hour, I go, You know, thats a lovely offer of $9m. But I need one more to make it 10.

Thats a big milestone when youre an actor. To receive an eight-figure offer, for a woman, is huge. Sometimes women dont like to talk about that. Whereas I dont think the guys have any issues saying they get $20m a movie.

Rebel Wilson at the 2024 AACTA Awards (Getty Images for AFI)

While the Pitch Perfect films made Wilson a household name, the actor says playing Fat Amy resulted in her being contractually obliged to maintain the weight she was at.

Her agency, she writes in the memoir, liked me fat because they got hundreds of thousands of dollars in commission for each film where I played the fat funny girl.

Rebel Rising has been making waves in the film industry since Wilson revealed she had dedicated an entire chapter to actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who she claims kept harassing her to go naked for a future scene the entire time they worked on the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby.

In a statement to The Independent, Baron Cohens representatives rejected Wilsons claims. While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of The Brothers Grimsby.
Woolgar: in Mandatory Palestine in 1946, he was on his way to attend a meeting at the King David Hotel when it was blown up

Flight Lieutenant Reginald Jimmy Woolgar, who has died two weeks before his 104th birthday, was an RAF air gunner who survived a ditching in the English Channel and went on to complete 42 bombing operations over Germany.

On the night of February 14 1941, Woolgar and his three companions took off in their Hampden bomber of 49 Squadron to attack Mannheim; it was their 23rd operation. As they left the target, one of the aircrafts two engines failed, and they steadily lost height on the return flight. After five hours, the remaining engine ran out of fuel and the pilot ditched the bomber in the English Channel.

The crew managed to release the dinghy and spent a very cold night before a searching aircraft found them in the afternoon floating near the Isle of Wight.

A Royal Navy motor launch was dispatched to pick them up and take them to Gosport. The sailors told Woolgar and his comrades that they had been heading towards a minefield. Woolgar later said that the incident cost him one of my nine lives. I used six of them in the RAF.

His ditching qualified him for the Goldfish Club: he was the oldest surviving member.

Reginald Louis Arthur Woolgar, known as Jimmy in the air force, was born on March 21 1920 at Hove. He was educated locally, and on leaving school began training as a surveyor. Shortly after the war began in 1939, he joined the RAF.

Having trained as a wireless operator/air gunner, Woolgar joined 49 Squadron at Scampton near Lincoln in September 1940. The squadron operated the twin-engine Hampden bomber.

His first target was Berlin, which was attacked by 129 bombers on September 23/24, a unique raid for this period of the war according to The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt.

Woolgar: 'I used six of my nine lives in the RAF'

Woolgar later attacked targets in Hamburg, Kiel and the industrial Ruhr, as well as making sorties to lay aerial mines in estuaries and the approaches to enemy ports. While over Oslo fjord, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire, one bullet hitting his gunsight. On landing, he discovered holes in his sheepskin flying jacket.

As an experienced air gunner, Woolgar attended a course at the Central Gunnery School before becoming an instructor at a bomber training unit. He was commissioned and became the units gunnery leader.

In the spring of 1944, he joined 192 Squadron, a special-duties squadron in 100 Group, equipped with the four-engine Halifax. The squadrons task was to fly with the main bomber force and locate and identify the enemys radar and signals units. This allowed intelligence officers to survey and plot the German radar chain, allowing specialist electronic equipment to be developed which could jam the enemy radar system.

He flew numerous sorties along the French coast, seeking data on the emerging threat of Hitlers terror weapons, the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket; the Prime Minister Winston Churchill placed a high priority on these missions. After flying 20 operations as gunnery leader, Woolgar was awarded the DFC.

At the end of the war, he left for Palestine and joined 38 Squadron at Ein Shemer.

Equipped with the Lancaster, the squadron was employed in maritime surveillance during the Palestine disturbances. Woolgar had a lucky escape on July 22 1946: he was approaching the King David Hotel to attend a meeting when a bomb exploded, killing 91 people, including other attendees of the same meeting.

He left the RAF in 1947 and, while working for the Hove Corporation as a valuation officer, he completed his exams to become a chartered surveyor. He secured a job with the city planning department of the City of London, dealing with the Barbican and St Pauls areas and the adjacent war-damaged surroundings.

He became the senior valuer and, during his 14 years in the appointment, he identified a site in Blackfriars to house the Mermaid Theatre, the lifes work of the actor Bernard Miles; in May 1959, it became the first new theatre to open in the City of London since the time of Shakespeare.

Woolgar later joined St Quintin Chartered Surveyors as a senior partner, and also became chairman of Town & Country Building Society, retiring in 1973.

Woolgar was a strong supporter of the Sussex Branch of the Aircrew Association until it disbanded.

He was 17 when he met his future wife, Doris, at the Regent Dance Hall in Brighton in 1937 and they were married on August 30 1942.

His wife and daughter survive him.

Reginald Woolgar, born March 21 1920, died March 8 2024

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Donald Trump is selling bibles, which is as funny as it sounds (We love Deuteronomy, Leviticus and Matthew. Luke and John, not so much.) It confirms the cliches about political religion, that Republicans enjoy a commercial advantage on belief, handy in a country where families still go to church and the commandments hang on every wall (Moses got ten commandments; I think I couldve got eleven.)

Yet these certainties are crumbling. The current phase of politicised religion began in 1976  with Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. Carter ran for president as an evangelical; it worked, though many voters, including Republicans, thought him weird. Once in office, the tension between Carters liberal politics and his religious piety became apparent  and the evangelical base he had mobilised defected to Ronald Reagan, to a candidate who would not only talk-the-Jesus-talk, but walk-the-walk on issues like abortion.

Even if Carter failed the litmus test of Moral Majority conservatism, no one doubted the strength of his Christianity: he routinely polled high for trust. This faith in politicians beliefs seems to have ebbed. Plenty of Democrats are religious; Joe Biden talks often about his Catholicism. But many Americans simply dont believe him.

A recent Pew report shows that only 13 per cent of US voters think the president is very religious, 41 per cent somewhat and an astonishing 44 per cent not much or not at all. Trump fares even worse, with his figures standing at 4 per cent, 25 per cent and 68 per cent. Religious rhetoric washes over the masses. In the 1970s it was perceived as authentic; today, as theatre.

Rising cynicism reflects the declining importance of faith across society. The US is following European trends: starting from a greater height and falling at a slower pace, but going down all the same.

In 1998, says Gallup, 87 per cent of Americans were Christian. Today its 68 per cent. In 1998, 61 per cent said religion was very important to them. Today, its 45 per cent. Church membership has fallen from 68 per cent to 45 per cent; regular attendance, from 40 per cent to 32 per cent. The pollster concludes that the phenomenon has largely been driven by younger generations of Americans, as slightly more than one-third of US young adults have no religious affiliation.

Some say politics itself is to blame. For the Right, secularism is a liberal project, subverting truths (biological sex), unveiling new sacraments (abortion) and decreeing dubious saints (George Floyd). Society abhors a vacuum, they warn, with the assisted death of Christianity making way for pagan socialism.

The Left counters that the Right has tarnished religion by association. If Trump says he speaks for Christians, and Christian leaders fail to correct him, younger voters will conclude that Christianity and conservatism are one-and-the-same. This makes it almost unthinkable for anyone under 30 to enter a church. Of course, both these theories assume everything is about politics  a self-fulfilling prophecy, for if one talks about nothing else, youll find that faith, art, even sport are viewed entirely through its distorting prism.

Yet one could list many non-political factors responsible for the loss of faith. Child abuse. Poor Christian leadership. The New Atheist bubble of the 2000s. The internet. People who abstain from church on a Sunday are not going to the satanist temple instead, or signing up for sex change surgery. They are watching Netflix, prompting some to worry that a post-Christian America will be culturally as well as spiritually impoverished.

The question of what happens next was recently raised by Richard Dawkins, who described himself in an interview as a cultural Christian. This is not new: he said it in 2007.



Dawkins is a classic example of the intelligent fool; in this case someone who thinks they have a right to ridicule and deconstruct a religion, but also the right to enjoy any fruits that happen to be to his taste, such as hymns and nice pews (imagine an arsonist who sets fire to a museum and mentions, as the sirens wail, that hes always enjoyed the impressionists and hopes they survive the fire). Dawkins also appears to fear that the vacuum of Christianity will be filled by Islam. This, too, is silly: as if every time a Methodist chapel closes, a mosque opens in its place.

Brighter minds worry that Christianity is likely to be replaced by nothing, or the cult of nothingness. In The Atlantic, Derek Thompson observes that America has undergone a decline in face-to-face socialisation and that this is most observable among the cohorts that have ceased church-going: working-class whites, the young.

This is bad for society, as nonreligious Americans are also less civically engaged less likely to volunteer, less likely to feel satisfied with their community and social life, and more likely to say they feel lonely. Hence it is also very bad for the individual, as the Bible  with its codified rules for life  has been replaced by the phone, which has no structure or calendar. The virtual world is disembodied, asynchronous, shallow, and solitary. Religious rituals, by contrast, put us in the body through the physical act of prayer, and connect us with others via the temple. The world of faith is embodied, synchronous, deep, and collective.

These are qualities human beings yearn for, which is why Im hopeful about the chances for a religious renewal. America has undergone several periods of social and political upheaval, and this has typically been accompanied by a great awakening  a counter-revolution that finds expression through religion.

The last awakening was in the 1970s, with Carter and Reagan, and was political because Christians were re-entering public life after a period of detachment. The next awakening will probably go the other way. It will be comfortably multi-racial, socially tolerant, shaped by the lifestyle movement, online yet paradoxically anti-internet, and, most importantly, will seek to distance itself from the corruption of politics. I trust Trump v Biden is not the future of US religion, but the last gasp of an old style.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis and nine other organizations wrote a letter to Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner discussing concerns about visitation, education, and access to going outside.

These are some of the issues written about when it comes to youth being housed at the Youth Justice and Educational Center.

Letter to Sheriff Bonner (2)Download

We want to try to help address the challenges that our young people are facing, said Cardell Orrin, Executive Director of Stand for Children, Tennessee. Making sure that children and families are able to have visitation. That children, while theyre in detention are being served in terms of their education so that they dont lose ground and then just the ability to go outside is one of the more recent issues that weve heard pop up. That young people have not even had access to be outside in the sun for any time.

The Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy acknowledged the letter today.

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I can tell you that the Sheriff and I we stand ready to meet with any organization who has an interest in making sure we provide the best services we can to our Youth Detention Center, said Anthony Buckner, Chief Deputy of Shelby County Sheriffs Office.

He said staffing numbers and the number of young detainees can be tough to navigate.

Population is our greatest challenge, Buckner said.

In a responding letter, Sheriff Bonner talked about the large number of young people saying, on Monday, there were 110 boys and girls in the Center, far more than they ever expected or planned for, and that they anticipated 40 to 60 youth and they seldom have fewer than 100 in the Center.

Black Clergy Collaborative of Mphs- response from Sheriff Bonner April 2024Download

They also acknowledged visitation saying, We are preparing to begin in-person visitation, indoors and outdoors, as soon as we receive the necessary information from the Court to enable us to do so. Unfortunately, the current population is such that we cannot have daily visitation.

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However, Judge Tarik Sugarmon says a court order was sent to the SCSO leadership team on February 28, 2024, after they were informed that the court would have to mandate parent visitations.

We received a response indicating the SCSO would comply with the order. To-date in-person visitation still has not resumed, Judge Sugarmon said. Furthermore, in-person visitation should not be supplanted by virtual visitation. The SCSO is fully aware the court is in no way a barrier to the process of starting virtual visitation.

Gmail  Response from Judge Sugarmon Download

Judge Sugarmon outlines the steps he says the court has taken to support SCSO with allowing virtual and in-person visitation.

He also says all youth in the care of the Shelby County Sheriffs Office should be provided for, and population size is not an excuse.

The Youth Justice and Education Center is below maximum capacity, which is 144, and thus Sheriff Bonners reference to anticipating 40-60 youth is erroneous, Judge Sugarmon said in an email response. each of the nine classrooms can accommodate 16 youth, with an 8:1 staffing ratio, which totals 144. Since we remain below 144 thresholds, it appears there are no physical facilities limits to school attendance.

Judge Sugarmon does note that it would require 18 SCSO staff dedicated to daily school attendance and that due to SCSO being short-staffed only 50% to 60% of students have been allowed to attend school.

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As far as outside goes, Sheriff Bonner says, The youth will be utilizing the outdoor space, weather permitting very soon, although not as we had envisioned due to their large numbers.

All of these things that we would like to see the Sheriffs Office put in place and to be able to confirm it and engage with young people so that we can identify the challenges young people are facing, Orrin said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
TEHRAN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Turkiye on Thursday expressed willingness to enhance cooperation in the energy sector, particularly in the gas industry, the Shana News Agency affiliated with the Iranian Oil Ministry reported.

During a meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar discussed the expansion of cooperation between Tehran and Ankara in the energy sector and boosting bilateral trade, the report said.

Owji voiced Iran's readiness to expand relations with Turkiye in the oil industry's upstream and downstream sectors.

In 2001, Iran signed a 25-year gas export contract with its northwestern neighbor Turkiye, which is set to expire in 2026.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Owji told reporters that negotiations officially started on Thursday between the National Iranian Gas Company and Turkish state-owned BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation on technical issues related to the contract's renewal.

He mentioned the interest of Turkish companies in participating in the upstream projects of Iran's oil industry, particularly in the development of gas fields. The Iranian minister said his country welcomed the Turkish companies.

Speaking to reporters, the Turkish minister said his country was willing to extend the contract.

Bayraktar said their discussions had focused on Turkish firms' investment in the development of the Iranian gas fields and the renovation of Iran's gas transfer infrastructure. 
Report: Hot air balloon pilot had ketamine in his system during Arizona crash that killed 4

Hot air balloons take flight at the New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport in Readington, N.J. Investigators found the pilot of the fatal hot air balloon crash in Eloy, Ariz., in January had elevated levels of ketamine in his system. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

April 4 (UPI) -- The pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in the Arizona desert and killed four people in January had elevated levels of ketamine in his system, an autopsy found.

An autopsy report signed by the Pinal County chief medical examiner on Monday determined "ketamine was found in the cardiac blood" of Cornelius Van Der Walt.

Van Der Walt, 37, reportedly had ketamine levels of between 1.1 to 1.2 mg/L. He had no reportedly prescription for the drug, and it was not used during resuscitation attempts, the report stated.

The Drug Enforcement Administration describes ketamine as a "dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects."

It can be prescribed as an anesthetic and as a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression, but it can be abused, according to the DEA.

The report determined Van Der Walt's death was the cause of multiple blunt force trauma, and the manner of his death was an accident.

Three other people were killed when the hot air balloon, operated by Van Der Walt's company Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides, crashed during a skydiving trip in January.

The aircraft was carrying 13 passengers, including Van Der Walt, four passengers and eight skydivers. At about 5,000 feet, the skydivers safely jumped from the basket.

Immediately after that, the balloon partially deflated and dropped to about 4,000 feet, where the craft appeared to regain some control but still continued to descend, according to the repot.

At about 2,000 feet the balloon reportedly fell straight down at an unknown high rate of speed and hit the ground. Witnesses then called 911.

Police identified the three other victims as Chayton Wiescholek, 28, from Union City, Mich.; Kaitlynn Bartrom, 28, from Andrews, Ind.; and Atahan Kiliccote, 24, from Cupertino, Calif.

Valerie Sutton, 23, of Scottsdale, Ariz., survived but was critically injured.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found the material near the top of the balloon was frayed and several of the panels were damaged.

Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides temporarily halted services because of the crash, according to the company's website.

The aircraft was an A-160 passenger balloon manufactured by Cameron Balloons. The model is rated to carry up to seven riders plus the pilot, according to the company's website.
North Carolinas Republican state lawmakers are pulling off a quiet coup by eviscerating the board that is supposed to oversee public school policy.

The North Carolina Constitution stipulates that the State Board of Education will supervise and administer the states public schools. The state superintendent of public instruction serves as a secretary to the board and is supposed to carry out its policies.

But because the board consists mostly of members appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, Republican lawmakers have reduced its staff, shifted power to the Republican superintendent, declined to confirm board members and reduced the boards oversight by creating a new panel appointed by the legislature to oversee charter schools.

The 13-voting member board  the state treasurer and lieutenant governor are also voting members  is now a shell of itself. Five of the 11 members appointed by the governor are serving in expired terms because the General Assembly has refused to confirm them for another term or confirm their replacements. Three more terms will expire in March of 2025.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt has ceased even pretending she must follow the boards directions. She does what she and Republican legislative leaders want, though that didnt prevent her from losing the March GOP primary to public school critic Michele Morrow.

State board members are frustrated by the erosion of the boards power, but are reluctant to speak out. Complaining could provoke the legislature to take more actions to diminish the board.

Its probably too late for damage control. A Republican bill offered last session proposed a constitutional amendment that would make board members elected rather than appointed and would install the superintendent as the chairman. That may surface again.

Electing the board would blow up the constitutions intent in establishing the board. The intent is that a governor should use the mandate of his statewide election to appoint board members with expertise in education and an interest in whats best for public schools. Making the board elected would politicize its function and put partisan interests ahead of whats best for the states 1.5 million public schoolchildren.

That result, however, would be welcomed by Republican legislative leaders. In their zeal for expanding school choice they have abandoned interest in improving school oversight. Their expansion of school vouchers, for instance, comes with virtually no requirements that schools receiving the vouchers meet state standards.

As Ferrel Guillory, a founder of Education NC, a public schools advocacy group, wrote last month: The General Assembly has embraced a choice agenda in its approach to private, charter, and traditional public schools. Does North Carolina have a sufficient quality agenda and a driving determination to minimize low-performing schools and to maximize high-performing schools?

The disregard for oversight may lead Republican lawmakers to a conundrum. They empowered the superintendent on the assumption that Truitt would win another term, but Morrows winning the nomination puts a Republican victory in doubt. Mo Green, the Democratic nominee, could be the next superintendent.

Green is ready to work with the board as the constitution directs. I would work in a collaborative fashion with the State Board of Education to advance achievement for all students in public schools, he said.

Morrow, not so much. I support the election of State School Board members instead of their appointment, she said. Upholding the status quo of a broken system that doesnt work for families wont be an option for my administration.

In the event of a Green victory, GOP lawmakers will scramble to dismantle what they built for Truitt, but they wont want to give power back to the board. That will give rise to legislation cutting the superintendents power to the detriment of those who are the pawns in all this gamesmanship, the schoolchildren of North Carolina.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com
The Virginia Board of Education last week approved a new way to rank schools.

The system will place schools in a performance category based on multiple indicators; schools scores might be presented as a letter grade, a star rating, or something else. Mastery  or student proficiency - and readiness will be factors at all grade levels. Readiness refers to whether a student is prepared for the next academic level or postsecondary pursuit, such as college. Chronic absenteeism rates will also factor into readiness scores. Growth  year-to-year improvement  will be an indicator at elementary and middle school levels. Graduation rates will also count among high schools.

The VDOE is holding sessions to obtain feedback on the system. In Hampton Roads, a session will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Torggler Fine Arts Center at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. Visit the VDOE website to register to attend. Public comments can also be submitted online through May 27.

The board approved the new framework in a 7-1 vote with Anne Holton voting no. Board member Alan Seibert was absent. Holton said she feared the board was making a grave mistake, with the framework and in approving it before receiving public comments.

We need to be clear that what the administration is proposing here is an A-F grading system, she said. Holton said using a different grading system, like stars, would still amount to the same thing and would just be a way to soften the blow.

Holton said research shows that accountability systems that label schools  such as assigning an F  exacerbate school segregation as economically advantaged families and teachers move to better districts. She said this generally leaves Black and brown students behind.

Other board members rejected this take and said research shows that holding schools accountable through a summative system raises student proficiency and growth. Board member Andy Rotherham said the new system will also create transparency.

Telling the truth is not a blow, it is an obligation, Rotherham said.

He also added that if opponents of the system are worried about school segregation, then a conversation can be had around school choice, eliminating attendance zones and exploring other options that he said have been shown to solve that problem.

Board member Dale Sturdifen supports the ranking system and believes it holds students to higher standards. Claiming the new system harms Black and brown students is a trigger to get people fired up, he said.

Lowering the standards, its a handout, he said. All kids need to be uplifted.

Proponents of the new system also said it is not about sanctioning schools but identifying schools that need more support.

In 7-1 votes  the board voted separately for the three grade levels  the board also approved weights for each indicator. At the elementary level, a schools performance would be determined by 65% on mastery, 25% on growth and 10% on readiness. The weights at the middle school level are 65% mastery, 20% growth and 15% readiness. For high school, the weights will be 50% mastery, 35% readiness and 15% graduation.

Holton also voted against the weights, saying that she wanted to see growth weighted at least equally to mastery.

The regulations are flexible for the board to change indicators or weights in the future.

Related Articles

The board began revising the accreditation system last summer. A June report from the secretary of education and the superintendent of public instruction recommended that Virginia divide its existing program into two systems  one for accountability and one for accreditation  similar to most other states. Critics of the old system said it masked changes in achievement, such as not reflecting lower scores after the pandemic. They also said growth was prioritized over proficiency.

Data collection for the new system will begin in the 2024-2025 school year with the first new reports issued in summer 2025.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com
Results of the stage of assessing the high moral qualities of candidates for the position of judge of the CCU

More than a week ago, on March 23, the Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) completed the assessment of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) regarding their compliance with the criterion of high moral qualities.

Note that at the beginning of the competition, in November last year, 37 people applied for 5 vacant positions of judges of the CCU.

Of all these 37 applicants, only 8 people reached the stage of assessing the level of competence in the field of law.

In total, 12 candidates stopped their participation at their own will: 8  even before the start of public interviews with them and 4 candidates ended their participation already during and after the interviews.

AGE recognized 17 candidates as "non-compliant" with the criterion of high moral qualities.

Thus, even before the competency assessment stage, 29 out of 37 persons admitted to the competition by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Council of Judges of Ukraine did not pass the assessing "sieve" of the Advisory Group of Experts.

It turns out that more than 75% of the applicants were not ready for the challenges of the first transparent and quite detailed competitive evaluation by the Advisory Group of experts of candidates for the position of judge of the CCU.

This path is difficult, but it is worth going all the way.

The path of a candidate for the position of judge of the CCU

On November 12, 2023, the Advisory Group of Experts began its work, which became one of the key and necessary elements of the updated competitive procedure for the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

According to the law, the task of the Advisory Group of Experts is to assist the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine and the Council of Judges of Ukraine in assessing the moral qualities and level of competence of candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

To put it very briefly, as a result, the AGE should hand over to the appointment bodies honest and professional candidates.

In general, the assessment of candidates within the AGE is structured as follows.

During the assessing process, the AGE reasonably establishes and confirms the compliance or non-compliance of each candidate with 1) the criterion of high moral qualities and 2) the criterion of a recognized level of competence in the field of law.

For this, the AGE collects and analyzes materials on candidates, as well as conducts public interviews with them and a written assessment of the level of competence in the field of law.

At each of these two stages of assessment, candidates receive a "compliant" or "non-compliant" rating from the AGE.

Candidates who receive a grade of "non-compliant" are considered to have failed the appropriate stage and stop participating in the competition.

As a result, the rating lists of candidates who received a "compliant" rating from the AGE at both stages are submitted to the President, the Parliament, and the Congress of Judges of Ukraine, respectively, for the appointment some of them as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

8/25

At the time of the end of the assessing the moral qualities of the candidates and the announcement of the results, 25 applicants for the position of judge of the CCU continued to participate in the competition for 5 vacant positions and, accordingly, all of them were evaluated by the Advisory Group of Experts.

Therefore, 8 candidates for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court received the AGE rating "compliant" with the criterion of high moral qualities.

Among them  3 candidates admitted to the competition by the Council of Judges of Ukraine under the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine  judges of the Supreme Court Alla Oliinyk and Oleksandra Yanovska, as well as employee of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Nataliia Denysenko (also admitted under the quota of the Parliament of Ukraine).

And 6 candidates admitted to the competition by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine  professor of constitutional law and vice-rector of Ivan Franko Lviv National University Serhii Riznyk, prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office Taras Tsymbalistyi, employee of the Support Program of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for Ukraine Oleksandr Vodiannikov, professor of constitutional law and vice-rector of Yaroslav Mudry National University of Law Yuriy Barabash, detective of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau Roman Yaromenok and the mentioned before Natalia Denysenko (also admitted under the quota of the Council of Judges of Ukraine).

Now, in accordance with the AGE Methodology, the Advisory Group of Experts has 15 days to produce the full text of reasoned decisions regarding candidates. Full texts of reasoned decisions will be published on the CCU website.

At the same time, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine", only the decisive parts of the relevant decisions will be made public regarding the candidates who received a rating "non-compliant". The full texts of the decisions regarding such candidates may be made public only upon their request.

However, there is one detail that we did not describe and which should be remembered during the entire competitive selection for the position of judge of the CCU  from the submission of documents to the vote for the appointment of the candidate  there is the legal requirement regarding the minimum permissible competition for the position.

Let's analyze in more detail what this means.

One vacancy  two candidates

The specific law "On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine" contains a provision that clearly indicates that if at any stage of the competition, based on the results of the evaluation, the number of candidates is less than two for each certain vacant position of judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, then the subjects of appointment shall immediately announce a new competitive selection for the that certain vacant position. This should happen immediately, but no later than twenty days after such circumstances became known.

Let's analyze it on a real example of the results of assessing the moral qualities of candidates.

So, at this stage, three candidates admitted to the competition according to the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine received the rating "compliant", while there are 2 vacant positions of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine according to the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine.

That means, as of March 23, there is no minimum number of candidates to continue the competition for one of the two vacancies.

Therefore, given that for one of the two vacancies according to the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine, the number of candidates who compliant with the criterion of high moral qualities is less than two persons for one vacant position of judge of the CCU, the Congress of Judges of Ukraine should announce a new competition for one of two vacant positions, as required by the Law of Ukraine "On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine".

Thus, there are legal grounds to be sure that the competition for one of the two vacant positions of a judge of the CCU under the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine has ended due to an insufficient number of candidates to continue the competitive selection for this vacant position.

The Advisory Group of Experts will inform the Council of Judges of Ukraine about this, so that it can immediately take measures to announce a competition for a vacant position, for which the competition did not take place due to the lack of the minimum required number of candidates.

The efficiency of all involved subjects of competitive procedures for the selection of judges of the CCU is extremely important, because the process of filling vacant positions of judges and ensuring the effective functioning of one of the key state institutions  the Constitutional Court of Ukraine  also depends on it.

Assessment is not a verdict

The competitive assessment by the Advisory Group of Experts is quite uncompromising and accompanied unprecedented transparency, if compared with the previous procedures for the selection of CCU judges.

Considering the importance of this reform, the requirements are strict, in particular, regarding the integrity and legality of the sources of origin of the property.

The same high requirements regarding the assessment of the candidates' competence  the tasks on constitutional issues are difficult and the candidates will also perform them with live broadcasting under the close attention of the AGE and the public.

Such demandingness is dictated by the fact that at stake are positions on which, without exaggeration, depends the future fate and reputation of Ukraine, which is fighting for its survival in the war with russia. After all, an open, transparent and fair competition is a guarantee of admission of truly independent and professional judges to the CCU. And it is also one of the necessary steps on the way to the European integration of Ukraine.

Therefore, the AGE understands that such a serious competition became a real challenge for absolutely all candidates and not all of them managed to cope with it. It is obvious that this happened for various reasons - objective and subjective. Some of the candidates simply did not manage to dispel doubts, and some doubts are practically impossible to dispel.

In any case, the conclusion of the AGE "non-compliant" is not a verdict or a life-stamp, and the legislation and competitive procedures allow you to try again.

In view of the results of the stage of assessing the moral qualities of candidates in the competition for the quota of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine, it is expected that the competition for another one vacant position will soon be announced.

At the same time, the AGE appeals to Ukrainian professional lawyers  submit documents to participate in competition for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, be honest and open to society, and perhaps you will become the next judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

And finally, we turn to the public  follow the activities of the Advisory Group of Experts, because a successful reform needs your attention and participation!

Advisory Group of Experts
Mike and Helen spent 50,000 on their yacht, all of their life saving, in the hope of travelling the world - PA REAL LIFE/PA

A retired British couple is stranded in the Bahamas after the yacht they spent their life savings on was hit by lightning.

Mike and Helen Beech were moored off a small island near George Town when a lightning bolt hit the mast of their 50,000 boat with an almighty bang at 6.30pm on March 23 during an electrical storm.

The strike destroyed all of its electrical equipment, which will cost 36,000 to repair and must be fixed by the start of hurricane season in June.

The pensioners insurance is expected to cover the majority of the bill but will leave them to pay 6,000 out of their own pockets, which they say they cannot afford.

The yacht could even be written off completely, which would ruin the Suffolk couples dream to sail around the world and visit their son Charlie, 29, in New Zealand.

Mike Beech, a retired truck driver, was grateful to be alive and not on deck during the storm - PA REAL LIFE

The couple had used their life savings along with a large part of Helen Beech's NHS midwife pension - PA REAL LIFE

Mr Beech, a 63-year-old retired truck driver, said: Its really scary at the moment because all the other boats are racing back to the US to get out of the hurricane and tropical storm belt and were stuck here.

I have never seen an electrical storm like it but were alive because Im not sure what would have happened if we had been on deck.

The Beeches bought Mistral Dancer, their 38ft yacht, from Hamble-le-Rice in Hampshire for about 50,000 in July 2018.

They crossed the Atlantic in 2022 and have spent the last year island-hopping in the Caribbean.

But disaster struck in March when they were cooking dinner while moored off the small Bahamian island of Crab Cay, which they were preparing to leave to set sail for Colombia via Jamaica.

The bolt was captured on camera by other sailors who were more than 1,000 ft away.

The lightning strike destroyed all of the electrics in the couple's yacht - PA REAL LIFE/PA

At first I thought someone had crashed into the side of us or something, Mr Beech said. With it was this massive flash of white and blue light that just lit the inside of the boat up.

It was like a flashbulb but 100 times brighter and with blue light added to it. Obviously, its over and done with by the time you hear it. Theres no time to panic.

The GPS system, autopilot, depth sounder, speed log, and close-hauled gauge have all been destroyed, as well as the alternator and electrical relays.

The bill from the surveyor is horrendous, Mr Beech said. He reckons its about 20,000 dollars (15,900) in parts and about 25,000 dollars to fly somebody out here with the relevant knowledge.

I had no idea that it would be so expensive. Thats almost what we paid for the boat, which was all our savings and a chunk of Helens [NHS midwife] pension.

A GoFundMe raising money for their insurance excess and additional costs of renewing their Bahamas visas and cruising permit received 2,500 on Thursday night.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Russian companies are facing difficulties in repairing oil refineries due to Western sanctions, and Ukrainian drone attacks could worsen the problem, Reuters reported on April 4, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry. A total of 12 Russian oil refineries were reportedly successfully hit in multiple regions deep inside Russian territory as of March 17.

There was only one company that knew how to repair the gasoline-producing unit at Lukoil PJSC's NORSI plant in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, which was attacked on March 12. It was an American multinational oil engineering company UOP that withdrew from Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, five sources told Reuters.

After engineers were unable to find spare parts for repairs, "the whole unit just stopped," according to Reuters's sources.

The unit, which is used to convert heavier hydrocarbons into gasoline, has been out of service since January, and it is unclear when it can be repaired due to a lack of expertise in Russia, Reuters reported.

The fourth-biggest Russian refinery, NORSI, reduced gasoline production by 40% as a result, two sources told Reuters.

Read also: Ukrainian drones hit one Russian oil refinery after another

The difficulties have been compounded by Ukrainian drone attacks, which hit at least 12 Russian oil refineries this year, according to the news agency's industry sources. Reuters estimated that these attacks forced Russian refineries to shut in about 14% of their capacity in the first quarter.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak claimed that the damaged facilities should resume operations within a month or two as Russian firms work to produce the necessary spare components.

The Financial Times reported in March that the U.S. warned Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, allegedly out of concern that strikes could raise global oil prices. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 2 that Washington has "neither supported nor enabled strikes by Ukraine outside of its territory."

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that targeting Russian oil and weapons facilities is a legitimate military strategy and that Ukraine has a right to use its own weapons for self-defense.

Read also: How Ukraine hit a Russian drone factory 1,300 kilometers away

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  After a Grossmont College student was found dead on a sidewalk in 2019, San Diego County Crime Stoppers and the San Diego Police Department are still seeking the publics help.

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a reward of $50,000 in the case of 22-year-old Gregory Ruffin, who was fatally shot near an apartment complex in San Diego on Feb. 24, 2019.

Newsom offering $50K rewards for two unsolved San Diego deaths

Crime Stoppers and the mans family have now offered an additional $5,000 for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case, according to a release Wednesday, raising the total reward to $55,000.

According to previous reports, authorities said officers found Ruffin Jr. lying on the sidewalk in the 300 block of 47th Street in San Diego around 11:11 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2019. Efforts to save his life were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The San Diego Police Departments Media Services Unit previously made a video about the case, which can be viewed on YouTube.

Gov. Newsom is also offering a $50,000 reward in the case of Lamontee Stevenson, a 19-year-old U.S. Navy sailor who was fatally shot at a party in San Diego in August 2019, as well as two other unsolved cases in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
MUNCIE, Ind.  More than half a century ago, 56 years to be exact, Muncie and Indianapolis became minor venues in America's history of tragedy during 1968.

Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel Kennedy, prepare for an appearance at Irving Gym, (then called the Men's Gym) on the campus of Ball State University, April 4, 1968. Hours later Kennedy would learn of the slaying of Martin Luther King Jr. and deliver a more famous speech from the back of a truck in an inner city neighborhood in Indianapolis.

On April 4 of that year, while U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., was campaigning for president in Muncie, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot as he stood on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. The civil rights leader's killing came as he was preparing for a march on Washington on behalf of the poor. King had been called to Memphis to support of a sanitation workers strike there.

Events careened swiftly that year.

Just four days earlier, on March 31, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced a unilateral reduction in bombing of North Vietnam, made a call for peace talks and declared that he would no longer seek re-election, opening up the race for the Democratic nomination.

That came just 19 days after the New Hampshire primary results showed Johnson nearly losing to U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy, D Minn. McCarthy, an opponent protesting LBJ's policies in Vietnam, pulled 42% of the primary vote while the incumbent president's escaped with 48%. That Johnson did so poorly was a shock.

Four days later, on March 16, Kennedy jumped into the race for the nomination.

McCarthy had already appeared at Ball State in October of 1967 and returned to campaign later in April, on the 24th. That was followed up by a visit by actor Paul Newman, who spoke to a crowd at Northwest Plaza shopping center before going on the the BSU campus on McCarthy's behalf. But the crowd for Kennedy on April 4 was a massive one.

E. Bruce Geelhoed, chairman of the Department of History at Ball State, has studied Kennedy's visit and said that McCarthy never drew a crowd like Kennedy did. That morning Kennedy campaigned in South Bend at Notre Dame University before flying to Muncie.

Historian Ray Boomhower, author of "Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary," said 12,000 people packed into the gymnasium on the afternoon of April 4, sitting on the floor, filling the seats, and rimming the gym on concourse above. Campaign aides had chose the gym, not knowing for sure how big the crowd might be, but knowing there were curtains that could be drawn and could hide any empty seats. But that was not a problem.

Geelhoed said he still shows students photos of Kennedy standing at the podium with crowds of people standing behind the candidate.

"They would never do that today," he said. "Nobody checked bags. There wasn't a policeman in site."

In Muncie at that time, he was safe, Geelhoed said.

Local attorney Marshall Hanley introduced the senator and Mrs. Kennedy. Hanley had helped organize the visit and drove the candidate.

Kennedy's speech was aimed to inspire.

"We must examine how we can help the millions of our fellow citizens who lead lives of hopelessness and poverty," Kennedy told the crowd. "As Sophocles said, '... (W)hat joy is there in day that follows day with death the only goal,?'"

The war in Vietnam and foreign policy was a major point of the speech. Kennedy was a top advisor and attorney general for his brother, President John F. Kennedy, from 1961 to 1963.

"As I have said before, I was involved in mistakes  the mistakes made during the administration of President Kennedy  undoubtedly mistakes were made regarding Vietnam, for which I was intimately involved. But what I hope is that we look to the past, ... and we see where we erred and where we've done right, and we benefit by the mistakes that we have made."

Geelhoed said that the speech RFK gave at Ball State was considered by many to be is his best of the campaign, according to the book, "The Last Campaign," by Thurston Clarke, about his 82-day run for the presidency.

Racial divisions were part of Kennedy's speech and part of the question-and-answer period afterward.

"... You're placing a great deal of faith in white America," a questioner from high up in the audience asked. "My question: Is this faith justified?"

"Yes ... obviously it's faith in white America. I'm also placing faith in Black America," RFK said in response to the question. "Let me just say ... I gather, although there's a shadow up the, that you are a different color than me. Let me just say, I think there are Black people and there are Black extremists, who do not like white people.

"And I think they are teaching violence and lawlessness and disorder and say that there is no future under our government or under our society. I think that they are to be condemned, and I think that they are performing a disservice for their own people.

"I think there are white people who say they are concerned about Black people and that the Black people are inferior, and therefore, they don't want to treat them ... equally. I think that is a small minority of the white people, and I think the vast majority of American people want to do the decent and the right thing here within our country."

The story goes, according to Geelhoed and Boomhower, that Kennedy climbed into the car taking him to back to the Delaware County Airport, then called Johnson Field. Kennedy was heading to a rally and the official opening of his campaign headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. But his driver, Hanley, told the senator that he heard on the radio that Martin Luther King had been shot in Memphis and was wounded.

Other people in the crowd at the airport reportedly shouted to the candidate that MLK had been shot.

The itinerary for the night changed in reaction to events, according to Boomhower. Perhaps in the air or upon landing in Indianapolis, Kennedy learned King had died. The event at the headquarters was canceled but the senator's staff had learned that a crowd had gathered outdoors at the Broadway Christian Center, at 17th Street and Broadway on the near northside, where an outdoor rally had been planned.

Long before cell phones kept the average American constantly plugged into the world and events, most of the people standing in the cold waiting to hear Bobby Kennedy did not know the awful news, the historian said. But elsewhere reports of rioting in city's across the nation were beginning.

It was probably about 8 p.m. or so on April 4, when Kennedy, standing on a truck bed, somberly spoke to the crowd and began what has come to be known as one of the finest extemporaneous speeches in American history, a deeply personal eulogy for Dr. King and concern for the country.

"I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight," he began.

The mostly African American crowd exhaled a deflating groan.

"Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort," Kennedy said.

According to Boomhower, one of Kennedy's speechwriters at the campaign headquarters tried to write some comments and get them to the senator. Perhaps it was good fortune that he failed.

"In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black  considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible  you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization  black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.

"Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love."

Boomhower said Kennedy had scribbled some notes but had not prepared a text. He spoke own his own pain.

"For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.

"My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: 'In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.'"

The assembled at Broadway and 17th Street stood as quiet and listened as Kennedy continued.

"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.

"So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that's true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love  a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke."

Forty people would die in riots across the country following the assassination of Dr. King but violence did not come to Indianapolis, where voters had just elected a young mayor named Richard Lugar to a first term. Kennedy was later credited for preventing a potential riot in the city after many in the city feared what might happen if he spoke.

"Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people," Kennedy concluded.

RFK won the I1968 ndiana Primary Election.

He lost in Oregon primary to McCarthy.

Meanwhile, Vice President Hubert Humphrey got into the race, picking up Johnson's support and attracting slates of delegates but entering too late to compete in the primaries.

Kennedy won the California primary ahead of of the Democratic Convention in Chicago. He was shot after delivering his victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He died on June 6, 1968, about eight weeks after King died.

The city of Indianapolis now operates the Kennedy-KIng Park at 1701 Broadway St.

David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. He can be contacted at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Between Muncie and Indy churchyard, RFK reflects on King, his brother
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a reputation for promoting pseudoscience. But in a recently surfaced interview, Kennedy makes one of his wildest claims yet: that the rise in mass shootings over the past 20 years is due to antidepressants and video games.

During a January interview with Turkish state-owned TRT World, Kennedy claimed that in the past 20 years in the United States, theres been no per capita increase in the number of guns we have in this country.

He argued that other causes needed to be studied, such as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), commonly used as antidepressants, and video games. Kennedy also claimed that the National Institutes of Health hasnt been allowed to study the cause of gun violence in America since 1996.

Wow.@RobertKennedyJr suggested the mass shooting problem in America isn't from guns, but from anti-depressants and video games pic.twitter.com/CjHAF3Hf87  Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) April 3, 2024

Kennedys information on the number of guns in America isnt true. In the past 20 years, gun manufacturing and imports have sharply increased, matching the rise in gun deaths. As far as the NIH being allowed to study the cause of gun violence, it appears that Kennedys information is out of date.



In 1996, Congress did pass the Dickey Amendment, which prohibited using any federal funding to advocate or promote gun control. The law effectively banned research on gun violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in 2011, Congress amended the law to also include the NIH. But in 2019, Congress approved $25 million in funding specifically for the NIH and the CDC to research gun violence, and clarified that the Dickey Amendment didnt specifically ban gun research.

Results from newer, federally funded studies are starting to come back. Last year, Stanford researchers looked at medical studies for connections between video games and gun violence and found that video games do not cause violence, can substantially lower stigma and barriers to access, and hold the potential to inject wellness into our everyday lives.

Kennedys views on vaccines and medicine are alarming beyond his stances on guns. Hes claimed that polluted water is making children transgender, that China and the U.S. are developing ethnic bioweapons designed to target certain races, and that WiFi causes cancer, and he has compared mask mandates to Nazi experiments. His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, has similarly disturbing views.
Road rage chase ends in crash, killing newlywed on way to pick up wife, Texas cops say

A 22-year-old man was on the way to pick up his wife when he became the victim of a fatal road rage incident he wasnt involved in, Texas police and the mans family say.

Roberto Carlos Rios Rodriguez was behind the wheel of his SUV when a pickup truck crashed into him head-on, at about 6:10 p.m. March 26, the San Juan Police Department told KVEO.

When officers arrived at the scene, police say Rodriguez was already dead, and the man who hit him was taken to a hospital for treatment, KRGV reported.

I am dead inside, they killed my son, Rodriguez mother, Maribel Rodriguez, told the station during a memorial for her son. It is the biggest pain you can feel. I dont wish it upon anyone.

Rodriguez had been married to his wife Alondra Castillo for just four months, she told the outlet. He was on his way to pick her up from work when it happened, when their plans of starting a family, of living their lives together, were suddenly ended.

I cant sleep, I feel like Robert is talking to me, she told the station I hear his voice in my head all the time.

While investigators initially thought the truck may have been racing someone when it lost control, they later discovered it was road rage that led to the deadly collision, KVEO reported.

Two days after the crash, officers arrested Roberto Victor Sotullo, the driver of a third vehicle that hadnt been at the scene, police told the station.

Sotullo told investigators that he had been fleeing from a white Chevrolet Silverado, at speeds of 109-mph, when the truck chasing him crashed into an SUV, the outlet reported. He said he felt relieved at the sight of the wreck, then drove home, according to police.

He told police he was aware someone had died in the crash, the station reported.

Sotullo was jailed on March 29 on charges including collision involving death, evading arrest and criminal trespass, records show. His bond is set at $286,000.

Officials did not say what caused the road rage incident.

San Juan is a roughly 240-mile drive south from San Antonio.

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UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and humanitarian partners in Madagascar are supporting the government response to Tropical Cyclone Gamane, which has prompted national authorities to declare a state of emergency, said a UN spokesman on Thursday.

The tropical cyclone, which made landfall on March 27 in the Sava Region in the northeast of the country, has left 19 people dead, three others injured, and some 22,000 people displaced, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, quoting government figures.

More than 530,000 people have been affected, and humanitarian partners are looking to reach 165,000 people out of nearly 230,000 people who need assistance, he said.

The humanitarian community in Madagascar is warning that emergency relief stocks in the affected areas are alarmingly low, having been used during the Alvaro storm in January and the flood response in February, said the spokesman.

Humanitarian partners are calling for additional resources to support relief efforts and to help aid workers reach affected areas via air or sea transport, as roads and bridges have been damaged by the cyclone.

The UN flash appeal for Madagascar, which requires 90 million U.S. dollars this year, is under 20 percent funded, said the spokesman. 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  A semi-truck packed full of milk arrived on Thursday morning at the Roadrunner Food Bank, all courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church donated nearly 4,500 gallons of milk to the non-profit with two more 4,000-gallon deliveries planned in August and December.

New Mexico BioPark Society is gearing up for the 37th Annual Run for the Zoo

This milk has about a two-week shelf life. They have the distribution network, they can get it out to the families so quickly and so were so excited that we can leverage our strengths and come together and do some major good for the families in Albuquerque, said Jason Harper, Communications Director of The Albuquerque-area Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

For those in need of assistance, especially milk, people can call 505-247-2052. For more information on Roadrunner Food Bank, click this link.

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 aggravated robbery suspect who shot himself during a Friday standoff with Colleyville police died over the weekend, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.

Aaron Benjamin Randle, 36, died Saturday afternoon of a gunshot wound to the head and the medical examiner ruled his death a suicide, according to the autopsy.

Dallas police had been pursuing Randle  who was a suspect in an aggravated robbery  on Friday morning. He led authorities into Bedford and finally Colleyville, where police tried to initiate a traffic stop, but Randle did not yield.

He continued to flee from officers into Brentwood Court in Colleyville before getting out of his vehicle, according to police. He had a pistol in his hand, but he was not pointing it or discharging it at anyone, police said.

Authorities contained Randle in a perimeter. After almost three hours of negotiations, authorities deployed a non-lethal distraction method to attempt to resolve the situation, but the suspect grabbed his gun off the hood of his vehicle and shot himself, according to police.

Colleyville paramedics were staged nearby and immediately rendered aid, police said. Randle was transported in critical condition to a local hospital, where he died.
Rogersville students, staff proud of National Teacher of the Year

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL)  Colleagues and students of Rogersville teacher Missy Testerman knew she had made finalist for National Teacher of the Year, but Testerman had to keep it a secret that she had won as she traveled to New York City for the announcement Wednesday morning.

Students and staff gathered in the gymnasium to hear the announcement.

One of Testermans former students, Clara Elkins, could feel the anticipation in the room for the announcement.

I had that feeling that she was going to win, Elkins said. I knew it.

And then the moment came when CBS Mornings announced Testerman as 2024s National Teacher of the Year.

The room just erupted, said STEM and instructional technology teacher Jennifer Ewing.

Most of the teachers were crying, Elkins said.

They were all just cheering and excited, Ewing said.

After the announcement, Testerman received tons of texts of congratulations. She said shes incredibly honored by the experience.

Theres so many dedicated, passionate teachers in my own school, much less across the state of Tennessee, and across this entire country, said Testerman. So, to have been chosen to be the teacher that gets to advocate for all of those teachers and students for the next year is amazing.

Fridays After 5 to return to Johnson City on May 17

Testerman teaches English as a second language (ESL) at Rogersville City School.

For her colleagues and students like fourth-grade social studies teacher Renee Trent, Testerman was the best fit.

There is no one more deserving of this than her, Trent said. Theres no one that truly loves children like she does and wants to see them in this school and this community be the best that they can be, and is willing to go to whatever length to make that happen.

Trent has worked with Testerman at Rogersville City School for over 30 years and has known her since high school. Trent said describing Testerman as having a passion for teaching is an understatement. She has asked Testerman to help her with teaching the importance of the Civil War to a non-speaking person, and Testerman returns ideas ready and eager to work with her on them.

Ewing said Testerman is what got her interested in education. Testerman taught her son and said Testerman has been teacher of the year at her house for a long time.

Just the way that [Testerman] taught was a different take on what I had seen teachers do before, Ewing said. I think, just in general, that shes an inspiring person, just her approach to teaching. But, also, the way she does everything in her life.

Bobby Harshbarger, son of Rep. Diana Harshbarger, to challenge state Sen. Jon Lundberg

Director of Schools Edwin Jarnagin said this process has been a whirlwind, and the school couldnt be more proud.

Its been exciting for us, Jarnagin said. Its Rogersville City School, one school in the school system, and shes been a vital part of it.

It is in our little speck of a city in the hills of East Tennessee, and it is a big honor, Trent said. We are so proud for her. Were so proud for our community to get this recognition.

As the newly named National Teacher of the Year, Testerman will now take a year off teaching to travel across the country as an advocate for students and issues in the teaching profession. People in this position have spoken at more than 150 events.

I want to empower teachers to use their voice, Testerman said. They are the experts in our classroom. They know what our students need. They know what our challenges are.

Jarnagin said the school plans to hold a celebration dinner to honor Testerman when she returns home.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN)  The Round Rock Fire Department is investigating the cause of a structure fire that happened at a high school in Round Rock on Wednesday.

Around 5:27 p.m., RRFD responded to Stony Point High School, 1801 Tiger Trail, for a report of a portable that was fully engulfed, the agency said on social media.

A total of 11 units responded to the scene, as at least four other portables were also at risk. However, crews were able to successfully contain the fire, according to RRFD.

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy Round Rock Fire Department

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy Round Rock Fire Department

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy Round Rock Fire Department

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy Round Rock Fire Department

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy Round Rock Fire Department

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy Round Rock Fire Department

The Round Rock Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Stony Point High School on Wednesday | Courtesy KXAN viewer photo

No one was in the building at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported, the agency said.

The fire remained under investigation Wednesday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Republican strategist Karl Rove urged Democrats to go hard at former President Trumps rhetoric surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, calling the former presidents pledge to free imprisoned rioters a critical mistake.

If they were smart, theyd take the Jan. 6 and go hard at it. And they would say, He wants to pardon these people who attacked our Capitol,' Rove said told MSNBCs Ari Melber.

One of the critical mistakes made in this campaign is that Donald Trump has now said, Im going to pardon those people because theyre hostages,' Rove said in the interview, which aired Wednesday. No, theyre not. Theyre thugs.

Trump said last month that his first act if elected to the White House would be to free the imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters, whom he called hostages. The former president has expressed sympathy for those charged in connection with the insurrection on numerous occasions and spoke last year at a fundraiser organized for Jan 6. defendants.

Why Trump has done this is beyond me, Rove said, criticizing Trump for appearing in videos with those who assaulted police during the riots.

More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, when swaths of rioters stormed the Capitol to stop Congresss certification of the 2020 election results.

Rove  the ex-White House deputy chief of staff for former President George W. Bush  ripped into the rioters actions, telling Melber, What those people did when they violently attacked the Capitol in order to stop a constitutionally mandated meeting of the Congress to accept the results of the Electoral College is a stain on our history.

And every one of those sons of bitches who did that, we ought to find them, try them and send them to jail, he added.

The strategist explained that while he is Republican and doesnt want a Democrat in the White House, he cannot condone the former presidents actions.

Were facing as a country, a decision  and you know, everybody gets to make it  as to what kind of leadership were going to have, Rove said. And to me, it is a mistake on the part of the Trump campaign to allow the presidents impulses to identify himself with the people who assaulted the Capitol rather than people who stand for law and order.

Trump is currently facing federal and state criminal charges in Washington, D.C., and Georgia over his alleged efforts to overturn the election results after losing to President Biden in 2020.

The Hill reached out to Trumps campaign for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  The Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas cruise ship carried around 2,200 passengers as it sailed into the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center in Norfolk Thursday morning, and it had another 2,200 passengers when it departed just after 5 p.m.

The ship arrived just before 5 a.m.

Photo courtesy: Kamaria Braye

Photo courtesy: Kamaria Braye

Photo courtesy: Kamaria Braye

Photo courtesy: Kamaria Braye

Drone 10 photos

Drone 10 photos

The estimated time of arrival was between 4 and 5 a.m. The cruise provided buses from the Norfolk cruise terminal to Baltimore, Maryland. Passengers boarded buses between 7 and 11 a.m.

This was in response to the cruise being diverted to Norfolk, following the Baltimore Bridge collapse. The Port of Baltimore is closed to large boats.

The city of Norfolk warned that downtown would be congested in the morning.

Cheryl Murray, who lives in Suffolk, told 10 On Your Side her daughter and son-in-law were on the cruise that arrived Thursday morning. She said she had been planning to meet them at the terminal for a short period until they board the bus back to Baltimore. She said she hasnt seen her daughter since January.

Murray got to the terminal around 5:30 a.m. Thursday to see her family.

Its freezing cold out here, but its well worth it to see my babies again, Murray said.

She was hoping to get at least a couple hours with her daughter and son-in-law since the ship might take a while to get luggage off the cruise and onto the bus, Murray said. Although the family is excited to reunite, they are upset it came as a result of a bridge collapse.

She was worried about the people getting hurt, Murray said.  Its really terrible thing.

Courtesy: Cheryl Murray

Courtesy: Cheryl Murray

Courtesy: Cheryl Murray

Murray shared photos with WAVY of her daughters cruise experience. She said it was a 12-day cruise that went to Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis Island.

The city of Norfolk issued a traffic advisory about the Royal Caribbeans arrival. There was no on-street parking along southbound Boush Street, from Tazewell Street to Main Street Thursday during the morning and afternoon rush hour. The same ship had passengers arrive Thursday to embark in the afternoon. These passengers parked at MacArthur Center as they used shuttles to take them to the terminal Thursday afternoon.

Nauticus told 10 On Your Side that 2,200 passengers boarded Vision of the Seas. The ship left just after 5 p.m. The Vision-class cruise ship will dock in Orlando Saturday and then travel to three different Caribbean locations. Vision of the Seas is set to dock back in Norfolk at 7 a.m. April 12.

The Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas Cruise ship carried another 2,200 passengers when it departed from Norfolk just after 5 p.m. Thursday (WAVY Photo  Lauryn Moss).

Sean Slater said hes excited to relax in the sun. He traveled from Scotland and made a whole trip out of the cruise.

We had a whole holiday booked  New York, Washington, changed to Baltimore, pack up the ship, go on a cruise, he said.

He later learned that the cruise ship wouldnt dock in Baltimore anymore.

We had to panic at the last minute, Slater said. We saw the news of Iceland. Even in the UK, we heard from Royal Caribbean and we got the notification through.

Slater worked with a travel agent to get a car to drive them to Norfolk and back.

It is what it is, he said. I mean, its nobodys fault. Its not an easy thing to happen. I think Royal Caribbean have done what you could, and, hey, were going on holiday, and thats all we care about.

For Karen Reuter, the chaos put a damper on the vacation.

Was she excited?

Not now, Reuter said. Im really angry.

Reuter and her husband traveled an additional 250 miles from the Keystone State to get aboard the ship. They had to add parking fees to the list of expenses.

We were going to leave our car in Baltimore where our sons were and park on the street for no charge, Reuter said.

Her husband said the check-in process was difficult and they had to lug their bags onto the ship themselves.

It was confusing, he said.

Carnival Cruise Line is also temporarily moving its Baltimore operations to Norfolk as cleanup continues at the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Carnival Legend cruise ship docks in Norfolk

The Carnival Legend docked in Norfolk Sunday, March 31 with 2,600 passengers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on April 4 that its forces downed three Ukrainian drones over Belgorod Oblast and two more over Tula Oblast.

The ministry and regional authorities did not provide any information on the consequences of the alleged strikes at the moment of the publication.

Russian authorities regularly report on purported drone strikes launched from Ukrainian territory. The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.

Ukraine has recently launched a series of drone strikes targeting Russian oil refineries in an effort to disrupt production. On April 2, Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) attacked a drone production facility and a refinery in the cities of Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk in Russia's Tatarstan, some 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The same day as Moscow reported drone attacks against Tula and Belgorod oblasts, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with drones, killing four people and injuring 12, local authorities said.

Read also: How Ukraine hit a Russian drone factory 1,300 kilometers away

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Drones attacked Russia's Kursk region during the late hours of April 4, allegedly setting fire to civilian infrastructure, Roman Starovoyt, the regional governor, announced via Telegram.

As a result of drone debris, the buildings of a recreational children's center and a local market, as well as three residential buildings, were damaged, Starovoyt claimed.

No civilian casualties have been reported.

Starovoyt blamed the attack on Ukraine. Kyiv doesn't usually comment on strikes on Russian soil.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, one drone was neutralized by electronic warfare, and at least seven Ukrainian drones were shot down over the region.

The Kyiv Independent could not immediately verify the claims.

In recent months, Russian authorities began reporting an increasing number of drone strikes targeting Belgorod, Bryansk, Oryol, and Leningrad oblasts, as well as other regions.

Russian forces, at the same time, continue targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure with drones and missiles, killing and injuring civilians on a regular basis.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia launched over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Shahed drones, and 3,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in March, causing severe damage to the civilian and energy infrastructure.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russian double-tap attack on Kharkiv kills 4, including first responders

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has detained three more people suspected of involvement in last month's mass shooting at a concert hall near Moscow, the FSB security service was quoted as saying on Thursday.

A Russian citizen and two foreign citizens, all originally from Central Asia, were detained in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Omsk, Interfax quoted an FSB statement as saying.

At least 144 people were killed in the March 22 attack on the Crocus City Hall, the deadliest in Russia for 20 years.

Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility but Russia has said, without providing evidence, that it believes Ukraine was behind the massacre.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia "cannot be the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists" because it was a unique example of inter-faith harmony.

Putin did not mention Ukraine in his latest comments but he has previously said that Kyiv stood to gain from the attack and that the four suspected gunmen were heading for the Ukrainian border - where he said someone had prepared a "window" for them to cross over - at the time of their arrest in western Russia.

Ukraine has denied involvement and the United States, which had passed on an intelligence warning to Moscow about an impending attack by Islamist militants, has said Moscow's attempt to blame Kyiv is propaganda and nonsense.

Ten suspects, mostly from the Central Asian state of Tajikistan, have so far been formally placed in pre-trial custody.

According to the FSB, two of the three latest detainees transferred money for the purchase of firearms and vehicles used in the attack. It said the third was directly involved in recruiting accomplices and financing the perpetrators.

State media published an FSB video showing the three arrests, in which the suspects were seized on the street and bundled into unmarked vans.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan)
Russia increases number of attacks on Novopavlivka front but to no avail  UK intelligence

UK intelligence said that Russia has increased the number of attacks on the Novopavlivka front, but to no avail.

Source: UK Ministry of Defence on 4 April

Details: UK intelligence noted that the number of Russian attacks southwest of Donetsk (Novopavlivka front) increased from 721 in February to 806 in March, which is 38% of all attacks along the entire line of contact.

"Despite this effort, Russia did not make any notable gains in this area, and continues to contest small settlements including Novomykhailivka, Heorhiivka and Urozhaine," UK MoD said.

At the same time, UK intelligence noted that in March 2024, the number of Russian attacks along the entire front line decreased by 9% compared to February 2024  from about 2,340 to 2,120.

They stressed that the number of Russian attacks on the Avdiivka front accounted for a third of all attacks in February, when the city came under the control of the occupation forces, but dropped to a quarter in March.

Background:

Earlier, UK intelligence reported on Russia's unsuccessful attempts to disguise its military facilities to prevent Ukraine from destroying them.

Before that, they analysed how sanctions disrupted the supply of key components for the Russian defence industry.

The UK MoD also said that Russia was trying to protect its facilities in the port of Novorossiysk from attacks by Ukraine.

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MOSCOW, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Governor of Russia's Murmansk region Andrei Chibis was stabbed in the stomach after a meeting in the town of Apatity on Thursday, local media reported.

Chibis was hospitalized and the attacker was detained, the TASS news agency reported.

"This evening in the city of Apatity, there was an armed attack on the head of the region. After a meeting with citizens, at the exit from the building of the Stroitel cultural center, Andrei Chibis was stabbed in the stomach and was hospitalized in the Apatity-Kirov hospital," the report said, quoting the press service of the head of the region.

Chibis, who was currently in the operating room, managed to get to the car on his own after the attack, according to the report. 
Firefighter's vehicle is seen on fire after Russian drone strikes on residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/George Ivanchenko)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces fired drones at two apartment buildings and a power plant in Ukraines second-largest city, killing four people, local authorities said Thursday, as the Kremlins forces apparently set in motion their strategy for the coming months of war by escalating the bombardment of civilian areas.

Shahed drones smashed into two apartment buildings in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, which has frequently been targeted during more than two years of war. Other drones targeted the power grid.

The Kremlins forces in recent months have stepped up their aerial barrages of Ukraine, hitting urban areas. The approximately 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line is largely deadlocked, but Kyiv officials say Moscow's troops have recently been probing for Ukrainian weaknesses on the front line ahead of an expected large-scale Russian offensive in the summer.

An Associated Press video of the Kharkiv attack shows firefighters battling blazing houses in the dark when the roar of an approaching second drone grows louder. The drone explodes nearby, sending up an orange fireball, and rescue workers with flashlights dash to help their injured colleagues lying on the ground amid embers and debris.

Where are ambulances? shouts one first responder as they carry away the injured on fire blankets.

The Russian strikes hit a multistory building in Kharkiv twice in quick succession, killing three first responders, local authorities said. Six people were wounded at that location. Another 14-story building was hit by a drone, killing a 69-year-old woman.

Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russia of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles  the first one to draw crews to the scene and the second one to wound or kill them. The tactic is called a double tap in military jargon. Russians used the same method in Syrias civil war.

The Institute for the Study of War said the goal of Russias escalated attacks on civilian areas and the countrys power grid may be to compel Ukraines army to deploy air defense systems away from the front line. That would allow Russia to provide more air cover for its ground operations on the battlefield, the think tank said late Wednesday.

Russian forces apparently have increased the scale of their mechanized ground assaults in parts of the front line in recent weeks, it added, apparently seeking gains while Ukrainian forces are kept waiting for the arrival of vital new military supplies from their Western partners.

With the support of China, Russia has built its forces back up close to full strength, according to a senior U.S. official.

We have assessed over the course of the last couple of months that Russia has almost completely reconstituted militarily, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the strikes that killed first responders in Kharkiv a despicable and cynical attack and renewed his plea for more air defense systems from the West.

Strengthening Ukraines air defense capabilities directly translates into saving lives, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Other first responders have also been victims of the fighting. The World Health Organization said Thursday that ambulance workers and other health transport staff face a high risk of injury or death.

Many emergency teams come under fire either on the way to a call or at their bases, WHO said in a report.

This is a horrifying pattern, Dr. Emanuele Bruni, WHOs incident manager in Ukraine, was quoted as saying in the report. These attacks threaten their safety and further devastate communities that have been living under constant shelling for more than two years.

Ukrainian soldiers shot down 11 of the 20 drones Russia launched against Ukraine during the night, the General Staff said.

Russia also attacked energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions over the past day, wounding two people, the Ministry of Energy said Thursday.

Some 700,000 people in Kharkiv lost power last week after a massive missile attack hit the citys thermal power plant. Repairs are ongoing.

Each manifestation of Russian terror once again proves that the country-terrorist deserves only one thing  a tribunal, Ukraines human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, said on Telegram in response to the attack.

___

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Russia says dialogue with NATO at 'zero' but it doesn't seek open conflict

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia-NATO relations are worsening but Moscow has no intention of entering a conflict with a NATO country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview published on Thursday.

In comments to mark NATO's 75th anniversary, Grushko told Russian state news agency RIA that relations were "predictably and deliberately" deteriorating, and all channels of dialogue between Moscow and the alliance had been brought to a "critical zero" level by Washington and Brussels.

"Is the military bloc ready for an open conflict with Russia? You need to ask the NATO members themselves. In any case, we have no such intentions regarding the member countries of the alliance," Grushko said.

President Vladimir Putin launched what he called his "special military operation" in Ukraine in 2022 with the stated aim of preventing NATO from expanding its footprint close to Russia. But the war has served to galvanise the alliance, which has expanded to 32 members by admitting Finland and Sweden.

NATO says it is helping Ukraine fight for its survival in the face of Russian aggression, and has provided Kyiv with advanced weapons, training and intelligence.

Russia says that makes NATO de facto a party to the conflict. Putin said in February that a direct conflict between Russia and NATO would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Emmanuel Macron has spoken of his concerns that Russia will target the Paris Olympics - Gonzalo Fuentes/AFP

Russia will seek to disrupt the Paris Olympics, President Macron warned on Thursday, as Nato foreign ministers clashed over how to confront the Kremlin.

The French president disclosed details of a bizarre and threatening phone call between Russias defence minister and his Parisian counterpart, in which Sergei Shoigu suggested France was involved in the recent terror attack on a Moscow concert hall.

Asked whether he was concerned that Russia may target the Paris Games this summer, Mr Macron said: I have no doubt, including in the informational [news] space.

He added: [Russia] feeds every day into the idea that we shouldnt do this or that, that there is a risk and thats why we must stand firm. Strength of character, self-confidence and the relationship with the truth are the great strengths of democracies and great nations.

On Thursday, at a meeting in Brussels to celebrate Natos 75th anniversary, Western foreign ministers were locked in talks on how to tackle Russia as the Kremlin warned it was now in direct confrontation with the military alliance.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, ruled out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine, but The Telegraph understands that he was confronted behind closed doors by a Baltic colleague who accused him of losing his Churchillian spirit.

It came as a former head of MI6 said Britain may need to consider a system of selective conscription for military service, like the one adopted in Sweden.

The French defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu, held a one-hour phone call with his Russian counterpart Mr Shoigu on Wednesday night. According to his ministry, Mr Lecornu said France was ready to step up information exchanges to battle terrorism.

However, according to a read-out from the Russian defence ministry, Mr Shoigu told Mr Lecornu he hoped that the French secret services had not been involved in the recent attack on a concert hall in Moscow claimed by Islamic State group extremists.

The comments by the Russian side were bizarre and threatening, said Mr Macron, adding that any suggestions France might have been involved in the deadly attack were ridiculous.

France, he said, had been in contact with Russia as Paris had useful information to share on the origin and organisation of the attack that claimed the lives of at least 144 people.

I asked the directors of the services at the appropriate ministries to have technical discussions with their [Russian] counterparts to express a message of solidarity and because we had useful information  I am not going to reveal it here  on the origin and organisation of this attack, said Mr Macron.

Its ridiculous to say that France is behind it, that the Ukrainians are behind it. It makes no sense. It does not correspond to reality, its a manipulation of information which is part of Russias arsenal of war.

Officials including Mr Macron watch synchronised swimming during an event to inaugurate the Olympics aquatic centre near Paris - Gonzalo Fuentes/AFP

The phone talks were seen by some observers as a change of tack for Mr Macron, who has in recent months toughened his line against Russia, refusing to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine.

Defending his approach, the French president said: We will have joint work with all those affected by terrorism. And when we have information we have technical exchanges.

Mr Macrons comments came days after Frances national cybersecurity chief said the Paris Olympics would be a target this year including for foreign states interested in disrupting the opening ceremony or causing problems on public transport.

Russia has accused the International Olympic Committee of racism and neo-Nazism after Russian athletes were barred from the opening ceremony of the Paris Games which will begin on July 26.

There were a reported 450 million individual cyber attacks during the last edition of the Games in Tokyo, twice as many as during the 2012 London Olympics.

Russian military intelligence services were blamed by the US for releasing the so-called Olympic Destroyer malware shortly before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, from which Russian athletes were banned.

Last Sunday, Gerald Darmanin, Frances interior minister, confirmed that 800 people who did not have good intentions had been excluded from the Paris Olympics over security fears.

The list includes 15 deemed to represent the most serious threat to national security.

Have confidence

On Thursday, Mr Macron urged his compatriots to have confidence ahead of the first Games in the French capital in 100 years.

We need to have confidence in ourselves, he said, adding: Yes, there are risks, but there are risks in life and the best way to avoid risks is to do nothing. I dont think thats the mission of the French nation, or ever has been.

Up to the final second we will be determined, vigilant and at work. Well succeed and it will make the country proud, he promised.

Concern has centred on the spectacular opening ceremony being planned on the river Seine that will see athletes travel several kilometres on a flotilla of more than a hundred boats  rather than parade through the athletics stadium, as is customary.

Macron urged his compatriots to have 'confidence' ahead of the first Games in the French capital in 100 years - GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERS

Mr Macron insisted that the open-air extravaganza, with as many as 500,000 spectators watching from the banks and nearby buildings, remained the favoured scenario but contingency plans were being worked on.

Everything is a cause of vigilance and attention, nothing is a cause of worry or paralysis. That is my and our state of mind, he said.

In Brussels, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted Nato is not and will not be a party to the conflict in Ukraine, after the Kremlin claimed his plan to arm Kyiv meant the alliance was in direct confrontation with Russia.

We dont have any plans of having Nato combat troops inside Ukraine, there has been no request for that, Mr Stoltenberg told reporters at the end of the Brussels meeting.

Direct confrontation

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters: Relations have now slipped to the level of direct confrontation with the US-led alliance.

Nato was already involved in the conflict surrounding Ukraine (and) continues to move towards our borders and expand its military infrastructure towards our borders, he said.

Lord Cameron made the same point in an interview with the BBCs Ukrainecast. He said: I think that we dont want to give Putin a target like that, and Nato can do lots of things to better coordinate the help we give to Ukraine.

But fundamentally, for countries like Britain and all those supportive of Ukraine this is a question of political will. Do we have the patience? Do we have the will? Are we prepared to give the resources? Now in Britains case, definitely the answer is yes.

However, The Telegraph has learned that on the sidelines of the behind-closed-doors talks, Lord Cameron was accused of losing his Churchillian spirit by a Baltic colleague.

Estonia and Lithuania have both said they are happy to send their militaries to Ukraine, following Mr Macrons claims that Nato should not exclude deployment.

The meeting, which aimed to project Natos unity on its 75th anniversary, was riddled with disagreements over how best to support Ukraine.

The foreign ministers discussed a $100 billion fund to Trump-proof Natos military aid to Ukraine by shielding weapons deliveries against the winds of political change.

Donald Trump, who could be US president again by January, recently claimed he would not defend Nato member states who are not reaching the alliances defence spending target of 2 per cent if they are attacked by Russia.

The proposal put forward by Mr Stoltenberg would mark the first time the alliance assumes direct responsibility for the delivery of weapons, a process usually undertaken bilaterally with Kyiv and its allies.

Some member states argued this would be seen as a direct provocation in Moscow, with Hungarys foreign minister Peter Szijjarto claiming: This isnt Hungarys war and it isnt Natos war either.

Huge war-chest

Other big countries refused to immediately back the huge war chest, used to buy weapons and funding training for Ukraines armed forces, until Kyivs exact needs were established, Spains Jose Manuel Albares said.

One minister supportive of the $100 billion accused some of their colleagues who had previously promised to do whatever it takes for Ukraine to win of not putting their money where their mouth is, sources told The Telegraph.

Nato intelligence officials attempted to stress the importance of fresh cash for Kyiv amid delays to a $60 billion US aid package.

The situation remains unstable, with Ukrainian shortages of personnel and munitions likely limiting their ability to hold positions, a senior Nato official said.

We know that frontline units are having to make very, very difficult choices every day about rationing munitions, about deciding, for the day, how many missions are actually going to fire against any given target. And, of course, that is a very difficult way, when youre having to marshal ammunition quite so closely and youre so worried about running out, to fight an attritional war.

In recognition of the impact of the blocked $60 billion US aid package, the source added: What is critical is that allies recognise the shortages that Ukraine is experiencing and they accelerate their timelines and support for Ukraine.

Lord Cameron told his European counterparts that they had to join him in lobbying pro-Trump Republicans in the US Congress to help unblock the aid.

I think the thing that can most change the narrative on Ukraine is that $60 billion flowing from the US to Ukraine, the Foreign Secretary told reporters after the talks.

We need immediate urgent support, and then we need to work on the more long term structures, Mr Stoltenberg said in his post-meeting news conference.

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(L-R) Chair NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana attend a laying wreath ceremony in memory of military personnel of NATO countries killed in service. -/NATO/dpa

NATO marked the 75th anniversary of its founding with a ceremony in Brussels on Thursday amid a heightened Russian threat and lingering questions over the alliance's future.

After laying a wreath in memory of military personnel of NATO countries killed in service, the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the United States and Europe need one another for their own security.

"Europe needs America for its security," Stoltenberg said. "At the same time, North America also needs Europe. European allies provide world-class militaries, vast intelligence networks, and unique diplomatic leverage, multiplying America's might."

Stoltenberg's remarks come at a time of waning US congressional support for continued military aid to Ukraine. Kiev is relying on NATO countries to provide the weapons and ammunition it needs to resist Russia's invasion of its territory.

Acknowledging long-standing US concerns that European allies aren't contributing enough to collective defence, Stoltenberg said: "Fair burden sharing is essential, and Europe is investing more, much more. This year, the majority of NATO allies will invest at least 2% of their GDP [Gross Domestic Product] in defence."

"Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power. I don't believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone," he added.

The ceremony also marked the approximate anniversaries of the accessions of several Central and Eastern European NATO member states.

"We tried to embrace Russia, but we knew that the potential for violence was there. Unfortunately, Russia is on the march again," Radosaw Sikorski, foreign minister of Poland - which joined the alliance in March 1999 - said in a speech at NATO headquarters, referring to the period after the Cold War ended.

Sikorski added: "But happily, we are where we belong in the company of democracies among friends at home, resisting again like a rock."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was also present on Thursday, to ask for more support - particularly Patriot surface-to-air missiles.

"I don't want to spoil the party," Dmytro Kuleba said after congratulating NATO members on the alliance's 75th anniversary. "But my main message today will be Patriots."

"Saving Ukrainian lives, saving the Ukrainian economy, saving Ukrainian cities, depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defence systems in Ukraine. We're talking about Patriots because it's the only system that can intercept ballistic missiles."

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell and representatives from NATO's Pacific partners Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand are also set to join the NATO talks on the Ukraine war and relations with Russia.

Founded by the United States and 11 other countries at the onset of the Cold War to deter the expansion of the communist Soviet Union, NATO has grown to 32 members with Sweden and Finland's recent entry.

The alliance is a collective security pact in which, according to Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, an attack on one member of the alliance "shall be considered an attack against them all."

Article 5 has been invoked once, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

When NATO was formed in 1949, it had a clear foe in the Soviet Union. But the dissolution of the Soviet bloc in 1991 prompted questions about the alliance's purpose with no threat left to deter.

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has breathed new life into the alliance with NATO allies in Eastern Europe fearing new Russian aggression.

The Western military alliance has also played a key role in rallying support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion but looming in the background is former US president Donald Trump's potential return to the White House after November's presidential election.

Sceptical of Western support for Ukraine, Trump openly questions NATO's collective defence obligations and rails against countries that do not meet the alliance's defence spending targets of 2% of GDP.

While defence spending from NATO allies has spiked during the Ukraine war, with 18 allies including Germany set to invest 2% of GDP on defence in 2024, the US still makes up the bulk of alliance defence spending.

(L-R) Chair NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana attend a laying wreath ceremony in memory of military personnel of NATO countries killed in service. -/NATO/dpa
NATO marked the 75th anniversary of its founding with a ceremony in Brussels on Thursday amid a heightened Russian threat and lingering questions over the alliance's future.

After laying a wreath in memory of military personnel of NATO countries killed in service, the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the United States and Europe need one another for their own security.

"Europe needs America for its security," Stoltenberg said. "At the same time, North America also needs Europe. European allies provide world-class militaries, vast intelligence networks, and unique diplomatic leverage, multiplying America's might."

Stoltenberg's remarks come at a time of waning US congressional support for continued military aid to Ukraine. Kiev is relying on NATO countries to provide the weapons and ammunition it needs to resist Russia's invasion of its territory.

Acknowledging long-standing US concerns that European allies aren't contributing enough to collective defence, Stoltenberg said: "Fair burden sharing is essential, and Europe is investing more, much more. This year, the majority of NATO allies will invest at least 2% of their GDP [Gross Domestic Product] in defence."

"Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power. I don't believe in America alone, just as I don't believe in Europe alone," he added.

On Wednesday, NATO foreign ministers discussed a proposal from Stoltenberg to create a 100 billion ($109 billion) NATO fund for military aid to Ukraine, replacing a looser US-led arrangement whereby NATO members arm Ukraine without going through NATO itself.

Some diplomats describe the proposal to bring responsibility for the aid into NATO proper as "Trump-proofing," because coordination of military support would be less dependent on American initiative.

When asked by dpa at a press conference on Thursday whether the United States would back the proposal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointed to further discussion on the matter due to be held in Prague in May and Washington in July. He said: "we look forward to a lot of work being done to design and detail exactly what the different roles are going to be."

"We know that countries within this alliance and well beyond the alliance look to the United States for that engagement for that leadership," Blinken added. "I think we've demonstrated it very clearly when it comes to Ukraine and the aggression that Russia committed starting in February of 2022, and we're determined to continue it."

"We tried to embrace Russia, but we knew that the potential for violence was there. Unfortunately, Russia is on the march again," Radosaw Sikorski, foreign minister of Poland - which joined the alliance in March 1999 - said in a speech at NATO headquarters, referring to the period after the Cold War ended.

Sikorski added: "But happily, we are where we belong in the company of democracies among friends at home, resisting again like a rock."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was also present on Thursday, to ask for more support - particularly Patriot surface-to-air missiles.

"I don't want to spoil the party," Dmytro Kuleba said after congratulating NATO members on the alliance's 75th anniversary. "But my main message today will be Patriots."

"Saving Ukrainian lives, saving the Ukrainian economy, saving Ukrainian cities, depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defence systems in Ukraine. We're talking about Patriots because it's the only system that can intercept ballistic missiles."

After the meeting, Stoltenberg warned that Ukraine could lose more territory if it didn't get what it needed soon. "There is a real risk that Russia will capture even more territory and that we will be in even more dangerous position," he said.

Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: "We are in great danger. Russia, very predictably, has been emboldened by appeasement. The survival of the rules-based system is in doubt."

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell and representatives from NATO's Pacific partners Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand also joined the NATO talks on the Ukraine war and relations with Russia.

Founded by the United States and 11 other countries at the onset of the Cold War to deter the expansion of the communist Soviet Union, NATO has grown to 32 members with Sweden and Finland's recent entry.

The alliance is a collective security pact in which, according to Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, an attack on one member of the alliance "shall be considered an attack against them all."

Article 5 has been invoked once, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

While defence spending from NATO allies has risen significantly during the Ukraine war, with 18 allies including Germany set to invest 2% of GDP on defence in 2024, the US still makes up the bulk of alliance defence spending.

(L-R) Chair NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana attend a laying wreath ceremony in memory of military personnel of NATO countries killed in service. -/NATO/dpa

(L-R) Annalena Baerbock German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Joly Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antony Blinken US Secretary of State, Xavier Bettel Luxembourgish Minister of Foreign Affairs attend NATO's 75th anniversary celebration ceremony at NATO headquarters. -/NATO/dpa
Kremlin-controlled media lit up this week with news that an American veteran had signed a contract with the Russian military in a bold act of defiance against U.S. support for Ukraine.

Wil is staunchly convinced of the need to support Russia and admires the tenacity and heroism of our soldiers, one report declared of the new hero.

He even got the movie-star treatment in a one-and-a-half minute video circulated by popular pro-war Russian Telegram channels. But this new propaganda darling, identified only as Wil in the flurry of gushing Russian news reports, may have a controversial background.

According to reports in Russia and back home in Massachusetts, the new American in Ukraine may be none other than Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former city councilor in Holyoke, Massachusetts, who prosecutors say fled the country to evade child porn charges.

A Russian government insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he believed the Defense Ministry was well aware of the charges against Puello in the U.S. They all are aware. They know who he is and whatnot, he told The Daily Beast.

In a video widely shared in Russia this week, the former American soldier clearly shows his face to the cameraand the independent Russian outlet Agentstvo reported that their analysis identified him as Puello-Mota.

The video shows him approaching a military recruitment office and receiving a warm welcome from Russian military brass, as he delivers a monologue in Englishset to dramatic musicabout how honored he is to be joining Russias special military operation and helping Russia to continue the mission.

He says hes already taken part on the battlefield by serving alongside Russian troops as a volunteer in Avdiivka, but now hes making it official.

Describing the Russian troops in Avdiivka as great people, fantastic people, he went on to echo Moscows oft-repeated claim that the Ukrainian cities it ravages are actually being liberated.

Its terrible, its sad whats happened there. You know, its a very bad situation, and Im glad that we can help in the way that were helping, he said.

We must support Russia, he was quoted as saying in another post by pro-war Russian bloggers. Wil served in the U.S. armed forces, unaware of what was really happening in Ukraine, and several months ago he came to the special military operation as a volunteer, wrote pro-Kremlin war reporter Yuri Kotenok.

The video indicates he signed a contract with Russias Defense Ministry in Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia. He was reportedly given 745,000 rubles ($8,060) as an initial, one-time payment and is set to collect another 150,000 rubles ($1,621) for every two months of service.

The American signed the contract just a few weeks after Rhode Islands attorney general accused Puello-Mota of evading the charges against him there, which include child pornography, obstructing justice, and forgery and counterfeiting. Puello-Mota was due to appear in court in early January, but flew out of Dulles International Airport just two days before his scheduled appearance, authorities said.

He was first arrested in September 2020, after a 17-year-old girl told police in Warwick, Rhode Island, that Puello-Mota had sent her money in exchange for sexually explicit photos, knowing she was underage, according to court documents. A former member of the Massachusetts National Guard, Puello-Mota was also accused of forging documents to deceive his commanders after his arrest.

After his release on $20,000 bail, Puello-Mota reportedly continued to serve as a Holyoke city councilor for a time before becoming a no-show in court last January. Shortly after that, authorities caught wind of him leaving the country and potentially moving to Russia, though the Office of the Attorney General in Rhode Island said it could not rule out at the time if the Russia narrative was just an elaborate ruse to conceal his whereabouts.

It appears not to have been.

An earlier video shot in Ukraine, which showed an American soldier with a blurred face, caused waves in Holyoke last month when The Republican newspaper reported that a number of people who knew Puello-Mota recognized his voice in the disguised video. Were here to plant the U.S. flag as a sign of friendship and support, he says in that video, as he is shown erecting an American flag in Avdiivka after Russian troops took over the Ukrainian city.

That was before Wil went on to become a Russian media darling.

On Facebook, a page apparently belonging to Puello-Mota lists his location as Moscow and says he works for Russias Defense Ministry.

A page using the same name of Will Puello appears on the Russian social networking site VK. Reached on VK for comment, Puello referred questions from The Daily Beast to the Russian Defense Ministry. Asked directly if he had fled the U.S. to evade the charges against him in Rhode Island, he replied with Lol before again deferring to the Russian military.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Semafor Signals

Insights from Bloomberg, iStories, and Politico

The News

Russia and Ukraine are both seeking to boost the ranks of their armies amid reports Moscow may be preparing for a new offensive in the spring or summer.

Russias defense minister has said Moscow intends to enlist at least 250,000 more troops this year, Bloomberg reported, as it expands its army with a plan to add new divisions and brigades.

In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signaled the need for more troops and this week signed a law to lower the minimum age for conscription from 27 to 25 as the country struggles to replenish exhausted battalions.

Ukrainian officials have not said how many extra soldiers its military needs, but both the president and commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi have said that the previous estimate for 500,000 extra soldiers was wrong.

Russia has also struggled to attract new recruits, although authorities said Wednesday that the number of people joining its armed forces spiked after the terrorist attack in Moscow on March 22. While an offshoot of the Islamic State terrorist group took responsibility for the attack, that has not stopped Russian authorities from claiming that Ukraine is to blame.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Russian civilian pay rises make army roles less alluring

Source: Bloomberg

With a deficit of workers, Russian businesses from metal refineries to restaurants are seeing wages increase at a double-digit pace, which is making the countrys once-relatively lucrative military service less appealing  despite a rise in army wages, Bloomberg reported in January. Compensation for jobs such as machine operators, welders, and drivers increased between 8% and 20% last year, the outlet said, making the salaries more competitive even after Moscow increased soldiers monthly pay by 10.5% last year. The high demand for jobs means the current labor shortage is unlike any seen before, according to one metals and mining executive, with official data showing that Russia needs 2.3 million more workers to fuel its war-time economy.

Kremlin doesnt want to risk losing support through mandatory conscription

Sources: iStories, Verstka

Putin is trying to postpone any large-scale mobilization to ensure he retains the confidence and support of the public, one anonymous NATO official told iStories, an independent Russian-language investigative site. This means the Kremlin will be unable to orchestrate any large-scale offensive in Ukraine, the official predicted, though Russias government has an advantage over Kyiv in terms of its stockpile of ammunition and easier access to manpower. The Russian armys current plan is likely to continue with smaller-scale attacks aimed at exhausting Ukraines armed forces, the official said. Still, there are warning signs that the Kremlin is setting the stage for a future recruitment drive, with Putin recently calling on reservists to complete military training, according to independent outlet Verstka.

In addition to recruits, Ukraine needs Western aid as it faces perilous period

Sources: Politico, Radio Free Europe

In addition to more recruits, Ukraine desperately needs support from Western allies to sustain its war efforts as it approaches its most perilous period, according to Politico opinion editor Jamie Dettmer  but efforts to supply aid to Kyiv are losing momentum. Washingtons $60 billion aid package is currently stalled in Congress, with one Ukrainian opposition lawmaker saying it would bring scary prospects for Ukraine if the budget did not pass. The European Union is still undecided about whether to seize billions in frozen Russian assets  or their profits  to buy arms for Ukraine. As Ukrainians regularly stress, the weapons that have arrived are enough for the country to hang on  but nowhere near enough for it to win the war, Dettmer wrote.
You are here: Arts

People visit the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province, April 26, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]



A service platform of the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum was officially launched on Wednesday, allowing overseas tourists to buy tickets online.

The platform provides services in 24 languages and tourists from 39 countries and regions can use 29 currencies to make reservations for visits.

Since its trial run on March 20, the platform has already facilitated reservations for over 2,000 foreign tourists.

Located in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, home to the world-renowned iconic Terracotta Warriors, recorded more than 11.2 million visits last year, hitting an annual high.

Discovered in 1974, the army of Terracotta Warriors was built by Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.), who unified China for the first time.
GAZA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-profit aid organization, on Thursday called for an independent investigation into the killing of seven members in an Israeli aerial strike in central Gaza.

In a statement on its website, WCK said the aid workers killed on Monday were from Australia, Canada/United States (dual citizen), Gaza, Poland, and Britain.

WCK has asked the governments of Australia, Canada, U.S., Poland, and Britain to join it in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, read the statement.

The statement clarified that the investigation would include whether the attacks "were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law," noting that it has asked the Israeli government to immediately preserve all documents, communications, video and audio recordings, and any other materials potentially relevant to the strikes.

The statement added that "an independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers."

Israel on Tuesday assumed responsibility for the killing of the aid workers, saying it was "a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants," and something that "happens in war."

In the statement, WCK denounced Israel's claim, stressing "it was a military attack," which involved multiple strikes targeting three WCK vehicles transporting civilians, all marked as WCK vehicles.

On Wednesday, six of the aid workers' bodies were transferred through the Rafah crossing to their countries for burial. The attack on the aid workers has met with condemnation from the United Nations, international, Arab, and local communities. 
Editor's note: The story was updated with additional information about the victims.

A Russian attack against the Kharkiv district around 1 p.m. on April 4 killed a man in a tractor, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

The victim was killed in an area between settlements, the governor noted.

Syniehubov later clarified that the man killed was a 36-year-old employee of an agricultural enterprise. He was killed on a plot of land between the villages of Berezivka and Korotych, the governor said.

Two other men who were working in the field, aged 55 and 21, were reportedly injured and hospitalized.

Overnight on April 4, Russian drone attacks killed four people, including first responders, and injured 12 others in Kharkiv.

Settlements in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast are subjected to near-daily attacks by Russian forces due to their proximity to the border with Russia.

Moscow's troops recently intensified their attacks against Kharkiv, destroying nearly all of its energy infrastructure.

Read also: Update: 4 killed, including first responders, 12 injured in Russian attacks on Kharkiv

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Russian army attacked the town of New-York in Donetsk Oblast on the evening of 4 April, killing two people and injuring another one.

Source: Vadym Filashkin, Head of Donetsk Oblast State Administration, on Telegram

Quote: "The town came under four airstrikes this evening. It was reported that two people were killed and one more was injured. Numerous private houses were damaged.

The aftermath of the attack is being established."

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian-installed officials said a total of six civilians were killed on Thursday in Ukrainian attacks on Russian-controlled parts of southern and eastern Ukraine.

A Russian official in Kherson region, Andrey Alekseenko, said two people died in a village where one drone struck a car and a second drone was fired at a passenger who had managed to crawl away from the vehicle.

He said a separate attack killed two members of a repair crew that was working to restore mobile communications. Another person was in hospital in critical condition.

Russian-installed officials in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, said two people had been killed there on Thursday by Ukrainian shelling and nine others were wounded.

Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war that is now in its third year. The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission said in February that more than 10,000 civilians had been killed in Ukraine and nearly 20,000 wounded.

(Reporting by Reuters)
MOSCOW (AP)  Russia's top diplomat warned Thursday that prospective negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine could be successful only if they take Moscow's interests into account, dismissing a planned round of peace talks as a Western ruse to rally broader international support for Kyiv.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov charged that Ukraine's Western allies are currently involved in a massive diplomatic blitz to persuade as many countries of the Global South as possible to join a meeting in Switzerland to discuss a potential peace plan.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with about 70 foreign ambassadors to Moscow, Lavrov argued that the West is seeking to boost attendance at the planned round of negotiations in Switzerland by claiming that its participants would be free to discuss only certain aspects of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace plan, such as ways to ensure global food security.

Lavrov described such arguments as a Western ploy to attract more hesitant countries of the Global South and draw up to 140 participants in order to cast the conference as a show of overwhelming support around the world for Ukraine.

He emphasized that any peace talks would be a useless waste of time if they did not take Moscows interests into account.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to protect Russian interests and prevent Ukraine from posing a major security threat to Russia by joining NATO. Kyiv and its allies have denounced Russia's military campaign as an unprovoked act of aggression.

Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's dismissal of Zelenskyy's peace formula that requires Russia to pull back its troops, pay compensation to Ukraine and face an international tribunal for its action.

He mentioned Zelenskyy's decree ruling out talks with the current Russian leadership and charged that it's up to the West to make the next move.

If some of them are smart enough to abandon the deadlocked path of Zelenskyy's formula, let them say it, Lavrov said.

He stated that any prospective peace deal must respect Russia's security interests and recognize the new realities, a reference to Moscow's territorial gains.

We are defending our truth, the interests of our people in the territories which have been founded by their ancestors who lived there for centuries, Lavrov said. If they are willing to talk on the basis of justice, on the balance of the realities and the balance of security interests, we are ready for it at any time.
Russian terrorists will be punished for their actions in Kharkiv  Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv on the night of 3-4 April and noted that the Russian Federation will answer for its terrorist actions.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter)

Quote from Zelenskyy: "A strike on Kharkiv, just an ordinary apartment building. With three Shaheds. A despicable and cynical attack, when the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists [Russia  ed.] attacked again."

Details: Zelenskyy says that four people were killed in the attack. Among them were rescue workers Vladyslav Lohinov, Serhii Baidalinov and Volodymyr Matiushenko. Zoya Bondiukova, a civilian, was also killed.

More than 10 people have been injured, and all are receiving the necessary assistance.

Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the attack and stressed that "Russian terrorists will be held accountable for their actions in Kharkiv and for all acts of aggression against our people."

"We are working with our partners to strengthen the protection of our cities and villages and to protect our citizens. Strengthening Ukraine's air defense capabilities directly translates into saving lives," the president said.

Background:

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Russian threat much more serious than Cold War, former defence secretary says

A British soldier during a Nato exercise: Sir Michael says Britain should lead the way in Nato - Wojtek Radwanski/AFP

The threat posed by Russia is now much more serious than during the Cold War, a former defence secretary has said.

Sir Michael Fallon said Britain should be setting an example within Nato on defence spending, urging all parties to commit to 2.5 per cent of GDP ahead of the election.

When asked whether he believed the UK was spending too little on defence, Sir Michael, who was in office between 2014 and 2017, told Sky News: Yes, I do.

We need to be spending more. The threat has increased and  in the Cold War we didnt have Russia invading countries on our continent. So the threat is much more serious than it was.

He pointed to other Nato countries, such as Hungary and Romania, that have recently increased their defence spending, before telling political parties to commit to an additional 8 and 9 billion a year.

The [Ministry of Defence] budget has been rising. And to be fair to my successors, and to successive prime ministers, the budget has been slowly increasing.

However, the threat has been multiplying. And thats the difference now. Thats why we need to step up a gear and thats why wed like every candidate in this election to commit to a new target of 2.5 per cent.

He added: We need to be cajoling the rest of the alliance and setting an example. Some countries on the eastern side of NATO are now doing that. Poland, for example, the Baltic states ... Romania and Hungary are now spending much more, and we should be leading.

Sir Michael Fallon was defence secretary from 2014 to 2017 - Leon Neal/PA

Britain spends around 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence, with Rishi Sunak stating 2.5 per cent as an ambition but giving no timeframe when it might be achieved.

It comes after Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, warned that we have moved from a post-war to pre-war world amid threats posed by Russia, China and Iran.

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Shapps said Nato countries that do not spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending are playing Russian roulette with the Wests future.

Referring to Natos anniversary, he said: Paying tribute to Natos past is not enough. Today we must give urgent thought once again to the alliances future. We have moved from a post-war to a pre-war world.

He added: Russia is menacing our neighbours. China is increasingly belligerent. Iran is using its proxies to cause regional havoc from the Middle East to the straits of Yemen. North Korea is perpetually rattling its nuclear sabre. Increasingly, these malign powers are aligning and our democracy is in their crosshairs.

Seventy-five years ago George Orwell painted a terrifying picture of a world without Nato. Today, we live in a more dangerous age. Once more, autocratic Big Brothers are seeking to divide us.

But we have a big advantage. Today our alliance is bigger, stronger and more experienced than ever. And as long as we stand together, well guarantee that Orwellian ending never comes to pass.

Nato must not fret about Trump

Sir Michaels comments come after Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, told allies at a NATO summit yesterday that spending 2 per cent on defence  the alliance guideline  was the best way to prepare for the American elections in the autumn.

These remarks were seen as a clear reference to the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US elections in November.

Last year, only 11 Nato members met the 2 per cent target, set almost two decades ago, with France and Germany spending less on defence. The two nations have since said they will hit the target in 2024, but several other countries have yet to do so.

A Swedish soldier takes part in a Nato exercise in 2022 - Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images

Sir Michael, who was defence secretary during Lord Camerons premiership, said NATO countries should stop fretting about Trump.

NATO has been a very successful defensive alliance. Countries want to join us and have joined it, Finland and Sweden have in the last year or so. So its a stronger alliance all the time.

But the answer to Trump is not to keep fretting about Trump, but to do what the Americans want us to do.

And by the way, thats across the board in America, Republicans and Democrats  they want Europe to spend more on its own defence.

They see our continent being invaded by Russia and they expect us to do more about it. And we should, he added.

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.
During the day, the Russians attacked energy infrastructure in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. A drone attack on the night of 3-4 April damaged the equipment of a power facility in Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: press service of the Ministry of Energy

Details: "There was a fire that was extinguished by the State Emergency Service. Fortunately, there were no casualties," the ministry said.

The Russians targeted a solar power plant in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The attack damaged the plant's equipment and caused a fire. A security guard suffered a burn during the firefighting operations. The fire was extinguished within an hour by the plant's staff and the State Emergency Service.

"Unfortunately, there are casualties among power engineers due to enemy attacks," the Energy Ministry said.

A 64-year-old locksmith at the Kharkiv city branch of Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine LLC was injured during the elimination of the consequences of a nighttime drone attack. He was taken to hospital. The dispatcher's car was also damaged.

The Ministry of Energy said that a 47-year-old employee of the Sumy branch of Gas Distribution Networks of Ukraine LLC was killed by an air bomb during the bombing of the village of Samotoivka.

Background:

DTEK Group lost 80% of its generating capacities following the large-scale attacks by Russia on 22 and 29 March.

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At least one person has been killed in Russian strikes on Kharkiv Oblast on the afternoon of 4 April.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote from Syniehubov: "At 12:47, occupiers struck an area of Kharkiv Oblast between settlements. A civilian man, who was in a tractor at the time of the strike, was killed by the strike. The details are being established."

Background:

An air-raid warning was issued in Ukraines east and centre, and an explosion was heard in the city of Kharkiv on 4 April.

The Russians launched several waves of Shahed drones towards the city of Kharkiv on the night of 3-4 April  4 people were killed, and 12 people were injured. A total of four strikes by Russian Shahed drones on civilian infrastructure were recorded in Kharkiv. One man was rescued from under the rubble.

Russia deployed 20 kamikaze Shahed drones against Ukraine during the night of 3-4 April, with 11 of them successfully destroyed.

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Experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) state that the Russians are increasing the number and scale of mechanised ground assaults in certain areas of the combat zone in Ukraine.

Source: ISW

Details: Analysts point out that over the past two weeks, Russian forces have increased both the number and scale of mechanised ground assaults in certain areas of the front, indicating a noticeable overall rise in the quantity of Russian mechanised assaults across the entire theatre of operations.

Experts add that the Russians may escalate the overall pace of their offensive operations in Ukraine.

The intensification of Russian mechanised assaults typically coincides with large-scale missile strikes and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

In the light of this, experts suggest that Russian forces may intensify strikes to pressure Ukrainian command to deploy air defence systems away from the front lines, allowing the Russians to enhance aircraft operations supporting ground operations safely.

Ukrainian sources continue to emphasise that the fragmented and delayed arrival of new Western systems in Ukraine would enable Russian forces to adapt to them and mitigate the potential operational advantages these systems might otherwise provide to Ukrainian forces.

Therefore, Politico reported on 3 April that senior Ukrainian military sources claimed that the new Western systems are arriving too late and in insufficient quantities to have a maximum operational impact on the battlefield. In the event of a new Russian offensive in the summer, there is a significant risk that the front line will collapse.

To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 3 April:

Russian forces appear to have increased the number and size of mechanised ground assaults on select sectors of the frontline within the past two weeks, marking a notable overall increase in Russian mechanised assaults across the theatre.

Russian forces may be intensifying the overall tempo of their offensive operations in Ukraine.

Ukrainian sources continue to stress that the piecemeal and delayed arrival of new Western systems to Ukraine will allow Russian forces to adapt to and offset the likely operational benefits these systems would otherwise provide to Ukrainian forces.

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed that the 22 March Crocus City Hall attack has caused a significant increase in Russian contract service applicants amid reported Russian efforts to increase force generation this spring.

Republic of Tatarstan Head Rustam Minnikhanov warned that Russian companies and local authorities must defend themselves against Ukrainian drone strikes and not rely on Russian air defences following the 2 April Ukrainian strikes on Russian military production and oil refinery infrastructure in Tatarstan.

Russian-backed former Ukrainian separatist politician Oleg Tsaryov complained on 3 April that no current Russian political party adequately represents the political interests of Russian ultranationalists, highlighting a possible source of discontent between the pro-Russian ultranationalist community and the Kremlin.

Ukraine and Finland signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement on 3 April.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Bakhmut and Donetsk City and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area.

Russian authorities continue to expand social benefits for Russian military personnel.

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UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- UN relief chief Martin Griffiths has released 12 million U.S. dollars to help Haitians affected by gang violence, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday.

The funds from the world body's Central Emergency Response Fund will help provide food, water, protection, health care, and sanitation and hygiene support to displaced people and host communities in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and the neighboring department of Artibonite, which has also been affected by the violence, said OCHA.

The office said the situation in Haiti remains tense and volatile, with attacks on health care facilities aggravating the already dire situation. According to the UN Children's Fund, three out of four women and children lack access to public health and nutrition services in the metropolitan area.

However, the emergency relief response continues.

The International Organization for Migration said it distributed more than 70,000 liters of water in six displacement sites across the Port-au-Prince area.

The World Food Programme reported providing 17,000 hot meals to displaced people in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

Over the years, Haitians faced political, social and economic challenges exacerbated by recurring natural disasters. Now the lawlessness of gangs cast a shadow over all aspects of everyday life, particularly in the capital, Artibonite and beyond, said OCHA.

It said that so far this year, approximately 5.5 million Haitians require humanitarian assistance. Gang violence now extends to remote rural areas as the government's presence continues to erode.

The humanitarians blamed persistent structural weaknesses for exacerbating the lack of essential basic services, with hospitals and doctors becoming targets, and the forced displacement of several hundred teachers, many of whom are fleeing the country. 
Russia's Lavrov says Chinese peace plan on Ukraine is most reasonable so far

MOSCOW (Reuters) - China has proposed the most reasonable peace plan so far for resolving the Ukraine conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Beijing put forward a 12-point paper more than a year ago that set out general principles for ending the war but did not get into specifics. It received a lukewarm reception at the time in both Russia and Ukraine, while the United States said China was presenting itself as a peacemaker but reflecting Russia's "false narrative" and failing to condemn its invasion.

"The most important thing for us is that the Chinese document is based on an analysis of the reasons for what is happening and the need to eliminate these root causes. It is structured in logic from the general to the specific," state news agency RIA quoted Lavrov as telling reporters.

"This plan was criticized for being vague... But this is a reasonable plan that the great Chinese civilization proposed for discussion."

Lavrov is due to meet his Chinese counterpart soon and President Vladimir Putin said last month he would consider going to China for the first overseas trip of his new six-year term.

Russia says it is willing to enter talks about Ukraine but that these must reflect what it calls the "new realities" on the ground, where its forces control just under a fifth of the country and Moscow has claimed four Ukrainian regions as its own.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has put forward his own peace formula that calls for a cessation of hostilities and a full Russian withdrawal from all occupied territory.

Praising China's plan provides Moscow with a way to signal that it is open to talking peace while attacking Zelenskiy's initiative, which Lavrov called "a menu from which you can pull out whatever you want".

Switzerland has said it will host a conference based on Zelenskiy's plan, but Russia has called the initiative pointless and said it is doomed to fail without Moscow's participation.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
Russia's military is 'almost completely reconstituted' as it goes into overdrive to shore up losses in Ukraine: US official

Russia's military is 'almost completely reconstituted' as it goes into overdrive to shore up losses in Ukraine: US official

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Russia had "almost completely" restored its military.

He made the remarks on Wednesday as he spoke on Indo-Pacific security.

Reports differ on how well Russia is revitalizing its military after heavy losses in Ukraine.

Russia has "almost completely" reformed its military capabilities after taking heavy losses in Ukraine, a top US official says.

"I think we have assessed throughout the last couple of months that Russia has almost completely reconstituted militarily," Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday at a talk hosted by the Center for a New American Security. Campbell cofounded CNAS, a Washington-based think tank.

He said Moscow suffered initial setbacks during the Ukraine war but had "retooled and now poses a threat to Ukraine."

"But not just to Ukraine," Campbell said. "Its newfound capabilities pose a longer-term challenge to stability in Europe and threatens NATO allies."

The deputy state secretary pointed to Russia receiving industrial and commercial support from China as he spoke in a larger discussion on Indo-Pacific security.

China, the US's main rival in the Indo-Pacific, has also been Russia's largest trading partner, with $240 billion in commerce between both nations last year.

Governments and think tanks have offered differing analyses of how Russia is revitalizing its hard-hit military. In a report that was declassified in December, US intelligence estimated that Russia had lost 315,000 troops since it began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It has also burned through much of its aerial and support inventory, war analysts say.

In the wake of those losses, Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his nation's military-industrial complex into overdrive, focusing its economy on producing shells, weapons, and equipment.

Military vehicles at a plant in St. Petersburg in January 2023. ILYA PITALEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Campbell's remarks appear to be one of the most optimistic Western assessments of the Kremlin's production push thus far.

In December, the UK military published an intelligence update saying it would probably take Russia 10 years to replenish its ground troops with highly skilled forces, citing a "transition toward a lower-quality, high-quantity mass army."

And in January, Germany's defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said Russia was building a military that could attack NATO but would probably only reach such a capacity in "five to eight years."

Lithuania's estimation is five to seven years.

Others say Russia is making steady progress. The Royal United Services Institute, a London security think tank, said in February that Moscow had bolstered its troops in Ukraine from a disorganized 360,000-strong force in 2023 to a better-trained 410,000 soldiers in 2024.

"Although the Russian military's aspiration to increase in size to 1.5 million personnel has not been realized, recruiters are currently achieving almost 85% of their assigned targets for contracting troops to fight in Ukraine," researchers wrote.

The report highlighted that Russia was also rapidly producing about 1,500 tanks and 3,000 armored vehicles a year but was unlikely to sustain that capacity because much of this production comes from refurbishing older vehicles.

The Institute for the Study of War, based in Washington, said the RUSI report indicated that Russia might be able to sustain its heavy losses for another two years.

Ukraine meanwhile suffers from waning US support as congressional leaders lock up billions in aid  including much-needed ammunition and weapons  over domestic politics.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that his country's exhausted ammo stocks are severely handicapping its forces as Russia advances slowly in the east.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who previously blocked a $60 billion package to Ukraine, recently proposed a plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Kyiv. It's still not clear how much congressional support that plan will get.

The US State Department and CNAS didn't immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

Correction: April 4, 2024  An earlier version of this story misstated the source of the estimation that Russia had lost 315,000 troops. It was US intelligence, not UK intelligence.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal is in talks to raise capital for his new startup, Indian fintech Navi. Bansal is talking to investors to raise at a valuation of around $2 billion, three sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. One source said he is looking to raise between $200 million and $400 million.

Bansal has largely self-funded Navi up to now, and this would be the Bengaluru-headquartered startup's first large outside fundraise since it was founded in 2018.

Talks have yet to materialize into a deal, so the terms, as well as Bansal's appetite for outside funding, may change, the sources cautioned. A Navi spokesperson declined to comment.

Navi, which offers personal and home loans as well as health insurance to customers, has been through a few financial twists and turns. Navi originally wanted to raise $440 million in a public listing, according to paperwork it filed in 2022. With the IPO market in a slump, however, the startup abandoned those plans last year.

The funding deliberations point to a significant shift in the venture market in India and are an encouraging sign for fintech more globally. After a particularly rough 2023 in which overall startup funding fell 73% in the country, this could be a signal that growth-stage funding rounds are back on the table.

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund ADIA is in talks to back Indian audio-storytelling platform Pocket FM, TechCrunch reported last month. Indian eyewear brand Lenskart, Temasek-backed consumer nutrition platform HealthKart, and bike-taxi aggregator Rapido are also in talks to raise new growth-stage rounds, Indian outlet Economic Times reported Thursday. Khazanah, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, is among investors that Swiggy-backed Rapido has engaged with in recent weeks, one source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

India's startup ecosystem saw a steep decline in large funding rounds last year as global investors, including Tiger Global and SoftBank, reduced their investments, while domestic VC firms shifted their focus to early-stage companies, according to a recent Bain report.

The Reserve Bank of India's regulatory actions in recent years have also impacted startups issuing cards and lending, further spooking many investors in the fintech sector.

Under Bansal, Flipkart was a trailblazer for startups in India, raising billions of dollars from a storied list of strategic and financial investors. He then left the startup in 2018 with a $1 billion windfall and opted for a bootstrapped approach for Navi, which he founded the same year.

Even if this might become Navi's first external raise, that doesn't mean Bansal has not been talking to interested parties. As TechCrunch previously reported, the fintech spoke to potential investors, including SoftBank, ahead of its IPO filing. Those discussions stalled after Navi's application for a banking license was rejected by the country's central bank, TechCrunch previously reported.

In recent quarters, Navi has narrowed its focus. It sold its microfinancing unit Chaitanya India for $178.5 million in August as part of a "strategic plan to focus on our digital-first businesses," Bansal said at the time.

In an interview published by the Indian outlet Moneycontrol on Tuesday, Bansal said he would revive plans for the IPO, but only in a "few months, once we are ready."

Bansal has also not given up the idea of turning Navi into a bank. "For now, I would say we have parked them, until we see that it is a possibility again in the future," he told the Indian outlet. "Then we will pick up again when there's some green light from the regulator at the right time."
Reality Check is a Sacramento Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.

The Sacramento County district attorneys office has sued a state agency alleging that storage tanks are leaking hazardous substances under several downtown buildings, including the state Capitol.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court against the California Department of General Services, alleges the leakages are also happening in Oakland. It was filed jointly by Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

The district attorneys filed the lawsuit to protect public health and the environment from harm due to releases of hazardous substances from leaking Underground Storage Tanks, including harm to groundwater and surface waters and against harm from indoor air impacts, the lawsuit stated.

A General Services spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

(General Services) has an extensive history of underground storage tank violations in Sacramento County, the lawsuit states, adding that penalties totaling tens of thousands of dollars started in 2008 and 2009.

Former Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully in 2014 sued the state for similar issues and a judge issued an injunction, which General Services is now violating, the lawsuit alleges.

Many of the violations, listed in the suit, have to do with administrative tasks such as failing to file inspection reports, while others appear to be more serious, relating to the failure of equipment or the release of materials.

In January 2020 inspectors with Sacramento Countys Environmental Management Department found that the Department of General Services failed to install or maintain a liquid-tight spill container in the underground storage tanks under the Capitol, the lawsuit alleges. During a follow-up November 2022 inspection there, the county inspector found the fire extinguishers had not been serviced since May 2019.

Issues with a liquid tight spill container were also noted in 2020 under the General Services headquarters building at 1416 9th St., the lawsuit alleges.

Last year an inspection at the Legislative Office Building at 1020 N St. found hazardous materials such as acetylene had been moved there without a permit.

Some of the alleged issues related to equipment above ground.

A 2023 inspection of the California Department of Justice building at 4949 Broadway found the diesel submersible turbine pump sump had approximately two gallons of diesel observed in it at the time of inspection. There was also a small amount of diesel fuel in the transition sump and there was a five gallon plastic bucket catching diesel fuel from the above ground pipe in the generator room, the lawsuit alleged. The alarm system for a leak had been out of compliance for an extended period of time.

Last year an inspection at the 1021 O St., the Capitol annex, found an above-ground diesel tank without a county permit and also gas cylinders with compressed gas without a permit, the suit alleged.

The lawsuit also alleged that Alameda County issued a violation notice to General Services in November 2022 regarding similar uncorrected violations at a state building at 1515 Clay St. in downtown Oakland.

Its not the first time Ho, who has been DA since 2023, has sued a government entity. Last year Ho filed a lawsuit against the city of Sacramento alleging in part that it is not issuing homeless people enough citations when their camps block sidewalks.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  A days-long search came to a tragic end Tuesday after officials in Mexico said they found the body of 27-year-old Victor Oswaldo Villarreal.

FOX 5/KUSIs reporting partners at the San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed the young man had rented a boat in the U.S., sailed south across the border to spend the Easter weekend with family, when he was last seen swimming toward the boat.

Tijuanas Regional Prosecutor Ruben Ramos Jimenez said his body was found along the coastline of Punta Banderas, less than 6 miles south of the border.

Body found near Jack in the Box

The first responders, Secretary of the Marina, saw a body by the coast and then they immediately let the attorneys office know to begin the investigation process and once they were there, a family member of the victim recognized him as the missing young man by his tattoos, Tijuanas Regional Prosecutor Ruben Ramos Jimenez said during an interview Tuesday.

Several agencies in Mexico, along with Imperial Beach lifeguards and the Coast Guard, were involved in the search.

The conditions in the water Friday were considered moderate to rough with waves ranging from 3 to 6 feet as a weekend storm was approaching the region.

San Diego appliance store abruptly closes leaving customers fearing big losses

The prosecutor said Tuesday its presumed the young man had drowned, but the official investigation into his cause of death is still underway, before they release the mans body to his family.

He had injuries on his body, probably from tumbling in the ocean, but we cant determine exactly what injury caused his death yet, Tijuanas prosecutor said.

A friend of Villarreal said he had attended Otay Ranch High School.

The young mans uncle is a congressman in Tijuana.

Sammy Pena posted on Facebook: the body of my nephew was found lifeless near the search area, to my relatives I just want to share that the memories full of love and affection we have with Victor in our hearts bring us peace in this difficult time.

He said he is infinitely grateful to everyone who helped  State Government, Municipal Government of Tijuana, Municipal Government of Rosarito Beaches, Fire Departments and Civil Protection, Search Organizations, Persons who helped us with their drones and specialized search equipment like the Jets kits, my hiking friends who helped us, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL, FROM THE WHOLE HEART THANK YOU. Rest in peace Victor Oswaldo Villarreal Garcia.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
San Francisco Bay beef: Keep our name out of your airport, SFO tells Oakland

A proposed initiative to rename the Oakland International Airport to the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport isn't flying with a close neighboring airport to its west.

We are deeply concerned about the potential for customer confusion and disservice that could result from this proposed renaming," San Francisco International Airport Director Ivar C. Satero announced in a statement released Monday.

Officials with the Port of Oakland  the entity that runs that airport  announced the proposal late last week, citing its aim is to boost geographic awareness of the airport's location in the San Francisco Bay.

Both airports are in the San Francisco Bay Area, and about 30 miles apart by vehicle. A third airport  San Jose Mineta International Airport  is located in the region about 35 miles south from Oakland's airport and San Francisco International.

San Francisco's airport (SFO) is the largest of the three in the Bay Area and about 13 miles south of the city. Oakland's airport is about 20 miles east of downtown San Francisco.

American Airlines changes pet policy: Allows passengers to bring carry-on with pet carrier

'Confusion for the public'

In the statement, Satero said San Francisco's airport has operated since 1927 and has used the name San Francisco Airport or San Francisco International Airport for decades, "making it immediately recognizable to customers."

"Given this history, we anticipate the new name being considered by the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport will cause confusion for the public, either through a misunderstanding of its physical location or its perceived relationship to SFO," Satero said, adding airport officials' concern is only compounded considering "SFOs status as a major international gateway."

Want to bail on your eclipse trip? Here's what to know about your refund prospects.

OAK airport code would remain the same under proposal

Oakland's airport code is OAK - and the brand would not change, Port Commission President Barbara Leslie announced in a video online Friday.

"We consistently hear from local travelers in our community about their desire for more direct flights to a wider variety of domestic and global destinations out of Oakland," Leslie said.

Leslie said more than half of frequent international travelers and nearly one third of domestic travelers are unaware of OAK's location "in the heart of Northern California."

Because of that, she said, flights to Oakland have not performed as well, leading to a loss or routes and making airlines reluctant to add new routes.

From July 2008 to March 2024, the Airport added 54 new routes; 39 of these and 6 pre-existing destinations were lost," Port of Oakland Interim Director of Aviation Craig Simon said in the release.

Oakland International Airport was closed for nearly four hours Tuesday after a knife-wielding man threatened to harm himself. Police ended the standoff by turning off the air conditioning, causing the man to become hot and remove clothing.

Oakland defends airport proposed name change

According to a news release from commissioners, the move is part of an effort to help preserve the airport's 30,000 direct jobs and $1.6 billion in economic impact on the region.

Commissioners also said Oakland's airport has "strong support" from its airline partners regarding the rebranding.

Oakland helped put us on the map in California and were wholeheartedly supportive, Jennifer Bridie, vice president of marketing communications and strategy at Southwest Airlines said.

Commissioners set to vote on name change next week

Modifying OAK's name, Port officials said, "is part of a broader effort" to improve passenger experience at the airport, including the following:

Upgrading the Terminal 1 check-in lobby;

Upgrading restroom facilities;

Providing new, local concessions and restaurants.

Port Commissioners are set to consider the name modification of the airport at their April 11 meeting.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oakland airport's proposed name change raises ire across Bay at SFO
SAN FRANCISCO  After months of centrist Democrats dominating the narrative, an avowed progressive has jumped into the race for San Francisco mayor.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin confirmed Wednesday night that hes running in the November election against his archrival, incumbent Mayor London Breed, because hes frustrated by what he calls her polarizing style and shift toward more conservative public-safety policies  approaches he says dont reflect the citys liberal spirit.

The politics of today are marked by blame and not taking responsibility. The buck stops with the mayor, he said in an interview. And its time to inject a mature, collaborative discourse thats befitting of San Francisco.

Peskin confirmed earlier reporting by The San Francisco Standard that he will launch his campaign during a rally in Chinatown on Saturday. He said the event, in a neighborhood he has long represented at City Hall, has been a poorly-kept secret, noting it could draw up to 900 supporters.

Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for Breeds campaign, was quick to attack Peskin, whom he blamed for creating barriers to building housing amid a citywide shortage. Peskins name, he said, is synonymous with City Hall intimidation, obstruction and dysfunction.

Hes the Terminator, Arellano said in a statement. Aaron Peskin occupying the Mayors Office would mean hasta la vista, baby for our local economy, our housing and our citys future.

Peskins foray into the race sets off a seismic shift in the direction of the campaign. Until now, Breeds chief rivals have been moderate Democrats like her, including Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive and Levi Strauss heir; and Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and city supervisor. The fifth candidate, Supervisor Ahsha Safai, also leans moderate, though hes tried to appeal to progressives lately.

Breed and her chief rivals, Lurie and Farrell, have proposed competing plans to increase law enforcement presence and force more people into addiction treatment  a rightward shift from the citys progressive policies.

The mayor has increasingly embraced more aggressive responses to the citys crises with fentanyl addiction, homelessness and theft. Last month, she convinced voters to overwhelmingly approve ballot measures that expand police powers and require drug-screening for welfare recipients.

Breeds allies have cheered Peskins entrance into the race. They argue that Peskin, especially his opposition to her proposals to build more housing, will give her a valuable foil in the campaign.

Peskin said that despite the narrative about San Francisco voters shifting to the middle, he can beat his moderate opponents on a presidential election ballot, when turnout is much higher. On housing, he said he wants the city to be pro-construction without running the historic charm of its neighborhoods.

Its still a progressive town, Peskin said, adding that he supports arresting drug dealers at the same time he opposes punitive measures for people suffering from addiction.

Peskin, who has been in recovery for alcoholism for the last three years, also evoked his personal struggles in announcing his campaign: I have, in recent weeks, come to the conclusion that the city I love is struggling and needs to recover. And I think I know a little bit about recovery.
Sand creature  like something out of Dune  found in Saudi Arabia. See new species

Along the coast of Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea retreats from the rocky and sandy beaches with the tide, revealing small pools teeming with life.

The lagoon-like environments are scattered along the shore where land meets water, and in them, tiny creatures crawl up under the rocks and burrow into the sand.

Then the rock lifts, and the creepy crawlies are met with the wide eyes of a researcher.

One of these researchers is Chloe Fourreau, a PhD student at the University of Ryukyus in Japan.

Fourreau is part of a team searching the coastline for the presence of Perinereis, a type of segmented marine ragworm.

It wasnt long before researchers found one  and its a new species.

Say hi to new species of worm, Perinereis kaustiana and her beautiful smile!#WormWednesday #thisishowMISErolls pic.twitter.com/6DnB2R0TS5  Chloe Fourreau (@ChaoticChloeia) April 1, 2024

Discover more new species

Thousands of new species are found each year. Here are three of our most eye-catching stories from the past week.

Deep-sea creature  with yellowy tentacles and over 80 feet  is new species

Reddish sea creature  with over 70 feet  found by a submarine

Spiky 'dwarf'-like creature found at abandoned building in India

Unlike the worms living in the sand in the dunes of Arrakis, the fictional planet at the center of the Dune universe, this worm is incredibly small, but it does bear a remarkable resemblance to its much larger fictional cousin.

It might be the real sandworm in Saudi Arabia as it lives in sand, under rocks of the intertidal, Fourreau wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Definitely played with our notion of time as we were flipping rocks endlessly looking for it.

Fourreaus team described the new species in a study, published April 1 in the journal ZooKeys.

The yellowish-brown worm is only about 2 inches long, according to the study, and is identifiable as a ragworm because of a prominent blood vessel that runs along its back.

Ragworms have a prominent blood vessel that runs the length of their body, according to the study.

The species has been named Perinereis kaustiana, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) ragworm, to honor the marine science program researching the Red Sea, the researchers said.

The worms have curved pincers on one end surrounding a hole, great for swallowing Spice harvesters if they were only a few thousand times larger.

Pinches extend from one of the of the ragworms body, researchers said.

There are some key features that identify the worm as a new species.

First, the KAUST ragworm has different sized tentacular cirri, the membrane-like protrusions along the body, compared with other known ragworms.

The ends of the protrusions are also finger-like, the researchers said, which was not seen in other species.

The new species is so far unique to the northern Red Sea and apparently easy to find in the rocky beaches of the Gulf of Aqaba, the researchers said.

Many species that call the Red Sea home live exclusively in that area, meaning they are endemic, so the researchers believe this species of ragworm may not be found anywhere else on the planet.

The Gulf of Aqaba starts at the northern tip of the Red Sea and continues to the southern edge of Israel.

Aquatic predator  with bad reputation  discovered in Bolivia. Its a new species

Scorpion-like creature  named for NBA star Kawhi Leonard  discovered as new species

Scaly desert creature  isolated by mountains in China  is a new species. See it

River creature  that uses its shell to dance  discovered as new species in China
The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

The future of a historic Sarasota structure is still uncertain after the Sarasota City Commission failed to reach a motion regarding its potential demolition.

The potential demolition of the McAlpin House  a 1912 historic home located at 1530 Cross St.  is in limbo until at least May 6, as the commission couldnt decide whether to approve the demolition at its Monday meeting. Virginia-based developer Orange Pineapple LLC sought to demolish the house to clear the way for a new mixed-use development, and it insisted that preservation wasnt possible after months of workshopping solutions.

The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

Orange Pineapple purchased more than 3 acres  including the parcel where the 1,600-square-foot house lies  for $32 million last May, and it applied to demolish the house shortly after. Local experts and advocates have since called for Orange Pineapple to plan around preserving the house, which is notable for its connection to prominent Sarasota developer George McAlpin and the pioneering rusticated blocks he used to build it.

Local landmark in jeopardy: Sarasota developers push to demolish historic house while advocates fight to save it

Orange Pineapple hasnt yet submitted a site plan to the city, which means the future development is flexible. David Baber, president of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, said the new development should include the house.

The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

They havent even really finalized their plans for the building, Baber said. Certainly they can adjust it.

The Sarasota Historic Preservation Board voted unanimously to deny Orange Pineapples application to demolish the house last July, and Orange Pineapple appealed the decision to the Sarasota City Commission the following October. The commission postponed a vote on the appeal for six months, directing the developer to continue to workshop solutions to preserve the McAlpin House in the meantime.

Despite a months-long campaign to find feasible new lots to move the house  including an offer to cover all relocation costs  Orange Pineapple has maintained that the houses condition, size, orientation and cost of renovations make relocation impossible. Three house movers said it couldnt be done, and 17 parties interested in taking on the house either tapped out or didnt respond.

The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

If the commission approves a total demolition, it isnt a certainty. Orange Pineapple proposed using original materials, replicating the signature rusticated blocks and including a corner facade with two walls of the house in the new development.

Patrick Seidensticker, the attorney representing Orange Pineapple, said the developer will continue to seek some level of preservation. An order to remove the house, Seidensticker said, will simply allow the developer to draft a site plan that implements these options while continuing relocation efforts.

The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

We want to make sure we can salvage it to the greatest extent possible, Seidensticker said. If we have a giant home on the site, we cant move forward.

Opinion: Don't be an April Fool, Sarasota. Stand up to save the McAlpin House.

Opponents and experts still maintain that relocation and preservation are possible. Clifford Smith, a senior planner for the city of Sarasota, said its feasible to move the house to a different location on the lot, and it would complement the development Orange Pineapple wants to build if kept there.

The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

The efforts to incorporate the houses original materials, Smith said, would fall short.

Youre creating a false sense of history, Smith said. Its not really what it appears to be.

Commissioners were split on a solution and volleyed several suggestions to Orange Pineapple for preservation. They optioned moving the McAlpin House to the now-closed Nancys BBQ location at 1525 Fourth St. or the Payne Park area as well as shopping the property around through a Transfer of Development Rights application, which could take months to finalize.

The historic McAlpin house/home is located at 1530 Cross St. in the heart of downtown Sarasota.

The appeal eventually reached an impasse, as commissioners didnt feel there was adequate time to make a motion after three hours of discussion. Commissioner Debbie Trice was hesitant to decide either way due to the projects unknown future.

We dont want to buy a pig in a poke, Trice said. We want to know what you have in mind.

More: Sarasota City Commission OKs density bonus for affordable housing in new districts

But others were more eager to put the matter to rest. Commissioner Erik Arroyo cited Orange Pineapples extensive but ultimately futile relocation efforts as evidence that demolition could be the only option for the development to move forward.

When do you say, Enough is enough? Arroyo said. We love the structure, but nobody loves it enough to take it.

The commission will discuss the appeal again at its May 6 meeting.

Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota can't decide if historic McAlpin House will be demolished
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on April 4 that it uncovered evidence that Russian forces were able to hack into the devices of military personnel in order to guide a missile to strike the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, killing at least 19 Ukrainian soldiers, in November last year.

Members of the 128th brigade were gathered for an award ceremony in honor of Artillery Day on Nov. 3, 2023, in the front-line zone of Zaporizhzhia Oblast when a Russian Iskander-M missile struck the group. The Brigade later confirmed that 19 of its soldiers had been killed in the attack.

A preliminary investigation found that reports of Russian reconnaissance drones operating in the area, including an air alert, were ignored. In addition, the soldiers were gathered in the yard of a house, with 10 cars parked outside, which was plainly visible from above.

In the weeks following the attack, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that "all rules of disguise were ignored."

President Zelensky promised to implement changes in the armed forces to address negligence, Soviet-era practices, and bureaucracy.

SBU cybersecurity chief Illia Vitiuk said in an interview on April 4 that Russian soldiers send phishing messages to hack the messenger applications of specific military personnel. When they managed to "crack" the device, they got access to messengers and computers through mail.

According to the SBU official, the investigation found that one of the devices on which the Signal messenger was installed received a message about the specific date and place of the formation of servicemen. The Russian missile later struck this exact location.

Vitiuk also announced that up to 30 soldiers had been killed in the attack, despite official reports that only 19 service members died.

Read also: Washington Post: Russia conducts disinformation campaign to undermine Zelensky

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
MOGADISHU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Somalia on Thursday closed two of the Ethiopian consulates in the country's northern region and ordered the Ethiopian ambassador to leave the country, escalating diplomatic rifts between the two sides.

The Cabinet which met in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, said the two consulates in Garowe in Puntland State and Hargeisa in Somaliland State must be closed within a week.

"Diplomats and employees of the Ethiopian government working in the two consulates in the cities mentioned must leave the country within a week," the Cabinet said in a statement issued after the meeting.

The statement warned of further consequences for any Ethiopian diplomats who fail to comply with the directive, emphasizing that such actions would be seen as a violation of Somalia's sovereignty. It also instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to officially inform the Ethiopian ambassador to Somalia to return to his country for consultation.

This development follows a meeting between the Ethiopian foreign minister and Puntland's finance minister on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, a meeting that Mogadishu claims was not coordinated with or approved by the Somali government.

Tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia have been exacerbated by a recent agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland State of Somalia. The agreement, signed on Jan. 1, grants landlocked Ethiopia access rights to the Red Sea port of Berbera, a move that Somalia views as a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ethiopia will be able to establish commercial marine operations at the port and will have access to a leased military base on the Red Sea. In exchange, Ethiopia has agreed to recognize Somaliland as an independent nation, which has not been internationally recognized, and to provide a share of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines to Somaliland. 
Russian intelligence services have launched a "huge number" of disinformation and psychological operations against Ukraine's top government and military officials, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) cybersecurity chief Illia Vitiuk said in an interview with Ukrinform published on April 4.

Ukraine's security services have previously identified such operations conducted by Moscow to undermine the Ukrainian leadership, namely the "Maidan-3" campaign that was reported on in November.

"There was a month when, according to our calculations, Russia launched more than a thousand different information attacks on various platforms," Vitiuk said.

When Valerii Zaluzhnyi was still Ukraine's commander-in-chief, there were many disinformation attacks and attempts to break into his accounts, the SBU official noted.

As soon as Oleksandr Syrskyi replaced Zaluzhnyi, the SBU discovered and blocked dozens of fake pages passing as the new commander's accounts.

Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us

The SBU cybersecurity chief also said that the security service itself is being regularly targeted and that an attack is being prepared against Vitiuk personally.

Vitiuk explained that the hackers often seek to plant false information about Ukrainian officials, which is then unknowingly used by Ukrainian activists and serves to discredit said officials.

Russia learned to take "5% of facts and dilute it with 95% of interpretation and manipulation," Vitiuk commented.

The Washington Post reported in February that the Kremlin established a task force designed to undermine President Volodymyr Zelensky and drive a wedge between the Ukrainian population and its leadership.

Read also: Washington Post: Russia conducts disinformation campaign to undermine Zelensky

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A group of abortion rights supporters gather in the lobby of the South Carolina State House on Wednesday April 26, 2023.

After a decision by the Florida Supreme Court to allow voters opportunity to decide whether a right to abortion access should be added to their states constitution, South Carolina Senators raised a similar ballot measure.

Three Democratic state Senators  Margie Matthews, D-Colleton, Darrell Jackson, D-Richland and Tameika Devine, D-Richland, sought Wednesday to bring the abortion question to the people of South Carolina via a ballot question in November. The amendment wouldve let voters decide whether to enshrine a womans right to an abortion in the states constitution, but was ultimately shot down.

Were here to represent the people of South Carolina, said Matthews. If you believe youre doing the right thing for all the people of South Carolina, men, women and babies, then you should have no problem with putting this (issue) to the people of South Carolina.

This week, Floridas, which also has a six-week abortion ban that was upheld by its Supreme Court, became the latest state to approve a ballot question involving whether woman should have a constitutional right to abortion access up until viability during a pregnancy.

More than a dozen states have supported placing the question of abortion rights on their ballots. Seven states have adopted their referendums and, so far, three others will put the question before voters this November. Another eight states have approved placing the issue on the ballot, but are awaiting the requisite amount of voter signatures.

South Carolina does not allow constitutional amendments to be added by voters or initiative. Instead, only lawmakers can add a constitutional amendment as a ballot measure before voters  something theyve done in the past to measure public sentiment on certain issues.

In fact, the Senate approved a ballot measure Wednesday, seeking a constitutional amendment relating to voter rights. That sparked some Democrats to suggest Republicans were being hypocritical.

In an exchange between state Sens. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, and Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, Campsen said that certain things raise to a constitutional provision and other things dont.

Are you saying (the life of babies) dont rise to a constitutional level, its not that important?, Jackson replied.

Campsen said a constitutional amendment to support abortion access was not relevant to voter rights and that he wasnt prepared to speak on the issue.

Short of a ballot measure, a constitutional amendment would require a 2/3 vote by both the House and Senate before being approved.

What are you afraid of, the truth or the right thing?, Matthews asked her colleagues. You afraid somebody might say Hey, I believe in God, I believe in church but I believe that we should separate the two?. Ive said all along, you will find nobody thats more pro life than me, Im just not pro forced birth.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  A school bus hit a car then crashed into a yard in north Abilene Thursday afternoon.

The incident happened near the intersection of EN 10th Street and Kenwood Drive around 3:00 p.m.

Police at the scene told KTAB and KRBC the Abilene ISD school bus, which was transporting pre-school students, hit a stationary car that was waiting to pick up a child from the bus.

All students involved were evaluated as a precaution, and no injuries were reported.

No further information is available at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Primary school teachers are being told to allow children to change gender without informing their parents despite government guidance to the contrary, the biggest survey of its kind shows.

An analysis of more than 600 school equality and trans policies reveals that up to three-quarters misrepresent laws protecting sex and gender, with some implementing rules such as letting boys use girls toilets and changing rooms if they say they are a girl.

One trust, which includes a number of Church of England primary schools, has even advised teachers to assist girls using breast binders while on school trips and allow students to sleep in bedrooms which match their gender identity.

The policies remain in place despite long-awaited draft government guidance published in December which states that schools should not accept all requests for social transition and should involve parents in any decision that is made.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, has told Parliament that teachers should be cautious about any request to change gender and parents should not be excluded from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to socially transition.

The analysis of more than 600 mainstream state schools across Devon and Cornwall found that 73 per cent and 62 per cent respectively were incorrectly representing equality laws.

The dossier, compiled by Protect and Teach, a network of women concerned about gender ideology in schools and shared with The Telegraph, was undertaken in the regions after research showed that they had some of the highest rates of referral to gender identity services in the country.

It comes just days before the expected publication of the Cass review into gender identity services for children, which has promised to consider the important role of schools. The interim report warned that changing a childs name and pronouns is not a neutral act.

Controversial ideology

Amid growing concern about the role of teachers in the increasing number of children wishing to change gender, The Telegraph can now reveal the extent to which controversial trans ideology has become embedded in policies.

A number of the school policies analysed state that children as young as five can show signs of gender dysphoria and that biological sex is assigned at birth, depending on the appearance of the infant.

One leading grammar school defines sex as a persons understanding and experience of their own gender identity.

The analysis shows that many of the school policies incorrectly represent the Equality Act, which lists nine characteristics which are protected from discrimination under law including sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

The most common error was schools replacing the term sex with the term gender, which campaigners have warned dilutes protections including for single-sex spaces.

Public sector equality rules state that organisations should not use concepts such as gender or gender identity, which are not encoded in the Act and can be understood in different ways.

In response to the findings, MPs and campaigners called for the Government guidance to be made law so that schools captured by trans ideology could be forced to comply.

The draft guidance is currently under consultation, and there are concerns that it could be ignored by schools, with unions telling teachers they do not have to follow it as it is not legally binding.

Miriam Cates MP, a former teacher, said: This research is highly concerning as it shows that a significant proportion of schools still have policies that are consistent with neither the law nor safeguarding.

To keep children safe, adults must always know and be truthful about whether a child is male or female and any policy that allows or encourages teachers to transition children is clearly wrong.

The Government said that it has been absolutely clear about the importance of biological sex in schools and the importance of involving parents in any decisions about a childs trans status.

Some policies have been published by the schools since December 2023, after the Department for Education (DfE) released its trans guidance consultation document and others are due to remain in place for a number of years.

Among the policies singled out for concern is that of An Daras Trust, which runs eight primaries in Devon and Cornwall  including two Church of England schools  and one pre-school.

In its LGBT+ policy, due for review in 2025, An Daras Trust says that staff should not disclos[e] a persons LGBTQ+ identity to any pupils, staff, parents or third parties without their permission and that any communication with parents will only be undertaken with the pupils consent.

Staff will use any name of the childs choosing, including changing the register, and will use their best endeavours to ensure students can use toilets and changing rooms matching their gender identity, it says.

Any transition care plans will be made with the pupil who may request that their parents are not involved.

Washing and reusing binders

The policy adds that before any trips or overnight stays, staff should consider any additional general hygiene needs of trans pupils, including washing and reusing binders.

Sleeping arrangements will be established by trans pupils, the headteacher and the Trust pastoral team. Where possible, the Trust will ensure trans pupils are able to sleep in rooms appropriate to their gender identity, the policy states.

The Trust states that it will use its best endeavours to enable trans individuals to access the toilet and changing facilities (when available) that correspond with their gender identity.

It gives as an example of transphobia that could amount to harassment purposely using the incorrect pronouns. It goes on to state that any occurrence of prejudice-related bullying will be passed to the headteacher who will decide whether it is appropriate to notify the police.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed earlier this year that a CofE primary school in the south east of England allowed a four-year-old boy to join as a girl despite concerns raised by other parents.

Breast binding is also noted in the policies of Education South West (ESW), which runs 15 academies including ten which cater for primary age children.

It notes that breast binding can be hot, uncomfortable and restrictive but very important to their psychological and emotional wellbeing. PE teachers are told to monitor students and discretely offer breaks from exercise in case the binder impairs breathing.

The school does not mention studies which have found that binding can cause pain, rib fractures, changes to the spine, headaches, respiratory and skin infections, and muscle wasting.

It tells teachers they must validate the young persons identity as it is now and support any changes that may arise as they come to explore their identity further.

The policy continues: ESW schools will respect the confidentiality of all transgender students and will not reveal sensitive personal information without prior agreement of the individual except to protect their vital interests.

Swallowed activist interpretations

Ms Cates said: Too many schools have swallowed activist interpretations of the Equality Act by falsely stating that gender identity is a protected characteristic, which it is not.

I hope once the consultation on the DfEs Gender Questioning guidance is finished and the final document is published that schools will correct their policies but if this is not the case, then the guidance must be made statutory.

Protect and Teach said that it was really concerned that children were being taught contested ideas about gender from primary school.

Why are teachers creating uncertainty in childrens minds about sex and gender and why are they listening to the requests for transition from a child whose ideas change every day, even throughout the day? one of the women behind the group said.

We have seen the waiting list for gender clinics and having looked at their policies we believe that schools are responsible for creating this demand. They have no idea about the long-term damage that they are doing.

A spokesman for ESW said that it was delighted to have finally received guidance from the Government on the issue and would be reviewing its policy when it expires in July in line with the recommendations from the Department for Education.

An Daras Trust did not respond to a request for comment.

A DfE spokesman said: We are absolutely clear about the importance of biological sex, particularly in the context of safeguarding, and the role parents must play in decisions about their children.

Schools and colleges are expected to follow all guidance issued by the Government, whether it is statutory or not.

Our guidance is clear that in nearly every case schools should not support the social transition of primary aged children, including not using pronouns that do not align with the childs sex.

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.
Across Michigan schools on April 8, it's likely many students will be donning the same funky eyewear around 2 p.m., as they gather outside with their teachers to try to get a glimpse of the 2024 solar eclipse.

Many major districts across the state reported plans to hand out free glasses to all students, out of both an abundance of caution  so students don't look directly at the sun and risk potential damage to their eyes  and out of educational curiosity. Districts reported plans to host viewing parties and to dedicate some learning time to the science behind the conundrum.

But district leaders are also stressing safety amid the fun and excitement of the eclipse, warning students not to depend on regular sunglasses to view the eclipse and even to walk out of school wearing eclipse glasses. Another conundrum schools face is timing and potential safety concerns: The eclipse is expected to begin around 2 p.m. in southeast Michigan and go until about 4:30. Many schools ring their final bell during that block of time.

What time is the solar eclipse? Search your ZIP code for a viewing guide.

Great Start Readiness Program preschool students Nokomus Daniels, left, Emma Adkins, middle, and Elsie Fadell participate in a solar eclipse class activity at Mason Central Elementary School in Erie on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

While most districts won't be in the direct path of totality, district officials from across the state wrote to the Detroit Free Press that they are still planning for the day and crossing their fingers for clear weather.

"To actually be able to step outside and witness something like this during the day together, thats really rare," said Tony Stamm, Ann Arbor Public Schools math and science curriculum coordinator, in a news release. "I dont think theres anything comparable that really accounts for the magnitude of the event, as well as the accessibility."

Michigan schools' plans for the 2024 solar eclipse

It appears most Michigan schools are not planning on closing for the eclipse.

Ann Arbor Public Schools, like several other districts, received 20,000 eclipse glasses through a donation from the Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union. The district created lesson plans for elementary school teachers, while middle and high schools will include safety lessons for students.

Detroit Public Schools Community District, the largest district in the state, will receive glasses thanks to NASA's education network, according to a district news release. Students will be able to "engage in meaningful observations and discussions about the science behind this fascinating event," according to the release.

How to safely watch the 2024 eclipse: Why you can't look without special glasses

Glasses might not be the only viewing medium. Some students may opt to go old school, with pinhole cameras, which can be fashioned usually with just a few items, including paper and tin foil.

Some district officials, including officials in Troy, Royal Oak and Livonia, wrote to the Free Press that eclipse plans will depend on the school.

Stacy Jenkins, Livonia Public Schools spokeswoman, wrote that the district is leaving plans to individual schools. One district school, Cooper Upper Elementary School, is hosting a 20-minute viewing party with glasses, with assigned viewing areas for classes.

Safety precautions and opt-out options

But safety, too, is a major theme for district communications to students and parents about the eclipse.

In an email to families on April 2, Berkley School District Superintendent Scott Francis wrote that no recess will take place in the afternoon on April 8 and gym classes will stay inside. Classes can go outside to view the eclipse, but students must wear eclipse glasses and must wear their eclipse glasses as they exit school at the end of the day. Detroit public school officials wrote that it's "crucial" for students to prioritize safety when they view the event.

Several districts, such as Clarkston Community Schools, stressed in letters to families that they should emphasize the importance of not looking at the sun to their children, and "explain to them that regular sunglasses do not offer sufficient protection."

More: Where to buy last-minute solar eclipse glasses for April 8

For parents concerned about safety, numerous districts responded that families will have the option to opt their child out of eclipse viewing events or will have to sign a permission slip before their child is permitted to view the eclipse. A Ferndale High School opt-out form states that students will be provided with an "alternative educational experience" in place of an eclipse viewing.

But, ultimately, it's up to students themselves to stay safe.

"Although we will provide safety guidelines to students, such as instructing students to not remove solar viewing glasses and not to look directly at the sun, there is no way for the school to guarantee that your student will follow those guidelines," Ferndale High School Principal Michael Griffin wrote.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan schools not closing for solar eclipse, will give free glasses
Senate aides say they expect Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to immediately dismiss the impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after the House impeachment managers present them next week.

One Senate GOP aide said Schumer is expected to schedule a vote on a motion to dismiss or a motion to table the charges.

Schumer also could refer the matter to a special evidentiary committee, but Senate Democrats worry doing so could help validate the two counts against Mayorkas, which Schumer has panned as a sham and absurd.

A Senate GOP aide who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter said Mayorkass impeachment wont take up much time on the Senate floor.

Theres not going to be a trial. I dont think well even get a resolution to govern the floor process, said the aide.

The aide said Schumer is expected to offer a motion to dismiss or a motion to table the day after the House impeachment managers formally present the charges to the Senate on Wednesday.

Any motion to dismiss or table the charges against Mayorkas would need only a simple majority to pass. Democrats now hold a 51-49 seat advantage.

A vote to dismiss the articles of impeachment may get Republican support, as several GOP senators have expressed skepticism about the strength of the House GOPs case against Mayorkas.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has said Mayorkas appeared to be carrying out the policies of the White House but declined to say how she might vote, because she would be a juror in any trial.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) warned a partisan battle over Mayorkas on the Senate floor would be a detour from the important work thats going on.

And Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told CNN in February he would be inclined to dismiss the charges against Mayorkas.

If there is a policy difference, its with the president, not the secretary that reports to him, he said.

Schumer has panned the House impeachment effort as failing to provide any evidence that Mayorkas committed high crimes and misdemeanors, the standard for impeachment set by the Constitution.

Theres no evidence that hes committed any impeachable activities or actions, and I think its absurd, he told reporters last month.

Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) told reporters this week she hopes the Senate will dismiss the impeachment charges immediately.

Leader Schumer has not been specific in how he intends to execute on that, but lets be clear: This was an impeachment in search of a problem, she said.

What I hope is that were able to dismiss it quickly and get on to the business of the American people, she added.

Even Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, has dismissed the impeachment of Mayorkas as ridiculous and said he just wants to get rid of it as quick as possible.

Schumers office has only said the impeachment proceedings are expected to last at least two days.

As we have said previously, after the House impeachment managers present the articles of impeachment to the Senate, senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day. Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray will preside, Schumers office said.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the House impeachment managers urged Schumer in a letter to hold a full trial on the Senate floor.

We call upon you to fulfill your constitutional duty to hold this trial, they wrote. To table articles of impeachment without ever hearing a single argument or reviewing a piece of evidence would be a violation of our constitutional order an affront to the American people whom we all serve.

It would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate to remove Mayorkas from office.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) has called on Schumer to give the House GOP prosecutors ample time to present their arguments on the floor.

The House of Representatives has determined that Secretary Mayorkas has committed impeachable offenses. That issue will come before the United States Senate. I believe the Senate needs to hold a trial, Thune announced at one of the weekly Senate GOP leadership press conferences.

Thune, however, predicted that Democrats will try to dismiss it.

Some Senate Republican sources say Schumer could have referred the impeachment inquiry to a special Senate committee to review the matter, which would have enabled him to postpone a floor vote until after Election Day.

Thats what the Senate did in 2010, when the House impeached Louisiana Judge Thomas Porteous.

It was the last time the Senate handled an impeachment of a federal official below the office of the presidency.

But a key difference between the case against Mayorkas and the case against Porteous 14 years ago was that Porteous faced a mountain of incriminating evidence, whereas even some Republicans now think the charges against Mayorkas are weak.

The Senate ultimately voted 90-6 to convict Porteous.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Scientists face uncertainty while examining health consequences of microplastics: 'We need to act before we have all the answers'

Scientists are sounding the alarm about a potential growing threat to human health: microplastics. These minuscule plastic fragments, some as small as a grain of sand, are turning up in our food, drinks, air, and even inside our bodies.

What's happening?

As research reveals microplastics' pervasiveness, concerns are mounting about the impacts on our health.

"The results were quite shocking," Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist and professor emeritus at VU Amsterdam, told the Washington Post after his team found microplastics in human blood and organs.

In one study, microplastics were found in every single one of 62 placenta samples examined. Another detected them in every artery studied, per the Post. We're not only consuming small amounts of microplastics in things like seafood, but also likely breathing them in. Hundreds of millions of tons of plastic enter the environment each year, per the U.N., and large plastics break down into tinier pieces that can more easily enter our bodies.

Why are microplastics concerning?

While the full health effects of microplastics are still a mystery, early signs point to potential risks. Microplastics could be making us more vulnerable to cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, Alzheimer's, and fertility issues, as the Post detailed.

The problem is that microplastics come in thousands of combinations of materials, shapes, and chemical additives.

"What you have is an absolute unknown cocktail of chemicals that are on these microplastics," said Frederick vom Saal, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Missouri, per the Post. Over 10,000 chemicals are used to make plastic, with over 2,400 "of concern" for human health, based on a 2021 study cited by the news outlet.

Lab studies have linked microplastics to cell death, tissue damage, and allergic reactions, the Post explained. In mice, they've been tied to dementia-like behavioral changes. But definitively connecting specific plastics to long-term human health outcomes as they accumulate over decades is a daunting scientific challenge.

"I hate to say it, but we're still at the beginning," Phoebe Stapleton, a professor at Rutgers University, told the Post.

What's being done about microplastics?

Scientists are urging governments to curb plastic production and pollution before we fully witness the consequences.

"If you just spill plastics everywhere, and you have no idea what you're doing, you're going exactly against this principle," said Lukas Kenner of the Medical University of Vienna, referencing medicine's "do no harm" philosophy.

As individuals, simple swaps like choosing reusable bottles over plastic ones can help stem the plastic tide. "We need to act before we have all the answers," Sherri Mason, director of

sustainability at Penn State Behrend, told the Post. "But I'm not sure that we will."

The less plastic we produce and toss, the less ends up in our environment and our bodies. Our everyday choices, amplified across society, can help turn off the plastic pollution tap  for our own health and the planet we share.

Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet.
Sean Hannity Warns Republicans On A Policy Stance That Will 'Get Their Asses Kicked'

Sean Hannity warned Republicans on Wednesday that endorsing severe abortion restrictions will get their asses kicked in the election. (Watch the video below.)

We know what the playbook is, Hannity said of Democratic politicians while speaking with a panel of pollsters on his Fox News show. They will demagogue on abortion. Republicans, they better have a good answer. And they also need to understand where the country is.

Hannity, who referred to himself as pretty pro-life, seemed to advise candidates not to advocate for heavy restrictions before 15 weeks of pregnancy. The conservative host noted the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision to uphold Mississippis 15-week ban on most abortions while overturning Roe v. Wade.

Thats where the country is, Hannity said. And if Republican politicians dont understand that, then theyre going to get their asses kicked and theyre going to lose.

Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump said last month hed consider a federal ban after 15 weeks.

People are agreeing on 15, and Im thinking in terms of that, he said in a radio interview with Sid & Friends in the Morning.

An Economist/YouGov poll released in February indicated that 48% of Americans would support a 16-week ban, another number that Trump has reportedly pondered.

President Joe Biden has stepped up his criticism of Trump on the abortion front. On Monday, he released a new ad targeting the former president.

In 2016, Donald Trump ran to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now, in 2024, hes running to pass a national ban on a womans right to choose, Biden said in the ad, adding, Donald Trump doesnt trust women. I do.

Reproductive rights advocates were dealt a blow last week when a Florida court cleared the way for a six-week ban to go into effect on May 1.

In November last year, abortion rights were bolstered by key victories in Virginia and Ohio.

H/T Mediaite

Related...
Body of Dothan man recovered in Lake Eufaula

EUFAULA, Ala (WDHN)  Authorities have found the body of a Dothan man who fell overboard in Lake Eufaula.

Eufaula Police identified the man as 65-year-old Will Anthony Newman.

According to the Eufaula Police, Newman was on a fishing trip Wednesday afternoon when he fell overboard near the Cheneyhatchee Bridge.

Newmans body was found around 8:00 p.m. by dive and search teams.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys Marine Division is investigating the case.

The search teams consisted of the Eufaula Police and Fire Departments, Game and Fish, ALEA Marine Division, Barbour County Sheriffs Office, and Houston County Dive Team.

Stay with WDHN for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
Second man charged in deadly shooting near Dayton elementary school

A second person has been charged in connection to a deadly shooting near a Dayton elementary school that happened earlier this year.

Kyree Whitaker, 18, was charged Wednesday with one count of murder and three counts of complicity to commit aggravated robbery, according to Dayton Municipal Court records.

Whitaker, Kyree Gerald (10/09/2005) - Held in custody of Montgomery County Jail with booking number 24-004223 on 04/01/2024 at 4:14 PM. Unclassified Felony - Murder (Pending);

>> PHOTOS: 1 dead after shooting near Dayton elementary school

The charges are connected to the shooting death of 20-year-old Isaiah Murray.

As News Center 7 previously reported, the shooting was reported on Jan. 12 in a parking lot across the street from Roosevelt Elementary School and the Greater Dayton Recreation Center.

When police got to the scene, they found Murray dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Whitaker is the second person to be charged in connection to the shooting. William Brown, 19, was indicted on murder and complicity to commit aggravated robbery charges this week.

>> RELATED: Man accused of deadly shooting near Dayton elementary school indicted on charges

Before the shooting, both men were allegedly part of a group that conspired to rob a group of people. In announcing Browns indictment, the Montgomery County Prosecutors Office said Murray was one of the targets of the attempted robbery.

Murray was shot and killed during the incident.

Whitaker was arrested on Monday and remains booked in the Montgomery County Jail.








NAIROBI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Bako Auta, a resident of Hulumi village in Nigeria, vividly remembers the transformative impact of China's digital television aid initiative.

"Before that, our lives were limited to the village. The televisions donated by China allowed us to see the world beyond the fence," Auta said about the installation of free equipment by the Chinese digital television operator StarTimes seven years ago.

Auta's experience is similar to that of numerous beneficiaries across Africa who have been touched by the "Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages" project in remote rural areas.

The initiative, conceived during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015, aims to connect 10,000 African villages to satellite television.

By December 2023, this China-aided project had successfully completed construction work in 20 African countries, encompassing 9,512 villages and directly benefiting over 190,000 households.

Speaking at the handover ceremony of the China-aided satellite TV project in Mozambique, President Filipe Nyusi praised its role in bridging the digital and information gap between rural and urban populations. He emphasized its significance in enhancing livelihoods, promoting public education, and fostering social development.

Under the project, each recipient village received two sets of solar-powered projector TV systems and one solar digital TV integrated terminal system for public areas, free of charge, as confirmed by contractor StarTimes. These installations have become vital conduits for villagers to access information from the outside world.

Murindahabi Augustin, a resident from an assisted village in Rwanda, expressed gratitude. "Through the TV, we can get information about modern agriculture, government programs, prevention of infectious diseases, and more," Augustin said.

StarTimes broadcasted all 52 matches of the 34th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in early 2024, garnering widespread acclaim. The inclusion of commentary in local languages such as Kiswahili, Yoruba, and Hausa resonated with fans.

"Thanks to the Chinese enterprises that connected satellite TV signals for our village, we can now finally sit together as a family and watch matches!" said Abissa Kouassi, a villager from Yaou village in Cote d'Ivoire.

Ma Shaoyong, director of overseas public relations for StarTimes Group, highlighted the company's efforts in democratizing digital TV across Africa. He also emphasized the substantially reduced costs for installation and viewing, making it accessible to average households.

"The installation fee for a StarTimes set-top box stands at a mere 10 U.S. dollars, with subscribers required to pay a monthly fee ranging between 3-5 U.S. dollars, granting access to nearly 30 digital TV channels spanning news, sports, and movies," said Ma.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, StarTimes has trained local technicians in recipient villages to conduct after-sales maintenance. Nunes Guardagea, a Mozambican technician, finds profound fulfillment in his role.

"I'm able to help people in remote areas access information and enrich their lives," Guardagea said.

As the project continues to enlighten remote areas of Africa, StarTimes is advancing its localization strategy. In Kenya, the enterprise has invested in producing local dramas, resonating with audiences by using Kiswahili.

Timothy Owase, CEO of the Kenya Film Commission, applauded these productions as narratives that authentically represent local stories. 
When can you see April 8s eclipse in your area? We rounded up times for 20 PA locations

At long last, the much anticipated total solar eclipse is almost here. Nearly 32 million Americans are estimated to reside in optimal viewing areas for April 8s eclipse, but many more can see a partial view from their own backyards.

The best views are found along its path of totality, better known as the courses the moons shadow takes during a total solar eclipse. April 8s eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean before moving up through North America and across the U.S., eventually passing through Canada and exiting the continent through the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland.

Many states, including Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and even Pennsylvania, will see the path of totality cross their borders April 8, but you can see a partial view of the eclipse from all 48 contiguous U.S. states. Heres when youll need to step outside Monday if you hope to see the eclipse at its peak in your area.

What time is the 2024 solar eclipse over Pennsylvania?

Thanks to the eclipses path, most of Pennsylvania should see at least roughly 90% of the suns surface obscured by the moon Monday afternoon. However, the exact timing may vary from place to place.

Undoubtedly, the best place to see April 8s eclipse in the Keystone State is in northwestern Pennsylvania, where the path of totality will cross Monday afternoon. Erie is likely the biggest draw for eclipse fans, as the city will welcome thousands of visitors for the rare astronomical event.

The latest projections from NASA expect the path of totality to cross over Erie between 3:15 and 3:20 p.m. April 8. Maximum obscuration will arrive at 3:18 p.m., while partial obscuration in the area  when any part of the sun is blocked by the moon  will stretch from 2:02 to 4:30 p.m.

April 8s total solar eclipse will completely block the suns light and create a 115-mile-wide path of totality across much of the U.S. Those outside the path will see a partial solar eclipse. NASA Scientific Visualization Studio

Heres a look at important times to keep in mind if you hope to see April 8s eclipse in some other Pennsylvania cities, according to the online global clock Time and Date:

Partial obscuration in Philadelphia will stretch from 2:08 to 4:35 p.m. with a peak at 3:23 p.m. The eclipse will block out roughly 90% of the suns surface area.

Pittsburgh will see partial obscuration from 2 to 4:30 p.m. with a peak at 3:17 p.m. The areas obscuration will peak at about 97.1%.

Viewers in Reading will see obscuration peak at 3:22 p.m. as partial obscuration stretches from 2:07 to 4:34 p.m. Roughly 92% of the suns surface area will be blocked.

Partial obscuration in Harrisburg will run from 2:05 to 4:33 p.m. with a peak at 3:21 p.m. Pennsylvanias capital will see obscuration peak at 92.9%.

Allentowns partial obscuration will start at 2:08 p.m. and wrap up around 4:35 p.m. with a peak at 3:23 p.m. The eclipse will block out around 92.3% of the suns surface area.

Those watching the eclipse in Altoona will see partial obscuration stretch from 2:03 to 4:32 p.m. with a peak at 3:19 p.m. Obscuration will max out at around 95.4%.

Scranton will observe partial obscuration from 2:08 to 4:35 p.m. Obscuration will peak at roughly 94.9% at 3:23 p.m.

Partial obscuration in Williamsport will run from 2:06 to 4:33 p.m. and peak at 3:21 p.m. The eclipse will block out nearly 96% of the suns surface area.

Lancasters partial obscuration will begin at 2:06 p.m. before wrapping up at 4:34 p.m. Obscuration will peak at roughly 91.6% at 3:22 p.m.

Eclipse times for the Centre County area

Those who hope to see the eclipse from the State College area should have a great view. Obscuration in central Pennsylvania will tap out at around 95% Monday afternoon.

Heres a look at key times for the eclipse in and around Centre County:

State College will see partial obscuration begin at 2:04 p.m. and end at 4:32 p.m. Obscuration will peak at about 95.5% at 3:20 p.m.

Partial obscuration in Boalsburg will stretch between 2:04 and 4:32 p.m. Its obscuration will peak at 3:20 p.m., too, but block out 95.4% of the suns surface.

Those watching the eclipse from nearby Bellefonte will see it stretch from 2:04 to 4:32 p.m., too. However, its peak jumps to 96% at 3:20 p.m.

Up in Philipsburg , partial obscuration will begin at 2:04 p.m. and wrap up at 4:32 p.m. Obscuration will peak at 3:20 p.m. at around 96.3%.

Centre Hall will observe partial obscuration from 2:04 p.m. to 4:33 p.m. The eclipse will block out 95.5% of the suns surface area when it peaks at 3:20 p.m.

Viewers in Milesburg will see partial obscuration between 2:04 and 4:32 p.m. Obscuration will peak at 3:20 p.m. at just under 96%.

Partial obscuration in Snow Shoe begins at 2:04 p.m. and ends at 4:32 p.m. You can catch the maximum obscuration of 96.3% at 3:20 p.m.

Just like its neighboring areas, Port Matilda will observe partial obscuration between 2:04 and 4:32 p.m. Obscuration will peak at 95.8% at 3:20 p.m.

Over in Lewistown , partial obscuration will begin at 2:07 p.m. and end at 4:34 p.m. Around 93.3% of the suns surface area will be blocked out when obscuration peaks at 3:22 p.m.

Lock Haven will observe partial obscuration between 2:05 and 4:33 p.m. Maximum obscuration at 3:21 p.m. will block out 96.1% of the suns surface area.

Are those eclipse glasses safe? Where to find a proper pair in Pennsylvania, what to avoid

Do you need glasses to watch April 8s eclipse?

Yes. Unless you are viewing an eclipse from within the path of totality, where sunlight is completely blocked for a brief time, you risk serious eye injury when looking at the sun, even if it is partially obscured.

While the suns light may appear dimmer during an eclipse, it can still damage your eyes. Unprotected looks at the sun for even a brief moment can result in vision loss or blindness as wavelengths of light damage your retina.

Solar viewing glasses or eclipse glasses are likely the most convenient way to safely view an eclipse. These are often thousands of times darker than everyday sunglasses and often comply with international safety standards. Visit the American Astronomical Societys website to find reputable glasses retailers to find options near you.

Glasses from the 2017 total solar eclipse or the 2023 annular eclipse can still work if they are in good condition. Otherwise, consider crafting your own pair using materials from around the house.

Though crafting is a bit more involved, you can assemble your own pinhole projector at home to view an eclipse indirectly. NASA recommends a project in this manner that lets sunlight shine through a hole in a sheet of paper to create a shadow of an eclipse on the ground.
Early polling and special election results have raised many questions about how the electorate might vote come November. Will younger voters swing sharply to the right? Might President Joe Biden gain more ground among white college-educated voters? Has former President Donald Trump made significant inroads with voters of color? Could turnout plummet because of unhappiness with a Biden-Trump rematch? Any of these developments could potentially change who wins the election.

With this in mind, 538 is proud to present its 2024 Swing-O-Matic interactive! This tool engages with these questions by allowing you to play around with how different parts of the electorate might vote, altering how much a group prefers one party's candidate or the other, and just how high or low that group's turnout is. As you increase support here or decrease turnout there, the Electoral College map will adjust as some states flip to red or blue. Remember, state demographics vary quite a bit, so certain changes could help one party more in some places than others.

Let's take a look at how the Swing-O-Matic works. Using polling and demographic data, we've broken down the national electorate into subgroups based on five components: age, education, sex, income and race. Within these categories, you can adjust both the turnout and the share of each subgroup supporting either the Democratic or Republican candidate (i.e., Biden or Trump), as well as the share supporting third-party candidates. And if you want to input a uniform swing affecting party preference or turnout levels of the electorate as a whole, you can use the "Shift all voters" tool.

Each time you change a group's preferences or turnout at the national level, the Swing-O-Matic applies the adjustment to each state based on its individual demographic traits. If a state flips to a different party than it did in 2020, based on your scenario, it will have a dotted outline around it on the map. You can also dig deeper into specific state-by-state results in the tables at the bottom of the interactive, which will detail just what your changes wrought across each state and demographic subgroup. Note that the interactive uses an iterative and additive approach, so if you were to swing college-educated voters by 5 points and 18-to-29 year olds by 5 points, that would collectively swing college-educated voters who are age 18 to 29 by 10 points.

But fear not, we aren't going to just throw you into the deep end with the Swing-O-Matic. The interactive includes four hypothetical scenarios that help show how changes in party preference and turnout among different parts of the electorate could affect state-level results and the Electoral College outcome. These scenarios aren't just for demonstration purposes either  you can use them as a starting place for your own electoral tailoring. Otherwise, you'll begin with the default scenario, which applies each demographic subgroup's preferences and turnout levels from 2020 to the makeup of the current voting-eligible population.

So what hypothetical swings are included? One of the Swing-O-Matic's scenarios lays out what would happen if voters without four-year college degrees and voters of color shifted to the right, a possibility given recent trends and some early polling. In 2020, Biden won among nonwhite voters nationwide by 48 percentage points, according to our estimates built on data from the Cooperative Election Study, while Trump carried voters without a college degree by 7 percentage points. But in this scenario, Biden loses a little ground among Black, Latino, AAPI and other voters of color, such that his margin among the nonwhite electorate falls to 45 points, while Trump's advantage among voters without a college degree expands to 9 points. The result? Trump wins.

PHOTO: A possible 2024 presidential election scenario where Trump wins the Electoral College 297-241 votes. Biden wins the popular vote 50-48 percent, with 2 percent going to third party candidates. (538 photo illustration)

In this scenario, Trump would flip the Sun Belt trio of Arizona, Georgia and Nevada as well as the Frost Belt duo of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Adding these five states to his 2020 map would give Trump 297 electoral votes to Biden's 241, surpassing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Notably, Biden would actually still narrowly win the popular vote, illustrating the GOP's recent advantage in the Electoral College compared with its popular vote support. After all, Trump won in 2016 under somewhat similar circumstances while losing the popular vote. This result wouldn't be a big surprise  all of these are swing states that Biden won in 2020 by less than his national margin of 4.5 points.

Another scenario involves Biden making gains among older voters and white voters, which early surveys have also pointed to as a possibility. In 2020, Trump won voters who were 65 or older by 11 points and non-Hispanic white voters by about 13 points. But if Trump's margin among older voters fell by 3 points (to R+8) and slid by 4 points among white voters (to R+9) while turnout remained the same, that would buttress Biden's showing and allow him to win by slightly more than he did in 2020  both in the popular and electoral vote.

PHOTO: A possible 2024 presidential election scenario where Biden wins the Electoral College 349-189 votes and the popular vote 53-45 percent, with two percent going to third-party candidates. (538 photo illustration)

Under this hypothetical, Biden flips Florida (has the second-largest share of residents age 65 or older) and North Carolina while holding onto everything else he won in 2020, which would give him 349 electoral votes to Trump's 189. Biden would also expand his popular vote share to 53 percent, helped out by the fact that white voters and older voters usually have higher turnout rates than the country as a whole. That makes support shifts among those voters especially impactful.

The other two scenarios in the interactive illustrate how changes in turnout among specific groups could affect the election outcome. In one hypothetical, voters ages 18 to 29 turn out at lower rates and give a slightly larger share of their vote to third-party contenders, which hurts Biden and helps Trump because this group has been strongly Democratic-leaning in recent times. As a result, Trump would claim a narrow victory in the Electoral College  272 to 266  even as Biden still wins the popular vote by almost 4 points. In the other scenario, reduced turnout among white voters and voters without four-year college degrees hurts Trump's standing and aids Biden's, as both groups are Republican-leaning. Biden would add one additional state (North Carolina) to his 2020 showing in this hypothetical.

Each of these scenarios provides a useful overview of how tweaking support and turnout could affect the 2024 election outcome. Of course, the thing about demographic trends is that every group will probably move one way or the other, even if only by small margins, compared to the last election. And while we know that presidential turnout is likely to be high, it's impossible to know if it'll be nearly as high as the record-setting turnout we saw in 2020, and just how it might vary from group to group.

At this point, everything about 2024 is a moving target. So, dear reader, have fun adjusting the electorate and seeing just how the election could play out under different circumstances. Now, you're welcome to adjust the numbers any way you like, but do remember that dramatic swings aren't likely. Namely, a group that has been heavily Democratic or Republican is unlikely to suddenly swing all the way in the other direction to overwhelmingly support the other party. For instance, Latino voters became less Democratic-leaning in 2020. Yet while surveys found that the Democrats' margin among Latino voters shrank compared with 2016  perhaps by as little as 5 points or as much as nearly 20 points  around 60 percent or more still voted Democratic. And while turnout could shift up or down from 2020, it's nigh impossible that a given group's turnout will surge to almost 100 percent  or fall close to zero. Still, you're in control  go tinker to your heart's content!

See how demographic swings could impact the 2024 election originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Many of the remembrances of Sen. Joe Lieberman, who passed away last week, have highlighted his legacy as one of the great post-Cold War statesmen or the fact he was the first Jewish-American to be nominated by a major political party as vice president of the United States.

Those career achievements are worth celebrating, to be sure. But what made the senator truly exceptional was his sheer humanityhis civility, grace, wisdom, love of family, and ability to convey his beliefs in a calm manner no matter the complexity of the issue at hand or the difficulty of the personalities involved.

Just look at the list of those who attended his funeral last Friday: Vice President Al Gore, various senators, scores of former staffers, a raft of onetime colleagues in Connecticut state politics, and Gov. Ned Lamont, his onetime political opponent. What all these people have in commonbesides fiercely opposing Sen. Lieberman on one issue or another during his long careeris their profound and enduring respect for the man whose memory they were there to celebrate. The speakers who eulogized the late senator on Friday were remarkably consistent: They spoke of a man they deeply admired and respected.

Sen. Lieberman was never afraid to voice his opposition to any policy or action with which he strongly disagreed. But in his principled advocacy of any issue, he expressed his dissent with elegance, wisdom, and wit. No major recent figure so plainly rejected the animus and bile that seems to consume modern American politics. He seemed immune from the piques of anger or outrage that flare up among even the best of the rest of us.

I first got to know the senator as a political foe in the infamous Florida recount that determined the outcome of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. He was well aware of my role as a bit player on behalf of then-Gov. George W. Bush in election offices, television interviews, and courtrooms, and although he was known for his sense of humor, I always felt a bit sheepish whenever he occasionally teased me about my role in the recount. I remain proud to have worked for President Bush and I dont regret the outcome, but I was cognizant that the recount derailed my close friends historic bid for the second-highest office in the land. The last time he joked with me about the recount, he sensed my discomfort. You know, Mark, dont fret too much about this whole recount business, he told me. If we had won Tennessee, the outcome of Florida wouldnt have mattered one bit. Only upon his death did I learn that he had wanted me to be a pallbearer at his funeral. I was honored by the request and, while carrying out my duties on Friday, was struck that the extraordinary generosity of his character persisted beyond his tragic and untimely death.

My friendship with the senator developed further when I had the privilege of working for his friend and colleague, Sen. John McCain. McCains wit was second to none in politics, and his borscht belt jokes with Sen. Lieberman, often at his colleague from Connecticuts expense, were legion. McCain used to joke that it was now time to fully convert to Judaism, having gone through so many Jewish experiences with his friend. Sen. Liebermans equally wry response was always to remind McCain that a bris was an essential element of Jewish conversion.

McCain, like Sen. Lieberman, was a great storyteller and capable of serious reflection. Before the vice presidential selection process and the start of the Republican National Convention in 2008, I was with McCain at his cabin in Sedona, doing my best to assist at his famous barbecueor at least not get in the way. The conversation eventually turned to our mutual friend, and McCain stopped the stream of his political commentary and grew quiet. Joe is good, he said simply. He is just good.

Even when McCain passed over Sen. Lieberman for the vice presidential nomination in the heat of the campaign, the senator from Connecticut did not hesitate to assist Sarah Palin as she stepped onto the national stage. I will never forget the mock debate where Sen. Lieberman played the part of then-Vice President Joe Biden while I played the late, great Gwen Ifill. It was a particularly challenging moment in the campaign, with Palin facing the full brunt of media scrutiny. I saw first-hand the care, concern, and empathy with which Sen. Lieberman embraced the governor and talked her through the context of that difficult time. In that moment, they werent a senator and a governor, nor even two vice presidential nominees. They were just two people talking.

The selflessness and humility he displayed toward Palin were typical of Sen. Lieberman. In a world where success has a thousand authors, he stood out for his belief that service and good work were enough, and that credit was of little importance. In 2018, Sen. Lieberman and I convened a secret meetingin our capacities as chairman and CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran, respectivelyof Arab and Israeli intelligence chiefs and high-ranking members of the Trump administration. The first-of-its-kind meeting focused on cooperation on security and stability in the region, and it led to additional discussions that ultimately culminated in the Abraham Accords.

That first meeting hosted by Sen. Lieberman and UANI has never been publicly disclosed. The senator was proud to play a role in helping normalize relations between Arabs and Jews, but he was adamant that those who coordinated subsequent meetings deserved the credit. In his mind, the work itself was reward enoughclaiming public authorship was unnecessary. And at the risk of treading on that sensibility, I mention this extraordinary and historic example of his devotion to service and repairing the world, because its significance was at least matched by his unparalleled selflessness.

Despite Sen. Liebermans insistence on being referred to as Joe, I couldnt help but address him as the senator. He exemplified what it meant to be a great public servant, and that is how I will always remember him. Whenever I had the privilege of introducing him, Id always conclude with an inside joke between us, identifying him as the national treasure, Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Mark, youve gotta save that for my funeral, hed retort, always sparking some laughter from the audience. And if he were here to respond to the outpouring of kind words that have been heaped upon him following his passing, Im sure hed say something like, Mark, couldnt you have waited a little longer to use that linelike 10 years?!

As I reflect on Sen. Liebermans life, I cant help but be terribly sad. As long as Id known him, my friend, the senator, was always there whenever I was unsure of what to say or think. We coauthored so many statements, op-eds, letters, and posts together, and he had a unique gift for finding the right words to match any feeling or emotion. Having the senator by my side was one of lifes greatest gifts, and I know Im not alone in feeling profoundly touched by him.

Ultimately, his family provided his bedrock. His wife, Hadassah, was truly his partner in caring, wisdom, kindness, and generosity. The senator and Hadassah were a team, and she was his essential person in all that they accomplished together. His love for her, his children, and his grandchildren knew no bounds.

Sen. Joe Lieberman was our national treasure, but to many of us, he was so much more. He gave his country so much, and his country will miss him. So will I.

Read more at The Dispatch

The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free.
A group of Senate Democrats is calling on President Biden to take more action to address the humanitarian issues in the Gaza Strip, arguing the U.S. has the resources to provide more aid and prevent further suffering of civilians.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) asked Biden to drastically increase the supply of medicine and medical equipment going into Gaza to address the medical crisis there.

The crisis on the ground has only worsened after Israeli raids on hospitals, and continued fighting has created fuel shortages that put hospitals out of commission, the letter stated. Doctors now worry that their only options are displacement, detention or death.

The senators referenced a series of anecdotes from Americans and medical personnel.

Medical staff are treating patients on the floor instead of beds and working ceaselessly for as long as two weeks, all while bombs and gunfire can be heard nearby and as mass casualties come in waves at least three or four times a night, they wrote.

They suggested the U.S. quickly mobilize airlifts of medicine and medical equipment to the remaining functional hospitals and asked the Biden administration to seek absolute assurances the Israeli government will protect medical infrastructure and personnel.

The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.

Pressure on Israel to take more caution in protecting civilian lives and allowing aid into Gaza ramped up earlier this week after seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike while delivering food supplies in Gaza.

The workers, who were with the World Central Kitchen, were leaving a warehouse in central Gaza in two armored cars on Monday, when the strike hit. They had delivered 100 tons of food aid to the warehouse shortly before.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took responsibility for the deadly strike Tuesday and said it was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip.

The war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas has raged on for nearly six months following Hamass surprise incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Hamass attacks killed more than 1,100 people in Israel, while around 250 others were taken hostage.

Israels retaliatory bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 32,700 people since early October, per The Associated Press, and devastated swaths of neighborhoods, buildings and hospitals.

Humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned of depleting resources in the enclave. A report from the United Nationss World Food Programme released last month stated 1.1 million in the territory have completely exhausted their food supplies and are dealing with catastrophic hunger.

The senators on Wednesday asked the Biden administration to lay out the capabilities the U.S. has to meet their demands, which also included deploying the Navys hospital ships to the eastern Mediterranean, coordinating the transportation of severely injured Palestinians and creating field hospitals in North Gaza and Egypt.

Israel has the right to pursue Hamas terrorists who carried out the horrific attacks on October 7, but it must comply with international law, the senators wrote.

The combination of Israeli restrictions on access to humanitarian aid and the harm caused by relentless bombing and shelling has devastated Gazas healthcare capacities at a time when the need for urgent care is soaring. It is critical that the United States leverage its unique capabilities to urgently and dramatically ramp up medical support to the people of Gaza, they continued.

Biden, who said earlier this week that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza, is expected to speak with Netanyahu on Thursday.

I am hopeful that when the president talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he will be making it clear that support for the actions of the prime minister are not  hes not helping Israel, Warren said in an interview on CNN News Central on Thursday. He is not keeping Israel safe, and he cannot  continue a policy of trying to starve out the people of Gaza, that he loses support all around the world.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 2, 2024. World Central Kitchen, an aid group, says an Israeli strike that hit its workers in Gaza killed at least seven people, including several foreigners. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

LONDON (AP)  More than 600 British jurists, including three retired judges from the U.K. Supreme Court, are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three U.K. aid workers in an Israeli strike.

Britain is just one of a number of Israel's longstanding allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the six-month-old war in Gaza.

In an open letter to Sunak published late Wednesday, the lawyers and judges said the U.K. could be complicit in grave breaches of international law if it continues to ship weapons.

Signatories, including former Supreme Court President Brenda Hale, said Britain is legally obliged to heed the International Court of Justices conclusion, which the jurists characterized as finding a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.

The letter said the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel  falls significantly short of your governments obligations under international law.

Britain is a staunch ally of Israel, but relations have been tested by the mounting death toll, largely civilian, from the war. Calls for an end to arms exports have escalated since an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the aid charity World Central Kitchen, three of them British.

Israel says the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by misidentification.

The U.K.s main opposition parties have all said the Conservative government should halt weapons sales to Israel if the country has broken international law in Gaza.

Several senior Conservatives have urged the same, including Alicia Kearns, who heads the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.

Sunak has not committed to an arms export ban, but said Wednesday that while of course we defend Israels right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law.

British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said that military exports to Israel amounted to 42 million pounds ($53 million) in 2022.

Other allies of Israel are also facing calls to cut off the supply of weapons and to push for a cease-fire in the conflict, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Thursday that his country had stopped selling weapons to Israel, and urged other nations to do the same. Sanchez said Wednesday that his government has left the door open to diplomatic actions against Israel over its insufficient explanation of the aid workers deaths.

In February, Canada announced it would stop future shipments, and the same month a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to stop the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. The Dutch government said it would appeal.

Other countries, including Israels two biggest arms suppliers, the United States and Germany, continue to allow weapons sales.

Germany is one of Israels closest allies in Europe and, given memories of the Holocaust, treads carefully when criticizing Israel. But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has increasingly voiced unease, asking Netanyahu at a meeting last month how any goal can justify such terribly high costs.

Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security advisor, said suspension of U.K. arms sales would not change the course of the war, but would be a powerful political message.

And it might just stimulate debate in the U.S. as well, which would be the real game-changer, he told the BBC.

___

Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed to this story.

___

This story was first published on April 4, 2024. It was updated on July 12, 2024, to make clear that the quote about a plausible risk of genocide was in a letter from British jurists interpreting a ruling by the International Court of Justice. This exact phrase does not appear in the ICJ ruling on Gaza issued Jan. 26, 2024.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A Morganton man who was arrested after trying to sell a machine gun and drugs to an undercover agent has been sentenced, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced Thursday.

Jeffrey Ohmer, 34, will serve 16 years after pleading guilty to drug and firearm charges.

Queen City News is tracking CRIME in your area  >> Latest stories here

Court records stated that in 2021 and 2022 Ohmer, who was considered to be a large-scale meth trafficker, was pulled over twice by deputies with the Caldwell County Sheriffs Office, one of those times was in a reported stolen vehicle.

Drugs were found inside the vehicles on both occasions. Ohmer was also arrested in 2022 while attempting to sell a machine gun and meth to an undercover agent.

Two others including his girlfriend have pled guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Serbia to boost defence industry cooperation with France, President Vucic says

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum

BELGRADE (Reuters) -Serbia wants to boost defence industry cooperation with France, and is still seeking to buy Rafale fighter jets, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday, in a further sign of Belgrade's shift away from Russia as an arms supplier.

Vucic said he will discuss the cooperation with French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to France scheduled for April 8.

"One of the topics will be the special purpose industry and the cooperation of our special purpose industries," Vucic said, referring to defence industries, during a televised government session.

Serbia, a candidate to join the European Union that has one of the largest militaries in the Balkans, still relies on Soviet-designed aircraft, such as MiG-29 jets and MI-35 helicopter gunships, alongside Russian missiles and tanks.

It also bought Chinese anti-aircraft missiles and combat drones.

The country remains militarily neutral, but it joined NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, tailored for countries which do not aspire to join the Alliance.

Serbia has already purchased Airbus H125M helicopters and transport planes, Mistral surface-to-air missiles and Thales radars.

Belgrade is also seeking to bolster cooperation with Airbus via maintenance and the development of the H125M helicopters in Serbia and potential a joint production of a combat drone.

"We will speed up cooperation over Airbus helicopters," Vucic said.

In January, Vucic said that Serbia will spend around 740 million euros ($803.20 million) on new military equipment in 2024.

Belgrade is continuing talks on the procurement of 12 Rafale fighter jets from France's Dassault, Vucic said.

"We are determined to buy new aircraft ... that would significantly improve our combat capabilities."

Last year Vucic said that the price for the jets was estimated at around 3 billion euros.

Neighbouring Croatia, a EU and a NATO member and Serbia's wartime foe in the 1990s, purchased 12 used Rafale jets from France for 999 million euros in 2021.

Speaking later on Thursday in Zagreb, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said his country was expecting the delivery of the first batch of six planes by end-April.

Belgrade curtailed military co-operation with Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine and has condemned the invasion. But unlike the EU and other Western countries, it has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Serbia's military budget amounts to around 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).

($1 = 0.9213 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Jane Merriman and Christina Fincher)
Its been more than a month since Joe Biden took Seth Meyers out for the worlds most memorable ice cream cone, and the Late Night host appears to still be processing the events of that day.

On Wednesday, Meyers seemed to express concern at the fact that while during their February outing the president delivered a mid-lick prediction that a ceasefire in Gaza was just days away, no such detente has yet happened. Its a big enough issue for voters that tens of thousands of Democrats are refusing to vote for Biden in key battleground states such as Wisconsin and Michigan.

Do you know how angry someone has to be to leave their home, go to their local polling place, and wait in line just to submit a blank ballot, Meyers asked. Thats like driving to your nearest Apple Store, waiting in line all day for the new Vision Pro, and then when you get to the counter screaming, I dont want these. I think these look stupid.

Even in New York, which hasnt voted Republican since 1984, an estimated 12 percent of the Democratic ballots cast in Tuesdays presidential primary were left blank to protest Bidens refusal to demand any real action from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And Meyers believes that, come November, the consequences for the incumbent president could be dire.

[Voters] are understandably upset [that] Biden keeps claiming hes frustrated with Netanyahus handling of the war, while simultaneously sending more weapons to support that war against the wishes of a majority of Americans, Meyers explained, then reminded viewers of the aforementioned ice cream cone promise Biden made about a ceasefire.

I remember him saying that because, despite my best efforts, I was standing right fucking there, said the host.

Seth Meyers Deeply Regrets Getting Ice Cream With Joe Biden

When, just a few days after their encounter and Biden was again asked about the ceasefire, he made it sound like there wasnt much he could do, said Meyers. Biden at the time replied that Hope springs eternal, then clarified that he was hopeful that some sort of armistice could be reached. But Meyers isnt ready to accept that non-answer.

What do you mean youre hopeful, youre the most powerful man in the world and youre talking about it like youre the manager of the New York Mets, Meyers said, adding: Youre the president. You can just say, No more funding. No more weapons. You can call for a ceasefirethats what a majority of Americans want, including the tens of thousands of Democrats who are registering protest votes in key battleground states.

Unless Biden wants to spend January packing up the Oval Office, Meyers believes speaking up about Israel is the only way to ensure another four years in office: There must be an immediate lasting ceasefire and the safe return of all hostages. Thats the loud and clear message of these protest votes, and Biden must listen, otherwise hes at risk of losing to someone whose presidency was a...

Instead of saying it himself, Meyers cut to a simple quote from Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaking with Fox News (which ran earlier in the segment).

...complete disaster, Huckabee said in the clip.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  All charges have been dropped against a San Francisco Sheriffs Department Oversight Board member who was arrested for sexual assault, the San Francisco District Attorney said. William Palmer was arrested and charged with sexual assault and had been in jail since November.

Charges were dropped on the eve of his trial due to concerns over the alleged victims credibility, the DA said. Palmers attorney, the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, has argued there was no corroborating evidence to support the alleged victims claims.

Evidence has since come to light, according to the DA, that further called into question the alleged victims credibility. Charges were dismissed by prosecutors before a jury could be seated.

1 dead in San Jose hit-and-run crash Wednesday, juvenile in custody

Mr. Palmer feels relieved and vindicated, said Deputy Public Defender Sylvia Cediel. He has denied these allegations from the very beginning. He lost five months of his life and livelihood being jailed on these false allegations, and I am grateful that he gets to go home.

I commend the defense team for their thorough investigation and staunch defense of Mr. Palmer, who unfortunately had to wait for the brink of trial to get justice, said elected San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. This case illustrates how important it is to push for a jury trial because it often takes that final push to make the state properly evaluate the evidence and realize that it cannot meet its burden.

Palmer, 53, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole at age 17 for a failed robbery of an off-duty police officer, the DA said. He was released in 2019.

He has always maintained his innocence in regard to case at hand, according to the DA.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
ADDIS ABABA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia and other African countries have been urged to learn from China's achievements in poverty alleviation as part of their efforts to drive economic development and lift millions out of poverty.

Ethiopian officials and experts emphasized that China's "unique" poverty alleviation model has helped lift people out of poverty through a combined approach of comprehensive socio-economic development initiatives as well as the development of the country's natural resources through a climate-friendly approach.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party said that a high-level delegation of senior Prosperity Party members is currently undertaking field observation in China, where they inspected China's poverty alleviation efforts and overall experience.

"The achievements of the Chinese government in reducing poverty serve as an instructive experience for Ethiopia," the statement quoted Addisu Arega, head of public and international relations in Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party, as saying after witnessing development activities in China.

The delegation underscored that China's commendable successes in poverty reduction, environmental development in transforming desert areas by coordinating the people, as well as successes registered in building national unity to accelerate development are some of the areas where the East African country can draw lessons from, according to the statement.

The delegation's observation was echoed by a senior Ethiopian scholar who is familiar with China's development.

Speaking to Xinhua recently, Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, professor of public policy at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia, in particular, and the rest of African countries in general need to learn from China's approach in eradicating poverty.

Costantinos said that in order to emulate China's achievements in poverty alleviation, Ethiopia and other African countries can follow China's effective approach, mainly by incorporating development initiatives in education, healthcare, infrastructure development and skills training, among others.

"China's holistic approach to poverty alleviation is a proven model in creating a conducive environment for economic growth and improving the overall well-being of its population," he said.

The expert underscored that implementing effective policies that prioritize poverty alleviation, promote inclusive growth and address structural barriers to development can help create an enabling environment for sustainable economic growth, ultimately lifting millions of people out of poverty.

"The one thing that China's unprecedented socio-economic development and its rise as a global powerhouse can show us is that investing in human capital development through education and skills training programs can empower individuals to participate in the economy and access better job opportunities. By equipping the wider population with the necessary skills and knowledge, countries can enhance their productivity and the overall well-being of their people," he said. 
SFPD arrest man for blessing scams, possessing child pornography

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  A man was arrested in San Francisco for scamming two people in a blessing scheme and possessing child pornography, the San Francisco Police Department said on Wednesday.

On Jan. 23, 2024, at 11:30 a.m., a woman was waiting for her bus in the Excelsior District when a man approached her. During their conversation, two women joined the man and started convincing the victim to perform a blessing ceremony on her belongings, to which the victim agreed.

After the victim gathered her valuable items and a ceremony was conducted, the victim later discovered her valuables were gone.

Man convicted of sexual battery near Richmond elementary school

Two days after the scam, at approximately 4 p.m., another blessing scam occurred.

This time, police said a man and a woman approached a victim when she was alone in the outer Mission District, where they continued their conversation in an alley. While they were in the alley, another woman joined the two suspects, and the three convinced the victim to gather her valuables to be blessed.

According to police, the victim gathered U.S. currency and jewelry, which the scammers blessed in a ceremony with her belongings. After the ceremony, the victim later discovered her valuables were switched with similarly weighted items, police said.

Through an investigation conducted by SFPDs Special Victims Unit (SVU), police were able to locate the vehicle used in the crimes and identify the scammers. On Feb. 26, 2024, SVU investigators located the suspect, 68-year-old Chen Kun Lo, and arrested him in the Los Angeles area without incident.

During the arrest, investigators found Lo in possession of items believed to be stolen from the blessing scam victims, as well as possession of child pornography.

Lo was booked for felony charges of possession of stolen property and possession of child pornography on Wednesday. Investigators have identified the other two suspects, but both still remain at large.

While an arrest has been made, these investigations remain open and active. Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
A Shahed drone wreckage has been found in the south of Moldova, 500 m away from the border with Ukraine. Russia usually uses such drones for its attacks.

Source: Border Police of Moldova, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "At about 14:15, a drone wreckage with the inscription Geran-2 on its wing was found near the village of Etulia in the Vulcanesti district."

Photo: Border Police of Moldova

The Moldovan border guards reported that the wreckage was found about 500 m from the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

The site where the wreckage was found was cordoned off. Special services arrived at the scene.

"Currently, the wreckage is being analysed by experts who have not detected any risks so far," the border guards added.

Background:

Last Friday, the Ministry of Defence of Romania reported that a drone wreckage was found in Romanian territory near the Danube River and the border with Ukraine.

Earlier, a Russian missile violated Polish airspace during the Russian missile attack on Ukraine on the night of 23-24 March at 04:23. The missile reportedly entered Polish airspace near the village of Osierdow in the Lublin Voivodeship. It was there for 39 seconds.

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Sheriff: Man whos been deported 7 times charged with murder in Butler County

A 46-year-old man from Mexico has been arrested and charged with the murder of a man in Butler County, according to a social media post from the Butler County Sheriffs Office.

The Hamilton Police Department charged Fermin Garcia-Gutierrez with aggravated murder.

According to Cincinnati TV stations WXIX-19 and WLWT-5, Hamilton police were dispatched to 13th Street on reports of a deceased person on April 1 at 2:35 p.m.

>> Battalion Chief: 2 units displaced after Fairborn apartment fire

When police arrived on scene, they found an unresponsive male. Medics confirmed he was dead, both stations reported.

According to WLWT-5, police determined the mans death was a homicide. The victims identity will not be released until his family has been notified.

Garcia-Gutierrez is currently being held at the Butler County Jail for an ICE holder, weapon charges, drug possession, and obstructing, according to the post.

Last week, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said Garcia-Gutierrez has been deported seven times.

Jones also said Garcia-Gutierrez has been in the Butler County Jail 11 times using seven different names and three different birthdays.

Butler County Sheriff Office tracks Fermin Garcia-Gutierrez's past charges.

The Hamilton Police Department is still investigating this homicide and asks anyone with information to contact Detective Dan Karwisch at (513) 868-5811 ext.1247.
Sheriffs Office to step up beach patrols after weekend shooting on Hilton Head beach

Following a shooting Sunday night on Hilton Heads Coligny Beach, the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office is increasing after-hours enforcement on the beach.

Two teens visiting from New York were injured in the shooting Sunday about 11:30 p.m. A 17-year-old was shot in the hand and an 18-year-old in the hip.

They were part of a large group of teenagers at a party on the beach, according to a police report from the Sheriffs Office.

As of Thursday morning, no arrests had been made in the shootings.

One of the teens was able to provide the Sheriffs Office with a Snapchat video of the suspected shooter. In the video, the suspect is seen with a pistol with an extended magazine, according to the police report.

One teen who was hospitalized has been released. The other refused medical attention.

There was a gunshot. I had a drink in my hand, Isaac Rounds told WJCL television station. The bullet had actually gone through my hand, exploded the drink in my hand, and put shrapnel from the cannon into my arm.

We all took off running, and I had immediately felt that I had been hit by something, but I didnt know what it was, Ethan Nigel told the television station.

While the Sheriffs Office does have dedicated officers for late-night beach patrol, more will be added through the tourist season. The increased enforcement will help monitor the beach for illegal activities.

Drinking, glass and fires on Hilton Head beaches are illegal at all times.

On Wednesday night, the Sheriffs Office handed out six violations including minors in possession of alcohol, minor in possession of tobacco and disorderly conduct.

Anyone with information related to this investigation may contact Investigator Ray at 843-255-3423, or if wishing to remain anonymous and for a possible reward, Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.
The victim, New Generation Church Youth Minister Denzel Branch, 31. - Screenshot: Facebook

New Generation Church in Dallas was the scene of a murder on Easter Sunday.

According to police, 31-year-old youth minister Denzel Branch was shot to death by the pastors son, according to police. The suspect stated that he had an affair with Branchs wife before their divorce.

Dallas Police Department records reveal that Joshua Bell (who also goes by Joshua Andrews), 30, was charged in Branchs death. Bell is also the son of New Generation Church leader Eric Andrews.

Right before the shooting happened, officials stated that Branch and Bell had an argument that turned into a physical altercation. Eyewitnesses explained that Branch punched Bell in the face, and Bell retaliated by pulling out his pistol and firing several shots.

Bell told police that he followed Branch and kept firing his weapon. He stopped only after he saw (Branch) laying on the middle of the road. The victim, a father of three, later died from his wounds at a local hospital.

Per the arrest affidavit, the suspect also stated he has been involved in an intimate relationship since May 2023 with (Branchs ex-wife), who divorced (Branch) around November 2023.

Earlier this week, New Generation Church wrote a message on Facebook saying it was saddened by the tragic event. Our hearts are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that took place down the street from our church after our morning service yesterday, the church said.

We sincerely appreciate everyones prayers and concern, and we ask for your continued prayers for the families and our church family as we navigate through these difficult times. Psalms 46:1 states, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. In the days to come, we will trust in Gods Word, continue in hope, and look to God, who is the author and finisher of our faith.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Karen Denise Boswell, 47, and her son, Ethan Alexander Stephens, 6, were killed Monday in an apparent double-homicide and arson at their Grovetown home.

The sister of a woman killed with her 6-year-old son in an apparent double homicide-arson on Monday in Grovetown is speaking out about emotional manipulation she observed prior to the killings.

At about 11 a.m. Monday, the Grovetown Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 309 Newmantown Rd., according to previous reporting.

Karen Denise Boswell, 47, and her son, Ethan Alexander Stephens, 6, were found inside the charred home and pronounced dead at the scene.

Donald Everett Beck, 32, who was found inside the home and appeared to be another victim, was later charged with two counts of murder and arson in the first degree, according to Columbia County Sheriff's Office jail records. He was denied bond for all three charges.

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Arrest warrants note that Beck caused Boswell's death by stabbing her in the back with a kitchen knife and caused Ethan's death by stabbing him in the neck with a kitchen knife, before starting a fire on the couch where they were seated.

Responding firefighters and investigators also determined the entry and exits to the house were barricaded from inside the home, according to the warrants.

The incident report is not yet available, according to city officials.

The Grovetown Police Department has taken over the case is working with the State Fire Marshal's Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Columbia County District Attorney's Office.

Karen Denise Boswell, 47, and her son, Ethan Alexander Stephens, 6, were killed Monday in an apparent double-homicide and arson at their Grovetown home.

'If he couldn't have her, nobody would'

Mandy Danser, Boswell's sister, told The Chronicle Beck and Boswell met on Facebook in June 2023 and they were living together, but not married.

Danser said she and her husband were concerned about the pair's dynamic from the first time they met Beck.

"The first day me and my husband met him, he said that if he couldnt have [Boswell], nobody would," Danser said. "Me and my husband did not think that was funny [and] then she started crying and getting upset, saying she was scared if something happened to her that she wanted us to take Ethan. She had no family except us and didnt know what to do."

That day, she said Beck "flipped out" and stole Boswell's keys, purse and truck. After wrecking the truck, Danser said Beck disappeared for a week.

"He was very controlling," she said. "I had to pretend to be his friend, just so I could be around [my sister]. He would not let her do anything without him and he had control of her social media. It was hard for her to talk to anybody on the phone because he was always around. He would check her phone when she came home from work."

Karen Denise Boswell, 47, and her son, Ethan Alexander Stephens, 6, were killed Monday in an apparent double-homicide and arson at their Grovetown home.

Danser went to Boswell's house on Christmas and said she could tell Boswell was not OK.

"She was really depressed, but we couldnt step away and talk because he followed us everywhere and he wouldnt let us talk at all," Danser said. "He had to be in every picture of me and her. He didnt work, he didnt have a car, he was doing meth and he was drinking a lot. She tried to kick him out numerous times, but he would threaten her with suicide and make her feel guilty."

Danser described her sister as an amazing woman who would do anything for anyone.

Previous report: Police chief: Grovetown woman, child stabbed before Monday morning house fire

"She loved her children very much," she said. "She was a wonderful mother. She worked very hard [at the Starbucks plant in Augusta] to take care of her children. Whenever she would go out with you, it was always a good time. She always laughed and smiled."

She described Ethan, who was also her godson, as a child who was very strong and smart.

"[Ethan] was born with a rare condition [and] it caused him to have many surgeries, but he was the happiest child ever," Danser said. "He didnt let his condition get the best of him. If you were having a bad day, he knew how to cheer you up and make you smile. He loved superheroes and his mom always told him he was the biggest hero of all."

GoFundMe started for funeral expenses, Boswell's other children

Boswell had four children in addition to Ethan, but they were at school on the day of the fire, according to Danser. Beck was not the father of any of the children.

Danser set up a GoFundMe fundraiser this week to help pay for Boswell and her son's funeral expenses and provide for Boswell's other children.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraiser raised $300 of the $15,000 goal.

To donate, visit https://tinyurl.com/3edvrky7.

Incident days prior to the murders, Beck's criminal history

Just days before the fire, on Saturday, Grovetown Police officers responded to Boswell's home on Newman Town Road for a person bleeding from the arm.

Dispatch told officers there may have been a domestic altercation at the home and officers met with Boswell at about 11:45 p.m., according to an incident report.

Boswell told officers Beck was drinking alcohol and suddenly got upset for "unknown reasons," according to the report. She said Beck broke a bottle of wine and "accidentally cut his arm," before leaving the house.

Beck yelled at Boswell, but there was no physical contact, according to the report. Officers noted Boswell was not injured, but they did find the broken wine bottle on the ground.

While checking the area, officers found Beck walking on the 200 block of Newmantown Road, according to the report. Beck initially refused to speak with officers, but later confirmed Boswell's statement about the deep cut to his arm.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Beck told officers he "got upset because of some of Boswell's past boyfriend choices and yelled at her about them because he cares about her," according to the report.

He said he did not mean to break the wine bottle or cut his arm, according to the report. Officers also noted Beck said he did not want to harm himself or anyone else.

Beck said he would go to the hospital to have the injury looked at, but later refused after a Gold Cross ambulance arrived, according to the report.

Officers noted Beck wanted to go home and Boswell said she "was fine with him returning home and did not think there would be any further issues," according to the report.

Beck was previously arrested in Aiken County on Dec. 13 for shoplifting, according to court records. He was accused of stealing less than $2,000 and was issued a $2,125 cash bond at a hearing on Dec. 14.

His address at the time of the arrest was listed as Boswell's home on Newman Town Road in Grovetown.

In October 2023, a complaint was filed against Beck for child support for two male children, a 9-year-old and a 3-year-old, according to Columbia County Clerk of Court records.

The complaint states Beck "failed, neglected or refused to provide adequate and timely support for [the children]."

The last filing in the case was on March 22, according to court records.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Sister of Grovetown woman killed with child in arson speaks out
Would you sit on a jury to review government regulations? Citizen oversight panels could make this process more open and democratic

Who makes the rules that govern our daily lives? In a democracy, its natural to think that the people are in charge, or should be.

Of course, hundreds of millions of people cant participate actively in governing day to day. Still, the idea of representative democracy is that those who make the rules are elected by, and accountable to, everyone else.

In fact, however, most national rules and regulations in the U.S. are made by unelected bureaucrats in administrative agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Environmental Protection Agency. And in three cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, the legitimacy of this system is under attack.

Rulemaking by independent experts has long been an integral part of government. Yet critics on both the left and the right worry about allowing unelected officials to exercise so much power. As a political scientist specializing in the complex and often contentious demands of democracy, I have stated such concerns myself.

In my view, though, the current legal challenges are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. All three cases reflect a broader strategy devised by ultraconservative activists whose ultimate aim is to dismantle the administrative state  agencies with the power to write, judge and enforce regulations that carry the force of law. Depending on how the court rules, its decisions could throw vast swaths of the federal government into disarray.

Advocates contend that reducing bureaucratic discretion will protect democracy. But if regulators cant punish financial fraud or regulate pollution, the result wont be a thriving democratic society. Rather than eliminating bureaucracy, I see ways to make it more democratic.

Why professional bureaucracies matter

During the 20th century, governments around the world took on many new responsibilities, from managing national economies and providing health care to making food supplies safer. In the process, they found they needed to grant significant discretion to experts in bureaucratic agencies.

Imagine how cumbersome and contentious it would be if, for example, Congress had to pass a new law every time a harmful chemical was identified. Instead, elected lawmakers have authorized the EPA to regulate chemicals that its experts determine are harmful.

Regulatory agencies arent completely apolitical. Many are led by political appointees, and new administrations often redirect agency priorities. Yet these organizations core missions and staffs dont change radically from one administration to the next.

This continuity shields much of agencies day-to-day work from partisan politics. It also prevents regulators from becoming politicized and corrupt, as often happens when elected officials have tight control over administrators. Yet it also opens agencies to charges that they are too powerful.

There are no easy answers here. An independent and professionalized bureaucracy is both a cornerstone of modern democracy and a potential source of undemocratic power. When bureaucrats are granted discretion, they may use it in harmful ways, either by caving in to powerful interest groups or simply imposing their own preferences.

In my view, though, getting rid of bureaucrats  and returning all discretionary power to the hands of a Congress thats gerrymandered, gridlocked and awash in special-interest money  is no solution.

The Supreme Court weighs in

For many years, the idea of dismantling the administrative state was confined to a radical fringe. Over the past two decades, though, it has gained support among mainstream conservatives. And with former President Donald Trumps appointment of justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, it is now taken seriously at the highest levels.

The anti-bureaucracy argument was evident in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, a 2022 decision that significantly limited EPA officials discretion to determine how best to reduce power plant emissions. And in three cases on this years docket, the court appears poised to further limit the capacity and independent discretion of federal agencies:

 In Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, a group of lenders asserts that the funding model for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau  a regulatory body established after the 2008 financial crisis  is unconstitutional because it receives money through the Federal Reserve, not in annual appropriations from Congress. Many other federal programs, including Social Security, are funded through similar processes.

 In Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, a hedge fund manager charged with fraud is contesting the commissions enforcement procedures, which are also used by many other agencies. A ruling for the plaintiffs could threaten the use of administrative law judges to adjudicate issues across the executive branch, including workers right to organize and senior citizens claims for Social Security benefits.

 In Loper Bright vs. Raimondo, commercial fishing companies argue that the Commerce Department has regulated their industry in ways that exceed its authority. Many observers expect that the court will sharply cut back agencies discretion to interpret federal laws in deciding how to regulate.

None of these rulings would immediately abolish the federal bureaucracy. But they could seriously restrict agencies ability to do the critical work of governing a complex modern society.

Can regulation be more democratic?

In my book, The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy, I argue that its possible to limit overreach and special-interest influence over regulatory agencies without endangering bureaucrats ability to serve the public interest. Rather than taking all discretion away from regulators, I believe that subjecting their decisions to open challenges and oversight by ordinary citizens could help ensure that agencies use their power well.

Such feedback is already part of the regulatory process. Today, however, it often manifests as lengthy and expensive lawsuits, which favor wealthier groups.

What passes for popular participation is a cumbersome process through which members of the public may submit comments about proposed rule changes. Most comments often come from business groups and other organized interests.

Ive proposed a different model, called the citizen oversight jury. Citizens would be randomly selected and asked to review certain kinds of bureaucratic decisions, much as they render verdicts in legal trials.

Many societies have used lotteries for centuries to randomly choose people for public office, and this approach is expanding today. Perhaps most famously, randomly selected citizen assemblies in Ireland were pivotal in legalizing gay marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018.

My research suggests that citizen oversight juries could make the bureaucracy both independent and democratic. Randomly selected participants might be asked to consider all kinds of questions. Was a military contract awarded through a fair bidding process or a sweetheart deal for insiders? Did FDA regulators fast-track a new drug because it was genuinely safe and effective or because they sought lucrative jobs with the manufacturer? Depending on the context, citizen juries conclusions could be adopted as agencies final actions or could trigger further expert review.

These questions can be complex, but so are the issues in many civil and criminal trials. There, jurors form opinions by hearing arguments from both sides, receiving instructions from judges and deliberating among themselves.

This system would enable experts to do their work, but then would subject their recommendations to public review. As I see it, this approach is an attractive alternative to the extreme and destructive solutions that could emerge from the Supreme Court.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Samuel Bagg, University of South Carolina

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Samuel Bagg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
CAPE TOWN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's former parliament speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, was arrested and charged with corruption on Thursday, a day after she resigned over graft allegations.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Henry Mamothame confirmed that Mapisa-Nqakula was formally detained after handing herself over to police in Pretoria and made her first court appearance at the Pretoria Magistrates Court, where she was released on 50,000 rand (about 2,670 U.S. dollars) in bail.

In a statement issued by NPA after her court appearance, Mamothame said "the Investigating Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority brought the 12 charges of corruption and one of money laundering against Mapisa-Nqakula following investigations into allegations that during her tenure as the Minister of Defence in the period between 2016 and 2019. She allegedly solicited an amount of approximately 4.5 million rand (about 240,000 U.S. dollars), of which 2.1 million rand was received in cash."

According to the statement, the court granted her 50,000 rand bail, and her bail conditions are that she should surrender her passport to the investigating officer and she should have no direct or indirect contact with the state witnesses.

In court, Presiding Magistrate Anna Oosthuizen said she was satisfied that Mapisa-Mqakula is not a flight risk and will co-operate with the police.

The NPA statement added that the case against the former speaker is postponed to June 4 for the arrest of the second suspect accused in the matter.

Mapisa-Nqakula, a 67-year-old veteran of the governing African National Congress, was South Africa's defense minister from 2012 to 2021.

In her resignation statement on Wednesday, Mapisa-Nqakula said that her decision to resign was "in no way an indication or admission of guilt regarding the allegations" being leveled against her.

"I maintain my innocence and I am determined to restore my good reputation," she added. 
By Maayan Lubell and Dan Williams

NAHARIYA, Israel (Reuters) - From a temporary seaside abode in northern Israel, Shay and Reut Hanegbi can hear the explosions when missiles are fired from Lebanon towards their hometown on the border, only four miles (6 km) away.

They are among around 60,000 Israelis still uprooted from the small frontline communities since October, when the powerful militia Hezbollah began attacking from Lebanese hilltop villages and forest hideouts.

One rocket fell in their backyard, said Reut, 38, holding their newborn girl Alex in the flat they are renting. It is their fourth dwelling since October. Alex's 11-year-old sister has moved school three times in that period.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah started firing at northern Israel a day after Palestinian group Hamas' Oct. 7 shock attack in the south of the country. Communities 2 miles away from the Lebanese border were hastily evacuated.

The Hanegbis expected their evacuation to last a few weeks at most. But as Israel presses its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, it has been trading fire with Hezbollah almost daily.

"It has ended up going on and on. You don't see the end," Shay said.

Many homes and farms have been destroyed by guided anti-tank missiles launched from within Lebanon. The airstrikes, shelling and rockets have marked the worst fighting on the Israel-Lebanese front in almost two decades. Although it has not amounted to a war, it risks becoming one, fast.

Just on Monday, an Israeli strike in Damascus killed two Iranian generals and five military advisers, including at least one Hezbollah member, according to two Lebanese sources, in a high-stakes attack that has drawn an Iranian vow of revenge.

All the while, Israeli ground forces have been preparing for a potential invasion of Lebanon, the military top brass say, warning that devastation from the accompanying air barrage would dwarf that suffered by the neighbouring country in the 2006 war.

Such rhetoric may be aimed at energising U.S.-mediated de-escalation talks that have limped along, with several deadlines floated for a diplomatic resolution passing unmet.

For the displaced, this means uncertainty about education and employment and no clarity on when they can go back home.

"We feel adrift, left half in, half out," said Shay.

"WE WERE NEXT"

The problem with returning home is not just the missiles that have so far killed at least 18 people, soldiers and civilians.

It is the danger of Hezbollah carrying out a similar attack to that of Hamas, whose gunmen burst into Israel, killed 1,200 people in their homes, on army bases, along roads and at an outdoor rave, and seized 253 hostages, including children.

"I felt like we were next," said Natalie Levy, 29, displaced with her husband and two young children from Liman, 2 miles from Lebanon. Frozen with fear, she said, it took a day to get a grip and leave.

Hezbollah had been signalling it was preparing such an assault for years, said a senior Israeli official who requested anonymity due to security sensitivities.

"What we saw in the south on October 7 was basically Hamas 'stealing the thunder' from Hezbollah," said the official.

"If anything, Hezbollah is more of a border threat than Hamas was," the official said, because its attack plan has twice as many elite fighters penetrating far deeper into Israel.

It is a danger Israel says it cannot accept. Its leaders are intent on pushing Hezbollah back from the border. The question is how. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that force was not his first choice.

"I prefer to do this diplomatically, if possible. But if not, then we will do it by other means. I'd rather not share operational or scheduling details with our enemies," Netanyahu said, promising eventual safe return for the displaced.

But though she misses her home in Kibbutz Matsuva, Sarit Oved said sadly that she will not go back as long as she feels her children would be unsafe.

"I don't want any more loss of life, on either side," she said.

Across the border, in southern Lebanon, around 90,000 people have also been displaced. Israel's shelling has killed around 270 Hezbollah fighters and around 50 civilians. In Gaza, most the 2.3 million population has been uprooted with much of the enclave laid to waste and around 33,000 people dead.

"The people of Gaza that are not involved in terror are going through a very hard time. And my heart is with them," said Levy. "But my heart is also with the people of Israel who are also going through a hard time."

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Nahariya and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Charlie Saywell was 25 when he's body was found in Turks shipyard in March - KENT POLICE/SWNS

A soldier found dead in a river had been trapped under a boat with ropes around his body, an inquest heard.

Charlie Saywell, 25, described by friends as a true role model, was discovered in the River Medway in Chatham, Kent, at around 10:50am on Tuesday March 5 when a worker noticed his body covered in mud.

Emergency services were called to the scene at Turks Shipyard but the young man was already dead.

It is understood that Saywell had been on a night out with friends the previous evening before getting a taxi back to his army accommodation.

Upon arriving at his barracks, it is thought Mr Saywell chose to walk into Chatham town centre to get food from a takeaway between 12:10am and 2:40am.

Police say that a phone conversation Saywell had that night has led them to believe he may have been assaulted after getting into an unidentified car, suffering facial injuries.

Opening his inquest in Maidstone, Catherine Wood, the coroner, said the cause of death was drowning but it was clearly violent or unnatural.

The court heard that a worker who discovered Mr Saywell saw him with rope around his torso and legs.

It is still unclear what exactly happened in the leadup to the young soldiers death. His mother Victoria Brown is appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

She said: If you have witnessed my son Charlies movements during the early hours of that morning and can offer any information, however small, please can you contact Kent police so our family can have some answers about what happened to him.

A remarkable individual

Det Sgt Karen Caulfield says police are looking to identify the places Saywell visited prior to his death.

While we do not have specific information about where Charlie went between 12.10am and 2.40am, he had a phone conversation before his death, which indicated he may have suffered an assault in the town during that period.

She continued: We are appealing to anyone who may have seen Charlie walking in the Gillingham and Chatham areas during these times.

We are particularly keen to hear from anybody who saw him in a fast-food outlet or involved in an altercation in or near to a car.

At this stage we are not treating Charlies death as suspicious, however, it is important we understand where he visited and what happened to him prior to his tragic death.

Saywell was last seen wearing a dark, navy-coloured, short-sleeved T-shirt, khaki-coloured cargo trousers and white trainers.

More than 4,000 has been raised in his memory after a fundraiser was set up by Joe Leishman, his friend. It surpassed its original goal of 1,000.

The organiser wrote: For those who did not have the privilege of knowing Charlie, he was a remarkable individual  a true role model in both stature and character.

As a sapper in the British Army, serving proudly as part of the Royal Engineers, Charlie exemplified dedication and service to his country. It is with great sadness that we recently lost him at the age of 25.

As preparations are made for his service, I recognise the importance of honouring Charlie with the utmost respect.

Any contributions toward supporting the family would be sincerely appreciated. It is the least we can do for someone who touched so many lives.

The full inquest into Saywells death will be heard on June 4.

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Mohamedamin Abdirisek Ibrahim, a Somali refugee, faces murder charges for allegedly strangling his pregnant Swedish girlfriend, Saga Forsgren Elneborg, in April 2023. The prosecutor claims the act was driven by fears of dishonoring his conservative Muslim family.

Despite DNA evidence implicating him, Ibrahim has denied wrongdoing. The trial, set for April 10, is expected to last 15 days. Heartbreaking images reveal Elneborg's anticipation of motherhood, contrasting sharply with the tragic loss described by her grieving family and friends.

Somali Refugee Allegedly Strangled Pregnant Girlfriend In Honor Killing

TikTok | Julia Elneborg

According to reports, Ibrahim, 22, is accused of suffocating and strangling Elneborg, driven by the fear of introducing her to his conservative Muslim family. The tragic incident occurred in Orebro, Sweden, in April 2023.

In a statement, prosecutor Elizabeth Anderson alleged that Ibrahim killed his girlfriend "by suffocating and strangling her by means of pressure on her neck with an impact on the trachea and the blood supply to the head."

She added: "I mean that the murder took place in an honor context because the man wanted to preserve or restore his and his family's honor by killing the woman who was carrying his child.

Per local outlet, Afton Bladet (via NYP), the extensive arrest report, spanning 1,000 pages, contains disturbing images of the crime scene, including a lamp cord. Text exchanges between Ibrahim and Elneborg also shed light on their tumultuous relationship. Ibrahim talked about being nervous about revealing Elneborg's pregnancy to his family while she reassured him it would be fine.

"Feels like I can almost feel my heartbeat all the way down to my stomach walla," he wrote in the message. "Just take it easy, it'll be fine babe," Elneborg replied.

Despite Ibrahim claiming to have informed a relative, the late Elneborg remained skeptical, sensing his unease.

Somali Refugee Was Raised In A 'Standard Of Honor'

Somali Refugee 'Strangles Heavily Pregnant' Swedish Girlfriend To Death In Alleged 'Honor' Killing

Investigations revealed Ibrahim hadn't disclosed the pregnancy to his family despite Elneborg planning to move in with him a week later.

Additionally, Ibrahim had previously suggested Elneborg consider abortion, citing concerns about familial repercussions.

"I know we can make it, but I won't be able to keep my family. If it had been possible, there would have been no problem with keeping the child," he wrote her in the message when they learned of her pregnancy.

Elneborg's final message to Ibrahim was sent shortly after midnight on April 29, as reported by the outlet. Allegedly, shortly after receiving the message, Ibrahim went to her residence and committed the heinous act of strangling her, resulting in the tragic loss of her unborn baby boy as well, according to authorities.

"He never told his family about Saga or the child. But the suspect has been raised in a standard of honor, and he has learned that it is not OK for him to date a white woman," the prosecutor wrote. "He must date a woman of the same culture. If he doesn't, he will be excluded," Anderson added.

The Somali Refugee's DNA Was Allegedly Found Beneath Elneborg's Nails

TikTok | Julia Elneborg

The prosecutor alleges that Ibrahim's DNA was discovered beneath Elneborg's fingernails. Elisabeth Massi Fritz, representing Elneborg's family, described the murder as "cruel and ruthless."

She highlighted the trial's anticipated focus on aggravating factors, stating: "There are many aggravating circumstances in the deed which we will highlight during the trial."

Fritz added, "It has been and still is a difficult time for all [of] Saga's relatives."

Elneborg's family said, via their attorney, that it had been a "long and painful wait" before Ibrahim was recently charged with Elneborg's murder. However, he has yet to be charged with the unborn child's death.

The trial is set for April 10, spanning 15 days. Despite the accusations, Ibrahim maintains his claims of innocence and expressed love for his late girlfriend, stating: "I have been in denial for nine months now."

Saga Forsgren Elneborg Proudly Showed Off Pregnancy Before Her Death

TikTok | Julia Elneborg

Heart-wrenching images depict Elneborg's anticipation of motherhood as she joyfully shared moments and milestones with her loved ones. She proudly showcased her pregnancy alongside a meticulously prepared crib, symbolizing her eagerness for the arrival of her baby son, Esaiah.

Elneborg also delighted in sharing ultrasound images and a photo of her positive pregnancy test with her friends and family.

Among the cherished memories captured were snapshots of tiny socks and trainers. Another photo captured the 20-year-old's radiant smile as she gently cradled her growing bump, radiating with maternal love and anticipation.

She Was 'So Happy' To Become A Mom

Elneborg's mother lamented her daughter's tragic fate. Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, she said: "She was so happy. She would move to a new apartment and start her life as a mother. This is the worst thing imaginable."

In an emotional tribute on Facebook, a relative reflected on Elneborg's dreams of motherhood, writing: "Saga was 20 years old and longed to be a mother to her boy who was waiting in her belly... In brutal and completely inhuman ways, someone [..] took your everything from you; they took your life and the life of your little boy."
Semafor Signals

Insights from Daily Maverick, The Mail and Guardian, and the Associated Press

The News

South Africas Parliament speaker has been accused of bribery and money laundering, becoming the latest African National Congress party member to be dragged into a scandal ahead of next months election.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who resigned from her post as speaker on Wednesday, surrendered at a Pretoria court Thursday where she was charged with accepting more than $240,000 in bribes from a former military contractor during her tenure as defense minister. She was granted bail and has denied any wrongdoing.

The allegations are yet another setback for the ANC, whose decades-long rule after Nelson Mandelas presidency has been marred by corruption, rising crime, and a prolonged energy crisis. South Africans head to the polls next month, where the ANC is widely expected to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since apartheid ended.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Speakers resignation saves ANC embarrassment of defending her

Source: Daily Maverick

The corruption probe onto the head of the countrys legislative branch is unprecedented, and by resigning, the ANC was spared of the embarrassment of having to publicly defend her, South African political journalist Marianne Merten wrote for the Daily Maverick. Unlike other ANC members who merely resigned after being accused of corruption, the opposition party threatened a vote of no confidence for Mapisa-Nqakula. Despite many in the ANC losing faith in Mapisa-Nqakula, the party would have continued to defend her had she not resigned because the ANCs attitude is that it will not have others force its hand, regardless of right or wrong, Merten wrote.

ANC needs to come clean about its corruption problem

Source: The Mail and Guardian

In his State of the Union Speech earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation what it wanted to hear instead of the difficult truths it needed to accept, a Mail and Guardian editorial argued, which was that the ANC is unable to fix the countrys persistent energy crisis and rolling blackouts that are linked to systemic corruption. Some ANC members embroiled in corruption scandals have dismissed the countrys load-shedding problem  deliberately shutting down power in one sector of the grid to support other locations  as not the end of the world, despite its devastating impact on small businesses and the healthcare system, the editorial board wrote. If Ramaphosa wants to make a difference, he has to sell his dream to his cabinet and bench, not us.

Will the ANC form a coalition with the opposition to stay in power?

Sources: Associated Press, Reuters

South Africas main opposition party  the Democratic Alliance (DA)  hopes to end the ANCs 30-year-long rule, and polls show the ANC on track to losing its parliamentary majority. But the DA has an uphill battle to secure a majority win: the opposition is banking on joining forces with smaller parties that have a history of often hostile, rough, and sometimes very toxic engagements, one academic, who helped negotiate the electoral alliance, told the Associated Press. If the ANC loses the election, it still has an opportunity to form a coalition with other parties  including the DA  a proposition that the DAs leader has not ruled out. The ANC, however, has rejected calls to form a parliamentary coalition, Reuters reported.
Dr Aja Kuol operates on a patient in South Sudan, where millions suffer from poor sight and eye-related diseases - Jenny Davies/MAF/Jenny Davies/MAF

Mary had been blind for eight years. A mother of three, she only recognised the face of her eldest child, while the younger two remained obscured by darkness.

It took Dr Aja Kuol just 30 minutes to restore her sight.

In the aftermath of the operation, Mary gazed at her children, absorbing the details of their faces, noticing the similarities of their features for the first time. This is how my babies look. I didnt see them for all these years, she cried.

Dr Kuol, president of South Sudans Ophthalmic Association, is the East African nations first female ophthalmologist and one of only four eye surgeons who work in the country. Her mission is to restore sight to South Sudans vulnerable and isolated communities.

The landlocked nation is a vast land of swamps and wetlands, but the countrys infrastructure has been ravaged by decades of conflict. Two years after the state was established in 2011, a bloody civil war broke out, killing over 400,000 people and lasting until 2020.

Cataracts are common in older people & can be removed. - Jenny Davies/MAF

A country the size of France, with a population approaching 12 million, it has only 186 miles (300 km) of paved road. It can take days to reach remote villages riddled by muddy dirt tracks, with many routes rendered completely inaccessible and dangerous during the increasingly intense rainy season.

With so few surgeons, we have to come out to the field. We cant wait for people to come to us, said Dr Kuol. People in Juba can afford to access treatment or even go outside of Juba, but in areas like Kapoeta, there is no service that people can access. I move around. Its the nature of my work.

Dr Kuol and her team travel the length and breadth of the country performing sight-saving operations.

Their reach was transformed last year when they partnered with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), one of the worlds largest humanitarian airlines.

Travelling by air in a small Cessna aircraft, which is well suited for remote airstrips, has slashed journey times from days to hours and enabled access to some of the countrys most remote locations.

The WHO has set a goal of eliminating trachoma as a public health problem by 2030 - Jenny Davies/MAF

The surgical team now operates outreach missions each month to deliver life-changing surgery to isolated communities, the team camping at night in the bush.

In 2023, the team provided sight saving treatment to almost 4,700 people across seven locations.

We are treating 100 patients a day, nobody would believe we are treating these huge numbers. I operated on 1,000 people in two weeks, said Dr Kuol. We are breaking our backs.

Dr Kuol says that a pervasive issue across the country is a lack of awareness that their eye-conditions can be cured. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.2 billion people globally have impaired vision, and that half of them could be cured or prevented.

The two conditions that most commonly fall into this category are trachoma and cataracts.

South Sudan has the highest prevalence of active trachoma anywhere in Central Africa, with half of the population vulnerable to the disease, according to the Ministry of Health. As many as 80 per cent of children under nine suffer from the condition.

Blindness from Trachoma can be prevented with a simple operation, taking just 15 minutes for each eye. - Jenny Davies/MAF

Trachoma is an ancient neglected disease, originating in central Asia. It was once common across Europe, afflicting both the Ancient Greeks and the Romans. Now, the disease is endemic across many of the poorest and most rural areas of Africa, Central and South America and the Middle East.

Caused by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium  and spread by flies and human touch  it is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. It starts as a bacterial infection, but when left untreated it deteriorates into trachomatous trichiasis  a protracted and painful descent into blindness as the eyelashes rake at the corneas, causing great pain and, eventually, blindness.

Interventions include access to clean water and improved sanitation to reduce breeding sites for flies which spread the disease. Trachomatous trichiasis is treated with a simple operation taking about 15 minutes for each eye to reset the eyelid so as to stop the lashes scraping the eye.

Cataracts  a clouding of the eye lens - are also a major cause of blindness in South Sudan. Treatment is routine in the West, but that is not the case for tens of millions of older people in the developing world.

South Sudan has the highest prevalence of active trachoma anywhere in Central Africa, with half of the 10.8 million population vulnerable to the disease. - Jenny Davies/MAF

Sometimes people have to travel very far. You find people carrying their parents, wrapped in a blanket, on their back for miles to reach us, said Dr Kuol. When you see such sights, you pray to be able to return to their vision.

It pained her, she added, that it was most often children who were forced to become carers for their blind parents, meaning that they could no longer attend school.

The WHO has set a goal of eliminating trachoma as a public health problem by 2030; it has already been eradicated in 10 countries worldwide, including Ghana, China and Mexico.

But major obstacles remain in South Sudan, including lack of funding to reach the sheer number of vulnerable people across vast distances, lack of access to enough antibiotics and eye treatments, and a major shortage of specialist ophthalmologist surgeons.

There is also a stigma attached to the physical impairment, said Dr Kuol, with some families hiding their visually impaired or blind relatives due to fears of them being castigated.

Dr Kuol is South Sudan's first female ophthalmologist and one of only four eye surgeons who work in the country. - Jenny Davies/MAF

They will tell you no. Let them be. They dont want someone from their family to be stigmatised  they dont want to traumatise them, said Dr Kuol.

Dr Kuol has dedicated her life to transforming the eyesight of her people, but she is no stranger to sacrifice. Just three years old when the bloody Second Sudanese War broke out, she lost her brother in the conflict and her family were forced to flee to Khartoum and Renk.

Despite her displacement, Dr Kuol undertook a medical degree in Khartoum where she met her husband, a gynaecologist, later having five children together. In 2014, she won a scholarship from the Christian Blind Mission to train as an eye surgeon at the University of Nairobi, in Kenya.

Dr Kuol decided to return to South Sudan in 2020 to serve her own people but left behind her family in Nairobi. She now wakes at 4am every day to video call her children before they head off for school.

Ive always felt like I should go home to help my community and open eyes for other people to be able to also enjoy their life, she said. I want to encourage young women to get their education, not to just get married  that is my legacy I will leave behind.

*Marys name was changed for this story

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Spain's PM says EU could reevaluate relations with Israel if it finds it breached law

MADRID (Reuters) - The European Union should debate whether to continue its strategic relationship with Israel if the European Commission finds that Israel has breached humanitarian law in its war on Gaza, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Al Jazeera TV.

In February, Sanchez and his Irish counterpart asked Brussels to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in the Gaza Strip, where the Jewish state has unleashed a massive offensive since an attack by Hamas militants on Israel in October.

"In the case of the EU, the situation would be that there's an open door to have a debate within the European Council in order to see if we continue with this strategic relation or not. But this is something for which we first need to have the assessment of the European Commission," Sanchez told Al Jazeera.

Sanchez reiterated his call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the international recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state with full membership in the United Nations.

Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia announced last month they would work toward recognition of a Palestinian state. Israel told the four countries this would represent a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict.

Since 1988, 139 out of 193 United Nations member states have recognised Palestinian statehood.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
AYUTTHAYA, Thailand, April 4 (Xinhua) -- "A safety driver was sitting behind the wheel just to oversee a trial run, but the vehicle could navigate autonomously," Jidapha Chuboon recounted her excitement while taking Thailand's first driverless electric bus, which recently took the road near the Ayutthaya Historical Park.

Equipped with 5G technology, passengers can book a seat by scanning the QR code and using the mobile application to track the bus' real-time location. "This free and comfortable ride is excellent, especially for tourists coming here to visit the park," the 60-year-old local street vendor told Xinhua.

Funded by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, the 20-seater bus is currently undergoing a road test. It is operated along a 2.8-kilometer loop that connects tourist hotspots in the UNESCO-listed historic city of Ayutthaya in central Thailand, which is known for its archeological ruins and Buddhist temples.

The prototype bus was developed domestically by King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi in collaboration with local tech companies, and it is planned to be in trial service until July this year, said 30-year-old Pongwut Koovimol, an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer at Turnkey Communication Services Public Company Limited.

"As the country's first unmanned bus to hit public roads, we hope this project will pave the way for more integration of 5G communication and autonomous technology in everyday life," the AI researcher said.

Boarding the bus from one of its four stops near his college, 18-year-old student Ronnakorn Sukkasem said the self-driving bus brings novel and better development to the city, hoping that this technical advancement would attract more tourists to his hometown.

According to Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Supamas Isarabhakdi, the project aims to enhance public transportation safety and promote sustainable tourism at historical sites, with plans to expand to other areas in the future.

The goal is to develop vehicles that reduce road accidents, improve the environment, and bolster the economy. As C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) technology becomes more widespread, electric vehicles (EVs) will connect with road infrastructure, increasing safety for all road users, the minister said at the launch ceremony of the trial run in January.

Thailand has long encouraged the adoption of EVs in public transport. The number of newly registered battery-powered electric buses in the kingdom jumped to 1,218 units in 2023, a 24.8 percent increase over the previous year, data from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) showed.

As the development of EV infrastructure keeps advancing, the transition to electrified buses will be a future-proofed option for reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality, said Surapong Paisitpattanapong, vice president and spokesperson of the FTI's automotive industry club.

Last year, the Bangkok Metropolitan Council approved a draft regulation to phase out all fossil fuel-based public buses within seven years in an effort to tackle airborne pollution in the Thai capital with the transition to cleaner energy.

In February, the Southeast Asian country unveiled a plan to expand its incentive program to further promote the use of commercial EVs through a special tax deduction for businesses to switch their fleets of large trucks and buses to battery-powered vehicles.

According to the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee, the approved plan will extend earlier sets of measures focused on the passenger car to all segments of EVs and support Thai companies' moves toward their net-zero emissions target.

The Thai government plans for battery EVs to account for 30 percent of the nation's total auto production by 2030, with an estimated annual production capacity of 725,000 units. 
Spanish government under fire for using gender violence fund to pay for Feminist Twerking Festival

Held in the city of Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, the twerk fest claimed to be 'a feminist event' - TN1Canarias

Spains Left-wing government is facing a backlash for using funds reserved to tackle gender violence to pay for a feminist twerking festival in Tenerife.

The Festival of Feminist Twerking, billed as an effort to reassign twerking from a feminist perspective, was granted 105,000 by Spains equalities ministry.

The event, which took place in October 2022, angered traditional Spanish feminists, who have been at war with the ministry over its position on trans rights.

The Alliance Against the Erasure of Women demanded that the government claw back hundreds of thousands of euros from the national Pact Against Gender Violence fund spent on other frivolous events such as workshops teaching pastry-making and a chocolate-tasting session.

Held in the city of Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, the twerk fest claimed to be a feminist event aimed at conveying a message that breaks gender stereotypes.

Around 230 women participated in the festival

According to local media, around 230 women participated in the festival.

Twerking is in no way feminist

Twerking is in no way feminist, said Ana Monzon, a member of the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women association that has lodged the complaint into flagrant misuse of state gender violence funds.

Twerking sexualises and objectifies women from a very young age because it goes with music that is popular among young people.

Twerking is a dance move performed in a sexually provocative manner by thrusting ones hips and shaking the buttocks.

Ms Monzon, a sociologist specialising in violence against women, told The Telegraph that the association had found around 10 events that used money from the state fund that had nothing to do with the stated purpose of the national pact, signed in 2017 by all parties with parliamentary representation at that time.

The pact was ratified again in 2021 by all parties with the exception of the far-Right Vox.

'Twerking is in no way feminist,' said Ana Monzon, a member of the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women association

The funds from the pact, which in 2023 had a budget of 600,000 euros, are meant to help eliminate violence against women through activities such as the training of social agents like police officers and judges, information campaigns, education in schools and preventive measures for women at risk.

Funds spent in frivolous way

We have found that some of the funds are being spent in a frivolous and incorrect way, said Ms Monzon.

The equality ministry, headed by Socialist Ana Redondo, said in a statement that it would investigate and take matters to the bitter end to avoid misuse of funds in the future.

But the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women said the response was insufficient and urged the ministry to conduct a complete audit of how regional and local governments had spent funds over recent years.

A woman at the festival 'twerks'

The town hall of Bollullos de la Mitacion in Andalusia is one of the local authorities singled out by the complaint for requesting and spending gender violence funds on a sensory psychology event for women, which included a chocolate tasting activity.

According to the publicity for the event, participants would be helped to discover why they feel anxiety and be shown ways to help manage negative emotions and feelings through tasting chocolate, nuts and infusions.

Other events flagged up as inappropriate for such funding included a soap-making workshop, a class in baking pies and a creative writing event.

Ms Redondo took over at the equality ministry in November from Irene Montero, a member of the hard-Left Podemos party whose tenure was marked by a series of controversies including a consent-based rape law that led to hundreds of convicted sex offenders having their sentences reduced and a self-identification transgender law that has led to a schism among Spanish feminists.

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LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  Sparrow calls it a first-of-its-kind initiativeone they hope will improve the neighborhood that surrounds the Lansing hospital.

Sparrow Hospital and the University of Michigan Health made the announcement this Wednesday that they plan to turn vacant houses in the area into family homes.

Lansing is one of the most affordable cities in the country, said Lansing Mayor Andy Schor. And taking down housing is a problem, because we want to have that housing available for people to come live here.

Margaret Dimond, Regional President for the University of Michigan Health, said that at first, these homes near downtown Lansing were set to be demolished. But that plan changed.

Instead, they will be refurbished and renovated.

Were here to meet the needs of our patients, but also our community and our neighbors, Dimond said. Weve been in continuous dialogue about making improvements that will help impact the community.

Sparrow Hospital and UM Health plan to restore vacant houses around the Lansing hospital and turn them into single-family homes. (WLNS)

Habitat for Humanity officials say they are looking to match the fixed-up houses with people in low-to-middle-income families.

Whats most exciting to me is not just that these homes will be single-family, owner-occupied homes, but that they will be homes for members of our community who might not otherwise have the ability to purchase a home, said Brent Taylor, President of Habitat for Humanity Capital Region.

Neighbors say these houses have been vacant for years. They are looking forward to the project that they hope will make this area a vibrant place to live and work.

They remain unoccupied for a while, said Margaret Tassaro, President of Eastfield Neighborhood Association. And, you know, no one wants to have a block of vacant houses in their neighborhood. We want neighbors. We want a community.

Officials said state funds will be used to complete the project. Construction is set to begin in the next few months.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
A proposed bill making its way through the California State Legislature would limit how fast vehicles can go. Senate Bill 961 aims to crack down on speeding by requiring vehicles to have speed limiters installed.

It would not allow drivers to go faster than 10 miles over the speed limit.

Speeding has contributed to crashes all across Washington State, so KIRO 7 asked drivers and lawmakers what they think about the possibility of implementing a similar law.

State Representative Brandy Donaghy said she has no plans to introduce legislation like this in the next legislative session.

Donaghy introduced House Bill 2384, which goes into effect on June 6th. The law expands jurisdictions abilities to install traffic speeding cameras in problem areas.

She said she has a lot of questions about the California law.

Its incredibly limiting, and youve also got the technology - kind of requires being able to talk to the satellites all the time and being able to know what the speed limits are. And theyre not always right, Donaghy said.

She said her focus now is to get more driver training, especially for teens.

I think driver training is probably the first step in addressing that rather than just putting them into a car and saying it will not go past this speed no matter what, she said.

WSDOT reported that so far in 2024, there have been 25 speed-related crashes in King County, 16 in Pierce County and 15 in Snohomish County.

Drivers were split on whether the legislation would help here in Washington.

I think its a good idea, I dont think it would have an effect on a lot of these people, but I would do it. I dont care, I dont want a speeding ticket, Kathleen Brown said.

Others said the law goes too far, but they would support it for young drivers.

For me, I probably wouldnt choose it, because I self-regulate myself in the car so I dont think its that necessary, Ann Finnan said.

Sure, for a teenager, sign me up! Finnan added.
 Read the full article on Motorious

It happens to the best of us

A Ford Mustang GT driver was clocked in Bardstown, Kentucky doing 143 mph in a 70 mph zone, earning himself a nice trip to jail. However, the ensuing chase, which took place on the afternoon of May 15, didnt end immediately. According to law enforcement, what finally allowed them to catch up to 47-year-old Steven Alford was that the S550 he was driving like a bat out of hell ran out of gas.

See more Mustang mayhem here.

According to a statement from the Nelson County Sheriffs Office, deputies joined in the chase at the request of the Kentucky State Police Dispatch. It wasnt over quickly, as Alford led law enforcement on a lengthy pursuit. Exactly how far he drove before finally running out of gas wasnt stated.

photo credit: Nelson County Sheriffs Office

Even after his pony ran out of fuel, Alford didnt just give up. The man refused to leave the perceived safety of his Mustang, so deputies and state police assisted him with exiting the vehicle. Now hes facing a long list of charges: Speeding 26 MPH or more over the limit, Fleeing or Evading Police First Degree Motor Vehicle, Reckless Driving, 4 counts of Wanton Endangerment 1st Degree Police Officer, Driving to fast for Conditions, Operating on Suspended or revoked License, Improper Passing, License Plate Not Legible, and Resisting Arrest. Something tells us hes not going to be leading police on another car chase for a long, long time.

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Weve seen police chases end suddenly because a car runs dry, but keep in mind this incident took place during the gas shortages which affected large swaths of the southeastern United States, including parts of Kentucky. Theres no confirmation thats why Alford didnt have a full tank of premium to fuel his high-speed hijinks, but it wouldnt be surprising to find out that was the case.

In other words, as absolutely frustrating and even downright dangerous the gas shortages have been, especially for people who hoarded gasoline in unsafe ways, they might have also stopped a high-speed police chase before it ended in tragedy.

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Spring Pink Moon to rise in New York City this month

Spring Pink Moon to rise in New York City this month

NEW YORK CITY (PIX11)  Stargazers will get a special spring treat in late April  a pink full moon.

The Pink Moon will rise on April 23, and reach peak illumination at 7:45 p.m., according to Almanac. Unfortunately, the moon will not look pink, the name comes from the springtime blooms of a wildflower native to eastern North America.

This full moon symbolizes the beginning of spring and marks the first full moon of the spring season.

The next full moon wont be until May 23.

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.
TechCrunch

Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest asset managers, has confirmed that over 77,000 customers had personal information compromised during an August data breach, including Social Security numbers and driver's licenses. The Boston, Massachusetts-based investment firm said in a filing with Maines attorney general on Wednesday that an unnamed third party accessed information from its systems between August 17 and August 19 "using two customer accounts that they had recently established. We detected this activity on August 19 and immediately took steps to terminate the access, Fidelity said in a letter sent to those affected, adding that the incident did not involve any access to customers Fidelity accounts.
A familiar face will temporarily lead St. Paul schools when Superintendent Joe Gothard steps down from his role next month.

John Thein, who served as interim superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools from 2016-17, has agreed to take the reins of the district once again on May 20. The districts Board of Education approved his contract at a Wednesday night meeting.

School board chair Halla Henderson said the board chose Thein due to his experience with the district and enthusiasm for the job.

His knowledge of and connection to our school communities will be indispensable as we begin our search for the next permanent superintendent, she said in a news release following Theins appointment.

Thein will lead the states second-largest school district, which has about 33,000 students and is among the states most diverse, until district leadership can find a permanent replacement. The district said it plans to hire an outside firm to help with the search.

In February, Gothard, who has led St. Paul schools since 2017, accepted a job with his hometown school district in Madison, Wis. His contract, which had many incentives to get him to stay in St. Paul, started in 2023 and was supposed to end in 2026.

The school board on Wednesday agreed to release Gothard from his contract early. Gothard sent his resignation on Feb. 26. In a change to his contract approved by the board Wednesday, Gothards last day on the job in St. Paul will be May 17. Hell collect his normal pay until then, but he wont be able to cash out his accumulated vacation.

Gothard told the school board his first day on the job in Madison will be May 20, the day Thein takes over as interim. Gothard in a statement from the district said it was a familiar feeling passing the baton back to Thein, who held the role before he took over.

SPPS will pay Thein a salary of $230,000 a year, according to his employment contract with the district. And while he starts the job on May 20, hell begin providing his services to the district as needed starting April 29, something hell get paid for at a rate of $111 an hour.

Thein was superintendent of Roseville Area Schools for 17 years before he retired in 2015. He became interim superintendent of SPPS in 2016 after the board ousted former Superintendent Valeria Silva.

He stepped down after St. Paul Public Schools hired Gothard, who at the time was superintendent of the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District.

In addition to St. Paul, Thein has served as interim superintendent of ROCORI Public Schools, a school district southwest of St. Cloud.

In a statement released by the district, Thein said he was grateful to serve SPPS once again.

The memories of my previous tenure at SPPS are still fresh, and I am excited to reconnect with the students and staff we serve, he said.

Thein faces a challenging budget picture as he returns to the school district he briefly led seven years ago.

St. Paul Public Schools faces a $107.7 million budget shortfall and has been working to make big cuts. The shortfall is in large part tied to the expiration of federal pandemic aid and declining enrollment.

District officials have identified about $71.3 million in cuts but still need to find other areas to trim. The district needs to get a new budget together by June.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  An overnight stabbing in north Charlotte has left a victim in the hospital with life-threatening injuries, Medic said Thursday.

Emergency personnel responded to calls regarding the incident near 4300 North Graham Street in north Charlotte. One patient was transported to an area medical center with life-threatening injuries.

Details surrounding the incident are unclear at this time and Queen City News has reached out to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police for additional details.

This is a developing story; check back for updates

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Stanford University on Thursday named business school dean Jonathan Levin its new president, seven months after its former top leader resigned amid allegations of research misconduct.

Levin, a 51-year-old economist and Stanford alumnus who has led the business school for eight years, will take the helm at the Palo Alto campus Aug. 1.

He replaces Richard Saller, a professor of European studies who became interim president after Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigned in August amid research misconduct accusations.

Read more: Stanford president stepping down amid scrutiny over his research

Levin will lead the university, one of the nation's top-rated and wealthiest with a $36-billion endowment, at a turbulent time in higher education.

Nationwide, enrollment is declining, costs continue to skyrocket and many are questioning the value of a high-priced college degree. Public and private universities have been on the defense as conservative activists and politicians attack degree programs, classes and campus culture on race, gender and sexuality. Amid controversy over antisemitism, the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania recently resigned.

In 2022, Stanford was roiled by a Stanford Daily report questioning Tessier-Lavigne's neurobiology research. An independent panel later concluded that Tessier-Lavigne "did not personally engage in research misconduct" but failed multiple times to correct errors in published research and oversaw labs that had manipulated data. Announcing his resignation last summer, he said he was stepping down "for the good of the University.

Last year, the university said it would return $5.5 million in donations from FTX, the bankrupt crypto exchange whose founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced last week to 25 years in prison for fraud. Bankman-Fried is the son of two Stanford law professors.

Since the fall, campus conflicts have erupted over the Israel-Hamas war. In December, the U.S. Department of Education said it was investigating allegations of discrimination on the campus, such as antisemitism, after accusations that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The act bans discrimination based on race, national origin, shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics. The investigation is one of several the federal government is conducting into U.S. universities in the wake of divisive campus protests since Oct. 7, as the line between freedom of speech and hate speech has become a hot-button debate.

Stanford faced intense pressure in the fall over its statements on the Israel-Hamas war. Two days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel, leaders said they were "deeply saddened and horrified by the death and human suffering" in the Middle East but did not name Hamas. By Oct. 11, a new statement condemned all "terror and mass atrocities" including the deliberate attack on civilians this weekend by Hamas."

In a Faculty Senate meeting in January, Levin suggested the university shouldn't quickly wade into global issues. "I think it models the wrong thing for our students, and it actually undermines our basic educational mission  , he said. "We want them to think slowly, to hear from different people, to weigh things carefully, and we should model that and have the focus after an event in the world to be around listening and learning."

In a statement Thursday, Levin said he would "strengthen our commitment to academic excellence and freedom; to foster the principles of openness, curiosity, and mutual respect; and to lead our faculty and students as they advance knowledge and seek to contribute in meaningful ways to the world.

Levin earned undergraduate degrees in English and math from Stanford before studying at Oxford University and MIT. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2000. A former economics department chair, his research has focused on industrial organization and market design. In 2016, he became the dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business after its leader resigned. In 2021, Levin was appointed to President Biden's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Levin will be the university's 13th president.

"When I was an undergraduate, Stanford opened my mind, nurtured my love for math and literature, and inspired me to pursue an academic career," Levin said. "In the years since, it has given me opportunities to pursue ideas in collaboration with brilliant colleagues, teach exceptional students, and bring people together to achieve ambitious collective goals around the university.

Read more: Q&A: How this Stanford freshman brought down the president of the university

University administration also runs in his family. Levin is the son of former Yale University President Richard Levin.

Levin was selected by a 20-member committee that included professors, students, staff and trustees.

Jerry Yang, the chair of Stanford's Board of Trustees who announced the search committee in September, said in a statement that Levin brings "a rare combination of qualities: a deep understanding and love of Stanford, an impressive track record of academic and leadership success, the analytical prowess to tackle complex strategic issues, and a collaborative and optimistic working style."

He is consistently described by those who know him as principled, humble, authentic, thoughtful, and inspiring," Yang said. "We are excited about Stanfords future under Jons leadership.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
SYDNEY, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A man has died in the Australian state of Queensland after his vehicle was stranded in floodwaters on Thursday.

At about 5:20 a.m. local time, officers were called to conduct a welfare check of a vehicle submerged in floodwater at a private property on Begley Road in Greenbank.

A 71-year-old man was found deceased near the vehicle.

Queensland police confirmed that the death has not been deemed suspicious and a report would be prepared for the coroner.

With a resident population of around 10,000, the rural suburb of Greenbank is located in Logan City, south of Brisbane.

On Wednesday evening, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a warning of "very dangerous thunderstorm" that could lead to life-threatening flash flooding near Greenbank and Red Bank plains.

According to BOM's latest observation, significant heavy rainfall was recorded across the lower Brisbane catchment with widespread totals of 50-100 mm during Wednesday night and into Thursday morning with isolated rainfall totals up to 150 mm.

Local weather service provider Weatherzone also reported that from Thursday to Saturday, southern Queensland, New South Wales, and parts of Victoria and Tasmania are likely to experience widespread deluge and thunderstorms caused by a deepening coastal trough and associated upper-level low-pressure system.

"While this weather pattern will produce severe weather that could include a month's worth of rain in 24 hours for some places, it is not unusual for this time of year," Weatherzone warned. 
Seven years ago, police investigated disturbing sex and drug allegations against an Oakdale doctor, whos been free to continue seeing patients as additional investigations took place.

Now, the Medical Board of California has taken disciplinary action against Dr. Mark Daniel Cook, who is accused of molesting his stepdaughter and prescribing dangerous combinations of drugs to the girl and her mother. Its a case the Stanislaus County District Attorneys Office declined to prosecute.

A state board order March 25 revokes Cooks medical license, but the revocation is stayed  meaning he can keep operating his practice  as long as he complies with the terms of a 10-year probation agreement. The disciplinary order takes affect April 24 and Cook is set to begin serving a 60-day suspension in May.

The terms of his probation include having a chaperone present while examining or treating female patients. Cook must disclose his probation status to patients, the restrictions imposed by the state board on his practice and give patients instructions on how to find more information about the doctors probation.

Cook is barred from prescribing most controlled substances until he completes a prescribing practices course. And he is also expected to complete an ethics course and other education as terms of probation and undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

The state Medical Board will monitor his progress with meeting the terms of probation.

The state order charges that the stepdaughter was sexually exploited by Cook during a two-year marriage to the girls mother from 2015 to 2017. The girl was 7 to 9 years old during that time.

Cook also was accused of gross negligence and repeated negligent acts in prescribing drugs to his then-wife and stepdaughter without proper diagnoses and monitoring. The state board investigation also concluded that Cook made dishonest statements to investigators that were contradicted by other medical professionals.

A person who answered the phone at Cooks office Wednesday in Oakdale said the doctor has no comment. Cook has worked at Oakdale Family Medicine on West H Street. The doctors Bay Area attorney also had no comment.

Oakdale police investigated Cook for the alleged sexual abuse of his stepdaughter in 2017. An arrest affidavit for Cook on a charge of lewd acts with a minor was sent to the Stanislaus County District Attorneys Office, which didnt prosecute the case over concerns about proving the charges.

No crime could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury based upon the information we received, then-DA spokesman John Goold said in a 2020 Modesto Bee article. Consequently, no charges were filed.

Following investigations by the Medical Board into sexual abuse and negligent prescribing of medication, Cook signed a document accepting the results of the investigations and the recommended disciplinary action. He was not charged with criminal violations.

The Medical Board investigation found that Cook prescribed a mixture of opiates and sedatives for his ex-wife without a documented medical diagnosis. According to a Medical Board accusation, the combination of opiates and benzodiazepine sedatives raised the risks of overdose, respiratory depression and death.

Negligent in managing drugs for stepdaughter

Cooks stepdaughter had seen a psychiatrist for psychological issues and was referred to therapists in Modesto. But the girl never saw any of those therapists, the Medical Board accusation said. Instead, Cook prescribed Seroquel  an antipsychotic medication used to treat conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for his stepdaughter and increased the dose to four times the recommended amount. Management of the psychotropic drugs was beyond the scope of a primary care physician such as Cook.

According to the Medical Board accusation, Cook also prescribed lithium for the 8-year-old girl even though she didnt have a diagnosis for bipolar disorder from specialists.

Another board accusation focused on a tumultuous relationship and medications that Cook prescribed for another woman, identified as either a wife or cohabitant. An investigation concluded that Cook was grossly negligent in prescribing medications for the woman.

The allegations included a California Highway Patrol traffic stop on U.S. Highway 395 near Bishop in November 2020, after which Cook and the woman were both arrested on suspicion of cohabitant abuse.

The Medical Board order expects Cook to pay $200,000 in reimbursements for investigation costs and legal reviews.
Rivan, who was killed Tuesday, April 2, 2024, breaking up an inmate skirmish at Sussex I State Prison near Waverly, had been on the job since 2019, the Virginia Department of Corrections said.

WAVERLY  The Virginia Department of Corrections says one of its guard dogs was killed Tuesday afternoon during a skirmish at Sussex I State Prison.

K-9 Rivan, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, was beaten and stabbed to death by three inmates after he was ordered by his handler to stop them from attacking another inmate inside one of the prisons housing units. A VADOC statement said crews tried to save his life but were unsuccessful, and the dog died at the scene.

After order was restored, four inmates were taken into custody  the three attackers and a fourth who officials said seemed to be supervising the incident. VADOC said the suspects were from El Salvador and Guatemala, and all affiliated with the MS-13 gang.

All four men were in the U.S. illegally when they were arrested and convicted on charges ranging from first-degree murder to child pornography.

The victim in the attack was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and then returned to Sussex I. It was not known if he had any gang affiliation.

An investigation into the attack is ongoing.

VADOC said it plans to "pursue prosecution of these inmates to the fullest extent of the law against the four inmates.

The loss of Rivan is truly tragic, but it is important to remember he did not die in vain. VADOC director Chad Dotson said in a statement. He lost his life while potentially saving the lives of two people, his assigned officer and an inmate. The VADOC will never forget Rivans sacrifice.

Rivan joined VADOC in 2019 and was certified as a K-9 that July. VADOC said he came from a lineage with a strong public safety tradition, as his father worked for a police department in Southwest Virginia and his mother worked for the Secret Service.

VADOC is planning a memorial service for the dog. Details will be announced later.

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: K-9 officer killed in inmate fight at Sussex prison
Russia's "double-tap" attacks against Ukraine have killed 91 first responders and injured 348 since the start of the full-scale war, Suspilne reported on April 4, citing information from the State Emergency Service.

The Kyiv Independent has previously reported on Russia's use of so-called "double-tap" strikes, in which there is an initial strike followed by a second - with a delay - so that it can potentially wound or kill first responders.

Most recently, Russian forces used such a tactic in a drone attack against Kharkiv overnight on April 4, killing three State Emergency Service employees: 52-year-old Vladyslav Lohinov, 32-year-old Serhii Baidalinov, and 41-year-old Volodymyr Matiushenko.

Another rescue worker was injured and is in serious condition, the State Emergency Service said. The attack also killed one other resident and injured 12.

In March, first responders and police officers were among the killed and injured in a double-tap missile attack against the southern port city of Odesa.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russian missile strike on Odesa kills 20, injures over 70

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The state board of education will not renew a low-income Gaston County schools charter due to concerns over low performance and inadequate oversight.

The board voted unanimously Thursday not to renew Ridgeview Charter Schools charter, despite an appeal from school administrators.

The North Carolina Charter School Review Board originally voted not to renew the charter at its meeting Mar. 11, citing continued low performance on state exams. The school received a grade of F from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in both 2022 and 2023. Just 13.8% of the around 300 Ridgeview students were considered grade-level proficient in 2023, according to end-of-year exam scores. Meanwhile, 50.2% of Gaston County Schools students achieved that benchmark.

Over 85% of students at the school are consistently scoring below grade-level, said state board of education member John Blackburn. The school has also not met academic growth requirements in any year since it opened.

Charter school review board members also previously said Ridgeview board members have not been consistently present or responsive when given the opportunity to present plans to improve the school since the school originally came under review in November.

The schools governing board has not actively and consistently participated in the schools quest for renewal, Blackburn told the state board of education Thursday.

School leaders told the committee that they simply need more time to implement the plans for improvement they presented Tuesday. A message on the schools website invited parents, teachers and community members to attend the meeting to show support for the school.

These are students who did not succeed in the state system. They come in a year or two behind, and we became a shining light for them, said Colleen Samuels, Ridgeview board chair. We have put the building blocks in place now, and were ready to go. We just need time.

Ridgeview opened in 2019 and serves a predominantly low-income area of Gaston County. During the 2021-22 school year, 70.6% of Ridgeviews students were considered economically disadvantaged by state standards, compared to the statewide average of 38.3%. School administrators told members of the state board of education 98% of the schools students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Review board officials said the plans Ridgeview presented Tuesday came too late.

No real efforts appear to have been made by the Ridgeview board or staff until the appeal meeting, which we heard the day before yesterday, to demonstrate a plan to improve student performance at the school, Blackburn said. Unfortunately, the plans proposed Tuesday came too late and only after many opportunities passed without action.

The committee voted unanimously to uphold the Charter School Review Boards decision to cut off the schools state funding, before the full board voted the same way Thursday.

The schools charter will expire June 30.
This story was updated at 10:05 a.m. Friday

Gov. Tina Kotek's office released the following statement late Thursday about state employees' complaints about paycheck issues with Workday:

"The Governor is aware of the frustrations some state employees are experiencing with the Workday system. Her office is in communication with the Department of Administrative Services on improvements being made to aid in the functionality of the system. The Department of Administrative Services is currently in litigation on this issue, and we cannot comment further."

Original story:

State workers rallied Thursday to get a commitment from Gov. Tina Kotek that the state is taking workers' ongoing issues with their paychecks seriously 15 months after Oregon's new payroll system rolled out.

Workers and members of SEIU 503 shared stories at the Oregon State Library, where the governor's office is temporarily housed, on issues including problems of overpayments and money being taken out of paychecks after the state began using Workday.

Workday replaced a payroll system that was built in the 1980s.

Members of SEIU 503 picket on April 4 in protest of ongoing issues with the state's new payroll system that rolled out 15 months ago.

Oregon state workers share stories of anxiety around payday

Victoria Salinas, a resource coordinator for the Oregon State Hospital, shared a personal story during the picket. An employee for the hospital since August 2022, she says problems with Workday have ultimately led to her facing an eviction notice.

Salinas, a single mother to five children, said that shortly after the system was implemented she began noticing money being taken from her paycheck every month that she did not expect. Reaching out to payroll and management resulted in no answers, she said, and in February, a year after the problems first began, $2,500 was taken from her paycheck.

"I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent. I had no food in the house. I went, 'OK, how am I going to provide for my kids this month?'"

That deduction was due to the collection of an overpayment, Salinas said she was told two weeks later. It was an overpayment she was never notified of, she said. She's missed months of rent, had to borrow money from her disabled mother and gone days without eating, she said.

Most people are excited around payday, but for her the time gives her extreme anxiety, she said.

"It makes me feel like I'm a horrible mother," Salinas said. "Because I can't provide. And I hate that. I've always been able to provide for my kids. Always. Until Workday happened. And they won't fix it."

Members of SEIU 503 picket on April 4 in protest of ongoing issues with the state's new payroll system that rolled out 15 months ago.

Kristen Anderson, a worker with the Oregon Department of Human Services, called Workday a "nightmare." She has been with ODHS since 2002 and never had a problem before January 2023, she said. Her problems included the system taking too much money out every month for medical coverage and then in November 2023 she was notified she owed $13,000 in overpayments.

Anderson said she and her husband have depleted their savings to pay that money back. She said she also was encouraged to become full-time in February and told that doing so would resolve issues with Workday. She would not have done so otherwise, she said. But the problems have persisted.

"Everybody gets excited to get their paycheck. I'm not. It's stressful." she said. "I don't know how much I'm going to get. I don't know what it's going to look like."

Mike Powers, president of SEIU 503 and Melissa Unger, executive director, speak to workers outside the Oregon State Library on April 4 who were protesting ongoing problems with a new payroll system.

SEIU 503 seeks response from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek over paycheck issues

Distress for hundreds of workers has gone on for "far too long" said Mike Powers, president of SEIU 503. Powers said workers have had patience and have kept getting assurances from the Department of Administrative Services the issues would be resolved.

"At this point, we're done," Powers said. "We waited 15 months."

Powers said workers were at the governor's office Thursday seeking a commitment from Kotek that the state would prioritize workers getting correct paychecks. Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU 503, said the union had tried every avenue their contract allows, including filing several formal grievances over violations. There has to be a message from the governor the state would be coming up with a plan, Unger said.

"We need to see and hear from her that her attention is on the tens of thousands of workers who work for her and for the people of Oregon. That she's paying attention to this," Powers said.

Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU 503, speaks to members as they protest ongoing issues with the payroll system Workday on April 4.

The Department of Administrative Services declined to provide specifics on the number of workers impacted by payroll issues, citing ongoing litigation around the issue.

Two lawsuits were filed last year over incorrect paychecks.

During a committee hearing in March 2023, Department of Administrative Services Director Berri Leslie told lawmakers that 2,151 employees were impacted by payroll issues that month. The state employs nearly 45,000 people and SEIU represents 22,000 of them.

"We have seen improvement in training and employees experience with the system, and we continue to make improvements in the functionality of the tool," Andrea Chiapella, communications director for the Department of Administrative Services, said in an email to the Statesman Journal.

Kotek's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon state workers demand action on payroll system issues
'Staunch' friend of Taiwan's to become top US diplomat in Taipei, sources say

A demonstrator holds flags of Taiwan and the United States in support of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during an stop-over after her visit to Latin America in Burlingame

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI (Reuters) -A staunch friend of Taiwan's will this summer take over as the top U.S. diplomat in Taipei, three sources briefed on the matter said, roughly coinciding with the island's new president taking office at a time of rising tensions with China.

Like most nations, the United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but is its most important international backer and arms supplier, to Beijing's anger. China has ramped up political and military pressure against Taiwan.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters that Raymond Greene, currently deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, will replace Sandra Oudkirk as director of the American Institute in Taiwan, or AIT.

AIT handles relations between the United States and Taiwan in the absence of official relations. Career diplomat Greene, who was deputy head of AIT before going to Japan, will be the de facto U.S. ambassador in Taipei.

AIT referred questions to the U.S. State Department, which said it did not have any information to share on personnel matters.

"Greene is viewed here as a staunch friend of Taiwan's and knows Taiwan well," one of the sources said.

A second source said Greene, who speaks both Japanese and Mandarin, would also be able to serve as a useful conduit between Taiwan and Japan, given Tokyo's concerns about possible Chinese military action against the island.

Greene will be assuming his new role as Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-te, takes charge. Lai, who won election in January but is not inaugurated until May 20, is detested by China which views him as a dangerous separatist and has rebuffed his offers of talks.

Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

It was not clear exactly when Greene would take up his role, but the sources said it would be this summer when Oudkirk's term is up. She took the role in July 2021.

Greene was previously the U.S. consul general in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu and Japan's Okinawa, home to a U.S. military base that lies not far from Taiwan.

In 2021, shortly before moving from Taipei to Tokyo, Greene said in a speech that when he first worked in Taiwan two decades ago, everything AIT did related back to cross-Taiwan Strait issues and how Taiwan fit into the U.S.-China relationship.

But over the preceding three years, efforts had been overwhelmingly focused on deepening ties and working together to help other countries develop their economies and democratic institutions, he said.

"The United States no longer sees Taiwan as a 'problem' in our relations with China, we see it as an opportunity to advance our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific and also as a beacon to peoples around the world who aspire for a more just, safe, prosperous, and democratic world," added Greene.

China considers Taiwan the most sensitive and important topic in its relations with the United States.

The United States holds its presidential election in November, in what could be another uncertain factor for U.S.-Taiwan relations, though Taiwan's foreign ministry said last week it believed U.S. support would remain unchanged no matter who won.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show' - Credit: YouTube/The Late Show

On a new episode of The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert emphasized the need to talk about what everyones talking about and opened the show by commenting on the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza this week.

I hope there is one thing we can all agree on: human beings should have food and water, Colbert said after acknowledging the vast divisions in opinions on the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. Heres the thing, on Monday seven World Central Kitchen aide workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Our thoughts are with the families and the loved ones of these heroes.

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The host read off the workers names, adding How could something like this happen? Despite the fact that the World Central Kitchen coordinated their movements with the Israeli military and the team was leaving the warehouse in central Gaza after unloading shipments of food, they were hit by multiple precision Israeli drone strikes.

Colbert recounted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayus response to the attack, in which he claimed, This happens in war. Then maybe consider ending the war, Colbert replied. Because this is not an isolated incident.

He explained that more than 200 international aide workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, as well as thousands of innocent people. Colbert noted that World Central Kitchen is near and dear to his heart as its led by his friend Jose Andres. They get in there with the food and they do the job, he said of WCK, which doesnt take sides in their efforts to feed people in places of disaster. Theyre like Seal Team DoorDash.

Instead of being welcomed they have been attacked by the IDF and Hamas has hauled members of their team in for interrogation, Colbert continued. So whatever you think should happen in Israel and Gaza, I hope we can all agree that people should be allowed to eat.

The WCK workers were traveling in two armored cars branded with the charitys logo in a de-conflicted zone when they were killed, WCK said in a statement issued Tuesday morning. Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route, the organization confirmed.

Yesterday, Andres said in an interview with Reuters that the workers were targeted systematically, car by car. This was not just a bad luck situation where oops we dropped the bomb in the wrong place, Andres said. Even if we were not in coordination with the [Israel Defense Forces], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.

The founder also published an op-ed in The New York Times on Wednesday, remembering the victims as more than generic aid workers or collateral damage in war.

In the worst conditions you can imagine  after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire  the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always, Andres wrote. The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless.

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Students head to DC courthouse to learn how the justice system works

WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Jamylah Summers tried out the seat that belongs to D.C. Superior Court Judge Yvonne Williams Wednesday. She may want to occupy a similar seat one day.

First though, Summers wants to be a public defender.

They [defendants] shouldnt just be guilty because of where they come from or culture or skin color or anything, Summers said for why shes interested in a legal career after college.

Who is Dulles International Airport named for?

Summers and her 8th grade classmates from Charles Hart Middle School spent the day at the courthouse, as they learned how the legal system works. Its part of a continuing program that was started last year that brings 8th graders from D.C. public schools to the courthouse.

Negative things do happen in this courtroom. People are sent to jail. Children are taken away from homes, Williams said, as part of the reason for inviting students is to help overcome the negative reputation of appearing in court.

Though field trips like this one offer other opportunities as well.

Theyre able to take what they learn, apply it, get the experience and see how it works in the real world, said Deyon Johnson who helped organize the trip.

Jayden Lucas job during the trip included watching over the inmates who wait to appear in court, like security personnel do. But, Lucas also has his sites set on being a public defender.

Proposed DC budget includes increased sales tax, more Metro funding

What I usually see and hear is that people who get the back end of the car dont get the chance to really have what a paid lawyer does for them, Lucas said.

He and classmates will get the chance to put what they learned to the test next week. They will handle a mock trial of SpongeBob SquarePants, whos on trial for the murder of Mr. Krabs.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A baby chimpanzee born sits in the lap of its mother Vanessa at Osnabrueck Zoo. More than a third of the great ape population in Africa is endangered by mining, according to a new study. Friso Gentsch/dpa

More than a third of the great ape population in Africa is endangered by mining, according to a new study.

The threat to these 180,000 chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas has so far been underestimated, wrote scientists from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in the journal Science Advances.

The increasing demand for important minerals such as copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earths, which are needed for the large-scale transition to clean energy, has led to a boom in mining in Africa, they say.

There are also other direct and indirect effects, such as the construction of roads, the settlement of people in previously uninhabited areas, hunting and the possible transmission of diseases.

For the study, the research team led by scientists from iDiv Halle-Jena-Leipzig used data on mining sites in 17 African countries that have either already been put into operation or are currently being developed.

They compared the locations of these mining sites with the habitats of great ape populations, assuming that animals within a radius of 10 kilometres were directly affected and those within a radius of 50 kilometres indirectly.

The scientists found the greatest overlaps in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali and Guinea. The overlap between the habitat of chimpanzees and mining was particularly strong in Guinea.

According to the study, more than 23,000 chimpanzees or up to 83% of the ape population there could be directly or indirectly affected by mining activities.

"Moving away from fossil fuels is right and important for the climate," said the environmental organization Re:wild in a statement on the report. However, it must be done in a way that does not jeopardize biodiversity.

"Companies, lenders and governments need to recognize that sometimes leaving some areas untouched can be more beneficial to mitigating climate change and preventing future epidemics," the group said.
Protesters wave Israeli flags and hold placards in front of Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament, in central London on November 26, 2023 during a demonstration to protest against antisemitism

It is shocking how quickly memories of the atrocities of October 7 seem to have faded. It is not even six months since Hamas launched its murderous pogrom against Israel, killing around 1,200 men, women and children in a rampage reminiscent of the worst crimes of Islamic State.

In the aftermath of those attacks, Western leaders professed their solidarity with Israel, correctly arguing that it had every right to defend itself against the terrorists by sending its military into Gaza. Now that support is beginning to look decidedly shaky.

The Israeli strike on an aid convoy earlier this week, which tragically killed seven people, has been seized upon by critics of the British Governments Israel policy as a reason for a change of direction. 600 lawyers have published an open letter calling for a suspension of arms sales, citing international law concerns. Labour has demanded the release of Foreign Office legal advice, while calls for a ceasefire continue to grow ever louder.

Given that British defence exports to Israel amounted to only 42 million in 2022, the last full-year data available, this row might appear to be a small matter. The UK has in the past suspended some arms sales  including in 1982 under Margaret Thatcher and in 2002 under Tony Blair  with little noticeable effect on Israeli policy.

But Israel will be concerned that any move by Britain could form part of a broader international shift that ends up delegitimising its military operations in Gaza, perhaps even denying it the ability to achieve its central war aim: the eradication of Hamas.

Israel has long had to endure a campaign of lawfare waged by activist groups, with legal concepts weaponised against it. In this context, it is left at a disadvantage when fighting an opponent like Hamas  a terrorist group that has no regard for international law or human rights  precisely because Israel is a legitimate democratic state that does take its responsibilities seriously.

That is why the Government has to tread carefully. It is understandable that concerns have been raised with the Israeli government over the strike on the aid convoy. But as Lord Frost wrote in this newspaper, Britains foreign policy should be determined by what is in this countrys interests. Destroying Hamas very much is, and Israel deserves our support in its efforts to achieve that objective.

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KUNMING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- During the first quarter of this year, the China-Laos Railway handled some 1.38 million tonnes of import and export goods, up 33.6 percent year on year, a quarterly record high, said Kunming Customs on Thursday.

The import and export goods transported via the China-Laos Railway have expanded from 583 varieties in the first month of its operation to about 3,000 varieties now.

Over the years, the railway's train operations have become more intensive. It began operations with two trains per day, and has since increased to 20 trains per day, according to the customs authorities.

As a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the 1,035-km China-Laos Railway connects Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with the Laotian capital Vientiane. It began operations in December 2021. 
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts visited Duke University Thursday evening to speak at a private ceremony honoring the late Justice Sandra Day OConnor.

OConnor, the first woman to serve on the nations highest court, received this years Bolch Prize for the Rule of Law from the Bolch Judicial Institute at the Duke School of Law. The prize has been awarded annually since 2019 to an individual or organization who has demonstrated extraordinary dedication to the rule of law and advancing rule of law principles around the world.

OConnor, who died in December, was honored for her contributions to civics education, notably through her founding of iCivics, a nonprofit that provides free civics resources and games for more than 9 million students each year. OConnor founded the organization after she stepped down from the Supreme Court in 2006  one of several post-retirement initiatives that contribute to her legacy of advancing civic education and civil discourse.

Thursdays ceremony at the Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center included remarks from Roberts and Scott OConnor, Justice OConnors son, as well as Duke Law Dean Kerry Abrams, Duke Law professor and former OConnor clerk Lisa Griffin and retired U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute.

Throughout the ceremony, speakers highlighted their personal connections to OConnor, as well as her accomplishments on the Supreme Court and beyond, including her many trips to countries with fledgling democracies.

Roberts presented archival photos of OConnor and called attention to one that perhaps best illustrated OConnors lasting legacy: OConnor, watching as a young girl worked on a laptop computer, exploring the world that was opening to her through her studies. The late justice, who had opened doors for women and girls throughout her career, placed her hand gently on the girls shoulder.

As Justice OConnor told her sons, our purpose in life is to help others along the way, Roberts said, referencing the photo.

In a December announcement that OConnor would receive the award, Roberts called OConnor a pathbreaking figure. When former President George W. Bush picked him to join the Supreme Court in 2005, Roberts was originally nominated to replace the retiring OConnor, until William Rehnquists death created an opening in the position of chief justice.

Grimm described OConnors post-retirement efforts, for which she was primarily awarded the Bolch Prize, as the capstone of a life dedicated to advancing and protecting the rule of law.

Justice OConnor realized, better than most of us, that without a civically informed public, the rule of law cannot thrive, Grimm said. And in order for the public to have faith in our judicial system, which itself is essential to maintaining our democratic form of government, people must first understand how the three branches of government work together.

OConnors roots and legacy

OConnor, whom former President Ronald Reagan nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981, was born and raised in Texas and Arizona  the latter being where she spent much of her life.

Throughout Roberts remarks, he displayed photos from the duration of OConnors life and career, from her time studying at the Stanford University School of Law, to preparing for her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, to high-fiving basketball player Charles Barkley and dancing with Reagan.

Throughout her career, OConnor held positions in all three branches of government, serving as assistant attorney general of Arizona, then in the Arizona state Senate, then in two separate courts in Arizona prior to joining the U.S. Supreme Court.

On the Supreme Court, she was known as a moderate and frequent swing-voter who worked to build consensus among her fellow justices, a biography published by the Bolch Institute states. When consensus wasnt possible, OConnor often wrote a narrow majority decision or carefully concurred to blunt the impact of a decision that she thought was too broad.

In a 2003 landmark decision on the consideration of race in college admissions, for example, OConnor wrote the majority opinion that upheld the University of Michigan Law Schools narrow use of such policies. The precedent set forth in that case stood until last summer, when the court  in a decision written by Roberts  ruled in cases involving UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard University that such policies are unconstitutional.

Griffin, who served as a clerk for OConnor at the Supreme Court, said in the Bolch Institutes December announcement that she had an extraordinary ability to find the middle ground in the most emotional debates, including those involving reproductive rights and affirmative action.

Griffin said Thursday that OConnor is rightly celebrated for expanding what was possible for women in every profession and, of course, for the careful and pragmatic decisions that she wrote on the Supreme Court.

OConnors post-retirement work

Beyond OConnors professional accomplishments, Griffin largely focused her remarks on OConnors personality and character, noting that she was more interesting than the icon that everyone could see from a distance, because she contained some contrast.

OConnor was diligent and driven, tending to not show signs of stress, Griffin said. She was focused and calm, but not necessarily relaxed. This was evident during her annual outing with her clerks to see Washington, D.C.s cherry blossoms, which Griffin described as a scheduled forward march, regardless of the inclement weather.

Roberts photo presentation included another example of one of OConnors outings with her clerks: a whitewater-rafting trip, with water sprayed high around the inflatable raft, which Roberts noted was beyond the extracurricular activities he and other justices offer their clerks.

Justice OConnor knew the power of directness, and that included direct engagement with people. I certainly felt that she felt she had a responsibility as the first woman on the Supreme Court to show that she could more than keep up with the boys, Roberts said. I think she also felt a responsibility as the most powerful woman in America to be out there putting her best foot forward and promoting the values that help define our country.

Grimm said Thursday that the Bolch Judicial Institute is immensely honored to add OConnor to its list of recipients.

OConnors son Scott noted that the Bolch Institute was founded the same year, 2018, that OConnors dementia led her to withdraw from public life  but he surmised that she would have been drawn to its purpose and happily traveled to Durham to meet its founders and participate in its programming.

Previous recipients of the Bolch Prize are: former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke of the South Africa Constitutional Court, retired Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the International Association of Women Judges.
Americans are a litigious people. But there are some people that even Americans cant sue for wronging us. One of the most surprising categories is that of the prosecutor. Despite their immense power over justice and injustice for tens of thousands of people, prosecutors are generally immune from federal civil rights lawsuits. The Supreme Court may soon decide whether to take up a case that could pare back prosecutors absolute immunity after years of criticism and skepticism about its scope.

The case, Price v. Montgomery County, comes from Kentucky. In 2018, Nickie Miller sued a group of state law enforcement officials in federal court for allegedly conspiring to frame him for the murder of Paul Brewer, the brother of a former state trooper who had been found tied to his bed and shot to death seven years earlier. Four years of investigation by the police failed to surface a suspect for the killing.

But that changed after officers received tips from jailhouse informants that led them to a woman named Natasha Martin. During a police interrogation, she claimed that she, Miller, and a few others had taken part in the murder, with Miller firing the fatal gunshots. Miller was jailed for two years before prosecutors eventually dropped the charges against him.

A key part of the lawsuit centers on the actions of Keith Craycraft, an assistant state prosecutor. Both sides of the lawsuit agree that Martin almost immediately sought to retract her confession. She also wrote letters while in jail that recanted her confession, which she said had been extracted through coercive means. A Kentucky court ordered the jail to turn over the letters at the request of Millers lawyers.

After the courts order came down, Craycraft spoke with Martin by phone. The two sides disagree on exactly what happened next. Millers estatehe died while midway through litigationalleged that Craycraft instructed Martin to destroy the exculpatory letters. (Ill keep referring to the plaintiff as Miller for continuitys sake, even though his daughter is now the named litigant.) Craycraft said in a deposition that he simply advised Martin to contact her own lawyer for further advice. In any event, the letters central to the matter subsequently disappeared.

Millers original lawsuit alleged a broader conspiracy within Kentuckys law enforcement apparatus. But the legal issues in his estates petition for the Supreme Court are more narrow. After the lawsuit was filed, Craycraft moved to dismiss it on the basis of absolute prosecutorial immunity. He argued that Section 1983, the federal law invoked by Miller for his complaint, did not allow lawsuits against him for the actions he allegedly committed.

A federal district court judge in Kentucky agreed, as did the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Courts assume that the plaintiffs facts are true when deciding motions to dismiss, so the rulings operated from the assumption that Craycraft did tell Martin to destroy the letters. Even then, they concluded that Craycraft was entitled to absolute immunity for allegedly destroying evidence, despite a court order.

The behavior Miller describes in his complaint is difficult to justify and seemingly unbecoming of an official entrusted with enforcing the criminal law, the Sixth Circuit panels majority noted, perhaps with some understatement. At the same time, Craycraft has met his burden of establishing that the conduct at issue was committed in his role as prosecutor, rendering him immune from suit.

From where does this immunity spring? In 1871, Congress passed the Enforcement Act to address deprivations of rights in the postwar American South. One of its provisions, now known as Section 1983, allows people to sue state and local officials in federal court for violating their federal constitutional rights. This power is not unlimited, however. The courts have recognized various forms of legal immunity from Section 1983 lawsuits over the years for public officials.

Most state and local officials enjoy what is known as qualified immunity, in the sense that they enjoy immunity with some qualifications. Generally speaking, those officials cant be sued unless they violate a clearly established constitutional right. Three groups of officialsjudges, legislators, and prosecutorsenjoy absolute immunity, meaning that they cant be sued for their official acts at all.

Qualified immunity became a highly controversial doctrine in recent years, as myself and many others have noted before. Judicial immunity and legislative immunity are widely accepted both as a matter of legal principle and on pragmatic grounds. But prosecutorial immunity, compared to the other two forms of absolute immunity, is far more recentand also more contested.

When the Supreme Court revived Section 1983 in the mid-twentieth century, the justices also began to outline limits to its scope. They first declared that prosecutors enjoy absolute immunity from Section 1983 lawsuits in the 1976 case Imbler v. Pachtman. That case centered on a former death-row inmate in California who had been exonerated based on evidence that he believed had been withheld by a Los Angeles prosecutor before his trial.

In a 80 decision, the court rejected his lawsuit. It argued that prosecutors enjoyed a form of absolute immunity that derived from judicial immunity. The common law immunity of a prosecutor is based upon the same considerations that underlie the common-law immunities of judges and grand jurors acting within the scope of their duties, Justice Lewis Powell wrote for the court.

Powell also emphasized what he and his colleagues saw as practical concerns with allowing Section 1983 claims against prosecutors. These include concern that harassment by unfounded litigation would cause a deflection of the prosecutors energies from his public duties, and the possibility that he would shade his decisions instead of exercising the independence of judgment required by his public trust, he continued.

Justice Byron White and the courts two most liberal members, Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall, concurred only in the courts final judgment. White wrote that the allegation put forward by the plaintiffthat the prosecutor should have known that the testimony was falsewas insufficient for a Section 1983 claim, and so the case should fall. But he parted ways with the majority on their argument for prosecutorial immunity.

It is by no means true that such blanket absolute immunity is necessary or even helpful in protecting the judicial process, White wrote. It should hardly need stating that, ordinarily, liability in damages for unconstitutional or otherwise illegal conduct has the very desirable effect of deterring such conduct. Indeed, this was precisely the proposition upon which Section 1983 was enacted.

While the Imbler court suggested that its ruling did not address all aspects of a prosecutors job, later decisions interpreted it broadly. The Supreme Court has typically only rejected prosecutorial immunity when prosecutors perform acts outside their official functions. In the 1991 case Burns v. Reed, for example, the Supreme Court upheld absolute immunity for a prosecutors charging decisions but not for legal advice that he gave to police officers during an investigation.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a separate opinion in Burns where he concurred only with the courts judgment. He also noted, almost in passing, that he was skeptical of Imblers reasoning. [Imbler] relied for that holding upon a common law tradition of prosecutorial immunity that developed much later than 1871, and was not even a logical extrapolation from then-established immunities, he wrote, referring to the year that Section 1983 became law. While I would not, for the reasons stated above, employ that methodology here, the holding of Imbler remains on the books, and for reasons of stare decisis I would not abandon it.

In the Sixth Circuit ruling against Miller, one of the panels members, Judge John Nalbandian, followed Scalias lead and parted ways with his colleagues on the immunity analysis. In footnotes, he pointed to recent scholarship that casts doubt on prevailing legal views about qualified immunitys legitimacy on originalist grounds. But as a lower court judge, he had much less flexibility than a Supreme Court justice about when and how he can apply precedent.

For that reason, Nalbandian wrote, Craycraft was entitled to absolute immunity on the portions of his claims about advising a witness to destroy evidence. But he argued that absolute immunity did not apply to the allegations that Craycraft had violated a court order, as Miller had alleged. Prosecutorial immunity is grounded in the idea that it protects a prosecutors discretion, he wrote, but that discretion does not apply when it comes to a court order. Even then, he wrote, he would still hold that Craycraft was entitled to qualified immunity since the allegedly violated right was not clearly established.

In his petition for review, Miller argued that the justices should take up the case because the lower courts are divided on how absolute immunity applies in these cases. Some of the federal appeals courts have held that destruction of evidence falls under the prosecutors discretion about what to present to a jury. The Third Circuit, on the other hand, previously held that destroying exculpatory evidence does not fall within a prosecutors duties, and is therefore not entitled to immunity.

The Sixth Circuits ruling against Miller expanded that split in the lower courts. While the Supreme Court is generally free to take up cases for whatever reason it chooses, it often takes them up to address divided interpretations of federal law in the lower courts. While the Kentucky solicitor generals office claimed in a header that there was no circuit split, it more or less conceded that one exists in its actual argument.

What matters is if something is done in the role of an advocate, the state argued in its reply brief. Indeed, offering false testimony and suppressing exculpatory evidence are both plenty egregious. But both get absolute immunity. In short, the Third Circuits view strays from this Courts cases. True, the Court could fix that with a grant. But correcting one circuit in clear conflict with the caselaw hardly seems worth it here.

Does it? That may seem strange, if not bizarre, to the average American. Why on earth should prosecutors get absolute immunity from being sued when they destroy evidence? What interest of justice does that serve? Judges from 1976 to the present day have asked that same question when confronting the swampy grounds upon which prosecutorial immunity is built. If the court takes up this case for the next term, the justices may consider whether a course correction on immunity is warranted.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  A suspect arrested in connection to a carjacking and gas station robbery in Abilene last week is now charged with robberies in Sweetwater.

Keenan Robertson, who was taken into custody in Abilene Monday, is now charged with two counts of Aggravated Robbery for a series of robberies in Nolan County that involved two Sweetwater hotels last month.

Robertson was caught after allegedly committing similar offenses in Abilene.

Joint investigation launched to catch Nolan County aggravated robbery suspect

A police report states Robertson is accused of holding a victim at gunpoint at the apartment complex, stealing his cell phone and vehicle before fleeing the scene.

The vehicle was recovered a short time later, according to the report, which states investigators then contacted Robertson and learned he had also been involved in a convenience store robbery earlier in the week.

No further information has been released, but additional charges against Robertson could be pending in both Nolan and Taylor counties.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Suspected drunk driver slams into SLO house and 2 parked vehicles. See the photos

A driver crashed his car into a San Luis Obispo home early Thursday morning, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

At about 1 a.m., the driver traveled eastbound on Foothill Boulevard at a high rate of speed and failed to navigate the curve of the road, police wrote in a post on X.

The vehicle skidded off of the road, then bounced off the house at 130 Foothill Boulevard and crashed into two parked cars in the driveway, the post said.

A driver crashed his car into a house and two cars parked in the driveway on Foothill Boulevard in San Luis Obispo on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

The San Luis Obispo Fire Department removed the driver and passenger from the car, then sent the driver to the hospital with moderate injuries. No one in the home was injured.

Photos show damage to the bottom of the house.

A driver crashed his car into a house and two cars parked in the driveway on Foothill Boulevard in San Luis Obispo on Thursday, April 4, 2024.

Police think the driver may have been under the influence of alcohol.

Police did not arrest the driver so he could go to the hospital, but they will request that the District Attorneys Office charge him with driving under the influence of alcohol.

1/3 Just after 1am on Thursday morning, there was a single vehicle collision of a car into a house at 130 Foothill. The driver was traveling eastbound on Foothill at a high rate of speed and failed to navigate the curve of the road. pic.twitter.com/gvQd1L0Ikn  San Luis Obispo Police Department (@SLOCityPolice) April 4, 2024

A driver crashed his car into a house on Foothill Boulevard in San Luis Obispo, leaving a hole in the structure on Thursday, April 4, 2024.
Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin talks to Dan Gavinski, right, and Chase Slack before riding a Wisconsin Dells Duck during a campaign stop Friday, March 29, 2024, in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. The stop was part of her campaign launch tour in a race against Republican Eric Hovde the could determine who has majority control of the Senate. The Wisconsin Senate race between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde is setting up as one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

NEW GLARUS, Wis. (AP)  Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, whose go everywhere 2018 campaign strategy became a model for how to win in battleground Wisconsin, knows her road to victory this year against a multimillionaire Republican supporter of former President Donald Trump goes through places like New Glarus.

The bucolic village of 2,200, founded by Swiss immigrants and famous for its Spotted Cow craft beer, is a world away from the urban Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison, where Democrats like Baldwin and President Joe Biden rack up massive margins of victory.

Look, in a state like Wisconsin, a 50-50 battleground state, you dont have to win every county, Baldwin said in a warehouse surrounded by pallets of New Glarus beer, sold only in Wisconsin. But it is really critical that you get folks out to vote, and you have the discussions and up the turnout in every community that you can.

The likely contest between Baldwin and Republican Eric Hovde shapes up as one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country. A Baldwin victory is crucial for Democrats who are defending 23 seats in the Senate, including three held by independents who caucus with Democrats clinging to a 51-49 majority. Thats compared with just 11 seats that Republicans hope to keep in their column.

Baldwin emphasizes her deep ties to Wisconsin, forged over nearly 40 years in elected office, and her ability to fight for issues that resonate deeply in the state, like supporting the dairy industry, investing in infrastructure and keeping jobs in America.

Hovde, who faces nominal opposition in the Republican primary Aug. 13, argues that Baldwin is nothing more than a career politician who has not done enough to address concerns of voters this cycle like immigration, the economy and foreign affairs. He calls her "nothing but a rubber stamp for the progressive left.

He is also trying to walk a tightrope with Trump in a state the former president won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020. Both elections were decided by fewer than 23,000 votes.

In Tuesday's presidential primary, roughly 18,500 more Republicans cast ballots than Democrats, a potential sign of higher GOP enthusiasm.

Hovde picked up an endorsement from Trump at a Tuesday night rally in Green Bay, and then touted it on Wednesday in a fundraising plea. But he has set distance between them in some ways.

Trump has falsely claimed for years, including at his Wisconsin rally, that he won the state in 2020 but the election was stolen for Biden. Hovde told The Associated Press that he disagreed.

Do I think it was stolen? No," Hovde said. Do I think there were troubling and challenging things? Yeah. So lets clean them up.

Hovde said that while he agrees with Trump on most of his policies, he will not engage in the politics of personal destruction.

Im committed to trying to bring our country together, Hovde said, striking a different tone from Trump who has referred to Biden as a lunatic" and labeled the president's supporters as thugs" at the Green Bay rally.

We have become way too divisive as a country," Hovde told AP. "We need to heal. Im willing to cooperate, reach across the aisle.

Hovde's message is shaped to appeal to the small, but crucial, bloc of independent voters in Wisconsin who typically decide close elections.

In his 2020 defeat, Trump lost support in the Milwaukee suburbs and other conservative strongholds, like the Fox Valley and Green Bay. Democrats have built their run of 14 victories in the past 17 statewide elections by eating into those Republican areas while driving up turnout in Madison and Milwaukee.

Hovde knows he must improve on Trump's margins in the suburbs, while also dampening the Democratic advantage in urban areas. He's already advertising on television in Madison and Milwaukee, the state's two largest cities.

I think its a mistake when Republican candidates dont compete in Milwaukee and Madison, Hovde said. So Im spending a lot of time on both these markets and will compete hard.

In 2018, Baldwin cruised to an 11-point victory, a whopping margin in a state where four of the past six presidential races have been decided by less than a point. In that same 2018 election, Democrat Tony Evers defeated then-Gov. Scott Walker by just over 1 point.

Baldwin's strategy that year, seen as a model for Democrats ever since, was to compete everywhere, including rural areas.

Baldwin said during a tour of New Glarus Brewing Company that it is critical for her to show up all over the state. In 2020, Biden carried Green County, where New Glarus is located, by just 662 votes.

She hit numerous smaller towns and cities during her 19-county, 1,400-mile Dairyland launch tour, taking a boat ride in the tourism hub of Wisconsin Dells and meeting with tribal leaders in Ashland.

Baldwin's attack on Hovde, who is CEO of H Bancorp and its primary subsidiary, Utah-based Sunwest Bank, is that he's trying to buy the Senate seat.

Hovde has largely cleared the GOP primary field with his deep pockets.

Another wealthy businessman, Scott Mayer, opted in March against a run. Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a staunch Trump supporter who brands himself as Americas Sheriff on the conservative speaking circuit, has toyed with a run but not committed.

Last week Clarke teased a big announcement, but it turned out to be a book giveaway.

Hovde was born and raised in Wisconsin but also owns a $7 million estate in Laguna Beach, California. He has tried to laugh off the accusation that hes more California than Wisconsin, posting a video of himself shirtless, submerged in a frigid Madison lake in February, challenging Baldwin to prove her Wisconsin bona fides and do the same. She declined.

Hovde also said he got donations from more than 2,000 Wisconsin residents in the first month after his campaign launch.

In addition to painting Hovde as an out-of-touch outsider, Baldwin once again hopes abortion fuels Democratic turnout as it did in last year's Wisconsin Supreme Court race, won by the liberal candidate, and the 2022 midterm.

Vice President Kamala Harris came to the conservative Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha in January to talk about abortion rights, one in a series of stops she and Biden have made in Wisconsin. The president was due back in Madison on Monday for his 10th trip to Wisconsin as president.

Hovde said he supported the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, but in another break with Trump, told AP that he would not vote for a federal law banning abortion, saying states should decide. Trump has suggested he would support a federal ban. He also said that theres a reasonable time in a womans pregnancy to make a choice, but did not specify how late into a pregnancy that should be.

That is a change of his position from 2012, when he last ran for Senate as someone totally opposed to abortion.

Hovde will have to win on the issues to have a chance, said longtime Republican strategist Bill McCoshen.

Her constituent services is what makes her so strong, McCoshen said. She and her staff deliver. And shell have unconventional endorsements that would normally go to a Republican candidate."

Baldwin's constituent work was on display at New Glarus Brewing, where co-owner Deb Carey praised Baldwin for fighting to lower the beer tax, in addition to supporting affordable health care and protecting Social Security.

Tammy is a practical person that is from Wisconsin and she works hard for Wisconsin and has for many years, Carey said. She absolutely deserves to be reelected."

Hovde should look to Baldwin's first Senate victory in 2012 over Tommy Thompson, the popular former four-term governor, for how to run this year's race, McCoshen said.

Hovdes got to give her voters permission to vote against her this time, McCoshen said.

__

This story has been corrected to reflect that Sunwest Bank is based in Utah, not California.
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rattled Taiwan early Wednesday morning, killing at least 10 people and injuring over 1,000 more. According to Taiwans National Fire Agency (NFA), another 700 remain trapped or stranded in areas impacted by the earthquake throughout the country.

The quake was the strongest to rock the island nation of 23 million people since 1999, causing mass power outages and landslides and damaging dozens of buildings. But the direct impacts on Taiwan itself also could create a ripple effect on supply chains out of the country.

More from Sourcing Journal

Textiles is one of many sectors that could see a disruption. As of 2022, according to data compiled by the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF), textile and apparel exports out of the country amounted to $8.8 billion, with the island serving as home to 4,511 manufacturers.

The textile manufacturing industry in Taiwan operates at every tier of the supply chain, said Peter Guinto, vice president of president, government, defense and aerospace at Resilinc. So there are fabric manufacturersparticularly a lot of artificial fibers are manufactured there into textile products that are exported for manufacturers in other places. There are finished textiles that are made there as well, so really every tier of the textile supply chain has potential for impact.

According to Resilinc, a supply chain risk management software provider, 13,000 sites inside Taiwan were impacted by the Wednesday earthquake, as well as 21,000 products and 58,000 affected parts across industries.

The bottom line is, if you dont know the parts and the sites at each tier, you cant get ahead of these things, Guinto said.

Guinto said businesses that havent proactively mapped out supply chain dependencies will potentially be impacted months from now, even for a day-only event. This mapping is even more vital for companies that have multiple tiers of their supply chain embedded in Taiwan, whether it be yarn suppliers or other fabric producers.

If a Tier 5 vendor experiences this issue and the supply chain hasnt been mapped, a Tier 4 vendor might not know its a problem for a couple of weeks. And they might try to fix this problem for a couple of weeks, and then theyll let the Tier 3 vendor know that they cant fix it and this cycle will repeat itself, Guinto told Sourcing Journal. By the time the end client that manufactures something and finds out theres an issue, its too late to fix it with a small amount of capital, so the fix is going to be more expensive and potentially not in time, which will cause delays to deliveries and disruptions to revenue.

In a major positive for Taiwans response when it comes to national infrastructure, train services through the earthquakes epicenter of Hualien County resumed within 24 hours of the natural disaster.

The quick infrastructure recovery represents a positive for Taiwanese exports at large.

At a macro level, we dont think the impact is going to be huge, Giunto said. But on an individual company level, it could be significant. And the impacts might not be known for months.

Thats not to say all industries are risk free. Taiwan is the global hotspot for computer chip manufacturing, which could have put a major export of the nation at risk.

Taiwans largest company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) said it evacuated some fabrication plants at the time of the quake, but safety systems were operating normally throughout.

The chipmaker, which is the chief supplier of semiconductor chips for U.S. tech giants like Nvidia and Apple, also later said its workers were safe and had returned to their workplaces shortly after the earthquake.

Impacted facilities were expected to resume production during the night, TSMC said.

Theres going to be a lot of product thats just going to be thrown out. I think theres probably just going to be a very relatively minor dip in production, but it will ripple out, said Timothy Stone, vice president of supply chain risk management at Exiger. And so well see that well see that manifest I think over the coming weeks.

In total, Taiwans exports are $31.4 billion in February, a 1.3 percent year-over-year increase, according to the countrys Ministry of Finance (MOF). This is the second-highest monthly export totals.
Taiwan races against time to rescue 18 people as 400 aftershocks rock island after deadly quake

Taiwan races against time to rescue 18 people as 400 aftershocks rock island after deadly quake

Rescuers in Taiwan raced against time on Friday to find 18 people, including foreign nationals, still missing two days after the island was jolted by the strongest earthquake in 25 years.

The death toll from Wednesdays 7.4-magnitude earthquake rose to 12, authorities said, with more than 1,000 people sustaining injuries.

Taiwans Fire Department said searchers discovered two more bodies in the mountains, with the death toll expected to rise further.

Authorities identified three of the missing individuals as Australian and Canadian nationals as rescuers continued to try and save hundreds of people still stranded after rocks and mud blocked the roads leading to their hotels, campgrounds or work sites in the eastern Hualien area.

At least 50 aftershocks rattled the area overnight, some felt as far away as capital Taipei, after 400 tremors were initially recorded from Wednesday morning into Thursday night by the Central Weather Administration.

Rescuers said about 400 people cut off in a luxury hotel in the Taroko Gorge national park were safe, with helicopters ferrying out the injured and bringing supplies.

Rain increases the risks of rockfalls and landslides, which are currently the biggest challenges, Su Yu-ming, the leader of a search team helping the rescue effort, told Reuters.

These factors are unpredictable, which means we cannot confirm the number of days required for the search and rescue operations.

Some 700 people remained cut off, the vast majority of them employees and guests at a hotel in the national park.

Authorities said they were safe and had food and water, and that work to repair the roads to the hotel was nearly finished. Another 10 workers from the same hotel were stranded elsewhere in the park, after most of the others in the group were rescued or managed to walk out.

A relative hugs a man who was rescued from a remote area, following the earthquake, in Hualien (Reuters)

A group of 50 workers, who were on their way to the hotel and had been trapped on roads, were later rescued.

I am lucky to survive this disaster. We were terrified, especially when the earthquake first happened, we thought it was all over, all over, all over, because it was an earthquake, right? said David Chen, 63, a security manager at the hotel.

As we were leaving, rocks were still falling. We had to navigate through the gaps between the falling rocks, with the search and rescue team upfront, he added.

Premier Chen Chien-je visited a disaster response center in Hualien as the federal government announced the allocation of NT$300m (7.41m) for recovery efforts.

Japan on Friday said the would provide $1m (791,750) in relief aid to Taiwan to support rescue activities and recovery.

Some 200 residents of Hualien County near the epicentre were staying in temporary shelters when the aftershocks struck, and the main road linking the county to Taipei was still closed Thursday afternoon.

The aftershocks were terrifying, said Yu, a 52-year-old woman from Hualien, who gave only her family name. Its non-stop. I do not dare to sleep in the house.

Outside the city, a helicopter ferried to safety six miners trapped on a cliff in a dramatic rescue after the quake cut off the roads into Hualiens soaring mountains, in footage shown by the department.

Two trapped workers of Taroko National Park have a physical examination after being rescued (AP)

The Agriculture Ministry urged people to keep away from the mountains because of the risk of falling rocks and the formation of barrier lakes as water pools behind unstable debris.

Rescue workers reached the a in Taroko Gorge, cut off by the quake, by helicopter and established that all 400 people there were safe. The fire department said work to reopen the road would continue in the morning.

In the city, dozens of residents queued outside one badly damaged 10-storey building, waiting to go in and retrieve belongings.

Clad in helmets and accompanied by government personnel, each was given 10 minutes to collect valuables in huge garbage bags, though some saved time by throwing items out of windows into the street below.

People look on as workers carry out operations on a partially-collapsed building following the earthquake (Reuters)

This building is no longer liveable, said Tian Liang-si, who had a home on the fifth floor, as she scrambled to gather her laptop, family photographs and other crucial items.

She recalled the moment the quake struck, sending the building lurching and furniture sliding, while she rushed to save her four puppies.

A relative hugs a man who was rescued from a remote area, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan (Reuters)

Of the 12 dead, at least four were killed inside Taroko National Park, a tourist attraction famous for canyons and cliffs in mountainous Hualien about 90 miles from Taipei.

One person was found dead in a damaged building and another was found in the Ho Ren Quarry. Rescuers also carried out the body of a man, who had severe wounds on his head, from a hiking trail on Thursday.

Hualien was last struck by a deadly quake in 2018 which killed 17 people and brought down a historic hotel.

Taiwans worst recent earthquake struck on 21 September 1999, a magnitude 7.7 temblor that caused 2,400 deaths, injured around 100,000 and destroyed thousands of buildings.
TAMPA  As word spread through Tampa history Facebook groups that the former Adams & Jennings Funeral Home building had sold, members had two questions: Who bought it and what will become of the white porcelain cat thats been fastened to the roof as a Seminole Heights landmark for nearly eight decades?

We heard from people all over the country, not just locally, said Michael Guinn, who purchased the building at 6900 N. Nebraska Ave with fiancee Casey Lee. Its just amazing how much people love that cat.

The cat will stay and get a a name, with the buildings new use assuring it will enjoy more than nine lives.

Its now the Guinn Center, a 5,000-square-foot community space available for events, classes, meetings and more.

Wed love to talk with artists, crafters, musicians, teachers, scientists, engineers, fitness trainers, event planners, non-profits, community groups, food trucks, and party vendors, the centers first Facebook post says. Our goal is to create a multi-use, family friendly environment where you can celebrate your life events, execute your ideas, connect with your community ... Oh, and dont worry, the white cat is absolutely staying! Who thinks we should give the famous feline a name?

One name suggested: Ghost, due to the cats former connection to a funeral home.

The center will also be home to Guinns nonprofit, MRG Labs, which supports causes through science and engineering. During the COVID-19 pandemic, MRG Labs used 3D printers to produce and then donate more than 140,000 face shields to hospitals throughout the state.

A lot of people helped Michael during the pandemic, Lee said. Churches gave him space. He had tons of volunteers, and he had other people helping him find the means to do it  He wants this building to be that for others  Thats the vision  we have the space so come execute your ideas here.

His knowhow and labs technology will be available through STEM classes. One project Guinn envisions is using a portable laser scanner and 3D printer to produce copies of the ceramic cat.

The paws have posts that are bolted to the roof and a leash of braided stainless cable is looped around one ankle.

While we dont want anything to happen to the cat, Guinn said, we should be prepared to replace it.

According to Tampa Bay Times archives, there were once two cats, one white and one black. In 1948, they were placed on the roof of an antique store at that same location. When the antique store owners sold the building to Adams & Jennings Funeral Home in 1962, they took the black cat and left the white one. In 2007, the building was demolished and replaced, and the cat made the move to the new one.

The funeral home closed in March 2023, according to its website.

In January, when Guinn announced on Tampa history Facebook groups that he was negotiating to purchase the property, commenters made it clear that they expected the cat to stay on the roof.

You better leave the cat or the people will riot! Caroline Catchpole Spradlin wrote.

Please just keep the cat on the roof!!!! added Desiree Lobato Menendez. Its local history.

Guinn responded to nearly every comment with an assurance that he would not dare remove the cat. He doesnt want to face the ire of his 4-year-old daughter, who wonders if it can magically come to life.

We live nearby, and she is always talking about the cat, Guinn said. Every time weve ever driven past the building, she swears the cat is looking at her.
CANBERRA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A protein found in the human body could be used to treat diseases that cause seizures, according to an Australian study.

The study, which was published by researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) on Thursday, examined a force-sensing mechanical protein that enables the brain to interpret forces such as touch and sound.

The team found that a better understanding of the protein could help treat diseases such as hypomyelination, a condition whereby the body does not produce myelin at normal levels, making it hard for the brain to send nerve impulses and causing severe developmental delays and epileptic seizures.

Myelin is an insulating layer, or sheath, that forms around nerves, including the brain and spinal cord, that allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly.

Ben Corry, a co-author of the study from the ANU Research School of Biology, said that researchers discovered that the particular force-sensing protein behaves differently from other mechanical proteins.

He said in a media release that when a cell membrane senses a change in force from the protein and opens a pore to signal the change to the brain, the membrane helps control what goes in and out of cells -- a discovery Corry described as unheard of in humans.

"Our experiments showed how and what can go in and out of the cell can be altered by changing the membrane, not the protein molecule itself," he said.

The team believes that the discovery could have direct medical implications, including finding ways to treat hypomyelination by controlling what can go in and out of a cell, and contribute to the development of salt-tolerance in plants that have an almost identical force sensor.

After conducting the study on healthy cells the researchers will next examine what is happening on the cellular level to people with poor myelination of neurons. 
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  When Tampa City Council Chair Guido Maniscalco tried to postpone authorization for a new contract for Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw during Thursdays meeting, he was quickly interrupted by council member Bill Carlson.

This is an issue that people have come from the public to hear about, Carlson said. I think the public deserves to have a minute to talk about it.

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When Bercaw enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) in 2019, he picked his retirement date as Sept. 22, 2024. But the city wants to hire him as a contractor after that and continue as police chief.

The proposed agreement would allow him to receive a $96,000 annual pension on top of a $241,000 salary  a more than $36,000 pay raise over his current salary. He would also receive benefits like vacation, sick pay and health insurance.

The agreement states the city would not keep contributing to Bercaws pension. He could also get pay bumps for performance reviews and cost-of-living increases. City officials said the agreement was approved Thursday by Mayor Jane Castor.

Council member Carlson made a motion to speak about the proposed contract, but no one seconded it. He spoke anyway.

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Im going to talk about it eventually, Carlson said. Just because the administration doesnt want me to talk about it doesnt mean that Im not going to talk about it.

Carlson said the chief has been dragged through the mud on social media recently over the contract, and blamed the administration for blinding city council.

This process was badly conceived by the administration, Carlson continued. I hope that next time, the administration has more transparency and includes the public and I hope they focus on collaboration rather than hiding things.

City officials said the authorization was postponed because of technical questions about the contract.

They want more time to discuss it, said council member Charlie Miranda. To have more transparency so the public can understand exactly whats going on. This is a very important issue.

8 On Your Side attempted to speak with Chief Bercaw after the meeting, but his office refused, saying the issue was postponed and thats all they had to say. Its unclear if the contract will change due to the postponement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  What began as a fun day out on the water at Meritt Island turned into a rescue mission for one couple and their friend.

A blue heron was found tangled in a fishing line, hanging upside down in a tree. The bird had nylon wrapped around its foot and beak, leaving it in distress.

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We were just out to bird watch and see some manatees, Howie Brown told NBC affiliate WESH. And actually when Javed called our attention to the bird in the tree, we were actually looking at a manatee a little ways away.

Brown was with Nichole and Javed Palmer, and all three were traveling on flat, inflatable boats, which assisted them in their rescue.

The GoBoat is a flat platform. There are no sides to it, does not take on water, Brown said.

NBC affiliate WESH

NBC affiliate WESH

NBC affiliate WESH

NBC affiliate WESH

Although the trio said they were happy to have helped the animal in distress, they urged others to clean up after themselves, especially regarding the fishing line.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said threats to blue herons include coastal development, disturbance at foraging and breeding sites, environmental issues, and degradation of feeding habitat. They are commonly found hanging around in swamps, estuaries, ponds, lakes and rivers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
TCAT to purchase 5 new diesel buses after underperformance of electric fleet. What to know

Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) has announced plans to acquire five new diesel buses, a purchase that would contradict the transit operators goal of having an emissions-free bus fleet by 2035.

TCAT officials have stated that the new acquisitions will enhance service and reliability for riders as the organization grapples with continued staffing shortages, untimely repairs, fleet of buses starting to show their age, leading to the transit services it provides declining sharply since the first lockdowns of the Coronavirus pandemic.

TCATs electric buses, unveiled on Earth Day in 2021, have underperformed during periods of winter weather, according to an April 3 statement from the organization. They have also become difficult to repair, which adds to the mounting challenges in front of the agency.

TCAT launched its electric buses on Earth Day, April 22, 2021.

On March 13, TCAT Acting General Manager Matthew Rosenbloom-Jones removed the Proterra buses from service after mechanics discovered that the frame on one of them separated from its axle while it was positioned on a lift, rendering the bus unfit for service, officials said.

California-based manufacturer Proterra declared bankruptcy in August 2023, leaving the company unable to offer official maintenance support as it merged into Phoenix Motor.

We will not return any of these buses to service unless we are absolutely satisfied all of them are safe to operate, Rosenbloom-Jones said in statement from TCAT.

The TCAT Board of Directors will convene in a special meeting on Friday, April 12, to consider purchasing five diesel replacement buses while the agency mulls the fate of its electric buses, which have sat idle in TCATs garage the past for three weeks

TCATs Board of Directors have discussed plans to purchase five 40-foot diesel buses from bus manufacturer Gillig for approximately $2.5 million. The purchase will be covered by state funds earmarked for TCAT and replace five diesel buses that are about 12 years old.

What about an emission-free fleet?

Despite the organization vying for new diesel buses, it wont abandon its plan to create an emissions-free fleet, but will be moving its goal date beyond the 2035 benchmark set by the company in prior years, officials said.

All new publicly funded full-sized transit buses have a useful life of 12 years. This means TCAT cant seek government money to replace the new diesels until at least 2036, the organization said.

TCAT is still on track to purchase another seven electric buses through the federal Low-No Grant Program, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, which it now plans to purchase from Gillig, expecting them in TCA possession by the summer of 2026.

I think having a diversified fleet really makes sense, TCAT Board Member Shawna Black said in a statement. We had great hopes for the electric buses but unfortunately with the pandemic, the shortage of supplies, maintenance issues and the bankruptcy of Proterra, it has been a perfect storm. This is not to say that five or three years from now it wont be a different story, but right now we need to invest in something that is tried and true and that is going back to diesel buses.

TCAT has purchased a number of diesel and hybrid buses from Gillig in the past, and TCATs maintenance staff have a great relationship with Gillig technicians and are already familiar with the manufacturers engineering and design, according to Rosenbloom-Jones.

TCAT representatives have been in contact with Phoenix Motor, state regulators and with peer transit agencies that have likewise encountered problems with their Proterra buses, to determine what steps to take since removing Proterra buses from service.

TCAT has not yet made a final determination about when any of the Proterra buses will return to service, and said that all TCAT buses are regularly inspected and must pass muster with the New York State Department of Transportation before they are allowed to serve riders.

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Ithaca TCAT electric bus failures lead to purchase of new diesels
Teachers want the public to know their job is difficult, new survey finds

Teachers want the public to know their job is difficult, new survey finds

As schools across the United States continue to rebound from pandemic interruptions, more than half of teachers still say their profession is a difficult job and public education is in decline, according to newly released Pew Research Center data.

Pew conducted two surveys last fall, one of 2,531 public K-12 teachers and a second survey of 5,029 U.S. adults, the findings of which were published Thursday. Pew also published a data essay titled "What Public K-12 Teachers Want Americans To Know About Teaching."

Of the teachers surveyed, 51% said they want the public to know teaching is a difficult job and that teachers work hard.

"We know that they've [teachers] been facing a lot of challenges from, you know, COVID learning loss, from all of these political issues that we've been hearing about, so that's our drive in conducting this survey," Luona Lin, lead author of the K-12 teachers report, told ABC News.

PHOTO: Luona Lin, a Research Associate at the Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., in a headhsot from March 2023. (Luona Lin)

Of the teachers surveyed, 54% said in five years the American education system will be worse than it is now, and 51% of adults surveyed said public education is going in the wrong direction, according to Pew.

The survey of teachers also found that about four in five teachers (82%) believe the overall state of public education has gotten worse compared to five years ago.

National divide on teaching race, LGBTQ issues in classrooms captured in new survey

Pew released findings from the K-12 survey in February that focused on the ongoing scrutiny placed on classroom curricula, mainly regarding race and LGBTQ identities.

The data out Thursday comes as education staffing shortages persist across the country, with 70% of teachers who participated in the latest survey saying their schools are understaffed, according to Pew's report.

In its survey, more than three-quarters of teachers said the job was often stressful, according to Pew.

New York City special education teacher Traci Tucker told ABC News that special ed vacancies have made the job "overwhelming," but she said she doesn't want her students to "fall through the cracks."

"It's been extremely hard to find licensed, qualified, certified staff to fill those vacancies," Tucker said. "Making sure that their [the students'] needs are met is both mentally and physically taxing."

PHOTO: Traci Tucker at the end of the work day, Brooklyn, NY, April 3, 2024. (Traci Tucker)

Difficulties include work-life balance, compensation and students

More than 80% of teachers are at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, according to Pew's K-12 teachers survey, but the survey found there are still challenges.

Teachers find it difficult to balance work with their personal life 53% of the time, according to the Pew report, with 84% of those surveyed saying they didn't have enough time to do regular school tasks -- such as grading, lesson planning and other paperwork -- throughout the day. Four in five teachers said it's just too much work, Pew found.

"Time is always an issue and it has gotten worse" since the pandemic, Minnesota social studies teacher Rich Rosivach told ABC News. "It's all-consuming. It's all the time."

PHOTO: Rich Rosivach in his classroom at Irondale High School, New Brighton, MN, April 3, 2024. (Rich Rosivach)

Despite yearly step increases and federal initiatives to raise teacher salaries, half of teachers are not satisfied with their pay, according to the survey.

Nearly three-quarters of the American adults surveyed by Pew also believe teachers should be paid more.

At least 91% of teachers said their students have anxiety and depression, experience poverty or are chronically absent, the survey found. Virtually all teachers see these issues daily, according to Pew's survey and interviews conducted by ABC News.

Students are chronically absent across the country. COVID seems to have made it worse.

"Anxiety is very high and a variety of other student mental health issues," Rosivach said, adding: "Where you might in the past have had 30 to 35 students, you might have had one or two students [with these issues] -- now you'll have four or five. And for some of them, it's debilitating and it causes them to not be able to come to class."

Education experts and researchers said chronic absenteeism, defined by federal data as a child missing at least 10% of the school year, existed before COVID. Now, it has been exacerbated, making it harder for instructors to teach consistently, according to FutureEd Policy Director Liz Cohen. Teachers build on material in order for students to accumulate knowledge in the way they need, Cohen told ABC News. If students rarely show up, Cohen said, there is no foundation to build on.

"It's like trying to play Jenga with all the foundational pieces missing," she said. "That tower is going to fall."

Pew also found that other top problems for teachers remain: Students are still disinterested and being disrespectful at school -- something educators who have spoken with ABC News have also consistently said.

Optimism in public education is down

Overall optimism in public education is down across the board, according to the Pew surveys and ABC News' interviews.

Teachers believe the political climate -- like challenges to school curricula -- is a major factor, as well as the impact of the pandemic. But nearly 70% of adults say not enough emphasis in schools is being placed on teaching core academic subjects, according to the survey. Another major reason, according to the survey of adults, is that teachers have brought their personal political views into the classroom.

'Not a partisan issue': As classroom culture wars rage, a stark warning about learning loss

As for the future, more than half of teachers lack confidence in the recruitment of the next generation, with 52% saying they wouldnt recommend their profession to a young person, according to Pew's data.

"I worry very much about my younger colleagues -- people who are entering the profession," Rosivach said. "I think that we're in a situation where we're not creating opportunities for people to enter this profession, to do it in a way that is sustainable or is going to be really building strong institutions."

Most of the teachers surveyed have been in the profession for more than a decade, according to Pew, like Tucker of New York and Rosivach of Minnesota. However, Lin with Pew said their survey found that newer teachers showed more positivity than their peers.

"Newer teachers, you know, those who have been in the profession for under six years, are more likely to recommend a person starting out today to become a teacher than teachers with longer tenure," she said.

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Tucker said she is less concerned with the future of public education, but said she does worry that technology could outpace the current school structure.

"I think that things need to happen faster in public education as far as integrating technology and equipping teachers with the skills that they need so that they can prepare students," Tucker said.

Rosivach said he is worried, too. Before anything else, he said he hopes to save students who are struggling the most.

"Add more mental health services for young people ... because I think it leads to other things, it leads to chronic absenteeism, it leads to higher rates of depression, it leads to less completion of school," he said. "A lot of the things that we need to get to are going to be about finding kids help with their mental health."

Teachers want the public to know their job is difficult, new survey finds originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The UKs biggest education union is a hostile environment for Jews, a retired teacher claimed after he was heckled for challenging an anti-Israel motion.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) agreed to blame Israel for the war in Gaza and publish educational resources about the conflict at the unions annual conference in Bournemouth on Thursday.

Peter Block, 75, a retired primary teacher from north west London, who spoke against the motion, was unable to finish his speech as he was heckled and laughed at by delegates.

Speaking to reporters after he left the stage, Mr Block said: The NEU is a hostile environment for Jewish members, particularly any who have any affiliation or sympathy for Israel.

He added: No other speakers have been shut down like I was.

He told the conference that it was becoming an anti-Zionist rally and said delegates were jumping on the fashionable anti-Israel bandwagon.

He also warned against glorifying Hamas, which he said was a murderous racist organisation.

After he was heckled, he told members: We are still a democracy in this country, as is Israel.

Some activists were heard chanting free, free Palestine and one said From the River to the Sea as he left the conference hall.

A brave delegate who dares to speak out against antisemitism and Hamas at the @NEUnion conference. He's met with boos and shouts. pic.twitter.com/ZBDDC9Ho9J  Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) April 4, 2024

Mr Block said after his speech: I had a lot more to say but they [other delegates] stopped me saying it.

He said his wife had tried to stop him from speaking but he wanted to do it to make sure the motion didnt go unanswered.

It needs to be answered. It needs to be made public.

People need to be made aware of what is going on with the union and what they want to do is to infect young teachers with it, so that its brought into schools, which Ive already seen happen. Its so dangerous.

Asked if he knew Jewish teachers who felt intimidated by the NEU, he said: Yes, and a lot have left the union, because they can see the way it is going.

He also said he believed there are faults on both sides of the conflict, but that he thought the motion was promoting a blinkered, biased, one-sided view.

Several teachers told Mr Block after the speech that they were disappointed that he had been heckled by members and thanked him for speaking.

Joe Lord, 35, a secondary school teacher from North Yorkshire, said: If our students saw their behaviour in there, they would be genuinely shocked, regardless of maybe we have different views on this matter.

My students would be absolutely horrified by that behaviour. We are professional people.

He added: Youve got to hear both sides of the debate. I expect my students to respect other views in my classroom It was a mob in there.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of NEU, said he was 'deeply disappointed' with members' reaction to Mr Block's speech - Geoff Pugh

Speaking in favour of the motion blaming Israels hard-right, racist government for the conflict, Debs Gwyn, an NEU member from Halton, Cheshire, said the union is appalled by the UK governments complicity in atrocities in Gaza.

Last week, Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said the motion was wholly inappropriate and completely ignore[s] the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7.

She added: Teachers have a duty to remain politically impartial and to ensure all sides of contested views are presented fairly and without bias or prejudice.

These proposals will cause significant hurt to members of the Jewish community and the thousands of Jewish children and parents in British schools.

Asked about Mr Blocks treatment at the conference, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of NEU, told The Telegraph: I am a free speech absolutist and if you disagree with them you should listen to them respectfully.

He added: I have heard Peter make a contribution in opposition to the Unions position on Palestine over many years.

I was deeply disappointed to have it reported to me that Peter, who I know personally, was not given a respectful hearing. Peter is a valued member and plays an important role in Barnet NEU for supply teachers.

I think its clearly essential that all union delegates share and express different views and listen to each other carefully. The conference president immediately reiterated to all delegates that everyones views must be heard calmly.

We have Jewish members with a range of views on this issue and some Jewish members spoke in support of the motion in question.

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 Teamsters union is celebrating the passage of a new law that aims to protect warehouse employees from unreasonably high workplace quotas that put could their health at risk.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed HB 4127 into law on Wednesday, ratifying legislation that she believes will improve worker safety and wellbeing in the e-commerce and warehouse industries by ensuring that employers work requirements dont override their rights.

More from Sourcing Journal

Oregon warehouse workers have long been subjected to unsafe working conditions due to secretive and unrealistic production quotas generated using arbitrary computer algorithms, according to Mark Davison, the Teamsters Western Region international vice president and president of Joint Council 37.

Governor Tina Koteks signing of HB 4127 is a significant stride toward ensuring the safety and well-being of workers, and it addresses the exploitative quota systems used by profit-driven companies like Amazon, Davison added.

Under the law, employers must provide workers with written documentation of expectations upon signing, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed, or materials to be produced or handled, within a defined time period, as well as a description of the consequences that will take place if the quota isnt met. But the quotas must not unreasonably interfere with a workers right to take meal breaks, rest breaks or bathroom breaks, or impede any other rights employees are entitled to under state and federal laws.

If an employee is terminated for a quota-related issue, they have the right to request work-speed records from the employer from the previous 90 days. If they believe their rights to the agreed-upon breaks were violated, or that their safety was unduly put at risk, they can file a complaint with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries.

This law is a big step forward for workers in our state. It will improve workers rights by providing workers with transparency and holding companies that utilize arbitrary quotas accountable, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 223 Austin DePaolo said. I thank the state legislature and Governor Kotek for protecting working people and improving safety standards.

Amazon has long been dogged by workplace safety complaints, inviting a constant stream of criticism from unions and lawmakers. Last summer, the Seattle e-commerce titan landed in Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) crosshairs when the chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) launched an investigation into dangerous and illegal conditions at its warehouses.

At the time, Sanders cited data showing that Amazon reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) showing that its warehouse employees incur more than double the rate of serious injuries than warehouse workers employed by other firms.

One employee at Amazons St. Paul, Missouri warehouse said, Most of the injuries in my job come from the speed of work that we are pushed to keep up with. They blamed the culture of fear and surveillance for pushing workers beyond what is safe or reasonable.

By establishing the expectations of workers employment and eliminating arbitrary quota systems, we are prioritizing the safety and rights of workers in our state, said Steve Konopa, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 305 and Joint Council 37 legislative director, this week. I want to thank Governor Tina Kotek, House Speaker Dan Rayfield, Rep. Ricki Ruiz, and Senators Wlnsvey Campos, Chris Gorsek, James Manning, and Kathleen Taylor for their support in prioritizing this important piece of legislation.
Teen accused of driving 110 mph, doing burnout with younger girls in car

Teen accused of driving 110 mph, doing burnout with younger girls in car

Related video: Street racing was caught on a dashcam in Pinellas County.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  An 18-year-old man is facing charges after he was caught driving 110 mph in a 45 mph zone with three girls under 18 who were on Spring Break from Chicago.

According to an arrest report, the teen, identified as Rodolfo Navarrete-Castillo, of Naples, was spotted doing a vehicle burnout at around 12:21 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Missing hunter in Sumter County found after 24 hours by K9 team

An undercover officer with the Collier County Sheriffs Office was traveling eastbound on Radio Road from Airport Pulling Road in an unmarked patrol car when he saw a white Chevy Camaro, making a U-turn.

The officer said as Navarrete-Castillo turned, his tires squealed, spinning for 3-5 seconds, and fishtailing. As described in the Florida Statue, the car was doing a burnout.

The teen rapidly increased its speed, passing the officer. The car was blacked out and traveling at a speed of 110 mph in a 45 mph zone.

The arrest report said the officer activated its lights and sirens and pulled over Navarrete-Castillo near 600 San Marcos Boulevard.

Suspected space junk crashed through Florida mans home: It almost hit my son

The officer told the three younger girls, who said they were 15 and 16 years old, to exit the car. Navarrete-Castillo said he met the girls a few days prior at a Wawa and claimed they were Romanian and didnt know their names. The girls told the officer they were on Spring Break from Chicago and didnt really know the teen.

Navarrete-Castillo was arrested and taken to Naples Jail Center where he is being charged with racing and reckless driving, according to police records.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11)  Investigators arrested and charged another teen accused of attacking a 17-year-old boy during a fight in Times Square in February on Wednesday.

A 17-year-old boy was charged with gang assault and assault in connection to the Feb. 22 attack, authorities report.

More Manhattan News

The group repeatedly kicked, punched, and stabbed the teen in the back near West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue around 5:30 p.m., according to the NYPD. The boy was rushed to a hospital and is expected to survive, authorities said.

Ten people, including 9 teenagers, have already been charged in connection with the stabbing, according to the NYPD.

Authorities report that a total of 16 people are connected to the incident, police said.

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.
Teen charged with murder, gun crime after killing near center of rural SC city

South Carolina police charged a teen with murder after a 16-year-old was killed in a shooting near downtown Chester, officials said.

Connie DiRose Miller, an 18-year-old from Chester, faces charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to Chester Police Department Chief William Petty and arrest warrants in the case obtained by The Herald.

Donovan Browning, 16, of Walnut Street in Chester, died after being shot, said Terry Tinker, the Chester County coroner.

The victim was shot multiple times, according to the murder arrest warrant.

The incident happened overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning near Spring and Gadsden streets close to Frank Connor Park, officials said.

Chester is a city of around 5,000 people between Rock Hill and Columbia.

The shooting is under investigation by the Chester police and State Law Enforcement Division.

In a Facebook posting and online obituary, Chris King Memorial Chapel funeral home said services for Donovan Browning have not yet been set.
Workers work on an assembly line at a plant of Xiaomi in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Service Survey Center with China's National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing unveiled Sunday's figures, which rendered overseas investors and entities bullish.

The figures included the nation's manufacturing PMI, non-manufacturing PMI, and comprehensive PMI output index, which stood at 50.8 percent, 53.0 percent and 52.7 percent respectively, with each climbing 1.7, 1.6 and 1.8 points.

Many overseas individuals and institutions have said that the synchronous rise of the three major indices in March indicates an acceleration in Chinese business operations, further expanding the prosperity of the manufacturing industry. They believe that China's economic development prospects continue to improve.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Brendan Ahern, a U.S. veteran investor, said that China's manufacturing PMI surpassing expectations in March indicates accelerated economic growth following the Spring Festival. He noted that various macroeconomic policies are proving effective. This, he believes, is a positive sign for both the Chinese and global economies.

Ahern, chief investment officer with U.S.-based asset management firm Krane Funds Advisors LLC, a specialist investment management firm focused on China, Climate, and other uncorrelated assets, highlighted the strong performance of China's automotive sector, particularly electric vehicles, in March, indicating the positive effects of policy support.

An article published on Forexlive said that China's economy kicked off 2024 on a "reasonably strong note," with March's manufacturing PMI outperforming expectations, and the data in January and February have "surprised to the upside."

Institutions like Citi and several analysts have consequently "raised growth forecasts" for the Chinese economy upwards, the article said.

Reuters indicates that a private-sector survey unveiled on Wednesday signaled a "tentative recovery" in the world's second-largest economy. This development has also led analysts to upwardly revise China's economic growth forecast for this year.

CNBC revealed that China's official manufacturing PMI came in at 50.8 percent in March, its "strongest reading since March last year."

China's official non-manufacturing activity survey recorded its strongest reading since June, contributing to positive recent export and retail sales data, it added.

The latest economic data from China once again signals positivity, particularly in the manufacturing sector. With robust support policies driving industrial activity, China's economy continues to demonstrate vitality. The growth and revival of economic indicators in manufacturing activities also imply an uplift in employment, Sebastian Schulz, a researcher at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, told Xinhua.

Christine Susanna Tjhin, director of Strategic Communication and Research at Gentala Institute, remarked that China's economy shows considerable resilience, with the rise in manufacturing PMI signaling positive signs of its economic recovery.

She noted that China's rapid development in high-tech industries and continuous enhancement of comprehensive innovation capabilities have created favorable conditions for sustained, healthy, and stable economic growth.

Barra Kukuh Mamia, a senior macroeconomist at PT Bank Central Asia, said that China is currently "attaching more importance to innovation and cutting-edge technologies, and is constantly moving towards an innovation-oriented country," with a number of top-notch industries.

"In the long run, investment in these high-tech industries will have a huge driving effect on economic development," he said. "And I believe it'll greatly improve China's productivity levels."
NEW DELHI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday officially launched the country's first home-grown gene therapy for cancer at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay in the country's financial capital Mumbai.

Named "NexCAR19," the new cancer therapy was approved by India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in October last year.

CDSCO's approval was based on the results of two small clinical trials conducted in India involving 64 people with advanced lymphoma or leukemia.

According to trial results presented in December 2023 at the American Society of Hematology meeting, 67 percent of patients in the two trials had a "notable decrease" in the extent of their cancer.

Hailing "NexCAR19," Murmu said that India's first gene therapy is a "major breakthrough in our battle against cancer," as it costs nearly one-tenth of the price at which it is available in developed nations like the United States.

The therapy was jointly developed by IIT Bombay and the Tata Memorial Hospital in association with industry partner ImmunoACT. 
FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 8, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's desk. The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessee would become the latest state to require public school students to watch a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group, or something comparable, under legislation that is headed to Republican Gov. Bill Lee's desk.

The GOP-dominated Senate passed the legislation Thursday, with the five Democrats in attendance and one Republican voting to oppose.

The Senate voted down various Democratic amendments: to let parents opt their children out of watching the video; to let school districts decide whether to show it; to show a disclaimer that it's scientifically inaccurate political propaganda; and to let schools teach comprehensive sex education.

This cutesy, shiny, pink video is offensively childish and it diminishes the complexity of reproductive health," said Democratic Sen. Heidi Campbell. "Its insulting to women and its insulting to the medical profession.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Janice Bowling, argued the video is accurate.

It does show conception and its an AI-type of film, but its medically correct, Bowling said. And it shows the moment when the sperm unites with the egg, and that is the beginning of life.

The bill mirrors similar proposals that have popped up this year in Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia, have all been backed by Live Action, an anti-abortion organization. North Dakota was the first state to adopt the idea last year.

Live Action has been approaching states pushing them to use their three-minute animation in classrooms that they say helps visualize a fetus developing in the womb. The fetus in the video is referred to as Baby Olivia.

The clip depicts an egg being fertilized and implanted then progressing through embryonic and fetal developments occurring throughout a pregnancy. A voiceover also introduces viewers to Olivia as an illustration of a fully developed baby in utero appears on screen. Olivias mouth and eyes open and close, and her hands move.

Though she has yet to greet the outside world, she has already completed an amazing journey, the narrator says.

However, the video has been criticized by some educators and physicians, who argue the video is deceptive and problematic for a young audience. Furthermore, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a professional organization with over 60,000 members, has said that the video is anti-abortion misinformation designed to manipulate the emotions of viewers.

Live Action says the video was made in consultation with doctors.

Under the Tennessee version, public schools would have the option to show a different video, but the legislation contains strict requirements that it must be at least three minutes long and contain a high-quality, computer-generated animation or high-definition ultrasound that shows the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development. It's unclear how many other organizations offer something similar.

The bill says the video must be shown as part of a school's family life curriculum.

Democrats said requiring the video goes against Republicans' claims that they prioritize parental choice in education.

Ive heard many members in this body talk about school choice, parent choice as the lay of the land and how it should be," said Democratic Sen. Charlane Oliver. "But it seems to be only convenient when it fits a certain political ideology.

During the same floor session, the Senate also voted to send the governor a bill that would require annual firearm safety instruction in public schools, including safe storage, avoiding injury if a student finds a gun and informing adults if one is discovered. No live guns, ammo or firing could be involved.

While Lee hasn't publicly weighed in on the video legislation, it's likely to win the Republican's signature. The governor has never vetoed a bill since taking office in 2019 and he has repeatedly stressed his opposition to abortion. Under his administration, Lee enacted a sweeping abortion ban that went into effect shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and approved sending more tax dollars to anti-abortion organizations often known as crisis pregnancy centers.

The Baby Olivia legislation has not made as much progress in other states as in Tennessee. West Virginia's Senate signed off on the measure in February that specifically applied to eighth and twelfth graders, but the Legislature adjourned before it could clear the House of Delegates.

In Iowa, lawmakers are debating whether to remove specific references to the Baby Olivia video and instead require any video depicting the humanity of the unborn child. Meanwhile, the bill has not advanced in Kentucky and Missouri.
As Americans, we are extremely fortunate to live in the most hopeful, free society the world has ever known.

We are a nation of people who value the freedom to build a better life for ourselves and our families. And were proud of our tradition of embracing others who wish to come here legally in pursuit of these goals.

Today, under the leadership of President Joe Biden, we have abandoned sanity when it comes to illegal immigration. Never has a president so willfully undermined the safety of Americans by refusing to enforce our laws.

Just one month after President Biden took office, the number of encounters along the Mexican border jumped nearly 30%. And just this past December, illegal border crossings reached an all-time high.

Counterpoint: Gov. Bill Lee defies famed Tennessee hospitality by backing Texas' harsh border policy

Biden's immigration policies are 'reckless'

More than 2.4 million encounters occurred at our nations southwest border during a 12-month period ending in 2023. The cost of illegal immigration put a staggering $151 billion burden on taxpayers in 2023, according to a report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

The administrations reckless policies continue to be exploited by drug cartels and human smugglers.

Here in the Volunteer State, the West Tennessee Drug Task Force on March 10 confiscated 85 pounds of fentanyl enough to kill 19 million people - on Interstate 40 in Haywood County. The same week, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) arrested two undocumented immigrants suspected of human trafficking in Nashville.

And in Georgia, a 22-year-old nursing student was kidnapped and brutally murdered by a suspect who was not supposed to be in the country. No doubt these crimes were made possible by our open-border policies.

Supreme Court was right to rule in favor of Texas

This manmade crisis has led to record-setting illegal border crossing arrests, migrant deaths, narcotics seized, and suspected terrorists trying to enter the country, according to officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

I witnessed this disaster firsthand when I visited the Texas border last summer. I was struck by the frustration of a particular border official who said all it would take is one call from the White House and they could effectively do their jobs.

Encouraging news came on March 19 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow Texas law enforcement officers to detain and prosecute migrants suspected of illegally crossing the border. Iowa is currently considering a law allowing similar measures.

Were either a nation of laws or a lawless nation. Until our federal government secures our southern border, states must join Texas in taking necessary steps to deter illegal immigration. Here in Tennessee, we will ensure the Volunteer State is not a preferred destination for illegals.

More: Tennessee legislature just passed a bill targeting immigration: Here's what it means

Local authorities should communicate with immigration officials

That is why I filed House Bill 2124 this year to combat illegal immigration here at home.

This legislation will ensure law enforcement in our state notify the appropriate federal authorities whenever someone they come into contact with is found to be in the country illegally. We will aid and support law enforcement at every level in communicating and cooperating with ICE.

Illegal immigration puts a significant strain on local resources to provide services like housing, education and health care. While these burdens affect the smallest and poorest the most, they are not alone.

The mayor of New York City recently admitted that the migrant crisis would destroy the nations largest city if not properly addressed by the federal government. The city expects to spend $12 billion over the next three years on services for recently arrived illegal immigrants.

Rep. Rusty Grills

The federal government must act now to secure and complete construction of the southern border wall. Until then, my Republican colleagues and I in the General Assembly will continue to support measures that discourage illegal immigration in Tennessee and protect communities from the devastating consequences.

Rep. Rusty Grills, R-Newbern, lives represents District 77 in the Tennessee House of Representatives which includes Dyer, Lake and part of Obion counties.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Immigration law: Tennessee and Texas step up because Biden has failed
Tennessee women fight to block states abortion ban after being denied treatment for dangerous pregnancies

A Tennessee court is hearing arguments today calling for a temporary block of the states abortion ban  months after a request filed by seven women who were denied abortions and two doctors who have been unable to perform the procedure.

A three-judge panel began hearing oral arguments on the morning of 4 April in Blackmon v. State of Tennessee after lawyers from the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the plaintiffs, filed a motion on 8 January requesting a temporary injunction on the states near-total abortion ban.

Attorneys have asked for clarity on the medical exceptions to the ban, referring to seven women who were denied necessary and potentially life-saving medical care because doctors are hamstrung by the laws vague language.

The ban, the group wrote, is preventing pregnant women across Tennessee from receiving medically necessary abortion care, resulting in an ongoing public health crisis. The ban also violates the states constitution, the lawyers claimed.

The attorneys slammed the laws ambiguity when it comes to medical exceptions to the abortion ban  not only for patients but for doctors too. The bans harsh penalties have chilled physicians from performing most medically necessary abortions, they wrote.

A declaratory judgment is necessary to give physicians the clarity they need to provide medically necessary abortion care to their patients without fear of imprisonment and loss of their medical licenses, the filing states.

The ban has been in effect since August 2022  just two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

Meanwhile, the state is trying to dismiss the case.

Thursdays hearing is just one step in a lengthy process to stop the states abortion ban.

Nicole Blackmon is among plaintiffs suing Tennessee over its abortion bans exceptions for medical emergencies after she was denied life-saving abortion care in the state (Splahs Cinema)

The nine plaintiffs  Nicole Blackmon, Allie Phillips, Katy Dulong, Monica Kelly, Kathryn Archer, Rebecca Milner, and Rachel Fulton and doctors Heather Maune and Laura Andreson  are seeking a permanent block on the states abortion ban.

They are suing the state of Tennessee and a host of prominent officials and agencies, including Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners.

Ms Blackmon, the lead plaintiff in the case, realised she was pregnant in July 2022, the court filing states. She suffered from serious ongoing health issues, but had to stop taking her medication to avoid harming the foetus.

Despite taking this precaution, Ms Blackmon learned just 15 weeks into her pregnancy that it had a lethal diagnosis.

Ms Blackmon didnt have the resources to leave her home state to get an abortion, so she was forced to continue her pregnancy despite the grave risks it posed to her health  including showing warning signs of preeclampsia, a dangerous condition that can lead to a stroke.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Ms Blackmon gave birth to a stillborn baby.

Another plaintiff, Ms Phillips, decided to run for office  as a Democrat in House District 75  after being denied an abortion in February.

This is something new for me, she told the Nashville Post at the time. Given my story and the outreach Ive had with it, it seemed like a no-brainer to take this and open new doors. I can scream online all day, but in order to make a change I need to actually be in a position to make that change.

Tennessee is one of more than 20 states to have enacted abortion bans.
More than 24 million people in southern Africa face hunger, malnutrition and water scarcity due to drought and floods, an aid group has warned, as experts say the situation risks spiraling into an unimaginable humanitarian situation.

The warning from Oxfam on Wednesday came as Zimbabwe joined other southern African nations in declaring its drought a national disaster, following earlier declarations by Zambia and Malawi.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said more than 2.7 million people in the country will go hungry this year and more than $2 billion in aid is required for the countrys national response, Reuters reported.

The countrys top priority is securing food for all Zimbabweans, the president told journalists at the state house in Harare. No Zimbabwean must succumb to, or die from, hunger.

The drought has been fueled by El Nino, a natural climate pattern originating in the Pacific Ocean along the equator, which tends to bring high temperatures and low rainfall to this part of Africa. When it does rain, dried-out ground is unable to absorb the moisture, making flooding more likely.

El Nino is exacerbating the impacts of the climate crisis, caused primarily by burning fossil fuels, which is driving more frequent and severe weather  including drought and floods  across southern Africa, a region Oxfam describes as a climate disaster hotspot.

As southern Africa enters its traditional dry season this month, vast parts of the region  including Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe  have already been grappling with a prolonged dry spell.

From late January to February, rainfall levels were the lowest in at least 40 years, a recent report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revealed.

Central parts of the region experienced the driest February in more than 100 years, according to a report by the United States Agency for International Developments Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

People walk home after fetching water from a well, in Pumula East township, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on March 7, 2024. Soaring temperatures and drought are affecting large parts of the country. - Kb Mpofu/Reuters

In Zambia, Malawi and Central Mozambique, extreme drought has damaged more than 2 million hectares of crops, Oxfam said.

Zambia declared its drought a disaster on February 29.

Malawis president declared a state of disaster across the majority of the country on March 23. Its the fourth consecutive year the country has been forced to do this due to the impact of extreme weather conditions. The World Food Programme said this week the El Nino impact is exacerbating the devastating effects of the climate crisis in Malawi.

Southern Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for only a tiny portion of global planet-heating pollution.

In Mozambique  a country accounting for only 0.2% of global emissions  3 million people face hunger, according to Oxfam. The countrys capital, Maputo, experienced devastating floods in March, after Tropical Storm Filipo hit followed a few weeks later by further intense rainfall.

It is so deeply unjust that climate change impacts are hammering Mozambique over and over again. One of the poorest countries in the world is carrying the costs of the climate crisis it has done little to cause and is being pushed deeper into debt and spiralling poverty, Teresa Anderson, ActionAids International Climate Justice Lead, said last week following the flooding.

Wealthy polluting countries need to own up to their responsibility for the damage they are doing through climate change and be willing to provide climate finance so that vulnerable communities can cope with the climate disasters that are being unleashed, she added.

Oxfams southern Africa program director, Machinda Marongwe, said the region is in crisis and called on donors to immediately release resources to prevent the spiral into an unimaginable humanitarian situation.

With all these countries facing multiple crises simultaneously, the urgency cannot be overstated, Marongwe said.

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A three-judge appeals panel in Texas ruled Wednesday that winter storm lawsuits against transmission and distribution utilities (TDUs) can move forward.

The ruling came from Texass 14th Court of Appeals in Houston and will allow lawsuits related to the deadly 2021 winter storm to proceed on allegations of negligence against defendants CenterPoint Energy, Oncor Electric Delivery and American Electric Power.

Lawsuits say these TDUs were responsible for providing power and a record-setting demand for energy amid the storm. Thousands of customers sued companies participating in Texass electric grid seeking damages for the power outages during Winter Storm Uri, when more than 200 people died.

The companies have previously argued that they are not liable for the alleged damages under a state Supreme Court precedent and the comprehensive regulatory scheme, including the TDUs tariffs for retail delivery service.

In an emailed statement, CenterPoint Energy said it is pleased with the courts decision that affirms the TDUs tariff provisions. The panel of judges said the plaintiffs failed to allege facts to rebut the presumption of reasonableness, kicking the tariff debate to other courts if they determine a motion to dismiss.

But ultimately, the panel said the companies were negligent when they interrupted electricity in response to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which declared a level three emergency declaration within an hour.

The panel said the TDUs are not shielded from gross negligence or intentional misconduct. The ruling outlined specific allegations plaintiffs made, including the companys decisions during the storm that rotated outages to different neighborhoods and to cut power off to certain areas.

There is no denying the deliberate actions and blatant disregard for the TDUs own customers, Nachawati Law Group lawyer Ann Saucer told Business Wire. It was a conscious decision to cut off power to certain neighborhoods and several people lost their lives as a result. These companies were warned, and they chose not to act.

CenterPoint said in its statement that it maintains that Texas law requires that the remainder of plaintiffs claims to be dismissed and will be further analyzing the courts opinions in the coming days.

Uri knocked out power for millions of Texas when temperatures dipped below freezing, kick-starting an ongoing conversation about the states electric grid. Hundreds of fatalities were recorded, and $300 billion in damages has been estimated.

The Hill has reached out to the utilities for comment.

Updated on Thursday, April 4 at 5:22 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Lawyers for Texas and the Biden administration squared off during a court hearing Wednesday about the states controversial immigration law.

The lawsuit argues that the Texas law is an overreach, and immigration enforcement belongs to the federal government.

Texas says the federal government isnt doing its job.

Their version of Texas is one that is cold, said Texas Civil Rights Project Daniel Hatoum.

A small group stood outside the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, protesting against Texas controversial immigration law known as SB-4.

This would inevitably lead to racial profiling of black and brown folks throughout the state of Texas, said Hatoum.

Lawyers for Texas argued SB-4 is needed, saying migrants are overrunning the border because immigration laws are not enforced.

Now, to be fair, maybe Texas went too farwhat Texas has done here, they have tried to develop a statute that goes up to the line of the Supreme Court precedent but allows Texas to protect the border, said Aaron Nielson, Texas Solicitor General.

Both the ACLU and the Biden administration argue the law is unconstitutional because immigration enforcement is the job of the federal government.

Its vital for the federal government to be able to control it as one system instead of a patchwork from 50, said Cody Wofsy of the ACLU.

This case is likely headed to the Supreme Court and Texas officials say they welcome the high court taking up the law.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The Texas House Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires listens to testimony Thursday in Pampa.

PAMPA  An Xcel Energy executive said during a legislative hearing Thursday the company's power pole responsible for starting the largest wildfire in Texas history had decayed beyond a safe point and needed to be replaced.

Adrian Rodriguez is the president of Xcel's Texas and New Mexico division, also known as Southwestern Public Service. He testified during a hearing of the Texas House committee investigating the devastating wildfires that ravaged the Texas Panhandle in February and March.

Rodriguez said Osmose Utilities Services, a Georgia-based contractor that performs safety inspections for Xcel, evaluated the pole that fell to spark the Smokehouse Creek Fire in January and identified it for "priority one" replacement, meaning the pole was flagged to be replaced as soon as possible. He testified the pole had been added to Xcel's replacement queue but was not replaced in the weeks leading up to the fire, which sparked on Feb. 26.

"We did not replace the pole in the weeks between when we received the inspection information from Osmose on Feb. 9 and when it broke in the high winds of Feb. 26, starting the fire," Rodriguez testified. "Obviously, I wish we could turn back the clock and replace the pole that day."

Osmose, Xcel's primary pole inspector, declined to testify during the hearings.

From Wednesday: Wildfire committee questions investigator who found chop marks on power poles

Xcel previously acknowledged its infrastructure likely started the Smokehouse Creek Fire  the largest wildfire in Texas history  but disputed claims the company acted negligently in maintaining that infrastructure, a position Rodriguez doubled down on Thursday.

The Texas A&M Forest Service (TAMFS) said its investigation concluded that a decayed power pole had fallen and started the fire. Rodriguez said he agrees with this finding.

Rodriguez testified on Thursday an Xcel line was also responsible for the 687 Reamer Fire but did not elaborate. The 687 Reamer fire later burned into the Smokehouse Creek Fire.

Adrian Rodriguez, president of Xcel Energy's Texas-New Mexico subsidiary, testifies before the Texas House Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires Thursday in Pampa.

Xcel is now facing multiple lawsuits in connection with the fires, which burned more than 1 million acres in the Panhandle over the course of several weeks. The lawsuits allege Xcel did not diligently maintain its lines and poles, leading to a pole breaking and a line causing ignition.

Melanie Lee McQuiddy filed the first suit against Xcel and Osmose on March 1 in Hemphill County, seeking more than $1 million in damages. Xcel was already facing more than 280 lawsuits related to the 2021 Marshall Fire near Boulder, Colorado, which caused over $2 billion in property damage.

Kevin Pierce, a law-enforcement investigator with the Forest Service, testified Wednesday the agency found chop marks at the base of the pole that fell and several others nearby. He testified Xcel believed the chopping might be related to an inspection method but was unable to confirm this with Osmose.

Rodriguez explained on Thursday the chop marks came from an industry-standard inspection process known as "shaving" or "chipping." During this process, an inspector removes decayed wood from the base of the pole in order to determine how much good wood remains.

From Tuesday: House investigative committee begins 3-day wildfire hearings in Pampa

Pierce said Osmose has not responded to questions from TAMFS. State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, noted Wednesday the company has not responded to inquiries from the committee.

The committee heard testimony over the course of three days from emergency management personnel, firefighters, landowners, regulators and the public. The committee is expected to release a report detailing its findings by May 1.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan last month appointed the Investigative Committee on the Panhandle Wildfires, chaired by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, which is tasked with investigating the wildfires' origins and evaluating the state's response to the fires. In addition to King and Burrows, the committee comprises Republican Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi and public members Jason Abraham and James Henderson, both Panhandle landowners.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Xcel says pole that started Texas Panhandle wildfire needed replacement
Anthony Paz Torres was sentenced to 37 years in prison on Wednesday for killing one person and threatening the lives of at least four other people at a Dallas tire shop on Dec. 24, 2015. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

April 4 (UPI) -- A Texas man who fatally shot one person and threatened the lives of at least four others at a Muslim-owned tire dealer and repair shop on Christmas Eve in 2015 has been sentenced to 37 years in prison, the Justice Department said.

Anthony Paz Torres, 39, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty in September to five federal hate crime counts for the Dec. 24, 2015, mass shooting at Omar's Wheels and Tires in Dallas.

"As this sentence makes clear, hate crimes fueled by Islamophobia, or by bias of any kind, will be met with the full force of the Justice Department," Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday in a statement.

"No person in this country should have to live in fear because of who they are, what they look like or how they pray."

Prosecutors said Torres visited the shop days before the shooting on Dec. 17, 2015.

In his plea agreement, Torres admitted to making anti-Muslim comments that day and vowing to return.

On Dec. 24, 2015, Torres returned to the store, pulled out a gun and started shooting, fatally striking bystander Enrique Garcia Mendoza as he was sitting in a vehicle outside.

One of the store's employees was also armed and returned fire, hitting Torres.

In July 2018, Torres was convicted for killing Mendoza by a Dallas County jury and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The sentence handed down Wednesday includes credit for time served in state custody, and, according to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, ensures he will be held accountable for "the hate-fueled, Islamophobic violence he inflicted on the victims in this case."

"No person in the United States should fear that they will be the target of violence because of their religion," Clarke said.

"The Justice Department will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute such hate crimes."
(NewsNation)  A Texas National Guard soldier, deployed to Eagle Pass as part of Gov. Greg Abbotts Operation Lone Star, was arrested Sunday for allegedly attempting to smuggle a migrant over the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed in a statement to NewsNation that Savion Johnson, 26, is charged with evading arrest, smuggling of persons and unlawful carry of a weapon.

Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe said the soldier turned around when he approached a pop-up tactical Border Patrol checkpoint off Highway 674 that had only been operational for a few days.

About 200 tombstones at West Virginia cemetery destroyed in mudslide

That behavior alerted agents, who attempted to stop the SUV. Officers from Texas DPS used spike strips to get the vehicle to come to a stop.

Kinney County Sheriffs deputies arrived to assist with that arrest, and at that point, the soldier was pulled out of the vehicle so they could search him.

The undocumented person authorities say the soldier was trying to transport fled from the SUV when caught by police, but he eventually gave himself up to be processed by Border Patrol.

Man arrested after allegedly holding woman captive, torturing her for months: deputies

Sources say Johnson, who was promised $5,000 to $6,000, did not have access to license plate readers or other technology that could have aided him in his efforts. However, he was armed, authorities say, so the smuggling charge was elevated.

We dont know whats going on in their lives to make them do this, Coe said. But theyre going to get caught.

Two other women were previously caught in Kinney County along the same road, also for human smuggling.

If the allegations are true, the accused is a traitor and criminal, Abbott said in a statement to NewsNation Monday. We have zero tolerance for Texans who violate laws that directly contradict the mission we are seeking to achieve.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
VIENTIANE, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Laos' Ministry of Public Security will deploy more than 700 traffic police officers to over 100 intersections across the capital Vientiane to ensure peace and order along public roads during the Lao New Year celebration in mid-April.

The Traffic Police Department under the ministry is expected to work with district police in Vientiane to improve road safety and reduce traffic accidents during the celebrations, head of the traffic police department of Vientiane Sangkhom Phommalat said, quoted by the Lao National TV on Thursday.

Related efforts will focus on raising the awareness of road and vehicle users on road safety and related laws, ensuring smooth road traffic with less parking offences, and speeding and alcohol control.

A total of 35 people were killed in road accidents across Laos during the celebrations of Lao New Year from April 11 to 17 in 2023, according to the report.

In addition, 611 people were injured and 589 vehicles damaged in a total of 342 road accidents across the Southeast Asian country during the Lao New Year holiday in 2023. 
A Texas National Guard member was arrested and charged with human smuggling near the U.S.-Mexico border after he allegedly turned around at a Border Patrol checkpoint, then led state troopers on a high-speed chase that ended when police deployed road spikes, according to authorities and Kinney County court records.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested Savion Amari Donovan Johnson, 26, Sunday afternoon on Highway 90 in Kinney County after they pursued him at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour for 15 miles, according to arrest affidavits. He stopped mid-chase to drop off a young Hispanic man before speeding past cars on the wrong side of the highway, the affidavits said.

He finally stopped about two miles after the spike strip punctured the tires of the GMC SUV he was driving, the affidavits said.

Johnson was charged with a pair of felonies  human smuggling and evading arrest in a vehicle  as well as unlawfully carrying a weapon, a misdemeanor, after police discovered a 9-millimeter pistol in the vehicle.

Johnsons arrest was first reported Wednesday by NewsNation, which also reported that he had been deployed to Eagle Pass as part of the states multibillion-dollar border initiative, Operation Lone Star.

It was not clear Thursday whether Johnson had a lawyer.

DPS investigators contacted Johnsons first sergeant after his arrest, according to the affidavits. The Texas Guard did not respond to requests for comment.

"If the allegations are true, the accused is a traitor and criminal, said Andrew Mahaleris, spokesperson for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who serves as the Guards commander in chief. We have zero tolerance for Texans who violate laws that directly contradict the mission we are seeking to achieve. The accused's illegal smuggling may subject him to a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 10 years. He deserves more."

A new state law passed by the Legislature last year increased the minimum sentence from two years to 10 years for people convicted of smuggling immigrants or operating a stash house.

Its not the first Guardsman that weve caught, said Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, whose deputies also responded to the scene. Everybody is susceptible to it because of the money involved. Guardsmen, other law enforcement agencies, Border Patrol agents have been involved in smuggling, FBI agents have been caught  its an age-old deal.

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.
Thieves Steal As Much As $30 Million In Cash From Los Angeles Vault: Reports

Tens of millions of dollars in cash was reportedly stolen from a Los Angeles storage facilitys vault in a brazen Easter Sunday theft, which is being called one of the greatest heists in the citys history.

As much as $30 million was discovered missing Monday morning after workers opened the vault, according to reports from the Los Angeles Times and other outlets, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

The burglars reportedly accessed the vault from the buildings roof the night before and somehow managed to avoid triggering its alarm system.

As much as $30 million in cash was reportedly discovered missing from a Los Angeles vault. Jackal Pan via Getty Images

A spokesperson for the FBIs LA office confirmed to HuffPost that the agency and police are jointly investigating a large theft of money that took place Sunday in the San Fernando Valley, but declined to provide further details.

The investigation is active and ongoing, the spokesperson added.

The vault is said to be located at a GardaWorld facility in LAs Sylmar neighborhood. The side of the building was seen Wednesday with an apparent hole thatd been boarded up, though its unclear if its related to the theft, local station ABC7 reported.

GardaWorld identifies itself as one of the worlds largest privately owned security and risk companies, with 35,000 clients that have included LOreal and the American Red Cross, according to its website.

Representatives with GardaWorld did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The theft is among the largest cash burglaries in LAs history, and it also surpassed any armored-car heist in the city, according to the Times.

Other record-setting robberies include the 1997 theft of $18.9 million in cash  the equivalent of more than $30 million today  from an armored facility in downtown Los Angeles.

When contacted by HuffPost, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department had no updates as of Thursday and offered no further comment.

Related...
Read the full story on The Auto Wire

Thieves Try Stealing Non-Running Dodge Hellcat

Some would-be thieves tried boosting a Dodge Charger Hellcat recently in Tennessee but couldnt figure out why the muscle car wouldnt start. Little did they know it wasnt running at the time, so the owner saved his ride by not having it fixed as it sat.

Gone in two minutes: $130,000 Dodge Hellcat.

Footage of the theft attempt shows the criminals break the rear side window, climb inside, then push the Hellcat from where it sat to a remote area half a mile away using a stolen Chrysler 300. When WKRN asked a police spokesman about that, he said he hadnt seen anything like it.

We have, many times, especially in cities like Detroit and Atlanta where car thefts are common. Sometimes by pushing the target vehicle with another car, usually stolen as well, theyre able to get the one ride started and can just drive it away.

Instead, these guys had to climb into the trunk, realizing the problem might be no spark. Thinking the battery was bad, they tried jumping it but that didnt work. Frustrated, they abandoned the Hellcat, likely going back on the prowl for another.

What they didnt know was the starter in the Mopar muscle car had gone bad and the owner was waiting to have it fixed. That saved his vehicle from being stolen.

Thankfully, the thieves didnt try stripping anything off the Dodge right then and there. Instead, these guys probably take whole cars to chop shops and get paid by whoever runs those.

Installing a kill switch or other aftermarket security device on your car will have a similar effect on thieves looking to steal it. They are almost always looking for an easy score, so when your ride isnt so easy to steal, they almost always leave it and move on.

Image via WKRN News 2/YouTube

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From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch

You wouldnt know it from reading this newsletter on most days, admittedly, but its possible to be too alarmist about Donald Trump.

For instance, despite being every inch a Never Trumper in 2020, I remember watching this ad in the final days of the campaign and bursting out laughing.

It wasnt the prospect of Trump conniving to cling to power that I found absurd. That was plausible, as the country would soon discover.

What was absurd was that the Constitution speaks with unusual clarity in foreclosing the possibility of a third term. Weve all read these words at some point: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Clever minds might home in on the words elected to the office of the President and reason that Trump could be elected vice president and then ascend to the presidency automatically by having his running mate graciously step aside. But the Constitution is clear on that as well: No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

If Trump wins reelection this fall, he cant be elected a third time in 2028. Simple as that.

Isnt it?

Two publications normally poles apart in their sensibilities considered the question last week and concluded that it is not, in fact, that simple. The Constitution should be amended to let Trump run for a third term in 2028, Peter Tonguette argued at The American Conservative. Trump is going to try to run for a third term in 2028 regardless, Jonathan Last countered at The Bulwarkand the courts might very well rubber-stamp his attempt to do so.

Theyre both wrong. And right.

The possibility of a third Trump term feels live in a way that the possibility of a third Barack Obama term never was, partly because of the bitter experience of 2020 and partly to the freakish adulation that Trump has cultivated among his base.

Obama had his own moony messianic appeal for the left, especially circa 2008, but that was mostly a function of the historic nature of his candidacy and wore off as he got down to the messy business of governing. The messianism around Trump has flowed in reverse, actually intensifying as his career has worn on to the point where the MAGA movement as of 2024 is  no longer a political movement, exactly.

A post-liberal cult of personality will not lightly be deterred from extending its hold on power by a few lines of written law, any more than it was by the Electoral Count Act on January 6, 2021. So when the prospect of a third term is broached, it naturally rings truer in Trumps case than it would in Obamas.

It also rings truer in Trumps case because, well, Trump is Trump. And because hes raised the possibility before.

We are going to win four more years, he said at a campaign stop in 2020. And then after that, well go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years. He repeated the point a month later, vowing to negotiate over a third term because were probablybased on the way we were treatedwe are probably entitled to another four after that.

He did say no during an interview last year when he was asked if hed seek a third term, but that was in the course of insisting that only a lazy chump like Ron DeSantis would need two full terms as president to fix America. In six months to a year, many of the problems, almost all of the problems that you and I have just spoken about will be solved, he crowed about his next administration.

This is the same guy, mind you, who promised in 2016 to eliminate the national debt in eight years and then ran gigantic annual deficits as president even before COVID shut down the economy. His timelines are always subject to revision as circumstances warrant.

So why are Tonguette and Last wrong?

Tonguette is wrong because theres no chance that the Constitution will be amended to end presidential term limits before 2028. Under Article V, at least 38 states (or three-quarters of an unprecedented constitutional convention) would need to ratify that amendment before it could take effect. There are too many solidly blue states for Trumpists to reach that threshold, realistically.

Or at least Tonguette had better hope so. Because if blue states are given the chance to lift the two-term limit on presidents, Republicans might just find themselves facing a spry 67-year-old Barack Obama again in 2028. And Obama will run well ahead of Joe Biden against Trump.

Last is wrong too, though. The Supreme Court is not a legal body, it is a political institution, he writes. It does whatever it thinks is best and then invents rationalizations for why the law requires that decision. Supposedly, when Trump eventually launches a dubious challenge to presidential term limits, the specter of right-wing civil unrest if he loses will lead the court to contrive some novel legal reasoning in his favor the same way it did to overturn Colorados attempt to oust him from the states presidential ballot.

I dont see it.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results, but this same court has already considered a high-stakes lawsuit filed on Trumps behalf at a moment when the risk of political violence was sky-high. Remember how that turned out?

In a few weeks the justices will hear arguments on Trumps ludicrous claim of absolute immunity from prosecution for acts he took as president. Want to bet on which way that one is going?

As our friend David French likes to say, the Supreme Court is conservative but it isnt MAGA. Neither are the Trump-appointed judges across the country who knocked down his many frivolous legal challenges after the 2020 election. It may be that a second Trump term will see some true MAGA judges appointed to the benchthe whole point of his next administration is to replace smart conservatives in government with incompetent loyalist hacks, after allbut itll be decades before post-liberals make a majority on the Supreme Court.

So if and when President Trump files a lawsuit challenging the constitutional two-term limit on presidents, Im very optimistic that itll end up in the same toilet as his 2020 challenges. And for an Eeyore like me to be optimistic about anything, it has to be close to a gimme.

Its also an open question to me whether a fourth Trump presidential candidacy in 2028 would be received as warmly on the right as his first, second, and third candidacies were.

Republican voters could justify renominating him in 2024 in the belief that he was robbed of his rightful second term in 2020, but once hes served that term, the argument that he should be renominated yet again to right some cosmic wrong will weaken considerably. The best theyll be able to do is reason that his first term was unfair because of the Mueller probe or what have you, but that limp logic will run headfirst into a clear constitutional norm barring him from seeking office again.

If youre one of the many Republicans at the top or bottom of the party who dont worship Trump and would prefer fresh blood after years of his exhausting lunacy, presidential term limits will provide the perfect pretext for you to finally hop off the Trump train in 2028. Youre not being disloyal, see; youre not even saying that term limits are a good thing. Dictator for life would be great! Its just that, well, the law is the law in this case. Nothing to be done about itregrettably, of course.

All in all, the third term for Trump push is probably going nowhere. Insofar as Tonguette and Last believe otherwise, theyre wrong.

But insofar as theyre each expecting that there will be a push? Theyre dead right.

Of course Trump will seek a third term. Character is destiny.

This barely requires analysis. As a matter of pure lizard-brain sociopathy, it would be inconceivable for him to lightly relinquish something valuablelet alone the most powerful office on Earthjust because a piece of paper says he needs to. Hell hand it over only when hes exhausted every available means of holding onto it, just as he did in 2020. Hell sue; hell pressure powerful officials with influence over the outcome; hell egg on the fanatics in his ranks to threaten those who resist him. Everything is negotiable, to borrow a word he used in this context once before.

He might not succeed but hell certainly fight, as only a sucker would do otherwise. If nothing else, the possibility that his criminal trials in Georgia and/or New York might restart in 2029 after being held in abeyance for four years while he served out his term as president would give him extra incentive to extend that term by hook or by crook.

Only if hes so worn down by age and ill health that he doesnt want the job anymore will he go quietly in 2028. And even then, I suspect hed try for a third term anyway simply to extend his control over the Republican Party. Retiring, after all, would mean forfeiting his place at the center of the right-wing political universe to the next GOP presidential nominee, an intolerable diminishment to a narcissist as twisted as him. Its one thing to lose a powerful office, its another thing entirely to lose ones status as an idol of national salvation. Hes not equipped psychologically to cope with it.

If Trump wins this election, he will attempt to run again in 2028. You can take that to the bank, Last writes. Likewise, its a mortal lock that Conservatism Inc. will come up with various rationalizations for why Trump should be permitted a third term, as they have excused and justified and embraced every Trump depredation and crime.

Thats all correct. A party that wants to rename airports for its hero after four indictments, two impeachments, and a coup plot is a party whose appetite for another Trump run in 2028 is likely greater than I gave it credit for above.

And when he does run, Tonguette is correct about what the chief rationalization will be. If a man who once was president returns, after a series of years, to stand again for the office and proves so popular as to earn a second nonconsecutive termas Trump seems bound to doto deny him the right to run for a second consecutive term cuts against basic fair play, he argues. If, by 2028, voters feel Trump has done a poor job, they can pick another candidate; but if they feel he has delivered on his promises, why should they be denied the freedom to choose him once more?

That logic is familiar. Weve heard it from populists as a defense to Trumps impeachments, then again as a defense to his criminal indictments, and recently a third time as a defense to the legal effort to disqualify him from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. Who dares deny The People the right to choose their own leaders?

Its a stupid argument, as it implies that no civic institution can legitimately sit in judgment of Trump so long as he remains a candidate for office. Only the electorate canand if, as in 2020, the electorate also gives him a thumbs down, rest assured that there must be fraud afoot to explain that result. Its also stupid because the Constitution limits Americans right to choose their leaders in all sorts of ways, starting with mandating age thresholds for the presidency and Congress. Because the Constitution itself is the supreme expression of popular will, theres no democratic contradiction in having it bar simple majorities from reelecting presidents who have served two terms.

Even so, Who dares deny The People the right to choose their own leaders? is a shrewd rhetorical device given Americans (nominal) respect for democracy. If youre a populist convinced that the dreaded elites are forever conspiring to keep Donald Trump away from power, being reminded that youre legally barred from electing him again in 2028 might leave you feeling indignant that the greatest country on Earth isnt truly free to have the president of its choosing. What kind of democracy is this, where the establishment prevents The People from giving a crook a third term?

Tonguette wants to solve that problem by the book, via the Article V amendment process. Thats to his credit, as its the proper procedure for making constitutional changes. But that wont happen before 2028, as Ive said, and so Trump will need a more creative way to avoid the two-term limit on his presidency. What might he do?

Well, what do authoritarians usually do in this situation?

My guess is that hell discern some emergency in 2028 that requires him to remain in office past the expiration of his term. He could have tried that in 2020 too, but that would have been a high-stakes gamble. For one thing, he believed he would win a second term fair and square at the polls (and nearly did), making a heavy-handed power grab unnecessary. For another, he might have sensed that he lacked the critical mass of devout loyalists in prominent positions needed to carry out such a plot successfully.

None of that will be true in 2028. His administration will be staffed to the gills with diehard cronies and, being term-limited, hell have nothing to lose by contriving an extraordinary excuse to try to stay in power. It wont be a third term so much as an indefinite continuation of his second. As it happens, a close friend and adviser of his has a bit of personal experience with that.

If Trump asked state legislatures controlled by Republicans to cancel or postpone their elections amid this supposed emergency, how confident are you that they would say no?

Another thing he might do is what he always does in a crisis, which is to play for time and pound the table about unfairness. He might, for instance, key in on the fact that the Constitution says that a president cant be elected for more than two terms but not that he cant run for more than two terms. Imagine that, after spending the next four years grousing about how crooked it is that the American people arent free to reelect him, he resolves to run again in 2028 and encourages Republican voters to treat his candidacy as a protest vote against the unfairness of term limits.

How sure are you that he wouldnt be renominated? If he is and ends up winningor losing, because of cheatingthe general election, what happens when he declares that the people have spoken and he wont leave office, whatever the Supreme Court might have to say about it? Will a government and military leadership staffed by Trump flunkies defy him by declaring him ineligible on January 20, 2029?

If that isnt in the offing for whatever reason and he concludes that there truly is no point in seeking a third term, my guess is that hell throw his support for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination to some cats-paw he can easily control like his friend Vladimir once did. Trumps aspirations to monarchy make Donald Trump Jr. an obvious possibility, but lord knows there are plenty of obliging sycophants outside the immediate family willing to do whatever their leader wants in exchange for power. So long as the Republican base looks to ex-President Trump for political guidance, he enjoys the power to wreck any puppet successor in office who defies him.

Which means that even if Trump leaves office, he hasnt really left office.

However this ends up playing out, reelecting him this fall guarantees that power wont transfer smoothly in 2029. Thats especially true if a Democrat is elected in 2028: The apocalyptic terms in which MAGA populists routinely frame the prospect of left-wing governance, starting with the Flight 93 nonsense in 2016 and extending to Trumps stump speeches today, makes it impossible to imagine him tossing the keys to the White House to, say, Gavin Newsom. Even if hes disinclined to interfere, the Republican base that hes spent nearly 10 years radicalizing will demand it. Theyre better authoritarians at this point than he is.

Choosing Trump in November means choosing chaos. We all know it, or should know it, by now. We seem resolved to choose it anyway.

Read more at The Dispatch

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A new government report found thousands of reports of lobbying violations remain unresolved years after they were referred to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia.

Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), the 1995 law that mandates transparency into federal lobbying activities, lobbyists must file new registrations with the secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the House within 45 days, quarterly disclosures detailing specific lobbying activities and how much they were paid, and semiannual political contribution reports.

When a lobbyist or firm fails to comply with the reporting requirements, the secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the House notify them and make referrals to the U.S. Attorneys Office (USAO) only when they fail to provide a proper response.

About 74 percent of the 3,622 referrals the USAO has received for alleged quarterly lobbying reporting violations since 2014 were still pending as of January, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is tasked under the LDA with an annual audit of lobbyists compliance.

The GAO also found around two-thirds of alleged political contribution reporting violations are still open: about 67 percent of the 2,128 lobbying firms and 65 percent of the 7,962 individual lobbyists referred to the USAO since 2014.

Referrals were pending because the USAO could not locate the lobbyists, did not receive a response from the lobbyists after an enforcement action, or planned to conduct additional research to determine if it can locate the lobbyist, the report notes. Only around 1 percent of referrals were suspended due to the death of the lobbyist or the fact that the lobbyist or firm went out of business.

While its certainly possible, maybe even likely, that a number of these violations are ultimately the result of minor mistakes or oversight, the fact that so many cases remain unresolved for so long should be a red flag that critical oversight of a massively influential industry is failing, Robert Maguire, vice president for research at the nonprofit watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), told The Hill.

Nearly 13,000 federal lobbyists disclosed receiving a total of $4.3 billion in 2023, according to the nonpartisan money-in-politics organization OpenSecrets. The overwhelming majority of lobbyists do comply with reporting requirements, the GAO found, and the alleged violations make up a small percentage of the tens of thousands of disclosures filed each year.

Noncompliant lobbyists are also offered ample opportunity to correct their filings, and these situations are typically cleared up by just filing the report, Steve Roberts, a partner at Holtzman Vogel, told The Hill.

Enforcement of this is so lenient as is and then to have that backlog outstanding is pretty remarkable, Roberts said.

While it is frequently said that the LDA operates on an honor system, the USAO does have the authority to respond to alleged violations  including with potential criminal and civil penalties  and the longstanding logjam raises questions about its ability to do so.

Honor systems always have consequences, Maguire said. Trusting people to do what theyre required to do doesnt mean that there shouldnt be consequences for failing to do so, but that is in effect what were seeing here.

USAO officials do maintain a database of chronic offenders, defined as lobbyists who repeatedly fail to file reports despite allegedly lobbying or who have been hit with more than 10 referrals  although they told the GAO they were updating the list to include only lobbyists who are still noncompliant and they are able to locate.

Neither the D.C. USAO nor the Justice Departments Office of Public Affairs responded to requests for comment from The Hill.

The sizable backlog could stem from an understaffed office that has a lot of competing resources, and LDA has rarely been high on that list, Roberts said.

But USAO officials told the GAO they had sufficient resources and authority to enforce LDA reporting requirements.

USAO officials told GAO they have one full-time permanent program compliance coordinator, two paralegal specialists assigned part time, and one full-time civil investigator who aim to review and update pending cases every six months. Criminal assistant U.S. attorneys and civil assistant U.S. attorneys are also available to pursue criminal or civil penalties as needed.

According to the GAO report, USAO officials separate pending cases into the following categories: initial research for referral, responded but not compliant, no response/waiting for a response, bad address and unable to locate.

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact a lobbyist, USAO officials told GAO that they may circle up with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House to decide if additional enforcement actions are necessary.

They also said they close referrals if they are unable to locate a lobbyist or their address, focusing on responded but not compliant and no response/waiting for a response cases.

I think people should absolutely care if theres a violation that is not handled in some way or another, whether thats by the filer just getting their report in and disclosing completely and accurately what theyre doing, or whether its the [Justice Department] taking some kind of action, Roberts said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Thousands still without power after storm batters New York City area

Thousands still without power after storm batters New York City area

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11)  Strong winds and heavy thunderstorms caused widespread outages in New York City and Westchester County, leaving over 35,000 residents without power over the past two days.

Con Edison reported around 12,400 customers were still without power at 11 a.m. Thursday, more than 4,000 of those were in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. PSE&G reported 372 power outages on Long Island as of 10:00 a.m.

Overnight storm leaves downed trees, power lines across NYC

Crews were assessing damage and making necessary repairs. Customers can check the Con Edison outage map for estimated restoration times.

Authorities urged residents to stay away from and report downed electrical wires. If a power line falls on your vehicle while youre inside, stay inside the car and wait for emergency personnel.

Customers should disconnect appliances that may turn on automatically when power is restored to avoid circuit overloads.

Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. (PIX11)  Over 5,000 residents in New Jersey are without power Thursday morning as a storm brings heavy rain and gusty winds to the tri-state area.

PSE&G reported over 300 power outages around 9 a.m. Over 15,000 customers in New York are also without power, according to Con Edison.

Neighborhoods in Englewood were dark as crews worked to restore power. A massive tree came down on East Forest Avenue and wires were seen strewn in the middle of the road.

PIX11s Traffic Center

Crews are also working to clear multiple downed trees on Route 4. Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes is warning residents to be cautious because trees are heavier now that theyre blossoming.

A facade also collapsed in North Bergen.

Residents are encouraged to check road conditions and NJ Transit before heading out for work. Train service is experiencing disruptions due to downed power lines, officials said.

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.
Three people were found dead inside a home in Edmonson County Tuesday, according to Kentucky State Police.

KSP said the Brownsville Police Department contacted them at approximately 2:40 a.m. asking for assistance in a suspicious death investigation. The people were found inside a home on Carder Street in the Brownsville community of Edmonson County.

The three individuals were found unresponsive inside the home and later pronounced dead by the Edmonson County coroner, according to KSP. The three people were 56-year-old Harold Hendrick, of Oakland; 44-year-old Carrie Canady, of Bowling Green; and 37-year-old William Payne, of Bowling Green.

KSP did not provide a cause of death for the three people or any additional information about the investigation.

The case is being investigated by KSP.
What time is the April 8 solar eclipse? Heres when to see it from 10 Kansas cities

The 2024 solar eclipse is just days away, and even though Wichita wont see it in totality, city residents will still be able to see approximately 87.59% of the sun blocked out during the event.

During April 8s rare total solar eclipse, the moon will pass between the sun and the Earth, which will completely block out the face of the sun for areas in the path of totality.

If youre planning on catching a glimpse of the eclipse, be sure to know when the best time to step outside is so you dont miss the events peak.

April 8s total solar eclipse will completely block the suns light and create a 115-mile-wide path of totality across much of the U.S. Those outside the path will see a partial solar eclipse.

What time is the 2024 solar eclipse over Kansas?

According to global online clock Time and Date, the eclipse will begin in Wichita at 12:31 p.m. and end at 3:06 p.m. But if you want to just see the eclipse at its peak, instead of sitting through the nearly three-hour event, be sure to be outside before 1:48 p.m., which is when the height of the partial eclipse will be seen in Wichita.

Here are some times the eclipse will begin, peak and end in other Kansas cities, from Time and Date:

Newton: Begins at 12:32 p.m. and ends at 3:06 p.m. Peaks at 1:49 p.m.

Derby: Begins at 12:31 p.m. and ends at 3:06 p.m. Peaks at 1:48 p.m.

Hutchinson: Begins at 12:31 p.m. and ends at 3:05 p.m. Peaks at 1:48 p.m.

Salina: Begins at 12:33 p.m. and ends at 3:06 p.m. Peaks at 1:49 p.m.

Topeka: Begins at 12:36 p.m. and ends at 3:09 p.m. Peaks at 1:53 p.m.

Lawrence: Begins at 12:36 p.m. and ends at 3:10 p.m. Peaks at 1:53 p.m.

Olathe: Begins at 12:37 p.m. and ends at 3:10 p.m. Peaks at 1:54 p.m.

Osage City: Begins at 12:35 p.m. and ends at 3:09 p.m. Peaks at 1:52 p.m.

Overland Park: Begins at 12:37 p.m. and ends at 3:11 p.m. Peaks at 1:54 p.m.

The last solar eclipse occurred last October, but was a partial eclipse. This happened when the moon passed between the sun and the Earth when it was farthest from the Earth, which caused a ring effect around the moon.

Ways to view the April 8 eclipse safely

If youre planning on stepping outside during the event, be sure to stay safe. Even though the sun is partially blocked, its still unsafe to look directly at it without proper eye protection.

Eclipse glasses can be bought from box stores like Home Depot and Lowes in Wichita, while other stores could hop on the trend ahead of the eclipse. The Kansas Lions Sight Foundation will sell and donate eclipse glasses to the public, as well.

If you cant snag a pair of eclipse glasses in time, there are other ways to indirectly view the eclipse.

NASA recommends using a pinhole projector. You can make these at home yourself with a cardboard box, white paper, tape, scissors and aluminum foil.

Tape the white paper on the inside end of the box and on the other end, cut out a section and cover it with the foil. Poke a small hole in the foil, and on the other side of that same end, cut a section out large enough for you to view from.
BISHKEK, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan is "concerned" about the attacks on Iran's consular office in Syria, the country's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan expressed its "deep concern in connection with missile attacks on the Iranian consular office in Syria in Damascus, which resulted in human casualties," said the ministry in a statement.

Kyrgyzstan calls on the parties to peacefully resolve the conflict in accordance with the generally accepted principles and norms of international law, primarily the United Nations (UN) Charter, said the statement. 
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  An annual event in Wichita raises money for veterans in south-central Kansas. The event allows people to donate to a good cause while honoring their loved ones who serve or have served in the armed forces.

The event is Flags of Freedom. For two weeks up to and including Memorial Day, 600 American flags are displayed in the field next to the Machinists building at Interstate 235 and Meridian.

The United Way of the Plains and Machinists District Lodge #70 hosts the display. They also raise money to support United Way veterans assistance programs.

People can buy $30 dedications with the name of their military loved one. The dedications will be on the the events website from now until Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The website will display the persons name, branch of service, rank and a short personal tribute.

Microbrewery bill heads to Kansas governor

Purchase the dedication between now and Memorial Day at UnitedWayPlains.org/freedom.

This is the fourth year for Flags of Freedom. The public is invited to visit the flag display from Monday, May 13, through Memorial Day.

On Saturday, May 25, the union plans a new event, a Unity and Community Pop Up, from noon until 4 p.m. It will include a showcase of small businesses and food trucks.

That same day, from 1 until 1:30 p.m., there will also be a public celebration and dedication at the Flags of Freedom.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Tonganoxie father, Shane Michael DeGraeve, 35, was found guilty on Thursday of second-degree murder charges after killing his 9-year-old son and leaving two children injured in a car crash on April 4, 2022.

DeGraeve, who was also charged and found guilty of three counts of aggravated endangering of a child and driving under the influence, was responsible for a single-vehicle crash that occurred in a rural Leavenworth County.

Kansas lawmakers comment on prospect of Chiefs moving

According to investigations from the Leavenworth County Sherriffs Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol, DeGraeve was speeding in the area of Easton Road and K-92 when his pickup truck rolled after driving into a ditch and hitting a sign.

DeGraeves son was ejected from the passenger seat of the truck  which was found to have two seatbelt silencers used to prevent occupants from buckling after further investigations. The boy later died in the hospital.

Two kids were also in the backseat of the truck and taken to a hospital for treatment, according to a press release from County Attorney Todd Thompson.

The release also said that law enforcement smelled alcohol coming from DeGraeves breath, as well as other signs of impairment.

One killed, one hurt in deadly east Kansas City shooting

When questioned, DeGraeve told law enforcement he was run off the road, but witnesses and evidence countered these statements, according to investigators.

According to the release, DeGraeves blood alcohol level was .083. The legal limit in Kansas is .08.

Driving is a privilege, not a right, said Thompson. There are rules, especially rules regarding impaired driving and the safety of those in your vehicleespecially the safety of children. Vehicles have seatbelts for a reason, and parents have responsibilities. No one should ever drive while impaired.

DeGraeve is facing a minimum sentence of 109 months to a maximum of 493 months for the second-degree murder charge. His hearing is scheduled for May 31, according to the Leavenworth County Attorneys Office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
The Idaho Legislature has passed yet another iteration of a library book ban bill. When legislators did this last year, Idaho Gov. Brad Little showed courage and did the right thing by vetoing it.

He should do the same thing this time around. Here are five reasons why:

Its a bogeyman. Vilifying librarians as groomers and falsely claiming theres pornography in our libraries is just the latest bogeyman in the culture wars being waged by the far right. Kids arent getting porn from libraries.

Its unnecessary. Libraries already have policies in place to handle complaints about books that some people dont like. Adding this layer of civil action is unnecessary. We trust our librarians and local library board to make the right decisions.

While local librarians and their local library boards make decisions about what should be on their librarys shelves, this bill essentially gives veto power to anyone who doesnt like some passage in a book.

It will disproportionately hurt small library districts. The bill states that a library has 60 days to address a concern from a library patron. That sounds fair, right? But what happens if the librarian and library board simply dont agree that a book should be moved? That patron can then sue the library district. The 60-day limit really is meaningless in this legislation. The end result is still a possible lawsuit. This will particularly harm small, rural districts operating on shoestring budgets that can ill afford to defend themselves against even frivolous attacks.

It will have a chilling effect. The net effect of this bill will be to have a chilling effect on local librarians and local library board members, who, afraid of a lawsuit from some cranky outlier, will instead pull books from their shelves.

While supporters of the bill claim they want to go after what they call pornography, under Idaho definition, that includes any homosexual act. Thats really what this is all about: Trying to remove materials from the libraries so that LGBTQ-plus children dont see representation of themselves on the shelves. Under this bill, any bigot can challenge any book that has two gay characters kissing, for example. If you think thats not going to happen, youre sadly mistaken.

Look whos behind the bill. The self-proclaimed Christian nationalist organization Idaho Family Policy Center drafted The Childrens School and Library Protection Act, and then applauded passage of the library porn bill. Gov. Little may not consider himself a Christian nationalist, but by signing this bill, hes siding with the Christian nationalists, and he should recognize that hes being used as a tool for their purposes.

My main concern is that the bills ambiguity will have unintended consequences for Idaho libraries and their patrons, Little wrote when he vetoed the library bill last year. This legislation makes sweeping, blanket assumptions on materials that could be determined as harmful to minors in a local library, and it will force one interpretation of that phrase onto all the patrons of the library.

When it comes to this years version of the library bill, Little could simply copy and paste those words into this years veto letter.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Mary Rohlfing and Patricia Nilsson.
Toss-up races and Democratic battlegrounds: Who will pick up control of the Senate in 2024?

WASHINGTON  Around a third of U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs this fall, and Republicans are feeling good about their chances of bringing the chamber back under their control.

Democrats currently control the Senate with a narrow 51-49 majority. A rocky landscape ahead of elections in the fall was made even tougher for Democrats when incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., announced earlier this year that he would not run for reelection  essentially handing his seat to Republicans in the deeply conservative state.

Assuming West Virginia goes to a GOP senator, Republicans may only need former President Donald Trump to win the White House to effectively control the upper chamber. The vice president acts as a tiebreaker when the Senate is split 50-50, so if they win one of three "toss up" seats  all currently held by senators who vote with Democrats  they could control the chamber with Trump in office.

Here are the races to watch as election season heats up.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, arriving to the hearing where Gary Gensler, Chair, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would testify before the COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The toss-ups

Three Senate seats are considered anybody's game, dubbed a "toss-up" by the non-partisan Cook Political Report: Arizona, Montana, and Ohio.

Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is retiring after her term ends, leaving her swing-state seat up for grabs. President Joe Biden narrowly won Arizona in 2020, and Trump won it in 2016.

The Republican candidate is likely to be former TV news anchor Kari Lake, who ran for governor in Arizona in 2022. She gained national attention in 2020 by falsely claiming that Trump won that year's presidential election.

Progressive U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is the likely Democratic nominee. He's a Latino, a Harvard graduate and a former Marine who served in Iraq. The state's primaries are July 30.

In Montana, incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester will likely be up against Tim Sheehy, a wealthy businessman and former Navy SEAL, in a state that has leaned increasingly Republican in recent years. A Democratic presidential candidate hasn't won Montana since 1992.

But Tester  a third-generation Montanan and farmer  has held on through three Senate election cycles and has a real shot of doing so again, experts predict.

And in Ohio, incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown will be seeking a fourth term in another increasingly Republican state. Brown is well-known in Ohio and has developed a populist reputation that will likely help him with the states working-class voters.

Hell be up against another wealthy businessman endorsed by Trump: Bernie Moreno, who owns a network of car dealerships. A Democratic group paid $2.7 million to promote him in the state's competitive GOP primary  an indicator that Democrats feel Moreno would be an easier target in the general election than his more moderate GOP rivals.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., on Capitol Hill on May 31, 2023.

The Democratic battlegrounds

Four seats currently held by Democratic senators are in play in blue-leaning states, giving the party a better chance of keeping the seats. But Republicans could still make a steal in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is retiring at the end of her term, making a seat available. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is the clear Democratic nominee. She's an ex-CIA analyst and won three tough House races in politically mixed central Michigan.

Michigans Republican primary is an open field of candidates across the conservative spectrum: Libertarian and outspoken Trump critic former Rep. Justin Amash is running, as is former GOP Rep. Peter Meijer, who voted to impeach Trump after Jan. 6, 2021 and was defeated in the primary by a Trump-backed candidate in 2022.

But the clear frontrunner is Trump-endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers, who served seven terms in the House and was the chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

Incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-N.V., will fight to keep her seat for a second term against political newcomer Sam Brown, who tells the story of his Army service in Afghanistan in 2008, where he survived severe burns from a bomb.

Wisconsins race pits two-term Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., against businessman Eric Hovde. Hovde's wealth brings significant personal funding ability, but he may be vulnerable to Democratic attacks due to ties to California.

And Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., will defend his seat after three terms in the upper chamber. He benefits from widespread name recognition, especially as his father with the same name was the states former governor. Hes up against hedge fund executive David McCormick, who ran against Mehmet Oz in 2022.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks on Title 42 immigration policy on May 03, 2023 in Washington, DC.

The longshots

Three states are unlikely to flip, but they're just vulnerable enough to be a target for the other side in this tight election: Maryland, Texas and Florida.

Solid blue Maryland was likely off the table for Republicans, until former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan threw his hat into the ring. Hogan  who was personally recruited to run by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.  brings a moderate brand and big name recognition to the race. Democrats running include U.S. Rep. David Trone and Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

GOP strongholds Texas and Florida provide the only chances for Democrats to try to steal a seat instead of just defending their own. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, came close to defeat in 2018 when he ran against Beto ORourke. Hell face Rep. Colin Allred, who has beat an incumbent Republican before and broken with Democrats on border issues.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., will face former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in a state that will also be voting on a referendum on abortion rights  which has driven Democratic voters to the polls in the past.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senate races to watch in 2024: Arizona, Montana and Ohio are toss-ups


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As celestial phenomena go, few events rival the awe-inspiring spectacle of a solar eclipseespecially this one! In just a few days, a total solar eclipse will be visible across North America (including Rees state of Oklahoma), plunging parts of the U.S. into darkness as the rare phenomenon crosses over. Then, it won't happen again for decades!

According to NASA, a total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun for a short time. This is different than the more frequent partial solar eclipse, in which the moon only covers part of the sun, giving it a crescent shape.

However, observing any solar eclipse requires careful planning and preparation to ensure both safety and optimal viewing conditions. In this guide, we'll explore the steps you need to take to safely and effectively watch the total solar eclipse, including what time it's taking place and how you can glimpse it in its full glory!

Wirestock - Getty Images

When is the 2024 total solar eclipse?

The upcoming total solar eclipse will take place on Monday, April 8, 2024. In the U.S., the eclipse will begin in Texas at 1:27 pm CDT, then end in Maine at 3:35 pm EDT. Keep in mind, the shadow of the moon goes through several time zones, so you'll want to check the local time to ensure you dont miss it. NASA has an interactive map that can help you with that!

Though the whole event will take about two and a half hours, totality will only last about four minutes. The closer you are to the center of the totality path, the longer the maximum point of the eclipse will last for you.

Okay, but what exactly is totality? Well, it's the track of the moon's shadow across Earth's surface. To witness the total solar eclipse on April 8, you have to be within this 115-mile-wide path. Otherwise, you'll just see a partial eclipse.

Where can I see the 2024 total solar eclipse?

It's dubbed the Great North American Eclipse for a reason! The solar eclipse will pass over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Here in the U.S., the path of totality begins in Texas before traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Small areas of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience totality.

For people lucky enough to be in the path, the sky will darken for several minutes and the air will get colder. And dependent on the weather, you'll be able to view the suns corona, the outer atmosphere, which is only visible when the suns disc is completely covered by the moon and is otherwise obscured by the bright face of the sun.

Brian Farrell - Getty Images

How can I safely see the 2024 total solar eclipse?

Here's the thing: you can't just walk outside on April 8 and look up at the sky. Actually, this is really dangerous! To view the spectacle safely, you'll have to wear specialized glasses (not just any 'ol sunglasses), use a handheld solar viewer or build a pinhole projector. The only time you can view the eclipse without proper eye protection is during the very brief period in which it reaches totalitybut be sure you have your eclipse glasses on whenever it's just a partial eclipse. Also, keep in mind that glasses are not sufficient when using tools like binoculars or cameras.

Planning on watching the solar eclipse? Walmart has you covered (literally!) with a viewing bundle that includes certified viewing glasses and a phone lens filter to keep you safe. But theyre making it fun, too! Youll also find a blanket, chair, cooler, Milky Way bars, Moonpies, Cosmic Brownies, and more. You can order everything and pick it up or have it shipped to your door, starting at $17 for a pack of five viewing glasses.

Either way, we suggest making an event out of it! After all, the next total solar eclipse in the contiguous U.S. won't happen until August 2044and that's only in Montana and North Dakota. The next total solar eclipse to span coast-to-coast will occur in 2045. So, this calls for solar-bration! 

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New Hampshire, we have a problem. Were living longer and a silver tsunami is well on its way. The states population, already one of the oldest in the country, is growing. At the same time, the number of high school graduates is expected to continue falling. Fewer graduates means a shrinking pool of home-grown talent willing to enter the healthcare workforce. We are on a demographic collision course.

Nick Toumpas

Policymakers need to get serious about care for our seniors as our current system does not have adequate resources to handle the inevitable surge in demand. Our healthcare workforce needs rebuilding  particularly those trained to work in nursing homes. The last few years have made our challenging situation worse, as the pandemic pushed our existing hospital and nursing staff to their breaking point. Today, staffing shortages have reached unprecedented levels in long term care facilities, but the Biden administration is going in the wrong direction to help fix it.

An unfunded federal staffing mandate for nursing homes is expected to come down from the administration soon. While the goal of increased quality is admirable, to impose an arbitrary staffing ratio on facilities in the name of improving quality ignores reality. Never mind the fact that a study commissioned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that no staffing level would guarantee quality of care  all signs point to the administration intending to move forward.

It seems that the underlying assumption of the administrations proposal is that nursing homes just arent hiring. If they mandate that nursing homes hire more people, the problem will be solved. Clearly, nobody wants to hire more nurses and caregivers than our nursing homes. The challenge is that there arent enough prospective job candidates who meet the necessary qualifications. Nationally, 72 percent of nursing homes say their staffing levels are lower than they were before the pandemic, even though 90 percent have increased wages in the last six months.

Yet as they try their best amid a historic workforce shortage, the administration wants to compound these challenges by forcing a rigid regulation on them that will require thousands more workers. More than 100,000 nurses and nurse aides are needed for nursing homes to meet this new staffing rule, but they wont see any new federal dollars to help achieve this. Given labor market conditions and no new resources, it shouldnt come as a surprise that 89 percent cant meet it.

Access to care for New Hampshire seniors is becoming increasingly challenging for families in need of long-term care for loved ones. Facilities are turning away new patients, taking beds offline, downsizing, or closing units. Reliance on staffing agencies has become a standard practice, which is much more expensive for underfunded nursing homes than hiring full-time employees. Other nursing homes are buckling under the staffing pressure and closing completely. If anyone thought the situation was bad now, its only going to get worse under the mandate. Its also important to note that our facilities operate as a system; When one fails or reduces capacity, it puts increased pressure on neighboring facilities.

Fortunately, bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill is growing  which should tell us that this isnt about politics. Its just a bad policy that will hurt our most vulnerable. CMS has received over 40,000 comments from the industry, the vast majority of which are against the proposed rule.

The House Ways and Means Committee just passed legislation that would block the rule from becoming final, while companion legislation in the Senate has a strong list of Republican and Democrat cosponsors. New Hampshires federal delegation, including Representative Pappas, are among many Members of Congress to point out the rules inherent red flags, while local leaders are starting to take note, too. Last month, the Portsmouth City Council passed a resolution opposing the mandate because they understand the detrimental impact it will have on access to care.

A counterproductive federal mandate is not what our nursing homes need. Policymakers in Washington must redirect their focus on solutions that strengthen the nursing home workforce and acknowledge the realities they are facing. As the demand for long-term care services continues to increase, we need to make sure the supply of skilled workers keeps pace.

Nick Toumpas served as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services from 2007 to 2016. Toumpas is a resident of Rye, and currently serves as a member of the Community College System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Toumpas: Federal staffing mandate a bad deal for NH seniors
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA)  Illinois State Police and the Urbana Fire Department responded to a tow truck fire on Interstate 74 Thursday afternoon.

The fire happened around 3:30 p.m. at Milepost 184 near the exit to University Avenue. Mark Ashby, a Battalion Chief with the Urbana Fire Department, said firefighters were on the scene for about 10 minutes, helping to make sure the fire was fully out. State Troopers were already using fire extinguishers on the truck by the time the fire department arrived.

Last construction phase starting on I-70 in Effingham Co.

The tow truck was the only vehicle involved in the fire. No one was hurt.

Ashby said one lane of traffic was blocked while firefighters were on the scene, resulting in a backup toward Cunningham Avenue. The backup cleared by 4 p.m., State Police officials said, and traffic is flowing normally.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Tragedy of 128th Brigade: Ukraine's Security Service claims Russia probably located unit by hacking into soldier's phone

The Ukrainian Security Service believes that the Russians obtained information about the date and location of the gathering of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade by hacking a soldiers phone.

Source: Illia Vitiuk, Head of the Cyber-Security Department at the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), in an interview with Ukrinform

Quote: "Now, one of the main versions that explains how the attack was made possible is because of technological penetration. This case demonstrates how dangerous it is to use cyber weapons in military operations."

Details: According to Vitiuk, the Russians most likely gained access to the soldiers messenger apps by distributing phishing messages.

"We found that one of the devices on which there was a Signal messenger received a message about a specific date and place of gathering of military personnel, where the missile struck later."

Background:

On 4 November, Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that Russia had struck a group of soldiers of the 128th Brigade in a frontline village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast at 10:00 on 3 November. It was reported that more than 20 soldiers may have been killed. The soldiers were supposedly gathered in one place to be presented with awards in honour of Artillery Day.

On the evening of 4 November, Defence Minister Rustem Umierov instructed the Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defence to conduct a full investigation into the tragedy.

A three-day mourning period was declared in Zakarpattia Oblast because of this strike.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that this tragedy could have been prevented. He stressed that an investigation is underway to provide the families of the deceased soldiers and society with honest answers as to how the tragedy occurred and whose orders were wrong.

On 6 November, the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade based in Zakarpattia Oblast confirmed the deaths of 19 soldiers from a Russian attack during celebrations near the frontline on 3 November.

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This week, after Israeli airstrikes killed seven workers from World Central Kitchenthe globe-trotting food aid organization famous for showing up wherever there are people in need (including Washington, during government shutdowns)multiple humanitarian organizations have suspended their operations in Gaza due to concerns about the safety of their staff. These workers were killed despite traveling through a deconflicted zone in armored cars clearly labeled with the World Central Kitchen logo and sharing their movements with the Israeli military. World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, is among the groups pausing their operations in Gaza, even as more than one million Palestinians are on the brink of starvation.

Andres told Reuters in an interview that the convoy had been targeted systematically, car by car. This was not just a bad luck situation where oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place, Andres said. The strikes hit the convoy shortly after it left its warehouse in Deir Al Balah, where it unloaded over 100 tons of food aid.

Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International and a former top official at USAID, called the strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy a significant escalation, notable in part because the organization had worked to coordinate their efforts with the Israeli military. But he also noted that many Palestinian aid workers have been killed since the onset of the war in October; the United Nations has reported that more than 180 humanitarian workers have died.

Israel is trying really hard to portray this as a one-off, an accident and aberration, and its none of those things. The only thing that is different here is that it was international personnel, Konyndyk said. This one is different in degreeit is even more egregious, it is more severe, it is grotesque. But it is grotesque in a way that follows a pattern of [Israel Defense Forces] behavior.

Anera, an organization that provides aid in the Middle East, which has partnered with World Central Kitchen and other groups, is also temporarily suspending its operations. The deaths of the humanitarian workers this week come after the killing of Anera worker Mousa Shawwa last month. As with the seven workers killed this week, Shawwa had shared his coordinates and movements with the Israeli military before his death. Sandra Rasheed, the Palestine director for Anera, said in an interview that aid workers in Gaza had been concerned about their safety after the death of Shawwa and his young son shortly thereafter.

When April 1 happened, and the WCK convoy was deliberately and intentionally targeted and attacked, and there were seven people that were killed that day, that was a real big shocker to them. They were really worried, [and] they knew that it could have been them, Rasheed said about the Anera workers, who coordinated closely with World Central Kitchen on the ground. Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that strikes occurred, he called them unintentional, and other Israeli military leaders have characterized them as an errorbut this does not reassure Anera workers, Rasheed said.

The deaths of the World Central Kitchen workers have invited international condemnation, including some of the strongest criticism from President Joe Biden. (The Biden administration has continued to approve munitions and aid for Israel, although Congress has not approved new military assistance since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.) In Washington, Andres is an institution, respected across the political class; the deaths of the World Central Kitchen staff may thus resonate with American politicians more than the everyday devastation of Israeli strikes in Gaza. Rasheed theorized that the international community had become accustomed to the deaths of Palestinians, which have topped 30,000, according to health officials in Gaza.

When the world sees images of international aid workers who are going into a crisis situation, who are going there to serve and to support the people, and then they are killed, that is a shock for them, Rasheed said.

The pause in operations is temporary, Rasheed said, noting that Anera is still working on aid procurement. However, she said that she would like to see accountability for the Israeli military and more pressure put on the U.S. to stop supplying weapons to Israel.

Are we being naive that that would happen? Im not so sure. I think that the shock of what happened and even some of the initial language of what President Biden said, shows an indication that people are starting to think that people need to be held accountable, that this needs to stop, Rasheed said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Biden said that he was outraged by the incident. However, Politico reported that, while privately angry, Biden did not plan on changing the countrys policy toward Israel anytime soon.

Its very hard for me to see any real prospect of Israeli behavior changing without the U.S. government majorly upping the ante. Netanyahu has shown repeatedly that he will happily ignore the guidance that he gets, argued Konyndyk. As long as the approach of the U.S. government is to urge him to change, rather than deploy leverage to force him to change policy, he wont change.

This article first appeared in Inside Washington, a weekly TNR newsletter authored by staff writer Grace Segers. Sign up here.
MOSCOW, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the masterminds behind the deadly terrorist attack in suburban Moscow aimed to undermine Russia's unity.

The investigation provided that the primary goal of the attack was "precisely to inflict damage to our unity," Putin said. "There are no other goals visible, and there are none."

Putin also said that Russia could not be the target of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists, adding the country demonstrates "a unique example of unity among different faiths, religions and ethnicities."

A shooting on March 22 in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the northwest of Moscow was followed by a massive fire, resulting in at least 144 people killed and another 551 injured, official statistics showed.

Russia had previously suggested that the terrorist attack was linked to Ukraine, a claim that Ukraine had repeatedly denied. 
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  A proposed addition to the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk includes a tree top trail that would let red pandas and other critters scurry over the heads of visitors.

Its part of a new expansion project unanimously greenlighted last week by Norfolks City Planning Commission that seeks to expand on the citys goals of adding educational programs and other experiences at the zoo.

The EdVentures Campus, designed by Norfolk-based GARC architects, would go behind the zoos reptile building just east of the fountain plaza at the zoos entrance.

The proposed site plan for the Virginia Zoo expansion (Courtesy of City of Norfolk)

The two big pieces of the project are the EdVenture Pavilion and the Animal Exploration Pavilion. The EdVenture building will be two stories and feature indoor and outdoor classrooms, an exhibition hall and more.

The one-story Animal Pavilion will have rooms that allow visitors to interact with the animals and zookeepers, with access to outdoor habitats. These will feature animal ambassadors such as red pandas and sloths.

A rendering of the entrance to the EdVenture campus, crossing through the turtle oasis (Courtesy of City of Norfolk)

There will also be two small outdoor amphitheaters, an outdoor kitchen and areas highlighting the zoos turtle oasis.

Though the part that unsurprisingly caught the attention of city officials was that tree top trail. The elevated walkway will feature smaller animals like red pandas and connect three outdoor habitats to the Animal Pavilion.

The proposed expansion of the Virginia Zoo and the tree top trail (Courtesy of City of Norfolk and GARC architects)

GARC drew inspiration from the trails at Philadelphias Zoo360 and the Maryland Zoo, where animals (even those as big as tigers) get to roam around overhead.

The one big question: what about the animal poop? GARC says the Virginia Zoos looking to utilize diapers underneath parts of the trail to catch any droppings.

The proposed location of the tree top trail and examples from other zoos (Courtesy of City of Norfolk)

We had a lot of questions from [Norfolks Architectural Review Board]  about how you catch the poops, said a laughing Suping Li with GARC during a presentation on the project.

At this time, theres no estimated opening date or price tag for the project, and it still awaits city council approval. A zoo spokesperson said they expect to make an official announcement with more details about the funding campaign this summer.

The City of Norfolk has been putting million of dollars in funding toward maintenance/improvements at the zoo, including a commitment of $2 million in matching funding to support the zoos Exploration and Adventure Capital Campaign.

To maintain relevance and thrive as a community asset and wildlife conservation institution, the Virginia Zoo must be creative and thoughtful in its offering of educational programs, events, and new and engaging animal experiences, according to information about the campaign commitment in Norfolks proposed FY25 budget document. The campaign includes improved connectivity and technology  live animal webcams, 3D Zoo news, mobile apps, augmented reality, and immersive experiences with scientists and animals.

The citys commitment runs from FY2023 to FY2026, and $1 million has been appropriated so far.

Meanwhile $4.57 million in the citys FY25 proposed budget will go toward the zoos Africa Trail surfacing replacement, perimeter fencing repairs, the Africa Bongo House demolition and replacement and more.

Related: Norfolk FY25 budget: Renovations for Chrysler Hall, Scope; 2-cent real estate tax rate drop

The zoo just completed renovations of its Trail of the Tiger exhibit last summer. Other recent additions include a new electric train that started in August.

Related: Endangered ape born at the Virginia Zoo

Related: Virginia Zoos Dara the orangutan is pregnant

You can read more about the expansion project in city planning documents and watch the presentation to the planning commission here.

Outdoor inflatables park coming to Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Trent Staggs says America First Republicans will leave Ukraine, close border  that is, if they control Congress and White House

Senate candidate Trent Staggs speaks as he meets with the Deseret News and KSL editorial boards at Triad Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

U.S. Senate candidate Trent Staggs staked out an uncompromising America First position on border security, Ukraine aid and federal budgets, during an extended interview with the Deseret News on Wednesday.

The Riverton mayor, and former Salt Lake County mayoral candidate, called this the most important election ever. He said former President Donald Trump and his allies need to command the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2025 because we have very little runway left to pull back from this crisis that were in.

Staggs said without such a Republican trifecta, composed of America First constitutional conservatives like Sen. Mike Lee, were not going to be able to effectively create the change that I think the American people have been demanding.

What did Trent Staggs say about border and Ukraine?

Staggs echoed Trumps views on Ukraine and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Russian President Vladimir Putins war of aggression against Ukraine would come to a speedy diplomatic resolution under Trumps leadership, Staggs said. He did not elaborate on how that would be done.

In the meantime, Staggs continued, European countries should take their security into their own hands and U.S. lawmakers should address the security at their own border.

American sovereignty, American border security needs to be prioritized over that of Ukraine, Staggs said.

A small portion of the more than $100 billion allocated toward military and monetary assistance in Ukraine would have been enough to complete a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border, Staggs said.

That this hasnt already been done during President Joe Bidens time in office  in which a reported more than 7 million migrants have crossed the border  speaks to where the priorities have been, Staggs said.

As senator, Staggs would support banning welfare benefits to migrants who enter the country illegally, implementing E-verify nationally to confirm the migrant status of employees and returning to the Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy, which requires migrants seeking asylum to wait out their immigration proceedings on the other side of the border.

But his tough border position shouldnt be conflated with disfavor toward immigration, Staggs said. He also supports expediting the process by which qualifying individuals can become citizens of the United States.

Reward legality, and not illegality, or illegal behavior, Staggs said to summarize his views. Right now, the Biden administration is just supporting and rewarding the wrong thing.

Senate candidate Trent Staggs speaks as he meets with the Deseret News and KSL editorial boards at Triad Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

Should senators compromise?

There is no room to compromise on America First issues, such as the importance of securing the border and reining in a runaway national debt, Staggs said.

Im not going back to make friends, Im going to make change, Staggs said.

Staggs said responsible lawmakers have no choice but to reform the main drivers of national debt: entitlement programs. Benefits should remain untouched for those who have already paid into the systems, Staggs said, but Congress should consider the privatization of Social Security and site-neutral reimbursements for Medicare for future generations.

Fiscal sanity in the federal budget can only be restored if lawmakers return to the proper process, Staggs said. He repeated Lees criticisms of legislative leadership, or the Firm, which often negotiate massive annual spending packages behind closed doors with little input from most representatives.

Staggs acknowledges his policy wishlist is all but wishful thinking if Senate Republicans remain in, or House Republicans enter, the minority.

The reality is, unless we have the majority in D.C., were not going to get anything done, Staggs said.

But in Washington, D.C., the most important distinction isnt between Democrat and Republican, Staggs said, its between American and anti-American.

They want open borders. They want $34-plus trillion in debt. They want a regulatory state that is a stranglehold on our economy, Staggs said. And those are people with which I think you cannot compromise. We need to get back to the foundational principles of this country  what made us great.

Will Staggs strategy work?

As the first of 11 Republican candidates to enter the race to replace Sen. Mitt Romney  who he said was emblematic of the issue that we have in American politics  Staggs has labored to carve out a lane as the most Trump-aligned candidate.

He has sought and received the endorsement of several national figures that he says characterize the willingness to stand up and fight the establishment, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus; Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a close friend of Lee; and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake.

Despite the small-dollar donations associated with figures like Gaetz, Staggs strategy has left him trailing candidates like 3rd District Rep. John Curtis and former state House Speaker Brad Wilson in fundraising. However, it may pay off among state delegates ahead of the April 27 GOP convention.

Staggs came in first place in a straw poll conducted last month among 425 Washington County delegates. He won with nearly 32% of the vote, followed by Wilson with 23%, Curtis with 20% and political adviser Carolyn Phippen with 13%.

Unlike Curtis, Wilson, and most other candidates, including Moxie Pest Control CEO Jason Walton, Staggs has opted to place his primary hopes entirely in the party convention system instead of gathering signatures.

The Republican state convention will be held on April 27. Candidates who receive more than 40% of delegate votes, or who have gathered enough verified signatures, will appear on the primary ballot on June 25.

The GOP nominee who emerges from the primary will face off against the nominees from other registered political parties in the Nov. 5 general election.

Other Republican candidates, besides those already named, include certified public accountant Josh Randall, Bookroo founder Chandler Tanner, Brian Jenkins, Jeremy Friedbaum and Clark S. White.

The Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Utah include mountaineer Caroline Gleich, Archie Williams III and Laird Hamblin.
A view of a deforested area in the middle of the Amazon forest in the municipality of Uruara, Para, Brazil

By Jake Spring

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Tropical forest loss declined last year, but other indicators show that the world's woodlands remain under tremendous pressure, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the Global Forest Watch monitoring project.

Destruction of forests helps drive global climate change. Because trees absorb climate-warming carbon dioxide and store it as carbon in their wood, that greenhouse gas is released when the wood rots or burns. This destruction also imperils biodiversity because of how many plant and animal species call forests home.

Here are key takeaways from Global Forest Watch's annual forest loss data.

TROPICAL FORESTS FARED BETTER

The loss of primary forests - those untouched by people and sometimes known as old-growth forests - in the tropics declined 9% last year compared to 2022.

But Global Forest Watch researchers said the destruction remains stubbornly high. The world last year lost about 37,000 square kilometers (14,000 square miles) of tropical primary forest, an area nearly as big as Switzerland and larger than the U.S. state of Maryland.

Global Forest Watch is a project of the Washington-based nonprofit research organization World Resources Institute, using satellite imagery. Most of the data is compiled by University of Maryland researchers.

Declining forest loss in Brazil and Colombia was largely offset by greater losses elsewhere, Global Forest Watch director Mikaela Weisse told a press briefing.

"The world took two steps forward, two steps back," Weisse said.

Scientists consider tropical primary forests to be among the most precious as their lush vegetation is the most densely packed with carbon. These forests also are treasure troves of biodiversity. The Amazon rainforest, for instance, is home to at least 10% of Earth's known species.

Last year's tropical primary forest loss caused greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to half of U.S. emissions caused by the burning fossil of fuels annually, Weisse said.

Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia topped the ranking of tropical countries with the most primary forest loss. That is in spite of destruction in Brazil falling 36%, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pursued aggressive conservation policies, particularly regarding the Amazon, Weisse said.

Neighboring Colombia experienced a 49% drop in forest loss. President Gustavo Petro made environmental preservation a key part of the peace process with armed groups that dominate jungle areas, Weisse noted.

Forest destruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo remained relatively stable but high at around 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles).

In third place, Bolivia experienced record-high primary forest loss for the third year in a row, with destruction surging 27%. Agricultural production and fires drove most of the loss.

DEFORESTATION INCREASED

Deforestation globally rose 3.2% in 2023, according to the report.

Forest loss includes natural destruction such as wildfires, pests and windstorms of woodlands that may grow back. Deforestation refers to people permanently converting woodlands to other uses such as agriculture and is harder to measure.

More than 140 countries in 2021 committed to end deforestation by the end of the decade, a goal that requires huge declines in destruction each year, World Resources Institute forests director Rod Taylor said.

"We are far off track and trending in the wrong direction when it comes to reducing global deforestation," Taylor said.

Brazil, Indonesia and Bolivia led in deforestation, followed closely by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CANADA WILDFIRES OFF THE CHARTS

Tree cover loss increased 24% in all forests globally in 2022, mostly because of enormous wildfires in Canada.

Canada's forest loss of more than 80,000 square km (30,900 square miles) was three times higher than any year on record, offsetting a decline in forest loss in the rest of the world.

"That is one of the biggest anomalies on record," University of Maryland researcher Matt Hansen said.

While deforestation in the tropics is a human-caused driver of climate change, the fires in Canada are more of a symptom of global warming, which leads to the hotter, drier conditions that fuel bigger blazes.

"It's a big deal, and it's a cautionary tale for climate impacts to fire," Hansen said.

(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Will Dunham)
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A truck driver transporting Google merchandise was shot in the leg while driving on Lamar Avenue.

3 shot, 1 detained in Northaven shooting

At around 5 a.m. Thursday, the woman was transporting 12 pallets of Google merchandise at the intersection of Lamar and American Way. She heard what she thought was gunshots.

She continued driving when she heard another gunshot and realized she had been struck in the left leg.

The shot came from a black Toyota Camry that she believed had been following her, police say.

Service tech accused of stealing thousands from ATMs

MPD says the woman was taken to Regional One in non-critical condition. Her dog was taken to the animal shelter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Lawyers for several defendants in the Georgia criminal case against former President Donald Trump and others have been weighing whether to press for a gag order against Atlanta-area prosecutor Fani Willis, especially if efforts to disqualify her fail, sources familiar with the strategy discussions told CNN.

Willis has continued to speak publicly about the case, at times invoking race despite being rebuked by the presiding judge as the Fulton County district attorney juggles a reelection bid with prosecuting Trump and his 14 co-defendants. Some attorneys for high-profile defendants, though, are hesitant to try to silence her at this time.

A gag order against one of Trumps biggest foes could score political points and help him and his co-defendants in the short term. But it could also backfire by undercutting their efforts to have Willis disqualified from the case, or by inspiring efforts to seek a gag order against Trump and other defendants who have publicly criticized Willis.

The deliberations come as several defendants, including Trump, have also tried and failed to have the Georgia election subversion dismissed. On Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee upheld the criminal indictment, rejecting efforts to dismiss the case on free speech grounds.

Appearing at an awards event Friday, Willis appeared to reference the backlash shes faced for her public comments.

Recently, they tell me they dont like me to talk about race, Willis told a crowd at an awards event on Friday. Well, Im gonna talk about it anyway.

The district attorneys comments come after more than two months of drama in which she ultimately avoided being disqualified from the racketeering case. McAfee ruled last month that Willis could remain on the case only if Nathan Wade, a fellow prosecutor with whom she had a romantic relationship, stepped down. Wade promptly resigned.

But McAfee paired his ruling on the matter with a sharp rebuke of public comments Willis had made about the case.

Appearing before an Atlanta church congregation in January, Willis defended Wades reputation, remarking, Is it that some will never see a Black man as qualified  no matter his achievements?

Isnt it them playing the race card, Willis continued, when they constantly think I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job Ive been doing almost 30 years?

McAfee called Willis remarks at the January event legally improper, and said she effectively cast racial aspersions at a defendant who aimed to have Willis removed from the case. Then, McAfee appeared to suggest a gag order may be necessary.

The time may well have arrived for an order preventing the State from mentioning the case in any public forum to prevent prejudicial pretrial publicity, but that is not the motion presently before the Court, McAfee wrote.

As the presiding judge over the sprawling case, the decision to implement any gag is ultimately up to McAfee.

A spokesperson for the district attorney declined to comment.

Attorneys involved in the case took note of McAfees admonition of Willis, but sources said some of them are waiting to see whether the Georgia Court of Appeals will take up an appeal by Trump and others who are still aiming to get Willis disqualified from the case.

It has been tossed around, said one defense attorney involved in conversations about a gag order who believes it is premature to ask McAfee to intervene. Frankly as she continues to make outrageous public statements, she is digging herself further in a hole.

At another public event for Easter, Willis warned that efforts to remove her from the case havent slowed her work and the train is coming.

Those remarks drew a rebuke from Trumps attorney Steve Sadow, who posted on social media: Apparently Judge McAfees warning to Willis in his disqualification order about talking about the case in a public forum is simply being ignored. Does that surprise anyone??

Michael J. Moore, former US attorney for the Middle District of Georgia said some of her recent comments have been like a thumb in the eye, I thought, to the judge. But Moore added trying to shut down Willis ability to make public remarks before an appeals court weighs in on whether she should be disqualified could undercut those continuing efforts.

You wouldnt have wanted to already suggest an alternate remedy, Moore said, then the court of appeals can say since theyve gone back to court and given you a gag order, this is resolved.

Buddy Parker, the Georgia attorney representing Trump election attorney John Eastman in the case over efforts to overturn the 2020 election there, told CNN theres little value in wading into a spat over public comments on the case when a trial date hasnt been set. While Willis has been angling for an August trial date, the judge has yet to weigh in.

I dont know a reason to have a gag order right now, Parker told CNN. You have to be close to jury selection to have any impact.  If you have a trial in a year from now, you forget what she says anyway.

Willis reelection fight this year adds another wrinkle in the possible pursuit of a gag order. Shes bound by rules preventing Georgia prosecutors from making comments outside of court that could influence a jury. But she also needs to maintain a public presence if she hopes to be reelected.

I think that its very hard to say to a public official running for office that there is a gag order, said one attorney involved in the case. However, the rules of ethics regarding a prosecutor, which are enforceable, are quite clear as to what she can and cant say about a pending case. I dont think we need a gag order to say, Obey the law.

McAfee, in a somewhat unconventional move, also has made public comments about the case in the media, a point that the district attorneys office could use to argue against a potential gag order. McAfee is up for reelection this year, too.

Attempting to quiet the prosecutor may not prove worth the risk if defendants fear the judge could issue a blanket gag order forbidding both sides from discussing the case.

The former president already faces a gag order in his criminal hush money case thats headed to trial later this month in New York. And several other defendants in the Georgia case, including former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer, have offered commentary on the case and Willis on social media.

You certainly could have a situation where whats good for the goose is good for the gander, were just going to protect the jury from everybody, said Moore.

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Former President Donald Trump and his allies have ramped up pressure for Nebraska lawmakers to change the method the state divvies out electoral college votes, an effort that underscores just how narrow the race for 270 electoral votes could be in the November rematch with President Joe Biden.

The proposed change would move the state to a winner-take-all allocation system from the current system that splits electoral votes between statewide winners and winners of congressional districts. The proposal appeared to have little traction until a last minute push by prominent Republicans placed national attention on the change.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk kicked off the effort on Tuesday, sending a message on social media urging Nebraska Republicans to act. Hours later, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen voiced support for the change, after not making it a priority during his first 15 months in office.

Trump weighed in himself on Truth Social, saying that he too supported the change.

Governor Jim Pillen of Nebraska, a very smart and popular Governor, who has done some really great things, came out today with a very strong letter in support of returning Nebraskas Electoral Votes to a Winner-Take-All System, the former president wrote. Most Nebraskans have wanted to go back to this system for a very long time, because its what 48 other States do  Its what the Founders intended, and its right for Nebraska. Thank you Governor for your Bold leadership. Lets hope the Senate does the right thing. Nebraskans, respectfully ask your Senators to support this Great Bill!

The Nebraska law dividing the states electoral votes by congressional district has not been a subject of serious discussion during the legislative session this year and was not a priority of Pillen until Trumps allies began mounting a pressure campaign on Tuesday.

The sudden move, which caught Nebraska Republicans off guard, comes only two weeks before the state legislative session is scheduled to end April 18.

The speaker of the Legislature, Sen. John Arch, a Republican, seemed to close the door to acting on the matter this year.

In the Nebraska Unicameral, we have a process, Arch said in a statement Wednesday. It includes bill introduction, a committee hearing on every bill and the prioritization of the sessions agenda by the committees and individual members of the Legislature. LB 764 was not prioritized and remains in committee. Im not able to schedule a bill that is still in committee.

It remains an open question whether pressure  from the governor or the public  can change his view.

Lawmakers opened a spirited debate Wednesday evening in the State Capitol in Lincoln about whether they should formally consider the winner-take-all measure by attaching it to another piece of legislation, a procedural move that would open the door to a likely filibuster from critics.

When you realize you cant win with the current rules, you go back to the drawing board to change the rules so you can win? said Sen. Jen Day, a Democrat from Omaha.

While the legislature is technically non-partisan, the political lines became clear Wednesday night as the debate stretched on. Several lawmakers who rose in opposition to the proposal said there was nothing preventing Trump from winning the Omaha district, saying he has the same opportunity to make his case to voters as Biden does.

Come take the electoral vote from Omaha, said Sen. Megan Hunt, an independent from Omaha. Come and earn it.

Nebraska lawmakers rejected one attempt Wednesday night to attach the winner-take-all electoral vote measure to a broader government spending and policy bill.

Supporters said they would try again on Thursday to attach the Trump-backed proposal to another unrelated measure.

Nebraska and Maine are the only two states in the country that divide their electoral votes by congressional district  an unusual system that in 2020 allowed Biden to win one vote from Nebraska, a red state, and Trump to carry one from Maine, a blue state.

For all the last-minute bluster, its notoriously difficult to push legislation at the 11th hour in Nebraskas unicameral legislature, the nations only one-house body of government. A Democratic lawmaker told CNN that a filibuster would be mounted if Republicans pushed the electoral college bill.

Nebraskans want to keep our fair electoral system in place which is why previous attempts by some Republicans over the last 30 years have failed to undo our split electoral votes, said Nebraska Democratic chair Jane Kleeb on Wednesday. We are proud of our unique electoral vote system and know all too well the economic benefits it generates with a national focus on our state.

There are only two days left in the session for new bills to be introduced. The proposals sponsor, state Sen. Loren Lippincott, had previously suggested the necessary votes werent there for his proposal to pass.

In essence, for right now, its probably stalled in committee, Lippincolt told the Lincoln Journal Star on Tuesday. I dont like to report that, but thats the facts.

Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to repeal this law before. A current proposal has been stuck in committee since 2023, without sufficient votes for a full vote, and it was barely discussed this year until Trumps allies began pushing for the change this week.

For weeks, the Biden campaign has had its eye on Omaha and its one electoral vote.

For all the talk of Bidens blue wall of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, winning all three could still leave him short of 270 electoral votes. The 2020 census changed the map based on decreasing populations in Pennsylvania and Michigan, so one of Nebraskas three electoral votes could become critical should there be a 269-269 tie with Trump.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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Donald Trump gave a special shoutout during remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this week, saying he wanted to pay tribute to a person he very much respected.

Trump thanked Tom Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trumps administration and has since been a frequent commentator on Fox News.

He is some man, Trump said, adding: He has been so great on television. Hes been so respectful of the job that we did as an administration.

Homan was an early proponent of the administrations controversial zero tolerance policy, which resulted in at least 5,500 families being separated at the southern border in 2018 before Trump himself signed an executive order ending the practice after intense backlash from human rights groups. Homan now heads up Border911, a nonprofit group that warns of the supposed threat posed by undocumented immigrants.

On Thursday, the former president is set to see him again at a Mar-a-Lago gala hosted by Border911. According to a flyer promoting the event, the gathering will also include Matt Whitaker, who served as chief of staff at the Department of Justice when it implemented zero tolerance. Later, when Whitaker testified before Congress as acting attorney general, he conceded there was no plan to reunite families.

Trumps open-armed association with the group  and his intensifying focus on migrants and crime on the campaign trail  provide one of the clearest windows yet into a potential second term and the hard-liners he might appoint to the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration laws.

In campaign rallies and interviews with Newsmax and Fox News, Trump has said hed put Homan and others back into a potential second administration to have great border security.

According to the invitation, another expected attendee Thursday night is Rodney Scott, who served as Border Patrol chief during Trumps last year in office and has defended zero tolerance by arguing that it was effective in slowing down migration. As NBC News previously reported, Scott explored the idea of placing buoys in the Rio Grande to deter migrants years before Texas actually did it.

Trump has laid out an aggressive immigration platform for a second term: mass deportations; restoring all the border policies of his first term; deploying all necessary military assets, including the U.S. Navy, to impose a full naval embargo on drug cartels; ordering the Department of Defense to use special forces, cyberwarfare and other covert and overt actions to dismantle cartel leadership and infrastructure; designating the major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; and asking Congress to ensure drug smugglers and traffickers can receive the death penalty.

His campaign has also said Trump would sign an executive order on his first day in office to stop federal agencies from granting automatic U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal aliens and to stop birth tourism. Hed also prioritize blocking federal grants to so-called sanctuary cities.

One policy Trump has not promised is a return to zero tolerance or family separations. To date, hundreds  and possibly more than 1,000  families separated under zero tolerance remain separated, according to Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing the separated families in a class action lawsuit. The policy separated families who crossed the border together and federally prosecuted parents, while sending children to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Still, Trump has declined to take a clear stance on the issue. When asked whether hed reinstate the policy during a CNN town hall in May, he didnt answer directly.

When you have that policy, people dont come, he said. If a family hears that theyre going to be separated, they love their family, they dont come.

When pressed whether that meant he would reinstate the policy, Trump said: No. When you say to a family that if you come, were going to break you up, they dont come. And we cant afford to have any more.

During a separate interview with Univision in November 2023, Trump said: We did family separation. A lot of people didnt come. It stopped people from coming.

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Americans can expect that immediately upon President Trumps return to the Oval Office, he will restore all of his prior policies, implement brand new crackdowns that will send shockwaves to all the worlds criminal smugglers, and marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation in American history.

The Trump campaign did not offer clarification when asked specifically about whether the "zero tolerance" family separation policy would come back during a second term. The campaign also did not respond when asked about the Border911 event Thursday night at Mar-a-Lago. According to the invitation, individual tickets for the event range from $1,200 to $5,000. Tables of 10 are priced as high as $50,000.

The Border911 Foundation received its charitable tax exemption from the IRS last August. But IRS rules are very clear that charities cant endorse candidates, saying in its guidelines that charitable organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. If there are violations, the IRS can revoke a charitys status, according to the agencys website. At this point, its unclear how the organizers will introduce Trump at the event at Mar-a-Lago.

Questions about Border911s tax exemption were first reported by ABC News.

Neither Homan nor an attorney for Border911 could be reached for comment.

Polls show that voters consistently see Trump as doing a better job on border security than Biden. Still, the Biden campaign has been eager to point out what it sees as the inhumane immigration policies of the Trump administration.

As president, Donald Trump separated families, ripping mothers away from their children, said Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who is a co-chair of the Biden campaign. Now, hes campaigning with the architects of that same cruel and un-American family separation policy, leaving little doubt that he will bring it back if given the chance.

Immigrant advocates worry about what Trumps re-election would mean for undocumented immigrants not just at the border but in the nations interior cities  as well as DACA recipients. The program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals  DACA  protects from deportation undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Beatriz Lopez, deputy director of the Immigration Hub, an advocacy organization, said Thursdays event at Mar-a-Lago was a sign of things to come in a second Trump administration.

I take it very seriously when he says that immigrants are animals, she said. So that means hes going to treat them like animals, and that is a very, very concerning thought that we should all be seeing as a real threat to our democracy.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
In a court filing, the special counsel Jack Smith said that the judge in Donald Trumps criminal case over his retention of classified information was relying on a fundamentally flawed legal premise when asking lawyers to consider whether the former president can claim immunity under federal records law.

Smith also said that if the judge, Aileen Cannon, ruled Trump can indeed cite the Presidential Records Act (PRA) in his defence, he would appeal to a higher court, seeking an order for her to apply the law correctly and, implicitly, her removal from the case.

It all raised the possibility of the trial being pushed back even further, beyond the November election in which Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.

Trump faces 40 charges arising from his retention of classified information after leaving the White House and alleged obstruction of attempts to recover such records. He has pleaded not guilty.

Cannon, a Trump appointee who has moved slowly on the case, recently asked lawyers to consider two scenarios in which jurors might be told Trump can, as his lawyers claim, invoke the PRA in his defence.

Smiths late-Tuesday filing said: Both scenarios rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise  namely, that the PRA, and in particular its distinction between personal and presidential records, determines whether a former president is authorized under the Espionage Act [Section 793] to possess highly classified documents and store them in an un-secure facility, despite contrary rules in executive order 13526, which governs the possession and storage of classified information.

That legal premise is wrong, and a jury instruction for Section 793 that reflects that premise would distort the trial. The PRAs distinction between personal and presidential records has no bearing on whether a former presidents possession of documents containing national defense information is authorised under the Espionage Act, and the PRA should play no role in the jury instructions on the elements of Section 793. Indeed, based on the current record, the PRA should not play any role at trial at all.

In their own filing, lawyers for Trump restated their case, saying: Based on the PRA, it is simply not the case  as a matter of law  that President Trump was unauthorised to possess the documents in question under Section 793 of the Espionage Act.

The Florida-based classified information trial is not Trumps only source of legal jeopardy.

Quite apart from civil tax fraud and defamation cases in which he has struggled to pay multimillion-dollar bonds, Trump faces 48 other criminal charges: 34 over hush-money payments in New York, 10 in Georgia over election subversion, and four federal election subversion charges also brought by Smith.

In each case Trumps lawyers have pursued delaying tactics, seeking to put off trials until after the election or avoid them altogether.

In the New York case, trial is due to begin on 15 April.

If re-elected president, Trump could have the federal charges dismissed or award himself a pardon. He could not have the state charges dismissed or pardoned.

Smiths filing also said that if Cannon does decide Trump can cite the PRA in his defence, Smith would be empowered in his appeal to a higher court to seek a writ of mandamus.

The Legal Information Institute at Cornell University defines mandamus as an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.

According to the US Department of Justice, Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, which should only be used in exceptional circumstances of peculiar emergency or public importance.

In effect, the former White House counsel John W Dean noted, Smith had shown readiness to remove Cannon if she gets this wrong.

Writing for CNN, the former White House ethics chief Norm Eisen and two co-authors agreed with Dean.

If Cannon clings to even a few of these wrong decisions, the piece said, Smith would be entitled to seek the review he threatens by the circuit and her removal.

Ejecting her from the case would be extremely unusual and Smith does not mention seeking it in his papers. But neither does he rule it out, and Cannons reasoning  is lawless enough that, unless she reverses course, he may have no other choice.
The $175 million bond in former President Trumps civil fraud trial is at risk after the New York attorney generals office questioned the qualifications of the California-based company that posted it.

State lawyers wrote in a brief court notice Thursday that they take exception to the sufficiency of the surety, secured from Knight Specialty Insurance Company.

The notice requires Trump or the insurance company to demonstrate that the company is financially capable of paying the bond amount if Trump loses on appeal and that the bond is appropriately collateralized.

Defendants or (Knight) shall file a motion to justify the surety within ten days of the service of this notice, failing which the Bond shall be without effect, except that the surety shall remain liable on the Bond until a new undertaking is given and allowed, state lawyers wrote in the filings.

Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the fraud trial, ruled earlier this year that Trump, his business and top executives conspired to alter Trumps net worth for tax and insurance benefits. He ordered them to pay $464 million, plus interest, in addition to several other penalties.

Trump was ordered to post a $175 million bond in the case after he told a New York appeals court that it would be impossible to secure a bond in the full amount of Engorons judgment, namely because sureties refused to accept his real estate as collateral.

The bond, from the Knight Specialty Insurance Company, automatically bars New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) from collecting the multimillion-dollar judgment against Trump and pauses other penalties.

Engoron scheduled a hearing for April 22 to discuss the matter  which is expected to be one week into Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan.

The New York attorney generals office separately asked Engoron on Thursday to direct the independent monitor he appointed to oversee the Trump Organizations business dealings  one of the penalties he imposed  to investigate whether the defense withheld relevant and responsive information during the trial.

The issue came to state lawyers attention after ex-Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty last month to perjury charges linked to the fraud trial.

As part of his plea deal, Weisselberg conceded that he lied during depositions ahead of the trial and during his trial testimony.

Cited in evidence for the deal was an email exchange between Weisselberg and a Trump Organization employee where the correct size of the former presidents Trump Tower triplex  a key piece of evidence at trial  was confirmed to the ex-CFO. State lawyer Kevin Wallace purported that exchange was never turned over by the defense.

Wallace asked the judge to task the monitor with determining whether the defense had the exchange in its possession, whether it was turned over to the state during discovery, and if it was not, why. He asked the judge to give the monitor two weeks to investigate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A legal panel made a preliminary determination that former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark violated rules of professional conduct and should be professionally disciplined after a hearing on his efforts to overturn the 2020 election on Thursday.

In the waning days before Jan. 6, 2021, Clark, then serving as acting assistant attorney general for the civil division at DOJ, sought to be appointed as acting attorney general in order to carry out former President Donald Trumps orders to open investigations into false claims of voter fraud.

The recommendation of professional discipline followed multiple days of testimony about Clarks efforts on behalf of Trump to overturn the 2020 election before a three-member committee of the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility, which oversees ethics cases for lawyers barred in the city.

The committees ruling is a preliminary finding that Clark violated at least one ethics rule for lawyers barred in the District. The next step in the disciplinary process is the issuance of a sanction letter proposing punishment. The full D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, as well as a D.C. appeals court, must then approve that letter for the punishment to be finalized.

Clark could face disbarment or the suspension of his legal license. The investigators prosecuting the case against him have advocated for his disbarment.

This isnt the only legal trouble Clark faces for his role in Jan. 6. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted him on RICO charges for allegedly engaging in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in September 2023.

Related...
The Indian Navy announced on Thursday that it has delivered nine pirates to the Mumbai Police, following their capture in an operation off the coast of Somalia last week. Indian naval vessels INS Trishul and INS Sumedha conducted a significant operation on March 29 in the high seas, resulting in the successful rescue of the fishing vessel Al Kambar and its crew of 23 Pakistani nationals.

According to the Navy, all nine pirates involved in the act of piracy were detained during this operation. "INS Trishul arrived in Mumbai on April 3 and handed over all nine pirates to the local police for further legal proceedings in accordance with Indian laws, particularly the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act of 2022," stated Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal.

The Navy reiterated its commitment to protecting merchant shipping and sailors navigating the Indian Ocean Region, regardless of their nationality.

Following the successful rescue of the fishing vessel Al Kambar and its Pakistani crew members by Indian warships INS Trishul and INS Sumedha, the Indian Navy has taken decisive action against piracy in the Indian Ocean Region. Handing over the captured pirates to the Mumbai Police marks a significant step in upholding maritime security and enforcing anti-piracy measures.

The operation, conducted on March 29, underscores the Indian Navy's commitment to safeguarding merchant shipping and seafarers navigating through these vital maritime routes. With piracy posing a persistent threat to maritime trade and safety, such actions serve as a deterrent and reinforce the rule of law on the high seas.

As legal proceedings against the pirates commence under the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act of 2022, the collaboration between the Indian Navy and law enforcement agencies demonstrates a coordinated effort to combat maritime crime. This operation not only ensures justice for the victims of piracy but also sends a clear message that unlawful acts at sea will not be tolerated.

The transfer of the pirates to the Mumbai Police for further legal action highlights the importance of international cooperation in addressing maritime challenges. By working together, nations can effectively counter piracy and uphold the principles of freedom of navigation and safe passage in the Indian Ocean Region.

Indian Navy Rescues Pakistani Crew, Apprehends Pirates: A Victory for Maritime Security

Navy's Chief Visits Eastern Naval Command, What's on Agenda?
Yahoo News' succinct daily update on the criminal and civil cases against the 45th president of the United States.

Judge Juan Merchan blocks an attempt by former President Donald Trump to force NBCUniversal to hand over information about the release of its recent documentary about adult film star Stormy Daniels. The ruling comes two days after Merchan refused to delay the April 15 start of the hush money trial in which Trump is accused of breaking state tax and campaign finance laws by paying off Daniels to hide an alleged extramarital affair. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

New York hush money

Key players: Judge Juan Merchan, adult film star Stormy Daniels, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

On Friday, Merchan blocked a subpoena Trumps lawyers had issued to NBCUniversal for information on the timing of the release of Stormy, a documentary about Daniels, who is a star witness in Braggs case against the former president, Reuters reported.

Trumps lawyers issued their subpoena one week before the trial was initially scheduled to start, a point that Merchan noted in his ruling.

"His subpoena and the demands therein are the very definition of a fishing expedition," the judge wrote.

Defending the subpoena, Trumps lawyers said that the documents it would force NBCUniversal to hand over would "establish collusion between Daniels and the company about the March 18 release date of the film.

Lawyers for NBCUniversal said that Daniels had no input or approval of the content of the documentary or its release date.

Merchan called the assertion by Trumps lawyers purely speculative.

"The Court has considered Defendant's explanation for seeking this court's permission to rifle through the privileged documents of a news organization and finds that he has not shouldered the very heavy burden necessary to overcome NY civil rights law," the judge added.

Why it matters: Trump has worked diligently to have the charges against him dropped and to delay the start of the trial. Merchans latest ruling shows that the judge has grown impatient with those efforts.

Recommended reading

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Thursday, April 4

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Judge Aileen Cannon denies former President Donald Trumps motion to have criminal charges dropped in the classified documents case on the grounds that the Presidential Records Act (PRA) permitted him to keep them in his home after leaving the White House. In the Georgia election interference case, meanwhile, Judge Scott McAfee rejects a motion brought by Trump that sought to have all the charges dropped on the grounds that the First Amendment protects political speech. In his ruling, the judge makes clear that political speech can be prosecuted if it is used to further criminal activity. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee for 2024.

Classified documents

Judge refuses to dismiss classified documents charges against Trump

Key players: Judge Aileen Cannon, special counsel Jack Smith

On Thursday, Cannon rejected a motion by Trump to have the charges against him in the classified documents case dropped on the grounds that the PRA grants former presidents the right to retain such materials even after leaving the White House, ABC News reported.

In her ruling, Cannon, a Trump appointee, wrote that the Presidential Records Act does not provide a pre-trial basis to dismiss.

Cannons wording leaves open the possibility that the judge could dismiss the felony charges against Trump during the trial.

She also took a swipe at Smith, who on Wednesday asked Cannon to drop her fundamentally flawed request for jury instructions that suggested she was sympathetic to Trumps arguments about the protections guaranteed by the PRA.

Smith had made clear that if Cannon did not reverse herself on the jury instructions, he was prepared to take the issue to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which could force her to change course.

In Thursdays ruling, Smith described her jury instructions as a genuine attempt, in the context of the upcoming trial, to better understand the parties competing positions and the questions to be submitted to the jury in this complex case of first impression.

Cannon added that any party remains free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke, as permitted by law.

Why it matters: While Cannon has rejected two motions from Trump to dismiss all of the charges against him, her rulings have also given the former president reason to hope that she will ultimately side with him if and when the case goes to trial.

Georgia election interference

Judge denies Trump motion to dismiss all charges

Key players: Judge Scott McAfee, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump lawyer Steve Sadow

On Thursday, McAfee rejected a motion by Trumps lawyers to dismiss all charges in the Georgia election interference case on the grounds that his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election are protected by the First Amendment, the Associated Press reported.

Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity, McAfee wrote.

In their motion, Trumps lawyers had argued that the core political speech and expressive conduct alleged in this indictment against President Trump are protected from government regulation and thus criminal prosecution by the State.

Willis charged Trump with 13 felony counts, including a violation of state racketeering laws, stemming from the plot to overturn Joe Bidens victory in the state in 2020. McAfee has since dismissed three of the counts, saying they lacked specificity.

Responding to McAfees ruling on Thursday, Sadow said he and his client respectfully disagree with Judge McAfees order and will continue to evaluate their options regarding the First Amendment challenges.

Why it matters: Trumps long-shot bid to have the charges dismissed in Georgia is just his latest attempt to derail the four criminal trials he faces. While McAfee did not buy the arguments by Trumps lawyers that the First Amendment prevents him from being prosecuted for his actions to reverse the election results, he did allow that they could raise such arguments during the trial.

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Wednesday, April 3

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Judge Juan Merchan denies a motion by Donald Trump that sought to delay the April 15 start of the hush money trial until after the United States Supreme Court ruled on whether presidential immunity protects him from prosecution. In the classified documents case, meanwhile, prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smiths team ask Judge Aileen Cannon to reverse herself on her proposed instructions to jurors in Trumps as-yet-to-be-scheduled trial. If she does not, they tell Cannon that they could seek a writ of mandamus to force her to do so. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024.

New York hush money

Judge denies Trump motion to delay start of trial

Key players: Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, adult film star Stormy Daniels, United States Supreme Court

Merchan denied a last-ditch motion by Trumps lawyers that sought to delay the start of the hush money trial by 90 days or dismiss the charges outright on the grounds that the United States Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether presidential immunity protects Trump from prosecution, USA Today reported.

In his ruling, Merchan stated that Trump had waited too long to pursue the presidential immunity claim in the hush money case.

This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024. After all, Defendant had already briefed the same issue in federal court and he was in possession of, and aware that, the People intended to offer the relevant evidence at trial that entire time. The circumstances, viewed as a whole, test this Courts credulity, Merchan wrote.

Some of the evidence that will be used in Braggs case against Trump was gathered when Trump was president and his lawyers argue that it should not be permissible in court.

The trial on charges that Trump broke New York state tax and campaign finance laws when he paid Daniels $130,000 to hide an alleged extramarital affair from voters in the 2016 election begins on April 15.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 25 on whether presidential immunity protects Trump from being prosecuted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Why it matters: With Mondays ruling expanding Trumps gag order and Wednesdays rejection of Trumps request for a delay, Merchan has signaled that he has lost patience with the former presidents tactics in the case.

Classified documents

Smith asks Cannon to drop flawed jury instructions or face appeal

Key players: Special counsel Jack Smith, Judge Aileen Cannon

Late Tuesday, Smith issued a stern rebuke of Cannons fundamentally flawed legal premise when she asked lawyers in the case for potential jury instructions that appeared to side with Trumps argument that the Presidential Records Act (PRA) justified his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, the Associated Press reported.

If the Court wrongly concludes that it does, and that it intends to include the PRA in the jury instructions regarding what is authorized  it must inform the parties of that decision well in advance of the trial, prosecutors wrote.

Smith, who has charged Trump with violating the Espionage Act, argues in the filing that the PRA does not apply in this case since the crimes Trump is accused of committing took place after he was president.

Trumps lawyers have countered that the PRA allows a president to distinguish certain documents as personal records even after leaving the White House and that Trump never knowingly retained classified documents that did not fall under that category.

Smiths filing also warns Cannon that if she does not retract her request for jury instructions regarding the PRA, prosecutors are prepared to obtain a writ of mandamus to force her to do so.

A writ of mandamus, according to the Justice Department, can be used to require a lower court to enforce the judgment of an appellate court. In this case, Smith would ask the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to issue one should Cannon, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump, not reverse course.

The 11th Circuit has already overruled Cannons moves in the case so far.

Why it matters: While Smith has not gone so far as to seek to remove Cannon from the documents case, Tuesdays filing is the clearest sign yet that he sees her as an obstacle to the prospect of obtaining a fair trial for the former president.

_________________

Tuesday, April 2

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Knight Specialty Insurance loans former President Donald Trump $175 million to cover the bond required to prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing his assets while he appeals the $454 million judgment in his financial fraud trial. The company is owned by billionaire Don Hankey, a Trump voter who has made his fortune offering high-interest, subprime car loans to people with bad credit. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

New York financial fraud

Knight Specialty Insurance pays Trumps $175 million fraud trial bond

Key players: Knight Specialty Insurance CEO Don Hankey, Judge Arthur Engoron, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Trump attorney Alina Habba

On Monday, the Knight Specialty Insurance Co. loaned Trump $175 million to cover his bond in the civil financial fraud trial, Bloomberg reported. The company is owned by Hankey, who said he approached Trump about the loan.

This is what we do at Knight Insurance, and were happy to do this for anyone who needs a bond, Hankey told the Associated Press .

Last month, a New York appeals court judge lowered the bond amount from $464 million (110% of Egoron's judgment) to $175 million after Trumps lawyers said they had been turned down by 30 lenders to secure the higher amount.

Yes, I voted for him in the past, but this is a business deal and this is what we do, Hankey said of the loan, which, he added, Trump secured using cash as collateral.

By posting the $175 million bond, Trump prevents James from seizing his assets while he appeals Engorons judgment.

The New York state Appellate Division has said it would hear arguments in September.

If Trump wins on appeal, he will get the bond amount back. If he loses, he will immediately owe the rest of the original judgment plus the interest accrued since the date of the Engorons original ruling.

Why it matters: While Trump indicated during the financial fraud trial that he had nearly half a billion in cash reserves, he told the appeals court judge that he wanted to keep that free to use for the 2024 presidential campaign. Having secured a loan from Hankeys company, he is now free, at least for the meantime, to spend it on that.

_________________

Monday, April 1

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Following several attacks on his daughter by former President Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan expands his gag order in the hush money trial to include family members. Hope Hicks, who served as Trumps press secretary and communications director in the 2016 campaign, is expected to be called as a witness in the New York hush money trial that begins on April 15, a source tells MSNBC. Since leaving her post as a top White House adviser in 2018, Hicks has testified before the New York grand jury investigating Trumps payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, as well as before the House Jan. 6 select committee. Here are the latest legal developments facing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024.

New York hush money

Judge expands gag order

Key players: Judge Juan Merchan, Democratic political consultant Loren Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

On Monday, the New York judge in the hush money trial set to begin on April 15 expanded the gag order he placed on Trump meant to prevent him from attacking potential witnesses, jury members, and court staff so that it now includes family members of that group, the Associated Press reported.

This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose, Merchan wrote in his order. It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings that not only they, but their family members as well, are fair game, for Defendant's vitriol."

On Truth Social, Trump's social media platform, the former president had targeted the judge's daughter, Loren Merchan, falsely accusing her of posting a photo of Trump behind bars and claiming that she makes money by working to Get Trump.

Earlier in the day, Bragg had asked the judge to expand the gag order, saying Trump's "dangerous, violent, and reprehensible rhetoric fundamentally threatens the integrity of these proceedings."

Why it matters: Merchan has shown little hesitation to rule against Trump in the case so far, and Trump has seemed intent on pushing the judge's limits. If that continues and Trump defies the judge's orders, he could face the prospect of jail time.

Source: Hope Hicks to testify in hush money case

Key players: Former communications director and press secretary for Trumps 2016 presidential campaign Hope Hicks, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, adult film star Stormy Daniels, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, former American Media CEO David Pecker, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Bragg will call Hicks as a prosecution witness in the hush money trial that begins on April 15, a source told MSNBC .

Last year, Hicks testified before the New York grand jury that voted to indict Trump on charges that he broke campaign finance and tax laws when he paid Daniels in 2016 to hide an alleged extramarital affair.

Cohen alleges that Hicks was part of a phone call that took place on Oct. 8, 2016, during which Daniels told Trump she was going to share her story of the affair with the National Enquirer.

Hicks, according to Cohen, was also on a call during which a deal was reached for Trump to pay Daniels $130,000 for her silence.

Hicks went on to become a top White House adviser to Trump following his victory in the 2016 election, but stepped down in 2018.

Hicks also testified before the House Jan. 6 select committee that she told Trump that there wasnt evidence to support his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Prosecutors say Pecker met Trump in 2015 and set up a catch or kill arrangement by which the National Enquirer would pay McDougal for her story about an alleged extramarital affair with Trump only to keep it from ever being published.

Pecker and McDougal are also both expected to be called as witnesses during the trial.

Why it matters: While Hicks was long a trusted member of Trumps inner circle, she has cooperated with those who have investigated the former presidents conduct. If Bragg does call her to the witness stand, it will be because he believes she will bolster his case.
Trump recently spoke to his old 'friend,' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the NYT reports

Former President Donald Trump (left) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right). Joe Raedle via Getty Images; Sergei Savostyanov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump recently spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, per the NYT.

Trump once called the Saudi ruler "a friend of mine" whom he'd protected from congressional scrutiny.

MBS was heavily criticized in 2018 after an American journalist was killed in a Saudi Consulate.

Former President Donald Trump recently spoke to his old "friend" and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

This was the first publicly disclosed conversation since Trump left the White House, The Times reported, citing two individuals familiar with the discussion.

It is unclear what the pair had discussed or whether this was their only conversation since Trump's presidency ended in 2021, per The Times. Representatives for Trump and the Saudi government did not respond to The Times' requests for comment.

That Trump has carried on his relationship with the Saudi ruler isn't too surprising. When Trump was in office, Saudi Arabia was the first foreign country he chose to visit.

Trump's relationship with the Saudis goes far beyond the political  it extends into his financial interests as well.

In November 2022, a Saudi real estate developer said it inked a deal with the Trump Organization to use the Trump brand for their $4 billion real estate development in Oman, per Reuters.

Trump's son-in-law and former top aide, Jared Kushner, aide received a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia into his investment fund after leaving the White House.

While in office, Trump called the Saudi ruler "a friend of mine" and lauded him as someone "who has really done things in the last 5 years in terms of opening of Saudi Arabia."

Trump also claimed that he'd protected the Saudi Crown Prince from congressional scrutiny following the brutal murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

"I saved his ass," Trump reportedly told journalist Bob Woodward in 2020. "I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop."

Representatives for Trump and the Saudi foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Since President Trump left office in 2021, his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida has become a regular staging ground for fundraising events supporting Republican candidates and causes.

This week, attendees shelled out up to $100,000 to support an organization aligned with the issue that appears to be the most animating for Republican voters: immigration and the border.

Trump appeared at a fundraiser Thursday at Mar-a-Lago for the Border911 foundation. The nonprofit was founded last year by Thomas Homan, a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who helped implement and oversee the former president's controversial "family separation policy" and remains a steadfast Trump supporter.

"We have to be very careful. We have to straighten out the border. We're going to close the border. We're going to let people into our country, but they have to come in legally," Trump said, according to social media videos from the event.

The policy led to the separation of about 5,000 children from adult family members who were detained for criminal prosecution under the Trump-era zero tolerance policy. A federal judge eventually blocked the separations, and some children have still not been reunited with their families.

Thomas Homan, then the acting director of ICE, speaks at a tense community forum on immigration enforcement in Sacramento in 2017. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Recent polling in battleground states shows Trump leading, and immigration appears to be part of the reason why.

Republicans see opportunity in President Biden's unpopularity among voters over the border issue. Though Trump has been circumspect on whether he'd re-institute family separation, he spoke at a rally in Wisconsin this week about crimes allegedly committed by migrants, saying there had been "an invasion of our country.

In a written statement, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said "the millions of illegals Biden has resettled across America should not get comfortable because very soon they will be going home.

"Immediately upon President Trump's return to the Oval Office, he will restore all of his prior policies, implement brand new crackdowns that will send shockwaves to all the worlds criminal smugglers, and marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation in American history," Leavitt said.

Immigration advocates and Biden supporters slammed Trump's appearance alongside figures such as Homan, who they say presided over a uniquely cruel policy.

"They don't talk about family separation but with this event, he's saying it out loud, that he is for this type of cruelty," said Beatriz Lopez, deputy director of the advocacy group Immigration Hub. "He will round up and deport people who are here and have been contributing to this country.... He will restore all the cruel policies of the past that most voters soundly rejected."

They also bashed the presumptive Republican nominee's views and rhetoric on the subject, saying they stoke fear among Americans and divide the country.

"Trump demonizes immigrants, calling them animals and saying they are poisoning the blood of the nation,'" Biden campaign co-chair Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said in a statement. "He isnt interested in real solutions to fix our broken immigration system  hes focused on turning people against one another and stirring up hate because he believes it will help him politically."

According to his campaign, Trump wants to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants who lack legal status and limit those children's access to passports and Social Security numbers. He also wants to issue an executive order dictating that children born in this country must have one parent who is an American citizen in order for them to also to become a citizen.

Homan and Border911 representatives didn't respond to requests for comment. But their goal "is to educate Americans on the facts of border security and when America votes for our leadership, they will understand the devastation, the facts, the causes, and results, so they can make an informed decision," according to the group's website. Trump has stated repeatedly he'd like to find a job for Homan in his administration if he wins in November.

ABC News reported last month that the goal of the event would be to raise money to mount a tour of battleground states in advance of the November election.

Tickets for the event started at $1,200 and went up to $100,000. "VIP Tickets" include a "photo op with Border911 team and special guests," according to the group's website, which said the event was sold out.

Homan hosted a fundraiser in 2023 at Mar-a-Lago for an organization supporting people who had been arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He spent most of his career in border enforcement and the Atlantic magazine described him as the "father" of the family separation policy. As of summer last year, researchers found that about 1,000 children still had not been reunited with their parents or family.

Homan, who campaigned with Trump during the primary, has defended the policy, saying it deterred people from coming across the border.

Im sick and tired hearing about the family separation, the Hill newspaper reported Homan as saying last year at a conservative political event. You know, Im still being sued over that, so come get me. ... Bottom line is, we enforced the law.

When I was a cop in New York and I arrested a father for domestic violence, or someone for [driving under the influence], I separated that family, he added later. When you violate the law with a child, youre going to be separated.

Read more: Arizona and Nevada make up 3% of the U.S. population  and are vital to picking a president

In December, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw approved a settlement between the American Civil Liberties Union and the federal government blocking for eight years the federal government from separating families for purposes of stymieing immigration. The same judge in 2018 had ordered an end to separations and demanded that children be reunited with their families.

The practice was brutal, offensive and fails to comply with traditional notions of fair play and decency, Sabraw wrote.

The federal government is still allowed to separate children but in very limited cases  such as if a parent poses a threat to kids or if the parent is convicted of serious crimes. The Times reported in December that families had been separated last year  long after Trump had left office  while being processed at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego. This had more to do with the volume of people appearing at the border rather than a zero-tolerance policy, officials said.

Immigration advocates are not comforted by restrictions on blanket policies that would block the separation of children from their parents. Todd Schulte, president of the group FWD.us, said Trump's repeated disregard for the rule of law and stated desire to reduce the number of people coming across the border and deport individuals without legal status are cause for concern.

"That [ACLU] settlement is key, and it's important. It's absolutely the law," Schulte told The Times. "But there are so many horrible things that President Trump and his team have promised to do. There's every reason to ask, would they do this again?"

Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox three times per week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump recently spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two people briefed on the discussion.

The newspaper reported that it was unclear what Trump and the prince, known as MBS, discussed and whether this was their first conversation since Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, left office.

Due to a cracked rib, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan postponed plans to travel to Saudi Arabia this week to meet with the crown prince, who is considered the de facto Saudi leader.

Sullivan had been due to hold talks with the prince amid a U.S. push for progress toward normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia was Trump's first foreign trip when he took office in 2017.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Former President Trump shared articles critical of Judge Juan Merchan and his family on Wednesday, appearing to test the bounds of the gag order placed on Trump in his New York hush money case.

Merchan expanded the gag order Monday to prevent Trump from discussing his family, after the former president made comments critical of Merchans daughter, Loren. Trump was already barred from speaking about court employees and witnesses in the case.

It is the third such gag order Trump has faced in his mounting legal battles.

Trump shared three articles from conservative news sites Wednesday in a string of Truth Social posts that included similar attacks on Merchans family, accusing the judge of political bias against the former president.

Two of the articles are by conservative activist Laura Loomer, who claimed Merchan was biased because of his wife and daughters legal work with organizations connected to Democratic politics.

A third article, by conservative commentator Gregg Jarrett, made less salacious claims against Merchans family but derided his decision to place and expand the gag order, arguing the judge harbors a contempt for the rule of law that is sadly typical these days of liberal jurists.

Trump did not add comment to the stories, only sharing the links in Truth Social posts. It is unclear if the posts violate the judges order, because Trump did not make the statements himself.

The former president has been outspoken and critical of the gag order, calling on Merchan to recuse himself from the case and for his charges to be thrown out.

I just was informed that another corrupt New York Judge, Juan Merchan, GAGGED me so that I can not talk about the corruption and conflicts taking place in his courtroom with respect to a case that everyone, including the D.A., felt should never have been brought, he wrote Tuesday in a Truth Social post. They can talk about me, but I cant talk about them???

Trump is facing 34 felony counts over claims that he falsified business records in attempts to cover up hush money payments made to hide an alleged affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels during the closing weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The case goes to trial April 15, poised to be the first time a former U.S. president stands trial on criminal charges.

The Hill has reached out to the Manhattan district attorneys office and Trumps legal team for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Bidens campaign team slammed Donald Trump for his open embrace of violence with a supercut video reminding voters of just how explicit the former president has been over the years.

The minute-long video from Bidens campaign team shows Trump calling for violence against protesters at his rallies, calling white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, very fine people, and telling the neo-fascist Proud Boys to stand back and stand by.

The supercut also shows him urging supporters to fight like hell on Jan. 6, 2021, just before some of those in the crowd near the White House marched to the U.S. Capitol to attack Congress at it met to certify the electoral vote that gave the presidency to Joe Biden:

Here is a montage of Donald Trump promoting violence over and over pic.twitter.com/X2Bpv8yHFE  Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 4, 2024

One of the four criminal cases against Trump is centered on his role in the events of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In his personal account, Biden also accused Trump of hypocrisy for holding events for law enforcement and claiming to back the blue while also embracing those who attacked police in the U.S. Capitol riot.

The president tweeted:

Dont tell me you support law enforcement if you cant condemn what happened on January 6.



You cant be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection.  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2024
In response to growing scrutiny over its apparent disparate treatment of political arrests in India and Pakistan, the US Department of State offered clarifications today, emphasizing the importance of consistent adherence to the rule of law and human rights.

Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US State Department, addressed accusations of bias in their response to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal compared to their silence on similar cases in Pakistan. Journalists had raised questions regarding the department's vocal stance on Kejriwal's arrest while remaining conspicuously quiet on the detention of opposition leaders in Pakistan.

Miller asserted that the State Department's position is rooted in the fundamental principles of fairness and equality before the law. He reiterated that every individual, regardless of nationality or political affiliation, deserves to be treated with respect for their rights and dignity.

The clarification comes amid growing concerns over perceived inconsistencies in US foreign policy regarding human rights issues. Critics have pointed out what they perceive as a selective approach by the State Department, highlighting instances where it appears to prioritize certain cases over others based on geopolitical considerations.

While the statement may alleviate some of the criticism, questions regarding the US government's approach to human rights advocacy in different regions continue to linger, underscoring the complexities of navigating diplomatic relations amidst competing interests and values.

Tihar Jail States Kejriwal's Weight Remains Unchanged at 65 kg Since Arrival; Atishi Responds

Kejriwal's Health Deteriorates in Jail, AAP Raises Concerns Against BJP

Delhi High Court to Hear Arvind Kejriwal's Plea Against ED Custody Today
Tuck some ID on you when you go to the polls, just in case

Voters probably will not need it at a polling station in New Jersey, but bringing along something that verifies who you are cant hurt. And there are more ID options than just a driver's license.

Polling station identification rules vary by state, but all states must follow identification-related provisions in a federal law known as the Help America Vote Act.

Some good news is that there is some flex as to what identification is acceptable, beyond a photo drivers license. Acceptable alternate identifications can be issued by the military or other government agency; by schools to students; by employers to employees; or even by stores to customers.

The door also is open to current documents that have your name and address on them. For example, this category includes a bank statement; paycheck; car registration; rent receipt; government check or document; sample ballot; a non-photo drivers license; and utility bills.

Jan. 1, 2003 is an important date in voter identification rules, the League of Women Voters points out.

Democrat vs republican poll, democratic decision and primary voting conceptual idea with Vote election campaign button badges and the united states of america flag

If you registered to vote by mail in your county after that date, and never voted in a federal election, you must provide the county commissioner of registration with identification.

If you registered before that date, you are not required to show identification to register.

If you did not provide identification to the commissioner, or if your information could not be verified  that is, your drivers license number or your Social Security numbers last four digits could not be confirmed  you must show an ID at the polls. That is a requirement under the federal law, which also lists acceptable forms of identification.

State law says that any voter may be challenged at the polling place by a challenger, and the voter then may have to show identification to poll workers.

A National Conference of State Legislatures report on voter identification laws records 36 state requesting or requiring voters show some form of identification at polls.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia use other verification methods, most often checking information a voter provides at the poll with information in an official database such as a signature.

Some links with further New Jersey-specific identification information include the following.

https://www.vote411.org/node/7643.

https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/vote-faq.shtml.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

Have a tip? Reach out at jsmith@thedailyjournal.com. Support local journalism with a subscription.

.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: State, federal laws combine to set voter identification rules
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)  Seven people were involved in a crash into an Algiers home on Wednesday, April 3.

Officials with the New Orleans Police Department said at 10:30 p.m., they received a call of a Mercedes-Benz crashing into a home in the 1600 block of JoAnn Place.

17-year-old wounded in Seventh Ward shooting

An Algiers family is now having to pack up and find a new place to live after a car crashed into their home Wednesday night.

My grandkids ran outside they were screaming and hollering for me to come outside it started smoking and it started sparking, said tenant Darnell Esteem.

Esteem was putting her grandkids to bed before heading off to work when she heard a car, followed by the sound of shattered glass.

I told my grandkids and my daughter to run, but they were running toward the back of the house, I said no run outside I smelled smoke and the car just kept on coming. It didnt stop until it got right there, said Esteem.

She says a neighbor backing out of their driveway across the street lost control when their brakes went out.

The front of the home is destroyed, but Esteem says the health of her grandkids was her only concern.

Jefferson Parish Public Schools to dismiss early for solar eclipse

They are in pain, they are still at the hospital and havent been released yet. They are still running tests and checking them out because I told them to do another check because it was so sudden and scary, said Esteem.

As she looked over the destruction, she admitted it was tough to see.

Ive been here eight months, its just now I have to move again, which is a hassle. Its expensive, I just started back working. Its a hassle. Thank god we are here to tell the story. I hope and pray it never happens again, said Esteem.

The driver walked away with no injuries but was issued three citations by police.

The family has set up a Gofundme for moving cost, click here.

(WGNO/Patrick Thomas)

(WGNO/Patrick Thomas)

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EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU)  Two Florida men were charged Thursday with drug trafficking and illegal possession of a firearm.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Thursday, April 4 that Noel Mateo, 35, of Umatilla, Florida, and David Duclos, 29, of Orlando, Florida, were indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute over 5 kilograms of cocaine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Man sentenced for assault with deadly weapon, strangulation

U.S. Attorneys say the two men were found to have the drugs and 3 guns in their possession on or around December 7, 2023, in Franklin County.

The maximum penalty under federal law for these offenses is life in prison, a term of supervised release following prison, and a fine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Hospitals in Monroe and nearby counties are delaying surgeries and securing additional staff and equipment  including helicopters  for a possible onslaught of patients during the total solar eclipse on April 8.

At Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital, on the citys northeast side, as many as 130 doctors, nurses and other critical caregivers will sleep at the hospital, some on cots in a dorm-like environment, for up to two nights.

Jason King, an IU Health executive overseeing hospital prep, said the staff will coordinate operations from an incident command center on the Bloomington hospitals first floor from 9 a.m. Sunday morning until at least Monday evening and possibly Tuesday morning.

Both of Bloomington's hospitals are preparing for the April 8 eclipse by ensuring they are well staffed and setting up command centers.

Jason King

King said its better to have overprepared than not be able to handle an unexpected spike in emergency patients.

Monroe Hospital, on the citys southwest side, also is setting up a command center, and leaders have asked staff not to take that day off to make sure the facility is properly staffed, even if some team members cant get to work, said Tom Whitehead, director of marketing/business development.

Im hoping its just a little bit busier, but you really cant predict that, he said. Were all preparing for something that weve really never experienced before.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security estimates that 43 million people live in the path of totality. Many more will travel to communities, including Bloomington, that are in the path.

Public safety officials will be asked to manage a crowd five times the size of the Indianapolis 500 race and across a broad section of the state, the DHS says on its website.

Planned events and a spike in vehicle traffic threaten to be accompanied by common headaches associated with large gatherings, the agency said.

With more cars and planes, big crowds and more distractions than usual, including the actual event, people may be looking up instead of where theyre going. That may mean injuries from bumping into things, falling off things or being run into by things. From cuts and bruises to fractures, hospitals saw more patients than normal during the 2017 eclipse, though King said health care providers experienced greater difficulties with employees not being able to get to work.

Health officials also worry people may suffer eye injuries, despite numerous warnings not to view the eclipse without special eye protection. The American Academy of Ophthalmology warns, Looking at the sun without the right eye protection  for even a short time  can damage your retina permanently  (and) can even cause blindness.

It is very important to wear approved eye protection ahead of the April 8 total solar eclipse. Eclipse glasses can be ordered online, whole some local stores and libraries have them - sometimes for free.

First responders also worry people who get injured may not get to the hospital as quickly because of snarled traffic.

King, the IU Health executive, said the hospitals command center will set up a call with all its teams, including ambulances in the field, at noon Monday, and then at least every three hours, ramping up as needed, to be able to adjust quickly to how things develop. He said IUH also is working with LifeLine to have at least one and possibly two additional helicopters in the area.

He said IU Health has developed its eclipse plan based on feedback from people who experienced the 2017 eclipse and by collaborating with multiple state and local organizations, from police and fire departments to the state health and transportation departments.

The total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow track stretching from Texas to Maine on April 8, 2024. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states.

King said despite all the behind-the-scenes adjustments, people should follow normal procedures when they have an emergency: Call 911. Whitehead, of Monroe Hospital, urged people to fill their gas tanks a few days before the event, to take water and snacks and to make sure they have some cash, as automated teller machines may see service interruptions.

IU Health, which is setting up similar efforts in its other Indiana locations in the path of totality, including Bedford, also is reducing traffic at the hospitals by not scheduling any non-urgent surgeries during the eclipse.

Were just preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best, King said.

Our ultimate goal, he said, is to say Tuesday morning, What were we planning all that for?

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: How hospitals in Bloomington, Indiana, are preparing for solar eclipse
Tyler man formerly on Texas DPS 10 Most Wanted sentenced to 50 years for 2021 murder

TYLER, Texas (KETK)  A Tyler man, who was placed on Texas DPS 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison in connection to a 2021 murder.

East Texas man sentenced to 30 years in prison for fentanyl possession

Mugshot of Dakevian Scroggins. Courtesy of Smith County Jail.

Dakevian Scroggins, 29, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering Christopher Frank Eiglebiger. Officials said Eiglebiger was fatally shot in a home on Crosby Street on May 13, 2021.

Police arrested Zaccheus Dunn, 26, who was taken into custody two days later, in connection to the shooting. Last week, Dunn was found guilty of murdering Eiglebiger to 44 years in prison.

Scroggins was on the run for two months before being added to DPSs 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, and was apprehended in July.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers told the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce that we dont really have a choice to walk away on the federal budgeting process. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers Thursday said supplemental funding for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan is possible, but border funding does not have the votes this year.

Rogers, a Republican from Saks who chairs the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, told the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce that we dont really have a choice to walk away on the federal budgeting process, and said both the budget funding the federal government for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, and a supplemental will pass  but it wont be easy.

Two years ago, Russia invaded, he said. No reason other than they wanted to, they invaded Ukraine. And for first time since World War II  we had an established world order  for the first time since then, a sovereign nation invaded another sovereign nation just to take it, he said.

Rogers said House members are divided over individual representatives wanting to pass standalone supplementals for Israel and the border. Rogers said the aid has to be put in a package in order to have the votes needed to pass.

Together, they have a better chance than separately, and thats just the way the place works, he said.

He said that there is support for Israel funding from House Republicans, but that Ukraine funding is a sticking point because of some ignorant members in the GOP conference. Rogers said that the U.S. does not have a choice on whether to fund Ukraine or not.

Its been painful because part of our conference, part of the Republican majority conference, has been arguing that we need to worry about the appropriations first, and we have been, Rogers said. And we just couldnt get the votes for the appropriations because the place is so fractured right now.

He said that the U.S. is contributing a smaller percentage of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than other NATO countries, and that other countries are pulling their weight. He said the U.S. doesnt have a choice to walk away.

The congressman said that Vladimir Putin has made it clear that the fall of the Soviet Union was the worst day of his life, and that he wants to reinstitute some version of it.

If you look at history over Eastern Europe, Russia has been taking these countries and losing them for literally a millennia. So he wants to do that, he said, adding that after Putin takes Ukraine, he would move on to invade other countries.

If Russia attacks a NATO country, he said that would be World War III, invoking a potential war for a second time.

Were in NATO and in NATO, we have a treaty. We have a treaty provision called Article Five that says any member nation is invaded by an army, every other member of NATO will come to their defense and push that invading army back out. Thats us, he said.

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'The West must let Israel overcome their enemy,' says one Telegraph reader - Simon Walker / No 10 Downing Street/No 10 Downing Street

On Thursday, more than 600 lawyers signed a letter to Rishi Sunak to stop the UK selling arms to Israel. A former head of MI6 added weight to the argument saying the war in Gaza is now bordering on reckless.

The Government is now facing demands to publish any legal advice its been given after Israel has been accused by three former supreme court judges of breaching international law.

This comes after an airstrike in Gaza killed seven aid workers on April 1, including three British nationals.

In an exclusive Telegraph poll, 57 per cent of over 20,000 readers voted that the UK should not suspend arms exports to Israel.

Gaza was made a war zone by Hamas

Many readers argue that Hamas is to blame. They argue that Hamas started the war with Israel and the UK Government must enable Israel to overcome its enemy.

Telegraph reader Gerald Martin highlights how Hamas are still holding Israelis hostage and continue to bomb Israel.

He added: In a similar position, Id hope the UK Government would use a massive show of force to ensure their safe return.

Meanwhile, reader Nigel Griffiths states: Hamas - operating and based in Gaza - started a war on Israel. Therefore, the West must let Israel overcome their enemy.

Interfering in the form of suspending arms trade is basically anti-Semitism being pushed by political interests and the elite Left.

The UK must stand firm with Israel. There is always collateral damage in war zones. And Gaza was made a war zone by Hamas.

Israel represents no threat to the UK

Other readers agree with David Frost that the Government should not suspend arms exports because doing this is not just in Israels interests  but also in ours.

One Telegraph reader suggests that the response should be to stop all weapons exports to Israel as soon as Hamas is eradicated, all hostages are released and were one hundred per cent assured that Israel has the technology to develop - quickly - its own similar weapons defence systems.

If those conditions are met, then we can stop exporting weapons to Israel. However, if conditions dont change, we should continue to support our democratic allies around the world.

Another reader, Adam Smith, added to the argument saying that despite the shocking collateral, Israel is no more in breach of international laws governing conflict zones than Britain or the US were in Iraq. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) try to minimise civilian suffering, despite appearances.

He continues: Therefore, to deny them support and arms would be a breach of faith by us. And it will also open the door to Iran dominating the Middle East and to a renewed Jewish diaspora.

Building on these ideas, a reader with the screen name Edmund Blackadder raised his point that the UK supplies very little to Israel. Israel, on the other hand, supplies the UK with its drone program, vital components for the UKs fighter jets and valuable intelligence, amongst other things.

Israel represents no threat to the UK, only help.

The arms business should not be sacrificed

Telegraph readers also share their views on what actions the Government, and Prime Minister, should take.

Arthur Wilson expresses the belief that Rishi Sunak will not make the right call because he is weak and spineless. He will do anything he thinks will attract him even one vote so is now leaning towards doing progressively more ridiculous things.

The nationality of the ex-military guards killed in an accident is irrelevant. We are either in the arms business or we arent. It is one of our few remaining industries and I do not want it sacrificed just to prolong the death of the Conservative Party.

Weighing in on the argument, Robert Morgan suggests that we should increase the arms supplied to Israel. They are our strongest ally in the region, and ridding the world of an Islamist terrorist group as quickly as possible must be a priority - not just for Israel and our allies but all right-minded people throughout the world.

Reader Bob Davis said: Sell Israel whatever it wants. Change the law to ban British citizens from travelling to active war zones. The prospect of the UK changing its support stance for Israel just because some aid workers got killed is obscene.

The very minimum response must be to suspend UK arms sales

On the other side of the argument, some 42 per cent of readers who voted support the decision to suspend sales of arms to Israel.

Reader Wilfred McKie said: Israel was reckless from the outset and chose not to sustain some moral high ground and moral purpose. Israel is now paying the price for its arrogance.

Meanwhile, Graham Hepburn believes the UK should immediately cease arms sales to Israel and impose sanctions on the company whose weapons the Israelis used to in the attack that killed the seven aid workers.

Adding to the debate, Benny Dourme believes that the killing of three British aid workers should make the Government pause and reconsider its relationships with Israel, as despite the evidence of systemic failure in IDFs process of identification, they continue airstrikes overnight.

In a concluding statement, Telegraph reader Via Porrione says the Israelis have just killed three innocent British ex-servicemen in a reckless or deliberate attack. The very minimum response must be to suspend UK arms sales.

They added: The UK should not be even remotely complicit in war crimes.

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Carlos Sainz has revealed that he is in discussion with several teams regarding his F1 future, but the outgoing Ferrari driver wants to know sooner rather than later where hell be racing in 2025.

Following Ferrari's decision to pair Charles Leclerc with Lewis Hamilton for 2025, Sainz remains unemployed for next season.

However, Sainz's recent performances, including his win last time out in Australia just two weeks after undergoing an appendectomy, have piqued the interest of several top teams.

Replacing Hamilton at Mercedes is a possibility, while Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has earmarked Sainz as a potential candidate for Sergio Perezs seat in 2025.

Furthermore, Aston Martin is also reportedly taking a keen interest in the three-time Grand Prix winner, while Audi- Sauber is rumored to have presented Sainz with an "ultimatum."

Recognizing his enviable position, Sainz has urged for faster contract negotiations with those parties interested in his services.

"Talking obviously to a few, he replied when asked in Suzuka on Thursday how his contract talks were going.

"That's what my management team and myself should do when I don't have a job for next year yet, so yeah, we're talking to pretty much all of them.

While he avoids revealing specific details about his discussions with different teams, it's clear Sainz has options and is ready to capitalize on a unique opportunity in his career.

"It's just a matter of obviously going more into detail and seeing the more realistic options and what are the best options for me and for my future, which I don't have any news for you or nothing to say here today, added the Scuderia driver.

"The only thing I would say is that, obviously, it's time now to speed up a bit everything and hopefully we can get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Its been two weeks since his remarkable win in Melbourne. Asked if he has now completely recovered from his appendicitis, Sainz said: "Yeah, I think so.

I've been riding my bike this week. I stayed in Australia for a week and started going back to the gym.

Still obviously not lifting heavy numbers like I used to do in the past, but at least I can get my training done and I'm feeling back to 100 per cent.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Ukraine finds air defence batteries in NATO countries that can be transferred immediately

Ukraine will consult its NATO partners about the supply of batteries of air defence systems, which it believes can be delivered immediately.

Source: Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a meeting with reporters in Brussels, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to Kuleba, during the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, he "clearly pointed out the batteries, which, in our opinion, are available in NATO countries."

Quote: "I asked them not to look for excuses as to why they cant deliver them; instead just deliver them. And now this issue will be worked on," he said.

The minister refused to specify which air defence systems or which countries he was talking about.

"But the efforts made now by the president and his entire diplomatic team will end  I have no doubt  with the supply of new air defence systems in the foreseeable future, including the Patriot [systems  ed.] to Ukraine," he said.

The foreign minister also said that Germany initiated a search for available Patriot air defence systems for Kyiv at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 4 April.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna supported Ukraine's proposal to transfer air defence systems that Western countries had in their arsenal but did not use.

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (R) meets with Ukranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting. -/NATO/dpa

Ukraine needs Patriot surface-to-air missiles to defend itself from Russian ballistic missile attacks, the country's foreign minister said at NATO headquarters on Thursday.

"I don't want to spoil the party," Dmytro Kuleba said after congratulating NATO members on the alliance's 75th anniversary. "But my main message today will be Patriots."

"Saving Ukrainian lives, saving the Ukrainian economy, saving Ukrainian cities, depends on the availability of Patriots and other air defence systems in Ukraine. We're talking about Patriots because it's the only system that can intercept ballistic missiles."

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) meets with Ukranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting. -/NATO/dpa

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) meets with Ukranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting. -/NATO/dpa
Key developments on April 4:

Russian double-tap attack on Kharkiv kills 4, including first responders

SBU: Russian forces used cyberattack to target Ukraine's 128th brigade

German FM says Berlin will initiate search for more air defense for Ukraine

Energoatom: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant 'on verge of blackout' after recent Russian attack

Poll: Fewer than 50% of Ukrainians believe war will end with restoration of 1991 borders.

Two Russian strikes on the city of Kharkiv killed four people, including three first responders, and injured 12, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said in the early hours of April 4.

Russian drones first hit the city at around 1 a.m. local time, damaging several homes and a 14-story high-rise building. As a result of this strike, a 33-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman were wounded.

Then, at 1:55 a.m., two more drones struck the city, killing the three Emergency Response workers who were called to the scene following the first attack: 52-year-old Vladyslav Lohinov, 32-year-old Serhii Baidalinov, and 41-year-old Volodymyr Matiushenko.

According to local police, a 69-year-old civilian woman was also killed.

In total, 12 individuals were reported injured as a result of the drone strikes, including an Emergency Service worker, a policeman, and a nurse.

Three high-rise buildings, three firetrucks, a hospital building, and two ambulances were damaged in the attacks.

Separate attacks on Kharkiv Oblast on April 3 injured a 55-year-old woman as well as a 70-year-old man.

Settlements in Ukraines Kharkiv Oblast are subjected to near-daily attacks by Russian forces due to their proximity to the border with Russia.

Read also: State Emergency Service: Russian double-tap attacks have killed 91 first responders, injured 348

SBU: Russian forces used cyberattack to target Ukraine's 128th brigade

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on April 4 that it uncovered evidence that Russian forces were able to hack into the devices of military personnel in order to guide a missile to strike the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, killing at least 19 Ukrainian soldiers, in November last year.

Members of the 128th brigade were gathered for an award ceremony in honor of Artillery Day on Nov. 3, 2023, in the front-line zone of Zaporizhzhia Oblast when a Russian Iskander-M missile struck the group.

The brigade later confirmed that 19 of its soldiers had been killed in the attack.

A preliminary investigation found that reports of Russian reconnaissance drones operating in the area, including an air alert, were ignored.

In addition, the soldiers were gathered in the yard of a house, with 10 cars parked outside, which was plainly visible from above.

In the weeks following the attack, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that "all rules of disguise were ignored."

President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to implement changes in the armed forces to address negligence, Soviet-era practices, and bureaucracy.

SBU cybersecurity chief Illia Vitiuk said in an interview on April 4 that Russian soldiers sent phishing messages to hack the messenger applications of specific military personnel. When they managed to "crack" the device, they got access to messengers and computers through mail.

According to the SBU official, the investigation found that one of the devices on which the Signal messenger was installed received a message about the specific date and place of the formation of servicemen. The Russian missile later struck this exact location.

Vitiuk also announced that up to 30 soldiers had been killed in the attack, despite official reports that only 19 service members died.

Read also: SBU: Ukraine gathers evidence for ICC on Russian GRU hackers behind Kyivstar cyberattack

German FM says Berlin will initiate search for more air defense for Ukraine

Berlin will call on allies worldwide to examine their air defense capabilities and "to provide whatever we all can" to Ukraine, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after a NATO-Ukraine Council meeting in Brussels on April 4.

As Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine during the spring, the shortage of air defense systems in Ukrainian cities and villages became more tangible.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia launched over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Shahed drones, and 3,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in March, causing severe damage to the civilian and energy infrastructure.

"We see what's happening in Ukraine, we realize that you need air defense now because it's now that schoolchildren really have to be in safety, that in Odesa the port has to be protected," Baerbock said in a joint video address with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"We will call on Europe again that everybody has to check where their air defense is, what they can provide for Ukraine, but also have this pledge worldwide, arrange the funding. Because we definitely know: every day, every month counts, and it's not only words, it's action that matters now for you in Ukraine."

In December last year, Germany delivered the second Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.

At the April 4 meeting, Kuleba called on partners to supply Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems that are vital in protecting Ukraine's airspace, as they have proven effective even against advanced Russian ballistics such as Kinzhal missiles.

"It is impossible to understand why the allies cannot find additional batteries to take them to places where ballistic missiles are fired every day," said Kuleba, as cited by the Foreign Ministry's press service.

"In March alone, 94 ballistic missiles were launched at Ukraine. On average, three per day. This does not happen anywhere else in the world."

Kuleba previously told Reuters that Ukraine's partners had more than 100 Patriot systems at their disposal, but they did not want to share at least five or seven of them  the minimum required number to significantly improve additional protection, according to Kyiv's calculations.

The minister also met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging Washington "to find ways to provide additional Patriot air defense systems as soon as possible."

"I am grateful to the Secretary for taking action right away to reciprocate this call. We also discussed next steps in the coming days and weeks to unlock supplemental U.S. aid for Ukraine," Kuleba said on X.

Air defense ammunition has been dwindling recently as $60 billion in U.S. aid remains effectively blocked in Congress by political disputes. The American media wrote that Ukraine may soon be forced to "ration" its air defense missiles, targeting only one out of every five enemy projectiles.

Read also: Media: German companies involved in Russian reconstruction of occupied Mariupol

Energoatom: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant 'on verge of blackout' after recent Russian attack

An external overhead line that supplies power from Ukraine's energy grid to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar was disconnected on April 4 after Russian attacks, the state nuclear energy agency Energoatom said.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.

Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.

As of April 4, the plant is connected to Ukraine's energy system only by one power line, which was recently restored. This situation "threatens to cause an emergency," Energoatom said.

"If this last line of communication with the national power grid is disconnected, the plant will be on the verge of another blackout, which is a serious violation of the conditions for its safe operation," the statement read.

Before Russia's full-scale war, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had six backup lines and four main lines of 750 kV.

The six reactors at the Russian-occupied plant are currently shut down, but the facility's front-line position puts it at risk. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has warned that heavy fighting near the plant poses serious threats to nuclear safety.

Read also: Ukrenergo: Russia targeted solar power plant in Ukraines rear for the first time

Poll: Fewer than 50% of Ukrainians believe war will end with restoration of 1991 borders

Only 45% of Ukrainians said they believe the war will end with Ukraine restoring its 1991 borders, the Ukrainian media outlet NV reported on April 4, citing a poll conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI).

Kyiv has vowed to liberate all of the territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea. Previous polls have indicated that an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians are opposed to territorial concessions in exchange for peace.

According to the IRI poll, the 45% still represented a plurality.

Tied for second place at 16% were two options: Ukraine would regain all of the territory it held up to the beginning of the full-scale war (excluding Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts occupied since 2014), and that Russia would gain some additional territories.

The 45% of respondents who believed that Ukraine would regain all of its territory represented a decrease from a high point in February 2023, in which 74% of respondents believed it was possible.

There was also a generational divide present in the most recent poll, with younger people ages 18-35 less likely (37%) to believe the 1991 borders would be restored, compared to those 51+, 52% of whom believed it was possible.

Despite the less-than-optimistic results, 39% of respondents still said that the restoration of 1991 borders was one of the most important goals of the war.

NV wrote that the survey was conducted throughout Ukraine, excluding territories occupied by Russia.

Read also: Ukrainian man sentenced to life in prison for role in helping target attack on Kramatorsk cafe that killed 13

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Ukraine war 'will be lost if the allies don't step up', David Cameron warns as US Republicans hold up aid

David Cameron has urged allies to spend more on defence during a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels (AP)

Ukraine's war with Russia "will be lost if the allies don't step up", the foreign secretary warned on Thursday.

Lord David Cameron said he will urge Congress to increase its financial support of Kyiv during a visit to the United States next week after Republican lawmakers blocked new military aid.

But he ruled out Nato troops being sent to Ukraine, to avoid giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a target.

The former Conservative prime minister told the BBC's Ukrainecast: "What Nato is looking at is a Nato mission for Ukraine, not a Nato mission in Ukraine.

"It's making sure that we use Nato's architecture to help deliver some of the support that Ukraine needs.

"But fundamentally, I think that we should do everything we can to help Ukraine, that's been Britain's position.

"And I think it's not escalatory to say we are going to help this independent sovereign country to fight off an aggressor, and we're going to give it all the help we can in order to do that."

In response to whether he could see Nato boots on the ground in Ukraine, Lord Cameron said "No", adding: "I think that we don't want to give Putin a target like that, and Nato can do lots of things to better co-ordinate the help we give to Ukraine.

A damaged fire truck is seen at the site of a Russian drone strike (REUTERS)

"But fundamentally, for countries like Britain and all those supportive of Ukraine this is a question of political will. Do we have the patience? Do we have the will? Are we prepared to give the resources? Now in Britain's case, definitely the answer is yes."

"If we can get that money out of the US Congress, if we can get Ukraine the arms they need, if we can show Putin that he can't outwait us and that Ukraine is going to fight back and win back more of its territory.

"If we can do all those things, whoever gets in in November, we'll look at the situation in Ukraine and... look at more and more Nato members spending 2% of their GDP on defence and say, this is a success story. I want to invest in this success.

"So turn Ukraine in the situation and Nato into the strongest possible alliance with the strongest possible prospect of success. And whoever wins in November 2024 would inherit a better situation."

Some Republicans in Washington have withheld support for new military aid to Ukraine without further funds to stop the flow of illegal border crossings from Mexico.

In February they blocked a $118billion package which would have sent foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, while also allocating more money to bolster the USAs southern border.

This week Republican Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News he would push the House to structure new Ukraine support in the form of loans and cover the costs by authorising the US government to seize and sell frozen Russian assets.

Lord Cameron is in Brussels for the second day of the Nato foreign ministers' meeting, where he likened the current situation with Russia to the one Britain and France faced at the 1938 Munich Conference with Nazi Germany.

He said: "What we face today is as simple as then. We have a tyrant in Europe who is trying to redraw borders by force, and there are two choices. You can appease that approach or you can confront that approach."

In his speech at an event in Brussels hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, Lord Cameron said Nato needed to demonstrate its "relevance" to younger people who had not grown up with the threat of the Cold War.

He said: "I think we have to win the argument for Nato all over again with a new generation, a generation that can see, yes, look at the threat that Ukraine has faced from Russia, but I think we need to go back to a more foundational argument, which is this.

"Fundamentally, the greatness of Nato is it allows countries to choose their own future."
Ukraine's Defence Intelligence predicts new strikes on military targets in Russia: Range will increase

Ukraines Defence Intelligence (DIU) predicts that Ukrainian drones will continue to attack military targets in Russia, and their range will increase.

Source: Andrii Yusov, representative of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, on the air of the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: Yusov reminded that DIU does not comment, confirm or deny who and with what hit the military facilities in Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk. But, he said, everyone saw that the "good flying objects" had reached legitimate military targets on the territory of "Russian-occupied Tatarstan".

Quote: "Yes, we are talking about military targets. Preliminary information indicates that a Shahed assembly plant was hit... There is significant damage to production facilities and it is difficult to continue the operation of the company.

These are good results... and we are all happy about it. I think there will be similar joys in the future. And their range will increase."

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The dispatch centre of Ukrenergo, Ukraines national energy company, is forced to introduce temporary measures to limit power consumption from 18:20 to 22:00 in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Poltava and Sumy oblasts.

Source: Ukrenergo

Details: The reason for the restrictions is the lack of sufficient generating capacity in the grid to cover consumption in certain oblasts.

"This is the result of recent Russian large-scale attacks on Ukrainian power plants.

In addition, consumption in the country is growing in the evening due to the cold snap," the state company explained.

It is noted that the scope of restrictions is mild. Regional power distribution companies will distribute the available electricity evenly among the groups of consumers.

At the same time, rolling blackouts remain in effect in Kharkiv Oblast and for industrial consumers in the city of Kryvyi Rih.

Ukrenergo urges people to use electricity sparingly.

Background:

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces attacked the energy infrastructure in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. A drone attack on the night of 3-4 April damaged the equipment of a power facility in Kharkiv Oblast.

Although there is no deficit in the power system, a certain probability of restrictions in Ukraine's central and eastern parts remains, Ukrenergo said.

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Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs with Bulgarian counterpart Mariya Gabriel in Brussels. Photo: Kuleba on Twitter (X)

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke about his meeting with Bulgarian counterpart Mariya Gabriel in Brussels, emphasising the importance of cooperation between Kyiv and Sofia in maintaining regional security.

Source: Kuleba on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda

Details: Kuleba noted that the conversation was meaningful and focused on ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Bulgaria.

Meaningful meeting with my Bulgarian counterpart @GabrielMariya on ways to further develop our bilateral cooperation.



I asked Mariya to convey our gratitude to the Bulgarian parliament for taking decisions in support of Ukraine.



Strong Ukrainian-Bulgarian partnership is pic.twitter.com/sBw6olbJrz  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 4, 2024

"I asked Mariya to convey our gratitude to the Bulgarian parliament for taking decisions in support of Ukraine. Strong Ukrainian-Bulgarian partnership is important to maintain regional stability, strengthen Black Sea security, and preserve long-term peace in Europe," Ukraines Foreign Minister said.

Background:

Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev stated on 14 March that the Bulgarian side had completed the shipment of all armoured personnel carriers (APC) promised to Ukraine last year.

Bulgaria is currently awaiting early parliamentary elections following the failure of coalition parties to form a new government based on prime minister rotation agreements.

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Ukraine's foreign minister says Ukraine has taken steps to ensure Hungary unblocks tranche to European Peace Facility

Ukraine has responded to demands presented by Hungary during a meeting in the city of Uzhhorod in late January, in order to unblock the eighth tranche of 500 million to the European Peace Facility.

Source: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during a meeting with journalists after the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting in Brussels on 4 April, in response to a question from European Pravda

Details: Asked to comment on the meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto held on 3 April, Kuleba said they "could be said to have held a mini-expert, or at least intergovernmental, dialogue".

"There is one issue that has been hanging in the air for a long time. That is Hungary's blocking of the eighth tranche to the European Peace Facility in the amount of 500 million," he said.

Kuleba added that Kyiv has taken the necessary steps to lift the blockade.

"There is a Ukrainian response to the 11 points that Hungary handed over to us in Uzhhorod. We are ready to move [forward], and experts continue to work to resolve these 11 points," Kuleba explained.

Background:

The EU has been providing military assistance to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility, which reimburses member states for weapons provided to Ukraine, since 2022.

Funding is provided in tranches that can be blocked by individual member states. In recent months, this has been done by Hungary, which refused to approve a 500 million replenishment of the European Peace Facility under various pretexts.

At the same time, EU foreign ministers made a final decision in March to allocate an additional 5 billion for military support for Ukraine under the European Peace Facility.

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In this article, we will be looking at the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 Most Densely Populated Countries in Asia.

Population Trends in Asia

The Asia and the Pacific region houses 60% of the global population, which comes up to about 4.3 billion people. It also includes the most populous countries in the world, including India and China. At the same time, Asia is also home to some of the smallest populations across the globe, especially the developing island countries in the Pacific. These two ends of the spectrum arise because of overall low mortality rates, speedy urbanization, and significant intra and inter-migrations across the region.

According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the total fertility rate in Asia and the Pacific stands at around 2.1 births per woman. However, these statistics are not uniform, for fertility rates in East Asia have dropped to 1.7 births per woman, while those in South Asia have gone up to 2.5 births per woman.

The UNFPA predicts that the number of people aged 60 and above will reach about 1.3 billion in Asia by 2050, double its current rate. About one in four people would be 60 years or older by the middle of the 21st century in Asia, comparable with the present rate of one in ten people. Another report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific suggests that the overall growth rate of Asia's population is decreasing with a 0.96% growth rate per year. You can also look at 20 Most Populated Countries in Asia.

Key Players in the Asian Continent

Asia is making significant strides in the world's industries, driving progress in innovation and technology. Some of the prominent players in the multidimensional Asian market that are driving change and growth in the continent include Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF), Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM). Let's take a look at some of the latest updates from these companies.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (OTC:SSNHY) takes the lead as one of the world's leading tech companies. On January 31, 2024, the company announced its financial results for Q4 and fiscal year 2024, reporting KRW 67.78 trillion in consolidated revenue and KRW 2.82 trillion in operating profit for the fourth quarter. The revenue was up from $67.4 trillion in Q3. It also rolled out numbers for the full-year financial report, announcing an annual revenue of KRW 258.94 trillion and an operating profit of KRW 6.57 trillion.

Story continues

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) is one of the most prominent companies in the automobile industry. The Japan-based company announced on March 22, 2024, its plans to open a new Tokyo Head Office in the financial year 2030. Expected to begin construction in the Shinagawa Station West Exit region, the opening will bring considerable improvements in city functions. The company also announced its biggest wage increase in 25 years in March 2024. Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) was among the several Japanese companies that agreed to union demands and allowed wage increases for their factory workers. On March 13, Reuters reported that the Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) agreed to monthly pay increases of up to 28,440 yen, which is about $193. The company will also provide additional record bonus payments.

Another key player in the Asian market is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM), which is known for its integrated circuit manufacturing and silicon wafer fabrication processes for a number of high-performance electronics and semiconductor applications. Regarded as the largest contract chipmaker in the world and a prominent Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier, the company projected a 20% revenue boost due to an increase in the demand for specialized chips used in AI. The increasing frenzy about artificial intelligence is causing the company's stocks to soar. According to Pictet Asset Management, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) has more than a 90% share in manufacturing advanced semiconductors used specifically for AI. The company recently announced plans to inaugurate its fabrication plant in Kumamoto, Japan, on February 6. It is also planning to inaugurate two other facilities worth $40 billion in Phoenix, Arizona. These facilities will produce advanced microprocessors. Additionally, TSMC is set to start the development of its first facility in Europe by committing $3.80 billion to build a fabrication plant in Dresden, Germany.

Now that we have taken a look at the major players driving Asia's economy and trends, let's get into the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia. You can also look at 50 Most Populated Countries In 2050 and 50 Most Populated Countries in 2100.

20 Most Densely Populated Countries in Asia

20 Most Densely Populated Countries in Asia

Our Methodology

In order to compile a list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia, we have used population density as the primary and sole metric. The statistics were acquired from calculations published by the World Bank that computed the population per square kilometer of land area. The most recent data available is from 2021. We have included Middle Eastern countries in our list since they are a part of the Asian continent. The list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia is arranged in ascending order of their population densities.

20 Most Densely Populated Countries in Asia

20. Nepal

Population Density in 2021: 210 people per square kilometer

Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia located at the foot of the Himalayas. It ranks 20th on our list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia, with a population density of 210 people per square kilometer. According to the World Bank, Nepal's total population was 30.03 million people in 2021.

19. North Korea

Population Density in 2021: 216 people per square kilometer

North Korea had a population of 25.97 million people in 2021, as per World Bank estimates. The country shares one of the most heavily militarized borders in the world with South Korea at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korea had a population density of 216 people per square kilometer in 2021.

18. Qatar

Population Density in 2021: 234 people per square kilometer

Dotted with arid deserts and shoreline beaches, Qatar is a Middle Eastern country located on the Qatar Peninsula of West Asia. Occupying the northeastern portion of the Arabian Peninsula, the country has a total population of 2.688 million people and a population density of 234 people per square kilometer as of 2021.

17. Kuwait

Population Density in 2021: 239 people per square kilometer

The State of Kuwait is located in Western Asia and has a bustling economy backed by some of the largest oil reserves in the world. Present at the tip of the Persian Gulf in the northern portion of Eastern Arabia, Kuwait has a population of 4.25 million people, as of 2021. Its population density of 239 people per square kilometer earns it the 17th spot on our list.

16. Pakistan

Population Density in 2021: 300 people per square kilometer

Officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the country is located in South Asia, bordering India, China, Iran, and Afghanistan. According to the World Bank, it has the second-largest Muslim population in the world, with a total population of 231.4 people million as of 2021. Pakistan's population density comes up to 300 people per square kilometer.

15. Vietnam

Population Density in 2021: 311 people per square kilometer

Vietnam is located in southeast Asia and has a population of 97.47 million people as of 2021. According to the World Bank, the country's gross domestic product came up to 366.1 billion USD in 2021. Vietnam's population density was 311 people per square kilometer, ranking it 15th on our list.

14. Japan

Population Density in 2021: 345 people per square kilometer

Japan is an East Asian island country located in the northwestern region of the Pacific Ocean. It touches the Sea of Japan on its western side. According to the World Bank, Japan had a population of 125.7 million people in 2021. With a population density of 345 people per square kilometer, it ranks 14th on our list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia.

13. Sri Lanka

Population Density in 2021: 358 people per square kilometer

Sri Lanka lies in the Indian Ocean as a pear-shaped island country with a population of 22.16 million people as of 2021. It is located southwest of the Bay of Bengal in South Asia. Sri Lanka had a population density of 358 people per square kilometer in 2021.

12. Philippines

Population Density in 2021: 382 people per square kilometer

Officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, this archipelagic country is located in Southeast Asia. It has a population of 113.9 million people and a population density of 382 people per square kilometer, as of 2021. The Philippines ranks 12th on our list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia.

11. Israel

Population Density in 2021: 433 people per square kilometer

Regarded in religious esteem by Muslims, Christians, and Jews, Israel is a Middle Eastern country located in the east of the Mediterranean Sea. The country had a population of 9.364 million people in 2021, and ranks 11th on our list with a population density of 433 people per square kilometer.

10. India

Population Density in 2021: 473 people per square kilometer

India ranks among the most populous countries in the world, with a population of 1.408 billion people in 2021, according to the World Bank. Yet it ranks 10th on our list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia because of its large area of 3.287 million square kilometers, as per statistics by the Indian government.

9. South Korea

Population Density in 2021: 530 people per square kilometer

South Korea is an East Asian country that shares the Korean Peninsula with North Korea. Its border with North Korea ranks among one of the most militarized borders in the world. The country had a population of 51.74 million people in 2021, making its population density 530 people per square kilometer. However, South Korea is battling numbers as its fertility rate continues to drop from 0.84 births per woman in 2020, according to the World Bank.

8. Lebanon

Population Density in 2021: 547 people per square kilometer

Located in the Levant region of the Eastern Mediterranean, this West Asian country has a population of 5.593 million people as of 2021, according to the World Bank. Lebanon's population density stands at 547 people per square kilometer, giving it the eighth position on our list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia.

7. Palestine

Population Density in 2021: 817 people per square kilometer

Palestine ranks seventh on our list, with a population density of 817 people per square kilometer in 2021. Located in the Southern Levant region of Western Asia, the country had a population of 4.923 million people in 2021. These statistics, however, are subject to change because of the ongoing conflict in the country.

6. Bangladesh

Population Density in 2021: 1,301 people per square kilometer

Bangladesh stands on the Bay of Bengal, east of India. It has a population of 169.4 million people as of 2021, according to the World Bank. This brings its population density to 1,301 people per square kilometer, ranking it sixth on our list of the 20 most densely populated countries in Asia.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 Most Densely Populated Countries in Asia.

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Disclosure: None. 15 Most Densely Populated Countries in Asia is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Ukraine's military intelligence hints drone attacks on military facilities in Russia to continue, 'range will increase'

Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), hinted on April 4 that drone strikes on military facilities inside Russia will continue and "their range will increase."

Over the past weeks, Ukraine has carried out increasingly regular attacks on Russian oil refineries and other military and industrial facilities with long-range drones.

Ukraine targeted industrial facilities in Russia's Tatarstan on April 2, over 1,200 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border, sources in HUR and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent. The targets included a manufacturing facility for Shahed-type attack drones and one of Russia's largest oil refineries, Taneco.

Kyiv usually doesn't officially comment on strikes on Russian soil.

Speaking on national television, Yusov stressed that HUR "does not comment, confirm or deny who hit (the facilities in Tatarstan) and with what."

Read also: How Ukraine hit a Russian drone factory 1,300 kilometers away

"But we saw that 'good flying objects' reached several military facilities on the territory of Russian-occupied Tatarstan."

According to preliminary data cited by Yusov, the attack caused "significant damage" to the production capabilities of the Shahed facility, and resuming the enterprise's work "will be difficult."

"These are good results and we are all happy about it. I think that there will be similar joys in the future. And their range will increase."

Russia's military has used Iranian-designed Shahed-type kamikaze drones to attack Ukraine's cities and critical infrastructure regularly throughout the full-scale invasion, killing and injuring dozens of civilians.

The attack on industrial facilities in Tatarstan came a day after Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said that Ukraine has domestically-produced attack drones capable of flying over 1,000 kilometers.

Read also: Ukrainian drones hit one Russian oil refinery after another

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Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, has stated that the Russians are trying to protect their fleet from Ukrainian drone attacks by hiding warships in a bay, the entry to which is blocked by flooded barges.

Source: Pletenchuk on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "This technique is not something new, they did the same thing around the so-called Crimean Bridge. They hang explosive barriers on barges. All this is used as a kind of defence structure".

Details: In addition, Pletenchuk recalled that Russia used the tactic of "sinking something" 10 years ago when it seized Crimea. Back then, the Russians had sunk their own ships to block the Ukrainian ones in the bay.

"As we can see, they have actually barricaded themselves in the Novorossiysk docking point, closed the entrance to the harbour, put up barriers and are just staying there."

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Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, the only U.S. lawmaker born in Ukraine, said she would not vote for the Senate foreign aid bill that contains more than $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on April 4, citing a series of interviews with Spartz.

Spartz was born in a small city in Chernihiv Oblast, and moved to the U.S. in 2000. She became the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress in 2021 and has been known for her staunch support of former President Donald Trump.

Spartz has previously supported aid for Ukraine and spoken about the war in deeply personal terms, but also attracted controversy for her attacks against President Volodymyr Zelensky and head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak.

While Spartz did not tell the WSJ that she categorically opposes further aid, she emphasized that there is a lack of clear strategy from President Joe Biden and a need for more oversight on how the funds are being spent.

"I understand the importance of this battle and the implications if Russia is going to prevail, but I'm also not very naive. If we don't have proper oversight, we are not going to achieve our goals," Spartz said.

Spartz also supports the idea of Ukraine aid being delivered in the form of a loan, as was floated by House Republicans.

Backtracking from previous statements about wanting to retire from Congress, Spartz said she was running for reelection in February 2024, and faces a number of Republican primary challengers.

Chuck Goodrich, considered to be her top rival, has already begun to attack Spartz on her previous support for Ukraine in his campaign ads.

"Victoria Spartz sends $40 billion of our tax dollars to Ukraine before the border wall (with Mexico) is finished," one of the ads said. "Why does Victoria Spartz put Ukraine first?"

In turn, the Spartz campaign wrote in an email that the congresswoman opposes a "blank check" for Ukraine.

Spartz previously said in October 2023 that she supported the calls of fellow Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, an outspoken opponent of aid for Ukraine, to have more "accountability" for the funding.

Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said in January 2024 that there is "no credible evidence of illicit diversion of U.S.-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine."

Other comments by Spartz, such as the assertion that "Ukraine (can't) win this war with President Biden in charge," have indicated a tendency to focus on partisan issues rather than Ukraine. Spartz told the WSJ that she has "largely moved on from focusing heavily on Ukraine."

Read also: Explainer: Is there any merit to Congresswoman Spartz accusations against Zelenskys chief of staff?

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Ukrainian forces could not shoot down all Shahed UAVs approaching Kharkiv due to city's proximity to Russian border

Ukrainian Defence Forces could not destroy all the Shahed loitering munitions that the Russians sent across Kharkiv Oblast on the night of 3-4 April due to Kharkivs proximity to the Russian border.

Source: Illia Yevlash, Head of Public Relations Service of Ukraine's Air Force, on air of the 24/7 national joint newscast

Quote: "A large group of Shaheds was spotted today around 01:00  about 10 attack UAVs entered Kharkiv Oblast from Russia and headed directly towards the city.

A little later, another group of Shaheds was also spotted coming from Mykolaiv Oblast and heading to Kharkiv Oblast through a number of oblasts. Unfortunately, due to the proximity to the border with the Russian Federation, all drones from the first group, which was one of the largest of the night, could not be shot down.

We see this cynical tactic of the enemy as they continue to launch attacks involving various types of weapons, including guided bombs and drones, to put pressure on the civilian population.

This cannot be anything other than psychological pressure, as such attacks serve absolutely no (military) purpose, but rather target civilian infrastructure and civilians."

Details: Yevlash added that Ukraine needs more air defence systems capable of effectively combating kamikaze drones, such as German-made Gepards.

Background:

Russia attacked Ukraine with 20 Shahed kamikaze drones on the night of 3-4 April, 11 of which were downed.

A total of four strikes on civilian infrastructure by Russian Shahed drones have been recorded in Kharkiv. The attack claimed the lives of 4 people and left 12 more injured. In addition, one man was rescued from under the rubble.

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Ukrainian man sentenced to life in prison for role in helping target attack on Kramatorsk cafe that killed 13

A Ukrainian man was sentenced to life in prison on April 4 for his role in helping Russian forces target an attack on a cafe in Kramatorsk in June 2023 that killed 13 people and injured at least 60.

The news was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office.

Russian forces fired two Soviet-era S-300 missiles at Kramatorsk on June 27, 2023. One of them hit a restaurant in the city center, popular with volunteers, journalists, and soldiers, who all often use Kramatorsk as a base of operations in Donetsk Oblast.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported shortly after the attack that it had detained a local man for reportedly helping target the strike.

The man was reportedly in charge of finding out whether the restaurant was working and whether it was busy. The restaurant was full of civilians at the time of the attack.

The well-known writer Victoria Amelina was seriously injured in the strike and later died in the hospital.

Amelina was one of Ukraine's most popular young writers. Her work has been translated into numerous languages, including English, Polish, Italian, Spanish, German, Croatian, Dutch, Czech, and Hungarian.

She also founded the Niu-York Literature Festival in 2021, which took place in the front-line town of Niu-York in Donetsk Oblast. It was postponed in 2022 due to Russia's full-scale invasion.

Read also: Literature community commemorates Ukrainian writer killed by Russian attack

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A worker builds a trench as part of a system of new fortification lines near the Russian border in Chernihiv region

A worker builds a trench as part of a system of new fortification lines near the Russian border in Chernihiv region

By Anna Voitenko and Sergiy Chalyi

CHERNIHIV REGION, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine is working round the clock to build defensive fortifications to stop Russia's troops advancing any further 26 months into their full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian government has allocated $509 million this year to fortify both its border with Russia and the front line with Russian forces across its east and south; Prime Minister Denys Shmhyal promised $142 million more on Tuesday.

In Chernihiv region to the north of the capital Kyiv, dozens of Ukrainian workers installed metal reinforcements and attached poles and plastic sheeting along a trench wall late last month while a digger cleared earth nearby.

"A bit further ahead is another line made up of 'dragon's teeth', pyramidal obstacles to stop military hardware," contractor Yuri Ilyashek said, describing the three-layered fortifications.

"And further still is the so-called anti-tank trench, very deep and very wide, hundreds of metres long."

Russian troops poured across the nearby border in February 2022, bearing down on Kyiv before being beaten back. The area has since been regularly shelled.

With Russian forces pushing hard in the east and vital U.S. military aid held up by months of Republican resistance in Congress, the urgency has mounted.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Russia may plan to mount a new offensive this spring or summer.

Ukraine has put down 100,000 "dragon's teeth" as part of defences stretching 2,000 km which allow for future advances, Oleksiy Kuleba, a deputy head of Zelenskiy's office who is overseeing the fortifications, told Reuters.

"The situation is dynamic. There will always be the need to reinforce, build additional fortifications or change them. Work will continue and go on even after our victory," he said.

In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, one of the hottest front line sectors, work goes on around the clock.

"Drones sent by the aggressor keep flying over us," said Maksym, an engineer and building inspector, as a crane lifts reinforced concrete into place and workers strip bark off logs.

"But we keep building. There is no other way."

(Additional reporting by Olena Harmash and Anna Dabrowska; Writing by Ron Popeski; editing by Tom Balmforth and Philippa Fletcher)
Ukrainian strikes have taken out at least 10% of Russia's oil refining capacity  NATO assessment

NATO believes that Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia's oil refining infrastructure have significantly affected Russia's fuel market and incurred additional financial costs.

Source: European Pravdas correspondent from Brussels, citing a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity

Details: The source noted that Russia significantly increased its petrol imports from Belarus in March and has imposed a six-month ban on petrol exports to stabilise domestic prices. In addition, Moscow has not ruled out increasing crude oil exports, as it cannot refine it in sufficient quantities.

"The strikes have likely taken out over 10% of Russia's refining capacity, possibly over 15%. And depending on the extent of the damage, repairs could take a considerable time and involve considerable costs," the NATO official added.

The source also pointed out that some of the Ukrainian drone strikes have been conducted at a distance of over 1,000 km, underscoring the scale of the attacks.

"I believe that in the future, fewer and fewer of these Russian energy infrastructure facilities will be protected from potential attacks, and the Russian economy will be increasingly affected in this area," the source concluded.

Background:

Earlier, Reuters reported that Russian oil companies are having difficulty repairing refineries due to Western sanctions, and Ukrainian drone attacks may exacerbate these issues.

The US Department of State has refused to comment on whether the US had urged Ukraine not to attack Russian refineries but noted that Washington does not support strikes on facilities in Russia.

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Ukrenergo: Russia targeted solar power plant in Ukraine's rear for the first time

Russian forces carried out a targeted attack on a solar power plant in Ukraine's rear for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukraine's state grid operator Ukrenergo, said at a press conference on April 4.

Moscow has recently intensified its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, launching large-scale attacks on energy facilities across the country. Over the past month, Russian forces reportedly launched over 400 missiles and 600 Shahed-type drones.

"Yesterday (on April 3), the enemy targeted a solar power plant. This is the first case, at least in my memory, of a targeted attack on a renewable energy facility," Kudrytskyi said, without disclosing the location of the solar power plant.

Kudrytskyi said that there is no acute shortage in the power system, as total electricity consumption is falling due to the warm weather. There is a seasonal increase in production at solar power plants, according to Kudrytskyi.

Read also: Russia aims to knock out Ukraines power grid in new wave of attacks

In March, Russian attacks reportedly damaged or completely destroyed 80% of the thermal generating capacity of DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company.

Russia's March 22 strike destroyed the Zmiiv Thermal Power Plant, which is among the largest in Kharkiv Oblast, according to the state-owned energy company Centrenergo.

Recent attacks also damaged all power units of the Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and the Ladyzhyn Thermal Power Plant in Vinnytsia Oblast.

Among Moscow's other targets in March were the Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant in Cherkasy Oblast, the Dnister Hydroelectric Power Plant in Chernivtsi Oblast, and Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant.

The Hydroelectric Power Station-2 (HPS-2), one of the two stations of the latter, is in critical condition following the attack. The dam itself suffered damage as well, but officials said that there was no risk of a breach.

Read also: Mayor: Russia destroys almost all energy infrastructure in Kharkiv

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The United Nations Human Rights Council voted Thursday to adopt a first-of-its-kind initiative protecting the rights of intersex people.

Twenty-four countries voted in favor of the draft resolution, which calls on states to enhance efforts to combat discrimination, violence and harmful practices against individuals born intersex, defined as having sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.

Twenty-three countries abstained from voting, and none voted against the resolution.

Intersex people face significant prejudice tied to their identity, and discrimination and mistreatment often begins early in life, with intersex infants commonly subjected to medical interventions intended to conform their bodies to a gender binary. Experts estimate that up to 1.7 percent of the population is born with intersex traits.

Thursdays draft resolution expresses grave concern about harmful practices faced by intersex people, including medically unnecessary or deferrable interventions that are performed without the full, free and informed consent of the person.

It also requests that the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights prepare a report examining in detail discriminatory laws and policies, acts of violence and harmful practices against persons with innate variations in sex characteristics, in all regions of the world as well as best practice solutions.

The resolution before us is a testament to the international communitys commitment to addressing and mitigating the challenges faced by intersex individuals, ensuring their rights are respected and protected, U.S. Ambassador Michele Taylor said ahead of Thursdays vote. It underscores the necessity of a human rights-respecting approach, avoiding language that pathologizes and stigmatizes, and instead advocates for the autonomy, dignity and equality that all persons regardless of their sex characteristics deserve.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
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. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like Burger Fuel Group (NZSE:BFG). While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.

View our latest analysis for Burger Fuel Group

How Quickly Is Burger Fuel Group Increasing Earnings Per Share?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. So it makes sense that experienced investors pay close attention to company EPS when undertaking investment research. To the delight of shareholders, Burger Fuel Group has achieved impressive annual EPS growth of 46%, compound, over the last three years. That sort of growth rarely ever lasts long, but it is well worth paying attention to when it happens.

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. Burger Fuel Group maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 19% to NZ$25m. That's progress.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.

Burger Fuel Group isn't a huge company, given its market capitalisation of NZ$17m. That makes it extra important to check on its balance sheet strength.

Are Burger Fuel Group Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Investors are always searching for a vote of confidence in the companies they hold and insider buying is one of the key indicators for optimism on the market. Because often, the purchase of stock is a sign that the buyer views it as undervalued. Of course, we can never be sure what insiders are thinking, we can only judge their actions.

The good news for Burger Fuel Group shareholders is that no insiders reported selling shares in the last year. Add in the fact that Christopher Mason, the company insider of the company, paid NZ$29k for shares at around NZ$0.30 each. Purchases like this can help the investors understand the views of the management team; in which case they see some potential in Burger Fuel Group.

Story continues

On top of the insider buying, we can also see that Burger Fuel Group insiders own a large chunk of the company. In fact, they own 66% of the company, so they will share in the same delights and challenges experienced by the ordinary shareholders. This makes it apparent they will be incentivised to plan for the long term - a positive for shareholders with a sit and hold strategy. Of course, Burger Fuel Group is a very small company, with a market cap of only NZ$17m. So this large proportion of shares owned by insiders only amounts to NZ$11m. That might not be a huge sum but it should be enough to keep insiders motivated!

Is Burger Fuel Group Worth Keeping An Eye On?

Burger Fuel Group's earnings per share growth have been climbing higher at an appreciable rate. The icing on the cake is that insiders own a large chunk of the company and one has even been buying more shares. These factors seem to indicate the company's potential and that it has reached an inflection point. We'd suggest Burger Fuel Group belongs near the top of your watchlist. You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Burger Fuel Group you should be aware of.

Keen growth investors love to see insider buying. Thankfully, Burger Fuel Group isn't the only one. You can see a a curated list of New Zealander companies which have exhibited consistent growth accompanied by recent insider buying.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  University of North Carolina at Charlotte administrators are condemning a resolution from the Student Government Association tied to the Israel-Hamas war.

SGA members passed a measure on March 29 calling for the university to stop funding an archaeological research project in Israel until there is a ceasefire.

University leaders sent Queen City News a statement in response.

Student Government Association leadership has been counseled several times on the Universitys commitment to maintain institutional neutrality and encouraged to consider that in their requests of administrators. This SGA resolution does not align with that commitment and will not be acted upon by the administration. Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa SGA plays an important role in the life of the University, and the University supports the rights of its students, individually and collectively, to freely express themselves. In doing so, however, they neither speak for nor represent the position of UNC Charlotte. UNC Charlotte embraces different perspectives and promotes civil discourse, including and especially around difficult issues. The University is committed to fostering those conversations in a manner that affords respect, fairness, and dignity to every member of the campus community, and will immediately address any actions that compromise its ability to provide a safe environment to learn, live, and work.

A law went into effect in July 2023 instructing UNC system institutions not to take sides in political controversies.

Several student groups argue the funding of a license for a dig site in Israel violates that neutrality.

Their actions speak otherwise. And I think that if they truly are neutral, they shouldnt be funding other governments, especially not Israel, said a member of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa (SJ4SWANA).

Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa

Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa





Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa

Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa

The social justice group aligned itself with the Revolutionary Student Front of UNC Charlotte and other student organizations to petition the SGA to take action against any university involvement in Israel.

The petition garnered 541 signatures as of April 3 and received support from 14 student organizations.

SJ4SWANA members requested to keep their identities confidential for fear of harassment over their beliefs.

They said theyre troubled by not only the Mount Zion project but by how little knowledge is currently available to the public about it. The web page featuring the details of the excavation work has been archived or deleted.

Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa

Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa

Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa

Were just trying to drive home the point of there is no transparency between the university thats meant to represent us students and us as the student body, said another member of SJ4SWANA.

Queen City News reached out to the faculty co-chairs of the Mount Zion project but did not receive a response.

SGAs Israel Divestment Resolution included several articles.

The SGA will officially recognize the genocide being committed by the State of Israel with western backing in Gaza as just that: a genocide. The SGA will call for the University of North Carolina at Charlottes total divestment of funds from the State of Israel until at least the time in which the State of Israel arranges a ceasefire in Gaza and there are proper measures in place to hold the State of Israel and other party actors accountable for their role in the Palestinian genocide. The SGA will condemn the University of North Carolina at Charlottes prior investments into the State of Israel, such as those in the Mount Zion Archaeological Project including its licensing from the Israel Antiquities Authority, and acknowledge these investments contribution to the displacement and genocide of the people of Gaza. The SGA will call for complete and total transparency from the Board of Trustees concerning their prior and existing investments into the State of Israel.

The resolution passed 19-0, but one SGA senator abstained.

We cant necessarily demand things from the university, to divest from a research project when were trying to become one of the top research universities in the country, said freshman and SGA senator Matthew Kingsley.

Kingsley said he does not speak for the entirety of the SGA. He said he felt he was the only member advocating for neutrality throughout the discussion.

I kept saying, Im sympathetic of what towards whats going on there. Theres a lot of death. You cant not be sad about that. But I believe that our job as SGA is to remain apolitical, Kingsley said.

Cant hide: Driver of Corvette Z06 seen taunting police on social media arrested; car, guns, large amount of drugs seized

SJ4SWANA members said the university leasing land and having economic interests in a county are reason enough to break the neutrality.

We say that is not a political issue, this is more of a humanitarian crisis and it needs to be looked at as a humanitarian crisis, they said.

A UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for April 25. Students said they plan to attend to ensure the board addresses their concerns.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Why would you ever take an entire course on trauma?

That was the question I asked my students last year at the beginning of a semester-long, waitlisted class on the most distressing type of psychic pain. Were they aspiring psychologists or social workers? Had they themselves been traumatized? Were they searching for tools to deal with catastrophe? Or had they just been intrigued by the topic?

I braced myself for their answers and was shocked that, to a person, they all responded the exact same way:

The course fulfilled a graduation requirement.

Accordingly, I was less surprised this year when I heard the same reply from participants in a very different (also full) course I taught on the philosophy of charity: They needed it for their degree.

Im seeing this attitude more and more at the college where I teach, Boston University: Electives as you might remember them are out. Matthew Bae, a director of academic advising at BU, says he sees not more than one or two students a semester sign up for a course merely because theyre interested. Students taking pure electives are the exception, not the rule, Bae said, and I always remember them because theyre so rare they stand out.

If students cant figure out what the immediate use value of a course is, they wont take it. And so far as I can tell, this utilitarian approach is directly related to the rising costs of college.

Or perhaps I should say skyrocketing costs. Because, as the Boston Globe reported last week, four top New England universitiesTufts, Wellesley, Yale, and BUwill cost an unconscionable $90,000 a year next fall. Northeastern and MIT arent far behind. That means that the price tag for an undergraduate education at these institutions is about to push past a third of a million dollars.

These universities will say that such numbers are sticker pricesand that financial aid packages ease the burden. (Asked for comment on the price increase, a BU spokesperson made that argument to a local news outlet, adding that the average aid package at the school was $67,000 in 202324.) But a 2023 survey by Sallie Mae indicates that students across the country still shoulder, on average, 71 percent of costs through family contributions and loans.

The effects of this trend are manifold. Recent surveys suggest that one of these is increasing student anxiety. According to a 2022 poll, 68 percent of undergraduates say that it is a struggle for them or their families to pay for college; another indicates that a whopping 92 percent of students fear they wont have enough money to cover tuition. No wonder stress and worry are a daily struggle for the broad majority of college students.

And another effect, while less visible, is no less pernicious. Because 78 percent of students believe that the price is worth it anywaybut only so long as it leads to financial independence. In other words, a university education better pay.

This is the brute logic of economics, which encourages students to see each course as a product that should earn a short-term return on investment. And this same logic is keeping students from doing the most important thing college lets them do: intellectually explore.

When I graduated from university, about 25 years ago, the entire price tag for my degree was around $50,000a shade over the cost of one semester at BU these days. That was no small sum for my firmly middle-class family, even minus the scholarship money I was able to scrape together, but it also wasnt a backbreaking expense.

So, while I felt appropriately motivated to find a major, get a degree, and graduate, I could also afford to look around a bit. I enrolled in electives in anthropology, astronomy, and urban planning, and I did so not because I wanted to secure a return on investmentthey just sounded really interesting. And they were! I still remember what I learned about ethnographic methods, the Drake equation, and buffer zones, and Im the better for it.

It turns out that my experience wasnt out of the norm. As Robert Elliott and Valerie Paton point out, college curricula that encourage students to follow their interests trace their origins back to the elective system put in place in the late 19th century by Harvard President Charles W. Eliot. Eliots reforms encouraged freedom of inquiry and liberated students from the rigid requirements of a common core, and, Elliott and Paton argue, their influence has persisted into the modern era. To wit, former Brown Dean Katherine Bergeron notes (citing Derek Bok) that at the turn of the 20th century, curricula in more than one third of Americas colleges were at least 70 percent elective.

For 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill, this kind of free exploration was one of the most important purposes of higher education. He wrote that a mind to which the fountains of knowledge have been opened, and which has been taught, in any tolerable degree, to exercise its facultiesfinds sources of inexhaustible interest in all that surrounds it, in the objects of nature, the achievements of art, the imaginations of poetry, the incidents of history, the ways of mankind past and present.

In other words, a college experience that allows students to engage in a wide-ranging pursuit of knowledge, liberated from economic pressures, turns the world into a buffet of intellectual pleasures. And its one that treats the student as something more than a cog in a giant capitalist machine.

But for Mill, the capacity to appreciate that buffet is a very tender plant, easily killed, not only by hostile influences, but by mere want of sustenance. In jacking up tuition costs, American universities are in the process of killing that tender plant. And the costs wont be just economic. As prices rise, elite institutions risk turning themselves into high-priced vocational schools for the professional managerial classand shunting students away from the most valuable part of college.
Hundreds of inmates die in Pennsylvanias state prisons and county jails, but oversight is superficial at best.

Deaths in custody rose from 171 in 2019 to 239 in 2020 in state prisons, and 56 prisoners died in county jails in 2020, a two-decade high in Pennsylvania. And numbers could be higher  reporting requirements for both institutions are weak.

The comprehensive reporting of deaths in custody provides a critical tool for accountability, Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, D-Norristown, said during a Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing on what senators called a public health crisis of inmate deaths.

Though state and federal laws require death reporting, critics note that jails and prisons go unpunished when theyre uncooperative.

Our data is spotty at best on who is dying in our jails and prisons, how they are dying, and even the most basic statistic: the number of people who die there, PennLive Investigative and Enterprise Reporter Joshua Vaughn said. People are dying nearly every single day in our jails and prisons as a result of our policies and in our names.

Vaughn and PennLive colleague Brittany Hailer have found dozens of hidden deaths in custody within Pennsylvanias prison system. Officials have released prisoners to avoid the reporting requirement and documents dont always qualify as public records.

Only 40 of 65 deaths in custody in 2022, he noted, were properly reported to the federal government.

In 2022, he noted, 40% of deaths in county jails were suicides. About one-third of deaths were natural, though many of those deaths were tied to a lack of medical care.

We count what we care about, Vaughn said. Theres a lot of unknown unknowns  we dont know what were missing here.

Robert Mitchell, director of the Center of Excellence for Trauma and Violence Prevention at Howard University, encouraged lawmakers to create a death in custody review committee with the authority to review deaths and recommend policies.

Jay Aronson, director of the Center for Human Rights Science at Carnegie Mellon University, echoed Mitchell.

Without effective oversight and scrutiny, prisons and jails become death chambers for people never sentenced to death, he said.

Some problems come from staffing shortages in county jails, Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas warned.

Staffing is really challenging, he said. When were on constant lockdowns because were 60 correctional officers down, people dont go outside or get gym time.

Nor is Dauphin County alone. In a survey sent out by the Pennsylvania Prison Society, 17 of 36 counties that replied were down 10% or more in staffing. And five of them  Philadelphia, Chester, Armstrong, Bradford and Clinton  were down 40% or more.

Beyond worker shortages, deaths in jails and prisons are a low priority.

More money in America goes toward tracking Amazon packages tracking prisoner deaths, Pennsylvania Prison Society Executive Director Claire Shubik-Richards said.

Since 2020, seven people have been murdered in the custody of the (Philadelphia) jail, she said. To put that in context, prior to 2020, there were no homicides for the previous three years, and if we go back five years, there was one. Something is happening now that was not happening before.

Cappelletti has introduced legislation, Senate Bill 996, that would require correctional facilities to report a death in custody within 30 days to the attorney general or face a misdemeanor and noncompliance fines.

Without better reporting, legislators are left in a fog.

We dont know how to identify problems across every county, Sen. Katie Muth, D-Royersford, said.
Emergency workers were searching Thursday for dozens of people still missing after Taiwan was hit by its strongest earthquake in decades. At least 10 people have been confirmed killed by the 7.4 magnitude temblor that struck as people headed to work on Wednesday.

Serious damage has been reported all around the island, and intense rescue efforts were still underway to find those missing.

Dashcam video captured the harrowing moments when boulders came crashing down a steep mountainside onto a highway, plowing into one car and prompting other drivers to beat a hasty retreat from the area.



More than 1,000 people were injured by the quake and, as of Thursday, more than 100 were still listed as missing across the mountainous island.

Rescue teams demolish a severely damaged building following an earthquake, April 4, 2024, in Hualien, Taiwan. / Credit: ANNABELLE CHIH/Getty

In one remote valley, a drone spotted a group of miners who were left stranded on a cliff when the quake sparked landslides that wiped out all the roads.

CBS News partner network BBC News was at the epicenter of the quake zone, where locals told correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes they were worried an aftershock could completely topple one building left leaning at about a 45-degree angle by the temblor.

Workers were busy trying to reinforce the base to stabilize it even as rescuers carefully searched the building for any survivors.

Emergency personnel stand in front of a partially collapsed building, leaning over a street in Hualien, Taiwan, April 3, 2024, after a major earthquake hit the island. / Credit: SAM YEH/AFP/Getty

The earthquake struck right as children were starting their school day, including American Kevin Geiger's 8-year-old daughter.



"The teachers said, 'go under the table, under the table!'" Claire said of her dramatic morning.

"I was really happy that she was being calm and, not to freak out," her father said.

Taiwan was still feeling aftershocks on Thursday, but Claire told CBS News she wasn't scared, because her school taught her what to do.

White House cancels iftar dinner after meeting with Muslim community leaders

Missy Testerman, a teacher for over 30 years, is the National Teacher of the Year

Jose Andres says slain World Central Kitchen workers were targeted "systematically, car by car"
The Legitimacy of Drone Warfare

By U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Lushenko and Shyam Raman

Routledge, 2024

Drone swarms are about to change the balance of military power. Ukraine launches far-ranging drone attacks on the final day of Russias presidential vote. U.S. drone strike in Baghdad kills high-ranking militia leader linked to attacks on American troops. Three U.S. troops killed and dozens injured in drone attack in Jordan.

Each day these days brings news of drone warfare by state and non-state combatants in various operational theaters.

Yet prior to Russias invasion of Ukraine, Hamas invasion of Israel, and the Houthis maritime terrorism, most news of drone warfare consisted of asymmetric drone strikes by the United States targeting individual combatants in the global war on terrorism.

For example, just over four years ago the United States killed Qasem Soleimani by Hellfire missiles fired from an MQ-9 Reaper. The Reaper is a remotely-piloted drone that can carry a payload as well as be used solely for reconnaissance and related non-kinetic purposes. Soleimani had been commander of the Quds Force, the part of Irans Revolutionary Guard with responsibility for international operations that resulted in attributable deaths of American service members. Soleimani also was aligned with Hezbollah, an international terrorist organization based in Lebanon.

Similarly, nearly two years ago the United States killed Ayman al-Zawahari also with Hellfire missiles fired from a Reaper into the house where Zawahari then was living in Kabul, Afghanistan. Zawahari had been a deputy to Osama bin Laden, helped plan the 9/11 attacks, and assumed leadership of al-Qaida after bin Laden was killed in May 2011. Zawahari had been on the FBIs Most Wanted Terrorist List for years.

In both instances, the strikes were widely reported yet, once known, not necessarily widely supported.

In the short period of time between the Zawahari drone strike and today, drone warfare has, well, exploded. What used to be an emerging and limited method of delivering kinetic effects is rapidly becoming established and ubiquitous across conflict zones.

With many advances in technology, deployment and use sometimes can outpace broader societal deliberation and considered judgment about whether and how to deploy and use.

When it comes to technological advances in projecting military force, at least in the United States with its tradition of civilian authority for and control over the military, accounting for public support is critical to determining kinetic options. Political will as measured by public support for or opposition to action can create and limit those options. Plus, insofar as the United States continues to embrace its indispensable role shaping a rules-based global order (as it should), global governance of drone warfare is likely to be heavily influenced by U.S. and western allied public opinion.

Thats why a new book by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Lushenko and economics professor Shyam Raman is so invaluable.

In The Legitimacy of Drone Warfare: Evaluating Public Perceptions, Lushenko and Raman break new ground in analyzing public attitudes about drone warfare, providing unique insights that should guide practitioners, policy-makers, researchers, and civil society in this most modern way of war.

Lushenko is an Assistant Professor and Director of Special Operations at the U.S. Army War College. Raman is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Williams College. They met at Cornell, where Lushenko earned a PhD, and their book is an outgrowth of that meeting.

Together, they bring to bear empirical methods to understand public attitudes about drone warfare in the United States, France, and comparatively more broadly.

How, for example, do Americans view drone strikes that cross territorial boundaries and deliver force inside another nations borders? Does multilateral support for such strikes matter or are there other factors that are more likely to determine domestic perceptions of legitimacy? What are differences in public perceptions among allied nations for conditions precedent to legitimate drone strikes? How might answers to these and other questions inform military decision-makers when developing concepts of operations, or civilian authorities when deciding whether to authorize such operations, or international governing bodies when called upon to develop standards in line with law of war principles?

Its one thing to launch a Hellfire missile from a remotely-piloted drone at a Most Wanted terrorist combatant. Its another to launch drone swarms, as Elliott Ackerman and retired Admiral James Stavridis envision, to achieve security objectives. Perceptions of legitimacy of the former will directly inform perceived legitimacy of the latter.

With warfare on the verge of a technological leap that will result in ever more uncrewed, semi-autonomous, and even fully autonomous weapons-capable drones in arsenals of ever more state and non-state combatants, understanding Lushenkos and Ramans legitimacy findings and how to apply them will become equally ever more important.

Christopher Hunter is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tampa and a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida. He served in the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
LONDON, April 04, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Argon & Co, the global management consultancy that specialises in operations strategy and transformation, is delighted to announce it has been joined by Pebble Business Transformation, Ireland's leading specialist in Business Design and Transformation.

This move represents another step in Argon & Cos expansion strategy, building on its existing global strategy and transformation capability and enhancing its expertise and scale.

Based in Dublin, Pebble works closely with its clients to design and deliver strategic programmes using its proven methodology Transformation by Design.

Conor Duggan, co-founder of Pebble said, "As Irelands leading specialist in Business Design and Transformation, Pebble has consistently demonstrated the value of great business design for our clients. We are delighted to join Argon & Co where, together, our expanded capabilities, international presence and cross-sector expertise present a compelling offering for our clients and even greater career opportunities for our team."

Joe Hughes, co-founder of Pebble added, "At every interaction with Argon & Co, Ive felt that this is the perfect match for Pebble. Both companies have highly skilled and passionate teams who are committed to delivering sustainable results for our clients. The synergies between the two companies will turbo-charge our combined capabilities and help our clients to reach new heights."

Pebble has become Argon & Co's Dublin office, and its Partners, Conor Duggan, Joe Hughes and Regina Stapleton, have become Argon & Co Partners, maintaining their senior leadership roles.

Jean-Francois Laget, the Group Managing Director of Argon & Co, commented, "We look forward to expanding our footprint and developing a strong presence in Ireland. The Pebble team are experts in their field, with an impressive set of credentials. We are pleased that they have joined us and will be adding to the transformation strategy services that we offer around the world."

Argon & Co

Argon & Co is a global management consultancy that specialises in operations strategy and transformation. Its expertise spans supply chain planning, manufacturing, logistics, procurement, finance, and shared services, working together with clients to transform their businesses and generate real change. Its people are engaging to work with and trusted by clients to get the job done.

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The Biden administration has finalised a new set of regulations to prevent a future president from initiating a wholesale purge of the US civil service along the lines of what former president Donald Trump envisioned during the final months of his term.

The new rules, published in the Federal Register on Thursday and which would go into effect on 9 May, are meant to provide the 2.2 million nonpartisan civil servants who staff the executive branch with more defined protections that cannot be easily stripped away by presidential fiat.

They were inspired by an October 2020 executive order issued by Mr Trump which created a new category of federal employee known as Schedule F which encompassed anyone working in what the order described as confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions  a classification that had generally been reserved for the political appointees who come and go with each change in administration.

According to experts, this could have encompassed most of the non-partisan experts  scientists, doctors, lawyers, economists  who are supposed to advise and inform policymakers in a way that is fact-driven and devoid of politics. The order stripped most civil service protections from these employees, allowing them to be fired without cause.

Joe Biden rescinded Mr Trumps order as one of his first official acts after taking office, and he has repeatedly called for Congress to enact stronger civil service protections into law to prevent future presidents from attempting what Mr Trump tried to do with Schedule F.

But Mr Trump, who is currently the Republican Partys presumptive nominee in what is set to be a rematch of the 2020 presidential election against Mr Biden, has repeatedly vowed to revive the policy if he is returned to the White House next January.

In a 2022 speech to the right-wing America First Policy Institute, the ex-president said it must become much easier to fire rogue bureaucrats who are deliberately undermining democracy or at a minimum just want to keep their jobs.

Invoking the Schedule F order, he promised to use it to drain the swamp and root out the deep state in a second term.

Because Congress has not taken up legislation to prohibit such actions, the new Office of Personnel Management regulations are meant to fill in the gap by making it much more difficult for a future president to use a policy such as Schedule F to reclassify whole swaths of employees into more easily removable categories.

The regulations state that a federal workers civil service protections cant be removed by reclassifying them into a different personnel schedule and specifically classify employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making or policy-advocating positions as non-career political appointees  not civil servants.

It also establishes a process by which an employee whose position is reclassified into a non-career category can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent agency which hears disputes over possible violations of US civil service rules.

In a statement, Mr Biden said his administration was rolling out new protections for 2.2 million career civil servants from political interference for the purpose of ensuring that federal workers can carry out their responsibilities in the best interest of the American people.

He called the new regulations a step toward combatting corruption and partisan interference to ensure civil servants are able to focus on the most important task at hand: delivering for the American people.

Day in and day out, career civil servants provide the expertise and continuity necessary for our democracy to function. They provide Americans with life-saving and life-changing services and put opportunity within reach for millions. Thats why since taking office, I have worked to strengthen, empower, and rebuild our career workforce, he said.

Rob Shriver, the deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management, told reporters that officials are confident that our final rule is the best reading of civil service statutes and is grounded in the civil service in the statutory language, congressional intent, legislative history and decades of applicable case law and practice.

The rule is strong, it will help to ensure the rights employees earned as envisioned by Congress when it enacted the Civil Service Reform Act in 1978 and expanded and strengthened those protections through subsequent enactments, he said.

Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees  the largest labour union representing federal workers  also praised Mr Biden for issuing the new regulations in a statement of his own on Thursday.

President Bidens action reinforces and clarifies federal employees due process rights and civil service protections, strengthening the apolitical civil service and hampering efforts to return the government to a corrupt spoils system, he said.

Mr Kelley also warned that Mr Trump and other like-minded Republicans would support stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of their civil service rights and protections and turning them into at-will workers who could be hired or fired at any time for political reasons if returned to power.

He said their preferred course of action would undermine our democratic, nonpartisan government and take us back to the 19th century when civil servants were hired based on political loyalty rather than professional ability.

One reason for the stability of our federal government is the fact that federal employees continue doing their jobs and serving the American public even as political administrations come and go. Turning positions that demand technical expertise into political appointments filled based on partisan loyalty would undermine this fundamental tenet of our government and lead to chaos and corruption, he said.
The Wall Street Journal has learned that Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, a native of Ukraine, will not support the proposed US$60 billion aid package for Kyiv as she wants US President Joe Biden to provide a more straightforward strategy for US involvement in the war.

Source: European Pravda, citing The Wall Street Journal

Details: The newspaper reported that the Indiana Republican, who is one of the most colourful personalities in the House of Representatives, announced that she would not support the package recently passed by the Senate, which includes US$60 billion in aid to Ukraine, as well as funds for Israel and Taiwan.

The House is expected to vote on the supplemental funding for Ukraine in one form or another this spring.

Spartz's opposition to the bipartisan bill is a clear example of the divisions among the Republicans in Congress over further aid to Kyiv amid opposition from many GOP voters. Spartz has said in a range of interviews that she would like President Biden to come up with a clearer strategy for US involvement in the war and closer oversight of how assistance is spent. Similarly, she wants any aid sent to Ukraine to be on a loan basis and for the administration to pay more attention to domestic issues.

"I understand the importance of this battle and the implications if Russia is going to prevail, but Im also not very naive. If we dont have proper oversight, we are not going to achieve our goals," she added.

The congresswoman noted that voters in the Indianapolis suburb where Spartz lives oppose aid to Ukraine for the same reasons as on a national scale, reflecting pressure on incumbent Republicans.

Spartz was one of the first to actively advocate for Ukraine.

Nowadays, Spartz admits that she has largely drifted away from focusing on Ukraine.

Speaking out against the current proposal, Spartz indicated that she might back a package that included funding for weapons, additional oversight, and stricter security rules at the US border.

White House officials have briefed Spartz several times, including in December, where she and her fellow Republicans had the opportunity to ask senior administration officials about their concerns. They stated that Biden's support for Ukraine has bipartisan approval and that US officials continue to monitor the oversight of the aid.

Democrats indicated that they had initially hoped Spartz would play a more active role in trying to shore up Republican support for Ukraine aid. Military hawks regard the funds as a well-spent investment compared to the money and response that would be required from the US in the event of an escalation of the war.

"There was a sense that she would be one of the Republicans really willing to go out on a limb to help Ukraine. Unfortunately, we havent seen her harness her personal knowledge of the country and its politics to effectively rally Republicans," said Sara Jacobs (US Congresswoman, California), who visited Ukraine with Spartz a few weeks before Russia's invasion.

Additionally, Spartz's influence is somewhat restricted due to her not having close allies in Congress and her unpredictable behaviour. One Republican colleague described her arguments during GOP conferences as being so confusing that people often walk out when she starts speaking.

Spartz announced in February 2023 that she planned to resign from Congress, citing her desire to spend more time with her two daughters. But a year later, she changed her mind partly because she believed that none of the Republican candidates running for her seat were up to the task.

Background:

In July 2022, Spartz asked US President Joe Biden to provide an explanation of the oversight procedures related to Andrii Yermak, Head of the Ukrainian President's Office.

Later, in a sensational interview with European Pravda, the congresswoman highlighted the alleged obstacles to establishing oversight of US military aid to Ukraine.

Afterwards, the US, EU and NATO stated that they had no complaints about Ukraine's use of Western weapons, and the Ukrainian parliament supported the creation of a commission to oversee the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine.

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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks at the final press conference. Austin "expressed his outrage" at Israel's deadly attack on volunteers in the Gaza Strip in a conversation with his Israeli counterpart, an Austin spokesman said. Uwe Anspach/dpa

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "expressed his outrage" at Israel's deadly attack on volunteers in the Gaza Strip in a conversation with his Israeli counterpart, an Austin spokesman said.

During the phone call with Yoav Gallant, Austin "stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups," US Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder said late Wednesday.

Austin urged Gallant "to conduct a swift and transparent investigation" into the deadly incident, in which seven employees of the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed on Monday. He called for the results to be shared publicly and those responsible to be held accountable.

The tragic incident has deepened concerns about a potential Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Austin told his counterpart. He emphasized the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the import of humanitarian aid.

Austin also reaffirmed US support for Israel's defence against a range of regional threats.

Gallant's office said that the Israeli defence minister had stressed during the talks that a thorough investigation into the tragic incident was already under way. The results will be shared with allies and lessons learnt will be implemented, it said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks at the final press conference. Austin "expressed his outrage" at Israel's deadly attack on volunteers in the Gaza Strip in a conversation with his Israeli counterpart, an Austin spokesman said. Uwe Anspach/dpa

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "expressed his outrage" at Israel's deadly attack on volunteers in the Gaza Strip in a conversation with his Israeli counterpart, an Austin spokesman said.

During the phone call with Yoav Gallant, Austin "stressed the need to immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups," US Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder said late Wednesday.

Austin urged Gallant "to conduct a swift and transparent investigation" into the deadly incident, in which seven employees of the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed on Monday. He called for the results to be shared publicly and those responsible to be held accountable.

The tragic incident has deepened concerns about a potential Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Austin told his counterpart. He emphasized the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the import of humanitarian aid.

Austin also reaffirmed US support for Israel's defence against a range of regional threats.

Gallant's office said that the Israeli defence minister had stressed during the talks that a thorough investigation into the tragic incident was already under way. The results will be shared with allies and lessons learnt will be implemented, it said.

Gallant reiterated his regret over the deaths of the volunteers and expressed his condolences to the families. He also said that Israel wanted to work closely with partner countries and aid organizations to ensure the import and distribution of aid to the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli defence minister also spoke with Austin about plans to expand the war against the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, with the aim of destroying its remaining battalions and military capabilities.

The hostage issue and the threat to Israel from Iran and its allies were also discussed.
Today were going to discuss fighting Russian submarines using surface combatant warships of the US and Royal Navies: destroyers and frigates, mostly.

The difference between a frigate and a destroyer is a tricky subject. Once upon a time, destroyer was short for torpedo boat destroyer: then destroyers took on the work of torpedo boats themselves. During that period the frigates of the days of sail were supplanted by cruisers  the sailing frigates had sometimes been given that name  and then new, smaller frigates appeared alongside the destroyers. Both classes then increased in size to the point where they are now as big as some cruisers of old. Definitions now differ depending on where you are in the world. Sometimes the distinction is based on size, sometimes on capability, and sometimes derived from a political requirement.

Let me be clear at least what the words mean in the Royal Navy. A frigate specialises in anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and a destroyer in anti-air warfare (AAW).

Confusingly, as escorts (the collective term for both types) get bigger and are fitted with highly flexible missile launchers such as the Mk41 Vertical Launch System there is an increased tendency for ships to be able to dabble in both, a flexibility that used to be the domain of cruisers.

Meanwhile in the modern day things are changing. The old Type 42 destroyers of the Royal Navy had sharply limited anti-submarine capability. Likewise, our early Type 23 Frigates had very limited air defence capability. However, the more recent Arleigh Burke destroyers of the US Navy, whilst undoubtedly AAW specialists (and few better) now have a decent ASW capability.

On the other side of the coin, recently refitted Royal Navy Type 23 frigates now have longer range, much more reliable AA missiles than their forebears and a very capable radar allowing them to do limited area/fleet air defence. HMS Richmond in the southern Red Sea has done just this recently to good effect, although HMS Diamond, a destroyer, on arriving back there would have been quick to point out that the big guns are now back in town. Camaraderie-centred banter/abuse is never far away in the services.

Warship design is a never-ending compromise between size, speed, manoeuvrability, resilience, capability, weapon systems, sensors and crew numbers. It is nearly impossible for a ship to do all of it without costing a huge fortune  indeed it will probably cost at least a medium fortune anyway  so as a country you have to decide: do you want a few exquisite multi-use platforms or larger numbers of (usually smaller) ships focused mainly on one task?

Needless to say, what is actually needed in war-fighting terms for the next thirty years often features quite late in that conversation.

Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carney in action against Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea recently. Arleigh Burke destroyers are some of the best air defence warships in the world - Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau/US Navy

All of which made the US Navys now fairly longstanding decision to do away with frigates in toto an interesting one. The most recent US frigate class was the Oliver Hazard Perry but when they decommissioned the last of 51 of them in 2015 that was it. You can see the thinking. The Arleigh Burke destroyer is a capable and well-armed ASW warship, and they have so many other ASW-capable air assets, strategic sensors and of course nuclear-powered attack submarines, they can do without bespoke ASW surface warships. Perhaps there was a little bit of peace-dividend thinking in there as well, or maybe they just prefer the word destroyer  I dont know, but the US Navys specialist surface ASW platform was no more.

Im confident this was a mistake nonetheless because about 10 years ago I was the captain of a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate working with a US carrier strike group during an exercise in the Gulf of Oman. The enemy of the day was a Royal Navy Trafalgar class nuclear hunter-killer submarine and, as you would expect, she was a handful.

Such was my ships advantage within the task group in this sphere, over the weeks of the exercise my role morphed from providing ASW support to local ASW commander to ASW commander for the whole group with the US admiral making it pretty clear in the debrief that if this turned real, that would be our job. I had a one-on-one with him at the end and trotted out some pre-prepared lines about how exciting it was that the Royal Navys then brand-new Type 45 destroyer was soon coming East of Suez. He interrupted me, saying: look at my task group, does it look like I need more destroyers?

He got it.

There are four reasons a frigate, and in particular the Type 23 (and hopefully the Type 26s and US Constellations currently being built) do ASW better than the mighty Arleigh Burke.

First, the sonar. A Type 23 has a variable depth, low-frequency active sonar which can be operated above and below the various temperature and salinity layers that the sneaky submariner will otherwise use for concealment. Burkes only have a bow-mounted sonar. It is powerful (more so than the one fitted to the Type 23, in fact) but its inherently limited because it is stuck at sea level.

Second, there is the design compromise between speed and stealth. Arleigh Burkes have seven gas turbines in total which enables them to achieve a top speed a frigate can only dream of, but they make hell of a racket underwater as a result. The Type 23 can shut down its turbines and engage electric propulsion mode powered by raft-mounted diesels, and become an acoustic black hole by comparison  especially when running in Ultra Quiet where all non-essential equipment (and people) are switched off. This is playing the submariners at their own game, and they do not like it.

Third, the helicopter. The RNs Merlin ASW helicopter, while getting a little long in the tooth now, remains a first-rate ASW system. On deck, its a thirteen-ton pain in the backside. Getting it into the sky isnt always simple  it lacks the power to hover out of ground effect with a full load  but once airborne, its like having another frigate in the air. It has a better dipping sonar than the US equivalent and Merlin aviators are granted more authority to operate autonomously rather than having to defer back to the ship all the time. And they are very good at it. A submariner friend of mine still jokes about the time I chased him all around the west coast of Scotland with my big chopper. The USN do operate two helos per ship, which helps, but in raw ASW terms the Merlin is still world-leading.

There is one thing I should mention, however, where the Arleigh Burke (or any other Mk41 VLS ship) has an advantage over the Type 23. This is the fact that some of the destroyers 90-plus vertical launch cells will have Anti-Submarine Rockets (ASROC missiles) in them. An ASROC carries a Mark 54 homing anti-submarine torpedo very quickly to anywhere within say 12 miles of the ship and drops the torpedo into the water, where it starts looking for a submarine to kill.

Normally, on developing an idea where an enemy sub may be and wishing to sink it, we drop torpedoes from the helicopter. But it is comforting, as a warship captain, to be able to take a shot yourself. This also stops the submariner wanting to get too near you.

HMS Portland fires an exercise torpedo from her Magazine Torpedo Launching System - Royal Navy

The Type 23 does have the Magazine Torpedo Launch System, which enabled me to lob a torpedo straight into the water next to the ship. Thats a lot, lot better than nothing (as many warships have) and I found it a comfort. But Im a big fan of ASROC and it is one of the things an Arleigh Burke has that I envied.

Moving on, much of ASW depends on how and where you are operating. A singleton frigate up north looking for a Russian nuclear submarine is a different proposition to one operating as part of a carrier strike group in the Indo-Pacific. Task Group operations lessen the need for dedicated frigates to have ASW helicopters because you can operate them from the stability of a large deck, either the carrier itself or a Fleet Auxiliary. From a logistics and support perspective putting all your helos of the same type in one (big) ship makes sense. From an operational, flexibility and redundancy perspective it does not. These are fine margins as ever, but in fighting terms, a frigate without a Merlin onboard is only half a frigate.

Fourth, and perhaps the most important, is the mindset. A frigate excels at ASW because that is the day job. Its in the DNA of the team onboard. A destroyer that does a bit of ASW, or even an aircraft carrier with ASW helicopters embarked will not allocate the same effort or focus to it  they will be busy doing their core tasks  and ASW is not something you can half-do. For the submarines you are up against, it is their life. It needs to be yours as well if you are to stand a chance.

Thankfully the USN recognised this gap in 2017 when it was announced that the service would build a new frigate. Named the Constellation class it is to be capable of operating in both blue water (mid-ocean) and littoral (near-shore) areas, and capable of operating either independently (when that is appropriate for their assigned missions) or as part of larger Navy formations. Numbers are yet to be confirmed, but at least 20 is the answer for now.

This matters because Russian, Chinese, and North Korean build programmes and the proliferation of underwater drones demand that as many friendly countries as possible be committed to ASW. At the end of the Cold War, the Royal Navy had 32 frigates and the US Navy 52. We Brits were spending 4-5 per cent of GDP on defence. Today those numbers are 11 (on a good day), zero and (a false) 2 per cent.

The Constellation class is having its troubles, but it is good to see the worlds most powerful navy avoiding the beauty-over-numbers trap and recognising the need for smaller, focused capability warships that are still war-resilient (i.e. not Littoral Combat ships) but dont cost $3 billion a shot. The sooner we see the USS Constellation and the Royal Navys Type 26 Frigate on operations, the better.

Tom Sharpe is a former Royal Navy officer. He commanded four different RN warships, including the Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans, in which he operated against Russian submarines in the Greeenland-Iceland-UK Gap

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Russian oil companies are experiencing difficulties repairing refineries due to Western sanctions, and attacks by Ukrainian drones may exacerbate their problems.

Source: European Pravda; Reuters

When engineers at Russian oil company Lukoil discovered a turbine failure at its largest refinery on 4 January, they quickly realised that the problem was far from trivial, Reuters says.

Only one company knew how to repair the gasoline production unit at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery (NORSI), located on the Volga River. The problem was that the company was an American one, according to five sources familiar with the incident.

The company, engaged in oil engineering and part of the multinational concern UOP, left Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

"They (the engineers) rushed around to find spare parts and they couldn't find anything. Then the whole unit just stopped," a source close to Lukoil said.

Four other sources said the catalytic cracker, which is used to convert heavy hydrocarbons into gasoline, has not been operational since January, and it is unclear when it could be repaired due to a lack of experience in Russia.

The KK-1 unit is one of two catalytic crackers at the plant.

As a result, the NORSI oil refinery, Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery, has cut gasoline production by 40%, according to two sources. Lukoil did not respond to requests for comment.

The Lukoil oil refinery is an example of broader problems in Russia's energy sector, where some oil companies are trying to repair their plants, built with the help of American and European engineering companies, in the face of Western sanctions.

Difficulties have been exacerbated by attacks by Ukrainian drones that have hit at least a dozen Russian refineries this year, industry sources say. Reuters estimates that these attacks forced Russian oil refineries to close about 14% of their capacity in the first quarter.

"If the stream of drones continues at this rate and Russian air defences don't improve, Ukraine will be able to cut Russian refining runs quicker than Russian firms will be able to repair them," said Sergey Vakulenko, a Russian energy expert and non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank on international relations.

Background:

Earlier, the State Department declined to comment on whether the United States called on Ukraine not to attack Russian oil refineries but noted that Washington does not support attacks on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Before that, the Financial Times, citing sources, reported that the United States allegedly called on Kyiv not to attack Russian refineries and other energy infrastructure, as they fear that this could lead to an even greater escalation and lead to a global increase in energy prices.

Commenting on this publication, Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, said that the approach associated with attacks on Russian refineries would be considered correct by NATO standards.

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For a few hours Tuesday, after a Missouri House committee passed a contentious boarding school bill, dozens of former students flooded Aralysa Bakers phone with texts, messages and calls.

They were confused, she said, about what the bill would do and why lawmakers would take up a measure critics said could wipe out some good thats been done to hold unlicensed boarding schools accountable.

This is scary  it has all of us shaken, said Baker, who from 2005 to 2007 attended Lighthouse Christian Academy, run by ABM Ministries, in southeast Missouri. Every time that we get a glimmer of hope, it feels like its been snatched away by something along these lines, where there are lawmakers that are trying to undo everything that has been gained. Its too much sometimes.

The House Children and Families Committee passed House Bill 2307 by a 6-2 vote that could have eventually sent the bill to the floor for debate. Hours after the vote, however, committee chair Hannah Kelly, a Republican from Mountain Grove, told The Star in an email that the proposal wasnt going anywhere. She did not answer a follow-up question about why it would not be advancing to the full House for debate.

Former students, child advocates and some lawmakers wonder why Kellys committee gave the bill a hearing at all if there were no plans to advance it.

Its my belief that the owners of these homes, as well as legislators, are completely dismissive of the devastating impact maneuvers such as these have upon older survivors, said Emily Adams, a vocal advocate for boarding school abuse victims who drove from southwest Missouri to attend Tuesdays hearing.

Nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks, uncontrollable crying and increased sensitivity to our CPTSD triggers. Do we not deserve better, considering what we endured as teens?

Critics say they suspect the committee hearing and vote to pass the measure were only a political ploy to appease those who are pushing the bill  especially in an election year  with no consideration for how the action could affect and retraumatize former students. They worked alongside lawmakers for months in 2021 to pass House Bill 557, which placed some regulations on the religious-based schools.

The proposed legislation, critics further contend, could undermine the 2021 law meant to protect kids by requiring unlicensed schools to register with the state, conduct background checks of employees and undergo safety and health inspections.

Though supporters say HB 2307 doesnt take those regulations away, opponents say it would create a shield protecting unlicensed schools  several of which have been closed in recent years amid abuse allegations  from state scrutiny.

The measure would no longer require unlicensed schools to directly answer to the Department of Social Services. Instead, those facilities would be overseen by a new Child Protection Board, with more than half its members representing Christian schools.

Some fear bill could resurface

Based on Kellys comment, it appears the bill is dead for this session in the House. But child advocates and lawmakers worry because the measure did take a step forward, and they fear it could resurface. Moreover, a similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, is sitting idle in the Senate. Moon was among the nine senators who voted against the boarding school bill in 2021.

We are incredibly concerned by what this legislation is proposing to do, said Jessica Seitz, executive director of the Missouri Network Against Child Abuse, formerly known as Missouri KidsFirst. There was wide consensus just three years ago that some level of oversight and accountability on unlicensed schools was necessary to protect children from sexual and physical abuse.

Any progress of a bill that could weaken this oversight and accountability, like this weeks committee vote, implies legitimacy.

In February and April 2021, former students who attended Missouri religious boarding schools traveled to Jefferson City from across the country to testify in support of House Bill 557 at legislative hearings in both chambers.

The bill and its companion, House Bill 560, proposed requiring some state oversight over the states unlicensed Christian boarding schools, which were exempt from any regulations. The hearings moved some lawmakers to tears as they heard stories from former students about the physical and mental abuse they endured and how they tried to tell authorities but were ignored.

The bill passed both houses overwhelmingly, and Gov. Mike Parson signed it into law in July 2021.

This bill would not have passed without them, said Rep. Rudy Veit, a Wardsville Republican, a co-sponsor of the legislation, who spoke to several former students this week who were upset about the bill. I understand their frustration. Theyre upset at the idea that these people who did these things to them could still be surfacing, or people who are affiliated with them are still surfacing.

They came and put their lives out in the open, and to see that it so quickly could turn around, they were insulted. And infuriated.

Amazed that this could be happening

After the bill passed in 2021, Veit said, the former students thought people finally understood what they had gone through in those schools.

They were amazed that this could be happening, to see the issue coming back three years later, he said. The last time, they all came here and legislators heard their story. This time, they were caught off guard, and nobody had a chance to present their story.

James Griffey, who attended Agape Boarding School in Cedar County from 1998 to 2001, testified before the Senate committee in April 2021. This week, he told The Star that the new proposal retraumatized former students, who feared it would undo the 2021 regulations.

We fought so hard to get Bill 557 passed, said Griffey, one of those who contacted Veit this week. And to think that the same people we helped to protect the children of Missouri from are now trying to pass their own bill that will allow them to go back to having no direct governmental oversight sickens all of us survivors.

The emotional struggle for me to fly back to Missouri to testify last time triggered so much PTSD, but it was worth it. And I was getting ready to book another flight out from California to come testify if need be.

If those legislators who support HB 2307 cared about protecting children, Griffey said, they would work with the victims of these boarding schools to craft a bill that truly provides protection for the children of Missouri. Like the sponsors of HB 557 did, he said.

Former students, Adams said, have gone through a great deal to try and help current students who say they are being mistreated in some of the schools even today.

Honestly, we sacrifice our anonymity, sometimes our dignity, and certainly our peace to fight for the safety and well-being of the kids who are suffering what we did, she said.

Adams said she talked to Schnelting after Tuesdays hearing.

I suggested that a survivor be included on the (Child Protection) Board because that person would know what warning signs to watch for, she said. He seemed to think it was a good idea.

Allen Knoll, of the Seattle area, who was sent to a reform school in Mississippi at age 10 and then to Agape Boarding School in Missouri in 1999 at 13, also testified before the Missouri Senate committee in 2021. On Tuesday, he was among those contacting Veit about House Bill 2307.

Is this just the politicians trying to appease them (the bills supporters)? Like, Hey, we brought it up, but it failed, he said. I would say that in this political climate, this is just their appeasement, but it makes me nervous because its Missouri. And the reality is that none of us vote there.

Knoll, who is co-founder of a troubled teen advocacy nonprofit, said if the proposal does happen to resurface, former students will rally the troops to oppose it. And that includes returning to Missouri to testify, he said.

If thats what it comes down to, he said, well be there.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that as part of the conversation on making support for Ukraine a long-term commitment, Washington expects that there will be further discussions about what NATO's role in this process could be.

Source: Blinken at a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Blinken stressed that in the context of supporting Ukraine, the "most important and the most urgent" thing is getting the supplemental budget passed in the US Congress. But similar discussions are going on with the USs allies and partners in NATO.

"Were also looking at the role that NATO can and should play over time in supporting Ukraine. And this is an ongoing discussion that well have in the weeks ahead. And I imagine that you'll see something at the summit when we come together in Washington in July," he added.

The Secretary of State also noted that the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting had discussed ways to meet Kyiv's urgent military needs in terms of air defence, artillery and ammunition.

"So I believe, based on what I heard today, that everyone, including the United States, is going to double back and if necessary double down on finding the resources that Ukraine continues to need," Blinken concluded.

Background:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the allies must ensure long-term support for Ukraine amid discussions on a 100 billion fund.

Later, Stoltenberg clarified that discussions on setting up the new multi-year fund to support Ukraine are ongoing and are being held jointly with Ukraine.

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US State Secretary takes immediate action after Ukraine asked for additional Patriot air defence systems

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Stock photo: Getty Images

Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels.

Source: Kuleba on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda

Details: The meeting focused on Russia's increasing air terror against Ukrainian cities, including its use of ballistic missiles.

Kuleba urged Ukraines American partners to look into ways to provide additional Patriot air defence systems as soon as possible.

Quote from Kuleba: "I am grateful to the Secretary for taking action right away to reciprocate this call."

Kuleba and Blinken also discussed the next steps to unlock additional US aid for Ukraine.

"Todays NATO-Ukraine Council meeting demonstrated that all NATO allies realise how urgent this matter is. We all need it to be resolved as soon as possible," Kuleba concluded.

Kuleba had previously stated that during the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, he focused solely on one issue: the supply of Patriot systems.

The foreign minister also said that Germany initiated a search for available Patriot air defence systems for Kyiv at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at NATOs headquarters in Brussels on 4 April.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna supported Ukraine's proposal that Western countries should send air defence systems they have in their arsenals but do not use.

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President Biden is signaling that growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could lead to a change in U.S. support for Israels war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following the shocking Israeli strike killing World Central Kitchen aid workers.

The White House sharpened its message toward Israel significantly following a call between Biden and Netanyahu after months of defending Israels conduct, even as Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza mounted.

The president called the strike that killed World Central Kitchen workers, who were helping to distribute food to Palestinians in Gaza, unacceptable during a 30-minute call with Netanyahu that officials described as very direct.

He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers, the White House said in a readout of the call. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israels immediate action on these steps.

The language was a dramatic shift from just days ago, when White House national security communications adviser John Kirby dismissed the idea that the U.S. would hang some sort of condition over their neck when it came to providing military aid to Israel.

Kirby told reporters on Thursday the Biden-Netanyahu call was arranged after the death of the World Central Kitchen workers, which he said had left Biden shaken.

Im not going to preview any potential policy decisions coming forward, Kirby said. What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side, and, you know, if we dont see changes from their side, there will have to be changes from our side.

Kirby said the U.S. hoped to see in the coming hours and days a dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance getting in, additional crossings opened up, and a reduction in the violence against civilians and certainly aid workers.

Asked whether there had been growing frustration on Bidens part that his previous messages to Netanyahu had not gotten through, Kirby said there was.

Vice President Harris, who was on the call between Biden and Netanyahu, told Spectrum News during a trip to North Carolina that the administration has made clear it will ensure Israel is never left without an ability to defend itself.

At the same time, if there are not changes to their approach, it is very likely were going to change our approach, she added.

Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have been simmering for months as the president faces a growing outcry from activists and some Democratic lawmakers over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Thousands of voters in Democratic primaries have cast ballots for uncommitted or cast a protest vote over Bidens handling of the war.

Biden has argued the Israelis have a right to defend themselves from Hamas while simultaneously pushing for Netanyahu to do more to protect civilians. In an interview last month with MSNBC, Biden said Netanyahu was hurting Israel more than helping with his handling of the conflict.

The presidents call with Netanyahu came the same day Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested to reporters that U.S. policy on Israel related to Gaza could change if calls to protect civilians are not heeded.

And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call with his counterpart, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, the day before expressed his outrage at the Israeli strike that killed the World Central Kitchen aid workers.

The U.S. has also urged for a swift and immediate investigation into the strike as it continues to express increased concerns over a major operation in Rafah.

Bidens shift in tone Thursday drew criticism from Republicans, who accused the president of caving to political pressure and threatening to abandon a key ally in Israel.

By calling for an immediate ceasefire, the Biden admin is asking Israel to surrender to Iran- backed Hamas, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Biden is turning his back on our greatest ally in the Middle East and prioritizing the far left over American hostages held by Hamas.

President Bidens message is clear: For terrorists like Hamas who kill indiscriminately and cower behind civilians  consequences are short-lived, Raj Aryal, a spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), wrote on X.

Kirby on Thursday told reporters Israel is a friend and a partner, and he noted Biden has for his entire political career advocated for Israel and its longevity.

And thats not going to change, Kirby added.

Biden on the call also underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.

The Israeli leader is viewed as an obstacle to reaching a deal with Hamas for a proposal for a six-week pause in fighting, though White House officials had in the past blamed Hamas for holding up a cease-fire agreement.

The language seemed to cause confusion whether the White House would accept a pause in fighting that did not include the release of hostages.

I cant really improve upon the presidents language. We want to see a pause in the fighting, we want to see a cease-fire immediately, so that we can get more humanitarian assistance in and create a sense of conditions where aid organizations feel better about operating inside Gaza, Kirby said.

We also, of course, as weve said many times, think that could also provide a window here to get the hostages out, he added.

Laura Kelly contributed.

Updated at 6:02 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo taken on Oct. 19, 2020 shows an exterior view of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's central bank on Wednesday pledged efforts to enhance the implementation of a slew of monetary policies -- in order to effectively stimulate the economy.

The bank will appropriately increase the relending and rediscount quota for small enterprises and the agriculture sector, make good use of carbon reduction support tools, and establish a relending facility for sci-tech innovation and technical transformation, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement released after the latest quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee.

The PBOC also vowed to strengthen financial support for large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in of consumer goods.

Noting that China's macro policies since the beginning of this year have created a suitable monetary and financial environment for the economy to recover, the meeting urged more efforts to enhance the implementation of the existing policies and flesh out the policy toolbox.

Efforts should focus on the development of sci-tech finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance, and be directed in a way that will promote the growth of new quality productive forces, according to the meeting.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Arkansas is officially one week away from the legislative fiscal session at the state capitol, and lawmakers are considering what this means for the state.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has proposed a $6.3 billion budget for the upcoming year, with most of the spending increase going towards the school voucher program under the Arkansas LEARNS Act.

Parent celebrates first year of Arkansas LEARNS Act-funded Education Freedom Accounts

Sanders budget proposal would also increase state spending by 1.76% compared to the previous year, below the 3% increase the state has seen in previous years under previous administrations.

Senators from each side of the aisle spoke about their goals for the session.

Our goal is to find savings, cut spending, so at the end of the day we can reduce the overall tax burden on Arkansans, Sen. Ben Gilmore (R-Crossett) said.

Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) said his priority is ensuring all agencies receive their necessary funding. He emphasized education, health care and the justice system.

For me, early childhood education would be at the top of the list, Tucker said. We also need to make sure people have health care. We need to make sure we have investments in our justice system to make sure that were arresting people who commit violent crime, but then also do a better job at rehabilitating them.

There may be pieces of an agencys budget that I dont like, or there may be pieces of it that I dont think are funded enough, but the only alternative I have is to vote against the entire agencys budget, which in all likelihood Im not going to take, Tucker said.

Arkansas March revenue down from 2023 but above forecast, year pacing nearly $80M above projection

In addition to voting on appropriations, legislators can propose other resolutions for the general assembly to vote on taking up or not on the first day of the fiscal session.

Gilmore said there could be a resolution to change the current crypto-mining law passed this year. No official details have been released on this or what would change, but FOX 16 News will continue to follow it and provide updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.
TOOELE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4)  Students from Tooele County will speak with an astronaut on Monday  while he is still in space.

The Tooele County School District planned a unique opportunity for students to ask an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) questions through radio. Students will talk with Astronaut Michael Barratt, who is currently working as the pilot of NASAs SpaceX Crew-8 mission.

Organizers of the event say they secured a grant to facilitate amateur radio experiments in Tooele classrooms, which included communication with the ISS. They say the purpose is to inspire students and foster enthusiasm for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

How many students in the world can say they talked directly with astronauts in space from their school? This is a unique chance for our students to engage with space exploration in a tangible and unforgettable way, said Clint Thomsen, the teacher who spearheaded the project.

The communication with Barratt will take place on Monday, April 8, at the Community Learning Center in the Blue Peak High School gym at 11:45 a.m. and will be roughly 20 minutes long.

While speaking with an astronaut is the main event, teachers planned a full-day STEM extravaganza that includes themed lessons and activities, according to a press release.

Who is Astronaut Michael Barratt?

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched into orbit from Florida on March 3 manned with a four-person crew, according to NASA.

Michael Barratt is the pilot of the Dragon spacecraft, which is named Endeavour. He is joined by Commander Matthew Dominick, Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps and Russian Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.

Once arriving at the space station, NASA said the crew joined seven other astronauts from European, Japanese and Russian space agencies. Some of the astronauts from earlier crews have since returned to Earth.

NASA announced the purpose of the mission is to conduct new scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. The crew will conduct 200 science experiments while at the ISS.

Barratt, who will speak with students via the Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS), has been to space three times and spent a total of 212 days in space prior to this mission. NASA said he has performed two spacewalks, which it defined as any time an astronaut gets out of a vehicle while in space.

Barratt is from Washington State and has five children with his wife Michelle Lynne Sasynuik.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
An "overwhelming" 84% of respondents in Vanderbilt University's latest Nashville poll support moving forward with a citywide transit funding vote in November.

The poll's results show support for the transit referendum across political parties: 92% support from Democrats, 86% from independents and 70% from Republicans.

The poll, released Thursday, surveyed 1,014 people from Nashville between March 1 and March 21. Nearly half of commuters who responded to the poll said they spend between 30 to 90 minutes in traffic every day (20% reported longer than 90 minutes).

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell rides the bus following a press conference at the Historic Metropolitan Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's administration plans to release a final transit improvement plan  and the proposed tax raise to pay for it  later this month. If all goes to plan, Davidson County voters will see the referendum on their ballots Nov. 5.

In 2018, Vanderbilt's poll of Nashville residents found more than 70% agreed the transit plan on the ballot that year was "essential" or "very important" to Nashville's future. While 42% of registered voters surveyed roughly eight weeks before the 2018 referendum supported former Mayor Megan Barry's transit proposal, that didn't translate at the ballot box. The effort failed 64% to 36%.

A rosy outlook on O'Connell, Nashville's future

O'Connell also fared well, securing an overall approval rating of 71%.

High approval ratings aren't uncommon early in a mayoral term. Former Mayor John Cooper saw an 80% approval rating in spring 2020, the highest since the Vanderbilt Poll-Nashville first launched in 2015.

Results also showed a rosier outlook on Nashville's future, with 53% of respondents saying the city is on the right track  a 9% increase from 2023. But respondents still expressed concerns over Nashville's rapid growth, with 80% agreeing that the city has "grown too quickly" and 47% of respondents reporting that their daily lives are worse thanks to the city's growth.

A summary of the poll results links O'Connell's high popularity marks to the rise in residents believing Nashville is headed the right direction.

"While you could argue that he still is in a bit of a honeymoon phase, the mayor's overall approval defies the polarization that we see blocking a lot of action in current national politics," Vanderbilt Political Science Professor and Poll Co-director John Geer said in a statement. That support should boost O'Connell's ability to accomplish governance goals and maintain public support, Geer said.

58% report little to no East Bank knowledge

But residents' lack of knowledge about the East Bank, the city's most expansive project this term, could prove a challenge for the administration. More than half of the poll's respondents said they knew very little (26%) or nothing (32%) about the project, which will ultimately span the redevelopment of more than 100 acres of Metro-owned land, a new Titans stadium and hundreds of acres of private developments along the Cumberland River.

A rendering depicts an aerial view of a proposed "grand park" between a new, enclosed Tennessee Titans stadium and the Cumberland River on Nashville's East Bank.

Almost half of respondents (48%) said they had not followed Metro's consideration of revitalizing the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. A proposed deal with Bristol Motor Speedway was put on hold in the final weeks of former Mayor John Cooper's administration, but negotiations could continue with O'Connell's administration. Meanwhile, a citizen-led petition effort is seeking to amend Nashville's charter to eliminate racing as a required use of the fairgrounds, making affordable housing mandatory instead.

Affordable housing was a priority for respondents who were aware of the East Bank project, with 82% calling for the construction of affordable units on the land. Nearly half of survey respondents also expressed a desire to both preserve the racetrack and add affordable housing to the fairgrounds area.

Geer said the general lack of awareness leaves the projects vulnerable to shifting public opinion. "If they aren't keeping up with these projects, new unfavorable information ... could quickly undermine support," he said.

Nashville's priorities

Survey respondents identified crime as the top priority for O'Connell's administration at 71%.

Other priorities include:

improving public education (67%, a drop from 74% in 2023)

prioritizing affordable housing rental options (63%)

prioritizing affordable home prices (62%)

reducing area traffic (59%)

addressing issues of low-income residents (54%, an 8-percentage-point drop from 2023)

improving public transportation (52%)

addressing homelessness (52%, a 6-percentage-point drop from 2023)

dealing with the state legislature (36%, a 9-percentage-point drop from 2023)

Confidence in local government

Metro Council saw an uptick in support, with 60% of respondents approving of the body's performance (up from 57% in 2023 and 54% in 2022).

Other local government bodies received good reviews:

Metro Nashville School Board: 57% approval

Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Adrienne Battle: 66% approval

Metro Nashville Police Department: 73% approval

Nashville Fire Department: 97% approval

A bipartisan majority of poll respondents (79%) said Metro Nashville should govern and set policies for the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, which oversees business and operations at the Nashville International and John C. Tune airports.

The MNAA Board's makeup has been a point of contention between local and state officials since last spring, when a new state law wiped out the existing board appointed by Nashville's mayor, giving state officials authority to appoint six of the board's eight seats. Metro challenged the law in court, and a panel of three Tennessee judges ruled in favor of Metro Nashville on Oct. 31. The state is appealing the decision.

Not all Nashville residents agree on how Metro should approach its relationship with state lawmakers.

82% of Republicans said local officials should work with Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly on issues affecting Nashville (33% of Democrats agreed)

67% of Democrats said "Nashville elected officials should actively challenge the governor and legislature on decisions involving the city."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt Poll: Nashville transit vote, mayor see majority support
FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  Florence County deputies are investigating after a vehicle was hit by gunfire Wednesday night in the Timmonsville area.

No one was hurt in the incident, which deputies said was the second shooting of the night. Timmonsville police are investigating.

One person was hurt and taken to the hospital after an earlier shooting on Hallmark Drive off Third Loop Road, deputies said. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

* * *

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.

* * *

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.

* * *

Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylors work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, waits to receive the new Colombian ambassador to Venezuela. Pedro Rances Mattey/dpa

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has passed a law to create a new Venezuelan state around the oil-rich region of Essequibo in neighbouring Guyana.

"The decision taken by the Venezuelan people in the consultative referendum will be fulfilled in all its parts, and with this law we will defend Venezuela on the international stage," Maduro said on Wednesday.

At the beginning of December, Maduro held a controversial referendum in Venezuela in which, according to official figures, 96% of participants voted in favour of the annexation of "Guayana Esequiba" as a Venezuelan federal state.

The law will now establish the 24th federal state "within Venezuela's territorial policy," according to the presidential palace.

The population of this area will also have a representative in Venezuela's next parliament, which is scheduled to be elected in 2025.

It also provides for "the provision and formation of a high commission of the state and the country for the defence of Guayana Esequiba." This again raises fears that Venezuela could invade the region and trigger a war.

Venezuela has long laid claim to the resource-rich territory, which covers around two thirds of the neighbouring country.

The current borders were established in 1899 in an arbitration ruling by a tribunal in Paris, which was initiated by the United States and Britain.

Venezuela refers to an agreement with the United Kingdom from 1966, a few months before the then colony of British Guiana became independent. This provided for a negotiated solution to the dispute.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is dealing with the case at Guyana's request, but Venezuela rejects its jurisdiction - and has also enshrined this in the law that has now been passed.
Services at Penllergaer, Swansea will cater to those too busy for a longer service but want space for peace and reflection - Wales News Service

A vicar has introduced 15-minute micro-services to tempt busy worshippers back to church.

The Rev Dr John Gillibrand says he is bringing in the shortened services because churchgoers are facing greater time pressures preventing them from being in attendance.

The services at Llandeilo Tal y Bont (Pontarddulais) with Penllergaer, in a rural town near Swansea, are among a growing number of churches in Britain trying to combat a longer-term trend of depleting congregations.

Sunday church attendance is just 80 per cent of what it was in 2019, Telegraph analysis revealed in February, and it has more than halved since 1987.

Last year, figures showed that parishes are closing at a record rate, prompting fears that the Church had been dealt a death knell.

Almost 300 parishes have disappeared in the past five years alone  the fastest rate since records began in 1960.

People can find a space for peace

At Penllergaer, part of the Church in Wales, Rev Gillibrand believes his is the first church in Wales to bring in the weekly micro-service sessions to help worshippers find peace in a troubled world. They will take place every Monday at 4.45pm, starting later this month.

One of the things that is most striking to me as the parish priest is how much pressure individuals and families are under, and so thats why we came up with this idea of a short church service.

It will be no longer, no shorter than 15 minutes. Its so that people on the way home from work can call into church, find a space for peace and quiet and prayer and reflection, and then go home to whatever challenges theyre facing.

Churches always need to be alive to their context, to be thinking about the context in which we are working. If we dont, thats when we start getting problems, because theres this disconnect that comes between church and wider society.

Rev Dr John Gillibrand says churches need to be alive to their context to prevent a disconnect between them and society - Wales News Service

Other churches across the country have quietly rolled out similar moves in recent years.

This includes a 15-minute evening Compline service held once a week in the Chapel at St Marys in Hadlow, Tonbridge, which is described as a perfect way to bring focus back to God at the end of a busy day.

At Pattingham church in Wolverhampton, churchgoers have been invited on Tuesday evenings for 15 minutes of prayer, when we think of those suffering from the on-going war in Ukraine and for all in conflict zones around the world.

And at Upper Chapel in Sheffield, worshippers are invited for a 15 minute service based on words and music to aid contemplation, which is often led by members of the congregation.

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.
With violent crime up in Kansas City, police roll out data-driven plan. Will it work?

As Kansas Citys rising rates of violent crime continues to end lives and devastate communities, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves unveiled an ambitious, wide-reaching plan last month to reduce crime.

The plan was unveiled in its entirety mid-March, when Graves posted it on the KCPD website and spoke at two public events describing how police plan to implement its overarching ideas into real-world actions.

It comes after Kansas City recorded its deadliest year on record in 2023, with 185 homicides, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. In the last five years, Kansas Citys homicide rate has steadily increased, from 151 killings in 2019 to 185 in 2023. Non-fatal shootings are also on the rise.

The citys second deadliest year on record was in 2020, when there were 182 killings.

Throughout Graves 2024 plan are traces of an initiative that began in the middle of last year  the Violent Crime Reduction Initiative  which aimed at police and community collaboration, a larger volume of social services and a concept called focused deterrence to reduce crime.

Focused deterrence is a crime prevention strategy that targets high-risk offenders, featuring both swift sanctions for offenses and social services and community support to enable change.

It was also at the heart of a program credited with driving down homicides a decade ago in Kansas City, known as Kansas City No Violence Alliance, or KC NoVa. Despite major reductions seen in its first year, the success of that program was ultimately determined to be short-lived, as violent crime numbers crept back up. KC NoVa was shuttered in 2019.

A year ago, the Violent Crime Reduction Initiative was criticized by some community activists, who suggested the approach was dated. At that time, Graves said the plan was not hers, but rather a city-wide approach that worked alongside local organizations, prosecutors, crime-fighting groups and city agencies.

Those same strategies are sandwiched into the new KCPD Crime Plan, with more robust goals, and a system for tracking those goals.

(The plan) is addressing what should be done, who should be doing it, and why certain strategies are being chosen and deployed in the first place, Graves said at a public safety event March 15.

Elizabeth Lopez of Liberty stopped at a memorial set up in a Union Station parking lot and paid her respects to her friend Lisa Lopez-Galvan. One week earlier, Lopez-Galvan was killed in the mass shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl rally there.

KCPD crime plan strategies

The crime plan outlines three main strategies for police to implement: data-informed community engagement (DICE), data-driven deployment and focused deterrence.

Graves said the strategies allow for an implementation across a spectrum of teams within KCPD, and can look different depending on the situation.

Were focusing on the offender, the victim and the place, Graves said at a public safety symposium in March. We want to make sure that we are focusing on those violent crime drivers in the city... make sure that our efforts are toward those who are most involved in violent crime, but also the peripheral group around some of those offenders that we can offer resources to... and show them a different path.

Kansas City police did not speak with The Star on the record about its new crime plan, but pointed toward public remarks from Graves at a meeting of the police board of commissioners and a document posted on its website.

The plans overarching goals include:

Sustained reductions in violent crime and property crime by a minimum of 10%.

Sustained increases in citizen satisfaction by a minimum of 10%

Improve police legitimacy and build relationships and trust with community members, business owners and local government institutions.

The crime plan does not outline a timeline for those goals, however it does present a system for measuring them.

Violent and property crime will be measured by data tools and crime rates, while citizen satisfaction and relationships will be measured through a variety of surveys, the plan states.

In the plan, each division of KCPD has primary tasks in alignment with the strategies. Those tasks can include situational crime prevention, community support and outreach, enforcement and prevention and prioritized enforcement and investigation of repeat violent offenders.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves attends a memorial service for Drexel Mack, a civil process officer with Jackson County courts who was shot and killed during an eviction, at the Jackson County Courthouse on Monday, March 11, 2024, in Kansas City.

A snapshot of crime in Kansas City

According to Kansas City police annual crime reports data, homicides, non-fatal shootings and motor vehicle theft are all on the rise.

Beyond the rise in homicides, non-fatal shootings are also up from 435 cases in 2019 to 443 in 2023. Motor vehicle theft increased exponentially in that same 5-year period, increasing from 3,807 cases in 2019 to 7,471 in 2023.

Robberies and burglaries are both on a decline.

Some desirable trends can be seen, namely for robberies and burglaries, Graves said. However, there is much work to be done, particularly when it comes to homicides and non-fatal shootings.

As of April 2, Kansas City has recorded 35 homicides in 2024. It has already experienced two mass shootings this year, one at Crown Center and the other at the Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally. The city also experienced at least two mass shootings last year.

But most of the violent crime, police noted in their report, stem from arguments or interactions that quickly escalated. According to KCPD annual crime reports, 89% of homicides from 2019-2023 involved use of a firearm.

I cant tell you how many surveillance videos Ive watched where there is an argument taking place where people could have walked away, Graves said. (And) where people actually have walked away, came back, re-engaged in an argument and shot.

To address this issue, police rely on ways law enforcement and community partners can provide social services to get ahead of shootings stemming from arguments.

The police Community Engagement Division touts an ongoing deployment of services which do not fall under traditional law enforcement roles. KCPD employs community interaction officers (CIOs), who host community meetings and events, and make contact with citizens to reduce retaliatory violence.

Social service specialists through KCPD provide outreach and service referrals to community members such as rent assistance or temporary relocation. The division also has officers assigned to the Housing Authority of Kansas City to work in housing developments across the city.

A crisis intervention team (CIT), which has been a part of the department since 2017, pairs mental health service providers with police to improve interaction between police and people with mental health or substance abuse disorders. The program aims to prevent inappropriate restraint, incarceration and stigmatization.

KCPDs community engagement division also has officers dedicated to youth engagement and an LGBTQ+ diversity liaison.

But the crime plan also maps out ways police rely on community partners to effectively carry out and continue the social services that are initially provided.

Kansas City Chief of Police Stacey Graves talks to a man attending a public safety symposium at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center March 15, 2024. At the event, Graves presented Kansas City homicide data and ongoing efforts to address violence in the city.

Emphasis on community partners

To truly make a sustainable impact, we must take a city-wide approach to reducing violent crime and work together in both words and action to improve quality of life for all Kansas Citians and change the trajectory of violent crime, Graves said in a post on the KCPD website.

The new KCPD crime plan puts a heavy emphasis on it being a city-wide approach. Its structure attempts to intertwine policing efforts and interventions and services which are community-led. It leans on community partners like Aim 4 Peace, Lyriks Institution, Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, KC Common Good, KC 360 and others for their parts in violence prevention.

Klassie Alcine, CEO of KC Common Good and KC 360, attended a public safety symposium in March, where among other speakers, Graves discussed elements of the crime plan. Alcine told The Star that some strategies around violence prevention can be done by police and community organizations, while others may be more effective coming from people with lived experiences in violence.

We hope that everyone realizes they play a role in violence reduction, Alcine said. Living in the city, you play a role. So, we have to do more on encouraging everyone to step up.

If you want to hire a youth that needs a job  maybe thats your role, she said. If you want to donate to Lyriks Institution thats doing this work with some of the higher-risk youth  that can be your role.

Alcine said she believes it is important to use data to learn about what is most effective in violence prevention. But, she said, she is tired of talking about the data without actions to follow.

Other activists in the community share a similar sense of urgency when it comes to legitimate change in policing strategies.

Kansas City Police responded to the 3600 block of Mersington Avenue March 13 on a shooting call. One man died at the hospital from his injuries, police said.

Spencer Webster, an attorney with MORE2, said he is glad to see there is a structured crime plan coming from KCPD. Even so, he is worried that KCPDs focus on data in its DICE approach may end up overwhelmingly targeting minorities.

In the recent lawsuit we filed in trying to get local control (of the police department), weve shown that... its not necessarily that Black people commit more crimes, but that they are policed at a higher rate, Webster said.

Kansas City remains the only city in Missouri that does not have local control of its police force. Instead, the police are overseen by a board of five police commissioners, four who are appointed by the governor. Mayor Quentin Lucas fills the other spot as its only elected member.

MORE2, a faith-based organization that works to change policies thorough grassroots movements, remains focused particularly on racial and economic equity in Kansas and Missouri. It has focused for some time on promoting a locally-controlled police force.

Weve discussed community-based policing a lot, but really none of that matters because we cant provide our input on what better policing looks like, Webster said. Until we get that, I think the conversation about (change) is kind of a mute point, because theres nothing we can do about it.

Webster said police partnering with organizations and individuals in the community to provide services is a step in the right direction. But he wants the partnership to be more than words in a document, he said.

If we can get (KCPDs Community Engagement Division) to do what KCPD claims theyre supposed to do, that would be a good step in the right direction, he said. I think, if they really wanted to engage with the community, then they should really engage with the community.

KC Common Good and KC 360, an effort modeled after Omaha 360, has touted a 10-point action plan to address violence in the community. The KC 360 program began in 2022. While city officials last year cited its efforts as contributing toward lower homicide rates in Kansas Citys Santa Fe neighborhood, community members say it will take time to tell if the plan is working.

In Omaha, officials said the violence prevention strategy eventually achieved a 74% drop in shootings, but that process took 15 years to show real impact.

And while the KCPD crime plan  although only recently offically unveiled  effectively began in 2023 when Graves became chief, police say its strategies, including the work done by community partners, are already being implemented.

But the prospect of such plans in Kansas City requiring a similar timeline as Omahas to slow the violence and reduce crime means it may be years before its effectiveness is known.

The Stars Anna Spoerre, Glenn Rice and Katie Moore contributed reporting.
Vote on aid to Ukraine in US Congress may be postponed for several weeks  Bloomberg

The US House of Representatives vote on aid to Ukraine is unlikely to happen until at least mid-April, and possibly later, as Speaker Mike Johnson is still seeking ways to soften opposition from radical Republicans.

Source: Bloomberg, citing the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, as reported by European Pravda

They say that Johnson's team has not shared a detailed plan regarding the aid package with Republican lawmakers, and it seems undecided on the actions he will insist on from President Joe Biden's administration, making it difficult for him to secure support in time for a vote next week.

Johnson's spokeswoman, Taylor Haulsee, stated that the speaker's promise of swift action did not intend to establish a specific deadline and that Johnson was "sounding out members" regarding the plan. She did not provide further information on the speaker's consultations.

Two representatives of the Republican leadership stated that there is still a possibility that Johnson could decide regarding the Ukraine aid plan over the weekend and expedite the project's approval next week.

However, Bloomberg notes that such an accelerated schedule could lead to the bill's failure and further confrontation with hardline supporters within the Republican Party.

Recently, the administration of the US president refused to accede to the proposal of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, to provide aid to Ukraine if the president reverses his decision to suspend the issuance of new licences for liquefied natural gas exports.

Background:

Johnson said that the US aid package for Ukraine will include "some important innovations", including the possibility of extending a US loan to Ukraine.

Mike Turner, chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee, said that Johnson has promised to put the issue of providing assistance to Ukraine to a vote after Congress returns from the Easter recess on 9 April.

The US Congress approval of over US$60 billion in aid to Ukraine is currently being blocked by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The White House has repeatedly cautioned that this would significantly harm Ukraines military efforts on the battlefield.

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Arm Holdings (NASDAQ: ARM) has attracted a lot of attention since its initial public offering (IPO) last September. The U.K. chip designer listed its shares at $51, and they've already more than doubled to about $125 over the past six months.

Yet Arm's stock didn't blast off right away. Instead, it hovered near its IPO price for the first two months as investors scoffed at its slowing growth and high valuation. However, its growth accelerated again, the bulls rushed back, and Arm's market cap climbed to nearly $130 billion. Could it keep rallying to become a trillion-dollar stock by 2035?

Image source: Getty Images.

Understanding Arm's business model

Arm was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between Apple, Acorn Computers, and VLSI Technology. It aimed to develop a new chip design that could challenge Intel's dominant x86 chip architecture.

By prioritizing battery life and technical flexibility over raw horsepower, Arm carved out its niche in smaller handheld devices instead of PCs and servers. Today, more than 95% of the world's smartphones use Arm-based chips. Intel, which stubbornly tried to shrink down its x86 CPUs for mobile devices, was driven out of that lucrative market.

Arm doesn't manufacture its own chips. It only licenses its designs to chipmakers like Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek. Nvidia also licenses Arm designs for its Tegra CPUs. That asset-light business model, along with its pricing power in the mobile market, enables Arm to keep its gross margin in the mid-90s percentages.

How fast is Arm growing?

Arm initially went public back in 1998, but it was acquired by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank in 2016. SoftBank then nearly sold Arm to Nvidia for $40 billion before antitrust regulators scuttled the deal in 2022. After the attempted sale collapsed, SoftBank spun off Arm in a new IPO but retained a 90.6% stake in the company.

Arm's revenue increased 33% in fiscal 2022 (which ended in March 2022) as smartphone makers pumped out more 5G devices, but dipped 1% in fiscal 2023 after the 5G upgrade cycle slowed down. In the first nine months of fiscal 2024, Arm's revenue grew 13% year over year as the stabilization of the smartphone market, its growth in the cloud and automotive markets, and higher-royalty AI-optimized chip designs boosted its royalty revenue.

For the full year, Arm expects its revenue to rise between 18% and 20%. From fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2026, analysts predict its revenue will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22%. That growth rate is impressive, but it might not be enough for a stock that is already trading at about 40 times this year's sales.

Story continues

Does Arm have a path toward a trillion-dollar valuation?

Arm is trading at such a high price-to-sales ratio because it's being perceived as an artificial intelligence (AI) stock. But investors shouldn't casually toss Arm in the same basket as Nvidia. Arm is certainly generating higher royalties from its latest Armv9 designs -- which can be used to power AI features across premium smartphones, PCs, and even servers -- but they simply aren't as important for processing complex AI tasks as Nvidia's powerful GPUs.

Assuming Arm still trades at 40 times sales, meets analysts' expectations, and increases its revenue at a CAGR of 20% from fiscal 2026 to fiscal 2035, it could reach a $1 trillion valuation by that final year. That might seem like an achievable goal, but I doubt it can maintain that nosebleed price-to-sales ratio after investors' interest in AI stocks eventually cools off.

If Arm hits those targets and trades at 20 times sales by fiscal 2035, it would still be worth $500 billion. That would represent a four-bagger gain from its current price, but it might disappoint investors who were expecting even bigger returns.

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Will Arm Holdings Be a Trillion-Dollar Stock by 2035? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calls for the reelection of President Joe Biden and warns that allowing Donald Trump to recapture the White House will be devastating for abortion rights efforts. Trump has been unwilling to commit to a stance on abortion access, but his allies are advocating for a national ban, and the Republican nominee has both taken credit for the fall of Roe v. Wade and praised restrictive abortion laws. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror

In a small coffee shop in the heart of downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, flanked by two concrete pillars papered over with posters vowing support for President Joe Bidens reelection, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a dire warning against allowing former President Donald Trump to recapture the White House.

If we hand Donald Trump a second term, all of our progress in Michigan, all of the work that youre doing here in Arizona, is at risk, she said. A national abortion ban will wipe out all of those strides.

Whitmer, a Democrat and co-chair of Bidens reelection campaign, urged voters to reject Trump, who she said would void statewide efforts to protect abortion access. While Trump has dodged questions about his stance on abortion restrictions but has indicated he would support a 15-week nationwide ban, his allies have signaled interest in using the Comstock Act, a 151-year-old federal law that prohibits the mailing of abortifacients, as a way to eliminate the procedure across the country.

Under such a national ban, movements to safeguard abortion access via ballot measures like the one that succeeded in Michigan in 2022 and the Arizona Abortion Access Act thats aiming for the November ballot this year would be rendered moot. The Arizona ballot initiative, which just this week announced it has exceeded its signature gathering requirement, would amend the state constitution to make obtaining an abortion a right, and would nullify the states current 15-week ban in favor of protecting access up to 24 weeks  and beyond, if the patients doctor deems it necessary.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a vocal abortion advocate, added that the November election is critical to fend off attacks on reproductive rights from both the state and national levels.

The people of Arizona are going to speak loud and clear in November, and they are going to pass that ballot initiative to enshrine reproductive rights in the constitution. Were going to enshrine it in the constitution so that those extremist Republicans in the legislature cant ever take it away from us, she said. But we also have to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House, to make sure that the extremists in Congress dont try to impose a national ban.

Republicans in both the state legislature and in Congress have advanced greater restrictions on abortion, proposing laws that would ascribe rights to fetuses and effectively ban abortion. In Arizona, Republicans have introduced measures to allow pregnant women to drive in the HOV lane or strengthen penalties for crimes committed against pregnant victims.

And a push from Arizona Democrats to repeal a near-total ban from 1864 punishing doctors with 2 to 5 years in prison that is currently being mulled over by the Arizona Supreme Court failed to move forward. Republicans in the state legislature refused to even hear the proposal.

In Congress, meanwhile, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have repeatedly sought to advance a national fetal personhood law.

Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, who last month shared the news of her planned abortion on the floor of the Arizona Senate to highlight the difficulties women must contend with when seeking reproductive health care, called on Arizonans to award Democrats a legislative majority.

Democrats have just a one-seat deficit in the House and the Senate, and flipping just two seats in each chamber could fundamentally change the outlook for millions of Arizonans, she said.

The Democratic Party has pinned its hopes on abortion rights as a motivating issue in the 2024 election cycle that could deliver big wins for pro-choice candidates. In Kansas, a legislatively referred ballot measure seeking to give lawmakers the ability to end abortion protections in the state prompted record voter turnout, and the initiative was resoundingly rejected. In Virginia, abortion wasnt on the ballot in 2023, but the topic was still front and center with an anti-abortion Republican governor at the helm, and voters reacted by delivering the state legislature to Democrats.

For Dr. Atsuko Koyama, the outcome of the 2024 election cycle can mean the difference between life and death for many women facing critical pregnancy complications. The Phoenix-area abortion provider denounced anti-abortion laws that criminalize doctors for providing emergency care, saying that putting doctors at risk of prosecution only serves to jeopardize the critical health care interventions that women need.

Both of Arizonas abortion bans carry consequences for providers who violate them: the 1864 near-total ban threatens prison time while the 15-week gestational ban punishes doctors with a class 6 felony.

My colleagues are having to determine if a patient is close enough to death as determined by lawyers, legislators, and hospital administrators  not doctors  to decide if they can provide the reproductive healthcare interventions (they provided) before the overturn of Roe, she said.

The consequences of the upcoming election stretch far beyond 2024, Koyama added. Its repercussions have the potential to impact generations of women seeking health care for years to come.

It breaks my heart to know that my daughter has fewer rights than I did at her age, that shes living in a time when providers can be held criminally liable for providing essential health care and patients cant get the life-saving care they need and want, she lamented. The stakes are so high this November.

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The post A vote for Trump is a vote for a national abortion ban, Whitmer says on AZ trip appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
VP Kamala Harris comes to Charlotte to announce climate investments

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Charlotte on Thursday.

Harris gave a speech at the Naomi Drenan Center on the Biden administrations investments to combat climate change.

Every community has the capacity to join the clean energy economy, but not every community has had the capacity to do it, Harris said.

She then officially opened a Biden campaign field office.

The Biden campaign is investing heavily in North Carolina, and the Charlotte office is one of 10 in the state.

ALSO READ: Climate data shows warmer than average 2023 in the Carolinas

One of the first stops Harris made in Charlotte was at Lavonns Grier Heights home.

He told Channel 9 that before moving there, he paid hundreds every month through gas and electric bills.

This home isnt just a safe place for everybody; its a safe place for myself, Shavonn said. Sometimes my friends would be like, We dont want to come over there; its cold.

His green home was purchased with the help of Community Bank Self-Help. Its a non-profit that helped build 49 homes in the Grier Heights community, and thanks to the Greenhouse Reduction Fund, they plan to build thousands more across the country.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the funding is meant to ensure communities like Grier Heights arent left out of the legislations massive clean energy investment.

The funding will help homes and businesses in low-income or historically disenfranchised communities get more energy-efficient with better insulation, windows, and appliances.

Were talking about real people with their dreams and aspirations. This is a big deal, Harris explained.

ALSO READ: President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss healthcare in North Carolina

While in Charlotte, Harris also announced $20 billion in awards to support climate and clean energy projects. That includes things like distributed clean power generation and storage, net-zero retrofits of homes and small businesses, and zero-emission transportation.

Harris will then open a field office in Uptown Charlotte. It is one of 10 across the state.

North Carolina was the closest state President Joe Biden lost in 2020. Political experts say to expect the Biden and Harris campaign to go hard in this state and invest heavily.

The Biden campaign has invested $30 million in North Carolina advertisements so far. Experts say that number is going to continue to climb.

Biden and Harris are both expected to make several more visits to the Tar Heel state.

(WATCH BELOW: How a new type of sand on the Outer Banks could help fight climate change)




CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Vice President Kamala Harris is returning to Charlotte on Thursday to pay a visit to discuss investments in climate action.

This will be her fourth visit to the state this year. She is expected to be joined by EPA Administrator Michael Ragan and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.

Harris is expected to speak around 2:15 p.m. from a rec center in southeast Charlotte.

MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS

Continuing Coverage

With this being an election year, Harris and President Joe Biden are highlighting several issues.

Earlier this year Harris was in Charlotte at an elementary school to discuss child mental health. Last week in Raleigh, both visited the state to address healthcare. They also visited an area known as Black Wall Street in Durham to discuss the support of small businesses.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  A wanted fugitive was arrested in Salt Lake City earlier today, April 4, with two firearms and three knives after a community member reportedly pointed him out to police.

Louie Martinez, 23, was arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession/purchase/transfer of a dangerous weapon, obstruction of justice, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and criminal trespass, the Salt Lake City Police Department said.

READ NEXT: Experience Utah wildlife like never before at new, multi-million dollar Hogle Zoo exhibit

The investigation started just after 9:30 a.m. Thursday, when a community member reportedly waved down an SLCPD sergeant near 300 East 100 South. Police said the community member pointed out a man who may have been involved with a prior violent crime.

The sergeant and other officers contacted the man, identified as Martinez, and learned he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Additionally, police said they found Martinez in possession of the weapons.

Martinez was safely taken into custody and booked into the Salt Lake County Metro 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.
Ronald Brignall is presented with a certificate of civilian heroism by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Bablin Molik - Aaron Chown/PA Wire

A 16-year-old who saved Cardiff City Hall from a Second World War bomb by shimmying up a drainpipe with a 12lb sandbag between his teeth is being honoured on his 100th birthday.

Ronald Brignall was walking home from college when he saved the building from a German incendiary bomb in February 1941  but he was never officially recognised for the feat.

The centenarian never even shared his heroics with his family.

The munition had ignited the roof of the Edwardian baroque building in Waless capital, prompting Mr Brignall to leap into action as anti-aircraft fire and other incendiary bombs raged around him.

I was only a teenager, and I didnt have any fear, he recalled. I just wanted to make sure the bomb didnt do any damage to City Hall.

The job was all over in about 10 minutes

Having witnessed the bomb strike the building, the then apprentice plumber picked up a sandbag in the crook of one arm and clutched another between his teeth before climbing up a 25ft drainpipe onto the burning roof.

Mr Brignall then came back down to collect a fire hose, which he also carried using his teeth and used to extinguish the flames as cheering fire watchers below supplied water with a stirrup pump.

The job was all over in about 10 minutes, he told the South Wales Echo at the time. But I found my suit was ruined and that my jaw was aching a bit.

Mr Brignall was lauded for his daring and courage in the local press.

The roof appeared inaccessible except perhaps to a steeplejack or an expert in cat-climbing or to a young fellow who would be daunted by nothing, the South Wales Echos The Stroller column wrote.

Mr Brignall went on to become an official fire-watcher in Cardiff before joining the RAF in 1944, with whom he served as a rear-gunner on Whitley and Halifax bombers during the Allied crossing of the Rhine in 1945.

But he was never given official recognition for his actions on the night of Feb 2, 1941, until Thursday.

Hes always been a modest man and rarely talked about his war record, said Ian Brignall, his son. We only knew of his heroics in Cardiff on that day because hed kept some newspaper cuttings.

The Stroller column in the South Wales Echo which reported Ronald Brignall's efforts to save Cardiff City Hall

When I asked dad about it and asked, why havent you mentioned this in the past, he said, well, it just never seemed relevant, Mr Brignall said.

Its one of those things, maybe if the conversation had come up about City Hall over the years he would have said something.

Maybe he thought that it was the past so, do I need to say anything?. Its often said about people who fought in the war that they dont always talk about it.

The family asked Cardiff City Hall for any further information and that set in train the events that led to Mr Brignall finally receiving recognition for his acts.

Civic chiefs had wanted to hold a reception in Cardiff to mark the occasion, but Mr Brignalls age means the journey would have been too arduous.

Instead, the Lord Mayor is coming to his party at the care home, and three RAF personnel will also be in attendance.

A perfect present on his birthday

After the war ended, Mr Brignall became a draughtsman and mechanical engineer and raised two children, Ian and Susan, with his late wife Betty, who died in 2006.

Mr Brignall moved from Cardiff to Sussex in 2021 to be closer to his children.

The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Bablin Molik, will present Mr Brignall with a certificate thanking him for his heroism.

His actions, completed while other incendiary bombs and anti-aircraft gunfire splinters were falling around him, were hailed by those who stood watching, and demonstrated the highest level of civilian bravery, the certificate reads.

Mr Brignall, on the occasion of your 100th birthday, the people of Cardiff thank you for your outstanding heroism, salute your courage on that day and commemorate it with the award of this special certificate.

Cllr Molik said: The best part of my work as Lord Mayor is meeting remarkable people and Mr Brignall is a great example of those who have so much civic pride in Cardiff.

I know this is a rather belated honour but it is no less heartfelt and I assured Mr Brignall and his family that the whole of Cardiff expresses its gratitude for the heroics he performed on that day in 1941.

Ian Brignall added: Dads a little frail now, as youd expect from someone who is 100, but I know he is thrilled to have this recognition and the certificate from the council.

Its a perfect present on his birthday.

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Warren says she would move to block sale of F-15s to Israel

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Thursday she would move to block the sale of F-15s to Israel after seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza earlier this week.

I think it is clear that Congress has a responsibility to act. We have legal tools here. And as I said, we cannot approve the sale of arms to a country that is in violation of our own laws on this. And that includes access to humanitarian relief, Warren said Thursday during an interview on CNN News Central.

This is a moral question; it is also a legal question. Congress has responsibility here, and Im willing to take that responsibility, she added.

Seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen were killed Monday while leaving a warehouse in central Gaza, where they delivered more than 100 tons of food aid. They were in two armored cars when the strike hit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took responsibility Tuesday for the deadly strike and said it was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip.

The strike came as the U.S. weighs a major new arms sale to Israel. The U.S. government is considering selling Israel up to 50 new F-15 fighter jets, 30 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, equipment that can alter dumb bombs into precision-guided weapons.

Asked if she is considering putting legislation on the floor to block arms sales to Israel, Warren said, Actually, lets put this in a slightly different context. We already have an established U.S. policy here.

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan interjected and asked the Massachusetts Democrat how this policy is enforced and prevents President Biden from approving the sale.

I think he best we can do here is that we need to all be working together and thats the president, thats people in Congress, Warren said.

The death of the aid workers sparked staunch criticism of Israels continued military campaign, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza since early October, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel has vowed to eliminate the threat of Palestinian militant group Hamas following their surprise assault against southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 others. About 100 of these hostages were returned in a weeklong cease-fire late last year, and an estimated 100 others are believed to still be alive in Gaza.

Biden, who said earlier this week that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers and civilians in Gaza, is expected to speak with Netanyahu on Thursday.

I am hopeful that when the president talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he will be making it clear that support for the actions of the prime minister are not  hes not helping Israel, Warren said. He is not keeping Israel safe, and he cannot  continue a policy of trying to starve out the people of Gaza, that he loses support all around the world.

Warren argued Netanyahu is only advancing his own interests, rather than the interests of Israel as a whole.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) was asked earlier Thursday when the U.S. should be looking at a change of policy rather than just words.

I think were at that point, Coons said during an interview on CNN News Central. I think were at the point where President Biden has said, and I have said, and others have said, if Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale, [if] they were to drop 1,000 pound bombs and send in a battalion to go after Hamas and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, that I would vote to condition aid to Israel.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Washington County residents can get tuition covered at Washington & Jefferson College

Residents of Washington County who meet certain criteria can get their tuition covered at Washington & Jefferson College.

The Anica Donnan Rawnsley Scholarship will cover the cost of tuition after accounting for federal, state, institutional, external and merit-based awards and aid.

To qualify, students must be full-time and permanent residents of Washington County. They also must live on campus.

Interested students must submit a FAFSA application by May 1.

Click here for more information.

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Wayne County issues state of emergency order ahead of solar eclipse. What that means

Its likely Wayne County will have a lot of visitors for the total solar eclipse. What it doesnt have is a lot of road infrastructure.

Weve got two main east-west roads and five or six north-south roads, said Anthony Verno, supervisor of the town of Williamson and chair of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors, so thats the concern.

As a result, the rural county has issued a state of emergency for eclipse day, April 8.

It will go into effect at noon and be lifted when traffic congestion eases, Verno said.

Basically, it gives officials the ability to temporarily close roads and change traffic patterns  like making a two-lane, two-way road one way  as needed.

Wayne County has issued a state of emergency for eclipse day, April 8.

Residents who are able to stay home are being advised to observe the eclipse from there.

Also, They should make sure theyve got enough food and medicine, Verno said. Its the same kind of precautions you would take for a snowstorm.

Around 90,000 people live in Wayne County and by one estimate, up to 50,000 tourists could descend to experience totality.

Its impossible to know how things will actually play out, though.

The Microtel in Macedon is nearly sold out, and the Best Western in Palmyra is fully booked, as are all 12 of Wayne Countys bed and breakfasts, said Christine Worth, the countys director of tourism.

Verno has a friend who owns a field that he rents out of camping. Typically, he doesnt see activity until July, Verno said.

But the field will be full of visitors (most from the New York City area) for the eclipse.

Meanwhile, an unknown number of people will be staying with family members or at Airbnbs or elsewhere in the region and driving to a picturesque setting in Wayne County for the main event.

I spoke to someone on the phone whos coming in from Washington, D.C., and staying in Geneva, and their goal is to go to Sodus Point to watch the eclipse, Worth said.

Shes also aware of people who plan to come up from the Southern Tier.

If I lived three hours away, I would make the drive, she said.

Beyond avoiding major logistical issues, We hope that the weathers clear, so everybody can see what they came to see, said Verno, who will spend eclipse day in the county's emergency operations facility. Were going to partially activate that.

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: State of emergency order issued ahead of solar eclipse in NY county
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Artrya (ASX:AYA) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this report, we will consider the company's annual negative free cash flow, henceforth referring to it as the 'cash burn'. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

See our latest analysis for Artrya

Does Artrya Have A Long Cash Runway?

A company's cash runway is the amount of time it would take to burn through its cash reserves at its current cash burn rate. When Artrya last reported its December 2023 balance sheet in February 2024, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$15m. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$16m. Therefore, from December 2023 it had roughly 12 months of cash runway. To be frank, this kind of short runway puts us on edge, as it indicates the company must reduce its cash burn significantly, or else raise cash imminently. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

How Is Artrya's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Because Artrya isn't currently generating revenue, we consider it an early-stage business. Nonetheless, we can still examine its cash burn trajectory as part of our assessment of its cash burn situation. It's possible that the 10% reduction in cash burn over the last year is evidence of management tightening their belts as cash reserves deplete. Artrya makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth.

Can Artrya Raise More Cash Easily?

Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for Artrya to raise more cash in the future. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$33m, Artrya's AU$16m in cash burn equates to about 48% of its market value. From this perspective, it seems that the company spent a huge amount relative to its market value, and we'd be very wary of a painful capital raising.

Is Artrya's Cash Burn A Worry?

Even though its cash burn relative to its market cap makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought Artrya's cash burn reduction was relatively promising. Summing up, we think the Artrya's cash burn is a risk, based on the factors we mentioned in this article. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 5 warning signs for Artrya (of which 2 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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.
WBEZ announced a number of layoffs Wednesday affecting different departments and the impending closure of the companys Vocalo radio broadcast following years of lagging listenership.

Chicago Public Media CEO Matt Moog and other leadership said in a letter to employees the difficult decision to reduce staffing and change programming will help the nonprofit media company to best serve our community and manage the organization for long-term sustainability.

The 14 layoffs are in WBEZs content development unit, Vocalos radio broadcast and the Chicago Sun-Times business operation, the letter said. The staff members being laid off have already been notified.

These are painful decisions that affect our valued colleagues, leadership said in the letter, according to an edited version posted on the companys website. We are working diligently to minimize the negative impact on each individual and provide them with financial and transitional support. We are so grateful for their many contributions over the years.

In a statement from SAG-AFTRAs Chicago unit, union leadership said the layoffs were deeply disappointing. The company also announced it will eliminate the podcast department, which includes the shows Nerdette, Making and When Magic Happens.

These losses are devastating to our listeners and members, the union said. The decision also contradicts CPMs stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion  both at WBEZ and to communities of color that we serve.

Union leaders have been working with members leading up to Wednesdays announcement and urged management to reconsider, the union said.

Ultimately, our goal is to save the jobs of our very talented colleagues who have much to contribute to WBEZ, the union statement said.

Chicago Public Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The WBEZ fellowship program will also be phased out in fiscal year 2025, the letter said.

Vocalo has been stagnant since its launch in 2007, the letter said, with an audience of 11,000 listeners weekly. The radio music broadcast has been operating at a significant financial loss for many years, the letter said, resulting in the broadcasts shutdown by May 1. Vocalos digital presence will remain, covering local music and culture and collaborating with WBEZ and the Sun-Times.

Vocalos arts and culture newsletter, The Goods, will also continue, having grown its audience by 67% to over 50,000 subscribers.

While the nonprofit cited financial stability as the reason behind Wednesdays announcement, the letter included details about the companys growing and expanding digital channels. Chicago Public Medias weekly audience grew by over 475,000 to 4.5 million listeners and readers over the last year, the letter said. Daily news podcasts are at nearly 100,000 downloads every week, and Vocalo reaches over 100,000 people a week digitally.

The announcement comes on the heels of another major change at WBEZ. Moog said in December he would step down as CEO of Chicago Public Media in early 2024. He went from interim president to permanent CEO in 2021 and oversaw the combining of WBEZ with the Sun-Times.

The nonprofit newspaper and radio station, which merged in January 2022 with $61 million in philanthropic support, operate separate newsrooms but share content and resources under the Chicago Public Media banner. In its latest tax filings, the combined company reported an $8.7 million profit for the 12 months ending June 2023, according to its Form 990 filed with the IRS.

In response to questions from WBEZ, Moog said Wednesday actual operating revenues have been flat despite the information contained in the 990, and that the company had not seen enough audience and revenue growth to cover its expenses after adding staff in each of the newsrooms. He said the board has asked him to stay through August, when a new CEO is expected to be hired, the publication reported.

Moog, whose base salary was $449,193, was awarded $149,592 in bonus compensation for a total compensation of $633,310 in fiscal year 2023, according to the 990. Several other executives were also awarded bonuses last year, according to the filing.
In the aftermath of Wednesday's storm, a number of roads and parks are closed due to flooding, and power outages persist.

Nearly four inches of rain fell across some areas of Monmouth and Ocean counties in the last 72 hours, with Matawan and the Pinewald section of Berkeley being the hardest hit in their respective counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Storm clouds roll across the Barnegat Bay just north of the Dorian J. Henderson Bridge between Stafford Township and Ship Bottom Thursday afternoon, April 4, 2024.

According to Jersey Central Power and Light, Monmouth County has a little over 6,500 customers still being affected by outages, and just 17 in Ocean County. Over 15,000 customers are without power statewide.

Here's a list of road and other closures Thursday morning:

Holmdel

Line Road is closed from the intersection of Van Brackle Road to Wigwam Lane with live powerlines down in the roadway.

Signage along Rt. 37 warns drivers of bad conditions in the area. Rain falls throughout the Jersey Shore area with a risk of flooding for the region. Toms River, NJ Saturday, March 23, 2024

Hillcrest Road is closed from Hillcrest Court to Holmdel Road with a telephone pole and live wires down in the roadway.

Toms River

Avoid downtown area if possible due to flooding, specifically Irons Street, Herflicker Boulevard and Adafre Avenue are impassable. Police are in the area re-directing traffic.

Cattus Island County Park is closed due to flooding on the trails.

West Long Branch

Route 36 is closed in both directions between Monmouth Road (Route 71) and Route 35.

Fair Haven

Kemp Avenue between Ridge Road and Hillcrest Road is closed due to a large tree that fell during the storm. Several wires are down, too.

Long Beach Township

Due to flooding, 32nd Street to 100th Street are closed. Utilize Ocean Boulevard instead.

Vehicles leave a wake as they travel Long Beach Boulevard at 35th Street in Beach Haven Thursday, April 4, 2024.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ flooding: Road closures, power outages at Jersey Shore
Wendys customer shoots worker through drive-thru window and flees, Illinois cops say

A Wendys worker was shot through a drive-thru window in Illinois following an argument with a customer, police say.

The shooting happened around 1 a.m. Thursday, April 4, at a Wendys in south Chicago, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Police said a 20-year-old Wendys employee was working the drive-thru at the restaurant when a male customer began arguing with her. Then, the man fired shots through the window.

Footage from WGN shows at least one bullet went through the window, shattering the glass. At least one shell casing was found on the ground, the station reported.

The worker was struck in the arm and was taken to a hospital in fair condition, police said.

The customer, who has not been identified, fled after the shooting, police said. No arrests have been announced as of late Thursday morning.

Police said the shooting remains under investigation.

Man fires 10 shots into Jack in the Box, later opens fire at Whataburger, TX cops say

Argument in Wendys parking lot ends with husband fatally thrown from car, cops say

Man denied food at Carls Jr. sets fire to managers vehicle, California police say
Today marks Natos 75th anniversary, and Vladimir Putins grand strategic vision remains resolute: its dissolution.

Emboldened by recent advances in Ukraine, the direct peril to Nato affiliates such as Poland and the Baltic States remains high. Yet they are not alone. The Balkans, oft-neglected, are also a ripe prospect for Russias aspirations, and are becoming increasingly febrile and dangerous. Britain and its allies neglected the Balkans at their peril over a century ago. We cannot afford to make the same mistake again.

The U.S. ambassador to Nato took the unusual step of warning this week that Russia is using disinformation, cyberattacks, and other nefarious tactics to destabilise the Western Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a case in point. Three decades after war ravaged that country, Serbia  backed by its friends in Moscow  is are reigniting ethnic tensions, jeopardising European security. Europe and the U.S. need to put the fire out before it engulfs the region.

Bosnia and Herzegovina comprises two autonomous entities  the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The former is populated chiefly by Bosniak Muslims and Croats, while and Serbs dominated Republika Srpska, which is friendly with nearby Serbia. These ethnic divisions produced a bloody war in 1992-1995 that left more than 100,000 people dead and millions homeless. The conflict ended only after Nato intervention that led to a U.S.-brokered a peace deal, whose implementation is overseen by a high representative appointed by an international council. An EU peacekeeping force, EUFOR, ensures order under Operation ALTHEA.

Today, the country remains deeply divided. Republika Srpskas President Milorad Dodik, an ally of Russia and Serbia, has pushed it to the brink of war by threatening to secede. In September, Dodik barred High Representative Christian Schmidt from attending official meetings at the presidential headquarters. Moscow and deliberately Belgrade are stoking these divisions.

On March 5, as such, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned of an increased risk of inter-ethnic violence in the Western Balkans. The warning highlighted Dodiks provocative steps to neutralise international oversight in Bosnia and secure de-facto secession for his Republika Srpska. This could prompt leaders of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) population to bolster their own capacity to protect their interests and possibly lead to violent conflicts that could overwhelm peacekeeping forces.

The situation worsened last month after Schmidt imposed a set of changes to the countrys election law to guarantee free and fair elections. Dodik immediately rejected Schmidts integrity package and again threatened to secede. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic joined in by posting a cryptic message on Instagram, stating that difficult days are ahead for Serbia due to direct threats to the vital interests of both Serbia and Republika Srpska. He added: The battle will be tough, the toughest ever. We will fight. Serbia will win.

In January, most concerningly for our purposes, Dodik met Vladimir Putin and reaffirmed the entitys refusal to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In March, Dodik said, the Serbian people will always be on the side of the Russians.

Is it any wonder, therefore, that Russia is fanning the flames, using information operations to push for RSEXIT (hinting at the secession of Republika Srpska)? In December, Putin even suggested it would be possible to start transmitting Russian-state-owned media RT to Bosnia.

By sowing chaos in the Balkans, Putin aims to strengthen Moscows regional influence, distract Europe from supporting Ukraine, and give Putin leverage over Western powers who do not want the violence to escalate. For Vucic, meddling in Bosnia and Herzegovina offers helps strengthen his grip on power in Serbia. He also wields access to Dodik as a bargaining chip with the West by positioning himself as a peacemaker.

Western powers need to deal with these threats now before its too late. First, Washington needs to change how it deals with Vucic. To date, the U.S. has attempted to appease the Serbian leader out of fear of escalation. Appeasement wont work. Instead, the U.S. ambassador to Serbia should take a firm approach, warning Vucic indicating that he will be held accountable for any escalation to violence. The European Union, meanwhile, should join U.S. and UK sanctions against Dodik and other actors who are destabilising the Western Banks.

Furthermore, the United States and United Kingdom need to play a more active role in ensuring peace. They have entrusted Bosnia and Herzegovinas security to the European Union, relying on the ALTHEA mission to maintain peace and security in the country. However, the EU decision-making process is dysfunctional and slow to act, often held hostage by countries like Hungary that are seeking to extract concessions from Brussels. In fact, a Hungarian general currently leads ALTHEA. Therefore, the U.S. and UK should lead a coalition of the willing with key EU member states such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands, signaling their readiness to respond to security threats from Belgrade and Moscow.

As Russia looks to turn around its war in Ukraine, the Kremlin would no doubt love to distract the West by opening a second front in the Balkans. Putin wants to show that his will to challenge the West is greater than the Wests will to resist. Its time to prove him wrong.

Ivana Stradner is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery is a senior fellow

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) launched a fundraising campaign Wednesday, using former President Trumps attacks against her from earlier this week.

I just want to make sure you heard: Donald Trump was just in Michigan. He spent his time here launching personal attacks and lies against me, Whitmer wrote in a fundraising pitch for the Fight Like Hell PAC. He attacks me time and time again because he fears what I have done  and will do  to stand up to him and his extremist allies.

Trump, speaking from Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday, called Whitmer a terrible governor in a discussion about illegal immigration.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a real beauty she is  I had to deal with her in COVID, Trump said, adding later, But shes not pushing Michigan families to accept $500 a month to take illegal aliens into your homes  they dont say this for our veterans or on the street. They dont say this for other people, but they say it for migrants coming in because they want them to vote probably.

He accused President Biden and Whitmer of stealing peoples money for housing migrants, calling it so crazy.

Shes a terrible governor. By the way, your streets are bad, your everythings bad, he said. She used to the come to the White House, she was so nice and then she goes, Hey, I dont like that man. I say, Wait a minute? I was very nice, wasnt I?'

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Whitmer called Trumps remarks gross and asked her followers to donate to ensure Trump NEVER returns to the White House. She argued the former president is terrified of the grassroots movement.

Trumps speech in Grand Rapids levied a series of attacks against Bidens border policies and the U.S. southern border situation. In doing so, he resurrected the term bloodbath, describing what he believes is a country overrun by migrants.

But its a border bloodbath, and its destroying our country, and its a very bad thing happening. Its going to end on the day that I take office, the former president said, vowing to carry out the largest deportation effort in history.

In a discussion about what he believes to be a link between illegal immigration and crime, Trump referenced the murder of Ruby Garcia, who was allegedly killed last month in Grand Rapids. Police arrested Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, who told authorities he got into an argument with Garcia and shot her multiple times before dumping her body on the side of the road, The Associated Press reported.

Ortiz-Vite, a citizen of Mexico, came to the U.S. illegally as a child, but was protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson told The Hill.

His DACA status expired in 2019, and upon being arrested on local charges in 2020, he was ordered back to Mexico, but he reentered the U.S. without inspection at some point afterward, the spokesperson added.

Trump described Garcia, 25, as a beautiful young woman [who] was savagely murdered by an illegal alien criminal and vowed justice for her killer.

He claimed he met and spoke with Garcias family, though Garcias sister, Mavi Garcia, said he nor anyone from his campaign reached out to her or her family members. She said she was shocked to hear him make that claim and angry to see him politicize her sisters death.

In an interview this week on CNNs The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Whitmer said Trump was attempting to score political points and capitalizing on a horrible tragedy that happened here.

There is a family that is grieving the loss of Ruby Garcia, and she was a real person, with a real story, and its a horrible story that happened, Whitmer said, adding Trump came in to perpetrate the continued storyline that he had done everything to keep us safe, which is baloney.

The Hill reached out to Trumps campaign for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
On Feb. 8, state Sen. Whitney Westerfield drove to the Chamber of Commerce dinner in Lexington.

He did not want to go.

Hed had a terrible day, a genuinely crappy day, where he watched some of the changes hed made in Kentuckys juvenile justice system begin to be unraveled by his colleagues. Criminal justice reform was about to be decimated by House Bill 5, and Donald Trump was once again about to become the GOP nominee for president.

But then, as the Fruit Hill Republican made his way to his table at the back of the room with all the other people filtering in, people started stopping him to shake his hand. They kept thanking me for what I was doing, Westerfield said last week.

I lost count of these people that I had never met, but they knew who I was.

Thats how that genuinely crappy day ended, and it felt great because I felt Im not out here all alone. Im not the only one who feels this way. Im not patting myself on the back, it was just nice to know there were other people who feel the same way.

Whitney H. Westerfield, 43, is getting ready to leave the place where he has served for 12 years, and even in leaving, he feels very alone.

Hes changed, his party has changed, Frankfort has changed, and frankly the three things just arent syncing that well these days. The young county prosecutor from Hopkinsville who once saw everything in black and white views the full color spectrum these days.

A year ago, he announced his retirement because he just couldnt keep spending so much time away from his wife, Amanda, and their two children, Hadley, 9, and Hayes, 6. As the General Assembly started in January, he had three more reasons: Amanda was pregnant with triplets. He could go home, devote himself to his law practice and be a more present father.

Whitney Westerfield and his family at Niagara Falls.

But also lurking was the fact that his job in Frankfort wasnt much fun any more, and he simply wasnt getting as much done.

The Senate GOP didnt have as much space for an evangelical Christian-anti-abortion hardliner who thought a government that banned abortion needed to pay more attention to helping families and children. They didnt want to listen to him preach about how putting more people in jail would not lower crime rates. They didnt support his attempts to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

Sen. Whitney Westerfield hugs his family goodbye before they returned to Christian County. (Photo by David Yates)

And they do not like to see him pillory Trump and his ilk on a frequent basis on X (formerly Twitter), like he did when Trump started hawking Trump Bibles during Easter.

Just gross, Westerfield wrote.

When Trump mouthpiece Charlie Kirk said compassion for migrants was a moral failing, Westerfield responded on X: Believers  particularly those with broader reach  need to refute and rebuke these awful, un-Christlike, unscriptural, racist, bigoted garbage takes.

I get called a RINO (Republican In Name Only) 17 times a day, he said. Im the same conservative Republican Ive always been. Im not sure why people dont see that.

Westerfield has taken a long journey to cement his political persona, only to find political solitude.

The question for Kentucky and for the rest of the country is one Liz Cheney fans must be asking right now: Is there even room for the tiny handful of Republicans who oppose Trumpian orthodoxy in Republican circles? Or do they end up like Cheney, the ousted and vocal anti-Trump U .S. House member from Wyoming, and now Westerfield, alone and out of office and irrelevant to the politics of the day?

We dont always agree

March 15 was something like Feb. 8, only in reverse order.

With his wife and two kids standing at his desk, Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer introduced the resolution to honor Westerfield and his work. Senator after senator rose to praise him, using words like wonderful, tremendous, integrity, courage, convictions.

A lot of them started with ...While we dont always agree on the issues, then on to what a wonderful person he is.

Later that afternoon, Westerfield withdrew the five amendments hed made to House Bill 5, the draconian crime bill that would criminalize homelessness, put many more people in jail and cost $1 billion. He didnt have the votes, and despite the fact that hes the longtime chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he had not been included in the work group that had crafted the bill over the past year.

So, he decided to use his lame duck privileges to burn some bridges.

This is a serious mistake, he said on the Senate floor.

This bill falls in to the category of legislation that really has everything going for it but not in a good way. Its got all the kinds of momentum, its got lots of support, itd be the easiest vote most of you would take.

But, Westerfield said, it will cost money that Kentucky doesnt have and it wont fix problems the way it should.

Some of those groups that have confided in me  they hate this, and they dont know how theyll afford this, but they dont want to speak up because we havent passed a budget yet ... and they dont want to make us mad, he continued.

I hate to point out the obvious, but some of us up here operate like that. Hold grudges and are spiteful. I resent all of them in both parties that behave that way. There are people not speaking on this bill  I am not naming them because there are people who are spiteful and hold grudges.

It passed 27-9, almost entirely along party lines except for the no votes of Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, and Westerfield.

The words of a lame duck senator, no doubt, but its not entirely clear he wouldnt have said them anyway. This session has been a series of grudges, held by him and fellow lawmakers.

Sen. Whitney Westerfield in his office at the Capitol in Frankfort, Ky, Tuesday, January 23, 2024.

He worked the entire year on the Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention act, a thoughtful attempt to stop gun violence by people with mental illness in the wake of the Old National Bank shooting in Louisville a year ago.

It was supported by some law enforcement, but not many fellow Republicans. It never even got a committee vote.

Senate Bill 34, which would have widened the safety net for low-income families, died in Appropriations and Revenue. He co-sponsored a bill to abolish the death penalty, which died on the vine.

For the second year in a row, he sponsored the CROWN Act legislation, which banned discrimination against natural hair styles in schools and at work. It was assigned to committee and never heard, despite, as he says, a lot of fruitless, impassioned argument in caucus. Same with a bill to abolish slavery out of our constitution.

These are all deeply personal to him, and their total dismissal by his colleagues clearly irks him.

Im here for policy, he said.

The politics are part of it  members right now casting votes because theyre in a tough primary. I know that factors in, but at best thats a secondary concern. So when I get kicked in the teeth of policy because of politics, I dont like it.





A religious zealot?

Gerald Neal has been a state senator since 1989. Hes watched a lot of fresh-faced Mr. Smiths come to Frankfort from rural Kentucky with firm ideas about crime and punishment, right and wrong. Hed watched Westerfields unsuccessful runs for attorney general and the state Supreme Court, and at first he figured Westerfield was pretty much the same as those hed seen before.

I perceived him as a religious zealot, the way he wore his religion on his sleeve, Neal said. Then, as time went on, he thought: Am I watching a transformation, or am I watching a person not being strategic, free to say exactly what he thinks?

But he was always very consistent, and at the end of the day, it was consistent with what he was saying about religion, too. Maybe I didnt understand he was more complex than just a label, Neal said.

Westerfield is not a moderate. He mostly votes with his party, and their candidates, with the notable exception of Trump, and he opposes abortion to such a degree that he wont consider exceptions for rape and incest.

But Neal was right about a been a transformation, too, one that really began nine years ago, when the Westerfields adopted a little girl named Hadley. A few years later, they adopted an embryo through an agency, which Amanda Westerfield carried to term. Hayes is now 6.

Both children are bi-racial, and that fact upended the perspective of a largely white life in rural Christian County.

When Hayes was little, like 2 or 3, we got one of those big train sets, Westerfield said. I remember putting it together, and there were all these figures with it and they were all white. That never would have occurred to me when I first got this job. Now thats not a policy thing, but it screams at you when your children are surrounded by it.

The Westerfields adopted two more embryos, which turned into the triplets that Amanda Westerfield is now carrying. Thats in part why, in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court decision, Westerfield wrote legislation to limit the liability of facilities that do IVF.

Sen. Whitney Westerfield in his office at the Capitol in Frankfort, Ky, Tuesday, January 23, 2024.

It didnt get out the of Senate Health Services Committee.

His children, too, prompted his work on the crisis aversion legislation that would have been a first step to preventing mentally ill people from getting guns.

The Uvalde shooting, which was just as dreadful and tragic as every other school shooting or mass shooting weve seen in Kentucky and outside of Kentucky, he said.

But on that day 2022 all I could think about was my kids making the phone calls those kids were making. And I thought why arent we willing to have a conversation about it? I dont know what it needs to look like yet. I dont know what the best solution is. And Im open to hearing and Ive said this to every opponent of CARR. You tell me what you think we should do? Whats your solution?

They dont have a solution because it would have to be outside the lockstep of modern gun politics, despite overwhelming public support for change. As former Republican Secretary of State Trey Grayson said about the issue: Hes been a real advocate for criminal justice reform but the pendulum has swung the other way on that one.

I feel like I feel like Im a much better person having the perspective that I have now than I did 12 years ago but the party is not, and its starting to have more of a presence here in Frankfort, Westerfield said. Its become a lot about culture war stuff and battles every day.

He assumes the culture war on wokeness, and not just ignorance and racism, is why his colleagues have defeated the CROWN Act two years in a row.

The CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, stemmed from a national movement started in 2019 to extend statutory protection to end discrimination against mostly Black women, but plenty of other people, too, because of their natural hair and race-based hairstyles such as such as braids, locks, twists and knots in the workplace and public schools.

According to the national coalition, more than 20% of Black women between the ages of 25 and 34 have been sent home from work because of their hair.

Last year, Westerfield said he hoped to educate his caucus about the issue so that it would pass this year. This year, it didnt get out committee.

Regrets, Ive had a few

Changing perspectives mean Westerfield has some regrets. He regrets it took him so long to see the perspective of medical marijuana advocates. He regrets voting yes on Senate Bill 150 last year.

He regrets having advocated for Dayton Jones, a convicted sex offender whose sentence was commuted by Gov. Matt Bevin in December 2019, without having spoken to the victim.

I regret being a coward when I shouldnt have been, and not giving people grace when I know I needed to, he said.

He regrets that these days it seems impossible for people of conscience to stay in politics.

I guess it is possible but they have to compromise, they have to make sacrifices Im not willing to make today, he said. I aspire to higher office, but Im probably unelectable in a primary anyway.

Westerfield has already run for Kentucky Attorney General, losing narrowly to Gov. Andy Beshear, and the state Supreme Court, but both those jobs would be appealing to him.

Still, is there room in politics for the Whitney Westerfields of the world? He would say no.

His colleague, Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, has also worked on issues that help children and families, albeit in a less confrontational way.

If you look at the makeup of my district, the fastest growing segment is independents, so I think that while we all have to pick our jerseys, thats not to say you cant take into consideration people who are becoming of voting age, and dont like either party, she said. So yes, I think there is a place.

I think he truly does have a servants heart, and I think he will have his hands full with five babies, but my prediction is youll see him pop back up again.

Secretary of State Michael Adams  who has refuted Trumps election denial and won the most votes of any constitutional officer in the 2023 election  says he believes the the real divide in the party is between those who want to govern and those who dont.

Whitney is a very practical, data-based kind of guy, he said. Other people dont want to know. They just want to put their fingers in their ears and say what they want to believe. Its a lonely thing to be a fact-based person, youre kind of on an island.

But for the sake of Frankfort and our democracy in general, Westerfield said he hopes that facts will make a comeback in our misinformation-drenched world.

HB 5 is a recent example  a bunch of legislators will go home and say they were tough on crime, he said.

No one will ask about the price tag, none of the constituents will have read the bill or know what were criminalizing. They dont have to say what crime rates actually are, and no one is going to tell constituents that what youre hearing on Fox and Newsmax isnt reality.

We can always start fresh. We can keep digging the hole or we can stop digging, he said. The hole is deep, but the first thing to do is put the shovel down.
Taiwanese authorities have yet to estimate how much it will cost to recover from the damage caused by the massive, deadly earthquake that struck the island on Wednesday, which collapsed buildings, felled water towers, and caused landslides that damaged roads and other infrastructure. Repair costs for the last earthquake of such a scalein 1999 and albeit much biggerreached near $10 billion.

A quarter century ago, Taiwan rejected help from its estranged neighbor in China, and when an offer to help came from across the strait again this week, Taiwan speedily rebuffed it.

Its not real kindness because you are constantly threatened in conflict, Lev Nachman, an assistant professor of political science at National Chengchi University in Taipei, tells TIME of Chinas offer and Taiwans quickness to see through it.

Read More: Photos of the Devastation After the Earthquake in Taiwan

We express our gratitude to the Chinese side for their concern, Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement shortly after the Taiwan Affairs Office of mainland Chinas State Council reacted to the disaster on Wednesday. There is no need for the Chinese side to assist in disaster relief due to this earthquake.

Earlier, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office, said: Relevant parties in the mainland are highly concerned and express their sincere condolences to the Taiwan compatriots affected by the disaster. They will pay close attention to the disaster situation and follow-up situations, and are willing to provide disaster relief assistance.

Chinese state media referred to the quake having taken place in Chinas Taiwan, and by offering aid, says Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at National University of Singapore, it is trying to push again this line that it is doing something for what it deems to be for its own domestic purposes.

Taiwans quick rejection likely stemmed, experts say, from lingering bitterness over how the 1999 earthquake was handled. At the time, Taiwanese authorities described Beijings attempted oversight of relief efforts as extremely inappropriate. China also stood in the way of the U.N.s ability to give quake-related aid in 1999, and it continues to exercise influence over international arenas to hold Taiwan back from recognition and full participation with other governments and organizations.

Aid from China is always conditional, Chong tells TIME, explaining the Taiwan governments understandable resistance to letting China get involved in current recovery efforts. He also pointed to broader distrust of China among the Taiwanese public based on Beijings insistence, which has ramped up in recent years, that the island is part of the republic and that the two will soon be united, by force if necessary.

There is a lot of skepticism towards the intent of [China], because of this military intimidation, Chong says, pointing to the near-constant Peoples Liberation Army flyovers and military vessels around the island, because of its unwillingness to move away from the threat of using force to extend control over Taiwan.

Taiwan recently reaffirmed its desire for independence when its people voted for four more years of leadership by the China-skeptical Democratic Progressive Party. William Lai, the president-elect who takes office in May, said as voters headed to the polls in January, Our door will always be open to engagement with Beijing under the principles of equality and dignity, while adding: While aspiring for peace, we harbor no illusions.

Read More: Taiwans Election Isnt a Disaster for XiUnless He Makes It One

As for China, it likely expected Taiwans reaction, says Nachman. In making its offer that would almost certainly be rejected, China was not really so much offering a kindness but setting Taiwan up to look bad, essentially  Then [China] can say, Look, Taiwan rejects our kindness.

Ultimately, observers say the cross-strait back-and-forth over assistance is an unwelcome distraction. Taiwans focus in the coming days must be on the welfare of its people, Karishma Vaswani, a Bloomberg Opinion writer focused on politics in Asia, wrote in a recent column. If China is genuine about efforts to help, then it should simply stay out of Taipeis way.

Taiwans response to Chinas offer of help this week is notably different from its response to Japans similar offer. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took to social media platform X on Wednesday to express condolences to the earthquake victims, adding that Japan stands ready to provide necessary assistance to Taiwan, our maritime neighbor, in times of hardshipto which Lai, responded in Japanese: Your words warm our hearts and symbolize the strong bond between Taiwan and Japan. Let us continue to help each other and join hands to overcome these difficult times.

Correction, April 4

The original version of this story misnamed Taiwans governing party. It is the Democratic Progressive Party, not the Democratic Peoples Party.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Why some schools are closing for the April 8 total solar eclipse

"Eclipse Across America" will air live Monday, April 8, beginning at 2 p.m. ET on ABC, ABC News Live, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Disney+ and Hulu as well as network social media platforms.

Monday, April 8, is not a federal holiday, but for many students across the country, it will mean a day off from school.

Schools from Texas to New Hampshire have announced closures and early dismissals due to the historic total solar eclipse that will cast a shadow over parts of the United States on Monday afternoon.

In the U.S., the path of totality for the eclipse begins in Texas and will pass through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse, according to NASA.

Why schools are closing comes down to a combination of logistics, safety and recognition of the eclipse as an historic event.

Here are three questions about the closures, answered.

1. Why does the eclipse present a safety issue for students?

The focus of the total solar eclipse is, of course, the sun, but looking at the sun during the eclipse can cause vision damage, including, potentially, permanent vision loss, according to the American Society of Retina Specialists.

Because the eclipse will occur in the afternoon on Monday, it will conflict with school dismissal times in many parts of the country, meaning students could be outside during the eclipse without proper eye protection.

According to NASA, the only time it's safe to look at the sun is "during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse," called "totality," and only with specialized eye protection. Most people watching the eclipse will not see totality because it only occurs over a very narrow path.

PHOTO: Students at CW Harris Elementary School in SE Washington, D.C., Aug. 21, 2017, use their protective shades to watch the solar eclipse outside their school. ( Astrid Riecken/The Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE)

NASA and groups like the American Society of Retina Specialists are urging people to wear solar-safe glasses in order to be able to safely view the solar eclipse.

The best option to find eclipse glasses is to either purchase them through an approved vendor, or to call your local library, astronomy club or a nearby university astronomy or physics department to see if they are distributing free eclipse glasses.

Warby Parker is also offering free glasses in store, while supplies last.

2. Why is the eclipse a logistical issue for schools?

The majority of school closures and early dismissals on Monday are taking place in schools near the 115-mile-wide path of totality that begins in Texas and stretches to Maine.

Cities and counties along that path are bracing for a tourism boom, including one county in Texas that issued a local disaster declaration in advance, as it anticipates its population of 400,000 people will double on Monday.

The amount of travel happening on Monday is expected to be equivalent to "50 simultaneous Super Bowls across the nation," with an estimated 4 million people traveling, Michael Zeiler, an expert solar eclipse cartographer, told ABC News.

MORE: Why April's total solar eclipse will be a historic event in the US

The influx of people will mean heavier traffic, which can impact school bus and pick-up schedules, as well as additional stress on community services, like emergency services.

David Backler, a school superintendent in New Hampshire, one of the states in the path of totality, said the decision was made to close schools because the number of eclipse tourists in the area would put a "pretty big strain" on local schools.

"With the limited resources that we have and limited infrastructure, that was going to put a pretty big strain on us," Backler told WMUR-TV, an ABC affiliate station in New Hampshire. "And the timing specifically, it would be happening right when the school day was ending."

In other areas, some school facilities are being used as eclipse-viewing spots. Indiana University is closing several of its campuses Monday and hosting the Hoosier Cosmic Celebration featuring Janelle Monae and William Shatner, according to the event website.

3. Why are some schools letting students view the eclipse elsewhere?

While some schools are turning the eclipse into a teachable moment and viewing it together, others are choosing to let families watch the eclipse together, on their own, acknowledging its historic nature.

The next total solar eclipse to occur in the contiguous U.S. won't be until August 2044 in Montana and North Dakota, and the next to span coast-to-coast is slated for 2045, according to NASA.

MORE: How to make a pinhole projector with a cereal box to safely view an image of the solar eclipse

A Texas school district directly on the path of totality, the Ennis Independent School District, located south of Dallas, said it decided to cancel school Monday both because of the number of visitors to the area and because of staff and students wanting to watch the eclipse on their own.

"We anticipate a number of EISD staff members will choose to take off and many parents will elect to not send their children to school on that day in order to share the experience and activities with their families," the school district wrote on its website.

Why some schools are closing for the April 8 total solar eclipse originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Heres why UNC Charlotte says it wont act on student resolution to divest from Israel

UNC Charlotte administrators say they wont follow a resolution supported by hundreds of students demanding an immediate end to investments in Israel.

Two student groups at the university, Social Justice for North Africa and Southwest Asia and Revolutionary Student Front, created a petition Mar. 25, calling for UNC Charlottes divestment from Israel. As of Monday, the petition had 541 signatures and been endorsed by 14 student organizations, prompting the UNC Charlotte Student Government Association to draft and adopt a resolution. A North Carolina congressman also weighed in on social media that he supported the schools decision to not comply.

The students resolution called for a total stop to investment by the university in any activities in Israel until at least the time in which the State of Israel arranges a ceasefire in Gaza and there are proper measures in place to hold the State of Israel and other party actors accountable for their role in the Palestinian genocide.

The Israel-Hamas War began Oct. 7, when Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched a terrorist attack that killed over 1,200 Israeli civilians, with 240 hostages being taken. Since then, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs in Gaza. More than 32,000 people have been killed as of Tuesday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. That figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

UNC Charlotte released a statement Tuesday declining to act on the resolution, saying it would violate state-mandated neutrality.

North Carolina law stipulates that UNC system schools may not take action, as an institution, on the public policy controversies of the day in such a way as to require students, faculty, or administrators to publicly express a given view of social policy. Last summer, the law was amended to include the requirement that schools remain neutral, as an institution, on the political controversies of the day.

UNC Charlottes statement said student government leadership has been counseled on the requirement to remain neutral and that students should consider state law in making requests like the resolution.

This SGA resolution does not align with that commitment and will not be acted upon by the administration, the university said in its statement. SGA plays an important role in the life of the University, and the University supports the rights of its students, individually and collectively, to freely express themselves. In doing so, however, they neither speak for nor represent the position of UNC Charlotte.

The president and vice president of the UNC Charlotte Student Government Association could not be reached for comment.

How could UNC Charlotte divest from Israel?

UNC Charlotte is the only non-Israeli university with a license to dig in Jerusalem, which was provided by the Israeli Antiquities Authority.

The Mount Zion Archaeological Project in Jerusalem has been funded and staffed, in part, by UNC Charlotte students and staff since 2008. It drew scrutiny in 2021 when a UNC Charlotte history professor was accused of sexually assaulting or harassing at least four students at the site between 2017-2019.

The petition called on the university to stop investment in the program, which critics say operates on land previously occupied by Palestinians who have now been displaced by the project.

UNC Charlottes website previously stated the programs purpose is to expose, examine and preserve all levels of habitation over the course of Jerusalems 3,000-year history.

That connection will be there forever  that connection between Charlotte and Jerusalem, said Shimon Gibson, UNCC professor of archaeology and current Mount Zion Project director in a story for Inside UNC Charlotte, produced by the schools office of communications.

However, the projects website presented a message to visitors saying it was archived or suspended as of Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

NC congressman weighs in

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican who represented a Charlotte-area congressional district for a decade prior to moving to the 9th District, released a statement Tuesday supporting the universitys decision. Hes a UNC Charlotte alumnus and former student government association president.

I applaud the administration for denouncing the students resolution and promoting civil discourse, Hudson said. While it is right for the students to be concerned about the suffering of all civilians, to do so without acknowledging the evil Hamas represents and the fact Hamas horrific actions are the reason we are where we are is deeply disappointing.
Company Logo

Dublin, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The report covers 15 major countries in the Asia Pacific region - Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The report offers comprehensive information on major policies governing the renewable energy market in these countries. The report discusses renewable energy targets and plans along with the present policy framework, giving a fair idea of overall growth potential of the renewable energy industry. The report also provides major technology specific policies and incentives provided by the countries in the region.



Report Scope

The report covers policy measures and incentives used by countries in the Asia Pacific region to promote renewable energy.

The report details promotional measures in the Asia Pacific region both for the overall renewable energy industry and for specific renewable energy technologies that have potential in the region.

The report covers 15 major countries in the Asia Pacific region - Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Key Benefits

The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner. It will allow you to -

Develop business strategies with the help of specific insights about policy decisions being taken for different renewable energy sources.

Identify opportunities and challenges in exploiting various renewable technologies.

Compare the level of support provided to different renewable energy technologies in different countries in the region.

Be ahead of competition by keeping yourself abreast of all the latest policy changes.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Reignited focus towards Nuclear Power

1.2 China leading the renewables charge through solar installations.

2 Renewable Energy Policy, Australia

2.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

2.2 Policy Snapshot

2.3 Renewable Energy Targets

2.4 Renewable Energy Policy Framework

2.5 State Level Policies and Incentives-South Australia

2.6 State Level Policies and Incentives-New South Wales (NSW)

2.7 State Level Policies and Incentives-Victoria

2.8 State Level Policies and Incentives-Tasmania

2.9 State Level Policies and Incentives-Queensland

2.10 State Level Policies and Incentives-Australian Capital Territory

2.11 State Level Policies and Incentives-Western Australia

2.12 State Level Policies and Incentives-Northern Territory

Story continues

3 Renewable Energy Policy, Bangladesh

3.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

3.2 Policy Snapshot

3.3 Renewable Energy Targets

3.4 Renewable Energy Policy (REP)

3.5 Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan 2022-2041

3.6 Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) 2023

3.7 Hydrogen Energy

3.8 Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority Act

3.9 The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Act 2003

3.10 Net Metering

3.11 Solar Home Systems Program

4 Renewable Energy Policy, China

4.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

4.2 Policy Snapshot

4.3 Renewable Energy Targets

4.4 Renewable Energy Law

4.5 International Science and Technology Co-operation Program for New and Renewable Energy

4.6 The 14th Five-Year Plan

4.7 Hydrogen Energy in China

4.8 Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)

4.9 Carbon Intensity Target

4.10 National Emission Trading Scheme (ETS)

4.11 Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grants

4.12 Subsidy-Free Solar, Wind Power Policy

4.13 Financial Incentives and Policy Support for Solar, China

4.14 Financial Incentives and Policy Support for Wind, China

4.15 Financial Incentives and Policy Support for Hydropower, China

4.16 Financial Incentives and Policy Support for Biopower, China

5 Renewable Energy Policy, India

5.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

5.2 Policy Snapshot

5.3 Renewable Energy Targets

5.4 Electricity Act of 2003

5.5 Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022

5.6 National Renewable Energy Act, 2015

5.7 Cross Border Power Trade Regulation, 2020

5.8 Cross Border Electricity Trade, 2021

5.9 Scheme for Supply of Round-The-Clock (RTC) Renewable Energy

5.10 National Action Plan on Climate Change

5.11 Amendments in National Tariff Policy

5.12 Renewable Energy Certificates

5.13 Memorandum- "Make in India" for Local Content in Renewable Energy Products

5.14 Memorandum-Quality of Solar Modules

5.15 National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy

5.16 National Repowering and Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects

5.17 Quality Control Manual for Grid Connected Rooftop Solar PV Systems and Solar PV Water Pumping Systems

5.18 Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM)

5.19 Green Energy Corridor

5.20 Interstate Transmission Network System (ISTS)-Connected Wind-Solar Hybrid Power Projects

5.21 Extension on Waiver of Inter-State Transmission Charges

5.22 Union Budget Allocation

5.23 National Hydrogen Mission

5.24 Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana (PMSY)

5.25 Renewable Energy Auctions

5.26 Feed-in-Tariffs

5.27 Support for Renewable Energy, India

6 Renewable Energy Policy, Indonesia

6.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

6.2 Policy Snapshot

6.3 Renewable Energy Targets

6.4 National Energy Policy

6.5 New Tariff Regime for Renewables

6.6 Presidential Regulation 112

6.7 Indonesia Electricity Supply Plan (RUPTL), 2021-2030

6.8 Revocation of 32 regulations in the Energy and Minerals Sector in 2018

6.9 Other Electricity Sector Regulations

6.10 Net-metering scheme

6.11 Value-Added Tax and Import Duty Exemption for Renewable Energy Property

6.12 Geothermal Law

6.13 Geothermal Fund

6.14 Other Fiscal Incentives

6.15 OJK Carbon Exchange Regulation

7 Renewable Energy Policy, Japan

7.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

7.2 Policy Snapshot

7.3 Renewable Energy Targets

7.4 Basic Energy Plan until 2030

7.5 Sixth Strategic Energy Plan, 2021

7.6 Hydrogen Energy in Japan

7.7 Japan Renewable Energy Policy Platform

7.8 Amendment of the Renewable Energy Act (New Feed-in Tariff Act)

7.9 Feed-in Tariffs for Renewable Energy

7.10 Renewable Energy Auctions

7.11 RE 100

7.12 Establishment of New Energy Development Organization

7.13 Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) in Japan

7.14 Act No. 89 of 2018

7.15 Cool Earth-Innovative Energy Technology Program

8 Renewable Energy Policy, Kazakhstan

8.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

8.2 Policy Snapshot

8.3 Renewable Energy Targets

8.4 Law on Electricity

8.5 Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources

8.6 Doctrine for Carbon Neutrality by 2060

8.7 Hydrogen Energy

8.8 Long-Term Development Strategy for the Period up to 2025

8.9 Renewable Energy Auctions

8.10 New Financing Framework by EBRD for Renewables

9 Renewable Energy Policy, Laos

9.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

9.2 Policy Snapshot

9.3 Renewable Energy Targets

9.4 Renewable Energy Development Strategy

9.5 Hydrogen Energy

9.6 Law on Investment Promotion

9.7 National Green Growth Strategy to 2030

9.8 National Policy on Sustainable Hydropower Development

9.9 Nationally Determined Contribution

10 Renewable Energy Policy, Malaysia

10.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

10.2 Policy Snapshot

10.3 Renewable Energy Targets

10.4 Electricity Supply Act 1990

10.5 Renewable Energy Act 2011

10.6 National Energy Policy (2022 - 2040)

10.7 Twelfth Malaysia Plan, 2021-2025

10.8 Malaysia Renewable Energy Roadmap (MyRER)

10.9 National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR)

10.10 Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs)

10.11 Net-Energy Metering (NEM)

10.12 National Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan

10.13 Hydrogen Energy in Malaysia

10.14 Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Act 2011

10.15 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (ECCA)

10.16 Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS)

10.17 Green Investment Tax Allowance (GITA) and Green Income Tax Exemption (GITE)

10.18 Competitive Bidding for Renewable Energy Projects - Auctions

10.19 Supply Agreement of Renewable Energy (SARE)

10.20 Corporate Green Power Programme

11 Renewable Energy Policy, Pakistan

11.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

11.2 Policy Snapshot

11.3 Renewable Energy Targets

11.4 Hydrogen Energy in Pakistan

11.5 Power Sector Reforms

11.6 Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy (AREP) 2019

11.7 National Power Policy, 2015

11.8 Provincial power policies

11.9 Direct Sale of Renewable Electricity to End Users

11.10 Feed-in Tariffs (FiT), Pakistan

11.11 Auctions

11.12 Net-metering

11.13 Sindh Solar Energy Program

11.14 Tax Exemptions

11.15 National Solar Energy Initiative

12 Renewable Energy Policy, Philippines

12.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

12.2 Policy Snapshot

12.3 Renewable Energy Targets

12.4 National Renewable Energy Program (NREP)

12.5 Renewable Energy Act

12.6 Renewable Portfolio Standards

12.7 Green Energy Option Program (GEOP)

12.8 Net-Metering

12.9 Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP)

12.10 Open and Competitive Selection Process (OCSP)

12.11 Competitive Selection Process (CSP) for Power Supply Agreements

13 Renewable Energy Policy, South Korea

13.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

13.2 Policy Snapshot

13.3 Renewable Energy Targets

13.4 Green Growth Policy

13.5 New Deal 2.0

13.6 Tenth Basic Plan, 2024 - 2038

13.7 Third Energy Master Plan 2019-2040

13.8 Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)

13.9 Renewable Energy Certificates (REC)

13.10 Fixed price contract bidding system

13.11 Korea Renewable Energy 3020 Plan

13.12 Auctions

13.13 Hydrogen Energy

13.14 Tax Audit Exemption

13.15 Mandatory Use of Renewable Energy for Public Buildings

13.16 K-RE100 Scheme

14 Renewable Energy Policy, Taiwan

14.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

14.2 Policy Snapshot

14.3 Renewable Energy Targets

14.4 The Electricity Act

14.5 Renewable Energy Development Act (REDA)

14.6 New Green Energy Revolution

14.7 National Energy Program

14.8 Green Finance Action Plan

14.9 Solar Power Programs

14.10 Wind Power Programs

14.11 Feed in Tariffs

14.12 Incentives for Renewable Energy Sources

14.13 Renewable Energy Auction

14.14 Other Programs and Initiatives

15 Renewable Energy Policy, Thailand

15.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

15.2 Policy Snapshot

15.3 Renewable Energy Targets

15.4 Thailand Integrated Energy Blueprint (TIEB)

15.5 Power Development Plan 2018-2037 (PDP2018)

15.6 Alternative Energy Development Plan 2015-2036

15.7 National Energy Plan (NEP)

15.8 Feed-in-Tariffs

15.9 Solar photovoltaic (PV) scheme for local household rooftops, 2019-2028

15.10 Net metering scheme for residential PV

15.11 Tax Incentives through Board of Investment

15.12 Hydrogen energy in Thailand

15.13 Carbon Credit

16 Renewable Energy Policy, Vietnam

16.1 Renewable Energy Market, Overview

16.2 Policy Snapshot

16.3 Renewable Energy Targets

16.4 Introduction of Competition in Power Market

16.5 Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII)

16.6 Revised Power Development Plan VII (PDP VII)

16.7 Renewable Energy Development Strategy 2016-2030 with outlook until 2050 (REDS)

16.8 National Green Growth Strategy

16.9 Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs)

16.10 Avoided Cost Tariff (AVCT) for small hydro.

16.11 Net Metering Scheme

16.12 Model Power Purchase Agreements

16.13 Direct Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (DPPA)

16.14 Local Provincial Rules for renewable energy development

16.15 Competitive Auction Mechanism

16.16 Other incentives for Renewable Power Projects

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gvrwnj

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More primary voters are turning out to vote against the presumptive nominees than usual. But that doesn't necessarily spell trouble for the general election.

President Biden and former President Donald Trump have already clinched their parties 2024 presidential nominations.

But the primary contests will continue until the last states vote in June, and each week thousands of people keep casting their ballots for other candidates  or for none of the above  in protest against the presumptive nominees.

The latest round of protest votes came Tuesday in Connecticut, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and New York.

On the Democratic side, between 8.4% (Wisconsin) and 14.9% (Rhode Island) of the electorate voted for uncommitted or uninstructed, mostly to register their disapproval of Bidens approach to the war in Gaza. In New York, an estimated 12% left the presidential line on their ballots blank, according to organizers for the protest campaign.

On the Republican side, an even larger share of primary voters  between 12.7% (Rhode Island) and 17.9% (New York)  chose a former candidate such as Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, or none of the above, instead of Trump.

The key question now is whether this protest vote will make a difference when Biden and Trump face off in November. Heres what we know so far.

 The 2024 primary protest vote is bigger than usual

In recent uncompetitive presidential nominating contests  such as the 2020 Republican, 2012 Democratic and 2004 Republican primaries, when the incumbent president ran virtually unopposed  the typical protest vote has been about 7%, according to a New York Times analysis.

So far this year, the average Biden protest vote stands at about 13%.

At the same time, an even larger share of GOP primary voters has continued to vote against Trump since his Republican rivals exited the race (though the comparison is inexact because the former president is not technically an incumbent).

This makes sense. National polls have consistently shown low approval and favorability ratings for both Trump and Biden.

 But its not unprecedented...

Theres no doubting the passion behind this years protest votes.

In races with foregone conclusions, angry Democratic primary voters  especially Arab Americans, Muslim Americans and younger progressives  nonetheless keep turning out because they believe Biden hasnt done enough to stop what they describe as genocide in Gaza.

And angry Republican primary voters  especially moderate, college-educated suburbanites  keep showing up because they believe Trump, who faces 91 felony charges across four criminal cases, is not fit to be president again.

Those objections wont just vanish over the summer. But its also important to maintain a sense of perspective.

For one thing, protest voting isnt a new phenomenon. In 2012, incumbent President Barack Obama was running essentially unopposed for the Democratic nomination. By the time the primary season ended in June, Obama had lost more than 10% of the vote to minor candidates or uncommitted in 16 states  including more than 18% in New Hampshire, more than 20% in North Carolina and Louisiana and more than 40% in West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

In November, Obama won reelection by nearly 5 million votes.

 ...and the raw numbers arent huge

The scale of the protest vote matters too. More than 96,000 Wisconsinites voted against Trump in Tuesdays GOP primary; more than 65,000 voted against Biden (including 48,000 for uninstructed).

Thats not nothing in a state where Biden beat Trump by just 20,682 votes last time around. But its also a lot less than, say, the 200,810 North Carolinians who voted no preference against Obama in the states 2012 Democratic primary  or the 3.2 million Wisconsinites who voted for Trump or Biden in 2020.

As overall turnout falls in a primary season thats already effectively over, people who are highly motivated to send a message will inevitably make up an outsize share of the (shrinking) voter pool. Energized opposition can have a bigger effect when no one else is particularly energized.

 Most of Trumps protest voters probably werent going to vote for him anyway

Much has been made of the 20% to 40% of GOP primary voters who cast their ballots for Haley when she was still running  and the 10% to 20% who continue to do so today.

Dont expect them to automatically vote with the party just because, Haley said last month. If they feel like the Republican Partys not even trying to get them, they either wont vote ... or they will find some other person to vote for.

But this theory assumes that most of Haleys voters  or at least the ones who havent already fallen in line behind Trump  are former Trump fans who are only now threatening to defect to Biden.

In truth, many (if not most) were probably Never Trump voters to begin with.

Consider this years GOP primary in Georgia. There, Trump won 85% of the vote; Haley won 13%. Given that Trump lost the Peach State to Biden by just 11,779 votes in 2020, those 77,899 Haley voters could prove pivotal in November  if they were former Trump supporters who had recently soured on him.

But according to the New York Times, Trump doesnt have much to worry about here  or at least nothing new to worry about. Most of these voters already backed Mr. Biden in the 2020 election and continue to back him in 2024.

Case in point: 10% of those who voted in this years GOP primary in Georgia had previously voted in a Democratic primary during the last eight years  a good indication that they may have been Democrats voting in a Republican contest, as the Times put it. A very similar 12% told pollsters for the Times and Siena College that they supported Biden over Trump in 2020; 11% said they would support Biden over Trump in 2024.

The fact that Haley received a near-identical 13% of the primary vote suggests that this is all the same group of anti-Trump voters  not voters Trump is suddenly in danger of losing, but voters he lost long ago.

 Bidens protest voters may be a more complicated story

The Democratic dynamic is different. Bidens protest voters are largely young, progressive, Arab American and/or Muslim American  not Trump voters turning out to trip up the president before returning to the guy they were always going to vote for anyway.

In heavily Arab- and Muslim-American Michigan, for instance, more than 100,000 people voted uncommitted in the Democratic primary as a result of an organized protest campaign  13.2% overall. They were largely concentrated around Dearborn (where nearly half the residents claim Arab ancestry) and Ann Arbor (home to the University of Michigan).

In 2020, Biden won roughly 60% to 70% of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans  and a similar number of 18-to-29-year-olds  on his way to beating Trump by about 154,000 votes in Michigan. Losing 100,000 of those voters in 2024 would not be helpful.

But similar to the situation with Trump, its unclear how many Biden protest voters were committed to voting for the president before the war in Gaza began  and of those who were, how many will actually show up to vote for someone else in November.

Young voters and nonwhite voters also tend to be irregular voters  unlike the older, highly engaged Democrats who have been dutifully voting in much larger numbers for Biden during the primaries.

 Ultimately, both Trump and Biden have bigger problems

Polls show that a small but significant number of Republicans could turn against Trump if hes convicted of a serious crime. Other surveys show that Biden, 81, is trailing Trump in key battleground states  in large part because 70% of independent voters think hes too old to serve another term. These will be bigger issues in November than the primary protest vote.

 Yet the protest vote could tip the scales if everything else is very, very close

In a polarized age, it takes only a few thousand votes in a state like Michigan, Georgia or Wisconsin to tip a presidential election one way or the other. If bona fide Biden voters who are incensed about Gaza stay home, or support a third-party candidate, or flip to Trump, it could make a difference in a razor-thin contest. And the same goes for true Trump voters who do the reverse. Just dont expect a big swing in either direction.
A wintry mix and showers are expected today in Milwaukee. Here's how much it's rained so far

A pedestrian makes their way through the cold rain and snow along North Milwaukee Street in Milwaukee on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin are entering the third consecutive day of widespread rain and snowfall. Dry weather is expected over the weekend, with partly sunny skies Friday and a sunny Saturday.

Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin are entering the third consecutive day of widespread rain and snowfall.

There is a 90% chance of precipitation in the forecast for Milwaukee today, with a wintery mix until about 2 p.m. and rain showers likely afterward, the National Weather Service said. The city is expected to see a high near 40 degrees and a breezy day with a north wind of 15 to 20 mph and gusts as high as 30 mph possible.

Overnight, there's a slight chance of rain before 10 p.m. followed by a rain-snow mix until around 4 a.m.

Dry weather is expected over the weekend, with partly sunny skies Friday and a sunny Saturday. Rain may return on Sunday afternoon.

How much did it rain in Milwaukee and other southern Wisconsin cities?

Here are southern Wisconsin's most recent morning snow and rain totals, according to the NWS volunteer monitoring service:

Johnson Creek: 0.32 inches rain

Fontana: 0.3 inches rain

Milwaukee: 0.28 inches rain, trace of snow

Greendale: 0.26 inches rain

Fox Point: 0.25 inches rain

Elkhorn: 0.24 inches rain

Racine: 0.22 inches rain

Brookfield: 0.2 inches rain, trace of snow

Cedarburg: 0.2 inches rain

Kenosha: 0.2 inches rain

Wauwatosa: 0.19 inches rain

Waukesha: 0.17 inches rain, trace of snow

Janesville: 0.16 inches rain

Madison: 0.14 inches rain, trace of snow

Wisconsin weather radar

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How much did it rain in Milwaukee last night?
Like many other Republicans, U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden blasted President Joe Biden on social media over the Easter weekend.

The claim: That Biden went out of his way to declare Easter Sunday as "Transgender Day of Visibility."

Derrick Van Orden

Van Orden, a first-term Republican from Wisconsin, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: There are 365 days in the year and Biden chose the High Holiest Day in Western Christendom to acknowledge something other than the resurrection of Christ. This is not an oversight or an accident.

His claim came from a statement from Biden released on March 29 that noted March 31 was Transgender Day of Visibility  which happened to be the same day as Easter this year.

But Van Ordens post  which claimed Biden himself linked the two together  is off base.

The same holds for similar claims from former President Donald Trump, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and other Republicans.

Heres why.

A March 31 Easter and Transgender Day of Visibility is just a coincidence

Transgender Day of Visibility started in 2009 by trans activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker as a day to celebrate and raise awareness of transgender people.

The event has always fallen on March 31 and was selected so it wouldnt conflict with Transgender Day of Remembrance in November and Pride Month in June.

Easters date, on the other hand, changes every year.

The Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ is based on the lunar calendar and always falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.

Indeed, Biden also released a statement on Easter Sunday acknowledging and celebrating the holiday.And, to be sure, there was really nothing new about him recognizing Transgender Day of Action. His administration has acknowledged the event by proclamation every year since he was elected.

Our ruling

Van Orden claimed Biden purposefully chose Easter Sunday to mark Transgender Day of Visibility.

But he does not control the lunar calendar, which governs when Easter falls.

We rate this claim False.

Sources

X post, Derrick Van Orden, March 30, 2024

The White House, "A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024," March 29, 2024

The White House, "Statement from President Joe Biden on Easter," March 31, 2024

USA Today, "Graphics show how Easter's date has been historically determined," April 7, 2023

The 19th, The history behind International Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31, 2021

PolitiFact, Hopping to conclusions? No, Easter has not been replaced with Transgender Day of Visibility, March 14, 2024

The White House, A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility 2023, March 30, 2023

X Post, Speaker Mike Johnson, March 30, 2024

Washington Post, Trump falsely attacks Biden over Easter coinciding with Transgender Day of Visibility, April 1, 2024

ABC News, White House bashes 'dishonest' Republican criticism of Biden's transgender proclamation on Easter, April 1, 2024

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Biden didn't choose Easter as Transgender Day of Visibility
Woman accused of smashing cars with brick arrested

The Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday announced theyve made an arrest in the rash of car vandalisms using bricks in recent days.

Lisa Jones, 30, was arrested on Wednesday and booked for felony vandalism, police said in a news release.

She is being held without bail, police added.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
JERSEY SHORE, LYCOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  A woman faces multiple charges after a crash led to her assaulting first responders.

According to the Lycoming Regional Police Department, officers responded to the Thomas Street exit ramp of State Route 220 (SR-220) for a motor vehicle crash.

Police say 60-year-old Linda McCormack was involved in a crash after she used the emergency turnaround and rear-ended another vehicle.

Officers say upon arrival, McCormack stated the other vehicle pulled in front of her and hit her.

Investigators say, the driver of the other vehicle, a pickup truck, was sitting at a stop sign just off of the Thomas Street exit ramp when he noticed McCormack coming up behind him quickly when McCormack ran into the back of his truck.

According to police on the scene, McCormack had the odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from her breath.

Man allegedly placed multiple electrical devices in oven

Officers say, that when McCormack was told she was being placed under arrest, she threatened to bite police.

The criminal complaint says medics attempted to look at McCormack before she went unresponsive and then came to again.

According to the affidavit when McCormack came to, she began trying to bite officers again as she was being placed on a stretcher and then kicked a medic in the face.

Police say Lindas B.A.C was .212 percent and she also had Clonazepam in her system.

McCormack was with simple assault, aggravated assault, DUI, recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest, and reckless driving.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  After a woman died in a house fire in Clackamas County back in March, authorities are now investigating the case as a homicide.

On March 21, Sheriffs deputies responded to the discovery of a body early that morning at a fire in the 8000 block of Southeast Flavel Drive in unincorporated Clackamas County. The body was later confirmed to belong to 31-year-old Kaley Ann Snow.

MAX stabbing victim identified as Portland father

The Oregon State Medical Examiner officially ruled Snows death a homicide and CCSO says their are following up on several leads.

Authorities are asking anyone with information in this case or anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area at the time of the incident to contact police.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Teen charged after woman hit by gunfire while working in food truck in Bordeaux

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A teenager was arrested following an exchange of gunfire in the Bordeaux area Wednesday evening that left a bystander injured, according to officials.

The Metro Nashville Police Department said officers were sent to the 3900 block of Clarksville Pike on Wednesday, April 3 after receiving a call from a woman who said she had been shot. When authorities arrived at the location, they found the 30-year-old with a gunshot wound to her lower leg, so she was taken to TriStar Skyline Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The woman told police she was working in a food truck parked nearby and did not see anything when she was shot. However, a witness who captured the shooting on video told officers he heard shots being fired from a possible Nissan Altima and a Toyota Corolla or Camry, according to investigators.

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Authorities said the witness told them the suspects were shooting near the gas pumps at the gas station across the street before they pulled onto Clarksville Pike and drove off northbound.

According to MNPD, 18-year-old Jakari Waters was arguing with a man near the Little Barn Market before they both drew weapons and fired at each other, which led to the woman being hit in the leg while working in her food truck.

Specialized Investigations detectives were familiar with Waters from previous shooting incidents, officials said in a statement on Thursday, April 4, adding that Waters was seen on surveillance footage leaving the scene in a Nissan Murano, which was stolen on Thursday, March 28 from a 21st Avenue North apartment complex parking garage.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Police said detectives found the stolen Nissan and Waters at his home on Lindsey Meadows Court shortly after the shooting, but the firearm used in the incident was not there.

According to authorities, Waters was taken into custody and charged with reckless endangerment and vehicle theft, with additional charges expected. He is currently being held on a $50,000 bond.

No other information was released.

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 Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee.

This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Woman killed when tree falls on her vehicle in New York: police

ARMONK, N.Y. (PIX11)  A woman was killed during Wednesdays intense noreaster when a tree fell on her vehicle in Armonk, Westchester County, police said.

The storm downed trees and power lines across the tri-state area. Several cars were crushed by a tree and light pole in Marble Hill, Manhattan.

A driver on Long Island was injured when their car slammed into a utility pole and tree, which smashed through the cars windshield, according to authorities.

This story comprises reporting from The Associated Press.

Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
A woman who was caught on camera violently smashing the windshields of parked cars with bricks in Los Angeles has been arrested.

The suspect, identified as Lisa Jones, 30, was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with a series of unprovoked attacks targeting vehicles across L.A. County.

Security video captured a March 28 incident where the woman was seen stepping out of her car and approaching a parked Porsche SUV in Venice at around 5 p.m.

She lifted a large brick over her head and smashed it into the windshield at full force before casually walking away.

The woman, who was typically seen stepping out of a white Volkswagen Tiguan SUV, is also accused of smashing the windows of a Tesla in West L.A., a red pickup truck in Tarzana, a Hyundai in Woodlands Hills, three incidents in Burbank, cars in Culver City and possibly more.

It feels extremely violating, said Katerina Meyer, the victim who owns the Porsche. Her car was parked near Rose and Bernard Avenues. Id love to know why shes out there doing this to people.

A woman caught on security camera throwing large bricks at vehicle windshields in Los Angeles. (Citizen)

The suspect smashing the windshield of a Porsche Cayenne SUV in Venice on March 28, 2024. (Katerina Meyer)

A woman exiting her Volkswagen Tiguan SUV to throw a large brick into the windshield of a Porsche Cayenne SUV in Venice on March 28, 2024. (Katerina Meyer)

The smashed windshield of a Toyota minivan targeted by the suspect in Burbank on April 2, 2024. (Madai Bautista)

The smashed windshield of a Toyota minivan targeted by the suspect in Burbank on April 2, 2024. (KTLA)

Katerina Meyer shared an image of the smashed windshield of her Porsche Cayenne SUV.

A Honda Fit damaged by the suspect in Burbank. (KTLA)

A woman exiting her Volkswagen Tiguan SUV to throw large bricks at car windshields in Los Angeles. (Citizen)

The suspect smashing the windshield of a red pickup truck in Tarzana on March 29, 2024.

A woman exiting her Volkswagen Tiguan SUV to throw large bricks at car windshields in Los Angeles. (Citizen)

Just a few miles away and seemingly on the same day, the woman is seen hurling a brick at the windshield of a Tesla parked near Camden and La Grange Avenues in West L.A. After smashing the windshield, she picks up the brick and walks back to her car.

In Burbank, on the 2200 block of North Brighton Street, Madai Bautistas minivan was one of three vehicles that had windshields smashed in by the suspect on April 2 at around 2 p.m.

She hit the windshield with a brick, said Bautista. Her husband had witnessed the attack in disbelief.

He heard a noise, looked over the fence and saw this lady, Bautista said. He actually asked her, What are you doing? and she just ignored him and got into her car and left.

Bautista said her husband noticed the womans SUV was a white Volkswagen Tiguan and the woman had picked up the brick before driving away.

Other cars in the Burbank area targeted by the woman included a Honda Fit.

Its super upsetting, said Devin Rodriguez, the woman who owns the Honda Fit. I dont know why shes doing this.

Rodriguez said her husband was home at the time and saw the woman also attack a truck that was parked across the street. She said her husband noticed the womans SUV did not have license plates.

George Frem, the owner of Exclusive Motors and the man who fixed the Porsches windshield, told KTLA he previously saw a video that appeared to show the same woman using a brick to damage vehicles.

It was an aggressive hit on the car, so thats why I decided to look it up and see if there are any other crimes that are similar to it, Frem said. Luckily, someone else has footage of her face when she did the same thing.

Frem discovered additional footage of the woman posted by victims on the Citizen app.

On March 29, the woman was seen smashing the windshield of a parked pickup truck in Tarzana on the 18800 block of Linnet Street.

Nearby residents remain on edge, with many wondering why the woman is going around smashing car windshields.

One Burbank victim said he confronted the woman during an attack and when he asked what she was doing, she didnt answer and only looked at him very angrily.

I believe the issue is we have a big mental health problem in Los Angeles, Frem said. We see it on the streets. We see it everywhere. There should be something to address those issues and to take them seriously.

The suspect was arrested on charges of felony vandalism and was later released on L.A. Countys zero bail policy. The zero bail policy allows some suspects accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent/non-serious crimes to be cited and released when they would have previously been held on bond.

The incidents remain under investigation. Anyone with additional information can call the Los Angeles Police Department at 1-877-275-5273.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: (L-R) U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) listen during a news conference calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the U.S. Capitol building on November 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. House Democrats held the news conference alongside rabbis with the activist group Jewish Voices for Peace. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally spoke on Thursday after Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen.

The international fallout from the killings has been swift and shows little signs of slowing down. Jose Andres, the celebrity chef who runs World Central Kitchen, accused Israels military on Wednesday of targeting systematically, car by car the aid workers. Andress elevated public platform as a celebrity chef who moonlights as a beloved humanitarian provider means Washington and Jerusalem will continue to hear from him.

So far, Democrats including Biden have only signaled vague calls for an investigation without specifiying what that might entail. One former Pentagon attorney told The Independent that, in their opinion, any such investigation would be perfunctory and performative.

One former State Department official also said: Theres no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional.

Biden has received plenty of criticism for his steadfast support for Israel. A small but significant portion of Democratic voters voted uncommitted in primary contests  most recently in Wisconsin on Tuesday  because of it.

And the presidents support for Israel and the outcry after the aid workers deaths also could undermine one of Bidens other major priorities for 2024: providing aid for Ukraine.

After the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Democratic leaders including Biden pushed to couple Ukraine aid in a bill with aid to Israel. Democrats hoped linking the two would allow the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to pass aid to Ukraine, despite the GOP increasingly turning against the country.

The Senate finally passed a foreign aid bill in February  but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to take the bill up and the far-right Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to file a motion to vacate the chair to trigger a removal of Johnson if he passed Ukraine aid.

Of course, Greene pulled the trigger on her motion to vacate, despite Johnson not even passing the Ukraine bill. That gives Democrats considerable leverage to save Johnson. They could effectively force him to pass the Ukraine-Israel aid bill in exchange for not voting to vacate, the same way they did with Kevin McCarthy.

Johnson needs to rely on almost unanimous support from Democrats to pass any legislation, given the razor-thin margins in the House. And herein lies the rub. The House currently has 431 members because of vacancies. That means 287 members would need to vote for the aid package to pass. Sixty-four House Democrats  about a third of the 218 Democrats in total  support a ceasefire in Gaza. That doesnt count the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who number over 100.

Progressives object to the aid package for a number of reasons. Representative Delia Ramierez of Illinois told me last month she did not support a discharge petition to put the package on the floor without Johnsons permission because it has unconditional aid to Israel. Fellow Squad member Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez similarly told me, I don't believe in unconditional aid to the Israeli government particularly, especially in this juncture, when there's been a total lack of restraint.

Indeed, 22 Democrats voted against the most recent minibus spending bill that triggered Greenes motion to vacate. They also objected to its halting of money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) included in the spending bill.

That gives Johnson  to say nothing of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries  much thinner margins to navigate than he even might have had before. Having a vote on the floor to provide aid to Israel and Ukraine would be a massive embarrassment on the global stage now. Many countries would wonder if it meant the United States is shirking its international obligations.

Biden may have been correct to initially couple Ukraine aid with assistance to Israel, given widespread support for Israel in the GOP. But after the World Central Kitchen workers deaths, linking the two is a terrible PR move, especially given rising criticisms of Israel coming from within Bidens own party. Needless to say, the situation has greatly imperiled aid to Ukraine.
The logo of the real estate company Signa is displayed on the facade of a high-rise building at the company's Berlin headquarters. Monika Skolimowska/dpa

The restructuring plan for the insolvent Signa Group of ex-billionaire Rene Benko is the wrong approach, according to the Austrian Financial Procurator's Office.

The promised quota of 30% for creditors can only be achieved if there is a "striking market recovery" in real estate, the president of the office, Wolfgang Peschorn, told the Foreign Press Association in Vienna.

He maintained that bankruptcy would have been the cleaner solution.

Such a break-up under the direction of an insolvency administrator would also have had the goal of the best possible realization of the existing assets and would also have guaranteed that those previously responsible for the disastrous developments at the Signa Group would definitely no longer have a say, he said.

Peschorn, who represents the legal interests of the country in his role, lamented a very limited willingness to clarify matters on almost all sides.

"There is not a great deal of enthusiasm when it comes to coming to terms with the circumstances," he said.

Peschorn, who was also minister of the interior from 2019 to the beginning of 2020, said that it should be questioned on the basis of which concrete considerations a reorganization plan was approved when there was not even money for the insolvency administrator's salary at the time of the decision.

Even the recently promised insolvency loan for Signa totalling tens of millions of euros would not fundamentally change the handling of the largest business bankruptcy in Austria's history.

In Peschorn's opinion, Signa founder Benko could face legal difficulties. "I would sleep very uneasily," he said, referring to the former property tycoon.

There are currently "numerous indications of criminal offences" surrounding the spectacular downfall of the Signa Group. Investors have described Benko as the "de facto managing director" and he was therefore presumably the driving force behind the transactions.

An investigation into the case, including critical scrutiny of the role of supervisory boards, would be very important for Austria and also for Germany, said Peschorn. "If this is not dealt with, you have to ask yourself what else is going on and why do we have legally regulated responsibilities?"

The public prosecutor's office in the southern German city of Munich has been investigating suspected money laundering at Benko's Signa Group since early March.

Until a few months ago, Benko was considered a multibillionaire, with the US magazine Forbes estimating the 46-year-old's fortune at $6 billion at the beginning of 2023.

Story continues

Since the end of December, however, a whole series of companies from Benko's Signa Group have filed for insolvency.

Benko's convoluted company empire includes a portfolio of assets in Germany: the Elbtower in Hamburg, the luxury department store KaDeWe in Berlin and the department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which is also insolvent.

Benko himself has also filed for insolvency in the capital of the Austrian state of Tyrol, Innsbruck.
The international food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) is requesting an independent investigation into an Israeli strike earlier this week that killed six of its workers and a translator.

The nongovernmental group (NGO) asked the U.S., Australia, Canada, Poland and the U.K. to join it in demanding an independent, third-party probe into Mondays incident.

This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles, the aid group said in a statement Thursday.

All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission, it added.

WCK said it has asked the Israeli government to preserve all evidence related to the strike, including video, audio recordings, documents and other communication.

An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers, WCK said in the request.

The aid group was forced to suspend operations in the region in the aftermath of the strike, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The organization, founded by the celebrity chef Jose Andres, launched a food program in the area earlier this year.

Andres called out the Israeli military Wednesday, arguing it systematically targeted the group car by car. Following the incident, he also claimed Israel was better than the way it has handled its war against Hamas militants in Gaza.

This was not just a bad luck situation where, Oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place, Andres told Reuters. Even if we were not in coordination with the [Israeli military], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.

President Biden is expected to have a call with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning.

Netanyahu issued a public statement regarding the strike, taking responsibility and calling it unintended. While he expressed regret for the deaths, he also defended the military operations in Gaza.

This happens in war, he said. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.

Biden pushed back Tuesday, saying Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also expressed outrage at the Israeli strike on the aid groups convoy during his Wednesday call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to the Pentagon.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
World Central Kitchen, the international aid group known for providing food to areas ravaged by natural and man-made disasters, has called for an independent investigation into Israels airstrikes on its aid workers in Gaza that killed seven.

In a statement released Thursday, WCK wrote that they have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.

Among the seven killed in the airstrikes, which targeted three vehicles marked with WCK logos, were three WCK relief team members, including Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, a 25-year-old from Palestine; Damian Sobol, a 35-year-old from Poland; and Jacob Flickinger, a 33-year-old from the U.S. and Canada. Three British members of the WCK security team and a relief lead  John Chapman, 57; James Henderson, 33; James Kirby, 47; and Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom, 43  were also killed.

This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission, the group wrote. An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers.

The organization, which has delivered more than 43 million meals and established 68 aid kitchens in Gaza, announced earlier this week that it would be pausing operations in the region in the aftermath of the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that Israeli Defense Forces forces were responsible for the deaths, claiming that our forces unintentionally hit innocent people in the Gaza Strip, as happens in war, and promising an investigation into the incident. According to Reuters, Israel indicated Thursday that its militarys investigation into the airstrikes could take weeks to complete.

International humanitarian groups, the United Nations, and officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development have warned that Gaza is facing imminent famine conditions as Israel continues to heavily restrict humanitarian access to the besieged region. On Wednesday, WCK founder and world-renowned chef Jose Andres published an op-ed in The New York Times that called the killings the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels.

You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population, Andres wrote.

In a separate interview with Reuters, Andres said that the WCK workers were targeted deliberately, nonstop, until everybody was dead in this convoy. He continued, This was not just a bad-luck situation where oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place  Even if we were not in coordination with the [Israel Defense Forces], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.

President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday that he was outraged and heartbroken over the deaths of the aid workers. For many, the statement rings hollow, especially considering that, per The Washington Post, the administration approved the sale of thousands more bombs to Israel the very day the workers were killed.

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American and Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33, was one of seven aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes Monday while in Gaza working for World Central Kitchen. His father is the founder of a prominent Miami nonprofit that helps children from marginalized communities.

The seven World Central Kitchen workers were traveling after unloading food aid for Gazans when their vehicles were hit by Israeli Defense Force airstrikes, according to the organization. The humanitarian workers were citizens of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Poland and Gaza.

READ MORE: What is World Central Kitchen? Israeli airstrike kills seven aid workers, group says

World Central Kitchen was founded by chef Jose Andres in 2010 after the Haiti earthquake. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit grew and now operates worldwide, feeding thousands of people during humanitarian crises and natural disasters.

Flickinger, who was killed in the airstrikes while working with the group, has ties to South Florida. His father, John Flickinger, is a Ransom Everglades School graduate who co-founded Summerbridge, which became Breakthrough Miami, a nonprofit that uses a students-teaching-students model to mentor and prepare underrepresented students for college. In 2020, Breakthrough Miami had three Gates Scholarship winners, one of the top college scholarships in the nation.

Jacob Flickinger was one of seven World Central Kitchen workers killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes. His father founded a Miami nonprofit to aid children.

In a heartfelt message posted Wednesday on Facebook, John Flickinger mourned the loss of his son, who died doing what he loved and serving others through his work with World Central Kitchen.

Jacob Flickinger is survived by his partner, Sandy Leclerc, and their 1-year-old son.

His family could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. But in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Flickingers parents said that he was born in Canada and lived in Miami until he was 5, when his parents separated and he moved back to Canada with his mother.

He served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 11 years, spending eight months in Afghanistan. He then settled down with Leclerc and had a son.

They were a happy little family. Together, they were extremely happy and they loved each other desperately. And they had great projects for the future, for themselves and the child, said Sylvie Labrecque, Flickingers mother.

Flickinger had done security work for another food aid mission in Acapulco, Mexico, after a hurricane and before he joined World Central Kitchen, his parents told the news outlet.

He was the best, most loyal friend you could ask for, his father said. He touched many people.

Andres has told news organizations that he believes the Israeli military targeted the World Central Kitchen convoy.

This was not just a bad luck situation where, Oops, we dropped a bomb in the wrong place, Andres told the Reuters news agency, noting that his teams vehicles were clearly marked. Its very clear who we are and what we do.

On Thursday, World Central Kitchen called for an independent investigation into the Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the World Central Kitchen workers had been mistakenly killed, calling the situation a tragic event that would be investigated, Reuters reported.

John Flickinger has said he believes the airstrikes were deliberate.

Their convoy was marked, clearly marked, and they are on a well-used humanitarian route. So in my opinion, it was a targeted kill, he said in the interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

This war is senseless, he added. All wars are senseless.
Why the Westminster nude photo scandal is one of the oldest tricks in the espionage handbook

Christine Keeler was part of the infamous alleged honeytrap plot involving Secretary of State for War John Profumo, an osteopath and a Soviet naval attache - Popperfoto/Getty Images

It began with a flirty message: Long time no speak! Miss you in Westminster. Then, after claiming to have met the recipient at a recent event, the mystery correspondent, who called himself Charlie, got down to brass tacks: Im single again so making the most of the gays in Westminster. After some further banter, Charlie sent an explicit photo.

It sounds like an exchange that might take place on a dating app. But this message and several others, containing similar wording, were sent on WhatsApp to at least 12 men, including MPs, working in and around Parliament between October 2023 and February this year. If the recipient was heterosexual, then the sender called themselves Charlotte or Abi.

Yesterday, the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, held talks with Parliamentary staff, after experts told the Politico website that the messages were almost certainly part of a spear phishing attack  a highly personalised phishing exercise intended to gather compromising information on a victim  possibly undertaken on behalf of a foreign state.

The platform may be modern, but the honeytrap has a long and colourful history. Here, we recall some of the best known episodes from which modern-day spies may continue to draw inspiration...

Mata Hari

Mata Hari was allegedly found to be treacherous, and was executed by the French - Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Mata Hari is to the honeytrap what Hoover is to vacuum cleaning. A Dutch dancer, real name Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, she made a reputation for herself in bohemian Paris before the First World War.

Then, after performing for the eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, she was recruited by the French in 1916 to seduce the Crown Prince and obtain military secrets (which would, in fact, have been of no use as he had no involvement in the war).

She met a German operative in Madrid in an attempt to set up a meeting with Wilhelm Jr, but instead offered to share French secrets with the Germans. The French then intercepted communications that allegedly confirmed her treachery.

What Mata Haris motivation was and the true intentions of the French and Germans remain unclear  it is not certain whether she was a double or even triple agent or merely an innocent scapegoat  but she was executed for her troubles by the French in October 1917.

John Profumo and Christine Keeler

Profumo eventually resigned as a result of his affair with Keeler, pictured here in 1963 - George Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The mother of all British political scandals. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in 1963, got caught in a convoluted tangle as the lover of Christine Keeler, who also happened to be involved with Soviet naval attache and man-about-town Yevgeny Ivanov.

The key figures all met at parties organised by society osteopath Stephen Ward, who took his own life during his trial for living off the earnings of prostitution and of procuring.

Profumo, having initially denied his affair with Keeler, was hopelessly compromised and resigned. Ivanov always maintained it was implausible as espionage, claiming later that Keeler would never have been able to obtain sensitive information for the Russians via pillow talk: Oh, by the way, darling, when are the cruise missiles going to arrive in Germany?

Barbara Castle and Renato Proni

MP Barbara Castle in 1974, who described Czechoslovakian agent Renato Proni as her 'Italian flower' - Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images

In 2019, documents revealed the venerable Labour minister Barbara Castle had been the subject of an attempted honeytrap by a Czechoslovakian agent, the Italian Renato Proni, while Castle was an up-and-coming figure in Clement Attlees party in the Fifties.

The intelligence papers from the communist secret police, Statni Bezpecnost, dating from 1953 claim Proni thought he could seduce Castle, though there was no suggestion he ever succeeded.

Proni and Castle discussed political theory and he was known in the party to be her friend, sometimes driving her to meetings and writing documents for her.

The report read: Based on the testimony of Andrej [Pronis codename] she confided in him with the intention of getting a leading position in the Foreign Office in case of victory of the Labour party.They also record Castle calling Proni her gentle Italian flower.

Mordechai Vanunu and Cheryl Ben Tov

Mordechai Vanunu, identified as 'lonely' by Mossad psychologists, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in 2002 - AP

In 1986, Mossad took a dim view of Israeli technician Mordechai Vanunu, who offered the British press the story  and images to prove it  that Israel had developed nuclear weapons at the secretive Dimona plant in the Negev desert (the Israeli nuclear policy was and remains one of deliberate ambiguity).

While in hiding, Vanunu slipped out into central London for a day of sightseeing, during which he was befriended by a woman with whom he planned a romantic trip to Rome.

The honey trap was set because Vanunu had been identified as lonely by Mossad psychologists.

Vananus new companion was Cheryl Cindy Ben Tov, who took him to an apartment in Rome where he was overpowered and drugged by three waiting Mossad agents.

Vanuna promptly reappeared in Israel, where he stood trial for treason (it was less diplomatically sensitive to arrest him in Italy than in the UK).

Vanunu was released from prison in 2004.

Markus Wolfs Romeo Spies

Markus Wolf, who sent women to seduce powerful men in West Germany, in Berlin

The East German spymaster Markus Wolf set up a department of the Stasi dedicated to his network of Romeo Spies on the basis that the Second World War had left a shortage of young men in the fledgling West Germany.

Selecting the best-looking operatives, Wolf sent them west with the aim of seducing politically and economically powerful  often unmarried  women in West German society. Some of these women were turned to work on behalf of the GDR, including as secretaries of senior officials, collecting confidential information from government, industry and even within Nato.

By the Eighties, the honeytraps became less effective, with West German officers trained to recognise the giveaway unfashionable haircuts and clothes of the East German arrivals.

But Wolf wrote: As long as there is espionage, there will be Romeos seducing unsuspecting [targets] with access to secrets.

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Anchor/reporter Mark Boyle announced his departure from WRAL this week.

Boyle, who anchored the stations Live Center during newscasts for nearly five years, told The News & Observer that he is taking a new job in Washington, DC and that Tuesday was his last day at WRAL.

The Live Center anchor job at WRAL has evolved from something new to the market to a key position that plays a major role in the way WRAL covers local and national breaking news, he said. However, the opportunity to live in DC and anchor Breaking News for The National Desk was something I couldnt turn down.

Ive made some great friends in Raleigh and will miss the area but Im excited for the next chapter.

In a post on Instagram Thursday afternoon, Boyle said hes excited to go national with his new job as Live Desk Anchor for the Sinclair Broadcast Groups The National Desk.

His move to DC is set for early May, he wrote.

Boyles bio page on the WRAL site was not loading on Thursday, but an archived version of the page accessed through the Wayback Machine, noted that Boyle came to WRAL from WCNC in Charlotte, where he was an investigative reporter and anchor. Boyle also worked at KPRC in Houston, WFTV in Orlando and WWSB in Sarasota.

Boyle had several Emmy nominations for his work covering tropical storms and hurricanes in Florida and Charleston.

In the WRAL bio, the Florida native and University of Florida grad said this about his journalism philosophy: I believe in true journalism. Getting it right, getting it first, all very important aspects of the business, but getting it accurate is more important than anything else.
Wyoming man accused of capturing live wolf and showing it off in bar before killing it

The wolf was allegedly shown off in a bar before it was killed (Getty/iStockphoto)

A Wyoming man has been accused of catching a live wolf, taping its mouth shut, and showing it off in a bar  before killing it around the back of the establishment.

The incident took place in Sublette County, where it is legal to kill wolves, on 29 February.

While it is legal, keeping the animal alive and tormenting it would be an egregious violation of hunting ethics, two anonymous sources familiar with the incident told Cowboy State Daily.

The wolfs mouth was allegedly taped shut and was flaunted in a bar in the small town of Daniel, Wyoming, one source told the outlet, saying that they had seen photos of this happening.

The man allegedly ran the wolf down with a snowmobile on 29 February, disabling the animal, according to an account of events.

Instead of killing the animal there and then, he allegedly kept the wolf, taking it back to his residence before setting out to a bar.

After bringing it to the bar, he then purportedly took it out behind the building, where he killed it.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department verified that somebody had been cited and fined for being in possession of a live wolf, but it did not identify the person, nor any exact details in the case.

They said that the incident was reported to them anonymously that an individual was alleged to be in possession of a live wolf on 29 February.

The individual was hunting when he came across the wolf in the predator zone and intended to harvest it, Breanna Ball, a Game and Fish Department spokesperson, told Cowboy State Daily.

However, the wolf was transported alive back to his residence and later to a business in Daniel, WY. The individual euthanized the wolf later that day, she added.

The individual was cited for violating Chapter 10, Importation and Possession of Live Warm-Blooded Wildlife, Game and Fish said, with the outlet reporting that the offence carries a $250 fine.

Ms Ball added to KHOL that the killing appears to be an isolated incident.

However, some are worried that the alleged act could seriously affect the publics view of Wyomings wolf management policy.

When this story gets out, and it will, this is going to drastically change the discussion about wolf management in Wyoming, one of the anonymous sources told the outlet.

The majority of the state is considered a predatory zone for wolves, as they are considered predators by state law, meaning that they can be harvested but people must report this within 10 days.

A smaller area of Wyoming inside Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks have banned hunting and other areas are called a trophy hunting zone where hunting is further regulated by the authorities and you must have a license to kill them within specific hunting seasons.

As of 2017, wolves were no longer thought of as an endangered species and the management of gray wolves was returned to the state of Wyoming.

Doug Smith, a retired biologist who led the wolf programme at Yellowstone National Park for nearly three decades told Cowboy State Daily that wolf management is difficult and emotional.

Hearing about cases like this makes it hard [for reasonable approach]. It angers [the public] and if people cant make good choices and be ethical then they need regulations. They lose freedoms, he told the outlet.

However, Lander, Wyoming-based Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Scott Becker, who is also their Mountain-Prairie Region wolf coordinator, said that the case may not have much of an effect on wolf management across the region.

Although the optics of this incident are not great, because wolves are not listed in the NRM (Northern Rocky Mountains), it will likely have little bearing on wolf conservation and management in the NRM states, he told the outlet.

The Independent has contacted the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Sublette County Circuit Court for further information.
After Years of Neglect, Buick Is Back on the Front Burner at GM

GM is demonstrating a legitimate effort to prioritize Buick as an important near-luxury brand that occupies the gray space between Chevrolet and Cadillac.

True, the four-vehicle lineup consists entirely of crossovers (including the three-row Enclave as a new one will be revealed next week). The new compact Envista, with its unique coupe-like roofline, is selling well.

Were bringing life back to Buick design, GM President Mark Reuss told journalists this week. Im excited about what the brand is becoming again.

A number of factors conspired years ago to make Buick a marginalized brand in the US: Corporate parent General Motors was slathering resources on profitable trucks and SUVs at Chevrolet and GMC, while spinning its wheels trying to position Cadillac to challenge BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the luxury space. And GMs all-in strategy to pursue a battery-electric portfolio in recent years was focused mainly on Chevrolet and Cadillac.

It appeared Buick was being overlookedeven ignoredwhile the other brands were getting most of the attention. For years, Buick was doing well enough in China as GMs most popular brand that it was conceivable this marque dating back to 1903 would end its long run in the US and focus instead on the China market.

But non-domestic brands arent doing so well these days in Chinaa Wild West of 250 vehicle marques, where Buicks sales have declined from more than 1.2 million units in 2016 to barely a half-million in 2023.

All this background sets the stage for what appears today as GMs legitimate effort to prioritize Buick as an important near-luxury brand that occupies the gray space between Chevrolet and Cadillac. For years, that positioning was implied but without much tangible evidence on the product side.

But thats changing. The brand has a fresh portfolio with a sharp New Face styling language inspired by the sleek, shapely Wildcat battery-electric coupe concept from 2022 (which is the fifth Wildcat concept in Buicks history).

True, the four-vehicle lineup consists entirely of crossovers (including the three-row Enclave), and none are as dramatic as the Wildcat. But the new compact Envista, with its coupe-like roofline, is uniquely handsome and found its way into nearly 10,000 driveways in the first three months of this year.

Buick

It also makes sense that GM is pivoting to Buick now as its entire portfolio has internal-combustion engines while overall demand for battery-electric vehicles has slowed and as GM and other automakers have pushed back some of their EV market launches.

Sales success on the ICE side pads the GM bankroll as the unpredictable EV market twists and turns. And Buick sales in the US are growing: 44,385 units in the first quarter (up 16.4%) and 167,030 vehicles in 2023 (up an impressive 61% over 2022).

Buick is preparing to welcome its first battery-electric car in 2025. We wait for details on that vehicle, but Buick in China already sells two crossover EVs: the Electra E4 and E5. Launching US productionif that happenswould qualify that Buick EV for federal tax credits of $7500.

This is a big week for Buick news. In addition to the unveiling of the refreshed Envision two-row crossover, Buick hosted media at the all-new General Motors Design West studio at the Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, to shed light on the brands new Exceptional by Design tagline.

The brands top designers have drawn inspiration from groundbreaking Buicks from the past, such as the Wildcat II and the 1938 Buick Y-Job, which stands as the auto industrys first concept car from the industrys first rockstar designer, Harley Earl.

Harley Earls most expressive work across GM was on behalf of Buick, Bob Boniface, director of Global Buick Exterior/Interior Design, told journalists visiting the airy new design studio, where clay models are shaped both by hand and by precise robot carvers.

In addition to covering the exterior styling of the four current Buicks (the Encore GX, Envista, Envision, and Enclave), the Buick design team detailed aspects inside, such as the perforated leather, contrast stitching, tighter fit-and-finish, premium materials, and an elevated sensory experience to put your Buick a step above your Chevrolet.

Were bringing life back to Buick design, GM President Mark Reuss told journalists during this weeks design studio tour. Im excited about what the brand is becoming again.

Its hard to identify extensive design correlations between the Y-Job and the Wildcat II with the modern Buicks so many years later. But Boniface says the four current Buicksincluding the 2025 Enclave soon to be revealedall share the low, wide mouth (or grille) and high-set headlamps with the old concepts. But the round headlights of old have been replaced by sleek, narrow pointed bars resembling the business end of a spear.

Buick

And another aspect of Buicks New Faceinspired by the most recent Wildcat conceptis a gently sloping hood that descends to a sharp line that sweeps across the front end, separating the headlights above from the wide-mouth grille below.



Buick designers started working on the Wildcat concept in 2018, and Boniface says it was intended purely as an internal design exercise. But Mark Reuss saw it during a studio tour and had a different idea. Reuss saw it and said, Why not build it and show it to the public? Work began in earnest.

When the latest Wildcat concept was unveiled virtually during the pandemic days of June 2022, fans may have envisioned a sedan or coupe joining the Buick lineup. (How hard could it be to revive the Regal?)

But Duncan Aldred, global vice president for Buick and GMC, warns against such notions. He tells Autoweek that Buick customers are not asking for sedans, coupes, or a convertible. He referred to the LaCrosse and Regal as beautiful cars but that market went away. The LaCrosse was discontinued in 2019, followed by the Regal in 2020.

Besides, he says the fresh lineup of crossovers is gaining traction with Buick customers for their functionality and spaciousness. Once people get in these (crossovers), they dont go back to sedans, Aldred tells Autoweek.

For now, Buick management will continue to shape the brand not for luxury but as a premium player that is just touching luxury, as described by Molly Peck, Buicks chief marketing officer. Buick should be for those wanting the amenities of a luxury brand without the traditional luxury stereotypes, she says.

Buick

This strategy is not a surefire bet to secure Buicks long-term future. Several other players trying to occupy this near-luxury spacenamely Acura, Mazda, Volvo, and to an extent Lincoln, Infiniti, and Genesishave struggled to gain a foothold, to find their place in this niche.

But Reuss is encouraged by how the newest Buicks are being received by consumers. People are giving Buick a chance, he says.

Have you been paying attention to Buicks new model lineup? If so, please share your impressions below.
This year's total solar eclipse causes changes for Eid al-Fitr. Learn more about the delay

With Ramadan ending soon, sights are set on the next big celebration: Eid al-Fitr. But this years timing looks a little different thanks to the total solar eclipse.

Heres what you should know.

What is Eid al-Fitr?

Delaware Muslims filled the Bob Carpenter Center and the Delaware Field House at the University of Delaware on Friday April 21, 2023 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

Eid al-Fitr, also known as the Festival of Sweets or Festival of Breaking the Fast, is celebrated by Muslims worldwide and marks the end of the monthlong dawn-to-sunset fasting that took place during Ramadan, the holy month of Islam.

Aside from marking the end of the monthlong fast, common celebrations for Eid al-Fitr include Eid prayers, festive meals, social gatherings, dressing up, visiting the graves of relatives, charitable and gift-giving.

Ramadan details: Ramadan is almost here! Find out when the Islamic holy month begins, what it means, more

When is Eid al-Fitr?

Delaware Muslims filled the Bob Carpenter Center and the Delaware Field House at the University of Delaware on Friday April 21, 2023 to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

The Islamic calendar is tied to the lunar cycles, meaning Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha  the Holiday of Sacrifice  are celebrated on different days each year.

This year, Ramadan began at sundown on Sunday, March 10.

Once the holy month concludes, the first three days of Shawwal, the 10th month in the Islamic calendar, are celebrated, but not until the new moon is seen. This means that Eid al-Fitr starts at different times around the world. Some Muslims choose to celebrate when the new moon appears over Mecca, according to the Pluralism Project.

Due to the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, the appearance of the Shawwal crescent moon will overlap with the event and not be visible until April 9, the 30th day of Ramadan, according to The National.

The solar eclipse seen from Glasgow Park in Glasgow in 2017.

Astronomers previously predicted that Eid al-Fitr would begin on April 9, but with the Shawwal crescent becoming visible on the night of April 8 in concurrence with the total eclipse, the moon will not be visible at the western horizon after sunset.

Given that Mondays eclipse will occur in the afternoon, experts say that the moon phase would be too new at sunset for a crescent moon to be visible that evening.

Instead, the crescent birth before dawn will result in visibility after sunset on April 9 in most Islamic countries, with April 10 marking the first day of Shawwal and Eid al-Fitr, according to Harpers Bazaar Arabia.

Official word on the arrival of Eid al-Fitr remains to be seen on Monday night, but with many reports announcing April 10 as the start of the celebrations, marking that date on your calendar sounds like a safe bet.

ICYMI: Where to get solar eclipse glasses, eclipse safety and how to make your own solar viewers

How is Eid al-Fitr celebrated?

The day begins with a special prayer service at the mosque, known as salat al-Eid, and includes the performance of the Eid salat, followed by a sermon from the imam.

After the prayer service, mosques are known to host carnivals and festivals with food and activities for children, bazaars and vendors.

In addition to paying zakat al-Fitr, a unique alms-tax for the needy that is required on Eid, some perform additional acts of charity on the day. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam.

A Muslim devotee offers special morning prayers to start the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of their holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the Kashmiri Mosque in Kathmandu on April 22, 2023.

While celebrating with family over the three-day period, children often receive gifts like toys, clothes and jewelry. Parents reiterate the importance of fasting and serving Allah during the month, along with participating in celebrations and festivities with family, friends and their local Islamic community.

All celebrations serve as a way for the community to show their gratitude to Allah after fasting and reflecting during Ramadan.

A common greeting to wish other Muslims well during Eid al-Fitr is Eid Mubarak, meaning blessed Eid.

Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Total solar eclipse to delay beginning of Eid al-Fitr, Islamic holiday
Solar Eclipse 2024: Yes, a solar eclipse is happening in April. But these are the other astronomical events happening in 2024

(FOX40.COM)  By now, its no secret that a total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of the United States on April 8, and while its probably the most exciting astronomical event happening in 2024, its far from the only one.

According to The Old Farmers Almanac, here is a list of awe-inspiring celestial events in 2024 that everyone can view, even without special equipment.

Solar eclipses: What are the myths, legends and religious beliefs surrounding them?

April 8: Total Eclipse of the Sun

The Almanac states on its website that the next total solar eclipse to be visible in the U.S. will arrive in 2045, which makes Mondays event that much more exciting; however, those in California are likely to only see a partial eclipse.

But the Almanac notes that a partial eclipse is still worthy of getting the glasses out and tilting your head toward the sky.

Do not imagine that because your backyard can see a 90% partial eclipse, youd be missing a darkness boost.youd be missing the whole show!

The website also says that the eclipse is safe to look at directly during its three minutes of totality, but recommends eclipse glasses for those who would like to watch the hour-long partial eclipse that happens before and after the total eclipse.

June: Solstice Full Moon

On June 21, the Sun will travel along its northernmost path of the sky, which marks the astronomical start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, called the summer solstice.

On the night of June 21, the Moon is expected to be unusually amber with a low-down lunar placement.

Ring of Fire brings out hundreds of locals to the Sac State Campus

Around 1 a.m. on the night of June 21/morning of June 22, the Moon will sink an extra 10 Moon-widths lower than the Sun ever gets to go, creating an amazing visual experience.

So watch the Moon that night if youre awake in the hour after midnight. Thats when the Full Moon is always highest-up for the entire night, the Almanac writes.

During the summer solstice, the Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at a maximum tilt toward the Sun, which is scientific language to explain why the solstice marks the longest day (the longest period of sunlight hours) and shortest night of the calendar year.

Conversely, in the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the beginning of winter.

August: Perseid Meteor Shower

Every year, the Perseid meteor shower lights up the night sky around the world between mid-July and late August and is consistently considered one of the best shooting star displays of the year.

According to the Old Farmers Almanac, the Perseid shower will take place from Aug. 11 to 12, but Space.com states that the shooting star display will peak around the night of Aug. 12 and before dawn on Aug. 13.

Sacramento night sky to get illuminated by Perseid meteor shower

Though the moon will be 50% illuminated at the time of the Perseids peak, it will set around midnight, so there will be dark skies until dawn  perfect for meteor hunting, the astronomy news website adds.

NASA said during the Perseids peak, viewers can see up to 100 meteors per hour. The agency adds that the Perseid meteor shower comes from space debris left by a comet named Swift-Tuttle. The comet, which was discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, orbits the Sun once every 133 years.

However, Earth passes through the comets debris trail annually, which causes the meteors to collide with our atmosphere and create the beautiful streaks of fire in the sky that stargazers have come to know and enjoy.

September: Partial Lunar Eclipse

While the solar eclipse in April is receiving all of the attention, another eclipse will take place around mid-September, but this time its a lunar eclipse, which occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are positioned in somewhat of a straight line.

This particular event will be unusual because only 9% of the Moon will be covered by a small black bite of Earths shadow, the Almanac said.

International Space Station passes over Lassen Volcanic National Park

On the night of Sept. 17 and 18, around 7:45 p.m. in California, moon-lovers should be treated to the lunar eclipse as the Moon passes through the darkest part of Earths shadow cast by the Sun, called the umbra.

November, December: Crescent Moon Meets Venus

In early November, a dynamic duo is expected to make an appearance in the night sky that is certain to dazzle anyone who sees it, but if you dont, theres no need to stress. Theyll make another appearance in early December.

Around Nov. 4, a waning crescent Moon will be paired with the Evening star, otherwise known as the planet Venus, and will be visible around sunset. The two celestial entities will perform a curtain call and reappear next to one another on Dec. 4, the Almanac says.

Look toward the west as sunset deepens into twilight, the website adds.

When visible from Earth, Venus is 15 times brighter than the skys brightest star, Sirius, according to Space.com. Those on the East Coast will see the Moon and Venus at their closest because, by the time the duo rises for the West Coast, the moon will have moved a little farther away from Venus.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
New Yorks antiquated adultery ban one step closer to being tossed: Down to 9 commandments!

A bill to scrap New Yorks antiquated state law banning adultery now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochuls desk after being approved by legislators.

The measure sailed through the state Senate 57-4 Wednesday without any debate on the Senate floor.

Were down to 9 commandments! one lobbyist outside the Senate chamber said with a chuckle.

The current law, written in 1907, dictates that someone found guilty of adultery can be sentenced up to 90 days in prison or face a $500 fine.

A law over 100 years old technically dictates that adultery is illegal in New York. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Assemblyman Chuck Lavine (D-Nassau) sponsored the measure to repeal adultery in the legislatures lower chamber. Assemblymember Charles D. Lavine

I think its just kind of an antiquated law that was not really in practice in New York state so were just updating it and thats always important to do whenever we have the chance, state Sen. Jessica Sparcella-Spanton (D-Staten Island) said leaving the chamber after the vote.

The state Assembly passed the measure last month, meaning it just needs the swipe of Hochuls pen before New Yorkers can have that fling without fear of ending up behind bars.

Governor Hochul will review the legislation, a spokesperson for the governor wrote in a statement to The Post.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International, the biggest Western bank in Russia, cannot give a timeframe for its contested deal to purchase a stake in Austria's Strabag that was long held by a now sanctioned Russian tycoon, the bank's chief executive said on Thursday.

But Chief Executive Officer Johann Strobl told shareholders at an annual general meeting, "the earlier the better".

The comments are the latest development in RBI's attempt to unlock the stake in a complex deal as a means of freeing up some of its billions stranded in Russia. Reuters reported on March 20 that U.S. Treasury officials have expressed their concerns about the 1.1 billion euro transaction in meetings with the bank and Austrian authorities.

Earlier this week, RBI said that the deal complied with sanctions laws but that it "requires extensive compliance verifications" following a recent transfer of the holding.

In December, RBI announced it intended to buy the Strabag stake from Russia-based Rasperia Trading Limited, a company controlled by sanctioned Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.

RBI said at the time that it planned to close its deal by the end of March.

Strobl told shareholders on Thursday that the bank had answered questions of multiple authorities, including those in the United States.

"We continue to believe ... that such a transaction is legal and possible," he told shareholders.

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; writing by Tom Sims; editing by Matthias Williams)
By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York City Mayor Eric Adams is defending the city's new artificial intelligence chatbot that has been caught in recent days giving business owners wrong answers or advice that, if followed, would entail breaking the law.

When launched as a pilot in October, the MyCity chatbot was touted as the first city-wide use of such AI technology, something that would give business owners "actionable and trusted information" in response to queries typed into an online portal.

That has not always proved the case: journalists at the investigative outlet The Markup first reported last week that the chatbot was getting things wrong. It wrongly advised that employers could take a cut of their workers' tips, and that there were no regulations requiring bosses give notice of employees' schedule changes.

"It's wrong in some areas, and we've got to fix it," Adams, a Democrat, told reporters on Tuesday, emphasizing that it was a pilot program. "Any time you use technology, you need to put it into the real environment to iron out the kinks."

Adams has been an ardent advocate for deploying untested technology in the city with an optimism that is not always vindicated. He put a 400-pound vaguely ovoid robot in the Times Square subway station last year that he hoped would help police deter crime; it was retired about five months later, with commuters noting that it never appeared to be doing anything, and that it could not use stairs.

The chatbot remained online on Thursday and was still sometimes giving wrong answers. It said store owners were free to go cashless, apparently oblivious to the city council's 2020 law banning stores from refusing to accept cash. It still thinks the city's minimum wage is $15 per hour, though it was raised to $16 as of 2024.

The chatbot, which relies on Microsoft's Azure AI service, appears to be led astray by problems common to so-called generative AI technology platforms such as ChatGPT, which are known to sometimes make things up or assert falsehoods with HAL-like confidence.

Microsoft declined to say what might be causing the problems, but said in a statement it was working with the city to fix them. The city's Office of Technology and Innovation said in a statement that "as soon as next week, we expect to significantly mitigate inaccurate answers."

Neither Microsoft nor City Hall responded to questions about what was causing the errors and how they might be fixed.

The city has updated disclaimers on the MyCity chatbot website, noting that "its responses may sometimes be inaccurate or incomplete" and telling businesses to "not use its responses as legal or professional advice."

Andrew Rigie, who advocates for thousands of restaurant-owners as the director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said he had heard from business owners perplexed by the chatbot's responses.

"I commend the city for trying to use AI to help businesses, but it needs to work," he said, warning that following some of the chatbot's guidance could bring serious legal consequences. "If when I ask a question and then I have to go back to my lawyers to know whether or not the answer is correct, it defeats the purpose."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)
New York immigrant advocate to Abbott: Go back to Texas

A prominent New York City immigrant advocate on Thursday criticized a visit to the city by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who is in town to headline the local Republican Partys annual gala.

Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said Abbott is not welcome on account of his hard-line immigration policies.

Greg Abbott is a racist bigot who has callously bussed asylum seekers across the country for cheap political points. His sheer lack of humanity towards asylum seekers is unacceptable and there is no place for his hatred in New York, Awawdeh said in a statement.

Abbott has gained national prominence in large part through his Operation Lone Star, a series of policies designed to put immigration enforcement  generally recognized as a federal jurisdiction  in the states hands.

He also spearheaded the hawkish state immigration law S.B. 4, which was blocked by federal courts and is currently under litigation in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Immigrant and civil rights advocates have been sharply critical of Abbott  considered a potential vice presidential pick for former President Trump  and the Texas governor has leaned into his image as an uncompromising immigration hawk.

The Hill has reached out to Abbotts office for comment.

Awawdeh said Abbotts overtly political use of immigration is incompatible with New York Citys immigrant history.

We are a city shaped by our immigrant heritage and proudly serve as a beacon of hope to those in search of safety and stability. Our city will continue to uphold that legacy as we welcome new arrivals and hold our own elected officials accountable for meeting the needs of our newest neighbors, he said.

While Greg Abbott fundraises in Midtown by spewing extremism and hatred, we want to make it clear: you are not welcome here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Noting rising public discourse around the escalation of retail theft, New York lawmakers are lining up to take shots at the issue with new policy proposals. But they may be at odds with each otherand the business communityabout what to do next.

At a press conference this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tossed his hat in the ring, positing that acts of organized retail crime in his home state could be investigated and prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

More from Sourcing Journal

Speaking at the Victor Crossing Shopping Plaza in Rochesterwhere an Ulta store has lost more than $100,000 since last year to marauding mobsSchumer suggested that the same law used to take down mafia operations could be used to target thieves.

Weve all seen the videoscrime rings many of them national, get together and they then break into stores and fill up duffel bags, he said. RICO will allow our FEDs to come in and pursue things.

The law, which put away criminals like New York mobster John Gotti, has a lot of advantages, Schumer added. A, it crosses state lines, B, it has tougher penalties and C, it uses the long arm of the federal government to put evidence together in different places that can convict these crime rings.

Ontario County Sheriff David Cirencione said the area has seen an increase not just in the frequency of retail theft, but the complexity as well.

Were not talking about single shoplifters going into a store and grabbing an item or two, he added. Were talking about criminal enterprises that have a real hierarchy, that basically have pawns that come out here and do this theft.

Its a clear indicator that weve got a problem, and heres another solution, Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter added. Its another tool in the tool box. Weve clearly shown in our retail theft investigations that this is linked to violence. This is linked to millions of dollars of theft thats going across state lines.

But not all New York legislators are keen to take a tough-on-crime stance.

State Assemblymember Carl Heastie (D-Northeast Bronx) last week spoke out against Governor Kathy Hochuls $45-million plan to curb retail crime, which includes instituting harsher penalties for criminals who assault retail workers. I just dont believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime, he said.

The politician said that while his office cares very deeply about the safety of store associates, We just have other ideas of how to get there.

If you just keep dealing with the penalties, what happens after people get arrested? he added. Youre still only worrying about what happens after something has already happened.

Heasties response rankled fellow legislators and members of the business community.

Speaking on radio show WABC The Cats Roundtable, former Governor David Paterson expressed dismay at the Assemblymembers take on the matter. I hope that he was misunderstood, he said.

Speaking about retail workers, he added, These are people who are not high-wage earners. Most of them are not unionized. They dont really have much [other] than the benefit that that the owners give them. Heasties stance doesnt solve the problem, he said. That there should be any leniency for this type of thingI really dont understand that.

Ken Giddon, the co-owner of upscale mens wear retailer Rothmans, told Sourcing Journal that his Union Square store was hit twice by flash mobs in December of 2020, and has since dealt with a slew of shoplifting incidents and threats to employee safety.

Comments from Heastie that he doesnt believe that punishment is a deterrent to crimewell, thats breakthrough thinking in the history of mankind, he said.

Giddon, who serves on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs Small Business Alliance, a task force to address such issues, said store staff are uniquely vulnerable during a theft, whether its a smash-and-grab or a lone shoplifter.

Retail workers are the ones who are standing out there on their own, he added. If youre a TSA worker, youre surrounded by a bunch of cops with guns. Retail workersyoure surrounded by police in about 15 minutes. Thats a big difference, and I see it firsthand.

The storeowner said Rothmans locations in Scarsdale and Bronxville have not been subject to the same problems as its Manhattan boutique, which has been forced to lock its doors and institute a knock-to-enter policy. Its a messed up situation, because we pay a lot of rent to be in a good location where you want people walking by to walk in, he said. Additionally, Rothmans has switched up its inventory to move away from brands that might be especially attractive to thieves.

Since the large-scale crimes several years ago, the store has seen a bunch of smaller incidents. Lately, weve had more people that need mental health help than organized gangs, Giddon explained. These events have terrified workers. Consequently, he believes the Senate Majority Leaders RICO pitch may not strike the heart of the issue for most retailers.

Im not so sure about the energy that guys like Schumer are putting in to worrying about these dramatic busts of organized retail theft; I see more of a loose affiliation of people that should be in the system in other places, both in jail and or taken care of by mental health organizations, he explained. I think that it might make good press, but I dont know that thats really where its at.

Instead, he wishes politicians would focus on the people at the center of the crimes. My first step would be to enact laws protecting retail workers, and then I would work on people getting together from both sides of the aisle to make the necessary changes to the bail reform, he said. I would start pushing very strongly for penalties that take into account recidivism, or repeat offenses.

Whether lawmakers have the chops to enact effective policy surrounding retail crime is yet to be seen, but Giddon believes the first objective should be a simple one. I want to start a new political party in New York and base it on what my employees say to one another when they leave each dayGet home safe, he said. Thats all New Yorkers really want.
Following the deaths of rescue workers in a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the West's hesitation in providing military aid to the country as completely unacceptable.

"A new air defence system could fundamentally change the situation," Zelensky said in his evening video message broadcast in Kiev on Thursday.

He said he was grateful to every country that was looking for ways to help Ukraine. At the same time, he said: "It is completely unacceptable that so many countries in the world are still thinking about how they can counter terror, even though all it takes is a few political decisions."

Ukraine is calling for more air defence systems, such as the US Patriot system, to better protect its cities from Russian attacks on an almost daily basis.

Stronger air defence for Kharkiv and the region of the same name as well as the Sumy region and the southern regions is an "absolutely urgent necessity", said Zelensky.

Zelensky recalled that one person had died in a Russian drone attack on a residential area on Thursday; when the rescue services arrived, there had been a second air strike. Three emergency responders died.

"This is a disgusting Russian tactic," said Zelensky, who expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

He called on Ukraine's diplomats to solicit air defence systems abroad.

In his video address, Zelensky also said that the situation on the ground was stabilizing. The occupying forces were being prevented from advancing any further, he said.

Annalena Baerbock German Minister of Foreign Affairs and Melanie Joly Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, attend NATO's 75th anniversary celebration ceremony at NATO headquarters. -/NATO/dpa

A general view during the NATO foreign ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. -/NATO/dpa

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (R) meets with Ukranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting. -/NATO/dpa
From the The Morning Dispatch on The Dispatch

Happy Thursday! We hope your day will be better than the Swiss government ministers who had to give up their free, government-issued annual ski passes under pressure from the social media hordes. Ah, vox populi, vox dei.

Quick Hits: Todays Top Stories

Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantza member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus war cabinet and leader of National Unity, a coalition of opposition partieson Wednesday called for early parliamentary elections to be held in September. What Israel needs is quiet in the ballot box, not flames in the streets, Gantz said. If the current schedule remained intact, the next Israeli elections would fall in October 2026, though Israel has held five elections since 2018. Large-scale demonstrations continued across Israel on Wednesday with protestors pushing for elections and demanding the return of hostages held by Hamas.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Wednesday that NATO members are exploring plans for the alliance to take the lead on coordinating and providing aid to Ukrainea role the U.S. played during the first two years of the war through an informal coalition known as the Ramstein Group. We must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for the long haul, Stoltenberg said. However, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby suggested Wednesday that the U.S. isnt prepared to cede its leadership role. [The Ramstein Group] is bigger than NATO, he told reporters. Its 50-some-odd nations all around the world, including in the Indo-Pacificand what brought them together was American leadership.

Georgian Dream, the ruling party of the South Caucasus country of Georgia, announced a renewed plan to pass a controversial foreign agent security law that would require civil society organizations that take money from overseas to register as operating on behalf of foreign interests. Georgian Dream lawmakers first introduced the law last March, sparking large protests for its close resemblance to a Russian law passed in 2012 used to stifle dissent.

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trumps criminal trial in New York over hush-money payments to a porn star in 2016 denied Trumps request to delay the start of the trial, currently set for April 15. Trumps legal team had argued the trial ought to wait until the Supreme Court ruled on his claims that the presidency granted him certain immunity from prosecution, but Judge Juan Merchan rejected the appeals, arguing Trumps attorneys had waited too long to raise their concerns.

Ukraine Battles On

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint press conference in Kyiv with Finland's president, Alexander Stubb, on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

With the war in Ukraine now in its third year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has collected some hard-earned wisdom. If you are not taking steps forward to prepare another counteroffensive, Russia will take them, he told the Washington Posts David Ignatius last week. Thats what we learned in this war: If you dont do it, Russia will do it.

In that spirit, Ukrainian political and military officials are trying to reclaim the upper hand on the battlefield even as stalled U.S. support makes the Ukrainian lines increasingly vulnerable. Earlier this week, Zelensky signed a new and controversial conscription lawwhich went into effect Wednesdaythat could expand the base of men eligible for the draft and potentially relieve exhausted frontline troops. Though it seems increasingly likely that the House of Representatives could pass a much-needed aid package for the besieged country in the next month, as ever in this war, there is no panacea. Meanwhile, Kyivs forces are striking deep into Russian territorydespite the U.S. governments concernsin an attempt to hobble the Russian war machine.

The first three months of the year have been marked by Russian advances that put Ukrainian forces on the back foot. The fall of the town of Avdiivka in February was emblematic of the compounding problems Ukraine is facing: Expending valuable and already-scant ammunition to repel Russian troops sent in as cannon fodder, exhausted and overrun Ukrainian troopssome of whom hadnt left the front in two years for lack of manpowerhad no choice but to retreat. It was Ukraines most significant loss in nearly a year. Elsewhere in Ukraine, the story isnt quite so dramatic, but its nevertheless bleak. Since February, its fair to say that the Russians have been making slow but steady advances, Dalibor Rohac, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who studies Central and Eastern Europe, told TMD. Ukrainians have been able to slow the Russians down but not hold them all together.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank that tracks Russian troop movements, assessed Tuesday that since the first of the year, the Russians have taken 304 square kilometersabout 117 square miles, roughly equivalent to the size of Charleston, South Carolina. (Click here to see ISWs interactive map of the frontline, updated daily.) Though that may not sound like much, Ukrainian rationing of materiel makes the frontline overall more fragile than the current relatively slow rate of Russian advances makes it appear, the ISW team wrote Tuesday in its daily situation report.

To slow the Russian advance even further, Ukraine needs more troops and more weapons at the front. The country made some progress toward the first goal earlier this week when Zelensky signed a bill lowering the military conscription age to 25 from 27 for Ukrainian men. The president had previously been reluctant to expand the draft, and disagreements over Ukraines manpower needs were reportedly part of Zelenskys decision in February to replace Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who had criticized Zelenskys reticence, as commander of the Ukrainian armed forces. Zelensky was concerned about how the additional troops would be paid amid budget shortfalls, and other critics of an expanded draft worry about what it would mean for the fragile wartime economy to remove more young men from the workforce.

But the costs of the manpower shortage on the frontlines are also real. In an ideal situation, active-duty troops would rotate away from the frontlines at regular intervalsbut some of Ukraines battle-weary forces have spent years at the front. Zaluzhnyi had argued that 500,000 additional troops were needed to replenish depleted forces. His replacement, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in a recent interview that that estimate had been significantly reduced, and indeed, the number of new recruits this law makes available may be somewhere around 50,000. Still, Syrskyi said, It is necessary to take into account the fact that people are not robots. They are exhausted, physically and psychologically, especially in combat conditions.

Either in a sign of the lightning rod the conscription question has become or of the urgent need for men, Zelensky chose to quietly sign the bill that has been sitting on his desk for almost a year, even though theres currently a more expansive draft-reform bill being debated in parliament. The presidents office initially made no statement about the presidents decision; instead, officials simply updated the bills status on the parliaments website. Zelensky also signed a bill Tuesday that would create a database of draft-age men to make it easier to catch draft dodgers. Under Ukraines martial law, men under the age of 60 are not allowed to leave the country except under special conditions.

While Ukraine is taking modest steps to increase manpower, arming those troops presents a different challenge. The country has ramped up its own defense industrial base and developed a cottage industry of drone manufacturingand European countries have continued to provide weapons and artillerybut American support is difficult to replace. The mammoth $60 billion U.S. supplemental aid package has now been languishing in Congress for months, and all the while, Russia has strategically depleted Ukraines air defense systems such that Ukrainian troops are having to try to down incoming drones with machine guns mounted in the beds of pickup trucks. If Russia finds a weakness in the Ukrainian frontline and chooses to exploit it, the lack of materiel is going to make it more challenging for Ukrainians not only to respond to this, but also be able to offset it with a different operation or a counteroffensive somewhere or a counter-attack, Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at ISW, told TMD.

House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated Sunday he was willing to move forward with an aid package to Ukraine when the House returns from its recess next week. Johnson blocked the version the House passed in February because it had been stripped of provisions to strengthen the U.S. southern bordereven though Republicans in the Senate stripped the package of those provisions with former President Trumps backing. This weekend, Johnsonwhose right flank is threatening his speakership over the aid packagesuggested he was interested in tying the aid to ending a hold on new liquefied natural gas exports, a potential deal-sweetener for Republicans. Even if his negotiations are successful, the House is unlikely to vote on the supplemental funding until the back half of this month. Earlier this morning, Politico reported the White House has spent the past few weeks backchanneling with Johnson about how to pass the aid without triggering his own ouster.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week the alliance is looking to bring under its umbrella some of the ad hoc responses the U.S. has been spearheading since Russias 2022 invasionreportedly because the U.S., and Republicans led by Trump, in particular, are seeming like increasingly unreliable partners. One idea that has received mixed reactions? A $100 billion slush fund for Ukraine managed by NATO itself, rather than aid decisions being left up to individual member countries as is currently the case. Stoltenberg is also reportedly mulling taking over the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (or Ramstein Group), a U.S.-led coalition of the willing that coordinates aid deliveries.

Formalizing these processes under the consensus-based NATO structure isnt foolproof. If you institutionalize it, and if every decision has to be signed off by [Hungarian President] Viktor Orban and [Turkish President] Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then it arguably risks slowing things down, Rohac told TMD, naming the two leaders in the alliance who held up Finland and Swedens NATO accession for years. It also gives bad faith actors the space to extract concessions from everybody else.

In the immediate absence of military aid for its frontline war, Ukraine has in recent months attacked deeper and deeper into Russian territory with its home-grown drones, disrupting supply lines and targeting weapons depots and factories. On Tuesday, Kyivs forces hit a Russian drone factory and an oil refinery in Tatarstan, some 750 miles from Ukrainian territory and the furthest into Russia that Ukraine has attacked thus far. U.S. officials have reportedly privately warned Kyiv against targeting refineries for fear it could raise global oil pricesand indeed, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude did go up this week following the Tatarstan attack.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith took issue with the entire notion of Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory. That is something that the United States is not particularly supportive of, she said. We are focused on [Ukraines] right to defend its territory, to push Russians out of its territory.

The U.S., France, and the United Kingdom, which have supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles, instructed Kyiv not to use the weapons for attacks in Russian territory, citing fears of escalation. Its a promise the Ukrainians seem to have kept. But even Western long-range missiles can only travel 180 miles, give or take. We used our drones, Zelensky told the Post before the most recent attack, which also used a Ukrainian drone. Nobody can say to us you cant.

Rohac agrees with Zelenskys sentiment. It is a sort of stunning double standard to apply to Ukraine, in saying that they are not allowed to strike targets within Russia when obviously Russia is striking as Ukraines territorythe whole war is taking place in Ukraine, he told TMD, adding that he believes Ukraine has attacked targets of legitimate strategic value to the war effort. The second interesting element of the story is Americans complaining about it, especially at a point when were not really providing that much assistance to Ukrainians.

Worth Your Time

Writing for his Substack, Pax Americana, former National Security Council official and CIA analyst Michael Shurkin argued Washington misunderstands the potential for a crisis between Venezuela and Guyana. Ive lately been having conversations with D.C. people about American responses to Venezuela President Nicolas Maduros threats to annex the Essequibo region of Guyana, he wrote. They reminded me once again of how often D.C. establishment people seem to lack imagination when it comes to what potential adversaries might do, sometimes with terrible results.  The reality is that actors like Maduro might not be rational. Or, they are rational but come to different conclusions than we do, for one reason or another.  I do not intend here to make predictions regarding whether Maduro will attack Guyana. Maybe he will, maybe he wont. I have no idea. My point really is to question the apparent consensus in Washington, D.C. that he wont and cant. Indeed, part of the argument why he wont is the assumption that he cant. The thing is, he can. And, indeed, he just might.

In The Atlantic, Derek Thompson explained his come-to-Jesus moment about religion in America. I have spent most of my life thinking about the decline of faith in America in mostly positive terms, he wrote. Only in the past few years have I come around to a different view. Maybe religion, for all of its faults, works a bit like a retaining wall to hold back the destabilizing pressure of American hyper-individualism, which threatens to swell and spill over in its absence.  On an individual basis, people can give any number of valid-sounding reasons for not frequenting a house of worship. But a behavioral shift that is fully understandable on the individual level has coincided with, and even partly exacerbated, a great rewiring of our social relations.  Im not advocating that every atheist and agnostic in America immediately choose a world religion and commit themselves to weekly church (or synagogue, or mosque) attendance. But I wonder if, in forgoing organized religion, an isolated country has discarded an old and proven source of ritual at a time when we most need it.

Presented Without Comment

Axios: House Freedom Caucus Chair Backs Capitol Rioters Bid for Congress

Also Presented Without Comment

New York Times: Patient With Transplanted Pig Kidney Leaves Hospital for Home

The first patient to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig has fared so well that he was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery.

Toeing the Company Line

In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics crew reported on the Michigan GOPs continued infighting and President Bidens struggles with Catholic voters, Scott gamed out () the likely consequences of Californias new fast food minimum wage law, Jonah argued () this cycles presidential candidates are painfully ignorant of history, and Nick humored () a recent piece arguing against the 22nd Amendment, which bars presidents from being elected to more than two terms.

On the podcasts: Sarah and David dig into Federalist Society drama on Advisory Opinions and Jonah is joined on The Remnant Karolina Hird to discuss Russias occupation tactics in Ukraine.

On the site: Charlotte explains the battle in Israel over whether ultra-Orthodox men should be exempt from military service and Mark Wallace remembers the life and legacy of the late Sen. Joe Lieberman.

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On 4 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff, where he discussed the most pressing issues with military officials.

Source: Zelenskyy on social media

Quote: "Supreme Commander-in-Chief Staff meeting. The main issues at hand are the front, drones, electronic warfare and air defence."

Details: Zelenskyy stated that he received a report from Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on the situation at the front's main sectors. He reported on the results of Ukraines stabilisation actions on the front, which stopped the Russian forces' advance.

The president was also informed of intelligence data on the Russians future plans and the Defence Forces' response.

Ukraines Defence Minister Rustem Umierov made a report on the implementation of contracts for the purchase of drones and electronic warfare systems, as well as the preparation of new agreements.

Zelenskyy says he has instructed the officials to provide similar reports on the missile programme.

Anatolii Barhylevych, Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, reported on the fight against the means of the Russian air terror, including the effectiveness of electronic warfare, mobile fire groups, and air defence.

According to reports, the head of state also gave a number of instructions to improve Ukrainian tactics.

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On 4 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with military officials to discuss how to strengthen Kharkiv's air defence.

Source: Zelenskyy in his evening address on 4 April

Quote: "Today I spoke with the military about how to provide greater protection for Kharkiv  specifically in terms of air defence. All our diplomats have the same task. Bolstering air defence for Kharkiv, the entire Kharkiv region, Sumy region, and the southern regions is an absolute and urgent necessity.

And I am grateful to every country, every leader who is now in communication with us looking for opportunities to help. It is totally unacceptable that so many countries in the world are still thinking about how to counter terror, even though there are only a few political decisions needed  a few air defence systems that could fundamentally change the situation. We will continue appropriate work with our partners."

Details: Separately, Zelenskyy heard the report of Oleh Ivashchenko, the new head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, on specific actions carried out by him in this position, as well as the specific work of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service.

The president also described the Russian attack on Kharkiv on the night of 3-4 April as "vile Russian tactics."

Quote: "Of course, throughout the day there were reports on the situation in the regions. Special attention was paid to Kharkiv and the consequences of Russian strikes on the city. Today, unfortunately, four people were killed, including three rescuers from our State Emergency Service of Ukraine, because of a Shahed strike on an ordinary residential area. They arrived at the scene after the first strike and then the second hit occurred. A vile Russian tactic. My condolences to all the families and friends."

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Zelenskyy's former business partner Borys Shefir admits that he wants friendship with Russia and loves its culture

Borys Shefir, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former business partner in his TV production company Studio Kvartal-95, has admitted that he loves Russian culture, compared the European Union with the USSR, and advocated friendship with the Russian Federation. His brother Serhii Shefir, a former adviser to the president, said he "totally disagreed" with Borys's position.

Source: a Radio Liberty interview with Borys Shefir; Serhii Shefir's comment for Radio Liberty

Details: Borys Shefir, 64, said in the interview that he has left Ukraine and does not plan to return until the war is over. Because of this, he has had to stop working with Kvartal-95.

He also commented that he has not been in contact with Zelenskyy for two years, his calls to him remain unanswered, and the president "does things a little differently than I would like".

Shefir said he was unhappy about the Ukrainian attitude towards Russian culture.

Quote from Borys Shefir: "Well, you see, I speak Russian. I love the Russian language, Russian culture... I cannot [bear to] watch the destruction of Pushkin monuments in the country.

To me, this is stupid. If I were with him [Zelenskyy  ed.], I would say: let's stop doing this and let's be friends. But attitudes are completely different over there.

...We name streets after Beethoven, and we had a war with Germany. Were at war with Putin, not with Russia. The fact that the people there have gone crazy is just one of those things."

Details: Zelenskyy's former business partner also called for "friendship" to be established between Russia and Ukraine and said the European Union had adopted the model of the Soviet Union.

Quote from Borys Shefir: "That would be great. Obviously we need to be friends again. In general, we need to be friends with everyone, and that includes Russia. Putin wont last forever, he will die, and decent people will come. And with them, you can always...

Well, in theory, weve lived together all our lives. Well, at least I have. I lived in the Soviet Union my whole life. And we got along very well... I hope that we will have a great relationship with Russia as soon as they recover from their madness. We should definitely go and say: no, no, we need to be friends."

Details: At the same time, Borys noted that he absolutely hates what is happening in Russia. But he does like Russian culture, writers and composers.

Borys's younger brother, Serhii Shifer, who was dismissed by Zelenskyy from his post as first assistant to the president on 30 March, said in response that he "totally disagreed" with his brother's position.

Quote from Serhii Shefir: "I totally disagree with the position stated by my brother in an interview with your media outlet. Russia is an aggressor country and a terrorist state that has unleashed a war against our country. Russia and Putin personally must be held accountable for the crimes committed against Ukrainians. Ukraine needs peace. And the formula for this peace has been clearly outlined by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As a citizen and as a friend, I support the actions he is taking as President of Ukraine for our victory."

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Biz in the Valley is a monthly roundup of business happenings in the Beaver Valley and beyond. To submit an item, email csuttles00@gmail.com.

An acclaimed gallery in downtown Beaver left Third Street this month after roughly three years and will relocate to 926 Third Ave., New Brighton.

Emmanuel Fine Art Photography Gallery, closed to the public March 30. Photographer Emmanuel Panagiotakis will continue selling his captivating framed photos and prints online before the move.

"The decision to relocate was not made lightly," Panagiotakis said in an April Facebook post. "Factors such as the economic impact on my business and the decline in walk-ins at the gallery have led me to this decision. However, I am confident that this move will bring about new opportunities and growth for my business."

Emmanuel Fine Art Photography Gallery in downtown Beaver.

Known in the region for his scenic Beaver County and Pittsburgh-area landscapes, Panagiotakis also captures imagery from throughout the United States and Europe. Prior to moving to Beaver in late 2020, the gallery had operated in Pittsburgh's Cultural District for three years.

More: New gallery in Beaver showcases photographer's sharp eye for the area's beauty

Panagiotakis, on Facebook, thanked his customers for their continued support.

We love our customers like you love us, he said.

Broadband service expands to rural Beaver County

High-speed internet access is available to some residents, educators and business owners in northwestern Beaver County for the first time.

State and county leaders celebrated the completion of Connect Beaver Countys early action projects in March, noting that more than 200 sites now have broadband hookup access in high-priority municipalities including Darlington and Big Beaver.

The milestone reflects a multi-year effort to extend internet access to unserved and underserved residents through the Connect Beaver County broadband program. Beaver County set aside roughly $20 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding to build out broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

More: 'Connect Beaver County' program promises broadband for all

The programs 2021 Broadband Data Collection & Feasibility Study identified 24 municipalities lacking complete access to high-speed, reliable internet.

We pretty quickly realized that if we really wanted to have a big economic development impact and help our residents, broadband was something we wanted to look at, said Lance Grable, director of the Beaver County Office of Planning and Redevelopment.

Beaver County Commissioners Chairman Daniel Camp said the initiative will have a direct and lasting benefit to the people of Beaver County while addressing a key economic development issue.

Story continues

For the projects next phase, Verizon will deploy high-speed broadband service to more than 1,800 Beaver County residents in other priority areas by the end of 2026.

We have never had a less controversial, more positive and consequential initiative (benefitting) the quality of life of our residents and their families than Connect Beaver County, said Commissioner Jack Manning.

For more information, visit connectbeavercounty.com.

New Ace Hardware opens in Moon Twp.

A new Ace Hardware store is open in Moon Townships University Square shopping center near Robert Morris University.

Buddys Ace Hardware owners celebrated the stores soft opening in mid-March. The shop, located at 2830 Gracy Center Way in Suite 200, offers everything from paint color matching and key cutting to plumbing supplies and power tools.

Its one of more than 5,000 locally owned and operated Ace Hardware stores in the world.

Hours are 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

Call 412-998-0033 for information about the store.

Former Babcock & Wilcox site in Beaver Falls for sale

A historic piece of land once owned by Babcock & Wilcox Co. in Beaver Falls is for sale.

The nearly 23-acre parcel at 4023 Fourth Ave. is ready for a buyer decades after Babcock & Wilcox first shuttered its Beaver County steel facilities in the 1980s.

B&W owned three sprawling plants in Beaver Falls and West Mayfield during the 20th century that, when combined, represented the companys largest complex. Shortly after the plants closed, PMAC Ltd. purchased part of the property.

Hanna Commercial Real Estate is marketing the land as an industrial development opportunity for companies looking to expand, boasting its existing concrete pad along with all site utilities, secured fencing and its close proximity to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Its listed for $2.5 million.

Find the full listing at hannacre.com/property/4023-4th-ave.

New insurance business co-founded by Beaver County entrepreneur

Beaver County entrepreneur Bryan Wright is partnering with insurance industry veteran Marty Muchnok to co-found FernRock Risk Partners, a new insurance business.

Wright, CEO of the Wright family of companies, who lives in Chippewa Township, has previously launched more than 25 businesses ranging from commercial traffic control and real estate and insurance. Hell serve as co-founder and CEO of FernRock. Muchnok, co-founder and president of FernRock, is an insurance professional with more than 30 years of industry experience. Most recently, he was president of First National Insurance Agency.

FernRock recently celebrated its first acquisition, Jack L. Bonus Insurance in Zelienople. The company expects to continue its growth by partnering with smaller independent insurance agencies in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland.

FernRock operates as a holding company, and will continue to acquire and add new independent insurance agencies under our umbrella, said Wright.

FernRock will provide leadership and a variety of core services, including accounting, IT, HR, risk management and claims oversight, to the firms they acquire while allowing each agency to keep their employees and brand. Agency principles can also retain a percentage of ownership. Acquired companies will continue to run the day-to-day business of their agency, service clients and sell new accounts, leadership said.

We also expect to expand into the entire eastern half of the United States, said Muchnok. Our goal is to add a network of growth-oriented partner insurance agencies with great culture and expertise that will provide real value for customers.

Visit fernrockriskpartners.com for more information.

Chrissy Suttles is a freelance business, energy and environment reporter for the Beaver County Times and other publications. You can reach her at csuttles00@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Biz in the Valley: Beaver gallery moving, broadband initiative hits milestone & more
Apples vision for the future could involve an autonomous robot butler. Thats according to a new Bloomberg report which claims the iPhone maker is reallocating resources from its now defunct car project and shifting them towards an at-home, mobile robot. Though still in the early stages of research, the possible autonomous robot highlights Apples resparked interest in AI-enabled technology

The proposed robot, Bloomberg says, is intended for home use and could follow its users around. Apple engineers are reportedly considering using AI models to help the robot navigate through rooms. Presumably, that means it would also need cameras or other onboard sensors to see the world around it.

[ Related: Watch us try to make Butler in a Box work like its 1983 ]

Sources speaking with Bloomberg say Apple engineers are interested in a fully autonomous robot that can take care of everyday chores like cleaning up and washing dishes. The feasibility of that actually happening in the near term, however, remains technically challenging. Apple is reportedly also interested in having the robot function as a kind of mobile video conferencing tool.

Theres still far more questions than answers about the supposed Apple bot. Its unclear, for example, whether it will roll around on wheels like Amazons Astro home robot , or if it will follow the rising trend of bipedal robots that are shaped more like humans . It's also unclear exactly how it would complete its tasks , when it will ship, or how much it would cost. Its entirely possible the robot, like many other early stage product ideas, may never see the light of day. Other unrealized Apple ideas left to the dustbin of history include a  AirPower  wireless charging mat and early tablet-like prototype supposedly capable of sending and receiving faxes.

[ Related: OpenAI wants to make a walking, talking humanoid robot smarter ]

Without more details, one can only speculate how an Apple bot may one day be put to use. Could it follow in the footsteps of past robots capable of assembling a salad? Or maybe it could give its users a relaxing massage or simply open a carton of eggs , as past robots have done. Other  assistance robots  are also being developed to guide people with vision loss and help people with dementia find lost objects . Its unclear if Apple intends to enter those spaces. Apple did not immediately respond to PopScis request for comment.

Apple reportedly shifting from cars to robots

News of the alleged Apple robot comes just two months after the company officially ended its electric vehicle ambitions . The car project, known publicly as Titan, dated back to at least 2014 but was plagued by leadership shakeups and repeated delays . Many of the roughly 2,000 Apple employees working on the car were reportedly folded into the companys other AI-related projects. Some of the insights and technology developed for the car, Bloomberg notes, could end up making its way into robots, if its in fact ever released.

The supposed robot project further signals Apples interest in tapping into AI products. Apple has faced criticism in recent months for looking like a generative AI laggard compared to top tech competitors like Google and Microsoft. To that end, the company is now reportedly in active negotiations with Google to bring its Gemini AI model to future iPhones. An AI-enabled robot, if successful, presents Apple with a unique opportunity to lean further into AI doing what they do best: seamlessly integrating hardware and software.

Integrated large language can help robots interact with humans

At home robots arent entirely new. iRobot, the company behind the popular Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner claims it has sold more than 40 million of the devices worldwide. Amazon is also pursuing its own, more advanced at robot primarily used for home monitoring. Those robots, however, are far less sophisticated than what could be around the corner. Robotics firms like Figure are already taking advanced language models and integrating them into bipedal, humanoid machines capable of performing tasks and holding a conversation. Figure recently partnered with BMW to bring its robots to a South Carolina manufacturing facility where it will move sheet metal and perform other tasks. Amazon is reportedly already testing humanoid robots in some of its warehouses.

An Apple robot, if it ever materializes, will likely follow the trend of integrating large language models into advanced robotics in order to effectively communicate with its owner. Whether or not customers will actually welcome such a device into their homes remains to be seen. 61% of adults surveyed in 2021 by the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank,said they were uncomfortable with robots. More than a third (37%) of adults polled by Pew Research said they were more concerned than excited regarding the prospect of more AI used in daily life.
A bullet train to Sin City? What to know about Brightline West project between LA and Vegas

In Vegas, it seems like trains are the new thing to set your soul on fire.

The Brightline West project is in progress to connect a suburb of Los Angeles to Sin City, aiming to reduce traffic and environmental impact.

The majority of the track will be in the median of Interstate 15 and trains will hit speeds of up to 186 miles per hour, cutting a roughly four-hour car trip without traffic into a two-hour ride.

The project received $3 billion in federal funding in December and $2.5 billion in private bonds from the U.S. Department of Transportation in January. The project is expected to cost $12 billion.

Preparations to break ground on the project are underway with the aim to start construction this spring, presenting a major contrast to the oft-delayed California High Speed Rail project.

Here's what you need to know about Brightline West.

Where will the Brightline West route start?

Brightline West will start in Rancho Cucamonga, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. A Metrolink train will connect Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to the start of the Brightline West line.

Handout map of the Brightline West route

How long is the Brightline West route?

The Brightline West route will run 218 miles and have two stops between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas.

Where does the Brightline West route end?

Renderings depict the Las Vegas Station being situated on Las Vegas Boulevard between Blue Diamond and Warm Springs roads, roughly 3.5 miles south of Mandalay Bay and 5 miles south of Caesar's Palace on the Strip.

The station is set to be built on 33 of 110 acres of land that Brightline owns in the area, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Handout image showing renderings of the Brightline West terminal in Las Vegas.

When is Brightline West scheduled to open?

Construction is scheduled to begin in spring of this year. The company aims to have service begin in time for the 2028 Olympics.

Handout rendering of a Brightline West train.

Has this been tried before?

A private bullet train that would connect Victorville, California to Las Vegas called DesertXpress was proposed in 2005. The name was changed in 2012 to XpressWest and the project was shelved in 2016 after XpressWest pulled out of a deal with a Chinese firm to construct the line.

Brightline purchased the project in 2018 and added an expansion from Victorville to Rancho Cucamonga.

Has Las Vegas had train service?

The Desert Wind Amtrack line ran between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City with a stop in downtown Las Vegas from 1978 to 1997.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brightline West: The train connecting Las Vegas to Los Angeles
Jena, Germany, 1924: Working in near-isolation and with painstaking tediousness, the psychiatrist Hans Berger observes rhythmic electrical activity from the scalp of human subjects. He is convinced the activity arises from within the brain and coins the term electroencephalogram.

It is 10 years before the scientific community accepts Bergers work, birthing the field of electroencephalography, or EEG for short.

Today, the electroencephalogram  also abbreviated as EEG  is widely known as a medical test measuring brain electrical activity thats used on patients who have, or are suspected to have, neurological disorders. The EEG provides a window into the living brain, with a continuous electrical readout of what is happening inside our heads. The procedure may be short, often just a 30-minute recording. But for patients monitored for diagnosis or treatment of brain disease, it can be continued for much longer  days or even weeks.

As a neurologist specializing in epilepsy, I use EEG on a daily basis. Our team at the University of Florida interprets thousands of EEGs a year in neurological patients. I also run a research lab where our goal is to understand the basic structure of the EEG in health and disease.

A history of unexpected twists

The story of EEG is colorful and littered with fables. Bergers interest in brain electricity was not to combat disease, though that was his day job as a physician, but to find a biological basis for his belief in telepathy. He wondered whether the brain waves of EEG could convey thoughts through space, allowing people to read each others minds. He was unsuccessful in his mission, but the field he founded nonetheless took off.

By the mid-1930s, researchers had observed the striking differences between the awake and asleep EEG. The EEGs of patients with brain disease turned up a variety of unprecedented observations.

And then came a defining moment for modern medicine. In December 1934, a group of Boston physicians observed the rhythmic EEG spike-wave appearance of seizures in patients with petit mal epilepsy. Petit mal is an anachronistic term for a type of epilepsy where a patients flow of thought, speech or action momentarily freezes during seizures. For the first time, the symptoms and behavior of patients during seizures were correlated to a brain signal occurring in lockstep.

EEG quickly evolved from a scientific curiosity to a mainstream clinical tool. The first clinical EEG laboratory was set up at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1937. The practice grew in the ensuing decades into the specialized services that institutions like ours have offered since the 1970s.

Now 100 years old, EEG remains an invaluable window into the activity of the brain. William Taufic/The Image Bank via Getty Images

The EEG explained

So what, exactly, is the EEG?

Imagine taking two small metallic discs connected by a conducting wire. Place one disc on the scalp and connect the other to a neutral reference, such as the ear. Watch a tiny alternating current flow in the wire, proportional to the electrical activity sensed by the conducting contact. This activity is the EEG, the electrical milieu that bathes brain tissue.

In turn, the EEG arises from the excitable nature of nerve cells, or neurons. When neurons fire, action potentials  brief, high-voltage spikes traveling outward from their cell bodies  set up local electrical activity in other neurons, causing current to flow within and outside them.

These local current flows may cause the targeted neurons to fire in turn and set up yet more current flows. Thus, the system sustains itself. The average overall activity is a mix of many different frequencies, with the five main ones called delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma waves.

If the EEG were just random up-and-down drift  the bloodless dance of action potentials, commented a skeptical early 20th century neurologist  it would be much less interesting. The remarkable fact is that EEG tends to spontaneously organize into patterns in time and space.

The spike-wave pattern of petit mal, referenced earlier, is a classic example, but scores of others are now known. Clinical EEG practice is just recognizing characteristic EEG patterns and correlating them to specific disease states.

Fluctuating neurons

Beyond the clinic, an unsettling scientific question emerges. Simply put, how do electrical patterns arise in the brain? How do the billions of neurons and their trillions of local current flows fluctuate in just the right ways to create globally ordered structure?

Our research group has been interested in the fundamental question of pattern formation in EEG. It turns out that activity in the brain is naturally repetitive  that is, oscillatory. This is due to the way neurons are connected and the fact that they interact by excitation and inhibition to produce push-pull effects.

Considering local oscillations as fundamental building blocks, we showed that the EEG over the entire brain could be built up from such elementary blocks. More interestingly, the differing frequencies could be made to coalesce, or synchronize, into a common rhythm. We recognized that synchronization of this type underlies some seizurelike patterns observed in patients.

EEG, AI and the mind

Pattern formation in nature is deeply fascinating. How does a leopard get its spots? How does the audience at a concert spontaneously settle into a rhythmic applause? Many such questions trace their origin to a classic paper on biological pattern published in 1952. Its author was Alan Turing, better known as the father of computer science and early advocate of artificial intelligence, or AI.

The hardware underlying the majority of todays AI systems are neural networks. Neural networks were introduced in 1943 by Warren McCulloch, a physician and electroencephalographer. Like Berger, McCullochs interest in EEG extended beyond brain disease. He wondered where in the brains neurons and EEG lay the capacity to think. He conceived the idea of grouping artificial neuronlike computing units into networks, analogous to how real neurons in the brain interconnected.

Together with Walter Pitts, he proved that such neural networks could function as a general-purpose computer. The seminal McCulloch-Pitts ideas were refined over the ensuing decades and reside in the deep learning neural networks of todays AI.

Deep learning AI has infiltrated all areas of biomedicine, including neurology. For example, AI systems can successfully interpret brain scans. AI methods have also been used to analyze EEG.

Can AI systems be trained to deduce thoughts from the EEG? Can AI approach Bergers quest for telepathy? Incredibly, recent deep-learning AI research has shown that some aspects of mental activity may be decoded from EEG.

In 2024, EEG turns 100. What windows will it open into the brain and mind in the future? Doubtless, clinical applications will grow. Surely, brain pattern generation will be better understood. Perhaps EEG will glimpse the content of the mind. And for neurologists like me surveying the AI revolution, theres the quiet pride that EEG was really at the start of it all.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Giridhar Kalamangalam, University of Florida

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Giridhar Kalamangalam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Chick-fil-A via drone delivery? How the fight for sky dominance is heating up

In the not-too-distant future, in a city, town, or even remote village near you, the tap of an app could summon on-demand drone delivery to your doorstep in less than 30 minutes.

Thats pretty amazing for ordering fast-food meals or some forgotten groceries before dinner time. But if youre an exhausted parent working from home with a sick child, for instance, getting prescription medication dropped off by a drone to stop your little ones projectile vomiting can feel like nothing short of a miracle.

It might sound like the high-flying hype of big tech from years past. After all, its been more than a decade since former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos famously overpromised and under-delivered a flock of high-speed delivery drones jetting out all your Prime purchases in a Jetson-like whir of efficiency.

Retail drone delivery is about to take off in America

According to three of the largest drone delivery companies in the U.S., DroneUp, Zipline, and Wing, its not a matter of if, but when, drone deliveries reach skies near you. Tens of thousands of people around the country already get everything from lunchtime goodies and quick replacement light bulbs to vaccines and prescriptions via drone. And recent Federal Aviation Administration clearances are already propelling the industry forward.

Right now, today, we reach about 4 million people in seven states in America, DroneUp CEO Tom Walker told me when I moderated a SXSW panel discussion earlier this month. Thats about to go up dramatically.

Cyndi Sanders is one of the people already using drone delivery.

Sanders, a mom of two who lives in Rogers, Arkansas, says DroneUp has made more than 100 deliveries to her doorstep since it started at her local Walmart in November 2022.

Its so convenient, she told me. Weve ordered everything, including popsicles, and theyre still frozen when they get here. Its an amazing service. Theyve saved the day on dinners, and its just a great way to get what we need in a really cool way.

She believes that such a service will only grow. I think the future is in the skies, she said. I really do.

Cyndi Sanders says drone delivery has been very helpful to her and her family in Arkansas.

DroneUp unveils new autonomous delivery system with 7-11, Walmart, and Chick-fil-A

DroneUp just unveiled the worlds first fully automated, end-to-end drone delivery system, according to Walker.

This system (gets) you what you want and need, not in two or three days, or even two or three hours, but in less than 30 minutes, he told a crowd at the companys headquarters in Virginia.

What Walker described is a proprietary series of new hardware and software gadgets and tech tools that can make sure when you order something from a nearby Walmart or Chick-fil-A, for example, it lands on your doorstep long before your sandwich gets soggy or your milkshake gets runny.

Usually, it takes several people, including drivers, to do that work. But as e-commerce continues to skyrocket in this age of on-demand, having a giant fleet of trucks or cars deliver small packages to people all over the map doesnt make the most sense anymore.

Logistics experts say that ground delivery is expensive and increasingly dangerous due to a rise in delivery-related accidents and run-down infrastructure. Its also bad for the environment and unable to keep up with the escalating demand.

Last year, UPS and Amazon delivered more than 11.5 billion packages which took more than 1.5 million trucks a day to carry. Most of those packages were less than 5 pounds.

It clogs our streets and pollutes our planet, Walker said. Last year in the United States, nearly 6,000 people died in delivery-related accidents, and another 150,000 were injured. We have an aging and crumbling infrastructure, where one in every 5 miles of Americas roadways is considered in poor condition. We know the fix isnt adding more trucks, and we also know we cant just unleash a swarm of delivery drones to fix it.''

Walker hopes DroneUps new last mile ecosystem addresses those issues, starting with a new high-tech package kiosk they call the DBX Hub.

The hub looks like a big portable ATM or high-tech drive-through coffee kiosk. (I keep wanting to call it the drone kiosk thingy.)

The versions Ive seen are smaller than a parking space, and Walker says they can make them any shape, configuration, and size. The idea is to put it next to a drive-through window, on a rooftop, or in popular pick-up and drop-off locations like college campuses. All it needs is power,'' Walker said. "Its completely self-contained and fully automates the package loading process.

It works like this: You make an online order, and a store gets it just like they do today. A worker grabs your stuff, boxes it up, attaches a little barcode, and sets it inside the temperature-controlled hub. Robotic equipment in the locker weighs the package and then sends it to a waiting drone. The drone attaches the box via tether and speeds off, flying some 300 feet high until it gets to your house and hovers, lowering your goodies down gently from around 90 feet.

Wing is one of several companies aiming to ramp up delivery by drone.

A bevy of onboard sensors know if theres anything in the way, Walker said, and can steer clear of trees, wires, people, pets, lawn furniture, and even porch pirates. He added that if someone does grab the tether, it releases and will sound an alarm back at the package base.

The top of the new hub has a landing pad and charging base for drones to come and go, and the plan is for there to always be a backup drone, or drones at nearby hubs that can fill in when there are no drones available at a particular location.

The hubs can also function as stand-alone storage lockers or as automated extensions of existing retailers. In that case, you could order something, like a prescription from your pharmacy, and then pick it up at one of the hubs on a college campus or near your workplace rather than awaiting delivery at home.

Rounding out this ecosystem are two new drone models, including a short-range one that can carry packages up to 10 pounds, and up to 60 miles round trip. Its rated for all weather and winds up to 30 knots. (Those are strong enough to turn your umbrella inside out and make it hard to walk down the street).

DroneUp also showed off a high endurance model, a drone that can carry more weight and travel nearly 100 miles round trip. Walker said that both models make as much sound as your refrigerator.

DroneUps just-announced drone-delivery ecosystem is already in use in Garland, Texas, a sprawling suburb about 15 miles northeast of downtown Dallas and is home to about a quarter million people. 7-11 announced it will use DroneUps new system, and Walker expects more areas and retailers to roll out within the coming weeks.

Delivery drone dogfight heats up in quest for sky-high dominance

DroneUps news last week is the latest volley in whats turning into a real battle for delivery drone expansion in the U.S. DroneUps one of at least three U.S.-based companies  including Zipline and Wing  that fly deliveries for Walmart, fast food restaurants like Chick-fil-A, Sweetgreen, and Wendys, and a handful of health clinics, in several states, including Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Virginia.

Silicon Valley darling Zipline  recently valued at $4.2 billion and number 36 on Fast Co.s Most Innovative Companies of 2024 list  has a video of a similar concept on the homepage of its website that the company says is also in active testing in California right now.

When it announced the concept in March of last year, Zipline explained that it includes a charging station and dock that can also attach to the side of a building and help automate the entire process.

Zipline calls its latest tech its Platform 2 system. It can carry up to eight pounds within a 10-mile radius and land a package in a space about the size of a shoebox.

One of the most significant differences from DroneUp is that rather than lowering a box with your groceries or medicine inside, it lowers a temperature-controlled, self-steering cargo droid on a tether. The droid then releases your package from its belly before ascending back into the sky.

We expect Platform 2 to roll out in America this year and serve millions of people in the United States over the next few years in Texas, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Utah, Jeff Williams, Head of U.S. Operations at Zipline, wrote via text message.

Wing, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, has also shown off its idea for a Wing Delivery Network thats made up of drones, designated pads for takeoff and landing, and Autoloader stations where workers can put packages to wait for pickup and delivery.

It makes much more sense to carry around a three-pound box with a 10-pound (drone) than it does to carry around a three-pound box with a couple of thousand-pound cars, Wing CEO Adam Woodworth explained in a video posted on YouTube.

Wing shared that it completed 5,000 deliveries to Walmart customers in its first six months across two locations in the Dallas Fort Worth area and plans to expand to other areas throughout the year.

Costco and weight loss: Exclusive: Costco will offer weight loss program to members through medical partner

Are drones safe?

Zipline operates in eight countries on four continents and is about to reach its 1 millionth commercial delivery milestone. The company says it completes a delivery drone every 70 seconds worldwide and has never had a single major safety incident.

Droneups Walker also touted his companys safety record. Weve made hundreds of thousands of deliveries to date, around 6,000-7,000 a month in the United States alone, and have not had one single accident or injury, he said.

A spokesperson for the FAA also confirmed that there havent been any significant reportable accidents with drone deliveries in the U.S.

So why dont I have drone delivery near me?

The drone delivery industry has been careful to get it right in the U.S., flying a series of controlled pilot programs, and testing markets in small and large cities in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, Virginia, California, and Utah for the past few years.

But recent milestone FAA clearances and a slew of retail rollouts from Walmart, DoorDash, and others indicate that the industry is poised to skyrocket, making drone delivery much more widespread.

Sarah Claytor, a 42-year-old mom who lives in the small town of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, says she cant imagine going without drone deliveries. The thing that makes me love it the most is that I can get medicine sent to me directly whenever I have a sick child at home, she said. I think if we ever moved, I wouldn't be able to live without it."

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her at JJ@Techish.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drone delivery companies are coming to skies near you -- very soon
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn stopped by Abilene Christian Universitys Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab Tuesday to tour the facilities and learn about the research behind the advanced molten salt research reactor.

The mission of NEXT Lab is to provide global solutions to the worlds need for energy, water and medical isotopes while providing educational opportunities for the next generation of industry leaders.

Alli Mae Berry, a research chemist at Abilene Christian Universitys Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab, demonstrates to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday the safety differences between a leak in a traditional water-cooled nuclear reactor versus a leak in a molten salt-cooled reactor like the kind to be installed at ACU. Kept in a liquid form by extreme heat, molten salt would cool into a solid if it leaked from its containment, unlike pressurized water which can vent into the atmosphere and spread, Berry explained.

With traditional nuclear power, fission  the process of creating energy through separation of an atoms nucleus creates heat that requires water to cool and slow down the reaction.

Although producing nuclear energy is the most effective and efficient source, current processes create more waste, lose valuable materials like medical isotopes and risk meltdown with potential long-lasting damage, NEXT Lab Director Rusty Towell said.

ACU's research into using molten salts, rather than water, as a coolant for nuclear reactors and as liquid fuel, has shown dramatic improvements in the pursuit of raising nuclear energy standards.

More: Salt and fire: ACU's molten salt nuclear reactor a hot topic - here and for world

After the tour, Cornyn spoke with ACU students, officials and media about his experience.

"I've learned that salt can be used for more than just seasoning popcorn, meat and other things that we eat," the Republican lawmaker said. "In all seriousness, this is technology that was discovered many years ago and put on a shelf.

"The research being done at ACU's Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab is nothing short of groundbreaking, and I think you all are on the cusp of some incredible discoveries in energy, water and medicine."

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn listens to Abilene Christian University President Phil Schubert (left) during a briefing Tuesday at the Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab on the schools future molten salt nuclear research reactor.

The senator commended the university on its pursuit of advancing energy research because of increased demand for affordable energy due to technological advancements like artificial intelligence.

The sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow.

Texas is an "all of the above" state, Cornyn said.

He believes wind, solar, oil and gas, and now nuclear energy, will increase access to electricity and establish a reliable energy source.

Rusty Towell, director of the Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Lab, explains Tuesday to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn about the molten salt technology which will be employed in Abilene Christian Universitys forthcoming nuclear research reactor. The pit before them is where the reactor will be installed.

During the press conference, Cornyn gave himself an assignment for when he returned to Washington, D.C.

"We need salt. We need uranium fuel, and that's my assignment when I go back," he said. "I understand we know where it is, but we've got to make sure that Abilene Christian's name is put on it for this project.

"Unfortunately, the bureaucracy is not always very responsive, and while there has been good cooperation I'm told, we need to make sure we cut through any of that red tape so this project can be completed."

More: Can it explode? Will there be radiation? ACU reactor officials say no to public's questions

The NEXT Lab is expected to have the reactor operational by 2026, making ACU the first university in the nation to host and own a molten salt research reactor. The reactor is intended only for research, testing and training purposes.

The data from ACU's research will provide valuable insight into commercial production of molten salt reactors, Towell said.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Cornyn tours ACU NEXT Lab to learn about nuclear research
How did we get here? A brief history of the rideshare apps in Minneapolis.

Before Lyft, before Uber, Minneapolis had Taxi Magic.

The app launched in Minneapolis in 2009, just two years after the iPhone, and worked by connecting riders with some local taxi companies. In the late 2000s, Minneapolis had more cabs than ever, and the early days of the smartphone meant more ways to summon one. One taxi company president told the Star Tribune in 2013 that the app accounted for about 10% of all fares. Taxi Magic still exists under the name Curb, but does not operate in the Twin Cities anymore.

Taxis proliferated after a Richfield man sued to lift the cap on taxi medallions Minneapolis had in place at the time so that he could start a cab company. Despite an outcry from medallion-holders, many of whom paid thousands on the secondary market for the then-limited supply of medallions, the council voted to gradually raise the number of medallions and eliminate the cap altogether in 2011. The number of cabs more than doubled between 2007 and 2012.

Then in the fall of 2012, Uber announced it would come to Minneapolis with a post on the social network then known as Twitter. Lyft followed with its own announcement a few months later.

Both apps came to St. Paul in the summer of 2013  yes, before Minneapolis. St. Paul's rules at the time only applied to cars with fare meters, so they did not consider Ubers to be unlicensed taxis.

Uber and Lyft started operating unlicensed and unregulated in Minneapolis the next year.

Uber came first, offering rides in Minneapolis in January 2014. Almost immediately, the city started impounding drivers' cars for operating as unlicensed taxis. When Lyft entered the market in March, the company offered two weeks of free rides to get around existing taxi rules, which included cars "for hire," and not just those with meters like in St. Paul.

Minneapolis scrambled to pass regulations to let the companies in.

Then a first-term council member, Jacob Frey led the effort to craft an ordinance for the companies, while at the same time looking to relax rules for taxis.

Frey's proposal, introduced in April 2014, required the new "transportation network companies" to background-check drivers, train and insure them, and make sure their cars pass inspection.

"This is in every way what progress looks like," Frey said the day the regulations passed in July 2014. "This ordinance takes some excellent steps to adding to the cornucopia of transportation options we have."

Taxi owners slammed the rules for being less burdensome than the ones for medallioned taxis. Fees for rideshare drivers were lower than for taxis, and only taxi companies had to provide wheelchair-accessible cars.

Frey said at the time he was "not necessarily psyched" about the way Uber and Lyft came to town, but said he thought it was fair that taxis and rideshare services would be regulated differently.

The companies were in charge of their own background checks and car inspections for drivers, while taxis were city-inspected. In the early days of Uber and Lyft, safety was a bigger concern than driver pay, with regulatory efforts around the country focused on implementing background check and fingerprinting requirements for drivers.

A 2019 Star Tribune review found Minneapolis had the most permissive rules of 25 large American cities reviewed  and that more than 150 drivers with problems in their background checks had slipped through the companies' controls. Several Minnesota drivers had been convicted of assault, or had multiple DWIs.

Frey told the Star Tribune at the time he was convinced the city's hiring standards were adequate to protect the public.

"I believe people can make big mistakes, serve their time and rehabilitate," he said.

The Legislature's only major effort to regulate rideshare companies came in 2015, when legislators started requiring the companies to carry insurance for drivers.

Competing apps, like New Hope-based iHail and Curb, ebbed and flowed in the middle 2010s, and local transit agencies including SouthWest Transit experimented with apps for their paratransit vans. Even as the number of taxi companies and licensed cab drivers proliferated in the 2010s, after the medallion cap was lifted, cabs lost ground to the apps. Uber and Lyft became the two dominant players, especially after they won the ability to pick up passengers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in 2016.

The airports commission, Minneapolis and St. Paul relaxed some regulations for taxis, but the cabs lost ground to the rideshare apps. Drivers also opted for the less-stringent and less-expensive licensing process of driving for an app, rather than for a cab company, and the number of licensed taxi drivers plummeted.

Today, as the city stares down the possibility of an Uber- and Lyft-less future, just 39 licensed cab drivers remain in Minneapolis.

The lone dissenter in Minneapolis' 12-1 council vote in 2014 was former Council Member Blong Yang. Looking back today, Yang said, he almost wants to say, "I told you so."

"Uber and Lyft had this mentality they could go anywhere and get anything they want," Yang said. Now that the City Council has passed pay minimums for drivers, Yang said, he sees the same tendency in the companies' announcement that they will leave the city.

"They're not getting what they want. They're just going to take their ball and go," Yang said.

Key dates in rideshare history:2009: Taxi Magic is the first rideshare app in the Twin Cities.2013: Uber and Lyft start operating in St. Paul.2014: Uber and Lyft enter Minneapolis. The City Council votes 12 to 1 for an ordinance to let transportation networking companies operate in Minneapolis.2015: Competing apps including New Hope-based iHail launch in Minnesota.2016: Rideshare companies are allowed to pick up fares at MSP.2023: Gov. Tim Walz vetoes a minimum driver pay bill.2024: Minneapolis City Council passes driver minimum pay ordinance, Uber and Lyft say they'll leave May 1.
Distortion Studios, launched by the team behind long-running production company Studio Giggle, has opened a virtual production facility in Bristol, South-West England. The 200m studios will enable producers to create original IP utilizing virtual production technology, driven by real-time 3D content creation tool Unreal Engine.

The initiative, supported with funding from Creative UK and in partnership with iMAG Displays, will see the first permanent virtual production studio in Bristol, the current UNESCO City of Film, and the South West of England.

More from Variety

Distortion Studios are decked out with state-of-the art equipment including 11x4m curved LED Volume, ROE Black Pearl 2 V2 LED panels, 2x2x3m wild wall mobile led panels, 2x Stype RedSpy tracking system, Stage Precision, Pixera Media Servers and Brompton processing. Studio manager Pete Martin will oversee daily operations.

Distortion Studios utilizes virtual production technology.

Distortion Studios will open its doors to delegates attending the Creative Cities Convention, taking place in Bristol April 23-24, offering hands-on demonstrations and explanatory talks to small groups.

Jonathan Brigden, managing director of Distortion Studios, tells Variety that although most of the media focus has been on the virtual production shoots for big budget movies and series, such as The Mandalorian, the technology is equally effective for smaller shoots. We are seeing a lot of the work is coming much smaller  as in smaller studios, smaller walls. You dont need to have this enormous, expensive, expanse of space. What you need is the right technology, in the right place, operated by the right people.

For producers, virtual production offers clear advantages, vis a vis a physical set. I think, in many ways, its about being able to create environments that you cant often film in easily, Brigden says. If, for example, youve got a production that is in many, many different environments, and is quite fantastical or sci-fi, that kind of thing, it can be very expensive to do post production on that.

Distortion Studios will open its doors to delegates attending the Creative Cities Convention, taking place in Bristol April 23-24.

Another example is filming in places that you cant really easily get to. For example, airside at an airport, such as a scene at passport control, he says.

A third example, is being able to shoot in places that are expensive to get to, in terms of flying people all over the world to go on location shoots. It is also a greener way to shoot.

Finally, he says, It is just the ease of shooting. You can go in in the morning and get set up to shoot in an amazing location or world and then be wrapped by six.

The environments are created by inhouse Unreal artists, and because the software was developed by Epic Games for the video games industry there is the potential for crossover with games.

One area of opportunity is the recently announced 40% tax credit for U.K. film productions with a budget up to 15 million ($19 million). Our big priority at the moment is trying to work out how to make this technology more accessible for the independent filmmaking community, Brigden says.

Jonathan Brigden

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Each of Nio's models have benefited from the Oxfordshire base's input

In a modest-looking workshop on an industrial estate in Oxfordshire, the foundation of Nios UK market aspirations is being laid.

Here in Motorsport Valley, a small team of engineers are working to provide the Chinese electric car makers future models with what its principal chief engineer, Danilo Teobaldi, describes as a European flavour.

Already active in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, Nio has yet to officially launch in the UK. Its latest statement points to starting UK sales some time in 2025 as part of a further global expansion that includes right-hand-drive markets for the first time.

Still, Teobaldi is confident that when they do reach the UK, Nio models sold here will reflect the sort of dynamic qualities expected and demanded by buyers in a segment traditionally dominated by Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.

We have very experienced and talented people working in Oxfordshire. It is not routine engineering, but what we call attribute integration  the way a car behaves when it is driven. We participate in hardware decisions from the beginning, so what sort of suspension is chosen for any given model, and refine that during the development cycle, he says.

Teobaldi has a background in vehicle integration, a process he describes as combining mechanical and electric components together to form a harmonious driving character. The 50-year-old Italian was among the first engineers to be chosen by founder and CEO William Li to join Nio, becoming its director of advanced engineering at the brands inception in 2016.

Teobaldi started work at what is perhaps the most prominent of Chinas electric vehicle start-ups following a nine-year stint as head of vehicle concepts at Italdesign in Italy and five years as head of vehicle architecture and advanced engineering with Qoros, a Chinese-based brand run in a cooperation between Chery and the Israeli government.

Shortly after his appointment, he established Nios Oxfordshire engineering centre as a satellite operation to support the companys other vehicle development operations in Shanghai, Beijing, Hefei, Nanjing, Munich and San Jose.

Since then, each of Nios eight production models  including the ET5, ET5 Touring, EL6, ET7 and EL7 sold in five European countries  has benefited from its input. Most specifically, this has been focused on chassis tuning, in which the UK-based engineering team is taking an increasingly prominent role.

We develop specific suspension tuning for each market region, taking into account the differing demands of customers and differing road conditions, he says.

It wasnt until 2021 and Nios entry into the Norwegian market with the ES8 that its first European-specification model was launched.

Like those planned for the UK, that model receives its own chassis tuning for Europe, with steering, spring, damper, and bushing characteristics differing from those applied to the ES8 sold in China. They are characteristics that have now been brought to other Nio models currently sold in left-hand-drive European markets.

Teobaldi says: Most Chinese customers place a premium on secondary ride, so shock absorption is important. They are more tolerant to large body motions.

European customers, without generalising too much, are the opposite. They want good body control, so damping is very important. At the same time, they are more tolerant to ride harshness.

Oxfordshire, says Teobaldi, is the perfect location for Nio to refine that bespoke dynamic character: We draw on specialist engineers and world-class testing facilities.

It also provides great scope for technology scouting. There are developments here that you dont see anywhere else.

Recently, Nios UK engineering team has been heavily involved in the development of the new ET9. The 5325mm-long Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival is the first Nio model to feature steer-by-wire functionality and active suspension.

The latter, developed in partnership with US company Clearmotion, operates similarly to the Rausch & Pausch (Rapa) system adopted by the Porsche Panamera. Under this set-up, electrohydraulic pumps behind each wheel constantly alter the damping and ride height to counter pitch, dive and body movements.

Teobaldi confirms the UK engineering team is not only involved in the development of Nio-branded models. It is also contributing to the development of upcoming models from the Shanghai companys new Onvo and Firefly sub-brand projects.

Onvo is set to be launched later this year with a range of mid-sized models and Firefly is scheduled to begin sales in 2025 with a line-up of smaller models conceived specifically with European customers in mind.

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(Reuters) - BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink's total pay for 2023 was $26.9 million, down from $32.7 million a year earlier, according to the company's regulatory filings on Thursday.

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, which managed $10 trillion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2023 and served clients in over 100 countries across the globe, was founded by Fink in 1988.

Fink is under scrutiny as London-based activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners proposed an amendment to the company bylaws to require the chairman be an independent director.

BlackRock's board has recommended shareholders to vote against the proposal.

Bluebell's latest activism comes 15 months after it first took aim at the New York-based asset manager. The investor wanted to replace CEO Fink and criticized the company as being inconsistent in its focus on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues.

Over the years, Fink has drawn ire from several policymakers over BlackRock's corporate governance practices. The company said last year it lost around $4 billion in assets under management as a result of the political backlash.

Fink's compensation package for 2023 included a base salary of $1.5 million, a bonus of $7.9 million, stock awards of $16.4 million and other compensation of $1.09 million, according to the company's filings with the SEC.

His reduced pay sharply contrasts that of several Wall Street chiefs, including top bosses of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, with all of them receiving raises in 2023.

Bank of America's CEO Brian Moynihan, however, took home a reduced pay after the bank's annual profit fell 4%.

BlackRock's profit was 6% higher and saw assets under management jump 16% in 2023 from a year earlier.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
Italys Naval Air Station Sigonella welcomed its first MQ-4C Triton surveillance drone last month, marking the second deployment of the long-range drone for Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19, and the latest step in folding unmanned systems into the conventional fleet.

The drone is designed to support the manned P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and the Navy has previously tested Triton capabilities in the Indo-Pacific during rotational deployments.

The addition of the MQ-4C Triton, right here in Sigonella, is another milestone in the successful development of the Triton program, Capt. Aaron Shoemaker, commanding officer of NAS Sigonella, said in a Navy release. We are proud to support [Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19] as they integrate with the Fleet to expand the roles of unmanned aircraft systems operations in our region and beyond.

Navys MQ-4C Triton wraps up deployment to U.S. 7th Fleet

The Triton supports missions including maritime patrol, signals intelligence, search and rescue and communications relay, and reached initial operating capability in the Navy in September, when Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 deployed to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

Thus far, the Navy has obtained five of the surveillance drones, which are capable of operating for more than 24 hours, according to a September Northrop Gruman news release.

Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 is the Navys first and only squadron of its kind, and is based out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport in Florida. More than 300 sailors are assigned to the squadron, which will have three detachments once fully operational.

Aircrew gather and process surveillance information utilizing data fusion tools that integrate sensor data from multiple aircraft into a comprehensive networked picture to further assist in building an accurate threat representation, the Navy said.

Andersen Air Force Base first received two of the drones in 2020 to operate under Commander Task Force 72 in U.S. 7th Fleet for an early operational capability period. The drone also previously deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Misawa Air Base in Japan to refine the concept of operations for expeditionary basing during the deployment, the Navy said at the time.
Three definitely isn't a crowd for planets around a distant infant star.

Astronomers had already discovered two planets forming in the disk of gas and dust, or protoplanetary disk, around the infant star PDS 70. Now, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers with the MIRI mid-infrared Disk Survey (MINDS) project have seen hints of a third world taking shape around the fledgling star located around 400 light-years from Earth.

In addition to this, using JWST's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the MINDS crew also saw a large spiral stream of material feeding the growth of one of the previously discovered planets, PDS 70C. This giant planet is already surrounded by its own disk of material, which is also being fed by this stream and is expected to birth moons.

Related: The youngest exoplanet found by the Hubble telescope is the size of Jupiter (and still growing)

"We found new evidence for the presence of a third planet in the system, which was proposed based on VLT observations," Valentin Christiaens, MINDS team member and postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics at KU Leuven and the University of Liege, told Space.com. (The VLT is the Very Large Telescope, which is operated by the European Southern Observatory in Chile.)

"Furthermore, the new infrared measurements we obtained for the two known protoplanets suggest the presence of heated material around them  which may be the building blocks for moons forming around them," Christiaens added.

The PDS 70 system has already been well-studied by a plethora of telescopes, including the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the VLT.

It remains a fascinating system for astronomers because the protostar and its protoplanetary disk are estimated to be no older than 5.5 million years  a cosmic infant compared to our 4.5-billion-year-old solar system.

"PDS 70 is special, as it is the only protoplanetary disk so far where all astronomers agree that we have found forming planets caught in the act," Christiaens said. "Detailed study of this system has thus allowed us to learn a lot about planet formation."

The researcher said that little is known about the properties of the potential third planet around PDS 70 thus far. The planet  which, if confirmed, would be designated PDS 70D  appears to be shrouded in a vast amount of dust, and it orbits its infant star at around 13 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

"What is interesting is that this separation places it near 1:2:4 mean-motion resonance with planets PDS 70B and PDS 70C. This means its orbit would be almost exactly twice as short as B and four times shorter than planet C, respectively," Christiaens said. "This is a situation we know in the solar system with the three innermost Galilean moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, and Ganymede."



blurry orange, concentric rings surround a central star in deep space.

Spiral accretion streams like the one spotted by the team have been previously predicted theoretically in the protoplanetary disks around young stars. Signals of these streams have even been seen in other young systems. Yet this new discovery still stands out, team members said.

"Its the first time that we can directly connect this feature to a forming planet," Christiaens said. "This may suggest that some of the spirals observed in other protoplanetary disks may also be associated with forming planets. Thus, these findings have led to an increased suspicion that spirals observed in other disks may very well also be directly connected to planets embedded in their disk."

Related: Planets can form much faster than thought, new ALMA telescope photos suggest

The detection of PDS 70D is not set in stone; Christiaens said that more observations of this system will be required before full confirmation is made. That isn't bad, considering that the researcher wasn't convinced the planet was there to begin with!

"The most surprising aspect to me was certainly finding this signal consistent with a third planet, as I was originally very suspicious about the original claim made in the first work  I thought the signal may have been tracing the tip of the inner disk," he said.

When the researchers applied their best image-processing algorithms, they saw an extra signal in their images, which did not seem to correspond to the disk or to the other known planets. This signal also happens to be where theyd expect the candidate proposed earlier to be now, if that signal indeed traces a planet moving in its orbit.



"The third planet was first detected in ground-based observations. We did not expect to re-detect it," Christiaens said. "It was not the original goal at all of this observation to confirm it!"

RELATED STORIES:

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And the team has more JWST observations of the PDS 70 system to analyze.

"In the mid-term future, it will be a very interesting system to follow up with the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), in particular, to confirm and potentially characterize the third planet candidate," Christiaens concluded. "This could help us better understand the composition of the forming planets and the properties of the material around the planets, the building blocks for potential moons."

The MINDS team's research was posted recently on the online paper repository arXiv.
Picogrid's hardware platform, Lander, is used to connect large unmanned systems such as ground radars to Department of Defense networks. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PICOGRID

Picogrid, a defense technology startup, said it has received $12 million in financing for a factory in Lawton, its second, to build its unified platform for autonomous remote systems for military uses under a nearly $1 billion Pentagon contract.

Picogrid, based in El Segundo, California, said its products create "an open ecosystem" of defense technology. The aim is to connect and remotely control sensors, drones, command interfaces, and other "notoriously fragmented" defense systems.

The Lawton factory, to be in operation in 2025, will focus on manufacturing Lander, Picogrids flagship sensor platform. It will create a "substantial number" of jobs, Picogrid said in a press release, and coincides with execution of the contract, which was for $950 million with the U.S. Air Force.

Picogrid plans to open the factory at FISTA Innovation Park, an emerging defense manufacturing hub near Fort Sill. The company raised its seed capital in a round led by Initialized Capital with participation by Starburst Ventures, Credo Ventures, Giant Step Capital, Domino Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

The company said its technology is used on military bases across the United States and by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on the front lines of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Picogrid started in New York University dorm rooms. The pro-business climate got it to Oklahoma

Picogrid co-founders Zane Mountcastle and Martin Slosarik. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PICOGRID

Picogrid founders Zane Mountcastle, 28, and Martin Slosarik, 29, started developing autonomous systems more than a decade ago while in college.

"We started making defense technology out of our dorm rooms at New York University," Slosarik said. "Due to our research activities at NYU, we became contractors for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the U.S. Navy Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC)."

With Picogrid's first factory in California, where Mountcastle and Slosarik live, why the second one in Oklahoma?

"We fell in love with Oklahoma and selected it for our second factory due to our Head of Government Solutions, retired U.S. Army Colonel Anthony Lugo, who spent 10-plus years of service in the Lawton-Fort Sill community," Slosarik told The Oklahoman.

Anthony Lugo, Picogrids director of government solutions, added, "The conducive atmosphere in Lawton-Fort Sill and throughout the state is highly favorable for the growth and operations of our company."

Modern software, global impact from Picogrid in Lawton-Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Picogrid allows users to control unmanned systems, such as cameras, from a distance. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PICOGRID

Mountcastle said he and Slosarik saw a need to tie together essential systems.

"It was a gut punch as an engineer trained in modern software. Every sensor, plane, vehicle, and command center operates as an independent system with no way to work together, Mountcastle said.

He said Picogrids technology helps integrate devices "that the military increasingly depends on, using modern hardware and software to route data to and from systems deployed all over the world."

Drones, self-operational vehicles, artificial intelligence work together

Air Force users operating Helios, one of Picogrid's products, at Dover Air Force Base with a C-17 squadron. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PICOGRID

The tech is based on Legion, its cloud-based API  application programming interface  used to connect and control third-party autonomous systems. It includes drones, unmanned vehicles, and surveillance tools driven by artificial intelligence, "all working together in a cohesive and intelligent ecosystem."

Picogrid's platform "is a paradigm shift in defense operations, offering unprecedented levels of coordination and real-time intelligence, Mountcastle said. It's not just about having the most sophisticated defense systems; it's about how these systems work together as a singular force.

"The integration of our most advanced defense systems is the difference between deterrence and vulnerability.

Picogrid to provide the Pentagon with what nearly $1 billion will buy

Picogrids Helios mobile communications and sensor platform used in the Pacific providing the Department of Defense key capabilities to deter and stand up to China. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PICOGRID

Since launching in 2021, Picogrid has won more than a dozen federal contracts, including a nearly $1 billion IDIQ contract from the Pentagon. IDIQ stands for "Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity." Under federal law, an IDIQ contract provides for an indefinite quantity, within stated limits, of supplies or services during a fixed period."

The dark outlook and rising potential for global military conflict presents opportunity, said Kim-Mai Cutler, a partner at Initialized Capital.

"The Pentagon has made integration of major defense systems a big priority over the next few years as the risk of near-peer conflict grows year-over-year," Cutler said in a press release. "Picogrid is well-positioned to make sure that disparate vendors and technology providers can interface with each other to support U.S. and international security needs.

Krista Ratliff, president and CEO of FISTA (the manufacturing hub), expressed enthusiasm for Picogrid's work.

We are excited about Picogrids interest in joining FISTA. Their presence in Lawton Fort Sill promises newprofessional and educational opportunities for our community," she said.

Sign Up: Weekly newsletter Real Estate with Richard Mize

Kim Rumph, left, Picogrid customer success manager, and Dan Chirita, vice president of hardware development. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PICOGRID

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: Startup to make platform to bridge defense systems in Lawton, Oklahoma
The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority has disabled facial-recognition software connected to its 14 security cameras in downtown Lakeland.

Lakeland Downtown Development Authority has disabled the facial recognition technology on its downtown security cameras after two weeks of public scrutiny and a threat of legal action.

Julie Townsend, the LDDA's executive director, sent out a public notice Thursday morning stating it has requested the facial recognition function of the 14 security cameras manufactured by Verkada be turned off . Townsend clarified to The Ledger the camera's software is already deactivated, but did not confirm as of when.

"The LDDA considers cameras an affordable and unbiased way to provide additional sets of eyes in the district to help keep the district clean and safe," reads the news release. "The cameras were not purchased or installed because of facial recognition technology (FRT), but we certainly appreciated the opportunity to use the software to enhance the safety of Downtown."

Townsend told The Ledger she had no further comment on the cameras or facial recognition software aside from the LDDA's issued news release.

City Commissioner Mike Musick told The Ledger as a commissioner and LDDA board member there were conversations about the facial recognition software and he recommended the facial recognition technology was turned off.

Lakeland Downtown Development Authority has asked Verkada to disable the facial recognition technology on its AI-enabled microsensor cameras, pictured here, following two weeks of public scrutiny and threat of legal action by the ACLU.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida issued a statement on March 29 that they had filed public records requests with both the LDDA and Lakeland Police Department demanding information about the facial recognition surveillance's use.

The public deserves to know how this deeply invasive technology is being used, who is being targeted for round-the-clock monitoring, and what policies, if any, restrain its use, said Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of ACLUs Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project in a statement. Real-time face surveillance poses such a massive threat to our civil rights and civil liberties that other American cities have rightly been unwilling to deploy it. Lakeland should reverse course immediately."

Townsend cited the ACLU's clear intent to pursue legal action and litigate the security cameras as a reason for asking Verkada to turn off facial recognition software on the cameras.

"The harmful effects of pointless litigation that the LDDA can not afford outweigh the small benefits that facial recognition would have provided," reads the LDDA's press release.

The Ledger reached out to the ACLU for any comment or response to the LDDA's disabling facial recognition software on the cameras, but did not receive an immediate response.

The LDDA has removed the three photos of individuals identified as "people of interest" that were uploaded into the facial recognition software, according to its news release. The organization simultaneously stated those three men "met the LDDA criteria for using the software."

The LDDA previously published standards on its website defining a "person of interest" as:

Someone who has been trespassed from multiple businesses in Downtown.

Someone who has been trespassed from the Farmers Curb Market, which is operated by the LDDA.

Someone who has threatened verbally or physically intimidated an employee.

Someone engaged in a crime in Downtown.

By disabling the facial recognition software, LDDA and its employees will no longer receive notice when these three individuals, or others, enter a camera's view.

The LDDA pointed out that it is not the only business entity that might have facial recognition technology on its security cameras.

"But if anyone thinks we are innovators in the American surveillance state, public and private, they are woefully naive. This software capability is standard on most cameras. What is not standard is a commitment to explain to the public what we wanted to do and why," the news release said.

Three individuals stood before Lakeland commissioners at their Monday commission meeting to speak out against the LDDA's use of the cameras.

Lakeland resident Christopher Diaz was one of three individuals who asked Lakeland commissioners to intervene in the LDDA's use of facial recognition software.

"The issues with this is it is invasion of citizen's privacy. It is government overreach," he said.

Diaz said the three individuals being tracked by the cameras did not have warrants out for their arrest, and if they did, it would be for low-level misdemeanor crimes.

Townsend previously stated it would cost $112,500 for the cameras and their software over the next 10 years. It's unclear whether deactivating the facial recognition cameras will impact the costs.

"There's a logical gap in spending that money on these cameras for such a minor problem, especially when you could probably spend a quarter of the price on some overtime officers or deputies and solve the issue," Diaz said.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland's downtown security cameras no longer use facial recognition
Listen: How crows tell each other to buzz off

Aggressive and destructive crows that have long been a bane of Japans suburbs are finally being warned off in a language they can understand  their own.

Dr Naoki Tsukahara, an expert in biosciences at Utsunomiya University has spent 20 years recording and deciphering the calls made by the birds and is using their own warning cries to convince them that they are in danger.

Hordes of crows are often seen fighting over rubbish on the street after they have torn through clear plastic bags of household waste awaiting collection. The abundance of food has also encouraged more crows to roost in suburban parks, where they can become territorial and attack people, particularly in the spring breeding season.

Dr Tsukaharas company, CrowLab, has created a sensor that can be placed close to a pile of rubbish to detect when a crow approaches. It plays a recording of a cry the birds use to warn each other that danger  a cat, a hawk or even a human  is lurking nearby.

Dr Tsukahara estimates that he recorded 10,000 crow calls before he was able to isolate those that were warnings.

The device, called the Crow Controller was tested in a district of Utsunomiya City, north of Tokyo, between June and September of last year. Footage on the companys website shows crows looking for the source of danger and flying away without interfering with the rubbish when the recorded calls are played.

The Crow Controller has proved so popular that sales have been suspended

Testimonials on the CrowLab web site are glowing, with one resident of Utsunomiya saying it is good to see the birds flying away as it makes me feel safe.

The Crow Controller has proved so popular that the company has had to suspend sales as it cannot keep up with demand leading to a six-month wait for deliveries.

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NASA announced Wednesday the three companies selected to develop and operate a lunar terrain vehicle to help Artemis astronauts explore the moon's surface and prepare for human missions to Mars. Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab were awarded contracts with a maximum value of $4.6 billion. Image courtesy of Lunar Outpost

April 3 (UPI) -- NASA announced the three companies Wednesday that will help Artemis astronauts travel and explore on the moon's surface as early as 2030.

Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab will develop and operate a lunar terrain vehicle to move astronauts and their exploration and scientific experiments, as they prepare for human missions to Mars. NASA plans to start using the LTVs during the Artemis V mission.

"Where we're going, we don't need roads," NASA wrote Wednesday in a post on X as the space agency announced the three awards.

Where we're going, we don't need roads. @NASA has selected Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab to advance capabilities for a lunar terrain vehicle that #Artemis astronauts will use to travel around the lunar surface. READ MORE https://t.co/lsXs3Pwxn7 NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) April 3, 2024

"We look forward to the development of the Artemis generation lunar exploration vehicle to help us advance what we learn at the Moon," said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"This vehicle will greatly increase our astronauts' ability to explore and conduct science on the lunar surface while also serving as a science platform between crewed missions," Wyche added.

All three companies posted their enthusiastic responses within minutes of NASA's announcement.

"NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines $30 million as a prime contractor to complete a Lunar Terrain Vehicles Services contract," the company announced Wednesday in a post on X.

NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines $30 million as a prime contractor to complete a Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract. The company's global Moon RACER team will be tasked with creating a feasibility roadmap to develop and deploy a Lunar Terrain Vehicle on the Moon using... pic.twitter.com/GaVh3cvrG5 Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) April 3, 2024

"NASA has selected the Lunar Dawn team to develop a next-gen lunar terrain vehicle as part of the NASA Artemis program!" Lunar Outpost announced in its post on X.

"The American company Venturi Astrolab, Inc., a strategic partner of the Monegasque Venturi Group, has been awarded a NASA contract to support the development of Artemis campaign's lunar terrain vehicle," Venturi announced Wednesday.

The American company Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (@Astrolab_Space), a strategic partner of the Monegasque Venturi Group, has awarded a @NASA contract to support the development of Artemis campaign's lunar terrain vehicle. More info: https://t.co/m7owlUY20t #Venturi #MadeInMonaco pic.twitter.com/8C7grhxEjQ VENTURI (@Venturi) April 3, 2024

NASA's contract has a combined maximum value of $4.6 billion for all three awards. Each company will spend the next year designing and developing systems to meet NASA's requirements, which will be followed by a demonstration mission.

The complete LTV will be delivered to the surface of the moon ahead of Artemis V to make sure it is operating well. According to NASA, only one company will receive an award for the lunar demonstration. Other task orders will be issued for NASA's moonwalking and scientific exploration needs through 2039.

NASA plans to send crewed missions -- that will include the first woman, first person of color and the agency's first international partner astronaut -- to explore the moon and to prepare for human exploration of Mars. Artemis 3 is currently slated for September 2026 and Artemis 4 is expected to launch no earlier than September 2028.

The LTV will need to be able to handle extreme conditions at the moon's South Pole, along with advanced technologies for autonomous driving, communications and navigation. Between missions, the vehicle will operate remotely.

"We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries," said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"With the Artemis crewed missions, and during remote operations when there is not a crew on the surface, we are enabling science and discovery on the moon year-round."
ECourts problems are serious enough to halt rollout, NC district attorneys say

The North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys wants to delay the fraught rollout of eCourts, the states new electronic filing system for the judicial system.

Citing issues with delayed processing and the release of contact information for victims of domestic violence, the conferences general counsel, Chuck Spahos, told lawmakers at a committee meeting on Thursday that the eCourts rollout should be paused until these problems are resolved.

Ryan Boyce, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said his agency and Chief Justice Paul Newby oppose a delay.

Slowing down that increase of public access to justice, I think is harmful, he said.

ECourts is launching across North Carolina in phases. Its already out in 17 counties, including in the Triangle and Mecklenburg, and is set to expand to another 10 counties on April 29.

The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer have reported on complaints about its performance, including from people who say they were mistakenly taken into police custody due to errors, prosecutors, a county clerk  even the leader of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The system is meant to move the states courthouses into the modern era. Masses of paper records only available in county courthouses previously are now online and searchable. Lawyers, judges and clerks can do much of their work from computers now.

Since the phased rollout began in February 2023, complaints have continued to mount about the softwares sluggish performance that in some cases slowed courtroom operations to a crawl  or shut them down altogether.

For months the News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer have asked for a chance to interview AOC staff about a myriad of eCourts concerns. The office has only sent emailed statements in response.

Attorneys, clerks and judges were present at the meeting on Thursday, sharing their experiences with eCourts to lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety.

Spencer Merriweather, the district attorney for Mecklenburg County, told the committee that the new system has made it easier for the personal information of domestic violence victims to be accessed online.

Signs annoucing eCourts coming soon are displayed throughtout the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Sept. 21, 2023. Software from Tyler Technologies, eCourts, launched in Mecklenburg County in October. It was piloted in Wake, Harnett, Johnston and Lee Counties.

The most sensitive identifying information might be redacted, he said. But if its missed  if yet another step and keystroke results in error  victims and witnesses can be exposed to harm and it could chill their continued participation in criminal prosecution.

Boyce said AOC has worked to remove victim information in case details. He also noted that contact information for complainants in cases has always been public information.

Several Superior Court clerks told lawmakers that while there had been issues with the rollout, they still supported the states switch to a digital filing system.

I believe weve moved from an archaic system into a state-of-the-art system, Michelle Ball, the clerk of Superior Court in Johnston County, said.

Some lawmakers on the committee voiced their displeasure with the eCourts rollout, with Sen. Warren Daniel, a Burke County Republican, questioning whether it would be possible to keep the system but end the relationship with the developer, Tyler Technologies, when the states over $100 million contract ends.

They built us this car, their contract ends in 2029, he said. So could we keep the car and if we wanted a different mechanic to keep it running, could we do that, or is it proprietary to Tyler? Could we have our own in-house IT department that was keeping the car running?

That would likely be impossible, Boyce said.

Were essentially leasing a car, but paying for customizations, he said. So if we were going to move on, I dont think we could keep their software because we would lose that licensing access.

A federal lawsuit is also targeting eCourts, alleging that the system is making it take longer for people to be released from jail than it should. Also, some people have been arrested multiple times on the same warrants, it alleges. North Carolina clerks and sheriffs are also named as defendants.
LONDON (Reuters) - Russia's antitrust agency on Thursday said it had written to Apple, asking the U.S. tech giant to explain why Russian users of Apple devices do not have access to full functionality of banking and payment services.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside U.S. business hours.

Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has fined Apple around $26 million in the last two years related to what it described as Apple's abuse of its dominant position concerning the mobile apps market and in-app payments.

Apple has previously "respectfully disagreed" with a FAS ruling that Apple's distribution of apps through its iOS operating system gave its own products a competitive advantage.

The FAS said most Russian banks had been removed from the App Store and that Apple was not letting users install apps from anywhere but the App Store, making it impossible for Russian banks and contactless services to function.

"The company's actions contain signs of violation of antimonopoly legislation," the FAS said in a statement. "The service sent a letter to the company about the need to submit a detailed, motivated position on this issue to the agency."

Apple last month made a major concession in its battle to protect the dominance of its App Store on iPhones and other devices in Europe, saying developers would be free to distribute their apps directly to consumers. The changes were made to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA).

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Why the threat of a nightmare Chinese supercomputer just got a step closer

A cyber security official at the US State Department had noticed something unusual. An internal IT security system, nicknamed Big Yellow Taxi, had flagged unusual activity on its corporate Microsoft account.

The tech team quickly raised its concerns to Microsoft, hopeful that the alert was just a false positive.

What rapidly emerged, however, was that a Chinese government hacking group  codenamed Storm-0558  had compromised the emails of hundreds of US government officials.

An official US government post-mortem included one frightening possibility: that China had developed a quantum supercomputer, capable of cracking all Western encryption and rendering cyber defences useless.

Victims of the hack, discovered on 15 June last year, included Gina Raimondo, the US commerce secretary, the US Ambassador to China, and dozens of high ranking officials and politicians across America and the UK.

Nine months later and experts at Microsoft and US officials at CISA  the US cyber defence agency  are still unpicking what happened. Chinas hackers had been able to steal or forge a digital key  the cryptographic equivalent of crown jewels, US officials said in a report.

This key could be used to unlock crucial parts of the US governments digital infrastructure, cracking open email accounts belonging to high-ranking officials around the world. The hackers stole 60,000 emails from the State Department alone, although it is still unclear how this was achieved.

On June 26, 10 days after the US government discovered the Chinese hack, Microsoft launched an all-hands-on-deck investigation that ran overnight, uncovering the loss of the secret key.

Microsoft developed 46 hypotheses to investigate, the CISA report said, including some scenarios as wide-ranging as the adversary possessing a theoretical quantum computing capability to break public-key cryptography.

The CISA report adds: As of the date of this report, Microsoft does not know how or when Storm-0558 obtained the signing key.

Another possibility raised in the government report is that an insider stole the information years ago. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.

Cyber security sources note that a quantum-powered hack would be the least likely scenario. One industry source says the probability China has cracked such a huge technical problem is less than zero. Given the catastrophic nature of the attack, experts say Microsoft had to rule out a range of possible causes.

In a March blog post, Microsoft said: Our leading hypothesis remains that operational errors resulted in key material leaving the secure token signing environment.

But the disclosures by US officials shows how seriously the threat of Chinas quantum advances are being taken by the worlds most valuable technology company.

A secret quantum computer developed by a rival power would absolutely be a nightmare scenario, putting critical private information at risk of being stolen, says Sebastian Weidt, chief executive of Brighton-based start-up Universal Quantum.

The development of quantum computers remains in its infancy, but the technology is seen as crucial to future national security. The advanced machines are very different to a modern supercomputer, relying on properties of quantum physics and particles to conduct advanced calculations.

In theory, this should allow them to far outstrip the capabilities of traditional computers, which rely on binary ones and zeros to operate. A major fear is they could be used to easily break modern coding systems and access private information.

Offensive use of quantum computing would render most modern techniques to secure data in transit and data at rest useless, says Adam Maruyama, chief technology officer at cyber security company Garrison and a former intelligence officer. Because todays security ecosystem puts so much stock into the strength of encryption algorithms, this would be a disaster.

The development of a quantum system by a rival nation in secret is also being taken seriously by security officials in the US and the UK. Officials have dubbed the advent of such technology as Q-Day and have been urgently researching so-called post quantum cryptography, which could be resistant to such a machine.

Multiple start-ups have been trying to develop systems that could apply uncrackable new encryption techniques to the internet to defend against a quantum hack.

The US is viewed as a leader in quantum technology. Tech giants including Google and IBM claim to have made great strides towards building functional computers.

But China has been racing to catch up. According to McKinsey, Beijing has earmarked $15.3bn (12.1bn) for quantum computing projects. In 2020, Chinese scientists claimed to have developed a quantum computer that had achieved quantum supremacy by solving a physics problem millions of times faster than a traditional supercomputer.

However, such breakthroughs remain in the esoteric realms of particle physics with few practical applications.

Quantum computers themselves are totally unlike a typical computer. These intricate creations are large, spindly, often built with materials such as gold or rare earth metals, while operating in cryogenic chambers well below freezing to enhance its quantum properties.

As for codebreaking, most quantum and cyber security experts agree even China is years away from developing such a computer. The science is simply no way near there yet, says one industry source.

Weidt, of Universal Quantum, adds: It is highly unlikely that [Microsofts] encryption was broken by a quantum computer. As far as we know today significantly larger quantum computers than we have available today will be needed for such a task.

Regardless of how it conducted last years hack, the US says the sting struck the espionage equivalent of gold in a report that was scathing of Microsofts security readiness.

The government report accused Microsoft of a cascade of avoidable errors in the run up to the incident. It also criticised Microsoft for putting out misleading public statements which claimed it had uncovered the origin of the leaked key, when in fact it had not.

It failed to correct the record for more than six months.

Microsofts internal investigations have ruled out the possibility that an insider stole the key used to hack the US government. It disclosed it had uncovered a separate hack in 2021 by Storm-0558 of an engineers laptop, who had joined from a company it had acquired, which could be linked, but the US government said it had seen no specific evidence to such effect.

A quantum intrusion may have been the most far-out scenario explored by Microsoft, but the US governments assessment says the company remains in the dark over the truth.

Nine months after the discovery of the intrusion, Microsoft says that its investigation into these hypotheses remains ongoing.

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ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) U.S. Senator John Cornyn joined Abilene locals and city leaders Tuesday for a tour of the Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing (NEXT) lab at Abilene Christian University (ACU). While he has long supported the program, this was the Senators first time getting an in-person look at operations, an opportunity he says was both enlightening and inspiring.

The work being done here is nothing short of groundbreaking. I think yall are on the cusp of making some incredible discoveries in energy, water, and medicine, Cornyn said.

ACU receives $30.5 million for nuclear research reactor

Cornyn praised the ongoing research projects, such as eliminating wasted fuel in the nuclear energy process, the promise of more manageable clean-up in the event of a spill compared to traditional nuclear cooling methods, and even medical developments such as the production of rare isotopes that show potential to cure cancer.

Perhaps the most exciting thing is that this is happening right here at Abilene Christian University right here in Abilene, Texas, said Cornyn.

This tour also helped to galvanize the relationship between the university and lawmakers like Cornyn, which ACU President Dr. Phil Schubert said is necessary to provide the program with vital resources to continue its research, such as uranium and molten salt.

You cant go out and buy uranium on eBay, so (Cornyns) help and the help of others in Washington will be necessary to ensure those pathways are clear, Schubert told KTAB/KRBC.

ACU introduces three new colleges, restructuring for more growth of national reputation

After seeing the programs benefits and potential, Cornyn said he is happy to back the NEXT lab in legislative matters and facilitate the supply of resources from federal lab reserves.

We know where it is; We gotta make sure that Abilene Christians name is put on it for this project, Cornyn said.

He later explained that he is a firm believer in the co-existence of renewable and non-renewable energies to complement one another while also acknowledging that fields like nuclear energy require further development to play a larger role in future energy production.

There will come a time when we will depend more and more on things like safe nuclear power and less and less on things like natural gas. Something that is critical today, but it will not always be that way, and we need to prepare for the future, Cornyn said.

Battle over Bidens pause of natural gas exports

During his speech, he criticized the Biden administration for temporarily banning the export of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG).

I wanna be respectful and gentle, but thats one of the dumbest things thats been done out of Washington DC in a long time This idea that in order to somehow appease the presidents environmental radicals, the activists that somehow were going to hit the breaks on LNG exports is really a disservice to not only the people who work in the oil and gas industry here in Texas but also to our friends and allies in the world whove come to depend on it. This is a great national asset, and the president, I think, has got it exactly 180 degrees wrong, and it needs to be lifted immediately, said Cornyn.

Excelencia in Education: ACU joins national effort to aid Latin students

Beyond the politics of the day, the Senator ended with a positive outlook on clean energy and the role he believes ACU students will play in contributing towards it.

Its not happening anywhere else in the country, and to me, thats inspirational, Cornyn said.

Cornyn stated that he is proud of the work being done at the NEXT lab, which provides a great foundation for the students and staff to become future leaders in the field.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Taiwan's tallest skyscraper uses a massive pendulum to protect itself from earthquakes

Taiwan's tallest skyscraper's is standing strong after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the island nation, killing nine people and injuring at least 946 others on Wednesday.

The Taipei 101 building, once recognized as the tallest skyscraper in the world, uses an enormous tuned mass damper (basically a giant pendulum) to protect itself from earthquakes.

The 660-ton pendulum hangs over 1,000 feet above the ground and allows the structure to withstand tremors and typhoon winds. The massive steel sphere moves back and forth slightly, enough to counter any movement.

The device reduces the tower's movements by up to 40%, according to its builder and tester, A+H Tuned.

"Tuned mass dampers, also called harmonic absorbers, are simple yet effective mechanisms that allow us to design and live in skyscrapers," A+H Tuned says on its website. "Without them, the lifespan, structural integrity, and comfort of these high rise buildings would be seriously reduced."

A tourist taking photos of Tower 101 as a haze of pollution sits over the city's skyline on a clear day in Taipei on Feb. 25, 2013.

Damper hangs between several floors

The golden mass damper hangs between the 87th and 92nd floors in the center of the Taipei 101.

The device is constructed of 41 layers, each almost 5 inches thick, and is around 18 feet in diameter, according its website. Ninety-two steel cables are used to hang it, with each being about 3.5 inches wide and 138 feet long.

Tuned mass damper or harmonic absorber inside the Taipei 101 skyscraper helps reduce the amplitude of mechanical vibrations to endure against earthquakes

The sphere also uses a bumper ring to limit its back-and-forth swing to around 59 inches in the event of an intense earthquake or typhoon-force winds.

Once known as the Taipei World Financial Centre, the skyscraper was the tallest skyscraper in the world when it was completed in 2004. It held the title until 2009, when the Burj Khalifa in Dubai dethroned it.

Why earthquakes are common in Taiwan

Taiwan is prone to earthquakes because it sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire." The tectonic belt is home to 90% of the world's temblors.

The densely populated island nation has garnered a reputation for being prepared for earthquakes, according to Joseph Barbera, an emergency physician and professor of engineering management and systems engineering at George Washington University.

Barbera said the damage from Wednesday's quake would potentially be far worse if it weren't for the readiness from emergency services and strict enforcement of the nation's seismic building codes. Other critical buildings are built on foundations to protect them from tremblors.

"There's a dramatic difference between building failures  structural failures, not just buildings  in Taiwan versus other other countries that have similar size earthquakes," Barbera told USA TODAY. "Theyve had a true commitment for decades to risk reduction."

Contributing: John Bacon and Jeanine Santucci

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taiwan's tallest skyscraper unscathed in major earthquake. Here's why.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Its official. SK hynix Inc., the worlds leading producer of high-bandwidth memory chips, will invest an estimated $3.87 billion in West Lafayette to build an advanced packaging fabrication and research and development facility for artificial intelligence products.

This news came as leaders from the United States, South Korea, SK hynix, Indiana, Purdue University and West Lafayette shared the stage at Wednesday's announcement and discussed one of the largest economic investments in Indianas history. The new facility represents the states leadership in the growth of AI development.

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung speaks during the announcement of the partnership between Purdue University and SK hynix, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.

We are excited to become the first in the industry to build a state-of-the-art, advanced-packaging facility for AI products in the United States that will help strengthen supply-chain resilience and develop a local semiconductor ecosystem, SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said.

With this new facility, we hope to advance our goal of providing AI memory chips with unmatched capabilities, serving the needs of our customers.

SK hynix will construct a 430,000-square-foot facility on 90 acres of land at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. The facility will be an advanced semiconductor packaging production line that will mass produce the latest high-bandwidth memory chips aimed at supporting high-end graphic processing chips focused on developing AI systems.

West Lafayette Mayor Erin Easter speaks during the announcement of the partnership between Purdue University and SK hynix, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.

This new semiconductor facility is expected to be constructed by 2028 and bring up to 800 high-wage to jobs to the region.

When asked how much these wages would be, SK hynix leadership said the specific amount is not yet determined but noted that they would be competitive.

Noh-Jung described this project as being the foundation for the United States' new silicon heartland with Indiana leading the country into this new realm of technological growth.

Indiana is a global leader in innovating and producing the products that will power our future economy, and todays news is proof positive to that fact, Gov. Eric Holcomb said.

Governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb answers questions from the media during the announcement of the partnership between Purdue University and SK hynix, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.

This new semiconductor innovation and packaging plant not only reaffirms the states role in the high-tech sector but is also another tremendous step forward in advancing U.S. innovation and national security, putting Hoosiers at the forefront of national and global advancement, Holcomb said.

Purdue University President Mung Chiang said the state of Indiana and Purdue have been in a two-year tournament trying to court SK Hynix to invest in the Purdue educational ecosystem and West Lafayette.

Chiang said that Indiana and the university made the final four of this tournament and ultimately, took home the trophy of becoming the new home for SK hynix's state-of-the-art facility.

Chiang did not share the other three states that were in the final four of this economic development tournament.

A major factor in SK hynixs decision to partner with Purdue University was the states consistent interest in developing a partnership with South Korea and South Korean industries.

In late 2022, Holcomb and Chiang flew to Tapia and met with ambassadors from Taiwan and South Korea to help cultivate relationships with both countries.

Another contributing factor to the decision was the United States' commitment to investing in and revitalizing Americas semiconductor industry with the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022.

Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Arati Prabhakar speaks during the announcement of the partnership between Purdue University and SK hynix, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.

As soon as the president signed it, this administration moved out and started implementing it," said Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and assistant to the president for science and technology. "That bill has many different components, a major part is about manufacturing incentives and tax incentives, so that we can have leading-edge semiconductors back here in the state.

That legislation recognized that if were going to succeed, we need to build our relationships with our global allies and the Biden administration has promoted foreign direct investment and deepened ties with our allies.

Prabhakar highlighted U.S. Sen. Todd Young's leadership and pivotal role in both developing the CHIPS and Science Act and building bi-partisan support for this piece of legislation to ensure it would get passed in the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young speaks during the announcement of the partnership between Purdue University and SK hynix, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.

For me, this journey began roughly four years ago, it was then when I introduced a piece of legislation known as the Endless Frontier Act. The intent was simple, to invest in emerging technologies, so that we could make our country more safe at the same time we made our county more prosperous, Young said.

That bill ultimately evolved into the CHIPS and Science Act which later became law.

Woojin Choi, SK hynix Executive Vice President, speaks during the announcement of the partnership between Purdue University and SK hynix, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. also announced that it committed a $3 million investment with SK hynix in incentive-based training and manufacturing readiness grants, and up to $80 million in conditional structured performance payments. The economic development corporation also offered up to $554.7 million of Innovation Development District tax rebates.

The company will collaborate with Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College to develop training programs and interdisciplinary degree curricula that will cultivate a high-tech workforce and build a reliable pipeline of new talent.

With this tiny nand size chip, we are going to change the world, and the great state of Indiana will be in the center of that change, Woojin Choi, SK hynix executive vice president said.

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: SK hynix will invest $3.87B in West Lafayette semiconductor industry
One way China's chip manufacturers have been getting advanced chip fabrication equipment capable of making processors on 14nm and smaller process technologies is through South Korea. The U.S. government is now working with its peers in the country to adopt export restrictions on semiconductor technology to China. These restrictions are akin to those imposed by Washington, reports Bloomberg.



The U.S.'s proposition to South Korea includes limiting exports of fab tools and parts for fab tools that could be used to build logic chips in non-planar 14nm process technologies. The limitations would also impact more advanced nodes and DRAM on nodes with an 18nm or smaller half-pitch size. This move aligns with measures the U.S. Department of Commerce introduced in 2022, which Japan, the Netherlands, and Taiwan then adopted.



However, South Korea is treading cautiously due to its significant trade ties with China. Major South Korean tech firms, such as Samsung and SK Hynix, have substantial operations there. As a result, South Korean officials are concerned about the potential repercussions, including retaliatory measures from China, that could arise from imposing export controls on wafer fab tools.



Samsung and SK Hynix are the world's largest 3D NAND and DRAM memory manufacturers, and they are the largest memory suppliers in China. While replacing them today with China-based YMTC, CXMT, and Xi'an UniIC is impossible, China may still retaliate. South Korea is also a major exporter of chipmaking materials and parts to China, ranking second after Japan.



South Korea is exploring a multinational framework to review export controls for sensitive products, including semiconductor-related equipment. This approach, articulated by the country's trade minister, Cheong Inkyo, may complicate U.S. efforts to curtail China's influence on technology supply chains, reports Bloomberg.



U.S. officials have held detailed discussions with the South Korean government, led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, to persuade Seoul to agree to these restrictions before the upcoming G7 summit in mid-June. Given the complexities involved, it's currently unclear whether South Korea will cooperate. Either way, implementing any export restrictions by South Korea is expected to take several months, and the People's Republic will have time to buy everything it needs in the interim.

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a press conference at the U.S. embassy in Beijing

By David Lawder

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in China's southern factory hub of Guangzhou on Thursday with a tough message to Chinese officials: you're producing too much of everything, especially clean energy goods, and the world can't absorb it.

China is unleashing a flood of electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, solar panels, semiconductors and other manufactured goods into global markets, the result of years of massive government subsidies and weak demand at home. Global prices for many goods are tanking, pressuring producers in other countries.

"We see a growing threat of money-losing firms that are going to have to sell off their production somewhere," a senior U.S. Treasury official said of overproduction in key Chinese sectors.

In a series of meetings with top Chinese economic officials from Friday through Monday, Yellen will seek to convey her view that the excess production is unhealthy for China and that there is a growing drumbeat of concern about it in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Mexico and other major economies.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said Yellen would explain: "If there are trade actions around the world, it's not an anti-China thing, it's a response to their policies."

But Beijing appears to be doubling down on investing in more manufacturing capacity in favored high-technology sectors, a stance that is also increasingly at odds with Europe.

"I do think the stage is set for renewed tensions with China," said Brad Setser, a former U.S. trade and Treasury official.

Setser added that Yellen's warnings about Chinese overproduction may be an initial step by the Biden administration towards new tariffs or other trade barriers on Chinese EVs, batteries and other goods.

En route to Guangzhou, Yellen declined to say whether she would raise the threat of new tariffs in her meetings in Guangzhou and Beijing with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Guangdong Province Governor Wang Weizhong, who has also presided over hundreds of billions of dollars worth of recent new projects.

But she said the Biden administration was determined to develop American supply chains in EVs, solar power and other clean energy goods with investment tax credits and would not "rule out other possible ways in which we would protect them".

In March, China's leadership pledged to follow through on President Xi Jinping's new mantra of unleashing "new productive forces" in China by investing in developing technology industries including EVs, new materials, commercial spaceflight and life sciences - areas where many U.S. firms hold advantages.

Yellen will also argue that China would be better off focusing spending on supporting households and boosting chronically weak consumer spending.

FACTORY FIRST

The results of China's prior investment binges are staggering.

Including EVs and combustion-engine cars, China by the end of 2022 had the capacity to produce 43 million vehicles annually, but its plant utilisation rate - a measure closely linked to profitability - was just under 55%, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.

Bill Russo, the Shanghai-based founder and CEO of advisory firm Automobility, estimated that this translates to excess auto production capacity of about 10 million vehicles a year, or roughly two-thirds of North American auto output in 2022.

And new entrants are still coming into an increasingly cut-throat Chinese EV market. Mobile phone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday launched sales of its sporty Speed Ultra 7 EV, drawing an estimate from Citi analysts that each unit sold would lose $10,000.

SOLAR DOMINANCE

The situation in China's solar panel sector may be worse, where overproduction pushed prices down 42% last year to levels 60% below the cost of comparable U.S.-made products. Major Chinese producers are continuing to build factories, backed by provincial and local subsidies.

At the end of 2023, China had the capacity to build 861 gigawatts of solar modules per year, more than double the global total installed capacity of 390 million gigawatts. Another 500-600 gigawatts of annual capacity is forecast to come online this year -- enough to supply all global demand through 2032, according to energy research firm Wood Mackenzie.

Chinese officials are expected to push back and argue that the excess capacity results from an unexpected downturn in demand following a property crisis and a rocky exit from COVID-19, said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"I can foresee a conversation that goes around in circles," he added.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Stephen Coates and Devika Syamnath)
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low productivity

Like all great mysteries, Britains growing culture of idleness has spawned a number of theories, most common among them that Generation Z are entitled layabouts more inclined to call in sick than adhere to their contracted hours and duties.

There may be a grain of truth to this, despite protestations among those aged 12-27 that they are unfairly maligned. Recent analysis by Vitality found that the average Gen Z employee feels unable to work to their full capacity for 60 days a year, while research from the Resolution Foundation think tank has shown some 34pc of 18-24 year olds are neither in a job nor looking for one.

Around 12pc of people in their 20s and early-30s say they are disabled because of mental ill-health, more than any other group. This number has surged from about 2pc in 1998, when the problem was most common among workers in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

Psychological disorders must be taken seriously, but difficult questions surely need to be asked over whether lifes normal ups and downs are being treated as mental health conditions that preclude work.

Britains young appear to have moved away from the long-standing belief that structured employment can be good for wellbeing, to one where it is a hindrance to health to be avoided. Even among those who do work, many seem to be quiet quitting or acting their wage  limiting their own job and pay prospects and likely contributing towards our stagnant productivity.

Yet not all blame can be pinned on Gen Z. For a start, they are a product of a society which has taught them  not least during the pandemic  that if they dont feel up to work, they should stay home. They are also not alone in dropping out of the jobs market: more than 9 million people of working age are economically inactive, up significantly since 2019.

Government policy, meanwhile, actively works against a culture of work. The housing crisis makes it hard for people to move to where the jobs are, and higher minimum wages and pensions auto enrolment might be incentivising employers to take on older workers rather than younger staff without the same experience.

Poor quality degrees dont prepare the young for the workplace and the growth in occupational roles  with the number of jobs requiring some sort of licence increasing from one in 20 to one in five over the past two decades  makes it more expensive to train for better-paid jobs.

Nor is Gen Z a homogenous group. Pity the industrious 25 year-olds lumped in with the lazygirls who view work as a mugs game and post TikTok videos encouraging others to feel the same.

Story continues

Other variations are more subtle: the unemployment rate among men aged 18-24 is roughly five percentage points higher than for women, for instance, while the economic inactivity rate among men is 32.3pc compared with 35.5pc for women.

And every cohort has had its share of people content to coast. In the 1990s, Gen Xers were labelled as slackers by their Baby Boomer bosses. Lockdown triggered a wave of resignations and early retirements among the over-50s. Nearly three years after our society and economy were fully reopened, we still have 900,000 vacancies, not all of which could be filled by recent graduates.

But this time its different, for a number of reasons. First, as demographics worsen, our economic future will depend on younger workers who seem much more concerned with boundaries than hard graft. Second, the prevailing narrative  at least pushed by Labour  has shifted towards the idea that too many staff are now deprived of respect and dignity, even though jobs in Britain are dramatically more attractive than in the past, with shorter hours and longer holidays.

Pay in real terms is two to three times what it was 50 years ago. Nonetheless, the Left are clamouring for yet more rights for workers that are likely to drown businesses in red tape and feed the youngs entitlement.

Lastly, lockdowns have entrenched a pre-existing tendency towards welfarism. Civitas research has indicated that over half of British households now receive more from the state than they pay in taxes. The Tories still seem to view furlough as the crowning achievement of this parliament. Never mind that, under their watch, welfare spending has surged to surely unaffordable levels.

Its becoming almost rational not to make much effort in Britain today. At the same time as our welfare system expands beyond its original purpose of providing a safety net to the most vulnerable, marginal tax rates of 60pc or even 70pc have created a disincentive not to work harder or get a promotion.

And its not just the size of the tax burden, but where the money is spent: on HMRC staff whose office attendance fell as low as a third one week last year; on childcare reforms which take us further down the road towards nationalisation of a sector which, until the 1990s, was a largely private and charitable matter; on an NHS where as many as 1.3 million people could be waiting more than a year for treatment  to give just a few recent examples.

So as our economic indicators flash red, perhaps the strivers will also quit. Perhaps taxpayers will tire of seeing their hard-earned cash spent on welfare for those who may not need it, or public services which never seem to improve.

At the same time, attitudes towards success and wealth are souring, with the ambitious and aspirational viewed with growing suspicion. If they did throw in the towel, who could blame them?

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You are here: Business

The China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (CCCEU) on Wednesday condemned the EU for using its new Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) as a tool of economic coercion.

The critique comes after the European Commission initiated two in-depth investigations targeting Chinese solar companies engaged in public procurement for a Romanian photovoltaic park project.

"To date, the European Commission has launched three FSR in-depth investigations, all targeting Chinese enterprises," the CCCEU stated, expressing grave concerns over the probes.

The business group pointed out the broad and ambiguous definitions of key concepts listed under the FSR, stressing that the regulation would place undue burdens on companies, potentially lead to discrimination against foreign enterprises and "distort the level playing field for Chinese enterprises operating in the EU."

The CCCEU has urged the bloc to improve transparency, protect the rights of Chinese companies, and reduce barriers to investment, public procurement and business operation within the EU.

"It is imperative for the EU to establish a legal and market environment that is fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory towards Chinese enterprises," it added.

The Brussels-based CCCEU represents over 1,000 Chinese companies operating across the EU, with chambers in several member states.
Frank Jauregui Trucking of Fontana, California, ceased operations Monday. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

A California trucking company has shuttered operations after 19 years of hauling general freight throughout the state.

At the time of its closure Monday, Frank Jauregui Trucking of Fontana, had 32 trucks and the same number of drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations SAFER website.

This is the second Fontana-based carrier to cease operations this week after the formerly family-owned Tonys Express, a 70-year-old less-than-truckload carrier, closed its doors a year after selling the company to John Ohle in March 2023.

Frank Jauregui, who is listed as the CFO of the intrastate-only company, declined FreightWaves request to comment about why the company shut its doors.





A source familiar with the situation told FreightWaves that the trucking company is looking to sell its tractors, trailers and equipment.

Screenshot: FMCSA

According to FMCSA data, the agency granted Jauregui Truckings contract authority in April 2005, but its Bodily Injury Property Damage coverage was canceled Monday. The companys cargo and general liability insurance are slated to be canceled Friday.

Prior to its closure, the companys trucks had been inspected 57 times, and 20 had been placed out of service for a 35% out-of-service rate over the preceding 24 months. That is higher than the industrys national average of around 22%, according to FMCSA data.





The companys drivers had been inspected 56 times, and eight were placed out of service over a two-year period, resulting in a 14.3% out-of-service rate. The national average for drivers is about 6.7%.

This is a developing story.

Do you have a news tip to share? Send me an email or message me @cage_writer on X, formerly known as Twitter. Your name will not be used without your permission.

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70-year-old California trucking company, freight brokerage closes abruptlyJury finds Colorado trucker guilty of vehicular homicide in 2022 crash

Shuttered California trucking company files for bankruptcy

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In a startling incident on Tuesday afternoon, a Toyota Innova car suddenly caught fire just outside a residential society in Noida Sector 70, sparking immediate concern among locals and passers-by. The vehicle, owned by a retired school teacher, became engulfed in flames shortly after it halted unexpectedly. The owner, who had just exited the vehicle to inspect the problem, narrowly escaped the life-threatening blaze.

The incident occurred on April 2, 2024, turning a routine drive into a harrowing ordeal for the car owner. According to the teacher, the car had been serviced just a few days prior, on March 27, 2024, at an authorized Toyota service center- Espirit Toyota, sector 8, Noida, raising questions about the vehicle's safety checks and service quality.

Eyewitnesses reported the swift action of the fire department, which arrived promptly at the scene to douse the flames. However, despite their efforts, the car was reduced to ashes. Fortunately, there were no casualties, as the vehicle's owner managed to escape in time.

This alarming event has prompted a call to action for stricter safety inspections and accountability from car manufacturers and service centres, ensuring such potentially life-threatening incidents are averted in the future. Toyota has yet to respond to the incident.
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) on Thursday unveiled its manifesto for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, promising to scrap all "draconian" laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The CPI(M) also appealed to voters to defeat the BJP, strengthen the Left, and ensure the formation of an alternative secular government at the Centre.

Key Promises Made By CPI-M

At a press conference held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, accompanied by senior party leaders Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, and Nilotpal Basu, emphasized the party's commitment to scrapping contentious legislation if elected to power. Yechury highlighted the party's pledge to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), emphasizing a firm stance against the intertwining of religion and politics. Additionally, he underscored the CPI(M)'s promise to enact legislation targeting hate speech and crimes.

CPI(M) General Secretary Comrade Sitaram Yechury along with Polit Bureau members Comrades Prakash Karat, Tapan Sen, Brinda Karat and Nilotpal Basu released our manifesto for 2024 elections. Read the full manifesto here...https://t.co/QjbTMYQ0HE pic.twitter.com/m7bSJeUeCu  CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) April 4, 2024

Restoration Of Constitutional Rights And Fiscal Reforms

Central to the CPI(M)'s manifesto is the restoration of constitutional rights to states, a response to what the party perceives as the erosion of state authority under the Modi government. The manifesto advocates for the devolution of 50% of Central tax collections to states, including surcharges and cess levies, alongside measures to counteract policies favoring centralization.

CPI(M) Election ManifestoThe Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:



CPI(M) Lok Sabha Elections, 2024 Manifesto Summary: CPI(M) Appeals to the Indian Electorate to:



Defeat the BJP and its allies.

Increase the strength pic.twitter.com/X94Ex9Nv1o  CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) April 4, 2024

Scraping Draconian Laws

Furthermore, the CPI(M) vows to abolish what it deems 'draconian' laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), while also championing the autonomy of independent institutions and defending the democratic rights of citizens.

Statehood For J&K

In its manifesto, the CPI(M) reiterates its support for the autonomous status guaranteed under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution for Jammu and Kashmir. The party pledges to advocate for the rights of the region's inhabitants through various channels, including prompt elections to the State Assembly and the restoration of full statehood.

Law For Reservations In The Private Sector

Additionally, the CPI(M) advocates for legislative measures to enforce reservations in the private sector and ensure the timely filling of vacancies in reserved positions without compromise. The party also calls for the protection of the constitutional and legal rights of indigenous communities, emphasizing the need for a caste census alongside the 2021 general census to obtain accurate data on Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Electoral Reforms And Campaign Financing

Addressing concerns over electoral integrity, the CPI(M) manifesto proposes urgent reforms aimed at mitigating the influence of monetary resources in the electoral process. The party advocates for state funding of elections and a ban on corporate donations to political parties, emphasizing the role of corporate contributions in strengthening democracy. "The CPI(M) stands for urgent electoral reforms to curb the use of money power in the electoral system. For this, the Party wants State funding of elections and a ban on corporate donations to political parties. Corporates must fund to strengthen democracy and such contributions must be credited in a State electoral fund and used for State funding" CPI(M)'s manifesto added.
Srinagar: National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah announced that Congress would support the National Conference in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He stated, "We have discussed and finalized everything. In the coming days, after going to Delhi, it will be clear that NC and Congress will fight together in J&K." Omar added that Farooq Abdullah is currently in Jammu campaigning for Congress candidates.

Omar Abdullah criticized the government for failing to provide adequate security to their Lok Sabha candidates in J&K. He noted, "We saw no change even after announcing our candidate; no additional security was given to him, nor were any of our star campaigners provided with more security. Instead, the administration is harassing us. No problem: on one side, we are fighting political parties, on the other side, we will fight the administration too."

Earlier, while addressing his party workers at his Srinagar office, Omar said, "We have always worked for our country. If Sher-e-Kashmir had chosen the gun, there were people to support him, but we chose our country."

He further mentioned that they do not care how many parties are targeting the National Conference, referring to Ghulam Nabi Azad and Altaf Bukhari. Omar stated, "The bucket (balteen), the election symbol of Azad's party, or bat or applelet them come. We don't care. We don't see much difference between a dustbin and a balteen (bucket)."

He targeted Ghulam Nabi Azad, stating that they have helped him a lot. Farooq Sahab has given him a Rajya Sabha seat twice, but suddenly Azad started targeting Farooq Abdullah.

"We were not understanding what happened. Then when he announced his candidature from the Anantnag seat, we understood why he is doing this. Let him come; he has zero chances to win, but still, he is there. If he really cared for Jammu and Kashmir, he would have fought from his home seat Udhampur, but his candidature there would dent BJP, so he doesn't want to. He is helping the BJP who are targeting Muslims in other parts of the country."

Omar emphasized that it's not an election for MLAs; they have sent their voice to Parliament. "If you think what happened on 5th August 2019 is right, then don't vote for NC. But if you feel Delhi has wronged us, then vote for us and choose your own representative, not Delhi-backed representatives."
NEW DELHI: In a significant development amidst ongoing legal proceedings, Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, conducted a press conference on Thursday, delivering a message from the incarcerated AAP leader. In his message to the party leaders, conveyed by his wife, Kejriwal directed the AAP MLAs to remain actively engaged with their constituencies, ensuring the welfare of the people of Delhi even in his absence.

Echoing the sentiments of the jailed Delhi Chief Minister, Sunita Kejriwal conveyed his message urging AAP MLAs to conduct regular visits to their respective areas, diligently addressing citizens' concerns and resolving issues promptly. Despite his confinement, Arvind Kejriwal underscored the principle that governance should not falter and that the well-being of Delhi's populace must remain a top priority for elected AAP representatives. "Arvind Kejriwal has sent a message to all MLAs: 'Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people's problems and sort them out...," Sunita Kejriwal said.

This press conference gains significance as it follows the release of AAP MP Sanjay Singh from Tihar jail on Wednesday after a six-month confinement, culminating in a meeting between Singh and Sunita Kejriwal at her residence in the national capital.

AAP Vs ED In Excise Policy Case

Meanwhile, the legal battle surrounding Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Excise Policy money laundering case continues to unfold. The Delhi High Court, after extensive deliberations on Wednesday, reserved its order on Kejriwal's plea challenging both his arrest and the remand granted by the trial court.

During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, raised pertinent concerns regarding the timing and motives behind the arrest, alleging a deliberate attempt to disrupt democratic processes and undermine the AAP. Conversely, the ED defended its actions, asserting that Kejriwal had flouted multiple summons, thereby compelling his arrest as per legal protocols.

In its rebuttal, the ED reiterated allegations of money laundering against Kejriwal and the AAP, alleging their involvement in the Delhi Liquor Scam and utilization of illicit funds for political campaigns, notably in the Goa Assembly elections of 2022.

Arvind Kejriwal through plea alleged that the ED has at the time of arrest failed to establish that Petitioner is guilty of committing activities stipulated under Section 3, i.e., be it one of concealment, possession, acquisition, use of proceeds of crime as much as projecting it as untainted property or claiming it to be so.

Arrest of Delhi CM

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the excise policy case. The trial court on April 1, sent Arvind Kejriwal to Judicial Custody till April 15, 2024. ED alleged that the Aam Adami Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged liquor scam. The agency claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the excise policy.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi Excise Policy 2022, which was later scrapped. While Kejriwal was not named in the FIRs registered by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi excise policy case, his name first found a mention in the ED's chargesheet, wherein the agency claimed that he allegedly spoke to one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, in a video call and asked him to continue working with co-accused and AAP communications-in-charge Vijay Nair.

Nair was among the first people to be arrested by the CBI in the case, in 2022. Subsequently, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were arrested in connection with the case.
WAYANAD: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday lashed out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi by accusing him of being "ashamed" of party ally IUML as its flag was not shown during his roadshow in this hill district. Irani, who was campaigning for the BJP in the hill constituency where Gandhi is seeking a re-election, said if he was ashamed of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), he should reject their support. The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, who had defeated Gandhi in Amethi in the 2019 general elections, also accused Gandhi of being silent with regard to the alleged misgovernance by the Left front in Kerala.

"Scams in cooperative banks in Kerala, mismanagement of state funds, the silence of Rahul Gandhi on these issues, especially the misgovernance of the INDI alliance partner -- the Left front -- speaks volumes. Rahul Gandhi would rather have power than have good governance," she alleged. Speaking to reporters after the filing of BJP state chief K Surendran's nomination from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, she said she was shocked that Gandhi had allegedly accepted support of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).

"By accepting their support, he (Gandhi) has also violated the oath to the Constitution taken during the filing of the nomination," she said while On the flag issue, the Union Minister said it was "foolhardy" to try and hide these things from the people "in the age of not only media, but digital media and social media revolution". She alleged that Gandhi creates animosity against the Sanatan Dharma when he does politics in southern India and questioned why he goes to every temple of repute in northern India during election campaigning.

Irani also said that if Gandhi was fighting to protect the Constitution and democracy, as claimed by him a day ago here after filing his nomination, "why is he taking the support of a banned terrorist organisation's political leadership to fight in his own constituency?" "The BJP-led government at the Centre has banned the PFI. The question is why Rahul Gandhi is not coming out strongly against the banned outfit PFI and why is he still courting its political leadership?" she asked. Referring to Gandhi's statement a day ago that Wayanad was his family, the Union Minister said that the Gandhi family had referred to Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh as their family for 50 years.

"Who changes their family? Who runs away from their family? The Gandhis do. They have deceived the people of Amethi and now they hope to deceive the people of Wayanad," she said Irani also said that Wayanad was not the first choice for Gandhi in the 2019 LS polls, "it was a compulsion for him". "Whether Wayanad is his last destination is something that he has to clarify," she added.

The Union Minister also hit out at the INDIA bloc claiming that it lacks a Prime Ministerial candidate and asked whether Gandhi was an acceptable choice for that position. "So, it is an alliance which does not have a 'neta' (leader), does not have 'niti' and its 'niyat' (intention) is to loot which is known by every citizen of India," she said. Irani also claimed that the INDIA bloc was "shattered" as allies -- Congress and the Left -- were at battle with each other in the Wayanad LS constituency as well as the state as a whole. On the issue of the INDIA bloc partners competing against each other in Wayanad, she said, "There is hugging in Delhi and begging in Kerala which needs to be explained."

She said there was no animosity between the alliance partners of the bloc when they came together for a rally in the national capital, but when it comes to the seat of Wayanad, there is a competition between them. "If the alliance was intact, would they have separate candidates in Wayanad? If the alliance is a non-starter to begin with, can then the Congress claim any kind of victory -- electoral or moral -- with regard to its leadership and the alliance?" she asked. When reporters asked her about the purportedly objectionable remarks allegedly made by Haryana Congress leader Randeep Surjewala against actor-turned-politician Hema Malini that came to light recently, Irani claimed that such statements were made "on the directives given by the Gandhi family".

"The misogyny of the Congress party and its leaders, especially against women in politics, is based on Gandhi's directives. "No Congress man or woman has the audacity to enrage or outrage the modesty of a woman, unless they feel that they will be deeply and duly rewarded by the Gandhi family," she said. The Union Minister said that the people of the actor's constituency -- Mathura -- would give a resounding reply to the misogynistic remarks made against her. Irani further said, "The question is, is this the shakti that Rahul Gandhi said he will destroy? Harming reputation of women, character assassination of women politicians, is this the politics of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra?"

The Union Minister had accompanied Surendran in a huge roadshow held by him to the Wayanad District Collector's office to submit his nomination. Addressing the hundreds gathered to see the BJP leaders, she referred to the "sacrifices made by the BJP karyakarta (worker) martyrs in Kerala" and dedicated the roadshow to them. She also challenged Gandhi to reject the votes offered by the SDPI and dared him to take the name of Lord Ram. Irani also said that there was no development in Amethi for over 50 years when the Gandhi's ruled there and things changed for the better only when the BJP won there. Congress sitting MP Rahul Gandhi, CPI leader Annie Raja and BJP state chief K Surendran are facing off against each other in the Wayanad LS seat. The LS elections will be held in Kerala on April 26 and the results will be declared on June 4.
New Delhi: A day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi initiated his election campaign for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with a roadshow, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan raised allegations against the Congress party. He claimed that the party and its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), did not display their flags during the event due to fear of the BJP.

Vijayan criticized Gandhi for his alleged lack of courage to publicly display his partys flag. He argued that the Congress partys actions suggest that it seeks the votes of the IUML but fails to acknowledge the importance of the IUMLs flag.

The Congress has fallen to a level where it is afraid of communal forces, Vijayan claimed during a press conference. He further accused the Congress party of losing its identity in front of the Sangh Parivar and being afraid to display its own flag.

Vijayan argued that the people of Kerala need representatives who can fight on national issues and stand with the public. He contended that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is capable of doing both, which is why there is popular sentiment in its favor.

Rahul Gandhis recent roadshow in Wayanad was noticeably different from the one in 2019 when the green flags of ally IUML outnumbered the Congresss in the crowd. This time, both flags were conspicuously absent. Vijayan suggested that this was because the BJP had criticized the Congress over the IUML flags during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The Marxist veteran claimed that the Congress appears to have forgotten the sacrifices behind their flag and seemed to be yielding to the Sangh Parivars wish to relinquish their tri-colored flag. He alleged that the Congress was choosing to disregard the history behind their flag during such a crucial election out of fear of the BJP.

This is not a mere election strategy. The Congress and League can decide whether they want their own flag or not, but they are risking their own existence and people will see that, Vijayan warned.

Vijayan referred to a recent statement by BJP MP from Rajasthan, Jyoti Mirdha, about amending the Constitution. He said that the saffron party has not been able to do so until now due to a lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha.

When asked about the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) extending its support to the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, Vijayan suggested that there appears to be some kind of deal between the two.

In response to queries about allegations that the CPI(M) has hidden or secret accounts in the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank, which is embroiled in a multi-crore financial scam being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Vijayan denied the allegations. He stated that the Left party does not have any secret accounts anywhere as it has no need for black money since people help it out with funds.

Congress Hits Back At Vijayan Over 'Flag' Remarks

On Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's statement on the flag issue in Rahul Gandhi's roadshow, Kerala Assembly LoP and Congress leader VD Satheesan says, "The Kerala CM is having an unholy nexus with the BJP. 5 years back when Rahul Gandhi landed in Wayanad, the BJP made a controversy regarding the flag issue."

"After 5 years, the CM of Kerala is making a controversy on the same subject, i.e., the flag, because he is adjusting with the BJP. Our propaganda should be decided by UDF and not by the CM of Kerala. There is no need to intervene in our propaganda. We don't want any assistance from Kerala CM," Satheesan added.
NEW DELHI: A gripping video has surfaced, offering a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the tense rescue operation unfolding in Lachyana village in Karnataka. Capturing the heart-pounding scenes of frantic digging and palpable anticipation, the footage showcases the herculean efforts of emergency responders as they strive to reach 1.5-year-old Satvik Satish Mujagond, trapped in a borewell shaft.

In a heart-stopping rescue operation, which lasted for nearly 20 hours, emergency responders successfully retrieved the toddler who had fallen into an open borewell. The child, identified as Satvik Satish Mujagond, was finally brought to safety on Thursday afternoon, much to the relief and jubilation of onlookers. The harrowing incident unfolded when young Satvik ventured out to play near his residence, only to tumble headlong into the borewell shaft. His cries for help pierced the air, alerting those nearby who promptly raised the alarm, summoning rescue teams to the scene.

#WATCH | Karnataka: A 1.5-year-old child was recused alive after he fell into an open borewell in the Lachyan village of Indi taluk of the Vijayapura district; visuals of the rescue carried out by NDRF and SDRF teams.



(Source: SDRF) pic.twitter.com/MtVRNPUz1u  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2024

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) immediately swung into action, launching a meticulous operation to extricate the trapped toddler. Amidst the tense atmosphere, the sound of Satvik's cries served as a constant reminder of the urgency of the situation, spurring the rescuers on in their efforts.

Utilizing specialized equipment and expertise, the teams painstakingly manoeuvred to locate the child, who was lodged approximately 16 feet below ground level. Despite the challenges posed by the cramped confines of the borewell, rescuers managed to establish communication with Satvik and provide him with vital oxygen through a pipeline.

A race against time ensued as rescuers tirelessly dug through the earth, inching closer to their young charge with each passing hour. Their determination never wavered, even as the hours stretched on, and obstacles presented themselves in the form of rocks obstructing the path to the trapped child.

Finally, after an arduous 18-hour ordeal, the efforts of the rescue teams bore fruit as they successfully reached Satvik's position. However, their task was far from over, as the child remained trapped between stubborn rocks, necessitating a further two hours of painstaking excavation before he could be freed.

As Satvik was gently lifted from the depths of the borewell, cheers erupted from the gathered crowd, echoing the collective relief felt at his miraculous rescue. Rushed to an awaiting ambulance, the toddler was swiftly transported to receive medical attention, marking the end of a gruelling ordeal and the beginning of his road to recovery.
New Delhi: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday joined Kerala BJP chief and party candidate from Wayanad, K Surendran in a mega road show ahead of his nomination. The BJP has fielded Surendran against Rahul Gandhi and CPI's Annie Raja. While Rahul Gandhi is contesting from the seat for the second time after bagging it for the first time in 2019, Surendran is contesting from the seat for the first time. Smriti Irani's presence during the rally is important given that she had emerged as the giant killer from Amethi in 2019 defeating Rahul Gandhi from the seat.

Smriti Vs Rahul

Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi have a political rivalry as the current MP is credited with ousting the Congress leader from the party's bastion. Before 2019, Rahul Gandhi held the Amethi Lok Sabha seat for 15 years but in the last general elections, Smriti Irani shattered the idea of the "safe seat for the Nehru-Gandhi family" for Rahul by winning the elections with a margin of over 55,000 thousand votes.

For the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls, the Gandhi family left their traditional seat and Rahul filed his nomination only from the Waynad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, a move which was dubbed by the BJP as the Congress leader's fear. BJP claimed Rahul was sure that he would lose the election if he contested against Irani in Amethi again this year.

Irani's Waynad Campaign

Smriti joining Surendran's rally in Waynad can be dubbed as BJP's message to Rahul that no seat is Congress' traditional or the safe seat in the country. "Joined K Surendran in filing his nomination as a BJP candidate for Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency. Humbled by the welcoming sea of citizens at the roadshow, who are spiritedly awaiting a new dawn in the States growth story. Wayanad is abuzz with enthusiasm to play its part in achieving #AbkiBaar400Paar. Together, we will chart a path towards Viksit Bharat under the dynamic leadership of PM Narendra Modi ji," said Irani.

Kerala's Wayanad is set for a triangular contest with the BJP fielding Surendran and CPI fielding Annie Raja from the seat against Rahul Gandhi. The CPI and Congress could not reach a consensus on seat sharing in Kerala and thus are contesting on all seats.
NEW DELHI: In a major development, the US Department of State has reiterated its commitment to conducting a comprehensive investigation into the alleged foiled assassination plot targeting Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an India-designated terrorist. The State Department has made it abundantly clear to the Indian government that it expects a thorough probe into the matter. During a routine press briefing, Mathew Miller, the official spokesperson for the US Department of State, declined to disclose any specifics regarding India's internal investigation. However, he emphasized the US's eagerness to learn the outcomes of the Indian inquiry.

Miller stated, "We have made clear to the Government of India that we want to see them conduct a full investigation, and we continue to look forward to the results of that investigation, but I don't have any updates to offer."

India-US Cooperation In Investigation

In an interview with news agency ANI, Eric Garcetti, the US Ambassador to India, acknowledged the collaborative efforts between India and the United States in investigating the alleged plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. He underscored the importance of respecting international boundaries and the rule of law, asserting that no government employee should be involved in a plot to assassinate a foreign citizen.

Garcetti emphasized, "For any of us, just abstractly, that has to be a red line. No government or government employee can be involved in the alleged assassination of one of your own citizens. That's just an unacceptable red line." He commended the joint investigative efforts between New Delhi and Washington, highlighting the strength and closeness of the India-US relationship.

India's Response

Responding to Garcetti's remarks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that the case was being thoroughly investigated based on the information provided. He reiterated India's commitment to addressing the matter appropriately. "The position of my government is that in this particular case, there has been certain information provided to us that we are investigating," Jaishankar affirmed during a press conference in the national capital.

US Justice Department's Indictment

According to the indictment filed by the US Justice Department, Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national currently in custody, has been charged with the murder-for-hire of Pannun. The Department alleged that a yet-to-be-identified Indian government employee recruited Gupta to hire a hitman for the alleged assassination, which was thwarted by US authorities.

India's Inquiry Commission

The US envoy also acknowledged India's establishment of an inquiry commission to examine the matter, expressing appreciation for the proactive steps taken by Indian authorities.
The Pentagon recently confirmed that a high-ranking Defense Department official who participated in last year's NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, exhibited symptoms resembling the "Havana syndrome."

The investigation into the Havana syndrome continues, encompassing a series of health issues dating back to 2016. During this time, personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Havana began reporting instances of sudden, unexplained sensations of pressure in the head or ears, and episodes of dizziness.

The harm inflicted on American government personnel, or their relatives was highlighted in a "60 Minutes" broadcast on CBS, which implied Russian involvement in these incidents. However, the Kremlin dismissed the allegations that Russian military intelligence may be behind this mysterious illness.

What Is The Havana Syndrome?

The term "Havana Syndrome" describes a set of puzzling symptoms encountered by American diplomats, notably those stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. The phenomenon emerged in the winter of 2017 when diplomats began reporting illnesses and strange sensations, including intense sounds and pressure in their heads.

Recently, a senior Department of Defense official experienced symptoms like those anomalous incidents, reported AP. The reports do not suggest whether the affected defense official had to seek further medical care or retire citing medical privacy.

In another case, Audrey Lee, a Foreign Service officer recounted an abrupt sensation of pressure in her head while washing dishes in her kitchen, according to the New Yorker. Comparable incidents were reported by fellow diplomats, sparking speculation about potential sonic assaults by a foreign party utilizing unspecified sonic weaponry.

Symptoms And Causes of the Havana Syndrome

According to reports by AP, the symptoms encompass a wide range, including issues with balance, sleep disturbances, dizziness, concentration difficulties, and many medical conditions could be responsible for their onset.

As per a recent investigation by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), MRI scans did not uncover any signs of brain injuries in several American personnel reporting AHI (acute and highly unusual illnesses). Suspicions have persisted that individuals affected might have been targeted by directed energy or microwaves emitted from covert devicesa notion recognised in a previous intelligence report from the United States, as reported by the BBC.

Which Foreign Agency Is Behind These Acoustic Attack?

In February, the 2024 threat assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of US concluded that it was improbable for a foreign adversary to be accountable for the enigmatic ailments. The report acknowledged that U.S. intelligence agencies held differing degrees of confidence in this evaluation.

Nevertheless, State Department representative Matthew Miller assured the Associated Press following renewed allegations against Russian Secret Intelligence that the department maintains confidence in that evaluation. It has been the broad conclusion of the intelligence community since March 2023 that is unlikely a foreign adversary is responsible for these anomalous health incidents, Miller said.
NEW DELHI: Indicating his keenness to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Robert Vadra, businessman and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament. In an interview with ANI, Vadra also targeted Union Minister Smriti Irani, who represents Amethi, saying that people feel they made a mistake by electing her.

Smriti Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi, a Nehru-Gandhi family stronghold, in one of the biggest upsets of the polls.

Almost pitching his candidature from Amethi, Robert Vadra, who has indicated his electoral ambitions earlier too, said the Gandhi family has worked hard in Amethi and surrounding areas. "They want a member of the Gandhi family returns, they will ensure the person's victory with a huge margin, they also expect that if I take my first step in politics, and think of becoming an MP, then I should represent Amethi," he said. However, Vadra also said he wants that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi should become MP first and he can follow her.

"I want Priyanka (Gandhi) to become an MP first and then I feel I can also come...I interact with people and there are MPs from different parties. They (MPs) ask me to come along with their party and ask me the reasons for the delay. They also assure me of their support...so different parties across the country are asking me to come along...I have friendships with a lot of people above the party lines," he said. Vadra said that the decision on Amethi and Rae Bareli will be taken by the Congress leadership.

"I'm not saying that I will contest from Amethi or Priyanka will contest from Rae Bareli. The decision will taken by the Congress party," he said.

Vadra said he joined hands with Priyanka Gandhi for the Congress campaign in Amethi in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. "That's time politics was very different, fear was sought to be created among people. We use to visit sensitive areas at night, put up posters, distributed bags, worked hard with our workers day and night and gave them trust that we are there and they should keep working in their areas and booths. They know how we worked hard and there was brotherhood and love, which is still there," he said.

"The people with whom I worked...outside my office, residence...they send message through social media, they cut cake on my birthday, arrange langar or other service for people because they know I like this. People in the country see that I stay among people, work hard as much as possible for the disabled and blind children and spend all time in charity. I visit on religious tour and they celebrate my birthday and celebrate festivals in my name and distribute among people there (Amethi)," he added. Vadra was asked if he could be a candidate from Amethi.

He said the person who represents Amethi should talk about the welfare of the people of the constituency, their well-being, security and should not indulge in politics of discrimination. He said the people of the constituency are very upset with the present MP from the seat. "They feel they made a mistake as I think she does not visit the seat frequently, she does not think of the progress of the constituency, she thinks how to make baseless allegations, raise questions on the Gandhi family and create noise and misuse her position," he said.

"Gandhi family has for years worked hard in Amethi, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Jagdishpur...there was a lot of progress. When people of Amethi feel that they made a mistake and voted for Smriti and Rahul had from there.....whatever, he had to go to another constituency or whatever..., I feel they want that a member of Gandhi family comes back...," he said.

Congress has not yet named its candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Samajwadi Party. The Congress election committee in Uttar Pradesh had last month unanimously recommended that members of the Gandhi family should contest from Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha constituencies. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been representing Rae Bareli since 2004. She has now been elected to Rajya Sabha.
In a country like India, establishing your business from scratch and building an empire worth thousands of crores often happens only in cinemas. However, there are few figures who come up as real life business heroes. One such figure is Punjab's Himansh Verma. A dynamic visionary and a trailblazer in the business world, Vermas journey from humble beginnings to reshaping entire industries stands as a testament to the power of perseverance, foresight, and relentless determination.

Early Years and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Born and raised in the vibrant city of Patiala, India, Vermas entrepreneurial journey began with a spark of ambition and a thirst for innovation. From a young age, he exhibited an innate knack for identifying opportunities and devising creative solutions to complex problems. Fuelled by a desire to make a meaningful impact on the world, Verma set out to carve his path in the business world.

Navrattan Group: Redefining Industry Standards

Vermas entrepreneurial journey reached new heights with the founding of Navrattan Group, a conglomerate dedicated to pioneering green technology solutions. Under his visionary leadership, Navrattan Group embarked on a mission to revolutionize the cement industry, setting new benchmarks for sustainability and environmental consciousness. Through groundbreaking research and innovative practices, Verma spearheaded the development of eco-friendly cement alternatives that not only surpassed traditional counterparts in performance but also significantly reduced carbon emissions and environmental impact.

The Green Revolution: Transforming Cement Production

At the heart of Vermas success story lies the transformative impact of Navrattan Groups green cement technology. By leveraging sustainable materials and cutting-edge manufacturing processes, Verma and his team succeeded in redefining the standards of cement production. Navrattan Groups eco-friendly cement not only meets the stringent demands of modern construction but also sets a new precedent for environmental stewardship within the industry. Through Vermas visionary leadership, Navrattan Group emerged as a pioneer in sustainable development, championing a green revolution that continues to inspire change worldwide.

Beyond Business: A Commitment to Social Responsibility

Vermas success extends far beyond the realm of business, as he remains deeply committed to social responsibility and community welfare. Through various philanthropic initiatives and charitable endeavors, Verma strives to give back to society and uplift underprivileged communities. His dedication to making a positive impact on society underscores his role not just as a businessman but also as a compassionate leader and changemaker.
CENTRAL FALLS  Construction of a four-story apartment building and the transformation of a former police station across the street in Central Falls could begin as soon as August, after the nonprofit developer ONE Neighborhood Builders secured financing to cover a 10% increase over budgeted construction costs.

When complete, Central Falls will have 44 new income restricted apartments. They will have reduced rent, with 39 restricted to people making 60% of the area median income (single person, $43,020) while five will be restricted to people making 30% of the area median income (single person, $21,500).

With a projected construction time on the projects of 18 months, assuming all goes well, the buildings will be open seven years after work on the project first began, when Central Falls put out requests for proposals for two plots it obtained.

"It was a relatively smooth and fast timeline," ONE Neighborhood Builders CEO Jennifer Hawkins said.

Jennifer Hawkins, CEO of One Neighborhood Builders, a nonprofit affordable housing developer.

Project preview: Central Falls wants to turn a former Dunkin' and a courthouse into affordable housing

ONE Neighborhood Builders submitted a request for funding to RI Housing in December 2022, under an assumed $15-million building budget, They were awarded the funds in June 2023. It is not a given that a project is awarded funds the first time it is submitted.

The project went out to bid nine months later, after the $15-million budget was set and when the bids came back, they were 10% higher, at $16.5 million. That meant they had to go back to RI Housing again, in January of this year, to request funding to bridge the $1.5-million gap in cost. RI Housing only takes applications once a year.

"We had to wait 13 months to submit the other application, and in the intervening 13 months, we couldn't do anything," she said.

RI Housing money unlocks other funding sources

While funding controlled by RI Housing was the main source of funds, subsidized housing requires a whole host of different funding sources. This project used 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a $2-million Congressional appropriation, $415,000 grant from the RI Infrastructure Bank and State Fiscal Recovery Funds.

ONE Neighborhood Builders did not have to bear the cost of acquiring the properties, or paying a mortgage on it, as the city, under Mayor Maria Rivera's housing plan, obtained the lots.

On other projects, paying a mortgage on a property that sits waiting for funding to break ground can be a huge burden, Hawkins said.

Central Falls Solicitor Matt Jerzyk previously said the city approached the owner of a closed Dunkin', took them to housing court, and used state funds to buy the property and combine it with an adjacent parking lot. They also then bought the former courthouse across the street.

Story continues

Low-income housing tax credits: Rhode Island failed to use more than $1 billion for affordable housing, state senator says

What will the projects look like?

The housing project involves two buildings diagonally across from each other. The former courthouse and police station, at 511 Broad St., will remain and be turned into apartments, while the former Dunkin', at 542 Broad St., and an adjacent parking lot will be replaced by an apartment building.

The 27-unit apartment building on the Dunkin' site will be four stories tall as it faces Broad Street. The land slopes upward in the rear and there, the building will cascade down to two stories along Summit Street, but will have the appearance of a three-story building. All of the project's two- and three-bedroom units will be in the new apartment building.

The original plans called for a 5-story, 30-unit building on the lot where the closed Dunkin' currently sits, and for turning the police station into 17 apartments. Plans for the former police station haven't changed.

Those new apartment building plans were scaled down one floor, shaving off three units, to address abutter concerns, Hawkins said.

This 30-unit apartment building could replace a parking lot and Dunkin' at 524 Broad St., in Central Falls.

During public outreach, residents said they wanted more units at the cost of fewer parking spaces during the planning phase, Hawkins previously said.

The following is the mix of apartment sizes and income restrictions:

Apartment type/size Number of apartments 30% area median income 5 60% area median income 39 Efficiency 1 1-bedroom 18 2-bedroom 18 3-bedroom 7

How much would rents be and how much could people make?

All of the apartments would be limited to single people or families making 60% or less of the area median income. Yearly, that is:

One person: $43,020

Two people: $49,200

Three people: $55,320

Four people: $61,440

Rents for low-income housing tax credit properties are set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 30% of the area median income for studios and a more complicated formula for apartments with one or more bedrooms, assuming a family size of 1.5 people per bedroom.

The former courthouse and police station is slated to become 17 one-bedroom apartments. Following the federal calculation of 1.5 people per bedroom, the maximum monthly rent is $1,192, but will rise with the area median income. The federal government has not published 2024's income rates yet.

Studios are a simpler calculation, of 30% of the applicable area median income. In this case, the 60% area median income is $43,020, which means maximum monthly rent is $1,075.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription. Here's our latest offer.

Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: New affordable apartment buildings in Central Falls will break ground
New Delhi: Motorola has expanded its mid-range of smartphones in India with the launch of Motorola Edge 50 Pro. The company claims that there are quite a few AI-powered features in the Edge 50 Pros camera setup. The latest handset houses Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 shield to protect the display.



On the other hand, Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus has launched its budget-friendly OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G smartphone in India. The handset comes with an Aquatouch display that can easily differentiate between your touch and water droplets.

In the dynamic landscape of the Indian smartphone market, choosing the right device can be a daunting task. In this comprehensive comparison, we pit the Motorola Edge 50 Pro against the OnePlus Nord CE 4. With improved cameras, faster processors, and stunning displays, deciding between these two devices is a fun challenge for tech fans.

Let's dive into our comparison of the Motorola Edge 50 Pro and OnePlus Nord CE 4.

Motorola Edge 50 Pro Price And Colour Options:

The base variant of the newly launched smartphone Motorola Edge 50 Pro with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage is priced at Rs 31,999, which includes a 68W charger and the 12 GB RAM with 256 GB variant carries a price tag of Rs 35,999, which includes a 125 W charger.

For early birds, the company is offering a discount for the limited period of time at which the 8GB RAM variant is available for users at Rs 27,999 and the 12GB variant at Rs 31,999.

The smartphone is available in Moon Light Pearl, Luxe Lavender, and Black Beauty colour options. (Also Read: Tech Showdown: OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G Vs OnePlus Nord CE 3 5G; Which Smartphone Should You Buy at Rs 25,000 Price Segment?)

OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G Price And Colour Options:

The OnePlus Nord CE 4 smartphone price in India starts at Rs 24,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. Meanwhile, the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage model carries a price tag of Rs 26,999. The smartphone comes in Dark Chrome with a glossy finish and Celadon Marble colour options.

Motorola Edge 50 Pro Specifications:

The new smartphone features a stunning 6.7-inch 1.5K pOLED curved display. The latest device also features a remarkable 144Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, and an impressive 2,000 nits of peak brightness.

Under the hood, the handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset. It is loaded with a 4,500mAh battery supported by 125W TurboPower charging technology and 50W wireless charging.

In the camera department, the smartphone comes with a 50 MP primary sensor, a versatile 13 MP ultra-wide-angle/macro lens, and a 10 MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. For selfies and video chats, there is a high-resolution 50 MP front camera with autofocus support.

The smartphone is backed by Moto Ai, the camera delivers exceptional performance in both photography and videography. The smartphone houses a Dolby Atmos, dual stereo speakers, an in-display fingerprint sensor.

OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G Specifications:

The smartphone offers a 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a high 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring smooth visuals. It includes a 240Hz touch sampling rate and innovative PWM dimming technology. The smartphone has a resolution of 2412 by 1080 pixels. The IP54-rated handset runs on OxygenOS, which is based on Android 14,

The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor. The OnePlus Nord CE 4 5G is loaded with a 5,500mAh battery with 100W fast charging and Battery Health Engine tech for long-term battery durability. (Also Read: Tech Showdown: Nothing Phone (2a) Vs Realme 12 Pro 5G; Battle for Best Buy in Rs 25,000 Segment)

The OnePlus Nord CE 4 uses AI to learn your usage pattern and regulate the charging speed. For connectivity, the smartphone supports dual SIM cards, 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 22 MIMO, and Bluetooth 5.4.

Disclaimer: This comparison helps people choose smartphones wisely. It doesn't favour any brand or model, just gives facts to help consumers understand their options better.
DUBAI: Suspected Sunni Muslim militants killed at least 11 Iranian security force members and suffered 16 fatalities in attacks on Iran's Revolutionary Guards headquarters in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, state media said on Thursday. The overnight clashes between the Jaish al-Adl group and security forces took place in the towns of Chabahar and Rask, state TV said.

"The terrorists failed to succeed achieving their goal of seizing the Guards headquarters in Chabahar and Rask," deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi told state TV.

State TV said 10 other security officers were also injured in the fighting in the impoverished region, which has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population.

Jaish al-Adl says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for ethnic minority Baluchis in Shi'ite-dominated Iran. It has claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent years on Iranian security forces in Sistan-Baluchestan.

The area, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long been the site of frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and Sunni militants as well as drug traffickers.

Iran is a key transit route for narcotics smuggled from Afghanistan to the West and elsewhere. In December, the militant group attacked a police station in the town of Rask, killing 11 security personnel.

In January, Iran targeted two bases of the militant group in Pakistan with missiles, prompting a rapid military riposte from Islamabad targeting what it said were separatist militants in Iran.
Ping Pong's new brand charge is optional though is automatically added to bills - Nathaniel Noir/Alamy Stock Photo

A Chinese restaurant has replaced tips with a so-called brand charge that will reward bosses instead of staff.

Ping Pong, which runs a string of restaurants across London, has removed the option to pay a 12.5pc service charge as customers face a 15pc brand fee instead.

It has made the change ahead of fresh legislation this summer that will force restaurants to pass on any relevant tips directly to workers.

The brand charge will be optional but automatically added to bills.

In a statement, the restaurant chain said: The brand charge covers additional costs related to operating a franchised brand and imposed by the Ping Pong brand-holder, including franchise fees and other brand related expenditure.

The company said it had increased employees wages to offset the removal of the service charge, claiming this would offer stability of wages throughout the year, reducing the impact of seasonality.

Tim Thorpe, finance director at Ping Pongs parent company AJT Dimsum, said: From a business model perspective, its part of what were doing to ensure that our employees are paid more fairly out of the company.

He said the chain planned to trial the brand charge for a number of months to see how customers reacted, adding that Ping Pong would raise prices instead if it did not work.

Mr Thorpe said: Ultimately, we need to raise prices. And some of the feedback that weve received has been why dont you just raise the prices, it seems that youre doing this a little bit under the counter.

But the perception of increasing your prices by 12 to 15pc is pretty horrendous. So thats part of what weve got to try and manage.

The move, first reported by Restaurant magazine, comes ahead of new rules that will outlaw employers withholding tips from staff.

The Government has said this will direct around 200m a year back to employees.

Mr Thorpe said Ping Pongs staff were already paid more than the National Living Wage and argued the move would make it easier for them to apply for loans and mortgages.

He said the company would not make any savings from the switch: I think its about mitigating the losses rather than making specific savings.

I do feel that, as summer comes, youre going to find others doing something similar.

Simon Stenning, a restaurant industry consultant and founder of Future Foodservice, described it as a weird move.

He said the language, such as the term brand charge, means nothing to consumers.

He suggested it would be more likely that other restaurants resort to traditional price rises to fend off increased costs or resort to shrinkflation.

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Thames water

Two Chinese banks are to determine the fate of Thames Water as it scrambles to avoid a collapse into administration.

A consortium of lenders to Thames Waters parent company, Kemble, is made up entirely of foreign banks, including the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China  both of which are owned and controlled by the Chinese state.

Dutch bank ING and Allied Irish Bank are also part of the creditor group.

Thames is meant to repay 190m to its lenders by the end of April, but its shareholders are refusing to hand over fresh funds and the deadline will be missed. It will then be up to the banks to either grant an extension or tip the company into administration.

The revelations will prompt fresh fears about Thamess future. Ministers will be concerned that the future of a critical piece of British infrastructure is likely to be determined by foreign players because it reduces the leverage that they and the regulator have over proceedings.

Last year the UK intervened eight times to block, reverse or impose conditions on takeovers that involved Chinese buyers under the National Security and Investment Act.

It also comes just days after a Chinese government-backed cyber campaign against British MPs was uncovered, alongside attempts to access the data of millions of UK voters.

Tim Loughton, a Tory MP who is one of five politicians sanctioned by China in 2021, said: This is another worrying aspect of the global reach of Chinas financial institutions.

Its very unhealthy that a major British utility company could be beholden to a power like China, where we know that they pose a very serious threat to our security.

There are plenty of examples overseas where they have lent to infrastructure projects up to the eyeballs only for them to go bust.

Kemble has been forced into crunch refinancing talks after conceding that a 190m debt repayment at the end of April will be missed. Investors hope to convince senior creditors to either roll over the loan or agree to convert it into shares.

If they are unable to strike a deal then parent company Kemble risks being plunged into insolvency, which could in turn force the Government to step in and temporarily renationalise Thames at vast cost to the taxpayer.

Thames was plunged deeper into crisis last month when its owners refused to honour a pledge to pump nearly 4bn of fresh capital into the company unless industry watchdog Ofwat agrees to a series of demands including massive increases in customer bills. Trade union officials have sought assurances on jobs.

Story continues

The appointment of turnaround specialists Alvarez and Marsal to lead the negotiations is being interpreted by some as an indication that the refinancing talks will ultimately end with Kemble being dissolved, wiping out its debts.

Alvarez has worked on some of the most complex financial restructurings of all-time, including the unwinding of Lehman Brothers and Enrons accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Thames Water sits inside an elaborate financing structure with seven individual vehicles separating its external shareholders from the operating company that provides water to 15 million households across London and the south-east.

The group has amassed debts totalling 18.3bn, roughly 1.7bn of which was issued by Kemble.

Some believe the dissolution of Kemble will boost Thamess survival chances.

It would take the heat off and make the whole structure look less opaque, which makes it a lot easier for potential new investors to get their heads around, a restructuring expert said.

However, others think dismantling the set-up will do little to change Thamess prospects. The Kemble debt is neither here nor there. Its 10pc of total borrowings so it doesnt really move the needle, said one debt adviser.

The companys predicament is expected to be worsened by a fresh fine from Ofwat in the coming weeks.

Thames may also have to try to renegotiate the terms of a separate 200m debt. The company is in danger of breaching a covenant on the loan in the coming weeks, auditors PWC have warned. The disclosure was made in Kembles last accounts.

Its credit rating has been downgraded closer to junk status by ratings agencies Moodys, S&P and Fitch.

Both Kemble and Thames Water declined to comment.

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Dive Brief:

CKE has hired Blake Devillier as Carl's Jr. USA president, according to a press release issued Wednesday. Devillier will serve alongside Chris Bode, who has been Hardees USA president since the fall, according to his LinkedIn, and Mike Woida, who has been CKEs international president for more than five years.

Devillier joined CKE from Yum Brands on April 1. At Yum, the release said, Devillier was senior vice president of field operations for Taco Bell.

While the brands share a similar visual identity, according to the press release, Carls Jr.s brand identity has generally revolved around big, audacious, impossible-to-ignore flavors, as opposed to Hardees more staid wholesome brand identity.

Dive Insight:

CKE said Devillier was hired following the separation of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brand, and that its business structure now consists of a tripartite division between the international and the stateside operations of the two brands.

In an email to Restaurant Dive, CKE said it began to separate its marketing efforts for the brands in the summer of 2023 to take advantage of differing consumer demographics.The appointment of Devillier signals a further divergence in brand identities, strategy and operations, the company said, with Carls Jr. focusing on large burgers with bold flavors and Hardees on the craftsmanship and goodness of its food items.

As an example of that strategy, the company said in February, Carls Jr. had a free burger day offer with disruptive advertising during the [Super Bowl] that highlighted the bold flavor of the iconic burgers.

Max Wetzel, who joined CKE as CEO last year, said with a focus on dedicated brand growth plans and the leverage of CKE's global infrastructure, we're poised to achieve transformative results.

Since the start of 2023, CKE has launched a loyalty program that spans both brands. Later that year, CKE hired a new CFO and CMO, with responsibilities across the two brands. Just shy of two years ago, CKE announced a major $500 million overhaul and renovation program across its system.
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) have seen their revenue soar in recent times thanks to their weight loss drugs. The companies sell products that target key hormones involved in the regulation of blood sugar levels and appetite, and they've proven their efficacy in clinical trials and the real world.

All of this has helped the companies' shares soar to record highs, and considering demand for these products, the gains may be far from over. But one thing could upset the apple cart for these market giants, and that's potential competition. A young biotech, Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX), recently released positive trial data on its weight loss candidate, and it's very similar to the Lilly and Novo Nordisk drugs except for one difference. Could that detail help it top these leaders?

Image source: Getty Images.

Four commercialized drugs

First, a bit of detail about these products and potential products. Lilly's drugs -- Mounjaro and Zepbound -- involve the molecule tirzepatide, which acts on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). These hormones play important roles in the digestion process, as mentioned above. Viking's candidates also stimulate GLP-1 and GIP. Novo Nordisk's drugs -- Ozempic and Wegovy -- involve the molecule semaglutide and interact uniquely with the GLP-1 pathway.

The four commercialized drugs I've just talked about all are injectables, packaged in a pre-filled injection pen format generally to be administered weekly. Now here's where Viking's difference comes in. Viking's phase 1 study is evaluating an oral tablet formulation of VK-2735, taken once daily. Clearly, a daily pill could be a popular option for many reasons, including the idea that it's easier to take on the go and could win over patients who don't like injections.

Viking's candidate resulted in as much as 3.3% mean weight loss after only 28 days in this early-stage study -- the company aims to launch a phase 2 study in the second half of the year. (This data follows positive results from the injectable version of this candidate a few weeks earlier. In that phase 2 trial, the injectable once-weekly formulation helped patients achieve as much as 13.1% mean weight loss in a period of 13 weeks.)

The next step for Lilly and Novo Nordisk

So, could this oral formulation help Viking to challenge and even top its bigger rivals? Not necessarily. It's important to remember that Lilly and Novo Nordisk aren't resting on their laurels even if their obesity drugs are generating blockbuster revenue today. Both of these big pharma companies also are developing oral weight loss formulations, and their programs actually are more advanced than that of Viking.

Lilly reported positive phase 2 data from its oral candidate, orforglipron, last year, and now is studying it in phase 3. And last year, Novo Nordisk reported encouraging news from an early stage of its phase 3 trial of its oral semaglutide. If all goes smoothly for Lilly and Novo Nordisk, they should have oral weight loss drugs on the market before Viking.

As for the actual performance of each potential product, it's too early to determine where Viking stands in relation to its bigger rivals. It will be important to consider later-stage trial data.

What does this mean for investors?

So, what does all of this mean for investors? Viking stock has soared 100% over the past six weeks on optimism about its trial news. If Viking continues along this positive path, the company eventually could carve out share in the weight loss drug market considering the need for these products -- demand for Lilly and Novo Nordisk products has surpassed supply in recent times. So, there's room for several players to be successful in this market, considering this and growth forecasts. Goldman Sachs Research predicts the market will reach $100 billion by 2030.

Investors also may speculate that a larger player might invest in Viking or even acquire the company -- moves that could significantly boost the stock.

Still, while aggressive investors may want to pick up a few shares today, cautious investors probably should wait for Viking to progress into later-stage trials before making a move, especially considering the recent run-up in the share price.

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Could This 1 Detail Help Viking Therapeutics Top Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the Weight Loss Drug Market? was originally published by The Motley Fool
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  One side left disappointed after Tuesdays stadium tax vote failed but one Kansas City neighborhood, The Crossroads, which was the preferred site for the Royals new stadium, especially left pleased.

On Wednesday, along Oak Street, on the districts east side, there is joy. But one business is breathing the biggest sigh of relief.

Green Dirt on Oak. The owner bought the piece of property three years ago. Since then, she and her team have been working towards Wednesday, their grand opening.

But over the last several months that excitement turned to angst, after Tuesday night they are now finally at ease.

Kansas lawmakers comment on prospect of Chiefs moving

When youre preparing something like this its an act of faith, Oscar Arevalo, the executive chef at Green Dirt said.

Faith is all that they had Tuesday night, knowing the future of what they had planned for years could be gone and it was out of their hands.

We like to remind ourselves that its the beginning  its like graduation or something like that. You have your whole life and career ahead of you to figure out, Arevalo said.

For now they have survived and all of that figuring out begins.

How an ancient building method is attacking affordable housing in KC

The focus now opening their doors to Kansas City, hoping in return that those living in the metro will make their way through those same doors.

It makes a big deal of difference knowing that obstacles are being removed from our past. The truth in restaurants is just like in everything you never really know. But it helps a lot to not be looking forward wondering, He said.

At Chartreuse Saloon, owner Jill Cockson, one of the most vocal people on the vote no side, says this is simple. A message to the Royals to look elsewhere.

Billionaires and millionaires in my opinion dont understand community and thats what we have. I get really upset when I hear them use that word. They equivocate property and real estate with the word community. What we have is community and I warned Sarah Tourville that she was messing with the wrong neighborhood, Cockson said.

See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri

Even though the no side won by 16 percentage points this conversation is far from over.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
China urges Philippines to resolve South China Sea disputes through dialogue

Xinhua) 09:34, April 04, 2024

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China once again urges the Philippines to respect the facts, and return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

In response to a query concerning an open letter by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily news briefing that the Philippines keeps accusing China of "intimidating smaller countries" without mentioning at all the Philippine occupation of and encroachment on China's territory in Nansha Qundao. That is a real propaganda "trap," said Wang.

"On the issue of Ren'ai Jiao, it's not the size, but the behavior of a country that determines who is right and who is wrong," Wang said.

He pointed out that right after the Philippines deliberately grounded its warship on Ren'ai Jiao in 1999, which seriously violated China's sovereignty, China made demarches to the Philippines, and the Philippines promised to tow away the warship several times. A senior official of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs made it clear that the Philippines had no intention of building any facility on Ren'ai Jiao and it doesn't want to and will not be the first country to violate the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

"But 25 years on, not only hasn't the Philippines fulfilled its promise to tow away the warship, it has even attempted to send construction materials for large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship in order to build permanent structures on Ren'ai Jiao," Wang said.

Pointing out that the Philippines has gone back on its words, and stirred up trouble to provoke China, he said the behavior of the Philippines not only breaches the understandings between the two sides on handling the Ren'ai Jiao issue, but also violates the DOC, especially its Article 5 on refraining from action of inhabiting the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features. "The Philippines is clearly responsible for the current tensions in the South China Sea," Wang added.

Wang stressed that China and ASEAN countries have long been committed to properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation between the states directly involved, and have worked together to jointly maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, which has kept it generally stable.

However, for some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into South China Sea affairs to back Philippine provocations and the violation of China's sovereignty, he said, adding that the Philippines has been pursing selfish gains at the expense of the consensus reached by countries in the region.

"This is the main reason why the situation in the South China Sea has escalated and become more complicated," he said.

"We once again urge the Philippines to respect the facts, observe the relevant understandings between the two sides and DOC provisions, follow the consensus reached between China and ASEAN countries, and return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible," said Wang.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
A Party-wide campaign on Party discipline education will be held from April to July this year, according to a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Party Building held in Beijing on Wednesday.

This initiative was approved by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the meeting confirmed.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chief of the Central Leading Group for Party Building, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech.

Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy chief of the Central Leading Group for Party Building, attended the meeting and also made a speech.

The education campaign is an important move to tighten Party discipline and achieve significant advances in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, the meeting said.

The campaign aims to ensure that the significance of tightening Party discipline and the consequences of violating Party disciplinary rules are both fully understood, the meeting added.

Party organizations and leading Party officials at all levels will be pushed to tighten Party discipline, while Party members and officials should become more conscious of the need to follow the rules.

The priority of the campaign will be the study and implementation of the Regulations on CPC Disciplinary Action. Leading officials at all levels should take the lead in the campaign, according to the meeting.
CTO Realty Growth, Inc.

WINTER PARK, Fla., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CTO Realty Growth, Inc. (NYSE: CTO) (CTO or the Company) today announced the pricing of a public offering of 1,500,000 additional shares of the Companys 6.375% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (the Series A Preferred Stock), liquidation preference $25.00 per share, at a public offering price of $20.00 per share. CTO will receive gross proceeds of $30,000,000 from the sale of the Series A Preferred Stock before deducting the underwriting discount and other estimated offering expenses. The Company also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 225,000 shares of the Series A Preferred Stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The additional shares of Series A Preferred Stock constitute an additional issuance of shares of Series A Preferred Stock, with 2,978,808 shares of Series A Preferred Stock currently issued and outstanding (the Outstanding Series A Preferred Stock) (which reflects the previous repurchase by the Company of 21,192 shares of Series A Preferred Stock). The Series A Preferred Stock will be treated as a single series with and have the same terms as the Outstanding Series A Preferred Stock. The Outstanding Series A Preferred Stock is, and the Series A Preferred Stock sold in the offering will be, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CTO PrA. The offering is expected to close on April 11, 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

CTO intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate and working capital purposes, which may include property acquisitions, commercial loan and investment opportunities and repayment of debt, including amounts outstanding under its credit agreement.

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. is acting as book-running manager for the offering. BMO Capital Markets Corp., KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Baird, PNC Capital Markets LLC, B. Riley Securities, Inc., Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, Regions Securities LLC and Synovus Securities Inc. are acting as co-managers for the offering.

The Series A Preferred Stock will be offered under the Companys existing shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Attention: Equity Syndicate, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, Florida 33716, by telephone at (800) 248-8863, or by email at prospectus@raymondjames.com.

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This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About CTO Realty Growth, Inc.

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States. CTO also externally manages and owns a meaningful interest in Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE), a publicly traded net lease REIT.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements contained in this press release (other than statements of historical fact) are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can typically be identified by words such as believe, estimate, expect, intend, anticipate, will, could, may, should, plan, potential, predict, forecast, project, and similar expressions, as well as variations or negatives of these words. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the proposed offering of the Series A Preferred Stock, the expected use of the net proceeds from the offering, the listing of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock sold in this offering on the New York Stock Exchange and the Companys expectations concerning market conditions for an offering of the Series A Preferred Stock.

Although forward-looking statements are made based upon managements present expectations and reasonable beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect upon the Company, a number of factors could cause the Companys actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that the offering discussed above will be consummated, or that the net proceeds of the offering will be used as indicated. Consummation of the offering and the application of the net proceeds of the offering are subject to numerous possible events, factors and conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company and not all of which are known to it, including, without limitation, market conditions and those described under the heading Risk Factors in the prospectus supplement relating to the offering and in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which can be accessed at the SECs website at www.sec.gov.

There can be no assurance that future developments will be in accordance with managements expectations or that the effect of future developments on the Company will be those anticipated by management. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.





Contact: Lisa M. Vorakoun

Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

(386) 274-2202

lvorakoun@ctoreit.com






Eastwood Bio-Medical Canada (CVE:EBM) First Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: CA$201.0k (down 40% from 1Q 2023).

Net loss: CA$54.2k (loss narrowed by 22% from 1Q 2023).

CA$0.001 loss per share (in line with 1Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Eastwood Bio-Medical Canada shares are up 10.0% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

You should learn about the 5 warning signs we've spotted with Eastwood Bio-Medical Canada (including 4 which don't sit too well with us).

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.
NASDAQ:EU

TSXV:EU

www.encoreuranium.com

DALLAS, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - enCore Energy Corp. ("enCore" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: EU) (TSXV: EU), a domestic uranium producer, announced today as required by the TSXV, that the Company issued a total of 495,765 common shares, between the period January 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024, under the at-the-market controlled equity offering program ("ATM Program"). The shares were issued through the facilities of the TSXV and NASDAQ at an average share price of US$4.05 per share for gross proceeds of US$2,008,256.36 with a commission of US$50,206.42 paid to the Agent. The last settlement date was January 16, 2024.

enCore Energy Corp. logo (CNW Group/enCore Energy Corp.)

The Company also advises it has suspended its ATM Program with a remaining balance of approximately US$18.7 million of common shares available for sale. The Company does not anticipate further sales under the ATM program in light of its current cash on hand of approximately US$80 million, zero debt, revenue from ongoing operations at the Rosita In-Situ Recovery Uranium Central Processing Plant ("CPP") and expected near term production revenue from the Alta Mesa CPP.

About enCore Energy Corp.

enCore Energy Corp., America's Clean Energy Company, is committed to providing clean, reliable, and affordable domestic nuclear energy as the newest uranium producer in the United States. Uranium production commenced at enCore's licensed and past-producing South Texas Rosita Central In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Uranium Processing Plant ("CPP") in November 2023 with work underway for a planned 2024 restart of uranium production at its licensed and past-producing South Texas Alta Mesa CPP. The enCore team is led by industry experts with extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of ISR uranium operations and the nuclear fuel cycle. enCore solely utilizes ISR for uranium extraction, a well-known and proven technology co-developed by the leaders at enCore Energy. In-Situ Recovery extracts uranium in a wellfield using natural groundwater and oxygen, coupled with a proven ion exchange process, to recover the uranium.

Future projects in enCore's production pipeline include the Dewey-Burdock project in South Dakota and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming, along with significant uranium resource endowments in New Mexico providing long term opportunities. enCore diligently works to realize value from other owned assets, including our proprietary uranium database that includes technical information from many past producing companies, from our various non-core assets, and by leveraging our ISR expertise in researching opportunities that support the use of this technology as applied to other metals. enCore is also committed to working with local communities and indigenous governments to create positive impact from corporate developments.

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@enCoreEnergy_EU

Cautionary Note Regarding 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.

Certain information contained in this news release, including statements regarding future or potential production at the Alta Mesa and pipeline projects, the technical merits of ISR and ion exchange process for uranium extraction and recovery, and any other statements regarding future expectations, beliefs, goals or prospects may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws and regulations (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words "expects", "is expected", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken) should be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with the demand for uranium, adverse industry events, future legislative and regulatory developments, the ability of enCore to implement its business strategies including commencement of production at Alta Mesa in the planned time frames or at all; the expansion of operations to satellite locations, and other risks. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations, beliefs and plans of management. Although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, a number of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as required by law. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by the Company with the various securities commissions which are available online at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/encore-energy-provides-q124-atm-sales-update-suspends-atm-program-302108019.html

SOURCE enCore Energy Corp.
For beginners, it can seem like a good idea (and an exciting prospect) to buy a company that tells a good story to investors, even if it currently lacks a track record of revenue and profit. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. Loss making companies can act like a sponge for capital - so investors should be cautious that they're not throwing good money after bad.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like MTQ (SGX:M05). While this doesn't necessarily speak to whether it's undervalued, the profitability of the business is enough to warrant some appreciation - especially if its growing.

See our latest analysis for MTQ

MTQ's Earnings Per Share Are Growing

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. Over the last three years, MTQ has grown EPS by 6.9% per year. This may not be setting the world alight, but it does show that EPS is on the upwards trend.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. The music to the ears of MTQ shareholders is that EBIT margins have grown from 2.6% to 6.7% in the last 12 months and revenues are on an upwards trend as well. That's great to see, on both counts.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.

Since MTQ is no giant, with a market capitalisation of S$74m, you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Are MTQ Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's pleasing to see company leaders with putting their money on the line, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. MTQ followers will find comfort in knowing that insiders have a significant amount of capital that aligns their best interests with the wider shareholder group. Indeed, they hold S$26m worth of its stock. That shows significant buy-in, and may indicate conviction in the business strategy. That amounts to 35% of the company, demonstrating a degree of high-level alignment with shareholders.

It's good to see that insiders are invested in the company, but are remuneration levels reasonable? Our quick analysis into CEO remuneration would seem to indicate they are. The median total compensation for CEOs of companies similar in size to MTQ, with market caps under S$270m is around S$533k.

MTQ offered total compensation worth S$437k to its CEO in the year to March 2023. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given it's below the median for similar sized companies. While the level of CEO compensation shouldn't be the biggest factor in how the company is viewed, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. Generally, arguments can be made that reasonable pay levels attest to good decision-making.

Should You Add MTQ To Your Watchlist?

One positive for MTQ is that it is growing EPS. That's nice to see. The growth of EPS may be the eye-catching headline for MTQ, but there's more to bring joy for shareholders. With a meaningful level of insider ownership, and reasonable CEO pay, a reasonable mind might conclude that this is one stock worth watching. Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for MTQ that you should be aware of.

Although MTQ 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 Singaporean 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 Olam Group is S$1.44 based on Dividend Discount Model

With S$1.17 share price, Olam Group appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

Olam Group's peers seem to be trading at a higher discount to fair value based onthe industry average of 46%

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Olam Group Limited (SGX:VC2) as an investment opportunity by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. 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 Olam Group

Crunching The Numbers

We have to calculate the value of Olam Group slightly differently to other stocks because it is a consumer retailing company. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. This often underestimates the value of a stock, but it can still be good as a comparison to competitors. The 'Gordon Growth Model' is used, which simply assumes that dividend payments will continue to increase at a sustainable growth rate forever. The dividend is expected to grow at an annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 2.1%. We then discount this figure to today's value at a cost of equity of 5.7%. Compared to the current share price of S$1.2, the company appears about fair value at a 19% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= S$0.07 / (5.7%  2.1%)

= S$1.4

dcf

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual 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 Olam Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. 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.

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SWOT Analysis for Olam Group

Strength

Debt is well covered by .

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Consumer Retailing market.

Opportunity

Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine VC2's earnings prospects.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Dividends are not covered by earnings.

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" 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 Olam Group, we've compiled three fundamental factors you should further examine:

Risks: You should be aware of the 4 warning signs for Olam Group (2 don't sit too well with us!) 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 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.
accenture offices

A British former executive at consulting giant Accenture has claimed he was belittled and shamed by colleagues because of his ADHD and mental health issues including depression.

Peter Lacy, who was formerly chief responsibility officer at the multinational, has filed an employment tribunal claim against the company as well as its US-based chief executive Julie Sweet, claiming he was frozen out of meetings and mistreated before losing his job in an ambushing.

Mr Lacy suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), post-traumatic stress and depression. He has accused Accenture, which had revenues of $64bn (51bn) last year, of unfairly targeting him because of his conditions.

Accenture has denied all of the allegations and is contesting the case at trial.

Mr Lacy was one of the accounting giants top fee-earners before he was dismissed last year. His lawyers claim that he considered his ADHD a superpower that was integral to his success and that of Accenture as his employer who reaped the benefits.

However, in the 18 months before his dismissal, his symptoms were exacerbated and he needed extra help. Rather than be granted such support, Mr Lacy alleges that he faced adverse treatment and was belittled sometimes publicly by staff, including Ms Sweet.

Mr Lacy is claiming unfair dismissal and disability discrimination, according to legal documents made public on Thursday.

The documents claim: Rather than provide [Mr Lacy] with the support he required during this time and live up to [Accentures] rhetoric around health, wellbeing and catering for the needs of their neurodiverse workforce, [Mr Lacy] was frozen out of meetings, belittled (sometimes publicly) by senior staff such as Ms Sweet and Ms [Ellyn] Shook [Accentures HR chief], and shamed.

This allegedly culminated in an ambushing where Mr Lacy was dismissed.

This decision was a fait accompli with no form of redundancy exercise at all.

Accenture 's chief executive Julie Sweet is named in the employment tribunal claims - Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg

Accentures lawyers have argued that it had to make significant cost savings last year, including a streamlining of leadership positions.

Mr Lacys seniority meant management wanted to speak to him directly about the loss of his position rather than include him in a collective redundancy exercise, according to court documents.

Mr Lacy, a Briton who graduated from the University of Nottingham, worked at Accenture for over 15 years and was one of the companys highest paid employees, with a total package of around 4.3m in the year before he left.

The company argues that he was dismissed for fair reason and that his claims for disability discrimination and victimisation are without merit. The case is going to a full trial next year.

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An spokesman for the company said: Accenture strenuously denies all allegations made by Peter Lacy.

The redundancy dismissal of Peter Lacy took place in the context of the publicly disclosed global business optimisation actions that impacted 19,000 of our workforce.

A recent surge in diagnosis of mental and physical conditions has led to a growing focus on how staff with these conditions are treated at work. ADHD and autism referrals have risen fivefold since the pandemic.

City law firms including Norton Rose Fulbright have begun offering in-office diagnostic services for staff as ballooning NHS waiting lists leave people struggling to access support.

Ministers believe that the surge in adults being signed off work with mental health conditions and behavioural disorders, including ADHD, is a leading cause of Britains worklessness crisis.

More than 52,000 adults receiving personal independence payments from the Government have listed ADHD as their main condition, up from 38,000 in 2022.

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.
Few large-cap stocks have as much long-term upside as Block (NYSE: SQ). This company is exposed to several large growth markets that could last for several decades.

The best part is that the shares are now on sale after a brief correction. If you're searching for stocks with huge upside that you can buy and hold for years to come, this is your opportunity.

Three big growth trends in one stock

It's not often that a single stock gives you exposure to three major growth markets, but that's the case with Block.

The first opportunity is rising adoption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. In 2021, Square changed its name to Block partially to reflect its growing commitment to blockchain technologies. It now operates several businesses that are directly tied to the rise of crypto. Spiral is an organization it founded to create open-source software that helps spur crypto adoption. TBD is another Block business that is focused on creating developer tools that will help drive crypto innovation. Its Square payment hardware, meanwhile, used by millions of merchants, can now accept Bitcoin as a method of payment. Finally, its Cash App, which is also used by millions of people, has empowered its users to purchase billions of dollars in Bitcoin during the past few years. Put simply, Block is all in on crypto.

The company's Cash App isn't just exposed to crypto. It also allows Block to benefit from the democratization of finance. In a nutshell, this trend describes how people are gaining more autonomy over their money. Whether it's gaining access to new investment classes or being able to send money to friends and family in a fast, free, and easy way, the democratization of finance has already taken the world by storm. A decade ago, it would have been difficult to imagine how much control we would all have over our money simply by using a smartphone. This is a long-term trend that the Cash App is capitalizing on. It gives people the power to transfer or invest their money in seconds, all from the comfort of home. There are competing services, like PayPal's Venmo app, but there's plenty of market available for both services to win.

The final growth trend that Block is directly exposed to is the rise of the creator economy. In music, for example, powerful record labels and executives long maintained near complete control over what music made it to market. Today, anyone can upload their music to the internet for free. In many ways, creators now have more power than ever. That's why, in 2021, Block purchased Tidal, the music streaming platform founded by Jay-Z. The purchase price was nominal -- around $300 million, only 0.6% of Block's current market cap -- but the company gained a meaningful way to participate in the creator economy. It's still unclear how exactly Tidal will fit into Block's broader business strategy, but the purchase was a low-cost way to gain access to yet another growth market.

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Is now the time to buy Block stock?

Block has many ways to win long-term. But is now the time to buy Block stock?

Right now is arguably the best time to buy Block stock since 2015, the year of its initial public offering (IPO). Back then, the shares were priced at roughly 3 times sales. That valuation multiple moved higher and higher over the years, surpassing a lofty 15 times sales in 2020. Then came the crash. Block in 2020 was investing heavily in new growth markets just as sales growth began to slow. This caused it to post a string of quarterly losses. The market responded by sending shares sharply lower. Today, the valuation still hasn't fully recovered, with shares priced at just 2.2 times sales.

SQ Chart

There's reason to believe a turnaround is on the way. Jack Dorsey, the company's founder, recently stepped back in as chief executive officer to right the ship. Last quarter, the company posted its first profit in years. Meanwhile, Block's portfolio of businesses have many lucrative long-term growth avenues.

Buying high-growth businesses at a discount is a rare opportunity. Years from now, you may regret not investing in Block stock right as its turnaround efforts began to bear fruit.

Should you invest $1,000 in Block right now?

Before you buy stock in Block, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Block wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 1, 2024

Ryan Vanzo has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Block, and PayPal. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short March 2024 $67.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

A Few Years From Now, You'll Wish You'd Bought This High-Growth Stock was originally published by The Motley Fool
Florida Tech names Pericak as VP of philanthropy

Cassie Pericak has been named vice president of philanthropy at Florida Tech.

Cassie Pericak

She will lead the Office of Advancement in fundraising efforts and alumni engagement.

Serving previously as campaign architect, she also will assume the necessary responsibilities for launching a future comprehensive campaign.

For the last six years, Pericak has been a nationwide nonprofit strategist and philanthropy expert, holding several senior-level positions at various consulting firms. This included facilitating Florida Techs new strategic plan, "Forward Together. Boundless Potential."

Prior to being a consultant, Pericak worked on the advancement teams at her alma maters, Northwestern University, DePaul University and Niagara University.

Pericak holds a Bachelor of Arts from Niagara University (foreign languages, literatures, communications, international studies); and a masters (public service management) from DePaul University.

More Business Newsmakers: Brevard Schools Foundation adds Hall, Moser to its board of directors

Higgins named director at One Senior Place

One Senior Place, the Viera marketplace for senior resources, has named Angelina Higgins as its new director.

Angelina Higgins

In her new role, the former marketing and community liaison will provide free 30-minute consultations to aging adults and their family members to help them navigate the maze of senior services and evaluate choices.

Higgins, a Titusville resident, also will coordinate and host the numerous informational and educational seminars presented monthly at 8085 Spyglass Hill Road in Viera.

She brings to the job a host of skills in event planning and marketing promotion, as well as a talent for building relationships.

"Angie has worked in several positions at One Senior Place that uniquely qualify her for director, said Don Kramer, founder and CEO of One Senior Place. She brings internal experience, as well as youthful energy and a fresh perspective that will serve Brevard County well. Our mission at One Senior Place is to improve the aging experience for seniors in our community, and Angie is committed to making that happen."

To learn more about One Senior Place, go to www.OneSeniorPlace.com or call 321-751-6771.

One Sothebys International Realty honors leading producers

One Sothebys International Realty recently recognized its top office producers for Brevard County for the last year.

David Settgast

They include: David Settgast (Melbourne Beach office), Victoria Cherry-Stacy (Melbourne office), Kim Tillett (Cocoa Village office), Gail Fischer (Indialantic office) and Donna Ellis (Suntree office).

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Victoria Cherry-Stacy

One Sothebys International Realty, which started in 2008, is a leading luxury real estate and development company on Floridas East Coast.

Kim Tillett

It has 30 offices along the East Coast of Florida and 1,300 agents.

Gail Fischer

For more information, go to https://www.onesothebysrealty.com/

Donna Ellis

White named territory manager at Zoll Medical

Chris White recently was promoted to territory manager at Zoll Medical Corp.

Chris White

Zoll Medical was founded in 1980, and is named after Dr. Paul Zoll, whose pioneering work in cardiology and resuscitation earned him the nickname The Father of Modern Electrophysiology.

Its medical devices, software and related services diagnose and treat patients suffering from serious cardiopulmonary and respiratory conditions.

White has a bachelors degree in communications from the University of North Florida.

He had previous positions with Home Health Care of Florida, SeniorBridge, Indian River Center and Clear Choice Health Care.

Launch Credit Union offers free 'Shred Days' events at branches

Launch Credit Union will host a series of free Shred Days at various Launch Credit Union branches.

Members of Launch CU and nonmembers are invited to stop by and have their papers shredded for free  up to five boxes at the following branches on select dates and times:

Friday, April 26, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.: South Daytona Branch, 2290 S. Ridgewood Ave.

Monday, April 29, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.: Orange City Branch, 2277 Veterans Memorial Parkway.

Wednesday, May 1, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.: West Melbourne Branch, 4301 Norfolk Parkway

Wednesday, May 1, 1 to 3 p.m.: Melbourne Wickham Branch, 2200 N. Wickham Road.

Friday, May 3, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.: Port St. John Branch, 7347 N. U.S. 1

Residents will be able to shred sensitive documents, including old bills and other items, which can help prevent identity fraud. Some items people may want to consider shredding include credit card statements, old checks, ATM receipts, bank statements and anything a thief can use to steal your identity. Participants should remove any plastic bags, plastic materials such as CDs and garbage prior to attending shred day.

These are drive-thru shred events. For safety reasons, everyone is asked to remain in their vehicles, and a Launch representative will come to their vehicle, and pick up their boxes or bags from their truck or back seat.

Established in 1963, Launch Credit Union is a full-service credit union, with 17 branches in Brevard and Volusia counties. Launch CU has $1.4 billion in assets, with 80,000 members. Membership is open to all who live, work, worship or attend school in Brevard, Volusia, Seminole, Orange, Flagler or Osceola.

For more information about Launch Credit Union, go to Launchcu.com or call 321-455-9400.

If you have a Business Newsmakers item you'd like to publish, please email details to Wayne T. Price at wtpkansas@yahoo.com or contact him at 321-223-0230.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida Tech names Pericak as VP of philanthropy
Vessel operator ZIM (at Baltimores Seagirt Terminal in February) and others must divert to other East Coast ports (Photo/Port of Baltimore)

WASHINGTON  Federal regulators are bracing for disputes over container fees caused by routing cancellations in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

Shortly after the collapse early on March 26 that closed the Port of Baltimore, MSC, the worlds largest ocean carrier, advised customers that containers en route to the port would be diverted for unloading at alternate U.S. East Coast ports, and that the carriage contract would be declared terminated at the alternate port instead of at an inland destination via truck or rail.

Cargo booked on ships bound for the Port of Baltimore had estimated arrival dates throughout the month of April.

For containers booked for Baltimore but not yet loaded at origination ports, MSC told customers to declare whether they wanted their cargo to be carried to alternate ports.





Because MSC and other ocean carriers are canceling inland transport as part of their Baltimore cargo, Im sure were going to have all sorts of issues, Carl Bentzel, member of the Federal Maritime Commission, told FreightWaves.

Carriers may deviate to another port where there arent as many chassis available, as was the case in Baltimore, so you could have issues on pickup and return of empty containers. These dislocations could result in problems with detention and demurrage. There will be lots of work for the FMC, unfortunately.

The agencys new demurrage and detention rule, which goes into effect May 26, could help sort out disputes before they get too far along, Bentzel said. The rule establishes new requirements for how ocean carriers and terminal operators must bill for fees associated with late pickup and drop-off of containers at ports and intermodal facilities. It also clarifies who can be billed, the process for disputing late fees and billing time frames.

The FMCs Maritime Transportation Data Initiative  a project started in November 2021 and spearheaded by Bentzel  could prove even more valuable in dealing with supply chain disruptions, he said, and recent incidents could prove catalysts for getting the initiative up and running.





If you take into account the Panama Canal, the Red Sea and now Baltimore, I think youre having more schedule adjustments than have ever been required in the history of shipping. I think all three should motivate a greater understanding and transparency in shipping. Were going to see lots of examples of dysfunction and challenges on getting accurate information.

Like the U.S. Department of Transportations Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) initiative, the purpose of MTDI is to give carriers, shippers, ports, marine terminals operators and others real-time position and estimated arrival times for container shipments, and to harmonize status information of containers while they are in storage at terminals.

Story continues

But unlike FLOW, a voluntary program that does not set performance standards, MTDI envisions requiring that ocean carriers provide scheduling information that will be made publicly available at all major container ports.

Bentzel is currently converting recommendations on the initiative generated from the maritime industry into the Maritime Transportation Data System (MDTS).

This will be in-transit visibility requirements for containers that would provide shippers some level of understanding as to estimated arrival times at each berth in the United States and would encompass all intermodal cargo shipments operating in the U.S., he said.

The FMC plans to issue a second round of information collection on the project to build on current recommendations from the public.

Im still in the convincing mode  there are some carriers who are hesitant to see any kind of a mandate. Thats why Id like to continue to build a record to get this done.

Related articles:

Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.





The post FMC fears glut of container fee disputes after Baltimore bridge collapse appeared first on FreightWaves.
The campaign to eradicate misconduct and corruption that occur at people's doorsteps will be intensified, according to a meeting held Wednesday by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Commission of Supervision.

Addressing the meeting, Liu Jinguo, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and deputy secretary of the CCDI, said that the crackdown was of great concern to the public and bore on the foundations of the CPC's governance.

Liu urged disciplinary inspection and supervisory agencies at all levels to timely respond to misconduct and corruption tips. The agencies should launch careful and thorough investigations on suspected offenses that have wide and adverse impacts to the public, he added.

Moreover, Liu emphasized the importance of securing access to fairness and justice for the people and called for efforts to ensure the crackdown meets the people's expectations.
Last year, everyone talked about the "Magnificent Seven," a group of technology industry leaders that drove gains in the S&P 500. A few of those stocks recently have faltered, and now, the focus is on the "Fab Four" -- the four members of the Magnificent Seven that continue to roar higher. These market winners are Nvidia, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Amazon, and Microsoft.

Nvidia is the biggest gainer of them all, climbing 80% so far this year, and still represents a great stock to buy. But a better bargain exists among these Fab Four stocks. This particular player offers you a solid earnings track record, a strong moat, exposure to the high-growth area of artificial intelligence (AI), and promising long-term prospects. So forget Nvidia... this Fab Four stock is the one to scoop up right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

More than 3.1 billion users daily

I'm talking about Meta, a company almost everyone is familiar with, thanks to its family of popular social media apps including Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. More than 3.1 billion people use at least one of Meta's apps every day -- so it's no surprise advertisers flock to the platform to connect with these potential customers.

Advertising makes up the lion's share of Meta's revenue -- more than 95% of the total of $134 billion last year. And thanks to the company's strong moat (or competitive advantage), this is unlikely to change. It's difficult to switch to another social media platform knowing that all your contacts may not be there. This keeps fans loyal, and Meta's work to make its platforms more dynamic, fun, and practical could reinforce this loyalty.

This brings me to the company's investment in AI -- an area Meta says will be its biggest investment theme this year. The company already has brought Meta AI, an advanced conversational assistant, to its family of apps, but it isn't stopping there. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg says he wants to roll out AI across Meta's products and services so that all Meta users can rely on AI to accomplish their goals -- from leisure to business.

That's why Meta is ramping up its computer power and aims to bring on board 600,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) by the end of the year. GPUs power AI models and platforms. For example, they drive the training and inference of large language models (LLMs) so that these tools can successfully solve complex problems.

Becoming an industry standard

Meta's developed its own LLM called Llama, and now Llama 3 is in training. Llama is the technology behind Meta AI and other AI products at Meta, but the company isn't keeping it all to itself. By making it open source -- or open to general use -- Meta gains valuable feedback to improve its technology and gains many users -- putting its software on the path to becoming an industry standard.

Down the road, Meta likely will continue to be a social media giant and, along with that, could also become an AI leader. Meanwhile, the company's financial position should allow it to invest in the technology needed to reach these goals. Meta made moves last year in what Zuckerberg calls the "year of efficiency" to get there, and in the latest quarterly report, Meta announced its first-ever dividend, showing its confidence that it has what it takes to fund growth and reward shareholders.

How much do you have to pay to get access to such a player? Not as much as you might think. Today, Meta is trading for only 24x forward earnings estimates, making it the cheapest of the Fab Four by this measure.

As I mentioned above, Nvidia still has plenty of growth ahead but its stock isn't the only game in town. Today, Meta is cheaper and offers you the potential of a winning AI story, along with the solidity of a highly profitable social media business. That means right now, I'd forget Nvidia and buy shares of this Fab Four bargain instead.

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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adria Cimino has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Forget Nvidia: This "Fab Four" Stock Is a Bargain Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
Tina Torres and her attorney, Adam Pearlman, listen as Ventura County Superior Court Judge David Hirsch hands down her sentence Wednesday in an embezzlement case involving her time as manager of a credit union for Limoneira employees.

An ex-manager accused of taking more than $200,000 from the credit union for employees of the historic Limoneira Co. was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail. But she avoided a prison term if she follows the terms of her two-year probation.

Tina Torres, 55, of Camarillo, was sentenced in a Ventura courtroom on eight felony counts of grand theft, forgery and grand theft by embezzlement. Torres also admitted to special allegations and aggravating factors on each count, which include an excessive loss of more than $100,000 and taking advantage of a position of trust.

Torres managed the Limoneira Federal Credit Union in Santa Paula for roughly four years ending in 2019, when she was fired after discrepancies were uncovered in an audit, prosecutors said.

Authorities said she paid roughly $26,000 of her personal bills out of the credit union's accounts and approved $225,000 in unauthorized wire transfers between January 2016 and August 2019. To conceal the withdrawals, she obtained an $80,000 line of credit in the credit union's name and submitted altered bank statements to the organization's board, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said.

Torres was ordered to pay restitution of roughly $355,000 by Superior Court Judge David Hirsch at the lightly attended sentencing hearing. He suspended her prison sentence of six years and eight months and ordered her to report to jail May 10. She may be able to serve the sentence via a home-based electronic monitor if the Sheriff's Office grants permission.

Judge David Hirsch listens as attorney Adam Pearlman speaks on behalf of his client, Tina Torres, during her sentencing at Ventura County Superior Court Wednesday.

When Torres was arrested last year, Limoneira CEO Harold Edwards said no members of the credit union lost any money because the deposits are insured through a government agency. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The name of the credit union has been changed to Valley Ag Federal Credit Union, but its office is still located on the premises of Limoneira's headquarters outside Santa Paula. Other agricultural employers also are part of the credit union, according to Edwards.

Victims are allowed to address the court on the impact a defendant's crimes have had on them, but no one from the credit union or Limoneira spoke. The credit union preferred to see the defendant sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed by law, according to an evaluation of Torres submitted by the county Probation Agency.

The defendant appeared in court but did not make a statement. Her attorney, Adam Pearlman, asked the court to take note of her health issues.

In an earlier statement to probation officials, Torres said she suffered a stroke in 2020 and was recently diagnosed with early onset of dementia. "Unfortunately, she cannot recall any information about the offense and she feels bad about it," the statement said.

Story continues

Kathleen Wilson covers courts and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at 805-206-8805.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ex-Limoneira credit union manager sentenced in embezzlement case
VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2024 /CNW/ - Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSXV: ZNG) (OTCBB: GRLVF) (FRA: 3GE) ("Group Eleven" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from the first four holes of the 2024 drill program at the Company's 100%-owned Ballywire zinc-lead-silver discovery ("Ballywire"), PG West Project ("PG West"), Republic of Ireland.

Highlights

Mineralization intersected in all four step-out holes testing the previously undrilled C2 and C3 gravity-high anomalies (located 530m and 930m east of the Ballywire discovery area)

Key intersections include: 4.6m of 5.2% Zn+Pb (4.4% Zn and 0.9% Pb) and 15 g/t Ag (from 288.9m down hole), including 1.9m of 6.9% Zn+Pb (5.5% Zn and 1.4% Pb) and 22 g/t Ag within a 59.7m package of intermittent mineralization (not yet fully assayed) in G11-3552-08, a 930m step-out (testing Anomaly C3) 2.7m of 4.3% Zn+Pb (1.1% Zn and 3.2% Pb) and 7 g/t Ag, including 0.6m of 12.9% Zn+Pb (1.5% Zn and 11.4% Pb) and 16 g/t Ag (from 291.5m down hole) within a 22.5m wide zone of mineralization in G11-3552-06, approx. 100m south of the above hole; and 4.4m of 304 g/t Ag, 0.73% Cu and 1.0% Zn+Pb (0.9% Zn and 0.1% Pb) (starting at 331.6m down hole), including 0.6m of 1,440 g/t Ag, 3.03% Cu and 1.6% Zn+Pb (1.5% Zn and 0.2% Pb), the highest silver value ever intersected by the Company, within a 91.9m package of intermittent mineralization in G11-3552-07, a 530m step-out (Anomaly C2)

The above results combined with the projection of the high-grade trend at the discovery area, suggest that the strength of the system is increasing to the north of the C2 and C3 anomalies

Drilling continues with two rigs, testing further north on Anomaly C3 and in between the discovery area and Anomaly C2, respectively

"We are very pleased that robust mineralization at Ballywire has now been intersected over a strike length of over 2.6km, up from 1.7km previously," stated Bart Jaworski, CEO. "This extended breadth includes 710m at the discovery area, a historic intercept 1km to the west and now step-out drilling up to 930m to the east. The fact that gravity-high anomalies C2 and C3 are spatially associated with mineralization bodes well for the rest of our prospective trend which is defined by gravity-high anomalies over a strike-length of 6km. We look forward to systematically drill testing these anomalies over the coming weeks and months. With a 2.6km-long footprint, a 6km-long prospective trend and some of the highest silver values ever attained in Ireland, Ballywire is increasingly showing signs of a major zinc-lead-silver discovery."

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First Four Holes from 2024 Drill Campaign at Ballywire Discovery

The Ballywire prospect at the Company's 100%-owned PG West Project in Republic of Ireland, is a new zinc-lead-silver discovery (first announced Sept-2022). In addition to 21 holes drilled and reported by Group Eleven to date, the next four step-out holes (G11-3552-05 to -08) of the 2024 program are reported today (see Exhibits 1 to 6). Holes G11-3552-09 to -11 are in-progress.

Exhibit 1. Plan Map of New Holes from 2024 Program vs. Gravity-High Anomalies at Ballywire (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

Exhibit 2. Plan Map of New Holes from 2024 Program vs. Local Geology at Ballywire (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

Exhibit 3. Cross-Section A-A of G11-3552-05 and -07 (530m Step-Out Holes) at Ballywire (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

Exhibit 4. Cross-Section B-B of G11-3552-06 and -08 (930m Step-Out Holes) at Ballywire (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

Mineralization occurs as sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite and suspected tennantite- tetrahedrite, and is bedding parallel along and close to the base of the Waulsortian limestone. Notably, significant volumes of dark grey, dolomitic breccias are present in hole G11-3552-08 (see Exhibit 4). Today's drill results combined with the projection of the high-grade trend at the discovery area (see Exhibits 1 and 2), suggest that the strength of the mineralizing system is increasing to the north of the C2 and C3 gravity-high anomalies.

Exhibit 5. Summary of Assays from G11-3552-05, -06 and -08 at Ballywire

Item From (m) To (m) Int (m) Zn (%) Pb (%) Zn+Pb (%) Ag (g/t) G11-3552-05 312.36 313.34 0.98 0.20 0.04 0.24 - And 322.84 323.80 0.96 0.23 0.10 0.33 - And 325.71 326.57 0.86 0.24 0.04 0.28 - And 329.53 330.49 0.96 0.17 0.04 0.21 - G11-3552-06 291.54 314.00 22.46 0.63 0.45 1.08 2.1 Incl. 306.51 314.00 7.49 1.37 1.22 2.60 4.2 Incl. 310.92 314.40 3.48 0.96 2.40 3.36 5.6 Incl. 311.75 314.40 2.65 1.06 3.24 4.30 6.9 Incl. 313.40 314.00 0.60 1.54 11.40 12.94 16.3 G11-3552-08 279.00 298.40 19.40 1.18 0.35 1.53 5.5 Incl. 286.96 298.40 11.44 1.95 0.57 2.52 8.3 Incl. 288.90 293.54 4.64 4.36 0.86 5.22 15.0 Incl. 289.75 291.66 1.91 5.52 1.35 6.87 22.3 Incl. 289.75 290.75 1.00 7.69 1.34 9.03 11.6

Note: True width as a percentage of drilled intercept is approximately 90-100% for G11-3552-05, -06 and -08

Exhibit 6. Summary of Assays from G11-3552-07 at Ballywire

Item From (m) To (m) Int (m) Zn (%) Pb (%) Zn+Pb (%) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) G11-3552-07 330.30 343.55 13.25 0.38 0.04 0.43 105.0 0.26 Incl. 331.57 332.09 0.52 1.27 0.17 1.43 12.4 0.03 And 332.09 332.43 0.34 1.14 0.05 1.19 14.6 0.04 And 332.43 333.10 0.67 1.07 0.10 1.16 469.0 1.56 And 333.10 333.45 0.35 0.64 0.04 0.69 30.7 0.05 And 333.45 333.70 0.25 0.74 0.02 0.76 485.0 0.94 And 333.70 334.07 0.37 1.20 0.01 1.21 20.9 0.12 And 334.07 334.82 0.75 0.08 0.01 0.08 5.8 0.01 And 334.82 334.99 0.17 0.73 0.29 1.02 220.0 0.48 And 334.99 335.54 0.55 1.47 0.17 1.64 1440.0 3.03 And 335.54 335.97 0.43 0.51 0.08 0.60 90.8 0.17

331.57 335.97 4.40 0.87 0.09 0.96 304.1 0.73 Incl. 332.43 335.54 3.11 0.82 0.08 0.90 414.1 0.99 Incl. 334.82 335.97 1.15 1.00 0.16 1.16 755.2 1.58 And 386.08 389.04 2.96 0.03 0.01 0.04 28.3 0.95 Incl. 386.08 386.47 0.39 0.18 0.00 0.18 104.0 5.90 And 395.62 395.82 0.20 0.01 0.03 0.04 68.1 0.51

Note: True width of the overall mineralized package above is estimated at approx. 90-100%, however, at the centimetre-scale, mineralization is predominately hosted within two orthogonal sets of steeply dipping veins (dipping to NE and NW, respectively)



Exhibit 7. Regional Gravity Map of Ballywire Area Showing 6km Long Prospective Trend (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

Exhibit 8. Regional Map of PG West (100% Interest) and Stonepark (76.56% Interest) Projects (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

Notes to Exhibit 8: (a) Pallas Green MRE is owned by Glencore (see Glencore's Resources and Reserves Report dated December 31, 2023); (b) Stonepark MRE: see the 'NI 43-101 Independent Report on the Zinc-Lead Exploration Project at Stonepark, County Limerick, Ireland', by Gordon, Kelly and van Lente, with an effective date of April 26, 2018, as found on SEDAR; and (c) the historic estimate at Denison was reported by Westland Exploration Limited in 'Report on Prospecting Licence 464' by Dermot Hughes dated May, 1988; the historic estimate at Gortdrum was reported in 'The Geology and Genesis of the Gortdrum Cu-Ag-Hg Orebody' by G.M. Steed dated 1986; and the historic estimate at Tullacondra was first reported by Munster Base Metals Ltd in 'Report on Mallow Property' by David Wilbur, dated December 1973; and later summarized in 'Cu-Ag Mineralization at Tullacondra, Mallow, Co. Cork' by Wilbur and Carter in 1986; the above three historic estimates have not been verified as current mineral resources; none of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to prepare the historic estimates were reported and no resource categories were used; significant data compilation, re-drilling and data verification may be required by a Qualified Person before the historic estimates can be verified and upgraded to be compliant with current NI 43-101 standards; a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify them as a current mineral resource and the Company is not treating the historic estimates as current mineral resources. 'Rathdowney Trend' is the south-westerly projection of the Rathdowney Trend, hosting the historic Lisheen and Galmoy mines.

Stonepark - Planning Underway

Planning is underway for a drilling program at the Company's 76.56%-owned Stonepark Project later in 2024. This will include follow-up on drilling at the Carrickittle West target in 2022, which resulted in the first intersection by Group Eleven of a major fault in the Limerick basin. The Company expects to drill a series of widely spaced holes to examine mineralization, brecciation and Waulsortian thickness variations in the area to improve understanding of the best area of potential for a major discovery. This incremental follow-up on the target reduces the risk associated with a single, deep hole and follows the exploration model that successfully resulted in the Ballywire discovery in 2022. In addition, other prospective targets across the Stonepark Project will be drill tested during the course of the program. Further details on the program will be provided in due course.

Qualified Person

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Professor Garth Earls, Eur Geol, P.Geo, FSEG, geological consultant at IGS (International Geoscience Services) Limited, and independent 'Qualified Person' as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Information

Group Eleven inserts certified reference materials ("CRMs" or "Standards") as well as blank material, to its sample stream as part of its industry-standard QA/QC programme. The QC results have been reviewed by the Qualified Person, who is satisfied that all the results are within acceptable parameters. The Qualified Person has validated the sampling and chain of custody protocols used by Group Eleven.

About Group Eleven Resources

Group Eleven Resources Corp. (TSX.V: ZNG; OTCBB: GRLVF and FRA: 3GE) is a mineral exploration company focused on advanced stage zinc exploration in the Republic of Ireland. Group Eleven announced the Ballywire discovery in September 2022. Key intercepts to date include: (i) 3.3m of 12.5% Zn+Pb and 48 g/t Ag (G11-468-01), (ii) 10.8m of 10.0% Zn+Pb and 109 g/t Ag (G11-468-03); (iii) 10.1m of 8.6% Zn+Pb and 46 g/t Ag (G11-468-06); (iv) 10.5m of 14.7% Zn+Pb, 399 g/t Ag and 0.31% Cu (G11-468-12) and (v) 11.2m of 8.9% Zn+Pb and 83 g/t Ag (G11-3552-03). The Company's two largest shareholders are Glencore Canada Corp. (18.2% interest) and Michael Gentile (15.0%). Additional information about the Company is available at www.groupelevenresources.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bart Jaworski, P.Geo.

Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company, including the timing, content, cost and results of proposed work programs, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/ reserves and geological interpretations. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located. All of the Company's public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

Group Eleven Resources Corp. Logo (CNW Group/Group Eleven Resources Corp.)

SOURCE Group Eleven Resources Corp.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2024/04/c6109.html
Dive Brief:

H-E-B announced Tuesday it has started construction on its store in Prosper, a city north of Dallas.

The upcoming location, which is slated to open in fall 2025, will span 132,000 square feet and include a restaurant and a full-service pharmacy with a drive-thru alongside H-E-Bs usual grocery staples.

The groundbreaking marks the latest of several steps made in quick succession by H-E-B to expand its presence to nearly two dozen stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

Dive Insight:

Less than two years after opening its first store under its main banner in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, H-E-B is canvassing the market with a variety of stores spanning its various formats.

In late 2022, the grocer opened stores in Frisco and Plano, followed the next year by stores in Allen and McKinney as well as an e-commerce fulfillment center in Plano.

Earlier this year, H-E-B announced groundbreakings for a Joe Vs Smart Shop in Dallas  the second location for the convenience format in that city  and a H-E-B store in Melissa, which will debut in the northern Dallas-area city in 2025.

The grocer previously announced that H-E-B stores in Frisco and Mansfield are slated to open later in 2024. H-E-B also has a Rockwall store scheduled to debut in 2025.

The Prosper store groundbreaking happened just days before H-E-B is set to open on April 10 its first store in Fort Worth.

Tallying the existing and planned locations, H-E-B will have six Central Market locations, two Joe Vs Smart Shop locations and 15 H-E-B stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. H-E-B noted that it has served the broader Dallas-Fort Worth area for two decades with its Central Market stores, which arrived in the area in 2001.

Located at the corner of Frontier Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway, the Prosper store will include a section with meals prepared in-store, handmade sushi selections made daily in-store and an Asian grill with rice bowls, teriyaki and more. The location will also have the grocers standard grocery and general merchandise departments.

The beloved Texas chains emphasis on the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex follows its efforts to ramp up its presence in the Austin, San Antonio and Houston markets. So far in 2024, two H-E-B locations opened in the Houston area as well as one north of San Antonio.

H-E-B currently has more than 430 stores across Texas and Mexico. This year H-E-B retained its No. 1 spot on Dunnhumbys annual grocer rankings for the second year in a row.

This story was originally published on Grocery Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Grocery Dive newsletter.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Las Vegas Sands fair value estimate is US$82.78

Las Vegas Sands' US$53.96 share price signals that it might be 35% undervalued

Our fair value estimate is 29% higher than Las Vegas Sands' analyst price target of US$64.25

How far off is Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Las Vegas Sands

What's The Estimated Valuation?

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. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$2.76b US$3.19b US$3.50b US$3.77b US$4.00b US$4.19b US$4.37b US$4.52b US$4.67b US$4.80b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Est @ 9.95% Est @ 7.65% Est @ 6.04% Est @ 4.92% Est @ 4.13% Est @ 3.58% Est @ 3.19% Est @ 2.92% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.3% US$2.5k US$2.7k US$2.8k US$2.7k US$2.7k US$2.6k US$2.5k US$2.4k US$2.3k US$2.2k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$25b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.3%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.3%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$4.8b (1 + 2.3%)  (8.3% 2.3%) = US$82b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$82b ( 1 + 8.3%)10= US$37b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$62b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$54.0, the company appears quite undervalued at a 35% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. 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 Las Vegas Sands 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 8.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.307. 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 Las Vegas Sands

Strength

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Hospitality market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. 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. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Las Vegas Sands, we've put together three essential items you should look at:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Las Vegas Sands you should know about. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for LVS's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American 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.
NEW YORK, April 04, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JA Mitsui Leasing, Ltd. (JAML) through its subsidiary, JA Mitsui Leasing USA Holdings, Inc., announced today that it has acquired a 100% interest in Oakmont Capital Holdings, LLC (DBA Oakmont Capital Services) (OCS), a leading specialty finance company that delivers broad-spectrum solutions for essential-use, small-ticket equipment.

"We are excited to supercharge JAMLs strategic North American expansion efforts alongside this highly skilled and experienced team," said Kiyoshi Doi, CEO of JA Mitsui Leasing USA. "As a consequence of continued capital markets dislocation, the equipment finance landscape is undergoing profound changes, and the Oakmont Capital teams deep industry expertise will enable JAML to effectively meet the extensive financing needs of U.S. companies."

He added, "The Oakmont platform is a natural complement to our group companies in the United States, including First Financial Equipment Leasing, Katsumi Global (DBA JA Mitsui Capital Americas), and Modern Rail Car. Collectively, JAML can now deliver comprehensive, expert, and timely lending and leasing solutions across the North American market."

"For over 25 years, OCS has built rapport within the equipment finance industry and with our customers," said Joe Leonard, OCS President, CEO and Co-Founder. "Were honored to join the JA Mitsui Leasing family of companies to take our offerings to the next level and better serve our customers, partners, and employees."

OCS Vice President and COO Daryn Lecy added, "For over six years, OCS has been on an upward trajectory in volume, technological advancements, headcount, and more. Were thrilled to combine our strengths and resources with JA Mitsui Leasing to elevate our offerings and continue to approach a growth mindset with a strong strategic vision that will benefit all."

Established in 1998 as an equipment finance broker, OCS has matured into a direct lender with offices in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Albany, Minnesota, with a staff of over sixty finance professionals. OCSs mission is to provide a direct and exceptional commercial equipment finance experience focusing on building relationships. The company will continue to use the Oakmont Capital Services brand, and there will be no changes to the current management or team.

About Oakmont Capital Holdings, LLC

Oakmont Capital Holdings, LLC, doing business as Oakmont Capital Services (OCS), is a direct lender providing commercial equipment financing and working capital throughout all 50 United States. Our seasoned finance professionals work across many industry verticals, helping customers secure funding quickly and easily via a streamlined, virtual process. For more information, visit www.oakmontfinance.com.

Story continues

About JA Mitsui Leasing, Ltd.

JAML is a global leasing company headquartered in Japan with a footprint across Japan, Asia and North America and total operating assets exceeding USD 16 billion. The main shareholders of JAML are The Norinchukin Bank and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., both "A" rated by S&P. By combining the strengths of both parent companies, JAML takes advantage of its multiple channels, leading financial parents, and wide client network to provide best-in-class leasing and asset finance solutions for its customers. For more information, visit www.jamitsuilease.co.jp/en/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403413128/en/

Contacts

Lori Leavey

Phone: 714-646-1619

Email: lleavey@ffequipmentleasing.com
Joe Lewis leaves Manhattan federal court on 26 July 2023, in New York. Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

The British billionaire Joe Lewis was spared jail time for his part in a brazen insider trading conspiracy on Thursday, and was instead fined $5m and given a three-year probation by a New York judge.

The 87-year-old, who heads the family that owns Tottenham Hotspur, had faced as much as 45 years in prison if convicted at trial. But in a court filing on Monday, prosecutors said Lewis deserved leniency given his age, health issues and the fact that he had voluntarily come to the US to face punishment.

Lewis arrived in court with his family looking frail and wearing an eye patch. Prosecutor Jason Richmond said: Even billionaires are not above the law, but he acknowledged mitigating factors, including Lewiss voluntary return to the US to face charges, and said they were not seeking prison time.

Judge Jessica Clarke said Lewis was at serious risk if he was incarcerated due to deteriorating health. Clarke said the offense was without doubt serious. Crimes like insider trading strike at the integrity of our markets, she added, but Lewiss circumstances did not warrant incarceration.

The court fined Lewiss company Broad Bay $44m, bringing the total fine and restitution to $49m.

In a brief statement to the court, Lewis talked about his childhood during the Blitz in in London. At an early age, I learned how precious life is. I made a terrible mistake. I broke the law. I am ashamed, sorry, and I hold myself accountable. If your honor so desires, I wish to use the time I have left to make amends and rebuild trust.

Born above a pub in the East End of London, Lewis turned his fathers catering business into a chain of themed restaurants before turning to currency trading. He founded the Tavistock Group, which has stakes in more than 200 companies, including Spurs, biotechnology and agriculture ventures, financial services, luxury hotels, resorts and retail.

He and his family have a net worth of $7.2bn, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index.

Last July, Lewis was hit with 16 counts of securities fraud and three of conspiracy to commit fraud that prosecutors called a brazen scheme to enrich his friends, lovers and employees, including two private jet pilots.

The US attorney for the southern district of New York, Damian Williams, said Lewis had abused his access to corporate boardrooms to provide confidential information to people who used his tips to make millions of dollars betting on the stock market.

Williams said Lewis had knowingly deployed the tactic as a way to compensate his employees or to shower gifts on his friends and lovers.

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Under the terms of a $300m bond to secure his release, Lewis agreed to surrender his private yacht Aviva, which he was prohibited from boarding, and his personal plane, which can be used  with prior notification to prosecutors  but only for domestic US travel.

He was further restricted from international travel and will be confined to New York, northern Georgia, where he owns a home, and Florida.

The allegations included a 2019 tip-off to co-defendants Patrick OConnor and Bryan Marty Waugh, both pilots of his private plane, to sell stocks in a troubled Australian beef producer and a tip-off to then-girlfriend Carolyn Carter to purchase shares in a biotech company after he learned of an upcoming private investment and clinical trials.

In January, Lewis pleaded guilty to reduced charges after prosecutors agreed to a non-custodial sentence. Lewis retained his right to change his plea if a custodial sentence were imposed.

Soon after, OConnor changed his plea and admitted to insider trading and securities fraud.

Co-pilot Waugh has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in June.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, plants a tree during a voluntary tree planting activity in a forest park in Tongzhou District in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2024. Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday attended a voluntary tree planting activity in Beijing and called for nationwide efforts in afforestation to jointly build a beautiful China.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while attending the tree planting activity in a forest park in Beijing's Tongzhou District.

Xi and other leaders, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, and Han Zheng, arrived at the site in the morning and planted trees with local people.

He said the tree planting activity aims to call on all people to take actions and join the tree planting and afforestation efforts to add a greener hue to the building of a beautiful China.

At the planting site, Xi waved to the crowd to extend greetings, and then picked up a shovel to join the activity. He planted saplings of multiple types of trees.

While planting the trees, he also asked the children at the site about their study, life and their participation in work and sports. He stressed that young children need to engage themselves in work and afforestation from childhood and develop their awareness to revere and love nature.

He also asked the students to study hard, build up their bodies and become the backbone of the country.

During talks with officials and locals on site, Xi said that this year marks the 45th anniversary of China establishing its National Tree Planting Day, and Chinese people have been dedicated to planting trees and afforestation, making remarkable achievements.

However, the scarcity of forest resources is still a prominent problem in the country, Xi said, urging hard work from generation to generation to address it.

To make China greener, efforts should be made to advance large-scale greening, expand the channels for turning the country's waters and mountains into invaluable assets with emphasis on both quality and efficiency, and strengthen the protection of forest and grassland resources with sound anti-fire work, Xi noted.

He called for more endeavors in advancing the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program to fortify the green Great Wall in northern China, urging the mobilization of strength from all circles.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing pressure from all sides on the question of aid to Ukraine. He has been subject to threats from angry Republicans opposed to providing further funding but also calls from Democrats and global leaders demanding action.

He's a bit boxed in," one House Democrat told Axios. "He goes one way, he loses votes, he goes another way, he loses votes, and he's got people who are talking about throwing him out every day. That unnamed source called Johnsons dilemma a nightmare version of choose-your-own adventure, with alligators down one path and piranhas down another.

Were not sure whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the gator or the killer fish in that metaphor, but as we told you yesterday, the Georgia Republican firebrand has threatened to move ahead with a motion to oust the speaker and is warning him against bringing up an aid package.

At the same time, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Thursday called on Johnson to push through an aid package and urged his European peers to do the same. Crucially, we need to get on the phone, or in my case go in person to see Speaker Johnson in the House of Representatives to get that supplemental through, Cameron, a former U.K. prime minister and member of the British Conservative Party, told reporters after a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers meeting.

And Johnson also faces new demands from Democrats to bundle other humanitarian assistance into a foreign aid bill. Eight House Democrats led by Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania wrote Johnson a letter this week asking for at least $9.16 billion to help address the worlds greatest unmet humanitarian needs, which are leading to horrifying human costs and driving instability that threatens our national security. Their letter, reported by Axios, calls for aid to Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Lebanon.

Democrats may have leverage over the details of an aid package because their support will be needed to get it through the House given the deep divisions among Republicans. Johnson will have to decide how far he might want to go toward appeasing conservatives or if hell work with Democrats, whose support hell also need to fend off a motion by Greene to boot him from the speakers job. Democrats have concerns about some of the ideas Johnson has raised for a House aid bill, including structuring the money for Ukraine as a loan and lifting a Biden administration pause on new natural gas permitting.

Republicans, meanwhile, are likely to oppose any additional humanitarian funds. And in a Wednesday phone interview with CNN, Greene reiterated her warning to Johnson against putting forth any Ukraine package and insisted she would oppose more aid even if the plan also included border security measures.

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Im not saying I have a red line or a trigger, and Im not saying I dont have a red line or trigger. And I think thats just where Im at right now, she said. But Im going to tell you right now: Funding Ukraine is probably one of the most egregious things that he can do. She reiterated that she opposes the idea of providing Ukraine aid in the form of a loan, something former President Donald Trump has supported. Greene called the proposal the biggest bunch of heaping, steaming pile of bullshit and insulting to the American people.

Greene reportedly plans to speak with Johnson tomorrow, but in the meantime, she has continued to criticize the government spending deal he cut with Democrats and the process that was used to pass that legislation. She has also rejected the concern raised by some in her party that a move to oust Johnson might result in House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries becoming speaker. Greene told CNN she sees little difference between Johnson and top Democrats or Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Mike Johnson, hes literally turned into Mitch McConnells twin and worse. Hes a Democrat, she reportedly said, adding Theres not even any daylight between him and Nancy Pelosi at this point.

The bottom line: Johnson still has plenty of decisions to make and challenges to address if he wants meet the urgent calls for more aid to Ukraine. But Punchbowl News reports that a Ukraine aid bill may not come to the floor next week, when lawmakers return from their recess. The following week is reportedly more likely.

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Last summer, Carole and Michael Middletons bankruptcy issues with their Party Pieces company were exposed. Their creditors were owed over $3.2 million that they were not able to recoup the money from Kate Middletons parents, and the uncomfortable headlines plagued the royal family. Now, a new twist in the situation adds another awkward layer to the Middletons former business and puts the spotlight squarely on the couples finances.

Carole and Michael had hired Interpath Advisory to help them navigate the bankruptcy, but it seems even they are struggling to get paid by the palace-adjacent couple. According to the Mirror, they have a tab with the firm for over $326,000 and have only paid around $64,000 of their bill. The company has revealed that they will not be receiving their full payment from Middletons, per The Times.

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BERKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM  NOVEMBER 16: Parents of Kate Middleton, Michael and Carole Middleton, outside their home near the village of Bucklebury on November 16, 2010 in Berkshire, United Kingdom.

The Party Pieces business was founded in 1987 and Carole and Michael built the successful venture from the ground up. When Kate married into the royal family, Carole did not shy away from tying her party-supply company in with royal events, including King Charles IIIs coronation. However, the pandemic proved to be a difficult global event to overcome when social distancing became the norm. That left her suppliers in the lurch  they werent getting paid.

We started chasing; they were making excuses, a spokesman for the unpaid clients told the Daily Mail in 2023. She apologized. She said that one of the managers was failing to deal with it, so she said, Im personally going to deal with it. Ill rectify everything. I wont be able to pay it in one lump: Ill pay it on a weekly basis. It eventually reached a point where Carole stopped answering her phone.

James Sinclair, who bought the Party Pieces company in bankruptcy without acquiring its debts, defended Carole to The Telegraph. I dont think its Caroles fault, he said. She sold half the business at 65 years old to an investment firm and in my view, they ruined it. It was a quick-fire sale of their declining investment, so Carole and Michael didnt get any of the administration proceeds, per Sinclair. Shes not got a big fat cheque for selling her business. The Middletons may not be as rich as people believe and they may be struggling in a downturned economy like many working-class citizens.

Before you go, click here to find out which tell-all books expose major royal family secrets.

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The Russian Mir card. Photo: RBK

Following the example of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, the banks of Kazakhstan, a key trade partner of the Kremlin in the post-Soviet territory that is a part of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), are refusing to accept service cards issued by the Russian Mir (Peace) system.

Source: The Moscow Times

Details: Reportedly, the area where the Russian Mir cards are being used keeps narrowing sharply after the US implemented sanctions against the Russian payment system and threatened the banks, which ignore them, with secondary measures.

Kazakhstans largest bank, Halyk Bank, has de facto joined the sanctions against the Mir payment system. It completely stopped maintaining Russian cards, including transactions, payments in terminals and withdrawing cash from the ATMs.

A bank representative specified that it had happened in February when US sanctions were imposed against the National Payment Card System (NPCS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian Central Bank, the operator of the Mir payment system.

Russian cards are not accepted by either ForteBank, Nurbank, Freedom Bank or CentreCredit bank. "You should not even try to find the banks (that accept the Mir system  ed.) in Kazakhstan; these are not our sanctions; the Mir cards are under the sanctions, and Kazakhstan must follow them," CentreCredit explained.

A representative of ForteBank stated that the money transfers cannot be conducted "due to sanctions".

Only VTB Kazakhstan and Bereke Bank (the former Kazakh subsidiary of Russian Sberbank) keep partially working with Russian cards. The former allows withdrawing cash from Mir at ATMs only in the national currency, tenge, and the latter does not allow conducting money transfers.

Background:

In February 2024, the US imposed sanctions against the National Card Payment System operator.

The cards of the Russian Mir payment system had stopped operating in ATMs and POS terminals of most Armenian banks starting 30 March 2024.

The banks in Kyrgyzstan will stop accepting cards of the Mir payment system due to US sanctions on 5 April.

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DataHorizzon Research

Rise in Need for Outsourcing in the Legal Process and Documentation Sector Boosts Digitalization.

Fort Collins, Colorado, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Legal Process Outsourcing Market size was valued at USD 18.7 Billion in 2023 and is anticipated to grow CAGR at 29.4% to reach USD 189.9 Billion by 2032.

The legal process outsourcing (LPO) market is poised for expansion due to its ability to offer cost savings, improved services through third-party perspectives, and, most importantly, allow clients to concentrate on their core business activities. The advantages of cost reduction and operational flexibility resulting from outsourcing have fostered an environment conducive to legal process outsourcing. Estimates suggest that outsourcing various tasks can save approximately 60% of company costs, contributing to the growing market share of legal process outsourcing. By outsourcing legal activities, organizations can better manage their time and workforce resources, enabling them to focus entirely on core business operations.

Furthermore, many legal process outsourcing providers increasingly concentrate on delivering higher-value services, such as supporting compliance management. The necessity for compliance also underscores the demand for legal process outsourcing, enabling service providers to introduce automation by implementing standardized processes that may not be available in-house. The market has witnessed a notable shift towards higher-value services, accompanied by the development of onshore capabilities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

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Segmentation Overview:

The global legal process outsourcing market has been segmented into location, service, and region. Based on location, the market segmentation includes offshore and on-shore outsourcing. Offshore outsourcing holds a substantial share of the location segment. The trend of offshore outsourcing is growing tremendously, with many companies in countries like the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other countries outsourcing their legal work to firms in Asian countries like India, the Philippines, and China.

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Legal Process Outsourcing Market Report Highlights:

The global legal process outsourcing market growth is anticipated at a CAGR of 29.4% by 2032.

The growing digitization mainly drives the legal process outsourcing industry.

Asia Pacific holds a significant share of the legal process outsourcing market. Countries like India, the Philippines, and China have highly talented and qualified individuals with quant skills consult them and get better results than having an in-house legal team.

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Some prominent players in the legal process outsourcing market report include Exigent Group, Legal Advantage LLC, UnitedLex, Evalueserve, Clairvolex, QuisLex Legal Services Pvt. Ltd., Integreon Managed Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Datascribe Infotech Pvt. Ltd., Mindcrest, Elevate Services Inc.

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Legal Process Outsourcing Market Segmentation:

By Location: Offshore outsourcing, on-shore outsourcing

By Service: Contract drafting, review & management, compliance assistance, E-discovery, litigation support, patent support, and others.

By Region: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

About DataHorizzon Research:

DataHorizzon is a market research and advisory company that assists organizations across the globe in formulating growth strategies for changing business dynamics. Its offerings include consulting services across enterprises and business insights to make actionable decisions. DHRs comprehensive research methodology for predicting long-term and sustainable trends in the market facilitates complex decisions for organizations.

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I recently had a layover at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport on my way to visit my parents in Oregon, so I stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite. Rather than being greeted by a human cashier, I was met with a hall of self-serve kiosks, where I placed my order and paid for it.

Expect to see a lot more machines and far fewer human workers in states and cities that are artificially driving up the cost of employees through higher minimum wages.

The government seems stuck on this way of fixing something that doesn't need to be fixed, Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors, told me. It messes up the marketplace, and businesses attempt to find a way around it because these are not market-based wages  and today with robotics and computers they can. So it ends up hurting people.

While efficient, automation like those ordering screens at the Minneapolis airport is emblematic of what happens when the government distorts the marketplace with a heavy-handed regulatory approach.

Minneapolis has mandated a $15.57 hourly minimum wage  more than twice the federal minimum wage of $7.25  for large employers, but that wage will apply to all businesses starting this summer. While the airport isnt technically part of any city, its employers are no doubt forced to offer comparable wages to attract workers.

Screens have taken over at the McDonald's in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport.

High wages are having other effects, too. Minneapolis residents will soon be out of luck if they want to call an Uber or a Lyft. Both companies are leaving town in May after the ultra-liberal city council (several of the 13 are declared socialists) applied the minimum wage to drivers, overriding the mayors veto. The companies said the mandate makes operations in the city unsustainable.

So in the effort to increase pay for drivers, the city council effectively will strip thousands of jobs and leave many people without transportation.

As Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey said in an interview, Getting a raise doesnt do a whole lot of good if you lose your job.

Nice work, Minneapolis.

California hikes minimum wage, employers lay people off

Then theres California. In what should have been an April Fools joke, a law requiring fast-food workers at large chains to earn $20 a hour took effect April 1.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed the law last year. Obviously, businesses arent happy because it's bad for their bottom lines.

Biden's new rule may take your job: Biden claims to stand for women, but his new regulation will kill jobs that women want

Newsom admitted as much when he tried to give his buddy Greg Flynn, who runs Panera Bread franchises in California, a loophole from the law. Flynn is a big Newsom donor, and Newsom had demanded a curious exemption to the law for restaurants making in-house bread.

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NFC championship game: California Governor Gavin Newsom watches the San Francisco 49ers play the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Jan. 28, 2024.

After the justified uproar that Flynn was getting special favors, he has said hell abide by the higher wage.

Its no surprise that even before the new minimum wage became reality, restaurants started planning layoffs. For instance, Pizza Hut has said it will cut more than 1,000 delivery jobs. Many more are following suit.

As any economist could have predicted, these businesses are having to downsize their workforce, reduce hours and raise prices. Thats what happens when the government meddles in the private market.

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Its hard to see how this benefits anyone in the long run. Minimum wage jobs have traditionally existed to give people an entry point into the work world, but government-driven inflated wages will take those opportunities away from inexperienced workers.

And this government intervention ignores that workers have more choices than ever.

Its such a competitive marketplace and unemployment is so low that if youre disappointed in the job in either the culture or the wage or the working conditions, you can move, Wesbury said.

Less work for same pay? Welcome to Bernies world.

You can always count on Congress resident socialist, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, to come up with truly wild (and costly) ideas. Hes a constant pusher of free college, student debt forgiveness and high minimum wages.

Employers must speak up: Biden's overtime pay proposal is the last thing our economy needs

Sanders also says Americans deserve a 32-hour work week. Employers would be forced to continue paying workers the same pay and benefits as they get for working 40 hours. And hes not just thinking about it  hes introduced a bill.

Sounds pretty darn good, I have to say.

US Senator and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a news conference with labor leaders to make an announcement on the federal minimum wage, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2023.

Unfortunately, in the real world, companies would have to make adjustments to afford this cushy new employee benefit. Employers would either have to hire more workers or lose out on productivity, and consumers would face higher prices as a result. Other unintended consequences would surely follow.

Bottom line: The private sector works best when the government gets out of the way. Its a lesson liberals never seem to learn.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California minimum wage increase hurts workers it claims to help
LiveOak Fiber Coverage Map (Graphic: Business Wire)

The company has spent more than $50 Million to deploy its state-of-the-art fiber to the premise (FTTP) network in Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Santa Rosa counties, exceeding market expectations

NICEVILLE, Florida, April 04, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LiveOak Fiber, a regional broadband provider, is excited to announce that the companys Northwest Florida fiber network deployment is nearly halfway complete and is already providing broadband services to thousands of residential and business customers. When fully completed, the FTTP network is expected to serve nearly 200,000 passings throughout the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metropolitan statistical area and throughout Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, and Santa Rosa Counties.

To date, LiveOak has invested over $145 Million in constructing a new and competitive fiber optic network system to better serve residents and businesses throughout the Southeast.

"We are proud of the progress that we are making on our network deployment and our customers continue to give us positive feedback about their service and installation experience," comments Jody Craft, President and CEO of LiveOak. "Our commitment to the local markets we serve is truly being realized and local supporters see that we deliver on our promises."

One of LiveOaks key commitments in coming to Northwest Florida was to hire locally to ensure the benefits of a local company working for the community it serves. LiveOak is fulfilling its promise by hiring over 100 local employees and working closely with community stakeholders. This dedication to the community has earned LiveOak recognition throughout the region. In May of 2023, LiveOak was awarded a grant from the Florida Broadband Opportunity Program to connect residents in Valparaiso, FL, and is currently constructing and connecting customers there. So far in 2024, LiveOak was awarded Best in Destin, according to VIP Destin Magazine; and was named the Business of the Year from the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. LiveOak has also leveraged Okaloosa Countys fiber middle mile network to reach thousands of additional homes and businesses.

Lastly, at the recent March 2024 One Okaloosa Business Leadership Council meeting, the results of the Milken Institute Best Performing Cities 2024 report were discussed regarding the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin MSA and LiveOak was recognized as being the key reason of moving the area forward from a broadband ranking of #182 in 2023 to #23 in 2024.

The LiveOak Fiber internet service coverage map features the companys live and in progress network routes and offers consumers the opportunity to check for internet availability and to request services through this link.

Story continues

To learn more about LiveOak Fibers network route and services, visit: www.liveoakfiber.com

About LiveOak Fiber:

LiveOak Fiber is building a world-class fiber network to deliver fast and reliable broadband to homes and businesses. The company is committed to investing in the communities they serve by delivering modern digital infrastructure needed to improve the quality of life and drive economic growth. Learn more about our investments in quality of life at www.liveoakfiber.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403998758/en/

Contacts

Media Contact:

Jake Curtachio

iMiller Public Relations

Tel: 1.914.315.6424

Email: liveoak@imillerpr.com
Starting your own business is risky, so most shy away from the experience. Roughly 20% of businesses fail in the first year alone. By year 10, that number goes up to 70%. Dedicating a year  or decade  of your life to something that might leave you worse off than a low-paying job and no income security is a daunting reality.

But it's one that millions of Americans pursue every year in hopes of achieving the American dream. Starting your own business allows for unlimited earnings potential and flexible working hours, and you can be your own boss. Like any high-risk investment, there are lots of upsides if you do it right.

Cuban is a big proponent of this value proposition "You only have to be right once," he said  meaning a successful business can quickly change your life trajectory for the better. Finding a strong, scalable business and seeing success could quickly scale to millions in revenue, and you will reap the rewards and all of the upside associated with a business. A $5 million exit for the majority of Americans is life-changing.

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While many love the idea of starting their own business, few take the leap. If you have a family, they take on the risk as well, and it's much harder to lose everything when there are others involved. And even if a business doesn't fail, it could take years to build enough profit to replace a day job salary.

With many wanting to start their own business, it leaves people wondering what the best time to start a business is. Cuban said, "If you've got nothing, that's the perfect time to start a business," in a recent episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast. If you have a great life and a well-paying job, you could lose all of that by starting a business. But if you have nothing, then much of the risk of starting a business and the opportunity cost of starting a business goes away.

Trending: Long overdue disruption in the moving industry is underway. Heres how to invest in it with just $100.

Cubans started MicroSolutions in the 90s for $500, sacrificing by sleeping on the floor of an apartment he shared with six other guys. He got the money from his first customer, who paid upfront. He later sold MicroSolutions for $6 million and rolled that money forward to start Broadcast.com, which he sold to Yahoo for $5.7 billion.

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Fridman and Cuban talked at length about entrepreneurship and starting a business. While there are risks and rewards involved, starting a business isn't even half the battle. "It really comes down to preparation," Cuban said.

Starting a business takes money. Depending on the business, it might not be too high. For many trades, it's a handful of tools and a work vehicle. Many online businesses can be started with a few hundred dollars using pre-built sites like Wix or Squarespace. While it might be hard to save up a few hundred to get your business off the ground, Cuban says, "If it's important enough to you, you'll save the money, you'll give up, you know, whatever it is you need to give up to put the money aside."

Read About Startup Investing:

Fortnites creator company greenlights partial ownership for investors in the upcoming series.

This startup coined eBay for gamers with a breathtaking track record has opened up a window to invest in its future growth.

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This article Mark Cuban Getting Fired And Sleeping On The Floor Helped Make Him A Billionaire: "If You've Got Nothing, That's The Perfect Time To Start A Business" originally appeared on Benzinga.com

 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
DALLAS, April 04, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Matador Resources Company (NYSE: MTDR) ("Matador" or the "Company") today announced plans to release first quarter 2024 operational and financial results after the close of trading on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Management will also host a live conference call on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time to review first quarter 2024 financial results and operational highlights.

To access the live conference call by phone, you can use the following link https://register.vevent.com/register/BI7bfe41fe32ef489da07e10206cdcee3c and you will be provided with dial in details. To avoid delays, it is recommended that participants dial into the conference call 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time.

The live conference call will also be available through the Companys website at www.matadorresources.com on the Events and Presentations page under the Investor Relations tab. The replay for the event will be available on the Companys website at www.matadorresources.com on the Events and Presentations page under the Investor Relations tab for one year.

About Matador Resources Company

Matador is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States, with an emphasis on oil and natural gas shale and other unconventional plays. Its current operations are focused primarily on the oil and liquids-rich portion of the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. Matador also operates in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas and the Haynesville shale and Cotton Valley plays in Northwest Louisiana. Additionally, Matador conducts midstream operations in support of its exploration, development and production operations and provides natural gas processing, oil transportation services, natural gas, oil and produced water gathering services and produced water disposal services to third parties.

For more information, visit Matador Resources Company at www.matadorresources.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240404161172/en/

Contacts

Mac Schmitz

Vice President  Investor Relations

investors@matadorresources.com

(972) 371-5225
Here's a look at promotions, hirings, movers and newsmakers in the Memphis area business scene:

Carrier

Adams Keegan hired Angie Carrier to its recruiting team. She will partner with clients to address their hiring needs.

Sorin

Marc Sorin is now a member of The Crone Law Firm as a senior attorney. He earned his juris doctor from Memphis State University in 1991. Sorin was on the Board of Directors of Bornblum Jewish Community School from 2013 to 2021 and served as Board President from 2018 to 2020.

Bowman

Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South recently hired Suzy Bowman as the nonprofits first Director of Mississippi Programming. In her new role, she will work to bring meaningful programs to K-12 students across Mississippi in partnership with businesses and community leaders who help JA achieve its mission of making every child world ready. Bowman earned her Bachelor of Applied Science degree in psychology and her MBA from Blue Mountain (Mississippi) College.

Ungab

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare added new primary care physician Ramon Ungab to its Bartlett practice at 2589 Appling Road. Ungab specializes in internal medicine. He earned a medical degree from University of East-Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, Philippines.

Johnson

Adam Johnson has been elected to serve as the 2024 president of the Memphis Bar Association, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. He is an Associate Attorney at Nahon, Saharovich & Trotz, and has been practicing civil litigation in personal injury since 2008 after obtaining his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Memphis. In 2019, Johnson serves on the executive committee for the American Inn of Court, Leo Bearman Sr. Chapter.

Stewart

Sherwin L. Stewart has been appointed CEO of Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett. With 30 years of healthcare experience that includes advancing in healthcare leadership roles throughout the southeastern United States, he most recently was vice president of Operations for Sentara Healths CarePlex Hospital and Port Warwick divisions in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area. Stewart earned his Master of Sciences in Management degree from Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi. He also received a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach and is a Graduate Professor for New England Colleges MBA program and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the National Association of Health Services Executives.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis recently announced changes to its Memphis Branch board of directors that took place effective Jan. 1. Tracy D. Hall, president of Southwest Tennessee Community College, has been elected board chair for 2024 by the Branch board of directors. She has served on the board since 2022.

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The Baker Donelson law firm was recognized by Southern Business & Development (SB&D) as one of the South's leading law firms for economic development. SB&D, which covers economic development in the American South, recently released its directory "The South's Best Economic Development Law Firms," highlighting law firms with multidisciplinary economic development practices that encompass fields including real estate, tax, government relations, construction, environmental and incentive packages.

NOTEWORTHY

St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital has announced St. Jude Home Care LLC, a home health agency for the hospitals patients, earned dual certifications in both pediatrics and home health from Community Health Accreditation Partners (CHAP), an independent, nonprofit accrediting body for home and community-based healthcare organizations. St. Jude Home Care is the nations first agency to achieve that distinction. CHAP is the only organization in the U.S. that grants a discrete pediatric certification to home health agencies. CHAP found that St. Jude Home Care was 100% compliant with pediatric care standards and 99% compliant with the accreditation standards for home health care services.

Email information and photos (single person images) in JPEG format, at least 1MB in size, for Memphis People in Business to cabiznews@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis business news: Promotions, hirings, achievers and company news
This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a screen with a photo of giant panda Fu Bao at a commercial street in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The chartered flight carrying the giant panda Fu Bao landed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, at around 7:22 p.m. on Wednesday.

Fu Bao is the first giant panda that was born in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Le Bao and Ai Bao, the pandas leased by China to the country in 2016.

Following inspection by customs at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Fu Bao will be transported to the Shenshuping giant panda base in Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan for quarantine.

The base is fully prepared to welcome Fu Bao, according to Li Guo, deputy director of Shenshuping giant panda base under the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda.

"We will determine when to make Fu Bao meet the public based on its adaptation," said Li. "Judging from past experiences, the adaptation period can range from one month to eight months, or even longer."

Fu Bao was born in July 2020. It is required that Fu Bao should return to China before reaching the age of four, according to relevant agreements signed between China and the ROK.
The Michigan Supreme Court is poised to decide whether its 2020 ruling in the Rafaeli v. Oakland County tax foreclosure case should be applied retroactively.

The tax auction is intended to allow county treasurers to recoup unpaid taxes by foreclosing on properties whose owners are three years behind on tax payments, and selling those properties at auction. Some properties sell for much less than the tax debt owed, or dont sell at all, while some properties sell for much more.

Property owner Uri Rafaeli sued Oakland County in 2019, claiming that its unconstitutional for counties to pocket whats known as windfall profits  when tax foreclosed properties are sold at auction for more than the tax debt owed.

In 2020, the court agreed with Rafaeli, ordering county treasurers to allow the former owners of foreclosed properties to receive any windfall profits generated by future auctions. Now, justices will decide whether Michigan counties must repay property owners whose properties were tax foreclosed before the Rafaeli ruling.

Its an important decision, with potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on the line for Michigan county governments. And contrary to what you might assume, if the court decides that Rafaeli v. Oakland County applies retroactively, at least in Detroit, it will primarily benefit speculators and landlords, not former homeowners.

Thousands of Detroit homeowners have lost their homes to tax foreclosure. Some residents, like the occupants of this home, marked for auction in 2017, post signs pleading with prospective buyers not to bid.

How is that possible?

If Rafaeli must be applied retroactively, counties would be required to refund the surplus generated from tax foreclosure auctions in which properties sold for more than the tax debt owed.

Ive studied the tax foreclosure auction for years, and my research has shown that between 2012, when the number of homes foreclosed and auctioned in in Wayne County swelled, and 2019, when significant policy changes were made, the county collected $92 million in windfall profits.

Windfall profits in the Wayne County Tax Foreclosure Auction between 2012 and 2019

Detroit homeowners, as Ive documented extensively, lost tens of thousands of homes to tax foreclosure. But heres why applying Rafaeli retroactively would not provide financial restitution to the overwhelming majority of those one-time homeowners:

Most Detroit homeowners lost their homes at a time when auction prices were very low, and windfall profits were unlikely.

Auction prices have grown in recent years and, thankfully, the number of homeowners at auction has dropped to almost nothing. That means, however, where there are a larger number of sales with windfall profits, they're not generated by owner-occupied housing, but property owned by speculators and landlords who often owned portfolios of tax foreclosed property.

It will be a Sisyphean task to find the former Detroit homeowners who might be owed retroactive windfall profits.

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The tax foreclosure auction didn't generate many windfall profits before 2015

The number of homes put up for bid in the tax foreclosure auction grew explosively between 2008 and 2015.

The 2015 tax auction was the largest in Wayne Countys history, with more than 25,000 foreclosed Detroit properties up for sale. That year, some 9,100 occupied Detroit homes were tax foreclosed; 6,400 belonged to Detroit homeowners. If there were substantial windfall profits on owner-occupied Detroit homes, wed have seen it in 2015.

Occupied Detroit homes foreclosed between 2014 and 2022

Using sales data from the 2015 tax auction via Regrid as well as Motor City Mapping data from 2014, I found that of those 9,100 occupied homes tax foreclosed in 2015, only about half even sold at auction: 4,849 total.

And of those 4,849 homes, how many sold for more than their tax debt owed? Answer: 642  just 13%. Of those 642 homes, 70% were owner occupied. The median windfall profit generated by the sale of those homes was $4,400.

So 6,400 Detroit homeowners lost their homes in the 2015 auction and, now, nine years later, the Michigan Supreme Court might decide that about 450 of them (if they can be found  more on this later) are owed four grand each.

For a lot of families, $4,000 might be a significant sum of money, but it pales in comparison to the value of what was lost  especially considering that the median sale price for a home in Detroit is now nearing $100,000.

Is there any chance of a retroactive ruling providing anything like financial justice to Detroit homeowners?

No.

Windfall profits are most likely to go to speculators

As home values rose in Detroit, did more recent auctions produce larger windfall profits on the homes of one-time Detroit homeowners?

Lets look at the 2018 tax auction, one-tenth the size of the 2015 tax auction, with "just" 2,700 Detroit properties tax foreclosed.

Only 11% of the $12 million in windfall profits generated by the 2018 tax auction would be owed to one-time Detroit homeowners. Most would go to former owners who live outside of Detroit (for that group, $5.4 million in total, and a median of $4,200) and former landlords ($2.5 million total, and a median of $4,300).

Auction profits, 2018

Far fewer occupied homes fell to tax foreclosure by 2018. Just 691 occupied Detroit homes were auctioned that year, evenly split between homeowners and renters. With more interest in Detroit real estate, 65% of those occupied homes sold at auction for more than their tax debt owed, a far higher rate than in 2015.

Michigan housing isnt affordable. Heres how we can fix it.

Still, the median windfall profit generated on the 154 owner-occupied homes that sold at auction for more than the tax debt that year was only $5,500  just 25% higher than the median windfall profit in 2015, despite only one-tenth of the supply at auction and a strengthening real estate market.

Tax foreclosure prevention mechanisms had become much stronger by 2018. If an owner-occupants home was sold in the foreclosure auction, it was far more likely that the home itself was in a much more deteriorated state and unlikely to generate as much interest at auction.

A portfolio of foreclosures is worth more than a single home

Heres another critical point to keep in mind: A homeowner would have windfall profits on one property. Many of these speculators and landlords had portfolios of properties that foreclosed. Why? It was part of their business model. If multiple properties generated windfall profits, they would be owed a portfolios worth of windfall profits.

Here are few examples, just from the 2018 auction, of owners whose property tax bills were mailed to addresses outside of Detroit with multiple properties foreclosed that generated windfall profits:

An owner in Livonia with nine properties tax foreclosed: Cumulative windfall profits of $106,000

An owner in Las Vegas, NV, with five properties tax foreclosed: Cumulative windfall profits of $73,000

An owner in Dallas, Tex., with eight properties tax foreclosed: Cumulative windfall profits of $53,000

An owner in Pontiac with eight properties tax foreclosed: Cumulative windfall profits of $45,000

The challenge of finding one-time homeowners

When it comes to reclaiming hypothetical retroactive windfall profits, landlords, speculators and non-resident owners will be more motivated  because theyd be owed more  and better resourced.

Michigan film subsidies were bad policy. Why is Lansing trying to revive them?

It will be incredibly difficult to find homeowners who are owed retroactive windfall profits, and theyll have far fewer resources with which to pursue them. Consider the difficulty the City of Detroit has had in reaching homeowners eligible for property tax breaks  and those are residents with established addresses.

I am also skeptical that establishing ownership will be a straightforward process for homeowners, especially those who lost their homes more than a decade ago. Anyone whos spent a minute dealing with the connection between the Register of Deed and Treasurers Office will know this.

As I have consistently said since the beginning of the Rafaeli case years ago, this series of lawsuits has little to do with justice for those wronged by tax foreclosure.

The profit motive for our delinquent tax system will remain.

Alex Alsup

Alex Alsup is vice president of research and development at the property data company Regrid. Read his research and analysis regarding property tax foreclosure and Detroit housing issues at The Chargeback: detroit.substack.com. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: A Michigan tax foreclosure ruling could hurt Detroit homeowners
(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp.s Azure cloud business is set to be hit by a formal complaint from South African antitrust watchdogs amid growing concerns from regulators across the world that the US tech giant is abusing its market power to squeeze out rivals.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The South African Competition Commission will accuse Microsoft of charging too much for businesses to switch their cloud licenses to other vendors, according to people familiar with the filing, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move, likely in the coming days, could set the stage for a legal battle that may end up with a fine of up to 10% of the firms revenue in the African nation.

Microsofts Azure cloud business has also been targeted by other global regulators  including the European Union, where it is currently subject to an informal investigation from watchdogs.

The UKs competition regulator has also started a probe into the cloud market, where it is examining in part how Microsofts Azure terms may be limiting competition.

Microsoft said the company was not aware of a complaint by the South African competition authority, but was standing ready to answer any questions about their software licensing policies.

Microsoft implemented software licensing changes two years ago which apply globally and enable South African customers to bring their Microsoft software licenses to any South African cloud provider at no additional cost, said a Microsoft spokesperson.

The South African regulator declined to immediately comment.

Like regulators across the world, the South African watchdog has been cracking down on Big Tech in recent years and firms alleged abuses of market power.

Last year, Google was ordered to improve visibility for smaller South African companies in search results, and to pay out for the training of smaller platforms.

Officials are currently probing whether artificial intelligence models, digital and social media platforms managed by services including Microsofts Bing are limiting the nations news and media companies ability to generate revenue.

(Update with Microsoft comment starting in sixth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

On Wednesday, Nov. 6  or shortly thereafter  millions of Americans will wake up to learn that their country elected a leader who will steer the countrys economy in a radically different direction than the other would if the outcome had been different.

If Donald Trump is the winner, you can expect a dramatic departure from the policies of the last four years  but who will benefit from those changes?

Check Out: Trump-Era Tax Cuts Are Expiring  How Changes Will Impact Retirees

Read Next: 6 Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money

GOBankingRates spoke with three experts  a business consultant, retirement planner and tax professional  who each bring a unique perspective to the discussion about the potential economic impact of a second Trump presidency.

Heres what they predict.

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Trumps Commitment to Low Corporate Taxes and Deregulation Could Benefit Business Owners

Philip Wentworth Jr., is a 25-year entrepreneur and co-founder of Rockerbox Tax Solutions, which provides business management and finance consulting services to small business owners. The firm helps entrepreneurs streamline financial processes, implement wealth creation strategies and mitigate tax liabilities.

After 25 years of startup, technology and business management experience, Wentworth knows that for business owners, elections matter.

Ive garnered deep insights into how different economic policies impact our clients, he said. From this vantage point, a second Trump term could notably benefit entrepreneurs and small business owners due to the continuation of lower corporate tax rates and possible further deregulatory measures. Specifically, policies that reduce bureaucratic hurdles for small businesses can accelerate growth and spur innovation, areas where our clients have seen tangible benefits.

Find Out: How Rich Is Former President Donald Trump?

Trumps Signature Achievement Was Business-Friendly Tax Cuts

Trumps 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered taxes  and revenues  across the board, but the nonprofit, nonpartisan Brookings Institute concludes that the true winners were business owners and the wealthy.

If Trump wins a second term, hes likely to continue or expand on some of the more corporate-friendly policies he instituted the first time around, which could be a boon for business owners.

One area thats been particularly advantageous for small business owners under similar economic policies is the enhanced ability to leverage tax strategies such as cost segregation and Section 179 deductions, said Wentworth. These strategies, which can significantly lower taxable income by accelerating depreciation on business assets, could become even more accessible or expansive under a second Trump term. This accessibility directly impacts small business owners bottom lines, enabling reinvestment into their operations and workforce.

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Deregulation and Corporate-Friendly Tax Cuts Are a Double-Edged Sword

Regulatory and tax policies are an economic see-saw  when too much preference is given to one side, the other can plummet to earth. Two examples are the cutting of necessary social programs to compensate for lost tax revenue or when too little regulatory oversight allows for preventable corporate malfeasance.

The implications of these policies are nuanced, said Wentworth. For example, while entrepreneurs and small business owners stand to gain from specific tax advantages and deregulation, the broader socioeconomic impacts, such as on consumer spending and overall economic health, must also be considered. A robust economy benefits small businesses by increasing consumer spending, but changes in healthcare or social programs could have indirect impacts.

A Wealth Advisor Thinks His Clients  Upper-Income Investors  Have the Most To Gain

David L. Blain, CFA, is the founder and CEO of BlueSky Wealth Advisors, a fee-only, independent registered investment advisor (RIA).

A speaker and writer whose commentary has appeared in some of the countrys most prominent publications, he is a member of the CFA Institute and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and chairman of the Board of Directors of CarolinaEast Health System in New Bern, where he also chairs the Investment Committee. He previously served on the Board of Advisors and Finance Committee of the West Point Association of Graduates, as treasurer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Eastern North Carolina, president of the Cumberland Interfaith Hospitality Network and treasurer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh.

His background gives him unique insight into how political leadership can impact everyone from the wealthy clients whose wealth he guards to the down-and-out recipients of his charitable work.

If Trump emerges victorious this November, he expects the former to do better than the latter.

Given my experience and the analysis weve conducted at BlueSky, a second Trump term could potentially favor investors and those in higher income brackets due to anticipated continued deregulations and tax policies favoring capital gains and corporate profits, he said. These groups have historically benefited from such policies, as they often lead to increased stock market performance and real estate valuation uptrends, areas where upper-income groups are more heavily invested.

Average Earners Could Benefit, but Theyll Get Less and It Will Take Longer

Blain believes typical people with average incomes could benefit from a second Trump term, too, but that the effects are likely to be delayed, residual and muted.

For the middle class, any benefits might hinge on broader economic growth leading to job creation and wage increases, though these effects could be more mixed and take longer to materialize, he said.

But the gains for those at the top and in the middle might come at the expense of the most vulnerable Americans.

Lower-income households and seniors could find themselves facing challenges if shifts toward deregulation lead to reductions in social support programs or changes to Medicare and Social Security, as has been debated, said Blain. Such demographic groups typically rely more on these types of governmental support structures, which could be altered or scaled back.

The Rich  and Their Descendants  Will Probably Get Richer

Like Blain, John F. Pace, CPA, founder of Pace and Associates CPAs, works with well-heeled clients who benefited from Trumps first term and probably will again if hes reelected this fall.

Throughout my extensive 40-year career in tax and estate planning, dealing with high-net-worth individuals and managing commercial properties and private foundations, Ive witnessed how tax policies under various administrations affect different economic strata, he said. My experience as a family office executive for a Forbes 400 family and my role in overseeing a tax group at U.S. Trust, which prepared thousands of tax returns, has ingrained in me a deep understanding of the nuanced interplay between tax law and economic benefit.

He thinks a second Trump term will likely bestow most of that benefit upon the investor class.

Ive observed that upper-class individuals and families often stand to gain the most from a Trump-led economic policy framework, said Pace. This demographic can leverage lower tax rates and favorable investment conditions to further solidify and grow their wealth.

The Children of the Aristocracy Will Inherit More Wealth

Pace concurred with most of Blains points and the logic supporting them, but as a tax specialist, he expanded on the wealth advisors assessment to include the all-important ability of the wealthiest Americans to hand down their assets unimpeded.

Estate planning under such a framework can often be more beneficial for these individuals due to potential relaxed regulations and tax advantages on wealth-transfer mechanisms, said Pace.

He also shares Blains expectation that any benefit for average earners will be diluted and distant.

Conversely, I have seen that middle-class families and small business owners may benefit indirectly through the trickle-down effects of increased investment in the economy and potentially lower individual tax rates, which could spur job creation and raise wages. However, the magnitude and distribution of these benefits can vary widely.

The precise impacts on low-income households, seniors and other vulnerable groups are more complex. These groups may find themselves navigating a challenging landscape if reductions in social support programs and changes to healthcare come to pass. Based on the immense diversity of clients Ive served, the critical takeaway is that economic policies are multifaceted, with varying implications depending on ones place in the economic spectrum.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Who Might Benefit Most From a Trump Economy?
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Miller Family Wine Company (MFWC), owned by one of California's premier winegrowing families, is pleased to announce its national partnership with Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), effective April 2, 2024.

(PRNewsfoto/Miller Family Wine Company) (PRNewsfoto/Miller Family Wine Company)

MFWC is known for its prestigious Bien Nacido Estates and acclaimed national branded wine labels, Butternut, J. Wilkes, Pandemonium, optik, Ballard Lane, Smashberry, Barrel Burner, Volunteer, Hand on Heart and Reciprocity wines. Through this strategic partnership, MFWC is set to broaden its distribution network to 27 states, including Alaska, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

"We're thrilled to embark on this new journey with RNDC," says Crystal McIntyre, National Sales Manager. "This partnership is not just a strategic alliance; it's a collaboration with a like-minded business who shares our vision for growth, excellence, and an expanded portfolio that will open new doors to wine lovers across the country."

Adds Nicholas Miller, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, "Our family company's success has centered around a legacy of sustainability, family and quality, along with an overall commitment to finding new ways to grow and improve. Joining forces with RNDC marks a new chapter for MFWC, creating more opportunities to expand consumer awareness of our award-winning brands."

"With our shared commitment to family and sustainability we are excited to join forces nationally with Miller Family Wine Company," said Dave Lane, Chief Supplier Excellence and Growth Officer. "Together, we look forward to sharing their growing portfolio with enthusiasts nationwide."

Miller Family Wine Company

Miller Family Wine Company is a division of the Thornhill Companies  the industry-leading umbrella brand of one of California's premier winegrowing families, the Miller Family, who have been farming California's Central Coast for five generations. Miller Family Wine Company includes the prestigious Bien Nacido Estates and acclaimed national branded wine labels such as Butternut, J. Wilkes, Pandemonium, optik, Ballard Lane, Smashberry, Barrel Burner, Volunteer, Hand on Heart (non-alcoholic wines) and Reciprocity organically grown wines, in addition to control label brands for prominent retailers across the U.S. and the French Camp vineyard in Paso Robles. For more information on Miller Family Wine Company, please visit www.millerfamilywinecompany.com.

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About Republic National Distributing Company

As a top beverage alcohol distributor in the nation, RNDC's national reach helps suppliers by building strategic relationships with on- and off-premise customers to elevate their brands and reach their target consumers. RNDC currently operates in the District of Columbia and 39 states across the United States. To learn more, visit www.rndc-usa.com or contact Kanchan Kinkade, Vice President, Corporate Communications at Kanchan.Achar@rndc-usa.com.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/miller-family-wine-company-and-rndc-announce-new-national-partnership-302108903.html

SOURCE Miller Family Wine Company
(Reuters) -Issues with Apple services including its App Store, video and music streaming platforms Apple TV+ and Apple Music, were resolved after outages that affected users across multiple regions, the company's website showed.

Issues were also reported on Apple's fitness service Apple Fitness+, as well as Arcade, Audiobooks, Books and Podcasts, according to Apple's system status pages for several countries reviewed by Reuters.

Apple services were down for users in countries including the United States, Britain, India, China and Australia. The outage began at about 2213 GMT on Wednesday and lasted for more than an hour, the status pages showed.

More than 6,400 users flagged issues they faced while using the App Store, and both Apple TV+ and Apple Music had over 1,000 reports at the peak of the outage in the United States, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources, including users.

Apple did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the cause of the outages.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Jamie Freed)
Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed on the planned cuts with state Senate leader Mike McGuire, center, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. (Associated Press; For The Times)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and leaders of the state Senate and Assembly announced an agreement Thursday to cut $17 billion from the state budget in April, providing the first details of their plan to begin to tackle the state's massive deficit.

The plan calls for delaying $1 billion in grant funding for transit and intercity rail projects, saving $762.5 million by pausing hiring for open state jobs and pulling back $500 million from a program to help districts pay for K-12 building projects, among other proposals to trim the shortfall now, before additional cuts are made this summer.

We are able to meet this challenge thanks to our responsible fiscal stewardship over the past years, including record budget reserves of close to $38 billion," Newsom said in a statement. "There is still work to do as we finalize the budget and I look forward to the work ahead together to continue building the California of the future.

The agreement marks a redo of a fumbled budget announcement made last month when Newsom and legislative leaders heralded a premature deal without disclosing an exact amount of funding they intended to cut or detailing a single program that would be affected.

Read more: Newsom and Democrats announce a plan to reduce the enormous budget deficit. How? TBD

Lawmakers and the governor are scrambling to reduce California's budget deficit, which Newsom estimated at $37.9 billion in January, before the fiscal forecast is updated in the coming weeks to likely show California in an even deeper budget hole. Estimates from the Legislative Analyst's Office have suggested the deficit next year could be nearly twice as high as Newsom's forecast.

Lower-than-expected revenues, delayed tax deadlines and overspending based on inaccurate budget projections created Californias grim financial picture. The state budget relies heavily on capital gains taxes paid by Californias highest earners, making state revenues subject to volatility in the stock market.

Republicans have criticized the lack of transparency into state budget negotiations and contend Democrats created the fiscal crisis by continuing to fund expensive programs, such as the expansion of Medi-Cal to all low-income immigrants, even as state revenues drop.

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) called the budget deal "a swing and a miss from Democrats."

"Californias budget has major league problems and Newsom is proposing JV solutions," Gallagher said.

The first round of cuts could be voted on as early as next Thursday.

Story continues

Democrats also agreed to pull $12.2 billion from state reserve accounts to cover the shortfall when the final budget is approved later on. The early cuts combined with the planned dip into the reserves will trim $29.5 billion off the deficit.

We are all committed to delivering an on-time balanced budget, and this early action agreement is a critical first step to shrink the states shortfall," said Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg).

Because the shortfall this year is so large, Newsom has urged the Legislature to take early action to begin to whittle away at the deficit now, long before the June 15 deadline to pass a budget.

The cuts Democrats agreed to make this month are largely considered the easier choices, allowing them to focus on tougher deliberations that will come later on this spring. Reducing the deficit before Newsom unveils his revised budget proposal in May could also lessen the public perception of the state's fiscal woes by trimming the deficit figure before it is expected to grow.

Read more: Voters say California's budget deficit is an 'extremely serious' problem, poll finds

The struggle to reach a consensus up until this point foreshadows the difficult work ahead in May and June for a Legislature and governor with little experience leading through a fiscal crisis as they weigh challenging choices that affect millions of Californians.

The agreement announced Thursday largely mirrors a plan the Senate put forward weeks ago to "shrink the shortfall" by $17 billion, which aligned with many of Newsom's proposals to begin to offset the deficit.

The Assembly, where Democrats hold 62 of 80 seats under a new speaker, took a little longer to reach a consensus. This week, the lower house said it pushed back on some of the governor's proposed cuts to housing and homelessness programs, which were ultimately left out of the early action deal. At the Assembly's urging, the agreement also authorizes the administration to pause one-time spending from prior budget years that has not yet been dispersed.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said his chamber's approach was the right way to come at closing such a massive shortfall and that he expects Newsom to deliver challenging budget proposals next month to reduce the deficit in the long-term.

The agreement, according to Newsom and legislative leaders, includes:





Saving $762.5 million by declining to fill vacant state positions.





Cutting $500 million from the School Facility Aid Program, which funds K-12 building projects.





Delaying $1 billion in funding for the state's Formula Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program.





Delaying $550 million for a grant program to build facilities to expand preschool, TK and full-day kindergarten.





Paying state workers on July 1 instead of June 30 to push $1.6 billion in payments into subsequent budget years.

The full list is available here. More details of the plan will be revealed when lawmakers introduce bill language, possibly next week.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nomura Holdings aims to expand its U.S. credit portfolio to $50 billion within 10 years and may seek small acquisitions to beef up its private credit business, the top Japanese investment bank's U.S. asset management chief said.

The goal is line with Nomura's strategy to increase investments in private markets and diversify sources of revenue to cushion the impact from wild fluctuations in the performance of its global trading business.

"We want to definitely grow this (U.S. credit) business collectively, quite substantially over the next five to 10 years to $50 billion or more" in assets under management, Robert Stark, who heads the U.S. asset management business, told Reuters in an interview.

Nomura Capital Management (NCM) currently has $35 billion assets under management, the vast majority of which is a high-yield bond portfolio, according to Stark, who is also the chief executive of the 80-member unit.

Nomura last month created NCM to combine its 33-year-old high-yield bond business and a private credit business that it launched just two years ago.

On the private credit side, the entire build-up had been purely organic as it hired 25 people over the last two years, but it's "more likely that we do more significant moves in terms of team lift-outs or small acquisitions," Stark said. "It's time for the next phase."

He said the unit's focus will remain the same, on more niche areas such as asset-based lending and real estate lending instead of large sponsor-backed deals.

London-based data firm Preqin forecast the global market for private credit, which largely involves leveraged loans made to indebted companies, to grow to $2.7 trillion by 2028 from nearly $1.5 trillion in 2022.

Non-bank lenders, or shadow banks, have expanded their lending in recent years as they faced fewer regulatory hurdles than traditional lenders. Wall Street banks have also joined forces with private equity giants and asset managers to expand their private credit businesses.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Sonali Paul)
OCEAN TOWNSHIP - With the doors now open at Norman's Hallmark at Seaview Square shopping center, the retailer of cards and gifts is continuing its growth trajectory of opening new stores and relocating older ones.

"We plan on continuing to grow and we have a lot of growth in front of us in the next year or two," said Howard Henschel, chief executive officer and president of Norman's Hallmark.

Norman's Hallmark has moved into the former Harmon Face Values store, a 6,450-square-foot space in the row of stores facing Route 66 at Seaview Square. Previously, it was located at Middlebrook Plaza on Route 35 at Deal Road in Ocean Township, about two miles away.

The new store was a "perfect size" for Norman's and shares the same center with several restaurants, Henschel said. "We just think it's a better location for our customers."

Puzzles and toys for sale at Norman's Hallmark in the Seaview Square shopping center in Ocean Township.

What's Going There? Beauty chain coming to Seaview Square in Ocean Township

It also is Norman's latest format with updated lighting and layout, said Kim Dunn, the company's marketing director. "The entire format and layout of this store is much more conducive to today's shopper."

It puts more distance between the Ocean Township store and another location at the Consumer Centre shopping center on Route 36 in West Long Branch, Henschel said. Norman's closed its Monmouth Mall store and moved to a larger space in West Long Branch in 2022.

Norman's sells Hallmark cards and ornaments as well as fashion and fashion accessories, books, stationary, games, home decor, specialty candy and gourmet food. Brands include Lenox, Yankee Candle, Life is Good, Willow Tree, Vera Bradley and Corkcicle. Some brands are based in New Jersey such as David Bradley chocolate in Robbinsville and Johnson's Popcorn in Ocean City.

Scented candles for sale at Norman's Hallmark at the Seaview Square shopping center in Ocean Township.

Ocean Township news: 9/11 fatally poisoned firefighter, but he battled for 23 more years

"We tried to bring in a very diverse selection of products for all different occasions for our customers," Dunn said.

And people still buy greeting cards despite the availability of electronic gift cards and emails. Forty percent of greeting cards are not mailed, but are handed out instead, Henschel said. "We have never found, in all the years, that greeting cards have been replaced by computer, emails and so forth. That's just another means of communication," he said.

But it's not "just about the card," Dunn said. The goal: buy a card, find a gift, get the wrap and maybe buy something for yourself. "If you're going to get a gift and you're looking for something unique or different, that's what we're known for," Dunn said.

Story continues

Newtown, Pennsylvania-based Norman's Hallmark now has 76 stores, including other Monmouth County locations in Howell, Freehold Township, Manalapan and West Long Branch.

Jellies and other foods available for sale at Norman's Hallmark at the Seaview Square shopping center in Ocean Township.

Ocean Township news: Wanna rent Wanamassa Elementary? Neighbors oppose district's proposal

For the last three years, Norman's has been opening about 12 stores per year and has plans to reach 100 stores in three or four years, Herschel said. One priority has been moving out of malls and into larger stores, similar to the company's move from Monmouth Mall to West Long Branch.

"Rather than improve our positions in malls, we'd rather have a bigger store outside the mall," Herschel said.

As part of the grand opening for the new Ocean Township location, the store is running a sale Thursday through Sunday April 7, which includes a raffle drawing for a free large Bogg Bag, valued at $95.99. All members of Crown Rewards, a free Gold Crown loyalty program, will receive 20% off regular purchases during the sale.

Keeping the roads safe: Which Monmouth and Ocean bridges need to be fixed? These 24 are on the list

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Norman's Hallmark opens at Seaview Square in Ocean Township
Acquisition expands Once For Alls European presence and product suite

BASINGSTOKE, England & PARIS, April 04, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Once For All (the "Company"), a European leader in supply chain compliance and sustainable sourcing solutions for the built environment, is excited to announce the acquisition of Nalanda Global ("Nalanda"), a leading supply chain risk and compliance management software platform in Spain.

The transaction extends Once For Alls European footprint into Spain and enhances the differentiated offering of its technology platform, adding scale and the ability to aid in providing a broader product suite to its customer base. Similar to Once For All, Nalanda operates a SaaS-based network that helps enable contractors in multiple industries to manage the compliance of sub-contractors in their supply chain. Nalanda also brings additional worker-level compliance and health & safety solutions to Once For Alls product suite.

Founded in 2000 by a group of preeminent Spanish construction companies, Nalanda is based in Madrid, Spain, and its international presence currently extends across more than ten countries in Europe and Latin America. Its solutions are used by large companies across a variety of engineering-related sectors including construction and facilities management. With a network of over 1,000 contractors and 45,000 sub-contractors as of December 2023, Nalanda has one of the largest digital communities of suppliers globally.

GTCR, a leading private equity firm, acquired Once For All in 2023 in partnership with Chief Executive David Hornsby. PSG Equity, a growth equity firm that partners with software and technology-enabled services companies, acquired a majority stake in Nalanda in 2021. As part of the transaction, which is expected to close in the coming weeks, the PSG funds will retain a minority stake in the combined business.

David Hornsby, Chief Executive of Once For All, said:

"Nalanda is a well-established provider with a product suite that strategically complements our own, and we are enthusiastic about combining our strengths as we continue to grow Once For All across Europe. We are excited to welcome the Nalanda team to Once For All and we look forward to working together."

Juan Gil Rabadan, Founder and CEO of Nalanda, said:

"Nalanda has gone through a transformative journey over the last three years under PSGs ownership. Through the investment in people and product, both organically and via M&A, weve established Nalanda as an industry leader in supply chain risk and compliance management in Spain, with a growing international presence. We are now thrilled to join Once For All as we share a vision for supporting the built environment globally. We look forward to partnering with the Once For All team and continuing to invest in innovating our technology and capabilities to serve our customers."

Story continues

Mark Anderson, Managing Director and Head of Technology, Media & Telecommunications at GTCR, said:

"The combination of Once for All and Nalanda helps position the business for future growth through a pan-European offering. The combined company provides a leading technology platform and differentiated suite of products to help address the critical supply chain and compliance needs of its customers. We are pleased to partner with the PSG team and look forward to the continued success of the business."

Dany Rammal, Managing Director at PSG Equity, said:

"PSG is proud to have been part of the journey to create a leading Spain-based software champion. Nalandas success to date is a testament to Juan Gil Rabadans vision and his entire teams dedication to scaling the Companys solution into a comprehensive supply chain risk management and compliance offering. We are excited to be continuing the journey alongside GTCR, David Hornsby and the entire Once For All management team in support of the combined companys growth journey."

About Once For All

Once For All is a European leader in supply chain risk management and sustainable sourcing solutions for the construction industry. We help our customers source and track sales opportunities, manage risk and compliance, and provide tools to increase efficiency in their supply chains. Once For All has over 150,000 customers that use its single codebase SaaS solution to search, find and assess future business relationships based on skills, trades and ESG credentials. As a result, Once For All manages one of the largest proprietary ESG data sets in the world. Once For All has over 400 employees, is the market leader in UK and France and has operations in Belgium and Germany. For more information, please visit www.onceforall.com.

About Nalanda Global

Nalanda is a Spanish supplier risk and compliance management platform founded in 2000. It leverages intelligent cloud software to help connect companies and suppliers using a digital platform that enables the smooth exchange and verification of health and safety, due diligence, supplier validation, invoices, ESG and other business information, as well as providing solutions designed to ensure compliance with worker access, and working time. Nalanda operates in Spain, as well as in several European and Latin American countries. For more information, please visit www.nalandaglobal.com.

About GTCR

Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm that pioneered The Leaders Strategy  finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. GTCR is focused on investing in transformative growth in companies in the Business & Consumer Services, Financial Services & Technology, Healthcare and Technology, Media & Telecommunications sectors. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $25 billion in over 270 companies, and the firm currently manages $40 billion in equity capital. GTCR is based in Chicago with offices in New York and West Palm Beach. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

About PSG Equity

PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 135 companies and facilitated 479 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City, London, Madrid, Paris and Tel-Aviv. To learn more about PSG, visit www.psgequity.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403942729/en/

Contacts

Once For All

Arun Varma

arun.varma@onceforall.com

Nalanda

Goodwill Comunicacion

Javier Herreros

jherreros@goodwill.es

GTCR

Andrew Johnson

Andrew.johnson@gtcr.com

PSG Equity

Prosek Partners

Matthieu Roussellier/Kate Pledger

Pro-psg@prosek.com
Monday's total solar eclipse might become one of the most filmed and photographed events of the year.

As the moon passes in front of the sun, plunging a swath of North America into a few minutes of darkness, throngs will take pictures or videos of the moment. But powerful solar rays and drastic changes in lighting pose unique challenges in catching that perfect image.

Here are some pointers on how to get the best shot:

How can I find the best place to capture the eclipse?

First, get in the right position. You'll want to be as close as possible to the path of totality, which passes over Mexico's Pacific coast and ends in eastern Canada. Fifteen U.S. states get to see the full eclipse.

There are online maps to check if you'll be anywhere near the path. NASA's map shows how many minutes of totality there will be if you're inside the path depending on location, and how much of a partial eclipse you'll see if you're outside of it.

For spectators in Mexico and Canada, eclipse expert Xavier Jubier's website overlays the eclipse's path on Google Maps, which allows zooming into street level detail.

Be ready to adapt to changing weather conditions. Use weather forecast and cloud coverage apps, including ones from the National Weather Service and Astrospheric, on the morning or the day before to find locations with clearer skies.

What can I use to plan a good shot?

With so many factors in play including cloud cover and the sun's position in the sky, planning is key to getting the best image.

There are a host of smartphone apps for eclipse chasers. The American Astronomical Society has compiled a list of useful ones for both iOS and Android devices, including its own Totality app that shows your location on a map of the totality path.

The Solar Eclipse Timer uses your phones GPS to play an audio countdown to the moment of totality and highlights key moments. The app's maker advises using a separate phone for taking photos.

Eclipse Calculator 2 for Android devices uses the phone's camera to depict how the event will look in the sky from your position, using lines overlaid on top of the camera image. For iPhone users, apps like Sky Guide and SkySafari have eclipse simulators. There are other iOS apps that use augmented reality to simulate the eclipse, but they're pricier and not yet on the society's list.

How can I take a great photo of the eclipse?

Digital SLR cameras will produce the best photos. Their manual exposure controls and ability to add zoom lenses and accessories like remote shutter buttons will let you make great pictures.

Story continues

Associated Press chief photographer Julio Cortez advises using a smaller aperture  f11 or f17  to keep the focus "a little bit sharper. When he shot the 2017 total solar eclipse, he used an ISO setting of 1250 and 1/500 shutter speed.

The rest of us have our smartphones.

NASA published detailed guidelines for smartphone eclipse photography in 2017 with the caveat that smartphones were never designed to do sun and moon photography." That's because the wide-angle lenses on most devices wont let you capture close-up detail. But new phones released since then come with sophisticated sensors, multiple lenses and image stabilization software that give a better chance.

Some experts suggest HDR, or High Dynamic Range, mode, which takes a series of pictures at different light levels and then blends them into a single shot  ideal for combining an eclipses very dark and very bright areas.

But dont use flash. You can spoil the moment by ruining the vision of those around you whose eyes have adapted to darkness.

What will I need to protect against the sun?

The American Astronomical Society advises using a solar filter to protect cameras against intense sunlight and heat.

You can buy a filter that screws onto DSLR lenses, but it will take time to remove when totality happens. Cortez made his own with cardboard, tinted film and fasteners that he can quickly rip off.

For smartphones, you can use a spare pair of eclipse glasses and hold it over the lens, or buy a smartphone filter. There's no international standard, but the society's website has a list of models it considers safe. Make sure macro mode is not on.

If you plan to shoot for an extended time, use a tripod. To line up his camera after mounting it on a tripod, Cortez uses a solar finder, which helps locate the sun without damaging your eyes or equipment.

Cortez also advises bringing a white towel to cover up your gear after setting up to keep it from overheating as you wait for the big moment.

Can I take a selfie with the eclipse?

It's very tempting to make a TikTok or Instagram-friendly eclipse video. Perhaps you want to selfie video, narrating into the camera while the cosmic ballet between sun and moon plays out over your shoulder.

Be careful: While you might think your vision isn't at risk because you're not looking at the sun, your phone's screen could reflect harmful ultraviolet light, eye experts have warned.

And if you're using a solar filter on the selfie camera, it will turn the picture dark and you won't show up.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
In accordance with article 6.2 of the articles of association, the annual general meeting of Park Street A/S (the "Company") is hereby called to be held on

26 April 2024, at 2:00 p.m. (Danish time)

The general meeting will be held at the Companys address

Svanevej 12, 2400 Copenhagen, Denmark

AGENDA

The board of directors has prepared the following agenda:

Board of directors' report on the Company's activities in the past year.

Presentation and approval of the audited annual report.

Board of directors' proposed resolution on the appropriation of profit or covering of loss according to the approved annual report.

Presentation of and advisory vote of the remuneration report.

Proposals from the board of directors or shareholders Proposal to reduce the share capital by annulment of 2,955,585 A shares and 12,164,865 B shares Election of members to the board of directors.

Election of auditors.

Authorisation to the chair of the meeting

Any other business

Item 1  Board of directors' report on the Company's activities the past year

The board of directors proposes that the general meeting takes note of the board of directors' report on the Company's activities in the past year.

Item 2  Presentation and approval of the annual report

The board of directors proposes that the audited annual report for the financial year 2023 is approved.



The annual report for 2023 is available on the Company's website: www.psnas.com .

Item 3  Proposed resolution on appropriation of profit or covering of loss

The board of directors proposes that the results are transferred to the financial year 2024 in accordance with the approved annual report.

Item 4  Presentation and advisory vote on the remuneration report

The Company has prepared a remuneration report for the financial year of 2023. The board of directors note that the remuneration report has been prepared in accordance with applicable law and the recommendations for corporate governance.



The remuneration report 2023 provides an overview of the total remuneration paid or owed to the board of directors and the executive management with respect to the financial year 2023. The remuneration report is available on the Company's website: www.psnas.com .



The board of directors proposes that the remuneration report for the financial year 2023 is approved by the general meeting.

Item 5.A  Proposal to reduce the share capital by annulment of 2,955,585 A shares and 12,164,865 B shares

As at today, the Company's share capital amounts to a nominal value of DKK 57,175,572 divided into 12,827,637 class A shares of DKK 1.00 each and 44,347,935 class B shares of DKK 1.00 each.



The board of directors proposes to reduce the Company's share capital with a nominal amount of DKK 15,120,450 by distribution to the shareholders in accordance with section 188(1)(ii) of the Danish Companies Act and at par rate.



The share capital reduction shall be made by annulment of the treasury shares owned by the Company as at the date of this notice, being 2,955,585 A shares and 12,164,865 B shares. The treasury shares have been acquired in accordance with the buy-back programs launched on 14 September 2022 and 28 February 2024 respectively.



The board of directors note that if the general meeting adopts the resolution to reduce the share capital, the resolution will be published in the IT system of the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) in accordance with section 192(1)(ii) of the Danish Companies Act, requesting the Company's creditors to file any claims against the Company within a time-limit of four weeks. After expiry of the creditors' time-limit for the filing of claims, the board of directors will then be able to implement the capital reduction to as adopted by the general meeting if this would still be deemed reasonable and in compliance with Danish Companies Act.



As a result of the proposed resolution, the board of directors proposed that article 3.1 of the articles of association be amended to the following complete wording, subject to the share capital being implemented following the 4 weeks' time-limit for the creditors to file claims:



"3.1 The Company's share capital is DKK 42,055,122 divided into DKK 9,872,052 class A shares of DKK 1.00 each or multiples thereof and DKK 32,183,070 class B shares of DKK 1.00 or multiples thereof. The share capital is fully paid up."

Item 6  Election of board of directors

Pursuant to section 13.1 of the Company's articles of association, the general meeting elects 3-6 members to the board of directors. Elected members are chosen for a period of one year at a time. Therefore, the elected period for any such member expires on the annual general meeting. Re-election is possible.



The board of directors proposes that Anita Nassar, Pradeep Pattem, Ohene Aku Kwapong, Claes Peter Rading and Medha Pattem are re-elected. Information on the candidates up for re-election may be found on the company's website.

Item 7  Election of auditors

In accordance with the recommendation from the audit committee, the board of directors proposes that PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab, CVR no. 33771231 (PwC) is re-elected as the Company's auditor.



The audit committee has confirmed that the committee has not been influenced by any third party and that the committee has not been subject to any agreements restricting the general meeting's election of auditors to certain categories or lists of auditors or auditing firms.

Item 8  Authorisation to the chair of the meeting

The board of directors proposes that the chair of the general meeting is authorised (with delegation powers) with the application and registration to the Danish Business Authority (Erhvervsstyrelsen) for any resolutions passed, including to make any such amendments and additions to the resolutions, which may be necessary in connection with the registration.

Documents available at the Company's office and website

The following documents will no later than on 4 April 2024 be made available for the shareholders' inspection at the Company's website or its address: (i) this notice, including the agenda and the complete proposals (included in this notice), (ii) the total number of shares and voting rights as at the date of this notice (included in this notice), (iii) the audited annual report for the financial year 2023, (iv) the remuneration report for the financial year 2023, (v) information and background of candidates up for election to the board of directors, and (vi) proxy and postal vote forms.

Majority requirements

The proposals under the agenda's items 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 may be adopted with a simple majority.



The proposal under the agenda's item 5.A may be adopted by two-thirds of the voting rights and share capital represented at the general meeting voting in favour.



The vote for the remuneration report under the agenda's item 4 is solely advisory.

Postal vote

Shareholders may choose to vote by postal vote prior to the holding of the general meeting. As at the date of this notice, postal voting forms will be available at the Company's website www.psnas.com.



Postal votes may be submitted via the PSN shareholder portal on the Company's website www.psnas.com or by email to GF@computershare.dk or by sending the postal vote by post to Computershare A/S, Lottenborgvej 26 D, 1. floor, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.



Postal votes must be received by the Company or Computershare A/S no later than on Thursday, 25 April 2024 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) (Danish Time) .

Proxy

Shareholders may attend the general meeting by proxy in which the shareholders may choose to elect the board of directors or any other named third party as their proxy. As at the date of this notice, proxy forms will be available at the Company's website: www.psnas.com .



Proxies must be submitted via the PSN shareholder portal on the Company's website: www.psnas.com or by email to GF@computershare.dk or by sending the signed proxy to Computershare A/S, Lottenborgvej 26 D, 1. floor, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.



In case of a third party proxy, the shareholder must request an admission card and voting card in the name of such third party. In addition, the proxy must provide proof of his or her right to attend the general meeting by presenting documentation for the application for registration and by presenting a written and dated proxy form.



Proxies granted to the board of directors must be proxies to cast votes only in accordance with the board of directors' recommendations or according to a proxy form.



Proxies must be received by the Company or Computershare A/S no later than on Monday, 22 April 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Danish time) .

Admission cards, voting cards and record date

The right to attend and vote at the general meeting is granted to shareholders who are recorded in the register of shareholders no later than one week prior to the holding of the general meeting (the "Record Date"), or shareholders who no later than on this date have notified and substantiated the acquisition of shares with the purpose of being recorded in the Company's register of shareholders. Shareholders, or shareholders' proxies, must request for admission cards no later than on Monday, 22 April 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Danish time) .



Admission cards for the annual general meeting will be sent electronically by email to the email address stated in the PSN shareholders portal at registration. The admission card must be presented at the general meeting either electronically on a smartphone/tablet or in printed form.

Shareholders having requested admission cards without specifying their email address may pick up their admission cards at the entrance to the general meeting upon presentation of a valid ID.

Voting cards will be handed out at the access control at the general meeting.

The Record Date is Friday, 19 April 2024 .

Questions from the shareholders

Submissions prior to the general meeting



Should shareholders have submissions to individual items on the agenda, they are encouraged to send these before the general meeting is held to ease the holding of the general meeting.



Submissions and questions may be sent per email to parkstreet@parkstreet.dk no later than on Monday, 22 April 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Danish Time) .



Submissions at the general meeting



After the presentation of each item on the agenda it will be possible to submit questions and discuss the proposals.



The management will, on the request of any shareholder, disclose any information available on matters of importance to the assessment of the annual report or the Company's general position, to the extent this may happen without any significant detrimental effect on the Company.

Share capital and voting rights
The CEPI-funded study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of IAVI's single dose Lassa fever vaccine candidate

Key takeaways:

Participants in Nigeria have been vaccinated with a Lassa fever vaccine candidate in the first Phase 2 clinical trial of any Lassa vaccine.

Lassa fever is a deadly hemorrhagic fever common to West Africa. No approved vaccine currently exists.

More than 600 participants in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria are expected to enroll in the IAVI-sponsored trial, funded by CEPI.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 4, 2024 / Participants at HJF Medical Research International in Abuja, Nigeria, have been vaccinated in the first Phase 2 clinical trial of a Lassa fever virus (LASV) vaccine candidate to date, according to IAVI, a nonprofit scientific research organization and the trial sponsor. The study (IAVI C105/PREVAIL15) is funded by CEPI, an innovative global partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats.

Dr. Bolaji (left) is the Nigeria-based HJFMRI principal investigator for the IAVI C105 Lassa fever vaccine clinical trial at HJFMRI in Abuja, Nigeria

The trial in Nigeria has been designed in consultation with in-country partners, including the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nigeria Lassa Vaccine Taskforce. HJF Medical Research International, Ltd/Gte (HJFMRI) has been conducting infectious diseases research in collaboration with HJF and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Nigeria since 2014. In addition to Nigeria, and pending regulatory approval, IAVI expects to enroll additional participants at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, and the Partnership for Research on Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in Liberia (PREVAIL)1.

"Nigerian clinicians, scientists and community members are key leaders in this international collaboration, which will ensure that vaccine development incorporates local context, experience and perspectives while fostering sustainable in-country research capacity and partnerships," said Dr. Abdulwasiu Bolaji Tiamiyu, clinical research center director, HJFMRI, and principal investigator of IAVI C105 in Nigeria.

No approved vaccine currently exists for LASV, which causes an acute viral hemorrhagic illness called Lassa fever. Given its potential to cause a public health emergency of international concern, LASV is included in the World Health Organization R&D Blueprint of priority pathogens for which there is an urgent need for accelerated research and development (R&D) and countermeasures2. IAVI and members of the global Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium have been collaborating since 2018 to accelerate clinical development of IAVI's single-dose LASV vaccine candidate in studies supported and funded by CEPI and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Read more.

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An estimated 5,000 people die each year from LASV, and about 300,000 people fall ill across West Africa annually - though the true disease burden is thought to be much higher. Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are most affected, but increasingly, neighboring countries are experiencing their own emerging outbreaks, with travelers occasionally carrying infections to other regions. Although most people who develop LASV have mild or no symptoms, approximately 20% will develop more serious symptoms including widespread bleeding and major organ failure. Approximately a third of those infected with LASV experience associated deafness, sometimes resulting in lifelong disability. Children under 10 years old, pregnant people, and health care workers are especially vulnerable to LASV infection.

"Continued outbreaks of Lassa fever and the emergence of Ebola Sudan in Uganda both underscore the need to have vaccines for known disease threats available for evaluation and use during outbreak situations - the overarching goal of IAVI's emerging infectious disease program." said Swati Gupta, DrPH, MPH, vice president and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology, IAVI. "IAVI C105 is an important step toward attaining eventual licensure of a Lassa fever vaccine, should IAVI's vaccine candidate prove to have an acceptable safety profile and be efficacious. We are grateful to our funders, our clinical partners, and our consortium collaborators for their continued support of IAVI and commitment to a more secure world."

"Lassa fever has long been a threat to much of West Africa, and factors like climate change and population growth could exacerbate its transmission in coming decades," explains Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI. "The world urgently needs a Lassa vaccine for routine immunisation. The initiation of IAVI's new Phase 2 trial - the most advanced Lassa vaccine trial to date - is an important milestone in public health and signals that better tools to manage and prevent outbreaks are coming. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with IAVI and regional partners to advance this promising vaccine as quickly as possible."

IAVI's LASV vaccine candidate was well-tolerated and immunogenic among participants in both the U.S. and Liberian cohorts of IAVI's Phase I LASV vaccine trial (IAVI C102). Robust immune responses appear to be sustained for up to one year after vaccination3. In the Phase 2 study, researchers will evaluate the vaccine candidate's safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity at two different dosage levels in adults, including people living with HIV, as well as in adolescents and in children two years of age and older. Approximately 612 participants will be enrolled and followed for six months after vaccination to monitor their safety and immune responses. A subset of participants will be followed for an additional two years for extended safety and immunogenicity.

CEPI and IAVI are united in their commitment to global equitable access. Should the candidate be found to be safe and efficacious in clinical testing, IAVI is committed to making its Lassa vaccine affordable and accessible to all populations in need.

Harnessing a proven platform technology for global preparedness

IAVI's LASV vaccine candidate uses the same recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector platform as ERVEBO, Merck's single-dose Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) vaccine, which is licensed in North America, Europe, and 10 African countries. The rVSV platform has been used extensively in adults and children4.

IAVI's goal is to develop and test rVSV-based vaccines against emerging infectious disease pathogens that pose epidemic threats as part of an overall preventive strategy which includes routine immunization as appropriate as well as stockpiles which can be rapidly deployed for larger outbreaks as needed. IAVI's EID portfolio includes a Sudan ebolavirus vaccine candidate supported by BARDA; a Lassa fever vaccine candidate supported by CEPI and EDCTP; a Marburg virus vaccine candidate supported by BARDA and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD); and an intranasal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate supported by DOD DTRA and the Japan Ministry of Finance.

Much of the R&D on IAVI's rVSV platform is performed at the IAVI Vaccine Design and Development Lab (DDL) in Brooklyn, New York. The DDL is one of the world's leading viral vector vaccine R&D labs, known for innovation and generation of novel vaccine design concepts. Scientists with IAVI's Human Immunology Laboratory (HIL) in London, U.K., are involved in processing participant samples and developing the analytical assays needed to evaluate IAVI C105 participants' immune responses. They are also facilitating technology transfer of the assays to West African partner institutions.

IAVI's LASV vaccine candidate was manufactured by Batavia Biosciences in Leiden, The Netherlands, a contract-development and manufacturing organization focused on delivering sustainable, low-cost manufacturing solutions in the field of infectious disease and cancer. Through its partnership with Batavia, IAVI intends to develop an end-to-end platform for flexible, low-cost production of epidemic preparedness vaccines.

Results from IAVI C105 are expected in 2025 and will be made available through open-access publications and via scientific meetings to ensure all can benefit from the research.

###

IAVI Media Contact

Rose Catlos

Rcatlos@iavi.org

212-847-1049

CEPI Media Contact

press@cepi.net

+44 7387 055214

HJFMRI Media Contact

Lisa Reilly

lreilly@Global-ID.org

301-339-3566

About IAVI

IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases. Its mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Read more at iavi.org.

Follow IAVI on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and subscribe to our news updates.

About CEPI

CEPI was launched in 2017 as an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. CEPI has supported the development of more than 50 vaccine candidates or platform technologies against multiple known high-risk pathogens or a future Disease X. Central to CEPI's pandemic-beating five-year plan for 2022-2026 is the 100 Days Mission' to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days.

About IAVI's rVSV vaccine candidates

IAVI holds a nonexclusive license to the rVSV vaccine candidates from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The vector was developed by scientists at PHAC's National Microbiology Laboratory.

IAVI initially developed its rVSV vector for HIV vaccine candidates and has since expanded its use to the development of vaccines addressing emerging infectious diseases (Lassa Fever, Marburg, Sudan ebolavirus, and COVID-19).

Funders who have made the development of IAVI's rVSV-vectored vaccine candidates possible include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Government of Canada; the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Government of Japan; the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation; the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; the U.S. National Institutes of Health; and through the generous support of the American people from the United States Agency for International Development.

This project is funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority under contract number 75A50121C00077.

1 PREVAIL is a Liberia-U.S. clinical research collaboration established in 2014 by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Ministry of Health in Liberia. In 2015, PREVAIL participated in a clinical trial (PREVAIL 1) of Merck's now-licensed Ebola Zaire vaccine ERVEBO, which uses the same recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector backbone as the candidates in IAVI's emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) vaccine development portfolio, including the IAVI LASV vaccine candidate being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial.

2 Blueprint (who.int)

3 https://www.iavi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/C102_ASTMH_Poster_Chicago2023.pdf

4 https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/blue-print/who-vaccine-prioritization-report-uganda-ebola-trial-nov-16-2022.pdf

SOURCE: IAVI





View the original press release on accesswire.com




Key Insights

Significant control over Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad by private companies implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions

Alticor Global Holdings Inc. owns 52% of the company

Institutions own 16% of Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad

If you want to know who really controls Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad (KLSE:AMWAY), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 52% to be precise, is private companies. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

And sovereign wealth funds on the other hand have a 19% ownership in the company.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad.

View our latest analysis for Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad. Our data shows that Alticor Global Holdings Inc. is the largest shareholder with 52% of shares outstanding. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 19% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 9.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

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Insider Ownership Of Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad. It has a market capitalization of just RM1.2b, and insiders have RM19m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 12% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 52%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad (including 1 which is significant) .

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

If this kind of company isn't your style, you like companies that generate revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Paramount Corporation Berhad (KLSE:PARAMON). While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it.

View our latest analysis for Paramount Corporation Berhad

Paramount Corporation Berhad's Improving Profits

In the last three years Paramount Corporation Berhad's earnings per share took off; so much so that it's a bit disingenuous to use these figures to try and deduce long term estimates. So it would be better to isolate the growth rate over the last year for our analysis. To the delight of shareholders, Paramount Corporation Berhad's EPS soared from RM0.097 to RM0.13, over the last year. That's a impressive gain of 37%.

Top-line growth is a great indicator that growth is sustainable, and combined with a high earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, it's a great way for a company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. It's noted that, last year, Paramount Corporation Berhad's revenue from operations was lower than its revenue, so that could distort our analysis of its margins. On the revenue front, Paramount Corporation Berhad has done well over the past year, growing revenue by 11% to RM1.0b but EBIT margin figures were less stellar, seeing a decline over the last 12 months. So if EBIT margins can stabilize, this top-line growth should pay off for shareholders.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.

You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Paramount Corporation Berhad's future profits.

Are Paramount Corporation Berhad Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's pleasing to see company leaders with putting their money on the line, so to speak, because it increases alignment of incentives between the people running the business, and its true owners. Shareholders will be pleased by the fact that insiders own Paramount Corporation Berhad shares worth a considerable sum. Indeed, they hold RM63m worth of its stock. This considerable investment should help drive long-term value in the business. As a percentage, this totals to 8.8% of the shares on issue for the business, an appreciable amount considering the market cap.

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Should You Add Paramount Corporation Berhad To Your Watchlist?

If you believe that share price follows earnings per share you should definitely be delving further into Paramount Corporation Berhad's strong EPS growth. With EPS growth rates like that, it's hardly surprising to see company higher-ups place confidence in the company through continuing to hold a significant investment. On the balance of its merits, solid EPS growth and company insiders who are aligned with the shareholders would indicate a business that is worthy of further research. Before you take the next step you should know about the 1 warning sign for Paramount Corporation Berhad that we have uncovered.

Although Paramount Corporation 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.
Rodedawg International Industries, Inc.

New Product Channel Expands & Accelerates 2024 Revenues

COSTA MESA, Calif., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rodedawg International Industries, Inc. (OTC: RWGI) proudly announces the Company, through our wholly owned subsidiary, Parabola Mgmt. LLC, has accelerated sales of hemp and cannabis derived isolates.



Chris Swartz, CEO, states: We are proud to announce that last quarter management invested over six figures in developing a manufacturing facility for extraction of cannabis derived isolates from hemp. The internal investment by our leadership is specifically for one of our largest revenue centers which benefits all Rodedawg shareholders. We passionately believe that as the leadership of the company we should demonstrate with our own dollars the value of the Rodedawg expansion for 2024 and beyond. We have completed the initial test of the equipment, and the Company is now at 65% production of the cannabis derivatives and isolates, and our revenues are growing rapidly.

Mr. Swartz adds, According to Zion Market Research, the Global Cannabis Extract Market is growing at CAGR of 16.8% and expected to reach 21.6 Billion by 2026. This is a major milestone for our Rodedawg shareholders as we now have in place our own manufacturing capability, our own distribution, and our own sales channels. Rather than grow from a secondary market, it is particularly important that we are growing from the #1 cannabis market in the world. In the coming quarters we have planned expansion into additional states bringing Rodedawg into the MSO (multi-state operator) category.

Zion Market Research





Mr. Swartz concludes, Quite frankly, it has been a multi-year journey for our shareholders during which we have been building the companys infrastructure for the current growth we are now experiencing. We truly are honored and proud to be reporting the upcoming Disclosure. We believe that this period of growth is the reflection of the combined determination of our team and shareholders to have Rodedawg becoming a dominant force in the #1 cannabis market in the world. These preliminary sales that will be reported in our first quarter Disclosure for 2024 will be the indicator of continued growth of the hemp derived isolates channel. We are working quickly to complete the Disclosure. The company continues to encourage our shareholders to re-visit our corporate roadmap and corporate video area on the website at https://www.BuddingHorizon.com . We are confident that our strategically planned roadmap of expansion via sales, acquisitions and mergers will increase 2024 revenues to meet and potentially exceed our stated goal of 7 million annually.

Story continues

RWGI Roadmap 2024-25





About Rodedawg International Industries, Inc.

Rodedawg International Industries, Inc. (OTC: RWGI) is focused on providing management services, acquisitions and restructuring resources throughout the regulated California cannabis market. We are a trusted partner and asset to licensed cultivation, distributors, manufacturers, and retail dispensaries.

Please note the company's Twitter address is: https://twitter.com/RWGImerger for regular updates.

About Budding Horizon, LLC

Budding Horizon, LLC is a California Limited Liability Company with offices in Orange County, California. The company is focused on providing management services for the licensed cannabis industry and seeks to leverage its expertise in the real estate acquisitions to acquire and develop a portfolio of assets.

The company website is: https://buddinghorizon.com/

About Brother Buds

Brother Buds is a cannabis delivery service based in Costa Mesa, California. During the month of July 2023, the Rodedawg will operate Brother Buds under a non-storefront cannabis delivery license. The cannabis delivery service will focus on Los Angeles County, Orange County, and norther San Diego County in the demographic area of 23.86 million in 2019. The company is focused to providing management services for the licensed cannabis industry and seeks to leverage its expertise in the real estate acquisitions to acquire and develop a portfolio of assets.

The company website is: https://BrotherBuds.com

Make sure to follow us at: https://twitter.com/BrotherBudsOC

About Elixicure

Elixicure is a leading provider of manufacturing and capsule encapsulation services. We offer a wide range of services to meet the diverse needs of our clients, including capsule encapsulation, formulation, manufacturing, labeling and bottle filling. Our state-of-the-art facilities and experienced team of professionals allow us to deliver high-quality products and exceptional customer service. Whether you are looking for small-scale or large-scale production, we have the expertise and capabilities to meet your needs. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your manufacturing and encapsulation needs.

The company website is: https://elixicure.com/

Make sure to follow us at: https://twitter.com/Elixicure

Contact Information:

Rodedawg International Industries, Inc.

1-800-793-0355

ir@buddinghorizon.com

Safe Harbor Statement: In addition to historical information, this press release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include the intent, belief, or expectations of the Company and members of its management team with respect to the Company's future business operations and the assumptions upon which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, failure to complete anticipated sales under negotiations, lack of revenue growth, client discontinuances, failure to realize improvements in performance, efficiency and profitability, and adverse developments with respect to litigation or increased litigation costs, the operation or performance of the Company's business units or the market price of its common stock. Additional factors that would cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated within this press release can also be found on the Company's website. The Company disclaims any responsibility to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Rodedawg International Industries, Inc.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1468605a-09ea-40ed-855a-181f12bd25a4

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cd850353-341f-46c1-b72e-2a10f3ca76ee




Dividend of EUR 0.50 per A-share approved

LUXEMBOURG, April 04, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SES held its Annual General Meeting and an Extraordinary General Meeting today in Betzdorf, Luxembourg.

The shareholders voted all resolutions in line with the recommendations from the board of directors, notably the company's 2023 annual accounts and the proposed dividend of EUR 0.50 per A-share, which will be paid to shareholders on 18 April 2024. The shareholders also approved the re-introduction of an authorised capital for a period of five years.

Shareholders re-elected Dr Jennifer Byrne, Mrs Katrin Wehr-Seiter and Mr Carlo Fassbinder as directors for another three-year mandate.

Following the shareholders meeting, the Board of Directors elected Mr Frank Esser as Chairperson for a period of one year and both Mrs Anne-Catherine Ries and Mr Peter van Bommel as Vice-Chairperson also for a period of one year.

The complete composition of the Board and short biographies on each of the Directors are available at: https://www.ses.com/about-us/board-directors

The 2023 Annual Report is available for download at: https://www.ses.com/investors/annual-reports

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About SES

SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless data connectivity services around the world. As a leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES owns and operates the worlds only geosynchronous orbit and medium earth orbit (GEO-MEO) constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance. By leveraging its vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES delivers high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the worlds leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SESs video network carries over 6,400 channels, reaching 363 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240404065830/en/

Contacts

Suzanne Ong

External Communications

Tel. +352 710 725 500

suzanne.ong@ses.com
SIIC Environment Holdings Ltd.'s (SGX:BHK) investors are due to receive a payment of CN0.006 per share on 31st of May. The dividend yield of 6.6% is still a nice boost to shareholder returns, despite the cut.

See our latest analysis for SIIC Environment Holdings

SIIC Environment Holdings' Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. However, prior to this announcement, SIIC Environment Holdings' dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 2.5% if recent trends continue. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 4.8% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

SIIC Environment Holdings' Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

It's comforting to see that SIIC Environment Holdings has been paying a dividend for a number of years now, however it has been cut at least once in that time. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. The dividend has gone from an annual total of CN0.0473 in 2017 to the most recent total annual payment of CN0.0588. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 3.2% per annum over that time. Modest growth in the dividend is good to see, but we think this is offset by historical cuts to the payments. It is hard to live on a dividend income if the company's earnings are not consistent.

SIIC Environment Holdings May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Earnings per share has been crawling upwards at 2.5% per year. If SIIC Environment Holdings is struggling to find viable investments, it always has the option to increase its payout ratio to pay more to shareholders.

Our Thoughts On SIIC Environment Holdings' Dividend

Even though the dividend was cut this year, we think SIIC Environment Holdings has the ability to make consistent payments in the future. While the payout ratios are a good sign, we are less enthusiastic about the company's dividend record. This looks like it could be a good dividend stock going forward, but we would note that the payout ratio has been at higher levels in the past so it could happen again.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for SIIC Environment Holdings (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing. Is SIIC Environment Holdings not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top 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.
West Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 4, 2024) - Surge Battery Metals Inc. (TSXV: NILI) (OTCQX: NILIF) (FSE: DJ5) (the "Company" or "Surge") is pleased to announce it has concluded an entry and exploration agreement with the Salmon River Cattlemen's Association (SRCA).

The agreement with the SRCA extends permission for Surge to commence drilling and other surface use on the parcels of SRCA private ground where Surge already holds fractional (25%) ownership of the sub-surface mineral rights (see news release of December 7, 2023).

Surge intends to drill four reverse circulation holes on the SRCA parcels to test extensions of high-grade lithium mineralization outlined in previous Surge drilling to the north of the private parcel and high grade soil geochemistry (>1,000 ppm Li).

Surge also intends to drill another four holes on claims held by Surge as well as claims with its joint venture partner M3 Metals Corp. ("M3"). The drill sites shown in the figure below are tentative with the actual locations to be determined by ground conditions, avoidance of sensitive areas on the private parcels and permitting approval by the Bureau of Land Management on the M3 and Surge claims.

Drilling is scheduled to start by the end of May, 2024.

2024 drilling at the NNLP will test for lithium mineralization 1km to the west and up to a 1.2km to the south of the 2024 maiden resource area (see news release of February 22, 2024). Drilling is designed to expand and better define the footprint of lithium clay mineralization at the NNLP prior to infill drilling in 2025.

Mr. Greg Reimer, Chief Executive Officer, and Director commented, "We are happy to have come to an agreement with the Salmon River Cattleman's Association and look forward to actively working together as we advance the NNLP project. Our 2024 program will be bold and will take big step outs to the west and south, growing the mineralization footprint as much as possible prior to our 2025 exploration program."

Qualified Person as Defined Under National Instrument 43-101

Alan J. Morris, MSc, CPG of Spring Creek, Nevada, a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical aspects of this news release.

Figure 1



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9838/204183_410d4bfe545ee8ef_001full.jpg

About Surge Battery Metals Inc.

Surge Battery Metals, a Canadian-based mineral exploration company, is at the forefront of securing the supply of domestic lithium through its active engagement in the Nevada North Lithium Project. The project focuses on exploring clean, high-grade lithium energy metals in Nevada, USA. Lithium is a crucial element for powering the electric vehicles of tomorrow. With a primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and the OTCQX Market in the US, Surge Battery Metals Inc. is strategically positioned as a key player in advancing lithium exploration, contributing significantly to the sustainable future of the electric vehicle industry.

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About the Nevada North Lithium Project

The Company's Nevada North Lithium Project, located in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Elko County, Nevada. The first two rounds of drilling, completed in 2022 and 2023, identified a strongly mineralized zone of lithium bearing clays occupying a strike length of more than 3,500 meters and a known width of up to 950 meters. Highly anomalous soil values and geophysical surveys suggest there is potential for the clay horizons to be much greater in extent. The Nevada North Lithium Project has a pit-constrained Inferred Resource containing an estimated 4.67Mt of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) grading 2,839 ppm Li at a 1,250 ppm cutoff.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Greg Reimer"

Greg Reimer,

President & CEO

Contact Information

Email : info@surgebatterymetals.com

Phone : 604-662-8184

Website: surgebatterymetals.com

Keep up-to-date with Surge Battery Metals on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

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 document may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan" or "planned", "possible", "potential", "forecast", "intend", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of commodities including lithium and nickel, the accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals including approvals of title and mining rights or licenses and environmental, local community or indigenous community approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure or water, changes in laws, rules and regulations including in the United States, Nevada or California or any other jurisdiction which may impact upon the Company or its properties or the commercial exploitation of those properties, currency risks including the exchange rate of USD$ for Cdn$ or other currencies, fluctuations in the market for lithium related products, changes in exploration costs and government royalties, export policies or taxes in the United States or any other jurisdiction and other factors or information. The Company's current plans, expectations, and intentions with respect to development of its business and of its Nevada properties may be impacted by economic uncertainties arising out of any pandemic or by the impact of current financial and other market conditions (including US government subsidies or incentives) on its ability to secure further financing or funding of its Nevada properties. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon several assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, environmental (including endangered species, habitat preservation and water related risks) and social risks, contingencies, and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/204183
GRAPHIC / INCOME TAXES: Income tax preparation (CLIP ART)

This tax season, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program will help thousands of qualifying households in the region file their tax returns free of charge. My journey as a VITA volunteer has been nothing short of transformative. Each tax season, I find myself immersed in a community-driven initiative that not only provides individuals with essential financial services but radiates a spirit of empowerment and inclusion.

Being a VITA volunteer is not just about crunching numbers; it's about contributing to a collective effort that provides financial empowerment for those who need it the most. This tax season, the VITA program is reaching new heights by extending its services to Southern New Mexico residents through a dedicated site at New Mexico State University.

There are 24 VITA sites positioned throughout El Paso and Southern New Mexico, ensuring accessibility for everyone. It's more than just a tax-preparation service; it's a network of support for those navigating the complexities of the tax season.

As volunteers, we are the backbone of VITA, armed with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) certification and a genuine commitment to assisting our community, providing services in both English and Spanish.

The program has saved qualifying households millions of dollars in tax-preparation fees, offering financial relief that goes beyond numbers on a balance sheet. These savings translate into groceries on the table, car payments made, and saving for the future.

Part of VITA's impact lies in spreading awareness about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable credit that often goes unnoticed by taxpayers. Last year, VITA helped residents in our community receive $6.3 million in Earned Income Tax credits.

More: Where to get free eclipse glasses? Some El Paso watch parties to visit on April 8

This year, I am one of the hundreds of student volunteers from 13 area high schools and two universities that are giving their time to make the VITA program possible. These schools not only provide sites for tax preparation, but also nurture student volunteers who, like me, find themselves on a journey of gaining real-world knowledge and community service.

The experiences Ive gained through VITA go beyond the technicalities of tax preparation. Volunteering for this wonderful program has instilled a sense of civic responsibility in me and my generation. We dedicate numerous hours to training with the IRS, obtaining tax-preparation certification, and actively participating in conversations with families and individuals to understand their unique tax needs.

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Together, with the dedication of other volunteers and the support of VITA partners we continue to illuminate paths to financial empowerment and build a future where qualifying households have access to tax preparation at no cost.

Please visit freetaxeselpaso.org for updates, locations and a complete list of what to bring. Free tax filing is available for most people with less than $35,000 in expenses. Copies of Social Security cards, IDs, ITINs or previous tax returns will not be accepted.

Lexy Martinez is a student at University of Texas at El Paso and a five-year VITA volunteer.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Tax prep program helps file returns free of charge: Lexy Martinez
NEW YORK, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Guild Garage Group ("Guild"), a newly formed alliance of garage door service companies focused on replacement, repair and installation, has announced that Tim O'Reilly has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer.

Guild Garage Group (Guild) is a newly formed alliance of garage door service companies focused on replacement, repair and installation.

Guild is a first-of-its-kind coalition of garage door brands united by the vision of building a leading network of premier residential service providers. Guild does not operate as a traditional private equity firm or large competitor, but rather as an alliance of likeminded owner operators driven by a common mission, value system, and purpose.

"We are incredibly excited about the opportunity in residential garage door services and in partnering with some of the leading owner-operators in the category to bring the vision of Guild to life. We are thrilled to have Tim onboard as we begin to accelerate our strategy," said Jordan Dubin, Co-Founder of Guild.

As CEO, O'Reilly will build a world class leadership team dedicated to developing and training employees, creating unparalleled customer experiences that foster stronger brand loyalty, and driving continuous process improvements. O'Reilly has led multiple privately held organizations from startup to exit and brings over a decade of investment and executive leadership expertise, specifically in the home services industry. He most recently served as CFO of Frontier Service Partners from 2021-2024 in which he was directly responsible for deploying private capital into successful partnerships with leading brands while driving value creation across operations and finance.

"When we decided to embark on this journey of creating a first-of-its-kind, differentiated garage door partnership platform, we constructed our plan around a simple premise: partnering with a select group of talented owners with proven success, and then providing them with the ambition, resources, and partnership necessary to reach their full potential. Tim was a natural fit to lead this effort and we feel incredibly fortunate to count him as a member of the team," said Joe Delaney, Co-Founder of Guild.

"Tim's experience in creating motivated, data-driven leadership teams is second to none, and will help our partner companies achieve outsized growth over the coming yearsWe look forward to having him work alongside some of the strongest operators in the garage door services industry to help create a new and powerful player in the category," said Sean Slazyk, Co-Founder of Guild.

O'Reilly added, "Joe, Jordan, Sean, and the rest of the Guild team have a remarkable track record of identifying winning partnerships, creating instant value with focused investment, and turbo-charging growthGuild's impressive early success in establishing themselves as a preferred partner to owners interested in unlocking the growth potential of their business is highly impressive. I am honored to work alongside this team to help create an alliance of the leading garage door service companies in the nation."

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Prior to joining Guild, Tim O'Reilly was the founding CFO of Frontier Service partners, an HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Home Services platform in the Midwest. Prior to Frontier, O'Reilly was the CFO for one of the leading privately held HVAC businesses in the state of Florida, Del-Air Heating & Air Conditioning. Tim received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Florida and is a certified public accountant, and a chartered global management accountant. As Florida natives, Tim and his wife, Andrea, reside in Orlando, Florida with their two children, Declan and Kenna.

Guild is actively looking for leading garage door service businesses across the country. Founders and advisors interested in learning more should contact Jordan Dubin at Jordan@guildgaragegroup.com.

About Guild Garage Group

Guild Garage Group is a newly formed alliance of garage door service companies and is actively looking to partner with owners of industry-leading companies. Guild is guided by the vision of being the preferred partner to business owners through a "made for you" brand positioning and invests in companies with strong management teams and cultures to create unmatched growth opportunities for them. Guild allows owners to take chips off the table but retain "unit level ownership" so they continue to benefit through annual distributions and an eventual full exit as their business grows. Guild retains the employees and management teams of the companies they partner with, and provides them with the resources and processes they need to better serve their customers, employees, and communities. More information about Guild can be found at https://www.guildgaragegroup.com/.

Media Contact:

Jordan Dubin

347-342-7929

Jordan@guildgaragegroup.com

Tim OReilly has joined Guild Garage Group as Chief Executive Officer.

Cision

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SOURCE Guild Garage Group
A full quarter of 2024 is behind us now, and its clear that were in the midst of another bullish run, similar to last year. The gains are substantial; markets reached a trough in October 2023, and the S&P 500 is up ~24.5% from that point while the NASDAQ has rebounded 29%. Year-to-date, the indexes are up 9% and 10%, respectively.

And, while last years gains rested on the narrow base of mega-cap tech firms, the gains this year are built on a broader foundation, providing investors with more options for investment. The professional stock analysts are taking note, as well, and are not shy about tagging stocks as Buys for the rest of this year.

With that as backdrop, weve dug up the details on two names the analysts at financial giant Wells Fargo have turned bullish on. Theyve recently upgraded their ratings on them  so, its time to hit buy, in other words. Using the TipRanks database, we can see that these stocks already have Buy ratings and double-digit upsides, while the Wells Fargo view sees gains of up to ~60%. Here are the details.

GoodRx Holdings (GDRX)

The first Wells Fargo pick on our list is GoodRx, a company that takes pharmacy services and joins it to both online tech and the growing telehealth industry to create a package deal designed to streamline the distribution of prescription medications. The company is based in Santa Monica, California, has been in business since 2011, and its operations are based on a key insight about healthcare consumers: that giving them access to better information will result in better consumer decisions  and better healthcare results.

Expanding upon that insight, GoodRx today gives its users the information they need  including price transparency and affordability solutions, based on convenient telehealth consultations. The result is an online pharmacy that is patient-oriented, designed to promote greater medication compliance and faster treatment regimens, all for a better patient outcome.

GoodRxs chief service is access to prescription medications, with discount pricing. Patients can consult with physicians and pharmacists, can use electronic coupons, and can select from generic drug equivalents. The system is optimized to make sure that each patient gets the correct prescription, with the correct instructions, filled conveniently. The service is available directly through the companys website, where users can also find informative articles from medical professionals, to add context to the prescription services.

By the numbers, GoodRx has built up a substantial business. The company provides more than 200 billion pricing points daily, and estimates that 80% of transactions are repeat business  a strong indication of satisfied customers. Overall, GoodRx estimates it has saved its customers approximately $60 billion over the years.

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Turning to the results, we find that GoodRx showed a top-line of $196.6 million in 4Q23, a figure that beat the forecast by a modest $730,000 and was up nearly 7% year-over-year. On the bottom-line, EPS of ($0.06) missed the estimates by a penny.

Assessing the companys prospects, Wells Fargo analyst Stan Berenshteyn thinks GoodRx is well set-up to outperform. He writes, Analysis of strategic pivots over the last two years points to possible growth headwinds, but revenue visibility (and downside risk) appear to be materially improved. We think this sets up GoodRx to deliver on a beat & raise narrative in 2024 with upside to consensus expectations in 2025. We expect this dynamic to help GDRX close the valuation gap to its peers, in turn setting up the stock to see meaningful outperformance over the next 12 months.

As such, the analyst recently upgraded his GDRX rating from Equal Weight (Neutral) to Overweight (Buy), while his $10 price target (up from $7.5) indicates a one-year upside of 49%. (To watch Berenshteyns track record, click here.)

This stock has 13 recent analyst reviews, breaking down to 7 Buys, 5 Holds, and 1 Sell, for a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The shares are trading for $6.72 and their $8.88 average target price suggests a 32% upside potential for the year ahead. (See GoodRxs stock forecast.)

NeuroPace (NPCE)

Next up is NeuroPace, another California company in the medical field. NeuroPace focuses on the treatment of epilepsy. The company has developed the RNS system, a medical device designed to detect and prevent seizures without the use of medication. This is an important advance, as some types of epilepsy are known to be medication-resistant.

NeuroPaces system acts directly in the brain, where it can monitor and record electrical activity, and apply nervous stimulation when seizures are indicated. Because the device also records EEG data, patients and physicians are able to fine-tune the stimulation and better monitor the pace and frequency of seizure activity. Patients using the device report a significant reduction in seizure activity, and 1 in 5 patients were reported as seizure-free at their last medical check.

The companys revenues have shown an almost consistent upward trend since the second half of 2022. In the last quarter reported, for 4Q23, revenue came to $18 million, up 41% from the $12.8 million reported in 4Q22. The firms EPS, reported as a loss of 23 cents per share, was 8 cents better than had been anticipated. For the full-year 2024, the company has guided for revenues between $73-$77 million, compared to 2023s $65.4 million.

However, Wells Fargos Vik Chopra thinks the company might be playing it safe here. Our analysis demonstrates potential upside to 2024 numbers and beyond as NPCE expands access to RNS outside of Level 4 CECs, Chopra said. We do not believe that mgmt has contemplated meaningful revs in 2024 guide from Project CARE and as such, we see potential for upside revisions we like the setup as NPCE expands into the community setting and do not believe the Project CARE opportunity is priced in.

Conveying his confidence, Chopra rates the shares as Overweight (Buy  upgraded last month) and his price target of $20 implies an upside of 62% on the one-year horizon. (To watch Chopras track record, click here.)

Theres general agreement on the Street that this is a stock to buy; the Strong Buy consensus rating is based on 7 recent reviews that include 6 Buys to 1 Hold. The shares have an average price target of $17.71, suggesting a 43% one-year increase from the current share price of $12.37. (See NeuroPaces 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.
Vodafone logo pictured at the Vodafone Campus. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has referred the proposed merger between British telecoms giant Vodafone Limited and CK Hutchison's Three UK, to an in-depth probe, due to the possibility that this merger may result in a substantial lessening of competition within one or more markets in the UK. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has referred the proposed merger between British telecoms giant Vodafone Limited and CK Hutchison's Three UK, the parent company of which is headquartered in Hong Kong, to an in-depth probe.

The UK regulator stated on Thursday that, based on the information currently available to it, there is a possibility that this merger may result in a substantial lessening of competition within one or more markets in the United Kingdom.

On March 22, 2024, the CMA decided that it was or might have been the case that the merger could be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within one or more markets in the United Kingdom.

The merger would have been referred for a phase 2 investigation unless the parties had offered acceptable undertakings to address these competition concerns.

In January 2024, the CMA announced that it launched its first phase of investigation into the telecom major Vodafone Group PLC UK's combination with privately held telecom firm, Three UK.
Unisem (M) Berhad (KLSE:UNISEM) Full Year 2023 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: RM1.44b (down 19% from FY 2022).

Net income: RM81.9m (down 66% from FY 2022).

Profit margin: 5.7% (down from 14% in FY 2022). The decrease in margin was driven by lower revenue.

EPS: RM0.051 (down from RM0.15 in FY 2022).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Unisem (M) Berhad EPS Beats Expectations, Revenues Fall Short

Revenue missed analyst estimates by 1.5%. Earnings per share (EPS) exceeded analyst estimates by 3.1%.

The primary driver behind last 12 months revenue was the United States of America segment contributing a total revenue of RM863.0m (60% of total revenue). The largest operating expense was General & Administrative costs, amounting to RM380.3m (46% of total expenses). Explore how UNISEM's revenue and expenses shape its earnings.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 9.2% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 14% growth forecast for the Semiconductor industry in Malaysia.

Performance of the Malaysian Semiconductor industry.

The company's share price is broadly unchanged from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Unisem (M) Berhad (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable) you should be aware of.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Sinn Fein has called for referendums on a united Ireland by 2030 - Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

A united Ireland could cost Dublin more than 17 billion every year for two decades, according to a new study, which has warned of an immediate, major reduction in Irish living standards if reunification happens.

Ireland would have to raise taxes by about 25 per cent and slash public spending if Northern Ireland joined it after leaving the United Kingdom, the study suggests.

The Irish think tank report said high costs would be incurred if Dublin immediately raised social security benefits and public sector wages in Northern Ireland, the poorest region of the UK, to match the rest of Ireland, which is predicted to have a 56.3 billion budget surplus by 2027.

Even though Ireland has a much higher national income, funding the needs of the people of Northern Ireland in a united Ireland would put huge financial pressure on the people of Ireland, resulting in an immediate major reduction in their living standards, Prof John FitzGerald said.

Prof FitzGerald, one of the authors of the Institute of International and European Affairs paper, likened the 20 billion (17 billion) a-year bill to a third of a bank bailout every year.

The costs of reunification would be reduced if the Northern Irish economy was reformed, the study said - Stephen Barnes/Alamy

The bill for reunification, which would require successful referendums on both sides of the border, would drop to 6.86 billion a year if the UK agreed to write off Northern Irelands share of the national debt and to continue to pay state pensions to people who made National Insurance contributions, the study said.

That was unlikely, the think tank cautioned, because the UK Government would be wary of bolstering the case for Scottish independence, and Dublin would be at a negotiating disadvantage over the imperative to deliver unity after referendums in favour of reunification.

Looking for somebody else to pay for unification is not going to happen. If it happens, weve got to pay for it ourselves, Prof FitzGerald told the broadcaster RTE on Thursday.

He said the costs of reunification would be reduced if Northern Ireland reformed its sluggish economy to boost productivity, which would cut the deficit .

Sinn Fein, which won the last Northern Ireland Assembly elections and has a commanding lead in the Irish polls before elections in the next 12 months, has called for votes on a united Ireland by 2030.

The Good Friday Agreement says the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should call a border poll if it appears likely a majority would back unity.

The Government insists this condition has not been met. Recent polls show most Northern Irish voters want to remain in the UK, despite the debate over reunification being given fresh impetus by Brexit, which most in the region opposed.

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The think tanks analysis focused on the subvention paid from Westminster to Northern Ireland, which is the shortfall between what is raised in taxes in the region and the amount spent on public services.

It adjusted pre-pandemic data from 2019 to reflect a united Ireland, such as less defence spending, higher payments to the EU and greater corporation tax revenue, and reached a subsidy of just under 9.4 billion.

This would leap to the huge sum of more than 17 billion, equivalent to 10 per cent of national income, if Northern Irish benefits and public sector wages were raised immediately to the level of those in the Republic.

Some costs would be offset by Northern Ireland rejoining the EU as part of a united Ireland but this would take considerable time, the study said.

There would have to be a dramatic increase in taxation and/or a major reduction in expenditure, the report added, and it would be difficult to postpone standardisation for long..

Some 44 per cent of Irish voters said they would be less likely to vote for a united Ireland if they would be 3,400 worse off as a result, research published in the Irish Times in December found.

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.
Shares of Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) continue to slide, and investors are worried that a new lawsuit by Boeing (NYSE: BA) could impact the company. But Travis Hoium thinks this is noise in the long-term trajectory of a company that has two years before it gets to significant revenue.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of April 3, 2024. The video was published on April 3, 2024.

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Is Virgin Galactic in Trouble? was originally published by The Motley Fool
SOUTH BURLINGTON  The president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States was in Vermont Tuesday to tour the Beta Technologies electric aircraft manufacturing facility at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport off Williston Road that it helped build with a $169 million loan.

Reta Jo Lewis, who is also chair of the board of directors of the bank, wanted to see firsthand how the loan the bank provided to Beta in November was being put to use, creating jobs and producing products for export, the mission of the bank. The bank serves as the official export credit agency of the United States.

Beta has already signed a deal to provide electric aircraft to Air New Zealand and has other potential customers in countries such as India, Japan and Canada.

Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of Beta Technologies, Reta Jo Lewis, president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and Owen Herrnstadt, board member of the bank (l to r), address reporters at Beta's manufacturing plant on April 2, 2024.

"We work every day in support of U.S. jobs facilitating exports," Lewis said. "We can make it in America and we can export it from America."

A high standard of quality drives Beta to use U.S. suppliers

Lewis was joined by Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of Beta, and Owen Herrnstadt, a member of the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank. Clark said he was proud to answer Herrnstadt's questions as the trio toured the factory floor.

Beta Technologies' Alia electric aircraft flies over Washington, D.C.

"He was asking where the machinings were being made, where the semi-conductors were from, where the carbon fiber was being molded as those pieces of the supply chain were coming together to do the final assembly here," Clark said. "We were proud to answer Salt Lake, Dallas, Michigan, New York, coming out of the D.C. area. A lot of the pieces and parts of our airplane are strategically domestically sourced."

More: Electric airplane builder Beta Technologies is hiring and ushering in a new age of aviation

Clark explained that aerospace has a high standard of quality that requires being very engaged with the supply chain and vice-versa.

"So it drives to a more domestic supply chain and also makes for a lot of pride in the products we're producing in this facility," Clark said.

Beta puts a smile on bank president's face

Lewis made it clear she was pleased with how the bank's money was put to work.

"You're talking with a company that's all about the greening of aviation," she said. "You go inside and meet the men and women who are transforming aviation. How can you not be excited? How can you not come out here with a smile on our face? Vermont is the place that is going to be one of the key drivers of the future of aviation, done here at Beta."

Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of Beta Technologies, shakes hands with Reta Jo Lewis, president and chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States at an event in Washington, D.C., where the bank announced a $169 million loan to Beta.

Clark said the current manufacturing facility will employ about 800 people when it's fully up and running and will produce 300 electric aircraft per year. Over the next 18 months, he said Beta will probably break ground on the second half of the facility, doubling its size and potentially making it the largest producer of small general aviation aircraft in the country.

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"If we can say that the largest producer of aircraft is now producing a sustainable green electric aircraft, then I will say that will be our first win," Clark said.

Contact Dan DAmbrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosi@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DanDambrosioVT.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: U.S. Export-Import Bank president visited Beta Technologies in VT
The Port of Wilmington's finances may have stabilized under its new operator, Enstructure, but union laborers say there has been less work available in the first months.

This story was produced by Spotlight Delaware as part of a partnership with Delaware Online/The News Journal. For more about Spotlight Delaware, visit www.spotlightdelaware.org

Classie Harrison, a four-year veteran at the Port of Wilmington, arrived at her union hall at 7 a.m. Tuesday, hoping to secure a day of work following months of underemployment at the Delaware facility.

Many of her fellow union members had heard that the ports operating company, Enstructure, would need more than 60 warehouse workers for various jobs that day. It was a bigger-than-average daily request for this years disappointingly slow fruit season, many said.

Still, it was a fraction of the workforce called up in past years when the Port of Wilmington would hire many hundreds to handle a flood of bananas, pineapples, grapes and mandarins arriving on ships in bulk.

Ultimately, Tuesdays call-up was not enough for Harrison to get work. By 8 a.m., she was among dozens of port workers with low union seniority contemplating what to do during another day without a job.

For many, it meant mounting concerns over missed payments on car loans, mortgages, and utility bills  as well as worries over a foreboding October deadline when the unions taxpayer-funded health insurance would be cut for those who dont secure 700 hours of Port of Wilmington employment for the previous 12 months.

I probably should be looking for something else, but Im trying to hold onto the health insurance for me and my son, said Harrison, adding that she has secured work at the port about one day each week in recent months.

Harrisons troubles highlight how operations have moved at a crawl during Enstructures first eight months since taking over management of the publicly owned Port of Wilmington from a subsidiary of the Emirati-based Gulftainer.

State officials have cited a dismal fruit season in South America and Morocco.

But, the workers troubles also appear exacerbated by an increasing shift to bringing fruit through the port in containers  rather than as bulk shipments.

Members of the International Longshoremens Association wait on March 26, 2024, to see whether they will be needed for work at the Port of Wilmington.

Harrisons union local  one of four that make up the Port of Wilmingtons workforce  is made up of more than 200 warehouse workers whose jobs historically have depended on tasks related to handling bulk goods. A handful of crane operators and mechanics also are members of the local.

During an early March meeting of the Delaware government board that oversees the port, Enstructure executive Bayard Hogans said a transition toward containers started last year. But, it became more drastic during this fruit season, in part, because the Panama Canal gave priority to container ships after a drought reduced the number of allowable passages allowed through the corridor.

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Hogans also noted that his company recently purchased new container handling equipment to the tune of $4 million, among other infrastructure upgrades.

Following the meeting, Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock, who oversees the Port of Wilmingtons contracted lessee, said a transition to containers could mean less work for members of Harrisons local, but argued that the droughts in Central and South America are the primary reasons for the current downturn.

Still, he contended that the ports shift to more containerized cargo would open up year-round opportunities for the facility, and relieve it of a dependence on a fruit season that occurs only during the Southern Hemispheres summer months.

Its a vulnerable place to be, Bullock said. What is it? A 12-week or so fruit season. It wasnt the best situation.

Such comments have long sparked fear among members of Harrisons embattled union  today called the International Longshoremens Association Local 2076. They also add to additional perceived pressures on the workers from the construction of a state-supported cold storage warehouse that will sit outside the gates of the Port of Wilmington in Claymont.

Last year, officials from Georgia-based Agile Cold Storage, which received millions of dollars in state grants to support the construction of its $170 million project and hire 130 workers, said they intended to draw business from ports across the mid-Atlantic region. They do not intend to use ILA workers.

In all, the current slowdown  as well as future challenges and past strife  has some port workers worrying that their storied, decades-old union local could be nearing its demise.

They want to take our jobs from us, said Malik Davidum, who has worked for three decades within the Port of Wilmington warehouses.

In a statement, an Enstructure spokesman reiterated that bulk shipments of fruit to the Port of Wilmington this season is down significantly. In addition to smaller harvests and a shift to containers, the spokesman attributed the decline to a sudden drop in shipping rates for containerized cargo.

Still, the company does expect a near-term increase in business from cargo being redirected away from the Port of Baltimore, following the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

We have handled cargos diverted from Baltimore and we remain ready to support the broader regions critical international trade operations, the spokesman said.

The past strife

The struggles facing Harrisons union this fruit season adds to turbulence in past years when several members of her local claimed they were targets of a coordinated campaign of anti-worker maneuvers.

In early 2020, several port employees alleged a local union leader had colluded with the ports then-operator, GT USA Wilmington, to ignore official grievances. Later in the year, GT USA Wilmington fired two outspoken crane operators who had made complaints against the company and were members of the warehouse workers local. The company later pressed criminal theft charges against the crane operators, but they were later dropped.

By early 2021, national union officials made a surprise decision to dissolve the warehouse workers local and reshuffle them into the three others that existed at the Port of Wilmington. As a consequence of the dissolution, the locals lighting-rod president, Julius Cephas, was removed from leadership.

A year later, the workers signed a new collective bargaining agreement. But, many complained it was substandard  and coerced.

Six workers described how a port union leader, Williams Ashe Jr., presented them with the proposed bargaining agreement shortly after Delaware officials had committed nearly $3 million to a union health insurance fund. They all recounted how Ashe told them they would only receive taxpayer-supported health care if they agreed to the contract.

Months after the signing of the contract, the national port union leaders again decided to move the warehouse workers out of the disparate locals and back into one of their own.

In a letter sent to the workers in August 2022, the longshoremens union Secretary-Treasurer Stephen Knott said the previous inclusion of the warehouse workers into other locals at the Port of Wilmington had been ineffective and harmful.

It was a surprising and dizzying series of events. And, it ultimately prompted several workers to file legal challenges against the union and against the port.

One was Deta Hill, who said in lawsuit that the collective bargaining agreement she had signed meant fewer benefits for herself and her coworkers.

All of our benefits from 2018 have been gone with the wind, Hill said in the lawsuit filed against leadership at the ILA.

Better under Gulftainer?

The developments over the past years are still fresh in the minds of Port of Wilmingtons warehouse workers.

On Tuesday, while Harrison recounted her struggles, many at the union hall said they believed their problems were the culmination of what they claimed were years of union-busting attempts.

Many also complained that after all the upheaval, their local still had not rid itself of a much-maligned seniority system that classifies certain, preferred workers as so-called As while others are Bs.

Finally, some questioned aloud why Delaware officials are committing millions of dollars to the Port of Wilmington for the construction of a container terminal at Edgemoor, while they suffer from a crisis that threatens their very existence.

In all, the conversation prompted some to pose an unlikely question: Was their situation better under the ports previous embattled operator, Gulftainer?

While the company failed to maintain equipment and angered many workers, at least it kept us working, Harrison said.

As soon as this new company, Enstructure, came, its like all the buildings got cleared out, she added.

Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox by signing up for the free newsletter at spotlightdelaware.org/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Port of Wilmington workers find tough start to Enstructure era
Want to buy a home in Arizona? Good luck with those rising prices and resulting sky-high monthly payments.

Thinking better of buying right now and planning to rent until you save enough for a down payment? Well, rents are up more than 50% in the past seven years, making it much more difficult to save the cash you need for a down payment.

There is a solution with a history of success in other parts of the country: Make it easier to build more homes.

In Arizona and many other places, there arent enough homes to go around  and experts overwhelmingly agree that local regulatory barriers are largely to blame.

Arizonas housing shortage has been exacerbated by an influx of residents priced out of California by that states slow, costly permitting processes and restrictive zoning rules that prevent new housing.

How other states have solved this problem

Alber Gallardo frames a home under construction on July 14, 2023, in Eastmark, Mesa.

Unfortunately, Arizona has its own zoning restrictions  in particular, ordinances that make it hard to build all but single-family homes on large lots, the most expensive type of housing. These restrictions, along with population growth, have created scarcity in the housing market, which drives up prices for families and increases homelessness.

The good news? Other states facing similar problems have found solutions that could work for Arizona.

Like Arizona, Montana has experienced a population surge, drastic increases in housing costs and rising homelessness.

Montana lawmakers faced the problem head-on last year, passing a suite of reforms to allow more homes, including duplexes; apartments near businesses; and what are known as accessory dwelling units, which property owners can add in their backyard, garage or basement and then rent out.

An additional reform requires jurisdictions to use a simple, quick process to approve or deny building permits.

Washington state passed several of the same reforms.

In both states, the efforts were bipartisan because lawmakers recognized that communities needed state-level help to address housing costs and homelessness  serious challenges rooted in a shortage of homes.

And theres strong evidence that these reforms work.

These measures make homes more affordable

Accessory dwelling units have been legal for many years in cities ranging from Gainesville, Fla., to Anchorage, Alaska; they typically rent for less than studio apartments and are often affordable to lower-income residents.

When Minneapolis simplified the permitting process for building apartments near commerce and reduced parking mandates, apartment construction surged: Rents in the city then rose just 1% from 2017 to 2022, compared with 14% in Minnesota overall and 29% nationwide.

Story continues

Similar free-market reforms have sharply improved affordability in places as diverse as New Rochelle, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; and Tysons, Va.

Houston has taken a slightly different approach, substantially reducing its legally mandated minimum lot size. This move allowed builders to construct homes on smaller lots so families werent required to pay for large yards they might not want or couldnt afford.

Lawmakers are focusing: On the wrong housing problem

The result: 80,000 new town houses, which could be purchased for nearly 40% less than detached homes on larger lots.

Furthermore, town houses in Houston are affordable to families earning just above the areas median family income of about $79,000. (By comparison, Phoenix-area households earning the area median cant afford the regions median home price of $452,000.)

In Arizona, costs and homelessness are up

Houston and Minneapolis are affordable because they reduced regulatory barriers and allowed more homes to be built. In the most recent five-year period, Minneapolis added 11.9% to its housing stock and Houston added 8.9%.

Phoenix and Tucson, on the other hand, added just 6.3% and 4.5%, respectively, not nearly enough to keep up with growth.

As a result, costs in Arizonas two largest cities soared. And homelessness rose 54% in the Phoenix area and 38% in the Tucson area in the past five years, while dropping 17% in the Houston area and 13% in the Minneapolis area.

Not all problems require complicated solutions. Theres a clear path to bringing homeownership within reach for Arizona families, improving rental affordability and cutting homelessness.

Builders are ready to build.

Let them.

Brian Norman is director of state affairs at the Goldwater Institute. Alex Horowitz is project director of The Pew Charitable Trusts housing policy initiative. Reach them at ahorowitz@pewtrusts.org and bnorman@goldwaterinstitute.org.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona must ease strict zoning laws to make homes more affordable
An Ohio woman accused of operating an illegal gambling pleaded guilty to tax charges on Wednesday.

>>Miami Twp. Board of Trustees cast votes on assistant police chief accused of misconduct

Stephanie Condric managed and later co-owned an illegal gambling business, Gametastic, in Canton, according to court documents and statements.

She and her co-conspirators did not report to the IRS the cash wages paid to employees.

Condric also filed false personal tax returns that concealed a portion of the income she made from the business, court records say.

No sentencing date has been announced.

Condric is facing up to five years in prison, as well as restitution and monetary penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The case remains under investigation.
Springtime means rain, the return of flowers and, of course, Y Combinators first demo day of the year. During the well-known accelerators first of two pitch days from the Winter 2024 cohort, a covey of TechCrunch staff tuned in, took notes, traded jokes and slowly whittled away at the dozens of presenting companies to come up with a list of early favorites.

AI was, not shockingly, the biggest theme, with 86 out of 247 companies calling themselves an AI startup, but we're reaching bubble territory given that 187 mention AI in their pitches.

From AI-generated music and grant applications to neat new fintech applications and even some health tech work, there was something for everyone. Were back at it Thursday for the second day of pitches. Until then, if you didnt get to watch live, heres a rundown of some of the best from day one.

TechCrunch's staff favorites

What it does: Uses AI to help companies find and apply for grants

Why its a fave: Landing grants isnt easy. Max Williamson, Peter Crocker and Greg Miller know this well: Theyve worked between them at The Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where grants are common currency. Finding and applying for grants involves sifting through mounds of paperwork and submitting countless forms  an expensive and time-consuming process. So why not have AI help with it? Thats the idea behind their startup Aidy, which is focused exclusively on Rural Energy for America Program grants for now. After asking a few questions, Aidy evaluates an organizations competitiveness for grants by navigating eligibility requirements and scoring criteria, then takes a first pass at filling out any relevant forms. Aidy is clearly in the proof-of-concept stage, judging by the state of its tooling. But the concepts an interesting one  assuming the platforms AI doesnt make too many mistakes.

Who picked it: Kyle

What it does: Serves as a banking platform for nonprofits

Why its a fave: If youre in the nonprofit space, compliance and regulatory requirements force you to do finances a little differently. Thats where Givefront comes in. Co-founded by Ethan Sayre and Matt Tengtrakool, who previously launched a startup to help loan-takers based in Nigeria, Givefront offers banking, spend management and financial governance services for nonprofits. Specifically, Givefront provides accounts to nonprofits to store money and integrate donations, payments and reimbursements, as well as features for automatic reporting and annual regulatory filings. Givefront certainly isnt the only nonprofit banking option out there. But it appears to be one of the first built from the ground up for this purpose  which certainly has its own appeal.

Who picked it: Kyle

Story continues

What it does: Software that links databases and large language models

Why its a fave: Theres a lot of attention in the market on companies that make large language models -- the bigger, the faster, the smarter; you get the idea. But when it comes to actually deploying modern AL models inside of a company, you run into data issues. For example, Skyflow, one startup I covered recently, is working to keep sensitive information out of the wrong users of LLMs. Buster was eye-catching because it appears to be working on a problem that a whole mess of companies are going to run into. Sure, new models are cool, but selling software picks and shovels during the AI gold rush is probably a darn good business model. I dig it!

Who picked it: Alex

What it does: Banking services for contractors in emerging markets

Why its a fave: Creating better payroll solutions for remote and international workers isn't new, but Numo's approach of focusing on contractors in emerging markets specifically stands out. It's also smart that Numo is building a banking product on top of its payroll system so that these contractors, many of whom would be based in countries with currencies that fluctuate frequently, have a more secure place to store their earned funds.

Who picked it: Becca

What it does: Uses AI to help consumer packaged goods brands aggregate retail fees and dispute invalid ones

Why its a fave: Many CPG brands, especially emerging ones, have very small margins that are squeezed by numerous fees that cover shelving, packing incorrect quantities and shipping damaged products. Intercept says that spotting and flagging invalid fees could give CPG brands back an average of 15% of their revenue that would have otherwise been spent on inaccurate fees. This seems like a problem worth solving.

Who picked it: Becca

What it does: Helps detect deep fakes and misinformation

Why its a fave: Im curious about any technology that seeks to find ways to parse through the inevitable rise of deep fakes and misinformation we are already encountering. Artificial intelligence is becoming more sophisticated by the hour, and we are about to enter a world where right, wrong, fact and fiction have already started to get blurry. Deep fakes are of particular concern for women, as seen by what happened to Taylor Swift  and with slow government regulation in this space, I welcome any research and technology focused on trying to address our ever-increasing cybersecurity needs.

Who picked it: Dom

What it does: Custom LLM evaluation

Why its a fave: One of my favorite things to read through when a new, major LLM comes to market is its benchmark stats. For example, Anthropics Claude 3 Opus model has a 50.4% 0-shot CoT in Graduate level reasoning, GPQA, Diamond. Its super clarifying stuff. Kidding aside, its not. Thats why I like the idea that Vectorview is working on, namely the ability to test LLMs and AI agents for a companys particular use case. I suspect that by having its testing tools closer to the end user than the academic side of things, Vectorview could be onto something big.

Who picked it: Alex

What it does: Uses AI to help lawyers go through legal documents quicker

Why its a fave: Abel co-founder Sean Safahi said that this eliminates the need for lawyers to choose "depth over breadth. I think any tech that helps lawyers make more informed arguments and decisions is a good thing. Speeding up the legal process and making it more accurate seems like a solid strategy. It's worth noting that bringing AI and automation into the legal process does add a layer of privacy risk and users of Abel will have tread carefully.

Who picked it: Becca

What they do: AI-powered music generation

Why they're faves: Soundry AIs technology could be incredibly useful to create music that sits neatly in the background. Muzak, elevator tunes, corporate learning soundtracks, whatever they play in loud restaurants that you can never quite make out, but might be a song that you know. Its a big market, and I can see companies tuning their own mixes to get the right vibe. Then theres Sonauto, a startup that wants to help you make hits. I am more skeptical here, mostly because the music I love the most takes a lot of humans working super hard to push the boundaries of what music can be. The latest Tesseract record is a good example. Goddamn, what an incredible piece of art. That said, I am open to being wrong here, and that the robots will eventually write better progressive metal and pop and experimental jazz than we humble meatsacks can. I love music, I love tech, so I presume that I am going to eventually love their union. (Though I also have copyright worries here regarding source material, I must add as I am no fun.)

Who picked it: Alex

What it does: EV chargers and management software for apartments, condos and commercial buildings

Why its a fave: Most EV charging happens at home, unless you live in a multifamily building, where infrastructure can be scant and forcing drivers to find power elsewhere. Thats not only a headache for drivers, its unrealized revenue for building owners. Starlight Charging centralizes key parts of the infrastructure to keep costs down. Since our installation costs are so low, we can actually offer our solution for no upfront cost and still make money, founder Andrew Kouri said. Our payback period is less than one year. The company seems to be sweating the small stuff, too, offering its own charging equipment that adheres to the Plug & Charge standard for payments and comes with a removable cable thats easy to swap in case of damage or vandalism. That should help with maintenance, something thats tripped up many other EV charging networks.

Who picked it: Tim

What it does: Online video creation and hosting for AI-generated clips

Why its a fave: I muted the Demo Day stream to give this a try  you can check out my creation here  because one thing I am constantly bummed out by is the dearth of new sci-fi films for me to watch late at night. We need more! So, video creation tools that lean on user prompts are super interesting to me. Mix in the fact that AI-generated stuff might not find a permanent home on mainstream video platforms (brand safety, copyright concerns, the list goes on), Eggnog could be onto something. Still, while my little video clip was neat, it is about as close to a feature film as my doodles are to the best animated series out there.

Who picked it: Alex

What it does: Bundles small businesses so they can save on AWS

Why its a fave: This is a great approach to help small and emerging companies get the cloud services they need without having to spend a significant portion of their capital on software. Pump's decision to monetize through AWS, not the small companies themselves, is smart and makes it much more likely it could generate strong traction. It's easy to get excited about a company called the "Costco of cloud compute."

Who picked it: Becca

What it does: Seeks to organize screenshots

Why its a fave: Its a favorite because I have, like, 13,000 photos on my phone, most of which are screenshots. And when I need to find a screenshot, Im stuck searching through the abyss of my phones library. Having something that helps group these photos could be a lifesaver that allows me to attend to the important tasks, like sending out timely memes to the group chat. The founder billed this as Pinterest for screenshots, which also grabbed me as I am an avid Pinterest user. Anything that makes photo grouping and sharing easier and fun is a product Im bound to use.

Who picked it: Dom

What it does: Uses AI to help self-funded companies save 7% on health insurance

Why its a fave: Health insurance costs are skyrocketing. Large corporations can eat the fees, but absorbing the high cost is much harder for small and medium-sized businesses. SMBs are often forced to pass a large part of what they pay to their employees. Seven percent may not feel like a lot, but since health insurance can cost thousands of dollars a year, the savings could be meaningful for a small business or startup.

Who picked it: Marina

What it does: Aggregates spot freight

Why its a fave: The founders discovered demand for spot freight technology building a similar solution at Convoy and noted it was the only profitable part of the shuttered company that was snapped up by Flexport. Manifold Freight is focusing on companies that have 50 or more trucks, which means they are targeting a customer base that other freight software is overlooking. Plus, targeting larger carriers means their customers likely have more funds to spend on new technology.

Who picked it: Becca

What it does: Personalized teaching assistant that combines human tutors with AI

Why its a fave: I liked this because unlike other learning assistants, Shepherd works with academic institutions. This means the startup is not only authorized to tutor students, it also knows exactly what material needs to be learned. Shepherd also claims that it can help plan and manage students time. I would have liked to have had this when I was in college. It wasnt always clear which learning task would be most challenging, and that ate up a lot of valuable time. Some of the countless hours I wasted learning to write code and get the program to work could have been better allocated to calculus, which wasnt easy either.

Who picked it: Marina

What it does: AI-powered knowledge base for customer support in regulated industries, starting with credit units

Why its a fave: I hate being stuck on customer support calls. A conversation can seem to last forever as an agent puts you on repeated multi-minute holds to help figure out regulations or whatever other problems Im trying to solve. If customer support specialists can quickly find an answer to an arcane regulation issue, it could save customers and banks (or insurance agencies) time and money.

Who picked it: Marina
The New York attorney generals office is raising questions about the $175 million bond Donald Trump posted in the civil fraud case and has asked for more information to prove its financially sound.

Trump filed the bond Monday night after gaining a reprieve from a New York appeals court that lowered the amount he needed to post from $464 million to $175 million. The lifeline gave Trump more time to obtain a bond after telling the court 30 underwriters refused to back a bond for nearly half a billion dollars.

The attorney generals office, led by Democrat Letitia James, on Thursday took a step to challenge the soundness of the deal and filed a notice of exception to the sufficiency of the surety to seek additional information from Trump or the underwriter about the bond because the insurer is not regulated by New York state.

Judge Arthur Engoron set a hearing for April 22.

On Monday, California-based Knight Specialty Insurance Company agreed to underwrite the bond. Don Hankey, the chairman and majority shareholder of Knight Specialty Insurance, told CNN on Tuesday that Trump provided $175 million in cash as collateral for the bond.

Lawyers familiar with bonds say its fair for the attorney generals office to want to understand the collateral used to support the bond. Trump can ask the judge to sign-off on Knight or pair Knight with another company that is authorized in New York.

If they seek court approval of Knight Specialty, I believe that the attorney general will want proof that the company is actually holding the $175 million in cash collateral so the bond can be immediately paid if the judgment is affirmed without needing to wait to try to liquidate pledged assets, said Bruce Lederman, an attorney with DL Partners, who has experience obtaining bonds.

Knight Specialty and its parent company are not authorized to issue surety bonds in New York state and therefore cant obtain a certificate from the New York Department of Financial Services, which is usually part of a bond package. The attorney generals office asked for additional information within 10 days, or it said the bond will not be in effect.

By posting the bond, Trump stopped the attorney generals office from moving to enforce the judgment by seizing assets. Trump is appealing the judgment and the judges finding that he is liable for fraud.

Earlier Thursday, Trump provided additional information about the bond to include financial statements of the underwriter. The new documents indicate Knight Specialty Insurance Company had total assets of $539 million as of the end of 2023 and $138 million in surplus to policy holders. The parent companys total assets are $2.2 billion with $1 million in surplus, according to the filing.

Story continues

Lederman said in New York a company is not supposed to underwrite a bond for more than 10% of its surplus cash.

Trumps attorney accused the attorney generals office of trying to be purposely troublesome for the former president.

After hiding out in silence following an embarrassing loss in the First Department which does not bode well for the future of her baseless and vindictive political crusade, the Attorney General now seeks to stir up some equally baseless public quarrel in a desperate effort to regain relevance, said Chris Kise, an attorney for Trump.

The challenge is the latest twist in the years-long battle between the Trump and the attorney generals office, which also on Thursday sought a more direct line into the bond negotiations.

Lawyers for the attorney generals office asked Engoron to explicitly authorize the independent monitor overseeing the Trump Organization to share information with any party in the case. Last month, the judge directed the Trump Organization to supply detailed information to the monitor about its efforts to obtain bonds to cover judgments.

The attorney generals office also asked the judge to order the monitor to dig into the guilty plea of Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who admitted he lied to the state during its investigation into Trumps finances.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
When you have delinquent taxes or certain other types of debt and youre owed a tax refund, you may find that the government has taken some or all of your tax refund.

The Treasury Offset Program allows the Department of the Treasury to withhold money from tax refunds and Social Security benefits to pay a debt. Sometimes, this is referred to as an administrative offset or simply as an offset. It typically occurs when you owe money to federal or state agencies and havent made on-time payments.

How the tax refund offset program works

If youre behind on payments to a state or federal agency, the agency will eventually send your name to the Treasury Offset Program (TOP). The Bureau of the Fiscal Service  the agency responsible for issuing tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service  is authorized by Congress to reduce your refund to help satisfy the debt.

What happens when your refund is offset?

When you file your tax return, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) will search the TOP database to see if your taxpayer identification information shows you have outstanding debt. If theres no match, youll receive your full income tax refund.

But if the database reveals that you owe money, some or all of your refund could be withheld. Youll receive a letter from the BFS that includes:

The amount of the original refund

How much was offset

The agency that will receive the payment

The contact information for that agency

Offset vs. garnishment vs. seizure

A refund offset is one of several consequences that could result from delinquent payments to the government. Here are some of the ways the government can claw back its money:

Refund offset: When you file your tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Treasurys Bureau of Fiscal Service can reduce your tax refund by the amount you owe to satisfy your debt.

Garnishment: The IRS can garnish your wages to satisfy a tax debt. This is also known as a wage levy.

Seizure: The IRS can take the money in your bank account if youre subject to a tax levy. It can also seize and sell assets like real estate and vehicles through a tax levy or place a tax lien against such assets.

Read more: Here are 7 free tax filing options

5 reasons the IRS could seize your refund

Here are some common reasons the IRS could garnish your federal income tax refund:

You owe federal or state taxes

The IRS can seize your refund if you owe state income tax or federal taxes or if you owe non-tax money to the federal government.

Note that if you cant pay your taxes and youre enrolled in an IRS payment plan, the terms of your agreement state that you wont get a refund until youve paid your bill in full. But if youre making installment payments as agreed, youll avoid more severe consequences, like a tax levy.

You owe your state unemployment agency

Your refund can be garnished if you owe money to your states unemployment agency. Individual taxpayers could face an offset if they received an overpayment of unemployment benefits due to fraud or failure to report income.

You have delinquent student loans

Typically, the IRS can offset your refund if you have delinquent federal student loans  but taxpayers will get a reprieve this tax season.

The Biden administration created a temporary on-ramp program to ease borrowers back into making federal student loan payments that well discuss in greater detail shortly. The bottom line is, your 2023 tax refund wont be seized for delinquent federal student loan debt, but youll need to take action before Sept. 30, 2024 to avoid future offsets.

Read more: Will I be taxed on student loan forgiveness?

You owe child support

State agencies work with the federal government to submit information to the U.S. Treasury about parents who are behind on child support. If you have unpaid child support, your information will usually be submitted to TOP if:

The custodial parent receives public assistance, and you owe more than $150, OR

The custodial parent doesnt receive public assistance, and you owe more than $500.

Tax refunds that are offset due to unpaid child support are used to repay any money owed to a state child support agency first. Any intercepted funds left over go to the childs custodial parent.

Your spouse owes money

If youre married and file a joint tax return, you could find that your tax refund was garnished due to debts your spouse owes. In this situation, you can apply for injured spouse relief through the IRS to receive your portion of the refund, provided you werent responsible for the debt. Youll need to submit IRS Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation.

Can I still get my refund if Im behind on student loans?

You can still get your 2023 tax refund (for tax returns due April 15, 2024) if youre behind on payments for most federal student loans. Though the 37-month COVID-19 payment pause ended Oct. 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education will delay tax refund offsets until at least September 2024.

If youve defaulted on student loans, though, youll need to enroll in the Fresh Start Program before Sept. 30, 2024, to avoid future refund offsets. Borrowers who use the program to get out of default will have their loan status restored to in repayment status and will have the default removed from their credit reports. To apply, contact your student loan servicer.

Who else can garnish a refund?

Only the federal government can offset a tax refund, and it will only do so if you owe a state or federal government agency money. Private creditors, like credit card issuers or a bank that gave you a personal loan, cant garnish a tax refund. Note that you wont have your tax refund seized for delinquent private student loans, either.

Even if a creditor cant garnish your tax refund, there are other serious consequences that can occur if you dont repay debt, including negative information on your credit report. Creditors can also sue you for money you owe.

FAQ

Will I be notified if my debt is sent to the Treasury Offset Program?

Yes. A government agency must notify you in writing at least 60 days before sending the debt to TOP. The letter must include the type of debt and amount owed, the referring agency, and the steps you can take to resolve the matter, including paying the debt, entering into a payment program, or disputing the amount owed.

How do I dispute an offset?

To dispute an offset, contact the agency listed on the offset notice you receive. You should only contact the IRS if the refund amount on your tax return is different from the amount shown on your offset notice.

Can the IRS take my refund if my spouse owes?

If youre married and file a joint return, the IRS could seize your refund if your spouse owes back taxes, owes money to a government agency, or has past-due child support. If youre not responsible for the debt, you can get your half of the refund you were otherwise owed if you file Form 8379.
The wolves officially reintroduced in Colorado last December  or one of them  killed a calf in Grand County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed Wednesday.

The report of the kill was made on April 2.

A livestock producer contacted the state agency, which conducted a field investigation and confirmed the calf had been killed by a wolf, based on "multiple tooth rake marks on the calf's hindquarters and neck, and hemorrhaging under the hide," all consistent with an attack by the apex predator.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife report said wolf tracks were found nearby. The agency's statement did not identify the wolf. The agency also did not say how many wolves were involved.

This is the first report of a wolf killing livestock in Grand County since the state released the wolves in December.

Wolves in Jackson County have killed 16 cows and calves, working dogs and sheep. Those wolves, however, came into Colorado several years ago from Wyoming. Two wolves from that original group are still believed to be in Colorado.

The dozen wolves in Colorado are all collared, although their offspring would not be.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the producer would be eligible for fair market value compensation if a claim is submitted. More specifically, the calfs owner can be compensated by the state for the animals market value up to $15,000.

Still, ranchers argued it's just not enough.

The incident, which resulted in the loss of livestock, underscores the ongoing challenges faced by ranchers in managing conflicts between livestock and wildlife," Tatum Swink, spokesperson for Colorado Cattlemen's Association, said in a statement.

Colorado's reintroduction of wolves, which narrowly won in a 2020 ballot measure, created political shockwaves throughout the state.

Ranchers and farmers lambasted the proposal as ballot biology, arguing that the animals would chomp into their businesses and the industry at large. And nearby Republican states including Wyoming, Idaho and Montana refused to provide wolves to Colorado, which eventually got them from Oregon.

Proponents argued that the apex predators would reestablish a healthy balance in the habitat. They said the gray wolves perform an important ecological function that affect other plants and animals; that, without them, deer and elk would overgraze sensitive areas, such as riverbanks; and, that their leftover prey serve as food for other scavengers.

Wolves were largely hunted out of existence in the state by the 1940s.

The wolf killing in Grand County occurred just as tension over their reintroduction swelled at the state Capitol and as relationships between wildlife officials and ranchers and farmers frayed.

In January, Colorado lawmakers grilled officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, who found themselves on the hot seat after policymakers described communication failures and problems tied to the release of the wolves in Grand and Summit counties in December.

The lawmakers said the state mishandled communications over the release and that destroyed trust with ranchers and landowners. They added those ranchers and landers are now saying they will no longer work with the agency on conservation issues.

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Dan Gibbs, chief of the Department of Natural Resources, apologized for the communication failures.

Lawmakers also hammered agency representatives over their refusal to come up with a definition of "chronic depredation" that would allow a Jackson County rancher to deal with two wolves  unrelated to the released wolves  that have killed 16 livestock and four working cattle dogs.

And earlier this year, Gov. Jared Polis' appointees to the state's parks and wildlife commission faced tough questions from the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, which ultimately rejected two of the three, claiming they lacked the necessary qualifications to represent the constituents tied to those seats and as required by state law.

Notably, Gary Skiba, a former wildlife biologist who was appointed to represent sportspersons, primarily hunting and fishing interests, faced the toughest queries, given his support and association with the state's wolf reintroduction efforts. Skiba ultimately withdrew his nomination and the Senate confirmed the other two nominees.

Fear of depredation had permeated Colorado's Western Slope following the decision of voters, almost entirely along the Front Range, to approve a ballot measure in 2020 to reintroduce wolves west of the Continental Divide.

In 2022, gray wolves attacked domesticated animals hundreds of times across 10 states in the contiguous U.S., including in Colorado, according to an Associated Press review of depredation data from state and federal agencies.

The attacks killed or injured at least 425 cattle and calves, 313 sheep and lambs, 40 dogs, 10 chickens, five horses and four goats, according to the data. Other times livestock simply goes missing, such as two calves that Don Gittleson, a rancher from Walden, Colorado, said disappeared after wolves had passed through.

Their industry-wide impact is negligible: The number of cattle killed or injured in the documented cases equals 0.002% of herds in the affected states, according to a comparison of depredation data with state livestock inventories.

But such losses can be devastating to individual ranchers or pet owners.

Gittleson's experience epitomizes the worst fears among Colorado's ranchers  that, as wolves begin to make the valleys, lakes and peaks of the north-central Rocky Mountains their new home, depredation would intensify.

They also worry that the Polis administration would renege on the state's promise to manage and remove wolves that prey on their cattle and sheep. They earlier complained that Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the agency tasked to manage the state's new wolf population, has become less cooperative and less transparent with ranchers.

Last Monday, Gittleson spoke in committee about a proposal that would have required livestock owners to use "nonlethal" deterrent tactics in order to get compensated for livestock killed by gray wolves.

Despite implementing various "nonlethal" strategies recommended by the bill, such as range riders and fox lights, Gittleson said nothing has proven effective enough at keeping the wolves away. He estimated that his ranch has invested as much as $90,000 in "nonlethal coexistence strategies."

"It is cheaper to lose the animals and not get paid for them than it is to pay for the nonlethal," he said.

Strategies to deter wolves from livestock include tying streamers or blinking lights to fences to make the predators wary of crossing into ranches. Wolves can eventually get used to the strategies, so they can only be used over short periods and aren't airtight.

The committee ultimately rejected the bill.

Reporter Marissa Ventrelli and Associated Press reporter Jesse Bedayn contributed to this article.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, April 3, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]



Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Nanning on Wednesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that China and Laos are good comrades, good brothers and good partners who share a common future and common development. Bilateral relations have always maintained a sound momentum of development.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Laos comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. Wang said that China is ready to work with Laos to implement the strategic consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, push for more tangible results in the building of the China-Laos community of shared future, fully support Laos as the rotating chair of ASEAN, enrich the connotation of the China-Asean community of shared future, and jointly safeguard regional peace and development.

Wang said that China will actively support Laos in hosting a series of leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation, work with other parties to promote regional economic integration that benefits all and is inclusive, and build East Asia into a model for a new round of economic globalization.

Saleumxay Kommasith congratulated China on the successful holding of the two sessions, and expressed his belief that China will become more prosperous and stronger through the development of new quality productive forces and the promotion of Chinese modernization. He believes that China will play an exemplary role for other developing countries to achieve modernization.

Saleumxay Kommasith said that Laos firmly pursues the one-China policy and firmly supports China's position on Hong Kong-related and Xinjiang-related issues, adding that Laos will work with China to implement the new version of the action plan for building a Laos-China community with a shared future, promote the Laos-China Railway to achieve greater economic effect, strengthen cooperation in energy, agricultural tourism and other fields, and jointly crack down on cross-border crimes. As the rotating chair of ASEAN, Laos will closely communicate and cooperate with China to jointly advance the East Asia cooperation process.

The two sides also exchanged views on the South China Sea and other issues of common concern.
Click here to read the latest story on the verdict for this trial.

Ten minutes spent on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, on what she considers a God-directed mission, could cost 71-year-old Falcon resident Rebecca Lavrenz up to a year in prison and fines of more than $200,000.

But the great-grandmother and bed-and-breakfast owner doesnt regret walking into the United States Capitol during the stop the steal rally protesting the 2020 presidential election results.

I felt I was there on assignment from God, she said Saturday in a phone interview from her hotel room in Washington, D.C.

A jury trial for Lavrenz starts Monday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, as she faces four federal misdemeanor charges for entering the Capitol more than three years ago. She spent about 10 minutes inside.

Agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force reviewed surveillance camera footage and confirmed Lavrenzs account, according to a court document filed Sept. 19, 2022.

The report also states that several tipsters alerted federal investigators that Lavrenz had been among the crowd.

Just standing up for my country makes me a criminal, Lavrenz said last week in a video she posted on X, formerly Twitter. Its not right. It feels so weird to be here.

One of her four children who lived in Colorado Springs asked Lavrenz in December of 2020 if she planned to go to the rally, which was held on the day congressional leaders were certifying the Electoral Colleges vote count of the 2020 presidential election.

Protesters such as Lavrenz disputed the outcome of the Nov. 5, 2020, election declaring Joe Biden as president.

Ive always been a lifelong lover of truth, and I felt something went really wrong with that 2020 election, and I hate injustice, she said.

There has been no substantive evidence before or since of wrongdoing in the compilation of the 2020 results.

Lavrenz, who has four adult children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson, said she prayed about whether she should attend.

It didnt take me long to figure out God was saying to go there, she said. I do what I can in prayer, and I put action to my faith.

Lavrenz, a retired registered nurse, drove 25 hours across country, fasting and praying throughout the long trip to reach her destination.

Wearing a red scarf and a white hat to the rally, which she said she attended by herself, Lavrenz encountered a group of people praying outside the Capitol, and she joined them for about an hour and a half.

It was a patriotic, joyful time to be around so many people who love their country, she said. I felt a strong presence of the spirt of God fall over me, and I started crying.

At one point, she took the microphone to speak about a document that became known as the 1620 Mayflower Compact. Included in the agreement that pilgrims had signed before they set foot on American soil was that the country would be dedicated to the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith.

My mission in life is to know God and make his ways known and restore the country back to its godly foundation, Lavrenz said. Without God, theres no justice.

As the rally turned riotous, Lavrenz told investigators that she observed people getting into physical confrontations with police, pushing on the barriers as the police pushed back  

The arrest affidavit goes on to say, When a man finally succeeded in pushing past a barrier and entering the U.S. Capitol, Lavrenz observed that none of the police officers chased him. When the crowd eventually pushed aside the barriers, allowing people to stream through the main door of the U.S. Capitol on the East side, Lavrenz followed and entered as well.

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When the East Rotunda doors were opened, Lavrenz said during The Gazette interview that she felt compelled to go in, to bring God inside the Capitol with my presence.

Lavrenz said she followed the crowd and stayed within ropes that blocked people from entering certain parts of the building.

I didnt say anything, I didnt shout or wave. I didnt see any violence when I was in the Capitol, and there was no damage, she said.

I felt Gods presence in me and just made my presence known to let Congress know we the people voted them in office, and we were saying you need to listen to what were saying.

Lavrenz said she and other people in the group turned around and retreated when someone said members of Congress had already left the building. So, we didnt have any way to express our grievances and left.

Video footage shows Lavrenz entering the Capitol at 2:43 p.m. and exiting the building at 2:53 p.m.

When she arrived back home, Lavrenz said she felt good about her participation.

I did what I was supposed to be doing and was surprised to hear that people were getting arrested, she said.

In April of 2021 two FBI agents knocked at the door at her rural home in eastern El Paso County and said they were there to investigate her involvement in the Jan. 6 event.

She was busy baking a cake for her sons birthday and asked if they could come back on a different day. They said, Yes and returned in a few weeks.

Nearly a year and a half later, on Dec. 19, 2022, Lavrenz was arrested and charged with four federal misdemeanors at the U.S. District Court in Denver.

I sat in a prison for three hours, and they let me out of personal recognizance, took my passport, put me on probation and told me to let the officer know if I was going to travel anywhere, she said.

She is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol.

Prosecutors contend that Lavrenz entered the Capitol without having the authority to do so, and in the process violated four laws.

Lavrenz refused a plea deal the prosecution offered last year.

Jury selection from the District of Columbia area begins Monday for the trial that Lavrenz said she was told would last until at least Thursday.

I didnt get into this for myself, I was there to stand up for my country, she said. I asked God if I did something wrong, if I needed to repent, and God said, No, you went there to make my presence known and to pray.

My biggest prayer is that God gets the final word this week.

Lavrenz is among 1,358 people charged with criminal actions related to the Jan. 6 rally that turned violent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

She is one of 1,276 defendants who allegedly entered or remained in a restricted federal building or grounds.

About 500 new cases are expected to come before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., this year.

Last week, a jury convicted a Virginia man, who went inside the Capitol for three minutes and walked around and took photos, on four counts.

Also last week, a Jefferson County man was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his involvement in the Jan. 6 event. He was convicted of three felonies and also ordered to pay restitution.

The Jan. 6 attack resulted in nearly $3 million in damages to the building and grounds, and costs incurred by police, the Department of Justice said earlier this month.
After a lengthy deliberation thats been rare for Capitol breach cases, Falcon resident Rebecca Lavrenz, known on social media as the J6 Praying Grandma, was convicted on all four federal misdemeanor charges for her participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest of the 2020 presidential election results in Washington, D.C.

The trial began March 25 in federal district court in the District of Columbia and ended after nearly 26 hours of deliberation, a 12-member jury found Lavrenz guilty of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol.

The 71-year-old great grandmother and owner of a bed-and-breakfast business where she lives about 14 miles northeast of Colorado Springs could be sentenced to up to a year in prison and ordered to pay fines of more than $200,000, which excludes legal fees.

She will be sentenced Aug. 12.

"I was surprised," she told The Gazette Thursday after the verdict. "I believe God wanted it to turn out this way so my voice could be amplified. We have to wake up our country."

Lavrenz said she felt compelled by God to drive across country to the Stop the Steal rally more than three years ago and pray for the nation.

The whole reason I went to the Capitol was to pray, she said. I didnt get into this for myself, I was there to stand up for my country. God led me to go there and into the building to stand up for my First Amendment rights to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

When she was inside the Capitol for 10 minutes with a group of other rally-goers, Lavrenz said she felt Gods presence on me.

Defense attorneys from John Pierce Law presented seven witnesses, while four people testified on behalf of prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, who argued that Lavrenz entered the Capitol without having the authority to do so.

She testified for five hours Monday, and the jury started deliberations at 4:45 p.m., released at 5:30 p.m. Monday and resumed deliberations Tuesday, Wednesday and nearly all day Thursday. Lavrenz said she was called in to answer clarification questions several times. The verdict was announced late Thursday afternoon.

Verdicts have been issued as soon as 30 minutes after jurors were released from the courtroom on some Jan. 6 cases, Lavrenz said.

The deliberation was good because obviously at least one person on the jury was fighting for me, and many people have been convicted in the first hour, she said.

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She passed the wait by observing other Jan. 6 court proceedings, speaking with defendants from around the nation, writing thank you notes to supporters  an online fundraising appeal to help with her legal expenses had raised nearly $32,000 as of Thursday  and spending time with her two daughters, who were with her.

Sometimes there are four Jan. 6 trials going on at once, she said.

If she had been found not guilty, Lavrenz would have been the first Jan. 6 defendant in a jury trial to be acquitted of federal charges. Two bench trials have been acquitted, and some defendants in jury trials have had charges reduced.

Some people believe that irregularities in the 2020 election tabulation process skewed the results. No substantial evidence of election tampering has been found.

Of the 64 cases brought forward by former President Donald Trump and his supporters challenging the 2020 results, they prevailed in one lawsuit in Pennsylvania, which did not include enough votes to overturn the result.

In the 63 other cases, 20 were dismissed before a hearing on the merits, 14 were voluntarily dismissed and 30 included a hearing on the merits.

Multiple tipsters alerted the FBI in the days following Jan. 6, 2021, that Lavrenz was among the crowd who entered the Capitol, according to court documents, and FBI agents confirmed her presence on the site by tracing her cell phone and identifying her in video footage.

Interspersed with messages of support on social media, she has faced a barrage of criticism and name-calling.

I basically laugh about it because I realized if youre right where God wants you, people are either going to love you or hate you, Lavrenz said when asked about that. These things can get on your heart if you dont watch it, the stuff on social media is so bad and people talk so trashy. I think its just how they are.

When she gets back home, Lavrenz said she wants to launch a podcast featuring interviews with people about the state of the country under Democratic President Joe Biden and what they are doing to help turn the tide to GOP leadership.

The average person doesnt realize they can make a difference, she said. Were never going to change our country until we change the average person.

Writing a book and going to law school with one of her daughters also could be in Lavrenzs future.

Im going to make my voice so loud that if they try to put me in prison to shut it up, it wont work, she said.
The Colorado Springs Police Department says distracted driving is what led a driver to drive their car down a hill and into the side of the CSPD Stetson Hills station Wednesday.

Gazette media partner KOAA reports that the department confirmed that the Stetson Hills substation was hit around 2:30 p.m. Read KOAA's report here.

The substation is located near the intersection of Barnes Road and Tutt Boulevard.

KOAA reporter James Gavato reports that police say the driver of the vehicle was distracted and lost control. They say the driver was going to a nearby bank, went down a hill, and collided with the side of the building.

The driver and a passenger in the vehicle suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries, according to CSPD.
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The crewed submersible Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior) prepares to submerge into the sea before conducting underwater investigation in the South China Sea, May 27, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]



China once again urges the Philippines to respect the facts, and return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

In response to a query concerning an open letter by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily news briefing that the Philippines keeps accusing China of "intimidating smaller countries" without mentioning at all the Philippine occupation of and encroachment on China's territory in Nansha Qundao. That is a real propaganda "trap," said Wang.

"On the issue of Ren'ai Jiao, it's not the size, but the behavior of a country that determines who is right and who is wrong," Wang said.

He pointed out that right after the Philippines deliberately grounded its warship on Ren'ai Jiao in 1999, which seriously violated China's sovereignty, China made demarches to the Philippines, and the Philippines promised to tow away the warship several times. A senior official of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs made it clear that the Philippines had no intention of building any facility on Ren'ai Jiao and it doesn't want to and will not be the first country to violate the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

"But 25 years on, not only hasn't the Philippines fulfilled its promise to tow away the warship, it has even attempted to send construction materials for large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship in order to build permanent structures on Ren'ai Jiao," Wang said.

Pointing out that the Philippines has gone back on its words, and stirred up trouble to provoke China, he said the behavior of the Philippines not only breaches the understandings between the two sides on handling the Ren'ai Jiao issue, but also violates the DOC, especially its Article 5 on refraining from action of inhabiting the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features. "The Philippines is clearly responsible for the current tensions in the South China Sea," Wang added.

Wang stressed that China and ASEAN countries have long been committed to properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation between the states directly involved, and have worked together to jointly maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, which has kept it generally stable.

However, for some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into South China Sea affairs to back Philippine provocations and the violation of China's sovereignty, he said, adding that the Philippines has been pursing selfish gains at the expense of the consensus reached by countries in the region.

"This is the main reason why the situation in the South China Sea has escalated and become more complicated," he said.

"We once again urge the Philippines to respect the facts, observe the relevant understandings between the two sides and DOC provisions, follow the consensus reached between China and ASEAN countries, and return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible," said Wang.
Amid opposition, a master plan for a popular, expanded open space in northwest Colorado Springs is poised for approval.

The Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) working committee voted in unanimous support of the Blodgett Open Space plan that has been more than a year in the making. The 108-page document is meant to be a guide for recreation and conservation management over the next two decades at the city-owned property that has grown to 384 acres in recent years.

Following the TOPS working committee decision, final approval now moves to the city's parks board. That meeting is set for next Thursday.

A common refrain is likely to be heard there as it was at the TOPS meeting: "Not everyone is going to be happy," David Deitemeyer said before a packed room.

He's the city parks department's senior landscape architect who over the past 15 months has overseen land studies, surveys and public meetings capturing excitement and angst over trails expanding south of Blodgett's first trailhead along Woodmen Road  south toward the base of Pikeview Quarry.

There, the plan calls for a parking lot that would initially be built for 50 cars. It is to be the launch point for 2.3 miles of downhill, mountain bike-only trail, as part of a total 14.2-mile network envisioned to be mostly shared by people on foot, including a hiking-only loop.

The so-called Quarry trailhead is a "frightening concept," said Laurie Mehegan of the nearby Oak Valley neighborhood. She called attention to the trailhead access from Allegheny Drive being the only entry and exit road in case of an emergency.

She wasn't the only neighbor at the meeting who spoke against the plan while recalling evacuation nightmares from the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire. Another was Kerri Waite, who called herself an avid mountain biker.

"How urgent is the need to create a mountain bike-centric park in this tiny, important, hard-to-reach and vulnerable part of our beautiful community?" she asked.

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Proponents say more mountain bike-only trails are needed to meet rising demand around town and to keep safe separation from other trailgoers. Among supporters is Carol Beckman, a longtime parks advocate and hiker, who added "the plan does have plenty of hiking trails."

She continued, emphasizing taxpayers beyond the neighborhood: "The open space is for everyone in the city, and the master plan should reflect what's best for everyone in the city."

Neighbors have pushed back against claims of NIMBY (not in my backyard) while pointing to the Rampart Range herd of bighorn sheep. Said one at the meeting: "If the parks department was truly aware of the importance and sensitivity of the herd, they would not be proposing this new master plan."

Deitemeyer has stressed "a sustainable trail system" that "will ultimately benefit that wildlife habitat and natural resources rather quickly." Along with fire mitigation, the plan calls for shutting down trails and building others outside of "wildlife corridors," what Deitemeyer said were designated in conjunction with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

An agency endorsement has come in the form of a $250,000 grant. With parks board approval, Deitemeyer said the plan would be to match that with another $200,000 from TOPS to build the Quarry trailhead parking lot and start trail construction this year.

It would mark the first realization of what TOPS committee Chairman Bob Falcone called "probably the biggest master plan process that this parks department has ever done."

But some neighbors said they felt ignored by the process and perceived a "theme park" being favored over safety. Contributing to that is what the city has envisioned as a "world-class" bike park possibly at Pikeview Quarry some day, should reclamation by the owning company be successful and a public review find support.

Falcone, a career firefighter, asked neighbors to consider risks posed by development that could have come if the city did not acquire the land. The expanded open space, rather than an expanded neighborhood, "is the far lesser evil of what could be happening," Falcone said.

Not everyone will be happy, said fellow TOPS committee member and neighborhood resident Hank Scarangella.

"But I think this plan goes a long way toward accommodating a lot of varied interests and sometimes conflicting interests," he said.
Overseas investors, entities bullish about China's economic growth after industrial data

Xinhua) 09:39, April 04, 2024

Workers work on an assembly line at a plant of Xiaomi in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

Many overseas individuals and institutions have said that the synchronous rise of the three major indices in March indicates an acceleration in Chinese business operations, further expanding the prosperity of the manufacturing industry.

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Service Survey Center with China's National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing unveiled Sunday's figures, which rendered overseas investors and entities bullish.

The figures included the nation's manufacturing PMI, non-manufacturing PMI, and comprehensive PMI output index, which stood at 50.8 percent, 53.0 percent and 52.7 percent respectively, with each climbing 1.7, 1.6 and 1.8 points.

Many overseas individuals and institutions have said that the synchronous rise of the three major indices in March indicates an acceleration in Chinese business operations, further expanding the prosperity of the manufacturing industry. They believe that China's economic development prospects continue to improve.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Brendan Ahern, a U.S. veteran investor, said that China's manufacturing PMI surpassing expectations in March indicates accelerated economic growth following the Spring Festival. He noted that various macroeconomic policies are proving effective. This, he believes, is a positive sign for both the Chinese and global economies.

Ahern, chief investment officer with U.S.-based asset management firm Krane Funds Advisors LLC, a specialist investment management firm focused on China, Climate, and other uncorrelated assets, highlighted the strong performance of China's automotive sector, particularly electric vehicles, in March, indicating the positive effects of policy support.

A staff member operates a forklift to load a tractor onto a truck at a tractor manufacturing company in Jiamusi, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, March 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

An article published on Forexlive said that China's economy kicked off 2024 on a "reasonably strong note," with March's manufacturing PMI outperforming expectations, and the data in January and February have "surprised to the upside."

Institutions like Citi and several analysts have consequently "raised growth forecasts" for the Chinese economy upwards, the article said.

Reuters indicates that a private-sector survey unveiled on Wednesday signaled a "tentative recovery" in the world's second-largest economy. This development has also led analysts to upwardly revise China's economic growth forecast for this year.

CNBC revealed that China's official manufacturing PMI came in at 50.8 percent in March, its "strongest reading since March last year."

China's official non-manufacturing activity survey recorded its strongest reading since June, contributing to positive recent export and retail sales data, it added.

Workers work on the production lines at a test base in the Xiong'an Science and Technology Innovation Center in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, March 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

The latest economic data from China once again signals positivity, particularly in the manufacturing sector. With robust support policies driving industrial activity, China's economy continues to demonstrate vitality. The growth and revival of economic indicators in manufacturing activities also imply an uplift in employment, Sebastian Schulz, a researcher at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, told Xinhua.

Christine Susanna Tjhin, director of Strategic Communication and Research at Gentala Institute, remarked that China's economy shows considerable resilience, with the rise in manufacturing PMI signaling positive signs of its economic recovery.

She noted that China's rapid development in high-tech industries and continuous enhancement of comprehensive innovation capabilities have created favorable conditions for sustained, healthy, and stable economic growth.

Barra Kukuh Mamia, a senior macroeconomist at PT Bank Central Asia, said that China is currently "attaching more importance to innovation and cutting-edge technologies, and is constantly moving towards an innovation-oriented country," with a number of top-notch industries.

"In the long run, investment in these high-tech industries will have a huge driving effect on economic development," he said. "And I believe it'll greatly improve China's productivity levels."

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
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Palestinians check a damaged vehicle after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on April 2, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]



UN humanitarians have suspended night-time aid movements in Gaza for at least 48 hours following Isreal's killing of World Central Kitchen staff, said a UN spokesman on Wednesday.

"We have suspended our night-time movements within the Gaza Strip for at least 48 hours to allow for further evaluation of the security issues that impacted our personnel on the ground," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The 48-hour suspension started on Tuesday following Monday's killing of World Central Kitchen staff, he said.

"That's, of course, for night-time movements. During the day, our colleagues at the World Food Programme tell us that operations continue, including our daily efforts to send convoys to the north," said the spokesman. "And as famine closes in, we need humanitarian staff and supplies to be able to move freely and safely across the Gaza Strip."

He said the World Health Organization (WHO) is still waiting for permission from the Israeli authorities to get access to Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. The WHO team is also planning to visit two other hospitals in northern Gaza -- Sahaba and Ahli hospitals. However, no permission has been received to go to those sites.

"We can only underscore once more that delays and the denial of humanitarian missions not only prevent us from reaching those in need. But they also impact other operations and deliveries by diverting scarce resources," said the spokesman. "We and our humanitarian partners will continue to do all we can to get life-saving aid to civilians all across the Gaza Strip."
Because this section is free of charge, community events are subject to run based on available space. For a complete calendar listing, visit GoDanRiver.com. Religion items are published on Saturday. Email events to news@registerbee.com.

TODAY, APRIL 4

MAD SCIENTISTS: Put goggles and lab coats on and explore components of STEAM through hands-on demonstrations, experiments and crafts from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space. For ages 8 to 17. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. This month will explore acids and bases. No fee.

LEGAL AID WORKSHOPS: Representatives from Virginia Legal Aid Society will present a short workshop with questions and answers from 5:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Ruby B. Archie Library auditorium for ages 18 and up. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. No fee.

FRIDAY, APRIL 5

MLK MEMORIAL EVENTS: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Danville/Pittsylvania County chapter will hold a MLK memorial service at 7 p.m. at New Apostolic Church with Rev. Haywood Smith of St. James Baptist Church, Leesburg, North Carolina speaking. Ticket donation is $40. For more information, call 434-489-3114.

SATURDAY, APRIL 6

MLK MEMORIAL EVENTS: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Danville/Pittsylvania County Chapter will hold a MLK Memorial Banquet at 6 p.m. at Thee ARC Family Life Center with the Rev. Phillip Campbell, of Bibleway Cathedral Church speaking. Ticket donation is $40. For more information, call 434-489-3114.

MONDAY, APRIL 8

LITTLE LEARNING LAB: Explore, create and learn through STEAM based activities that will engage the mind and body as your child builds their fine motor skills and creativity while exploring scientific concepts from 4 to 5 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for ages 2 to 7. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. Program today will be Genealogy 101; Family Trees & Show and Tell Storytime.

LEGO BRICK ENGINEERS: Make a Lego brick creation from 4 to 5 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for ages five to 17. All models will be displayed in the children's department. Bricks provided. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

YOUTH DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Solve puzzles, defeat the monsters and discover treasure along the way in the 5th edition game at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space from 4 to 6:30 p.m. First time participants receive a free set of dice. For grades six to 12th. Register by the Monday before the program by calling, 434-799-5195. No fee. Snacks provided.

TUESDAY, APRIL 9

LEGAL AID WORKSHOPS: Representatives from Virginia Legal Aid Society will present a short workshop with questions and answers from 1 to 2 p.m. on grandparent visitation at Ruby B. Archie Library auditorium for ages 18 and up. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. No fee.

JUNIOR NATURALIST: Join Parks & Recreation for a hands-on learning experience as they explore the natural world through Junior Naturalist program for ages 6-12 at various locations from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150.

HOMESCHOOL ARCHERY FOR YOUTH/TEEN: Participants will learn basic safety, anchor points, draw and release, care of equipment and essential safety skills from a USA Archery certified instructor. No prior experience is needed. Held at Coates Recreation Center from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. for Youth Class; Teen Class from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. Cost is $5 per child. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10

PAPER MACHE TRINKET BOX: Don't throw away a newspaper. Dip the newspaper in some water, add glue, mix, and a paper mache is created. Attach the paper mache to a shoe box, add a little paint and some rhinestones and it's a trinket box. Visit the Camp Grove Recreation Center from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to make one for yourself at cost of $5. For more information, call 434-799-5199.

TWEEN CRAFT NIGHT: Join the group at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for a night of crafts, music and snacks for ages 12 to 17 from 5 to 6 p.m. No fee. This week we will be making pom pom cacti. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

THURSDAY, APRIL 11

LITTLE LEARNING LAB: Explore, create and learn through STEAM based activities that will engage the mind and body as your child builds their fine motor skills and creativity while exploring scientific concepts from 4 to 5 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for ages 2 to 7. Registration is required by calling, 434-799-5195. Program today will be Water, Water, Everywhere. No fee.

ADULTS ARTS AND CRAFTS: Relax with an arts and crafts project from 5 to 6 p.m. for ages 18 and up in the auditorium of the Ruby B. Archie Library at no fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. Project will be bead butterflies.

AVERETT UNIVERSITY: Averett University Theatre will present "Nunsense" April 11-14 at 7 p.m. at Pritchett Auditorium. Tickets are $12 for adults $12 and $10 for non-Averett students $10.

FRIDAY, APRIL 12

UPTOWN PINBALL: Add fun and adventure playing laser tag, pinball arcade games and more from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Camp Grove Recreation Center at cost of $15. For more information, call 434-799-5199.

BOOK BABIES: Music and rhymes, stories and fingerplays in a lap sit program for babies and their caregiver for children 0 to 18 months from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Activity Room. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13

SPAGHETTI FUNDRAISER DINNER: Bachelor's Hall Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department Auxiliary, 1301 Berry Hill Road, will hold a spaghetti fundraiser dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. at the fire station. Menu includes spaghetti, toast, salad, dessert and drink for $12 adults and $6 for children 10 and under. Take out plates available. For more information, contact Ann at 434-685-5075.

FAMILIES UNPLUGGED: Come to Coates Recreation Center for family fun time. They will be creating crafts, trying new games and learning new skills from 10 to 11 a.m. For families of all ages. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150. This Saturday there will be a Family Dodgeball.

S.T.E.A.M. NIGHTS: All young scientists come to Coates Recreation Center for adventures in science, technology, engineering, art and math from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. For ages five to 12. Registration required by calling 434-799-5150. Cost is $7 per child.

MONDAY, APRIL 15

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC 2024 CALL TO CAUCUS: The call to caucus to nominate delegates/alternates to the 5th Congressional District Democratic Convention at 4 p.m. on April 22 at the Pittsylvania County Historical Society Building, 340 Whitehead St., Chatham. The purpose of the caucus shall be to elect 13 delegates and three alternates to the Fifth District Convention to be held at the Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra at 11 a.m. on May 18. The pre-filing deadline for state delegate and alternate candidates is 5 p.m. April 15 for caucuses held on April 22. For more information, contact Roy Ford at r16ford@hotmail.com

DECK OF CARDS WORKOUT: Every suit in the deck of cards represents a different exercise. Water and post workout snack provide at the Camp Grove Recreation Center from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at cost of $2. For more information, call 434-799-5199.

ENCHANTED HOUSES: Make an enchanted fairy house and a fairy to live in it out of recycled and natural materials at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for ages 5 and up from 5 to 6 p.m. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

DE-STRESS NIGHT: Join in the auditorium at the Ruby B. Archie Library from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., ages 18 and up, to relaxed and unwind. Enjoy coloring and candle-making. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17

PRESCHOOL PARK TALES: Preschool park tales program is designed specifically for youngest park goes, ages 2 to five to ignite their imaginations and love for reading while enjoying the outdoors. Pack your picnic blanket, grab your favorite stuffed animal and come to Ballou Park Playground from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18

RANDOM FANDOM: Embrace inner geek at the Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space in a series of program celebrating the awesomeness of Pokemon, Minecraft, Studio Ghibli, and more from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Each month a new fandom will be highlighted for you to create around, explore and geek about. For ages 7 to 17. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. This month is Marvel Universe. No fee

FRIDAY, APRIL 19

SPRING WALK DOWNTOWN: Take a moment to observe what nature has to offer as you enjoy a springtime stroll downtown and lunch with friends from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cost is $5. For more information call, Camp Grove Recreation Center at 434-799-5199.

SATURDAY, APRIL 20

DANVILLE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE CAUCUS: The Danville Democratic Committee will hold a caucus at Bible Way Church, 215 Grant St., for the purpose of electing delegates to the 5th District Convention to be held in Fluvanna on May 18. Doors open at 10 a.m., no one will be admitted after 11 a.m. Those interested in serving as delegates need to pre-register by April 13. Full details of the caucus, and link to the site to pre-register, can be found at Facebook.com>DanvilleDemocraticCommittee

PAPER SHREDDING: Danville-Riverview Rotary will hold a paper shredding 9 a.m. to noon, at Woodall Nissan at the Union Street Bridge. Bring your old tax returns, receipts, checkbooks and other out-of-date paperwork to be securely shredded. The service is free; donations are greatly appreciated.

YOUTH DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Solve puzzles, defeat the monsters and discover treasure along the way in the 5th edition game at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. First time participants receive a free set of dice. For grades six to 12th. Lunch is included. Register by the Monday before the program by calling, 434-799-5195. No fee.

ZIPLINE FLAMES AND CAMPFIRE DREAMS: Stay warm by trying out the zipline and warming up with s'mores and at the campfire from 2 to 4 p.m. for ages 8 and up (must be under 300 pounds) at Dan Daniel Park. Bring blankets and chairs to relax. Cost is $20 per person. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150.

MONDAY, APRIL 22

YOUTH SOFTBALL CLINIC: Learn fundamental and enhance your abilities with the softball clinic. This weeklong camp will cover the basics of softball from fielding, catching, throwing and hitting at Dan Daniel Memorial Park from 5 to 7 p.m. April 22-25. For more information, call 434-799-5214. Cost is $15.

SPRING PERFORMANCE: Averett University Show Choir's spring performance, 7 p.m., Pritchett Auditorium.

CRAFTY CREATIONS: Crafty creations is designed for youth ages 8 to 14, offering a journey into the world of hands on crafting and artistic experience from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Coates Recreation Center. This session will involve creating fairy houses. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150. Cost is $10 per child.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

STORYTELLERS: CREATIVE WRITING 101: Are you a tween who is creative and loves to write? Explore and foster your creative voice through writing prompts and exercises from 5 to 6 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for grades six through 12th. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

JUNIOR NATURALIST: Join Parks & Recreation for a hands-on learning experience as they explore the natural world through Junior Naturalist program for ages 6-12 at various locations from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150.

HOMESCHOOL ARCHERY FOR YOUTH/TEEN: Participants will learn basic safety, anchor points, draw and release, care of equipment and essential safety skills from a USA Archery certified instructor. No prior experience is needed. Held at Coates Recreation Center from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. for Youth Class; Teen Class from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. Cost is $5 per child. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24

CODE CHALLENGERS: Learn how to make your own computer games, mobile apps and more from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for ages 8 to 12. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. No fee.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

FAIRY TALE BASH: All young princes and princesses are invited to partake in an evening of enchanted games, a jousting tournament, and more. With a bounce in the inflatable castle and a visit to the face paint cottage this party will end in a happily-ever after from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Parking lot. No fee. For ages 12 and under. Guests are encouraged to dress in fairy tale costumes. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

COMPUTER FOR BEGINNERS: Get an introduction to the basic functions of a personal computer, how to navigate the internet and how to send and receive email from 11 a.m. to noon for ages 18 and up at the Ruby B. Archie Library Computer Lab. No free. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

COATES LEGO LAB: Coates Lego Lab is designed to ignite the passion for building problem solving and innovation in young minds through magic of Legos. Held from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. at Coates Recreation Center for ages 5 to 12. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5150. Program in April is to build a magical forest.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

MOVIE AT THE LIBRARY: Take a visit to the library at Camp Gove Recreation Center from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to watch a movie with friends and enjoy snacks. Cost is $5. For information, call 434-799-5199.

YOUTH SOFTBALL PITCHING CLINIC: Learn the fundamentals and enhance your pitching abilities with our softball clinic from 5 to 7 p.m. at Dan Daniel Memorial Park. Pitchers will need to bring a catcher for this clinic. Cost is $10. For more information, call 434-799-5214.

TEEN ADVISORY BOARD: The Teen Advisory Board is a way for teens to have a voice at the library and help others in their community. The goals including promoting library services, helping library staff develop teen programs and strong young adult book collections and create youth led service projects from 4:30 to 5 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for grades 6 to 12th. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

MOVIES AT THE CROSSING: Free movie night out for the family at Danville Parks and Recreation's Movies at the Crossing at Carrington Pavilion. Bring a picnic supper or purchase something from food trucks on site. Gates open at 7 p.m. with movie "Gnomeo and Juliet" beginning at 8:30 p.m. No fee. For information, call 434-857-3384.

SATURDAY, ARPIL 27

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY FIGHTS LITTER: Join Pittsylvania County as it celebrates Earth Day with a roadside litter clean up event. The pickup begins at 9 a.m. and concludes with a closing ceremony at noon at Chatham Middle School with refreshments, prizes and more. To learn more and to signup, go to the Countys website at www.pittsylvaniacountyva.gov, click on Residents and look for Pittsylvania County: Keep it Clean!, search ow.ly/sUbW50QQ8CF or call 434-432-3575.

RIVER CLEAN-UP: Celebrate Earth Day by helping clean Danville's waterway, the Dan River. Danville Parks and Recreation is partnering with the Danville Science Center on this volunteer opportunity. We will be walking along the banks of the Riverwalk Trail to collect trash. Litter getters, gloves and trash bags will be provided. Registration not required. Held from 9 a.m. to noon, meeting at the Danville Science Center. For more information, call 434-799-5150.

MONDAY, APRIL 29

MAKER MONDAYS: Put your maker caps on to build, explore, tinker and create fun, hands on projects from 4:30 to 5:30 at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for ages 7 to 12. Each session will have different activities to try and problems to solve. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. No fee. This month Peep Dioramas..

KNITTERS UNRAVELLED: Learn beginner knitting techniques from an expert from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at The Ruby B. Archie Library Maker Space for grades six to 12th. No fee. Knitters will need to bring a pair of knitting needles and their own yarn. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

ADULTS ARTS AND CRAFTS: Relax with an arts and crafts project from 5 to 6 p.m. for ages 18 and up in the auditorium of the Ruby B. Archie Library at no fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195. Project will be spring tea light creations.

TUESDAY, APRIL 30

THE WRITE STUFF - WRITERS GROUP: If you love writing, bring what you are working on to share with the group or just come to discuss your craft from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Ruby B. Archie Library for ages 18 and up. No fee. Registration required by calling, 434-799-5195.

SATURDAY, MAY 4

SPAGHETTI DINNER: Dan River Ruritan Club take out only spaghetti dinner at the Ringgold Fire Department, 3880 Tom Fork Road, from 5 to 6 p.m. at cost of $10. Menu consists of spaghetti, salad and all the trimmings. Profits will go to the Ruritan Club.

DONATIONS FOR RUMMAGE SALE: DONATIONS FOR RUMMAGE SALE: The ACJA-LAE Alpha Upsilon Lambda Professional Chapter and the Danville Kiwanis Club are requesting donations of rummage items--clothing, dishes, furniture, books, baby clothing and miscellaneous items--for their Saturday, May 4th Annual Rummage Sale at Christ Episcopal Church. Call John Wilt for pick up of your rummage donation(s): (434)-770-8822.

THURSDAY, MAY 9

MUSIC AT THE MARKET: Music at the Market Concert Series will be on the outside stage at the Danville Community Market starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call 434-857-3384.

FRIDAY, MAY 10

MOVIES AT THE CROSSING: Free movie night out for the family at Danville Parks and Recreation's Movies at the Crossing at Carrington Pavilion. Bring a picnic supper or purchase something from food trucks on site. Gates open at 7 p.m. with movie "Elemental" beginning at 8:30 p.m. No fee. For information, call 434-857-3384.

MONDAY, JUNE 10

CAMP GROVE SUMMER CAMP: Camp Grove Summer Camp for ages five to 19 held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Bring lunch or money for lunch. Scholarships available for those who qualify. Cost is $50 per week. Held from June 10 to July 5. For more information, call 434-799-5199.

THURSDAY, JUNE 13

MUSIC AT THE MARKET: Music at the Market Concert Series will be on the outside stage at the Danville Community Market starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call 434-857-3384.

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1964 60TH CLASS REUNION: George Washington High School Class of 1964 60th Class Reunion will be held on June 15, 2024. Please visit the GWHS Class of 1964, Danville, VA Facebook page for further details. Contact Brenda Henderson Bowman at 434-724-4343

CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL: Danville Children's Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Carrington Pavilion. The free event will have lot of fun and educational activities on site. For more information, call 434-857-3384.

MONDAY, JULY 8

CAMP GROVE SUMMER CAMP: Camp Grove Recreation Center summer camp for ages 20 and above held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at cost of $50 per week. Bring lunch or money for lunch. Held from July 8 through 19. Scholarships available for those who qualify. For more information, call 434-799-5199.

THURSDAY, JULY 11

MUSIC AT THE MARKET: Music at the Market Concert Series will be on the outside stage at the Danville Community Market starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call 434-857-3384.

THURSDAY, AUG. 8

MUSIC AT THE MARKET: Music at the Market Concert Series will be on the outside stage at the Danville Community Market starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call 434-857-3384.

MONDAY, JULY 22

CAMP GROVE SUMMER CAMP: Camp Grove Recreation Center Summer Camp for ages five and above held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at cost of $50 per week. Bring lunch or money for lunch. Held July 22 through Aug. 2. Scholarships available for those who qualify. For more information, call 434-799-5199.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 12

MUSIC AT THE MARKET: Music at the Market Concert Series will be on the outside stage at the Danville Community Market starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call 434-857-3384.
The owner of American National Bank and Trust Co., the last independently owned bank based in Danville, has completed its merger with Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp.

American National Bankshares Inc. and Atlantic Union closed on the deal Monday, John C. Asbury, president and CEO of Atlantic Union, told the Danville Register & Bee.

We are excited to have the American National team officially join Atlantic Union Bank, Asbury said in a prepared statement. Together, our banks have more than 200 years of experience serving the needs of local communities throughout the mid-Atlantic region. We look forward to bringing new products and services to American Nationals clients, and we believe this transaction will help enable us to deliver sustainable long-term shareholder value.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, American National shareholders will receive 1.35 shares of Atlantic Union common stock in exchange for each share of American National common stock, according to a news release from Atlantic Union.

Based on the $35.31 closing price of Atlantic Union common stock on March 28, the sales value was about $507 million, according to the news release.

But the move comes with a reduction in American Nationals workforce in Virginia and North Carolina, the removal of Jeff Haley as American National Bank and Trust Co. CEO and the closure of its Danville Airport branch at 1407 South Boston Road.

Haley will continue as a consultant to Atlantic Union Bank for two years, Asbury said. He will also serve as the banks adviser to American Nationals E. Stuart James Grant and Alexander Berkeley Carrington Jr. and Ruth Simpson Carrington charitable trusts, which will carry over to Atlantic Union.

He will be advising us in terms of making recommendations on the proceeds of the trust for the various charitable organizations they support, so that continues exactly as has been the case, Asbury said.

During an interview Tuesday, Haley said of the merger, Atlantic Union has done an absolutely fabulous job from the day of the announcement of the closing. I feel very good where we are today.

He pointed to American Nationals and Atlantic Unions relationship that goes back decades, calling the latter an ideal partner for us.

We believe in the same things as it relates to banking and serving the communities in which we do business, Haley said.

He said he will still have an office at the bank.

Eddie Martin, who was chief administrative officer for American National, will lead the Atlantic Union Virginia franchise and Rhonda Joyce, who was the banks head of commercial banking, will oversee its North Carolina operations, Asbury said.

Atlantic Union, first started as a farm bank in Bowling Green in 1902, and American National, was established in 1909. Their relationship goes back about 40 years, Asbury said.

American National has 26 banking offices in Virginia and North Carolina, including four in Danville, and about $3.1 billion in total assets. It also manages an additional $1.2 billion of trust, investment and brokerage assets in its Wealth Management Division.

Atlantic Union has $24.3 billion in assets as of the end of December, Asbury said. Atlantic Union is the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank and has 109 branches and 125 ATMs throughout the commonwealth and parts of Maryland and North Carolina.

With the merger, Atlantic Union will have 135 branches, Asbury said.

A small number of positions was eliminated effective Monday and additional jobs will be cut as of Memorial Day weekend, when American Nationals system will be converted to Atlantic Bankshares, Asbury said.

Itll be certain roles, for example, like the chief financial officer, he said of the positions eliminated Monday. There are a couple of other senior executive roles that did not need to stay beyond the first day, but itll be a small number.

American National Bank and Trust Co. has 94 employees, with 22 of them to be gone following the system conversion.

Nearly 77% of all Danville-based  employees will shift into roles at Atlantic Union Bank, said Susan Rowland, Atlantic Union spokesperson. Of the 94 existing employees in the Danville area, 72 will continue employment at the bank.

Rowland added that some of the departing employees are retiring and are not leaving as a result of the merger.

We are unable to provide a breakdown of departures at this time, she said.Additionally, our HR team continues to work diligently to identify job opportunities within the bank and place those individuals into new roles where possible.

As for the Danville Airport branch closure, it was already planned by American National for consolidation for a while, Asbury said.

They recommended we proceed with the consolidation  and we agreed, he said.

The branch will close on Memorial Day.

Its not a particularly heavily utilized branch, which is why American National was intending to close it and consolidate into their other branches, Asbury said.

American Nationals other three branches in Danville include Main Street, Mount Cross Road and Nor-Dan Shopping Center.

American National Bank customers should just continue business as usual until the Memorial Day weekend, though all customers will be receiving a communication from us, which is a merger update package that will explain what happens, Asbury told the Danville Register & Bee.

It should be a fairly seamless conversion for them, he said.

The majority of American National customers will continue with the same account numbers following the conversion, he said.

The only reason why an account number might change would be if there was an overlap, Asbury said. A duplicate number would be highly unusual, but not impossible, he added.

As for their checks, they will work indefinitely, so they dont need to change that, Asbury said.

Card-carrying customers will receive new debit cards before the conversion date.

They should continue to use their existing debit cards until the conversion date of Memorial Day weekend, Asbury said.

The bank will have a higher lending capacity and a variety of offerings for larger business customers, he said, including treasury management services, fraud protection services, specialty financing such as equipment finance, leasing and asset-based lending.

Two members of American National Bankshares board of directors, Nancy Howell Agee and Joel R. Shepherd, will join the Atlantic Union and Atlantic Union Bank boards of directors as part of the merger agreement. Agee is the CEO of Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic. Shepherd is the president of Virginia Furniture Market, based in Franklin County.
Danville Public Schools Superintendent Angela Hairston went through a class at Woodberry Hills Elementary School in her first year.

She walked away and said Boy, this is a lot, explaining the changes that needed to be made within the division.

Its been tough, she said.

Recently she went through the class again. The difference was as stark as night and day.

The kids get it, she said. The students  first graders  were able to explain to the superintendent not only what they were learning, but how they were learning it.

The teachers whole strategy was to have children be able to explain their learning.

I think that was the moment  and I said, oh my gosh, our children are getting it, she said. Our children are getting it.

Signed in 2020, Danville Public Schools is under a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Department of Education until all schools are fully accredited for two consecutive years.

As it stands now, only two of the 11 schools meet that benchmark: Galileo Magnet High School and Forest Hills Elementary School. Schoolfield Elementary School is nearing one year of full accreditation.

The assistance program  the education department really doesnt have a particular name for it  provides state-funded resources for Danville Public Schools to meet goals on a corrective action plan. That plan will be reviewed when new SOL results come in this year to see if tweaks need to be made.

I feel really good, Hairston said with a smile when asked what she thinks about the upcoming SOLs.

Shes been looking at growth data, something the school system now tracks at a deep level to pinpoint where attention is needed.

Just looking at the data, I feel really extremely positive, she told the Register & Bee in a recent interview.

She credits focus and awareness with the incremental upward changes.

Often times we are distracted by so much in education, she said. I worry a little bit because I think teachers are often asked to do so much that they can easily be distracted.

Communication, even the internal variety, makes a difference. For example, school leaders meet weekly on certain things, like a new elementary school under construction.

They have to treat academic achievement the same way, she stressed.

We have to sit down and talk about everything that will happen between this Tuesday and next Tuesday and look at the data, she told the Register & Bee.

And we have to be honest with ourselves and our public, she said. When things are not working, we need to say, its just not working.

Openness is key in gaining the trust of a community, according to Tara McDaniel, the director of the office of teacher preparation for Longwood University.

I will say that it is very important for the division to be fully transparent with the community and parents and that serving as two key stakeholder groups, they have an important role and vested interest in improvement of any school, she told the Register & Bee.

Perception versus reality

In any community, perception often doesnt mirror reality. Danville School Board Chair TyQuan Graves admits thats been an issue for years.

As a board member, our main focus is we want to build a bridge with the community with our schools, he said in a phone interview. We do policy work and we support the community.

Yet, negative feedback isnt always shunned. Sometimes its needed. Perhaps itll lead to changing a policy that wasnt brought to light before.

However, the perception versus reality plays at a higher level on social media. If someone has a negative experience, theyll broadcast it, often enlisting others to share similar views.

We continue to feed positivity, Graves said. You always combat negative energy with positive.

Since hes been chair, hes requested Hairston have moments of recognition at the board meetings to push and promote our kids in our positive light.

On one occasion, music students performed a song for the school board. Recently, winners of history and math competitions were honored when the superintendent handed each student a framed certificate before standing with board members and administrators for a photo.

Thats when beaming parents darted to the front of the room with cellphones in hand to grab a picture.

Its those shining moments that often arent captured and spread, Grave explained.

Daniel Grounard, the education leadership coordinator with Longwood University, experiences a similar problem with the Prince Edward County school division.

Along with Danville, Prince Edward is one of five under an agreement with the state education department.

If we ask the public to rally around the schools they need to see that the changes are making a difference, he said. The school division must be transparent and communicate the successes and challenges throughout the process.

If that isnt the case, a Catch-22 moment emerges.

If not, the perception will turn into reality, he said.

The negativity from a community also impacts how an educator performs, along with overall morale of staff members.

If we are not celebrating the successes with our staff and putting the staff out front when things are going well, they will continue to leave the system, Grounard said.

The most important part of the process is putting a good teacher in front of the children and a great leader [principal] in the schools, he explained.

A good principal who is an instructional leader is key to making the plan work, Grounard continued in his response to combating negativity. Politics need to stay out of the schools and the school board needs to work in concert with each other on improving the schools.

Parents and the community in general can help a school division by supporting sound budget practices and understanding the importance of providing low-income students the opportunity to succeed in the classroom, he said.

At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the schools to recruit the community to help the schools, Grounard said. Recognition programs for staff and students are one of the many ways the community can help.

Approach

The approach to improving academic outcomes will shift to a different model depending on the school.

For examples, schools like Galileo and Forest Hills that have been accredited for two or more years will work under a different framework than schools not yet at accredited levels.

Hairston said the system also is looking at the Active8 STEM Academy, which is considered a program instead of a stand-alone school.

We did an internal accreditation for them, they are looking really good, she told the Register & Bee. So theyll have more autonomy on the way they lead their schools.

Active8 was a new launch this year for grades three through five and will be adding a sixth grade for the next school cycle. While its a school in all of the classic definitions  its housed in the I.W Taylor facility  students technically belong to other elementary schools.

The Virtual Academy  an option for students and families who want a remote-learning experience  operates on the same model and isnt considered a school itself.

Those kids still belong to a school, Hairston said. Thats why theres no accreditation data available on either.

Schoolfield Elementary, that had accreditation this year for the first time, will have intense monitoring.

Those schools that, again, are not accredited at the end, Ill probably stake out an office at their schools, Hairston said. We will have a different plan for them.

Basically, each school will have a specific level of support based on the individual challenges.

Learning never ends

The one item we feel we need to grow in and we will continue to grow is teacher leadership, Hairston acknowledged, meaning working on what she calls building capacity in the classroom.

The next step is really supporting our teachers in their efforts to lead this work, she said. I dont want to always have to rely on a corrective action plan.

Simply put, the goal is not to reach accreditation and abandon the changes over the years, but instead continue to evolve so the system doesnt have a setback.

I think the support sends a message that we are very serious about our schools that are struggling and that if you work alongside them, you are going to improve them, Hairston said of working closely with the department of education.

I think our school board members have been wonderful in understanding the process and not being a barrier, but being a supporter and a facilitator for change, she also said of the process. I think theyve done a wonderful job embracing that.

In the end, the focus comes down to the ones on the main lines each day in the classrooms.

I just wanted to say that this work is important that the teachers understand they are appreciated, Hairston said.

I hear all of the news about teacher pay, and Im telling you, teachers work hard, she continued. Im telling you, teachers work hard in our district.

They also deserve praise, Hairston explained.
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The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of police in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province arrested 22 terrorists during intelligence-based operations, CTD Punjab said.

The personnel of the CTD of Punjab police conducted multiple operations in different districts of the province in a bid to avert terror activities, apprehending 22 terrorists, the Punjab CTD said in a statement on Tuesday.

The arrested terrorists belonged to banned outfits including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Al-Qaida, the CTD statement said, adding that they were planning to attack different organizations and government offices in the province.

The law enforcers also seized a cache of weapons, including explosives, hand grenades, detonators, and improvised explosive device bombs during the operations.

Police have registered separate cases against the arrested persons, who have been shifted to an unknown location for further investigation.

The CTD Punjab said that it is committed to rooting out the menace of terrorism from the country and it has been making all-out efforts to achieve its targets.

Earlier, a senior official of the CTD was killed in firing by unknown miscreants in the country's northwest North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Greensboros mayor would like to see the city enact new ordinances regulating safety at nightclubs within the next few months.

Mayor Nancy Vaughan has spoken out before about her concerns over crime at nightlife venues.

Nightclubs and bars have been the site of several shootings, including the fatal double homicide at Culture Lounge on March 8 and a November shooting at Electric Tequila in which two people were injured.

At the end of Tuesdays city council meeting, Vaughan said she and staff from the citys Office of Community Safety had met with some nightlife promoters.

The mayor said she was encouraged by the response at the meeting.

One thing that I find very gratifying is that the promoters and some of the nightclub owners really want to be at the table right now because they see that this is going to happen so they want to be part of the solution, Vaughan said.

She said the city would likely need to have two new ordinances  one regulating nightclubs and another for promoters.

We do hear a lot about promoters that come into town. They make their money and they leave and they leave us with the wreckage, Vaughan said. So I think as long as we are all committed that safety is the number one goal on both of these ordinances, I think that were going to be able to move forward.

In terms of models for ensuring safety, the mayor also cited the Winston-Salem Bar Owners Council, a group of business owners that work together to promote safety and keep troublesome patrons out of their establishments.

Vaughan said she would like to see the city move forward with new ordinances in the coming months, adding she also wants to give the public opportunities to weigh in during the process.

She also encouraged residents to call their state lawmakers to make it easier for cities to crack down on businesses causing problems as well as the N.C. ABC Commission, which is tasked with issuing and revoking alcohol permits.

We want peoples help, Vaughan said. We need your help. Reach out to your legislators. Tell them this is not OK and reach out to North Carolina ABC Commission and make it so we dont have to wait five years, we dont have to wait and count bodies before we close a place.

To highlight the difficulties involved in shutting down businesses, the mayor pointed to the recent closure of Secrets Cabaret, a strip club on West Gate City Boulevard.

The city filed a complaint against the business in February, days after Greensboro and ALE officers found firearms, illegal drugs and other contraband and issued charges against 11 people.

Last month, a judge entered a consent order and approved an agreement between the owners of the property and the city which requires the owners to sell the property. Future owners will also be barred from operating a strip club or similar nightlife venue at the property.

Vaughan said during her remarks Tuesday the city had actually been building its case against the club since 2017.
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Burning Man. Mardi Gras. SXSW. Theyre on every bucket list of not-to-be-missed festivals. But do the crowds make you think twice about going? If you love festivals, but hate making your way through crowds of tourists, head to the remote island of Yap in the western Pacific Ocean where the tourists are minimal and the welcome is maximal.

One of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia, this 38 square mile island is renowned for maintaining its traditions and tropical beauty as the daily way of life.

Festivals in Yap

Known as the Land of Stone Money due to the massive discs of stone currency that have been used for centuries as legal tender and are still in use today, three annual festivals take place throughout the year when the culture is celebrated by and for local residents.

On or around March 1st, Yap Day starts the year off when two days of festivities are set aside to celebrate the unique Yapese culture. Yap Day officially begins with the blowing of the conch shell and a Stone Money carry ceremony.

What to see and do in Yap

Photo by Joyce McClure

During the third weekend of June, Summer Festival brings friends and families together to celebrate the beginning of summer at the Living History Museum in Colonia, the only town on the island.

In early December when the trade winds are most reliable, the Yap Traditional Navigation Society and its respected Master Navigators host the Canoe Festival. The islands navigation history and the art of celestial navigation are on display with a parade of hand-carved sailing canoes and canoe races. Demonstrations include bamboo raft making, weaving of traditional canoe sails and the making of coconut husk rope.

Famous throughout the Pacific for the traditional dances that tell stories about the island, its history and people, each festival features dance competitions between villages. A marketplace offers local food and handicrafts. During their stay, visitors also enjoy diving among the resident population of manta rays and other sea life in the surrounding protected reef, exploring historical World War II memorials erected throughout the island, hiking the centuries-old stone paths that connect the villages, and identifying the flora and fauna that are found nowhere else in the world.

For more information, go to www.visityap.com.
" " Genghis Khan is said to have killed 1,748,000 people in a single hour. Did he really? Amazing fact: no. Francesco Vaninetti Photo / Getty Images

The 1,748,000 refers to the estimated population in April 1221 of a Persian city called Nishapur [source: Hinson]. This city, located in what is now Iran, was a bustling cultural center during Khan's time. And during his campaign to the West, following his successful subduing of China, Nishapur was one of the cities his troops sacked.

Genghis Khan (whose adopted name means "Universal Ruler" in Altaic, his native tongue) was something of a populist conqueror. He generally followed a self-imposed rule that those who surrendered to him were allowed to live. Common folk were often spared, while their rulers usually were put to death. The same fate met anyone else who dared resist.

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In Nishapur, Khan's favorite son-in-law, Toquchar, was killed by an arrow shot by a Nishapuran. It's not entirely clear whether a revolt broke out after Khan's troops had already overtaken the city, or if the fateful event took place during an initial siege. Either way, this proved to be the death warrant for the inhabitants of the city [source: Lange].

Khan's daughter was heartbroken at the news of her husband's death and requested that every last person in Nishapur be killed. Khan's troops, led by his youngest son Tolui undertook the gruesome task. Women, children, infants, and even dogs and cats were all murdered. Worried that some of the inhabitants were wounded but still alive, Khan's daughter allegedly asked that each Nishapuran be beheaded, their skulls piled in pyramids. Ten days later, the pyramids were complete [source: Gabriel].

Exactly how many died at Nishapur during the siege is questionable, but it does appear that a great many people were killed and beheaded. There is no evidence that Genghis Khan was at the city when the massacre took place, however.

It's unclear why the legends say these events transpired in just one hour. And when the 1.75 million deaths became attributed directly to Khan is equally murky. Even more difficult to understand is how the idea made it on so many lists of amazing statistics. Regardless, a great many people died at the hands of Genghis Khan or his men. But in a strange, roundabout way, he put back more than he took. Thanks to his far-flung travels and his appetite for women, a 2003 study found that as many as 16 million people alive today  or about 0.5 percent of the global population  are descendants of Khan [source: Zerjal, et al.].
Australia could potentially join a US-UK led partnership in which artificial intelligence (AI) safety institutes will monitor and test the safety of new AI models, the two countries have announced even as Google, OpenAI, and Apple debut powerful new AI engines.

The new memorandum of understanding (MoU) unites the UKs AI Safety Institute (UKAISI), which was launched last November as a global hub for innovation and safety, with the US AI Safety Institute (USAISI)  which was announced in February and will, along with the industry-based AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), operate under the auspices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Both safety institutes will unite researchers and industry experts to, as the UK Government put it, carefully test new types of frontier AI before and after they are released to address the potentially harmful capabilities of AI models.

Based on the principle of ensuring that AI developers are not marking their own homework when it comes to safety, the model facilitates the creation of partnerships, with AISI researchers supported with supercomputing capabilities and access to the EUs $578 million (300 million) AI Research Resource.

AISI is already working closely with the Alan Turing Institute  the UKs national data science and AI body  as well as engaging with international bodies including the Government of Singapore and, with the latest MoU now taking immediate effect, USAISI.

The two organisations have also committed to develop similar partnerships with other countries  yet how and whether Australia participates in the consortium may well depend on how aggressively the government moves to establish a similar AI safety framework in this country, where one recent survey found 80 per cent of Australians are concerned about controlling AIs potential catastrophic risks.

Amidst exhortations by Australias Productivity Commission to avoid heavy-handed AI regulations, a recent decision by the eSafety Commissioner to bring forward a review of Australias Online Safety Act highlighted concerns that local legislation isnt keeping up with the technology  which is also threatening the trust of voters even as the government pivots towards a risk-based regulatory framework.

Yet Australian regulations may still be years away, leaving local regulators looking on as the EU passes its landmark AI Act  which will introduce a stepped program of obligations around use of AI in biometrics, critical infrastructure, education, employment, immigration, and other areas  and the UKAISI-USAISI partnership fights to establish itself as an alternative axis of global AI regulation.

Putting the heat on AI regulators

Governments worldwide face the need to move both quickly and confidently to regulate for the safety of AI systems, which are continuing to progress in leaps and bounds  a reality that was flagged as the UKAISIs founders set out six months ago to prevent surprise to the UK and humanity from rapid and unexpected advances in AI.

Even then, UK regulators were warning about new powerful models expected to be released [in 2024] whose capabilities may not be fully understood  yet despite promising to quickly put in place the processes and systems to test them before they launch, the body seems to have missed the opportunity to vet newly released AI tools that blur the boundary between reality and deception.

OpenAI, for its part, has this year not only debuted its Sora text-to-video tool but recently showcased AI-based voice cloning tools that can convincingly mimic the voice of anybody from just 15 seconds of source audio.

Google  which recently walked back its Gemini image generator after concerns about its imposing arbitrary diversity standards  has also turned heads after teasing Google Vlogger, an AI video generation tool capable of animating a still photo to simulate a video of someone speaking.

Even Apple is refining its genAI game, with all eyes on the companys June WorldWide Developers Conference (WWDC) and its expected debut of a slew of AI features that could democratise risky AI by putting it into the hands of anybody with an Apple device.

Last month, the company teased how AI might change the user experience by publishing a research paper showcasing how its new large language model (LLM) delivers large improvements in AI capabilities  with even its smallest, presumably iPhone focused LLM achieving performance comparable to that of [industry benchmark] GPT-4 and larger models substantially outperforming it.

Ensuring safety amidst such breakneck innovation is no small task  but US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is confident that transnational partnerships will provide the foundation to make it achievable.

AI is the defining technology of our generation, she said, noting that the partnership is going to accelerate both of our institutes work across the full spectrum of risks, whether to our national security or to our broader society.

Our institutes will gain a better understanding of AI systems, conduct more robust evaluations, and issue more rigorous guidance about managing the risks posed by new AI technologies.

We arent running away from these concerns, Raimondo said.

Were running at them.
Concord Police Capt. Cydney McGhee is in pretty rarefied air. In a profession where only around 12% of sworn officers are women, McGhee stands out, as she is the highest ranking female officer in the department.

McGhee, who has been an officer for 18 years and currently oversees the departments criminal investigations division, recently graduated from the 289th session of the FBIs National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Recognized worldwide for its academic excellence, the Academy consisted of 10 weeks of advanced leadership classes, communication courses, and fitness challenges. Only the top 1% of all senior law enforcement in the world get accepted.

McGhee was one of three North Carolina officers who were part of the graduating class, which consisted of 197 officers, 23 of whom were women. The class was comprised of officers from 47 American states, four military organizations, five federal civilian organizations, and 23 nations around the world, according a press release.

I think it was just a once-in-a-lifetime experience, McGhee told the Independent Tribune. Its a very high honor and Im very appreciative to have been able to go.

She is the third current Concord officer to have gone through the Academy, following Police Chief Jimmy Hughes and Maj. Keith Eury.

Our department is incredibly proud of Cydney, said Chief Hughes in a statement to the paper. Shes an example to other women that they too can have a rewarding career in law enforcement and excel at the highest level. I know firsthand the commitment and sacrifice required to attend the academy  especially leaving your family for an extended period  but the skills, knowledge, and perspectives from around the world that are gained through the program will greatly benefit our organization and community.

Throughout the program, which began in early January and ended in mid-March, McGhee formed relationships with police officers of all ranks, as they took part in specialized trainings and classes taught by experienced FBI instructors and special agents. The program simulated a typical college atmosphere, McGhee said, as the officers lived together in dorm-style suites, attended classes each day and ate meals in a cafeteria.

McGhee and the officers also took part in weekly Wizard of Oz-themed physical fitness challenges, culminating in the final test: The Yellow Brick Road challenge, a grueling 6.1-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail where officers had to climb over walls, run through creeks, jump through simulated windows, scale rock faces with ropes, crawl under barbed wire in muddy water and maneuver across a cargo net.

The challenge was featured at the beginning of The Silence of the Lambs, when Jodie Foster, who portrayed an FBI trainee, ran through much of the course. McGhee and the other officers who completed the course received a literal yellow brick as a keepsake.

Its a pretty big, prestigious thing to have that yellow brick on your desk, McGhee said.

Much of what she learned she plans to incorporate into her job with the department. This includes effectively communicating to the public, including the media, during a crisis.

She took a class involving communication strategies for law enforcement leaders, which included mock interviews with instructor Gail Pennybacker, a longtime Washington, D.C., broadcast reporter, following several real-life crisis scenarios.

They give you a scenario and shes just rapid-fire, asking you questions, McGhee said about the exercises, which helped boost her confidence. To be able to feel that comfortable  youre like, This can work. This makes me feel more comfortable.

McGhee also appreciated the frank and open discussions that were held surrounding mental health, and the struggles officers often face  an often taboo subject among law enforcement. Many officers shared stories about losing their colleagues to suicide. Nobody wants to talk about their feelings, especially police officers, McGhee said.

It just hit home, that we need it, she said about officers being more open with each other. People dont call the police on a good day; they call us on their worst days. You see the bad in a lot of things and it takes a toll on you and you dont really realize it because you kind of put it out of your mind, but eventually it adds up, and it has to come out somewhere.

Upon graduation, McGhee and the other officers shook hands with FBI Director Christopher Wray, who delivered remarks at the ceremony. Her family and Chief Hughes were in attendance.

In reflecting on the success as a leader within the department and what she has achieved in her career, including her time in Quantico, McGhee highlighted the importance of always being willing to learn and pass on new knowledge to others.

I feel leadership is something we always have to work towards, always learning, and changing, she said. Leadership is not just for me as a manager but for our department overall.

I learned a lot at the FBINA and hope to pass that on to as many people as possible, she continued. That is what leadership is about: teaching, learning, growing and passing along.

McGhee hopes her position as Concords highest ranking female officer can offer encouragement to young girls that they can achieve whatever they want in life. I hope that all young girls know that they can do anything they set their minds to doing, she said.
Leading advisory and IT solutions provider, Atturra, today announced that its managed services business has achieved Cisco Gold Provider status reinforcing the companys ability to provide Australian enterprises and government agencies with technology solutions that enhance connectivity, efficiency, and optimise overall cybersecurity and network performance.

Atturra is now just one of a few sovereign Australian IT services companies to have achieved Cisco Gold Provider status. The Cisco Gold Provider certification is awarded to companies that have demonstrated a high level of competency to successfully build, provision, manage and support managed services built on Cisco technologies.

The company achieved Gold Service Provider status following stringent third-party auditing of its services and expertise for the Meraki SD-WAN Powered Service, Cisco SASE network architecture and full-stack observability technologies.

We are delighted that our investment in building out our capability in the provision of Cisco Powered managed services across functions, including our workspace and architecture practices, has been recognised and awarded, said Chris McLaughlin, Executive General Manager for Atturras Managed Services business.

This certification is testament to our ability to compete with global services companies with an expert team on the ground here in Australia with world-class skills able to deliver innovation and, ultimately, a great customer experience.

At the same time, the relationship reinforces both companies business momentum which has seen Ciscos global strategy shift in recent years to annuity-based services for which Atturra is one hundred per cent in lockstep to support and achieve mutual business success, added McLaughlin.

Atturras flexible and on-demand services are all managed and monitored by a team of Australian-based, certified engineers supporting customers with cloud and infrastructure, modern workplace, enterprise network services, cybersecurity, application managed services, as well as hardware and software procurement. The companys Cisco Powered managed services are based around its ITSM and ITIL practice management.

Ciscos Managing Director of the Partner Organisation for Australia and New Zealand, Rodney Hamill, said, We're thrilled Atturra has attained Cisco Gold Provider status, a testament to their exceptional dedication as a Cisco partner. We value their innovation, investment and partnership.

McLaughlin added, Businesses need partners they can trust. Our new partnership status provides reassurance that we have the leading expertise required to meet our clients rigorous IT services requirements with products from an industry pioneer and innovator.
GUEST OPINION: The generative AI models that today power chatbots, online search queries, customer interactions, and more are known as large language models (LLMs).

The LLMs are trained on vast volumes of data and then use that data to create more data, following the rules and patterns they've learned. Good quality data leads to good outcomes. Bad data to bad outcomes. It didnt take cyberattackers long to figure out how to turn that to their advantage.

There are two broad categories of data attack: data poisoning and data manipulation. They are very different, but both undermine the reliability, accuracy, and integrity of trusted  and increasingly essential  systems.

Poisoning the data well

Data poisoning targets the training data that a model relies on when responding to a users request. There are several types of data poisoning attack.

One approach involves attackers inserting malware into the system, effectively corrupting it. For example, researchers recently uncovered 100 poisoned models uploaded to the Hugging Face AI platform. Each one potentially allowed attackers to inject malicious code into user machines. This is a form of supply chain compromise since these models are likely to be used as part of other systems.

Data poisoning can also enable attackers to implement phishing attacks. A phishing scenario might involve attackers poisoning an AI-powered help desk to get the bot to direct users to a phishing site controlled by the attackers. If you then add API integrations, you have a scenario where attackers can easily exfiltrate any of the data they tricked the user into sharing with the chatbot.

Third, data poisoning can enable attackers to feed in disinformation to alter the models behaviour. Poisoning the training data used during the creation of the LLM allows attackers to alter the way the model behaves when deployed. This can lead to a less predictable, more fallible model. It can lead to a model generating hate speech or conspiracy theories. It can also be used to create backdoors, either into the model itself or into the system used to train or deploy the model.

Backdoor malware attacks

A backdoor is a type of input that the models developer is not aware of, but which allows the attackers to get the system to do what they want.

A file containing a malware payload is uploaded to a training set and triggered after the trained model has been deployed. Attackers will ask the model questions designed to call up the backdoor information they inserted during training.

These backdoors could allow attackers to alter the model in some way, exfiltrate deployment or training data, or impact the models core prompting. This type of attack involves a deep understanding of how the model will use training data when users interact and communicate with it.

Among other things, backdoors can allow attackers to stealthily introduce flaws or vulnerabilities that they return to later for exploitation. The attackers could instruct the malware classifier that if a certain string is present in the file, that file should always be classed as benign. The attackers could then compose any malware they want, and if they insert that string into their file somewhere  it gets through.

The grey area

LLMs draw data from many sources. In order to defend their intellectual property rights, some artists and others who believe their material has been ingested without their approval have turned to a data poisoning tool called Nightshade. This tool essentially distorts training data, for example by turning cats into hats in imagery. Nightshade has the potential to cause serious damage to image-generating AI models and could be misused by attackers wanting to do more than protect their creative work.

Data poisoning and RAG

An increasingly common technique to enhance the performance of LLMs is something called retrieval augmented generation or RAG. RAG combines the capabilities of an LLM with an external data source, resulting in a system that can offer more nuanced responses and gather user feedback, which helps the model to learn and improve over time.

RAG infrastructures are particularly vulnerable to data poisoning attacks. Unless user feedback is screened carefully, attackers will be able to insert bogus, misleading, or potentially backdooring content through the feedback apparatus. Organisations deploying RAG infrastructure should be extremely careful and diligent about which data enters the model and from what source.

Data manipulation

Data manipulation attacks resemble phishing and SQL injection attacks. Attackers send messages to the generative AI bot to try to manipulate it into circumventing its prompting like in a typical social engineering attack, or to break the logic of the prompt on the database.

The consequences of this kind of attack vary depending on what systems and information the bot has access to and underscore the importance of not automatically granting models access to sensitive or confidential data. The more sensitive the information, the more severe the consequences.

Whats in it for the attackers?

There isnt a clear financial benefit to data poisoning attacks, but they spread chaos and damage brand reputation. A newly deployed model behaving in unexpected and dangerous ways erodes trust in the technology as well as the organisation that created or deployed it.

The risk to users is that they will download and use the models without proper due diligence because it is a trusted system. If the downloaded files contain a malicious payload, the users could be facing a security breach involving ransomware or credential theft.

However, if the files contain misinformation, the results are more subtle. The model will ingest this information and may use it when responding to user queries. This could result in biased or offensive content.

Data manipulation can be used to access privileged information that a company has connected to its LLM, which the attackers can then use for extortion or sale. It can also be used to coerce the LLM into making statements that are legally binding, embarrassing, or in some way damaging to the company or beneficial to the user.

In one example, a Canadian airline was forced to honour a refund policy that its AI-powered chatbot made up. This is known as a hallucination, where the AI model provides an inaccurate or misleading response because it doesnt have the actual answer but still wants to provide one.

Aware and prepared

Data manipulation of generative AI models is a very real threat. These attacks are low cost and easy to implement, and unlike data poisoning, there are potential financial returns. Any organisation deploying an LLM should put guardrails in place that reinforce the models prompt approach and ensure that sensitive or confidential information cannot be accessed by unauthorised users. Anything that could damage the company if released to the public should be closely scrutinised and vetted before being connected to an LLM application.

Data poisoning is unlikely to directly effect a company deploying a generative AI application.

Although, if that application uses a RAG framework, the organisation needs to be careful about the information that enters the RAG database, and the vetting channels deployed.

The downstream consequences of data poisoning at source are, however, significant.

Imagine a scenario where a near ubiquitous generative AI model was corrupted during training with a backdoor payload that let an attacker overwrite a prompt with a new prompt.

Since most AI applications use one of the public generative AI models with a set of new prompts overlayed on top of it, any vulnerability in the original LLM will spread to and be found in all derivative applications.

Responsibility for detecting and fixing data poisoning sits with the developers of LLMs. But it is critical that every organisation using the exploited model pulls down the new, updated version as soon as it becomes available, just as they would with any other open-source software.

Whats next?

It may be that the largest threat facing generative AI models comes not from intentional action by human adversaries, but rather from bad data generated by other AI models. All LLMs are susceptible to hallucination and are inherently fallible. As more LLM-generated content appears in training sets, the likelihood of further hallucinations will climb.

LLM applications learn from themselves and each other, and they are facing a self-feedback loop crisis, where they may start to inadvertently poison their own and one anothers training sets simply by being used. Ironically, as the popularity and use of AI-generated content climbs, so too does the likelihood of the models collapsing in on themselves. The future for generative AI is far from certain.
The Copenhagen-headquartered company celebrated 25 years in business in February 2023. During the anniversary year, Milestone made significant strides in delivering its growth strategy, particularly in key industries such as healthcare and hospitality.

Milestone Systems CEO Thomas Jensen said, As we reflect on Milestone's remarkable journey of 25 years, we not only celebrate our past achievements but also look forward to what lies ahead. The advancement of artificial intelligence and video analytics opens up endless possibilities for data-driven video technology. We already see how our strategic focus on key sectors such as healthcare and hospitality can make meaningful contributions to people, businesses, and societies around the world. We are proud of Milestone's achievements to-date, but we are even more excited about the future.

Milestone has long advocated that technology should be developed, sold, and used responsibly. In 2023, the company established a formal program on Responsible Technology. These principles will guide the development of Milestones products and services and interactions throughout the value chain.

Jensen said: I truly believe that technology should serve humanity not the other way around. Responsible Technology is not just a buzzword at Milestone  it is a crucial aspect of our commitment to serving our customers and societies at large. We are dedicated to ensuring that our software is not only innovative but also ethical.

Growth plans

Reflecting on Milestones growth ambitions, Milestone Systems CFO Lars Larsen said, Looking ahead, we anticipate an eventful and promising 2024. We will continue our growth journey, in terms of revenue, investments, and profitability. We expect the coming financial year will bring many opportunities, particularly within the cloud and video analytics spaces.

Highlights from the year included the launch of XProtect Hospital Assist, a video solution that allows medical staff to remotely observe multiple patients at once and respond to incidents quickly. The company also introduced an updated approach for the casinos industry, one of the most strictly regulated industries in the world, to ensure gaming compliance and to help businesses deliver exceptional guest experiences.

By year-end, Milestone added Camera to Cloud capabilities to the cloud-based offering Milestone Kite, a simple, secure, and scalable Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS). The addition of Camera to Cloud means computing, recording and video storage can take place on cameras.

Highlights in FY2023

Net revenue: 1.69 billion DKK (226 million)

Pre-tax profit: 109.9 million DKK (15 million)

Employees: 1,294

Locations: 25

101 million DKK (14 million) investment in development projects

Read the 2023 annual report here.
This is the seventh Business-to-Business (B2B) software business acquired by Software Combined since they established operations in 2020. Activate has a well-established customer base throughout New Zealand, and its track record with large organisations and its integration with vendor platforms is clear proof of the longevity of Activates business model.

Activate is a highly respected, profitable and stable business, said Evert den Hollander, CEO, Software Combined. Activate has carved out a leadership position in the delivery of smart self-service automation to enterprises, empowering users to manage their own environment quickly and easily. This provides significant productivity gains while ensuring a level of security, governance, audit and control that is not possible without smart, automated management.

Noting that a key element of the acquisition was the assurance that Activate would retain its brand and cultural identity, Mr. den Hollander said this approach was reflective of the commitment Software Combined is making to New Zealand. Now the company has established a presence in Auckland, it plans to expand and play an active role in nurturing technology innovators, growing employment and ensuring New Zealand intellectual property remains in New Zealand.

Founded in 2005, Activate provides full workflow automation for end users in enterprises to streamline tasks. With Activate, users can self-manage their environment, including Email Lists, Microsoft Teams, Shared Mailboxes, Application Access, and Hardware requests through to full life-cycle management of employees. Activate increases security and control and dramatically reduce costs across a wide range of Enterprise customers directly and with Technology partners.

Ashley Thomas, CEO of Activate, said: As a leading and proud New Zealand technology innovator, we are confident that joining the Software Combined Group will not only ensure we can continue to provide our customers productivity and efficiency benefits they have come to expect from us but to access resources and skills to enable us to accelerate our expansion.

Activate was founded in 2005 to deliver smart self-service automation to Enterprises. We deliver fast implementation and instant results through smart orchestration and out-of-the-box industry best practice management of Identity, Data, Service and Systems management to end users.



Activate radically transforms the way that businesses think about managing IT and empowering users and assists in making the business more agile, efficient and profitable. Activate is a pioneer in bringing self-service automation to the market and delivering significant value to businesses. We deliver value through automation software, professional services and helping our customers bring IT as a service into their organisation.

About Software Combined:

As Australias local software aggregator, Software Combined is dedicated to supporting a portfolio of exceptional software businesses to maximise their full growth potential and to secure the continuity of what founders have built.

For more information, please contact Stefan Jansen, Chief Revenue Officer, at info@softwarecombined.com.au.
State lawmakers advanced a compromise bill on Wednesday requiring private wind and solar power companies to hold public meetings before they can build new generation facilities in Nebraska.

As introduced last year, the bill (LB399) from Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon also would have required companies to complete an application with the Power Review Board before they could begin construction.

And an addition from the Natural Resources Committee would have required those developers to enter into power purchase agreements prior to construction.

Opponents said the proposed requirements went too far, however, and would have severely hamstrung the renewable energy industry in Nebraska.

When the bill first came up on Tuesday, it was met with a filibuster that threatened to defeat the bill.

Lincoln Sen. George Dungan, who along with Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh was part of an effort to stall or bring changes to the bill, said the process created by the amended version of LB399 would have driven renewable energy companies out of the state.

I dont think we should be in the business of telling these businesses youre not welcome here, Dungan said.

The slow-walking of the bill toward a potential cloture vote Wednesday evening rankled some supporters of the bill that said it went a long way toward protecting residents who oppose wind or solar farms being built near their properties.

Brewer, who has brought similar legislation during his eight years in the Legislature, expressed frustration that the negotiations had stripped many of the new requirements from the bill.

Its ridiculous we have come to this point, he said. To chop it anymore means theres nothing left.

But he also said Cavanaugh had found a way to thread the needle on an agreement to move the bill forward.

Cavanaugh said the scaled-back proposal would create openness, transparency, and gave Nebraska residents a chance to comment on those projects.

"It does not unduly destroy or hinder the industry in the state," Cavanaugh said.

That amendment pared back the requirements for wind and solar energy companies to hold public meetings for residents in the counties where they hope to build turbines or solar panels. At least one board member of that private company would be required to attend in person.

The Legislature adopted the compromise amendment on a 42-0 vote.

A floor amendment offered by Cavanaugh which passed on a 41-0 margin also increased the time for a renewable energy company to post a security bond as part of its decommissioning plan from three years to six years.

The bill was moved to the second round of debate on a 44-0 vote.

Meet the Nebraska state senators making laws in 2024
1. Yes. This is expected to be a high-turnout election. Its better to vote early and avoid the crowds.

2. Yes. The period is nearly two weeks long, so it should be easy to find a convenient time to vote.

3. No. Its better to wait until Election Day, just in case any last-minute information comes out.

4. No. Its more exciting to vote on Election Day, and its also more traditional.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say at this point. Ill make a decision as the election gets closer.

Vote

View Results
NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary as Russias war on Ukraine corrodes its unity and resolve. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts marked Thursday the moment NATO's founding treaty was signed on this date in 1949.
Two La Crosse men face felony charges after they allegedly failed to register with the state Sex Offender Registry Program.

Police are seeking the whereabouts of 62-year-old Mark S. Bell, who was last registered living at a Rose Street apartment address. According to a criminal complaint filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court, Bell has been in absconder status since July 24, 2023, after he allegedly removed his GPS monitor.

The complaint says Bell didnt respond to a registration letter sent Aug. 24, 2023. Police obtained a lead for a possible address for Bell in November, but a letter sent to the address wasnt returned.

Judge Mark Huesmann issued an arrest warrant March 11 for Bell and ordered a cash bond of $500. Bell was convicted in 1986 of assault with intent to commit sexual assault against a woman in Clayton County, Iowa.

In a separate case, charges have been filed against 59-year-old James Cadmus.

A criminal complaint says Cadmus failed to respond to a registration letter sent Aug. 31, 2023, to his Pearl Street address. He allegedly failed to respond to a second letter sent Sept. 19, 2023.

Judge Elliott Levine issued an arrest warrant March 11 for Cadmus, who was taken into custody April 2. He was released the same day after posting a $500 cash bond. His next court appearance is a return on warrant set for May 29. Cadmus was convicted in Eau Claire County for sexual assault of a child in 1991.
State Sen. Brad Pfaff launched his re-election campaign Thursday and said he would build on his legislative record supporting working families and advocating for reproductive health care rights.

The La Crosse Democrat announced his candidacy during a press conference at Sprout Early Learning Center.

Im running for re-election because we need a state senator who will champion working families by growing our economy, lowering costs, supporting our public schools and defending access to reproductive health care, Pfaff said. I know we can work together and find common ground to make a better life for Wisconsinites. That is what Ive fought for in the state Senate, and its why Im running for re-election to keep up that fight.

Pfaff said he is running to ensure BadgerCare is expanded; insulin and prescription drug prices are capped; the state continues investing in manufacturing, technology and public schools; to improve access to affordable childcare; and codify Roe v. Wade into state law.

I have dedicated my life to serving the people of this region. Whether holding senior positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, serving as the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture creating consumer protection, and now in the Wisconsin State Senate, Pfaff said. Ive always remembered where Im from, and I will always fight for the families here in western Wisconsin.

Sherry Picha, owner and administrator of Sprout Early Learning Center, spoke about the need for affordable access to child care, one of the campaign measures Pfaff highlighted in his speech.

As a child care provider, I see the child care crisis facing our state every single day. In many cases, the average yearly cost of child care is more than a full year of tuition at (UW-La Crosse), Picha said. My facility and ones like this across the state could not afford to keep the prices as low as we do without that state funding. The economics of child care is truly broken. Brad recognizes these challenges and has been fighting for the state Senate to expand access to affordable child care for working families and support our child care providers.

The boundaries of Senate District 32 for this election will be different after Gov. Tony Evers approval of new legislative maps. Many of the southern areas of the Senate district, including Prairie du Chien, Seneca and Soldiers Grove were removed and replaced with areas to the north and west, including Galesville and Sparta.
On 3 April, a day of demonstrations by public sector workers protesting mass layoffs in Argentina ended in the resignation of the deputy labour secretary,

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The heavy rains and flooding in early March destroyed homes and killed people in West Sumatra. It marked the latest deadly natural disaster in Indonesia.

Government officials blamed the floods and landslides on heavy rainfall. But environmental groups say the disaster is the latest example of deforestation and ignoring the environment.

Indonesian Forum for the Environment is an Indonesian environmental rights group. The group said the disaster happened because of extreme weather events and an ecological crisis. It said in a statement, If the environment continues to be ignored, then we will continue to reap ecological disasters.

Indonesia is home to the worlds third-largest rainforest. But since 1950, more than 74 million hectares of rainforest have been destroyed. That is an area twice the size of Germany.

Global Forest Watch is a website that follows world forests in real time. It says Indonesia has been cutting trees and burning forests to clear land for mining and products like palm oil, paper, and rubber.

The Southeast Asian nation is the biggest producer of palm oil. It is one of the largest exporters of coal and a top producer of a product used in paper called pulp. It also exports oil, gas, rubber, and other resources.

Additionally, Indonesia has one of the worlds largest reserves of nickel. It is an important metal used in goods needed in green energy products like electric vehicles and solar panels.

The Global Carbon Project is an organization that follows planet-warming greenhouse gas production. It says Indonesia is one of the largest producers of these gases due to the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

The World Bank, an international financial organization, also says Indonesia could greatly see the effects of climate change. Those effects include floods, dry weather, sea level rise, increasing temperatures, and unusual rainfall.

In recent years, the country has already seen the effects of climate change. Those effects include heavier rain during the wet season and more fires during a longer dry season.

Aida Greenbury is a sustainability expert who studies Indonesia. She said forests can help reduce the effects of some extreme weather events.

For example, plants can slow flooding by taking in rainwater and reducing erosion. In the dry season, plants release water which can help deal with the effects of dry weather, including fires. But when forests disappear, so do these helpful effects.

A 2017 study reported that deforestation can cause soil erosion because unprotected soil is removed by rainfall. And harvesting crops can cause soil to become denser. That can cause rain to run over the surface of the ground instead of entering underground reservoirs.

The research also said that erosion can increase the amount of soil in rivers, which can increase flood risks.

After the deadly floods in March, West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said there were strong signs of illegal tree-cutting in areas affected by floods and landslides.

Experts and environmental activists have pointed to deforestation worsening disasters in other areas of Indonesia as well. In Papua, deforestation was partly blamed for floods and ground landslides that killed over a hundred people in 2019.

There has been some progress. In 2018, Indonesian President Joko Widodo paused new permits for palm oil plantations for three years. And the rate of deforestation slowed between 2021 and 2022, government data showed.

But experts warn that it is unlikely deforestation in Indonesia will stop anytime soon. They say this as the government continues to move forward with new mining and structural projects.

President-elect Prabowo Subianto is set to take office in October. He has promised to continue Widodos policy of development. The development policy includes mining and other projects that are all linked to deforestation.

Activists also warn that environmental protections in Indonesia are weakening. That includes a new law that removes an article of the law to protect part of the forests from development.

Arie Rompas is an Indonesia-based forestry expert at Greenpeace, an environment protection organization. He said, The removal of that article makes us very worried (about deforestation) for the years to come.

Im Gena Bennett. And Im Gregory Stachel.

Victoria Milko reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

reap  v. to get (something, such as a reward) as a result of something that you have done

ecology  n. a science that deals with the relationships between groups of living things and their environments

reserve  n. a supply of something that is stored so that it can be used at a later time

fossil fuels  n. a fuel (such as coal, oil, or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals

sustainability  adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources

erosion  n. the gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water, wind, or ice)
People around the world are worried that water for drinking, cooking and cleaning is getting harder to find. Many believe changes in their climate are affecting their ability to get water.

The problem exists in places such as Corning, California; Lima, Peru; Jakarta, Indonesia; Ras El Ma, Morocco; Makueni County, Kenya, and Bawal, India.

The United Nations says 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have safely managed drinking water.

Lima, Peru

In Lima, Justina Flores lives with no running water. She is a 50-year-old grandmother who gets water from the government. With the supply, she washes her familys clothing by hand and then uses what is left to bathe her dog.

The government gives water to 1.5 million of the countrys poorest people. Big water trucks make their way up hills to get to places where people need it. Flores tries to limit her water use. She owns a washing machine, but it uses too much water. By washing clothes by hand, she saves about 45 liters. The family gets 3,000 liters per week. Official information says, in wealthier areas with running water, families use an average of almost 12,000 liters per week.

Flores has worked in some of those homes. She said, there, people can take a bath every day. She said in her area of Lima, people can only wash themselves two times per week.

Jakarta, Indonesia

In Indonesias capital, Jakarta, people say it is difficult to get clean water.

Devi Putri Eka Sari is 37. She has three children. Since she was a girl, she has had to purchase water from sellers who work in her low-income neighborhood. While the government installed water pipes and pumps, the water does not always come.

Sari said, if the water did flow, she is not sure she would drink it. Its not healthy, she said. Its filled with bacteria that will make you sick. She said it also smells like chemicals.

The World Health Organization says she is right. Seven of 10 households in Indonesia use drinking water that contains the dangerous bacteria known as E. coli.

As a result, she and many other Indonesians have been buying water all their lives. They either use large, refillable containers or single-use bottles. This creates a lot of waste.

Its the option we have, she said.

Ras El Ma, Morocco

In the North African country of Morocco, a river flows next to the farm where Mimoun Nadoris family has grown fruits and vegetables for a long time.

But when he tastes the water from the river today, he makes a bad face. The water is salty. He said it was not that way in the past. Back then, as he said: Everything was green. We drank from the river and washed with the river. We made a life with it.

His land is along the Moulouya River, which does not flow like it did in the past. Dams were built and water is pumped upstream. That means Nadoris land gets less water. The water hardly moves, which permits seawater to come in.

Nadori now has to bring water in for the chickens he raises. He once raised cows, but he discovered the cows were drinking from the tainted water. The cows died.

He admitted there is more than one reason for the lack of water.

We wont lie and say the reason is only humans or drought, its both, he said. We dont know how to use water and we waste a lot of water.

Corning, California, United States

Fred and Robin Imfeld once had no problem filling their swimming pool and watering the plants at their home in rural California. But two years ago, their well in the town of Corning went dry. The pool is empty now, and the plants are brown.

Across California, wells have dried up because people use too much water and there is not enough rain to replace what is used. The supply of groundwater is low. The Imfelds want to drill a new, deeper well. But it would cost a lot: $25,000.

Until they can drill the new well, they depend on water from the state. Two times each month, they receive a water tank that contains almost 10,000 liters. They use the water to wash themselves, wash dishes and clean their clothes. They get a different shipment of 113 liters of water every two weeks that they use for drinking and cooking. When they need more water, Imfeld takes all the containers he has to a friends home a few kilometers away and fills them.

He said the worries about water add to the familys personal concerns. They are worried all the time about their own lives and the water. Were just being emotionally drained, he said.

Makueni County, Kenya

Joyce Mule used to walk two hours each day to find water in Makueni County, Kenya. There are few water pipes in her southeastern village.

One way to get water is by digging holes in a local riverbed and retrieving the collected water.

But in 2012, she and the others in the village changed to a different method. They now catch water that runs off rocks 30 or more meters above the ground.

The rock catchment method directs the water through a containing wall and smaller rocks that help to clean it. Eventually the water flows into a pipe and into a large tank that is much closer to the village.

Her plants and trees are now healthy. There is more fruit and cows are producing more milk. Her life is better now.

We used to think the rocks were worthless, she said. But now we see the benefits.

Bawal, India

Ramkrishan Malawat is 52. He remembers the days when people in his village near New Dehli did not have to dig deep wells to get water. They only needed to walk 10 kilometers to find a fast-flowing river. Water was no concern.

Now, the river is dry, and the water is more than 70 meters below the ground. We are forced to dig deeper with every passing year, he said. But he must keep digging in order to get water for his farm  he grows mustard, corn and other grains.

When he does get to the water, it is not as clean. The water contains chemicals from the ground  including fluoride.

Drilling for water is common in India. The United Nations says India drills and pumps more groundwater than the United States and China combined.

There is more need for water as India grows. The Indian population is the worlds largest, and it continues to grow. The people need homes and jobs. Every time a new structure is built, it causes runoff, and less water can seep into the ground.

Water just flows away, Malawat said. He noted that the auto industry is now bigger than farming in the area.

I worry sometimes that in 10 to 15 years, there will be no good water available for farming in my town, he said.

Im Dan Friedell. And Im Caty Weaver.

Dan Friedell adapted this Associated Press (AP) story for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

install v. to put a piece of equipment or a part in place

option n. a choice that can be made

upstream adj. the area nearer to the source of a river or stream

tainted adj. containing something that should not be there

drought n. an extended period of lower-than-normal rainfall for the climate of a place

drain v. to have something flow away or disappear from where it normally is

seep v. to slowly flow down into the group

We want to hear from you. What are your water concerns?
Seven World Central Kitchen workers died in an Israeli airstrike on April 1 in Gaza. The killings disrupted a flow of badly needed food into Gaza, as international organizations warn of famine.

World Central Kitchen, an American charity, has grown into one of the worlds most recognized food relief organizations. The group, in partnership with the United Arab Emirates, had just delivered a cargo ship with over 360 metric tons of canned goods from Cyprus to Gaza. About 90 metric tons were delivered before the charity suspended operations after the attack. The rest was being taken back to Cyprus, a Cypriot government official said.

Chef and restaurant owner Jose Andres founded World Central Kitchen in 2010. His goal is to provide immediate food relief to disaster areas.

The organization gained international recognition for its work in Puerto Rico in 2017 feeding victims of Hurricane Maria. World Central Kitchen also operates in Ukraine and has provided more than 100 million meals to refugees there, the group's website says.

Andres has ties to the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden. He serves as co-chair of the Presidents Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition.

In a statement Tuesday night, Biden said he had spoken with Andres to express condolences for the deaths of these courageous aid workers and to express my continued support for his organization and its work around the world.

Biden said Israel was not doing enough to protect aid workers. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed, he said.

The loss of World Central Kitchen will harm humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

The killings may also represent a change in Andres' public view of the Israeli government. On Tuesday, he strongly criticized the Israeli military.

The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon, Andres wrote on the social media service X.

His organization blamed the attack on the Israel Defense Forces. He said the military had coordinated over the movement of the cars carrying the workers as they left northern Gaza late Monday.

Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi is Israels military chief. He said the strike was "a mistake that followed a misidentification  at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldnt have happened.

Video after the attack showed a vehicle with the charitys name printed across its top to make it identifiable from the air.

The victims of the attack included three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian, according to hospital records.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

____________________________________________

Words in This Story

famine  n. a situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat

condolence  n. a feeling or expression of sympathy and sadness especially when someone is suffering because of the death of a family member, a friend, etc.

courageous  adj. very brave

indiscriminate  adj. affecting or harming many people or things in a careless or unfair way
In todays Everyday Grammar, we will take a delicious trip to East Asia. We will taste wonderful and perhaps unfamiliar foods - if only in our imagination.

We will also learn about some of the details of writing, including common spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Background

In a recent Everyday Grammar, we explored how to talk about a national dish.

We asked our listeners and readers around the world to write to us about their national dish.

In todays lesson, we give feedback on some of that writing.

Japan - chirashi-sushi

Lets start with Japan.

Here is part of what Kaori wrote:

Chirashi-sushi is the national dish of Japan.

It is a sweet and sour dish that consists of rice, shrimp, eggs, dried gourd, vinegar, salt and sugar...

In May 5th, we eat the traditional sweet called Kashiwa-mochi. It is a sweet and sticky small snack that consists of rice powder, small red beans and sugar.

Kaori used the structures that we discussed in our previous lesson. The writing included adjectives such as sweet and sour, the phrasal verb consist of, and nouns such as rice, shrimp, and eggs. We were especially interested to read about dried gourd  an ingredient that is not common in America.

Our main suggestion is to replace the short word in with on, as in On May 5th, we eat the traditional sweet...

Remember: we use on for exact dates. So, we say, for example, On January 1st, or On September 27th.

China  chicken soup

Next, we go to China to learn about two popular dishes.

Here, we notice a similarity between the United States and China. If you asked Americans to write about a national dish, you would likely get different answers. In the same way, we received different answers about a national dish of China.

Here is part of Jons message:

Chicken soup is a national dish of China, its a light soup that consists of hens and medicine plants.

Most part of chicken soup is hens meat, because it tastes finerthe other ingredients of it are Chinese medicine plants such as DangGui. Of course we need some flavorings to make it tastes more delicious, soybeans, peppers, ginger and garlic are necessary to the soup.

Jons message is clear and easy to understand. That said, we have a few suggested changes.

In terms of grammar, we should remove the noun form medicine and instead use the adjective medicinal, as in medicinal plants. We could also use a more exact noun such as herb, as in medicinal herbs.

We should also replace the short word to with for, as in necessary for the soup.

We could also make a few small stylistic changes. For example, in the first sentence, we could use the noun chicken in place of hen although a hen makes it clear that the bird is a female.

Here is one way we might update the message:

Chicken soup is a national dish of China. It is a light soup that consists of chicken and medicinal herbs.

Most of the chicken soup has meat from the female chicken, or hen, because it tastes finer and softer than meat from the male chicken.

The other ingredients of chicken soup are Chinese medicinal herbs such as dang gui. Of course, we need some flavorings to make it taste more delicious. Soybean, peppers, ginger and garlic are necessary for the soup.

China - meicai kourou

Next, here is part of what Ming wrote to us:

Meicai Kourou is the national dish of China. It is a salty dish that consists of pork belly, fermented red tofu source, dry mizuna, soybean source, salt and species, such as Sichuan Peppercorn and star anise. Mei Cai is the mizuna's pronunciation in Chinese....

Ming wrote a nice message that is clear and easy to understand.

We suggest a few changes for some of the nouns. Instead of source, we want to use the word sauce. And instead of species, we would use spices.

So, the second sentence might say: fermented red tofu sauce, soybean sauce, and salt and spices.

The final sentences might go like this:

It is a salty dish that consists of pork belly, fermented red tofu sauce, dry mizuna, soybean sauce, salt, and spices, such as Sichuan peppercorn and star anise. Mei cai is the Chinese pronunciation for mizuna.

Lessons

We can take a few lessons from the messages that we received. The first is that writing does not need to be perfect to be understandable. All the messages had nice, clear structures and were easy to understand for a native English speaker.

The main issues were in the details  the spelling of nouns and adjectives, punctuation, and other small things. Our recommendation is to carefully look over these details several times in future writing efforts.

We will give more writing feedback on messages from our fans around the world in coming lessons. We will learn more about national dishes from other areas of the world including Europe and Africa.

If you have a question or comment about todays lesson, feel free to send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com

Im John Russell.

John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

______________________________________________

Words in This Story

punctuation  n. the marks (such as periods and commas) in a piece of writing that separate it into sentences, clauses, etc.

feedback  n. helpful suggestions for improvement

gourd  n. any one of several types of fruits that have a hard shell

fermented adj. describing a food that has been processed with edible bacteria or yeast to change its flavor and to preserve it

phrasal verb  n. grammar: a group of words that functions as a verb and is made up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both

stylistic adj. related to the way that language is used in writing and what it says about the writer
When we talk about movie magic, the first thing that comes to mind is often something like the bikes achieving liftoff in E.T. But it applies no less to Alice Rohrwachers wondrous La Chimera, a grubbily transcendent folk tale of a film that finds its enchantment buried in the ground.

Were you dreaming? a train conductor asks the sleeping Arthur (Josh OConnor), a distant, temperamental Brit in Italy with little more to his name than the rumpled cream-colored linen suit he wears. The answer is yes. Radiant memories of Arthurs dead lover, Benjamina, haunt his dreams and propel him on a strange quest into the underground tombs of Tuscany.

A melancholy spell seems to hang over Arthur, who has a mystical gift for finding ancient relics. Its the early 1980s. Arthur is returning home from a stint in jail for grave robbing. His homecoming is received like a heros return by the scruffy, carnivalesque band of tombaroli  tomb raiders who plunder Etruscan artifacts  who look on Arthur more like a prince than a destitute thief. They call him maestro.

With remarkable precision, Arthur is able to point to where to dig. In one scene, he takes a small, bended branch as an instrument for his dowsing. La Chimera, itself, seems to emerge almost the same way  an earthy, spellbinding buried treasure with a sublime drawing power.

The precise moment I fell totally in love with La Chimera  and this is very much a movie to love  is an early montage in which Arthur and his fellow scavengers scamper across the countryside, hiding in fields from bumbling police, while a folk song about the tombarolo Englishman is sung. La Chimera, the third in a loose trilogy for Rohrwacher following The Wonders and Happy as Lazzaro, is the fullest realization yet of her cinema of magical neo-realism.

Arthur and company make cash by selling their unearthed Etruscan wares. But hes driven less by money than a compulsion to reach the dead, to reach Benjamina. How deep will he dig? Will the darkness of the underworld envelop him?

Arthur also makes occasional visits to the mother of Benjamina, Flora (a typically magnificent Isabella Rossellini ), who, like him, has not yet accepted the death of her daughter. She receives him courteously and deferentially, with an old-world manner. Floras other daughters snicker that she only lets men smoke in the house.

At her crumbling villa, Arthur meets Italia (Carol Duarte, fabulous), a singing student who, Flora says, is tone deaf.

Past and present mingle in mysterious ways in La Chimera. The greatest Etruscan discovery  a glorious subterranean chamber  is made on a beach with a factory just down the shoreline. But the even more remarkable excavation of the film is of Arthurs grieving soul.

Like so many things in La Chimera, OConnors performance is entrancing and confounding. How can a movie be so nimbly poised between past and present, you cant help but wonder. The stuff of fairy tales  of a kind of storytelling magic  is what Rohrwacher, herself, wants to unearth. Were you dreaming? Good question. JAKE COYLE, MDT/AP Film Writer

La Chimera, a Neon release, is not rated by the Motion Picture Association. In Italian with English subtitles. Running time: 133 minutes. 
The Easter holidays season saw fewer visitors than expected to Macau, according to figures from the Public Security Police Force (PSP) Immigration Department.

A total of 476,027 visitors entered Macau in the first five days of the Easter Holiday (March 29 to April 2).

This amounts to a daily average of 95,205, almost 5,000 below the forecast from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, who earlier last week had predicted a daily average of at least 100,000.

The peak of the visitor arrivals was reached on the second day (March 30) when some 122,235 visitors crossed the border into Macau.

Nonetheless, this years results represent an increase of 17.76% year-on-year when compared with the first five days of the same season last year (404,237).

According to Senna Fernandes, hotel occupancy in Macau was about 88% during these first five days, a figure also noted by the president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, Andy Wu.

The MGTO director also noted the growth in international visitation, which reached some 7,200 in the first four days, an 80% increase year-on-year.

As expected, most of those arriving in Macau (75%) came from the mainland, with Hong Kong coming second at 19%.

Foreigner visitors represented 4%, while those arriving from Taiwan were around 2%.

According to the latest figures available at the time of the report, it is estimated the daily average for the first six days of the Easter Holidays and Ching Ming Festival should have dropped to around 91,000.

No forecast yet for May Day

Although visitor arrivals were below expectations during the first five days, Senna Fernandes has maintained a forecast of 100,000 per day on average for the upcoming Ching Ming Festival for the upcoming three days (April 4-6). The festival starts today and continues over the weekend.

She refrained from making a concrete prediction for next months May Day Golden Week (May 1 to May 5), but noted it is expected to exceed the Easter and Ching Ming Holidays.

Growth in visitors from newly added IVS cities

The number of visitors to Macau from the cities of Qingdao and Xian, recently added to the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) to Hong Kong and Macau, has been growing steadily, the MGTO director said.

Citing data from February this year, Senna Fernandes said visitors from Xian totaled about 36,000, while those from Qingdao reached 18,000.

According to MGTO calculations, the figures account for a growth of 14% and 40% year-on-year respectively when compared with pre-pandemic (2019).

She expected visitors from these two cities would continue to grow, as the local tourism authority has been targeting promotion particularly oriented for these two market sources.

Airport reports 80.4% more passengers over Easter

During the first four days of the Easter Holiday, the Macau International Airport (MIA) has reportedly handled 88,978 passengers, an increase of 80.38% when compared year-on-year with the same period last year, the MIA Company has said.

According to the statement, the number of aircraft movements (arrivals and departures) has also increased by 44.62% to 658 this year.

When compared to pre-pandemic times (2019) the number of passengers has recovered by 74%, while aircraft movements have recovered 76%.

The MIA added that during this year, the company will continue to develop medium and long-haul routes while actively cooperating with airlines to develop connecting flights.

One of the services the local airport wants to start is the so-called one ticket to the final destination and baggage check to facilitate travel connections to Europe and the United States (among others) from Macau.
North Korea said yesterday it had tested a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile powered with solid propellants, extending a run of weapons tests thats deepening a nuclear standoff with neighbors and the United States.

With the supposed success of the demonstration, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared his country had acquired the ability to build solid-fuel, nuclear-capable missiles of all ranges as he pursues an arsenal that can credibly threaten rivals in Asia and the United States.

But the South Korean military said the North is exaggerating the success of the test and its overall missile prowess.

The report by North Korean state media came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected a missile launched from near the Norths capital toward its eastern sea.

State media said the test was supervised by Kim, who described the Hwasong-16B missile as a key piece of his nuclear deterrent he vowed to further build up to counter his enemies, a reference to the United States, South Korea and Japan.

In recent years, North Korea has been developing more missiles with built-in solid propellants. Such weapons are easier to move and hide, and can be launched quicker than liquid-propellant missiles, which need to be fueled before launch and cannot stay fueled for long periods of time.

North Korea tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time last year, adding to its arsenal of long-range weapons targeting the U.S. mainland. The country also has an extensive lineup of short-range and mid-range solid-fuel missiles that can be fired from land vehicles, ships and submarines and are potentially capable of hitting targets throughout South Korea and Japan. In recent months, the North demonstrated some of these missiles in drills it described as simulated nuclear strikes.

Since 2021, its also been testing hypersonic weapons designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound. If perfected, such systems could potentially pose a challenge to regional missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability. However, its unclear whether these missiles are consistently flying at the speeds the North claims.

North Korean official media KCNA claimed that during the Tuesday test, the missiles hypersonic glide warhead reached a peak altitude of 101 kilometers (62 miles) and flew about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) after separating from the launch rocket, and performed various maneuvers before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday maintained its assessment that the missile flew about 600 kilometers and accused North Korea of exaggerating the missiles flight performance, although acknowledging that the Norths technologies were improving. The previous day, Japan reported a similar flight distance, although its Defense Ministry reported a maximum height close to that claimed by the North.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it remains unclear whether the North has perfected the technologies to ensure that the warheads of its hypersonic solid-fuel missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.

Hypersonic missiles are weapons systems that are still being developed by advanced nations (the United States, China and Russia etc.) and they require highly difficult technologies, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters. Its difficult to predict when they will be deployed operationally, but its expected to take a considerable amount of time.

The North also tested a purported hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile in January, years after it flight-tested liquid-fuel IRBMs. Experts say such weapons if perfected is potentially capable of reaching remote U.S. targets in the Pacific.

North Koreas development of hypersonic IRBMs targets Guam, which hosts U.S. military bases, and even Alaska, said Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at South Koreas Research Institute for National Strategy.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the missile tested on Tuesday was likely different from the system tested in January, which state media didnt name but was likely the Hwasong-16A. KIM TONG-HYUNG, SEOUL, MDT/AP
MGM and Art Basel Hong Kong have joined forces to announce the launch of the MGM Discoveries Art Prize in 2025, aiming to support emerging artists and foster new talent.

In addition, MGM has invited Macaus cultural leaders and representatives to join an exclusive tour of the Discoveries sector and a separate cocktail reception hosted by MGM, providing them with a chance to appreciate artworks from renowned and emerging artists worldwide to bring new perspectives and vitality into Macaus arts scene, according to the gaming operator.

The cocktail reception was recently held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where Cristina Kuok, senior vice president of Arts and Culture of MGM, said, We hope to leverage this partnership with Art Basel Hong Kong to jointly propel global emerging talent forward in their careers and aspirations.
Madison, meet Betty.

The photogenic, 1-year-old female red panda made her public debut at the Vilas Zoo Thursday.

Shell join the zoos male red panda, Bandit, in the Childrens Zoo area near the goat yard.

Betty has been so brave, primary red panda keeper Tara Lee said in a statement from the zoo. She is very curious and loves to climb and explore.

Betty arrived in March from the Lincoln Childrens Zoo and had to complete a quarantine period and health checks before joining Bandit. She comes here already with family ties to Dane County: Betty is the great-great-granddaughter of Tarrei, the red panda at Vilas Zoo who died at age 19 in December 2021.

She is the spitting image of Tarrei, Executive Director Ronda Schwetz said in a statement. Its heart-warming to see his legacy live on through her.

If you go What: Betty, the red panda Where: Dane County Henry Vilas Zoo, 702 S. Randall Ave. When: The zoo is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: Free Website: henryvilaszoo.gov

Bandit arrived at Vilas Zoo from the Columbus Zoo in June 2022, at age 2.

Red pandas, in all their adorableness, are in fact endangered. Fewer than 2,500 adult red pandas are thought to remain in the wild.

Both Betty and Bandit came to Madison with the help of the Red Panda Species Survival Program, a conservation program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The SSPs primary goal is to serve as a breeding program for selected endangered or threatened species.

Its possible that Vilas Zoo will have a breeding recommendation for Betty and Bandit in the future, Schwetz said. However, Betty is still too young to be a mama herself.

Red pandas reach sexual maturity around 18-24 months, so right now they are just getting to know each other, Schwetz said. But we could have a breeding recommendation for these two in the future.

Working with Betty has been amazing, Lee said. I cant wait to watch her relationship with Bandit develop.
Wisconsin teachers will be required to teach Hmong and Asian American history lessons in K-12 schools under a bill signed into law Thursday by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The new law comes after similar measures were introduced with bipartisan support in three previous legislative sessions but failed to reach fruition.

Ive been proud to sign several key pieces of bipartisan legislation into law to recognize the contributions Hmong and Asian American folks have made to our state and our country, and this bill builds upon those efforts, ensuring the histories and stories of Hmong and Asian American communities are part of state curriculum for future generations, Evers said in a statement.

Assembly Bill 232 amends an existing state law, which requires schools to teach students about American Indians, Black Americans and Hispanics, to also teach youth about Hmong Americans and Asian Americans.

A number of states, including Florida, Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey, have passed legislation to ensure Asian American history is taught in K-12 schools, while other state legislatures, including California and New York, have introduced similar initiatives.

Many supporters of the measure spoke of its urgency in recent months: There were around 11,000 documented hate crimes against Asian Americans nationally between March 2020 and December 2021, according to a report by Stop AAPI Hate, a group that tracks and responds to hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Wisconsin has around 200,000 people of Asian descent, an 80% increase since 2000, the organization Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote found. Over a quarter of Asian Wisconsinites are Hmong, making it the third-largest Hmong population in the U.S. after Minnesota and California.

Several groups, including the ACLU of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Education Association Council, registered in favor of the bill. No groups registered against it.

Past opposition to the bill came primarily from Republicans who did not want to mandate more courses in school. The Republican former representative who chaired the Assembly Education Committee, Jeremy Thiesfeldt, said in 2022 it was burdensome to mandate small courses.
Fast food chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. said Thursday it plans to quadruple its store network in China over the next five years.

Jollibee chief finance officer Richard Shin said in a virtual press briefing the group plans to achieve this target through franchising and venturing into more geographies in China.

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Jollibee has three brands in China including Yonghe King, Tim Ho Wan and Hong Zhuang Yuan, with more than 300 stores.

Shin said the group is now in the position to accelerate the growth in China after it started opening stores in tier 1 and tier 2 cities.

So, the ambition is to quadruple the footprint in five years. Going from 460 stores we are quadrupling that in five years through franchising in tier three and four and possibly five cities, Shin said.

So, the expansion that were going to witness in the next few years is really about getting into more geographies and the reason for that is the brand is perfect for that, he said.

Jollibee said earlier it would focus on China, the United States and the Philippines for expansion and investment given the robust growth opportunities these areas offer.

Shin said the company would also grow its footprint in the US through franchising.

The Jollibee Group has 100 stores in North America and targets to increase this to 500 in the next five years.

Shin said the fast-food giant identified 30 cities in the US for expansion for its flagship brand Jollibee.

So, we will start to fill in those 30 locations. Why? Because they have the highest disposable income as a percentage spent to our segment, Shin said.

Jollibee targets to open 700 to 750 owned and franchised stores in 2024, 80 percent of which would be located overseas and 20 percent locally.0

Shin said a third of the new stores would be in the coffee and tea space and the balance would be skewed towards the chicken category.

Jollibee said its US brand Smashburger would not invest in new stores and would instead focus on expanding the brand through franchising.
Nanjing Massacre victims remembered ahead of Qingming Festival

Xinhua) 09:44, April 04, 2024

People lay flowers to victims of the Nanjing Massacre at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

NANJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors.

"My father was only 9 years old at the time. The war made him an orphan, and that painful memory stayed with him all his life," said Chang Xiaomei, whose late father was a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, in front of a wall that bears the names of 10,665 victims.

Official figures show that there were just 36 survivors living as of early March.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over the course of six weeks, they killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in what has been deemed one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

Staff members present a flower basket to victims of the Nanjing Massacre at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Ai Yiying, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, lays flowers to victims of the Nanjing Massacre at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Chen Deshou (2nd R), a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, pays tribute to victims of the Nanjing Massacre with his relatives and friends at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Xia Shuqin, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, attends a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Ai Yiying (1st R), a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, attends a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Nanjing Massacre survivors Ai Yiying, Xia Shuqin, Liu Minsheng, Chen Deshou (from R to L, front) attend a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Tamaki Matsuoka, founder of the "Connecting Memories of Nanjing" civil group, speaks during a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Ruan Jie, grandson of Nanjing Massacre survivor Ruan Dingdong, speaks during a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

Xia Shuqin, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, lays flowers to victims of the Nanjing Massacre at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2024.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

This photo taken on April 3, 2024 shows a memorial ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Relatives of victims of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as survivors, the descendants of survivors and student representatives, on Wednesday gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 87 years ago.

Thursday is Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival during which people to pay tribute to the dead and worship their ancestors. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Wu Chaolan)
Singapore-based Jetstar Asia said Thursday it will revive direct flights between Singapore and Clark starting June 16 this year.

Jetstar Asia chief executive John Simeone said the move reinforced Jetstar Asias commitment to expanding their Southeast Asian network and providing enhanced connectivity and a wide range of travel options for its customers.

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Our services to Clark are backed by popular demand, not only for holiday makers but those wanting to visit family and friends, Simeone said.

Were excited to add this popular destination, responding to demand, providing our customers with more incredible low-cost travel options and supporting the travel and tourism industries in these two critical markets, he said.

Jetstar Asia will offer four weekly return services between Singapore and Clark in June, increasing to five weekly services starting Oct. 18, 2024.

The route will use Jetstar Asias growing fleet of Airbus A320s and supported by its significant recruitment drive aimed at meeting the growing demand for travel within the region.

Noel Manankil, president and chief executive of Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp. (LIPAD), manager and operator of Clark International Airport, said that they are delighted to welcome Jetstar flights back at Clark International Airport (CRK).

Clark Airport has always been a home to Jetstar and we are happy to serve their passengers again. This partnership provides passengers the opportunity to experience a seamless and memorable airport journey, Manankil said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said negotiations are ongoing for the upcoming joint naval patrols among Filipino, American and Japanese troops in the West Philippine Sea.

The DFA made the confirmation amid reports that a trilateral maritime activity may be mentioned in the joint statement of President Marcos, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when they meet at the White House next week.

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I can confirm that negotiations are still ongoing. Nothing more,  Assistant Secretary Arvin de Leon of the DFAs Office of Public Affairs and Cultural Diplomacy said.

On April 11, the three leaders will meet in Washington.

Marcos, Biden and Kishida will sit down to discuss trilateral cooperation to further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Diplomatic sources already informed various media outlets that Japan is planning to join the Philippines and the US in its maritime activities in the South China Sea.

The three countries have recently been active in its campaign to ensure freedom of navigation and in calling out China for its aggressive actions in the waters.

Meanwhile, China demanded the Philippines not to seek help from other countries as the dispute in the waters should only be among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China.

For some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into the South China Sea affairs to back Philippine provocations and violation of Chinas sovereignty, Wang Wenbin, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Wednesday.

The Chinese official called the Philippines seeking of support from other like-minded nations as selfish gains at the expense of the consensus reached by countries in the region.

We once again urge the Philippines to respect the facts, observe the relevant understandings between the two sides and DOC (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea) provisions, follow the consensus reached between China and ASEAN countries, and return to the right track of properly managing and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, Wang said.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has given the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) permission to begin retrofitting the southbound lane of EDSA Kamuning Flyover.

The retrofitting will start on April 25 and will last for 11 months.

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MMDA acting chairman Romando Artes assured the public that necessary traffic management will be implemented and the Mabuhay Lanes will be utilized as alternate routes during the repairs.

He emphasized that the retrofitting of the Kamuning Flyover is crucial to prevent further damage and ensure it is structurally sound and ready in case of disasters such as earthquakes.

Artes said the agency will coordinate with the Quezon City local government unit, DPWH, Quezon City Police District, Highway Patrol Group, and the barangay to manage the traffic.

The re-decking of the flyover cannot be deferred. We assure the public that we will manage the traffic in such a way that the impact of the repair is minimal to the motorists.

Artes also said that leading to the start and during the repair of the flyover, the agency will intensify clearing operations in areas within the vicinity.

This is to make sure that roads serving as alternate routes are clear and obstruction-free to minimize the effects of the repairs in traffic, he said.

In a press conference Thursday, the MMDA also announced that the DPWH will also conduct road reblocking and repairs along 14 major thoroughfares in the National Capital Region beginning at 11 p.m. on April 5 until next week.

Artes said the agency only allowed roadworks by the DPWH starting Friday until either April 10 or 11, depending if April 10 will be declared as a holiday. April 10 has already been declared a holiday.

We will only allow DPWH to conduct 24-hour road repairs, which they commit to finish on time and implement properly in the same manner as they implemented it during last Holy Weeks road repairs, the MMDA chief explained.

Among the areas to be affected by the road works are the following:

 Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon City (from Commonwealth Avenue going C-5 Road)

 Serrano Avenue, Quezon City (corners of 15th Ave. and 20th Ave.)

 EDSA Northbound Mandaluyong (Apo Street to Pioneer St.)

 EDSA Southbound Mandaluyong (after Gate 4 to EDSA Shrine)

 Roxas Boulevard Northbound Pasay (between Lourdes St. & Vicente Sotto St.)

 Roxas Boulevard Northbound Manila (between Remedios St. & Pasaje del Carmen St.)

 Roxas Boulevard EDSA Flyover Southbound Pasay (bridge approach, outer & inner lane)

 IBP-San Mateo Road Quezon City (fronting Robinson Easymart to Jollibee, 1st lane from center)

 Luzon Avenue Southbound Quezon City (Congressional Ave. Extension to before Luzon Flyover, 1st lane from center)

 Mindanao Avenue Northbound Quezon City (Uno Fuel to Chinabank, truck lane)

 Payatas Road Quezon City bound to Batasan Road (before Maynilad Pumping Station to G3 Center, outer lane)

 Payatas Road Quezon City bound to Batasan Road (Batasan Rd. to Bayanihan St. / Samar St. to Leyte St., outer lane)

 Araneta Avenue Quezon City (Wayan St. to Mauban St., 1st lane from sidewalk)

 Payatas Road Quezon City (Singko St. to Samar St., inner lane)

Artes also said that allowing only DPWH to conduct road repairs was a result of the unfinished road works of private contractors last Holy Week.

We have penalized the two contractors of a telecommunications company who were unable to comply with the deadline set for road works during the Lenten break. They will be fined P1.260 million, Artes said.
PH to join US, Japan, Aussie allies ahead of trilateral meet

The Philippines will hold joint naval drills with the United States, Japan, and Australia, two diplomatic sources told Agence France-Presse on Thursday, as the four countries deepen military ties to counter Chinas expanding influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The exercise will be held Sunday in the disputed South China Seawhich Beijing claims almost entirelydays before US President Joe Biden is due to hold the first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan.

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The diplomatic sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the drills have not yet been officially announced.

Earlier this week, the Australian warship HMAS Warramunga arrived at the island province of Palawan, which faces the hotly contested waters.

The Philippine military said the visit was aimed at strengthening military relations with partner nations.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs disclosed the negotiations were ongoing.

I can confirm that negotiations are still ongoing. Nothing more, Assistant Secretary Arvin de Leon, of the DFAs Office of Public Affairs and Cultural Diplomacy, said.

The trilateral maritime activity may be mentioned in the joint statement of President Marcos, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when they meet on April 11 at the White House, reports said.

Mr. Marcos, Biden and Kishida will sit down to discuss trilateral cooperation to further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Joint patrols between the US, Japanese and Philippine coast guards are expected to be announced during the summit, one of the diplomatic sources told AFP, after joint drills were held for the first time last year.

Meanwhile, talks between the Philippines and Japan for a defense pact that would allow the countries to deploy troops on each othersterritory were still ongoing, the DFAs de Leon told reporters Thursday.

Manila already has a similar agreement with Australia and the United States.

Various media outlets have reported that Japan plans to join the Philippines and the US in its freedom of navigation activities in the South China Sea.

The three countries have been active in calling out China for its aggressive actions in the area.

China has demanded that the Philippines should not seek help from other countries to intervene in the dispute and the issue should only be settled among the claimant countries.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia are among those claiming parts of the area.

For some time, the Philippines has been pulling non-regional actors into the South China Sea affairs to back Philippine provocations and violation of Chinas sovereignty, Wang Wenbin, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Wednesday.

The Chinese official called the Philippines seeking of support fromother like-minded nations as selfish gains at the expense of the consensus reached by countries in the region. The three countries have recently been active in its campaign to ensure freedom of navigation and in calling out China for its aggressive actions in the waters.

Meanwhile, China lashed back at Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro for accusing Beijing of laying down a propaganda trap regarding the West Philippine Sea issue.

In an open letter on Tuesday, Teodoro urged Filipinos not to fall intothe trap set by Chinese propaganda of refocusing the debate on aso-called promise while deflecting attention away from Chinas Government.

We Filipinos must not lose sight of the fact that the main threat to our rights in the WPS is the Chinese government[s] illegal activities, he said.

China continues to reject the 2016 arbitral ruling rendered by the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration that rejected its nine-dash line that covers much of the South China Sea.

The Philippines keeps accusing China of intimidating smaller countries without mentioning at all the Philippine occupation of and encroachment on Chinas territory in Nansha Qundao. That is a real propaganda trap, Wang lamented.

On the issue of Renai Jiao, its not the size, but the behavior of a country that determines who is right and who is wrong, Wang said.

Wang recalled Manilas supposed failure to comply with its promise to tow away the grounded Philippine military ship in the Ayungin Shoal, which has recently been causing tension between the two sides.

But 25 years on, not only hasnt the Philippines fulfilled its promise to tow away the warship, it has even attempted to send construction materials for large-scale repair and reinforcement of the warship in order to build permanent structures on Renai Jiao, Wang lamented.

National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the Philippines remained committed to keep the grounded warship to assert its maritime claims to the area.

Our commitment to maintaining BRP Sierra Madre will always be there.

Any attempt by China to interfere with the resupply missions will be met by the Philippines in a fashion that protects our troops, both those doing the RoRe missions and those that are in LS-57, Malaya said during a maritime forum in Quezon City.

We are also looking at diplomatic approaches. We hope the incidents in Ayungin Shoal will not happen again, but our resupply missions will never stop, he added.

Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez maintained that the Philippines will not give up any of our territories.

But we continue to reach out and tell them (China) that we are ready to sit down and talk seriously about how to resolve some of the issues involving the territorial claims, he said. With AFP
TEHRAN  Three security personnel, including the deputy of a police station, have been killed in terrorist attacks in Iran, state media reported Thursday, two days after seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed in an air raid in Syria.

Three security members have been martyred in several night-time terrorist attacks on military stations in the cities of Rask and Chabahar in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, Alireza Marhamati, deputy governor of the province, told state TV.

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In one of the attacks on police station number 11 of the city of Chabahar, deputy of the station Abbas Mir, was martyred, state broadcaster IRIB said, adding that a number of assailants were also killed or injured.

It also said that the jihadist Jaish al-Adl group, which was formed in 2012 and is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The attacks came less than 48 hours after an air strike on the Iranian consular annex in Damascus killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

The terrorists did not succeed in their goal of capturing the Guards headquarters in Chabahar and Rask and are under siege, Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi told state TV.

The terrorists are stationed around these headquarters and are shooting blindly, with the courageous members of the Guards and the police are confronting them, he added.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the ideological arm of Irans military, has numerous stations in Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The province has for years faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority, and Sunni Muslim extremists.

In December, 11 officers at a police headquarters in Rask were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in years.

And last July, two policemen and four assailants were killed in another attack on a police station in Zahedan, the provinces capital.

Zahedan, one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shiite Iran, was also the scene of months-long deadly protests that erupted in September 2022 over the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police officer.

The deadly clashes in the city occurred as Iran faced nationwide protests following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd arrested for an alleged breach of the Islamic republics strict dress rules for women.

Hundreds of people were killed during the months-long rallies, including dozens of security forces, and thousands were arrested.

Nine men were executed in cases linked to the demonstrations which were labelled as foreign-instigated riots by Iranian authorities.
Heres a fact: Brushing alone is not enough.

This is backed by years of scientific research and studies conducted by oral health experts in their mission to protect millions of mouths around the world. Studies show that brushing alone only cleans up to 25 percent of the mouth.

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In 2018, results from the National Survey on Oral Health showed 72 percent of Filipinos have dental caries while 43 percent have gum diseases. Periodontal (gum) disease affects the tissues that surround and support the tooth, and is often characterized by bleeding or swollen gums, pain, and sometimes bad breath.

Dr. Tess Villarico explains the importance of completing ones oral hygiene routine

When left untreated, gum disease could lead to tooth loss. In the Philippines, 7.5 percent of adults aged 20 and above have total tooth loss. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the idea that a complete oral hygiene routine is essential for maintaining a healthy mouth. While brushing is a fundamental and necessary component, it primarily targets the surfaces of teeth, leaving gaps in the overall protection against various oral health issues.

On the other hand, studies have also consistently shown that incorporating a mouthwash like Listerine Total Care into ones daily routine, along with brushing and flossing, significantly enhances the effectiveness of oral care up to 99.9 percent germ kill when used twice daily.

Listerine contains fluoride that protects the teeth from decays

This was the main takeaway from the recent event of Listerine Philippines which gathered dental and oral care experts, including Dr. Tess Villarico and Dr. Ashita Bhatia who illustrated the importance of completing ones oral care routine and demonstrated the efficacy of Listerine in being able to provide #CompleteMouthProtection for its users.

It is necessary that one habitually complements their brushing with flossing and using a mouthwash to maintain good oral health and hygiene. Brushing cleans accessible surfaces of the teeth that the toothbrush is able to reach, and flossing gets in between the teeth. The role of a good mouthwash is as an adjunct providing anti-microbial action against certain bacteria while reinforcing fluoride exposure, thats why its important to be able to do all three regularly to ensure a clean whole mouth, Villarico said.

Glo Germ Demo showed that there are traces of germs left, proving that brushing alone is not enough

Bhatia, Kenvue Asia-Pacifics associate director and head of Scientific Engagement, demonstrated the germ-kill power of Listerine Total Care, including the use of different instruments such as Q-Scanner and Milkin Microscope.

Listerine proves to be a highly effective antibacterial mouth rinse. Through the experiments weve shown, it is clear that Listerine Total Care is able to get rid of germs that cause plaque build-up, cavities, and gum problems, Bhatia said.

Listerine rolls out its #CompleteMouthProtection campaign, stressing the importance of completing the oral hygiene routine to protect oneself from the common causes of oral health issues.

(From left) MacoyDubs, Listerine brand ambassador; Miggy Gamboa, marketing manager, Kenvue Philippines; Dr. Ashita Bhatia, associate director and head of Scientific Engagement, Kenvue APAC; Penn Policarpio, managing director, Kenvue Philippines; Dr. Tess Villarico, oral care practitioner; and Mikee Reyes, Listerine brand ambassador

This is why we want to remind everyone, not just the people in this room, but the general public to prioritize their oral health, complete the oral hygiene routine of brushing, flossing, and using a mouthwash like Listerine to get #CompleteMouthProtection, said Miggy Gamboa, marketing manager for Oral Care.

Listerine Total Care provides up to 24-hour germ defense against plaque, cavities, and gum problems when used twice a day because brushing alone is not enough.

(Listerine Total Care is available in leading drugstores, supermarkets, and on the official Listerine Lazada and Shopee shops online. To know more about Listerine, visit its official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ListerinePhilippines)
Starbucks Philippines continues its initiatives to create meaningful spaces where their community can come together to connect with and be inspired by one another. In partnership with Young Focus and AHA! Learning Center, the company opened its first-ever Community Store in Abad Santos, Tondo, Manila in September 2023. What makes this store special is that a portion of every purchase made in-store helps fund the scholarships and after-school learning programs for out-of-school youth.

Through its Community Store, Starbucks Philippines has been able to support Young Focus Foundations scholarships for out-of-school youth as well as AHA! Learning Centers free after-school learning programs to public school students in the area, focusing on areas including academics and social-emotional skills.

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In celebration of womens month, Starbucks Philippines also placed a sharpened focus on women empowerment, gathering trailblazing women from different fields to speak with the youth scholars of Young Focus and AHA!. Together, they tackled various topics such as mental well-being, professional growth, and environmental stewardship with the goal of inspiring our future leaders.

Jamie Silva, senior manager for Marketing, Digital Customer Experience & Loyalty at Starbucks Philippines, highlighted the importance of having a clear career vision and the flexibility to navigate diversity.

Jamie Silva

Prior to joining Starbucks, I explored various industries to broaden my perspective, Silva said. There is no single prescribed career trajectory. By embracing the transformative power of education and a forward-thinking mindset, no limitations can constrain your journey. Forge your path as a woman empowered to shape her own destiny.

Lynn Pinugu is the the co-founder of Mano Amiga Philippines and She Talks Asia who has continued to use her strong voice to advocate for women empowerment and mental wellness.

Lynn Pinugu

Having a strong background in helping women in different stages of their lives, Lynn is passionate about taking care of ones mental wellness and shared her experiences as a woman leader in her field. Being surrounded by like-minded women really helped me in my career and of course, has a positive impact on my mental wellness. In empowering women, it is also important that you yourself are an empowered woman, and this includes finding self-care practices that fit you and your needs, she said.

Multi-awarded Filipina filmmaker and director Antoinette Jadaone noted the importance of using the platform you are given for good.

Antoinette Jadaone

The films that she produced over the years allow her to tell different stories that the audience may relate to, further reaching various individuals who may be going through the same experiences. Making films is unique and exciting, but it is also a very powerful position to be in and I make it a point to never forget this. Anyone, even little girls, can have the opportunity to see my films so I know that I have a responsibility that I do not take lightly.

Anina Rubio is a sought-after visual artist who uses art to spread her personal advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation.

Anina Rubio

She strongly encourages the youth to do their part in taking care of the planet. We can all take care of the planet in our own, small ways. A personal example is when I order my favorite Starbucks drink, I make sure to always bring a reusable cup to minimize my usage of plastic. These little acts of service for the planet will go a long way.

Our Community Stores dedication to youth education underscores our mission to make a meaningful impact on the next generation within our local communities, said Silva.

As we celebrate International Womens Day and honor our future leaders, its crucial to recognize the pivotal role education plays in shaping progressive thinkers and empowering women to break free from societal constraints, allowing them to excel in their endeavors and pursue their passions.

(For more information on Starbucks Philippines initiatives, visit starbucks.ph/stories and follow Starbucks Philippines on their social media pages: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok)
Former Miss Universe 2015 second runner-up Olivia Jordan addressed the recent stir caused by comments from fellow contestant Ariadna Gutierrez.

During her stint on the reality show La Casa de los Famosos, Ariadna referred to Olivia as bruja, which translates to witch in English.

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It can be recalled that television host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Ariadna as the Miss Universe 2015 winner instead of the Philippines bet Pia Wurtzbach. Olivia was with Pia and Ariadna during the mishap.

On the other hand, Olivia took to Instagram to share her thoughts.

On her Instagram stories, the former beauty queen acknowledged the drama in the pageant community surrounding the comment but emphasized that she had moved on from pageantry. Having left that world behind years ago, Olivia found such matters almost laughable now.

For those of you who dont know, theres been some drama in the pageant community that I have been looped into. Yall, I left the pageants eight years ago, said Olivia.

This is so far removed from my normal life that it is almost laughable, but I truly appreciate the support of everyone spreading kindness. I appreciate the support of the people that have always known and understood my heartthat I have never intentionally come from a bad place, she added.

On the other hand, in a post shared on April 2, Tuesday, Olivia cryptically addressed the issue.

A lot of unexpected engagement on my page this weekend. Just want to say, thank you so much for stopping by. I want to share a little love and kindness meditation that has changed my life. Comment witch below and expect a link to a meditation straight to your inbox. Until thenMay you be held in love and kindness, wrote Olivia.
Since starting its operations in the Philippines nearly two years ago, the fast-growing fintech brand Skyro has experienced exponential growth, establishing an expansive network of over 500 partner merchants and a formidable presence in more than 3,000 stores across the country.

As the brand continues to expand and provide more Filipinos access to credit opportunities through its inclusive digital financial products, Skyro recognizes the indispensable role played by its workforce in achieving these milestones.

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From its humble beginnings of starting with a small team of 42 employees back in 2022, Skyro has expanded its workforce to 1,200+ strong employees to date  an achievement that speaks volumes to the companys aggressive expansion and growth as it continues to reach more Filipino customers in the coming years.

Reflecting on our journey, I am deeply appreciative of the remarkable dedication shown by our employees. Their unwavering commitment and tireless efforts have been instrumental in driving Skyros growth and success, said Skyros co-founder and co-CEO Nasim Aliev.

Asiya Erzhanova, Skyros Head of Human Resources, also shared, Each member of our team plays a vital role in shaping our companys narrative, and their passion fuels our mission to revolutionize the fintech industry. At Skyro, we hold immense gratitude for our peoples contributions, and we are committed to fostering a culture of appreciation and empowerment, ensuring that each individual feels valued and supported in their professional journey.

Fostering a culture centered on diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI)

As the company prepares for its expansion this year, Skyro is committed to fostering a culture centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This will stand as a core of Skyros values, aimed at acknowledging the potential of every employee regardless of sexual orientation, age, gender identity, nationality, disability, ethnic origin, or marital status.

The company prides itself on its rich and diverse workforce, boasting a balanced gender with nearly equal representation of males (48%) and females (52%) across the company. Additionally, Skyro values cultural diversity, providing equal opportunities for Filipino executives to hold top management positions alongside expatriate leaders.

Skyros workforce comprises a blend of experienced industry veterans who offer hands-on support and guidance to young professionals eager to learn and contribute insights into industry trends. Millennials make up 74.2% of the workforce, with centennials comprising 24.0%, while Gen X represents 1.8%.

Embracing its diverse employment culture, Skyro has recruited talents from over 10 different countries, including the Philippines. The company is also proud to have 156 hires from Visayas and 103 from Mindanao, giving opportunities to other Filipinos across the country.

Through its DEI initiatives, Skyro aims to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace, where employees can freely share unique perspectives, respect one anothers individual needs, and realize their full potential without encountering barriers.

Celebrating Skyro Day and unveiling of new HQ for employees

With the goal of showing Filipinos a glimpse of working in fintech, the brand celebrated Skyro Day last March 25 in which Skyro employees showcased their experience on social media about what it is like working in a fintech company like Skyro.

This initiative goes beyond showing Skyros culture but also aims to debunk common misconceptions about working in fintech. As a leading fintech brand in the Philippines, Skyro actively supports the countrys growing fintech market, offering numerous opportunities for Filipinos to enter an industry that promotes growth, learning, and enjoyment.

In line with this, Skyro also announced its recent relocation to a new headquarters in Mandaluyong City, reflecting the companys expansion plans and preparation for onboarding more talent in the coming months. Located at Robinsons Cybergate Tower 3, this new workspace was designed to foster an environment conducive to collaboration, wellness, and productivity.

As Skyro continues to expand its operations in the Philippines, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to making its employees one of its top priorities. Skyro believes that cultivating an empowered and diverse workforce will enable them to deliver better services, offerings, and experiences to their valued Filipino customers.

Skyro is a fintech company duly licensed and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To learn more about digital financial products from Skyro, visit its official website www.skyro.ph. Follow its official Facebook and Instagram accounts to know more about its latest promos and offerings.
Patrick County announces results of Virginia Tech surveying for data on the needs and challenges of local businesses.

The results of the survey, conducted by the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement (CECE), were distributed in a press release after the Patrick County Economic Summit and workshop held on Feb. 28.

The last time an event like this was held was at a town hall meeting in 2016 led by the Patrick County Education Foundation and Patrick & Henry Community College.

At that event, the need for child care, professional services and health care were discussed, other needs that were at the time a higher priority have since been met and addressed.

The biggest investment would be Patrick & Henry Community Colleges Baliles and Reynolds Learning Center in Stuart created in partnership with the Patrick County Education Foundation. This facility is training the next generation of machine operators and offers space for current employers to receive specialized training.

The CECE team received pre-survey results before the 2024 summit from 11 companies representing different industries including: tourism, manufacturing, machining, fuel services, wholesale, construction, senior care and education.

Many of those companies have been in business for several decades and two say they have been serving the community of Patrick County for nearly a century.

From the pre-survey results, respondents mentioned difficulties that come with operating a smaller localized business, a lack of local childcare options and finding new hires as things that are Very Challenging. Results showed that employee health and wellness and soft skill training were Slightly Challenging.

When asked to identify business related infrastructure challenges for areas including utilities (water and sewer), broadband/internet, and the transportation of goods, pre-survey results showed that respondents found broadband/internet to be Very Challenging and transportation of goods to be Slightly Challenging.

Concerning business support services, a quarter of respondents felt that meting technology needs and access to services assisting with markets and profitability were Very Challenging. For other support services like access to financing and capital and finding quality legal, marketing and financial services, most respondents were neutral.

During the summit, which hosted businesses with twenty-five or more employees, attendees were split into seven different groups to discuss what is working well, pressing needs and possible opportunities within their businesses and the county as a whole.

Highlighted success included: appreciation for staff and new hires; positive relationships and partnerships with other businesses and clients; and a strong sense of community and support systems.

Challenges mentioned included: hiring and retaining staff; lack of services including transportation, childcare and affordable housing; difficulty in affording increasing wages and lack of funding; and shortage of occupations including physicians, teachers and HVAC technicians.

Attendees were asked to complete a post-summit survey which requested a list of the countys top strengths and weaknesses.

Weaknesses included an aging workforce, healthcare, housing and rising costs, and strengths were leadership, lower cost of living, dedicated employees and educational programs. The solution, the release states, is finding unique ways to better leverage the countys current resources and strengths to combat its weaknesses.

The 2024 summit was a great starting point for so many paths the county leadership can take to help address these weaknesses, Patrick County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rebecca Adcock said. By providing this space for local businesses to network and discuss their challenges but also celebrate their successes, is an important part of the process.
With nearly 5 million deaths linked to antibiotic resistance globally every year, new ways to combat resistant bacterial strains are urgently needed.

Researchers at Stanford Medicine and McMaster University are tackling this problem with generative artificial intelligence. A new model, dubbed SyntheMol (for synthesizing molecules), created structures and chemical recipes for six novel drugs aimed at killing resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, one of the leading pathogens responsible for antibacterial resistance-related deaths.

The researchers described their model and experimental validation of these new compounds in a study published March 22 in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

Theres a huge public health need to develop new antibiotics quickly, said James Zou, PhD, an associate professor of biomedical data science and co-senior author on the study. Our hypothesis was that there are a lot of potential molecules out there that could be effective drugs, but we havent made or tested them yet. Thats why we wanted to use AI to design entirely new molecules that have never been seen in nature.

Before the advent of generative AI, the same type of artificial intelligence technology that underlies large language models like ChatGPT, researchers had taken different computational approaches to antibiotic development. They used algorithms to scroll through existing drug libraries, identifying those compounds most likely to act against a given pathogen. This technique, which sifted through 100 million known compounds, yielded results but just scratched the surface in finding all the chemical compounds that could have antibacterial properties.
On Wednesday, Ugandas Constitutional Court upheld a controversial anti-gay law imposing the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, amidst global criticism from human rights advocates. This law, signed by President Yoweri Museveni in May of the previous year, has broad support in Uganda, where homosexuality is often viewed as foreign. The court ruled that the law was constitutionally enacted, emphasizing that homosexuality was already punishable under existing legislation with severe penalties.

The specific law targets aggravated homosexuality, involving minors or HIV-positive individuals, with harsh sentences for convictions. Despite this, the court-mandated non-discrimination in medical access for the LGBTQ+ community highlights Ugandas severe AIDS crisis history and the critical need for inclusive healthcare.

An activist among the laws challengers, Andrew Mwenda, plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, viewing the ruling as a setback in the broader struggle against discrimination. The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, criticized the decision, urging for the laws repeal and highlighting reports of widespread rights violations since its enactment.

The laws passage has led to international condemnation, including from U.S. President Joe Biden, and prompted the World Bank to suspend new loans to Uganda, stressing the need for projects to adhere to its social standards. Homosexuality remains criminalized in many African countries, reflecting a continent-wide issue of LGBTQ+ rights.
Botswanas President Mokgweetsi Masisi has made a bold suggestion that he may send 20,000 elephants to Germany as a response to a dispute over conservation practices.

This comes after Germany proposed restrictions on importing hunting trophies. Masisi criticized the lack of understanding from Germany regarding Botswanas issue of elephant overpopulation, which currently stands at around 130,000. This surge in population has resulted in significant conflicts between humans and elephants, leading to crop destruction and property damage.

Germany, a major importer of hunting trophies in the EU, is looking to tighten restrictions to combat poaching, a decision that has angered Botswana. Masisis comments in the German newspaper Bild highlight his challenge to Germany to experience the challenges of living with elephants as Botswana does. He frames this as a global conservation responsibility that Botswana must bear.

Despite reintroducing trophy hunting in 2019 to manage elephant numbers, Masisi argues that proposed import bans would have negative financial implications for Botswana. The German environment ministry, on the other hand, has stated that discussions are ongoing with affected African countries, including Botswana, to ensure that hunting trophy imports are sustainable and legal, with a focus on enhancing species protection.
On Wednesday, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the Speaker of South Africas National Assembly, announced her resignation amidst a corruption investigation stemming from her tenure as the countrys defense minister.

The decision to step down came after investigators searched her home last month, although the specific details of the allegations have not been disclosed.

Mapisa-Nqakula made it clear that her resignation, effective immediately, should not be interpreted as an admission of guilt. However, this move also signifies the end of her tenure as a member of parliament, a role she held concurrently with her position as defense minister from 2012 to 2021.

Reports from South Africas state-owned broadcaster SABC suggest that Mapisa-Nqakula is suspected of accepting millions of rand in bribes from a defense contractor. Following the search of her home, she took a leave of absence and, shortly before her resignation, failed in a legal attempt to prevent a potential arrest.

As of now, Mapisa-Nqakula has not been formally charged with any criminal offenses, and there has been no official statement from the police regarding her potential arrest. This development is a significant moment in South Africas political landscape, underscoring the ongoing concerns surrounding corruption within the government.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

In a crisis, a checklist can bring clarity over confusion. First widely adopted by the U.S. military after the fatal crash of an early-model B17 "Flying Fortress" in the years before World War II, checklists have since become a staple for fields such as aviation, nuclear energy, and medicine.

"Remember Captain Sully?" asks Morton Rosenberg, D74, professor emeritus at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM), referring to pilot Sully Sullenberger who famously landed a distressed airliner on the Hudson River in 2009. "He was an experienced pilot. But the first thing he did was open his list and keep repeating [the steps] to his copilot. Because while people may have been trained on the right thing to do in an emergency, sometimes they jump from one thing to another."

So when Rosenberg and a group of dentists set about creating a digital tool to help guide their colleagues through emergency situations, they turned to the checklist.

Rosenberg, an expert in the field of anesthesiology, was part of a team from the Anesthesia Research Foundation of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology that developed a free app called 10 Minutes Saves a Life for use by dentists and other members of the dental team. The app presents step-by-step instructions for responding to anything out of the ordinary that might occur in a dental office, from an anxious patient who hyperventilates to a patient experiencing cardiac distress.

"Medical emergencies don't usually happen in dental offices," Rosenberg says. "They don't usually happen in airlines or nuclear power plants, either. But we need cognitive aids for when things go bad."

The app can even be used to direct-dial 911. In fact, Rosenberg says, the name of the app comes from the finding that 10 minutes is the average time for medical emergency personnel to arrive at a dental office after an emergency is declared.

Since it debuted in 2018, the app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, and translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. It has approximately 900 daily users. The dental anesthesiologists were joined by physician colleagues to produce a video based on the app, since much of the content can also be used by physicians who administer moderate sedation.

The app has been incorporated into the curricula of several dental schools and is used in the clinics where patients receive care at TUSDM. "It has been really helpful for us," says TUSDM Assistant Professor Jonathan Stephens, the school's chief medical officer.

Tufts dental students are trained and certified in CPR and basic life support and are educated on emergency procedures both before and after they begin treating patients in the clinic in their third year, Stephens says. Practicing dentists and dental hygienists are also required to be certified in those lifesaving skills.

State licensing boards require dentists to have specific emergency drugs and equipment on handsuch as inhalers for asthma, or EpiPens for allergic reactions, as well as a defibrillator for cases of cardiac arrest. These requirements vary depending on the level of sedation the practice offers, Rosenberg says.

The most common emergency in a dental setting is syncope, or fainting, most often from anxiety or fearbut it can sometimes indicate a more serious problem. While most patients recover quickly from a fainting spell, "it can be scary when you're [a dental student] first starting out," Stephens says. The 10 Minutes app walks users through the steps to help determine what is happening and how to proceed.

As the population ages, Rosenberg says, dentists will likely see more patients with chronic health issues that make them more susceptible to emergency complications. Dentists also see many patients who have neglected dental care due to finances or phobia, "and eventually when they do go to the dentist, a lot of them need advanced sedative techniques to get through the procedures," he says. For them, the app can help calculate anesthesia dosages based on age and weight.

The best way patients can assist their dentist in being prepared for an emergency is by providing a medical history that's as complete as possible, including all medications, Stephens says.

"Patients come in and we'll start off by taking their medical history. And occasionally they'll say, 'Why do you need to know that? You're just a dentist,'" he says. "We're not asking these questions to check a box. It really does matter. And in the unlikely event that there is some kind of emergency, we're going to be able to respond."
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Credit: Palgrave Macmillan

The harmful use of alcohol causes an estimated 3 million deaths every year, of which a significant proportion occur in the young. While alcohol consumption among youth appears to be decreasing in North America and Europe, a new book by University College Dublin (UCD)'s Dr. Emeka Dumbili challenges the assumption that youth drinking is "in decline" globally.

Focusing on Nigerian youth, the book "Reconfiguring Drinking Cultures, Gender, and Transgressive Selves" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) presents an in-depth analysis of young people's experiences of diverse drinking practices, offering a rare analysis of the gendering of alcohol in a non-Western context.

Dr. Dumbili interrogates why, and to what extent, young people's drinking is on the rise in low and middle income countries, in sharp contrast to youth drinking decline in most Western countries. He explains, "This book moves beyond solely Western theorizing. Combining Western and non-Western theorizations, it provides insights into the alcohol industry's role in gendered transgressive drinking and highlights the need to urge caution in generalizing youth drinking decline."

An Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow at UCD's School of Sociology, Dr. Dumbili's research focuses on the gendering of alcohol, evolving drinking cultures, and the effects of alcohol marketing and policy processes.

"The book analyzes how young people enact masculinities and femininities through transgressive and conforming drinking practices that reconfigure drinking cultures through heavy drinking and intoxication. I examine how global and local alcohol corporations contribute to gendered transgressive drinking in Nigeria by their targeted marketing to young people, and consider the impacts of imposed alcohol regulations and reactions of resistance and subversion," he says.

Executive Director at the Center for Research and Information on Substance Abuse (CRISA) in Uyo, Nigeria, Professor Isidore S. Obot, said, "The research literature on alcohol and society in Nigeria is sparse at best. This is a significant contribution to research on alcohol in Africa with immense policy relevance, especially at this time when Nigeria and other countries are grappling with the development of national alcohol policies."

The book will benefit students, social scientists, policymakers, and those interested in decolonizing gender scholarship or commercial determinants of health.

Dr. Dumbili is a mentor on the WHO Scientific Research and Writing Mentorship Initiative towards diversity in research on alcohol control policies, and has held teaching and research positions in universities and institutes in Nigeria, Germany, and the UK. Watch the November 2023 World Health Organization Webinar on Youth and Alcohol featuring Dr. Emeka Dumbili.

More information: Reconfiguring Drinking Cultures, Gender, and Transgressive Selves. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53318-1
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

When she was in ninth grade, Fiona Lu fell into a depression. She had trouble adjusting to her new high school in Orange County, California, and felt so isolated and exhausted that she cried every morning.

Lu wanted to get help, but her Medi-Cal plan wouldn't cover therapy unless she had permission from a parent or guardian.

Her mothera single parent and an immigrant from Chinaworked long hours to provide for Fiona, her brother, and her grandmother. Finding time to explain to her mom what therapy was, and why she needed it, felt like too much of an obstacle.

"I wouldn't want her to have to sign all these forms and go to therapy with me," said Lu, now 18 and a freshman at UCLA. "There's a lot of rhetoric in immigrant cultures that having mental health concerns and getting treatment for that is a Western phenomenon."

By her senior year of high school, Lu turned that experience into activism. She campaigned to change state policy to allow children 12 and older living in low-income households to get mental health counseling without their parents' consent.

In October of last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law expanding access to young patients covered by Medicaid, which is called Medi-Cal in California.

Teenagers with commercial insurance have had this privilege in the state for more than a decade. Yet parents of children who already had the ability to access care on their own were among the most vocal in opposing the expansion of that coverage by Medi-Cal.

Many parents seized on the bill to air grievances about how much control they believe the state has over their children, especially around gender identity and care.

One mother appeared on Fox News last spring calling school therapists "indoctrinators" and saying the bill allowed them to fill children's heads with ideas about "transgenderism" without their parents knowing.

Those arguments were then repeated on social media and at protests held across California and in other parts of the country in late October.

At the California Capitol, several Republican lawmakers voted against the bill, AB 665. One of them was Assembly member James Gallagher of Sutter County.

"If my child is dealing with a mental health crisis, I want to know about it," Gallagher said while discussing the bill on the Assembly floor last spring. "This misguided, and I think wrongful, trend in our policy now that is continuing to exclude parents from that equation and say they don't need to be informed is wrong."

State lawmaker salaries are too high for them or their families to qualify for Medi-Cal. Instead, they are offered a choice of 15 commercial health insurance plans, meaning children like Gallagher's already have the privileges that he objected to in his speech.

To Lu, this was frustrating and hypocritical. She said she felt that the opponents lining up against AB 665 at legislative hearings were mostly middle-class parents trying to hijack the narrative.

"It's inauthentic that they were advocating against a policy that won't directly affect them," Lu said. "They don't realize that this is a policy that will affect hundreds of thousands of other families."

Sponsors of AB 665 presented the bill as a commonsense update to an existing law. In 2010, California lawmakers had made it easier for young people to access outpatient mental health treatment and emergency shelters without their parents' consent by removing a requirement that they be in immediate crisis.

But at the last minute, lawmakers in 2010 removed the expansion of coverage for teenagers by Medi-Cal for cost reasons. More than a decade later, AB 665 is meant to close the disparity between public and private insurance and level the playing field.

"This is about equity," said Assembly member Wendy Carrillo, a Los Angeles Democrat and the bill's author.

The original law, which regulated private insurance plans, passed with bipartisan support and had little meaningful opposition in the legislature, she said. The law was signed by a Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"Since then, the extremes on both sides have gotten so extreme that we have a hard time actually talking about the need for mental health," she said.

After Carrillo introduced the bill last year, her office faced death threats. She said the goal of the law is not to divide families but to encourage communication between parents and children through counseling.

More than 20 other states allow young people to consent to outpatient mental health treatment without their parents' permission, including Colorado, Ohio, Tennessee, and Alabama, according to a 2015 paper by researchers at Rowan University.

To opponents of the new law, like Erin Friday, a San Francisco Bay Area attorney, AB 665 is part of a broader campaign to take parents' rights away in California, something she opposes regardless of what kind of health insurance children have.

Friday is a self-described lifelong Democrat. But then she discovered her teenager had come out as transgender at school and for months had been referred to by a different name and different pronouns by teachers, without Friday's knowledge. She devoted herself to fighting bills that she saw as promoting "transgender ideology." She said she plans to sue to try to overturn the new California law before it takes effect this summer.

"We're giving children autonomy they should never have," Friday said.

Under the new law, young people will be able to talk to a therapist about gender identity without their parents' consent. But they cannot get residential treatment, medication, or gender-affirming surgery without their parents' OK, as some opponents have suggested.

Nor can minors run away from home or emancipate themselves under the law, as opponents have also suggested.

"This law is not about inpatient psychiatric facilities. This law is not about changing child custody laws," said Rachel Velcoff Hults, an attorney and the director of health of the National Center for Youth Law, which supported AB 665.

"This law is about ensuring when a young person needs counseling or needs a temporary roof over their head to ensure their own safety and well-being, that we want to make sure they have a way to access it," she said.

Removing the parental consent requirement could also expand the number of mental health clinicians in California willing to treat young people on Medi-Cal. Without parental consent, under the old rules, clinicians could not be paid by Medi-Cal for the counseling they provided, either in a private practice or a school counselor's office.

Esther Lau struggled with mental health as a high school student in Fremont. Unlike Lu, she had her parents' support, but she couldn't find a therapist who accepted Medi-Cal. As the only native English speaker in her family, she had to navigate the health care bureaucracy on her own.

For her, AB 665 will give clinicians incentive to accept more young people from low-income households into their practices.

"For the opposition, it's just about political tactics and furthering their agenda," Lau said. "The bill was designed to expand access to Medi-Cal youth, period."

2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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King's College London researchers have shown that the brain chemical GABA regulates activity in the retina of the eye in autistic and non-autistic individuals differently. Autistic people have larger responses to single light flashes in the retina of the eye and this new study shows that increasing GABA activity can reduce this response.

Published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the study also showed that those with a greater shift in their retinal activity after receiving a single dose of the GABA drug arbaclofen were those who reported more autistic characteristics. This suggests that GABA's influence on sensory processing could be central to the more complex behaviors experienced by some people with autism.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a chemical messenger in the brain that regulates the activity of nerve cells in the central nervous system. Research has indicated that there are differences in the GABA pathway between autistic and non-autistic people.

Recently King's researchers used the drug arbaclofenwhich switches on GABA type B receptorsto demonstrate that GABA can alter activity in areas of the brain that process visual and auditory information so that autistic and non-autistic people become more alike in their processing.

The influence of GABA on activity in the retina

This new study is the first to demonstrate that using a medication which influences the GABA system can affect the activity in the retina in people with autism so that over-activity is reduced and becomes more similar to light responses in non-autistic people.

"This study builds on existing research that aims to understand more precisely how GABA influences sensory processing in autism. We have found that GABA acts differently in the central nervous system in autism. At an individual level, this is related to autistic traits across both autistic and non-autistic adults in the study.

"We believe this means that differences in the GABA pathway could at least partly underpin autistic neurodivergence," says Grainne McAlonan, Professor of Translational Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London and Interim Director of the NIHR Maudsley BRC.

ERG waveforms and parameters in response to single white flashes. Credit: The Journal of Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1218-23.2024

Linking shifts in visual processing to autistic traits

This study used hand-held devices to measure retinal responses to visual stimuli. These stimuli were single flashes of light, flickering lights or single flashes of red light. There were 61 participants, 22 with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and 39 without a diagnosis. Researchers used the drug arbaclofen to modulate of levels of GABA. It was used at two different doses (15 mg and 30 mg) and there was a control group where participants received no arbaclofen.

Results showed that when exposed to single white flashes there was a larger response in the retina (a-wave activity) in people with autism than those without autism. For participants that took the drug arbaclofen there was then a decrease in the retinal activity in autistic participants but an increase in non-autistics.

Using a measure of general autistic characteristics, researchers found that the degree in which the retinal response was shifted by arbaclofen in participants was associated with autistic traits i.e. a greater shift occurred in those with more autistic characteristics both among those with autism and those without autism.

"By using arbaclofen to modulate GABA we are building a clearer picture of how this brain chemical influences sensory processing at different stages. We are also gaining insight into what GABA could tell us about individual differences in autistic traits and the development of tools to predict who might benefit from an intervention option, should they wish to have that choice," says Qiyun Huang, Research Associate at IoPPN, King's College London.

Professor Omar Mahroo, Professor of Retinal Neuroscience, UCL and joint senior author on the project notes, "Light detection and visual processing in the retina shapes our view of the world and this unique collaboration across traditionally distinct areas of neuroscience has helped us take a step closer to understanding that autistic people might truly see the world a little differently."

Informing future clinical trials

The study did not directly test the effectiveness of arbaclofen as an intervention for autism. Some autistic people experience sensory sensitivity which can be distressing. Whether a drug like arbaclofen might be effective in lessening visual sensitivity for people that might want this, remains to be tested. Whether the effect of arbaclofen on sensory processing might also have wider uses also needs to be examined.

Importantly activity in the retina is relatively easy to measure using a hand-held device, compared to EEG which involves attaching sensors to the head to measure activity in the brain. As such the measurement of retinal activity could provide a practical way to aid the decision process as to whether individuals might benefit from participating in clinical trials of arbaclofen and other possible medical and non medical interventions, if they wish to do so.

This study exemplifies a new research strategy that researchers from IoPPN, King's College London are pioneering called the 'shiftability' paradigm. This aims to bridge the translational gap in autism research and establish who may or may not benefit from a particular intervention. It does so by directly establishing that a candidate brain chemical is involved in a brain function by changing it and observing a shift in that function.

Although this experimental approach is used frequently in animal studies there is little direct evidence describing how brain chemical systems modulate information processing in the living human brain.

More information: Qiyun Huang et al, Retinal GABAergic Alterations in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, The Journal of Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1218-23.2024 Journal information: Journal of Neuroscience
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Clayton Warner holds a mirror as dental hygienist Mary Davis examines his teeth at the Christa McAuliffe School in Concord, N.H., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Tucked away inside the teachers lounge at a New Hampshire elementary school, Amber Warner was having her teeth checked out for the first time.

The 5-year-old sat back on what looked like a beach chair and wore a pair of dark sunglasses as certified public health dental hygienist Mary Davis surveyed Amber's teeth and then with a tiny syringe applied traditional dental sealants, which had the consistency of nail gel.

"Close down and bite your teeth together, bite down like you are biting down on a hot dog or a cheeseburger," Davis told Amber, to ensure the sealants were done properly. After that, Davis flossed all of the "popcorn and the chicken, pizza between your teeth." The whole visit took 15 minutes.

"Look at you. You are a pro on your first dental visit. I am so proud of you," Davis said to the kindergartener, who got up from the chair and was hugged by a teacher's assistant.

The portable clinic is part of a cavity prevention program developed by NYU College of Dentistry and being rolled out in Concord and two other New Hampshire districts. CariedAway New Hampshire hopes to expand to Maine and Vermontand eventually nationwideas part of a growing effort to improve pediatric oral health, especially in children from lower-income families.

There isn't a good national estimate of dental programs in schools but many larger school districts have them. Boston University's program operates in 20 schools and 30 preschools in Boston and eight other cities in Massachusetts and covers 3,000 children from 6 months to 21 years. In New York City, 81,000 students across 820 schoolsa little over half of all public schoolswere treated last school year.

Nationwide Children's Hospital has seen 1,700 children in central Ohio since 2021 with its roving school-based dental clinics, while Minnesota nonprofit Ready, Set, Smile is in 44 schools in the Twin Cities, serving 2,225 children.

"Dental care typically is looked at as an extra or an add-on," said Terri Chandler, who is the founder and executive director of Future Smiles in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas and serves 7,500 kids in 75 schools. "It is not part of medical care."

Intermittent dental care, if at all

Nearly half of all U.S. children don't receive regular dental care, according to a 2022 report from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, which is a federal agency.

Clayton Warner is greeted by dental hygienist Mary Davis before a dental exam at the Christa McAuliffe School in Concord, N.H., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Dental assistant Crystal Muzzo stands at right. There is a push to revive and expand school-based programs that often serve as a child's first dental visit and offer critical preventive care. Credit: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

That can lead to cavities quickly: More than half of children ages 6 to 8 had a cavity in at least one baby tooth and more than half adolescents ages 12 to 19 have a cavity in at least one of the permanent teeth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Too many children fail to see a dentist before they enter schoolforcing them to go to the hospital to get treatment for a mouthful of cavities, Harvard School of Dental Medicine's Catherine Hayes said.

"If their parents aren't getting any kind of oral health education in the physician's office, these kids develop extensive decay," she said, noting it can take a month or more to fix. She added, "... It's completely preventable. We know how to prevent it."

At Boston Children's Hospital, there's a waiting list of eight to nine months for the dental clinic, said Man Wai Ng, the dentist-in-chief. Ng points in part to worsening dental care during the pandemic.

"I have patients who were going to bed without brushing their teeth. They ate and drank at all hours of the day because those normal daily routines weren't there," Ng said. "They weren't able to get in for ... preventive dental care. Kids were developing more dental disease without the ability to get timely care."

Ruth Langwell struggled to find a dentist for her granddaughter Lola, a 10-year-old who has autism. She recently was able to get the girl into the clinic.

"She needs somebody who is very patient, obviously ... We've tried two other dentist and they have been reluctant because of Lola's challenges," said Langwell, who added she wanted Lola to see a dentist at age 2, but didn't until she was five.

Funding programs to build habits

The challenge for many programs, especially mobile and school-based clinics, is sustainability, said Richard Niederman, a professor of epidemiology and health promotion at NYU Dentistry and founder of CariedAway. That's because school-based programs like Neiderman's lean heavily on donations because they often serve low-income populations who are either uninsured or on Medicaid.

Niederman has spent two decades developing his program. Other ones he tried in the Bronx and Boston ended due to a lack of funding, but this time, Niederman has $1 million from Northeast Delta Dental, which ensures his New Hampshire program will remain in place for at least three years.

Amber Warner leaves the chair after a dental exam at the Christa McAuliffe School in Concord, N.H., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

"It breaks my heart that kids don't get effective care that they could get ... and the system doesn't support it," he said.

But the picture for pediatric oral health is improvingeven outside of school programs.

Untreated tooth decay in preschool children is down 50% since 2000, according to the federal dental research agency's report. It pointed to an increased use of sealants, which prevent cavities.

Jane Grover, the senior director of the American Dental Association's Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention, said there has been "tremendous growth" of dental programs in community health centers, as well as efforts to deploy dental hygienists in pediatric offices.

Some states are also better coordinating pediatric and dental care. MassHealth, the Medicaid program in Massachusetts, started requiring physicians last year to ensure a child has two fluoride varnish applications and refer them to a dentist, Hayes said.

"I remember my first dental cleaning and and that left a lasting impression," Grover said. "We want to have children understand that, but we want their families to understand that sugar-sweetened beverages all day on primary teeth where the enamel is a little thinner than it is on adult teeth, it doesn't take long ... to go from a potentially serious situation to a very serious situation."

Neiderman's team treated more than 60 students over a week at the Concord school. Among them was softspoken 10-year-old Evette Sesay, who dutifully detailed how she brushes twice a day and flosses.

She wondered aloud whether the treatment would "hurt," only to be assured by Davis that it shouldn'tbut that she could raise a hand if she felt pain. Evette, who went to the clinic because she "wanted to check" on her teeth, never did.

She said it felt like a typical exam at her dentist's office: "They cleaned my teeth very well. The bubble gum flavor was good, too."

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Heinz Wiendl, Luisa Klotz and Andreas Schulte-Mecklenbeck from the University of Munster performed high-dimensional flow cytometry to describe MS in unprecedented detail. Credit: Uni MS/Wibberg

In a transformative study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, an international team of researchers has made a significant breakthrough in the understanding and potential treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Their findings reveal the identification of three distinct immunological endophenotypes of MS, defined by specific blood immune signatures associated with different disease trajectories. This discovery opens new avenues for personalized treatment strategies, addressing the long-standing challenge of individualized treatment selection in MS therapy.

MS is a complex and unpredictable disease, affecting more than 2.8 million people worldwide. It has long been recognized for its varied clinical manifestations and progression, making effective treatment a significant challenge. Traditional approaches to treatment have often been a one-size-fits-all solution, not taking into account the underlying distinct immunopathology prevailing in each patient.

The study, which analyzed data from over 500 early MS patients across two independent cohorts, utilized high-dimensional flow cytometry and serum proteomics to map the immune system's complexity in unprecedented detail. The researchers' sophisticated analysis identified three distinct immunological endophenotypes, each associated with specific disease pathways and responses to treatment.

"These findings represent a pivotal shift towards precision medicine in MS," stated Prof. Heinz Wiendl, one of the lead authors of the study. "By understanding the individual immune system variations among patients, we can move closer to personalized treatment plans that are more effective and have fewer side effects."

The endophenotypes, named based on their primary characteristics"inflammatory," "degenerative," and a third yet to be fully characterizedshow distinct responses to common MS treatments. Notably, patients within the 'inflammatory' endophenotype showed limited benefit from interferon-beta treatment, suggesting that alternative therapies might be more effective for this group.

"Our study not only challenges the current treatment paradigm but also helps to provide a practical tool for clinicians to predict disease progression and treatment response," added Prof. Luisa Klotz, co-lead author. "This could significantly improve the quality of life for individuals living with MS."

Further, the study highlighted the potential for using these endophenotypes as markers for disease prognosis and treatment efficacy. This insight could guide the development of new therapeutic agents targeted at specific pathways within these endophenotypes.

The findings have been welcomed by the neurology and neuroimmunology communities as a major step forward in the fight against MS. They underscore the importance of individualized care and the potential for significantly improving treatment outcomes by tailoring therapies to the patient's specific immune signature.

The research was led by the University of Munster and Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Munster, Germany, in collaboration with the German Competence Network Multiple Sclerosis (KKNMS).

More information: Catharina C. Gross et al, Multiple sclerosis endophenotypes identified by high-dimensional blood signatures are associated with distinct disease trajectories, Science Translational Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.ade8560 Journal information: Science Translational Medicine
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Study Overview. a Study procedure. b TDCS montages on head models (left) and current density distributions from the superior view (right). Red electrodes with a cross: anode; black electrodes with a line: cathode. c Continuous orientation-reproduction task. PPC right posterior parietal cortex, DLPFC left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, L left, R right. Credit: Communications Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00067-8

A study by the University of Sheffield has cast doubt on the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques in improving visual working memory.

The research, published in Communications Psychology, contradicts previous findings on the topic and highlights the need for cautious interpretation of brain stimulation interventions.

Visual working memory, responsible for temporarily holding visual information for cognitive processing, is a critical aspect of human cognition. Scientists have long explored methods to enhance working memory. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has emerged as a promising method in the past two decades.

Cognitive abilities such as working memory decline in both healthy aging and in pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease. Brain stimulation is often thought to be a promising additional way to stop cognitive decline.

The study, led by Dr. Shuangke Jiang, from the University of Sheffield's Department of Psychology, attempted to replicate a finding in which authors previously claimed huge benefits of non-invasive brain stimulation on human working memory.

Co-authored by Dr. Myles Jones and Dr. Claudia von Bastian, from the University's Department of Psychology, the study found the results regarding the efficacy of tDCS to improve memory to be equivocal. Researchers instead demonstrated strong evidence against the benefits of tDCS on improving memory, following a single "dose" of 15-minute stimulation.

Dr. Shuangke Jiang said, "The low-cost and easy-to-use tDCS is similar to a TENS machine you might use for back pain relief. Multiple sessions of tDCS can be effective for a range of conditions and are already in NICE guidelines for depression. A single 'dose' of tDCS is reported to have wide ranging effects on psychological functions as diverse as socialization and memory.

"A particularly high profile study suggested that brief tDCS could improve working memorya temporary memory store that allows us to manipulate information. We have replicated this study with improved methodology and found unequivocal evidence that tDCS does not improve working memory."

The study's results emphasize the complexities involved in assessing the effectiveness of brain stimulation techniques for cognitive enhancement. They emphasize the importance of rigorous replication studies in psychology to establish the reliability and validity of such interventions.

Dr. Shuangke Jiang added, "Our research highlights the critical importance of conducting replications to investigate the effectiveness of interventions, like tDCS, to enhance cognition. Replications catalyze a robust and informative body of evidence on the 'true' effects, and therefore contribute to addressing the replication crisis in Psychology."

More information: Shuangke Jiang et al, TDCS over PPC or DLPFC does not improve visual working memory capacity, Communications Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00067-8
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The Left panel shows a cartoon representation of the nsp12-nsp8-nsp7-RNA complex (PDB code 6YYT), with nsp12 colored by domains (NiRAN in gray, interface in white, and the RdRp in dark green, green, and dark yellow for the fingers, palm, and thumb subdomains, respectively); the RNA is depicted in dark blue, and the cofactors nsp8 and nsp7 are colored in orange and cyan, respectively. Amino acid substitutions, whose position suggests that they could lead to alterations in RdRp activity, are shown as red spheres and are labeled. The right panels show close-up views highlighting the interactions of nsp12 substitutions (F419L, D421G, and F441L), selected for primer extension assays. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317851121

Scientists have developed a machine-learning approach to track the evolution of SARSCoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and potentially other viruses, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1,185,413 people in the United States have died from the virus, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RNA viruses, such as SARSCoV2, mutate rapidly once inside a host. Most RNA viruses including HIV-1 or influenza acquire a high number of mutations to the point where, in many cases, no two copies of the virus inside one person have the exact same genome.

These mutated strains can then jump to the general population, pushing forward the evolution of these viruses at a global level. While SARSCoV2 has been reported to mutate at lower rates compared to similar viruses, it has shown a high capacity to evolve with new variants appearing suddenly instead of progressively.

This observation challenges the previous idea of low mutation capacity of SARS-CoV-2, said Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and bioinformatics director of the Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution (CPGME), who was a co-author of the study.

The origins of these highly mutated variants such as omicron, which acquired a very high number of mutations rapidly, is still poorly understood, he said.

In the study, Lorenzo-Redondo and his collaborators applied a novel next-generation sequencing method to sequence the genome of SARS-CoV-2 from thirty individual nasal swab samples obtained within a 19-day window.

With this new method, developed by senior study author Esteban Domingo, Ph.D., and study co-author Celia Perales, Ph.D., investigators at the Spanish National Research Council, the team was able to capture a wide representation of every mutant of the virus present inside each patient. This way, they could study if minority mutations generated inside an infected patient could be the origin of mutations that later get transferred to the general population.

Then, utilizing a machine-learning model first developed by Lorenzo-Redondo and Soledad Delgado, Ph.D., associate professor at the Polytechnical University of Madrid, the investigators visualized genetic data from the samples into maps which showed the many variations of the virus inside a single host and charted their predicted survival and proliferation in relation to the other variants.

The technique may allow scientists to track how viruses like SARS-CoV-2 evolve over time inside a single person and predict dangerous mutations, Lorenzo-Redondo said.

"With this technique, we can go deeper. We can analyze evolution and analyze how the virus is adapting to a person and how it evolves to counter the immune system," Lorenzo Redondo said. "Some of these adapted viruses then might become important at a population level."

By sequencing SARS-CoV-2 inside an individual, investigators observed how the virus "tested" a mutation in its spike protein in some individuals, which has been reported to alter viral entry. This specific spike protein mutant variant was a small subset inside of some of these hosts, but subsequently, it quickly overtook other variants due to its superior infectivity and became the dominant strain globally during the first months of the pandemic.

The findings may explain how new variants materialize and jump from person to person and become dominant, strengthening the entire viral population, Lorenzo Redondo said.

"This is very interesting because it seems to suggest that all these big jumps that we see, for example in the omicron wave of COVID-19, might be happening at the intra-host level in multiple patients at the same time and then get transferred to the general population," he said.

Moving forward, Lorenzo Redondo and his collaborators will aim to use this combination of novel molecular biology techniques and machine learning approaches to map intra-host evolution in SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses, he said. His group also hopes to use the approach to predict how a virus may evolve in the future and potentially stop dangerous strains from taking hold.

"The next step is: can we use machine learning methods to predict possible future mutations by knowing what the virus has already explored and what type of advantage it gave it inside the host?" Lorenzo Redondo said.

More information: Soledad Delgado et al, Incipient functional SARS-CoV-2 diversification identified through neural network haplotype maps, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2317851121 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Nampa OB-GYN Dr. Megan Kasper recently saw a young pregnant patient who, in her second trimester, was experiencing painful contractions. Her cervix had dilated 5 centimeters. Still, she was several weeks away from the earliest gestational age where a premature infant is viable.

Kasper said all she could offer was expectant care, meaning she closely monitored the patient but wouldn't intervene unless her condition changed or worsened.

"My care of that patient did not change based on the (abortion) laws that went into effect in August 2022," Kasper said at a presentation about women's health care challenges at the state Capitol. "But the things I needed to manage in the background were different."

"What did I need to do to keep myself and the whole health care team out of trouble? ... What was going to be my threshold for her health status? If she started bleeding, how much bleeding was I going to tolerate? At what point would her bleeding be enough that I would feel confident in saying, 'OK, this is life threatening?'"

As lawmakers seek to finish the 2024 legislative session any day now, Kasper and several other doctors and medical leaders urged legislators to add a maternal health exception to the state's strict abortion ban. The only exceptions the law provides are for rape, incest and to "prevent the death of the pregnant woman." There are no exceptions for the health of the pregnant patient.

Democrats want the standard eased, but the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature has not obliged.

Doctors in Idaho who provide abortions, even to stabilize a pregnant patient with a complication, face a felony punishable by up to two to five years in prison. They could also have their medical licenses suspended for a minimum of six months for a first offense and permanently revoked upon a subsequent offense.

Idaho doctors say the law has had a chilling effect on recruitment and retention of the state's already slim body of physicians, particularly those working in obstetrics.

In late February, a report released by the Idaho Physician Well-Being Action Collaborative said dozens of Idaho's obstetricians stopped practicing in the state in the first 15 months after the law took effect in August 2022. Over the same period, only two obstetricians moved to the state to practice.

And of the nine maternal-fetal medicine specialists working in Idaho before the ban was enacted, only four are left. Maternal-fetal specialists are obstetricians who undergo three additional years of training to manage the most complicated and high-risk pregnancies. Obstetricians in Idaho often seek their guidance on a case-by-case basis. But as their ranks dwindle, that's becoming harder to do.

Dr. Sara Thompson, an OB-GYN at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, told the lawmakers and others at the presentation that more are thinking about leaving if the law doesn't change.

"As my colleagues move out of state or retire, we've had difficulty replacing them," Thompson said. She noted that Idaho has no OB-GYN residency programs or fellowships. "So we cannot recruit new OB-GYN or maternal-fetal medicine specialists from within our borders. Out-of-state applications for open positions have decreased dramatically."

'Candidates are now looking elsewhere to practice'

Susie Keller, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association, said the state is unfortunately "digging itself into a workforce hole that will take many years, if not decades, to fill."

And, as physician shortages persist nationwide, there's fierce competition for providers. The pool of OB-GYN applicants at Idaho hospitals has fallen to nearly half of what it once was, if hospitals have any applicants at all, said Brian Whitlock, president of the Idaho Hospital Association.

Idaho already has the lowest number of active physicians per capita in the country. The state is projected to be short 1,743 doctors by 2030, according to a study published in Human Resources for Health.

"Hospital administrators are telling us that the lack of clarity in Idaho's legal environment regarding the term health care has created uncertainty and fear," Whitlock said. "Candidates are now looking elsewhere to practice."

The chief physician executive at St. Luke's Health System, Dr. Jim Souza, said vacant positions that previously would have been filled in weeks are remaining open for months, with some not getting filled at all.

Dr. Loren Colson, a family medicine physician in Boise and president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare, said that when his pregnant wife recently miscarried, their local pharmacist refused to fill a prescription to aid in the miscarriage. More than one in 10 pregnancies result in miscarriage, he said.

His wife, Kristin Colson, previously told the Idaho Statesman that she had experienced multiple pregnancy losses as the couple pursued fertility treatments. Managing a miscarriage with medication can make the experience faster and more predictable, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Idaho's abortion ban is even affecting the way women access birth control care.

"I had a patient who needed an IUD removed when she found out she was pregnant, and she had to go to two other providers before coming to me due to concerns of accidentally ending the pregnancy with the removal of the IUD," Loren Colson said. "And this isn't an isolated incident."

Souza said that only 21 of Idaho's 44 counties have access to any practicing obstetricians. According to the report from the local physician group, the vast majority, or about 85%, of obstetricians and gynecologists in Idaho practice in the seven most populous counties.

"There will be a significant increase in these complications that will lead to more high-end costly transports to centers like the one I lead," Souza said. "And some of those rescue attempts will end in complications that may be lethal or have permanent impacts on maternal health and reproductive capacity. Even a 15-mile increase in the distance a woman in an emergency has to travel delays an urgent intervention where seconds count. Imagine what 100 miles looks like."

Kasper said she practices in an "evolving maternity care desert" in southwest Idaho, which has seen the closure of two labor and delivery units in the last year, at West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell and Valor Health in Emmett.

She said she and other OB-GYNs in the region are doing what they canseeing more patients and managing high-risk and low-risk pregnancies while being thoughtful about the ways they do so. She said watching the way access to women's health care is deteriorating has been sobering.

"And this is not in rural Idaho that I'm talking about," she said. "This is right here in the Treasure Valley."

Souza said the state's abortion ban is "ambiguous" on the circumstances in which a physician is allowed to act when a pregnant patient's health is at risk. He asked that legislators clarify the law.

"The law casts the issue as if it were a black-and-white binary thing," he said. "Those of use who manage life and death know that those are the poles on a spectrum where in between lies health. We are trying to move upstream in that, to preserve life."

2024 The Idaho Statesman. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The World Health Organization and several national health organizations recommend exclusive breastfeeding for infants, at least for the first six months of their life to protect the health of infants and mothers. Among breastfeeding infants, however, variations in the thickness of the membrane underlying their tongues (also known as lingual frenulum), are known to result in a condition known as tongue tie (or TT).

The lingual frenulum can either be too short, inelastic, thickened, or attached too close to the tongue tip. This can restrict the infants' tongue movement, making it difficult for them to breastfeed, which could result in significant health impediments for both babies and mothers.

Often, when TT becomes a major obstruction to breastfeeding, a surgical procedure known as frenotomy is recommended. In this procedure, the lingual frenulum is divided or cut, allowing for easy movement of the tongue. However, frenotomy is a widely debated procedure in the medical community.

Several tools exist globally for assessing TT and determining the need for frenotomy, but many of these have a lot of criteria and are complicated to use in clinical practice. In fact, there are no universally accepted criteria for diagnosing TT and ascertaining the need for frenotomy. This results in underreporting of TT cases and unnecessary referrals for frenotomy.

To make it easier to determine the proportion of babies with TT and the frequency of frenotomy, a team of clinicians and researchers from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Canada, developed a new referral pathway and Frenotomy Assessment Tool in one region of their province. Implemented in July 2017, the new tool and referral pathway was created to help potential TT cases receive correct evaluation and treatment for the condition; and to subsequently record the actual numbers of TT cases in the region.

A cross-sectional study published in Pediatric Investigation on 28 February 2024 now provides insights gained by implementing this tool in the region. The tool consists of two components, first an assessment of the infant during breastfeeding, and second, a visual inspection of the lingual frenulum and the tongue.

Elaborating further regarding the purpose of the study, Dr. Lee explains, "The primary objective of our study was to describe the proportion of breastfed babies with TT who required frenotomy and the factors associated with it. In this vein, implementing the new tool allowed us to gain a better understanding of the epidemiology of TT and its impact on breastfeeding outcomes in our region."

The study included 241 breastfeeding infants who were referred for TT evaluation and frenotomy between July 2017 and August 2018. The data that was collected retrospectively and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS); factors associated with frenotomy were determined using logistic regression.

Of the 241 babies referred for assessment, 92% or 222 infants were diagnosed with TT, suggesting that the prevalence of TT was approximately 11% among breastfed babies in the region during the study period. Of these 222 babies, 66% underwent frenotomy. Among the factors found to be significantly associated with the need for frenotomy were nipple pain, inability to latch, inability to elevate tongue, and dimpling of the tongue on extension.

These findings show that most infants who were referred for TT evaluation were, in fact, suffering from this condition, suggesting that TT was a common occurrence among breastfed babies in the region.

Additionally, the study confirms that the Frenotomy Assessment Tool can effectively diagnose TT in babies and identify whether they need frenotomy. Given that only four factors were associated with frenotomy in the study, it could be possible to reduce the number of criteria included in the tool. This can, in turn, potentially make the implementation of this tool easier, and thereby increase its usage among clinicians, improve the diagnostic standards for TT, and reduce unnecessary referrals for frenotomy.

Elucidating further on the implications of their study, Dr. Lee says, "Based on our findings, the use of the Frenotomy Assessment Tool and referral process has been extended to other areas of the province. Future research should examine whether a simplified assessment tool, containing the four items associated with frenotomy in our multivariate mode, can identify breastfed infants with TT who require frenotomy."

Although further improvements are needed in the long run, this novel tool can ensure accurate TT diagnosis in infants, enabling early and appropriate clinical interventions.

More information: Tiffany A. Lee et al, A crosssectional study of breastfed infants referred for tongue tie assessment and frenotomy in one Canadian health region, Pediatric Investigation (2024). DOI: 10.1002/ped4.12416

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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Public policies blocked many families of Mexican descent living in the U.S. from accessing vital services such as food and mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though these communities experienced some of the highest infection and mortality rates.

Thirty-eight perinatal women and mothers of young children were interviewed about the challenges they faced during the pandemic and proposed solutions to better meet the needs of their communities during future large-scale crises in a study led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo.

The work is published in the journal Health Affairs.

Co-authors of the study are molecular anthropologist Amy L. Non of the University of California-San Diego; Kimberly D-Anna-Hernandez, a professor of psychology at Marquette University; and U. of I. graduate student Mary Ellen Mendy and undergraduate students Jessica Avalos and Jacqueline Marquez.

The women in the study discussed the stressors they encountered during the pandemic, including their difficulties accessing mental health treatment, child care and food. Their suggestions and insights were used to identify actionable policies and programs that could help meet the needs of Latino communities during future emergencies.

The participants, who were interviewed between September 2021 and December 2022, were part of a longitudinal study that recruited them from a clinic in San Diego, one of the U.S. cities with large Latino populations of Mexican heritage.

The women were about 36 years old on average. Although about 81% of them were born in Mexico, many had resided in the U.S. for 17 years or more. About 31% reported having an annual household income of less than $21,000, while a similar percentage earned $40,000 or more, according to the study.

Lara-Cinisomo said participants faced complex stressors during the pandemic. Half of the women in the study said their families had challenges obtaining food due to loss of income and subsidies such as school lunches, as well as supply chain shortages and consumer stockpiling.

"While early in the pandemic various federal and state programs and policies were deployed to mitigate people's risks for exposure and enhance families' economic security, millions of tax-paying families of Mexican descent and other Latino backgrounds were excluded because of restrictions and exclusions set by those programs," Lara-Cinisomo said.

The researchers found that more than twice as many Spanish speakers reported food-related issues compared with their English-speaking counterparts.

"Policymakers should consider how language barriers increase the risks of Spanish-speaking families losing out on benefits designed to meet their needs, such as CalFresh," California's iteration of the federal SNAP food assistance program for low-income people, Lara-Cinisomo said.

"Communicating food and health and safety information in linguistically appropriate media, such as texts, videos or commercials, is vital to ensure accessibility to people with differing literacy and technological skills and should be carefully considered by policymakers."

Involving trusted sources in disseminating relevant and critical information was also recommended by the participants. For marginalized communities that have experienced historical discrimination and anti-immigrant propaganda, trust in these sources is vital, Lara-Cinisomo said.

"Research has shown that community engagement is critical in emergency preparedness and increases the likelihood of meeting the needs of marginalized communities," Lara-Cinisomo said. Accordingly, she and her team recommended developing a contingency plan to train culturally and linguistically competent community health workers to cultivate networks of trusted community members to assist in crisis communication efforts.

Some women discussed feeling anxiety about the uncertainties associated with the pandemic, such as lockdowns and conflicting health information. These feelings were exacerbated by employment disruptions, pregnancy, and food access problems, and their concerns extended to family members residing in other households and those living in Mexico, participants told the researchers.

The majority of those interviewed advocated broadening access to food subsidy programs such as WIC and SNAP to offset income losses and food shortages during large-scale crises, along with providing public awareness campaigns about local food banks and assistance programs.

Even though California provides more services for undocumented immigrantsincluding paid family leave and one year of emergency coverage with mental health services under Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid plan, for pregnant womencaring for their mental health needs was a significant problem for many participants. Fifteen women reported needing mental health care, but twice as many of the English-speaking women mentioned these issues compared with their Spanish-speaking counterparts, the researchers found.

The researchers hypothesized that this difference may have been associated with cultural beliefs, with Spanish-speaking women feeling less comfortable disclosing mental health problems because of stigmatization compared with those who spoke English. Or, it may have been that those who spoke Spanish were more resilient or more concerned about immediate needs such as food assistance, the team said.

Participants recommended broadening access to mental health services for mothers and their families, promoting awareness with providers and patients, and disseminating mental health information and resources through videos and other media and via programs such as WIC.

Many of the womenlargely those who spoke only Spanishreported difficulties obtaining personal protective equipment and sanitization supplies because of shortages, consumer stockpiling, and price gouging, in keeping with other studies that showed low-income and marginalized communities were disproportionately affected.

Although the study sample was small, Lara-Cinisomo said it highlighted critical needs for responsive, culturally appropriate policies and programs to ensure the well-being of Mexican-descent perinatal women and mothers of young children during public health crises.

More information: Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo et al, Solutions From Mexican-Descent Perinatal Women To Pandemic-Related Food, Mental Health, And Health And Safety Stressors, Health Affairs (2024). DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2023.01492 Journal information: Health Affairs
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Patients with primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (PCBCLs) have an increased risk for second primary malignancies (SPMs), according to a study published online March 19 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Lauren Banner, from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and colleagues used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2000 to 2020 to generate a cohort of 5,435 PCBCL patients to examine their risk for development of subsequent cancers, defined as SPM.

The researchers found that 16% of the patients received diagnoses of a second malignancy, which was higher than in the general population (standardized incidence ratio, 1.54). Women had an increased risk for thyroid, renal, and lung cancers (standardized incidence ratios, 3.06, 2.13, and 1.69, respectively). Men had the highest risk for melanoma, bladder, and prostate cancers (standardized incidence ratios, 1.49, 1.42, and 1.29, respectively).

The risks for all SPMs were highest within the first year of PCBCL diagnosis and decreased with time (standardized incidence ratios within the first year: 21.11 for thyroid cancer for women; 2.09 for prostate cancer for men). The risk for all SPMs decreased with patient age; a threefold higher risk for all SPMs was seen for patients aged 40 to 49 years (standardized incidence ratio, 3.07).

"Dermatologists may educate PCBCL patients on the symptoms and screening guidelines for these six malignancies and refer for further consultation if concerning symptoms are present," the authors write.

More information: Lauren Banner et al, Increased incidence of thyroid, renal, lung, melanoma, bladder, and prostate cancers after diagnosis of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: A SEER database analysis, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2024.03.013 Journal information: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Copyright  2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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It's one of the most contagious viral diseases in the worldand outbreaks are popping up across the United States. More than 60 measles cases have been reported so far this year in 17 states, from Washington to Florida; that's more than were confirmed in all of 2023. The spike comes amid an ominous jump in global infections: last November, the World Health Organization reported an 18% increase in cases from 2021 to 2022, to 9 million, and a 43% jump in deaths, to 136,000.

Measles typically starts with a fever, cough, dripping nose, and conjunctivitis, before a rashone of its most recognizable symptomsspreads from the head down to the feet. Most people will recover without any long-term issues, but pregnant people and those under 20, particularly younger children, are especially vulnerable; around 20% of people who get the disease will be hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If one infected person coughs, sneezes, or breathes in a shared space, they'll spread measles to 90% of the unvaccinated people around them.

Despite its threat, measles is highly preventable: for the past 20 years, high uptake of the two-stage measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has effectively eliminated the disease in the United States.

So, why are so many states reporting cases this year?

"Measles can easily come to the United States by way of unvaccinated travelers, and measles cases have been increasing around the country," according to a March CDC measles update. "This most commonly happens when people who live in the United States visit countries where there are measles outbreaks. Once someone gets measles and returns to America, measles can spread if people in their community aren't up-to-date on their vaccinations."

Before the measles vaccine eradicated the disease in the United States, the CDC says there were three to four million casesand hundreds of deathsevery year. The agency warns that it could become endemic again if vaccination levels tumble further.

Regarding the latest rise in cases, Boston University infectious diseases expert David Hamer answers some common questions. A BU School of Public Health and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine professor of global health and medicine, Hamer is also a core director and researcher at BU's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases and leads the Adult Travel Clinic at Boston Medical Center, BU's primary teaching hospital.

The CDC has already recorded more measles cases in the United States this year than all of last year. How concerned should people be?

Anyone who is not vaccinated, whether an adult or a child, should be concerned. Measles is a highly contagious virus and can lead to severe complications and even death.

And this is a global issue, not just a domestic issue.

Absolutely. There are more cases than in many years in Europe and many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) right now. This means both a travel-associated risk and potential for voyagers to import measles into the United States.

Given the surge of measles in many parts of the world, both in Western Europe and many LMICs, the potential for travelers to import measles into the United States is higher now than it has been in many years.

You believe the numbers are only going to increase. Why?

During the pandemic, many countries, especially LMICs, had challenges with young children accessing their first or second dose of measles vaccine. This means that more outbreaks are now happening and there is a greater potential for travelersand new migrantsto import the virus into Western Europe, Australia, Japan, and the United States. Given vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, there are populations in many high-income countries that have children, and even adults, who are susceptible, so the potential for importation and spread is substantial.

Measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000 and most children here are required to be immunized in order to attend school, so where are these outbreaks coming from?

Vaccine hesitancy on the part of some parents due to misinformation, [and] religious and "medical" exemptions to vaccination.

Can you talk about how transmissible this virus is and how serious it can be?

Measles virus is highly transmissible. The reproductive rate, an estimate of how many nonimmune people can be infected by one infected person, is 12 to 18. This is much higher than SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the virus can be airborne, so being near someone who is coughing, sneezing, or even breathing can lead to infection.

How does the virus work in the body?

The virus enters through the respiratory tract and then spreads through the bloodstream to other parts of the body. It can lead to an intense inflammatory reaction that can result in severe disease, pneumonia, and death. Symptoms to look out for include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a diffuse rash.

The CDC recommends children receive their first dose of the measles vaccine at 12 months and a second dose between ages 4 and 6. Is part of the problem that too many children haven't received that second dose? Does one vaccine typically offer enough protection?

One dose of the vaccine provides a high degree of protection if it is received at age 12 months or later. The second dose provides protection to the small proportion of children who do not respond to the first dose and serves as a booster that gives long-term protectionprobably lifelong. While one dose is good, for long-term protection two doses are necessary.



The CDC is now recommending that anyone over the age of 6 months who is traveling internationally get vaccinated. Should parents of infants between 6 and 12 months think about getting their infants vaccinated regardless of whether they're traveling overseas?

Absolutely, although this depends on the risk at their travel destination. They should see a specialized travel medicine provider to determine whether this is necessary. While a dose of the vaccine at this age is important for protection during travel, it may not lead to long-term protection, so it does not count as a first dose in the two-dose series, but still may be lifesaving.
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Differential gene expression associated with GABA and glutamate neurotransmission systems in the cortex and hippocampus. Clustergram heat map of mRNA expression of the GABA/Glutamate system in the cortex. Credit: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.014

NeuroHIV refers to the effects of HIV infection on the brain or central nervous system, and to some extent, the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. A collection of diseases, including neuropathy and dementia, neuroHIV can cause problems with memory and thinking and compromise our ability to live a normal life.

Using a mouse model of neuroHIV, a research team led by biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside, studied the effects of interferon- (IFN), a small protein involved in cell signaling and integral to the body's natural defense mechanism against viral infections. The researchers found that higher or lower than normal levels of IFN affect the brain in a sex-dependent fashion: some changes only occur in females, others only in males.

Marcus Kaul, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine who led the study, explained that when infection-induced IFN levels become high, the brains of females and males are protected. If IFN production in response to infection is absent or too low, HIV can compromise brain function right away in both females and males, he said.

The paper is published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

"However, IFN also controls other cell and brain functions," Kaul said. "If IFN is absent, females display reduced nerve cell connections called dendrites in the cerebral cortex, while males show diminished 'presynaptic terminals," another type of nerve cell connection, in the hippocampus."

Dendrites are highly branched structures that increase the receptive surface of neurons.

"Paradoxically, in the hippocampus of females and males, the damage to presynaptic terminals by HIV is diminished when IFN is absent but the reduction of injury is more pronounced in males," Kaul said.

According to the researchers, the work adds to scientists' understanding of how innate immunity affects the brain during chronic HIV infection.

"Until now, it was not known that normal levels of IFN are required for normal memory function and that the absence of IFN changes the production of nerve cell components in a sex-dependent fashion," Kaul said.

The findings are noteworthy because the mouse model of neuroHIV that Kaul and his team used shares key features of brain injury and compromised function, such as impaired memory, with people living with HIV infection, or PLWH.

Almost all cells in the body can produce IFN. Kaul explained IFN regulates the production of inflammatory factors in neuroHIV and has two major effects: (a) it changes the state of a virally infected cell from "normal" to "anti-viral," making the cells uncomfortable environments for the virus, even completely shutting down virus production, and (b) IFN is released from infected cells as well as specialized cells that--by sensing infected cells--can alert neighboring cells and the entire body of a viral infection.

"This is how neighboring cells adapt to become more resistant to viral infection," Kaul said. "Some of them will also release additional anti-viral factors and a mixture of other factors that can promote or limit inflammation, such as cytokines called CCL3, CCL4 and CCL5."

Hina Singh (left) and Marcus Kaul. Credit: Kaul lab, UC Riverside.

The research was performed in Kaul's laboratory. The team generated a new variant of an established transgenic mouse model of neuroHIV by crossbreeding this model with mice that lack IFN. The team then analyzed memory function and brain tissue of the transgenic mice for injury that usually occurs in neuroHIV.

"HIV and some other viruses have developed mechanisms to reduce or even prevent the production of more than normal levels of IFN," said Hina Singh, an assistant project scientist in Kaul's lab and the first author of the research paper. "We know little about the role of IFN in the human brain beyond that it can reduce inflammation. This is a major reason why IFN is used to treat multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects more than 2.8 million people worldwide. Currently, we have almost no information about how much IFN is present in the brains of PLWH and what it does there."

Singh said the study underscores the importance of having normal levels of IFN during no viral infection and having sufficiently high levels of IFN in case of neuroHIV or other viral infections.

"The body's many anti-viral responses observed in HIV infection are not specific to HIV but also occur with other viral infections," she said. "But in contrast to most other viral infections, the body cannot get rid of HIV, which diminishes the effectiveness of the natural IFN response."

Next, the team plans to work on confirming the findings of the neuroHIV model in PLWH.

"For this, we will need to investigate tissues of PLWH who consented to donate them for research after death," Kaul said. "Ultimately, we hope to develop IFN into a therapy for patients with neuroHIV."

Second related study

Another study from the Kaul lab alsoo appears in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

"This study adds another important aspect to our understanding of how innate immunity and an inflammatory mechanism affects the brain during chronic HIV infection," Kaul said.

The study shows that intact HIV and its viral envelope protein gp120 each cause macrophages, a type of white blood cell, to release cysteinyl leukotrienes, or CysLTs, which are pro-inflammatory mediators. The study shows for the first time that the CysLTs are critical components of macrophage neurotoxicity induced by HIV-1, the most common of the two major types of HIV.

"The potential translational value of our work is the demonstration that an asthma drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration, that inhibits a major receptor for CysLTs also prevents HIV-induced neurotoxicity," Kaul said.

The research paper is titled "A critical role for Macrophage-derived Cysteinyl-Leukotrienes in HIV-1 induced neuronal injury." Nina Yuan, a former associate specialist researcher in the Kaul lab, is the paper's lead author.

More information: Hina Singh et al, Interferon- deficiency alters brain response to chronic HIV-1 envelope protein exposure in a transgenic model of NeuroHIV, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.014 Nina Y. Yuan et al, A critical role for Macrophage-derived Cysteinyl-Leukotrienes in HIV-1 induced neuronal injury, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.023 Journal information: Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that affects millions worldwide. Now, a groundbreaking clinical study conducted by researchers at Ghent University Hospital, VIB, and Ghent University has demonstrated the potential of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to improve symptoms in patients with PD.

Research published in eClinicalMedicine provides promising evidence that FMT could be a valuable new treatment for this debilitating disorder.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions worldwide. Its prevalence is rapidly increasing due to factors like pesticide use and an aging population. Symptoms of the disease include both motoric and non-motoric symptoms.

The motoric symptoms, such as balance problems, stiffness, and the characteristic tremor, are the best known and almost always the reason for the eventual diagnosis. However, non-motor symptoms, such as loss of smell, constipation, and REM sleep disturbances, often develop up to 20 years before diagnosis in a large number of people with the disease.

The role of the microbiome

In Parkinson's disease, a protein called alpha-synuclein misfolds and clumps together. Those clumps then damage dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain, which leads to the typical Parkinson's symptoms. Current treatments, primarily medications that replace dopamine, often have side effects and lose effectiveness over time.

The protein clumps are believed to be formed in the gut wall at a very early stage of the disease, from which they reach the brain cells via the vagus nerve, which connects the gut and the brain. This process can be influenced by gut bacteria.

Indeed, emerging research suggests a surprising link between PD and the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria residing in our intestines. Patients with Parkinson's often have an altered gut microbiome compared to healthy individuals and they often show more (intestinal) inflammation and a disrupted intestinal barrier.

That's why the neurology department at University Hospital Ghent (UZ Gent), led by Prof. Patrick Santens, joined forces with Prof. Debby Laukens of Ghent University and the team of Prof. Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke at the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research. The team wanted to investigate whether a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) with healthy gut bacteria from a donor could have a significant impact on the evolution of Parkinson's disease symptoms over one year.

The clinical study showed that after 12 months, the actively treated group showed significantly more improvement in motor symptoms compared to the placebo group.

Trial profile. Credit: eClinicalMedicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102563

Via the nose into the small intestine

The clinical study, named GUT-PARFECT, recruited participants with early-stage Parkinson's disease and healthy donors who donated their stool to the Gentse Stoelgangbank. All participants with Parkinson's disease received the stool through a tube that was inserted through the nose and advanced into the small intestine to deliver the mixture directly there.

"Our results are really encouraging!" says Dr. Arnout Bruggeman, researcher at VIB-UGent-UZ Gent and first author of the study. "After twelve months, participants who received the healthy donor stool transplant showed a significant improvement in their motor score, the most important measure for Parkinson's symptoms."

The improvement in motor symptoms became even more pronounced between the sixth and twelfth month after the transplant, suggesting a potential long-lasting effect. Additionally, participants had less from constipation, a frequent and bothersome symptom for many people with Parkinson's disease. More research is needed to determine whether this treatment also slows the progression of the disease.

Way forward

This study is a significant step forward in the search for new treatment options for Parkinson's disease.

"Because there were major questions about the feasibility at the start of the study, financing this research was no easy task," says Prof. Santens. "This research was only possible thanks to the support of patient organizations, donations to the UGent Parkinson Research Fund, and the willingness of participants to undergo the rather invasive procedures."

"Our study provides promising hints that FMT can be a valuable new treatment for Parkinson's disease," says Prof. Vandenbroucke. "More research is needed, but it offers a potentially safe, effective, and cost-effective way to improve symptoms and quality of life for millions of people with Parkinson's disease worldwide."

"Our next step is to obtain funding to determine which bacteria have a positive influence. This could lead to the development of a 'bacterial pill' or other targeted therapy that could replace FMT in the future," says Prof Laukens.

More information: Arnout Bruggeman et al, Safety and efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease (GUT-PARFECT): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, phase 2 trial, eClinicalMedicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102563 Journal information: EClinicalMedicine
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

There has been a sharp increase in the number of people in Japan suffering with the rare but dangerous bacterial condition, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). According to reports, cases of this potentially fatal strep A illness have more than tripled in Tokyo compared with this time last year.

While experts aren't entirely certain why cases have risen so sharply to record levels, many believe it could be due to people being less vigilant about protecting themselves from infection after COVID measures were dropped.

Many countries, including the UK, have seen a similar increase in illnesses caused by strep A bacteria in the post-lockdown periodhighlighting the continued burden that these bacteria have on public health.

Group A strep

STSS is caused by group A streptococcal bacteria, which are quite common. Between 5% and 20% of healthy adults have these bacteria living inside them without any symptoms. But even when they don't cause illness, group A streptococcal bacteria can still be spread to other people unknowingly through touch, coughs and sneezes.

Strep A bacteria are commonly spread through close contact with an infected person. This means that people who spend time in crowded placessuch as schools or dormitoriesmay be at greater risk of catching these bacteria. Even people who aren't ill can be colonized by them, as they are well adapted to grow in healthy human hosts.

But strep A bacteria can shift gears from being symptom-free and harmless into the source of numerous diseases. Infection may be triggered by larger numbers of the bacteria, mutation to a more aggressive strain, or perhaps some reduction in host defenses. Most often, this will cause localized, short-lived infectionssuch as strep throat, tonsillitis or impetigo on the skin.

However, strep A bacteria can also ambush patients a few weeks after these milder infections, causing severe, lifelong complicationsincluding rheumatic heart fever or inflammation of the kidneys. These complications are more common in certain populations, such as those who are homeless or living in poverty, or people with drug and alcohol use problems.

Strep A bacteria can also cause more severe illnesses, including scarlet fever, sinusitis, pneumonia, cellulitis, bone and blood infections.

In rare cases, strep A bacteria can spread from cuts and wounds deep into soft tissues and muscle, leading to necrotizing fasciitis or "flesh-eating disease." And streptococci can in some situations release immune-activating toxins that activate the immune cells in tissues, triggering STSS.

Toxic shock

STSS patients often complain initially of fevers, muscle aches and nausea, before becoming confused or drowsy. Low blood pressure follows, leading to cold hands and feet, a rapid heart rate and breathing too. Without the blood pressure they need to function, organs then begin to fail, usually 24 to 48 hours after the symptoms emerged.

STSS has a high mortality rateranging from 5% in younger patients who have been admitted quickly to intensive care, to up to 70% in the elderly.

Treatment for suspected STSS should be delivered as rapidly as possible. Patients will require oxygen, intravenous fluids and even cardiac support, alongside antibiotics and intravenous immune antibodies to deactivate strep A toxins. Even if referral and treatment is given quickly, it may still take patients many weeks to recover from the physical effects.

STSS is more common in people who have a poor immune system including the elderly, people taking steroid medications, people recovering from a recent illness (particularly chickenpox), those with type 2 diabetes, and people with drug and alcohol problems. The elderly are a large and growing component of Japan's population, which may explain why cases of STSS are particularly high there.

The rise in STSS cases is probably also a consequence of fewer COVID restrictions in this post-lockdown period. Public health measures such as mask wearing, washing and disinfecting hands and social distancing all helped to reduce the spread of strep A bacteria. People were exposed to larger numbers of bacteria when these controls were lifted.

Fortunately, strep A bacteria remain responsive to penicillin, although resistance has been identified in some strains. This means that strep Aand STSSremain treatable.

Researchers are also working on developing a protective vaccine against strep A bacteria. If successful, this would not only protect against milder illnesses caused by streptococci, but also against rheumatic fever and perhaps the more acute severe illnesses such as STSS.

Strep A bacteria are estimated to contribute to more than half a million deaths globally each year. While relatively few of these are the consequence of STSS, this number highlights a need to better monitor group A streptococci, their evolution and the diseases they cause.

Protecting yourself against strep A bacteria remains relatively simple. Many of the practices we followed during the height of the pandemicsuch as wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding crowdscan help us avoid strep A too.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
April First Friday in Missoula is jam-packed, with exhibitions and performances happening all around downtown.

Resurgence: Visualizing Tribal Sovereignty over Ancestral Lands

Torrents in the Confluence Center

This group exhibition includes visual art, performances and more, by artists from Montana, across the U.S. and Canada around the Land Back movement to return Indigenous land to Indigenous control.

The show was curated by Mia Martina Hanak, the executive director of a nonprofit called Human Ecology. Its taking place in the Torrents gallery inside the Confluence Center nonprofit events space on West Main Street.

Its a rising movement and we wanted to tap into that momentum and have this show right now, she said.

Hanak reached out to artists who have shared 2D work, sculpture, along with planned in-person performances, with a balance of geographies.

Its organized to put out a call to action in solidarity and support of the movement from the heart of Missoula, she wrote in an email. Artists in the exhibition are donating a percent of the sale of their artwork to support the Land Back movement.

The show includes three photographs by Nicholas Galanin (Lingit/Unangax), a Sitka, Alaska-based artist who gained widespread attention for a 2021 project called Never Forget, in which he used the lettering style of the iconic Hollywood sign for an all-caps message that read Indian Land, in the California desert.

Theyll show a photograph from that installation, along with an image of a sculpture called Land, that references the Philadelphia Love sculpture by Robert Indiana. Titled In every language there is Land/En cada lengua hay una Tierra, it was installed in Brooklyn for about a year. It was built out of steel that was destined for the border wall.

In 2020, the Missoula Art Museum exhibited one of his works of a deconstructed, mass-produced totem pole coated in gold leaf.

Aspen Decker, an artist, educator and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, contributed a poem (which shell read at the opening), along with a ledger drawing of the Mission Church in St. Ignatius.

Black dots and red circles with orange around them mark unmarked graves, telling stories of assimilation and ethnocide, according to her artist statement.

The poem reflects on the resilience of my people against attempts to erase our language and culture, shedding light on the intergenerational trauma inflicted by colonial oppression.

Blackfeet ledger artist John Isaiah Pepion is also showing a print, and Monica Gilles-Brings Yellow shared a portrait made from historical photographs set on her signature atmospheric resin backgrounds.

Cannupa Hanska Luger, an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota) will be represented through a project he made at the Standing Rock pipeline protests. In the Mirror Shield Project, water protectors modified long narrow mirrors that could be used as shields. Therell be a room where people can watch a tutorial video on how to make their own.

Luger works in many mediums, including his Future Ancestral Technologies project that was featured in the New York Times magazine in 2022. Hes spent time in Montana previously through residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena.

Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory is sending a figurative sculptural installation, Sarfaliuut. The artist, who is Kalaaleq/Greenlandic Inuk of Nunavut, Canada, wrote in her statement that it represents the titular spirit: its head is a bowhead whale vertebrae, with caribou antlers for arms, and a glowing heart, according to her artist statement. The pregnant viscera is a cracked globe, with Nunarsuup qalasersua (the North Pole) correctly placed as a navel, the statement reads.

Graphic artists are well-represented, too. Shepard Fairey, of Obey fame and the Obama Hope poster, created prints in collaboration with photographer Aaron Huey of National Geographic dating back to 2011.

Ernesto Yerena Montejano created a print of Lily Gladstone in honor of her string of historic wins and nominations for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Steph Littlebird, a graphic artist from Portland, Oregon, repurposed the style of vintage national park signs so it now reads, Welcome, Youre on Native Land.

A live video DJ will be screening more works by the artists during the show.

Details: The Torrents Gallery is open to the public on First Friday only, from 5-8 p.m., and then by appointment.

Heres the full schedule:

6 p.m.: Honor song by Benjamin Esehenahkohe Headswift

6:15 p.m.: Poetry reading by Aspen Decker

6:30 p.m.: Live performance by Foreshadow

5-8 p.m. Live VJ set by ZooTech Visuals

After the reception, there will be a live architectural projection show by ZooTech Visuals from 8:30-10 p.m. on the 200 block of North Higgins.

For the Good of All Things

Missoula Art Museum

There will be Indigenous artists at the MAM this First Friday, too, for a closing reception. This group show includes work by artists from various tribal backgrounds who live on the lands of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Two artists, Corky Clairmont and Linda King, and Marie Torosian of the Three Chiefs Culture Center helped the MAM reach out to artists who havent shown at the museum before, according to a news release.

Clairmont is exhibiting a set of prints made in 2022 at UMs Matrix Press that relate to specific sites around Missoula that they visited, complete with QR codes that steer viewers toward more information online.

Stephen Hunt, a photographer, had a solo exhibition at the MAM in 2018 titled, Kitawaahsinnoon/The Land That Feeds Us. His photographs in this show include a black-and-white image of the Mission Mountains dusted with snow that emphasizes their jagged texture.

Another artist on the younger end of the spectrum is photographer Tailyr Irvine, sharing images of kids in regalia shot at the annual Arlee Celebration that she published in the New York Times.

Details: 5-8 p.m. First Friday celebration with artists present, before the show closes on April 6.

Terry Karson: Human/Nature

Missoula Art Museum

Karson, a painter from Kansas City who found his voice sculpting from reused materials in his adopted state of Montana, died in 2017 at 66. He left behind a body of work that extended from the intimate to the monumental, as seen in this retrospective in the MAMs main gallery. On the intimate side, he constructed specimen boxes, like ones for insects, but his faux pupae and butterflies were made of colorful cellophane. In the mid-range, he made wall pieces from cardboard packaging that was sanded until the loud palette of commercial eye candy becomes muted and degraded, as though the material is slowly returning to a former state of nature. The gallery also includes several massive columns and an entire wall in this style that he made for a solo MAM exhibition in 2012 titled Commons. You can also view the scale diagram he crafted for that show, which blanketed the entire multi-level Aresty Gallery next door.

Details: On view through July 27.

Mimi Jung, Just Between Us

Missoula Art Museum

The Helena-based artists large-scale sculptures originated with humble materials like paper and poly cord on a custom loom, but you might not have reached that conclusion if you saw the striking, flowing forms cold.

Jung was born in South Korea and studied in New York and Europe before relocating to Montana, where this show marks her first solo museum exhibition.

Details: On view through April 13.

Stephanie Frostad, Sustenance

Radius Gallery

The Missoula painter is holding a large solo exhibition, including more than 40 works, her first in town since a 2019 show at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture. They include narrative paintings in the style shes honed, combining graphite and oil on panel for a particularly smooth surface that doesnt sacrifice depth, along with sketches, according to an email from the gallery.

Details: Opens First Friday, April 5, 5-8 p.m.

Potsketch

Clay Studio of Missoula

The nonprofit ceramic centers annual fundraiser features small drawings by invited artists of all mediums that start at $60 a piece along with functional and sculptural ceramics.

The money goes toward the facilities, including monthly gallery openings, community classes, residency programs that bring in early-career artists to work and teach, upkeep of its kilns and equipment and more. On Christmas Eve last year, someone broke into the studio and stole several test kilns, plus tools, iPads, artwork and a cash box, among other items.

Details: Opens Friday, April 5, 5-8 p.m. On view through April 17. Auction date is Saturday, April 20, in the University Center Ballroom, doors at 5:30 p.m. Online bidding opens on April 5 at potsketch2024.givesmart.com.

Bloom

Good Luck Gallery

This contemporary gallery located in downtown Kalispell is marking its first anniversary with a group exhibition.

The artists include Sydney Boveng, Shelby Baldridge, Daphne Sweet, K. Fry, Carolyn Hopkins, Tessa Heck and Kris Vardanega. The styles and mediums range from curator Hecks bright paintings of the surrounding landscape in an unexpected palette to UM graduate Sweets application of her painting style, centered on the female figure, onto ceramics.

Details: Opening reception on April 5, 5-8 p.m. On view through June 21.

Kayla Noble, Id Rather Be a Fox

Lovechild Gallery

Noble, a New York potter whos currently the Clay Studio of Missoulas woodfire resident, has an exhibition of ceramics and photography.

Details: 422 W. Spruce St., open 5-10 p.m. on First Friday and then by appointment. The gallery is located around the back of the Folk Integrative Medicine building. Follow Lovechild on Instagram for more information.

Full listings

Museums

Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, 728-3476, fortmissoulamuseum.org: In the main gallery: "Missoula, MT: The Bicycle Town." "The Road to Today: 150 Years of Missoula's History," in the North gallery: "Undressing History," in the orientation gallery: "We Can Take It!" Hours: Main museum open Tuesday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

Historic St. Mary's Mission and Museum, Stevensville, 777-5734: Featuring guided tours of historic buildings; featured exhibition is an antique toy display. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. with last tour at 2 p.m.

Hockaday Museum of Art, 302 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, 406-755-5268, hockadaymuseum.com: Through April 18: "Totally Terrific Textures!" children's art exhibition. Through August: "Ace Powell: Recent acquisitions and loaned beadwork from Three Chiefs Cultural Center." Through June 22: "Terran Last Gun: Piikani Visual Sovereignty," featuring prints by the artist along with a new mural he's painting from April 1-3.

Miracle of America Museum, 36094 Memory Lane, 406-883-6804, miracleofamericamuseum.org: Featuring thousands of artifacts throughout dozens of buildings plus exhibits of WWII memorabilia that includes more than 50 official photos taken by the U.S. Department of the Navy depicting the damage to the fleet. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St., 406-728-0447, missoulaartmuseum.org: Through April 13: "Mimi Jung: Just Between Us." Through April 6 in the Frost Gallery for Contemporary American Indian Art: "u X Xl c Xest: For the Good of All Things," featuring work by artists living on Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal lands. Through May 11: "Critical Eye," selections from the Kim and Ruth Reineking collection. Through July 27: Terry Karson: "Human/Nature." First Friday, April 5, 5-8 p.m.

Galleries

Allez! Missoula, 120 N. Higgins Ave., alleyway with the Merc Hotel, 546-6141, 120nhiggins.com: "New Perspectives," featuring temporary, mural scale paintings, prints and photography and sculpture by undergraduates and recent grads from the University of Montana School of Visual and Media Arts: Colton Rothwell, Crystal McCallie, Dagny Walton, Eric Jensen, Erica Hitzman, Jules Lucero, Lily Kip, Lily Luna Bennett and Mickey Haldi. On view through May.

Artists' Shop, 127 N. Higgins Ave., 406-543-6393, missoulaartistsshop.com: In April: "Feast of the Fire," a slice of the Missoula ceramics community. Featured artists include Bob Phinney, Bruce Kitts, Greg Morris, Glenn Parks, Karen Van Galder, Matt Simms, Melissa Thompson, Val Tomiello, Steve Thorstenson, and David Grey.

The Clay Studio of Missoula, 11065 Hawthorne St., 543-0509, theclaystudioofmissoula.org: In April: Potsketch auction preview exhibition with small 2D works along with functional and sculptural cereamics. First Friday reception April 5, 5-8 p.m.

Gallery 709 in Montana Art and Framing, 709 Ronan St., 406-531-7100: In April: "Birds are Back," paintings, prints, and paper sculpture by artists Kate Davis, Sally Hickman, Tom Melhuse, Alan Wikoff and Tom Zavitz. First Friday, April 5, 5-9 p.m.

Lovechild Gallery, 422 W. Main St.: "I'd Rather Be a Fox," ceramics and photographs by Kayla Noble. Open 5-8 p.m. on First Friday, by appointment only for the rest of the month. Find the gallery on Instagram for more information. Entrance is in back of the building.

Murphy-Jubb Fine Art, 210 N. Higgins Ave. Suite 300, 406-728-7050, kendahljanjubb.com: In April: Acrylic paintings of Missoula by M. Scott Miller, plus the wood-fired ceramics of Richard Smith and the watercolor artwork of Kendahl Jan Jubb. First Friday April 5, featuring live music by the Pescaderos.

Radius Gallery, 120 N. Higgins Ave.: First Friday exhibition opening, April 5, 5-8 p.m. featuring "Sustenance," more than 40 paintings and drawings by Stephanie J. Frostad. Through April 13: "Mysteries Too Marvelous," works by Nina Glaser, Candice Methe and James G. Todd.

Art on display

Bernice's Bakery, 190 S. Third St. W.: Featuring the artwork of the Bernice's staff, with oil paintings, wool felted creatures, and collage. First Friday reception from 5-7:30 p.m.

Home ReSource, 1515 Wyoming St.: First Friday, April 5, 5-7 p.m. featuring Reuse art show plus live music, raffle and snacks.

Imagine Nation Brewing, 1151 W. Broadway: First Friday April 5, 5-8 p.m. featuring works by Rich Lande.

Residence Inn Missoula, 125 N. Pattee St.: First Friday April 5 featuring works by Jen Feenstra Creative.

The Wren, 201 E. Main St.: First Friday pop-up gallery, April 5, 5-7 p.m. featuring an "Arabic friendship mosaic" created by high school students from across the state during Academic WorldQuest.
A writ put in place to remedy errors by Mineral Countys law enforcement departments is nearing dismissal, moving along a legal process thats essentially served as an overhaul of Mineral Countys criminal justice system.

The Mineral County Attorneys Office and Mineral County Sheriffs Office were put on judicial notice in October 2022 after a Missoula law firm filed two writs of mandamus contending the departments were abusing the rights of Mineral County residents through the legal system.

In their original filing, the plaintiffs, represented by Jordan Kilby and Lance Jasper of Reep, Bell & Jasper P.C., argued the county violated the rights of multiple Mineral County residents through not disclosing information relevant to the defendants cases, known as Brady disclosures. Hiring malpractices within the county sheriffs office led to unqualified law enforcement involvement in criminal cases, and the Mineral County Attorneys Office didnt properly disclose that in case proceedings.

On Wednesday, Mineral County District Judge Shane Vannatta, whos been presiding over the writ case, said the five requirements of the writ, largely having to do with Brady disclosures, have been accomplished. Its dismissal now hinges on getting attorneys fees in the case sorted out.

Tensions have mounted between all sides involved in the writ in the 18 months since it was first put in place. Accusations of improper conduct were lodged by both sides in court on Wednesday, with Jasper sharing concerns about retaliation from the county attorneys office.

We started this complaint to just get law enforcement and the county attorneys office to follow the law, but as a result of this there have been continued efforts to slander and attack myself and others in this matter, Jasper said.

Mineral County Attorney Debra Jackson denied such conduct, and described Jaspers allegations as absolute nonsense.

A handful of combative hearings have been held between the county attorneys office and attorneys for the plaintiffs. In June, a court-appointed supervisor, Polson attorney Robert Long, was brought in to oversee the county attorneys progress identifying all criminal cases with unqualified deputies involved.

His report was referenced in court on Wednesday. Jackson and deputy attorney Walter Congdon, the two people working on the countys caseload, filed their request on Dec. 8 to dismiss the writ after Longs report confirmed required disclosures were complete.

Long wrote that the county attorney fulfilled its requirements to identify and disclose the involvement of unqualified deputies to defendants and attorneys in all criminal cases, past and present, however, during the two-month stretch it took to complete that task, the County Attorney was often unresponsive, resistant and/or argumentative.

The plaintiffs argued that because of the county attorneys actions, they had to spend upward of 35 hours reviewing the countys progress and traveling to Superior, incurring more costs for their law firm. The county eventually hired a temporary staffer who completed the work in a few weeks, according to the supervisor's report.

Long likened the county attorneys response to the writ and aforementioned issues as a siege mentality.

The County Attorneys Office must prioritize the issues of Brady disclosure and appropriate prosecutorial conduct in the future to reestablish its role as the guardian of justice in Mineral County, he wrote.

In court on Wednesday, Jackson said its disclosing as best as it can, but said shes short-handed right now.

I have a duty to protect this county, she said.

Part of Longs assessment required evaluating the caseload of the Mineral County Attorneys Office, and Long also acknowledged the volume of work placed on Jackson is untenable and that the office needs another full-time attorney and investigator for criminal matters.

Long also nodded to concerns from other Mineral County criminal justice personnel over a growing backlog of cases. Mineral County Justice of the Peace Kim Taron informed Long that Jackson is the only attorney working on criminal cases and often waives speedy trial requirements and limits plea deals.

Long said court intervention was needed to rectify the problems caused by hiring the unqualified officers. Concerns with the sheriffs office stemmed from deputies, three of whom are specifically called out in the plaintiffs writ, improperly employed despite conduct and mental health evaluation concerns.

"In 32 years of criminal law practice in Montana, the undersigned never encountered a general failure by a law enforcement agency to employ qualified personnel as occurred in this case at the Mineral County Sheriffs Office," Long wrote. "The problem in Mineral County was, by any measure, large and serious.

Now, the sheriffs office and county attorney's office are in the midst of a related lawsuit over who the sheriff can hire, and whether the attorney's office did its job to follow an "agreement" reached in May 2023 between the two top law enforcement agencies in Mineral County. The process was intended to weed out unqualified officers and create a guideline for disputes, which is necessary when the county attorney's office objects to a new hire by the sheriff's office.

In his report, Long recommended the sheriffs office and county attorney stay in their respective lanes when it comes to policing and prosecution in Mineral County.

The next hearing on the writ case to discuss attorneys fees is scheduled for June 12. Vannatta reminded the county they have an ongoing duty to disclose relevant Brady information.
The Montana Supreme Court has reinstated the operating permit for the Black Butte mine, which puts the Australian company one step closer to extracting copper underneath and adjacent to Sheep Creek, the most critical tributary of the Smith River.

Though the proposed mine, which is located on private land, is also being challenged for not acquiring a water right for its full use of water, this news ignites the urgency of working to protect the nearby public lands from additional mining activities.

The vision that the company has presented to the community, and the currently approved proposal, is for a mine completely sited on private land. The concern, however, is the development of additional mineral claims - either by Sandfire, which has more than 600 claims, or by other interested mining companies  on the adjacent public land, putting thousands of acres of public lands in danger of mining activities. The existence of these claims is a cautionary indicator that some of the states most prized public lands could be at risk from future mining.

Whether you support the Black Butte mine or not, we can all agree that some places are too valuable to be mined. We have a long tradition of striking this balance in the treasure state: the bipartisan effort to protect the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park from mining and the Department of Interiors cancellation of oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area within the Lewis & Clark National Forest are two such examples.

As Montanans, we know our economy has historically been linked to extractive industries, and that these industries continue to be important sources of jobs and materials necessary to our way of life. At the same time, we must also recognize that increasingly, our communities, businesses, and jobs rely on conserving healthy public lands and waters. In other words, some places are too important economically, culturally, and ecologically for drilling or mining.

The Smith River watershed is one of those places. Now that Sandfire is one step closer to mining on Sheep Creek, its time to ask the U.S. Forest Service to push pause on the nearby public land mining claims and study what the impact would be. How would additional mining activities on those public lands affect the Smith River economy that pumps more than $11 million every year into the small towns across Montana along its shores?

Our business is one of many in Montana that rely on our growing $2.9 billion outdoor recreation economy, and specifically, the value of the health of the Smith River to our bottom line. Not to mention the value that fishing and floating the Smith has had for generations of Montanans and their families  a value which cannot be measured.

We all have a vested interest in protecting the public lands along the Smith and its headwaters, and together, our voice matters. If this is something you care about, I encourage you to make your opinion known by signing the petition asking the U.S. Forest Service to proceed with an administrative mineral withdrawal on the federal public lands in the Smith River watershed.

Its a small action that will make a big difference.
Nineteen-year-old Heaven Henning knew at a very young age that she wanted her life to be about serving others. Through encouragement she received from several role models, she quickly found herself drawn toward the fire service.

Henning recently joined the ranks at Morganton Public Safety as the first full-time, female firefighter since 2017.

As many know, it takes bravery, strength and dedication to be the one running toward a fire and not away from it. Firefighting is a male-dominated career, and Henning had to overcome outside voices and her own inner voice that would try to discourage her from following this path.

If it is what you really want to do, then nothing can stop you, Henning said. There are going to be people who think you cant do it or that you arent strong enough. You can prove them wrong as long as you work hard.

She is looking forward to expanding her knowledge base and learning as much as she can from other firefighters. She loves to complete training exercises to not only learn but to be able to interact with firefighters and surround herself with people who will build up and encourage her.

It is a little intimidating just because everyone is watching you, but I think it is also very exciting because they chose me, she said. It is an honor.

She is originally from Maryland but moved to North Carolina during high school. She enrolled into Patton High School and was involved in the Fire Academy. She became a volunteer firefighter at Triple Community Fire Department, where she says the love of fighting fire was solidified.

For me, it has always been the service aspect that I enjoy, Henning said. I want to help people in any way that I can.

The comradery that she has felt since joining the Morganton Public Safety family and in the firefighting community in general was a big factor in her choosing this career as well.

I havent even been there a month, and we are already cracking jokes with one another. It is a family, and I have always admired that part of it, Henning said. I am just excited to be a part of the family that they have. Every shift was very welcoming and ready to help and train me.

She wants to encourage young girls who are interested in firefighting and hopes to be a role model for them to follow. She says that everyone starts somewhere and that everyone will sometimes make mistakes.

As long as you fail-forward it is okay  as long as youre not backtracking  as long as you learn from it and keep going forward that is the good part, Henning said.

Fire Division Chief Israel Gibson said Henning is one of the most passionate firefighters he has ever met.

I have never seen someone so excited and passionate as Firefighter Henning, Gibson said. She always has a positive mindset and is eager to learn and serve others.

MDPS Chief Jason Whisnant said the department is excited to welcome Henning.

We are excited to have Firefighter Henning on board and feel like she will be a great addition as one of our firefighters, Whisnant said. We wish her all the best and are excited to see her grow in her firefighting skills.
The Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives Brown Bag Lunch Series welcomes Julie Bushmaker on Wednesday, April 10. Bushmaker will be presenting about how the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives sent her on a quest to research and find out more information about William Boyce Thompson and Thompson Park.

The Brown Bag presentation will begin at noon in the auditorium at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives located at 17 W. Quartz St. Guests are encouraged to bring a sack lunch. Coffee and water will be provided.

Brown Bag Lunches are held the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. Upcoming lectures will focus on topics of local interest. For more information, contact the Archives at 406-782-3280.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been banned from a second reservation following a vote taken during the April 2 Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes tribal council meeting.

Representatives from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe were angered by Noems presence at the quarterly Pe Sla meeting uninvited and unannounced on March 29 in Rapid City. She made the appearance after making a series of allegations regarding cartel involvement, mismanagement of funds and poor education toward Native Nations in the last few weeks.

District Five representative Robert Walters presented a motion by resolution to ban Governor Noem from the reservation and the council voted unanimously, 12-0, to ban Noem from Cheyenne River lands.

This person has made a lot of accusations about the tribes, about the cartel, council representatives being in bed with the cartel, stuff like that. Its all false information. I make a motion at this time to banish her from the Cheyenne River Reservation, Walters said during the April 2 council meeting. Mr. Chairman, I believe there has to be some kind of policy set up for her to show up at these tribal meetings. She cant just go in there and do her thing.

Prior to the vote, Chairman Ryman LeBeau expressed concern about Noems attendance at the Pe Sla meeting and claimed she brought cameras in with her to document her attendance and use it for her agenda.

LeBeau reported to the council that during the Great Plains Tribal Chairmans Association meeting on March 30, the leaders from the nine tribes in South Dakota discussed how to approach Noems recent allegations.

One of the ideas was to do what Oglala did and banish her from our reservations, another idea was to develop some policy and enact sanctions on her. That way if she shows up to one of our meetings well make her leave until she follows the process that we set up to engage with her, LeBeau said during the tribal council meeting.

Following Noems initial allegations of cartel involvement on Jan. 31, she was banned from the Pine Ridge Reservation by Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out.

Banishing Governor Noem does nothing to solve the problem, said Ian Fury, Communications Director for the Governors Office in an email to ICT and the Rapid City Journal. She calls on all our tribal leaders to banish the cartels from tribal lands.

In a March 29 post on the social media platform X by Noem regarding the Pe Sla meeting, she said, The dialogue was positive and substantive, but challenges remain. The conversation started  thats vital.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Fisheries biologist Wayne Hadley surveyed streams scattered throughout the Elkhorn Mountains more than four decades ago. He determined that pure-strain populations of native westslope cutthroat trout in the Elkhorns were at risk, and that the regions streams showed promise for serving a role in the species recovery.

His field research was published in 1981.

The Elkhorn study area could become the most diverse and secure upper Missouri cutthroat habitat presently known to exist, Hadley observed at the time.

Hadley, who died last year, did not shrink from sharing his thoughts about fisheries management. He wrote that it is not the prerogative of the author to determine policy decisions affecting Elkhorn waters and then pretty much did just that.

Those persons and agencies on whose judgments the future of the Elkhorn fisheries must rest should be cognizant of the full significance of the resource at issue and seek to perpetuate the native cutthroats and the environments on which they depend, he wrote.

More than 40 years later, that work continues and is supported by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Elkhorn Working Group, livestock allotment permittees and others.

Ron Spoon, a fisheries biologist for FWP and a former colleague of Hadleys, said the ongoing campaign to restore westslope cutthroat is demonstrative of the agencies commitment to the Elkhorns work.

It shows we have the ability to follow through for long-term results and dont always change our priorities to wherever the wind takes us, Spoon said. This has been a sustained effort.

The latest project focuses on Dutchman Creek, a tributary of Prickly Pear Creek.

Hadleys field work found no brook trout in a 2.3 mile stretch of Dutchman Creek that is now part of a proposed restoration project.

The invasion of nonnative brook trout likely occurred between 1999 and 2003. From 2003 to 2022, brook trout numbers increased and the population of westslope cutthroat plunged.

Ultimately, FWP relocated the remaining westslope cutthroat in the headwaters of Dutchman Creek to the South Fork of Sixteen-Mile Creek before the natives succumbed to brook trout competition and predation.

Now, a project on Dutchman Creek proposes the construction this spring of a fish passage barrier that would prevent nonnative fish from intruding once the cutthroats are returned to the creek.

Then, during the fall seasons of 2024 and 2025, FWP would use rotenone to kill brook trout in a 3.5-mile stretch of Dutchman Creek upstream of the fish barrier. Brook trout, native to eastern North America, were likely introduced throughout southwest Montana in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Rotenone is a plant-derived, restricted-use pesticide frequently used to eliminate nonnative fish populations to restore native fish. Rotenone is absorbed through the gills and is lethal to fish because it blocks the biochemical process that allows them to utilize the oxygen in their blood during cellular respiration.

Finally, during summers beginning in 2026, the pure-strain westslope cutthroat trout would be returned to Dutchman Creek upstream of the constructed fish passage barrier.

According to FWP, Returning these fish to the stream above the fish passage barrier is intended to provide a long-term genetic reserve of westslope cutthroat trout, Montanas state fish.

An environmental assessment detailing the proposal observes that projects that protect at-risk populations of westslope cutthroat are necessary to ensure the continued survival of the species, conserve remaining genetic diversity and meet statutory obligations to prevent listing under the Endangered Species Act.

In April 1999, an earlier assessment by Spoon and Jodie Canfield, a Forest Service wildlife biologist, reported that taking no action carried a high probability that many of the westslope cutthroat populations in the Elkhorn Mountains would go extinct.

They noted, Hybridization with introduced species  rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout  has resulted in the loss of genetic integrity which is crucial to the long-term survival of westslope cutthroat populations.

The westslope cutthroat, with characteristic red slashes near the lower jaws, is considered a species of special concern in Montana and a sensitive species by the Forest Service. Its historical range was all of Montana west of the Continental Divide, as well as the Upper Missouri River drainage.

In the Upper Missouri River sub-basin, westslope cutthroat trout once occupied about 1,634 miles of tributary streams. Today, estimates suggest the fish occupies roughly 115 miles of stream.

A host of projects within the Elkhorns  especially during the period from 1997 to 2008  focused on saving, protecting and enhancing remaining groups of genetically unaltered westslope cutthroat.

Lee Nelson, a fisheries biologist with FWP, and the Forest Service helped shepherd those projects.

Without the Nelson/Forest Service work in the late '90s through 2008, there would be three small populations of westslope cutthroat trout remaining in the Elkhorns, Spoon said. Dutchman would be gone. Hence, this work was very successful in keeping options open for westslope cutthroat trout recovery. A lot of genetic material has been conserved.

Spoon added, though, that the jury is out on whether small isolated fragments can persist over the long haul.

The Elkhorns projects have focused on several creeks.

In Staubach Creek, electrofishing was used to collect and eliminate brook trout. The westslope cutthroat population rebounded.

In Whitehorse, Eureka, the South Fork of Crow and Little Tizer creeks, westslope cutthroat from the vicinity were introduced into previously barren habitat above natural fish barriers like waterfalls.

Interventions at Muskrat Creek have yielded a positive outcome.

We removed all brook trout by electrofishing over several years and constructed a barrier near the Forest Service boundary, Spoon said. It is now our largest westslope cutthroat population in the Elkhorns.

The Elkhorn Mountains rise east of the Continental Divide and southeast of Helena. The range lies within the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and includes lands managed also by the Bureau of Land Management.

The Elkhorn Range features a diverse, complex ecosystem and its habitat favors elk and elk hunting, for which it is famous, but also supports an abundance of other wildlife species.

In 1981, the Forest Service designated an Elkhorn Wildlife Management Unit to guide management of the areas bountiful wildlife. It emerged after conflict focused on whether the Elkhorns should receive wilderness designation.

A history of the Elkhorn Wildlife Management Unit written by Frank Crowley said FWP came to support the concept. Crowley wrote, Its coordination with the Forest Service on the Elkhorn WMU exemplifies federal/state cooperation.

Joe Cohenour is chairman of the Elkhorn Working Group, which advises FWP, the Forest Service and BLM about wildlife/livestock management strategies and other issues in the Elkhorns.

He said the working group fully supports the work to save and restore pure-strain westslope cutthroats in the Elkhorns.

Absolutely, Cohenour said. One hundred percent.

The Elkhorn Working Group wrote a letter of support for the Dutchman Creek project, he said.

Hadleys survey results found that brook trout were the most widely distributed trout species in the Elkhorns, a reality he described as unfortunate.

This introduced species appears to compete with the native cutthroat to the detriment of the [native cutthroat], he wrote.

Spoon said the thorough work by Hadley and fisheries technicians in 1981 helped gain some traction for westslope cutthroat trout being a priority.
If you're nowhere near the path of totality or if clouds spoil your view, you can still catch the total solar eclipse online.

Weather permitting, tens of millions who live along a narrow stretch from Mexico's Pacific coast to eastern Canada can just look skyward Monday to glimpse day turn to twilight when the moon blots out the sun.

Eclipse glasses are a must to prevent eye damage. The only time it's safe to ditch protective glasses is during totality, or the few minutes of complete darkness.

Here are some alternatives if you're clouded out during the eclipse or if you can't travel to the path:

NASA goes live from different eclipse cities

NASA is offering several hours of streaming online and on NASA TV starting at 1 p.m. EDT from several cities along the totality path. The space agency will show telescope views of the sun and there will be appearances by scientists and space station astronauts. During the eclipse, small rockets will blast off from Wallops Island, Virginia, with science instruments into the electrically charged portion of the atmosphere near the edge of space known as the ionosphere.

AP hosts live show from totality path

Associated Press journalists will fan out along the path of totality to bring live coverage of watch parties and festivities. The AP livestream will start at 10 a.m. EDT with views from Mazatlan, Mexico, and other locations. Commentary will run from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EDT featuring interviews with organizers, scientists and live views from along the path.

Telescopes and experiments focus on the sun

The Exploratorium museum will feature live telescope images of the sun from Junction, Texas, and Torreon, Mexico. Researchers and students from the University of Maine will launch high-altitude balloons in an experiment that will be livestreamed from the stratosphere. Time and Date will show the sun from different telescope feeds. Slooh will broadcast from Texas and will have a network of partner telescopes along the path.
Babu Owino has written to the National Assembly speaker, expressing his intention to initiate an impeachment motion against Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha.

In a notice of motion filed with the Clerk of the National Assembly, Samuel Njoroge, the Embakasi East Member of Parliament has cited alleged incompetence and gross violation of the Constitution as the two grounds for seeking Ms. Nakhumichas removal from office.

According to Owino, Ms. Nakhumicha has demonstrated incompetence by failing to prevent the doctors strike, which has now extended into its third week, totaling 22 days.

The firebrand lawmaker said the doctors strike, which commenced on March 15th, has paralyzed Kenyas healthcare system and deprived numerous citizens of their fundamental right to healthcare.

As a result of the doctors strike, a majority of Kenyans right to life as well as right to the highest attainable of health has been grossly violated. Since the strike started last month, scores of Kenyans have been unable to access care, and in some dare cases, some have even lost their lives, the notice of motion reads in part.

Doctors Collective Bargaining Agreement

Babu Owino added that CS Nakhumicha has also neglected to uphold the doctors Collective Bargaining Agreement and has instead adopted a firm stance, threatening the doctors with dismissal and replacement.

She has failed to appreciate the seriousness of the strike and has failed to provide a lasting solution to settle the demands of the medics including the hiring of intern doctors and payment of salary arrears. I will be moving this motion and seek the resolution of the House to require President William Ruto to dismiss the CS from office, said the lawmaker.

Babu Owino mentioned that he has since submitted the evidence to substantiate his case against Nakhumicha. He also claimed the motion has already received the support of 111 MPs.

The MP will then seek permission from the Speaker to proceed with collecting signatures, which must be endorsed by at least a third of the 349 members before the motion can be approved for reading on the floor of the House.

At a joint press conference with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), Babu Owino also warned that MPs will participate in the industrial action if the government does not heed the striking doctors demands.

We dont want govt to demand, invite.dont demand. When you push, we, KMPDU and MPs will push, when you pull, well resist.when you demand we will refuse, Owino declared.
Yesterday, the Milimani anti-corruption court arraigned a former Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) manager for allegedly forging academic papers to secure the job.

Noah Oluoch Oketch, previously the Finance and ICT Manager for the government parastatal, stood before Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki, facing charges of unlawfully receiving a salary from the electricity distributing agency for five months through fraud.

He was charged with unlawfully obtaining a salary and allowance totaling Kes.1,445,066 from the agency, having been employed using a forged degree certificate.

The charge sheet indicated that Noah Oluoch had forged a masters degree in business administration and finance from the University of Nairobi.

Oluoch denied three counts filed against him; he refuted the allegation that between April 1 and August 31, 2022, while serving as the General Manager of Finance and ICT at REREC, he fraudulently acquired public funds amounting to Kes. 1,455,066 in salary using a forged degree certificate to secure the job.

The second charge accused him of forging a Master of Business Administration Degree Certificate Number 0217 with the intention to deceive, at an unknown location within the Republic of Kenya.

Oluoch denied a third count of uttering (presenting) the said forged masters degree certificate to the Chief Executive Officer of REREC with the intention to deceive. The charge stated that he falsely represented the said degree as a genuine one issued by the University of Nairobi.

Bail Application

In his bail/bond application, the accused requested to be released on a reasonable cash bail of Kes.70,000, contending that he was not a flight risk.

Oluoch asserted that he had cooperated with investigators from the EACC since August 2022. He stated that he had been out on a personal bond and had attended interrogation sessions as directed.

He appealed for a lenient bail term, stating that he is a family man residing in Langata with a wife, and children who attend schools in Nairobi.

Oluoch also mentioned that he has a strong rural attachment and declared, I cannot flee this courts jurisdiction.

He vowed to deposit his passport in court as a demonstration of good character.

State prosecutor Caroline Kimiri did not oppose the release of the accused person on bond but urged the court to impose stringent terms.

Court Ruling

In his Wednesday ruling, Mr. Nzioki directed the accused to deposit a bond of Kes.1 million with one surety of a similar amount, or an alternative cash bail of Kes.500,000.

Nzioki further directed Noah Oluoch Oketch to deposit his passport within seven days. He also issued an order that the accused should not leave the jurisdiction of the court without its express permission.

The magistrate scheduled the case for pre-trial directions on April 17, 2024.
In a session on Thursday with the Senate Agriculture Committee, renowned investigative journalist John Allan Namu of Africa Uncensored brought to light attempts by influential political figures to squash a story exposing the fake fertiliser scam.

Namus made the sensational assertions that senior officials from vital governmental bodies from both the previous and current regimes, might have been complicit in the scandal, raising serious questions about corruption in the country.

Namu disclosed, I would like to inform this committee that politicians across the political divide might have been involved in this fake fertiliser conspiracy, some even reached out to me seeking to have African Uncensored not to air this story where the majority of those affected are small scale farmers, highlighting the broad impact of the scandal, especially on small-scale farmers.

The former KTN reporter further expressed his willingness to present evidence and testify in court regarding the specific politicians who attempted to derail his investigative efforts, by offering incentives.

Namus story revealed in shocking details how a company packaging diatomite rocks was given preferential privilege by the NCPB, to sell their useless product as subsidized fertilizer. Lab analysis showed that the rocks and dust added nothing useful to the crops, and in some cases was detrimental.

The inquiry delved into the public procurement processes dating back to 2018, scrutinizing both past and present administrations. The focus is on how these fraudulent activities spanned over different government tenures, affecting the agricultural sectors integrity.

Chairman of the Committee, Kirinyaga Senator James Murango, announced that various key figures, including the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi and heads of the Kenya Bureau of Standards and Kenya National Trading Corporation, will be summoned to testify. Their testimonies are aimed at unraveling the depths of the scandal.

Murango stressed the gravity of the situation, stating, This is a very serious matter unlike doctors and advocates whom we may need several times in a year, we need farmers every day since they provide food to us, we cannot afford to allow a few unscrupulous individuals to get away with the fake fertilizer scandal, and lamented the negative image cast upon Kenya due to the fraudulent acts.

Namu further criticized the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) and the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) for their inadequacy in managing the counterfeit fertiliser issue, attributing this failure to staff shortages which he believes opened doors for the exploitation by dishonest individuals.

Namus call to journalists to pursue public interest stories with vigor was echoed in his statement, I would like to tell my fellow journalists that they should not be cowed when they are pursuing stories of public interest like the one we did on fake fertiliser, they should stand up to be counted when fighting for the public good, signifying the role of journalism in societal accountability.

Senators Samson Cherargei and Enoch Wambua echoed the need for thorough investigations into the roles of Kebs, NCPB, KNTC, and NEMA in the scandal.

Cherargei pointed out the apparent criminal/political enterprise behind the scam, while Wambua suggested a deeper conspiracy, urging for a detailed probe to uncover the extent of collusion among state agencies and perpetrators.
Kenya and Ghana have signed seven agreements aimed at enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries.

President William Ruto said the MoUs, including some signed by business associations from Kenya and Ghana, are aimed at facilitating trade and investment between the two nations.

The goal, he said, is to expand opportunities for business, the private sector and peoples of the two nations.

Other MoUs include cooperation in science and technology, tourism, education, governance and defence.

During my discussions with President Nana Akufo-Addo, we have noted that these agreements are significant in the evolution of our diplomatic ties, which stand on warm and cordial, dynamic and impactful historic collaboration, he said.

He made the remarks during a press conference at President Akufo-Addos office after the two leaders held talks during President Rutos State Visit to Ghana.

President Ruto commended Ghanas decision to remove visa requirements for all Africans by the end of the year, a move aimed at enhancing the continents integration.

This commitment aligns with one of the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area to create a single market in the continent and to drive economic growth, job creation and poverty eradication, he said.

Kenya, too, did away with visa requirements for visitors from all countries in January this year.

President Ruto pointed out that the free movement of people has contributed to growth in trade, investment and tourism between Kenya and Ghana.

He said the two nations will use the opportunities provided by the Africa Continental Free Trade to further boost trade between Kenya and Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo and I are encouraged that under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, our two countries have taken bold measures to explore these opportunities, he said.

In October 2022, the President flagged off the inaugural shipment of Kenyan tea from Nairobi to Ghana.

On 23rd September, 2023, Kenyan-made Chloride Exide batteries worth about KSh9.3 million landed in the Ghanaian Port of Tema, while Little Cab, a taxi-hailing service from Kenya, is now also operational in Ghana, he added.

President Ruto said the two nations are determined to collaborate in tackling internal conflicts, wars, terrorism and violent extremism, aiming to safeguard peace and stability and thus promote regional development.

It has become clear in our discussions that we have to redouble our efforts to silence the guns in Africa as a vital condition for economic growth, he said.

The President said through the unity of African leadership, the continent stands a better chance of effectively implementing its climate action agenda.

He said the first-ever Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi last September served as a platform for the African leadership to define a clear common position in the global climate action discourse in the run up to COP28 last December and beyond.

The two leaders also discussed institutional reforms at the African Union aimed at making the continental organisation fit-for-purpose and for the effective implementation of Agenda 2063.

This includes the need to restructure the African Union organs, conclude the division of labour between the AU Commission Organs, Specialised Agencies and Regional Economic Communities, as well as the need to streamline the agenda of the Pan-African Parliament to cover strategic issues.

President Akufo-Addo committed to support Kenyas candidature for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission 2025-2028.

At the same time, President Ruto assured Ghana of Kenyas support for the candidature of Ms Shirley Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General for the period 2024-2029.

By the Presidential Communication Service
The Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) this week informed the public that it intends to dispose of 541 bodies if they are not identified and claimed by next week Tuesday, April 9.

Among these are over 475 babies and 66 adults; KNH stated that out of the 66 adult bodies, seven are female, while the remaining 59 are male.

In a public notice published in this weeks MyGov, the hospital stated that it is acting in compliance with the Public Health Act Cap 242 Subsidiary legislation Public Health Public Mortuaries rules of 1991.

Kenyatta National Hospital is in possession of a number of unclaimed bodies at its farewell home.

Pursuant to Public Health Act Cap 242, interested members of the public are therefore requested to identify and collect the bodies within seven days, failure to which the hospital will seek authority from the courts to dispose of them, KNH said.

The Public Health Act mandates the removal of an unclaimed body from a mortuary within two weeks. Failure to do so necessitates burial in a mass grave after obtaining court permission through public officers.

The hospital announced that a list of the names of the unclaimed bodies is accessible at the KNH Farewell Home and can also be found on the institutions website.

Nairobi County Bodies
Standard Group has come out swinging against a recent spate of negative reports.

The media group has in recent weeks been the target of social media attacks. First were reports that the company was insolvent and would be closing shop in coming weeks.

Then came some nasty, fast-spreading rumor that there was a serious outbreak of syphilis at KTN. The fake news piece was designed as if it was published by rival newspaper The Star, in their Corridors of Power segment.

It claimed that the station was mulling sending most of its staff home, as some of them had already started exhibiting signs of the STD. The story was obviously fake, but that did not stop it from spreading on social media and even WhatsApp groups.

Faced with these attacks, the media group has decided to fight back.

In an editorial read by Ken Mijungu on Wednesday, the company pointed a finger at Principal Secretary, State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Edward Kisiangani, alleging that these attacks started soon after they called him out for denying them a lucrative contract.

Kisiangani was ironically a regular panelist on KTN.

Who benefits from this.. It began soon after we called out the PS (Kisiangani). We told Prof. Kisiangani not to cut the hand that feeds him, the editorial stated, further explaining that one of the medias most important sources of revenue had been shrunk significantly through actions taken by the PS and the government.

Mijungu was of course referring to a recent government decision to award a multi-million shilling contract to publish and distribute MyGov to The Star, at the expense of Nation Media, Standard and MediaMax.

The three media groups are set to lose out on hundreds of millions each year, and have since gone to court.

Mijungu then addressed the Syphilis story, categorically denying that there is an outbreak at the company. The editorial further stated that Standard Group is not about to be auctioned.

Secondly, we are not sick. These are rumours. Unfounded and very untrue. Stinks to the high heavens. Standard Group is the oldest media house, and its not about to close shop. We are not being auctioned, and investors be assured your shares are still being traded. We have some of the most dedicated staff here, and we will stand with them.

Watch that whole clip.
The United States of America has faulted Kenyan government officials for solicitation of bribes and extortion from U.S. firms to secure tenders.

In the 2024 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers released on March 29, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai highlighted that U.S. firms have experienced minimal success in bidding on Kenyan government tenders, with corruption posing a significant obstacle.

The report notes that the courts often challenge many of these tenders while foreign firms, some lacking proven track records, secure government contracts by partnering with well-connected Kenyan firms or individuals.

Amb. Tai stated that U.S. firms have also voiced worries regarding the Kenyan governments procurement system IFMIS, pointing out inadequate connectivity and technical capabilities in county government offices.

Additionally, American companies have characterized Kenyan county government officials as indifferent, highlighting central control shutdowns and security vulnerabilities in IFMIS that make it susceptible to manipulation and hacking.

Furthermore, the U.S. emphasizes that corruption significantly obstructs business operations in Kenya, with its companies consistently encountering bribery requests from local government officials.

Corruption is widely reported to affect government procurements at the national and county levels. Kenya has not effectively implemented its anti-corruption laws. U.S. firms routinely report direct requests for bribes from all levels of the Kenyan Government, the U.S. Trade Representative noted.

Additionally, Tai pointed out that American companies have raised concerns about Kenyan customs release process for shipments.

The duration of this process, as highlighted by the U.S. government, has troubled American businesses, along with the utilization of a convoluted and ineffective procedure involving numerous steps across disjointed offices, despite introducing a single window system.

Many U.S. companies have commented that Kenyas one-stop customs clearance system does not operate as intended and that pre-arrival processing of electronic documents is ineffective, the report indicates.

It further adds that US companies are concerned about the inconsistent application of classification and valuation decisions, as well as unnecessary transit inspections.
California Assembly Democrats have their own early action plan to shave $17 billion from the states looming budget deficit  but their approach differs from the one supported by Senate leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom in several ways.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and his caucus met on Tuesday to discuss a proposal that would freeze spending on one-time budget items and reject suggested housing and homelessness cuts, according to a draft of the early action package obtained by The Sacramento Bee and first reported by Politico.

It is unclear exactly how much money the spending freeze would free up in the budget negotiation process. The frozen items are not part of the $17 billion in solutions, but rather a way to create some financial flexibility heading into the spring and summer.

The draft said it was a key Assembly priority to preserve at least a few billion more dollars of budget-balancing options for June.

More options for balancing the budget means the Legislature has more authority in the process, the draft said.

The rejected cuts to homelessness and housing total about $1.3 billion, and the draft suggests deferring such discussions to June.

The draft plan approves of the governors plan to use about half of the states reserves, leaving more than $18 billion of reserves at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The states reserves and other budget flexibilities were intended to give policy makers time to make thoughtful decisions about balancing the budget, rather than being rushed into decisions, the draft said. This plan works as intended.

The Bee has reached out to Newsoms office and the Senate president pro tempore for comment on the Assembly proposal.

Members are hoping to have a full Assembly vote on the plan by April 11, the draft said.

California is facing an estimated $38 billion to $73 billion budget deficit. Legislative leaders and Newsom want to take early action on the spending gap before they negotiate the states overall budget package for fiscal year 2024-25, which begins July 1, in time to hit their June 15 deadline.

Newsom during his January budget presentation suggested a series of early action items, including a hike to the managed care organization, or MCO, tax on health insurers they could use to help obtain an additional $1.5 billion in federal money to fund the states Medi-Cal program.

The Legislature approved the bill making that change on March 21, just before their week-long spring recess. Newsom signed it on March 25.

The Assembly plan sheds light on the confusing agreement touted by Rivas, Newsom and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, on March 20. It said the leaders agreed to take $12 billion to $18 billion in early action on the budget, but it provided no details on how their plan would work.

McGuire on March 14 released a Shrink the Shortfall early action plan that was substantially similar to Newsoms proposal. Now, the Assembly early action draft makes it clear that Rivas and his members were not in agreement with the pro tem and the governor.
Paraquat is such a toxic pesticide that its use has been banned in more than 60 countries including the United Kingdom, China and Brazil. Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, wants to see California follow suit.

The pesticide is so poisonous that the EPA warns one sip can kill and exposure to it has been linked to elevated risk of Parkinsons disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and childhood leukemia. A meta-analysis of 13 scientific studies found that people exposed to paraquat are 1.64 times more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinsons, a debilitating brain disorder that progressively impairs peoples ability to move and speak.

Thats why Friedman introduced Assembly Bill 1963 on Wednesday, which would end the use of paraquat on fields and orchards in California by January 2026.

California needs to be a leader in eliminating highly toxic pesticides like paraquat, said Friedman at a news conference on Wednesday. We need to put public safety and environmental sustainability first and foremost in keeping with California values.

Despite the dangers, the weed killer is used on crops in California including almonds, pistachios, walnuts, grapes, cotton, soybeans and corn. The chemical can remain in the soil for years and can travel through dust and settle in surrounding communities.

During Wednesdays conference both Friedman and representatives from Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization supporting the legislation, called on pesticide producers to invest in alternatives to paraquat.

Paraquat came on the market in 1962, which means this is antique technology in agriculture. Imagine, you wouldnt risk driving a 1962 farm vehicle daily, said EWG president and co-founder Ken Cook. A lot of the chemicals that unfortunately were still relying on are archaic, outdated. Its time for them to go, and paraquat leads the list.

Friedman said she expects some pushback on the bill from the pesticide industry, but noted that she is willing to meet with them to discuss ways to mitigate any negative impacts it may have on Californias crops.

How do we help them transition away from this more harmful methodology and into something that safer? We stand available to have those meetings and have those discussions with them, so that this works for them as well as the public, she said.

A key priority of the bill is to create safer working conditions for Californias farmworkers.

According to an analysis by the EWG, paraquat is disproportionately sprayed in areas where Latino farmworkers live, exacerbating health risks for workers and their families.

Using state pesticide use data, EWG researchers found that 5.3 million pounds of paraquat were sprayed in California from 2017 to 2021.

The concentration is highest in Kern Countys agricultural communities. In the cities of Shafter and Wasco, for example, 80% of residents lived in proximity to 180,000 pounds of paraquat spray between 2017 and 2021. Latinos make up more than 80% of the population in both communities, and more than 20% of the residents live below the poverty line.

California must take decisive action to safeguard public health by enacting this legislation to permanently prohibit paraquat spraying on farms across the state, said Bill Allayaud, EWG director of government affairs in California. Paraquat poses a significant threat to the health of farmworkers, their families and surrounding communities.

Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, March 30, 2024
OAKLAND  The warfare over plans by Oakland International Airport to incorporate San Francisco Bay into its name widened on Wednesday after the East Bay aviation hub drafted travel leaders into its cause.

San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport is the proposed new name of the East Bay air travel hub  which, according to a post on the Airport Parking Shop website, would approach the length of the current longest airport name, Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan palace Complex, an airport in Dubai.

The new name proposed for Oakland International Airport prompted San Francisco International Airport officials to object, saying the suggested moniker would create confusion.

We are deeply concerned about the potential for customer confusion and disservice that could result from this proposed renaming, said Ivar Satero, director of San Francisco International Airport.

But on Wednesday, it became clear that Oakland Airport was determined to adhere to its plan to navigate its way to a new name and identity.

No one owns the title to the San Francisco Bay, said Craig Simon, the Port of Oaklands aviation director.

Oakland Airport supporters also made it clear that the relentless and ubiquitous influence of the internet and the analytics that the World Wide Web has unleashed are playing huge roles in the travel complexs plans.

This change will increase online search visibility for Oakland International Airport and, in turn, bring more visitors to Oakland, said Peter Gamez, chief executive officer with Visit Oakland.

The Port of Oakland is slated to make a decision on the name change this month.

Oakland International Airport is the closest airport to 58.5% of the Bay Areas population, officials with the East Bay aviation hub claimed.

This is not about the City and County of San Francisco, or San Mateo County, but about our region and creating jobs in Oakland and throughout the East Bay, Simon said.
Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (5th R, front) poses for a group photo during the inaugural session of the Senate in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, April 3, 2024. Sihamoni on Wednesday presided over the inaugural session of the Senate for the fifth legislature after a non-universal election in February. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on Wednesday presided over the inaugural session of the Senate for the fifth legislature after a non-universal election in February.

The Senate, or the upper house of the parliament, has 62 seats, and the election was held for 58 seats, as two senators were appointed by the king and two others were nominated by the National Assembly, or the lower house.

In the February non-universal election, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won 55 Senate seats and the opposition Khmer Will Party gained the remaining three seats.

Sihamoni extended his warmest congratulations to the senators-elect, urging them to adhere to the rules and ethics of the Senate and to demonstrate a great sense of responsibility in carrying out their duties in order to bring confidence and warmth to their fellow citizens.

"The Senate must protect the public interest and social justice for social equity, respect for the rights, freedoms, beliefs and dignity of everyone, and improve the quality of life by ensuring long-term happiness and harmony within the family, the community and our society as a whole," he said in a speech during the inaugural session.

"On this auspicious occasion, I would like to wish the Senate of the 5th legislature all the best in discharging its duties and responsibilities in a more efficient, transparent and accountable manner, in order to successfully pursue its mission in the interests of the nation, the homeland and the people as a whole," he added.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian king highlighted the importance of peace, saying that maintaining peace and stability was an overall prerequisite and an indispensable environment to ensure the standards of living and the progress of the nation in all areas.

After the inaugural session, the first senate session will be convened and former Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, president of the CPP, is expected to be elected as the president of the Senate, according to a Senate's official schedule.

All the senators are scheduled to take the oath of allegiance at the Royal Palace on Wednesday afternoon.

The Senate was founded in 1999, with each term lasting six years. 

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni inspects the guard of honor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, April 3, 2024. Sihamoni on Wednesday presided over the inaugural session of the Senate for the fifth legislature after a non-universal election in February. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua)
WELLINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand students are learning more about the country's histories but less about how they link with global contexts, and about half of students enjoy the history learning, according to research released on Thursday.

The research from the Education Review Office (ERO) found that many schools are prioritizing local histories rather than national events, and schools are also teaching less about how New Zealand's histories link with global contexts.

According to the research, the New Zealand's histories curriculum is being taught in all schools, but not all of the content is being taught. Three-quarters of schools are teaching it at all year levels at the end of last year, and just over half of students enjoy learning about New Zealand's histories, the research said.

Students are more than twice as likely to enjoy histories when they are learning about New Zealand's place in the world, it showed.

Ruth Shinoda, head of ERO's Education Evaluation Center, said teaching New Zealand's histories became a requirement for students in Years 1-10 at the start of last year and schools have been working hard to implement it, adding that parents welcome this, with two-thirds of parents seeing learning about New Zealand's histories as being useful for their child's future.

ERO also found that so far schools have been focusing on teaching the new content rather than teaching key skills, such as critical thinking, which are important for students' futures.

Chris Abercrombie, president of the Post Primary Teachers' Association, said the new histories curriculum has a big focus on New Zealand and Maori history, something which was missing for more than 160 years.

Up until only last year the unique history of New Zealand was not part of what were required to learn at school. The vast majority of New Zealanders know a great deal more about European or U.S. history than their own, Abercrombie said.

"These are momentous changes and they will take time to tweak and improve," he said.

Minister of Education Erica Stanford said the research confirms that New Zealand teachers need better clarity on curriculum and how to deliver it.

The ERO research also found that because schools had been prioritizing New Zealand histories, other subjects like geography and economics had been crowded out.

Teachers had been overwhelmed by the scale of change required, and did not have the skills or time needed to develop bespoke, local curriculum documents, according to the ERO.

"We need to move away from a postcode lottery where what you learn at school depends on where you live and who your teachers are," Stanford said of the struggles with being expected linking New Zealand histories to the global context.

The minister encourages teachers to plan creative and exciting lessons to engage the learners in their classrooms, and will make an announcement on a new approach to Curriculum Refresh program before the end of the month, which will include a clear focus on effective implementation. 
Singapore jails second defendant in laundering case

A Singapore court on Thursday jailed a second defendant in its biggest-ever money laundering probe, news outlet The Straits Times reported, a case that has seen the seizure or freezing of US$2.2 billion of assets.



Defendant Su Haijin admitted to one charge of resisting arrest and two money laundering charges, the report said, and was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment.



Su, a Cypriot national, was one of 10 foreigners arrested in Singapore in August last year in simultaneous raids. The assets seized or frozen include cars, luxury properties, cash and jewellery.



Su had faced 14 charges that included possessing about S$2.4 million (US$1.78 million) suspected to have been earned from illegal remote gambling, two charges of resisting arrest and three charges of conspiring to use forged financial statements.



The report said those charges would be taken into consideration for his sentencing.



Su had jumped from a second-floor balcony of a bungalow to try to evade arrest, the police said in August last year.



His conviction followed that of Cambodian Su Wenqiang, who was sentenced to 13 months in jail for two counts of money laundering on Tuesday. Court cases against the other defendants are ongoing.



The investigation prompted authorities to set up an inter-ministerial panel to review anti-money laundering measures and inspect financial institutions suspected of involvement.



Government agencies are also reviewing tax incentives for family offices and looking into whether high-value assets such as luxury cars and bags should be subject to regulation. (Reuters)
BusinessWire India New Delhi [India], April 4: Motorola, India's best 5G smartphone brand, today hosted the global first launch in India for its new premium smartphone - the motorola edge 50 pro, the latest addition to its edge franchise. This smartphone is a quintessence of intelligence meeting art and is set to disrupt the premium smartphone segment. This smartphone features the World's 1st and only AI Powered Pro-Grade Camera with True colors and vast range of human skin tones validated by Pantone1 and also the World's 1st and only True Color Display on a smartphone, validated by Pantone. The motorola edge 50 pro further boasts a beautifully crafted harmonious design and comes in the World's 1st Handmade design in Moonlight Pearl Finish, handcrafted in Italy at its back. Additionally, it also features a powerful Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor offering generative AI features and other disruptive features such as a blazing fast 125W TurboPower charging, 50W wireless charging, IP682 underwater protection and up to 12GB RAM with a 256GB Storage. Equipped with the World's 1st AI Powered Pro-Grade Camera with true color output validated by Pantone, the motorola edge 50 pro is loaded with advancements that turn everyday moments into beautifully captured memories. The camera meets Pantone's evaluation and grading criteria by authentically simulating the full range of real-world Pantone Colors. Furthermore, Pantone SkinTone Validated assures the camera captures results representing the vast spectrum of human skin tones. The advanced camera system of the motorola edge 50 pro utilizes the power of moto AI to deliver phenomenal performance enhancements in both photos and video. The new AI Photo Enhancement Engine makes it effortless to capture perfect photos with every shot. No professional expertise required, it uses AI to simultaneously apply settings from multiple shooting modes into one to deliver peak quality. The engine uses AI to finetune the image for optimal detail, clarity, highlights, shadows, color, and bokeh. When users want to capture all aspects of life in motion, a suite of new features makes it easier than ever. These features include: * AI Adaptive Stabilization that uses AI to determine the speed of movement while filming, and dynamically adjusts the stabilization level for the best results. * Intelligent Auto Focus Tracking that provides sharp, clear videos by using AI to keep the subject in focus even as it moves through the frame. * Action Shot which automatically increases and adjusts your shutter speed based on different lighting conditions. Using AI, the camera improves the details when light levels are poor and noise is high. Plus, with the motorola edge 50 pro, Motorola is introducing the Style Sync feature, that uses generative AI to produce a set of four wallpaper options based on the user's outfit, so they can tailor their phones with their personal style. Users can choose among different options and apply it directly to their wallpaper. Loaded with exceptional features, its 50MP main camera with f/1.4, the widest aperture available in a smartphone, lets in 64% more light for better low-light performance and natural soft-focus backgrounds. The camera system also features instant all-pixel focus with 32x more focusing pixels for faster, more accurate performance in any condition, and OIS eliminates unwanted shakes for crystal clear photos. The motorola edge 50 pro captures over a billion shades of color along with rich, vibrant details owing to its 4K HDR10+ recording capabilities. The rear camera also features a 13MP Ultrawide + Macro Vision sensor and 10MP telephoto camera with OIS featuring 3X optical and 30X hybrid zoom for capturing a wide range of scenes with precision and clarity. Moreover, the front camera also comes with a 50MP sensor which is the segment's highest resolutions in its class, coupled with Quad Pixel technology which combines every four pixels into one for exceptional results. The motorola edge 50 pro comes with a nearly borderless 6.7" 1.5K Super HD (1220p) pOLED display that produces vibrant pictures with sharper detail and less pixelation, delivering 13% better resolution than the previous generation. It is the world's 1st and only True Colour - Pantone Validated display on a smartphone, where users can confidently view color and skin tone in the way the content creator intended. The incredible display also features an unbelievably fast 144Hz refresh rate which adjusts automatically based on the type of content on the screen. Users can also experience faster responsiveness with a low latency 360Hz touch rate. All this with a peak brightness of 2000 nits. The motorola edge 50 pro also flaunts a curved, endless edge display that's virtually free from bezels and is thoughtfully crafted with a sense of harmony. Its symmetrical curves flow through every element of the design and perfectly fit the contours of the hand, providing an impeccable in-hand feel. The smartphone comes in various colour options and two finishes. A soft, natural-feeling vegan leather finish in two colour options: Luxe Lavender and Black Beauty and World's 1st Handmade design in Moonlight Pearl Finish. The motorola edge 50 pro is engineered to last with a precision-cut aluminum frame, durable glass, and IP68 underwater protection, which makes the device stunning yet durable. Speaking on the launch, T.M. Narasimhan, Managing Director, Motorola India said, "We are thrilled to unveil the highly anticipated motorola edge 50 pro, marking its global first launch in India. Motorola remains committed to meaningful innovation that extends beyond hardware advancements, as we strive to integrate AI technology with unique design elements. With the motorola edge 50 pro, we are introducing native AI features - powered by moto AI along with the World's first Pantone validated display and camera to capture and view content exactly as consumers see it with their own eyes. These innovations are poised to set new industry benchmarks, inspiring creativity and empowering users to unleash their full potential like never before. Aligned with our mission to democratize technology by offering exceptional features at competitive prices, we're eager to continue redefining the smartphone experience." The massive 4500mAh battery comfortably provides power for days and fuels up quickly with a blazing-fast 125W TurboPower charging, the fastest TurboPower charging ever. The device also features TurboPower 50W wireless charging, the highest in its segment, which eliminates the hassle of cords and cables. Furthermore, the motorola edge 50 pro also supports 10W wireless power sharing to the ecosystem. Additionally, the motorola edge 50 pro disrupts performance benchmarks in its segment, powered with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Processor. Its accelerated Kyro CPU provides speeds up to 2.63GHz for faster multitasking and improved efficiency. Along with 15% better CPU performance, 50% better GPU performance, and 20% more power savings5. Users can also enjoy faster connections with support for Wi-Fi 6E. Additionally, the motorola edge 50 pro runs smoothly with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage allowing for tons of room for photos, movies, songs, apps, and games. RAM Boost temporarily turns available storage into virtual RAM whenever extra speed is required, for faster app responses. The motorola edge 50 pro is more than just an advanced phone, it also pushes the boundaries of sustainability and eco-friendly packaging and design. Along with other additional camera and software features that enhance the user's overall smartphone experience. Its new Hello UI is more intuitive and personalized having all Moto apps in one place and also comes with latest Android 14 with assured 3 OS upgrades and 4 years of security updates. Availability: The motorola edge 50 pro will be available in three stunning PantoneTM Curated colour variants, Luxe Lavender and Black Beauty in silicone vegan leather finish and Moon Light Pearl in Acetate finish. The smartphone will go on sale from 9th April 2024, 12PM on Flipkart, Motorola.in and leading retail stores including Reliance Digital. Flipkart will also open exclusive early access - Zero Hour sales for limited quantity of Handmade Moon Light Pearl Finish design during the live commerce on 8th April 2024, 7PM Launch Price: For 8GB RAM +256GB Storage variant (with 68W charger in box), : INR 31,999For 12GB RAM + 256GB Storage variant (with 125W charger in box), : INR 35,999 Affordability Offers: Consumers can apply the following two offers to purchase the device making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 27,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs 31,999 (for 12GB+256GB) * Rs. 2,000 Additional bump-up on exchange value Making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 29,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 33,999 (for 12GB+256GB) OR * Upto Rs. 2,250 Instant bank discount on HDFC Bank Cards a. Rs. 2,250 Instant discount on HDFC Bank Credit card and debit card - EMI transactions Making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 29,749 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 33,749 (for 12GB+256GB) b. Rs. 2,000 Instant Discount on HDFC Bank Credit Card - full swipe transactions Making the effective price of the product starting at Rs. 29,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 33,999 (for 12GB+256GB) * Special Introductory Offer (Limited Period) Consumers will further be able to avail a special introductory offer of additional Rs. 2,000 discount for a limited period only. This will make the effective price of the product Rs. 27,999 (for 8GB+256GB) and Rs. 31,999 (for 12GB+256GB) Additionally, consumers can also avail No Cost EMIs up to 9 months on HDFC Bank credit and debit cards- making the effective ownership cost starting at just Rs. 3,084/month. Effective Price with all offers: For 8GB+256GB variant (with 68W charger in box): INR 27,999 (including Rs. 2000 Introductory + bank/exchange offer)For 12GB+256GB variant (with 125W charger in box): INR 31,999 (including Rs. 2000 Introductory + bank/exchange offer) To know more about the product visit:Flipkart - https://www.flipkart.com/motorola-edge-50-pro-5g/p/itm11d08450e6a11?pid=MOBGXFXYMTKAMPTS Motorola website - http://motorola.in/live-event Operator Offers: Consumers can avail additional benefits worth Rs. 15,000 from Reliance Jio. * Cashback worth Rs. 3,564 (Rs 99 x 36 months) on Jio Plus Plan of Rs 699 along with * Additional data worth Rs. 3,600 (10GB per month X 36) * Additional partner offers worth Rs. 8,500 like Ajio, Travel EMT, Growfitter, etc To know more about the offer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A3VGkLyAGkWKuld5KxV2kDPZEqFMRtmm/view Legal Disclaimers *T&C Apply. Including limited period special introductory pricing. Subject to change Certain features, functionality and product specifications may be network dependent and subject to additional terms, conditions, and charges. All are subject to change without notice. MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. LENOVO is a trademark of Lenovo. Dolby and Dolby Atmos are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. BLUETOOTH is a trademark of Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). PANTONE Colors generated may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Publications for accurate color. PANTONE and other Pantone trademarks are the property of Pantone LLC. (c) Pantone LLC, 2024. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (c)2024 Motorola Mobility LLC. All rights reserved. 1. PANTONE is the global authority on color and creator of the PANTONE Matching System (PMS) and PANTONE SkinTone colors. 2. Water, splash and dust resistance were tested to IP68 standards under controlled laboratory conditions. Withstands immersion in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. Exposure to conditions beyond this rating are not covered by warranty. Resistance will decrease as a result of normal wear. Not designed to work while submerged underwater. Do not expose to pressurized water, or liquids other than fresh water. Do not attempt to charge a wet phone. Not waterproof. 3. As compared to an f/1.8 lens. 4. Available user storage and internal memory is less due to operating system, software and other functions utilizing part of this capacity; may change with software updates. 5. As compared to the previous generation, Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 mobile platform. Detailed Marketing Specifications (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)
SRV Media New Delhi [India], April 4: In a thrilling brand association, Trimurti has the iconic superstar, Shakti Kapoor as the newest face of the brand. This association marks a significant milestone in both realms of creativity and quality. With a legacy of excellence, Trimurti has been revolutionizing the industry with its range of Wall Putty, Gypsum Plaster, Tile Adhesive, Epoxy Grout etc. Now, with the onboarding of Shakti Kapoor's charm and genius, the brand is set to soar to even greater heights. Shakti Kapoor's persona resonates with style, uniqueness, and perfection, making him the perfect match for Trimurti's commitment to delivering the best quality. Together, they aim to inspire both residential and commercial builders alike to embark on a journey of transformation, turning ordinary spaces into extraordinary masterpieces. Stay tuned as Trimurti and Shakti Kapoor unveils their collaborative content, bringing a touch of glamor and elegance to every wall and tile. With this dynamic partnership, the possibilities are endless, and the results are bound to be nothing short of spectacular. Get ready to witness the magic unfold as Trimurti and Shakti Kapoor redefined the art of wall and tile care. Trimurti is a renowned manufacturer and exporter in India, specializing in wall-finishing products such as Gypsum Plaster, Wall Putty, Tile Adhesive, and more. Their products meet international quality standards and are backed by ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015 certifications, along with ISI accreditation in Wall Putty, Gypsum Plaster & Tile Adhesive. The company's presence is strongest in markets across Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra. Manik Gupta and Rahul Gupta, the dynamic directors of Trimurti Wall Care Products Pvt. Ltd., emphasize their commitment to quality, stating, "We are a leading brand in India for wall care products, offering a wide range of internationally acclaimed products. Our strict quality control and use of the latest technology ensure precision in production. This dedication has earned us a loyal customer base, making Trimurti a trusted name in the industry. Trimurti products are tailored for customers seeking efficiency, durability, and eco friendliness. With a strong focus on research and development, we offer cutting-edge solutions. Our range includes the following products: Wall Putty: Wall putty is a white cement-based powder made of polymer and other minerals that make the wall look smoother. It is primarily used to fill in cracks and holes in walls and prepare an even wall surface before applying paint. It is developed as a finishing coat that is used for covering the major pinholes or undulations and hence uniformly covering the surface. Its application is in all types of plaster and concrete walls, ceilings, and renovation of older structures or buildings. Gypsum Plaster: - Trimurti Gypsum Plaster is generally made up of heated Gypsum at a high temperature. It is a white powdery chemical compound called Hydrated Calcium Sulphate. Trimurti Gypsum Plaster is most suitable for the application of internal plastering systems as the punning of walls, ceilings, and all decorative works like cornices, moldings, and arches. The best part of Trimurti is that it hardens slowly with extra coverage and impurities-free features which makes it favorable to the construction teams and saves their time. Trimurti is one of the largest and best-quality Gypsum Plaster manufacturers in India. Tile Adhesive: - This is a formulated polymer-modified Adhesive, that can be used to fit different types of tiles including mosaic tiles, ceramic tiles, small and large dimensions, Stones Etc. It can be utilized for fixing a wide range of tiles and stones over different substrates. These Tile Fixing Adhesives are prepared to blend, self-restoring, and with astounding adhesion properties. Their superior bonding strength prevents shrinkage, breaks, and slippage of tiles. Trimurti- Sundarta ki Pehchaan Website - https://trimurtiproducts.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/trimurtiproducts/ Toll Free - 1800-1200-620 (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by SRV Media. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
GUANGZHOU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Three were killed and 10 others were injured in a fire that broke out at a nursing home in south China's Guangdong Province on Thursday, said local authorities.

The fire broke out at the Kangyi nursing home in Dongguan City around 4:21 a.m. Thursday and was extinguished at 4:48 a.m., according to the city's emergency management bureau.

Among the 10 injured, one is in critical condition and the others are in stable condition. Relevant investigation into the accident is underway. 
NewsVoir New Delhi [India], April 4: Crack Academy successfully hosted the "Management and Principal's Meet Cum Award of Excellence Ceremony" on April 3, 2024 at Gold Coast Club, Moga. During the event, the academy honoured 50 educationists with Excellence Awards for their unwavering commitment and dedication to education. Dignitaries like Neeraj Kansal, Founder & CEO of Crack Academy, and Rishi Bhargava, Co-founder & COO of Crack Academy, graced the event with their esteemed presence. Furthermore, the event highlighted the successful inauguration of the Crack Academy's franchise in Moga, paving the way for the holistic development of students in the city. The event also emphasized how the groundbreaking scholarship program "Mere Sheher ke 100 Ratan" will provide 11700 scholarships worth Rs. 58 Crore to selected 100 meritorious students from each constituency of Punjab. Neeraj Kansal, Crack Academy, expressed, "At Crack Academy, we have always aimed at empowering youth through education. We envision our scholarship program, "Mere Sheher ke 100 Ratan," will create ample opportunities and encourage aspiring students across Moga City. The program will empower the students in decision-making and will help them provide exposure to diverse career options. We aim to make the schools' management and principals aware of this scholarship initiative and encourage their students to avail of its benefits." Rishi Bhargav,Crack Academy,expressed "I'm committed to addressing brain drain among students, urging them to explore opportunities in our country. During lockdowns, we've supported students in online learning, prioritizing mental health since 2007. Our efforts include tailored UPSC notes, Our revered 'red book' and 'blue book' recognised as 'Bible' for UPSC prep, and assembling India's best teachers. We emphasize regular assessments, personalized mentoring, and completing the full syllabus for academic excellence." With 17+ years of experience, Crack Academy provides excellence in education under its CSR initiative "Mere Seher ke 100 Ratan." The program has already been launched in Shimla for the students of Himachal Pradesh and in Chandigarh for the students of Punjab. Moreover, paving the way to empower the pioneers in education. (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)
BusinessWire India Pune (Maharashtra) [India], April 4: Poonawalla Fincorp Limited provided the following information with respect to the quarter ended 31st March 2024: 1) Disbursements: Total disbursements during Q4FY24 were highest ever at approximately Rs. 9,680 crore up 52% YoY and 11% QoQ compared to disbursements of Rs. 6,371 crore in Q4FY23 and Rs. 8,731 crore in Q3FY24. 2)Assets Under Management (AUM): AUM grew by 54% YoY and 13% QoQ to approximately Rs. 24,800 crore as on 31st March 2024. 3) Asset quality: GNPA and NNPA are expected to improve further and be less than 1.20% & less than 0.60% respectively. As guided, we would strive to maintain the NNPA below 1% in line with its Management Vision 2025. 4) Liquidity: The Company continues to have ample liquidity of approximately Rs. 3600 crore as on 31st March 2024. Management Commentary Commenting on the quarterly Business update, Abhay Bhutada, Managing Director, Poonawalla Fincorp, said, "FY24 was the year of significant growth across all business parameters reflective of successful and seamless transformation. The year witnessed remarkable improvement not only on AUM but also on profitability and credit quality across four quarters. Q4FY24 was the best quarter thus far with the highest ever quarterly disbursement across all products, all through organic route, with best-in-class asset quality. We continue to have amongst the lowest cost of funds in the industry. This sets us on course to achieve the stated Vision 2025." The above information is provisional and subject to audit by the statutory auditors of the Company. (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)
PRNewswire Gurugram (Haryana) [India], April 4: Shipsy, a leading global logistics orchestration and execution platform, has been recognized as a Niche Player in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transport Management Systems (TMS). Gartner highlights, "TMS solutions are utilized by companies of differing sizes, operational complexity, industries and geographic locations. TMS solutions are utilized to plan and execute the physical transport of goods across the supply chain. They provide a company with the ability to manage the entire transportation life cycle of an order or shipment." Today, enterprises across industries find themselves juggling between increasingly complex supply chain operations, rapidly evolving customer demands and growing costs. To manage these, supply chain leaders across the globe are leveraging advanced tools and technology to improve transportation and drive profitability, productivity, transparency and sustainability. "TMS solutions enable a company to have tighter control of their transportation operations, optimize costs, improve efficiencies, and have improved visibility into the movement of goods," highlights Gartner in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for TMS. "We are honored with our recognition in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transport Management Systems. At Shipsy, we are constantly innovating and striving to ensure businesses across the globe can quickly realize their true potential in terms of growth, sustainability, customer experience and profitability by weaving AI, real-time analytics, and automation into their everyday transportation operations," said Soham Chokshi, CEO & Co-Founder, Shipsy. Today, more than 275 enterprise customers across logistics, retail, manufacturing and automotive industry are leveraging Shipsy's AI-powered supply chain orchestration and execution platform. Shipsy had drastically enhanced its global presence by establishing regional HQs in the Netherlands, UAE, KSA and Indonesia. Shipsy is laser focused on developing cutting edge AI powered solutions that include, AI co-pilot LIA (Logistics Intelligent Assistant), intelligent Route Optimization, AI-driven Allocation Engine, advanced Analytics, automated Multi-Carrier Management, Freight Procurement and more. To get an expert overview of the TMS industry, access the complimentary copy of the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transport Management Systems (TMS) here and learn how Shipsy is recognized for its ability to execute and completeness of vision. Gartner Disclaimer: Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Carly West, Manav Jain, 27 March 2024 Gartner is a registered trademark and service mark and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Shipsy: Shipsy's AI powered supply chain orchestration and execution platform empowers Shippers & Logistics companies to save costs, reduce working capital, ensure operational resilience and elevate customer experience. Shipsy's intuitive, adaptive, seamlessly integrated and modular platform leverages co-pilots, predictive and prescriptive intelligence to plan supply chain asset requirements, plan and execute transportation and improve warehousing and inventory operations, all the while making every delivery quicker, greener and more profitable. Shipsy's 350+ team is based out of India, Dubai, and Indonesia serving 275+ customers across the globe. Shipsy tracks 650,000+ containers per month, procure freight worth $150mn+ per month, and powers 60mn+ parcels per month. On a broader perspective, Shipsy has integrations with 64+ major shipping lines, 50+ third-party logistics companies, 300+ freight forwarders, 50+ customs agents, and a network of over 20,000 global shippers. To learn more about us, please visit www.shipsy.io. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1965326/Shipsy_Logo.jpg (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)
PRNewswire New York [US]/ London [UK]/ Pune (Maharashtra) [India]/ Sofia [Bulgaria], April 4: Synechron, a leading global digital transformation consulting firm focused on financial services and technology organizations, announced its acquisition of Dreamix, a custom software development company founded in 2006. Dreamix, headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, is a bespoke end-to-end software engineering and digital product/application development company. Dreamix caters to the customized needs of an array of globally renowned enterprise clients across key industries, including Aviation, Transportation, RegTech, FinTech, ESG and Healthcare. The acquisition of Dreamix was completed on March 26, 2024. This business combination enables the two companies to align synergies under a common theme of building and successfully delivering first-class, modern business solutions to clients, with their unique business needs as the top focus. Synechron's DNA, which includes a drive for creating innovative, digitally forward, and cutting-edge solutions, strategically integrates with Dreamix's depth of experience across multiple technologies and platforms within the software engineering lifecycle. Moreover, this tie up also facilitates Synechron's further development of outsourcing services with Dreamix as Bulgaria continues to be one of the leaders in the European region for digital product engineering. Technology Holdings acted as the financial advisor to Dreamix on the transaction. Faisal Husain, Synechron Co-founder and CEO, commented, "We are thrilled to welcome Dreamix into the Synechron family. The bedrock of our two companies' founding visions, as well as our similar cultures and focused core values, enable us to unite our strengths to bring value-added benefits to an expanded roster of audiences. With the synergy of our businesses, we can provide deep IT expertise to a range of both existing and new customers who can realize their objectives for optimal digitized operating platforms and customized business solutions." Stoyan Mitov, Dreamix's CEO, said, "We are very excited to be a part of the highly valued and client trusted global Synechron team. We are enthusiastic to join our forces under this new partnership, as we each leverage our passionate teams and collective abilities to provide top notch services to a combination of client enterprises." About Synechron: At Synechron, we believe in the power of digital to transform businesses for the better. Our global consulting firm combines creativity and innovative technology to deliver industry-leading digital solutions. Synechron's progressive technologies and optimization strategies span end-to-end Artificial Intelligence, Consulting, Digital, Cloud & DevOps, Data, and Software Engineering, servicing an array of noteworthy financial services and technology firms. Through research and development initiatives in our FinLabs we develop solutions for modernization, from Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to Data Science models, Digital Underwriting, mobile-first applications and more. Over the last 20+ years, our company has been honored with multiple employer awards, recognizing our commitment to our talented teams. With top clients to boast about, Synechron has a global workforce of 13,500+, and has 48 offices in 19 countries within key global markets. For more information on the company, please visit our website or LinkedIn community. About Dreamix Dreamix is a leading digital product development and software engineering company that offers IT services across multiple sectors such as Healthcare, Fintech, Logistics, Aviation, Media and ESG. Its roster of clients includes top companies across Europe and the US. Dreamix has industry leading expertise in 35+ technologies and platforms across the digital product development and software engineering lifecycle. What we're most proud of is the culture in our company that celebrates collective effort, knowledge sharing and high expertise. For more information about the company, please visit the company's website or LinkedIn community. For more information please contact:Rashmi Joshi,Synechron+91-9560694654Media@synechron.comRashmi.Joshi@synechron.com OR Zoe Forbes-Pyfrom(+44) 7718 599666synechron@cognitomedia.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1943591/Synechron_Logo.jpg (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)
PRNewswire Udaipur (Rajasthan) [India], April 4: The Indian Institute of Management Udaipur hosted its 12th Annual Convocation for its Two-Year MBA (Batch of 2022-24), One-Year full-time MBAs in Global Supply Chain Management and Digital Enterprise Management (Batches of 2022-23) and PhD, on Monday, April 01, 2024, at its pristine 300-acre campus at Balicha, Udaipur. Pankaj Patel, Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM Udaipur, presided over the Convocation. The Convocation Address was delivered by Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director of Nestle India Ltd., who was the Chief Guest of the Convocation and the concluding address by Prof. Ashok Banerjee, Director, IIM Udaipur. The convocation was graced by the faculty & staff of IIM Udaipur, besides parents and relatives of the students of graduating batches. In the 12th Annual Convocation, a total of 429 students graduated, including 3 PhD students, 310 students of Two-Year MBA (Batch 2022-24) and 116 students each of One-Year MBA in Global Supply Chain Management and One-Year MBA in Digital Enterprise Management (Batches 2023-24). Addressing the 12th annual convocation at IIM Udaipur, Chief Guest Suresh Narayanan, Chief Director of Nestle India, shared profound wisdom with the graduating batch. Lauding the institute's 16th NIRF ranking, he emphasised the importance of understanding the culture and values of the communities they will work in. Narayanan cautioned against the widespread desire for quick success, urging the students to instead focus on finding contentment without being complacent. He encouraged them to pursue their passions wholeheartedly while giving back to society, stressing that true fulfilment lies in making a positive impact. Narayan also exhorted the graduates to hone practical communication skills, value their parents' sacrifices, and nurture empathy and compassion as guiding principles. Ultimately, he advised whatever they do in life should contribute to the greater good of the community around them. He emphasised the importance of making wise choices in life, highlighting seven key pillars: Clarity, Culture, Contentment, Curiosity, Community, Communication, and Context. In his welcome address, Pankaj Patel, Chairman, highlighted the Institute's achievements, including its steady position in global rankings and its commitment to digital transformation and research excellence. He emphasized the importance of faculty and announced significant collaborations and initiatives, such as the J M Financial Centre for Financial Research and the India Digital Conclave. The Chairman praised the graduating students for their resilience and urged them to continue learning and striving for excellence. He concluded by congratulating the Institute's community and wishing the graduates success in their future endeavors. He said,"In celebrating the achievements of our institution, we must acknowledge the dedication of our faculty, the success of our collaborations, and the resilience of our students. As you embark on your careers, remember that learning is a lifelong journey, and your experiences here have equipped you to navigate the challenges ahead. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all graduates and commend the Director, faculty, and community of IIMU for their outstanding contributions. Here's to a bright and prosperous future for each of you." In his concluding address, Prof. Ashok Banerjee, Director of IIM Udaipur, said, "This convocation is not just an ending, but a new beginning. This Institution has provided you with a transformational learning experience. Therefore, I urge you to never stop learning, to never stop growing, and to never stop pushing yourself to be the best you can be. You are now part of a vast network of IIM Udaipur alumni, you are all stakeholders in the institute's success. We look forward to we continued contributions and mentorship as they embark on their exciting careers. Today marks the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and commitment. As you step into the world beyond these walls, carry with you the values instilled in you during your time here. Embrace every opportunity with courage, never ceasing to learn and grow. Remember, success is not just measured by wealth, but by the impact you make on society. As you embark on this journey, lead with integrity, ethics, and a sense of social responsibility. And never forget to express gratitude to those who have supported you along the way. Congratulations, graduates. The world awaits your brilliance." Stuti Arora, Suman Choudhary and Sunanda Katewa were awarded the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree. Ashish Kumar Gupta was awarded a gold medal for scholastic performance in the One-year MBA in Global Supply Chain Management (GSCM) Program. Pavit Teg Bir Singh was awarded a Gold Medal in a One-year MBA in Digital Enterprise Management (DEM) Program. Priya Jain, Ritik Raj, and Aditya Singhal were awarded the Gold Medal for scholastic performance in the Two-year MBA Program. Mitusha Mishra of the One-Year MBA (GSCM) program won the Manhattan Award for Women in Supply Chain. Vinayak Karewa won the JM Financial Centre for Financial Research Merit Award for the best Finance Student. About IIM Udaipur: IIM Udaipur is well on its way to becoming a globally recognised B-School. It has broken new ground by focusing on world-class research and transforming students into tomorrow's managers and leaders. The Institute arrived on the global education stage by securing accreditation from the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) in merely eight years of its establishment. With this accreditation, IIM Udaipur is counted in the same league of global institutes, such as Harvard Business School, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the MIT Sloan School. IIM Udaipur is ranked 16th by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings 2023 of the HRD Ministry. IIM Udaipur is the only IIM in the Top 100 of the prestigious FT Masters In Management World Rankings consecutively for 5 Years since 2019. Ranked #5 amongst IIMs in the list of 2023. Indian Institute of Management Udaipur featured in the prestigious Masters in Management (MIM) QS World University Rankings 2024 for the fifth consecutive year. IIMU is also currently ranked 4th in India, after ISB, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore, for research in management according to the methodology used by UT Dallas, which tracks publications in the leading global journals. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2378694/IIM_Udaipur_awards_MBA_Degrees.jpgLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2183220/4629883/IIMU_Logo.jpg (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)
New Delhi [India], April 4: Three young entrepreneurs from IIT Guwahati - Rounak Baral, Hardik Lodha, and Shubham Jain - have announced the launch of Savingz, India's first AI-powered wealth-tech app.

Savingz: AI-Powered Wealth Management for All

Established in July 2023, Savingz empowers users to navigate the complexities of finance with a unique blend of AI technology and human expertise. The app offers various new features, including:

* India's First AI Tax App: Savingz leverages AI to optimise tax filing and minimise liabilities. On average, they save upto 40% extra than conventional CAs and financial firms. Users get the extra money back if they can show otherwise.

* End-to-End Wealth Management: The platform offers personalised advice on investments, taxes, and alternative investment opportunities.

* Data-Driven Insights: Savingz utilises advanced data systems to provide users with actionable financial information.

* Top-Notch Privacy and Compliance: Savingz prioritises user privacy and follows all regulatory guidelines.

Savingz boasts a loyal user base exceeding 1,000, with many achieving impressive returns exceeding 30% IRR post-tax. The company has gained a negative cost of acquisition, attracting a growing customer base through organic referrals and satisfied users who have even invested in the business.

Passionate About Finance From a Young Age

The founders' journey began with a shared interest in startups and digital marketing. Rounak, fascinated by the field, started his first tech blog and internet marketing venture in eighth grade.

Coming from a business background, Hardik honed his leadership skills by heading marketing for Alcheringa, IIT Guwahati's renowned college festival. Whereas Shubham Jain, driven by a desire for experimentation, joined the founding team of Newton School.

Their paths converged at IIT, where they fostered a shared dream of entrepreneurship.

Shaping the Future of Finance

Savingz represents a paradigm shift in wealth management, making sophisticated financial tools accessible to all. With its user-centric approach, AI-powered solutions, and commitment to data security, Savingz is poised to empower a new generation of financially savvy Indians.

Contact Details:-

Email - hello@savingz.in

Website: - www.savingz.in

Phone Number - +918608600419

About Savingz

Savingz is India's first AI wealth-tech app, offering a comprehensive platform for tax optimisation, wealth management, and investment guidance. Founded by three IIT graduates with a passion for finance and technology in July 2023, Savingz is committed to democratising access to financial tools and fostering a culture of informed investment decisions.

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who recently enjoyed her vacation with family in India, is back to work as she returns to the sets of her next Hollywood film 'Heads Of State'. Taking to Instagram, Priyanka gave a glimpse of the script. The page had the film's title and mentioned that Harrison Query wrote it. It also has the Priyanka's name watermarked on it. Sharing the photo, she wrote, "And we're back." She will be seen in 'Heads of State' alongside John Cena and Idris Elba. Priyanka on Wednesday announced her new film in collaboration with the production team of Barry Avrich's new feature documentary 'Born Hungry' as a producer. Taking to Instagram, Priyanka treated fans with this exciting news by sharing an article with a note. Priyanka and her production company Purple Pebble Pictures banner have joined Barry Avrich's new feature documentary. The note said, "Aligning with stories and filmmakers that have the ability to move the audience by having a unique point of view is what we always look for at @purplepebblepictures. @barryavrich22's new feature documentary, Born Hungry is exactly that." Priyanka added, "I was so moved by Sash's incredible story of resilience and determination, and also that it is an amazing rendition of an extremely sensitive story, it was a no-brainer for us to collaborate. We cannot wait to share this story with you." According to Deadline, 'Born Hungry' is a gritty drama about a young Indian boy who finds himself abandoned by his family, lost on trains and thousands of miles from home. Celebrity chef Sash Simpson, who was eventually adopted by a Canadian couple after surviving on the streets of Chennai alone and eating out of trash cans, is now returning to India with only hazy memories in an attempt to locate his family. Chopra Jonas and Mary Rohlich, Head of TV and Film at Purple Pebble Pictures, will serve as producers. Born Hungry premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024 and will screen at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto on April 26. Priyanka's production banner, Purple Pebble Pictures, recently collaborated with Awedacious Originals to produce the documentary 'Women Of My Billions'. Directed by Ajitesh Sharma, the film will be released on Amazon Prime Video. Recently, she lent her voice to Disneynature's upcoming film Tiger. The movie will be released on Disney+ Hotstar and it revolves around understanding the intricacies of the intriguing world of one of our planet's most loved creatures. On the Bollywood front, she will be seen in Farhan Akhtar's next directorial 'Jee Le Zaraa' alongside Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt. However, no update has been provided on the film since the announcement was made a couple of years ago. (ANI)
Coal is projected to continue as the backbone of the Indian energy system until the next two decades and its phase-down will require active policies on critical minerals, according to a report by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)- Ahmedabad. The report asserted that net zero is not possible without substantial nuclear power and renewable energy generation by 2070. The report, titled 'Synchronising energy transitions towards a possible Net Zero for India: Affordable and Clean Energy for All,' was released on Wednesday. The report was launched by Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA), to the Government of India in the presence of dignitaries Dr V K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog; Dr A. K. Mohanty, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); and other senior officials. To achieve net-zero energy systems by 2070, the report mentioned that the electricity sector will need to decarbonise well before that. "There is no silver bullet to achieve net-zero. The transition needs multiple pathways to be adopted with the co-existence of myriad technologies in our energy basket. Coal is projected to continue until the next two decades as the backbone of the Indian energy system," it said. The report said India's emissions would range between 0.56 btCO2 (billion-tonne of carbon dioxide) and 1.0 btCO2 in 2070. "It is expected that the remaining gap in emissions will be offset through sequestration in forestry and tree cover as envisaged in our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)," the report mentioned. "Clean, affordable electricity at low levelized cost of electricity (for consumers) can be achieved in net-zero pathways, especially with a focus on nuclear power and renewable power. Widespread electrification of end-use sectors, i.e. up to 47-52 per cent of the electricity share in Total Final Electricity Consumption (TFEC), compared to 18% at present," it said. The report was prepared by IIM Ahmedabad as part of a study project which was sanctioned in November 2021 by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India with part-funding (one-third) from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) Prof Ajay Sood stated in his opening remarks that the report is a comprehensive study, bringing together aspects from all sectors of power generation in one place, providing a holistic view of the Indian energy sector and throwing light on the potential pathways for a development-led transition to net zero. Dr Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman, AEC, welcomed the study as the need of the hour, which is an energy transitions study done from India's perspective. He also highlighted the need for the development of technologies for low-cost hydrogen production. (ANI)
Acting on a tip-off, one person was arrested in connection with the incident, the police said.

"Based on intelligence input, a team of Karimganj district police intercepted a vehicle at Kayasthagram under Nilambazar police station and recovered 50 soap boxes containing 601.83 grams of heroin from the vehicle," the police further said.

The police added, "We have apprehended one person in this connection. The vehicle was coming from a neighbouring state. A case has been registered in this connection and further investigation is underway."

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lauded the state police for the drug crackdown.

"Based on specific inputs, @karimganjpolice intercepted a vehicle and recovered 50 soap boxes containing 601.83 grams of heroin. The vehicle was coming from a neighbouring state, and one person has been apprehended in this connection. Good job @assampolice!" the Assam CM said in a post on X.

Earlier on April 3, Assam police arrested a drug peddler along with 576 grams of heroin in Nagaon district.

Based on specific inputs, a team of the Nagaon district police intercepted a bus under the Kathiatoli police outpost.

"The police team caught a person and recovered 46 soap boxes containing 576 grams of heroin in his possession," a police official said.

On April 2, Assam police apprehended a drug peddler and seized drugs worth Rs 25 lakh in Assam's Cachar district. The apprehended drug peddler was identified as Sahid Hussain Barbhuiya.

"The police team recovered four packets wrapped with yellow adhesive tape weighing about 47 grams of heroin from his possession, which was duly seized. The investigation is on," Numal Mahatta, Superintendent of Police of Cachar District, said. (ANI)
A total of 19 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were sent to Chennai in an Air India passenger flight from Sri Lanka's Colombo following their arrest, by the Sri Lankan Navy on March 6 for crossing the border. The 19 fishermen included nine from Mayiladuthurai, four from Pudukottai, and six from Karaikal in Puducherry state. All of them went fishing in the sea in two boats on March 6. The families of the fishermen HAD requested the central and state governments to take action to release the fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy. Following this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin immediately wrote an letter to the Union Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, requested him to take action to release the fishermen. The Indian embassy officials in Sri Lanka subsequently held talks with the Sri Lankan government officials. Recently, the Sri Lankan court ordered the release of the 19 Tamil Nadu fishermen and they were handed over to the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka. The Indian embassy officials kept the Tamil fishermen under their care, conducted medical tests on all of them and took steps to repatriate the 19 fishermen to India by air. As the fishermen did not have passports, consular officials issued emergency travel certificates to all of them. The Indian embassy also arranged flight tickets for the 19 fishermen from Sri Lanka to Chennai. After their arrival at the Chennai airport, the fishermen were welcomed by the officials of the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department and they were sent to their hometowns in vehicles arranged by the Tamil Nadu government. This incident took place amid External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying that in the last 20 years, 6184 Indian fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka and 1175 Indian fishing vessels have been seized, detained or apprehended by Sri Lanka. "In the last five years, the Katchatheevu issue and the Fisherman's issue have been repeatedly raised by various parties in the Parliament. It has come up in parliament questions, debates and in the consultative committee," he added. Describing the significance of the issue, EAM Jaishankar also said that he has replied 21 times on this issue to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and the issue has been debated in the parliament as well. (ANI)